two minutes e good time two seconds good all right this meeting is called to order in accordance with the open public meetings law adequate notice has been provided this meeting of May 6 2024 was published in the curer news and Star Ledger and placed on the Burrow's website notice of this meeting was also placed on a bulletin board at Burrow Hall with a complete agenda a copy of this notice is available to the public a copy of this meeting shall be included in the minutes of this meeting roll call please mayor Brian Gallagher here council members Teresa boner here Glen Dene here Tom Mitchell here Randy pittz here Gus traic here Roger V here I'd ask everybody to stand for the salute to the flag and I'm going to ask Eagle Scout candidate Isaiah Wells to lead us in that and then afterwards please remain standing for a moment of silence aliance to the flag flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liy and justice for all if you remain standing for a moment of silence uh for two individuals uh the first young man John mlin um a a very known figure around town um the son of Morgan and Jan McLaughlin and uh he was uh a volunteer in Recreation program uh just a wonderful young man uh and also the uh the father of uh Officer Gilbert who was tragically uh who tragically passed last week in a horrible accident and our thoughts and prayers go to both families thank you okay uh we'll take each one uh individually approval of the of March 18th 2024 for read-option so moved second discussion all in favor I opposed uh April 15 2024 so moved second discussion all in favor I opposed and January 1 2024 reorganization so moved second discussion all in favor I opposed okay uh departmental reports and notices are as listed uh just brief commentary obviously we're going into the uh The Fall season or the spring season and uh lots of activity going on in Somerville uh we began with the farmers market this past weekend uh an absolutely fantastic job even though the weather didn't cooperate had a banner crowd and uh just a wonderful wonderful event uh Drew people from uh from all over the county all over the region uh and then you'll see we have uh just a rolling uh number of things we have girls night out on May 16th uh Rolling Thunder on Memorial Day Weekend uh rolling through on May 26 family fun ride on May 27 Memorial Day Parade on May 27 and uh obviously the the tour of Somerville bike races on May 27 January 1 I had promised that we would bring the Memorial Day Parade back to Somerville it's been absent uh I believe for four or five years and uh and we are bringing that back I have to thank councilwoman boner for for stepping up and helping out on that committee to uh to to uh return it and also Mr sluka who's taking a very active role uh you'll see we have on the agenda tonight um a group of dedicated uh citizens both veterans and non-veterans uh who have volunteered to be on this committee to help bring the uh the parade back to Somerville so it'll be a welcome addition uh and I think the the week end kicks off on Thursday night with the legal runaround I believe as well so uh action-packed weeks coming up in Somerville so uh very welcome um next we have uh I I just wanted to make mention that it is Public Service uh recognition week and uh I just wanted to make note that um you know those that are in public service whether it's uniform Public Service uh working for a municipality a county a state uh those that choose a life in uh in public service and government um it's uh it's not an easy life sometimes uh you can't see them now I don't know if Kevin if you can kind of just do a quick scan of the uh the crowd in the back uh we have uh number of police officers here uh to see two new officers being sworn in tonight um it's always a great day but uh but it's also a time to recognize all of our Public Service employees so uh those that work in burrow Hall those that work uh DPW those that are in ministrations those that uh that you know are out on the ground and doing things um we thank you uh for your your selfless service and what you do uh and I would be remiss and he's probably not going to like this uh but there's a rumor out there that uh Lieutenant Garcia may or may not be retiring in the very near future and uh I just wanted to make mention oh so I'm sorry I demoted you before you retired I'm sorry about that Captain and uh um I want to thank you I believe believe you're an officer for 30 years 28 of which were with Somerville uh that is an absolutely incredible career uh prior to that I know you are a marine uh so you've lived a life of service you lived it well and you've served our burrow very very well uh on behalf of the council and our citizens I want to thank you for keeping our families safe for 28 years uh that's quite an accomplishment and I think that deserves a round of applause now I know you hated every minute of that but but um uh know it's done from the heart from everybody in Somerville so thank you thank you um we have on tonight two resolutions and the swearing in of two new officers um let's do the uh the resolutions first so resolution 139 is approving the hiring of Timothy Shahed black as police officer effective May 13 2024 do we have a motion some move second discussion roll call council members Teresa boner yes Glenn Dene yes Tom Mitchell yes Randy pittz yes Gus traic yes Roger vom yes all right and then we also have number 140 which is approving the hiring of Adam Jacob shahat as police officer effective May 13 2024 so move discussion roll call council members Teresa boner yes Glen Den yes Tom Mitchell yes Randy pitz yes Gus traic yes Roger verom yes okay uh I'd ask the chief to come forward I'd ask Mr sluka to step up and first up is police officer Timothy Shahed black oh yeah you got to come up Family come on let's go absolutely his commitment is a family's commitment I say your name Timothy black do solemnly swear do Solly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States that I will support the Constitution of United States and the state of New Jersey and the state of New Jersey that will bear true faith and allegiance to the same be true