##VIDEO ID:JGJJcFbZeUk## we all set yep we all set okay good evening everyone I'm going to call the meeting to order with a short prayer and a salute to our flag almighty God grant us the wisdom to make those decisions that are in the best interest of all of our residents May the heavenly father of us all bless those who have given the ultimate sacrifice in service to our nation and May he watch over and protect our service men and women now guarding the gates of Freedom salute to our flag 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 statement of publication take notice set this regular agenda meeting of the mayor and burough Council being held on this 9th day of December 2024 has been posted and advertised in accordance with the open public meetings act chapter 231 Public Law 1975 roll call Council person's Bala here alisi here an NOA here Roberts sinari here zabowski here okay uh John if you would do the approval of minutes please I move the following minutes of the mayor and Council be approved on roll call vote subject to Corrections if necessary September 7th 2024 October 29th 2024 November 14 2024 and November 25th 2024 second okay all in favor I got do a roll call council person zabowski yes fala yes poliisi yes manoha yes sari yes okay at this time I'd like to ask my colleagues to stand as we get to to thank and say goodbye to one of our members councilman an NOA uh we wish to present Christian anoa for his dising distinguished service rendered as a member of the seral bur Council from 2022 to 2024 fix with the Kennedy O'Brien as mayor burrow Council Daniel Bala Michael Kacy Donna Roberts sty sinari and John zabowski Christian I wish to thank you for your service and wish you good travels in your future endeavors thank you Dan well you're not we get to embarrass you here go ahead counc Christian was an honor to serve the resence of with you and I wish you the best of luck and all your future endeav councilman kesy As We Gather for your final meeting councilman or NOA I want to acknowledge your time and efforts during your tenure while there have been challenges and differences in our approaches I believe it's important to recognize the commitment it takes to step into public service so your departure marks a new chapter for our Council and our community we are committed to continuing the work of serving our constituencies with dedication and transparency so I wish you the best in your future endeavors and hope that you find success and fulfillment in your next steps councilman zabowski Christian uh I I can't uh really comment on you without also commenting about uh Unice as well because you came together and you made quite an impact on our Council as as a team uh one thing I struck to me is when I was still Chief when both you and Unice came and maybe had preconceived notions about how law enforcement worked but you worked very hard and diligently with me and my staff to understand exactly how we work we did things in Cal and why and I appreciate that and I learned a great deal as well from both you and Unice so I wish you nothing but the best and great luck in all your endeavors in the future now forari I want to thank you personally for your service I've only worked with you fortunately one year but I treat this as just a chapter in a book I feel you did a great job that chapter now you can close that chapter move on to your next adventure and I wish you luck with your next councilman the floor is now yours thank you steeve mayor U all my colleagues just want to express to you that it's a heartful of gratitude when I look past on this uh term of service and for those that have had the opportunity to make myself ail to uh to serve even those online those in person uh thank you for the privilege and opportunity to make myself be relevant to you in anyway if I've been able to serve um and do a good job cool if I haven't I sincerely apologize hopefully I can use that experience to add to my skill set and see if I can find another way to be of impact uh to you this community and abroad in due time so thank you again for the opportunity those who I got along with the most those who I got along with the least you are still part of the experience so I'm grateful that uh it still took place so thank you and cheers to you all as well this time we'll go into executive session no executive session all right old business please just want to report that I received uh resolution from the seral planning board following a meeting on December 4 2024 approving the the following ordinance and referring it back to the burrow Council 52-24 amending the Hercules Redevelopment plan just need a motion to receive and file that on make a motion to receive and file there a second second second council person zabowski yes fala yes Ki yes NOA yes tarski yes okay public hearing on the following ordinances ordinance number 50-24 burrow of saille County of middlex ordinance addressing lead paint inspections this time I'm going to open the public portion for uh questions and comments on this ordinance are there questions or comments being no questions or comments I'll entertain a motion councilman zabowski move the public hearing be closed the ordinance adopt on second and final reading and advertised according to law roll call council person zabowski yes Bala yes kisi yes anoa yes Robert yes Denari yes public hearing on ordinance number 51-24 burrow of saille County of middle sex ordinance regarding environmental commission this time I'm going to open the public portion for questions or comments on ordinance 