Heat. Hey, Heat. twice in a row. Oh, and then capture Michelle. I got you. Michelle again. The role of Michelle will be council 30 seconds.
It was my day. Twice. Hi, good evening everybody. Um, madame clerk, please uh do the roll call, please. Councilman Miseri here. Councilwoman Peterson here. Councilman Zazali here. Deputy Mayor Megan here.
Mayor Scavage here. Adequate notice of this reorganization meeting was duly provided to the Verona Cedar Grove Times and the Star Ledger by email and published in an annual schedule of meetings on December 12th, 2024. Filed with the CL Township clerk and posted on
the public bulletin board in the municipal building lobby in accordance with the open public meetings act. So item two, oh sorry gang, we need to uh please rise for the flag salute. I pledge algiance to the flag of the
United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you very much. Um so item number
two is uh presentation and comments to me I guess to you to me mayor Scavage I want to thank you for your four years of service to the township. It was my
privilege to serve as your deputy mayor. What can I say other than thank you for a job very well done. We have a plaque here for you and I'm I didn't open the box. Okay. Pretty sure it's in there. Okay. But I will just read what's on the box because I think it sums it up. The
township of Cedar Grove recognizes Mayor Scabage for a distinguished year of service as mayor of the township of Cedar Grove. The residents are grateful to be beneficiaries of your commitment, diligence, and enthusiasm. You had left an indelible impact on the township that
will be felt for years to come. No, I have to add a little something. Okay. I would just like to add one special note if I may. The community garden idea that Mayor Scabage had a few years ago, it
has flourished. We have so many happy residents with gardening gardening. The community garden went from not filling all the beds to having a wait list of people who were interested. It's creative initiative like this that
are a testament to the leadership of the mayor and we applaud you for all that you have done. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you everybody. I'm going to speak slowly because my family is not here yet. So um they're coming. Um, but we're
going to move to item number three, which is the administration of the oath of office to newly elected council members. So, we're going to start with um 3A. So, um, Deputy Mayor Miga and Mr. Zeli, if you would please go to the podium.
Boom. Nice. Here they are. Come on up, Mega family. you know, there's real. So, I I do have some remarks for our our current deputy mayor. And I'm going to save them for when she gets sworn in as the mayor. This is the
oath for her to be sworn in as a council member. And it is my honor to swear you in. Thank you. The family hold the Bible. See your Bible. Raise your right hand. Yep. Repeat after me. I, Michelle Migga, I, Michelle Migga, do sincerely profess and
swear do sincerely profess and swear that I do and will bear that I do and will bear true faith and allegiance true faith and allegiance to the government established in this state to the government established in this state under the authority of the people under the authority of the people. I do solemnly swear I do solemnly swear that
I will support the Constitution that I will support the Constitution of the United States of America of the United States of America and the Constitution and the Constitution of the State of New Jersey of the state of New Jersey. And I will faithfully And I will faithfully impartially impartially and justly and justly perform all the duties of perform
all the duties of of the office of councilwoman of the office of councilwoman of the township of Cedar Grove of the township of Cedar Grove according to the best of my abilities and understanding according to the best of my abilities and understanding. So help me God. So help me God. Congratulations council. You need to give it back. It's only one
we have. I don't want to have it. So, you're going to sign both of these. Excellent. Don't get too comfortable because you're coming back down. Thanks. Excellent. Um, moving on to 3B. May I please have um Chairman Otul and Councilwoman Peterson to the podium,
please? Mayor, you said slow reading, right? He's here. Evelyn Wood over there. What happened? So, let me just say a word before. How are you? Good. Thank you. So Ann, how come there's uncontested
elections here? Ann, and when Ann and I used to run back in the 80s and 90s, a big mess. One time when we ran there was seven of them. Yeah. ' 89. So I will tell you candidly. So I remember I think one of the best councils the Cedar Groves had was in 1985 when Anne and
Bill McFale and Bob Marorrow ran very cons very spirited and that actually encouraged me to run back in '89. I'll tell you, Ann was one of the best, most dynamic mayors and council members that I ever served with. But we always had contested elections, Ann. And these five
just get to walk in. I will tell you as a resident, I will tell you it's um like to Joe and John, I will tell you and Melissa and and Michelle, like I'm as a resident for 60 years and 60 years now, I'm so proud, John, what you folks have done here and bringing Cedar Grove to
this next level. When I told Dale last week, I got I was here in ' 89 and 96. I feel like it was like yesterday, but it was like 35 four years ago. But the tradition stays. The people who were homegrown other than Joe, who was went from Little Falls, Cedar Grove. The folks who are homegrown here care the
