##VIDEO ID:vsxy5hxn-hQ## e e e e e e e e the notice requirement recording in progress provide the notice requirement provided for the open public meetings law has been satisfied notice was properly given said notice Haven been transmitted to the curer news on Tuesday January 16th 20124 as well as posting on the city's website clerk may we have a roll call council members bricks Jones present Cherry present McCrae pres sesum present Wyatt present vice president Graham pres council president hak pres all members president aor okay please rise for the pledge allegiance and remain standing for the invocation Al un States of America to the Republic for IT stand One Nation God indivisible with liy andice for all humbly we ask God The Giver of peace and the lover of Charity to give the entire family of Nations true agreement with his will and to Grant the light of his Spirit on all those who work for justice and peace amen amen thank you may we have a motion uh to approve the minutes of uh the regular meeting of November 12th so mov so move second all in favor say I I I any opposition or abstentions okay the meeting minutes are approved uh we will start with presentations uh we'll start first with uh councilman Wyatt good evening everyone even good evening all right today I have a a resolution recognizing Valerie suit kitchen for its commitment to serving the planfield community I had the opportunity to go uh several occasions to volunteer over at uh you know where they do it at and one of the things that I recognized is the work that they do is really hard work uh but what they do is they serve meals to the public um each time it's over people waiting in line they have uh people in the kitchen preparing the meals they have people packaging the meals pouring the drinks uh and then serving them to the people they also give out clothes uh so I just want to read this resolution and thank you all for the hard work that you do uh you know this is the holiday season which is the giving season and uh you do it time and time again so thank you for your commitment to the city of playing field whereas Crescent Avenue Presbyterian Church in playfields host Valerie soup kitchen three Tuesdays each month fostering a mission to nourish bodies and uplift Spirits by providing food clothing groceries and personal items to those in need and whereas Valerie soup kitchen has become an essential service to many in planfield facing food insecurity thanks to the contributions of the keys foundations generous donors Chef ke Chef Kevin Cook and dedicated volunteers who work tiously to bring hope and sustenance to the community and whereas each Tuesday except for the first Tuesday of each month correct okay a nutritious takeout lunch is served starting at 11:30 a.m. typically featuring a hot main cor soup or Salad side vegetables fruit beverage and dessert prepared based on available donations and purchased items and whereas Valerie soup kitchen serves over 200 Mills every Tuesday to individuals and local organizations and has become a vital food distribution Point currently supplying 20 different organizations in addition to its own meal program and whereas in addition to meals Valerie soup kitchen sets up a grocery table every Tuesday offering fresh produce bulk items and additional donations with the projected 14 tons of groceries to be distributed this year whereas the program also provides donated clothing toilet trees toys and household items to Gest at no cost which is expanding due to the increas in generosity of the community and whereas understanding the ongoing needs Beyond Tuesday Service Crescent Avenue Presbyterian Church also offers a deli bag lunch Distributing between 25 to 50 bags each weekday to address food and security throughout the week Valerie soup kitchen collaborates with various Community organizations including the UN unarian church for monthly grocery distribution and other groups that provide Healthcare and Social Services thereby strengthening the network of support and playing fields and whereas the invaluable support from Costco the Food Bank of New Jersey Stop and Shop and over 20 other organizations has contributed to the success of Valerie soup kitchen along along with financial support from the keys Foundation Westfield service League Snider foundation and numerous individual donors now therefore be it resolve that the city of planfield and its Council hereby recognize and commend Valerie sou kitchen Crescent Avenue Presbyterian Church Chef Kevin Cook and all dedicated donors and volunteers for their unwavering commitment and essential contributions to alleviating hunger and providing hope and uplifting the residents here in the city of planfield be it further resolved that this resolution is prepared as a token of GR itude for the compassion selflessness and Community Spirit embodied by Valerie soup kitchen and all those who support it would you please come up and receive this well I think councilman El has pretty much said everything that I was going to say in the resolution um because we do serve uh between 150 and over 200 hot meals every Tuesday and also the bag lunch program has really grown and we serve a bag lunch every weekday except Tuesdays that the soup kitchen is open and we become really a clearing house for like tons and tons of food that is donated to us that we can't use that we distribute to other organizations and groups in the city and we have the shopping table and she said you you stole all my all my all my comment so it it it means I can keep it brief but thank you to the council thank you to councilman Wyatt mayor Matt uh for this recognition and Crescent Avenue press good church and Valerie Su kitchen really appreciate the the theana [Applause] 3 two one okay thank you we'll next have a presentation from The Honorable mayor Adrian omat the floor is yours well thank you Mr President and members of the governing body I would like to speak to the governing body in the public about a few items beginning with Hannah Atkins Park we are going to be demolishing the playground that at Hannah Atkins making sure that the land is D complete client and that there are no environmental hazards by doing an environmental impact analysis of the proposed action the new playground will be porous and built on existing natural lawn and concrete and area so that there will be minimal environmental impacts currently the area is underutilized because the playground is not not in good condition and we are looking to change that we want to make sure that our Parks get maximum use and that is why we're investing in all of our parks and it's Hannah Atkins turn no adverse impacts are anticipated and therefore no mitigating factors may be required the survey on the social media on social media that ask residents for input and I invite our residents to go online and participate prior to the closing at the end of February 2025 so far we've received a number of very helpful input from the respondents we will have the new and all new inclusive playground equipment such as high swings and Rocka seesaw handicapped parking wheelchair accessible picnic tables a family restroom quiet play area and other upgrades to ensure the space is comfortable for all with all physical sensory cognitive social and communication needs this will take care of everyone we have applied for Green Acres Grant funds so that this is done at very little taxpayer expense we've also put Capital dollars towards making other playgrounds Ada inclusive playgrounds such as CER field milk campoo and the highly anticipated Rushmore recreational complex which I know everyone is looking forward to with great deal of excitement and anticip ation and that is coming in the spring of 2025 we've also last meeting I mentioned that we were in discussions with Union County about a 5.7 Acre Site that is on cushion road with the view to developing that in a way that would be pleasing to our residents and I thought some people might have misunderstood what development M so I just want to clarify that that we're not thinking of any residential development those who live within a half mile of 12 29-53 cushion road which is a 5.7 acre open space will receive a mailing and that mailing will be going out very very shortly there'll be 1,5 homes that will receive this mailing they are within a 0.5 mile radius of this open space so we've created an online survey to gather Community perspective about how this space could be developed so the participation of the residents in that area is crucial in helping us to understand what amenities and features would best serve our r residents residents are therefore asked to complete the survey which will provide preset options like playground walking PA path sculpture Gardens Etc and they will have space to provide their own IDE and additional feedback so we really want to hear from all of the residents in the surrounding areas within5 mile radius of that open space we recognize that the second ward is one of the areas in the city that doesn't have a County Park and for that matter I don't believe it has a public park period that is on and operated by either the municipality or by the county and that open space presents a good opportunity with input from our residents to have a very good recreational space for the enjoyment of the people in the second W but the people of the city in particular and FEMA I want to talk about FEMA for a minute and flood mitigation the femur flood uh mitigation is related to homes that are within a certain um elevation it's related B basically to home elevation and so those who live in areas that FEMA has designated as eligible for flood mitigation funds will receive a mailing about an informational session the city is having for residents to learn about these funds the city will be applying for this Federal Grant on behalf of the eligible residents FEMA designates which properties are eligible and the mailing has been targeted to those properties only now the mailing was sent out I believe last Friday and so these residents might have already received that mailing the information there will be an informational session which will be held on January 13th at 700 