##VIDEO ID:tiy0CITLrC8## okay tape is on this read is being held in conformance with the Sunshine Law notice of time date and place has been furnished to the Burger record and the rid news has ALS been also been posted on the bulletin board of the administration building clerk please take the role mayor gardano here Mr branck here miss sakola here Mr martinello here Mr rundo here Mr Richie here Mrs Weber here em col Stan for the pledge allegiance I pledge aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the for it stands Nation indivisible with liy and justice for all let us have a moment of silence for all our walck veterans and all veterans across our country who have given the ultimate sacrifice to serve and some's lives were taken so that we could assemble the way we are and live in a free Society clerk take do to prayer we thank you for everyone gathered here now thank you that you know each of us by name and have caused us to walk with you we say that we that we are dependent on you and our trust is in you completely as we surrender ourselves in adoration we ask that you would come by your Holy Spirit and Inspire our hearts today come fill our lives with your love fill our conversations with your grace and truth fill this meeting with your presence we ask this for your glory and praise amen amen amen good evening everyone and under my report just a couple of items um I did attend the May's meeting meting which I have some paperwork for Eric when you come up I will give it to you also um Sunday I attended a uh uh Eagle Scout ceremony for two young men in our community one uh young man was the one that uh put the bench outside the other one followed in his sister's uh path and made a walking path continuation in HDA Park also the Chamber of Commerce had two ribbon cutting ceremonies two new businesses are in our town also on Saturday I we did a dedication of a walk bench in burrow park right near the kopa it's in honor of a 30-year-old resident that uh passed away suddenly the day after a couple of days after Easter and on Sunday I will be also doing a um going to a young woman's house 16-year-old resident who uh is wheelchair bound who will be celebrating her 16th birthday uh the mother asked me if I could come over and wish her well she doesn't know we're doing this so it'll be a surprise for her and hopefully her birthday will be a little bit more special also don't forget Saturday ragar muffin parade starts 10:00 at the administration building I'm sorry at a public safety building and it'll go all the way down to the train station Chuck waner thank you very much as usual for doing this with the conjunction with the the burrow plaques have been ordered everything's set I know you got the pumpkins so it should be a good day the weather's going to be perfect so everything will be working out that's all I have to report right now financial and administrative committee Mr Richie thank you mayor good evening everyone it's nice to see such a large group here this evening uh we had a finance subcommittee meeting this this evening just before the council uh we're preparing for next year's budget in the event that the committee changes for continuity purposes we can hand over a framework for next year's budget in the event that we stay the same uh we'll have a head start we already know that there's some statutory increases in in in our health insurance and so we're planning for that on the uh operating budget the operating budget if you take a look at it is Razor thin there's just no extra money in that at all so we're looking to make Cuts in things like our capital budget so that the down payment uh is reduced and we can absorb those uh increases in the statutory expenditures without putting the burden uh on such uh such a large increases in taxes so I think we have a framework that uh Steve the burough administrator can work from uh we'll obviously get very uh into the weeds come January uh once uh we kind of reorganize but uh certainly we're looking at some challenges this year as always uh last at the last meeting uh you saw us introduce some ordinances creating a new position uh that we're calling confidential assistant this is after the resignation of our grants uh administrator a couple months ago we thought that the roles and responsibilities of that probably were best suited splitting it up into uh different positions so tonight we'll be adopting the ordinances that uh both create that position and fund the for that position and then we will be appointing uh you know after a vote Tatiana to that role I couldn't be more enthusiastic about uh her taking that she's been with us for just a few years but has been uh lifechanging for the burough so we're we're very uh excited about these new responsibilities I shall be taking on so pretty thin agenda uh aside from that so that is my report mayor thank you thank you fire and police protection committee Mr brck oh thanks Mr Mayor my brief this tonight uh we had 16 calls so far this month for the fire department the month of October is fire prevention month uh we had open house on the 10th it was uh very well received uh had a good turnout from uh both members and uh and residents alike uh we have nominations for officers um that'll be voted on in the uh November meeting and uh I will give the results of that election uh next month that's all I have thank you very much Public Safety Committee missra Cola thank you mayor as far as the ambulance court goes notables for the month include the following wvac responded to the Route 17 hit and run with the Allandale police department and Upper Saddle River Police Department transporting one patient to hackensac hospital wdak also worked hand inhand with the walck fire department on the Route 17 Sheridan AV rollover this past Monday night standbys are ongoing for the whhs football and waldock junr football games they also continue to look forward to the ragum Muff and parade that the mayor mentioned this Saturday additionally I attended the presentation of a generous check to the ambulance courp on Wednesday night from the Nicholas Negron mental health Foundation coordinated by former member now New Jersey state trooper Jack brosen wac and the foundation are in talks to hold a mental health training in the future thank you mayor thank you Recreation and health committee Mr martinello thank you Mr Mayor um few items to report on