##VIDEO ID:ph5sOwQ96qA## e e e e e 7:30 good evening and welcome to the Tuesday January 21st 2025 meeting of the Clark Council Township Madame clerk would you call the role please councilman hunt here councilman mazarella is absent councilman Manti here councilman OK Conor here councilman Smith here councilman tol here council president albanes here like to ask everyone to please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance and a moment of silence Al 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 this meeting is in compliance with the open public meetings act as adequate notice of this meeting has been provided ided by mailing the annual schedule of meetings to The Star Ledger Union County Hawk Union County local source and tap to Clark by posting such annual meeting scheduled 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 thank you I'd like a motion to suspend the regular order of business thank you councilman toll do I have a second I'll second it thank you councilman Mani all in favor okay at this time I'd like to call upon Ralph Bernardo for the presentation of the volunteer of the Year award good evening so many residents offer their services and volunteer their time to help the recreation department throughout the year we are so appreciative to all the parents that coach teams hold classes help set up for major events and general help whenever I reach out there's not much we can do to show how much we appreciate the help except to publicly recognize these individuals and thank them for going above and beyond continuously I along with the mayor and Council created support and promote the volunteer resident of the Year award I am beyond happy and proud to present our 10th year recipient for this year none other than Kim baglier [Applause] I got Kim here on false pretenses I'm sorry I had to lie I feel bad go home uh the decision was an easy one for the committee the mayor and myself um Kim has been volunteering her time to the recreation department Unico and the township of Clark ever since she moved into Clark she takes part in every area of setup cleanup for the tree lighting trun or treat the Easter egg hunt Unico Italian Feast I can go on and on and on whenever there's an event in town or in Recreation Kim is always there and the first one to reach out uh she has been a huge advocate of supporting the schools as well you can almost always see Kim running fundraisers for the schools uh even ever since her son John was a little boy and John's in his SEC third year of college so um and now her daughter Erica is an eighth grader um Kim is involved in coaching her daughter's soccer team in the fall and all com school activities she currently is coaching wck basketball and indoor soccer she never looks for any recognition of any kind but does it from the heart generously For the Love of her children and the love of the town she exemplifies the meaning of hard work dedication loyalty and especially giving of herself and not expecting anything in return on a personal level I have known Kim for over 20 years I hold her and proud to call her my special friend um I'm a little saddened because there's little rumors that she is leaving us and moving to Florida this summer but for right now she's with us and it is great pride and pleasure to present Kim with this plaque angel [Applause] you have to turn the plaque reads volunteer of the Year Award presented to Kim bagary for unselfishly volunteering your time to the Clark Recreation Department in the township of Clark on behalf of the mayor council and Township employees we appreciate and thank you for all you have done January 21st [Applause] 2025 which way you want us let's go go in front and you know what you have to do thank you everybody you have anything to say please I just want to say like Ralph said my son is going to be 21 this year and I've been helping out with everything that our town does I'm very proud to say that I live in Clark for 24 years it's a great town I love doing everything Ralph is the best rec director we have the best sports summer camp everything for our children our schools are amazing I share up here I have a couple of boys men that their children are my children's teachers and graduated with my son and I can't be more proud of this award right now and I just want to say thank you and my daughter is home sick and she's going to be really mad that she did not come to see this but I love helping that's all I want to ever do is just help help help as much as I possibly can and uh yes I'm hoping to be leaving to go to Florida this summer we will see what the cards have for us but uh right now I I don't even know what to say other than thank you it's it's an honor and a pleasure to live in such a great town I can't say enough about Clark thank you thank you thank you [Applause] everybody okay uh this time I'd like a motion to resume the regular order of business moved okay thank you councilman tol thank you councilman hund all in favor okay at this time we're going to go into private session and uh do you want to read the resolution and then we'll talk about the sure uh executive resolution to go into private session to conduct interviews with the candidates selected by the Clark Republican committee albanes Manti and Smith to fill the unexpired term of Mayor bonacorso to serve in until November 4th 2025 election when a permanent replacement is elected to fill the remainder of the unexpired term have a motion Council I moved thank you councilman to do I have a second thank you councilman hunt all in favor I any opposed okay this time we're going to move into a different location so you can all be comfortable and here and have to go out in the cold e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e is Ed here y okay Council I'd like to resume the public meeting do I have a motion oh I'm sorry I didn't hear that so so move I'll move that we can start do have a second second that please thanks councilman hun all in favor I okay at this time I'd like to okay at this time I'd like to go to item two mayoral appointment to serve until the November 4th 2025 election when a permanent replacement to fill the remainder of the unexpired term is elected by the voters I'd like to to make a motion to appoint Angel Alvin as mayor do have a second I'll second it anything thank you councilman oconor thank you councilman Smith um Madame clerk when you're ready would you call the roll councilman Hy yes councilman Manti yes councilman oconor yes councilman tol yes councilman Smith yes council president albanes yes congratulations mayor albanes thank you please join me at the podium please raise your right hand I angel albanes I Angel albanes 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 that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same 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 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 [Applause] all right I'd like to congratulate mayor bonacorso mayor B Corso mayor albanes uh for replacing mayor Bonner Corso's position uh you are now known as the first female mayor of Clark duly deserved uh for those that don't know Angel is CFO of the township of East Brunswick uh for many years which is a huge town and she's been on the council for 24 plus year so uh congratulations for myself and I'm sure the rest of the council has the same so all right at this time uh we're going to move on to election of council president at this time I like nomin for council president I'd like to nominate Bill Smith for council president thank you Pat can I get a second I'll second n thank you councilman minity are there any other nominations hearing none I'll call for a motion to close nominations I get a motion to close move that uh thank you padle councilman Connor and councilman hun was second all in favor I any opposed all right we got to go do the oath uh let's just uh let me just call the rule for the confirmation councilman hund yes councilman Manti yes councilman oconor yes councilman Smith yes councilman tol