##VIDEO ID:yjUiCNmhbak## good evening on behalf of the governing body of the city of Pake we welcome you to the December 5th city council meeting in accordance with chapter 231 public laws of 1975 adquate notice and instructions for this meeting were provided via facts to The Herald News posted on November 29 2024 on the city of Pake website under Council agendas at www city of p.com and displayed on the city hall bulletin board by the office of the city clerk pursuant to the open public meeting act please be advised that the city council of the city of Pake has rescheduled their December 3rd 2024 city council meeting to Thursday December 5th 2024 at 7:30 p.m. to be held in the council chambers first floor 3:30 Pake Street Pake New Jersey for an in-person meeting please be further advised that the public meeting will be conducted in person and the zoom stream provided is for viewing only and is offered to the public as a convenience instructions are also available on the last page of this agenda please be guided accordingly call please councilman love present councilwoman Melo present councilman Schwarz present councilman Garcia present councilwoman col monz and council president Sher president sh we all please rise Heavenly Father we thank you Lord for allowing us to meet this evening father we present to you the agenda that has been set before us please give us the guidance so we could make the decisions that will benefit the residents and the employees of the city of Pake in your beloved name we pray amen the flag of the United States of America and to the rep for it stands na indivisible Li and justice for all for the attention of the council we have two uh add-on items tonight proposed item number one3 titled resolution authorizing the execution of a facility agreement with Etna Better Health Inc DBA Edna Better Health of New Jersey is there any objection to including this item on tonight's agenda seeing no lights at this time next please with the council's kind permission item number 104 and ordinance amending the designation of restricted parking for disabled persons by of a New Jersey license plate number is there any objection to including this item is 104 in our agenda seeing none we will be so included we are up to REM numeral four on our agenda if you don't have a copy of the agenda um and you would like one you can uh get onto the city's website and there you will find tonight's agenda and details of the meeting that we will be having uh including background information on resolutions ordinances you will be uh entitled to all the material which the council has received from the administration uh and from the mayor's office we are up to one um we're up to REM number four on our agenda tonight the mayor's update Mr Mayor sure christas tree was cold as anything next year if you could plan a warmer one you've been hitting a thousand throughout and this is the first brings it down but we're okay it was a frigid temperatures but I was so appreciative of so many members of the community that came out they got to take their pictures and see the tree lighting it's been such a welcome and um receptive community in terms of these initiatives but uh as I mentioned it's going to be a brief update for the Community First uh let's get with some logistical things I just want to make sure the community knows obviously we we experience warmer weather later into the season than typical and obviously there are many leaves that are still out there from our DPW leave pickup will continue throughout the season so residents should continue to put out their leaves uh normally around this time we don't have too many leaves but it it was just two weeks ago that it was still warm and blooming and leaves so we still have a lot of leaf bags out if you have some out in your neighborhoods please contact our public works department at 365 5654 973 36556 54 with the frigid temperatures we continue to work with the county I wanted to update the community that through a new relationship that I was able to make with a program called SOS in the uh in the state of New Jersey working with our Deputy Mayor our VFW and the county we are able to immediately house homeless veterans the same day they will they will pay to remove homeless veterans from the street and put them into a hotel they're call the veterans SOS program we're extremely excited uh at a lunching that I had attended with uh Deputy Mayor Min Hiller cousins the individual or the representative of the agency reached out to me and said mayor I would like to work with you on Veterans who find themselves unfortunately without homes and we were able to develop that and now the county wants to work with us directly commissioner lazara reached out so we will be further developing these programs but it is extremely crucial as uh we were just joking about how frigid the temperatures are this evening obviously every year we do our best to work through our human services our police our fire our emergency responders and with different agencies uh throughout the county and the state to avoid any tragic losses of individuals that do not have a place to stay uh for the city of Pake of course we do not have a shelter we do have a resource center that assists individuals during emergency conditions extending circumstances storms or extreme temperature changes however we are able to transport and take individuals if they are willing to shelters outside of the city that can house them longterm we've been able to successfully uh have over eight individuals get permanent housing by connecting them to benefits through initiatives like our mailbox initiative at dignity house where they now can receive correspondence and that resulted over uh some time of individuals receiving whether Social Security benefits or veteran services or additional Communications with family where otherwise they did not have a means of receiving correspondence but we continue with relationships and I often say relationships are crucial in fact Paramount to try to address some of the ailments that uh are faced with communities like ours but we don't have a pacy approach I've said that often we do our very best with those updates I I want to hopefully uh go into something lighter with the holiday we just experienced a tree lighting ceremony at Main avue Christmas tree lighting so many families out was extremely cold those who came early enjoyed hot chocolate those who came late enjoyed some chocolate uh icing because it got very cold very quickly I want to let the Comm know that our Parade of Lights will be Tuesday next Tuesday after five o'clock we're not going to hit every street but we will hit every Ward after five o'clock and that includes our fire trucks our police vehicles uh construction vehicles and through the relationships that we have with our remarkable Chiefs chief Patrick trenos of the fire department as well as Chief Lewis Guzman we have some additional vehicles that will join in with us many residents can see that we've added some additional decorations acknowledging Quanza Hanukkah as well as Christmas throughout the city and they're lit up on different corners and lastly has uh this season is a difficult one you will notice that most of our road repairs unless there are emergencies uh will be discontinued and then Begin Again in the springtime we were able to pave a record number of roads this year that many have seen throughout Jefferson and obviously uh Brook a acri Avenue was still uh putting up acri and Pennington the brand new traffic light