##VIDEO ID:6g6mGQnO2Ek## 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 okay good evening everyone the meeting will come to order Madam clerk would you please read the adequate notice of compliance statement adequate notice of this meeting has been provided by the city clerk's office in the preparation of the Council annual meeting notice dated December 18th 2023 which was properly distributed and posted per statutory requirements please be advised that fire exits are to my right your left and at the back of the room the city has a listening system to assist the hearing impaired if anyone needs hearing assistance please obtain the system at theas and return it thereafter thank you Madame clerk you like to take a roll call please Mr Boer president Mr McAn president Mr miger here Mr palaski here Mr Smallwood here Mr fan present president protim Hamlet present okay like to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance pledge Al to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all Madam clerk would you please read the notices regarding closed session and hearings and comments a closed session meeting was as authorized by state statute was announced and held prior to the start of this meeting and the known items for discussion were listed on the published close session agenda please be advised that Council meetings are broadcast live on Comcast channel 36 and Verizon channel 30 and rebroadcast on Thursdays and Saturdays on httv on Comcast 36 and Verizon 33 when invited to speak please come to the lecturn clearly state your name and address spell your last name and speak into the podium microphone so that your comments can be understood by all and properly recorded whenever an audience or a council member reads from a prepared statement please give or email a copy to the city clerk at city clerk cityofsummit.org to help facilitate an orderly meeting and to permit all to be heard speakers shall limit their comments to 3 minutes unless you're using an electronic device to follow the meeting agenda or needed for professional emergency contact purposes please turn it off thank you thank you madam clerk uh at this time we will be approving the minutes for September 3rd 2024 and September 17th 2024 correct okay uh need a motion I would like a motion for that motion to approve thank you second thank you we do a roll call vote for that no just a voice all of in favor uh all in favor I I motion passes any opposed any opposed thank you Rosie uh I'm just going to abstain on the September 3rd okay okay and we will move on to reports Madame mayor okay couple of announcements um Summit free public library is hosting an open house for New residents on Thursday October 10th at 7 p.m. there will be a short presentation about the library from staff and then staff will take people on tours of the building and create library cards city offices are closed next Monday October 14th it's also a parking holiday no and no change to trash or recycling collections um residents can now renew parking and transfer station permits online current permits expire on October 31st current permit holders will receive an email from parking services with instructions on how to renew and more information is available on the city website the city of summit is actively seeking volunteers from the community to serve on several of its boards and commissions terms vary from one to 5 years of service with an opportunity for reappointment the city keeps applications active for two years the deadline to apply is October 25th 20124 go to the city website to view a complete list of boards and commissions and to apply now through the online portal the October Summit free market events will be held on S Saturday October 19th and on Friday October 25th the Saturday event for the 12th was actually rescheduled to the 19th due to the yam Kapur holiday more information is also available on the city website um this is a friendly reminder maybe not so friendly that there should be absolutely no dogs left off leash at any of our Parks or facilities and dogs are not permitted on turf fields at any time the number of complaints we are receiving continues to increase so please be respectful and keep our parks and and um turf fields clean and safe and last The Haunted Hike which was slated for this Friday October 11th has been rescheduled to Sunday October 13th to avoid conf conflict with the um kapor holiday that's all I have thank you thank you madam mayor Mr Tucci yes thank you uh first item I have I'd like would like to speak to the new Teamsters agreement that you'll be entertaining for the Public's information i' just like to a quick overview on what you're going to be agreeing to if you do uh it's a 4-year agreement with the Department of Public Works uh it'll be for four years first year will be 2.75 second year 2.75% cost of living on the third and fourth year 2026 and 2027 will be 2.5% for each of those years uh there will be steps included in this besides the cost of living the first two years years will be 2% per step the second two years will be 1% per step and there will also be a a reimbursement for those that are in service 25 years and have retired you'll get a $33,000 per year after 25 years of service with the city that's just a brief uh overview of what you'll be entertaining this evening secondly I want to thank DCS director shreer for taking me on a town a city tour he took me to the saltbrook with which has been a topic you know we're going to jointly look together to see how we can help that homeowner if you go out there and look at that property it's scoured pretty severely into their backyard and that's what we're here for to try to assist residents and we're going to try to do that you also took me out to the paddle bore courts I know that contract has been out there for a while uh as a matter of fact uh or CFO had the qpa send another letter to Riley green just follow up to make sure that they're complying with the uh Apprentice program donation uh also uh director shreer took me out to ashin road we talked extensively about the sidewalks that were going to potentially be installed there he showed me a lot of the impediments you know there's clear areas there's clear area with trees and together we'll try to work something out to see if we can't get that accomplished lastly we got a a email from Millennium who's our grant writer you're going to have a drive over and get pulled over application available for the 2024 program that normally runs during the holiday season and hopefully we're going to put an application in normally uh I believe the city does and is successful with that and that's all I have for this evening thank you thank you Mr Tui and I think I'm going to forgo my report tonight um I think everything's thank you for going to the saltbrook I think we're meeting with d and and our our city engineer on the 17th so we're very excited about that um thank you for mentioning the paddle courts ashin RH and the grand Rider all and thank you mayor for your report um at this time I will be calling for nominations for a new council president I guess I guess I guess I can nominate Mike right you can nominate I would like to nominate uh our colleague Mike McAn to be the next council president for the remainder of the Year second who seconded just do voice call get you can call for any other nominations are there any other nominations thank goodness for Rosie okay no other nominations hearing none all those in favor okay hearing none all those in favor I any oppos any opposed congratulations Mr President thank you and thank you Rosie [Applause] [Music] Rosie was that the vote on the resolution that's the vote on the resolution yes kind of winging it hello there I forgot my all right um thank you everyone for your confidence uh and your support um I really really appreciate it um I'm a little I'm honored but also a little nervous about coming back up here it's been it's been a few years so like riding a bikee yeah um but I do just want to say a couple things um you know as I mentioned coming back onto Council uh I was asked to do this and I couldn't say no um similarly around being council president um it it's a tough job I I know Greg's done it um Lisa did a fantastic job uh you know these are hard shoes to uh Hamlet for filling in as well she did a tremendous job also uh it's but one of so I have a couple of things that I'd like to just share on uh what I'd like to see happen and one is from the outside looking in um I'd like to try and reside or preside over meetings that one are shorter um but I can't control that um but what I can control control is or at least try to um encourage is a much more civil conversation that we can have together um I get it first amendment we have the right to petition the government we are the governing body um it's enshrined in our constitution uh but I would hope though that we also remember that we're neighbors the people up here they don't get paid any money they're all volunteers uh to help the city of summit so when you're directing commentary at them I just hope you remember that um they're doing it because they love Summit uh that's that's the only reason to do this and um so I just hope that when people do make those comments they remember that uh we can disagree we will it's part of Being Human um but we should do it in a really nice way so that's one of my one of the big things I'd like to try and and have and I'm going to need everybody's help to do that obviously not just the people up here but the people out there and watching um the second thing uh I'd like to try and do is um just to uh help with how our Council um uh I guess interacts with City staff um some some ideas about making process a little more smooth um they're not new they're old but some times they work uh so um and and we have great staff uh in the city and we should we want to support them and we want to work well with them and and let them do their job um because when they do great things happen um so that's another thing and then thirdly um I I get it my um um my uh yeah um my U uh background was Finance I'm a teacher now but I did