##VIDEO ID:U0j-ooEK0ik## SC no it's was just something I noticed you find it I have a paper copy no I can't find it than yeah put it between us over here thank you you're welcome good evening this meeting is being held in accordance with the public laws of 1975 chapter 231 an adequate notice this meeting has been provided by a notice sent to the asur park press two times in the Star Ledger and posted in the main lobby of the municipal building and on the municipal website LMA authorizes municipalities to conduct public meetings through use of streaming services and other online meeting platforms the Red Bank Council is meeting in person 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 it cannot be quickly fixed Council will continue with remainer 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 pledge allegiance to the flag the United States of America to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible liy and justice for all call please K's walking in right now actually yeah wait 30 seconds person Bonas here council person Cassidy council person case casy Blackwood here council person Forest pres council person Jan here Deputy Mayor here mayor um thank you welome we have a couple of uh proclamations but we're going to save to the very end I think you know John's really missing the council chambers let us start with a proclamation John Ward founder of Red Bank Green on behalf of the burrow Red Bank we hereby recognize John Ward founder of Red Bank Green as he relinquishes the Reigns after almost two decades of dedicated service after 43 years in newspaper magazine and online journalism John ward has decided to retire and focus on Long deferred creative projects throughout his career he has been a stalard of the community providing valuable insight and information to the residents of Red Bank and Beyond under his leadership Redbank green has become a trusted source of news and information for the people of bread Bank we are grateful for his tireless dedication and commitment to journalism over the years and we wish him all the best in his future endeavors we also extend our congratulations and best wishes to Brian Donahue and Kenny Kats who will now be carrying on the important work of Red Bank Green we have no doubt that they will continue to uphold the high standards of excellence set by John Ward and build upon his legacy in the years to come now therefore I William Portman mayor of the Bur Red Bank on behalf of the burrow council do hereby Proclaim our appreciation to John Ward thank you for your service to the community and your contributions to the field of Journalism you will be missed but your impact will continue to be felt for years to come say few thank you to the mayor and Council for um recognizing the importance of local journalism in Civic life when I started Red Bank Green in 2006 I the my main objective was to try and capture as much Vitality of Red Bank as poss put in words and pictures and over the 18 years it turns out that I could say modestly that that red B Green has become part of that fality very very pleased that's turned out that way and I'm particularly pleased that there's new leadership for R bank so this thing can continue I can retire and good spread Bank still have access to to journalism awesome thank you all right next up we have a proclamation uh for library card sign up month 2024 here's all the wear asses John we as libraries play a crucial role in the education and development of children providing resources from early literacy programs to College and Career preparation for high school students fostering a lifelong love of read love of reading and learning and whereas liary offer welcoming and inclusive spaces where people from all walks of life can connect bridging cultural ethnic generational and economic divides and enriching the social fabric of their communities and whereas libraries are dedicated to curating diverse programs and collections that reflect the unique needs of their communities and sharing Equitable access for everyone and whereas libraries support individuals of all ages as they navigate life's challenges offering access to vital research information and government services that enhance productivity and personal fulfillment and whereas librar strengthen the local economy by providing essential technology and training to job Seekers entrepreneurs and students alike and we're at during times of Crisis libraries and their staff serve as indispensable Community Resources offering support both in person and virtually and whereas libraries help households save money conserve resources and reduce waste by providing shared resources contributing to a more sustainable community and whereas a library card Sparks creativity and empowers individuals to explore new passions and pursue lifelong learning and whereas libraries uphold the principles of democracy by fostering Civic engagement and ensuring the free exchange of information and ideas for all and therefore be resolve that I William Portman mayor of Red Bank here I Proclaim September as library card sign up month in Red Bank New Jersey and encourage all residents to sign up for a library card today anyone from the library board one you guys want to accept on behalf St Steve Get phot Right [Music] congratulations insti come visit us yes More Than Just Books I was so I was so happy to see that my library books