most about Cedar Grove. So, I'm honored to be here. Wonderful. This is This is our home. This is it. And I couldn't be more proud to be a small part of this. And Dan, you're the second best lawyer in your family. Just so you know. You can tell. Tell your brother Joe I said that. You can raise your All righty. Let's get the
oath. I'm sorry. Who wants to hold the Bible here? Mom. All righty. All right. Are you set? I am set. I'm just going to repeat after you. I state your name. I, Carrie Peterson, do sincerely profess do sincerely profess and swear and swear that I do
and will and will bear true faith bear true faith and allegiance and allegiance to the government to the government established established in this state in this state under the authority of the people under the authority of the people I do solemnly swear I do solemnly swear that I will support that I will support the Constitution the Constitution of the
United States of the United States of America of America and the Constitution and the Constitution of the State of the State of New Jersey of New Jersey and that I will faithfully and that I will faith faithfully, impartially, impartially, and justly, and justly perform all the duties perform all the duties of the office of of the office of
councilwoman councilwoman of the township of Cedar Grove of the township of Cedar Grove according to the best of my abilities according to the best of my abilities and understanding and understanding. So help me God. So help me God. Congratulations. Thank you very much. Thank you very
Thank you. Thank you. Right there. Sign here. Okay. Okay. Thanks. Thank you twice, I guess. Thanks. Thank you so much. Appreciate you. Okay. Since I am only being sworn in
once tonight, unlike our star over here, I'm just going to take this opportunity to say um a few words. First of all, I'd like to thank Chairman Otul for taking the time tonight and coming and swearing me in. It means a lot and your continued support to Cedar Grove does not go on go
unnoticed and we are very grateful for that. So, thank you. Um, thank you all for being here this evening and especially our D40 legislators who we love and adore. Assemblyman El Baras, um, Assemblyman Christy Philippus and of course Senator Curado. Thank you for
your commitment to Cedar Grove. Um, I would just like to thank my family um, and everybody for the support that you've given me. This is a great honor. This is my third term. I've served for the last eight years, and I look forward to um another four years of serving
Cedar Grove. Like the chairman said, growing up in this town and then being able to give back in this capacity um means a lot. It's a privilege. It's an honor. Um it's something that I take very seriously and I really enjoy doing and I hope that, you know, I do a good
job and I make an a positive impact on this team um on this town. So, in terms of I just want to say a couple words of our outgoing mayor, um, Mayor Scavich, you did a fabulous job this past year. Um, so proud to work with you and you've
really done a great job. And just so you know, once a mayor, always a mayor. I learned that and it's a great honor. So, you've got it. And to our incoming mayor, um, Ma, I think I'm more excited about you becoming mayor than anybody.
um your enthusiasm that you bring all the time does it's just unmatched. You are incredible and I know you're going to do a great year, a great job this year. I look forward to working with everybody and all I have to say is for the next year under Mayor Mega, if any
kid in this town does not have a helmet on, I'm going to be in a lot of trouble. So, we have a great year ahead. Thank you all for being here tonight and uh we'll continue on. So, thank you all very much.
Great. Congratulations. Um, and now 3C, it's our turn, Senator. So, excuse me. Be back. H. I just want to echo some of the sentiments that were said already. I want to congratulate all three of you on
your reelection. I am not from Cedar Grove, but we have come to love this town um so much. It feels like home every time we come here. um from the administration um Joe and Dale to the entire council. It is just truly a joy working with each and every one of you
and we're very excited that we get to continue to work with all of you. And I now have the privilege of swearing in Melissa. And are you ready? Yes. Okay. You're going to repeat after me. Okay. I state your name. I, Melissa Scavage, do sincerely profess do sincerely profess
and swear and swear that I do that I do and will and will bear true faith and allegiance bear true faith and allegiance to the governments established to the government established in this state in this state under the authority of the people under the authority of the people I do
solemnly swear I do solemnly swear that I will support that I will support the Constitution of the United States of America the Constitution of the United States of America and the const Constitution of the State of New Jersey and and the Constitution of the State of New Jersey. And that I will faithfully
impartially impartially and justly perform and justly perform all the duties of the office all the duties of the office of Councilwoman of the Township of Cedar Grove of Councilwoman of the Township of Cedar Grove according to the best of my abilities and understanding. According