and many of the uh infrastructure as well as traffic and pedestrian safety initiatives were able to be extended because of the warm weather that went into November but as many can attest today that is done we are no longer in that season so as you're gonna see there's gonna be a lot less work I always remind the community that these are the three seasons that we really focus on repairs of roads and traffic and additions industry uh it's spring summer and fall but once we enter the winter it's just not conducive to do the works on the roads so there's a bit of a suspension of that unless it's an emergency that is the extent of my reports council president members of the city council those who are present directors as well as those residents who are here thank you mayor thank you as always uh as always questions for the mayor at this time seeing none if with the council's kind permission if we could go to ran numeral five discussion rent leveling board as the council will remember from our last meeting and we had discuss this issue since that time uh we received two uh resumés for the council's consideration number one is Arthur G Soo of 181 paulison recommended by uh councilman love as a landlord the second is Jorge Palos uh recommended by councilwoman Melo for tenant a third was presented to the council which uh does not fit the criteria of either landlord or landlord or tenant um and is thereby disqualified were informed by the clerk the clerk was so kind to put everything together ma'am thank you so much for the for the detail that you invested here in terms of providing the council with rent leveling ordinance and the background um at this time would the council like to discuss what our options are where we be going um we had wanted to get some framework for this meeting from our last councilman monz yes I have a question that's why at the last meeting I asked what were the qualifications um I feel that even though I mean we are are having um I don't want to say a difficult time so that way I know who to approach that qualifies to do this um I think as a homeowner and if you live in Pake you should be able to be qualified even as an alternate that's just my suggestion I know I've researched it with other cities and I seen that they do have homeowners now that's a tenant but that's a homeowner for the city that they live and work in Jonathan are you familiar with the uh with the ordinance per se yes reviewed it when we put the initial memorandum together and I'm reviewing it now so in in terms of the councilwoman's question she noted there's a landlord a tenant and an expert I believe is the third category um are there any is there any stipulation as to background uh experience Etc I'm looking for the definition of expert now I don't believe landlord I I assume it' be clear as well as finet the um the makeup of the board is where those are listed I'm just not seeing it here it's online but so we just have an excerpt here there's no definition for expert s we shall to the grent leveling attorney I'm sorry we need you to speak um there's no definition in the ordinance but I spoke to the rent leveling attorney and the definition I provided on the memorandum is what he gave me so essentially real experienced real estate agent something along those lines that makes sense unless we revise the ordinance we well I think that that might in fact be something that we might want to consider to at some point but I going ask U members of the council our Direction here I mean I would like for to do some maybe if he can do some research further like what do we mean by expert I mean um if he's a homeowner I'm sure he was a tenant before or whoever she or he um and they work in the city of Pake I'm sure there they will be interested and um how can I say he he's going to be for the community you understand I want someone that going to be able to do for the people that voted for us because that's what we're here for right and and we I've been getting a lot of calls so that's why I'm saying I've been searching and trying to find someone that I feel that's qualified in my book but I don't know what the rules and regulations and I know we might not have an ordinance but maybe we can add a something that if we can't really find someone that fits as the expert or tenant or I'm I'm sure we can expand it and put they have to live in Pake and they can either be a tenant a land landlord or a homeowner because the only difference between a homeowner and a tenant is that he pays a mortgage and he doesn't pay a rent I think my suggestion my ideas as as they are most appreciated ma'am always thank you um certainly in terms of uh a tenant that is that is clear uh landlord is clear Jonathan is there any information that could be provided to members of the council in terms of a better understanding of the word expert unfortunately this is not based on any state statute so there's aoad authority to municipalities who are so what do other municipalities do in other words we're defining it here so I mean we could further Define the experts and say you know something along the lines of the equivalent of a real estate agent with X number of years of experience to put a fine point on it or we could go ahead and not take that requirement out because there is no State requirement for an expert to be on the board so we we could just add another Resident or as the council person said perhaps a home owner addition to would it be helpful if we imposed uh on our Law Firm to to come up with some additional ideas on this so that we can proceed if the council so dishonor us yeah we did provide a memorandum but I could Su out again well I think that needs to be uh some more qualification some more explanation of the term expert councilman yes just a little um like I said I was doing research I was trying to see if I can find some to anyway it said rent leveling board typically requires a board with representation from both landlords and tenants often including a neutral party like a homeowner it doesn't expand saying that the homeowner has to be uh council president if I may through the council president can I ask I believe the question is what's other the municipal or what other municipalities have done I believe the councilwoman has stated that other municipalities have put homeowners a property owner may qualify as someone who's qualified I agree with the councilwoman if it's up to the council I think the council can Define it there's no definition in the ordinance I believe there may be an interpretation of the rent leveling attorney that may State a real estate agent would be good but not a requirement so I believe the the um I guess the perview or the freedom of the council or rather the responsibility I'm not sure how to word it you have the right to choose who can be on it it's not dictated by the state or ordinance I think the councilwoman is correct that a homeowner has been appointed in other municipalities I I would agree certainly with you 100% mayor um this is really open to the council with the administration's input of course and as always but this is really something for this Council to decide and how to decided if the person needs to be a resident of pic City or not and how to define expert I will tell you that I met so many people in my life who are experts in so many things that they thought they were experts in I've yet to meet one of them who anyone else thoughts it but another option is to remove the expert jonan can can we impose on you for our next meeting through your good