##VIDEO ID:8Fsg1WXcOOQ## you yes for e e e e for e e e e e for for [Music] you e thank you he oh very e you know you're not supposed to eat in here guys I think you're getting ORD I'm going to call a cop or something I don't think you're there's a sign that says only water or something there he is here he is no I'll move me over it's been four years Lor really good evening this is the Village Council regular public meeting the date is December 11th 2024 the time is 7:38 adquate 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 entitled the same as provided by law of a schedule including the date and time time of this meeting roll call Deputy Mayor perin here council member Reynolds here council member whites here council member windrad here mayor vaganos here will you all please join us in a salute to our flag I pledge aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with libery and justice for all I move the bills claims and vouchers and statement of funds on hand as of November 30th 2024 be accepted as submitted second Haron yes Reynolds yes whites yes lrad yes vaganos yes I move that the Village Council minutes of January 31st September 25th October 9th October 23rd November 6th and November 13 2024 having been reviewed by The Village Council and now available in the village clerk's office be approved as submitted second pin yes rennolds yes except for October 23rd when I was absent whites Yes except for the sixth when I think I was absent as well wad yes and Vos yes sorry I made a mistake I was not here for November 6th or 13th okay and now we have a couple of proclamations sioban Lorraine I think we want to go down too okay please go down yeah let's go Jack come join us and your family [Applause] pleasure thank you so much for being here thank you Jack we are so grateful for the work that you have done for the Village um it's very important to us and uh the uh residents of this Village are so fortunate to to have you here to have performed all of the things that you've done for us and so because of that we're going to give you a proclamation uh to show our gratitude I'm going to read this Proclamation right now whereas Jack Tangos was born and raised in Ridgewood and is a proud alumnist of the Ridgewood public schools and whereas Jack began his Service as an EMT with Ridgewood emergency services and assisted at the site of the World Trade Center bombing in 19 1993 with a specially created unit which made communication between New Jersey and New York EMTs possible and whereas in 1994 Jack started as a public safety telecommunicator when Northwest Bergen central dispatch was founded and was quickly recognized for his outstanding service and was awarded EMT of the year in that same year and where as his tireless efforts and dedication to the emergency services field led to his rising to the rank of captain of emergency services from 2000 to 2003 and whereas during his years of service Jack provided invaluable assistance during crises such as 911 when he was stationed at the George Washington Bridge with the Ridgewood mobile Communications unit as well as during hurricanes Irene and Sandy when he stayed for the duration at nwbc and during Hurricane Floyd when he helped to move the police department and EMS from Village Hall to the peace Memorial Library and whereas Jack played an important role in assisting the director Robert Greenlaw with the creation of the nwbc as well as its achievement of CA Public Safety Communications accreditation making it the first Standalone agency in the United States to achieve such status and whereas Jack was a pioner with the Explorers program now known as ties which is known which is actually teens in emergency services that enables high school students ages 14 to graduation to receive training such as CPR AED and first aid learn specialized Emergency Equipment gain communication and leadership skills and develop professional connections with other members who have various careers in and out of Public Safety and whereas Jack's leadership was instrumental in the considerable growth of the nbcd over the years Beyond just Ridgewood and Glenrock to eventually Encompass the municipalities of Franklin Lakes Montvale New Milford Oakland old tan ell Park Ridge River Edge River Vale Rutherford Waldwick Washington Township and Woodcliff Lake and whereas in 2014 Jack was recognized as Ridgewood Emergency Services citizen of the year for his dedication and pass passion for aiding those in need through emergency services and whereas over the last 30 years Jack has served the nwbc in several capacities starting as a dispatcher and serving as director from 2009 to 2014 and as deputy director since 2017 responsible for budgeting and Logistics and whereas Jack's attention to detail dedication and unrivaled experience have benefited the nwbc Our First Responders and the public now now therefore be a resolve that the Village Council of the village of Ridgewood does hereby express its profound gratitude two and appreciation for Jack for all that he has done and for all that he continues to do for our community and do hereby thank Jack on behalf of all Village of Ridgewood residents for his 30 years of invaluable services on behalf of a grateful Community Jack thank you so much would you be kind enough to say a few words not my forte um I'll keep it brief because that makes me feel really old and has taken up a good amount of time um what we do is an incredible incredible responsibility folks in the very worst moments of their lives will rely on the people that that I work with and that I've worked with over the years um to be there to answer the phone in some respects it can be more stressful than than being on the street because we don't get closure um it's difficult to see somebody in crisis but to talk them through a crisis over the phone has its own unique challenges um so as much as it can be an incredible not burden but but Challenge and responsibility uh it's also a tremendous honor uh and that's I think what has guided me through through even the minutia of the budgeting and the nonsense that we do dayto day to keep the lights on um what really needs to be caught in the moment I think is is the the value of the folks that answer those phones day in and day out which I haven't done for a number of years now um but folks continue to come to this profession uh whether it be for this profession itself or to move on to other professions like law enforcement and career fire service um there value really can't be measured and um is often forgotten cookies and trimmings and whatnot get sent down to the police department after uh a child's been born uh folks the fire department and the ambulance service will get we'll get recognition uh and the dispatchers are the folks that are behind the scenes and we're okay with being behind the scenes um but it's it's really a a tremendous honor to be recognized um not only for for my time in the service but for for the service to be recognized and that's that's touching to me I appreciate it thank you so much thank you for loaning him to our community please let all the council members thank you and I know we have the uh proclamation in the other room it's already been signed thank you so much oh yes let's let's get a picture another [Music] very well that's yours yeah okay and we have another Proclamation for Radon action month that council member Lorraine Reynolds will read actually I will you guys are killing me tonight whereas radon is a naturally occurring radioactive gas that is the second leading cause of lung cancer and whereas prolonged exposure to radon can kill as many as 500 people in New Jersey each year and whereas families who reside in homes with elevated radon levels are at risk of developing serious health problems and whereas any home could have high levels even when neighboring homes do