e e e e e e e e e e
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charger good evening ladies and gentlemen this is the regular council meeting for February 26 2025 the time is 7:03 p.m. uh please join me in the pledge of allegiance plge of Al to the flag the United States of America and to the
Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all okay clerk could you please read the role council member brusher here council
member Co here council member Harris here council member Patel here council member ptil here council member pointer pres council member schel here one Madam clerk adequate notice adquate notice if this meeting is required by the open public meeting Act of 1975 has been
provided by the annual notice C home News Tribune Star Ledger Desi talk and in news India times on November 18th 2024 and post main lobby Municipal complex on that same date okay council president remarks just uh just a a
reminder that the animal shelter is having a fundraiser Taco Tuesday next Tuesday March 4th at the um TexMex Delhi and I believe that uh I think it's half of the proceeds go to the animal shelter
so that's Taco Tuesday on March 4th um Edison Tex Maxi um all right then can we go to the resolutions of recognition please okay whereas Pat Massie has demonstrated
exceptional leadership and commitment to the township of Edison in the in the field of Library Services through volunteer work on Edison Public Library of Trustees from 2014 through December 2024 Pat served as a board president from 2020 to 24 providing visually
leadership and contributing significance to the development and success of various key Library initiatives and amongst her many achievements Pat played a pivot role in the development of a trustee orientation program the establishment of an annual board retreat
and the successful Ovation of the main library ensuring the library continued to meet the needs of the community Pat also spearheaded the kick off of the construction project of the North Edison Branch which will greatly expand Library services and access for Township
residents that has a long La lasting impact on the library sector as the president of the New Jersey library trustee Association since 20124 furthering advancing Library advocacy and development Statewide and has actively been involved in New Jersey
Association of school librarians where she has worked to enhance school media programs and support educational ex Excellence Pat served as superintendent representative on South planfield Library Board of Trustees from 1992 to 2012 contributing to library development
and Community engagement over two decades now therefore we resolve Pat has an exceptional service to P Edison Public Library Board of Trustees her leadership in advancing Library services and understanding her outstanding contributions to the
community in the field of Library [Applause] science whereas Sue KAS O'Neal has provided over many years of distinct service to the Edison Public Library Board of Trustees where her knowledge experience and Leadership has
significant contribute to the growth and success of the library Sue has served multiple times as chair of the finance and Personnel committee demonstrating exceptional insight and commitment in the areas of finance and personnel as chair of the finance committee she worked closely with several Library
directors to ensure that the library's budget was reflective of the involving needs of the community balancing fiscal responsibility with the essential Services of the library that the library provides as chairman of personnel committee Sue was instrumental on overseeing negotiations with staff
member in the local units of vasame working tireless to ensure Fair agre agreements that benefit both the library and its employees Sue played a pivot role in overseeing the transition to new payroll and bill payment systems at the library ensuring these changes were
implemented effectively and smoothly resulting in proving operational inefficiencies she Sue con Sue's contributions to the Edison public library has been instrumental in shaping the libraries policies and practices ensuring it remains a vital and
effective resource for the residents of Edison now out there we we resolved for Sue for her years of exceptional service to the Edison public Board of Trustees her leadership and experience in finance personnel management and Library operations for her remarkable dedication
to the better of library in the community whereas Lisa Krauss has demonstrated exceptional dedication and services to the township of Edison through her work on the Edison Public Library Board of Trustees from 6 through December 2024 during her tenure on Library board
Lisa has held various leadership roles including Serv serving as the board vice president from 2020 to 2024 board president from 2011 2016 and board secretary from 2006 to 2010 in addition
to these roles Lisa served as chairperson of the library employee handbook and policy manual committee from 2012 to 2016 contribut in her time and experience and improving Library operations and staff guidelines Lisa's unwavering commitment to the library in
the community has had a lasting and positive impact ensuring the growth and development of the library is an essential resource for Edison residents Lisa's leadership professionalism tireless advocacy for the Edison Public Library have earned her respect and admiration to her fellow board members
Library staff and the entire Township of Edison Community now there we resolve honor Lisa for her dedication and selfless service to the Edison Public Library Board of [Applause]
Trustees okay okay can I can I get a motion to open to the public comments please just open motion to open okay open second okay all right very good uh any
public comments on these three wonderful Library dedicated employees okay Octor o Nasser Pleasant Avenue I am Overjoyed to see that we are finally recognizing the contributions of everyone behind here uh I was really
hoping that they would continue to be part of board they are willing at least some of them are but we've had some things happen on the board that um well actually at this Council that prevented that from happening but from my understand and they are still have active applications and they might rejoin but today is a day of Celebration
and I focus their energy on making sure that we have a public voice Focus their energy on making sure that we have a public voice um to support the aspects of the library was something that very dear and to me and I'm very grateful for
not only their support their just the fact that they cared so much to make something happen that was wasn't there before um says a lot and this is just one small part of the Decades of service that they've had to Edison so thank you
so much and I'm hoping that I can continue a little tiny part of what they started here thank you Sarah anyone else yes sir rostal County Edison New Jersey uh I just want to say that uh thank you to
them for uh the years of service and um let's try to do everything we can to get them back thank you thank you okay anyone else care to comment okay motion to close public portion motion to close
second thank you and now I need a motion to adopt motion to adopt second very good um and uh Council comments Council Pres yes first I would like to recognize you know we have the library board president
here Don D Pascal in the audience thank you uh Sue Pat Lisa I was fortunate enough to work with them during my first time as a council onto the library uh it's a wonderful team uh they
work very hard making the policies for the library negotiating the contracts vendor contracts and putting the financial discipline what we just you know heard about the North Edison Library expansion they have a line share
the reason I say that because they they were the one who came up with an idea setting some funds aside for the future development of the library and again thank you for your contribution and hard work and looking forward to working with with all of you again thank you thank you anyone
else yes s so I want to first thank you for all your service and I just want to say library holds a special place in my heart uh libraries have been the places where I learn to read English this was in El Paso Texas so it wasn't in Edison
but they used to give out coupons for every book you finish and I used to get pizza so I used to be very excited about that and I thank you for doing the good work and I hope all the success to the Friends of library that you guys started and hopefully that will lead to Greater success for library and the residents of
