thank you for coming we're going to call this meeting to order Madame clerk please read the adequate notice compliance statement adequate notice of this meeting has been provided by the city clerk's office in the preparation of the meeting notice dated January 16th 2024 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 listing system to assist the hearing impaired if if anyone needs hearing assistance please obtain the system at the de and return it thereafter roll call Mr Boer Miss Hamlet here Mr migar here Mr palowski here Mr Smallwood here Mr bartan President Allen here okay let's do the Pledge of Allegiance captain Chief right here present arms I Al to the flag of the United States of America and to the rep for stands one nation God indivisible with liberty and justice for all Madame clerk please read the explanatory notices regarding close sessions hearings and comments a close session meeting as per uh 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 channel 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 please give her 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 asked to limit their comments to approximately 3 minutes or so in length unless you are using an electronic device to follow meeting agenda or needed for professional emergency contact purposes please turn it off thank you thank you okay approval of minutes do I have a motion to approve the regular and close session meeting of December 19th 2023 so moved do I have a second second all in favor favor I any opposed motion carries okay next Madame mayor going to your report thank you am I on okay um I've been enjoying my first few weeks as your mayor and I appreciate everyone that's taken time to stop by city hall and say hello or share your thoughts and concerns when I'm out in the community as a reminder my office hours are here at City Hall Monday from 9:00 to 11:00 a.m. and Wednesdays from 10: to 12 and I'm considering adding either an afternoon or an evening in the next month or so you can also email me at Eagen cityofsummit.org and we can arrange a time to meet or speak by phone I will also be working with the Communications office to release a video update every Monday on City News initiatives events and other timely topics these videos will be posted on my mayor's page on the city website and social media channels including Facebook and YouTube I look forward to sharing them with you last Monday I had the privilege of attending all of the Martin Luther King Junior Day of Service events that were being held around town it was wonderful to see and meet so many young people and families that were serving the community from the cards that were made for stage and Hospital workers to lunches and toiletries that were packed seeing eye puppies that I met to conversations about the issues about Martin Luther King Jr championed and how we all need to add more kindness into our lives it was truly a day of action and giving a big thank you to everyone that volunteered into shaping Summit together and Anette DWI the organizers of the event and last Friday several council members and I were proud to participate in a ribbon cutting ceremony at the opening of the empath which is the emergency psychiatric assessment treatment and healing unit at Overlook Medical Center the first of its kind in New Jersey this unit special specialized unit takes behavioral emergency Patients Out of the emergency department and into a setting in which they will get the appropriate care more quickly I was once again reminded about how fortunate we are to have Atlantic health system as a community partner and Overlook as a resource for enhanced patient care I also have one other thing I'd like to say which is um as you know there was significant public interest in what the prior Council wanted to do with Broad Street West properties as well as a significant public concern about the process that was being used this Council recognizes that there is still work to do regarding the existing of the existing firehouse on Seven Cedar Street and our continuing affordable housing goals additionally the discussion needs to be transparent and inclusive of inclusive of community input to that end I will be setting up a working group that will continue to study the possibilities for those properties and how best to continue working towards our affordable housing goals I'll have more information for you on this working group at upcoming Council meetings so please stay tuned thank you thank you Madame mayor and um business administrator Rogers thank you council president uh good evening everyone uh I'm just going to give a brief storm uh report uh we've had a couple of mild Winters so it's been a while since I've had to do this but over the last couple weeks Summit in the broader region experienced significant snow and ice conditions uh the city implemented specific snow and ice control measures during the storm last Tuesday that included applying 6,000 gallons of brine to roads prior to the storm uh use of 250 tons uh of salt to prevent icy conditions and 288 staff hours of plowing the division of Public Works uh who did did I thought did a fairly good job given the circumstances and the conditions uh was responsible for snow and ice removal on 68 miles of city streets this responsibility did not extend to County County Roads uh for snow and ice control on specific routes like 78 124 and 24 uh the responsibility falls to the State Department of Transportation this indicates a coordinated effort between different levels of government City County and state to manage the storm's impact effect effectively the city used various uh communication channels such as its website social media and emergency alert systems smart 911 and and nixel to inform residents of um about snow removal efforts and safety and snow removal guidelines when residents were advised to remove cars from city streets during plowing operations both the Broad Street and tier garages were available at no cost over the weekend uh we continue to refine our effort efforts conduct post storm uh evaluations and have and and we've met with mayor Fagan and members of council and staff to help identify ways to do better and improve operations uh snow gu guidelines with snow removal ordinance uh and parking information are posted on the city website uh for further review uh so on to next item uh Hometown Heroes program uh enrollment is now open for its 2024 Hometown Heroes program uh the deadline to apply is March 31st this year this will be the seventh year for the successful program that displays banners with names images and dates of service of active military members and Veterans on city streets from miday through mid August uh this the program is funded through private donations with no fee to participate information on application requirements uh and how to apply is available at cityofsummit.org Hometown Heroes and then lastly uh just uh the palal ping pong tournament uh will be held on Friday February 2nd uh from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the community center uh the competition is open to children in grades 5: through 8 and will feature music and entertainment Pizza light refreshments and prizes ping pong balls and paddles will be provided but uh competitors may bring their own to use registration through Civic wreck is required there is no fee to attend uh please go to Summit uh Community programs.com for more information and to register and that's all I have for this evening council president thank you thank you okay uh good evening I am thrilled to address you tonight at at our first regular business meeting of 2024 it has been rewarding to witness each member of our Council setting in into their respective committee roles with such enthusiasm and dedication council members your commitment is commendable and a vital force in moving our city forward we have important work planned this year our priorities are clear and focused with the well-being and prosperity of our community at the core safety remains a Paramount concern for us and and Community engagement will be at the heart of our endeavors your voices ideas and feedback will be The Guiding Light for our decisions and our actions we are committed to fostering a deeper connection with residents and business owners alike it's important to share that in December the clerk's office and the communication team held a well- attended and successful knowledge sharing Workshop session for the chairs of the city boards and committees it was an opportunity for the chairs to understand the mission of each group understand the synergies between them and hopefully establish productive relationships for uh future Project work we look forward to doing another one soon I hope you do too Rosemary I am pleased to announce in February we're going to be launching a CommunityWide survey and looking forward to feedback from all of you the community on your thoughts and what your priorities are we will also host a town hall meeting in the spring which will be an additional opportunity for the public to comment and questions um for councel and staff and these are just going to be a few of the initiatives that we're implementing as a part of a larger Community engagement plan your support and participation are what make our Council effective and our community exceptional I look forward to a year of meaningful achievements and shared successes I'd also like to congratulate Annette dwire and the shaping Summit together team and committee on an incredibly successful and meaningful Martin Luther King celebration this weekend the sessions Gatherings and volunteering brought everyone together in a personal and connecting way and it is a fitting way to honor a man who believed in progress through peace and made an immeasurable impact on all of us his legacy lives on in events like these so thank you to that committee um I do want to mention um that on February 12th we will be um the city is having their affordable housing committee meeting um it's on the website it's listed on the website and that's going to be a public meeting I know that affordable housing is definitely on everybody's mind um one of the first actions that I took as Council actually before council president is I made sure that tonight in our first business meeting tonight that we met with Joe Burgess who is our planner Nancy Holmes who is our affordable housing attorney and Matt delori who is our city uh uh employee that helps manage affordable housing to find out what do we need to do to kind of close out our this this round and um plan for the future so we are taking it very seriously um with that said um I would like to get to the really important part and that is our swearing in um mayor Fagan you will do the honors of swearing in our three probationary firefighters Chief yeah thanks all for com appreciate you being here want to give a little recognition to members of the audience today we have me of fire department joining us member of Chad M it's always great to see the far come support each other Al like to do about town chief David's last day of service with today [Applause] party and farm we have three of them just want to tell the families 'll be in good hands we'll give them the tools and train need to get them home safe every day and to be take care with that over okay so I'm new here this is my first one hopefully I do it right and first I'm going to um tell you about Jerome Palmer Jr Jerome Palmer Jr became a volunteer with the summit Fire Department in June 2023 and served in the volunteer division's hook and ladder company number one Jerry has completed firefighter 1 and two he's also been an active member of the Garwood volunteer fire department since 2021 Jerry holds several safety certifications hazardous material awareness yeah make yourselves comfortable Hazmat operational comp competencies 6.2 and 6.6 hazardous materials operation core incident command systems IC 100 and 200 and stop the Bleed American College of Surgeons committee on trauma congratulations to Jerry on your appointment to Career