[Music] father it's Christmas [Music] [Applause] know it's Christmas know it's Christmas [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] I welcome to the regularly scheduled public meeting of December 18th 2023 of the township of Washington Township Council adequate notice of the meeting was given in accordance with the open public meetings act by the Township Clerk to at least two newspapers in January and this meeting has been posted on the township bulletin board electronic Message Board WCTV and on the town website please notify the municipal clerk for any disability requirements necessary for the attendance at mayor and council meeting the fire exits are located through the double doors to your right and through the door on your left please silence all cell phones salute to the flag algi to the flag of the United States of America the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all okay sorry that councilman Casio here Council here councilman Sears Council woman FZ here council president Morgan here let the record reflect also in attendance mayor Kari Township administrator D Carlo Township attorney PA and Township Clerk wowski also on Zoom is CFO John CLK okay for tonight's PSA new community alert system receive Community Information instantly sign up at nixle.com the township of Washington Book Bin is now open and accepting books the bin is located at Town Hall thank you to the BFW post 6192 we now have a drop bin located outside of the library next to the locker system where you can retire us Flags properly Green Team the CSA community supported agriculture program will continue next year June 2024 through November 2024 please visit www.f flocktown farm.com to sign up is that up there yep the township will be getting 5% group discount coupon code is WP L 2024 2024 Town calendar if you would like to advertise your local business in the township of Washington's annual Calendar please visit our website www.pof washington. us to fill out a form and submit your artwork our calendar runs February 2024 through January 2025 Bergen County volunteers chore community helpers offering repairs and empathy helps Bergen County Senior seniors and those with disabilities remain safe in their homes by offering repair services excuse mature jobs include installing grab bars replacing outlets and switches repairing leaky faucets installing doorbells and locks and changing light bulbs and smoke alarm batteries chore does not service emergencies appointments are available by calling 2011 489 7790 Town trip of Washington ambulance Court is looking for volunteers if you can volunteer please call wtac headquarters at 201 664 3784 leave a message either president Robert fox or Captain Trevor landal will return your call the quanis club is a global organization of volunteers dedicated to improving the world one child and one community at a time the quanas club of the pasek valley formed for the Township in Westwood meet on the 1 and third Thursday of each month month at 6:30 p.m. at the Westwood Community Center if anyone would like more information please contact Paul Ralph cardi at 516-5813 one9 or pasac Valley kaanis gmail.com Westwood Regional School District will begin online kindergarten registration for the 2024 2025 school year on Wednesday January 3rd 2024 at 8:30 a.m. a child residing in Township of Washington borrow of Westwood who will be 5 years old honor before October 24th 2024 is eligible to enter kindergarten in September please call 201- 66488 extension 20111 if you need assistance or have questions street sweeping will take place the week of December 18th please make every effort to remove your vehicles from the street this week to allow for better cleaning Town Hall will will be closed on Monday December 25th and Monday January 1st the sign die and reorganization meeting will be held on Wednesday January 3rd 2024 at 7:30 p.m. council president if I could just update um a little piece missing for the town calendar um the deadline is January 1st so there's no deadline there um and it was extended to January 1st that's a hard deadline okay the form can be found on the homepage form on the homepage yes okay thank you thank you you don't need this okay mayor did you have yes yes um if I could ask all the council members to just step off the DAT for a moment in front of the day so have a small presentation i' like to shoes closer so on behalf of uh those who serve with you up here on the day uh it's my honor and privilege to present you with both a little token of our appreciation of your service with us up here uh by presenting you each and lovely bouquet of flowers uh for the holiday season um also um I want to express my thanks for your efforts in moving the town forward these past four years uh a lot of your votes meant something in moving the town forward and to me especially uh the votes that we made to acquire more properties to dedicate them to open space uh I I think that's very key to our town and so I appreciate your service and your votes on those uh and so with that being said would any other member of the council like to say a few words sure than ladies I just want to thank you so much for your help your guidance and the passion that you bring to the day is um you will be missed thank you I like to EO those so same things um you know sometimes we disagreed and did see ey ey but I was a pleasure working with you both and um I wish you continue success in the my two buddies uh your passion your dedication to this town it it can't be putting words I mean everything you did is from the heart um were the decisions hard decisions yes you did and I thank you for that because without making hard decisions this town would never be where it's CH so thank you both thank you is there anything you ladies would like to say or something prepared on the day okay all right Stacy anything I just want to say it's been a pleasure to serve the town especially the town I grew up in and for your votes for supporting