faith and allegiance to the same and to the governments established in the United States and to the government established in the United States and in this state and this state under the authority of the people under the authority of the people I do further solemnly swear I do furly Sol swear that I will Faithfully that I will Faithfully partially and partially and justly perform and justly performed all the duties of police officer the duties of police officer the burrow of Somerville for the bur of su according to the best of my ability according to the best of my ability so help me God so help me God congratulations [Applause] okay next up is the oath of office for police officer Adam Jacob shahat and if if you have anybody here you want to bring up that's absolutely I I state your name Adam shahab do solemnly swear do solemnly swear I will support the Constitution of the United States that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the state of New Jersey and the state of New Jersey that will bear true faith and allegiance to the same and that will bear true faith and allegiance to the same and the governments established in the United States and to the governments established in the United States and in this state in this day under the authority of the people under the authority of the people I do further solemnly swear I do furly solemnly swear that I will Faithfully that I will faithfully impartially impartially and justly perform and justly perform all the duties of police officer all duties of police officer for the burrow of Somerville for the bur of Somerville according to the best of my ability according to the best of my ability congratulations [Applause] congratulations all right I'd like to uh to ask Chief Manning to come up and say a few words after a long process first all like to all ours being it do mean a lot you guys a long process these guys were their backgrounds were looked at deeply and very aggressively and they came out one and two on the process and they are both police officers currently they're already trained they have Road exper good so hopefully we can ease them into a training process with a training officer here and they'll learn how kind of we do it in zville and what we like and what you guys like and what everybody in town likes I think they're going to do fine and I want to thank you guys for all your assistance and accomplishments thank you thank you Chief so so just just a couple of comments um I always enjoy the nights that we swear in new officers because we have uh just an absolutely very special town and I'm looking at the two of you uh when I when I talk about this you you'll get to learn it um this is just a beautiful beautiful Town filled with wonderful people who care about their Town um today a great day everybody's full of smiles and and and a lot of juice to get things going which is great and and what I would ask is that on those tough days because you will have tough days just remember today remember the enthusi ASM you have for the job um when you're driving around you know wave to wave to the neighbors wave to the kids stop and say hi to the kids uh you know be be be good uh with with the good citizens of Somerville and go after the bad guys with with Vigor how's that that's I can't say it much soft well I could could say it harder than that but get them um you know that that's that's what we look for we live in this beautiful town and we want to keep it that way so um you know we we've gone up uh to 34 officers and uh we look to keep it that way uh not only does it keep our town safe it keeps our officers safe when we have a full contingent of officers and that's extremely important because at the end of the day the commitment as I said it before the commitment that you make uh is a commitment that your family makes and at the end of the day your family wants you home um and we want you to go home to your family so work hard be safe do well and do whatever the chief tells you I agree with um so thank you um I'm G to go out of order a little bit because we do also have a number of officers here that are going to be receiving a uh a life-saving award and um I'm going to turn it over to the chief to to handle this all right so if we could have five officers come up you guys know who you are I'll come on up I'll read your names off Sergeant Herbert officer Brian Anthony officer Ryan gice officer Michael Sergey and officer Anthony so these gentlemen actually why don't you come why don't you come up in here right in here and you can run across right in front of that table all right so what I'm going to do is I'm just going to give you a real brief background see if I'm sorry may have some more details better details or I'll even ask maybe the sergeant to tell what happened but they were sent on a rescue squad call for a woman who was bleeding heav and they were able to and I'll let them give you the details but they were able to help her and what we believe is truly save her life we asked her to be here today and she was going to be here but she couldn't but Dad is here on her behalf get him up in a second too um but let's do this Sergeant Herbert can you just let these folks know kind of without to deep kind of let everyone know who did what and how and why how you guys saved at so they without them doing what they did she would have passed I believe um and on top of that I do want to thank our Rescue Squad we have an outstanding Rescue Squad in this yes we do and I believe you guys can correct me if I'm wrong but I believe that they you've been you've been trained by them in the use of the Tes correct they're the ones that actually brought this to light several years ago to get you guys car so thank you to the res as great group would you like to say anything to these gentlemen on behalf of your daughter yes sir I'm very grateful for your Serv for you have tell her we thrilled that everything worked out gentlemen very good job up all right and I think we we do have some citations and awards we're good so so gentlemen thank thank you very much uh again this is this is what you do every day and uh you know I I I I don't think