##VIDEO ID:oG6v8s4LlEE## e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e welcome to the township of spring field County of union state of New Jersey meeting for November 26th 2024 notice this meeting is being held in accordance with the public laws of 1975 chapter 231 and adequate notice of this meeting has been provided by no desent to The Star Ledger the local source and posted in the main lobby of the municipal building and on the township website uh please join us for the Pledge of Allegiance led by call Ard Junior Vice Commander American Legion Post 228 of the United States of America and to the rep for it stands one nation under God indivisible and justice for all please remain standing for a moment of silence for soldiers overseas and abroad thank you thank you Carl sir roll call Mayor Weber here Deputy Mayor ler present committee man cides here committee man Kaiser pres committee man Huber is absent um how many meetings how many meetings uh Rich how many meetings be Rich has been month already two two Township wants to uh we all wish Rich to um get a little bit better he's been feeling under the weather last few weeks we spoke with him today um he says he's getting much better and we'll be ready to be back shortly but we all uh miss him and um hope he is back into fighting shape shortly Springfield residence 55 plus December 20 24th calendar is out you can get that from the Chism Center and the township website all days are filled for December of 202 24 except for the 24th and the 25th all municipal offices will be closed on November 28th and 29th Township of Springfield's tree lighting Town Hall Tuesday December 3rd from 5:30 to 8 the rain snow date is Wednesday December 4th save the date Santa visit Springfield on Saturday December 7th inclement weather date is scheduled for Saturday December 14th more details to follow as we get a little bit closer rabies clinic scheduled for January 11th 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. at Chisum Community Center please bring exact cash or check payable to Township of Springfield 2025 renewal licenses will be issued at the event and right now we're going to go to um i'lll pickup scheduled for December 11th and 12th please have everything out by Tuesday night on December 10th each Street will only be picked up once now we're going to go to a proclamation to Michael sarino for the Eagle Scout project there's Michael okay whereas today November 26 2024 Boy Scout Michael sarino a member of Springfield troop number 73 of Patriots path Council since 2016 is being recognized by the Boy Scouts of America for successfully completing all requirements for scouting's highest rank and whereas we are gathered here on this occasion as friends family and neighbors of Michael sarino to support him on his attainment of the rank of Eagle Scout and to recognize the faithful and steady path taken within the scouting organization and whereas Michaels eag Eagle project at the Springfield free public library was divided into three sub areas Mountain Avenue entrance the walkway and general entrance area and main entrance sign whereas we commend Michael on his Eagle Scout project of refurbishing the Mountain Avenue entrance to the Springfield free public library by enhancing the walkway and signage and whereas Michael along with fellow Scouts mulched placed a weed barrier in front of the library sign placing perennial flowers in the newly mulched area with solar powered lights to illuminate the sign and also line the walkway with weed barrier and whereas the Eagle Scout project will enhance the entrance to the Springfield free public library to welcome all guests young and old as they visit our library now therefore I Chris Weber on behalf of the mayor and Township of Committee of Springfield Township of Springfield sorry County New Jersey to hereby recognize and congratulate Michael saraso on attaining the rank of Eagle Scout for this standing accomplishment and extend to him our deepest appreciation for all of his dedicated work and wish him all the best in all of his future endeavors come on up [Applause] congratulations thank you you son want say anything uh yeah okay we on we're on do you know um how long ago I was last here because it was definitely a while ago about seven eight months yeah so it took a while but we're done now and I'm very happy and I'd like to thank first of all you guys you guys were very fast with getting me through the approval stages so we could work on it I'd like to thank Miss lafas on the library director she was very good to me she was very good at communicating so we could actually execute the project uh the Ken family they really helped out and all the people in my troop who volunteered uh it's a very good program and if you have a youth I would recommend at least giving it a look because it's it really does give you a lot of life skills can I ask you a question yes so how long have you do how long did it take you to attain the rank um so like when I started scouting from beginning to end so like seven years took seven years actively going for I'd say like 1.5 like that's when you 1.5 is when you knew you had something you were going to you you really wanted to get this done with yeah I mean like you can definitely do it faster but I don't think you should really draw it so somewhere along the line within the last two years you say you know what I'm I'm close enough to Eagle Scout I'm I'm going to I'm going to crush it and get this done with yeah anything specific stand out in your head over all the years that you were doing this what do you mean by that meaning meaning was there anything that was um extremely difficult that you thought maybe you wouldn't get past or or or or more than challenging than you you thought that it was going to be we did this 50 mile track when I was like 14 you get the mic a little bit because I want people to hear that outside so I had to do a 50 m Trek when I was 14 that was definitely my most difficult experience and then we went back the next year and it was a lot easier so year stronger year bigger yeah um where was it through uh 10 Mile River Aqua honga wow how long did that take you six days so it was 25 on land 25 on water I don't know if I can do that I just did it like two weeks ago don't worry about it it's good to hear so what what what is next um college and like yeah college that and anything decided yet no no I I'm still setting some out some are out already okay it's a process all right um well anybody have anything no I asked a bunch of question question the first time he came up here so he's he's he's good I I'll add Mike thank you for what you did for the town and the library it was tremendous work um a bit of advice put this front and center on your college applications that's the plag uh like in lights with arrows um and we promised you a fancy piece of paper and I'm really glad that we could deliver the fancy piece of paper so thank you no congratulations thank you I I don't think I was here when the first time so like the one time you came that the only meeting I've missed in my entire tenure is unfortunately when you