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 is everybody ready everybody's ready okay welcome everyone um to July 30th okay I'd like to call our meeting to order Madam clerk please read the adequate notice compliance statement notice of this meeting has been provided by the city clerk's office in preparation of the Council annual meeting notice dated December 18th 2023 which was properly distributed and posted per statutory requirements please be advised that the 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 it at the de and return it thereafter thank you roll call Mr Boer here miss Hamlet here Mr migar here Mr palowski here Mr Smallwood here Mr Varan present president Allen here okay let's do Pledge of Allegiance Chief Evers will you lead the The Pledge Al to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liy and justice for all okay Madame clerk please read the explanatory notices regarding hearings comments and Clos session a Clos session meeting 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 council member reads from a prepared statement ple please give or email a copy to the city clerk's office at city clerk cityofsummit.org to help facilitate an orderly meeting and to permit all to be heard speakers are shall limit their comments to 3 minutes unless you are using electronic device to follow the meeting agenda or needed for professional emergency contact purposes please turn it off thank you thank thank you um okay approval of minutes do I have a motion to approve the regular and close session meeting minutes of July 9th 2024 so moveed do I have a second second okay motion approved on to report uh all in favor all in favor sorry all in favor any opposed motion approved sorry cler okay onto reports mayor thank you all right well first I have an update about Bryant Pond um as of about two weeks ago the County's contractor was in the process of removing the second stockpile of vegetation which was Hydro from the pond um test results determine where the recycling um which recycling facility that um it will be sent to and that was underway at that time about two weeks ago um at this point I got an email just today from the county their goal is still to remove As Much from the pond as possible um funding does remain but they're waiting on a proposal from the contractor as to the recommendation of how much more sediment they will remove um I will continue to keep in contact with the county and I will provide updates to The Summit Community as I learn more National Night Out is next Tuesday August 6th from 6:00 to 8:45 on the Village Green there will be free hot dogs courtesy of the police Police Athletic League food trucks bounce houses and my favorite dunk a cop for a cause and the blessing of the badges will take place at 7 p.m. I want to congratulate there are two classes of graduates from the summit police Youth Academy um last week and the week before we had two sessions and as usual our Police Department put together an exceptional program I think councilman Varan can actually speak more better to this than I can but um special thanks to officer David CGA for spearheading the effort again this year and for putting together a fabulous video each week and thank you to the team of officers for their energy and their commitment to making the experience so outstanding I thoroughly enjoyed my piece of the uh police Youth Academy so thank you all um last I want want to I look forward to um our homelessness task force chair Leah Griffith will share a full briefing with us in September but I'm going to give you some highlights as to what's been going on with the homelessness task force um the committee be began meeting on June 17th and has met 11 times already this summer the group has broad representation from police Fire EMS Bridges warmart ship clergy Family Promise Bridgeway Overlook Hospital downtown Summit business owners and Summit residents there are 25 total committee members after two initial meetings the committee has be has been broken down into five subgroups and those focus on families individuals engaged in case management individuals refusing case management data and prevention and diversion and housing um Summit police and case management have been conducting weekly Outreach to individuals not engaged to connect the homeless with case management that's all I have today okay excellent thank you um our city administrator is on a so I'm sure he's not watching but if he is I hope he's having a great time um my report is first on the B business agenda tonight we have two resolutions on the agenda that we are going to be pushing to September um because we need more analysis or feedback so I'm just giving everybody a heads up um the resolutions are ID 11359 which authorizes the sdi's uh request for a fence around parking lot one and ID number 11384 which will authorize the change order for the work being done on Wild Wildwood and Oxo um the next is half season membership will be available for the summit family Aquatic Center at Half Price beginning August 1st you can register for half season membership by calling the Department of Community programs at 908 277 2932 or visiting the community center um second I also enjoyed the Academy graduation everybody did a great job as usual um I just wanted to say I've been on this Das for about three and a half years and it gives you a very up close and personal look at how city government operates um and as I sat in the audience watching The Academy graduates it reminded me that City Hall and government work is not 9 to4 UM oftentimes everybody says oh it's it's government work it's 9 to4 and everybody in this in City Hall um they work various events whether it's you know they work all day and they have events at night um they really put their heart and soul into the work that they do whether it's the movie on the green whether it's government week um cultural events concerts and so forth so I just wanted to recognize that um it really made me feel like Summit is a special place so um thanks to all our police who were who ran the event um which also brings me to this um so I want to I want to thank um Deputy clerk um kegga because she helped me do this um I've been wanting to um give our Council would like to award Rosemary clerk Li um for the extraordinary work that you do so basically what this says in appreciation of outstanding and dedicated Service as Clerk of city of summit this certifies the recognition is awarded to clerk litis um so she made h a rooll so I'll just read this um so dear Rosemary litis congratulations you've earned a place on the 2024 Municipal Clerk's honor role enclosed is a certificate and a commemorative pin giving only to honores um it's in its 24th year and everybody can go to the list municipal clerk honor.com to see the entire list but we're delighted to share the happy news with you that you've been included on this distinguished list um how many years have you been here 34 34 years and EV I just Rose Mary is the go-to in City Hall she's extraordinary and none of us would get this work done without her so um I want to say thank you to Deputy clerk um kegga for helping us find this and thank you for the amazing work that you do thank you so much thank you getting ready just put this on the other side thank just for the record it's my honor to be here and serve each Council that I've served and um growing up in this town just makes it that more special that much more special when I was in high school I was the secretary to the uh student council and I swear after I did the first set of minutes I would never do this work again and look where I am but anyway it's my honor and my pleasure to serve thank you thank you okay okay moving on to historical minute councilman palowski thank you so the kids are still uh out and that means I don't have a volunteer so I'll be doing the historic minute tonight um last week or last meeting I uh I uh told everybody about the library website and the fact that they have all the old yearbooks on there which is fascinating I'm actually kind of addicted to looking through them but um this is is my history of Summit New Jersey which some of you may have seen it's called um from poverty Hill to the Hill City it's by Edmund rafus who I believe used to live here um it goes through 1996 I think which is when Jamal graduated from high school and Greg was probably still in diapers if he was even alive um but um although it is out of print uh it can be had on eBay for anybody who's interested and um I just want going to read a couple uh parts of it tonight um the first um one of the first chapters talks about um where Summit got its name so in 1899 the summit Herald which is a newspaper that used to be delivered in person uh for those of you who are here um uh called Summit the Hill City the name stuck uh as a reference to any Summit directory will show Hill City cleaners Hill City delicatessan Etc so um the lore always was that it's because we're at the top of the wung mountains um and so it goes into a whole history of how a glacier tore through this area and created valleys and mountains and the second uh Wong Mountain at the beginning of the Jurassic period about 185 million years ago before any of us were even in diapers um North America South America Europe and Africa formed one large continent called pan but it began to break up and drift with resulting faults and Rifts in the Newark Basin from which a series of at least three extents of lava flows formed three mountains the second is um the second wung mountain is uh um at the top of that mountain is Summit and um so in this in this uh chapter there's uh I don't know a story that somebody wrote about an argument that they had in a um uh on a train you know why do they call it Summit and because we're the highest um highest city in New Jersey and no M morristown's Higher and montclair's Higher and the guy did the research and um there are parts of Morristown that are higher but Morris Town is not higher than Summit so um there you have it yeah um I was actually at Reeves Reed the other day and I think wasn't that Valley that one area caused by a glacier I I think it was yeah could be wrong we could look it up my second question is um we don't have we didn't have any students the last two meetings how would they apply to do the historical minute can we get like a form or how would we well right now um Mrs Aaron and the head of the history Department have been helping find people okay which is curious