e Happ the extent that the mayor wants want to keep going with that yes yes yes no it's okay yes Bob's here I said hi good evening everyone this meeting is being held in accordance with the public laws of 1975 chapter 231 an adequate notice of this meeting has been provided by a notice sent to the Asbury Park Press the two of times and the Star Ledger posted in the main lobby of the municipal building and on the municipal website please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance Al to the of the United States of America to the republ for stands one nation under God indivisible and justice for all roll call please council member bonais council member Cassidy council member facy Blackwood here council member Forest pres council member Jon pres Deputy Mayor Triano mayor Portman I am here um welcome everybody sorry we got started a little late um I have a couple of proclamations I'd like to share with everybody um first is a proclamation for women's History Month whereas in honor of women's history month we celebrate all of the achievements and contributions women have made over the course of the history of our nation women have played a crucial role in advancing social justice LED groundbreaking scientific discoveries enriched our culture with remarkable works of art and literature and charted bold directions in our foreign policy and whereas the N the national women's history Alliance which creates and promotes National Women's History Month each March has announced women women who advocate for Equity diversity and inclusion at the 2024 theme and whereas the theme recognizes women throughout the country who understand that for a positive future we need to eliminate bias and discrimination entirely from our lives and institutions women from every background have long realized that an uneven playing field will never bring equality or Justice many feel the critical need to speak up and work harder for fairness in our institutions and social interactions and where're asked we recognize the example of women who are committed to embracing everyone and excluding no one in our common quest for freedom and opportunity they know that people change with the help of families teachers and friends and that young people in particular need to learn the value of hearing from different voices with different points of view as they grow up and whereas it takes courage for women to advocate for practical goals like Equity diversity and inclusion when established forces aim to misinterpret exploit or discredit them throughout 2024 we honor local women from the past and present who have taken the lead to show the importance of change and to establish firmer safeguards practices and legislation reflecting these values following the Decades of discrimination we are proud to celebrate women who work for basic inclusion equality and fairness now therefore I William Portman mayor of the burough of redm to hereby Proclaim and observe March as designated as women's history month and call upon the citizens to observe March as women's History Month with appropriate programs ceremonies and activities woo great um all right next up we have a proclamation for coloral Cancer Awareness Month whereas coloral cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States among men and women combined and whereas coloral cancer is one of the few cancers that can be prevented with timely screening but one in three eligible Americans are not up to date on screening and whereas colal cancer is estimated um to be the number one cancer killer for those ages 20 to 49 by 2030 and whereas black Americans are 20% more likely to be diagnosed with coloral cancer and about 40% more likely to die from the disease than other groups and whereas coloral cancer is expected to account for 11% of cancer deaths amongst Hispanic men and 9% of cancer deaths for Hispanic women and whereas in 2023 there were approximately 53,25628 per in every Community for all Americans eligible for screening and whereas observing a coloral cancer awareness month during the month of March would provide a special opportunity to increase awareness and offer education on the importantance of early detection and screening of coloral cancer now therefore I William mayor William Portman do hereby Proclaim March 2024 as col rectal cancer awareness month and I invite all citizens to join me in recognizing and reaffirming our commitment to fighting coloral cancer I think Bonnie Bonnie are you here where's Bonnie yeah come on up Bon just I do have can't hear you I'm sorry uh just leaving this up here for people to look at some more information on screening and early detection thank you so much thank you so much objectives um okay um next up I'm going to get to do we have it here um the oath of office for oh it's on the table here okay I'll come Gra um we're doing the oath of office for Elliot Ramos family I don't see it here no it's behind you Billy oh behind me there we go all right um there we go stand hello sir that uh Fe ready hi Elliot Ramos Jr j you solemly swear swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States stes true faith and allegiance to the same and to the governments established in the United States establishment States and in this state and this state under the authority of the people under the authority of the people I do further solemnly swear that I will Faithfully I will faithfully and partially partially and justly justly perform the duties of Red Bank police officer according to the best of my ability so help with God get a te up big good I'm family um in here with your address and then I'll sign it be official your life Bo real quick I just want to uh thank the mayor counsel um as well as B manager Jim Gant for all your support for the Department uh much appreciated I know the guys appreciate it I appreciate it um Elliot I want to say congratulations and welcome to the back to the Red Bank police family we're happy to have you um you know you have some big shoes to fill um your father I worked many years with him your Uncle Junior many years with him you know LA's a retired detective Lieutenant the retired captain in the police department here so you got some big I know you're going to do a great job and you know we're all here for you support whatever you need all right thank just want to thank the guys um and girls from the Department for all your support um I know ellott and his fames you know appreciate the turnout as well as I do thank you very much thank you that was that was really cool but if I'm being hon I was hoping the retiring dogs might be here too one's in Disney all right in Disney um okay um next up we have a a quick presentation I think um oh you know I'll give you guys a minute so out you work some place oh sorry thank you I spoke I didn't te to Emily went to I go get my wife inv they sent I should still do the yes increas okay um I thought I saw Bob Bob are you here Inu oh you guys are both here okay um what do you guys come on up we have a quick presentation um on the mammoth Street Park you Council thank you you're welcome thank you I thought all were here from me lucky they're not good evening everybody I'm Bob zerman executive direct Center and I'm here with our one of my colleagues Jeff Jeffrey King uh from Ingenuity the uh locally based engineering firm who we're G have been working with uh for new permanent parlet here in downtown Redbank um I want to give you just a little bit of background first before before we go into the elements of what this par is going to entail but um when I came here almost two years ago I did notice uh almost immediately this um sort of triangular airport of Mammoth Street uh right at the intersection of BR was just kind of an nice sword to be quite Frank um yellow line Tri triangular in shape uh with the plastic ballards uh protecting any cars and vehicles U from from entering and and I questioned kind of why that was what I was told uh by a um by a former uh inter administrator um um is that uh during the pandemic a lot of cars were and vehicles were starting to double part there I guess probably because of the quick pickups everyone was no one was eating in restaurants and cars and vehicles were you know getting some pizza Mr Pizza getting a salad at U at the salad the salad establishment and um of course that is that part of Mama Street not only are there lots of cars turning on to there either right or left from Broad Street but it's also a bus L and we have three different bus lines that turn on that that street so um and just the nature of how the street is constructed um so they had these ballards there and we came up with the idea why not do something interesting why not do something cool there um that would benefit the entire public so we thought about a parket and um for those of you who are not familiar with what a parklet is we used the term here in Red Bank for the outdoor temporary parklets outside of restaurants we we've been using the term sceneries but that's essentially what a a parket is is only this this time we're looking to do something not not temporate um it's basically a um a small public space that converts part of a street or a parking area into a pedestrian friendly in um they typically have seating they have Greenery um sometimes they have bike racks um and um they're just a great uh resit for people who are downtown shopping or dining and they want us it's a nice day like it was today and they want to sit outside and either have a quick bite or just sit outside and work on their laptop or just set sit down and meditate or whatever they're looking to do but uh just just a a a nice area that is uh taking up usually it takes out parking spots in this case it's taking up this unused area so we decided we wanted to do a parklet and um I had the Good Fortune last year of applying to Main Street New Jersey since we are a designated Main Street Community as well the ovement district for grant for this um they were offering $25,000 grants and I applied and actually uh was a little pushy and asked for 30 and uh they gave it to us so we received a $30,000 Grant which would which would be used as sort of Leverage so starter to to kick off what it