##VIDEO ID:DYezdLjfYUU## I call to order the meeting of the mayor and council at burough of River Edge September 23rd 2024 regular meeting 7M at the River Edge library and remotely on Zoom I ask for a moment of Silent reflection uh for our troubled world and then I ask councilwoman Kaufman to lead us in the pledge Council M CL I pledge Al to the flag of the United States of America and to the repblic for it stands Nation God indivisible with liberty and justice for all okay um statement of compliance with the open public meeting act this meeting complies with the open public meeting act by notification on January 11th of 2024 of this location date and time to the town news and the record and by posting of the saying on the municipal bulletin board and the burough website and filing notice of the same with the municipal clerk Madam clerk roll call please yes here Curr way Council Benson here counc here may here okay so uh we'll go we'll do the approval of minutes and public comments and then we will without objection move uh resolution which resolution would it be I think it's 287 24 287 to the front and do the swearing in of Stephanie and perhaps Abigail if she if she can make it um so is there objection hearing none it is so moved could I have a motion in a second to approve the minutes of the mayor and Council regular meeting September 9th 2024 so move second all in favor please say I I are there any abstentions I abstain all right uh could I have a motion and second to open to the public on any item on the agenda so move second all in favor please say I I any oppose any extension hearing none we are now open do any member of the public who is uh viewing this meeting remotely or any member of the public present if you'd like to uh speak or to any item feel free to raise your hand at this time I see none in uh the live or at this location we'll give the remote another 15 seconds I don't see any questions all right then could I have a motion in second to close to the public second all in favor please say I okay I'd like uh from our um fire liaison to move and one member of council to Second uh resolution 24- 287 approve the appointment of a volunteer firefighter so move second all in favor please say I are there any opposed or any extensions hearing none it is unanimous so I call for Stephanie uh walliser yes all right Stephanie would you come over here with a family member I think it's your dad right yes sir excellent very good let's see yes you are there step forward a little bit I think you'll be better off uh right on the other side if you could and I'm going to give you this uh would a bible be okay yes sir okay uh please raise your right hand uh Chief if you could move into the shot very good and the fire department behind guys come on come on guys all right Stephanie Stephanie is volunteering to be uh one of our firefighters it's a tremendous commitment we really are grateful you guys going to move over a little bit where you are not on the camera and I'm going to step out because this is about you not about me okay Stephanie please repeat after a minute I state your name I Stephanie Waller do solemnly swear do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution that I will support the Constitution of the United States of the United States and the Constitution and the constitution of the state of New Jersey of the state of New Jersey and that I and that I will bear true faith will bear true faith and Allegiance and allegiance to the same to the same and to the government and to the government established in the United States established in the United States and in this state and in this state under the authority of the people under the authority of the people I state your name I Stephanie walliser do somly swear do somly swear that I will Faithfully I will faithfully impartially and justly impartially and justly perform all the duties perform all the duties as firefighter as firefighter of the River Edge volunteer fire department of the River Edge volunteer fire department to the best of my ability to the best of my ability so help me God so help me God and now I put my signature to the oath and today's date is September 23rd right yes and I ask you to fix your signature thank you you're welcome Stephanie thank you thank you and Mr hold on a second Chief do you want to say a few words um you don't have to if you want it's okay I just want to welcome Stephanie to the river volunteer fire department um her father is a first responder being a police officer and uh it's just an honor toh see Stephanie carry that on being part of our department again I want to say that I thank the mayor and councel for your support and I'm very proud of our department thank you would you just mention uh the firefighters who came to support Stephanie your this is Deputy Chief and one of our past Chiefs Eric Schultz Ben silver who's a lieutenant Ron sylvestri and Micah Gibson all right thank you all for coming congratulations thank you for being part thanks again man thank you thank you council members thank you thank you okay uh could I have a motion in a second to approve the resignation of Milo fond Dana Rosa summer help in the Department of Public Works effective September 27th 24 second all in favor please say I I okay we have a second reading and hearing on ordinance the following ordinance published here within was first read by title on September 9th 2024 and posted on the bulletin board outside the clerk's office uh could I have um could I have uh councilman um Benson and councilman uh glass please after I finish reading it in uh make a motion to move to open the public ordinance 2024 an ordinance amending the revised public or general ordinance of the burough River Edge chapter 122 animals I move to open this up to the uh to the audience good second it has been moved in second all in favor please say I I miss appella as our business administrator would you please explain to the public what we hope to achieve by ordinance 24-22 yes this cify um the regulations regarding the proper disposal of solid pet waste this is required as part of our storm water management