It's the summer my son was going to come tonight but he bailed so great okay thank you all right so we are going to move to public comments at this point in the meeting Council welcomes any comments from members of the public about issues not on uh tonight's topic I'm going to restate that at this point in the meeting Council welcomes comments from any member of the public about issues not on the tonight's business agenda um whenever an audience member reads from a prepared statement or has a question please provide a copy to the city clerk at city clerk cityofsummit.org to help facilitate an orderly meeting and to permit all to be heard um speakers please say your name your home address um and please please limit your comments to 3 minutes if you come up and you are also representing an organization please indicate which organization you are speaking for um again only one at a time please when you come up and speak nobody talk over each other just be respectful of one another um and if it seems to be running long tonight for public comment I'll cut it at an hour and then we will pick up public comment again at the end of the business agenda so um so it is 8 uh 7:50 um if it goes longer than 8:50 we'll put public comment at the end of the business agenda so whoever would like to come up I see a hand in the back you can come so public comment will be open now pass thank you oh wait hold on one second let me just um good okay all right you're good just make sure you speak into the yeah Mike well this is always an issue for me my name is Mary Joe makuchi defonso I live at 12 Washington Avenue I'm an shs graduate of 81 three children who are also shs graduates I wasn't present at the July 9th meeting as it was the anniversary of my father's passing but the video I watched of this meeting was very disturbing it sounds as though what transpired was a simple misunderstanding but then grew to hatred are understandings even permitted anymore what do you see when you look at me my name says it all right incorrect I am also part native American Kansas Delaware to be exact don't bother looking it up as this tribe is not recognized by the US Government why even mention this it was Peter lejoy at the last meeting who said you don't know someone's background so maybe now I have your attention let me Begin by saying a few years ago I had never heard of Jamal's name even though his wife and I and he are all sh shs graduates he coached sixth grade youth football with my husband Matt he said Jamal was a great coach patient with the kids explained what they needed extra work attention on and a terrific leader Jamal reached out to me before his campaign for Council because he liked understood what I had to say anytime I've had to call him and deily about issues in my neighborhood or in a neighborhood where my family owns property I've reached out to both of them and had issues resolved with with success I will not stand here as a resident of this city for 50 years and let fall by the wayside the demeaning degrading and derogatory comments at the last common council meeting concerning these two individuals dilia has gone above and beyond to assist veterans locate housing some are more concerned about her contacting them via private messenger than her assisting veterans what did the prior Administration do to assist veterans nothing that I recall are you aware that 22 veterans per day take their own lives the comments and accusations about these two individuals were nothing short of disgusting because they have chosen to serve in the public capacity does not for a second indicate that they deserve to be crucified for defending themselves they are on this Council to serve us all anybody who thinks differently of these two individuals needs serious soul searching congratulations you have now secured the fact that any young man or woman of color to run for common Council in this city will not do so as a republican after the nonsense Jamal has had to endure are you proud of yourselves how is that a positive experience what purpose did any of this serve allow me to introduce you to the following names CJ Pearson a young conservative involved in politics since he was 13 Candace Owens author of the book blackout Dr Ben Carson world-renowned neurologist the Hodge twins Kevin and Keith Hodge Dan banino former Secret Service and now host of The Dan banino show sorry thank you I I know well you have the letter the full statement will be in the minutes yeah thank you oh wait hold on one second let me just make sure this is hi hi Ali Sternberg for Dale Drive um I'm here to raise a proposal for the city to prioritize the installation of a sidewalk on the south side of Ashland Road between rotary drive and Silver Lake Drive for the community who lives on the south side of ashin road this street is the main connection point between our neor neighborhood and the remainder of town including all schools Memorial Field and downtown Summit unfortunately the majority of Ashlin road until you arrive at Pine grve Avenue does not have a sidewalk this is most dangerous in the stretch between rotary drive and Silver Lake Drive where there's no alternate Street to walk on due to this residents are forced to either drive everywhere they go or walk directly in the street which is a busy road with a speed limit of 35 M an hour though cars often go much faster this poses significant safety risk for pedestrians causing them to walk directly on people's Lawns which is not option for those with Mobility challenges or pushing a stroller this becomes even more dangerous at night or in the later part of the year when the sun sets earlier there are no lights on this side of ashin road increasing the risk of being hit while walking I'm not just speaking on behalf of my family today my husband and I put together a petition that has accumulated 160 signatures in counting of fellow residents who are eager for Change and for a sidewalk to be implemented this strong Community Support underscores the urgency and importance of this matter I also would like to note that the 2019 city of summit sidewalk installation and maintenance plan highlighted this area of ashin road as a location of a new proposed sidewalk I am kindly asking This Town Council to prioritize the installation of this much-needed sidewalk in order to enhance safety improve accessibility and contribute to the overall well-being of our community I would appreciate your support and guidance on next steps thank you thanks yeah we'll take that thank you oh thank you I want to thank mayor Fagen council president Allen and memb of oh wait I'm so sorry I'm sorry no no it's okay name and address please yeah okay my name is ktia SRA Cohen and I've been worshiping in Summit for 25 years at Betha tikva at 36 chadam Road in Summit and I'm a member of the summit anti-racism committee I want to thank mayor Fagan council president Allen and members of the council for giving me the opportunity to speak tonight I am speaking to you tonight on behalf of the anti-racism committee of the summit Interfaith Council and would like to enter into the record the following statement we do this to clarify past issues and in the spirit of unity progress and Equity as we all work together to make Summit a better place as was established at the July 9th council meeting the anti-racism committee and the summit Interfaith Council were not involved in the planning of the summit Jun event all statements claiming either organization was involved are mistaken and incorrect if the issue is raised in the future we ask that the common Council and its members set the record straight about the committee's non-involvement on a forward note the common Council has indicated that it would like to engage in further dialogue and problem solving to serve the greater good of the community we the anti-racism committee will offer racial Equity training before the end of the year and invite members of the com Council and the mayor to take part in this training racial Equity training is designed to help us identify and acknowledge our own biases misunderstandings and racial Behavior it also helps us to see issues from the perspectives of multiple stakeholders we believe this can only increase understanding mutual respect and commitment to solve to Solutions among all of us therefore we look forward to collaborating with you on the precise timing of the training that would allow the mayor and common council members to participate we appreciate the commitment of the common Council to the common good and share that commitment even if we do not always align on how to achieve these goals we look forward to a positive and open partnership with the common Council thank [Applause] you anybody else okay oh you all right a name and address please good evening uh Alexander block 54 rotary Drive resident of summit since 2016 father of three children Noah aged 10 Rising fifth grader at Franklin leor and Talia both age seven Rising second graders also at Franklin I here to Echo some of the statements from my neighbors and friends about the need for a sidewalk on M uh ashon Road Mountain Road excuse me ashon road uh let they specifically as to be extended not just to Pine to Silver Lake but all the way to Pine grve I would do recognize that there is a parallel Street on Plymouth but I do think the safest and most uh convenient and effective option would be to build a sidewalk all the way down to Pine uh that being said um as a father of three young children and I'm sure most parents of young children would know I have a son who's 10 he acts like he's 25 and he's really just begging for Independence you know he wants to go walk to his friend's house he wants to ride his bike in the town he wants to take the train to visit his cant in New York City some of this is practical some of this you know I don't know if to let you do that even five or 10 years um but that said you know as a as a parent and while Summit is a very safe and reliable town that I'm proud to be a resident of um certainly you know safety is the top priority and without having a sidewalk it makes it very difficult for everybody to get from rotary Dale Tanglewood Drum Hill you name it to Memorial Field to Franklin to the train station to the farmers market to go out to dinner to go just to go out and and and see see their friends and it's really hard you see a lot of Walkers Runners joggers strollers trying to get into town and you have no option but to walk on the sidewalk sorry walk on the