yes confirmed please join me at the podium I William F Smith I William F Smith 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 that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same 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 I will faithfully impartially and partially and justly perform and justly perform all the duties of the office of council president all the DU duties of the office of council president 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 okay yep good okay at this time we're going to move on to the election of council vice president I'd like to direct nominations for Council vice president can I get a motion I'd like to nominate uh councilman hun please thank you councilman I get a second thank you councilman tol are there any other nominations hearing none I'll call a motion to close the nominations thank you councilman oconor can I get a second second that thank you councilman manid all in favor I I any opposed all right will the council confirm nomination of Steve hun for council president you want to join madam clerk up at the podium oh roll call I'm sorry please councilman hund yes councilman Manti yes councilman oconor yes uh councilman tol yes V uh president Smith yes confirmed join me at the podium please I Steven hund I Steven hun 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 that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same 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 I will faithfully impartially impartially and justly perform and justly perform all the duties of the office of council vice president of all the duties of the office of Council of Vice President according to the best of my ability according to the best of my abilities for the township of Clark for the township of Clark so help me God so help me God congratulations thank at this time we're going to move to Communications from the mayor and reports of Township officers mayor albanes okay I think it's been about six minutes uh so uh I think what I'm going to do at this point in the meeting is give the library report uh Angel microphone I'm not I'm not hearing it okay no oh you hearing this yeah go ahead wait can you hear me now yes okay thank you well first I'd like to once again say thank you to Kim begier uh Ralph gave a beautiful list of all the things she's done over all these years and uh she's one of our great volunteers and I I hope that she doesn't like it in Florida and that she comes back after the Summer's over so um here's a library report uh from our library director Megan kishik um in the month of December we had 6,593 visitors to the library and recorded um 5,261 website visits so I think this past year as you all know uh in 2024 we had a real uptick in visits to the library and also website visits upcoming events take your child to the library day this will be held on February 1st and this is it's important that everyone registers because the friends of the library is sponsoring this event event and what they're going to have is the eyes of the wild so there'll be a lot of different live animals at the library um and then that'll be followed by a Frozen treat for kids um and again once again that's all sponsored by the friends of the library so I'm sure that's going to be a big event on February 1st uh teen craft break that's open to teens uh grades 6 through 12 and that will event will be held on Monday February 3rd at 3:30 p.m. teens are welcome to um break away from studying uh and have a make a fun craft uh it'll be a heartstring art uh for Valentine's Day and they'll be having a boba tea and snacks will will be served as well uh crafty kids program will be held for kindergarten through fifth grade on Wednesday February 7th at 3:30 p.m. so they can stop by and create a craft and then on Tuesday February 4th this is open to everyone of all ages at 7M um the library will sponsor a program honoring George and marth's Washington's Love Story uh this will be reenacted by Alisa dupoy who's been at the library many times excellent actor along with Kurt rabar who will portray America's first couple um they'll be talking about how they met their marriage fam's responsibilities and of course about their love for one another and finally on Tuesday February 11th um in honor of uh Black History Month there'll be a uh discussion and presentation by again another actor Rick fold he'll discuss the life of madam CJ Walker the first black American female millionaire that concludes the report for the library uh other comments I'll have at the end of the meeting thank you thank you mayor albanes councilman hun thank you councilman president uh for the Clark Police Department report for the month of December of 2024 we saw a total of 1,666 calls for the service including but not limited to 116 ambulance requests 112 alarm calls two criminal mischief four fire department requests 14 fraud fraud or identity theft nine motor vehicle and residential lockouts 92 motor vehicle accidents 29 shoplifting and theft 177 were 911 calls and 970 were miscellaneous calls there are a total of 22 adult arrests including but not limited to 11 for shoplifting four for warrants three for DUI one for terroristic threats and one for simple assaults the youth Bureau handled total of 15 cases including but not limited to one for simple assault two for shoplifting six for offenses against the family three for all other offenses um and I to say the number of the total number of calls is down significantly about 25% over on average from um pretty much all the months that I've been doing the police report for nine years so that's very good to hear so hopefully that will continue moving forward into January and 2025 so that concludes my report thank you thank you councilman hun councilman Manti yeah thank you um I'll be doing a DPW report um on behalf of uh councilman mazarella um Christmas tree pickup continues until January 29th um DPW would like to remind all of you to remove basketball hoops from Nets and the roadway uh for future snow removal electronic drop off will be January 25th uh 9:00 a.m. to 1 p.m. spring cleanup will begin mid-march and go through April uh bulky in appliance pick pickups resumes in March weather permitting appointment required the week before the scheduled permit uh scheduled pickup uh week DPW has been making available outside gate outside their gate 16 in 16 in pieces of wood free for the taking uh please don't make a mess if the bin is empty the DPW will replenish it when it becomes available no log splitters or chainsaws if you have any questions or would like to make an appointment please contact DPW at DPW r clark.com or call 732 428-842-2035 s five calls were um for motor vehicle incidents where two of those calls were related to motor vehicle accidents um as always I want to thank the members of the Clark fire department for their hard work and dedication throughout the town this concludes my reports thank you thank you councilman man councilman o Conor thank you very much from the finance department we are still in the process of completing the budget we are waiting for the final State numbers and the auditor make their final year- end journal entries as I stated last meeting we are still planning on having the budget submitted in a timely frame that is required and with regard to the Clark volunteer emergency Squad I have their report the squad added four Cadets to the squad as is in the process of adding additional adult members in January the call volume is as follows there was 107 calls in December with four mutual Aid calls total hours responding to calls is approximately 688 man hours this does not include any hours the members are on duty and not on calls year-to-date call volume is 1,424 calls with approximately 9,256 man hours responding on specific calls not including any training providing standbys or times when there are no calls with regard to membership anyone interested in becoming a member can email the squad at www.car.com and that's where the applications can be found as