that's that I did that your good evening and welcome back from a wonderful holiday vacation this is the Ridgewood Village Council public Workshop the date is January 10th 2024 the time is 7:33 adequate notice of this meeting has been provided by a posting on the bulletin board in Village Hall by mail to the Ridgewood news the record and by submission to all persons entitle the same as provided by law of a schedule including the date and time of this meeting roll call Deputy Mayor paron here council member Reynolds is absent council member whites here council member winegrad here here and may ran here will you all please join us in a salute to our flag IED Al to the flag of the United States of America and to the for it stands one nation God indivisible with liy and justice for all we will now go to public comment hello good evening good evening can you hear me we can oh great okay my name is Janet Daly 386 ponfield place in Ridgewood uh this is regarding um the parking on R rainning Court uh I have been a rwood resident for 50 years and I am currently on the board and I am past president of connections connections is a retired women's group most of our members are Ridgewood residents uh we meet at the First Presbyterian Church at 722 East Ridgewood Avenue and the First Presbyterian Church is across the street from rain and Court um we meet from 10:00 a.m. to about 12: 12:30 on third Tuesday of the month from September to June we have a range of maybe 30 to 60 members at a meeting um there is not enough room for all of us to park at the First Presbyterian parking lot on South vandine so we spill over into the neighborhood and some of our members park on rain and Court um we have been parking there for five years um since we started meeting at the First Presbyterian Church and we instruct our members to follow the parking signs and we have never heard a complaint from a resident or the police department about our parking on rain and court and we hope to be continue to be able to park park there for our once a month meetings from 10: to 12:30 um please consider connections parking needs when you make your decision on parking on rain and Court thank you very much thank you very much I have a copy sure thank you anyone else we have some people on hybrid access first one is Jan Phillips good evening Jan good evening Jan Phillips 234 Union Street obviously Richwood and uh let me just start off by saying a happy and healthy um New Year to all of you I have just a couple of things umis really with a heart full of gratitude the first um that I want to say is thank you thank you thank you for for that amazing um website as someone who's been involved with community policing and um community events and the community relation board that website very specifically when you click on um the police department the ability to see the police roster is so important to community policing and so important to the Beloved Community and the Beloved Community hello just start off by saying no we just we have an echo Jen and um our tech crew is working on it can I you want me to wait if you wait just a moment because we can't hear very clearly you thank you for that amazing um website as someone who's been involved with community policing and I think we're good Jen please continue sure so just just to sum up thank you for the amazing website and for the progressiveness of uh including the police roster and my tie into to the Beloved Community is and I saw it on the um as I was waiting for this meeting to start I saw on the community bulletin board this weekend is Martin Luther King weekend it's the longest ongoing celebration in the state um we do our program kickoff Friday in conjunction with the library Saturday is the Day of Service where um toiletries and needed uh foods for the pantry at ridgerest are collected but Sunday we're doing something really uh different and excited and exciting and we haven't done this since the pandemic and that is we are welcoming folks to friends to Friends Community Church on Prospect for an art and music festival and um those of you in the community who are uh familiar with the music of M Brandon and the connections will will be uh will be will be excited about a special free concert and um in addition to uh local artists it's going to be wonderful and then Sunday is our annual starting at 10:00 a.m. um Interfaith celebration and service and uh the guest preacher this year will be our very own oruro um from Emanuel Baptist so I thank you all and stay healthy because we need you and much love thanks folks thank you Jan rurick you're up uh roric halby one Franklin Avenue uh three points point one uh congratulations on the first anniversary of the new Village Council you have accomplished so much in this one year too many accomplishments to list in my limited time but I should say the most important thing you have accomplished is changing the tenor of the village you are bringing out the best of the residents and this will make rwood flourish uh point two uh thank you shabon Keith and Dylan for the terrific new website getting on the website I feel uh like I'm driving a Ferrari to those who miss the Model T Ford you can still get on the old website so uh and good luck on that among other things I was impressed by the listing of the various committees the members and the dates of meetings I was able to get these intuitively and fast I encourage residents to get on the website and to push it to the Limit there are undoubtedly sections that can be improved I encourage you to email Dylan Hansen with your suggestions Dylan is professional and responsive point three the budget you were able to dodge the bullet last year this year should give you the opportunity to study the budget from scratch zerob based budgeting as it is called old nothing should be sacred reconstituting the financial advisory committee can help immeasurably thank you thank you thank you and keep up a good work I'm so proud of you all Take Care thank you R Denise you're up good evening happy New Year um first want to just give a shout out out to all the good work that um Keith and the team are doing with overc communicating everything that's happening with storm and emergency and management and roads being closed uh being open being closed be careful it's um it's a breath of fresh air to see the communications so um really appreciate that Denise could you give us your your your address full name and address thank you Pam I'm sorry uh Denise Lima 319 East glenv um yes it's been a year so far um congratulations I would like to see us have an update on the Town garage I went through my notes and I didn't see us giving any updates last year on that project and maybe we can add it as a project on the website so we can better keep track of where we are uh and what we're doing second is the master plan um and um there weren't a whole lot of updates on the master plan as far as execution and I just want to mention to everybody that the word history and historic uh is coming up 696 times in the master plan so it's woefully important and one of the recommendations on page 59 is about protecting the corridors and limiting Billboards utilities um architecture and actually making changes to the zoning um policies and so when we talk about the Route 17 Corridor and Pam I sent you an email a few weeks ago what are we doing to execute on making that Corridor historic in our tax plans in our zoning Maps um because I haven't seen any updates to that so maybe um I'd like to see that in the future and then last you know the new website there's there are a lot of good things I sent a few emails um about things that are broken and wrong and Javon I see that you're making changes already and Dylan thank you on the Fly for those things I I just I don't see that there are tangible really truly tangible or significant changes that really accelerate or streamline the processes in fact I'm clicking more click-throughs to get through to certain things when in fact there should be less click-throughs and so especially when there's external web pages or you know clicking down to all the police and finally getting the content there so I I still think there is room for improvement I don't know that it's worth $40,000 or whatever the costs were um I also find it confusing when the website says you know these are for residents and these are forms and this is how do I do things and it's repetitive but not complete so where should residents go for forms or should they go to the howto section um and so I just think there's a lot of uh naming conventions that are inconsistent what we call news is it a spotlight isn't it events you know where does it show up I think you know if we can get some consistency there um that would be great and I know I've been sending emails so um thanks for making those changes already this week um that's it for me thank you thank you Susan excuse me thank you Denise Christine you're up hi good evening my name is Christine fman and I live at f East Saddle River Road in Ridgewood um I am a 27y year resident of the town and like so many others in Ridgewood and on the Saddle River we are having major issues with the water so I just like to bring up some facts honestly I'm I'm not prepared for this um we've had a bunch of issues with water six actually since uh September 30th I've been in this town for three major floods and I'm requesting uh a formal meeting with the mayor The Village manager and the Town Council for the Saddle River residents I know that there are many other issues about flooding but I just am concerned about the Saddle River and the repeated uh flooding and there were a bunch of um topics that I spoke to Keith about but I think just I know there are other people that are waiting to speak and I know many of my neighbors are still dealing with flood cleanup as I am myself so I'm just going to leave it at that I'm just I'm not really prepared prepared I just wanted to bring up the topic I'm sure there are many other people that are going through the same thing on the Saddle River as well as hocus and other issues with flooding but I just like to know what's being done for the residents on the Saddle River so I will follow up at the next meeting and with emails with additional questions I just want to thank you for your time thank you Christine and I will be in touch thank you Christine Susan you're up hello I'm Susan ran um what is it 705 Kingsbridge Lane I am taky backing off of what Christine um major topic with Christine um is East sadle River I will say I'm disappointed in this Village Council and I apologize for that because so much has been paid attention to the football fields and um the various other sports Fields even um I received a report for the September flooding of 2023 and even though my next door neighbors lost two of their cars in the flooding we had it in our backyard there was absolutely no Drone footage of the um of the flooding for residents on Saddle River it just concentrated on the Hocus Brook and all the fields linked to that Brook um so I expect to have some sort of more comprehensive going forward on how this Village Council will be dealing with this um with Saddle River also I would like to know what are their insights um or what will be what are they going to be doing with the um Advent of the new law that New Jersey just passed that Sellers and landlords have to disclose about flooding history of their property again this is something that I thought the Village Council will be proactive for and not something that um reactive and again I'm a little bit disappointed um and finally the foot bridge that thing has been an eyesore for so so many years and I hope for this God um for this Bunch that it will finally be fixed um I will probably be at the meeting that Christine is trying to organize with the various Representatives because I believe people should be vocal about this I mean I have residents on Howard that are having to deal with flood damage right now which again absolutely no Drone footage that was taken in 202 20 in September 2023 of Saddle River being flooded only H hocus Brook and the high school in various Fields again shame on you for that thank you thank you Susan Mony you're up yeah what happened hello my name is monaton I believe in 494 East Sal River Road and my question is for our Billet manager kit Kamar uh I would like to know what was discussed with the naval Engineers regarding the sou River flood risk remediation um we all the neighbors would like to know what is happening there and what can be done to mitigate the risk of flooding in our street do you have anything else Mony um because it's not a dialogue we um perhaps The Village manager if he's prepared will answer at the end of uh public comment uh but it's not yeah may maybe um an email for all the U neighbors uh good be great because we are like knowing nothing about what's happening and we have been getting water in our homes and um this has been a I have been here for six years year and I lost my H half of my house on Ida and this year has been three mayor floorings and my house just get surrounded by water completely surrounded like an aisle in the middle of the river so I need to know what's going to happen I don't know if he can reach to us and uh I don't know set a meeting with us and get see it and talk about it and and just want to uh tell him that we need him and we would love to sit with him and uh talk about it thank you thank you thank you thank you m Olga you're up hi everyone I'm sorry to say that you have yet another uh East Saddle River resident on the call um I've lived here for 20 years two major floods may I have your name and address please uh it's Olga Burton and the address is 506 East Saddle River Road um you know obviously climate change is real and things have changed dramatically since we moved here over 20 years ago so we I don't expect the town to have a cure for everything that's happening around us but I think the hope is that we can work together to try to at least do everything in our power as a community to help each other and the residents that live in these flood uh prone areas so I think the goal be to have a separate meeting ASAP uh this the the the the wounds are fresh from last night and it's just been one rain event after the other and that coupled as Suzanne mentioned with the foot Bridge down the street which has been sitting there um un unattended to and un you know it it very much feels like um we're kind of like the Forgotten part of town that doesn't really get prioritized so the goal is to have a meeting with an engineer and people who can really speak to this issue and hopefully work with us to try and come up with some some solutions or at least try to thank you Elga Micheline you're up hello uh my name is Micheline Bailey and um I'm at 512 East Saddle River so this is clearly another um another piggybacking on Christine and Susan and Olga and everything they've said about the issues with the river and the lack of concern for that area um can you go away um it definitely gets overlooked as opposed to like Susan was saying the Ridgewood High School football field is constantly doed over when it floods and it's such a big concern to everybody but meanwhile you have this entire row of houses on this Creek that turns into an ocean after it floods and I mean we've had to deal with a few floods one pretty serious one since we've been there so um definitely