Good evening and welcome to the Township of Clark Council meeting. It's Monday, December 15th, 7:30 p.m. Roll call, please. >> Council member Hoff, >> here. >> Council member Hund, >> here. Council member Maserella >> here. >> Council member Maniti
>> here. >> Council member Okconor >> here. >> Council member Tol >> here. >> Council President Smith >> here. Can you please stand for the pledge of allegiance and a moment of silence >> to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it
stands. One nationy andice for all. This meeting is in compliance with the open public meetings act as adequate notice of this meeting has been provided by mailing the annual schedule of meetings to the star ledger, the leader,
union county local source and tap into clark by posting such annual meeting schedule on the bulletin board and town hall reserved for such announcements, the official website of the township and the proper filing of said notice. Formal action may be taken at this meeting. >> Great. Thank you. Can I get a motion to
suspend the regular order of business? >> Some move. >> Thank you, council member Tol and second. Council member Hun. All in favor? >> Any opposed? No. All right. We're going to do the swearing in of the mayor and council member at large. So, Mayor
Albanese I'm James and my nephew Michael join me. >> Welcome. >> Bible. I, Angel Albanese, >> I, Angel Albanese, >> do solemnly swear >> do solemnly swear >> that I will support the Constitution of the United States
>> that I will support the Constitution of the United States >> and the State of New Jersey >> and the State of New Jersey >> that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same >> that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same >> and to the governments established >> and to the governments established >> in the United States >> in the United States
>> and in this state >> and in this state >> under the authority of the people >> under the authority of the people >> and that I will faithfully >> and that I will faithfully >> impartially >> impartially >> and justly perform >> and justly perform >> all the duties of the office of mayor >> all the d all the duties of the office
of mayor >> according to the best of my ability >> according to the best of my ability >> for the township of Clark >> for the township of Clark >> so help me God >> so help me God Thank you very much. >> Okay, at this time I'd like to ask Jess
Hoff to join me with her family. Is that everyone? Everyone coming up? >> We're gonna limit it to five. Four. >> No need. And let me ask who's going to hold the Bible. >> Okay. Repeat after me
the oath of allegiance. I, Jessica Hoff, >> I, Jessica Hoff, >> do solemnly swear >> do solemnly swear >> that I will support the Constitution of the United States >> that I will support the Constitution of the United States >> and the State of New Jersey >> and the State of New Jersey >> that I will bear true faith and
allegiance >> that I will bear true faith and allegiance >> to the same >> to the same >> and to the governments established >> and to the governments established >> in the United States and in this state >> in the United States and in this state >> under the authority of the people >> under the authority of the people >> and that that I will faithfully
>> and that I will faithfully >> impartially and justly perform >> impartially and justly perform >> all the duties of the office of >> all the duties of the office of >> councilwoman at large >> councilwoman at large >> according to the best of my ability >> according to the best of my ability
>> for the township of Clark >> for the township of Clark >> so help me God >> so help me God What business is this? All right. Before we begin the meeting, if the families would like to stay, you're more than welcome. If anybody would like to leave, you're more than welcome to
leave. I'll take 30 seconds if anybody wants to get up. All right. Great. I'm glad to see you're all going to stay up except a few. Okay. Can I get a motion to resume regular order of business? >> Thank you, Council Member Maserella. Can
I get a second? >> Thank you, Council Member Hoff. All in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? Okay. Uh, we're going to go to communications from the mayor and reports of township officers. Mayor Albanese, congratulations and the floor is yours. >> Thank you very much, Mr. President. Of course, it was an honor for me to be
sworn in as mayor this evening to serve our Clark. To the citizens of Clark, particularly those who voted for me, thank you for your trust in me. You're the reason I do this work. I've said it before. Your voices, your concerns, your hopes, for your families, and our
community have guided every decision and every step we take. I promise to honor that trust by listening, leading with transparency, and working tirelessly for every resident, no matter who you voted for. I represent all the citizens of
this town. Once again, I congratulate Councilwoman Hoff on her election and wish her the best. So, getting back to business, I'll talk about branches first. The branch pickups are done. If you have branches left,
you'll have to put them um store them maybe to the side of your house or the rear or or your in your yard um until we have the spring pickup. Right now, we're finishing up our leaf collection. Very satisfied with everything that DPW has been doing. Uh so we thank them for
their hard work. And yesterday we had um some snow. Um we were hoping it was going to be a dusting. It was a little bit more than that. And um as always, we wait until the snow stops. So we didn't get a start until about 10:30 uh in the
morning. And uh that continued until every street was done. If you if there is a situation where your snow isn't plowed, um please report a concern. Uh call us and we will take care of it. Um since we last met in de in November,
uh unfortunately on Thanksgiving we had a power outage. Uh thankfully it was resolved by public service within four hours and um uh we're sorry that so many families were disrupted by it but um thankfully it was resolved. As for the
holiday festivities, uh I want to thank all the volunteers and organizations that decorated the town hall. Looks amazing. if you haven't seen all the Christmas trees uh decorated and the recreation center which um has had a lot of activities these past few weeks
especially with uh basketball season starting and travel basketball really gearing up. Um the holiday treelighting event was a great success. Thank you to all who donated funds their time. Uh the weather was great. Everyone had a chance to visit with Santa and enjoy the
student choirs and bands um that performed as well. For um the breakfast with Santa, we had over a thousand children and adults attend in attendance for three seedings. Everyone was able to be fed their breakfast and visit with Santa and take
a picture. It was a very wonderful day. Uh the following week we had uh our senior Christmas lunchon which was attended by approximately 300 seniors and everyone appreciating uh the wonderful time that they had that day.
Um thank you to um uh Nicole and Christina who are here tonight who work so hard on these events making sure that everyone had reservations and were seated and taken care of. Um, also want to thank those who donated toiletries to
the veterans and uh, toys for tots this year for our annual um, council and township food drive. Uh, we extended it this year and thank you all for your donations which were very plentiful. Moving on to other business matters. Um,
tonight we'll be voting uh, the council will be voting on the ordinance to change our meeting schedule. So, we'll be having two meetings a month uh here in the chambers and um that will be a big help to the
township in terms of paying bills and taking uh care of issues that need to be addressed in uh in a more timely matter manner. Uh the planning board uh met on December 4th. We had several uh citizens attend
and there was a lot of discussion about it because it involved the amp uh downtown village project and uh the property is known as Clark Broadway Associates LLC urban renewal LLC. It's a little confusing sometimes people get
confused uh you know who is this other company? Well, when you have a separate redevelopment, um you usually um have to call it an urban renewal company. So, an LLC is formed. So, I see that some people are confused with that. Anyway, to
summarize, um the uh planning board approved the development of the AM property. We'll be building 138 apartments with commercial space on the first floor, which will be facing Westfield Avenue. 21 of the units will
go towards our affordable housing um which was identified in the third round of redevelopment. Um and I just want to say that um probably you know I've seen a lot of different comments uh regarding the
redevelopment a lot of confusion and it is very confusing. So, at the end of January or February, I'll have a a town hall meeting on redevelopment, explain some of the basics, and try to separate truth from fiction so that everyone can have at least some general understanding
of what's happening. Um tonight uh we'll be uh asking council to add another resolution onto the agenda uh regarding our mediation agreement before the affordable housing um dispute
resolution uh group. And um I think I'll I'll just continue and explain a little bit about that. You may recall that we entered into an order on March 8th of 2025 um which indicated that we had a present
need for 71 units related to previous obligations in the um up to the third round which covered the third round covered the building that would be done from 1999 to 2025. So over 25 years
and um that um round had 71 units left that needed to be built. On top of that, as you recall, last year in 24, we were asked for another round to be added by the state and that came we were assigned 166
units. Uh that covers the next 10 years 2025 to 2035 bringing us to a total of uh with those 166 units um 237 units to be um filed
with the housing element and fair share plan by June 30th, 2025. So we had to identify where we were going to build these units. Now, some of the land, the uh properties that were identified are properties that exist and already have buildings on
them, but this is where if they were to be sold, we would have redevelopment performed. Uh this plan was challenged on August 31st, 2025, and we were required to um submit a
vacant land adjustment by October 27th, 2025. And we also um were asked to report on other issues that were raised in the plan that we had. Um all of this being said, after several meetings over the
past two months, two three months, I'm pleased to say that on Friday afternoon, December 13th, uh we reached an agreement with the Fair Share Housing Center and the master of the court accepted it and uh includes a list of
conditions that we need to follow. um which are we we plan to follow and we feel were reasonable and that's what we're recommending that the council take a look at tonight have a supermajority add the resolution to the agenda and to pass on that and that concludes my
comments for now. Thank you. >> Thank you council member Huff. >> Yes. Thank you. Um report from the library for December. In November, the library had over 8,400 visitors and
reported 22,385 website and social media visits. The library is so excited. I wish my sister was still here to introduce uh Tony's. These are screenfree audio players. I know it's very exciting. Um so if your children are into that or if you don't
know what it is, I strongly encourage you screenfree stories. Um and there's some uh next level for older kids as well that they have. Um, it's a great, um, hands hands-on way to get music and and reading into your kids' life. Um,
and they're available to borrow from the library. They're having several winter events. Uh, they're having bingo Tuesday, January 6th. There's, uh, family play. January 10th, all you can craft buffet. January 15th. For adults and teens, they have Unraveled Teens and
Adults Knitting and Crochet Night, which is taking place Tuesday, January 20th at 7 PM. And Teen Cooking, they're doing a hot cocoa bar on Monday, January 26th at 3:30. All of these events are available on their website and on their social media pages. And I encourage everyone to
please check them out. And that concludes my report. Thank you. >> Thank you, Council Member Hund. >> Thank you, Mr. President. I have the Clark Police Department monthly report for November 2025. We saw a total of 1 757 calls, 654 which came in via 911
calls for services including but not limited to 141 ambulance requests, 57 alarm calls, two arrival calls with mental health requests, 50 fire department requests, 14 fraud identity
thefts, six motor vehicle and residential lockouts, 59 motor vehicle accidents, and 28 shoplifting and thefts. There was a total of 26 adult arrests, including but not limited to five for warrants, 15
for shoplifting, two for driving under the influence, and one for robbery. The Youth Aid Bureau handled a total of 10 cases, including but not limited to two for harassment, one for weapons, and seven for all others. That concludes my report. Thank you.