p.m. at the pack and I want to State again that it's FEMA who has determined based on the elevation of certain homes which homes are in the impacted area and which homes will be eligible for funding but we want to encourage all of our residents to come out and be a part of that informational session those of you that have received the mailing you are highly encouraged to come out at the pep and finally I want to just talk about the office of homeless prevention we have decided that given the situation of so many people who are spiraling into homelessness that we needed as a municipality to do something about it and with that in mind we are creating the office of homeless prevention here in the city seeing the need for homeless prevention we have created a new office which will be in our Health and Social Services Department and that is known as the office of homeless prevention there's a press release that I believe went out this evening and the job of the social worker to staff this office has been posted on the the city's website so I encourage those of you who believe you might be qualified for this position to go on to our website and to put your application in we've been working with our grant writers to apply for Relevant grants to fund this office and the resources the office can offer to those who will be in need of such services so this is something that we are really looking to begin in the early part of 2025 our goal is to do all that we can to prevent people from spiraling into homelessness Mr President and council members that ends my presentation thank you thank you mayor we'll just have a a an opportunity for anyone who wants to discuss the improvements in Hannah Atkins Park uh to speak now uh the floor is open you'll have three minutes uh for public comment regarding the Hannah Atkins improvements you want to speak regarding that yeah all right come on name and address for the record how you do uh Abraham salmon 727 uh Garden Street and I'm part of a calisthetics team right here in a playing field and we don't have a home we have to go to other towns to work out when we have competitions we're in pasca way we're in Greenbrook so you know with the improvements here um I just wanted to read our mission statement real fast and let me just pull it up sorry for this let find My Notes okay here we go um the purpose of this proposal is to inspire men women and children to better themselves through mental and physical endurance training at a level where they feel comfortable yet inspired by our team through old school full-on physical training with their own body weight body weight training is the safest and most efficient method to gain strength and confidence through physical fitness a park will allow members of the community who may not be able to afford gym memberships to exercise in their own Community for free with unlimited access a calisthetics park in planfield will be great for our youth in a community we have body weight programs we can share with Community every Sunday we have Sunday service actually we used to have it at uh In-N-Out Bail Bonds when it was right there used to be about 20 30 guys men and women out there uh working out um so every Sunday we have Sunday service which the whole team comes out and trains with the community and children are always welcome to come and train and uh we ask about you know they ask questions about calisthetics weight loss cardio and endurance so our brand is uh and our team is team easy money right here in Playfield and uh our other friend uh f Coe friends over everything we came into this calisthetics uh community and uh we're just looking somewhere to call home and we can have our competitions here right here in planfield thank you thank you sounds like a great idea name and address CP of our 1129 we laue about Hannah Atkins Park yes so does that mean that everything that's there is going to be leveled the pool's going to be taken out and then replaced and the the building with Mrs Atkins name on it that going to be demolished and also the retaining walls that are along the side on um planfield Avenue the the the only thing that I would request as someone that passes by um is to make if you're going to keep some of that building or the retaining wall to make it more colorful and don't make it look so Urban because right now it's not it's not very Pleasant looking and you know I'm not a kid anymore but like I would think that kids would like break colors and you know don't make it look so Urban but and is the pool going to be replaced I'll get that question asked for I I don't know if Urban's the right word but um but I understand the colorful the the the vividness brightness certainly um you want to address that yeah so the two questions or the two comments that were posed I will ask um director Dabney to address the second one the first one I will address um I think that your comment is very timely given not only are we transforming these recreational spaces and our Parks but there is a project that will be done I believe sometime early to May 2025 where there will be an outdoor gym at the skid Park Madison Avenue there'll be an outdoor gym it's all designed the only thing we're waiting on is the okay from Green Acres or from the uh D because of an environmental study that they have insisted on us having in spite of the fact that it is already an existing Park the fact that we're making enhancements we have to have this study and so upon completion of that study you will have that space that you're asking for second question or yes as far as as far as question testing testing yes uh the only thing that's going be placed over there right now is the pole okay there be other phases of that Park to be done in the future but right now that's just what the competition size competitive uh I should say uh inclusive playground that's all it's going to be placed there a new playground the old one's coming out and the new one's going in okay completely inclusive playground for everyone so it's positive but yeah just future plans for the park as we move forward too okay okay but that's all that's happening right now at this point in time okay Chann 1227 East Front Street planfield New Jersey I had a question about what actual equipment will be there because I heard handicap parking I heard handicap tables but will there actually be equipment that a child let's say who's in a wheelchair can play with and the second question is is soft playground ground environmentally dangerous or something I love the fact that it's green but I do know that the trend is to use the ground that if the child Falls it will absorb the impact of the fall and I see them doing that around different cities changing the the bottoms third we have a lot of pools in planfield and I love that because I think black kids should swim but is there any uh plans to put a spray park somewhere thank you yes answer your question in in terms of the the park itself uh this there yes there's definitely plans for spray park that's going to be at Rushmore it's going to be a major Park it's going to be beautiful I think it's be one of the best in the state it's all set and done it's going to be a spray park competition siiz pool new building with lockers n showers Etc everything in it so it's going to be it's going to be a great project it's scheduled to open in late spring of 25 so yes we're going to be moving with that that's definitely going to happen uh and as far as as what you mentioned about the other Park Han Rakin yes that's going to be completely inclusive playground that means for everyone wheelchair accessibility everything from the street into the park and we're going to put in the community room uh family restro along with the men and women's room restro to make it better and the poorest BR surface is rubberized it's a rubberized surface that no one can never get hurt okay for everything but it's completely inclusive playground has all the amenities for everyone whether you're handicap or not but it's for everyone so to touch on everything so everything we doing is to make it better for everyone each Park as we go along so thank you for your input director is there anyone online no okay thank you all right public hearing on Hannah Atkins is now closed uh we'll next have councilwoman Julian Cherry uh to present Champs are here good evening everyone good evening I like that so tonight I have the honor and privileged to acknowledge an amazing group of individuals I didn't say boys because there's one female on this team girls rock so I want to also acknowledge the board the parents and then also the coaches and I'm GNA name the coaches by name first I'm GNA ask Miss TAA Owens to come up the president Anthony Bry vice president head coach June Swinton assistant head coach Paul [Applause] Johnson offense offensive Co coach offensive coach Carlton boo defensive coach shakim Thomas Chris Brown and Darnell Reed okay so being a team mom and my husband being a coach I know exactly what it takes to really run a a football team I know the efforts the time the energy the resources and the love that you pour into these kids and so tonight I wanted to make sure I acknowledge their hard efforts because they had a Flawless season eight and zero wo so I won't read the entire resolution but I'll read key notes in here so whereas the playing field Titans 10U team achieved an extraordinary Milestone during the 2024 season completing an undefeated 8 and z regular season culminating in a triumphant victory over the Edison jets with a score of 28-7 at the Edison High School on November 10th to win the Central Jersey Pop Warner Championship whereas the victory Of The Testament of the team's resilience skill and determination particularly as many of these athletes overcame a heartbreak of a triple overtime playoff during the prior season whereas the offense that's led by quarterback Noah Allen you here come on up here Noah supported by the dynamic group of players and when I call your name come on up Dynamic group of players contributing to both sides of the ball including Carter RoR Hakeem Nelson Trey Huff Jaden Ferguson Josiah Vance tawa boydd Mason Brown jti J Joseph brus