I'm just jumping on that bandwagon and I think it needs to be taken care of thank you thank you Micheline Stanley you're up next good evening my name is Stan kakula I live at 500 East Saddle River Road in Ridgewood um I'm also commenting on the last few as well um after been flooding been here with Ridgewood 22 years now and I've seen many floods and it's just getting worse and worse I'm looking at plan is there any plan to to dredge the river or clean it I'm sure I'm with others is in the in my neighborhood who would be probably willing to help but we need this River cleaned up there's a lot of debris causing bottlenecks and it's my house has been flooded many times and I many remediations and it's just I can't take it anymore and I'm sure all the other residents feel the same thank you thank you Stan Lear Europe next hi good evening uh Leo Ruan uh 705 Kingsbridge Lane Richwood um I just want to uh like the uh other residents of this side of town uh I just wanted to reiterate here that you know um today I spent all all day today was cleaning up after a flood in my basement with which get flooded um you know I was up till 4:30 last night you know watching the river literally gone out every 15 20 minutes hoping to see that my house wasn't going to get flooded um I would like to reate what the other people have said um Can the river be dredged is the town looking at any solutions for the residents after uh to help the the actual residents of the Town W with the flooding issue so um if if uh the council can put on the agenda um the ability to to help the people here um on the east side of Ridgewood and particularly with the flooding on um sa River would really appreciate it thank you thank you Leo anyone else oh we have a new one jiha Europe hello this is J from 10 rewood uh we move to the town in 2021 and um the topic of my today is also about the flooding issue uh we we got our first major flood when we moved to the house like about two months the other one and uh uh we do see more frequent flooding happening especially in the last few months there are probably two or three happening but uh not the sary is hus broke so my question concern is also about is there any solution or plan from the town uh for this flood issue of the in this area and my neighbors also suffering the same issue and they could not join the meeting today unfortunately that's all thank you thank you jha next up Echo you're on mute Echo good sorry everyone eal um 690 Howard Road we lived uh we moved in our current house in back in 2017 it was we had a peaceful a couple years until uh Ida um in that event we lost loost our cars and our uh basement was completely flooded from bottom to to ceiling and our first floor above the basement was about um 3 feet high and we had a major restoration at that time rink reconstruction it went on for about three months and I have two young children at home at that time one uh was um six years old one three years old and they they have seen this they were a little bit traumatized they were so ter when the flood came and then again last month there was a minor flooding in my house and last night as my neighbor had described we stayed up all night and um my basement was again flooded last night and the first floor face children's playroom everywhere the I had to call my contractor like first thing in the morning and they came they spent a whole day I asked one day off completely day off working with my husband and contractors housekeeping Crews and to clean just clean my house and they demolish the walls the drywall and everything and we will have to restore rebuild our wall and every room again it was just two years ago right and last restoration happened and I just can't as my neighbor mentioned I just can't deal with is this anymore we love the village we love the neighborhood just this Flooding at sad river is so um unbearable and not only myself my family my children are suffered a lot we really really need a village Cil to folks to prioritize this issue and uh you know we we are willing to sit down and talk and you know brainstorming and share ideas we're willing to help but we just need you guys to prioritize this issue as possible thank you thank you Eko Ed you're up you're unmute Ed Ed you're still on mute am I unmuted now you are good now oh thanks it's a Ed fleshman 518 East Saddle River Road uh and again with all the other um residents have been raising their issue hands and raising the issues about the flooding on the East Saddle River um on Saddle River on East Saddle River Road and on the other side um to me you know um I'm a longtime resident been in the town 27 years um before that the house that I live in was my grandparents house so as a child I was here they bought that house in 19 63 so um I've seen the floods uh as a child it was I can remember one time in 1976 and um since we've been since we I bought the house and moved in in 1997 uh we've had you know major flood three or four major floods where my my house has gotten hit and um you know every every time it floods now every time it rains now uh my wife is you know going in getting crazy because cuz we're you know anxiety about what's going to happen to the house and it's just no way to live um I look at the river um the foot bridge I know we talk when talks about the flip bridge but it that thing acts as a choking point for keeping water and you know uh if it's not going to be fixed maybe it can be taken down and that that area widened out there's there's areas across the stre across the stream from me that's protected uh Wetlands it can't be built on it but are there areas along the river that can be you know um prep to be to have some kind of uh overflow so water can you know create uh overflow Pond ponds and try to reduce some of the pressure that's uh hitting all these houses along the river I know I know it's an expensive proposition I know there's Environmental Studies and all the other crap that uh goes along with government and and um their Endeavors but we really you know we can talk we all talk until we're blue in the face but honestly we need to get something done um so that's my comment thank you and thank you very much Aurora you're up next hello can you hear me yes we can yes hi my name is Aurora Flanigan I live at 512 East Saddle River Road and um I'm just going to piggy back off of what most of my neighbors said more eloquently than I could um we're just looking for support and uh a action with regards to the stream pardon night voice I lost my my voice it has been quite a crazy couple of days as I know the whole town has experienced but us living on the river feels like a completely different Viewpoint of the the stress and strain and fear and lingering PTSD from what we've gone through I've only been here now for three and a half years and I've experienced more uh stress stress and anguish with just being here on the river than I have in the 40 years before that of living anywhere else including Manhattan so this has been the most stressful place I've ever lived because of this so I'm just standing in solidarity with my amazing neighbors who have been the only part of this entire experience that has made it worth staying so I would love to see a change happen because this is a place we all want to feel safe and raise our children and if it wasn't for people like Christine and Ed who at 4:00 in the morning last night was helping me move my snowblower out of the backyard and it just wouldn't be the same kind of place but it would be lovely to know that in an amazing town like Ridgewood we could feel safe and secure and know that we had a home to come home to that wasn't going to be filled with water the next day so at the end of the day I've never loved a town more and I can't imagine what it would be like to have have Security in my home when it starts to rain which we do not have right now so I hope that an action can be taken to remediate this massive issue that should I think be more focused on than things like a football field because this is people's homes livelihood families and they're all at stake so thank you for your time thank you Aurora Toshi you're up next uh Toshi you're on mute thank you I think I just unmuted it can you hear me you're good you're good yeah yeah I'm uh 524 East out River Road um obviously I'm going to sound like a broken record with the same topic about flooding and asking something be done um we've been here eight years of course me purchased this home 8 years back then we was told as once in a 100 Year kind of a thing um so either um like 400 years old or something else and something's wrong here so I also asked that something to be done about this um because I do also like the town we enjoy living here my daughter loves the school and so forth and it's just a shame that this cannot be fixed thank you tshi Megan you're up hi I'm Megan kakula and like many of previous people who spoke before I also live on East Saddle River Road f um 500 East Saddle River Road I just wanted to give the perspective as a kid who grew up on East River Road and has faced a number of flooding incidents in their past um growing up I had many instances where I was carried out of my home um due to the over flooding in addition I am a current college student and my parents are older and I am concerned that one day I might be at at school and something were to happen whereas I am not able to get here immediately and help them whereas last night I was able to at 4:30 in the morning scoop water from a bucket out of my basement um after we had just redone the basement of our house um so I just want to Pro provide that knowledge and hope I can provide some insight thank you thank you Megan Louise you're up next you're on mute Lis perfect hello my name is Luis Lopez uh I'm a resident 494 East Sal Road uh and I would like to picky back on all all the previous comments my wife and I we love the town uh our daughters love the schools it's it's it's been amazing in all respects with the exception of flooding which has been uh very stressful and as I mean anyone can can consult the the records of the water gauge this year it it this is something that's happening more and more frequently uh the gauges has has gone up here on on East sadle River at least four times uh above what can can be considered the the River Bank uh it there's a lot of information and a lot of experience from residents that been have been here for a long time I think if we get together and and we start uh creating a a very concrete list of of steps that that can be can can move us forward I think this is a problem that that we could solve uh that is their thing that that could be done to improve the situation for all of us uh so uh that that's my invitation thank you thank you Louise anyone else hi I'm the if you could speak into the microphone hi this is naras M I'm in 7 100 hovered Road uh my neighbor actually just called Echo uh they got flood last night and uh I living here for eight years uh I have the same issue with the flooding at the beginning it was like when horane came okay we expected to get the flood but now every single week the river comes up the way that comes by the our door it's by luck if getting in or not and we wanted to go the vacation three weeks ago uh the weather was so high we didn't know should I leave the house and go should I cancel the can vacation the whole plan and stay for the flood so it's such a stressful um things I don't know anything even I I'm sure all our neighbor are here to help I'm not we're not telling that you fix it for us we just want you to do something and give us opportunity we're going to help we're going to do whatever we can uh we love this neighborhood we love everything about rwood uh but this is really a stressful and very appreciate if you can help us and give us some guiding thank you thank you thank you anyone else um hello everyone thank you for your time my name is Andrew Pano 687 Howard Road um my neighbor have spoken previously about uh the flooding and I'm just here as well uh concerned citizen I have a 4-year-old I have a one and a half-year-old we came here for the schools and um you know we we came here for for Ridgewood itself and and you know the flooding as someone had mentioned previously wasn't anticipated um 100-year flood is what we were told the same as a resident had said previously um so so I guess what's concerning for me is is something's changed I feel like you know there's a reason why this is happening it's happening more frequently not so much for a storm right it's happening for what seems to be like everyday rain um a normal day outside raining and and I have to look on my second floor and I have to wonder if the water is going to come up to my neighbors which at that point would then come up to my house so so you know it seems like a regular thing um but but this rain is is is has been detrimental to everyone's lives that live in this area so so what's changed what's changed why is this happening and and what is being done to fix it I think we're all at this point looking for Action items we want to understand um the cause and then effect and and what's being done proactively to resolve the issue because it's not just a night where you know 2:00 in the morning we're we're impacted but but it's also property value and and and that is a significant factor because at some point it won't be a hundred-year flood it'll be an everyday thing and and then someone's trying to sell their home but they can't because it comes up as a flood zone and um it it it becomes you know obviously a property issue so um thank you for your time and we hope for a resolution thank you thank you Andrew anyone else seeing no one I'm going to close public comments Keith um thank you mayor um first I want to wish everyone a Happy New Year um the beginning of my report tonight has everything to do with flooding first I want to express um my sorrow for everyone in the village uh whose property has been susceptible to flooding um I come from a municipality where we frequently flood um in my experience I've had up to 250 the houses flood during certain events like Irene um and like Ida and I can very much empathize with what everyone is going through um I have never seen in the course of my career three flood events happen with such frequency um as we've experienced here since the last week in September then again on December 17th and 18th and then over the last 48 hours what I can tell you um and I understand and appreciate the fact that the residents of East Saddle River Road and for that matter many of the residents who I've been in touch with today and leading into the storm yesterday along the Hocus Brook um is that it was quickly apparent to me in September that we needed to engage the services and the assistance of the United States Army Corps of Engineers um I am not going to sit here tonight um and patronize anyone by telling them that there is a local solution to the issues that you've faced over the past few months because except for some limited opportunities that the D the Department of Environmental Protection which is a New Jersey state agency uh will allow us to go in and do some des snagging and desilting as a municipality um that is really the limitation of jurisdiction that we would have to do anything substantial along the Saddle River or the Hocus Brook the reality is is that this is going to take federal and state intervention to make some sort of