>> Thank you, Council Member Maserilla. >> Yes, thank you, Council President. This is my DBW report for this evening. As the mayor mentioned, uh, branch pickup is complete for 2025. Please do not put branches on your leaf
piles or in the roadway. They will not be picked up. DPW has made multiple attempts throughout the township to pick up these branches. All branches must remain on your property until the springtime. Please remember that. Leaf
pickup. Final pickup started today, December 15th. No branches, plastic bags, rakes, flower pots, etc. um to be placed in the leaf piles. So, please refrain from
doing that. Electronic drop off will resume January 31st, 2026, 9:00 am to 1 p.m. in the DPW building behind this building. ID will be required. Um, tree
evaluations are complete for 2025. Please do not request the tree evaluation until the spring of 2026 when the leaves start to bloom. the trees start to bloom. Christmas tree pickup starts January 5th and will end
on January 26th, 2026. Please remove all decorations and tree stands and no plastic bags, please. And please remove all basketball and soccer nets from the roadway. There
is a township ordinance that prohibits items of this nature on the roadway. It will also prevent damage to our equipment and avoid accidental damage uh on your property and make the roads
safer and allow DPW to sweep and plow our roads thoroughly and efficiently. And for more information, uh contact dpwourclock.com. DPW wishes to extend all the residents of our community a happy and healthy
holiday season and a happy new year. Thank you. That's the extent of my report. >> Thank you, Council Member Minity. Thank you, Council President. In the month of November, the Clark Fire Department responded to 51 calls, bringing a total to the year for 594.
The incidents included, but are not limited to, one fire related, four for rescue and EMS, nine for hazardous conditions, seven for services and good intent calls, 22 related for false alarms, and two for special incidents. The Clark Fire Department is looking for
new members. If anyone you know or if anyone is interested or you know anyone interested in joining the department, please contact the fire department through their website at clarkfd.info. Uh finally, um through the efforts of uh
Chief Sarasa, Santa will be coming back to Clark on Saturday, um between 11, uh a.m. and 8:00 p.m. They'll be driving around town with the members of the Clark Fire Department. Also, the Clark Fire Department has asked me to remind people if you want a picture with Santa,
Saturday, December 20th from 4:30 to 5:30 at the Clark Fire Headquarters, uh 250 Broadway. And on behalf of uh as always, I would like to thank the members of the Clark Fire Department for their hard work and dedication in keeping the town safe. This concludes my
report. Thank you. >> Thank you, Council Member Okconor. >> Thank you from the finance committee. The township continues to be able to meet its current obligations. Thank you, Jim, and your team. from the Clark uh volunteer emergency squad. The mayor and I had the opportunity to attend their
installation awards dinner where the mayor swore in the new executive board and officers which I'm about to uh announce now. Uh president is Mike Janeiro, vice president Charlie Poisk, Senior Treasurer David Nubbie, recording
secretary Charlie Poyik Jr. Corresponding Secretary Susan Elachi, Trustee Lorie Sheldon, Lorraine uh Padrazza, Ann Marie Croc, and uh Captain Katherine Sheldon, Assistant Captain
Michael Hakowski, First Lieutenant Yash Dixit, Second Lieutenant Brian Bucko, First Sergeant Austin Foon, Second Sergeant Sophia Downing, Third Sergeant Sharief Khan. Again, the squad continues
to uh give the town a lot of their time. In December to date, their calls were 28 year to date so far, 1,339 calls. And some of their activities that they did were continuing the um the continuing uh education programs, Easter egg hunt, 911
service, Veterans Day, Clark tree decorating, ALJ football standbys, blood drives, Clark memorial parade, Clark trunk or treat, Clark tree lighting, ALJ graduations, and utical festival standby. So again, they give a lot of their time to the uh to the township. I
want to thank everybody and um wish them a happy holiday. And that concludes my report. Oh, one other thing. Sorry, I want to congratulate Lorie Sheldon. Save the best for last. So, Lori um was uh was awarded the EMS volunteer lifetime
achievement award at the National Conference on EMS in Atlantic City. Lori is a 42-year member of the Clark Volunteer Emergency Squad, where she has been a line officer, executive board member, and president. Again, Lori, congratulations on this outstanding
award. Welld deserved. You've given a lot to the town. Your children give a lot to the town. Your your your husband was a fire chief at the volunteer fire department. So again, to you and your family, thank you for all the volunteerism that you guys do and congratulations on this great award. Thank you.
>> Thank you, Council Member Tol. >> No report tonight, Mr. President. Thank you. >> Great. Thank you. All right. From the recreation department, uh the annual tree manure lighting was another fantastic event. I want to congratulate Ralph for putting that together. We also like to thank uh all the volunteers, the
especially the ALJ Key Club, the CESA students, the ASAL family, and the UNICO members all for volunteering. Uh the deadline for the house decorating is 12:00 p.m. tonight, so you have a little over four hours to register your house. If you're interested, go to the
hourclark.com website, and winners will be presented this Friday, December 19th. Indoor soccer begins uh Friday, January 2nd and Saturday, January 3rd at the Brewer Recreation Gyms. And two upcoming events uh two actually popular upcoming
events. The family skate night at Warreno Park will be Saturday, January 17th from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. Tickets can be purchased on our Clark website and you click on a QR code and it's $5 per person. and Clark Knight with the New
Jersey Devils will be Thursday, January 29th at 7 PM at the Credential Center in Newark. Uh purchase tickets, you actually have to go to the New Jersey Devils website under Clark Recreation and there'll be a QR code for you to register and buy the tickets. Uh
there'll be giveaway uh drawstring bags to everyone who attends. And at the end of the hockey game, there'll be a chance to take a postgame photo on the ice, which is always a neat photo that Ralph displays. And lastly, registration for winter classes is now open and all
information is on the Clark website. All right. All uh reports and everything discussed up here will be on the township website. Uh at this time, we'll move on to ordinances, appropriations, and claims. >> Thank you, Mr. President. For the record, no objections have been received
in connection with the proposed ordinances. First ordinance is 25-34, an ordinance amending chapter 255 entitled property maintenance, article six, entitled vacant and abandoned property of the code of the township of Clark to establish a vacancy determination
process and notice and cure requirement. All >> right. Thank you. At this time, I will open the meeting uh for the public hearing on this ordinance and this ordinance only. If anyone would like to come forward, you'll have five minutes and duration. Please state your name and town you reside in.
