[Music] [Music] all right so at this time I will call this meeting to order Clerk of the board can you please call the role commissioner Baker excuse me we're this is the the regular meeting um yep here present commissioner bodc here commissioner delis for present commissioner granados present commissioner Kowalski here commissioner Mirabella present commissioner Williams here Vice chairwoman Leon present and chairwoman P mudad here chairwoman let the record reflect we have nine Commissioners present for this evening's regular meeting okay Clerk of the board please lead us in the prayer and salute to the flag [Music] humbly we ask God The Giver of peace and the lover of Charity to give the entire family of Nations true agreement with his will and to Grant the light of his Spirit on all who work for justice and peace amen 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 liy and justice for all Clerk of the board please read the statement of compliance with the open public meetings act the chair wishes to announce that pursuant to the requirements of New Jersey statutes adapated title 10 chapter 4 section 10 of the open public meetings act adequate notice of this meeting of the board of County commissioners of the county of Union has been given by mailing the annual meeting schedule for the year 2024 along with periodic changes necessitated by circumstance to the newspapers circulating within the county of Union who are designated to receive such notice and by posting the annual meeting schedule for the year 2024 in the administration building and further by filing the annual meeting schedule for the year 2024 with the office of the county clerk may I have a motion to approve the communications so Mo Madam chair second uh a motion was made by commissioner Mirabella and was seconded by commissioner Kowalski Clerk of the board please call the role commissioner Baker I commissioner bodc I commissioner delis for I commissioner granados I commissioner Kowalski yes commissioner Mirabella I commissioner Williams I Vice chairwoman Leon I and chairwoman pal mudad I you have nine votes in the affirmative okay tonight we have an ordinance for introduction and first reading Clerk of the board please read the ordinance by title uh uh chairwoman I know we have on our meeting uh the approval of minutes for the December 7th and the December 21th agenda and regular uh meeting so I would need a motion to adopt the minutes of the Thursday December 7th 2023 agenda setting session Thursday December 7th 2023 regular meeting Thursday December 21st 2023 agenda setting session and Thursday December 21st 2023 regular meeting minutes okay thank you uh clerk uh do I have a motion to approve the minutes um on the stated dates so move okay uh clerk that was uh a motion made by commissioner Granado seconded by commissioner bodak please call the role thank you commissioner Baker um I excuse me Mr clerk I'll have to um abstain from Thursday December 7th agenda and regular regular meeting as well as December 21st agenda setting session and regular meeting commissioner bodc I commissioner dallis Fort abstain not a member of the commission commissioner granados I commissioner Kowski yes commissioner Mirabella I commissioner Williams I Vice chairwoman Leon I and chairwoman palmary mudad I to all uh chairwoman you have seven votes in the affirmative on all the uh all the minutes and one exstension uh for all the minutes okay thank you now tonight we have an ordinance for introduction and first reading uh Clerk of the board please read the ordinance by title ordinance number [Music] an ordinance to amend the laws of Union County administrative code and policies and general legislation by amending part one Administrative Code chapter one Union County government structure and part two policies and general legislation chapter 26 benefits as at this time I will ask policy subcommittee chairman Mirabella to move the ordinance thank you madam chair I'll move ordinance number 848 2024 for first reading and authorize a clerk of the board to advertise the same in accordance with the law the public hearing and the public hearing and final reading will be held on February 21st 2024 thank you may I have a second second second a motion was made by commissioner Mirabella and was seconded by Vice chairwoman Leon Clerk of the board please call the role commissioner Baker I commissioner bodc I commissioner delis for I commissioner granados I commissioner kowal Kowalski yes commissioner Mirabella I commissioner Williams I Vice chairwoman Leon I and chairwoman palmary mudad I chair you have nine votes any affirmative on ordinance number 848 d224 okay thank you the meeting is now open to the public for the purpose of commenting on resolutions being offered for adoption Andor on any governmental issue that a member of the public feel feels may be of a concern kindly state your name and town of residence for the record and if speaking on a resolution on the agenda please note the resolution number to which you are referring to and adhere to the five minute time limit good evening board Bob casone Westfield New Jersey we were here uh last month discussing ashburg golf course and uh didn't expect anything to happen in three or four weeks but what hasn't happened is any answers to any emails that we've sent except answers that say we've sent it to somebody else to a different engineer to this person to that person we just kind of feel we're getting stonewalled like crazy we invited you last mon to come down to the golf course to personally see where the problems are nobody responded to that so uh I want to keep it real short and sweet the offer is still open one of you all of you two of you we don't care we just want to see somebody come and do something that's going to move the problem forward and we're not having that done we're beyond frustrated right now uh those two fellows and myself played golf today at Pebble Creek Golf Course in Mammoth County Sunday we played Somerset County