Mr clerk we have a quorum and call this meeting to order at 8:14 p.m. please call the role Council mwz here councilman beler here Council Goldberg here councilman Oregon here Deputy Mayor Catz Deputy Mayor G here mayor Pagan here adequate notice of this meeting has been provided by resolution number 299 d223 sending a copy to the newspapers of fish designated for 2024 by way of resolution number 2224 finding a copy in the township clerk's office and posting on the municipal build and bulletin board and the mayor hereby directs the statement be included in the minutes thank you Mr clerk good evening and welcome everyone to tonight's council meeting Township Administration present at tonight's meeting are Thomas row our Deputy Township manager Doug ruson our Township Clerk Tristan denor our Deputy Township Clerk Scott sammon our Township attorney and Ron Goodman our volunteer cable caster for the public information we are current currently holding a hybrid format meeting we have people in person and on Zoom if our Wi-Fi at the municipal building has an issue where the zoom meeting drops we will aim to retrieve the connection and continue the meeting the next televised regular council meeting is on May 7th and begins at 630 p.m. with the public portion of that meeting beginning at 8:00 pm Council met in Clos session earlier this evening to discuss the following Advisory Board interviews a DPW update a library update cell towers community Choice energy aggregation contracts legal issues and opinions regarding items on the Open Session agenda litigation updates and Oprah before we move on to the next order of business can everyone please join us in a brief moment of silence for Dr Ken Hoffman Dr Hoffman was a friend a coach a referee and a role model in tenek for decades and we already miss him so much and we are keeping his family and our thoughts and and prayers please bow your heads for a brief moment of silence thank you our next order of business our first order of business is presentations and first up is Scott Pleasants our poet Laurette Mr Pleasants the floor is yours sir thank you very much mayor and Council I was just speaking to one of the gentlemen in the back and I was telling him that yesterday I walked outside and everything was brown and today I walked out and everything was green so Springtime has arrived and along with Springtime we are in the month of April and for those who are not aware April is amongst other things it's National poetry month and that's why I'm here tonight National poetry month was launched by the academ of American poets in April of 1996 it is a special occasion that celebrates poets integral role in our culture and indicating that poetry matters over the years it has become the largest literary celebration in the world with tens of millions of readers students teachers Librarians book sellers literary events curators Publishers families and of course poets marking poetry's important place in our lives so today I am privileged to read a proclamation from the township of tneck which is in recognition of national poetry month 2024 the proclamation States whereas the Academy of American poets established the month of April as National poetry month in 1996 and whereas National poetry month sinks to highlight the extraordinary Legacy and ongoing achievement of poets introduce all to the pleasures and benefits of reading poetry bring poetry and poetry to the public in excuse me bring poets in poetry to the public in immediate and innovative ways make poetry an important part of our children's education and whereas National poetry month is now the largest literary celebration in the the world and whereas poetry enhances and enriches the lives of all and whereas poetry is an essential part of the Arts and Humanities affects every aspect of life today including education the economy and Community Pride in development and whereas poetry has produced some of the nation's leading creative artists and has inspired other artists in fields such as music Music Theater film dance and the visual arts and whereas Scott Pleasants that would be me tx's first poet Laur in our 129 year history continues to serve as an outstanding ambassador of literary culture through poetry and now therefore be it resolved that the TC Township council do hereby Proclaim April 1st through April 30th as National poetry month in the township of te New Jersey and we call upon public officials Educators Librarians and all the people of tenek to observe this month to celebrate the cultural riches our community has to offer and to recognize the important role of poetry in creating and sustaining our Township through appropriate ceremonies activities and programs and that's our resolution thank you Mr presants our Proclamation and you're going to share some poetry with us I I I I sure will and I and I'd like to just share a very a very short piece um as everyone in our town are we good I'm good all right got to pay attention to this important stuff man okay everyone in our town was looking up at the Sun the other day I decided to take a look across and I'll share this poem it's called The Horizon there's hopefulness on the horizon a point where the sky meets the land and holds hands with a thin strong fiber of optimism a place where differences come together and a WRA ideology on a table that stands stable on generational legs anchored in a seemingly unsettle system of beliefs The Horizon shares a reflection and inflection that reveals in the distance a point and Edge which allows us to look at and realize that the line of our differences seemingly moves with energy fueled in uncertainty however we do have the ability to alter and allow an altar to be placed where we can come together and vow responsible respectability The Horizon where your thoughts meet my thoughts and our thoughts join with their thoughts and somewhere in the distance there's hopefulness where the sky meets the land and holds hands with a thin strong fiber of optimism thank you very much wait Scott give us a second Scott as as the author of seven books of poetry myself I am proud to not only call you my friend I'm proud to say that you're the best poet I know and I want to thank you for everything that you've done as our poet Laurette because you've been doing an incredible job and you've been helping to bring a lot of people together during a time when we need it most so thank you thank you is is there anyone else on Council that might want to say anything no Scott thank you we appreciate you all right our next order of business are the Matthew Feldman Awards of 2023 and Cheryl Hall I think we're calling on you and then Deputy Mayor G and a couple of other council members and mayor members of the public as we get ready for this awesome award ceremony I just want to remind our public to be mindful of no flash photography please thank you you're good Cheryl the floor is yours ma'am the mic would be helpful but if you can project we'll or if you could hold it thank you you shouldn't be doing that man he hi everyone uh am I speaking in clearly good okay hi everyone my name is Cheryl Hall and I am currently the chair of The Advisory board on community relations and it gives me immense pleasure tonight to be giving out the Matthew Feldman awards for 2023 these awards were won 12 months ago but because of scheduling and other events they weren't given out and they were well deserved so I'm so excited that we are giving that out tonight and um part of the Matthew Feldman Matthew Feldman was the first Jewish mayor and also a US senator who inspired a great deal of the spirit of volunteerism and uh helping within the community and I think tonight's winners are a shin in example of that the youth Advisory Board did a phenomenal phenomenal presentation last year on life-saving equipment and indeed I do believe that they have saved future lives future L young lives on the sports field so they absolutely have merited this award and shyam Khan is a living example of a person that does good and disappears and doesn't seek the Limelight for the good that he has done across the township um people even at my church know his name they know him well so he is a well welld deserved recipient of this award and at this time in our Township I am incredibly proud so with that I will turn it over to Deputy Mayor G AR leaon and um also I would like all the community um The Advisory Board of community relations people to come up and stand with me over here to the side so it is my absolute privilege to have the honor um to present this award so the first award is the Matthew Felman community relations award and it's presented to shyam Khan who has demonstrated an ongoing commitment to Intergroup and community relations Fosters the spirit of the community and exemplifies volunteerism like Cheryl mentioned earlier you every event you will see shyam there everyone every single one without question he is a great partner to this town to the youth especially he has worked with students for so many years and we're so excited to have you here in Teek and most recently he has joined our youth Advisory Board as serving as an adviser and so we're so excited to have you serve there please come up and here is the award it's a really fancy clock we can put it back in the box but maybe can we take a photo who has the camera oh yeah I wasn't sure if you wanted me to take it out let's take it out yeah here with the family like to come up yes I'll keep come on do this over yes get everybody in there all right did you get it all right thank you guys very much all right next we have the Matthew Felman community relations youth award this is presented to the Teck youth Advisory board can you all come and join us again this award is presented to to a group or a a a student or a group that has demonstrated an ongoing commitment to inner group and community relations Fosters the spirit of community and exemplifies volunteerism um like Cheryl mentioned earlier these students brought forth a very important matter to the township last year and because of you we now have life-saving tools all over town that were not there before so give yourself a round of applause and um I also want to just shout out our youth advisors um one is particularly special to me uh my husband Kanan G but I but also Dwayne Harley and Shay Lewis they have for so many years LED these students with such passion um and really have been a great sounding board for the students and what's so special about these advisers is they let the students lead right they really step into that advisor role they give guidance but they let the students take take the the lead which I really think is important so without further Ado who would like to come accept this beautiful clock all right can TL have your phone e all right I'll turn it back over to the mayor this there are Refreshments outside but does anyone on Council want to say something councilwoman Goldberg yeah [Music] um I want to talk um I want to congratulate Mr Khan and the youth Advisory board on being the recipients of the 2023 Matthew Feldman award you join a list of people and organizations that are committed to this diverse community and who have exemplified the traits and passion of Senator Matthew Feldman that the W has been named for as mayor Maddie Feldman was the founder of The Advisory Board of community relations in a time when his lone voice on Council um was most needed and he was committed to the hard work of community relations after MD's sudden death this award was created to recognize individuals or groups who best exemplify the efforts to improve community relations in tenek there are not many people left in Tink who had the privilege of knowing Maddie two of them are on this de and I have the greater privilege of calling him my uncle Maddie defined leadership and exemplified the Heart and Soul of tenek Maddie never dismissed anyone who came for help and he never Shi away from any any stand on controversial issues he stood Against Racism and hatred anti an semitism bigotry it all had no place in his life and he was a man of intelligence and integrity and held deep moral and personal convictions everything that this town its heart and soul is Maddie was patient and tolerant for everyone but the intolerant and Maddie Champion the notion that even when compromise seemed impossible the lines of the lines of communications were open a solution can always be reached as recipients of this award this year or last year I want to thank you and congratulate you on receiving this very prestigious award and for your commitment to tenek and I ask the public to please submit their nominations for the 2024 Matthew Feldman award which I hope will be available online soon for people and organizations that embody this award as our honores have done so tonight as well thank you Miss Goldberg anyone else on Council Mr Schwarz I think the um board went outside to eat so I'm ready to eat so I won't be be labor the point Miss beler I think I saw your hand go up now I just want to say um congratulations Mr Khan and the youth Advisory Board I think that um definitely the the uh youth is is our future they are are they are leading the way they have they just have such energy and dedication and passion and I just applaud them I think there's no better award than to award this to um youth related leaders and and our our uh young people thank you thank you Miss belch anyone else Miss Oregan um just a a congratulations to Mr Khan um and and also Nadia there behind every great man is a is a great woman um and to the youth Advisory Board who are no longer here and I hope they're eating very delicious cake but this is the good stuff this is what brings us together these are the things that we like to do um and these are the things that we can all agree on so um congratulations anybody else on Council no once again lastly congratulations Mr Khan congratulations to our youth Advisory Board and thank you to our Advisory Board and community relations for helping make this happen our next order of business is work session items and first up is miscellaneous does anyone have anything under miscellaneous Mr Mayor Miss I do um Miss Goldberg and then miss Belcher um Mr Mayor Dr Hoffman was the chair of the municipal open space Advisory Board which is um a specifi specified and pretty critical Advisory Board especially in this referendum year the most advisory board's role is to the Council on the spending of these funds and it's a vital part of our Township since its passage in 2004 I want to nominate current sitting member AI Berliner um as the new chair in um Dr Hoffman s and de okay our clerk is not here but we have a first by councilwoman Goldberg and second by Mr Catz I guess I'll call the role and then I will make a note on paper oh Kristen my bad thank you Kristen uh Mr Schwarz yes Miss Belcher yes Miss [Music] Oregon yes Miss Goldberg yes Mr Catz Miss G yes and I also vote Yes congratulations Mr Brin uh miss beler you said you had something else under Miss yes yes uh Mr Mayor I just want to say and uh we just want to uh acknowledge this being the last meeting of the month of April we want to acknowledge the fact that at least this is Arab um Heritage Month uh when we recognize the importance in celebrating um the diverse cultural heritage right here within our Township um arab-americans have made significant contributions to the fabric of of course America as well as Teck and uh we certainly want to recognize that uh we did decide that we would um put forth a resolution in the next meeting which is May 7th but I did did not want the night to go by without us acknowledging in the month of April that this is our um American heritage month so uh just wanting to say that so uh stay tuned for May 7th we'll see a resolution on that day can back on that also and then um we'll ask the clerk to keep it in the calendar so that at the beginning of April or the end of March going forward uh we can pass a resolution then does anyone have anything else under miscellaneous seeing no hand moving forward next order of businesses old businesses any I have old business sorry I didn't get to put this on um I want to talk about CSX Trail train for a second so we've heard a lot of concerns over the years about the safety concerns with the CSX Railways we have thousands of residents within the 2500 um foot sorry evacuation Zone which covers most residents in EK and art batky has spoken to us multiple multiple times over the many many years and I would like to um propose and see what everyone thinks for the next meeting that we express our support for federal and state legislation to enforce train safety we've seen derailments across the country and we're just as much risk at everyone else um but we can't do this alone so I want to propose a resolution for next meeting that we asked the manager to send a letter to the 17 neighboring municipalities that had joined the CSX tracks for their collaboration and support um in state and federal legislation to protect rail safety sounds great yeah yes everyone okay with that everybody okay with that Denise Mark Karen Mr good job Mr batky Mr attorney for the next meeting can we have a resolution for that Mr russion did you catch that too you remind me the number of towns you said 17 I'll give you the list later but just for next meeting please thank you thank you Miss Goldberg does anyone have yes Mr cats AAC meeting uh the tabar airplane noise um who can we find out who the representative is oh you are yes but you're the the resident representative or you're the council representative I think I'm the council representative because I read the minutes I sit next to the guy at the county who represents the county there but is there is there a resident representative also not to my knowledge oh I you know what I'll find out though I'll triple check tomorrow tomorrow morning when I get to the office okay does that help perfect okay thank you Mr catch thank you Miss goldber does anyone have anything else under old business Mr Schwarz yes um just wanted to update everyone at the last meeting we had a discussion on a resolution that or an ordinance that we wanted to put together as it relates to good and Welfare and changing some medum changing some meeting rules regulations whether it be zooms and uh I came forth with some ideas and we're not yet ready I'm just talking to everyone to public and whatnot so I'll keep working on that two things I wanted to point out first of all Mr Mayor I was asked to give you the thanks apparently last meeting you you put more preference on people in the room to speak first and it was appreciated people felt they were here for hours and they felt that no disrespected people Unum but they felt that they came out for hours so those people asked me to relay that thank you and two I wanted to thank the council because at 11 o'clock we did stop we did spend a solid amount on the town's important business and and and we really got a lot done so every one if you can use those words in that that'll be reflected in this resolution draft but I just wanted to put those two on our own business and say that thank you Mr schw Deputy Mayor G apologies I meant to bring this up during miscellaneous um for leadership tenk you all um voted to have us each host a separate meeting I still have dates where I do not have a council member host so I need someone for April 29th can anyone commit to April 29th beuty Mar G that's that's a holiday right so we were not able to change that date and I understand that some of you will not be available on that date we also were not able to change the dates during Ramadan and so what we did was we videotaped May 8th uh April 8th because there were some who were not able to participate in that date because of Ramadan and we're going to do the same thing for April 29th Dean I believe sent an email detailing that but Jew literally can't drive or read or write on that dat uh Deputy Mayor g i take um the 29th thank you so we are going to make a video available so that everyone can watch afterwards it was not ideal but we could not find another date that worked unfortunately we also were not able to do the same thing on April 8th during Ramadan where no one was able to eat or drink water um I also need someone for May 6th and I need someone for June 10th Jun okay it's 7 usually May 6 is team building you all wanted to sign up you all wanted to host so can I get some hands what's June 10th maybe I'll trade it that's the Board of Education oh it's not okay I'll get you the next round if if nobody else volunteers I'll do the other one as well thank you all right please remind me we'll do make a note of it now does anyone else have anything under old business seeing No Hands next order business is new business does anyone have anything under new business Miss organ oh yeah Doug can I make a motion to introduce yeah can you please read it into the record yes absolutely mayor and also for the understanding of the public what we're reading into the record right now is a resolution that is rejecting bids received in the RFP that went out uh just a few weeks ago for the regional renewable government energy aggregation services that the township has been working on um and this resolution we are reading into the record to be included on tonight's consent agenda there was a motion from mayor Pagan I will now read it into the record uh please bear with me it is a resolution to the township of tenac state of New Jersey rejecting the award of a contract with third party power supplier to provide electric generation service to the Township community energy aggregation program and to provide renewable government energy aggregation services in connection with the tcea rgea program pursuant to New Jersey administrative code 14 4-6 whereas the government