tonight last weekend was our senior night for walwick junior football program um the boys and girls had a great event um to send them off into to high school we congratulate them for all their years of participating in the program and look forward to them moving on to the high school uh next year um our baseball program held their annual Cooper toown mum sale at the uh American Legion it's very successful they thank all the residents for coming out to purchase mums and thank the American Legion again for for hosting them um our wrestling program has opened up registration I'll be posted on our uh town website uh for a link for the form we are accepting registrations for kindergarten through 8th grade for that program um also we had our health meeting last Thursday night um in there there was a few updates the audits of the immunization records for all the schools are completed uh covid hospitalizations and admissions continue to be low um there's a child care clinic every third Wednesday which takes place at 22 white slain and there were three children seen in September with 10 immunizations given uh during the water main break uh the team visited 47 establishments to make sure the boil boil water rules were being followed and in September there were 11 retail inspections one temporary food establishment inspection and three complaints were followed up on we also held flute clinics there were 24 doses uh given in Tamron and there were six additional doses done at the Waldwick Health Clinic um also like to remind everyone on um their website we also have a lot of support groups and webinars on different groups so in the month of October we have uh pulmonary fibrosis on October 22nd October 23rd we have a agenda on fat diets and medical weight loss surgeries on October 24th there's an understanding understanding hearing test on October 29th understanding uh low down on dementia and on October 30th making a cardiac comeback um that's it for tonight thank you Mr Mayor thank you Public Works committee Mr rundo thank you Mr Mayor I spoke with Mike Lor uh gave me a couple heads UPS uh now that leaves are coming down uh please be sure that you don't put the leaves out too early in the street uh creates a problem for parking as well as the situation that we're currently under uh is a fire watch in the state of New Jersey and we want to be cognizant of it's extremely dry uh and there's a very high potentiality to get a a fire so please be careful uh no open Flames or fires you can use your grills but that's about it thank you Mr Mayor thank you public sorry buildings and grounds committee Mrs Weber thank you Mr Mayor um there's some ongoing work being done over at the tennis courts uh that should be finalized soon uh that we're going to be doing putting some new trees in here at Burrow Hall we had three trees that didn't make it and uh those will be uh changed out to some living trees over at vets Park park there were some pruning and mulch that was done and then the new playground at Lions Park uh we have two uh submissions from the engineering firm on how it's going to look so we'll be deciding on that that's all I have thank you thank you our administrator thank you Mr Mayor um just a couple things to note we have a couple resolutions to close out um our 2024 road paving program and our Ada curb ramp upgrades um both those programs went well and that the work came out really nice um and I'd also just like to note that we are very excited to um create the new confidential assistant position within Administration and are excited to uh get that new person started so thank you thank you Al bar clerk thank you mayor um Tatiana I attend the Bergen County Municipal Clerk's mini conference in Ramsey last week the county election officials presented some last minute details um for us for November 5th um we also heard from the Bergen County prosecutor's office on how they will be assisting us on Election Day um also we had a a really great session with uh Scott steinm from legalized games of chance Control Commission and Lori Buckaloo um provid us provided us with updates on the new Oprah law that went into effect September 3rd just want to remind um vote by mail voters if you're having issues completing your vote by mail ballot to go to our elections page of our website and click on the link for the video on how to complete your vote by mail ballot the last day to apply for vote by mail ballots by mail is October 29th however at this point voters must bring their applications to hackin sack as there's no way to guarantee the post office will deliver it by October 29th to the county um another option is to avoid the lines and consider early voting uh it starts October 26th and runs through November 3rd Monday through Saturday 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. and Sundays 10: a.m. to 6:00 p.m. um the two closest early voting sites are the woff library shop meire room at 200 Woodland Avenue in woff and the Ty Senior Center 411 Chestnut Ridge Road in woodcliffe Lake um also just a reminder to sign up for Constant Contact which is our new platform for our weekly Community news and updates as well as our monthly newsletter nixel will be used will be continue to be used um by the police department for emergency notifications and our October monthly newsletter will go out on Friday thank you thank you our attorney thank you mayor thank you mayor uh I spoke with our attorney that's handling the litigation for the posos and there's been no movement from the Claims Administrator so he can't give me any estimated date as to when we'll get our um award letter on the 3M in Dupont settlement he did tell me though that the Tao and the BASF settlements are on for the Court's agenda next Friday to approve so what'll happen is if the court approves those settlements which is expected there hasn't been many um objections to the settlement then a new claim window will open up where we can submit additional claims under that settlement for additional monies so uh he'll keep me appr prised if that gets approved next Friday and then we'll get that paperwork together to submit those claims uh as many of you have probably read the fourth round COA numbers were released on Friday uh I won't bore everybody with how the calculations were done but the main number is for Waldwick we have to plan for 178 units in the burrow by 2035 it's a 10year window 