##VIDEO ID:XjW-LOElp18## [Applause] [Applause] disc [Music] [Applause] he's so funny that's [Applause] cute all right are we [Applause] ready all right I think we're are we ready all all right all right good evening everybody where those Knuckles wow that's impressive um adequate notice of this meeting as required by the open public meetings Act was provided through the posting mailing and filing of the annual notice of regularly scheduled meetings of the Town Council on December 12 2023 the notice was on that date posted on the bulletin board of the municipal building provided to the Westfield leader in the Star Ledger and filed with the clerk of the town of Westfield Miss ly may I have a roll call Mayor BR here council members H here dardia here dagala here keeper here Saunders here armento here contract here uh please rise for the medication given by councilman kefir and remain standing for the salute to the fire We Gather tonight to make decisions on behalf of our community may we use only our best skills in judgment keeping ourselves impartial and neutral as we consider the merits and risks of each matter that is placed before us and always act in coordin with what is best for our community and our fellow citizens to uned States of America stands indivisible andice for all well we are going to get right to the most important matter of business tonight and that is celebrating our state champion women girls high school so girls come on up all right some of these girls they didn't say they were sick of me but I was on a career panel at the high school this morning so they get me twice in one day U all right are we all here Repeat Performance it's always great to have you guys back for something like this congratulations again for an amazing amazing season so celebrating the Westfield High School Blue Devil girls soccer team State Champions whereas on November 23rd 2024 the Westfield High School Blue Devils girls soccer team won the njsi AA group four state championship defeating Eastern by a score of one to nothing and whereas on the way to winning the state championship the team W won the watch hun Conference Championship Union County championship and their second straight North Jersey Section 2 group four Championship then ising an impressive season with a record of 21 and whereas under the leadership of head coach Alex Schmidt assistant coaches Katie Wyer Chris Carson Bernie cudy and Karine Helwig the team demonstrated their dedic hard work and team spirit and whereas all of the members of the team seniors Lauren Fury Aaron Hazard Brooke Morrison Olivia thoron and audre Toof Junior Sophia buio Olivia De Gregorio Andy Joda Mary Lane Maya naier Callie Schmidt and Ashley Yano sophomores Emily kigan Marin Fowler Ava jazen Molly mcder Georgia Morelli Katherine oliviera anina Rodriguez and freshman Victoria Corran and Phoebe clag are deserving of recognition for their individual contributions to the team success and whereas the mayor and Town Council of the town of Westfield wish to commend the coaches and the players of the Westfield High School Blue Devils girls soccer team for their many successes during the 2024 season now therefore be it proclaimed that I'm mayor Shelley brindle on behalf of the Town Council and the citizens of the town of Westfield to hereby congratulate the 2024 Westfield High School Blue Devils girls soccer team on their successful season C by capturing the njsiaa group for state championship title and de do hereby applaud them for their accomplishments and wish them well in the future congratulations girls [Music] counil back come up and join picture [Music] them all right um so this roster featured a balance as we just mentioned of two freshmen seven sophomores seven Juniors and five seniors uh the senior class and girls you're going to step forward again uh Lauren Fury Brook Morrison Olivia thoron Captain Aaron Hazard and Audrey to who cannot be here um hey uh set the tone for our team uh they weren't the loudest in the room but they truly understand what the team and individuals needed throughout when they needed it most uh their ability to listen to set the right tone to choose the right words allowed them connect with all their teammates in a meaningful way uh there are many senior athletes uh in our town and I hope to say that all coaches are proud as the two of us plus other coaching staff who's not here um that watching these seniors grow into leaders was truly transformational for us uh we put a high priority on leadership uh it doesn't always happen it's really hard to do uh and for these four seniors that are here five all together uh putting their teammates first to be able to form their best create a unified and determined team culture uh that will resonate for years to come and you know we hope that the Juniors have learned from these seniors and they'll take it once up further next year and continue the tradition of great leadership so thank you girls congrats [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Applause] pass them out you guys can pass them out to the girls congratulations happy holidays Merry Christmas Happy Hanukkah all that good stuff enjoy girls congratulations well that was yes congratulations that was fun Jim any updates yes mayor thank you uh a couple quick updates um uh three things uh first leaf collection um leaf collection is will be finished this week um I want to commend Public Works normally we commit to two full passes of the town uh as of this week we have Comm we have actually finished three passes of the