offices um some additional verbiage uh to defining what an expert is as well as tenant and landlord as well as uh the issue of residency in the city of Pac is that to the council's yes um I would ask if I may um that we're still open in terms of getting resumés we have two active resumés now the third unfortunately is not or was not um depending on on what he comes back with it might might be resume maybe that is correct sir that is that certainly depending on what the uh attorneys provide to us might in fact allow qual ification for uh Mr Lis W colon I have one more question um we were asked this today can someone on that's on another board here in the city be on the rent level board I wasn't sure that answer number we have any number of uh members of the Community Serve in more than one capacity okay thank you are there any other uh discussion items for this or we uh appropriate to to move ahead with the understanding that we will get something from from our for mayor Mr business administrator that's to your uh yes excellent if there's no other discussion if we could go to Roman num six on our agenda minutes of August 6 September 5 and September 17 are there any additions or Corrections that need to be made to the minutes is presented seeing no lights at this time is there a motion please to accept the minutes of August 6 September 5 and September 17th there's a mo second second motion and second roll call please on the minutes councilman love yes councilwoman Melo yes councilman Schwarz yes councilman Garcia yes councilwoman goz yes and council president Sher yes thank you we are up to hearing of citizens Roman numeral 7 of our agenda in accordance with the open public meetings Act njsa 10 col 4-1 at SEC the council opens every public meeting 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 obscene material make statements which are considered bias intimidation in which a person intends to intimidate any individual or group because of race color religion gender handicap 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 we invite anyone uh to uh join us in that discussion now uh if you would like please share with us your name um and everyone has five minutes to speak is there anyone who would like to address the council good evening council president um if you could just advise where I can submit my resume for the rent leveling board I'm a licensed real estate agent I have a masters in accounting I'm pursuing a law degree and I'm a landlord in Bic I would like to thank the council president whose assembly office um had the city in involved with New Jersey Transit there was someone that reached out to his office to ask if a bus route can be amended to go down Brook Avenue Brook Avenue is in the Third Ward it is a Central Street where many residents from other Wards come to work whether it's housekeeping or construction and that would be a very big benefit for both the residents of the third W and think of other words so thank you council president um I know the there was a request for a bid for rent control attorney I'm just curious is there going to be more rent control in pic um specifically I'm curious to know if if there was rent control would it apply to all residences both owner occupied and not owner occupied would it apply to one to four homes as much as it would apply to 5 plus which is more commercial multifamilies and the reason I'm really asking is because I think rent control can really help um control rents and pic but at the same time it can really hurt specific homeowners especially those that didn't get a chance to raise the rent and they might have been kind to their tenants for many many years and all the tenant leaves and it might be difficult for them to bring the rents up to Market rents um I think there's a lot of causes for high rents in binic that really have to be examined not that it's a problem but I think it's a holistic approach and I want to mention two of them right now one of them is an apartment in pic I would like to mention just as an example each bedroom might rent for $900 so one bedroom would be $900 a two-bedroom would be $1800 a three bedroom will be $2,700 if there was a family with two parents each of them were walking away after taxes with $800 they will not be able to afford a a three bedroom a three-bedroom apart a two-bedroom apartment for $1,800 but what they might do is they might decide to take their brother-in-law and his wife in with them to live in a four or five bedroom apartment for $3,200 could that that they could afford now because they have four incomes but what happens is is the family who doesn't want to live with their brother-in-law is now competing for a three or four bedroom apartment with a family that has four Breadwinners who with are two families living together and I'm not saying it's a problem but there is a situation in Bic where families who don't have relatives to live with or don't feel comfortable living with extended relatives are competing for basic apartments with those that are willing to live with many many family members and many Bread Winners and that is bring up rents and pic substantially if the city wanted to explore a limit on how many occupants can be in each apartment I would advise the city to exclude from that limitation direct members of a family children and parents parents a lot of times don't have incomes and children obviously need to live with their parents I would advise the city to maybe explore a limit of occupancy um and obviously with those limitations that children and Par and grandparents are excluded from that I also want to ask I see on Monroe Street there is bus lanes that are being part of the safe streets and I wonder if the city has any control to enforce on these Jeffy buses and New Jersey train transit buses that they should actually pull over to the side of the road to the bus stop to let off and let people load onto the buses because they seem to do it in the middle of the street um holding up traffic if they would be ticketed it would create more traffic and hold up all those uh commuters on the bus so I don't think that's a good idea but I'm wonder if there's a way that something could be done for that and lastly I want to ask if uh on many streets I'm referring specifically to my area Spring Street Elliot Street Union Street I know that there's parking on Gregory that the mayor has um sideways parking and created many many more spots I want to know if some of those streets which are already tight might be able to become sorry sir might be to become oneway streets and have side parking thank you thank you for your questions um yes thank you for your questions a few different uh responses obviously um Mr Fernandez can you help us in terms of the gentleman mentioned Jitney buses which I know is been a discussion item in the past many times yeah so that's regulated by the state and um actually the federal government in some instances especially they go back and forth uh to New York and all vehicles whether buses or commercial vehicles or personal vehicles have to follow appropriate traffic laws so we enforce them as we can enforce them um we understand that in fact Transit is I'll say use the word jockey are constantly jocking with the Jitney buses but they provide a much needed services for municipalities such as ours and I mean I frequent those buses when I go into the city I come here and I take the bus either the Jitney or the transit bus and the convenience of having a Jitney bus come every 10 minutes and charge you maybe 