Madam vice president if you'd like to ask everyone to please stand for the flag salute this yes please stand I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all all right let's go ahead with roll call councilwoman Edwards present vice president figuro kenberg present councilwoman Frisbee for the record to the public councilwoman frisbee is present telephonically this evening councilwoman Gonzalez present they said this sorry gracias councilman Harrison and councilwoman Williams pres gra council president Feliciano gracias myself Ron Garcia municipal clerk presid uh Mr Ki is excused from this meeting and in for West Bridges is Scott Miko Assistant Attorney hello he's present president Mr Harrison has entered the room all right thank you on your call oh u m vice president if it's okay with you I'll read the invocation at this time yes please proceed 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 thy greater glory amen amen right and Madam vice president at this time I believe we have a presentation from Kingsbury thank you yes and and Madam vice president if you want to notify the uh presenters of how much time they have at this time yes pleas do um I'm asking is will this be a 10-minute presentation five minute presentation yes five minutes correct you have a five minute presentation gentlemen thank you thank you 10 minutes 10 minutes I my apologies looks like you got a 10-minute presentation thank you again there you go guys thanks all right looks like we're good great to be in front of you all again uh thanks for having us as always um I'll just start with a quick overview of the transaction that we've been collectively working on for quite a while now that we're very excited about um the a partnership that uh Jeff and myself are part of is acquiring and renovating preserving Kingsbury Towers which needs it and um I we always like to point out that the the calculation of the tenants rent will not change this has been a part of the message from the very beginning from to us to you and also us to the residents uh residents will not be relocated they will have a place at kingsbery if they desire one um and we are doing this transaction this preservation with uh New Jersey housing mortgage Finance Agency and the City of Trenton um so just to go over the the scope of the preservation again we've talked about this a number of times and it's continued to evolve and gotten more elaborate um from apartment Interiors to common areas the building exterior and Building Systems we are you know revamping the building in a very Major Way um as all of you know as you've driven past it seen photos taken a tour of the property it it needs work and we are excited to do that um oh I forgot to mention we're also adding uh 16 accessible accessible units to bring the property up to current code which are currently not there um this is a nice picture of what we hope to achieve once the renovations are complete um and you've seen that picture before we're happy to show it off um so you all thank you very you all approved and signed this resolution and agreement for a pilot for the property at 5% uh back in February uh it was a a long process and I think we are all better for it we're really excited this is a a huge part of the property's success to have stable and consistent uh taxes for a long period of time um and as I mentioned before the scope has you know steadily been increasing not just what we are going to do but the cost of it um partial that partially driven by the fact that the scope itself is increasing but also because the cost of materials and financing costs are going up um so this is roughly a $120 million transaction as it stands today uh total development costs and the the way this transaction is structured as with many other affordable housing uh properties is it's has to be financed at least 50% with tax exempt bonds those bonds are being issued by hmfa and that's you know part of the reason that we this is a property that's involved with hmfa in the first place um so 50% of 120 million roughly 60 million of that will need to be financed by tax exempt bonds and this is a essentially it's too large for hmfa to finance in one transaction um so the the way that we are the solve for this issue is by splitting the the transaction into two um the projects will still you know remain mostly the same this is a more form over function but it allows the property to be rehabed to the same level with the same financing Financial structure um but it just split in half um there's really no material cons so I'm I'll just tell you what's good about this situation uh it allows hmfa to finance the project which is absolutely essential for this to happen uh it allows closing to happen more quickly because there there may be some way that we that in the world that you could figure out to do a deal of this size but this is the this is the solution that works now um it allows the scope of work to remain the same one of the ways that you could solve this problem is to redu scope from the job but as I've said before and as we all know we should not remove any scope from this transaction we should bring the property up to current standards and it would be a shame to not do that um and you know there will be some added legal costs and paperwork but we're happy to do all of that to make this project happen um I I didn't put in the presentation and I should just should say these two projects will close concurrently so so there you know from the perspective of someone watching construction happen there's there will be no difference if it's one project or two um so our request tonight at from you guys is to split the pilot into two separate agreements so there'll be one for East Tower and one for the West Tower that's what we're asking for so I'll open it up to questions thank you um Council questions yes I'd like to ask a question councilwoman Williams thank you so if you go over a little more detail uh how the decision came and direction from NJ mhfa on having to split this I know what you talked about you put on the screen as far as the presentation but if you can kind of break it down in more layman's terms why this was absolutely necessary uh yeah I I'm not sure if I can do it in more layman's terms because it has to do with the the pooled bonds that they're going to sell to the public market so it gets very Financial try to just try to as Denzel Washington said in Philadelphia I'm a third grader okay I think it's um when hmfa issues these bonds they get sold to the public and so the public has to understand the risk of the bonds like How likely are they to be repaid and when is a single property or a single loan that's too large it's considered uh credit risk so those bonds might be riskier than if the properties were smaller um yeah good sorry yeah it's it it has to do with the rating agency so when hmfa issues bonds and their whole Bond program is rated by SNP and when S&P does their due diligence and analyzes their their bond issuances they will see one issuance for $60 million which dwarfs all their other deals so again it's more form over function that you know splitting it up East Tower for 30 million West Tower for 30 million um that allows them to to make the a rating agencies a little more comfortable or if it were to stay at 60 um they would actually they might even have trouble selling those bonds I don't want to say that but it it it seems that they think ask to speak for them but just to kind of put in I don't know if they'll have an issue selling the bonds as much as it could affect their overall rating for the agency in general which could cause the C the the interest rate to go up for the but at the end of the day when all this if if it were to come to happen and everything gets renovated and rebuilt uh the both buildings will be owned by the same company and both buildings will be treated the same as far as the quality of the work uh the um What the residents can expect as far as quality of life um as far as them still being able to have the right to return none of that will ever change that's 100% correct the only difference will be the people in East Tower will pay their rent to entity called call it kingsberry East preservation and the folks in the West