Okay, seeing no one coming up for this public hearing, I'd like a motion to close the public hearing. >> Thank you, Council Member Okconor, and second, Council Member Hun. All in favor? >> Any opposed? All right. At this time, I need uh to adopt the ordinance. Can I get a motion?
>> Yes, I'd like to move it. >> Thank you, Council Member Maserella. Can I get a second? >> I'll second that, Mr. President. >> Thank you, Council Member Tol. Uh any discussion? Jim, do you have anything to add on this? Uh just some background. This ordinance is being is being put in place. So we as
the um title says, we have a process determine that it's vacant. Um send them a letter, make sure that it is, you know, responded to before we um take any action on vacant property. This is actually part of a state law to track vacant properties and it's been since
um the foreclosure issues. And you know, we're just following the state law and we're enhancing the procedure a little bit more. >> Great. Thank you. All right. Roll roll call, please. >> Council member Hoff, >> yes. >> Council member Hund,
>> yes. >> Council member Maserella, >> yes. >> Council member Maniti, >> yes. >> Council member Okconor, >> yes. >> Council member Tol, >> yes. >> Council President Smith, >> yes. >> Ordinance adopted. Next is ordinance 25-35, an ordinance to
amend chapter 347 entitled vehicles and traffic section 25 entitled parking prohibited at all times of the co code of the township of Clark. >> Okay. At this time, I'll open up this ordinance to the public hearing if anyone like to come forward on this
ordinance. All right. Seeing no one, a motion to close the public hearing. >> Thank you, Council Member Maniti. Can I get a second? >> Second. Thank you, Council Member Maserella. All in favor? >> Any opposed?
>> All right. Uh, can I get a motion to adopt the ordinance? >> I'll move that, please. >> Thank you, Council Member Okconor. Can I get a second? >> I'll second that. >> Thank you, Council Member Tol. Um, any discussion? Anybody have questions for the BA or Jim, do you have anything to add? It's pretty self-explanatory.
>> Avenue um recommended by the traffic um committee. >> Thank you. Roll call, please. Council member Hoff, >> yes. >> Council member Hund, >> yes. >> Council member Maserella, >> yes. >> Council member Meniti, >> yes.
>> Council member Okconor, >> yes. >> Council member Tol, >> yes. >> Council President Smith, >> yes. >> Ordinance adopted. Next is ordinance 25-36, an ordinance to amend section 161-47
entitled fees and section 161-48 entitled firewatch of chapter 161 entitled fire prevention of article 8 entitled enforcement of uniform fire safety act of part two entitled general legislation.
>> Okay. Again, I'd like to open up this ordinance for the public hearing if anyone would like to come forward on this ordinance only. Okay, seeing no one, I need a motion to close the public hearing. >> Thank you, Council Member Okconor. Second, Council Member Hun. All in
favor? >> Any opposed? Right. At this time, I need a motion to adopt the ordinance. >> I'll move that. >> Thank you, Council Member Man. Can I get a second? >> I'll second it. >> Thank you, Council Member Maserella. Anybody have questions or discussion? Jim, did anything?
>> This is all on the recommendation of the fire chief. We haven't updated our fire fees in over 25 years. So, this is and and some of the most of these fees are still less than the surrounding communities. >> Right. Thank you. Uh, roll call, please.
>> Council member Hoff, >> yes. >> Council member Hund, >> yes. >> Council member Maserella, >> yes. >> Council member Maniti, >> yes. >> Council member Okconor, >> yes. Council member Tol. >> Yes. >> Council President Smith, >> yes.
>> Ordinance adopted. >> Uh, next is ordinance 25-37 and ordinance to amend section 3-11 entitled regular meetings of article 5 entitled township council meetings of chapter 3 entitled administration of government of part one entitled administrative
legislation. >> All right. Thank you. At this time, I'll open up this ordinance to the public hearing if anyone would like to come forward. >> Good evening, John Gre from Clark. Um, I'm happy that this ordinance is passing uh or is is up to be passed uh because
it means that previously we had workshop meetings that weren't recorded and now we're going to have two regular meetings that will both be recorded. So, I I like the improved transparency, but there's two things that I was hoping. Um, maybe it's not going to be tonight, but could be added in the near future. Um, I would
like to see that special meetings are also recorded. I think that's important. Um, that's where we also spend uh our tax dollars, and I think that the public should be able to see that. And one other thing is is I think that, you know, it's 2025. I think that um having some technological advances where people
can participate in meetings from home with Zoom or whatever the video conferencing thing is so that you know they can um make comments like tonight I actually have to go pick up my son. I might not be able to be here for the whole meeting. Um if I was able to do that on Zoom or make comments on Zoom that would really make things easier and
I know there's a lot of people also in town that would feel the same. So uh those are suggestions and comments I had. Thank you. >> Thank you Mr. Cruz. Anyone else like to come forward? All right, seeing no one, a motion to
close the public hearing. >> Thank you, Council Member Hoff. Can I get a second? >> Thank you, Council Member Okconor. All in favor? >> Any opposed? At this time, I think we're going to do entire council to adopt the ordinance. Is everyone okay with that?
>> All right. So, entire council, Madame Clerk. >> Okay. Jim or Mayor Alan, do you have anything to add on that? I think you said it would be much better for the township to run business-wise. >> The mayor has said it all in the um in a report. >> Great. Thank you. Roll call, please.
>> Council member Hoff, >> yes. >> Council member Hund, >> yes. >> Council member Maserella, >> yes. >> Council member Maniti, >> yes. >> Council member Okconor, >> yes. >> Council member Tol, >> yes. >> Council President Smith, >> yes. >> Ordinance adopted.
Next is ordinance 25-38, an ordinance to amend section 347-33 entitled stop intersections of article 5 entitled traffic regulations of chapter 347 entitled vehicles and traffic of part two entitled general legislation.
>> Thank you. At this time I'll open up the meeting to the public hearing for this ordinance. If anyone would like to come forward on this ordinance and this ordinance only, please do so. All right, seeing no one, a motion to close the public hearing. >> Thank you, Council Member Tol and second, Council Member Hun. All in
favor? >> Any opposed? I need a motion to adopt the ordinance. >> Thank you, Council Member Tolk. Can I get a second? >> I'll second that. >> Thank you, Council Member Maniti. Uh, any questions or discussion? Jim, you have anything to add? It's pretty black
and white. Kennedy Drive, Fair View. >> Covered it all. >> All right, there we go. So, glad we're finally putting those in. All right. Can I get a roll call, please? >> Council member Hoff, >> yes. >> Council member Hund, >> yes. >> Council member Maserella, >> yes. >> Council member Maniti,
>> yes. >> Council member Okconor, >> yes. >> Council member Tol, >> yes. >> Council President Smith, >> yes. >> Ordinance adopted. >> Great. Thank you. All right. Payment of claims. Councilman Okconor. >> Thank you. I have reviewed the bills for the month totaling $581,860.12.
Thank you. Okay. Now we'll move on to citizens hearing on the agenda. I'll open the meeting to the public. The public comment portion of the meeting is to allow the public to bring to the council's attention their concerns or comments in accordance with NJSA 104-12A
in the code of the township of Clark. Each person addressing the council shall give their name and address or I'm sorry name and town in which they reside to the clerk. All remarks shall be addressed to the council as a body and shall not exceed five minutes in duration. At the conclusion of the
statements or questions from the member of the public, the council president at his or her discretion may choose to respond or not respond. If anyone would like to come forward, please do so. Nancy Taskis Clark with the change in the schedule of the
meeting. I think I can add discuss that now. Okay. >> I know the one meeting used to be considered a workshop meeting and the other meeting was the regular meeting. Will there be a workshop meeting and a regular meeting twice a month or there'll be just a meeting starting at
7:30? And >> there there will not not be a workshop meeting per se. So each meeting will be the first and third Monday of the month. Okay? >> And we're going to conduct the business that way because most of the stuff we discussed at the workshop meeting, we now do it two two weeks later at the
public meeting. >> Okay. I just >> I know Jim um brought it up a couple when he first came on board uh to go to two meetings and I know Mayor Albanesey's mentioned it as well um while she was a council member. So, um, we thought it was a good idea and I know
Jim pushed us pretty hard to go to it and we were fine with that. >> Okay. The only reason I wanted clarification on it at the county meetings they have the workshop first which lasts a certain amount of time and then it rolls into and it really makes sometimes for a very long evening to do
backtoback like that. So, it'll just be a town council meeting twice a month. >> Correct. >> Thank you. >> Great. Thank you, Nancy. Thank you for clarifying. All right. At this time, I'd like a motion to close this portion.