any of us could imagine the adrenaline you go from 0 to 120 in a second and when that second's over then you got to get back to day-to-day Patrol so uh thank you you know you you guys you do a phenomenal job every every officer men and women uh you do a fantastic job and we thank all of you for what you do every single day for summer thank you so we're going to take uh about a 30 second recess because I think the officers have to get back out on the street uh they can't stay uh again uh to the new new officers thank you look forward to seeing you out there you'll see me out jogging and I'll stop and I'll say hi and and we'll chat uh but I'm looking forward to seeing you soon so thank you let's take a 30 second recess it's an check out the new build she okay all right here we go all right we are back in session um uh just a a point of note that uh the police unit Unity Tour uh will be coming through town about 2:30 p.m. on Thursday May 9th uh officer vitto padaa will be riding uh that's a bicycle uh fundraising ride that goes from uh actually all over the country and they Converge on the law enforcement memorial down in Washington DC and uh if you have the opportunity it'd be great to have you come out and see a lot of the officers from all over the state who uh uh ride from New Jersey all the way down to Washington DC over I think it's two or three days they actually make the trip on so if you can make it uh again Thursday uh May 9th at about 2:30 p.m. on Main Street uh right at the uh courthouse uh at this point I'm going to ask uh Isaiah Wells to come forward uh he is working towards his uh Eagle Scout uh badge and uh he's got a presentation that he would like to make so I'm going to turn the floor over to you it's all yours all right is your microphone on yep yep okay um I have like handouts if you'd like to just yeah you can hand them out thank you okay Mr Wells you're on all right um so for my EOS Scout project I was I wanted to I'm going to be doing a kiosk at Michael leps Park um and we're taking I'm taking inspiration from the other one over at exchange field um so what we have in the packet there that you have is pictures of the one from exchange field and basically that's what we're going to take the design from and implant it what in the spot over at Michaels Park where it is in the packet you'll see that little area that's kind of the area that's going to be the area that's in and that's where I'm planning to put it um my plan for putting it into the ground was to like dig a hole P down into the ground and then just put it in but I will be further discussing with Rod uh or Mr Hadley um to see if he wants a cement base into the ground to make it more permanent um I was talking to him about like if you guys if the town or the council would want to like ever have to get it moved out of the ground it we would find like an easier option to like make it easier than having to break the cement to get it out and stuff so I was thinking maybe we could still have the um element of cement but also have like a bracket in the middle of the cement that connects to the wood so it like be able to be screwed on and unscrewed so you can move it if you have to um in the area that we're putting it is above um on the top over by um the where the tree is standing so it's not down the hill so if it does rain a lot and it does flood it doesn't like get all like mushed up and all like messed up and stuff so it would just go underneath and then pile up in the flood area instead of like you know ruining the wood and stuff um my plan for if it does like encounter weather which it will um we are I'm going to be buying pressure treated wood so it's going to be able to like deal with the weather better and last longer hopefully um and I will actually be building it myself and then like assembling so we're going to have all the pieces cut at my house and then brought and assembled at um leps Park and then basically like giving the other Scouts in the troop job like individual jobs to like to to fit their like capabilities and what they're able to do based on like size and like skill level and like age because we can't like give like big adult jobs to a 10-year-old and be like here take care of that so we'll have adults on standby um the what do you call it the the the um ambulances are right next to it theit hospital is a couple blocks down um in the packet you have there is a map that we put I think but we have we have Maps um um we will have maps with us to the hospital from my house if when we're working and cutting the wood there and we will also have maps from uh Michael leps Park to the hospital with us on site so we know where the hospital is in case we ever need to bring anyone to the hospital um and we will have first aid kits I made sure to put that in on the I I think it's in tools or like supplies um we will have the adults handling the power tools and stuff and making sure that all the power tools are handled with care and if like someone is Hammer like if a scout a younger Scout is hammering a nail or stuff we'll have an adult watching them so they don't Hammer their finger to the piece of wood um adults do that too [Laughter] yeah um we will always have at least a few adults in the area to like watch and maintain um again we will also have jobs M put for each like Scout and their skill level so we're hoping that really won't have to happen where someone does a job that they're not like like required to do or able to do where it's more of an adult job and it's for the older Scouts and stuff so we'll have like the younger Scouts like nailing and stuff and then we'll have like my age group of Scouts doing like like maybe helping manage them or like doing more difficult tasks like holding the pieces of wood for the scouts to nail or screw it in um and then we'll have uh the older Scout or the leaders they'll be like maintaining and watching the kids with all the Hammers and stuff and making sure they're safe having the first eight kits nearby and I'm also planning for like refreshments and stuff in case you know they get like tired they get hungry and stuff and basically being like we got like