have Finance background um you know the reason I ran for Council 12 years ago maybe uh was because I cared about the budget I cared about affordability in town and I still care about that um I have way too many friends who are leaving because it's expensive New Jersey is expensive um so what we can do around keeping Summit affordable to a town that we can continue not only to raise our kids but then uh retire here would be the goal so that's another thing uh I'd like to do so um with that um we're going to kick off the meeting oh one thing I I will say um I'm going to get it out of the way right now if you notice on the agenda pack uh we are going to do public comments we're going to leave them at the end of the meeting okay U I thought long and hard about this um over the last several years people have done it both ways I feel I really need I want to do it it that way for not because I don't I want to make it more difficult for people to make comments um there's loads but there's loads of ways for the citizens of summit to reach out to council you can come to meetings you can speak you can send emails you can go I went out for coffee with four different people in the last week there's lots of ways that you can um interact with Council however our staff has to be here for meetings and they have to be here until the end of business is done because we rely on our staff um as experts if we're g ask questions um and we have to think about the city's business they're the subject matter experts and it's not fair in my opinion for our staff to have to sit here till 11:00 at night to finish City business a lot of them don't live around the corner they have long drives so if you if so I get it some people are going to say I wish it was at the beginning it's not fair you're you're you're stifling open conversation that's not why we're doing I'm doing this it's for our staff and I hope people understand that they have lives too and um we I want to just make sure that their lives are a little easier rather than having to stay here till 11:30 with us so with that we're going to start our meeting right let's do okay um if you go through the agenda one thing we are going to do um Capital project capital projects it's uh capital projects uh 11543 uh the authorized bid for advertis and park line project we're going to pull that uh for now we're still working on some legal issues that will return hopefully next month okay all right so let's get going all right we did reports there's Proclamation all right I'm giving you a thank you um so we're going to have a mayor Proclamation Madam mayor uh it's going to make a nice Proclamation on fire prevention week thank you where you where you um okay whereas the city ofate is committed to ensuring this is not do that every time there we go whereas the city of summit is committed to ensuring the Safety and Security of all those living in and visiting our state and whereas fires are a serious Public Safety concern both locally and nationally and homes are the locations where people are at greatest risk from fire and whereas Home Fires killed more than 2700 people in the United States in 2022 according to the National Fire Protection Association and fire departments in the United States responded to 360,000 Home Fires and whereas roughly three out of five fire deaths occur in homes with either no smoke alarm or with no working smoke alarms and whereas smoke alarms sense smoke well before you can alerting you to danger in the event of fire in which you may have as little as 2 minutes to escape safely and whereas Summit residents should install smoke alarms in every sleeping room outside each separate sleeping area and on every level of the home and make sure their smoke alarms meet the needs of all their family members including those with sensory or physical disabilities and whereas Summit residents who have planned and practiced a home Fire Escape Plan are more prepared and will therefore be more likely to survive a fire and whereas the summit fire department is dedicated to reducing the number of Home Fires and home fire injuries through pre prevention and protection education and whereas Summit residents are responsive to these public education measures and are better able to take person steps to increase their safety from fire and whereas the 2024 Fire Prevention Week theme is smoke alarms make them work for you serves to remind us the importance of having working smoke alarms in the home now therefore I Elizabeth Fagen mayor of summit Do hereby proclaim the week of October 6th to 12th 2024 as Fire Prevention Week throughout this city and they urge all the people of summit to make sure their homes have working smoke alarms and to support the many public safety activities and effort efforts of our Summit Fire Department in witness whereof I have here unto set my hand and caused the Seal of the city of summit to be affixed this eth day of October in the year 2024 thank and and I just want to say thank you we have an incredible fire department I think we're very very fortunate to have all these guys thank you for coming tonight [Applause] and all right so just a few just a few words may mayor actually pretty much uh said a lot of what I was uh hoping to to go with um so this will actually even be shorter than than than expected um just some points um NFPA that's the National Fire Protection Agency uh say that the having working smoke alarms reduces uh the risk of dying in a home by 54% uh so real important to if you don't have them to please install them um as you said install uh smoke alarms in each bedroom um outside each sleeping area and every level including the basement uh smoke alarms should be installed about 10 ft from any cooking appliance to minimize false alarms and for best protection interconnect all smoke alarms via electric uh you could do electric hard wirring or they have uh the wireless option um make sure you test the smoke detectors once a month to uh using the test button and make sure everyone in the home understands the sound and yeah for more information you can uh reach out uh www.nfpa.org backevents back excuse me backfire prevention week for additional tips head thank you thank you guys for that uh Proclamation uh let's move on now um I love this the historical minute it's back I um yeah I'm doing it again fuzzy I'm doing it again tonight so uh councilman palosi yeah hopefully we'll have a stud some students uh starting at the next meeting um Rosie's gonna pull up a painting there oh not there what happen there we go I can't seem to expand this one all right does anybody recognize this painting oh yes yes it's Washington Crossing the Delaware by famed American historical and Portrait Painter Emmanuel litza in 1849 a 29-year-old artist from Cincinnati went to Europe to further his training he studied German Landscapes at the Academy in dorf Germany became acquainted with l at the time lza was working on his iconic painting and the German models just weren't quite right L seized upon the American student and had him POS twice once as George Washington and once as the steersman with the ore in the stern that American Artist ls's model was Worthington witd witd became a famed artist in his own right as a member of the so-called Hudson River School a group of landscape painters whose aesthetic Vision was influenced by Romanticism Worthington moved to Worthington witd moved to Summit in 1880 and built an impressive Victorian home he called Hillcrest then located at 166 Summit Avenue the witd garden Gardens and Worthington Court Apartments now stand on the spot perpendicular to witd Road he lived the last 30 of his 90 years in the Hill City you can find his paintings in theic American Wing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and in the Washington National Gallery so the model for George Washington in this painting lived in Summit for 30 years all right that's nice very learn something new every day that's good uh thank you councilman palowski um all right um at this T we we have a presentation for this evening uh tonight we are uh honored or uh we have the pleasure of hearing Malloy senior manager of operations I'm from New Jersey American water and he's going to give us an update good evening thanks a lot for the opportunity to come meet with you today I'll give you a brief update on our operations in the city we only have 11 slides I'm going to try to keep it concise just give me a high sign wa way to change absolutely next slide please so just a little bit about our company with largest uh water utility in the state we've served the city for over 100 years um over 800 employees strong uh the majority of our business is in water although we have a growing Wastewater business as well uh locally we serve Long Hill Township as well as parts of uh Bedminster and burner Township as well next slide please so part of our uh strategy to operating systems that we own is ProActive Management so we're out Flushing hyd Hants uh rout flushing blow-offs on dead ends in an effort to make sure that those hydrants are operational water's kept fresh likewise we're out inspecting valves on a regular basis to make sure that in the uh unfortunate event that we have a water main break that those valves operate and we can isolate the shutdown to be as small of an area as possible uh we have a a robust uh geographic information system that we keep updated in terms of locations of our assets so that if there's need for engineering um support we can locate those likewise we every day uh we have proactive Leak Detection technicians out in the field uh who look for um assets that may be leaking or may potentially be need renewal next slide so we're making significant investments in the system including the city here um over the the past few years we've invested a large sum of money mainly in main renewal uh some of our assets particularly in older sections of our system some of them are uh are in much need of replacement and we've been proactive in terms of replacing those prior to um any kind of failure next slide this is depiction in terms of the miles of main that we've been replacing um we' replaced