50 cents more than waiting for the New Jersey Transit bus uh these I don't ever see these things empty every time I go in the afternoon into New York city so it's a much needed service and and it is under the framework of the it's under the framework of the state and the federal government those are the ones that license these buses we don't license these buses that allow them access but all traffic regulations have to be followed and it's like anyone else who doesn't follow them when we when the police has the opportunity to enforce it they will enforce it council president they have been um enforcing to Mr Wolf's point and he is correct unfortunately what occurs is there's a bit of competition with some of the competing companies and what they will do and I believe this is what Mr Wolf is referring to rather than pull over on the side they try to pick up people in the middle of the road so they can get to the next stop and as they're competing with each other this this comes up every now and then and then we address it with the chief of police and they'll direct the police officers through an initiative to keep an eye on it we'll give some fines sometimes we reach out whether to New Jersey Transit or the owners of the bus and let them know this is unacceptable but it it's a cycle we address it we enforce it and then they'll stop if it's uh beginning again we will definitely address it once more so I'll speak to the chief of police this week and let him know thank you sir um I'm not sure where to direct the question to terms of the administration the gentleman asked what what would be the agenda of a typical rent leveling board meeting I think he was referring to a contract for he referred to a rent control attorney allow me to clarify I think he may be referring to a rent leveling attorney or conflict Council attorney that also takes on that responsibility the rent leveling board they would address issues whether it's an exorbitant uh increase in a rent and whether there's justification for it whether there's repairs that would justify any conflicts obviously uh many of these disputes should go to tenant landlord court but it is the uh the perview I think the word I was looking for earlier the council has Liberty to appoint individuals to a board with an attorney the attorney operates as an expert on that board the representatives that are on that board can hear a case and perhaps the landlord says look I haven't raised the rent in five years there's justification there's conversation consideration and then they say we agree you can rent or increase the rent there may be a scenario where someone says I want to rent increase the rent from $900 to $1,800 from one month to another and I think there's no reasonable individual who would think that that's okay especially if there are not any repairs extenuating circumstances that could justify give a compelling argument as to why they would move forward the attorney would obviously ensure that any decisions made by that board Falls in line with the law there are legalities that have to be considered and sometimes lay Representatives on a board aren't privy to that information and that's what that attorney would be doing on the rent leveling board so I hope that that answers to an extent but it's not rent control and if I may and you would allow council president I I am not a proponent nor a supporter of r contr I don't think it benefits the uh municipality I've seen it have adverse effects not only on development but it may also cause deric uh property owners who say well why would I do any repairs if I can't increase base on them I think that there are initiatives and approaches that we have been in discussion of of how we can do affordability initiatives to limit the percentage or the extent to which someone can increase the rent but we have worked very hard to provide affordable housing opportunities to ensure that there are options if I made for context I want people to understand that the rent in uh our neighboring state of New York can go for8 to $9,000 for a one-bedroom so we have heard a lot of stories of individuals who are leaving New York to rent in New Jersey because of the proximity they can get Transportation into work so landlords are aware that they can get more rent for apartments but I want to commend this Council as well as the business administrator and our attorneys we have put our heads together for some affordability initiatives that I think are pragmatic and would be beneficial considering the needs of property owners as well because they have to pay their mortgages they have responsibilities but also to defend and protect the families in the city of Pake to ensure that they're not facing unjust and unnecessary rent increases without any consideration so that would be the goal with this rent level but we've we do this every year we approve their attorney and their conflict Council and then they also have that responsibility what you say may um trying to put it in my own context it's essentially a board of exception um it handles individual uh complaints and Case by case yes it's not something which a decision made by the board would affect it would not have sweeping effects it doesn't set precedent I think that's a great question because people may have that misunderstanding if one landlord and one tenant go to that um that board and a decision is made again it's it's a suggestion by the r Lely board and it carries enough weight well as much weight as is backed by the council and the law allows if there's no agreement there it can go to the court and then the tenant landlord court the judge would make the ultimate decision but there is no decision that could be made specific to your question council president that would have sweeping effects or permanent effects or set precedent on uh on all cases it is Case by case thank you thank you sir I think that that more than explain coun if I may and I know that the question was uh it was almost asked yes we have explored making some of these streets one way in fact I've had conversations with the council president and members of the council um there are streets that seem narrow enough how that occurs is do traffic studies we have a traffic study obviously the width of the street how it would impact surrounding um streets as well as for the fire Department often times people forget that it may impact the fire department if there's a one-way Street whether the truck can go whether we have to eliminate parking on one side of the street if we're going to go one way so we will uh continue forward but we do have present traffic studies on some of the more narrow streets in the areas that mentioned Union Spring and many of these streets to see if they would be conducive to make that change and more beneficial in order to ensure that traffic can flow smoothly thank you so if it's any constellation I was uh in in Jersey City earlier today on on some different matters um and the parking shortage is extraordinary it's all over the state there's not one Urban municipality where it's any better not that that's an excuse or an excuse but the initiatives that have been made here in pic by you mayor um have been extraordinary um but the problem persists right the problem persist and it's every urb I'd love to find out an urban area where it doesn't exist I get their secret formula the initiatives in terms of the diagonal parking in terms of the parking deck that's being that's being constructed I mean these are things which are are new and vital and