permanent and tangible change we've engaged with the Army Corps of Engineers uh within 10 days after the September event uh superintendent Mark Schwarz from The Ridgewood public schools and I had been in touch with the Army Corps and we had engaged the support and assistance of Congressman Josh gimer um to the congressman's office's credit uh within two weeks we were able to open up a dialogue with the Army Corps just last week on January 3D uh Chris rudus Houser uh superintendent Schwarz and athletic director cook from the high school were able to meet on the ground here with a team of seven or eight people from the Army Corps to discuss both the sadle river and the Hocus Brook um we toured those facilities we looked at over overhead maps of those facilities we talked about the homes that are affected and the first steps in the process of being able to engage the Army Corps is to send a letter requesting such engagement um which is actually drafted on my computer I wrote it pretty late last night while we were here monitoring the storm before we went out uh to assess what was happening um throughout the village in addition to that they've asked us to share photo documentation and any tangible information that engineering has on file uh with regard to past storms uh they've set up a photo dump um through Google Docs that we've already started to contribute uh to that because the Army Corps is first going to go into a data collection process and we've already undertaken that um and finally uh what is really needed is for the Army Corps to solicit what's called repetitive loss data which shows the history of insurance claims on res residential homes throughout the village with the Army Corps uh believe it or not it's more of a challenge than you would think for one government agency at the federal level to share information with another uh Federal agency uh but the Army Corps is in the process of receiving that repetitive loss data so that they can actually see um and geocode into their system the actual houses that had file that have filed flood insurance claims due to repetitive flooding in Ridgewood so those are the tangible items that we've undertaken since we met with them on last Wednesday um I can pledge to you that that letter will be in the hands of the Army Corps by the end of this week um and in the meantime I've asked Chris ruthazer uh to open up dialogue with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection about the possibility of undertaking a des snagging and desilting um program along both water bodies um I will say that that is going to be budget contingent and that is something that the council is going to have to consider consider at the time uh we're preparing the capital budget for 2024 but I will caution folks dagging is good when you can go into the water bodies and take out large trees debris things that are blocking or impeding the water from flowing as quickly as it can during a storm um that's a tangible thing desilting is not as productive because one heavy rainstorm and all of the silt from Upstream comes and read deposits itself here in the village so I just want to caution people about those initiatives I will tell you unilaterally the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection will not allow us to dredge either water body so that I just want to be clear about um I also want to address and I've been here six months I think to the day right Heather um and I do take it a little personally when the assertion is made that anyone on this day myself included Ed is more concerned about ball fields than people I've been doing this for 25 years I will never put ball fields ahead of people okay people's homes it's where they live it's where they raise their family it's where they ate dinner and it's where they sleep if that's not the most precious thing that we need to protect I don't know what is and as the village manager I will tell you that I'll protect a home before I protect a football field every single day now at the same time we have assets the board of education has the asset of two turf fields The Village has an asset of one turf field and a natural grass field behind this building in addition to the asset of the building we're currently sitting in now we're in a high water event like we had on December 17th and 18th we can lose the first floor of this building we have an obligation on behalf of all taxpayers in Ridgewood to protect those assets I cannot nor can the folks sitting to my right control what the news media covers it broke my heart to see Ridgewood labeled back in December with another flood as the town that loses their High School football field in every flood but just because the media is focused on sensationalizing that bubble in the middle of stadium in the middle of Stadium Field does not mean that that's the top priority of the people who are serving you in this Village when it comes to the king's Bridge uh the king's uh the bridge along uh Kingsbridge uh this Council had made a commitment a number of months ago to invest in the capital budget to repair decision was made to repair replace was taken off the table the bridge is the part of the 2024 capital budget however now I'm starting to hear from the residents of East s River Road that there may be concerns that that's EXA exacerbating flooding and I do think that that's a discussion that we're going to have to have and we're going to have to have it quickly because we'll be talking about Capital expenditures within the next 60 days so I think we need to sort of revisit that and re-evaluate that and I have a few emails from the residents of eattle River Road about the benefits um versus the detriments of that bridge and we're going to have to have that discussion um with regard to a meeting with the residents um I think I offered Christine in an email to go out there and visit those residents who were primarily on hybrid participating in the public comment period tonight um I would like to go out there and see firsthand so that I can be an ambassador to the Army Corps of Engineers and the DP as to what's actually happening in real time during these storm events and I extend that to the to the residents of of um Howard as well um to have a resident meeting now um a lot of what I've said tonight would simply be repeated but what I do want to encourage residents to look forward to is that we as we Engage The Army Corps of Engineers and they do their fact finding and their data collection uh they will have a forum where the public will participate and they will talk about tangible solutions that will be allowable we all have ideas about how to correct flooding and and that's admirable but you have to remember that the D and the Army Corps are going to concern themselves with what happens upstream and what happens Downstream in every other municipalities in which these water bodies flow through so we may think that there's a great solution to Something in Ridgewood but at the same time it may exacerbate flooding in Glenrock and that's something that we have to have a conversation about because the D and the Army Corps are going to be very very hyper sensitive to those specific issues and I'll even point out that when councilwoman winterr held a meeting first in April before my arrival and then we subsequently had a zoom meeting about the East Ridgewood Avenue Bridge um that the county is slated to reconstruct our goal was to try to widen the under pass um or the um the Culvert underneath that bridge so that it allowed for more more water capacity to travel through it during a high water event and we were pretty much shut down on that Zoom meeting by the Department of Environmental Protection about widening uh the underflow of that bridge because they were concerned about how that additional water at that rate would affect people Downstream so I just Ed that as an example um as to the regulations that the D and the Army Corps are going to have when we're seeking a permanent solution to this problem so again my the invitation is extended I would love to go out there I'd love to walk I was walking eattle River Road today passing out flyers encouraging people to take advantage of our additional uh uh solid waste collection um in light of people having items that they need to discard because of the flooding um but I'd love to walk through people's backyards and hear their stories and understand what's happening out there so that as we do continue to meet with the Army Corps of Engineers uh we'll be be able to convey that information properly um in other news I just want to also thank Dylan Hansen and his team in Our IT department uh for the successful launch of the village new The Village's new website um any residents who have any input or thoughts about how we can improve the website um from its current state by adding additional information that would be used are helpful um we are all ears in that regard and I do want to point out that we took what would have normally been a nine-month process to rebuild and launch a municipal website and we Consolidated it into three months uh so we will continue to make improvements we'll continue to make some tweaks um but I think just on speed Alone um the website has been a great benefit and we've gotten a tremendous amount of positive positive feedback for that um I just want to announce and let the council know that I have been elected chair of the central dispatch management committee for 20 24 uh this is a board that along with representatives from the buau of Glenrock manage the central dispatching operation over in the basement of the P's Library um so I will take on that responsibility however mayor it is unpaid so I just want to make that point um we've sent a letter to the Department of Transportation uh regarding a 100,000 requesting $100,000 in funding uh to rehab the bus shelter in the downtown we're waiting to hear back and I want to thank councilwoman winterr again for uh facilitating a meeting with assemblyman def Phillips uh in an effort to try to secure those funds from the state do uh tomorrow we will have a preconstruction meeting at the habernickel barn uh we're looking forward to trying to get that project underway and completed this winter uh we are on boarding three new police officers I want to thank uh Chief Lions and the detective Bureau down in the police department uh for working to find three exceptionally qualified candidates uh we anticipate that they will start the police academy sometime this spring uh we are in the process of discussing the intersection of Oak and Glenn we had a meeting with the police department engineering councilwoman Reynolds who I understand is under the weather tonight um to talk about some tangible changes to that intersection um I want to thank the police department for sharing the data uh that they have collected and we are going to modify some of the lights in and around that intersection including down at um Glenn and Maple in order to try to um take some of the pressure off that intersection where we've had some issues uh we had our kickoff meeting uh with Conley and hickey last week regarding The Pedestrian tunnel design project uh this is under the train station in the downtown uh we're looking forward to sometime in late summer having concept plans to share with the council uh and with the public for feedback as we move into that project which will likely be constructed in 2025 um on behalf of our recycling department and I know uh Sean is with us tonight uh the green guide for 2024 which is all things recycling here in the village uh has been delivered to residential homes we ask folks to uh look that over and just fully understand uh the recycling schedule here in the village our calendar our village calendar uh has been sent to the printer uh at this point we are at the mercy of the United States Post Office as to when it will be delivered uh but we anticipated be by the end of next week uh we encourage residents to flip their calendar over from December to January because January 2024 is included in the 2023 calendar that you received last year um I want to thank I want to I'm sorry I want to congratulate uh Ridgewood High School basketball player uh Johnny Jackson on rece on scoring over a thousand points during his high school career um followed that uh that game on social media and we want to congratulate Johnny and his family on that tremendous accomplishment uh the village is continuing to sell uh parking permits for this calendar year downstairs in the lobby of Village Hall uh please remember to bring your driver's license copy of your registration uh for the vehicles for which you wish to purchase the permit uh we cannot issue those uh permits without those documents Christmas tree pickup uh Tuesday on the east side and Thursday on the west side from January 2nd to January 25th wreaths and Garland will be collected as part of uh solid waste please no plastic bags you may also drop off your Christmas tree if you choose to do so in the section of the Gren pool parking lot designated for Christmas trees the Ridgewood Chamber of Commerce will kick off restaurant week uh on Sunday January 14th through Thursday January 18th um and then again on January 21st through the 25th it's a great way to enjoy a delicious meal with a reduced price all while supporting our local Ridgewood businesses the village of Ridgewood and all Village offices will be closed this Monday January 15th in observance of the Martin Luther King Jr holiday and the recycling center will also be closed that day there will be no curbside bulk pickup refu this week uh reminder about snow removal all sidewalks in residential districts snow must be removed within 24 hours of the snow falling uh we also want to encourage uh residents not to throw snow back into the streets um that's a reminder that was um asked of Me by Mike Juna our street supervisor who by the way um all of our plowing operators did a tremendous job uh last week with snow removal I want to thank them and commend them for their efforts also want to remind residents on behalf of the Ridgewood Police Department that there is no overnight parking on any Village roadway uh during a snow event reminder of garbage pickup during snow and ice events uh if it is snowing when you leave your home in the morning or if it is icy please leave your garbage cans at the end of your driveway until you have a clear path to them uh we appreciate your cooperation in keeping our sanitation employees safe and finally upcoming village Village Hall council meeting Village Council meetings January 17th is a public meeting January 31st is a work session February 7th is a work session February 14th is a public meeting February 28th is a work session all begin at 7:30 and by next week we should have confirmed our Council budget meeting schedules uh for this for later this winter into the spring um so we'll be announcing them as soon as they are solidified and that's all I have tonight mayor thank you Keith um I'd like to take a moment to just say uh on behalf of this entire Council that for those of you who experienced horrible flooding um we can't begin to empathize with the nightmare that you're going through repeatedly to go through it once is is impossibly difficult to go through it multiple times is unfathomable um uh and we wish we could do more um uh this morning Deputy Mayor Pam parin and I um went around to all the flood prone neighborhoods