asked but congratulations I'm glad that I'm here now the way I the way I I I view this is that you know certain things um when you you're born and raised here yeah yeah um I've come across quite a few kids that you know have been born raised here have made a huge difference in their Community uh I don't you know are you planning on living in college or you going to you don't know yet live in college you don't live in college you'll be back you know um don't forget about your hometown because we can always use Talent like you and there's always you know something popping up or anything you know in terms of employment and stuff like that even if you come back for the the summer and you're looking for maybe seasonal work or or anything like that we're always more than happy to to um get somebody of your caliber on board and and and um put them to work because we know you'll take good care of whatever you you have to do so thank you from the township of Springfield thank you thank you Michael and you guys did a great job with him he's very thank you for for allowing us to have them over here all right for that with that you might well be interested in this one if you want to hang out for a minute because we're going to talk about the raway valley rail to Trail now okay so the last time this was presented to us um it was a lot more informal they had just gotten to the early stages of it I don't know if anybody had even signed up yet I think we have a whole different world to talk about now four years later almost right um Ste even dun the biking fireman Junior I should say junor Yes man you're even taller than him don't worry we not we not do the picture thing it's Sor right please no pictures I'm going to hold this up because that's problem always uh so I want to start off with another plug for the the Boy Scouts uh my friend Mr Bill near set here was actually my scout master in Garwood when I was a young lad I never made it to the rank of Eagle I was just a tender flip but it definitely you know left an impact on my life and you know Bill is still very involved in his community I'm involved in my community and uh my boys are in Scouts now in Kenworth um and you know please we're going to need help with the the rway valley rail trail so this is definitely good future Eagle projects wait you guys you just figured this one out just now you guys were talking no no I've know you've known yeah yeah yeah I just you know it just kind of made me think like it's it's it's funny this is not the first meeting for Council that we've been to together and it's funny how you know he's had a big impact on my life without even I didn't realize until kind of a while later you know you we went our separate ways and then all of a sudden hey he kind of the one who planted the seed and uh and I he retired and I pulled him back into Union County connect I hey come back and work for free and uh yeah so it's interesting but Scouts than Scouts are really a good thing I'm glad to see you know people involved in going oh I got you in here right don't worry I'm I got words I'm gonna say so my name is Stephen Dunn um I am a fireman in Elizabeth I live in Cranford just moved to Cranford from Kenworth with my two boys who are in Scouts and uh I'm the president and founder of Union County connects we're an organization with a pretty simple Mission we want to connect the whole County by a system of trails to promote uh Healthy Lifestyles through safe outdoor recreation and transportation let's give you a brief history on uni County connects we started as a Facebook group in 2020 um it was called Rails to Trails Union County and there was about a three and a half mile section of unused railroad that is between goes from Cranford to Elizabeth and uh we were eyeing up saying hey this would be a good route to to get places I joined that Facebook group early on because I ride my bike to work I haven't I don't drive a car to work it's been 5 years now so I was thinking hey this would be a good place to get off the road uh so I joined that Facebook group and uh a little while later in 2021 that uh kind of cause became more urgent for me I actually started a rails Trails Committee in Kenworth and I was real excited we got the first committee meeting going I took off the first four hours of work and I'm on my way way to work real excited rideing my bike and I got hit by a car went over the handlebars broke my collar bone put me out of work for 3 months um and you know you know if you're in um the Emergency Services world you're kind of used to being on the go you have your coping mechanisms and for me it's being active and riding my bike and to kind of suddenly have to stop and do nothing but sit around on my own thoughts for three months it caught up with me real quick um so you know thank you bless you um thank you it was a hard time for me in my life but it was kind of from the depths of a depression really was born in Union County connects um we had this Facebook group which had a lot of energy and we realized it was more than a Facebook group so later in 2021 we incorporated into a nonprofit official Union County connects and what we're trying to do is build consensus all around the county you know Union County is interesting we have 21 municipalities and everyone's got their own little character but we all travel all around the county and for me we have this map in our mind about if I'm going from point A to point B in Union County I think most of us have an idea of Roads we have 28 we have 22 we have the parkway we have 78 and that's how we're going to drive someplace and what I really want to try and do is change that map in your mind so if you want to walk or bike somewhere you have a trail that you can go right out your front door and get there quickly um so it grew pretty quick and I just want to point out I'm gonna come back to youen we have a really awesome team we kind of wound up drawing a lot of people in so just two of them here today so bill is Bill I already said my nice words about him but he's uh he's on the gar planning board he's a former councilman in Garwood uh he's on the Green Team and he's the uh former planner for the city of planfield and he was actually the main architect of the greenbook trail and that's we don't have to get into all the details but that's on this map so that was my Western end of uden County what's connect to the greenbook trail um and so Bill's like I said I drew him out of retirement and Ellen's here she's a scout leader in Rosa Park she's on the Green Team she handles our website design some our emailing and stuff and just kind of a a lot of great connections anything else just you're awesome uh Al's not here Al walkoff isn't here he's he's a little grumpy tonight but Al's kind of this great connector for us he's a former board member of the Union County Parks and Advisory Board uh which before it was disbanded and he's really a Visionary he kind of was talking about the C&J 30 years ago before it was even thought um so that's the brief history um and so I want to get into uh the Ry Valley rail trail because this map here that we have on Union