##VIDEO ID:M_JJ7tI93UE## I call to order the meeting of the mayor and Council of the burough of River Edge October 28th 2024 um River Edge Library 685 Elm Avenue and remotely on Zoom this is a regular meeting it is 7 PM I ask in a moment for us to stand in a moment and uh reflect upon our country as it enters into the voting season early voting has begun let us um let us pray for our country and uh reflect on the honor of being able to vote for our leaders I call on Council caufman to lead us in the pledge I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all okay a statement of compliance with the open public meting meeting act this meeting complies with the open public meeting act by a notification on January 11th 2024 of this location date and time to the town news and the record and by posting of the same on the municipal bulletin board and the burough website and filing notice of the same with the municipal clerk Madam clerk roll call please herec president mon here councilwoman Cella and councilwoman M Larry are asked for prior notice Council Benson here counc last yeah here okay could I have a motion in second to approve the minutes of the mayor and Council regular meeting of October 17 2024 so moved all in favor please say I I well we have a great honor today we have the uh let me see it's the U tenu uh tenu River Edge travel softball team uh certificates so girls and coaches we're very proud of you and what we're going to do is we're going to call up your head coach and um we're going to pull the mic over a little bit so uh the way we're going to do it is the coach is going to uh call out your name and then it's going to give me the certificate and then I'm going to uh shake your hand and then I'm going to give you your certificate and we're all going to line up right here so that you will be on YouTube um and uh so right now we're live on Zoom uh and anyone with the link uh can see what's happening but then in about Council woman C in about what two three days it will go up on the burrow YouTube and then I will take that link and put it into the mayor of River Edge page and if you want you can go see yourselves and uh you know you're on you're on okay l Ariana AR Abby Mor Sophia Mary default not here tonight here tonight julana Maya just shift a little bit Jordan [Music] Sabella Gabby K is not here tonight wish Gabby congratulations Emma schwager same is not here tonight Danielle s Kevin Sabella that's me Co s Joe AR and Coach Jolie Metta I I me coach sha Mo set who was on his way he's not here yet okay great could I have you come forward could I have the girls move forward okay a little bit over could I have the girls move forward and the coach is behind them great um okay so uh you should you'll be able to see there let me get out of the way uh so I want to congratulate you on a a fantastic season and Coach if you can speak a little bit to uh how the girls uh you know performed and and what you think were the highlights of this season absolutely absolutely we started out uh just everybody just move over a little bit more little bit there we go can you can you hear me okay okay we started out with the Midland Park tournament uh my um to my knowledge the first time we won thatour tournament Riveredge won that tournament 10U uh we then entered into the Kinder Kack League where we were very successful we went up losing in the semi-finals we went to the New Milford tournament came up came in second at the New Milford tournament first time we entered that that was that was a large tournament that we uh played very well in and then we went to The District Tournament now the District Tournament is similar to what you see at Williamsport so it's the softball version of L Le wow and we wound up winning our district which was district 4ow and then going on to the sectionals where we lost in the final championship game in the sectionals and we were ousted from that tournament um these girls display intensity they are tight a very Titanic group um they're all texting beforeand to see what they're all wearing today they play so they're cohesive very cohesive very cohesive they play outstanding defense that one thing I will say we we won many games with our defense and our pitching and we won games where our bats just came to life and every girl was just hitting you know hitting the heck out of the bow um they learn how to play as a team they don't like uh they certainly don't like box drill when we do our box throwing drill but they learn from it and they understand that pitch that throwing and catching is is important is the most important thing in the sport and um we're we're we're going to see them succeed further on into High School school and high school and hopefully some Collegiate level so can I do a quick selfie sure can I also present I just want to present the the mayor council sure something is that okay yeah absolutely so on behalf of our 10 District Champion Team B is currently under constructed so this will be a great addition wow to the new burrow Hall oh wow wow awesome wow District Champion sful champions in River awesome over there get you all right everybody uh girls let's have a cheer yay okay here we go see I'm the only one that's seen you guys want to take a look at it real quick you can [Music] oh girls just look this way and smile yay all faces yes is you're welcome picture and I'll put this up on Facebook okay now you can say if you want but we're g to do burrow business it's not super interesting but it's necessary so thank