um good evening welcome to the March 18th 2025 meeting of the Emerson governing body this meeting is being videotaped and may be viewed on your local public access Channel either 36 or 77 the meetings are also available Live on YouTube for those of you present in
case of a fire please follow the fire exit signs above the doors and exit calmly uh Chief Savina would you please lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance flag stce I would ask you to remain standing
for just a moment of silence in memory of norc police detective Joseph Asana and for all police officers who have died in the line of duty we also remember Mary wther a longtime Emerson resident and a member of our senior
center very quickly I would also like to welcome home Sunny Williams and Barry Wilmore who landed off the coast of Florida just before 6 pm tonight they were stuck in space for I believe 286 days and I'm so happy to report that
they are back home on Earth so that's wonderful news uh this meeting is called pursuant to the provisions of the open public meetings law and adequately noticed pursuant to njsa 104-108 2025 was noticed to the record
and the Ridgewood news on January 7th 2025 and published in said newspapers posted on the bulletin board in the municipal building and on the website and has remained continuously posted as required under the statute Miss Deone please call the Roll Call of the
governing body present councilwoman R here councilwoman s here councilwoman mire pres council president Aria here councilman Timberman here and Council here uh excused absence of governing
body member all governing body members are present and have been proclamations there are no proclamations or citations this evening appointments I hereby appoint Francis payack as a Class C member of the historic preservation committee for the unexpired four years
term ending December 31st to uh 2026 uh uh Fran thank you for agreeing to volunteer um minutes for approval may I have a motion to approve the minutes of the March 4th 2025 regular meeting so
move roll call please councilwoman R yes councilwoman yes councilwoman mgu yes council president orenia yes councilwoman Timberman yes councilwoman chelina yes okay may I have a motion to approve the close session meeting minutes of March 4th 2025 which are not
for release to the public at this time some all in favor oh sorry roll call councilwoman rice yes councilwoman sers yes councilwoman Maguire yes council president arenia yes council president timman yes Council
yes okay correspondence all correspondence is on file in the clerk's office and that brings us to financial Business review of Department budgets and capital requests Rob would you please bring a nice chair up here for Lauren and also for our
police chief who we will begin uh our department review with I would hear you how about if you sit in that chair and if you need to talk you walk up to the mic I will bargain with you camera
shy good evening Chief this good evening mayor and Council how's everybody everybody's good tonight we are going to go over the uh budgets with our department heads um would you like to begin I guess we're going to start on
Page in our book uh 33 unless you actually start with the my capital's uh pretty straightforward uh this year I'm really not asking anything for the police department uh who fiscally being responsible last year and various grants
that we've had uh years before that uh work all caught up to date with any equipment really needs for the Department uh that was after polling all the officers and supervisors and the rest of my Administration this year after receiving
uh multiple complaints from uh residents for um traffic violations on several of the roads and uh pedestrian Crossings to go with uh councilwoman McGuire's uh safe to school yeah safe walks to school um
I'm asking to get uh two sets of uh flashing beaking pedestrian crossing signs um total for that was about $6,000 I want to place one set by Emerson woods and uh one actually I was
going to do one at acrian Park Crossing but we're putting another one up there in the very near future so um I will find another location to uh place that second sign I think you could also find two more
spots because a resident of orell is donating us two more okay so that we'll pick them up in the near future okay so that's for the uh pedestrian crossing signs and I've also requested six uh solar powered radar signs uh two signs
for aan Avenue two signs for Lincoln Boulevard and two signs for Main Street and with those are those are when you drive down it tells you what your speed is so want you to ask you slow down uh and that comes to $ 22,4
44 and the total for my Capital this year is 8,440 are the radar sides those are just a single sign with a flash with a correct it's not the one that we pull around no it's they're stationary signs you mount them on them oh they're
stationary they okay is there look we are working really hard to try and trim the budget is there anything in your budget that you could trim at all I'm gonna ask everybody now I've had some decreases
uh I decreased my uh well for contractual and payroll uh I cut back my H holiday uh PID for the crossing guards I cut that out $1,950 our crossing guard salaries went down
approximately $9,000 why did they go down uh because we got a couple newer crossing guards starting at at a lower rate at a lower rate yes I cut ,000 out of my equipment for the SOS what equipment do they generally
need it's if they need uniforms uh holsters for their weapons and handcuffs jackets um I cut uh ,000 out of my new officer's cost because at the time the budget was
being proposed we were not we're not planning on hiring anybody I cut uh $10,000 out of my electronics and communication budget uh because as I stated earlier I purchased new PCS last year for the uh
Department do you know how many you bought how many I bought six six six and uh two laptops at the end of the year I cut 600 out of medical EV valuations and that's basically it and
the the big increase that I did have I had an increase in overtime uh budget and that's primarily due to uh the possibility of the department uh completing their um their
Collective negotiation agreement um does anybody have any questions for the chief the range fee increas is due to an increase in the range fee do an increase in the range fee we share the range with uh six other departments and uh they're actually
doing a major upgrade to it this year so everybody's going up I am however uh councilwoman I am actually looking to see if I could find a range for a little less money so the only thing is not many departments have ranges and with the use
of the range in Park Ridge we're dedicated one day a week right so we can go up there any I did talk to a couple other towns and a lot most of the towns that have ranges they're all locked up with uh so it's because of the ammunition that
we buy Ashley any questions down there sers you have any more um Council when R over Council Mr Timberman
coun okay Rob you have any comments about the budget or war no nobody has any questions then we can excuse our chief of police and move on to the captain of our ambulance Court thank you appreciate your time no
problem now oh president president Davis sorry wrong Davis you guys go back and forth sh we share responsibilties welcome president Davis and probably called you
when you live in a town like this family um so you have a capital expense request just our uh 10,000 rolling same as last year we have no other no other Capital requests how much of that 10,000 did you
spend last year okay can you come to the mic the only thing I remember that the ambulance core purchase last year was the radios and we're working on getting the power stretcher correct um which there are some issues with that
that we're looking into but I can't off the top of my head recall they very well could have used a portion of it but I just don't have that information in the sheet and I just didn't have time to grab my laptop so I apologize okay that's we could always we're not finalizing the budget tonight we're just asking
questions um as far as the ambulance call goes president um how many nights are you guys running now I'm here to answer budget questions I don't have my every year we seem to get bered with questions regarding the schedule and no
