Good evening. Hi. Hi everybody. Hi everybody at home. Welcome to the mayor and council meeting. It's so nice to have people sitting in our chairs. Um it is um combined work in regular session April 10th,
2025. Um I was going to say uh Michelle Dy. Wow, that's a throwback. I know. No, it's not. Linda, can you will you please read the Open Public Meetings Act announcement and call the meeting to order? Yes. In compliance with the Open Public Meetings Act, the notice
requirements have been satisfied. The meeting dates for the year were confirmed at the annual meeting, posted on the public bulletin board in the municipal building and on the burough website. They were published in the record within the first 10 days of the new year and copies were sent to the Ridgewood News and Star ledger. Notice
of this meeting as per the April 4th, 2025 Sunshine notice went to the record, the Ridgewood News and Star Ledger and has been posted on the public bulletin board in the municipal building and on the burough website. Councilman Yakarino here.
Councilman Otul here. Councilwoman Hman. Councilwoman Lovelo here. Councilman Deloisio. Oh, hold on. Let's get them on. Oh, no. That's not her. Uh, Councilman Okonnell here. Mayor Wasinski
here. Please rise and salute the flag. I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
Right. We have a very big meeting today. Lots going on. First, I'd like to um have approval of our minutes work in regular session March 13, 2025. Do I have a motion? So moved. Second, please. Second.
Councilman Yakarino, yes. Councilman Otul, yes. Councilwoman Loiso, yes. Councilman Okonnell, yes. So move. All right. Next, we have a proclamation. And I'm going to read the proclamation first, then I'm going to go over um the
agenda review. So, this is a proclamation recognizing April 9th as an education and sharing day in the burrow of Allenale. Whereas the basis for continuity of any society is education and in the great state of New Jersey,
the education of our youth is a priority. And whereas in order to achieve its highest goals, education must not only impart knowledge but also teach the students how to live forming and strengthening their moral character to make a better life for themselves as
individuals and for society as a whole. Imparting moral and ethic values that have been the bedrock of society since the dawn of civilization, including the values known as the seven noahide laws. And whereas a global spiritual leader
and leading advocate for the advancement of education, Rabbi Lubovich, um, oops, sorry, Rabbi Rabbi Manakam Shenerson, a righteous memory stress
stressed that a moral and ethical education empowers every individual to develop their full potential in making the world a better place. And whereas such an education can nurture the unity of a diverse people through encouraging increased acts of goodness and kindness
imbued with awareness that even a single positive act of an individual can change the world and usher in an era of global peace. Whereas April 9th, 2025 will mark 123 years since Riy's birth and marks
the 75th anniversary of his leadership at at um Habad Luovich movement. Thank you. Um Shabbad Habad is an acronym of three Hebrew words,
wisdom, understanding, and knowledge. The Lubovich comes from the city which served as the movement's headquarters for over a century and means city of love. All of the ethical values which inform our civilization, none is more
important than love. Love of wisdom, love of our fellow man, love of our creator. These values have guided habit movement throughout its history. Say it wrong again. And our essence, the essence of education at its best. And we
should be certain to pass on this precious heritage to all young Americans. And whereas education and sharing day is observed each year on the Reby's birthday in recognition of his outstanding and lasting contributions towards the improvement of education,
morality, and acts of charity around the world. A day to pause and reflect on our responsibility to ensure our youth have the foundation necessary to lead lives rich in purpose and fulfillment through service and good works. Now therefore,
I, Amy Waldinsky, the mayor of the Burough of Allenale, do hereby proclaim April 9th, 2025 to the to be education and sharing day in the Burough of Allenale, New Jersey, and call upon everyone to work together to create a
brighter, better, more promising future for all. That was a mouthful. Yay. Okay, that was probably the longest proclamation I've ever read, but that was actually lovely.
Okay, so next I'm going to review the um agenda items. Uh we have a reintroduction to an ordinance. This is ordinance 25-07A. We are amending our building code for accessory structures.