Tower will pay their rent to kingsberry West preservation but the ownership everything will be exactly the same okay thank you very much any other questions from Council okay thank you very much seeing none thank you thank you thanks at this time um I understand that there are candidates for our ethics board um here present this evening if you'd like to come up so we can hear from you good afternoon good evening everyone members of council ladies and gentlemen my name is Erica Presley I'm a native of Trenton New Jersey um former city worker current state worker my current position includes working for the office of school ethics within New Jersey Department of Education I am a candidate for the Trenton Trenton ethics board um I'm sure my professional background my educational background and my current experience will make me a great candidate for the position I have current uh experience with ethical complaints um Financial disclosures trainings making sure everyone's is compliant with everything that I just detailed if not our office does order issues orders to show calls I feel that with my current experience and working in the office of school ethics that I can become a exceptional board member of the trans ethics board thank you is there any questions I'm so unprepared for this meeting so excuse me ma'am I have a couple questions councilwoman Williams Mr pres was great to see you thank you as well I'd like to just a couple questions and reason um if you know having you come tonight as a new member it's really and good and it's important because we have had problems in the past uh over I'd say like the last five or 10 years with some boards not having quorums or some people uh they come on to a board and as time goes by by their interest wains or they just for whatever the reason they sto showing up right and I haven't been on zoning board for a long time um I could see particularly when we had issues during covid of not being half a quorum and it kind of stops the process of the city of moving forward on different things so I want to thank you very much for coming and also as a Trenton and stepping up to want to be part of one of our boards to help our city thank you it's a pleasure so uh my only question is uh what inspired you to particularly choose ethic over another but I know that's part of your work um but we can talk a little bit more about that well um ethics to me has always been a huge huge factor in any of my work um I feel that it's a duty for people to you know be held accountable for their actions it's it can go under the board or under the table but me working in the field now I see that there's so many people who are passionate about you know ethics in the workplace so although it's completely different in school ethics based on my knowledge for them or from that I can just be more passionate in what the city upholds and because I used to work for the city I saw a lot of things that you know were slipped under the rugs so me being outside of the working for the city and just me being experienced in what an ethical complaint would entail in the details and not just you know from what we read there's always three sides to a story so as long as my colleagues will be helpful and you know wanting to get to to the bottom of if it's even an ethical complaint we can just move the city forward in ways that it wasn't before so although the position is not paid I think that I will be dedicated to just putting the city in the right track thank you very much appr thank you is there any more questions any other questions perfect M I just want to thank you for coming before us today um your presentation is such that I mean it seems like you are truly interested in doing this line of work and as you stated um used to work for the city of Trenton and you saw some ethical issues and some problems and those are those are things that definitely go overlooked or push under the rug quite often absolutely um so it's really great to see somebody with your background stepping up to the plate to serve in the capacity that you're looking to serve so thank you thank you how are you chamber it's good to see you U my name is Winston Mills and I'm applying for this ethical committee the board um my background in it is that I have a show a podcast that I try to get the differences between people among in the city as as as as I um as I've been doing most of you would know me from my show and um my main deal is to try to get everybody so the city can go forward I'm a Trenton born Trenton raised guy you know I mean this is a good job this is it's not really a job it's not that I'm getting paid for anything it's the same way that I'm doing my podcast at this time so I was asked to come and speak um speak to the speak to the board speak to you guys and and um see if I fit the job I think that I already fit the job because a couple of you were on my show um already you know but um I mean if if it's anything that you guys you know if you want want to ask me any questions shoot them thank you Mr Mills uh Council any questions um I have a question Council Williams good evening sir good to see how are you good um just I wanted to get a little more towards uh why ethics is of particular interest to you um for this board and then also um regarding the board and a commitment to it uh how do you see this uh as a way to help our city so um I my background is that I'm a Caribbean my parents are Caribbean I know a lot of other different um ethnicities throughout the city so growing up here I seen a lot of um shortcomings where where just cuz people were certain uh ethnic background they were counted out so my thing on the whole like what I would like to do make the even the playing Ground even for everybody that's that's the only thing I wanted to always do just make the playing Ground even for everybody Creed whatever you are that's well that's good and up or okay anybody else any other questions anybody anybody ji any anybody that's it thank you guys thank you Mr Mills Madam vice president just to interrupt briefly I just want to give the council president the option of whether they want to take over the meeting or if they'd like to yield thank you I'm going to yield to council vice president Figo penberg tonight thank you understood thank you on your call Madam vice president proceed certainly at this time M vice president we've reached the point of public comment I believe we have three members three individuals signed up for public comment this time to the Public Public comment will be five minutes long you may address any matter that you wish please do understand that the council is not obligated to respond the first person up for public comment will be Joe I'm sorry Chapman thank you Joe and Lawrence Chapman thank you hello my name is Lauren Chapman I'm Joseph CH how you doing okay thank Miss felici honor to bring me up we have a situation on two matters um I live on um Bel Avenue and like every year there a church there that has a Ting and it makes it to where all our residents have to move their vehicles to park somewhere else and most of the people on that street are disabled and I feel that is not fair because they don't go to everybody's door and try to get signatures from everybody all the residents to see if it's okay but when it snows or anything like that they will not allow us to park in their parking lot so I feel if they're going to have their outing in this year they should be able to have it to where Bel where the merca hospital is that way they can set up all their tents all the way up that way because it's all vacant instead of putting their tents in front of residents homes and they make it inconvenience like I'm disabled myself so I feel that it's not fair and I feel that if they want to have it I don't have nothing against the church or anything in that nature but it's not fair for the people who pay taxes on that block so and the next matter I'm here is for the animal shelter yes um my brother he works there and they're having a problem there with the animal shelter there's a lot of dogs there that shouldn't be there because a lot of them is the facility is not big enough for them to hold these these animals and I fostered a dog last year it was a pit bull