##VIDEO ID:t## for I'm not sure Kevin do you know this meeting is called to order in accordance with the open public meetings law adequate notice of this meeting has been provided this meeting of August 5th 2024 was published in The Courier News and the Star Ledger and place on the Burl's website notice of this meeting was also placed in the bulletin board at borrow Hall with the complete agenda a copy of this notice is available to the public and a copy of the statement shall be included in the minutes of this meeting mayor briyan Gallagher excused council members Teresa Bonner here Glenn Denise excused Tom Mitchell here Randy pittz here Gina straic here Roger R here please stand and SL the flag the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for IT stand na under God indivisible andice for all we had a motion to approve the minutes of July 15th so moved second roll call Teresa Bonner yes Tom Mitchell yes Randy pittz yes Gina straic yes Roger Room yes uh departmental reports and notices are as listed uh tonight we have two proclamations um I believe that we have Mr Griggs here this evening he is here uh the proclamation that we have for um we are declaring September 2024 to be national service dog month in the burough of Somerville Somerset County of New Jersey whereas we believe in the joyful transformative power of the human can9 Bond and exclusivity of all citizens and whereas 64 million American adults and children have a disability there are only 16,000 service dogs from accredited programs in the United States and less than 1% of people with disabilities that could qualify have a service dog and whereas canine companions is a nonprofit organization that enhances the lives of people with disabilities by providing expert trained service dogs and ongoing support to ensure quality Partnerships and whereas canine companions and their service dogs Empower people with disabilities to lead a life with greater independence by providing best-in-class training ongoing follow-up services and a deeply committed community of support and whereas canine companions has more than 2800 active teams throughout the country and they have placed 8,000 teams since their founding there are are 500 people on the wait list looking to be matched with an expertly trained service dog and whereas it's important that our community understands the benefits of task trained service dogs and a proclamation will raise awareness of the rights of service dog users including K9 companions clients please join us in honoring service dog teams and their amazing work therefore be it resolved that the mayor of Somerville Brian Gallagher and the burough of Somerville hereby proclaims September 2024 to be national service dog month in the burough of Somerville Somerset County of New Jersey in the burough of Somerville New Jersey today august8 August 5th 2024 Mr Griggs you might see around atsd unfortunately it's too hot so that's why I left him home um I definitely you for supporting us and letting everyone know about our service thank you for your good work and thank you for [Applause] your we have another Proclamation September 23rd through September 29th 2024 uh as diaper need awareness week uh so do we have we don't have anyone here for that I don't think there's anybody here to accept that okay so we'll take it back to our office and make sure the right people get it fantastic sir thank you and with service dogs I've seen the benefit of service dogs as I was in h education and uh we we had a few service dogs that would come in through the building and the students were always so thrilled to see them uh and it really made they a lot of times they spent time in the guidance office the service dogs were were there and to see the the kids go down even for a few minutes and see the smile on their face when they got to pet the dog and and have a few minutes with them and then go back to their classes um I think that people more people need to realize just the impact it has from that little furry moment that that gets you through the rest of the day so thank you sir committee reports I we will start uh with Mr Mitchell okay the the historic advisory committee did not meet in July so there's nothing to report from them uh our insurance company Etna has reported that thirdparty solicitors are recruiting employees to use facilities which are out of network providers employees are advised to check with Etna before using a doctor or medical facility for which theyve been solicited the cultural and Heritage commit is now accepting applications for the 2025 County historic partnership program Grant funds support local history organizations and other nonprofits that provide public history projects programs and services to benefit public audiences Grant awards are competitive go to the County website co. somerset.nj us and enter chpp in the search box ridewise has partnered with immaculada high school to conduct a safety audit of the crosswork crosswalk across Mountain Avenue they found that cars passing through the crosswalk failed to stop for pedestrians 34% of the time got gota got to have some more enforcement down there finally the National Night Out has been canc this year due to projected rain thank you very much Gina so um behalf of the Somerville Rescue Squad I'd like to share that um the squad Buried one of its um longtime auxiliary members Alice gunselman many of you know uh former uh fire chief Roy gunsman uh gunsman name is well known in the community uh and Roy's wife did pass away uh last