##VIDEO ID:eHStsQY2tuo## okay okay bye okay all right enjoy your vacay thank you feel my camera is like too high I don't know like it's like all forehead I don't know what's going on here forehead is like I look very red were you out in the sun today yeah I went water Anna's Anna's in the dark I know try to be in the dark I'm like backlit I was like it's so dark in here I had a backl well I apologize my the zoom on my laptop isn't working it wouldn't log me in um so now I'm on my iPad which means that um I'm not sure about me being able to assist with the presentation I think John's got it so John I think she's gotta share the screen with you right su's good at this too John I think at just some point you have to make me the co-host so I can do that presentation okay um so I can share my screen oops that's not mine all right give me a second I'll see what I can do here um put my homework up everybody can help me with my tools uh I just was on the phone with Bill Machado he's also having some technology issues and he will be joining as soon as he gets connectivity sounds good okay I put up I put a share screen so hopefully that man I just talked to him so he should be on yeah um I put your screen so maybe you can do it from that let me see it doesn't allow me to make you anything you can yeah look here's my arm I don't want to share my um huh are you seeing any of that no Shar um no okay I know Anna you said I'm good at this but I I don't do it anymore like on an everyday basis so I kind of forgot I'm trying to figure it out right you gotta share did you share the screen with Angie John I just put share screen for every uh I think it's just a general sh let me just wa check Angie if you can go down to um yeah yeah yeah all right and then I'll just have to figure out I gotta get rock Rocking In The Free World yeah except I got to get rid of you guys on the side here so I can like do the actual presentation right hit that uh like minus sign on the top left yes thank you Susan Okay and then I'll be able to present okay got it uh all right and then how do I unshare when I'm done I'll just when you're done I'll just take it off I'll just take off the share I guess okay okay so I'll wing it not being able to see anybody the first few things call to order roll call flag salute okay so um Angie if you go back to your home page in um canva and click on the project it gives you an option to show it as a presentation okay so full screen yep I there you go yeah I see that want to go back and with zoom yet you know I me okay so somebody just let me know when everybody's on because I can't see you let's see Bill's here Manny's here Manny you on Bill you're on yeah yeah can you hear me yep all right should we roll go Manny's still muted but yeah Manny's on Paul Don says he's having a problem getting into Zoom does he does he have the pass I yeah the passcode was in the email so and it's on the agenda at the top yes all right so maybe somebody could try to help him but I'm doing I'm right now okay I'm going to call the meeting to order at 7:03 PM Anna would you please read the open public meetings act Advocate notice of this meeting has been provided by forwarding a copy to The Courier News Star Ledger and posting on the township website at least 48 hours prior to the meeting all in accordance with the open public meetings act this meeting will not substantially go past 1030 roll call Madam Clark Mr Kudo here Mr Donnelly Mr Foster here Mrs illis here Mr Machado here Mrs Pope here mayani I'm here would you all please rise for the flag salute I pledge allegiance to the flag America and to the repblic it stands one nation all all right could you guys see my flag yes y had to dig that out of the garage okay so uh we don't have any proclamations for this evening and uh hopefully everyone can see my screen uh I'm going to do a uh quick presentation of uh the task force that we've been discussing um certainly discussed back in July um and previously I want to thank everyone who contributed to uh the resolution that's on the agenda for this evening I know that John Leo had a big piece of it um thank you Manny for your input and changes and Margaret for your input and changes um in the council in general I think this was definitely a collaborative effort but when we have something like this a policy um initiative that comes forward uh we always like to try to educate so I did my best in canva your May is not the best graphic artist in the world but she tries um so with that uh this is a quick presentation of the complete green streets of Berkley head's task force okay so what is the complete green streets of Berkeley Heights task force and I really uh liked this definition and I'm going to read it in in its entirety a complete street is defined as roadways that enable balanced safe and convenient access for all users including people of all ages and abilities pedestrians bicyclist public transit users scooter riders very important lately motorcyclists and movers of commercial Goods as well as drivers and passengers of Motor Vehicles so I thought that was a great definition of what this committee uh sets to do but what's the mission so I'm on a call dear I'll have to see I'll talk to you later can you put John Leo on mute Leo I'm on mute I got it that's right so what is the mission so uh just to boil it down very quickly streets safer for all people using all modes of transportation but you know just a bigger goal I'm going to read this out loud the goal of the task force and the township is to make streets safer for all people using all modes of transportation that will encourage people to travel on foot by bicycle by public transit uh which supports a h a healthier more active lifestyle and reduces environmental pollution and creates a more livable and walkable Community for all uh many of the things that I study in my happiness master's class so what is the scope of the work of the committee if you're on the committee what are you looking to do so number one is to collect and review Township motor uh vehicle crash data available from the Berkeley Heights Police Department two along with the crash data determine areas in the township where a focus on Motor Vehicle interactions with vulnerable Road uses and make these areas are to make recommendations in the in the long run number three in conjunction with the master plan 2.23 Mobility goal number one to make the township more walkable and bicycle friendly and as everybody on the governing body knows and if you attend regular Council meetings this has definitely been an objective uh for for the at least five and a half years that I've been the mayor but certainly going back uh previous to that uh recommend appropriate Road user education campaigns and guidelines that support the master plan Mobility goals and overall Street safety so those are the four main objectives of what the task force will do uh over the next essentially four months so who what is the membership and and and we've gone back and forth a little bit on this so if you've seen a previous version there were more specific labels um in the end and I think it was Margaret um who suggested this we went with a more generic approach um because we found often times and again this is a task force so if be find we have ordinance in 2025 but we found that when we're really specific on labels of the type of people that should be on a committee uh sometimes you know you get that that type of person uh essentially but in the long run you can't sustain it or maybe you can't fill that vacancy so a more General approach um has been the more successful approach so we made this a little bit more generic so it's either going to be the mayor or my design um and I think Manny has an interest in that or or I asked many to do it and I think he passively agree uh one council member hopefully when I twisted his arm right one council member I think Margaret has shown an interest in that spot uh one member of the Berkeley heads Police Department to be determined by Chief IES uh one member of the Board of Education to be designated by the Board of Education president um Gail uh and then we went with six residents or members of the Berkeley Heights business