extraordinary um but to think that we're going to solve the problem is there's no panacy approach as mentioned earlier to many of the issues and as we've seen there's been increase to access to vehicles uh some initiatives that people believe are beneficial and I think we could support the idea that everyone can have license and insurance to protect individuals but with more vehicles on the road it further exacerbates existing issues however uh I commend this Council again our Administration everyone working together we've been able to increase parking the parking deck across the street as you can see is moving that's 300 new spaces today we presented an initiative of potentially adding a 100 new spaces in one of our more densely populated areas but it's all contingent and based upon studies traffic studies legalities but I think we've worked very well to identify specific areas and land that can be converted into uh parking but council president you're right we are limited and uh with some of our other municipalities we're doing we're doing pretty good because there are some municipalities that are so congested that people are parking in neighboring municipalities and then walking over to come into the city good job thank you sir um is there anyone else who like to address the council tonight yes sir his name is ju caros he comes from a rehabilitation center fordi where they help people with drug and alcohol problems excuse me one moment please if you can set the timer double the normal time because of translation I'm sorry sir get together they they do meetings and they don't non for-profit okay they're looking to open more centers for rehabilitation so they can assist more people they hand out those pamphlets Street by street trying to identify people with drug and alcohol addiction problems when they identify a person they take it to they take them to a rehabilitation home there's two in Queens one in Florida he lives in p and he feels that the community will benefit from one of those rehabil 14 years ago he was addicted and even was in a coma and they gave him help to help them rehabilitate and now today he came with his children he says he's here today to ask for a property so that he can open one of these rehabilitation homes and help other people the way that they operate is that they house them they feed them the three meals a day and they help them until they get to um rehabilitate in detox that's um it's hard for them to find the property since they don't charge any fees so he's here asking for a property so they can help parents and children with the rehabilitation needs 14 years ago he wants to repeat that he was in a coma and that he probably wouldn't be here today each home can house 30 to 50 um individuals they have been rehabilitated and they have become productive members of society he's a truck driver he assists these meetings and he assists people with the rehabilitation he said it's very hard for people with addiction to find support because there is no cure for it he says as he sees people around P especially around Home Depot he thinks the city of Pake will benefit from one of those rehabilitation homes he's looking for your support to find the location to hold this the services he wants to repeat that they are non profit they don't charge any they get support from a church in Patterson every Sunday they give him the opportunity to hand out the message and they maintain themselves by looking for food donations from food banks that's how they feed the members of their home a lot of them are homeless and they help rehabilitate them so they can become productive members of society in a lot of cases they were able to join families together parents with their children to help them be productive and have better futures they can't um complete this cause without your support see he says he's looking for a response if if you could share with the gentleman that there are number one there are numerous facilities like this in the general area they are authorized by the state and by the federal governments they are also actively financially supported by those governments the cost of uh drug alcohol and other substances in terms of abuse depending on the individual can cause hundreds of thousands of dollars this is not to say that it is not necessary and important which is why p is very involved with mental and Behavioral Health and working with individuals who want to escape the uh scourge of addiction um at this point we've not received any notification from the federal government of available funding for programs such as this but there are a number of initiatives which the city of Pake has taken and continues to take in this area um and we're sure that when funds become available next um that there'll be recommendation um in terms of how to proceed with that but again this is because of the extraordinary costs that are involved um we necessarily don't have the funds locally and in most cases that I'm familiar with the funding is not local but comes from the state and federal council president if you would allow um should I address this in English and Spanish if I address in Spanish will someone Translate to English yes okay sir let me first congratulations for this act bravery no no and bra that has impacted all of us this work that you're doing is very important sometimes there's expectations that local government are able to do certain things that we're not allowed to do we cannot provide you a property a home home we can connect you resources or agencies who is also an assem who has worked very hard to bring resources from one of our directors sitting right behind you Dan Smith sir Dan Smith Alliance who works with specifically Works people with ADD can provide you with information how to them City City the church Gregory Gregory Bradway they also have aam with what our Council mentioned it's very important to understand they are funds cannot give you no group that's council president no that causes a president oh that causes a president will allow organ ask that service government services but for labor connect with Services Maxim maximize oh maximize the opportunties to provide more individual all us congratul for everything you've done [Applause] from that to be someone not only turned his life around but it's also helping others we all recognize that than everything you're doing in theun thank you thank you thank you mayor and thank you Council anyone else like to address the council please oh yes good evening Joe kenti council president um President Street Monroe Street and Home Depot parking lot we have a lot of day labors my question I have is can anything can be done with this because I think it's kind of out of control because you got all the streets blocked over there with these day laborers the whole parking lot I mean the other day I was there you must have had about 50 in the parking lot you can't go shopping you can't do nothing there there's a lot of drinking going on you know a lot of garbage all over the place I mean the place is just a mess you got all the new mall over there you got the schools down the street you know that are is out of control I'm just asking anything could be done with this my next question that I have I kind ofly notice here we have a uee policing my question is is that new they just started this is this the funding added to uvz or is this uh funding as a being a regular officer um like in other words if you're a u officer are you a u officer all day or half a day you became a regular officer you know