Good evening and welcome to the Township of Clark Council meeting. It's Monday, October 20th, 7:30 p.m. Roll call, please. >> Council member Hoff, >> here. Council member Hun, >> here. Council member Maserella >> here. >> Council member Maniti >> here. >> Council member Okconor
>> here. >> Council member Tol >> here. >> Council President Smith >> here. Please stand for the pledge of allegiance and a moment of silence. >> To the flag of the United States of America to the for it stands. One nation
under God, indivisible, liberty and justice for all. This meeting is in compliance with the open public meetings act chapter 231 pl 1975 as adequate notice of this meeting has been provided by mailing the
annual schedule of meetings to the star ledger the leader formally union county hawk 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
proper filing of said notice. Formal action may be taken at this meeting. >> Great. Thank you. I got a motion to suspend the regular order of business. >> Thank you, Council Member Tol. Thank you, Council Member Hun. All in favor? Any opposed? Okay. Mayor Albanesey's
Thank you, Mr. President. Good evening, everyone. Um, tonight we have a special award presentation. Um, and I'd like to ask, this is for the Girl Scouts. I'd like to ask Alyssa Arnold, Gemma Galins, Galinski,
Gilzinski, is that correct? Okay. April Fleckenstein to come up as well as their troop leader Leanne Yadro. Okay, tonight we're here to honor these Girl Scouts and their troop leader um
because they put together a community or through their project um installed a communication board over at our Caitlyn uh Nelson Park right near Town Hall. And the board features colorful symbols that represent common words
that and phrases like slide, help, play, and friend, allowing children that have um speech or developmental challenges to be able to express themselves and connect with others. And uh we thank these young inspiring women for their
vision and dedication uh for raising funds to make our community a more inclusive place. and it's for everyone. And their work is a reminder that meaningful change often starts with young people who care deeply
about others. And this communication board will open a lot of doors for children who otherwise struggle to be heard and that's something we're incredibly proud to support. So in July we had a ribbon cutting and now the school's been using
the board. And um I also want to mention that um it's very appropriate um that this was placed at the Caitlyn Nel Caitlyn Nelson Park. Uh the playground was built in her honor and Caitlyn was
20 years old when she tragically lost her life. Caitlyn attended Sacred Heart University and was involved in many organizations and was vice president of Capidata Community Services.
Caitlyn was always serving others, but especially children and children with disabilities. So, it's really I know that she would be smiling down on you ladies um for doing this project and um we're very happy um that you made that
special contribution. Now, I don't know if Leanne if you want to make some comments or any of the girls you want to talk about how you raised funds or anything you want to comment on. >> Don't be shy. >> I would just like to thank
>> Come on up. Mhm. >> Um, I just want to thank the community for having supported Girl Scouts in lots of ways through cookie sales and nut sales that we, you know, the girls are always, they sell online, they sell at the local grocery stores, they sell um
on paper order forms, they knock doors doortodoor. They completely funded their project with their cookie sales for the last three years. So, they didn't have to um do any additional fundraising to do this. So, if you have purchased cookies from Troop 41248 or nuts or
magazines or chocolates for the last three years, you helped fund this project. So, thank you to the community and thank you to you and to um you know the recreation department and the schools for supporting them. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> So, I'm going to read the certificate
that we're um mayor certificate of achievement to each of these young ladies. 2025 Girl Scout Troop 41248. It was it is with great pleasure that I, the mayor of Clark Township, recognize you for your outstanding achievements in
receiving your Girl Scout Silver Award, the highest honor a cadet can achieve, focusing on community improvement through the installation of a playground, augmentative, and alternative communication AAC board at the Caitlyn
Nelson Park in Clark, New Jersey. Congratulations. What I want to do is um I would like to have each of you >> take yours and as well.
>> No, that's yours. And what I'd like to do is if you can come in front of the podium here and we'll stand together and take a picture. Well, Thank you, council. >> Before we resume the meeting, I just want to commend you young ladies for
your dedication to the Girl Scouts and to the town of Clark. We really appreciate your involvement. Uh before we resume, if anyone would like to leave, uh you're more than welcome to leave. We'll take a 30 second break. Uh if you'd like to stay, you're more than welcome to stay for the meeting.
>> Going to stay to observe the democratic process. >> Fantastic. All right. All right. Uh motion to resume the regular order of business. >> Thank you, Council Member Tol and thank you, Council Member Hunt. All in favor? >> Any opposed? All right. We're going to
move to communications from the mayor and reports of township officers, Mayor Albanesey's Thank you, Mr. President. I just want to advise um the citizens. Um there were some questions about why were we picking up the branches but not the leaves at
the same time. And um it's a process that we follow public works because we first have to chip all the branches and then once we fill up the um do all of that then we'll have that trucked out uh available for mulch and then we'll be
picking up the leaves shortly. So barring any other storms uh that was the last branch pickup and then we'll have the leaf pickup. Um, okay. The other point I wanted to make was that uh I want to congratulate and
welcome Jonathan Ramirez and Brett Dcasta. Welcome back as a member of the uh Clark Volunteer Fire Department effective October 20th, 25. That'll be voted on tonight by the council. and also to
mention to those in the community if you're interested in volunteering to work on the fire department, we would greatly appreciate it. They're looking for members and probably I'm going to repeat that uh as long as I'm here and um we do appreciate their service and
like I said, Jonathan is new and Brett Dcasta is returning. So, we really welcome both of them and wish them the best. Thank you. Council member Huff, >> thank you. Uh, as far as the library
goes, in September, the library had over 8,62 visitors and record recorded 23,851 website and social media visits. Their Facebook page is booming. They had their um, fall open house. It was fantastic. I
know that the Clark Township Facebook page also shared that. So, if you're not following both of those pages, you should be. On October 27th, next Monday at 6:30 p.m., there's a Halloween magic show. On Tuesday, October 28th at 7 p.m., it's
New Jersey Paranormal. Uh, Boogie Boogie Babies on Tuesday, November 4th, and I'm very excited for the penguin pointers on Thursday, November 6th. You can't touch them. I asked. Um, but I'm still very excited that the penguins will be there.
And, uh, that's all that I have for a report. Thank you. >> Great. Thank you. Before I go to Council Member Hun, for the Girl Scouts, there are agendas on that table. If you'd like to get a copy so you can follow along, it's up to you. All right, Council Member Hun.
>> Thank you, Council President. For the Clark Police Department monthly report for September, we saw a total of 1,945 calls, 631 which came via 911 calls for services including but not limited to
114 ambulance requests, 52 alarm calls, one attempted/burggery, 45 fire department requests, six fraud, identity thefts, three motor vehicle and residential lockouts, 82 motor vehicle accidents, 18
shoplifting and thefts, and 1,422 miscellaneous. There was a total of 22 adult arrests, including but not limited to seven for warrants, 13 for shoplifting, one driving while intoxicated, and one for
aggravated assault. The Youth Aid Bureau handled a total of eight cases, including but not limited to, one for simple assault, one for harassment, three for shoplifting, and one for possession of alcohol and controlled substances. That concludes my report.
Thank you. >> Thank you, Council Member Maserella. >> Yes. Thank you, Council President. It's my DPW report for this evening. Uh branch pickup is complete for 2025. Please do not put any branches in your leaf bags. Unfortunately, they will not
be picked up. So, please make note of that. DPW made four extra pickups, including um the storm damage pickups. Uh grass pickup is complete for 2025.
Bulky and appliance pickup ends October 27th. Make a note of that, please. Um, wards one and two, bulky pickups are complete for 2025. Third ward should be complete tomorrow
and fourth ward on Monday, October 27th. Please make a note of this. Appliance pickup ends on October 27th. Leaf pickup begins at the end of October, beginning in November, and
continues through the final pickup on December 15th. Again, please make a note of that. No branches, plastic bags, rakes, um flower pots, etc. Please do not put that
um in your leaves. Unfortunately, that will not be picked up if it is detected that those items are in the leaves. Grass, vegetable gardens, and perennials can be put in the leaves, and bags are not required.