Edison thank you thank you councilman Patel anyone else yes council president Council vice president um just briefly just want to say thank you for your years of service uh it does not go unrecognized it is appreciated on numerous levels so with that thank you
very much anyone else counc no please Age first councilman co go ahead first councilman coil uh first I want to thank you for your time and Sacrifice from W for your family and all the things that we don't
see unforeseen seen do we know about the library every day no you do it every day and I I know you sacrifice a lot being away for your family home uh and a lot of things they're responsible for so I do thank you for that I I'm happy to see you do understand embracing change this
is a process uh no different than the council the mayor comes in with three three council members they have a mayor three Council then they have four Council seats and it goes for every board you know there's a rotation of of change and and it happens I mean I I've watched numerous change in the board
over some time and no different than the zoning board their planning board and I hope you still you know continue uh you know I I I remember one year uh was Fran brle was a director and a few changes were made and she was
removed I mean it it it you know it wasn't exactly the happy day for her that day but it happens change just evolves and I hope you still continue because next year there's more change as mayor and two three Council seats up it just changes so I hope you continue uh
to do you know move forward and um embrace you know the moment it is today and what it may be tomorrow and thank you for saving the Clare Barton Library it's close to home to me and I know you worked on that with Octor and many people and uh thank you you Council brusher um I'm going to make kind of
simple but as someone that served on a board and on this Council sort of school board this Council um very similar you give a lot of your time you listen a lot to the public you deal with a lot of political
people and at the end of the day you try and make the very best decisions for the organizations that you serve you give a lot of your time nobody really appreciates it I do understand you know where you all are because I I was there especially on the school board School
Board doesn't get paid much like you guys I mean or here I don't think our pay is really that great but nonetheless it is something um and as my Council colleague said um there are changes um that do
happen and um I I hope for change but I want to thank you all for for the time that you gave to this Township to our residents um I really do appreciate that so thank you okay council president yes I I'd like to also
acknowledge uh the three of you and thank you for your services thank you over a decade in one job it's a long time and uh the the shape of our community is because of the hard work that you put into it and I'm also glad to hear that you want to stay
involved um and we welcome that so thank you from all of us and for the communities at large thank you councilman schmel uh I'm going to save my comments for the presentation uh can we go with the roll call please council member brusher yes council
member coil yes council member Patel yes council member ptil yes council member pointer yes council member schmuel yes council president Harris yes okay let's Rich will you join me please absolutely all right [Music]
another hug come here okay oh okay um I just want to say that I had oh thank you that's tacky um I had I had the pleasure and the honor of
serving on as Le leas on to the Library board in 2023 and 2024 and I learned so much and witnessed so much about what these women and I'm so sorry Sue and O'Neal isn't here oh
I'm so sorry to hear that but I I I witnessed firsthand what these three women did and how much dedication they put into the library they treated the public with respect and so much was a
accomplished in their tenure on that Library board there are so many new programs that have been developed for the library so many that have been expanded and the culmination of course with the expansion of the north library
and the rehabbing of the main library and so they have they have dedicated so much of themselves and um with lots of Blood Sweat and Tears I cannot say enough
about them and you are missed even though I'm no longer the liazon you are you are missed so I'm so happy and so honored to be able to present this to be the one to present this to you so thank you very much I'd like to would you like to say a few words at all sure thank you
why not sure uh sure I'll take this opportunity well as the current president of the New Jersey library trustee Association and past president of the Edison Public Library I really want to suggest and plead that you
become a friend of the library that you give a donation to the foundation that you make sure that you have a library card and that you do everything that you can to support our library it's really really important the last thing I want
to mention is that your library is not just for children take out your library card use it and you'll be very happy no matter whether you're six months old or 95 that's it [Applause]
okay I honestly don't know what to say thank you very much I was very touched with everything that was said in this um I spent the last 18 years of my life on the board I it this is this being on the board is what led me to become a
librarian in the first place I am a a a public school middle or middle School librarian um so this is this is my life I I care about libraries I care that everyone has access access to good
information access to learn how to read access to learn how to do taxes all of this is very very important and needs to continue and I sincerely hope that the new board is going to continue on and continue to EV evolve
the library as the public needs it to evolve so I do hope everyone does use the library make sure you have that library card thank [Applause] you shot so bear
with thank you this give this to okay okay okay where are we um unfinished business okay right okay we move on to unfinished business ordinances for further consideration public hearing and final
adoption clerk could you please read the ordinance ordinance ads residential parking Zone to a section of Chapel Street okay um open to public comments any public comments about this
ordinance all right motion to close the public comment second thank you um and uh where am I here okay um I'm sorry any Council comments okay seeing seeing none uh can
I get a motion to adopt motion second okay and what's it okay okay all right the uh roll call please council member brusher yes council member Coy yes council member Patel yes council member ptil yes council member pointer yes council
member schmuel yes council president Harris yes okay adopted um where are we we are now on number seven new business proposed ordinances public hearing set down for Wednesday March 12th 2025 clerk could you please
read the ordinance an ordinance amending chapter 23 adopt a area program establishing updated program guidelines okay um could we get a motion to introduce council president yes I move this ordinance to be passed on
first reading published according to the law for further consideration and public hearing set down for Wednesday March 12th 2025 can we get a second second all right very good Council comments I would like to say uh to councilman
pointer for spearheading this initiative and I'm really looking forward to specific areas that are being adopted being taken care of and having a much nicer communities in those areas for the residents and it will give an opportunity for business owners or
nonprofits to Market themselves so I think it's a win win-win situation and this a great initiative thank you Council point Brer um yes I tell you I really do like this but I have more of a technical question with it um I was approached by
someone that that wanted to participate I told them that the legislation was being created um at what point can people start uh applying I'll jump in okay after the ordinance is uh adopted published and
effective so there's a 20-day challenge period so I would say anytime giving time for publication in the paper anytime around 24 days from now and assuming that they'll have the the processes in place to implement the
ordinance has adopted okay yes I I was just I was approached I knew that something was coming up and you know they they felt like they weren't getting anywhere with any answers but the reason was because we were
