##VIDEO ID:ikv4wvH2rYM## [Music] [Music] at this time I will call this meeting to order Clerk of the board please call the role commissioner Baker commissioner bodc here commissioner delis for present commissioner granados here commissioner Kowalski here commissioner Mirella here commissioner Williams here Vice chairman Leon here and chairwoman pal mudad here chair let record reflect you have eight Commissioners present for this evening's regular meeting thank you Clerk of the board please lead us in the prayer and salute to the flag humbling we ask God The Giver of peace and 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 in peace amen 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 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 for 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 thank you may I have a motion to approve the communications so moved second a motion was made by commissioner Kowski and was second seconded by commissioner Williams Clerk of the board please call the role commissioner bodc I commissioner delis forfor I commissioner granados I commissioner Kowalski yes commissioner Mirabella I commissioner Williams hi Vice chairwoman Leon hi and chairwoman pom mudad I the record reflect to have eight votes any affirmative on all the communications thank you may I have a motion to approve the minutes of the September 4th uh agenda and regular meetings the September 25th agenda setting meeting regular meeting and executive session so moved second uh a motion was made by commissioner Williams was seconded by commissioner bodak Clerk of the board please call the role commissioner bodc I commissioner delis uh I with an exception from September 25th agenda setting and regular meeting that's for the 20 25th 25th and the executive session yes thank you commissioner granados hi commissioner Kowalski yes commiss Mirabella abstain on the September 25th meetings uh and I to the rest Comm Williams I to all Vice chairwoman Leon I to all and chairwoman pal mudad I to all let the record refle you have uh eight votes in the affirmative for the September 4th agenda and regular meeting and you have uh six votes in the affirmative with two extensions for the September 25th agenda regular and executive session minutes 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 feels may be of 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 and adhere to the 5 minute time limit hi good evening Diana Gonzalez Clark um basically just came here today wondering if you had any update from the highway authori that you could share and looking over the agenda I see that you had um some legal issues for resolution pertaining to the reservoir which says to me that you know something's happening so just updates in general would be appreciated and then also see that there was um a budget adoption in the amount of 125,000 related to the reservoir project so if you could just provide some insights on that that's all thank you Lawrence Budnick Westfield um also about the Clark W project I want to thank you very much for changing it to modify it to allow uh continued kayaking and U recreational activities at the reservoir and the second issue is uh to consider in the future um on a separate issue uh having countywide animal control services because there is a burden on each of the towns the county has addressed that a few years ago and it never kind of went through um but it is a great burden on each of the towns to have animal control services and having a unified uh comprehensive approach would be better for each of the towns thank you good evening even um Jia Collins Clark New Jersey um I have a couple of questions regarding I'm not wearing I'm not here right now as a member of the Clark recre um Reservoir committee I'm here as a anti-hunt person um I called the department of recreation County yesterday trying to find out exactly how many Hunters are on the property by St Agnes and if the hunt I heard from what I spoke to a nice one woman she advised me that the Hunt is from sunrise to sunset which I find utterly ridiculous um I'd like to find out how many uh tree stands there are within that area and if it extends from the area next to St Agnes or the area behind s Agnes which is similar to an l and also there's baiting stations within that area if how many are there and um I'd like really basically like to find out how many Hunters are assigned to that area and I was told I would have to contact the Department of Public Works to find out how many Hunters are assigned to that particular area and if they are truly there from sunrise to sunset okay now back to the uh Clark res resir I tried to get over and look at the where the retention Basin has been back and forth back and forth where it's going to be and on the Francis Drive side there's a 50 feet barrier from the homes on Francis drive to the proposed storm water basin there is from the back of St Agnes's parking lot there's no indication of how many feet there is between the back of the parking lot and the formation of the Basin uh there is a reg there is a storm Warner drainage in the parking lot of St Agnes there are two grates within the parking lot of St Agnes and then behind the parking lot there is an open drainage area there with a plastic vyl type drainage going into looks like a man-made kind of uh stream with rocks and things I guess to get the water to go out and spread along the back of the reservoir there and um let's see that's it thank you and I hope we don't have oh another question when St Agnes property is developed will it still be a hunting grounds for the bow hunters in Union County I'd like to know because I know they still have the hunt in nahan and then that's an active Park and I think they have the hunt up in Wong I'm not sure and I know they have the hunt in oakd park so these are active parks and this is going to be a more active area than it has ever been and I'd like to know if the hunt will extend to the time