this weekend we're playing in Mammoth County and Somerset County again because we can't play in Union County where we pay taxes because the course is unplayable so it's kind of in your hands you guys have Galloping Hill that was the big uh shining star then you put up that monstrosity of a uh restaurant slash small tiny Pro Shop and nobody's ever in it I have friends that live four houses down from Ashbrook golf course and I asked them if they ever ate at the restaurant there and their answer to me was there's a restaurant there what are you doing I mean several million dollars to build that thing and it's not being utilized you have some parties there in the summer on Saturdays and Sundays any given night during the week you can't keep a waiter or waitress because nobody can make any tips there because there's no one in the restaurant did you want a restaurant did you you want a golf course you should have made up your mind you could have put in all that great housing that you like to put in all over the place and just close the golf course like you did in the you know the uh Heat of the Night of oage where we uh utilize that golf course for the archery program which is uh running rampid in Union County I can't believe how many people are using the archery facility there so let's get back to Ashbrook are you going to do something is there going to be something done or should we just move on and everybody in our group will just figure Mammoth and Somerset County is where we got to go and then we won't come here and we won't bother you anymore but we just like an answer because it's very frustrating you know we have to report back to a membership and the membership's looking at us like we're not doing anything and we're trying to get something done and nothing from you folks is coming back to us so please I'm kind of begging you answer an email come to the golf course give us a call we're all pretty pretty much retired we can be there anytime okay thank you good evening boy Fran Wilson Rosell Park New Jersey uh I just want to start off by saying that yes we were here at the end of fed January and we'll be here again at the next meeting in the meeting thereafter until we see some kind of results um I was in government for 37 years in Bergen County in the township of tinac so I completely understand how government works I was uh director of Public Works there so I get it I understand it but the problem what I see as a taxpayer and and and a golfer is I the money that we see being thrown away your money my money everyone's money in the room if they live in uni County on this golf course they spent Millions over in maybe four or five years ago do redoing Fairways again just thrown away because same Fairways got to be redone again because they're not doing it the correct way so let me get to the creek our main issue this is a problem today it was a problem last year when we met with a few of you and and we were told that 2024 was going to be better than 2023 but take in mind that this didn't happen last year didn't happen the year before that it's been going on for four five years and somebody or anybody is not doing anything about it all they do is cut the grass it's all they do I hear that they're taking trees down I understand it's 250 trees dead can you imagine that 250 trees that's a lot of trees a lot of trees that's not even count the ones that are behind the creek where the water is so high they killed all those trees because they they're not even going to get to those well we need answers we need answers from somebody County Manager somebody somebody that can tell us what they're going to do when they're going to do it I don't want to hear about D I don't want to hear excavators getting stuck I don't want to hear any of that anymore well I want to be able to play golf on a golf course that I live in the ones that we really enjoy we got 95 members do you want 95 members to come here and show up what do we got to do to get some answers I just don't understand it no one is coming back to us with any concrete this is our plan this is what we're going to do I understand you had a study done last year no one wants to share that with us no one wants to tell us what they want to do nobody so I know the seven of you the nine of you you have a responsibility to the taxpayers so I would hope that somebody up there lights a fire onto somebody to get something done it's all we're asking I asked about $7.6 million that you guys are paying keer I sent open request requesting that information and the backup you know what I got I got an email that was sent from keer to the county clerk really really that's it I asked for all the backup I want to know what they're paying $7.5 million to is it salaries is cutting grass is it is it beer whatever it may be nobody answers you nobody and we're frustrated and we're beyond frustrated as I said to your director before I I don't I'm not pointing blame at anybody I got to point blame at everybody not one person two people everybody it starts up here filters down it's how government works it's how it is in a county we ask you freeholders Commissioners tell your manager to get back to us talk to us tell us what you're going to do please thank you good evening it's Chuck Snider from Clark New Jersey um I'm also here about the issues with the uh the uh ashburg golf course we were here last year around the same time in February or March of last year and um we brought this all to your attention and you said it's going to take a little time 2023 is going to be worse than than 24 and uh so we were patient we didn't come to the meetings and we didn't bug it and we didn't do any of that stuff um but you know nothing happened for months and months and months and then finally back in uh in October after I think somebody said six or seven weeks of rain um you decided to to go back there with conect with an excavator and try to clean out the creek and unfortunately after the rain um that turned into a complete