on right yeah three or four weeks but uh thank you councilman poter um this I like this idea thank you anyone else council president yes um appreciate everyone's support for this at the
moment you know it's not officially adopted so I'll wait until the official adoption before any congratulations but I do believe that this type of initiative in conjunction with those that the county puts together that those that the state put together that when
you view everything all together that it is great for the community from uh just general involvement and beautification for the township so I hope that this has the support and eventual adoption on March 12th thank you counc president thank you anyone
else yes councilman Coyle excited to see this happen thank you councilman pointer um I only hope that uh we Market this great idea because I've been down this road and we have a lot of great things uh in the state in the county and uh in
the township just we have the market to recruit people that want to adopt it so it's really important to get corporations that want to take on a corporate responsibility to be involved and make that commitment so I'm looking forward to seeing how that all Lays out thank you thank you
else okay U just I'm going to double back on what I said the other day and that is I think this is a wonderful initiative and um we all have the stake in this community and this is a way of really putting ourselves into the stake
that we have in beautifying the the community and really making it look crisper and getting litter away and uh pruning back uh unsightly growth of trees and bushes and and such so I am
delighted to see this uh this ordinance go through and I want to thank Council vice president for having put this down there thank you so much uh we now go to roll call council member brusher yes council member qu yes council member Patel yes council member
PTI yes council member pointer yes council member schmuel yes council president Harris yes all right clerk could you read the next ordinance an ordinance amending chapter 25 trees to prohibit the planting and spread of running bamboo in the township of Edison
okay can we get a motion to to introduce council president yes I Mo this ordinance be passed on first reading published according to law for further consideration and public hearing set down for Wednesday March 12th 2025 second second thank you okay
Council comments council president councilman ptil and it it's a you a good ordinance but I had few technical questions and I will reach out to council colleague you know Council vice president privately uh I think our health department was out
today in North End of the town they issued some warnings who had the bamboo planted in their backyard so would like to really understand the the impact uh if it is if the bamboo is contained within their boundaries and what it means to the residents again I'm
not singling out just the North Edison but I just got a call from North Edison resident it could be very well in the Clara Barton or South Edison end of the town as well but I will Reserve that for because this is just an introduction thank you very good anyone
else okay uh again I want to thank Brenda Eagle one of the residents who's been persistent in moving this forward and um and so I'm I'm wholeheartedly in favor of this um anyone else okay let's
get a roll call council member brusher yes council member Coyle yes council member Patel yes council member bti yes council member poiner yes council member schmuel yes council president Harris yes okay um open public I can just do that
without a call break yes okay all right uh now public comment on the resolutions resolutions only yes good evening Gloria dipman Midland Road Edison I have a question about the uh
running of the the the comment about the running bamboo and and planting what happens to the people who I'm sorry I'm sorry Gloria um this is for the resolutions not on the not on the ordinances so that was an ordinance this is about the resolutions only but you
can you can speak in public comment uh later on I'm sorry no that's not a problem thank you anyone else any other comments on the resolutions only okay um can we motion to close motion to close second okay um we go to
number nine proposed resolutions anything to pull for a separate vote anything councilman Brasher none today what none today oh my gosh councilman
PA no he's done encourage this oh my God I think I think hell froze over um okay all right well we can now get a motion to approve the consent agenda motion to approve the consent agenda
second okay can we get a roll call please council member brusher yes council member Co yes council member Patel yes council member ptil yes council member poer yes council member Schell yes council president Harris yes all right all right wow okay council
president yes before we open uh the public comments there was a email in terms of supporting the climate uh super fund is that something we're going to do the today or the next meeting I think for the next meeting yeah yeah I would for the next meeting
thanks okay uh okay we now open for oral petitions and remarks glor you want to come back up um I I wonder how this impacts people who already have bamboo planted on their property yeah okay go ahead yeah so the
I'm sorry the ordinance is very specific that properties that already have bamboo will be able to continue to have bamboo as long as it is limited to their property does not invade across their
property lines uh it's specific in section 25-7 1.3 so um those that have already taken the steps to install what
has been been determined to be an invasive species may keep them if they want as long as it does not invade across their property lines and then it becomes a problem and suppose it does invade or
cross the property line what happens they'll get a notice that they need to address that and bring it back within their property lines but my experience with these types of ordinances is that this type of an invasive species that
once it goes across a property line you can't do much about it you have to dig down below the roots and install solid um fencing sometimes of a metal nature and
even that doesn't last long term that's a very positive thought um I didn't hear who initiated this um her name was is Brenda Eagle she's a she's a resident I'm not she
doesn't come to the meetings uh I don't know if she watches them but she's been really on top of this and her name is spreading Eagle no I'm sorry Brenda Eagle oh thank you okay thanks you're welcome okay
Tony Tony De Pasqual um Board of Trustees uh Library president um I'd like to give you guys some wonderful developments that are happening um at the library um first thing I want to say is I'm thrilled to announce that we are in
the planning stages of um Clara Bart and Community connections we're calling them and these are two events that we will be holding at the Clara Barton library in March and April Allan is actually going to come up after me and he's going to
speak a little bit more about it but um these events are aimed to strengthen the ties with the Clara Barton Community and the rest of Edison and what we're looking for is we're looking feed for feedback from the Community to see what
they are looking for in the Clara Barton Library we found that it's very important to the community and we want to make sure that what we are providing is the services that they are looking for and I have said this at the last two
Library board meetings and I will continue to say it if needed the Clara Barton library is not closing there's no plans for it to be closed I am actually spearheading that we are to put money into the Clara Barton Library renovate
it get planners in to see what we need to do we are looking to definitely upgrade and see what can be done to bring the Clara Barton Library up to where it needs to be so again I will say just one more time here the Clara Barton
library is not closing we're also in the midst of the renovations at the main library on the second floor my opinion is probably about 80% done it looks very welcoming we have nice study rooms we have
computer upgrades new carpeting um new shelving and it just really really looks nice and I encourage all the residents even if you just want to stop by and and you know read a book or just see what's happening just stop by and see what's
happening at the libraries um as we heard earlier it's such an important place in our Township and as I said the other day I'm going to say this uh tonight also you know one of my Fondest Memories is when I was younger I think