week and uh she was uh buried on Saturday um with with full resue Squad color so um our best to uh to Roy and the family and um uh thank you for their leadership to our community throughout the the 50 years um that they've served um in terms of the health department uh the health department uh health committee has not met but uh the health department does send us some regular notices um there's two things just to alert the community to one being um the increase in covid the past uh month so uh July numbers are up uh up in in terms of what we were last year in January so CO's kind of making a Resurgence um and I'm sure there's many more cases than are reported um and then also West Nile has hit New Jersey so um uh like any any other illnesses uh something to be aware of uh if we're uh keep our our our water not that we've had much rain lately uh but keep puddles and and water collections out of your backyard so that we don't attract the mosquitoes and so on so that's a report I have three it's been a slow couple weeks so I actually don't have anything to report this time thank you Randy thank you your honor from our community police division after careful consideration and monitoring the weather forecast as Councilman Mitchell said tomorrow's National Night Out event at Carol pager Park exchange field is cancelled the safety of our community is top priority at this time no rain date has beened scheduled look for further updates on the Somerville PD social media accounts and the burrow website in DSA news uh this Saturday weather permitting is the first annual back to- School business crawl come out to support your local businesses with special offers and giveaways also participating are the Somerville library and the Somerville Police Department with pizza with a cop that will be on Division Street from 12: to 2:00 p.m. pizzas are donated by Calabria Mia uh Prima Pizza and Alfonso you're encouraged to bring a school supply donation during this time uh participating businesses will be outside for this sidewalk sale event and last but not least please mark your calendars uh for the Artisan Fair on Division Street August 25th 12: to 5:00 p.m. the DSA will sponsor a rock painting craft and entertainment that's all I have thank you very much uh just a few things from the um from the recreation committee uh the August 18th is the last day of the pools uh spray parks will stay open until September mid-september uh do not forget if you are so interested that the early bird registration for the Turkey Trot is until the end of this month um and as Ben said before obviously National night out as cancels um there's a lot of working working uh parts that that go towards these events and so it's essential that you know as as was said in in uh ry's message that you know the uh our citizens come first and we have to make sure that we hold these events and and that they're you know not put in danger and and it sounds like we're going to get some some pretty nasty weather coming up um so we appreciate the the notice and the cancellation um and we'll look forward to next year uh and just as another uh aside planning board meetings for this month of August uh have been cancelled uh so the planning board will not be meeting this month uh next we have uh a mayoral appointment um councilman Deni will be the burrow representative for the tour of Somerville and uh tonight we have a discussion item which is the business insurance registration a this is a state law that is in effect um and Mr sluka is going to discuss what the state law means and how the buau is going to approach the uh the implementation thank you so so we do expect an ordinance uh introduction at the next meeting the idea was uh uh several of us have met to discuss this briefly to talk about how we want to roll it out implement it so the idea was to bring it to this meeting more as a discussion item before we actually introduced the ordinance and what it's about is in 2022 the state of New Jersey passed um the this law which required um which requires the municipality to take a role in in collection of insurance certificates which it never had to do before of of business owners and owners of properties with rental um like a lot of these laws that the state uh does put out sometimes they're knee-jerk reactions and there may not have the formal process in place to make sure this all happens correctly so just recently we've we we we're getting through our one phase of of laws that took place in 2022 which was the lead inspections this is kind of the next phase of municipalities really getting involved in in that type of business so it it does it will require more of a Cooperative effort from a lot of the Departments um which would include the housing office the zoning office the Fire official the the construction official and the collection of that data will be within the clerk's office so Zena myself and Jennifer will be collecting these certificates um it it's not completely understood as to the process will come on other than the fact that we will be getting the word out there that that everybody has to give us a copy of this and we'll create our own internal database until the state has something that becomes uh more formal for us to use so we'll we'll be collecting it in our our spatial data logic program which will basically enable us to to uh collect the information in order to enable that that the supply is not in violation so where this is coming up is because when there's issues with landlord tency they're going to