not and whereas radon testing can be done with great ease at a relatively low expense to the homeowner with the cost of reducing radon concentrations being comparable to a home repair and where as the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and the US Environmental Protection Agency are collaborating during the month of January to promote the need for radon testing in an effort to protect the lives of our state's citizens now therefore be it resolved that the Village Council of the village of Ridgewood does hereby proclaim the month of January 2025 as radon action month in the village of Ridgewood and calls upon all residents who have not yet get tested to test their homes for Radon and to reduce radon levels if elevated levels are found in order to protect their families from serious health risk of radon Thank you Pam and now we will go to comments from the public good evening everyone Nancy Brennan Hill 136 dream Avenue Ridgewood I came here for one thing tonight to thank Lorraine for all that she's done for the village of Ridgewood I'm particularly grateful for all the flower activity that she has supported if you could see the diagrams that she has and the detail for each and every flower pot in Ridgewood what flower goes in and in what position it goes in you'd be afraid to do it for fear you'd do it wrong but nevertheless it happens every year and I'm hoping Lorraine that you'll somehow continue doing that because I would miss you heartily goodbye thank you Nancy thank you Nancy good evening Ann loving Ridgewood resident uh the first couple comments I'm going to make are on behalf of Dana Glazer another Ridgewood resident councilwoman Reynolds my apologies for not being here in person to share this with you this evening but on behalf of my family myself and so many others in town you deserve a mighty heartfelt thanks for all of your years of service to our village Ridgewood is a better place because of your steadfast leadership determination and many kindnesses you are a treasure and I am very grateful for all that you have done sincerely Dana now An Loving another Ridgewood resident councilwoman Lorraine Reynolds you have my heartfelt gratitude for four and a half years of Stellar service on our Village Council you've been honest Pleasant diligent about finances attentive to details and you never stopped smiling even when there was good reason to your laughter from the de will echo through the courtroom for years to come even though laughing has been harshly criticized by one of your colleagues enjoy your much deserved free time now but I do hope you'll claim your seat here on the unelected citizens side uh maybe in the springtime this is a little something from Tony and me for you if I may approach the de by all means thank you an good evening s of Dan 390 bford rwood um I'm here to thank lorine Council woman lorine renals for uh for multiple things but I will highlight three things one is your volunteering um since I moved to Ridgewood I've seen you volunteering for various Acts or various causes in in the town in our Village um the second is your leadership you have demonstrated leadership at every difficult Junction so thank you for that and lastly your Independence at this on this Das um you the only one who has demonstrated lead Independence in a long time so um thank you from bottom of my heart for all the three things and multiple things so I hope you'll enjoy um your retirement from this Council and as in said maybe we'll see you on the other side thank you thanks thank you SAR and I just want to point out we no longer need to uh State our address just whether we are Ridgewood residents or not that's our custom going forward hi Bill mckenas uh Parts Unknown I guess um I did not realize this was the Lorraine good night party I came unprepared but she already knows that I adore her I'm sorry you have to just say if you're a Ridgewood resident or not oh I am a Ridgewood resident but uh I knew that but okay fair enough fair enough I'll ADH here to all rules and regulations as they are uh Lorraine sorry to to see you leave you have been a bright sunshiny light and always a pleasure to deal with so thank you very much and uh enjoy your evenings back happy to give you some TV recommendations if you need them um I want to talk a little bit about the view and what's been going on at the view since June in June some residents asked that trees be topped and items be removed totally makes sense to me folks below said hey where' our buffer go totally makes sense to me um recently The Village uh finished a $39,000 project I believe that was the cost of the project to do the plantings that are there now the The View belongs to all of us and I'm concerned with where we are with The View today several saplings have been planted I believe they're red bud trees these trees grow to 20 to 30 feet and they are planted against the wall as they stand now their tops are over the wall also along the wall area are basically conifers that grow to 60 feet there's also some grasses that have been planted that are clearly part of a buffer extension well deserved for the folks down below who don't need all of us peering down at them it's the crown jewel of Rood easily and I feel that we need a little more robust discussion about what's going to happen with those plantings how they'll be maintained and what the plan is for these fast growing large trees that will now block The View it's unclear to me by any Communications since June and I appreciate the replies of how that will occur how it came together and whose input was taken again the view belongs to all of us it's a crown jewel I would love to have been a part of those conversations I tried to engage I couldn't get in all well but now the trees are there let's figure this out so that we can keep the view for everyone so thank you thank you Bill Hi H qu resident uh it's a bit Bittersweet recognition um for me um happy for you esteem council member m Miss Reynolds um as you complete an admirable tenure on the on the 10 on the days um and sad for us in the village um who will miss you and your voice and your laughter and your detail oriented fact-based approach to make important decisions for all of us thank you for all that you have done for each and every one of us in the community and you will be so so missed on the de thank you so much thank you thank you hu good evening mayor and councel boy a loving Ridgewood resident I to am here to thank Lorraine Reynolds for her service for the past four and a half years and we do know about that extra half a year Lorraine and we we do understand why you're leaving we get text messages and phone calls all the time um consider you the voice of reason on the council I'm very sorry to see you go but um wishing you well in your retirement wishing you more time with the family I know about the other house that you have now that you probably like to be spending some more time with so we certainly understand why you're going but we're going to miss you nevertheless so thank you for your service and uh Christina Millian was unable to make it tonight and ask me to read some comments on her behalf uh thank you Lorraine Reynolds for your years of bold and thoughtful leadership in Ridgewood your unwavering dedication to prioritizing the need of all residents paired with your fair and balanced perspective earn the admiration and gratitude of so many in our community your ability to lead with both care and conviction sets a standard for what TR true leadership should be ensuring that every voice is valued and considered rid has been fortunate to have a leader like you thank you for making a lasting impact thank you Boyd good evening Michael no Ridgewood resident uh first I wanted to thank Lorraine uh she's done a remarkable job all over these years uh I did want to talk about finance a little