e notice s the Asbury Park Press the two of times in the Star Ledger and posted in the main lobby of the municipal building and on the municipal website opma authorizes municipalities to conduct public meetings through use of streaming services and other online meeting platforms the red giant council is meeting in person as as well as providing an option for the public to participate via Zoom video meetings please note that the option to attend is being provided as a courtesy therefore if Zoom becomes unavailable during the meeting and cannot quickly be fixed Council will continue with the remainder of the meeting for those joining us via Zoom please raise your hand during designated times to be recognized for a comment whether you appearing in person or via Zoom you must provide your name to be recognized please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance Al to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible liberty and justice for all call please council member Bonas council member Cassidy counc membery black here council member Floris council member Jon Deputy Mayor Triano here mayor Portman here have thank you bear with me everyone I have a whole bunch of proclamations through you first one is for National volunteer week whereas National volunteer week was established in 1974 has grown exponentially each subsequent year individuals and communities are at the center of social change discovering their power to make a difference and whereas National volunteer week is about taking action and encouraging individuals organiz ations businesses and their respective communities to be at the center of social change by discovering and actively demonstrating the collective power necessary to Foster positive transformation every Community member can affect positive change with any volunteer action no matter how big or small utilizing their time and talent daily to make a real difference in the lives of children adults and the elderly and whereas we seek to lift everyone up and where we lead not by the example of our power but by the power of our example as those who I like that as those who volunteer no firsthand service also benefits the volunteer it can teach important skills help build professional networks and provide an empowering sense of purpose volunteering brings people together uniting us around our common belief in the dignity and equality of every person and giving us a chance to learn from others we might otherwise never meet and whereas experience teaches us that government by itself cannot solve all of our nation's social problems and our community's volunteers are a vital force to our future as a caring and productive community and should be laed and treasured now therefore be resolved that I William Portman mayor of The Bu of Redbank on behalf of the Redbank bur Council to hereby Proclaim April as volunteer month the bur of I'm not sure how this Proclamation got on here this is the U National annual professional Municipal clerks week what an honor yes the office of the professional municipal clerk a time honored and vital part of local government exists throughout the world and whereas the office of the professional municipal clerk is the oldest among public servants and whereas the office of the professional municipal clerk provides the professional link between the citizens the local governing bodies and agencies of government at other levels and whereas professional Municipal clerks have pledged to be ever mindful of their neutrality and impartiality rendering equal service to all where're asked the professional municipal clerk serves as the information center on functions of local government and Community where at professional municipal clerk continually strive to improve the administration of the Affairs of the office of the professional municipal clerk through participation in education programs seminars workshops and the annual meetings of their state provincial County and international professional organizations whereas it is most appropriate that we recognize the accomplishments of the office of the professional municipal clerk now therefore I William pman hman forgot my own name mayor of the burough of Red Bank do recognize the week of May 5th through 11th 2024 as professional Municipal Clerk's week and further extend appreciation to our professional municipal clerk Laura rardon Deputy municipal clerk Bonnie Thomas and to all professional CL the and exemp dedications the communities they represent yes yes I can St firsthand none of us up here could do what we do without you Laura and I'm not saying this because I love your dog that you bring to her to do maybe a little you should take a photo I think you should take a photo yeah yeah we control the website Right There Goes My Vegan snaps I'm glad you put that on theend all right next up it's Arbor Day we're at in 1872 J Sterling Morton proposed to the Nebraska Board of Agriculture that a special day be set aside for the planning of trees and whereas this holiday called Arbor Day was first observed with the planting of more than a million trees in Nebraska and where as 2024 is the 152nd anniversary of the holiday and Arbor Day is now observed throughout the nation and the world and whereas trees can reduce the erosion of our precious top soil by wind and water cut Heating and Cooling costs moderate moderate the temperature clean the air produce life-giving oxygen and provide a habitat for wildlife then whereas trees are a renewable source giving us paper and wood and beautify our communities and whereas trees wherever they are planted are a source of joy and spiritual renewal now therefore I William Portman mayor of the burough of Redbank New Jersey do hereby Proclaim April 26 2024 as the 152nd anniversary celebration of Arbor Day in the burrow of Red Bank and I urge all citizens to celebrate Arbor Day and to support efforts to protect our trees and Woodlands further I urge all citizens to PL trees to gladen the heart and promote the well-being of this and future Generations here oh yeah Boris well let's give this one to you on behalf of the shade tree commission Hoffman has um planted and cared for more than a few trees in this spor um that he he has a bag that's almost like Mary Poppins bag that fanny pack there folds more than you could ever imagine in it um and he he seriously takes care of every tree in this town so he's not a man for attention yes he has everything you can imagine I've needed sunscreen it comes out I've need Poppins he has everything there to Tri tree is broken wait a minute I have a to for that window there's Boris trimming one of the trees on the east on right away than to Boris thank you any steps in Billy I know not done cilman Forest wanted to Second thate all right that perfect next up we have light the night we're as the United States Congress and the president of United States have designated the day of the annual National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Service as a day to honor firefighters and Emergency Services Personnel who have sacrificed their lives to save others by lowering the American flag on all federal buildings to half staff and whereas the national Fallen Firefighters Memorial Weekend marks the weekend following International firefighters day 2024 and whereas the national Fallen firefighters Foundation is inviting landmarks fire and community organizations businesses and homes Across the Nation to light up red from May 1st to 5th 2024 National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Weekend in honor and remembrance of the sacrifices of America's Fallen fire heroes and whereas firefighters and Emergency Services Personnel play an essential role in the protection of lives and property in our local community and whereas an average of 80 firefighters courageously make the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty each year and whereas it is of major importance that we increase our efforts to reduce deaths injuries and property losses from fire now therefore on behalf of the entire Council and citizens of Red Bank I mayor William Portman call upon all citizens of Redbank and upon all patriotic Civic and educational organizations to observe the day of May 5th 2024 in recognition of the Patriotic service and dedicated efforts of our fire and Emergency Services Personnel by lowering American flags on all buildings theal staff I respectfully encourage these same organizations as well as the citizens of Redbank to remember all fire and emergency Personnel who have made the ultimate sacrifice in service to their community and to pay respects to the survivors of our fallen heroes I encourage our citizens to light the night for fallen firefighters by lighting up red their businesses and homes to honor fire and Emergency Services Personnel past and present who by their faithful and loyal Devotion to duties have rendered invaluable service to our community and its citizens and Frank Woods we're going to ask you to come up and accept this Proclamation thank you thank you hey inde thank you thanks Chief all right next it is Public Employee recognition week whereas public service is a calling which has meant so much to so many it embodies our sense of shared values and reflects our drive to serve a cause beyond our own to give back to leave our Mark and nudge history forward there is no greater opportunity to help more people or to make a bigger difference during Public Employee recognition week we honor the men and women who power our local government and we recommit to tackling the toughest challenges with the most talented Workforce where asked public employees at the federal state county and City levels dedicate their careers to public service by contributing to professional Industries such as health care education Public Safety conservation and National Defense and whereas these dedicated public servants perform their duties with compassion professionalism and a commitment to those they serve and we're ask the importance of Public Service provided by public employees and volunteers is too often forgotten or ignored whereas red deck extends our appreciation and gratitude to all public employees for their continued Spirit of dedication we honor the men and women who power our local government we recognize all those who dedicate their lives to this Noble Pursuit and we celebrate the tremendous differences they make every day now therefore I will important mayor of the burough of Redbank to hereby proclaimed May 5th through 11th 2024 Public Employee recognition week to honor and recognize all public employees and remind the citizens of Red Bank of the importance of Public Service one more Pay It Forward day like that whereas acts of kindness are well known to make a positive difference in promoting Community spirit and it brings the lives of both the giver and the recipient often encouraging others to pass it on and whereas a worldwide effort with approximately 80 countries participating pay forward day was established in Australia by Blake Bey in 2007 and it was inspired by the pay forward book by Katherine Ryan Hyde and the movie of the same title and whereas pay forward day's mission is to encourage people to do good deeds for others without asking for anything in return except for the recipient to pay it forward to others and whereas paying it forward opportunities can be as simple as buying the next person in line a cup of coffee watching a neighbor's car presenting a stranger with a flower assisting a senior with an Aaron helping a teacher purchase educational supplies or donating time or money to a worthwhile cause and whereas the initiative has created pay forward Day cards available at payforward day.com and the cards are given to those who have received a good deed explaining paid forwards Mission letting the person know that the random act of kindness they received asks only that the recipient do something kind for someone else and whereas the bur of Red Bank acknowledges the importance and value of kindness within our own community and is honored to join this initiative that encourages random acts of kindness to one another now therefore on behalf of the burough Council I William Portman mayor of Redbank to hereby Bri CL Sunday April 28 2024 as Pay It Forward day in the burough of redm New Jersey and urge all citizens to join me in support of kindness to others not only annually on April 28th but each and every day and encouraging individuals to pay it forward whenever the opportunity presents itself um all right we have a couple of presentations uh first we have one volunteer of the year do I have a um oh Oscar you have the uh is good yeah so um we're going to be honoring a Parks and Recreation volunteer as volunteer of the year uh Joe haran right Coach Joe haran Joe haran grew up in rural New York running in fields and enjoying being outside when he was 10 his family moved to Madrid Spain where he played San lot soccer and the love of the sport grew for him when he moved back to New York he continued to play soccer with friends casually at pickup games when he moved to this area in his early 20s he met a group of guys who like to play soccer and he began playing in a few different adult leagues he moved to Red Bank in the early 90s and fell in love with this great town eventually brought a home and started a family here with his wife they had twin boys in 2010 who started playing Red Bank Rec Sports in preschool shortly after he got involved helping out the teams and eventually became a coach he's bilingual which enables him to communicate well with a larger part of the local population and the soccer families besides coaching he still plays soccer every Sunday morning in an over 40s League because he loves the sport the RV wck program is great for kids he sees first tan how it allows them to build character social skills and self-confidence in addition it provides a healthy alternative to electronic games his boys have played on several teams for the town year round he has recruited players from the outdoor and indoor Recreation teams to play on the Red Bank travel team even in the pouring rain when his own kids have other commitments Joe shows up for his teams coaching their teams has allowed him to be an active part of their lives know who their friends are as well as giving him an opportunity to give back to the Community where's Joe here yeah your kids want to be in the picture yeah yeah do your boys do they want to be in the picture the family you bring the whole family up Bo in here in the Garden St yeah I stop body start H beautiful y all right you guys ready all right next up we have a presentation on uh rbc's student safe driving initiative you may want to um hopefully you can talk into the microphones too just so everyone can hear and people that are home can hear you as well yeah let's move um some things for you guys my name is Christian Sherman Al we're all students from ran Catholic and we're really excited to present to you all today we have a presentation and it's about a driveing seat really excited to share yeah you can you can pick it up it's okay okay okay it is yeah it Clos it is it is very quiet so we want to make Red Bank ready but what does this mean in Broad terms R getting Red Bank ready means smarter driving and safer roads so in our project we are focusing on three specific aspects the first is creating safer parking lot for students and for citizens of Red Bank the second is educating and enforcing the Move Over Law and the third is making sure that Red Bank drivers VI by crosswalk guidelines and stop for pedest okay so the problems and solutions the first problem um facing right bank with driving is the parking lots we have a lot of pedestrians