County connects that's the Grand Vision but the the low hanging fruit is really the r Valley rail trail so Union County connects in 2022 we partnered with the national rails to house conserv Tom seon is based out of um Philadelphia and he controls 10 states in the Northeast for the rails trails conserv and he came down and we hosted our first celebrate Trails Day event in Kenworth and what we did was he walked along the line I actually went out there and cleared it all with the machete and my lawn mower so we could walk and uh we brought people on the what it did was brought awareness because what I tell people is stuff is hidden in plain sight I lived here my whole life and I don't even know a railroad used to run there and I love this stuff you know I was a scout I was outside right so what we did was we kind of brought uh lightness to the dark areas you know sometimes these tracks are just dumping grounds and overgrown and by bringing people to it it drew awareness uh so we did that for three straight years and actually after the first year the county and this is where I really want to drive home for you guys uh Kenworth and Rosel Park in partnership with the County applied for and received what's called a transportation Alternative Program funding from the federal government it was $1.5 Million um that funding is still available but it might not be for long um so that was in 2020 three that that grant funding was awarded this is a couple other things Union count conect has done we helped Rosel last year actually no this year 2024 they applied for the sirt which is the Blue Line there uh that goes from Cranford out towards Bayway uh they applied for the tap grant funding and we helped them with that uh this past year hopefully they get it um and then also in 2022 we hosted the East Coast Greenway committee meeting and we proposed a safer route for the current the the current route of the East Coast Greenway takes to the gothal bridge and it was pretty um dangerous uh so we brought everyone together for a meeting and we kind of talked about a better way and uh Union County and Elizabeth were awarded a million dollars last year to do the East Coast Greenway connection from the gothal bridge to Cranford um so it's been it's been a fun ride we kind of just love talking about this stuff and seeing bringing you know bringing to light what can be done and um I'll get to the bridge in a second um so the uh the tap the tap grant funding it's good for at least this year um I personally think and I mentioned it to the mayor and the environmental commission a really great route for Springfield uh to go to um to get really millions of dollars is uh in partnership with Union and Union County Springfield could really apply for a strong submit a strong Grant application to get Federal funding to convert the Raley Valley rail trail in Springfield and if you don't know already in Springfield it connects myav to Brian a park you have a beautiful Trestle Bridge just off myav and it would come down over uh out behind Costco in 22 in Union and it's really beautiful back there the whole Trail will be 7.3 Mi starting in r Park and ending in Summit oh and I missed even more money Summit got $1.1 Million last year for from this uh funding as well so there's just a lot of federal infrastructure money available and if we put together a strong um Grant application um it's there it's there for the taking and uh we all know there was an election recently and we might see a change in federal funding so now is really the time to act and then one last thing you may be thinking well what about Route 22 it does cross Route 22 at um by right by Michigan a and if you've ever driven in Union on Route 22 you know that people are playing Frogger and it's really sad and there's no way to access that Center Island as a pedestrian or a cyclist so one of our members his name is Jeff Grobe he's a landscape architect he's designed parts of the East Coast Greenway he's also the drummer for a rock band uh the uh we talked about brandy brandy yeah looking glass uh he was going to come tonight but he couldn't make it so he actually Drew up a uh um a magnitude of an order magnitude estimate for what a bridge would cost be like to cross Route 22 I spoken to Senator cryan about it I spoken to the County Commissioners about it I spoken to the njtpa about it I spoken to New Jersey bike and walk Coalition about it East Coast Greenway about it rails Trails about it uh so we're spreading the word I think I think everyone in decisionmaking um positions at funding levels higher up are aware of these uh connections that are possible um and then the last thing I'll talk about is you see all the way down in the corner we have our resolutions that have been approved from towns around the area uh so every town along the raway Valley Railroad has a has passed a resolution in support of the idea of Rails to Trails Andor Union County connects um except Springfield and for no other reason then we just uh I haven't been here and I haven't made the connection and kind of that's how it happened um so I'm really excited to be here because I think this is a win this is this huge for Springfield um it's huge for Springfield and it's and you know I won't get too to deep into I guess all the benefits but if you I sent you the raila trails website there's just huge benefits for having Trails like this in your neighborhood it could bring people it could bring business um it's a sustainable Transportation method for people like me and also just a healthy outdoor outlet and Environmental Conservation um so I think I hit all my rambling there uh yeah and one other thing we this year we did a uh we awarded a heart Grant from M County uh I love the history of this as well um so so Richie King is actually a guy he lives in Union and he literally wrote three volumes of history on the Raley Valley Railroad and he helped us commission a mural you can see it on Route 28 in Rosell Park it's an accurate depiction of steam engine number 15 which is the last time steam ran on the Raleigh Valley Railroad and diesel engine number 16 and you can actually see the real history of it and the cool thing for me steam engine 15 is actually still out in Scranton PA so a kid can come here and say hey look at that that steam engine used to run here and then they can go to Steamtown national museum in Scranton and see the actual um piece of history and um you know the the railroad actually built this whole area so to preserve this right away to maintain the history of it is just uh I get giddy thinking about exciting and I really hope uh Springfield is on board with this idea because I think it's going to be a huge benefit uh to the whole town I'll start the questions real quick um number one you said every Township except for Springfield so far has given you a resolution that's been in favor of this yes um well let me just be very clear careful because Summit no but they were already doing their thing they're already they're already involved in it anyway okay has anybody actually completed a section that is uh walkable at this point Summit has uh they