probably kindergarten where my mother would all the time bring me and my siblings to the library we would have reading times we would have story times and that's what I want to see for the children that that are going there and and the adults that are going there you
know we have resources for the adults also and then we have the North Edison Library renovations that hopefully will be starting in March the project includes 4500 square ft addition to the building the upgrades and expansion include the
following expanded adult reading space renovated and expanded children's rooms community art and exhibit Gallery larger meeting space expanded Community Innovation maker space a rain Garden on the exterior of the library and as most of you know we had the groundbreaking on
February 24th we had many residents there public officials and it was just a great celebration for what we're going to be doing for that Library I also want to assure the council and the residents that there is an amazing group of
residents on the trustey board that is working together to support what is needed and what is happening at the library and just want to leave you with this all we're doing for the library I feel is going to touch countless lives
for many generations it will be a Haven for learning A Gathering Place for ideas and inspiration for the creativity of everyone claraa Barton we know has been around I think it's from the 60s and we want all our libraries to continue that
many years into the F future Generations so thank you very much thank you Tony thank you anyone else Alan I guess it's Library night at the council meeting uh thank you uh council
president um this past year the Edison Public Library uh celebrated its 95th Anniversary um it was a milestone in the history of the library um but it's just um a milestone we're kind of looking at
where the library is now what we've done this past year and I think so many of the residents as as much information as we send out they really have not visited the library in years um we send out over 25,000 email blasts
uh each day of the week um and we still find people who uh come up to us and say I don't know where the library is and so we continue to try to promote the library um both in in uh the community
um by doing Outreach uh efforts our bookmobile uh travels all around uh the town um we'd make over 4 stops a month um to parts of the community where um the library is not near this past year
based on um customer feedback we expanded the hours of the libraries on Fridays Saturdays and expanded the main libraries hours on Sunday and our expectation is when we reopen the main the North Edison Branch we expect that
that too will be open on Sundays so we are are trying to meet the needs of the Edison uh residents council president already spoke about um the exciting Renovations but we have a a new program we just started uh here this past month
um which is a thousand books before kindergarten um and that's taken off um to encourage early literacy um we have uh a new staff person who's dedicated to
literacy and we use use that word um uh broadly whether it's digital literacy whether it's language learning uh whether it's maker space learning um the library is really expanded um we have a new adult Older Adult Services librarian
um who's going to be expanding the programs that we do uh for that age we're looking at a couple of things this year given the fact that U the main library should be completed in June and the um Edison North Branch uh is going
into temporary quarters we expect to be able to do more Outreach efforts we want to reach um uh older adults who can't get to the library um because they don't have transportation um and deliver uh books to them we want to increase our English
language um uh collections uh for those who are learning uh English uh and uh we're looking at alter Alternatives around the community whether we use our Sprinter van or set up um little popup
libraries so the goal for the next year year and a half is to make sure the libraries and the community where people live and where people live we want to have the library so um that's a little bit from us um and um I would encourage
you to come and visit uh the uh main library uh and uh see what we've we've done done thank you thank you Alan really quickly can you remind us where the temporary library is going to be for the North Branch the temporary um
Library will be opening approximately that week of March 10th and it's literally around the corner from the North Edison Branch it's at 1907 Oak Tree Road and for those of you who know the area it's at the small
office building opposite um the F at Family Restaurant okay so first floor all accessible right as you walk in thank you alen appreciate it thank you very much octar Dr Nasser Pleasant Avenue I'm
intrig I'm intrigued by why this Council body and his extension feels the Necessities who unjustly interrupt me during my first 10 seconds of speaking it happened in 2024 by a council member and in 202 five by the lawyer are you guys secretly telling me that you think
that 10 seconds is enough for me to speak those of you in the Das need to calm down and think before you speak think about the ramifications for violating My First Amendment do you really want to add more lawsuits to the hundreds that we have once is a mistake
twice is a pattern I ask that you have composure some decorum is called public comment for a reason I watched the recording and in no shape or form did I ask a question and even if Mr M Mr Mello thought that I did he broke the rules of
the Quorum and procedure I was still in the in the middle of my sentence I was still talking he also usually answers questions at the end and I don't believe that he can address me without the consent of the council president who's running the meeting Mr M Mr mitello sorry Mr Mello
Interruption cost me one minute of my speaking time so essentially I had 50% of the speaking time than we had last year anyone this di could have done a point of order and asked for my time to be restored particularly anyone that voted to reduce speaking time for the
public but nobody did that just pokes another hole into your whole idea that four minutes is enough now our council president has already apologized but it would have been nice tonight to see that the lawyer was here so that he could apologize as well if he chose to do so because he broke the
Quorum when the lawyer was talking to that Resident when I spoke after that and saying that that Resident had uh had a waste of time of the person's of the lawyer speaking time or his time in general he literally said that I'm going
to start again with that because I'm I'm just just really bothers me what happened there so the phrase waste of time was used on Joel and I just thought about that and I was reflecting and I noticed that that same language was same verbiage that was used at the mayor's
deposition in so over Lake I don't think that this terminology Wast of time especially in front of the residents or judge is something that should be done now if you want to know what questions I did have on Monday but I ran out of time to speak these are the ones that were
asked but were not responded to to the attorney if you would please kindly at the end respond to these number one must something be printed on paper for it to be motioned to a vote or can it be electronic number two if there's a technical error on something can the
motion still proceed for a vote or does it have to be amended number three can you name any issues that might require an urgent vote would a board position be one of those to the council procedurally how could you vote on an application that did not have a resume
and another one which did not state the position that they're applying for to be clear I have no issues with the candidates I'm just trying to figure out if there's some procedural issues that we have to tighten up on and so I'm using this as a teachable moment so here here's a legal question for the lawyer
for the application that did not state which board they were applying for does that mean the application is still active for other boards I was told that applications are are active for one year so that seems like a cheat Cod to the ba I've been trying to get some answers on some other things uh you feel like