5124 are there any questions thank you to entertain a motion council president Roberts I move the public hearing be closed the ordinance adopted on second and final reading and advertised according to law second roll call Council person's Roberts yes fala yes polii yes NOA yes sari yes zabowski yes public hearing on ordinance number 52-24 an ordinance amending the burrow of sville Hercules Redevelopment plan this time I'm going to open the public portion Jim thank you mayor Robinson Parlin I would ask somebody up here um to please explain what this ordinance does in particular does it take into account the Connector Road realignment that I had suggested a few years ago when this was before the planning board and if phasing is uh impacted thank you yeah I can answer that oh on yes I can answer that question this is in fact the Connector Road it is the red line uh they're adopting the red line as the option as a result of um a lot of back and forth with uh both the parties as well is environmental um it is not a necessarily A phasing is a phasing in that uh no C ofos can be issued until that road is completed okay and is that the deadline bring the connector road closer to Bordentown Avenue yes that's correct okay which is what I had suggested a couple years ago be a few years ago um and it was rejected by the board at that time okay I think that's a step in the right direction and no CF can be issued until when councilman until the road is complete and that is a CO for which section two or three three three three but section two can be constructed before the road is completed my understanding is that sections section should be completed in one the order of 132 okay okay so it would be after the compet would be after Cabos for three which would be actually second okay of course I should have known that yeah all right thank you very much are there any other questions or comments uh entertain a motion councilman zabowski me I move the public here be closed and the consent agenda I'm sorry uh I move the public hearing be closed the ordinance adopt on second and final reading and advertised according to law second roll call council person zabowski yes fala yes polii yes NOA yes Roberts yes tarski yes public hearing on ordinance 53-24 in ordinance supplementing and amending ordinance number 3-24 fixing the salaries of certain burrow officials officers and employees for the years 2023 to 2027 this time I'm going to open the public portion for questions or comments on this ordinance are there any they being none I'll entertain a motion councilman Bala with the public hearing we close the ordinance adopt on second final reading adver according to law second roll call Council person's Bala yes polii yes NOA yes Roberts yesari yes zabowski yes public hearing on ordinance 54-24 and ordinance supplementing and amending ordinance 40-23 fixing the salaries of certain burrow officials officers and employees for the years 2023 to 2027 this time I'll open the public portion for questions or comments on this ordinance are there any being done I'll entertain a motion Council with the public hearing be closed the ordinance adopted on second and final reading and advertised according to law Council person's Bala yes poliisi yes an NOA yes Roberts sari yes zabowski public hearing on ordinance 55-24 burrow of seral County of middlex state of New Jersey ordinance addressing parliamentary procedure during Council meetings and partially modifying ordinance 29-24 this time I'm going to open the public portion Jim thank you mayor and thank you everyone for this attempt to partially correct the Injustice you did when this when he limited the Public's rights earlier in the year it it is amazing what an election can do isn't it um I know that Mary Novak's first order of business in January was going to request some changes um so while I know this is being done for political reasons now I thank you just the same and I also want to thank councilman anoa and councilman Bala for being on the right side of the this issue from day one because you oppose these original changes from the beginning interesting I was talking to a friend in Edison few weeks ago where they reduced speaking time from six minutes to 4 minutes and I said to him just wait we'll be going back to five minutes after the election well lo and behold here we are so I appreciate it now does this I don't know I I'm sorry sorry I had this in the form of a question which isn't allowed does this ordinance allow speakers to be called upon for a second time only at the mayor's discretion and I ask this because we remember an incident a few months ago where the president of the Historical Society who's here tonight wanted to speak about operation snow cone where volunteers curated and preserved letters from World War Two Soldiers and the mayor wouldn't allow him to speak a second time to discuss this project and this is an this is a project that is pretty important to the residents of cille and to our veterans and under this ordinance it appears to me that the mayor at his sole discretion would still be able to deny a speaker even somebody talking about something as important as Frank was talking about is that the case and I I hope it isn't the case okay and does this ordinance allow residents senior citizens others who don't like to drive at night those who are disabled those who are ill or others does it allow them the right to participate in meetings by Zoom as we previously had until January when a lot of things change so um under this amended ordinance will people