Um, final electronic drop off for this year is October 25th, 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. in the DPW yard behind this building. and your ID is required. Uh, and to schedule any DPW services,
please go to www.arclark.com and click on the tab for online services. This covers tree permits, appliance pickups, tree trimming, tree removal pickups, potholes, and etc. and let us know which appliance and metal
pickup you are seeking to have done. Tree evaluations are complete for 2025. That's for pruning or taking any trees down. Please do not request a tree evaluation until the spring of 2026
when the trees uh start to bloom. If you have requested a tree to be planted this year, the plantings will be over during the next three weeks. Please remove all basketball and soccer nets
from the roadways. This is a township ordinance for these items on the roadways. It will also pre prevent damage to our equipment and your vehicles and avoids any damage and and
creates a more safer roadway. And it allows DPW to sweep and plow the roads thorough thoroughly and efficiently. And go to DPW at ourclark.com for more information. Thank you. That's
the extent of my report. >> Thank you. Count Councilmani. >> Thank you, Council President. In the month of September, the Clark Fire Department responded to 46 calls, bringing the total calls for the year to 498. Incidents included, but are not limited
to, five for fire related, three for over pressure, rapture, explosion, or overheat incidents. One for rescue and EMS. Seven for hazardous conditions. Six for service and good intent calls. 21 related to false alarms. three for
special incidents. The Clark Fire Department, as the mayor mentioned, is always looking for new members. If anyone you know is interested in joining the department, please contact the fire department through their website at clarkfd.info. As always, I'd like to thank the members
of the fire department for their hard work and dedication, which were instrumental in keeping our residents safe. My full report is available in the clerk's office. This concludes my report. Thank you. Thank you, Councilman Okconor. >> Thank you very much. Uh from the finance
department, the township uh continues to be able to meet its current obligations. So, nice job, Jim. And from the emergency squad in for the month of September. In September, the squad added one new probationary member. The squad has ambulance 515 back from being
remounted, including a new powerlift stretcher. And the squad hosted a monthly training for area squads on patient charting. Uh their call volume for September had 120 calls with four mutual aid calls and this does not include any calls that were dispatched on and had to be cancelled. Total hours
responding to calls is approximately 773 man hours and of course this does not include any hours the members are on duty but not on calls. Year-to- date call volume is 917 calls. With regard to membership at this time all cadet positions are filled and we are
currently keeping a waiting list. They are accepting applications for those 18 years and older. Free CPR, driving and EMT training. Anyone interested can email the squad at www.rclark.org or membership atclarkms.org.
With regard to servicing the community, the squad hosted four blood drives in September and the squad attended the township's annual 911 ceremony. Respectfully submitted, Lori Sheldon, treasurer. Thank you. >> Thank you, Council Member Tol. >> Thank you, Mr. president from the
environmental commission. 37 50gallon bags, 18 tires with no cars. Over 40 participants from the township came out on October the 18th, Saturday,
and gave their time and walked the shores of the Clark Reservoir. Now, even though it's right now shut, it basically shut down and you have a water stream that's a lot less than normal, they went out and they picked up debris,
littered. And we just want to say thank you to the participants who came out to help keep our community free of garbage. A special thank you goes out to Mark Hayden, Nick Mani, Ed Drowski, Joe Zebo, Martha Kamichoff, and to all the members
of the Clark Environmental Commission. If you're interested in joining it, they are looking for members also to come out and help with the others endeavors they do. In the springtime, they clean the Rowway River or Jackson's Falls. And in the fall, they clean up the reservoir,
usually in the middle of October. A very special thank you to all the businesses that donated refreshments for the participants. And again, a special thank you to Cub Scout Pack 145 for their overwhelming dedication and keeping our resi and getting our resi back to the
way mother nature wanted it clean and special. Thank you, Mr. President. That's all I've got on on committee reports. >> Great. Thank you. Before I read my report, just so the Girl Scouts know what we're doing. So, we started our meeting. Each of the council members up here is either a le liaison or runs a
committee. So, we give a report uh before we get into the ordinances and resolutions, the things that we vote on. Uh after I'm finished, we'll go through uh the business meeting and go through our ordinances and resolutions, and then there'll be portions where the public
can come up and comment on them. So, my pool and recreation report, the pool is closed, so it's just a recreation report. Uh this past weekend um we had the Unico American feast on the grounds of Brewer. Unfortunately, the weather
gods didn't cooperate fully with us. We lost half a day Saturday and all day Sunday. Sunday we had to close because there was a noraster in town and the governor issued a state of emergency. Um, anyhow, I'd still like to thank all the
volunteers who came out Thursday and Friday as well as Saturday through the rain early in the day who volunteered to run all the game trailers. Also, I'd like to thank all the people helped set up. And then on Saturday night, because we were closed Sunday, we had to do a
shutdown of the feast, which usually takes us three or four hours, and we did it in about an hour and a half, and we've wrapped up about 12:30 a.m. So again, thank you to Clark Unico. And again, Clark Unico gives all the net proceeds back in the form of
scholarships to ALJ seniors, as well as donations to many of the Clark organizations and sports leagues and local and national charities. Uh this Saturday, October 25th from 12 to 2 will be our annual trunk or treat. That will
be across the street in a parking lot of Brewer. If anyone is willing and able to volunteer your trunk to hand out candy, please contact Ralph Bernardo at 732-4288400 or you can email him at ronardo@ourclark.com.
Uh this year's event will be the biggest one he's ever had. He added a lot of additional features to it. Registration for in town wreck basketball is going on now. If you're interested, please register your child as soon as possible. So, we have enough players to form all
the teams. A new class is beginning this Friday. It's chair volleyball for senior citizens. That'll be across the street in the recreation building. Then on Thursday, December 4th, we will host the annual senior citizen holiday party at
the Grand Centurans. If you're interested in attending, please stop by the recreation office and sign up. And as of now, we're halfway through the fall programs and winter classes will begin signups in mid November. Again, if you have any questions, please stop by
the recreation department uh and ask for Ralph Bernardo. And that's all I have this evening. Uh all these reports are available in the clerk's office and will be available on our website. At this time, we're going to move on to ordinances, appropriations, and claims.
>> For the record, we have one obje one objection has been received as well as four letters in favor of the proposed ordinance. Ordinance 2529, an ordinance to amend chapter 84 entitled animals to change the office to which an
application for a license to operate a kennel, pet shop, shelter, or pound is made and to prohibit the sale of dogs, cats, and rabbits by retail pet stores in the township of Clark.
>> Great. Thank you. At this time, I will open up the meeting to a public hearing on this ordinance only. If anyone would like to come forward, you'll have 5 minutes or duration. Please state your name and the town you reside in. to the clerk, >> Jillia Collins, Clark. Um, I hope that
you put your heart into this amendment to the ordinance. Um, as we've spoken before at other meetings, several of our uh pet stores in the area were charged
by the attorney general uh with the amount of totally there were eight pet stores and the total amount was $70,000 in fines. One of our local Union County pet stores was charged and uh fined
$10,000 under the violation of the New Jersey Pet Protection Act. Um, if anyone is planning to adopt, which we opt for in the animal advocate world, just to let you know, there is a
national site called petfinder.com where you can research any uh pet, rabbit, cat, dog that you would like to adopt and it's petfinder.com.
Uh we have several local rescues in our area. Best friend Dog and Animal Adoption, Brendan Meadows and Woodbridge Animal Society volunteers uh adopt out mainly dogs and cats. Uh
Sarah Rescue from uh Summit, Cause for Pause from Westfield. They mainly do cats. Clark um is contracted with Associated Humane in Newark. At the the end of the summer
this year, they had over 300 dogs ready for adoption. Uh we have locally we have the Woodbridge shelter, the Edison shelter, the Perth Amboy Shelter. If you want to go a little bit out of town, we have the Montlair shelter, we have the
Bloomfield shelter, and again, petfinder.com uh will take you to any um rescue. Um I spoke to a woman that is uh handles rabbit rescue right in Hillside. It's
called Willy's Rabbits, and they're in desperate need for adopters. So you have the opportunity to adopt and not shop. Thank you. >> Thank you, Miss Collins. >> Hi, Larry Cohen, Fanwood, New Jersey. I
just want to thank the mayor and council for your um open-mindedness and your patience with me in allowing me to explain this issue to you and uh mayor for your leadership on this and your advocacy and ultimately for your
compassion in what I hope will be a positive outcome on this upcoming vote. Thank you very much. >> Thank you. Hi, good evening. Uh, my name is Ariel Luovitz. I live in Jersey City, New Jersey. I'm also a public policy specialist with Humane World for
Animals. And again, just wanted to speak briefly and thank this council um for considering this ordinance tonight. I urge you to support it. Um, thank you to the mayor for your vocal support of this issue. And uh just a reminder that this is a preventative ordinance for Clark,
that you are um in passing this this evening, preventing an issue from starting in the city. Um and that you will join over 500 communities nationwide as well as 152 here in New Jersey um if this is passed this
evening. So, thank you again for your time. >> Thank you for coming out. Seeing no one else, I'd like a motion to close this portion of the public. Thank you, Councilman Mezerella, and second, Council Member Tol. All in favor? I >> Any opposed?
>> At this time, I'd like to direct a motion to adopt the ordinance. >> Thank you, Council Member Tol. Can I get a second? >> Second. >> Thank you, Council Member Hoff. Uh, any discussion or questions? Jim, do you want to add anything to it? I know it's self-explanatory.
>> As we discussed over the last few meetings, you know, it it primarily restricts the sale of dog cats and rabbits um within the township. >> Great. Thank you. Okay. Roll call, please. >> Council member Hoff, >> yes. >> Council member Hunt, >> yes.