put a bridge over morav um but it's only probably maybe a little over between a quarter and a half mile of walkable space how much between a quarter and a half a mile okay it starts at Overlook hospital and then you can end at the bridge but they haven't completed the rest of it yet but they are planning on yeah it's in the planning phases I don't know the details of if there's a hold up or why there's a hold up but they're going to come to Orchard Orchard Street and that's uh there used to be a bridge over Orchard Street to connect to Brian half Park so that's where the Summit Park line who is a individual nonprofit Foundation Building it in Summit and they're going to hand it over to the city of summit our go goal for the and I'm just talking what I think is the best way our goal um for the rest of it for me that makes most sense from Springfield Union korth and Rosel Park to be a linear County Park we have M Us in Rosel Park and Kenworth for shared services on there um obviously I'm not the guy who decides that but that seems to be the most um practical way to do it especially in Springfield where it connects to two County Parks already who's the official owner of that line so right now it's owned by the J do and the county has rights in 2017 they passed a resolution that they can do the rail to Trail conversion or the whole line through Union County yeah y yeah and um and as as you know it's being done already in Kenworth and Rosel Park I don't know it's very FR you probably know better than anyone the pace of government is frustratingly slow but it's going to happen you know within a couple years we'll probably within a couple years there will be a path from Route 28 in Rosa Park to through worth stopping at 22 hopefully in a couple more years we got from Union all the way up to Summit and then hopefully within 10 years we'll build a bridge over 22 and all say wow we did it so when when we met at the environmental meeting the other day we talked about um you know we we have a I don't know if any other towns have a problem with you know these Trails going through backyards or or through neighbor not even actually through property but adjacent to property your idea was pretty interesting because you said well why don't we stop it at Mountain Avenue and continue it all the way through which didn't actually affect I don't believe anybody's property line going all the way through Union yeah and then Union picking it up um when you last spoke to Union what was their temperature on it with it uh it's been a while then since we met last week that's kind of what my next step is we're going to get in front of them but the resolution we got from them was in um 2022 um and they and this basically the resolution says we like this idea of rail trail conversion um but it's just a matter of like I haven't we haven't kind of made the connection to push it Forward because honestly we're focusing on the we trying I guess focus on the lwh Hang fruit first and kenor and Rosa Park were Those portions and now we're trying to move it on up yeah I um you addressed one of my concerns about potentially how how to pay for it so that's I mean obviously there's grants available and and and the mayor talked about the relationship to this Trail within residential areas um what is when this is built what is the vision of what the trail is going to look like because I'm thinking about biking and people walking like do you have a vision of what the trail is made out of have you thought that far about the plan yeah yeah so I personally have thought about it but I'm very careful not to it's not my decision at the end of the day if it were up to me it would be a stone stone dust gravel path because it's non permeable surface um ADA Compliant I I don't think it's going to happen I think they're probably the county Engineers are probably going to want to do asphalt um but yeah it's it's a multi-use trail so it should be ADA Compliant it should be for biking walking um running that kind of thing and Recreation and like I said for me it's a transportation method I use my bik to get everywhere and I think that's uh I think that's I didn't even touch on this but part of this is also pedestrian encyc safety one of the best ways you talk about a hierarchy of controls like how can we really control the built environment um get pedestrians and cyclist off the road as much as possible because when you're when you're sharing Road space with vehicles there's going to be problems um so this really addresses in the best way for everyone give other options so so that's the huge thing and and you kind of alluded to my final point about just I guess pedestrian and cyclist safety somebody gets hurt uh jogging or or on ayle somebody takes a fall like my concern would be like if we needed to get to somebody during that trail and again I don't know what it looks like and maybe we could talk to other towns but you know God forbid somebody gets injured how how does how do they get help and how do our Our First Responders resp respond if there is a need well I mean I I know I I'll speak for myself and that I know that the capabilities of Springfield and Union County can certainly handle it and um it's a discussion that needs to be had between the police and the fire um but certainly um not insurmountable in Kenworth they built a about a two- mile section of the East Coast Greenway in 2014 and actually they had during construction there was unfortunately a fatality um but they got back there and they because excavator tipped over but they got back there and they're having an inance back there you can get back there and we talked about a couple access points yeah we we had talked about you know what was too long of a of a route before there was an entrance or an exit and that was one of the things where we said you know if if there was an availability and it was just open space it would be better to have you know almost similar to any other Beach or anything else where you have as many access points as you could to be able to join the trail wherever you can you know it it become same as my thought was same as yours it become concerning if you're looking at over a quarter mile or more half mile of maybe no entrance way but if it's big enough to put a train up there like you said the path could definitely be at least 10 ft wide even 8T wide you can probably fit 10 ft is good for an ambulance and the good thing too is you have the fire department the fire headquarters is right next to it um so again you guys got a great fire department here they're going to fire dep fire police figure stuff out so they'll come up with a plan obviously and uh hiking is certainly a new trend I I don't think anybody else has ever dealt with this before but yeah and I guess I I have a bad angle because you're obviously presenting and I'm I'm looking at you but I'm also looking at the department heads over here with Public Safety and then I also look at the DPW in terms of like just the general upkeep of the trail itself like who does that and I know you probably couldn't answer that and that's that we would have to discuss maybe amongst