how does this work my next question is I'd like to know if we have a police commissioner my last question I have here is Benson Avenue off for Main Avenue there's been a lot of work done there you had a lot of uh the parking lot made you had the um the brook redone the railings all redone my question is I know it's bad weather now but um maybe put it on the agenda or put it in your notes for the spring they have New Roads put there because I'm sorry sir the roads are in bad shape over there you spend all this money to fix everything but the road is terrible on both sides I just asking if it could be paved these are my questions I have thank you sir um the the issue of day laborers Mr Fernandez so the majority of them are actually on private property and unless the private property owners call us in we can't really do anything uh I know the mayor has been adamant having police patrols there at certain hours to make sure that it is safe for pedestrians especially uh young kids and staff members going into the new complex uh we've been in constant conversation with the owners of Walgreens and Home Depot which is where the majority are but unless they authorized activity there we really can't go in and and address it okay um in terms of uh utilization of the Urban Enterprise Zone you so we're extremely excited uh with all the new funding one of the initiatives the mayor had proposed is uh to bring back community policing and what we were able to do is using uee funds part of the funding has been to provide us special two officers and currently Off Duty Officers so every officer can put in just like they would do a road job which is what we have now uh right now we have two special two officers that also do special three so depending on the school year sometimes they're in the school or sometimes they're in the U and a very large number of sworn police officers that decide to do take their time and do that type of work versus a a road job and I'm I'm happy to report that uh it has been a very successful program I don't know if any of you saw when the mayor um opened up the substation on Monroe Street and the number officers walking door to door to every business and that's what that program is meant to do and continue to do and we hope that we can have it for many years to come as long as the funding is coming right mayor we keep the program going uh Pake Street well I'm sorry what did I say mon stre I said Monro well Monro Street's also an eligible uee but Pake Street was where the substation was I'm sorry I don't know why I have Mar Street on because of the other oh the Maro Myrtle one that's why but in both of those cases they're all officers in there in fact adman row and Myrtle we have two specific U officers that are constantly patrolling that area um and we're putting in for more funding if the council approves this resolution we'll be putting in for more funding to continue the program for the upcoming year the program ends in the end of this year so every year we have to apply to the state to continue the program the gentleman mentioned there are some roads in bad shape yeah so Benson if you allow me council president Benson I I just want to remind the gentleman with the council and us we put in for funding to have some green infrastructure in the area the goal is to expand the Green Space um the gentleman is correct as I mentioned in the beginning of our reports during the winter we don't do repairs on the roads unless it's an emergency but we are addressing it the council is very familiar with the area and we're actually looking to receive state and federal funding in order to expand the grass area right next to the brook um reduce the space of one of the lanes and then redo the other lane so is it it is part of the entire work that we're doing in that area and we do have it scheduled for 2025 council president but the streets need attention this is not the time to it because if we try to do it in the winter it's just not going to be effective I I if I remember correctly Mar you've on many occasions stated that the city policy will be if there are funds available that street in each Ward will be chosen and we've done many streets but here specifically because it is the park and we've invested so much in all of our Parks this is more of a a green infrastructure issue and because we want to tie in the work that we want to do for those roads and maximize the resources that are made available to us to Grant with uh less burden or impact on our taxpayers we're looking to utilize some of those federal grants as we addressed and mitigated some of the flooding issues created storm drainage as well as reinforce the railings by the Brook we're going to utilize some of those funds and we're going to apply them in a green infrastructure initiative where we expand the grass area and then pave the roads new make them conducive for two-way traffic on one area because we've fixed the tennis courts brought in pickle ball we've invested so much in our parks in every single Ward whether dun the Island palaski Park all of our Parks uh Christopher Columbus at school number 11 and here Bon The Next Step will be to make sure that those lanes are clear and we are looking to do that in 2025 as well as if I'll throw in we're also going to have our rubber eyes track and running uh track around Third Ward the baseball field so that's going to be an additional amenity that people are extrem extremely excited about in the area as we continue to receive record funding to enhance and improve our parks and our Open Spaces throughout the entire city as this council's approach and my Administration all of us working together continue to be recognized by County state and federal agencies so we look forward to additional funding in the next cycles and hopefully uh the assemblymen of our district who represents Us in the state and has an uncanny resemblance so our council president will continue to advocate for more money to be sent thank you very last question does p have a police commissioner we have a police chief we have a fire chief um we have a public safety uh leads but no no not an official commissioner in the perhaps the definition that the gentleman is referring to the police is run by the police chief and the fire is run by the fire chief and that's under the authority of uh in terms of the governing body this is the form of government that we have I I fall under the role of Public Safety but they run the dayto day we we leave that to the professionals who have gone throughs and committed their lives to that career they come and report to the council I work with them as a director but we allow our Chiefs in fact we very much want our Chiefs to run their departments not uh civilians there are other municipalities that go that route but I think the way that we have addressed issues have checks and balances and accountability has worked very well in our city mayor thank you so much thank you thanks anyone else like to address the council please yes ma'am if we could ask you to speak louder please yes okay set the timer because she wants to do it in Spanish okay okay okay [Laughter] okay I would like to congratulate for all the initiatives that you have done throughout the city with the parking but my question is regarding creating more parking which also will contemplate regulation regarding parking and people that Park all day without moving their cars overnight parking for residents see does the city I don't know if the city has a plan regarding or regulation regarding