##VIDEO ID:9sz3BoUeN00## councilwoman Feliciano present councilwoman Figaro kenberg present councilwoman frisbee present councilman Harrison pres councilwoman Williams president council president Gonzalez pres myself Brandon Garcia municipal clerk is present M legislative councel Mr Edward kogi and in for West Bridges is Palmer Richardson City attorney and Madame President at this time read the invocation yes please almighty God who holds the fate of man and Nation we most humbly beseech thee to bless this our city these deliberations and these thy servants that they may act with wisdom and understanding for the good of our community and their greater glory amen amen amen and Madam president as my understanding presentation this evening uh for Brunswick Avenue Redevelopment update yes I believe uh councilwoman Williams asked for them to come to be present with us today to give us an up State yes council president thank you so much uh I asked uh for this uh several months ago 2024 as we're nearing the second anniversary this coming March of granting a pilot and there were many things uh that were promised uh if this pilot was granted uh as was even reported in Theon including a laundry room an after school program computer lab joint services with the local hospital social services new security system with lights and modernized cameras as well as uh interior and exterior improvements to the apartments at this location which is on Brunswick Avenue just as you uh near uh Capitol Health Regional so I thought uh it would be good because I did get plenty of complaints from my constituents living in its development that they haven't seen any improvements and some of these uh I would have thought uh coming on 24 months would have been completed by now so I wanted to hear and I wanted us to hear as a council and the public where these improvements stand and what's going on uh for the pilot that was granted so thank you ma'am thank you councilwoman Williams do we have a representative director listen there was a gentleman from the company who was scheduled to be here at 5:30 he's not present uh I can give you um secondhand information in discussing it with the principal of the company who was actually in Rome and could make it tonight but they have really not engaged any real repairs to the building uh what they're advising is that they are going in front of hmfa in February for their funding for the next funding cycle and they really won't be doing any construction or any improvements until febru after February and after they bid the project we probably put it in in the spring sometime so um they they really not have not followed up like they should and and and I will tell you uh when I made contact and uh spoke with a few different people they had kind of were just sitting on things waiting for the February hmfa meeting so um I don't see I don't see anyone here from the company uh which they were emailed I think I copied you on the fact they were supposed to be here and they they have not presented themselves if you would like I will follow up in the morning and contact them and make sure they're uh or try to make sure that they're at the next meeting to I think it's only fair for somebody from the company to um make themselves present uh and if someone shows up tonight I'll let you I'll let the council president know if that's amendable to council president I would very much like that sir and any information you could provide to us in between that would be wonderful because um if they're waiting to have a funding round from NJ mhfa for some of these things that were promised to me that's uh very regretful absolutely thank you sir thank you thank you um council members I know at this time we had a walk- on Mr Garcia uh yes uh Madam President we do have a walk-on resolution and it's my understanding that uh there are some remarks uh to be heard prior to that resolution right second huh certainly council members there was a walk on um in order it's on should be on your day is about appointing um director listen as the official on there uh yes copies were made available for Council for that item you should have that with you and that'll be resolution 24- 12 council president do we have a do we have a number for this walk on you just I'm sorry2 okay I'm sorry that um once again that will be resolution 24-12 I mean excuse me 20 5 25-12 my apologies bad [Music] reflex I believe we're just waiting um give it a minute for mayor gustor to come forward which it looks like he's walking down the hallway now yeah I believe the chief of staff just went to get him what mayor gor you would like to come forward yeah thank you council president sorry that for my tardiness I was dealing with another issue um thank you for considering uh the walk-on nomination of arch Liston as our um HED director um I think it's important to note that we did screen uh candidates we also consulted with DCA at each point and in fact DCA uh representatives were here today to discuss the qualifications as well as speak with Arch directly um the reason why Arch is the strongest candidate was that there was a backlog of permit applications and he reestablished a clear process for developers uh to obtain permits in a timely manner that was not being done until Arch came here he also addressed the large accumulation of Planning and Zoning Board applications that have been built up over time and I note that uh distinguished councilwoman Jen Williams is here and she could attest of the great backlog that was both in Planning and Zoning Board that has been addressed by Arch since he took over um but what is really important was one of the questions that we asked was what was the biggest development opportunity in the city and he said without a doubt robling block to the 7 acre track of land that's um in the East and South Ward and possibly part of the north Ward now um that is a big opportunity for uh Trenton to be revitalized to bring in jobs and to bring new housing and mix use um and uh it's it's one of his it is his priority uh to get that done it will be exciting to see In Our Lifetime and to this council's uh tenure that robling block 2 will finally see development opportunities um he's also received a um um a substantial offer for track of land on Enterprise Avenue that we're discussing right now with the redeveloper and so we're going to see development on Enterprise Avenue uh the other uh architect that Arch has is uh with the hotel and working with uh both Eda greater Trenton and um and potential poal developers to take over the hotel and that again will also bring uh fresh life and blood into our downtown uh businesses Arch is also working with hmfa to uh straighten out the The Log Jam of getting reimbursed for demolitions so there's a lot of pokes in the fire so to speak and uh we think that Arch has the Insight the capability and the experience uh to move our our city forward particularly in housing Economic Development and uh just today uh I know that uh Vanessa Sullivan's house is always on the top of our mind we went there and we've been able to break that L log J jam and we hope to see her house finished by February so we're excited about all the things and just the uh streamlining of processes uh but moving the department forward so that that Trenton uh can move forward in Economic Development so uh respectfully submit Arch's uh nomination and I hope uh that you'll find it uh to uh confirm him as well thank you if you have any questions thank you are there any council members that would like to ask any questions at this time uh council president councilwoman Williams thank you ma'am uh mer just because I know members of the public will ask uh how did you receive other applications and if roughly could you tell us how many refer to our uh Chief of Staff we had received four and uh we weighed them uh screened them by DCA and had interviews okay and then um as part of you know the future and these are very exciting projects that could potentially happen for us as far as also the backlog of houses to be demolished Beyond the initial number that we've um approved funding for a few months ago uh what is the plan for HD going through the rest of 20 uh 25 hopefully the big challenge is we ran out of money so um what is in what hmfa does indeed have a little less than 9 million uh to uh help us with demolition that's a reimbursement program so we have to have that initial outlay to conduct demolitions we can't just demolish overnight tomorrow uh if it's an imminent Hazard and it's about to fall down we absolutely have to do it um but that puts us in a pickle not withstanding in order for hmfa to um uh reimburse us they have a very elaborate and I would actually describe as overly elaborate um bureaucratic requirements that uh do not enable us to move forward uh because it's a reimburse urement uh fund so um Arch is freeing up uh monies coming up with a plan met with uh hmfa officials and came out with a game plan to move the program to jump start the program again but we do not have money for demolitions um we're using some cdbg money um we're doing some using some other funding uh to get that initial outlay but unless we have that um HF a will not and the other thing is I'll give you an example uh there were four or five houses that burned down on die street right across from hmfa they would not reimburse us for the demolition because even though it was a fire we didn't seek preapproval so we have to be like carac and know that those houses were going to burn and then um uh see if uh hmfa would reimburse us we think that's unreasonable but we're we're glad that Arch is here to help us uh break that Log Jam well I certainly hope he does because that seems patently unfair I said I said to the people of M look out your window and you can verify that those houses burned down and uh uh they had to be demolished because they were imminent hazards but uh they didn't have we didn't have preapproval for that okay thank you very much mayor thank you ma'am councilwoman fig cranberg hey mayor thank you um quick question just to kind of address the elephant in the room public is watching um there's been newspaper articles social media exploitation um we know that there's pending litigation there's been allegations with regards to Mr Liston how was that being handled moving forward and moving him into this position well they were investigated in um by an independent uh agency so to speak well they were investigated and um we had witnesses to the incident and um uh we believe that Arch uh at the end of the day is is is okay and that those allegations are not substantiated is there anything still outstanding or pending not that I know of but I don't know if the law department wants to weigh in not to myge we can check [Music] confirm okay sorry yeah so at this time not to my knowledge uh there was as the mayor indicated an investigation that we sent to outside Council uh I can confirm if it's completed but I believe it has been however at this point I I don't believe there's anything else outstanding thank you council president Council woman Feliciano thank you mayor um this is not necessarily about about Arch I mean I get what we're doing here I just want to know the status of um Paul Harris as well as Diego Manali only because they're still on the 90day as well and so while it's nice to see arch up here what about those two um who have been working very hard and diligently in their positions as well thank you for that excellent question councilwoman feliciana now I know there's a representative of DCA in here and taking copious notes uh but they uh require us to um screen and have them involved so we can't uh do it all at once um and it's our desire to move forward with those nominations uh expeditiously we hope that another director will be on for next council meeting that'll be good they're workk you for but thank you for that question um because we don't want to leave anybody hanging or to think that uh we're not moving on them that's right okay thank you mayor thank you council president cman Harrison mayor hey question for you um regarding the Capital Health East the old St Francis yes what's the timeline have we had a meeting are we going to set a meeting up with them as the community wants to know what's the plan for the future yeah um I've been in contact with Dan mowen the um uh former executive of St Francis now Trinity Health um it was their original uh intention to give the property to um uh to the city of Trenton and after they demolish the property in the meantime uh uh the Emergency Services were still uh operating albe it by uh Capital Health and Capital Health came up with a proposal uh we can't really shut down the uh Emergency Services also we would need approval from uh the Department of Health and so they wanted to continue to operate there until so they could either expand their services at um henfold or or ideally they would like to keep uh Emergency Services over at St Francis site itself so their proposal was um St Francis give us the money um or uh we will we will purchase the property we'll redevelop it but we'll be able to do it while keeping Emergency Services uh continuing uh those uh disc s have not been finalized but that's generally the framework that um instead of the city of Trenton assuming responsibility and I'm sure you guys don't want any more real estate on our hands um that we have to dispose of um it is better if there is a purchaser so to speak Capital Health seems to be a good partner that they will continue emergency services and I know that's important to the East Ward and uh build around it um uh to to have a Medical Arts Community a mixed use so to speak um and have some uh Apartments there as well so we're going to be working the near future on setting up that meeting Goods it's been about six months since Capital Health took over just the ER we have the parking garage and others that can come down so you're right correct but uh spoken with Mr mowen within the last couple of weeks and then because of the holidays it broke off um but it's a fair question we should um touch base with Capital Health to see if they're still on board and to see that Trinity is still on board with that plan what what about the cook school do we have any idea what's going on with cook school is an excellent question as well because that that seemed to be something that uh we we try to do beginning I don't know if Arch has any updates on that no but uh uh please send me an email and I'll I'll get you that I know it was purchased uh we sold it and um uh there was a promise of Redevelopment we just need to make sure that they're following through as