All right, good evening everybody. Welcome. This is March 12th, 2026, 7 p.m. The combined work and regular session. Linda, will you please call the meeting to order and read the Open Public Meetings Act announcement. In compliance with the Open Public Meetings Act, the notice requirements
have been satisfied. The meeting dates for the year are confirmed at the annual meeting are posted on the public bulletin board in the municipal building and on the burrow website published in the record within the first 10 days of the new year and copies are sent to the Rididgewood News and Star Ledger. >> Councilman Okonnell
Councilman Oul Council President Livos >> here. >> Councilwoman Homeman Councilman Delisio >> here. >> Councilman Yakarino >> present. >> Mayor Wisinski >> here. Please stand to the flag
to the flag of the United States of America to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Excellent. >> All right. So, first we have approval of
minutes. Um, we have to table the February 19th minutes uh to March 26. Do I have a motion >> to table the 19th? >> So move. >> Second, please. >> Second.
>> Um, Council President Lisello, >> yes. >> Councilman Delosio, >> yes. >> Councilman Yakarino, >> yes. >> And we have approval of February 5th, 2026 meetings. Do I have a motion? So move. >> Second, please.
>> Second. >> Hello. >> Yes. >> Councilman Delisio. >> Yes. >> Councilman Yakarino. >> Yes. >> Okay. So, um I'm going to go over agenda review. We have ordinance 2606 and ordinance 2607 with second readings.
These are the ordinances if you remember last time that were uh regarding hydrants and snow removal. However, um we're going to have to table these as well to the March 26th meeting. Do I have a motion to table 2606 and 2607? >> So move.
>> Second, please. >> Second. >> Council President Lisolo. >> Yes. >> Councilman Delisio. >> Yes. >> Councilman Yakarino. >> Okay. We have uh three ordinances to introduce this evening. Um the first 2608
is um an ordinance to amend chapter 53 officers and employees. This is to um enter in a new position that we're going to have for our police station that uh somebody who's going to be staying in the lobby to greet people as we transition over to Ramsey Dispatch. Then
we have ordinance 2609 which is part of our capital uh ordinance. So we wanted to get some of the things uh going for this spring as we finalize the rest of our capital. Um this one is for fields um some record management system uh sign
in front of burough hall and and a vehicle some vehicles for the police. So we'll get those moving. And then we have 2610 which is an article to amend the um property maintenance article. Did you want to uh talk about this the
maintenance standards council president >> 2610? >> Yes. It's both the uh awning and the >> Yes. So, um, we, as you know, we love all of our businesses in town and our business owners. Um, there are, however,
some situations downtown where some of the buildings are in slight dispair. This is just a tweaking to our code which referenced um was repainting metal and wood and we just changed that to mean all surfaces
because as you know much of our downtown couldn't be stuckco and brick and what have you. So we just changed that and we also included something that we had been following up on but wasn't really specifically worded um awnings and mold on awnings. So, this is just an effort
to encourage our our business owners to maintain their um their property or encourage our landlords to also maintain the property in which they have their businesses in. >> Thank you. And uh it's a continuation of all the work that we're doing in our downtown as well with our streetscape
and our massive post office. >> Um I I can of course >> that's going to be fun. >> Um so then we have next we have our consent agenda. Um these are considered routine. However, there's a couple that I'd like to bring out. Um, first, we um have the execution of the SE shared
service agreement between the Burough of Allenale and Ramsey. Um, and I'm sure Chief Dylan will be talking about that in his report. We have a waiver on the compost week for the garden club. Um, we also have a resolution authorizing the flow assessment services for the sewer system. So, this is something we've been
working on for quite a while. We're trying to take a multi-pronged approach to get at the bottom of, you know, some of our INI, which is inflow and infiltration. Um, so our sewer systems is one of our top budget items. So, we're constantly uh
just making sure that uh all the the pipes are as um I guess as buttoned up as can be, as solid as can be, as well as to make sure that residents don't have their um their pipes going into our sewer system, like their sump pump for
example, that has to go out to a different area. If it goes into the if it goes into the sewer system, we actually pay a lot of money for that. So, this is um some type of test that is going to help with that. Um and then lastly, we have our we're going
to have a new uh employee in our land use. Um our uh land use administrator right now, Linda Garo, will be leaving us and we just we had many interviews and we um wind up hiring somebody, her name is Joanne Katapumo, and we welcome
her to the girl of Allenville. And with that, I'd like to open the the um agenda to the public on agenda items. I didn't wish to speak on agenda items.