would cost to construct such a partment and um so we we secured that money we received half of it the other half we receive this year and uh you know we proposed to take those um Jeff calls them flexible delineators I call domestic Ballard same thing to take those down um and we we called on Ingenuity uh Jack Jackie Jackie FL who is the principal of Ingenuity they're I said they're a Red Bank based firm she's actually on our visual in grouping committee so we know her we like her work their work um so we went to them for sort ofine of what this could be and um what Jeff's going to tell you in a moment What U what what we're looking to do here I think you're all going to like it um I will say one thing there is one sort of give back uh from uh from the community from the the you know from the town and that is one paring we don't like taking away parking spots uh but in this case we feel that it's really integral to our plan to be able to use the the first parking spot uh right after the Triangular area so um we are looking to take that away any damage from so with that as kind of a background I'm GNA turn it now over to Jeff who's gon to explain the uh the design so I'm just go into some more of the details try out the board you guys go through it pretty quickly the design process and some of like features that we going to add to this park l so kind of to start off with um the location of it north side of M Street near Broad Street um we're basically that yellow triangle we're back taking it back two feet and the reason behind that is because the NJ Transit bus needs to turn left onto street from Broad Street so because of that turning template we didn't want the bus to hit the curb or anything like that so we took it two feet behind the yellow line and we're getting rid of the GL eaters um and then at the widest section we're going 6.75 ft um out that goes right into the parking U parking spot so those are the two portions um how wide it's going to go and we discussed with NJ Transit all about the entire project and they improveed a 20 foot area um basically in between two of the planting areas and that's where the bus is going to stop pick up people drop people off and they have enough room for 88 access so that's the got the blessing from NJ Transit which is is really good um and then some other features like brief overview and then we go into more detail on each of them so some of them were benches tables um brick pavers that we're going to be including bike racks um we have a trash can we're GNA have lights um and then beautiful plantin which will really lighten up the place which I think will be really really great and the only thing we're going to be removing is a few unnecessary signs which are basically for the parking so not going to be needed anymore and then we're going to remove the flexible bottoms as well slide we're go into a little bit of the the tables and benches so you came with this really really cool company um that we found some of their their products that we really really liked so we have this Bol style um we have two back benches which you see on the bottom left um that's out of IE wood which is a nice wood finish that as it ages it gets a little grayer so it's going to look really really beautiful and then we're going to have one backless bench by itself and then we're also GNA have two or two back lless benches um around a table which you can see on the bottom right and then the the steel is going to be powder coated it's going to be a dark gray similar to the bottom right photo and those will be um throughout the space so people can sit and I think it be really enjoyable place to sit eat food and next slide so this is going to be some of the uh other um side Furnishings that we have so we more really um recommended the brick papers that are around the area so right across the street we have red brick papers that are in this Herring bone pattern so we're going to continue that um this entire area I think look Lally good have a historic feel of Red Bank throughout this entire application um also we're going to have um two bike racks at the West End um Beyond some of the plantings which I think will be great people to park the bike they can go grab something to eat eat at the table benches they'll go on their way so I think it's going be a really nice little um addition and there actually are the exact ones to the bottom right photo there's be powder sprayed black to match with the tables and then in addition to that we're going to have a standard trash cans to this trash have any Trash anywhere and then the light pole at that location is actually a little rough I would say painting paint all over it the paints little chipping so we're going to replace it in kind so the same exact style is going to be plac right back there so I things look very clean and then on to the next slide so this is the last part or probably the most exciting part is some of the plantings we have three separate little planting areas um one portion goes along the triangle area so when people turn um bars you'll kind of be you'll see the plantings first so that will kind of protect people from sidewalk so I think it's should be really important to have that then we're gonna have um one in the middle in between where the bus stop be get on off and then one all the way at the West End so these um two of these planting areas are going to have trees they are um the tree at the top right they are honey locust Sunburst honey locust a really beautiful light green um all the planting areas are going to have that tree guard it's a iron tree guard that top left photo and that's going to be put on three all three edges of the planting but not on the roadside Edge that's so people open their car door they're not going to hit it with the car and their car so it's only going to be keep people out from the sidewalk getting into the planting dogs from getting in there peeing there booping there that type of thing um so that will be to protect all plantings and let's go through some of the other plantings so we have um the uh reed grasses which is the middle row on the left we have Sweet Flag which is the middle row Center um red head which is the middle row right um the Paris Coral Bells which is the bottom left really beautiful flowers so it's basically a combination of brasses and flowers so big blue all all year long this is was all done by our landscape architect that was hiring part of the project she did she did a really really great job on and to continue we have a Japanese enemy and Burling butterflies pass it backg on Bob to conclude thanks um just a couple other points and then we're happy to take any questions that um one point you might be asking P for this VR um $30,000 Grant is going towards it we're at getting a um an estimated cost of approximately $80,000 for the entire entire project and then um another um another thing that people might ask is where are we getting where are we sourcing all those gorgeous uh flowers and plantings from and that is from Liles of the valley Danielle Bo who did Fabulous U planter beds stre and uh hopefully more coming this year for cross um so that we can put them on other streets as well anyone have any questions I just wanted to say thank you Bob um you know for your focus on projects like this um in the Sid um it's really nice to see riverter funds used for infrastructure Hardscape you know physical Improvement projects like this and like the beds that you've you Incorporated downtown and everything that's really getting back to the root of what a sid is for and what it's what its purpose is on top of the events and all the other incredible things that you do um but it's wonderful to see those funds go back into something that's so tangible and so real and that is really going to boost the downtown and the economy of the downtown so thank you so much for your focus on this project we really appreciate it time what's the timeline uh so you know I don't I don't know what what I'm thinking that once we get started which after tonight get started soon um and I know that there's a mamath street uh plan uh we haven't seen the plans yet I guess they're still in formation I've been talking with with Jim and and Greg about that but um you know obviously we want to be part of that um you know be able to weigh in on that on that plan as well uh but um it'll be done by the summer yeah yeah few weeks montion wise right hi Bob hi hi I like the fact that you do have bike rocks because that's something I know the environmental commission was looking to put around town and I do like that you chose Darrow you know which is a simple bike wreck which would be able to you know hold I guess at least two bices to either side um I also want to thank you for doing this and making it attract active um one of the questions I have do you have any idea of what kind of shading would be available or do you think it's needed based on the sun I was just curious I mean have to have any so the two trees actually are strategically placed right underneath trees so get shade right that sounds awesome okay thank you thank you anyone else have any questions no all right I just wanted to also thank I think we have some questions from the public I'm sure I saw good evening Cindy Burnham 71 Wallace Street this sounds like a great project I'm really excited about it um my question is in regards to that utility box that's you know hot pink lime green what's going on with that can you paint that that's the one that's for the corner you can't miss it's right there on the North northeast corner yeah that one we haven't touched anything but it's we can well it's got stickers all over it it needs to be if you're put this beautiful thing in we have to go sckers no well that one has a mural on it right that from from uh I don't know how long that mural's been there but I believe that that that box there has yeah it does but the mural also has stickers all over it and when you're walking on the sidewalk it's all G graum because I walk past it every day right right and I'm very aware of stickers I hate mailes I do know that and and we will be responsible for the maintenance and we will do our best