well okay thank you mayor any questions I have one quick question I know um councilwoman fig kber just brought it up but just to be clear um director Richardson Palmer um the investigation has been concluded it it has been closed out on the in list I'm sorry council president so just to be clear I can't fully say that it's been concluded it's been sent out to outside Council um I would have to check to confirm that they were all done thank you um council president yes councilwoman Feliciano is so Direct Bridges know would know the answer to this question um and I know that he had sent something I don't can you follow up your email from West um I I thought he had sent something um that that pertained to this or that there was an investigation um and that it was concluded I mean mayor can you call him on the phone if that's I think it's be more appropriate if uh K Palmer call director his Special Assistant call director bridges on the line absolutely council president was is that okay with you yeah that's one okay thank you Council Harrison while we're waiting you were talking about the hotel can you give us a little more update on what you were talking about the hotel yes um uh the hotel was um sold upward uh originally uh around 10 million or thereof and um unfortunately that uh group did not work out and a receiver took over the hotel they have been for the last couple of years trying to look at uh recovering uh that price that that um that the hotel sold for um I had indicated that I didn't think that that hotel was worth that much anywhere near that and that seemed to be the the stickler for moving forward in the meantime um there is a um Economic Development Authority um uh Grant where the it's called the local acquisition fund and that they will give uh and uh Trenton received the highest amount um $4 million and um that gives us an ability to purchase the hotel and uh we believe that that's the best deal that um the receiver is going to receive if if he if somebody can come along and exceed that we're we'll be pleased as punch um but what we intend to do is purchase the hotel we believe that um uh there was an indication that that uh figure was acceptable and uh what we would do is um uh we would flip it so to speak and can't be any more clear than that um we don't intend to keep it more than a week um what we want to do is find someone who comes in and what's what's been stopping um uh purchasers is they have to purchase the hotel and renovate it now if we essentially give the hotel away for the proverbial dollar and I don't know if that's the amount or not that's up to Arch um the money can well be spent in renovations and not purchasing the price and it it also protects the the taxpayers I know that uh it raised eyebrows because the city had been in this involved in this before um that uh we incurred I think upwards of $60 million in debt um but that is not the case now and we're still paying that off believe it or not um I think there's a very diminus amount that's still owed on the original Bond um but uh um what we intend to do is to sell it and uh and have a developer concentrate on Renovations and not having them worry about the purchase price so we have a developer in the mine and we have one mine already there there has has been expresses interest but there has we we did an RFP that is due um January 15th okay Arch would be able to tell you how many responses we got um but I know there's been a lot of in expressed interest for it council president councilman Williams thank you uh May Since we have up do you have any update on Clinton Manor on North Clinton Avenue that uh hopefully good news the old mayor's Mansion sir 70 uh yes if you drive past there right now there's uh fencing around it and they fully intend to uh uh start work uh I think uh as early as this spring uh to renovate the building and and bring in market rate uh Apartments uh that will uh be part of the transit Village um but we're really excited we met with a developer about two weeks ago and uh we went over their plants but they have move forward um with uh starting uh uh prep work um so we're really excited about seeing that uh the old Clinton Apartments uh uh being done that incidentally originated as the mayor's Mansion yes um in the late 1890s but uh wanted to disrepair and then became an apartment building well I appreciate it uh being secur because I was specific request or you could return it to the mayor's mansion we would well actually we would love to have you in the north Ward sir yeah um if there's any information or uh presentation or Graphics that we could be sent to see what's coming that would be much appreciated great I think you should discuss that with the HD director okay I will Council woman FR yes only because it was brought up in uh the hotel mayor um we're talking about the bond the 60 million Bond when are we looking to have that satisfied I believe that's coming I think that's an imminently I I think there's less than a year left of of payments but I think Maria some yeah unfortunately uh we we would be able to get that exact figure and when it's expect to be paid off but that's imminently that would be great to hear 60 million I I I know we I know it's been talked we've had that discussion before um but it would be nice to know that uh I know I believe we said that it was going to be this year but to get more details will be really um helpful yeah and that and that you know you don't blame some people in the public saying not that again um uh but it's it's not that again it's not 60 million and uh the money is coming from the state thank you councilwoman kber thank you since time mayor um in a purview of HD and projects um just a quick just wanted to kind of bring it to your attention with regards to the old doll factory on Grand Street I know that that is being um revamped and renovated and rehabilitated for Foundation Academy um for over a month now they have put up a barrier around the building but they have put it in the street kind of blocking street parking and blocking some of the the roadway is there any way that they can that that could be requested to be moved further on to the sidewalk I've got a lot of complaints from constituents with regard to that yeah let's work on that together if you can email me and I'm sure that Arch can uh discuss that with the construction crew um but um yeah just remind me i' I've seen it firsthand as well right um going down that street and then with that and then with the construction starting soon on the old um rectory which is in a same vicinity they like within a block apart so it's going to cause a lot of friction with parking and things while they're under Rehabilitation so that would be yeah and this is this is the Pains of revitalization and these are all exciting project because that do Factory was a sar um in in the South Ward and uh so it will be great to have I I think that's going to be a boon to that neighborhood and uh breathe some life yeah I've advocated for both and I went to the planning meetings for the um for the adelon street project project of the um the rectory but yeah it is an in convenience to many in that neighborhood who have reached out several times so just anything that we can do to try to make it less of an inconvenience during the transition would be great yeah would even help uh uh the blue danu the restaurant that's right around the corner and I think that that will bring a lot more foot track effect to them but I get it that that they've taken parking away from even the blue danu uh customers thank you council president before um I think Council vice president had her lit up first oh and then councilwoman fan thank you thank you um good evening maror good evening um I just had a few questions or some things I just wanted to um ask whether it's a priority um when you mentioned robling block to I also want to bring attention to some other Pockets around the city that are in severe state of dilapidation or um just abandoned and things like that underutilized so um we have the Avenue Hospital uh we have Hermitage Plaza we have the former dry cleaners that we recently demolished on Prospect Street and the abanded like strip of stores back there on Edgewood Bruce park I think that's Bruce Park Drive back there Y and um and of course downtown TR and we already mentioned St Francis hospital but um these things are um very vital to the neighborhoods that they're in and I was wondering uh and you know have to go through them one by one I could definitely follow up with an email um later on but I just would like for these things to be a priority a lot of the residents complain about these specific areas and I just wondered um if there are plans for all of these areas yeah um and and thank you for that question because that's the key to our v um revitalization and you could only imagine if all of those uh Troublesome properties are taken care of what that would mean to the city of Trenton so they are a priority the big challenge with um uh the hos the old hospital the Old Mercer Hospital it's already purchased by a developer fair or not had big plans and then covid came and those plans went by the wayside um we've had periodic U meetings with uh the developer um he's still eager to get the the right funding and the partnership in place um but that's still going to take time and um I I know it doesn't good do any good for the neighborhood um but that's the problem when you get um uh private ownership I'll give you another example the um the YWCA on East Hanover I put in a proposal to the old Council let us purchase that because we'll be in the driver seat we said no they they wouldn't do that and uh private developer bought the the uh the YW SAA not only do you have little say in what's going to go there but you have little say in in the timeline because they own that property um so the the best we can do is request meetings and the like about moving it along um we're due to ask the developer of of Mercer Hospital um what's the latest um but I I think it's all funding issues internally and and again that's the problem when you have you don't put um um uh guidelines down when they purchase it of what timelines they have to meet um it's his property and his property to do with does have to pay property taxes on it and um just like the Y WCA has to pay property taxes um but the best we can do is kind of push them along uh same thing with the uh strip on Edgewood Avenue I I travel there uh uh many times go cutting in go to go back home and go right past it and you just go you just have a sigh when you uh see that property and and its potential there have been overtures about redeveloping it and that's also something that we um we should do is is contact that owner as well uh to see what the latest is about and and likewise for Hermitage Avenue as well when they're s City owned we can be more aggressive and to look for um a developer when they're privately owned sometimes they just like to sit on it and wait for that golden day um and that's why we have the vacant property registration and to make sure that they're paying that fee every year um but uh Arch may have some strategies of of having to tackle something when it's already in private ownership thank you um and I just want to say um you know granted he's approved to be the permanent director tonight I would love to establish some type of monthly meetings with him and whoever is appropriate to be in there with the economic development sub Committee of city council to try to tackle some of these things see where we can assist at assist with as a governing body uh to help you move some stuff along with the administration as you may be aware that was his concept to have Council have a subcommittee and I think that's important and and you should keep his feet to his fire and I don't think he he needs it but um I I think he would welcome that um to to update Council on that you are the Redevelopment entity of the city so you have every right to know what's going on where where we're going and uh I think Arch would be the the best for that I think so far that he's received thumbs up when he does do a presentation before Council because you get a a comfort level that he knows what he's talking about and he's very familiar with the city and he has a lot of oldw worldly knowledge sorry Arch um that he's been around the Brock and um I've always been impressed of how much he knows about the planning and the zoning process to the point and landmark process for that matter uh to the point where he felt that there was such a backlog that that was one of his initial goals was to get that straightened out and indeed he has made really good progress on that thank you I concur thank you um Council F have something I was actually thank you council president I was just going to ask about Hermitage Avenue and the Edgewood Avenue um properties as well so thank you I remember when ulala was there um that restaurant um and it would be good to see that uh breathe light light into it again one last thing council president to um councilwoman Frisbee's question about the bond debt um CVP had here the from AR had sent us an email saying the principal of 2,150,000 in the interest of 9,625 outstanding the debt will be retired in February 2027 and the total is 2 mil2 40, 625 thank you Council thank you yep thank [Music] you all right Council pres uh thank you council president so um just real quick mayor with regard to the places like the hospital on Belle Avenue the shopping center on Hermitage and Ed on Edgewood I know that you said these are private owners is there any way of us imposing fines for them sitting dormant for them being dilapitated and and if so are we doing those things you have to do it in the framework of the uh vacant property law so that's something you could explore with Arch but we do have a um ordinance in place that if you're vacant property you must register with the city and pay an annual fee um that was the the state's way of moving these projects along whether you can exceed that uh that's something that's up to your councel uh maybe he possibly knows if you could exceed that so mine my question is I I know that law we have that in effect I'm talking about even more with even upkeep um they let the grounds go and it becomes unsightly if you're living in the area you don't want to go past the area because you know what's going on in there we have a big problem as most of us know with um possums and all kinds of um creatures and they get into these places we have folks who go in and they live in in these places and it makes it even your community even more unsafe so um the more we can be creative