>> Thank you, Council Member Okconor. Get a second. Thank you, Council Member Hund. All in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? No. >> All right. Madame Clerk, when you're ready, we move to consent agenda resolutions. Following items are considered routine and non-controversial items by the township council and will
be enacted upon by one motion. There will be no separate vote on these items unless a council member so requests, in which event the item will be removed from the consent agenda to be discussed and voted on following the approval of the remaining items listed on the consent agenda.
Resolution 218 approving the 2026 council meeting schedule. 219 approving the 2026 holiday calendar. 220 is authorizing the mayor and/or business administrator to execute the 2026 riskmanagement consultants agreement as
required by the New Jersey municipal self-insurers joint insurance fund with World Insurance Associates. Resolution 2021 is refunding certificate of compliance number 2025-0000154 for 52 Broadway in the amount of $125.
222 is authorizing the tax collector to make the proper adjustments for 100% property tax exemption of block 182 lot one in accordance with a directive from the US Department of Veterans Affairs. 223 is authorizing the tax collector to
refund overpayment of taxes in the amount of $13,834. 224 is seeking approval of the director of the division of local government services for insertion of a special item of revenue in the amount of $15,450 for the childhoodled exposure prevention
project grant. Resolution 225 is authorizing the provision of a grant pursuant to the Township of Clark affordability assistance program for the tenant of an affordable housing unit located at 35 Walnut Avenue unit 205. >> Thank you. Can I get a motion to adopt
the consent agenda? >> I'll move, Mr. President. >> Thank you, Council Member Tol. Can I get a second? >> Yes, I'll second it. >> Thank you, Council Member Maserella. Roll call, please. >> Council member Hoff, >> yes. >> Council member Hund, >> yes. >> Council member Maserella, >> yes. Council member Maniti, >> yes.
>> Council member Okconor, >> yes. >> Council member Tol, >> yes. >> Council President Smith, >> yes. >> Okay. When you're ready, we can move to a resolution, the one resolution number 14. >> Okay. Resolution number 226 is authorizing the
transfer of funds within the 2025 municipal budget. >> I get a motion, please. >> I'd like to move that, please. >> Thank you, Council Member Okconor. Get a second. >> I'll second that. >> Thank you, Council Member Maniti. Any discussion or questions? Just basic transfers, Jim, as normal year end.
>> Yeah, it's normal year end and it's to the fire department for about well for $13,000 into two of their accounts for pretty much all repairs and maintenance on vehicles. >> Great. Thank you. Uh, roll call, please. >> Council member Hoff, >> yes. >> Council member Hund, >> yes.
>> Council member Maserella, >> yes. >> Council member Maniti, >> yes. >> Council member Okconor, >> yes. >> Council member Tol, >> yes. Council President Smith. >> Yes. >> All right. Looks like we have some new business on the calendar. >> Yes. We have one item of new business.
Ratifying Mayor Albanese's execution of a mediation agreement with Fairshare Housing Center. >> Right. Can I have a motion to add the resolution to the agenda? >> I'll move that. >> Thank you, Council Member Hun. I get a second. >> I'll second it. >> Thank you, Council Member Maniti. Uh,
any discussion or roll call? I just want to thank uh our BA Jim and Mayor Albanesey's for the uh multiple meetings and hours you put in u with the fair share housing center uh and coming to a
resolution and an agreement that's uh fair to the town. So you have anything to add to that? >> I just want to also um in addition to thanking Jim for all his hard work uh thank our specialists um especially Paul Ricky our planner. Um yeah, it was very
very difficult especially initially having so many towns having to comp comply in January of 25 in such a short period over the holidays. Also like to thank Rich O' Connor and also Jeff Serinian our legal counsel who was
involved and uh was a big help. Thank you. >> Great. Thank you. >> Do you have anything Jim? I just want to give some high points on on what um is in the agreement. I mean everybody's seen the agreement on council but this
is um you know this is a court recognized framework for compliance with the fair share housing act. Um, we are, you know, going to implement, you know, additional ordinances like the mayor said, resolutions and, you know,
potentially some additional planning, uh, actions, specifically um, designating areas in or an area in in need of redevelopment provided it actually um, complies with the terms. Uh, the biggest part of this is that it
gives us protection from builder's remedy lawsuits. It's, you know, so this way it protects us from exclusionary zoning and challenges for from builders uh for a builder's remedy providing uh zoning and planning activities. It's
once it's approved by the court, it's binding on the township, its officials, and the board. So that's the zoning board, planning board, and you know, council officials. And you know right now um we had 93
prior round units which were addressed under our 2016 settlement and the combined prior third round uh gives us 263 uh requirement. Uh Clark has credit for
262 units. Uh and this is what we've been discussing. We have a shortfall of one that the fair share housing corp was okay with, but we had I can't tell you how many hours over one unit um discussions.
The the township agreed with fascia housing um that the one unit shortfall could be addressed in a couple of ways. adding a bedroom to an existing group home, adding one affordable unit to an unbuilt site, or capturing one unit via
the mandatory 20% set aside. And you know, the other thing is, you know, the fourth round, um, you know, we only had a plan for 49 of the 166 units, so
approximately 25%. And it's going to be a it's statutory housing mix of age restricted of 30%. At least 50% are going to be family units, at least 25% rental units, 13% very low income units.
And one of the reasons why I need to put this on the agenda is we agreed with fair share housing that we would have a draft a draft compliance document and this all signed by January 1st. So we don't have another meeting before January 1st. And that's why I'm asking
to have this added. Uh March 15, adoption of all ordinances and April 15 of 2026, filing for final um certif compliance certification. Uh and in addition to that, we have to
do our annual reporting to the DCA through AS and that's no change. We do that now anyway. So in summary, the agreement locks in the compliance. It limits our litigation risk and preserves our local zoning control. Um, we
satisfied a vast majority of our third round obligations and the fourth round plan is defensible and agreed to by fair share housing. So, I mean, we did a lot of work to make this um, acceptable to both fair share housing and the
township. >> Thank you. If I could add one one thing that was very critical when we had the meeting the planning board meeting regarding the AMP property um if we didn't go ahead and approve that we would have lost 21 bonus credits. So
you'll see you see in the document we got 66 bonus credits by moving ahead with everything. So that was 21 of those 3 those 66 and uh so thank you to the planning board and for going ahead with that.
>> Great. Thank you for the summary. Uh, can I get a motion to adopt the resolution? >> Mr. President, I'd like to ask you we see this. >> Uh, sure. Everyone's fine with the entire council on this. M >> Mr. President, >> yes. >> We still need a roll call on adding it to the agenda. >> Thank you. Roll call, please.
>> Council member Hoff, >> yes. >> Council member Hund, >> yes. >> Council member Maserella, >> yes. >> Council member Maniti, >> yes. >> Council member Okconor, >> yes. >> Council member Tol, >> yes. >> Council President Smith, >> yes. Right now, a motion to adopt the
resolution. And it looks like the council's in agreement to do an EC for entire council. >> Okay. >> All right. So, just roll call, please. >> Council member Hoff, >> yes. >> Council member Hund, >> yes. >> Council member Maserella, >> yes. >> Council member Manetti,
>> yes. >> Council member Okconor, >> yes. >> Council member Tol, >> yes. >> Council President Smith, >> yes. >> Thank you. >> All right. Now, we'll move to public comments. I'll open the meeting to the public. Public comment portion of the meeting is to allow the public to bring
to the council's attention their concerns or comments in accordance with NJSA 10 colon 4-12 A and the code of the township of Clark. Each person addressing the council shall give their name and the town in which they reside to the clerk. All remarks
shall be addressed to the council as a body and shall not exceed five minutes in duration. At the conclusion of the statements or questions from a member of the public, the council president, his or her discretion, may choose to respond or not respond. If anyone would like to come forward, please do so.