Okay, bringing it back. Do I have a motion? Um ordinance 2608, introduction of ordinance um to amend chapter 53. Linda, will you please read that? Ordinance 26-08, an ordinance to amend chapter 53 of the code of the Burrow of
Allenale officers and employees to fix the salaries, wages, and compensation of the officers and employees of the Burrow of Allenale for the year 2026. >> Do I have a motion? So moved. Second, please. >> Second. >> Council President Lovaso.
>> Yes. >> Councilman Delisio, >> yes. >> Council Makarino, >> yes. Uh, ordinance 26-08 has been introduced upon first reading and will be posted on the burrow website on March 13, 2026 and will have and will be taken
up for further consideration final passage at the meeting of the mayor and council on March 26, 2026 at 7 p.m. or soon thereafter. >> Next, we have ordinance 2609. This was the ordinance to authorize uh capital improvements. Linda, please read the
ordinance. Ordinance 26-09, capital ordinance of the Burrow of Allenale in the county of Bergen, New Jersey, authorizing various public improvements and acquisitions in, by, and for the burrow, appropriating therefore the sum of $349,000,
and providing that such sum so appropriated shall be raised from the capital improvement fund of the burrow. >> Do I have a motion? >> So move. >> Second. >> Second. >> Council President Lovaso. >> Yes. Councilman Delissio. >> Yes. >> Councilman Yakarino.
>> Yes. >> Ordinance 26-09 has been introduced upon first reading and will be posted on the burough website on March 13, 2026 and will be taken up for further consideration and final passage at the meeting of the mayor and council on March 26, 2026 at 7
p.m. or soon thereafter. >> And then we have ordinance 2610. And this is the ordinance to amend um property maintenance in our downtown. Ordinance 26-10, an ordinance to amend, supplement, and revise the code of the burrow of Allenale, chapter 199,
Property Maintenance, Article 5, Maintenance Standards. >> Excellent. Do I have a motion? >> So moved. Second, please. >> Second. >> Uh, Council President Lovaso, >> yes. >> Councilman Delithio, >> yes. >> Councilman Yakarino,
>> yes. Ordinance 26-10 has been introduced upon first reading and will be posted on the burough website on March 13, 2026 and will be taken up for further consideration and final passage at the meeting of the mayor and council on March 26, 2026 at 7 p.m. or soon
thereafter. >> Approve the consent agenda. >> So move >> second, please. >> Second, council president Lisolo. Yes. >> Councilman Delosio. >> Yes. >> Councilman Yakarino. >> Yes. >> All right. Next, we have our
administration portion of the meeting. Um, and our council reports. Councilman Yakarino. >> Thank you, Mayor. I'll keep it short. Um, last week you and I were very honored to attend the Hopech Christian brunch at Cedar Hill Church in White Oakland. Uh, I couldn't make it the last
year, but I was happy to return this year. And it's always a very inspiring morning. We've got two group homes in town. They do a fabulous job. They are great members of our community. We're so happy to have them. And it's also nice, you know, because we're with other towns as well who also host these homes. So, it's a really nice social morning, but
also more importantly to learn about the great work they're doing. So, I'll leave it at that. Um, I'm sure Councilman Dallas here will talk more about the field, so I'll let him speak to that. So, I'll leave it there. >> Excellent. Thank you very much, Councilman Dallas. Yep. >> Thank you, Mayor. Uh, DPW committee met on Friday, the 23rd. Uh, it was a good
meeting overall. We've discussed a lot of the planning and preparation that's going into place right now to get Crestwood ready for opening. Um the team has been working to put everything together. Uh they had planned to start this Monday to actually start doing some
cleanup work at Crestwood and I'm sure that that is following way. Uh chemicals and everything are getting ready. Gravel in the parking lots, all that stuff. Uh they're going to be checking out the concession stand and start getting that prepped and ready so we can get it ready
for opening day. Uh fields, as Councilman Yagarino mentioned, uh fields, now that the weather is starting to break, fields will start to get prepped for opening day. Uh the guys have everything scheduled and ready to
go to make sure that we're done on time when they're permitting for the day. You know, thatching, debatching, and cleaning out the fence lines and getting everything prepped where it needs to be. Uh as you mostly all know, uh we had a lot of snow, so there were a couple of
little uh meetings that they had. Uh I think everything went pretty well with our snow removal contractor around town. Um, there was a lot of snow to move. There was a lot of coordination. I think we're in a good place. Hopefully, we won't have any more this year. And we'll be nicing today.
