##VIDEO ID:uUC3yHUGIME## give your heads up okay that's okay you good to go everybody good this 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 September the 16th 20124 was published in The Courier News and Star Ledger and placed on the Burl's website notice of this meeting was also placed on the bulletin board at the borrow Hall with the complete agenda a copy of this notice is available to the public and a copy of this statement shall be included in the minutes of this meeting mayor Brian Gallagher here Teresa Bonner here Glen Deni here Tom Mitchell here Randy pittz here Gina straic here Roger V here all right i' asked the the young ladies of uh Girl Scout Troop I think it's 61161 is that right I'd ask you to come forward and please lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance Al to the flag of the United States of America and to the for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all great job thank you ladies we'll be hearing from them in a in a few minutes uh can I have a motion for approval of the minutes of September 3 2024 so moved second discussion roll call council member Teresa Bonner yes Glenn Deni yes Tom Mitchell yes Randy pittz obstain Gina straic yes Roger Room yes okay um this is a walk-on on the agenda um got a uh a notification from one of the troop leaders uh for troop 61161 uh requesting a uh that the ladies be allowed to come forward and present a uh a concept to us so I'd ask the uh the young ladies to please come forward and uh talk to us a little bit about what uh what you're doing what you'd like to do and uh and how the burough can help and if you would just introduce yourselves and introduce your troop leader or leaders because I know there's one leader here and I think you have some other leaders as well all right you're going to start [Laughter] over that was practice hi I'm lla roli I'm Abby Vel and I'm stie pavick we are all freshman at Somerville high school we are a part of Girl Scout Troop 61161 and we are trying to complete our silver award project um our two leaders are Heather beld and Joanne kimra um so this project is aimed at helping the homeless population in Somerville in America over half a million people are suffering from homelessness and over 10,000 individuals in New Jersey this issue is very apparent in all of our lives but not talked about enough we witnessed this after the flooding in town due to due to Hurricane Ida for the last couple of months we've been educating researching and collecting donations for this project our goal is to create a a box just like the little free Pantry ones but instead of filling it with food or books fill it with different toiletry items filling it with toiletries allows individuals to take what they need when needed our box will be able to supply whatever items an individual may need whatever whether that is soap tissues hand sanitizer wipes stuff like that not only does it help those in need it also helps our community to be better educated on an issue that is happening in our community we are also placing the Box in local resources where individuals can get help and have to plan to educate the community about the different resources to be able to make this happen a home for the Box needs to be established we have prepared some ideas as possible homes we chose these spots because they are easy to access to everyone and semi-hidden so people don't feel ashamed from taking from it so our location options are one the petersb pathway on Mercer Street 94 Mercer Street which is across from the Mercer Park um or the John Long Memorial Park 90 Mercer Street and it can either be placed like right where the sidebox starts or in the park and another idea that we have is the greenway path by the pickle ball court um on 118 Veterans Memorial Drive thank you thank you for your consideration thank you well first of all you did an awesome job thank it's very difficult to get up here and uh and speak in front of us uh and well thought out uh very clear very concise presentation and that's that's great you really did a great job so um I'm going to open up to questions from the council if they have any questions or statements they'd like to make anybody uh I I have a question I and maybe I missed it what are the boxes going to be made of are they going to be metal are they going to be wood what what's your plan for that um so you know like the book ones or like the food ones so we have a box like that so I think it's made of is it made it's like made of wood but like wood that like can get wet and like we sustain weather and stuff like that so I have several questions um first of all you know I'm a lifetime grow Scout so I'm not trying to get a hard time here but U trying to look at it from a uh a p Community perspective um one of the issues I think we have in town is that a lot of those boxes are not taken care of they they've been there they they they've um gotten damaged and and um neglected um so I know in Girl Scout language the plan supposed to be sustainable so how are we going to sustain the maintenance of these boxes would be one thing I really think you have to think about the other thing that I heard you say was most of the places were along the the the the brook The Greenway um but I think you also have to think about where is our homeless population at a lot besides the Brook and I I think we know that one place is the train station so is that a location that we should consider um and then if we if the boxes maybe if they're not a good idea um is there a different way to deliver that same surface service you know a a storefront that would accept them or the YMCA where these people could go and get it so just another idea um but that's one concern I would have is the maintenance of the boxes in the long run and then who's going to keep stocking them when you girls go off to college um yes so the sustainability of it was one of like our big questions to think about and we really have two options and we may try to do both but one is connecting with a younger troop like daisies or brownies that went we leave or finish this project that they can like accept it and they fill the box like with our extra donations or stuff and we were also thinking of partnering with one of the local churches whether that's like immacula conception or Good Shepherd that if we give them the resources that they can look after it because I know the Box by Good Shepherd um they refill their box every week so maybe we we're trying to see if they could also do that to ours too that that's good a good point so maybe that's a better place to put it by someplace that can be responsible for it rather than in the greenway just just the thought and then we have the flooding issue in the greenway too I know we had a girl a Boy Scout project years ago in the greenway and they lost all the signs in the flood that they put up so Food For Thought not not criticism okay we've also been in contact with ship so in case this didn't work out we'll put all our donations to ship and communic with them so they can keep this project sustainable too I think they're a step ahead of us or could you put the box at sh too right yeah yeah anybody else so so actually this is the timing is impeccable so two two thoughts and it kind of dovetails a little bit on what uh what Gina was talking about um have you considered co-oping some of the boxes that are already out there either utilizing some space in those boxes or actually mounting a second box with personal care products um right on the existing post as as an option and then interesting there's a there's a program out of the county it's called leadership Somerset and it's adults and they they participate in this program it's about a six-month long program but each class is responsible for um creating some type of project and they they put these projects in different communities I actually got a a uh a a a text from a