>> Good evening, John Gre from Clark again. Uh, first I want to say congratulations again to Mayor Albanese and uh, Councilwoman Hoff. Um, you know, I'm glad that you guys are willing to do a good job for the town. Um, I also wanted to say thank you uh for fixing uh that
spot of the road on Valley and Parkway. It got fixed. Um, uh, I was just hoping maybe we can get the crosswalk painted there, but you know, it's much much much much improved. So, thank you so much for that. >> Um, so two other things. Um, you know,
recently there was um another article about the situation with the police officers that we have in town. I don't want to relitigate how we got here, but I would like to see if there's any plan or basically people don't really know what's going on and I've heard a lot of
comments and I also have a lot of questions and um I'd just like to see if there's any ideas about how we're going to move forward with that. Um, and then also, um, you know, it's good that we have development going on at the AMP property. Um, and I was definitely, um,
happy to hear Miss Manetti, you know, push for some additional, uh, retail space there because I think that having the downtown village is important to have retail space there. Um, I know that we've talked about it. It seems like there's probably going to be a pilot there. So what I wanted to ask is is
there a way that we can negotiate that pilot so that uh the schools get something that benefits them over the long term at least over the term of that um 30 years. Um I know that pilots are um flexible. The town basically has a
ton of discretion as to what they ask and include in the pilot. So, um I'm not sure what you guys were thinking, but maybe I know that we have the new preschool that was set up and we've had some issues with space. Maybe that builder can help with some of the space
adding some space in some of the buildings somewhere. Um something like that. Basically, I'd like to see if you know I know that you may be negotiating that sometime in the near future if you can make sure that something is negotiated for our schools within that agreement. Thank you.
>> Thank you, Mr. Congratulations to our new mayor. My name is Carine Sarasa. I've been a uh a resident of Clark for 37 years and uh my kids went through the school system. Um
one is teaching in Scotch Plains now and the other is uh working in Pennsylvania. I'll put it I I'll leave it at that. Don't want to get the job. I came uh really to ask for your help. Uh,
and it it sounds simple, I know, but helping or you write a letter for me to uh good tidings and complete care of the nursing home. I
live at uh 1684 Westfield Avenue and uh Woodrest and those two retidings in the nursing home are my backyard. In fact, I'm on the second
floor. That's my backyard. Back I'll back up to the 37 years in Clark. had great, literally great, not good, but great neighbors. One on my right, one on my left, one in the rear.
No problem whatsoever. We helped each other. Any any had needed help, the other was there. So, what I what I'd like to do is to have you speak to those responsible
there and let them know that it's not just an empty warehouse behind them now. There are people living in there and they're in my backyard. So, they're my neighbor. Specifically though as I was going
through the policy uh and the best best I can do is to tell you that it was the policy on noise and uh that's chapter 223 and I'm referring to paragraph I reg
regarding noise and uh truthfully I'm not really interested in whether whether I'm not going to hear a boom boxes or not. That's in there. Boom boxes. I'm talking about 20,000 lb dumpsters
specifically the delivery of the unit to those locations in between the filling of course and then the pickup of that same container. If you haven't heard it, you should. I
can't record it. Not to be too funny about it, as my wife said. My wife of 65 years said, dropping me off, button it. Don't get yourself in trouble. So, so I'm not
because when that thing drops, it's not just noise, it's thunder. And I'm not joking when when I say I I jump with them. And uh
the delivery, the filling of course, I understand business is business, but the pickup is the same thing. What I'm looking for is some relief with your help as to the times. Now, the times are
specified in in the uh policy on noise. times are not important to me in this sense. It is rather in compliance with the ordinance. Sure.
And then with some common sense and being a good neighbor, speak to your contractors about the time that these events take place with say an eye towards not that early in the morning.
For the most part, it's not that bad. We seem to go through seasons with it. An example, the last two weeks has been great. There's some kind of slowdown in their activity. Great. But then there are other times when it's a fairly
regular, not not every day, certainly not at all. maybe even not even during a two-eek period, but it's just to have have them have those folks be aware of the fact not to overdo it. If a
contractor can't possibly deliver or pick up any later than he than he is today, maybe he seeing or reading a letter from town council will have the person the
contractor think twice about the uh the change in hours. The the hours are very specific in your ordinance. So, I'm just asking for help from the neighbors
to uh possibly make it a little little bit later on the pickups delivery. >> May I interrupt you for one second? >> Yeah. Are you talking about the garbage pickup with the big dumpsters or just general uh trucks coming in and
out? >> Do you Well, garbage as >> mostly the garbage. >> Yes. >> Okay. Mr. President, um >> Mr. Strawson and I have spoken quite a few times on the um on the phone. So I I've made the mayor and the BA aware and
um so I'll be able to better explain um to to you a little more in depth about some of the issues you've been having. It's not just the containers. It's throwing, you know, um commercial type water heaters into a metal um dumpster
at 4:30 in the morning, right? It's Yeah. You how we talked about when they throw the big water heaters into the metal dumpster at four o'clock in the morning and it wakes you up, right? Things like that. >> No, not 4:00. No, absolutely not. U
the uh I think and I don't know their business, but I think that the contractor if contacted by their Mr. Sarasa, I know uh Councilman Okconor brought it up to the business administrator, mayor. So, we'll have
Council Member Okconor get back to you hopefully in the near future on what we can do and what letters we can send and how we can address this with both good tidings and uh complete care for you. And we'll get back to you on that. >> Sure, that would be great. >> Okay. Appreciate
>> one thing to add to that very approach. Last year, it was my understanding, right or wrong, that someone from the uh the management lending company at Woodcraft did did
send a letter to I think the council and whatever was done then worked. It worked for a long period of time, right? >> Maybe maybe it will work again. All right. >> Certainly work with >> Pat O' Conor and I must question Pat.
You have to do you have to really do well by me named so >> great >> appreciate the time. >> Thank you so much for attending tonight. Thank you for bringing it to our attention.
Take care. If I get back there. Good evening. Dileia Collins, Clark. Um, I attended the planning board meeting regarding the property on Westfield Avenue. They did show the plans that the
uh moving vans would be parked on Westfield Avenue and I travel that area quite frequently and there's deliveries on the opposite side sometimes during the week with bigger uh trucks. And I
was just wondering, would it be up to the town to suggest a cutout in the sidewalk near where these moving vans are going to be parked? Uh, or would there be some type of
time frame that these moving vans could park there? because I'm sure they will jut out into the traffic flow on Westfield Avenue going towards like uh west or east, whatever.
And I saw it one day when something was being delivered at one of the retail stores and it was a big uh truck and it impeded traffic heading towards Rawway and that people had to come into the
opposite lane to pass this large truck. Um I don't know. I know the planning board only hears plans and makes sure that the developer adheres to township guidelines and ordinances. But I didn't
know if the town could bring in some type of stipulation that these moving vans could only park there for a certain amount of time and a certain amount of hours because it does get crowded when the students get
released in the different schools and people are traveling up and down Westfield Avenue. Um, the other item I wanted to bring up was I was thankful for the mention of that area becoming more residential and
not commercial like Mr. Manetti had said that that's what that air area part of that area was intended for to bring commerce into the town. And with the small area that the developer put aside for commercial,
it really isn't bringing anything into the area other than maybe two to three stores. And we wanted that area, well, the town wanted that area to be developed into a commercial area. And I was glad that it was brought up and
several people brought it up. The mayor brought it up, board members brought it up and residents brought it up that there would be nothing to draw them to that area of Westfield Avenue if there was no other commercial in that area.