energy aggregation Act of 2003 governs the establishment of a government energy aggregation program which government operated purchasing Cooperative through which multiple energy consumers join together for the purchase of electric utility services by a government aggregator and whereas the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities has prated rules for the implementation of government energy aggregation programs and whereas the T Township Council passed an ordinance by referendum on November 2nd 2021 authorizing the formation of a government energy aggregation in the township named the tenek township energy aggregation program and whereas the township at tinac is acting as the lead agency in this program and whereas the tcea has been established by the lead Agency for the purposes of obtaining electri electric generation services for their residents at a comparable cost and with a higher renewable energy content the default service power supply provided via the local electric utility tariff and to also propagate and promote the more efficient usage of energy among residents and therefore the particular GAA program being implemented by the TCA is here and after referred to as the rgea program and whereas the residents in t Township are included on an opt out basis as set forth in applicable Rules by State Statute and whereas by virtue of ordinance by referendum dated November 2nd 2021 and in accordance with the New Jersey Board of Public Utility rule rules and applicable law the township is authorized to award a contract for electric generation service and government energy aggregation services on behalf of participating residential customers and whereas the township AAC and its capacity as lead agency publicly noticed and issued on March 15 2024 a request for proposals for the provision of electric generation service and government energy aggregation services for the first round of the program and as solicited proposals from qualified supp buyers in New Jersey and whereas the RFP provided for a two-stage process that included stage one for the submission of supplier questions and comments and the submission of qualification documents by interested New Jersey Board of Public Utilities licensed suppliers and stage two for the submission of price proposals and whereas the RFP provides for the required supply of a baseline product for all participants that includes an enhanced renewable energy product that contains 70% renewable energy content through December 31 2025 and 80% renewable energy content starting January 1 2026 and provides for the submission of pricing for electric generation service for a single pricing group comprised of participating residential accounts in the PSENG service territory in the township for two different contract start dates several potential contract durations and for two different contract language options option A using the form of Master performance performance agreement attached to the set RFP or option b using the form of MPA attached to the RFP except that subsection 3.2 a c is removed and whereas the RFP also requires that suppliers propose a specific green price premium applicable to those individual residents that voluntary opt out of the voluntary 100% energy product consisting of the Baseline enhanced renewable energy product plus an additional amount of New Jersey RPS compliant class one renewable energy to cover the remainder of a customer's energy usage and whereas the RFP provides for the submission of separate pricing for electric generation service for three potential contract durations beginning August 2024 as follows for either 12 months to August 2025 16 months to December 2025 or 24 months to August 2026 and whereas the RFP provides for the submission of separate pricing for electric generation service for two different contract language options option A for the form of Master performance agreement attached to the RFP and option b using the form of MPA attached to the RFP except that except that subsection 3.2 be removed whereas the RFP provides for the submission of separate pricing for electric generation service for one pricing group one participating residential accounts and the RFP provides for the award of a contract for participating residential Accounts at the discretion of the township and whereas during stage one nonbinding notices of intent and other qualification documents were received from one electric supplier license in the state of New Jersey whereas a number of supplier questions and comments were received and as a result on April 2nd 2024 uh TX CA clarifications was issued and distributed to all suppliers that had submitted a notice of intent to propose and whereas no formal stage two price proposals and accompanying transmitter letters were submitted by any licensed electric power supplier by noon April 2nd which was the deadline set forth in the RFP and whereas as a result of not receiving any formal awardable priz proposals on April 16 2024 the T Township Council has determined that no contract award shall be made at this time now therefore be it resolved that the tck township Council shall make no TX CA round one contract award on April 16th this evening and be it further resolved that the RFP shall be held open for a period of 120 days and that the township May accept refresh prices in accordance with the RFP at any time during that 120-day period consistent with applicable law there was a first from mayor Pagan on that resolution and I just want to remind everyone the only reason we had to read it into the record is because it was not included in the agenda for this evening because of time constraints so we don't typically go through that there was a first from our mayor Schwarz second Schwarz and I will call the RO to again add it to the consent agenda which will be resolution 120 d224 councilman Schwarz councilman beler yes councilman Goldberg yes Council organ yes Deputy Mayor Catz yes Deputy Mayor G yes mayor Pagan yes thank you for your patience added to cons and thank you once again Mr CL for reading that into the record does anyone have anything else on their new business seeing no hand and does anyone have anything under Communications does any oh committee reports by Council eaon cannabis subcommittee update Miss goldbert sorry I have actually three um liaison reports so the the Cannabis um update is really um just kind of an update and an explanation of what the ordinance that's being introduced tonight is so it talks about kind of how we got here and just some highlights and and it's it's a long report um from the cannabis subcommittee I'm not going to read the entire thing but it gives the the bullet points of what's in the ordinance being introduced tonight um pprb met and they decided unanimously to go hybrid instead of Zoom meetings so those will be at the Rota Center going forward um they also discussed um about their Parks tour and getting a schedule on that now that the weather is getting nicer additionally they chose to include some of the smaller Parcels of land to include opportunities for quiet parks for potential passive Recreation purposes and cleanups um and there was also a discussion on reviewing some of the recreation fees with Glenna um and uh asking and I guess Tom asking the grant writer if they can help explore some grant opportunities for the skateboard park I believe there's there's a few organizations that will work on that and the last thing was that they discussed um a collaboration with Glen about a potential job fair for the high school kids for the recreation department um job opportunities for the summer um and then I'm going to do the most but does anyone have any questions on pprb before I good um so most so the most bet most board met and first and foremost I want to express my condolences to Vivian Hoffman and the entire Hoffman Family on the sudden and tragic loss of long longtime resident longtime volunteer um former chair pprb and most recent chair of the most Advisory Board um Dr Dr Hoffman and I did not always agree on hyper local policy issues um we didn't always agree with the how but Ken was dedicated to teac into our parks and our leagues and our Recreation Department our seniors and kids um and his loss will be felt by the entire Community for a very long time to come and um one of the last things he made a point of saying at that last meeting was that the importance of remembering that we can disagree on hyperlocal issues but attacks based on hate and who a person is is never okay and I really appreciated that um so thank you Ken at the same meeting um we discussed the upcoming most referendum which needs to be renewed and passed by the voters every four years um and has been discussed with council members as well about exploring the rewarding of the most referendum this year since most began we've acquired two properties um that's since 2004 and now thanks to the passage of the osrp and rosi um soon thanks to the help of the planning board and um the idea is to maximize the use of the spending of the most funds with matching grants that we're able to now get from Green Acres once the rosi and osrp is passed um we always want the most for our residents and to be able to get the best parks in open space um so the board was very interested in exploring this um with the referendum um and that was really it thank you Miss Goldberg does anyone else have any committee reports Miss beler not so much committee report but I just want to um let uh the public know that uh the planning board has received the U master plan and has begun the um basic review and Analysis of it um I just want to remind the public that the planning board meetings are open to the public so um for those that would like to come out um you certainly um are welcome to to do so um and speaking of communications um just um received something in our mail about Brian school and the Teck Early Childhood Center Autism Awareness uh walk is this Friday April 19th at 1 pm to raise awareness of autism month and the importance of inclusion just want to mention that Mr Mayor thank you Miss beler anyone else committee reports no next order of business is Council listed items proposed resolution to end Jewish hate councilwoman Goldberg and Oregon the floor is yours last year we passed a resolution that we're reintroducing tonight uh April 29th has been declared um and Jew hate and end Jewish hate day and so this is the exact resolution that we passed last year um it leads into May which is Jewish Heritage Month um it uh recognizes that the um anti-Semitism is on the rise and um higher this year um and we hope to make this an annual thing as well thank you thank you Miss organ Miss Goldberg do you want to add anything or no I just want to um make the motion to add it to the consent agenda and the consent agenda this will be resolution 21-2024 that was a motion from Council Goldberg in a second from councilman Schwarz going down the role councilman Schwarz councilman beler yes councilman Goldberg yes councilman Oregon yes Deputy Mayor Catz yes Deputy Mayor G yes mayor Pagan yes added to the consent agenda next up a proposed resolution recognizing juneth Deputy Mayor G yes so the juneth uh committee reached out and asked that we put forth this resolution recognizing juneth um a request was made to share just a little bit more about what juneth is and so I'm going to share a brief summary of of juneth so juneth is short for June 19th this marks the day when federal troops arrived in galvaston Texas in 1865 to take control of the state and ensure that all enslaved people be freed the troops arrival came a full two and a half years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation juneth honors the end of slavery in the United States and is considered the longest running African-American holiday on June 17th 2021 it officially became a Federal holiday so June uh juneth will occur this year on I believe Wednesday June 19th so I hope that's a little bit more background for everyone who has questions but I hope everyone will participate in the juneth activities this year um I personally do OIC Selen in the back she is the chair of the committee um I personally participate every year with the family it's a great event for children to participate in as well so I hope you will all join us oh yes can I make a motion to add this resolution to the consent agenda second first from Deputy Mayor J second from councilwoman belshire for resolution 122-2 24 councilman Schwarz yes councilman beler yes councilman Goldberg yes councilman organ yes Deputy Mayor Catz Deputy Mayor G yes mayor pan yes added to consent J next order of business Township manag report Mr roow thank you Mr Mayor start with votee tennis court light project uh the project has been rebid uh the bid closing date is April 23rd the vot park restroom project we had the preconstruction meeting last week contractor has ordered building the lead time for the building is 16 to 20 weeks the V Park shade and shelter we're waiting for the delivery of the material is expected to arrive on the week of May 20th bike lane road surfacing improvements and drainage project the design is underway waiting for the capital Bond ordinance to be appr approved that's a $550,000 grant that we received for that project the storm water infrastructure system mapping Pur New Jersey Department Environmental Protection Township has to complete this mapping by January 2026 we received the grant of $25,000 from the DP to prepare this mapping Bell Avenue drainage diversion permit the property survey required by Green Acres has started and will be completed by next month Eric Park improvements we received approval from Green acres to go out to bid there will be three separate bid packages for this project the first one will be for the baseball and basketball court the second one will be for restroom in the spray park and the third will be for the children's playground the project will out to bid in the next few weeks uh the CDs Community grant for Bell Avenue drainage the kadex or the categorial exclusions is signed the Millennium uh Consulting is preparing the application they will submit the application next week the Teck Urban rain Garden grant grant agreement was sent to the town for Signature by D the pedestrian bridge over pal hit Avenue TSX Railroad and Windsor Road engineering will reach out to the structural engineer to start the work ASAP once the contract is signed obviously that's been an ongoing issue we want to get that bridge back in service as soon as possible the 2023 Road resurfacing project is out to bid the bid date is May 14 2024 Beverly parking lot uh project Paving project that's the East part of the parking lot the bids are due on that project for on 4:30 April 30th once that is completed then we will move the farmers market to that end of the parking um emergency sewer repairs the bids are due on April 23rd Palisade Avenue improvements that was the NJ dot Freight grant that we are awarded in the amount of $249,250 the design is underway we're waiting for the capital board B ordinance to be approved again that was a nice grant that we received from dot for that and anybody who's been on Port Street going north knows that roadway needs resurfacing in the worst way in horrible shape uh the cdb 2023 Grant so that's four roads that are going to be paved as part of that Grant Schoonmaker Road neldon Road argon court and hurlman Road improvements the project is out the bid the bid date is April 23rd Palmer ra rum rumble strips We're receiving quotes from The Strip contractor so far the lowest quote is $8,100 from straighted striping yesterday we installed 12 solar powered LED flashing stop signs uh on Palmer Avenue uh they are bright but they are certainly going to be effective in addition to that the police department is conducting a traffic survey to see if any of those intersections will warrant a four-way stop sign um they will be doing a survey for volume and speed and we have to look at the criteria outlined in What's called the mutcd to see if it meets the criteria for four-way stop sign uh speed bumps on East Lawn Drive this traffic study is complete for the speed bump we need survey from the residents that are in favor of the speed bump we use 75% as the minimum threshold for the approval of the speed bump often times when speed bumps go in initially the residents are happy about it then there's other ancillary issues that come along such as noise and sometimes car scrape at the bottom so we want to have significant buying from the residents before that's implemented heck Road um the last two days they did the Milling um from Cedar Lane um just to the area by Warner place um due to the weather over the next two days it will not be able to resurface the road so we're looking at Friday right now weather permitting they will start at 5:00 a. because they're going to start with the Cedar Lane tenic Road intersection get that intersection done as soon as possible so that could be open for rush hour traffic then it will proceed North there'll be detours in place much of the roadway will be closed why they pave we're anticipating hopefully everything goes okay that they'll be done by 3 p.m. um the rosi the updated Rossi was submitted to Green Acres for their review and hopefully their approval uh Atlantic Coast fibers as you remember uh January 2021 they have uh had a fire they took that plant off um offline so unfortunately we've been going to M Hill Newark and Jersey City to dispose of our Cycles that's 18 trucks a week and we go to the various locations whatever the Tipping fee is if it's a lower tipping fee in Jersey City we go there so that's going to come back online next month so now we'll be going to sake versus going to Mill Jersey City and Newark so we'll save on gas labor and other uh other parts of the the equipment um andj do finally yesterday uh installed the stop sign at the intersection of Alfred Avenue in decator they approved it in November um took an inordinate amount of time for it to get installed um councilman Schwarz I know you've inquired about the utility polls on Route four that have been knocked down I think that was around January 10th I've in contact with our PSG representative things like do is dragging their feet with that so I will be after them again tomorrow to get that expedited because um there fre utility polls with street lights that are out of service so it's very dark in that area and it looks unsightly and mayor that is it thank you Mr row next order business attorney's report Mr salmon um oh sorry Mr no the seats are no longer reserved I believe right I don't I see yeah no it's open to everybody thank you Mr salmon nothing to report Mr Mayor thank you thank you Mr Damon our next order of business is good and Welfare any member of the public wishing to be heard at this time will be asked to State their name for the record commment shall be limited to 3 minutes per person if you are on Zoom please list your first name and your last name so our clerk can call on you we ask that you also turn on your camera when speaking if possible and before we start I want to remind residents that it is still budget season and we would love to hear your thoughts on the budget and other local Teck issues because that will help us in crafting a budget for our residents that will help improve local Services Mr Schwarz thank you Mr Mayor Ron Schwarz Larch Avenue tck New Jersey we speaking tonight as a representative of one time one vote One Time One vote is the Teek Grassroots movement that helped move Teek elections from May to November dramatically increasing voter turnout and citizen involvement in local government and the future of our town one toown one vote is deeply concerned that the voice of the people is not being heard regarding the proposed Redevelopment plan for the Stop and Shop and Beverly Road areas at a March 27th 2024 public forum sponsored by the council's subcommittee on zoning the developer Crossroads was given its third opportunity to sell its Redevelopment plan to the public a public that is clearly not buying now in three public forums phex citizens have resly rejected Crossroads as the as a developer for this area based in part on its overwhelming conflict of interest in obtaining the original designation as an area in need of Redevelopment a scandal uh that still sticks and smells with this town the modifications to the plan presented at the March 27th Forum were almost laughable in their inadequacy number one this massive plan still consists of 318 apartment units which will add 477 cars per day to the already clogged intersection of Garrison Avenue and Cedar Lane can you imagine 477 additional cars at that intersection every day in EK I can't imagine it yet with all those cars clogging that intersection in our main business district there has been no traffic study submitted by either the developer or the town number two the space allocated for the farmers market which we love between the huge parking garage and Garrison Avenue was minuscule a little postage stamp of sidewalk between Garrison Avenue and the huge parking uh parking building that is planned it's totally inadequate and it's our view that we will lose the uh Farmers Market if this plan goes forward number three the amount of open space described in the plan was completely negligible number four the planner statement made on behalf of EK that this would be the last opportunity for public input was grossly inadequate and inaccurate by Statute there must be public hearings and public input both before the planning board and the council before any Redevelopment plan may be adopted why was this misinformation given to the public at that public forum the te public the T public has now spoken loudly three times that it does not want this developer or