quite a bit in Summit I have a slide later on that will show uh some of our targeted Investments next slide so it's a little bit difficult to to make out all the details here uh but this is a depiction of the Investments we made in the city since the year 2020 um uh we've spent over uh $7 million uh probably the largest and most high-profile um investment that we made was on Mars Avenue uh it was a a large project for us uh Mars Avenue is a very congested thoroughfare both from a traffic standpoint and an underground uh standpoint as well we had to remove some trolley car tracks in order to install our water main giv you an idea about how old the infrastructure is out there um but in the years ahead uh in terms of the Investments we plan on making it's going to be targeted on letting galvanized service line replacement state passed a law requiring that all Le and galvanized service lines be replaced both company-owned side and customer owned side before 2031 uh we're seeking to make that uh investment targeted and uh try to link it up with Paving programs both uh the city's Paving schedule the County's Paving schedule and any kind of work that other utilities are uh engaged in next slide please terms of customer service we're available 24 hours a day 7 days a week the water's always on so if there are issues um Around the Clock we always encourage our customers to call the 800 number it's a recorded line it's the quickest way to dispatch assistance to get uh customers help uh for those who who aren't necessarily interested in using the phone some of the younger generation likes to uh hop on text messages or the website in order to notify us that's always uh an option as well and we have uh a lot of options online on our website to be able to manage your account if uh if you so desire next slide bless you um on our website we have alerts in terms of service disruptions whether it's water main flushing whether it's uh construction projects whether it's water main break uh if we do have a service issue we're out there um usually sending a proactive text uh email alert and sometimes a phone call to impacted customers obviously we have to we have to measure that uh if there's a watermain break at 10:30 at night and everybody's asleep and it's going to be replaced by 3:00 in the morning we're probably not going to send something out but if it's during daytime or people's lives are impacted we're going to try to send something out to keep them in the loop next slide likewise we have a customer advisory map where uh customers go online and see where we're working what the emergency is we keep it updated in terms of the replacement um timeline as well as a restoration of service uh we always have police out on our job sites as well to help direct traffic and to uh handle any any customer inquiries in terms of trying to navigate through the work Zone likewise we have an opportunity to um submit emergencies online in addition to calling our call center next slide uh we understand that water is probably the smallest utility bill that most customers pay uh but we understand that uh at times uh times are tough and uh we do have options for payment arrangements budget billing similar to what the electrical utilities uh have traditionally offered there's also uh Grant assistance for uh customers uh who meet certain income guidelines and that's administered by a third party it's not a situation where you're sharing that information with the water company it's a third party that handles that for us next slide that's it I promis a short presentation I welcome any questions you might have thank you very much um this time Council any questions sure please councilman V 10 thank you council president so um you mentioned before 20 talking about lead you talked about replacement of the lines before 2031 so if the service side is not LED but the the customer side is the two questions are how can residents find out which what which one they have and two How would how does that replacement work and what's the expected timeline sure so we do have a a map on our website that shows the known company-owned side service line material and then there is a uh depiction of what the customer own side service line material as well uh we have very good records as to what's on the company own side we usually have pretty poor records on what's the customer own side houses change hands sometimes during the sale it's a requirement that um the new buyer uh demands that the old buyer perhaps replaces a letter galvanized service line what we we anticipate in the next couple months is we're going to be engaging the services of a Consulting engineering firm who's going to go door to-door in the city uh in coordination with um the city government we're going to meet uh we're going to keep the police department in the loop we're going to communicate to customers so that they're not alarmed by somebody knocking on the door as them go into their basement and look at the water service line uh but that's going to be part of our effort to inventory what the service line material types are out there uh and then once we had that information we're going to link up with uh city engineer the county um and we're going to make an effort to go out there and dig test holes where perhaps it's unknown what the company side is which is a very small amount okay thank you of course any other questions IC don't really have a thank you council president um it's more of a comment than it is a a question but well actually it's both um you'd already answered it in the in your presentation about coordinating with uh director shreer uh regarding pavement one of the biggest complaints and questions we have from residents or that at least I hear from is why are we digging up a road that we just paved three weeks ago uh so biggest thing is it just how before we dig up any road just how do do you coordinate with Aon sh or Dr shreer as well as the other utilities to find out if they're going to be needed needed to work in that area as well we do we uh we enjoy an excellent relationship with Department of Community Services here they've been excellent in terms of keeping us updated proactively in terms of the the streets that the city plans on Paving uh once we have that list we go through an inventory of our own assets and see what to do for replacement um in particular with this lead and galvanized service line replacement effort we're getting out ahead of that Paving because we understand how frustrating it is for uh the city to pave and then for us to come two years later and rip up the road and ruin that brand new Paving so than we try to get ahead of that any other comments or question one question your consumer confidence report that you send out do you get any or do you get a lot of uh resident feedback from those when you send them out I don't we have a water quality group that handles uh all of our lab testing and and from time to time they do get questions I'm sure people are concerned about what's in their water right people people always have questions um we we have we're pretty proud of our our track record in terms of keeping customers informed and and the quality of the water we deliver we're the only utility that delivers a product that customers ingest so we take that responsibility very seriously thank you of course there comments or questions one thing I would just say I know you guys do a good job but one of the things we do hear a lot from residents is how did I not know that there was work on this road and we've got traffic so the to the extent we can always make sure we're being sharp that we're when you guys are doing work even if there's an emergency like a water main break or whatever um we I do see pixels on I know you guys communicate but just please um make sure that that continues because residents do care it disrupts their day um it can be difficult they're always busy so anything you can do to give more information is better than absolutely we'll continue that we'll do all right no other questions all right thank you very much thank you so much for your time really appreciate [Applause] all right we're going to uh move into the business part of our meeting now and we have one ordinance for hearing today uh councilman minegar may I read the title first oh you of course you may thank you uh ordinance number 24- 3325 an ordinance amending the code chapter a schedule of fees appendix and chapter 4 General licing section licensing section 4-3 automatic or electronic Amusement Games uh now councilman miger thank you council president this is an ordinance that will amend chapter a schedule of fees and appendix and a subsection 4-34 under chapter 4 that deals with the fees associated with licenses for automatic or electronic Amusement Games such as pinball video games and other arcade Amusement Games this ordinance will change the fee for obtaining a one-year license to operate those types of games in a business to Simply $250 per machine uh machine this is a change from a license fee that currently varies based on the number of machines you operate ranging from $140 to $695 the $250 fee brings us in line with nearby cities such as Morristown Westfield and chadam I move to open the hearing on this ordinance thank you um we need a second y second second second I'm sorry thank you all right thank you um at this time I ask any comments from the public on this ordinance okay seeing none uh any comments from Council I guess I I know I asked this in uh at the Safety Committee councilman migar but just as an aside are there is there a proposal that we know of for these types of machines or business to go into town is this uh not that I know of in a business there was a suggestion by a resident who said that to bring it back in line with the surrounding cities uh we should do that so we agreed excellent thank you if I if I may to um add on to that there was um a an a business owner in town who um was requesting to install a an amusement game and this the fee was the question and he brought it forth as a suggestion it went through Dar process and that's what resulted in the ordinance thank you