all righty Good evening to all those here in the council chambers and at home Today is February 13th and this is a combined work and regular session meeting of the mayor and council I'm Liz Holman I'm actually having the honor of
uh stepping in for Amy Winski as our mayor is out of town Uh so Linda would 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 burough website published in the record within the first 10 days of the new year and copies are sent to the Ridgewood News and Star Ledger Notice of this meeting by the February 4th 2025 sunshine notice was
sent to the record the Ridgewood News and Star Ledger and has been posted on the public bulletin board in the municipal building and burrow website Councilman Yakarino here Councilman Oul here Councilwoman
Hman here Councilwoman Levero here Councilman Delawio here Councilman Okonnell Mayor Winski All right May I ask everybody to stand and the flag to the flag of the United States of
America to the Republic for all All righty So the first thing on the agenda is the approval of the January 23rd 2025 work and regular meeting minutes as well as close session meeting
minutes Uh do I have a motion to approve so move Lisolo a second Councilman Yakarino yes Councilman Oul yes Councilwoman Hman yes Councilwoman Lisa yes Councilman Delawio abstain
All righty And the next thing we will do is review uh the agenda We have three ordinances today for second reading 251 which is appropriation of capital for Crestwood Lake and dispatcher
improvements Then we have 252 It's a parking ordinance for the community center The third one is 253 which is establishing a fiveminute
parking spot in at 75 West Allenale A We then have a first reading of ordinance 254 which is an amendment to the salaries wages and compensation for the burrow
And uh we have one resolution that would be 2572 which is an annual renewal for bond anticipation notes This is monies that are committed to capital projects um such as the rolloff that we purchased um
the two trucks that we purchased for the DPW roof improvements some roads um and different items that have been put into the capital budget Uh we also have the consent agenda which is you know routine
items Um but Amy does Mayor Amy Winski always does such a nice job of reviewing this and it really shows I think the mayor and council's commitment to transparency So I will do the same Uh there is uh money is being spent for
grandstand parking lot repair There is also an approval for the Ramadan crescent lighting which will happen on February the 28th and will be up through the end of March We also have the approval for the holiday walk which you
can all put on your calendars now as December 5th 2025 and we will be waving the vendor fees um for this holiday walk We have approvals for the um Ramipo
firing range Um we also have a um the employment assistance program as well as budget uh movement within our budgets until we have a final budget We have temporary budgets Um and lastly we have
the bill list which I know Suzanne we actually spoke today um going through and looking at that So that is our list So with that I would like to introduce for second reading ordinance
251 Linda could you please read that for us the following ordinance published here with was first read by title only on January 23rd 2025 and posted on the bulletin board of the lobby of the municipal building and burrow website Ordinance
25-01 bond ordinance to authorize the making of various public improvements in by and for the burrow of Allenale in the county of Bergen state of New Jersey to appropriate the sum of $995,000 to pay the cost thereof to make a down payment or fully fund an
appropriation from the capital improvement fund 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 funds
So I'd like to at this point open it up to the public for any comment All right Seeing none then I would ask do I have an emo a motion to approve on second reading ordinance 251
so move And do I have a second second Councilman Yakarino yes Councilman Otul yes Councilwoman Hman yes Councilwoman Lisa Solo yes Councilman Delisio yes
And now we'll present ordinance 252 Uh Linda can you please read that the following ordinance published here with was first read by title only on January 23rd 2025 and posted on the bulletin board of the lobby of the municipal building and burrow website
Ordinance 25-02 an ordinance to amend supplement and revise article 2 section 252-9 of the Burough Code of Chapter 252 of the Burrow of Allenale entitled Vehicles in
Traffic And I'd like to open it up to the public Any comment from the public all right seeing none do I have a motion to approve ordinance 252 on second reading so moved
Second Councilman Yakarino Yes Councilman Oul Yes Councilwoman Homeman Yes Councilwoman Lisa Solo Yes Councilman Delawio Yes And I'd like to introduce ordinance
253 Linda The following ordinance published herewith was first read by title only on January 23rd 2025 and posted on the bulletin board of the lobby of the municipal building and burrow website Ordinance 25-03 an ordinance to amend supplement
and revise the code of the bureau of Allenale vehicles and traffic chapter 252-9A Do I have a motion to approve on second oh no public comment Anybody all righty Do I have a motion to approve