a lot of kid going on in R Bank shopping Foods entertainment all that stuff especially RVC we all belong to to RC and we have our own parking lots we park in at school and just parking lots in general so we want to make sure the parking lots are safer tell everyone to like slow down like just allow two extra minutes to where you need to go and just to make it safer like all the way around and we did some interviews and we had great feedback from all the students saying like what we could be better and pretty much next slide yeah so one thing I think that a lot of people who don't go to our school know is that we do share a lot of the municipal Lots um so you can see Red Bank have experence parking in white lot behind te um and you know some of the other Lots um but it's really not just about our students about it's about bettering the community as a whole um oh go back please thank you there you go okay so the next thing like we said is the Move Over Law so we're right next to the hospital as everyone probably knows and there's a lot of Emergency Services going in and out so make sure everyone is aware that they have to pull over and let the emergency vehicles get first priority because like could save a life like you never know what's happening so um that's what we have for yeah so um essentially this is really we're educating um the youth um starting domestically within our school um and educating um our students so that can have kind of a broader effect um on as a whole um so move over L we have a lot of new driv of course um and obviously are very um congested um and there is emergencies we have you know the police station the fire station the um Hospital this so this is definitely something that we prioritize with our caign next I think something we've had to kind of prioritize and think about throughout this campaign is that we're a Catholic school so we get students from all over like counties that and there may be towns with people who aren't familiar with roads that are that congested if they live in HS net you know compared to R so it's an adjustment that we want to educate and we want to um enforce in our school because it starts the change we want to start in our school because we know that with the parking lots we're sharing it and we want to do that responsibly and then the final problem that we're focusing on as our campaign is pedestrian cring obviously there's a ton of pedestrians in this community and it all we started it with like the younger Generations so St J students we all share the same formula we're all Crossing Broad Street get where we need to go and other various streets in their thing and not everyone always stops at the crosswalks to let the pedestrians go so you want to enforce the pedestrians have the right away and we started you went to C James you did a coloring book for the younger kids and demonstrated to them like that straight of crossing and that's our picture and um yeah yes so basically we're going from teaching the young kids how to be um you know maning their way around Red Bank the streets um you know the parking lots um and then building our way up educating the new drivers um and really it's essentially it's about uniting um redink as a community you know red link has a really great walkability we discussed with Deputy Mayor um and so it's really not about changing um you know the physical like it's about the unity and education so that we can work together you know we have people who are in a rush who you know don't want to you know need to get to where they're going but the reality is that driving in red is not like driving in say mid toown or in freeold or in h smack you know you have to budget in that time and so did the pedestrians okay so yeah rank's a really great town it's become like a second home to all of us because we all go to school here like I don't live in Red Bank personally but like I think I spend more time in breading than I do anywhere else because I'm here five days a week I stay out for school everyone else like we we're all always here all the time and we have a really great town so we want to showcase that and then how inform the community of how we can do our part of and essentially we're making a circle with that because we're teaching students that are younger who are going to grow up and maybe go to reving Catholic and then become involved in a campaign like this so then they would Inspire the younger generation so we really wanted to make an we wanted to make an impact that would last and kind of go even when we graduate and go to college it'll still have an impact yeah so just to build off Christian um just drive is a campaign that is annual um this year we decided to go with more of like a broader red ink focused um driving campaign um so basically so a s so uniting the community what we're doing is we interviewed we surveyed the students within our parking lots um we got a lot of great feedback like Christian said um we assembled the team with passion students um to SC the the movement and um we met several times and then where do we go from there we designed t-shirts to as part of our Outreach um so selling these t-shirts brought our entire student body together and transformed our campaign into something bigger than that our original team of students um so you know we had a dress stand day you could you could you might have seen a lot of bre students walking around um supporting um D drive I feel it next SL go no more slides there we go oh just kidding don't get nervous um so now after you know uh uniting the student body it's time to unite Our Town um and in order to advance our C into a town life effort we design posters and Banners advertis weed um we affiliated with several local businesses um and owners to our Clauses in their Shores um and we also discussed with the local Red business owners um about what problems they see on a daily basis you know a lot of the business owners on Mom Street see it all the time right over here um The Crossing situation with pedestrians um and specifically with our students how we can from that um and spreading the word so our next step was presenting the campaign we organized a meeting withy mayor still on that side go back there you go yep um we discussed our goals and she helped us facilitate communication with the police department um to approve hanging the banner and we were very inspired by her story and her pass Serv oh thank you I appreciate that next next one so the last part of the campaign is a video and that's actually what we're working on now in the last few days of April we're compiling all the footage that we've recorded around the town all the interviews that we've conducted and that we're proud of so um Miss Buckman here is recording us so this is going to be in the video so we're we're kind of just building our cause and then we're going to send it out to the suud body as a part of a wellness Wednesday video which is a weekly video that has like an uplifting message for the stud and body that brings us together in the school and yeah we're really kind of proud of the work that we've been doing so as you should so um one other thing is the video um just drive is kind of a bigger program our school is just kind of a candidate in just drive a bigger just drive caign so our video will get submitted um to yeah it's it's kind of like a Statewide competition a bunch of schools like throughout the state compete in it basically and they go to Six Flags in May and then they why not it's really it's like an impact Focus um competition um but obviously the important part is the impact so thank you so much for listening to our stud comments so first of all I think you just really were a great example for public speaking of anybody of any age um so I hope that you keep your your level of service um I had the honor of meeting Christian he's also member of the Seal program with a clean ocean action yeah and um he went to his sub daer and said we should you know I met the de we should get involved um you know Red Bank Catholic you guys are a part of our community you are here all the time you're investing in our economy you are walking on our streets you are in our parking lots um I was really blown away at your maturity when we came to the table and talked about um these issues um your self-awareness of these issues um and a lot of what we talked about is that a community is a group of people that agree to grow together um and and what does that mean right that means students coming to the table and saying yeah like we know our students you know our our body ourselves we aren't always the best you know drivers in the parking lot and you know us talking about hey like some of these roads could be you know better and what are our plans moving forward so you know for me what I really hope this is is a start of us having that connection with the student body um in your school and also those students that that you talk to at the primary school and everything else just creating that that line up so that you know when you guys you know get to graduate and move on from here that uh there's students that there's stakeholders from your school that can come to the table and when we as a governing body have an idea and we want to bring you guys as well as students of RV members of the post everybody we want to make sure that you guys know that you have a seat at that table but really the thing I was really B Away by was your self-awareness in this campaign and that you know just you're a part of it teaching the students to move over how to you know actually cross the crosswalk properly um how to aot the time to get from A to B and not try to rush to you know you know beat your your your clock um so just the maturity and the grace and organizing you guys showed is is really exemplary so I was so happy you came and shared it with the town thank you there's an outline it's judged on creativity media so social media or if you're featured in a newspaper there is community outreach um there is a fundraising aspect for us that was the shirts and then the main judging criteria is like a final presentation with the video so we're we're making the video now and um they'll go through all that with all the schools and then at Six Flags they'll announce the winner and then any honorable mentions that they see F and he've been doing this for 11 years and almost every single year we found the get runner up so if you do want to follow up we do have an Instagram RBC just dve so you can find our video on there but thank you guys so much for listening um we really appreciate your attention yeah by the way I'll take a minute if you if you just came like for an award presentation you you guys don't have to say the whole meeting we'll give you a second if you wanted to clear out have a good night hey where everybody going they're going to Jason good luck with um senior assassin yeah tell them to drive safe during senior assassin all right welcome did we good I'm just checking um all right next up um it's public comments on agenda items only these are only comments for items that are on the agenda can I have a motion to open the floor for public comment I make s a motion Mr second second all in favor I I okay onine anyone have any comments on agenda items yes got the mic pulled over there good evening good evening Cindy Burnham 71 Wallace um I just would like an explanation of this new job that we're giving to somebody you know $90,000 job that's the that's the top end of the range it's a range but what is the job I'm I'm just trying to understand what the job is I think everybody knows yeah I I actually explained at the last council meeting um but can't hurt you're right I'll say it again the community engagement coordinator um is a need that I recognized when I came to the burrow as far as reaching all aspects of our community uh letting all sides of town know what sources what resources we have available to us uh enhancing our social media currently in house we don't have a coordinated effort of that um between all of our departments making sure that the message that we're putting out to the community is controlled and coordinated um this individual will be working with all the different department heads under the administration directly so myself um and Reporting back to me the the goal is to find somebody that's bilingual and is able to put out any of our resources that we do have in both English and Spanish um as we recognize that that's definitely a a hole in in our Publications um this individual is going to obviously be a resource to the governing body um as far as bringing message back from the community so there's there's a funnel into burall and a funnel out of burall that more coordinated uh and then the enhancement of the burough events is going to be a main focus of this individual is this kind of like an it's not an IT guy it's kind of like a um no no it's more of a like a Community Connection person to local government sometimes people have a really tough time navigating local government and um it's our way of it's our way of making sure that we're doing the best that we can to to help people through that process um the really the only it Focus I guess you could say of the position would be our social media platforms and but it is so far vast than that they're not GNA be programming or anything public information and it's public information correct and the um the range you said the $90,000 position that's the top end of the range just like all the other ones and one more quick question um D um what what's the revision the fire department is is it going up or is it going down yet uh so it reduces the percentage of calls uh that need to be responded to to qualify for loap um any of in today's modern volunteer world the amount of hours people can the current requirements are a little unrealistic for your average volunteer firefighter 2024 um it also really just say two things that's one do it match the state stand uh it could I don't I don't uh the fire department recommended it she asked me if it and it matches the state standard it changes it to match the state standard so so although it's a lowering of the percentage of time it is it is matching the state standard it's not making it lower it's making it to match the state standard do this with the state standard it matches it matches the one in Bradley Beach that I did recently so the requirements were kind of fine um I don't I don't know about I don't know if the m one even has loat but uh in Bry Beach I know it matches that one and um the other thing it does is for new firefighters because the training hours have exponentially increased since the last time the L was done the you need 50 points for the year to qualify you got previously got 40 for your uh trading course but the the basic firefighter trading course is over 90 hours at this point so for 200 200 hours the firefighter I the um it gives the first year firefighters automatic qualification if they pass the course and get their certificate so that they they can focus on going to the classes versus trying to worry about whether they can make other calls and things like that thank you I'll just add to that really quickly just just a little quick briefer because as we you don't even need to Kate I I no no no this isn't just for you Cindy this is for the public in general um I just want to explain about the fire department and the structure we have in our town there's a lot of variables in different municipalities um some municipalities have a fire commissioner that's actually directly elected and that person has a lot of say over the Taxation and things that nature in their fire department um some places have there's all different structures