2025 to 2035 so we have to plan for 178 that's the number that DCA has assigned us the it takes into account some of the the units we already have but basically if you take a 100 units the standard set asid's 20% we have to figure out 500 units and how we're going to plan for 500 units in the burrow um over the next 10 years so that that's what the state has uh has come up with as to Our obligation and I have uh Steve and I are going to set up a call with the planner to start working on this we have till the end of January to come up with a binding resolution as to how we're going to address this so we're going to get to work right away to try and uh try and figure something out so that's all mayor thank you any information about the lawsuit that the the different towns when after them on this yeah there's there's no information on right now it's you know it was filed it'll take some time for it to work its way through the uh the court system okay thank you yep consent resolutions and resolutions of the governing body be it resolved that the following resolutions here withth listed by consent having been considered by the governing body of the burrow of walck are hereby passed and approved 2024 265 approval of consent 2024 266 approval of minutes regular meeting October 8th 2024 policy votes a Waldwick United Methodist Church request permission to hold a dinner and a show on October 26th from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. and request waiver of permit fees for fire prevention and health certificate B Waldo Chamber of Commerce requests the assistance of the police DPW sir and fire department with the Chamber of Commerce 5K run in one mile walk on Sunday uh May 4th 2025 waluk Chamber of Commerce requests permission to hold the 17th annual W Chamber of Commerce 5K run on Sunday May 4th uh 2025 from 7:00 a.m. to 11:30 and to display the Waldwick 5K run Banner on fence on the fence located at the end of East uh East Prospect beginning April 1st D Waldwick Lions Club requests to use the administration building council chambers for the annual children's Christmas party on December 8th 2024 from 12:00 p.m. to 3 p.m. with permission to set up on Saturday December 7th 2024 from 10: a.m. to 12: p.m. e the Chamber of commer request to hang the shop small Banner on Route 17 fence line beginning the first week of November through late December 2024 267 change order number two final and final payment to DNL Paving Contractors for the 2024 Road rehabilitation project in the amount of $553 to70 2024 268 change order number one in final payment to Marini Brothers Construction Company Inc for the 2024 uh Road resurfacing program ada8 curb ramp upgrades in the amount of 8,636 185 2024 269 awarded non-fair Open professional service contract to DMR Architects for development of a community energy plan in the amount of $10,000 2024 270 authorized membership into the Somerset County cooperative pricing system 2024 271 authorized share service agreement with Northwest Bergen County Utility Authority for TV inspection services and 2024 272 payment of vouchers do have a motion and second to accept motion by mock second by Andy anyone have a question uh ABCD and these are standard uh items that the mayor and Council always do for the different organizations in our community mostly all this is funraising that these organizations uh uh take care of you got the United Methodist Church that's uh they're doing a dinner show you know they raise money for themselves the Chamber of Commerce is one that we do every year uh W Lions Club is a part of our community so and the history of them are is very strong here so whatever they need from us we always help them out and uh shop Smalls we we've been doing that for a while now so that's uh that will stay on the fence like we always said we would do anyone else clerk take the rooll Mr brenick yes Miss sakola yes Mr martinello yes Mr rundo yes Mr Richie yes Mrs Weber yes okay public hearing with the clerk conly read ordinance number 2024 D30 ordinance number 2024 D30 30 and ordinance amending ordinance number 2024 27 chapter 90 trees and shrubs Article 1 Section 90-8 a tree removal permit and section 90-112 c tree removal contractor requirements notice and deadlines of the code of the burough of Waldwick anyone from the council would like to comment on his ordinance that was just read you want to uh sure just a note this is we already adopted the um tree ordinance this is just making some minor edits to it that we realized after the fact and and wanted to adjust just based on some feedback we received um it's really just the original ordinance stated it was $50 per tree um per application U we thought that was a bit much so we actually are changing it to just $50 per Tree application um you know could have as many trees as you want on one permanent application and then the other piece of that was actually reducing the amount of insurance uh required from the tree contractors and their registration any anyone else I close the council's comments and open up to the public anybody from the public would like to comment on his ordinance that was just read hi Bianca maros 135 not not no no address just your name I just had a fast question about that ordinance what if there was an emergency removal will the person be waved from having a permit yeah it would have to be Case by case basis if it was a true emergency um so like for like a hurricane or anything like this it fell onto a wire and it had to be removed yeah in those cases 100% yeah so what would the process be basically have the tree removed to eliminate the hazard no I mean in the sense of making sure that it's waved that it's not going to be retroactive that they had to pay a permanent fee it'll probably be just like what we do when we have a water heater you it's on the weekend and you have to have somebody come in and do your water heater you can't get a permit from the cuz they're closed so what we do is you come to us and you tell us that you know your tree came down on the weekend you know nobody was here and all that stuff we would take that all into consideration okay and then I had another follow-up question to that um in terms of removal at what point would you look at somebody asking for too many removals looking at soil erosion and something like that I mean I'm just wondering you know if somebody's looking to remove all the trees from