Jackson Jordan Reed Michael Williams ton mccole Carter Kev Kevan M Kon mcco Carter Zion Ward provided balance and explosive playmaking during the entire season so whereas there is one female her name is Ariana gamble she was the team's exceptional female player she aspired many with her contributions as both a defensive tackle and running back providing an exclusive and strength of the Playfield Titans program so whereas the Titans benefited from the steadfast support and organization of their president TAA Owens vice president Anthony team mom Sophia Shelton you he team mom no Okay Sophia Shelton whose tireless efforts ensure the smooth operation of the program so therefore be it resolved by the planfield city council County of union state of New Jersey the playing field 10U Titans team its players and coaches supported and hereby commend you for exceptionally accomplishments during the 2024 season and for bringing pride and inspiration to the city of planfield I'm [Applause] allow um Miss TAA the president to say a few words and then I'm going to about my Council colleagues and the mayor to come for a picture I just want to say thank you to Julian cherry and everyone on the city council board and the mayor and we're just going to keep going that's right one one [Applause] e say it again right that's your get him going right so heartwarming all right let's get back to business uh all right regarding uh ordinance for for tonight we have MC 202 24- 61 through MC 2024 64 which are scheduled for public hearing and final passage for the regular meeting as advertised uh we now move on to resolutions uh start with the legislative body items 445-4424 do we have a consensus to add these items to the voting meeting yes are any items we wish to take off the consent agenda for legislative body okay uh all those in favor with for a consensus say I I any opposition or abstentions okay those shall be added to the voting meeting uh we'll move to the mayor uh business administrator items would the VA please present her items yes thank you council president I only have one item for you this evening and that is the renewal of our contract with Delta Dental who provide dental insurance for our active and retirees you'll notice there is a 2.87% increase in rates it's about a17 79 per person per month um and that's the only item I have this evening okay any questions from Council colleagues that's council president one question so Dental is completely separate from the hi completely separate okay all right thank you dental and vision are both separate separ okay all right uh hearing no other questions uh do we have a consensus to add these items this item to the voting meeting yes okay any opposition or abstention okay those shall be added uh Department of Finance please present your items H cons president I have eight items for your approval first one is um resolution authorizing the execution of agreement between Mercury public affairs and this is to give us access to federal grants second one is resolution authorizing funding for continuation of an agreement between City plan field and PE GIF and this is for V our annual renewal of for various types of insurance then resolution authorizing transfers between current year 2024 appropriations of general fund and this is um our resolution which we do November and December of each year to affect transfers between different accounts that might need that might have additional monies or that may need monies um 45124 resolution authorizing approval to amend current year Municipal budget by inserting four items of Revenue this is our chapter 159 45224 resolution authorized and approval to amend current year 2024 Municipal budget by inserting four items of Revenue and appropriation from um LF RF this is a reappropriation of opa funds from 2022 and 2023 to 2024 so that we make sure that we appropriate all of the funds that were allocated to the city um 453 -24 resolution authorizing the tax refunds on properties for the attached schedule this is for one over payment one duplicate payment and one um um new assessment that was done and the taxes were lower resolution 44-24 resolution authorizing the cancellation of erroneous tax sales certificate there were two properties with very similar numbers and one number was just uh just entered incorrectly but it was caught um on the same day of the tax sale and the correction was made on the same day and finally resolution 455 5-24 resolution authorizing the approval to cancel taxes in the amount of $757 and this is for 100% disabled veteran exemption are there any questions that's that's what I want to know any questions from Council colleagues on any of these items okay do we have consensus to add them to the voting meeting yes all in favor any opposition or abstentions okay thank you director uh these shall be added uh the department of police please present your items good good evening council president evening I have five items for the council's consideration 45624 resolution authorized and approval to apply and accept the 2024 New Jersey drive sober or get pulled over year in Holiday Crackdown that starts uh basically on December 6th through January 1st of 2025 uh this information is already on the city's website because we're ready to start and get it rolling it will also be on separate Ms boards throughout the city uh to educate the public uh that we are conducting this campaign also if we pull over drivers we also will hand out literature in regards to the U the uh you know the dangers of driving while intoxicated so it's a it's a overreaching campaign that we are doing this year for the holiday season now moving on to the next one is our 457 724 that is an uh to enter in agreement with pasac data services for cyber security Sonic walls firewall switches hardware and support for the plane field police and fire department not to exceed $74,999 Cent this is upgrades basically to the 911 system that we have in the basement and also to the firewalls with all of our law enforcement um uh computers that we have in this building uh we have to secure all these things according to the New Jersey State Police guidelines so this is uh updating stuff that we have a lot of our systems are are end of life so we are changing a lot of the switches and things out and and uh making Necessary improvements 4824 is a resolution for grant funding to support the planfield police department's community events for next year this includes this Queen City Mentoring Academy program National Night Out and faith and blue not to exceed $75,000 4 5924 is a resolution to enter into a contract with feta masonry for emergency interior step repairs that we have to make in the police department one of the steps in the department is completely broken um and we have to make repairs to that step uh so we need a we need a certain type of Mason to do it considering the age of this building so that's what this is for and 460 is a resolution to enter into a contract agreement with above all lines to remodel and renovate the men's bathroom locker room that's in the basement of this building for $27,000 uh $700 um we are upgrading every bathroom in the building um with this we will complete all of the um the bathrooms on the police side of the building next year we will move on to the bathrooms here on the municipal side for the municipal court and um that's all I have any questions from Council colleagues council president yes uh one quick question sure um I know these Renovations are crucial uh do you see any more uh Renovations that need to be done because I know the council did pass the resolution saying that we're going to do a whole entire new building um so anything else that's you know pressing pressing issues that need to be renovated well it it depends um the the building the age of the building presents numerous problems so it's a 24-hour building is open 24 hours to day so it's it's kind of hard to say what we may need so we generally keep maintenance funding going every year to keep up parts of this building uh we do have an HVAC project that's coming up we do have other uh issues down there in the um in the computer room that will be that we will be fixing as time goes on but outside of those things the building's in pretty good shape we've made a lot of repairs to this building over the last four years and at you can see by looking at it so there's still some things we have to do but nothing stands out at this time that I can think of off the top of my head but like I said it's it's a building that is open 24 hours a day so there will always be repairs that we have to make it all right thank you so I I simly am hopeful for uh a new Municipal complex which hopefully would have uh significantly less upkeep uh because of uh the newness of uh that proposed building but I mean I guess you know we still have no choice but to maintain what we have uh while it's there so uh but hopefully we can cut down on those costs in the future by making investments in our infrastructure um so thank you for working on that as well thank you sir do we have consensus to add these items to the voting meeting yes yes yes any opposition or abstentions okay those shall be added to the voting meeting uh the Department of Public Works director good evening Mr council president members of council the Department of Public Works has four resolution to present resolution R 46124 authorizing the city of planfield to submit and this right here I like to amend if possible uh some of the language uh city of planfield to to apply accept submit an application in an amount not to exceed up to $4.5 million uh to support the milk Campo uh field detention Basin uh this 4.5 was here because that's what we applied for but based on uh we''re going to receive that number should change to $250,000 at the current time to the Department of Community Affairs so just me that to reflect those the numbers that we're going to receive okay so you want that to be uh amended you want to pass that as amended okay yes cuz for the flow mitigation we're going to get 250 we applied for 4.5 uh but we'll just continue to apply uh to the DC for more funding to uh off set cost for the detention