firefighter with the summit Fire Department there you go is Megan here phot repeat after me I I Jerome Palmer Jerome Palmer do solemnly swear do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the constitution of the state of New Jersey and the constitution of the state of New Jersey and that I will bear true faith and that I will bear true faith and Allegiance and allegiance to the same to the same and to the governments established and to the governments established in the United States and the United States and in this state and in this state under the authority of the people under the authority of the people I do solemnly swear I do solemnly swear that I will Faithfully that I will faithfully impartially impartially and justly and justly perform all of the duties of the position of probation of probationary firefighter perform all the duties of the position of probationary firefighter according to the best of my ability according to the best of my ability so help me God so help me God [Applause] congratulations David David can you take pictures for them yeah it just like that just like that okay we're gonna take a picture um yeah yeah we go Mary do you want to get in [Applause] mayor William there you go that's it will became a volunteer with the S Fire Department in June 2023 and served in the volunteer division's Union H company number two will has completed firefighter 1 and two and has received training in nremt in 2022 he's also an active member of the old Oldwick volunteer fire department since 2017 and was promoted to second lieutenant in 2023 in May of 2023 will graduated from Moravian University with a ba in business management will H several certification safety certifications National Incident Management Systems M 700 and 800 incident command systems ic200 congratulations will on your appoint firefighter fire [Applause] department goodon I William mik do solemnly swear I William to swe that I will support the Constitution of the United States that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the constitution of the state of New Jersey and the constitution of the state of New Jersey and that I will bear true faith and that I will bear true faith and Allegiance and allegiance to the same to the same and to the governments established and to the governments established in the united states in the United States and in this state and in this state under the authority of the people under the authority of the people I do solemnly swear I do solemnly swear that I will Faithfully that I will faithfully impartially impartially and justly and justly perform all the duties perform all the duties of the position of probationary firefighter of the position of probationary firefighter according to the best of my ability according to the best of my ability so help me that so [Applause] me [Applause] congratulations [Applause] and last Colin Colin kid became a volunteer with the summit Fire Department in June 2023 and served in the volunteer division's Co engine number two Colin has completed firefighter 1 and two he's also been an active member of the chadam volunteer fire department since 2017 Colin holds several safety certifications incident command systems 100 200 National Incident Management Systems fire inspector hazardous materials responder level 1 and two hazardous material operation core hazardous materials awareness bloodborne pathogens vehicle rescue operational level Machinery rescue awareness Ops and technician levels congratulations Colin on your appointment to Career a firefighter with the Su fire [Applause] department I Colin kid doly swear I Colin kid you Solly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States I will support the Constitution of the United States and the constitution of the state of New Jersey and the constitution of the state of New Jersey and that I will bear true faith and that I will bear true faith and Allegiance and allegiance to the Saint to the Saint and to the governments established and to the governments established in the united states in the United States and in the state and in the state under the authority of the people under the authority of the people I do solemnly swear I do solemnly swear that I will Faithfully that I will faithfully impartially impartially and just L and justly perform all the duties perform all the duties of the position of probationary firefighter of the position of probationary firefighter according to the best of my ability according to the best of my ability so help me gu so help me [Applause] out here you in a second okay do you're second here did I read this right yes congratulations very [Applause] good there we go congratulations congratulations congratulations congratulations congratulations to everybody congratulations to the family and to our fire department our family's getting bigger to thank Council for um supporting us you always fill our vacancies we appreciate all the support with fire department thank you thank you Chief yeah thank you all right okay um should yeah yeah you want take a minute before yeah go ahead go ahead announce oh everybody can um we're going to take a couple couple minutes just to let everybody get out leave the room okay go ahead we just need two minutes [Laughter] yeah you're all by yourself over there Kevin you and R you guys SC I signed it somebody it it's okay like okay do I have to hit this again G all right you have to really hit this you do you have to yeah okay um we are on to the public comment section um at this point in the meeting Council welcomes comments from any member of the public about issues that are not topics on tonight's business agenda whenever an audience or council member reads from a prop uh prepared statement please provide a copy to the city clerk at City clerk at cityofsummit.org to help facilitate an orderly meeting and to permit all to be heard speakers are asked to limit their comments to 3 minutes and when you uh come to the lecturn please state your name and address clearly thank you all right thank you Jim yes good evening mayor f council president Allen members of common Council I'm Jim Bennett b n NE T 38 Fairview Avenue and I'd like to start by saying I was pleased to see the continuation of the tradition of uh awarding chairs to the outgoing mayor and members of council the chair that's in my home study is the one that was given to my father at the very beginning of 1976 to recognize his 15 years of service as a councilman council president and mayor and I hope that uh uh the retiring council members will enjoy their chairs as much as I'm enjoying my fathers so uh let me get to the reason I'm here uh I'm here to talk about sumage debt level which is excessive despite the AAA credit rating the latest unemployment and inflation data suggest that the FED isn't going to lower interest rates anytime soon but the city should not be making plans by trying to second guess the FED in 2023 uh the uh budget snapshot placed Summit debt at $6 65.5 s million nearly at parody with the municipal budget 10% of the municipal budget is debt service at the December 13 2023 budget meeting uh Treasurer Tammy Baldwin uh presented a 2025 Debt Service schedule of7 million $ 92,84546 that debt is gone you have less interest expense and more to apply to the next smallest here uh we start with a Debt Service of $7 million which we will have to pay anyway in 2023 if we commit to keeping the line item for Debt Service fixed at the $7 million level we pay down an extra $267,600 in principle in 2026 and that may look like a grain of sandal on the Beach compared to 65.5 uh7 million of debt but 100% of the extra payment goes to principal and retires a recurring interest obligation in 2027 the additional amount becomes $836,000 in 2028 $270,600 ,17 for those four years we retire 1, 84214 in principle that we would not otherwise have retired or close to 3% of the debt and recurring interest goes down we could even start this year and reduce the debt principal by $132,200 if we shave the proposed Capital Improvement plan without unnecessarily deferring Capital costs we could make even more progress and if we sell an asset such as the current fire headquarters property and put it on the tax roles uh we need to apply 100% of those proceeds to debt amortization at the capital budget meeting I suggested a public private partnership for recreation projects as we did with the summit tennis Association as a tax efficient method to raise Capital we could run the project through the summit Foundation to make contributions tax deductible we may not start with the smallest debt first but instead call or partially call the bonds with the highest interest rate or we could borrow less for the next Capital project and pay more in cash from the funds we gain by freezing debt amortization at a higher level either way the result is less Municipal debt the initiative has to come from this and future councils this Council cannot bind future councils but if this Council were to adopt a resolution to embark on the track that I'm proposing uh Future councils Would sense themselves bound to stay on course if this Council agrees with this framework we have a talented City Administration to make the plan work so please let me know how I could help in drafting a resolution or in some other way thank you thank you good evening I'm Claire to to at 11 Sunset Drive um Council should move quickly to enact an ordinance providing permanent seasonal closure of Maple Street between union place and DeForest Avenue 2023 was a natural experiment allowing the city to compare City Summers with and without the Maple street closure Merchants throughout downtown reported lower sails and less foot traffic we all noticed the lack of energy and fun downtown Summit was dark and lifeless by about 9:30 on summer weekends as we all saw in 2022 a closed Maple Street combined with indoor indoor restaurant dining at capacity allows for significant public open space Summit downtown has repeatedly stated that it has the funds to purchase Street Furniture for that public space along with more attractive ballards to protect it this will allow all Summit residents to enjoy a vibrant energized downtown during the warm weather months two separate surveys one conducted by you council president Allen and one commissioned by SDI have unequivocally demonstrated broad public public support among residents for this this initiative responsible leadership as you have said is more about just make just making decisions it's about actively listening to and soliciting resident feedback and understanding the pulse of the community so Council should hear the voice of the community and move ahead with a permanent seasonal closure of Maple Street thank you uh can I just make a quick Rec recommendation um CLA what I would have you do is send in an official email um to Rosemary com excellent EXC okay as a request okay I'll have to look again I don't remember seeing it but just before you cancel the meeting okay I'll look again gotcha okay perfect and then it'll go to a committee can I make a comment council president can I make a comment sure um Claire thank you for your comments what I would say is uh I've been speaking with director shreer as well as the city administrator over the last uh 10 days or so um we've certainly been talking about it our committee it will be on our agenda going forward and U Mr palowski I would say that law and labor should look at this as well so that we're all on the same page and um I think we should certainly look at outdoor dining as well and see what the possibilities might be anywhere in Summit so thank you for your comments and safety too okay and safety yes thank you Michelle calmenson 67 Butler Parkway it's Kal a m s o n I was at the um budget meeting Workshop in December and on the proposed budget there was permanent lighting for tatlock and I asked when the neighbors could expect to hear something about that about a plan um and I was told very soon be looking for something in January so we still haven't heard anything and we're curious to know is there