Community uh with preference given to students and we did uh have a discussion about this I know it was important to Margaret we uh include uh students sometimes it's hard to get students because of their very busy schedule so if there are middle schoolers or Elementary School uh students or high school students that have an interest in making the town more walkable or studying the town uh to make it more walkable or pedestrian friendly or scooter friendly if you own a scooter uh please reach out to us um the task force so just so people understand under our form of government uh the mayor from time to time is uh able to create a various task force I think the last time we did it was in 2019 for the recycling crisis we are facing um with the uh consent of the council uh in this instance um this task force will meet four times because it's already August and by the time they constitute themselves um it will be September I think Manny had a suggestion um a minimum of four times if they feel they need to meet more frequently um they certainly could do that as well if that makes sense to everyone that was Marg margar also yes both of you thank you um so what is the history of creating better pedestrian access so this is as I mentioned before this precedes uh my Administration I think it's something that the town has been focusing on for the better part of a decade but in 2016 the township launched lached safe routes to school and we also have the uh routes to Transit initiative that we've been successful uh with to be in a better position and there's a lot of elements that go with um safe routes submitting the safe routes to school initiative or routes to Transit I can't ever get that name right um but the town has been incredibly successful I think starting in 2018 or 19 was the first award and these two grants Leap Frog one another so if safe routes for schools for example is uh available year the next year it's uh the transit Grant and every year I think every year uh we have been successful in uh in landing those grants and more more recently they've been very and that's really a townwide collaborative effort um from everybody involved but also in previous to 2021 we've also passed the complete streets resolution I think we firsted it in 20 maybe even previous to 20 um so is something again I just from a policy perspective this isn't new this is something that the town has always sort of been focused on and has certainly been a priority for all um I love these people walking that this made me very happy I found this like little graphic in Cana that's great I wanted to put it on everyone but I was like that might be a little distracting so what are our current efforts um this year so we have um launched a traffic study with our engineer negl engineering it's in the final stages I spoke with the township engineer who was about to get on a raft to go white water rafting in Colorado uh so he did give me a few minutes to tell me that it is in the final stages of review and we hope uh that that that information will be coming out in September so what are the things that we were most concerned about back in March after we had the near fatality of of the young student concern than of course what had happened on Avenue so uh there are five main areas that uh negle is studying recommendations for installation of a crosswalk at Snider Avenue between the Bank of America and Snyder Avenue Park and if you've ever had a middle school child in this community you know that that's CR critically important um to get that area secured and get a crosswalk there um recommendation for a school school zone designation on Mountain Avenue in the area of Mary K McMillan um school with the redistricting we found a a backup of cars and it really has been um something that the police department has been very concerned about as well as parents uh recommendations me and my buddies we come to that phone you should 463 we would we would always sit like right off or John can you mute him from your I I tried John can you do it I could I wasn't a to I think yeah I think I was able to take care of that I think you already did I think I already did all right I'm gonna yell at him on text all right still on he's still on all right all right well okay it's quiet now uh let's fingers crossed um Rec recommendations for traffic calming measures and speed control in and around the governor Livingston high school area uh of course if you've ever had a glhs uh student you know how difficult that area can be and certainly if you live around that area you know how uh how the traffic and the speed of the traffic has been in area and PD has been all over that as well uh recommendations for pedestrian safety at the uh exiting Springfield Avenue Summit Road crosswalk of course and recommendations for pedestrian safety at that is what our traffic is currently working on um so this year uh and again um I did not include all the different grants but this this year alone I just want to point out that4 uh we have received $1.27 million from the state for safe routes to school program and that was called The Safe Streets Happy Feet Berkeley Heights Mountain Avenue sidewalk project so that will be another major sidewalk project that we will be undertaking uh in addition uh newers RS recognize the town Township with a silver status for 2024 and if memory serves I believe the majority of schools excluding GL uh actually received gold status um from the same organization so um that's important to share as well um and with that I think that's a a fairly good overview of the uh the resolution the need for the resolution task force and uh the history of this particular policy issue yeah I have one quick question mayor yes ma'am so I heard about the school zone by mkm and I was wondering why we don't have school zone signs on Park Avenue where that street goes in I think is it fair viiew Fairfax goes over towards Mountain Park there in the old days when my girls went to Mountain Park there was a crossing guard there and there isn't anymore so I was wondering if if a school zone sign could be um also helpful there that's something the task force could maybe look at that's a great issue to look into um and you're right when my kids went to school there there was a crossing guard there as well I know there's a shortage it's been very hard to get crossing guards but um we will note that thank you councilwoman but I think a sign could also help because if there isn't availability of a crossing guard signs do help it's an awareness factor I I think for people absolutely and I don't quote me but PD might have been working on that as well and I just want to mention um there's a couple other things I think there was another grant that might be on the agenda tonight Manny pointed that out um that also uh you know this issue and having a committee is helpful um but the PD is in the process of installing permanent speed reduction signs on Park Avenue um we had a bit of a glitch with the um the installation um but we did find a vendor and I think they they were able to move forward so we'll get those signs erected before school starts which is an important time of year to make sure that that happens I have a quick question yes sir please oh just uh it was the first crosswalk the one that's by Bank of America I just wanted to clarify is that like right where the creek is there's a creek so you're saying on Snyder Avenue and back of America right uh so I believe there's um I mean I see kids cross in there all the time in order for them to let's say go to Stop and Shop so or or from Stop and Shop to SN it's really the Stop and Shop it's they leave Colombia middle school and they make that big loop they cut through the Stop and Shop uh parking lot they hit Dunkin' Donuts they hit wherever they hit and they get to the end of that the natural inclination is to want to cross where it's the closest when you're you know 11 or 12 so I don't know about a creek but it would be the the property line between the old chem trade it's called something else and the the Bank of America property roughly that area right there there is a creek there and I was just wondering because there's also a garbage can there