grass or walk on the street it's a 35 mph speed limit I often see cars going much faster than that to where I even feel uncomfortable going for my morning run and what makes me even more concerned is you know I'll be driving home in the evening on a Saturday night after dinner uh or coming back from New York City on the train and what I see is groups of teenagers you know almost spilling onto onto the street you know you're trying to state of the side but it's very tough for them um maybe they've been drinking hopefully they haven't been um but that is a reality and we have drivers coming back from a nice dinner in town getting back to New Providence Scotch Plains Berkeley Heights maybe they've been drinking hopefully they haven't but I really feel like we're one bad text message away from a horrible horrible tragedy that I think we'd all love to avoid um I've studied the 19 plan and I do recognize that it does allow for a sidewalk not just from rotary to Silver Lake but from rotary all the way to Pine grve and I have also noticed that many of the other large thoroughfares into and out of summit such as River Road um Morris Avenue Springfield Avenue all have sidewalks as well and I really think it isolates our part of town by not having a sidewalk there I've estimated by doing a count off of uh the maps on Zillow there's about 200 homes I estimate 400 children 800 total residents um and I would highly use my last 10 seconds to please ask the council to consider uh escalating this project I think would really make our neighborhood a much better and a much safer place thank you thank you okay oh wait you guys are go ahead hi good evening Susan hariston 20 L Avenue and I don't have prepared remarks because I'm still getting up to speed on just coming back in and so a couple things on my mind uh I want to Echo the last uh speaker who wants uh sidewalk safety to be a priority and I don't know uh I have more questions than I do about where are the opportunities for us to know when will be publicly talking about some of these things so um I'm trying to get back into the walking and I uh got ambitious and walked down cemp Place Boulevard uh as if in and um I'm terrible at street names uh but I know it's not going towards the dump but it's the major street that takes you down to the backside of naris and that might not even be the name of it but um um what I as was dumbfounded is that there is no sidewalk there and I know that is a uh place where people who work are go in and uh I know that might be if it's County but I just wanted to know when we will know uh about the plans for this sidewalk and I was really hoping Aaron was going to be here because uh it is super UNS safe on River Road and to get there you have to do these kind of heroics to go across the street to the uh uh sonoko station and then walk up you have it really nicely done in front of Sunrise so you could hang out there and you got to walk across the street but it is frightening the way the cars come around uh and I know they're not paying attention they're just trying to get through the lights and avoid the traffic there so I wanted to know when that um uh is going to be discussed uh I am really happy uh council president that you have made it a priority to try to bring healing to this community and I'd like to know um where when will you have that uh discussion publicly so we can stop uh the the madness and talk about how we're going to get to a a place where uh we have healing in this community where we are focused on the well-being of the community and with that in mind affordable housing I'm just getting back into town I'm here and I don't know what's happening where do I have an opportunity to hear about that and engage with the public I I am happy to be in this role again and um lastly oh I'm going to forget what it was um um but as a former council person I want to uh understand how we're getting invited to the number of people who are leaving I want to be included in the celebration of Staff leaving and so I don't know what kind of a notice you're putting out please keep me in the loop on that one you got it thank you okay send me an email Susan I was going to say I'll keep you on the list for the staff can I be on that list yes Paul chin juli 121 Orchard Street um I'm hearing a lot of people uh talking about traffic and safety and 30 and 35 mph speed limits on the road I'm on Orchard Street and it's a residential Road and Orchard Treet is 40 m hour and I don't know of another residential street in Summit that's 40 m an hour um I've been down there 51 years and I've seen I've seen a bunch of stuff happen with cars hitting people trees people getting killed in car accidents down there um that park has become very popular people are crossing the streets all day long in the in the summertime you know kids strollers and I mean cars are whipping down out of Springfield coming down that hill and they see a 40 mph speed zone and you know they well it's 40 I can do 50 and they do 50 plus and I don't know why there's no speed traps posted out I haven't seen a speed trap out on Orchard Street in 35 years and I don't know why because to me it it's a goal mine for the town of summit um with with speeding tickets I I I I just don't understand how that road can be 40 miles an hour and the other problem with that is because of the change they made with Bryant Park becoming one way people are now they shortcut the light on Orchard and they come out the side roads of Harvard and Yale and you know if the if the speed limit on that road was 25 5 or 30 it gives me a little more chance to get out of my driveway when they're coming down that road 40 45 50 mil an hour I don't have a chance and I sit there and I wait and I wait and I wait and I I and I I I still don't I I still would like to know more about how Bryant Parkway got switched from temporary to permanent without I don't know if anybody on my street that knew it was happening um there was no input um so I I I just I just would like to you know see what we can do about lowering that speed limit on Orchard I think would help a lot thank you Paul will you send um Mr Chuli will you send a email to clerkly okay did I say it right your last name I didn't say it right did chulie okay thank you thank you hi Michelle cinon 67 B Parkway I just have a question um has the criteria for releasing a nixel alert changed I've been talking to friends and neighbors and I'm finding out about cars that have been stolen but I haven't heard about them so it seems like cars are still being stolen but we're just not hearing about it um so that's my question has has anything changed with the nixel alerts or the um the Facebook post what you need to know thank you thanks I'm sorry was the question directed to me no no we're not g no answer it here yeah okay no I thought you were gonna say something oh no hi uh Elliot Fishman 34 Webster Avenue Summit New Jersey resident for about 16 years uh sometimes shorter is better so I'll keep this remark to two sentences uh just up here for a deep signal of respect admiration for Council Members Boer and Hamlet who in this community have been under deep unfair attack the past month or so both in public forum and online and uh the whole community supports them and respect your work thank you hi everybody Tara Gagliano 6es court and Summit haven't been here in a while um on July 14th a resident posted on Facebook a clip from the April 24th common council meeting highlighting the resolution to authorize the allocation of capital funding to repair the damage to my property and city property done by Habitat for Humanity at that meeting Councilman Greg Varan stated the following if you show up to Council meetings complain and support the candidates who won the last election you will be rewarded with public funds for your private project in essence this Rogue Councilman Greg Varan is accusing us of some wrongdoing we have a superior court settlement agreement settlement and release agreement which only the residents of summit of Ash Court have been made to uphold not the city of summit the zoning board nor Habitat for Humanity this agreement was signed by the previous Council and mayor nor rist who openly refused to help my family am I just to sit back and not stand up for my family my property and my dead parents Legacy the pain and suffering we endured these past six years is unconscionable Greg has been told on the de by the council attorney Mike Rogers City administrator that are following the settlement and release agreement despite being told this he continues to accuse and grandstand my family has been put through enough as of this time we are exploring our options on how to deal with this councilman and the accusations he is making he clearly has a personal issue and by his actions and public statements how is he able to carry out his position effectively with that being said councilwoman dilia Hamlet count president council president Lisa Allen are the only two from that previous Council that stepped out and reached out to my family they with Humanity compassion from there they forged the path for the other Council me now council members to come out they didn't have to but they did and they helped us that is their jobs to represent the city and represent the residents I thank you very much for all your help and everything that you guys are enduring up on the day is for doing your jobs councilwoman dilia Hamlet councilman Jamal Boer that's unconscionable but I thank you very much and know that you are [Music] supported thank you can I yes okay okay Vicky Letterman 52 Clark Street this country was founded on separation of church and state and freedom from religion that means no faith or Pastor has any bearing on anything this city does or doesn't do this city does not answer to them or owe them anything here in Summit professionals advise us on where we should build affordable housing and other City Affairs not not clergy and they especially have no authority to speak for Summit in Tren they are not elected do not work for the city and most don't even live here how dare they as guests in hour not their city they're abusing their welcome I believe that creating as much affordable housing as we sensibly can is simply the right thing to do it has nothing to do with faith building mixed affordable and market rate housing on the Red Cross property is probably the one issue that everyone faithful or not can get behind one of the largest undeveloped properties it is in a lovely