debacle that the excavator got stuck uh finally got that back out um just a couple of weeks ago back in uh in January got that thing out of there there was a big embarrassment with that um but now what's the plan now are you going to hire somebody else to go in there are you going to have the County Employees do it you know what's the plan that's what that's what we just want to know is is you know when are you going to do go back in there are you going to hire somebody else are you going to hire Fletcher creamer the guys who got the excavator out who I guess are experts in in that sort of work or you going to try to do it yourselves we we just need to know is is there a plan at all or you know we just going to just keep doing what we're doing so that's all we want to know we just want to know you know is there a plan and when is somebody going to do something all right thank you thank you anyone else wishing to speak if not I will close that portion of the meeting um I'd like to call uh count our County engineer uh Ricardo Matias thank you chair uh first and foremost I just want to say uh thank you to to the gentleman that spoke um because obviously they're passionate about what it is that they're here for um and I can say that you know we're passionate about it as well and so our commissioners um we have dedicated a lot of time to the effort efforts there um I know some things you guys might not want to hear but we did hire a firm we did go through D we're in still in the process um we have a second addition a second meeting scheduled with them on February 13th to try and get some direction onto these uh permits for the work that's going to be done on the golf course with the EP with the EP correct um to answer the the last gentleman's specific questions about what could be next um so there's uh not to get too technical but there's an emergency permit that was issued um through through D we're trying to do some additional clearing work uh under that permit so and we're still trying to get an approval through DP to be able to use uh either the contractor that's on site or County forces or somebody else so we're I can guarantee all that we are pushing it we're working on it and I know it's it's something that we talk about if not on a daily basis every other day um we're we're pushing for it okay thank you thank you okay um I would like to ask for a motion to um adopt resolution 20241 121 through 20241 156 so move Madam chair second you take commissioner just for a point of uh clarification this uh motion is to adopt uh through 2024-25 S due to the addition of resolution number5 uh for the sympathies of Angelina M wallp so this is for adopting resolutions through 24-1 157 I heard a motion was made by whom uh commissioner Mirabella seconded by commissioner Baker Clerk of the board please call the role certainly commissioner Baker hi commissioner bodc I commissioner delis for I commissioner granados I commissioner Kowalski yes commissioner Mirabella I commissioner Williams I Vice chairwoman Leon I and chair pal mudad I chairwoman you have nine votes in the affirmative on all resolutions okay thank you at this time um I'm going to call upon our commissioners for reports and comments and I will start with commissioner Kowalski thank you chairman the board of County Commissioners is pleased to invite families to uh our Trailside nature and Science Center in Mountainside on February Saturday February 17th for our annual February festivities a wind a winter series of indoor and outdoor family fund programs that are taking place over the President Day weekend so this year the festivities include a journey of sap to syrup that starts at 10 in the morning at 11:15 the Hocus Pocus magic show at 1:30 mad science winter chills and at 2:30 Winter Walk scavenger hunt so these programs are recommended for families with children aged four and older and pre-registration is required for all the sessions and to register you can go to ucnj.org sraide and follow the link to Union County secure online registration page the fee per person per program is $8 for count Union County residents and $10 for non-county um and aside from our special programs and events uh Trailside welcomes all visitors free of charge every day from 10: a.m. to 400 p.m. except for Mondays and major holidays and for more details you can go to ucnj.org Trailside or call 98789 3670 thank you chair thank you commissioner Baker thank you um aside from my U comments um I just want to say uh that on Saturday um my colleagues and I uh who attended the uh ribbon cutting ceremony for the reopening of the uh Hamilton stage in in raway had a wonderful wonderful time it was a great experience and um the stage will now be open for regular uh events during the course of the year uh so I just wanted to make that uh make that announcement the Union County uh excuse me the Union County Board of County Commissioners would like to announce this year's lunch and learn program in honor of Black History Month yeah free and open to the public to join we invite residents to join Professor Shan Smith of Essex Essex County College for a lunchtime Zoom presentation in line with our 2024 theme of African-Americans and the Arts Professor Smith is an educator and multimedia professional whose extensive knowledge of black Fine Art and Cinema will be a valuable asset to the Union County community this session will be held on Wednesday February the 14th uh at 12:30 p.m. to register for this virtual session please visit ww. nj.org BHM registration is required uh and that concludes my remarks Madam chair thank you commissioner Williams than thank you chair um another quick note from uh the lovely city of raway um I was in raway for the event commissioner Baker mentioned but also um raway also hosted the unveiling of a statue of Harriet Tubman called The Beacon of Hope and a bunch of us were there uh for that unveiling it's a a a statue by an artist in Maryland called uh well his name is is uh Wesley Walford so