to the best of my abilities and understanding. So help me God. So help me God. Congratulations. Okay. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Hi. Good evening, everyone. Thank you, Senator Curado. Um, I'm going to make this very short because you've heard me
yammer on for the past year. So, I'm going to um keep it tight tonight. Um, it's truly an honor to stand here as I wrap up my term as mayor of Cedar Grove. Serving this community has been a privilege. And I want to thank each of you for your trust and support over this last year. And just a reminder, and I I
never like to correct the chairman, but I am not homegrown. Hudson County, Jersey City, I know Rich Hamilton, you know what's up. Um, so I I never pass up an opportunity to talk about Jersey City. So I I did not have it originally in my speech for the record,
but it worked its way in there. Um, so, um, I do want to say that none of the accomplishments mentioned by, um, that are going to be mentioned by Mayor Migga tonight would have been possible without our dedicated town council, our hard wa hard hardworking municipal staff, and
our engaged residents. I also want to thank my family, friends, and everyone who has supported me along the way. So, as I pass the baton to Mayor, soon to be Mayor Migga, I just want to say that the future of our town is bright. Uh Michelle is a strong, thoughtful leader
who cares deeply about this community. I know she'll continue to build upon the work we've done and bring fresh ideas and energy to her new role. Cedar Grove will continue to grow and thrive under her leadership. So, to everyone here and to those watching tonight, thank you for
the opportunity to serve this beautiful community that I'm so proud to call home. Thank you very much. Okay. Okay. Item four, extraordinary business of the township council. So, this is the part that we're all very excited about
tonight. Um 4A, to consider the resolution designating the mayor of Cedar Grove. Um may I have a motion, please? Mayor make a mo a motion to approve. Um and I will second that. Perfect. Thank you. Roll call, please.
Councilman Miseri, yes. Councilwoman Peterson, yes. Councilman Zazali, yes. Deputy Mayor Megan, yes. Mayor SC, yes. So now we're going to do the administration of the oath of office by township manager Jose Kelly to our newly appointed mayor Miga. And I stole your
pen. Thank you from the podium. I think I steal your paper. Now it's my turn to give a little speech about Michelle. Is anyone surprised that Michelle Miga is here getting sworn in as the mayor of
Cedar Grove? Yes, you guys are here. Well, what I could say is I am not surprised and I did learn before that 20 years ago today, former mayor Ann Migga stepped down from the town council, which means one of these Miggas are going to have to take place in the next
20 years or so. So, no, in all in all sincerity, this comes as no surprise. Um the the soon-to-be mayor served on the PTA, the FSA, the Black and Gold Club, the Board of Ed, the town council, the list goes on. Everyone knows Michelle's
commitment to Cedar Grove is second to none. She bleeds black and gold. I know she will thrive as the mayor. It's a true honor for me to swear you in as the mayor, and I look forward to what the next year is going to bring. So, without further ado, by the way, I I must add the whole reason she can be sworn in and
put her hand on on this Bible is because this was donated by Mayor Anda when she was on the town council and it's still here. That's how fiscally prudent we are. We still have that budget here. I tried to get a new one, but Rebecca said it was a little tight in the budget, so we left it.
Without further ado, here we go. I, Michelle Migga, I, Michelle Migga, do sincerely profess and swear do sincerely profess and swear that I do and will bear that I do and will bear true faith and allegiance true faith and allegiance to the government established in this state to the government established in this state under the authority of the
people under the authority of the people. I do solemnly swear I do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution that I will support the Constitution of the United States of America of the United States of America and the Constitution and the Constitution of the State of New Jersey of the state of New Jersey and I will faithfully and I will faithfully
impartially impartially and justly and justly perform all the duties perform all the duties of the office of of the office of mayor mayor of the township of Cedar Grove of the township of Cedar Grove according to the best of my abilities and understanding according to the best of my abilities and understanding. So help me God. So help
me God. Congratulations You guys get sit. You're dismissed. Thanks. Sign two. Good work. Thank you. Thank you so much. Go take over. Okay, you got it.
Take this here. Thank you. This speech is about 600 pages long. It'll be fine. Good evening to everyone and thank you for coming. It is an incredible honor to
be sworn in as the mayor of Cedar Grove. Let me just take a moment to say to those people who said many years ago that I would one day be mayor and I said you were all crazy. Well, I guess I need to say you were right.
I have been a volunteer in Cedar Grove for more years than I care to admit. And I truly did not think it would one day lead me to this position. And I have many people to thank for that. First and foremost, I want to thank my amazing family.
Thank you to my husband Tom, our daughter Alyssa, and our son Nick. They all thoroughly enjoy politics, or maybe not, but they do support me 10,00. It could get a little crazy at times.