moving the town forward I hope it continues and I hope that things continue to get better here and we attract more and more families and it's been an honor to have been able to serve in this right thank you thank you again and if it's okay we'll just leave those there for the meeting uh there's water to keep them nice and fresh so okay great I hope not okay thank you so much again yes my pleasure very unexpected thank you so I do have something prepared because there's no way I could have said what I have to say off the cup um so the last four years have come and gone in what seems like the blink of an eye in 2020 I took my seat on this Council never having been involved in anything even remotely related to a political role before I remember feeling terrified that I did not have a strong enough understanding of the political landscape to be successful in this role I made sure to make it very clear to everyone that I was not a politician and I hoped that that statement would somehow protect me if I made an error in judgment or upset my party line I had so much to learn we have been through a lot together in my tenure on this deas and as colleagues we have shared some significant moments as a community we lost residents and many of us up here have lost loved ones and we all lost a very dear colleague we success sucessfully navigated some really dark days when only after two months as newly elected council members Co hit I don't have to remind everybody of the trail of Devastation that this virus left in its wake but I will remind you of the incredible comeback that this community has had we as Council along with the mayor and all of the employees of this town never stopped we didn't shut down we didn't wait it out we put our heads together we pivoted and made some adjustments to how we do things but we got things done we have since learned to get comfortable with our new normal through adversity we became stronger and closer as a community and I'm beyond proud of the progress we achieved barriers and all we all of us currently sitting on this dayas have forever left a positive impact on this town we saw the completion of the EMS building the completion of the intersection the decades long battle to get those zombie houses to come down on the corner of pasek and Washington we secured a budget line for a code enforcer who has made strides in ensuring the town's ordinances are upheld most notably the upkeep of homes throughout our community the recreational improvements increasing programs for our youngest population actually starting the B the Bachi court and securing the former swim club for generations to enjoy endless recreational possibilities securing open space grants and purchasing land that as a result will never be overdeveloped we did that and for that I can leave here proud one of if not the most meaningful takeaways for me personally is the numerous phone calls emails and texts that I've received from our residents after the election to those people and to all who voted for me I say this it has been my honor a privilege that I have been given to serve on this Council I promised when I ran in 2019 that I would be your voice and that I would make sure that it was your voice that was heard I leave here tonight knowing I did what I said out to do I left this community better than I found it I am a professional yes I'm well educated and have lived experiences both personal and professional that have served me well in this role experiences that I was able to tap into to make decisions that until I sat in the seat I was never expected to make at the end of the day though it was simply my family that motivated me to start this journey it wasn't my interest in the Republican line the Democrat line or whose friend Circle I travel in I'm a mom and want my children raised in a community that I know is safe and healthy one that I know I will see my home values mature and increase because the community is sought after that is why I ran for councel I ask that if any of you even considering running please give it a go you do not need to be a great public speaker or have a political background you just need a voice I have a few people to thank first Mr Mayor I appreciate your believing in me your dedication to the town although there are many times we've disagreed the one thing I never doubted was that we were both trying to move the town forward Mr PA you've earned a special place in heaven for all the patients you've shown me as I was trying to navigate this very difficult chair and actually um you are a true professional and I appreciate your open door policy for all of us on this day Mr Dar Carlo for routinely updating the residents with answers to their questions and always getting back to them in a timely manner this was something I had asked for from the beginning and until you sat here it didn't happen so I really appreciate your effort you make a difference to sue where do I begin I just want to say thank you for it all to councilman Sears for sometimes having to talk Beth Dutton down I'm forever grateful and and if you're not sure just watch Yellowstone you'll know what I mean to councilman Casio for your endless help over these last four years your knowledge of your community of our community is invaluable and to my fellow Council women thank you for p pushing the needle forward for us ladies to my family I thank you for being patient when I was really tired after a long day of work then an even longer meeting understanding that I had to miss your games or couldn't have dinner with you I appreciate you more than you know I am beyond lucky to have such incredible people in my life and to my husband for your constant support and holding it together at home while I was here and always being my sounding board my rock I thank you to the new council members who will take these seats in 2024 I wish you so much success I know you will all do great things I ask that you continue to let the voice of the residents be the loudest in