to make sure that box is what I'm saying that would be nice because you're putting in such a beautiful thing yeah thank you I appreciate that thank you no you Georgie shandley 115 paring Road Red Bank New Jersey 07701 dress um I just wanted to question why ePay is been used it's a it's a an Amazon Rand Forest Wood that's it takes over maybe 500,000 years sometimes to to grow it can't be um a little saing can't be taken bed re forest and even though the forest stship councel might give the toight for that they only are dealing with how well the forest is managed not the destruction of trees so they're not relable the Amazon is in seriously bad shape and I would highly recommend using recycled plastic made in New Jersey possible a home for benches um and also with the if if possible to use native not the Japanese I'd also just recommend um and and you may have done this already but just to the trees that are being planted to run by the shade tree commission just to make sure that you know proper planting zone and you know the root systems and yeah just make sure that that's that's run by them because there obviously the plan is the plan but what goes where and can be adjusted throughout the process so um just in response to um to that woman's question um I mean the idea of of the was presented to us as an option um the visual committee loved it thought it greatable and and that's what we Pi it it's really quite a simple n has a comment stup is subject to some very turns by New Jersey trans buses have you examined firstly how close buses are going to travel because you know I mean I use that Junction two or three times a day cars can barely get into the right position on the road for the lights let alone let buses travel and have you actually consulted with njt to see if this will actually yes yeah so we have a program that we actually have an NJ Transit bus you chose the microphone so people at home can hear you thank you I'll repeat yeah so we have consulted with NJ Transit um we did turning templates for sp's program that basically do Transit bus that basically lose and we can turn it at the intersection and we actually are two feet behind the yellow line and behind the existing followers so we're actually even further back than what existing now so what they would hit so it actually is um more space for the NJ Transit buses to turn and then we actually we've approached them and we have to get their approval for this entire design to move forward so they approved it and allowed us for this for their bus out right okay Nancy I know you had one more right um Bob I would appreciate it if you could just send me um a soft copy of this I can share it with the SHA tree committee with the plantings and the environmental commission okay great thank you okay I think uh anyone else that's it thank you gentlemen much appreciate it looking forward to it unforunately I can't stay for the entire meeting because I have Emerald evening girls night out I don't want to hear your excuses Bob okay with the girls thank you okay um next up we have a public comment on agenda items only um it worked well last meeting so I'm going to ask that we limit comments to three minutes um and please just get up one time so um I'll turn the floor over to the public or our motion to kind have a motion to open the floor for public comment I make S motion have a second second all in favor yes yes Steve good evening Stephen he 135 Branch Avenue um I have a question about ordinance 20241 that's the pickle ball tennis there was no attachment that I could find with respect to the fees um the ordinance references that the fees will be set so you can hear what I'm saying Jim um the ordinance references that the fees will be set by resolution sitting here I don't actually know I don't know when that last time that was done but I know that Oscar does because he was conversing with me about them um the resolution isn't attached it's not really part of the ordinance but question what fees are the fees aren't changing whatever that was last set by resolution is still in place but I don't know what those fees are or these functions are were many years old but let me say this um if if the council sees fit to test this ordinance without knowing what these are so be it I I would suggest that you wait on what the Fe are I think so just to be clear St I the fees are set right now like we're charging people for field permits but I don't probably we've been charging them for years did the the purpose of this ordinance if you see all the underline Parts is really to set parameters to make sure that Red Bank residents get first priority for permits in the Parks um and to make sure that people aren't playing pickle ball at 1:00 in the morning um making noise outside you know people's houses I know that Oscar those okay then there won't be going forward I know that Oscar has been doing this as part of you know improving the rec department so he may may very well be back with resolution per fees um but this was his request so that he could make sure that he was given Red Bank leagues and residents and people he had the justification to say that they have first priority because it actually you read it wasn't in there um I don't know if I can we could find out for you next meeting or Jim could email you or something we could ask him if he has any plans to change the fees and what the current fee schedule is but that's not changing it's really just giving him the ability to make sure that he can give red and um not just give it to a team that maybe has members whether adults or kids from all over the place that just puts it under a red mag resident's name you saw that in there which is a problem that you have because you got really nice Fields here in C basy for or L um so that was his request to make sure that he was he was taking care of the residents pretty much appreciate that well and one other comment if I may thank you anyone else yeah in the back ready I just want to know can I hear you thanks freddy7 just want to know on this J you don't have the four-way stop sign River Street I was told at the last C um Jim you comment agenda items I'm not sure who made that representation that it would be on the council meeting you did no no at the last council meeting I instructed that we would or or I let everybody know and thank you for bringing to our attention and we would be looking into and investigating the fourway stop at late and you told me after the council meeting they on this agenda I couldn't have made that representation I wouldn't sit here tell a lie okay I wouldn't sit here and tell a lie but I told all the people that will be on this gender and it's not on this and I gave you a I mean all the s I gave you a copy of Mr Bo we can't pass an ordinance until we have the study so we don't have the study yet I spoke to him just going back I spoke on this he said police and them came and they whatever they had to do they done now I I discussed you know it seems like when we get something done on the west side over here it takes so long you're dragging your feet you're dragging your feet go cross to over there I could count five stop signs on the streets or fourway stop signs over there we done and done why is you dragging the feet over here you're going to wait for somebody to get hit by a bus and get killed or you're going to wait for a child to get hit buy a car then you're going to be sitting up here what you should have done what it should be done it should be taken care of I can assure you Freddy that I've had discussions just as recently as this past week with Captain frzy about this process so we are absolutely talking about this I talk with you gonna talk about just saying how long you gonna talk about should we have a report we can't it's not working talk to get this done it's not working I I completely understand what you're saying I know that this is a priority of yours and I've been taking it just me it's not just me I would just like to finish what I'm saying that I know this is a priority of yours I've taken it very seriously and I've been discussing it with our Engineers the police with traffic safety these discussions are ongoing it's just that I need data in order to make decisions in the buau and and by law by the motor vehicle code does not allow us to install motor vehicle code does not allow us to install fourway stop without a traffic study we can move the parking around we can do all kinds of things we through that it's been studied went through that last not the last coun the one before check with the chief or whoever they came over there they check with the c for they came over there and they went through that so what are we doing now we shucking the J now that's what we're doing that's what it is sh the dve now we passing the Sor see one thing God bless you that I'll never forget if you tell one lie you got to tell a thousand lies correct that one lie Freddy how long did the how long did it take us to get the fourway stop at at James Parker and late no time it was done no yeah okay throw up anywhere that's leg uh anyone else yes I've got two two questions so I'm gonna try to talk really fck um one is in regards to the introduction 202 24-10 to uh ordinance to exceed the calendar year 2024 Municipal budget um in regards to the sening center and programming for active seniors I had spoken to the director at the senior center she said that we needed to get more um budget we had to budget more to have programs at night because this Senior Center caters basically to seniors during the day that want to just come in and play Bingo and have lunch and there's people like myself and Mr Hill who are acting bikes we do kayaking and you know we want to be able to have like a potluck dinner over there or um dancing once a week with an instructor um and so I just wanted to make you aware of that I hope you put some money in the budget for that the other thing I want to ask about is um and mayor pman this kind of goes to you um in regards to that Homeless Shelter that they were going to put over on Katherine Street in the Zion Church yes and I heard that it didn't go through right and I heard that you had suggested that