there we go mayor i' like to call to order the regular meeting of the Elwood Park mayor and Council for February 20th 2025 to order at 711 p.m. on roll call we have council members F solo here
goabc here Samson here Sheridan here Troy here council president peligre here mayor katti here we have a quorum thank you good evening ladies and gentlemen I welcome everybody here this evening sorry we're a little
late uh but we uh got pushed back meeting went a little longer than we anticipated uh so let's get started everybody please rise for a prayer and flag salute oh God our Father we ask you to bless our meeting which we entrust in
your fatherly care and protection please remove both selfishness and Prejudice from our hearts and implant therein a keen sense of justice and a greater love for you and our neighbors guide us in our deliberations so that our decisions
will always please you and bring your peace and happiness to our community amen I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation
under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all where as chapter 231 of the public laws of the state of New Jersey require at the commencement of every meeting a statement of compliance be read by the presiding officer now therefore be
advised that the meeting and its requirements for this meeting have been met by publishing a special notice in The Herald news and the record and by posting such notice in the office of the Burl clerk as well as in a public place
within the municipal building also by notifying interested citizens sorry said notice was posted and transmitted on January 3rd 2025 and published on January 8th
2025 first that we have approval of minutes we have the January 2nd 2025 reorganization meeting the January 9th 2025 work session and the January 9th 2025 executive session motion to approve the minutes so Mo second
discussion call to roll please first by council president peligre second by councilman C solo on roll call we have council members V solo yes GOC yes Samson yes Sheridan yes chicy yes council president peligre yes motion carries at this time I'm going to turn
the meeting over to councilwoman Terry Sheridan for our introduction of our veterans leison thank you um what this is is um the Elwood Park um we're going to have an Elwood
Park uh veterans Alliance um I have a young man that served in the service he knows first class on being in the service coming home to a different world and I
just want to introduce him to everybody any veteran that needs assistant needs help needs somebody to talk to this is the man we got and it's Frank doc can you come up and just introduce yourself
a little bit on the mic please and also Shadow Mike can we get Shadow an [Laughter] email hold on I'm G to get your mic okay um good good evening everyone so my
name is Frank sh I'm an army combat medic veteran I served in Iraq um for the last seven years I've been managing a nonprofit called the New Jersey Veterans Network we go out we help veterans we bring resources to Veterans uh resources to Veterans is pretty much
my specialty I have a network of different programs that I could bring on to help veterans when they're in need um whether it's someone who's homeless we can get them off of the street we get them into a hotel room as a matter of fact that happened last year here in Elwood Park the Chief helped me out with
that and councilwoman Shar didn't help me out with that we were able to get a veteran directly off the street and homed and start his life back over um there are a couple of veterans who need assistance through Alwood Park that I've worked with in the past but I've helped um couple hundred veterans over the last
seven years um a specialty of mine is doing veteran events um we actually we have one coming up this Sunday over at the Elwood Park VFW we'll have veterans from different areas coming in and we'll have free clothing free jackets free
winterwear free groceries whatever someone might need we'll have there in order to help with veterans it's an easy way to bring veterans out in a nice comfortable comfortable atmosphere so uh if you have a veteran who's in distress
understand sometimes we've spent our military career going to parades and being proud of ourselves it's very difficult to ask for help so in an atmosphere like that it's a lot easier to go over to especially another veteran and ask for help um I've seen the great things this town has done I've worked
with a lot of you guys here on the council and um you guys know how much I love this town and I love the things that are happening in this town I'm just very excited about being a part of that so thank you for allowing that so basically doc you um you're becoming our
liaison from elet bark yes sir to the organization yes I hope so that's basically what we're doing this evening right yes it's basically yeah um he does have a um email address for any of the veterans in
Elwood Park he does have a cell phone feel free to reach out no matter what it is if you just want to say hello if you want to hang out with Shadow this is what this man is here for to help all the veterans in Elmwood Park so please
don't hesitate call if you need him I know basically I'd be preaching to the choir but for those of you that don't know uh when we started out some four years ago with the monument the veterans uh Memorial monument to the
Vietnam soldier uh doc jumped on board real quick and he said uh mayor whatever you need I'm at your disposal and he did a lot for us to bring it to fruition uh he's all veteran what you're seeing that man his whole life is dedicated to the
veterans and and to the United States of America ultimately and we thank you for that we're glad to have you aboard uh we couldn't have probably picked the better Le a on uh so Council any comments would like to say a few words
to the doc ahead yeah good evening doc um just want to acknowledge that your good strong work uh I appreciate just this past Sunday we saw you at the Elks the breakfast and you uh participated with us and help the veterans that we already had there I really appreciate
that um we see you in your uh adventures with Doc and Shadow on Facebook and it's good to see that people are really going uh you are really going above and beyond to help people in need uh who served our country uh nobly doc thank you thank you