refreshments and stuff like take breaks in between so we're not just working and working and working and working them to like their their last like bit of energy um I would say for the the imple the Implement of the kiosk I would say I'm gonna um check up with uh Rod to see if he wants cement in and like add that to the total or to the total cost if he does want cement in um I have talked to him about it before and said basically I think it would be easier if we did put like cement and then a bracket and then have it attached to the piece of wood and have the bracket into the cement so it's more movable in case you have to like move it and stuff for the doors itself it'll have hinges on the side of the wood and then you open the door like this and you can like and there will be a piece of uh um a cork cork board and you can like tack things like thumb tacks stuff in there will be a lock system so nobody can like mess it up in there and like steal stuff and and if the town has to they'll have like a spare key so they can like open it and put stuff in like for like events like what's going on and like the idea of putting it there is it's like right in the middle of town so everybody will see it and stuff and everyone goes to the park they go to the Sprayground they'll be like oh look there's an information St that's what's happening this day that's what's happening that day and stuff and basically like it'll be like another information center basically saying like events and stuff and people can put like if they know about events they can like jot it down on a little card put it on the corkboard and like just tack it there and stuff and then just be like and then like add stuff there and like have it be in there and then like lock it and stuff and I close it um do you have any questions or yeah AB go ahead so Isaiah thanks for bringing this project to town ironically uh I think it was 2013 my son James SW uh 24 Eagle Scout got his project he's the one that built the kiosk at that's great exch exchange field or Carol p park yeah so uh I believe we have the plans uh still along with all this boy scout stuff but um I think also that it was cemented I'm 99% sure it was cemented in and I think uh it it will be a good idea to cement it in because of the flooding that we may get yeah secondly um the way the one at Le Park uh at car Park is used uh when James put the uh the U kiosk up he made a presentation to the environmental commission and to the Recreation Commission and one side is used uh to this day by the environmental commission and the other side by the wre department so um you might want to think about that is so basically you're saying one side's for like wreck and like other people and then one side's for environment Al also having like different sides that's how it was arranged at that time nobody else seems to want to post make the effort but we change it every every month or every two months okay so on the environmental side so a lot of times we bring Kathy stuff down as well so um however you decide to do it just think about that um so because you want to make sure it gets used right know somebody's got a post up there yeah that's great any other questions or suggestions so uh when are you planning to what what's your goal what your time frame planning to get it uh started like sometime during like school year and then have it done close to the end of summer um and then be like able to like start posting stuff as like soon as it's like not as soon as it's done but soon after it's done so like people can like start getting events easier in like that area um but yeah that's the timeline that I would like to get it accomplished in any other questions suggestions so just a couple of comments uh one you did a great presentation thank you um it's not easy to get up in front of us and and he's shaking his head oh uh but you did fantastic you really did so so you you talked about communication yeah which you've done you talked about having a concept which you did uh you talked about creating plans which you did and uh uh councilwoman uh straic can provide those plans to maybe help incorporate um you talked about location identified that's awesome uh then you talked about construction you talked about tools and not hitting your thumb um you also talked about the job requirements uh and the safety requirements a affiliated with that job and you talked about food because you got to feed the masses that come out to help you yeah so I'm looking at this and I you know I I wrote it all down and I think you covered every Point extremely well and uh the the person the people I chose to help with the project and be like the project supervisors I chose U Mr Cleveland and um Carrie McCormack to choose like to help with the project and helped the process go by and they've helped like check over all the papers make sure each copy is the final like product and like make sure all the spelling errors are correct yep and all that stuff I ran it to miss McCormack at at Ace Hardware yesterday and she told me you were you were coming yeah and uh yeah she's the Taskmaster that's um but no I think you did a fantastic job it's a great project uh I would say uh um look for those plans yeah and work with Mr Hadley and uh we look forward to uh to seeing it up in the parkk so great job thank you excellent good work all right thanks thank you you don't have to stay unless you want unless you got another badge you got her uh I have almost enough to have three PS I think that's great good for you excellent thank you very much thank you thank you that's great it's always nice to see um let's go through committee reports we'll start with Tom oh okay okay uh I just have one New Jersey Transit has released its first ever sustainability plan by the end of this year at least 10% of new bus purchases will be zero emission by the end of 2026 at least 50% will be zero emission and by the end of 2032 all new bus purchases will be zero emission that's all I have thank you I do understand though that they didn't put any funding plan behind that so well just saying this is in lie of the uh diesel buses they've been buying yep