and um Municipal tier permit so this is required by the state of New Jersey that is correct very good okay does any member of the public uh either remotely or present wish to make a statement or ask a question please raise your hand at this time there is no one in the audience here and there does not appear to be any question remotely could I have a motion and second from councilwoman cman and second from uh councilwoman uh consella to close to the public so second all in favor please say I I in a moment could I have a motion no right now in a moment um could I have a motion and second for adoption from councilwoman canella and a second second from councilman glass so moved second it is now open for debate is there debate inquiry comment hearing none Madame clerk I call the question councilwoman yes councilwoman yes councilwoman yes counc GL yes all right we have resolutions uh 24- 2883 through 24- 302 with exception of 24287 which we've already moved is there a desire to move them separately there isn't may but I do have a question on one of them question just a 24295 can can that be explained their resolution authorizing participation in an electronic tax sale yes very good um for property owners whether residential commercial that have outstanding um payments under taxes um state law allows the tax collector to either hold an auction in person or electronically to do so and part of that requires publication weekly over the course of four weeks stating the property owner address block and lot and amount due to the to the municipality in terms of taxes and um usually over that time period people pay their outstanding debt and whomever hasn't paid then U the debt is is sold and then the property owner has to go through um tax title lean Redemption oh wow and could it be a block it's it's could be more than one person basically yes there's some towns it depends on the town the number of properties um but let's say the ad ran the first week and you paid the ad stays the same so your name will appear all four weeks okay all right thank you any other questions or inquire any comments okay so we're going to move the resolutions I've already named uh could I have a motion and a second so moved second it's been moved and seconded is open for debate are there any is there debate further inquiry comment all in favor please say I I could I have councilwoman caufman the chair of the budget and finance committee move 24-33 and one member of the budget finance committee second after he finished his reading into the record payment of Bill yes at a regular meeting of the mayor and Council of the burough of River County of Bergen state of New Jersey held on September 23rd 2024 be it resolved that the mayor and Council of the burough of bage approved the following expenditures current fund 26,31 181 General Capital fund $331,500 $9.60 trust other 8,371 125 payroll $2,982 unemployment trust $123.3 3 developers escrow $2,665 Recreation trust $555 15 so moved second has been moved and seconded is there uh inquiry all right any debate all in favor please say I I any opposed any abstention hearing none it is unanimous we have new business Library holiday party request who is that coming from I guess clana right well it's a it's an annual um request that the library makes of the governing body and part of it is to um allow them to bring like a bottle of wine to celebrate and in order to um have alcohol at a public facility it requires mayor and Council approval but this is something that is requested annually Mr Shen any concerns none okay uh is there concerns from the council is the council inclined to approve this yes yes can I have a motion and second don't move second all in favor please say I I I any exstension any um Nays no it is unanimous letters from residents regarding remodel remodels and new housing who brings that forward this came from a group of property owners along web Avenue and also our um uh our project manager from Burl Engineers office from Robert ca's office Jason Flores is on virtually in case the Gover anybody has any questions what is the request and uh how does it affect the municipality um they're stating that based on the construction of new housing and remodels and subdivisions they are concerned that um based on all the work that takes place to build uh a new large home and the remodels is causing blood damage and environmental damage and they're looking for a way to have that mitigated is this in connection with a specific property because I'm aware have property that may be is contemplating being subdivided they don't the state where they live they're not identifying a particular property they live on web Avenue and six and Seventh Avenue yeah too early are you here for something in particular 3 that's you're the very people could I have a motion in second from uh the council to open to the public on this issue second all in favor please say I I please take a seat state your name and address we're waiting for some people we're we're at the point where we'd be moving on from that and closing the meeting we're almost done I don't know who told you that seven seven please come in and sit down that's not good do you want to text them yes why don't you text them and I will my feel yeah oh do you want two chairs just please come in sit down sure okay well we had an order to do you have to State your full name and address okay Michael hofman I live at 330 web Avenue River Edge excellent you have the floor for two minutes okay all right um well I'm here on part of U someone the camp be here tonight um there's a setup for this so we're concerned with the construction that's happening at 312 web um because across the street from us at 327 web there was a new home built and the two properties that are below it experien flooding afterwards so I'm here to talk um and talk for the Hammers that live around the corner at um where is it I'm sorry oh they live at 744 7th Avenue so the way the property is aligned is their backyard bases the new construction so I was talking Allison they've been there since 2008 and they've never experienced any flooding um until