>> Council member Maserella, >> yes. >> Council member Maniti, >> yes. >> Council member Okconor, >> yes. >> Council member Tol, >> yes. Council President Smith. >> Yes. >> Next one. No objections have been received in con in connection with this
proposed ordinance. Ordinance 2530, an ordinance to amend chapter 195 entitled land use and development. Section 195-160 entitled permitted signs subsection D
entitled LCI zone of the code of the township of Clark. Great. >> Thank you. At this time, I will open up the meeting to the public on this ordinance only. If anyone like to come forward, you'll have five minutes of duration. Please state your name and town you reside in.
All right. See no one like a motion to close this portion of the meeting. >> Thank you, Council Member Hun. I get a second. >> I'll second that. >> Thank you, Council Member Maniti. All in favor? >> Any opposed? >> All right. A motion to adopt the ordinance. >> Yes, I'll adopt make a motion. >> Thank you, Council Member Maserella. Can
I get a second? Second. >> Thank you, Council Member Tol. Any discussion or questions for the business administrator? Jim, do you have anything to add? >> Yeah, this um this ordinance change is for having the ability to put signs on
three sides of the building. It restricts the amount of um signs to the three. It also controls the size of those signs. Uh we've now that we have a few more of these freestanding buildings like we have in Clark Commons and the new Chase Bank that's coming in, we
wanted to just instead of having a variance every time. This way we control what we want. If someone wants someone something bigger or different, they want to put four signs or something different, they could always go for the variance, but there's just it's reasonable for what they're looking for and um the ordinance just makes it
easier. >> Great. Thank you. Uh roll call, please. >> Council member Hoff. Yes. Council member Hunt. >> Yes. >> Council member Maserella. >> Yes. >> Council member Maniti. >> Yes. >> Council member Okconor. >> Yes. >> Council member Tol. >> Yes. >> Council President Smith.
>> Yes. >> Whenever you're ready, we'll go to introduction of proposed ordinances. Uh, Ordinance 2531, an ordinance to amend chapter 145 entitled fees, article 5 entitled recreation department, section
145-8 entitled program fees of the code of the township of Clark. >> I get a motion. >> Yes, I'll move it. >> Thank you, Council Member Maserella. Second. >> Second that, please. >> Thank you, Council Member Hun. Any discussion? Go ahead, Jim. Yeah, this is um to clarify one thing that there's
only one um garage permitted on properties so we don't get into uh people trying to put multiple garages on their properties. The other thing is that we include um gazeos and perglas in the square footage. >> You're talking about number four. This
is number three. >> Oh, sorry. This is the uh >> Yeah, the recreation >> program fees. >> Oh, sorry about that. Um yeah, the program fees. You know, we we are going to, as we discussed at the executive meeting, what we're going to be doing is
making a change that we change the program fees every year by resolution. This is going to establish um a minimum maximum fee and every year if we're going to increase them as opposed to doing it by ordinance. >> Great. Thank you. Uh roll call, please.
>> Council member Hoff, >> yes. Council member Hun, >> yes. >> Council member Maserella, >> yes. Council member Maniti, >> yes. >> Council member Okconor, >> yes. >> Council member Tol, >> yes. >> Council President Smith, >> yes. >> And public hearing will be on November
17th, number four, >> 2532, an ordinance amending chapter 195, part 3, article 22, section 195-123.2, 2 entitled requirements for residential
accessory uses and structures and article 28 section 195-210 entitled swimming pools. >> I get a motion. >> Move that, please. >> Thank you, council member Hun. Can I get a second? >> I'll second it.
>> Council member Huff. Thank you. All right, Jim. Now, okay. Well, you heard half of the story. Um I I'll start from the top though. So this is going to restrict the garages to one um garage
per property. Uh increase the size of sheds to be permitted of 200 square ft included within the shed definition. Uh gazeos and pergolas. And it clarifies the swimming pools because we had swimming pools in two different places.
Uh section 136 195. And this way we only have one area to manage the requirements for um changes to swimming pools and swimming pool ordinances. >> Great. Thank you. Anyone else? Okay, roll call, please. >> Council member Hoff, >> yes.
>> Council member Hunt, >> yes. >> Council member Maserella, >> yes. >> Council member Miniti, >> yes. >> Council member Okconor, >> yes. >> Council member Tol, >> yes. >> Council President Smith, >> yes. >> And the public hearing will be on November 17th.
Ordinance 2533 bonds ordinance to authorize the undertaking of various infrastructure improvements in by and for the township of Clark in the county of Union state of New Jersey to appropriate the sum of
$996,000 $996300 to pay the cost thereof to make a down payment to authorize the issuance of bonds to finance such appropriation and to provide for the issuance of bond
anticipation notes in anticipation of the issuance of such bonds. >> We got a motion. >> A motion. >> Thank you, Council Member Hoff. Can I get a second? >> Thank you, Council Member Tol. Uh Jim,
>> this is to the emergency authorization that we had a few months ago. This is bonding for the emergency authorization. We're going to have Matana Construction Company come in. They're going to be doing work on Wendle Place, one of the
sewer um outflows into the reservoir collapsed and we're we're fixing that. We had um some erosion that we need to protect. We're going to put gabian walls in to protect it and we did had a retaining wall that was undermined by
the uh water flow um from the July storm. So, this is going to be repairing all of that. >> Thank you. Anyone else have any questions? All right, roll call, please. >> Council member Hoff, >> yes. >> Council member Hund, >> yes.
>> Council memberella, >> yes. >> Council member Maniti, >> yes. >> Council member Okconor, >> yes. >> Council member Tol, >> yes. >> Council President Smith, >> yes. >> And the public hearing will be on November 17th. >> Thank you. And we'll move on to payment of claims. Councilman Okconor. Thank
>> you. I have reviewed the bills for the month holding $37,2658. Thank you. >> Thank you. All right. At this time, we're going to move to the 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 NJSA10 col4-12A and the code of the township of clerk, each person addressing the council shall give their 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 5 minutes or duration at the conclusion of the statements or questions from a member of the public. The council president his or her discretion uh may choose to respond or not respond. So if anyone would like to come forward on agenda items only, please do so.
Okay, seeing no one, I make a motion to close. Thank you, Councilman Tol and thank you, Councilman Hund. All in favor? >> Any opposed? All right, now we'll move on to the consent agenda resolutions. >> The following items are considered
routine and non-controversial items by the township council and will be enacted upon one motion. There will be no separate discussion of 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 on the on the consent agenda. Authorizing a shared services agreement between the township of Clark and the Clark Board of Education for publicity, communication, and media related
services. Number seven, award of contract to Acrashure LLC for insurance broker consultant services for the state health benefits program for an annual fee not to ex not to exceed $18,000.
Number eight, award of contract to McManaman Scotland and Bowman LLC for professional legal services as redevelopment attorney for an annual fee not to exceed $50,000. Number nine, authorizing the township to
enter in a mutual benefit and use agreement with Ashbrit, Inc. under state contract for disaster debris removal services. Number 10, appointing Jonathan Ramirez and Brett D. Costa as members of the
Clark Volunteer Department effective October 20th, 25, 2025. Number 11, authorizing the tax collector to make proper adjustments for 100% property tax exemption of block 183, lot
one in accordance with the directive from the US Department of Veterans Affairs. Number 12, authorizing the tax collector to refund overpayment of taxes in the amount of $8,655.34. Authorizing the access agreement for the
Clark reservoir at 38 Wendell Place. Number 14, amending the capital budget pursuant to NJAC 530-4.4B 4B to include various infrastructure improvements.
Number 15, refunding construction permit number 250-274 for 31 Katherine Street in the amount of $200. >> Thank you. Can I get a motion to adopt the consent agenda? >> So move. >> Thank you, Council Member Tolk. I get a second. >> I'll second it.
>> Thank you, Council Member Hoff. Any discussion or highlights? Anyone have any questions? Anything you want to highlight in there? >> No. I think we're good on on all those items as we discussed at the um workshop meeting. >> Great. All right. Roll call, please.
>> Council member Hoff, >> yes. >> Council member Hunt, >> yes. >> Council member Maserella, >> yes. >> Council member Maniti, >> yes. >> Council member Okconor, >> yes. >> Council member Tol, >> yes. >> Council President Smith, >> yes.
>> Did you catch your breath? You want to move to resolutions? >> Sound good. >> Okay. resolutions authorizing the tax collector to refund overpayment of sewer fees in the amount of $1,288.91 cents.
>> I get a motion. >> I'll move that up, please. >> Thank you, Councilman Hund. I get a second. >> I'll second it. >> Thank you, Council Member Maniti. Uh, any discussion? I think it's self-explanatory. So, roll call, please. >> Council member Hoff, abstain.
>> Council member Hund, >> yes. >> Council member Maserella, >> yes. Council member Maniti. >> Yes. >> Council member Okconor. >> Yes. >> Council member Tol. >> Yes. >> Council President Smith. >> Yes. >> Public hearing authorizing the
submission of an application for funding for the year 52 community block community development block grant program. >> Okay. At this time, I will open the meeting to the public hearing on this resolution. If anyone would like to come forward, please state your name and town
you reside in and you'll have five minutes for duration. Okay, seeing no one like a motion to close the public hearing. >> Thank you, Council Member Tol. Second. Thank you, Council Member Hun. All in favor? >> Any opposed? At this time, I need a motion to adopt the resolution.