we spoke with many of your neighbors um uh those that we knew of who had contacted the village uh to let us know that they needed help and we we checked on them this morning we were uh by the Riverbanks um seeing what had been done uh it there are no words um know that we we think of you during these incredibly difficult times um that being said um Andrew you said something about hundred-year floods obviously the problem is that 100-year floods are coming almost monthly and and uh that is beyond our scope or ability to control or impact as as Keith said one of the problems several several people mentioned let's get together and see what we can do um but for those um things that Keith talked about D snagging and desilting um the D does not allow us to do anything anything at all because of what he said that any impact that we have to keep the rivers from flooding only increases the impact to our neighbors Downstream which is why I'm so proud to begin with that that back in April when shoban winr was on the council barely a 100 days she gathered every public official she could at every every level of government um there were 25 people uh all in all to discuss what could possibly be done as Keith said we pretty much got shut down um by the same token I have to thank Keith because he after after the the the most not the most recent flood the flood back in September he reached out to the Army Corps there there is no as he said there is no local solution to this it just doesn't exist um we need the Army Corps of Engineers and we need them working with the D to not only help us de devise a solution and fund it but to allow us to do it because right now even if there is a solution we are precluded from doing it um I do want to take a moment to comment that there was there have been a couple of comments one in particular about the concern for the fields and the lack of concern for residents nothing could be further from the truth we look at the fields because we own them and by the way if you've noticed there's nothing we can do about them either nothing we try all we can do is try and fix them in the same way that you fix your homes but the damage is far more personal in your homes as Keith said it's where you sleep it's Where Your Children sleep um there are no Solutions at this time but I commend Keith for attempting to bring those who have the ability to bring solutions to the table I want to take a moment to thank the staff who worked practically all night to help residents to protect this building um uh our staff is I can't even begin to tell you the dedication that they have some of them are residents some of them aren't but they care about this they are protecting our Homestead and so I just want everyone to know that we will do whatever can be done and this does not mean that because we haven't found anything so far that we're going to stop looking we're going to stop trying we are always available to talk to everyone to see if there's something that can be SU suggested but again our hands are largely tied and so with that um unless someone else has any comments in response to public comment I do go ahead um green Ridgewood has been looking at flooding for years and ironically we were going to Green Ridgewood was going to make a proposal to our engineering and department and to our village manager this week but because of flooding we couldn't get in the building and couldn't meet um so I said the irony yeah that's the that's the irony of it um green Ridgewood has a subcommittee called the resiliency committee and they've done a lot of research and have several suggestions to make to um The Village Administration and when we can meet uh they will they will make those proposals green Ridgewood is meeting tomorrow night in the senior Lounge on the first floor of this building everything we do there is open to the public you are welcome to join us um I would also point out unfortunately we already dagged and Des snagged and desilted both Rivers this year within the last 12 months and you can see that that's not the Silver Bullet we'd like it to be um also the fire department has pumping equipment if you are flooded you can give them a call and they can come help you get dried out um the state does provide a program for Relief if you have been rep repeatedly flooded and made repeated insurance claims there is a blue Acres Program Google it see what New Jersey off offers our Council passed a flood acquisition plan in 2021 whereby The Village can purchase your home for fair market value and knock it down so that when the flood waters come they will seep into the Earth and um and absorb some amount of that water and avoid property damage Ag and um and mitigate flooding Downstream if you are at all interested in selling your home give me a call we can talk about it I make no promises um we have not executed the flood acquisition plan but we are eligible to do so so give that some thought um let's see what else did I want to say um with regard to the master plan and Scenic corridors uh I have forwarded Denise Lima I am forwarding Denise Lima's email to our uh um village planner and to see what can be done um there is a subcommittee of the planning board that meets uh on a periodic basis uh to track what things we have accomplished that are recommended in the master plan and it's really pretty remarkable what we have accomplished um so some things are bigger lifts than others um and more time consuming and more expensive um and uh I think that's all I have in response to public comment but we are not inattentive to to your problems due to flooding I can um so I just want to Echo some of the comments made in sending my regards and certainly um you know my my best wishes to those folks that were affected by the flooding um I know must be awful and I wish um I wish that it wasn't happening um you know now that we've been here about a year I I kind of share a lot of what's being set up here in that literally within getting sworn in the first thing I heard from my neighbors was hey can we lift the football field or hey can we dredge Saddle River can we do all these things everybody had a great idea and I thought they were all great ideas and I think some of them still are and I too came to the very sudden realization that unfortunately the way that we are set up in the state of New Jersey is as a local municipality we just don't have a lot of power over navigable Waters um if you think about it it makes sense and that you wouldn't want a town Upstream from US changing the way that waterers diverted that would even that make would make flooding Rood even worse so it's done at the state level um I think what we're doing though is right and Keith thank you I think what we can do for our residents is amplify their concerns so that entities like uh the core of engineers entities like the D entities like our congressmen um can hear our concerns and raise those to the proper place where we can actually get some solutions um I don't think any town in any place in New Jersey or in this country has a solution yet for what we're seeing in terms of climate change um so we're all going through this together um I understand that for the residents that are bearing the burden this is a very little Comfort um but it is where we are and and I can assure you that everyone up here everyone in the village is United ensuring that we do everything we can to help those folks that are most affected by um by the waterways with that I do also want to um Echo some of the comments thanking Keith and your entire staff I thought the reaction by our village employees um the transparency all the information that was being sent out was really fantastic it's what good government looks like it's boring sometimes but that's a good thing and I want to thank you and everyone that was here late nights did all the work on the front end try to minimize as much as possible the damage that we can't stop but hopefully can at least uh mitigate slightly um you know as these events become more and more uh common oh I forgot to say if you want to know what an overworked employee looks like Keith is the face of haggard flood working um and another group that we really need to recognize in addition to all our employees is the Special Operations volunteers they're not paid and they work through the night it's 20 to 30 people who just volunteer their time to keep us safe they're the ones who are closing off the streets and crowd controlled during during our fourth of July parade and the car show and um they're all volunteers and not only are they volunteers who they worked through the night last night and then at 6:00 a.m. they went off to their day jobs so these people are really putting out for us and it's pretty incredible that we benefit from all their work and I just wanted to thank them through you mayor I didn't know I look that bad Deputy Mayor um but um yeah you look really bad um no but I I I wanted to focus my report especially in L of the public comments on speaking to the folks who were affected at their at their residence last night but I would be remiss if I didn't thank um Jeremy kimman all of our directors um our Police Department our fire department um our signal division our streets division um they came off a significant snowstorm um which by the way as I mentioned earlier I think we did a pretty good job of uh clearing the snow um during the the snow event but then they rolled right into flood preparation and that flood preparation not only includes preparing this building the lower level of this building uh which signal did a tremendous job but our streets division um was out there trying to clear out catch basins from snow uh leftover leaves in order to try to maximize the amount of drainage that would happen when the rain started to fall um and that's a benefit uh to those um residents and businesses in the community uh that were trying to get that water off of the streets and out of Harm's Way um but um I had the the police radio with me all night last night uh through this morning uh we were out there I was on East Saddle River Road just at AIT just after midnight last night um with the police department and um I must tell you that the the the calls for service were were non-stop throughout the evening um and as the deputy mayor mentioned I want to thank chief judge and his crew uh they've already started to pump out uh some people's residents if that support is still needed uh please feel free to um contact the fire department um all of the infrastructure needed to be moved out of the recycling center uh that will reopen tomorrow Sean um at regular time so I want to thank you and your team down there and I would be remiss also if I didn't announce that we will have additional emergency flood trash collection both tomorrow morning and Friday morning uh we put that out on social media we put it out um on the website we also hand delivered flyers today um to areas where we knew uh those residents were were affected substantially by flooding and Sean's Cruz will be out tomorrow and Friday collecting uh so we can get that wet debris off the street um and uh out of the resident view so thank you sure so um I want I want to say a couple things first of all um it's absolutely heartbreaking to hear from the homeowners and um know I I'm am very grateful that we didn't have a loss of life from anybody in the neighborhood or um one of our First Responders it was very nerve-wracking watching the weather report and I'm just grateful that our community is whole um I also don't you know as the fields rep I've met with most of the residents who I've met with surround the fields and I will say that for the callers that called in the psychological effect of this is traumatic um several of the residents near the high school field um their kids have PTSD from it so I ache for all of you and I I feel for you um I'm very happy and pleased with the response that the village does but I know that's meaningless because you really suffered all night and I feel for you I did want to add a couple things from public comment one because we have so many many new people calling in by law all five of us can't have a private meeting unless we disclose that to the whole public but I know this full Council in other issues would welcome coming over and having what we call Splinter meetings um we did that with the bridge I I'm a very tactical like you know firsthand person so if anybody wants us to come over and meet with neighbors we can we can only come to at a time and that's just a transparency law because it would be considered a secret meeting if we all showed up at the same time time um I don't want to be redundant to a lot of what people said but I did want to say a couple things there are things that aren't having a major impact that we are doing we are tightening our zoning laws um this council's deeply committed to that the less impervious land we have we are deeply committed to replanting trees we would love to inspire neighbors to plant their own trees you know trees help with the flooding as well and there's many little things that we can do s sadly since I put that meeting together in April you know I'm a Problem Solver I understand that it's mul multifaceted the restrictions on us with our Downstream neighbors are significant we have partnered with Glenn Rock if there's another municipality you'd like us to meet with I would love to be a part of that um I just outside of a good job done by all I really want to say I ache for how you feel um I'm very sorry for your personal loss and if you need anything from us um we're not just council members were neighbors so sincerely reach out to us let us know if you want us to see anything firsthand we are totally available for that um I also wanted to say with respect to public comment there were a couple other things um the Town garage there's been no public discussion of it because we don't own it um it's not our asset yet so once we can talk about that if you know it's still privately held we will and um with respect to the website which I'll include in my my report um websites are constantly evolving they're Dynamic so they're not static so when we released it on the 1 there's been many revisions so if anybody sees anything that they'd like to see improved please let us know but I do want to highlight that one thing that Evan and I ran on was information being available and I do think things like website and social media made us more prepared for this storm and I'm very grateful to everybody on this Council who leveraged it and utilized it because in situations where we have rapidly moving weather the best thing we can do is hope that we have the infrastructure to communicate so um again my sincere you know sorrow for everything that you guys lost if you need anything from me as a council member or a neighbor or from anybody we're here for you and just reach out to us and if you need a splinter meeting we're available for that as well thanks everyone and let's move on to our Council reports Evan oh excuse me I'm sorry oh I'm sorry I thought that was the council reports actually actually not that was those were responses to public comment with that said though my Council that's was what I was largely going to cover so other than wishing everybody a Happy New Year congratulating uh my fellow uh members on a good first year I I covered everything I had in my comments so far good sioban sorry Evan I