>> Well, both flakes. >> We discussed, you know, checking out, making sure our signs around town and good coordination and communication with our police department as they drive around town. I know they uh they note once in a while where they see broken signs or signs are bent over. So, the
EPW is going to be communicating with them to make sure that that gets coordinated with fix signs as needed. Uh, prepping equipment. Our backhoe had a leaky axle that's actually in Caterpillar getting fixed right now. Our crew chiefs have been in place now
for a couple of months. Uh, everything is going well with them. Good communication, good coordination, and the team seems to be flowing and working well together. So things are progressing in the right direction. >> Excellent. >> President of the cell.
>> Good job. Um thank you, mayor. Uh as you mentioned, I was happy to be a part of interviews for a new position in our uh construction department. We wish Linda all the best on her retirement. She's retiring and we welcome Joanne to our
team. Um it was been a busy stretch. We had a wonderful town hall and you're going to be reporting on which it was great to attend. Um we also had a 250 parade meeting I was a part of. Um we had a finance meeting on March 2nd with
our CFO Allison Alano keeping us on the straight narrow as always and looking at a great budget again for this year. Um good news for the library because of our increased assessments. Looks like the library will be receiving almost an additional $100,000 this year over over
last year. So, um let's see what else we had going on. We had a lot. Oh, we had a ribbon cutting in town of um a business that has been here but a new location class
I believe. Um we had a shade tree meeting which Tyler also >> perhaps let's talk about the shade. It was the was the one the best meeting of the month >> on March 3rd. Um, we had that. Um, we're looking at tweaking two ordinances in relation to shade trees. One that just
kind of updates the listing of our shade trees in town. Some trees we no longer would recommend to be planted, others we're adding to the list, and we have a wonderful team in place for that. Um, we're also going to be addressing the removal of trees in town. um trees are
recommended to be replanted as well as if you don't have the capacity or don't wish to be replanting trees on your property, you can add to a created tree fund in town. Um but that's going to all be codified in the ordinance. Um, also
there was a green team meeting recently and the green team looks to be adding another focus to their area of food waste and focusing on food waste and how to help our restaurants and all of us address food waste. Uh, our next land
use committee meeting will be in the morning of March 26th. I look forward to reporting on that. >> Excellent. Thank you very much. Staff force Linda Serbino. >> Um, thank you mayor. Um, compost permits went on sale yesterday. The compost center opens on April 8th.
And then, um, regarding legal notices, legal notices are up on the burough website. Uh, so rather than sending our legal notices to the newspaper, uh, which I usually do the night over, the next day, we'll be posting them on the burrow website. This will save the bur a lot of money, uh, because the
advertising in the newspaper is costly when you have a bunch of items to be posted. Um I will be posting the notices the day after the meeting. Um but per the community development block grant contract administrator, community development is a federal grant program that requires advertisement in the
newspaper uh and the papers uh website. Um so limiting advertising of capital projects on the municipality's website is not access acceptable under the regulations and that also applies for Bergen County open space. Um on the Secretary of State's public
notice page uh website, I registered the Bureau of Allenale. Um so there there's a link to direct a link right to our legal notices on our burough website uh if they go to the state's um page. Um and and Nancy registered the Lee
Memorial Library as well for her public notices. And so all the municipalities will be listed on the states secretary of state's uh website. And then on Friday, March 6th, I had a lunch and learn called Municipal Clerk as a wedding
officient, which explained the new law and provided guidance and insights for municipal clerks performing weddings and civil. >> All right, that it. That's it. Sorry. Thank you very much. So we're approving around complaint for
shared service agreement Ramsey. So I feel like that it's appropriate to kind of go over a little bit about you know surround the circumstances surrounding buying what we did and Liz I'll send the student over documents. >> Thank you. Appreciate it. Sometimes the speaker not >> so I'll start a little about how we got
to this point. As I was preparing for tonight to look back in my files and found when the dispatch consolidation conversation started in August of 2011, I created this worksheet containing questions asked of agencies who could potentially dispatch for us and in turn
that we could possibly take on. The conversation continued in February 2013 when I compiled a list of questions and concerns after touring the county facilities as with Mayor Barrett. >> Oh wow. Truth be told, shared service dispatch was always a topic of conversation in Bergen County public
safety community. The conversations continued due to many reasons, financial, employee recruitment and retention and regionalization of emergency services to better serve the public. Fast forward to 2024, which brought the need for major upgrades to our equipment at our dispatch room. The
overall cost would have been somewhere in a ballpark of 500 to 700,000. And at that point, the yearly cost to run a communication test was 350,000. salaries, benefits, equipment, maintenance, etc. Before this capital improvement proceeded, the public safety committee burrow administrator CFO
Allison Elano and I discussed other options. We tooured communication centers uh which were run through a consortium, the county government and local governments. A detailed analysis and feasibility studies were conducted which led us to our ultimate decision.