excellent any other comments from Council all right I'm going to uh declare the hearing closed um and we're moving on to ordinances for final considerations thank you uh ordinance 24- 3325 an ordinance amending the code chapter a schedule of fees appendix and chapter 4 General licensing section 4-3 automatic or electronic Amusement Games uh subsection 43.4 issuance of license and term thank you uh councilman minegar thank you council president having just had the hearing on this ordinance minutes ago I move this ordinance for final consideration a second all right we roll call right um okay take a roll call Mr Boer hi Miss Hamlet hi Mr MC Turner I Mr migar hi Mr palowski hi Mr Smallwood hi Mr Varan I did I miss anyone this roll call card's a little off okay okay motion carries uh thank you very much all right moving along to resolutions now uh we're going to start with uh safety and health councilman Boer thank you council president and uh congratulations thank you uh this is resolution ID number 11481 this resolution requests authorization for the purchase and installation of fixed cameras with an automated LIC plate recognition alprs uh system to complete our geofence around the borders of the city of summit uh phase one of this project was completed at the end of 2023 and this installation will finalize the city security infrastructure uh as you may or may not know uh completion of the geofence enhances security uh there will be no monitoring gaps improve collaboration with other towns and it leads to a safer community so uh I enthusiastically I'm happy to to move this to uh to move this forward thank you do I have a second second all right um any on this resolution are there any comments from the public any comments from Council I would just make one comment um I won't comment on everything but um I I just saw this and as I'm getting up to speed I I just love that we're doing this and continue to um look for different ways to use technology to make our community safer um you know one of the things I've heard people in being on the outside looking in is safety is obviously such a big deal and um I know the environment we live in the community the the state we live in the surrounding communities you know crime is it's it's an issue in a lot of places but it doesn't mean we have to accept it we we should push back to what we can and what we can do here and I'm very very happy to support this resolution all right um all in favor I I opposed all right uh moving on to safety number two thank you again council president this is ID number 11555 amend the mayor's task force on homelessness and Summit add new membership category and appoint new members uh I'd like to defer this to the mayor for a little more context thank you thank you um so the uh t Force has been meeting since June and as a result of me several meetings um one of the things that has come to light is that um the partnership between Overlook emergency department and our service providers including our police force our emergency our EMTs um and and Grace and and um Bridges and all of the providers that are engaged in this conversation um it has come to light that we could use um somebody that's connected more directly with the emergency department um to help us uh facilitate care and access to Services once um folks have visited the ER and are being um dis discharged to the community so this is an effort to to sort of ensure that that link is is more um is is a Little Bit Stronger so the the title of the um additional person for the task force is the uh Chief nursing officer or design and in this case um I'm happy to appoint Jennifer Moran who is currently the nursing manager at in the emergency department she's she's fantastic and she's going to be a great asset for us um and then secondly um we had a resident um who was on the task force who stepped down we hadn't filled that um role yet um and with Lisa Allen stepping down as council president but being available still in Summit um and with her role as part of the task force already in the last several months um it felt like a great opportunity to rope her back in for a little bit extra and so she's going to be joining the task force as well thank you mayor Fagan uh that being said I'd like to move this resolution for adoption second thank you uh at this time are there any comments from the public all right comments from councel all right all in favor I I opposed motion carries all right now moving right along to law and labor councilman palowski thank you uh this is resolution ID number 1461 to authorize execution of an agreement with Teamster Local 469 um period ically the city of summit negotiates its contract with the Teamsters Union uh which includes our Department of Public Works it's a collectively bargained agreement with a four-year term um uh business administrator Tui uh gave some additional details earlier in the meeting for our close session discussion I move to adopt this resolution thank you second uh any comments from the public comments from Council all right all in favor I opposed motion carries on labor number two councilman palowski thank you this is resolution ID number 11529 to authorize shared services agreement with the summit board of education for the use of tatlock Fieldhouse um the authorization is subject to final revisions and the approval of the board of ed Council and our city solicitor I move to adopt this resolution second comments from the public comments from Council all in favor I I opposed motion carries lawn labor number three councilman palowski this is resolution ID number 11548 to declare vacancy in the city administrator uh position per our closed session discussion we're declaring a vacancy for the role of City administrator effective January 1st 2025 uh we'll be advertising for the position and uh starting the interview process in the near future I move to adopt this resolution second comments from count or comments from the public any comments from Council uh yes three Council president please there was a um in the past there was a there was a document that was posted online or at least a part on the website that talked about the search process and how that was going to happen I know that there is a search process that is was just revealed to us today I would like to be more clear about that search process I would love the public to see more about how that's going to work is there a way that we can get that up there um yeah on the website for the public SE yeah I I think that's very doable and and uh I think we could accomplish that yeah it's going to be a multi-step process with resumés interviews um the clerk and I will yeah formulate something okay great I think it's great that the public knows how this is happening thank you um any other comments okay seeing none um all in favor I opposed motion carries all right moving right along to community programs and parking services councilman Smallwood thank you council president this is resolution ID number 1546 authorizing a promotion within parking services from Parking Clerk to administrative assistant and parking attendant to staff assistant I move to authorize this resolution and I second any comments uh from the public comments from Council I I do just have a comment I just like the fact that uh um we have some really great staff in parking services and our parking director felt very comfortable and promoting uh staff from from within so very good point other comments from Council all right uh all in favor I I I opposed motion carries all right uh capital projects and Community Services councilwoman Hamlet yes so we were pushing the park line which was 11543 uh the next resolution is 11487 which is authorizing the bid advertisement of maybe playground improvements uh this resolution authorizes and directs to advertise for bids for the maybe playground improvements project with said bids to be advertised in the Union County local Source on Thursday October 17th and received by the purchasing agent on Tuesday November 19th 2024 in the council chambers the engineering division has overseen the prep prepation of the bid specifications for the maybe playground project plans and specifications are being finalized and are ready for public bidding this long awaited and much needed project will replace the entire maybe playground located within the city's Village Green the project will include the removal of the existing playground and pertinent site workor installation of a new playground that is fully ADA Compliant uh shade structures uh drainage and Landscape improvements this has been posted online and shared with the community at various events uh over the last few years and has been well received by the public I would like to move resolution second comments from the public comments from Council um I have one I just like to say that I think for at least Andy and Greg and I we were the probably the ones that worked on this um initially and thank you to Mark and David uh for all your hard work on this it's been a ton of work it's going to be a great project um and I think that right now what you're seeing going on in the Village Green is the village Transit Improvement project so uh the first thing that we had to do was uh sort of reconfigure all of those sidewalks and all that lighting which ultimately sort of decreased the price on this project so although it took a little bit longer to get maybe um playground approved the the end result is that we did get it uh at a at a less expensive option uh you'll see the Village Green being ripped apart right now but um so took a little step back to make a few steps forward and we're really excited so thank you to all the city staff for working on that other comments yes yes I'd like to Echo councilwoman Hamlet's uh comments to thank Mark and and David for their their hard work it's uh it's come a long way since uh our meetings with the neighborhood in uh I believe it was May uh late April um I know uh councilman migar is very proud of this you know because he's been working on this for quite a while about this being the very first fully Ada uh accessible playground in Summit so was