Currently, right now, our our sideyard for accessory structures is only 7 ft and we have a lot of residents building massive twostory buildings. So, in order to keep proper space and the character of the town, we're just amending the ordinance to have a little bit more
space between accessory structures and their neighbors yard. Uh, one of our resolutions is Bergen County Open Space Grant application. So, we will be going in for our second grant for the um tennis court
rehabilitation up at Crestwood Lake. And our consent agenda, consent agenda are matters that are considered routine and we actually um enact them in one motion, but we have a lot of u really good stuff on the consent agenda. So, there's a few things I need to point
out. We have a final approval of a payment for our streetscape phases four and five. Uh we have one more phase left to go that we'll be putting in another grant for. We have a change order for the Crestwood Park concession stand. If everybody's seen it, it's actually the
roof is on now. It looks great. This was a change order for um the uh change in the sighting and a few other things. We are also approving the contract for um the reassessment appraisal company. um we do
a reassessment every year and uh their contract is up so we're going to be renewing it because this is the most fair way to provide reassessments for for uh tax purposes. Um then we have a resolution um entering
into um an agreement authorizing um affordable housing um fair share housing and the bureau to agree on a prospective fourth round number. And I just need to spend a moment on this. Um, initially I, as I've reported in the past, our
numbers were our perspective need were 260 affordable units and our present need number was 186. Perspective need is bu uh numbers that we would have to build in the next 10 years. At a number like 260, you have to take that number
and multiply it by five because no builder just builds affordable housing only unless you subsidize them. The present need is another interesting number where uh they said that we have 186 units in Allenale that lack uh plumbing and um bathrooms. We haven't
found them yet, but that's the number that they gave us. when we have these numbers and there's a formula that they used. It's based on income analysis which is a number that was based on um data that they had from the census, the residential and commercial analysis
which was verified with our um tax assessor and land capacity. The only component out of those three that we could challenge was the land capacity. And we challenged it because quite frankly their data was incorrect. They said we had approximately I think it was
25 buildable acres and in fact we had not even um uh a third of that. So we challenged that and the process is when you challenge it you're assigned a special adjudicator and you're assigned uh a retired superior court judge and of
course we were challenged by fairshare housing and just to make it more fun the builders association came and also challenged. So, um, there was a process that we went through. Um, Councilwoman, uh, Suzanne Lovelo sat in on it. There
was a lot of back and forth. Uh, they had, uh, an, uh, argument with, uh, one of our pieces of land. When we sold our water system to Violia, there was a parcel of land that was, um, surrounding the water tower that we actually sold with it. But since the sale just went a
couple of years ago, um, it was actually the the deed, the meets and bounds were not recorded by the county yet. So they challenge that. So they want to try to reclaim that land. We will not be able to build build on it. But however that did alter our numbers. So with a lot of
back and forth um we actually went from 260 and had a number of 200. The number that we were trying to aim for was I think around 182 or 186. That was with including the the water property, but they they didn't want to go below 200.
