##VIDEO ID:dSNvbKXiw2E## [Music] [Music] good evening at this time I will call this meeting to order Clerk of the board please call the role certainly chairwoman commissioner Baker present commissioner bodc here commissioner delport present commissioner granados here commissioner Kowalski here commissioner Mirabella present commissioner Williams here Vice chairman Leon present and chairwoman pom mudad here let the record reflect you have nine Commissioners present for this evening's agenda setting session thank you Clerk of the board please lead us in the prayer and salute to the flag humbly we ask God The Giver of peace and the lover of Charity to give the entire family of Nations true agreement with all his will and to Grant the light of his Spirit on all who work for justice and peace amen amen pledge allegiance to the flag the United States of America and to the rep for it stands one nation under God indivisible 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 annotated title 10 chapter 4 section 10 of the open public meetings act adequate notice of this meeting the board of County commissioners of the county of Union has been given by mailing the annual schedule 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 following the annual meeting schedule for the year 2024 with the office of the county clerk thank you uh before we begin our meeting I would like to take a moment to acknowledge the tragic events that unfolded today at appalachi High School in Winder Winder Georgia as many of you may have heard there was a devastating school shooting uh that happened earlier today reports indicated that at least four individuals have lost their lives and many more have been injured while the specifics are still unfolding this incident is a profound reminder of the challenges we face as we begin this new school year a time that should be filled with excitement and new beginnings it is deeply unsettling to confront such tragedy in response to this and similar incidents we continue to advocate for stronger gun control laws and work alongside organizations like Moms Demand Action to Foster safer communities for our children uh please join me in taking a brief moment of silence to honor the victims and their families and to reflect on the work ahead to prevent such tragedies in the future thank you tonight the Union County Board of County Commissioners is proud to present a resolution to Alejandro Mahia a dedicated Spanish teacher at David brle Middle High School Mr Mahia has been honored by the New Jersey Department of Education as one of the County teachers of the Year through the governor's educator of the Year program this recognition highlights his exceptional commitment to education and his profound impact on his students his passion and dedication to creating a caring and dynamic learning environment have significantly benefited those he teaches on behalf of the Union County Board of Commissioners we extend our heartfelt congratulations to Mr Mahia we are proud to celebrate your well-deserved Accolade and thank you for your outstanding service to education congratulations and I'd like Mr Mahia to please join myself and Vice chairwoman Leon at the front for a resolution [Applause] yeah um I won't go through the entire resolution but this is just um an a representation of how proud We Are that you are serving our students here in Union County we couldn't be luckier um that our students get to learn from a professional like you so thank you so much I'll pass it over to Vice chairwoman Leon well as a retired educator I'm extremely happy to be here and witness this your dedication hasn't gone unfounded and congratulations thank you appreciate it thank you so much good evening everyone it's truly an honor to be here um with all of you thank you chairwoman thank you uh Board of Commissioners for having me um now more than ever education is truly truly um very important uh for our future generation and our current um generation as we speak um it is truly an honor and I'm humbled to be a voice for all the teachers of our County and um I'm super excited and thrilled to be part of this um experience so thank you [Applause] [Applause] okay we will adopt we will adopt the communications Le uh later during tonight's regular meeting tonight we do have a need to go into executive session County Council please make your statement relative to tonight's executive session thank you chair pursuant to provisions of the open public meetings act a public body may enter into executive session for the purpose of discussing certain enumerated subjects this board now wishes to enter executive session for the purpose of discussing contract negotiations with the Union County Utilities Authority concerning kanta and related matters the minutes of the executive session shall be separated from the minutes of the open public session the minutes of the executive session redacted as approp apprpriate and necessary shall be available in approximately 30 days the clerk to the board shall retain the original minutes till such time as the confidential limitations have been removed at which time they shall be made available upon the affirmative vote of a majority of the members present the board May retire to Executive session upon the board's return it may or may not take formal action upon the matters discussed thank you chair thank you may I have a motion to enter into executive session move Madam sherff may I have a second second uh a motion was made by commissioner Mirabella was seconded by commissioner Baker Clerk of the board please call the role commissioner Baker hi commissioner bodc yes commissioner delis for hi commissioner granados I commissioner Kowalski yes commissioner Mirabella I commissioner Williams I Vice chairwoman Leon I and chair pal mudad I chair the uh votes are nine uh in favor of going into executive session okay we are now uh going into executive session thank you may I have a motion to return from exe from executive session move second uh a motion was made by commissioner Mirabella and was seconded by commissioner delis for Clerk of the board please call the role commissioner Baker hi commissioner bodc hi commissioner delis for I commissioner granados hi commissioner Kowalski yes commissioner Mirabella I commissioner Williams hi Vice chairwoman Leon I chairwoman pal Mar mudad I CH you have nine votes in the affirmative to return from executive session thank you County Council Bergen do you have anything to report nothing to report at this time thank you chair okay thank you at this time I will call upon County prosecutor William Daniel to present his resolutions you very much Commissioners Madam chairwoman uh the prosecutors La Union County prosecutor's office has four resolutions on uh for tonight's uh meeting for your consideration I'd be happy to answer any and all questions if you have any uh Madam chair commissioner Baker Mr prosecutor just for my own personal information um um could you explain uh the um handheld x-ray Imaging system how that works sure uh well it's a law enforcement Tool uh and it's designed to um x-ray cars if that's the proper term and other words uh often times we have motor vehicle stops and many of