okay Glen uh environmental Commission we actually will meet next Tuesday on the 14th at 7: right here but a couple things have happened uh since our last meeting as well so we had a very successful green Fair on uh Saturday the 20th uh celebrating Earth Day it was great it's first time we did it on Division Street the weather cleared out it was beautiful uh many of us were there uh tons of towns people we had great vendors DPW thank you for coming and setting up actually two spots they set up for us for giving away tree seedlings at the high school and then came down and also gave away herbs and things through grants uh to many tons of people were there it was beautiful it was a great day um hopefully we'll improve upon it even for next year and then uh I don't know if anyone has noticed all the different White flags that have been popping up in our Parks but if you've walked along the Greenway at all uh you've seen them and uh it's an awesome site because those are marking spots for 150 brand new trees that will be planted throughout our Parks um replacing a lot of ones that have uh DED or had fallen during various storms um and I I knew how many it was and yet I'm still was a little bit a as I went through the park and it was another flag and another flag and another one I can't wait to see them all in we have a couple of them have gone in and the rest will be coming in shortly uh that was through a New Jersey Forestry Department Grant um so we're looking forward to do more more grants more trees and uh hopefully more good stuff so hopefully we'll see you next Tuesday right here and the time is uh we're going to try 7 o'clock a little bit earlier now so great all right thank you thanks Gina so uh the Board of Health meets uh next week May 15th 6m at the County Health Department office building and they also were present at the green Fair um providing um public health information um the rescue squad uh will be celebrating EMS week at our next Pro council meeting while Proclamation and the EMS week is May 19th to the 25th the uh the uh letter out maybe you had something in the mail uh for the annual support campaign so please support the rescue squad um and um I I did get a a text message yesterday um one of the neighbors um um woman fell and and um ended up with a a comound fracture of the femur and uh I I got great compliments about the the squad and the service so um you know as as always we um we need to to support that so thank you agreed good good thank you fra uh the library Board of Trustees met at the end of April uh we heard the report from uh Jen the branch manager about how the library has been doing for the past quarter um and again the numbers are up for people attending programs um of all different kinds for all different age groups they from everything from uh baby Story Time which you know it's packed every single time so they started another day it's Monday play time in response to that um attendance is going up for preschool story time um there's a teen leadership committee that happens twice a month um and that is available for teens who want to be who want to get volunteer hours and be more involved working with the library um we also they also are have many adult programs uh everything from music art cooking tarot cards and gardening um and there are also programs for Spanish-speaking residents and those wanting to learn Spanish um the book bike will be visiting Division Street on May 17th at 3:30 p.m as long as weather is good um and uh they asked that we you please check the Somerset County libr Library System website for full listing of programs and volunteer opportunities for adults and teens okay great thank you ready thank you your honor uh tickets are now on sale for girls night out Thursday May 16th from 500 p.m. to 900 p.m. this year's event theme is 80s versus 90s don't miss this event of activities entertainment and special deals dining and drinking promotions tarot called reading chairs uh tap snap photo booth free trolley rides for all ticket holders live music by 90s night performing your favorite 80s and 90 hits and so much more tickets and more information are available via the DSA website and the girls dout website thank you okay great thank you Roger uh from the uh Rec Recreation Department we've got uh two upcoming events that are available for registration on the community pass one is on May 19th which is family yoga and the other one as was referenced before on Monday May 27th family fun ride uh which is a a great experience for children of all ages just a reminder that helmets are required uh for participation in the family fund ride I know my my children when they were younger enjoyed going every single year um and it's a great experience so get out there and and you get to ride the course and experience uh what the uh athletes are out there doing a little later on and stick around as as was said for the parade and it's going to be a fantastic uh weekend Memorial Day agreed all right great thank you all right at this point we uh I will ask for a motion to open the meeting for public comment so discussion roll call council members Teresa bonor yes Glenn Den yes Tom Mitchell yes Randy pittz yes Jus traic yes Roger ver yes all right public portion is now open I will qualify that please state your name and address for the record and please address your comment to me Caroline plos 37 West Spring Street um so I just have a couple of different things um the first thing I wanted to say is thank you um specifically to council member boner for spearheading the Memorial Day Parade return last year my 92-year-old um veteran neighbor was supposed to be the uh Grand Marshall and then the pre got cancelled and it was a little heartbreaking for him he's actually a marine veteran so hoping he'll get to have some role in the he's a good man he is yep he's a very good man um also thank you so much to the environmental commission um the green fair was excellent um my son and I really enjoyed uh the whole setup on Division Street and it was really educational even for the little guys so really special to be part of it um I also have a question so I had noticed