when they are going to be um developing this area thank you good evening ladies and gentlemen of the commissioner board various golden nuggets Bruce Patterson Garwood New Jersey uh reso 771 is increasing CME Associates contract 50 Grand to Total 300 grand for on Call Engineering Services we opened three months of bills list to checks uh CME charges and sadly all the listed bills were just identified as Professional Services and contracts from 2021 to 2024 uh the bills list had no reference project numbers no contract numbers resolutions nor work identified making the paperwork Trail LAX and vague for the public uh the public would would have to Oprah every Bill to find out what it's about why is this bills list so vague and can you suggest to the public if there is another list that the county keep showing all these details on the bills reso 778 is accepting $2 million from the state for development capital and operating costs uh expenses uh this resolution appears alarming that the state is giving us $2 million to continue County operations uh the other meeting was a resolution for half a million dollars from the state for unspecified Parks use along with the hiring freeze back in August and the major scaling down of the reservoir project we can't shake the feeling that something financially is happening inside our County so please explain funding details of this resolution and if this is some kind of foreshadowing of a financial stress the county is experiencing reso 781 is accepting 125 Grand from the state for the Clark Reservoir project and it's good to see additional monies for their project uh thank you Department of Community Affairs the county and the Clark Reservoir committee for their efforts uh redo 786 is amending a contract to ATT Sports adding 400 Grand uh to Total 500 50 grand for some Paving uh we opened uh for the original contract of AT&T and and nothing nothing exists uh some people did explain it to me up front uh we would have liked to analyze what this 400% increase is based on but can't uh so I don't know could you do some more uh detailed explanation of it 794 is the PBA Sheriff's contract and just an overview of the increases that were agreed to 780 through 790 and 793 these are increasing contracts 300 Grand to Royal Printing full service mailers and BNB press uh for election related contracts and it's this close to election so I'm just wondering are there any more costs that are to come out and bite the taxpayers about that reso 80 802 is lauding Scotch Plains mayor Lardo for being the keynote speaker at the County Columbus Day Celebrations uh we are dismayed that the Democrat controlled county is holding a public occasion paid for by the taxpayers to promote a Democrat mayoral a candidate up for election also it looks like commissioner mayor Bella should be abstaining since he works for mayor Lardo General comments it appears that Clark Reservoir project has some outstanding issues to resolve uh as the committee noted uh one is the status of whether small boats and kayaks can Traverse under the Parkway bridge which the county manager noted would check and respond back uh the other is that storm water Basin planned next to St Agnes church parking lot uh someone needs to explain if this Basin is being constructed using taxpayer dollars for private entities parking lot which we all know is of course illegal I also must thank the various newspapers for exposing a county issue of poor transparency we read in the media about a new County Park planned at Glenside Avenue Scotch Plains and a second new County Park planned on Springfield Avenue Berkeley Heights but the details of these Parks were only presented in the council meetings of Scotch Plains at Berkeley Heights along with the Clark Reservoir Park which is the public was not even aware of until the Clark Reservoir committee brought it to the floor of the meeting the county had no presentations in any of these commissioner meetings yet note the three parks are being paid for by County taxpayer dollars in other words no citizens of the full County are aware of these Parks other than only the residents of each Town they're planned for uh this exhibits poor transparency and I request that You' please stop that Ty transparency that is thank you okay seeing no I'm sorry seeing no one else I will formally close this portion of the meeting um I'm going to call upon uh County Manager opman to respond to a few of those sure I'll take in uh no particular order for the parks and Scotch Plains and Berkeley Heights um there's been numerous transparency we've had resolutions here awarding contracts there's been press stories there's been renderings so I'm not sure transparency the issue maybe you're following of County government would be um for your other issue about a contract I think you had somebody talk to you before the meeting and that was County Council Bergen he was I don't know if you forgot but that was him and he told you it's been two weeks we don't have a contract back yet um for number um let's see let's which one is it excuse me number 778 that's the way the state wrote The Resolution that's the budget language they gave us for 781 that's additional money from the state for the reservoir project um that seems oh for the hunting in couple years at the park uh that's not been determined that's so far in the future I have no idea once the project is complete whether it'll be hunting there or not that's that hasn't even been thought about or determined yet uh we have nothing new to report on on the reservoir uh and as for those details about um um how many hunters and stands we don't have that readily available right here tonight but we'll get you that information so yeah that one I don't know off the top of my head I'm sorry thank that's all I got I think I covered them all you did um if I can just ask um director scari if you can please just comment on resolution 794 oh just before director comes up I believe um Mr Patterson