bit um I guess maybe was in the summertime I received this really nice color brochure and it said something like um The Debt Service for the town was like seven or 8 million do a year and I said okay that sounds like a reasonable number uh but then when Mr Rooney was here he said something like um the village of Ridgewood has a deficit of something like 70 or80 million and I said that does doesn't make any sense to me because that would mean we're paying like 10% interest on the money so I'm just wondering if anyone knows why there's that discrepancy uh if the amount of debt service is 7 or 8 million a year it seems like the amount that we owe would be over $200 million and I'm not sure if they're including the water department uh where they're not they're excluding it when Mr Rooney was giving his numbers but I'm just wondering if anyone knows the answer to that thank thank you thank you so much Michael Kathy no Ridgewood resident I'm here to thank Lorraine also and I have to say ditto to whatever anybody else said I'm not a speaker so I thank them for their words um but you've been terrific your integrity how you listen to the public and all of the time over the years not only here on the council but other things that you've done for the village and I greatly greatly appreci appreciate it so thank you thank you thank you Kathy and now we'll go to our hybrid access contributors Ellie you're up hi Ellie grber rwood most of the people have said what I was going to say so I'll try to make it quick Lorraine I am going to miss you we are calling to say thank you we're so sad that we won't see you anymore on the Das I don't have to remind everyone that she's the only one who supported the residence of shedler you tried to remove historic designation C researched and proved that the historian you hired was totally unqualified and yet you ignore this and as a result we spent tens of thousands of dollars we did not have to Lorraine maintained her equilibrium and humor even though she was constantly marginalized by most you she worked so hard with the citizens Safety Committee listening to each concern she made sure our downtown look beautiful with her work on Project pride and as someone else said she was the only member questioned the strange accounting system of our CFO we are poorer now that she did not run for reelection I have Lorraine has been like The Lorax trying to protect the trees in our town especially the trees and shutler Lorraine has epitomized open and responsible government and this void will not be fil filled she will be terribly missed by all of us and I thank her for the years of hard work late nights listening to everybody using her brain to try to figure things out so thank you thank you Lorraine from Marty and I thank you thank you Ellie Cynthia you're up you're on mute still Cynthia hi can you hear me we can now okay sorry I couldn't be there in person but I did want to thank Lorraine from the bottom of my heart I wanted to let you know identify yourself oh Cynthia o'keef Ridgewood resident so um you know I just want to Echo some of the sentiments that pretty much everyone else has has expressed um there aren't enough great things we could say about your leadership your compassion your empathy um as Ellie mentioned for the shedler Neighbors um who often times didn't feel that you know that we had a champion in our Corner except for you and you've always been in our corner I think one of the first times I ever spoke uh publicly I asked for the council to dig deep and to find compassion and empathy for our plight and what was being asked of us to give up um and give in um you know we're still fighting that battle and we're never going to stop um but I did want to let Lorraine know um and everybody and Ridgewood should really know that you know you have you are the utmost professional and when I think about your leadership abilities I think of just a high level of morality and Scruples and um I know it's not an easy job and to give up so much of yourself and your life you know for all of us to benefit um is really you know something that is all inspiring um it's not something that all of us can do uh as we have so many challenges in in our daily lives but you know you've done that uh with compassion with Grace with humor um and one of the things that I admired the most was you know that you really were never afraid to kick the tires and ask the critical questions that many of us were thinking but obviously we not sitting up on the de to be able to um you know to ask um when you know numbers were presented that just didn't seem right um you know you asked questions about other ways to find um you know creative solutioning and I think that you know going forward for everybody that's what we really need to do as a community you know I'm tired of feeling you know that there's an us and a them and it's still very prevalent um today in Ridgewood um especially where shedler is concerned if we continue to March forward in this direction you know it's it's just not going to bode well we are not rid United and we need to have that feeling that we are Ridgewood United and I think Lorraine LED with the kind of compassion that was needed um and the kind of empathy for all of us because we're all human beings you know we're not Expendable and we you know do not want to be marginalized and I feel like unfortunately that's you know kind of what happened throughout our uh this process um but I do want to thank you I I had so much fun working with you on Project Pride and the plantings and as Nancy said you held the bar high and I was always a little nervous that you know I might have made a mistake along the way but I knew that you were going to come and check our work and you know we always got a thumbs up and we had a lot of fun so for that I thank you so much and it's been such a pleasure to get to know you and um I hope I see you uh at meetings going forward on the other side of the day thank you and be well thank you Cynthia Susan you're up um hello Susan ran I'm a Ridgewood resident um like everyone else I'm echoing a big thank you to Lorraine for all her work and um her grace doing her work her dignity as well as her humor um thank you for listening to me regarding the Footbridge thank you for meeting me for the Bridge um you know I attended several of your committees you were always gracious when I came so thank you as well and um and I know you'll still be involved in Ridgewood um but on the other side um with us so thank you again for all your work enjoy thank you Susan enjoy your retirement thank you Susan and and with that I will close public comment and we will move on to our manager report oh wait does anyone uh want to respond to any of the comments made um at this evening's meeting uh just to Mr no um Mr no I think the statements that were made by the Chief Financial Officer at a previous meeting we budget in our capital budget nonwater non- Ridgewood water projects to be somewhere between 7.5 and8 8 million a year so that's our capital budget on an annual basis and that's about the amount of debt service that falls off depending on the year um so that's how we try to keep our debt service balanced um I don't have the numbers uh for the breakdown of our general Capital Ridgewood water and the parking utility but I can certainly provide that information to you if you'd like you're welcome and um I know I myself and I know many of the members of the council want to say nice things about Lorraine but we know that she is going to be at the reorganization meeting it's not done yet it's right one more one more I didn't realize no I mean I'll be there I didn't realize people were going to say goodbye to me yeah no and so and so we we've I I I believe that we have collectively decided that we are going to hold our comments um until that evening so but does anybody