this development plan when is this Council going to listen thank you Mr Schwarz Doug someone on Zoom bringing in Gail Gordon please unmute state your name for the record Gail Gordon one second Gail can you give me another can you just count to five for me real quick Gail I want to make sure we can hear you sure 1 two 3 4 five could you get any closer to your microphone perhaps Gil uh I will try yes is this better yeah a little bit give us one second we're just going to boost your volume in here okay Gail say hi for me real quick hello you sound great three minutes okay uh I am happy happy that um we are taking an action tonight to support a resolution about anti-Semitism and the rise of anti anti-Semitism I I know that we have over time supported various resolutions again V against various forms of hate and because of the latest things that have happened in the town and how there's been rising tensions in the town sorry we're having a hard time hearing you you keep cutting in and out huh I don't know why oh now you sound perfectly clear oh please continue sorry okay all right so I think it's time now that we we reaffirm the resolution that was passed I think in 2020 condemning all forms of hate and I would like that done at this meeting because you keep breaking up we have a lot of callers maybe you could try to get a solid connection and call back and we will bring you in we I will try we're going to go back into the chambers sir oh no no Phil Phil sorry um second to last show the emom good evening council members mayor assalam alaikum my name is Muhammad daud Iman Muhammad daud I'm also a New York City licensed Chaplin I graduated from tenek high school class in 1976 my residency in tenek has been about 52 years I have to say we Muslims from tinck and Bergen County we have to object to this Holocaust Memorial War at this moment that is being planned by this board and committing on public grounds it is divisive extremely so a Holocaust Memorial room Holocaust Memorial W and room possibly in a teen public library is a no no this is public grounds if the Hebrew people here in EK wish to have a Holocaust Memorial War then it should be within their own private facilities or temples but not to charge people here in tck out of our own Pockets to build such a wall should not come out of public Grant funds at all one of the reasons why many of my Muslim brothers and sisters have decided this action is because a Holocaust Memorial Wall by those Hebrews we do not say this is not a holocaust they never had a holocaust no we say that basically though they had a holocaust remembrance of that and doing the things to their neighbors in spite of the Holocaust in works of genocide apartheid and war crimes that is wrong very much wrong I've been to Jerusalem I've been to Palestine the West Bank and it is an aarth situation they don't have human rights equal rights Justice and new process of law these are the Palestinians I'm talking about and we should say no and I feel that many of my Muslim brothers and sisters and those who believe in peace and Justice we also say no thank you sir thank you Doug someone on Zoom Mr shortz is there any more oh sir yes no no sorry we have more clergy sorry thank you for pointing that out hello abraam wine I the assistant Rabbi at congregation ker Torah and EK and an educator at a local boy High Shiva high school and I've lived in this community for almost three years now I want to begin by thanking our public officials here I know we're all grappling with a very complicated and sensitive new reality and we appreciate all your good faith efforts in this regard I have some prepared remarks which I will get to but I just want to begin by saying as a grandchild of a holocaust Survivor and as a grandchild uh great-grandchild of those murdered in the Holocaust the idea that the Holocaust and the murder of 6 million Jews in the gas Chambers and worse is a divisive issue is a complicated issue and is comparable to any modern reality is simply Beyond uh my capacity to understand you know in less than a week the Jewish Community will be celebrating the holiday of Passover many Jews worldwide will sit and discuss and retell the story of The Exodus where our God redeemed us from servitude in Egypt and we recount the horrors of the that the Egyptians perpetrated towards us so many unspeakable atrocities one of the great sages in our tradition Rabbi salvic has a very profound Insight on a line in the text that we recite that evening and he says that one of the great evils that the Egyptians committed towards us was not just the years of servitude but it's that parro Pharaoh the king of Egypt made us out to to be evil he mischaracterized who the Jews were their intentions portraying them as a fifth column in society and salvic further explains that the unthinkable acts committed against the Jews in Egypt were only capable of happening because of the demonizing that preceded it this unfortunately is not just a Passover story for the Jewish people this is long been the awful tale of anti-Semitism where Jews are misrepresented defamed inaccurately by those with malicious intentions in order to subsequently harass attack and much worse if I listed all the examples we'd be here for much too long and my time would expire I fear that this trend is happening in our town several events which happened in our synagogues recently were completely mischaracterized in ways that can only be described at best as terribly misleading and at worst horrific propaganda and this has empowered and encouraged others to a large extent from outside of this town to outrageously harass and attack Us in ways that have been discussed many times in these meetings and I reiterate this is unacceptable and we Jews are not going anywhere two brief final thoughts one there was a clip going around of people who do not represent our community in any way they're not part of our community and any language or gestures that they use do not represent our community in the slightest and I and all the community rabbis absolutely condemn that type of language that we feel very strongly I'll conclude that's all try to work together to make te a better place and have an impact on what we actually can thank you very much thank you are there before we go on to the next person on Zoom are there any other religious are there any other religious leaders that would like to speak R SCH did you want to say anything you're good you're good all right Doug someone on Zoom please Glenn please unmute state your name for the record feel free to sh thank you can you hear me okay I just want to let you know the previous speaker sounded just fine on this side so it might be on your end thank you okay thank you my name is uh Mr Glenn Mr Mayor I'm members of city council my wife and I are residents of tenek for over 33 years um I just wanted to say that uh I'm I'm really very um happy for tonight's recipients of the 2023 Matthew Feldman award and the from the youth Advisory Board congratulations to them and and I want to send out special thanks to the council for once again declaring April 29th the end Jewish hate day uh it's unfortunate that we have to have such a day um but especially today when we see so much hate on display here in our community it's important that the council came out strongly and with unanimous support and I I really thank you for that as in towns Across America EK residents have the right to speak and be heard but we also have a responsibility to to each other to speak right and to act appropriately cars driving below the speed limit in Caravans that block access to Residents and emergency vehicles should be issued tickets within the full extent of the law the Teek police who I applaud for their professionalism and do an amazing job for our residents are very familiar with setting up speed traps and safe zones to pull over drivers who are violating our laws and have the ability to do so as well in the case of these illegal protests this is a technique being used in cities around the country including a massive police response this week to the pro Palestinian anti-American and anti-semitic car Caravans in Detroit and other cities Across America like Philadelphia where demonstrations to form economic blockades occurred yesterday on April 15th multiple arrests were made and many ticketed during a massive police response to the procession charges included improper lane usage interference with traffic and failure to use a seat belt New Jersey seat belt law requires all motor vehicle passengers in the front seats and back seats to buckle up belt use by the driver and all front seat passengers is a primary offense and a police officer may stop a vehicle and issu a ticket for this violation alone other violations including for expired registration drug possession legal weapons Etc and searches of the vehicle can be conducted and the revenue can be used to offset the expense of this policing effort I'd like to hear more from our Township attorney uh I'm a little disappointed that we did not hear uh some specifics tonight on what will be done in the future uh and I applaud the efforts of uh of the uh certain council members to uh to obtain this guidance thank you very much thank you sir Phil yuck good evening everybody I'm Philip yuck tck resident B Avenue thank you for dealing with our flooding situation I stand before this tonight as a proud Jewish American a resident of EK for 45 years having moved here primarily for its diversity and as representing the Coalition of neighborhood associations for a better Teck the Coalition supports this resolution condemning anti-Semitism as it would support any resolution condemning hate of or discrimination against any group of people simply for who they are or for what their religious beliefs might be as our representative Congressman Josh goth clearly stated a few days ago no one regardless of race ethnicity or religion should live in fear there is no place for this hate referring to islamophobia and anti-Semitism in our state communities or our nation that said on January 4th 2022 by unanimous vote the Tina Council adopted the following anti-hate resolution I'm going to leave out some of the whereases out of interest in time because there always a lot of whereases whereas America is a mosaic of people from every corner of the globe and a place that strives for racial ethnic cultural and religious acceptance and whereas the township of tenek reflects the greater American community and whereas the township of EK recognizes that violence against others due to their identity is not in keeping with American values and whereas tin rejects hate in all its forms especially the type that results in violence against any particular group and whereas EK rejects the labeling of groups as being less valued than any other group and whereas EK values its diverse and culturally Rich Community now therefore be it resolved by the township Council of the township of tinac Bergen County New Jersey that the township of Tink rejects hate in all its forms and will strive to be the example of racial religious and ethnic acceptance will Foster an environment of inclusion and acceptance in all Township sanctioned events will ask its state leaders to be active in fighting hatred and all its forms through the legislative process and will Foster an environment in all Township events that promote the values of inclusion and acceptance the Coalition of neighborhood associations for a better Teck hereby requests that the council reaffirm this resolution in conjunction with tonight's resolution condemning anti-Semitism thank you thank you sir Doug somebody on Zoom Gail Gordon let's try again Gail you are free to unmute can you hear me loud and clear Gail great great I would like to support the comments made by Phil Yu previously and I would like to also add to this that I would like to see the council conducts some concrete actions to help with the divisions in our town I I have become very upset with the divisions and I think that the council could take a more active leadership role and I I think that the council in many ways has has promoted the divisions rather than than helped the divisions I think one big step in doing that would be to reiterate or re re yeah reiterate the resolution of 2020 that Mr Yuck just read tonight because we really need to come together I I've I can't tell you how upset I've been about the divisions and about the community that I once loved and I I'm having a a lot of trouble and I would really like to see the council take hold and do something about it and concrete actions whatever that might be I think you are leaders and I respect you and I think you can figure it out so I would like to ask you to do that and I would like to ask you to um what is it called re re uh re approve the 2020 resolution thank you thank you Miss Gordon Miss Schwarz hi there I didn't actually intend to speak tonight and I don't have anything prepared but I kind of we gave was in and out and I think I want to Echo what she was saying as a member of the Coalition for neighborhood associations and also just speaking for myself as a 40 plus year resident of tenek I've been here a long time and EK has been through a lot um I don't think I have ever experienced more divisiveness in this town than I'm experiencing now with the different divisions between different groups in town now with regard to the um resolution to condemn anti-Semitism I wholeheartedly approve of that I think it makes sense we are seeing rampid anti-Semitism throughout the country and certainly in our town so I think just as we supported and came out against um racism and supported the black lives matter movement I think it's appropriate um to support this resolution having said that I think with all the divisiveness in this town and looking at our diverse population we are not just a community of Jews we are not just a community of Muslims we are not just a community of African-Americans of heterosexuals of homosexuals of transgender we have it all we're a diverse Community like no other community that I know we are seeing hate across this country not only anti-Semitism but we are seeing islamophobia certainly we are seeing hate crimes against our gay brothers and sisters we're seeing hate crimes against transgender people you know there's a lot of hate to go around and I really do think that in addition to supporting the resolution standing firm against anti-Semitism we also need to reaffirm um this resolution of 2022 where the council supports um ending hate of all kinds I I think that covers everything and I think to bring this community together I think just whatever the resolution is when we just address one group and we don't look at the whole Community it causes a lot of hard feelings and it causes divisiveness and I think a way to bring Unity to our town is to just condemn hate wherever it exists um so I I just want to urge this Council to adopt this resolution standing strong against anti-Semitism but also to stand strong against hate of any kind so thank you thank you ma'am um can I wait a minute you know while do I still have time you have 15 seconds okay just on another totally other topic I'm a member of the tenet Garden Club mayor Pagan and you had asked about budget issues and I don't know if the council's aware but the Garden Club needs a new greenhouse and probably we are aware of it okay I just needed to throw that in thank you Miss Schwarz Doug someone on Zoom Sally Geller yes hi um I'm a lifelong Bergen County resident um this anti-Semitism resolution has become divisive it does not Advance peace and goodwill as it would intend to especially during Arab American Heritage months it's an insensitive time to do this we're not Gra with the current reality of the Netanyahu government which is not Judaism at large uh you know compared to the majority of the Jewish population especially here in the states what Netanyahu is doing is is not right um you know Judaism and Zionism are different uh even Quaker Steve Chase differentiates two branches of Zionism the one that we all like that was looking for Peace and Freedom for all living together and the one with the Theocratic SU premist agenda so please pass a resolution reaffirm your res resolution calling for uh you know opposing hatred of all types uh a resolution perhaps called for nonviolence and cease fire not um not focusing it on addressing simple anti-Semitism uh as OPP as hard as that is it's as no more hard than anti you know islamophobia or or anti homosexuality or any of the others um yeah i' I've seen signs you know saying hate is no home here so you shouldn't be limiting this to anti-Semitism it's all hatred that that we don't want in our in our town in our County in our state um so please drop this resolution reaffirm the earlier resolution that that was read that really says what what we would like you know to hear from governments thank you thank you Miss Yousef hello youf a tin resident Pro Palestinian protesters outside Town Hall chanting gastam a Muslim T resident stating she was going to blow up this town outside agitators from Patterson being busted into tck to cause Havoc very alarming claims false claims these are some of the disgusting islamophobic anti-arab lies that have been spewed by my council members I will not mention any specific names if those of you in the audience are curious about who I'm talking about on the council just look up at the ones staring at me in disgust yes them mayor Pagan I would like to ask you a question why has islamophobic rhetoric been normalized on your Council we can no longer ignore bigotry coming for our governing body it has become evident Muslims do not matter in t neck Arabs do not matter in Palestinians do not matter in EK Humanity does not matter in EK you have lied about us to our faces in public meetings recorded meetings you have refused to acknowledge or apologize for these lies yet you encourage private dialogue with my community you showed us what your what lies you're capable of in a public forum why would anyone in their right Minds reach out to you in private providing cell phone numbers and emails it's all smok and mirrors only to throw in our face when no one reaches out accusing community members of having fake accents everyone knows that if an Arab speaks with any accent other than a stereotypical metal e accent it must be fake I hope the way I speak is acceptable to this Council forcing people to put their full names on Zoom calls so you could research them if that's not intimidation I don't know what is forcing callers to turn on the cameras failing to take into account that the women of my faith have modesty and maybe they don't want to show their faces to the public from within their own homes maybe they shouldn't call in maybe they don't deserve to have their voices heard because at the end of the day we don't matter in tinck islamophobia has no safe space in tinck hatred in any form has no safe space in tinck bigotry has found its home amongst its Council further dividing the community for political clout you are here to fight for the interest of every tenic resident not to use your platform to support a genocide in real time a man-made famine in 2024 the world once said never again but I guess this is the one time exception who on this Council will ensure that t is safe in my community who on this Council will make sure that my young children don't get harassed while walking to aucc who on this Council will make sure that knives aren't pulled out on the women of my community again who on this Council will condemn men spitting at our woman as was done on Sunday I will end with a quote from James Baldwin not everything that face can be changed but nothing can be changed until it's faced thank you thank you sir Doug somebody on Zoom yit Robinson please state your name for the record give me one second please state your name for the record good evening my name is yehudit Robinson and I live in tenek with my husband and four children thank you to Deputy Mayor G for presenting a propos proposal to commemorate juneth my older children are students at Ben porat Y and I am proud that my children's school has been commemorating juneth for many years as a child I was deeply influenced by learning about the courage of Harriet Tubman and especially The Bravery of black soldiers who fought for the Union Army during the Civil War I am deeply supportive of a day to gather and learn reflect and engage in Acts of service commemorating the emancipation of enslaved African-Americans in America I also want to commend the proclamation establishing April as National poetry month in tenek I love reading poetry my big kids enjoy making poetry and what better way to celebrate spring if not by enjoying some sonnets while tending our budding blossoms in our yards I've been reflecting on Frost's nature's first scen is gold as I've watched spring Vanquish the winter to my Muslim Neighbors I greet You by saying marhaban hello we see each other driving around town in our matching minivans we push our Toddlers and cards through the aisles of stoping shop our kids play in the children's room at the tinic library and we connect in the local playgrounds what message are we sending our children when car Caravans continue to harass local residents most recently with agitators from Philadelphia these agitators are not interested in dialogue but rather in shutting down streets to vehic and foot traffic people in your community may have connections to those who travel here who often gather at the local aucc please communicate to these Outsiders that we Teck residents are neighbors and that none of us control what happens overseas we need to know that you are taking an active stance to protect calm and maintain order to the Teck residents who are waiting