too I mean the garbage can is right on the creek and I just want to know if that's the crosswalk that you're intending on putting right there only because I see so many kids going there not to mentioned heading over to uh Snider Park so it's not just you know leaving school whatever they're they're going back and forth and I also noticed um um the kids on the scooters they're using that path as well they're just going right across the way so I I couldn't really gather whether or not that crosswalk is closer to the chem place that you mentioned or a little further like towards where the entrance to the parking for Stop and Shop is where Bank of America is I think it's closer to Bank of America but I think that's a part of the engineering study is that they're going to look at line of in both directions and try to figure out you know maybe it's something in the middle I don't know that's part of the recation so that's a great Point bill um that's part of the study so so hopefully um as I mentioned these recommendations will be finalized and perhaps maybe we can have a a presentation in September uh one of our meetings in September which would be really great okay good point though thank you for for bringing that up um so I just want to say quickly um a thank you to John Leo for getting this started and you know you mayor Dean for you know being behind the the project 100% um the residents who have reached out to council members both officially and unofficially um including one of our high school students are just really compelling um to say that we have members of the community that are passionate and really concerned about walkability and bikability in our town so thank you to everybody for bringing this to fruition and you know let's get it done night's tonight and thank you for your input Margaret You've Been instrumental the last week in helping us craft a a good resolution that's that's going to be effective so we appreciate you too all right with that is it think we can move on as far as I can see okay all right so moving on to the regular agenda and the adoption of the minutes okay I move that we adopt the minutes of public meetings from May 7 2024 May 21st 2024 June 11 2024 June 25 2024 and the executive session on August 1st 2023 Welly you people did a lot of reading over the weekend didn't you should that be 2023 or was it's 2023 2023 yeah okay okay we don't we don't have many executive sessions yeah I know we just had one when I was home so I was like am I missing one okay I'll second that then all right any discussion roll call please Mr Cudo yes Mrs an yes Mr Foster yes Mrs illis um Yes except I think I have to um recuse myself from the executive session because I wasn't on councel Mr Machado yes and Mrs POG yes to all okay moving to the ordinances and I just realized I did not print out page two and I thought I did I think I have it here but would that be I'm not sure who's supposed to read ordinance number one that maret oh I'm sorry I was I was really busy reading the public hearing and final adoption of ordinances introduced instead of reading that this is my job um so Anna can you read the ordinance yes an ordinance amending chapter 10.3 6010 entitled parking restrictions to include Warren Place second wait I'm sorry should we have a public hearing on these ordinances before we okay so let me revise my motion I make a motion to open a public hearing um I'll second that on the final adoption of ordinances that are being introduced tonight starting with um the parking restrictions ordinance okay and I think John gave a second correct yeah I'll yes any discussion roll call Mr Kudo yes Mr Don yes Mr Foster yes Mrs illis yes Mr Machado yes Mrs po yes um public hearing is open the public hearing is open and I'll just read the instructions once this evening comments are welcomed during the public comment peering during this meeting on any agenda it however if an ordinance is listed for its own public hearing which that is the case right now on the agenda please public hearing to make your comment the speaker must come forward to the microphone or to their Zoom device uh and state his or her name and address for the record each speaker is limited to three minutes the mayor council president will keep time please promptly yield on the floor when time is called and return to your seat or to your couch your cooperation and inherence to these and if you have your pajamas on good for you so with that yes the hearing on ordinance number one is not open I don't see anyone does anybody else see anyone okay just double checking okay no no hands raised all right I think you can close it Margaret okay Soo well I make a motion to close the um public comments on ordinance number one I'll second that discussion Mr Kudo yes Mr donelly yes Mr Foster yes Mrs zillis yes Mr Machado yes Mrs po yes now I move that the ordinance as read by the clerk and hearing held here on be adopted on Final passage and that the clerk be directed to advertise same in the career news I'll second that any discussion roll call Mr Kudo yes Mrs annaly yes Mr Foster yes Mrs illis yes Mr Machado yes Mrs po yes Anna would you please read the second ordinance Bond ordance we we're appropriating $27,988 to92 proceeds of obligations not needed for the original purpose in order to provide for various Capital Improvements for the fire department in and by the township of Berkeley house in the county of Union New Jersey I move to oh am I jumping jump you're jumping me I move to open the public hearing on the ordinances read by the clerk second discussion roll call Mr Cudo yes M an yes Mr Foster yes m yes Mr Machado yes Mrs is POG yes okay the public hearing on ordinance number two is now open you see any comments uh seeing no comments and no hands raised I move Steve Steve's got it sorry Steve hi this will be easy this is a test because I wanted to find out um with without the usual Liza as a moderator and the use of chat how would you like best to uh know you want someone to talk I I had to find the raise the hands because it was buried in a menu but I guess that'll work because Angie's got a good eye so I miss I'm sorry Steve I missed it well I was I wasling master that's how we do my master's class Steve so I've Gotten Good at seeing the hand when we have class discussions okay well I I will come in under agenda items so is when I'm expecting to talk to tnx so thank you all right you're good sounds good okay so then I move to close the public hearing on the ordinances rep by the Clark second any discussion roll call please Mr Kudo yes Mr Donell yes Mr Foster yes Mrs illis yes Mr Machado yes Mrs poog yes I move that the ordinance as read by the clerk and hearing held here on adopted on Final passage and that the clerk be directed to advertise same in The Courier News second I'll second that roll call Mr Kudo yes Mr Donnelly yep Mr Foster yes Mrs zis yes Mr Machado yes Mrs po yes who's next I can't I don't okay so Anna can you please read number three an ordinance amending chapter 13.12 sewer service system and chapter 13.1 sake sewer construction I think you have to move it for do you have the B do you have the ver you just got open okay so I I move to open to uh the public uh um ordinance number three I don't have the stuff as read by the clerk as read by the clerk thank you I'll second uh any discussion roll call Mr Cuda yes Mrs annaly yes Mr Foster yes Mrs illis yes Mr Machado yes this is po yes okay the public hearing on ordin number three is now open all right I I have a couple of questions I don't think I if anybody else out there does but um this pretty much goes to the end user agreement that we have listed here which is an attachment as far as the ordinance goes the ordinance pretty much reads into what the end user agreement is going to be for all the people that are going to be signing into us or having their flow come into our backyards I mean into into our wastewater treatment plant um if you can go if if anybody's following Along on this on page four um starting actually on page three payment uh number six is payment and it discusses the payments for all flows including those in excess of flows listed and a couple things just jumped out of