was alluding to the county having financial problems I think two weeks ago we were getting criticized for our AAA Bond rating and having too much Surplus it's just hard to follow what we're getting criticized on thank you director 2020 three and it's will be a 3% increase across the board for 2024 3% for 2025 and 3% for 2026 thank you uh at this time I would like to ask for a motion to adopt resolutions 2024-25 d802 so mooves Madam chair second uh a motion was made by commissioner Mirabella and was second did by commissioner bodak Clerk of the board please call the role commissioner bodak I commissioner delis for I commissioner granados I commissioner Kowalski yes commissioner Mirabella I commissioner Williams I Vice chairwoman Leon I chairwoman palmary mudad uh I all with the AC uh abstaining from 20247 83 commissioner you have uh chair you have eight votes in the affirmative on all resolutions with the exception of um 2024 783 seven votes in the affirmative with one exstension thank you uh now it is time for commissioner comments and I would like to begin with commissioner Kowalski thank you chair um we're in the month of October which means it's time for our histor histor historical weekend four centuries in a weekend which is on Saturday October 19th and Sunday October 20th and unless otherwise noted in the program um or on on the website there all the sites are open from 12: noon to 5:00 p.m. and um each day is packed with special exhibits and activities um there's are 38 different sites to go to I wish I could say you could get to all of them in two days but I don't think it's possible but um if you pick a few each day I'm sure you won't be disappointed um uh there for the kids I would suggest maybe deserted village or Reed Reeves re or bedum uh both of those are big and have plenty of room for the kids to wander around and lots of activities um then there are the small house museums like boxwood Hall and Elizabeth Robinson house and Clark Osborne cannonbal in in Springfield uh Coldwell house Union there are a couple of cemeteries with uh with famous people um buried there and uh there's a general store in in Hillside um a transportation exhibit in raway at Merchants and Merchants and drover um Shady Rest it was the first blackowned golf course in the United States and that's located in Scotch Plains so and there's Liberty Hall and Union with many historical um points to to look into so and that's that's not all of them so I would really uh encourage people to have a look at uh at the website ucnj.org uh4c and find out um which places you would like to visit that day and um it's funded by Union County and also by by the New Jersey historical commission and uh organized by our office of cultural and Heritage Affairs that's it for me thank you chair thank you commissioner Williams thank you chair uh we invite you Board of County Commissioners invites all residents to participate in our free scrap metal recycling drop off events one is um let's see the next one is on Saturday October 19 19th from 9:00 a.m. to 12: noon the drop off locations are in Cranford and raway in Cranford the Emergency Services Building 151 Boulevard in kennworth kennworth Boulevard in uh raway raway River Park the service yard across from the swimming pool residents from any Union County municipality can bring scrap metal to either site items such as pots pans appliances and and more will be accepted residents must remain in their vehicle at all times M materials should be placed in the trunk or cargo area uh or truck bed uh to be more easily accessible to staff to remove from the vehicle for more information and for a full list of what is accepted before you come please go to ucnj.org recycle or call us at 9 8654 [Music] 9889 um and I just want to remind everyone again uh that it is uh breast cancer awareness month and um it's also Halloween month um so um that's all I have thank you chair thank you commissioner granados thank you very much chair I'm proud to announce that Union County food security Summit will be held on Wednesday October 16th at K University's Liberty Hall academic center hosted by the Department of Human Services after participating in discussions at njac and learning from successful models in place like Bergen County um director Anderson public information director Kelly Mars and myself were inspired to bring these insights back to our Union County team to help develop this food security Summit this Summit will bring together food pantry soup kitchens Community leaders and Advocates to collaborate on addressing food and Security in Union C County through workshops discussions and networking sessions participants will explore Innovative strategies for combating Hunger promoting self-sufficiency and improving food distribution and Outreach efforts while connecting individuals to essential Supportive Services local food service providers and Community stakeholders are encouraged to attend and for more information please visit ucnj.org food- Summit thank you chair thank you and let's go Mets uh commissioner B as you are all aware we have a very important election coming up on November 5th and one thing that helps make the election go well as pole workers and Union County residents can still apply to become a pole worker for election day poll workers will will earn $300 for the day starting at 5:15 a.m. until at least 8:15 p.m. after the polls close no experience is necessary and all new poll workers must attend a mandat training session residents 16 and older can apply with those aged aged 18 and over needing to be registered voters bilingual residents are especially needed to apply visit www.nj.org poorer or call the Board of Elections at 9852775034 thank you commissioner Dallas for thank you madam chair we would like to invite all residents to experience fall in Union County with hay rides and campfires and haunted hay rides brought to you by the department of Parks and Recreation enjoy a hay ride