they looked at the building on Mechanic Street I think it's 250 mechanic yes so you're looking at 250 for a mechanic for a homeless shelter homeless shelter first of all yeah it wasn't it wasn't a homeless shelter it was transitional housing for people who are you know currently you know uh in between in between homes um I'm I just suggested that's something they could research it's not something I've been involved but I heard that rumor and I wanted to know if it was true or not so that's what just want to ask you yes thank you okay thanks okay anyone else have a yes hi Mar young with clean water action I just want to thank you all for advancing 20248 so thank you very much and any time I can help please let me know thank you I'm sorry yes go excuse me Al Hill 64 back to the budget just a little bit at the moment I'm not certain why um perhaps the council will explain in the course of presenting their resolution why this um Readjustment of the budget is actually together with other um parts of in excuse me income to such as uh parks and recation but also items that are to the control of the burough such as the Dreadful 1.8 million pound P two dollar dollar shortfall in the budget for the local local school boards I think there is going to be a lot of this is going to be passed on to the residents of this town unless you're going to tell me different and respect to the uh the the budget crisis for the schools it's going to be quite easy for this Council to say you know what it's nothing to do with us but you know what it is to do with you because it is in this town you see it important enough to actually appoint a liaz counselor to the school boards it's important there to use the schools for his voting CS it's important that enough for you to join with the people of Red Bank to get down to Trenton and tell them we need our money for our schools and I just want to know have you got any intention doing anything thank you I'm G to let I'll let Jim address the the budget questions as far as the the ordinance um but I did speak to Senator gopal um I've signed on to a joint letter for Red Bank Long Branch Asbury Neptune because all of these different districts were decimated by the uh funding formula for the schools um I know Dr rumage was in Tren today testifying I didn't get a chance to to speak with him um van is optimistic he said that he's going to be able to recover some portion of that funding back um for the schools because when you have you know Red Bank and Long Branch in Asbury um being devastated like that in a school Colts Neck or a little silver you know being 100% funded clearly there's uh the formula is not working um so uh our state senator is on it and is uh told me that he did a conference call with the governor's chief of staff and Congressman bone as well this week um and um he's keeping us a breast of what's going on with the school funding um Jim you want to address the yeah the ordinance at sign is for the uh where we're talking about the 2469 resolution which would be for the temporary budget Appropriations uh the temporary budget Appropriations obviously we're still operating on a temporary budget so the CFO has just recommended increases in the temporary budget not Beyond any Appropriations that have been passed in the year so it's just a matter of course so that we can continue doing business until we pass a full 2024 budget does anyone else have any uh comments on agenda items only yes guys match I just noticed Street speaking on behalf of the school board and I'm not speaking on behalf of the library um my question is on resolution uh 2469 um in the graph part of it says temporary budget 2024 temporary budget 1124 and increase 22824 to 3 so is it saying like if I'm reading correctly are you like for example the first one is saying $75,000 are you I guess that's for one one are you adding another $75,000 the of end of February to the end of March total so it's not adding to it it's just increasing the temporary budget because we're coming up on month three of operating in the temporary budget where more funds are going to be needed now this budget what's included in the temporary budget is included in the overall budget as 2024 is adopted so there's no increase to the budget overall but we do have to increase our temporary budget because we're up against uh line items that have already been used which is normal an increase in a temporary budget is a normal course in in municipal government no I agree I want make sure I'm reading it correctly because so it's not an increase of Appropriations from like last year in that in that line item that you're reading it's just an increase in our temporary budget for this year so for example the red Levy board went from $1,968 to $153 why said to Jo the CFO made the recommendation for a certain amount of percentages for uh all the budget line items and this is based on bills that are coming in it's just to keep operating you know within the budget confines that we already have again this is normal course of these these line items are not in increase to the overall budget of 2024 until that 2024 budget's adopted so it's just a matter of course at this time I think what you're the way you're phrasing is is this are you asking asking is this an increase in the overall budget for like rent leveling asking I'm just reading it as it is I know I can see where clarification absolutely and I can see where the word increase is what could be confusing however it's just increasing our temporary budget to a number you know we might we may even have to do this again depending on when the budget gets adopted um but it's just so that we can keep operating and paying bills that's fa all right thank you thank you uh anyone else have any comments on agenda items can can we do it in the items at the end it's just a question I see Mr Gant is making an executive reports at the end comments and questions from so after after the executive report my just for clarification my report's to the governing body okay um I'm sorry anyone else have any other comments for anyone online Lord let's check okay good glad hello oh there we are yes we can hear you thank you Linda Hill 64 McLaren Street uh thank you mayor and Council Mr Gant um Miss renards for the opportunity to comment um I uh appreciated Mr gan's explanation about the temporary increase in the budget uh I am concerned as you uh begin the budget process uh that we are able to be as fiscally responsible as possible um I understand that and it's great that uh Vin Gap paal and others are working on our behalf in Trenton but I still am concerned that um the proposed Draconian cuts to our state sub cities for our schools um will still uh exist that there we will still see an increase in the burden on our taxpayers so I would ask as the budget process moves forward um for for the council to um as much as possible bear in mind that uh the the burden on taxpayers is is substantial I'd also like to ask Mr Gant you mentioned the budget process would it be possible to have the budget timeline published somewhere on the uh the burough website what what the process looks like and and you know the various milestones and when you expect to have it ready for presentation thank you certainly and I'll uh instruct our CFO to post that under our finance section thank you and I plan to also address and the manager report s l no sir think I have a motion to close a public comment on agenda items only second second all in favor I okay next up uh we're going to approve approval of minutes and reports um I have a motion to approve the minutes from February 22nd 2024 no moved favor I I uh can I have a motion to approve the executive session minutes from uh February 22nd 2024 move second all in favor I I okay next up is uh adoption of an ordinance um it say public hearing and Adoption of 20248 amending chapter 492 Plastics and polystyrene foam single use to prohibit the distribution of plastic food service wear utensils and stws by food or grocery establishments and food service providers except upon the request of a customer can I have a motion to open the public hearing on this ordinance only have a second second all in favor I anyone uh have any comments and additional comments to this uh ordinance no anyone online Jim sir I have a motion to close the public hearing on this ordinance only so move can I have a second all in favor I I can I have a motion to adopt ordinance next up is an introduction for 2024-the 2024 Municipal budget appropriation limits and to establish a c bank um can I have a motion to approve this ordinance on introduction so moved have a second second have a roll call please council member bonis yes council member Cassidy yes council member facy Blackwood yes council member Floris yes council member janon yes Deputy Mayor Triano yes mayor Portman yes F thank you public hearing on this ordinance will be on March 28th next is an introduction to 202 24-11 amending and supplementing section 478 Parks and Recreation article six fees and charges can I have a motion to approve this ordinance on introduction so moved I have a second roll call please La council member bonais yes council member Cassidy yes council member facy Blackwood yes council member Forest yes council member janon yes Deputy Mayor Tri yes mayor Portman yes passes sir thank you there'll be a public hearing on this ordinance on March 28th uh final ordinance to introduce is 24-12 amending and supplementing section 68-60 schedule 26 restricted parking for handicapped persons can I have a motion to approve this ordinance on introduction so moved I have a second second roll call please council member bonatakis yes council member Cassidy yes council member facy Blackwood yes council member fars yes council member janon yes Deputy Mayor Triano yes mayor Portman yes CH pass thank you public hearing on this ordinance will be on March 28th um before we do the the um consent agenda for the resolutions is there anything that needs to be pulled out any everyone take a look we do them all in the consent agenda take a quick quick peek everyone okay okay um can I have a motion to approve resolutions 2467 through 24-8 on the consent agenda sure I