a plan and when will we hear it yeah um well what what I will say is um I mean and I'll give this to you councilman Smallwood but what I'll say is the capital budget is always the wish list um for all the department heads so as they go through the budget process we'll go through what the priorities are um I know that um this has been on for many many years so I don't know who I should kick this off to normally we wouldn't go back and forth but this is a pretty easy answer um okay Mark yeah sure okay Mark yeah only because the budget process generally it's all the list of everything that everybody wants so uh through you council president so um this has been on our radar for at least two and a half years um it was a request it was a request for me um and that's all it was there's still a lot of input that we need to get from the neighbors um there's needs to be a lot more discussions before this goes any further so you know I know some some folks are worried down that area but nothing has been officially decided at this point okay and you know we're hoping within the next few weeks to you know announce something and have some meetings with the neighbors maybe a month but you know I don't want to be held to uh two weeks or three weeks okay thanks councilman Smallwood did you want to add anything I I did thank you and thank you um Mark um Michelle thank you for for bringing that that up I did speak with a few uh residents uh over the past week regarding the The Proposal or the uh the slide that was on the preliminary budget and uh I did offer to meet with them uh and she wanted to gather her thoughts and possibly get some other neighbors and I'm certainly happy to meet with anyone next week uh because before anything ever gets brought to council we would certainly involve the community and I was actually uh talking about with Council woman uh uh Allen that what we want to do is really put together a uh a subcommittee of that would include residents uh who would be extremely affected by this uh so this again this is something that we're going to explore it was on the agenda or on Mark's agenda to um hopefully look into for this year uh but certainly nothing would ever come to council without any Community engagement and I'll certainly make sure that you're you're involved as well may I make a comment council president sure uh and I would say that this has been in uh Council uh council member minegar and eyes committee as of last year and Andy chaired that the year before so I think our last meeting in that was January of 20 two two the last meeting we we had I believe Mark was January of 22 um so I I haven't we haven't talked about it much since but you know certainly Engage The Residents and and thank you for your comments you know and I just want to say one other thing um my commitment to the community is that any initiative that happens um those initiatives or projects that occur in whatever neighbor Hood there will always be a subcommittee at this point I really feel as though any subcommittee should have voices um a diverse and inclusive group of people that are affected people who are for a project and so forth um because they really need to come to some kind of consensus before it even goes back to a larger committee that should also be on board and then by the time it makes it to council you feel that this has been pretty fully vetted so that would be my goal so I just that's on anything not just on tlock lights so okay hi casy arenco uh 19 bedau Avenue AR t m n KO o uh Council and David because you're here um I I know there's a big meeting tomorrow about maybe playground and I just wanted to talk about how important it is um that we move forward with this playground as it's structured with all parts in place um for those of you who don't know me I have uh four kids wait can I just actually it's on the agenda um so we're going to have you can you speak then only because we have it we're in okay so that's what that's what I thought y sorry council president is the what's on the agenda exactly is it the grant It's the Grant It's the Grant are you talking about the grant I'm I'm talking about the most I'm talking about the way the proposal looks and I just want to make a quick statement on the um the parts that are inclusive for special needs children so I I have four kids um I had four kids in three years when I moved to Summit uh the only place I could go is the playground with all my kids um and my youngest son who's 7 and a half um who is in public school in Summit um has never been able to have a traditional play date um a traditional Playmate or attend any sort of extracurricular classes um not trian not um adaptive at the Y and um blue my son loves music um that's how he relates to other people he actually knows songs he learns songs and he knows it's something that he has shared with other children so I just I read the plans um and my understanding is that this playground would be a really important opportunity for kids um of all neurod diversities um and neurotypical kids to be in the same environment because kids who are in um classrooms that they don't get to push in don't have the opportunity to be with other kids and for those fortunate children who get to do everything It's a Wonderful opportunity for them to get to know other kids in town thank you thank you good evening uh Diego ho n AR n AR Court thank you administrator Rogers for the update on the snow removal um unfortunately last Tuesday I had to drive between Summit Short Hill and a bunch of neighboring towns between 400 and 7:00 p.m. a number of times to take my kids to their various activities and um I have no way of knowing whether 6,000 gallons of brine is a lot or not or 2000 250 tons of salt or the number of hours that the staff spent cleaning the streets but what I can tell you without a doubt is that Summit had the worst streets of any town around us and I have friends who called me because they know I come here to Council meetings to tell me that they have been on mountain side and Springfield in New Providence and of all these towns that I just mentioned ours were the worst streets on two Ines of snow no ice sheets so um maybe there's an opportunity to review our protocols for dealing with snowstorms because in this one in particular the response was ineffective thank you do you want to take that one um yes I would love to so um councilwoman alen and I went to DPW with um director sh shreer uh the day after the storm I think um and sat with uh the DPW staff and just got educated on you know what goes into dealing with a storm um and we it was quite an education I will say um and the there are a couple things that I would take away from it um one is you know we haven't had a real storm for three years so there was admittedly some Rust to be kicked off we'll say that that was a quote from someone I won't say who um but the reality is what happened in that room while we were there and then afterwards was a debrief and what we did well and what we didn't what we could do better right and so it they are they evaluated themselves and I will also tell you that one thing I did not know which I thought was really enlightening was it takes we have there are six routes that snow plows go through in Summit and each route takes eight hours to clear so that's a long time and while they clearing obviously the storm is continuing so um I think it's it's a little bit of a logistical nightmare um and I respect and and listening to the very experienced um supervisors in DPW um I will say I was I was very um I was happy happy to be informed and um and I think maybe director shreer can speak a little bit to this as well if he wants to but um you know I think there's a lot to be said for how hard these guys work they work 18- hour chefs you know because they have to and because they're trying to keep the roads as safe as possible so I I you know I know I'm not supposed to respond but I will point out one obvious thing which is I know City staff works really really hard and I know how professional they are that's not in question um the point is that perhaps our Protocols are not right because the streets in all the towns that I just mentioned earlier were pretty much cleared of snow and once you got into Summit um and I was driving a rear whe drive car uh it starts fishtailing and you really really really feel it okay may make a comment council president real quick yep go ahead um thank you Diego for your comments and I will say that this is falling in my committee uh with director shreer and I think we spoke more in the last 5 days probably than I know more about snow removal now than I uh ever really thought I would know um and we are going to be taking a very close look at this in our committee and seeing if you know possibly if we're short staffed if we can contract out some of those Services we may not be able to it may not be feasible but um it is certainly top three priority I would say in our list it's just looking at you know how effective um we can be for to keep all of you safe is is our number one priority and uh we'll be happy to you let you know if we come up with any uh more efficiencies so thank you and thank you to the DPW for for working so hard yeah yeah and safety is top priority um one thing I would say is you know some of these guys are in their 20s um and so they're on Facebook too and they see that they feel as though you know that people were not necessarily happy with the job that was done and um and when we met we went and met them in person um they were like listen you know we're down three people which is not an excuse um each route takes 8 hours each time every Zone takes 8 hours which obviously isn't an excuse um there's challenges with CDLs right because now these these um drivers have to get a CDL again not an excuse um because if other towns looked differently then we have somewhere to close the gap for sure and um I recognize that but what I learned the day um going and sitting with them the day after is that there's no intent of not working right there's oh no no no I know I'm just I'm just sharing like this was an this was an experience for me too because the first thing I think of as a resident right I called Aaron I was like did we put enough salt down he's like really so I just wanted to share that and um is there anything you want to say director Sher or no three you council president and and I appreciate and and we admit we could we could improve some things and we did have a good debriefing uh we did also reach out to other towns and you found out there was no magic equation for it Westfield used half as much salt as we did New Providence used dou um when the storm switched over it really kind of caught us I don't want to say off guard but the switch was very hard to to battle when it went to rain uh sleep and then rain and then snow again is when it kind of uh became packed down uh so it's things we'll look at we were also trying to be mindful of salt Supply which we did learn today we're now struggling to get new supplies in uh which is affecting everywhere so it was a balancing act and we we will do some improvements and um um you know everyone did work their hardest and it was a unique storm with with a new crew so right and one other thing that I wanted to ask you is um our trucks don't allow for plowing below 2 in correct is that I mean you could but then you would be you generally don't you're just scraping the pavement you're more likely to damage manholes or the or the trucks so with the drivers when you when you do hit something so uh so we you know generally it's it's some anywhere one to three inches that the plows will go down but but no two storms are alike uh and this was a unique one so it just it just wasn't just straight up snow which would which be a lot easier um and and we're more more used to so it was just a switch over precipitation that presented some challenges all right so all right thank you though thanks for the challenges hi Co president my name is Scott Foreman I'm at 30 Elm Street and good evening mayor and