there's an agenda item not remembering the item number right off hand but it's changing the director of Community Development to a land use director and I was wondering how the role is really going to differ uh and also um whether you can share about the qualifications of the person who was being approved for it okay okay um secondary to that um and I think that I've tried a couple of different ways to get answers to this so I've noticed in some of the meetings that there have been times and I think this is one of the mayor's initiatives to bring people up to just talk about how things are done in the town like I've been to meetings where different folks have been brought up so my question would be if there's like an expert in the town or someone who could talk or speak even in the future to how a towns person would get a specific issue onto the agenda to discuss um and whether there's one person who can answer that or multiple people um that would be great to get more information about okay thank you thank you any other public comment Mr Mayor councilman um Josh Lions 99 Mountain Avenue Scott K 102 Mountain Avenue um we here to uh oppose ordinance number uh 273-2422 [Music] immaculada school but um you're taking the the parking away they're extending the parking from 50 ft to 200 ft um on Mountain Avenue um that is uh perpendicular to Altimont right there and also uh they're extending the the parking on the other side by the cusk funeral home so um in my time living there in the past six years I haven't seen any changes in terms of putting up um speed signs anything different other than one stop sign that has been put up on Altimont um so i' just like to know before this ordinance is passed um what information can we get and what rights do we have here in opposition of the ordinance okay thank you thank you good evening Mr Mayor Justin Hendrickson 188 West Cliff Street um I'm coming up in support of the ordinance that my neighbors have referenced um I I've lived in my home since 2014 can't tell you the number of accidents I've seen at that intersection um I have a young daughter I I worry about her safety I worry about the safety of everybody who tries to cross their drive there and quite simply with the parking the way it is on Mountain Avenue you simply cannot see what's coming toward you and and so I think you know absent the ability to turn it into a four-way stop or a traffic light or or some other solution I think the changes to parking on Mountain Avenue are a reasonable fix thank you thank you any other public comment hello good evening uh my name is Caitlyn Martin I'm on uh two South Middle Street um I'm here kind of representing my street um we're a very close-knit Community um I have a neighbor over here Teresa boner um also my neighbor Michelle vosque um has written to Kevin and has not gotten any response to an issue that we're having on our street um we were requesting information on how to get resident uh only parking um It's a Small Street of homeowners a single family um there's many homes that only have one C driveways um the renters on 77 Somerset Street um it's actually zoned for a single family home but there are two maybe three uh apartments in that home um there's also the laundromat that has patrons that Park on our street which makes it very difficult for the residents to park um by their homes um there's also a lack of consequences for people parking over the parking lines on the corner of South middle and Somerset Street so it makes it very difficult to see pedestrians oncoming traffic that sort of thing um there have been multiple accidents um there's also parking only on one side of the street so we've counted about 12 spots for 14 homes so it's already very difficult for just the residents to park their vehicles um on that street so we were just requesting information on how we could um um get a resident only parking got it great thank you any other public comment hearing none we'll close I'll ask for a motion to close the public session so moved second discussion roll call council members Teresa boner yes Glenn Den yes Tom Mitchell yes Randy pittz yes Gus traic yes Roger verm yes okay public portion is now closed um I'll start kind of going backwards so we'll start with your yours first um I think we took this up and it was either the last meeting or the meeting before on South Mida uh what we are doing is is putting together a uh a Safety Committee a Public Safety Committee and it was suggested that um if if you could hold off until that committee is formed we will task that committee with looking at that neighborhood one of the things you may want to do is talk to your neighbors get your neighbors to sign a letter requesting it uh this way we have some information that we can bring bring to this committee and they've got some background material uh that we can then task them with with reviewing and and then making a recommendation back to council um it's you know one of the challenges we have is trying to figure out um what areas require permit parking ver wants versus needs um so whether it needs it versus want it and and that's something that we have to look at so um everybody wants to be able to park in front of their own house that's I get that um but we have to make sure that there's a good reason for that um so there is spots and areas around town that we do have uh permit parking um we'll take a look at it and uh we'll put that on the agenda for the committee they should be formed in the next month or so and uh and we'll have them take a look at it um as far as Mountain Avenue and uh and Cliff it's a pro I think we can all agree it's a problem intersection it's there's been a lot of bad bad accidents there um we have tried to do traffic calming uh in that area we've put up the speed limit signs the digital speed limit signs um we actually narrowed the road visually by putting the white stripe that it used to not have the stri the white stripe we put the white stripe uh on on either sides to try to slow that traffic down the traffic doesn't Slow Down Mountain Avenue is a County Road uh it's not a Municipal Road um we I believe it was the county