got automatically renewed I got an email I was like oh that's great I forgotten no finds yeah and honestly it's amazing what the library is offering now the services tools for your house I think I saw Cari machine there didn't I yeah awesome all right um so I guess we don't uh Lisa's not here I guess we'll either it's gonna be for oh next week okay we'll have the Red Bank Housing Authority presentation next week from director Lisa Richardson meeting next meeting next meeting yeah next meeting sorry I mean she may come we but does that me the resolution to accept it as also deferred no no no they're not they're not connected to each other okay okay um next up it's public comment on agenda items only this is only for agenda items anyone has any comments yes name Cindy buron 71 Wallace Street I had a question about uh 2423 and I'm wondering what's going on why are we digging it all up what well to answer that one um maybe four years ago or five years ago when we redid the white Suite lot uh we paved over an easement for Good Housekeeping and so that went back and forth for years with attorney speaking other attorneys speaking it's 30 minutes proven in the deed so I knew about that but it seems like you're digging up more you're digging up closer white talking on the front oh inter storing the easement that yeah I think it's all it's all connected settlement agreement yeah what however the engineers to the building it would be but I guess the truck still need a way to then be getting safely out of the parking lot they have't easement across the parking lot the back of their store there's an L-shaped easement that services like all those storefronts that would otherwise the back of the store otherwise be isolated from White Street by by our property have an L uh it's like a t-shaped easement that they can come out the back and then they can what I assume there's a I haven't been out there they dug up the path that it's going to be that's the easement out to White Street is the park L on Mama Street ever gonna happen because that seems to be like stop it's an agenda item answer right yeah quick answer here um is that that is a River Center project however during the project you know Murphy's Law we've come across a couple different issues that did stall the Project Lead service lines which then the burrow replaced to keep it moving there's an underground um storage tank underneath the sidewalk needs to be remediated um storage tank for what old diesel or gas fuel that the businesses used to utilize in that area um so just a matter of due diligence at this point and having to remediate a couple issues uh Bob from River Center mentioned today that he hops that that project is well underway and completed by like the first week of October so I kind of would have thought that they would have looked into that stuff before you start digging up the road it happens all it happens all the time like in towns that are early 1900s um like in Allen Town we just did it on Church Street in Allen toown they found two oil tanks next to the old Pizzeria and no one knew they were there because they had redone the basement walls of the pizzer underneath and redone the foundation so you wouldn't see pipes or anything they were just left outside the building and then we took up the sidewalk and they're there so it happens often in like early 1900s towns which this town is well you would think though that they have those things that can see underground you would just roll that around and see if there's a tank under there or if there were any lines just saying okay thank you thank you anyone else have any questions or comments on agenda items only anyone online Jim uh nobody with a hand raised no okay anyone okay can I have a motion to close the public comment on agenda items only make a motion Mr Mayor have a second second all in favor I right um can I have a motion to approve the minutes from 8:22 2024 so moved I have a second second all in favor I and can I have a motion to approve the executive session minutes from 822 to 24 so moved have a second second all in favor I thank you next up is uh in an introduction for 2024-25 lead based paint inspections to the Burrow's revised General ordinances to implement the inspection requirements of new state law new state law regarding lead based Paints in Ros IAL properties can I have a motion to approve this ordinance on introduction so moved can I have a second second roll call please council person mon takas yes council person facy Blackwood yes council person Forest yes council person janon yes Deputy Mayor Triano yes mayor Portman yes thank you the public hearing on this ordinance will be on September 26th next up is an introduction for 202 24-39 amending chapter 64 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 this ordinance on introduction move have a second second roll call please person B tacas yes council person facy Blackwood yes council person Forest yes council person Jan yes Deputy Mayor Toano obain mayor parman yes as an active firefighter Deputy Mayor Deputy Mayor Triano and councilman cast if he was here would be abstaining um our resolutions are does anyone see anything that needs to be pulled out and um discussed separately voted on separately or can we do it on the consent agenda yes uh resolution 24202 can we pull that aside I just have a couple of questions about that sure um what you want