make this I have a second second all right roll call please Laura council member Bonas yes council member Cassidy yes council member facy Blackwood yes council member Forest yes council member janon yes Deputy Mayor Triano yes mayor Portman yes passes sir thank you um any discussion okay I'm gonna open the floor back up again or can I have a motion to open the floor for public comment make motion Mr a second second all in favor I all right uh I'm going to ask you again to hold your comments three minutes and the floor is yours for whatever you would like to speak about you have one online as well all right I saw a couple hands in the so we'll start with Jimmy Geor that's you sh read by New Jersey and I'm here tonight to plead with you to pass a ceasefire resolution a permanent and immediate ceasefire resolution to stop the killings in G for humanitarian Aid to get through and to what is the other one and and for the safe return of the hostages and also the Palestinian political prisoners since October 7th and you have given two reasons why you would not consider this one is because of the cause divice of the to and the other is that only local issues are considered in spite of the fact that we are paying taxes Red Bank citizens pay taxes that are going towards the military expenditure Gaza and how many times in history have we said oh I wish I were there and I could have done something like the abolition of slavery would we have spoken that would that have caused divisiveness would we say that's not a local issue with the round up of Japanese families for tment camps would we have spoken out or done anything about it or just say okay it doesn't affect us so we're not going to get part of this we're not going to get involved even the Jewish Holocaust was there something we could do during that time and because it would caused divisiveness and because it's not local we refus to do it and our elected leaders are just doing lip service to us we have President Biden admonishing prime minister Netanyahu don't kill any more civilians allow humanitarian Aid and in the meanwhile he's supporting military aid without any conditions on human rights or how it's used and we have to work City by city with local groups with local state governments like and local governments like you to put pressure on our elected officials we don't have any choice as individuals were kind of insignificant although I don't believe that but um I think with the help of the power behind oh my God yeah the power behind um the city government and the state it has definitely more leverage right now in New Jersey in Anglewood Ridgewood there are Private Sales in synagogues to Jewish people only of settlers homes illegal settlement homes in in Gaza in the West Bank this is all going on right now the homes that are built illegally in in Palestine being sold by Keeler Williams texas-based Real Estate Company the Palestinians would somebody SE me a minute who want to speak you can you can finish up all right the Palestinians we cannot be intimidated first of all by non non-factual Notions that to be anti Zionist is to all just translates to be anti submitting that's not true and also the Palestinians deserve life liberty and freedom just like we would in our everyday life these are the indigenous people in Palestine and it's a d time that we respect them and give them back their Homeland thank you for I hope you do the right thing it'll be good to have a strong on time thank you geina thank you thank you very much yes I'm sorry you know Jimmy did have his hand up before that Jimmy is seting the floor gentleman's hi Bara 135 ran um two questions um when you just did the resolutions you left that 2481 you sent to 2480 um I was wondering why was just slip of the tongue Mr Mayor I miss those on the back thank you good point go back and do the other goes to 2480 I have an old version I know go up to 2480 thank you good catch we will we will add it in shortly I read a lot of things I catch things my next my next question is um discussion about the county road and the crosswalk walks hopefully on Branch Avenue have we gotten many further with that anybody all of it's gonna get covered when we meet with the County Commissioners in the next month so my end I'm sorry I don't I don't have an update but I know that the governing body is working with the Commissioners yeah we we've actually been in touch about a few other spots with the um with the County engineer on the planning board so um we need to um yeah let's let's try yeah we we'll sit down and put a list together because it's not the only days are getting long yes there's no shortage of of of crosswalks that are needed both County and state rooms item to talk to the County Commissioners about I called about six months ago I called the uh County and um they me on ho and sent me the year and sent me the year and sent me the year and the the last guy I spoke to I think he was I don't know he was there window or something because he said he said well you know this is this is not something that this department does um it was the roads department and I said well I didn't know if you did it but I figured you might know you did and he said no I don't know I will I will follow up and feel free to email me and remind me yes perfect all right got I 22 seconds thank you yes Jimmy Jimmy Jimmy Darth 48 C said it's going to be clean up no no part at all is is there a question yes I mean the foot of West Sun said when it it's going to be cleaned up and c and I just want to be reference to does bacing land need need a name far as west side park so I'm just wondering is it going to this be clean and C with nothing else there has been no further discussion on that since the last time I think we spoke about it when they were laying out their remediation process and capping it but there's no there's no planned at this point there's no there's nothing else that's being planned to be done at at Sunset down at the end of sunset so the stage of the environmental it's at the investigatory stage so before you can clean up an environmental site you have to determine the extent of the pollution that's under ground so there's a remedial investigation work plan that's the next step in this process and then whether it's capped dug down 60 feet whatever the remedial action plan is that's developed from the remedial investigation work plan then we'd be able to say it's X Y or Z but likely you have them the monitoring Wells it's going to take a significant period of time for them to investigate what actually needs to be done out there so that's the stage we're at right now so they thing will be listed put on the list yes we're gonna have to GNA yeah there's going to be a lot of approvals for expenditures between now and then yeah you'll definitely see it I know Jimmy's concern too is he wants to make sure that if we're doing any work down there if we start the remediation we let the neighbors know with Flyers not everyone there has internet access and and I've I've discussed with shaa our director of Community Development who's working with vhp which is the professional service that's working this project to make sure that she coordinates a notice to the uh to the residents down there so Sean has been put on notice for that as well so I'm directing that with her office so that the residents do get notification down there and I think I don't think you're at the last meeting but I did uh I did mentioned in my report that I was thankful you brought that to our attention because Sean is working on that now you know one other thing for a long time lot of other towns have it on you know television can they look into this by putting the council meeting on one of the stations like on public access versus the inter versus online yes I don't know what access we have look into it yeah actually I met a guy recently who said I'm a single what's his name I forget his name but we I'm a single-issue voter I just want Public Access television so a lot of times you turn on TV yeah and turn to the channel and thank you yes I don't news my first is notic I up in the past um there's intersections or um the paint on the curb are not yellow that doesn't match the white do not park here through the curb so there's people parking so it's um considering the view of b c so it seems to be more prevalent now suggestion at the intersection of Dr James and Bridge Avenue that crazy weird turn um Bowers up on the side by lunch break because that is I got loads of pictures of it backing up droing things off but it's hindering that weird turn so you can't have a view to make a right turn safely on a left it's that weird it's not a straight you know cross over street it's that Weir so I'm assuming you guys want it to be safe um I would love to hear all your opinions on a a local issue with the Oprah request um I guess this past Monday uh a Senate Bill an assembly uh V down legislations about changing some of the rules on the overact for us to get information um I'm just wondering if you guys support it or not certainly I'll I'll I was going to address it in my uh my comments at the end so I'm happy to what about the other members besides you I don't know you have to support right I guess if they want to address it they can also address it in their in their comments yeah know I would love to hear their feedback it does affect and the Govern of account so here is an opportunity any I'll comment in my remarks yeah anyone else have any uh comments or questions one other person I think Freddy's coming up to you hold on one second sir Freddy was coming up go ahead Fred 74 get back to the yeah put your microphone gotta get real close to hear back to the uh for the sunset uh you mentioned young lady upstairs last time young lady talked about that she wants to make a par and La Branch behind Baptist Church they du Sam Mills football player was up here on Tower Hill that's how big it was they Port Tre to all those people down there got sick some of them had a big lawsuit and still tated down right here on Dr car Boulevard next to the field they care C 10 years they dug that kids can't go out there and play because stuff still coming to surface still