there's major Mar variables um municipality municipality how they handle their Fire Department in Red Bank there is an executive Council of the fire department it is a body um of people it has a president it has a Treasurer they oversee the department there's representatives from each Firehouse that are a part of that executive Council and when pieces like this come before the governing body it's voted upon by that executive Council of the fire department as the suggestions that the department wants to put forward um so I just think that's helpful for transparency's sake for people to understand that process that when there's new apparatus that are being purchased by the buau like when there were two engines that were purchased a while back it's like well what was that process that process was that that executive um Council the fire department with representation from each house and its own president and Treasurer and secretary met they all made those decisions and then they put that decision forward so that is the process that this went through before coming to this governing body that was the suggestions that came forward um and yeah I just hope that's helpful to everybody thanks May comment too sure I'd also gu the Sy but just in general I looked I just read it again today and I want to do everything I can to help our volunteer fire department and first aid Squad besides having the little simple sign I don't volunteer at the fire department I thought about it um so glad that you guys both do thank you very much and those in the audience but it's so expensive having a professional fire department I used to work in Long Branch and they have one of these high bread professional departments and and volunteers um you know so anything as a council member as resident I can do to support our volunteers young and old in the department I want to try to do within reason and I think this streamlines and um codifies in a way that is helpful encourage like for example helping a person that goes through all that stuff at the beginning automatically qualifies to be in this program I think that's a great thing um because if we ever get to the point where we don't have enough volunteers it's going to be a very expensive problem to fix because we we have to hire professional firefighters and you know hire professional ambulance services which are expensive that's my comment thank you Ben anyone else have any comments on agenda items only take care CH thank you again anyone online no no more comments for agenda items okay can I have a motion to close the floor for public comment on agenda IMS only I'll make that motion Mr Mayor I have a second second all in FA I I okay um got approve um approval of minutes and reports can I have a motion to approve the minutes from 411 2024 I make a motion I have a second I'll second that all in favor I I have a motion to approve the executive session minutes from uh 411 2024 I make that motion have a second second all in favor I I okay uh next we have a whole bunch of ordinances first up is a public hearing and Adoption of ordinance 2024-the the new position of community engagement coordinator can I have a motion to open the public hearing on this ordinance only so moved second second thank you all in favor I I okay any comments on this ordinance yes I was um I like to ask you all the v in favor of this it sounds like a well needed and coordinated um Improvement to the uh strings that used to be fling in the air with information um I think it's a good step I think we should get find the best way for and and a biling absolutely thank you for thinking of it continue good job J you anyone else have any comments on this ordinance yes hi ni volage from Hudson Avenue and I just want to um sound thank you thank you anyone else okay can I have a motion to close the public hearing on this ordinance only so moved have a second second all in favor I can I have a motion to adopt uh 202 24-15 and I would like to make a comment on okay I'll make the motion okay second um all in favor oh no we got it we got it you like to discussion go ahead I just want to comment that I plan to vote Yes um the reasons articulated but one of the things I noticed that those whatever number of doors I knocked on in the various election Cycles as a consistent complaint by residents about lack of communication trouble with knowing what's happening not trouble but difficulty in reaching the the buau challenges and um understanding what we're doing um I actually before sitting up here it has occurred to me that bro needs to do better at communication um I've had my own challenges over the years um I'm glad that our B manager has recognized this challenge a b manager can't do everything right now we have a very haphazard internet set up where you know this Department's doing that this Department's doing this and I guess probably Mr Gant is overseeing all that mess and um you know internet is you know you put something out on the internet that is wrong it could have a lot of ramifications um so I think this is a good idea I hope that it works with the other departments for in areas like running events where it will make sense um so I'm kind of excited that we are going to work at and put resources into improving the burough communication system because it sely has needed Improvement for a long time that's my thought on this there thank you anybody I guess I'll just really briefly say that um I think we're going to be setting a new standard I think this is a really radical position I think it's really modern government it's combining a lot of needs for the burrow and me not only public information but making sure our Civic system is used properly making sure our stuff is going out bilingual so that you know 36% of our population is getting the message um in our community uh I I'm really excited by this position this is the type of stuff that makes everybody up here you know feel like it's worth it to be up here um to make big changes um so you know whoever you are out there you know we're looking for we're looking for somebody um I can't wait for it to be posted I can't wait to to find who fits the bill so this is this is great I'm really excited I had to say that right else have any comments council member bonis yes council member Cassidy yes council member facy Blackwood yes council member Forest yes council member Janome yes Deputy Mayor tro yes mayor Portman yes passes than you next up an introduction of 5,000 ft fenced in portion of real property located at 208 South Pearl Street Red Bank New Jersey for the public P purpose of a police impound yard uh can I have a motion to approve 202 4-16 on introduction so moved can I have a second I'll second that roll call please council member V Tas yes council member Cassie yes council member py Blackwood yes council member flest yes council member janon yes Deputy Mayor trano yes mayor Portman yes passes thank you public hearing for this ordinance will be on May 9th and this is just tell me if I'm wrong this is just um we already have this as an impound lot right this has been in place since 2018 it's where we've kept the impound yard um the lease expired and so we need a new one and the the red is staying the same so it's basically essentially been the same call since 2019 okay thank you next up is an introduction of 2024-the motion picture and television commission can I have a motion to approve 2024 -17 on introduction I make such a motion I have a second right uh roll call please council member Bonas yes council member Cassidy yes council member Facey Blackwood yes council member flest yes council member Jan yes Deputy Mayor Triano yes aort yes pass thank you public hearing on this will be May 9th I want to thank uh councilman Cassie for his hard work on this most like we're running with a filmmaker what what do we gonna do with this guy in now we found your purpose so many purposes we're ahead of the game and we need to be forward facing right now with Netflix coming into the area and other municipalities will be looking at their ordinances and we're two steps ahead right now in building our relationship with the New Jersey film commission I'm excited and I appreciate everyone's hard work on this thank you again David Mr Mayor can I ask a question on topic sure so I don't know if you when I read through the ordinance I didn't maybe I dismissed it is there when we do filming in private parts of the town you know like what having you say is there the neighbors all going to be notified by the production company or how does that work do you have the notice thing on that yeah was I couldn't see the answer is yes uh answer is uh yes essentially it's in Jim's discretion there used to be a 200 foot notice requirement in the ordinance which was not recommended for film ready certification because it's onerous on people that don't normally do that sort of noticing um so it's um largely in the discretion Place larg discretion of the manager as leas on to these people or his or her designate um and they will be able to require that also none of the hours or anything that's being um filmed in uh residential districts um can be changed without the manager say so which would presumably involve perhaps the community engagement coordinator uh when the time comes right I was gonna say maybe that would be good but I was just gonna you it occurred to me when I was reading through it that I would think that if you were filming for some reason on a street that you would notify the neighbors and their houses there so I I was going to say just anecdotally we recently had one that lacked the notice to the businesses and particular the burough um but once I contacted the company I made it very clear that notice to the businesses that you're going to be around in impacting is essential and extremely important so that's going to be a ten you know the the tenor of when I issue these permits that public notice is given to surrounding homes businesses anybody that's going to affect oh thank you I assume that but I I I didn't see it in there so thank you okay um next up on introduction 2024-25 fire department to revise the annual eligibility requirements for the Burrow's length of Service Awards program for volunteer firefighters can I have a motion to approve 224-18 on introduction Mr Mayor I'm going to recuse myself from a vote on on this particular ordinance and I want that noted in advance mayor I will also be recusing myself okay can I have a motion to approve on introduction I'll be happy to make that can I have a second second call please council member bonis yes council member Cassidy used council member facy Blackwood yes council member Forest yes and I'm very grateful to our volunteers thank you very much council member janon yes Deputy Mayor Triano recused mayor Portman yes sir thank you public hearing on this will be on May 9th next up is an introduction of 2024 19 ordinance amending chapter 731 Article 2 and I have a motion to approve 224-1 19 on introduction hold could um I have something this the one on tick right y okay I have something from TJ because he couldn't come tonight should I read that he's the owner of fins and Feathers owner of fins and feathers and he on the Animal Welfare committee sure okay he couldn't make it tonight I'm sorry on behalf of the animal welfare committee I'd like to advise the council that after discussing the poultry full fow ordinance and comparing with many other municipalities which I was at the meetings where we did that because the lays on to Animal Welfare um we proposed a few changes the changes include a minimum and maximum number of pens per household four and 12 TJ told us a lot about chickens right so we know the chickens don't like to be alone so they have to have a minimum of four and a maximum of 12 on the uh previous ordinance it was 40 ft we think that's too far because many the Lots in Red Bank are smaller than that so uh they came up with a 12 to 15 foot distance but the barau is going to go with 12 feet um from any inhabited structure and all eggs for personal not commercial or any other use all these changes will be beneficial to current residents who have flocks and also those who are interested in adding fresh eggs and a natural form of pest control to their property these changes will also be beneficial to the animals and will not allow over craing the committee will work with Council and residents to educate and expand knowledge to protect and encourage good husband husbandry there are many residents we have two people here from an ware in the audience Carla and Pa there are many residents who have chickens in your neighborhood already unaware unaware thank you for behalf of the animal welfare committee that's from TJ Moss a chair and he uh Paul's the chair right here and parla on our committee um I wanted to add a few other things um from the health standpoint um because you know I like social determinance of Health that's me um besides eating the bugs and ticks and things like that it also stops food waste you can put your uh food that you have that it's left over you can give it to the chickens and um also few food insecurity which is a big problem right now um as we just came from lunch break where they cut the ribbon um Nancy and I go to um V goel's food pantry every week There's a big problem with food insecurity and we have e in the back who volunteers at the uh V goel's food pantry so we do need I think this will help with food insecurity also Paul did you have anything you want to add I think the only thing that um you know we're g to be working on in the future is really the education this and really getting the community really to understand not only what we're trying to do but more importantly uh you know how to go forward so as an example Laura and I were talking there's a bird thing going on right now and you know I think the understand what do you do or what don't you do and there are the type of things that I think we just need to make sure that we quickly get well working and and to add to that the education right going back to that social media that's going to be a big help for us so they voted unanimously on this okay so um I don't where we can I have a motion to approve 202 4-19 on introduction oh I'll make the motion have a second all right um call please council member bonatakis yes council member Cassidy yes council member facy Blackwood yes and the environmental commission approved proves what animal welfare is doing with the chicken ordinance so thank you council member J yes council member Jan yes Deputy Mayor Triano yes and mayor Portman yes public hearing for this will be on May 9th the chickens are coming Red Bank okay next up introduction of 202 24-20 authorizing acceptance of across access and utility easement in connection with land use approvals granted to Ray wy.com Inc for a development project project located at Harding Road Hudson Avenue Clay Street um can I have a motion to approve 202 24-20 on introduction sure yes I have a second second roll call please council member Bonas yes council member Cassidy yes council member facy Blackwood yes council member flest yes CC member janon yes Deputy Mayor Triano yes mayor Portman yes thank you public hearing on this ordinance will be on May 9th next up an introduction for 202 24-21 adding new chapter 539 salt storage to the Burrow's revised General ordinances to establish standards for the storage of salt and other solid deicing materials in accordance with njde requirements very very sexy ordinance very needed yes very needed um can I have a motion to approve 2024 D21 on introduction so moved I'll second thank you roll call please council member bonais yes council member Cassidy yes council member py