to I can ask the question yeah let's let's go ahead and ask sure and looking through the resolution um in section B1 under new activities it states that the re think Housing Authority is exploring Redevelopment options for Evergreen terrorist and Montgomery terrce turn your microphone on sorry Nancy oh I'm sorry light gapping away sorry about that um there's a reference here that the Red Bank Housing Authority is exploring re development options for Evergreen chce Montgomery terce and procured physical analysis firm and financial Al analysis um but what was the firm do you know what the firm who the firm was is that actually is that I thought that would be in there um I believe it's NW Financial okay um which is Mike Hanley and his partner Dan who actually saw on Friday night and they had and he had um actually went to a concert at PNC Bank and and Mike hosted the tailgate so there and he had mentioned this to me because we didn't know obviously we didn't know this over uh that this work was going on because there separate Authority um but he had he said hey you're the bird with for Red Bank right Mike told me said yeah and he said uh we've been working with the housing authority to put together Financial plans there's a lot of available Aid to potentially redevelop properties and that the Housing Authority has been exploring that and I want to um it's great that you're here can you connect me with the manager Jim um so I believe it's NW financial and I had actually intended on making that connection to the meeting but it came up now sure okay I just I just wanted to understand because it just you know just said a real estate development firm and I'm like okay anyone in particular how does this work or you know before we go ahead and vote on it so all question you good I'm good now all right then can I have a motion any others by the way any other resolutions people have questions about no okay so then um I have a motion to approve resolutions 24-16 through 24-27 on the consent agenda I make such a motion Mr I have a second second roll call please council person Bon Tas yes council person facy Blackwood yes council person Forest yes council person janon yes Deputy Mayor Triano yes mayor Portman yes thank you um next up is a discussion an action for three street closures or barricades for porch fests porchfest would like to put up a barricade at the intersection of Lyon and Hudson because it seems to get pretty crowded anyway the last two Port fests um we're on Waverly where Zeke Dental is they have a a separate stage set up with a whole bunch of bands so they want to just close um Maple to Waverly um and this was approved by traffic safety and seen by special events we are just doing a second look correct okay I'm not Traffic Safety so if traffic safety says this is the best thing to do then yes um and then the other one was um at River Road in throck Morton so cars aren't turning up onto throck Morton I have a question you mean on Maple close off Maple at the intersection of Waverly no no close off Waverly at the intersection of maple so in other words if you're coming down Maple you can't take the turn on so w yeah okay um and really I think they'll probably I don't even think there's a house there that would be blocked from from getting out in other words once there's people in in the street in that area yeah so will they close the will they so they close just that one side and they they'll put a barrier on the other side bar at the other end like at the end of z z yeah or maybe slightly past that correct okay and the same with um the throck Morton one be a barrier just a little bit up past right the Church wants to participate in porchfest yeah but last year they were facing River Road and it felt unsafe yeah because people are you so if they're that way they're going to stand they have a side porch so people will watch from thrb yes at that point um so I'm gonna abstain from voting on that because there's no vote I mean we don't oh we don't have to just approve don't we have to do it all in favor or no no I'm not sure that's Greg do we have to do it no oh okay Jims in church okay this is just transparency so people know what's happening okay um yes and Jen told me this morning that that was approved next up is um can I have a motion to open the floor for public comment than S a motion I have a second second all in favor I all right uh anyone have any public comments on any On Your Mind questions anyone onl Jim G to tell Mr because he just walked in right hey Freddy we just started the public comment we're moving quickly you got anything you want to add yes don't even sit man just keep on keep on gobling up if I wasn't a nicer man I would have waited till you sat and then was going on sit down is that all right about yeah absolutely Freddy Bo P box 2074 good evening man good afternoon uh I want to thank all the councilman and those that reached out to me when I got hurt whatnot I really appreciate it bil counsel the other thing is I just want to say I got hit on West Street at M and U my bike went over I got pretty scared up fraction my knee I find out my knee is fraction I know we can't put a stop sign there but uh on River Street in Lake just last week I got pictures on my phone my cousin truck got to off on River Street in Lake and I really think yall councilman need to really look in consideration for a four-way stop sign