they had like 200 in their head for some reason, which again, if you're using data and a formula, I don't know why they wouldn't have a an exact number, but um it was a little frustrating, but we did everything that we were supposed to do. We had a great team and uh planners and attorneys and Councilwoman
uh Loves is also on the team, and this is the number that we came out with, and it was about um 20 to 24% lower than um what they initially gave us. So that you know is a win. A lot of other municipalities settled for what the
builders association was offering which was 4%. So to be continued. Um so now the next phase is that we have to um find out um what where we're going to actually uh build some of these units and have a more solid plan. So these are
just numbers. We really don't know um how we're going to um effectuate them out yet. So that's the next phase. So, uh, that's resolution 25-18. So, that's a big one. Resolution 25-119. Uh, we actually increased, uh,
our Crestwood Lake fees moderately. We haven't increased these, I think, in what, four years? Think 2020 before 2020. So, it's been time. So, it's time. And we did a lot of cross comparison with towns. We're very competitive. Yes, we are. And and our lake is actually the
best lake around. So, yeah. Um and then we also have we're authorizing u maintenance for some work on Rosma's court from a resident. And uh also in the realm of fair share housing, we are um allowing the bureau to spend $90,000
from its affordable housing trust fund to rehabilitate uh the property at 98 Elm Street. I'm sure all the police officers are very happy they won't have to go to that building anymore, that address. So, and then of course we have our
swearing in of our new police officer, which will be the highlight of the evening. All right. So, now I would like to open up the um meeting for public
comment on agenda items only. Does anybody come on up? Have my It gets out of control. Can you bring those slangies? Walter, Hamilton,
I hate to do this for all these people here, but there's so many items on this list which I don't understand. Yeah, I get it. It's it's the fair share housing piece is extremely complicated, but I'm happy to sit down and talk to you about
it if you want more explanation. Available land. We have about seven acres I think it came to is the final number, but it's it's not available. There's buildings on it, but it's just kind kind of buildings with open space and they count that. They look at a big map. They
look at green areas and they're like, you can build on here, you can build on here. Who who's their share housing? They are an advocacy group that is not elected, but they have a lot of power.
trying to trying to I'm trying to understand it. Yeah, it's subject them to this. Then you had another one here. Uh I lost I lost it. I'd love to talk to
somebody about it. I'd be happy to chat with you offline. Can we discuss this at another meeting? Um, I wouldn't discuss it in a in a public meeting, but why don't I why don't you call me and we'll discuss it. I'll sit down and chat over a cup of coffee.
Anybody else from the public wish to speak on any agenda items? Not seeing anybody. Let's bring it back. Um, introduction of ordinance 25-07A. Daddy, will you please read this
ordinance? Ordinance 25-07A, an ordinance to amend, supplement, and revise the code of the Burough Allenale Accessory Buildings, chapter 270-14A. Councilman Yakarino. Yes.
Oh, so moved. Um, no, sorry. Okay. I'd like to I'd like to make a motion um to somebody to um introduce ordinance 25-07A. So moved. Second, please. Second. Now, Councilman Yakarino, yes.
Councilman Ult, yes. Councilwoman Hman. Councilman Lavasolo. Yes. Council Minonnell, yes. So, okay. Um, next we have resolution uh
25-114. D, will you please read this resolution? Resolution 25-114. Resolution authorizing the Burough of Allenale to submit a grant application to the 2025 Bergen County Open Space Trust Fund for Municipal Park Improvements Crestwood Park Improvements
Tennis Court. Thank you. Do I have a motion to approve? So moved. Second, please second. Who's the second? Uh, Okonnell, I mean Oul. Councilman Yakarino. Yes. Councilman Otul. Yes. Councilwoman Lavo Solo. Yes.
Councilman Okonnell. Yes. Okay. Next. Do I have a motion to approve the consent agenda? So moved. Second, please. Second. Tyler and Ed. Councilman Yakarino. Yes. Councilwoman
Otul. Councilman Oul. Councilwoman Lovolo. Yes. Councilman Okonnell. Yes. Start her up. Okay. You're doing great, D. You're doing great today. And she's doing fabulous. Our first council
meeting ever. All right. Okay. Next council reports. Councilman Yakino. Thank you, Mayor. A couple things that you already pointed out in the agenda. Um, most excitingly um is the uh grant application for the Crestwood Park tennis courts. I've talked about this in the past. Um we're
looking to work with engineering in the near future to really perform a full rehab of the tennis courts. Uh working with the recreation commission we brought up at their last meeting to get some thoughts um in terms of how we could best use that space and you know what's being used and kind of how we could best take advantage of that. Um
the mayor also mentioned we continue to have our bi-weekly huddles for the concession stand which is moving along. Um it really does look nice so far. You know, if you're up in the area, please take a look at it. Um you know, we're really moving at a good pace. We're very happy with how things are moving along.