the house was built Allison told me that they had a su pump and French drains that were already in the home but they' never used them uh prior to moving um they were their pri moving in um until the remodel at 327 web at this point um they had significant water damage over three Ines in their basement which cost them uh a certain amount B basement is finished they also had to install a second Su pump uh which was another huge expense and at one point their some PPS were running 24 hours a day for about four weeks so I Liv across the street at 3:30 web across from the new construction um and we are deeply concerned um I'm sorry we have been there since September of 2020 just about 4 years and in that time we have not experienced any flooding of any part of our property during our inspection it was also noted that there was no sign of any pass flooding we're deeply concerned with the proposed construction that will happen at 312 web Avenue which is at a significantly higher grade from our property um if the proper steps and procedures are not taken to address the water runoff um as iware there is a time limit um so that's your two minutes however there are four people here if one of them would like to surrender their time you can have another two minutes no actually no I think that you were supposed to proceed me so it's better that you go right then 7:30 sorry seven o'clock hi Cindy you need to state your name and address my two minutes start yet no not until you're done hit the button Cindy 7457 Avenue okay Cindy you have the fourth um my neighbors and I are here to raise a big red flag about what's been happening in River Edge regarding homeowners experiencing damage to their homes properties which have been the result of remodels or renovations to either an adjacent property or a nearby property if a property is on a hill changes will affect Downs slow properties even more so our models of Renovations We Believe need further scrutiny we also believe there needs to be stronger measures in place to protect our homes and properties and our property values at the very least a combination of tree and brush removal and the addition of impervious structures such as the new one such as on new one remodel homes and driveways significantly shift ground soil as well as the water levels and then drainage P patterns above and below ground this damage not only affects that particular property but again affects adjacent properties what are the protections for neighboring properties there really are none in place currently if no variance is needed there's no change and there's no change to a grade level Engineers are not even brought in to review the Builder plans or proposal Wheeling near live near a completed remodel at 327 web where Second Story editions were made above the first story of an old home built in 57 no engineering review was needed and unfortunately since the new build flooding has occurred in the two homes adjacent in down slope from it 331 web Avenue is owned by Gina principado since 2014 she couldn't be here tonight and asked me to speak for her I'm Gina's home is down slope from the remodel we don't know the picture from the remodeled home right adjacent to it she told me as she had no issues with water and the 10 years since she's lived there and while there was a su pump in her basement she never heard it run until the new build was constructed since then she's been um since then she's been flooded coming from the side of her property adjacent to the Newville and she said that the Su pumps started going off every 5 to seven minutes so she called violia came out and violia told her that it wasn't a water line break but that the water drainage was probably not appropriately addressed so Cindy that's your two minutes but if someone who hasn't spoken would like to give you their two minutes no no you it just take your two minutes oh yeah which means you would not be permitted to speak okay good with that okay go ahead Cindy two more minutes when you start speaking okay so since someone came to Gina's home she was told it wasn't a water line it was and was probably not addressed at the new build Gina has since spent a significant amount of money is what she said on remediating the issues and she said she still needs to do more work by the way our neighbors at the new build have had ongoing water issues since moving in at their own home um another owner of the home down slope from the remodeled home had to invest a significant amount of money to fix their own home issues since the new bill was completed you already talked about it um so I still have time left you do I I think that we we have two other people coming in but I think that's what's really important is that there's nothing in place for homeowners in adjacent property at all and if no if what we're doing is allowing homeowners if they keep you know a lot of the builders are keeping the bottom Foundation if and they're being allowed to build up all that additional weight adds so much to the property and we're not addressing that because there's no engineering required and all of that compacts land underneath changes the water pattern and It's all affecting everybody below it's not affecting me we're across the street but my neighbors we were Marie and I walk a lot and I was watching we were walking by and every day we'd say boy she does a lot of laundry it's not laundry it's the sun pump pumping water out all the time and I think that um uh if we could put some more measures in place I know the uh New Jersey um Environmental Protection has some things in place to do these things for for mitigation of water and soil but I think as a town even though it's not the New Jersey on the whole what New Jersey does I think we need to do something about protecting afterwards like what happens to my house or or Maria and Michael's house if something happens to the property on top it's there's nothing in place because and the town is not putting anything in place so that's your two addition you can take Jeff's if you want no he has something to say um the jensy and Bobby are coming can they come back to this