Mr uh congratulations on your um upcoming appointment as the liaison it's um I'm glad we have you here in on Park um I think it's a lot easier for veterans and and anybody in need to ask somebody for help when they see a familiar face right uh so you being
around the area I know you see a lot in Garfield as well uh with Mr BR and and stuff like that uh so when when you see a familiar face you're more inclined to ask for help so it's great that uh we have you here in El Park thanks Mr golen
thank you sir for taking this on I think we tried this in the past uh with with some mixed results but based on based on the based on your track record everything that's going on here there's no doubt that it's really going to work this time and if there's any anything more we need to do to make help you
don't don't be shy to ask thank you okay doc congratulations on your appointment I know that you're the right person for this position um first I want to thank you uh for your service to the
country and I would also like to thank thank you for your service to the veterans I I see you out and about all the time whether it's a movie night to get the guys out or um uh Distributing toiletries needed
toiletries so um I just want to thank you and I look forward to working with you and Shadow thank you P CH uh thank you mayor uh doc thank you for everything I know when I first asked you you didn't I didn't even get it out
of my mouth and you're like Terry whatever I can do I'll help so thank you very much and you know if you need anything else we're all here for you the chief's more than happy to help out whatever you need to make this work we're behind you thank you line yes I
just want to say congratulations on your appointment and really thank you from the bottom of our hearts for what you're doing for the community and our veterans thank you for your service I've been following you on Facebook and I see on a daily basis you're here with food you're there you're everywhere you
in Shadow like all you have to do is see him on Facebook and he's at a different place every day doing something for those in need and that's very commendable and I really from the bottom of our hearts like everyone else has said we can't thank you enough and um the residence assistance program I know
a couple times you had said if you have people they're always welcome to come to um our pantry also you just have to make a phun phone call to us we already have a couple veterans from town coming there so they just have to make an appointment with Mrs fa and um we're happy to help
them also nice whatever you need so thank you very much nice thank you Mr fno Mayor I see Doc twice a week at our uh morning training he comes and uh participates in we have a a boxing class that the police department does for
camaraderie for physical mental and emotional health and support for the guys and doc has been part of that and he shows up very regularly and he does a great job we also did a a boxing class for a bunch of veterans uh not too long ago so that's invitation is still open
if you want to do that again welcome to the team we know each other well and anything I can do to help and support you know how to find me yes sir thanks thank you as you can see doc you got complete cooperation from this mayor and Council and our residents too so we all
just happen to really appre appreciate our veterans and what they've done for us and are continuing to do for us so I guess when you leave here today you know the doors open at any time yes sir thank
[Applause] you next up we have ordinances on first reading resolution r7425 introduce ordinance number 25 5-3 in first reading bate resolved that an ordinance entitled an ordinance to fix
the salary wage and compensation of the officers employees and Servants of the B of Elwood Park County of Bergen state of New Jersey for the year 2025 be passed and adopt in our first reading and be it resolved that a final hearing on said ordinance will be heard in the municipal building on Thursday March 20th 2025 at
7:00 p.m. or as soon there after as name can be heard at which time any person's interested in said ordinance can be heard be it further resol that the Bor clerk being she is hereby authorized to advertise in a legal newspaper a notice of introduction and final hearing as required by law thank you Mr fugo any
comments on this mayor it's our annual salary ordinance uh customarily we our employees get the cost of living raise um and that that's reflected in this ordinance and it's uh we do this annually thank you may have a a motion on the
ordinance second any discussion call roll please first by council president pelig second by councilman folo on roll call we have council members folo yes goabc yes Samson yes Sheridan yes chicy yes
council president peligre yes motion carries next we have resolution r- 75-25 introduce ordinance number 25-4 on first reading be resolve that an ordinance entitled in ordinance amending burough code section 7-
37.3 regulation for the movement in parking of traffic on all other private property to allow for title 39 enforcement at 41 Slater Drive and the adjacent excess easement be passed and adopted on first reading and be resolve that a final hearing on said ordinance
will be heard in the municipal building on Thursday March 20th 2025 at 7:00 p.m. or as soon thereafter as same can be heard at which time any person's interest in in set ordinance can be heard may it further resolve that the bur clerk being she is hereby authorized to advertise in a legal newspaper a
notice of Interest eduction in final hearing as required by law Mr fno break this down please yes mayor so on Slater Drive there's the Amazon building and across from it in between there's an easement uh for 41 Slater Drive uh we
found that tractor trailers have found that as their new home to park their their rigs for extended periods and in order to enforce the parking regulations there we need to have this ordinance passed that gives us the authority to do so cuz most of that stuff's not
enforceable on private property or easements I guess you're going to have to go to De bendig Steiner now right it's been there a long time for those truckers right and the the property owners have requested this okay all right may I have um a motion please