Maybe I do not always cook because I'm out at a meeting. Maybe I do not always clean because I'm out at an event. But that's okay because those tasks are overrated anyway. I appreciate the support you all give to
me so that I may do what I meant to do. I owe many thanks to my parents and my in-laws for their continued support. I also have brothers, sister and brother-in-laws, nieces, nephews, and friends here today, and I thank them all
for coming. I would point out who they are, but some of them would like to pretend that they are not related to me. And I'm okay with that. Also, one person who has guided me, who I have
driven crazy with so many questions, and my quote, "Please help me with this situation has come up," calls Josie Kelly. Joe answers my calls and my texts day or night.
It does not matter. He always answers. Joe, one thing I do promise, when you're on your honeymoon, I will bother someone else or I will keep a log and I will really bother you when you come home. Thank you, mayor.
You're welcome. Seriously, Joe, I really do appreciate you. Thank you. I am very thankful for the residents who elected me as mayor of of mayor who elected me as a member of council this past May. They have put their trust in me to take on this leadership position
in our community. And I want you to know I take it seriously. To me, volunteering is very rewarding when you see the positive impact you can have on your community. With the right group of people working together, what can be challenging can also be
manageable and a great experience. I think this town council, town manager, clerk, and attorney are a great team to work with. Thank you to this entire council. Whoops. For all you have done and
continue to do for the residents of Cedar Grove. Your commitment to this town is incredible and it is very much appreciated. Cedar Grove is lucky to have such excellent leadership and dedicated officials. I appreciate your confidence in me to
grow in this role of mayor. You all have different strengths and have guided me in many ways. Your patience with me has made me better suited for this role. We have more work to do together and I work for look forward to working with you all. To our state representatives,
Senator Curado, Assemblyman Phillips, and Assemblyman Barlos. Thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedules to be to support our town. Your continuous support not only of me, but it's true of this entire council and
our township is very much appreciated. On behalf of our residents in Cedar Grove, we are so grateful for your service to our community. I look forward to continued working with you. To my council, my council colleagues and residents, I commit to leading with the
same transparency, attention to detail, and passion as previous mayors. I look forward to continuing the meet the mayor sessions at town hall. I encourage all residents to attend, ask questions, raise concerns, and seek active, almost
immediate solutions to challenges we face as is customary for every reorganization. Wait, I keep going. Right. Yeah, you can. As is customary for every reorganization meeting, the incoming mayor provides a
recap of all the major achievements and highlights that occurred over the past year. Make no mistake, from from the time we were gathered here last year to right now, Cedar Grove has been busy. Looking back as I prepared these remarks, it was truly amazing to see all
that was accomplished and what exciting things we have to look forward to for the remainder of 2025 in 2026. Despite challenges from Trenton, this council works tirelessly to deliver good government, efficient solutions, and
stellar results for our residents. And I commit as mayor to ensure this continues. Now, you are only as good as the team around you. That is why I think it's important to start the review with thanks and gratitude.
Thank you to our department heads, tax assessor Rich Hamilton. I did see him. Thank you. Tax collector Christophro, Chief Financial Officer Rebecca Roth, construction official James Hoffman,
Public Works Director Jerry Vidiello, Engineer Alexandra Ha Handel, recreation director Marissa Landie, fire chief Chris Donland, and the police chief Pumphrey, and the man municipal staff who are the front lines of the
interaction for our residents. Your commitment to providing quality service, accessible resources, and detailed followup is what sets Cedar Grove apart from other municipalities. Thank you for all that you do.
To the Cedar Grove Police Department, you work to keep us safe. from proactive traffic enforcement to maintaining a positive presence amongst our community. Please know your efforts protect and please know your efforts to protect and serve are appreciated by this council
and our residents. Under the leadership of Chief Pumphrey, I'm confident that he will bring the department to new heights. To our Cedar Grove Fire Department, you are unquestionably the biggest financial savings that the
township can point to. We always say Cedar Grove is built on the backbones of our volunteers. In a time when volunteerism is hard to come by, your commitment to protecting the residents, training with fellow firefighters, and
maintaining the standards of excellence we have come to expect speaks volumes about the values of Cedar Grove's Fire Department. For all you do, we are grateful. our ambulance and rescue squad. Thank
you for working cooperatively with the Mont Mon Mont Monontlair ambulance unit as our first responders by providing quality Medicare not Medicare medical care to residents and ensuring safe transport of our residents to the
hospital. To our dedicated employees for the Department of Public Works who work tirelessly in all weather conditions. They keep our streets clean, keep our parks and our facilities in working order. There are no words adequate enough to convey our thanks. Your
department is on call 24 hours, especially during the winter months, repairing water mane breaks well into the night and braving the blistering winds and the cold snow. We could not function without your dedication and for that we thank you.