something that we should all be very proud of good comment uh councilman bartan just a couple quick things thank you council president so there's 8A compliance and then there's fully accessible which is what this playground is going to be right which is a different uh higher standard which I think is a great thing for our most centrally located uh of of playgrounds and then the second well also just add my thanks to you guys um my third thing is I guess I'll add one final plug to bring back that wooden train from when I was a kid uh that was a very cool thing to have there but anyway that's it for me thank you Nostalgia uh any other comments from Council all right seeing none all in favor hi opposed motion carries all right moving right along number three this is 11539 uh which ex execution of agreement with our house foundation uh pending close session tonight uh this resolution to put in summary our house owns and operates a four bedroom group home located at one Greenfield Avenue in the city of summit our house is a qualified group home operator and owns Six supportive and special needs condominium units and group homes within the city the city has proposed a per bedroom subsidy in exchange for the recording of a 30-year deed restriction on the premise which would render the group home creditworthy under the New Jersey fair housing act in addition to the per bedroom unit subsidy the city and our house desire to provide an additional group home within the city of summit because housing for individuals with special needs is limited throughout the state and more housing is needed to serve the specific population of very lowincome New Jersey residents with that uh with that I make a motion to approve the agreement with our house you have a second second thank you uh comments from the public comments from Council um I have one Council I say that we've been kicking this one around for the last couple of years so it's nice to finally see this come to uh come to fruition we're hopeful that we can partner with our house for another uh Group Home in the near future and so I think we're all excited to start this relationship back and and provide provide this opportunity thank you other comments councilman Smallwood and I'd also like to just reiterate the fact that this is a partnership that we're able to to utilize to help satisfy some of our affordable housing obligations uh for this year so yeah correct good thing other comments yeah I I would just add um you know this is a a part of our community that I know I have um relatives who need housing and these things and it's very very difficult there's a real real shortage in New Jersey um to accommodate people with special needs so I think it's awesome that the city's been able to partner um our house has been a partner in many projects in the city so it's nice to see them come back and hopefully this can continue and it does move the Gul the ball down the field for Our obligation so it's I think it's a win-win win for everybody so very happy to support this resolution all right uh all in favor I opposed motion carries all right uh capital projects number four councilwoman H thank you council president this is 11535 uh appointing zoning officer that per the recommendation of the director of the Department of Community Services Roger dorer uh is hereby appointed to the position of zoning officer effective October 7th 2024 I would like to move this resolution second comments from the public comments from Council councilwoman Hamlet uh I'm just very excited to have everybody meet Roger I think I think uh we obviously we lost Christa Anderson for retirement um Shez maybe six months ago I can't remember now but it's been over a few months and uh Greg and I councilman Vartan and I along with the human resources manager um sat in director shreer with a lot of interviews and and this was hands down one of the best candidates so the city of summit is very very lucky uh he eats uh lives and breathes I think zoning so uh we are just super excited and I think Greg and I both walked out of that meeting very very uh very humbled and excited for the future Summit great any other comments from Council all right um all in favor I I opposed motion carries uh capital projects number five councilwoman hamler uh thank you council president is it okay if I bundle these two you my guest great so I'm going to bundle 11542 and 11536 these resolutions um uh first declare the vacancy Department of Community Services for the assistant zoning officer that was pending close session and appoint the assistant zoning officer uh per the recommendation of the director of Department of Community Services Chris NOA uh who is hereby appointed to the assistant zoning officer effective September 23rd 2024 I'd like to move these two resolutions second comments from the public comments from Council this is the last time you'll have to hear from me I promise um but these are really exciting and everybody should be excited we've been hearing about um vacancies in city of summit the reason why this is really important um Chris NOA has been working in our zoning department for quite some time uh so this is an internal promotion for him and we are just over the moon uh he's a wonderful gentleman uh he also lives eats and breathes zoning so I think it's going to be a really unique partnership uh with him and Roger at the helm there obviously under director sher's leadership but we couldn't be more proud of Chris uh for getting into this role and we're we're excited to see the partnership there so thank you other comments all in favor I opposed motion carries okay all right um do I have a motion to approve the consent agenda as presented moved second okay comments on consent agenda from the public I'm seeing none councel all right um all in favor I opposed motion carries all right um so at this time City staff Ado enjoy your evening okay uh now we're moving along to uh public comments uh Madam clerk do you want to reiterate the rules for public comments at this point in the meeting Council welcomes comments from any member of the public about issues ises that are not topics on tonight's business agenda whenever an audience or council member reads from a prepared statement please provide a copy to the city clerk at city clerk cityofsummit.org and to help facilitate an orderly meeting and to permit all to be heard speaker shall limit their comments to 3 minutes thank you all right we have a comment please approach the podium state your name and your address please my name is Fisher uh Mike McAn and uh I am homeless I don't have an address and um just real quick uh I come and I made real brief notes and I know I'm under a time that I won't hold you up I promise um but I don't have any oratorical PR or any you know uh good good with articulation but I've come to speak to you all tonight about a very simplistic matter though uh unfortunately um I wouldn't be here tonight if this principle was universally understood by the council members of this Township and um it basically involves uh human and civil rights and and you know the apparent disparities that I find when the response you get is directly reflective of your socio or economic situation if one of you council members were God forbid you know you know a victim of random violence I'm sure you would go up and pick up that red phone and call it and I'm sure the chief would come out right away to speak to you when you're a homeless person you do that I was physically assaulted by an EMT worker I came in here the same day with video and do that and I sit there answer the phone nobody's there 45 minutes 50 minutes do I have to come in bleeding but that's not what I all came to talk about but um I'm so glad uh councilman that you said before with your motion that you were saying you know we want to keep this community safe and we have to kick up I wouldn't be before you tonight if I wasn't kicking up and speaking on behalf of the disenfranchise all right um real quick and I will just keep this as as uh as brief as I possibly can um um you know it's um it's it's it's all it's always when it's dealing with the unhoused population like if Eli Manning came in here and got assaulted I'm sure he would be taken care of like that you know what I'm saying um do you guys find that strange or do you find that there's some kind of bad opinion upon unhoused individuals or however you like to classify them and uh you know it's that you know uh well I'm I'm not I'm not going to make a 100% true statement to you you know Miss mayor and anyone of the council members you know but you know it's just it's it's a deplorable condition but could you imagine that if that happened to you how you would feel like how would you feel you feel like you wouldn't you weren't counted you feel like you wouldn't count and that's a problem that's really a problem and uh you know um would would you be apprehensive to a report it like I'm almost apprehensive to report it because I know I'm not going to get the same services and responses as a normal citizen a summit because I'm unhoused I guess that's all that time I'm going to get Fisher thank you for your comments and thank you for having the courage to come and tell your story I only got to tell half of it well council members Miss mayor uh dilia council member J thank you so much for your time you all have a good night stfe home than you fer other 20 seconds is not enough I need 180 uh good night gentlemen good night uh do we have any other public comments hi I'm Foster Osborne 66 Pine Grove Avenue I want to discuss the shade tree ordinance and the shade tree committee uh first let me congratulate the Council on passing the new shade tree ordinance this action was a big improvement over the prior ordinance on May 7th 2024 tree contractor began removing a tree on my neighbor's lot at 70 Pine grve I suspected that they did not have a permit and I called the police who arrived promptly and said that the tree ordinance was above his pay grade I asked if someone from DCs might come out and he also R quickly he said that the matter was also above his pay grade but he would call the