so move second any discussion call the rooll first by council president peligre second by councilman gobec on roll call we have council members folo yes GOC yes Samson yes Sheridan yes choicy yes council
president peligre yes motion carries resolution r76 d25 introduce ordinance number 25-5 on first reading be resolve that an ordinance entitled Bond ordinance to authorize the undertaking of streetscape improvements to mola Boulevard phase two
from Philip Avenue to Broadway and buying for the bur of Elwood Park in the county of Bergen state of New Jersey to appropriate the sum of 1 million ,000 to pay the cost thereof to authorize the issuance of bonds to finance such appropriation and to provide for the issuance of bond anticipation notes and
anticipation of the issuance of such bonds we passed an adopted our first reading and be it resolved that a final hearing on said ordinance will be heard in the minicipal building on Thursday March 20th 2025 at 7:00 p.m. or as soon thereafter as them can be heard at which time any person's interested in said
ordinance can be heard be it further resolved that the burough clerk being she is hereby authorized to advertise an illegal news a notice of introduction and final hearing as required by law Mr Goen would you mind breaking this down for us I know this is your sure mayor sure mayor
um it's good news because we're like floating the bond for the second phase of the lighting project but unfortunately we found out the last work session that because it's a Federal grant uh things these these things do take time so uh it doesn't look like the action on phase two of the boulevard Phill up to Broadway will will start
until 2026 um but nonetheless Le we're doing our part to move it forward but I'll just add to that that there is another section that um the late Congressman pascrell got us 3/4 of a million dollars for that's the section of Market Street to finish Market Street from the CVS to
the sleb Border it's a little bit of a different situation so we're pushing from our end as as as fast as possible to get that money in hand and maybe get that project going this year so it's moving just certain things we don't control thank you mayor government works
in very slow slow ways okay may I have a motion on the ordinance some second any discussion call the roll please first by council president peligre second by councilman folo on roll call we have
council members folo yes gobec yes Samson yes Sheridan yes tryy yes council president peligre yes motion carries now moving on to our ordinances on second reading we have resolution r-7
7-25 introduce ordinance number 25-01 on second reading whereas a public notice has been given by the burough clerk that an ordinance entitled an ordinance to amend an ordinance entitled an ordinance to establish the water department of the burough of el Park berken County New Jersey to fix the rates and prices to be
charged for the use of water and establish rules and regulations for the distribution Supply use and protection of said water and penalties for the violation of certain said rules and regulations was introduced and past a meeting held on Thursday January 23rd
2025 and that further consideration of this ordinance will be taken up at this meeting whereas all persons intered in said ordinance were given the opportunity to be heard concerning the same now therefore it be resolved by the mayor and councel of el Park that an ordinance entitled an ordinance to amend an ordinance entitled an ordinance to
establish the water department of the bar enwood Park beron County New Jersey to fix the rates and prices to be charged for the use of water and establish rules and regulations for the distribution Supply use and protection of said order and penalties for Vi for the violation of certain said rules and
regulations passed on Final reading may I have a motion to open to the public second anyone from the public here to speak on this ordinance in this ordinance alone yes if not I'll close the public
portion mayor like to make a motion to table this was requested by the department head okay we have a motion on the table here to two table okay okay we need two votes for that yes and there's
no discussion with the tabling motion which one is this this is uh R 7725 who the department okay good what we need is is a two to move
I'm going to move yep so it's table by Council president peligre and second by councilwoman Troy so I'm going to C do the roll call you certainly can okay we have council
members F solo yes gobec yes Samson yes shidan yes choicy yes council president peligre yes okay motion carries for this ordinance to be tabled next we have resolution r78 d25 introduce ordinance
number 25-2 on second reading where as a public notice has been given by the bur clerk that an ordinance entitled an ordinance repealing and replacing bur code sections 2- 32.1 to 2- 32.8 and amending and supplementing ordinance 21-15 entitled an ordinance to fix the
salary wage and compensation of the officers employees and Servants of the B of em Park County of Bergen state of New Jersey for the year 2023 regarding Department of Public Works leadership was introduced and passed at a meeting held on Thursday February 6 2025 and that further consider ation of this
ordinance we be taken up at this meeting and whereas all persons interested in said ordinance were given an opportunity to be heard concerning the same now therefore a bate resolved by the mayor and Council of the burough of Emma Park that an ordinance entitled an ordinance repealing and replacing Burl code
sections 2- 32.1 to 2- 32.8 and amending and supplementing ordinance 21-15 entitled an ordinance to fix the salary wage and compensation of the officers employees and Servants of the B of el Park County of Bergen state of New Jersey for the year 2023 regarding
Department of Public Works leadership pass on Final reading Mike this is just basically set in the chain of command of with the DPW am I correct with that chain of command as well as um we added a position department head and uh worked out some of the compensation thank you