there to slow some of this trael there the cars are coming through here too fast at night and speed and if you put a stop sign there that will help slow that traffic down because they're going to have to stop and I don't want to see no child go through what I'm going through feel the F uh that payement on the road is not a safe place to be I was just lucky that I didn't hit my head had more injury I was blessed that just hope y'all really take it in consideration look at that intersection for the four-way stop sign I think it's going to really help that's all I got to say all right thank you Freddy anyone else have any questions or comments yeah Jimmy how youy best with Jimmy D 48 today uh my neighbors had submitt thing for my neighbors had put submitted thing for Street be Clos on West and I told she was she was to come and I told I mention that West you talking about um Randy and Megan yes yeah yeah we just they decided a little late so the the petition is is in I check with Jen who's the you know uh the special events board and they they're going to end up once they review it all they're going to get it approved before the uh the next meeting just to make sure that it's not gonna be an issue they they would notify them or so yeah we'll notify them let me know they'll let they'll let them know and we'll we should be good to go okay thank you thank you Jimmy that might have been your shortest public comment ever no anyone else have any questions or comments one online one online okay we'll go to that one good evening everyone this is uh Nicole T 153 Hudson Avenue um and I just wanted to follow up on the I'm sorry if I'm not getting the name of it right The Pedestrian committee that was formed um I was just wondering like what the next steps are in terms of is there a meeting on the calendar or anything like that um in particular I was just raising it because it's back to school season um the roads really busy uh lots of kids going to and from school and there's a ton of traffic and I think it'd be a really good time to ramp off that first so I just love an update on that yeah since that time uh Nicole this is Jim Gant um but since that time we've in the police department has uh instituted bike Patrol uh back in Red Bank which I believe is something that was uh I would say disbanded or for a lack of resources was stopped decade ago yes I did see that thank you that was that was I did see that that was great that was definitely as a direct result of of that pedestrian and biking safety meeting um we don't have an established Committee just to make that clarification but we took a lot of the comments that night and we've met internally to decide what is feasible and what still needs to be uh vetted out a bit in particular I met with the engineers AC Chief frzy and Sergeant cover out on in front of uh um oh goodness nonprofit thank you you said nonprofit like that was gonna narrow it down good point but you know what I was talking but we uh we met in front of lunch break because that is particular intersection that definitely needs some attention and you know gay steinber actually was one of the ones that uh made a recommendation about having no right turns out of those intersections so we were taking a really hard look at that um which we've determined is not so simple but um it's going to require a little bit more traffic survey so I currently have tnm tased with that so that we can make sure that we're spending the grant money really in the best way possible instead of just slapping pedestrian paint down on the road um but actually looking a real taking a real hard look at what's going to be effective uh at that intersection in particular so there's a there's a number of different things that have gone in place I know we just talked today about um increasing some signage around town to keep reminding motorists pedestrians uh even those that bike of what the laws are we discussed it even this morning in a River Center breakfast with acne Chief frzy about the concerns of even pedestrian just coming off the sidewalks um um and bicyclist biking on the sidewalks and uh trying to educate do more of an education push out there for these things so we do we have a number of different things in place but right now I think particularly we're working with the engineers to see how we can best spend some of that the grant money that we have have great um thank you thank you ni anyone else questions or comments anyone else online Jim okay can I have a motion to close the public comment make such a motion Mr Mayor I have a second second all in favor I all right Christina you got anything to add no report this evening all right Nancy um yes I would like to uh report that Red Bank received a silver and a gold status for um a program called eval which is the equivalent of lead certification for EV charging in town what it does is it enables it makes R Bank look better when it C for Grants associated with um getting electric vehicles or building an electric vehicle infrastructure um we also the also received and Jim you don't mind if I say this a community energy planning grant for $10,000 and that's for technical assistance to help us with our planning of community energy and making it better keeping us consistent with the goals that we had set in a resolution back in 23 to reduce greenhouse gas Edition emissions um also with regard to River and