you've answered them but I was asking about the Illuminator and asking how much it costs so it's a cly State it's a cly magazine I was told that it was costing $660,000 but that doesn't seem like that would be enough to go ahead and send to$ 36,000 homes the math doesn't add up and finally the last
question that was definitely not answered excuse me does the atlas get mail to Residents and is it going to be a yearly thing thank you thank you Octor counselor you were talking really
fast um so I'll do my best to respond to your questions if you give me a little bit of a recap do them one at a time and I'll answer them one at a time to the extent that I can is that fair if I have council
president point of order I just I don't mind if we do this but we have to set precent that we all can do this because when Mr Crystal comes up here anybody else and again OCT I I think he has a good valid point we have to do it for everybody so I just I don't mind if you guys want a sidebar if you want his
minutes are is is I just want to make it clear I did technically have 30 seconds last time would you mind if uh if counselor spoke with you and answered those questions offline would you be okay with that
that's fine with me okay all right thank you council president yes is this the disconnect that when resent is at the podium we are not listening and writing down the questions or I see a disconnect here
because he spent his 4 minutes talking and asking the questions and we are saying hey can you recap that tells me either we are not respecting or we did not understand the question P um because most of these questions were directed towards the attorney I'm not saying to
you I'm asking attorney whether he was paying attention it's it's I can reiterate some of what he said in his defense okay F do it go ahead I don't mind your comment's valid but it's just we have to
do it for everybody he asked when he's at the podium is it fair that the attorney interrupts him without speaking to the council president that was the first question and um that the first
question council president recomendation sorry um can I make a recommendation um Octor time was clearly taken from him that that we all acknowledge you as
council president president you can give him 2 minutes back and allow him then to reiterate question I can't but then we we get to a slippery slope and and you know oara with all I respect you
tremendously but then we do get into a slippery slope in terms of exceptions being made for this this one and and that one and so I I'm I don't know what that is can I give my question to you yes by all means
council president if he's speaking or anyone's speaking and we interrupt them which is fair point I believe we can could we restore that person's time and or could the clerk automatically have knowledge to do that when interrupted because in the past we had a history we
just red to short time so I have I I actually have an idea may I have actually if I have three questions and then we'll okay how about because I have them here then I can I can read them that does that work yes okay all right
so must something be printed on paper for it to be motioned to a vote or does it have to be printed does not have to be printed Robert's Rules any motion can be made orally if it is moved seconded can be
voted on it then should procedurally be reduced to a writing uh but that would be the process of memorializing the resolution as adopted okay next all right the uh
second question was is there if there is a technical error can the motion still proceed for a vote or does it have to be amended that's too broad of a question if the Mover it
believes that the motion needs to be amended there can be a motion to amend the resolution as proposed prior to the vote um but if the Mover does not believe that the motion needs to be
amended it should proceed to a vote as proposed okay third question was can you name any issues that might require an urgent vote would a board position represent an issue that's not a valid question for
legal um you want me to go through through the universe of possibilities that might require an emergency there are emergencies you can put forth an emergency vote but I'm not going to list
uh all the possibilities that would justify that it's just an impossible task all right there was a additional question the legal question of applica for an application that did not declare which board they're applying for doesn't
that mean the application is still active for other boards I was told that applications are valid for a year I can't answer that I don't know the procedural process for applying for boards in town generally an application can stay on file until an appointment is
made if you have a specific procedure that requires applications for specific positions then it should only be for that specific position if you have a General application for any volunteer or
non-volunteer positions most municipalities that I've been involved with keep a um a record of people who are willing to serve so that's the best answer I can give you without doing a lot of digging
and uh octar the clerk has just informed that it's two years that these applications are kept right proced okay all right um thank you and and just a note a note to you again I want to not
just on behalf of council but on behalf of myself I want to publicly apologize to you for not having called a point of order on the attorney he was out of line I think I was so um shocked by his the
Outburst there that it immobilized me so I apologize I will do better next time and I would ask my Council colleagues to help me out on this as well thank you okay counc president I just want to just clarify in in some cases our attorney is
here to protect us when there's a valid reason of a lawsuit I mean I I understand your leadership in point but we do have to you know genuflect to some moments I mean Bill northg grave did a fantastic job jumping over the bow for us many times in situations I just want
to share that with you sometimes it's for for a good purpose but I do respect what you're where you're Coy in this particular case he interrupted octar he interrupted octar and the protocol is to wait until the end of the speaker
speaking time thank you okay Vinnie yeah I did notice that with this woman over here there was a back and forth so if we can't get a back and forth every single time I mean we got to keep it the same right um with the speaking minutes Joe Coy you were about to uh you were about
to give actar another two minutes can we you were you were proposing I wasn't proposing any um so let's let's let's let's get a motion to get bring that back that six minutes let's let's do that after
please can I get can I get five seconds back yes thank you um yeah let's let's get the speaking time back to six minutes because the reason the lawyer probably couldn't hear him and he was speaking so fast is because he only had 4 minutes is that right maybe probably
no oh you couldn't hear him because all right all right I can't write back and forth again all right all right so uh I I'm not allowed to talk I'm not allowed to play a recording of the uh incident between um Sonia so I have I have the uh
I I have the report so Sonia uh claims sexual harassment stalking cyber harassment and less so council president this is completely inappropriate my time my Sor yes please please stop his time please stop his
time Vinnie whether it's whether it's a video whether you're reading it we are still dealing with the same problem dealing with and so you're going to try this back and forth with me with challenging me on this Every Which Way report I I I understand you have the
report but this is still a matter that is in litigation right now and so it is not appropriate so you can try Every Which Way video this back door ways and it's going to be the same answer until this litigation is over with so I'm
going to have to ask you to desist let me reather my thoughts can I get my 250 back you mean to come back come back up yes thank you yes okay next yes Finny
uh my name is Scalzo my contact information at scof photo.com I have a long list of issues I'm focusing on I think in future meetings I'll have a a better uh uh be more a little more organized but just quickly um I came
across yeah I'm the world's worst public speaker give me a second um I came across an article that the lawyers the town lawyers are trying to stop a video of Mayor Sam joi's deposition was it um Glendale it was uh puzzling because I think the video is
actually already on the internet and I'm confused as why the town attorneys are helping with a I think in the article says the town attorney say that it might affect the election for Sam Joi so it seems like they're admitting that it's I feel like the judge should just throw it