may have a motion to open to the public on this ordinance and this ordinance alone so move second anyone from the public here to speak on this ordinance if not I will close the public portion may I have a motion to adopt the ordinance
second okay call the roll please first by council president peligre second by councilman folo on roll call we have council members folo yes gobec yes Samson yes Sheridan yes choicy yes council president Peller green yes
motion carries moving on to our consent agenda we have the following resolutions r- 7925 approval of payroll r- 80-2 approval of bills list R d8125 resolution authorizing tax exemption for
disabled veteran 263 Cory Lane AKA block 1105 lot 1. 263 r- 8225 resolution to refund tax exempt veteran r83 d25 resolution to refund tax
exemp veteran R d84 d25 resolution to refund overpayment r- 8525 resolution to refund overpayment r- 8625 resolution to refund added assessment adjustment r-
87-25 resolution to refund 22 G Avenue r-88 d25 authorized building department refund r89 d25 appointment of part-time dispatcher Police Department Brendan blanchfield r- 9-25 appointment a parttime dispatcher Police Department
Carlo 2 r-91 d25 resolution for mechanics helper stifen r-9 2-25 authorized retirement payout Department of Public Works r- 9325 approve Elwood Park fire department stying program fourth quarter compensation r-
94-25 authorizing the mayor to execute a shared service agreement with Northwest Bergen County Utilities Authority TV Inspection Services r- 95-25 authorizing the mayor to execute a share service agreement with the Northwest Bergen County Utilities Authority jetting
services r- 96- 2 adopting a change to an existing Deferred Compensation Plan r- 9725 elected officials participation at public meetings using electronic device r- 98-2 appointment of auxiliary member and
r-99 d25 resolution to approve the consent agenda well you got through that may I have a motion on the consent agenda some move I'll second that any discussion
call the roll please first by council president peligre second by councilman folo on roll call we have council members F solo uh the second was by councilman uh Sams sorry ears are
off first by council president peligre second by councilman Samson on roll call we have council members P solo I'm going to recuse on 93- 25 and 98-2 and I'm going to vote no on
97-2 yes to the rest okay goabc I vote Yes okay Samson I vote Yes Sheridan yes tryy I'm going to recuse from R d89 d25
r- 93- 25 and r -98 d25 yes to the rest yes to the rest oh yes to the rest I'm sorry okay and council president peligre yes okay motion carries moving on to departmental reports we have the Board of Health
meeting minutes from December 9th 2024 and the library board meeting minutes from December 16th 2024 motion to accept discussion all in favor I okay mayor this concludes my portion of the meeting I will turn it
over to you for Council reports Mr solo progress mayor Mr Goen back thank you mayor uh just Just One update I don't know whether all the residents and every on the council everyone's aware there's a little we had a little bit of a shakeup in our um legislative delegation that represents
Elwood Park um state senator Nelly Poe went to Congress um assemblyman Benji wly uh fought out a uh a win against his counterpart assemblywoman Suter to become our new state senator uh so that went down a few weeks ago so Mr Wimberly is now our state senator water 40 New
Jersey when he moved up to the Senate uh there was a back filling of the assembly seat uh and that went to uh councilman Al abdelaziz from Patterson who is now assemblyman abdelaziz obviously Benji Wimberly is no stranger to us having represented us but assemblyman abdalaziz
is new to us I've been in touch with him I know him prior to this um and uh he's looking forward to coming in to maybe to a work session introducing himself for a couple of minutes um in the near future so maybe we could set that up for March um and he also mentioned me I was on the phone with him today that um you know
these assembly people Senators can put direct requests in when uh for the budget direct requests direct resolutions that this town is looking for this uh which was really interesting cuz we've always been asked what we want but we've never been asked that direct question um and he committed that he
would like to submit a resolution strictly for Elwood Park so that's something we'll have to talk as a mayor and counsel um it may not end up in the final budget it's all about negotiation but uh the thought counts and and I appreciate it so I look forward to setting that up and getting us all acquainted with our our new uh our new
Representatives that's excellent is uh yeah we should move on that what's happening with Sumpter I read something in the paper today assemblywoman Sumpter uh she's finishing out her term the year but she announced she's not seeking reelection so you know the you know the party will pick someone you know to to
run in the primary but she still represents us through the end of the year so even if they name someone to run they're not in any capacity until they win so I liked her it's a shame yeah well you know it's it's tough she put her hat in for congress uh the state senate convention was decided by one
vote was 87 to 86 and who would have two and cont Wimberly and Sumter for the senate seat wow so she she you know she lost it by vote and you know I don't know you know she just made the decision this week so it is what it is interesting but lady she's done by us well by us mayor thank
you councilman Samson yes good evening as uh on behalf of the planning board leaz on uh we had our last um meeting on the 22nd I believe it was Wednesday I'm sorry Wednesday the 12th and uh we approved
yet another business that's coming to Market Street next to Eminem uh Liquors that's going to be a nail shop there and it's just a further proof of the uh progress that we're doing as our burough flourishes with new businesses and welcoming to our burough which is always
good to see um attended bowling with the blue chief on Thursday the 13th I sent you some uh pictures it was an outstanding event a great uh interaction there um seniors senior Valentine's Day again uh