on second reading so move Second Councilman Yakarino Yes Councilman Otul Yes Councilwoman Homeman Yes Councilwoman Lisolo Yes Councilman Delawio Yes And I would like to introduce for first
reading and approval um ordinance 25-44 Ordinance 25-04 an ordinance to amend chapter 53 of the code of the bureau 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 2025 And do I have a motion to approve first reading so move Love Second Councilman Yakarino Yes Councilman Oul Yes Councilwoman Hman Yes
Councilwoman Lova Solo Yes Councilman Delawio Yes And then I'd like to introduce uh for first reading and approval resolution 25-84 Linda if you could please read that
Resolution of the Burough Council of the Bureau of Allenale in the County of Bergen New Jersey covenanting to comply with the provisions of the Internal Revenue Code 1986 as amended applicable to the exclusion from gross income for federal
income tax purposes of interest on obligations issued by the Burrow of Allenale and authorizing the mayor Burough Clerk Chief Financial Officer and other Burough officials to make such action s as they may deem necessary or advisable to affect such compliance in
designating a 5,758,000 bond anticipation note dated February 21st 2025 payable February 20th 2026 as a qualified taxexempt obligation
pursuant to section 265B3 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 as amended Uh do I have a motion to approve resolution 25-84 so move Lisa Solo And I'll second that
Okay Councilman Yakarino yes Councilman Oul yes Councilwoman Homeman yes Councilwoman Lova Solo yes Councilman Delawio yes Great So now we will move on to council
report Consent agenda Oh consent agenda Yeah maybe we'll do that first Good idea May I please have a approval for the a motion to approve the consent agenda so move and second homeman Okay
Councilman Yakarino abstain 2583 Yes On the balance please Councilman Oul Yes Councilwoman Homeman Yes Councilwoman Lova Solo Yes Councilman Delawio Yes All right Now I'd like to move on to the
to the committee reports So uh Councilman Oul Thank you Madam President SLM mayor for the day for the week The uh public safety committee met the other night We had an excellent meeting Uh Joe was very
instrumental at the meeting We're happy to have that Go Joe Go Joe instrumental Good job Joe Uh some of the things we discussed the crosswalk signs that are missing downtown are to be reinstalled in the near future Contractors are waiting on the weather to be a bit more
cooperative Um we discussed our police force and the fact that we have conditional offers now sent to two police candidates who are either certified or finishing up the academy Lead training is in full swing at Brookside School And this evening we
had the second readings of the two ordinances having to do with parking in town First was parking at the community center Spots in front of the community center are for the use of those using the community center not for the parking of residents the veil Um so now that that's uh been ripped for the second
time start enforcing and the second was a fiveminute parking spot downtown in front of Terry Oconor Realtors What we're designating that spot for is for ride share and delivery pickups Hopefully this is going to cut down on some of the illegal parking that's become quite prevalent in town during
the evenings And finally I'd just like to remind everyone that on March 27th Firehouse from 1 to 7 we are again hosting the Gary Latizia Memorial Blood Drive So come on down and roll up your sleeves Yes Thank you very much And
Councilwoman Lisa Solo Thank you Madam President Madame Mayor first gentleman homeman in the audience Um uh so I don't have much to report right now because uh we're not meeting we haven't had our monthly meetings yet for land use committee which will be the
morning of the 27th we'll have our next meeting and um also that week we'll have our next finance HR admin um meeting Um but on that um note I just want to say and Tyler I hope I'm not going to step on your toes on this one but if you
haven't taken a look at all the improvements at Burrow Hall just like look around Um as you can see there was new carpeting and painting in in this area but down in our Burough Clerk's office where um removed some of the old furniture that had been there forever Um
the rug is going to remain because it was in very good shape We're just going to clean it a bit but they're going to be getting in new desks in there So um that's going to be great great space for our um our staff down there And there's just small little things to kind of make
it more user friendly The when you first used to come into Burough Hall for the clerk's area there used to be like a like a screen there that got moved to the other side So now the window is open on the side when you first come in which is more inviting and welcoming And it's going to be able to give our staff in
there the ability to see people at the window more clearly because I know sometimes that's an issue people can be standing there and and what have you So they're just little little spruce ups not spending a ton of money on this stuff Um but just to make the environment for our staff that we value so much um just better and more inviting