issue if we're still open you mean at the end of the if yeah but we're probably we're probably gonna be closed because we're gonna go to we're almost at the end of the meeting yeah we've run through all of it so this is these are the homeowners that live directly next door on this big huge eight foot slope I know but Cindy it's your time and sorry but the problem is is that we create a a president where we allow for time I get it Jeff do you want to talk sure okay you have to state your name and address of course Jeff mqu 745 7th Avenue River Edge go ahead um I'm supposed to be closing the whole you know what we got people com you wait we're gonna switch sure if you want J you want to start you're just in time okay you get you get two minutes from when you start speaking but first you have to state your name and address unless done this you member sit unless you or a member of your family is in law enforcement no okay so please state your name and address okay hi I'm jensy jensy kakos I'm at 320 web Avenue um you guys all spoke right so um so I am at 320 web and this is the proposed site of which I just got a public notice from the uh land use board and um you know we love new constructions we love new home it's a facelift for a River Edge uh I love everything about it my only concern is that it has to be done right so um we've seen the issues over here this was the new construction amazing family that lives there unfortunately there was water in both those homes and um my neighbors talked about that we are on a a slope over here that runs from 6th Avenue to 8th Avenue it's pretty Prett Steep and they are definitely quite high on a higher grade than we are so we've had a retaining wall over here depicted here that fell last year uh about six to eight months before that there was this huge tree that was removed by our neighbor up on 777 so you know we we' faced issues this was like over $110,000 fix for us just last year um so my concern here is do we have the right set of Assessments and reviews when construction and proposals like this come up um we love it we just want to know that we are on a down slope further down to us is 3:30 Michael uh the Hoffmans and you know everything that everything that's going to come down is going to hit our property directly um same thing with our neighbor on 777 he's adjacent to the new property this is his entire property is on a slope like his backyard is where we sled you know run our sleds during the snow time so uh we just don't know what else we can do to prevent any issues proactively it's everything and anything is expensive and we want to bring this up to your your your time is up but you came in with someone if you would like him to speak or surrender his time to you no no he is an engineer he should speak thank you thank you for okay please state your name and address and unless of course you or someone in your immediate family is in law enforcement no so you have to State your full name and address yes good after my name is Bobby kakos I live at 320 web Avenue um I'm a professional engineer I worked with the city of New York and also the states of New York and New Jersey for the past 21 years so I'm trying to bring in the technical aspects here um I've been work I I worked on a lot of public engagement projects and work with community so I just wanted to present to the town some of the concerns that we have you know we already some of the uh folks who spoke here already mentioned about the concern about flooding uh given the um the growing concern uh I wanted to respectfully request the town to um and the zoning board to conduct thorough reviews of the proposals coming in as as far as new developments within the community um it is critical that these projects do not all alter the water flow patterns or increase stor water runoff which could lead to more localized flooding and um I think um as you know existing residents and taxpayers and we are going to be impacted by that um I'm particularly concerned about the development right next to my house which is being coming under the soorting board for consideration nothing wrong it it could be by Court no problem but the aage uh zoning ordinance uh number 41626 that'ss limits on the imper cover um uh control runoff and I urge the town um to ensure that the project stays within those limits and meets the storm water management requirements so that the neighbors are not impacted after construction or during construction um also under the New Jersey uh Municipal land use uh developments are required to manage storm water to prevent flooding um risk so as a council respectfully to ensure compliance with these standards including the New Jersey storm water management rules which require soltion Solutions like permeable payments or retention basins to protect neighboring properties from the effects of excessive runoffs so that's our major concern uh we don't want to be in we don't want to end up like you know mitigating afterwards once the Builder walks away and that becomes our issue that affects our standard of living our expenses thank you for that um Jeff you haven't spoken yet you can surrender your time to him or you can speak thank you so much welcome need to restate yeah you do sorry okay Jeff bequ 745 7th Avenue River Edge um so now you heard from everybody in regard to that property uh River Edge is a very family oriented Community um and we have a very nice lifestyle we have people who care from volunteer ambulance fire department folks that are sitting in front of me um in the in the case of the the burrow if there's a contractor who performs what they want to do and they um screw up something on somebody else's property you have a recourse these folks struggle to have a recourse so what we're asking is that inside the code or the policy or make a change to what is done when a contractor comes and puts information in front of planning board zoning uh engineering that they be held accountable or they be told that they would be held accountable for damages that are caused by what they do to adjoining or other properties they don't have that recourse right now they