well having unique set of skills the squad is looking for associate members these are members that support the the efforts of the squad with Community relation activities fundraising and recruitment efforts Etc but do not respond to calls if interested please reach out to them via the website of icar.com with regard to servicing the community the squad hosted two blood drives in December remember each pint of blood saves three lives and we appreciate your support please check our lawn sign for upcoming blood drives holiday giving help it's not too late if you didn't have a chance to respond to the holiday fund Drive the squad has signed a contract to remount one of our ambulances so we'll have a so it will have a new Ford Chassis cost is close to $200,000 so any donations is appreciated respectfully submitted Lor Sheldon trustee that concludes my reports thank you thank you councilman o Conor councilman tol thank you Mr President on Wednesday December the 18th 2024 the Turnpike Authority ALS also known as New Jersey do held a hearing on the Union County Commissioner's application for the revitalization of the reservor I attended this on behalf of the township this hearing where they were reviewing the various plans and what they were going to do for the reservoir and how the do was directly impacted by the Garden State Parkway this meeting was well attended by the reservoir activist who came out to support and that make sure that the county would be allowed to have boating underneath the reservoir our Garden State Parkway bridge I got up and spoke on behalf of the proposal to make sure that the county is allowed to have voting underneath the Garden State Parkway bridge which the township is in favor of we need to have the this will be init initiate the county to modify their plans and to remove the offensive when they Place boat ramp and Dock and boat house so we attended there we boic our objections to the County's proposal and the do listened we waiting for a verdict and a response from the county and the state that's all I have for now tonight thank thank you Mr President thank you councilman tol from the uh Recreation emplo report uh the Clark family skate night was this past Saturday at waren anko uh ice skating rink although the attendance was lighter than past years it was still a great night out for the citizens of Clark the devil's hockey night has been rescheduled for Thursday March 20th indoor soccer recreation basketball winter classes are all in full swing if you have any questions you could visit our website at our clark.com or always stop by the rec center and speak with Emily or Ralph or as always you can call them at 732 428 8400 and that's it from the wreck and pool department for this month all right Madam clerk at this time we'll move on to ordinances Appropriations and claims public hearing on proposed ordinances thank you Mr President for the record no objections have been received in connection with the proposed ordinances first ordinance is 25-01 an ordinance entitled an ordinance to fix the salaries of communications operators for the years 2025 through 2028 at this time I will open up the meeting for the public hearing on this ordinance if anyone like to come forward regard ordinance okay seeing no one I'd like a motion to close the public hearing thank you councilman tol thank you councilman hund all in favor I any opposed this time I like a motion to adopt the ordinance I'll move that please thank you councilman OK Conor can I get a second second then please thank you councilman hun any discussion Jim you have anything to add good only thing I I would add this is our fourth Union contract that we negotiated this year uh all successfully this is just memorializing our final Union contract with the dispatchers and the um the salary increases will be incorporated into this ordinance great thank you anyone else have any questions or discussion all right roll call Madam clerk councilman hund yes councilman Manti yes councilman OK Conor yes councilman tol yes council president Smith yes ordinance adopted next is ordinance 25-2 an ordinance to exceed the municipal budget appropriation limits and to establish a cap bank at this time I will open up the meeting uh for a public hearing on this ordinance if anyone like to come forward please do so okay seeing nobody I like a motion to close this portion of the hearing thank you councilman Okana get a second please second that thank you councilman hun all in favor any opposed this time I'd like to get a motion to adopt the ordinance move that thank you councilman OK Conor can I get a second second thank you councilman tol any discussion good Jim yeah I'll I'll jump in for a second um again this is not that we are going to use the three and a half this just gives us the ability to use the three and a half in the event we um need it as uh councilman OK Conor said we're still finalizing the budget I mean some of the significant increases that we have are associated again same thing health benefits of $550,000 increase uh year-over-year uh pension contributions about $130,000 year-over-year um you know Communications uh salary and wages are about $585,000 year over year doesn't mean again that we're going to be using that money but we are in the in the process of of uh making sure that we have the uh leeway in the event that we do need it great thank you for the explanation I think that's smart thank you Jim we don't want to be caught off guard thank you you're welcome anyone else have any questions okay roll call Madam clerk councilman hund yes councilman Manti yes councilman oconor yes councilman tol yes council president Smith yes ordinance adopted next is ordinance 25-3 and ordinance to supplement section 7 of chapter 117 of the code of the township of Clark entitled clothing donation bins at this time I'll open up the meeting for the public hearing on this ordinance if anyone like to come up and speak about this ordinance please do so okay seeing nobody I like a motion to close the public hearing thank you councilman tol I get a second I'll second thank you councilman manid all in favor I any opposed okay at this time i' like to direct a motion to adopt the ordinance I'll move that please thank you councilman hung get a second I'll second thank you councilman Manti any discussion or questions Council Jim you have anything to add yeah as as we discussed you know in the past in our in our meetings I mean this is primarily to control where they put the clothing bins I mean we've had in the past we had to put in an ordinance um because people leaving toys and leaving stuff outside we we wanted to you know close that um Gap one of the things that we did was limit the number of places that they could put it we've had a lot of success over the last few years we haven't had any issues with um cleanliness the companies that have been picking them up have been picking them up time pick uh cleaning them out and empty them timely cleaning up around them so we haven't had any issues we had a couple of requests to put them in the golf course the LCI and the commercial industrial um areas within town you know feel it makes sense you know this is in discussion with the police department who actually issue the um the permits for it so you know we think this is another good um move and it still lets us have the benefit of keeping control over where they're going to have um these uh clothing bins right thank you so so basically there's two things one they have to be zoned for it and two they have to get a permit so both those things match they can have the they can have the uh donation correct perfect thank you thank you okay a roll call please councilman hund yes councilman manid yes councilman oconor yes councilman tol yes council president Smith yes ordinance adopted now we're going to move to payment of claims councilman OK Conor thank you I have reviewed the bills for the mo totaling $220,100 76 great thank you at this time we're going to have the citizens hearing on the agenda I will open up the