woman who's in leadership Somerset now and one of their Concepts was exactly what you're talking about was creating boxes and then and then um um putting the inventory into the boxes so I can also connect you with her as well um because there may be some overlap there so those are two considerations that that uh that that you may want um we've thrown a lot of stuff at you um any thoughts from your end on on what is a what is a good approach not a good approach or or time to think um you got to think about it yeah okay all right um and I'll tell you the your responses were great about sustainability you you anticipated all of the questions that we were going to ask you so that's that's a great part of of your presentation skill and your presentation content so that's awesome so I think I think you'll find willing Partners here at the burrow uh for the concept um I think it's really let's let's flush that out a little bit and and figure out what is the best approach from uh a positioning standpoint as Gina had spoken about um and then uh uh sustainability and and location you know and and how you go about that is it co-oping with somebody where we because we do already have a number of them uh all over town I I don't know if do we have those inventor do we know where they are um I mean I could run around and I could Point them out but um please do that yeah do we have a list because that that actually would be good for us to have yeah I don't think there's there's one list that has them it's based on the approvals we've provided but we can probably create that create anory so Brian maybe you can add that to the Girl Scouts oh let them make the list yeah are you girls up for that task sure all right well that's great we already know all well that's great I think that's a great step forward and then we can figure out you know do we Co-op the existing ones uh and and either put materials in the existing ones and use that as a part of your your project or do we actually take a box and mount a second box to it underneath the first box uh as another alternative or um you know do we locate somewhere else or do you do it in conjunction with leader ship Somerset and I can get that I'll email it to the contact who had emailed me regarding your presentation tonight I I'll let her know uh that that contact's name and I think that's a great connection because now now you're dealing with probably about 20 different people from all over the county uh who were involved in the project from the leadership uh Somerset side so it's pretty cool who how did you come up with the idea yeah we were like when we first started we were all like we were at my house actually and we were like thinking of like issues we have seen in Somerville like firsthand and then we were thought of like like sometimes like if we go to Starbucks or like downtown or something um we always see a few people who may not be totally homeless but at least like living in the situations not like us and we were like also thinking of like the boxes in town like the food one or something but we're like there's so many food and so many book ones that if you did another one I don't the difference made I don't think would have been the same as making one with these other acts that like other Goods that people may not want to have the money to or one have the access to use so I think that's kind of where the idea formed and then all the idea just kind of like came together cool yeah we also managed to meet with a lot of people that work directly with homeless people so that kind of gave us direct um more direct Insight of what they deal with so we knew what to put in our box because you know there's a lot of things like food but that's like a temporary solution so we're looking for things that could be temporarily like more permanent that's great again well thought out I think that's fantastic so so moving forward I'll get that uh contact person over to to one of your leaders um you're going to do the inventory of where these are and then once you have that done we'll reconnect and then let's figure figure out the path forward how's that sound okay good yeah great job ladies awesome thank you good work and you don't have to stay for the rest of the meeting that's great good stuff all right uh committee reports uh let's go to Tom okay all I have here is the weekend journey is coming up on October 12th and 13th say sa the date it's always an interesting and it's a countywide program so you you probably haven't seen all the historic sites in Somerset County save the date October 12th and 13th and my apologies for it being the same weekend as fire inspection day okay thanks Tom jetah the uh Board of Health meets on Wednesday um uh but uh the county report did come out um there's nothing Earth shattering other than um get your vaccinations um I think you'd be happy to know that there were 12 Health inspections done in the restaurants in town and none of them failed so uh I think we're we're in good place with that the rescue squad uh uh is remains active um they have many things going on although I do not have a uh a detailed report uh on the call sheet for them uh this month so for August so so uh we'll get that next time but um they continue to do good work great all right thank you Glenn all right uh for the environmental commission we met last Tuesday and uh just wanted a couple of good things to celebrate um the environmental commission and Somerville we won a 2024 environmental Achievement Award for the planting on in all the parks in the greenway for the trees so we're getting honored for that um we're helping coordinate with the high school and their rain Garden grant that they have so we've been having some meetings with them as well and hopefully they'll get that up and rolling through the winter and then into the spring and then also you'll see on our agenda later on we also received a grant for the community garden of $1,500 uh to help expand that as well and they've had a really great summer and are working on slowly closing those beds soon great um in addition to all that we were able to take an tree walk down Main Street and uh there's a longer probably more involved presentation that the environmental commission would like to come make it some point and a and a report but I'll just share a couple of things from it here uh just as food for thought so mayor was with us as well as many others uh councilwoman uh Gus dravic was with us and others but uh the primary goal was really to try to find um how to maintain and have the best continued tree canopy in Main Street so we had a a certified Arborist with us walking down and we were looking at specific trees but also looking at an overall plan um and the the consensus there was that we do need to have a very clear plan that includes scheduled maintenance including you know pruning and also how to best to how to best remove and replace Hazard trees and how to find funding sources in order to replace those trees and do the best that we can um partnering and working with the DSA to work with their plan and just moving forward to make sure we have the best Main Street possible so I think the environmental commission would like to make a longer presentation at some point about that as we do more homework and find more out so good uh if you'd like to join us we will be here on Tuesday October 8th at 7M great thank you thanks mayor Teresa thank you uh the municipal Alliance and new Services Commission uh did not meet this month um but I do have some announcements about what's been going on what will be going on in the community there's some events coming up um the first one is Save a Life day that will be happening sep nober 26th from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. on Division Street uh free nck zone will be given out to the community um and then uh community in crisis connection is hosting the second annual