have a I'll go quickly um okay so obviously the website is live I want to sign seriously thank the communications committee who made this happen Dylan and highlight that it's just it's it's wonderful on speed alone but obviously we're looking for input on it's ever evolving so please reach out to any of us or Dylan Hansen and let us know I wanted to thank assemblymen Christopher Phillips and just let the full Council know that we are in complete agreement that our bus station is need in need of love and attention and we are desperately trying to find ways to fund it and I want to thank thank Keith for reaching out because I think we have the perfect solution to preserve its not historical declarations this but it's history here and renovate it um and then even though it's going to take a little bit longer I want to thank our intern Cole who is here tonight who goes to my alma mater Lafayette College and let um everybody know that Cole has been working on the master library application amongst other things in the parks department and this is wonderful one because he is very smart very hardworking it's a lovely opportunity for him to work with Nancy and his efforts will help our Sports Community balance the efficiencies of the fields and he has knowledge of this he is a soccer player at Lafayette College and we are very grateful to Cole and if anybody is watching this and has um a college kid who is sitting idle we do have an internship program here we don't pay anything but we offer a positive experience and thank you for being here and I know the full council is very grateful for your efforts I wanted to thank um all the volunteers who came out we had um a unique opportunity that 500 daffodil bulbs were given to us and daffodil bulbs need to be in the ground before it freezes and I want to thank everybody who came out and planted them and they're going to be between the taxi cab station and the stairway on the train station and they're just going to look beautiful if anyone has any other interest in participating in beautifying downtown or any of our Parks we're always available for that last night we had our shade tree meeting and we discussed a myriad of issues one is that um the changes to the ordinance are coming Matt is going to put together a proposal and probably in February is we'll be seeing that back here at the council and I am thrilled to announce that shade tree has declared their second area of adopt the sapling to be in the Summerville area and we're really excited about this because um it's very sustainable both economically and with the saplings environmentally and we are looking for the full Council this year to come help us dig holes I want to remind you that the only one who helped last spring was Matt Rogers and we're hoping our goal is to get 50 saplings in the ground the date is TBD but we're thinking it's going to be October 19th and more information will be forthcoming additionally access and CPAC is so thrilled to announce that we're having our third Sensory free dinner which is to support the special needs population and in a safe inclusive area Uptown and it's going to be held at the pancake braseria on January 23rd um mayor Paul will be attending and I'm very grateful because I am running away on vacation so he will be there and then the um the last thing I want to mention is that this coming weekend is Martin Luther King weekend as a past member of the MLK committee I'm pleased to announce that they've released a serious lineup of events running from Friday Friday to Monday I would encourage everybody to participate in one if not all of them we did just get the flyer today so we'll be posting it on social media but I want to wish everybody a happy long weekend and sorry if I was so long thanks Shon Pam oh uh yes the central business district advisory committee met in December and we um we discussed recommendations for outdoor entertainment going going into the future um downtown and Lighting in the central business district was also discussed and we also discussed blade signs which are those signs that well you often see them as pub signs they're perpendicular to the facade of the building and uh I know that internally the Administration has been considering them as well um we also reviewed which store have left closed and what new tenants are coming in uh cbac will be meeting tomorrow morning via Zoom if you would like to uh join us just give me a call and I can forward the link to you as I mentioned green Ridgewood will be meeting tomorrow evening in the senior Lounge at 7:30 and we discuss Myriad uh environmental issues that affect our town the open space space committee will be meeting uh next Thursday in the stable at 7:00 and the purpose of the open space committee is to um acquire more property for open space Parks fields that sort of thing so if you would like to join that that is also open to we welcome members of the public and um I just hope everybody had happy holidays and that's all I have thank you you Pam and I know that the hour grows grows late but there are two items that um I have to discuss one is that the upper Ridgewood Community Church held its last service this past Sunday um and I was um honored to be invited to attend um this is a lovely church that has been in the in a Westside Community for over a hundred years and um and they will no longer be serving our community and so uh we were all a little sad and wistful that day um and then you know we have so much bad news that comes across our plate I'm going to share some good news um there's a former resident of Ridgewood who is still a vibrant member of our community he's very involved he's a foundational member of uh Mount Carmel Church Church um and he serves that church um on an almost daily basis uh Jim Roth was diagnosed with mantle cell lymphoma 17 years ago it is what's known as an indolent form of cancer that grows slowly but it is doggedly persistent and he has the average life expectancy is about three years he has been through seven remissions the most recent of which was yesterday and he just got his scans back after an incredibly difficult stem cell transplant that has really been very hard on he and his family and um they just got the news that he is in complete remission again the man has nine lives we are uh overjoyed and this this was not something that anyone expected and it was such good news that um because he is he remains a member of our community I just wanted to share that with everyone for all the bad news we get there is some good news and with that we will now begin our Council agenda Keith thank you mayor uh for our Ridgewood water requests I'd like to invite up director calby and Sean Hamlin from San ation and recycling Rich I'll turn over items AA 1 through 4 to you and then we'll jump to Sean's part of the agenda thank you very much uh Happy New Year happy New Year and welcome gentlemen thanks for being here happy 2024 another year closer to completing our P master plan which is which is good news and Rich forgive me sure there was something that was on my list that was very important and I couldn't remember what it was and of course Pam reminded me um this is also a milestone um American Legion the Ridgewood American Legion Post um long ago began a project to begin a uh to put a gold star Monument here in vanest park and after um a long long and and diligent effort um it was approved by this Council and just last week they signed a contract to have it um to have it constructed and uh fabricated and they have attained all of the funding that they needed which has been again just a credit to everything that they've done and they fully expect that it will be completed by Gold Star Family day which I believe is the last Sunday in September yeah yes so um so we are all very proud of them and we are all looking forward to that dedication Pam did you want to add something to that yeah that's a 100 years after our World War I me Memorial was built and it'll be right next to the World War I Memorial I could not remember what this thing I'm saying I knew I had one more thing but anyway forgive me gentlemen and now we will Again Begin so if I with your permission if I could add one point information and then make a request before out the water items um talking about the flooding issue um one of the things Richard water does is track precipitation it's vital to tracking our Revenue each year how our wells are doing how the aquifer is doing just for your information looking up New Jersey climatology records that have been kept since 1895 2023 wasn't the largest year on record but the month of December was the largest yur record since records have been kept total of 8.2 in of rainfall so unprecedented um in this in this area in this region so and then a snowfall the first week of January and then what presented last night it it was a recipe for for difficulties for challenges thanks thanks for putting that in perspective Rich because it it really does frame the issue for us welcome thank you and if I may ask if we could jump to item 8C 6 because Shan gets up very early in the morning and has a very busy day tomorrow so I'd like to get him out of here if everybody is okay with that we would we would be very happy to do that thank you so as Sean's handing those out um we're both here tonight to discuss a situations dire situation with the solid waste and recycling Fleet um unfortunately um a handful of our trucks went down permanently um middle of uh 23 and on top of that more recently four to five trucks have gone down in state of repair um and are not Road worthy at this moment uh so Sean's here tonight to summ summarize that and discuss a quick solution not the permanent solution but something that is necessary for us to continue to service the community um in the interm until we get some new trucks on the road Thank you Rich and thank you guys for having me um I'm going to try and be quick but I also don't want to dilute the severity of what we're going through right now so on the first page you'll see I've highlighted some of the uh that this is the the Packer trucks are on uh on the big part of the paper and uh if you look on the right column you see five trucks we're selling on go deals and another uh five trucks are disabled so right now for the last four weeks we've been running we usually send out six sanitation trucks and four recycling trucks we've been running on four sanitation trucks and three recycling trucks which has caused a lot of problems we've been picking up uh we've been picking up sanitation routes with pickup trucks and it's starting to take a toll on the crew because it's harder to do that way uh then they they put the garbage on the trucks and then they drive it to another truck and they dump the pickup truck and then they drive back to their route and start again um it's also costing us overtime because uh on the recycling routes what's suffered is the apartments I don't know if any of you have gotten complaints from the apartments that uh that are in Ridgewood they normally get picked up twice a week and uh well they get two for uh bottles and cans and two for cardboard and we have to we had to do it on Saturday so we had to have two employees come in on Saturday because we weren't able to get to them during the week because we're down a truck um so uh I started looking and I found a rental company there's only two of them and uh one of them had trucks they have two trucks that they can rent us immediately uh out of Cleveland call Premier trucks um so I'm proposing that we rent two trucks for at least 4 months we do have some relief hopefully coming uh in the first quarter of the year we uh purchased the truck last uh with last year's budget that still hasn't been delivered it had a delivery date of December 11th but everything is uh is on back order right now um and we got a little bit more bad news I I scoured the Earth to find trucks for us to to purchase or lease um and there aren't any you know uh the end of the year is a terrible time to look for trucks um so as soon as the uh the New Year turned over all the trucking companies get their allotments for uh for trucks that they can sell and the company that we want to buy our two recycling trucks from uh they got an allotment of 20 January 1st and they've already sold 12 so we're in a position now where if we don't order these trucks now then we wait until next year and uh even if we order the trucks now we don't see them probably until the fall at the earliest so we you know right now we're just we're on a we're in a really serious situation here so I I did put down some options that Bob asked me to put together if you turn to page two um there is also a a uh one of the dentist trucks the ones that look like the the really pretty trucks that everybody loves with all the glass there is one that's going to be coming available um within the next uh within the next month if at all possible I'd love to jump on that truck and and uh and whether or not we lease it or buy it there's um you know there's a there's a a bunch of different options they did give me a lease quote but uh it expired so uh so the price will probably go up on that um which one the Dennis truck Dennis truck the one that's on the uh truck type number five bottom one oh I see it so that that lease number will is probably going to go up that quote we got in in uh in October that's your first choice um so the first option one would be the the yellow would be what I think we we really need um but uh I don't know that I don't know how it's How it'll affect our budget for this year uh so you you can go over them um I put the price of the rentals in there um those that's a price for for one year John this would be for the future capital of 2024 right so um do you have any carryover no okay you can tell we owe you a million dollars worth of garbage trucks it's okay but but there there's one truck on order correct there's one truck on order plus the plus the mini garbage truck which won't solve our problems but it'll certainly help the other issue is yard waste starts in April we have no trucks for the yard waste collection so okay so I'm just going to ask Capital questions I really do because I I'm not saying this because you're here when we think about capital and we think about the bridge you know roughly from carryover like I always say it's like the Hunger Games of capital um I think we do owe DPW about a million dollars worth of trucks that's pass due we don't want anyone to be hurt um would there you know from last year do you need two trucks for this year is that is so uh at minimum two trucks um is it still a million dollars no not for not for two okay um is there anything we can do to get anything in sanitation that would be an EV credit are they just not powerful so that's where the I think the rentals come in if we can't get trucks uh these two trucks if we rent them for the year uh we decide we want to keep them because they are newer model trucks um we can use 25% of the the rental cost towards the purchase of the truck for next year's budget does the rental come out of operating instead of capital yeah I think so okay and that you were sure that that lead it goes forward to future Capital yes okay well the balance the balance would yeah yeah we're recommending a short-term rental so Sean's crew could get these trucks in start to use them immediately and get a feel for whether or not they're worth purchasing