coming up but now but now still coming up to the surface and uh when you stay down here Michael Bor sat right over there twice he said Jimmy I'm telling you it will not be a par at the foot of sunset so we don't want to wait till the last minute in sh come in here oh it's a park down there we're gonna make a park down there no no I'm just telling you I play I I used to live right by that for for the sunset every man that work for the sanitation department worked in that CER they are no longer living right now they no longer living right now because it was inclosing had to clean out down there so you what we in this I'm asking it should not be a park no matter who say it should be a park down there thank you right thank you yes sir ello good evening my name and my place of residence is in the intro of my statement if that's okay I like you sure good even you hear me good evening Red Bank Council my name is vegan zavian a resident of M County for 35 years and a Red Bank resident at 185 Maple Avenue for the past 11 years I am of Armenian descent and through DNA edity test I discovered I am part Italian and part Jewish of the mrai tonight I come to you about the extermination that is happening to the Palestinians in Gaza by the hands of zionists the zionists have been annihilating the Palestinians since 1948 and and it has culminated to the worst humanitarian crisis in the past five to six months that is considered as genocide under un Charter articles but well over 30,000 Palestinians have been murdered a majority women and children plus health workers and un Aid workers the Palestinian genocide has also affected people here at home where on February 25th of this year Aaron Bushnell a military serviceman emulated himself before setting himself on fire he confessed that he will not be complic it to the genocide that is happening to the Palestinians and after setting himself on fire in front of the Israeli Embassy in Washington DC he spring for a free Palestine I implore the bread Bank Council to accept and pass the resolution uh presented to you um for immediate permanent ceasefire which was written by Georgina uh Shanley which I have gotten to know her this past week and concluded that she is Braveheart thank you for listening and also I want to add uh from what Georgina has said about the uh Japanese and German camps and the U and slavery uh there was a moment in US history where a ship of German Jews was shipped to our coast and they were rejected they were denied entry please do not let this happen again to the Palestinians this is a uh humanitarian crisis and it's important to uh to be human about this thank you very much thank you for listening thank you yes sir 135 up clarification my understanding is that resolutions um come from the governing body unless there is unvalid a a question about um a question of the question so resolutions do not come I'm asking the question resolutions do not come from the public they come from the governing body is that correct um I I can answer the different processes and ways that a resolution can come about because I I've introduced a fair amount of resolutions um there's advocacy groups that write resolutions so what Regina um has been presenting to us is completely normal um there are people that have initiatives or causes and they want that resolution to be considered by a governing body um so that's that's completely normal advocacy groups write resolutions there's there's template resolutions boiler plate resolutions that get passed they can be introduced to a council member they can be asked to spearhead it or introduce it um is that does that help certainly it helps I I'm I'm not particularly responding to any other citizen here tonight [Music] um the resolution has to be presented is it to the council or by the council that's you can present something to a council but then at the end of the day it has to be presented by the council okay once it question yes so the council needs to respond to inquiry suggesting what have you yes and it's the council that issues the L that's correct V on and would take action that's correct okay thank you very much uh yes my name is Steve see right in the microphone too there you go and it's hard for me to understand why there is difficulty passing a resolution calling for an end to the Mur in towns and cities of New Jersey and throughout the United States ceasefire resolutions have been passed without a major in my rtion as a physician I appalled with the treatment of patients and health care workers and the destruction of hospitals in Gaza a few days ago at maer hospital Israeli Defense Force attacked and Physicians were made to St humiliated muzzled dogs were set upon them and they were forced to kneel comfortable positions for hours they were detained for days and screams were heard by Witnesses while they were brutalized patients were left untreated without medical care and while the Medics were taken away any of the doctors thought that they were going to be executed as a Jewish person I have always been proud of my culture which is based upon fairness Justice compassion and tolerance what I am seeing is the US fact Israeli government in the name Jewish people losing the victim becomes the victimizer I appeal to you our elected representatives to restore these values by stopping the killing release Israeli hostages prisoners since October 7 and allow full humanitarian Aid to starving and the D we need immediate and minut expire I would also request that may be thank you anyone else yes sir my name is John medic New Jersey this here to and folks here asking for resolution I was here a couple months ago uh we passed a resolution supporting the CH nurses from the and to me the resolution is a reflection of the the values of the of the community it's also a it's also a way to urge our hire officials to co-sponsor co-sponsor resolutions or or laws that that are important to us so we we know that V pal has co-sponsored the saes mapping bill for nurses and we really appreciate him for doing for doing so and we would like U our representative here FR love to co-sponsor HR 786 which is the Seas fire resolution introduced by Cory bush from the congresswoman from so I think I think that is I think there is a a prent for supering these typ of resolutions we we know a lot of the young people are supporting Palin at this time what happens is they are seeing the images coming from uh social media from Tik Tok there's a Tob on Tik Tok right now young people aren really understanding what's going on in the world in over in Gaza right now there are a lot of children who are being amputated without uh without any pancs um they their their limbs are being amputated because of the bonies there are mothers who are giving birth without the anesthesia there really and there's a lot many children just starving there there's blockade there's a food the food trucks are being blockaded right now as well so it is a really dire situation I think um you know yeah I think I think during the when the when the Iraq War happens I think you know it would be great if local governments came out opposing it at the time might not have been easy to do that to two so look looking back on it we saw that over a million Iraqi lives are lost because of a war that was that was unjust that was unproportional and also that was misplaced we all know at 911 was hor but the was not the and U this is what we see right now so that's why I do believe the resolutions thank you anyone on hello it's Linda Hill again at 64 McLaren Street I had three short items that I wanted to address first I want to um endorse Georgina's comments specifically because uh when October 7th happened and and that was it was heinous it was and I think most thinking people people were um outraged about what happened and at that point mayor Portman you used what I would call your bully pulpit you know your position as mayor and the letterhead of the um of the buau to uh to express that outrage um and and I wouldn't have object objected at all I think that that uh was appropriate I think it it reflected the feelings in town but now what Georgina is bringing up is entirely just as valid there are crimes against humanity happening in Gaza and since you opened up that Pandora's box of commenting on what's happening in the Middle East now you I think you're obligated to also address What's happen happening uh in Gaza to gazin so if you and I realized the first time around it was not a um a resolution from the burough Council perhaps mayor a way to resolve this might be for you to do the same thing you did for October 7th and issue a statement that says you know this is this is heinous and I do not support it and we will of course protect any um uh midle Eastern gazen uh citizens or houses of worship that come under attack so may I suggest that as a way to um diffuse what I think is rightfully a a big concern that's number one number two is I'd like you in the in the spirit of open government to um ask the burough Clerk to refrain from using next request to answer Oprah inquiries um I know that not everybody is into Oprah uh but when um in in the past when Miss rardon uh responded to uh Red Bank residents uh queries it would occur on the Oprah machine and everyone could see her response or or whichever um body was responding in the burrow but now that the burrow has switched to using next request um those those responses from Miss rardon and the burrow are no longer public they go to a an offshoot website and it is hidden from uh from anyone else who might want to know the answer answer so that's number two I really would like you to consider that and number three is I would like to um publicly thank the local PBA and the rank and file police officers who had the courage to speak up last year at a council meeting and give the uh give the residents a glimpse of some of the uh really horrible things that were happening behind the scenes I'm very glad for them that this has been resolved and uh very glad for Red Bank and that's all I have thank you mayor and Council thank you yes hi um I remember my name is Gabriella green and I'm from hell I know last time you guys addressed our concerns