at Rec Center was uh another great job by Chris Cobb and a crew and a Chief's crew and of course Elma Park strongest has always got part of that or thew and that Segways into the fantastic job they did with these they relatively minor snow events we had but uh they're out
there keeping the burrow open keeping the streets passable and thankfully we didn't get that big storm that was a forecast for today initially um everything I see our burrow is in great shape moving forward and getting stronger God bless us God bless our
burrow and no further report yeah the Valentine's Day for the seniors that was U it was kind of unique we had a nice nice crowd there say 75 at least yeah uh Pro yeah again with the weather was cold there was a forecast for in Clement with you know and I also forgot to mention
that that it was today if anybody opened up their Community news today we're on a front cover of the community news it's not the pit a prize winning Edition for MLB oh good MLB is on the on the front page of uh the community news it was in I don't want to
say national news but it was certainly Regional news um the networks had it last week and um again strength D the Torpedoes and full steam ahead there you go thank you
Eric uh Pam uh the Board of Ed update the weather continues to cause some setbacks in the construction they are uh probably a little more than a couple of months delayed they're probably looking at like
a January 202 six for prek um it'll keep us posted on that I don't know if they'll be able to like make up any ground maybe I don't know um opening day for both softball and little league will be April 5th so uh mayor and Council and
chief are uh invited so please mark your calendars um softball is uh looking for coaches in three of the age divisions uh kindergarten through second fifth and sixth and 7th through 9th we had a
record response to um softball registrations from the girls in the burrow they have 139 players registered with 12 possibly 13 teams up from nine teams last year up from six
teams the previous year so in two years we've more than doubled um well that's because you're there and Terry's there right yeah um if anybody is interested in uh
coaching they can go to EP softball.com and uh little league is also uh looking for coaches they're looking for coaches for their uh uh t-bow division this is prek through kindergarten um they also
had a successful year of signups that they have 159 players with 13 possibly 14 teams team so it's going to be a busy spring um so P what do you credit that to a better recruiting system or the town is just a cycle where the
population is greater I I do think that a lot of it has to do with um we've got some amazing um parents that have done things with social media advertising um for the with the and um
some uh improvements to the website and stuff like that and I think it just made it you know it reached more people um we also put up signs at all of the schools now like on the school property um with a QR code we're just making things
easier right in in years past um people would have to there'd be a like assigned days where you went to the rec center and you signed up in person and you wrote a check and um sometimes parents can't always get to everything right so
um I think making the signups uh can venient and the Outreach is what um you know contributed to it and then of course the girls came back from last year so that means they had a great time you know that's the most important thing they can't do anything without them this
is true this is true but we do need coaches so this is my plea so it's a combination of all these little things you put together and and the program has grown yes very nice very nice anything else P progress
mayor council W Sheran thank you mayor um I just want to reach out to the DPW for um the storm on uh February 9th which was also Super Bowl Sunday um the the roads were great I actually went to
work and I don't drive in snow but um everything worked out good I'm sure everybody had a good time as far as Super Bowl went I'm sure everybody made it home safe and I just want to give a big shout out to the epw um the senior's Valentine it was it was the smaller group I think she said
she only had like 120 instead of 170 but everybody had a good time everybody was dancing around you know it was fun Christine always does a great job I wanted to give a shout out to her and doc I just want to say thank you again um he does have an email there is
a phone number if anyone uh needs it or uh wants the email um just give me or give one of us we all I'm sure have it and um doc thank you again okay all right so um that's it
progress now ter with the um the DPW is it me or these three storms we had they they were right on top of them yes they were we we we've really had an excellent uh next day so to speak yeah I well um
we're in transition with the new management and everything going on and um I think it's it's working out great not going you know not going W I think we picked a good guy you know to take over for Scott when he leaves and everybody's working together everybody's
coming together like Elwood Park always does and we all work it together I mean the chief did a good job too can't him out we can't forget the police force right you know we all work together and we get it done and that's all that counts right
as long as at the end it's done deal thank you council president yes good evening everyone a couple of things my board of health update they had their meeting on February 10th much discussion was had on the fifth annual celebrate seniors event
save the date October 4th 2025 many more details to come in the next few months the rabies clinics for dogs and cats are going to be the spring one will be May 14th 2025 and the fall clinic will be November 12th 2025 location Firehouse
number four Ona Boulevard and the time will be 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. their next meeting will be Monday March 10th at 700 p.m. location Barrow Hall police update bowling with our Elwood Park PD on February 13th was a great Community
event it was a fun night for all thank you to all our officers for making the night very special for all of our residents the next bowling event will be this Saturday February 22nd for children ages 8 to 17 time 1:00 p.m. to 4 p.m.