overnight parking or limit a two hour limit or a limit on how long a vehicle can be parked overnight during the day also or during the day I have a business on how Avenue so I've noticed that there are there are people that Park in the morning they take the bus to New York go work and then come back at night time I have also noticed people during the during around noon time that I myself have noticed especially on how Avenue she has noticed people have parked there have been told by others to park there um and I've noticed um that have parked there and they've gone there's no meters there's no alternate parking sign and they are able to leave their cars there for days between Lexington and Central Avenue I've also noticed the same issue is happening between central and okay um the parking lot that is between right across from McDonald's she has noticed that there's Vehicles there that have um blown out and also ples from two years two three weeks for that been sent parked there for about two to three weeks and have not been moved with expired license place the temporary license PL that have been expired since August and that is affecting the commercial because with those um Vehicles sitting par there you don't it doesn't allow the traffic of the consumers the customers thank you to come and attend um business to regulate what's happening is a major concern I will like to hearos on it see good so um thank you for being here thank you for for sharing with us we're talking specifically about which area by McDonald tires alluding to the lot that is right it's a private lot that's our city lot the one across from McDon speaking of power so if there are cars with expire registrations um she said there's um temporary license PLS that are expired I say one picture over to Virginia understood council president if I may I believe she understands English and prefers to communicate in Spanish so she's uh perfect fine with the council president speaking directly in English she just prefers she understands fully in English council president yes as to what you were alluding to before in our public Lots we will send the police our traffic enforcement our Patrol Enforcement Officers to go and regulate the lots that that will be a directive as of tomorrow to ensure that they see if there are any cars typically any car on a street that's there for more than 48 hours without moving has a police officer that can go and check whether it's an abandoned vehicle and then after 72 hours can be told removed at the expense of the owner in terms of our initiative council president as you're aware and the members of the council are aware we've uh We've increased parking meters we did it on marro Street in order to ensure that there would be a turnover of parking spaces to help our commercial uh properties we are looking to expand in different areas again we always have to weigh in the impact it's going to have on a community when you bring in meters it's wonderful because it opens up parking spaces but then residents go listen now I have to go down every two hours put in money if I stay at home it works great for the daytime we will explore how Avenue and see if there's justification because of the businesses there we try to limit meters for our commercial areas Main Avenue Market stre things like this but we can definitely look at the area and in terms of stepped up Patrol and vehicles that may have expired um parking uh plates or rather license plates or temporary parking plates uh we will make sure to direct that to the chief of police so he can send the officers out and regulate that area okay good Mary you think that we can get that seen in the next few days yeah we'll have a report for the next council meeting of course of the initiative taken and also perhaps an update report to the business administrator of uh expanded uh parking meter initiatives that' be great um if we can welcome you back to our next meeting hopefully we'll have some very good news for you thank you thank you ma'am thank you anyone else like to address the council please say no hands I'm close there's a motion there's a second to close roll call please councilman love yes councilman Melo yes councilman Schwarz yes councilman Garcia yes Council and council president Sher yes thank you we are up to ordinances for second and final reading reman numeral 8 number one proposed item number one proposed ordinance 2469 d24 an ordinance amending chapter 295 of the code of the city of P entitled vehicles and traffic is there a motion please to open public hearing move second motion and second roll call please councilman love yes councilwoman Melo yes councilman Schwarz yes councilman Garcia yes councilwoman col monz yes and council president sh yes thank you ladies and gentlemen at this time the council will be contemplating proposed ordinance 2469 d24 there's anyone who would like to address the this item and this item only on our agenda see no hands I'm going close the public portion second there's a motion to close in the second roll call councilman love yes councilwoman Melo yes councilman Schwarz yes councilman Garcia yes coun and council president sh yes thank you on the ordinance is there a motion pleas Mo motion and second to CL please councilman love yes councilwoman Melo yes councilman Schwarz yes councilman Garcia yes councilwoman goz yes council president Shar yes thank you on the ordinance is there a motion to accept we did that we just did that even better number two usually it's the other way around right proposed in ordinance amending the city code to the city of pic chapter 295 vehicles and traffic article 16 bus stops section 30 section 38 locations to remove bus stop on Bic street is there a motion please to open public move and second thank you roll call please councilman love yes councilwoman Melo yes councilman Schwarz yes councilman Garcia yes councilwoman goz and council president isue yes thank you at this time ladies and gentlemen the council will be contemplating proposed ordinance 2470 uh is there anyone who would like to address the Council on this item and this item only saying no hands I move to close the public portion there's a motion and there is a second Ro call please to close public councilman love yes councilman Melo yes councilman Schwarz yes councilman Garcia yes Council MZ and council president Shar yes thank you on the ordinance is there a makeer motion second and second thank you R call councilman love yes councilwoman Melo yes councilman schz yes councilman Garcia yes councilwoman col and council president sh yes thank you that was on the ordinance yes thank you uh next number three proposed ordinance number 2471-20 an ordinance amending the city code of the city of pic chapter 295 vehicles and traffic Article 13 schedules section 20.1 section 2A official parking is there a motion please to open public hearing on the ordinance moment motion and second to open councilman love yes councilman Melo yes councilman Schwarz yes councilman Garcia yes Council monz and council president sh yes thank you ladies and gentlemen at this time the council was contemplating proposed orance 2471 is there anyone who would like to address the Council on this item and this item only see no hands Mo to callose to public portion second there's a motion there's a second thank you roll call please on 2471 councilman love yes councilwoman Melo yes councilman Schwarz yes councilman Garcia councilwoman col monz and council president Sher yes thank you we did that on the ordinance is there motion please