And also across the street, I can't remember if that area that's going to be redeveloped was a portioned for commercial or was it more of a business lower level. And I want to wish a happy holiday to everyone on the board, the
mayor and all uh the uh people of the town. Thank you. >> Thank you, Dia. Nancy Toascus Clark, I understand that we're going to have something about explaining more about the affordable housing. So, if this is
going to be a long- winded response, then I could maybe defer to them. just kind of in my head I'm trying to understand how the numbers I add up 71 and 166 and get 237
then all of a sudden becomes 262 um that's in the satisfaction of fair share obligation and then there's another table which says the township 166 unit of unmet need
49 of that will be um satisfied with this third ta uh this I guess it's the second table. So I'm trying to understand how we go from 237 to 262 and what is this other table referring to the 166
unit u the un unit unmet need refers to. >> When you're finished I'll have the mayor or BA address it. That's it. All right. >> Thank you. >> Thank you Nancy. Uh Daniel Fuches, Clark, New Jersey. Uh I want to congratulate Miss Huff and
Miss Albanese on your election wins. Um very impressive. And I also want to thank uh Bill and John for running. Important that nobody goes running nobody's running on a post. So I'm happy to see that. Um, what I wanted to speak on, I spoke on this issue before and I
know John touched on it, the nj.com article with regards to the officers who've been on admin leave for 5 years. Um, yeah, it's just I guess startling to see the amounts. I know it's the article and I don't know if it's true or not. Over 2 million bucks in salary and I'm
sure we have a lot of legal fees that we're paying for this. Um, you know, I really can't help but think that the moment they uttered those words that they've been accused of that have caused this suspension, they should have been fired. Um, and I guess that would have been up to S to do, which of course he
was speaking the same way that they were. So, I suppose that's probably why he didn't get fired. Um, or why they didn't get fired and and so we're stuck with this. And I don't know how much longer this will go on for and how much more money this is going to cost us, but I can't help but think
what else we can be doing with that money. And I know that I mean it's a lot. We're a small town. Um, you know, I don't really know where we go from here, but I do think it's important that residents, you know, continue to speak on it. I'm glad to see NJ.com reporting it. And really, I'm just here to express
my dismay. Um, and hopefully it gets to a resolution soon. Other than that, I wish everyone uh happy holidays and I'll see everyone next year. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Fuches. >> All right, seeing no one else, I'd like a motion to close.
>> Oh, I'm sorry. Come on. >> My name is Gabrielle Aruda. I live on Parkway Drive in Clark. I'm a third generation resident of Clark. Sorry for coming in late. I was watching the meeting at home with my parents and my husband. Hi guys. Thanks for making me be an active citizen. Uh
congratulations, Mayor Albanese. Um I have a business registered to Clark. I'm an art dealer. Uh I've run uh physical galleries in New York and in Cranford, New Jersey, and put on exhibitions around the country. Um, I would like to try to initiate a public arts program in
Clark and I wonder how I might um, uh, ask for your help in doing that and to, um, how to collaborate with the township council to approach other businesses, particularly someone like L'Oreal, um,
to perhaps help fund a project like that. I'm also interested in applying for a grant from the New Jersey uh state of the arts council um that is due at the end of February. I need to partner with a nonprofit. I'm a for-profit miss, but
if there's a nonprofit in town, uh maybe the library or someone else where I could um the grant is for uh art programming uh creative art programming for the aging and I would like to do a slowooking uh class on informed
perception for um elderly residents and particularly uh residents that need memory care in town. Um, so if you have ideas as to how I could collaborate with a nonprofit in town or if there's a nonprofit that exists within the
township council somehow um to do that, I would appreciate it. And I'd also like to draw to your attention um the recent uh regenerative agriculture pilot program that the USDA just announced
with $700 million of funding going for regenerative farming throughout the country. um and to see this, you know, this town used to be a very rich farming community. Um and we've we've lost most of that uh farming land. Um but there
are a lot of opportunities for uh beginner farmers to seek this funding. And there's also opportunities for townships. We have under uh 20,000 residents here. So, we are um suitable to um eligible to apply for that funding
and uh to see if maybe we could create a community of uh backyard regenerative farmers um in the historic tradition of farming in this town. We have, you know, unless you have like really dense clay soil, uh we we otherwise have pretty
pretty great soil for farming here. and uh because the environment is such an important resource here and um and uh conserving water and protecting our water, I think that would be a nice idea and I have uh no idea how to approach um bringing this initiative to you guys
other than coming here to bring it up. So that's it. I don't know what the followup is other than saying that to you, but if anyone could inform me as to who I write a letter to about any of those points. Um, some of those are a bit more pertinent timelinewise, like applying for that grant.
>> So, when the meeting's over, which will probably be over in another 10 minutes or so, if you're still going to be here, if you want to just give your name and phone number and address to the clerk, um, and then between the the clerk and Mayor Albanese and Jim, we can possibly they'll figure out uh how we can direct
you or possibly help you. >> Okay. Thank you for uh coming out. All right. Seeing no one, I'd like a motion to close this portion. >> Thank you, Councilman Tolken. A second. Second. >> Thank you, Councilman Okconor. All in favor?
>> Any opposed? Jim, do you have anything you want to address from the comments? >> Is your microphone on? >> Just going through the numbers again. And you know, Nancy, if you want to come in and it may be easier, you know, stop
in the office tomorrow. I know I have a busy day and Wednesday busy day, but I'm around Thursday if you're around. But, you know, so we need 71 rehab units. We, you know, in the prior obligation, it was 93.
the township's third round. So that was the first and second third round obligation was 170 making it a total obligation of 263 and out of those 263
Woodrest was 65 rental units. Um we had Westfield and Terminal which was not built. We had Raridan Road gas station um just a little bit south of Madison Hill Road
for two that wasn't built. We had Westfield in Raridan. It was rental and built. So that's um what is it? Not Pawn View something. Uh River Brookside. That's it. It was um we had
the Chiffine site which was 11 which wasn't built. the AM which is approved which is the 21 units. The rest of the downtown village district which is 51 units and um the AMP site like uh mayor
said gave us 21 uh rental bonus credits. The DTV gave us two rental bonus credits. uh Walnut Avenue site. It was um the site that was built that was 28 affordable and 28 rental um credits. And
then we have a couple of group we got three group homes that are nine with nine um bonus units. So that gives us the 196 and 66 >> and that all netted out to 71 because this discussion was had at the workshop
meeting. I don't know if you remember that Nancy in March the question was how did we get to 237 and it was the 71 left from the second and third round plus in the fourth round
we have 166 and that brought us to the 237. But remember, for the for the for the fourth round out of the 166, we only are planning for 49 of those units. >> And that was, you know, that's um in
agreement with fair share because we never number one, we never took a vacant land adjustment. And number two is there's not a lot of land in in town. But if you want, stop in or you could call me, you know.
>> Thank you. All right. Um, what about Mayor Albanese? You have any closing comments? >> Um, just regarding Dileia's comments, yes, it will be the deliveries, but that would principally be people moving in or
moving into the retail spaces. So, the main reason for that drop off area at the entrance is for like deliveries of Amazon, UPS deliveries, US post office. So that one entrance to the facility
will have no parking so that those delivery trucks have a place to park. They're not going to be out outside on the road. In addition, you have to keep in mind we have a traffic engineer who did a study on this as well as the the
uh developer. So they felt that that was the best location to use uh for those of those those items those deliveries for people moving in principally or for the retail space moving in. It shouldn't be for um
it shouldn't be large trucks coming in um on on a regular basis like an Amazon delivery for example. Um I don't know if we have anything else that came up.
The only thing um and council stopped me but right now with the police department there was a hearing about a week and a half ago. At that week and a half ago hearing, um the judge listened to both sides of the case, determine if there
was in fact a violation of the um police officer's rights, and is going to be issuing a written um what do you call it? Verdict at some point in the future. We have no idea
when. And that's pretty much where we are with that. And it's just following up with the story. >> There's there's nothing we can do about it. We have to wait for that verdict to come out. >> The judicial system. >> Yeah. I mean, it's again it it's, you
know, five and a half years, but it's been sitting with the Union County Prosecutor's Office, the Attorney General's Office, and now 18 months with or a little bit more than 18 months with the judge. Right. So, it's not, you know, for a lack of trying because back
in December of 23, we brought in the person who was going to adjudicate it, but we've been waiting for the um, you know, for the, you know, a response from the
judge and all of the documentation from the attorney general's office. So, I mean, it's, you know, it's not for a lack of us trying to put this behind us. It is weaning its way through the legal system. >> Great. Thank you.