Blackwood yes council member Forest yes on the sexy ordinance yes Deputy Mayor Triano yes mayor Portman yes motion passes sir thank you public hearing for this ordinance will be on May 9th next up introduction of 2024 d22 amending and supplementing section 68-60 schedule 26 restricted parking for handicapp persons can I have a motion to approve 202 24-22 on introduction I make a motion I have a second second I have a roll talk please council member want to talk us yes council member cityy yes council member facy Blackwood yes council member Forest yes council member janal yes Deputy Mayor trano yes mayor Portman yes FAS thank you public care Comm ordinance will be on May 9th um Jim on the resolutions is a note here are we we oh yeah okay so we're pulling so that's gonna I'm going to request if we can um I'm going to say PLL the resolution 241 15 which reads um the setting extra Duty rate schedule I was approached by the PBA and they would like to just have some more discussions internally before they present that back to the burrow but I just wanted on the record that we were prepared to uh make a change tonight in the extra Duty rate uh schedule but uh I am honoring their request to um have further discussions internally okay um I'll make a motion to table 24 I'll remove 24-15 remove I'll second that sorry roll or all in favor I yeah all in favor I right um next up can I have a motion to approve resolutions 24- 1110 through 24-16 without 24-1 15 motion can I have a second second roll call please council member bonis yes council member Cassidy yes council member facy Blackwood yes council member Forest yes council member janon yes Deputy Mayor yes Portman yes pass okay um next up under discussion in action we have a couple of special events coming up um have we did we approve this last it need approval yes all right so um we'll do these all at once but first up we have a record RI record Riot Street Fair on Mechanic Street on Saturday May 11th and Saturday September 7th we have the St Anthony procession for the Feast of St Anthony on Saturday June 15th from 10:00 a.m. to 4m we have the mayor's Wellness campaign fundraising cycling and walking event on Saturday May 18th uh can I have a motion to approve these special events I'll make such a motion can I have a second second all in favor hi you got me saying I'll make such a motion then yeah commcial discuss okay um for discussion we have an item for amending chapter 680 vehicles and traffic overweight vehicles 680-4 for limiting the use uh 68039930aa meeting but actually Captain frzy if you wouldn't mind just coming up because in case there's something you want to inject to as well but I just was hoping to Workshop this a little bit the the ordinance Chang potentially um with reference to commercial vehicle parking on residential streets um we've been getting a number of concerns and complaints about large vehicles um and I I just want to make a distinction that I don't think that any one of us and again the buau is the the governing body is are the ones that are going to set policy for the burrow but I don't think that the concern are those vehicles that have stickers on the side of their trucks promoting their their businesses or um you know work clearly work vehicles to get to and from work that are parked on residential roads or at people's homes but more so the complaints that we're getting are those that are you know boom trucks and oversized maybe dual axle uh dual rear rear axle Vehicles those that are particularly over 10,000 pounds um those Vehicles pose a problem as far as sight line uh visibility issues on those streets um really shrinking the roadway for uh emergency vehicle access um those are some of the concerns that we have and also for pedestrian safety uh in particular we've been seeing that these vehicles are parking closer to the stop sign than they maybe should have should be parking closer to pedestrian crosswalks than they should be and the police are going out and enforcing that aspect but it's a matter of seeing if there's a way that we can regulate this to keep those Vehicles off the roads overnight um because it's you know if if this is a part of somebody's business they should take into account in my opinion and the opinion that I'm presented to the council that they should be taking into account the storage of their vehicle to conduct their business um but you know I I definitely want to make that differentiation between the larger 10,000 plus if that's the number that we're looking to use we're going to research that a little bit more um versus the standard work truck the standard work van um so there's going to be a little bit of finesse with us looking at the and making sure that it's applicable um that it's enforcable and is something that we are taking into account that this is a working community and we want to be sure that we are addressing the needs addressing the concerns keeping in mind um the quality of life issues but at the same time not taking away somebody's livelihood I think that that's really important to to strike that balance so a couple Solutions is that you know just stating that it's not an allout ban on commercial vehicles like some towns do identify which types of vehicles are prohibited for overnight parking um whether or not we Define that by class and weight or Define it by size including the length width and height or Define it by a certain amount of axles um Traffic Safety Sergeant cover just you know recently came back from vacation this past week so we've been in discussion with Sergeant cover to make sure that we are um taking into account all the anecdotal stories that we've been hearing from residents um bringing that forward seeing what we're actually seeing on the streets um so that we kind of can better U craft this ordinance if that's what the desire of the burrow Council policy setting is are we are we just focusing on um parking or are we talking about oversized trucks using you know residential roads because I had a overnight parking okay cuz I had a resident come meet with me lives in Irving and he says you know a lot of trucks that are not supposed to be on residential roads use that as a cut through to go from like broad to Maple um but those by weight yeah so um under bur Cod section 6839 at present uh if the truck is over four tons it's entirely excluded from the entire length of Irving Place uh except for the pickup and delivery of material so you can get your furniture delivery but in terms of traversing the street the res that's existing yeah so that's more of an Enforcement issue that and that's something that could be done through traffic detail or right there any I'm just curious if there's any other questions or concerns that the council would like us to consider when when crafting this I just want to say I really like the direction you're taking here I I want actually I'm okay with people having their work vehicles in front of their house or whatever or nearby what's also coming a problem though is that even if you don't go to two ax some for some reason very large oversized of monster light monster trucks have become very popular and they take up multiple spots you know they'll take up two spots and nor it's fine I look at a very large minivan or regular this pickup truck and then you know there's the I don't know what they call them these very pickup trucks yeah you think that we' be on some monster truck you know show maybe and um you know so I do think that it's just you know at some point it gets to be inconsiderate of others when you take up multiple spots uh to park your giant truck not to mention the visibility things that you're mentioning about particularly around corners of course recently in our neighborhood we had the bucket truck which you so nicely mentioned um and that's obviously really inappropriate I think for a neighborhood you know I there somebody does it once or twice you know maybe some emergency at work or they have to go somewhere five in the morning but I don't think our street should be basically a commercial parking space for trucks um you know unless uh we come up with some system where you know they have some parking lot design me right um you know some of these delivery trucks that somehow go home now can beely possible to see around they not like regular trucks anymore so I'm not quite sure how you're going to put a handle on that uh captain crazy my own opinion as one can I'm I'm happy to hear that the direction is about you know safety and I know the last time we had a conversation about this there is already enforcement to ensure that there's no vehicle parked within x amount of feet from a stop sign that's that's already being enforced the unhitched trailers being enforced um I don't want to get into legislating Aesthetics um I really want this to be purely about safety um you know and and making it so that it's enforcable I want the changes to be enforcable right like I don't want it to be speculated when looking at a vehicle is it enough what pounds is it not enough pounds you know and I think the what you two kind of identified in that size of truck um I believe that's fair to to legislate that that's not allowed to to park overnight um I this isn't my first time talking about this on the days I think the last time I was up here I said something along the lines of some people drive a Mercedes to work and other people drive a work truck and that's still how I feel about this issue as a resident of the West side for over a decade um but I just want to make it clear this isn't just a Westside issue this is a whole Red Bank issue um just last year the mayor and I were up on the deis and we were hearing issues from Spring Street on the east side and one of the suggestions the residents made at that time um was uh to ban overnight commercial vehicle parking I think that was uh John Dykeman from um Spring Street over there um so you know we want to want to handle this carefully but um this is why when you have a governing body that trusts their experts um we're looking to you you know we are not the experts on this and we want to craft legislation that puts Safety First and not you know division of the community or any socioeconomic Division I agree now we get a lot of complaints um the residents about the oversized trucks and some are really big they the manufacturers today have we're developing these trucks to I don't know take on whatever come across but I've noticed over the years that uh they tend to stick out further from the curb they're wider um I know sometimes on Lake Avenue or even down on Broad Street um you ride past that the bartney stall and it's like man that truck's like really hanging out on the road and it's U it's something we really have to take consideration I think overall safety of just the T so what do you proposing can you use the mic oh yeah what do you think no pressure right on the I you know I like to get something done but can I just ask a quick question before you go in with what you're proposing what is the impact it would have with vehicles that have attached trailers to it good question so as you're doing a proposal can you address that fact of the size of the truck well I don't know how are we are we addressing that in any way I'm just curious think you came oh you just came to get feedback from us you're not proposing anything yet okay proposing anything yet all right great I'm here listening to you sure I mean I I just wondered how do we handle something like that you know there's think an unhitched trailer is an unhitched trailer no hitched it's hitched against you know like say a Ford F350 and then there's a trailer because that's the biggest car I could think of I'm looking at the car people there and with a trailer attached so like how does right now there's no ordinance against no ordinance against that so look at that okay we just did the unhitch yeah if it's hitched we can move it out of the way there's unhitched is if there's no way to move it at all could be a real problem that was the lowest hanging fruit when we this issue first came up um you know 10,000 pound limit is the motor carrier Federal Motor Carrier exception for the drivers of those vehicles that seems like a good you know thresh I don't think we should focus on the commercial versus the personal nature yes so for example um you know a Tradesman who has an F-150 with the company name on the side parked in front of you know his or her house is less of a concern than someone who has their personal RV that's the size of you know a semi-trailer out in front of the house so I think the exception isn't really so much the the regulation is is the type of vehicle that we're really looking at I think that's going to I think it has to be the focus of the ordinance to be effective takes all the speculation out of it um you know you could pretty quickly Google on your phone in 2024 the gross vehicle weight of pretty much any commercially available vehicle unless it's been heavily modified um so I think our officers are you know are pretty well equipped to handle and that sort of thing also that believe the reg forgive me uh you're expertise when you run the plate on a vehicle like you can tell whether it's commercial do they tell you can you tell what what class of vehicle it is in terms of weight uh if they purposely register that vehicle it will say what class it is sometimes okay so so that's hit this there are tools available to available and stuff like that that can refer to that to make their determination whether or not the issue for theet that was my that was my when this issue came it has to be focused really on the weight of vehicle classification of the vehicle something other than what the vehicle being used for because that gets subjective and and other wise and is it really narail to the purpose which is getting trucks and oversized Vehicles off the street for safety purposes so that was my thoughts on the regulation so what's next what's the what's the next step orance right yeah I think we would take a um we' craft an ordinance and we'd bring it back here probably Workshop it and and have a discussion about it um you know after Captain brings it to the his traffic officers and have comment they're the ones who are actually literally looking at this stuff every day um and we get that kind of feedback and then we go from there you know and we announced to the community that we're considering this sort of things people affected by it no doubt just driving down the roads anywhere in this town tell people so that they can come out and let us know what the you know for example one big it's always been my experience in regulating parking or traffic that it uh it's not a magic blond that makes it disappear so if you ban the parking on this street that people will find another Street to park on um and so hearing from people what their possible alternatives are or if you guys are out on the streets and your contact with the community finding out that hey if this wasn't allowed to be here what would you do with it might be a helpful um you know step two sort of uh you know exercise in understanding that once we do x what is g what is why that's going to happen so I think that's Jim and I will work on that I'll work on some drafting we bring it back to you guys okay anybody have anything else on it though that we should share with them before they start to work on it or I know when we were going around door to door this was brought up a lot I'm glad that it's being brought forward because it was a big complaint of a lot of people they can't get out of their driveways because the vehicles are so on Spring Street for instance they can't see beyond it when they're trying to get out so