the room and to listen more than you talk I have faith that these newly reelected councilmen will continue where we left off and keep moving forward you have my full support okay and you're welcome thank you okay we're going to move on to um administrator Administration followup we have no approval of minutes thank you council president Morgan good evening everyone I have a short uh response this evening regarding the resident Council concerns or questions from Township meeting December 4th uh from the resident perspective there was nothing to report um from Council councilman Casio requests I look into Optimum Services regarding a wireless Community I'm waiting for information from councilman Casio in order to follow up on his request I will be providing further updates uh during conference on uh our numerous open projects that we have in the township a little bit of unfortunate news um unfortunately the township was not selected by the Center for Disease Control for the 2023 drug-free Community Support Program Grant however our grant writer David buo uh has mentioned that sometimes it takes two or three applications before municipality is selected and we have every intention on moving forward with another application for good news the mayor and I are happy uh to announce that in addition to the $550,000 uh awarded to us for the land acquisition of 450 pasak Road the township will receive be receiving Swim Club Park Improvement Phase 2 Funds of $60,100 problem remediation to say it very uh simply uh that did take place on Clark with under drains and on Cyprus as well unfortunately I was notified by the um the company president today I spoke with him Clark and sunset will not be able to be uh paved this year due to the you know the the cold weather I wish it would stay 60 for another week so potentially get it done however he assured me from his lips to my ears tonight that we will be the first roads paved in the in the new season in the new year as far as the commuter lot if you have driven by you could tell it's it looks like there's definitely some work going on there so last Thursday and Friday uh they did some site preparation and some you know upheaving of this and upheaving of that and uh unfortunate to that they take last two weeks of the year off every year and they'll be coming back energized uh the beginning of January to keep moving with that project also happy uh to announce that this evening you'll see resolution 23386 which is for the 2425 Bergen County Community Development Grant application the amount of $128,000 $650 50 uh the project idea was given to us by councilman Sears which we appreciate and that will be the American with Disabilities Act improvements to clarkfield thank you council president Council that's the conclusion of my report for this evening thank you okay we move to the general public comment to participate in the general public comment portion of the meeting please click on the link below to join by webinar if by phone star9 to raise your hand star six to unmute each person wishing to address the council shall give his or her name for the record and we ask that only one person speak at a time with a five minute time limit speakers that to direct all questions to the council president all members of the public and Council are expected to conduct themselves in a proper manner any derogatory abusive or threatening statements will not not be permitted and the council president will immediately rule such conduct out of order and terminate any further comments I have a motion so move second all in favor I I is there anybody that would like to come [Music] up Lenny Sabino hi Lenny hi uh I have some notes prepared because such as council president Morgan I can't uh speak off the top of my head so please uh please bear with me mayor and Council as this is the last mayor and council meeting of 2023 and before the new council members take office in January 2024 I want to thank councilwoman's feny for your service on the council and planning board as you know we both serve as members of the planning board and all that you have done for our town a special thanks go out to council president Morgan I know that I speak on behalf of the residents of white bir Road and weigh place when I say that your leadership and professionalism is unsurpassed due to your untiring efforts to do what is right and listening to the residents of my neighborhood Our Town officials and the Board of Education are working together to address the issue of the safety of our children during pickup and drop off including potential changes to the neighborhood traffic patterns I truly believe without your intervention in early 2023 to start constructive dialogue with the residents on the topic of neighborhood sidewalks around Washington School the potential exist existed that the town could have spent more than $500,000 on sidewalks and still not adequately addressed the safety issues with pick off and drop off of our children while you will not be around on the council in 2024 the residents will continue to carry the gauntlet to ensure that our voices are heard for any decisions and financial commitments are made by the Council on sidewalks I I also want to thank councilman Sears and also Steve Kish who's a member of our town with respect to three weeks ago uh Tom and I and Steve went up to West Point and we placed Reefs on the uh on the graves of the uh fallen soldiers and Marines and so Tom I want to thank you for taking the time out of your Saturday and also Mr Kish a town resident but I do have a couple questions of the mayor and Council based on the November meeting between Town officials and the Board of Ed when will the residents be able to examine the new traffic patterns to provide their input on the potential changes as we live in the neighborhood and deal with the traffic on school days and even when events occur at Memorial Field question number two has the Board of Ed presented to the town officials the architectural