with two reasons this not being a red bank issue and um you didn't want to Vis in the community and I had spoken about how advocating for the sanctity of life really wouldn't really shouldn't be a dividing matter I also have some statistics of the tax dollars that are locally coming from Red Bank that are going to Israel every single year in Red Bank New Jersey 20 12,652 are going to Israel's weapons yearly they could intend fund 26 households with public housing for a year 76 children receiving free or lowcost Health Care two Elementary School teachers 628 households with solar electricity produced for a year five students with their loan debt canceled and 191,192 healthcare workers I feel like that in itself shows that this conflict goes deeper than just being a global thing um and things usually get solved with one tiny first step I mean I I know that your resolution isn't going to change anything in the world but it will be a first step to Bringing about better things I also wanted to bring up how Israel has been weaponizing food medicine and water I mean people aren't able to even just collect rain water outside I means if you're living there you should be allowed to collect water especially if you're dying or close to dying of dehydration since I last saw you I have seen multiple pictures of children who died of starvation I mean there was no muscles on them it was just Skin and Bones their eyes were not even white anymore I mean that is horrifying and like I said last time these people are starving to death in the north they're being bombed in the South there is nowhere safe for these people this should not be a dividing matter it should be something that brings people together to to want to advocate for people to live and to be able to live a a good life not just survive to actually live I just I don't agree with what you guys said last time because personally I do think that it is a red bank issue is this money could be used for the community rather than going to the other side of the world for an inhumane and an unjust genocide not even just a war these people can't fight back and they really haven't been able to um and as we see over 40,000 people are dead 70,000 people are injured it's it's going up and up and up as more time goes on it's it's an urgent matter so I came here tonight just to plead with you guys to reconsider your answer from last time thank you thank you what yep there you are okay Barbara Monahan 30 Pinkney Road Red Bank this is the difference when Israel was attacked there weren't two sides to that issue there was no conflict everyone sympathized and found it heinous in this situation there's a great deal of conflict politically religiously and while my heart goes out and I pray it can end I don't feel you as a group should represent me there it's my individual choice to support that or not thank you thank you anyone else have uh comments anyone else online Jim okay can I have a motion to close the public comment make s a motion I have a second second all in favor I um max we make a motion to reopen the resolutions to yeah I was GNA well I don't we have to reopen them we just can we just vote on that one resolution Laur could just vote yeah um yeah we had uh uh resolution 2481 authorizing the settlement of tax appeals pending before the tax Court of New Jersey um can I have a motion to uh approve that resolution so moved have a second second roll call council member Bonas yes council member Cassidy yes council member py Blackwood yes Council member Forest yes council member Janome yes Deputy Mayor Jano yes mayor Portman yes resolution pass okay um mayor and Council comments I'm I'm just going to kick it off I know we I addressed some of this in um during the public comment um so I pretty much covered the the school budget stuff um Sue had asked me where I stood on the uh the Oprah legislation I'm not a fan of it um I think what the burrow was trying to do here was we were getting a lot of and correct me if I'm wrong on this right we were getting a lot of requests for people that were they were making web content from the the Oprah request and it would take us a lot of time to compile these requests so I believe we just put in a fee structure um that's how we were were dealing with it or wasn't that that was last year yeah but I think I mean the I think the complaint was about the computerized system that we've implemented to answer o requests right um you know many towns use it I know that opr machine is the one that's out there I can tell you that from a staff standpoint the the workflow done the workflow between the staff here to more quickly respond to requests within the seven days and be able to communicate with each other through next request what the public doesn't see on next request is that all of the staff members can be instantly added so if there's something that has to be reviewed by the B attorney I get an email every morning reminding me to do it before your 7 day deadline and so do all the other staff members that lur ass signs so um and I I thought that had every request that's been fulfilled on there available are published I was gonna say I mean on a section of next request it does the same thing as oer machine it publishes all the list of every request by number for the entire ire year so they are available to the public on there um and I I would I mean I'll let the clerk speak for herself but I know from my perspective in terms of reviewing and getting it back and getting it out to the public next request has allowed us all here to do that a lot faster behind the scenes I can tell you Sarah that it's a lesser of the requests a small percentage of them come in through over request most of them will come in either through emails or whatever now that we're using next request everything gets put onto next request the oprera machine ones uh email ones whatever comes in gets put into next request and once it's fulfilled it's then published so anybody can see it anybody can search it thank you but to answer your question Su that you brought up earlier um Bill what's that yeah I'm not a fan of the Senate Bill I'd like us to have I'd like the access to be made easier for people to to see what's going on um rather than more difficult um there's one other one other thing that I wanted to talk about that didn't come up today um and that was the proposed Fair hikes on New Jersey Transit by the governor um again not I do not these Fair hikes are disproportionately affecting um those who can least afford it uh I think that there's got to be a better way to make up the budget shortfalls rather than on the backs of of the Working Poor and the Working Class People um definitely affects us here in red May because we are a a train station Town um I'm not optimistic to be honest that we can that anything is going to change about it um but I definitely wanted to be on the record as as not supporting it um yeah I think that's it we go around the horn Christina yes thank you um and thank you remember for mentioning those two items the the fair hikes I think that is really problematic as at this time uh against certainly the things that I would hope to see in transit and its funding um but also to be fair this is an item that's not before us Oprah also I'm not a huge fan of what we're seeing in the Senate um but those aren't local items so I just at the same time do want to say that I do appreciate folks that have come out um to comment this evening and previously uh also for respecting the process that we have here regardless of what comes of it um I thank you for coming out um and speaking I think from the heart on issues that are very great so um I got a few things Housing Authority met on Tuesday um progress they've been um continuing on their work with Renovations with uh um going out for new uh for Professional Services and I know that they have now created partnership with u the community equity and engagement uh committee Pat Pinto approached them to bring in a um art therapy uh program that'll be offered at least once for free and if not from there more um but there's some nice work being done and there's some good uh Community um Partnerships forming um not long ago we had the annual firefighters uh award centner and I'd like to acknowledge uh the 2023 firefighter of the Year Mr Michael green um served Red Bank admirably um not just this year but in in the last several years she was welld deserving of it um and uh Liberty hose is proud to had a member um achieve that accomplishment this year before I get to the comments on on on Oprah um I like to acknowledge also speaking about community and a community engagement every once in a while it's like a business that just blows me away and I want to acknowledge sure Gamers um if you have a community group um they're just doing really great things to build build community and create new spaces in this town I'm just really impressed by what they're doing they're a real ad to uh to downtown uh I want to Echo the mayor's sentiments on our support um of the efforts of Senator gopal regarding the school budget cut um it is alarming and at the point that the um supervisor that Mr rumage superintendent rumage or Senator gopal would require or ask for further engagement from our body to step forward where they feel that we should do so I am more than prepared to do so um on behalf of the burrow and on behalf of our school children and to Su with OA um I've made tremendous um you know I I as a documentarian and as a journalist I've made a lot of um uh a lot of my work has covered around the country about access to information Sunshine laws Oprah and just whatever they're called in various jurisdictions and I've had very um varied experiences where I've gone around the country and it's it's it's integral to a free press not just to not just to the community and it is a very important to the community um and I do understand why someone was trying to create some sort of reform because there had been people trying to abuse it it used to be there was people trying to get cell phones and for political purposes and trying to get for advertising lists um this particular uh this particular uh statute went too