Leighton I think one thing that's going to happen is that we need to take a look at the whole stretch of of Laton because if you put a stop sign there will people res you know drivers speed up and then go to the next intersection and the next intersection as they're traversing the strip that's just my personal comment and uh the last thing is um back in 2019 there there was a tactical urbanism demonstration with a report and at Dr James Parker Boulevard and um Bridge Avenue and one of the recommendations was to have a no left turn coming from South brid Avenue off Newman Springs Road to um yeah left turn um onto Dr James Parker Boulevard so it's in that report and if you if you need it it's out there somewhere in The Ether yeah so that's all I have thank you thank you Ben um I just wanted to comment about Mr Mo's retirement also and that not so much as a councilman but as a longtime resident and attend these meetings I just want to thank you for your many years of uh work you know and also it's part of the record of R Bank you know you Google something and you want to look up something very often this the Red Bank Green story that comes up that you wrote 12 years ago or 13 years ago and it's it's important to document our story um and I know it sometimes it's complicated and controversial reporting and I did it well and you're gutsy you no error you would put a correction in I mean you can't we're all make mistakes sometimes and I I appreciate responsible journalism that follows up and you know when things happen FES it and it's I think it's made Red Bank a lot better you've had an extraordinary impact I know that you didn't do it for the money so the passion and the Excellence has been appreciated and it's made us a better Town um I also wanted to comment about uhy I mean I have concerns also about River and um and Leighton and um plan to go and kind of take a look there at times that school's back open and and I've heard some very detailed accounts from some of the neighbors there about these particular stresses around um school time people rushing to school leaving the school whatever but it also happens to be Riv the access to to the primary school down the hill there um it's a very busy intersection certain times of day that's it Mr Mayor thank you Laura um I just want to report that the dog days was on Saturday and it was very well attended despite we thought weather wasn't going to hold out it did and we made some money um I wanted to thank Mary Beth glum um um she was there and has come up with an idea what we should do with some of the funds that we made to um get a scanner for chips on dogs so that if we have dogs that get lost in town the police department can automatically identify them so I think for we have enough money for that so that worked out really well and the library um we talked about the library sign up I haven't had a meeting since the last one that's it for elate thanks thank you Kate thank you mayor uh had a wonderful time this morning uh with local businesses at the River Center business connectors uh breakfast it was nice to see some new businesses new faces uh there was just great conversation acting Chief frzy was the uh main guest so a lot of businesses got to ask you know their questions uh for him and there was just a good reminder of this coming up uh like the October Fest is going to be Saturday September 21st from 1: to 5:00 p.m. in the plaza at Triumph and our third annual this is separate but our third annnual Hispanic Heritage Month event is this Sunday 3: to 7: PM in Riverside Gardens Park um and I I also have to Echo my sentiments and and thanks for Red Bank Green uh democracy dies without journalism uh we are extremely aware of how fortunate we are to have local journalism to uphold that democracy and make sure those debates and those questions and everything that goes on this town uh just having somebody watching it uh and I feel an immense level of gratitude uh for your service to democracy through journalism other places around us do not have that and a lot gets lost in the sauce because of it so I have immense gratitude for your service thank you John thanks John all I got um Echo what everybody said yeah we are not always fortunate as Council people but very fortunate as a town to have uh the kind of coverage and and communication you really become a town crier um and how how stoked are you that the guy nationally who wants to try and save independent small journalism lives like Three Doors Down from you and that one of the top reporters in the state lives on the other side you know it worked out it work out beautifully and and I met I met you I think I was canvasing one night and you were just walking the dog and it was dark so of course I stopped to say hi to the dog and eventually got around meeting you also and uh so um s Small Time living um I want to thank Oscar and parks and R for a really beautiful 911 ceremony uh yesterday it was put together nice the speakers were great you know just it was a it was a beautiful moment and as I said um there you know we do all these amazing things like dog days and October Fest and they're important opportunities for us to gather as a community and remind us of um the connection we have living in this small town but it's also important to remember the not so good times and to mourn together and uh that's why I was very happy with the turnout