and imposing fines for them leaving this the property dormant I think would be uh helpful for us in the long run um and if we don't have the law in effect we need to create it for our city and our community I agree no no argument there thank you sir thank you thank you madam president councilman Harrison yeah mayor the uh vacant property fee I think it's $3,000 um we should think about even raising that higher because you have to do within the confines of the law so it's whatever the state allows us but um yeah I think that's something that um uh counsel uh your C your lawyer right originally should be able to originally it was $1,000 and yes we did up we raised up to 3,000 um but you're right because there's properties like my colleagues have said that just sit there and in the summertime the weeds are overgrown it's so it's dilapidating and the whole land and frustrating for exactly exactly for all of us including the neighborhoods yep thank you um direct no questions right director I mean Mr Richardson any update so I I did have a conversation with director Bridges and he advised me that the investigation has been concluded uh from the advice of council there should be no uh rather I should say strike that Vass Council indic cases that uh the findings were unsubstantiated and the final report can be made available at a later date thank you so much all right if no other other questions we can move to a roll call uh certainly Madame President for uh it's my understanding you'd like a roll call or vote on this at this time correct yes please so for the resolution 25-12 resolution consenting to appointment of arch Liston as director of housing economic development for the city of Trenton uh Madam president if you want to ask for a motion to approve may I have a motion to approve resolution 22 some move second roll call Council vice president Edwards yes councilwoman Feliciano yes councilwoman Figaroa kenberg yes councilwoman frisbee yes councilman Harrison yes councilwoman Williams yes council president Gonzalez yes motion carried thank you very much [Music] Council and Madame President if uh it's your wish as my understanding we do have an individual here present for the uh Brunswick Avenue Redevelopment update yes can we set the timer for 10 minutes please certainly council members this is a gentleman from Brunswick Avenue which was delayed um you want to introduce yourself and explain your position please sure uh David barugo vice president or backa for Housing Solutions uh representing the developer go right ahead sir if you have anything to present or if I'm sorry I'll refer to the councel I'm sorry I'm sorry could you repeat your name again sure David baroo Baro baroo b as and boy a r u c h like the college counc Williams thank you uh sir your title is Vice President yes okay and so I have a bunch of questions um because uh roughly be almost two years ago uh the end of this March that we granted a pilot for the Brunswick Village uh project and what was promised at that point were things besides the main Renovations of each of the units uh that folks would not be displaced uh but if they had to be for whatever reason they would be put in hotel rooms but there was a list of things that aren't Big Ticket items such as adding a laundry room after school program computer lab joint services with the local hospital social services new security system with lights modernized cameras uh and even uh we had talked about improving the garbage collection and to this date uh we're at 22 months roughly uh there's been no improvement in the property um my constituents have told me they have not seen any evidence of any improvements um Mr uh director Lon was kind enough to uh tell us earlier about that you're going to be meeting with NJ mhfa coming up but as the northward representative who represents your development in our ward in our city it's very disappointing that not one of these improvements has happened and I'd like to know why my cons want to know why and they want to know when things are actually going to occur because if it's not going to happen and you need to go to mhfa for all your financing for little things you know it makes one wonder whether we should have given it a pilot yeah um so um typically when we purchase a property for redevelopment um we do it through uh federal and state sometimes State Tag CR credits in this case um in this case we were unfortunately unable to do that in the IAL acquisition um and we thought that we would be able to do it in a much much quicker timeline than has occurred um that being said we we still plan on doing all of these um all these items and more that we promised for the cons for the residents um and for the community there um our plan is to start that renovation come March um in a little bit less than two months uh we have a timeline to close with njh mfay to uh get the financing with um uh for the tax exempt bonds as well as um we have a path forward with um NJ MAF on the Aspire credits and the uh federal tax credits so there is a a very very clear and direct path forward um at this point right now so the all all the services that were mentioned after school program computer lab things like that uh joint Services uh connection with the hospital those are things that shouldn't be contingent on you getting financing from MFA so are are they all contingent on you receiving a round of financing we have the finance we we we have it all lined up so it's not but it's it got to be approved still correct uh it has to go through an approval process yes okay so why weren't any of these smaller improvements done um I I think we we had to uh get to a point where you know just purchasing a property quickly as we did um we had to get to a point where we uh introduced the management whenever you're turning over management acquiring a new property it's getting your bearings in um it's never a simple process um especially with the regulations that come with a low-income housing property and this project based section a property as as this property is um so we um it it took a little bit longer than expected and um to close on these tax credits has been has taken a little bit longer than expected as well so um it it's kind of a mix of of a few different things going on at the same time but um like I said we do have a very clear path forward in the next two months to get things going so if uh the financing doesn't happen next month but I'm sure you expect that it will will any of these minor improvements even happen yes no we we we plan to do we plan to do what we promis it's not that we don't plan on doing that no matter what if we you know we made a promise we're going to get it done I think just the the plan on when we close originally was a uh six to eight month timeline and it turned into a closer to a 22 to 24 month timeline um because of various factors mostly out of our control should we not have been updated on that sooner I should I to me and I'm not trying to beat you up here but I should have had to make a request as a council person for you to for your corporation to come back say a year later say hey sorry guys this is going a little slower we you know this is what's happening we're going to keep you updated because when you don't do that it really looks bad for the city it looks bad that you know we're putting our trust in and it looks bad that you know as far as the pilot goes that we shouldn't have been giving a pilot so coming forward we'll be getting a schedule from you from what's going to happen from day one after you get approval through the end of the project I think that's something we need to get and then also some of these things like the laundry room the security system they need to be high priority because my constituents are very unhappy the garbage collection with the one dumpster for that many units that is atrocious and that's something that can be easily worked out for sure um yeah I'll make it definitely make it a priority to uh to have the city updated and uh make sure the tenants are updated as well um with information with the path forward um you know definitely make sure the line of communication is open both ways so that uh with if any tenants have any comments or issues that they're comfortable coming to us and uh don't need to be don't need to feel scared or anything that they're going to be displaced with any comments so we always have a an open door policy for tenants okay and how soon will you be notifying the tenants because that was my next question about the renov updating them because they haven't had an update either yeah I I think probably within the next um week or two we send out notices ATT tenants can you promise tonight that you will do that within 14 days um I'll give you 21 okay 21 days I promise okay holding you to it sir thank you for coming tonight we look forward to working with you but please also get us a schedule yes uh anything information you can Mr Garcia we'll be happy to pass out on to us yeah and thank you very much thank you for coming I appreciate council president are there any other council members that have questions yes council president yes Council pres uh so I just wanted to say so my um colleague here she did mention what I actually wanted to ask you about and that was and she didn't directly ask ask the question so I do want to ask you have there been any has there been any communication at all to the tenants the residents of this community um I mean we're currently operating the property so we're in constant communication with them and um uh with everything going on the property we try not to to let them know too early because tenants to get tend to get um a little bit ancy they hear the term renovation they think they're getting displaced that is not the case so we try to it's a tough balance to not do it too far in advance where things get delayed like they have for the past 20 months but also do it in advance where they have enough notice so it's a difficult straddle but I I think there's been some communication and we'll make sure that the tenants are just are very aware that what's coming up and what their legal rights are and that they are not being displaced okay so I don't think it's a little farfetched to if you're saying we were expecting it to be done six to8 months and we're now at 22 months I don't think that's the tenant is expecting too much I think at that point after heck after 10 months any form of communication and I I like to put it in the way if you were the person who was anticipating someone to give you something um that they promised and if you they don't deliver on it how would it make you feel whether you feel like you're being ignored or is there any are they pulling something up out from underneath you so I would like to address it as if you whatever you're doing treat it as if something someone of your loved ones lived there and how would you like for someone to respond to you or to communicate with you because communication makes all the difference and how people will will be receptive to you whether you they're going to say they're good they're on on point and yeah they're doing what they said what they promised and they update us or they're full of hot air they're not doing anything they're no better than anyone else that's what we don't want we're trying to establish relationships um in our in our city and it starts with little things that are not so little like this so that's really what I wanted to ask is um about the communication communication really is key and if you can make that a priority I'm sure that'll help it's it's nice to be that you're on the grounds but if no one's uh communicating with anyone you're not talking to them it really doesn't make a difference if you're there or not right thank you so much yeah no I appreciate the feedback and like I said it's it really is a tough balance between letting them know too early and letting them know at the right time because we've done it where we'll tell the tenants very early and we'll be extremely communicative with them and then they come back and then it gets delayed like it is now and they come back and say Hey you told me a year ago you're going to renovate my apartment where's my what's going going on and you know it's out of our hands so it's it's really a tough balance that we're uh you know we think there is sort some sort of Middle Ground where it's not too early not too late and it's good for everyone so like I said we'll we'll be sure to do that in the next three weeks and the next 21 days and we'll uh you know we usually also have a a CommunityWide meeting with the tenants to uh bring questions and comments so there isn't mass panic in the project thank you C councilman Harrison I can't see other lights anybody else okay uh my question is you said it's going to start in March okay originally it was 68 months are we talking another 22 months or is it going to be 6 to8 months uh 6 to8 months till what what what is the timeline going to be oh no I'm sorry when I said originally 6 to8 months I thought I we thought it would be 6 to8 months to start start start yeah okay what do you think the Finish Line like I mean oh um probably another uh possibly by the end of the year so about it's anywhere from 10 to 12 months let's say okay yeah we we try to do the renovation an efficient way where we're not displacing too many tenants at once temporarily go yeah I just wanted to get a general idea because like you said um we just want to make sure you're going to you're going to keep rolling yeah thank you thank you councilman Harrison Council Edwards thank you madam president I just wanted to um ask a clarifying question because this was a lot of information maybe I missed it but you were able to procure the money you do have the funding to do the renovations yeah yes yes we we have we're not I'm not here asking for for money from the city or we do have the funding lined up uh we're just going through the uh the bureaucratic process of getting the final approvals um and working with our equity Partners to uh to to line everything up okay thank you sure thank you do you have no other questions thank you thank you madam on your call Madam president you move on to public comment for agenda items only please certainly uh Madam president just for a um housekeeping item it's my understanding that you may wish to bring the first bring the first reading ordinance to the be to the uh beginning of the agenda to directly directly after public comment for agenda items only yes is that correct yes uh did you want that's the only one with director list and listed right I believe so yes um if you want to ask for a motion to adjust the