>> I'd like to move that, please. >> Thank you, Council Member Okconor. Okay, a second. >> Yes, I will second it. >> Thank you, Council Member Maserella. >> Second comment on this one. Um so each year we apply for community development block grants and uh we get
two um grants from the county um that we participate in this group and one of them is for the curb cuts as we do our roads. We get funding for that and also we get some funding for
our um employees that work on uh aging programs such as the bus, the senior center gym, and um that's from the social services aspect. So, we have two applications um that we'll be submitting this year.
>> Great. Thank you. Roll call, please. >> Council member Hoff, >> yes. >> Council member Hun, >> yes. Council member Maserella, >> yes. >> Council member Maniti, >> yes. >> Council member Okconor, >> yes. >> Council member Tol, >> yes. >> Council President Smith, >> yes.
Is there any new business on the calendar? >> There's no new business. >> Okay. Thank you. All right. Now, we'll move on to public comments. I'll open the meeting to the public. Well, the comment portion of the meeting is to allow the public to bring to the council's attention their concerns or comments in accordance with NJSA104-12A
and the code of the township of clerk. 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. So, if anyone would like to come forward, please do so at this time. Good evening, John Gre from Clark. Um, I just quickly wanted to address some
things that were said about the pilots and how there was misinformation. Um, I just briefly wanted to go over some things and see what part is misinformation. Um, so it's very clearly uh known that
pilots don't contribute any money towards the school budget. Um, but we've used the example of the Walnut Hill apartments, but especially in residential situations, they contribute students to the school system.
And I've done Opra requests and I've checked the facts and I looked at the school budget and the school budget says that the per pupil cost is $16,952. I did an Oprah request to the school board and asked them how many students were coming from those apartments and I
got a response and it said 28. So if you add that up, it's $474,656. If the pilot development is not contributing any money toward the school board for those students, where does that money come from?
I know that this the town gives um a certain amount to the school board especially uh specifically just for that one development and it's about $55,000. But I think it's important to note that a $55,000 is a lot less than $474,000.
But also that's the same amount they were getting when there was zero students going to the schools. So it seems if the pilot development isn't paying for those students, the money has to come from somewhere. It seems pretty obvious that it would be homeowners making up the difference.
This is the simple math, the simple facts I've been stating for a while. What part of that is misinformation? Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Greavves. Hello, Nancy Toascus Clark.
I'm not a pilot professional here know the inn but I keep hearing over and over about the cost of the students with the pilot program and I guess mathematically I always look at it a different way if the denominator increases that means the
cost per student is probably less so maybe the schools are running so efficiently we really don't have to get involved with every new student cost $16,000 Maybe each new student costs $15,000. So, I kind of have a different way of
looking at the impact of the pilot and commend the school system to be able to take in additional students without costing the taxpayers of the town more. So, that's the first thing which I wasn't prepared to speak on tonight, but that's kind of how I look at it. The
second, I'd like to commend the leader of the Girl Scout pack, not only for the achievement that they had tonight, but for encouraging the girls to stay. And I'm not on the board of education, and I know this isn't a board of education
meeting, but I'm saying it just out loud to the public. It's nice to have young people getting involved and seeing what the process is to run a town. That it just doesn't run because it's there and it has trees and roads. That there are people actually that get waken up in the
middle of the night when something doesn't go right and have to plan all the work in order to keep a town running. It doesn't run by itself. It takes people to run it and the people are on the council and we need more people involved either on the council
itself or volunteers in the town as we have a lot but we never have enough. And the third thing is every Thursday morning there's a I guess a van that goes around tossing out bags of coupons,
which I don't have a problem with people wanting to use coupons. But I do have a problem with now the coupons don't even seem to wind up on people's driveways. They wind up in the street. And I'm a walker in the town, so I'm constantly
picking up trash along the road. I'm constantly picking up these bags and placing them on people's driveways because they're sitting in the gutter in front. And a lot of people just totally ignore these bags and they either break open and the papers blow all around,
which I usually pick up, or they sit there until they get sogged down and disgusting looking that maybe it encourages the homeowners to pick them up. And a lot of them just go by, I guess, you know, don't really see them there. But how what is this thing that
goes around on Thursday mornings throwing out bags of coupons to people that might not even want them? I mean, is there a way for people to opt out of this? I know I used to get them. I don't get it anymore. I don't know why I didn't say anything about it, but is
this a program that the town pays for it to get it done or do they pay us to throw the garbage out in the streets? >> Do you have any other comments or questions? Okay. So, if you want to have a seat, we'll address it at the end. Thank you. >> Cheers. Good evening. Michael Schulman,
Clark, New Jersey. Sat sort of on the sidelines the last few months, watching and listening to see if after the mess of the last administration, there was a steadier
hand at the wheel. And unfortunately, when I receive, as always, campaign literature as elections get closer, it's clearly there's not because, as my mail told me, we can't let Clark go
backwards. And I would say people here and the people that watch, we can't let Clark can't let Clark stay backwards. that there's some notion that Clark used to have out of control
finances and poor services, but but for our interim mayor uh that that changed things that we now have better and more stable taxes and better services. But I think about that
and how untrue that that is because we've had 24 years in essence of the same leadership and our finances are out of control. Taxes the last few years have gone up and up and up. Millions in legal fees, which we've talked about at Nauseium, corruption and selfdealing,
and pilot programs that I don't think Mr. Greavves could make any more clear, line the pockets of developers and hurt the taxpayers. And on the same side, the services in this town, we continue year five, no police chief. We have all this development and absolutely no way for
infrastructure to handle it. Um, but we do make sure that traffic uh takes place always when we have drop off and pickup at schools and we have a stalled downtown development and another beautiful year of the A&P still sitting there. So, I'm not sure necessarily the
last 24 years have showed us that there is services and taxes or anything moving in the right direction. But the question isn't what happened 24 years ago, the nostalgia of some yestery year. The question is, what's the next four years
going to be like? And our interim mayor, who was in a council person, sat silently while myself and many other people for the last three years talked about the issues this town was facing and said nothing, and then took over as mayor and has still not said that she
would do anything different than what took place. Same can be said for Councilwoman Hoff, who again, no comment to what maybe she would have done differently if she were where she sits now. And I turn over this
this flyer and I see some photos. I see a beautiful park, but it's a county park taking credit for a county park. That's our county, not our town. We know what the town parks look like. They're in fairly disrepair. And then I see this
building which was paid for with bonds which taxpayers still pay for and was created with no second floor or annex. So the municipal office is still at Brewer. And why is that important? Well, because you also were highlighting preK.
PreK where parents are shleing their kids to other towns because we didn't have the space for them until we had to then put another wing on the building to the high school and redevelop it. And when we talk about the prek, I've
sat here for the last few years where everyone says over and over again, "This isn't the board of ed, and we don't talk about the schools here, but you're trying to take credit for the prek." Well, you can't take credit without taking responsibility. The responsibility is those taxes keep going
up and up, but the test scores and the rankings keep going down and down. So, let's be honest when putting out information. But when I say this, the keyboard warriors and the folks in here like to tell me, "Why don't you leave? Why do you keep coming here and complaining?"
But I'll say it again. I love Clark. >> I love living here. Please, no comments from the gallery. Please go ahead. Continue. Mr. Schulman. >> Thank you. I love walking my daughter to the bus stop and waving to my neighbors while I have my coffee and going to
soccer and scouts. And when you love something, it is your job to continue to make sure it gets better and not sit silently. And we can do all those things I just mentioned with smarter leadership that can take on the growing challenges this town faces. John Greavves and Bill
Gri are bright and capable candidates who I've had the privilege to become friends with and have worked with and fought hard to make a stronger Clark. They provided solutions and ideas to improve this town. >> Administration's ignorance. >> You just got about 20 seconds. Just one time. Okay.
>> Time this out. >> They're fathers to young families who've been mo who are motivated to see this town thrive for years to come. which is why I'm voting for John and Bill and I'm asking everyone listening to do so as well. Thank you.