harm reduction conference at the Ron Valley Community College event center which is at 1118 lamington Road in Branchburg there will be two keynote speakers from onp point NYC and the harm reduction and overdose prevention Ministries you can Reg register for that event at communityin crisis.org the third is a Behavioral Health Resource Fair which will be held on Thursday September 19th from 8:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. in the first floor conference room of the Somerset County Human Services building at 27 Warren Street in Somerville the event will provide information on how to access Behavioral Health Resources it's open to parents families and agencies serving youth in our community to register please email Louisa Hernandez L [Music] hernandez. somerset.nj do us that's all I have great thank you ready thank you mayor I know I've been missing for a couple of weeks so I'm going to try and make up for it you're the new guy with my announcements in DSA news the DSA invites the somville community to submit their Veterans for uh the banner display the banners will be um on our polls downtown and for more information please visit downtown Somerville org for details the 17th annual Central Jazz Fest was this past Friday and Sunday featuring top jazz artist James pop popi and Supernova Cynthia Scott and alvester Garnett's art Ensemble the DSA just completed a two-day visit with Main Street America reviewing key data points and information from the community survey to help guide the dsa's strategy and direction for the next 3 to five years the strategy is focused on empowering entrepreneurs enhancing communication and refreshing our gathering spaces we look forward to sharing this data and results upon receiving the msa's final report the DSA is holding uh a Somerville District business mixer on September 25 at Fresh Restorations here in our downtown this event is exclusive for Somerville District businesses only and last but not least the Somerville police department and amb coffee presents coffee with a cop that's going to be Tuesday October 1st 8:00 a.m. to 10: a.m. please come out and show our police force how much we appreciate their dedication to keeping us all safe thank you great thank you Roger uh we've reached another quarter here in the burrow um so something to think about in your personal in your homes in your apartments is check your smoke detectors check your carbon monoxide detectors um a lot of times as they start to the batteries start to go on them they start to chirp people get nervous and think that it might actually be an alarm so if you have a battery powered um smoke detector or carbon oxide detector and it's a battery that you have to change get it you know check those out make sure that it's if it's been six months that you change those batteries most on the market today are enclosed so they're good but they're only good for 10 years so if you've had your carbon monoxide detector or smoke detector up for the past 10 years uh just take it down look at the manufacturer date if it's within that time go out and get some new ones uh that way again it doesn't start chirping and you get concerned uh better to keep safe than sorry so go out there and make sure uh to check your your carbon monoxide detectors your smoke detectors and everyone should have at least one um fire extinguisher in their home those are also good for 10 to 12 years uh so just again you can check out the they all different manufacturers have different date stamps so you can look that up online but something to think about as you uh as we go through towards the uh holiday season coming up with Halloween and Thanksgiving and everything that's coming just make sure you're prepared again carbon oxide detectors smoke detectors and fire exting great all right thank you very much all right item number seven is a discussion on Solid Waste Management and uh I think it was I think it was Tom who said we're gonna somebody said we're going to talk trash so um the uh so we have a we had it on the agenda for uh introduction at the last meeting and I decided that you know this is something that affects everybody uh almost dayto day uh the the trash so um I know Kevin's going to talk a little bit about some of the challenges we're having right now in terms of uh uh trash collection and I think it's probably even more so in the coming contract our contract is coming due uh next year and uh and and we need to begin to plan for that because there are some changes in the way uh Solid Waste is handled there's changes in the way that it's collected and that's probably the biggest part of of this discussion so Kevin if you would enlight us Enlighten us on uh the the latest in their proposed garbage uh ordinance sure thank you mayor the the ordinance is a very large ordinance but a lot of it's not new it currently existed on the books and and while we did have to change some language in it the predominantly what happened was we initially were addressing the ordinance for the purpose of rodents and and in order to be able to make sure that there's not bags laying on the street overnight and you know a lot of municipalities have changed those rules years ago um because of the fact that we have a garbage huler that actually picks up the garbage bags and throws them in the in the hopper um you know it has not been a major motivation for us to change it um but now obviously you know well we talked about rodents because obviously that could lend itself to an increase of rodents um that and again we we've been dealing with rodents over years and and we've this year have seen a little more increase in that because of you know there's more people out there on the street we're well out of covid now and there's a lot of folks out there so they're they're engages a lot more so while we did make some of the changes in here to put garbage bags in cans we also change it so the cans could accommodate the hydraulic lifts for the truck so CW currently the current Haller um has the ability to pick up by hand and the ability to pick up hydraulic electrol rically um it's not likely that that would continue in the future our contract with the current hauler they bid ends it's a five-year bid it ends at the end of next year we have engaged a a through one of our associations a consultant that spoke to a lot of us saying that if we're going to be looking at this hybrid hauling system in the future it's not likely that we're going going to get a lot of vendors participating in the process and more importantly if they participate it's going to be costly um so this ordinance does a couple things it not only helps us put the bags in in in the cans which they that may not exist so there'll be a learning uh curve with the landlords to do that specifically in some areas as well as the property owners and then then it'll it'll it'll be the style of can that we're looking for so you're not going to be able to put it in a in a galvaniz type of aluminum can when I grew up you had that metal can well the companies don't accept that metal can because the Hydraulics will actually just squeeze that um so it does go and speak about the type of cans that we're going to need in the future now you know there's going to be um our effort here now is to start creating the process on making that happen there there are some municipalities that Supply CS to the property owners this m municipality would probably not be a good candidate for that other than that it would be very costly to do that um you know the the equipment now would allow most of the people that have cans to work and and currently the the existing H because they do a combination there's many people in this municipality that in in in Somerville that already have the appropriate can however it's those that don't that we're going to be looking to make that change so that that's what the premise is behind this um it it