city Forester this was a Tuesday and the city Forester only works on Thursday the Forester was reached by phone who said that the contractor did not have a permit work was stopped and the contractor left I was concerned about the enforcement of the ordinance and asked Mr Kilby chair of the Sha tree committee if he might ATT if I might attend the next meeting he graciously agreed and I asked if I might invite the policeman who had come to my property as a paid guest Mr Kilby said No at the meeting I began my report and a Committee Member asked about the police I started to say that Mr Kilby did not want the policeman to come to the meeting at which point Kilby interrupted me in mid-sentence and ended my report I was upset by Kilby's brusk action and sent him an email saying that I felt he backstabbed me Kilby responded that he thought I was mentally ill and he would no longer correspond with me further I felt my rights had been challenged and hired a lawyer to assist me at the next shade tree meeting my lawyer requested some Oprah paperwork from the city regarding prior tree removal applications we learned that no past violator was ever fined for tree removal on private land why have an ordinance which is not enforceable nor where violators violators are not penalized when I brought up this subject at the meeting Mr Kilby Kilby cut me off and said that he would not discuss this matter I was dumbfounded later after the meeting my lawyer advised me my last recourse was to go to the council meeting with my complaint in summary in regards to private property the tree ordinance is not enforced I violators are not fined Mr Kilby is unqualified to be the chair of a city committee he was rude to me to say that I was mentally ill thank you thank you for your comments if I may have a statement oh um if you have a written statement please uh can you give it to the Madam clerk she'll record it thank you sir thank you other public comments good evening Adriana alleron Springfield Avenue a l a r Co n proud Summit resident for 13 years I want to First acknowledge the significant losses by the those loss in the southern states uh for over a decade I've had indoor watching my hard-earned property erode away many other properties erode away um along saltbrook finally we have hope this Administration has pushed forward getting this situation addressed through meeting with the senator the D and the county thank you mayor very much council members Boyer Hamlet and prior to her departure Allan I can't stress how grateful I am towards this Administration for Action being taken and I eagerly look forward to the repair and restoration of this stream thank you thank you for your comments other public comments good evening good evening I'm Diego Court I had a very insightful conversation with Lisa Allen last week after the summit Police Department coffee we were talking about how to bring healing to the city and halfway through the conversation we noted that civility may not be exactly what we have to strive for after all we can't move our city forward by burying differences of opinion to make nice while essentially saying bless your heart there is a big difference between facts and interpretation or opinion and one of the scourges of our age is the idea of alternative facts an this is good or bad for Summit well that's open for discussion in our democratic system We should strive to establish the fact before we debate our implications let me give you an example using the closure of Maple Street last year during the May 2nd 2023 council meeting our city solicitor explained that a temporary closure of Maple Street is legal under title 4067 16.9 and 16.10 first it is under title 40 that Milbourne had outdoor fun this past summer our solicitor pointed out that there's an alternative process under title 39 considerably more arous but also legal so it would seem that closing Maple Street for summer dining season is legal stating so is stating that it isn't so it would be incorrect what the law doesn't say is whether closing down Maple Street is right or wrong for Summit that's where differences of opinion that should be debated arise the example of Milbourne is powerful for another reason rather than getting bogged down in the legality of closing any Street the debate focused on which street it made the most sense to close because their leaders agreed on the foundational fact that closing a street is legal I support a season closure on Maple Street because I enjoy the ambience created by people hanging out Outdoors dining and listening to music in an environment that is safe for our kids I am willing to put put up with the inconvenience especially when kids are out of school and I support a vibrant downtown and I keep hearing that business has suffered over the last few years without the closure that said I respect the opinion of those who disagree what Summit has been missing all this time is for Neighbors to present the merits of both sides of the argument and then have a vote when that happens maybe we close Maple Maybe not maybe we close another Street those are all plausible outcomes what we cannot is the never-ending bitterness and division that is caused by disrespectfully providing alternative facts about issues like Maple Street true leadership brings people together rather than allowing the division caused by Hal truth and alternative facts we're hilltoppers we can do better we must do better it's the only way to begin healing our community thank you thank you sir thank you good evening I'm Claire to at 11 Sunset Drive um I had originally prepared these remarks for the resolution 11543 but I think they still make sense on their own so the park line was partly inspired by the Highline in Manhattan and what makes the Highline wonderful is the variety of plantings of different outdoor rooms along its length of ways it screened from nearby residences the path is not a straight line it invites engagement all that makes a welcome and inviting way to move along the west side of Manhattan and the proposed phase three of the park line is none of that rendering show a straight path a humdrum continuous wall and a row of Arbor VY one Henry Street resident described this as looking like a tunnel and it does nothing interests the pedestrian this is not a place to linger and enjoy the outdoors it's a passageway to get through quickly neighbors are correct to worry that if the park line does not engage its users it will instead encourage less than desirable Behavior so let's go back and get a solid landscape design for this phase of the park line one with features that make it desirable Council has the time um we know the city doesn't yet have the necessary easement to install the proposed steps at Russell place it's been several years since Council has really focused hard on the park line so let's take the extra few weeks really engage the residents and design something that works for everyone thank you thank you Claire was that a prepared statement you want to she emails oh you did perfect guys got it figured out ficient uh please my name is Alan dicki I live on can Brook Parkway thank you for the opportunity to speak before council tonight I'm going to voice a concern and a suggestion to a solution uh for the in the interest of bipartisanship my wife Mary and I have lived in Summit for over 40 years we've raised three children here who attended public schools played Sports and benefited from the divers friendly and inclusive Summit Community our children now are healthy and happy adults and we have three grandchildren their success was in Du in part to how wonderful a Place Summit was for them as they were growing up under the slogan together for Summit Republicans took control of city council this year as a Democrat I was not happy about that since I believe the Democrat democratic candidates were better qualified and the previous Council acted in the best interest of summit under trying circumstances but that slogan seemed to me to promise the continuation of traditional Summit bipartisanship recently I learned that several long serving senior administrators have left Summit city government my concern is how these administrators will be replaced how can we we be assured that qualified professional experienced people will be hired um to continue the nonpartisan fairness of city government I've heard that there will be a bar partisan search committee appointed to evaluate and recommend applicants for the open positions if that is the case great I support that if Council chooses a partisan way to fill those spots I will continue conclude that together for Summit it's just Politics as Usual thank you thank you thank you sir good evening and um uh Mark underson Brook cour here in Summit um I just wanted to come and uh speak briefly about the park line project as well I saw that it was um uh not discussed uh this evening it seems like there's a you know a few more weeks before it comes back and I think that's a good thing I commend uh Council for that um I've actually spoken to a number of residents on Henry Street as well as Ashwood Court a little bit of Ashwood Avenue as well as everybody knows and um I think it's a valuable thing to you know get additional Community engagement which seems to be was taking place um especially around certain concerns for privacy and uh safety I think the the public benefits of the park line have been discussed um and and acknowledged U but really important and and and it seems like council's doing a really nice job to um to try to move that forward and get additional uh additional input around specific concerns for those cons uh residents that are you know most directly affected by it one thing to know in particular on Retreat especially i' I've talked to a number of residents there and there are some newer families actually that have arrived and maybe we're not part of Prior discussions they've U you articulated I think some important things and it would be great to uh you know to to bring those to bear in the coming weeks as well so just wanted to uh make those quick comments and thanks again for for that this evening thank you thank