who came out and did a traffic analysis on and what would the what would what they recommended be the best way to increase Vis visibility at that corner in order to reduce the number of accidents they're they've determined that um there's a visibility issue and there's also a speed issue you know they kind of go hand inand um you know it's it's difficult we can't have police there all the time so these are some of those difficult very difficult decisions that the council was tasked with you know taking parking away uh to the detriment of some um but what what's the benefit to the greater good is is it better to to have a few less parking spaces versus less accidents um and and that's the challenge we have so you know it's up tonight for for a vote um it's up to the council to decide uh what what is appropriate what is not um you know these we've also put in the large stop signs to try to the basic problem is you can't cure stupid you can't fix stupid and people they're not looking they're not paying attention they're looking on their phones and what we have to do at that intersection is try to increase the VIS visibility as much as we can um so that'll be on for a vote and as with every ordinance you'll have another opportunity to comment prior to that vote on that specific ordinance that that that's the hearing and adoption there yes yeah um all right and then uh Kevin if you would just kind of maybe just detail a bit about the uh the director of Community Development versus the new title sure the the uh the land use director is a position that we um that will head an entire department that currently doesn't have a head to it um it doesn't have a department head we we made some shuffling of Staff we've had some folks resign um over the past several years and basically what it is is is a land use director who will also be the zoning officer will also be in charge of um she will also be in charge of overseeing that department um and the Personnel within that department um it just you know the the change in the ordinance is specifically just to change it from being a community development director to being a titled L use director um that's going to oversee the Community Development Office that that's what basically what's happening and at the turn of the year um uh in in my address I had outlined that we would be restructuring that office uh to make it more efficient and uh uh more user friendly for the public uh and this is uh this is consistent with one of those moves um as for uh you know how do Town people get on the agenda um the agendas are determined by myself the council and uh as we see issues that come up that's what we determine as to whether it's an agenda item or not um Roger and I will have a discussion here and there on issues that may or may not be required to be on the agenda um but if as I've said to every council person if they have an item that they would like to uh be put on the agenda give me a call send me an email and we can discuss and determine whether it's appropriate or not for uh for a council decision uh discussion it may be appropriate for committee discussion or it may not be appropriate at all so um I think that's it so let's go into ordinances for introduction uh item number 050 actually sorry 2733 is amending ordinance 2716 chapter 45 alcoholic beverages Article 1 licensing regulation 7 fees subsection a paragraphs 37 and 8 uh do we have a mo motion for introduction so moved second discussion roll call council members Teresa bonor yes Glenn Dene yes Tom Mitchell yes Randy pittz yes Gus traic yes Roger V yes okay on introduction it is not required that we have a public comment uh but uh consistent with how I've always handled it I will entertain any public comment on any uh ordinances that are open for introduction so public comment is open hearing none we'll close public comment and [Music] and that's it okay uh 2734 is authorizing a standing historic advisory committee uh this is uh something that we discussed at the last meeting uh and uh all felt that this was a uh a good thing to do uh I think most of us kind of figured it was anyway so we're just formalizing that process uh so motion for moved okay second discussion roll call council members Teresa Bonner yes Glen Den yes Tom Mitchell yes Randy pittz yes Gina straic yes Roger ver yes all right 2734 uh all right 2735 is uh is amending ordinance number 2730 establishing a salary range for employee titles to be paid to certain officers and employees of the burrow of Somerville this is just a salary guide that we use uh any public comment on 2735 hearing none we'll close 2735 motion for introduction so moved second discussion roll call Council memb Teresa boner yes Glend Den yes Tom Mitchell yes Randy pittz yes Denis traic yes Roger vom yes 2736 may you didn't offer a public comment on 34 no okay sorry uh public comment on 2734 is the standing historic advisory committee public comment is now open hearing none we'll close public comment all right 2736 is amending chapter 5-73 of the burough code entitled Department of Community Development replacing the community development director term with the title of land use director uh public comment on 2736 is now open hearing none we'll close public comment and motion for introduction so moved second discussion roll call council members Teresa bonor yes Glen Dene yes Tom Mitchell yes Randy pittz yes Gus traic yes room yes all right item number 2732 is amending chapter 166 schedule 3 entitled no stopping or standing extending the area on Mountain Avenue between West Cliff Street and Mountain Avenue I will ask for a motion to uh to allow for the public hearing so moved second discussion roll call council members Teresa boner yes Glen Dene yes Tom Mitchell yes Randy pittz yes Gina stvi yes Roger ver yes okay public hearing on 2732 is now open hearing no further comment on 2732 will'll close and motion for adoption so moved second discussion yeah I uh I think that the the uh ordinance is a little premature here what we've got to do what we need at that intersection is enforcement uh I know you made you alluded to that in their discussion earlier people speeding