else have anything they'd like to say tonight no all good um then we will move on to our manager report Keith thank thank you mayor um first I want to publicly join the council in thanking uh Jack tanos uh who has served 30 years at Central Dispatch servicing not only the village of Ridgewood but the burough of Glenrock and all the other afor said municipalities that Central now Services um I have had the opportunity to serve on the management commi committee at Central Dispatch uh since I joined the village and I have to tell you that he along with director Pomroy and Eric over over there the leadership team is second to none uh we are constantly going out trying to recruit new municipalities uh new emergency dispatch organizations to join central dispatch and Jack has been on the Forefront of that and a lot of the communication improvements that have not only happened at Central but also um in both the village and in the burough of gunrock so I just want to congratulate him on completing 30 years and wish him well um Lorraine I will hold my comments until uh until the reorg meeting as well um but I want to just call the residents of ridgewood's attention to the memorandum that my office issued on Monday it's available on the Village website and there's a link on our social media Pages um I tried to not only for the council but also for all the residents here in the village um to summarize some of the work that we've done over the last 18 months uh at a year-end memo and if you look at the body of work that this Council um through their leadership and our department directors and all of our employees here in the village um have assembled the body of work and the accomplishments that we've made um have been significant so I would like to encourage everyone to review that um without question there is more work to do we have an aggressive agenda heading into 2025 um and I look forward to working with everyone to accomplish those goals I do want to just mention uh that I have been in constant communication with Chief lions in addition to having two conversations earlier this week with the governor's office office relative to the concerns about the Drone activity uh that has occurred all throughout New Jersey um I can tell you that I am equally as frustrated as the public and many of the elected officials are in the lack of information that is being shared by both the state and federal government um while the chief has been assured by the Bergen County prosecutor's office and through other law enforcement agencies that there is no threat to the public um it is certainly disconcerting that this information is not being shared uh with government officials or with the general public but I can promise you that Chief lions and his uh team at the Ridgewood Police Department are continuing to monitor the situation also pleased to report that the Hall's field renovation is substantially complete I want to thank Matt and julan our Parks Division and the contractor uh for the work they've been doing over there all the s has been laid I know that the field will be closed and they are erecting snow fencing um with appropriate signage to keep folks off so that the sad takes and we're ready for the spring season um Mr sorry Mr McKinnis brought up the view uh we've been in communication with him uh the new plantings as he mentioned uh have been complete up there as well um I did talk to Matt andula from our Parks division uh we are going to be aggressively pruning those trees on a semiannual basis uh to ensure that we don't lose The View uh that the gentleman spoke of uh but I do believe that this project was long overdue we had residents from both Crest Road and Hill Crest Road that met with the mayor myself some of the other members of the council who expressed concerns um on both sides of the view and um I do think that this is going to establish a better buffer zone uh to protect the residents down below and we will stay on top of making sure that the um obstructions don't impede or that there's no obstructions that impede The View moving forward the lightning project for vets field we held a preconstruction meeting this week um we anticipate that the vendor is going to be able to mobilize the beginning of January um tentatively January 6th is the delivery dates for the materials um for the lighting project um I know the mayor is working diligently uh with my office and with the finance office uh to try to solicit some additional financial aid to cover the girl soft field uh so we're working on that we did receive a $13,000 Grant uh from Bergen County it was approved by the Commissioners uh so with that additional funding we will be able to move forward with the footings on the girl softball field uh Nancy beos and I met on that today um and we're hopeful by mid January we'll be able to complete that entire project also update on the Town garage uh we've been in touch with the contractor who will be doing the demolition work at that location um they have requested all of the necessary markouts and we anticipate by the end of the week they will have submitted permits for demolition to the building department which we've asked Mr Molino to expedite so we're working through that as well um and finally I just want to bring to the council's attention and to the Public's attention that chief judge and director kimman from the fire department and OEM respectfully have been working with Valley Hospital to utilize the dougl Place location for OEM to Stage a paramedic unit moving forward with the relocation of Valley Hospital to paramis uh we have a further distance for paramedics to get to emergency calls here in Ridgewood so Jeremy and John have been working with Valley to Stage a paramedic unit here in the village on Douglas place and that'll be from Monday through Friday from 7:00 a.m. to 700 p.m. uh while this not guarantee a paramedic for every 911 event it will improve their ability since dispatches based on the closest available unit and proximity so I will be circulating uh to the council a license agreement between the village and Valley Hospital for you to consider in early January so that we can get this off the ground in early 2025 just a few announcements um Santa Claus will be at vanas Square at Santa's house this Saturday December 14th from 11:00 a.m. to to 2 p.m. we encourage everyone to bring the family for pictures with Santa the Ridgewood PBA local 20 uh presents Mary Mary grinchmas their annual toy drive also to be held this Saturday December 14th please bring an unwrapped toy to any of our elementary schools they'll be pick up at Haws at 12:00 p.m. Somerville at 12:30 Glenn at 1 travel at 1:30 Willard at 2 Ridge at 2:30 Orchard at 3 and the village Christmas tree at the corner of East Ridgewood Avenue and Broad Street at 3:30 the Ridgewood fmba Local 47 presents Santa Claus who's coming to town on our fire Tru on Friday December 20th they will be visiting Glenn school at 4: at 4:30 he'll be at Travel 5 at Somerville 5:30 um Haws at 6:30 Orchard at 7 and ridge school at 7:30 p.m. uh please join Santa for a 15minute visit at each of our elementary schools Village of Ridgewood and all Village offices will be closed on Tuesday December 24th and Wednesday December 25th for the Christmas holiday there will be garbage and recycling pickup on Tuesday December 24th and the recycling center will be open from 8: to 3: on that day the 12th annual manur lighting will be held at Vans Square on December 29th that's a Sunday from 5:30 to 7:30 encourage everyone to come out and support the manora lighting this year and finally Village Council upcoming meetings January 6th will be our reorganization meeting January 8th will be the first work session and January 22nd will be the public meeting all starting at 7:30 pm and that concludes my report mayor thank you Keith and now we'll go to council