plans for the Washington school expansion and my last question with respect to the town capital expenditure plan for fiscal year 2024 when will the residents be able to review the plan expenditures thank you hang on we still have time is there any uh feedback on that yeah um thank you Lenny for all that um I wrote down your first two uh I don't write very fast so you can uh as far as the uh traffic plan at the school uh probably something we'll address in January after the holidays and of course it'll be made public because it will need probably an ordinance change also um Washington school expansion uh it wasn't even spoken about at our meeting uh so I can't update you on that uh you know the school maybe can if you want to reach out to them but that wasn't brought up at our meeting at all and I'm sorry what was your third item oh the third question was respect to the town capital expenditure plan for 2024 when will the residents have visibility to where the capital plan oh Capital expenditures um we we the administration myself and the administration we present the the budget to the council uh you know our deadline is the end of February we always try and get it sooner uh but certain numbers we just don't know uh because there're State numbers that they don't give us uh but that's part of the budget process and so there'll be many meetings held on the budget as they usually are okay great and and the budget will be visible to the towns Town's people absolutely to provide it but thank you I just have a tiny first of all thank you so much for everything that you said that really struck a cord so thank you um I I did have a little while back one of the board members did Reach Out school board members reached out to let me know it was after I'd spoken at the meeting uh at the board meeting I think we were we were all there um said that they did hear our voice they did hear our concerns and that moving forward um they're taking that into consideration as they plan the expansion so the taking into consideration the wraparound all of that so it's on their agenda excuse me I know the sidewalk issue has you all choked up I know yes very choked up thank you right on you is there anybody else that would like to come up who I'm sorry yes come on up about three more of those good evening Michael Alman uh you have ordinance 23-7 uh regarding tree removal and replacement is there any opportunity to expand that to include uh trimming and maintenance uh I had reached out to councilman Sears uh the utility work to keep the trees off the lines which I appreciate is required results in just you know trees that are not healthy at least in my opinion that do not look uh do not give a positive appearance to either the town or the property owner and you know they're just butchered and if we have the ability to uh influence the removal uh do we want to or should we consider expanding that to include uh trimming and you know maintenance that's a really great great point and I agree with you 100% just I know you have more so we'll stop you there I just want to say can you stop yeah I just want to say with that yeah I did reach out to the state and then I reached out to New Jersey state forestry and we were told that the Public Service Gas and Electric has the right to prune the trees down to keep them away from the um of the power which is great but when I S when I told I showed them pictures of how they pruned one half of a tree which unbalances the tree really severely uh trees that look like um look like a V you know if you go down there and he said the only thing we could do is file a complaint but they have a right and authority to prune their power wires uh but I do like the idea of U I'm researching with another town um to see if we can embedded something into our ordinance we can't stop the way they're pruning um but maybe trees that are pruned uh like one side that created an unbalance they may have to come down right and then maybe in its place we plant another one that'll be a slower growing you know it'll grow as well if we if we stay within the state tree ordinance that they require through the towns there's 50 trees that will not grow as high as um the power lines you know that's a great Point thank you what else you got um just uh in the Council update uh from the administrator uh I thought I had raised the question perhaps it wasn't uh phrased as such but there was a question and a discussion about the source of funding for one of the Acquisitions whether it was bonded or where other source was uh I never received a reply to that so I don't know if we know where that money came from and the last question uh or what what the source of funds were uh the last question is there's resolution 23382 uh cancelling Grant receivables and appropriated reserves can you explain what this actually is and what the impact is to the taxpayers sure so should Mr Coran yeah take this one okay Mr Corin are you prepared to speak just I think you're on mute if you're trying to talk okay can you hear me now yes okay um before I get into the actual uh resolution itself it's actually related to audit recommendation number three that had to do with we had about a dozen Grant receivables at the end of last year and IID mentioned that the October 6 16th meeting that I was working on that we we've already gotten monies for a few so we we've taken them off the books and the these first two are ones that we've had for years and years and years and and we're not anticipating getting monies in for that and each Grant is supposed to have a reserve account and these two first items basically it's just a journal entry to get to to remove them from that list this is this is part of all the work that I'm doing to get rid of comment number three the recommendation the issue with Municipal Alliance is that for the last four or five years each year we we've budgeted monies in in the budget going back I would say to maybe 2018 and when when you do that when you ever Grant