would have to go through an attorney and try and file separate things so we're asking for your help to do that uh incidentally the property that they're talking about um that new property owner contractor tried to cut down trees without a permit as was evidenced by DPW in the last week so uh the bottom line to what I'm saying is we're asking for help to protect all Riveredge residents because if they're doing it at that they're going to do it at others the property values would be enhanced instead of diminished if people choose to not put up with having to spend money they're going to get out they're going to sell their house to get out probably lower value and then um if you help us if you put some things in place with the zoning Etc and planning committee then uh it would help to maintain the lifestyle which is what these folks are trying to do thank you Jeff I appreciate it thank you um all right I think everyone who's here has had their um time granted to them is there any uh Jason uh if you can um come on board in a second uh is there any Neil or David or would you like to speak all right so I need to now this is how it works you you've had your chance so we're going to respond but it's not a dialogue so what we're going to do is respond to your concerns so I need to close to the public at this point uh could I have a motion second to close the public second all in favor please say I I I okay so um that was we were just open for public comments so that's item number 13 which we kind of moved ahead which is fine Jason can you uh activate your camera and we're going to come to you in just a few moments uh Mr Stan uh we have just finished Mr Shan is our burough attorney and Miss APPA we have just finished making a a strengthening our zoning um and uh and planning um uh laws now we have we don't have a zoning uh committee um zoning board and a planning we have a lan use which is a combined so uh we have been very concerned for numerous years about the very issue you guys keep bringing up you just brought up so we thank you for adding your voice to our concern part of the problem is that our zoning laws up until a recent change were based on a different weather pattern and that weather pattern has changed and over the last 10 years or more depending on how you see it uh we've had uh more intense rain and we've had more more overall rain okay and this is created not a problem not just that you're bringing up but that we have been very concerned about and so the land use board sent to this body uh about two months ago three months ago it that so over the summer um a change to the code to try to help with this because when people want to exceed the uh code they have to come before the lanyard board and lanyard board reviews both the positive and negative impacts and then uh can either allow or disallow and uh oftentimes lanus board says to the individual this is too much would you like to reduce it we might consider it uh and there was a particular problem with individuals uh a contractor coming in maxing out the 35% which is our Imperial coverage right now and then selling the home and then the individual saying I don't have a patio I don't have a backyard I have kids and so we made a change that they had to reserve 5% of the 35% I believe correct David yes um so for a backyard so you wouldn't have a case where someone's covering 36 37 or 40% you're right that if they do not exceed our zoning law they do not need anything more than apply for a permit we do enforce uh when we find that contractors have um violated their permit um we do rely greatly on the public now your concern for the most part and this particular property that you're speaking of needs to go before the lanard board they are the authority we as a council appoint them but they are a board which means they're quasi independent once we appoint them there is nothing we can do to unless there is a challenge and then I believe the challenge comes back to us in certain circumstances can on appeal correct un appeals so um did you repeat that last it can una appeal from the decision of the the L use board now I'm gonna have Mr shanan talk a little bit about the legal issues and if I can get Jason Flores to open his camera I'm going to ask him to speak a little bit about the engineering uh Mr jaman can you address their concerns based on the law particularly what Authority we have once the uh once the um project is completed and one resident is having an issue with another Resident and private property owner to private property owner and and Mr Mayor thank you um and good evening everyone uh so mayor papao really just sort of hit the nail right on the head which is the issue that it's if the project has been completed there's no real jurisdiction for the municipality at that point over the property owners it's it is an issue between property owners in terms of uh water you the water rights the water runoff rights and and who has the obligation to cure them um I don't I don't know in any municipality that I've represented that the municipalities really turned a blind eye to that so it's something that if the individual home brings it to the attention of the municipality if there's something that can be done for example if they can put a Swale in or if they can put some kind of diversion of the water so that it will run somewhere else to a drainage system that can be accomplished but it's it can't do it generally for one individual person doesn't happen that's usually when it's happening like for an entire block is being affected um because you know the the government unfortunately at times doesn't work for you know an individual even though they may be affected substantially as we've heard ready tonight um the the the time that it really should be addressed and I think that's what I'm hearing from the the persons who have come and spoke tonight spoken tonight is that you should address it while the construction's going on and that's something at the permitting they can attend the land use board meetings correct councilman but but I mean from there forward like maybe that's a better way say change them on