residential neighborhood that backs up to a primary school and children's playground and is walking distance to a supermarket and train station and it's certainly big enough to hold the 40 or 50 units that at home and Summit and some vocal pastors are so worried about it's a win-win those who most zealously support the affordable housing laws obviously also support the many ways they provide for municipalities and developers to acquire property so I'm frustrated disappointed and feeling a little bit more than and feeling more than a little bit deceived that the pastors who drone on and on of how they support a feral housing don't practice what they preach instead of donating the red Coast property they want to erect a golden calf which houses no one the real Gothamist headline should be rich New Jersey Parish turns down affordable housing development to build pricey aent tasers church I've contacted the publication about it it's cruel morally reprehensive ible and minimizes a desperate need in our community however since the so-called faithful believe in Repentance and second chances they should hear that call themselves to turn back their foolish ways and try again put their property and their 20 million where their mouth is their moral promise requires that their actions speak louder than their words let's see them live their own damn faith enough of the sanctimonious preaching and demanding others do what they so selfishly don't their nism racism and self-righteous hypocrisy are cruel and morally reprehensible and if they don't mend the error of their ways then Council must do what's morally right and use its Authority as provided by law to acquire the property for the affordable housing we all Proclaim to want let's not falsely plead with the courts that that there simply no land in Summit when this is the perfect site I've made the fair share housing center aware of the property and situation time for the alleged faithful to cut hypocrisy for them to practice what they preach and but out of secretary and City Affairs you had s seconds do you want me to Ema to the office no this is fine this is fine thank you okay all right hello when you're ready I'm Danielle dy I live at 37 Tanglewood Drive I don't have a lengthy statement prepared but I want want to Echo the sentiments of my neighbors about the sidewalk on Ashland between rotary and Silver Lake installing That Sidewalk per the 2019 plans presented earlier would do so much to connect our part of town with the rest of summit my husband and I have two young children and the current situation on ashin makes it impossible for us to walk to Memorial Field or downtown with our kids it's just simply too dangerous and it would mean a lot to the neighborhood that we live in if we could install that sidewalk and revisit the plans that were put in place in 5 years ago in 2019 thank you than you thank you okay do we have any other questions comments for public comment because I'm going to close it down okay we're going to close public comment um is there any comments from Council Members okay I can Lisa I can make a quick comment if you want okay or if you don't want me to I just had a quick comment um I just want to thank the residents for coming up about the sidewalk I got your videos I was supposed to come out there today but I was flying home so I just want to say thank you for coming I have to look into I didn't realize um plan Greg and Andy we yeah I'm not sure if we have to look back in 2019 and what got approved I was talking with rosemary about it today um I'll have to do a little bit of research and see um it is my committee so I'll make sure that and I think we we formally put it in as a um discussion action referral correct Rosie um so the process now it'll go through through a formal process it'll be looked at safety um through safety and through my committee as well so I just want to say thank you and um it's so powerful when you come with 150 um you know families who have the same concern so but thank you for coming um I think that council president can I add to yeah absolutely um coun thank you dilia thank you uh to everyone who came to talk about that what we were talking about in 2019 was the sidewalk installation and maintenance policy um which to some people uh we were referring to it as the sidewalk master plan but we use the term master plan entirely too much so uh basically what it is is uh my favorite page of it is the 26th page which has the map of the city where there's sidewalks uh now and they're green where sidewalks should be and they're Orange right so it's basically a matter of funding and uh prioritization of where those things get installed um we when we started with all this several years ago um and we've been pretty diligent over the past several years to start with safe walking routes to school um and then from there where we were doing road projects already that you could also then piggy back off of that where there's grant funding available all that stuff um it makes it a little bit more complicated when it's a County Road however there are three County Roads where they absolutely absolutely are needed Ashland Mountain and then Glenside so those would be my that's my pitch for tonight thank youc okay thank you both of you did you finish your comments no just I we do talk about these actively in committee every week so uh when director Sher gets back and he he usually does a quarterly report so uh at the next meeting uh and to um former councilwoman Harrison uh we can certainly provide an update in the next month or so on on sidewalks and I think that uh some of your your thoughts today I think you're thinking about um maybe New Vernon and and some of those other areas I can't remember exactly what you had mentioned but we'll certainly get back to you p p pic pic they go really fast on paic yes agree yeah okay uh mayor would you like to talk about the Niel yeah um no policy changes uh have occurred for the nixel alerts um Chief there's nothing I mean we're doing the same procedure um and same determination as to when n alerts go out um the one thing that causes some confusion a lot of times and I have been told 177 times I finally think I figured it out um is you know if it's a if it's an urgent we need your help situation or an urgent you need to stay inside situation those things will go out immediately um occasionally we get information about somebody pulled on a door handle or there was an attempted car theft or there was you know um and it's 12 hours later and it's sort of the nixel is really intended for sort of more urgent um uh inform information so that's sort of where it gets managed and so perhaps that's why you're not you know notified necessarily of every single attempt every report police have taken um so you know you will and Chief zagorski and chief ever correct me if I'm wrong but that that's my my sort of takeaway is we will you will be informed if there's um urgent need to know um and then obviously we do update if there are things that that the public is you know alerted to from Neighbors and so forth um that fair any either of you have anything to add thumbs Up's good Chief good all right um okay Council Manel yeah okay Smallwood and just to follow up on that there is a a police blotter that is on our website that is published I believe each month every two weeks um so for any police activity uh you can see on the the City website that there is a police plotter as well um I do want to thank the um the the residents that came up and spoke about Ashlin uh not only do I would would like to throw my support behind the uh urgency of putting together our our sidewalks and hopefully you know when director Sher gets back from vacation um councilwoman dilia Hamlet and Greg Varan maybe we can kind of put a focus on on the the sidewalks and even though it's a Union County I know it's a little bit more difficult um setting up those those roads uh it's it's not impossible so um the other thing I would like to advocate for uh and I believe Aaron Sher has already mentioned that we did receive the insurance or we had to supply the county with the insurance regarding the uh beacan lights on the crosswalks for Ashland um and I believe is it Ashland and Ox Colt Colt Road um so what my communication back from Aaron trer was that those would be uh prioritized for the month of August so hopefully that uh that will help in going through Safety Committee I think or uh councilman boy and I are spoken who's like you know what why do we need to priories one over the other why can't we just do both so uh hopefully those will be installed before school starts great thank you councilman Boer council president so I'm a I'm a 90s boy um and Summit and uh we we never had sidewalks right like most uh most streets and uh before I joined Council and I think the year of the campaigning uh I was I was kind of opposed to sidewalks I was kind of like well why we never had sidewalks before we just kind of ran around but then um I live on Mars Avenue and I'm a runner now I started jogging right so I run down ashin maybe some of you seen me um Pine grve uh paic these are like very dangerous streets um my mind has changed uh completely 360 I think you know Summit should be a walking town and have sidewalks and we need to set the progression in progress too at sidewalks especially you know um Ashlin and Glenside Avenue Glenside Avenue is is Glen Glenside Avenue is is very dangerous uh when I was campaigning me and my daughter we did a little um we did like a little uh contest like who can run from driveway to driveway real fast after their cars by um it's kind of scary so she'll never go campaigning on that street with me ever again um until we get sidewalks but yeah I'm a big fan of sidewalks um and I think we're all in agreement that we need them I think it's just a budget thing and how we do them and how fast that we do them right um is there a moment where we can because I know now we we get to the ordinance and and uh resol Solutions is there a moment where we can have the chief come up and talk about safety and where we are with the stats and everything I don't know when we should do that um is he prepared for that is he prepared um you know what he can come up now I guess it would be appropriate because everybody's here I think at the end of the meeting during Council comments everyone will disappear let's I will I will do that I just is there any other thing to talk about any questions was the last to talk so that's