other department is getting questioned on their personnel I don't understand why well because we see them dayto day in the office there's a lot of time we don't get a lot of FaceTime with our volunteers and I ask the same thing of our fire chief okay I don't have that in front of me and maybe meeting with
Captain can go over anybody have any questions for president Davis your excuse thanks for coming in May I just have one thing though I think one of the questions that the mayor is asking though for a reason is that we do have a paid we pay for a service that
we're working on right now so we're trying to negotiate based off time that they'll prate based off of when when you have your schedule so once we know where the schedule is the reason why I think what we're trying to figure out is because this way we know part of what we
could budget based off that with the with the not enough okay just want to make sure that this way was that's your offline thanks for coming in appreciate it who's next Mr salamanda would you like to come
up evening okay I think the big question that everybody has about Capital requests you want to Dive Right into that is how badly do we need this landscape trailer it's the pressing question we could probably get another
year out of it I mean the door Jimmy just worked on the door is is it just a flat one no the closed in one it's got the back door on it that it's like a garage door and it the let's break it apart up by where the
U the Springs are I mean near the end of last year you work on so you think you can get another year out of it or do you think we're going to need it halfway through the year it's gonna I mean it's not it's not a big ass
but we do try to we try to get yeah if money's tight we could bre maybe and the replacing the 2002 Vall catch Basin cleaning truck um that's a shared
service reest yes that's a big nut can you explain what that is because that is a big so that the public knows why we need such an expensive machine that's the machine we use to C catch basins with the sucker on it and it's also got
a power posed in the front of it we use like I said with the D requires all the man catch PES be clean once a year um we tried using that several months ago and it ended up breaking down
on us here we end up fixing it two weeks later Hillsdale had it and it broke down in Hills they end up to it back to West I don't even think it's running right now um how often do you use it is my question because I'm where my brain is
going is can we do a shared service with another town to cut down on costs or is it really um like we need it for a full-time day and then the other Town meets it if we another town to come in on it we the
original one they P well year was that 2002 is with all the town in PES Valley you only got it like one one month out of the year and then uh a lot of towns went and bought their own well book flake went with Al thean they they share
one River went bought their own the only ones that have been using it now is US Westwood Hillsdale Washington Township H Hillsdale Washington Township guys are rough on equipment you don't want to they don't
you don't to share I'm sure yes this year yeah well as of the last time I spoke to Rick about three weeks ago all right and your truck is what year mine is
a 2017 2017 is it still in good working order mine is in good shape the car is in bad shape that Leon that Leon uses for the cleaning that's a 97 does he take that out of town or not
anymore so he can't go out of town that's a town car now um not too long ago when the brake lines brought it out on it does that car need to go or could it be used for no that thing is it seemed better days it's
so there's there's we can't use it for um Property Maintenance or anything like that I wouldn't have a problem taking a property maintenance car for Leon and giving my car to Property Maintenance the white one oh the white
one Le I mean that's older than mine what does AJ Drive they most of them Drive in their own cars so depending upon Where Oh I thought everybody that worked in of the construction office constru construction
generally does on property maintenance and and fires depending upon days because if the car is being used the other they then they could be using their own vehicle um are they submitting miles no one feel bad about that I'd
rather have the vehicle available to them and maybe if the uh if we did get that they could um share it with Construction Construction is there anything else on here that you want to point
out um based asked about the S pro that was the same thing near the end of the year Jimmy the mechanic worked on that and we got it run it was a safety switch that had gone bad on it with that there I mean there's all the fathers use it so there's n million
different guys it was one of the safety switches I when I got a price for that thing I couldn't believe the price like I said he Jimmy probably put it like $2,000 into it the new one was like 30, 650 I was blown away is this the machine
that raes the field it breaks the field they go around in the infield like so we're eventually GNA have to to get one right but this year you're not not think you're thinking that they could go another I think so yeah like I said I
mean maybe that's something toas want to to so let's that off um buildings in grounds sidewalk repair we've been us we've been doing this the last couple of
years now um putting at $20,000 in there we used it twice this year upgrading the police bathroom in the basement and their air conditioner with the problem with that we're in the process of using that you know we most
of the time fall back on that for things we you know we don't see during the first of year um do you want to go any over the rest of your I mean I kept it the same can you cut anything
I I I know because I of everyone I spend a lot of time with you on going around doing stuff and I know that you try to do a lot with nothing and that's appreciated but um so you stayed completely flat you
didn't change anything no I took uh I I took the on line item for the reads I took out because our dues for the public works went up I just r that into there is there fire stay safe
Joe everything else all right does anyone have any questions anybody down here Rob anything comments no I it's it's a pleasure working with Perry and going through the budgets with them they are they are generally very very frugal
and continue to be frugal all departments and as you can see with this budget he's maintained again going through the same thing for the for prior year to this year so I have no issue with any questions to take them out of that that trust
[Music] [Music] F Tommy do you feel like you need to go when we can start go back you don't want to change we want to keep the town safe so we can come back to this for you if uh you got to run out the
door so asking for we didn't yeah we use money either the trust fund like bring the metal and stuff that with the price of metal and everything now that when I first started so you just want an insurance policy in case case you you don't have enough
money to cover it you've got money back it was like $9,000 trust fund when I started we're down to like 60,000 and then like the sweepings come out of there that's why we put a line item and how do we grow that that's just the scrap much just yeah the scrap metal and um the recycling that we're cardboard
we've been bringing back to paying for that that's what we pick up from the yard not forood Interstate people drop off all right and do you have any salt that you can you have going into next year are we done we're full oh we're full full all right
good yeah when we weren't getting any I bought the last two loads for herself and then the county came okay like last year I tried cutting back near the end so when I do do this so we full okay that's good maybe we
don't need that full 20 next year there's no ST all right does anyone have any other questions go to the fire if you want thank you stay safe thanks Perry for
coming Arbor Day it is Arbor Day that's 10 a oh that happened last year too 10 a i in we may have to talk about that Perry I think we I think we did it at
one o'clock um the Arbor Day because yes but we'll talk about it um Chief Carlos would you like to come thanks how's everybody
doing hope we didn't hurts old school there so you've got a few things here on capital capital I uh we took out the uh the 35,000 we originally reest for hose uh