town uh the weather has a big play in that um and of course the efficiency of our crews and how rich Eubanks and Craig Gibson changed things up this year it made a big difference too this year we made a change where the street Troopers followed the cruise instead of doing it all the way after the program I think that worked very very well and because of the weather uh we were able to get out there and actually they're even going to be doing one last pass around town because of the weather also was um helpful to landscapers continually coming out and putting more leaves in the street uh but the majority of stuff is up so after this week uh the Lea collection process will be finished uh they'll move on to any parks or common areas public areas they haven't gotten to yet because the streets are always the first priority uh but it's been a really great efficient Leaf season and thanks to Public Works uh for their for their great efforts this year as well as public information officer Rich EU Banks particular who those Nixels go out every single night letting people know where they're going to be in the morning did help about cars being moved and having get out there and uh The Saturdays we did again for the third year in a row we did six Saturdays and that helped a lot of the school areas going to back to school areas on weekends when the cars were in parked there I think at Franklin School I think of Jefferson School to of of of many schools where during the day you can't get there it's just kids parents and teachers parking everywhere so that really helped as well so that's a great um a great program and again reminder the goal of the lead collection program is keep leaves and Street as little as short of a time frame as possible and we were able to do that this year and again it's every year it's six to eight weeks uh of uh leaf collection process assuming no no snow in that time frame uh and uh the guys did it did a great job um secondly we have uh some residents have seen some alerts coming out from New Jersey American Water uh and for those of you I know in my neighborhood I I got alerts um I think they do a they kind of do a blanket alert um doesn't necessarily affect everybody directly um alerts that came out the past week and even today I believe talked about discoloration of water just so everybody knows we're in communication with American Water uh for those you live in W one Linda Todd myself we we've been talking to them um there was a repair project that was planned uh on Prospect Street uh there was a pair of a major trunk line there the repair turned into a much bigger project because the repair revealed some things that needed to be fixed and now there's a multi-week project that's going on on Prospect Street which is extending now from prospect prospect Street around the CED uh neighborhood or Cedric Street area all the way up to Brightwood Park uh the entrance to brewood park so they're working on that we're working with them to try to get this done as soon as possible but that water line affects a lot of the town and a good portion of mountain side as well um so they're working on some things they expect by the end of this week their emergency repairs in the area will be finished they'll actually close up the area temporarily wait till after the holidays come back probably first weekend first week in January do more of the work and then uh then they'll it'll it'll be settling over a few months and they'll end up repaving that whole area uh probably in the early spring um so again you know what ends up starting as a repair project sometimes reveals itself and comes into a major project which was not anticipated so but we're in communication with every day uh we're working on a communication right now with them uh to send out more broadly to the community and the neighborhoods that are affected so that we can get information more than just the alerts are getting information out there those are alerts that you know if you're not being affected you might be confused so we want to get information out that kind of alerts the public so we'll be working on that hopefully by a week as well um and lastly just a reminder to the town about new street signs so again during even during Leaf season the street sign crew has been out um and really done a great job if you remember we broke the town into 25 zones on each side of town uh 25 in the north 25 in the South as of today yesterday we put up a new map on our website people can track our progress on the website we're uh putting a map up every every few days or weeks depending on the progress of how many zones are completed uh and it's the north side I believe there are six zones completed Southside there's five and number six is being worked on now uh and the U the crews are out there replacing the signs systematically uh it's going to be done in 2025 not sure when a lot of signs one other thing too we've been working with the county the county has given us verbal approval um to replace the signs on County Roads uh we are working on an agreement to memorialize that which I believe the county is hearing at their meeting tonight uh at their County meeting and so we'll actually follow up with them with with you here in January to moralize that but that will allow the town to replace signs on County Roads Central Avenue Mountain Avenue for example um and then uh so it becomes a very uniform um program and we'll actually take over maintenance of those signs going forward which I think is a good thing for the town we can control that