it's on loan to the city of raway from now through February 29th in honor of Black History Month and it's quite uh an amazing statue and it's right in front of City Hall so um if you have a chance to go by there you really should take a a look at it um my other comments have to do with the American job center the commissioner board invites All healthc Care Professionals who are seeking new opportunities uh new career opportunities to come to the healthc care job fair on Wednesday February 21st at warano sports center from 10:00 a.m. to 2 PM uh this Fair will feature a range of roles including job opportunities for registered nurses licensed practical nurses certified medical assistants certified medication AIDS uh certified nursing assistants and emergency medical technicians uh there will be represent representatives from carefinders Hudson Milestone Lantern Hill Senior Living Community RWJ Barnabas Health Vision Works and assisting hands of New Jersey um so in com in uh our commitment to making the recruitment process effective and accessible the event will provide on the spot interviews so applicants should bring a copy of their resume as they will have a chance to participate directly with Representatives from each organization in person uh registration is of course required uh you can go to ucnj.org jobs uh job hyen fars uh and for employers additional employers who wish to participate in the healthc care job fair please call us at 9852775034 .org uh thank you chair that's that's that's it for me thank you thank you commissioner granados thank you chair just to kind of piggyback off commissioner Williams um Department of Human Services has another job fair taking place on Friday February 16th from 10:00 a.m. to 2: p.m. at the war ankle Sports Center so definitely reach out to um 9852775034 thank you chair thank you commissioner Dallas Fort thank you madam chair the Union County Board of um County Commissioners and the Union County surrogate Christopher hudok are proud to announce the opening of the new surrogates office in Westfield for prate and administration services this expansion is part of surrogate Hudak 2024 initiatives aimed at enhancing accessibility for Union County residents the surrogate will offer probate and administration services in the new Westfield office located at the count at the County's Colleen Frasier building at 300 North Avenue appointment only service will be available on Tuesdays residents can conveniently schedule appointments through the surrogates official website at www.nj.org surrogate or they can contact the Elizabeth office directly at 9085 27 4280 the office hours are from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and the last appointment will be accepted at 3:15 p.m. the launch of the Westfield office is part of an ongoing effort to modernize and increase accessibility to the Surrogate Court services and that concludes my report Madam chair thank you commissioner bodak yes I would like to announce that tickets are still available for this year's Black History Month event with a free jazz by the Bob deos jazz quartet featuring Lance Bryant the event will take place on Thursday February 224 7 performing Hamilton St located at 36 Hamilton Street this year's African amans in the ARs will focus on crating a dynamic africanamerican culture and its Global influence in the Arts music literature and the event will also include the presentation of the 12th annual Chester homes humanitarian this program is funded in part by a grant from the New Jersey historical commission a division of cultural Affairs and the Department of State and the New Jersey state Council on the Arts a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts while admiss for this event is free of charge tickets and registration are required to register www.nj.org BHM that concludes my report Madam chair thank you commissioner Mirella thank you madam chair the the Board of Commissioners is happy to announce that the Union County human relations commission and the Union County Prosecutors Office are presenting a free virtual presentation of walking on eggshells navigating the language of diversity by the New Jersey Division of civil rights this program will be offered on Monday March 11th from 6:30 to 8:30 in the evening in part the presentation explores current research on inclusive language and why it's important part of dismantling bias there's no cost to attend but pre-registration is required at ucnj.org ucrc certificates of completion will be made available to attendees and I encourage people to make make time that evening for that important discussion um I just want to mention something to the uh the golfers that are coming uh to our meetings and um I appreciate that you're coming expressing your views I don't always appreciate the sarcasm that goes with it I do believe you that there are issues and I don't need to see it I believe you that there are issues there with flooding I also believe that the engineering department is doing what they need to do and somebody that worked in public works as long as you do understand governmental process which you say you do and also the D and how kind of time consuming and laborious that process can be so you know when you make some comments like nobody's listening nobody's talking to you I mean I I just I don't buy that I know director deran Drake has met on a regular basis had some communication just even earlier tonight so um you know we can continue this back and forth it's not going to fix the problems it still has to go through the proper workflow and the proper channels um but nobody up here wants to see a a golf course that's not playable nobody wants to see flooding on whole seven or nine whatever it is but don't think anybody doesn't believe you we believe you you can keep saying that it's a problem and you could come up every meeting and say that that's fine I don't need to hear it I believe you and I know that people are working towards some resolution so