why yeah yeah I you know all I wanted to say was before um we moved to the chief then that's fine um councilwoman Harriston if I may still call you that um I would love to have coffee and talk to you about healing uh in the community um I also agree that sidewalks um I'm a big proponent of sidewalks Pine grve I was a little skeptical because when Pine I love the idea of the sidewalk going in on Pine grve but it had narrowed the road so I was concerned um but our family walks on that sidewalk literally every day so I totally get it um and I appreciate the pine grve sidewalk and so does my husband and our Tucker dog um and affordable housing Mr delori do you you want to say anything about affordable housing you don't have to I just um and well I was just going to say so just so you know um we were talking about creating a process for vetting developers um there will be more to come in September um but we want the council to feel comfortable um with how the the developers are coming to the city uh because as round four happens that means that there's going to be a lot of developers approaching us so we would just want to do it in a methodical way so Mr delore if you would like to talk a little bit sure through you council president um the Mount Laurel subcommittee's meeting obviously there are a lot of ways developers can approach the city so we're working on and with Council to make sure that there's sort of a very clear pathway there's no confusion um a lot of developers obviously will be coming forward and we want to make sure that we let them know that there is a very specific path that it's Equitable and that everyone will be given an opportunity these are obviously for developments that include affordable housing in them so we'll be working with uh professionals and Council to come up with some for um formal way to memorialize that process in the very near future um and hopefully uh be real serious about how we can get more units in the city and you know do our fair share as best we can thank you m okay um okay and and one last thing uh Council woman um I think healing in general and what happens in our community starts with each of us so I'm hoping to Model Behavior for the community okay chief would you like to come on up Council um real quick uh I just wanted to make a comment at the end of the meeting tonight through my Council comments I'll also be giving a recap of the planning board meeting uh last week where we did talk um and Mr delori talked a lot at the planning board meeting about the cross acceptance and the state plan that will be coming out in September and some of the other affordable housing uh things that will be changing uh in 2020 2024 2025 for the rest of the year so I can give a quick recap if if everybody would like on that y that would be great thank you okay chief okay thank you council president for the opportunity to provide a a brief uh report um where I hope to give you snapshot of the types of crimes uh and the frequency make sure you pull the um microphone a little closer there you go thank you I'll give you a snapshot um of the types of crimes and the frequency of their occurrence uh in the first six months of this year this breakdown should give you all a better understanding of the nature and scope of the criminal activity in the town and how it compares to the past years and it will also answer um the resident's question why she might not have seen um some uh reports on U certain activity in town I'll break it down into uh this crime report down into two categories of crime first uh the two categories are violent crime and property crime first I'll cover the violent crime which is your most serious crimes uh it consists of um manslaughter um uh murder uh robbery aggravated assault and um and rape violent crime uh did the most serious types of crimes okay um in in 2024 at at this point in 2024 we have uh five reported violent crimes this is down uh three from uh 2023 where we had eight fortunately in Summit we don't experience a lot of violent crimes um historically uh we'll in a year we we'll have maybe between four and maybe nine uh violent crimes um which is still way way below um uh State and National averages property crimes at this point at the six month uh point in 2024 property crimes have increased slightly uh since last year up 8% we have uh 88 reported property crimes in 2024 at this point at the same point last year we had 81 um this number varies um uh it varies quite a bit um because but the reason why it's up uh in 2024 is we had an increase in um in Larson these uh thefts and um that the these thefts don't include stolen cars we had a um uh 50 reported thefts uh at this point in 2023 we have 67 reported um at this point now at the six-month Mark again this is more of an of an anomaly um in 2022 we had 65 reported at this time I I really don't know the reason why we only had 50 reported at this time in 2023 but at the end of the year um it it it pretty much came out to the averages that we normally um have but for whatever reason it was very low at this point last year the two areas that um are of most concern to the um uh to the stum residence where we've been having the most problems over the last couple years are with the stolen cars and the burglaries um I'm happy to report that the um burglaries uh are down this year almost it's a uh where we at uh a 46% decrease we only have eight reported burglaries at this point where we had 15 reported in uh 2023 stolen cars we have eight reported um to date and uh we only had eight reported last year to date but stolen cars um over the last two or three years have been slowly coming down in 2022 we had uh 16 at this time which is a 50% uh decrease from that point uh to 2022 uh 2023 and 2024 also um we we are having success in the area of um entries to motor vehicles um that's down 56% from where it was last year we only had 17 um uh attempts to enter Motor Vehicles where we had 39 at this point last year and uh again this has been a slow uh uh decrease because of the efforts that we've been putting into it and we had 58 uh reported um entries to Motor Vehicles at this point in 2022 so to answer that um the president's question um you know we were putting out a lot of nixel when we were having the attempts to enter motor vehicles um and as you see like last year at this point we had the 39 and then the previous year we had 58 we've only had 17 this year um and what we when we've had those attempts when it when we um you know uh when it was like an emerg situation we did put the the Nixels out um and when we don't put the Nixels out for non-emergent um like after the fact we try to put out um something on social media um in addition to the um what we list on the police plotter so the residents get it sooner okay I think that's so may I ask your question so if someone is in their neighborhood and they are pulling on you know the door handles they're walking down the street um and someone reports it and they're still in the neighborhood would a nixel go out so that people would know yeah most likely we'll try to get a nixel out then um when something is like you know uh it's actively in progress and we have that information and uh you know we have the ability to put it out we'll get we'll you know more times than not we'll get it out but a lot of times you know it'll be reported to us after the fact um and it's still important to get that information at the residents but it's no longer um you know an Emer situation where you have to get it out on a Nixle and uh we'll get that out either uh with the social media post Andor it'll be on it'll always be in the police blotter but we'll try to get a social media post out like you know within a day or two so um residents know uh you know sooner okay all right thank you all right ahead councilman Boer thank you Chief I I I uh I appreciate your report and um I just wanted to say that it's important to note that these achievements are a testament to your office's diligent work um and the mayor I know how hard the mayor works on these initiatives you you you meet together I don't know if people know this but you have I don't know like three meetings you meet with me then you meet with each other and then you meet with you know you've been meeting on uh reducing these types of crimes uh since day one and the community engagement initiatives that uh you provide is also a testament um I I really truly believe that the decrease in burglary I mean uh the burglar incidents reduced from 15 in 2023 to 8 in 2024 uh 46.7% reduction I think this is a uh a significant decrease in the first 6 months as we all know crime can you know change in you know one day or two but the major reduction and entry and attempted entry into Motor Vehicles I mean these incidents decrease like you said from 39 in 2023 to 17 in 2024 a 56.4% reduction you know this is a dramatic drop and it also highlights the success of targeted interventions from your uh from your Police Department to prevent vehicle break-ins and lastly uh you know I just want to also talk about other initiatives that you have like the home uh safe inspections uh the Youth Academy that you just had um events like on July 4th where you had the drones up and all the kids were out uh even going down to Weaver Street the other day with your officers from Community programs you know um interacting with with uh um our Summit Housing Authority um these initiatives where the police are taking proactive steps to engage with our community uh you know makes our community safe um we are this is this reminds me of a town where you know um officers know the residents right you pull somebody over you tell them to knock it off and you know we know each other this is a this is a good uh police force and you work with um other community um um associations as well so I just want to I just want to thank you uh Chief and thank you for putting up with me for the last six months I appreciate that too so thank you for your work thank you um if I could end with this um although we're you know uh the these Crimes of the residential burglaries and the stolen cars are trending downward we're getting to a good place and we're proud of the work we did and uh you know a lot of the success of bringing these crime the crime rates down in these areas is because of the residents what they've been doing they've been um you know taking preventative uh steps uh you know to prevent these crimes and you know that that that that's probably the you know uh