a budget the anti you anticipate getting if not all most of the money's back in the next year or I'm sorry in that year but it it never happened with with this with this grant so each year the the the the BS every year went up approximately N9 or 10,000 this year is a first year and i' I've actually been working with Laura Laura from library Laura Laura riffkin uh because she she's been she has a county contact that she uses and so the we've gotten monies in this year uh not not the whole amount but most of what we budgeted this year we budgeted 9,465 and we we've we've uh collected 8,800 for the municipal wi for this year so this this is something that um and because of that we don't have enough money in the reserve to cover it which is why we have to make this one entry to to to the fund balance and it and it's it's a one-time hit and moving forward it will no longer be no longer be an issue but this is something that we have to do uh in order to to uh account for the fact that that we weren't getting monies in for those for those several years so does that mean the $36,000 is an expense to the taxpayers eventually unfortunately it will be because it will have to hit Surplus at some point because um because of the fact that we weren't getting those monies in for th for those years like I said in starting this year uh I'm I'm more involved in terms of you know uh checking when monies are coming in for that Grant so uh this is all part of of what I need to do to to eventually remove all those Grant receivables uh there's still several ones that that that are on the books because we're still anticipating getting monies in uh and a few are are are decent amount of monies um but but but these three in particular I wanted to get on a resolution before the end of the year and like I said those first two it basically it's just a bookkeeping entry uh because these were really old grants that were we're not going to be getting money in um and then but unfortunately for municipal Alliance we do have to make this this is a one-time hit to to fun balance for the 36,000 um you mentioned there's other large receivables you know do we anticipate any further writeoffs at this point given uh you know based on their uh history of collective collectibility well we have several that we're still waiting for and the reason why and I've I've discussed with with with our auditor too uh it it wasn't prudent to put it on now because because we think we are going to be collecting and one one one is a decent amount it's like 178,000 for for Robin Robin Wood Road I believe it was um that we're still we're we've we've processed you know the paperwork to try to get those money the monies in so there there's I would say at least maybe half a dozen uh grants that we're not taking action on yet uh because because we think we will be getting those monies in but it just it doesn't look like it's gonna happen before the end of the year which is why you know we're not including those as of yet do we have a aging report that shows these I'm sorry do we have an aging report that shows the receivables it's I don't have the sheet in front of me um it's it's in the audit there there's approximately a dozen uh that were on that list Grant receivables um these three were part of that I'm I'm estimating I think it was around 12 these three were were part of that were part of those Grant receivables um uh and there are also two other ones that we've received this year uh for for two of the um two of the parks in town that that we received so so they're they're going to be getting they will be removed from the list as well um but but we still have I would say maybe five or six that were that that that are still showing balances but we we feel we will be getting those monies in so that's why we're not taking any action on those right now because they represent a good amount of money so is it possible um as a incoming councilman to make a request of the administration that can is it possible to get a copy of the Grant receivables and their age uh to determine you know uh how old they are you know it seems like there's a question of collective collectibility and do we have to take action uh and write them off and you know if they are collected you know that's great but uh is there something more proactive or more aggressive we could do to get these receivables that seem to be problematic off our books the simple answer your question is yes I don't necessarily have the ages but we can provide you with a grants receivable report I believe Mr corkrin actually provided that to me uh last week as far as uh your request anything more Progressive I view this resolution as a very positive step forward and transparency not only with the council but our residents and it is progress and most of the grants receivable are because there was projects on the books that we just weren't moving forward with or unfortunately New Jersey DOT road Improvement Grants that are taking forever so anytime I can give a nudge anytime I can give a push anytime I can ask for an update um I do and I and I do generally receive it um one of the ones that Mr corkman was talking about um most most of the grants receivable John correct me if I'm wrong were in the current they were current line grants a few were Capital grants um and some of them were the New Jersey DOT grants that are a large amount of money one of them being 178 I don't like to throw out numbers in case I'm wrong either either direction but uh we are I'm I'm actually very proud to say we were very much moving in a positive direction and getting these off the books as John said there was two basketball court Improvement Grants we just received the money with the help of David buo our grant writer that were you know going back five six seven years so unfortunately projects were on the books um there's a couple more projects I'm still investigating as to whether they were ever done um because they're just kind of like news to me type things um