does correct some of the older language in here um because there's things that we don't collect in solid wayte obviously we're encouraging recycling recycling is a law so some of the changes in here would just you know uh verbiage that have been left in there for a period of time and and and currently and and there's a fine system in here and again um the existing the existing ordinance has a fine schedule and again we've learned over the year the courts don't necessarily want to have trials regarding people not complying with Municipal ordinances so it's it's a fixed fee of an initial fine of of $100 and then if if you have a uh you know within within a 24-hour period so if if if if you're failing to comply and you basically don't want to comply the the there's punitive damage for that we did take out a lot of throughout the ordinance the words engineer because we're not having an engineer manage this our Department of Public Works manages it currently and and that's really the the extensive of the changes you know and I think I had it on on your agenda last time as an introduction um certainly we could put it on on the next one I know the mayor wanted to kind of discuss it I didn't know if there was any additional questions hopefully you've had significant time to review it and and like I said while it's eight or so pages long there there's you know a couple paragraphs that are being changed yeah so so there's actually only one area that I had you know some hesitation on and and it's it's where we change what let me let me back up everybody hates change nobody likes change and as much as we educate people on how if there's a new process in terms of garbage it's for the first three months it's going to wreak havoc it it's just the way it is um currently you can put out four bags or four items let's say you can put out four cans three cans one bag four items can go out and they're limited right now to uh I think it's 35 pounds each um and we're looking to to change that to two containers at at 50 pounds each so my my thinking is it doesn't matter the poundage people look at their garbage can as a unit even though they're getting more poundage they're still get it's still one unit so my thinking is if I would say I'm looking at it I'm trying to approach it from the average citizen I want my four containers so and I don't blame them you know the amount of trash we generate is just it's ridiculous um and and so if we can if we can create a caveat that says you can have up to four containers that and create the poundage create a maximum poundage for the four containers you know rather than two 64 gallon containers maxing out at 50 pounds a piece you know may maybe it's four containers maxing out at 120 pounds total so it it really doesn't change but the only thing we're then changing is it has to be in a container it's got to be in a proper container that the uh that that the Grabber can pick it up and dump it um because the haulers are getting out of the business of getting out and uh picking up the garbage it's just what's happening well is the weight even relevant with the the machine pick up it it is and and uh for someone that that pays for their own garbage you know and and my the hall or I contract with every year which which is also Bridgewater in Hillsboro they they pay for their own garbage they can hire their own Haller um sometimes the weight is an impact we we did speak to our current hauler and and vetted this or ordinance changes with them as well so that they understood that I I will tell you what may help which I think is a would be a great idea based on on that and I think you're right most people are going to say I'm being cheated um and I get that I think what may help is if I showed you a container of what could fit in that container right I I know yeah because the we're not limiting really the number of bags um because you could probably fit more in the container then you would be able to put four bags on the street of right so cuz you can get four bags in a in into a container so I mean it may help if if not I not necessarily the math but the visual of that let me counter that with I think our existing hauler and I'll use his name because it's all over social media Pete Santana did an absolutely incredible job retraining the public because when he first started he he actually asked the public for help can you get the containers that that I can grab and stop putting bags out or round uh uh garbage cans because it's it's taking way too much time to go through the town and he actually did a really good job educating people which was fantastic um so you know the I think a lot of people did invest in those cans and cans aren't cheap they're not and to now go out and have to change so if you've got the smaller cans um to to change those to the larger cans and the larger cans are expensive you're talking 80 90 bucks a piece somewhere each so I don't I'm I'm hesitant to go that route I think it's a it's a great add-on but I my feeling is give the people the ability to have their four um you max out the total weight and uh um and and then if they want to have two big ones that's fine too well well we would have to identify that before went out to bid right so so I mean but it does say the containers shall not exceed right so if you want to to keep your existing container whether it held 40 gallons or 50 gallons you don't have to get anything large but then you're only limited to two well that that's because you only need to right so so wait wait wait well well I will tell you Zena and I there's very few people that ever come to the municipal building to buy stickers for additional garbage bag bags they usually come to buy for bulk so it's rare because usually what happens is you walk across the street and your neighbor has a bag out and you you you you have a relationship with that and you just kind of share the garbage right it's like a bing system so very rare does anybody really ever come in I don't recall ever only sometimes if they're like cleaning up they might have extra bags yeah so so if if if if there's like a major clean out going on in a particular residential property um but for most part the bags are not an issue um but what I could do is is I I get it the only my only concern would be is that is you're just putting more receptacles on the street which has you know could be um you know it's just extra work you know number one number two is if there was not a need for it so if your home had four receptacles and you only need one that week you have three receptacles sitting on the side of your house whether that's something that you you desire to have or not um I just think that when when it when it comes to garbage in this municipality they seem to Residents kind of figure it out you know um but we we we could look at that before we introduce it and get get some visuals of exactly what those size of those containers are for you so the other question then is if somebody is doing their spring cleaning and you know they they wanted to get extra stickers for they could they put bags out or under this you cannot put bags out you wouldn't be able to put bag CH be removed yeah so the main point is we want to eliminate plastic bags on the street right because because of because of rodents they animals chew into them that makes a mess and I think New York City did this and cleaned up their rodent problem in a big way so I think that's a no-brainer that we need to move forward with that piece um the the other thing that I'm not sure this completely really covers is defining recycling it does it say here that we should not be putting glass paper aluminum you know in our trash because once you start doing adequate recycling in your house it's going to it I think it diminishes your trash volume tremendously um the third point when I read this that I have is that um this this I know it's old but it allows