perfect Mayor I'd like to call to order the regular meeting of the Elma Park Mayor and Council for April 17th 2025 to order at 7:05 p.m On roll call we have council members Folo here Golbeck here Samson here Sheridan
here Tracy here Council President Peline here Mayor Kleti here We have a quorum Thank you Well good evening ladies and gentlemen How's everybody doing out there all right that's good Uh we have an interesting evening tonight We'll be
celebrating the Elks and their 150 some odd years of existence and uh we're going to be giving them a proclamation But first if everyone could please stand for our prayer and flag salute And given
prayer tonight is Rabbi Schultz Good evening everyone Sorry a little bit raspy Recently I was reflecting on the 23rd Psalm and many of us are accustomed to hearing this at funerals but I thought
about the words when we say yay though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death and hearing that can be a little bit jarring but yet at the same time we walk through challenges of life We walk through difficult times but yet we find
in our hearts the ability to harness God's blessings We find in our hearts the ability to recognize that there is a creator And at this time spring represents a rebirth We are now in a holy week for two peoples This is the
week of Easter as well as the festival of Passover at which time we're coming together as a people of faith as diverse communities to pay homage and to pay respect to our God And may we look at
this period as a time of reflection as the weather changes and we have the opportunity to come out from our winter and cold weather hibernation May we find it in our hearts to be able to impact one another that no one knows how many
days they have left in this world And we wake up every morning to try to hit that reset button to try to make a better life for ourselves our families and our communities May we always find the strength from within to do just and to
do good in this world And may God accept our thanks for the healing of our beloved Chief Michael Felgno And may we all continue to see that the challenges in our lives particularly the health related ones are mitigated through faith
and through resolve Thank you Thank you Rabbi 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 Whereas 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 requirements
for this meeting have been met by publishing a special meeting notice in the record and Herald news and by posting such notice in the office of the burough clerk as well in the public place within the municipal building also by notifying interested
citizens said notice was posted and transmitted on January 3rd 2025 and published on January 8th 2025 First up on the agenda we have approval of minutes We have the March 6 2025
special executive session The March 6 2025 work session March 6 2025 executive session March 20th 2025 special executive session March 20th 2025 regular meeting and March 20th 2025
executive session May I have a motion to approve the minutes so move second Any discussion call the role please First by Council President Peline Second by councilwoman Sheridan A roll call we have council members Folo
Yes Golbeck Yes Samson Yes Sheridan Yes Tracy Yes Council President Peline Yes Motion carries At this time Mayor I'm going to turn the meeting over to you for the proclamation for Elks Youth Week
Thank you Uh ladies and gentlemen I don't know if you know too much about the Elks organization uh but they were established in the late 1800s I believe it was 1868 Am I right with that 1868 That's a
long time And they're an organization benevolent to all parts of our society Uh they favor our children and they do numerous good deeds throughout the whole country And we'd like to take the opportunity to make this this week youth
week and proclamation from this mayor and council that will read something like this Whereas the benevolent and protective order of the Elks have designed May 1st to the 7th as youth week to honor American junior citizens
for their accomplishments and to give fitting recognition of their services to community state and nation And whereas Elmwood Park Patterson Elks Lodge 60 will sponsor an observance during that
week and tribute to their junior citizens of this community Whereas our youth need the guidance inspiration and encouragement which we alone can give in order to help develop their qualities of character
essential for future leadership and go forth to serve America and whereas to achieve this worthy objective We should demonstrate our partnership with the youth our understandings of their hopes and aspirations and a sincere
willingness to help prepare them in every way for the responsibilities and opportunities of our citizenship Now therefore I Robert Kleti mayor of Elwood Park do hereby
proclaim the first week in May as Youth Week and urge all departments of government civil fraternal and patriotic groups and our citizens generally speaking to participate wholeheartedly
in that observation Diane will you please come forth in case you're wondering it's what's in here is just what I just read I'm not going to put you to hear that once again Okay Thank you First of all you know the monthly
magazines you sent out they're inspiring They're historically accurate I love them They're like that's my library I'm a and I think I know I see
all members raise their hands It's good organization Anybody out there want to be Oh here we go Two more elks Anybody out there want to become an elk it's a great organization I'm going to let her speak about it but we're very
appreciative of that In fact have you account and our door is always biology challenge [Music] Lucky thing you're on the thin side Okay All right Thank you Um my name is
Diane Ari and I am the chaplain for um the Elks Lodge 6 in Elwood Park We're right on Market Street so if anybody is interested in joining our doors are always open Um our exalted ruler cannot make it today so I'm reading this on her
behalf and her name is Lisa Nazerado I would like to sincerely thank Mayor Robert Kleti and the town council for recognizing the Elks organization We truly appreciate your acknowledgement and support and we are honored to rec be
recognized by such a dedicated community leadership Elks invest their comm community invest in their communities through programs to help children grow up healthy and drug-free meet the needs of today's veterans and improve the quality of
life I'd like to briefly highlight three of our programs that focus on empowering and supporting our youth The first is youth recognition Through this program we celebrate and acknowledge students for their outstanding achievements We work closely with the
school authorities in our community to identify and honor young individuals who demonstrate excellence whether academically in leadership or through community involvement We look forward to welcoming the town
council and school board members to join us on May 18th at the Elks Lodge 192 Market Street as we come together to honor these outstanding students The second is our state major
project Elks Camp Moore located in Haskell New Jersey The Sleepaway Camp provides a safe supported joyful environment for campers with special needs and disabilities At Camp Moore children have the opportunity to enjoy traditional
camping and recreational activities while building confidence forming friendships and gaining independence This is at no cost to the families The third is National Drug Awareness Program The largest drug awareness
initiative in the United States The Elks are committed to eliminating the use and abuse of illegal drugs It essential that our children be raised in a drug-free environment As part of this effort we host a weekend retreat at the Ocean Place Resort in Long Branch New Jersey
for teens where we educate them about the dangers of drugs addiction and providing support for those who may be struggling with mental health issues including suicidal thoughts This is also at no cost to
families These are just a few examples of how we support the youth in our surrounding communities These children are not our responsibility They are our future leaders Thank you Thank you Diane Thank you so much Um we appreciate
that Uh council comments Eric would you like to comment on Yes Diane Thank you for your appearance this evening and um the speech that you delivered was a a home run Um I personally am uh the chairman of the drug awareness program uh which
is part of the youth as you said part of youth effort Uh the Elks is all about uh public service in general civil service or um community service and helping out especially with youth Thank you very much for your time Congratulations to our elks and all of us that especially
the ones that are seated up up here except for Mr Golc And uh thank you Diane Thank you Councilman Folo Thank you mayor Yeah I recently uh became an Elk Um and I did so because of seeing how much they do
for the youth in particular because that as a teacher uh the youth has always been near and dear to my heart Uh one of the things I especially am passionate about that the Elks uh takes head on is uh special needs children Uh so please continue that great work I I like that we're doing a proclamation tonight Uh
and good luck Thank you Thank you Councilman Councilman Golden I'm good Thank you Mayor Councilwoman Sheridan Thank you Mayor Um as uh Councilman Eric turned around and said I've been a