Basin work uh resolution 462 there's 24 resol city of planfield to submit Environmental Protection Green Acres Program through Jake's law which you just make to may get the thorough presentation and it not to exceed a number of $610,000 for the handin of parks project enabling resolution this for the J law playground resolution R 4632 for res authorized the change order release of performance bar retainage and final payment uh this was for work done at as place and lineman place and we had a $55,000 reduction in the number and that's due to the as built materials being less and also the amount of police Personnel that we didn't need for the project so this is for that for Road improvements and that's the release of them the two-year maintenance bond for diaster place and linman Street roadway improvements project Crossroads Paving uh company and resolution 4642 4 resolution authorizes execution of a grant agreement with the state of New Jersey Department transportation for the safe route to school improvements at five intersections something that we can wait to see happen uh so there's five intersections that are going to be uh done and the five intersections for the record is West Front Street and Grant daav West Front Street in park AV West nth Street in Arlington Avenue W Avenue Carnegie AV and weron Avenue Central Avenue and this is going to be major upgrades to catch basins inlets the curbing handicap ramps uh rapid flashing Beacon lights from Woodland and Central Avenue uh and also we're going to do uh brick patterns that or the crosswalks on brick pattern so everything for the safety of the children at all these five intersections and that's pretty much it sounds good any questions from Council colleagues yes just question I'm sorry you said a question just a point of clarity on the the language that you said for the r461 d24 what what was the language that you used you said it need to be updated yes I just want to say apply and accept Okay up to $4.5 million uh submit the and the Grant application for the pro for this uh for the project essentially we're we're looking for authorization to apply for 4.5 and then we believe we're going to be except we're going to be getting about 258,000 awarded to us so we want to clarify apply for 4.5 and accept 258,000 okay well yeah thank you thank you director chair thank you for R 46124 let me be first to say thank you director DY for that area you know I live in that area so so I know that this is definitely needed once you apply and accept what's the time frame do you think that well the funding I think we we'll have it should be real soon if the funing is coming to us so pretty much here so it's just a matter of just Revis and everything that we got to submit back that we're going to accept the number that the 250,000 number okay so you're thinking like spring or summer uh I think we uh within the next few months we should have everything ready need to go thank you any others council president um first director I want to say thank you I think anytime any Department comes back with the savings for the city um we should be uh grateful for that because that's money that's returning back to the taxpayer so again I want to say thank you for that I also want to acknowledge this safe uh roots to school we know that the community has um stressed some concerns about the safety of the children as they go to and fro school so I am very appreciative of these opportunities to improve those areas for the safety of our children so I want to acknowledge that also is there an ETA and I and if I apologize if that was the ETA councilwoman Cherry asked about it was okay then you can strike that part uh okay was that yours a flood mitigation right you mentioned school yeah yeah well yes ETA for that we're looking to out put everything together specification and go out the bid in in January so I guess with the timeline uh late spring we should start doing some getting something going with work in terms of those uh intersections and we're going to try to work it out according to without interrupting school when we do that like starting when they go ear school and stopping no when it's time to get out let out so that's how we're going to try to work that out thank you director welcome okay anyone else I have a question for that um safe routes do are you including charter schools in this well this was something that was done going back in time so this involved the police department D everyone was involved when we put this out there so ask your question down the road if some more safe rout of school funds come about then we can do know I guess they didn't single out what schools have to be done but this was done with the Board of Education going back in time like years ago for the these intersection that were chosen here so this question I guess I'm I don't see a reason why Charter School W be a part of it in the future that happens thank you thank you all right first uh can we have a motion to uh amend R 46124 uh with the language that uh ba can you just restate that language so we can your mind it would be to apply for the 4.5 and accept the 250 8,000 2 250,000 okay apply for 2 2 apply apply for 4.5 except 250 can we have that uh a motion to uh amend that so move uh all in favor say I I any oppositions or or extensions okay 46124 is amended uh now do we have a consensus to add that to the voting meeting yes yes any any opposition or abstentions okay added to the voting meeting uh Department of Economic Development good evening good evening council president good evening Council I have items 465-2448 3-24 so the first resolution is to apply for and accept a grant for up to 4 million this would be for the center of excellence is from the Department of Community Affairs this would be for both Professional Services and for construction the next resolution is to increase an existing contract that we have with think Wilder to use another source of funds the contract vendor would not exceed the amount of approximately $200 13,000 the next resolution is also to increase a contract vendor this is for Remington Vernick engineering um for what I didn't mention was the previous resolution that's for architectural service for the center of excellence the next two resolutions are for Engineering Services for the center of excellence the first Remington ver vernic this is for our mechanical electrical and plumbing engineer then CME Associates which is to have a contract or authorized for 75,000 for Engineering Services for the center of excellence this is for Structural Engineering the next resolution looking at 46924 this is for our n Swain group contract this is for our Redevelopment planner this is to increase their their current contract which is 125,000 to 150,000 this is for additional services for the city related to Redevelopment 47-24 this is to do a non- condemnation Redevelopment study for 204 Spooner Avenue looking at 47124 this is to designate Brown's funeral home as a redeveloper for 122 30 planfield Avenue this is to allow Brown's funeral home to expand their ceremony Service as well as their parking area then the next resolution is to authorize an amendment to 768 d24 768-9432 Johnson Avenue this is to amend their current Redevelopment agreement to adjust the timeline related to construction as well as include additional members in their Urban LLC urban renewal LLC and the lash resolution 473-2457 questions questions from Council Members yes councilwoman Cherry yes what is the timeline for the center of excellence to start it will start this 2025 in the spring spring MH and has any of the amenities changed in terms of like some of the services that you'll be be providing no so the programs that were originally presented and it's still on our website for the final report which includes uh competition flute pool a cafe multi-purpose space classroom space a basketball court um a fitness area uh commercial kitchen and so forth okay thank you yes go ahead president um 46524 the 4 mil um is there a required in kind match no matches required excellent thank you any others two questions uh do we have an estimate of how much the center of excellence will be I know before we were waiting on that right we have an excellent um estimate right now what we're working on is the final agreement with the developer once we have that firm number and they are where we will release the number okay and the second question is the 204 Spooner Avenue um I look that up so I know the house says 204 but I know it's a lot right next door to that so I assume it's the lot next door um are we looking to build homes there is that the the thought process yeah it is the vacant property that that's there we are looking to do um mixed use but again this is a study okay thank you any other Council colleagues question sure and the 47-24 for The Spooner Avenue said look forward to study it's going to be B before the planning board right correct yes okay all right do we have consensus to add these items to the voting meeting yes okay all in favor say I I any opposition or abstentions okay this shall be added to the voting meeting uh the Department of Health and Social Services director good evening thank you good evening council president and Council uh resolution 47424 is a resolution recognized in January 2025 as National modern day slavery and human traffick and prevention month I know for many years we have put forth this recognition uh and it's difficult title for many to read but indeed it is something that exists uh in this world and a couple years ago we actually had a uh human trafficking challenge here in planfield our recognition is simply that to recognize that this uh odious uh multi-billion Dollar business exists in the world and that people are either being trafficked for elicit reasons or they're being held in what is called modern day slavery which means that they could be working and their passports can be taken that's called Labor um and they're not giving those passports back and they have to work so there's many different situations like that that exist in the world and in this country and in its state uh one of the things that we in this field are looking