their property at what point a to do is that just acceptable or they have to that change to replace okay so that would be added into that as well it says that it has to be be replaced yes correct that's all part of the the permit application okay perfect thank you so much thank you anyone else Alec Holden um talking about trees now would that be for life live trees or dead trees or all trees um yeah so it's for all trees um but qualified trees would be live trees um dead dying diseased or hazardous um would not there would be no fee to remove those trees cuz I just was riding up White Avenue one day and some guy wants taking down 30 40 50 trees behind his house how does he get the okay for that that's develop so if if that's the one that I think we're all thinking of that was recently clearcut that was actually uh that work was done prior to the ordinance that was part of yeah but I brought this thing up about a year more than a year ago most towns have it and I said why don't we have it well now we got it but it's too late somebody just took down all them trees that's a shame but Al that was that's part of that was part of a development application and a subdivision they're building two houses behind that house on wof so they they subdivide believe they subdivided that into three lots and there's two houses going on is that Birch Lane I think yeah so that's why those trees were taken down because there's two new houses going in there can we make them plant new trees when they're finished I have not seen the the site plan application but I presume the planning board when they reviewed that required a landscaping Plan and there's going to be land scaping around those too see when they come in front of the planning board they have to have a plan for landscaping they have to have a plan for lighting make sure the lighting is not going to affect the residents in the area and at that point that's when uh the planning board approves the uh the the trees nine times out of 10 they put a lot of trees around to buffer themselves from the residents which is good okay thank you thank you anyone else I I close the Public's comments and ask for a motion in a second to pass the daance on second reading and that the clerk be authorized to advertise it in Lo local legal newspapers required by law motion Andy second uh Michelle clerk take the role Mr brck yes Miss sakola yes Mr martinello yes Mr rundo yes Mr Richie yes Mrs Weber yes with the clerk kindly read ordinance number 2024 D31 ordinance number 2024-the of the burough Waldwick to create a new section 2- 7.1 entitled confidential assistant anybody from the council like to comment on this ordinance that was just read councilman Richie already talked about this this is a uh position that we uh uh took uh into consideration when we lost our grant administrator uh so uh this position it'll fill his position and also do more other stuff for the community or also for our administrator anyone else I close the uh council's comments anybody from the public would like to comment Eric leor just one question honorable why is the word confidential in that I mean she's a great person why do we have to put confidential we all know her I mean you so it's it's more confidential for the responsibilities not the actual person she whenever it's done it's it's we hear it here no matter what it's it's also a civil service title so we there's only certain titles that we can use to fulfill those D to when the certain duties that they're going to do we have to fit them into one of the titles under civil service and so that's that was the most applicable Tak marks in place basically okay thanks thank you anyone else if not I close the Public's comments and ask for a motion a second to pass this ordinance on second reading and that the clerk be authorized to advertis in our local legal newspapers as required by law motion by Katie second by Joe clerk take the role Mr brck yes m s yes Mr marello yes Mr rundo yes Mr Richie yes Mrs Weber yes Clark kindly read ordinance number 2024 d32 ordinance number 2024 d32 and ordinance amending ordinance number 20245 fixing the compensation salaries and wages of officials and employees of the burough of Waldwick to add the title confidential assist assistant to the administrative SL executive section anybody from the council would like to comment on this ordinance that was just read this is once again what uh councilman Richie uh talked about this is establishing the salary for the uh the new position that we have set up anybody else from the council if not I close the council's comments and open to the public anybody from the public would like to comment if not I close the uh Public's comments and ask for a motion a second the pastor is on second reading and that the clerk be authorized to advertise it in local legal newspapers as required by law motion by Mike second by Michelle clerk please take the role Mr brck yes Miss sakola yes Mr martinello yes Mr rundo yes Mr Richie yes Mrs Weber yes okay I have a resolution yes okay I have resolution 20242 73 appointment of Tatiana Marquee as confidential assistant that's it yeah okay we have a motion in a second motion by Mike second by Joe um anyone have a question I know everybody knows Tatiana everybody thinks she's doing a great job which she is she came to us about three years ago and she has proven to be an asset not only to the office but to all of us anytime we needed anything as a council besides our administrator and and Kelly we would go to her and uh Tatiana would make sure that we had everything we need uh I personally deal with Tatiana on a daily basis uh she gets a phone call every morning from me I don't know if she's happy about it but I keep up on everything that's going on in the town if I can't get here like I used to so uh Tatiana we wish you well coming in in a new position um and uh we know you're going to do great things for us clerk take the role Mr brenick yes Miss arola yes Mr martinello yes Mr rundo yes Mr Richie yes Mrs Weber yes now she going to be sitting up here right up here come here I try to get you a seat up here he said no introduction of ordinances with the clerk kindly read ordinance number 2024 d33 ordinance number SEC for property located at 37 to 49 Harrison Avenue and 13 West Prospect Prospect Street as identified as block 107 Lots 1357 8 9 10 and 11 a motion the second is in order to move