what their opportunities are um so you know you have you have you know well it's it's it's going to depend on the situation I think as the mayor said if it's something that's going to exceed the limit the 35% that's in the ordinance you have to go get a a variance for that you have to go before a land use board to get permission to exceed that and generally um having dealt with this with clients of my own they need to go then the land use boort will tell you have to put like a giant retaining Basin in the ground or other other things to cure the extra water that's going to that's going to uh um come off the property if you would so um there are way to alleviate that and I'll leave that to Mr Flores because that's his expertise but but just just close up um because I think that's what council M Glass was referring to is if it is a project that is within the scope of the of the ordinance and doesn't exceed the scope of the ordinance there's sort of a limited amount of of uh you know what you can do um and I don't know that you're going to know I think somebody already mentioned this until the the uh home is built un you have an engineer talking about 12 right well let's let's not deal with a specific property because that's not our role yeah I know they brought it up that way but our role is to deal with the overall town so yes we can talk about 312 but we should be talking in general terms am I cor if a prop let me talk in general terms yes if a property is going to be um brought up for subdivision yes does it automatically have to go to so that's that's a great opportunity for you guys say so so that this hypothetical property that's sold for well any property in Riv that's sold for over a million dollars with a house that has no value obviously the intent on the part of the Builder is to subdivide the property that represents an opportunity for you guys to get in front of the land board land use board when that issue arises in front of land use and everybody within the the the designated foot number is going to be you know 20 300 ft is going to is going to get notice of that or all joining Property Owners certainly are going to get notice of that when that occurs so I assume you all speak to each other when that happens that's when you need to per Council glasses comment you need to appear at the board and express your concerns because that's when the board will address the the fact that if there's a subdivision they can put additional requirements on the developer to say you need to add XYZ for and again Mr Forest will can speak about this in so counsil glass much more expertly than I can but that's when they'll tell them they need to do extra things to make the the water not on issue and I have new the land news board meeting do start at 7:30 now um Mr shanan just remind me is a subdivision considered a devarian believe so okay not my expertise in land use but I think it is I think it is right DAV that's correct so a d variance and this is why I was stopping councilman glass a d variance does not allow the elected to sit it when it's heard okay so when a devarian occurs which is a change of use um and other things it's under the state law under the state statute we Mr uh councilman glass and I cannot sit on the Lage board we are on the lard board the mayor is required and one member of council is also required and councilman glass is on it but if it and so one we we wouldn't want to speak specifically about a property that would be coming before us when we're in the lus board and two if we're not there when it's heard and there is an objection uh and an appeal to the council we would not want to make any statements prior to that because in doing so he would have to uh recuse himself so I don't want you to think we were being politic about this what we're doing is reserving our ability to hear anything that might come either before the board if it's not a d variance or if it comes as appeal so that's why I was trying to stop him from Talking specifically about a particular property because then it might be considered uh a lawyer could could say that there's a bias and he'd have to recuse himself okay in addition um the land use law is written by the state of New Jersey the state count uh municipalities correct me if I'm wrong have No Authority in any area that is not given to us by the state and our Authority is limited in scope correct so um so to just say okay we're not going to allow this or not allow that is not within our Authority we have to the statute says we have authority from point A to point B or from uh con concept A to concept B and within that the statute usually qualifies to what degree we have an authority can we for instance say permeable coverage would be 10% I would think that the state would not permit that can we say peral coverage would be more it depends on how the statutes written so we have recently um spent literally I think we began talking about in January we talked about an lenion board from January to May and then we said to the council which talked about it and then it went back to L use sport so trying to strengthen our uh L use um especially on perable coverage and that was specifically what we were talking about uh is something we've done and we're quite proud of and but perhaps we need to do more and you can go to the Lage board and say hey this was good but we expect you to do more and the L board can review it and if they think that you're right they can then discuss sending to the council another Improvement to our land use board can we get Jason or not only audio not video Jason can you uh can you speak to how Costa engineer Jason Flores is from Costa engineering he is our engineer and when anyone comes before uh the lanus board part of what what we typically uh make as the uh an approval if there is approval because we have said no uh is to speak about water mitigation that Costa engineering will require by way of um what are they called the things in the ground SE pits SE pits or dry Wells Jason if you could speak to that and anything else you think is pertinent to the residents concerns uh good evening mayor uh