some adaa improvements that I think were done so we just don't want to cancel our AB ability to use that money and so we're positive so another one would be you know the dog park at Cherry field you know it's a good amount of money The Botch ball court will hopefully be done soon we'll be able to remove that so it really is a good positive U step forward and Improvement especially For What the recommendation was in the audit but along longwinded way is yes we can provide you that report thank you if if I may too um just so you know those first two on a resolution uh I actually pulled those accounts up and they from what I could tell they they were set up in 2018 so they there at least at least five years old so John can we can we provide the age not only in the report can we we'd probably have to do some research to see but is it something we can do well when you say age you mean you mean the year that they were set up on as a as a grant I think Mr alman's looking to see how long they've been there yeah well well that's why I'm saying the these F those first two when I when I when I pulled up the grant because they all have grant numbers and when I pulled up those two grant numbers uh in Edmonds they were set up in 2018 okay yeah just just just as a point of reference so you can see how long they've been on on the books okay any other questions or comments just the source of funds I don't know if that's okay going to be discussed this evening or I I say this in more humorous than it's going to come out sarcastic I I answered the question I thought we I thought you had as well there it's unfunded it was unfunded fun okay so and mayor palore do you would you concur with that because I that that's really where my question arose there seemed to be some discussion between the both of you um yes I do concur okay we looked it up and Markus satisfied me thank you appreciate it all right is there anybody else that would like to come up today really all right and then there's no one else okay okay so motion to close public comments second all in favor I okay we're going to move to ordinances adoption second reading ordinance number 23-13 an ordinance under chapter 887 of the code of the township of Washington setting forth the rate of clothing allowance of officers and firefighters of the fire department in said municipality for the year 2023 resolution number 23375 authorizing second reading and opening of public hearing for ordinance 23-3 uh 13 so moved uh s councilman Casio yes Council woman ping yes councilman seers I recuse myself counc bz yes council president Morgan yes yeah anyone want to come up regarding that y a hand up hello on online can you hear me on the phone you need to unmute yourself I apologize get in before is it okay to say this couple comments sure not about this resolution but open comments no can't pass it oh um Mr PA is there a way to make an exception you can always if you you want to make a motion to reopen to allow this it's up to you so move I'll do that okay all right I'll second um all in favor hi hi okay go ahead hi jally 813 R Boulevard East I just wanted to take a moment to thank uh Miss py and council president Morgan for all the work they've done in the town as I stated a couple weeks ago we've gotten more done in the past four years than I've been uh with the town for the past 15 16 years so I just wanted to on behalf of the residents of 813 or rwood Boulevard East want to thank the members uh for your dedication and commitment and uh look forward to seeing you around town um but one again once again thank you for everything you've done uh for the community even though it's not easy um and sometimes people didn't agree we all respected the hard work that both of you you put in and the rest of the council members so uh thank you so much we wish you a happy holidays um but one more ask if possible uh there's been a tree down on Ridge of Boulevard East I know the DPW is doing a great job cleaning up the town uh just uh it's still dark out there and the tree is still down and cars are still coming up and down the road so just wondering when we think the DPW will be able to take the trees uh down on rard Boulevard East thank you again and happy holidays thank you so much Mr Scalia and happy holidays to you as well and on behalf of council L and I we really appreciate um you know all all that you have said I know that we definitely gave it our all and it's nice to know it was received so thank you so much yeah thank you Mr slay it's been an honor to support your cause and you know acquiring 450 and supporting the residents in that regard so and I appreciate your support thank you okay as far as the tree um being down well it's on yeah okay okay all right um do I have to reclose Mr par or yeah why why don't you take a quick vote close Okay I me favor I all right okay so where all right so there was no discussion on this ordinance correct so then you need to motion to close a public hearing on 2313 should you just ask again maybe sure yeah again all right we'll just go back ordinance number 23-13 um this is the um an ordinance under chapter 87 of the code of the township of Washington setting forth the rate of clothing allowance of officers and firefighters of the fire department and said municipality this is uh any discussion on this no um hold on okay one one one quick thing I I know I know we're doing it for for this particular uh uh year I just hope that this doesn't set a president when we don't use funds in a particular line item that we're going to dis uh redistri redistribute them to others so that's our understanding that's what we came to a conclusion in an agreement and I hope we can maintain that going forward and I will second that statement it's noted Council yep okay motion to close public hearing for ordinance 23-13 second s roll call councilman CIO yes Council womany yes councilman seers no I recused myself Council valz yes council president Morgan yes motion to adopt ordinance number 