The committee had many requirements including the new agency retaining our existing employees, leveraging new technologies, and the idea that the contracted dispatch center would be the extension of our police headquarters working hand in hand. Absolutely every
aspect and impact resulting from this decision was considered. I am confident that the choice we made will have the least impact to the community and the department. Our dispatchers were given full-time positions with Ramsey, including increase in salary and
supervisory role. Aldo Mercy service communications will be streamlined. Everyone, including police, fire, EMS, and public works are on the same path. Our mutual aid partner, Ramsey, will have constant situational awareness about what is occurring in our burrow.
The cost savings to the burough long-term will be meaningful and the police station remains open to the public 24 hours a day. We are streamlining police administrative duties while still maintaining the services our residents expect. Thank you to the committee, to Allison, to our
employees and the public for their cooperation and collaboration into this project which will finally launch next Monday, March 16th. I would be remiss if I didn't acknowledge Jim Coban and see that Coban computer solutions have never worked more closely with a vendor and
due to their knowledge and skill. They have essentially connected Aldo Police Headquarters with Ramsey Police Headquarters for seamless operations. I'm looking forward to working with our new partners experiencing the latest technology and seeing all our planning and effort in practice.
>> Excellent. Thank you very much. Um I know how much time and effort you put into this. um obviously over all of these years and aside from the you know the emergency services not not being impaired at all. The fact that you really wanted to make sure that our
dispatchers were taken care of and our residents were taken care of on the other side just having that comfort of the lobby being open. Um I have no doubt this is going to be a very successful transition and I I look forward to and look forward to another four. >> Thank you. >> So thank you very much
attorney Ray West. very uh brief this evening mayor. Uh in addition working with the with the chief with our administrator with the clerk on uh uh some routine matters and some of the matters on tonight's agenda. I would say most of the time uh was taken up in the last two weeks on uh working on uh
implementation issues with respect to biolia uh and certain other biolia related issues and also saddle river sewer and uh repeated calls with the with the mayor and councilwoman. That's it. Thanks. >> Thank you very much. Um, so my report,
um, the town was a success. Um, we went over our fair share housing update. Um, we're still wrapping up a couple loose ends as, um, Ray mentioned with Saddle River. Um, we will be sending out a memo trying to explain everything. Um, it's taken quite a bit of time to try to
consolidate everything, but hopefully we'll get something out that's nice and clear. Um, as council um, President Lovaso mentioned, we have our 250 committee in place. We've had two meetings already. Um and their last one was with the chief of police. So we're working on logistics of our big parade
that is going to um parlay into the big event that the holiday observer is having in September. Um we are still going through the budget line by line. We have our newly branded uh CFA committee which is community financial engagement.