for which I'm not sure Roger we should even have this ashes being able to be plac in a in a a garbage can I I believe we took that out well are you seeing it somewhere in the ordinance that's not strike number five on the third page okay that'll get stried so um well some people do have some people do have fireplaces and uh but you should bur your ashes should you we don't allow it today I I apologize we just missed that because we we have struck it from this ordinance in other areas okay I I mean are we going to pay whether you have two two garbage cans or four garbage cans are we really paying any more money um that's yet to be determined it's probably not usually a hauler will examine what your landfill cost was to do their estimates or figuring out how much how much the volume is that you're getting rid of um we pay we pay the dropping cost so obviously if you have four containers and you fill them up that's on us so so just so everybody's aware we just pay for labor we don't pay we I say I'm sorry we pay the hauler just for labor we pay the landfill cost directly and that's been a driving cost in our budget I mean that's been a big number so that's why recycling is so important because you know of the cost of that you know by ton um but yeah I don't I don't think you know adjustments like that are going to make a big difference with a hauler um where at I mean I will tell you I don't know what'll happen you know and just so you know is when when we go out to bid for solid waste it's not like any other service so it goes out six months ahead of time so it'll be out by like June so we w't even really have a lot of data from this um for that so so a a a vendor is going to kind of you know figure out based how many households there are what what do people normally use and that's what they're going to do to figure out cost so that's another question have we looked at our our records you know our is our our population has expanded in our community right um much of that may be in apartment complexes which they pay for their own trash correct that is correct so that they they they um you know um currently they pay under under an act that we've we've identified as an area in which they they cover their own cost and so forth so so you know and with increased recycling efforts has our um has our garbage volume gone down or up um and because that would give us an idea how that's going to you know transfer into cost too right yeah so so I don't have that with me uh Council woman but but we get the tonnage reports so we we have that that's well we well you're aware of it so because we have a tonage application that we do every year um historically they've gone up you know just you know not through the roof but they've gone up um you know the tonage reports but but um I could take a look at that I I I don't really know off the top of my head I mean tonage reports are required to be submitted in the bid package for a new Hall of bywise so that's what they really look at they what they get is they get a cop because keep in mind that Solid Waste is is the the only uh bid that also has a uniform document so that the state produces so you have to use the D uniform document the only exception to that is you got to provide your tonage reports you got to list how many uh properties there are and how they are whether they're residential commercial and who you picking up from and if there's any exceptions to that and they're you know they're looking at those pages to make make the bids at the end of the day listen I'm hoping that we'll get biders because you know solid waste collection in the public sector is is not is not doing well um most municipalities are struggling to get vendors um so the earlier we go out the the better um to participate in the in vendors to participate in the competitive process there are some municipalities actually went back to having inforce employees to do this um we have Rec we had reached out to municipality next to us that does their own collection at this time that un interested in a shared service CU that was an option for us as well and the and the concept of of privatizing and going out I don't think any of us want four different haulers roaming around Somerville at all hours of the morning it's it's just it's a problem so so I mean to kind of leave this where it is I I do have to get back to you I want to be able to show you what the container like a container size truly looks like what fits in it maybe we'll do a video and send it out to you um and then you know if we want to tweak that language about the number the number of that you're allowed yeah that's my only that's really the only issue I see in here is ensuring that people still have the ability to put four items out because everybody's I shouldn't say everybody a large amount of people adjusted how their garbage collected as a result of our current po yeah and I will assure you I mean based on someone that has hydraulic hydraulic trucks you know residents are actually going to be able to get rid of you know obviously they're supposed to get rid of household waste but I assure you that things will make its way into into that garbage stream that that normally they're coming to our office to pay for whether it be a piece of a fence or something like that because the the haulers with with the hydraulic lift while the hydraulic lift while the trucks do have cameras that that that identify what's going in there I'm sure it's not policed as well as it could be they're looking for probably you know gross gross negligence more than they're looking for if someone throws you know a piece of offense in there where now it's a little difficult to get that rid of that you doing that by bulk well I think like anything part of this is public education yes right you you know we we have to encourage our our community to recycle to also compost I know the the environmental commission is big on that not you know not putting leaves in the in your garbage that that's another issue but um just an education piece and I'd be interested to know how many people really put four cans of garbage out um so on a light day when the kids are home well a lot of residents are older and uh might have a hard time handling the heavier good point so I so I think most of the people in my neighborhood have been putting up putting their garbage out in bags and we rarely have a problem with uh R rodents and an open topped container is I I would imagine more likely to spill than the bag is well well all I can say councilman is you don't have a problem with rodents do you have a problem with rodents right so that and then it's kind of it becomes a lot more difficulty to to address I mean I will tell you again for someone that has a can you know that that's hydraulic you know you fit you fit a lot in there you mean it's Compact and I listen there's no one I'm there's no one on my block that uses more than one can yeah because that's all you get is one can and most municipalities around us you get one can for one pickup once a week you know you could choose a less smaller can if you like or a bigger can but obviously you're paying for that so I I do agree with uh Councilman Mitchell that it will affect ELD elderly people and people with disabilities to be able to manage the the larger heavier cans even if they have wheels it's still going to be a challenge so that it's just something to consider I mean I do think that having the ability to either have two large cans or four smaller cans might be a benefit but you know it's it it's not like we're deciding tonight we're we have right I I think it's important to to remember we're not specifying a can we're not saying it has to be this brand we're not saying it has to have these features we're saying it has to have two sturdy handles and be able to be picked up and not be crushed so I understand what people are saying I think again as as Kevin