counsel um my things are my uh subjects are twofold uh first of all I I do want to be a Counterpoint to what the the other lady was talking about the musical instruments on the um uh maybe playground um in June of 2022 there was a study by sece that recommended uh they recommended having musical instruments at least 200 feet away from residences and in a place like Bryant Park um because there was less uh residences around and it was more of an open area we are being told that these instruments which are also uh if you get close to them they have mallets and they're they're large mallets um that hit uh Chimes and drums and so on and they can be a 100 Debs in a in a close environment obviously it does dis uh it dissipates over space but what I'm what I'm hearing is that these instruments are going to be about 120 ft away from uh our doorsteps um so concerned about uh the noise and I know there some will be people tomorrow uh looking at this is um I did go and visit the ones in uh New Providence and they are a little bit they're spread out by uh they're near a street um and there is one House nearby but I don't know exactly how close it was I didn't study uh the closeness of it so my recommendation is something like maybe uh applying to what the study says uh to putting them in Bryan Park um and uh also we have some because of the um the uh trans from the train station being uh kicked out of the train station with security guards and we shut the electricity off in the bus stop where they were living last summer uh our non- taxpaying neighbors um they've started to gra gravitate into the park towards the Rock at maybe playground as well so they're right near where the kids are um and we just want to address and make sure people are concerned with that and also the other the other thing with the music old instr or the noise makers or whatever you want to call them they um at night were concerned about uh people uh kids that come out to the playground at night there are there used to be a a police um uh sort of a patrol around 10:00 at night they would drive through maybe maybe playground and and I don't think they're doing that anymore they did it a couple years ago maybe during the pandemic they stopped I'm not sure but um they what I'm concerned about is people the kids and and so on using those mallets to uh to whack those things at night and have have a ball um after hours and I don't know there's probably no way to shut those down after hours because they're just hanging off the uh the the things so that's that's what we wanted to uh share our concerns and the Elm Street Condo Association has made contributions to this park project in the past and individuals and as a a unit too thank you well both will you both be staying um cuz we're going to end up uh speaking about maybe playground um cuz we're going to be passing the grant or you know voting on the grant tonight so are you going to stay for the agenda okay okay can I ask a question are we talk should we take all comments about maybe playground during the agenda item yeah I think it's more appropriate if I may yeah okay do you want to you want to maybe I just think it might just be more targeted it's up to you but I just I don't know when if we get sideways there may be playground comments and so we're in that I know specific thing do we have any other public comments okay so yeah all right so I'd like to close the public comments section um Madam clerk I'd like to go on to ordinances for introduction I I'll read the first ordinance yes please uh ordinance ID number 10943 an ordinance to amend chapter 26 storm water management regulations of the code of the city of summit to add a new section 26-16 privately owned salt storage councilwoman Hamlet thank you council president this is ID number 10973 this is an ordinance 43 sorry what was it 109 10943 I apologize 10943 uh this is an ordinance to amend chapter 26 of the storm water management regulations of the city of the code of the city of summit to add a new section 26-16 privately owned saltt storage establishes requirements for privately owned own salt storage and other deicing materials in summary this ordinance establishes for the storage of salt and other solid deicing materials on properties not owned or operated by the municipality privately owned including residents in the city of summit to protect the environment public health safety and Welfare and prescribe penalties for failure to comply I'd like to move this res this ordinance for introduction I'll second Madame clerk roll call please miss Hamlet I Mr miger I Mr palowski I Mr Smallwood I president Allen I motion carries okay the hearing will be on February 6th Madam clerk could you please read the next ordinance for safety and health ID number 10973 an ordinance amending chapter 3 police regulations of the code of the city of summit to add a new section 3-16 entitled resident protection councilman palowski in in uh councilman boerste who send his regrets he's got the flu um I'd like to introduce uh ordinance ID number 10973 the city of summit mirroring Trends across New Jersey has witnessed a continuation in crimes that threaten the sanctity of our homes the security of our possessions and the mental well-being of our residents experiencing this trauma motor vehicle thefts burglaries and home invasions are not just statistics in a report they represent a direct assault on the peace and safy of our residents this ordinance officially known as resident protection seeks to amend and supplement chapter 3 police regulations of the code of the city of summit it is a testament to our Collective determination to combat and deter the growing Menace of personal property and violent crimes by establishing a new section 3-16 we are taking a Firm Stance against those who would trespass with Criminal Intent including acts of tampering or committing theft unlawful taking of Motor Vehicles engaging and breaking and entering burglary or home invasion our primary Duty as members of the common Council and as stewards of this city is to ensure the safety and well-being of our residents this ordinance is a step forward in sending a clear message that the city of summit is proactive Vigilant and unwavering in its commitment to safeguarding its residents against the threats of property and violent crimes in terms of penalties we have proposed measures that are both stringent and just reflecting the seriousness with which we view these offenses we believe that the imposition of substantial fines and the possibility of imprisonment or community service will serve as a practical deterrent to would be offenders we look forward to a robust hearing with the residents on this ordinance February 6th and move to adopt this ordinance I second okay roll call please counc president yeah may we make comment in an introduction is that okay yeah sure sure so I um council member Varan is at a wake this evening and he asked me to read a comment on his behalf here tonight so I will do that if that's okay and then I I actually have some comments as well okay um so from council member of Varan uh thank you madam president first I want to start by saying what I've said many times before no one deserves to be the victim of a crime the first and most important responsibility of any government is the health and safety of the people the ongoing attempts to steal Vehicles actual theft of vehicles attempts to break into homes and actual burglaries are an issue that needs to be needs to continue to be a top priority for this government the county and the state government so with that Baseline I want it to be clear that I understand appreciate and respect the intent of this ordinance practically speaking however I believe it's in in its current form this ordinance will as written will not achieve the desired result and potentially negatively impact both residents and the police department I'll explain why first just to be clear for those in the audience and those watching at home trespassing attempted motor vehicle theft motor vehicle theft attempted burglary and burglary are already illegal they're in the state criminal code and it's up to the discretion of both the arresting officer and the prosecutor to decide who gets charged with those crimes people who attempt to steal a car or break into a house should be caught and held responsible so what's the problem with this local or ordinance I believe as written this will essentially criminalize at the local level behavior that is actually quite normal here's a couple examples my house house meaning uh council member of artan's house has a screen door to a covered porch and the doorbell is on the door inside the porch a driver on the street in front of my house gets a flat tire the driver walks up to my driveway and inside my porch to ring my doorbell on my front door to see if I can be of assistance what about someone who's been delivered a piece of mail that belongs to their neighbor by mistake the neighbor they're delivering the mail to has a mail slot on the inside door so the neighbor opens up the storm door to put the mail into the slot technically as written both of these people have just violated the new local ordinance but okay if those two seem too far-fetched how about these other examples of pretty regular activity door Dash instacart and Amazon deliveries they often have a walk up driveway pass car they have to walk up driveways pass cars and open doors on porches and take pictures of what they've just dropped off high school students who are out raising money for the football team or for the band all of us up here who campaign for political office everyone on the day has knocked on hundreds or thousands in my case I'm saying that's a little uh whether we're whether we've opened a storm door gone onto uh porch gone to a porch thring a doorbell or other activities we've probably all done things that we know now would be considered an illegal violation of this local ordinance all this is to say there are still perfectly legitimate reasons to be going onto someone's else's property my practical concern here is twofold first that people are going to get the police called on them and technically be in violation of the law over what is essentially normal behavior but second and most important is that by having this to deal with this the police will be pulled away and wasting time and resources from what they're actually doing to to actually Patrol prevent and deter crime so again I'll reiterate I think the attent here is good and I totally get it we want to be able to say hey look in the first business meeting the first month we took action we're tough on crime I get that but this ordinance is simply not ready we need to do things right not just fast thank you um and then my comments so I want to Echo um an important piece of council member of artan's comments here safety and health is a top priority of government um and so reducing car thefts and home break-ins should be something we aim for at the local level and I totally agree with that I share that goal absolutely but I also agree that this ordinance is not ready for prime time right now uh it needs clarification the issues that could result in wasted police time need to be addressed and the due diligence expected of an ordinance affecting Public Safety needs to be put in due diligence is difficult Public Safety ordinances are too important to the city to take shortcuts please take this back to the Safety Committee rework the language so that it might function without unintended consequences and without wasting the time of the police give it the time and the effort it actually deserves so until then I will also be voting against this okay any other council members may I make a comment sure um Andy the one thing I would say is it sounds as though you and um council member of Ouran think though any door Dash or any Amazon this is if someone is caught doing something illegal and a resident presses charges correct I I mean maybe maybe the chief can come up here and and comment but um this ordinance was fully supported