problem Spring Street has a lot of Apartments yes so they're not allowed in the commercial vehicles aren't even allowed in the apartments on the so that's you know so they park on the other side of the street and then people can get out drivers can't see around it people's house yeah that's a problem [Music] um okay keep in think Christina I just have a really quick question while we have both of you here I guess for Greg and the captain guess Greg do most municipalities regulate something this like this by weight and Captain do you think that that's the most practicable or is there some is is measurement with height um sometimes more valuable I also think that um moving toward EVS for example they might be heavier but smaller so just trying to fure I think um I think some surrounding towns have ordinances based off of no commercial vehicles allowed to park Tre at night time I think if you go by the weight limit or class size of some of the vehicles I think that will probably get us to where we're looking at where it's a little bit safer for the community and for pedestrians Bas supp just overall traffic in general but you know that can be discussed I mean the overall I think the issue that we're had a crystal ball it's very difficult to tell one thing that's definitely going to be in this ordinance is boats right so can't keep boats in the street than um it's it's hard to distinguish from a legal perspective the difference between a trailer that has a boat on it and a trailer that has six commercial log lowers on it and that is something that just being a town for during the years know that that's going to be the sticking point where those trailers go and whether there's any place available um I will throw this out here I uh former councilman ystrom had the notion that we that the burrow could rent overnight parking in the empty commercial parking lots that are empty all night so that people could get those off the street and I've heard that setup here um that was the only real solution I've ever heard anyone haven't heard Eric brought off in a minute um but I know that that's you know that's going to be the most difficult part you can't tell people it's GNA be very difficult from legal TR to tell people you can't keep a boat on the road but you can keep a landscaping trailer on the road and I know that I've seen them on the road here and clearly people live here they see the same one all the time or you know multitude of them so where they go because they're not just going to disappear is that information is going to be really vital to making this actually work I think having sat up here for a while and heard this for a while so um Captain is that like an initiative that you think that the department would want to be a part of in when identifying vehicles or you we see that there's a lot that we could maybe make available for that initiative is that something that you could dedicate some time to absolutely okay thank you cool thank you thank you okay um next up we're going to open the floor for public questions and comments a couple of caveats one and ask you to limit your comments to three minutes and two I'm going to ask anybody who lives here in Red Bank and wants to discuss some Municipal business um to come up so you don't have to wait I'm going to give you uh you guys a priority so uh yes yeah oh yeah motion open the floor make such a motion second all in favor I excuse my voice um I have a philosophical about what's going on in Red Bank what's been going on Red Bank continues to go oned and it's semantics it's all kinds of things that don't make any sense Red Bank is one town I have lived here my entire life basically my whole family has lived here for over a century I will say I am sick and tired of people saying the east side and the West Side you have Lon Avenue you have Spring Street if you don't know where they are find them but you don't it it it adds a a divisive context to this town and we are a divisive town and I I really would like and I would love to have it start with the council Scot not using those phrases because as I said most of the people know where all the streets are whether they are on the east side the I've never heard anybody said I live on the south side of Red Bank or I live on the North side of Red Bank those those things and it drives me crazy guys it really does I think it is really not cool thing to this town Tiny Family crazy Uncle Joe over there but you know let's let's face it we need to be one complete family and if if we keep using those words over and over and over really believe there are two different rules there are two different sets of laws there are as many of everything that we hear about on the west side on the east side the south side and my three minutes are up I guess and um that's just just want something I'd like to think thank you Barbara it's a good point very good point Barbara if I could just say um I'm right here it's Kate Hi I just want to say that I live on the west side and um I think we're at a yes and I think we're at a point of being very proud um of the West side and the community that's being built there and the connections to the east side um I agree with you that there should be no division against the two um but I think when we're talking about unique neighborhoods and unique needs um it's okay to identify those unique neighborhoods and those unique needs um that's not to say that the services to all areas of town are not equal they are we make sure of that um but I do feel an identity with my neighborhood the protection of that and it's said from a point of Pride and I I think it's a beautiful thing I think the west side is going through a really great time right now and as you were saying those comments I was looking at the students faces in the back and I think maybe they agree with me too that they have a sense of pride of their neighborhood and you can use the name it's like saying we don't we do see the differences there's beautiful differences in the town There's a tapestry of community so I think it's okay to to recognize that it's not it's not just that part of it it's the fact that it is used as some people will find will use anything to sound divisive the same way you can use language to y y I don't think of it as anything about red yep I think it's wonderful that we are a town and I also think of as being Red Bank but I think there is something to be said of having pride in your micro community and you know I think it's a beautiful thing and I this same way that everybody should feel pride in where they live and I think at a moment where people are really proud of the West side it's not the moment that I would tell them to stop using it Jim 4 this continue what I was been saying down for the sunset I said you don't we don't need a part but the reason I'm saying this is so this why new came up on they had three parts with one the same brother and all three parts me they keep telling the people they G to fix and they said but previous before this they had a school that and I said you know Engineers are Engineers but nobody can fix so far it's been B there they don't know how many years been B there 6080 years 100 years and I'm saying as you know don't take people's lives and use them as Guinea PS can't fix something that is not Danger because it's a health aage so many people if you run into live like in Long Branch and you know look down you know look down here in Trenton looking down uh down the street from Social Service building and freeall and these places is all jacked up and I always say you know you have to respect people's opinion because nobody can't pay for a person how they feel what they gonna be in danger with my he is gonna be messed up and they said they going to go in there they going to clean it up if you going to do something do what you said the first time don't go back and say oh we GNA clean it up and cap it now in the future it might pay possible part my thing is why would you put you wouldn't put everybody who has kids in here or don't have kids or people have animal why would you put somebody in danger to inhal this stuff and it's a bad it's a bad taste experience to just sit there and think about and this engine talk we can do something you can't do what the man of do you know what I mean by that you can't do what God do and go would not put people in danger that life and health and and safety in danger because it's really all to me it think all about a penny a penny or dime it's not about safety people feel because it's very distressing thing to you know that just keep hearing that this popped up on the TV I ain't ask to on the TV three parts in same within on the same road the people live in they put these parts there now people said the kids have to wipe the shoes off so everybody wipe the shoes off when they go house any might get sick from this nobody nobody a doctor scientist in surgeon in this in this enrollment and nobody will come in here and talk about even these Engineers won't come and say that so I'm just saying you know you got to think about people's lives as you don't take that just us as a token and do whatever happens to him this happen thank you thank you Cherry yes good evening again Cindy Burnham 71 Wallace Street um I have uh a question regarding the new um graffiti ordinance the other day I um picked up 13 tap um flyers from a tattoo parlor and uh Matan and I didn't know what to do with them because I knew we had this new code and it covered Flyers so I called code codee said oh you take it to the police and I took it to the police and they told me that freedom of speech anybody can tape up anything or put stickers anywhere it's freedom of speech and I I showed him this I brought the ordinance and it Tri you know it clearly says anything on public property or town property is goes against it so then I went to Mr Gant and I just wanted to get an update on like what's the story I turned it over to code where it should have stayed I think Frankie followed up on that I know Tommy discussed that with Frankie right yep I know that the the I know that the business that was in question was notified uh I don't know if a warning was issued or an actual violation a notice of violation was issued um so it was dealt with in code where it should be so whenever anybody comes up with Flyers code is the place to go that's correct okay another protocol I wanted to know about because I discovered an illegal Airbnb this past week and they called the police um what's what's this how do we handle that what's the protocol somebody comes across an illegal Airbnb also code what if it's in the evening you know these people come in at night well that would probably fall under a noise complaint or see it wouldn't be noisy it would just Captain frzy can help you out I think the way we we handle it is that we go there we document who's there why purpose the reason why they're there and then the next day we notify people so we're actually could be we could be subp to court on behalf of the uh what happen like these guys were fishermen yeah that information I think was forward well oh yeah they they admitted being there they admitted renting the house the owner denied everything of course parking a part and again it doesn't have a driveway they were parking on the lawn and so I just want to know how to handle these things and where to go because somebody sent you to somebody they sent you to somebody else so if it's after hours contact the police department we'll document it and then we'll forward it okay sounds good thank you keeping code busy they appreciate it I love code thank you anyone else have any yeah Co I want to thank you all because I know Mar Park is you guys you heard a lot of residents something done there and looks like you guys are getting done um I definitely had a lot of questions this week based on you know as I learned more about the plan and uh one thing I was thinking all the way here was that why don't I read about this in like triy City why am I refr is right or whatever and I was thinking well there's no PR person in the town and I work in PR and marketing so I'm like well I can't really expect that of Gant or anyone on the council so you know as we were talking about the new position earlier I'm really excited to hear about that and I think you know whoever that is hopefully they can be the CH leader for this project and also you all get credit for what you're doing because that is a skill set that is valuable I think if it's at the upper range of what we're looking for that's great because I value what I do or what my colleagues do and I think that's going to be a really great addition to the town um because I know a lot of people are really excited about it but not fully aware of what the plan is so I look forward to to getting this effort and seeing it to its truition and thank you all for your work to me happen keep [Music] prom thank you thank you um yeah that's using it proud of you for using your walk not forgetting it up in the house welcome back yeah we missed you we're happy to have you back e thank you e Brandon um I know you guys have this thing here for the polls why is it being changed you want L you want to take this one sure I was gonna discuss it um I think Jim was gonna it over to me sorry about that yeah so what ends up happening every 10 years um the uh give me a second New Jersey's Congressional legislative maps are redrawn so every 10 years is they use the census data and they redraw it because people move in people move out so based on the fluctuations of the population you want to make sure everybody has Fair representation so after the last census the county uh Mammoth County Board of Elections they started to compile all of their data put everything together they had Engineers working on it and they made suggestions for all the changes that they were going to have in redistrict redistricting for Mammoth County of the 53 municipalities in Mammoth County and we were one that we had some changes as well that they were proposing but of the 53 only four are actually being changed the only thing that's being changed for us the districts are staying the same but the polling places are changing so the Calvary Baptist Church uh they have received a lot of um concerns about the size of it that it's a little bit on the small side so now that we have the senior centers open again and we want to show off that lovely building as well um mmed County Board of Elections decided they were going to take district 6 and District 9 and move them over to the senior center because it can accommodate B and it has the ADA accommodations as well I and I spoke to Le I saw Lisa Richardson today and she also was not happy with it but recognize it's a county decision um but one thing we did talk about I talk about Lisa and with Laura is um figuring out a schedule to making the uh the van that we have at the senior center available for transporting people back and forth to to make sure I can get to the polls I have another question for you how many people know about this get this that this is where we're going to be voting ahead the same question answer this just came up so um it was just I think last week that we were notified so it's the responsibility of the mammoth County Board of Elections to notify all the voters in the infected districts however to reinforce that my department is going to be mailing out postcards as well that has that's what basically I'm going to be putting out what you see in front of you that's why I shared it this evening so we'll be sending postcards to all the residents in District Six and District n and um I'm also going to have signs printed and we will put them at the polling places so this way when