Lauren found us some money so we pulled that from the thing uh our second item is uh a new Chief's car which um is right now is 11 years old the one that I would like to replace and bring it down to the fire prevention or we use it as a
uh support vehicle to to our boat the red car that you drive around no the red car that the assistant chief drives around that car is 11 years old it's 11 years old correct didn't it just get St last year did the second
time that was strip second we made you know how many miles are on it uh I believe it's uh pushing over 880,000 miles on it but more like the idle time when we go to a call we sit there for an hour or
two but I mean the car is still in good condition because the car that I want to replace is actually the the 2005 Suburban that if uh you notice the to school with it and I like to take the assistant Chief's car and put it there
because we can't take the uh Ser Urban out of town anymore it doesn't really um it's not really fit for the road anymore so far we lost the brakes on it twice since we've uh in the last two years so I try not to take that card of
uh but if we need to use it to to the boat or whatever we really careful with it that's why we replace the chief's car and then my car would go to the assistant Chief's car and then I would get the new car so this is a safety
issue with it because of the brakes this is not like it we could push it off no no and also too I mean that car was donated to us so tell me we got our our money's worth out of that that car who donated it that was uh Chevy uh in primis Prim Chevy donated so they want
to donate September well the only reason because it was September 11th and that's why they that's back and uh being willing to do it I don't think any car dealers am I reading is out right but it's
100 100, Yeah by time you the newer cars um you can get the the Lesser model which is like a rubber seats the hard cover like a control car is different it's the
next step up which makes kick into the thing but the problem is is that the the box that you have to have in the back has to be secure your gear your gear can't be uh out through the fact that all U chemicals and stuff that's in your
deer has to be kept in a box now so we have to change the the box and the Box are expensive and then uh most of the the radios we could all transfer over but by the time you light a car and letter it you're looking almost at 100 th I got
two quotes for over I mean if we could do it ourselves you know get the lights and put the lights and stuff on it get the box put the Box in then it be uh cheaper all right and the PPE that's
something that you just put a little bit in every year yeah and then what we do is um we we did get a grant over over time we got a grant last year to get uh Le 15 sets of gear but the problem was I had 20 sets of gear that was out every
10 years uh not byas by andp standard you have to replace your gear every 10 years helmet jackets and bunker pants so we got end up getting 15 Steps of gear and then
through uh new guyses or whatever we we kind of shuffled some of the gear around so we didn't have to buy that much last year I didn't I don't think I bought any gear maybe a helmet or two um I'm GNA ask you what I asked um
Janine I know we get your stats and we get their stats but p i mean you just got a call now how many times do you think be honest with you ever since we went to the county our Co call volume actually almost doubled um we're see we were over a hundred more calls than we
were the year before wow and then basically like this call now is uh gas smell of gas those calls seem to be on a rise and they actually gas so don't think that you know somebody smell like the other day there was one in Park
Avenue was definitely leak so yeah it's that actually concerned me because I think that that was um an aftermath of them doing the upgrade but I it is I think it's because
um I don't want to say that they're rushing through the thing well if if you think that but because of the winter I think that they you know they were trying to push along that was my concern and I wanted to know if we needed to make a phone call to psng Rob and ask them just to slow it down a little make
sure everything's eyes are dotted te's are crossed when they're doing this works that we don't have any issues um because I do know that at least two residents have been spelling gasoline after they're done with the replacement in the road and I hear that it's not to the level that there's going to be an
explosion or anything no but it isn't but it it is a safety concern because if a car does park over it the other day we we were getting high levels out of Park Avenue in Greta um but they're pretty good they come within
they tell you within the hour usually within 20 minutes it seems like we always get the same guy now so he kind of gets you know we kind of know right so he helps us out you know and they take care of it right away and I see that I see a lot of new
faces down there so we are enrollment is on the rise and you know it ising is it's pretty good uh we're not um we're not rolling over as much as we were and it is you know the new truck helped U it
gave a little spark to the to the members and um I guess we're getting a little younger which is which is really good thank you for sharing that information we do not get a lot of FaceTime with our volunteers we see you at all of your community events and
um you know we always want to say how we appreciate all of our volunteers Evac and um the fire department and uh we want to make sure that you're safe and you have everything that keeps everybody safe while they go to these fires and uh but we also would like to justify that
there are new members and that there is a need for this stuff and that there's a need to update the equipment right I mean if you see like like you want to talk about the budget like the first one that jumps out at me is like repairs and maintenance you know I spent
last year I I only bud you 10 you know you know the problem is is the cost and it's basically the uh the dealers that we deal with anything fire related and I think I explained this last year too is you know once you say fire department related it it doubles in cost and you
know what I mean that's just the way it you know the way it is we do shop around like last night we were looking for a new Tool uh for the engine and you know um like we just keep on going to the same person and buying it you know we do go on the internet we make some phone
calls because you know actually the more we save the actually more equipment we can get you know we're trying to use our budget to our advantage okay anything else you want to point out is there anything well the only other thing is and I know that that was a question today that I I I believe
I answer but I I would like to talk about um is the uh the repair on the fire truck like year I believe we spent almost $30,000 on the lad truck of being repaired um down the road I'm not asking
you know the mayor and counsel to buy us a a ladder truck I would never ask that because they're over2 million now but down the road we're gonna either have to make an agreement with another town or make some type of a decision here down
the road for a l truck you know you know I belong to the pasac valley mayor Association that's the emergency services and the volunteer um organizations are always a Hot Topic and I think that is going to be the wave where these things are becoming so cost
prohibitive that that we are going to have to really do shared services for some of this larger equipment going forward right and I agree with you I mean uh we'll try to repair the uh the truck you know we can only put hang on to it as long as we exactly right we
we'll keep it as as long as we can and put repairs the only problem is that it's America France America France is out of business right so we have to go parts we have to we have to search for you know and then or it has to be made so that's why the like the cost but also
too like we had a electrical issue because it's a big truck it took them two weeks and then it it it ended up being a 30 Cent part but it took them two weeks to find the electrical prop with the truck