so just like for for tomorrow you we are committed to going out and helping the flood victims it's going to be hard though because we only have four trucks we did borrow some from uh from other towns but they s those trucks that were in terrible condition and really not safe um one of them one of the trucks we borrowed I don't want to mention the town but uh the uh within a half an hour of working with it one of the guys took a step out of the to to get out of the passenger side and the whole step so is this collapsed is it a brand new lease is it pristine like the uh the the rentals you mean yeah uh so they're 20 22 23 remodels so yeah they're they're fairly new H how fast can you get them once they get a PO they ship the truck the next day they have someone drive it out it's coming from Cleveland so it could be here the next day I've already I've already talked to to CFO Rooney about if this is approved at next week's council meeting that we would do an offline check and and try to get it expedited for Thursday up next week and how many are we talking about two two yes that would that would go a great deal we're hoping to get back some of these disabled trucks that have been down for a while now um we know what the issues are with them one of them had to go back because it was under warranty and that's the problem with warranties is they they kind of put you to the back of the line so our truck's been there for quite a while how how soon do we expect the vehicles that are being service to be back online so uh one of them we're hoping for a miracle and having it back this week um it's at the uh repair shop but that's one of the trucks that we uh the previous administration decided to buy a new truck and put an older body on it that was like 20 years old and the hydraulic pump went on it and they just they have they're having a hard time finding the pump it's a 4-Hour fix but you have to have that that particular pump so there because there were there were five trucks that we're waiting we're waiting for so when might we reasonably expect any or all of them um we had a company come down to look at two of them today um and they think they found the problem with one of them but again it's going to be we're going to be at the mercy we have to order the part for it but they the mechanics that we have couldn't figure out what uh what was wrong with it was an electrical issue and uh they came down and they plugged their computer and they think they mapped out where the the issue is the other one uh we can't even start it so they're going to they're going to have to tow it into the garage to get it uh get it up and take a take it apart I just I don't know what how long it's going to take them to figure that one out it's uh it's it was just weird how it happened the guy started the truck and then it just turned off everything was going well it was warming up and then it just turned off so of these five trucks are we anticipating getting any of them back in January or February I'm hoping I'm there's a good chance that we get one back before the end of the week um but that'll put us with two spares it's also you know the biggest thing right now is we have trucks that need to be serviced and we can't pull any trucks off the road to service them they all have you know engine lights on and codes on it but we can't pull them off the road so your first to even to even service them to find out what's going on with them your first ask is type five the Dennis what's the second one so uh that would be that would be the first truck that comes becomes available um but the the other issue is the you know the reason why we need the uh the Kenworth trucks that say dual steer is because we we use we need those trucks for the as backups for the Mac trucks that we use for the fibrous pickup those are single man operated and if they go down then we have to use a different type of truck and now instead of sending two employees out for fibers we have to send four right and that's a straight out buy that one there's no those would be those those are the ones that I that I was saying that we we need to give them kind of a verbal he said that he would hold two trucks for us if we gave them a verbal agreement that we were going to buy them um but uh like I said he has 20 he had 20 of them he he already sold 12 of them since January 1st so so mayor I think we should sort of separate the discussions um I think Sean brought brought this document tonight to just sort of illustrate the urgency of where we are the question before council tonight is the rentals yes absolutely as we get into our budget meetings which kick off next week um Department level budget meetings um and then we start talking about what capital is going to look like that's when this document is going to resurrect itself um but I think you know this this issue was not created overnight some of these vehicles are aged they're also used almost every single day of the week um and the wear and tear is significant um so you know we certainly do need to put a capital plan together that replaces the fleet down at sanitation and recycling but the stop Gap measure in order to continue to provide adequate service to the residents here in Ridgewood is to to engage uh with this rental company as a stop Gap until we get our Fleet back together our existing Fleet back together and we plan for what the future Fleet is going going to look like so you need approval of leasing two vehicles uh renting two vehicles yeah leasing rent right and that's what we're here to talk about does anybody have any objection to that you're good thank you thank you go to sleep Sean I'm sorry I felt like I felt like you guys needed the whole story behind what's going on out there and it's uh it's tough out there on those guys well we did we did want the whole story until we heard it thank you Sean good night thank you Sean and Sean thank you and your crew for helping out the residents who are affected by the FL please please tell your your entire crew um that they have the entire Village's thanks thank you don't these okay so we're going to go back to uh Ridgewood Waters portion of the agenda and we'll turn it over to director calbi yes and and thank you for going out of order uh so first item is 8 A1 uh this is Award of of Cooperative purchasing um purchase with uh information and programming it's required for our scada system in rigid water um this will be we contract will be with P CS pump and process Inc um they're contracted on the Pake Valley seage commission Cooperative uh purchasing contract which the village of Ridgewood is a member it's for a natic seed of $882,500 of 52,00 500 of that total is for the car lywood page treatment facility upgrades uh the skater program required uh to complete that project the additional $30,000 is for miscellaneous uh skater work that's necessary throughout uh Rider water system uh this need need became a priority as we lost an employee who was our key skate a person in 23 we have yet been able to fill that position with a qualified uh person um this will be funded from the rigid water capital budget good everybody good with that yes good uh next item is 882 uh this is an award of uh contract for the construction of raw water mains as part of the posos master plan buildout uh these raw raw water mains are part of the prospect Treatment Facility in Glenrock that will connect two Satellite Wells to that facility so that the capacity of facility will will handle um you know all the wells that are have been designed for that that plant on December 13th there were 17 bids reserved uh received for this project um it's it's a record we haven't seen that many in a long time u m McDonald was the engineer record they reviewed all the bids uh determined that the lowest responsible bidder was underground utility scorp in the amount of 2,63 ,200 $3,250 and0 um there was an apparent other lower bidder uh but they withdrew their bid due to errors and they're allowed to do that under the uh State Statute so we're recommending uh the award to the parent low bidder utility underground utilities Corp this will be funded out of the water capital budget as well we already bonded for this right correct this is being bonded and funded through New Jersey I Bank everybody good y go ahead uh next one is 8 A3 um this is Award of a second year of a contract um that was awarded last year a multi-year contract the Shi Mass notification system this is the village and ridge of waters everbridge reverse 911 notification system um I believe it was used recently with the storm that's an not exceed amount of $5,775 30 this is split between the village and rid water funded both out of operating budget on both sides um there's plans this year to take this system not only utilize it for contact to Residents but to build a database of all employees in the village and rigid water and utilize as a means of contacting them in the event of emergencies or closures um like occurred here uh this morning everybody good and the last item is the rejection of a bid um I was back here in the December meeting uh recommending an award of a bid uh for our Lin stop and valve insertion Services uh subsequent to that recommendation um we did a review with Mr Rogers found that the bid specifications on that were put out on those bids weren improper they didn't include the words or equivalent for the the methods and the equipment that were were specified in so now we're recommending rejecting of those bids and going out for rebid with the proper language in the bid so in front of you is the um proposal to reject the the bids if approved we' go out to bid uh after the next public meeting thanks everybody good yes good you're all set thank you thank you thank you director calby uh moving on to parking um we have two ordinances tonight that are being recommended by the engineering department uh the first is to clarify language in chapter 26547 with regard to 15-minute parking spaces apparently there's been some confusion between violators and Court staff with the current language in the code uh this ordinance will specifically address 15minute parking space use uh there is a memorandum attached uh from patrolman Torino uh to the Village engineer and then the the draft of the ordinances behind any objection I I I did not I've read through this and I did not quite understand the distinction between the current ordinance and the new ordinance um would you I I can pull you a copy of the current ordinance I don't have it with me um so I can provide that for you tomorrow may yeah it's I just I I was I was read I read through it several times and I just couldn't quite we'll uh we'll get you a uh we'll get you a copy if I may the addition just indicates that you have to uh pay the meter at a 50-minute space you can't pay Park Mobile to do so I think that's really what the change is is that what park B says yes that's what part B says yeah it says you can only pay at the meter and that um there's no other way you can pay and um and if they remain there beyond the time they'll they're going to get a summons so so I think that's what the difference is between the two and the and the issue was that the original ordinance was not clear on being able to pay Park Mobile that you can no you cannot pay Park Mobile and it wasn't clear that you couldn't it wasn't clear now I understand good I'm all set good yeah I see that now okay thank you could I ask one question because ironically my next door neighbor got a ticket for paying Park Mobile in the 15minute meter is there going to be clearer signage because right now the only I went in and walked the dog the only place where it says coins are allowed is on the meter right are we adding any clarification under the park mobile um I can talk to Rich Charlton and to the police department about doing that I'm sure it's a rarity we're sign heavy in CBD but we can we can we can certainly talk that through okay okay cuz right now the only place is in the little red strip do you know at the top of the meters the ones that still have okay ones that have not been deadheaded yet Paul uh the next one is um and it was spoken about at the public portion uh the reigning court and Cottage Place parking regulations um so residents of reigning Court contacted the village requesting no parking signs for the west and south side of the street to prevent high school students from parking there during school hours um Chris conducted a survey of the residents of that street in the nearby areas attached as a sample copy of the letter that was sent out to the residents they only received four responses three of the residents were in favor one felt it was not necessary so that's the that's the census on the reigning Court piece um on Cottage Place it was recently brought to the attention of the engineering department that the existing parking re regulations for that section of Cottage Place North of Franklin Avenue is not currently working workable the current ordinance has a 3our time limit parking from 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. and from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. the time period between 10:00 a.m. and 6: p.m. is not regulated uh field observations indicate that Central Business District employees are parking all day on the street there so the proposed ordinance that's before you tonight would permit a three-hour time limit parking from 7A to 9p thereby preventing all day parking on the street so I know there were some concern expressed about this not we would need the consensus of the council as to how we would want to move forward and go ahead I was going to say how many how many residents are there that we sit and lo notices out to because for responses to me doesn't sound particularly like a lot right I I can find out from Chris I'll be honest with you normally Chris and I would have had a meeting about this but in light of the last two days we we didn't have our normal powow yeah so um I can I can find that out for you tomorrow yeah I mean my feeling is that if there's not a strong feeling for the signs that we shouldn't do it and you say three out of four you know wanted the signs but if there's you know I've been on that treat a bunch of times there's probably at least two dozen houses there if the majority of people didn't bother to respond I got to think they don't feel strongly about it either way right yeah I would I would agree with that but I I can get you an exact count I with respect to reigning Court I tend to agree with Evan it's a small street that doesn't seem like a response and you do have the first press issue and you know there's so many restrictions around the high school right now it's impossible to park anywhere yeah but that street is a cut through this is how you avoid the light and you speed when you cut through and it's a curved Street if you add parking on both sides it becomes that much more dangerous and the time period for for the Restriction is 8:00 a.m. to 9:30 and 1:00 to 2:30 that's what we have on my street it's annoying but it's it does allow people to park during certain hours particularly when connections is having their meeting from 10: to 12:30 there's room for them and and I think I'm sorry I think that's really the point is and I was trying to remember what time they said they met yeah so this doesn't seem to interfere with connections except for when they do um a movie day and then they do it 