member of the Elks going on four years and um I just want to thank Lisa Well she's not here but Diane thank Lisa Um it's a very educated group I mean we do a lot for the community We do a lot for the children I mean the children are our
future So you know they as long as they go in the right direction we'll definitely um everybody will definitely feel a lot better And I just want to say thank you Thank you Councilwoman Councilman Tracy
Yes Um I've been in Elk for just about five years myself and I often um say that um being installed was one of the best decisions I had ever made in my life They are some of the kindest um
most generous giving people and I'm not talking about monetarily They give of themselves constantly Um so I would like to um give a heartfelt thank you to the
Elks not just for what they do in our community but the way that they have enriched me personally Um thank you Thank you Councilwoman Council President Pel Green Yes Diane Thank you for
everything you do and all the Elks do I've been a member for two years now and all you see there is kindness It's always how to help the veterans how to help the youth how to help everybody You've given to our pantries so that people have food It's just such a loving
and caring organization like my other colleagues have said in everything you do You show love and kindness and we are so happy as a community to have you come tonight and share a little bit about what the Elks does for our youth and it
really makes a difference in this world when things are uncertain sometimes You have a friend in the Elks and I just want to really as a leader of the community thank you and all the other members from the bottom of my heart Congratulations You all do an outstanding job on a daily basis Thank
you Thank you Councilwoman Diane As I said earlier on uh we are in love with your organization It's carried on for century plus that in itself speaks for itself Uh the
generosity it it does go noticed So like I had said earlier this door is always open Any way we can help to extend your generosity please feel free As you can see majority of this
council is an elk anyhow Uh which is a a good thing and want to thank you very much for coming this evening And this whole week is for those kids Thank you [Applause]
Thank you Moving along mayor At this time we will entertain a budget hearing for the public Okay May I have a motion to open the floor on public comments on the budget
so move Thank you All in favor to open to the public Anyone from the public here to speak on this the budget 2025 budget wait excuse me Did we all Did we do a first and second yes Yeah I'm sorry Okay
Yeah You okay yeah I'm good Did you have your coffee tonight or what no I just So basically we're here We're opening the public session without any commentary from the mayor and council or the finance administration They have their chance to comment is before anything is set up here Correct Well I
would think if they if they had to comment would be from a question from the audience I would think Okay And anyone from the audience care to speak on the budget if not I will close the public portion
Okay Does the C does the mayor and council want the CFO and auditor to speak uh do we have any questions coming from the mayor and council on the budget to our auditor and to our CFO no but I think that the CFO and the auditor
should explain the budget to the residents uh and see what this council is about to pass tonight I agree mayor I mean the some of the people haven't weren't here for the last meeting Once they give a little synopsis on everything they may have questions So
I think we should let them give an overview of what's going on Absolutely Mr Roy Briotano is our CFO We'll start with him All right Push the button Thanks So the budget this evening uh has been scrutinized a
couple times by the uh council numerous times by the administrator and the department heads and the finance committee as well So this is the final product Uh we met about two weeks ago Uh it was unanimous by the council They
wanted to reduce the taxes further uh through the efforts of our auditor our administrator we were able to bring that down We got it down to $269 a home assessed $330,000 Uh the main focus of this
year's budget were the increases in the insurance the garbage pensions and the library appropriation which is by law 1/3 of a mill which means we had to give them roughly another 80,000 uh
$120,000 more this year So when you add all those numbers up it came to approximately $2 million in increase expenses that this uh bureau uh has no uh say on It's basically uh state
mandate state pay especially when we came to the pension uh bills So with that uh mayor and council uh the number right now is for this evening to adopt is $269 a house Um and that's with
hopefully this year uh replenishing some of our reserves which we have started last year Hopefully it's a better year this year Thank you Paul Lurch would you or auditor would you like to speak of course Thank you Mayor Um yes And so I'm not going to reiterate what Roy had
indicated Um just a little bit of a different uh viewpoint here Um procedurally I just want to make sure everybody understands what's happening tonight So uh last meeting you introduced the budget The budget was introduced at a higher value per homeowner Um so tonight what's happening
is is we're having a we're opening up the original introduced budget to the public Um then what's going to happen is is that we're going to introduce uh an amendment to the budget and that amendment to the budget u is also going to be open for discussion if anyone has
any comments on that And basically what that amendment did it took the original introduced budget which was over 300 an average house utilized more surplus and therefore what we're doing is presenting from over $320 an average house down to
$270,000 Once that amendment is finalized then the mayor and council will go through the process of voting on the actual budget itself Um so the final budget as Roy said is different from what was introduced Um I just want to make a few other comments here I'm not
going to get into the to the details As Roy indicated the the major increases of the budget Um but I do want to point out that when you look at historically what's happened on the budget side and the average increase um certainly when we were here last year and presented we
talked about a large increase compared to relatively where the budgets have been in the previous years And what we're dealing with is still believe it or not in 24 we had a uh we had an increase that was uh above and beyond what was normally anticipated Uh this
year I'd say again we have a quite of a larger size increase And it's really part of the hangover effect still from what happened 3 years ago four years ago and 5 years ago Those years were the years that the budget was produced or or presented to the public and adopted at
relatively zero tax increases In order to do that as you all know in your own homes your own households every single year the cost of living is going up up and up And what happened is is that the budgets were introduced and presented at
zero Meaning that the use of surplus and revenues were aggressive more aggressive and more aggressive And finally what happened in that third year the budget actually was short by $1 million In other words they provided x amount of dollars to spend on the budget We spent
million more than that Uh and that was uh in effect because of an emergency appropriation So when you take the accumulative zeros and then you take the all on top of the zeros you have this million dollar deficit What we're looking at when we get in when we uh address the 24 budget
we saw a sizable increase Well quite frankly that sizable increase wasn't really enough to deal with those previous three years of aggressive budgeting and underbudgeting Um if we would have came here in 2024 and really dealt with the the the total deficit
that was created over that 3-year period it probably would have looked somewhere around almost like a $500 increase to the average house But I think the mayor and council knew that that was not palable number and they were in no way ever going to try to produce a a $500 increase in one year on on an average
home Um so what happened is is that they did the best that they could We presented a budget that again I'm I'm sure at the end of the day everyone would have liked a lower budget amount on an average house but the reality is is it's it's a two-year period We're still dealing with the residual effect
of those budgets which were inadequate um over those previous previous three years Um so I do think though going forward um and as a result of that I guess I do want to point out that surplus dropped last year almost $3 million and that's again because of the
effect of what happened in those previous three years So surplus now stabilized Uh I know I feel more comfortable going forward Um when we went through 2424 we're actually get we were able to get through the budget without having to do emergencies meaning
that the appropriations were adequate for the spending side I know that myself and and and the CFO and and and the mayor and council believe that the 25 budget is also an adequate spending budget And we all feel that um um that
looking forward to 26 that we should be more and less back in line with cost of living increases and um certainly not a sizable increase like we're seeing but more cost of living increases Um and I think that's where the future lies Um so