because the truck kept on going into ID and we didn't have that problem until we sent it down to actually get uh an oil change and stuff and came back to me like that so it didn't go there they try to fix it and then I end up getting
another dealer to to look at it but by the time we were done with everything it ended up costing us a pretty penny to to get that truck back on the road knock on wood it's but other than that I mean know I
tried to we you know I guess in the last couple years we kind of kept it at zero or you know whatever the the the amount is so we are trying to keep within the the budget of the of uh also too by
helping us out with the U put the extra money in the PPE that helps my budget a big time all right good does anybody have any questions for the chief so what happens is I and then you you know what
is so you know what it is we I I'll take that money at the towards the end of the year to put it in the thing but due to the fact that we were having so many problems with the l I I didn't want to put it to a dinner I would rather put it to the equipment that's my you know my first as a chief I
have to be responsible right so I'd rather put that money towards something that um the truck or whatever we need before we you know dinner and I appreciate that and we don't need a big fancy dinner where you invite different departments and stuff and we're not doing that anymore but you know what
would be nice the if you invited us to stand on the firehouse maybe for pizza and beer and we could inspect the fire house and the equipment least July do like inspection light so so that we can keep in touch with you
guys and see what's going on with the equipment condition anytime anytime you guys want to come down we're there every Monday night the guys uh you know they work on shouldn't say guys that you know the guys and girls that uh we have um they come down and they work on the
trucks and you know maintain and drill on every Monday night so in the fall why don't you invite us on one Monday night you formally and then the seven of us maybe can go down and uh check everything out and they'll know we're coming so that they don't have to be in their dress uniform or anything so I
know it's a cleanup but maybe they're not in their cut off t-shirts and shorts they're not supposed to wear that either when they come to the bar house but you said when is the what down July 26th I'll get you the time where we're in the bit we just nailed down the date
within the last uh two weeks we going to June but you saw my date the down day so I had to put we pushed it another mon that's it no one has any other questions that's it thank you so much for coming in appreciate your time thank you for your thank you for keeping us
all safe thanks thank you okay Rob and the clerk's office do you have any requests that you you and Michelle are asking for anything in particular so there there is two things
that we are discussing at the in the within the clerk's office okay uh one is a new postage machine because we are out of compliance on that machine what page is the we haven't got that it we we just got a quote on it from uh from neopost
that uh Michelle was uh I don't do we have do you have that right now with we bring it upstairs there's one that is downstairs she has it for $4,700 was the quote that we received there's two different ones one is for a five you could put weight for five pounds on it or the other one is for 10 pounds the
difference between the two machines is $200 we don't need a 10 pound weight for machine is what what we're looking at so we were just going through to get as the from the quote uh but right now we're looking at a uh replacement for the machine of around
$4,700 uh there's also a service contract that goes along with that but uh that's where we are we and that's a purchase or that's a lease we believe we can do either we could do a 60 uh month lease on one or we could purchase it but would make sense for us I believe if we
purchase it at this point because it'll save more money the the lease price is more than if we outright purchase it the other item we do not have a quote yet for we're waiting for from bis which is the service for to go in for the new
recording system the uh they have they have put it uh got back didn't get back to us yet on a a official price we are hoping to have something by the end of this week uh was was the with with the two requests uh but at that point then
we do know that there we do have to change something with the recording system that was what we were looking to upgrade uh and once we have that we'll be able to get that to the governing body uh once we have an actual quote but those the two items that were uh requested okay does anybody have any
questions about the requests that Rob and the clerks office are making that was from when we spoke to Michelle Michelle believes that that's enough I don't think that we're red doing it I think that we we get it on to the contract in order to extend the
light we're getting refresh yeah we're getting a refresh and I think the 2500 covers the refresh yeah it was like an extension because we didn't can you come to the microphone just um they're going to be doing scanning uh with the building department so we
did it last year and the goal is to probably do it maybe in a fiveyear cycle so that we can get as much of the paperwork that is not dispos that has a permanent life cycle scanned in and free up space in the building so this year we have around two for the clerk's office
round one for the b or one and a half yeah one and a half because the building department did do stuff back in covid so they do also have background in it um and so we'll continue to do that and this year we have budgeted $60,000 split evenly between the two departments and like I
said that's something similar to the um Perry's sidewalk repairs or the PPE that you see for the fire department and Evac that will probably be on our capital budget for the next four or five years just so we can hopefully get a lot of the permanent records scanned in and then the companies will hold on to them
so we can free up space in the attic and downstairs and all that stuff and if anybody doesn't know how much paper we have in the basement in the Attic there's tons of paper um Michelle Rob Tria anyone taking a tour of our storage we've even got stuff across the street
in the house that feack is using um and we need to get rid of it because it's we're just taking up space that we could be utilizing I mean we have an intern we have a part-time assistant in the clerk's office and I know everyone's over juggling for space if we got rid of
some of this paper we have a lot more space Maylo is um does no one has any questions all right Lauren do you have any changes in your budget nothing um are you happy with the budget
any comments for us we're not picking you I I think the budget's in a good spot there could be some movement uh if certain things are buttoned up prior to introduction but I would just remind everybody an introduced budget does not need to be the adopted budget but we do need to introduce it uh by April 1st
according to the local Finance notice the division released in December so we can always amend it um amendments depending on the amount may require additional public hearings but you're not tied to anything that we introduced so yeah like we say every year it's a a
living doc that is up to amend any time before it's aded correct you guys get it and I love it um no questions then Lauren thank you for coming in this evening you're excused uh the next item on our
uh agenda is resolution number 102 d25 may I have a a motion to approve resolution 10225 authorized budget transfer roll call please coun
yes yes coun M yes council president Council Council thank you and next resolution Number 103 d25 may I have a motion to approve resolution 103 d25 authorized
temporary emergency budget so moved roll call please councilwoman rice yes councilwoman s yes councilwoman McGuire yes council president orenia yes councilman Timberman yes Council
yes and may I have a motion to approve resolution 104-22 approve the March 18th 2025 bills list roll call please Council rice yes councilwoman s yes councilwoman Maguire
yes council president Aria councilman Timmerman yes Council melino yes thank you and that brings us to unfinished business discussion of 2025 Bergen County open space Grant