children's AG is 8 to 17 location Parkway Lanes in Elwood Park there's no cost to bowl and there will be free food and beverages to sign up go to the recreation community pass our Alwood PD will be holding its annual youth Police
Academy from Monday August 18th 2025 to August 29th enrollment is now open the deadline to enroll is July 18th you must register through Community pass and there will be 150 spots available so sign up as soon as possible and there is
no charge for the academy on Saturday March 1st there will be a Ramadan ceremony celebration ceremony the time will be 4:45 p.m. location mola Boulevard and Market Street Council Corner update Council
corner with myself and councilwoman Sheridan will be held on Saturday March 1st at 1 p.m. location burough Hall in the allpurpose room the guest speaker will be Chief fno light Refreshments will be served and then lastly the new Elwood Park Chamber of Commerce had
their meeting Tuesday night much discussion was had on events planned for the 2025 year once dates and events are confirmed I will let everybody know and for more information you can go
to their email at Elwood park chamber.org or you can call 55157 A10 and their next meeting will be held March 18th at 6:30 p.m. at our local VFW thank you mayor progress thank you
just like to make mention that this is uh the Black History Month and we want to thank and congratulate those who have participated in the last 250 years make making this a better country for all of us uh this is a a diverse country it's
one that uh maybe a 100 years ago there was prejudism uh that there shouldn't have been we've worked away from that we will continue to work away from that uh one of the great leaders there Martin Luther King uh his quote to me is
profound and uh when we think about it is uh don't judge a man by the color of his skin but by the contents of his character think about that for a moment and I I think that says it all
moving along may I have a motion to open the floor to the public I know you've been dying to get up here so we had one over here so Mo second okay anyone from the public here
to speak I just could someone explain to me the ordinance 25-01 can someone explain the ordinance 25-01 what I'm reading at the last part
she need her name I'm sorry Leno go ahead what I'm reading at the last part is that the minimum quarterly bill for metered service shall be a service charge to um guessing us as consumers of 5,000
gallons per quarter that if you exceed 5,000 gallons of water this town is going to bill us $757 for every 1,000 gallons over the 5,000 gallons
is that correct Mr F now you have any uh do you want that writing in do you want that request in writing Mr fno that she's making um I I think the question could be answered when the ordinance is reintroduced cuzz I don't know what what
changes they're going to make to it so I don't want to speak on anything that's in this one because I'm not sure what changes are going to be made mayor thank you who's making the changes we tabled this resolution that didn't pass today because this is an ordinance to
amend the water department in the burrow of Elwood Park what does this have to do Lenor you know we tabled this this this evening not to not to shut you down but we tabled
it so till when uh till when it's completed properly okay all right very good okay now what actually brought me here is there are many more people driving in Elwood Park
as you all well are aware of that introduced all the stop signs on East 54th Street and every else every other place in town town which I don't have a problem with what I'm seeing in this town is the aggressiveness of the
drivers specifically Chief at the corner of mola Boulevard and Molar by the bar you have a right hand
lane and you have a leftand turn lane you're traveling west now you're going into into umake 46 yeah you're going into that way so we traveling west on on
no you're it's not West West is South you're going you're going from Route four to uh Route 46 South move forward okay you're making a left hand turn okay you're going south there's a there's a right there's a right lane and there's a left hand turn
lane what the people are doing is you have I don't know 10 15 20 cars waiting their turn to go straight and you have a empty left-hand turn lane and what I've seen multiple times or numerous times is
somebody comes up in the leftand turn lane and then they hit the gas and cut everybody off to get first to go under the bridge the bridge okay there's been numerous accidents there and it continues for those who you
know over by the new uh Vietnam memorial statue there's been accidents because they're rushing to beat each other up now what I've also seen is at the intersection of Market Street and the boulevard you have a
right you have a right lane a middle Lane and a leftand turn lane and you have the people that are going straight in the Middle Lane consequently the people in the right lane are technically supposed to make a right-and turn but it's not
marked rightand Turn Only and you have the people in the left lane so you have the people in the Middle Lane who are going straight but that right lane stops as soon as you cross over Market Street those people
are Jack rabbiting through there and then cutting everybody off last week I had some guy come up and he's riding alongside of me in front of the um office building there on the
corner of course he hits somebody that's parked in front of him not that he didn't physically hit he had to slow down cut in the lane and then he goes forward goes back over to the curb thinking that he can get in front of
everybody so can we make the that right lane with a sign right hand turn only so these people aren't causing accidents or being aggressive drivers I mean those are two incidents
that I see all the time coming home Mike do you see um any fault in what she's saying recommending I should say well first and foremost it's a county designed intersection so any changes would have to be done by the county um
it's a merge so the right lane and the center Lane are both permitted to go straight or the right lane can turn right and there's a sign that shows an a lane merging so the drivers just have to be more courteous to one another I don't think the county will make that a right
only turn because then you're going to just back up that other lane more um I you know I don't I have to have my My Traffic Division study at first and then if they felt it was a necessary change then they would have to talk to the county and the county would have to make