people pull up they'll see the signs and know that's not where they're supposed to be because even as as late as the last election we still had people going to the Firehouse one more question I know that it was discussed a while back about the PES being in the street but you shouldn't have a p in the street to have your apartment space what happens if you have that in front of your house not not in front of your house no I told the police department and I told him yesterday as a matter of fact there has speak has a c out there every morning keep parking space there and the police come by they just keep on going down the street they don't do anything about it so I just want to know what do you do Oh Captain me oh you can go across street and take out your I'm not doing that that's up my job you want to address that one well unfortunately the residents don't own the spot in front of their house so a lot of people have these bigger cars again and for trailers or whatever they try to they try to they try to hold um the spot in front of their house that's we see it often um unfortunately the police officer if he did call they should have picked it up and you know no I called I called talk to Teresa anyway I talk to her dispatch or Heather Heather to Heather she you go across the street I thought I said you please you know next time you call ask for me I said you wait please send an officer over check it out said Well what we'll do is we'll go up and down the street and see if it gets moved out anytime this week do again this morning so what's the dress on 15 Bank Street 15th thank thank you very much I think we're going to be owning a new cone have a collection of cones right I got I got a use for one down at the firehouse they're expensive anyone else anyone else have any uh thing for before we move on to yeah yeah oh no crutches we just congratul have you for not State your names and addresses or hi my name is Selena Martinez Sano and I live on 136 trth Avenue Sanchez 379 Betsy ver 65 West s Avenue dear mayor and Council we wanted to personally thank you for your attendance and assistance at our recent ran Community cing up last Saturday your continuous support of our club and the responsiveness you have had towards our youth in our town is greatly appreciated a special shout out goes out to Deputy Mayor Kate TR and councilwoman Laur for their generous donations toward the event to councilwoman Nancy Facey black for her C ation in securing supplies planning the event coordinating with the DPW and rallying more volunteers and we also want to shout out BR manager Jim Gant for helping us coordinate regs and of course we also want to thank mayor Portman and councilwoman Christina Bak for being at the event and helping us speed upy Our advice in total we had 51 volunteers which is very much far exceeding our expectations every time we have the privilege of watching how well and efficiently you all work together it makes us feel so ly to have such an extraordinary group of people to the we thank you for all the work you do and your willingness to create spaceage citizens can engag in all Community work and we thank you for creating a space for you to volunteer with all of you participate and work so closely because it truly has been such an honor and we just we appreciate you guys so much thank thank you guys we want to thank you and I been wearing my button they they designed these buttons and when we were picking up um trash we got these buttons and they designed them right and had them made says dreamers red bang clean up and then it says in Spanish which you guys could say better than me because my Spanish is great no Dre me of A Cleaner World is what it is and it's beautiful button I'm going to wear it all the time she does good for L have it on M yeah thank you guys I AP i w to thank you thanks for much you guys are great yeah dream thank you great stop growing up yeah they going to else just have any Red Bank issues I want to make sure residents are HT before we open up the floor okay opening up the floor to everyone yes you're so good so good they're amazing organizers I'm a resident of I know what you're saying my name is virina shandley I live on 115 Ro and once again I'm here to request that you pass the resolution for a ceasefire um that you at least put it on the agenda and vote on I know you're cap I have a letter here so was written by May Portman at less than a week after the October 7th Massacre of the 1200 Jewish or Israeli actually just Israeli people and The Taking of hostages and this is from October 13th written on the burrow of Red Bank letterhead and it's a public not I am sickened by the brutal attacks in Israel this past week as a Jew I've feel a sense of helplessness as friends in Israel are under assault by the terrorist group Hamas I'm saddened by the senseless loss of life life but let me be clear I stand with Israel but I may not always political leanings in Israel I certainly recognize Israel's right to exist peacefully excuse me could you please stop talking I recognize Israel's right to exist peacefully although I have not been to Israel in many years I forged relationships with Israelis that have stud the test of time there is simply no justification for the brutally inflicted up brutality inflict upon Israeli citizens especially teens and children I have been in touch with both Rabbi David harison and chief Pano our Police Department is UN heightened alert to make sure that every Jewish resident and feed save shabat shalom it's very kind and it represents red B and yet what you're saying is you cannot vote on this ceasefire resolution because it has nothing to do with red L locally and it would caus divisiveness we have a situation where three Mass Graves have been located have been found in the Nasser Medical Center at Shea husband where 392 bodies have been discovered some with still IVs in them shot in the head some with handcuffs some with medical uniforms on them when will this end we need your help we need you to be a representative to our elected officials and to the president said Stop The Killing release the hostages you fall humanitarian Aid the Palestinians have a right to exist the right to a Homeland and a right to defend themselves you have to acknowledge that Mr bman since you acknowledg how you stand with Israel thank you very much thank you anyone else yes sure thank you my name is mus na Islam relations I just organization I didn't hear what you said yeah the Council on American Islamic relations is the largest civil rights organization thank you K New Jersey is one of the CH 36 the US um here a call for and um I understand that their concerns that not the amend the resolution wase of the hostages a foras wi means hostages are released and civilians are allowed to live both siid get something a or Seas at least having a it's we I hear I always hear the is that it's not a local issue but it is one I letter that you sent out the statement that you sent out in support with Israel but again the state and the house uh the Senate and the house just passed the bill to send 26.4 billion 14 14 billion of that is need to send $14 billion there was a ceasefire already and this is our taxpayer this is every single person who pays taxes sent money to fund a war that's going on in h we're sending money to support to give weapons to Israel to continue this if there was ceasefire there won't be no money that 26.4 billion would have been used for American citizens American Tax vars in this country Israel has the luxuries of having free Healthe education we don't have those luxuries we should what I mean again that's not up to here but having a right to just vote on the ceasefire is not divisive to one because it benefits both sides and two it's it is a local issue because it's our taxpayers that we're using to fund this ongoing work inil so that's just points thank you for thank you um yes next I have I think Alan have his hand good evening Street you know I don't know how many months now we've been doing this and trying to raise the issue regard of ceas fire in front of this Council and it's kind of depressing really to think that we're heading for our seventh month since the last time we spoke to you probably a few hundred more people a day few hundred more children maybe dead as well and orphaned and even more well not I was going to say interesting that's not the very but is the fact that the lies of Netanyahu the IDF are slowly unraveling as we've heard that's by the exposure of the deaths in these hospitals and and other atrocities things have moved on the the young in this country now are moving we know that all over the United States young people and students are actually making a stand in suppor of Palestine and in fact being come down quite heavily on as I understand been rested and so on but you know that's the start of the movement and it's the start of the movement of ious and I'm just so disappointed that this than I know some of you like to wear the BGE of being Progressive and War brown fuzzy worlding people but you know what you don't wear it well you you know you just fail to make a stand you know sit there is not actually just doing the world of the you know a council member said to me last time people in Red Bank don't want it nobody said to me you know it's your duty also to provide leadership and if leadership means going for what is right and do it you have all B you just don't want to embarrass your NE who has you know just made a statement and really forbidden you to make a state make another [Music] statement so I urge you to discuss this resolution take on the leadership and help establish peace again [Music] in thank you this Dr Steve fenell Road simple to gr truth that once existed in my childhood do onto others you would have others do onto you has been trumed by tribalism this Golden Rule has become relative not absolute as it was truth has been turned upside down it's the Carnage in Gaza more than 30,000 people most of them women and children a proportionate response to 1200 Israeli lives lost on October 7 is it is there more value placed on an Israeli life over a Palestinian life where would the outrage be if the Israeli bever killed 1200 Palestinians on October 7th and Hamas responded by murdering 33,000 Israelis mostly women and children and taking into custody of 7,000 Israeli citizens it's like the dark dark side of the truth the Golden Rule now we are seeing do unto others what you don't want others to do to you times 25 block the exits destroy hospitals schools temples and for good measure starve Israeli civilians I ask Council to take a stand like other Humane communities are doing and pass the ceasefire resolution so that the golden thank thank you any else yes good evening my name is Melanie eler I live at 43 Green Tree Terrace in Loft but I work as the property manager for 65 Mechanic Street here in Red Bank I'm here tonight to talk to the council about the Mechanic Street Street scaping infrastructure and Road Improvement project that began in January don't worry here with words of appreciation and praise first I'd like to thank Redbank the administration for applying for and managing the grant for this project and James Gant for his leadership and communication um Mechanic Street is the last cement Street in Red Bank Valves and pipes over a 100 years old and so this is a much needed Improvement I'm very thankful for the engineers at tnm taking the time to explain the scope of the project to me so I can understand how it affects my 16 commercial tenants were just trying to run operate their businesses tnm Engineers L Tesco and Kevin L manag the project on site and they're always immediately available for questions Jackie durman has been very helpful as well we're very fortunate to have such a knowledgeable and thorough engineering crew on this very difficult project also have to thank the police officers who directed traffic in a very confusing travel area with drivers coming from every Direction sometimes ignoring the officer or the signs that are bed the unsung heroes of this project who truly deserve recognition of other workers from the construction contractor as brothers they've all endured difficult weather conditions and have dealt with many challenges but they hustle and they work hard when the work is done for the day the road is left in Immaculate condition with safety phones and signs neatly in place my appreciation and respect goes to company owner Paul Santos and project manager Ronnie samit Ronnie has basically been my construction therapist it's not easy to keep me happy I'm very protective of my building and my tenants I have a lot of questions a lot of reassurance and Ronnie has kept me informed in advance of any events affecting us he lets me know how to access our building so I can manage the expectations of my tenants and in turn they can direct their patients and visitors this communication has been extremely helpful because Mechanic Street is a oneway street we have two access driveways on our property where one of the two driveways is usually closed because one of the two access Streets Mount or Washington is usually closed and some days one way two way so Ronnie's ability to plan properly and properly and to quickly respond to both stressful and unforeseen circumstances there have been several is something that only comes from his extensive experience in the field he's taken a Hands-On approach to ensuring that there's minimal disruption to people working living in the immediate sping area as much as I hate to cut you off because this is all good by I want to for a three minute cut off but thank you for I just want planning a ribbon ceremony when it's I just I just want to say thank you for for telling us a lot of road projects or construction projects you generally don't hear the good right you hear all about the bad and I'm happy as you know the leader the administration and the burough to to shoulder the bad stuff and I'm certainly happy to give kudos words do so thank you thank you very much for the feedback glad to hear that your needs and and concerns are being met too um mayor may I say something I want to um just give a shout out to El Melanie eler I know her from when I used to live in Lincroft and she was instrumental in getting the linkpro Village Green Association going and she did the um the bridge so that when you're taking a walk in Thompson Park you now have a full loop this is the person to thank so she has a good she has a good handle of what it takes to get things done and so for her to say this I want to say that it is greatly appreciated and it's really good to see you y yay I just want to say that's super insightful and I mean it's really refreshing first of all but secondly I know when Jackie of tnm took on this project um actually lunch with her at Zuni on the Block and um you know she said you know one of the things that's going to be Paramount we're going to show with this project is our communication skills uh there wouldn't be too much of a metric for us to know how much more that was done um it's really nice to hear that that promise was kept um from Jackie she's a newer engineer for us to work with in the town um so that's that's really great feedback to have on our end thank you yes ma' um did you want to say something hello thank you for having me my name is r a m I am from the township of Jackson council is much more pleasant than mine and I ask you to lead by example for my town and all surrounding Town it was truly heartwarming to hear Mr Forman your statement regarding the October 7th attack at and the uh 1100 Israeli civilians so why not feel the same about the 35,000 civilians that have been slaughtered in Palestine New