out instantly and I also want to have a a message for the town attorneys who could be the dumbest attorneys on Earth there's something called the striesand effect if you tell people not to look at something they want to see it even more so if you try to hide the deposition
it's going to be seen even more probably by millions of people so go ahead and I think I believe I have a copy or may I may or may not but I know anyway so another thing I wanted to in future meetings I'm going to talk about um the
uh Sam joi's really abusing the Edison TV and misusing the police department for his Instagram photo ops uh all over the place uh he'll kick out his political opponent and then he'll do the exact same thing that he'll accuse for example uh one
situ one situation with kristo where he got kicked out of a Dunkin Donuts apparently the mayor's people called the owner to have him removed then the next day kristo spoke to the owner and said no the owner did not want him removed necessarily he was just I guess lied to by the mayor's people um and then
uh which I think is complete an appropriate using tax paid service like the um Edison TV and the police department to remove your political critics I mean if you can't handle a debate with kristo or anyone else then get another job I mean it's just prove him wrong or prove other people wrong
looks I have another minute and 40 seconds um yeah so other issues I work with uh Leroy truth to focus on um in Unis City three women that were uh sexual har sexually harassed and sexually assaulted and the uh mayor Brian stack was completely
ignoring it which became a whole issue and um another issue where someone was uh uh I'm not going to say his name but uh actually let me move on from that for that but I I think it's disgusting how
um Sonia in her lie report uh put all this information she checked off sexual assault completely abusing the court system St she literally says Vinnie I'm not Vin no I I'm not I'm not going to
allow this for the same I know I just if you're going to lie I just want to make sure I get in get it said public going to allow any type of reading or rendition of this this is absurd I just want to let people know I mean it is insane your comments are abs and allegations thank you right um
go ahead Marl she I mean go ahead go ahead Vinnie she literally said that Christal was saying he no this is I just I just got through you can't lie and say someone's
going to bring a g here completely either either going to stop right now and sit down or your time is forfeited I don't need any more time I just want to get that message out that's all but it's it's a warning against bringing guns she's trying to say that he said he going to bring Gun it wasn't true
War okay thank you anyone else yes Anthony Anthony Damron uh Wy have you know just really quick it's just you know people have come in here and made claims against the mayor regarding sexual allegations if somebody if if
this woman some was the same respect she made it claim let it that thing play out that's what I say I mean just it's you can't have it both ways so um they'll have their time in court um I came up here last meeting I I just I got end up
getting something hit me like I got sick felt sick like when I came up here so I apologize if I didn't make sense but um regard ing Public Safety I I just the qu the the the comment that I really had I was trying to get out to deputy chief was um uh the the more visibility of
police vehicles you know on the streets but where I was then going going to go with it was these specific vehicles that we have now our our patrol cars they're very different than they used to be in the past in a sense because I feel like
they're very if you if it's hard to tell which you know if the if the cop car is coming towards you they're very you know Incognito is uh to a point over which you you know it's not until you drive by you see it's theis and police and so on so there's there's there's no
to me these cars are not don't have the decals that maybe some of the other cars in other departments have and I was curious to know why we don't have those right now I don't know if it's a cost thing if it's something that uh you know if that's just the way they make cars nowadays I don't know but I feel like
the unintended consequences of driving around with bright police on it which I love I love to see um the unattended concept of all the crime that you probably that is deterred that you don't even know about because they see a police officer driving down the street so those are the type of things you know
we could at least I feel like you know be a little uh active on or or or or fixed so the the the new police vehicles though I like them they look nice and you need some that are unmarked I get all that but the ones that are Patrol I would think you know make them bright make people realize man that's a cop car
coming down the street and I I that's just one man's opinion um speaking of which real quick uh the mayor's security detail I think somebody brought it up before I it how do I put this because I know I'm G to ask the question and you can't
speak about an ongoing thing but is if is there if if there was a threat to the mayor uh that causes the him to have armed security detail uh 247 basically are are there any updates are there any
people of interest is there anybody been You Know spoken to arrested the public has a right to know if there's a threat against the the sitting mayor of a town and an active threat where he needs armed security I think the public should know at least something about hey we we're on this it's it's an active case
because if if there was a a claim made I'm sure there was a cad a cad entry you know you got to make a cad entry a police officer got to go to the house I'm sure there's an incident report of some sort where where is that stuff do we know anything about it because he is taking men off the road and using
it for himself and I'll go a step further if let's say does it stop at this mayor if the former mayor mayor Lan my former boss was to let's say have a threat does he deserve Arm Security detail from the police department or does that not matter once you leave
office you're on your own so again the precedent your is being said here is is very dangerous it's it's costing us a lot of money and if he's going to have armed security detail police security detail and you're taking guys off the road we have the right to know to see
why this is at least see something or or not an active investigation because he's a he is should be treated a little differently he's the mayor so I think that is something that needs to be at least discussed and I think we're taking it we're allowing this to just um um
occur and very very you little I know some people Rich AG has pushed back on us but that's that's all to say thank thank you uh deputy chief there were two questions one was the about the police cars the patrol
vehicles um what can you what light can you shut on that yes so good evening in regards to patrol cars um obviously patrol cars we we buy specifically Police Package cars from primarily Ford Motor Company um they are designed a certain way um they don't look like the
old Crown Victoria anymore um so you know they look the way they look as far as the markings on them however uh some of them are completely marked some of them we call them ghost lettering which is subdued lettering some are completely unmarked and some cars don't necessarily look like a
police vehicle but yet are being driven by a police officer that is all for our purposes to be more effective and uh to be stealthy at times when we need to and of course to be over at times when we have to so it's kind of a mixed bag in terms of the fleet how they're struct Ed
how they're decaled Etc I I hope I hope that answered that and the other question was about the security detail yeah so the mayor obviously has a security detail from time to time and it's not a 247 operation um public events Etc um however you know if there
are threats which there have been in the past I certainly can't discuss those threats openly um but you know we take all threats seriously against the mayor and anyone else for that matter and we deal with them accordingly um but I can't discuss it beyond that
thank you deputy chief all right U two did you want to say something counc yes if I could ask deputy chief something um and I don't know if you were aware I you might not have been the deputy chief at the time um there was a threat that we had at our