at is uh FIFA 20 26 uh particularly around when you have big sports events human traff in and sex trafficking happens and so we just want to let the city know and let the world know actually that we are aware of this and we are working with everyone we can to make sure that we can reduce it I don't I can't I won't say prevent uh that that's a big thing to say but certainly uh to bring education and attention to it and every month we do uh various activities to bring attention within the city as well resolution 4752 24 uh we are rejoin it and we will resubmit it in uh January of 2025 resolution R 4762 24 is to enter into contract with bsky and Snider to replace uh compressors at the senior center uh we in sections of the of the center is without heat and so this is an emergency situation the same is true for resolution 477-2495 years and I think those boilers are probably 50 or 60 years old at this point so they we have tried to patch them but at this point they need to be replaced uh and the heat is out in the one of the sections of the building r478 24 is uh resolution authorization of authorizing rejection of proposals for covid-19 and other vaccination that's RFP that we're rejecting which is customary in R 4794 is a award to strategic Health Solutions uh there's a process they have to go to in in order to get accredited so that they can be out vaccination um they do their mobile vaccination and they were the lowest bid and 180,000 is uh pay through a grant and those are all my resolutions any questions any questions from Council Members question councilwoman Cher yes r47 4-24 first thank you so much for bringing this resolution forward what do the activities look like so often we do training over the previous years we had some houses of worship that asked us to do training and we do find ways to provide that we certainly do social media posts um and we do some just informational pamphlets and stuff like that um basically that's it we are very open to doing training uh and bringing attention and highlight to the situation thank you anyone else okay okay do we have consensus to add these to the voting meeting yes yes any opposition or abstentions okay should be added Department of solid sewer and solid race good evening good evening council president Council I have one resolution for your consideration tonight 48-24 resolution authorizing the purchase of one new John dearbo from Jesco not to exceed [Music] uh resume in 5 minutes recording stopped e e e e e e e e e e e e e think so recording in progress oh okay we will resume our business uh we now move on to consideration of public hearing second reading and final passage uh Madame Deputy please read MC 202 24- 61 by title and further certify that is complied with all stat statutory requirements MC 2024 61 is an ordinance to establish parking enforcement zones and residential areas it is hereby certified that notice of a public hearing on this ordinance was published in The Courier news on November 15th 2024 okay the floor is now open to any member of the public that would like to speak regarding MC uh may I have a motion to adopt this ordinance on second reading and final passage and if adopted some move second clerk may we have a roll call roll call MC 2024 61 council members bricks Jones yes Cherry yes McCrae yes sesum yes Wyatt yes vice president Grim yes council president hak yes that is unanimous this ordinance been adopted on second reading and final passage thank you Madame Deputy please read mc22 24- 62 by title and certified that is complied with the law MC 202462 is an ordinance of the city of planfield County of Union New Jersey adopting the home ownership small Lots Redevelopment plan dated November 7th 2024 it is hereby certified that notice of a public hearing on this ordinance was published in The Courier news on November 15th 2024 okay the floor is now open to anyone that would like to speak regarding MC 202462 specifically the floor is now open name and address for the record all right not seeing anyone in the gallery no one online uh I am closing public comment uh the I'll now entertain a a motion in a second to adopt this ordinance second uh clerk roll call roll call MC 202462 council members bricks Jones yes Cherry yes McCrae yes sesum yes Wyatt yes vice president Grim yes council president Hoak yes that is unanimous this ordinance has been adopted on second reading and final passage thank you madam Deputy please read mc024-3.jpg 24 it is hereby certified that notice of a public hearing on this ordinance was published in The Courier news on November 15th 2024 okay the floor is now open to any member of the public that would like to speak regarding MC 202 24- 63 specifically uh the floor is now open hearing and seeing none both online and in the gallery I'll close public comment uh and entertain a motion in a second to uh adopt this own on second reading and final passions second clerk may we have a roll call roll call MC 2024 63 council members bricks Jones yes Cherry yes McCrae yes sesum yes Wyatt yes vice president Graham yes council president hackaday yes that is unanimous this ordinance has been adopted on second reading and final passage thank you that shall be published as required by law uh Madam clerk please read MC 2024 64 and certify its legal compliance MC 2024 64 is an ordinance of the city of planfield in the county of Union granting a tax exemption with respect to certain property identified on the city's tax map as block 824 Lots 24 25 and 26 and designated in the city's tax records as 228-236 East 9th Street planfield New Jersey and authorizing the execution of a Financial agreement with Golden Circle urban renewal LLC it is hereby certified that notice of a public hearing on this ordinance was published in The Courier news on November 15th 2024 I'm opening the floor for any member of the public that would like to speak regarding this ordinance specifically three minutes hearing and seeing none online or in the gallery I'm closing public comment and entertaining a motion in a second to adopt this ordinance on second reading and final passage and if adopted should be published as required by law so move roll call please question question okay go ahead uh just a quick question and the backup uh documentation and the application submitted by a Golden Circle urban renewal uh the exhibit schedule the exhibit say uh pending so can we do an agreement if they don't have the business entity does not have the complete paperwork director of Economic Development will address so what is pending right now is the urban renewal at that time they were applying to go from a regular LLC to urban renewal they have their urban renewal entity that's why I said pting when you did the first reading they were not an urban Ral it was pending it was pending then okay okay any any further questions okay maybe I have a roll call roll call MC 2024 64 council members brick Jones no Cherry yes McCrae yes sesum yes Wyatt no vice president Graham yes council president haaken yes five in favor two oppose ordinance to been adopted on second reading and final passage okay Madam clerk would you oh no is that it it's the last one okay we now move on to public comments limited to resolutions and motions uh being considered this evening uh we don't have any of those do we we'll skip that okay Mr clerk please announce public comments on the yeah on the resolutions total of 30 minutes has been allocated for public comments limited the resolution itions being considered this evening each speaker will be given 3 minutes come on name and address for the record this is for public this is public comment for Resolutions and motions considered this evening I'm not used to being the only one I'm confused resolution 465 through 468 and it actually may include 469 but I'm not sure all having to do with the YMCA um which somehow got named the center of excellence I thought Center of Excellence came when the world MCA was going to be a recreational center as was promised in the town I also recall over 2 Apartments being approved for the YMCA SL Center of Excellence so I'm confused I believe believe we bought it for $5,000 I'm seeing roughly another uh 5,000 we wish 5 million I see roughly another 5 million or close to it so we're at 10 million plus whatever else went into it is it apartments with a small gymnasium in it or is it primarily a recreational center but 200 Apartments is pretty big so that's my confusion that's all I have to say okay when we close public comment I will allow the director of Economic Development to clear any confusion up I see none anyone else online okay yes public comment in person is closed online speaker please state your name and address for the record and the resolution you're you're speaking regarding they're still muted caller you need to unmute yourself okay we can hear you turn off the YouTube stream Brenda Gilbert we can hear you 1208 East FR street can you hear me yes okay um my one question I have I guess is that are the people involved with the different development corporations the the names of those that are part of those development uh corporations I just wondered if that is available to the public my second thing is is to Mr Brown um he spoke about human trafficking and I don't know if this is at all possible but just listening to that and thinking of what is happening in terms of uh housing in blf and seeing what is going on I don't know if there's some way where that particular um Orin that you put forth or that particular I guess oh I got to get my words straight here now you were talking about the the the human trafficking situation if at all that that could be somewhere uh a partnership done with um the um inspection department and I tell you why I say that because in some of these situations it in some of these houses where there's overcrowding and stuff like that those kinds of things may well be going on and I don't know how we as a city could address it or even locate it or be be um I guess be the agency that would would deal with that but I do feel that there might be something that that might might might could happen in terms of prevention if there was some type of uh partnership