far and I did not support it and I do not support a significant retraction of Oprah but where there can be reasonable um reform just to address those those blocking out commercial interests I would support that but if that can't happen at the cost of a free and open access to our government and a free uh and an Open Press in this country and if that's the tradeoff then I guess we'll live with some extra marketing and I appreciate everyone's comments tonight and I appreciate everyone speaking from the heart thank you hi uh first I want to thank everyone for speaking tonight on the issues that you have we are hearing we're listening um then I want to move on to the Oprah bill I do can can can you guys hear me do I need to get closer okay looking at Steve for this um I understand today that the Oprah bill as it was was pulled which is good because I did not support that bill either what I would be in favor for if they do want to make changes to the oah bill it's that a comprehensive look is done and there have been some recommendations and I think that would even be supported by the league of municipalities which would be for an Oprah um commission to thoroughly examine Oprah where is it working where it's not working um before trying to uh for one of a better word shove a bill through the assembly which I was not in favor uh the other thing we have is the Environmental commission is going to have its annual green fair and it's going to be held on Monday the 22nd of April between 5: and 7M at the Red Bank Middle School we the children will be there showing their work we will have um tables there with um all sorts of environmentally or familyfriendly things there to do I don't know if there's a trash and show or not because that's usually the big hit but um it's going to be a good night so we do hope that you're able to come out um and uh let's see that's that's I do support um what the mayor said about the New Jersey Transit hikes I believe that it is putting the burden on the people who need access to Transit the most and I really don't think that's fair so I just wanted to say that as as well and that's all I have thank you um I'll start with Oprah I don't I don't agree with the Oprah changes that the Senate proposed whatever it do um I I'm not want to repeat all the reasons that were said with the mayor and David representing it pretty accurately um can I live with some tweaks to prevent people from you know getting all the videos from the police department of people being arrested for DWI and then posting it on some commercial website you know just for entertainment I guess I could if they could find a way to do that it will be nice but um you know government should be open and accountable so that's it that's my answer soon for your question um on the school situation I think the mayor is doing a good job representing us on this issue I know there were calls for you us to say things imately but um I've been in touch and I know the mayor's been in touch with Dr rumage I plan to be at the Board of Education member at the Board of Education meeting on Tuesday as our leison to the um Red Bank bur public schools and of course we're going to work in conjunction with it um to try to get that funding restored it is ridiculous that we have to go through this exercise all the time uh it is interesting and that small districts and districts where we have been had funding challenges for I don't know 30 40 years continue to um be targeted with s this sort of nonsense um switching to the my role as the leaon to the Parks and Recreation committee I just wanted to remind everyone that our annual Easter a March 17th Sunday lot of people are there um the C base Bas May are you going to be there sure sure that might go also parks and W would like me to remind everyone if you want to play pickle ball please use the online registration system um so uh that's on our website uh we also have a phone number you call for any questions on that 732 530 2782 apparently our pickle ball is very popular Mr Mayor um and that's all I have sir all right Laura can everyone hear me um I agree with my colleagues and the mayor on the the law and also the work we're doing with the school budget I don't think we should have to fight for it every year but I think we're doing the best we can right now Senator V gopal and Dr Rish I just want to report on a few things um I was uh very excited to an old day webinar I with recers um in health and oil policies some of you know that I'm a nurse I've been a nurse since 1976 um and we are looking at putting more ways to put Health into our resolutions and things that we do in our town where we could um make it work for Sustainable New Jersey and they did give us a lot of great information case studies and ways to go go about doing that um annual welfare committee I'm the lay on to that also so we have changed the time of our meetings one of our members uh has a conflict because he happens to be a firefighter so um we uh changed our timing it'll be the second Tuesday every month um right here in the municipal H here uh Paul perto who's the chair of the animal welfare um met with jiman our business manager this week and I um we talked a lot of different um issues that we've brought forward from the Animal Welfare and Jim's helping us with those um we also had realized we had to find an alternate site for dual days which is September 7th because Marine Park might be under construction then probably will be um so we're looking at different uh venues for Dog Days um we're also still having our uh another food drive for cats and dogs that we um have a food drive and then we bring it to lunch break we're going to have another one in the spring um the library met last week when uh last meeting when I was here so I'm the library of L on too um but I did talk to um the director there and she reminded us that makers maker day is this Saturday um it's come to the library and there's lots of f field day of fun interactive for all ages um Saturday March 16th Edible art sensory silhouette uh buttons and magnets lots of uh coating activities and it's free and it's for all ages um I also want to thank everyone who came tonight um talked about problem in the Middle East I am a nurse I hear what you're saying I'm I feel terrible about it and but I really appreciate you come and bring us up to date every time that you to come um I really feel that it's important that public Hees thank you mayor no report okay Jim thank you mayor I just want to congratulate our dpu employee Mike conin on his promotion to bildings and grounds Foreman after our interview process Mr Conlin's taken over that role now as of this week we are currently scheduling interviews for the replacement of our mechanics foreman and for the for next week after the retirement of Rich Hardy a few weeks ago over the last few weeks I've met with our school superintendent Dr rumage to introduce ourselves and discuss our inter interoperability and areas where we can continue working together I've also met with the community engagement and Equity committee representative Pat pinto and our Animal Welfare advisory committee representative Paul Roo yeah and Dr Janome to hear their work and make our introductions as well uh excited to look into the prospect of bringing um a new program to the bureau called viols vitic would assist with our road and bike lane program mapping our condition assessments our asset management and our infrastructure identification all in one comprehensive program which I think would be really beneficial to us to make um data driven decisions on our Capital programming so our money is being well spent it's a pretty neat program I was happy to to demo that they've actually done a pilot in Red Bank um it's a company that started in Europe and they're getting on board in the United States and have picked up other municipalities in New Jersey including Lakewood so I I've reached out to Lakewood Administration to see how they liked using the program it actually uses iPhone in our Bur Vehicles so when those vehicles are traveling around the burrow and GPS and GIS mapping it Maps the condition of the road the you know assets on the road as far as our park benches our garbage cans stickers on signs it even identifies stickers that are on signs and uh electrical boxes so that we know where to go out and actually uh handle these issues uh so I think it'll be a good program if we can get that that going in short order and I've been meeting with the Burrow's engineer to discuss the continuation of our marine park plans and move forward with the parking lot relocation and greeting of the existing parking lot I anticipate an April bid specification advertisement and a May Award of that bid for the work we also met as a budget ad hoc committee that ad hoc committee has been made up of myself our CFO Tom Seaman councilman Forest council members bonis and Facey Blackwood so we sat down and went through parts of the budget we plan to meet again uh as far as the uh schedule and calendar for our budget April 16th would be I'm sorry intro of the budget would be read on April 11th if we stay on schedule with that April 16th at 5 o'clock which is a Tuesday I believe the website's been updated on that uh Laura with the the budget meeting or the budget presentation not yet but we do have that date for April 16th at 5:00 which is a Tuesday and that'll be for Budget presentation by our CFO myself and uh with representatives of our ad hoc committee and then adoption of our budget on April 25th is when we would have that slated for also just wanted everybody to know that New Jersey Alliance for Action uh reached out and let us know that Montana construction who's been leading our lead service line replacement program and along with the burrow and Ingenuity our engineer were presented with an award actually today for the lead service line project so once I have a little bit more information on that I'll be sure to present that to the mayor all right thank you y right thank you Jim um do I have to close that all right so then um can I have a motion to Journey so moved have a second second all in favor I right we'll see you all next time picture