the biggest factor in these crimes going down but I want to caution everybody uh like councilman Bo said Bo you said you know this can change because these crimes are still being committed in other jurisdictions they're down a little bit in some jurisdictions I don't think they're down quite as much as you know I reported here again we're happy with what you know where we where you know we're heading and where you know uh uh with these reductions but you know the residents have to remain Vigilant you can't put your guard down um because that's pretty much what got us in you know some of the trouble that we were in uh you know the last couple years because uh you know a lot of complacency uh so um again you know we have to make sure that we you know remain Vigilant and uh you know keep this trend going downward and and we still have you know strategies that we haven't even put in place yet our our two new officers haven't even you know started yet oh no it's it's a constant we're so there's more to come right so it's good thank you so take your key fobs in is what you're saying yeah okay all right unlock your doors all right thank you Chief all right we're GNA move on to um ordinances for hearing anybody need a break no I just wanted to say one thing did we get the um the petition that was signed did you provide that for the sidewalks okay that would be to Rose this city oh perfect so I'm working with it we're having an issue with the links that were in the um email so that'd be great thank you okay thank you does council need a break before we no move on okay great we are going to do um I'm just going to let everybody leave for one second and do you need a break you sure I want to take two minutes only if you need to do you need to we're gonna Zoom through this I mean I can okay I'd like to keep everyone here if I can we have a quorum 30 seconds we have a quorum people can leave all right all right okay great um we're going to do ordinance for hearing Madam clerk please read the first ordinance ordinance number 24- 3324 and ordin of the city of summit in the county of Union New Jersey adopting new storm water management regulations pursu pursuant to njac 7 colon 8 and appealing and replacing section 26-1 storm water management of chapter 26 storm water management regulations of the revised General ordinances of the city of summit excellent councilwoman Hamlet uh yeah thank you uh council president Allan this is ordinance 24- 3324 uh as the the city clerk just said this is an ordinance of the city of summit in the county of Union New Jersey adopting new storm water management regulations pursuant to njac 7 uh 7-8 and repealing and replacing section 26-1 storm water management of 26 storm water management regulations of the revised General ordinances of the city of summit I would like to move this ordinance for hearing second okay hearing is open Council comments public comments all right we're going to close the hearing Madame Clerk please read the first ordinance for a final consideration ordinance number 24- 3324 an ordinance of the city of Summit County of Union New Jersey adopting new storm water management regulations pursuant to njac C7 colon 8 and repealing replacing section 26-1 uh storm water management of the chapter of chapter 26 storm water management regulations of the of the revised General ordinances of the city of summit excellent councilwoman Hamlet um thank you council president alen can I just ask a question why do we have to repeat this four times you repeat it twice and I repeat it twice you don't have to rep is there can we simplify this I I read it for for the benefit of all you don't need to repeat so what should I say that would make it simpler just say uh as the hearing was just hearing was just held I would like to move the ordinance for adoption I can't keep reading this I have ADD so I can't I will second that thank you I will second that excellent roll call Madam clerk Mr Boyer I miss Hamlet I Mr migar hi Mr palowski hi Mr Smallwood hi Mr bartan I president Allen I motion carries okay on to resolutions uh Finance councilman migar thank you council president this is resolution number 11 144 and this is a resolution determining the form and other details such as the repayment schedule for the remaining School bonds for 20 2024 in the amount of $3,929 th000 because Summit is a type one School District Council approves ordinances for the issuance of bonds to fund our schools back in September of last year Council approved the issuance of the first half of these bonds and this resolution is for the remaining portion I move to adopt this resolution I second excellent Council comments public comments okay all in favor I any opposed motion carries law and labor councilman flowski uh hi this is uh resolution number 1401 as discussed in close session this resolution is to authorize execution of a settlement agreement I move to pass this to adopt this resolution second excellent okay Council comments public comments okay all in favor I any opposed motion carries councilman pusi this is resolution number 11 1420 as discussed in Clos session this resolution is to declare vacancy in the city administrator's office I move to adopt this resolution a second okay Council comments public comments right all in favor I I any opposed motion carries safety and health councilman Boer thank you council president this is resolution ID number 11403 authorized the purchase of a 202 for uh Chevy Silverado pickup truck uh the pickup truck will be replacing an aing 2008 Dodge Durango uh used for fire fire prevention excuse me uh so we're switching from an SUV to a pickup which will allow storing personal gear and fire department equipment separately from the passenger compartment protecting passengers from combustion products and health risk contaminates I move to adopt this resolution second Council comments public comments all in favor I any opposed motion carries okay Community programs and Parking Services councilman Smallwood thank you council president this is ID number 11 1406 uh declaring a vacancy in Parking Services Agency impending our closed session discussion I move to adopt this resolution and I second excellent okay Council comments public comments all in favor I any opposed motion carries okay councilwoman Hamlet uh thank you council president this is resolution ID 11374 uh this is to award the bid for the 2024 Ashwood Court culdesac grading and wall reconstruction project in the amount of 78,3 that in accordance with the city treasur certification of availability of funds in account uh numbers ending in 260 and 1000 a copy of which is here attached and made a part of this resolution and is is recommended in a memo from the city city engineer bids received by the purchasing agent on May 21st 2024 shall be awarded to the lowest responsive responsible bidder uh which would be denbar construction the amount of 78360 I'd like to move this resolution for introduction second okay Council comments public comments all in favor hi any opposed nay okay Mo motion carries you got that okay yes um okay councilwoman Hamlet second resolution sorry one second it's okay it's padle tennis what's that padle tennis 11412 I got sorry thank you sorry I'm just having a hard time finding in sorry I'm on the wrong page here I'm just G to wait tpw pickup that's the only one I no we're on the um it's on page six on our agenda yeah I got it I'm sorry my my packet's just a little bit messed up just give me one second promise I'll get it thanks M sorry thank you yeah thank you okay thanks Matt thank you uh this is resolution ID 11412 uh which will reject the bids and authorized negoti negotiations for the paddle tennis court Improvement project there were no responsive responsive bids received for the paddle tennis court Improvement project on June 4th 20124 with the loan bidder being rejected due to flaws in the bid submitted and whereas no bids were received for the paddle tennis courts Improvement project on July 16th 2024 the Department of Community Services director requests permission to negotiate for paddle tennis courts Improvement projects pursuant to the njsa 41-53 um I would like to move that the DCS director is hereby authorized to begin negotiations for paddle tennis court Improvement projects pursuant to njsa 41-53 i' like to move this resolution for introduction second okay excellent Council comments um I can explain this one and I'm super passionate about it CU I'm a paddle tennis player um but there is an Matt u m Mr Jobe you might want to chime in here but I guess with um with all of these projects these contractors have to have a Department of Public Works um contractor's licens with apprenticeship programs is that correct correct okay so there are only I believe three or four paddle tennis companies that at least I'm aware of um the first one did not have the license the second one second and third ones I don't believe had the licenses some of them are willing to get that I think it only takes 30 days um however I think director shreer found a co-op that might also be building some paddle tennis courts so I don't think it'll be totally held up but it is a little frustrating to be um here you know several years later still without paddle tennis courts I know there's a lot of desire for the community to have uh more pickle and and more paddle so if anybody else has any other suggestions I guess we would have to negotiate this point excent council president yeah um thank you so the contractor that did initially bid on this they just didn't have the Apprentice they didn't have the license from what I understand which also now I believe it requires an apprenticeship program correct Mr so when you're excuse me through council president when you're doing the bid process there are certain documents that are called fatal flaws that if you don't contain them you can't correct them and it does appear in that case that that that did happen so that would instantly negate that bidder and there was simply just one and then the second the second bid process had no bids and under the law that allows a municipality to then negotiate having gone through two public and open processes for the project so could the current contractor rebid for this there is no there's no more bidding it's now Aaron can reach out to the all the biders and others to negotiate a price okay and um coun and it sounds like there aren't many of them but the the ones that we've begun conversation with are willing to get what is