me um on number number one under that uh uh number I I guess it's I'm reading it wrong and it says 025 per gallon used charge build monthly based on the user's metered flow into Berkeley height Source system now my question is is that 2.5 cents or is that supposed to be 25 cents per gallon I don't have that up I have the agenda up three times um okay can we have go ahead Ana yeah I'm not sure I didn't work on this agreement um can we have Alan back to you John AB absolutely because well I can I have a few that I have a couple things that are listed here give them to me and I'll I'll you know I'll note them all right do you want me to give them to you uh after the meeting or bring them up here no you probably should do it in public right yeah okay um all right on number two or II it says on an annual basis 2.75% of the total bir sword Department annual Capital Improvements plan expenses and Cur Township for the preceding year so I basing on what I'm reading there is whoever is signing into us is going to be paying us 2.75% of the sore bill that we have coming in from that if I'm reading that correctly um I'm kind of curious where we got that number from because then it goes to number three or triple I it says the charge for any use not provided for above shall be determined in Soul and an absolute discretion of the township so I was just curious as to what number we would come up with or or can any of that stuff be kind of like rolled together like say we charge them 10% and then we don't have to worry about you know you know messing around with them maybe we can get somebody else to pay the bill for once you know that kind of thing um so um and then as you go down into this um starting on let's see page as actually number eight expenses and metering the wording in the ordinance itself says it's the director of the wastewater treatment plan here it says that documentation of metered activities shall be forwarded to the Berkeley height sword Department superintendent and and that's pretty much written several times like that so I just wanted to make sure the wording was correct as far as you know good point because it should be not superintendent yeah because this is this is our end user agreement I didn't want to see that you know uh somebody say well you don't have a superintendent but you got a director and you know um but it it's in there several times after that that it says superintendent so we could just uh I don't know clean that up or make it look you know uniform to the ordinance you know for us if that's possible and that's pretty much all I got at this point yeah because that was really the int that was really the intention of this ordinance that's agreement has sort of been in place the way that it's been I mean it does get adjusted for um our Capital Improvements and costs that we have but the intention really was to Allen is now the director of of the department and to ensure that his approval um was part of the process but you have other questions about the agreement that um are really good ones that we should make sure that Allan can maybe give you a call and and uh yeah absolutely I want to make sure he's got the teeth since he's the director I want to make has got the teeth to sink it into this you know you know some because we're going to have developments around us that are still going to be coming in I mean I got one right behind me over here at the the dolphin swim club just be 200 units going back and over there so we needed something like this to have some teeth and I don't want to see him not have that ability to do that so you know good cat good catch John Dan are we okay introducing it with these changes like they minor yeah absolutely I mean to the extent that uh the the I would I would believe the changes would be di Minimus certainly swapping out the name for the correct name that that's certainly just di Minimus so yes it would be we wouldn't have to uh adjourn it and republish it and if this 25 cents per gallon is an error is that okay if we fix it or is that an issue that that would be okay as well okay and I'm pretty sure that it's 25 cents per but I don't want to I don't want to tell you with a th% certainty but I'm I'm I doubt I don't think it's 25 it's probably it's probably 0025 well that's what it says 0025 I wasn't sure if that mean it's 2.5 cents you know if it's two and a half cents per gallon or is it supposed to be I didn't know if it was a you know 25 cents gallon is means four gallons would cost a dollar I think that's kind of high so it's probably it's probably Z z25 I'm pretty sure that it's not you know it's supposed to be the way it's written is correct believe it or not okay all right but don't let's just get verification from Alan let's let's not go by the non Wastewater engineer thank you um okay so we don't see anybody else that wants to come in on this so we can close it up who's all right so so I move I move to close uh close this for further discussion from the public I'm sorry I don't have the instructions in front of yes move to close the public heing ordinance clerk okay a second please second second any discussion roll call please Mr Kudo yes Mrs annaly yes Mr Foster yes Mrs illis yes Mr Machado yes po yes is amended did you want me to read the last part for Bill yes that's the more difficult one so I move that the ordinance is read by the clerk and hearing held here on be adopted on Final passage and the clerk be directed to advertise same in The Courier news thank you Susan you're welcome second any discussion roll call please Mr Kudo yes Mrs annaly yes Mr fer yes Mrs illis yes Mr Machado yes this is po yes all right Annie if you would for number four please an ordinance amending the minimum and maximum rate of salary and compensation of elected appointed Township officials and non-un employees in the various Municipal Departments of the township of Berkeley Heights I will open a public hearing on the ordiance as read by the clerk second any discussion roll call please Mr Kudo yes Mr donelly yes Mr Foster yes Mrs zis yes Mr Machado yes Mrs POG yes okay the public hearing on ordinance number four is now open any takers I do enjoy I think it's Doug's cat is like a diva she's like she was right in the camera right that was yeah yeah enjoyed that right all right so you know when I I I move to close the public hearing on the ordinance as read by the cler second any discussion roll call Mr Kudo yes Mr Donnelly yes Mr Foster yes Mrs illis yes Mr Machado yes Mrs po yes okay Anna would you be so kind as to read Bond ordin number five wait we're Miss oh wait I'm sorry I'm sorry I messed it up I'm sorry okay mve at the ordinance say Rob Clerk and the hearing held here on be adopted on Final passage and the clerk be directed to advertise the same in The Courier News sorry about that I dropped the ball second any discussion roll call Mr Kudo yes Mrs annaly yes Mr Foster yes Mrs zis yes Mr Machado yes Mrs POG yes okay now Anna would you be most kind is read number five b providing for various Capital Improvements AED by the township of Berkeley High in the county of Union New Jersey appropriating 3, 86,500 therefore and authorizing the issuance of 2,72 580 bonds or notes of the township to finance part of the cost thereof so just to be clear this this was this had been adopted June 25th The Courier there was a mistake with the legal advertisement that's why we need to adopt it again so this this was a but just so you guys know it's not a new Bond so did we get a freebie advertisement because they messed it up I'm trying to get the freebie because they messed up but it wasn't our fault it was their fault we have to make sure we do it correctly when we go off for bomb so that's why it's up again in that case right in that right now will they move to open the public hearing the ordinances read by the clerk since we're following procedures I'll second that any discussion roll call please yes before before roll call I just want to say that we've had nothing but Bond ordinances so far hopefully this is the last one right and we're out of practice clearly I know I know okay sorry Anna go ahead okay Mr Kudo yes Donal yes Mr Foster yes Mrs illis yes Mr Machado yes Mrs po yes and