took my own money and took the dog and got the shots for him and got ravy shots and P shots and everything and um they got somebody's new there that don't know what they're doing uh what was her name Laura Laura uh G Garber her name is Garber now she's disrespecting all the people that is employed there emplo she's using her her her um her status where she thinks she knows what she doing there's people that's been here like 17 years and these dogs they can't be put in cages that's the reason why I Foster a dog because these dogs are very aggressive and it's hard to even train them and it's hard to even keep the the facility clean because they need room to where they can leted out their aggression and that way the dog wouldn't be so hard to even take control of and then there's another thing that they need a guard down there at night in order for somebody to leave their dog there they need a guard there 247 that way people just can't come and leave their dog there and then they end up in the shelter where he have to take care of the dog right and then it's not fair to him or any other employees that work down there now he's uh he's in his he's a senior he should be 56 years old I'm a senior citizen I'm they put me in the animal shelter and where they got me working there is in the kennels I'm doing 30 dogs by myself that's a lot and it shouldn't be like that and then no one's helping me I does this every day I get to work six o'clock in the morning and I'm there all day to 4 and he's cleaning feces constantly all day by myself he's getting no kind of help whatsoever and then the new people who's down there trying to dictate to him and tell him he's not doing his job threatening him that he gonna lose his job because of this so I feel that's not right and whoever put that person in in that position should not be there because they don't know nothing about dogs right I had dogs all my life and I know where the dog you know that's man's best friend you don't treat nobody like that right that's like inhumane so all we ask you to do is look into it and something to get these dogs out of there because there's too many of them overcrowed it's overwhelmed you can't even walk through there there dogs on top of dogs cats on top of cats and it's not fair to the animal and it's not fair to the employees that work there because somebody's going to get hurt because it's a vicious dog most of those dogs come from drug dealers they were fighting dogs and you know that's all they know you just can't walk up to a dog like that and think he's going to be okay he's your friend he's not because I've seen people get their finger written off from a dog at this K and they're breaking through time we called the um fire department they must be working with the city or something because they're not doing anything they they keep claiming oh we're going to get in touch with them we're going to do something about it it's nothing being done they need a big facility where these dogs can run and actually get all that aggression out of because that that shelter I wouldn't put out no I would that's why I fostered the dog I didn't want to see that dog in the shelter yes and I found her at home so she's doing well so I took her out on the farm yes she can run all she want that's all I want to say yes thank you gentlemen um can you tell us the name of this officer again the person in charge you're having issues with Laura Garber do you know what is her rank Laura Garber she comes in on Monday I mean Wednesday no she come in Monday and Wednesday she's only there two days but she's supposed to be like a dog trainer or something trying to train the dogs but what her job is if you're going to do it don't try to get us involved with it because we that's pulling us from our job what we're there to do so by messing with her trying to get two dogs that's not going to be able to go to a a home or anything that's just wasting our time because then we have other dogs that's still there and we're not able to keep up on our work because like I said it's only me in the kennels by myself by you taking me from one end to go help you do something then I'm behind on my work so then I'm getting yelled at and screamed at because they saying I'm not doing my job okay all right thank you so much um again I remember doing the walkthrough with you a few weeks ago yes um so I definitely understand what you're talking about and yes with this trainer she does training and levels gauges aggression but thank you again thank you okay you're welcome any other questions nothing okay thank you thank you good evening all right have a good one sh shaquila thank you please do state your name and address for the record my address um my name is shaquila ammerer I live out west Trenton for other reasons I choose not understood we have it on F thank you all right um I took it upon myself in the past couple of months to have several conversations I am a mother in Trenton I live here I work here I work in three different fields I work with the disabled I work with kids I work with elderly and I work with six people and the past through three years after covid things have went downhill the conversations I hear at work at all Sites is housing I'm trying to figure out how did rent and Trenton go from 15 to 177,000 to $2800 a month without no communication from landlords I have made it my goal to find out who my landlord is go to the address have a conversation about repairs in my house sent letters offered to buy my unit and was denied with no conversation I had people show up to my home unannounced stating that they were coming from the previous landlord and that's the part that shocks me my previous landlord and my new landlord a well known in the city and the fact that I raising my kids in a home that hasn't pass inspection in the past two years yet my rent has to be paid I work hard so I don't qualify for legal aid but then I found out I'm just not the only one going through this there are several single moms single families double families that cannot afford to talk to these landlords because we have no legal help the only legal agency in this town is legal aid and guess what I work so hard to be able to qualify for a mortgage that they won't get involved in a serious situation right about now I found out my rental property has trees from the city on the ground that are growing through the basement which causes me water damage I have wrote letters I've came down here with pictures this recent rainstorm it fell in my backyard missing my cars and my neighbor's cars my landlord has came to my house we have had conversations he did not show back up he left me without heat from December to March the 7th after doing a walk through now the first thing you'll say is why didn't I call the city because there's no one to protect me against retaliation not just me but other people my previous landlord before that was able to collect City assistance housing assistant for reasons for me and other tenants I'm the last one standing on that block I watch my new landlord remodel three houses on my block roof yard front door everything never came to knock on the door to ask me what I needed with my kids my son 23 special education student graduated from high school cooking school at that he works he's a good young boy but he will never be able to move out and afford rent without being on government assistance and I don't want my kids to grow up and be on government assistance I want them to hold their own I take my paycheck and I pay for medical bills from my older daughter who is trying to work within the city trying to start her own business but like I said I'm finding out from other mothers single fathers they have the same fight have you guys ever been to the courthouse on a Friday you have the most powerful attorney in this town that will not answer to tenants but only to landlords and we cannot fight him as long as we work the average person is lucky to make $20 an hour in Trend lucky and that's still not enough to pay for food and everything the cost of living has went up but do you know that when these kids are leaving high school now they're making $15 an hour which counts them out for Medicaid which means your young your new generation is now