required when you do work on public property you have to meet certain standards so that's that's that Public Works certification let me give it to councilman Varan first because he has if you want to go first okay I was just going to say it it has been um the pedal tennis courts were just built in Stone Harbor um and a bunch of residents actually from here play in Stone Harbor and seagirt and so we're seeing them pop up so I don't know what they're doing that you know I guess maybe they're they've already bid and rejected and they were negotiating but we'll figure it out the qpa is calling uh down to seagard and ston harbor I know the mayor has some relationships and I have some relationships with the people down in ston Harbor so we'll get to the bottom of it Council M yeah uh so just just for the benefit of the people watching I'll just back us up a bit further which is we have a couple of paddle tennis courts uh near Wilson uh Park um it's a winter sport hard ball um so so uh the it's $190,000 uh which you know is significant um there is a $70,000 Grant or couple of grants that were received um you know this this process uh is not something that usually happens for these kinds of contracts right like maybe it's a plowing contract or something where you'll wind up with you know nobody responding to the bid this is you know a little bit odd for I think this kind of project um so you know my I what was what I wanted to emphasize is this will come back to us at Council again it doesn't just empower the Department of Community Services to say okay this is who we're going to go with this is the price right because we don't want to get taken for a ride by some some contractor who knows we already went through two rounds of a public bid process didn't get anybody right so it does have to come back to us again for another vote so just for the benefit of people watching thank you C pres I mean since we were awarded a a grant for this is there a timing issue would do we have the abil are we going to run out of time for the specific grant that we have to give it back I I don't believe excuse me through you council president I don't I don't believe so okay um actually the city being able to negotiate allows us to move in a very different pace than when you're doing a bid process so which requires series of council approvals so this is sort of this can also work in to the benefit of the city the purpose of bidding is to make sure that it's an equitable purchasing process because we're basically buying for the people um when you go through the process twice then it does behoove the city to to negotiate private um in a different manner than a bid process so I don't think that would be a case where we would have a problem there okay thank you good okay are there any public comments all right then all in favor I hi any opposed motion carries um okay your third resolution councilwoman Hamlet 11399 y y all right thank you council president this is resolution ID 11399 authorizing New Jersey state contract purchase of a pi truck depart division of Public Works in the amount of $63,800 I would like to move this resolution for introduction second excellent uh Council comments this looks like the uh fire department got a better deal on the pickup truck I'm just saying I think through you council president our truck can do a bit more but okay it's smack talk with truck purchasing I suppose I can see that all right public comments all right all in favor I any opposed motion carries okay we're going to push number four um to September so councilwoman Hamlet number five um which is 11 14 I think I'm going to punt this one to uh councilman Smallwood if that's okay right okay president just a yeah that's just a comment on the fencing are we are we we're going to put it on the agenda again or are we going to kick it to a committee question number number uh uh ID number 11359 um through you council president I mean this is already in the Caps committee I believe so there were just a few things that we wanted to follow up on and it would be more prudent for it to be it will be ready for September um so it would be pushed to September but it's still in caps and I if you would like to take it in safety as well in parallel or join a cap meeting you absolutely can yeah I mean my my number one concern is I just want the you know fire chief maybe police chief to look into it um because it's it's an enclosure now right and I don't know if they had a chance to to look at the uh the project so okay and they're going to have another discuss SDI is having another discussion tomorrow so um stay tuned but um stay in touch with councilman Hamlet yeah but I think um if I may oh sure oh sorry I I think we definitely have to also probably have more committees look at it CU I know I was going back and forth with Chief Evers today and I think like a formal memo stating that it's safe and which I'm sure it will be but I think just looking for guidance from our professionals and also potentially even putting it in finance because I think we have to abide to some uh payto playay rules for this as well so I think we should probably process it as a formal Dr and I think we could hopefully get on the agenda in September but I just think you know I was asking a lot of questions like does this impact our you know anything with our joint Insurance Fund I just I just needed a little more information on this and I'm I'm super excited I hope it works out um but since we are chatting about it although it's not there was some there was a really great comment that came in um about um how the city would maintain this afterward and how this is very similar to the fence that's along Summit Avenue and how there's some dents along Summit Avenue and I I completely agree I think that this could be the something that we really need to look into which is why I'm glad you suggested it for finance is that uh how this maintenance would be handled so it's a very important point for the next time it's on the agenda thank okay right councilman palowski why do we need a fence around that oh no no we're not going to discuss it because we're pushing it so we just discussed it how are we going to maintain [Laughter] it all right all right that's a good question put a pin in it and cap will discuss it so all right we're moving on to resolution 11 400 councilwoman Hamlet councilwoman Council councilman small my apologies um yes so this is ID number 11400 uh appoint recycling advisory committee members uh pending close closed session uh discussion uh each year we have uh two or we have uh two vacancies for high school students to join the uh recycling committee and and the two that we had on our uh recycling committee this past year have graduated and they recommended two other high school students uh to join um the recycling committee and uh chairwoman um Mimi zukov uh has vetted them interviewed them and I uh trust her recommendation 100% as well as a uh High School uh a new high school teacher uh will be joining us as well so we'll have a um s a high school staff as well as two high school students joining uh the recycling committee this year so I'm excited about to have them so I move to uh adopt this resolution second wonderful all right thank you uh Council comments public comments okay all in favor I any opposed motion carries okay councilwoman Hamlet council president I think this is yeah why I think this is Kevin still I don't know why I'm sorry councilman Smallwood aren't you 11411 wait hold on the vacancy for Community Services it is do you need do you need paper yeah yeah I've been um I know sorry Rosie this is one I'm in denial of I know you can I know we can't introduce this one sorry we're going to we're going to table it been uh okay well uh so this uh I guess yeah this is declaring a vacancy in the Department of Community Services um which we talked about in Clos session so I would like to introduce this uh for introduction now for adoption for adoption yeah second okay Council comments well I'm going to say something um we are sad to say that Matt delori will be moving on and his I don't know about I won't even see when your last day is but um Matt you are an extraordinary individual um you are organized you are kind you are thoughtful you are smart you were strategic um and you have been really an incredible person who has been a bit of a mentor for me over the last um three years and I wish I would have even been able to articulate that sooner um sometimes you don't know how what you know what you don't know what you have until it's gone um although I've known what we've had and you your you leaving is going to be a big big loss thank you me too me too I want to wish Matt um well and um we will miss you I have been very I have benefited from your wisdom um they're big shoes to fil and thank you for your service to our community and good luck in the future and don't be a stranger yeah thank you so council president yeah go ahead so Matt I I uh I got to tell you this doesn't happen often um I'm in a I'm in a committee meeting I won't tell you which one it is but uh someone said to me I heard a rumor that Matt's leaving and I said well I can't deny or confirm that at this point but uh a group of people at that meeting said Matt is fantastic and and there's not a lot of committees that I go to where someone's name is mentioned and everybody's on the same page saying this person's fantastic um but you you truly are you're a professional and I appreciate that from you actually um when you talk people believe you and that's the most important thing about you know someone in your profession right you know helping people navigate this world of affordable housing is very difficult um and uh you be an asset to anywhere you go and I appreciate your service thank you thank you yeah I can't um continue with the Love Fest because I'm mad at you so um that's it oh that's it may I speak as a colle together and Matt knows how I feel and I won't cry again but um Matt's always been someone that I could count on he he he's just an example of professionalism and and just takes every detail of his work so seriously and he does it with Grace and I respect him highly and I will miss him dearly wow I've never seen so many tears up here but um geez Louise U Matt you are just you know the amount of work you provide and and do uh your due diligence in in a day is just unbelievable and and I know I will miss miss you I don't know if you'll miss me because I know I've completely