meeting for anyone like to come up and speak about anything that is on the agenda if you'd like to come forward please state your name and address to the clerk okay seeing no one I like a motion to close so moved thank you counc m Conor can I get a second I'll second thank you councilman Manti all in favor I any opposed okay when you're ready Madam clerk we'll move to resolutions thank you the first resolution is amending resolution 25-16 to modify the section of the Township's cash management plan regarding electronic dispersement claimant certification as required under njsa 4A 5-16 a and njac 5 30-9 A6 and 5 31-4 I get a motion please I'll move that please thank you councilman Conor second second that please thank you councilman hun any discussion go ahead Jim this is just um some from an efficiency standpoint that anything that's under the um the bid threshold that the claim and signatures will not be required this is all in compliance with the New Jersey Administrative Code as indicated in the um resolution so we're just updating our our cash management plan to adopt that change thank you roll call please councilman hund yes councilman Manti yes councilman oconor yes councilman tol yes council president Smith yes number seven is authorizing the mayor or business administrator to execute an agreement with Phoenix advisers for Professional Services as the municipal advisor and continuing disclosure services say effective January 1st 2025 for a one-year period I have a motion please I'll move that thank you councilman hun a second I'll second thank you councilman manid any discussion go ahead mayor albanes okay um we've been using Phoenix advisors for years we're very satisfied in all their assistance and um they'll be advising us and helping us in any debt that we're raising that's basically their role and also keeping records and filings with the SEC on a timely basis on behalf of the township great thank you for the explanation anyone else have any questions or discussion if not roll call Madam clerk councilman hund yes councilman Manti yes councilman oconor yes councilman tol yes council president Smith yes number eight is authorizing the health officer to enter into an agreement with Atlantic health system for health education services build at $ 6455 per hour for the first 225 hours and $70 per hour beyond the $225 hours funded by the New Jersey Association of County and City Health officers Grant and pending adoption of the 2025 Municipal budget I get a motion I'll move that thank you Council man second I'll second it thank you councilman oconor any discussion yeah this is using grant money and primarily they you know evaluate the Township's Health needs that we develop programs you know health programs healthy eating and things along those lines and then also assist in any type of policies you know it's it's up to 225 hours at $64 55 so again it's it's something that we we need to have from uh statutory perspective and we have not had any issues in the past using them great thank you anyone else have any questions or discussion okay roll call please councilman Hy yes councilman Manti yes councilman OK Conor yes councilman tol yes council president Smith yes number nine is authorizing the purchase of TV studio hardware and software through the New Jersey Cooperative purching purchasing Alliance contract number ck4 subcontract number 24-38 in the amount of $2,438 have a motion please that thank you councilman tol second second thank you councilman oconor any discussion or questions yeah this is um this is an upgrade of a piece of equipment that will let us broadcast on Comcast and YouTube and now that alties is going to be moving into or Optimum is going to be moving into town hopefully in the next few months um it's probably even more important that we have our updated software and Hardware to make sure the people could see the uh meetings on YouTube great thank you uh roll call please councilman hund yes councilman Manti yes councilman oconor yes councilman tol yes council president Smith yes number 10 is appointing Daniel maesi and Alejandro cyprien as members of the Clark volunteer fire department effective January 21st 2025 get a motion I'll Mo that thank you Council man get a second second that please thank you councilman hun self-explanatory it's great to have more volunteers we get a roll call please councilman hund yes councilman maniti yes councilman OK Conor yes councilman tol yes council president Smith yes number 11 is appointing William grib to the planning board as alternate one member to fill the unexpired term of Joseph arano effective January 21st 2025 until December 31st 2025 I got a motion move that thank you councilman manid second second that uh thank you councilman OK Conor any discussion or questions go ahead May a comment I think that uh bill grib will be a very important uh addition to the planning board um he's always expressed his opinions in a levelheaded way and um we're sorry to C Joo we thank him but um we've had good experience with Michael Alman he also ran uh on a different party ticket and he's one of the best planning me board members that we have so uh wishing Bill luck and we appreciate his um efforts on the planning board great thank you roll call please councilman hund yes councilman Manti yes councilman oconor yes councilman tol yes council president Smith yes number 12 is authorizing the purchase of a fuel dispensing system with upgraded software under State contract number 42262 through White Marsh Corporation get a motion thank you councilman oconor second second thank you councilman tol any discussion Jim you have anything to add this is this is a much needed um upgrade it it's what controls our fuel dispensing system it's currently running on a Windows 98 platform which is out of um support life in addition to that we are you know we're starting to have some problems with it so we're in the process of of asking you to approve an upgrade great thank you any other questions or discussion okay we're going to go roll call please councilman Hy yes councilman Manti yes councilman oconor yes councilman tol yes council president Smith yes number 13 is authorizing release of performance guarantees for work completed at L'Oreal research and development 30 and 100 Terminal Avenue get a motion thank you councilman oconor second I'll second that thank you Council midi and then I mean it's um a release of the the bonds and or the guarantees been reviewed by the construction code official and the engineer everything's up to date everything's to their satisfaction and been signed off on great fantastic all right roll call please councilman hund yes councilman Manti yes councilman OK Conor yes yes councilman tol yes council president Smith yes consent agenda resolutions first one number 14 is authorizing the tax collector to make the proper adjustments for 100% property tax exemption of block 179.1 Lot 8 in accordance with a directive from the United States Department of Veterans Affairs 15 is authorizing the tax collector to refund over payment of sewer fees the amount of $3,622 189 16 is authorizing the tax collector to apply sewer account balance adjustments as credit in the amount of $230 and 17 is authorizing the tax collector to refund overpayment of taxes in the amount of $280 62 have a motion to adopt that Mr President thank you councilman tol uh second second thank you councilman Manti roll call please councilman hun yes councilman Manti yes councilman oconor yes councilman tol yes council president Smith yes right do we have any new business on the calendar there is no new business great thank you all right at this time we're going to go to public comments uh open the meeting up to the public you can come forward speak about anything you would like you have five minutes in duration and please state your name and address and address your comments to the council as a body would anyone like to come forward hello Mary semler 56 Conger way um so my first question is um was the did the BPU approved the