paying for medical bills that they can't afford or doctors I have walked around I have talked to people there's a family that lives in their car that moves around through the city because they can't come up with 7,000 thank you Council vice president can I just ask for her ad if you could um Shaquil if you could just leave your information with Mr Garcia or Mr Garcia if you could give her mine also please thank you you our next public comment is from Leslie wilbourne good even Council how's everyone this evening I'm Leslie wilborne um 29 um hav 29 H Avenue in the north ward in Trenton um I really um this is more of a thank you um for the council and um uh Jennifer uh councilwoman Jennifer Williams um we did get our one way approved and it's up and running as of April 11th and we're so happy of that and and we've all already seen the changes um we don't have the uh chaos that we have you know going down the street it still there's still some people that um have not you know gotten used to the one way as of yet but overall it's um excellent it's working very well and I thank you so much a much needed change thank you so very much and I had one other issue but I discussed it with Jennifer and she's already aware of and she's handling that so that's it thank you again thank you Miss wi and Madame vice president I believe that's all the people we have for public comment this evening uh you may start at Civic comment with anyone you wish thank you um I'd like to start this evening with councilwoman Williams thank you ma'am just want to say thanks to everyone who came to speak tonight um and particular some of the issues uh thank you to miss wbor for uh coming it's always nice to hear uh when we're doing a good job and I'm really thankful for this full Council um wanting to make sure that H Avenue became one way for the safety of everyone it's extremely important and um M Kea I'm really sorry about the situation but thank you for bringing this to light uh even further this has been an issue uh for every single member on this Council um trying to get control of rental uh prices and everything that's going on the condition of rental properties in the city and how that is handled and just please know that we are all doing our best to do that and we want to make sure that members of our citizenry all Trent tonings are included in this and the more information we get is the better to make that happen so thank you so much um so I just have a few quick announcements uh tonight uh regarding uh right off one thing I wanted to discuss because it came up the other night regarding uh the downtown Entertainment District um very much looking forward to working with my Council colleague uh councilwoman Jossie Edwards uh our city Administration on trying to get a ordinance together in the coming months so we can have something to bring to the downtown business owners as well as the public uh so we can settle this issue and have a thriving downtown energy mment District that attracts more people gives folks things to do and also serves the needs and desires of everybody and also make sure that we take care of the concerns some folks have so I'm really looking forward to that I think that'll be a very positive development this year coming up uh also um want to make sure everybody knows that uh for announcement this Saturday at 8:30 will be the opening day parade for nor shenton Youth Baseball which is something that uh always is an an amazing thing to see all particularly the children the coaches and everyone out there uh getting started on baseball season it's such a great uh event but also it's a sign of Hope and a sign of renewal so if you uh can possibly join that area they'll be marching I believe at 8:30 uh or so is going to start the parade From Galilee Baptist Church at 4:40 Martin Luther King uh going down Martin Luther King and then heading uh down inam uh to the ball field so please join us uh for the celebration it's a very positive thing for our city uh the other thing I want to uh talk about tonight and just give one moment please is uh some really great news that art all night will be back this year uh the the organization will be making more announcements to try to get volunteers Etc officially but I've been authorized to tell everyone that it will be held on Saturday June 29th from 300 p.m. to 12:00 a.m and begin again on Sunday June 30th from 6 am to 3 pm. and there's going to be a virtual component that will take place for the full 24 hours and will be able to be accessed at the art all night website and different social media and it'll be held this year at the war memorial so that's really a great thing for our city to get art on night reestablished it was such a great event before and uh hopefully everyone will come out and support uh this event and this endeavor by artworks and their partners because it's really an exciting event particularly um I know for me seeing my kids submit art and having people look at it it was such a treat so please uh come and attend that when it happens and then um I do want to also on a more serious note regarding uh the announcement that just came out in the last 24 hours regarding lead and our Parks um this is a really a big concerning issue for everyone obviously uh but one of the things we need to make sure is that we're getting information quicker and we're also getting more information as it's happening and I look forward to uh working with the federal partners and administration to making sure that happens in the future particularly when there's going to be additional testing areas but it's good to find out uh that if we have problems we know where they are and that they will be taken care of uh because some of the parks uh like burning Park and then also Vine uh they have certain areas that are not going to be accessible uh other areas will be accessible where they're capped already with uh basketball courts but we need to make sure through all our channels of communication that we get the information out there we get accurate information but also that we're able to answer questions from our constituents and the public because they deserve to know as well as we do everyone has a right to know because this is an important health issue I'm glad that our city and our Administration are taking on rather than kicking the can down the road because Trenton is the history of America and that includes pollution so godess thank you councilwoman councilman Harrison uh I just wanted to say um we're going to be soon be working on the budget and um I think everybody on this Council uh believes we need more inspectors um we have a lot of rental properties in the city we have people who are always reaching out to each one of us regarding issues regarding the places they live in so um hopefully with the DCA and the administration can work together to make sure that we can address more ongoing issues throughout the city um also would like to thank the the two people that came here tonight uh Miss Presley and Mr Mills want to be on the TR ethics um Mr Chapman who came here he comes here many times he always telling us about things that are going on in the community I appreciate what he says and does in the community um and also we we need to get more people to um come to this meeting or reach out to us to call us uh regarding issues that are going on in this City that we need to um we need to address so I like to thank everybody for their help and have a blessed evening thank you councilman uh councilwoman Gonzalez thank you thank you everyone for being here this evening um one I wanted to say thank you to the two Erica and Mr Mills for coming forth and being engaged and wanted to be a part of the ethics board as one thing I would say my colleagues and I we are trying to re established and um most of the boards who have been inactive so thank you for stepping up to do that um Mr Chapman who was gone um we'll talk to him a little bit later about that and as far as the animal shelter I also did a walkthr through it and it is overcrowded um so hopefully we can get this addressed uh really soon miss shaquila um I have your information this is happening far far too many times with many many of our residents going through the same thing you're going