Jersey as a state has an economic business Commerce contract with the sister state of Israel which is currently on trial for genocide and is actively executing genocide as we speak to date there's more than 35 34,000 civilians killed 16,000 children of them are 16,000 children 13,000 are women 880,000 injured injuries include one or more amputations white phospherous Burns and other War weapons used in the most densely populated areas on Earth right now is vza this highly populated blend and Palestine is home to approximately 6 million people two million of them almost two million of them are trapped in Gaza as they're continuing their bombardments as we speak so you may think it's not a local issue being that we have the business Commerce agreement our tax dollars are directly linked to them they have free health care I don't have any healthare right now so our tax dollars are funding genocide illegal occupation illegal sett settlements and many of those individuals are right here from the USA and New Jersey yes I would say it's a local issue international issues concern local issues and vice versa there are multiple universities and colleges and the numbers of these universities are growing they are speaking up and they are they are our future leaders so if you truly believe this is not a local issue this is what I tell my kids the circle is definitely closing in on us and a lot more people are speaking up there's innocent women and children dying by the thousands and our tax dollars are paying for them thank you for having me have a good night thank you anyone on the line yes uh suzan VY 25 Cedar Street can can you hear me okay yeah okay great uh first I'm not speaking on behalf of the school board or the library board I'm speaking for myself uh I would first like to thank um the captain regarding all his help and um information and great feedback back and uh responding to questions and concerns and I really think he's putting a big effort on safety so I really appreciate it um I wish I could be there to you have this discussion but I actually had something to do at work but my question or my concern is I received this email about a survey um boards and commissions diversity survey and I feel like we're kind of doing redb wants two different things at the same time one minute we just heard uh another Resident say we're one redb right we should be one Ric we're 1.7 square miles not on East Side not west side but yes we do appreciate each side has a little different flavor however this survey seems on to me because number one why does it matter if I'm gay or straight or female or male if I am on a committee and board and I show up and I work well and I have great ideas and I participate and I add value number one number two the weird thing that I don't get how this survey was made from the template because the template has a question number six religion but the Muslim religion was taken off and um instead of that they put prefer not to say so I guess you're kind of cherry-picking certain things and if you're saying that my gender and my religion and who I sleep with and my marital status and my language all bears I'm being a part of a committee and yet to be inclusive why aren't you asking political affiliation wouldn't a Democrat or independent or republican all want to be inclusive and be part of a committee or whatnot it's just kind of seems like it's weird that we don't want to be judged on our ethnicity or our religion we want to be judged on being a good person and our activity and and standing up I mean I don't think I'm a better Schoolboard member because I'm gay or a better Schoolboard member because I'm Spanish because I I I became a natural citizen I was born in Ecuador and I lived over there for a year doesn't mean I'm better than uh Mr Forest on the school board I think you should be judged on um what we bring to to the table and showing up so I'm just curious why and it says we don't have to fill it out but it also says every required every number has a star next to it so in my mind looks like okay all or nothing I can I don't I have to answer all the questions because every question has a star so again I I don't get what's the benefit when number one you guys are appointing us wouldn't you want to know our history like our if we have a degree or not I mean so that was your three minute three minute I appreciate it okay thank you Nancy correct me if I'm wrong didn't it come from um Sustainable New Jersey that survey did it come um Jim may I please okay so this is a survey that uh is an action for our sustainable Jersey certification and it is a question about dis um just overlooking to making sure that we have adequate representation in our community so this question is basically where we are now the data for the questions on the survey came straight from sustainable Jersey so that's why you'll see and we do mention uh regarding question number seven regarding your relig practice Islam is the Muslim religion so it is mentioned here and regarding question six for a gender it's just man woman nonbinary or prefer not to say uh because um I don't know how to say this just politely but if you're gay or straight that's not a gender that's your sexuality your orientation right so we don't go into your orientation but we give it was given option to say nonbing rate or prefer not to say what your gender is so that's basically what that is so it is a standard um it helps the borrow to see where we are to making sure that we're meeting the needs of and we have adequate representation in the future of all members on our boards and committees so that's all it is so just real fast you're gonna choose members on these ideas than being a good member because you did knock off certain African-American people that applied and had experience it's an anonymous survey so you know we're not choosing people based on it but it helps us to see where we are yeah you could think of it like a census all right you want to do one more hello can you hear me yes yes hi uh my name is Annabelle I live in Oceanport I've been close to the Red Bank Community for many years and I would like to Echo the sentiments of the attendees who Express support for a ceasefire resolution I attended a peaceful demonstration in Red Bank at Riverside Gardens Park and I was very touched and moved by how impacted Red Bank residents were by the issue especially how personally affected Palestinian residents are watching their relatives in Gaza be subjected to horrific trauma in addition how passionate many Jewish organizations and community members are about a permanent and sustained ceasefire in the region the Carnage is not happening here the genocide is not happening here but we can see it on our phones we have a parasocial relationship with people who are dealing with it and we can't close our eyes to it I would urge you to stand for peace on the issue Israel is not just defending itself it is using the Hamas attacks to justify the ethnic cleansing of Palestinian people making no statement and taking no action is siding with the oppressor bystandard are complicit by not taking action against this genocide so I would urge you to use the right terminology in describing the issue because it is a genocide it is an ethnic cleansing and taking no stance is siding with the oppress with the oppressor thank you any else the rest thanks good evening my name is Andrea LaVine I live in L County I do work and Shop in Redbank um I'd be happy to give my address privately after I don't really feel comfortable sharing it in this way but I'm happy to give that to after if that's okay I'm here on behalf of short food not boms and Jewish Bo for peace we're here to encourage like other people have to Shared we here to encourage city council to pass resolution for for a permanent ceasefire in Palestine and for it to happen sooner than later um I'm personally inspired to share that these New Jersey um cities and towns have already passed resolutions so right here in our state city North Bergen we Hawkins Wayne Prospect Patterson salon and probably others have already passed a ceasefire resolution so I know um I coming a few uh it's been coming to the Red Bank Meeting online a few times now um and last time we heard that case was made that this is not a local issue so other municipalities in in our state did feel that it is a local issue and they they seem to have decided that it is in their jurisdiction to make a statement support a Palestine and I will extend that to say even a statement to support Israel as well because Justice and peace in Palestine will make the entire area safer and have more peace and more justice for all people that are there including people that live in Red Bank that have family and loved ones that live in that region there's so many connections that can be made between Red Bank and the part of the world that we're discussing um another thing I want to mention is I'll try to appeal to you from the financial perspective um there's a website online that actually you can literally put in a city a state a country and it will tell you how much funding is going to the Israeli military and and allowing the military occupation of Palestine to continue and specifically Red Bank I literally put in Redbank this ZIP code it's $220,600 that's going to support Israel's weapons instead of that money furthering a genocide that money could stay here in Red Bank and could otherwise fund 26 households with public housing for a year that money would otherwise fund 76 children receiving free or lowcost Healthcare two Elementary School teachers and I'm a school teacher so that resonates for me 628 households with solar electricity produced for a year that money in red bang could otherwise support five students with their loan debt cancelled and 191 871 and 95er mask my time is nearly up um we I I ask for you to open your mind to what the people before me and thank you have a good night thank you anyone else a comment no sir okay can I have a motion to close the floor for public comment make such a motion have a second second all in favor I thank you okay um do some mayor and councel comments Christina S David I'll start with with my friends in the back row thank you for the cleanup I'm sorry I missed the event I was camping in Gettysburg for two nights with Red Bank troop 67 and and I got to compliment the many local parents who volunteered it was a great lesson in history the reenactors who worked with the kids uh were incredible uh but I would have been there if I was in town and y'all are doing great work and I just appreciate you and I want you to hear that here so thank you I want to uh just note we've had a lot of awesome openings mommoth Arts uh whipped today and then of course and most importantly lunch breaks driven cutting um I want to acknowledge those um Captain frzy left the room I want to thank him for uh coming to these meetings it's been a incredible resource and he's really set a standard um for uh helping with a information from the police department and it's been noticed and felt by me in particular and I hope everybody in the room it's been wonderful and I hope it continues uh Laura very very welld deserved acknowledgement of your efforts you run the show just thank you again and I I I just want to say just because it's been said a couple times now mayor Portman has never told me not to speak on a topic ever I want to be clear about it and I won't be insulted into saying otherwise uh mayor Portman has never said it and when I'm ready to say something on any topic I will say it and mayor Portman will not tell me not to speak and I just want to acknowledge that he has never asked that of me and I and to my knowledge of anybody on this body thank you okay um first and foremost I would like to thank Selena Betsy meline fora with working with the dreamers I'm sorry my Spanglish is very bad so I'm just gonna leave it at that and itel for guiding them I am shocked that you guys are driving so I have to get over that unbelievable they're growing right and I want to say you put together a really well-run event it was perfect and we were so happy to be out there and help and pick up a lot of the garbage that we have in town as you said there were like huge piles so I do appreciate your efforts and the marketing that you did was amazing so um thank you for that uh the next thing I want to bring up is that the shea tree commission received their tree City USA award this is their 18th year of receiving it this is a committee that really cares about trees and they have heated discussions about you know the shade trees in town and now their scope might be expanding a little bit with the new storm water ordinance that we're working on which um would put some uh how would I say this regulations about tree removals even those that are on private property so there you know that's coming down the line it's a it's on the D website they have a boilerplate ordinance we're tweaking it for Red Bank as as we have it um for the environmental commission and green team um they helped the dreamers with their their cleanup and uh they also worked with the clean ocean action Seal Team there's a young woman that's volunteering with them to do the walk around for um handing out flyers to restaurants explaining the skip the stuff ordinance that was initiated out of the environmental commission to skip the stuff ordinance which is when you're ordering takeout food your utensils and napkins Etc will become by request and um I know that one group went out Wednesday um on sh Avenue today another group went out on uh Broad Street and and wherever in neapoli is that's Wallace if I'm not mistaken they went down those streets today so they are they're making you know they are making an impact and if we have this community engagement um person coming into that role that will help a great deal um the there was a green Fair held last Monday evening from 5 to 7 partnered with the middle school I want to thank the middle schoolers for their awesome displays and how much they've learned about the impact of climate and our planet and how to conserve I want to thank all the vendors who came I'm sorry I'm talking a lot but I'm getting it all out I want to thank um not the vendors the organizations that came to promote their work I want to thank um the committies that came and had a table so we shared basically what it is that we do in Red bang and um it was a packed event it was fun and it went really well so um also last but not least um I'd like to thank our our clerk Laura Ry neron she keeps us sane and she also keeps us well organized so I do I want to say I really do appreciate you Laura you're welcome well Nancy I also as the school le aison I was so pleased to see that fair at the middle school such a perfect venue for the fair and so many kids participated yes in that fair much more than last year and um it was great to be there the second thing I want to mention is that Nancy joined me for the strategic planning session of our bur schools the week before um no pun intended it was actually quite eye opening and educating because you're Saturday the table and are participating in their strategic planning process so uh thank you Nancy for being part of that um they have one more coming up in March I mean next month and it's on the C the B calendar School District calendar I have a few things from Parks and R um thank you for honoring Coach Joe brand by the way mayor um and the recreation department will be adding a uh Senior Center Zumba and K Chi so those are you all ages adults right not just seniors that is correct but it's that the senior sent yes but any ad uh 6:30 on Tuesdays for the Zumba and 7:30 for the taiichi they will