be allowed to participate by Zoom does this ordinance provide that the mayor and councel will answer questions at these meetings I know this is a tiny step in the right direction and I appreciate it but we can do better at both the Veterans Day celebration out front and at Pearl Harbor the other day at the Pearl Harbor celebration veterans came to me and said keep fighting for our right to speak and have our questions answered now we know in the last few months meetings are averaging about 30 minutes so this may extend them by 10 minutes which is about 20 more minutes a month that's not really a lot of time for elected officials to give to the residents the last election showed the public can't be fooled by disingenuous gimmicks when you take away three or four important basic rights the public has enjoyed forever you can hardly expect to get much credit for returning one of them I think that people would like to to zoom participation I think the people would like you to be answerable to the people and residents have the right to speak twice by ordinance not at the whim of whoever is the mayor and I ask the the ordinance be amended to include those Provisions thank you very much are there any other questions being none I'll entertain a motion council president move the public hearing be closed the ordinance adopted on second and final reading and advertised according to law there a second second roll call Council persons Roberts yes fala yes poliisi yes NOA I'm going to vote no I think that we should add the suggestions that our resident you know zarski yes zabowski yes public hearing on ordinance 56-24 ordinance of the bur of saal County of middle sex New Jersey authorizing the execution of a financial agreement by in between the burough and cpmd journey maill Road urban renewal LLC purs into the long-term tax exemption law njsa 4820 D1 ET secc this time I'm going to ask Anthony and Vero uh to come up uh to go over this please on up Anthony Phoenix advisor of Finance if you would introduce yourself into the record please hi good evening Anthony inverso from Phoenix advisers uh we're uh the municipal advisor to the buau working on the uh uh pilot analysis um so I'm going to be very brief and if there's any questions I can go to more detail but um this project is an approximately 250,000 Square fot Cold Storage Warehouse facility that would be located on burrow owned landfill uh they are purchasing the property for about $20 million uh currently that property generates only $10,000 a year in total taxes about which uh the burrow receives about 27% of that uh going forward under this this pilot agreement the uh project would generate about $350,000 to the burrow and that would increase over time um there are three tests that we that we put into the the pilot um you know three different calculations to determine the appropriate amount to be paid which is one's based on the percentage of Revenue uh from the facility one is based on an amount per square foot of the facility so just in case the revenue is not exactly where um the expectations would be the uh the the owner will still pay something based on uh the the facility that they're building and then there are uh certain statutory required uh minimums that that by law have to be put in to the agreement so each year we'll look to those three items and the the greatest of the three um the amount of the greatest of the three would be what the what the developer or the property owner would pay under the pilot agreement um it's important to note that uh the pilots only on the improvements only on the facility uh taxes will still be paid on the land and we would expect that that the land value will increase now that there's something usable on the site as opposed to uh the the existing landfill um and then those those regular taxes would be split among the burrow School County so on so so forth um and then there there might be a second phase to this project going forward if if the first uh phase is successful as as they expect it would be you know there could be a second uh smaller Warehouse that gets constructed but um but overall uh we we've been reviewing this project for a while had some back and forth and and uh different negotiations with the developer and and we feel that uh what's what's proposed is uh is a is a good project here uh as you know this a facility or this is I should say a site that currently costs to borrow money to maintain um so now you're turning into a uh productive use uh that will generate revenue for you going forward thank you does the council have any questions being no questions thank you Anthony absolutely my pleasure okay at this time I'll open the public portion for questions or comments on this ordinance Jim thank you mayor Jim Robinson Parlin mayor at the beginning of the year I asked what would happen with the additional $20 million that we were getting from the sale of this property would it go to lower taxes would it go to a community center would it go to pave roads Would It Go perhaps to restore the firehouse in first barel Hall and your answer then was wait till we sell the property so I would ask again what are the plans every every good executive has plans especially when you get $20 million that uh is unexpected and um what are the plans for that $20 million are taxes going to be lowered by a third or we going to build a community center or all the roads going to be paved or the Govern the new governing body after the first of the year will work on that question okay thank you very much okay any any others