reports EV great I'll be brief as we were only here a week ago but first I too want to congratulate Jack um one of the things I got to do last summer was do a tour of of the dispatch that Jack provided um is really impressive uh not just the uh location but the people uh and Jack is really richly um richly uh thanked tonight I think by you Paul and by the whole Council and it's really great to be able to recognize him and and I wish him another 30 years um tree lighting was fantastic Keith I want to congratulate the entire Village I thought we did a really nice job Parks reck police everyone uh it was packed we had great um great weather really really wonderful event um really well done by The Village um historical preservation committee met this past Monday as I always say I'm just always amazed at the quality of our volunteers for that committee only in Ridgewood you get Architects and interior designers and real estate professionals all willing um to volunteer their time on a really important committee um finally as this is our last meeting of the year uh Merry Christmas happy Hanukkah happy New Year have a great end of the year whatever you celebrate and I look forward to seeing everyone on January 6th thanks Evan sioban sure um so I too want to thank everybody who made downtown for the holidays happen um clearly the tree was awesome and for those of you who weren't in attendance it was extra special because uh leis Francis and his family donated the tree and he went to West Point served in the US Army and dedicated it in honor of all those who are serving and won't be home for Christmas so not only is it a beautiful tree but the message um is a reminder that many many many people are supporting us in places that aren't at home and it won't be the happiest Christmas for them so when you see that tree um I'm very thankful to the people who are serving us as a country and to the Francis is it's and it also fun fact about the tree is it's two feet shorter than the tree and Rockefeller Center addition I want to recount on that by the way it it's prettier though it might be shorter but it's pretty a um additionally in vaness Square as the parks rep I want to thank Nancy and the fire department the s'mores were wildly successful if not there was like a run on s'mores um I did not get one but 1,500 s'mores were given out in 40 minutes um so um and I was quite jealous they look delicious and I wanted you know these things happen because our Recreation program Pro promotes Recreation and our Parks but each of the fire pits uh for the lawyers amongst us had a fully dressed firemen and it was just took a lot of effort to make 1500 kids very happy with this so thank you to everybody who made everything happen including signal fire police and anybody who I left out it's just on the sake of time um I also want to thank in terms of the holidays on Monday we had our sensory friendly tree lighting um as I've mentioned before if you're a a member of a family with a special needs child who has processing issues attending an event like the tree lighting can be overwhelming and two years ago through access we started an inclusionary tree lighting where it's quiet quiet counting no screaming no yelling um and we keep the tree dark and light it for them this year I want to give an extra big thank out thank shout out thank thank you to our fire department and our police who attend everything but they gave the kids um backpacks which they loved and inside the backpack was you know kids kids love things and go to an event um not only the kids who have the special need but the sibling it was wonderful so I want to thank our fire department our Police Department our downtown and this year an added um benefit was in addition to the special needs Community people who felt it was too cold Friday night showed up uh thank you to omed at paresa East uh in addition to being wonderful for our special needs Community the restaurant was full on a Monday night which is great for business um and I want to thank him and everyone and his staff and of course signal who waited outside for The Unofficial countdown and lit the tray um additionally I want want to thank the guild where I went to pra I've been there every night this week for dinner highly recommend it um had their holiday party last night and uh Deputy Mayor par and I were lucky enough to attend I want to thank the guild for all that they do and including us in their celebration when you look at things downtown that make it Sparkle and more vibrant and more artsy and filled with music um we're very grateful to Tony and the guild and the good work you know project Pride they do they do a lot so thank you to them um and then I just want to mention this because the view is a park and we've you know I'm happy that people understand that the trees were there but with it becoming the shortest day of the year and US promoting Parks it's the perfect time of year to go watch a Richwood Sunrise because the best place to watch it is from The View and sunrise is actually going to be the latest it's ever going to be so if you're like not into getting up at 5:30 with my daughter's Girl Scout Troop like I did once you could get up at like 6:45 go up to the view and experience like an very cool Park experience from The View and lastly um I want to wish everyone everywhere a happy everything to everyone whatever you're celebrating and we'll see you next year where I'm going to talk a lot about Lorraine and definitely about the cookies thanks Shavon and speaking of what was your name again Lorraine thank you um I just want to say next week is our last citizen safety advisory committee meeting of the year next Thursday 7:30 In the Garden Room it'll be my last meeting of my Council career um and that's it on committee meetings and I just want to thank everybody for showing up tonight saying a kind word calling in on the phone I'm very overwhelmed I it was totally unexpected I will be here January 6th to say my final goodbye I'll have a little speech I don't know what I'm going to say yet but um it'll be my last harra and I really appreciate from the bottom of my heart the I felt the love and appreciation tonight thank you thanks lorine Pam I too want to thank the guild for what they do all year long but last night's dinner at Paris East was really very special getting to talk to people I know and people I don't didn't know um green Ridgewood met last week and that's our environmental advisory committee in case you didn't know and we discussed uh the need for measuring The Village's energy usage that is electricity usage gas usage and um the flood waters as they come and uh can't even read my own writing um we also discussed the food scraps uh composting and uh collection program and where do we go from here uh we appreciate Sean Hamlin's efforts there he's the director of recycling and sanitation um there's been some Outreach to Bergen County to try to help get them to help with our flooding situation and uh we also had an update from The Ridgewood High School students um regarding a meadow that they would like to add on high school property downtown for the holidays was so full of light and I just think it's so necessary in this month of short days the the trucks I I think people must have spent a lot of time in the Departments making the trucks as beautiful as they were so thank you to the village and to the Chamber of Commerce of course uh for everything they've done in planning this Joan groom was everywhere at once uh and um I think it's what our residents needed I also wanted to say that there are vacancies on at least these boards and committees that I know about the planning board the Zoning Board of adjustment open space committee green Ridgewood the Green Team um and cbac the central business district advisory committee and uh our clerk has extended the