you for coming you wish to say you can but you may want to go we can go okay okay could I have a motion in second to open to the public on any item on the agenda second it's been moved in second all in favor please say I okay uh any oppos any extension hearing none it is unanimous is there anyone REM there's no one remote there is one zero no zero yeah is there anyone in the uh no could I have a motion second to close to the public on any item on the agenda all in favor please say I okay um we have monthly reports we have fire prevention uh from October uh we have a first reading item number nine could I have a motion from councilman M Coffman and second from Council president Mo um um monsan Cohen after I finish reading into the record um the first or uh first reading of our ordinance motion that the following ordinance be introduced and passed on the first reading and setting November 14 2024 at 7M or as soon thereafter as the matter can be heard as the date and time and the River Edge Library as the place and zoom as the virtual platform for hearing of said ordinance ordinance 24-23 an ordinance appropriating $350,000 from the general Capital fund balance for undertaking of renovation to and fishing for the municipal building second it has been moved and seconded um uh miss aella our as our business administrator can you please describe for the public what we hope to achieve with this yes this is to fund hopefully to the finish line of our Municipal Building um renovation project and addition um an additional $350,000 and by using Capital fund balance that is the Surplus account um for cancelled capital projects that had already been permanently financed and we will not incur any additional debt for this purpose so this funding has already been appropriated so it will not affect uh the tax rate for this year or next year correct very good okay uh this is open for debate uh is there debate a comment uh um or a question hearing none from the council I call the uh this is a first reading so I can do it by proclamation uh by acclamation rather uh all in favor please say I I are there any opposed are there any extensions it is passed unanimously we have resolutions uh could I have councilman Benson uh move and councilman glass second the uh resolutions 20 4- 31177 through 24- 319 so move second okay are there any questions or comments or debate uh regarding these resolutions hearing none uh all in favor please say I I any opposed any extensions hearing none is unanimous uh councilwoman Kaufman would you please move 24- 320 payment of the bills and would one member of the finance committee uh second it when she's done moving it yes at a regular meeting of the mayor and Council of the burough of Riveredge County of Bergen state of New Jersey held on October 28th 2024 be resolved that the mayor council of the buau of River Edge approved the following expenditures current fund 176,177 44 General Capital fund $3,849 developers escrow $1,222 Recreation trust $4,195 so moved second uh all in favor please say I I any opposed any exstension uh I'd like to go back now to resolution 24-3 uh 3117 and councilman caufman and Miss appella if you could speak to um certification of the annual audit yes annually every municipality is required to undergo an audit which looks at the financial practices of the municipality for the prior year um everything is looked at to make sure we are approving contracts by resolution we're encumbering um funds appropriately using the correct accounts and I'm pleased to say that we had a perfect audit no comments whatsoever so did you just say we had a perfect audit correct I must thank you I must thank Council and coffin and uh Mr baglia uh Mr baglia as well as all of those who work in our office especially GA who is our Deputy Treasurer I think that's correct uh for all that they have done as well as all the our department heads including our chief of police our superintendent of Public Works our director of wreck uh our fire chiefs who am I living in library clerk for getting all those pay to play that oh yes oh we we um andd is an invaluable resource thank you Ann for everything you do we really appreciate that um and for yourself I believe you're our um um purchasing purchasing agent yes thank you so for everyone um thank you thank you thank Council all right uh we have two items for disu discussion ordinance Edition uh chapter 400 vehicle and traffic and who will be speaking to that we could have Chief Walker Chief if you could just come and speak to uh chapter 400 vehicles in traffic real quick those are put in by Sergeant Diamond those are just the quickly put the the changes in the ordinance to um adjust some parking areas um that have to do with the new Paving um we just made everything I'm going to say legal if you would some distances were a little shorter need to be expanded with the other way excellent that's that pretty much sums up those changes unless you guys have something specific weren't you adding two stop signs also on Wayne yes add Lafayette and Mercer Wayne yeah those and those needed to be there um just I guess kind of getting around to it if you would but and we're updating the overnight correct with taxis yes taxis that has to do with taxis so um taxi limos um you know we suspect there maybe taxi limo here there that are uh maybe try to run a business out of their home with the taxi that mean you know you can't have a bunch of taxis and limos in front of your house so just it just addresses that and adjust the