application for um Optimum to come to our town we didn't get the official approval but it what we understand it's just a standard uh process and it shouldn't be an issue okay but we don't have the official we don't have the official approval okay thank you okay so um a few months ago uh I came here um and asked some questions about our uh Staffing uh specifically questions about our public safety officer that we had had in the past or public safety director also um our DPW director asked if we had any open positions within our town on the police force or any place else as well well as administrative staff um and our uh former mayor said that we did not have any open positions and at the time he was filling the role of the director of the DPW and not being compensated for that role so my question here um again tonight is if you can share um with the people of Clark if in fact we have any positions open I know Edy uh had mentioned at a previous this meeting that she was doing the work in her office short staff and I don't know whether that means there's a vacancy there or somebody is out on leave or there's just um you know something else happening within that office and also um do we have any plans um to fill the position or fill the role of the DPW director since that role is now vacant any other questions thank you okay thank you to address your question on the clerk's office I know one of them was out on leave correct uh Madam clerk yes uh medical leave yes uh but you are fully staffed I believe there was an opening for a police officer correct Captain aoom Captain lot recently uh other than that uh are there any openings you're aware of in the town um as a civil service Town um all of our openings will be through Civil Service okay thank you great thank you good evening uh John Greaves 30 Parkway Drive um I I wanted to come up and you know basically Express my disappointment because I saw that we you know we we have a new person in the mayor's seat today but it was only three weeks ago that we swore in our former mayor uh Salon corso and the thing that I'm disappointed about is there's no mention here as to why we have a different mayor now nobody's mentioning what happened he pled guilty and was convicted of conspiracy to commit uh official misconduct conspiracy to commit forgery and I think it's important to move forward I I'm happy to see that happen but I don't think moving forward means pretending something didn't happen and you know I I saw a couple days after um the plea agreement was entered into that there uh I believe it was um angel albanes that put a statement out that said that he was dealing with a private matter and it wasn't something that should be spoken about and that's not the case this is a public situation he was convicted of uh official misconduct which affects this town you know and the uh conspiracy to commit forgery that's something that that speaks very highly about someone's credibility and to act like that's not something that people should be worried about or that it's a private matter it's not A Private Matter he's a public official he did something wrong in his capacity as a public official I don't think that's something that we should just sort of sweep under the rug and tonight there was no mention of why we were getting a new mayor we just swore on a new mayor and I'm glad that we are moving on but like I said I don't think that it should be something that we sort of just pretend didn't happen I was hoping that tonight might be a situation where you guys were saying we're going to do things differently we're going to do a better job you know um basically I would like to see you know in the future some acknowledgement of what happened some condemnation of what happened because I never hear any of you guys say anything negative about what happened and then say hey we're going to a promise or a a pledge to do better so that things like this can't happen and I I just wanted to express my disappointment because I think as a resident of Clark I I know there's other people that feel like me and you know I I know that we are on different sides of the aisle uh politically but you know we all live in the same town and I don't think I've ever come up here with something that wasn't you know genuinely something that I care about as a father as a as a resident of this town and I don't think I've tried to be unfair and I just like to see I'd like to see a I'd like to see the page turn without forgetting the past and like I said a pledge to do better um that's my expression of disappointment and then the question that I have um is so um we we have Angel alanes who was on the council who is now um in the mayor's seat for the moment um so we have an empty seat on the council that's correct until November right I'll explain it when you're done with your questions um and then if for in if um so part of that the question would be if she were to run for coun uh for mayor and then win would there be another year where we would have would we still have an empty Council seat because I'll I'll explain it so yeah basically I'd like to know what the deal with an empty Council seat with her being mayor would be and what the situ that would be that's it you have any other questions okay thank you John so the way the process works um since the mayor stepped down in beginning of January the Republican committee has 30 days to pick uh because they they have the majority uh pick a what's it oh if you want to Mayor forfeited his office as a result of the conviction that's what happened the mayor's the office of Mayor was therefore vacant the process is the Republican Municipal committee selected three nominees of those three Nom you heard of them in the beginning because they were mentioned of those three nominees the township committee selected one to fill the unexpired term of the mayor's term until the November four election so yes someone will be running for mayor in November the council has now a vacancy because as you've noted council president is now mayor that seat will also be filled in like manner so within 15 days of today the Republican Municipal committee has to submit three nominees to fill the vacant Council seat the council has 15 days thereafter within which to choose from from among those three candidates for the person who will serve again until November so there will be two elections in all likelihood the council can elect to leave that seat vacant I believe but there will likely be two elections in November one for mayor and the other for the vacant at large Council seat does that explain do you understand that does that does that answer your question and then and then once the election on November 4th takes place whoever runs for mayor and runs for the open Council seat they will fill the remainder of the terms through 2028 remaining three years once the election is certified by the county clerk which is usually two three weeks afterwards two weeks usually two weeks after so sometime mid November as long as it's certified then whoever's elected mayor and the empty Council seat will now serve the remaining three years of the terms I don't know I don't know council's intentions I have a suspicion what they may be and I suspect that that seat that empty vacant seat on the council will be filled soon and then there'll be an election in November to fill it more permanently until the end of the term for which council person albanes was elected and Madame clerk if anyone wants to run for that when do they have to have their names in by because there's a primary in June there's a primary in June I don't have the exact date uh we can put that up on the website it's uh the the Nomine petitions are usually due in April but I don't know the exact date all right anyone else like to come forward on the public comments uh Daniel fuches 333 Carolina Street uh I too am a little disappointed that nobody said anything about Sal resigning not surprised a little disappointed with that said I do want to get behind moving forward uh there's a