I thought that needed to be set at least from where I sit and um you know I hope you'll take it for which it's attended and that's just to improve the playability of that course I don't want you to go to other counties to play golf why you to play in Union County I was part of the group that was here that decided we were going to close Oakridge and put money into gallopin Hill and Ashbrook and we've done that it sounds like there's more work to do and I'm committed to working with the county manager the parks director engineering and whoever else it takes keer our partner to make that happen so you can be frustrated I appreciate that I understand you want to play here and you can't play and it's frustrating when you go there or you can only play nine holes or whatever the case is um but I I don't believe that there's nothing being done because I do think there is things being done just take longer than most people would like um with that Madam chair I'll conclude my comments thank you um count County Council Bergen thank you chair nothing tonight thank you County manager oan no comments chair thank you Vice chairwoman Leon thank you chair um uh first and foremost last night I had the opportunity to be interviewed by anchorwoman dearis Diaz on in their Univision uh glass vanan to discuss all the incentives that the county is offering new business owners and it was a lot of fun in addition to discussing the night life in my town of Elizabeth and the restaurants and all the history that Elizabeth has it was a lot of fun and I'm very happy that I did that because I reached a Hispanic audience the interview was done in Spanish in addition I want to mention that I joined other Commissioners at the Hamilton stage uh grand reopening uh last Saturday uh in the aftermath of hurricane Aida Hamil Hamilton stage faced significant uh damage the challenges escalated as the repair and Remediation process intersected with the global pandemic Supply chains disruptions causing a lot of delays uh in material deliveries worldwide however I'm extremely happy to announce that thanks to the dedication of all those involved Hamilton State is open and it's stronger than ever so on behalf of the entire Board of County Commissioners I extend a heartfelt congratulations to UC Pac for successfully completing this important venue as we celebrate this remarkable achievement we eagerly anticipate the performances and events that lie ahead thank you uh to everyone involved in this and making this revival possible thank you madam chair thank you okay I just want to remind our residents about our free car seat inspection program which I took advantage of last week when I installed my daughter's final car seat I think her final big girl car seat so I think it was my last one and then we go to a booster seat um but we encourage residents to check out our child car seat for proper installation by Pro program um by visiting our inspection center at the Garwood first aid Squad at 4012 Avenue in Garwood uh there is staff there on Mondays uh Wednesdays and Thursdays from 7:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. and there is no appointment necessary it's really a fantastic program um the people that work there are wonderful and they're thorough and they're knowledgeable so I really do encourage residents whether it's a grandparent that is now taking a grandchild back and forth to school or or um from activities or a new babysitter um it's so important to get the car seats inspected um and this is a great free service that is offered to uh to our residents um at the the Garwood first aid Squad and like I said the staff there is amazing actually one of the gentlemen that has been working there for for many years now um his parents took his car seat back a very long time ago they told me the whole story while I was there um but he had his own car seat inspected and now he's doing that for others so it's a really important service and I I always like to remind our families um that it is available to them um and then I'd also just like to acknowledge our golfers that came tonight um and came uh to our meeting two weeks ago um you know it is important for our residents to express their concerns um when you have them and and as commissioner Marabella said uh it is certainly not something that any one of us uh whether it be Commissioners County Manager uh engineering Park um anyone here at the county wants to see you know we certainly don't want to have any area of the county that is usable to the public to not be usable um especially open space Parkland golf courses um that is what makes our County so great and unique and that's why we have them um and as uh Ricardo said um it's something that is spoken of um and discussed on a daily basis and maybe we are not expressing that to you all um on a daily basis basis but it's certainly something that is being discussed here and we are doing our best to move as fast as we can um to rectify this situation so I will be certain that we um make sure we communicate as best as we can um to give you those updates but again it's not something that is going to the Wayside it's not something that we are hearing and forgetting about it's something that our departments are focusing on um but as we all know um especially postco all of these things take a lot more time whether it be the supply chain um or the availability of different entities so it is on our radar and again we do appreciate that you have come in to to voice your um concerns um as is your rights so with that I would ask for a motion to adjourn a motion was made by commissioner Marabella seconded by commissioner Williams Clerk of the board please call the role commissioner Baker commissioner bodc commissioner delis for commissioner granados commissioner Kowski yes commissioner Mirabella commissioner Williams I Vice chairwoman Leon I and chairwoman pal mudad I you have nine votes in the affirmative for the adjournment of this meeting okay good [Music] night [Music]