So so thank you for all your help on that too Um Linda I know Die was like you know sweeping up down there today and vacuuming and stuff So you guys want to thank the DPW for coming down and taking the old desks out and pulling that out They did a great job That was
great Um and as far as I know I usually report out in library at the first meeting of the month but they are going to come in at our next meeting in two weeks and um give a little status report for all the great things that went on at the library last year and give their little information um then And for the
green team the um I think you guys are going to speak to this but the date for our environmental day got moved by a week um to the following week So it's going to be May 3rd now instead of April what was it 26th or something like that
Yeah So um so that's about it Awesome Thank you so much Councilman Stella Thank you Madam President We really don't have much to report on Our last meeting was early January We are scheduled for our next regular meeting next week I did touch base with our DPW
superintendent Andy who was just getting over the flu so he was kind of out of commission for the last couple of weeks Just miss in case anybody hadn't noticed We've had some snow storms So the DPWs been working on clearing the snow with our contractor who plows our roads So I think they did a lot better this time
than they did last year Um just some miscellaneous repairs as Linda mentioned some stuff around the different facilities and uh getting ready for spring and updating with some of the field stuff We're going to continue excuse me are going to continue some of that stuff and I know uh our DPW guys
are just you know doing their normal rounds going around town So if any issues around town please don't hesitate to call DPW I believe there's on our website you know just notify and somebody will definitely respond Thank you Thanks so much And remotely Tyler
Yakarino Councilman Yakarino Thank you Madame President from up the street and around the corner Um my committee report for this evening um is mainly focused on the concession stand which we are full steam ahead We are having weekly huddle meetings Tuesday at 3:00 with all the
stakeholders the architect um the contract company who won the bid uh DPW myself and the mayor We do have those meetings weekly and we are on track hopefully for uh opening day as planned Um we are very diligent in working with
our stakeholders to make sure that we continue to remain on schedule um and make sure that that project's coming together Um next week we'll be having our first on-site meeting So we will be doing a site visit there and looking forward to that Our first Allenale Sports Alliance meeting of the year
we're looking to have on Monday February 24th So we're looking to discuss scheduling for the year regarding spring sports uh field updates and things of that nature So that's all for now Thank you Thank you very much Councilman Yakarino
Uh I guess as a council person I will give my report at this point Not uh too long but certainly a lot going on in water and sewer as there always is Um I'm going to let Ray talk a little bit about the updates as far as moving to
close the Violia deal Um but we are in constant communication with Violia I know that there have been several residents that have had concerns about water bills and we are in conversation with them I do encourage individuals
that are having a concern about their water bill to absolutely call Violia to escalate it up to ask for a manager And thirdly if they're really not getting the satisfaction that they need is to
they do have the BPU um as an opportunity to reach out to them I also do encourage them to send myself an email It's lizmanalenj.gov uh because I don't read Facebook So that's not a place where I can I or I
will be advocating from Um as far as sewer there's also an awful lot going on in sewer Um I have uh coordinated a meeting uh with the Bergen County Utility Authority where we'll be talking about a number of topics Um how to
better improve our sewer system here in Allenale as that is our second largest budget item next to public safety Um so it's certainly something that if we can improve the sewer system by spending money on repairs and you know mitigate
some of the the INI or inflow that goes in to the pipes That would be excellent And uh myself and Mayor Wzinski also met with Senator Shapezy um at the after the last council meeting And so we're working through some different ideas
with her in order to you know just make sure Allenell has the best foot forward So with that I will go and ask if uh Linda do you have a report for us um just that the primary election day has
been changed from June 3rd 2025 to June 10th 2025 It's usually the first Tuesday of the first Monday um from June Um so just that change Okay Thank you very much And uh Chief Mike Dylan thank you
No report also relate to the public committee Okay All right And um let's see Oh we don't have anybody else here Oh Ray Whis our burrow attorney please share with us So a a shorter report but I I think some