and vetted through our Public Safety Committee uh has the support of our police chief and I'm proud to say that within 23 days in January we are pushing this ordinance and we are pushing a safer town for the residents of summit uh and I applaud Chief zagorski Bob palowski and Jamal Boer uh for putting the safety of summit for first and so congratulations and and really looking forward to uh making our community safer Chief would you would you say a few words that is that possible or no they're pretty they're pretty they're pretty serious accusations that I know it's not a hearing but they're pretty serious accusations that our chief does not support this ordinance are amongst the council not perhaps getting yeah um well let's finish the council comments just because there is a hearing on this um um and I don't want to get in a situation where um you know because the public cannot comment tonight on this so may I so S three Council hold that thought um because are you gonna say something councilman palowski yeah um I would just say that um you guys need to get a little more specific with the provisions that you have a problem with um I would dispute that many of the examples that you guys gave would actually be violations of this ordinance um and I'd be very happy to listen to any suggestions you have uh for revisions um and then we can you know determine whether we want to go forward with a vote uh at the next meeting but um you know as of the moment you haven't said anything that would change my mind well okay I just I did so about an hour 35 into the meeting you can go back and you an hour and five into the meeting you can watch what I said and hear exactly what the complaints are use those words to uh adjust this to get us to possibly vote for it um but also there was something said about accusations that the chief doesn't support that that is out of thin air I just want to put that out there um I never said anything about the chief supporting it I know there was a letter in the original packet was there a letter in the original packet from the chief on this ordinance no I'm not sure there a memo there was and it was removed why was that removed it was it was a misprint Andy it it was not his memo right it was yeah it was it was actually a duplication insult but I will with that said I think it is an important um statement because if you Andy I don't councilman miger I don't know if it would be helpful for the chief to come up to have to say something um would you be would you like that to happen to feel more comfortable with where you're at right now no I know the language of the of the ordinance okay so I'm I'm against the actual language the wording yeah but do you want to hear the um for the chief of police to come up and have and speak absolutely yes always right so we'll do that then I'm a big fan I this is very unconventional because we're not in a hearing but I think that in order for this vote um I think councilman miger would like to hear from the chief of police to make sure that he is making a um educated Vote or um if there's anything that you can say chief of police uh Chief sski can come council president um real quick can I just say Andy I apologize I didn't mean to say that you maybe my wording wasn't correct but when you said we were going to be um overreaching on the police and and causing St maybe Staffing problems I just I just wanted to make sure that you knew that our chief has fully vetted this ordinance and has the approval and it may have been in in councilman vartan's um comments but it was alluding to this ordinance would cause unnecessary calls to the police wasting police uh time and I just don't see it that way okay chief zagorski will you come say a few words um good evening um I guess regarding uh two of the questions that I heard as far as um it wasting our time or residents um calling more I didn't see that as a problem um I would think that whatever the resident saw that would um make them call under this Orin ordinance they would they would call without the ordinance as well I don't think it would uh generate any more calls and as far as um the charging aspect um when this has been discussed in the past U my um uh how I feel about this is that um we wouldn't um use this just charge this ordinance alone it would be in conjunction with criminal charges that pretty much mirror um the uh uh the ordinance charges uh we wouldn't just based on one action um seeing someone just touching a door knob or or going onto a porch that we would before we would even uh charge criminally or with this ordinance we would um need more than just that on that alone and I think the way the ordinance is written it it comes across as that's all you have to do but then it starts naming you know in the course of committing a crime like going into a house or breaking into I mean stealing a car so just the action my interpretation is just the action of uh grabbing the handle alone with no other uh factors um you know the police wouldn't be using it to charge anybody with that and it's my understanding that you would actually have to be brought to a police station like you were you were caught in the um in a crime and is that accurate well technically if you're charging someone just with a city ordinance it's a summons on the spot and release but I don't Envision that ever happening uh um you know under this ordinance I see it as you know uh hand inand with a criminal charge gotcha um because if you meet the elements of that ordinance you're going to meet the elements of a of Toc criminal charge okay councilman migar do you have any questions for the chief I don't thank you very much okay all right any other Council comments okay um Madame clerk roll call please miss Hamlet hi Mr migar no Mr palowski hi Mr Smallwood I president Allen I okay the hearing will be on February 6th I think we'll have a full house that night um which is good this is actually a really important dialogue I think that um wherever you stand on this issue safety is going to be a big focus of this year and we're not always going to agree on everything but we've got to be able to come together and have the dialogue and the discussions on how to solve these issues so if we don't do it here um it's not going to get done okay I'd like to move on to resolutions um Community programs and Parking Services councilman Smallwood thank you council president I am pleased to present resolution ID 10932 which seeks authorization for the submission of a Grant application to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection for the maybe playground Improvement project under the Green Acres Jake law grant program in the amount of $750,000 if approved this initiative will Mark summit's inaugural Endeavor towards establishing a fully inclusive Ada accessible and intergenerational playground setting a milestone in enhancing Community ex accessibility and engagement I move to adopt this resolution and I second okay Council comments yes thank you council president um so this Grant application this project is long overdue much needed update to the playground right in the heart of summit uh it's a backyard for kids without a backyard that's not my quote I've heard that quote for uh this renovation will make maybe playground the most accessible and inclusive playground we have ever seen in Summit in fact this Grand application will include language about this anticipated level of accessibility and inclusivity as we have heard a little bit today from a couple people um there is support for specific elements to be included in this playground in particular sensory components such as musical instruments that make this accessible to all kids no matter their level of interaction or their abilities I am in full support of including these musical instruments as well I've mentioned it before uh but I want to mention it here on the day is I want to challenge this city Mark you may be hearing this for the first time um this Council and the community programs team to adopt this same level of accessibility and inclusivity as the new standard for our playgrounds all of them um uh design should lead this should lead the design of the new design should uh be led by this new standard that is my challenge so I think we can do that um whether we do that by resolution or something uh I think it's need it needs to be um codified in some way so that's all I have thank you I'm going to press pause for one second um do you guys have a presentation David or would you like to speak is it ready is that okay yeah okay so I'm GNA put uh Push pause on the council comments for a minute and then I'm going to have Mark are you also coming up yeah I just wanted a quick statement and then D will take care of okay and then we'll go back to council comments all right come on up so thank you president Allen mayor Fagan and members of council for allowing us to discuss the Green Acres Grant for maybe playground this evening I'm going to let David gu to discuss maybe playground the Green Acres Grant and answer any questions that may pertain to this project but before I bring him up we are so close to making our Dream elected officials dream and the summit residents dream of a new state of the art playground that Services 100% of our community and with Council approval tonight allowing us to apply for the green Acer Grant gets us even closer to making our dream a reality my colleague assistant David uh assistant director David Guida took it upon himself to meet with Green Acres down at the league of municipalities met with our grant writer Karen Spicer from Millennium and has been working with our engineering consultant to adjust the plans so they would fit into the scope of the Grant I would personally and publicly like to thank David for his hard work dedication and going the extra mile to get this project done thank you David just make sure the um clickers on on the side perfect let's see there's a little um oh there we go there you go wait maybe you sure it's on I think so right and left this is embarrassing okay it's green it should be green right yeah I broke it just yeah okay I mean yeah that'll work perfect we can go to the next slide that's perfect so uh thank you again um thank you Mark and thank you uh council president Allan mayor Fagan and the entire town uh city council I think that this has been a great project um as uh council member uh Smallwood all alluded to um the DCP Advisory Board and subcommittee have been working hard on this project with the city staff and Engineers to develop a site plan for maybe playground that will achieve three goals one create the city of summit's first Ada accessible and sensory friendly playground ground the thing with this that's important to call attention to is it's not just meeting the standard of ADA accessibility it's exceeding the standard and being fully inclusive with the way that the law is written there's a certain percentage of a playground that needs to be accessible this plan is going to bring us to be a have a playground that every element within the park is going to be accessible to every child barrier free um the second goal is to create an intergenerational playground that will serve the needs of all community members from birth through seniors and then the final piece is to mean compliance with the Village Green master plan and the history of the park so a big question that surrounds us is with fundraising obviously because that's what we're mainly talking about here tonight and rzy that's the next slide thank you so the project is a staggering $1.6 million so what we're asking for tonight is approval to submit the Grant in the total of 750 $50,000 two Green Acres for the Jake slw Grant this includes a $250,000 match from the city the wording in the ordinance or in the resolution gets a little hairy because it does say that there is an it does say that our match is 899,000 the which includes that 250 match the reason what being is that the plan that we're proposing is that 1.6 million and obviously if we get that 700 50 the rest of the money has to be