Um so that'll be ready for this summer. Um, also field three, if you've driven past Brookside School, right, uh, the field right outside the entrance to Burough Hall, um, in our partnership with the Anenddale Recreation Commission, we received a full rehabilitation of the field pretty much
endtoend soden this week. It really looks phenomenal. Um, and our fields and with the DPW will receive a lot more maintenance as we restart our field maintenance program. We're looking to budget for that this year. So, we're really excited to get our fields in top shape. And other than that, I think I'll
I'll leave it there for tonight. Thank you. Excellent. Thank you very much, Councilman Otul. Thank you, Mayor. Uh, public safety committee had a very productive and somewhat lengthy meeting last evening. Uh, we discussed some resident concerns which were sent to us via email, and I was happy to be able to get back to those residents this
afternoon. We also talked about things like logistics for upcoming events like the ARC 5K October. Um, our recently implemented five-minute parking spot downtown seems to be working very well. I've noticed fewer vehicles double parked in the travel lane and then uh
those parked in a handicap spot with their four-way flashers on as they just run in to pick up their orders from the restaurants. Um and as an aside to that, just a reminder, there's plenty of parking downtown in the lot by the holiday observers tree. More signage is forthcoming on that, but the space is
there. And finally, we're thrilled this evening to swear in Anthony Cartigga as the newest member of the APD. Anthony, welcome. We know you're a great addition to the force and we know that the residents will be as happy to have you on the force as those of us who've had a chance to get to know you a little bit.
Um, congratulations. We're happy you're here. Thank you. Councilwoman Loves Solo. Thank you, Mayor. I got a few things. First of all, congratulations to our new officer. Um, welcome to the Allenale team. Um, as the mayor said, this really is the best part
of our meetings when we get to celebrate some exceptional new talent. So, congrats. um finance, HR, admin, and IT. Our budget newsletter is going out um very shortly. We're really excited about that. Um once again, uh Allenell has
exceeded expectations and we remain completely fiscally conservative and we've even gotten kudos from our from our auditor on how great our budget looks. So, um many thanks to Alison Alano and our finance team. Um it's it's
a good-look budget. Um, I'm going to, unfortunately, it's one of the handful of meetings I've missed in four years, but I'll be missing our adoption of the budget at our next council meeting. Um, but that'll be a good meeting to come to for people interested in finding out more about our budget. Um, we've started
the process of looking at our capital requests. So, yeah, Tyler's all excited about that. Um, land use, there's a lot going on. Um, the restaurants in town are starting to submit their outdoor dining plans to us. As a reminder to our
restaurants, you cannot put out your tables and chairs until your application for outdoor dining has been approved by Anthony Hackett. All tables and chairs must appear in your sketch of your outdoor plan. Um, we've been updating our filming fees for companies interested in using Allenale as a
possible shoot location. Um, and we continue to address individual property issues and challenges. um things that have been going on since our last mayor and council meeting. The green team met. Uh we're gearing up for a spring cleanup environmental day on Saturday, May 3rd. We will have our usual collections for
recycling, including also electronics and styrofoam as well as our paper striding that everyone loves. And a litter cleanup is going to be taking place in town in conjunction with Northern Highland students. Um as the mayor mentioned, we settled our fourth round numbers, um which are still
ludicrous, but less than what they initially proposed. Um, and just a reminder for election, if you care about fighting the overdevelopment and desecration of our small towns in New Jersey, please make sure you take a look at where your candidates stand on these on these types of numbers. Um, the mayor
and I met with Mr. Beckerman uh from the high school to hear about their budget proposal uh for the year. Um, I attended the department head meeting that the mayor had started, which is always a great thing. I think is an opportunity for us to get together with our department heads, our construction, DPW, finance, clerk's office, our police, and