couple of things that sort of I guess left over from all the sou scandals was is the two officers that are still on leave believe they're getting paid still and getting our Police Department back from under County control so I was just wondering if we can Poss POS get a status update on that thank you great thank you so the officers are still on leave until I believe u Mark you can jump in there in court I don't uh I I there is pending litigation um the three officers sue the town uh the three officers sue the town because of certain events that happened through the Attorney General's office in the Union County prosecutor's office exercising their perception Authority um but they were doing it on behalf of the town so what they did the township may or may not be responsible for we are defending that action I am not defending it um and I don't know the status of that that action it's it's been pending for a while uh but um you know that's really all I know uh I I do not uh we you know the we we we cannot simply terminate the officers certainly not while there's pending litigation and there is a variety of protocol that must be observed in order to effectuate such an action we are you know a civil service town we have some rules we have to follow and they can be quite difficult um and restrictive so that's really where where we are with that as far as I know I'm not privy to it because I'm not defending those cases we have Labor counsil for that thank you for the explanation I just would like to add one thing to that um I mean the hold up really is getting information from the Attorney General's office that we've been waiting for it was given to the um judge the 26th of December the judge has the informations going through it and then determining what's going to be valid or not so again it's not us dragging our feet we had uh the arbitrator you know assigned probably a year ago maybe a little bit more um so but again it's the lawsuit that's that's against us and until that's settled there not going to be a lot of movement in it thank you and the two people from the county who are in the positions of running or heading to department at this time are not paid by their Town they're paid by the county anyone else like to come forward all right I guess seeing no one I like a motion to close this portion thank you councilman OK Conor you had a second please thank you councilman tol all in favor any opposed all right now we're going to move to uh mayor council professional comments mayor albanes thank you Mr President um I'd like to say thank you to DPW for their hard work this weekend um in my opinion we dodged a bullet we could have had a worse storm than we had and I'm very happy with everything that was coordinated by Jim Scott McCabe and the team out there um unfortunately we're going to have frigid cold weather for a few more days which means that possibly ice will melt ice will freeze so we need to really be careful um and uh that's my report on the Storm um couple of things that I want to mention to everyone is um we'll be releasing the 20225 resident guide uh currently it's available online um and within the next week or so we'll be getting it out so if you go to ww ourclark decom you'll find the resident guide in case you're wondering what are the um timing of various pickups DPW Service public meetings events and dates it's all on that website calendar and um if you like you can subscribe to Clark news if you go on to the news flashes at www our clark.com SL notify me and you can select different options of information to be provided um as far as the comment from John Greaves uh yes I did make a statement to the public when I was notified so the public is aware that the mayor resigned um as far as anyone's opinion um they can express it uh themselves um but I think we're here for the legislative business this evening and uh following the agenda um I do want to make my own personal comments um basically two two comments um I think at the reorganization meeting I said I asked myself four sole questions each day and one of them was who am I and uh a friend of mine B me this book and when I walked over the desk that reminded me of it and it's a book called The Book of Awakenings uh she had lost her husband and and she thought this would be helpful to me and in it it's a calendar of daily reflections and one of them January 19th is uh remembering and forgetting uh frequently we rush off and we're looking forward all the time of who are we what do we want to do what do we want to accomplish what are our goals you have to sometimes slow down and remember because hurrying forgets so this section is called remember and remembering and forgetting and it really made me reflect on everything that's happened here and also to the mayor and I think it's important for us to remember really what what mayor s has done when he talked about all the things you've accomplished yes we all worked as a team together but he was a driving force and getting all these things done in the town and I think we should remember that and take note um which brought me to mind uh another book that I was reading Brian Tracy's uh leadership challenge says love is the this is the last part of the book love is the beginning and the end your purpose in life is to become a totally loving person life is a study of attention is a matter of priorities of choice your life is what you make it by the priorities you set and the things you choose to focus your attention upon your job is to live joyously and this is only possible by filling your mind with thoughts of love compassion and forgiveness only one life that soon is passed and only what's done with love will last and this is the secret of the ages the true foundation of human greatness it's the core value of the most essential unifying principle of truly exceptional people and the most wonderful thing about love is that you can fill your life with it by deciding to do so the choice is yours it always has been I wish you luck I wish you success and happiness and above all I wish you love that's in the the last uh sentences in that book leadership challenge by Brian Tracy I think what this message is telling us of all the things that are s to sustain a leader over time love is the most lasting and reading this passage has made me think of Mayor Salan a Corso he summarized his contributions to the town at our reorganization meeting yes we all worked as a team as I said but he was a true leader and had a vision for this town and it's hard to imagine leaders getting up every day putting in the long hours and hard work it takes to get extraordinary things done and and to me that was s and without having their hearts in it he had his heart in it all the way the best kept secret of successful leaders is love staying in love with leading with the people they work with with the organizations they produce and with those who honor the organization by using its products and services such as the citizens of clar Clark leadership is not an affair of the head it's a leadership is an affair of the heart and to me what when I read this it really epitomizes uh when I think of stepping into the shoes as a mayor here in Clark how much love s gave to this town growing up here and all the dedication and time he put into this town he could have been doing other things with his family with his job with his business but he gave it all for the town so I thank him for that um you know I spent my last few minutes on the council here tonight um I just want to thank the council for the tremendous years uh working together with you and uh it's been great so looking for new challenges look forward to working with Jim and um kind of back where we started and we even have Al here Al's here with us the three of us are here we ran together so we're back together here uh Jim and you know we've couldn't be happy with everything that you've been doing here and uh I did meet with the employees because of course everyone's nervous um I met with them last Tuesday and um assured