was talking about the rodents are an issue so is it when it snows oh I put my garbage out because a lot of people put their garbage on the street they don't put it on the sidewalk or they don't put it on their apron a lot of people put their garbage on the street so now I've got a bag in the street snowplow comes through now my my garbage isn't my problem anymore it's someone else is where the snowplow went so I think we have to think about this as we move forward and again if the haulers that we're getting are going to have the mech mechanical arm we have to now change at the Times going to to what Gina said before it's a good time to remember the county has an app called recycle coach uh which gives you uh reminders of when your garbage day is you tell them where your what your address is and it tells you when your garbage day is it tells you what your recycling is it tells you the the um various times when you can get rid of certain household items at the county so it might be something that as we start doing this and as we have these further conversations reminding our neighbors that that app is out there and that they can get rid of certain things by going to the county um uh going to the the county uh locations and dropping off those items so there's also that aspect as well and it reminds you again we all a lot of people have smartphones it'll it'll every week it reminds me to put reminds me to remind my son to put the trash out good good point Roger thank you well I think I I think that uh if the if we're going to require changing the containers the hauler if the huler needs the containers change change maybe the hauler should be required to supply those containers and that's certainly an option but you know the Haller does does not supply them for free right so what happens is you're paying for it one way or another so there is certainly an option where the Haller could provide it now keep in mind this municipality may not be a good candidate for that because you know we we have some tendency and tendency people leave so as long as the landlord is is responsible for replacing that because I do want want to remind you that we did a project on Division Street this council did probably I don't know eight years ago where eight or nine years ago where we authorized uh the DSA purchase garbage cans for all the folks on Division Street because when we made Division Street a pedestrian you know successful pedestrian walkway what happened was it caused a little inconvenience and didn't allow the truck to go up and down so we provided everybody cans with wheels they would fill it up and then carry it to the end of Division Street so the holder could pick it up um they do you know Unfortunately they they over a period of time um they get lost um whether whether they get removed or used by someone else or or or something else else today I I I'm going to say there's probably two or three folks that actually have the cans that we supplied so unfortunately um you know you lose them in the process of just doing the work maybe they get damaged or so forth but I mean that is an option we we can certainly do a bid you know next year that provides alternates it would provide us you supply the cans or we Supply the cans or the house provides the can and and they could bid on that yeah I I think we're we're going down a slippery slope with that um I I you know I think most people most do have garbage cans if you drive up and down or run up and down these streets our streets most people do have garbage cans over the course of time there may be an adjustment and that's why I think if we keep it to to the four um I I think we're in much better shape it allows people to adjust to it uh easier both from a logistics standpoint and a financial standpoint um if somebody wants to get the two big cans have at it that's great um uh but I think uh you know forcing folks into a change of their cans at this point is is not reasonable uh especially when cans are 80 bucks a pop so it's 80 plus you know the smaller ones are 80 bucks um so let's uh you've got some marching orders trying to wrap you know trying to put some options in there and I do clean that got some takeaways just want to open it up to the public to see if anybody has any questions or issues or or comments from the public on no okay all right also also I had a question about the refrigerators Yes actually good question good comment Tom yeah there's a strike through on the refriger on the refrigerators uh eliminating the requirement that that they that the doors be removed or uh but there's no mention of of refrigerators refrigerators and air conditioners need to be drained of of their coolant and so so we we don't accept refrigerators or or air conditioners they're no longer an acceptable Solid Waste item through residential pickup well then 47-4 paragraph 8 should be changed to reflect that sorry it says that large in the beginning of that paragraph it says that large metal items such as refrigerators shall not be collected with the regular garbage and trash pickup um so I think we have to change it to make it so that they have to be at least as far as refrigerators go to Tom's Point um that they have to be taken to the county when those times come through great thank you okay thank you thank you perfect hopefully I'll have a draft ready for you by next meeting if not the following okay great thank you good work thank you all right um I'll ask for a motion to open the meeting to the public so moved second discussion roll call boner yes yes Tom Mitch yes yes yes Roger yes all right public meeting is now open please state your name and address for the record and please address your comments to me hearing none I'll ask for a motion to close the public session so moved second discussion roll call council member Teresa bonor yes Glen Den yes Tom Mitchell yes Randy pittz yes gusic yes Roger Room yes okay uh ordinance for introduction this is ordinance number 2743 amending chapter 132 of the burough code entitled residential rental units removing annual fees 5year inspections and removing attachment of leans as a penalty Kevin you want to just give us a brief overview on this sure so so what that's about is we used to uh the municipality has on their books that we had every five years we would perform inspections of one and two family unoccupied home so they're tenants in them and then what happened was when it was put on the books it was looked at as as something that we would go in we would examine their their you know area for safety concerns um it's been difficult to do that over the last many years um and then at some point the municipality made a a a an effort to basically collect collect a fee every year and within five years conduct the inspection so basically what would happen was a tenant would pay I'm sorry would pay $1100 every single year until an inspection was made um which was also very difficult to do so we've noticed over the years over the last couple years that um the fire department the Fire official does an inspection of one and two family homes that are um not owner occupied for both sale and resale and we're going to be adding a component onto that which is going to talk about 10 PCY change so we're going to remove this particular um process of inspection you're still going to as a as a Lander you're still going to have to come in and provide us the document which is a state law to say you know who's going to maintain that property who could we call as an emergency and so forth that's a uh landlord tenant registration required by state law the inspection wasn't required by state law so where we're going to pick that up is on the fire side so so the fire officials office is going to do sale resar sale and tenant change so you'll see another ordinance coming before you uh on to adjust that so that that office could do the tenant change where where we're going to