uh you know bigger items As the council president mentioned we're still working with Bolia on easements uh some issues still trying to reconcile uh with respect to the bail and the community center uh which have been a somewhat historic dimension involving uh parking
and drainage and other things So that's uh looks like we've resurrected Hampshire as part of that discussion So that's ongoing Um there is a new litigation uh initiated by a resident against Violia Um and we are monitoring
that litigation and seeing where it goes and hoping the burrow does not wind up being a party to that matter Um but since it does involve a resident and uh trying to uh get some type of a reconciliation or resolution of it we're closely monitoring that case Uh with
respect to the uh the diversion process which is uh the green acres process that we've talked about before uh we think that uh our burough engineers should be in shape very very shortly to file what's called the pre-application uh and that is ultimately to try to dedicate to
Green Acres or passive recreation an area on New Street uh very close to the DPW facility um in order to uh to satisfy Green Acres uh with respect to a uh a prior issue decades ago uh involving uh I guess a uh a line that
was inserted over Greenacres property So we're hoping to get that process kicked off It will probably be a lengthy process could span 9 months to 12 months to ultimately get it reconciled Uh but we're hoping to initiate that by uh by next week
Um the other matter that has taken up a bit of time since our last meeting is uh I did report that uh there is a litigation in which we are involved with a developer in Saddle River Um there have been discussions with the developer
with Saddle River uh with the Fair Share Housing Council since the project in Saddle River does involve some of their low and moderate income units from their third round Uh there is a hope that there will be a mediation in short order to try to reconcile things uh failing
that it is a formal litigation uh to which the bureau is a party Uh so we have filed our answer of that proceeding So uh it'll either be duking it out in a formal litigation or seeing if the uh the parties can reach some reconciliation But I suppose the good news for us the bad news for Saddle
River is that the developer having seen our brief has now decided to add Saddle River as a party So they are now part of the conversation which was always a missing element That's it So really you can see that sewer is the fun committee
All right Um so I told me was fun Pardon amy said Crestwood was fun That's how I signed up Mandy is where the other fun Stewart is really fun Come on join it Um okay So I do want to read um Mayor Winsk's uh report also in talking about
the community center Uh we have had a successful roll out of our community center We are happy to accommodate so many of Allenale's groups and volunteer organizations such as ARK the Holiday Observers and the XYZ Club We also have
a new pickle ball director who's helping us manage pickle ball players Currently we are keeping it Allenale only And certainly and I echo uh Mayor Wolzinsk's sentiments as all of us do on the council that we ask for patience from
our residents as we navigate through our systems and the operations So far everybody has been very positive and we all hope that continues Uh for fair share housing um we have been very busy meeting the aggressive timelines that
have been set by the affordable housing mandates uh they there is a great team in place and we are working hard to strategically balance the need for affordable housing and the character of our town Um another aspect of this is
protecting um our infrastructure and I'll add that this is what Rey was talking about Um you know our infrastructure for not only what we need to build here in Allenale but also from the mandates that neighboring towns have
Um so you know that as Raid said unfortunately lawyers are now involved It's just we can't I didn't say the unfortunate place Oh sorry I'm saying the unfortunate part is that lawyers are involved Ours is great but that this has come to you know kind of this place but
it's it's really is indeed to protect Allenale and the Allenale residents because we do have limited infrastructure Um the sewers were put in in the 1960s and so you know we've had tremendous development since that time
So um we are also planning four more town halls in the spirit of transparency Dates will be announced soon Um Mayor Wzinski and the council are working on the goals of each burrow by committee and look forward to sharing them with
the public at our first town hall So thank you so much to everybody Um is there any unfinished business any new business how about public comment on any
matter please come forward State your name and your address please Liz uh your acting mayor Wonderful meeting Thank you so much There's still a threem minute limit Yes Okay pretty quickly Um just very briefly we uh had
our first in-person meeting for the green team at the community center and I wrote a note to Amy and Mayor Emmeritus Liz and thank them Uh it's a wonderful space It really is delightful Um