23-13 at second reading by title Mo second call councilman Casio yes councilwoman feny yes councilman Sears we accuse myself councilwoman bz yes counc president Morgan yes resolution number 23376 emergency resolution ordinance 23-13 [Music] soov second councilman C yes Council woman yes councilman Sears ACC yes Council VZ yes council president Morgan yes president yes may I just make a quick remark about last night's storm and what the fire department did for the town I don't want to let it wait for my monthly report next month um so again uh just to show you how much our fire department does uh you know for these storms uh this reports from the director this morning we were dispatched at 5:00 a.m. for wires down on a fire on Kennedy Drive then to the ridgew extension at 5:45 for the same around 7:40 they were dispatched to Jackson AB for a report of a dog that fell into a hole the dog fell into about a 10 to 12T hole possibly an old Cesspool hole members were able to get down into it and pull the dog out safely so again uh thank you to the fire department for all they do uh they do a lot more than just uh putting up fires and so we appreciate their service to you know these situations when they arise thank you for acknowledging them ordinance number 23-17 an ordinance to establish requirements for retrie removal and replacement in the township of Washington to reduce soil erosion and pollutant runoff promote infiltration of rainwater into the soil and protect the environment public health safety and Welfare so moved second um roll call coun yes Council woman FY yes councilman Sears yes Council bz yes council president Morgan yes sure sure did didn't let me get there so we are um the public hearing is open for 23-17 is there anybody that would like to come up come on counc President good evening Council Mr Mayor um Michael Des 347 Beach Street Mr Sear could you could you tell me could you tell me who the enforcing agent is for this ordinance so we don't have another meline court or 49 trees the the um code official um which code official Mr could I say his name no I'm just title just title code enforcement the code enforcement officer so the code enforcement officer will Monitor wries and take the complaints right away and go out he's the one okay thank you on that note I don't I do want to just say um one of the things that when we when we first got up here four years ago we did want the code enforcer and he's doing an amazing job so thank you for uh making sure that that position was solid and that was their his only job because there's a lot you know a lot to be done it's a small town but a lot of uh stuff that was kind of put aside yeah put aside or Fallen by the wayside and was really on it so I hope that continues he has done an outstanding job yeah and it's one person it's it's a lot so he's doing great all right um is that it is anybody else there's anyone else would like to come [Music] up okay uh motion to close public hearing for ordinance 23-17 Some Mo second Su roll call councilman CIO yes Council woman fie yes councilman seers yes Council woman bz yes council president Morgan yes motion to adopt ordinance 23-17 at second reading by title so move second oll call councilman CIO yes councilwoman fing yes councilman SE yes councilwoman bz yes council president Morgan yes resolution number 23- 378 authorizing second reading and opening of public hearing for ordinance 23-18 an ordinance authorizing the renting and use of 35 parking spaces by the township of Washington from Our Lady of Good Council Church may I have a motion so move second call councilman yes councilwoman fie yes councilman Sears yes Council woman bz yes council president Morgan yes is there any discussion okay motion to close public hearing for ordinance 23-18 so move second call Council CIO yes councilwoman feny yes councilman Sears yes councilwoman bz yes council president Morgan yes motion to adopt ordinance number 23-18 at second reading by title so move second call counc cassum yes councilwoman V yes councilman seers yes councilwoman valz yes council president Morgan yes resolution number 23379 authorizing second reading and opening of public hearing for ordinance 23 19 an ordinance revising the Township's payt toplay requirements in accordance with state law which preempts local pay to-play restrictions and in accordance with notice from the state local Finance board so move second roll call please councilman yes Council woman FY yes councilman sear yes Council valz yes council president Morgan yes any discussion no okay motion to close public hearing for ordinance 23-19 second call counc mum yes Council yes counc concers yes Council bz yes council president moram yes motion to adopt ordinance number 23-19 at second reading by title some move second callman uh councilman CIO yes Council feni yes councilman seers Council bz yes council president Morgan yes introduction first reading there are none individual resolutions council president can I politefully interrupt real quick sure just to give an update for Mr Scalia uh and other residents their uh DPW superintendent informing that they're waiting for PSG to clear wires on Ridgewood Boulevard East as well as cross street that's why the tree hadn't been removed okay my apologies okay thank you all right individual resolution resolution number 23-3 380 authorized 2023 transfer of Appropriations 27,400 um may I have a motion so move second roll call councilman Casio yes councilwoman phy yes councilman seers yes councilwoman bz yes council president Morgan yes following items have been determined to have the unanimous consent of council and will be enacted in one motion should any item require independent consideration any council member may have such item removed from the consent agenda is there any resolution that anyone would like me remove to remove yes please 23 381 just separate vote 381 yes please okay anything else okay um resolution number 23- 382 authorized cancellation of Grant receivables