entertainment and delicious hot chocolate and marshmallows to roast over the campfire tickets are available for multiple dates at ucnj.org and must be purchased in advance no tickets will be sold on site then kickoff November with a in Journey Through the deserted village of feltville during our haunted hay rides on November 1st 2nd and 3rd explore the Eerie grounds and encounter witches and circus performers and more tickets are $8 for Union County residents and $16 for non-residents and they're also available at ucnj.org tick and that concludes my report thank you commissioner Marabella thank you madam chair uh I'm happy to announce that Union County invites all veterans and military person to join us for a networking mixer on October 16th this event hosted by the office of veteran services provides a valuable opportunity to connect with local resources and build relationships within the community the mixer will feature complimentary food in a cash bar at the tavern at our Galloping Hill Golf Course while attendance is free pre-registration is required to register please visit ucnj.org veterans and we look forward to to having as many veterans out there as possible I want to uh finish with just two notes the best to all um who celebrate the Jewish holidays last weekend and this coming weekend and I agree with commissioner granados and the county manager and say let's go Mets and I'll Bank the rest of my time thank you thank you County Council Bergen thank you if the chair will indulge me let's go [Laughter] meds uh County Manager oan uh ditto uh Vice chairwoman Leon let's go Yankees oh wow we would like to invite um we would like to invite residents with disabilities and special needs ages 13 and older to attend the annual Halloween bash this Friday um no on Friday October 18th from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. the free event will be held at the rway recreation center located at 275 East mton Avenue in raway the Halloween bash will include games dancing and a haunted house attendees are asked to wear Halloween costoms for a chance to win prizes in the costom contest and there will be light Refreshments admission to the Halloween bash is free but pre-registration is required to register online please visit ucnj.org opsd n-reg this event is hosted by the Union County office for persons with disabilities and special needs under the division of individual and Family Support Services of the Union County Department of Human Services in partnership with the city of raway for more information on the Halloween bash and other programs or events hosted by Union County Office of persons with Disability and Special Needs please visit ucnj.org DHS opds SN thank you everyone and let's go Mets too my it's my second team that's my second team good comeback good good comeback I'm going to keep my mouth shut about the game um we are proud to announce more shows for the sensory friendly theater series at the Union County Performing Arts Center the UC Pac in rawe these performances are specially adapted for children and adults with autism and other sensory sensitivities offering a welcome environment for all our upcoming performances include Halloween Hollow on November 3rd at 2 p.m. and the New Jersey Ballet The Nutcracker on December 1st at 2 p.m. each performance is tailored with adjustments to lighting sound and audience size to create a relaxed environment and families can also um access sensory tools and take breaks as needed during the shows all tickets are $8 and you can visit the UC pac.org to purchase tickets um speaking of the UC Pac I just want to highlight uh about two weeks ago we concluded our first um cohort of the Legacy Arts Club stories of a lifetime uh which was a program that we launched this year in conjunction with the UC Pac uh where our senior residents uh could take writing workshops and then present their pieces their monologues um to an audience and it was an absolutely beautiful night I believe we had 12 uh participants in the group and each person shared their story um most of them read their own some of them had someone else read it for them um but the feedback we heard from the participants was just tremendous and being a member of the audience and listening to um these people share their stories was was just amazing um so we are we had such a great um we had such great feedback uh that we are going to continue so we have another cohort uh that's going to be starting soon and we have another one after that and then um hopefully into next year as well but if you are interested or you know someone that's interested please um let them know um check the ucpac website for more information and where to register and um it was just really a great great program and I know any of the people that participated really uh really enjoyed it some of them might know want to sign up again so um so we want to make sure we have room for everyone um and then also uh yesterday um myself and um Vice chairwoman Leon and commissioner Kowalski along with our Deputy County Manager um H uh hosted the first Safe Streets for all action plan advisory council meeting um and it was a really great turnout we had a represent rep at least one representative from almost every municipality in Union County um and the goal of this um is a grant that we received in order to develop a plan um countywide for better uh roadway safety so to decrease fatalities um especially for our most vulnerable um residents uh and and roadway users including pedestrians um bike users uh scooters and the elderly so it was a great um a great first start uh we know we have a long ways to go and this is also in conjunction with the city of Elizabeth um but it will be countywide so we're really excited for um the future of you know more safe roads uh so I think this could our shortest meeting since I've been chair so um with that I will ask for a motion to adjourn second all in favor okay have a good night [Music] [Music]