see a little Gap are two areas one is um is when the Construction office was doing in the past they would go in they would examine the fire fire items but they would also examine any structural issues as well as and and some pump and things like that so what's going to happen now is we're going to rely on a system where the officials going to have to say Hey listen I was in this place there's some other issues that are concerns and then we're going to uh pivot to have our Construction office then set up an inspection of that property for safety concerns so you know so we'll be able to kind of narrow that Gap a little and then we no longer own the sewer system so so the sun pump inspection was part of that where where New Jersey American water does that through um through visual inspection uh in the pipes so we we there's less of a need to do that as well so hopefully we'll narrow that gap of of of the inspect inspections by having that referral to the Construction office so this should be able to to be accomplished where unfortunately in the annual inspection the way it was set up was not something that was being done efficiently or effectively um so hopefully this will will will will uh get us still into those spaces and and if we have any issues address them uh through the construction offices and then we'll also I had a chat with Kevin this afternoon and we we said we would revisit this after about six months to to gauge its Effectiveness um to see how many we're actually doing inspections on and to see if we need to adjust it tweak it or expand the inspections again so um I have a question concerning this uh paragraph one well let's let's before we start the questions we have to get it onto the table oh sorry we hadn't done that yet yeah so um do we have a motion for introduction so moved second okay discussion now paragraph one 132-3 inspection cert certificate required the part part uh uh about needing an inspection certificate has been deleted but it's part about not allowing the police to be rented is still in there I believe the whole paragraph should be deleted yeah so it won't be a certificate of inspection but you still have to register so you shouldn't be able to rent it to a person without having it registered so that's why it is left in there as it was written now it says you can't rent it to to anybody at all no it says any dwelling unit subject to registration yeah so it reads no person shall rent or allow to be rented to another person for occupancy any dwelling unit subject to registration so you still have to register it that the second portion of that remove the inspection So when you say subject to registration that means not registered that's correct so it must be registered must be registered yet because to me subject to registration means that that it one of the ones described is needing a registration subject to whether it has or has not been registered subject to submitted and approved registration or something along those lines yeah I mean that that's actually a SE section of the the ordinance that we didn't we didn't change so it's been written like that for a long time these things we stumble across yeah yeah so I could definitely uh add um a subject to a An approved completed has been changed because it said before without having first obtained a valid current certificate of inspection so understood okay other comments I think that uh in doing this and again Kevin and I spoke this afternoon as well um I think us having the well I know in speaking to Kevin it's it hasn't always been as followed through as we would like um but just ensuring that when our fire officials go through they know some of the things to look for um you know we've obviously through the fire service you go into some locations and you wonder how they ended up being the way that they are um and then we send you know recommendation to the bureau saying hey come and take a look at this so I know that obviously Through Fire Prevention and through suppression we've have had some of those conversations um my only concern is that if our fire fire officials miss something that may be life-threatening I don't know what position that puts the burrow in since we've had these inspections on the book I don't want there to be anything where um you know one of one of them misses something it was something that our construction official would have picked up on on and now something happened well I think the inspection does fall under the Fire official correct that that's correct so so and I I know what you're saying is is listen at at the end of the day the state law only requires that municipalities receive a certification from the one and two family right some of Will added this on um years ago this inspection um and then I think it read periodically inspected which is you know and then eventually staff probably deter this is what we're going to do is we're going to do it once um and and I do think that for the most part um if our Fire official was at a unit historically you know he would notify the construction official and that's how we usually identify things now keep in mind the way that it was was we had the inspection on the books that wasn't being accomplished right so so and if it was accomplished it would be accomplished every five years so you know right now you know provided that the fire officials office able to actually spend enough time in a unit to review those items and to to to you know to be able to do a visual inspection I I I think that that the current office is qualified to identify an issue of concern now they're not there to you know obviously they're not there for Cosmetics they're there to make sure that is there a real safety concern like does the back door open up to no steps like things like that um they're not there for any other reason because you know you know um that's not that's not what the intent of the ordinance is it's strictly safety concerns and I will tell you the majority of of issues when it comes to safety concerns are fire related um so I think the current staff is qualified to identify that and again I think it I think it's a good point well taken that's why I think there has to be an evaluation process in this I think that we have to really analyze in six or eight months to say are we really able do are we doing this or or do we actually have to go back to the ordinance and hire staff and do the inspections and again if you want to do that that's certainly not the state requirement the state requirement strictly that the units have to be uh have to have a certification saying you know who's maintaining it who did we call in the middle of night things like that um so that inspection thing is unique to Somerville that they put it in it and it probably my guess is because there was probably very very bad housing stock at one point there was and yeah and and that's why they said let's see if we can get control over this and and that's why but it's pretty unique to Somerville we haven't really come across any municipality in the area that's actually doing or attempting to do what this ordinance actually actually said yeah the B the bigger challenge I see is uh compliance with the uh turnover the tenant turnover forcing the reinspection so I I think that's where we have to educate the property owners the landlords to say look there's if and maybe that's through um a fine a higher fine that if you do not uh register that you have a tenant turnover now you're now that starts the uh the clock ticket so maybe let's and and oddly enough is the tenant turnover on a one of two family house that is the state law right but I'm sure people buy properties and one family and they go I want you know I'm going to rent it out and they really don't know but that is a state law that's not something unique to some that's all everybody in New Jersey and and so it is but it is interesting I bet you there's a lot