agenda to move that item to um directly after public comment may I have a motion to move uh agenda the first amend yes just amend the agenda to um to move up ordinance 25001 in regards to housing and economics the only one that's on our docket that way Mr Liston can head home sooner so mod second you thank you roll call vice president Edwards yes councilwoman Feliciano councilwoman Figaro kber yes councilwoman frisbee yes councilman Harrison yes councilwoman Williams council president Gonzalez yes motion carried thank you and I do have the public comment put boards and for public comment for docket items only Madam president I do not have anybody listed at this time uh if it's your wish you can move to the uh first the first reading of the ordinance this evening you like me to uh read that aloud and I will certainly ordinance of first reading ordinance 25- 00001 ordinance amending chapter 132 article 17 section 135 of the revised ordinance of the city of Trenton to increase the cost for lead safe inspections and add a filing fee for lead safe certificates may I have a motion yes go ahead may I have a motion for ordinance 25001 for first reading so moved second second roll call vice president Edwards yes councilwoman Feliciano yes councilwoman Figaro kenberg yes councilwoman Frisby no to move it yeah yes councilman Harrison yes councilwoman Williams yes council president Gonzalez yes motion carried moving on with the remainder sorry Mr Garcia that was the motion to move it up I'm sorry that was the motion to move it up correct we already did that we had done that and then we move because I had a couple of questions on that so I wanted to open it up okay sorry actually that's what I thought approved it already yeah huh that was a motion to move it up right there was a motion to move it up right not vote on it right and there's a second which I imagine was to approve the ordinance did you I after the motion in the second to I think you asked for a motion to accept it and then I guess they thought that it was a motion to discuss yeah we were motion to discuss it right okay oh the same be used for that yes to move not to approve okay so we moved it up I read it aloud and now that's I just want to make sure sure to WR no worries understood [Music] okay so if you uh Madam president if you like discussion and to follow follow vote at this time yes I believe there were several questions I know some people have some concerns and um I know councilwoman Feliciano submitted some of the questions that were asked from some of the people from some of our residents and I wanted to know if um director Liston will be able to answer some of those questions I certainly will let me just pull up the um email from earlier council president Council woman fiana can I your pleasure can I read off the questions yes thank you so um director Liston um the first question and these questions were posed by um resident uh Bernard mcmull to the entire Council body regarding this uh what percentage of Target properties have been inspected and then how does this progress compare with the expectations of the New Jersey uh d uh let me just give me a second do you have do you have the ones with the ones we did answer do you have the um I'm I'm looking for an email from Maria earlier regarding the answer to these questions see I don't have it I don't let me see it's from this morning the last correspondence I had from director Richardson was that it was forwarded to the proper director and that we would hear back but I hadn't seen anything back oh man yeah I saw the response today and I thought they were s to the council um I have and you don't have be [Music] okay I apologize for the delay yeah but I have one from uh 6:31 this morning um and yand responded what is the first test for being appointed I really you don't have the I thought the answers were given those questions that we're talking about were submitted after the docket review okay this might be a [Music] I don't see anything me did you get did you get a copy of that you didn't get a copy of that email this morning yeah youand has responded we forwarded to council this morning [Music] um um I would like to ask my colleagues I want to um actually move to table this until we get the information yeah if I would I'll search for it while you do that and then I can come back and once I find the answers I'll let you know okay so you want to come back to it should be tabled so our next meeting okay yeah because there's several questions on this so I would like to have a motion to table this one so move we would table this to our next meeting second thank you so move the that's a move the table yes sir yes the to the following meeting okay so to table until uh the next scheduled meeting for first introduction correct yes please okay and that was moved by Tes counc Frisbee and second by Council Feliciano thank you roll call vice president Edwards yes councilwoman Feliciano councilwoman Figo kenberg councilman frisbee yes yes councilman Harrison yes councilwoman Williams yes council president Gonzalez yes motion carried matters tabled until the next scheduled meeting for first reading uh moving on with the agenda Madam president yes January 21st yes certainly uh Madam president if you want to ask for a motion to approve uh Communications and reports may have motions to approve communication and peti and reports so moved second thank you roll call vice president Edwards yes councilwoman Feliciano yes councilwoman Figo kenberg councilwoman Frisby yes councilwoman Harrison yes coun Williams yes coun president Gonzalez yes motion carried and moving on to resolutions at this time Madam president are there any items that you wish to extract for questions and discussion uh from potential consent agenda this evening any council members want to ask any questions on any council president yes Council Feliciano thank you 2510 one Z yesc pres yes 25003 president 2510 and 25 007 thank you shake it not stirred [Music] um I believe that's it no oh sorry let's give us another minute 8 please and 08 I think that's so Mr Garcia as of right now we have 2511 25004 25006 25009 and that would be all for the consent so far oh for consent yes for consent and then we the rest we're going to start the question yeah [Music] humbly Madam president did you wish to have questions answered and determination as to whether or not to be on consent yes please thank you I believe we're starting off with Mr Liston then for 2510 2510 yes please council president councilwoman Feliciano thank you hi director Liston good evening good evening again just a a quick question how much is the um the second addent what is there an increase in this what there is is uh We've run into some cost increases because of uh electrical issues and Sewer issues uh there is a total increase to the overall Grant uh which is $2,000 uh so it brings it from a total Grant amount from 90 to 92,000 what it also does is um allow for release of funds of the 15,000 to the contractor so he can wrap up uh 98% of the project we hold back $22,000 for uh until he gets a co uh we've been working with him on a daily basis I had an inspector out there today uh to to see what was being done uh there are some issues that have to be corrected over the next couple days uh but we've been following up with it but this will allow us to release the funds to um the contractor so we can move it much quicker so the addendum is $2,000 the additional amount we're adding to this is 2,000 correct but it also allows for the release of the 15,000 uh from 75 to the 90 right okay so the the um on this resolution that I'm looking at I don't all I see is just the um the 990,000 in the narrative but not the 2,000 so we remember as we move forward when we're bringing forth resolutions um to council to add the amount so we could see it in the title as well the 2000 because I wasn't I wasn't it was on the second page should been on the second page it says 2000 [Music] okay I'm sorry the one I'm the one I'm looking at doesn't have what you have so okay very good that I'm sorry I didn't see that okay very good thank you that was the only question I had I know Council Williams had a question Council Williams thank you thank you very much so Mr Liston um CH director Liston so you know obviously we all know that this project has been uh Frau with different delays for all different you know different reason we we get into to that but it's been very stop Ando um I know even with with closing last year uh to get that completed and thankfully that was completed um at the outset of this whole entire Endeavor were was the estimate of how much it would cost for this project um realistic uh was it um something that was just for whatever reason was underestimated and going forward should this program and we hope uh pray that it will be completed next month for Miss Sullivan and the City of Trenton uh should this program be continued going forward what improvements would you want to make based on the lessons we learned with this first house the estimates initially for this project were were realistic very realistic uh again with delays in construction materials and and anybody who has a historic home knows when you open B wall you dig underneath the house you find you you run into additional cost um and actually uh the contractor was looking for about an additional 15,000 we be able to go and sharpen our pencils and um so the total increase would only be 2,000 compared to the 15 as to the continuation of this program uh much of the delays were involved back and forth with legal issues um she uh the Miss solivan was represented by legal counsil uh and we were represented by legal council many things went back and forth and when things were getting done when they weren't getting done uh and it's still held up a little bit by some of the the the issues uh she is not represented at this point which has been somewhat of a delay so you know we're we're trying to push this thing forward unilaterally so we can get this thing wrapped up before it it gets worse out in the weather as to the continuation of this program I I think the the pilot program was a a very good learning experience for the for a process and for a process that has to be um tweaked in in many different ways and making sure that you know the city has the right partners and making sure that you know our contractor um can work with the homeowner uh much better um because this is a program to the homeowner who then uh is funnel to the contractor and not directly paid by the city in that way uh so there we found numerous issues with with the program uh continuing in this form I think we have to um kind of sit down with with Council and and kind of feel how we want to go with this and how much money do we have available for residents and then how much we want to really uh you know spend in the future project like this very much director thank you council president thank you Council woman frisbe yes thank you council president so Mr um director Liston um going forward with it and I do hope that this program does continue I think it's a good learning experience for us one of the things I would really like to see is to have the resident the homeowner not so much involved I think it it is with the exception of going to classes and actually teach them about how um what's going on the whole process of it and how to actually prepare for taking care of a home being from the mortgage to the electricity to the water to the upkeep of it um getting them to the Finish Line I think that they should be they're not contractors they're not uh developers they don't know the process and I think um and then having to um for Miss Miss Sullivan's case having her have to actually retain legal councel with funds that we know that she didn't have which um put stress so it's these are added stress factors and I'd love for us to continue with this but to mitigate the stress that is going to be um put on them we want to do something that's going to be uplifting and that's going to build the community and and and encourage others to so we can continue this type of program but I really think that them they should not be the middleman and that's what it seemed like that happened there and she should not have been there unless she got she interjected herself I believe that let the people who are uh paid and have been educated in these matters they're the ones that should be handling it and not the residents unless they're just being informed of what's being done I agree uh there should be a coaching mechanism to help people through a couple things Miss Sullivan was represented pray so there was no out-of-pocket expenses for her legal fees uh which was very fortunate on her side uh as to the way we have to manage a project like this is if we get overly involved involved in it becomes a becomes a public project which means we must bid a project we must have an architect prepare the bid specifications it so it would take a project for someone to do a private home from maybe $90,000 into the area of60 to 170,000 that's kind of why this was structured this way so we didn't um letting the homeowner be the person receiving the Grant and then paying the contractor otherwise we become we become the the contractor uh and we run into every bidding specification every purchasing requirement that the state requires which makes these these cost prohibitive in the future um and that's why it was structured this way but again that's I think a conversation we have to have with Council uh in how we move forward with this program uh because we did find many weaknesses I maybe and we try to look at the habitat model because habitat and and I think we need to model or work with in Pro in future projects with habitat and I think or a organization such as habitat so they have coaching they have people who know how about construction so we can move forward with these projects and not have it happen like this in the future so I agree and I and I love the idea of using Habitat Humanity um I've worked on them with them a couple of times but again even if if we're going to have the resident the um the homeowner involved just having them maybe have a coach as they go along the way so this way that is provided by the city someone that is is to give them guidance because if you don't know you can't do it and you stumble you fumble along the way to having someone to actually help hold them their hand along the way would be absolutely uh helpful and it's essential I think that that's a very good point and That's essential in moving forward with a lot of projects we're going to bring forward with the Reed redevelop Rehabilitation