ourselves or with other townships that are are are thinking about doing this again I'm not I I like the idea and I think I think it's a great idea and a great uh Endeavor but like obviously there's yeah there's logistical concerns logistical concerns that I have but not to say that we couldn't and just I guess uh two things I can I can first of all send you the M us that are in place for korth and Rosa Park I conected to J rabina who was a big spearhead of this and he's a council person in Roso Park and also till Tom seon brings this up and again this funding might not be available for long but for the first time in history there's actually funding available for maintenance cost um so yeah I don't know if you know it's there now it might not be in a few years but yeah I I don't think it's uh you're talking about cutting grass and I think the surface I think the M asies now the surface is a responsibility of the county um so repairs are then and then I think the the dpws are supposed to cut grass and stuff but Robbie I got a question for you last time we were up there Robie you took me up there took a Avenue and when we were up there last time it was cleared out was that cleared out from jcpnl doing regular maintenance or it wasn't us right and they do that how often for us so they would actually still need uh access and control of of that whole thing anyway just because of their their power lines and structures so that actually probably works well in that favor too because you get some of the costs covered for tree maintenance basically they could do the trees you could do the grass the county does the the pavment um and you know I just point out again I know there are you see costs um but this is an economic Builder as well like you're going to people people will come to I'll ride my bike to Springfield just because I can and buy pizza I'm out have you know and I and I appreciate your passion for this subject I appreciate your breath of knowledge and and and the and the information you bring to us and and please don't take my questions as a a negative thing obviously we just have concerns and there's some bullet points obviously we want to discuss uh to make this uh you know attempt to make this a viable option for our community and uh again I appreciate your your you're being here and your passion I appreciate and I'll was give my last bit of urgency um there is a a tap the njtpa is offering a seminar on on the Grant application on the 12th December 12th I believe it is I send it to you but I'll send it again and then they are supposed to announce the fund sometime soon uh uh I it's in the thing I sent you to but I think the application is due the final application might be March or may or something like that so we have time um but if it's something you want to do you start now we get it up and it just might not be there next year you know so actually it might be next year I think it's funded maybe through 26 but um it's it's um the it's a generational opportunity to have this kind of funding so in terms of Union County right now uh for this whole project who's your strongest towns with most likelihood of of getting something completed sooner than later Roso Park yeah got Jay over there K Roso Park I don't know who's going to get it first but in terms of ease of um doing an actual thing there's a portion of Kenworth between the Boulevard and brur park that's fairly simple I made it the walkable Trail myself with a lmow and a machete really uh um so and then also in Rosel Park from 28 to about kofax is probably pretty easy to do as well once you get in between kofax and the boulevard of Michigan there's there's some encroachments there's trees and stuff so that might take a little longer that being said when they're planning it they might get everything ready to go and you know take up the tracks cut the trees and put it all down so but yeah uh we um I was hopeful we would would have seen some construction this year but I guess that was overly optimistic cuz it is a federal because it's a Federal grant it takes um longer so hey Robbie um with with our Trail the the only section we have that's not actually on land is the one that goes from myel where that train trestle is is that accurate that's the only one that there's actually no ground below how long is that thing yeah I got stung by like 45 bees before I even made it two feet there so I have no idea how long it is and I just ran down my zel it is fixable is it repairable okay okay funny piece of History the raway Valley Railroad is accidentally named the Ry Valley Railroad because of that bridge and that river that it crosses there because we're not really this that that was it that's why it's called the Ry Valley cuz it crossed there interesting did not know that can I ask a question yeah please how long is Summits Trail when they're done I I want to say 1.7 miles 1.7 the whole thing is 7.3 oh so the whole thing is 7.3 Summit from Roso Park to Summit Ros Park Summit 1.7 yeah about 1. and how much have they finished uh like a maybe a half mile at most yeah and and that was the did they spend a million and a half on that no no so that million and a half was awarded the same time that the Rosa Park and Kenworth was um so I don't know exactly but but I'm sure it hasn't been deployed yet because well it's probably been deployed in the form of um um like studies or or um planning but not not in the form of construction would be my guess they did do the bridge that goes over Mar they did the bridge and that was Private they they did a lot of private fundraising and I think they got I think they got $200,000 when malinowski was there he he you marked 200,000 towards that and the bridge is actually named after someone who I think was a big donor towards it too maybe we should I'll talk to them and see what they're projecting their 1.7 is going to cost them yeah how how long is our section um did we figure that out yeah I would I would guess so you're going from Bryant down to mile probably mile and a half probably mile and a half I would say maybe two two miles out cuz we we we take over Union how far past myel are we meaning if Mel is running across then you have the Trestle Bridge which I assume is still Springfield I don't know splits at that point right yeah yeah somewhere in those woods before I know once you get to Liberty on the other side that's by Bed beath and Beyond that's Union somewhere in there would be um Springfield portion can I can um you two have you and are my business ministrator John B you you guys have to connect mhm with this because um he's the one that would be handling our charge yeah yeah I got plenty of work today anything else Bill yes I did I well I forwarded the draft resolutions already do you have those yes yes yeah we forward the draft resolutions um I'll forward them to everybody else sure you guys can take a look at I think I'm pretty supportive it's pretty easy right yep yeah I you finish your comments and then I'll make so I guess this the last thing there would there would be two I guess resolutions that would be asked for maybe needed maybe not needed but the