anyone popping up no okay with that then I move to close the public hearing and the or is read by the clerk second second up any discussion sorry roll call Mr Kudo yes yes Mr poer yes Mrs illis yes Mr Machado yes Mrs POG yes and with that I move that the ordinance as read by the clerk and hearing held herein be adopted on Final passage and the clerk be directed to advertise same in The Courier News second any discussion roll call Mr Kudo yes Mrs annaly yes Mr Foster yes Mrs illis yes Mr Machado yes Mrs poke yes yes okay moving on to the hearing on the agenda items only um think that's yeah I'm sorry I'm not marked up on this page um hold on a second I did print it out but it got stuck in my printer I don't know okay what number are we on it should be it should be opening the hearing on the agenda items only and then number one if you're number one um all right I don't see my initials on here but okay I'll number nine next to number nine Paul um I'm looking at the Roman numeral look at the Roman numeral not not number nine proper like yeah number on page two yeah oh page two number nine number nine on page two Roman R number nine hearing agenda items you may not have to mark have that on my sheet honestly oh maybe he didn't get the one in the afternoon that came second yeah get it's on the second email yeah I'll move to open whatever it is hey can I can I can I read it on behalf of Paul since I screwed earlier there you go all right so hearing on agenda items only three minutes per resident comments are welcome during the public comment period during this meeting on any agenda item however if any ordinance is listed for its own public hearing on the agenda please hold your comments for the particular public hearing to make your comment the speaker must come forward to the microphone State his or her name and address for the record each speaker is limited to three minutes the mayor council president will keep time please promptly yield on the floor when time is called and return to your seat your cooperation and adherence to these Rules of Order will ensure an orderly and respectful meeting have a second second any discussion roll call Mr Cudo yes Mr Donn yes Mr Foster yes Mrs Ellis yes Mr Machado yes Mrs po yes okay hearings on the agenda items only is now open for any public comment on the what do we have 15 items plus two ordinances No Hands popping up this time I'm looking I'm looking there's Steve got it you gotta you got to unmute oh yeah a little suspense factors and I like to give other people a chance first so just kind of waiting let me go over to some notes just officially say who you are on your address yes that right I haven't gotten started Steve carella 35 Sycamore Avenue um I really was just going to speak to um resolution 8 regarding the grant but because the conference session didn't have the public participation portion and I had some questions I'm going to do it here and and and and hopefully give it equal time um actually I'll make it easy I had three questions going in but I just really have one because it impacts um a word um the new name given to the task force certainly better reflects the resolution text um but i' like to ask where the green part comes from since the text doesn't talk about any Street rain Gardens and any other related aspects like that now I did some research and learned another municipality used the title for a policy but they were specific about what green meant so why was green used here and shouldn't it be removed to just be complete streets task force great question um in my presentation the reason why I read the I think it was the mission statement was um it spoke to the whole idea of uh when you walk in bike you create a better environmental setting so that's the green component of uh of this of this particular resolution as it relates to the mission statement so I really I really liked that definition and I think that captures the the green element of uh of what we're trying to do here okay well now that this is unrecorded public record as to what that means I guess that will do um let me then move on to talking about um the uh the grant resolution 8 now I have some questions and comments about that uh it's the Safe Streets grants it's kind of related to the the task force and um and it may help understand our ability to apply for or receive this grant so I'll start with the questions um now why does the title of the resolution say this grant is with NJ doot when it is a direct application to the US do is that a mistake um I don't know and I actually am looking for uh Manny may know because he was pretty on top of this I'm trying to look at some notes that he said he wrote to me about the ss4a I don't have I don't have that in front of me I have to to officially go to Dr Google well I mean I I'm I'm I'm being somewhat polite I mean it that is wrong this we we have some we have some that are um in the past that go through but this is direct application um with the US do there the the they're managing it it's we're not doing it on a State website because it's online that you uh um apply for this grant okay we we I'm pretty sure we can amend that to correct that one changing I apologize what is it that needs to be amended I I me do this reso so let's let's let's just make sure because there's another Grant um and I can't recall which one it ends up being it might be the sidewalk project it ends up being a pass through through the state the federal do you know gives us the rules and regulation so it could be both so we just need to double check it may not be incorrect it just may not be clear if that makes any sense another solution if you get rid of it so it doesn't say one or the other the the uh it doesn't take away from the resolution so that is yeah I don't think substantive issue and my guess is from what I I'm trying to recollect is I think it's a pass through like it has to get like it's a federal program yes you're absolutely right Steve but it it gets pass through the state and sometimes we have something called sage and vast majority of our grants go through sage and I know that because they're always nudging me to sign off on stuff uh almost on a daily basis even when it's a federal program so I'm not sure I just don't know the answer okay well it may also be um the title says contract with New Jersey DOT and in order to get a grant awarded by the federal government they they may be needed but it's it's anyway I feeling is doing a quick Google search for us I did I did it is it is do um it is marked off do but if if well if it if we can just remove which department from the grant it won't it won't it won't affect anybody will still keep us available to apply for the grant can we do that Dan Mr Antonelli yeah yeah well I was reading the resolution it sounds it sounds like the mayor's correct it's essentially a pass through from from the federal government but I mean to the extent that you want to remove the word New Jersey and just keep Department of Transportation I think that that works as well you're covered I guess one way or the other okay so that's number eight remove New Jersey so someone just make a motion to to move that as amended we're not there yet right get there yeah Margaret just so you know that's your you don't mind move it as amended when we get there all right so with with well good anyway it's with with so it's nice to deal with the question while it's clear let me go on the I guess the other key question is um and and I know a few questions I have here would be easier if if if Liza was here because she's involved in these in these processes but um is this grant already prepared for submission awaiting this resolution to authorize submission or do we know the status and target for submission I don't knowe I think it's already been submitted but I could be wrong on that I know I reviewed some information um with Liza regarding the submission and we were kind of up against a time crunch on it um well the okay that's interesting it's it's it's I was wondering why it would be submitted if the grant if the uh if the the resolution hasn't passed but um the the information I was going to share just so that all the council was was aware that for