matched by the city or other sources that would be fundraised through the city so just a clarification on that because I know that that's a confusing point in the way that the um resolution was written and uh just an update so far on the funding to date we have a bunch of grant funding we want to thank the summit Foundation publicly they have decided to um support the zip line that's going to the Dual Lane zip line that is going to be in the park so they are completely funding that and we're going to be talking about it um a little bit later but there are going to be other fundraising campaigns and we hope that other nonprofit organizations and even for-profit organizations within the city May jump on and also sponsor items within the park so this project seems like it has been going on for a while so in the capital budget in 20121 a study that was um mentioned earlier was approved to take place to develop a plan for all of our playgrounds within the city so then because budgets take a while to approve for funds to become available finally in the spring of 2022 Suburban Engineers after the project being bid out were awarded to complete the assessment of our Parks the DCP Advisory Board and maybe playground subcommittee met with Suburban who again was awarded that uh that bid and Suburban completed our their site visits with us in the summer we received D the deliverable from suburban and it was reviewed by the DCP Advisory Board the maybe playground was selected by council at the time and the um DCP Advisory Board as the focus as the playground really was nearing 20 years old and it was time to refresh it so there was a request then put in for Suburban to create a schematic design for maybe playground and our subcommittee got to go on a field trip around the state so um I'm actually the chair of the awards section for our state Association and we knowing what playgrounds have won awards over the past couple years we visited all of them to create a plan of what our committee wanted to see in Summit to build the greatest playground for our city then in the fall we received the preliminary concept plan we met with trian parents to make sure that this playground was going to be inclusive for all kids with special needs we had conversations with seniors at the community center to understand what they wanted to learn wanted to see in the park to ensure that we were meeting all of the requirements or all of our goals in building this park um we feed sent a whole lot of feedback to Suburban to ensure master plan compliance and historical maintenance um then in the winter we received some renderings that were in the $2 million range we got that down a little bit and um the final assessment and recommendation plan was also received at that time so we are we like to say that we're 99% there people are happy with about 99% of where this park is there's maybe a couple elements that can be changed and um kind of want to just be clear that revision surrounding musical elements or any other elements that we may hear over the next couple weeks can be changed any element within this plan can be changed until Council votes on the specs going out for bid or whenever if we use State contract there's always time to change it and um we are meeting tomorrow with the neighbors and parents with special needs and I think the goal is to meet a compromise because ultimately hearing things such as the 200 foot um remark within the master within the um assessment that was um completed there are changes that can obviously be made in order to meet a compromise and that is our goal within this project because it is such a great project we don't want anyone to have this any feelings or thoughts around this project be negative so it is our commitment and our goal to find some sort of compromise to be able to make sure that this playground becomes the greatest that it can be and um we look forward to reporting back on how that goes and we will adapt the playground in any way possible based on feedback we've already received some feedback that it might be nicer to have some some benches within the playground or it might be nice to have some shade over the picnic tables in particular so those are all things that can still be adapted so just a quick timeline going forward is um quarter 1 through quarter 4 of um this year we're going to be finishing up our playground camp or fundraising Campaign which currently you can go online and buy a bench you can buy a brick you can support the project and um hopefully we can raise that those funds we'll be reaching out to different nonprofits within town and hoping that they may adopt different pieces within the park and obviously working on those amendments looking for a groundbreaking in the fall of 2024 and then in the spring of 2025 we hope to have the grand opening excellent thank you thank you okay Council I'm gonna go back to council comments Council may go ahead uh David and mark thank you very much for your your presentation and uh I do just want to reiterate I did speak with Karen Spicer who wrote um the Grant and that the way it's written and as as um David had mentioned it we can change some elements we can move some things around that would not affect the actual funding of the grant itself um so we do have some flexibility there and as David mentioned we're going to meet with the the residents tomorrow evening I Scott I hope you you're going to be able to make it um tomorrow so any interested parties would like to meet with us we're going to meet um tomorrow at maybe playground I believe 5:00 okay uh and would' love to you know obviously want to we want to make sure that all stakeholders are involved in this so that we can hear both sides and we want to make sure that you know we we accommodate the neighbors because I I have been there and I have seen you know there's a just a chain link fence right there right now so uh within the design there is a bunch of trees and shrubberies that's going to go there that will help bring down this the sound as well um but there are other designs that we can use for the musical instruments that would even uh help with that so we'll certainly talk about that tomorrow and you you said you'll be there tomorrow for the meeting I'm hoping to be there got somebody else be there okay I do apping out to us excellent okay all right thank you all right any more comments from Council uh yes I just have a couple council president and I got an email tonight from a resident and I hadn't heard from him about this project but he's a very smart resident and he did point a few things out and actually called um Mark around 5:30 and I was just filling Andy in but I do think that every committee if if I may suggest that uh council president Allen should just take a look at this playground and I didn't think I was the chair of the of this last year so I'm really criticizing myself because I didn't think to do this um but I think we should have safety and parking also look at the playground for a few reasons um the gentleman actually asked a couple of good questions one was um can we put shading over the game table areas can geoblock or similar treatments be used to reduce impervious areas are there Provisions for an irrigation or sprinkler system for the proposed Landscaping um could the proposed driveways um result in a lack of parking um if the proposed driveways will be used by pedestrians as midblock Crossings without proper signing striping and other Provisions again we're not saying this is the case but um should water fountains be considered will there be any swing gates or barriers barriers at the backline of the sidewalk in the vicinity of the driveways the proposed planning and Landscape adjacent to the driveways May block the driver's Clear Sight lines um are there any requirements for restrooms changing areas for playgrounds and passive recreational areas has an a accessibility valuation for the proposed involvements been made and consider adding bike RS sorry for the 11th Hour comments um but I think it was you know it made me think and it made me think that maybe we should look at just a few of those things and you know maybe look at it in safety and in my committee as well and just make sure that we've you know really crossed every every te and dotted every eye so and David thank you for all your hard work I know I had you look at those numbers for like eight hours I was starting to make me feel like I was uh not getting them right but thank you both for all of your your hard work and thank you for organizing the meeting for tomorrow I think that was a really important step with the residents and the subcommittee so okay and I'll forward that email along to Rosie so she can forward it to councel good okay anyone else on Council Council comments okay no all right the public any good evening uh Heather Pollinger 47 Woodland Avenue uh p o l l i n g e r i speak tonight um as both a resident a Early Childhood expert um a city of summon employee at the Wilson Primary Center this musical element Fe it see may seem inconsequential to some people um annoying to some people but for a certain segment of the PO population it is one of the only things that will touch them in this playground um the average autistic child responds tremendously to music so an average playground swings Slide the old fashion playground that child doesn't get much out of that or they do for five minutes minutes they get overwhelmed they get over stimulated or they're under stimulated in their particular way when a child goes to a inclusive playground like this which is like a dream playground really is they have multiple opportunities first they have a chance to play with a neurotypical child but if they're not up to that they have a chance to parallel play on the musical instruments they're next to the child but they also have the chance to retreat from an overwhelming situation without having to go sit on a bench it's a different opportunity it's a different type of sensory input that dramatically benefits them many people think of accessible playgrounds in terms of physical accessibility and unfortunately a lot of these children are what's considered invisible disability which sounds like a terrible word but what it is is it's the it's the person who you might think who drives the handicap car and gets out of the car and you're like hey they're not handicapped why are they in the handicap spot but you don't know their story they're are countless children who have invisible disabilities and a lot of them are autistic they have behavioral challenges is nonverbal they have all these different challenges these kind of playgrounds and especially the musical parts are such a unique way for them to engage in a public space we changed playgrounds for a reason not just because we burned our bottoms on metal slides and our children broke their legs on those spinny things um we changed them because we wanted children to be able to come together together to be able to play literally level the playing field make a chance where the neurotypical and the neuroatypical child could play together and the atypical child wouldn't be playing catchup they might not necessarily be able to climb to the top of the big slide they may not be coordinated enough or want to go on the swing but they are going to want to climb and play with the more sensory oriented pieces that will be in the playground the other thing is from what I saw in the official business part of this these instruments 150 ft pretty much the sound less lower sound than a vacuum cleaner if somebody is using these instruments at 10:00 at night then the police need to come that's not what they're there for they're for young children if the park is being used inappropriately in the evening then that is an issue for somebody else on the council who deals with safety because that's not what this playground is for so if it's going to be abused and used inappropriately it's the same as any other playground being used inappropriately you drive by and you see a bunch of kids in the playground at 1:00 