>> Yeah. Thank you. >> So, now that we've heard uh Glenn Fogerty from Lake Avenue, I noticed Mr. Schulman doesn't even tell us where he lives. He's over on the DMZ with Cranford and he always seems more interested in the business of Cranford just like John Graves who
>> Can you just uh give your name in town to the clerk, please? >> Yes. Name of Clark, New Jersey off Lake Avenue. Good. >> No, your name your name to the clerk. Thank you. >> Sorry, I was caught up in in responding to the lies that Mr. Schulman always profers on this uh on this podium. So,
speaking about Mr. Showman. He did his little dog and pony show in front of the&mp last year claiming why hasn't Clark developed this. And at the last meeting, Mr. Greavves gets up here and says we should not develop this and let it stay fellowow until we get a
developer who doesn't want to make a profit and wants to put up a building where maybe we can house illegal aliens or whatever it is Mr. Graves wants to house there. Uh he never says exactly what he wants to house there. And for a guy who doesn't even work a job and is
supported by his rich wife, come on. What do you know, Mr. Graves, about the hardships of working people in this town? So tonight, I'm here to warn the good citizens of Clark, about the destructive plans and agendas and extremist views of this group called
Stronger Clark and their board of ed puppets, Clark parents. So now they after Mr. Schulman's shambolic failure of a campaign where the voters clearly rejected him and his agenda and his high tax agenda because his solution for
higher taxes is more taxes. How do more taxes ever make anything more affordable? Mr. Schulman, they do not. You're you have no solutions. Just your little attack dog act. You've never run a business. You're just a criminal
defense lawyer sticking up for the worst people in our society. So now they come with Graves and Mr. Jib can't even pronounce his own name in Polish properly. Speaking as a Slavic American here, I find that bizarre. And he comes
out with the support of Rob Curry hyphen Smithsman Patel who supports Zoron Mandami, the anti-semitic communist. This is a post by stronger Clark supporter and and uh puppet master Rob
Curry Smithson hyphen hyphen hyphen Patel the hyphenator these people Mr. Jib and Mr. Greavves Mr. Grievance because that's all he has or has grievances about this town.
Uh, they're just puppets of the same old people. Nancy Sheridan, Phil Rashkowski, Super Dario, and Mike Schulman. The voters rejected you, Mike Schulman. Get that clear. You never have any
solutions. All you do is make baseless claims over and over again. When I've looked at what Stronger Clark wants to do, what they want is stronger crime. Why do they want local control of the police department? because they want to
dismantle it. They are soft on crime. They want to protect criminals like Mr. Schulman has spent his entire life doing and they disparage crime victims. They want stronger property taxes. And how on earth, as I said before, does that make anything more affordable? And they want
stronger red tape and regulations. So, let's talk about John Greavves. He doesn't hold the job. His wife supports him. His rich doctor wife, I bet he's a millionaire. Yet these millionaires like him and his buddy Bernie Sanders love to talk about billionaires. Well, Mr.
Greavves, your net worth is quite possibly over a million, maybe more. So, who are you? You come up here slinking onto this podium every week. You waste this council's time with your open public records act requests every day
about your obsession with these pilot programs in a feudal attempt to back up your incoherent and off off point personal attacks. You don't have a basic understanding of accounting. You have no experience in government. You appear at Cranford council meetings. I don't know
why you're so concerned with Cranford. And then you go up there and do a little dance. I haven't seen dancing that bad since Elaine on Seinfeld. What are you doing? Are you a clown, Mr. Greavves? You talk about the community, Mr. Greavves, but I never see the community here with you.
>> You got 30 seconds. >> Let's talk about Mr. Jib, Mr. Mushroom in Polish, as that would translate to. He's never here. So, how why would we want to have a person on council that never shows up? He claims he's working
on Mondays. So, how is that going to change? He says he's a moderate yet he's in bed with these leftists. >> You got 10 seconds. >> Furthermore, this uh group of Clark parents, they're crazy, too. I give you a quote from Katie Poppy Nanho. New
debate game. Every Donald Every time Donald Trump Xanax, >> your time's up >> and hope enough to not have to live through his presidency. That does that seems pretty partisan to me. Thank you. >> Thank you. Hi.
>> I've never done this before. >> Just state your name and town you reside in. >> Frankenstein from Clark. Um, this is my first appearance here at a council meeting and uh I just want to make an observation and and it's something that I
really struggle with these days. In my mind, it's not red versus blue anymore. Both sides come out attacking each other. And our kids are seeing this. They're seeing them in the schools. They're seeing them in the wreck.
It's friends against friends. They're afraid to talk about what they believe in. They're afraid to talk to support people. When are we going to get back to being human again? Friends again. I mean, just sitting in here alone has me wanting to cry because
we have two sides of the agenda right here, ready to attack each other. This is our youth. This is our future. When we see adults fight each other, they're going to start fighting each
other. They're going to lose friends. There's people that don't talk to any each other anymore that we're lifelong friends. When are we going to start being accountable for us, for all of us, the people in this room?
This is who our future is. It's not me. It's not you. It's not you. It's not the other guy that was here, Schulman or whatever. It's not It's not them. They're watching us. They're seeing how we act to our friends and our neighbors.
I don't care if you're red. I don't care if you're blue, black, white, red, purple, green. I care about what you stand for. And just sitting here tonight listening to these two gentlemen, I want to cry.
When are we going to start changing us? That's all I have to say. C >> can you just give your Can you just give your name to the clerk if you can go over there so she gets a spelling for the record? Thank you. two S's T I
>> thank you. >> Good evening again, Jillia Collins Clark. Thank you for passing the um amendment to the ordinance regarding the pet stores. Um I know you all probably have traveled down Madison Hill Road and
seen the destruction of the trees by Union County. Uh in light of an issue that happened in Somerset County uh in the township of Bridgewater, the mayor has written, not our mayor,
their mayor, uh has written and they're pursuing legal action against the county of Somerset. They were supposed to remove 45 trees and they removed reportedly in excess of
300 trees to make a road. Um, I know we've heard it before that Clark has no control over what the county does, but I was wondering if any construction official or anyone from the Shade Tree
Commission has ever gone to the site and seen or talked to anyone from CME or Union Paving uh as to what is being done there. And um
the removal is horrible. I went by today for the first time and they're just chipping away. And I don't know what they're doing behind this location. I see some construction uh vehicles. I mean um m machinery
behind our uh former hopefully the pistol range and the DPW. And I don't know if they're shoring up the property for the retaining wall that they're supposed to be putting in. if someone can advise me if any Clark
construction official or anyone in the Clark council well not council in the Shade Tree Commission has gone over and checked on what the county is doing and you know the excuse that they have power
over us. I guess Bridgewater knows that they can uh bring a um suit against the county. Thank you. Their county. >> Thank you.
>> Anybody else like to come forward? Okay. Seeing no one, I like a motion to close this portion. >> Move. >> Thank you, Council Member Tol and thank you, Council Member Hun. All in favor? I. Any opposed? Mayor Albanese.
>> Thank you, Mr. President. >> Before I respond to some of the comments that were made, I just want to say I want to thank uh the entire team, business administrator, emergency management, public safety, fire, DPW,
uh for dealing with the storm last week. I had friends calling me from down the shore saying, "Clark is telling everyone where to park and getting ready for the storm." We were fortunate we didn't get hit with any extensive rain because if we got five or six inches in an hour or
so, uh we we'd have a big problem as as we've had before. So, we want to make sure um better safe than sorry. It is unfortunate what happened with the feast, but um I thank you all for those um actions and staying on top of everything, keeping everyone informed.
And it was clear, you know, DPW went around town, picked up what they could, branches, leaves, and uh all the all the um barricades were out and everyone was ready ready on hand. So, I appreciate that. Um,
well, let me let me uh respond to Mr. Schman. He left. I guess he's done that in the past, but um yeah, we don't want the town to go backwards. I am running for mayor and uh for the past 24 years. I served on this township council
and things were not bright and rosy then. And that wasn't that long ago. It sounds long ago. It's it's beyond your lifetime for these young ladies, but um not for the condition of the A&P or food town or whatever you want to call it. Um
it's been that way for a long, long time. Um I've lived here for 39 years. I raised my family here. My children went to school here. And I have to say when they were very young, there were no activities for the kids. There was no trunk or treat, no breakfast with Santa,
egg hunt, anything like that. we had to go to other towns to do that. Uh as they got older, we had a full-time recreation director appointed and uh they were able to get involved with the camp. One of my sons uh was a coach at the camp. Um
yeah, but since I was elected in 2000, my focus has always been on Clark safety, keeping it vibrant and fiscally responsible. And I can say that in the past it wasn't the case. As a CPA and a municipal finance
officer, I've used my professional background to help ensure financial stability and high quality services during these years. Currently, I serve as a chief financial officer and purchasing agent for one of New Jerseys largest municipalities. I feel that
gives me a lot of experience on top of the my previous financial experience. Um, as far as taxes, I looked up the surrounding tax rates of communities here and over the years we've had the lowest tax rates. Yeah,
taxes do go up, but we still have maintained the lowest tax rates in this county for all the towns that are our size, at least for the suburban ones. And um, you know, I'm I'm hoping that uh you can appreciate that we have done
those things. we do get strong bond ratings which help us to borrow. Um you know he mentioned we we didn't build a three-story building here whatever he expected. Um we did what we felt was prudent and
financially uh attainable to keep our debt uh as we've always done in the past keep paying our debt off for whatever we spend. and I think it's a beautiful facility and I'm I'm very happy with it and I hope that the community is as
well. Um, working with the council and administration, I feel that we've re revitalized our township facilities, built this new police station, put an addition on our library, expanded recreation for all ages, and have
supported our schools with many capital projects and improvements. And also, yes, we do have the municipal facility used for the prek. Um, I could go into further details on all of these items, but as your mayor, I
I want to talk about my primary concern. We hear a lot of talk about, you know, pilots and what have you. This pro, we have a problem in the state of New Jersey. So whether you're Democrat, Republican, I've said this before,
it relates to the scale and pace of the state imposed affordable housing mandates. Yeah, I agree that we have these mandates and they are a strain on our infrastructure and local services. We pay taxes just like you. We want this
town to stay the way it is. It's a single family uh suburban town. We don't have train stations here. uh we don't have bus stations here, but at the same time, we do want attainable housing for working families
and we and this must be done responsibly with adequate roads, schools, and utilities to support it. There's no doubt in my mind about that. So, if anyone was confused about that, I just want to be clear on it. Growth without infrastructure isn't affordable and it's not going to be sustainable in the
state. At the same time, outright refusal to comply is not an option. That's not an option that I have here. If I want to do what's right for this town. Okay. So, our approach has been careful,
datadriven. We are complying with the courts and ensuring that Clark retains legal immunity while protecting our community's character. We don't want to be sued by the courts
um and and developers. So, I hope you understand what I've just said and looked at the big picture because I'm going to go into a little bit about what John Greavves has brought up now. So, he focuses on
pilots and he said, "Where does that money for the schools come from?" Well, in a pilot, the state has put together a plan where the township will get most of the money and the county will get five 5%. So, the town gets 95%,
county gets 5%. Now, I didn't write those laws by the state, but the purpose of this is so that the when the development occurs to subsidize that affordable housing, they're giving money to the town so that they know year after year they're going
to get a steady stream of income from those developments from the pilot. Um, schools are funded by federal funding and state funding and then they prepare a budget and then the town collects the
tax money from the budget funding that they need and they prepare the budget. We don't prepare the budget. They prepare the budget. They negotiate their contracts and they tell us what they need and that is put on the taxpayers.