I guess that summarizes my comments Mayor I don't know if you have anything else you want to add Thank you Thank you Paul Okay Council do you have any questions for either auditor or CFO regarding the budget i have one question and it's could be for either
gentleman What what um what's the tax levy increase as a percentage on a house at the average assessed value that 200 and change number what percentage increase does that reflect the new amended number uh the the amended number is is roughly 8%
Thank you Anyone else from the council i would just like to say that uh nobody likes to hear the news that taxes are going up Uh I especially hate that word tax However we got hit just like
our representatives here professional representatives had said that we got hit with a $2 million increase in costs that are causing the taxes to go to the point
that they have suggested And so here lies in a nutshell that if we didn't have these increases which I believe are the the residual of the not only the American Rescue Act the mil 2 million we
didn't get in the last two years but also inflation and these companies probably held back on bringing their rates up and now we're getting hit with it in this third year So I'm calling it the residual of uh of somewhat of the p
pandemic All right With that said then we can move on to the uh to the ordinance itself Okay Okay We have resolution R-123-25 Introduce ordinance number 25-06 on second reading Whereas a public
notice has been given by the burough clerk that an ordinance entitled calendar year 2025 ordinance to exceed the municipal budget appropriation limits and to establish a cap bank and JSA48 col4-45.14 whereas said ordinance was
introduced and passed at a meeting held on Thursday March 20th 2025 and that further consideration of this ordinance would 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 it be resolved by the mayor and council of the bur of Emma Park that
an ordinance entitled calendar year 2025 ordinance to exc to exceed the municipal budget appropriation limits and to establish a cap bank in JSA484-45.14 passed on final reading May I have a motion to open to the public so
move I'll second it Anyone from public here to speak on this ordinance and this ordinance alone if not I'll close the public portion May I have a motion to adopt the ordinance so move
I'll second it Call the role please First by Council President Peline Second by Councilman Samson Roll call We have Council Member Swo No Colbec No Samson Yes Sheridan Yes
Troy Yes Pelleigreen Yes Motion carries Next we have resolution R-125124 sorry-25 amend the 2025 municipal budget whereas the local municipal budget for the year 2025 was approved on the 17th
day of April 2025 and whereas the public hearing on said budget has been held and advertised whereas it is desired to amend said approved budget Now therefore it be resolved by the governing body of the B of Enwood Park Bergen County that the following amendments to the approved budget of 2025 be made as referenced in
the resolution May I have a motion on the amendment so move Second it Any discussion yes mayor I just want to make note that this amendment only happened because some council members up here had questions
about the budget and actually wanted to go back and look at the budget Uh we were looking at a 10% increase Uh but because of the courage of a few council members wanting to ask questions instead of sitting and not asking any questions about the budget um this amendment was
possible Yes I I agree with you 100% That's what our job is And up to this day we had to do was to ask questions So it all culminates tonight Everything before that was our workshop So I agree
with you It was good conversation Any further discussion uh just to recap on this this basically after we had looked at the budget and then we asked the auditor we
asked our CFO is there anywhere we can pull a few dollars from it we dropped it down $26 uh on a a house that's assessed at 335 So it went down in the right direction We did our due diligence
Okay Okay Call the roll First by Council President Palig Green Second by Councilman Samson On roll call we have Council Member Brolo No No Samson yes Sheridan yes Choicy yes
Council President Peline yes Motion carries [Applause] Resolution R-125-25 adoption of the 2025 municipal budget Be it resolved that the mayor and council of the borrow of Elwood Park in the county of Bergen state of New Jersey
hereby adopt the 2025 municipal budget set forth herein and shall constitute an appropriation for the purposes stated of the sums therein set forth as appropriations and authorization in the amount of $23,621,47 for municipal purposes May I
have a motion to adopt the 2025 municipal budget so move I need a second I'll second it Any discussion yes mayor if I may Yes Um a lot of things that could be said but I I'll keep it brief
Um since we adopted the last budget last year which was a significant tax increase and it was probably the same time last year since that meeting this mayor and council and I looked this up specifically has spent over 7 hours in the last year at the beginning of
council meetings honoring people accepting donations all sorts of things great things for our community Don't I'm not I'm not going down the path from San We spent over seven hours of the public's time and our time doing all sorts of beautiful and fluffy things to recognize people accept donations etc We
have spent less than one hour as a group discussing an 8% tax increase and for that reason among a lot of other reasons I will absolutely be voting no Councilman I want to ask you a
question We had two meetings prior to this meeting regarding this budget You could have asked any question you wanted throughout the whole procedure The first meeting you you walked out of the room You weren't even
there You walked out of the room for the first meeting So here you are calling whoever you're calling out I don't know You should be calling yourself out Okay Are you done with your question yes So the first meeting you
referenced was um improperly advertised and illegally started Okay And we corrected that Excuse me but let me finish You as the mayor direct the clerk to advertise meetings Is that
accurate that's correct Okay And a special executive session was advertised to discuss the budget That is not a legally permissible thing to discuss outside of the view of the public It was the first time this council had any opportunity to hear from our
professionals I I mean I'm sure we got something a day in advance but we had zero opportunity at least myself to discuss the budget prior to that point And it was advertised in a manner that is totally inconsistent with the law Okay that's number one And I called that out and that's just a basic thing And
the attorney a thousand% agreed with me Okay So for you to say that I left the meeting is totally false because it was illegally um convened Okay Number two your solution to that was okay why don't three members at a time meet with our
auditor who is not a burough employee He's a burrow consultant and a professional but not a not a a burrow employee and the CFO was not available was away at that time Why don't we meet three at a time with the CFO and everyone can get their questions answered we literally have uh a 10% tax
increase in front of us and it's like "Oh meet me three at a time." Okay that's number one Okay number two I've been on this council This is my ninth year And for many many years I don't know when it stopped probably a couple years
ago this council would meet with every single department head on a Saturday morning or on a Thursday night and discuss their entire budget for their department their employment needs their capital needs for the following year and so forth None of this occurred
Moreover moreover with the change you know with politics different people coming on um and I I I make jokes at this at meetings so I'll be the first to say that but I'm not on any committee of relevance Certainly not the finance committee Um I don't know how often that committee meets I haven't heard an
official report from that committee so I'm not in a position to necessarily know exactly what's going on I asked several questions at the last work session Uh some of which were answered But the bottom line is you're flipping this back around on me You cannot
dispute the fact that we as a body seven people did not discuss this for more than one hour as a group when we can spend seven hours doing all sorts of beautiful cute things for the community where we take pictures and post online after But when it comes to matters of
consequence our residents paying 8% more after going up double digits last year We've spent less than 1 hour discussing it I think it's outrageous for you to flip it on me to ask questions Okay Well Councilman you know you you're doing a lot of uh talk here tonight but you've
had a whole year to question any part of the budget that you wanted to That's number one Number two you said that we had an illegal meeting We did not have an illegal meeting It could have been we were making a mistake Our attorney advised us to break it down into groups
which you hightailed it out of the room So you're over here preaching about the budget and not having enough time You didn't want you wrote a note for this budget right from the beginning Let's face it Absolutely not Mayor absolutely not At the last meeting I made several