of people that don't know about that but that that's actually the state law yeah so maybe we can tighten that up a little okay okay any other coms I have yeah I have a question about 1 13 2- 7D two family dwellings one unit of which is occu owner occupied on the premises now uh been some controversy as to whether that applies when the second unit is detached M main building and a and a secondary building on the same premises interesting yeah I mean obviously that's not an area we changed that that's been in the in the ordinance the the um no in the past I've always been told been told uh that it it is considered owner occupied if if it's on the same premises yeah I think I think Tom brings up a good point because there are a number of homes that have a house and then there's an old barn or carriage house that's been converted so I I think tightening that up or creating an e that says uh multiple dwellings on the same block and lot right that do you want to exempt them if you have multiple no I don't think we should exempt them well right I mean the ordinance says that the the the rental dwellings and peris shall not be subject to file registration okay they they are Exempted already yeah so what I'm saying is if you've multiple properties and you live there do you want to is that safe do you want to exempt you oh okay all right I see because it's always been Exempted before and this year uh I'm not even clear why employed because because you're not living in the same dwelling it's a it's a separate dwelling yeah it's a separate separate rent the same on the same premis but she said that oh no it's not exempt I would agree that it's not exempt because it's a separate structure the the owner clarify that in the ordinance the owner is not living in that structure so if you have a mother daughter you're saying yeah like that yeah okay yeah yeah you know I guess that's got to be clarify yeah it does yeah okay all right any others all right um public comment is open on uh what's the number this zero uh 26 yeah 2742 public comment is open hearing none we'll close public comment and roll call please yes yes yes yes yes yes okay uh number 2742 uh ordinance for public hearing and adoption this is an ordinance providing funding for burrow Hall HVAC renovation project for the burrow of Somerville and appropriating $360,000 for such purpose uh can I have a motion to open the public hearing who Moved second discussion roll call yes yes yes yes yes yes yes all right uh public hearing on 2742 is now open hearing none we close 2742 and motion for adoption please so moved second discussion roll call oh sorry yeah I just um continue to say I think we ought to be able to find funding for this somewhere um I'll reach out to Rodney and uh Mark and and see if we can turn a few more Stones over I mean I know we have to do it but I just think we can find funding okay roll call yes yes yes yes yes yes okay uh consent resolutions we are adding number 281 uh which we have to take as a separate as a walk-on uh and I will also pull number 280 uh any others yeah could you pull 273 and 275 okay all right uh approving uh number 269 is approving Girls on the Run Race for November 24 starting at 10: a.m. 270 is urging Congress to support the expiration of the cap on the state and local tax deduction 271 is authorizing a non-fair and open contract to & Engineers for replacement of HVAC systems at Burrow Hall 272 is authorizing a handicapped parking space on the roadway located near 90 Brookside Avenue on Mountain Avenue 275 is accepting a grant of up to 87,3 from the Hazardous discharge discharge site remediation fund program through the New Jersey Economic Development Authority and the Department of Environmental Protection 276 is accept accepting the resignation of Jenna Luso effective September 25th 2024 uh 277 is approving 62-64 West Main Street to be used as a temporary pop-up Market 278 authorizing the award of a non-fair and open contract for tnm associates to perform Engineering Services to update Burrow's stormwater system information to meet the ms4 mapping guidelines 279 appointing Kevin sluka Somerville Burrow's film ready liaison and seeks certification to be a film ready Community uh do we have a motion so second second roll call Ju Just on a correction on um on the 24916 274 that was accepting a grant up to 81763 is that what I said what did I say I don't know where that came came from okay um all right uh roll call yes yes yes yes yes yes all right 273 is accepting a grant and authorizing the mayor and clerk to execute agreement from Association of New Jersey environmental commissions for community garden expansion Grant in the amount of $1,500 do we have a motion no moved second discussion yeah my my question was is isn't this the same the same Grant referred to in uh number 275 uh it probably is one one is yeah one is accepting the grant the other one's making the modification in the municipal budget to to uh be able to spend it in the past we've always done that together it's probably better for him to do them separately um the state I'm not going to disagree with you councilman but I I don't recall that actually the the chapter one the chapter the resolution for the chapter 159 is kind of a standard resolution that the state requires it's it's moot we're we're moving both okay uh roll call 273 some no we already did that e roll yes yes yes yes yes yes all right 275 is approving chapter 159 for anj uh environmental commissions for community garden expansion Grant do we have a motion so mov second discussion we already did uh roll call yes yes yes yes yes yes all right before I do 280 I do want to uh um thank Jenna laruso for her uh for her time at the planning board and Zoning Board and up in the burrow Hall office uh very capable young lady and uh she did some great work for us so thank you J Brian 280 is for ales no I know I said before I get to 280 yeah so um now 280 accepting resignation of alestes from the planning board effective immediately do we have a motion so moved second all right um I just want to thank Al for his work um Al is uh was on the planning board for many years uh came off of it uh served on the board of education for uh for many years came off of that and then served back on the planning board again um he called me last week and said he's at a time in his life where he's going to focus on uh family and uh um he uh he thanked uh a number of Mayors for for appointing him to uh to the boards or to the board and uh uh we wish him well and we thank him for his uh his lengthy service not only to uh uh to the planning board but uh but to the community at large so thank you well nice work um roll call yes yes yes yes yes yes all right 281 is authorizing manual issuance of a payment to for build invoice 39333 in the amount of $5,151 system at Somerville emergency service services facility Kevin I'm uh if I'm I think I'm correct in that this is housekeeping and it was a late uh uh uh invoice that came in we need to uh to get it paid uh it was also submitted to Department of Labor because this deals with prevailing wage a prevailing wage job so uh in order for uh for them to be paid labor has to approve this as well or review it as well and we reviewed it as well so now it's up for payment correct it's it's an August Bill everything's valid on it we were wait primarily waiting for uh documents for prevailing wage pretty much exactly what you said okay do we have a motion so moved second disc roll call yes yes yes yes yes yes all right bills and vouchers Roger uh I make a motion to pay bills and vouchers in the amount of 1,4 31,6 and3 second uh discussion roll call yes yes yes yes yes yes I have to abstain from uh Flemington department store po uh the rest yes okay uh at this point I will ask uh Mr Mitchell for a motion for adjournment move for adjournment second discussion all in favor I opposed this meeting is adjourned