As far as student population going up, I looked at the statistics from the direct um superintendent for the past 10 years and the numbers are pretty much the same. It goes up and down maybe 100 200 per year, but it's pretty much the same.
We have 15,000 people in this town, more than 15,000. There's about 2,200 that go to school here. So, yes, everyone's paying for schools. This council, they all pay taxes. I pay taxes. Most of them had their children go
through the school system, but they're not anymore. But this is how it works. We all are value education in our town and we pay our taxes for the schools. I don't know what the confusion is
um or misinformation when the township, you have to look at it this way. You have school budget, county budget, and the municipal budget. The pilot money that comes in, whether it's in this pocket or the school's pocket, the total tax bill is going to
go down when we get that money. I don't know how many people look at all the different budgets. I know John Greavves does, but if you look at it, it doesn't matter at the end of the day if the school is getting what they need, then the money from the pilot will
reduce taxes for the township. And it's it is helpful to understand um and I think probably the misinformation part was I had some individuals saying that we're losing $20 million. Well, the
the entire municipal budget's $29 million. So, I don't know how we're losing $20 million. Um, but the bottom line of it is we take all the revenue that we get in, we figure out what we need to spend to run this town
um in a responsible manner and whatever we don't have from other income, that's how the taxes are calculated. It's a it's try to keep it very simple. Um
so in summary I think it's helpful for everyone um to focus on the big picture regarding development and if there was and I I thought a good point was made this evening about the um
food town and on one hand they don't want development on the other hand they're not happy with what's there I think that I have the experience the knowledge, the team to deal with issues because apparently the
same question comes up at every meeting for Mr. Greavves and it's it's not going to change. The answer is not going to change. So, as I said, we need to deal with these issues with the state. We need to fight to make sure our infrastructure is protected
and that um we make the right decisions and work with the right experienced people that we have on our team here. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mayor. Council member Huff.
I'm like scribbling different things that I was going to start with and now I feel obligated. But I just want to start off with, you know, thank you to the mayor for the comments that you just made. I appreciate what Nancy said. Um, in
addition to the denominator, um, words like fixed cost and just basic budgeting principles. Um, I wish that we could repeat those words as frequently as we use the word pilot. Um, misinformation to me is repeatedly
twisting incomplete data sets to suit an argument or position. And it's just simply more complicated than that. Half information is dangerous. It's manipulative. It's performative. And we owe it to ourselves to get the full picture to go to the
organic sources or to read yourself or to get educated about it. And that's our job and and everyone's job. I think you have an obligation to get informed. Um there is no shortage of opportunities to
get involved and informed in this town. Um, however, refusal to accept facts or an inability simply to comprehend something in spite of everyone's best effort requires some accountability. At some point, you have
to take ownership of the fact that maybe you're just not getting it. To the man who left, who's also a lawyer, I don't know how two lawyers can sit here and say things like millions of dollars of legal fees and hurting taxpayers. that two lawyers pretend not
to understand lawsuits, confidentiality agreements, employment contracts, insurance settlements, legal proceedings, how Oprah's work. But again, since my first meeting up here, it has been performative, manipulative, and uncomfortable.
And Melissa, you stood up and you said it was upsetting. And I'm just going to say this, I get it. But at the same time, if I can shout this from the rooftops, we have been going I I'm not going to speak for anyone else. I've been going doortodoor
and I keep and I was talking to a business owner today and I said if I have the opportunity to share this, I'm going to People want the same things in this town. You want to be safe. You want life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Whether you're red or blue on
a local level, seriously, like the people in this town repeatedly say things like, "I love my street and I love my neighbors and you know, but Clark has changed." And I
just think, well, who do you know on the next block? And who do you know on the block further than that? and you love your neighbors and you have great experiences and your interactions are positive and it almost feels like we're being told that we shouldn't be happy. It almost feels like we're being told
that we should be negative. And don't get me started on the soap box of the manufactured anger that is poisoning everybody, kids, me, adults. Social media thrives on anger, right? Engagement, the more monetization it is
because of anger. Clark is a phenomenal town with phenomenal people and there are a few over here and a few over here but that is not the majority of the people in this town. So for the girls that are here today and the people watching and those who I am talking to
day in and day out I literally had a woman tell me that she wanted she was very sad I was married. She wanted me she thought I'd be a good match for her 77year-old son and she said it a lot. But she also told me when she found out what party I represented that she would
never vote for me. And I said to her, "So I could be your daughter-in-law, but you wouldn't vote for me because of the party." And she said, "Sorry." And I just thought, "What are we doing?" Like, and she said, "But I really like you." And it's like, "Okay, so you really like me. You like everything I'm saying.
We're having a great interaction. You held my hand and we walked with your walker. But you know, the majority of the people in this town feel the same way. They're happy. They feel safe. We have
an amazing We have amazing resources. We have amazing administration, recreation, uh, emergency services, all of these things. So, don't cry, honestly, because it's not that bad. And don't let the
toxicity of the few who just happen to be a little bit loud poison the majority of the good because that's what's really out there. And to everyone who sits there and says, "I love my street and I love my I love my neighbors, but I feel differently about the town."