program that could be done with this program of human trafficking and the situation of overcrowding in some of these houses with inspection because when you when when inspection sees a lot of overcrowding there's a possibility that that might be going on so I don't know if there's a way that that that could be kind some kind of partnership done in that program but I I just thought I I'd put that that forward thank you so much thank you anyone else online no okay uh public comment is now closed uh Mr clerk would you please announce the consent agenda yes council president the consent agenda items have been identified as resolutions 445 24 through 4824 4752 24 has been removed and 46124 has been amended thank you uh may I have a motion to approve the consent agenda approve oh you were supposed to answer something aren't you I'll get back so we get to respond your yeah I I'll get soon as we do this I'll come right back sorry so both second all in favor actually let's have a roll call on that it's roll call on the content agenda items council members Briggs Jones yes Cherry yes McCrae yes sesum yes Wyatt see vice president Graham yes council president hak yes the consent agenda items been approved okay thank you um director Fields uh go right ahead with your response sorry okay did you want to respond is okay if I respond yes it is okay okay okay so um to answer the question about um resolutions 465 through 468 the center of excellence itself is the 55,000 Square ft YMCA building that will be a recreation center and a rich Enrichment Center all 55,000 Square ft the program is available online the program is going to include the competition pool it's going to include a basketball court it's going to include a running track um Turf indoor turf field multi-purpose Fitness room multi-purpose event space is going to include a cafe a rock climbing wall and it is going to be a separate lead certified building separate from the mix use residential that's going to be behind it that's going to be included in the block and lock parcel and those mix use residential is going to be 100% affordable but it is completely separate from the 55,000 sare feet recreational building all of these grants that were listed 100% go towards the recreational space okay thank you for the response okay so we have non-consent agena items could you please read those we don't we don't we don't have any all right okay well we'll move to General comments total of 30 minutes has been allocated for all public comments each speaker will be given three minutes uh name and address for the record can address any Topic at all if you are online uh you can call in the number is on the city website good evening good evening my name is Larry Cohen I'm a volunteer animal Advocate living at 24 mclenon place in Fanwood uh I'm here tonight to ask you to pass a resolution in support of State bill s251 a451 which would make it illegal in New Jersey for pet stores shelters and rescues to sell dogs cats or rabbits from commercial breeders 149 towns in New Jersey and eight other states have already passed similar leg legislation aimed at a cruel puppy mill industry that breeds animals in inhumane conditions and then exports them to other states to be sold to unsuspecting consumers having written to you about this twice and having spoken to someone both in the mayor's office and the clerk's office I wanted to find a way tonight to help you see the importance in acting as a councel to support this state bill and I found inspiration on your own website in a letter dated June 24th of this year your director of Health and Social Services shef Brown wrote a beautiful letter about the responsibility humans have for the proper care of an advocacy for Animals here's the letter according to Mr Brown quote treating animals humanely is essential and quote educating all household members especially children about proper care and Humane treatment of animals is vital he concludes his letter in part by writing that quote humanely treating animals is a collective responsibility that reflects on our community's values State Bill s211 a451 addresses Mr Brown's concerns directly by taking New Jersey out of a system that exports The Offspring of cruel and inhumane treatment of animals what better way in your role as part of the collective planfield Community to show your citizens the way towards Humane treatment of animals than by acting to reflect their values through the passage of a resolution in support of this bill I had sent you copies of the bill digitally when I emailed you but if anybody would like a hard copy so that you could see a sample resolution that was passed by West wood in northern New Jersey I have it here would anybody like a copy yes please give it to our clerk so they can distribute it to the council members thank you good evening Mar and Siri vung Avenue thank you for the explanation before um as per the June 5th Union County Freeholder meeting it was mandated that in order for a deer kill to occur again this year in planfield planfield required a resolution from Council as this did not take place we can look forward to a violence spray bloodless and safe season in our Parks this year it's a delightful feeling Cedar Brook Green Brook and even Cushing Basin have been the scene for the past at least eight years for sports Hunters to come in using crossbow a brutal brutal way to die um for our young people 30 years of sports killing in Union County has only normalized violence and did nothing to mitigate the alleged concerns 50% of crossbow shots are ineffective they have a failure rate lead to the slow agonizing death of deer for no reason um this is government sanctioned animal cruelty paid for by taxpayers in contrast permanent Solutions through Humane non-lethal education are cheap easy readily available with with plenty of residents willing to help with that Hunters are against this um an example when a black bear a second black bear showed up last month the wonderful bear group of 501c nonprofit who did a great educational program last year for us after a bear black bear was killed the killing of that black bear left a really bad feeling in PL Field the police were not happy the residents were not happy this year with the collaboration between pbd we were able to get the bear to move on council president um one last thing speak time isow me just say this thank you um than last last sentence okay pardon last sentence okay your time's church have already put up the bait stations that corn is a health haard it draws other wildli to residential areas heart ma'am thank you right there thank you ma' you're speaker your time is allows and we will expect pleas be seated ucational Services thank you thank you thank [Music] you uh Nancy p 1129 we La we all know that we're coming up to a New Year I wish you all a good holiday because we probably won't see each other before the next year um my family my grandparents were immigrants they came from Poland in the early 1900s I grew up not knowing everything but knowing that they were afraid to talk okay my family didn't talk about it I'm really scared for some of the immigrants in this town I just want to make sure that um some of us were talking over the weekend at parties and a lot of us are are are concerned about our our neighbors um we're afraid what could happen I just want to make sure that our police department and our social services are prepared in case um the worst comes to be hopefully it won't but we need to be prepared um there have been other raids in this town historically where innocent people I'm talking back in the 1920s innocent people were um also gathered up you know and and they were innocent and then they went on to serve in the military during the Palmer Raids so what I'm talking about is not something that couldn't could possibly happen not happen but being from a family of immigrants and knowing what they went through and what they didn't talk about and you just felt it as a CO as a kid and you know I I honestly asked my sister about 5 10 years ago if we were legal because I had no idea if my grandparents were ever naturalized and I did find it out on Ancestry that they were so I was relieved but for me as an adult to even even think that question to ask my sister because my parents never told us and my grandparents never talked about it personally I'm afraid for some of my uh neighbors that live next door to me and I just don't I just want to make sure the people that are on the front lines like our Police Department our fire Department are prepared and I hope the city has some plans in place in case kids come home from school and don't have any parents at their houses thank you good evening again chamers 1227 Front Street Department 43b PL pill um first I want to just give a shout out if they're listening to the uh the staff over at the Performing Arts Center their Jazz series was but well I weed to say the bomb it was just really that good and this last group that they had was really really good so um I just want to say they're doing a really good job over there so I was listening tonight and I just want to say I'm really really uh excited about the quality of life issues that have been addressed in some of these ordinances but um I just have three questions the first one is for the police director the ordinance said that this program is supposed to start December 6th and this is December 9th so what does that mean with that Gap in terms of when it was proposed and when it actually started what are we actually asking the council to vote on you asking him to vote on a grant to do this permission to do this and if it's permission well what are you guys doing different than what the police would do all the time in terms of making sure that the roads are safe from people who are driving Under the Influence um the second question is I'm glad to hear about a lot of the housing that's going up but I'd like to have a definition of what exactly affordable means what is the income threshold and what would be the lowest apartment rent that we would considered affordable the last one mayor I like the idea that you are putting together office of homeless prevention