and pass this ordinance on first reading and data be advertised in local legal newspapers as required by law setting a public hearing two weeks from tonight's meeting at 7:30 p.m. or soon thereafter as the matter may be reached do I have a motion in a second motion by Katie second by Mike anyone on the question just describe what this uh ordinance is so as as everyone here who's been following us knows we've been working very hard on Redevelopment downtown uh We've designated two areas downtown areas in need of Redevelopment which just means that we uh put those areas out to study we have uh uh our our planning board uh kind of involved and we we essentially designate these as areas that we'd like uh to to redevelop the particular area in question which is Franklin to Harrison between Prospect and Frederick uh is the area where we we hired a planner to basically put some ideas together and send them to us um this ordinance essentially takes that plan and says we're going to we're going to give it to the planning uh board to make comments make changes recommend changes to it uh the council still has an opportunity to make changes as M small changes major changes whatever uh we want to the plan um and then at a later date we would adopt it and that essentially puts guard rails on what can be done in that area when developers want to come in make sure that we don't put massive 10-story buildings high density uh Apartments we essentially uh I think we all want the same thing we want to keep things uh you know local quiet you know retail on the first floor as much as we can uh keep it keep it nice down there so this sends it to the uh planning board uh for their comments uh and and that's essentially what this ordinance is anyone else if not clerk take the role Mr brck yes Miss sakola yes Mr martinello yes Mr rundo yes Mr Richie yes Mrs Weber yes okay unfinished business anybody from the council have any unfinished business nope anybody from the council have any new business yes thank you Mr Mayor just a few items I did also attend a Board of Education meeting um last week and just want to report that there was a new test scores released for the town um a lot of increase from our students in the scores I know last year was a Hot Topic um it was significant progress made in a lot of the scores I encourage you all to go and check out the Board of Education website to review those results there um also as we're entering in the the holiday season um and know there'll be a lot of events that the the town is working on look forward to all the uh kids coming out this weekend for or next weekend for Halloween and the Ragamuffin parade and as we move into the Thanksgiving and and Christmas holidays I'm sure there'll be a lot of other events that will be coming out and also I'd like to add my personal uh congratulations to Tatiana for their new position I think she'll do great in in the new role thank you you anyone else yes yes Mr Mayor I want to report on the environmental uh committee uh this week uh they met on Thursday and they basically came with a proposal for some work in town I submitted to Steve and uh we will initiate it to look and see if there's grants available to do the work and uh we had our styrofoam collection this weekend and it was quite successful we also had the opportunity of Boy Scouts from Allendale looking for service hours and they will be attending all the future uh styrofoam collections we were able to fill the dumpster 3/4 of the way so we avoided another 30 yards of Styrofoam going into a landfill so to date we're probably up to 12,000 lbs of material that has been avoid it from a landfill thank you anyone else anyone else uh we are going into close session uh after this meeting but we do not have any action that will be taken and no one else uh okay public comment anybody from the public would like to comment please come to the microphone and state your name and just your name for the record f good evening everyone my name is John bort first I want to congratulate to John well done I think that's great to hear as many of you know I'm a fairly regular attendee here at these Council meetings for several years now I've lived in Waldwick for the past 35 years I hear a lot of recurring banter every election season about open transparency and I'd like to take a moment to commend the mayor of the council and the administrators on their open transparency you see during my long military deployment in the Middle East in this past year I was able to get out of the scorching heat retire to my hooch where I was able to watch every meeting on YouTube this allowed me to keep up with the latest and greatest happenings from my H toown I was able to watch the proceedings in near real time deep in the desert on the other side of the world since my return home in July I've missed but a few but I've always been able to get caught up using the YouTube feed I don't think anybody can say that we're not open and transparent I'm sorry that I missed the last meeting because I watched the feed later and I discovered that I missed quite an interesting and spirited meeting it appears that the upcoming election has brought some new visitors to the council meetings interestingly I've not seen them here before and more coincidentally some of these visitors happen to be challenging the incumbent council members in the November election it's nice to see new people at these meeting and hear all the different perspectives from our community this is the heart of our democracy and it's heartwarming to see however one observation where have they been all this time will they continue to participate after the election even if they're defeated if past history is a is a guide the defeated candidates seldom return I'd like to address some of the comments made at the last meeting and give give you my opinion as I see it an active candidate for a seat on the burough Council introduced herself and noted her quote deep disappointment with the council's support of s213 and a 971 this is a bill to Pro to prohibit affordable housing obligation exemptions from urban Urban Aid municipalities she explained from her position as a social worker why she felt that this bill decreases our legal responsibility for more affordable housing and she believes beles that we have an affordability crisis she went on to say that we all know someone who can't afford to live in a