through I've been on a phone I was on a phone for about an hour today with the same um situation I want to connect you with the person who can possibly help you um and that is why also um before us tonight we have an ordinance that is to cap the of rent that landlords cannot increase it right now they can increase 7.5% or 7.9% I can't remember um but we're we're presenting that it will be capped only at 4% right now so that it's a balance and it's it's easier for the Senate as well as being fair to a landlord also but um so thank you for coming forward and allowing everyone to hear that situation because there's way too many people who are going through that same exact thing um thank you um for also coming forth um and letting us know the job that councilwoman Williams and all of my colleagues were doing so thank you because it's always good to hear someone being appreciative of the work that we're doing um just a few announcements we have um April April 24th is a Trenton southw neighborhood association community meeting that will be at 6:00 pm. at the Boys and Girls Club April 27th is the autism color run also Cafe conversations that will be held at Skillet at 11:00 a.m. the autism R will be at Trenton Central High School at 9:00 a.m. um also May 5th the free family photos that would be at calw Park um also on June 11 there will be a One-Stop shop EXP plement event in job fair at merca County College and that is from 10:00 a.m. to 3 10 10:00 a.m. to 300 p.m. so if you know anyone who is um who could use the expend please send them that way on June 11th at meren County College downtown Trenton July 9th the NAACP will be hosting their voting block party and there will be more information coming forth for that thank you all for being here this evening thank you councilwoman councilwoman Edwards thank you good evening everyone um I want to start off with uh well echo in the sentiments of my colleagues it's it's always good to for people to come back in here and just you know tell us that we're doing a good job because this is a thankless job a lot of the time but we are all here here for the betterment of our city so I I'm glad to see a lot of our work coming to fruition and with that being said um we're focusing right now on establishing a downtown Entertainment District like you heard councilwoman Williams mention and um and since finding out the steps of all of that so we as we focus on economic development it's important for us to focus on an Entertainment District so that our our entire population has somewhere to go something to do after work and on the weekends and things like that so first we will have to work on an ordinance and we are putting a group together so I'm happy that that's come into fruition so I want to say thank you to uh Jim Beach our chief of staff here and um for taking the uh first step on that and then after we get past that small hurdle then we'll get into amending chapter 10 section um 105 of the alcohol beverages so and then we're going to have a community conversation around this as well before an ordinance is even passed before any uh chapters are amended to our ordinances we're going to Loop in the community engage their interest in this and and support as well before we move forward with any um votes from Council so um and we're hoping to do that on June 6 so I'm looking forward to working with this group to get things done and with our Police director as well because having a public safety plan a part of this incoming uh flux of businesses that we're hoping to achieve is definitely important and um I wanted to I know uh councilwoman Gonzalez said it that Cafe conversations is on April 27th from 11:01 at Skillet um I just wanted to point out that this is organized by Officer Corey McNair at the Trenton police department and the Community Affairs he's the north Ward liaison to the community Department and a Community Affairs department and he had partnered with local entrepreneurs downtown who own uh businesses so there is the owner of much better Studios Quon Williams the owner of Skillet Cafe Robert willor and the owner of moja Life uh John Dockery which is our first legal cannabis business soon to be opening so we're excited for that as well so we hope that you can um see that come to fruition by the summer cuz he's nearly complete with his Renovations so um and good to see you all thank you for coming thank you councilwoman and councilwoman frisbee go ahead go ahead Council thank you so good evening I'm GNA make my comments brief I wanted to first thank kingsberry for coming out even with my not uh being there I apologize um being at this retreat but um I want to thank them for their presentation and if I heard clearly um Mr Chapman was there with um some concerns which I was not able to hear clearly but I will reach out to him in the coming days so that I can get clarification of what it is that um what his concerns were other than that I don't have any other announcements but I do want to read the full um City tr's mission statement which is recognizing 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 respect and compassion we are committed to enhance the quality of life throughout the city and to provide quality services to all citizens particularly those in greatest need we committed to conduct the city's Affairs respect for our environment to Foster opportunity empowerment and public partic IP ation and to pursue a vision of the city as and of the city as a community shared equally by all people I thank everyone for coming out tonight and thank everyone who came up to share um and I apologize that I wasn't able to hear everyone clearly but I will read back on the minutes get um more information from Mr Garcia thank you and enjoy your evening thank you councilwoman um I just have a couple of quick comments this evening um again I want to thank those who came came forward um to speak um and Miss Anderson I believe you mentioned a family living in their vehicle in the west ward and I do believe it may be the same person who emailed me today um which is really interesting right so um it's it is a problem that you know we're going through in our city but it's it's a nationwide Pro uh problem as well um but I just applaud you for being open um and expressing yourself and expressing your your concern and your issues and what you're going through at home because there are so many others going through what you're going through that are either afraid to or ashamed to speak out on it so I do applaud you for coming forward and I do hope that um this Council and this Administration can help you get the the help that is much needed for you um um I think that I just wanted to go into announcements um so again uh this Saturday uh from 3: to 10 p.m. uh Public Safety appreciation day um appreciating all public um Servants of the EMS and firefighters and police and Trenton ying and Lawrence so please come out it'll be a great day um South W neighborhood association again is cleaning up their community garden this Saturday at 9:00 a.m. on Lamberton and Ferman so please come out and let a help a hand or come and you know learn about different um plants for your garden or you know lend a hand bring out the kids um that'll be a nice day um May 4th at 10:00 a.m. is opening day for Trenton baseball at the bab Bru field so please come out and support um South Wards um baseball team we have um Trenton baseball and we have the Trent kns so please come out and support um uh let me see what else oh empowerment house um has an anger management program that they are launching for uh youth ages 14 to 18 so if you know any youth that um can utilize these types of services this type of mentoring these types of therapy what have you um please go to empowerment house 823 org this is in conjunction with betterway Isles and Trent Community Street teams um moving forward I just wanted to briefly discuss um we are inundated constantly with um issues regarding enforcement and again I know I've said this before I know that we present ordinances we try to reinforce ordinances we try to create ordinances that will um better what we believe will better the quality of life of you know City residents because that's what we're here to do we're here to serve we're