Now, allow me to begin by reviewing some obvious um I'm sorry, projects are coming next. Allow me to uh begin to review some of the most obvious projects. The township is proud to announce Thank you. The township is proud to
announce the incredibly unique partnership we've reached with PSEG. Excuse me. One second. The majority of our old gas mans and services have and are still being replaced at no
cost to the residents. Every foot the township paved curb to curb to curb, PSENG matched it at no additional cost. PSEG finished the first leg of the paving operations and the second leg is to begin in the fall. All
of this road work shows the commitment the township has towards bettering our infrastructure. The following projects I'm going to list, I'm not going to talk about them all, so you're welcome, um are on the horizon. Paving of Park Ridge estates,
paving of additional streets not in Parkidge, paving the municipal lot, striping and a shoulder addition on Bowen Road to address speeding. Brier Hill Water Main Replacement and Services, Devonshshire
Road Water Utility Services, design and reconstruction of Reservoir Place and Rock Ledge Place, reconstruction of Ridge Court and Mountain Way. The township is proud to have allocated capital funds to not only handle the cost of these projects, but also to
provide the DPW with the equipment and tools needed to ensure our employees work with the latest technology, safety, and efficiency. Now, here's a big project. As you drive along our newly paved
roads, you will have undoubtedly driven past a new building located at 170 East Lindsley Road. That's the North End Firehouse. It is brand new two bay, twostory firehouse for the North End Fire Company. What a
difference a year makes. I want to thank Mr. Zeli and the construction team that he assembled. The progress shown is truly remarkable. As the contractor finalizes the last minute details and the fire department prepares to move in, I look forward to
joining everyone in a celebration of North Firehouse's opening in the very near future. This is a next topic is a topic near and dear to my heart. Recreation. Last year we did the Little Falls Road
basketball courts and it's very nice to drive by and see dozens of individuals playing on the newly surfaced courts. This year we are h we are excited to announce the reurfing of Panther Park to the tune of $550,000
$45,000 less than initially quoted. Panther Park is one of our most used assets to the point where the life expectancy is often exceeded far ahead of the typical expectancy. Because of frequent use of the park, we are providing a new surface for all of our
athletes. We also plan to expand the concrete padding of the bullpen at Panther Park softball field so the softball teams may expand the area into a batting cage. You with me? All right. All right. Just checking.
Nick, you with me? Senior programs. Council received numerous inquiries about senior for senior programs from important and vital part of the township, our senior citizens. In November, we all met at the North
Firehouse to get real live feedback and hear the concerns that the that the seniors had. Almost instantly, the township mobilized and set up weekly yoga sessions, games, presentations, trips to Wind Creek Casino, and trips to
Paper Mill Playhouse. We heard concerns. We addressed them. We got it done. To our seniors, please know that this council will always work towards providing you with the service you need and if we can, the services that you want.
the township website. Once the township became aware that there is a requirement that municipal websites comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, we jumped at the opportunity to update the township's website by contracting with
Civic Plus to not only ensure compliance but also allow for the township to streamline resources in suing ensuring information is easier to find and userfriendly. I'm happy to announce the new website
officially goes live today. Please make sure you make your way to www.seedgroveenj.org to explore all the new features we are so proud of from a public safety perspective. This is good stuff. Okay. The township
has invested significantly in our first responders. In addition to the $4 million firehouse reconstruction, the township has appropriated $80,000 in capital funds for the police department to secure new
bodywn camera docking stations, seven defiills, a new, hopefully I say this word right, alco test machine. Good job. Thank you. improvements to the police common area,
new rifles and pistols, a radar unit, and a new LTI laser system. We also received approximately six $60,000 in grants to purchase new automatic license plate reading cameras, tools
that are of such value to our police officers. I'm also additionally I am proud to announce that we signed a purchase order to procure a new 105 foot Pierce ladder truck for the Cedar Grove Volunteer Fire
Department. That was initially quoted at 1,882,000. Mr. Dr. Z. Kelly was able to negotiate a prepayment option and that resulted in a revised cost of $1,665,000
reflecting a savings of $217,000. Now, Mr. Viselli, maybe you could try to do a little better. Sorry. Okay. Just saying. Okay. While there is a five-year lead time on this, we look forward to
receiving new apparatus. And yes, we know if I can't really see very far because I took my glasses off. The fire department is here. We know the engines are coming due soon, too. Now, one major challenge we faced this year was fourth round affordable housing
obligations imposed by the state of New Jersey. I am proud to say we have worked incredibly hard to reduce the state's obligation of 171 units to a realistic development potential of nine units.