this out and not expressing a public opinion please consider that silence is a form of ascent if you do not vocally oppose the car Alle on some level you are offering tax and endorsement of your local Jewish Neighbors being targeted simply because we are Jews the Anti-Defamation leagues report that was issued this morning states that Beren county has experienced the largest increase in anti-semitic attacks in any County in New Jersey in 2023 a 269 per increase in anti-semitic attacks over 2022 don't let tinck become a target of heat I hope at the next town council meeting I can have the opportunity to turn to my Muslim neighbors and say shukan thank you thank you for insisting that we need to prioritize our relationships with each other over any International matters please let's set an example for other communities about how we can rise above the Venom and find Salam peace thank you thank you Miss ma'am Heidi fukes te resident for 52 years I came tonight to speak about local issues as tck New Jersey is where my Story begins I hope the township will consider regular bulk garbage pickup like they do in Bergenfield for instance bulk is April 17th in Q3 I support the two resolutions put forth to end Jewish hate and to recognize juneth mostly I support the words of council members who stated on March 19th harassment threats and intimidation are wrong so is all hatred and for their commitment to care for and advocate for 40,000 residents of Tink to work for a wonderful quality of life for all communities within our Township to always seek solutions to problems to ask difficult questions that residents want answers to and to represent all residents so it is with these words in mind that I share a horrible story of hate harassment and bias intimidation that happened to me the day after the last Town council meeting tck for Palestine an Instagram account managed by a Teck resident exerted the video of my comments before the council during good and Welfare and posted a very twisted and out of context video version of them this was a personal attack from a stranger this resulted in a barrage of calls and texts from people checking on me to see if I was safe and how I was fairing after the storm of hate and harassment unfortunately I'm not the only Teck resident to be targeted by this resident's Instagram account in the past I've given the benefit of the doubt and spoken about outside agitators coming to our town to wreak havoc and interfere with our peace and unity sadly this hate is coming from within Teck the Teck that I grew up in the Teck that I rais my children in and the Teck that I call home I reported this egregious and hateful act to the EK police department and filed complaints with the Municipal Court County Court attorney general and the New Jersey bias crimes unit they are actively investigating this social media account and its owner to pursue appropriate charges Additionally the AUC also situated in Tink is the address for all car rallies that drive through the town honking horns shouting of residents and disrupting our peaceful lives the auc's website St states by choosing AUC you're not just joining a fitness center you're becoming a part of a movement that believes in the transformative power of health and kindness to me being kind means to be generous helpful and to care about people it does not mean to be the address of hate I implore this Council to commit to addressing all forms of hate in this Township and to act upon those who perpetuate hate both individuals and organizations I implore the council to work towards restoring this Township to one where we are all happy that our story has begun here thank you you miss and also I have two grandchildren whose birth dates on juneth so we always celebrate but we look forward to celebrating more thank you Miss Doug somebody on Zoom yes sir mayor we are bringing in Jesse Leon please unmute state your name for the record feel free to show your camera Jesse my name is Jesse Leon I'm a tun resident for a little over seven years um I will sound like a broken record but I do not support any resolutions um I love juneth I think that it's one of the most deserving American holiday I think that the emancipation of the slaves in practice not just by decree is the apotheosis of the promise of the founding of this country um I think that Jew hatred is a terrible thing and I am aware of the increase in Jew hatred over the last year I am aware of the history of Jew hatred I was the youngest victim of anti-Semitic assault in Nassau County um as a 11year old boy um so I completely agree with the with the gravin of both of the resolution that on the table today and I still object to the resolutions and I object to reaffirming Old resolutions and I object to any resolution in the future and I object to any Town speech that is not directly related to the running of the town now each of you as individuals have the First Amendment right to say whatever you want when it's your turn to speak from the de and that's great and you should do that this is America and you have the absolute right to do so um and you can raise these issues and you can put your personal statement on them um but stop speaking for the town and stop making the town speak because you're reaping what you've swn I mean tonight you have a full room and I'm sure that there are 500 people on Zoom waiting to talk just after me um and it's gonna keep happening because every time we do another resolution we start arguing about it and we're arguing about it and we're arguing about it and we're arguing about it so if we stop doing resolutions and we stop patting ourselves in the back about um how enlightened we are to other groups and and and and if we just if we just live together you know this past Sunday the environmental commission hosted a a cleanup uh in the town in in four different sites I was I was there I brought my two children we spent an hour and a half picking up mostly liquor bottles um in argon Park and it was great and it was nice to meet other residents and it was nice to do something nice for the town um it was a real moment of unity and caring and volunteering and I can't wait for the October uh redo to do it again um and the town should be doing things like that and we shouldn't be talking about things that are not Germaine to cleaning our parks and to Paving our roads you know I live I live up the black from tinck Road I'm I'm experiencing the town Paving the road thank you for that as much of an inconvenience it is for the next five days it will be great for me for the next couple of years until the town till the rad are great again but stop doing the thing that you don't really want to do that you don't you don't want to reap the results from just just stop speaking for the town and let us all live as a town and not as some sort of national microcosm of all these things thank you thank you sir Mr batky there's so so so much to say and so much hope There's Hope in this room I've been sitting here 3 or 4 months I come here again tonight people want to get along people in this room want to get along they know history they know some history I don't think any of us know all the history we've got to go back to the books and we've got to go back to our relatives and we've got to put things in context everything that's happened regarding Jews I'm student I'm a Jew uh I've always read about it I always found out about it I'm planning a trip to aitz uh to experience it I don't know how many of you have done that or want to do it it's a new thought for me but uh it's time okay my parents were born here my grandparents came over before the Holocaust and uh it it scares me when I go to a holocaust museum I can feel my body shake so I'm not I think I'm sensitive to that but I'm also thinking about the millions of other people in this world who are not Jews who have been persecuted and murdered all over the world including in Teck New Jersey in our past when we had slave slaves here you were one of the last states to give up slaves in the North in the north right we learned that from the slave Cemetery people make mistakes you make mistakes I make mistakes what's the time what one man4 okay oh suggestion when you have the screen up turn down these lights we can barely see it here in the peanut gallery all right turn down the lights uh you know I'm an engineer things we can make things work but you got to be sensitive to how things work right now uh hate is real we Americans we are humans we hate we've done terrible things and maybe we'll do some more again but we've got to get control of ourselves the resolutions we can fight hard for resolutions we pass a resolution then what what what do we do after we pass the resolution we have a resolution boom I don't get it I'm I'm concerned that we raise emotions we drop them uh I think people want I'll repeat again I think people here want to work together somehow with respect to each individ individual's past what we're going through what our neighbors are going through what our families are going through I have family in the IDF okay I have thank you Mr vaty thank you sir and I have sympathy withy Doug someone on Zoom Allison gorier forgive me if I mispronounce your name please state your name for the record that's okay Alison gor arier I'd like to First acknowledge our neighbors here in tin who are not Jewish and are not Muslim so many are patiently waiting on the sidelines and wondering when these Town Council meetings will get back to normal Teck Township business like replacing the bathrooms next to the pool at voi park or having recycling pickup on a weekly basis because we can't be the only ones having trouble storing Amazon boxes for two weeks at a time even flatten ones unfortunately we are not back to that time yet and I wish I could say we were sadly here in the scenic and Progressive suburb of tck New Jersey in the United States of America in the year 2024 for unbelievably the Jewish residents of EK are fighting for the freedom to practice their religion in peace being Jewish nowadays in EK means obnoxious car rallies from Out of Towners who don't care about traffic laws and who drive through your neighborhood and Target you they create noise pollution shout obscene remarks and come across in a threatening way just to walk around your neighborhood in identifiably Jewish Garb whether a head covering a certain type of coat or suit makes you a Target non-car protests like the traditional type of marching protest or protesting in one place without moving can lead to Jews being verbally threatened and spit upon after one of the earliest of the pro Palestinian protests back on Monday October 30th foot traffic afterwards brought people on my street who stepped onto my neighbor's property to steal something Jewish and pro-israel off their yard it was outrageous they walked on to their yard and had no regard for the boundary of safety they invaded and my neighbor rightfully expected I don't like being here stealing the spotlight away from the less dramatic business that normally takes place during these meetings but we have to point out these things because they should be unacceptable to all of us in 2024 there are two competing interests in Tink right now number one is the freedom to practice the Jewish religion in peace versus number two the fre freedom of speech for those who want to eliminate Jews from tinck or from the United States or from the Jewish religious homeland of Israel altoe this should not be the case this is not enlightened Progressive behavior for the 21st century yes it's a terrific thing to have different perspectives that's why TK is so wonderful and it's okay to disagree it's fine it's healthy to disagree but it's not civilized to torment others who do not agree with with you or with me this should not be the case on a different note I too would like to see juneth as a formal holiday I love Tek for the diversity of different peoples sharing the same town and hopefully living more harmoniously again soon thank you Miss Mr Rose good evening Howard Rose te resident I've lived here about 44 years I didn't grow up in EK but I'm sure as hell aging here uh my perspective is on maybe two different Vantage points especially when it comes to areas of need of Redevelopment about a year and a half ago I said out of about the seven or so areas in need of Redevelopment the biggest one was actually the council itself uh I hope we're not back at that point where you have to reevaluate who you are and what you're doing and why you're doing it I mean there's so much sentiment against the areas in need of Redevelopment where is your listening ability I wear hearing aids and I tell people sometimes yeah I have the battery in I can hear you I'm just not listening that's how I feel is going on with the council at certain times my vantage point is as a business person on cetto Lane tangent to the area being redeveloped on CTO Lane potenti area need of Redevelopment ill conceived ill backed with data that was faulty in many areas unfortunately approved by the council a boondoggle from the beginning and a continues as a problem now what are you going to do about it so far nothing good last council meeting I was one of those 20 or 21 people who did not get get to speak at welfare I felt disenfranchised and you actually disenfranchised a group of people by who they were online people you let one group speak but not another group that's inappropriate I know you can do better and then you ended good and Welfare abruptly after that that was by a majority vote again I think illc conceived inappropriate don't disenfranchise people this is the only place where they get to verly be public and cite The Heirs if your desire is to get rid of good and Welfare as a public situation from home with using Zoom go back to the old days where it was anyone in council meeting had the right and ability to speak at good and Welfare that might decrease the number of people participating and I feel bad if someone's handicapped and can't come here and speak and wants to speak but I don't know what the best thing is for anyone but think about it think about what you want to do and why you're doing it and why you're limiting it and how much you really should be limiting it I usually speak without notes this time I wrote about 15 words and I can only read about half of them want to mention to you food pantry I hope people realize that a food pantry isn't just around seasonal holidays people eat year round I hope you give money they don't need cans of beans or something wrapped they need money because of people at the food pantry Helping Hands they know what their people need thank you thank you Mr Rose Doug someone on Zoom Jeffrey essis Hi how are you great we can hear you loud and clear three minutes okay so I don't even know where to start tonight there's so much going on um I'll start with um I agree with Mark Schwarz we need to do something about good and Welfare I think it's too long um I do believe that people in t should be able to speak before people um that don't live in T I also believe that people who make the effort to go to the meeting um obviously those who can't because they're disabled that's one thing but those who make the effort to go to the meeting um should be able to speak first I was one of those 20-some that did not get to speak at the last meeting because I was on Zoom I did not feel disenfranchised I actually felt uh thankful that you cut the you know you cut it at 11 and you went on to the next part of the meeting which is um the council speaking which I believe is a very important part of the meeting so um I support some form of compromise there that allows everybody an opportunity to speak but does give preference to people in the room and also cuts it off at a certain point in time so that we the residents of Tina can hear you speak um as far as the budget um my big issue is is we have and I know the council says they have no say over the public school system um not looking to cut the budget just looking to start controlling it um It's A system that over the last uh 11 12 years has lost 1,000 kids and has almost doubled its budget I believe that the Town Council considering that it is two-thirds of the town's budget should be able to find a way to have a little bit of say or find a way for the town to have a more of a say in in what's being spent um would love to see uh um bulk pickup in tck once once a quarter that would be fantastic make my life a lot easier wouldn't have to drive to someone's house in Bergenfield and drop off my bulk um I also believe I'll back to Mark schwarz's thing um I believe that people who don't live in EK should not speak and if they do speak it should be after everyone in Te has spoken I think a reporter speaking um or somebody from Fort Lee very nice I'm sure they both meant well um uh you know but I don't think that that's that's appropriate um and I would leave on this note is people keep talking about how we are separate as a town I actually don't really agree I think that there are extremes on both end of this town um unfortunately that's the society we live in today um driven by multiple factors um but I believe that a good 80 to 90% of Teek wants to get along they wanna they they want to be a community and I think that if we stop focusing on the extremes and focus on the people in the middle I think what we would find is we have a lot more in common and we could all work together to solve a lot of the the the things that that need to be solved in this community uh thank you to the council for the hard work you do and for the hours you put in um wouldn't want to do it myself but I think you guys do a great job and appreciate all seven of you putting in the time and the effort thank you thank you sir ma'am hello good evening I'm Rachel s I want to encourage our Town Council to pass two important resolutions tonight one denouncing anti-Semitism and one acknowledging the painful experience of enslaved Africans and celebrating the end of slavery in the US as a Jewish American I am disturbed by the precipitous rise of anti-Semitism in the US since o um the massacre in Israel on October 7th an alarm by the hate crimes targeted at Jews um that the hate crimes targeted at Jews is highest in Bergen County among all counties in New Jersey hearing that the Holocaust is a divisive issue and not worthy of commemoration by your entire Community from a faith leader is absolutely shocking and our community can do better I appreciate that Our Town Council deems it a priority to call out this hatred and works to ensure that tinck is a place where Jews can live freely and without impinging on their first amendment rights understanding that my experience is different than that of the black community as a Jewish American I appreciate and emphasiz and empathize with the struggles of that Community acknowledging acknowledging the Hurd that they have faced and the battle against racism and I'm grateful for the opportunity to learn from others and live in this diverse town segueing from these resolutions spring has sprung in teac and it is so nice to see children and adults alike enjoying the beautiful weather outside two of my sons play baseball on teac teams and I want to call attention to the condition of argon Park Where my Boys sometimes play A friend of mine in the Northeast area of Tink pointed out to me that this park could use some love and attention there is an abandoned Kitty pool that is not only an eyes sore but it attracts congregating at night and behavior that residents don't necessarily want um I love to think of creative uses for this neglected pool I know there was conversations about a potential skate park and I think this may be a great location for it thank you thank you Rachel once again are there any clergy in the room that would like to speak any clergy no Doug someone on Zoom please um Farooq please unmute state your name for the record thank you for your patience good evening uh my name is om faroo loud and clear sir okay uh evening council members and fellow teenag residents uh where do I begin a lot being said this evening but let me just start by reading some events uh on October Madia L Bon six-year-old Palestinian boy stabbed to death while the murderer yelled you Muslims must die in Illinois November shooting of three students of Palestinian descent during a Thanksgiving break they were just talking and hang out on the street in Vermont and then in January on Columbia University campus Pro Palestine group both Muslim and Jewish in protest the group was attacked and people were hospitalized with serious injuries with a current ongoing investigation still no arrest or progress since January and now in April a Muslim woman being harassed by the car in the next Lane while the back seat passenger yelling racial slur and then the driver of the vehicle Brandon shinga knife all caught on video that woman ticketed for using her phone while driving unfortunately the officer disregarded the assault she was had just experienced now given the preceding events and what has happened in the past what if these guys decided to act now how is it that when we talk about is Palestine conflict if we don't condemn Hamas immediately labeled as anti-semitic but no one condemns Israel for his ethnic cleansing no one in a in the support of AP St say yes we support the state but let's call call out the war crimes why not have Universal values across the board now as to going back to why was still talking about this the pre previous event was like a punch in the gut how many of us would shake hands with a person that recently just punched Us in the gut without any apology or any indication of remorse events such as which have taken place in tinic against uh high school students women being called Jihadi Jane I want to know what