um and I just want to thank the Public Works Crews we've had they've been out replacing Signs Now for weeks um and uh without fail uh the public is very interested uh I think every single week they have people coming out of their homes asking oh can I take that sign from my basement can I take that sign from my kids college room so just a reminder what we're going to do in 25 we're going to start a process where we auction off batches of signs uh we're kind of trying to finalize what the right auction platform should be uh to be compliant with state law and then uh we'll start that process in 2025 but there's already a lot of interest in that which is good for um the program and hopefully we'll raise some money to put towards one of our organizations so anyway that's it great thank you opening yeah right exactly um uh just a few uh points um tonight uh this is our last meeting of the year um I'm really proud of I think what we have worked to towards collaboratively as a council and so I want to thank the council for all your work and uh support for some really what was I think probably one of the most productive years we've had um so it's starting off with a great budget season so thanks all of you um I do want to let every know that we're going to have our 2025 annual organization meeting on January 7th at 6 p.m. um so uh well that's will be formally appointing all the volunteers and committees for the for the for for the upcoming year um I also want to thank the downtown Westville Corporation for the incredible number of seasonal events that are happening in town so if you they are still going on and will be very active through this weekend right up to Christmas um and afterwards we've got the carolers are in downtown Westfield this weekend there's a ddal contest this weekend at kers Bomb b uh Bakery and um there's a miracle on Elm Street promotion that goes through January 3rd um and there is also don't miss your chance to vote in the holiday lights contest uh sponsored by the recreation department and you can do that through December 25th um and just remind everybody the the monora lighting is on December 26th at 6 pm and the North Avenue train station lot um and if you hear sirens this Saturday um don't be alarmed it is the Santa Convoy of our uh police department uh I think followed by the fire department riding around through town so the police fire and DPW so that is what's happening on Saturday if you feel see hear sirens and kids squealing you'll know what it is um I'm sure you guys have been reading a lot about drone activity as uh I have I've been involved in numerous calls and uh you know they released a joint statement Yesterday by the Department of Homeland Security FBI FAA a Department of Defense and basically stating that there have been four 5,000 reported sightings of drones in New Jersey and other states it's generated um over 100 leads for investigators most of them were ruled out um determined the sightings were mostly lawful commercial drones hobbyist drones law enforcement airplanes helicopters and stars that people mistook for drones so um so far they've said there's nothing that presents a national security or public safety risk and we'll continue the investigation um um and there are a bunch of uh understandable calls for new laws to better oversee unmanned aircraft systems so um the full the full um statement is on the DHS website um I was also on a call with Mayors hosted by the league same thing with federal and state agencies many mayors frustrated um by the lack of information uh the forthcoming information that's been um that's not been forthcoming I do want to remind everybody if you do see anything if there's anything that you think should be reported you can report them to tips at njoh hp. and the Westfield Police Department is also tracking any sightings um on a much nter lighter note and a fun note all barbecue fans will be happy to know that there's an amazing new barbecue place it opens on Friday on South Avenue J Bones barbecue it's right next to adjacent to Tiffany's Pharmacy um it looks great uh it is founded and helm by this guy Jordan marari who um is a former TV producer and he got his chops as directing and producing Barbecue Pit masters of which my husband is a big addict too so which is great um so Friday is the big grand opening so um right now their hours are Thursday through Sunday 11:00 to 8 so um a great new addition to the dining scene in Westfield um I want to remind everybody once again that the public Arts commission is calling for artists to participate in the um uh the literature canvas project which I metion mentioned I think in the last uh the last book in the last meeting um the deadline to submit sketches has been extended through January 12th and all to participate in the read Across America day um in the in the in the spring so please uh take a look and uh you can find the information on our website um and just tonight a few things uh ordin a couple ordinances on second reading one to set the salary ranges for our non-union staff members and reallocate um older Capital authorizations to fund current needs um uh another one for the purchase of the Mr Good Lube site at 200 South Avenue if you recall we got a recent Grant from the Eda which is going to fund 80% of the costs uh so essentially um we're going to be getting it at a significant discount after the $660,000 grant has been allocated to us um and a number of resolutions from the finance policy committee Linda has a very very busy me uh uh meeting tonight when