All right, Council Member Huff. >> Oh, do you have anything else? I'm sorry, Mayor Abanese. >> Yes. Um, this Wednesday, we're having our situational self-defense seminar, which I mentioned at our last meeting. Um, I published it on a couple of
locations on my site on Facebook and there are flyers available in the recreation center. And this is for families. So, if you're interested in learning about self-defense, uh, whether it's at your home,
uh, when you're parking your car, or when you're on the street or in crowds, I hope you'll consider attending this. Um, it's free. There will be donations accepted which will go to the recreation department. So, we hope that we'll have a good turnout. The doors open at 6 PM.
We'll be starting the seminar at 6:30 on Wednesday, this Wednesday at the recreation center. Hope to see you there. And uh I'd like to wish everyone happy holidays, merry Christmas, happy Hanukkah, or whatever you celebrate. And
I look to forward to seeing everyone um in the new year. wish you a happy new year and I'll see you on January 5th, if not sooner. >> Thank you, Council Member Huff. >> Um, I just want to say the breakfast with Santa was awesome. Um, the senior
lunchon was so great and it's my most favorite day of the year with all the holiday lightings. Um, I've never missed one on purpose and to be on the other side of it. Super selfishly, I'll say the fact that Johnny got to light the little thing will stay with me forever. His little face was super cute. Um, so
but having been on the other side of it as well to see how many people are involved in making that day happen, Ralph and the team and all the kids that volunteer, it's a herculan effort. So, um, I just want to say thank you because I think it's like the cutest small town America thing that we do and I love it so much. Um, I'd like to commend the
mayor and the business administrator for having ordinance 2537 brought forward. having uh two council meetings a month for speed and ease of action in our beautiful chambers that are here. I thought it was a great idea that clearly the entire council embraced and supported. Um I especially appreciate it
as my family uh my parents in particular who couldn't be here today and some of my siblings were able to watch this meeting live on YouTube and uh live stream it and the messages came rolling in. So I also appreciated that. Um, I'm absolutely honored and grateful to now have been officially elected and to be
able to continue to serve all residents of my amazing hometown. Um, that regardless of party or position, my job is to serve and I'm looking forward to more time here. I'd like to obviously offer my huge congratulations to my fantastic ticket mate, um, our mayor,
Angel Albaneseise. Her leadership, dedication, uh, pursuit of education and tenacity is a great example, and I know I have very large shoes to fill. I'd like to just officially again thank my fellow council members who are generous with not only their time but their experience and our town administration
for um the open doors and warm welcome from everybody. I very much appreciate that as I continue to get my feet wet. Um also huge thank you to my husband John and to our children Riley, Lucy, and Johnny um who were super on board for the intram thing but I appreciate
that you're equally on board for the three-year thing that since followed that. Um, I'd like to thank the DPW. Uh, for those who know, my husband is on the DPW in another town and um was out overnight and I want to thank our Clark DPW for their tireless work and all of
our emergency services that are out working while we are at home warm and eating food. Um, I want to say congratulations as well regarding the affordable housing. It is so complicated and nuanced and there's so much dictated to us. So, I want to thank Mayor Albaneseise and and Jim for all that you
guys have done to get us to this place. And I would like to say um happy Hanukkah to all those who celebrate early merry Christmas and everything else and all my best for the end of 2025. I'm looking forward to a fantastic 2026 with all of you in our great town of Clark. But the 5-year-old in me is
more excited than my kids to see Santa next weekend. And I just think it's absolutely incredible by our volunteer fire department who go out and do something like that. So cheers to that. Can't wait. Looking forward to it. Thank you very much. Thank you, Councilman Hund.
>> Thank you, Council President. That was a tough one to follow up on with her over enjoyment of all her five-year-old excitement that she has in her. Yes. Congratulations to both her and Mayor Albanesey's on being sworn in tonight. It's a fantastic day to see both of you
receive that recognition. Um to the intersection of Valley Road and Parkway Drive, as was mentioned earlier by Mr. agrees that was completed. Uh there was some Facebook back and forth on that and I apologize for not being able to respond via Facebook because I
was having some issues and still having issues with Facebook. So I apologize for that. Thank you to our police department as they continue to do their jobs to keep the town safe and are easily accessible to us, especially Captain Aub who receives texts from me um and always
responds back. I appreciate that. Thank you very much. and um just a safe have a happy and safe holiday season and we'll see you next year. >> Thank you, Councilman Miserella. >> Yes. Thank you, Council President. You
know, I want to congratulate uh Angel and Jessica for getting um officially appointed as mayor and councilman at large. And um I want to thank the DPW staff for their
excellent job uh coming out on Sunday plowing our uh roads pretty much curb to curb which is very very good. Uh thank you for your efforts and all. Certainly made our township safer quicker.
Uh, and to all out there, uh, have a merry Christmas, happy Hanukkah, safe holiday, and, uh, happy new year. See you next year. Thank you. >> Thank you, Councilman Mini. >> Uh, thank you, Council President. Um, I also want to congratulate Mayor
Albaneseise and Councilwoman Hoff on uh, their new election. Um, also I want to thank all the volunteers who came out to support Project Graduation with the Wizards last week at ALJ. It was a great success in helping our seniors um with
their projects. Um winter sports are back at ALJ. Come out uh December 18th uh for the start of basketball season um when our Crusaders take on I think it's uh Piscataway. Um no Jay.
Well, they're home Saturday 7:00. I mean, I'm sorry, the 18th, uh 7:00. Uh reminder, bring all packages in if you have any Amazon deliveries. Um, I was watching news on my way uh before I got here and they said that there's been a lot of um people uh taking packages off
your uh front porches. So, bring those in. And on behalf of the Clark Fire Department, myself, and my family, I want to wish everyone a happy and healthy holiday season and a very prosperous 2026. Thank you. >> Thank you, Councilman Okconor. >> Thank you very much. Again, congratulations to the mayor and to uh
Councilwoman Hoff on officially being sworn in from your big election win. So, uh, looking forward to working with you guys for, uh, for the remainder of your term. Uh, we have the police director here and we have Captain Akaboo here. And, you know, um, you know, there is traffic in town. I know people get
frustrated, but one of the most frustrating things is when you're sitting at a traffic light and the light doesn't turn green. And the reason it doesn't turn green is because there's probably a camera on top of the traffic light. They're not red light cameras or cameras. And if you don't pull your car
all the way up to the white line, it doesn't recognize that you're there and it won't allow the light to cycle through. Um, police officers, am I correct? >> Correct. So, again, it's important to pull all the way up. Now, my pet peeve
is the intersection of Westfield Avenue and Ron Road. If you don't pull up, the lights aren't going to change and they're long lights. So, again, just be mindful. If you didn't know it, now you know. And if you know, pass that information on to other people because
people do get frustrated at the light and I know there's other lights in town. So, please make sure you pull up. >> Also, if you go beyond the line, >> turn your microphone on, >> mayor. >> If you go beyond the line, it will not change either. >> Right. So, again, just please be sure to
pull up to the line. Um, obviously, it's the holiday season. This is really when the most of the volunteering goes on in town. I mean, there's volunteers throughout the year and we're grateful for that. But really, you know, as the mayor and Jess and Bill talked about, you know, with the with
the holiday season, with the with the treelighting, with all the holiday stuff that goes on in this town, so many people show up to help. Um, and I want to thank them for that. Um, it's amazing. You know, people say Clark's a great town to live in, and they're
right, but part of what makes this town great is a participation we get from our residents and uh so I can't thank you guys enough for that because you make it great for everybody. With that, merry Christmas, happy new year, happy Hanukkah, celebrate your holiday, enjoy
it, and we'll see you in 2026. Thank you. >> Thank you, Councilman Tol. >> Thank you, Mr. President. I'm going to kind of zip through some of this. First of all, Angel Albanesey's number 41. That's what you will be known from now on. The great Tom Siver was number 41. And Angel, we appreciate and
congratulate to you and Jessica on doing good work. That's why the people of Clark voted for you because you guys always hard work pays off. You can talk about other things. Hard work and this lady puts her time in. Jessica puts her time in and it shows. That's all I'm