steps is being taken to keep my my community safe what actions are being done where is the balance in the council where is the leadership required for Unity thank you sir thank you I was just are you the high school student in the back and it is a school night so please feel free to come up thank you you have three minutes please state your name for the record thank you Council hi my name is d'vorah Luber I am 16 years old I am a lifelong resident of EK I'm your neighbor your resident and your constituent living in EK I've always had a somewhat idealized view of our town growing up I learned that EK is what's known as a majority minority community that it's made up of mainly minorities I took pride in knowing that tenek was the very first majority White Town to voluntarily integrate our school systems I would frequent the library the parks the local businesses and interact with people who on the surface seem very different than me I learned that so often beyond our superficial differences we're not that divided in this Progressive diverse town of EK I felt safe Tink was a town for everyone no matter your race your religion your age or your ethnicity tinac had been my vision of diversity of coexistence and of community recently though I felt a shift over the past few months as I've looked at the climate of our town the word that comes to mind is not Unity or progress or coexistence instead the word that comes to mind is division for the first time in my life I feel like I'm being judged not by the content of my character but by the symbol that hangs around my neck I feel fear that I hope the Jewish people would never have to feel again after the ghettos of Poland the Iron Curtain of Russia and the exposion from Iraq I feel fear not only for myself but for the very fabric of our town EK is divided I can see the seeds of hatred being planted and sprouting I can see tensions rising and anger erupting EK a town built on diversity and progress is being reduced to a divided hotbed of hatred and violence tonight two important resolutions are put forward one F and Jewish hate in on and leading into May Jewish Heritage Month the other is recognizing juneth the day the last slaves in the American South were emancipated as the Jews of Tink are preparing to celebrate Passover and commemorate our own Journey From Slavery to Freedom I stand with the black members of our community in their commemoration of their own journey and their own emancipation I see both of these resolutions as absolutely essential in protecting the Teck I know the Teck built on acceptance and coexistence the Teck that stands against hatred and against violence stand together with me regardless of race religion ethnicity or age to pass these resolutions and to usher in a better and brighter tck thank you thank you Miss Luber Jasmine Ray please unmute state your name for the record hello my name's Jasmine Ray can everyone hear me yes loud and clear Miss awesome my name is Jasmine Ray and I refuse to be bated into silence thank you to the Town Council for completely ignoring my testimony on the abuse I was subjected to in ex exercising my constitutional rights instead worrying more about instead worrying more about your bruised egos this not only showed me yet again just how short your empathy truly stretches but also gave your supporters license to further display their violent misor here are a couple things said about me for speaking out one person called me a black mosquito with a mask on at least she's considerate um trying to fer out the that's spewing from that mouth imagine the viruses that would otherwise be circulating from that dirt bag another woman said wow when I see her in a cotton field thirsty I'll walk on and another person said you know I wasn't a racist person but because I spoke up I'm turning her into one another person said that the cafea is the new swasa of today and mats represent terrorists and another person said send this creature to Gaza or back to cafa they sit here and think life owes them something poor me poor me I'm black this is not okay not only did Adam in New Jersey the origin of the thread bastardized my message purposely misquoting me to incite racist backlash it only further proved the validity of what I did say on April 2nd council members you are all guilty of using fear as a method of control whether it's to get your Jewish constituents at large to fear their neighbors or to threaten non-white te neck residents into submission stop supporting hate speech by demonstrating anti-blackness and anti-arab bigotry at these meetings and on your individual platforms at the last meeting councilman Schwarz admitted to looking up constituents he disagrees with online why do you feel entitled to the personal details of your constituents at also at the last meeting councilwoman Oregon doubled down on her and asserted that she will continue to be anti-black with no remorse and on April 6th Council Goldberg used her platform to laugh and harassment against other constituents she disagrees with on her professional Instagram do the rest of the T Town Council agree with these blatant abuses of power so I'm no longer asking I'm demanding that these council members I named will be taken out of office and held accountable for the repeated misconduct that is all in free Palestine someone on this side Miss K Mr Mayor can we just remind the rules about names please yep I did a couple times thank you good evening Council I want to first of all heartily congratulate uh my brother shyam Khan a brother from another mother same last name we got lucky there uh for exemplifying what service should be in Tek he is an amazing role model and also congratulations to yab if you're still here for your uh uh very deserving merit award tonight I'm here to read a statement on behalf of one toown one Bo one toown one vote is the people's movement that help move Tek Town elections from May to November successfully increasing voter turnout dramatically and promoting democracy in Tink we'd like to express our deep concern regarding recent actions by certain council members on this Council to limit public comment during golden welfare this reflects an attemp M to by the council majority to suppress our voices and to limit public participation allowing all voices is part of the process of democracy through open dialogue and transparent decision making cutting short good and Welfare either in person or on zoom and I cannot imagine anyone waiting on zoom and not feeling disenfranchised uh that seems very strange to me deprives people of a chance to voice their opinions and responsibility of the council members is to hear those opinions and that's why we have elected you to the Des um also let me remind the council as well as my fellow residents that the open public meetings act does not specify that people who speak at public comment should only be residents they can be any members of the public so these actions by this Council not only undermine the principles of democracy in our town but also alienate people who wish to contribute meaningfully to what they think is the betterment of our community we urge the council to actively work towards creating a a more inclusive and open forum for residents to engage with local governance we are all neighbors we'd like to live in a Teek that thrives a thriving Community is one where residents feel empowered to voice their opinions and concerns without fear of being reprimanded or suppressed by fostering an environment of open communication and collaboration we can work together moving teenek forward together towards a stronger and more vibrant teenek this is one of the goals listed on the one toown oneboard charter and there therefore for this reason one toown oneboard is opposed to limiting good and Welfare in any way either in person or on Zoom thank you thank you Miss K Doug someone on Zoom I have a phone number starting with 917 ending with 32 please unmute state your name for the record you have been given permission to speak your hand is raised number 917 ending in number 32 I think you need to press star nine maybe to unmute star9 star six 917 we will come back to you I'm bringing in Kevin lazerov hi uh 30-year tck resident uh was born in Holy Name Hospital I went through the tck school system and I'm now raising two children you know here back in tinic again uh it's been unbelievably upsetting to see the town that I've grown up so proud of and loving uh turn into kind of a hot bed of division and anger uh I find it really kind of ironic or I maybe not ironic uh council members who are talking about how we need to cut this uh Forum short because we need to get to the business of the town when a majority of the people who are speaking at these events are only speaking whether it be in opposition or for these Town speeches about issues going on not in this town and so that is creating the division it is not so so shortening this time is not going to do anything in that another thing that I wasn't planning on talking about but I I heard uh uh somebody mention you know this this Holocaust Memorial and that this is something that we should you know support because it's it's remembering uh a really horrible time and it's it's paying homage to that I would hope that everybody would then have the same feelings about town money going to say a uh memorial for the children and people of Gaza who have been murdered over the last you know six months uh if we're going to be doing these types of know dedications let's not be one-sided with it I'm for a Holocaust Memorial I'm for an eventual Gaza genocide Memorial uh so those are some things that I think let's be consistent okay that's one thing another thing I just want to mention is as of today the current count of people killed in Gaza is 33843 that's been that's not the Hamas numbers that is the numbers that have been verified by the Israeli government and United States government that is almost we're getting close to the amount of people basically being the same as every single person in t neck dying imagine if tomorrow or in six months 90% of T was gone turned to Rubble people buried under Rubble children bombed at playgrounds like today where over 11 children were murdered on a playground in Gaza this is happening somewhere else so I understand that this is not the most important business but it becomes that when representatives of the Town decide to speak for us and stand with genocide straight up and use the Holocaust as a cudel last thing I'll say ADL definition of anti-semitism everybody's been using also includes Pro Palestine rallies so that's not thank you Kevin thank you Kevin your time is up Mr alen s Allen son tck resident proud Zionist uh I was digging deep in the archives and found an article in the suburbanite from September 2017 more than six years ago about steps towards construction of a pair of memorials on the municipal green the article said plans are moving forward for the construction of two memorials on the township Green that will be dedicated to the victims of the slave trade and another to commemorate victims of the Holocaust quote the goal is to give us all of us a look back at some things we've done in the past that we're not necessarily proud of in the hopes of doing things better in the future said then Deputy Mayor Henry puit the Township library and other groups will provide related education programs related to both slavery in the United States and the Holocaust the two me memorials together to be called The Garden to nurture human understanding are particularly needed in today's charge political climate again six years ago leaders of the Holocaust Memorial committee said then current events are quote a stark reminder of how important it is to have a place where people can come to learn about the Holocaust and ensure it will never happen again the idea for the memorials began in 2013 hoping to build a memorial in Andreas or Brett Park but quote council members instead suggested the municipal green as a Central site the enslaved Africans Memorial committee approached the council in 2015 both groups are in the midst of a substantial fundraising effort to cover the costs at their expense looking back I worked with both committees to see both succeed I had always hoped that both projects would proceed side by side develop designs raise funds and rise at the same time I had hoped that people would come to visit a Holocaust Memorial and then walk over and learn about the experience of enslaved Africans and that those visiting the enslaved African Monument would learn about the Holocaust with the two advancing at different speeds we have a choice we can try to lift both monuments up or we can try to drag both of them down I thank Steve Fox and I thank the Holocaust Memorial committee for their work to revise the scope of their Monument they have a path to success and they have my full support I also support working towards the success of the enslaved African Monument we must recognize that people of all Races ethnicities and other categories have been targets of hate that we humans have acted horrifically to other groups of humans but we must also be sure to verify that specific group experiences are recognized the two monuments to the Holocaust and to enslaved Africans have never been more necessary than at any time before in our history I pray that they both succeed on the municipal green thank you very much Mr s Doug someone on Zoom bringing in Ellie cat not the one who's already here good evening my name is Ellie cat P resident good evening council members I would like to comment on the recent and ongoing unsafe Pro Palestinian Caravans that have disrupted the streets of EK and our quality of life as written on one of many Instagram posts let's be respectful to the Islamic Center of pay County for allowing us to gather here no honking no loud music no revving of vehicles let's be respectful to our neighborhood but once we leave pic we can start being loud as most recent as this Sunday April 14th 2024 these Caravans have spread hate and negativity acted with demeaning Behavior operated vehicles in a reckless Manner and in open Defiance of New Jersey Motor Vehicle Laws I personally was afraid to take my children to ride their bikes my dog for a walk and enjoy what our beautiful town has to offer fearful of my CH fearful of my children to learn of the continued hate that exists in this world simply because of their religion and existence a friend of mine's daughter recently got her license and was scared and Unsure how to negotiated traffic light when dozens of vehicles were actively driving against the red light drivers and passengers alike hanging out of their cars with their middle fingers waving and Hands Held High with a Nazi salute this Reckless Behavior displayed not only endangered the lives of our elderly our children our police our citizens but jeopardizes the Integrity of our town our way of life and instills instills fear pedestrians and other motorists laws are in place for all people and should be enforced for all people and these actions are unacceptable and have no place in our home and our society as a concerned resident I thank you and the TAC police for the continued professionalism and dedication and I continue to call upon you our Township Council to work with the appropriate authorities to take immediate and decisive action to address this important issue I urge the immediate implementation of stricter regulations and enforcement measures to her future instances of this deplorable behavior in tck hate has no home here thank you for your time thank you sir the lady in the back row good evening shuk I would like to extend my heartfelt help heartfelt congratulations to brother shiam Khan and the advisory youth on receiving the Matthew Feldman community service award I'm speaking today to address a pressing issue that has been on the minds of many in our community while I've heard numerous concerns raised about peaceful car Ries I have yet to witness our Jewish neighbors standing up against a bigotry displayed by some of our elected council members at every single meeting it's disheartening that instead of moving forward we seem to be caught in a vicious circle endlessly entangled in divisive resolutions rather than proposing measures that Foster a sense of safety visibility and value for all members of our community this council's actions appear to be exasperating tensions and turning us against one another regarding the prop the proposed resolution to end Jewish hate and recognize juneth I firmly believe that we must une unequivocally stand against hate in all its forms irrespective of whom it targets additionally I want to draw attention to the fact that last year the governor declared April as Arab American Heritage Month in light of the right ing tide of anti-Semitic rhetoric and attacks against Muslim Arabs particularly Palestinians it is imperative that we acknowledge and celebrate the contributions of Arab Americans to our community Arabs are semites and as such any any increase in anti-Semitism or hate directed toward them should be met with firm condemnation therefore I urge the council to pass the proposed resolution to end Arab hey in recognized Arab American heritage month this month should serve as an opportunity for education in fostering a deeper understanding of Arab culture and history the world once said never again never again is now thank you thank you new Doug someone on Zoom I have zad Mala please unmute and state your name for the record hi my name is z I've been a Teek resident for 16 years tenek is my home and today I'm joining this meeting as a concerned Citizen and a Community member the other day a fellow Community member was assaulted in broad daylight on EK Road she was spit on called racial slurs and threatened with a knife police were present and unresponsive to the situation as it unfolded this is so disturbing and I'm concerned for our community safety in the face of these threats and further disappointed in tpd's response to this occurrence I implore this counsel and the police department to do everything they can to ensure another incident like this is not allowed to happen again and to actually take steps to protect members of our community from those who respond to peaceful protest with violence I implore this Council to reconsider its stance and proposed resolutions and rhetoric which represent a dangerous slide toward fascism making motions to limit speech during good and Welfare and restrict rights of our community to engage in Civic protest is unconstitutional it's unamerican and it's a gross misuse of this council's power I suggest instead you look to pass resolutions which which affirm everyone's Collective right to Safety in this town nearly 6 months ago this Council passed a one-sided resolution which failed to acknowledge immense Palestinian loss and suffering when towns cities and most recently the state of New Jersey have called for ceasefire resolutions across the country this Council continues to vilify minorities and blame them for their own suffering demonstrating their utter lack of humanity going so far as to pass resolutions with the express aim to suppress us as we protest and speak in Town Council meetings is none other than an adoption of fascist policy these protests have nothing to do with the Jewish community of tenac and it has everything to do with our institutions continuing to uphold and perpetuate lies which contribute directly to the genocide of our people in the Homeland there have been no calls for violence against the Jewish community at Sunday's protest or any of the protest in Tink but we have been faced with violence so once again I implore you all to reconsider passing another divisive resolution and instead focus on bringing this community together that is the only way out of this mess that we're in thank you thank you sir ma'am I am Mindy Stein a 44 year te neck resident I want to thank the town counil for passing unanimously last year both resolutions which promote unity and understanding of among all people I hope that both of these resolutions will once again be passed unanimously anti-Semitism was on the rise before the October 7th heinous Massacre of babies innocent Nova Festival goers teenagers women men the elderly and even whole families but now following the October 7th attacks on innocent Israeli citizens some of them Americans and foreigners who are still being held hostage Jews around the world and including in America and sadly to say even in EK have endured and continue to endure record-breaking levels of anti-Semitic attacks and hate we cannot allow anti-semitic terrorist groups backed by Iran nor their supporters here in the US to spread hateful messages and false narratives that threaten Jews and disrupt our daily lives in January of this year the Anti-Defamation League recorded that there had been more than 3,200 anti-semitic incidents and that was just in the first three months after October 7th defending the rights of Palestinians should not turn into an anti-jewish hate Crusade as we have witnessed since the Kamas terror attack on October 7th a brutal po a brutal pgam I feel for the suffering of the Palestinians in Gaza but what created this suffering was Hamas crossing over the Israeli border going house to house flaughing innocent people and taking hundreds of hostages and then Fighting by edting itself within civilians and using them as human shields in their homes mosques schools and hospitals people who are really Pro Palestinian should be protesting Hamas who is the cause of Palestinian suffering not Jews and tenek and around the world if the hostages were released and Kamas surrendered the war would end immediately Jews attending services or events in a synagogue or even Jews walking in the street in