our library. Always learn a lot at those. Um, our shade tree committee met at the community center. Yes. Currently, we have three members with experience. Um, we're also joined by the mayor and councilman Yakarino. Um, as many of you know, we used to have a shade tree
commission in town that kind of petered out as people moved and retired. And the commission was actually replaced by a hired tree expert and arborist. Uh but many of us felt strongly about having a few residents in assist in some of the tree related endeavors that we face in
town. So um we do have a committee that's up and running. We'll be reviewing our code as it pertains to trees and shade trees and making some suggestions to that. Um they've already suggested removing what is it? Norway maples from Yes. shade trees. Um, we'll also be looking for opportunities to
enhance our burrow with planting suggestions as well as tree removal and pruning suggestions. Um, the committee also submitted a sketch idea for the entrance and path to Crestwood. And while we don't have the budget for that this year, it is something we are looking forward to doing in the near future. Um, we met with some of the
members of the holiday observers and getting ready for our nation's 250th celebration next year. We are encouraging our residents, organizations, and businesses to think of some events they may want to add to the calendar for 2026. And finally, a little library update for adults this
month. We have the first of our cultural music programs, music from China, at the community center on Sunday, April 13th. There will be a total of four programs throughout the year that are funded by a Bergen County arts grant. Um the library is also featuring a health education program, healthy eating on a budget on
April 23rd and a scrapbooking workshop workshop on the 30th. This week the is library week and the theme this year is drawn to the library. On Friday the library is having a program for the kids where they will draw comics expressing what they like best about the library. Um next week the library is hosting the
second of their snack around the world series programs. The kids learn about the country through their snacks that they get to sample and make a craft related to that country. This month, the featured country is Peru. And then on April 24th, the library is having a very special event. Their children's
assistant, Anna Kang, is releasing her 12th children's picture book, Sohi and Lowi. Um, the library is excited to be hosting a story time where Anna will read her book and the children will make a cute snake that looks like Lowi. And the library will also be hosting uh for
newcomers to town another newcomers um event uh where um you get to mingle with new families in town. Also people just looking to meet and hang out can also attend that as well. I think it's in May. Right. And that is it. That's a
lot. All in one group. I know. All right. Councilman Okonnell. Thank you so much, Mayor. um continuing to help the three scouts uh try to obtain their Eagle Scout project. I'm uh sorry that I had to bother you so often with the
bumps in the road. All right. Um I was honored to attend West Point for Charlie Perusi's Eagle Scat Award with Chief Dylan and the mayor. I was wowed when all the Eagles came up. There must have been over 50 eagles. Wow. that were
there out of a room filled with 170 people, I guess. Yeah, it was quite impressive. I was uh happy to go. Um, two announcements. The holiday observers Easter hunt Easter egg hunt uh scheduled for Saturday will now be Sunday at 2
p.m. And the last thing was uh I enjoyed myself immensely at the AVAC scavenger hunt. It was quite a lot of fun and I suggest everybody attend because we were laughing most of the time during that event. So, it was good. That's all I have. Mayor. All
right. So, next we have our professional reports. Daddy, do you have a report from um from the clerk's office? April 29th is the beginning of Crestwood Lake registration. The clerk will have late nights on May 8th and May 20th. Linda
also wanted to remind everyone that May 20th is the last day to register for the primary election and May 20th also will be the satellite clerk at the community center. Okay. From event two. Excellent. Thank you very much, Chief Dylan. Well, thank you, Madame Mayor. Another great night for our department at Burrow.