but prevention is before you become homeless I didn't hear anything about what actually happened with the case that we have now as a person who tutors at the library it is a second home uh for people who are unhoused and if I don't know you guys passed that ordinance maybe last time that there be some armed security and there has been security at the library that I have not seen before but although I feel safe I feel nervous because we shouldn't have to have armed security at the library um that means something needs to be addressed and does the office of homeless prevention mean that we're not not going to work on an ordinance that really would prevent homelessness and that is rent control if you had rent control then it would kind of reduce some of the homelessness so while everybody is concerned about what's going to happen with immigrants I'm concerned about people that are here and facing homelessness because they can't afford it especially those whose parents go back to the 1870 census in the United States of America which many of us sitting on that board have parents grandparents great grandparents that can trace their roots to the 1870 censes right here in the United States of America so while I am concerned about immigrants the Bible says charity begins at home before it spreads abroad so I'm concerned about people that look like me that have been in Playing Field forever and now are facing Rising rents that are putting them out of their town and their home thank you thanks great comments Stuart siden strier I um worship at 225 watang Avenue as a Quaker and I'm also a member wind the spirit and I'm here just to uh thank Nancy for bringing the Immigrant issue and I'm hoping that you can pass a resolution supporting ITA is the best way that New Jersey has right now to make sure that any work any of the agencies of this state cannot cooperate easily with immigration there's not the way to completely avoid that but this the best way and Murphy did something as a far as um directive and ITA immigrant trust act would make that a law so I appreciate if you could work on that as soon as possible hopefully before the inauguration happens thank you sou corano 1284 East Front Street I actually wasn't going to speak tonight but I remembered something that was brought up this whole week uh last month there was a little hoopaa during the council meeting about bringing up events that occurred during the week and I'm not going to address those events I'm going to address it in this manner this week a CEO of a health company got shot in the back and in his head in less than 10 minutes the public was alerted the public was asked to help identify the pictures of the perpetrator that did it presumably hypothetically um today potentially that person may have been caught we have not and I'm ignorant to this and I'm telling you publicly not by the fact that I don't want to learn and I don't want to be educated but there is a sense that things are being held back putting under the guise of it's under investigation and it may well be but you know I've been here 54 years and when a middle-aged white guy gets shot and his face is on TV 10 minutes later and so is the person who potentially shot him it concerns me that in our town we're not told when other people are getting shot right here we're not alerted as the public We're Not educated as the public from the officials that we have hired for that job to protect us I understand they made a call thinking that it's protecting us but how can that happen I can't reconcile in my head how a man who is wealthy supporting a company the leader of a division of a company his face the perpetrator everything come out immediately and we still don't have information on a subject matter that was brought up in this Council chamber last month about other shootings and about other people being shot if there is somewhere I need to go read please direct me thank you hi name and address for the record hi my name is Marie anji gray I live at 1131 dorsy please um first I just want to thank you all for the renovations that are being done to Hannah Atkins um I am a member of the cpad group um in planfield and I have a child with a disability um my daughter is amazing and wonderful and so many other children with disabilities are also amazing and wonderful and don't have enough places where they and their families can go to feel safe and accepted um I'm so thrilled to see this and I'm hoping that this is just the beginning and every community space in planfield becoming accessible and inclusive I think that what we'll see from this is that it doesn't just benefit the families um with people that have disabilities but this is an opportunity for everyone to grow and also to be in community together so thank you thank you for your comment is there anyone online yes okay okay online speaker name and address for the record the floor is yours good evening uh my name is Sharice Kon I live at 141 McKinley Place uh would like to say good evening to everyone um I just wanted to address again uh something that Mrs Gilbert uh brought up and other residents have uh addressed a similar issue uh with the council previously and that has to do with the overcrowding that seems to happen in some of the residences uh around town um many of the houses seem to be rooming houses or they have very high occupancy um I know that you know I have specifically um talked about a few houses that are on my uh little block here on McKinley place and for anyone who knows mckenley place we're a little dead end block uh it's about seven houses on the Block there has to be about two houses uh that seem to be uh rooming houses and I uh just want to have an understanding or to bring to attention that the ISS issue of overcrowding in these properties need to be addressed um it's not something that I am just mentioning today but it's something that has been mentioned previously uh by other residents and I would hope that either the Inspections Division or you know wh whomever is responsible uh for enforcing occupancy rules within the city would start doing something about the issue uh that was my comment for today thank thank you for the time thank you anyone else on line next online caller floor is yours good evening my name is Sharon Rosario 1418 Bradford Street I'm calling on behalf of the overcrowding and on our block here as the other car stated that we have these single family homes and seems to be broken down into three and four Family Apartments and the overcrowding and we also have uh Wilson Auto here on our block where the trucks come to our block at 6:30 a.m. every morning big 18 wheelers down stop signs uh it needs to be addressed you know and it's just unsafe for us here and I need someone to come out and observe the stop signs that you guys have put out they've been replaced at least four times if not more since put them out in the summertime because the 18 wheelers are trying to back them to be parking into the uh the dock here the single the very small Dock and it's a three-way stop and they keep knocking down the stop sign on Grace Street trying to get into the dock area and a few times they almost hit the house right there that multif family house right there on the corner with it's I don't even know if it's a Roman house or just a multif family but there seems to be a lot of activity there and the children are trying to come in and out even this is even during the day when the company is open the trucks are coming nonstop and you guys have taken uh some of the cing away from us and these trucks they just constantly come through they run stop signs even bus companies with children during the day run the stop signs here from grace to johannah's place all the way to the cow like it's just non-stop we need speed bumps here for safety and you know I can't even park in front of my house because of the trucks coming the cars coming no one's stopping and they stop that's fine so that's my concern and that's my plight and you know I chose to move back here to planfield where I'm born and raised at and buy a property and I'm very unhappy I'm very unhappy you know and it just seems to be we we're ignored down here on the West end and it's not fair like no one's seeing what's going on here with these companies these trucks the parking the housing it's just a lot going on and you know I pay my taxes safely I upkeep my property you know we strive to want to be a part of the community but the city has forgotten about this block so we need someone to come in and he cancern more about our block also not just the South that you stand thank you ma'am is there anyone else online thank you online caller you're now audible name and address for the record welcome Brenda Gilbert 1208 East Front Street um I wanted to go back a little bit to what I had said earlier about Mr Brown and his um human trafficking the the uh part of City Hall that I was talking about was the um task forth if somehow or another they could um come together on and uh maybe do something together the second thing I want to talk to I I heard with s and and Nancy was saying in terms of comments and so forth and so on I would hope that everybody that would come before the mic or have something to say in this Council room would be respected um I too was disturbed about what happened and how the last meeting ended because it seemed like something very simple that was said was blown out of proportion and people was trying to Grand stand and get some um political points by Grand standing on something that was very very simple nobody was being blamed it was just saying these things happen and sometimes when you're trying to keep the public from knowing something I got I got news for you because some of yall apparently is living behind doors social media is out there people and social media will put on there what's on there which you don't want nobody to know because the young person one of the young persons that got shot the parent got on social media and wrote a long whatever about what occurred so whatever somebody was trying to hide um it it didn't work because that parent got on social media and let it be known what was going so so it