place they want to live or where their family lives due to the cost of housing quote it is up to outstanding communities such as ours to increase the amount of available affordable housing unquote it creates a stigma against affordable housing and that we should see more of affordable housing as something that improves our community not something that takes away takes away from it well I wasn't really familiar with this bill or even the council's vote so I did some research I went back and I looked it all up the council voted to support a bill where the prior rules of the Council on affordable housing excluded municipal or Urban Aid Program municipalities these are towns like Camden Patterson Newark and others from providing any contribution toward a regions affordable housing need these exemptions however can lead to undue development burdens On The Other M M municipalities in the region additionally directing more affordable housing development to Urban municipalities would help minimize urban sprawl and would direct development to areas that already have extensive infrastructure in place this would allow more cost-effective accommodation of new development these exemptions add to the affordable housing obligations that towns like ours must support to make up the shortfall this has a direct impact on the taxes that you and I pay at the end of the day to explain it simply let's just say that the state mandates that 1 million aord affordable housing units must be created right now municipalities like Patterson Newark and others are exempt so that shortfall now has to be divied up among the remaining M municipalities increasing their quota to make up for these units not covered by the exempt ones this bill would remove that exemption and make the Mandate equitable I would argue that the added tax burden would amplify the affordable housing crisis in our community I just don't get it our buau is not trying to abdicate or S step its affordable housing obligation this bill simply makes the legislation Equitable all along our burrow attorney and the mayor and councel have been proactive to stay ahead of the fair housing legislation and ensure that Waldwick is on track and compliant with all fair housing mandates our administrator maintains a dedicated web page on the burough website just to affordable housing my home is my most valuable asset I've worked hard to pay for it to keep it maintained and to improve it it's my primary family investment my wife and I have raised two children there I expect the value of my in my home to increase over time I believe that our buau leadership has a solemn duty to maintain and support our property values not only to support a strong tax tax base but to make Waldwick a sought-after place to be a place where people want to move their families a place with strong property values great educational opportunities and Safe Streets so while I certainly appreciate the perspective of the prospective Council candidate I must respectfully agree that we disagree I fully support the council's vote to support this bill and I fully support the ongoing effort to stay ahead of any fair fair housing legislation in order to maintain full compliance to our current obligations this Council candidate was followed by a current burrow employee and previous May mayoral candidate this gentleman is a regular attendee of these meetings and we've all heard from him before he started out his comments calmly asking about contributing to disaster relief for Halen and Milton victims he then proceeded with a Litany of random disjointed comp complaints and highlighted that he wanted answers from elected officials not appointees he made a point to say quote just so you know I'm not running for any office unquote as the complaints went from couches on woff Avenue to quote is the water at my home safe unquote his tone became more Manic and at times seemed to me to become almost unhinged verbally sparring and attacking the mayor and Council me Members the volume and tone continued to rise as he described how the F and the I looks lousy on the fire department sign this why aren't our elected officials doing anything about this this display was not only disrespectful to all present but was simply shameful and embarrassing it should be noted that the elected and appointed officials present that day maintained their poison dignity answering each and every legitimate question in a respectful and dignified manner must have been tough to maintain your professional demeanor while listening to this sharp tonged rant and when he ended his tie raade with the comment that he's quote not trying to get anyone elected unquote I think the collective long sigh was palpable even on YouTube we all want what's best for Waldwick I think it will certainly be interesting to see what happens in 14 days not only for our nation but in our little burough of Waldwick a place that I'm proud to call my home I encourage everyone to participate in the election to go out and make your vote count it's a respon responsibility that I I have personally fought for you to have that right to do it's an obligation that you have as a citizen of our great nation thank you thank you anyone else okay good evening mayor good evening everybody mayor may I please have your name Joanne Mitchell mayor may we please have an update on what the next step is for our poor battered bus station on Route 17 our administrator already reached out to the county to talk to them about having that fixed and everything it's a process that we have to go through and to get it done but you want to just yeah I mean basically it's been reported um we're trying to expedite things and get get it back and repaired um you know and analyze the location of it as well is it there Mr Neil is there something that should be done with the approach and that exit given the tra trajectory of that vehicle I I speak not only as a resident in reasonable proximity to that bus station but also as a member of the beautification committee who spent a lot of time beautifying that spot uh we're all very grateful nobody was serious injured which was practically miraculous but is there something that should be looked at in how that exit is constructed we we looked at it uh couple of years ago I don't know if you remember there was a car that went right through it and at that point we had a lot of residents were very concerned