Thank you for your unwavering support of our officers and staff. I'm looking forward to seeing our department continue to grow and know that Anthony will be welcomed by our residents and a great fit for our community. Lieutenant Griffith, do you have any comments? I just echo what the chief said. All righty. Ray West, Burough Attorney,
brief the mayor. In addition to working with the administrator and clerk on various items, some of which are on tonight's agenda, most of the last two weeks was uh involved unfortunately in litigation and pre-litigation matters. Uh more specifically, uh today we had a two-hour oral argument on in order to show cause that involves the Avalon
project, which is a 275 unit project uh on Allenale's border located in Saddle River. The issue there is uh sewer effluence. Saddle River, as you may know, does not have its own sewer system. Uh this developer is uh litigating with us over its ability or
right um to use our system as part of its development. Uh the judge has basically reserved all decision on it. Uh is looking for some supplemental engineering submissions uh and probably will put us back on his calendar about 30 days down the road. Uh relatedly, uh we've been involved with another
developer in Saddle River, uh that has two projects on the board, uh about a 100 additional units, uh all of which are likewise seeking to use Allenale sewer system as part of their development. Uh right now that is in the discussion stages, but uh could also
wind up similar to the Avalon project in in litigation mode uh in the near future. Uh we also have an issue involving uh our water treatment facility for PAS involving one of the local residents and the placement of that facility. That matter is also in
litigation now involving both the burrow and Violia. Uh and uh we have our ongoing work with Violia uh with respect to implementation of the uh the contract of sale and Eastman and things related there too. That's it. Thank you very much. I'm going to make my report very
short because everybody else pretty much explained everything that's going on which as you can see we have a lot going on in a little town. Um I just wanted to talk about our community center real well real real quickly. We uh the community center is doing great. Burrow hall has been amazing um to facilitate
the opening and running of this. Uh we're starting to have some community programs. One is going to be a passport program where people can come and get their passports and another we're going to have specialists come teaching residents um how to do their wills. So two very important um topics or task
force if you're traveling and uh I look forward in the next session to uh welcome Anthony Cardinigga. We talked all about our affordable housing and all the issues that we're having with that. Um but Allenell remains committed to uh
being compliant. We remain committed to um supplying affordable housing and we remain committed to trying to protect um Allenale and the character of Allenale the best that we can. So, and I want to thank all the police officers. I was going to name you all, but there's like
the whole force is here. This is so awesome to see you all. So, thank you guys all for coming. And next we have the swearing in. So, come on up. Before I swear you in, I have uh
resolution 120 25124 to authorize me to uh swear in police officer um Anthony Cardinigga. Do I have a motion? U second. Second. All righty. Welcome. Councilman Yakarino. Yes. Councilman
Otul. Yes. Councilwoman Lovas Solo. Yes. Councilwoman Okonnell. Yes. That's okay. I don't know. All right. Just gonna um hold the Bible.
Life is coming here. Right. So repeat after me. I state your name. I, Anthony Cardin, do solemnly swear solemnly swear that I will support that I will support the Constitution of the United States the Constitution of
the United States and the Constitution of the State of New Jersey and the Constitution of the State of New Jersey that I will bear true faith that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same and allegiance to the same and to the government established to the governments established in the United States in the United States and in this
state and in this state under the authority of the people under the authority of the people and that I will faithfully that I will faithfully impartially impartially and justly perform justly perform all the duties of Allenale police officer all the duties of Allenale police officer according to
the best of my ability according to the best of my ability. So help me God. So help me God. Congratulations. It's like putting on the prom. Works with a big camera in your face. It doesn't make it any easier. You guys
want to go out for pictures? get you a question. We'll take a question. Um all together. Oh, come on. All right. All right. All right.
One, two, three. Probably should have Tyler do them, but camera. All right. Did I get you down there? All right. Cool. Thank you. I'm gonna take a picture.
You're cutting off completely. Perfect. One, two, three. Beautiful. How you feeling? I'm not. Nice. Very nice. Very nice. Yeah.
All right. I would like to open the meeting to the public on comments on anything. Anything anybody wants to talk to talk about? Come on up. I did have a resident um send an email and they wanted to mention their support of what was mentioned at last council meeting
with the six foot fences on side. Okay. We have that on the land use committee agenda to talk about. We're going to review that ordinance. Thank you. Oh, thanks, Mike. All right, Walter, come on up. Please state your name and address.
Walter 30 Hamilton with all the complaints I've been issuing about the hum. I want to compliment you for getting rid of it. Well, it just understand everything you said. That's great. All right. Three cheers.
Okay. Unplug that then. Now we know where it's coming from. Wait for it. Anybody else from the public would like to speak on any matter? Not seeing anybody. I'm gonna bring the meeting back. Motion to adjurnn. So move. So move. All in favor? I I.
Congratulations. Congratulations. Congratulations. Thank you, Mayor.