come out, talk to people a little bit further because I guarantee you in every walk of life, whether it's my job or softball or this or going to the senior breakfast or going to kid events or PTA events from from 0 to 99, everyone wants
the same thing. They want to be happy. They want to be safe. They want to be healthy. And they want to have, you know, basic rights. I don't know that anyone's going to disagree with that in this town. I just feel like we're being told to be mad. And I I I guess I'm just going to
say that the last person who said that to me, I said, 'What are you mad about? And he said, "I don't know. I just am." And it's like, you know what? Like, come here, give me a hug. Like, I mean, what if you can't articulate why you're mad? See, you got it, right? You hug each
other. No, but it's not as simple as hugging each other, right? But at the same time, I'm refusing to allow myself and everyone that I come into contact with to believe that this manipulative performative anger is actually a necessary problem in
this town in this town. I will just end with saying it's been my absolute pleasure these last few months. Um, I thought I was involved in town before, but um, little did I know, but spending so much time in town recently, uh, between the amazing senior day breakfast that I got to go to with Ralph and the
administration and the team, um, going to, uh, with our, um, fantastic police director, Grady, um, and some senior citizens. I learned a lot. The scams are terrifying, um, but it was a great educational experience. Um, I also had
the honor to attend the ALJ Hall of Fame athletic event the other night and granted it was our football team and my very um someone who's incredibly important in the last 20 years of my life both um sorry the football team and Bob Taylor
being inducted was incredible. I thought it was an amazing event and incredibly emotional and what but what actually hit me and this goes to kind of what we were talking about before. It was so beautifully done and you sat there and you watched these athletes who came out of the Clark school district and
crusader pride and all of that stuff but they were surrounded by people cheering them on decades later. And as much as they were these amazing athletes who had accomplished these incredible things after high school it kind of continued. They had amazing, you know, professional
careers, personal achievements, professional, you know, athletic, but also regular, you know, in their daily life and they were great people. So, they weren't just amazing athletes. They were fantastic people. And to sit in that room and have the energy and feel that and knowing that all of that came
out of Clark, it's just such a rich, amazing history. Um, and it was just such a beautifully done ceremony that was really my absolute honor to be there and and to celebrate And lastly, I have scratched way too many notes. I also wanted to
congratulate um obviously um the the the silver winners from the Girl Scouts uh both with uh their um troop leader Lean Jadro and I think Melissa's involved in it somehow, but she's not saying her name with it. So, I'm saying it. Um, and I also think to follow up, I don't know
how often this has been accomplished, but there's actually, um, since this happened, there's now a total of seven silver winners or achievers. Achievers, not winners. Um, with Nana, um, Nana, am I pronouncing that right? I'm sorry. Nana, her daughter, uh, Leanne's
daughter, Liliana, and, um, who do I have? >> Rich. >> Rich. Who left? Okay. >> Three silver. >> So, we have three silver awards as well. So in addition, so I mean this is seven young women who have all accomplished
this um after the fact and and I think it's just absolutely incredible and more evidence that there are amazing things coming up through the town of Clark and I am extremely proud of it and UNICO was amazing and I wish it had another day. Thank you
>> council member Hun. >> Thank you council president. Um, I won't be as viferous as my member here, but she points that out to me every day. Turn the mic up a little. We can't hear you. Sorry about that. >> Um, congratulations to the Girl Scout to
the Girl Scouts again. What a what a honor it is to have you up here tonight and to receive that. Um, what you did at the at the park uh holds a special place in my heart u for the inclusion is um I have a a child who has a disability. So
what you did with this your sign means a lot to me. So thank you very much. I appreciate that. Um to the police department for the fine job that they always do and perform a few things um with our speeding. I was asked if we could do something up on Ross Street and
I spoke to Captain Akaboo two weeks ago and he said, "Steve, I'll have a sign up a speed sign up there tomorrow for you." And that happened the following day. And I received calls from some of the residents saying, "Steve, it's not what we wanted, but we can already see that people are changing their habit of
speeding. They at least break check when they see their that they're going 45 when it's a 25 mile and whatever speed they're going to be at the correct speed." So, that was a great help. And, you know, hopefully that will teach people that our streets are 25 miles per hour and they're not a a raceway. Um,
also to Pat Grady, our director of police, who seems to be looked over by some people who were here tonight, but thank you for everything that you do, Pat. U, we've known each other for many, many years, and thank you. Um, a resident reached out to me during the week and asked me to make an announcement for all
the ladies and young ladies when they when you're shopping to keep your purse on your body versus leaving your purse in your cart because he was mentioning how with the thefts that are going on that it's easy for someone to just reach into your cart when you're going to grab something from the shelf and walk away
with your pocketbook. So, that was just a public service announcement. One of the residents asked me to uh give out today and that's all that I have today. Council President, thank you. >> Thank you, Council Member Maserella. >> Yes. Thank you, Council President. Uh
first off, I want to thank you young ladies for being here this evening and staying through this whole uh meeting. Um, and you've heard a lot of disdain from some,
but that's common place with us. We we hear that repeatedly. Um, one thing I hope you take away from this this evening is everybody has the right to speak their mind. However,
we as your governing body has the right to correct some individuals that may be misinforming and may offer a skewed, unfactual
look at whatever they're saying. After all of these years that we've been together, one thing that we could take away from our longevity here on council is the president, the residents are
happy with how we turned out in our community. In spite of all the disdain some people might say and the negativity they want to bring about, we have a good community, a real good community, a very safe community, a
caring community as what you have done. Um, and we didn't do it ourselves. It was the good residents of our community, whether it was Republican or a Democrat or no affiliation at all. will work
together with us to bring us to where we are today. And you know the offshoot of that is if the residents are not happy with what we have done where we have
attained in our community don't vote for us. That's the whole thing. But we've managed to stay here. Some have managed to stay for 29 years like myself and
Angel and Brian. >> And hopefully the residents will continue to be as happy as we are of what we have created all of us.
And I hope you've gotten a good little bit of education on what a council meeting is about. And this is common place in all communities. So I don't want you to look really negative on what had transpired.
Everybody has the right to say what they believe factually, not giving misinformation and fabrications because of their own self-attained
wannabe accomplishments. So, I I hope you understand that this this will happen time and time again in any council meeting. Um, lastly, to the residents,
please, um, lock your doors at all times. It's getting darker earlier, and if you see something that's not quite right with you or you're uncomfortable about, don't hesitate to call our police department.
They're going to come right away and they're going to ensure your safety and well-being. So, please remember that. Be careful traveling through our neighborhood and I'll see you next month. Thank you. >> Thank you, Council Member Amini. >> Uh, thank you, Council President. Um, I
do have prepared remarks, but before I do that, um, I just want to address the girls. Uh first of all, congratulations and unfortunately you just witnessed uh a political uh turmoil at its best and I'm sorry for that because that's not
fair to you and it's not fair to the residents of Clark. Um unfortunately we live in a time and a world that there is a lot of turmoil. And uh while I was thinking about what to say to you, I want to give you three words that I live by and that I teach my kids every single day. Uh forget about what you heard at
the microphone. I'm not here to win a vote. But I'm not here to win you over, but I want to remind you every day to wake up every morning and try to motivate one person to be better, including yourselves. Take pride in motivation because the world is an oyster. I always tell my kids that you
could reach for the the moon. If you miss, you get a handful of stars. It's okay. Uh second is determination. Be determined to get whatever you want. It's all there for the taken. So every day remind yourself to motivate and be determined. And last is to inspire
people. Always try to inspire someone. Your siblings, mom and dad, your friends, your family. And if you could do those three things and everything else doesn't matter. Doesn't matter what we say at the microphone. It doesn't matter who we vote for. We'll feel good about ourselves as human beings and
we'll succeed in the best. And that's what you girls got to remember. Uh, with that being said, this past Thursday I was also at the Hall of Fame dinner and it was nice to see some of my own coaches when I was young. Uh, Mr. Carvalano, Coach Sturio, some of the football players, they were all out in
this Hall of Fame award. Uh, Jim Bodner who went to school with me. So, it was a great seeing these athletes over time just getting awards and being honored by the ALJ Hall of Fame. Um, second, I want to congratulate Brett and Jonathan on uh becoming a member of the fire
department. It's great. You know, I know Brett a long time, and you know, uh, just wanting to be part of the fire department is awesome. Um, I have a save the date. My wife asked me to uh put the save the date out there for uh December 6th. It's a Saturday. It's project
graduation and the Harlem Wizards will be here in Clark playing against the teachers of Garwood and ALJ. Um details will come out. Uh just be aware for it's all to support project graduation. I have a senior this year and he's going to be graduating. So they're trying to
raise money for their graduation. Um next this Friday at home, the Crusaders are uh hoping to get a home playoff spot in their football uh venture coming off two great wins. Come out and support the Crusaders. Go Blue. And then uh again,
just congratulations to you ladies and uh thank you. That concludes my comments. >> Thank you, Council Member Okconor. >> Thank you very much. First of all, congratulations, girls. Um, you know, public service is something that really is uh a part of Clark and it's been a
part of um I know my childhood, Jimmy's childhood, Brian's childhood. We all we all grew up in Clark just down down the end. We've all been heavily involved in Clark. I know my father was. Um, and having said that, I wanted to say congratulations to the two new members
of the fire department. But in addition, during my emergency uh report, the emergency squad report, you heard that the cadet spots are filled and they're actually starting a waiting list. So that's phenomenal, right? So we have people who want to join and be cadets and then there are more people than we
have spots for. So again, kudos to the parents, kudos to the kids who want to give back to the community. That's phenomenal. Um uh you'll see some of us will have these pink ribbons on these pins. And this is
a reminder that October is breast uh cancer awareness month. And just a reminder, national breast care cancer awareness month is an annual international health campaign organized by major breast cancer charities every October to increase awareness of the disease and raise funds for research
into its cause, prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and cure. Now, it's also important to remember that breast cancer isn't just limited to women. Men get breast cancer as well. So, it's a great organization. It's it's great to um to remember and to uh again make sure you
get checked to make sure you're safe. Um this month, actually last month in September, uh myself, uh people from the police department, um many friends and family of um of Captain Akaboo came out
and did the tunnel towers run. We were all on team Akaboo, which is um an honor to his brother, Augie Akaboo, who was a fallen firefighter from a 2003 tragedy that happened in New York. And it was great to get out there, get exercise,
also remember the 911, but also remember his brother. Um, again, Clark is a very giving community. And um, you know, I I was happy to participate in that as well. Um, November 4th is the election. Please come out and vote. It doesn't
matter who you vote for with regard to Republican or Democrat, independent. Get out and vote. People died for your right to vote. you owe it to them to get out and do it. That concludes my report or my comments, I should say.