this particular Grant which is a planning and demonstration Grant August 29th at 5:00 pm is the deadline so it hasn't been missed um but it's only you know two weeks and a number of days if it hasn't been submitted and and the other thing is um in order to submit it you need a unique entity identifier a UEI to apply and you know I would ask you know do we already have one and if we don't you have to go to sam.gov and it may take up to 30 days to get it so if you don't have that indicator you may not be able to apply that's that's all I want to say um and because I don't think anybody knows the answer to those questions um although I'll pause to see if anyone does so I'm gonna in a second I we do have a Sam number that used for other grants I'm not sure if that is a crossover and the other thing about putting the resolution on what our policy or I'm not a policy but our practice is to make sure everyone knows what we're applying for so I believe whenever we're submitting a grant the resolution goes on the agenda does that help I always thought the the the uh um I just took it literally you you need the uh you need the resolution to pass before you can submit but you know I'm that's typically that's typically the case which is why we've had some failures with the the property done at the Board of Education uh some government entities require the approving resolution to accompany the Grant application so in this instance I'm going to guess that that's the that's the case that they want the resolution especially when there's a match involved and this one does have a 20% match and that's a commitment by the governing buddy in the next budget um to to that matching Grant so it it's really unlikely I'm going to say again without 100% certainty that a Grant application that has a a matching Grant uh a matching portion to it would be accepted without the resolution is what I'm trying to say a lot of things that may or a lot of things that happen with the state you do need the resolution to accompany the Grant application we've had that with the historic um trust grants oh I remember those it's it's it's it's like I say I'm not jumping up and down about that because it's one of those things you have to get them and have everything proper in order to take it so it's it's but um yeah there's um it it's interesting I'm I'm I'm impressed because the there are a lot of details that are part of the application for this Grant and um it's going to give you a 20 second rundown um because there's there's some there's some relative stuff I can add to it um there's like four fillable PF forms a two-page narrative a map for the town's location highlighting the road Network um and then there's a whole bunch of data that you have to apply to a consensus 2020 consensus population our total count of Motor Vehicle involved roadway fatalities from 2017 to 2021 our total average annual fatality rate per 100,000 population and if applicable our total percent of population in underserved communities um hope um the um I make a point of providing that because there's a frequently Asked question um on the the the site for this grant asking if a relatively Safe Community can still get this grant award and the answer is that while it's possible it points out that the selection criteria is primarily based on three quantitative ratings and they should be familiar there what I was just telling you was what you provide in the uh in the application the roadway fatalities is in that interval fatality rate percent of the population if you know in underserved and in Berkeley I's case I'm I believe all three are likely to be zero you know for for our Township um my last point I want to make I mean and that gives you an idea of the likelihood of us being able to get that Grant so as much as we're do a resolution like this hoping for it one should hope for the best but be prepared um my last Point concerns the nature of our street related grants to date um most of not most if not all have provided money to implement physical improvements to our streets and sidewalks that also further safety now in this grant any money received is to develop an action plan whose goal according to the Grand site is to develop a holistic well-defined strategy to eliminate roadway fatalities um this is not money to build something we really need it's a paper exercise you know as you'd expect for a plan and we have to match the 20% or 60k as the the mayor reiterated a moment ago and given all the current Township priorities that require not only money but human resource time is this the sort of Grant we should be spending time applying for or having to deal with if we were to actually get an award I hope the council will think about these broader issues for any Grant they are being asked to approve for application and execution if it's awarded and I certainly hope that you know because we like grants that we just don't rubber stamp Any Grant resolution that that that comes our way so I hope that provides some perspective thank you that's all I have unless you have any questions on anything I I talked about always an interesting perspective Steve thank you for your comment all right let's do we have anybody else uh electing to speak sorry about that everybody can can we can we make comments during this period or do we have to wait until the resolution comes up to talk about it I would say you should probably wait for the resolution all right sorry about that um if anybody heard the loud loud Charming ding on my computer anyway um can we close up the hearing on the agenda items only please Paul Susan it's Paul for I can do it for you I can close the hearing on agenda items only and I'll I'll second it discussion roll call Mr Kudo yes Mr Donnelly yes Mr Foster yes Mrs Ellis yes Mr Machado yes Mrs po yes all right to new business please all right I bring forth resolution number one approving a bill list dated August 13 2024 and a amount of 9 oh I'm gonna get this wrong $995,000 did I get that right it right yes yeah look at that just question I'm just going to pop in for a second I had trouble with Bridget back and forth today because it was Inc I'm on vacation and it just didn't load right into my computer so I did not get a chance we tried back and forth a few times so I did not review the B Bill list so I'm going to abstain on this okay thank you for your honesty um all right roll call do I have a second I don't know I thought it was Susan no couldn't have been okay cooll Mr Kudo yes Mrs annaly yes Mr pler yes Mrs illis yes Mr Machado yes and Mrs POG I'm abstaining thank you okay resolution number two that's mine okay okay um I move resolution amending the adopted budget for additional items of revenue and offsetting appropriation for drunk driving enforcement fund Grant in the amount of 22,000 82250 I'll second that any discussion roll call Mr Kudo yes Mrs anelly yes Mr Foster yes Mrs Ellis yes Mr Machado yes Mrs po yes okay I move uh resolution number three resolution awarding a contract to National water main to clean the EQ Basin and the manhole Rehabilitation of the wastewater treatment plan in the amount not to exceed $77,000 second any discussion roll call Mr Kudo yes Mr Ann yes Mr Foster yes Mr zillis yes Mr Machado yes Mrs POG yes I move on resolution four awarding a Professional Services contract to negia engineering for surveying engineering and Permitting Services walking is fun safe roots from Woodruff to Hugh School safe roots to school Grant in an amount not to exceed $4,950 second that any discussion roll call Mr Kudo yes Mrs Anie yes Mr Foster yes M zis yes Mr Machado yes Mrs po yes okay move resolution number five resolution authorizing the purchase of electricity Supply services for public use on an online auction portal second any discussion one one question that the public word is public building we're missing a word there or that's for us to get our Services correct for public use on an online or website okay oh for public use okay it makes sense when you say it differently okay it just sounded wrong in my head no problem oh okay my error a second can I give AER second okay roll call please Mr Kudo yes anal yes Mr Foster yes Mrs Ellis yes Mr Machado yes Mrs POG yes