schools and um your department was able to track that down through Google or Facebook or or whoever runs the web um maybe you know whoever it was at the time so you have the ability if somebody sends a threat
through an email or an electronic electronic correspondence you do have the ability to actually track that down correct I can't say with 100% certainly but we have abilities to try and track it down yes I'm not a techie but yes the
the ability exists but not necessarily all the time depending on how it comes where it comes from what um I'll call them firewalls for you know a better term uh probably again not a techy term um as far as where it's originating from so I can't say what 100% certainty we
can solve every time a threat comes in but the ability in general exists it's there right and and that was that was my point was that when it came to something that was actually a serious threat of a child being harmed type of thing um
Google was was able to assist um our department in tracking down where was bouncing off dark webs and all of that kind of stuff so so I do know that when the threat is of a certain magnitude um these other organizations
work within law enforcement and Homeland Security to be able to actually do this um and and I just wanted the public to know that we do have that ability um thank you Chief okay thank you um okay can we restore it was 2 minutes and 50
seconds right of for excuse me one second um Vinnie I I did think it was 255 but no 2 it was 250 plus the other five seconds okay all right very good uh continue um so I I do feel like my first amendment
is being trampled on here um I respected what you said not the first time but the second time uh not to play the video it even went through the lawyer to to he he said it was up to you really um if the mayor uh had allegations against him and
there was charges against him would I not be able to speak about that if Brasher had charges against him would I not be able to speak about that to the lawyer um I I can't speak about uh members of that that work in the town
I'm not allowed to because there's pending charges uh I can't speak about uh a member of a resident of Edison uh and how he's being treated and how he keeps getting treated here in Edison um I mean it this is this is this is crazy I
I'm here to talk about uh things that concern me in this town and I'm not able to do that I mean come on that is it that's what the first amendment is all about to talk what I want this is my this is my four minutes it was six
minutes to talk about what I want and I can't that that's insane and if I don't the last time these these officers were going to you know remove me because of what you said um are are any of you guys getting
threatened by the the by the ba or or the mayor is any litigation happening or is anything happening where you're scared to let me speak is anything happening is somebody telling you I can't speak about this is she telling
you I mean this is crazy this is my right here this is your position to let me speak You're the president I respected not playing it on the phone I really
did and now I brought the report um let's talk about vasel orders in general uh Sinclair that the one officer that tried to remove me yesterday maybe not tried but whatever it was Sinclair actually had a vasel order against one of his
neighbors um and and the the neighbor claims it was false she had to go to the New Brunswick Police Department or New Brunswick and uh she filed a report yeah again I'm sorry again this is this is not this is not against her I'm talking
about Basket in excuse me stop his time um Vinnie but again this is someone this is Personnel this is this is this is someone else's name on it this is somebody else talk something if we're talking about if we're talking about a police officer who employed with the
town it's it's personnel and it's and it's another litigation matter I don't know why you want to keep going down this road uh he's he wants to speak I was just going to say this is another active litigation situation very similar to the previous one the the rules should apply
in both absolutely absolutely uh can you restore his time now now what are the rules where is that where is that written where is it that I can't speak about litigation going on in the town I mean if I can't
speak about litigation in the town I might as well we might as well all pack up I mean if we don't like something that's going on in the town and there's litigation we can't talk about it that's that's crazy so that's what I got answer maybe counselor do you have
anything uh else to add to this question no council president uh I think that you've handled it appropriately while there is pending litigation or Personnel matters they are not proper subjects or topics for public debate and
comment in this limited public for end the story read your constitutional law sir you'll see that that's the answer I will thank you thank you anyone else from the public okay sing Oh
Russ you got it just under the Y us thank thank you uh rosto County uh at New Jersey uh the or the proposed ordinance for the uh the adop the area program uh in
the next council meeting when it's presented again if um you see a way clear to uh maybe elaborate more on how the ordinance is going to be followed out or carried out uh it might um uh
entice residents to sign up and adopt areas uh I myself are very much in favor of this there's an area in my uh on my end of town that I think I'd like to sign up for but I wanted I'm I'm retired I have a lot of time on my hands but I I
want to know what I'd be getting myself into um recently there was uh some social media posting some debris that was left in a wooded area uh near John Adams Middle School and um I I believe
it was implied that there was some dumping being done there I can't say for sure if if if that's the case on where it was actually uh accumulated but it was probably dumped maybe further back in
the woods and some of the cleanups that go on in this town might have brought it out to the roadway area to be picked up at a later date and then it was um uh essentially picked up but it might have it might have appeared like it was dumped at the side of the
roadway um I I I go back by the area all the time and it's it wasn't necessarily dumped where they picked it up from it might have been dumped further back into the woods uh be that as it may this adopt an area program um as as nice as
it sounds you might want to enhance it a little bit by installing some some cameras in some problem areas uh the Peter Barnes Reserve um uh back by where the the south on the south planfield
border and along talage um but along the uh in the South planfield area that became a Dumping Ground uh until it was beautified a little bit and and some fencing was put up but maybe some cameras in the areas that that are of
concern um could be added to the ordinance or or uh discussed uh once the ordinance is passed for a little more security um also uh on Grove Avenue last year there was some discussion about the
speed limit on um I'm on Grove Avenue from uh like mouin high school as you're entering into mouch into Edison around James Street all the way up to uh new over Road they were uh intending on reducing the speed limit to 25 miles an
hour um uh through the chair to uh deputy chief is that actually being uh take can wait till the end that's that is that actually being implemented um or to to the chair um M Harris is that did
that ordinance pass and will that be a 25 mph speed limit because the 35 mph speed limit signs are still up um also uh new do Road Grove Avenue uh even if they're 25 miles an hour there there's a
lot of 40 mph 45 M hour drivers through that area and uh you know something can be done to um maybe just Patrol that a little bit more um and I think there was a few other
things but I'll maybe I'll save it to the next meeting thank you all right thank you um Council vice president can you help with the um his questions about the uh the ordinance uh uh the final implementation would be
done through the administration in terms of what I believe some of the guidelines should be um like I think you should have periodic cleanups whether you call it monthly bi-weekly weekly I think that's going to be dependent on the area that is actually needed to be addressed
um you obviously have to make sure that it's Township owned property and not like County property or state property so for instance people may feel that they want to adopt some of the roundabouts but that would be under the adop a high program from the state um so