projects going to do with homeowners and getting people into houses is the weakness we follow is the fact it's people not understanding the cost and when you get into a project uh how expensive it can be and how delays run and just putting kitchens in utilities getting Utilities in properly and inspection processes through uccc so I agree with 100% there's just a lot of different ways we have to do this we learned a lot we we really did thank you sir sure Madam president councilwoman Edwards thank you um just a couple Council vice president sorry no no worries it take some adjustments uh I just want to say first of all thank you to you and the mayor and the department for doing your due diligence with this I know this was something that was very public um and you received a lot of criticism on it so I just want to um you know say thank you for taking the time out to address this and especially the mayor with uh going out to the property um I had arrived at the property maybe five minutes after he left and I got the chance to talk to the contractor and he walked me through the entire property and explained everything very very thoroughly and um some things that I was able to assess from our conversations and from um the feedback from the mayor as well when we inquired about this was that um to uh councilwoman frisby's Point um the lack of training and lack of knowledge uh for the homeowner so I would love to see some partnership with Habitat for Humanity as well as Isles with their firsttime homeowner training but also incorporate that renovation training too but to uh councilwoman Frisbee's point we spoke about um needing someone in HED to handle this to be a project manager and I know there are staff shortages um that prevents that type of handholding process so I would like to see that going forward if we're going to do um continue to do projects like this but more importantly I think there needs to be a contract in place binding the owner to the scope of work that was assessed so if we're giving her $90,000 all of that should have been in the contract and signed by the administration herself as well as the contractor and maybe even any attorneys if that's necessary um to hold her to that because the issue was she kept on changing or doing work change or ERS so she added on a half bathroom and that kind of B well I'm not kind of blew the budget but it blew the budget and and thankfully the contractor well-renowned contractor um Andre Williams in the city was willing and able to work with her because this is not about the money for him this is about fighting the blight in the city so he was able to work with her but not every Con well is that's a rarity so I would like to see if we move forward with a pilot like this when we're looking to reform it that that type of contract is in there and that type of training is incorporated because it is a it is a huge thing to take on for the very first time on your own like we're not talking about a simple remodel we're talking about a full-blown renovation gut rehab and that's a that's a huge project for any even an experienced contractor so um uh and we talk about independency and things like that and that's important for the owners to be involved in the whole process and it's a learning thing for them um with that being said uh during the budget hearings that we had last year there were some vacancies in HED um when we're talk about needing a manager and the staff shortages where are we with hiring people and um like how much staff do you have how many vacancies are there and where are we with hiring and filling those positions we're the biggest Focus we have right now in HD is uh the the the the planning uh board and Zoning Board um because nothing can move in the city unless we have a planning and zoning boards moving projects forward and we we got backed up with those um two boards and landmarks uh so we're we did bring in a senior planner a supervising planner excuse me uh We've also hired a program uh and and today we had a discussion about bringing in a sec another planner uh to to get the backlog cleaned up we've got a good one-year period of backlogs and my concern being with the larger projects that we're going to have coming in uh hopefully in in robling um and Enterprise Avenue and the hotel um there's going to be quite a burden for the Planning Group up there to move those to planning board or zoning board or wherever they need to go to uh so we've we've got to staff up the other thing is with that process construct more we're going to have much more Construction in the city which means we're going to have to staff up the Construction office to to deal with the additional construction also we're going to have the smaller contractors coming in with the rehab projects so there's a lot of stuff that's going to be moving that we're going to have to staff up uh and and we're looking to do that uh actually in the budget hearings were cancelled yesterday we know that we have to staff these PE the these up to move these projects along and make the Redevelopment and development work in the city because it it's going to be a failure if we can't get this process moving quicker awesome thank you sure my pleasure and real quick I emailed you the the answers I found them in my email so they have councel for the next meeting okay very thank you I'll forward to councel thank you can that be removed is everyone okay with that you know the consent agenda yes Council fana can that be moved over okay so we can move that to the consent consent agenda thank you she said yes thank you next was 25003 think that was Council fig kenberg thank you council president um Steve Wilson Police director hi director Howard are you this evening good you thank you um so I asked these questions actually in advance and I did send um responses to the questions um to my colleagues um earlier last week um but I just for the public I wanted the public to be made aware of some of the questions that were asked as this is the deadliest intersection one of the deadliest intersections in the United States um so I just wanted to ask some questions for the public um so with regard to this company that we are Contracting or extending their contract um for two additional years um what I had brought up was that from 2000 to 2019 there were nine fatal crashes at this intersection um so from bringing this company on I know that there was a there were a couple of crashes um on August 16th 2022 uh March 7 2021 um Fe Ary 2024 um just to name a couple and I just wanted to know during the times that these crashes had occurred under this new contract with this company were are we able to expand the times that we have um crossing guards through this contracted company that we're paying to try to mitigate some of these crashes that are occurring outside of like Peak business hours well they they operate from 0700 to uh 1900 it's 7 to7 um so if we were to expand um past 700 p.m. that would have cost additional monies and we probably have to uh go out to bid again okay so outside of What DOT is trying to do for this intersection I know they're trying to narrow the lanes and um they they've you know brought forth some other mitigating factors to try to make this intersection um less lethal less deadly than what it is for lack of better word um what other things can we do in the meantime because I know construction from dot the latest that they're trying to do is not going to start I think until 2026 um so what other things can we put into place in the meantime to try and um lessen the blow of that intersection I well I think the do put in pedestrian uh detection um technology there as well um this intersection kind of belongs to the state I don't know how much we can do more to mitigate that um and I know that they are going to try to at one point narrow this intersection to slow down the traffic um pretty much it basically wasn't uh designed very well uh there's no room to even put a walkway to go over 129 because um the senior building is right there the railroad tracks are right there on the other side for the river line and it's not a very good design so until they can uh narrow this intersection and slow down the traffic I I think uh um what we've been doing is pro probably the best practice that we can do right now okay and yet some of those other issues are the cemetery that's there and then I guess the elevated crosswalk with um those coming out of the senior building being um differently abled and things of that nature and putting a elevator there would be um problematic you know giving that someone could get caught in there or something can happen in the elevator late at night so I know that those issues have been addressed um so I just wanted like I said I just pretty much wanted to know if we were having those conversations and to the point that this is state-owned DT is responsible um are any of these funds that we are paying to Tri County security or any other security company moving forward or any anything things that we're putting in place as a city are these funds coming from the state at all for this or is it is this all on City dollar this comes out of the city police budget okay okay and I know that it's some point we were using um crossing guards appointed by tpd I think tpd was hiring the crossing guards but now we have a a outside Contracting agency or company um can you just kind of tell us what the need for the shift was or the reason for the shift in the companies from TVD to the company the only time since I've been director that we had tpd officers out there is when Tri County couldn't cover because of um whether their Manpower issues of someone calling off sick and they couldn't get a replacement officer they would notify us and we would stick a police officer out there okay okay and um all right thank you director that's it thank you thank you Council me thank you council president so um director Wilson I know that cameras are not allowed there I know the state is again uh against that for whatever their reasons are I believe that there Rumble um strips on that piece of property that um is that correct yeah I think there's rumble strips along the length of of 129 um I do they do have traffic cams out there we've actually utilized them in some of our Cris investigations one of the things and I don't know if this is something if it's on the state side or if it is on the city side but with putting um speed humps there I know we have the rumble strips but even that can we put a speed hump as as right at that ENT as they're coming into the city to force them to slow down no you can't put a speed hump on a major thorough far and that's actually a state highway so so that is still considered State Highway right as you're coming in as soon as you hit the city yeah as soon as you're when you're coming off of u i 195 coming over to bridge down into the city of Trenton It's All State Highway thank you sir yeah anything else um so counc president just had a suggestion SL question um one thing because it's particularly highp speed um and that would come out of the Federal Highway Administration but as well as the Director talked about NJ do perhaps uh a blinking light approaching uh vehicle vcle might be appropriate and legal to put on um 129 to warn um oncoming traffic particular tractor trailers that there is a pedestrian crosswalk there um but that would be something based on my experience so far that there would need to be a request from the city uh potentially with a letter from Police Department to state do um talk about that there is a traffic light I'm sure you did there's a traffic light there so I don't know of putting an additional blinking light would actually do any any uh um benefit um the where the benefit would be would be outside the city on on a 195 before you hit the bridge yes that's exactly it I think I know there were some discussions on putting blinking lights before they come off of the exit before they even get to the traffic like just to kind of start to slow them down yeah yeah and then just one additional because uh we've put in a request on uh Route One to uh help cut down on the jake braking when the uh trucks automatically because of the air pressure and their engines do that grinding noise uh it's very um annoying to Residents uh to have signs put out on Route One they could do this on the approach from Hamilton on 129 195 to warn drivers that there are approaching curves coming up better than what is there currently thank you Council William councilwoman Figo then Cil har yeah I just wanted to be clear I do know like I said the DT is planning um a number of things it's not just a narrowing of the intersection but you know I just wanted to be clear that I just was concerned from now until then because I do want them to do the brunt of uh specifications safety measures moving forward um because it is their responsibility but my questions were basically from here until then thank you I can I could answer um the colonel for additional um uh assistance out there with his Troopers maybe maybe we can get something something done yeah I did partner with DOT um on two occasions to do presentations to the public one at South Village and one with Foundation Academy so they did answer a lot of those questions which is great like I said um like my concern is from now until then so yeah thank you thank you councilwoman kimberg madom harison and then councilwoman director you said that the proposal is from two lanes to one lane I totally agree with that that'll slow down the traffic problem is that you're right it's people just need to slow down people drive way too fast you know you that's why all those car accidents are there the speed Li is 40 miles hour and you're getting people doing 60 right 70 that's the problem and your people are trying to walk across by the time you're going to hit the brakes people can get hurt or killed and and you're right we got to do it all we can but you're right we need to slow down in this city people drive way too fast and that way we would have a lot last car accidents yes sir thank you councilman councilwoman Edwards Vice Council vice president thank you sorry about that um I was just discussing some ideas while we're talking about the safety because um I'm not sure if most of you remember that this was something that I had um sent a a letter to the do earlier this year to discuss some safety measures and they do have a plan of just having some trouble finding their response um did take some measurements there are flashing lights there's rumble strips and things like that but I wanted them to take it a step further to where each side is operating one time