comments and references that we need to look at every single uh budget We need to look at our our workforce how many employees we have and there's no interest to do that And here is my fear My fear 8% is a lot but here's my fear A lot of that is guided by health benefits going up 20 plus percent A lot of that
is guided by Pake Sewage and what they're charging us Okay So you're basically telling the people we have no choice cuz these numbers went up this big Okay What is your solution when those numbers go up big again next year you're going to go out here and say "Sorry guys it's 11.3% cuz those things
went up again." Well we did we did the best we could And then the following year when it goes up when those align items go up at what point do we have a responsibility to course correct and bring our staffing our financial situation to a a reasonable level you're
passing the book on on to other uh situations and it's the second year in a row Let's hope And those goodie two shoes would you call it that we do for the public acknowledging an organization like the Elks Club uh if you think
that's a waste of time I feel bad for you I Let me ask you something How do you How do you You made a statement there's no You made a statement that if it goes up the same amount next year what are we going to do about it well what' you do about it this year you
couldn't do anything You acknowledge that we had this great uh increase in pricing and out of our control You're talking in circles Let's move on I'm not talking in circles I'm not in a position to do anything about this budget You and your colleagues own this budget When my
colleagues um um were dealing with the budget we had department head meetings We started this process three or four months ago You you plop this tax increase in front of us maybe a month and a half ago and we have had less than one hour discussion about it You can talk about it all you want You
left one meeting You left one meeting So that's why they actually had two hours to talk about it And let me say this also that two years ago you got a million and a million in 23 and 24 from the American Rescue Act Those dollars
were gone Where was your concern about spending money during the course of those two years knowing that we didn't have that coming in in 2024 those were both your budgets because you're the mayor you supported those budgets and the whole council supported that budget So that's a fact I am not disputing that costs are going up I'm not disputing
that this is a difficult situation What I'm uh bringing to to the public is that this body six council members and one mayor yourself have spent less than one hour discussing a budget that increases taxes You've spent one hour We've spent
more time than that And and where is that we we spent it We had two meetings You weren't there for one So there you you're half of the time you're talking about Let's move on here because this is going nowhere But first of all just to be very very clear I made a three-s sentence statement and you challenged me
and questioned me That's why we got into a dialogue Let's be very clear about that I still love you D No I mayor I'm good with you too I'm just saying this is like very laxidasical of the council to do this increase You're pointing fingers right now for political reasons I know it You know it And let's put it
to rest right now I'm not running for anything So no but you're making it you're making a farewell statement for sure Uh moving along Mayor may I I'd like to make a statement Um I I could recall you foreseeing this
exact situation and expressing your concern during the years of 0% increase and now here we are seeing it actually come to fruition So Mayor I I thank you for that foresight Unfortunately the uh
the controlling um council at the time didn't see it your way and that's why we are where we are today Thank you Uh moving along I I have to make a statement because that is an incredibly disingenuous statement The mayor put
both of those budgets on the agenda The mayor signed both of those budgets The mayor did not veto any of those budgets And then the mayor and yourself took credit for those 0% tax increases So that has to be said Moving along
First by Council President Peline Second by Councilman Samson Roll call We have Council Members Fillo No Golbeck No Samson Yes Sheridan Yes
Troy Yes Council President Peline Yes Motion carries Uh I'm going to ask for a couple of minute recess here I know want to take some pictures with the mayor and council Diane regarding uh the proclamation Okay So stay with us ladies
and gentlemen We'll be back in a couple of minutes Reestablish Yeah we establish Okay Mayor I would like to reestablish a quorum for our regular meeting being
held on April 17 2025 On roll call we have council members Folo here Golbeck here Samson here Sheridan here Troy here council president here mayor Kleti here We have reestablished a quorum At this time we
will be moving on to ordinances on first reading We have resolution R-126-25 introduce ordinance number 25-09 on first reading Be it resolved that an ordinance entitled an ordinance
amending section 7-20 stop intersections to add stop signs on Gro Street at Vivveny Street be passed and adopted on first reading and be it resolved at a final hearing on said ordinance will be heard in the m in the municipal building on Thursday May 15th 2025 at 7:00 p.m or
as soon thereafter as same can be heard at which time any persons interested in said ordinance can be heard Be it further resolved that the burough clerk being she is hereby authorized to advertise in a legal newspaper a notice of introduction and final hearing as required by law May I have a motion on
the ordinance so thank you Any discussion call the role please First by Council President Peline second by Councilwoman Chroy On roll call we have council members Yes
Yes Samson yes Sheridan yes Tracy yes Council President Pellegrine yes Motion carries Next we have resolution R-127-25 introduce ordinance number 25-10 on first reading be it resolved that an ordinance entitled an ordinance
by the mayor and council amending the borrow of Elwood Park code of ordinances to repeal chapter 28 flood damage prevention to adopt a new chapter 28 to adopt flood hazard maps to designate a flood plan administrator in providing
for severability and an effective date be passed and adopted on first reading and be resolved that a final hearing on said ordinance will be heard in the municipal building on Thursday May 15th 2025 at 7:00 p.m or as soon thereafter as same can be heard at which time any persons interested in said ordinance can
be heard Be it further resolved that the burough clerk being she is hereby authorized to advertise in a legal newspaper a notice of introduction and final hearing as required by law This is uh just basically to bring us up to date Is that correct yes I'll have Yeah that that's exactly
what this is So basically the FEMA updates have uh required us to to update our ordinance to by the state This is by the state Correct Okay All right May I have a motion on this ordinance okay Mr Foul Yep
He second it Yes Any discussion call the roll please First by Council President Peline Second by Councilman Folo On roll call we have Council Members Folo Yes Golbeck yes Samson yes Sheridan yes Troy yes Council President
Peline yes Motion carries Now we have ordinances on second reading We have resolution R-128-25 introduced ordinance number 25-01 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 Elwood Park Bergen 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 reintroduced and passed at a meeting held on Thursday March 20th 2025 and that further consideration of this ordinance would 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 be it resolved by
the mayor and council of the burrow of Elwood Park that an ordinance entitled an ordinance to amend an ordinance entitled an ordinance to establish the water department of the burrow of Elwood Park Bergen 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 regulation Pass on final reading May I have a motion to open to the public some
I need a second Second Thank you Anyone from the public here to speak on this ordinance and this ordinance alone if not I will close the public portion May I have a motion to adopt the ordinance so move
Second it Thank you Call the role please First by Council President Pellegrine second by Councilman Samson On roll call we have Council Member Folo Uh this is a 10% increase in the water on your water bill So I'm going to be voting no
Golbeck yes Samson yes Sheridan yes Troy yes Council President Pellegrine yes Motion carries Next we have resolution R-129-25 Introduced ordinance number
25-07 on second reading Whereas a public notice has been given by the burough clerk that an ordinance entitled bond ordinance to appropriate an additional sum of $285,000 for the installation of a synthetic turf athletic fields at Burough Park and buying for the burrow of Elwood Park and the county of Bergen
New Jersey to make a down payment to authorize the issuance of bonds to s to finance such additional appropriation and to provide for the issuance of bond anticipation notes and anticipation of the issuance of such bonds was introduced and passed at a at a meeting held on Thursday March 20th 2025 and