want to make sure that that there's a certificate on file that's where it's going to come up um you know in our research there hasn't been a lot of municipalities that have got this far yet so we're not necessarily sure the hurdles that we'll face will in the way but I did prepare a kind of guideline of what we anticipate happening we'll be sending out letters to to people within the municipality that that we believe uh are tenants of spaces and land land owners of spaces um in addition to that every fire inspection that gets done the Fire official will also be notifying that property owner or that tenant that this law is required as well as construction if we do a uh if there's an inspection through um the Construction office they'll the DSA is going to have to do a communication a zoning checklist it's going to be part of zoning checklist so someone wants to come in and and and open up a business or or look to do something the zoning office is going to have on her checklist to make sure that we're supplied that information and of course Property Maintenance um so that'll be the effort from a communication side we don't necessarily have all the identified properties that are required to provide this to so that'll be a collection of data as well and uh and it'll be kind of a large education uh process the municipality is deciding at this point there'll be no fee to provide this information the state L does provide an opportunity and the reason they do that is because under the state law since when they do a state mandate they're supposed to fund this but what they do is is the way that's kind of worked around is they off they tell the municipalities hey you could charge a fee for this but again this would be imposing another fee on on folks that that really are supplying us the information so we're opting with the ordinance the introduction next week not to charge a pH however there is a penalty phase so what'll happen is is is once the person's notified they have to supply it and they fail to do so then we would be able to provide them a a warning letter saying hey you need this information um and it's going to come in a form as a certificate and if they don't or they obviously don't want to then they'll be notified of the penalty phase and then we can assess the penalty I I don't particularly think the courts want to be burdened with sues like this so the whole idea is to just get compliance so you'll be hearing more about that um you know and again people may ask why am I giving this to the municipality so now you what that's all about um the ordinance wouldn't really take effect till January of 2025 well we will go through the effort of trying to get information um and get the certificates there will be no penalties or Warnings issue until 2025 I have consulted with a couple Insurance folks in the municipality and they have said that they they knew the law came out and they have told their clients Hey listen you know if your municipalities ask you for this they need to get a copy of it so and we'll kind of use those Insurance folks as as the agent to kind of help us get that information as well so that that's where we sit with this now um things may develop uh you know further on this um but we're really going through an education phase for the next couple months to educate uh both property when I think Property Owners it has to be if it's a if it's a owner occupied home two three or four family they have to supply that case the businesses or or the rental properties have to supply it to us and and property owners that have rentals have to supply it to us so it is it is fairly large there are a couple municipalities that in somerson County that are working through some of the hurdles on this so we we Zeno and I are going to collaborate with them and then we'll see we'll see how that devels kind of keep everybody appraised and that's where we'll be at Kevin will businesses that operate out of homes you know there's several plumbers in town that have their trucks and tools in their garages and and uh landscapers that have their gear in their driveways is is that also part of that no so if they if they own a home and they occupy the home it's single occupancy home and the businesses in that home they won't have a requirement to do that really I guess the intent is to help protect the tenants to know to basically let them know that you know that property is insured in addition the reverse is also true right so the tenants are are protecting the landlords letting them know their carent insurance when it comes to commercial properties as well um so so um you know hopefully I did answer your question c um that's where we're at I think you'll a lot on social media I will tell you as I investigated this throughout Somerset County and Hunter County and and and Union County we are now getting calls from those folks in other municipalities saying let us know what you're doing because we like the kind of mimic and that always does help a little we're all kind of playing by the same vision um but but it is a law that has taken a backseat to a lot of more important things um so as as we roll out I'm sure you'll see it roll down Other M as well you know um ideally if to save staff time in in B Hall if we were able just to have a portal where it could be uploaded you know submit your insurance proof of insurance here and and fill out this form online I would think that would save a whole lot of time yeah I will thank you I I will talk to Patty about that we did find out through