them that you know everything is fine we're going to continue keep doing what you're doing it's important because those employees are the face of the township ship we come here to these meetings but we're not there every day servicing the citizens of Clark they are the true daily civil servants to this Township and we I know I speak for the council as well we greatly appreciate that um so um going to be learning a lot taking on this new role um as was mentioned by um councilman Smith I do have experience in government um and uh it's I'm glad I I chose that career as an alternate um in my past in life and I'm really happy and honored to serve the citizens of Clark as your mayor and uh we'll take it from there so uh that's about it thank you thank you mayor albanes mayor hun on mayor hun councilman hun don't jump ahead there yet first off congratulations to Mayor albanes um on your appointment as the new mayor of Clark being nominated and approved by your fellow Town Council Members is a testament to our confidence in you in your leadership and dedication to the community I wish you great success and as you take on this important role and look forward to seeing the positive impact of your leadership of Clark so uh congratulations again if you need anything you know all of us I quickly speak for all of us we'll be there for you but for speaking for myself if there's anything that you need from me I'll be more than happy to assist you and help in any manner um congratulations to Kim bagary on her award tonight for being a volunteer I've known Kim for many years our son's graduated together so thank you for all you've done for the the many years um congratulations to the for new candidates on the EMS Squad and to the two new members of the Fire Department Squad with regards to the comments that were made I believe everyone in the town was aware of what happened with uh Salan Coro due to the news uh coverage of it so for us to have to come up here and repeat what had happened I'm not sure if that's necessary I think we all know what happened on that uh my personal opinion on that is that it was a personal issue for him it was not a a issue of the town councils uh towards us do I approve of of what he what he's done in the past I've said this in the past we have a differ thing of opinion on that but the last series of events those are his personal issues and he made his personal decisions on what he had to do for the best St for himself his family and for the town so that's what I have to say about that if you'd like to speak to me more on that I'm more than happy to discuss it um and that's all that I have to say Mr President thank you councilman hun councilman Manti uh thank you council president um I'm also going to address the two comments that were made tonight um the first one by Mr fuches and uh I'm glad to see that you and I are now on the same page that we can move forward and uh close that chapter of the book and just uh agree that you know we have to move forward into the future um as far as Mr Greaves is concerned I mean I'm a little surprised that he came up and asked a question of what happened when on his Facebook page all he did was post what happened including uh post news articles uh comments and even attended the um plea session over at the county so for him to come up and say what happened I was a little surprised but with that being said I was fully um supportive of Mayor Pon Coro fulfilling his term um I found out the day before his plea that he decided uh to make the decision and I supported him um not only supported him as my mayor and our mayor for the last 24 years but I thanked him for my friendship for the last 40 um I think he's done a great job in this town to make this town what it is today um I believe we all moved into this town or stayed in this town for a reason and I believe that mayor Salan a Coro was a big part of that um he's put a lot of things in place that I'm proud to say that I'm from Clark and that I live here um I'm just you know I go through these articles and these requests from Mr Greaves who has nothing ever of something nice to say about this town um never shown his face at a football game or a basketball game supporting our athletes complains about our Board of Education and our teachers um even at one point in time post on his Facebook that none of us have kids in our uh schools which is totally false um my son who's a junior who I'm very proud of um gets educated by our great teachers um you know I'm I'm proud of our Board of Education and the things that they do for our children I'm also proud of our DPW how they put our Township first and they work hard on weekends to clear the snow for us to travel and to make sure that they pick up our branches and our leaves during during the times that that needs to be done our Police Department in the middle of the night knocks on our doors to tells us our garages are open and you know protects us every single day so I'm proud of this town um I love this town and I'd like to see you come up to this mic a little bit more and talk about the good things that happened in this town um again you know John you could say what you want I'm I'm talking I didn't interrupt you and I wish you wouldn't do it to me but um you know come up every once in a while and tell us about the good time that you had at the Unico feast or at the Christmas tree lighting where you brought your kids and stop saying how you're feared for your two young children in this town and I'm tired of hearing it for the last year and a half and I'm going to say it because I don't think anybody else will but if you're that unhappy when the hell are you leaving um you only been here 3 four years and you haven't embraced this town at all maybe it's time you embrace it you embrace our Sports programs you embrace our athletes and you come with you know enthusiastic motivated ideas instead of asking us what happened in the past and hopefully you'll get over this too and we'll move forward um with that being said I want to congratulate Kim I know Kim a long time she's done a wonderful job in this town you know volunteering a lot of her time um Ralph recognizing her and doing a great job over at the recck program but giving Kim that you know acclimate was just you know just wonderful uh Daniel and Alejandro you know again somebody said before nice seeing uh you know the fire department growing by these young people who come on and want to volunteer their time in our town um and I I also want to welcome Bill gribbs I'm part of the planning board I think he'll do a great job he's he's a good guy as much as I know and I think he'll do a good job on the planning board and congratulations to um Angel you know mayor albanes um I know Angel uh being part of this board for the last four years and you know she's just smart she knows her things she's just a professional and I am really really proud to be part of her team and I know she's going to do a great job and I'm here to you know give her all the support she needs and you know I know you're going to do a phenomenal job uh with that those are my remarks and uh I'll see you next meeting thank you councilman councilman o Conor yes thank you uh first off I want to thank sa for all the work he did in this town over the past 28 years and congratulate Angel as our new mayor Angel has been in this town government for the past 24 years and has helped build what we now have Angel is also a CPA and I look forward to her having a different perspective from the financial side I wish you nothing but the best in your new role as mayor and I look forward to working with you in your Administration I'd also like to thank and congratulate both Bill and Steve on their new roles as council president and Council vice president again I look forward to working with you throughout this year again now I'm repeating congratulate to Kim again not to diminish it that I'm repeating it but it goes for um it's worth saying again volunteer of the year um we have two new volunteers on the fire department