she's lots of annual yearend uh items several resolutions regarding the uh warrants for salaries uh for the fmba library non-union staff CWA staff non-union staff and so forth and very importantly a resolution authorizing the CFO to draw warrant for the mayor and Council annual salary for $1 each so which we're not allowed to cash but it's a good time to remind all of us about our public volunteer public service um there's also a resolution authoring a Grant application for the amount of $100,000 to go towards the Memorial Park Tennis Court project you'll be happy about that councilman Healey he and I are tennis players so very happy um along with restroom facilities at Memorial Pool and then lastly two resolutions in surface of special items of Revenue in the municipal budget body one for body Yar equipment for the police and the other to offset the cost of Memorial Park bathroom facility door project so that's what's going on tonight so decided to close out the year um so miss lashi are there any advertised hearings yes mayor tonight we have an advertised hearing for a community block development Grant application for the town of Westfield Recreation Department for senior citizen programming transportation services in the amount of $28,000 anyone wishing to be heard on this application please come to microphone state your name and address for the record seeing no one may you may close the hearing this hearing is closed next we have an advertised hearing for a community block development Grant application for Town Westfield Recreation Department for Ada accessible improvements to Tomo park playground walkway in the amount of $20,000 anyone wishing to be heard on this application please come to the microphone state your name and address for the record seeing no one mayor you may close the hearing this hearing is closed next we have an adverti hearing for the Westfield Area YMCA for ADA Bathroom Renovations materials only first floor and made wide in the amount of $5,000 anyone wishing to be heard on this application please come to the microphone state your name and address for the record seeing no one may you may close the hearing this hearing is closed last for applications is an advertised hearing for the Westfield Community Center hbac replacement for the main building in the amount of $50,000 anyone wishing to be heard on this application please come to the microphone state your name and address for the record seeing no one may you may close this hearing this hearing is closed next is General Orange 202 2426 an ordinance to amend General orang 2023 35 entitled an ordinance to amend the quot of town of Westfield chapter 2 Administration and salary schedule section 2228 schedule anyone wishing to be heard on General War 2024 26 please come to the microphone state your name and address for the record seeing no one may you may close the hearing this hearing is closed next the special orance 20249 capital or to appropriate of 999,000 for the undertaking of various public improvements in by and for the town of Westfield in the county of union state of New Jersey and to transfer an unexp unexpended Bond ordinance balance and reappropriate same to finance such appropriation anyone wishing to be heard on special orance 20249 please come to the microphone state your name and address for the record seeing no one may you may close the hearing this hearing is closed last is special ordinance 20241 Bond ordinance to the acquisition of real property for use as a pedestrian Plaza pocket park in by and for the town of Westfield in the county of union state of New Jersey to appropriate the sum of $915,000 to pay the cost thereof to authorize the issuance of bonds to finance such appropriation and to provide for the issuance of bond anticipation notes in anticipation of the issuance of such bonds anyone wishing to be heard on special orance 20241 please come to the microphone state your name and address for the record see no one may may close this hearing is closed Council and ha good please move for the adoption of General ordinance number 202 24-26 I'd like to move for the adoption of General ordinance number 202 24-26 on second reading an ordinance to amend General ordinance number 20 23-35 entitled an ordinance to amend the town of Westfield chapter 2 Administration and salary schedule section 21228 schedule May I have a second second second by councilman dagala any discussion please call the role council members H yes Guardia yes sagala yes Keir yes Saunders yes armento yes key yes mayor yes this motion is carried I'd like to move for the adoption of special ordinance number 20249 on second reading a capital ordinance ordinance to appropriate the sum of $99,000 for the undertaking of various public improvements in by and for the town of Westfield in the county of union state of New Jersey and to transfer an unexpended Bond ordinance balance and reappropriate same to finance such appropriation may I have a second second second by councilman armento any discussion please call the role council members yes Dario yesal yes Keir yes F yes fto yes Julie yes mayor ble yes this motion is carried I'd like to move for the adoption of special ordinance number 202 24-10 on second reading a bond ordinance to authorize the acquisition of real property for use as a pedestrian Plaza pocket park in by and for the town of Westfield in the county of union state of New Jersey to appropriate the sum of $915,000 to pay the cost thereof to authorize the issuance of bonds to finance such appropriation and to provide