to accept move it second this is on 2471 councilman love yes councilman Melo yes councilman schz yes councilman Garcia yes Council and council president sh yes thank you we're done on that one okay on 2472 and ordinance amending chapter 278 limousines in the city of pic code to revise administrative fees and statutory bit definitions and remove scrier errors is there a motion please to open open there's a motion is there a second roll call please councilman love yes councilwoman Melo yes councilman Schwarz yes Council Garcia Council and council president sh yes thank you if I don't know what scrier errors are do I get to vote for the ordinance yes okay good ladies and gentlemen at this time the council will be contemplating proposed ordinance 2471 which changes scriveners whatever um is there a motion please to open public hearing so move to open second motion and second roll call please councilman love yes councilman Meo yes councilman Schwarz yes councilman Garcia yes Council MZ yes and council president Sher yes at this time ladies and gentlemen the council is contemplating proposed ordinance 2472 which among other things will remove scrivener's errors and anyone in the city paic who knows what that means is a better man than I um is there anyone who' like to address the Council on this item and this item only please saying no saying no hands I move to close motion and second to close 2472 councilman love yes councilman Melo yes councilman Schwarz yes councilman Garcia councilwoman council president sh yes thank you and now ladies and gentlemen what you've all been waiting for is there a motion to accept 2472 which among other things will remove scrier errors I I move to accept can we get a quick definition of what Ty typ as inscribes of course okay we have a motion we have a motion we have a second roll call please on 2472 motion is to accept we did the acceptance who second no we doing yes you second it thank you motion this is getting Council councilman Garcia yes Council MZ and council president sh yes thank you we're good with it yes okay Communications items five items 5 through 28 excuse me 5 through 27 are there any questions please on 5 through 27 16 council president 16 special no up to okay I'm sorry so items 5 through 16 forgive me are there any questions on 5 through 16 seeing none is there a motion please to accept 5 through 16 there's a move is there a second please second motion and second roll call please councilman love yes counc Melo yes councilman schz yes councilman Garcia yes Council yes and council president sh yes thank you all matters listed considered routine and nature items 17 through 27 are there any questions please on 17 through 27 councilman Schwarz councilman Schwarz question 17 we for 125 City ordin violations filed in 1,172 disposed of was they like closed out or like yeah so that's closed out so sometimes the issed and the disposed will never match hopefully we have more disposed than we have issued um because basically it's what goes through the court so in this case they weren't just was was just administ somehow it was either a fine was issued or dismissal so I would say they the the court dealt with it in any matter right it's not disposed as in they threw them out yeah right because that's what we think of it's resolved it's they they' adjudicated they've adjudicated that many tickets that we normal much higher normal monthly amount than typical is so uh so I mean it range is from month to month so um but I mean I think it's pretty standard I think it was in keeping with General yeah councilman Garcia did I cut you off yes I would like to have separate call on 24 separate on 24 are there any other questions please with the council's permission is there a motion to accept items 17 through 23 25 and 26 and 27 motion and second roll call please councilman love yes councilwoman Melo yes councilman schz yes councilman Garcia yes councilwoman gz yes and council president sh yes thank you on 24 please is there a motion to council president thank councilman love yes councilman Melo yes councilman Schwarz yes councilman Garcia St Council colz yes and council president sh yes thank you on 28 please is there a motion moving second motion and second on 28 councilman love councilwoman Melo yes councilman schz yes councilman Garcia yes councilman colz and council president Shar yes thank you we're up to resolutions Jonathan do we need a closed executive no Mr Fernandez no Mr Mayor sir none at this time thank you sir council members very good if we could please take off 29 please we have before us items 304 103 and 104 were added on this evening at the council uh 30 to 103 103 103 we have to handle 1047 okay so it would be 103 yes sir are there any questions please on 30 through 103 um I have a separate call on 39 separate on 39 please yes sir absolutely are any other questions or concerns hearing none at this time is there a motion to accept items 28 through 38 sorry 39 39 where's 30 start at starting at 30 we're starting at 30 okay so let's just make this easier for me in my little brain items 30 through 38 move it second motion second on 30 through 38 councilman love yes councilwoman Melo yes councilman Schwarz councilman Garcia yes councilman goz yes and council president sh yes thank you on 39 only please is there a motion to accept so Mo motion and second roll call please councilman love yes councilwoman Melo yes councilman Schwarz yes councilman Garcia counc and council president sh yes thank you on items 40 through 103 move it second motion and second Council please yes councilman Melo yes councilman SCH yes councilman Garcia yes Council monz yes and council president sh yes thank you one four please move it um oh no we have to it's a first reading yes first reading sir first reading 104 uh okay okay so that would be through 103 we did it yeah we're good yeah we did we're good ma'am yes so you normally read the ordinance to ordinances now yeah for first okay thank you council members uh numeral 11 ordinance for introduction and first reading proposed item number 104 an ordinance amending the designation of restricted parking for disabled persons by New Jersey license number ordinance for second and final reading to be set for January 7 is there a motion to accept for second and final reading on January 7 mve thank you councilman love yes councilman Melo yes councilman schz yes councilman Garcia councilman yes and council president yes thank you we on payment of bills please R numeral 12 on our agenda are there any questions on the bills as presented see no l is there motion please to accept item number to accept the payment of Bills second roll please love yes councilwoman mow yes councilman Schwarz yes councilman Garcia Council MZ yes and council president here yes thank you administrator's report Mr Fernandez uh none this time council president very good thank you Mr Mayor I failed to mention to you Mr may I know it reflect the sympathies of the go t and telling you the despite the cold weather the Christmas tree was quite yes a lot of children a lot of families were very excited about that good deal sir thank you are there any other items before the council at this time have been appropriately publicized and notic seeing notice's time is there a motion to adjourn please motion and second roll call to adjourn councilman love yes councilwoman Melo yes councilman yes Council gar Council yes and council president sh yes thank you this meeting is a j thank you ladies and gentlemen thank you members of the council