this process the initial law actually called for the state to actually create a portal and do that uh that has been amended and they're no longer taking a role in this um so this is strictly Municipal but that's an excellent idea to talk to Patty and see if we could do something because that is actually what the state is doing right now for the uh lead uh abatement law they their portal they rolled out today while they do have to make some changes to it it allows the certificate just to be uploaded and and to and and for the contract act fill out the information so we you know we'll certainly see where that goes and I'm sure that um with with the program that we're using as they develop their portal that that would probably likely a a scenario for the contractor to go into that as well thank you does this also apply to State licensed businesses could you give me an example uh rooming houses for example um I believe rooming house would have to comply with this thank you yeah I I'll double check that um like I said it's kind of a learning curve the only thing I would say is the law specifically matchs two three and four families it doesn't speak speak to rooming houses so that I would probably need to get some further Clarity in it well we Al also have issues in town which I believe we have unregistered airbnbs yeah and and my understanding is that a we don't have an ordinance against now so no but if we're UND understood but thinking thinking that through if we're trying to protect tenants and in effect their a tenant any other questions and I would say as things develop please just you know talk the xen I and and we kind of like I said we're we're learning as we go I think again a lot of these laws have a lot of little holes in it that we can kind of build those holes along the way would help anything else okay uh at this time I uh move to or request a motion to open the meeting to the public so second council member Teresa Bonner yes Tom Mitchell yes Randy pittz yes Gina straic yes Roger Ro yes uh please approach the mic uh name and address and address your comments to me public session is open good evening ladies and gentlemen Dennis Sullivan 8 South Richards Avenue I'm here to talk about taxes everyone's favorite Topic in August generally if you have a taxpayer in the audience right after the tax bills come out you'd be anticipating something next negative but I will say right now that's not the case how much I love hold on Dennis Dennis use just use the the one there it that that mic went out again it just it went off is it turned on just press the you're good just press the button sorry I I don't know why that just went off just there you go now I'm on okay I took the time to look at the little box on the tax bill which everybody does and said oh my taxes went up big surprise well upon further investigation and you know how I love numbers my $28 tax increase broke down the following way $45.75 increase in County taxes or 4% my school tax went up $151 1 cent for a 3% increase and my Municipal Taxes for which the mayor and Council are responsible went up $11.44 or 410 of 1% so of my aggregate $28 $11 is on you folks I think the public needs to realize the the fact excuse me the fact that this governing body for years and through many different administrations has been very very careful and cognizant of where the money to run the operation comes from you can look back 10 12 years and these numbers are reflective of of where we are in fact the borrow share of the tax bill dropped this year from 29% to 28% yes your taxes went up but I think it's important for people to look beyond the little box and and we all know you probably did it yourself when you got your coupon you looked at it you said yeah they went up they did go up but I would challenge the public to look beyond the numbers look at the decisions that we collect itively has have made through the last 20 years on generating Revenue to fund the burrow but not only to generate the revenue but to use it wisely and I think we're seeing that because the numbers don't lie when your burrow tax goes up and I did an average calculation because my house is slightly lower I did an average calculation the average tax bill in Summerville went up $249 $14 to the town $54 to the county and $181 to the schools if people are dissatisfied with their taxes I would encourage them to come here but also to go to Grove Street and to Cliff Street to talk to those governing bodies as well thank you thank you sorry about the mic issue any other comments this evening seeing no other motion to close so moved second council member Teresa boner yes Tom Mitchell Randy pittz yes Gan straic yes Roger V yes public session is closed we have an ordinance for introduction this evening 2738 2 485 amending ordinance number 2735 24-24 d56 establishing a salary range for employee titles to be paid to certain officers and employees of the burough of sumerville as has been the practice this year I uh am asking for a motion to open to the public uh for this introduction moved second council member Teresa Bonner yes Tom Mitchell yes Randy pittz yes Gina straic yes Roger V yes uh so at this time if anyone has any comments about this ordinance you may approach the mic seeing none motion to close can I speak before that my part of the public or there some comment uh when we before we vote to approve okay or inod still moved second Council yes council member Teresa Bonner yes Tom Mitchell yes Randy pittz yes Gina straic yes Roger Room yes uh now is the