tortured you with questions and gosh I hope I'm not one of the reasons you're leaving because I know I torture you with questions um but you're such a valuable resource and sometimes that comes with a big responsibility and um I know that we've been so lucky big shoes to fill um whatever we can do to you know help you professionally going forward um please let us know and thank you for your service Yes W [Applause] it has been my pleasure to serve the people of summit and multiple councils and I will certainly miss it here but I appreciate all the opportunities you've given me and um want to thank you and everybody for these kind words I really appreciate it it's uh a thankless work when you work in government and to receive this kind of support is really heart heartfelt so thank you all very much I really appreciate all of you thank you thank you council president I I mentioned this before and it's really not going to make a difference but I I reject your resignation and I will be voting against this vacancy and even though even when we approve it you can change your mind so we're just just saying you guys have been great thank you all right thank you again all right uh public comments give him a all in favor I I I any opposed nay motion carries it's going on the record it is all right moving on councilman Boer safety and health yes thank you council president this is resolution ID number 11430 by the way someone is trying to trick me with these resolutions because the the one before was 11 143 and I I I you know I'm glad I pointed that out but anyway um this is authorizing the state contract purchase of a three-year lease SL purchase of two police vehicles for $3 35,940 per year uh this is a seccession plan to replace the vehicles I move to adopt this resolution second excellent Council con I just have one I spent way too much time on this today than I probably wanted to spend um but I would like to say that we have to replace the quote in here Rosie correct in the actual packet because the quote was wrong I sent the correct quote out inadvertently okay there wasn't there was extraneous or extra information that wasn't didn't apply to this Pur so anybody who's looking at this quote it was not the right one so I spent way too much time today picking it apart and um then we realiz but the the actual financing quote uh was correct which led us to another discussion uh today and but I think it's it's totally great I just spent a little too much time on it today so thank you all right uh public comments all right all in favor I I any opposed motion carries at this time we're going to vote on the consent agenda do I have a motion to approve the consent agenda so moved do I have a second second can I any want to pull something out mm I pull it out after so just to remind everybody the um that we are pushing number two under cap number two under cap I'm sorry which was uh yeah number two which was um 11384 so we're pushing that to September um so council president may say something um so Mr delari I put a phone call into Boswell today because I just wanted more information but I'm sure director Sher I think he's coming back this week yeah um I think we could have probably moved forward with it if if director Sher was here but I just need a little more information I think Greg probably did too so um we'll get it done in September I guess absolutely excellent okay um all in favor oh I'm sorry are there any public comments all right all in favor I any opposed motion carries all right we are moving on to council member comments and new business are there any Council comments on this no councilwoman ham did you want to talk about I just wanted to give a quick planning board update um just because it was relevant and it was Matt's Final harah on the planning board um I was not at the planning board meeting I was on vacation but I did want to give a quick recap uh I think it was also pertinent to some of the questions that the residents had uh the planning board created a drro subcommittee a few months ago so development regulations uh they came up with a draft form of about nine or 10 ideas for discussion changes and edits to the drro uh the planning member Jennifer Alvarez um Steve spur uh and a few others discussed how the last reexamination was in 2016 as all of you know a lot of citizens were involved in that and the goals in the master plan the master plan document is the basis upon which we write our DRL here's a quick summary of the things the planning board is looking at at in the DRL uh the first is a possible update to the historic preservation ordinance that they have been working on uh there has been a lot of discussion over the decades to improve it give it a little more teeth uh HPC is currently talking to DCS about this and the city council uh number two is with uh regarding design guidelines uh which we added to our drro but for those of you who uh have read the drro one or two times you'll notice it's at the back of the drro so the recommendation was to put those design guidelines uh which Architects and um and such should follow so they're recommending to put those uh at the front uh and obviously all of this would come back to council for review uh number three is looking at parameters for allowable roof decks downtown uh number number four is looking at uh some more of the Stacked parking there's quite a a little bit in the drro of stacked parking but just looking upon that uh number five was accessory dwelling units uh back when we did the master plan it is included um Mr delore mentioned this at the meeting the state is considering this although it's stuck in committee um but they are um considering controlling Z zoning on a on a blank blanket Statewide scale to allow for these accessory dwelling units as permitted uses in all uh residential areas uh double Dormers uh it's in the drro but they were looking to expand some of the the uh conversation in there uh seven was in kind replacement of existing AC units um some expansion upon that and there's two or three more um they also talked a little bit about uh 55 and older housing and I think in the new mat correct me if I'm wrong the new affordable housing regulations the percentage of units that can be set aside for I think 62 it increases it increases from I think 25 to 30% so all of these things you I know Council uh former councilwoman Harrison talked about um affordable housing so that's why I wanted to give some of those updates um they also talked about um cross acceptance and the state plan when that comes in September so just real quick Cross acceptance is the municipalities in the county aligning their local planning with the state plan the state plan hasn't been published yet but city of summit has requested that we participate in that planning process the planning board will be hosting a session likely in September that will afford members of the public to come forward and answer a few questions about what they think some of their major planning goals for the city are that's separate from a master plan process which the planning board is also looking to take part in next year the master plan is due every 10 years or a re-examination it isn't due until 2026 but the planning board would like to get ahead and use the 2025 year to really get going cuz we want to do a lot of listening and making sure the public has an opportunity to alline cross acceptance is just the alignment of the local County and state plan and so there's just some questions that the planning will be asking of the public it'll be both an opportunity to come in person to the planning board in September and then also there'll be an email address or an opportunity for ways in which people can submit their their um feedback uh that way as well and the um I guess I'll piggy back off that to say there's a lot of discussion around uh obviously with having to redo our master plan there are pieces within our fair share plan that were that were updated and the re-exam so Joe Burgess uh and firm are going to present a memo to the planning board which I think will be uh very helpful to the Mount Laurel committee and the uh planning board uh the last thing in the drro I might have missed one but uh was talking about consistency reviews uh for those of us who have watched any planning board meetings and uh recently we had one where we spent three or four hours and uh you know we it's only a courtesy review and we spend a lot of time uh trying to get uh get them to comply and uh so we're trying to get maybe those uh courtesy reviews a little bit sooner or just making them have a little bit more teeth so that we can you know whether it's storm water management or or things like that so I hope that wasn't too long but it was a really good meeting at the end joer just gave a lot of good comments and Matt thank you for your leadership on the planning board as well thank you okay are we good council president youc um just real quick uh I wanted to do this a couple of meetings ago but I wanted to congratulate Jacqueline Gray from The Summit Housing Authority on her new role uh as the executive director um with two decades of experience in New Jersey Housing Authority organizations Mrs Gray's expertise and leadership are invaluable assets to The Summit Housing Authority um and you know I am confident that under her guidance uh the Summit Housing Authority will continue to improve and serve the tenants and the Summit Housing Authority Community uh at our last Summit Housing Authority meeting uh we were talking about affordable housing and my view as all of you know since day one has been to uh protect home base you know I'm a dentist Place Weaver Street Glenwood kid you know played around there and everything else and I know that we have an opportunity to rehabilitate or help rehabilitate those areas um and uh I would I've encouraged the Summit Housing Authority to get in touch with um you know our city council and work with uh you know our city to to Really push that forward you know um those residents have have been without um certain um Quality of Life uh improvements for a long time now and uh you know the faster we move the better so I just want to be on record for saying that thank you excent thank you councilman all right with that anything else I'm going to make a motion to adjourn do I have motions second no no I need a motion oh motion to adjourn and then do I have a second second excellent all right all in favor hi any opposed motion carries you made it 913 e