I'll move on resolution six authorizing the application of the 2024 Union County kids Recreation trust Grant in the amount of $100,000 matching Grant second discussion roll call Mr Kudo yes Mr Ann yes Mr Foster yes Mr zillis yes Mr Machado yes Mrs POG yes uh resolution number seven amending the adopted budget for additional item of Revenue and offsetting appropriation for recycling tonnage Grant in the amount of $1 16,44 second any discussion roll call Mr Kudo yes Mrs anelly yes Mr Foster yes Mrs illis yes Mr Machado yes Mrs POG yes I move resolution number eight approving the submission of a Grant application and execution of contract the state uh I'm sorry contract the department of transportation for the fiscal year 2024 Safe Streets and roads for all grants program in the amount of $300,000 with a 20% local match as amended excellent is that Manny okay roll call Mr Cudo yes M an y Mr Foster are we voting on The ordinance or just the it being read because I have a comment on this since that's I don't know where the we're voting on resolution number eight right we doing comments yet we can go we can we can pause and have a com yeah I was just say I was just say it real quickly so for for members of council um you know when a motions made in a second and then the mayor ask any discussion that that's really the time that comments should be made and then once you're all finished with your comments then a a motion to approve is is made so I didn't hear comments sorry so we'll go back and re revote after John makes his comments yeah we'll do it again so any comments on resolution number eight yeah I just I I have a question um in the first uh let me see I get this I I want to make sure I get it right um in the third whereas it lists that um any grant that we apply for stipulates the funds must be used to formulate a vision zero plan local Road Safety plan or similar quote unquote action plan um and then you go down to uh let's see one two the the third and fourth one from the bottom it specifically states that it's a complete streets policy and then uh the other one we had is complete streets policy by resolution 2018 and 2021 I guess my question is do we have to rename the first one to a complete streets policy because that's what we're doing the that there's no like so the grant doesn't get mumbled up with the the wordage again just kind of like our superintendent director for the other one with the with the waste water treatment plant I'd hate to see him kick us out for for wordage or verbage you know if we're going to apply for something like this and we're looking for I mean that's a significant amount of money that we're looking for I hate to have them say well you don't know what you're talking about because you got multiple different types of plans on there or what have you I don't know is that John my understanding is that the there are specific kinds of programs Vision zero is one documented program complete streets is another thing you can search these on the web and get descriptions this grant is for planning and demonstration for us to formulate an action plan whether it's a vision zero local Road Safety plan or something else and to back up our reasoning for wanting to do this we have previously passed a complete streets resolution saying that that's something that the township wants to pursue so these programs don't compete with each other and what we're saying is that we're asking for a grant to develop an action plan to move this forward this General thing called complete streets does that help yeah yeah I just don't want to see us get caught in the verbiage and have somebody say well you guys didn't make it right because this is you set one thing as a policy and then you're trying to pass a resolution for something else and it's like but you you know and then we have to redo it again or pitfalls you know kind of pitfalls kind of thing we might run into I don't know they're they're interchangeable so because we have the 2021 the only thing that we may have to do is update it for 2024 but I doubt it um but they're interchangeable so it's not mutually exclusive so if we don't have Vision zero that's fine we do have a complete streets which is part of the reason that I mentioned at the beginning of conference session just to make it clear that we do have something in place right I heard that there I heard that there also that's why I wanted to make sure that we're not g to get you know we're not gonna shoehorn ourselves into something and then not get it because we did something and then ask for something else if if it doesn't if it kind of all fits it's all the same kind of glove you know exactly it it'll all work that's fine yeah that's that's all the the the grant site uses the general term action plan that says it's supposed to be unique to the community that's can we just needs it's really hard to run these meetings on zoom and it's like when other people start chiming in it gets a little difficult so the council have any other questions so um I have a question I just have a clarification um when I said previously that I had worked with Liza on a grant with a deadline it was not this one um this is a different thing and um yes so I'm sorry if I misdated be that when I misdated before um but yes so then the scant has not been even applied for yet I Liza has that information not me but I don't believe so because we're not up against the deadline yet ah okay all right so thank you thank you for giving me that information too I appreciate that thank you go back that let's go backwards and uh so Margaret moved the resolution as amended can I get another second I'll second that and uh any other comments I think we're good with comments right and a r now M Mr Kudo yes says yes Mr Foster yes Mrs zis yes Mr Machado yes Mrs POG yes well I move uh for resolution number nine resolution establishing policies and procedures for the payment of claims claim and signature for payments of $1,000 or less second any discussion roll call please Mr Kudo yes Mrs annaly yes Mr Foster yes Mrs illis yes Mr Machado yes Mrs po yes and I'm going to move resolution 10 requesting permission for the dedication by Ryder for donations for Lower Columbia Park I'll second that any discussion roll call Mr Kudo yes Mr taly yes Mr pler yes MRIs yes Mr Machado yes is POG yes I'll move resolution 11 amending the adopted budget for additional item of Revenue and offsetting the appropriation for distracted driver Grant in the amount of $7,000 second any discussion roll call please Mr Kudo yes Mr dony yes Mr fer yes Mr zillis yes Mr Machado yes Mrs POG yes and the long waited number 12 resolution creating I move resolution number 12 creating a complete and green streets of Berkeley Heights pass Force second any discussion anybody want to give the mayor five stars for her her canva presentation 10 Stars 10 Stars great job like an Uber driver it's probably like stars but I appreciate you know me p on it yeah all right you know what set it apart was the two people walking set the whole thing apart it was awesome the whole thing was awesome I was smiling the whole time I was looking at it it was great just kidding uh roll call Mr Kudo yes Mrs annaly yes Mr Foster absolutely Mrs illis yes Mr Machado yes Mrs POG yes okay I bring forth resolution number 13 Lucky 13 awarding a professional service contract to the Weber Dow law in an amount not to exceed $15,000 second any discussion roll call Mr Kudo yes M anly yes Mr Foster yes Mrs illis yes Mr Machado yes Mrs POG yes um I move resolution 14 amending the adopted budget for an additional item of Revenue and offsetting appropriation for local area Improvement Grant 2024 Lower Columbia field in the amount of $771,000 [Music] second any discussion roll call Mr Kudo yes Mrs an yes Mr Foster yes Mrs illis yes Mr Machado yes Mrs POG yes I hear by move consent agenda a through e second any discussion roll call I just want I just wanted to thank all our volunteer uh fire people because we need you very much thank you thank you Susan um roll call please Mr Kudo yes an yes Mr Foster yes M zillis yes Mr Machado yes Mrs Poe yes Anna would you read the first um ordinance an ordinance amending chapter 10.48 entitled