the change okay and what about the if the council agrees we wouldn't request it from the county if we don't agree on on that yeah probably sure I I'm totally against making that a right turn only that intersection has been done what how long seven eight
years 201 I've never heard of this before and I'm sure I don't know you had statistics about more cars in Elman Park than ever before I don't know what your whatever what the data source is but I have to venture there's I don't know 5,000 or more cars that successfully
merge there every day I mean the statistical when you take whatever fender benders were there versus how many cars pass through with all due respect I live in Cherry Hill section there are more cars coming in and out of Cherry Hill on Garvey place and up
Cadmus Avenue then you would car if you want to go there go sit there you could see for your you nor I'm not going to argue with you made five statements tonight with zero fting me you're always fighting me you're always fighting the town and the town doesn't see this part of fighting you I'm stating facts you
are constantly harassing our burrow employees and it's important for people to watch that see see part it's the burrow it's the burrow the building code official right to talk to enforce say
came up with no you came up with no call the police you made a claim there's more cars than ever with no facts you claim there was all sorts of accidents at this intersection all sorts of I mean you you come with you come with no facts you you demand action but you have nothing to back up other than you know I don't know
what about the intersection on the mola Boulevard and Molar drive or Lyndon there's two streets there Mr chief that pav been that road has been repaved and so much work has been done on that time and no engineer at any time has changed the
configuration of that intersection a question and you're here and we have to change it mola Boulevard lynon and malt where they have the leftand turn they're going into the leftand turn
lane and they're Jack their rabbit accelerating and cutting everybody off so I can tell you that it happens to me as a as a driver um I see it okay so so I I don't know how you how do you fix that right so they don't do it in front
of marked police cars they don't right so unless we set up a sting operation with and I'm not being funny I'm just being honest with you okay and I drive a unmarked police car and I see violation after violation if I was driving in the marked up unit everybody's driving like
an alter boy it's just the way it works so I feel you and it happens to me too I just don't know how we fix that with the population in Elwood Park daytime excess of 40,000 with businesses and and
commuters with a police force of 50 hops it's just you can't do it you just can't physically pay attention to every nitpicky not your I'm not saying you are I it it bothers me and I'm the chief and I live here and I can't solve that
problem because unless you have a pluna guys that just go out there and Target those infractions in unmarked cars and get them you're just not going to do it I'm just being honest is there a sign there that says left lane for leftand Turn Only I'll have have to check uh
left lane for left I think it's marked on the uh it's marked on the street but they do it they do it they cut me off I get it okay I'm with you all right I wish we could you know hire drones to give out tickets that' be cool I'm up
with that I'll support you they can Circle over Milan Motors that's a good one anyone else care to speak from the public state your name and address please and keep it under 10 minutes if you don't mind okay thank you dear um dorine
frager Saddlebrook New Jersey I'm with animal protection League of New Jersey and it was brought to our attention that 26 Canadian geese were rounded up on the property of Elmwood Park and gassed to death someone had granted permission to the USDA to allow them to come onto your
property to kill the geese so we had met with um Tashan Warren in 2021 and I did attend a mayor and council meeting and he at the time he said that you had installed Away Away with Geese lights used bordoli dogs and everything was
non-lethal so we're not really sure what had happened what changed and um the city of Garfield was in the same situation I'm sorry I'm nervous was in the same situation so we met with the mayor we met with councilwoman bansch
and we met with Mr golbach so I think he's familiar with the situation and they have become non-lethal they denied access to the USDA so the USDA cannot go on their property anymore to kill the geese and I do
have emails I have the USDA report that says Elwood Park gas the geese um I have the ordinance from Bergen County that has the Commissioners passed that um do not allow any of the killing on any of the properties in Bergen County so we
were hoping that you would work with us to implement non-lethal Solutions and deny access to the USDA to come onto your property to kill the geese you're saying we actually killed 29 geese 26 geese
26 um here are the reports somebody has met mayor I Can Shed a few words I I can brief because I dealt with this in a neighboring municipality in my official role um the the the idea is uh TBO
airport partners with USDA um to uh um yeah to prevent bird strikes and uh one of their methods Alle allegedly is what what um what um Miss uh Miss fra right yes what Miss fra is saying um so there so it's like that the municipality signs
a form allowing the T borer to conduct activities and then kind of you know it's a so I can I can talk more about my experience with this at another point but that's the gist of it but um there you can deny access to teetoro many towns have done it um many entities have
done it and you could use non-lethal methods um like I said the city of Garfield is one of them that have done that and uh the mayor has denied access and they've been that way for years a couple of years now so and I also spoke to Aon delini and she said yes they have
opted out of lethal and they're not allowing the USDA on their property and they're just remaining um non-lethal and I do have those emails here with me to show that um and this is a packet of information on non-lethal ways to move
the geese out of the area and we do work with an ecological landscape designer she would come in she would help you let let me interrupt you if you have nine ways to move the geese why wasn't that implemented before they were they were