a lot of the logistics is going to go through the administration which from my end I I wanted to provide that flexibility so that they can Implement what they feel would be the best way to move the program forward but in laying out the foundation to allow for the
expansion of it I think that's what this uh these adjustments do okay thank you very much and uh deputy chief about the speed limit on Grove yeah so as I recall um we did a traffic study uh where it with speed analysis
along um Grove Avenue uh a short section of Grove Avenue was changed by ordinance to a 25 mph Zone the remainder of Grove Avenue remained a 35 mph Zone uh as I recall the speed study that was done was
consistent the speeds were consistent with the speeds of that roadway there were no glaring errors as I recall this was a while back um but again there's one section of 25 the remainder of it is 35 to this date can you clarify where that 25 area
starts I I believe it's somewhere around Edison Avenue if I'm not mistaken and extends just past Calvert like that kind of general area um I'm probably pretty close on that it's closer from Adams to Anri closer to that section thank you
Council thank you council president yes um Chief can I get a can you get me a copy of that and the reason why I say that was the whole reason that I asked for Grove to be made 25 the entire length um wasn't just about traffic it
was to make your job easier and make our Police Department look better okay and and I'll tell you where I go with it when you drive down one street that's 4 miles long and it goes 25 30 35 25 35 25
and 35 because it's 25 in maten it's 25 up by the Edison Avenue it's 25 by my home and then it's then it's 35 after my home and it's 35 on the other side of my home
before and after right so see how it goes 25 35 25 35 25 35 all in that two or 4 m area um you know as a driver you're really unaware as law
enforcement um it's got to be hard for you to pull someone over in the 25 because they're doing 35 or so right so presumably yeah right I mean it I don't want to use the word speed trap um but if you were to give someone a ticket
that's not in a vocabulary account right that's why I was proposing to keep it you know if we needed in 25 in the two areas in a touching if we just made the whole thing 25 all right so what I can do is I will get with traffic I know we did a u a speed study um it was last
year some point I'll have that pulled and we'll we'll get it to to all right thank you very much Chief thank you anyone else from the public I'm I'm sorry um no there's no no there's no rebuttal no no rebuttal no yes ma'am
you just just give your name and address please uh my name is Sarah and I live in uh Prospect Avenue Edison okay uh I am concerned for the safety and privacy of the folks living and working in Edison
under the current federal administration's policies as I view them to be a heinous and outrageous overreach uh as such I would like to know if the town of Edison PD or local government coordinates with IC or
federal immigration um that it's just my question okay uh once again deputy chief so obviously this is a very hot topic Nationwide um I can tell you that ice traditionally does not call local law enforcement when they're doing
operations even if it occurs within Edison Township sometimes they could give us a heads up sometimes they may ask for our assistance that rarely happens normally they do not advise us they do their thing we do ours uh and they generally don't
cross thank you anyone else AJ good evening Ben from medicine New Jersey do have the floor council president thank you very much okay so going back to the last speaker
um I think this happened uh last month foul I'm going to say maybe four weeks ago I'm walking down towards a 7eleven and when I was at the front of the
school uh there was a black Jeep Cherokee or something like that right there was two of them dark it out I couldn't see their their um the windows from side
to side you know um I seen a vest but I didn't know if if it was you guys or maybe I was around maybe that you know you even stated they don't even call so kind of sucks that you you got this
Administration not Joi let me uh correct myself the Trump Administration I'm not sure you guys notied but 150 th000 lives has been taken away from suicide this year I'm not sure you've
seen a post but I have a post stating that 150,000 I'm not sure if it's American itself if that is the case during this Administration there's a cry of help of the people and it it's it's very sad
it's very sad hearing things on the news every day from Ice from transgender rights uh you know it just this is not it's unlikable you know it just
something needs to change and now they're taking away Social Security Medicaid food stamps I am qualified I'm disabled by the state they can't do that that's that's that's Insanity I I you know I would love to yell and scream at
Trump and just and blow so many ears at him but it just this is really sad what I'm seeing in in this presidential administration too much is going on you know we have to literally have to come together and now it's just I also found a post uh I think this someone posted it
in one of the LGB newspaper that transgenders are now like literally arming themselves now sad because his administration it's like there is a song um I think it's called rich men from Grom I for I trying to see if I can
look it up but it kind of um um anyway I I'm not going to play the song but it is a very good song it talks about you know the people are hurting it it just we're all hurting that the American people are hurting everyone
knows you know it just a government shutdowns it's going to happen that that's what's what I was told and if it does the Republicans are going to blame the Democrats when it was the Republicans are the ones who trying to shut the government down taking people's
rights away throwing people out of this country you know this is ridiculous it just so much stuff are happening it just it's sad when I'm seeing we got you know I I wish I'm not sure if like to my as residents over
100,000 residents you know don't please whatever you do don't end your life please get some help we got in including the affected from that percentage of that 150,000 it also goes towards transgender people as well we
there's a transgender who just uh got killed I think 3 weeks ago it's just sad and all those five um suspects are being charged for that it just everyone needs to stop attacking and just come together
and just try to make a world a better place and that's all I'm going to say thank you very much I don't yeld my time in like right now thank you thanks AJ anyone else yes
Sarah oh oh wait glor I'm sorry Gloria just only one time to to speak can I no unfor unfortunately no um Sarah Sarah Nasser 59 Pleasant Avenue
um I will be brief uh on March 19th on Wednesday at the clar Barton Library we will have our next Friends meeting at 7: p.m. p.m. um so it's open to anyone not just a friend but we do recommend that you um sign up to be a friend uh while you're there but uh we're going to go
over a lot of the initiatives that we've been working on so if you would like to come out again March 19th Wednesday 7 pm. at the Clare Barton Library um and I know several of you are already friends I'd really like it if you all became friends so if you do have any questions
please let me know I'm going to keep coming up here and saying join um we have like 120 people uh that have joined through out of 100,000 Edison residents so I want to get closer to the to the other end of the spectrum so again thank
you and hope you have a good night thank you Sarah okay anybody else motion CL the public portion I get a second second all right uh can we get a motion to adjourn council president before we adjourn I'd just like to wish a happy
birthday early birthday to our council president on Milestone birthday May the New Year bring adventures and great memories and uh we look forward to uh to your wisdom thank you happy 50th
birthday you know it just seems like um my mom was 70 she was my mom was 70 1988 and wasn't that just a few weeks ago I don't I don't know how I got here but uh but but here I am um and grateful grateful to be here thank you so much I
really appreciate that councilman shuel and and everybody else uh all right back to motion to aurn happy birthday and motion to adjourn thank you second thank you uh we are adjourned at 8:28 thank
you e e for