1:00 to 3:00 but maybe they can change their meeting time um I think it's it's safer and uh well I think the problem here is that this is a um high school parking Street if I'm not mistaken right and and and obviously um high school students will find the places where as we all will where they can park all day and this and this prevents this but still allows some parking during the course of the day I don't have any problem with this yeah everybody good I'm still interested to here how many people actually you know do we send it out to I I don't know maybe I'm not looking to make a big deal about this but to me I I prefer not to have more regulation if it's not needed I I I think your your Point's well taken I think I think the problem is that the vast majority of people just don't respond and and that's just the way it is so I I don't know that we can I mean through through you mayor and and you know I admit when I didn't look through the whole packet because we were in flood preparation but if you if you flip back behind the letter uh Chris actually uh circled each of the Lots uh that were sent letters that's what the the handm marks are oh I was wondering what those were I didn't get past the memo so oh yeah there you go so yeah so it's quite a few yeah I well the ones who are complaining seem to be on North vanine this I mean oh I see I see okay and that it's a problem for those who are backing out of their driveways when they're parked cars I mean look how tight that curve is especially on the south and and west side and this is where we're adding you know the the north and east side they already have restriction but but we're talking about the south and west side of the street looks to me like 27 letters went out yeah are those the letters that went out or people who responded no that would be well actually he he just indicated in the memo that we only received four responses and three of the residents were favorable one said it was not necessary and that they live on North vanine uhuh but the residence out of 27 you reive four response based on the memo right and and the ones that the three that responded in favor of it were on brainin I gather again is the go the goal of this is to prevent high school students parking there all day that seems to be the concern yes yeah the top part the cottage plac is a separate issue it is it is an issue it is an issue um I I I do we want to do we want to hold off introduction until we've you know contacted those residents more thoroughly I mean I mean that's my feeling is that if if it's such a big deal why did only three people complain you know out of the 20 plus so that we sent letters out to hea Heather shaking her head I yeah that I the three the three aren't the ones that only complained it's just that the others did not feel one way or another and they didn't respond to the letter I mean how do you get someone to respond do you have to go door to door and do a no but that's my point is that if people felt that strongly about hey this is a problem like I can tell you I live on a pass through Street as well and if somebody sent me a letter saying hey we think we're going to put more stop signs or something else I would go out of my way to respond to that because it annoys me every morning when I see somebody trying to beat the light by by speeding down my block I I don't I don't know what these what folks feel about it but I I have to assume that if folks didn't bother to respond they don't feel strongly either way and if folks are somewhat not strongly either way I prefer not to have more regular except for those people who are being affected by the high school Park well that's what I'm saying is that is if they felt strongly that they were being affected by high school kids parking on the street they would have responded to the letter I understand but you still have three who are concerned about it and at times they park right up to their driveways because I know the other streets when we enacted all these originally it was because they were over parking over the driveways and it was difficult for the homeowners to pull out well that seems like a separate issue that I mean can't I I would assume that's a ticket on for blocking a driveway well they don't block it they just are too far and again though only three people wrote back saying they had a concern I I'm with Evan I mean I don't want to go back to when I was a junior in high school and oppose the parking around the high school I want to be clear that for westsiders who live under two miles you are not eligible for the bus so for kids who live on the West Side you either have to walk or get a ride and we have made it very impossible for kids when they get their license we as adults should be encouraging them to drive and drive safely and there's no streets left to park on and the alternative is to pay $675 to privately park at first press's um parking lot I think we need to hear more from the residents and I think we need to wonder why allowing you know kids who have no money really they don't not to park on a public Street what you know creating a law because they parked improperly that's that's been going on forever I mean when I went to Richwood High School Heather knows this she was at the meeting that I came lost my composure and cried because I did not win um it we you could park on Brookside you could park on Hanks you could park on Gordon you could park on Herman's and everywhere and the parking around the high school has been an issue I mean if if the residents have concerns I'd love to hear more of a response but I'm with Evan that we can't go around that's it traffic by definition my inner civil engineer is movement it's coming and going and schools are massive traffic generators and we cause a lot of confusion when we put lots of restrictions on the kids and I will say that I think there are students who have jobs and need access to cars and what the Board of Ed charges for private parking is a good thing but it's an expensive thing and I think it's we should think about that the students can park for free a grade in sou yeah right I'll tell you when this this came in on my street I hated it and I'm probably one of those people who ignored The Village's notice so a second notice uh and she's she's a rule follower by the way so I I I I you know again this is not the issue of the century but if if you know what's the point of even sending out letters in the first place if we're going to credit getting only four of them back and say we're going to make decision based upon that I I I I you know don't me wrong if folks on this court on on the road felt strongly and a bunch of them showed up or we heard separately and I got a bunch of emails tomorrow and speaking to all my friends are reain in court that hey if you got a problem email me I feel very differently I say all right we should go ahead and because I know you know that they can park on on great and South I I would feel strongly about it I I would definitely change my my viewpoint on this if I really thought that people had a problem with it but it sounds like people don't have a problem or just don't carry either way and in the and you know in the absence of an issue I prefer not to legisl and and and I respect that opinion and as you say this is not the issue of the century and yet we're spending a lot of time on it um I will tell you I live across the street from Glenn school and there's no problem with parking there except for maybe two days a year and there will be a graduation ceremony and some show and when that happens I have trouble getting out of my my driveway and people Park right up to and over the edge of the driveway and because it only I know it only happens once or twice a year I don't really care it's fine if this were a daily occurrence that's a that's a that's a really big problem for these people and yes you're right people should respond but there's a statistically 90% of people and I'm picking that number at the year but something like that don't respond to anything and so and so you know we have to look at this as as this was first of all this was recommended um by our Police Department who looked at this problem and our engineering department who looked at this saw a problem and they're trying to remedy it for our residents that's and that and and so as a result like I said I don't want to kick this around I'm in favor of it that's all I definitely be willing to hear more from those folks if there is a problem but again Paul I come back to what's the point of sending a letter out in the first place then if we don't think people going to respond to them um again I I I keep an open mind but if if I if we want to if somebody's looking to get me to vote on favor of this I want to hear from residents or from the police or from planner why this is such an issue considering we don't really have any evidence Su just it is an issue now would it be would it be possible for the full Council to get the copy of the original resident complaint and we could talk to them I mean I I too have two friends who live on ran and we could I could call them but sometimes when we make parking so restrictive it becomes a burden for the residents and we hear that as well I I will say that on Cottage I feel differently because that is spill over from the central business district we can talk about that but I mean it wasn't like police went out there and did this that we received contact do we know who contacted us I I I don't I I have an idea we're look we have we are obviously deadlocked um Lorraine will be back she yes and and so why don't we why don't we put this on our next work session um Keith if you can find anything out in the meantime terrific otherwise we'll we'll um we'll get a consensus at a meeting where we have fun and I promise I will drive by rain in court on a school day and do my own sther there you go and and I apologize had circumstances been different the beginning of this week I would have dug into these issues a little bit more deeply than I did just you know the flooding excuse is is good for this week until the next flood okay so let's not let's hope that's yeah yeah let's hope for a while okay let's move on under budget uh we need to establish the 2024 temporary budget appropriation um this is prescribed by law it's a housekeeping item um so this will allow us to operate for the first quarter of the year wait there there are we could carry Cottage Place forward just going back to that do we want to I'm sorry Paul I just you know I did read we could we have two issues so on ring Court Evan I don't know if you feel differently about the cottage Poli issue to vote for cottage CU I know that I would feel comfortable with Cottage Place good point yeah sorry and the only thing that I just want to make sure is there are two back-to-back churches there that at some point we reach out to them on Cottage Place right just in case mean so uh so they are where unarian societ the Unitarian Church and then the that's not the block we're talking about though it's the block between north of Franklin a north of Franklin app okay North yeah isn't it before the curve next to Stop and Shop yes yes yeah so you know sometimes those churches run programming and things like that so I do think we should move it forward but we should let the churches know yes okay okay sorry next okay uh support for the 24 temporary budget yep any objections no good okay um traditionally in Ridgewood we expedite um the two thou the capital ordinance uh for Paving uh so that we can get that properly scheduled uh I did circulate a feedback email uh with regard to any uh areas of concern uh the finalized list will be available in the clerk's office prior to the introduction of the ordinance so everybody's good to introduce this next week good very good yes can I ask a question sorry it's a work session so with the with the roads I think Evan and I had a sidebar conversation that this is us are we when are we going to talk to the county about Paving particularly acrian uh We've they it's already in the queue okay and we'll be able to that was one of the feedback streets that one of you provided me yeah I think and then the the local list will get that before the introduction yeah there so there is a list that exists um I did speak to Chris uh before the the impending storm um about a few tweaks to it but it has to be on file before at introduction with Heather's office okay all right perfect thank you okay um item three is to amend various um positions within the salary ordinance primarily for White Collar any questions on that uh purpose of this um so the the as you know we do it by range um so some of those range um some of those positions the range needs to be expanded uh based on going into the new year with what those employees will earn and then there's a couple of um change of title positions in here as well so you're saying range that goes to the U the annual increases that they get correct got it good I'm good everybody yes yep okay um number four is uh to award contracts for the professional law um professional land surveyor um this is a retainer agreement that we do annually uh through the engineering department it's done surveying and mapping uh they provide uh the um land surveying services um in preparation for the village tax assessment map for 2024 and the quote retainer is $900 everybody good y next okay next item is um Award of contract under um under the county Co-Op for janitorial cleaning services uh it's for this building and for the stable um after thorough discussions with Rich Charlton and Chris ruteshouser and Bob bruny um we are looking to Outsource the janitorial services uh for this facility and the stable similar to what was done with Ridgewood water uh this contract can be awarded through the Bergen County cooperative purchasing program um and we the one employee that is assigned here in the evening um will be reassigned to clean communities under Sean haml and why are we looking to Outsource this so I I number one I think that this is a large building um I think for uh one or two people especially doing shifts in addition to set up setting up of rooms working the community center um all the different things that happen here at Village Hall this this building's really open 24 hours a day um in my experience this this municipal building is open for longer hours than any Municipal Building I've ever been a part of so there's a lot of Maintenance and and management of that um so in talking to Rich and Chris and Bob you know we've made the colle Ive decision that we do think we need a larger crew here uh to tend to this building the way it should be tended to um and we have capacity um in the CBD um to support moving that other employee there the one employee that that does um handle the The Village Hall facility and the stable um because we have needs in the CBD especially at the parking garage that are unattended to at this point and do we have money in the budget for this we do actually this is going to save us money because there's a good possibility that some of that employees salary will be able to be covered by a grant why didn't you lead with that because I haven't slept since I don't remember and will this company be using our supplies for cleaning or are they bringing their own um I believe that in this case we provide the supplies the the service that water has they bring their own supplies I believe