application Rob so um Bergen County's open space uh Grant we have to give a letter of intent to them by March 28th we would like to have it to them by March 24th so what we what we need from the governing body is just to tell us
where we're going to apply what we're applying for in what park so that we can tell them tell uh Bergen County uh what we're asking for we do not have to give an actual project to what we're doing in the park yet and the price on it but we
just have to tell them where the intent is uh to where we will be uh putting for the grant uh the last meeting uh we recommended uh by Perry myself going uh through the parks was that the
part that was most in need and thought of was acrian uh at this point we would like then to meet with the committee uh to see if what we would like to add and what they would add and so we could get pricing off the equipment so we would know what the equipment that you're
looking to put in based off the different companies uh and that once we do that then we would be able to put a price tag on it and apply to the open space gr and that has to be in and finalized by April ail 25th we would have a hearing uh on the TW at the
meeting of the 22nd I believe is the right is a date on that so we would have to you put that forth and and go from there that's where you are okay any questions anyone for Rob so we're just good for acrian that's so we can we can
move forward we can set we can put that and and send that to uh to and who's on the committee I think it's Ashley and who else is ony Ashley and I'm the three of you Ashley Ashley yeah all
right I look forward to working with you okay um discussion of new electronic sign so we've been talking about this for a long time and I think we're almost ready to pull the trigger um Perry and I spent some time together on Friday we
went out we measured signs we measured the one at the high school we measured the one at the Bible Church we measured our current one um we think we found like a a good spot which would be where the original Christmas tree was remember the tree that got knocked down um when they widened the road um if we just move
some of the sign pollution because driving around town we realize we have a lot of sign pollution and we have to start looking around and seeing if we really need all of the signage that's all over town because there's a lot um we also have like a lot of cables holding up our electric poles and when you drive to other towns you don't see
them that we have like these yellow have you this yellow cables holding up those gigantic when they did the new poles I don't see that in other towns and I was driving around with Perry going why do we have all these these cables like three cables off of every well we'll get
to it when when we get to you but I mean it was like I'm like we can't even put a sign up because there's just pollution everywhere all signs and take a look around you could see it but a lot of it happened when they widened the road years ago and it's
never been addressed so I I wouldn't mind taking a ride with you and seeing if there some of this stuff we've really don't need I mean there's electrical boxes just haphazardly dropped all over the place like maybe if we condense it we could have a little bit more visual Beauty around town instead of it's
always some kind of a a do not enter a big sign all over the place um but we had um three quotes I believe and um I guess we'll be making a decision and you should have packets right with all of
the stuff um does anyone have any strong feelings about any of the signs look just visually looking at them and we do have money that we budgeted last year and we also budgeted money this year so we're good and I think it's going to be under budget from what we
originally um put aside I think it was 25 last year and 25 this year so it's going to come under that but it's definitely a needed upgrade the board is not working right now as it is um we're thinking about whether we should
repurpose that board or whether it's completely obsolete because it's still that little huge pixelated we don't we still have to discuss what we should do with the old board but um any questions about it and I
think because it's behind the arm of the railroad um when they put the sign was there and then they redid the um arm so when you're coming at it it the arm of the uh train gate blocks it
there's no clear path to it to see it we can take a ride in L if we we Perry took pictures we probably should have given you a picture of that too if you put it to the right of um the light at acran you could literally can get a
clear shot if you just move the bus sign and because the it but it's still it's still our properties at once the gate ends and there's a big open space like visually every single person sorry next to it's not our property with
the gate around it I don't think they can build anything that far out close to it they'll have to have parking we'll take a closer look at it I don't think so though but we'll take a closer look there's like a tree that's barely growing that Perry says probably
shouldn't even have been put there because it's going to grow into the lines anyway and then he thinks the tree is going to have to be moved there's really like if you're sitting at the light and uh you know you're looking at the light and just to the right there's like a next time you're coming home
there's a wide open spot if you move just a couple of signs and um like inconsequential signs that could just be shifted a little bit to get that clear it's the only open place in the whole town that you could put us on we will drove around we thought about maybe um
seeing if NJ Transit would let us do it at the train station and putting it you know horizontally we we drove all over the place we thought about a burrow Hall but so few people drive past burrow Hall I mean it's completely open for discussion um so if anyone has any
opinions um we can talk about it in committee and then bring it back before we pull the trigger on it at our next meeting but this is something I'm excited about we've been working on it for a long time and I think it's ready to go and I the one of the reasons we're going to save a lot of money is if we put it in that location um we don't need
a double-sided sign we only need a single side and sign so that's going to take off about $16,000 I think it is and if we did do it like on the uh NJ property NJ transit property we need double-sided more expensive sign and and you've got those electrical boxes in the
way you get a single sided sign you're only be able to see from one yes have right now so anybody change no no we're changing it because it's obsolete you can't even read me also stuff because nobody yeah but I think anybody that's
driving into town is eventually gonna leave and then come back again I mean if you livee discuss you think there's a lot of people that leave town and never go to orell saying if you're in aing C
Sing you're not put it this way you're see com no you're not you're not going to see it coming down AC at all you're going to see it coming from or no you'll see you'll when you're coming home from ell right
yes we'll talk we can talk about we could take a ride and we can see if you can find a better spot but me and Perry couldn't find a better couldn't find any spot literally no spot yeah no and if we put it and if we so we safe but like if if what do you think about putting it at Burl Hall I
mean so few people go past on Main Street I mean it's it's hard it's not it's not like let's just plop it in we really we thought out a lot but we will definitely give it more consideration all right enough on that um new business there is no anybody else on that any
have any comments okay um new business there is no B new business introduction of ordinances Miss D Simone will announce by number en tile of the following ordinances upon approval these ordinances will be further considered at a public hearing to be held on April 1st 2025 at
7:30 p.m. or soon thereafter as the matter can be addressed in the council chambers of the burrow Hall Municipal Place Emerson New Jersey and published in the record all ordinances are posted on the burrow website and on file in the office of the municipal clerk if anyone would like copies Miss D Simone would