you know uh councilman manetti hit on it volunteerism is huge in this town it's big in this town because people want to give back right I'm a product of this town born and raised here sa is a product of this town born and raised here here Jimmy manetti we differ on whether he was born or raised here he wasn't born here but he's lived here most of his life and Brian as well Brian lifelong resident as well right we all look to give back to our town through volunteerism positivity and really building the foundation for our children to teach them that giving back is good again you know whatever your thoughts on S are you either like them or you don't nothing's going to change but you can't deny the fact that s built this town along with the council to what it is today the DPW bulky pickup I remember when bulky pickup was every four years that just happened to coincide with an election year now you get it every month there are a lot of services and things that he's done with the council to make this a great town if you choose not to see it as a great town listen you could always see things as a glass have empty but I like to look at as a glass half full and having that positive perspective passes on to other people and they see positivity as well nothing's ever going to be perfect nothing's ever going to be great nothing I shouldn't say that nothing's ever going to be 100% but striving for 100% is what you should do focus on the positive not the negative and we heard tonight from some people in the crowd it's time to move forward let's move forward you don't move forward by talking about yesterday you move forward for about talking about the progress we're going to make in the future and hopefully you guys Stand by Your Word that we're going to look forward we have a new mayor and from my perspective in working with Angel for the past 20 years um she's the right person for this role she knows government she's smart very thoughtful and I've had the opportunity to spend many many hours her on the campaign Trail as her and I were campaign Partners so um if you don't know angel you're missing something because she's a person worth knowing and she'll do great things for this town that concludes my report thank you councilman o Conor councilman tol thank you very much uh Mr President the first election in in the history of this Township took place on April the 11th 1864 when a man by the name of Robert a Russell was elected to to become the first mayor back then it was committee formed so they did it yearly mayor Russell was nobody really knows about this but he was the owner of a manufacturer of door knobs Russell Irwin meant brass fixtures for ships as well as door knobs you got brass knobs for your door and that's what he owned the entire company but he had his summer home in Clark and he ended up becoming the first mayor of the township tonight we've elected or we're moving forward electing the 40 first mayor of Clark and that's Angel alanes she was the longest serving Council woman in the history of the town from 2001 to 2025 but I would be remiss without talking about Trailblazers before and what women came before Angel what she's going to be building upon that their legacy the first woman who ever ran for public office in the township of Clark was Norma Davenport that was in 1964 she was a councilwoman at large Republican and she lost in the general election of ' 64 No Other Woman served until Elma May com you know the word the name com from come School her husband was the Board of Education director Carl HP Elma mum became a councilwoman in 1972 served 7345 was reelected in 76 but then was stricken with cancered and died in office she was replaced by Virginia aalen Virginia aalan served in 1976 for the unexpired term of Elma May and then went on became First Ward councilwoman from 1979 to 882 she was the first Council first woman to serve as council president in 1982 we'll continue on Ruth Duca third world councilwoman 1983 to 86 she then came left the council came back as a councilwoman at large 89 to 90 then she moved to Pennsylvania with her family carol pluta third W councilwoman 1987 to 1990 liiz Beth Hudak fourth ward she served from 1995 to 1998 and she served as council president in 1998 it was rare that a woman would serve as a council member but if they did to become a council president was very significant Marie SOA councilwoman at large 1993 to 2000 and she had also served as a council president Jee Anderson second W councilwoman 1981 to 1982 these ladies were the Trailblazers in Clark's history kind of recent history but now angel will build from that and continue for the 21st century for women's lib and for continuing doing good progress and good government now I'm going to switch over so those we just lost Mrs Florence CIS white age 100 a lifetime resident of Clark and somebody who gave back to her community throughout her life Joan Marone long lifetime clarite founding member of the grand centurions I went to school with her children Anthony Lisa and Robert Anthony trillo longtime Clark resident and a parishioner of St Agnes church again people who have lived with us who are part of our community who have passed away we take note and we honor them with respect that's all I have tonight Mr President thank you I'll give you more history lessons on S and the rest of what has been accomplished in the last 24 years thank you thank you councilman tol Madam clerk you have anything to add it's all been said I agree with all of you congratulations mayor albanes council president Smith and vice president Hy thank you thank you counselor Mr Dugan no I have no comment Jim you have anything to add um well congratulations uh and look forward to working with the new council president uh vice president and also the mayor uh I've known the mayor for 26 27 28 years now um you know ran for council with her elbar and mayor Bon Coro and all I got to say is that you know it's it's going to be a change you know one of the reasons I came here I lived I've been in town from 1991 through 2020 uh originally I wasn't going to take the job when it was request you know when I was asked uh the mayor talked me into it I knew the town he ran I knew all of the things he brought to this town over those 30 years that I was uh living here and I knew where we were back in 1991 I didn't grow up here like uh councilman manetti and but you know I know how it was and I know what he brought this town to and I thought that I could you know help and bring it and continue to bring it to you know be the best and we continue down that route and I think with you know mayor albanes we're going to continue down that road where is going to be no change no issues and it's going to be you know smooth sailing ahead so um I know appreci appreciate the confidence that you know the mayor has in me and and we're going to continue down that route so you know I hope people don't think that there's going to be a big change because you know from an operational standpoint everybody's still in place and policy standpoint everybody everything is still in place so congratulations again and I um we appreciate all the work that you know the mayor has done when as I was a resident of the town and I look forward to working with the new mayor you know going forward great thank you Jim I'm glad you did decide to uh take the position because you've been a huge asset to the town for the last few years so really appreciate all the hard work you've put in to a town you grew up in uh congratulations to uh mayor albanes again the first female mayor Clark uh but it was welld deserved well earned so looking forward to working with you and Madam clerk looking forward to working hand inand with you again as we did a few years ago and uh again congratulations to Kim bagary what she's done for this town volunteering is just tremendous uh so again congrats to her and that's all I have this evening so motion to adjourn thank you councilman tol second second councilman o Conor thank you all in favor any opposed you