time to apply to December 30th right and the form is very simple you can get it on off the website it's just um if you go to the clerks to forums if you go to Department it's under Village clerk yeah so um and uh you learn a lot about the village it's very gratifying to volunteer on these committees so I hope that uh you people will consider that um I too want to thank I forgot to say Commander Francis for ating the tree I don't think I remember a tree from Ridgewood ever being our our Christmas tree we have yes we okay I just didn't remember and uh that's all I have thank you Pam um there's so many things that everybody said tonight but I do want to Echo Siobhan's comments about our service members who are protecting us all around the world and the fact that um Commander Francis and his wife Ivonne uh donated this really raises the profile take a moment when you're all at home with your families to just stop and be thankful for all of these people who are not home with their families so that we can be and with that we will move on to our regular agenda can I just ask a question by all means Heather do we have um we I know we have openings for citizen safety as well as project Pride so if people go to the website they'll see that there are openings for that corre okay thank you good and you've applied for project Pride correct I have not Emeritus and I'm Gonna Save Lorraine and we're GNA move on and we'll go to our public hearings and I move the clerk read ordinance 4023 by title on second reading and that the public hearing thereon be open second parin yes Reynold yes whites yes wiad yes and vaganos yes will the clerk please read the title of ordinance 4023 a bond ordinance providing for the Ridgewood water lead service line replacement program in the Ridgewood water system service area in and by the village of Ridgewood in the county of Bergen New Jersey appropriating $1,300,000 therefore and authorizing the issuance of $1,300,000 bonds or notes of the village to finance the cost thereof the public hearing is now open seeing no one I move the public hearing be closed second parin yes Reynolds yes whites yes winegrad yes vaganas yes I move that ordinance 4023 be adopted on the second reading and final publication as required by law I second the motion perin yes Reynolds yes whites yes winegrad yes and vaganos yes I move the clerk read ordinance 4024 by title on second reading and that the public hearing thereon be opened second parin yes Reynolds yes whites yes winegrad yes vaganos yes will the clerk please read the title of ordinance 4024 a bond ordinance providing for the property owner Le service line replacement program in the Ridgewood water system service area in by the village of Ridgewood in the county of Bergen New Jersey appropriating $6,500,000 therefore and authorizing the issuance of $6,500,000 bonds or notes of the village to finance the cost thereof the public hearing is now open seeing no one I move the public hearing be closed second Baron yes Reynolds yes whites yes windrad yes and vaganos yes I move that ordinance 4024 be adopted on the second reading and final publication as required by law I second the motion parin yes Reynolds yes whites yes winegrad yes vaganos yes the following resolutions number 24- 375 through 24379 will be adopted by a consent agenda with one vote by The Village Council they will be read by title only award contract construction of raw water mains to as and Warton Dy pasos treatment facilities award addition amount of Soul Source contract furnish corrosion inhibitor uh authorized change order Professional Services for peos treatment plant at Ravine wellsite authorized withdrawal from Tao International class action settlement authorized withdrawal from BASF class action settlement may I have a motion so moved second okay parin yes Reynolds yes whites yes windrad yes and vaganos yes I move the clerk read ordinance 4025 by title on second reading and that the public hearing thereon be opened second parin yes Reynolds yes whites yes winegrad yes and vaganos yes will the clerk please read the title of ordinance 4025 an ordinance to amend chapter 190 land use and development of the code of the village of Ridgewood at section 190-823 the public hearing is now open seeing no one I move the public hearing be closed second parin yes Reynolds yes whites yes wad yes vaganos yes I move that ordinance 4025 be adopted on second reading and final publication as required by law I second the motion parin yes Reynolds whites winegrad yes and vaganos yes and I just want to take a moment uh um this ordinance um you know we have as everyone knows we have serious flooding issues in the village um this is a big step um that will have some effect on that flooding ultimately and this was um pushed very hard and piloted by Pam perin and we are all as a village grateful for that and so we move on I move the clerk ordinance 4026 by title on second reading and that the public hearing thereon be opened second parin yes rynolds yes whites winegrad yes vaganos yes will the clerk please read the title of ordinance 4026 an ordinance to amend chapter 145 of the code of the village of Bridgewood fees at section 1454 departmental fees the public hearing is now open may I just say how important it is the services that our departments provide the building department um in terms of inspecting making sure that plumbing is done properly that electric is done properly and the fire department that that we are protected and um these fees are important to keep that program those programs going agreed anyone else seeing no one else I move the public hearing be closed second parin yes Reynold yes whites wad yes and vaganos yes I move that ordinance 4026 be adopted on the second reading and final publication as required by law I second the motion pin yes Reynolds yes whites yes windrad yes and vagan yes I move the clerk read ordinance 4027 by title on second reading and that the public hearing thereon be opened second parin yes Reynolds yes whites yes windrad yes andos yes will the clerk please read the title of ordinance 4027 an ordinance to amend chapter 190 of the code of the village of Ridgewood land use and development pertaining to residential driveway standards the public hearing is now open I'd like to say that um oh go go ahead uh good evening mayor and Council boy a loving Ridgewood resident I believe there was some discussion at a previous work session uh regarding this uh ordinance or proposed ordinance with respect to the use of certain driveway blocks where does that stand are you going to be passing this ordinance without that provision that these driveway blocks have to be used again I know there was some discussion about about it but I there's been no comment made now with the public hearing being open as to where the council stands with respect to their plans of either killing this and going to a new ordinance when the new Council comes in to play in January or passing this ordinance as is now and then revising an ordinance at a later date I would appreciate your commenting on it uh tonight thank you very much that is what I was going to bring up this came to us at the planning board and at Village Council because the Zoning Board of adjustment wanted clarification so that they could rule quickly uh on applications before it when a circular driveway is is um requested um at Green Ridgewood and and before the planning board the idea of um requiring permeable surfacing on circular driveways because they are so big because in general they create so much more impervious surfacing and um aggravating our storm water situation this is a real concern um about 40% of our village is impervious so when it rains the water has no place to go water should naturally infiltrate into the ground but because of um asphalt sidewalks roadways it can't and um that is important