that further consideration of this ordinance will 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 be it resolved by the mayor and council of the bur of Elwood Park that an ordinance entitled bond ordinance to appropriate an additional sum of
$285,000 for the installation of a synthetic turf athletic field at Burough Park and buying for the burrow of Elwood Park in the county of Bergen New Jersey to make a down payment to authorize the issuance of bonds to finance such additional appropriation and to provide for the issuance of bond anticipation
notes in anticipation of the issuance of such bonds passed on final reading This basically is the last payment for phase one Is that correct yes Okay May I have a motion to open to the public some move Second Did you get your second yes Anyone from
the public here to speak on this ordinance and this ordinance alone if not I'll close the public portion May I have a motion to adopt the ordinance so move Second Thank you Call the RO please First by Council President Peline second by Councilman Folo On roll call we have
council members yes Golbeg yes Samson yes Sheridan yes Troy yes Council President Pel Green yes Motion carries Next we have resolution R-130-25 introduce ordinance number 25-08 on second reading Whereas a public
notice has been given by the burough clerk that an ordinance entitled an ordinance amending section 7-9 through streets to add stop signs to East 55th Street was introduced and passed at a meeting held on Thursday March 20th 2025 and that further consideration of this
ordinance would 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 it be resolved by the mayor and council of the B of Elwood Park that an ordinance entitled an ordinance amending section 7-9 through
streets to add stop signs to East 55th Street passed on final reading This basically is adding some stop signs to slow down the traffic on East 55th Street May I have a motion to open to the public
anyone from the public here to speak on this ordinance and this ordinance alone if not I'll close the public portion May I have a motion to adopt the ordinance second Call the role please First by Council President Pelgine Second by Councilman Folo On roll call we have
council members Foso Yes Golg yes Samson yes Sheridan yes Troy yes Council President Pellegrine yes Motion carries Moving on to our consent agenda Do we have the following resolutions resolution
R-131-25 approval of payroll R-132-25 approval of bills list R-133-25 Pump Station Emergency R-134-25 Resolution authorizing tax exemption for disabled veteran 42 Donor
Avenue aka Block 208 Lock 22 R-135-25 Resolution to redeem third party tax lean R-136-25 resolution to refund tax exempt veteran R-137-25 authorized release of escrow
R-138-25 authorized recreation department refund R-139-25 authorizing the mayor to execute an agreement with Somerset County Cooperative Pricing System R-140-25 Award of Contract for Fire Department Consulting Services
R-141-25 Resolution for Fire Arm Permit Investigation Stipen R-142-25 award of bid 2024 road program R-143-25 grantee authorizing resolution Bergen County open space burrow and English Avenue dugouts chain link
fencing and benches r-144-25 hold harmless for parking of burrow vehicles at 179 market street R-145-25 continue maintenance of 30 Cole Street R-146-25 elected officials revise
participation at public meetings using electronic device R-147-25 removal of Inter Pete Singh from the Elwood Park Fire Department R-148-25 removal of Robert Bruce Senior from the Elwood Park Fire Department
R-149-25 removal of Evan Tart from the Elwood Park Fire Department R-150-25 approved handicap parking space Orchard Street R-151-25 approve handicap parking space Pulsa Avenue
R-152-25 authorized coin toss event defender company number four R-153-25 hiring employees to staff the Elwood Park Emergency Medical Service Unit and R-154-25 resolution to approve the consent agenda May I have a motion on
the consent agenda so move second Any discussion yes mayor for um 143-25 The uh block and lot number 503 lot 18 is English A not DAP court So
just it's a typo or something on that on 143-25 the block and lot number for DAP court that's not DAP court Thank you Councilman Anybody else
if not call the vote please Okay First by Council President Pel Green second by Councilman Golbec A roll call we have council members Folo I'm going to recuse on one uh 140-25
147-25 148-25 149-25 and 152-25 Yes to the rest Okay Councilman Golbeck Yes Councilman Samson Yes Councilwoman
Sheridan Yes Councilwoman Choicy Yes Oh wait Excuse me Can I need to recuse myself on R140-25 147-25
148-25 149-25 and 152-25 Yes to the rest Okay Council President Peline Yes Motion carries Next up we have departmental reports We have the library board meeting minutes from January 27th 2025 and February 24th 2025 And then we
have the board of health meeting minutes from February 10th 2025 May I have a motion to accept so move Any discussion call the RO please All in favor oh all in favor i'm sorry I
Okay Thank you Carries Departmental reports have been accepted Mayor at this time I will turn the meeting over to you for council reports Okay we'll start M Uh Councilman Folo Thank you
Mayor Coming into the meeting um I am happy that we got to sit back down for the budget Uh not happy that still the increase was was was high Um as a homeowner myself paying $19,000 in
taxes is not something that I uh enjoy doing every quarter um and and a tax increase that was double digits for two years in a row Uh really hurts really hurts uh cuz you know you don't know how much you have to increase rent on on
your tenants right uh you try to make it worth with the mortgage and and um with the taxes Um and then to vote again on a on an increase for water which now is another burden Uh water bill is about three three between $300 and $400 uh
every quarter Um so you're really putting a burden on the tax on the taxpayers on the homeowners and of park So that's my report Thank you Mayor Councilman where would you cut i mean you've been in the same meetings we've all been in Where would you cut you're
making a statement that taxes are going up which we all know but you're not coming up with no solutions Mayor like I said we we like Mr Golbec also said we've sat with this budget for two meetings We could have sat with like we
did before we could have sat with every uh department head We could have reviewed this longer We could have had uh seen where we could cut from the budget before we we started the fiscal year So that's my comment Okay Councilman Golc Progress Mayor
thank you Councilwoman Samson Oh yes Mayor Thank you As as a leazison to the planning board I attended the planning board meeting along with you on April 9th and uh I'm happy to report that uh we can we continue to see business joining our community So there's another business that uh will be
opening up shortly on Route 46 and that's a smugglers club It's a dispensary that's going to join Route 46 this uh dispensary initially was planned at the intersection of um Mola Boulevard and Route 46 So it's the same applicant He just moved the locations due to a
situation with his lease And uh again hopefully in the near future we'll add both his uh um marijuana assessment and also just the uh the positiveness of a new business to our our growing uh burrow It's always good to see new
business come in I was also uh at the opening day uh ceremonies for both the girls softball and the little league It's great to see youth active here uh at our burrow at every level The whether it's the Elks or other teams or other leagues It's good to see
that Um the uh on the AP meeting uh end we had a meeting on uh April 10th uh Newbridge Health uh was there discussing stress and how it uh how it affects the population in general but especially how it affects senior citizens It was very informative It was a great day and we
had a good lunch Um so at this point mayor as you can see I'm reporting progress and uh that's what I have Thank you Councilwoman Sheridan Thank you Mayor
Um the I have a fire report the first fire report in a long time Um in the mic we can't hear you I have the first fire report that we've gotten in a long time There was um for the whole month of March there was
40 calls to our fire department And from January till March 31st there was 107 I see a lot of young people here tonight I mean if you guys are interested in becoming a firefighter I mean um you can contact
our fire chief um which is Chief Ed He's over by the Rosemont section uh 2011 3336873 extension 4100 If any of you young people would like to become a firefighter firewoman
fireman I mean please reach out to him Um I also have we had the Easter egg hunt last Sunday Um the kids seem to have a great time Um I'd like to give a shout out to our um police department
and our rec center Dale Fava and the rec center Great job by both I mean the kids had a good time Everybody seemed to be laughing Everybody had a good time Um and they actually put out 85,000
eggs 85,000 eggs I mean 8,500 8,500 right yeah Close enough Um but we had a good time I mean it was over in a matter of a half hour but the Easter Bunny came out It It was great I mean we all enjoyed it Even the adults enjoyed it So
we had fun Um I think that's all I have right now Yes that's it Thank you Councilwoman Councilwoman Troy Thank you Mayor Um rec update The recck department will be closed on Good Friday uh and on Easter