The work of our township manager and attorney and our affordable housing professionals have resulted in this success. I'm incredibly proud that the township is a plaintiff in both state and federal litigation, suing to advocate for our residents and
to ensure that our town remains the quaint, quiet community we are so privileged to serve and that our resources and infrastructure is not further burdened by Trenton's mandates. I want to commend mayor mayor Scavich
for this council for the tr and this council for the transparency shown during the fourth round process. The mayor posted a very informative where she go a very informative Q&A video with
detailed documents and the sum and the plan summary on YouTube, social media, and the township's website. The mayor and I also hosted an in-person meeting to discuss this with our residents. I was very happy she did that. That was
done before today. Thank you very much. Through the construction at Cliffside Drive, 1201 Pmpton Avenue, and other existing overlays, the township is pleased to share that we will meet our new obligations. Another project, the township
anticipates going out for bid shortly for the demolition and reconstruction of a new ADA accessible playground at Community Park. This is funded in part from a $750,000 grant from Jake's Law through the state's green acres program. This
project will be will bring a modern ADA compliant playground to one of the nicest areas of our town. Thank you to the township engineer Alexa Handel for working diligently to secure this grant.
The VFW for 2025. We continue to look toward remediating the VFW site. This site will be returned to its natural state of grass and trees and it will remain that way. The project I have described scratched
the surface of what we are doing as a township. Thank you to our CFO, Rebecca Roth, who along with our transitory firm, HFA, transitioned our financial department from paper records
to Edmond's budget software. Thank you so much for completing this major task. To our township clerk, you are the glue that holds this council together. From organizing our meetings to ensuring that we are well represented at events, your
service to us, the residents, and the township does not go unnoticed. It is truly a pleasure working with you, and we appreciate all you do for us each day. Thank you, Dale. To our township attorney, Dan, your poise and composure while representing
the township stands out to reflect the type of attorney you are. We are grateful for your commitment to ens ensuring the interest of the township and that they are protected. Our exposure is reduced and our limit our liability is minimized. Whether it be
from a from tax appeals to general litigation, you work hard to ensure our interests are protected. And for that, we thank you. To our township manager, you are often aware of issues and you take care of them before it even
comes to the council's mind. Your transparency and forthcoming nature are refreshing. You make it a priority that each resident is heard. Even if they do receive an unfavorable answer, they receive the township's position and
justifications. This year, the township was proud to was proud to introduce a budget with an averaging increase of only $67 on the average residential assessment. Thank you for your valuable input. We
also applaud all all of your efforts with your day-to-day operations that keep the township running smoothly. And thank you for your commitment to the township and for your desire to further progress the township into the 21st century. 20 more pages. That's it.
As I begin my tenure as ma as mayor, I look forward to building upon the successes we have attained and look forward with great excitement to all of the projects we have planned for 2025 into 2026. As mayor, I pledge to work coop
cooperatively with my council colleagues, township clerk, township manager, and township attorney to deliver to continue delivering good, reliable government. From the bottom of my heart, I thank you all for coming tonight. I thank the
residents for electing me and I thank the council for choosing me to serve in this capacity. Now, let's get to work. Thank you. Okay. So, right here, right? 4 B. B. Yes.
4B. 4 B. to consider resolution designating the deputy mayor. May I please have a motion? Mayor, I'd like to make a motion for deputy mayor. And a second. I'll second that. Roll
call, please. Councilwoman Peterson, yes. Councilwoman Scavage, yes. Councilman Zazali, yes. Councilman Miseri, yes. Mayor Mig, yes.