the regular resolutions are kind of just in support of the idea but then when you go for the Grant application um you have to pass a resolution in support of the Grant application um whether it's on your own or whether it's with the county in partnership with Union as well that's just my opinion that that would make it the strongest application because it's a competitive Grant you know people apply for so you show that you have buying from two different municipalities plus the county I know you have buying from the county I'll I'll get buying from Union too um so I think I I think we got a strong case for it I was just GNA say thank you so much for coming out this is a very informative presentation I think everybody's universally supportive of the concept yeah uh no F first off I I think it's a great Endeavor and it's going to certainly take a long time uh uh and a lot more money that is need it but uh I I think as long as everybody uh is behind it I think it's possible and I think it's a great addition to the community so we should try to do everything we can uh uh on our end um I would worry about that turnaround it's probably possible but that is a tight turnaround for uh uh March if it is March uh for a grant but if we're all in agreement I I I think it's a loadable goal and speaking to everybody who's volunteering it's a huge thank you to you who were volunteering a lot of time and had a vision so appreciate that and putting together uh a use of former infrastructure that is no longer just rotting away um and trust me I I I try to walk to Bryant Park myself uh from where I am and it's kind of tough and difficult so if there's a trail that connects it all it'll be enjoyable on my end yeah very cool so thank you thank you I appreciate time you very much I'm with committee maer I I got I have no problem if if you're asking right now because I know the environmental commission wants to know I was going to give you guys a chance to speak if you'd like but go ahead thank you thank you thank you to the sarino family for thank you you guys are sports I just want to say um you know we've we've been wanting to do this for a long time and when we we found them we were like yes a way to do it um not only is it good for our town it's good for the county um there's nothing to do around here there's people are always looking for things to do this is a healthy um great motivator for not only young people but older people as well it's it's healthy it's green it gets people off the roads and on their bikes there there's no downside to this at all um you know I know you were concerned about the houses on Tucker if anything it protects those houses from this Railway ever becoming a railway again so in essence you know these people that were worried because you know every 10 years or so it comes back up they're going to reenact the railroad and it's going to become live again this takes that fear away it it'll be used for biking for walking it'll it's good for Commerce for our town as well it'll bring people in from other towns to come and Shop here you know to stop and and buy a drink or some lunch there is no downside at all the environmental commission is very much in support of this and we hope you guys are too all right thank you anybody else all right um thank you uh super informative yeah informative uh we will just give a talk about what our next steps are at this point I like what you have to say Alex likes that you have to say I know you two both guys do also um give us a small amount of time to to process and talk to John and everything else and see what the next moves are right yeah this this is much different the last time we talked about this this was just in concept there was nothing happening uh there wasn't even diagrams really you know it was just you're way more advanced than you were the bridge on 22 if you're able to pull that one off boy is that fantastic if that's able to happen that no seriously yeah that's that that would be amazing Ju Just on just on the aspect that you can cross 22 safely not running around the the lanes so all right um thank you so much with that I'll just have a five minute German I don't think you guys want listen to the rest of the meeting all right Jour for 5 minutes e e e e e e e e e e e and we're back we are now going to go back to the regular scheduled agenda and continue on public comment on agenda items only Mr Mayor yes I sorry the next committee meeting is scheduled for Wednesday December 18th at 7 p.m. so we Wednesday December 18th 7 PM that's the next TC meeting we have two in December right no only one um now we can go on to public comment on agenda items only public comment on agenda items only seeing none we will go to the reports with our administrators report Mr John B thank you Mr Mayor quickly touch on a few items I know we touched on this last time we met that leaf collection has been an issue for us this year being that the leaves were so dry I know it doesn't seem to make sense but it made it more difficult to actually pick them up when you think about it you can't compress them you're picking them up but they just they blow back up again when you take the pressure off them luckily we had some rain last week that really facilitated uh our our schedule it helped us catch up Robbie had guys out actually um on the weekend we were doing pickups we should be back on schedule now where we thought we would be uh we've completed the first pickup of the entire town now the second pickup is done in zone one we're currently making second pickups in 24 and 7even if you look on the website you can see what those zones are and second collection for residents on County roads are scheduled between the 9th and the 12th of December so you've done a full sweep of the Town once already yes yeah really helped us let's touch on some Paving uh most of our Paving Paving projects are done for the year we've got a couple things left we got woodrest Circle that's scheduled to be milled tentatively on the third and paved somewhere between the 6th and the 9th notification letters were sent out we also had Robbie what was the other that we were going to pave there was woodrest and just woodrest okay PSC is working on myel heading towards mors that's expected to last three more weeks before that they're going to or before moving back to Mountain to finish the short length that is between Hannah and mors so that's PSC and doing that work another crew is currently working on lions place in Salter they'll move to keler and Rose afterwards the paving of all of these streets will be scheduled for the spring of 25 once they're done with their work that's every street that they tore up including myel and all that they have to be done by Spring of 25 Spring I know will they be done or is that the start for them be paved right right ORS okay so if anybody I know you guys didn't hear that at home all the streets that are uh scheduled to um that have been being worked on are going to be paved starting spring of 2025 correct okay garbage pickup collection is moved to Saturday this week because of the holiday Thursdays goes to Saturday no change