their town do not deserve to be demeaned just as Muslims entering a mosque or walking in the the street or Christians riding in a church or walking in the street should be subjected to such objectionable and offensive conduct conduct and if any Jew is engag engaging in such conduct against Muslims or Christians I condemn it even though hate speech is protected by the Constitution we must learn to live with and respect those who are different than we are we cannot fight anti-Semitism alone but we shouldn't have to because an attack on Jews is an attack on all of us we must learn to fight together to quote Rabbi Jonathan saaks anti-Semitism matters not because it is an assault on Jews but because it is an assault on all Humanity I also was shocked that an Imam would oppose a holocaust wall and consider it divisive I wish we could call for a ceasefire but if Israel does not eliminate the last four grades in Rafa thas will rearm and recognize and thas said there will be October thank you Doug someone on Zoom Sher and Eid Shar please state your name for the record yes uh my name is Sher Hanid I'm a a 35y year resident of tenek um I just want to make sure you can hear me okay yes okay um being part of these Council meetings is exhausting um just listening to folks still not getting it still not understanding being pro Palestine is not anti-American it's quite the opposite um we are voicing our support for people who are oppressed who've been oppressed for 75 years um it none of the rallies that have been in tinck have involved any hate speech um I'm not sure if anybody here has attended any of them but they do not involve any hate speech towards Jewish people um I'm glad that the Town Council is recogniz in Jewish ending Jewish hate or denouncing Jewish hate um I would hope that you draw up a resolution that also denounces hate in all forms um but what are you doing to back up those resolutions is it just words pretty words on paper or is it actual action um same goes for the juneth are we just celebrating our diversity in a performative tokenizing way or are we backing it up with something of substance um growing up in the this town I went through the school system and one of the biggest things we always talked about was the diversity and the diversity and the diversity but where's the true diversity when we're here speaking month after month meeting after meeting and telling you how we feel and nobody's listening on on the council so I'm just not sure what these resolutions actually do if they're not backed up with any substance if it's just pretty words on paper to make us feel good it doesn't make us feel good it's dividing more um and to speak to those who are saying you keep speaking people keep speaking about International problems well guess what international problems become become domestic problems and if we don't care about our brothers and sisters all across the world and what type of humans are we what are we showing our children so it's important for us to denounce genocide it's important for us to denounce hate it is important for us to appreciate all of us and our differences in a way that's not performative in a way that's not tokenizing in a way that's true so I would hope that the council instead of coming up with these empty resolutions actually backs it up with some sort of action thank you thank you Miss Mr Goen Paula Roven 41e resident of tck I want to congratulate sham KH I'm being awarded the Matthew Feldman award board for his outstanding work and the Youth Of The Advisory Board uh um on community relations for their outstanding work for the uh tet community at the same time I want to tell the Town Council and residents that we have documented and the police are aware that a woman a te- neck resident dumped bags of dog feces next to the ceasefire sign now sign on shyam's lawn shyam's a Muslim I am Jewish similar bags of dog feces were placed on my lawn the mayor is aware of that when the woman was told by the police that the police were aware of this she refused to cooperate this shouldn't happen to anyone whatever sign we choose to place on our lawns it shouldn't happen to any one of us in January 2022 the Tina Council passed a very important resolution which was referred to earlier the resolution was passed it opposes hate in ten neck hate in all of its forms it's very very important that tonight that tenek Council reaffirm memorialize this resolution this resolution is what we should all stand for what we should all work for which all candidates for the Town Council or the school board should pledge to uphold and we should act on this resolution to make sure that there is no hate in t neck I'm Jewish and I want to make clear that calling for a ceasefire in Gaza is not anti-Semitism calling for immediate humanitarian aid for Gaza is not not anti-Semitism since the horrific killing of civilians on October 7th more than 34,000 people in Gaza have been killed more than 14,000 of them children 177,000 have been orphaned I hope people will not accuse me or others of anti-Semitism when we call for an immediate ceasefire and humanitarian Aid to Gaza where so many people are near starvation here in Tink the council praise the tck ambulance Corps for the successful effort to save one life commending Tac volunteers was good it is good it's the right thing to do why would we not call for efforts to stop the killing of civilians in Casa or elsewhere on this Earth thank you Paula Mr Mr Kaplin thank you Mr Mayor Keith Kaplan ten resident uh forgive me for updating his language but James Baldwin also wrote a genuinely candid conversation confrontation rather between the American blacks and American Jews would certainly prove of a inestimable value but the aspirations of the country are wretchedly middle class and the middle class can never afford caner I think about that often because life's always a bit more complicated than how it's described we can please have quiet in the audience you may find it hard to believe that I authored the 1 juneth resolutions for tck or that when AUC at a barrage of angry residents at its planning board hearings I was ridiculed for standing up for their right to exist in that space you'd probably be shocked to hear that Saudi Arabia acknowledged it helped the newly formed Regional Coalition of Israel the US Jordan the UK and France repelling Iranian attack there are Muslims in this world right now working with Jews against evil that's the model we once professed in Tac and one we should find Amina Al husani is a seven-year-old benan Israeli child severely injured by an Iranian missile and this is the first time her name's being said we should all pray for her and pray together against evil regarding Teck issues I noticed that on this week's Board of Education agenda they're talking about the renovation at Brian Elementary School I wanted to inquire whether the plans will be reviewed by the planning board here pursuant to njsa 40 55 d-31 that says the planning board shall review and issue findings concerning any longrange facilities plan submitted to the board pursuant to the education facilities construction and financing act separately I wanted to inquire whether or not the current code is in conflict between public zones pzones where schools public schools are allowed and residential zones where schools have different rules as I'm sure you're aware or the attorney can tell you 40 col 55-66 says no zoning ordinance governing the use of land for schools shall by any of its Provisions or any regulation adopted in accordance therewith discriminate between public and private nonprofit day schools of Elementary or high school grade accredited by this State Department of Education TX section 24- uh 33- 2433 the pzones allows as I mentioned permitted use for public but not private schools it discriminates on the types the only permitted zones for private schools have conditional use criteria which do not exist for the public schools in the pzone like the briyan school the zoning as I mentioned above creates and contrasts different rules for different types of land Brian school if held to the same standard as the 61 Church Street property applicant would need an additional 5 acres of land will it in some it appears that our code is treating certain applicants different than others and it's doing so in violation of state law these state laws I will add to keep blacks and Jew this your is up Sir Mr seagull good evening Town Council my name is Rich seagull I've been the victim of an egregious liel uh committed by a member of this Council uh it's a video entitled anti-semite of the week it has a photo of me with my name it has a photo of another T neck resident with that resident's name it accuses us of being part of a group of quote monsters it accuses us of being part of a quote hateful mob with pitchforks I got in touch with the count Town Council and I threatened to sue for liable I got in touch with that individual and threatened to sue for liable as a result that video has been removed removed from two Instagram accounts however that didn't really mitigate the damage because we all know how the internet works once the video is up it's up I've heard that it's been uh featured on Keith kaplan's Facebook page tck today um I can't really communicate the level of disc I feel I think that this type of adolescent Behavior should have been met with immediate dismissal from the Town Council if we can please have quiet in the audience so that we can hear him speak thank you oh I like the Applause and I'm and I'm disgusted to see that that person is still sitting here on the Town Council now when I threaten to sue for Lial I want to make clear that I'm not bluffing I've done it before as an anti-zionist Jew I get a lot of hate okay and let me make another Point really quickly there has always been Jewish objection to Zionism and Israel there has always been Jewish objection to Zionism and Israel I'm not a freak I have very real reasons to object to a settler colonialist colonialist apartate entity that is currently in process of committing genocide demonstrations that were organized here had to do with issues they were not targeting Jews for no reason they were not targeting Jews at all they were targeting the state of Israel and Zionism and genocide thank you for letting me speak thank you Mr seago Berliner president and Trustee of the EK neighborhood association remembering Dr Kenneth Hoffman by the way while we bring a resolution for juneth I would like to make everyone aware that today is actually emancipation day in our nation's capital where in 1862 they started the freeing of of the enslaved Americans I will use my time this evening to return good and well for it should be used for discussion and updates on matters of local interest and importance everyone in this room in ten Bergen County New Jersey the United States has been impacted by Ken professionally as an oncologist he CL clinically treated or advised many for cancer and other diseases as an epidemiologist he was involved with a local and regional response to the co 199 pandemic and helped to establish Tink as a national leader as a volunteer and member of the community he was a longtime member and shair of pprb most the environmental commission he never did make it on to the fields committee he was deeply involved with local Recreation and Youth Sports on the baseball field he was a coach board member and umpire for TX Southern on the soccer pitch he was a longtime board member coach referee and Mentor for T junr soccer however his passion was top soccer where he believed all children regardless of ability or unique challenges should have the opportunity to learn play and grow in a safe environment on a personal level to many he was a friend Confidant trusted adviser very honest critic and loving father Nick and Alex and husband to Vivian while he was a man of deep faith and conviction for truth justice honesty and loyalty most important to him was family and EK no matter his personal disagreements or politics first and foremost was tenek and priority was always the children of Tink he put his time effort and money where his mouth was he was so humbled when surprised with the naming of the soccer field at the V Sports plex as Hoffman's pitch while it was not something he expected or asked for he understood that the honor solidified his eternal mark on the town that he loved so much as the plaque reads his tireless commitment and dedication to our Township Sports organizations has made him a role model in our community through making his vision of this Sports plex a reality his many years of leadership in the township have provided improved quality of play while nurturing a safe space for a diverse Community for All Sports in Tink I've heard that he was the only person to have such a monument named for him while still living if a permit was needed something required repair equipment to be purchased or a plant to be ex executed he knew who to call and how to move it forward this was a feature not a bug Ken's friend Ed Siver shared in an email with the soccer Community he did so many things for so many people that we cannot truly appreciate the loss until we realize how many times in the future we will say Ken always took care of that as many who are and who have been up on the day us understand from here to Trenton to Washington DC Dr Hoffman was tek's biggest cheerleader he developed his personal and professional relationships to support the community raise money for local charities and food banks support open space and develop our leading Recreation programs and Facilities it was always about Tina and our children may his memory be a blessing thank you thank you Mr Briner Mr Harley good evening Dwayne Harley T resident since 1970 um tonight I want to just say I'm against having the memorials on the town green I think in instituting memorials and I'm coming from a demographic who's been we seen the worst out of any demographic in the United States right no one has have um experienced more pain and sorrow than the African-American in this country and I don't think there should be a a a slave Memorial or any other kind of Memorial because the doing that we're also subjugating everybody else who's been marginalized in this town or in this country um while we have two groups that be highlighted and illuminated on tck road there'll be other marginalized groups groups languishing in the darks right what we need to do I think is um and also there was a comment that Dr puit um um Dr pu was supporting it he no longer supports that having that Memorial on our town green he understands that um there's a better way that we could have this education not that people shouldn't know about the atrocities but we should have the education somewhere where people can go maybe like the library maybe walk through the park or something like that but where we can include more in more um communities um in in such a history not illuminate only two groups because it's going to look as if we're putting one group or two groups above everyone else um I also think we need to really do the work we're about to have a um celebrate I think the 60th anniversary of when this Township integrated the schools those people that agreed to do that actually did the work hard work there was many many people on the Des who or or people in the community who um didn't want their children their white children to go to schools with black children but they said with and they just did what what was right and they did the work they didn't talk about it they didn't talk about um the the niceties and they just went and made things happen for the betterment of the of a democracy and I think that's what we need to do we need to focus on our democracy by having more voices heard and implemented in um our process and I think um by doing that we'll have a better outcome and we maybe get away from all this fighting back and forth if we could have more um you know inclusion um in t thank you thank you DNE the lady in the back no no no I'm sorry the one in the back row and then then you can go next sorry about that hello my name is Amanda is this on can you hear me okay great um I do want to recognize that anti-Semitism is not institutionally recognized um I also want to recognize that institutionally anti-arab anti-muslim anti- Palestinian anti-h hijabi specifically um practices are continuously recognized and when anti-Semitism is institutionally recognized it's in order to persecute black and brown folks in this country so I bring us to EK why we have this resolution that seems benign right but at the end of the day we all know that it's because some council members want us to be able to persecute every person who speaks up for Palestine and Frankly Speaking as someone who's grown up in EK has went through the public schools I actually refuse to let my community be gaslit into believing that somehow Jewish communities are uniquely persecuted in this town when the reality is that anti-blackness and racism has been running rampit in this town ever since I was in high school and beyond that that was just to my memory I know that I'm built on thousands and thousands of other memories of former residents in this town or people who don't even live in this town but just come to tenac so I refuse to allow that this this idea that we're somehow uniquely hateful as a community because that's simply not true we just stand up for Palestine and so I also want to return to this idea that repeatedly in many resolutions and many iterations of this that Holocaust Survivors are brought up often but you know what isn't brought up the fact that so many Holocaust Survivors are rampantly against the Zionist State because they understand they see they went through the vital and the hatred that led to the Holocaust in the first place but you know what Israel did to the Holocaust Survivors that don't agree with their with their state they disenfranchised them and they disregarded them and you know to me that is the epitome of anti-Semitism so in that case I really suggest that you take this resolution off the table because you know what this is intended to do it is intended to persecute us who are standing for a free Palestine who are is thinking about The Souls of our souls constantly every single day fre Palestine the lady sitting next to Paulo my name is Susan Schultz I've been a resident of T neck for almost 35 years I'm Jewish my grandmother her her mother her father her brother and sister had to leave in the middle of the night because of the pilgrims and and honestly I'm really glad that they made it I'm here because of that but I look at the resolution uh uh that is here and it really hit me hard uh it says whereas is a documented and dangerous rise of anti-Semitism glob in the United States and in New Jersey and then I'm going to stick Skip One whereas whereas anti-Semitism is an Insidious form of prejudice stretching back Millennia that attacks the humanity of the Jewish people and has led to violence destruction of lives in communities and genocide and I he I read that word gen side and I I it hit me right here we are living today we are witness of a genocide happening and oh wait one minute that doesn't affect us in t- neck but it does guess who is paying for this our tax dollars are going to pay for this genocide and it is hor just horrifying and so when I see this that's what it reminds me of When I See This resolution and I don't see a resolution asking for a ceased fire I am astounded that everyone up here on this T is all right with that I'm not all right with the Holocaust I'm not all right with what was going on with my grandparents and I'm not all right what is happening in Gaza right now thank you thank you m the gentleman with a baseball hat third row us sir yes thank you Martin Stein a Teck resident for 43 and a half years first of all as a point of information the anti-Semitism resolution does in the resolved paragraph condemn all forms of hate for those who question why we need the N Jewish hatred resolution I ask the following question what possible reason could an organized group of people from Philadelphia have for joining a car rally and driving two hours to te neck if not to harass and intimidate Jews there can be no pretense that this is anything other than a clear example of organized anti-Semitism in contrast to the isolated acts of outlier individuals Lone Wolf individuals this is organized anti-Semitism second to say that a Holocaust Memorial is divisive is not only shocking and insensitive but if anything it confirms the need for the resolution as for as for the accusation of ethnic cleansing if that was Israel's intention it could wipe out AA in a heartbeat in please don't interrupt go ahead Mr instead Israel drops leaflets telling people where to run while Hamas please don't interrupt nobody interrupted you guys so please don't interrupt him thank you while Hamas uses civilians as human Shields and hides please don't interrupt and hides in mosques and hospitals with their weapons finally for those who call for an immediate and unconditional C ceasefire I asked if that happened what possible incentive would Hamas have to free any of the hostages that were taken from Israel is it the good faith that Hamas has shown in not allowing the Red Cross to even see the hostages is it the good faith that Hamas has shown and not even willing being willing to give Israel the names of the hostages the answer really is self-evident finally I would like to applaud the council for passing the juneth bill I think that is a very important bill as well and a resolution and I hope they will pass it again tonight thank you sir someone on this side lady in the back hi my name is Leila Tink resident in the name of God the most compassionate the most merciful I'm here today