in the morning you're going to call the police nothing good is happening in a playground at one o'clock in the morning so in general after 1 o'clock in the morning in general so the nighttime piece I think could be dealt with in a different way I don't know if it could be the playground closes at sunset or whatever we could do but to use that as a reason to not have the musical components would be a disservice to this amazing amazing part of our community and Mrs arinko who spoke earlier her son was one of my students um when he was 3 years old and music was the game changer for him if you wanted him to do something you didn't bribe with candy you didn't bribe with toys you bribed with a song you didn't even have to play it on a video you could sing it to him because that's the input that he was looking for so I know it's it's a little piece of this playground but it is a really important piece so if it takes a little adjusting to keep it I would keep it to lose it would really be a disservice so thank you thank you thank you okay any further public comments I'm Carolyn McGee MC ghe 11 Montrose Avenue and uh I've lived in Summit for over 30 years um I'm here to lend support to the maybe playground Improvement project especially the sensory friendly playground equipment and this woman said it so much better than I could but I'm a mom of a 22-year-old Twins and one has autism and I would have loved this playground if uh when our kids were little um playgrounds were scary experiences for us when they should have been a Haven for him and a rest bit for me and I I my son couldn't interact or communicate with other children so he would wander off and sometimes making it to the nearby streets and um none of the summit playgrounds really worked for us we ended up at the one at wung the Loop playground because at least the roads were far enough away that I could carry one twin and run after him before he got to the street so um anyway um children with autism are either sensory Seekers or voiders and sometimes they're both um the sound of a vacuum cleaner was so painful to him that I couldn't use it when he was around I had to my husband would have to take him out and then I could vacuum and um not being able to speak at a young age not being able to understand how to play with toys um um made for a lot of awkward encounters with parents and kids at the playgrounds he would have loved to having some Chimes or other percussion instruments to play um if these are designed for people with special needs who are hyper sensitive like like our my son um I can't imagine that they're not going to be beautiful to listen to um I can't imagine that a designer would be creating something that's going to be painful to someone who's hyper sensitive um so I'm sure everyone would enjoy listening to them I have some friends who've um been able to enjoy these where where they live and they said it's it's incredible they're CH Chimes and everyone loves playing them with them and as you've said so lovely um music is such a great way to bring people together and playing on equipment like this with other children your own age could generate some really happy experiences for children with special needs so thank you thank you want to come up I saw you joh just U I wanted to comment also I want to thank uh Miss Hamlet for uh her Communications her Communications with uh some of our our residents as well I know I know she's been in touch with Annette Fister and some other people so thank you and and um I'm all for music um I'm actually a songwriter I I write songs on Zoom like three nights a week um with people all over the world um the only thing you know and I'm not a hit songwriter so don't don't ask me what the songs are um you can listen to my page on Soundcloud if you'd like but um the the thing that concerns me is is you know lower decibels when you saw David's picture of the way that the drums everything I think it's facing towards us like the towards the the houses like if you if the way it's facing right now maybe there's another way we can turn it the other way if possible um and and in New Providence I measured with a decibel meter and I was you know and I was right there and it was 100 dbel or or more on on the I think the ch in the drums and a couple of things and I know there's some other instruments and I know there's other choices of things that are are listed from this company uh I've seen them on there and and they are at a lower level and I'm all for giving the kids uh the sensory enjoyment uh for themselves and and and so on the instruments that I the things that I saw in New Providence you know when I when I was hitting them they didn't sound that musical to me but um there there are probably some other choices and I appreciate the uh the uh council's uh openness to reconsidering some of these things thank you thank you okay any other public comment okay hearing none we'll take a vote all in favor I I I I any opposed motion carries okay all right and we'll see you guys tomorrow Scott and David okay um okay moving on to finance councilman Miner thank you council president um let me get to my section here thank you council president this is number 10946 and this resolution authorizes the intra budget transfer of Appropriations from accounts with a surplus to those that are over uh this is a regular occurrence in the last two months and first three months of a fiscal year and this particular set of transfers totals $30,500 I move to adopt this resolution second okay Council comments public comments okay Madame clerk roll call please miss Hamlet I Mr migar hi Mr Bowski I Mr Smallwood I president Allen I okay motion carries um second resolution councilman migar thank you council president this is number 10942 and this resolution authorizes the issuance of a special emergency note not exceeding $340,000 during the pandemic many months in a row the parking utility had a zero had zero Revenue the state allowed the Summit parking utility to issue special emergency notes to cover this last this lost Revenue $850,000 in special emergency notes were issued in in 2020 with the agreement that the utility would pay back that money in 5 years time at $170,000 paid back every year this installment will be paid in February with 2026 being the last year that we do this I move to adopt this resolution dilia do you second a second I'm sorry a second that's okay Council comments public comments okay hearing none all in favor I I any opposed motion carries it doesn't say roll call but if you would prefer roll call I can do that oh I don't have roll call on my my script do we need a roll call Madam clerk roll call oh no it doesn't say roll call in here okay all right does it does the vote stand vote stands okay just making sure um keeping me on my toes the first night all right number three councilman migar thank you council president this is 10972 per closed session discussion this resolution will appoint two new members to the economic development advisory committee James schroer as new member and Al lighter as co-chair I move to adopt this resolution second okay Council comments I would like to congratulate yep I just have a quick question did we not appoint Al at the Bor at the reorg meeting it's co-chairs oh we name co-chairs okay got it yeah thank you okay did we Skip One skipped one yeah we did Skip we skipped number I'm sorry folks sorry um you're right I did I see it right here in my notes so can we close out on this close this one okay wonderful and just congratulate um Mr scham and Mr ligher so um did you vote on it not yet roll call no we don't need a roll call just um all in favor hi hi any opposed motion carries all right number three thank you I was just very excited to get Al as the co-chair uh this is number 10928 and this resolution establishes the procedure authorizing a special tax tax appeal attorney in consultation with the city tax assessor to file corrective appeals with Union County Board of Taxation and or the New Jersey Tax Court this procedure established every year removes the unnecessary step of having Council review every single tax appeal case and authorizes action to be taken on the city's behalf and uh sorry by the city's tax assessor and by extension the special tax appeal attorney in certain cases I move to adopt this resolution I second okay Council comments public comments okay um hearing none all those in favor I any opposed motion carries okay moving on to capital projects and Community Services councilwoman Hamlet uh yes Rosie I actually just have a question about something sure that I'm just finding out now so if anybody ever thinks I do it to everybody including myself uh regarding resolution 10949 yes why is this linked to La a-222 TV Summit City phase 3 and not just the Village Green P what what is the la-220 I think uh M Mr Sher can address that sorry AR AE all week to ask you in our no that's that's okay for you council president uh the the the twetter and then the the year is what the dot assigns it it's it's it's a Grant application uh La is um I forgot what that code is it's their fiscal year 2022 at the grant was awarded uh and the language here is pretty much verbatim from them so we f it we we just match it fully okay it just looked a little I was what is this TV thing and I was just want to make sure it wasn't an error okay yeah okay moving on uh this is resolution ID 10949 uh the approval to submit an award extension request for la-2 022 TV Summit City phase 3 Village Green pedestrian Safety project to the New Jersey Department of Transportation thank you sorry just for making sure it's worded right um so for those of you for for education for the public the city received a Transit Village Grant from NJ do in the amount of $650,000 uh for the final upgr final phase of the upgrades to the Village Green this project was to be awarded on January 27th uh and unfortunately at the last minute it was brought to the attention of the NJ doot that this property abuts a known historic area and they've requested that the project be submitted to the state historic preservation office for approval of the project uh this submission has taken place and although it's not anticipated for anything uh anything received from the uh historic preservation would alter the project NJ do is recommending we hold on awarding the contract if we do not receive approval uh beforehand I'd like to move this resolution and I will second okay Council comments I just like to make one comment as I mumbled through that entire uh resolution I think it's really important for everybody to understand that the maybe playground and the Village Green uh Transit project sort of go hand inand so it's going to be really important that we finish this project and some of those costs that are in um this project you know there's there's lighting involved there's sidewalks uh so we really are going to priortize in getting this project done first and then maybe Playground Second it's just the way that it makes the most sense and director Sher I don't know if you have any comments but you know the the look of the Village Green is going to provide a lot more accessibility in general so for those of you who didn't know I just thought it might be interesting fact so okay any other Council comments all right public comment okay hearing none all in favor I hi any opposed MO motion carries okay number two councilwoman Hamlet uh yes this is resolution ID 10895 uh which will authorize 2024 legal services in excess of 17,500 affordable housing Council not to exceed 40,000 and I would like to move this resolution and I would second that uh any Council comments public comments okay hearing none all those in favor I I any opposed motion carried number three councilwoman hilet sorry just give me one second I know I'm just trying to find it I'm not uh it's staying till midnight for the planning board I think that's what it is yes it might be staying I just want sorry I'm just trying to find it in my packet here take your time one second here city4 107 I skip it number four is the 10894 this