for the issuance of bond anticipation notes in anticipation of the issuance of such bonds may I have a second second by councilman armento any discussion discussion yes um someone reading uh just this caption of the ordinance would think that Westfield would be paying $950,000 15,000 to purchase this property uh actually this is a tremendous uh grant that we applied for and is apparently very selective in get to have the state pay for materials such as this and I commend the town Administration for pursuing this this property uh has long been a let's call it an ey store because it's been basically abandoned commercial gas station SL oil oil place um and so this will be a tremendous Improvement an entry way to the town I I think I've referenced this before there's been tremendous improvement from the gwood line to Central Avenue which was not such a hot neighborhood in the 1970s 60s 80s uh but it's come back this actually property values are are are very much improved along that Corridor uh and this will even add to that uh Improvement so I'm hoping we can support this uh ordinance tonight thank you um please call the role council members have good yes yesal yes Keir yes yeso yes yes mayor yes this motion is carried may I have a motion to approve the minutes for the Town Council conference and regular meetings of December 3rd 2024 moved moveed by councilman dardia second second second by councilman Saunders any discussion all in favor yes oppos this motion is carried now it's time for open discussion by citizens anyone may come up to the microphone and speak to the councel on any subject on which we have jurisdiction please state your name and address for the record and please limit your comments to 5 minutes sorry Rich panuski 233 Charles Street for purposes of the official record um I'd like to record to show that today December 17th at 46 p.m. I received the following email from James Gilda Town Administrator town of Westfield Union County in New Jersey Mr panuski not sure if you will be attending the town council meeting tonight so I wanted to get back to you regarding the question you asked at the last Town council meeting about the sore easement please be advised that we have confirmed that there does exist a 10- foot wide storm sore easement on the property owned by HB BC Street Works which is block 2502 lot 14 HBC Street works is aware of this easement and when they get to the planning board site plan review process for this part of the project they will have options for the planning board to consider including a final design that accommodates this existing easement or they may propose a modification to the easement thank you for your question and please know that stormm water management for this and all projects is of Paramount importance to the town and we will require this property owner to follow best practices for the benefit of the surrounding properties and their project thank you Jim I'd also additionally I'd also like the record to show that this email was distributed to the following people Shelley brindle Linda habgood Todd Sanders Michael dardia Michael armento David contract Michael doola David kefir James Healey Thomas Jordine Town planner and Morin Loi thank you good evening Carla Bacci 603 Lawrence Avenue I have two important development topics the Town Council should be aware of regarding future long-term development of Westfield one is the affordable housing response due and the second is the state Redevelopment and development plan that's just been released for public comment regarding the affordable housing response ahead of the DCA numbers published in October I asked the town's process for reviewing analyzing findings reporting out draft conclusions including public engagement all before the council vote at this time there's only six weeks remaining and we have not seen any kind of information regarding the analysis uh this is a precedent setting response for the town's future and any decision or vote must be supported by complete professional planning analysis that indicat Ates whether the number can be reasonably attained and a range of opportunities to do so the DCA published numbers are formic calculated and are advisory and nonbinding at this point so there are still options to present your own calculations and to challenge the formula number we would hope that you would do that with topology we believe there should be serious consideration to challenge that number um if only to publicly and leg leg Al State potential issues and hardships with the formula basis of calculation um it should be noted that we need to think about critically about the central component of the talents future development not simply succumb to anchoring bias by the DCA formula Also regarding the June I'm hoping that we'll get to see uh some of the analysis and I hope that you'll be careful in anything that's put in a report because we have seen that once something is written in a report it tends to get accepted by other parties regarding the second topic the state Redevelopment plan that been 23 years since they've redone this plan I did participate in some of that process what's key here I believe is that it is advocating a robust Community engagement process as part of a balanced approach to planning principles and I would hope that this town would start to look at that and include the community in a robust process for any development moving forward um while we may ultimately disagree with or offer comments to modify some of the suggested priorities and principles the draft