killed we didn't know that they were killed um like I said we did meet with Tashan Warren in 2021 and um he said no there's no problem and at that time there was no reports of Elwood Park gassing the geese allowing uh the USD on USDA on their
property so we didn't know that I see and I just recently found out this year when I received the Foye reports from the Federal Government Can I can I just is it possible that um um land owners that border the river are part partnering with USDA and they're getting
access that way is it is that is that is that something that occurs I don't no it has to come from the municipality I don't know somebody in the M municipality has granted access the USDA will not just go on anybody's property and rounds up the geese and kill them no no what I'm saying is um like you know
access to the river like if I recall and I could be off I'm just saying this um but you know there are throughout right Bergen County massive corporations and businesses that happen to border the river and it is conceivable that it was through that means that they
you know like the report make make credit that these geese you know came out of Elma Park were captured in Elma Park does not necessarily mean it was because the burrow sanctioned activity like do you know that part for a fact yes I do okay so you're saying the the burrow of V Park gave permission off of
burrow land you have that excuse me you have that in writing I have the report here because the this is a list of all the other entities that the USDA visits that they only do um Nest destruction egg addling this is a list that of of
all the different ones by Tia burrow that they visit and it only comes out to the burrow of Elwood Park and um a couple other entities down here that we are working with and they are moving to deny access to the US is there a name
there that suggests they had per element Park gave permission there's no name it just has the of elmood Park so what's that mean I I but somebody the USDA is not going to come on to somebody's property to kill the geese they're not going to do that well to Daniel Daniel's
point maybe they came in through a different avenue like we don't know the we don't know the answer I mean we could look into what you're saying but I I I you know I I dealt with this so if I'm saying something something rings a bell that we we have large corporations down on the river that in theory they could
privately partner and give access and then we have nothing to say about it so it's something we need to discuss but I I do want to give my two cents to the council at another point about this but I do know um you were there at the time of gar I know but in Garfield like the entire Pake river is Municipal property
so it was like a you know it's not the same dynamic as what I'm telling you here anyway the mayor did work with us and he did cancel um the USDA he opted out a lethal so you know that's all that we're asking is that because it's a horrific death I remember our our visit down to the Dundee d right we went down
there and we it was interesting interesting day wasn't it yes very interesting and we had our ecological Landscape designer there let me suggest this let's let our attorney look into this and then at our very next work meeting we can discuss it can I come
back to the next meeting doation want yeah I do I have the USDA report I have the communication with Aaron Delany I have the County ordinance that where they will not gas any geese on property and I have a packet of non-lethal
information um different solutions that do work that um you know okay a lot of places are having success with let's leave it like that dear we're all concerned we don't want to see geese killed all right and especially if you have nine ways well no no there's more than nine ways there's a there's a bunch
of different I okay that's even better that gives us a way out in case of the the geese are in an area damaging something if we can get rid of them without killing them that's first on the list let our attorne look over what you your paperwork okay
and he'll uh we'll bring that up at our next work meeting which you're welcome to come to okay our next work meeting meeting um I have my card inside here the date and um March 6 is a our work meeting right
here got to get in the microphone I'm getting you know I'm getting a little hard hearing here your contact information see anyway go to thei and I I just can I if I could I say one
other thing could I say one other thing please okay we got to we got to resolve in in the works okay can I just say one other thing just one okay no you can say two so I I don't want to be like graphic or
anything but I had witnessed a Roundup of the geese it's the most animal cruelty at the highest level they put them in a gas chamber and they gas them to death and takes 45 minutes for their lungs to fill up with with the gas that
they give to them and they whail they cry they moan they it it's it it would has never left me so that's why I fight so hard for them because there's so many non-lethal ways to control the population that you do not need to put them in a gas chamber and gas them to
death well and you're absolutely right that many ways of not having them killed available they shouldn't really be killed and you know I just another thing I'm sorry I don't mean to do this but there were a couple of other entities in
the the Tito Barrow mix um and Riverside Cemetery was one Riverfront I mean there was a whole bunch of them when we brought this to their attention they stopped it they had no idea that that's what was going on they thought that the geese were being removed from the property they had no idea that they were
being put into a gas chamber and gas them to death and that's exactly what happened okay all right we we get the picture I'm sorry and if you're finished right yes thank God cuz you got a minute otherwise a wire comes down and ejects you right out of the room thank you very much for allowing me to speak tonight I
really really appreciate it and I'll see you no problem meeting no problem anyone else from the public here to speak on any subject whatsoever if not I will close the public portion may I have a motion to enter into executive we don't have any
we don't have any no we did it in the beginning that's right anything else my dear that we have to cover no no I like the way you did that like you made it I didn't have my mic on so I to project may I have a motion to adjourn
so move all in favor I thank you good night and we'll see uh you on the sixth young lady on the six for