council members um Board of professionals and the public in general for some reason my camera is not working so uh worries go ahead okay so um all right so I I wasn't aware what's going on until this morning and I had the opportunity to be able to speak to most of the homeowners that are present tonight uh we had a uh I will say a pretty productive conversation and thank you mayor and thank you uh B attorney you confirm the exact uh you know uh parameters and lay out of the things that I explained them to to them already um as part of uh uh the you know so we Costa engineering have the function of being the board uh the border of engineer for for the city as well as we are the board engineer for the uh planning board so both functions are uh even though you know they have similar as as just the only thing that they have in common is engineer uh they serve two different purposes um as I was explaining then so every application that comes in front of the planning board it goes through a process depending the type of application and we we don't approve or we don't deny application so the only thing is we do check a uh checklist uh you know to be able to see uh or recommend the planning board for the application to be heard uh and the members of the planning board are the one who are going to uh you know vote on the application uh as part of uh the responsibility of the BTO engineer we are here to serve uh uh any uh public Improvement within the r way of river Ag and you know we uh we also uh are able to answer uh neighbors neighbors uh residents of river AG complaints and try to help as much as we can um so now going back to the process uh as I told them uh um like I'm not going to mention proper I'm not going to mention addresses but in general if a property comes in front of uh of the planning board with any variances or any um uh or any uh waiver that they require that outside of the uh what they allow then they will have to go to the planning board and that's when you know that's when the entire process goes now uh if they don't exceed any B Parian say or they don't need require any waiver they just need to submit a building application to the building department sometimes if they don't do uh you know if they don't okay so so if they go to the building department there two options from the building department and you and you know uh Bon you can correct me if I'm wrong on this so at that point either for example if somebody's going to add a bedroom or somebody's just going to add uh I don't know like another bedroom that doesn't require to any expansion or any modification of the existing house then at the building level it will get approved without coming to you know to to to C through con engineering uh however we have in town something that is called the soil movement ordinance uh the so movement ordinance was written and we're trying to improve you know year to year to move forward the so movement uh uh ordinance you know allows us directly to police uh residents or any uh uh project that uh or any developer that comes in town any project that comes in town you know at at that level because the uh soil uh the soil the soil ordinance the soil movement ordinance uh that's is very clear you know and you can go into the ordinance and it's chapter 354 and it tells you that no person uh shall excavate caost to be excavated change or alter or allow you know the excavation of the existing grading on the site so when that happens they need to file a so movement permit this is the way how the town can police homeowners uh how can police build there how can police uh how can police uh you know uh any Development coming in uh if they don't come they don't file any Soul movement there is no way for the town uh to know if they really alter or change anything so in in so you know so we can uh police the stor Water Management so because that's that's what he actually triggers to uh St Water Management I I explained that to them uh uh early in the afternoon uh to most of them and I'm I'm trying to repeat what I told them and and and yes so that's that's the involvement from uh from our sense but I I I I told them and I assure you every person that com to S movement we're not blind we are we always making sure that you know that they provide a survey that they provide an asfeld afterwards to make sure that the grade didn't change uh we make sure that the stor water management is implemented properly uh we confirm that uh you know that the that the storage they need to provide are you know have the capacity in order to take the new Improvement that they are doing on on on the property um and and and that's it U that's that's everything I have from it thank you Jason now um no we don't go back and forth we don't do a dialogue some of this uh the way the law is written the way the statutes are written the way our Authority as a municipal body um is limited unless we know there is a violation so what we always say to Residents it's just like the homeland security says if you see say something if you see soil being moved you can call the building department they will immediately send someone out and if soil has been moved we will order it to be stopped and return to its original grade but the problem is always we need to be informed that someone is violating the action that's where it seems unfair but that's the limitations that government it has because um well government shouldn't be impinging upon private property owners rights unless there is cause so we need we need for for people to say hey they're they're moving their soil or just ask a question once you ask a question we will definitely send someone out we do pursue all of this that's cor that's correct I mean there can be a stop work order I mean there's a there's a whole there's a whole Litany of of potential remedies if there's a situation like that so if you see someone is moving soil per Mr Flor as his uh comment um the building department is the right place to check they have a obligation to tell you whether or not the permit's been pulled it's public record right and then and then once it's once that it if it