State development plan does recognize a auor of concerns we have articulated many times regarding Town quality of life traffic infrastructure and environmental impacts and the importance of adequate notice and Community input toward developing a range of Alternatives and examining impacts before deciding and so I do hope that you'll all read this 167 page report that you'll have someone that will offer public comments I know that we will and that you embrace it and incorporate it into our future planning thank you anybody else hearing none I uh close this portion of the meeting and move to bills and claims Council and have good thank you mayor I'd like to move bills and claims the amount of $ 75,4 48 may I have a second send my Council armento any discussion all in favor yes oppos this motion is carried uh next is reports of standing committees beginning with the finance policy committee here you go the end of the year the end of the year is always a lot um I have 28 resolutions uh 27 that I'd like to move as a package the first a resolution authorizing the CFO to refund a street opening cash fond second resolution authorizing the CFO to refund a dumpster Security payment three a resolution authorizing the CFO to draw a warrant for Board of adjustment escrow monies four a resolution authorizing the CFO to draw a warrant to replenish the postage meter five a resolution authorizing the CFO to draw a warrant for recreation department fees six a resolution authorizing the tax collector to participate in an electronic tax sale seven a resolution authorizing the tax collector to cancel sewer fee balances for 2024 nine a resolution authorizing the CFO to authorize 2025 oh sorry did I skip one I think I did eight a resolution authorizing the tax collector to cancel delinquent tax payment balances for 2024 am I on track one okay okay nine a resolution authorizing the CFO to authorize 2025 Debt Service 10 a resolution authorizing the CFO to cancel account accounts payable 11 a resolution authorizing the CFO to set up set up accounts payable 12 a resolution authorizing the CFO to cancel outstanding checks 13 a resolution authorizing the CFO to sign bi-weekly warrants for the 2025 police s SOA employee salaries effective January 1st 2025 14 a resolution authorized in the CFO to draw to sign weekly warrant bi-weekly warrants for the 2025 fmba employee salaries effective January 1st 2025 15 a resolution authorizing the CFO to draw to sign weekly bi-weekly warrants for the 2025 Teamster employee salaries effective January 1st 2025 16 a resolution authorizing the CFO to sign bi-weekly warrants for 2025 nonunion employee salaries effective January 1st 2025 17 a resolution authorizing the CFO to sign bi-weekly warrants for the CWA employee salaries effective January 1st 20125 18 a resolution authorizing the CFO to sign bi-weekly warrants for the non-union Library employee salaries effective January 1st 2025 19 a resolution authorizing the CFO to sign bi-weekly warrants for the CWA Library employee salaries effective Jan January 1st 2025 20 a resolution authorizing the CFO to draw warrants for the mayor and Council annual salary for the year 2024 21 a resolution authorizing the CFO to apply for a recreation Grant 22 a resolution authorizing an award of contract for the design and improvements at Memorial Pool complex 23 a resolution to approve 2025 Westfield Memorial Pool membership rates 24 a resolution to approve insertion of special item of Revenue in the municipal budget for body armor for our police force 25 a resolution to approve insertion a special item of Revenue in the municipal budget for a memorial pork Park project 26 a resolution authorizing the CFO to pay December bills and claims 27 a resolution authorizing the CFO to make transfers of Appropriations for bills and claims the second second my councilman D any discussion thank you for that councilman well there's just a lot of things we need to clean up for the end of the year in case anyone's wondering why we have so many things to approve tonight all in favor yes yes oppose this motion has carried and number 28 I'd like to move a resolution authorizing the CFO to make a budget transfer may I have a second second so my counc Saunders any discussion please call the rooll M yes yes yes keer yes yeso yes yes yes next is code review and town property committee councilman Healey well I'm glad I don't have to do the of heavy lifting councilman I'm going to move two resolutions as a package one resolution setting the date for the Town Council 2025 organizational meeting second resolution setting the 2025 Town council meeting dates may I have a second second second by Council dagala any discussion all in favor yes oppos this motion is carried councilman hilly please move Public Works resolutions how many committees do I have to you're I'm sorry you're doing double duty I I have to move two resolutions um to move an underground storage tank at the public uh property which I'll be meeting with some council members there at 7:30 morning I don't think this will be out by then but U ins it we might inspect it and the other resolution is to uh award a contract for the Emergency replacement of U of pumping equipment at the N heagan Pump Station may I have a second second second by councel armento any discussion all in favor yes opposed this motion has carried may I have a motion to aurn motion move by councilman Hy second all in favor opposed this motion is carried and this meeting is a journ happy holidays everybody and thank you for a great year