is City Forester right number three number three sorry sorry I'm just trying to find it in my packet I didn't print it out I'm just trying to find it Rosie what packet page is that on what packet what page in the packet is that on here I just lost it sorry 49 okay okay 49 I just want to look at I I wanted the reason I'm taking an extra second is because the the number was off in the agenda and I just want to make sure it's corrected and I'm not sure if it was oh it it yes it was version up there yeah it's um 60 I'll tell you just give me one second I don't know if it's in that one though is it in there on that one uh I'm just I'm just trying to run the numbers in my head cuz I got it just give me one second sorry here it is is it 64 or 6 know it's page um 58 I think okay I got it it was inserted that's why you won't see pages on there okay yeah so I think it was page 50 or 48 something like that right I just want to I just want to confirm that it's not 110,000 it's 6 okay the the the um one that's right there with the showing the changes on your days that's the one that's the one that's in the packet on the webite perfect sorry about that okay yeah uh this is resolution ID number 10894 which will authorize sorry I apologize ID number 10748 which will authorize 2024 City Forester services not to exceed 100 ah this is why I'm not to exceed $65,000 in our agenda packet this morning it was $110,000 um I authoriz this will authorize 2024 City Forester services not to exceed $65,000 I move I'd like to move this resolution I second okay Council comments I do have a quick question so that that Amendment guar it's a guaranteed the grant money that I think you're you're accounting for the grant money that is taking part of that away right is that guaranteed grant money no so this is only for the city Forester to work for the city of summit so that's 9 hours on Thursdays and then that is so it's $55,000 for the city of summit for him to work for the city of summit and then it's $110,000 for the board applications and then the grant that uh the name of the grant escapes me Michael the tree inventory the tree inventory the window spring spring planting and things no it's actually just a specific grant that we have applied for and received about a year and a half ago Urban Char and we that was initially lumped in here but some conversations that we had Within in the department we're going to do that at a separate meeting okay okay I can explain it to you in excruciating detail if you have any more questions okay any other Council comments okay public comment hearing none all in favor I any opposed motion carries this is ID 10894 which will authorize 2024 city planner and Zoning Support Services to Burgess and Associates not to exceed $65,000 I would like to move this resolution I second Council comments public comments okay hearing none all those in favor I I any opposed motion carries number five uh number five this is ID 10913 which will authorize 2024 sewer consultant Engineering Services to CP Engineers architecture and environmental services not to exceed 2ou $200,000 I would would like to move this resolution I second Council comments no public comments the only thing I'd say council president is I think that this is a topic that nobody ever talks about the sanitary sewers so at some point throughout the year I would like to you know director shreer is going to be educating me a lot more on the on the uh on the sanitary uh on the on the sewer and perhaps sometime we'll give a presentation this year to the public okay no comments tonight or do you have anything to say No not tonight no nope public comments okay hearing none all those in favor I I any opposed motion carries okay number six this is ID 10734 which will authorize the execution of agreement snow removal and lighting reimbursement to the summit East condos and provide reimbursement for future years I would like to move this resolution I second any Council comments public comments okay hearing none all those in favor I I any opposed okay motion carries on to the consent agenda before we vote on the consent agenda does anyone Mr Min councilman M have anything to pull out okay um then do I have a motion maybe I have to pull something would do you have something I'm kidding I don't think so I'm looking at it real quick let me just make sure actually okay anybody have anything to pull out for the consent agenda I actually have one question for Rosie yes um in 10933 an ID under Finance under the consent agenda yeah why is it why does it not have a it just says authorized payment of bills and payroll but there's no dollar amount because when we generated we didn't have the number oh oh wait a number seven yeah I have 1.84 one 1. so it's probably put on what my version didn't have it but maybe it's on the website okay yeah when we pulled it down we added the number because it just when we get the bill and the to the bills and the total it sometimes doesn't coincide with when we're generating okay because I have 1, 84157 should be on the title of the resolution yeah and 10 cents that's what that's in our packet yeah well but that's what she's saying when she fixed the Forester I think that um oh does that affect that's not my I don't know that's the answer it is in the packet y it's in the packet okay yeah that's fine okay yeah all right oh okay made me look all right do I have a motion on the consent agenda please so moved second anybody second all right excellent um any comments on from the council all right any public comments I I'll make a comment real quick if you don't mind I know I just want to I just want to talk about the planning board I have one quick comment go ahead I have one quick comment uh we had our first planning board last night uh we appointed Mr Zucker as the chair and U Miss Jennifer balson Alvarez as the vice chair so the meeting was very productive very late was until about 11:45 so we certainly learned a lot and um just voted we did we have to vote on the consent agenda oh I'm sorry no that's okay I was asking the public if they had a um the public has didn't want to say anything NOP I'm done so all in favor I'm done hi I um any opposed motion carries okay I'm going to open it up to council comments Council thank you but I did just want to say congratulations to the chair and the vice chair and um thank you director shreer for working so hard in U capital projects and we will have our meetings on Thursdays to work on our goals for that committee and agenda items and it's going really well so I'm looking forward to giving you a more of an update at the next meeting so thank you sorry for my craziness yeah that's right so I just wanted to uh make a comment about abstentions at our last meeting councilman Varan criticized a rule change at the council adopted which um allowed members of this body to abstain from votes uh the council had previously prohibited abstentions I just want to let the public know that I understand the potential issues he raised and I've thought a lot about them and I have not changed my mind I actually did some additional research and confirmed that even if we wanted to forbid extensions we can't um first according to Robert's Rules of Order council member cannot be compelled to vote second under Federal common law requiring council member to vote is in effect compelling one to speak and that violates the Constitution you see the freedoms protected by the First Amendment against State action include both the right to speak freely and the right to refrain from speaking at all uh one Court agreed with councilman Varan as do I that there can be no doubt that a representative who consistently Dodges difficult or controversial issues by not voting on them does a disservice to his or her constituency however that same court can confirmed in our government system the proper remedy for such Behavior lies within the electorate moreover a person's status as a legislator does not strip him or her of any rights here or she otherwise would enjoy under the First Amendment so this Council will not restrict anyone's individual liberties and while we as council members May abstain from a vote at our own Peril we are free to do so the members of this Council took an oath to uphold the US Constitution in this case I believe we have and I have to admit we went on a few rounds with the abstentions because I kept going back and forth and I was like we AB we absolutely should have someone tell you why they're abstaining um but Bob outsmarted me by giving me case law so I was like you win but I just want to know we even had some debate on the back end and um so thank you councilman palowski go ahead so on the on the council rules again I wasn't going to bring this up but you brought the Constitution into it so I need to ask this question right now we're currently not allowed to leave the de without permission from the council president is there anything in the Constitution that talks about not allowing a person to leave like um unlawful um holding them against their will would you like to modify that portion of the rule yes in fact I would like to relook at the I relook at all the rules in light of the Constitution so you and I can talk all right that's not a motion right well I mean I just I I I would like to just ask uh council member migar so we have our Council rules right but if if there's something that's not in the council rules the Reas I think the reason that you're saying this is because we then follow Robert's Rules right we can't we have the choice to follow Robert's Rules we can set our own rules in fact we we differentiated ourselves some differentiated ourselves from other towns by setting our own rules we didn't necessarily have to follow exactly precisely Robert's Rules we had a we had a we had a thing that allowed pretty efficient U pretty efficient action up here but also it allowed us to um be representatives in moments when we may not feel like we want to be Representatives it made us made us do our jobs and you're still free to do that no no um wait I just want to make a clarification so in all seriousness um councilman palowski and I did have a very long discussion around extensions and so what I learned from that discussion is that um you cannot compel someone to vote to not to vote a yes or a no there is case law and you can correct me if I'm wrong um councilman palowski but it there is case law where a council person sued a municipality for um being forced to vote Yes or no and they won because the Court cited with the council member to say that you cannot compel council memb speech on the dis because they could ALS they could be doing it under duress and that if you're a minority then um you feel as though you have to vote Yes or No with that with the majority and so the court said you legally have to be able to abstain and you actually and this was another thing that I was um arguing that we should do is give a reason for abstention but um I learned that the court said you can't force someone to explain your vote so that is why I would support um councilman palowski um for the decision for us to change the rules just so you know that but I get right or wrong I don't reckon we had any choice um so but did I get the um explanation correct yeah it's compelled speech it's a violation of the First Amendment and it doesn't matter that we're elected officials we still um maintain our rights under the First Amendment okay okay um law lesson 101 tonight okay any other Council comments no do council president may I um put something on a lighter note yes I'd like to do a shout out to my husband Frank it's his birthday today a happy birthday can we sing Happy Birthday Happ birthday happy birthday is he watching he is watching can we sing Happy Birthday the cam right there you have to lead all right happy birthday to you happy birthday to you happy birthday dear Frank happy birthday to you happy birthday Frank all right do I have a motion to adjourn so moved do I have a second second second excellent all right thank you motion carries okay thanks everybody okay