>> Thank you, Council Member Tol. >> Thank you, Mr. President. November 4th is election day and I had the honor of walking the streets of Clark with our beloved mayor. It was a blast. Knock on doors, people either slam the door at your face or they tell you, "Come on down. We love to talk to you." We got
questions. The one question I got, and it was repetitive, was about Merit Futtown. I'm going to give a little bit of history and then I'm going to ask the administration to give us an update what's going on with the site. Merit Foodtown was Eli Kazan's food store. Merit Foodtown was a little store with
two rows of a cash register up front and a meat counter in the back. It was on Westwood Avenue that was open in 1948 and it stayed a part of the Clark landscape on Westfield Avenue up until 1999 when it closed. Merrick Foodtown
had enlarged in 1971. There was a big fire there on April the 13th, 1971 where the building was destroyed. It was closed for about a year and a half and they rebuilt it and created a new what was then still a new food store. If you look on the side the western side of the
the building that's there today, you'll see these modern te uh early '7s uh murals that were part of the redesigned store that was opened a few months later. The building stayed Merid Foodtown until 1999 when Foodtown Corporation closed.
AM on Raren Road had a store. They needed to put a new building there. So they decided to move into the old Merit Foodtown on Westfield Avenue and it became known as AM Food Stores. Why? That was from 1999 to 2006.
In 2006, AM's new store was open and they moved back to Ren Road. So for a couple years they were living or running business out of Westfield Avenue from 2006. Girls, what year is it today? Let me ask you, help me out on that. What year is it today, ladies?
>> So minus 2025 to 2006. What do we got? Okay, that's good. You're right. I'm So what we're doing is that building's remain there empty. Now, I'm going to ask the administration for today's date on October the 20th, 2025. What's the
status? Can we do imminent domain there? Uh, are we able to take that building from them? What's the I just need to get it because when we were knocking on doors the other day, I kept getting what's going on with there? What's going on? So, I don't have the latest. I know the administration had can give us some sort of a report. What's happening there? Because it was brought up twice
tonight. >> Anything? Sorry to put you on the spot, Jim. >> Jim. Jim, before you jump in, let let Brian finish. >> Yeah, I'll just I'll run through this. Almost done. You're right. >> Thank you so much. He's correct. Councilman who's got a big mouth. And
that's another thing lady the one resident uh said about the good the blue red. This side of the aisle is always hot. It's a hot place because that's government. Government shouldn't be like that. We should be all working together for the same common good. I follow
Clark. That's my symbol. That's my color. Because we're here for the people, not about political parties. We're here. What's What ideal do you have to make the town better? To make a better Clark. It's not about that. I'm gonna say to you ladies, and here's my bit of wisdom for you. Don't listen to anybody except for your teachers and
your parents and follow your dreams. Do what you've got. A great idea. There are people who are in Hollywood who grew up in the streets of Clark. People who created TV shows. If you don't know it, you I'll talk to you about after the meeting. There are people who gone on to their dreams. I want to be a councilman.
What was I thinking? Sorry, I was misguided, but I ended up being a councilman and serve them for a while. But that's because the people are my boss. They're my leadership. I owe them. And that's why I'm sitting here on their behalf. They have an idea, a dream, or a suggestion, that's what we're here to
do. Make a better Clark. And I know our on November 4th, our mayor and our councilwoman will do great things for the next four years. Happy Halloween to all. Uh again, please be safe out there with all the leaves and everything else going on. It got windy. Just be careful
if those are driving ebikes, anything else. Just be safe because it if it stops in a stupid accident, there's no tomorrow. Make your dreams come real. Thank you very much. I have nothing else to say. >> Thank you. Jim, you have any comments?
Closer remarks? >> All right, let's see. We have um one of the questions was related to the trees at the reservoir. You got got to remember they they need to get access to the reservoir. One of the issues though that we've worked through with the
county, but it's not just us. It's also green acres and it's also the New Jersey Conservation Foundation. There's a tree plan. There's an, you know, they identified the trees which ones can come down. At the end of the day, this is going to be what's agreed with not with the township of Clark, not with the
county of union, but it is going to be what was agreed with the New Jersey Conservation Foundation, and I can tell you they are sticklers on this. So, while it may not look like what you expected, I mean, we're in, you know,
day 20 of a 660day project. So, there's going to be a lot going on over the next um 640 days, give or take. Um the other thing is on the um newspapers. I agree. Um there was always a in this
goes back to the 1990s when I first hit the newspaper with my snowblower and it was all over my front lawn. Um, I will talk to is you know I I I was trying to look it up a little bit and Captain Lock gave me some ideas also. So we'll look
into it and we'll figure out what we can do and then if there is something that we can do we'll bring it up to the council as as a possibility. I I do think it makes sense and um but you know there's you know there's some things about how it's being delivered and it's a little
bit more complicated than I could figure out in in 10 minutes on Google but we'll we'll work on something. Um if we could do it and then on the AM I mean you know it's it's the neverending saga. Um we
take two steps forward in a step back quite often. Uh we were supposed to have the the meeting in September. The owner of the property behind the citizens
um and then the AMP property next to town hardware uh did not get the final approval from Citizens Bank. He's purchasing that bank and to make it all one continuous project that went back and forth. He did get the approval as of
now. It's He still doesn't have the signed approval and they haven't um you know haven't paid for it, but the price has been agreed. They're waiting for the final approval and they will be coming to the planning board meeting on December 4th. Now, we probably we were
hoping to have them in in November. We already had a full agenda for November. So, they're going to have to wait till December 4th. So, hopefully that'll be taken care of. Again, it's it's not us and it's not, you know, we have, if you think about it from the developer perspective, he's been sitting on a
property for quite a few years and it keeps, you know, he keeps running into difficulties. And when Citizens Bank, you know, went out, this has been two and a half years negotiating with a a bank that wanted to get rid of a property, it was up for sale, but didn't
know what they wanted for it and, you know, who had how how they get through the process. So, um, I think that was the only three things were directed to me tonight. Did I miss anything, Council President? >> No, I think you covered it. Thank you,
Madame Clerk. I believe you have something to add. >> Yes. Um, just a few things around the election. Early voting starts on October 25th and it goes through November 2nd. The last day to apply for mail-in ballots is on October 28th. Um, we have
forms in the clerk's office. However, your best bet is to fill it out and go directly to the county clerk on North Avenue in Westfield, fill it out there and hand it right in in order to get your ballot. And then also, as a reminder, everyone will receive a sample
ballot in the mail. While it's not required, we highly suggest that you bring that ballot with you because there's a barcode on it and the poll workers can scan that directly and just expedite the process for you to vote. So, it's not required, but we just
recommend that you do that. That's all. Thank you. >> Thank you. Counselor, you have anything to add? >> No comment. >> Okay. Um Jim, somebody sent a put a Facebook post on those cir
circulars that get dropped on the mail. There's a phone number here. I'll give it to Liz, but we can confirm it's the right number that you can call and you'll stop your u subscription. >> Yeah. I mean, that's that was what Chris sent me a few minutes ago. So, um, we'll
take a look at it. Uh, and I don't want to give >> I don't want to give the number because it's legit. >> Give me, >> but >> give me a day or so to to deal with it. >> I'll give it to you and you can uh look into that. So, uh, all right. Uh, before we close, congratulation, ladies, on
that great achievement. Um, just so you know, the council up here is the legislative branch of the town. So, we vote on the resolutions and ordinances uh and basically make the laws u or vote on the laws of the town. The business administrator
and the mayor, if you if you know anything about Facebook, Facebook's owned by Mark Zuckerberg, so he owns it, he runs it. So, this is like a corporation. So, the mayor runs the town with the business administrator. The mayor in our case is a part-time mayor. uh not like Elizabeth and Jersey City
where they have full-time mayors, full-time counsel. So, we have a business administrator, Jim Olrich. He runs the day-to-day operations of the town, works handinhand with the mayor and then we're informed when we need to be informed. Um we have a workshop
meeting which we used to do uh many years ago. One of the uh councilmen Kazanowski used to have the Boy Scouts come to our workshop meeting and he'd do like a 10-15 minute presentation on the workings of what type of government we are and just break it down quickly and
it's a neat little thing. So if you're interested uh whoever the troop leader is, reach out to the mayor and we love to do that. It's a the workshop meetings are much more formal. We're not dressed in suits. We're more casual. It's across the street, but we can give you a nice little presentation and you don't have
to deal with all the some of the nonsense that goes on. So, enough's been said tonight. So, I'd like a motion to adjourn. Thank you, Councilman Tol. Second, Council >> Mr. President. One second. Are we going to congratulate um Nicole on her first meeting? >> Great job.
>> Great job, Nicole. >> Yeah. Uh, our clerk is away tonight. So, uh, Nicole stepped in and did a fabulous job for your first time. So, uh, maybe we'll see you down the road doing a few and someone's birthday. Oh, your birthday. Happy birthday. So, anyhow, we're not going to sing. So,
uh, Brian toll motion journi was second. All in favor? I. Any oppose? Thank you.