and appropriated reserves resolution number 23 - 383 authorized refund of partial release of performance guarantee block 2503 uh 04 lot 20 in the amount not to exceed 2,950 resolution number 23- 384 authorized refund of performance guarantee and eser balance block 45103 Lot 10 in the amount not to exceed $2,281 resolution number 23- 385 authorized refund of escrow and partial release of performance guarantee block 4418 Lot 37 the amount not to exceed $1,417 resolution number 23386 authorized and endorse filing of BCC dbg Grant application for Ada improvements to clarkfield in the amount of approximately 128,648 counc womaning yes Council seers yes Council woman bz yes council president Morgan yes Okay resolution number 23- 381 authorized payment of bills December 1st to December 14 2023 so motion to discuss yeah discuss I just need counc I think okay Council any motion who second I did thank you you want to set vote on yeah okay uh yes councilwoman fie yes councilman seers uh upate weuse myself I'm sorry weuse excuse me okay accuse council president Morgan yes thank you okay okay adjournment to conference agenda may have a motion so move second all in favor I okay current business administration DPW building Mr Mayor yes um nothing new to report since the last meeting but I'm just going to leave it on there as a placeholder until it's fully decided okay uh project tracker yes ma'am thank you uh very quickly uh the difference card as you know the council passed a resolution we are now preparing and working with the bargain units on anou uh the EPA audit I continue working on satisfying the requir requirements of the compliance order the Garden State Parkway intersection of Washington Avenue we have a scheduled meeting later this week uh Memorial Field and Garder field as you know Council approved the resolution for the upgrades and Remediation uh we've given the contractor to go ahead to start working uh Northgate HOA has been issued a final notice of violation on Wednesday December 12th they've been getting 30 days to produce some progress in this is in regards to the storm water management on the on the property there senior Park construction of the bot poow uh hopefully should be done this week the the uh vendor told me today that they just have the turf to go down and the cleaning up of the site so I drove by today and it looks pretty nice um storm water pollution plan still waiting on a proposal for Boswell engineering the swim club and the recreation plans the survey is completing Boswell's working on conceptual design a road program commun lot I spoke of already and Salem Road is completed that project of uh restoring some of the sanitary lines there has been completed and the town hall elevator our qpa is working with the company to begin that as well I wouldn't I wouldn't expect that for a few weeks they did tell us it's like a 14 16 week turnaround just to get the parts and to start the ball rolling but as of now the elevator is operating and thank you council president thank you may I ask a question um Mr Dar Carlo the bus shelter can you can you remind us what's happening at the bus shelter so we still need easement from the property owner there in order to um you know finalize that bus shelter there so we're still just waiting for the property owner to give us that easement will it be updated in terms of modernized or will remain the same well I think the permission Mr par can can expand on it's the permission to have the bus shelter on the person's property so they be providing us for the eement okay well Daisy are you talking about the one that's still standing by uh spice Drive yes right when you come off the parkway okay yeah um I I I figure uh when we get the easement and do work on those shelters will also do work on that one oh okay yes I was talking about the new intersection oh I'm sorry okay thank you what happens if we don't get approve if we don't get the approve I guess we can't put a best shelter I know it sounds No I know I'm just saying you know it was put there yeah I think New Jersey Transit will weigh in at that point that's what I was and then they have more clout than we do because they're governed by the exactly y so this is not the last Avenue in case there's a disagree correct okay thank you for that um ordinance and legislation we have none Finance financials we don't have any miscellaneous uh zoning board 2024 appointments letters resumes to I just wanted to put out to the council um especially the three remaining ones going into the new year um in the past few years we put out I put out You' given me permission to put out letters um to the current holders to see if they want to return and also put out like a little ad saying is there anyone else I just want to see if you want to do the same thing this year going into 2024 or wait until you we as a new and take Comm did we get for directions any applications received already no because I well I have um believe there's two that said they'd like to return oh on the board yeah I I put letters out to the people that on the board that want to return that would be appropriate I agree I agree okay do nothing you don't want me put anything on like the website or a little or anything did we do that last year yeah yeah what website website would be good think we need an ad in the paper not not in paper no I don't think so okay I will make sure it's on the website my two cents but I think the current zoning board did a phenomenal job with a lot very very difficult um plans that were you know things that were in front of them they did an outstanding jump yeah wasn't easy and there are a lot of them are you know newer to the zoning board as well so nice job hopefully we can convince them to stay on yeah okay thank you appreciate that yeah um and there is no closed session correct all right so motion to oh sorry uh motion to adjourn move all right um all in favor I I good night oh happy holidays everybody happy holidays yeah thank you everybody