one at a time and um and I was just thinking about an idea when you're coming off the highway when that light starts to turn red to like we have the arms for the River Line it would be helpful for them to have that arm getting on and off the highway so people can cross safely and also the cars could go across safely um but I wanted to get back on track cuz I know that's not your job um security I mean crossing guards how many crossing guards do we currently have and or if you have that knowledge off the top of your head or I can follow up on this and how many vacancies do we have okay um well just to make um a distinction the Tri County security is adult crossing guards they're not to be confused with the school crossing guards or two separate entities um and the answer to that um to give you an exact number I'll I'll send an email to Brandon tomorrow for that um but I believe we have roughly 30 vacancies for school crossing guards and um and we have a budget for all of these crossing guards correct yes we're just we're having a hard time um hiring we we we are in a constant state of hiring for crossing guards where are these job postings at listed um well you can you can hire um come here to City Hall that's where you have to put your application in and then we'll take it from there um I could I could put something out in the media again uh from time to time we do put it out on our social media um but I I can uh get with Paul to put it on the city's website too that would be excellent I would love to see our vacancies we have a a job posting on the website but I only ever see about three things posted and there's people that want jobs with you know every Department in the city but they're not there so I would love to see that thank you I I would too thank you thank you and Council that was it that was it um are we okay to put that on the consent agenda yes all right Mr gar consent yes please noted I believe the next one was 25-7 don't yes maam thank you very much uh for director Harris director Harris Paul Harris intering director of recreation thank you very much director um so my question I'm really glad to see this and uh each month it seems that we are accepting grants and I believe um to my knowledge I was at uh both of the meetings uh that you had in 2024 regarding uh the entire project and explaining uh how we're having to accumulate financing for it right the grants so um I don't know if the final number changed or how much we need but uh how much funding do we have and how much is still left so the projects the project is going to cost $20 million we have $10 million we're still waiting for some Grant agreements so I don't have $10 million on the books just yet um so we're just steadily building that Reserve so we can move forward it just takes a lot of time and we just so you understand this has been over multiple administrations so we do not expect with the incoming Administration for it to change um because we received some funding in the previous administration when they were in power so we don't expect anything to change so it's just just takes time okay and then um in this coming year can you just give us some highlights on what the approach will be no matter how difficult the incoming Administration May or will be uh what will be the strategy to try to maybe through other sources whether they're nonprofit even to gather the rest of the funding and then are there any ways a council could help with that sir so what our strategy is going to be is to show that we're a good stored of money and we've built and we're building and I'm hoping we can get more Capital money and I think that if we can show them listen we have built and we have receipts to show that we did a good job and the public is happy you trust us with money that's it we have good grant writers we're going to put them to use paying them good money and they're going to do it they're going to apply for everything my PO my response to my entire staff is ARP is done that was the best thing that happened to us $72 million we need to find a way because it doesn't mean we're going to stop building and I want to fix and build everything I can so uh they're looking at all levels of government at all levels of government we had a million dollars that came from the state uh ARP money recently for Cooper so we're looking so that's not going to be an issue the question for us is getting enough and my my focus isn't just on the acid pink that green way it's throughout the city because what I don't want to get distracted with is is the notion that're we're going to apply for everything just for that site no and I understand that just this uh particular site and as you said it's multiple miss going way back is such a key transformative um Park system and a Greenway for the north Ward but also will help us with a a lot of the pollution issues so I'm also wondering do you need additional grant writing help uh Grant Administration help and are there any ways I mean hopefully DCA will be able to provide additional um financing or maybe uh Staffing support no so I have to be mindful because we're budget season you'll I'm going to be coming asking for things but I'm mindful of bringing on additional staff we have a we have a Consultant Group that's doing this work for us now we hire someone internally to do it yes um but the company we've had has been with us for a long time and they do very good work I would like to retain them so you'll probably see me come back to ask for an additional appropriation to continue their services because they not only do grant writing but they're doing uh construction Administration maybe Brownfield R development all that stuff like that so uh I'm um optimistic about that so and I want to make sure the staff that were bringing honor staff that we need for uh in other areas at this point you know and of course if the budget a turn then we'll have a conversation about bringing on a permanent Stafford to do grant writing okay thank you very much director thank you council president consent agenda please thank you and then I think the last one was 25008 yes Council fber thank you council president um hello director how are you good good good um so I already asked you this question again this is for the public um so the additional money for the Marine ter Park which is down duck Island um can you just explain what that um those funds are will be used for yeah so you previously approved uh money the same Grant uh for DCA and we did we built the playground with it okay so now what I want to do is I want to restore the bathroom uh lighting uh that bathroom has a pump station so we need to be do some electrical work there there's some historic artifacts there as well that have flat tires they're it's just they're dated like a century old so what I'm going to do is I need to build uh concrete platforms so I can and then I want to move them so they're placed properly uh I need to replace the uh uh the parking lot as well resurface that and do some other housekeeping issues there so what you'll see is uh these people should have you know Parks should have bathrooms you know uh and uh we want to make sure that's restored so that's just one phase there and then we had a you know you I'm yeah there's other things thank you you can I be on a consent agenda yes thank you all right Mr Garcia looks like certainly Madame President if you want to ask for a motion to approve a consent agenda consisting of resolutions 25- 00003 004 006 007 008 009 0010 and 0011 may I have a motion to approve the consens agenda so moved second roll call vice president Edwards yes councilwoman Feliciano yes councilwoman Figaro kenberg yes councilwoman Frisby yes councilman Harrison yes councilwoman Williams yes council president Gonzalez yes motion carried and Madame President moving on with the agenda this evening I believe we've reached the point of public comment if I could have the general public comment clipboard once again and Madam President we have nobody listed for public comment this evening if it's your wish you may move to any member of I think I'm sorry okay yeah no we'll need him sign [Music] all right Madam President we have one individual signed up for public comment this evening to the Public Public comment will be 5 minutes we'll ask 5 minutes May address any item that you wish the council is not obligated to respond our individual listed for public comment is Maurice Hallet up sir good evening Council Maurice howlet 11 West Front Street 1911 Smokehouse Barbecue I'd like to talk about uh parking downtown um through social media you've probably seen that a lot of people are getting ticketed downtown late night in I actually sat before the previous Council before you guys in 2017 just to take you back on a little history uh it was a Sunday evening I had a full house back when things were happening downtown a lot of people from out of town had a great time they left that night to a Street full of ticketed cars there is no matter what kind of great you had you're going to forget about it after getting a $55 ticket especially when downtown is typically empty for a long time 1911 Smokehouse was the only thing open after the state went home and as you guys know with after covid things just haven't been the same in the restaurant industry it's been really tough to survive downtown and for the past 10 years years that we've been in business we've been open pretty much seven days a week we've just recently reduced our hours to cut cost to survive but when your customers are getting hit with tickets on a Sunday afternoon or I mean Sunday evening or late night Saturday I mean that absolutely makes no sense and if you read some of the comments on social media people are talking about not coming back downtown now so that hurts the businesses that are there that are trying to survive and if we don't survive you're never going to get other businesses to come in so we're talking about revitalizing downtown we we need help I have no idea why someone would be titing and back to when I was before Council before the council was able to um do an ordinance because Front Street didn't have parking at that point in time so there was an ordinance that was passed to where um parking was available on Front Street after 5:00 pm I have talked to Anthony Santoro several times because those signs were never updated and I hear now he's on sick leave I believe so I need those signs to be updated because the current signs still say no parking so the parking people are probably going by the current signs but there's an ordinance out there of Mr clerk Mr Garcia if you can get that ordinance but there's supposed to be parking on Front Street after 5:00 P pm. the other thing which I'm not sure if you guys are aware of but the parking meters once we redid the sidewalks and streets were never reinstalled so how do you give someone a ticket if they don't have an opportunity to pay for parking so it's just like a whole lot of foolishness that's going on that I would hope that someone would get address because it just doesn't make any sense I mean we are I no longer live in Jersey I have businesses in Jersey and four properties in Trenton because I love my city I want to see this city succeed but when I see craziness it's just like well why am I doing this so any help you guys can do and I definitely need signs up and could someone talk to the Trenton parking whoever is this new cafo type meter maids that are just it just makes no sense they need to know that there is parking available on Front Street and then if TPA or whoever can get the word out that we do as businesses have um what is it we have parking vouchers two-hour parking vouchers for the Front Street lot I mean Front Street lot should be open it should be free for the weekend it used to be I don't know what it is now and it would be nice if once we get ready to open back up in the spring for longer hours if that parking garage stayed open till midnight CU we we need help so I want people to come downtown I'm sure you want people to come downtown but we got to work together thank you thank you Miss alet Madame President that's all the individuals I have listed for public comment this the moment if it's your wish you could start with any individual you'd like for civic comment yes we can begin with Council Williams okay thank you very much ma'am I just have uh several announcements and then uh potentially a question uh so first thing is uh we're going have the north Ward citizens police advisory council meeting on Wednesday January 15th next Wednesday at 5:30 at Galilee Baptist Church at 4:40 MLK our special guest will be West Bridges or city of Trenton law director I have a discussion about the law department and uh secondly we have a really cool event uh coming up this Friday night uh actually it's uh GNA be January 9th 10th and 11th but there's an opening reception on Friday night the 10th it's called sister soul it's a Sarah Dash Legacy exhibit put on by the Trent Music Experience there's a great Committee of folks on a nonprofit and that's going to be doing a lot of music events and say but this first one has to do with the great Sarah Dash from our city and the legacy of her music and uh her being the first music ambassador of Pat La Bell and the blue bells and U if you could please join everybody there at the Trenton Music Experience popup Gallery at 102 North Broad Street at MCCC Mercer County community colleges building and there'll be music there'll be memorabilia there'll be videos and there surely going to be a good time and the reception this Friday night is from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. and uh hope to see you there uh third item is a sad item um would like to uh people do not know is the passing of Mr Kenneth bolock um he apparently passed away on Christmas Eve uh great man very generous wonderful man he and his family his wife Lora uh every year um Mr bolock was an avid fisherman and uh would go fishing in the North Atlantic uh for a number of months uh catching fish and more fish and more fish and would store them and each summer they would hold uh him and his family and his wife Lenora a very generous fish fry that was free to the entire Community uh was a wonderful time I was blessed to be there several times um to uh experience it for myself and um this past summer was the 12th annual fish fry and uh there is hope that uh that Legacy will continue with his wonderful family so if folks can keep the bolock family in their thoughts and prayers um that would be great and uh he was a great Trentonian for sure um so one of the things I did want to bring up and uh Mr Harris is with us tonight