motion to introduce so I need a first so moved second all right and then you had a question yeah comment um this does not go down to minimum wage so there is a category for seasonal help so if we wanted to hire a youngster for the summer we would be paying them a minimum of $18 according to the scale not 1513 which is the current minimum wage so it's just a point of thought which is a good thing right well I mean I I go through this sem my where employment you know if you're 15 years old and eligible for employment let's say as a lifeguard we're Hiring Our lifeguard yeah it'd be great to make $18 an hour but when you go to hire that same more seasoned person in say seasonal maintenance are you going to pay them you know the same amount as a 15-year-old that that's where it gets sticky so I think it just gives you further wiggle room to have a lower wage for a young person but um just my two cents my exper my experience councilwoman I certainly appreciate your thought on that our experience has been that that that um we're not successful getting people that number um and and it's been adjust a little uh over the years of minimum w a little but um for the most part you know getting Folks at $18 an hour in in this environment is is difficult in itself um certainly you know if you wanted a minimum wage the only negative is that we do have to move changin again every time that moves so we're a little ahead of that curve that that there were other obviously there were other title shes that that's where that you know that number $18 an hour is is usually is likely the number that we can ually secure someone to work for us all right so the motion is to I'd like just to to just add a comment sure uh this is this is pretty much an annual ordinance we do this every year uh as inflation raises prices wages and salaries go up uh in parallel and every year we raise the the rates as our former mayor just pointed out we have been keeping the overall cost of doing business uh steady as best we can and uh I think uh you know just you know we uh we try to cover our Co increasing costs with increasing revenues and hopefully we will we will be able to do that uh and all we have to do is is keep our fingers crossed that's about it thank you Tom so the the motion on the floor is for introduction it's been Motion in second roll call council member Teresa Bonner yes Tom Mitchell yes Randy pittz yes Gus dravic yes Roger Room yes thank you uh next up our consent resolutions are there any that anyone would like to be have pulled this evening yes uh the first one ending in 225 okay any others so I'll go through the list uh number 226 creating a title assistant to the CFO Deputy tax collector 227 authorizing the execution of a facility use agreement with Somerset County Park commission and burough of Somerville for the temporary use of the parking area at the torpe athletic complex 228 approving road closure for East Main Street from Grove Street to Bridge Street on Sunday September 15th from 9 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. for the 2024 Central Jersey jazz Fest 229 accepting the 2023 Municipal audit and execution of the group affidavit certifying the general comments and recommendations made by the auditor has been reviewed 230 approving tax overpayment refund 2024 for 40 Fairview Avenue block 51 lot 18.01 231 memorializing the execution of a consent for a right rights of way agreement with cable vision light path LLC 232 authorizing a refund of $60 to Michael and Susan Park from the garbage decals account 233 approving road closure for Artisan Fair August 25th 2024 9:00 a.m. to 5 on Division Street between South Street and uh Veterans Memorial Drive 234 cancelling uncollectible taxes for Block 36.1 lot5 235 requesting permission for the dedication by Ryder for revenues derived from donations to the Police Department K9 unit njsa 40a colon 50-29 and 236 approving chapter9 from the national opioids settlement trust do I have a motion so moved second council member Teresa Bonner yes Tom Mitchell yes Randy pittz yes Gus straic yes Roger R yes and now we have uh number 225 consenting to the proposed Northeast upper Ron and lower reron middle sex County water quality management also known as the wqm plan Amendment uh do I have a motion so moved second discussion yeah um just a couple questions um I assume this is a required um legislation comeing out of County or State offices um but my question is is do we have any septic um systems in Somerville so I spoke to Walter Lane we do not have any registered setic sys so what happens is is every municipality has to adopt the amendment to the world quality management plan it doesn't affect us at all so so it's exent question but yeah they have no septics on file thank you any further roll call council member Teresa Bonner yes Tom Mitchell yes Randy pits yes Gina straic yes Roger Room yes now it comes to the paying of bills and vouchers I make a motion to pay bills and vouchers in the amount of 1, 290,000 [Music] us home yeah just before I call for adjournment I just want to remind everybody that uh taxes are due this month they've been extended because of the delay in getting the the uh tax bills out but uh they are due by uh I believe the 28th is that correct Kevin I believe that's the correct date I'll make sure it's on the website correct and if you miss the date the interest is calculated back to the beginning of the month so that being said I may I move for adjournment second all in favor I I those opposed meeting adjourned