here to you know balance the budget deal with the budget make sure that you know money gets appropriated where it's it's most needed and most beneficial but we also want to see rules and laws um that can be um you know that can create our daytoday um bring Revenue into the city but also just just give us overall order in our city so having said that you know we still do have issues with enforcement and it's at no fault of the players no fault of the the the individuals in those position but more so a fault of um the abundance of the employees that we have at our Helm to be able to enforce these things um so you know we are just continually asking the public to bear with us as we try to work out all these Kinks and we do try to um satisfy the overall needs of our community um you know in working to uh really wholly certify our Public Safety and our quality of life that we all deserve um so having said that I have nothing further um so I would like to now um pass it on to Madame President feliciana thank you good evening everyone thank you for being here tonight thank you for being present thank you Council vice president figel kenberg for facilitating the meeting tonight I appreciate it very much to everyone that came forward and spoke uh thank you for bringing forth what it is um that you had to say to let the council be aware I have spoken to Mr Chapman on many occasions and I have assisted him with several things um that he has had to deal with from Tor claims with his car to issues about uh potholes on bellw Avenue and the like and when he contacted me today um about the issue with his brother and the shelter and everything I advised him in the church on the street I have the information for all of that that um it is best sometimes to come forward and present it to the whole body so that everyone can hear exactly what's going on so as we're getting presented with different information from different places we can hear all of the various perspectives from everybody's point of view about what's happening so as we try to drill down to what needs to be done and what's happening we can hear it and make and make um good formidable decisions to miss shaquila I'm sorry that these things um are happening but you can trust and believe that the council within the power that we have are working to the best of our ability to make sure that there is a change as happens with various things that are happening in the city concerning these landlords these properties these um these rent increases leaving the properties just in shambles not holding up to their end of the bargain it is not fair and it is not right and we are working to help make it happen to councilman Harrison's point and we've said this time and time again we do need help with more inspectors in the city of Trenton we need a lot of help with a lot of things and I'm hopeful that as we do enter into this budget season that that the Administration does its part to adequately look at the landscape of what is going on and then as they present the budget to us that they have taken into consideration what is truly needed and then DCA when they look at it they will understand and see what it is that we need as well and help us to do what needs to be done to move Tren in the right direction Mama lit Miss wbor thank you for coming in and saying you know thank you that goes a long long way we do what we do not for form or fashion we do it for our love for the city but it is nice when people say um thank you and they see and understand because every day is not always an easy day and every day is not always a good day but we continue to press forward in the fight to help um to help the city to my Council um colleague councilwoman um Edwards yes to to you and councilwoman Williams I look forward to us getting this Entertainment District together in the north Ward and helping to make this happen as I look and and engaged in the emails with you back and forth and seeing the connection and the collaboration and the plans and the thoughts with careful thought and preparation as we move this thing forward we can actually help Trenton to begin prayerfully to rebuild and get itself together in its footing because we want to attract people to come in to invest in Trenton we want people to come in to help us to get the capital city back to a thriving place where people want to be here tourism and entertainment and things of the like right respectful entertainment and carefully thought out entertainment as well that being said I thank you all for again once again for coming here tonight um and thank you Council vice president for allowing me the opportunity to speak I turn it back over to you thank you Madame President Mr Garcia we can proceed certainly Madame vice president moving on with the docket this time uh we've reached a point of minutes for approval if you want to ask for a motion to approve minutes for February 20th 2024 and February 22nd 2024 do I have a motion to approve M minutes from February 20224 to February 22nd 2024 so moved second been moved in second I'll call the rooll councilwoman Edwards yes vice president figuro kenberg yes councilwoman frisbee yes councilwoman Gonzalez yes councilman Harrison yes councilwoman Williams yes yes council president Feliciano yes motion carried and Madam vice president if you want to ask for a motion to approve Communications and petitions may I have a motion to approve Communications and petitions so moved second thank you roll call councilwoman Edwards yes vice president figuro kenberg yes councilwoman fby yes councilwoman Gonzalez yes councilman Harrison yes councilwoman Williams yes and council president Feliciano yes motion carried on to ordinances for ordinances for second reading we have ordinance 24-23 ordinance authorizing the honorary name of Joseph and Mary Ravenel way to New Rose Street excuse me the new Rose Street that is a typo H the honorary naming of yes new road Street to Joseph and Mar Joseph and Mary Ravenel way my apologies are there any members of the public that wish to speak to this ordinance at this time seeing none Madame vice president if you want to ask for a motion to approve do I have a motion to approve so move second thank you roll call councilwoman Edwards yes vice president Figaro kenberg yes councilwoman frisbee councilwoman Gonzalez yes councilman Harrison yes councilwoman Williams yes council president bisan yes motion carried and Madam Vice President we reached the point of consent agenda at this time if you want to ask for a motion to approve the consent agenda consisting of resolutions 24- 1226 136 137 138 139 140 141 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 155 157 158 159 and 160 do I have a motion so move second second I'll call Royal councilwoman Edwards yes vice president figuro kenberg yes Council frisbee yes councilwoman Gonzalez yes councilman Harrison yes councilwoman Williams yes council president Feliciano yes motion carried and Madame President it's my understanding that the roll call resolutions will be for another a different date and I'll defer to the solicitor for that purpose that's right director Bridges asked me to um relay the fact that this will be considered at a future meeting if that's okay with council president vice president yes for this one thank you so excuse me I'm sorry um to be clear there's no executive session tonight no executive session thank you moving on Madame vice president to ordinances for first reading and introduction ordinance 24-14 an ordinance of the city of Trenton amending chapter 10 alcoholic beverages Section 105 restrictions of the code of the city of Trenton to permit a waiver of dis restrictions under certain circumstances Madam vice president yes Madam president thank you just a quick question have have we prepared the amendment for this um showing the increase in the fine to $750 as was proposed by councilwoman Williams yeah I'll defer to solicitor on that as well yes council president I can address that um so one thing I wanted to make clear was that that section of the um the ordinance that we're referring to falls under the New Year's Day EX ction oh so that penal I just wanted to make sure we can certainly make that Amendment tonight if we want want to but I wanted