that's what the discussion was okay let's move on okay um next item is uh authorized shared services agreement for tree removal uh with the county of Bergen this came before the council uh sometime last year uh there was a letter put out by County Administrator Tom Dutch uh which required insurance for um each of the trees that were being removed um or affected in the county RightWay um that policy is being revoked uh the prior agreement was limited at scope in that a SE agreement was required each time a tree removal took place the new procedure that's presented before you tonight will allow the municipality to pass a resolution sign the shared services agreement and Implement a process that will remain in effect for the next five years so we don't have to do it on a per tree basis we'll have a blanket agreement that will cover everything got it everybody good let's do it okay um authorized shared services agreement for the school resource officer um this is an agreement between the Board of Education and The Village on behalf of the the Ridgewood Police Department it's just a continuation of the SRO program um why aren't we using a sleo for this as opposed to a $200,000 a year police officer why are we not using a special police officer yes so uh the chief and the new superintendent of schools are in discussion about how to restructure that program uh but for the time being we do need this in place and if we do make a move to go to special police officers in one or more of the schools then this this agreement will be affected by that but those discussions are ongoing okay so this is pending this is what we've always done right we're having discussions now about moving to a special uh officer program good um and I actually uh so much so that the chief and and the superintendent met today on this exact topic so okay but even if we don't go um uh districtwide right with specials yeah I I anticipate that if we move to a special program it's going to be Implement implementated to be implemented that's the word I was looking for um over a period of time uh there may be some schools that share got um but again I leave it to the to the superintendent and and the chief to to figure out what the framework or roll out of that program looks like um and then uh we'll take it from there but this will just up the status quo good okay um next issue is um number 10 which which is to authorize a shared services with the health department with uh Mawa um I've been in touch with Ben kmari who is the business administrator in Mawa uh they are in the market for a health officer uh we opened up dialogue about whether or not dawn could take on that capacity um two mornings a week um in light of the closure of Valley hospital um and some of the pressures taken off the day-to-day operations of that of that office um with new births and deaths and things of that nature um Dawn and I both feel comfortable that she has the capacity uh to take on uh Mawa and we can provide this service to them there'll be a revenue uh that will be taken in uh to the to the Village as part of this agreement good and there's an out clause so if for some reason we feel that it doesn't work or for that matter if MAA Board of Health feels that it doesn't work you know we'll be able to make those adjustments as we go good everybody good yeah so all the baby birth certificates are going to be premises now they are all the new babies however if I need a certified copy of either one of my children I can walk across the hall so um item 10 I'm sorry item 11 uh support Bergen County uh Mutual Aid plan and Rapid development uh deployment force uh this is a uh housekeeping item we do this annually County um item 12 is to amend fees for grade and pool membership tennis and pickle ball membership and summer day camp fees uh there is a memorandum for from Nancy beos included in here uh there are recommending a slight increase to the summer day camp program because fees have not been increased since calendar year 2019 um they're looking for $125 increase from 600 to 725 um which you know after all these years is is necessary okay good all right uh under policy uh we have established regulations for lead paint inspections uh there was was a new law that was signed by Governor Murphy um and all rental dwelling units uh must be inspected uh for lead paint uh pursuant to that public law within two years of the effective date of the law which was July of 2022 um and also upon tenant turnover uh the village has contracted with Lou environmental uh to provide this service on behalf of the village I want to thank Dawn and I also want to thank Heather who who really really uh led us on this uh in talking to other municipalities uh the process for setting up these lead paint inspections was ambiguous to say the least um and she and Dawn really sifted through it and uh and got us to this point uh so we need to implement this ordinance um and we'll be uh we'll be working with a contractor to provide those services to the Village good okay um next up any money from the state I'm sorry any money from the state for this yes well so so there's there's a fee to the to the to the owner um that covers and then we have a grant that is able to be utilized for outreach and for support in initiating the program and actually we were just about ready because we thought the grant was going to cancel at the end of 23 but now they've extended it to June uh so Dawn's working on getting that extension uh we may do some sort of public education piece in the spring on this particular law okay um under policy uh we have two ordinances uh which were both previously discussed uh this is allowing the police department to hire through the alternate rout process which is allowable under Civil Service uh traditionally the two hiring processes were the rookie police list um or secondarily an intergovernmental transfer between another police agency uh that is also under the jurisdiction of Civil Service uh this will allow for the alternate route for folks who have gone to the academy uh to be able to be hired there are two ordinances that are required in order to enter into this Civil Service process one is an anti-is policy and the other is the enabling ordinance to allow for the alternate root program which is the entry-level Police Department hiring ordinance uh 8 D3 any other discussion about this questions okay all good um moving on to operations um we have a memorandum from Heather here with regard to the adoption of the Tor claim form pro forma issues there this is an annual um we did it last year but and I honestly didn't realize it was annual but we have to do this annually we adopted T claim form as well as um uh pass the resolution adopt the resolution so uh we will do it every January from now on questions everybody good great okay uh operations item two uh we have uh various vehicles and Equipment across the village uh Chris rudis Houser uh issued a memo uh in detail explaining what those vehicles or pieces of equipment are and what the uh issue is with them that they are no longer useful uh they no longer have a useful life here in the village uh so we want to declare these as Surplus property questions good okay and finally um we have three additional individuals uh who were omitted from the original list to be appointed to the central business district steering committee um it's Tom Hillman who's a property owner uh C Katherine Schmidt uh who's the editor of Ridgewood living and Joan groom who is the executive director of The Ridgewood Chamber of Commerce um we would through the deputy mayor we'd like to recommend those three individuals be placed on a resolution for appointment to supplement that committee for the special improvement district steering committee yeah thank you and mayor that concludes my report great thank you Keith and we'll go back to public comment no one in the audience but we have a couple people on hybrid so Susan you are up you are still on mute still on mute Susan Susan need to unmute so that we can hear you thank you perfect hi sorry about that um all good um all right hold on okay Susan ran 705 um Kingsbridge SL um um I just want to comment about a few of the um points that were made earlier one is um the Drone footage wasn't from the media um that was shown it was um actually the Drone footage was from the report that was part of the um September 23rd flooding and it really just concentrated on the sports fields that were flooded by the Hocus Brook um and it wasn't from the media the second is that someone mentioned that the foot Bridge caused a daming effect on Saddle River which is completely incorrect um the foot bridg is um there is further down on not even a quarter of a mile I would say even less um there's a bridge over Route 17 um over Saddle River that is similar to the East Ridgewood Avenue Bridge over the hookus brook it's a low-lying bridge it's a flat Bridge it's approximately 6 to 10 ft lower than the um the Kingsbridge foot bridge that could cause um the damning uh effect um I know that there was a Footbridge um what is I apologize um take your time there was it's okay there was a drone foot um footage of the waterf flow of um East Saddle River Bridge for the September 23rd storm I mean September 20 23 storm um I was wondering if there was any similar foot footage of the Route 17 bridge I think the question is did the Drone go over the Kingsbridge bridge I'm going to address the Drone footage at the end of the public session yeah and um Susan if you have a question ke's got it written down and and he this is an yeah that that's okay no it's not a dialogue um and then the next next is that I know that there was a resident that lived right beside the rout 17 bridge that wanted to build a retaining wall to prevent flooding from our house cuz she got badly flooded during Hurricane Ida and the village engineer told her that her house was detonated for flooding so Route 17 wouldn't the BR the engineer also told her that she would be fined if um she did anything to protect her property from flooding and you know that is you know that is something that again I think the US Army um core of engineers should investigate because I believe that bridge is um a a contributing factor to um flooding that is that happens here I do not consider the foot Bridge because the foot bridge is so much higher and the storm pipe um you know when when we've seen it fled for Haida the the bridge wasn't even touched um it was you know but anyway it's the one further down that I believe is the one that's causing the daming effect um and finally um I was wondering if the US Army Corps of Engineers was able to um is going to also assess assess the removal of all the trees over at shedler and if they're going to contribute to flooding of Saddle River because as was pointed out trees help absorb um run off water when it rains but since those trees are going to be removed will those run will that exasperate the flooding um Downstream and I know like Susan um Susan um you're out of time if you could just finish up yeah okay and I I just said on Monroe there's this whenever it rains there is this like huge cascading water effect that goes down that road that you know it's something that is a little bit Susan you're breaking up but you are out of time so we're going to move on thank you uh Ruck you're up next and you're on mute Ruck there we go uh roric hbe one Franklin Avenue uh cind and I watched the meeting I would say we were more like glued to the meeting because in many many years of attending VC meetings this was by far what sets the go goal bar for quality of meetings for what a municipal government should be all about you guys were Absolut tremendous you caring you're knowledgeable you're honest and and I also really want to compliment Keith for the way he addressed the flooding on honestly and he did not try to come up with an easy solution he just presented the facts I'm so proud to know you all and to to really see the quality that the Village Council has come to now sometimes I worry myself because I I getting soft in my old age but I don't think so finally we are having the government in Rood that Rood deserves thank you one all thank you very very much thank you R anyone else seeing no one I'm going to close public comment mayor if I could just make a few comments uh with regard to to Susan's um input first of all I want to and I should have clarified this at the top of the meeting the Drone footage was taken in September of the damage to Municipal and Board of Education property because I was anticipating the fact and we did need to submit a claim to our insurance company and I was concerned that unless there was true photo documentation which the Drone footage provided very well I want to thank the chief uh thank the police department the Drone team and chief lions for allowing his men to do that it also served as a training exercise for them which was helpful as well but the Drone footage while we used it in a presentation and we've shared it with other agencies the Drone footage was primarily captured to support our insurance claim honestly I never had a thought about sending them down to any other location other than the damage that was done to Municipal property um in future floods maybe there's a possibility that we do that in order to share that with the Army Corps and the D and other agencies so that they could see the extensive uh damage that is done in that Corridor alongside our River um and we'll take that under advisement moving forward um with regard to the to the foot Bridge um and I'm going to read from an email uh that Christine uh fleschman who spoke earlier in the meeting sent to me on Friday um it says while gearing up for what could be the sixth flooding event in the past 12 months it is imperative that we address specific concerns that contribute to the issue these include the foot bridge on East Saddle River Road acting as a dam down trees posing potential hazards and the constant issue of landscapers dep positing leaves into the river and she goes on with her email but this is where it was first identified to me to my office that there could be a concern amongst the folks who live on East Saddle River Road about the foot Bridge as opposed to the folks on the other side in the in the neighborhood around shedler who have been advocating for its repair or replacement um and finally uh the D regulates uh development in the flood zone so any of that enforcement would be coming from state law or code or regulation that's imposed by the Department of Environmental Protection um that's all I have May thank you Keith anyone else yeah just like to in addition to what Keith said to Suzanne um while we are removing trees a significant amount of them are invasive and the replanting effort at shedler exceeds the trees that are being removed and they will not be invasive species yeah and and and I don't believe that the Army Corps will opine on um other properties I think if what their charge what their mission will be should they accept it here in Ridgewood is to uh figure out how to um best impact the channel uh the Water body itself um any type of retention or diversion that can be done that will have least impact um on any neighboring municipalities or any other neighborhoods even in the village great thank you anyone else no let's call it a night motion to adjourn so moved second all in favor I anyone opposed thank you gets worse