you please read the title of ordinance 16925 16982 an ordinance to establish the position of and calendar year 2025 compensation 4 the secretary to the historic preservation Committee of the
burrow of Emerson may I have a motion to introduce ordinance 1698 d25 on first reading so moved second may I have a roll call please councilwoman rice yes councilwoman sers yes councilwoman
Maguire yes council president orenia yes councilman Timberman yes councilwoman jel yes thank you uh Miss Simone would you please read the title of ordinance 1699 d25 an ordinance of the burrow of
Emerson B County new to establish chapter 77 Article 4 auxiliary police may I have a motion to introduce ordinance 1699 d25 on first reading so second and a roll call please
councilwoman rice yes councilwoman sers yes councilwoman Maguire yes council president arenia yes councilman Timberman Council chelina thank you and Miss would you please read the tit of ordinance
17002 an ordinance to amend 266 Article 2 Section 26615 entitled tree removal standards replacement trees tree planting fund may I have a motion to introduce ordinance Number 1700 d25 on first reading so move
and a roll call please Council woman rice yes councilwoman sers yes councilwoman McGuire yes council president Aria Council Tim yes Council thank you and that brings us to
reports Council woman rice do you have a report for us this evening yes um so the first one is from the environmental commission it's the application microphone please applications for the community garden are now being accepted by the environmental commission through April
1st all plots will be assigned on a first come first sered basis and are strictly limited to Emerson residents a donation of $20 along with the completed application can be dropped off at the clerk's office applications are available on the burough website social
media or from the clerk's office and then um also we're entering uh Earth month so look at their uh social media post their website and this a burough website for all the events that are happening and then with the library I'm
not not sure many people know this but if you go um if you're a friend of the library you have a card in good standing um and you're taking a trip to New York City or you have any plans with the the family to go to any of the museums head to the library first because they have
some passes for um you know two to four I think two to four peopleim yeah many I mean the list of museums is Storm King yeah so many New York I only found this out so I was um pleasantly surprised so take a look at the Library website make
sure you're in good standing um also if I I always see on the Facebook page who's a notary public uh there's a notary public at the library as well so get there and use that service I will say that I really appreciate that the board listened and Camille at one of the
uh meetings at the end of the year Jill and I attended and we talked about the Museum passes and that they didn't really have any they had like the yogi Bea Museum and but they didn't have anything like really exciting to be like golly G I can't wait to get I think they also have National um Museum of of
History I I can also for the Children's Museum of so we're happy they listened and we're happy that they got those tickets and they're available to the public residents actually they're it's to residents on it's right on their website and it's listed on there but you have to get them I think Monday through Friday I don't think you can go in on
like Saturday morning and grab them to go in on the same day anything else no sorry I was so excited because I did go on the website and I saw that and I was like Yay I'm like Storm King I've been trying to go there since I worked in an art gallery in New York and I even little ones like
the Liberty Science Center not full tickets but save money you know save a few dollars yeah it's great tiet little B helps exactly um councilwoman sers do you have a report for us this evening um yes I do if anybody is getting rid of their freestanding adjustable basketball hoop
that is still in good playing condition please consider donating it to the borrow instead so our DPW can place them in our parks for our smaller children to use please contact the DPW at
201262 8199 and for recreation um starting with sports the prek soccer signups have started softball and baseball practice schedules are out coaches should have communicated
to all parents and players opening day is Saturday April 26th the fourth and fifth grade dance is on April 4th donations and volunteers are still needed for this event there is a signup genius on the Emerson Recreation
Commission page on Facebook on Saturday March 1st the rec commission held a successful event where residents were able to swap new or used sports equipment thank you to everybody who stopped by and exchanged
equipment the next Rec meeting is scheduled for April 2nd at 8:00 P.M the meeting for tomorrow March 19th has been cancelled and um you know just always be sure to follow the Emerson Recreation
Commission on Facebook for upto-date information on upcoming events thank you perfect councilman Maguire do you have a report for us this evening yes uh the Board of Ed had a special meeting on March 17th to vote on their tentative
budget for the 2025 2026 school year their next Board of Ed meeting is scheduled for March 24th at 7:30 p.m. in the high school media center the Shay tree commission will be hosting their annual Arbor Day ceremony we discussed
it earlier on Saturday April 26th currently scheduled for 10 a. but possibly will be changed now um but that will be taking place in front of burrow Hall on the 26th um their next meeting is Wednesday April 9 at 6:30 p.m. at Burrow
Hall that's my report perfect um councilman Timberman to report for us this evening microphone no tell the kids how great they are I think that the high school did a wonderful job I got to see Peter Pan on Saturday uh with my family so I just
want to congratulate them it was a great show and uh they did a great job awesome councilwoman M chelina report please uh for the L use board their next meeting is going to be this Thursday March 20th at 7:30 pm here at Burl Hall uh they'll be hearing three applications 136
Chandler uh 161 Palace Avenue and 324 Main Street uh for historic I have nothing to report for em Emerson ambulance uh Emerson ambulance core I have nothing to report uh for DPW I have uh for the most recent report
the DPW painted inside bough Hall to clean up the hallways prior to doing their outside spring cleanups they replaced worn out handicap swing at acran Park uh DP W builds and replaced garden beds at Centennial Gardens for environmental commission and the DPW is
in the process of cutting Vines which are choking out healthy trees in the Emerson Woods as requested by the environmental commission okay very good um council president do you have a report for us this evening very microphone Bo of Health met this past
week status quo um their next meeting um will be April 10th as well as the next blood pressure CL for our seniors um and I just wanted to say that I was excited to see that our astronauts made at home safe as well I watched The Landing soes
amazing I know that's it I cried a little when the woman came up she W it was but I I didn't I wasn't aware of the whole process your I listen to the whole process and CNN on how your heart changes to cylindrical and the blood
flow then all the different I bet you understood all that I know I was so fascinated I couldn't believe that but anyway thank God yeah it's it's thank God thank God they're they're home um recently I had the pleasure of participating in some uh
events throughout Emerson and the greater pasac Valley on March 4th I joined several pasak Valley Mayors um in order to welcome Fleming Steakhouse deont Bale uh March 6th I saw a lot of our seniors in town and helped uh um oh
God I blanked on her name um uh the nice uh woman who's the new director of Meals on Wheels whose name will come to me um deliver Meals on Wheels to our seniors that are signed up for it um and if you do want to sign up for Meals on Wheels um you can go to their website or you can call the clerk's office and they'll
put you in touch I attended two performances of Peter Pan this weekend because the leads switched off and I didn't want to miss anything so I got to see everybody on that and like councilman said it was wonderful as usual and we will have those children in