to share a few stories the first is of a journalist from Gaza Samia alash whose image and video went viral as she embraced the shrouded corpse of a young child Whispering lovingly into her ear Samia said when she lost her mother her sister suar became like a mother to her and her nieces four-year-old Lena and 2-year-old Mah were the soul of life for them sumer's husband was like a big brother to samama and a huge support when samama heard about the Israeli bombing of her sister's home in rafah she said it was the most difficult day of her life she navigated through extreme danger to reach the hospital only for her worst fears to be confirmed samama said her screams could be heard by everyone a nurse went up to Samia and told that and told her that a little girl arrived at the hospital in pieces the four-year-old Lena who came into this world after many years of heart-wrenching infertility and miscarriages was a martyr Samia mourned at the pieces of her beloved niece that could be found after the missile strike she she said that she could not find her sister's remains nor that of her youngest niece or brother-in-law everyone was trapped under the rubble she went into their d destroyed neighborhood and rescue teams finally excavated some's body from the rebel in pieces they then found 2-year-old massa's body the force of the missile threw her little body through a window and so her corpse was found on the roof of a neighbor's house she was the only one who remained whole and not Torn to Pieces after Mah was shrouded and prepared for burial s Samia tightly embraced her her niece's little body and whispered in her ear biding her to tell samia's mother and her sister Samar that she misses them and yearns dearly for their reunion in heaven another journalist yumna relates the story of a little boy who was brought to an Naser Hospital in Gazza by ambulance he was no more than 11 or 12 years old she asked if he was okay and noticed the blood dripping from a backpack strapped his chest the boy asked yumna do you know what is what I have here she said she was scared to hear the answer as the blood continued to trickle the boy replied it's my brother Ahmed this boy carried pieces of his martyred 5-year-old brother in his backpack and just hours ago today Tuesday April 16th 11 children in Gazza were massacred as an Israeli air strike targeted a playground at al- magazi refugee camp James Baldwin once said the children are always ours every single one of them all over the globe and I am beginning to suspect that whoever is incapable of recognizing this is incapable of morality these are just a few stories of villian your indifference does not represent me free Palestine than you ma'am Miss Horowitz good evening Council Emma harowitz te resident a lot has been said about resolutions and why we need them Town councils put out resolutions Congress issues resolutions and local committees make resolutions too but why really it's one of the ways that our elected officials can signal to their constituents what they believe about a wide variety of issues and people deserve to know what our elected officials believe I for one am proud to live in a town that at the same meeting can both denounce anti-Semitism and acknowledge the critical importance of talking about the horrors of slavery in both cases these resolutions encourage and give specific opportunity ities for people to come together to learn to reflect on these issues and to engage in Act of service I am pleased that these two resolutions were added to the consent agenda as it shows that Council plans to vote on them unanimously which is what I hope will happen the idea of condemning a resolution about anti-Semitism that passed without incident last year and which our Council again has placed on the consent agenda is truly bizarre considering the shocking in increase in anti-semitic incidents here in town it's very hurtful that that our neighbors all of a sudden find this problematic moving on to other local issues tonight there are ordinances changing the Cannabis framework for the better this is an issue where I have personally found common ground with Miss Khan for example and some of my other Muslim neighbors and I look forward to finding more issues of common ground with other neighbors going forward I would also like to discuss the issue of Palmer Avenue it is my understanding that a traffic study was conducted going north south which I appreciate but that is only half the issue the east west traffic on streets such as vandelinda Avenue and other side streets is also an issue people don't have stop signs and tend to go very quickly down these streets it is my belief that four-way stop signs would go a long way towards solving this problem and preventing further tragedies thank you very much to Township manager kazinski and Deputy Township manager roow for looking into this again if possible and for everything that you've done so far I would also like to congratulate the recipients of the Matthew Feldman Awards as well as AI Berliner on well deserved appointment tonight one last thing I participated in the town cleanup at argon Park and I want to say what a terrific event that is this is something that everyone should participate in and I think I got a lot out of it personally I met some new people was able to have a real sense of accomplishment as we help make an area of town that is actually very very beautiful um but unfortunately has been used as a Dumping Ground for a lot of trash I really think that it was really a great opportunity for everyone and everyone should do this and I'd like to suggest that it be added to a summer calendar as well because I think we could get a good turnout over the summer and it would be really nice to have the opportunity to come together meet more people and make a positive difference in town which is I think at the end of the day really what most of us would really like to see going forward thank you thank you man' am uh am Raman T resident just uh General hello and good night to the C so I'd like to inquire about the budget and the tax rate increase I saw from the municipal budget presentation that a 6.99% rate increase was being proposed so how close are you to keeping that tax race tax rate increase to a minimum level I saw a few reduced rates being proposed 6.49 5.99 5.49 and 4.99 I'm going to be selfish and ask we aim for 4.99 and keep the impact for residents as low as possible I'm sure a lot of res res aren't exactly happy with the property evaluations great if you want to sell but if you want to live here with your family those are some tough numbers to swallow average home value going from $390,000 to $630,000 on average is a lot I saw from appraisal systems at the 2024 predicted tax rate should go up to about 2.04 s so if we do some rough numbers we're probably coming in at 12,000 I'm not an expert on taxes right let's say I'm off let's say it's 10,000 that's still a lot to come out of anyone's median budget right I think the median income for tck is probably around 130 140,000 so uh how close are we to balancing the budget and are there any additional revenue streams to discuss I remember there was a talk about siging a cell phone tower do we have any more details on that um I remember a hotel tax came up I I don't know if we have any more details on that what the rate increase would be and how how that would affect us and I know we're in a I Ally charged climate but I do have to agree with getting any Aid we can from the state to kind of help alleviate some some of this uh funding issues right because everything's going to impact our Township and the budget as a whole so yeah just any more information would be nice thank you thank you am uh Doug before we move forward I make a motion to extend the meeting to 11:30 second all those in favor please say I no how many more I I think I only see two more hands in me audience because we lost a bunch of people three okay Mr Rocklin um I imagine you asked for three so I don't have to ask a motion to so I'm sorry go ahead Mr Rockin you're all good I'm sorry Mr Rocklin one second I missed your name sir I apologize in the back you just spoke I'm sorry what am thank you sorry um good evening Council um and I'm glad to be here again uh for the second council meeting in a row last meeting uh as part of the consent agenda you guys passed our brand new complete streets policy um which uh I'm very proud of um we also were the first town to send the uh County a letter asking them to pass a complete streets policy and I believe that at least one other town has done so I have to go back and check and a number of Civic organizations in nearby towns have also signed the same or similar letters now I also heard tonight you're good don't worry about it um I also heard tonight uh about improvements to Palisade Avenue I also heard uh tonight about improvements to Palmer Avenue and traffic studies and I also both rode the bus and drove today on the newly milled tck Road what I didn't hear from the Das but I didn't hear from anybody what the word complete streets what I'm hoping is that as we revisit uh these intersections as we revisit these streets we apply the very clear resolution the very clear policy that was passed last time around um including the checklist which gives pretty clear instructions uh on how the uh Town staff can best make sure that our streets are safe for everybody now four-way stop signs are great uh sometimes um they're not always the best tool for the job what is important is the problem that they are addressing the problem they are addressing is people blowing through you know these intersections driving unsafely um and I don't know about you guys but in my lifetime I have driven through stop science um I am guilty as charge and that is because our streets are wide um our line of sight is you know optimized for cars moving fast um I don't know if the volume are going to justify um on the basis of the old criteria um moving you know setting up a four-way stop sign or whatever else we're going to put in there what I do know uh is that if we take a full holistic complete streets approach um we will probably get an a set of recommendations from you know the same municipal use codes and all that stuff um I'm not an expert here I trust the experts in this town to do their job um and so I'll ask uh Mr R to please convey and the council as well to please convey to whoever it is who's doing these studies just to take a second look at that complete streets policy and uh I look forward to seeing us do great stuff with our streets going forward thank you thank you Michael Mr Addison good evening Ken um before I forget you mentioned something about the budget so in the budget I would hope that you would finally put in the budget uh for compliant officer in the township of tinac I mean we talk about these areas that is that are in need of uh revitalization but they don't have to be that way if we have compliant officers to go around to make sure that everyone does what they're supposed to do um congratulations to those who received the uh the awards tonight they're well deserved we talk about resolutions resolutions are good but there words on a paper that if they're not acted upon means nothing and I think any resolution that's written should be written with a fair balance that doesn't offend anyone or any organization or any religious group resolutions are great but they should be well written well thought of and not one-sided regarding The Monuments I believe as others do that there should not be any Monument but on Teck property on the on the on the municipal lawn fine if you want to if you want to monum it whether it's Holocaust or whether it's African but it should be put on private property where as not on Teck public property because taxpayers monies are spent for those the property so if you want to have a if you want to have a monument fine I agree they should be but once you start with two what happens to the other people the other groups in town who may want a monument I don't think you have that much space on the on the lawn to do that so you should be very careful on how we how you go forward with putting on uh our monuments and resolution thank you Mr Addison the last speaker in Chambers thank you David mky T resident um I really do appreciate uh trying to end early I also do appreciate making a little extra time to kind of hear the rest of people in Chambers um it is definitely welcomed I don't necessarily like staying in Chambers or on Zoom so late um but I do want to start uh with some Town issues um so one congratulations to Mr Khan who is no longer here U very welld deserved um the other one I would like to make a request of council and the council members that we look into finding a better way to collect more community events and have them posted on the town calendar it's very hard to find a lot of these events that live in different WhatsApp groups that some of us may or may not be a part of um if it wasn't for a councilwoman beler making note of the peacemakers event at the last council meeting I wouldn't have been able to attend and really it was a great experience and the group I was able to participate in we had people from literally one side of Teck all the way to the other spread throughout and all the different tiny little neighbors we had and it was really awesome to have that experience so um in addition to that was also just like a few other people here and um who had spoken on Zoom I was part of the Town cleanup which was on the calendar it was a great way to interact with other people in the community it was a great way to interact not just with those helping out but people in the community came out to introduce themselves and we very thankful for the work that that was happening so um I would love to see more um cleanups um I it definitely was great to have my kid participate um even though he was whining half the time it's fine um it was raining I do give him that um a little bit um and the last thing that I uh just want to mention is that um when it comes to our street as mentioned about Safe Streets very happy that we're able to pass that um in the meantime I would like to request that we continue to encourage law enforcement to enforce the rules of the road so people running through stop signs can get their Just Desserts um um but it is you know obnoxious having cars speeding down the runways um making loud noises um and it's dangerous to Children even when it's on the main roads and especially when it extends into the side street so I would like to to see that we continue looking through looking into that and making sure that we can make the streets you know safer for for pedestrians as well as residents to make sure that any you know loud noises and cars zooming down the road um what have you are also held accountable so this way as Town members we can enjoy our town and our peace and quiet um as we like it 41 seconds cool um so uh one other thing I'd like to mention you know I'm sitting here and I did mention that I do appreciate you know good and Welfare to you know an extent being limited to um not just time but also Town specifically related issues has been brought up many times um we wouldn't need to be here so late um so if there is a possible way we can introduce some sort of uh speaking um ordinance to kind of help if some if people do want to speak and they do have issues and they do want to address them that aren't specific to our town and what is happening every council member here has voiced that to please reach out to them emails are available online some of you given their cell phone numbers so if there are issues that are not to town then you can Mr Schwarz will entertain that motion I I'd like to make a motion to end good and Welfare you have a is there's a first is there a second no we're not ignoring people on Zoom we spoke okay if there is no second then you're up sure what Muhammad uh I'm a bota resident but I will be assumed to be EK resident your name please for the Record Man sh what Mohammad um so growing up I was a hijabi and unfortunately I faced a lot of islamophobia from some Teck residents I've never held that against the Jewish Community it is something I do want to know because it's something that I have had to deal with and internalize with myself um obviously it is something that has grown with me and is evident and I'm working on that but um what I came here and what I wanted to share are some comments that were um that I had left on a video of a council person um and I just wanted them to be on the record because they were deleted so my first comment was very selective of what you want to show from your side blank you continue to be a divisive figure of the council instead of being a community leader for everybody in t you had many Muslim women who volunteer for your campaign and work for you for months and you've chosen to alienate them be an adult and talk to your constituents this rhetoric is causing deeper divides in this town and you're an active participant many of those who spoke at the meetings have asked members of the council to take empathy training which has yet to happen and is very obviously needed there's empirical evidence that has been presented to you and you've ignored you've allowed anti-arab anti- Palestinian anti-muslim hate to be spew in Council meetings and your friend by your friends and supporters Muslims can't even catch a break from this hate during Ramadan members of the Jewish community and team K have spoken out against this same rhetoric and hate that they have attacked and har uh that they have uh that they are attacked and harassed many of them have made calls for peace and tolerance clearly it's not about Jewish hate if your ideology isn't agreed with then everybody is anti-Semitic even if you're a Jew come on this is delusional you're doxing people of color now too absolutely disgusting be better it was replied to with um a speech that this council person had given I replied I was present for this speech which I think came far too late for the members of the Jewish Community who were attacked for months you choose to Echo very specific talking points that further divide communities in Tina in the council meetings I've attended I have yet to hear you condemn anti-arab anti- Palestinian and islamophobic rhetoric perpetuated by members of your community Jihadi James for example I roll Emoji I can confidently say I rejected anti-semitic sentiment uh sentiments when it miss your time is up ma'am thank you and Mr schz to your point I will make the motion to terminate good and Welfare to your point I am making a motion to terminate good and Ware I'll second that I know but there was a first and a second I know we do acknowledge but we did hear hear a lot of people on Zoom tonight and we still have a lot of work to do there's 20 hands Deputy Mayor and everybody's comments are duly noted for the record roll call please Mr usion that was a first from mayor Pagan a second from councilman Schwarz councilman Schwarz yes councilman Belcher no councilman Goldberg yes councilman Oregon yes Deb mayor Catz debut mayor G no mayor Pagan yes because we have a lot more to do good Mr Schwarz would you like to S us off sure okay um I'm going to stick to tck topics uh my name is Mark Schwarz I've been a Teck resident for 30 years my cell phone number if anyone wants to reach out to me is 91792 9303 I live at 641 Cumberland Avenue all my financials are properly filed for on the te website you can dox me whatever you want I'm here to work with people so if you purchase a house on Mel I'm going to look it up I'm going to speak to you about the issues if you have an issue with flooding I'm going to look up where you live I'm going to walk by your house I'm going to go for a walk with you if you want to come up and interview to a board I'm gonna look in your neighborhood speak with you walk by look at the park around the corner if you want to amend the fence ordinances I'm going to drive by your house and look at the corner fence that you're looking for this is what it's about if you want to come up here and speak and want to work on T neck and work with tck yes I'm going to look you up and we're going to see how we can help you out that's what we do if if we want to hide from something just don't show up don't talk then there's all my information I've got nothing to hide jumping into it um please make sure you're sign up for the alerts on the township website uh many of the stuff is on there we can always add more um the the the race am event was a great event it was on there um we could definitely do about more about putting onto the Township's Facebook so thank you for that note um thank you very much for the uh juneth um uh juneth resolution the education something we absolutely did not learn about growing up and I've always found it fascinating uh especially the events I believe we'll probably have the silent walk was that for juneth as well June 15th is a silent walk I look forward to being there as well um as it relates to the stop sign by maret Baker's house she's been asking about that intersection forever so that's great news to hear it's finally been done uh had the pleasure of walking by maret Baker's house several times because I know where she lives and it's glad to hear that got done uh the vote Park North pool area bathrooms I was asked about that I believe was already approved already in capital budget and that's being worked on and that was a question so we're making progress on having clean New Pools in that North part of the park um budget we are hoping to get it to 4.9 9% that's a goal um how we're going to get there is potentially selling the sell in cell phone antenna so that is being worked on as well um the hotel tax is being reviewed that we may have capped