on Friday's collection let's just touch on a couple of updates on where we are on our projects in town the Gomes project they're just about buttoned up uh I was there the other day they actually had Ferguson delivering more Plumbing fixtures so they're inside working on the apartments they're making good progress there I went over to Patriot Way which I sent everybody some pictures they've already got the foundation and they're making amazing progress there it won't be long and you'll you'll really start to see some some building going up there um I had a meeting the other day at Sophia's there's going to be some upgrades in the future done at Sophia's that we're looking forward to we'll bring that to you guys shortly I think that's going to be again I think that's a big plus for us in town again we're going to get another building at some point we're we're going to get another building that's going to have improvements on it and again I think this is going to trigger we're hoping for a domino effect that has sop fees gets done there's a couple other buildings that you've seen have been painted new windows in it makes the other landlords are going to look at their building and say it's it's time I start doing something so I think this Center we're finally moving and it's taken a long time it's been frustrating I know but we are making progress we just have to be patient and and stay the course other than that I don't think there's too much else to touch on at the moment it's a short week so if anybody has any questions or anything we'd be happy to answer good too nothing great thank you okay move on to uh department head monthly reports is emailed minutes none new business ordinances second reading none first reading none we're going to go straight into resolutions for approval by consent agenda if anybody wants any anything uh pulled please let me know and I will pull it resolutions 224-260 2024 d261 2024 d262 2024 d263 2024 d264 um P 264 2024 265 2024 266 2024 267 2024 268 2024 269 um Mr Mayor I would like to move resolutions 260 2024 260 through 269 with the exception of resolution ution 2024 264 second I don't want to Second it because it changed up my uh the way you did it this time and I don't know if I liked it I don't know if I liked it but second it it felt right to me never heard of this exception the exception of yeah I don't know if I like that that threw me off well you know everybody has their own process this messing things up here all right roll call please Deputy Mayor ler yes commit M Kaiser yes commitment cities yes mayor Weber yes resolution 2024-25 this resolution Awards a contract to Ben shaer Recreation Incorporated of Lake aaca New Jersey for Elvin park playground equipment and installation Mr Mayor I'd like to make a motion to approve res resolution 2024 264 as read by Madam clerk second um so my question to uh John is uh Alvin Park will be ready by Springtime do we know or I will check on the free but I would say yes it will be that's okay that's why we did it now um I double check that and get something free first thing in the morning I I just have a request for for that area um that's been a rough area for uh a lot of the residents there Alvin Warner Maran Perry all that um just want to make them the nicest park possible you know um if there's anything that we can add to it or there's anything that you know we can do for them to uh they know everything got pulled out and and and that park has been flooded quite a few times so I don't know if there's a basketball court going back in there I know there was a basketball hoop in there we look into that I'll get back okay see what's going there all right thank you roll call committee man capes Yes Man Kaiser yes Deputy Mayor ler yes mayor Weber yes Mr Mayor I would like to make a motion to the approve the request from Shabbat Springfield to have their 12 annual manure Lighting on Thursday December 26th at 4:30 p.m. at Veterans Park with use of the bucket lift and presence of auxiliary police with manora staying up until the end of Hanukkah hold harmless and Certificate of Insurance provided on approval of request second committee man capes yes committee man Kaiser yes Deputy Mayor laer yes mayor Weber yes move on to finance um I'll make a motion to adopt payroll and invoices for the period of November 14 2024 through November 26 2024 in the amount of 9 milon 5,658 51 second committee man Kaiser yes Deputy Mayor laer yes committee man cities yes mayor Weber yes and everybody should have received the October budget uh report the October pool budget uh report the October revenue report and the Octo October pool revenue report and should be filed the way accordingly thank you we have no correspondence public comment on any governmental issue public comment on any governmental issue um I do have two emails received is it what I want for De Santa Claus it's not that elaborate um we're exciting uh the questions are submitted from Michael Bartos 772 to court in Springfield the orange flags that were put up at certain crosswalks are missing and need to be replaced they were already done Mr Mayor okay so all of the flags have been replaced uh just to make sure Evergreen Mountain Avenue crosswalk by chafy and the crosswalks by Chism Center shike and miltown roads already finished all flags have been replaced do they blow away or do children take them they grow legs and they walk away I we're going to chain them down I wonder wonder what councilman brought that up um I'm going to have a question again uh you know this my request is some kind of lighted crosswalk signs for Wabo and myel Avenue it is impossible to cross there flags or no flags and also um Evergreen Mountain Avenue there has to be some kind of lighted crosswalk thing going on there or there's got to be a better solution I will tell you that we've done the flags for a few years yeah yeah there there is that is that Michael or is that you that's me no okay no the the the the Robbie can we look into that like do they make them that we can buy them maybe they're solar powered or do we need to have the electric company come out and please those those two crosswalks are you cannot navigate them I agree with everybody we all agree every we'll have you an answer quickly the flags are not getting it done yeah I will tell you that uh speaking for the five up we will be happy if you light that entire place up like a UFO that we we're okay with that if the res if any houses over there complain we'll handle that but we are very okay with whatever you come up with that we'll light that place up so people actually pay attention stop at those two crosswalks I it's just too dark there to be completely honest it's just okay an answer shortly thank you okay next question same uh from Mr Bartosh said 72 to court can the speed limit sign which hasn't been working for I don't know how long on tvid AV be moved to Hillside Avenue by the Freeman handicap apartments on Hillside Avenue speed limit is 25 miles hour and drivers taking that route off of South Springfield Avenue hitting the downgrade or doing well over 25 miles an hour anything on that one