going to leave that at. Other things, you young lady, you got up and you spoke. Gabby. Gabrielle. Okay. Couple things. Farming. The last working farm in Clark was Espazitos. Espazitos. He passed away in 2001 and the farm ended
up getting gobbled up by the county. We were trying to get it farmland preservation from the state at the time to make it a working farm where they grew the crop every year and they gave that crop to the food banks in in Union County. Instead, the county got the idea, hey, along with Mayor Salon Corso,
they turned around and they decided to make it a park. So we were able to prevent 800 houses being built there. So that was in 2001. >> The last working farm, it's a truckload farm. It's not a growing farm anymore, but it still gets farmland preservation
is the Chevine farm that goes back to 1903. And the German immigrants and the Chevine's family still work a working truckload farm it's called. There has been other farms. Now to answer your question, and you brought up a very valid point about can we do more
activities out in our own home fronts. Yes, people in this town which most people don't know about. You have residents of this town on Madison Hill Road, Wendell Place, who are conducting their own little farm. We have a honey farm on Wendell Place. We have another
one who does eggs on Madison Hill Road and actually another one just started doing it in the last year who's also doing egg produce and they sell it to their friends, but they like to do a low key. They don't like to have a bunch of eyes and ears on them because it causes problems. We had one resident doing
rabbits. Okay, fine. I didn't really question it, but hey, you've got a rabbit, but the neighbors start to complain because of the smell and issues. So, yes, we need to do more of that. We need to explore that. You're talking about artwork. I completely agree with you. But usually when there's art involved in this township, it goes
through the library and our library is incredible and they do art shows or uh different type of viewings of certain artists and that's how that works. I'm going to give you my card. I'm not going to talk tonight because we're in the holiday mode, but I will have a conversation with you because next year we'd like to bring you to the forefront
because next year is the 250th anniversary of this township of this country. Not just the town, but 50 years ago, Pat Oconor and I were little kids. Well, I was 14. He was a little kid. But we celebrated the bsentennial in this township and it was a great party. And
I'll be talking to our mayor and the council members about what we can do to reinvigorate the history of this township, honor the Dr. Robinson Plantation, and show the real history of this town, what we were all about, that we care, that we love our community. It's called home. Very simple, home. And
we want to bring the arts, the farmers, the crafts, everything to one because that's what it's going to be all about, making the next generation. We're 25 years in and I'll get into all this on January 1st or January whenever the next meeting is. So, I'm going to just kind of wrap up, but I will have a conversation with you. I appreciate it
because you brought up valid points and any way we can help expand the arts, the farming community, expand education because the education is for a certain age group, but they do a great job to plant the seed for tomorrow. And that's why you're up here saying, "Hey, I'd like to get point me in the right
direction." We're going to do that. those we lost in the last month. Irene Kerpies, a longtime resident of Dorset Drive and a neighbor and a friend. Her lost her husband a couple years ago and and then age struck Irene. Stella Pravo, a resident of Clark for 60 years. Stella
lived in this town for 60 years. I've been in town 60 years, but it doesn't seem possible that one person calls Clark, New Jersey home for over 60 years. And Marjorie Evans, Mrs. Evans, Mrs. Evans was 103.
How do you live to 103? But she did. God bless her and to the family. I know they mourning the loss of 103-y old mom, but God bless them. All right. As I said, Mayor 41, you've got a lot of things still lined up, and we know you're going
to work hard to continue doing the people's deeds. Good deeds means good results and making a better Clark. To all, thank you. And I'm going to just finish off with this. Merry Christmas and a happy and healthy Hanukkah to all. This is our hometown. Have a healthy and
happy safe 2026. >> Great. Thank you, Madame Clerk. Do you have anything to add? >> Yes. Thank you, Mr. President. Uh congratulations, Mayor and Councilwoman. Uh and behalf of myself and Nicole and Christina, it was a pleasure working for
and with you all, mayor, BA, and council this year. and we're looking forward to a very productive 2026. Happy holidays. Thank you. >> Thank you, Jim. You have anything else to add? >> Um I do want to congratulate um Jess and
the mayor. Uh great job. I look forward to continue working with you. Uh it's been a you know, Jess is, you know, on speed dial. Um, so but no, it's it I'm looking forward to the the next three years working with
both of you and and you know, keeping the town going in the right direction. I also want to wish everybody a merry Christmas, a happy Hanukkah, and a happy new year and see everybody on the 5th. >> Thank you. Mayor, you have something you want to add?
>> Yes. I want to thank United Airlines for getting my son here on time today with all the all the people I read about on Facebook saying they their flight was delayed, cancelled, even even to major places like New York City. But thank
you, James, for being here. And for my nephew, Michael, who is always our favorite nephew, my husband and I. Thank you so much. He's a Spartan. Came all the way down from Sparta. Thank you, Michael. Appreciate it.
>> Counselor, >> would just like to echo the congratulations for the mayor and council person and I wish everyone a very merry Christmas, a happy Hanukkah, and a very prosperous peaceful and healthy new year.
>> Great. Thank you. Uh just in in closing, I wasn't going to address the pilot program because we've spoke about that at Nauseium for the last four or five years, but I was thinking about it. I have an older daughter. She's 27. She is a middle school special ed teacher, and
she's phenomenal at what she does. But she was a horrible math student. So, I think back to when we were doing elementary math, and I kept saying to her, "What don't you understand? 2 plus 2 is four every day of the week." And I feel like that's what we're talking about with the pilot program. The pilot
program is a tool that the state came up with to help spur development. And without the pilot programs, the developers would never come into this town to build some of these developments. The pilot programs draws them in. It gives them a little bit of a savings because of the amount of
affordable housing they have to put in there where they're going to lose income. And if you don't think they're going to lose income, then I suggest the people who are against pilot programs go to developers and say you'll foot the bill for the money they're going to lose in the decrease in the rents uh for
those other apartments. The pilot programs that we have agreed with are phenomenal deals for the town. It's trying to get development in here. If we don't if we didn't agree to the pilot program for this AMP property, it would
sit there for another 20 or 30 years. Mr. Greavves, you get up here all the time telling us the downtown looks horrible. You guys don't know what you're doing. We're doing everything we can possibly do with the tools we're giving in a small town environment to
try to draw people here to build and develop. And that's one of the tools we use. At the end of the day, the school comes to us with a budget and says, "I need $10." They get their full $10. We don't give them $950. We don't give them $150. We give them the $10. We give them
what they ask for and what they need to run the schools. We're flexible. If they need more money, they're going to call Mayor Albanesey's or going to call our BA and say, "Hey, we need a little bit more money. Can you help us?" And at that time, we will. our pilot programs,
we can adj adjust them at certain points throughout the agreements. Correct, Jim? >> There's nothing to stop us from giving them additional other than obviously we'd have to do an ordinance or resolution and give them the additional money, but there's nothing from stopping
us from making any changes in the future. >> Right. And the other thing with the pilot programs, at our last meeting, we got hit with a couple hundred,000 worth of tax appeals that the countyy's not helping us with. We're absorbing the whole thing. The school's not giving us money back for that. We're absorbing a
couple hundred,000. So, the pilot program helps us compensate for the money we lose on the tax appeals. Now, the tax appeals have been pretty quiet the last few years because of COVID, but now the courts are finally getting caught up and I believe we're going to be getting hit with a few more in the
near future. Correct, Jim? >> We are currently negotiating a couple more. Uh, one a big one. >> Yeah. So, the the money we get from the pilot programs will help us. So, we still give the schools their 52 55% of
what we agree to and collect in a pilot program. We give the county their 5% but we get to keep that extra 20% plus our tax which is another 20 21 22%. And I I just don't know what else to say about the pilot program. I think uh I'm
starting to stutter because I've been saying the same thing for the last two three years now. So I think I'm going to end it on that. Uh merry Christmas, happy Hanukkah, happy Quanza, and happy healthy new year. And we'll see you all on January 5th. Thank you. Motion to close. Thank you. Councilman Tol second.
Councilman Hun. All in favor? >> Any opposed? Thank you. Have a good night.