about the safety of the uh the people that were using it so we spoke to Jersey Transit we spoke to everyone thinking we could take it off of the road and what happened is they had diagrams of everything and they said said that we cannot take it off that road it has to stay there because there's a path that the bus takes and if they you take that and put it somewhere else then what's going to happen is everyone that's supposed to be at a certain time at that station or a different station would be late for work but what they did tell us is that they they were going to work on the the turn MH but I don't think it's the turn I think it's the the length of the highway but what we could do is we could reach out to them again and see if they could do something on that in that area that would be wonderful because because if I'm counting correctly this is the third time that bus station has been hit Y and demolished y thank you Mr mayor council um Bianca marosi unfortunately I wasn't here last week but uh to Mr port's point I actually think it's great that there are so many people here absolutely especially because everyone doesn't want anybody come complaining on social media you know and if you have something to say you should be here so I think it's a good thing for sure absolutely um I had a question actually so it was brought up about the uh the drought issue and the fire hazards right with the leaves um but then so how does the all the fire like the flushing of the fire hydrants that we're doing how does that affect it you can um yeah I mean it's it doesn't really affect it much I would say it's we're not depleting our water system that you know drastically we always have backups with our our storage tanks and everything too that's always closely monitored so we would never flush to the point where we're putting ourself in in Jeopardy in in any way for a fire emergency situation okay it I think also Steve that that's required maintenance that we need to do to help with other water issues in the town so we have to take that that measure to continue to flush so that we can address other problems no I'm not saying not to flush you know exci if it needs to be done but I was just more curious on like how it affects you know if the state is in the drought you know drought watch and and we have to be doing this continuously how does that affect that you know do we get fines as a town or or what happens at that point I I don't know so I'm just curious we're not in a drought watch okay but but we're in a we're in a we haven't had rain in a while for more of a fire so they don't that's better wording the loose Ember they don't want loose Ember so they don't even want anyone even using a charcoal barbecue at this point because not so much because there isn't water to put the fire out but that there's be fires all over the place yeah so no fire pits or and then with the wind adding adding to it okay that's more more of what the uh the state was fire department did truck some of their trucks have water on it already and what they do is they drill on Thursday night so what they do is they're not drilling they need to go near water so to preserve it taking a proactive okay so continual flushing is not ABS okay thank you and then actually have a follow question to the to the flushing um going back to social media um a lot of people that are having issues with water with discoloration they're saying that they're having the flushing and then it's not making a difference in the terms of the coloration of their water and I was just kind of curious like how is that being monitored if the flushing is not helping the situation you know thankfully I don't have this issue but I feel for people who do because nobody wants to have that situation right so we are monitoring we're actually tracking it to trying to just narrow down you know get to to a resolution um I we understand that the constant flushing is a disturbance um so we're trying to limit it as much as possible but we are seeing good results um maybe not across the board so we are we have been checking specific properties constantly following up with those same properties but and we do various check-ins you know I reached out to a few people this afternoon and this evening also just to see where they're at um so it does help it might not help every single person's situation but it is helping overall that's why we've continued to hit it kind of heavy in certain areas um we are going to pull that back a little bit right now just to kind of you know limit that disturbance but we are seeing success with it in in other areas is that is that going to be posted at all on the website on the town website and the reason why I asked that is because you know if you can put it as like block such and such on this street I find that a lot of people don't recognize or they don't realize that their neighbors having this issue that they're having and maybe one is more vocal than the other you know so that's actually being tracked you know online so to speak on the ones that were reported and the flushing that took place Town residents are at least able to go up on there and see okay I'm in that radius I'm having the same problem let me report it right well we talked about it at a couple of meetings ago a couple of residents you know they came and they discussed stuff with us be and they never ever came before so we never knew that they had a problem so we've been been trying to tell people come and talk to us but what you said you know Steve will look into that and that I think that would be really helpful for people and maybe we can get to a resolution faster okay thank you and just thank you very much the same what you said about the face uh you know everybody going online and talking you get you get more satisfaction coming here and talking to us directly than getting it secondhand on on pages because you know here's where everything starts and here's where everything could be created and and and I'm I'm glad that you're an advocate for that because I constantly say don't go on the only person that really tells you to come to a meeting is Eric Le Porter he's been promoting everybody to come and open their mouth and say what they have to say because you know we don't see everything you know we are not perfect but none of us live in a perfect world and if someone could come here and tell us things that need have