however we want at planning board we wanted to treat all driveway applications equitably and the issue is bigger than just circular driveways um with this ordinance we can answer the Zoning Board of adjustments request to clarify and help them but we need to also look at the bigger picture going forward let's um assess what surfacing is out there that is really pervious or permeable and what is the difference in those terms and what's porous and how do you maintain these things um we do have a pilot project that we started I don't know 18 24 months ago on some sidewalk surfacing material and in the coming months we will assess how successful it's been does it help our sidewalk trees that sort of thing um we need to to explore this further Define our terms uh know what we are asking applicants to do in order to um look at the bigger picture and see where we should go with with this kind of surfacing and we can revisit in a bigger way what kind of driveway material we should be asking people to use but for today my V would be to approve this I just have a question Pam I just want to make sure that the square footage of a circular driveway if people want it is part of the impervious coverage that you're allowed to have on the whole lot so if somebody wanted to put in a circular driveway and they're over that limit then they would have to go for an or ordinance I mean variance sorry right and the storm water ordinance that we just passed uh is going to address that okay in terms of the square footage and whatever mitigation need might need to be done anyone else I mean Pam and I had a sidebar conversation I think there's good driveway structural zoning in here that we get the benefits if we pass it now for the next couple months in planning and the larger environmental questions of driveways in general should be answered more holistically by planning in zoning so that's why I I heard David rfy and I appreciate the feedback I think we just need to reap the immediate benefits of the ordinance as introduced regarding driveways and deal with the surface issue in a secondary larger effort of defining lawyerly def defining definitions and that kind of stuff that's why I'm going to be voting yes and Susan I see on hybrid access you have your hand raised yeah um hi yes I was listening to the conversation um and I do agree that um oh sorry Susan Ruan a Richwood resident um I do agree that I believe that they should be talking about more environmentally friendly surfaces for circular driveways versus just having um just giving a blanket approval for any circular driveway um and also this is just something about maybe um an incentive for people to get a tax um rebate just for like one year if they use more environmentally friendly circular driveway material um versus just non but that was pretty much it thank you thank you Susan anyone else seeing no one I move the public hearing be closed second parin yes Reynolds yes whites yes winegrad yes and vaganos yes sorry sorry sorry um I move that ordinance 4027 be adopted on the second reading and final publication required by law second parin yes Reynolds yes whites yes wad yes vaganos yes the following resolutions number 24-38 through 24-410 will be adopted by a consent agenda resolution 24411 will be considered separately and read in full um all of the items on the consent agenda will um be read by title only approve 2025 cash Village cash management plan designate official newspapers for 2025 approved 2025 annual meeting statement award contract preparation of 2025 council meeting minutes award contract animal control and water foul management award contract payment of parking transactions using mobile technology and other related Services W contract under County contract janitorial cleaning services award contract under State contract computer networking equipment award contract under Source ball contract Brush Bandit chipper for the parks department award Professional Services contract elevator subcode inspection and Spector award Professional Services contract physician for child health clinics a Professional Services contract licensed site remediation professional remedial action permit reporting requirements and additional Environmental Services Hudson Street Garage authorized shared services agreement 2025 child health clinic faon and Glenrock authorized shared services agreement cosmetology inspections with Norwood authorized change order replac ment of underground fuel tanks at Chestnut Street Garage confirm endorsement of Community Development Block Grant application for the village of Ridgewood lining sewer pipes and designated Community Development block rant streets approved 2024 budget transfer uh chapter 159 2024 budget amendment Grant from Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation Inc authorized refund of tax overpayment at 516 Hillcrest Road declare property Surplus office of emergency management declare property Surplus it equipment accept donation to Garber Square landscape renovation authorized annual service charge Ridge Crest Ridgewood senior citizens housing Corporation Inc resolution determining the form and other details of 27 m212 th000 General obligation bonds series 2025 consisting of 15, 222,000 General Improvement bonds 11, 572,000 water utility bonds and $418,000 parking utility bonds of the village of Ridgewood in the county of Bergen New Jersey and providing for their sale resolution providing for the combination of certain issues of General Improvement bonds of the village of rwood and the county of Bergen New Jersey into a single issue of bonds aggregating $1,222 th000 in principal amount resolution providing for the combination of certain issues of parking utility bonds of the village of Ridgewood in the county of Bergen New Jersey into a single issue of bonds aggregating $418,000 in principal amount authorized placement of Naran and AED boxes in the village of Ridgewood authorize execution for various documentation replacement of underground fuel storage tanks and fuel system Fleet Services Division amend membership on shade tree commission appoint membership planning board authoriz shared services agreement municipal court administrator and Deputy Municipal Court Administrator Services may have a motion so moved second parin yes Reynolds yes whites yes wiad yes and vaganos yes all right let me just get to the last resolution which is 24-410 for the rental of the gate house at haer nickel Park 1057 Hillcrest Road Ridgewood New Jersey whereas the tenant in the village of Ridgewood have agreed to amendments to the current lease whereas the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Green Acres has approved the amendments to the current lease with minor additions now therefore be it resolved that the lease amendments agreed to by the tenant and the village of Ridgewood and approved by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Green Acres be and are hereby approved to be included in the current lease and be a further resolved that the mayor and Village clerk are here by authorized and directed to execute all paperwork required to amend the current lease for the approved amendments may have a motion so moved second mayor through you I just want to clarify that both the shared services agreement with Glenn Rock for the municipal court and the health Barn um amendments were discussed in executive session last week in Clos session um and we just received back the comments from the D which were extremely minor and updated to today um so that's why they were added to the agenda but they were previously discussed by the council in Clos session thank you Keith okay paren yes Reynolds no whites yes winegrad yes I I just want to say thank you to the health Barn for their continued partnership um and all the good work that they do there and thank you to Keith and the D and Green