take a motion uh councilman Bala Mo the public hearing be closed the a stopped on final reading Advertiser according to law second roll call council person Bala yes polii yes NOA yes Roberts yes sari yes zabowski yes okay um resolution Don if you would got open to the okay at this time I'm going to open the public portion for the resolutions other questions on the resov being no questions I'll entertain a motion council president I move the public hearing be closed and the consent agenda resolutions be approved on roll call vote sir second roll call Council persons Roberts yes fala on 2024 290 the adex bill I'm G obain on yes on everything else alisi yes NOA yes tarski yes Browski yes correspondence you have a motion to accept the correspondence as listed I make a motion to accept the correspondence as listed is there is there a second roll call Council persons Roberts yes fala yes poliy yes NOA yesari yes zabowski [Music] yes uh this time we're going to do uh mayor and Council reports Administration and finance councilman Bala thank you mayor I just want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and happy holidays and progress okay uh Planning and Zoning councilman zabowski also like to wish everyone very happy holidays very safe and blessed uh uh time of year please do me a favor also thanking your prayers uh all our service men and women that are staged in and posted throughout the uh throughout the globe uh protecting us uh I happen to have a son that's uh stationed away uh luckily he has has uh a lot of people behind him but there are another so many uh officers uh and that don't have family behind them so if you can send a card if you can send some supplies if anything just wish them a happy holiday if you want to know where to send that to uh you can reach out to Ken Kelly uh who is for our liaison for uh armed services and he can put you in touch with someone appropriate progress mayor thank you Public Safety councilman and now how thank you see mayor no additional reports Public Works councilman kesy also a very merry Christmas and happy holidays to uh the rest of our town and to uh remind those who have the basketball hoops still out in the street take them in we're going to be plowing soon thank you progress thank you Recreation councilman sonari thank you thank you mayor I want to wish everybody a Merry Christmas also and their families uh I also want to thank the recreation department yesterday we had the Parade of Lights which is cool you know Christmas parade we had a lot of people in the front of the burrow we had like close to a thousand I would say I want to thank everybody that participated with their floats and all their candy and everybody had a great time I also want to thank seral Police Department I was involved yesterday with the Toys for Tots at the other section of Sarah Morgan uh we had a lot of people a lot of kids there was a lot of officers that were working working there in the day I was there 8:00 in the morning there was officers there the same officers were out in the burough Hall here yesterday last night at 8:00 so shout out to the police department for a great job for what they did and the recreation department for their year it closed out with a great great event thank you thank you um C Water and Sewer environmental council president may I do have a few things to catch up on since I wasn't at the last meeting um so first I just want to say it was an honor to speak at the annual par Harbor remembrance ceremony at the pier at Buchanan Park at 7:47 a.m. it was the 83rd anniversary of when 180 Japanese planes fired on the United States Pacific Fleet 2,43 American Souls were lost 2343 of whom were servicemen so I urge everyone to attend our veterans events throughout the year to learn more about our place in the world theater and acknowledge the bravery and commitment of our veterans and those currently serving on brighter news um we have a new paved parking lot at the burrow Hall behind um close to the Garden but by the um MacArthur Manor all nice and shiny and and paved so all good things to come which also brings me to some environmental commission highlights the Waterfront um want to thank congressman Frank palone for the $1.57 million for the seral Wetland restoration and flood resilience at our Waterfront behind Weber Avenue I'm looking forward to that project starting um we have a survey for Bailey's Park on our website on the homepage please take it because we want to see good things happen at that Park and really it's a a beautiful um backdrop with our community garden the sign up and all the activity that's going there where the garden finally found its true home um so great work by the environment commission for water and sewer mayor I do have an update we are um underway with our lead identification for lead pipes in serville we have a lot of old infrastructure so you may have gotten a letter in the mail about making a lead appointment I attempted to make mine um it's very simple it's um if you do email it's lal.com and the first appointment they had for me was December 20th I think I'm going to be looking at the beginning of the year to make that appointment instead of getting through the Christmas holidays but please make sure you make that appointment we need to make sure we have cleared up all of our lead lines and there seems to be a theme with this because we also have um the code enforcement and Construction office um we have contracted with a certified lead evaluation contractor this is for lead paint so there is a new program