would be um behooving to all of you that if something happened if at all possible to if nothing else but to mention that this happened and it's being taken care of in very simple terms and not being blown out of abortion that that's fine you know what I'm saying but if somebody saying you know this happened and you know we as a community you know we can do better because we all can do better safety is a problem everywhere you go not just in the city of planfield and we all can do better that's not saying that our Police Department our Police director that I love dearly okay is not doing their job but none of us are perfect and we all can do better we all can be reminded of that from time to time so I'm just saying let us respect each and every person whether you agree with me or not okay because this is where I grew up you may not have grown up here so there's an attachment that I have that's emotional and passionate you may not be emotional passionate by the time and if they put a a SC pool in the middle of town it thank you okay were there any uh outstanding items that we needed to address no but I would like to say something if you will council president yeah one second that that was to the directors though I was asking them did did were they okay go right ahead um the definition of affordable housing is anywhere from 30% to 120 of the average median income so the average median income in the city of planfield is about $71,000 in terms of affordability the lowest rent that's possible right now for affordable which will be in the residential that's behind the center of excellence for a studio apartment it's going to be as low as under $600 for and that's at 30% of the average median income now if you go up to the top end of the average median income that same studio apartment can cost as much as $1,600 so it varies as you go through thank you director Council okay I got a couple I got a couple of things okay that were brought up one in regards to the drive over get pulled over it's grant funding that uh is approved through either the state or through the federal government through the national traffic safety administration uh coming before the council is to make sure that my officer get paid I can't I can't pay anybody unless the council says that we can spend the money that the government gives us so that's basically what that's about in terms of the situations with the shootings and other things that have happened um I I really don't understand some of the the comments that were made the police department is very transparent and I'll put it this way one of the shootings that was me mentioned that last council meeting happened on November 9th the planfield police department made an arrest on that shooting on November 21st which was 12 days later it was put out to the media it was put out taing to planfield did an article about it um but for some reason there is there is this notion that the police department is doesn't want to tell the whole story no the whole story is that the planfield police department works very hard every day for the citizens of this city and they're doing everything that they can to make sure that we bring these issues to the proper conclusion the situation with the toddler is an ongoing in investigation and hopefully we will have it resolved in a in a short period of time but we do not jeopardize investigations by leaking out information we are not the New York City Police Department we do not have their resources we do not have their Manpower we do not have their the the things that they have to make a comparison where a CEO was was actually gunned down in the street and may I also say the city of planfield has not had a homicide this year okay that is through the work of the men and women of the planfield police department but it's also through the work of the residents who understand that we are trying to make this a better community so when when I when I hear things um I don't take them personal I'm the Police director uh and people are going to say how they feel that's just how things are and there's nothing wrong with that but we do work very hard to make sure that we have improved the quality of life in this city for everyone it's a work in progress we're not perfect we're never going to get it perfect but we're going to work hard every day to make sure that we do the best we can for the citizens of this city and that was what was relayed last meeting it may have been relayed a little bit passionately where people took it the wrong way but that is the bottom line and that's all that's all that we have going on there's several other investigations that we are working on it's a 24-hour City and we will continue to investigate everything until we get to its conclusion but if there are anything if there's anything that anybody wants to know the police department is very transparent by law we have to be transparent so we cannot hide uh situations that are happening in town we can't do that it doesn't work that way thank you thank you and great work councilwoman BRS yes um just real quick um I would like to to address the denial of the city seal on my event flyer as mentioned in my email on December 14th despite being a city sponsored event I was informed that I wouldn't be eligible for City funds due to assumptions that the event was political in nature as someone who has organized events for the past three years I felt it was necessary to seek guidance from our legal council who represents both the administration and city council memb I take the use of City funds seriously and understand the implications of my decisions I want to set the record straight this evening my intentions and requesting the city seal on my flyer was to acknowledge the events affiliation with the city I believe it's essential to be transparent about my purpose and the reasons behind my request thank you thank you Council woman anything further okay uh we'll go with councilwoman Cherry first and then the mayor last thank you council president so I know throughout the year there's been a lot of comments around the deerkill does the administration have any type of data about phone calls or emails regarding this is issue the deer kill so throughout the year I want to say we've probably had about a good seven or eight of our residents they came to the mic to talk about the deer kill so to put a resolution forward does the administration have any type of data or any type of emails or anything that you could site to say I have some information in regards to that the the the population of the of deer in the city of planfield as you know grows exponentially throughout the year unfortunately um I'm not talking about deer kills in terms of what the county is doing with what they do I'm talking about what the police department deals with um unfortunately because we have so many deer in the city um they they they get stuck on people's fences they get hit by cars numerous things happen to these animals where we unfortunately have to put them down because it's the only Humane thing to do um we have had several instances recently where we've actually had to put down deer who were either hit by a car or they were stuck on a on a fence or something of that nature and that's what I was talking about we do have a we have abundant population of deer in the city of planfield so I just wanted to say that that's it's something that that the police department deals with on a daily basis were you asking in terms of like are we getting resident complaints yeah are you getting complaints are you getting calls are you uh I will say in the mayor's office we're not we're not receiving emails or calls on that subject I hear it come up here in the council meetings but it's not something that residents are calling our office about or emailing and councel Cherry the only complaints that I do receive from time to time are people who are complaining about the significant presence of deer across the city and how that has been impacting on their quality of life especially young parents not being able to have their kids go into their backyards to rump and roll and play on their grass and those are the kinds of complaints that I receive from a large cross-section of people the calls that I would get from time to time the personal conversations that I would have with some of our residents and those of you who were around when we had a virtual um when we had virtual meetings you would recall the one meeting when we had numerous of our residents from all parts of our city who came and spoke about the negative impact that the overpopulation of there has been having on their quality of life so those are the things that I hear um I do hear the flip side of that from a couple of people who come to this meeting every month but the vast majority of the complaints that I get are from people who have a real problem with the negative impact of the overpopulation on their quality of life um thank you mayor you're welcome counselor I want to touch on Miss Palmer's um comments about the plans to have an office of homelessness prevention and I must tell you that we're looking at this in a very holistic sense and I've had conversations with one or two council members about what the plans are for this office and what homelessness prevention really means and you mentioned rent control and people being some people being forced out of their Apartments as a result well that is what this office will be dealing with homeless prent prevention and so rent control obviously is a part of that and so this office will be dealing holistically with the problem and there will be legislation coming forward to this governing body in the early part of 2025 that will deal and address the concerns that you have raised the concerns that we have heard time and time again from many of our residents who are being saddled with significant increases in their rent so the office of homeless prevention is designed to address all of those issues and something will be coming forward in the early part of 2025 all right thank you I think that concludes our business I entertain a motion to adjourn the meeting so moved all in favor say I I meeting adour what