everything worked great Um and thank you Tyler for providing that code that we needed for the TV That worked out perfectly happy to help Yeah we did a a uh a Zoom meeting as well as an inerson meeting so people who couldn't make it could see it as well and participate Um
we're having an EPS collection on Saturday So um the public is listening Um if any of you have material we will be collecting on Saturday and transporting on Sunday and keeping our fingers crossed for uh and where and
what time is going to be here at Barrow Hall from 10 to 12 Great I'm No I take that back I'm sorry Um it's going to be in Ramsey at the uh the train station Um normally uh they would run their own
event but because they were having problems with their environmental commission we agreed to have our team run the event in Ramsey and uh process the material but uh we want to get the public uh used to the fact that it's
going to go between those the three municipalities So uh our team will be hosting the event Um and um Suzanne do we need to get a resolution for um our event like the uh
resolution that was passed for the holiday walk in in May um it's always good for at least since it's under our umbrella you know necessity no good idea Yes Okay So we'll
do that We'll do that when um we're also going to do a resolution for the grant that you guys are putting in Okay Um so we'll do that We'll do those together Yes that one has to be in before March 21st I think that was I think that's what Stephen said Yes Okay Okay Um and
then I'm going to turn this over to Christy Veum and Carlton Frost We're going to tell you a little bit about some changes they're going to make to the event Thank you so much Thanks sir
Hello wonderful Northern Highland student Please share your name and your address Oh my address You can give just your town if you don't want to give your actual address but you do need to put your name on the record It needs to be on the record And my name is Kathy Bum and I'm from Northern Highlands and I'm
from Allenale So nice to meet you all Um so I first learned about the green team when I contacted Mark about trying to create some initiative to help out the litter in our town because I've always looked to make the earth a better place
to live in And every time I see litter across the streets I always pick it up But I wanted to make more of a widespread impact of this And I already volunteer at MEO which is in Mawa I don't know if you guys have heard of it the MAWA Environmental Volunteer Organization where I volunteered on both
of their farms And I but I still wanted to make more of an impact on our local community here So this is why I wanted to initiate a townwide litter cleanup at Allenale So I already spoke with Carlton to um strategize and plan for expanding
on the existing litter cleanup that happens in spring So some areas that we were thinking of focusing on were crestwood especially um on the sand and also the area around and behind Acme especially the brook
which tends to have a lot of trash which isn't very good for our town So and also since we're going to be near Acme I was gonna also ask the manager for the donation of bags to use to help us with the litter cleanup So if you if any of
you have an area that you'd like to see addressed in the town to help us find a direction for where to clean up the litter in the town please let us know Um also for the volunteers I already have about seven people interested but we are
also thinking about collaborating with the environmental club at Highlands Wonderful To get more volunteers and also we spoke to Mrs Weiss about collaborating with the athletic teams like the football team for their philanthropic endeavors in Allenale And
if you have any suggestions feel free to let any of us know And as always your participation is also welcome if you would like to help out with the litter cleanup So after hearing this I hope that you think this is a good idea for us to implement into Allenale Thank you so much for listening and if you have
any suggestions or comments please let us know First my my comment is it's awesome I think I mean I have known Carlson always cleaning up when he's walking through Crestwood and I think the fact that you're expanding that and trying to encourage students and I know
that Miss Weiss has been you know excellent too in helping communicate that So I mean people go to high school in Allenale and so it really would be nice to be able to get groups together and it then they not only will have that as something that they do during that
one time but once you start realizing how much litter there is Yeah it becomes something that you're more aware of So I think it's great Great And you're thinking about starting it on the um environmental day the in the spring Uh yeah we were thinking of doing it on May
3rd Yeah Okay right there during the day meeting up in class and extending Great Awesome So just I mean I think it's one of those things you've seen you know myself in school but communicate and let us know how we can support right
anybody else wish to be heard All right seeing no one do I have a motion to adjurnn so moved Second Second All in favor i Yay
Good night everyone by daughter