you other public comments okay I'm going to declare public comment section closed uh we're going to move on to council member comments and new business now's your chance councilman Smallwood thank you council president um I just wanted to talk about the parking services annual permit renewal process uh for Summit residents The Parking Services Agency has announced the annual permit renewal for all Summit residents parents are parents uh I'm I'm assuming permits are required by the city of summit for residents to park in long-term Municipal parking lots as well as garages and Municipal and also the use of the municipal transfer station resident resident permits are $10 each senior permits 62 and older are $5 each Uh current permits are valid through October 31st of this year residents are encouraged to renew their permits online at summit. gte.net permit d portal we'll make sure that we put that on the uh on the website uh step-by-step instructions are available in the help section of the online portal and also have been emailed to all current permit holders for more information or assistance with permit renewal please contact Parking Services a Parking Services Agency at 98522 5100 or email parking at cityofsummit.org uh if you do require in-person renewal there are appointments that can be made Monday through Friday from 9:00 am to 1: pm to help assist if you're unable to do it online thank you other Council comments don't be shy yes councilman palowski thank you um just wanted to follow up on the Maple Street comment so what's the question that we're we're asking here right is closing a street legal under New Jersey Law it depends on the street and it depends on the circumstances um for whatever reason um everybody who is interested in outdoor dining seems to think the only way to have an enjoyable experience is to do so on Maple Street I've said this at other Council meetings I've said this before I was on Council I've yet to hear how Maple Street fits the criteria necessary in particular for safety and traffic flow under New Jersey Law so you know we can keep talking about whether it's legal to close a street um which of course it is but the question really is is it legal to close Maple Street and do do the necessary criteria exist that our city engineer has to certify to with his you know stamp of approval his his his professional seal okay um in order to close Maple Street for more than 48 uh 48 hours and um you know a couple meetings ago or maybe it was the last meeting uh I think councilman Varan said the only thing that we didn't do was send an ordinance to the state that's just not true um everybody likes to talk about Milbourne that's all Milbourne did no that's not all Milbourne did uh milburn's city engineer drafted a certification it was in the form of a letter but it was still a certification laying out the criteria that are required under the New Jersey regulations in order to close the street for more than 48 hours and that street that they closed was Main Street is Main Street closed anymore no why because it was dangerous okay it's it was it's one of the main arteries in Milbourne just like Maple Street's one of the main arteries here in Summit and they were getting complaints from um people who worked at the the the hospitals that are there and one person who had a heart attack was in an ambulance trying to make his way to the hospital and because it was impossible to navigate through the town he had a second heart attack thankfully he survived but you know what what kind of risk are we willing to take to close one of two streets that connect North and South Summit um I someone's going to have to articulate to me um why it's legal why is it safe and then we can weigh that against what we want but I I've yet to hear it and um the supporters of closing Maple Street just say it's legal it's legal it's legal it's legal but tell me why tell me how it fits under the uh under the statute and under the regulations and then I would be uh I would support considering it that's it thank you other comments councilwoman ham I have one as well uh thank you council president I won't bore you with all the details from the uh I think it was the March 5th meeting um but director shreer was sitting there and there's all sorts of um items in the statute that you need to follow and I I basically said fourth the fourth item is the engineers recommendation regarding the non-state highway closure is in the best interest of safety and the exposition of traffic on public highways and I looked at him I said director shreer can you sign that or not and his answer was no our city engineer would not sign off that is the bottom line would he potentially send it to a Consulting engineer maybe but he certainly wasn't going to put his city engineer stamp on it so that to me says that it was not in the best interest of safety uh for the city of summit and I will tell you I have pictures and I can show them to you of the amount of times that it's closed for either police or fire and and I think there are lots of different options for outdoor dining I can probably name off five that we could potentially do I just don't think this is the only one I'm tired of talking about it it's wasting a lot of time I think there's a lot of other ideas maybe close a different street for a period of time maybe put tables on the Village Green Rosie you're probably going to tell me we can't do that um but I think we can get creative I think there's other options I I like to outdoor dine I think so a a lot of other people um but our city engineer wouldn't sign off for it and I that's I trust that couldn't do it um the last qu the last comment I want to make is regarding the park line spent a lot of time down there this weekend with residents from Henry Street um I actually well Bob almost fell on me trying to climb up the park line which was a little after he just blew out his last knee so I was actually headed down the hill and Bob was coming up after me and I was thinking this is not a very good idea have several puncture marks in yeah but I will tell you it is very steep climb up um I think it's like block 4207 or something so we actually did get up there and we've spent a lot of time with those residents talking about the very specifics of um to give you an example the fence well if the fence is down if the if the six- foot fence is down 2 feet well it's only a 4ot fence right it's not a six foot fence so we spent a lot of time um digging into the plans we spent a lot of time rehashing all the Environmental Studies that were done in 2020 Rosie has all the details of the amounts of time you know the one problem that I would say and I think Greg Greg and and I have I think we're in agreement on this um is that we we really haven't had a park line steering committee in probably 5 years so um Greg correct me if I'm wrong but how long it's been a while this right a steering committee meeting so what we'd like to do is Engage The Residents from down there again make sure their concerns are heard um a lot of them did come to the meeting and I think that the park line committee is amendable to meeting um some different screening requirements and we're going to make sure that we hold them accountable to that and I I think that all of us Jamal especially we we've spent a lot of time down there and Greg you live right there so I think we we all are going to do the right thing uh and it's going to be really great for the city it was approved by councils before us uh so we're now implementing this this park line and um and we're looking forward to working with the residents and really um I've been talking with them all day Greg and I have been talking about it so I think we're all this is this is a project that can bring Summit together thank you thank you and other comments Bart I'll add a few things on the park line I'll talk about Maple and then I do want to talk about parking permits too so um yeah we're largely in agreement um the the taking us back a while here uh the park line uh there was anou that was created between the park line it's a memorandum of agreement not an understanding um so that was between the park line foundation and the city I don't want to say the year because I'm going to get it wrong but um basically what it did was establish who's doing what right it established it as a city project and it established the parkline foundation as the fundraising arm right so the responsibility for everything else right everything else including public engagement the planning the actual implementation going out to bid doing all that stuff is the responsibility of the city so that's when council at the time thought it was a good idea let's put together this park line steering committee that would then facilitate those conversations that are important with the community and you know those those that you know there was a pandemic in the middle of all of it right and and so the the now that we're ready again or close to being ready to again to go into the next phase that's now we need to bring back that steering committee that includes residents and area and have these conversations so I thought that was important to just flesh out a little bit um Maple Street again I think continues people in the community people here on the deis are equating outdoor dining with Maple street closure and it's really not the same thing we have opportunities as many people have pointed out we have opportunities for outdoor dining all over the place all over town right it's not just about C sitting outside at a restaurant it was about creating a destination in Summit and that is for 3 years what happened and you know um I think I'll I'll just add a couple things first is when we say was Maple Street closed illegally no it absolutely was not we've had this conversation many times in here before when we talk about moving forward there are many legal ways to go about doing this so that we can create that space not just for restaurants but for the enjoyment of people to come to this city to walk around town safely and also we should approach this conversation not in a way that is about fear