that we have to certify for lead paint so there's a number of certifications they're going to do our tracking for us so if you're certified and cleared you won't have to go through it again um but there is some information you do not have to use the contractor that was selected they're going to work with us to make it easier for um residents who don't want to find someone to do this kind of evaluation um they're going to help us track it also um so there's a lot of information on that I do want to say that um along with the recreation yesterday um there's a sample of holiday events all throughout cille and it was just amazing the presbeterian church across the street had a several feeds St STS had their bizaar um the holiday of Parade of Lights leise does a great job and a lot of people are doing some amazing house decorating I just want to remind everyone to please drive carefully and be alert While others enjoy the show um so that's our little corner of Hallmark um for our location I do want to welcome Danielle since I wasn't here at the last meeting welcome aboard and I hope Denise is already enjoying her um holidays and her freedom I mean retirement um and I do want to congratulate stash and Mary for their election I look forward to working with both of you again um I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving I know that I have a lot to be thankful for this year and I'm looking forward to a productive and successful 2025 for serville thank you mayor thank you council president at this time I'd like to acknowledge the volunteer work of Marie writtenhouse on the commission of Aging uh and also uh I would like to acknowledge uh Sue Paul who is finishing her 40th year as a library board trustee a remarkable accomplishment really remarkable thank you s also uh um she cosmus Richi Koski um finishes 50 years as a volunteer firefighter truly exemplary both Sue and rich just remarkable people uh last night's parade I thought was terrific it was what our town is about between the kids and the Bands and the singing it was just really terrific it was wonderful so a heartfelt thanks to the recreation the DPW the saille police and all the volunteers and especially our own Elise Baron for doing her a remarkable uh job as the MC so with that I will wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a very happy new year and I will see you in the new year with that we'll move on request to travel received from Morgan hose to attend a fundraiser for the rain Foundation from December 17 to the 18th in Middletown New Jersey any objection Glen next item authorization to appoint Christina capasso as Public Safety telecommunicator in the police department effective January 1st 2025 any objection next item authorization to promote Mark dezman to Sergeant in the police department retroactive to December 1st 201 24 any objection next item authorization to promote Laura Chris kusy and Carol wmac to record Support Tech 3 in the police department retroactive to May 1st 2023 as a result of a civil service desk audit any objection next it authorization to appoint Shan jacel and Leslie Peno from clerk 1 part-time to clerk one full-time effective January 1st 2025 any objection next item authorization to appoint Steven GBL is a mechanic in the Department of Public Works effective January 1st 2025 any objection next item authorization to appoint Henderson mues as a police officer in the police department effective December 16th 2024 pending the completion of all pre-employment requirements any objection thank you cfo's report um just progress okay Boral Engineers report no report this evening mayor B attorney's report no report thank you uh we're going to open the public portion right thank you uh Frank tro 32 Canal Street cille uh Christian thanks for your service you appreciate it uh last last meeting we didn't get a chance to speak on the veterans month of November just a short comment I think we missed an opportunity to keep Veterans as a priority for suicides uh homelessness there should be any homeless veterans there should be no homeless people at all in this country so I think we miss an opportunity but we can get that down the line which opportunity was that because make November November what veterans month November's month we checked with the veterans yeah that's my personal thing I think we should no no we checked with the veterans I understand and they said no they said they had they were more than satisfied with everything the town goes if you have a question or a comment that is is contrary to that then you need to contact the veterans Alliance that's the chain of command front I understand yeah I'm on the alliance and I didn't hear anything but anyway I would check with your colleagues yeah all right but uh the main thing is we should always remember our veterans whether it's month to me Veterans Day is every day Memorial Day is every day to me that's how I live but uh beyond that that's that was just my I didn't get a chance to say anything last have it wrong wasn't arbitrary and capricious we followed the chain of command I understand that was just my personal opinion well I would bring it to them yeah I understand but uh can you pass that and I look forward to working with you guys in 2025 and make seral uh keep seral great um I wish everybody marry Christmas Happy New Year and um that's all I got to say I look forward to hearing from you guys and move our project forward thank you all right are there anyone else Arthur Arthur Written House 33 delicat Lane sabble New Jersey um Christian