to make sure that that only applies to um those those entities that stay open too late on New Year's Day so it's a pretty specific penalty that's what that increase would apply to we could do that if that's the the council's will tonight but I just wanted to explain to council that was the that was the penalty provision that was discussed so what you're saying is that if the council wanted there to be a another penalty for any any other time other than New Year's Day then we would have to make that Amendment now um as well it certainly doesn't have to be now but um we down the line so like if if it's not on New Year's Day then if it's Monday through Friday outside of that if they stay open past the designated time if we wanted them to be hit with the $750 penalty as well then we need to spell that out that's correct the other the the other sections of the ordinance refer back to our general penalty provision which uh imposes a maximum of $2,000 penalty um to be determined by the Municipal Court thank you any other questions I just don't want to verify um Mr Mitch we do not need to have another vote on that amendment that am Amendment secure as is I'm sorry Council originally um when we ched um you wanted potentially that we need to have a second vote on the amendment do we no longer need to do that tonight if there's a if there's a motion on the floor to amend the ordinance that's before you we could certainly do that and we could change the $500 penalty for New Year's Day to $750 um so if that's sorry I think we did that we did that yeah we did that Tuesday yeah okay that's already been done then we can just to be clear that it is okay that that yeah that provision only does apply to New Year's Day and the the ordinance that's on the table right now for um when the motion is made is for to increase that from 500 to $750 that with that motion that had passed Tu Tuesday yes understood so yeah that that is the ordinance although it may not be written there the ordinance that's before Council to vote on tonight we we'll have that increase to 750 and we'll make sure it's it's actually printed out that way for the second reading Okay small point of uh a small point of order to the council if uh just for discussion purposes and again please do keep me honest Scott if that's the case we do require a motion in a second prior to discussion that isn't that correct that's right okay just understood yep um with that sorry it's okay Madame President thank you with that case Madame vice president if there is no other discussion uh would you ask for a motion to You' like to ask for a motion to approve the ordinance is read by title do I have a motion to approve so move we have a second there a second second got it roll call councilwoman Edwards yes vice president Figaro kenberg yes councilwoman frisbee yes councilwoman Gonzalez yes councilwoman Harrison yes councilwoman Williams yes council president Feliciano yes motion carried moving on to ordinance 24 de 18 ordinance authorizing the sale of city-owned property commonly known as Baker alley and identified on the city tax map block 20 23803 Lot 19 pursuant to njsa 40a 12-13 B5 to El catador Bar and Grill for the sale price of $1,000 and Madam president if you ask for a motion to approve may I have a motion to approve so mov than thank you who is the second I apologize Gonzalez thank you very much roll call councilwoman Edwards yes vice president Figo kenberg yes councilwoman frisbee yes councilwoman Gonzales yes councilman Harrison yes councilwoman Williams yes council president Feliciano yes motion carried ordinance 24-26 an ordinance to revise certain positions fixing the salary ranges therefore and set certain regulations for the implementation of same construction official have a motion to approve so moved second thank you councilwoman Edwards yes vice president figuro kenberg yes councilwoman frisbee yes councilwoman Gonzalez yes councilman Harrison yes councilwoman Williams yes council president Feliciano yes motion carried ordinance 24-28 an ordinance to amend chapter 222 of the code of the city of Trenton rent control to fix rental increase at 4% so move oh sorry can I get a motion to approve so moved Madam vice president second yes yes Madam president discussion thank you is this has this been amended with um councilwoman Frisbee's suggestion uh that we wav the the rent for uh the increase for 2024 somebody was supposed to look into that and tell us if we could go ahead and do that so yeah I can address that council president so we we looked into that today there doesn't seem to be anything in the law that would either prohibit it or permit it um but at this point the recommendation from myself director Bridges and director Ferrara would be to allow the rent control board to convene and consider that issue in fact one of the one of their responsibilities under the ordinance is to consider issues such as this you know it's it's comprised of landlords and tenants and people that are familiar with this area so the recommendation from us would be to allow them to consider it frankly allow us to further research the law to see if that would be permissible um and allow them to make a recommendation in that regard okay and so and they've sent out um have they are you aware have they been getting resumés in for the rent stabilization board are we moving with that we haven't seen anything with that I believe they have been actually yes I haven't been intimately involved um councilman Gonzalez I don't know if you've I I was told at the last meeting that yes we did receive some I think we received six they wanted to just get one more backup of a landlord I think um to be on because you have to have two alternates and I think they're waiting on one more alternate of a landlord um to present it to us so I would anticipate that we'll have hopefully you know in the upcoming meetings but one of the one of the critical roles of that board is to actually hold hearings from tenants and landlords about rent issues so it is important that we get that up and running okay yes and and if do if you don't mind uh Council vice president um Mill if you're interested you can still submit your name for that also because we are looking at names for um that rent stabilization board council president Council vice president yes I also just want to re up my request from the other night for a legal opinion on how this ordinance will affect the operation of the rent stabilization board I asked Mr Bridges about that a couple nights ago I might be working on how this would affect the well the the the ordinance for the operation of the board itself is we have that my understanding is that the board has not been operational over the past I'm not sure how long yes but when it comes operational I'd like to get an idea of you know with an ordinance such is this how might that affect pro and con the actual function and operation of a rental stabilization board you mean the amendment that's on the floor tonight yeah just you know well the amendment that's on the floor tonight would simply cap the rent increase that's permissible at 4% and 2% for people that are disabled and um senior citizens um so in that sense those amendments don't affect that board at all really it's just this is now a city-wide ordinance that applies to all landlords and they should understand that the amount they're allowed to increase the rent from year to year is now capped so I think the short answer to your question is that it does not really impact the function of that board but if there's any other further questions about the function of the board i' I'd be happy to address that and write up a more formal memo okay thank you very much if there's no other discussion Madam Vice President we go to roll call Council vice president oh did you hear me no counc council Vice no councilman Harrison yes um I was wondering if councilwoman frisbee was okay with the recommendation that was made councilwoman frisbee councilman frisbee did you hear the question from uh councilman Harrison I did not hear it if you repeat it for me please uh sure councilman Harrison if um yeah I was wondering if you were okay with the recommendation made by Scott regarding um the the recommendation from him and