to be done we have no problem doing it no I agree I mean I think ultimately you you know you can only speak for yourself but I you know a council unfortunately is not always seemed as approachable so maybe there is a better way that the council itself can kind of get out there to introduce themselves to residents on what they do especially new residents I think we are approachable where I'm at all the events I do a lot of stuff I'm here every every Friday I'm here residents come in I talk to them when they're paying their bills I talk to them when they come in for a question so I mean you know we are approachable but some people might think we're not can't speak there's that's right there's always room for a correction thank you you thank you thanks Eric I know you're waiting I'm not give my name I gave it okay I I we had our meeting there was about seven out of the 13 Mayors there and John Deno who's the assistant there that you know he um was very good he answered a lot of questions a lot of the questions had a lot to do with connections from the New Towns coming like Oakland's not in yet they're going to be connecting so a lot of that was discussed but what I did was cuz I didn't want to keep this meeting you know longer than it was I spoke to John ahead of time and I gave him your questions and I have the answers for you and he said whatever you need to do reach out to him the now the answers are pretty good um the only thing we were a little concerned about the Mayors and I'll be honest with you and we're going to be talking about this at our next meeting is every town has a representative down in walwick I mean down at the authority our representative left for whatever reason she left so now there's an open space so now I'm asking if I could give them names of people to be on the committee we have no say in this everything has to go to the county executive and he puts people up which is not fair to us because you know we should have the right each Town should have a right to put a person in some of the towns didn't even know they had a representative which is kind of scary but I mean we knew who our representative was I met with her when she first first came in but you know due to reasons you know that she didn't you know she she's not there no more I did ask if I could submit three names to have somebody go there he says you know you could try but he has no control over the county executive and their commission is okay but uh he you know read what he wrote it did smell I mean it smell tonight he wrote he wrote a lot of stuff uh the other Mayors are very very concerned about Theodor I the neighbors did um Ridgewood was there he was concerned and also hocus yeah so we talked with him we talked to him about it we told him we'd like to have a followup about everything so um you know this this will help you with your questions when I called the police uh the first time they said they would call the D EP um environmental nobody came up all day I was outside and um then about 4:00 it's it's just I mean it came out really good uh quarter to 4 and a representative came up at 5:30 and he says I can't smell a thing because I work here you know and it's I know and then the time Saturday another gentleman came up because I can't smell a thing I don't know why they sent me I'm I'm going home sick I can't smell thing I know first and the trucks are still coming in by the way he it's in here okay um yeah the first time I went down there when I was on that that committee when I think Mr mayell put me on it um I went and spoke with Hartz Mr Hartz when he was there and you know it smell and I says don't you smell this and he says my nose is burnt I don't smell it I'm like well how do you how do you answer the public they wouldn't even answer questions you know they didn't have a public you know you they don't right but um they got the attention the of the Mayors and and uh the one mayor from Oakland is very adamant about getting to the bottom of all this stuff because he is coming from over newey he's going to be tying in his town half of his Town's tying into them okay so he's very concerned about what's going on and he didn't know nothing about Commissioners or nothing so he he got a a lot of the the Mayors got an education and they they're very very proactive with all this okay okay you want to take it and thank you thank thanks anyone else okay hi at least did aelle how are you tonight good how are you good um I know with the holidays and everything coming up we have um different events planned um tree lighting manora lighting and all that I think um I've heard some feedback from local businesses that they would love to be able to participate in some of these events if there was some way that you can think about I know we have the shop small and we we ask all of them to participate and some do and some don't okay Kelly and Tatiana she uh that's why she's got the the ray she got she would send all the letters out to all the businesses and telling them could you help us we even send it out to our uh fire department Ambulance Corp uh police okay and they they all get were asked um thought it I just thought it would be a great opportunity for them as part of the community we have a great relationship with our Chamber of Commerce yeah and they do they do a lot for us matter of fact we we just hit them up from for some money for the Christmas party oh that's good so we'll see what happens um second question goes back to the water okay um so the town I should say the state is currently under a drought watch the entire state is that was um put in place about 5 days ago um I know that we have our own water system but with the lack of rain and everything I'm sure that it would help if maybe it has come out in a memo in one of the weeklys but maybe some ideas for people to just watch um their water usage watering the lawn Wasing their car those type of things it's not mandatory but just suggestions I know to fired upon sense something out on their site what we'll do is we'll we'll have P I'm sorry Patrick we'll have St wow you have what's his name the man to my right to your left okay we'll have him put something out on our site great thank you thank you sorry about that anyone else if not do I have a motion to go into close motion by Katie second by Mike I got the names right all those in favor the pose I'm sorry about that maybe it's the shirt