an NOA thank you for your service I know you came along you had run for the assembly at one time and then you decide to run for the Town Council you along with the late stford have been a great addition to the uh burrow and thank you for your service for that and I'm hoping that come 2025 it's a better year than 2024 as far as the Historical Society goes so far we still have not heard anything from you about the building next door that promise was made and never kept during 2024 I hope it's not the same in 2025 we've asked to be included you've said we were going to be included so far nothing and I hope the email gets better because I've emailed everybody up here and the only people who've responded are councilman kesy anoa and Bala so the rest of you better check your email and learn how to use it and respond thank you Jim thank you mayor Jim Robinson Parlin mayor and councel I want to thank you for that very touching presentation um you made for uh councilman NOA council president I'm sorry that you missed it timing is unfortunate um councilman we first met at seral day in 2021 the year you ran you were running with Unice June 4 and I had a nice conversation with you and I thought you were both genuine and sincere I didn't think you had a chance at winning and I might have worked against you I don't remember that but um chances are I did but you and Unice got elected and you made history and even as a proud Democrat I was happy for the burrow very early in your term I watched a council meeting on Zoom where you and Unice voted your conscience on an issue you eloquently defended your position and that position prevailed that night we also witnessed the break with your party unfortunately it was obvious to others on the call were so annoyed that you voted your conscience that it was the end of your relationship with your local party which truly was unfortunate for them and for you and many of us knew you wouldn't be renominated then in 2023 magically you were elected council president but in August of that year the unthinkable happened your colleague your running mate your friend councilwoman June 4 was murdered I watched you endure I watched you try to make sense of it I saw you comfort her family I watched you continue on and invoke her spirit and her memory I saw you do your best under the most terrible circumstances to continue to serve the people I watched the powerful heartbreaking eulogy you gave and and how almost all of your colleagues reached out to comfort you to share their human emotions with you to put political differences aside in that most sorrowful time in your grief you remain respectful to everyone and you found comfort in continuing your duties for the people in your three short years on the council Christian I've had a few conversations with you and I have enjoyed them all I saw you take position that helped the people but were unpopular with political leaders the one thing I know is that you took those positions based on your beliefs your conscience not based on politics over the years you oppose the pilot for the Arsenal warehouses you sincerely wanted to settle the bus depot suit and find a new location for the buses you opposed the speaking time limit and you talked about wanting to bring Zoom participation back you agreed with allowing the pride flag to fly and you defended your position to the veterans the mayor brought to the meeting and you explained it wasn't an Us Versus Them situation that you respected both groups equally and that there should be common ground you were on the side of preserving open space every time it came up you supported objective independent thinking people being appointed as Sarah from that seat you told the mayor you didn't like the conduct of the governing body since January the way people were treated the limit on speech and that questions weren't answered and you implored him to do better from the beginning along with councilman Bala you supported the historic designation for the first town hall and Firehouse despite all the pressure applied to you you didn't waver in fact in October when councilman Bala made a motion to give the firehouse a historic designation you seconded it and the mayor engaged in a personal argument interestingly with you not with councilman Bala who made the motion and some wondered why he didn't challenge Dan but I think the reason is as simple as black and white to some of us and in a brilliant Rope A Dope fashion that night you got the mayor to say he'd be bound by The People's decision on the firehouse so on behalf of 11,000 plus voters I thank you for that you know the ironic thing is had you been on the ticket this year the Democrats wouldn't have been able to run on stopping the rubber stamp Council and you probably would have won probably would have been an all Republican Council councilman I believe you've always been honest sincere and candid with me and the public I consider you have been a friend and I thank you for your service I wish you and your family the best in the future you can leave this Council chamber knowing you always did what you thought was in the people's interest which I hope will inspire others have a wonderful holiday and a new year of only good things and Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas to the rest of you thank you anyone else being no one else entertain a motion to close the public portion I make a motion to close the public there a second second all in favor I I opposed motion for adjournment motion for adjournment is there a second I is all in favor I