You get the podium now. Okay. My S county uh colleague here. Some of you may know that Joe was a councilman in the township of Little Falls from S County. Um, and he brings the same qualities when he served there. His professionalism, um, his empathy, his
how do I resolve it? How do we get things done? And I know, um, he does the same thing for the township of Cedar Grove. And we're so grateful that he's here. Thank you. Bible. Raise your right hand. Ready? Yes. I, Joseph Mseri. I, Joseph Mseri, do
sincerely profess. do sincerely profess and swear and swear that I do that I do and will bear and will bear true faith and allegiance true faith and allegiance to the government to the government established in this state established in this state under the authority of the people under the authority of the people
I do solemnly swear I do solemnly swear that I will support that I will support the Constitution of the United States of America the Constitution of the United States of America and the Constitution of the State of New Jersey and the Constitution of the State state of New Jersey. And that I will faithfully and
that I will faithfully impartially impartially and justly perform and justly perform all the duties all the duties of the office of the office of deputy mayor of the township of Cedar Grove of deputy mayor of the township of Cedar Grove according to the best of my abilities according to the best of my
abilities and understanding and understanding. So help me God. So help me God. Congratulations did it too. See, thank you. You're official. Thanks. Thank you, Senator. I'm g keep mine short. Deputy is like
the VP. We don't really have too much to do here. Um so, uh first, I'm so honored to serve Cedar Grove again as deputy mayor um this year. I look forward to continue to work with my colleagues on the council and of course with our newly sworn in mayor, uh Michelle Migga. I
wanted to thank uh Senator Curado for swearing me in again tonight as deputy mayor. It's truly an honor for me personally and I really appreciate that the senator was here taking time out of her busy day to swear me in. I also wanted to thank our district 40 team
who's always here. They're here every year for the reorg. I know this is a tough time of year uh with July 4th and more importantly they're always with us in Trenton and they're always fighting for us and they're always making themselves available for Cedar Grove and
to our Cedar Grove allstar uh chairman Kevin Oul uh we thank you for always being a part of our community for participating and for um really looking out for us. uh you've been a mentor to me personally since I started in Little
Falls and um you've always been available to all of us. So, thank you for everything you've done for Cedar Grove. I also wanted to acknowledge um our township manager, Joseph Kelly, who worked seven days a week uh for our residents and for our council. Thank
you, Joe. Um Dale, where's Dale? Oh, there you are. Dale, she's she's our clerk. She does keep the council in order. She makes sure that we have everything together. Uh today she made sure that I knew to get here by 5:30 to
have my speech ready and which seat I was going to sit in. So I appreciate you Dale. Thank you for your hard work. Dan, uh great attorney, but many of you don't know that Dan started in the family part. He clerked in Hackinack for family part judge. So we have that in common,
right, Dan? You do a great job. Thanks Dan. And uh of course to all our department heads um all the employees in the town, all the volunteers. Yes, we are volunteers, but this town is made up of volunteers and if it wasn't for
everybody that that commits to uh moving Cedar Grove forward, we wouldn't be able to do what we do. So I thank everybody. Thank you everybody for being here. I know you spent a lot of time with us. It's a packed house. I just wanted to thank everyone and I look forward to working with all of you this year.
Thanks everybody. Thank you. My family. How did I forget my family? I walked back. Go ahead. Cuz I know Michelle, you know, I I took hers by mistake. The 40page uh proposal. Well, everybody already knows the story. I mean, my wife's known me since fourth
grade. So, thank you for always being there for me. Uh and my kids, I I got a picture today from my first swearing in. They were five and four. They're much taller. Yeah, they're a little bit taller. Thank you so much. What's tomorrow? Tomorrow is uh Mayor Scabage's
uh birthday and my wife's birthday. So, happy birthday to you both. Thank you. And Peter Tanella. and Peter's happy future. That's it. Thank you. Thank you, Jim. Congratulations. Congratulations. Okay, I would like to um open it up to
have some comments from our council ma members. You want to start with me, mayor? Okay. No, no, I'm fine. I I really I just, you know, again, we we do this every year, but um it's a pleasure working with everyone and I look forward to the next
year and I know we'll be here next July one with a whole new load of uh accomplishments and things that we've done. So, congratulations to you again, mayor, and to outgoing mayor. Um but look forward to the next year. That's all.
Councilman, good evening, Mayor. Uh good evening everybody. Uh good evening to our District 40 representatives. Thank you. You spend a lot of time here. You always show up. You help us uh in District 40, but especially in Cedar Grove. So, thank you. Um Mayor,
congratulations. Thank you. Um I just I I was going out to the car tonight on my way here and it started to rain and I was like, "Oh no, here we go." That's Michelle's way. When Yes. So when when we campaigned together two and a half years ago, it rained every day. Every
day. So, so it's a start to a good thing. Thank you. So, I I I appreciate everything that you do for the for the council, for the township. Uh, I wish you well and good luck, deputy. Oh, no. Don't move back. I
thought you were looking at me. I was looking at you. I was looking at you. We got to change one thing. I think we need to do Mayor, if I suggest, we got to change this uh day, so we can all see each other at the same at the same time. Go ahead. It's not in the budget. It's on the budget. We got to change it. It's
not in the budget. We got to change it. So Joe, congratulations. Uh you you have a a way of thinking that always uh it's it's helpful being on the council serves the citizens of Cedar Grove. Uh you have a smart guy here. Uh he has very
practical uh analytical way of looking at a situation. Uh and it's uh it's helpful and it's good for the town. So congratulations and good luck to you. Thank you. Uh, I guess it's my turn. I don't have much more.