to sing us a song or two and to give them commendations at one of our next meetings um and a huge kudos to the Amerson Junior Senior High School marching band that were in New York City yesterday representing Emerson in the St Patrick's Day Parade um a cooking demonstration with yummy samplings will
be prepared by Chef Michael Marita of craft Taco in Westwood and rock and roots in Hillsdale um the mayor's Wellness campaign is uh sponsoring this event on Thursday March 27th at 7 pm. at the senior center Center please call the clerk's office to
RSVP um as everyone knows the senior bus is available please call Stacy for a ride the bcua household hazardous waste event will take place Sunday April 6th from 9:00 a.m. to 300 p.m. at beron Community College mixed Garden debris
pickup will resume on Monday April 7th and will continue each Monday through the end of the year um our shredding event will be held on Saturday May 17th from 9:00 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Burrow Hall uh through our shade tree commission
once again they will hold their arbit day ceremony where they plant a tree in memory of those Emerson residents who have passed away between January 2024 and the present um please call Bar Hall if you would like to add a loved one or a friend to this year's uh ceremony list
uh state of New Jersey has announced this year's property tax relief programs for eligible programs this year there is a single combined application and they will decide which ones that you qualify for so that streamlines everything if you have questions please call Lauren
and the tax office um there's also a New Jersey save program through the state of New Jersey um which the program benefits uh seniors for pharmaceutical hearing aid and Lifeline assistance uh 65 and
older as well as those that are receiving Social Security benefits um the phone number to call is 8792 9745 or visit www aging. New Jersey I'm sorry
www. aging. nj.gov for more information um I always encourage everybody to sign up for our Rave alert system so that you can keep up with emergencies and also current events going on in town um there's a lot
of of IRS scams going on and a lot of scams in general uh I know at my house we get a lot of postcards telling me that my warranty is going to expire and I don't even have a warranty on anything so seniors especially if someone's calling you and asking you a lot of questions call the police if you're
nervous or if someone's knocking on your door um please call the police if it's someone that you don't know and they're trying to sell you something and you think that something seems fishy uh they come out with the warm weather so be on guard uh the next regular meeting of the governing body will take place on
Tuesday April 1st at 7:30 p.m. that is not an April Fool's joke we will be here at 7:30 um and the minicipal budget will be introduced um if any kids are looking for something to do during Spring Break um our baseball coach Chris summer
halter is running the state champ baseball camp um from 9:00 a. to 12:00 noon uh the week of spring break April 14th to the 17th at the Emerson Junior Senior High School uh please call the school for more information and uh
usually our Dairy Queen I'm not sure if they're participating I don't know if Michelle double check this um but Dairy Queen will be marking the first day of spring this Thursday March 20th by giving away free vanilla soft serve cones at participating locations so you
can go try your luck over at our Dair queen and I think that the Park Ridge one generally does give away the cones but the line's awfully long Rob do you have a report for us this evening yes takey back Dave too with couple of things that Dave wants to talk about but
uh there's been some confusion about the two outside government agencies that are coming to the senior center to offer services to our residents first is the Bergen County Clerk's Office on March 26th and the second is the Motor Vehicle Commission on July 11th so one is the
clerk's office and the second is the know DMV uh the Bergen County Clerk's satellite office will be accepting passport applications with photos taken onsite administering no notary Oaths and processing photo cards for seniors
veterans exempt firefighters on Wednesday March 26th from 10:00 a.m. to 2m at the senior center walk-ins are welcome only check payments will be acceptable the mical Vehicle Commission the MVC will be coming to the senior
center at 20 palis AV on Friday Friday July 11th to provide real ID and other motor vehicle services be on the lookout in June for the online registration Link in addition beginning March 20th the MVC will hold real ID Thursdays every
Thursday to offer additional appointments at licensing centers to get a real ID online registration on real ID Thursdays opens tomorrow Friday March 14th and information on this is posted on our social media accounts or call the
clerk's office psng gas upgrade and project Paving uh we got an update today that construction is currently transferring services and retiring the mains we expect to have a good portion of this work completed by the end of the month and we're aiming for final restoration
on in uh May or June preconstruction meeting will be scheduled before the work begins and I should have a more precise date and start time by mid April of when they would start to with the roads our military Banner program is up and running for 2025 banners to honor
residents Who currently live or have resided in Emison the burough has made this program available to our residents who wish to honor their family members by contributing $200 for the banners the banners will be displayed from Memorial Day through Veterans Day and are stored by the Department of Public Works during
the winter months and will be rehung every year as long as they're in good shape we concluded our second year of the program with 51 banners and look forward to displaying many any more this year this is our way of saying thank you to the men and women of our great United States military sponsorship rate is $200
per banner and is tax deductible please place your order by April 30th in order to have them displayed by Memorial Day and we did have someone come in today uh asking for ban good um we're going to talk about the Rand off Pump Station we'll do that let let Dave go there uh
we do have we had a new DPW employee start uh this this week Lewis settle Meer uh said Meer sorry uh and we look forward to his continued success here at the uh in the burough John and myself uh
had we reached out and had talked about at the last meeting our noise ordinance uh John and I are looking and going over the noise ordinance uh there's some things there that we have to clean up and look at he's he's smiling um and we'll have that back to you uh as soon
as there is a conclusion of the opinion of what we should be putting in there um and that concludes my report for now because I oh that was actually something that was brought up talking about ordinances is that um Rob I need you to
review our sign ordinance and make sure that any changes that we're going to make with our own sign um comply with our um sign ordinance for the town okay it was suggested to me that we do that and just make sure that it's yeah
Dave do you have a report for us this evening sure I have a couple items um so um R off f p station the latest update is everything is on track as scheduled uh the control panel shall be completed at the end of the month and Shi the
beginning of April uh for Mid April um finally great everything's uh in place and moving forward um with respect to the temporary bypass pumping that needs to be put in place for that as well we're working with that contractor which is separate from there um to get
everything in place for that as well so things are moving forward with that and hopefully uh when we meet next month uh they'll be out there working on it as we're here so um additionally uh last
month I have reported the Minal a 2024 DOT road which was Park Avenue uh that's currently out in the paper or advertised for bids will be taking them next week and I'm looking to award that in April
and uh look to get the construction of that started shortly therea so those are the two main items that I had to report to okay and I heard that there was good news that the um contractor for the basketball is uh taking care of that