out at a certain cap so that that was a little bit update uh as it relates to that matter um and lastly I think that is what else that is what I have for everything Town TR thank you very much for thank you Mr Schwarz Miss Belcher okay I want to thank the neighbors for coming out and calling up to uh tonight uh I want to start start by saying Scott Pleasant uh thank you for the proclaiming of national poetry month that I think it speaks I know so much in terms of our desire to want to um really highlight arts and culture within our Township uh I want to also thank the neighbors for coming out for the listening session was very informative and we are uh we look forward to continuing to to respond to our community um several business owners I meant to mention to to um this earlier from the Cedar Lane Management Group uh I spoke with with a few business owners who had not received the um sign up yet for the um Memorial Day be Memorial Day so that's something we can look into because a few people had asked me about that additionally uh Mr adderson yes compliance are an enfor officer is definitely something that we would like to continue to to explore um I want to say that we we absolutely I must and we all must condemn all forms of hatred and all isms uh it is vitally important that all residents within our town should should feel safe free of harassment free of threats name calling or liable uh I hear you uh Mr uh vasy uh it's it's vitally important that we we remember our for parents because they left a great historic Legacy for us to follow such as defending American democracy and the rights that we hold dearly within our nation um we must remember that our voices must not be silenced that Free Speech must not be challenged we must Endeavor to defend the very rights that our parents and our foreparents March for and sat at lunch counters for those who participated in boy boycotts and were jailed for doing so and even died for it is for the Civil Disobedience and peaceful protest that if it weren't for that we would not have seen most of the rights that we enjoy in this nation in the summer of 1964 students traveled hundreds of miles from the north to to Mississippi and Alabama to protest the uh the fight for voter registration our oath to the Constitution means we must uphold the principles of American democracy we must be uh about the business however of the people of tenek that's so vitally important and it seems that tonight James Baldwin seemed to be uh quoted quite a bit and I just want to quote him by saying if if one really wishes to know how Justice is administered in a in a country any country one does not question the policemen the lawyers the judges or the protected members of the middle class one goes to the unprotected those precisely who needs the Law's protection most and listens to their testimony thank you thank you Miss beler Miss Oregon uh so I hope Sandy silverberg is watching you we got our stop sign at dear um so happy about that uh to the residents of Palmer sometimes we get it wrong sometimes we get it right it doesn't mean that we're afraid to revisit and when a solar paneled stop sign seems like a great idea and then you walk your dog at night and it's not what you were hoping for in front of your house we can come back and um take a look at that and uh we will be in touch and we hear you about the east west traffic study as well Mr Mery I also went to the environmental commission cleanup on Sunday and I brought my daughter and she also whed though she's 22 and we saw two snakes um and I think you really don't get to know somebody until you unearth liquor bottles or um an old toilet seat cover with them and I do hope that we do this again in the summer because it was really so much fun um and the parks are really really dirty years of things buried um but really a great way to get to know your neighbors um as far as the hate resolution I think mayor dun leevy's wish was that it it'd be introduced every year and I think it's it was wonderful and I think it's a wonderful idea I am if we end up with four nodding heads I'd love to put it on the um agenda for May 7th um and we should probably put it on the calendar and introduce it every year I don't think our work with hate will be done until people can pray together and gather together without fear ever um and to touch on only one thing uh that is negative I I do not believe in any way shape or form that a car rally is peaceful uh anybody can try to convince me of anything else but not that uh Dr Hoffman I came to him late in life my children did not uh play sports for those of you who have met my husband it was for the best for everybody um he did not coach um but we really got to know Dr Hoffman these last few years he um was a friend and an ally and a um a medical adviser to us and I I like to thank Eric and Jamie were to him as well at some point um and we definitely drank some bourbon in his memory um and he will be sorely missed by everyone and I feel like um Ellie might want to do this tonight but um batting clean up one last time um was always Dr Hoffman coming to us with with a really level um kind words to wrap up IM Meed at the end of good and Welfare um it was always great when when he got to speak at the end and and um settled things and and um and brought his own spin on them at the end so we will miss him very much thank you thank you Miss organ Miss Goldberg first and foremost I would like to directly condemn the vile language that I saw on the video of the car Caravan from Sunday from Philadelphia the words are too vile to repeat and repeating them would be pain for our residents to hear when I saw that video I reported that to the police and there's an active investigation pending it has been 192 days since teni resident edin Alexander was violently kidnapped by Hamas terrorists it has been 190 days since the first protest down Tink Road calling out the hateful words that Hamas includes in their Charter calling for the death to Jews and elimination of the only Jewish state is the life experience Jews and it seems difficult for non-jews to understand that October 7th was not something in a cycle of violence or a war and as I bore witnessed very painfully this past week the gruesome brutality that Hamas terrorists not Muslims not Palestinians only Kamas as they beheaded Jew Jews and with every shovel into the next they cheered die Jew they did not say Zionist they said Jew when you say Zionist you mean Jew and as I watch that moment I can't get that moment out of my head because all I saw was someone that I love and since wi witnessing that moment I will not feel safe until I'm home tck did not treat October 7th any differently than it has any other terrorist attack in history no matter where they took place tenek condemns Terror always no one in this town reports the Israeli army or BB nany no one in this town reports the Hamas were sinir we all knew it would be bad we never realized we were going back to Nazi Germany it's a life experience unique to us and it seems that Jews have to apologize for existing recognizing and condemning a Pam and terrorist against Jews is not divisive or International politics recognizing victims of a specific terrorist attack has been done time and time again if there is a concern or issue with politics of the state of Israel go to the consulate after the last council meeting a resident sent me the below message that I'm about to read to you when keter TOA and B shuran were threatened every Jew in EK went back to November 9th 1938 and they were scared I know because I spent all day taking those calls hearing how scared they were were and I had to tell countless numbers of residents that our police will protect us and they did Jews and their allies came to protect houses of worship while protesters screamed to globalize the antifa from River to sea and a community stood strong and proud and sang to drown out those words and it was a beautiful moment but as I walked home my family was scared because they heard those words in our home I received the below message she asked to remain remain anonymous thank you again for your words this evening at the council meeting they were very powerful and I appreciate that you've been talking about chalna my 97-year-old grandmother who lives a block away from benur was a little girl in Berlin that night and vividly remembers running with her family to the rooftops as the Nazis broke into their apartment building and destroyed their home she told me many times since October 7th she never would have imagined that she would have to live through such evil twice in one lifetime to be honest councilwoman Goldberg I've been seriously doubting that we will ever convince anyone we won't convince them that this feels like Christal we won't convince them that from the river to the sea is a genocidal slogan we won't convince them that your resolution is just is just as an excuse and these protests are meant to terrorize the Jews of tenac because we are Jews and it would have occurred even if there was no resolution but we need to say it out loud anyway even if it's just for for us because it's the truth and so we can strengthen each other and know that we're not alone so thank you again for screaming into the dark abyss the Jews of tinac hear you and it helps us be less afraid imagine my horror when there is any issues with ending Jew hate day some members of the Jewish Community reached out saying they wanted the resolution but didn't want to hear the anti-Semitism that came with it ironic no and others said you can't be supportive the Israeli oppression and then complain about anti-Semitism thank you for proving why holding Jews collectively responsible for the actions of Israel is anti-Semitism Jews will not apologize for existing and nor should anyone else Jews are the only people that can't acknowledge their experience without having to worry about fear or reaction and it's not going to happen anymore we all have life experiences we all have a history and fear and that must be individually recognized and respected this town wants to heal this town wants peace this town wants to breathe and not live in fear there are 20,000 residents of this town terrified and they are tired and they are begging to recognize what is happening in this town and state and every state quite frankly in in the country and in the diaspora as Jews are blamed and terrorized and shamed for existing and I will say this one more time when you say Zionist you mean Jew when you say from River to see it has one meaning and one meaning only whether you agree or not and when Jews hear that in their homes calling for their death when you say inata just look out the lawn in front of us and it'll tell you what it means when you say ceef fir you ignore that kamasa said that they will commit this horror over and over again until they kill us all and you ignore the hostages that were brutally kidnapped and 19 women are being raped daily if they are still alive you ignore that Hamas is not agreeing to any reasonable deal there are words that we don't say and there are words that we draw the line in and never utter let's respect each other let's respect each other's experience stop allowing Outsiders to come in and causing fear and Terror to our neighbors so that we can live in peace we are all tired I have experienced heartbreak and betrayal that I will never forgive but I will not allow the very dangerous normalization of anti-Semitism in Tina and I will not allow any Resident in this town to live in fear I will not allow our houses of worship to be threatened and if I am only screaming into the dark abyss the residents experience horrific levels of fear of anti-Semitism are less afraid please help me make them less afraid thank you Miss Goldberg Mr Rion I make a motion to extend the meeting to midnight I'll second all those in favor please say I miss G all right first want to just um send my condolences to the Hoffman Family I did not know Ken Hoffman well but I knew of him um and in my brief interview with him um during The Advisory Board interviews it was crystal clear that he had contributed so much to EK had so much knowledge and he will be sorely missed um quickly abcr I just want to announce is currently accepting nominations for the 2024 Matthew Feldman Awards please send any nominations to Cheryl Hall her email address is C Hall tenek nj.gov um and then just in case folks are wondering um the specific juneth activities there are two there's a silent walk that will take place on June 15th at 800 a.m. and then the flag raising will take place on June 19th at noon I hope you all can join um next I want to just acknowledge um much of what has been said today um I truly believe that we as a council have created the conditions for what is happening today when we first introduced International politics to this day it became open for everyone to come and speak on it if we want people to go back to speaking about Teek I think we need to focus on Tek issues if we sit up here and spend 10 minutes talking about international issues what do you think people are going to come and want to talk about I ask my Council colleagues please let's focus on Township issues so that we can get back to the business of Teck I also think Council colleagues we need to acknowledge that mistakes were made residents are saying they feel undervalued unheard like it has not been balanced we have to acknowledge that their experiences are real last year we passed this resolution to end Jewish hate without any issue you have to question why is it that people are having issues now we have created the conditions where people are very sensitive and take anything that we do under high scrutiny we have to make them feel heard and valued again so that they don't feel that way of course we want to make sure that there's an end to Jewish hate of course we want to we should want to support this resolution until we as a council acknowledge that we have made mistakes and we we proceed with balance to make sure that all of our residents feel represented by this Council I I think we will see more of the same I know I've heard from people please start enforcing the laws that stop the car alleys I think a quick way to stop the car rallies is to make sure that people feel represented by this Council Reach Out acknowledge what has happened in the past I really do think that's the quicker way to stop the car rallies than to enforce the laws yes enforce the laws but they will still happen there's a deeper underlying issue that has to be addressed finally I just want to acknowledge um we made a I think we missed an opportunity to acknowledge Arab Heritage Month the first meeting of the of the month and you know we we're not perfect we don't all have the cultural competency to represent every sing Single Community but I am happy that we are going to work on that resolution and bring it back next month but next year I want to make sure that we do that at the top of the month um and and not hold off till May I'll end there thank you thank you Miss G first and foremost thank you to all of our residents for participating tonight and joining us miss Schwarz thank you for bringing up the Garden Club we are are aware of the issues there and we are going to help Miss fuches thank you for bringing up garbage collection because that is something we hear about a lot and we have been exploring options Mr Leon thank you for always focusing on local Municipal issues and for always advocating for tck on things like our regular cleanups Mr batky thank you for talking about Hope and for always helping us in our fight with CSX for rail safy Miss garer we are working on the bathroom issue by the pool at vot Park and the recyc issue but thank you for staying on top of that with us Rachel thank you for letting us know about the issue at argon Park so we will ask our manager and our DPW to look into that tomorrow and amirit yes sir we are trying to lower that rate especially considering how we just had a reevaluation Mr row is there anything you would like to say about good and Welfare sir yes Mr Mayor a couple things uh during the manager report I forgot to mention we had a request from a resident last month to install or request at do install a mirror at Webster in Route 4 since that's under the jurisdiction of NJ doot I contacted them it is not proved traffic device therefore they cannot argon Park Jesse L Leon talked about numerous liquid bottles being found in the park I will chief M about stepping up patrols I will also meet with our DPW director Travon Romeo in the morning to look at the park and see what improvements can be made shortterm midterm and longterm and lastly councilwoman Goldberg had talked about the the incident on tck road on Sunday that matter is under investigation as a biased incident by our Police Department furly being investigated by them but since it is an active investigation I cannot comment on it or provide any additional thank you Mr Ro Mr samon you had something you wanted to say too sir yes I just want to address uh two inquiries that were made by residents tonight U both of which were related to the School District Board of Ed uh first one speaker asked about the school budget and and uh was not noted that it was the largest portion of residents property tax bills by far uh he was inquiring as to whether the council can intervene or somehow get involved with a board of ed in their in their budget while I understand the sentiment obviously no one wants to pay higher taxes um I do want to be clear for the council as as well as the public safe sake that um the township Council has not permitted uh uh under state law from getting involved in any way in in the Bo of Ed's budget they are a completely separate aut autonomous body with their own du elected officials uh and state law has drawn strict lines between the two U so you know we you U all as the Town Council has no authority over the Board of Ed um and so again while I understand the sentiment I just want to be clear about the the division of responsibilities here and what your Authority is second another speaker asked about the Brian school and whether the planning board uh was entitled I think to to review their proposal to for their renovation um while I would defer a more detailed discussion of this to the uh incoming planning board attorney uh I do want to say that from uh a a general public education perspective projects related to public entities in this case a public school by the Board of Ed on public property are exempt from the zoning laws uh of the township and that's again under state law uh normally a where while a private property owner might have to go before the land use boards s plan approval for variance relief or something like that that doesn't apply to something like the Buton the Board of Ed or frankly the township itself um the planning board's ability to review these things is uh basically limited to ensuring that the use is permitted in the zone in which the school is located um this is usually referred to as a quotequote courtesy review uh it's entirely advisory since the Township's requirements for things like height setbacks parking requirements site plan approval all those things are not applicable to public entities like the Board of Ed um so by doing that type of advisory advisory review the township is complying with its uh its obligations under state law um and to impose any other requirements on the the school district would be violation of so it's just a a c a courtesy advisor review and that's that's all that we're allowed to do so that's all that's all I have thank you Mr Sam and our next order of business is the consent agenda and all matters listed on the consent agenda are considered to be routine in nature by Council and will be enacted by one commotion there will be no separate discussion of these items if any discussion is desired by Council that particular item will be removed from the consent agenda and will be considered separately Mr nor can you please read the amount of the billis into the record take your time thank you Kristen take your time Doug we don't want you to get hurt inent agenda yeah thank you Kristen in the amount of and also including our three resolutions that we included on the consent agenda this evening with the bill list of 20,1 Council one beler yes councilman Goldberg yes to all with an exension on the entire bills list Council one Oregon yes to all deuty mayor Catz yes to all with an exstension on the bills list that mayor G yes mayor Pagan yes all adopted thank you Mr clerk our next order of businesses our introduction of ordinances Mr clerk can you please read the title of the ordinances into the record yes sir we have ordinance number 72024 amending ordinance number 57221 preting cannabis establishments as a conditional use within the Light Industry District in the township of tinac and we also have ordinance number 8 d224 adopting rules and regulations related to tree removal thank you Mr clerk I move to approve both on first reading second councilman Schwartz yes councilman beler yes councilman Goldberg yes councilman Oregon yes Deputy May Catz Deputy Mayor G yes mayor Pagan yes all introduced we will see ordinance 8 next meeting we will see ordinance seven on May 21st thank you Mr clerk I move to adjourn can I just ask do we have four nodding heads for the hate resolution for the next agenda yeah we did I think we had yeah the hate has no home right yes the the dun Le thing that the all right so I um I think there was a first and a second all those in favor of AD joury please say I thank you to all our residents for coming out tonight and for participating we appreciate you and we hope you have a peaceful evening thank you right whatever with you you just cut and say by yeah yeah you know