I'm just saying I I didn't get a chance to talk yet. Michelle was talking so long. So long. So, I uh I just wanted to say uh thank you for for uh for being mayor last year. You did you did a great job. It was it was a pleasure to work
with you as the as you being the mayor. Thanks so much, John. Congratulations to you and I look forward to working with you all. Yes. All good. Um Mr. Zelli, you are you're you're always
there. You're a phone call away, a text away. Um you do not stop working at 5:00. It's appreciated. Uh as a resident and a council member, so thank you. Uh Dale, um you're you you go above and
beyond. You put my boot on for me. You brought the mayor water. If this isn't in your job description and it's extra and it's appreciated, it shows that you care. And thank you, Dan. Thank you for your for your legal advice. You always have the answers to
the legal questions. So, thank you. Um, and to our department heads, thank you. You're the ones who keep us safe in in emergencies or times of need. uh you know, we we don't always see what you do, but you do it uh when no one's
looking and it's appreciated. So, thank you. That's it, mayor. Thank you. Um Deputy Mayor, do you have any further comments you'd like? I already So, I'm going to just keep quiet. That early trip is not looking good for you.
That's a long flight. That better be a good birthday present tomorrow. Uh Melissa. Um yeah, I don't I don't have much else to add and we promised each other and the audience that we would try to keep it short tonight. We tried. We really did. Um the one one
comment I wanted to make was um you know, we are all volunteers up here and I think it's so important for our community um if you have the ability and the time to just try to give back however you can. Um it's such a great thing to do um selfishly. it feels good
to do, but it's also such a great example to set for for others around you. Um, I know most of you know I have a seven-year-old daughter, Estelle, who is with me at every event. Sometimes she's even sitting up here at these meetings with me. Um, and uh that's just
one example of of making an impact, right? So, I'm doing it very directly because she's my daughter, but um you can do it with um with everybody, right? So, just give back if you can. Um, we always need help. Um, our our departments all need help. Our um our
committees all need members. Um, and it's a it's a tremendous opportunity to give back to the community that we all love. So, um, hope to see you all out there. I know Farmer Gary, I see you out there. He's a superstar volunteer keeping our our community garden running. So, um, we need more Garry's.
So, um, please help us out um, and help the community because, uh, you'll you'll reap the rewards. So, thank you. That's all I have for tonight. Thank you. I'm going to take this opportunity to read my next speech. No, I'm only I'm only kidding. Um, what we are going to do
though is number five where there's a consent agenda. We are going to take item A through O O together. And I'm just going to read them one by one. We're going to vote at the end to consider resolution appointing John's Alley as class three member to the
planning board. Oh, do I have to read like B like? Okay, so that was A. Uh 5B to consider resolution appointing Michelle Migga as council liaison member to the historical society. 5 C to consider resolution appointing
Joe Misari as council leaison member to the Alliance for Substance Abuse Prevention Committee. 5D to consider resolution appointing Carrie Peterson as council leaison member to the library board of trustees. 5E to consider resolution appointing Mi
Melissa Scavich to council leaison member to the C CATV committee. 5F to consider resolution appointing Michelle Migz council leaison member to the recreation advisory board. 5G to consider resolution appointing
Carrie Peterson and Melissa Scabbage to the council as council leaison members to the board of education. 5H to consider resolution appointing members to the rent leveling board. 5 to consider resolution appointing members
to the emergency management council. 5J to consider reappointing Jeffrey Mroy as the emergency management coordinator. 5K to consider resolution appointing Joe Masari and John Zazali as council
leaison to the Cedar Ridge Senior Citizens Building. 5 L to consider resolution appointing Joe Masari as council liaison to the Verona Cedar Grove Flood Advisory Control Board.
5M to consider resolution reappointing Felix Luisi as right as resident member of the Verona Cedar Grove Flood Advisory Control Board. 5N to consider resolution appointing
Thomas Tucci as certified public works manager. 5 to consider resolution appointing members to the zoning board of adjustments. May I have a motion, please? So move Second.
Roll call, please. Councilwoman Peterson, yes. Councilwoman Scavage, yes. Councilman Zazali, yes. Deputy Mayor Miseri, yes. Mayor Megan, yes. Item number six, public comment. Is there anyone else present wishing to
address the council? We're shocked. Seeing no one, I will close that portion of the meeting. Right. Do I do this yet? I'm waiting to hit this capital to be done. Yeah. May I have a motion for adjournment? So moved.
A second. Second. Roll call, please. Councilwoman Peterson, yes. Councilwoman Scavage, yes. Councilman Zali, yes. Deputy Mayor Miseri, yes. Mayor Miga, yes. Thank you all for attending our our reorganization swearing and ceremony.