hasn't been pulled someone from the building department will go out as the mayor said and they will make an assessment and if the soil moving permit has been a soil moving uh ordinance has been violated then they will issue a stop work they'll pull the construction permit for the I mean I've seen it happen so I not I've only been a river since January so I haven't seen it happen here but I've seen it happen in other towns that I represent that's the process uh Miss no no no Miss appella do you have anything to add to this no it's just like how there was a question about trees being taken down whether there was a permit or not and it was after DPW hours I reached out to the DPW superintendent and he immediately after after hours went and stopped the work from being done and there are penalties built into our ordinance yes there are and those penalties include fines correct yes and uh also it would impact the uh the company and and they still have to take the appropriate mitigation standards and um they have to stop what they're doing fill out a permit and do and follow the mitigation plan that is told by dict ated by our DPW superintendent if for whatever reason they cannot um plant trees on the property then they have to forit money to the Burl so that way we could plant trees elsewhere okay so um so we are now closed the public we've answered the questions uh what I'm telling you what you need to do you need to go to the planning board with everything you just said uh oh I just said planed yes the L use board um and and and make these because they have the jurisdiction in this in for this particular situation cind go to can I just do that you would go you go to us we just said tomor Lort ask the question no no we we we have to follow the same procedure for everyone we can't um we can't make exceptions however stick around stick around at the end this meeting I'll answer any questions you want personal CL s I'd like to say a few oh we're almost there okay so I can't say something no on a different topic nope we're done you get two minutes for Open Session I apologize um okay uh we are now at uh Council comments is uh are there any Council comments councilman glass just a couple of things thank you mayor I agree 100% the May said very informative um I just want to make you guys things so the property that you're concerned about if the owner applies for subdivision I believe it'll go in front of a land Bo Wednesday great opportunity to also keep in mind like the mayor explained there's all kinds of rigorous requirements about lock coverage and setbacks if the onor applies for uh subdivision so you know those if you're concerned about this I I suggest you go to the land use board and and maybe voice your opinion on how they're enforced um thank you I think it's great that you guys identified the issue with the trees I think trees are really important to our community thank you for notifying us about that one last thing regarding the soil movement uh issue I believe there's a threshold an applicability threshold and I believe it's 100 cubic yards that is correct thank you mam no that was actually uh councilman Shan but he didn't say Lou enough for you to hear promoting 100 cubic yards so right now you know what a 20 cubic yard container looks like there's one in front of property that we're talking about right now five of those so just keep that in mind that's that's a threshold below which there would not be a SL so these other opportunities if there's a subdivision if they're exceeding the laot coverage if they're not complying with the set by requirements and other things like that in the land use ordinance represent I think a great opportunity to comment if you guys so wish to excellent councilman anything else no thank you any other member of council I do go ahead councilman yeah so um I just U coincidentally Cindy and Jeff um I was going to point out uh at the end of the meeting that uh you both very graciously I believe um paid for the uh dinner for the uh River Edge Ambulance Service and also the River Edge volunteer firefighters and I know I met you there yesterday oh was it yesterday yeah um so listen on behalf of the town thank you for all you do those a great great volunteer organizations they put a lot of time and effort in and it's so great to see people like you giving back so thank you for that anything else counceling that's it thank you any other member of council I just uh just a reminder mayor uh that Riveredge day is October 6 um on Sunday uh from 1M to 4m excellent great okay uh council president um monsant Co was not able to be here um this email came in uh and uh she was going to read this into the record um Pat Uh this is is uh Patrick Smith he uh he is a resident and he just wanted to say that um um our senior bus driver George and Miriam our dispatcher um they are doing a in quotation marks not my words a hell of a good job and he feels that they deserve Kudos and I have to say as mayor I couldn't agree more uh Whenever there is a need that our senior has for the senior bus miam goes out of her way to try to arrange that and George goes out of his way to accommodate uh any special needs that our seniors might have and um and so again so many great employees of the burrow River Edge we are very much blessed okay anything else just wanted to point out five weeks left for the River Edge Farmers Market it's a great Thursday afternoon 3: to 7 live music the whole time lots of great fruits and vegetables from or farms and a lot more okay cool and it is wonderful okay could I have a motion and a second from any member of council for resolution 24 J 304 Rel resolution to enter into Clos session attorney client privilege njsa 10 colon 4-12 B7 contracts and change orders and Personnel njsa 10 uh 10 colon 4-12 V8 reappointment could I have a motion in second to allow the Council to go into Clos session second all in favor please say I I the Council will not be returning after the close session so I'm going to ask for a motion and second to close the public meeting for today move second all in favor please say I I we are adjourned thank you thank you