change order and we no longer have to pay it correct doesn't hurt to complain and I'm glad that they did it we appreciate it um but I think it was the right thing to do yeah yeah so we'll so we'll look to get the revised payment submitted to you guys so you can get
that process yes okay thank you he would appreciate that yes thank you Dave um John do you have a report for us this evening outside of the fact you have to check the sign ordinance and make sure you speak it outside of the sign ordinance and
inise is that on it is I know really not yeah okay that one's better it sounds better uh anyway just uh going back to uh block 419 um
again we just to rehash uh this was a last minute deal signed uh just before uh you were sworn into office for your first term and uh there was no vetting done by the previous mayor uh of this uh
developer you don't need to be a construction expert or have any expertise to see that the uh property's been sitting there now basically uh abandoned uh for the last year or so a couple of months ago um I think it was
December uh proi Council had authorized me to look into what other actions we can take to to the to get the project back on track um in the interim as you know during this process uh we had engaged in a litigation for breach of
contract with uh the developer of 419 um as it related to um providing us at up to $500,000 of material for either a new building or re a revamp building well those costs are uh essentially five
years old now and uh and with everyone's experienc the inflation and so forth that value has is essentially very limited value now and it also raises the question of under that under the terms of that agreement they were supposed to
build out up to $500,000 wor Pro up to $500,000 worth of materials and services the question becomes for the public do you really want this uh developer building anything uh with us at all and also just as a reminder there was no
there was no uh construction agreement between the parties either so the prior Administration didn't do the due diligence uh into check into the finances of this developer uh or even look at private PRI PRI project the deal wasn't complete because of language uh
did not contain a Construction contract so uh as you know the litigation has been um has been ongoing for the last several years in the courts and it's moved very slowly um in the meantime um to get this on
track um the court suggested and ordered the parties to engage in uh to obtain an implementation Monitor and the implementation monitor has been uh nothing but an Empire here he's had several meetings with us and with them together he has uh weekly gone by this
site weekly uh since he became the impation Monitor and provided a report this week uh just just the end of last week uh to the court uh as to his findings to date um it the I can't really U get into the specifics of the
document because I'm not sure there's a there's a protective order on it but just to inform the public uh it it's it's not good uh in terms of what the implementation monitor has has uh concluded here and he's made his recommendation to the judge um so
combined with that with the authorization for me to pursue further breach breaches of a contract with this with this redeveloper uh I feel that we have a we're on solid legal grounds now to pursue any any and all remedies uh as
it relates to the Redevelopment in 419 uh everything is on the table um uh whatever we have to do to get this project back on track uh whether and we can discuss um other types of Remedies uh in in including uh taking the
property back ourselves which we're not in the business of doing but there's everything's on the table it's an eyes saw for the town it's it's sad for the town and it's really this really stands on the shoulders of a former mayor and uh you don't need to be a genius to know that you have to do due diligence uh
also so as it relates to the timing of the project is if you recall specifically um there was really no end data when this developer had to have it done well there are Equitable remedies now and after abandoning the property for a year I can't imagine a court would
not say that they're in breach a contract on that point so I'm going to pursue um uh I've already I've already begun the work it's a lot of work but we've already begun it begun the work uh to put the developer on notice now to see you in court another complaint very
soon thank you for that we have so many new people I mean we've I've been in office for over six years and everybody up here had nothing to do with that 419 and we are constantly getting blamed on Facebook that we're not doing anything
and uh people really need to understand that we really don't have any culpability here as a council woman I um was against the project because of the density and I stood up for the taxpayers and at this point um we're getting
blamed for something that we had nothing to do with and we can only go through the remedies as it allows in the um redevelopers agreement which was actually changed one day before I took office let me let me just put a bow on that uh as it relates we now finally
with the report that we have from the implementation monitor that was issued Friday we now have firm grounds to proceed EXC so part of the delay is the implementation ERS has to report to the court he he filed his report uh once I
once I check with our our legal counsel to make sure there's no protective order on that document I'm going to see if we can post this uh on this uh F this implementations report to the judge on the website I don't know if we can if we can we will well that would be good if
the public was able to see that yes um it would be very helpful all right good it would explain a lot um the next order of business is public comment members of the public are welcome to speak on any topic by coming to the podium and stating your name for the record in the interest of time
speakers are limited to three minutes in consideration of all who may wish to speak please keep your comments brief and concise may I have a motion to open the meeting to public comments All favor I okay we are open to the public seeing No Hands may I have a
motion to close the mo uh close the meeting to the public so move um all in favor I any opposed okay um uh resolutions on consent agenda uh can I just point something out to the attorney real quick um this is on here
and we're gonna maybe discuss it in close but I think we're you can pull it now if you want and come back to it at the end of at the end of the close session let me ask if the count does any okay Mr Coban is here from Coban and the the the appointment of Coban computers
is on our consent agenda um John said that it would be proper if we bring him into close session and we ask him some questions about uh what it's going to look like in terms of the agreement and and moving forward um with their company
um do you guys want to pull it and vote on it after okay I'll ation okay just remove it so just remove CA 10725 make ation to remove ca7 all in favor I okay so we're going to pull it we're going to invite you
into closed and then we'll come back out and and make a decision on it afterward okay I appreciate that you came tonight and we've been trying to get through it pretty quickly but tonight was a pretty important meeting with the um department heads so may I have a motion um to
approve consent agenda resolutions 105-25 through 11225 minus ca 10725 for right now roll call please yes
yes yes yes yes very good may I have a motion to go into closed executive session to discuss matters exempt from the public public pursuant to njsa 104-1 at second
adequately noticed by resolution number 11325 roll call please councilwoman rice yes councilwoman yes councilwoman mgu yes council president yes Council yes
yes okay we are now going into close session members of the public May remain on YouTube until we return U may I have a motion to reconvene second all in favor I any opposed motion carried uh just make a
note that the mayor had had leave the meeting at 10:45 tonight is there any more business to discuss no um with not any more business to discuss I'd like to journ the meeting at 10:47 so moved second oh thank you you guys made your motion all in favor I I motion Carri
good night meeting is over bye