these vehicles have hidden compartments in them and it's a an item that you can actually bring to the scene and in essence see through the car into these hidden compartments whether they be behind radios or under seats so it's a it's a tool and uh this is uh being funded by a Justice assistant Grant uh and we're happy to be able to take advantage of that Grant it's another crime fighting tool yeah that sounds sounds good thank you oh you're welcome uh any others and uh thank you thank you for your time and consideration thank you thank you Office of the Union County Sheriff Sheriff P Corelli evening Sheriff has two resolutions on the agenda for your consideration I'd be happy to answer any questions thank you thank you Board of Elections administrator Nicole Dorado good evening chair members of the board the election board has six resolutions on the agenda for your consideration this evening be happy to answer any questions commissioner kski yes thank you administrator Dorado so um as I understand it these are necessary expenses because of all the special elections this year but you expect to be reimbursed from the state or for at least part of it maybe elaborate yes ma'am the overwhelming majority are um uh attributed to the special 10th Congressional um primary and general elections so that will be reimbursable by the state and then um um Scotch Plains Fanwood is having a special school election on September 17th so um their portion of their charges will be charged back to the um Board of Education thank you thank Youk you have a good night you too Department of administrative Services director lauris scari good evening the Department administrative Services has one resolution on the agenda happy to answer any questions thank you Department of Economic Development Deputy County Manager director Amy Wagner good evening Commissioners the Department of Economic Development has three resolutions for your consideration and I'm happy to answer any questions thank you department of engineering Public Works and Facilities Management acting director Joe p good evening the department of engineering Public Works of facilities has 17 resolutions on the agenda you try to answer any questions you may have oh uh Madam chair commissioner Baker um resolution number one uh could you just you know give an overview of what that project is it's a bridge covert in Cranford yes Cranford Supply and engineering we're supplying the actual build supplying the actual the actual build we're bu we we'll doing the building CR of Supply any engineering okay all right Jo a joint effort all right thank you thank you thank you Department of Finance director BB tayor good evening chairwoman Paul Mary mooded and members of the board of County Commissioners the Department of Finance has 16 resolutions for your consideration this evening and I'd be happy to answer any questions thank you Department of Human Services director Debian Anderson good evening Madam chair members of the board Department of Human Services has five resolutions on for the agenda and I'll be happy to answer any questions you may have commissioner Williams thank you chairwoman um director Anderson can you just give us a little bit of um additional uh information for uh the public regarding number five the job access reverse commute uh grant program sure through you madam chair this this is for the parat transit um system it is transportation services for employment and employment related Services through the Route 22 shuttle um it's for lwi income as well as individuals that receive benefits from the County division of Social Services um it's an increase this year um of hour hour rate so Route 22 shuttle um goes through last year we served um on the route 22 to shuttle about 63,0 and11 um passengers 20 thou over 20,000 trips thank you so much great program thank you madam chair thank you anyone thank you Department of Parks and Recreation director Victoria Durban Drake good evening chair and Commissioners the department of Parks and Recreation has five items on the agenda and I'd be happy to attempt to answer any questions you may have Vice chairwoman Leon can you elaborate on number one yes um as many know maskers Barn is an historic site that is located in fville in the deserted village it was rehabilitated um some time ago and it's a very active event space um there's a lot of work that still needs to be done to it and this will allow us to get those um bid specs in place so that we can make a determination what we want to do it's um you know the the flooring the roof um it doesn't have air conditioning it needs different circulation um parking needs to be addressed there are a lot of issues and with 130 events that took place in 20123 at that site um you know it's it's very much in need of a rehab and I also see that there's a decrease in the amount of the bidding that is correct thank you that was my question okay commissioner Williams yeah I just had a follow yes had a little followup on that um I know that um you mentioned the flooring I think there are going to be some fans put in and and and so forth um is is is heating a part of it as well as yet or is that another phase or so what this project will do is look at every single aspect of updating that um and then you will decide what it is you want to move forward with some things must be done from a safety point of view um and some things are nice additions if you choose to do so right now there is no air conditioning in that building people still continue to book it for events even in the hot weather um some of us were up there not long ago in in very hot weather for an event um so there are things that you will be able to eventually make a decision upon but every aspect is being evaluated thank you thank you madam chair thank you okay thank you very much thank you Department of Public Safety acting director Dennis Burke thank you chairwoman good evening Commissioners Department of Public Safety has two items on the agenda for your consideration be happy to take any questions you may have thank you thank you chairman Office of the County Council County Council Bruce Bergen thank you chair County Council has four resolutions listed on tonight's agenda i' would be happy to answer any questions from the board thank you thank you Office of the County Manager uh County Manager edman thank you chair I have three items on tonight's agenda I'd be happy to ask her any questions thank you there are four business resolutions from the board do any Commissioners have any questions regarding these resolutions okay auditory resolutions and resolutions of condolence are from the entire board are there any comments from my colleagues no okay uh may I have a motion to adjourn so mve Madam chair second uh Clerk of a motion was made by commissioner Marabella was seconded by commissioner bodak uh Clerk of the board please call the role commissioner Baker I commissioner bodek I I commissioner delport I commissioner granados I commissioner Kowalski yes commissioner Mirabella I commissioner Williams I Vice chairwoman Leon I chairwoman pal Mar mudad I uh you have nine affirmatives to adjourn this meeting thank you uh Clerk of the board [Music] [Music]