much too fast on Mountain Avenue not just through that intersection but all the way up from uh past two schools passing uh immaculada and Immaculate Conception schools people are driving much too fast on that road and uh we need enforcement so uh I think that I don't think changing parking uh eliminating parking places is going to be much help there I'd like to point out that they were in the recent fatal accident uh at the southern end of Mountain Avenue uh there was a pedestrian was run over and killed there were no parking in in any way obstru in the driver's view of The Pedestrian it was just a matter of unsafe driving I have a question too did did I hear that the county is the one prescribing that extension yes yeah don't we have a parking and Safety Committee uh that's being formed being formed yes so they have not yet weighed in on that they should have they have not and we also have a situation and we also have a situation where we kind of have the opposite opposite story on on midall I don't know in terms of consistency how we need to think this through well I was just curious as to how many spots that eliminates and what it is currently compared 210 seems lengthy to me but takes you back almost to the next block we did provide all the residents a um a uh a drawing of what it would be yeah in in the letter because if you recall we introduced this ordinance in March and it was a request of council that we send that letter so so we did with a copy of of the drawing it is 210 ft it is a county recommendation based on their engineering uh review um they initiated to the municipality because we handle parking um so that that that's where it currently sits it was driven by a complaint initially any other comment uh we've had this information now for since March if not before I believe this came to us um so you know we definitely have had time for these discussions um I know across the burrow I'm sure there's other streets that we can certainly look at as far as sight lines go um and the DPW has done a great job when asked to put up signs reminding people not to park to um to the crosswalks and sometimes all that takes us a phone call to remind people to do that because I know that was brought up before um the uh lady who just left but I think that the county has come to us and has said we're trying to make this safer for the County residents and the burough residents um I I think it's something that I know it's taking away parking and we do want to park in front of our homes um but we also have cars that drive up on lawns um and these are things we have to think about whereas this is a a danger to to life and health um I think it's something that we want to if we're going to talk about um being that's what I'm looking about uh being consistent consistent thank you my my brain is in different places about being consistent we're talking about health and safety here um I I do feel for the folks on midall and I think that that is important but this is something where as has been stated by both neighbors that there are accidents that happen there we see it this is something that would deal with that my two any other comment yes ready I know before in the past when we had trouble at uh cliff and growth uh a few of us went out observed what was going on and we put rumbl down I don't know if we've taken that into consideration yet I I've always asked residents who wants the rumble strip in front of their house because they're noisy yeah but it has helped on clip and Grove a suggestion any other comment all right roll call council members Teresa boner yes Glen Den yes Tom Mitchell no Randy Pitts no Gus traic no Roger vro yes mayor that would be a 3 three vote which you have the opportunity to break if you desire yes and that uh that is a yes I agree with councilman broom it's a it's a uh inconvenience uh but with the number number of accidents increasing townwide uh and the severity of these accidents uh the uh my vote is yes to break the ti all right let's go on to resolutions 141 through 153 are there any that anybody would like pulled off for further comment all right so 141 is accepting resignation of Rich Matthews from the Sr VSA effective April 30 2024 142 is approving the hiring of Kaye Menda as accounts payable Finance clerk effective May 13 2024 143 is resending resolution uh 2425 20557 authorizing an intent to purchase a 2024 Chevy Tahoe under uh State contract as listed uh 144 is resolution of support for the midblock crosswalk improvements Central pedestrian Safety project uh one 45 is approving adjustments for certain non-union and management employees for 2024 146 is adopting job title and job description for land use director 147 is approving a street closure on Grove Street Main Street and High Street for diversity Festival 8:00 a.m. to 400 p.m. Sunday September 29 2024 148 approving Andrew sprag to be hired as a seasonal laborer at an hourly rate of $18 an hour for the public works department 149 approving road closure for Artis Fair August 21th 5 2024 12:00 p.m. to 6 p.m. on West Main Street between Davenport and Bridge Street 150 is approving the hiring of navene sapal as land use director effective May 13 20241 is memorializing the authorization to submission uh fiscal year 25 Community Project funding request for Emergency Operations camera project52 is awarding a contract to PVE right for basketball court improvements at Michael LEP Park 153 is establishing the seniors and veterans committee and appointments uh to to the committee uh do we have a motion so moved second roll call I just note the uh navene toal that will be uh May 20th she'll be actually starting okay okay council members Teresa boner yes Glen Dene yes Tom Mitchell yes Randy pittz yes tenus traic yes Roger V yes okay bills and vouchers uh I make a motion uh to pay bills and vouchers in the amount of 1,142 n39 80 cents second uh roll call council members terresa Bonner yes Glenn Dene yes Tom Mitchell yes Randy pittz yes Gina straic yes Roger ver I need to recuse from lowp payments but yes to everything else thank you all right uh motion for adjournment so moved second discussion all in favor I opposed