uh because this issue with parking has uh really gotten out of control in a lot of places and to get Fair information get accurate information information I'd like to use some of my time tonight to ask Mr Harris a few questions because uh to Mr Howl's Point thank you for bringing that up tonight sir uh we do need to make sure people can safely and securely go downtown and have access to parking uh without being ticketed if we're going to create a downtown or recreate a downtown postco so I'd like to know if you can come up to the podium sir one of the questions I get from constituents and business own owners is uh to the point Mr Hallet made uh do we actually have peos parking enforcement officers working until 11:00 at night what are the hours uh what's the situation particularly downtown where you yes on particularly on the first block of South War and the second Block of South Mo and between um State and Lafayette you do not have parking meters there's no kios and we're feels that we're penalizing people for coming to Trenton so uh Paul Harris intern director Parks and Recreation so what I will say is everything the expansion of parking enforcement is the direct result of conversations with Council conversations with the community there's literally a million emails from the community that come in they're still sending emails about commercial vehicles so parking enforcement Works 7 to 3 and then 3 to 11 there's one officer on 3 to 11 and there's an office because i' I'd see the post why someone working at 11 o'clock you have officers working at 11:00 because there are people in the most congested parts of the city that said they want officers working because there's Alleyways being blocked there's there's commercial vehicles on streets so they are enforcing those on they're enforcing those laws that's what they're doing um but the I just have to make it clear that that growth is a result of people calling and um what they do is they enforce if there's a sign that's all they're looking at customer service is important we reminded them and I've reminded the supervisor of paring enforcement that listen um customer service is important there's no reason to be rude listen you issue your ticket and you move you move on if if there's a need to explain you explain but um but oh another minute please R if that's your wish Madam president so that's what that's how we're handling it but we are working on customer service we do have regular meetings uh and we explain to them listen these complaints are coming in what can we do and they also have the right to exercise discretion as well you know the issue becomes is on the flip side is we're often blamed for not enforcing the ordinances they say that all the time what's the point of having all these laws we don't enforced so now you have a group of people that you've hired that are Trentonian that live in live you know that are in enforcing the very laws that they accuse us of not enforcing that's the issue so it's a double-edged sword you know and then when we out there people are happy but you know the biggest complaint we have is the commercial vehicles which is why additional officers are being brought on to handle that thank you very much and may I just ask one little more pointed question to follow by first question Council doesn't mind because I had a couple questions just while we're on this topic with regard to the chaos that don't exist how are people getting ticket if there's nowhere to put money in it so I will look into that but and that's true and the kiosk are manage by uh traffic and transportation I know when there are kiosk down we encourage officers to not issue tickets because what are you doing issuing a ticket if there's no working kiosk I got a there you know and that's that's an issue uh that we are constantly addressing thank you very much thank you ma'am um before you leave there's any other questions anyone else can chime in to but I do have one um inter har um as far as kind of in the downtown area I forget the name of the street right off of Lafayette across some where the hotel is little side street those it's not bar it's um oh God here yes there you go those residents where are they supposed to park because they're receiving tickets and they live on that small street so when they're parking on Lafayette they seem to be getting ticketed also so what I would my recommendation is this there are a lot of residents who live in districts who are getting tickets for example let's say you're off work and you could live in a district where there is no parking allowed between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. and you did that by well the previous councils did that by Design because the goal is to get traffic in and out of the city right so but if you're home or you're home early you're going to get a ticket because you're parked in that District so my recommendation is we could identify all these areas where where they're residential and then it's up it's at the will of the council to decide that they want to address that because there are people who live on Parry Street there are people who live right down here who've complained on a regular basis rightfully so how how am I getting a ticket if I live I pay taxes I work here and our response has been the law says what the law says the same reason with the street sweepers we get beat up about the street sweepers the the sign says this you move whether the sweeper comes or not now that's now I agree there's an issue with that right because the sweepers are not coming right in some areas absolutely exactly but that's if the council decides that you want to amend an ordinance to say that if the Sleep down then that's then the park and Enforcement Officers will abide by that ordinance in the meantime the sign is what governs how they move so thank you for that because that is something we need to revisit but also just just a sidebar to on this I've seen post and I was trying to find it today because I wanted to bring this up during my Civic comment but since you're up here now um I've seen posts from some of our um IND indviduals who are issuing tickets who are bragging about the tickets that they're giving so I understand enforcing I couldn't find it because I I scroll past it and then I just I couldn't find where it was at um you know it's a difference between enforcing the tickets and then just kind of taking advantage of some of our people and it's like I said the residents who are living there I saw the one guy he was very upset he got to take it on a Sunday across from the hotel and he was on L yet but he lives on that one street and I just kind of caught him when he was going off and I just so happened coming out of the war memorial um and so it's just it's just those little things that make it look even worse we already are we have an issue with the parking and then you have people that are bragging about how many tickets they're giving out so I just wanted to bring that to your attention because maybe you weren't aware of that the councilwoman prisby and then Council woman yeah sorry I'm sorry so so thank you council president um so um inter director Harris thank you for um being here for this one of the um things that I think might help is if we look at um have those tickets looked at that are being given if you if you're getting receiving a ticket in a PL a place in a space that does not have a meter does not have a kiosk they should not be ticketed they that ticket should be weighed that's that that is just taking ADV you can't pay for something that you're not even given an opportunity to pay for so anyone who's received a pick I ticket that is not in a on a location that is not have a a kiosk we should absolutely that ticket should not be um honored uh next maybe we need to have a and one I want to commend our parking our parking authority because they are they are doing what they're supposed to they're out there doing their job and we yes there was a lot of complaints that we have um these chaos and no one is enforcing it so yes now we have them and they are out there they're being very diligent um but yes there are several up there we have had countless um of our constituents coming in here telling us about how they are 6:55 they are L cly getting 6 o'clock they're getting me tickets when they they're not even supposed to be on duty so we have to if we could be mindful of the time stamp of when they are getting when these tickets are being given that might help as well and maybe identify maybe some of of our um employees who are just being a little overzealous in their job we want them to be um on point but there is a uh as council president said when you're doing things you're bragging about it that's that's not right you're not doing your job you're you're trying to just um that's a power thing for me it's a power move and we don't want that we want and we want folks to come um as Mr Hamlet has alluded to we want them to be here we don't want folks to say they don't want to come to Trenton our downtown area we're trying to build it back up and want folks who want to be there but I know that if I got a ticket after going out and having a good night um in a space that I didn't see anything for that would not uh encourage me to come back and we want folks to be encouraged to come back to our city thank you sir thank you council president yes councilwoman Feliciano okay so I'm G just um go through this and this will serve as I guess my Civic comment then right okay um the because we're in Civic comment now right okay so um to the point about parking yesterday the mayor and I had a public discussion um on Facebook live about the parking and and all of the discrepancies and things that happened Mr Howard I did see your post as well as other people's post and comments and everything and so we got into it and we talked about it um the mayor stated at that time that it is at the discretion of the council that we can actually we can look into it and say that if we want to designate something as it pertains to downtown um without there being a charge for parking we can do that we can look to see about if there's certain hours of time we could do that as well I did bring up the point about the sage and everything that he's supposed to be going to see what's going on he was not aware about the um the kios that did not work because someone had brought it to my attention about the one out in front of the lobby club we talked about the fact of the ones that were not on the street because of the construction and stuff but then in also speaking to a parking enforcement officer I was like well how is anybody giving out tickets and there's no chaos and they said well if you have a parking enforcement officer that is timing or riding by based on the signs so director um Harris to your point about if it's two-hour parking or whatever is happening if they're timing when they go by then they would still issue a ticket based upon what the sign said even though there is no kiosk that is there so we do need to look into it I agree that something needs to be done also in the discussion we talked about overall planning of the city and how when things were done at one point in time x amount of areas were given this amount of spaces to park because they said this in this section people would have cars and these people would catch buses and these people could walk and ride bikes and all that good stuff well the Dynamics of our city have changed great that um we discussed the possibility also of having a look a study to look throughout to see about the signage and what needs to be updated and what needs to be changed so to your point about the street sweepers and all of that kind of stuff so Council we just have to do our due diligence to just come together and then just really look to work with the administration and then see what legislation we can put down to better suit um what's happening um around us in the city thank thank you council president council president thank you councilman Harrison one quick question sure regarding the park and enforcers are they able or allowed I don't know if they're able or allowed to wear uh body camers so our plan is because there's been complaints I and we recognize that and there's been customers who say listen I wasn't parked in that spot and then they go to the judge who has the final say so we are going to for 20 for calendar year 25 we will be buying body cameras and that does two things uh it lets me know that folks are where they should be okay and that customer service is being you know it's uh taken seriously but also it protects the customer and the parking officer because now when you go to the judge and you say wait a minute I wasn't parked there I wasn't legal and everybody te tends to say that they were never in the the wrong spot we can pull that feed up and say wait you were you were not for example we had a resident uh do some damage to a vehicle recently so what we need I what we're hoping is to avoid that kind of threats is that they'll be turned off by the body camera you know you know you'll say wait a minute I'm gonna take a step back because they'll identify themselves and say listen we you are being T right you'll see that uh and then we can make improvements from there but as I said earlier we support 100% any modifications that need to be done that improve the experience of Trentonian their goal is not to make money here the go all we're doing is enforcing the law as you have it once you change it we'll change simple okay Council M Harrison did you want to go on to your Civ comments what's oh I'm still GNA L at least at least two minutes three minute yeah um okay uh I I'll be quick I'll try to be quick let's see um let's see iise um Tron office has a grand opening uh Thursday January 16th uh 10:00 a.m. to 2: p.m. West Presbyterian Church 1140 Greenwood Avenue featuring uh Health Resource Fair uh Global Grace Health van Bank service Social Service um employment Fair like I said this is another wonderful event um also like to thank inter room director Paul Harris they had Jefferson Vincent playground um over at Mammoth and Locust wonderful the the events for the kids it's more what we need in the community um also uh today there there is a a code blue um in the city it's from January the 7th through January the 9th temperatur are going to go below 30 degrees um you can go to warming shelter at the Sam na Center 611 Chestnut Avenue um between 400 p.m and uh yeah between 4 P p.m. and 9:00 p.m. City will also provide transportation um 609 989 3464 um also like to thank M Ruth Carter because she's always doing a wonderful job for this great City