Mr Bridges the acis is bad in there so Mr Garcia if you would repeat it I would appreciate it certainly Council um councilwoman the councilman asked if you were wanted to ask if you were okay with the recommendation from Council from uh Mr Bridges and Mr mikio regarding the ordinance so thank you councilman Harrison for um yes asking the question and um I'm not sure exactly because again the is bad in there so I don't I didn't hear exactly what the recommendation is Mr if you could give me what the recommendation or they would come closer to your mic is the best for me to go right ahead Scott if you want to go ahead hi councilman Scott here um so the recommendation from myself director Bridges and director Ferrara is that this be an issue that is one of the first issues that addressed by the rent control board when it is up and running um one of the one of the tasks of the rent control board written right there into the ordinance is actually to consider issues such as this um and considering that you know the the legality of it at this point is questionable we've done some research I don't feel comfortable giving a more formal opinion on that at this point but uh um we do think that this would be an issue best addressed by the rent control board and and they could bring a recommendation to city council thank you Mr Migel and thank you Council Harrison again so yes with that um I am comfortable with that and I would um say we can go ahead with it thank you coun madam vice president thank you madam president the only other thing I would see with that is um just in the title and I don't know if we need to do this now but just something to think of as we move ahead because it's not we're not just only addressing to fix the rental increase at 4% for regular tenants but also 2% for the senior citizens and the dis the disabl that should be in the title as well so that way we know exactly what is going on I mean we could read it in the in the the paragraphs but just for continuity and flow um that should be in the title as well that's an excellent point this was a a flu conversation and these things changed over time um as we kind of developed the ordinance but I think we could we could do that now as well if you'd like to we could just say that you know we could amend the title to add the fact that it's also capped at 2% for um people that are disabled and senior citizens Madame Vice President should I take a motion or sorry is there a motion to amend that title so moved second moved in second I'll call the role for the amendment Council Edwards yes vice president figuro kenberg yes councilwoman frisbee councilwoman Gonzalez yes councilman Harrison yes councilwoman Williams yes and council president Feliciano yes motion carried uh is there any other discussion on this ordinance at this time Madam vice president no councilwoman Ed um I just wanted for clarity are we going with the recommendation of the council to allow the rent stabilization board to do this or are we moving forward with a vote just so I understand we're moving forward vote but rent stabilization board is going to be the one to talk about skipping a year and all that kind of stuff like that okay all right thank you thank you sorry any other discussion no proceed thank you roll call councilwoman Edwards yes vice president figuro kenberg yes counc frisbee councilwoman Gonzalez yes councilman Harrison yes councilwoman Williams yes council president Feliciano yes motion carried on to ordinance 24-29 an ordinance of the city of Trenton to adopt NJ D's model ordinance regarding illicit connections to the municipal separate storm sewer system and to amend chapter 254 of the code of the city of Trenton may I have a motion so move second roll call councilwoman Edwards yes vice president Figaro kenberg yes councilwoman frisbee councilwoman Gonzalez yes councilman Harrison yes councilwoman Williams yes council president Feliciano yes motion carried ordinance 24-30 an ordinance of the city of Trenton to adopt NJ D's model ordinance regarding littering and to amend chapter 150 of the code of the city of Trent may I have a motion to approve so Mo second roll call councilwoman Edwards yes vice president Figo kenberg yes councilwoman frisbee councilwoman Gonzalez yes councilwoman Harrison yes councilwoman Williams yes council president Feliciano yes motion carried ordinance 24-31 and ordinance of the city of Trenton to adopt NJ dp's model ordinance regarding pet waste and to amend chapter 21 of the code of the city of Trenton may I have a motion to approve so move second roll call councilwoman Edwards yes vice president Figaro kenberg yes councilwoman frisbee councilwoman Gonzalez yes councilman Harrison yes councilwoman Williams yes council president Feliciano yes motion carried ordinance 24-32 in ordinance of the city of Trenton to adopt NJ dp's model ordinance regarding feeding of Wildlife and to amend chapter 21 of the code of the city of Trenton may have a motion to approve so Mo second roll call councilwoman Edwards yes vice president figuro kenberg yes councilwoman frisbee councilwoman Gonzalez yes councilman Harrison yes councilwoman Williams yes council president Feliciano yes motion carried ordinance 24-33 in ordinance of the city of Tren to adopt NJ D's model ordinance regarding privately owned refu containers and dumpsters to amend chapter 254 of the code of the city of Trenton do I have a motion to approve so move second roll call councilwoman Edwards yes vice president figuro kenberg yes councilwoman frisbee yes councilwoman Gonzalez yes councilman Harrison yes councilwoman Williams yes council president Feliciano yes Carri ordinance 24-34 ordinance of the city of Trenton to adopt NJ D's model ordinance regarding yard waste and to amend chapter 312 and 248 of the code of the city of Trenton so I have a motion to approve second roll call councilwoman Edwards yes vice president figuro kenberg yes councilwoman frisbee yes councilwoman Gonzalez yes councilwoman Harrison yes councilwoman Williams yes council president bisano yes motion carried ordinance 24-35 an ordinance of the city of Trenton to adopt njd P's model ordinance regarding spilling dumping or disposal of materials other than storm water and to amend chapter 254 of the code of the city of Trenton do I have a motion to approve so moved second roll call councilwoman Edwards yes vice president figuro kenberg yes councilwoman frisbee councilwoman Gonzalez yes Council Ben Harrison yes councilwoman Williams yes council president Feliciano yes motion carried ordinance 24-36 ordinance of the city of Trenton to adopt NJ D's model ordinance regarding privately owned salt storage and to amend chapter 254 of the code of the city of Trenton do I have a motion to approve so moved second roll call councilwoman Edwards yes vice president Figo kenberg yes councilwoman frisbee councilwoman Gonzalez yes councilwoman Harrison yes councilwoman Williams yes council president Feliciano yes motion carried ordinance 24-37 an ordinance of the city of Trenton to adopt NJ D's model ordinance regarding retrofitting of storm drain inlets and to amend chapter 254 of the code the city of Tren do I have a motion to approve so move second roll call councilwoman Edwards yes vice president figuro kenberg yes councilwoman frisbee yes councilwoman Gonzalez yes councilman Harrison yes councilwoman Williams yes council president Feliciano yes motion carried ordinance 24-38 in ordinance of the city of Trenton to adopt NJ dp's model ordinance regarding tree removal and replacement to amend chapter 287 of the code of the city of Trenton do I have a motion to approve moved second roll call councilwoman Edwards yes vice president Figaro kenberg yes councilwoman frisbee yes councilwoman Gonzalez yes councilman Harrison yes councilwoman Williams yes council president Pisano yes motion carried and Madame President I believe that is the end of our docket at this time if you wish you can ask for a motion to adjourn do we have a motion to so move second roll call councilwoman Edwards yes vice president Figo kenberg yes councilwoman Frisby councilwoman Gonzalez yes councilman Harrison yes councilwoman Williams yes council president Feliciano motion carried meeting adjourned thank you here we go