too at the uh the 911 event so uh thank you Red Bank for showing up that's all I got J manager's report sir um the you might have noticed the Marine Park parking lot is pretty much at completion I believe there's some striping that has to be done the trees are planted some Landscaping is in uh all the curbing obviously asphalt the infrastructure underneath uh EV charging infrastructure is also there as well um so it looks very good I'm actually happy with the the timeline that they were on we're probably about um I would say maybe two weeks behind the original schedule uh and that was due to a lot of the material that we were waiting on for that to come in uh so they have moved to the White Street Lot easement replacement um which again was uh due to a settlement from a number of years ago um and now the the right after they're done there they'll be going over to marine park for the Green Space where the current parking lot is and we'll be taking that parking lot up and uh putting a large green space in there as as all part of the plan um we've met uh internally with our marine park committee uh which is uh Kate Christina and Ben Ben is on on the committee as well so we've met with the engineers we've started to go through phase two of this project which is the actual Park Construction um we obviously recognize that the permitting of that Park through cfra uh de through Wetlands um there's a number of different things that we have to submit for so we're looking to get on top of that right away U so we plan to do the park features all right away and and some of the the water uh improvements may have to come at a a later time but we're looking to get started on that Park as soon as possible so we do have another follow-up meeting on September 30th with the committee uh at that time um CME will have surveyed the whole park so we will know exactly how many trees are there the topography where things best are suited um and then we even started taking a look at some of the Aesthetics of some of the equipment that's going to be going in there so we're starting to chip away at that um in in short order the dpu project is also in the works um obviously in the initial phases the next phase of that is for me to they you know they call it programming right when you start working with an architect and engineer is to actually what the programming of that space will be so my next steps is to meet with uh some of our non managerial staff of dpu and our managerial staff at dpu to see what their needs are and uh make sure that we are addressing their needs for that Improvement project um we've met with the engineers Kar engineering and Nea Architects and they're starting to put together some conceptual ideas as far as the programming goes before we see actually any conceptual ideas of what it's going to look like um I attended a manager's lunch in with other administrators around the area basically in this vicinity uh Fair Haven Shrewsberry little silver um Eaton toown uh and it was a great opportunity for us it's something that we're going to try and maybe do quarterly but to start talking to each other and think about how we can really share services and you know bounce ideas off of one another so that was really an effective meeting uh also went to the New Jersey municipal Managers Association conference in Princeton uh which was great because one of the topics was uh Redevelopment and um how some highlights on towns particularly in Princeton where it worked very well and and the benefits of some of those Redevelopment areas there so it was great to connect with colleagues and and meet some professionals in that space as well um Cedar Crossing has been in the news a little bit as far as some of the challenges that cedar Crossing is facing um particularly with uh funding so I'm happy to say that we've they've come to the burrow too to help out and gain more of an understanding and see where we can be most effective Ive in in assisting them kind of work on setting them up better for the future so this Friday actually tomorrow morning um I have a meeting along with the Red Bank Housing Authority Cedar Crossing uh Division of Community Affairs DCA and hmfa which is the actual uh Financial source to a lot of those mortgages in Cedar Crossing to see what the next steps are and to see how we can best uh assist Cedar Crossing to make it a truly affordable place I mean you've probably read some of the reports and and they're reporting on it that a lot of these uh deals have to come in as cash offers it's very counterintuitive to those that are seeking affordable housing so we need to figure out how to uh work around that and and what we can put in place to potentially assist in that process so you know I don't have all the answers now but I hope to get more clarity tomorrow with that group that's what I have there all right um can I have a motion to adour to Executive session I make such a motion Mr Mayor have a second second all in favor hi hi lawyer you're gonna say why right yeah lawyer hey lawyer oh yeah we're going to discuss the potential acquisition of public property um which is a Val reason to exclude the public conversation will take about 25 minutes and no action will be taken after the executive session we will simply come out and make J the meeting thank you thank you we'll take a five minute break and then we'll session thank you thank you