time frame to midnight to 6:00 a yes and and we do that also just to have the least impact on people that are legitimately doing it so you know we don't want to we don't want to to uh be overly aggressive with it just what we need to address the concern excellent excellent thank you Chief sure um holiday for Heroes ceremony oh I'm sorry did anybody have question for the chief no I didn't think so holiday for Heroes uh ceremony who's speaking to that just for the governing body and the general public to know the Bergen County Chiefs Association um and the Bergen County Chiefs foundation will be hosting their annual holiday hero ceremony um it will start at pamis veterans home on December 8th at 10: a.m. and then um they will they will have a formal ceremony at the veterans home and then at the end they will um place the memorial re honoring veterans at each Municipal military Memorial Park and U the bur clerk has notified the our director of recreation and cultural Affairs and he had no objection to that excellent um so this is a great thing that our Bergen County Police Chiefs do and we we're very grateful for what they do um is there any new business is there any old business um let's just talk a little bit about capital I think we finished all Paving and striping uh for phase one of the uh pscg hardening and Improvement of our infrastructure as far as I know there might be a line here there at a stop sign that they're just following up on they hav I want to commend our Police Department for all all the uh great job they did and Main maintaining safety as the roads were being milled and paved uh and Sergeant diamond for his coordination as well as the chief uh Chief Walker for uh his leadership in this matter as well as uh Mr molo and the DPW for working around uh Phil con's schedule and still doing a great job with uh picking up leaves and uh and uh making sure that they coordinated with uh and I'd like to thank Costa Associates Rob Costa and um Jason Flores for the phenomenal jit and Greg what's Greg's last name Odon odonald for for doing a phenomenal job with that leaving anybody out oh and the residents for for being patient and and working with us as as we get these improvements and mostly at no additional cost to their uh property taxes so um we're we're we're we're also grateful to state and federal government for funding this infrastructure Improvement some of those gas lines uh are 80 to 100 years old uh maybe some even older so um it was time to to update this system and um these are now high pressure lines so people can run um their generators without fear that they will fail during an emergency which is really great anything else under old business okay um can we open to the public for comments on any item could I have a motion in second second all in favor please say I any opposed any abstain okay I don't see anyone in the remote audience and I don't see anyone in the physical audience so could I have a motion in second to close to the public same Mo second all in favor please say I uh Council comments are there any Council comments I do have a comment Council just want to uh recognize uh sergeant Sanchez for her first Touch a Truck uh trick a truck trunk trunk three event uh that was amazing yeah the turnout was uh I think we were not expecting the turnout that that we had families dressed up everybody was really uh into it um the community came together and we thank them and also to the rag and Jo R for uh putting together the event at 1 between 1 and two for the kids parade that was a success also and hopefully we can continue doing that in the next Halloween so it has my support moving forward so excellent any other member of council right um uh could I have a motion and second from any member of council to go uh into close session resolution 24- 321 resolution to enter into close session Personnel NJ s a 10 colon 4-1 18b and 8 police officer interview so move second all in favor please I could I have a motion in SEC we will um we might be coming back uh into session so we're going to uh can we close um I don't think so we can't put it on PA somehow wait we can try try so uh we might come back into session to uh pass a motion or make uh a motion towards a resolution uh at the uh at the end of this meeting so um okay don't pose it yet okay so could I have a motion in second to uh temporarily adjourn the meaning someone second all in favor please say I I all right we are temporarily adjourned I didn't even realize did that uh could I have a motion and second to uh to return to open session move second all in favor please say I I uh Sean uh Mastro Pier did I get it right Master Pier Master Pier uh the council thanks you for coming for the interview process and uh we we would like to uh offer you a position that would begin November 14th of 2024 would you accept I accept uh very good then Council oh I put the C for the horse could I have a motion in second to put Shan on the agenda for uh for hiring on November 14 2024 um uh as our new regular officer second okay uh um we do we need a roll call for this are you going to have a form more yes favor please say I I I Sean thank you we're looking forward to we're looking forward to seeing the family and your uh peers on the 14th thank you you're welcome congratulations congratulations thanks okay is there a motion uh is there um any other business before this body no hearing none could I have a motion and second to adjourn for the evening so move second all in favor please say I I uh we are jour