>> Um yeah committee. No um not community um community financial engagement committee. >> Committee. >> Cat. We used to have what we call the finance advisory committee, but we felt like we just kind of rebranded a little bit so we could give um some of the financial minds in the community a
little bit of insight into what we're dealing with in the budget and um you know have them be a voice for the community and understand what we're doing and they all gave us great feedback. They felt very comfortable um with the budget with the budget process and some of them did give us some some uh ideas different specialties that
they're in. So, we're going to have that twice a year now. And if anybody financially wants to join, it's got a financial mind, you're very welcome. Um, we're having a meeting tomorrow to revisit uh the the roads, we uh we keep a a list of roads and potholes um in
order of, you know, worst to best. And since we've had so much snow and there's been a lot more damage, some of them might have to shift a little bit. So, we're meeting with the engineer in the morning just to kind of re-evaluate that. Um we've been going over many grants um collecting data for a couple
different grants that we'll announce in a bit but we're trying to get grants for actually everything that we do. Um one of them is actually a shade tree grant for 250 trees around the burough over five years which will also be in line with our 250th celebration. And then one of the uh projects that we're doing
which was on the capital budget is the transit lot. We're going to add some trees there. the strip of land strip of land that is uh pretty overgrown across customer fire station. So that'll be a really nice addition to the town getting that just a couple trees put in there. Um and I also had uh two mayor's
meetings back toback. One was my regular league meeting and one was for all the district five meetings. Uh Congressman Josh Skyheimimer actually was hosting both of them. Um a lot of great information, a lot of really interesting insights in Washington. Holy moly. Um a lot of them a lot of funny stories as
well. So, it's good to see somebody uh cross the lines and try to get stuff done because there is some divide there. And uh he seems to do a pretty good effort crossing the lines and and trying to get some work done. And I think that's it for me. I have another May mayor's meeting this Saturday. So, I look forward to that with the Northwest
mayors. And that's it for me. >> Remember Harry told you don't be late. >> I'm not going to be late. It's another subject. >> All right. So, any unfinished business or new business? No kiddo. Any public comments on anything in the burrow?
Not seeing anybody. >> I think Walter's coming. >> Walter. >> Couple of points. One, Walter W. >> Is that one of your points? >> What? >> That's one of your points. >> When you put Nord instrument and those
on >> Yes. How long does it hold last? >> Um, it could be in perpetuity. Um, we we constantly are updating them as as just things change in the burough to try to keep them current. Um, like for example, the one today we noticed it was missing a couple components. So, we wanted to
add that. For example, the the snow the snow um ordinance for removal of snow around the hydrants. It was in 24 hours. We felt that after this snowstorm they people needed more time. So, we changed that to 48 hours. So sometimes they're like just little tweaks like that just to keep them current.
>> But they they do remain on the books, Walter, until until actually changed affirmatively. Yeah. >> They they become part of the governance of the burrow. >> So I can look up an ordinance of 1910, >> right? >> Yeah. That that goes to what the mayor said is that since there are various
committees that have periodic review, they're looking at situations like that. Was something that was adopted in 1910 does it reflect what it should today? Like we had um in one business district we had like a shoe cobbler. So we changed that because there's no shoe cobblers anymore, you know. So you might
see stuff like that that we change and update. >> Thank you. >> If I made a comment at home, >> it's getting fixed. It's getting fixed. It's getting fixed. When's it getting fixed? If we have it's it's on the
schedule to get fixed. >> Get fixed. >> It's in the work. I had to listen carefully to you to override it. >> I get it. Yep. We are going to fix it and promised you and it is in the works in the budget. >> I hope so. And secondly, will we make better use of this
>> meaning >> you >> Oh, yes. Everybody make better use of your >> Well, the one is is I know that the mayor said it's getting fixed, but just in historical when this when this system was put in, I believe Amy, you did it. It was more so as a recording mechanism
than an actual projection mechanism. So I believe the new system will make better use of that. >> You're welcome. >> Yeah. Read my notes. >> You can call us anytime. >> I made the observation when Crescent Dad
I don't know who dug it up. I don't know who quote fixed it, but they didn't. It's It's horrible. It seems as though someone anybody can come along, dig up the road, do whatever they have to do
and then no one gives a damn how it's fixed. >> Oh, we give a damn, Walter. So that's not necessarily true. So what happens though is sometimes utility companies have to come and they have to fix it. But because the the temperature is too cold, asphalt won't stick. So they can't they can only do a temporarily fix and
then they have to wait until the spring to properly fix it. I think you're probably talking about PG work. I'm not really sure. There's been 13 water mane breaks this whole entire winter. They can't patch them up properly until the until spring comes. So that's probably what you're seeing.
>> The other thing you're seeing too is when they put in because the temperatures are so cold and they back fill part of that freezes. So now it's warming up that sinks. It sinks as it thaws. So to Amy's point, it's uh they're going to come and fix it properly.
I sure hope so because every time they they supposedly fix it, it gets worse and it places it on what is not present. I mean, you're all driving
fully aware of what's going on there. Uh, got five notes here. I can't read half of them. I'm fine. >> Well, you know, you can always reach out to us anytime. You know where we live.
>> Have a nice night. >> Okay. >> Anybody else from the public? Not seeing anybody. Motion to adjurnn. >> So move. >> All in favor? >> I. >> All right. Good night, everybody. >> Thank you.