Sunday the 18th and the 20th Summer camp registration is open It's a 7-week program that will run from um June 30th which is the Monday after school ends until August 15th They are offering a
new siblings discount of $25 which will apply automatically when you add the second child to your cart and community pass Uh space is limited so don't delay in signing up Registration closes on um
June 13th Opening day for both little league and softball was a success despite the weather I would like to extend a thank you to the El Park Police Department to the El Park Fire Department to the auxiliary to the
DPW to the wreck to everybody who helped um make it a successful day And also to our sponsors and our supporters because we could not do what we do without you Um spring soccer training program is
open for boys and girls ages 6 to 14 The clinic runs on Fridays from April 25th to June 13th and the cost is $85 Now Park Bombers are having a speed and agility
clinic Uh it's $25 per session payable at the door Spring mini camp will run from April 21st to the 25th I do not know if there's any more openings As of two days ago they had two spots so they
could be full Um my board of ed update uh school will be closed on Friday May 23rd and Tuesday May 27th to make an extra long weekend to consume unused snow days
Um and then all current students that are in grades 3 5 8 and 10 will be required to re-register and that needs to be done by June the 6th Progress mayor thank you Uh just to
reflect on opening day girls softball and baseball the weather didn't cooperate with us However the spirit was there Our police department was there Our fire department was there All the kids were there Wind was blowing rain
was coming down but we got it through it And uh that's the the uh impetus of uh what makes us great in this country is that we do not let things like that deter going forward and becoming
successful Council President Peligreen Yes Good evening everyone My board of health update The free rabies clinics for dogs and cats will be held on May 14th from 5 to 7:00 p.m Firehouse number four on Mola Boulevard All Bergen County residents are welcome For any questions
please call 2011-7961457 extension809 And their next meeting will be held on Monday May 12th at 700 p.m My police update our Elwood Park PD will be holding their annual Earth Day cleanup on Tuesday April 22nd from 11:00 a.m to
100 p.m They were able to get 40 volunteers from our Elwood Park High School to assist with the cleanup They will start at the marina and will focus on other areas of town that need attention and will finish up on Burrow Field My the new Elwood Park Chamber of
Commerce update They had their meeting on Tuesday It was a very informative meeting Michelle Oro Orzo from the NJA was one of the guest speakers talking about grants that are available for our businesses For any questions you can reach out to Michelle at
64020324 Also Greg Butler a mentor for SCORE was there to help give advice on how to proceed with applying for these grants This is a free service You can reach out to Greg at 20113704743 for more information There
are a lot of opportunities to help our businesses I left some flyers on the counter down there for whoever's here that would like to take one If you know a business you can present them with one Um there's a lot of money that they have for available in these grants So I
encourage everyone to spread the word Their next meeting will um their next event will be a 5K and one mile strut for charity Location Birchwood Park in our community time 12:00 p.m There's also flyers on the counter for that Or
you can go to their website www.woodparkchamber.org and their next meeting will be Tuesday May 20th at 6:30m at our local VFW Residents assistance program update On Tuesday April 1st RAP received a
check for $80,000 from the First Presbyterian Church of Elwood Park They decided to close their doors and had to sell the church building with the proceeds they gave to many organizations and charities This very generous donation will help so
many in need We are grateful to Pastor Mike and Pastor Rose and all the members of the church And on a personal note with this um I was a parishioner of that church and they gave $80,000 to us and they
didn't want to come to a meeting They didn't want to be recognized but they asked me to please just say it at the public meeting because they wanted the residents to know that because they had to sell it they wanted to leave a legacy for the residents in need and help them
So I I think it was such an admirable thing to do and we're so blessed by them giving us that much money It takes approximately $20,000 a year to run our pantry and all the services that the residents assistance program does for
our community So this will really give us a 4-year head start if we don't get as much donations cuz it's all run on donations no taxpayer dollars So this will really help us out if funding is is low a couple of the years So again we
want to thank them all so much for their generosity And lastly AZ volunteers have been working with our residents assistance program for seven years now And on May 4th they will be doing their annual spring cleanup in our community We thank them for their comm commitment
to our community Also thank you to our police department for working with RAP and the assess students to keep everyone safe Thank you mayor Thank you Lorraine You hit the uh the lottery there with $80,000 Can you imagine that ladies and
gentlemen $80,000 donation to the rap organization Uh and they that's saying one thing This is coming from a church So they're not going to put their hands in into anybody They're not going to put their money in the hands of anybody they're not sure
of And what they did here was take $80,000 and put it in the hands there of Lorraine uh who's been uh mothering this organization from day one So state of course Lorraine Thank you keep them dollars coming
in I just have one thing here You might have passed the Vietnam Soldiers Memorial and seen some uh new landscaping that's going on There was some dead trees that didn't make it during the winter and we're in the process of refurbishing those trees
adding some more tree trees and and sprucing it up Um okay with that said may I have a motion to open the floor to the public second Anyone from the public here to speak on anything whatsoever
yes sir Let's we'll get let's get you set up [Applause] Good evening First of all I'm sorry sir that you had to wait so long but that that's the procedure here Understood Good evening My name is Rafael Sios I'm
the I'm at 151 Elmo Drive I am the president for EP United Soccer Club from town I know a lot of you here Um we come here because we're very troubled for well our club was was
created in 2010 Ever since then we've had a lot of players come through our club being a theater program for the high school and we had very good relationships with the uh previous uh recreation directors We had the field
all the time no issues We got the permit fields We always obey by the law do we told we help out anywhere we can But now recently last December we submitted a permit We were
told that now our tier is a different tier and that we had to pay $100 an hour to use a field All of them All of them here are residents from the Emma Park And we and we pay Excuse me Everyone here is a res
And they're club members Yes Continue And we as taxpayers paid for the recre field and they had the the right to use it Am I not am I not right and we have a
permit We've always been very calm We don't have we won't cause any problems and all we need is a field to play from the from the clinics to the high school kids That's it I don't know what happened now that
everything changed and even they were asked to provide documents that we're residents We provided that and then we were told even if you provide even if you have a 100% Elmo Park residence on the club you have to pay
$100 for the field an hour Why how is that fair and why the change if we all this time we had the the permits to play and practice all of a sudden now we don't We had to make arrangement We have
practices dividing fields into like four or five spaces to have one practice So we ask you to please look into this because this is not fair for No not for me It's for them No for sure The kids for sure Uh okay I don't know
if you know this but I did speak to somebody that was representing your organization a couple of weeks ago and I had told them to come to the May 1st meeting We were not aware sir You You never got notified by that no but we're
here Okay We just decided to come and what we here Okay But I that was the plan and that's where the mixup is here tonight Um we don't have our recck director here to answer these questions So I would appreciate it on May 1st if
you would come back You you can all come back or you can come back with a less contingency Okay But what I'm going to do Yeah Well yeah Yeah What with the BA saying that that room will only handle so many people but we definitely want
your representatives amongst them people Well one more thing I'm going to have my vice president speak now Okay And uh thank you for your time Appreciate it Okay [Applause] Sorry about that Mr Mayor but nobody ever notified us about May 1st and the
only two people representing us on this club is the president and myself So I'm sorry if you were misled I won't have I won't mention his name Uh but that's fine I just want you to know that all of our parents are here They took their time off and they would like to be heard