we try to do I think the uh taii outside if there's too many people we'll have to move it inside um let's see uh pride in the park is scheduled for Saturday June 8th rain date is June 9th 12 to 3 uh 4th annual Jun celebration June 16th rainers shine at Johnny Jazz 1 through 1 to 5: p.m. um there will also be a March from the Pilgrim Baptist Church before end um um and let's see oh um we still have voting for the movies of the summer ahead at the moment are the Super Mario Brothers movie bar day off Godzilla first pong and Shrek but you can still vote on our Recreation website so um that covers that um I want to just comment on a couple things from the comments tonight um I'll start with Barbara Bois um I'm actually with my neighbor Kate on this topic basically I know you're not here Barbara but maybe you'll be watching me on the TV um I kind of like that there are neighborhoods whether it's the big city or red bang um I you know and neighborhoods have their own characteristics and I think that's okay and I don't think it's a bad thing and I I kind of present actually being told that I have to think some way about living in red I like the town uh I like that there are various neighborhoods in the town whether it's a historic district whether it's you know one other Locust Avenue neighborhood or the entire West Side um more over by count basy I think it's okay and it's not a bad thing that communities have neighs um you covered that well Kate um let's see I do want to respond to jimmmy also was here earlier I I don't know what's going to happen with that land in the long run but I do think we need to clean it up and that's been the plan of the bur for a long time and I don't think we should let toxic chemicals Fester old landfills Fester without attention and being monitored so I'm thinking to you Jimmy even though you're not here um I wanted to comment actually on our Clerk's report about the eight about the districts moving around and fire here I'm actually not thrilled to that um I've already expressed this but I just want to say I really think it makes sense to have the eth district voting area in the eth district which would be the senior Senate it seems bizarre to me but you have to leave the eth district to go vote at the bur homeall and um so I guess I'll just add that little wrinkle to the discussion I know the county made these decisions we had no say I'm not planning to become an activist on this but I'm not really happy about it he's gonna be an activist I'm not going to go scream at the County Commission or whatever is the voting commission um but I'm not happy um the uh I think I said and all our guests here on on computer and otherwise about the uh Palestinian horror show that's going on I think I said my say last last week on this at our last meeting I don't think I need to repeat it again um I struggled with it um I kind of can personally I am of the point of view that there should be no more bombs Dro over there anywh I do separate my role from my personal views from being a councilman now allen hill partially quoted me I think he was quoted me but not the way intended it so I'll just say you know when I knocked on the 2000 doors over the years the run for office year P2 people who thought I was running for congress talk to me about international issues if I'm going to start taking positions on international issues I think I really should have reached out more to Red Bank residents and gotten more feedback and whatnot on now I morally appalled by what's happening there and as I said at the last meeting I may revisit my decision I want to repeat what my colleague David said though and it's very important the mayor has not dictated to me what to do up here and if I do make a motion on it at some point I don't think he'll stop me and that could happen we'll see I'm not very happy with what's happening over there and many more have to die well I don't think that even if we pass the resolution it's going to stop nany's sure but I don't want to have back and forth about it I said my say about it last month and I do want to thank the mayor I mean the mayor mayor wrote his letter I don't think we had a vote on it I respect the mayor's right though to have an opinion just like I do thank you very much I spoke up thank you that's my comments Mr Mayor thank you hi um there was a library meeting tonight I couldn't make it um so that's um I did get a report though from the library because I'm the lay on to the library uh the Red Bank Public Library would like to thank Tans saac Meridian Riverview Medical Center for generously donating three aeds to the library these life saving devices will ouly make a significant difference during critical moments potentially saving lives and offering reassurance to to those in need they will also profoundly enhance the safety and well-being of our community the library also thank the Red Bank DPW for assisting us and installing the cabinets and devices which I think they're doing this week so um on May 1 there will be a uh reception at the library at six o'clock I think mayor Billy Portman's going to go I know um councilwoman Nancy fa blackwood's going everyone's invited and they're going to have a little reception I'm unfortunately will be out of town but it is really that we have those aeds in the library that was the first thing when I took a tour of the library I'm like okay you have Narin on every floor where are the AED so um I did twist a few arms and thank you for riverv viiew for doing that because as a nurse that makes me happy okay um so the also on May 1 at 6m they're also kicking the library is also kicking off mental health awareness month it's National Alliance on Mental Illness and our voice program let by individuals living with mental health conditions this interactive presentation offers insights and understanding come ask questions join the discussion and help build Better Lives all are welcome Groove to the smooth sounds of jazz as the Asbury concert band conducted by John luck and Bill presents an unforget unforgettable evening musical Delight this Tuesday April 30th at 7M join us in the first Atlantic Federal Credit Union on May 14th at 6:30 to learn how to boost your credit score and Achieve Financial Freedom Workshop kits will be available in English and Spanish that's another thing I love about the library they have a lot of things in English and Spanish um I know I see a lot of my um neighbors there um historic walking tours are back join um Kathy Lou C Morgan outside the library for an educational tour of Red Banks historic stops the remaining tour dates are May 4th and June 1st at 10:30 I actually took that tour with my husband a couple years ago long before I got into politics and it really is very I learned so many things about the town that I've been living in for 25 years that I didn't know that um get ready for a new world of entertainment and education because canopy is coming to Red Bank Public Library starting this may Red Bank public library card holders will have access to vast collection of award win winning films David a few of mine are on there documentaries Davids and educational videos all act fingertips so that's the report from the library um Animal Welfare they were here tonight and I'm excited that the chicken ordinance is going forward um one thing I did want to mention on May 18th we're having a um yappy hour hour yappy hour at the broad so you can bring your dogs down we're also collecting food for cats and dogs because I have to bring up cats because I'm a big cat person um and that will go to lunch break which was very very successful and we're doing it again I think we have some uh things out in the hallway here right um for donations we're going to have bins and Feathers has do U buckets we brought them to the green Fair the other day um which was a great turnout I was happy to see so many people come over and talk to us about Animal Welfare um so that that's it for Animal Welfare um I would like to thank Laura because yes um being a baby counsel person she keeps she helps me because I have no idea sometimes what I'm supposed to do but she does tell me what to do and helps me organize my life thank you um I too would like to express that we are listening to everyone here okay Mayor Bill Billy Portman does not tell me what to do um I respect him as I respect everyone um from both sides of the aisle many of you know that my daughter is has a master's degree in international studies my daughter is an activist in this area I respect my daughter too I respect everyone who has something to say I'm also very happy because I was a college professor for many many years to see colleges taking up a cause Okay um I was in college when the Vietnam War was going on okay I happen to get my doctorate from that University that is having such a problem now in New York so um I think people will look back on the young people doing this work and will look back on you for doing your work I don't think that us making a statement on that is going to change I don't know President Biden I mean I like them but I don't know him um so I don't really think that's going to change anything like like Ben said if I change my mind I'll change my mind but I do want you to know that Billy Portman I do him and he doesn't tell me what to do thank you mayor thank you mayor um from the CE um Community Equity engagement committee uh this is the report from the chair um to stano Jersey uh compiled the survey regarding diversity on commissions and Boards which was distributed to all committee and commission members this week by the burough clerk thank you uh this action items Works towards certification and gold star status um also um I know I've talked about this before up here um the initiative which is the collaboration between the Parks and Recreation and the CE um which is a push chair um for people to use during uh the Red Bank classic and for any other participation in races in town uh that was delivered this we week so that's great um the CE is also going to be giving um resident Awards recognizing residents you know for doing their thing and being great and being a part of the community uh I think that's a great part of the engagement that they've been doing with the online social media posts um spotlighting people with individual stories uh so beginning uh in May and awarded quarterly they're going to pick uh one female one male one business organization and one uh person under 30 uh to recognize from within the community uh so if you know anybody who's done extraordinary work on the ground or you know somebody who you think should be recognized for what they do in our community we are a town of 13,000 people uh we don't always know when somebody has done something uh deserving or worthy of Praise please use this as an opportunity to bring those people forward uh to get you know the recognition they deserve um other than that I'm really looking forward to the broadwalk season uh once again that's going to be starting the Monday after Mother's Day um every Thursday night there is going to be a Fresh Market in the broadwalk um this Fresh Market is the same as Asbury Fresh Market and The Fresh Market that you see in borks um so I really look forward to see the vendors that are curated specifically to uh Red Bank and an AR culture and what we bring uh no pressure today um on that task um also every Friday in the broadwalk will be the kids takeover uh that's an initiative that I actually started with the River Center um one of the first seasons of broadwalk I it's it's wonderful uh kids take over every Friday it's a great communal time we know as parents we can go down there and run into other parents um kids bring their trikes out they bring small toys out um I believe this year Shore Gamers on Mama street is going to be partnering with that which brings that to a whole other level uh it's just really a great resident uh time in the broadwalk so I'm really looking forward to that and I'm sure you know Nancy will be bringing back easy ride and um bike lessons uh in the broadwalk so just really great to be able to share that every Thursday and every Friday um we're going to have you know that programming and so many more events to come uh but that's that's basically my report thank you all right um I just wanted to go over a couple of the events that we talked about yeah and uh and a couple of new ones first off my um my neighbor Carol Penn is doing in uh an event at the library tomorrow from 1: to 2 um it's the institute for Comm Evolution lunch lunch and Learn featuring the G The Gambia collaborative medical Mission um there'll be some light refreshment serve but they're asking to bring your own bag lunch if you want to go see what Carol is up to on her medical Mission um again coming up in May the the record Riot Street Fair on Mechanic Street on May 11th Again David Cassie instrumental and get this put together that's going to be a very cool event um we also have coming up a two food drives in Red Bank one is the um the National Association of letter carriers they do this every year um on May 11th they're doing their food drive where basically just if you put out a a bag of non perishables on the port they'll take them and um over in the last 10 years they've collected more than uh 70 million pounds of food also uh Derma dreams is a great organization that's doing their food drive I actually um grew up with Le I didn't grow up I went to college with leis dmer she's a good friend of mine so I'm also a neighborhood Captain for this you John Street you just dropped your stuff uh at my house um but that's also happening on May 18th and um oh yeah and then also on May 18th we talked about Yapp hour but um my mayor's Wellness campaign cycling and walking event I will be there of course on Saturday May 18th I don't have the rout yet so that'll be published on the socials and and and print it up what the route will be and um yeah I think that is it um want to give your manager's report sure thing it's brief tonight mayor um just a couple items the budget is was definitely a main focus of the last couple weeks uh We've introduced we held our budget presentation um it's been posted to the website we'll be taking further action on that in the next coming meetings um I've asked Ingenuity Ingenuity who is our water engineer especially working on the lead service on replacement program to come to the next council meeting to give a full overview of the continuance of that project uh as you'll see with the banner in front here uh take your child to workday was nationally recognized today uh but because the burough had court and council meeting T night we are celebrating tomorrow I think we have about 23 kids coming to the buau from employees and it's probably the biggest involvement of um kids that are going to be joining us and we have a full program put together for them so there's going to be Touch a Truck each Department's going to be doing presentations giving out goodies and you know we have bags made up for the kids and a couple different uh presentations meet the mayor uh so it'll be an exciting event and I want to thank the wellness committee that we put together with our new HR Manager for bringing this program to us um Laura sits on that committee and and in that same vein I just want to thank Laura for everything that she's done she continues to do the great ideas that she has um you know you deserve more than a week to be recognized uh and I'm truly appreciative for our collaboration as col colleagues so thank you all right um and send our love back to Bonnie yes absolutely um we don't have ex session sir all right can I have a motion to adjourn I'll second all in favor see you next time thank you