right you're you're not a doctor you don't know that he had a second heart attack because he was in the ambulance for too long right was that an A A that was not a medical report that was a available to people right and we had we had a fire a a three alarm fire at the Elks while the street was closed and everything was moved out of the way in two seconds the fire department had easy access the fire was knocked down in in a very short period of time so I think we can to the point of people that have come tonight we can have logical discussions and disagreements about this but it doesn't have to be based on this is illegal or this is going to kill people it has to be based on whether it's a good idea for the city and I'll I I want to talk about parking permits for just a second so there's two thoughts I have one is that the schedule for this is all wrong and I've had this I've had this argument every single year with with i i various people right this is such a weird time of year to say we're having a renewal right like it's not the end of the year it's not the middle of the year it's not a fiscal year end it's just kind of an arbitrary date that was picked a very long time ago because I think it was convenient for the people that worked in the Parking Services Agency right so I would really hope that someday we could get this on an actual calendar renewal schedule when you're thinking about renewing subscriptions and doing all these things that you do right like this is such a anyway I made my point there it raises though the the second thing which is I you know I'm coming to the end of my time here uh on Council and it seems to me that a big big thing that we're missing and a huge opportunity for us to work on together is a single sign on system for this city to sign on pay your taxes get your parking permit get your permit for the pool get your golf pass right all of that should be on a single sign on they did it in New York City in 2012 they have a few more staff people than we do but the point is you know we we should try try to we should try to work on that so that's it for me thank you you're out thank you other comments thank you council president uh I tell my wife I was trying hard not to say anything I I was trying um yeah I I went up to the park line too uh I've been up there several times uh phone conversations text messages emails um and you know I seen the situation at hand first I didn't fall up the hill though I got up there pretty good um but you know what I heard was concerns about safety concerns about upkeep infrastructure issues environmental impacts and privacy um one resident was worried about damage to his ret retaining wall um and you know standing up on the park line I gained a a deeper understanding of you know of those worries and you know it's definitely clear we need to take our our time not too much time but we need to take some time to to figure this out um you know at the same time though I want to acknowledge the tremendous work that former councilman Dr Rabino put into this project and I know it's not just Dr Rino I know it's a group of people but I want to point that out um the park line does have the potential to be our first new park in over 90 years I hope I got that right uh and it would be an incredible achievement and it has the power to enhance our community but uh as we move forward we must balance this with a commitment to addressing legitimate concerns of the residents on Henry Street and Russell place and I think uh Mr Gunderson said it best some may have missed earlier updates you know there's new neighbors that moved in um and this pause gives us a chance to ensure that everyone is informed and the park line commission uh does right by the community uh but I also want to point out that this is this is no time for political gamesmanship though right let's not make this a a political thing let's as a council let's just do what's right let's go down there and actually I don't we've already been down there right I think we need to take it a step further I think we need to sit down with our our engineer I think we need to show them the plans the updated plans and that's it may be out there or not but we need to show them what we're actually doing the Environmental Studies um I don't think these folks are to the point where they want to say let's not do this at all right right but they want to be reassured that whatever we do is consistent with what we've been telling them for years so um I'll I'll leave it at that I think we can we can do really right by them thanks thank you other comments I just have a quick one um Tom and I want to put you on the spot but I'm looking at our bill list and something was bothering me today so I think we pay about 3500 a month for animal control is that right Rosie Animal Control anal control animal is it anybody know I think it's like 3500 but anyway today on the bill list I noticed that we had $1,600 in regards to I guess we're testing for a lot of rabies we're also hold we charge a fee if we find a cat and they hold a cat so there's a bill on here for $280 so I just was wondering if you could look at this and provide some suggestions on whether or not we're in the right contract or not it seems like we're paying all a cart for Al you have to feral cats are an issue in every community and they are normally outside the scope of your animal control so that's why you're seeing that but I can do uh a little background check and give the governing body a report as to exactly what those charges are this way everybody's a little more educated so it sounds pretty normal that this the cats aren't included that's why you see cat cat cat right okay if if I if I can opine for a second right so um I'm on the the uh health committee um this this goes out to out to bid we we get someone to handle certain things for us right and actually at the last report there was only one I'll say one contractor that would take care of these services for us in the in the uh in the county here um the problem is is that uh when you report a missing cat or um around raccoon or something like that you know they uh and they have to be put down or things of that nature it's a it is a process and not anyone can can do that so um I do think the contract is is coming up again and we'll be looking into it but just to just so everyone knows this is not a this is not a process that there's a lot of IND individuals that can do this it's a very it's very slim uh group of people that do this work so thank you other comments all right I'll just um close with a couple of my own um I do know we used to have a city of summit like dog catcher a long time ago um it's my fault yeah when I was on Board of Health we went to Shar exactly we we so we did do this outside contractor thing and it just makes sense uh at the time but I I do know it's a it's probably a growth business if someone wanted to get into it um in aent um just two comments uh just to respond um I I think um Mr Tui did touch on our process for finding the city administrator and uh rest assured everyone in Council will have a say in picking the new city administr Ator um our department heads will have a say in picking the new city administrator stakeholders those are the stakeholders that deal with them I mean this is and um so rest assured it will be an inclusive process everyone will have a voice and it will we're going to pick a very good City administrator I have no doubt um secondly um just to pile on up around the park line um I think two things can be true at once one is the park line is a wonderful I think amenity for Summit when it'll be finished um it's not just a park it is a connection between neighborhoods it allows children to ride unimpeded without worrying about you know Morris and Glenwood Avenue I mean this really dangerous stuff this is a great great vision uh for something new for Summit and I really do look forward uh to it being completed someday uh um but the other thing that can be true is that as we Implement an already approved project as people have alluded to up here we can do better at implementing it and we can do better at uh listening to the community around their concerns and their questions and I think it's an excellent idea that what we should do with this uh steering committee we should call it and what I would ask them to do is to systematize a process of rolling out new phases where there is a process for Community engagement there's a process for feedback incorporating comments suggestions on I don't want arbores I want a fence whatever it is um to do that and and so we can do both we can have a great project we can have a a project that the community really gets behind and then and in addition they can find it it's not an i or it's something that they love to have in their their neighborhood and um so I think we can do both and I'm sure we will so we'll we'll move on that um um ASAP okay yes I don't mean to make this meeting any longer than it needs to be but I I there's two things I I want to point out um the first gentleman that that spoke in in public comments I I really it's bothering me and it things like that shouldn't happen if he's being treated differently than someone else who does have an address and pays taxes um and I unfortunately he he left um but I think that's something maybe the homeless the mayor's homelessness task force can can look into um to make sure that that that is not happening um and uh it it's I don't know why it's just it's really been bothering so I I hope that we can get to the bottom of that and hopefully we can your task force will do what is Mission to do and go zero homelessness and Summit so um the next thing I wanted to mention is I think this is maybe the first meeting we've been finished with less than under two hours um thank you for your leadership thank you for for stepping up and I know you've done this twice and it's this has been a a great meeting and thank you very much for uh for becoming our council president in your leadership thank you all right if there no further comments uh do I have a motion to adjourn move second all in favor I we are adjourned for