Chief I know you researched that okay so obviously we're aware of the situation there Mr botar and others have brought it to our attention before and they don't need to we we know it's a problem area um so got a little bit of data from Lieutenant West over uh and I'll read that so since September of this year we've completed 46 traffic Andor Raider details and issued 685 tickets for various violations do officers reg regularly rotate enforcement locations to keep down uh to keep the drivers from anticipating them being there so they won't do Hillside Avenue the same time every day um we'll do random spots in different times so it's not okay I'm going to work in the morning I know the cop's going to be there let me slow down um so we just try to keep it uh everything random as far as the sign itself goes I know the one he's referring to outside there's a battery pack issue with that one um we're looking into uh more updated ones that are solar powered and regenerate the energy themselves uh it's a bit of an expense but we're we're looking um to hopefully get that you know coming up this year um but the guys they're out there doing radar details on Hillside Avenue uh whenever I get a complaint I make sure I pass it down chain of command it gets out to patrol and they are targeted those areas are targeted uh Pit Road Pit Road was targeted fairly recently when there was some complaints about that um so aware of it I don't know if he doesn't see us I mean the guys aren't sitting obviously in the open cuz you know I mean sometimes we will just to slow the cars down but if we're looking to do radar enforcement usually the guys are tucked away somewhere and he's not going to see them so they could very well be there and he really doesn't know if they're there or not but we are aware of the issue um it is a main cut through to get off of 22 and go to 22 uh so we will continue um targeting it as we have and we'll get the device out there you know once we have something that's uh a little more viable than the one we have right now so so my my my requests to you and the police department are same as it was a few months ago I am a big fan of of of signs and and and and moving radar signs that actually post your speed up and I I think they make drivers more conscious of what's going on I asked uh several months ago for um some estimates for the signage of of of what it would cost the township to have a few of them I don't think we need a lot of them but I think we need to have at least four of them on certain streets that that um and and what comes to my mind right now is is Mountain misel um Hillside and Shan Pike um and and I just I I think they become again um I think they put drivers on notice I know that when I'm driving and I'm in a 35 M A Zone and I see that thing light up at 41 or so it prompts me to slow down I'm hoping it would have the same effect on others um but please if you can have a look at them I've noticed that Cranford and other towns now seem to have ones with light bars across the top that when they reach 10 miles over I'll be honest I one time scared the bleep out of you uh and it does make you notice I mean I don't I don't know if it changes patterns overall but it does for that minute in time slow you down on that road and I saw the lights go on slammed on the brakes so um I I I I would like you know we've we've talked about it here with the five of us we're all in agreement that we would like um to see more of those signs around if you could please get us a you know yeah no I'll get to you I know um the email has some estimates in there uh quotes you see anywhere from $3,400 to $5,000 depending on the technology that's involved with it okay um but yeah that's something you know we'll work on getting them I know we have one or the one or two uh again that technology it's mostly battery powered which is what creates the issue with them um and I do recall when we when we did discuss this months back I know we kind of also somewhat joked about it that a lot of times those things uh with the younger drivers becomes a competition to see you can get it up the highest also so I they probably more of a positive effect than a negative effect but that I have seen those issues as well especially at the overnight hours when there's really nobody around um it's a competition out there but it's again more positive than negative so I'll uh I'll push to get the the fund somewhere and to do what we got to do yeah and and maybe it's even I don't know if they can turn off at certain hours at night but you know or or even if they stayed off you know in a certain speed limit I'm telling you when I saw the red and blues activate on that sign post there's no way yeah I I have seen that and that did it personally it has had me slow down and it makes you jump a little bit and you say oo maybe I was going a little too fast so yep and and it's really hey it's the dangerous times I would imagine are especially like the dust when trying to commute home it's dark out so I don't know maybe if it jump change your pattern just a little bit at okay okay thank you um I have one more question um uh same Michael Bartos 772 to court uh sent an email to Senator George helmy asking if he has met with the Mayors and the Army Corp of Engineers referring the flooding in the raway River Basin or have the Mayors met to discuss with them referring uh to the flooding I I have not met with anybody no that the the the George Hemley is a a placeholder for several months and while representing our interests in DC for a few voting sessions uh but that does not mean that we have not been well represented under Senator Corey Booker who has taken the lead uh for the past few years so uh and and I'm fairly certain that our senator-elect and Andy Kim uh will certainly take up the mantle and and be a much better representation than Senator Menendez has and and and and equally uh as strong in his advocacy for this issue yeah I agree with you uh so yeah we don't have any new information with uh the Army Corp of Engineers referring to uh any of the the things that we' have been talking about so thank you for your questions uh I think we've handled all of them except for this last one which the answer is no and with that I will move on and close public comment and go on to to Executive session big momenten we've been waiting for this all night Linda's watching you right now I'd like to make a mo I'm just messing resolution number 11 2624 whereas article 6 of the open public meeting act provides that a public body May hold a closed session and whereas the township committee will during this meeting enter in discussion of the following matters attorney client privilege and contract negotiation Redevelopment attorney client privilege and potential contract negotiation dispatch attorney client privilege contract negotiation and potential property acquisition I make the motion to go into executive session second all in favor I Linda do you approve of the way this was handled yes okay just making sure the Lawless no action right no action will be taken e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e