this community and um I think that's about it everybody oh happy new years's everybody thank you very much thank you man thank you councilman Harrison um councilwoman Frisby thank you council president so I wanted to um first congratulate um our newly elected president councilwoman um Gonzalez um and our Council vice president councilwoman Edwards um on not only becoming president and vice president but also for both of them making history um as first Latina and Native American so congratulations to both of you um on that um that great achievement so um next I wanted to I to congratulate I believe Arch he has gone but I wanted to congratulate him also on his newly newly being appointed now as from interim to actually director I wanted to say thank you for the resolution but U for Vanessa Sullivan it has been a long Hall and I'm glad to see that that is going to finally be um finished in February um I did want to also know that Council um Williams already made comment about it but Ken Bullock the his Services were on yesterday and um as I gave then I wanted to send my condolences to him and his family and to all of those who have lost loved ones in the new year I did want won want to be Miss is not saying Happy New Year to everyone that is here wishing you well I'm looking forward to a great year working with each and every one of you especially our directors always Mr Dan always good to see you um here and I'm looking forward to the US getting up some type of resolve with the parking this has been something that has been that's not new but you know since we have gotten um up to speed with trying to get parking um enforced now we have gotten to the other side of it it's being overly enforced so we've got to get the balance in there so thank you director um Harris for working with us we know that we're going to get it um it might take us a minute but we will absolutely get there uh and to those who um know of an elderly person if you know of someone who is homeless if you know of someone who may not have a heater it just like uh my Council um councilman Harrison said my counterpart it is a cold blue it is extremely cold I believe tonight is supposed to go down to 19 degrees with the windchill factor supposedly making it feel like seven if you can get someone to direct them to one of the warming shelters please do so if you can uh call on I I did it on last night and I'll do it again on tonight calling my uh seniors the community just to check on them see how they're doing you never know who needs a cup of soup who doesn't have a blanket whose heat is not on the oil cannot get through they don't have the money to pay oil if you can get them a blanket you never know or call someone who you think might be able to help um and I think that is about oh my westm community conversations will be on next Tuesday uh February I believe it's the 14th uh that will be at the old the West War Trenton police at 5:30 on Artis please come out please join us for a great conversation there's always always great information that is suspense there being being given from the directors or coming in from our residents please come out we're going to have our um water department is going to direct is going to um report out and we're going to have Mr Jim be he is will be coming out as well I'm excited about that and we're going to get our Recreation Department back out there again we want to to just have it rotating so we have a little bit of everyone so yes uh Diego you'll be next um director um we're just looking to having the conversations to continue and continue and can keep our uh Community updated February that's the 14th February 14th Tuesday I'm sorry Janu I'm on February thank you January January I'm moving it I'm sorry January 14th at 5:30 um please come out and with that I'm actually going to end a couple seconds early I'm going to read a portion of our mission statement which recognizes that the people of Trenton have made us Guardians of the public trust we are committed to govern with integrity and fiscal responsibility to seek excellence in the city's operations and to serve all the city's people with respect and compassion thank you enjoy your evening get in and stay warm thank you councilwoman fby councilwoman Figo kenberg thank you council president um good evening everybody um two things I wanted to address tonight one um sanitation department I really want to thank the sanitation department for all of your hard work um you guys really did pull through and I know there were a lot of complaints by a lot of people on social media throughout the holiday schedule um I want to give kudos to um assistant director Hector way you were out there yourself on the truck you were actually um moving and picking up trash um and being very responsive I know that there were so many delays you know for the South Ward you know we had to wait for the west ward to get finished for the South Ward to start and so on and so forth and it's not easy um I do hope that moving into the holiday seasons we get a little more better acclimated a little um more organized I know that you guys were um slighted with a lot of call outs and people you know not not showing up to work um there were inspectors out there working working the trucks so I just really want to say kudos to the sanitation department do hope that things can move smoother moving forward um but you know to those that were complaining you know this is not an easy job you know the city has to get done there are holidays and while we're preparing for our holidays at home you guys were out there working so just just wanted to applaud Sanitation Department for that and hope that we could get some of these Kinks out in the future moving forward um the other thing that I wanted to address um there were things put out on social media with regards to this donation to the animal shelter that we have addressed um from an individual who owns a quote unquote I guess illegal cannabis business and and my name was put out as being part of or having knowledge of this donation upwards of $100,000 um for that donation I had knowledge only of a donation that was um made prior to that that was orchestrated between this individual and shelter staff on June 1st 202 24 that was for a refrigerator a microwave a washer and a dryer none of that accumulating to anywhere close to upwards of $100,000 I was not made aware of had no awaren of any donation that was made subsequent to by this individual how it was organized how it was put into place I wanted to put that out there um and additionally it was also brought up that this same individual who made donations to South Village on September 21th first 2024 um that I was made aware of on on or around that day South Village which is elderly um living and disabled um were without an elevator in one part of the building that has five floors those elders and disables were unable to get out of the building they were unable to go to the grocery store for a number of four to five days I had put something on social media requesting anybody to assist um to give donations um for that this same individual who donated to the animal shelter was one of many individuals who responded to that post came through and and donated um water food non- perishables perishables so on and so forth um the social worker of um South Village was was made aware um and assisted as well as um individuals in the office um it was told to me that there's apparently an issue with this person's background um uh maybe a criminal background or something those things I'm not aware of if somebody shows up to give donations in the community in the city of Trenton if I'm asking for something in need I do not ask you what is your background I'm not asking you what is your criminal background I don't care you know we're here to give back to the community we're here to assist the community so I just wanted to put that out there that um it is not something that we should be doing and those who complain about who was giving donations should have stepped up and donated themselves so I just want to put that out there um I have nothing further I want to thank everybody for being here tonight and have a wonderful wonderful evening stay warm and get home safe thank you thank you councilman kenberg um fig kber councilman Edward Council Council vice president at wordss thank you um good evening everyone uh first of all happy New Year I just want to say um congratulations again to council uh president Gonzalez and um you did very well on your very first meeting and um I just want to say congratulations to director Arch lison um he is a a wealth of knowledge when it comes to economic development in uh in municipal government and I look forward to continuing to work with him uh with the EC Economic Development subcommittee with Council women phano and Williams uh I would love for us to establish monthly meetings like I spoke about earlier and tackle some of these uh abandoned and dilapidated properties and um shopping centers and things and strip malls that we have throughout the city to try to facilitate moving those along a little quicker I want to say uh my condolences to the bulock family his daughter Kenny is a dear friend of mine my heart aches for her and um the Bullock family is is definitely one of the pillars of the community so I just keep them in my prayers about the 250th plan our 250th anniversary is coming up very quickly next year and um I would love to work with the administration on what the plans are around that but in in speaking to that regard the parking downtown um as we are planning this 250th it's important that we promote a lot of the businesses that are in the city but it this plan will not be as impactful or effective if we continue to have parking issues downtown so I definitely would like for us to come up with some type of remedies for that as quickly as possible um parking enforcement is a necessary as ECT of maintaining order and generating Revenue but it must be balanced with fairness and accessibility so I think that you know due to this is a multifaceted issue it stems from uh a lot of years of lack enforcement that created a culture where um a lot of people just were used to being able to park anywhere without paying so um as we are focusing on bringing in Revenue so that we can provide more services and things like that throughout the city improving our Parks improving our infrastructure bringing in revenue is important in parking is one of those things so what but that also comes with educating people so I think that as we were talking about enforcing the parking to you know get a sense of order and um and organization throughout the city uh we missed the point of doing a press release or doing some type of public Outreach so people knew you know what times you can park in which areas which areas there's no parking at and things like that and um and how much as well so the parking garages are free on Saturdays and Sundays um during the week they do cost and also the kiosk cost but I think you know putting it out there how much these things are will kind of ease you know people's feelings about having to pay for it um it it we have a very like I said it's a it was a culture shock a lot of people don't believe that oh it's just TR I'm not paying for parking oh there's nothing downtown I'm not paying for parking but we have rules for a reason um they exist for a reason so I think doing a little public education and Outreach and then also like um uh director Harris said um Council looking at some of these rules and changing them there's a lot of no parking zones downtown and in my opinion do not make sense and so I think that we need to allow parking especially like on South bro going up that hill once you get past M Hill Park between mhill Park and that Dunkin Donut that whole entire left lane where Turning Point Church is that makes no sense for there to be no parking right there and then also on on Lafayette uh on the side of the hotel and garage I know there's a bike lane there but I think it's more important for us to have parking there and instead of a bike lane and maybe we can figure that out um if it takes a traffic study or some type of study I know people love studies but I think just using a little Common Sense here and realizing that bike traffic is really not that heavy and we need to increase parking um abilities and that will help our businesses because a lot of our businesses have closed down they have left the city and we're trying to attract new businesses we have this 250 of coming up and we have a dead downtown and we have to focus on that those are my comments for the evening thank you so much and have a good night thank you Council vice president um so I'll be quick I was hoping we got out of here about 8 so we're right on time um prayers to the Bullock family and the tibs family who both lost um two gems in our city I also want to thank the city workers I know was mentioned earlier sanitation department and also the recreation department because I know some of the recreation department also helped out with picking up trash and I didn't know Mr Hector was one of the ones so so thank you for that for being hands on and showing people like you don't just delegate you also are a Hands-On type of person so thank you for that um I am looking forward to sitting down and possibly looking at the um the parking enforcement and and resoning and doing whatever we need to do to get the parking issues resolved um and then also just a a quick announcement uh Clara's Hart will be hosting this ual winter giveaway this Saturday and that is at 10:00 a.m. at the rescue mission if anyone would like to come out um we will be giving away hats gloves scarves and things to those in need um also you this is the month to register your animals so if you have not registered your animals please do so at the vital statistics Department um for the month of January and I believe that's is oh and I just want to say shout out to the TR High basketball girls and boys they both won this evening so I just want to say congratulations to them and and thank you all for being present happy New Year and thank you Madame President if there's no other Civic comment you have no other comments you can make ask for a motion to adjourn yes we have a motion to adjourn second roll call councilwoman vice president Edwards yes councilwoman Feliciano oh oh I'm sorry pleas oh oop I'm sorry uh Council Figo kenberg yes councilwoman frisbee yes councilman Harrison all right councilwoman Williams yes council president Gonzalez yes yes and yes we did take a vote on the consent agenda meeting ajour thank you [Music] right now [Music]