Municipal parking lots to include the new Municipal parking lot at the municipal complex and to remove parking restrictions from the parking lot on planfield Avenue from the former Library I move that the ordinance as read by the clerk be offered on first reading that September 10th 2024 be set as the day for public hearing and the clerk be directed to advertise s in the carer news second any discussion roll call Mr Kudo yes Mr donelly yes Mr Foster yes mthis yes Mr Machado yes Mrs POG yes uh an if you could please read number two thank you very much an ordinance amending Chapter 2.1 004 entitled qualif qualifications for appointment okay U um I move that the ordinance read by the clerk be offered on first reading and that the date be set as the date uh September 10th um 2024 this as a day for the public hearing and that the clerk be directed to advertise the same in The Courier News second roll call Mr Kudo yes Mrs annal yes Mr poer yes Mrs Ellis yes Mr Machado yes this is POG yes okay Township Council reports Manny you're first um Mike m will be very short congratulations to the Olympians um and to the people from New Jersey we had a great showing and 40 gold medals is is pretty impressive so congratulations the Olympians as for local it's summertime enjoy be safe wear your bike helmet and watch both ways when crossing the street next just I want to point out that you have the most awesome shirt on tonight it it was a dare and you took the bait it was I almost wore the orange and yellow one but I went with I wanted you to wear that one yes and maybe next meeting next Zoom awesome I love it good job Paul uh nothing to report this week thank you okay thank you John all right yeah short and sweet for me too fall family festival at the latel L Farmhouse October 19th noon to 4 come on out I already got the weather order supposed to be Sunshine all day we're in for it thank you all right thank you John Margaret um I don't have that much to report this week um on Monday was the senior picnic which is always a popular event in Berkeley Heights it's held at Lower Columbia John was there helping out at the grill he he wasn't grilling he was assisting DPW um Chief IES was there and did a um drawing for I don't even know what they were drawing for I think it was lottery tickets um so Carolyn and her staff do a fabulous job you know kudos to um Debbie varnerin and Carolyn for all of the organization a great time was had by all um they also we got our tax bills which is never really something that I look forward to but I was excited to open the envelope and get additional information in the envelope so I think that's a great way that we can communicate with residents um and that was a nice surprise and now I think I'm going to look forward to receiving my tax bills in the future awesome thank you Margaret I appreciate that bill uh not much but I just wanted to give a big shout out to uh Sergeant Mike Nelson um for everyone that was able to make it unfortunately I wasn't able to make it uh for his um for his uh big celebration earlier this week but I don't know if any of you know that he's also our Town's Humane law enforcement officer uh so he used to call me on situations where you know maybe uh our planfield demain Society took too long to respond to and and it's been pretty exciting I went on a couple of calls with them on Hawks and and U groundhogs that were C and soccer soccer nets and so forth but I'm hoping that um he said that fetus is now taking over as the Humane law enforcement officer so I'm looking forward to working with them closely um and then also I had the opportunity to go to that uh new restaurant uh Amo Amero uh it was wonderful uh great Ambiance love the food I mean I am vegan and I was able to eat their Linguini Linguini dish and it was superb so uh great job over at that restaurant got to meet the uh the owner and his lovely wife in the kitchen there it was actually a lot of fun that evening all right excellent thank you Bill appreciate it Susan uh so I was really excited I went to play maang with the seniors uh two Mondays ago and they welcomed me into the group I was a little nervous I thought they'd be too fast for me but I held my own and won a couple games so I was really fun to hang out with the seniors and I'm officially a senior so I'm I'm allow in the door uh the second thing and so mayor I'm going to bring this up at our mayor's Wellness committee meeting there's a grant the deadline is September 18th there's a mental health initiative Grant and they have Awards of 10,000 15,000 and 20,000 with no match and one of the things that we could apply for is a stigma but I wanted to go to the committee so that we can all talk about what it is we want to do and how much we should apply for awesome that's excellent thank you Susan I appreciate you taking the leadership on that okay that's all I have thank you so much happy summer everybody all right on to Administration reports and since we don't have Liza we just have me you're stuck with just me um so I I've been thinking a bit about this lower Colombia situation and I I think that everyone on the governing body really believes that this is an amenity that we should really provide for our residents so I'm going to propose something a little out of the box and hopefully our Township attorney can maybe uh work with the Board of Education attorney um to make this happen um but I would like to see us do some sort of joint meeting between the township Council hosted at Town Hall I'll preside and and uh do what I usually do but I think maybe if both governing bodies came together um and maybe could discuss this it could be certainly at our next regular Township meeting on September 10th perhaps an hour before our regular business so we don't take away from our regular business but I would like to make that Overture to the Board of Education because it just seems like we're getting stuck and the same information is just sort of going round and round and and and nobody kind of understands why it's not moving forward yes or no I mean frankly vote it down if that's what you want to do um it's just this you know this sense of being stuck so um I'm not asking for an official vote but if anyone has any objection making that type of Overture through our Township attorney to the Board of Education Township attorney um I guess let me know privately but I think that this is something that would help us perhaps move forward so uh rather than a report I want to offer up that idea for this evening so let me know your feedback uh let Danny know your feedback let Anna know your feedback if you have any concerns so with that I don't have any committee reports all right so let's move on to the citizens hearing well we officially have to accept the council report so I can do that for Paul if he wants me to sure no it's no you still have the citizens hearing yet Margaret has to open right but we didn't approve the counc reports oh okay yeah so I move to accept and approve the township Council reports second second any discussion roll call please miss audo yes Mrs analy yes Mr poer yes Mrs illis yes Mr Machado yes Mrs po yes I move to open the citizens hearing I'll second that and discussion roll call Mr Kudo yes M an yes Mr pler yes Mrs illis yes Mr Machado yes Mrs po yes okay the citizens hearing is now open with the same rules in effect that I read previously during the meeting I don't do we see anybody looking for hands I don't see any hands No Hands seeing no one I'm move to close the citizens hearing second that discussion roll call Mr Kudo yes Mrs annaly yes Mr poer yes Mrs zis yes Mr Machado yes Mrs POG yes okay with that we don't have an executive session this evening but just rather a motion to adjourn motion to adjourn all in favor enjoy the rest of your summer everybody I don't know how I do it I'm not even sure how I'm doing that I love that that's the August I love it good night everybody have a great summer bye all right thank good night everyone good night everyone gotta see how this thing works now that's what I'm doing I think I broke I think I broke it again it's not working I can't oh wait there it is okay all right I'll talk to you thank you all right bye