So please if you could give us the time they've been waiting here patiently Please give us the same respect we gave you Thank you Okay hold up Good evening Mayor and Council My name is No no whoa whoa whoa whoa Slow down We won't You're entitled to talk That's
our god-given right We won't be m able to make any answers here tonight If you can live with that let's go That's fine Yor We just want to be heard I mean and how many people you expecting to talk i just just a rough idea Probably after me two or three more parents No no problem
Okay Thank you Okay May I proceed yes Thank you Good evening mayor and council My name is Jose Minesis I reside at 35 Philip Avenue and then Park I'm the vice president of the EP United Soccer Club that has been part of this community for
15 years The parents and I can you guys please all stand up ep United stand up The parents and I are here to ask for your help in getting playing time on the recreation soccer field As you all know in the past we have been getting the
permits for the rec center in English Avenue field This year with a new recreation director we're being denied that field permit and we were asked to provide addresses and proof of residency from the parents of the players We provided all the necessary information to the recreation director only to be
surprised with his email that said "You're not getting the fields even if you provide all this information." As you all know we were told we're not part of the wreck We are private organization but as you all know so is youth football and girls softball
are in the same category as we are We feel that we are being targeted and discriminated against Mr Mayor you voted to raise our taxes that pays for the field and pays a nice salary for a new recreation director only to deny us access to the field that we the
taxpayers pay and pay to maintain I hope we can resolve this issue without having to go through the legal route We're not asking for special treatment We just want to be treated fairly like other sports organizations We just want to a few hours on the weekends and a few hours during the week
so the children can be on the field instead of sitting home playing video games I personally feel our children benefit from these sports not only in their physical health but also with their confidence and character So I hope that you all will do the right thing for
these kids Thank you Anyone else that want to come up please welcome Good evening guys Um hi My name is Tess Toro I'm here with my husband and my son Maddox and my daughter's in Girl Scouts and she finished now I I
reside in 260 Kip Avenue Elwood Park Um we live in Elwood Park for over 10 years and we are taxpayers My children attend the Rex afterare and summer camp They have been for years They attend Gantner school Could you
pull the mic down so we can hear you there yeah I know I'm short right that's why Thank you They enjoy living in this town They enjoy participating in the town's activities Whether it's dance got to dance here cheerleading baseball softball and soccer and even Girl Scouts
They are both heavily involved in the town's various sports activities help me understand Well I know the the director's not here but I guess I want to understand why we're not able to see our children play on this newly built field We've been waiting a long time for
this to be finished and now we come to learn EP United is getting charged additional fee for our children to play here Help me understand why I can't have family members come and watch my children play in their own hometown Help me understand why I can't have family me
Well help me understand why we are getting charged an additional fee for my children to play in Elwood Parkfield In the town they go to school in the town they go to church St Leo's in the town we support local businesses We spent so much money for the afterare and summer
camp to run by the Elwood Park Recreation Help me understand what changed from all these years playing and being able to see my kids play in their hometown fields Why is this fair we were given a choice and that's what I liked about this town When we were looking for
soccer teams I was approached They said "You know what there's two teams here." I had the opportunity to listen to the teams and I thought Elmo EP United was the best one for me and my family And I don't understand why that's being taken away from me now because we have to get
charged an additional fee Help me understand why guys Why are we doing this to our kids you guys talk about and I think this is great You know you do a lot of things for Emma Park I came here 10 years ago and I really like this town I think you guys do a lot for
the for the kids but now it's like it's being targeted right these kids these are our youths You say the first week of May is youth right but what about these kids that are all here they're supporting It's it's 8:25
It's spring break and they're here and they're supporting EP United So I guys I want you guys to really understand that there is an importance for for us to use the fields I mean don't you want our other family members to come and see
what great town and what park is but now we have to go to other towns Our family members have to go to other towns to see them play I mean EP United 10 right they won the championship I mean that's awesome Wouldn't we want to celebrate
them and have them come to the field that's all I'm saying to you guys Really think about this cuz I don't know what changed over these years Maybe it's the new director You know I haven't met him but I'll be honest with you You know based on some of the activities at the wreck I mean I think there should be more security at the wreck You know some
of the activities that happened there I mean some of the people were afraid to actually go to the to some of the events There were fights there I think you guys were some of some of you guys were there I mean what's going on here so I just want to make sure you guys kind of listen to us and understand where we're
coming from That's all Thank you Thank you Anyone else care to speak on any subject whatsoever if not mayor I just have a question for the uh for the the two gentlemen Have you ever been charged for field use in
Omal Park never Okay We never we were never even put on those tears from the previous rec directors What I'm trying to understand is so are you telling me in the last 15 years the other rec
directors were doing it wrong and this new direct director now discovered something different Nothing has changed that we're aware of Okay we'll get to the bottom of this So mayor just my position and I can't speak for the rest of the council I don't
think that we should be charging you guys I think that you guys deserve the field I think that if you guys if this organization has been in our town for over 15 years I think they deserve the respect of not being charged with nothing charged Anyone else care to
speak mr Roberts Carl Roberts 260 Washington A I got a couple of things One up on the boulevard as you come off of Route 4 onto the boulevard you have a crosswalk there At night nobody can see cars that are coming up or especially during the day
when you have cars parked on the side Can we please put a flashing light up there like we have on the rest of this boulevard because that is a big safety and it's right in the apartments where a lot of residents are I've seen three people almost get hit at multiple times
up there Second thing to the two gentlemen you guys are talking about the budgets You sat up here for years bonding things The problem is you don't realize it but we get the effect of that as it comes
undone So if it's a 20-year bond you might not feel the pinch but the kids would The grandkids would feel the punch pinch if they're still living here and taxes are going up You guys need to stop bonding everything That's the problem
Listen too Carl I paid $19,000 a year Don't tell me that I don't feel the pinch of spending money I paid $19,000 I feel it Believe me I feel it But you're sitting up here complaining about a 10% raise when Of course I'm
going to complain about a 10% tax increase You guys sat there and used COVID money for the budget Now it's gone Guess what you have to raise the taxes Unfortunately that's the law of the nature Come on It's
common sense What's your argument that because of bonding taxes going up or because of COVID money or are you going to add a third one it's a combination of both You want to add a third one or you just going to stick to the two it's a combination of both Okay So um I mean they're not here anymore Did you hear a single word from either professional
that the taxes are increasing this year because the debt service which meaning the the mortgage payment however you want to characterize it has gone up double or has tripled or gone up 300% Did you hear any of that tonight i heard that the taxes are going up Okay We all heard that Yes You two gentlemen are
complaining about it going up 8% When you bond something it has to get paid off at the end right taxes go up So everything that has been bonded for years say the past 20 years taxes are going to be going up anyway because they
have to be paid I mean generally speaking your your your comment is correct like in the most general sense of what you just said but it's just not applicable to our situation The taxes are not going up this year because of bonding Has nothing to do with that Moreover I'm not questioning that our