Acres and everybody who sees this as a wonderful continued fit for Ridgewood and V yes and so we will return to comments from the public good evening again Ann loving Ridgewood um I would like to say that uh this is really councilwoman Reynold's last business meeting yes she will be here for the reor but I think that's why so many people wanted to to to you know Heap a praise on her tonight and of course we'll all be here on the 6th as well um one Ridgewood resident called in and was unable or didn't get connected somehow and uh so she uh has asked me to read what she wanted to say Marsha Ringle Bridgewood resident I'm calling to thank Lorraine Reynolds for your valued 4 and A2 years on the council as well as your many previous efforts as a dedicated citizen thank you for agreeing to run for winning and for serving your fellow residents with Zeal and Good Humor always good humor even when others might have yelled or cried it's not easy to swim against the tide as you often had to representing your constituents fairly and insisting on listening to what everyone had to say we will miss you on the day as very much thanks Lorraine Mara thanks an uh good evening mayor and Council Boyd loving rwood resident again uh with respect to one of the resolutions that was passed tonight I've got concerns about 24381 which is about newspapers as you all probably know uh The Star Ledger is ceased print production uh sometime in February of 2025 I believe and the Jersey Journal is uh closing as a result of the Star Ledger closing their printing plant uh there is another weekly that is also going out as the result of the Star Ledger uh closing its printing plan uh so it would seem that newspapers are having a tough time in New Jersey and I don't think I've ever heard this Council discuss what the plan will be in the event there is no longer a Bergen Record or Ridgewood news to advertise your legal notices uh I understand that there was a push at one time from some municipalities to do away with the need to have placed legal ads in newspapers at all and just do it on their website so I guess that's what we will be forced to do at some point in time but I would suggest that perhaps this be an item for discussion at an upcoming Council work session uh whether you're going to get on board with those who are trying to get out of having to publish legal notices and newspapers and what the plan is in the event that gan decides that they are no longer going to be publishing an addition of the record print addition of the record and what's going to happen to the Ridgewood news which seems to be going um while I won't say it but it's not what it used to be just let me put it that way okay so just some thought for the council in in the future the other thing I'd like to say is just an observation and a very large observation at that when I total up the number of ch change orders and ads on tonight's agenda it's $291,000 that's wow $291,000 in change orders and ads um I'm shocked that we don't have sharp enough pencils to get it right in the first place that we have come back and ask for another $291,000 in total some of that for Ridgewood water it looks like about 144,000 of that for an add to something else so just don't know why we can't get it right in the first place that we're coming back in asking again thank you thank you Boyd anyone else from the public no let's go to our hybrid access Susan you're up um Susan um a rwood resident I was going to ask what is happening with the house on um east side of river road that was declared abandoned um I pass it by now and now I observe it and realize it's still overgrown it look still Untamed but I just didn't know since the last since the the first meeting what has happened to it and what's going to happen and stuff um and that's um pretty much it thank you thank you Susan anyone else seeing no one I'm going to close public comment and we will uh does anyone have any response to any of the questions or comments raised mayor just two observations um one or both to Mr loving um one with regard to the um resolution designating the 2025 official newspapers um we are simply abiding by current statute uh which without question is Antiquated and outdated um I can tell you that I served as the president presid of the New Jersey municipal clerks Association in 2015 and 2016 and we were talking to the state legislature then about needing to change the law as to how information um and Publications that municipalities need to put out to the public um are delivered because even back then uh newspaper circulation was dwindling significantly um so I would strongly suggest to you that you take some of those concerns uh to the state legislators um and talk to them about the need to change the legislation so that municipalities are adequately in today's age being able to communicate Public Notices out to the public accordingly um secondly with regard to the change orders um you know I I'll respectfully disagree with you um on especially the I think it's 144,000 on the change order for um the project at the municipal garage um that's where we're in the process of removing uh the oil aged oil tanks at that location um there was no way to predict what was underground during the bidding process for that specific project um when you're removing underground storage tanks and I anticipate that we'll have the same thing on Walnut Street um the contractor when they begin excavation finds what they find and then you have to deal with the contingencies of being able to remediate whatever is found so I will tell you that there were contingencies in this bid um and case we did find contaminated soil or any seepage uh from the existing soil tanks and that's what the council acted on this evening and I also want to point out that some of these projects are enormous for example the Ravine well posos facility and so while that number is extraordinarily large 291,000 some of these things are a very small percentage of the overall size of the project should also be noted that the removal of those storage tanks down on Chestnut Street at the at the uh DPW garage is another lingering project the capital for that project was authorized years ago and we're just getting to that project now and again you you can't predict what you're going to find underground until you dig underground I also uh thought that uh Rich calby came and explained to us why rigid water had a change order at Ravine at Ravine yeah because of uh all the watering that had to happen uh in October which was Mother Nature's decision you know not not quite mother nature but with the drought people were watering more so they had more water product going out the door um and with regard to local news papers in large part it's the municipality's notices that are keeping that local news afloat and my concern is that local news is so important for local governments like ours and I I see them struggling and if there's a way to keep our local newspapers alive like subscribing I urge that you subscribe anyone else I have a question um I just kind of wanted to explain I don't know if I was allowed to explain why I voted no on the health porn amendments because it was something that we discussed in close session but now that it's voted on is the lease going to be public knowledge so I just it it wasn't because it was added late or anything like that it was I have an issue with one of the changes being that in previously it would have been the council that made decisions and now it's changed to the Village manager can make the decision no offense Keith but I do feel that it's very important and I think it should be a five member decision and not a one person decision and that's why I voted now thanks Lorraine anybody else and with that we will entertain a motion to a jur so moved second all in favor I anyone oppos okay thank you oh my gosh