expenses are going up to the tune of 8% What I'm questioning is is that the seven people that you and everyone in this room put into this position and this is a fact cuz no one's disputed it to this point have spent less than one hour as a group discussing this And you would have one person that spent only
one hour Everybody else spent two hours You you you may have had private personal meetings regarding the budget but you but you did you walk out on that meeting or not that was not a meeting It was a meeting cuz we did it right M um counselor was that a legal meeting or
not no So the council did not meet as a whole There there were subcommittee or however you want to call it meetings that that preceded and and those were lawful Okay there we go Anything else also too social media I am constantly seeing posts on there on especially on
Facebook of bashing other council people It needs to stop You guys have been voted in by the residents of this town If you have an issue let the residents know to come to a meeting and discuss it that way instead of bashing everybody on social media This is the worst thing I
have seen Which one in particular are you speaking about you want me to answer answer that honestly sure You me sitting there bashing this
council because of the rule that you want to turn around and call in when you're not here Okay It wasn't a bash of the council It was a uh a forewarning
that by limiting or having a a majority of council members have the ability to vote someone to not be able to participate in a meeting virtually I said either we don't do virtual at all or you allow it There's two options By
allowing somebody not to attend a meeting an elected official to not attend a meeting then that's a little political to me So I had a problem with it Yes I did not bash council members on here at all And actually when we did sit
back down and discuss it I commended the council and I said that we did the right thing by voting which we voted on it tonight I said that we uh worked together and we found common ground So I don't know what you're talking about Okay
Yes Uh Councilwoman Pelg I'm done Thank you Mayor I'd just like to say a couple words I just want everybody here to know that we heard you all They had a meeting that was already going to be in place as you heard tonight that you weren't aware of May 1st our rec director will be
there We are going to try to work together to solve this problem Your voices were heard We care about our youth and we're going to try to fix this Okay so I just wanted you to know that cuz you sat here a long time It was a long meeting Everybody up here we may
differ at times with different things but we do really all care about the children We really do So let's try to work this out at that May 1st meeting and really get back on track Okay so my promise to you is that we're going to work on it I can't say we're going to solve it for sure but we're going to try
real hard because it's for our kids Okay so I just want you to know that you've all been heard The last thing I just want to say and I don't want to go into a back and forth Um we all have the opportunity to meet with any department head whenever we
want to ask questions Our finance committee I know met with the CFO on a few different occasions to hear about the budget and ask questions Yes I agree that the time was limited together with
the seven of us I also went to the CFO on about three to four occasions asking questions So I just want everybody here to know that we as council members and a mayor can go to any department head at
any time and ask any question we want We have the right to do that Okay that could that could have started two months ago That could have been two weeks ago But everybody has that opportunity I've never had a department head in the 12 years that I'm a council person say "No
you can't meet with me I have concerns I have questions You know what's going on." So I say to my other colleagues you know what if it's that important to you make the phone call Make the time I know department heads that will meet with you here at night I know they will meet with
you here before work in the morning Some of them start 5 6 a.m Our CFO is here a lot of times So if you really want to know some answers ahead of time and have your questions answered you have the opportunity to do that And I'm not going to go back and forth with anybody I let
everybody speak all night That's my feeling But I just want the residents here and at home to know we have the opportunity to find out answers to things Thank you Lori With all due respect in response to that when we when this council formed this
mayor and council formed committees me and my counterpart Mr uh my me and my colleague Mr Golbec uh were not placed on any committees So they say that the the finance committee met multiple times to discuss the budget but me and my co my colleague have never received any
reports from the the finance committee or at any meeting So um you know that's all I have to say also to to the to the point where we have to call our department heads The way the budget has always been done is our department heads come into meetings and report on their budget uh and then you know discuss
where we could cut where we could uh help them out Um and this that hasn't been done at all Excuse me but I'd just like to say if you were concerned about the department heads not coming in anymore for the last couple years why didn't you ask the mayor and the BA to
set that up so that they could come in instead of bringing it up at the 11th hour just wondering why you do that and you don't have to be on a finance committee or anything else to call a department head to call our CFO and ask questions That's that's not the point I'm making And the point I'm making is you said you met multiple times with the
finance committee but never once did I hear council meeting No I didn't say met with the finance committee I said the finance committee met with our CFO and I met with them at went with him at different occasions Not with them You can't have four council person No the finance committee is three So you met
with CFO by myself By myself which you could have had the opportunity to do or you could have had the opportunity to call So why do we have committ so why do we have committees then i don't know We have committees for chose not to If you chose not to you couldn't have been that concerned Miss P We had multiple
committees for that job That is the job of of a committee We can't meet as four So the committee meets and reports back to the council Mayor can I talk about soccer i I think we had enough Soccer Let's talk about soccer Well I'll go after the
gentleman [Music] [Applause] Hi everybody You have some I'm leaving the 193 Stefanic You have a problem for the bus transportation You have a two daughter
one Dora middle school You have the bus transportation for the high school Who is the reason first sidewalk is night safety not crossing guard in that location You're you're looking for a school bus for your kid to get to
the high school No you have two daughter One door middle school You have a bus for the high school No No bus So one daughter goes to the middle school gets a bus One goes to the high school does not get a bus Yes Board
of Ed Yeah This is un unfortunately we can't answer that question here tonight because that's the board of ed a separate entity No there are times I'm waiting one year for this one Almost one year right but not tonight not yesterday One year You have to go to the board of
education and I'm going nobody answer We don't control this We have nothing to do with busing children to schools We just don't It's not We do a crossing guards If you want to talk about lack of a crossing guard you could do that There's no crossing guard nothing But I'm telling you we not sidewalk safety
Nothing We up here have no control over busing to the public schools We just don't You here for the sidewalk and crossing Well that's different If you have a specific spot or something tell us But we bus we don't control nothing We don't do anything with busing I'm go
to boarding directory Nobody answer one year Well excuse me Can I say something mayor Mayor Excuse me sir I in a microphone I can you hear me i understand where you're coming from but the next board of
education meeting is April 29th which is next Tuesday coming up No the following the following Tuesday I'm sorry The following Tuesday in two weeks Okay And that is over by the high school
Okay And I think it's 6:00 or 6:30 6:30 6:30 So you might want to take that concern We're not trying to shut you down or anything but you need to go to a board of education meeting for that and they can address it and they can tell
you exactly what you need to know Okay April 29th 6:30 at the high school Okay Thank you guys You're welcome Thank you for your time Uh just like to say before you leave that don't forget we're on for May 1st
we'll have uh the person that can answer your questions and resolve the problem Uh if you look at this mayor and council we all come from sport backgrounds We understand the importance of keeping the children off the streets and then on the playgrounds So let's leave on that note
Looking forward to on May 1st Uh motion to close the public portion Second one Motion