Okay, we are streaming and recording. Thank you. I'm now going to call the regular council meeting of May 20th, 2025 to order. I hear you. I'm speaking to the police committee at at 8:01 p.m. Can we all please stand for the pledge of
allegiance? 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.
Yansancy, can you please read the statement regarding the Open Public Meetings Act? This meeting is called pursuant to the provisions of the Open Public Meetings Law. Notice of this meeting was included in a notice sent to the record and the star ledger and advertised in said
newspapers on January 10th, 2025, posted on the bulletin board in the municipal building and has remained continuously posted as the required notices under the statute. A copy of this notice is and has been available to the public and is on file in the office of the municipal clerk. Proper notice having been given.
The municipal clerk is directed to include the statement in the minutes of this meeting. Thank you. Can I please have a roll call? Your mic's not on. Your mic was uh Councilwoman David present.
Councilman Rosen Swag will be calling in later. Councilman Tokayer here. Councilman Wilson is absent. Council with prior notice. Council President Wasatski here. Also present is Mayor
Michael Wilds. City Manager Robert S. Hoffman, Deputy City Manager John Burkner, and City Attorney Bill Bailey. Okay. Okay. So, tonight we have some special presentations and we're going to start. Um, can I have a motion for
resolution 173? That's a resolution honoring 2025 Flat Rock Brook Nature Association Gala Award recipient Scott Redine. Can I have a motion? Motion. I'll second it. Can I have roll
call, please? Councilwoman David, yes. Councilman Tokayer, yes. Council President Wasatski, yes. I'm just going to read the resolution. This is a resolution
honoring 2025 Flat Rockbrook Nature Association Gala Award recipient Scott Redine. Whereas Flat Rock Nature Association held their annual gala on Thursday, May 15, 2025 at the Anglewood Field Club. And whereas each year Flout
Rock Nature Association presents awards to very deserving, prominent, and community-minded individuals who give of themselves to the people of Anglewood. And whereas this year's president's award was given to Flat Rock Nature Center trustee Scott Redine, who has served on the board of directors for 22
years. And whereas Scott Reedine has been recognized and honored by more than 20 nonprofit agencies including the Rusberry Making a Difference Award, Bergen Volunteer Center, Center for Food Action, Bergen Family Center, Angwood Rotary Club, Bergen County Urban League,
and by the Bergen County Office of Disability Salute to Champions. And whereas Scott Redeeine served for nine years as a councilman in the city of Anglewood with two of them as council president and he is the current governor of Rotary International District 7490
and whereas the city council is desirous of congratulating Scott Reedine upon the occasion of being honored by Flat Rock Brook Nature Association at the 2025 annual gala. Now therefore be it resolved by the mayor and city council of Anglewood, Bergen County, New Jersey,
Flat Rockbrook Nature Association is hereby recognized and thanked for their hard work and dedication to the citizens of Anglewood. And be be it further resolved that Scott Redee is hereby congratulated on being honored and for continually demonstrating an extraordinary measure of public
spiritness which has earned him the deepest respect and admiration of the citizens of the city of Anglewood. So, um I'm just going to do one more resolution and then we'll we'll we'll
give you the certificate and we'll take some pictures. Okay. Then we have resolution 175, no 174, which is a resolution honoring 2025 Flat Rock Nature Association Gala Award
recipients. Can I have a motion? So moved. I'll second it. Can I have a roll call, please? Councilwoman David. Yes. Councilman Toker. Yes. Council President Wasadski. Yes. And
um I'm not going to read this resolution if that's all right. Do you want me to read it? Just wanted to know what the honores are. Yeah. The honores for the Flat Rock Nature Association. Um we mentioned Scott Redine. We also have a community leadership award that went to the garden club of Anglewood and also award went to
outstanding corporate partner partner award Oritani charitable foundation. So for everybody um mayor and council will step up and we'll give the certificate the resolution to to um
former council president Scott Reine. [Applause] I didn't Congratulations. had the privilege of being at the event uh last week at Flat Rock. Um as the
city's longest standing mayor, not oldest I should hope. Um, I want you to know there's nobody who's cut from better stone than Scott Reedine as far as being a consmate volunteer and sincere. Um, and this is really a pearl when Flat Rock and you come together.
So, congratulations from all of us to your beautiful family. Why don't you share a few words? I will be extremely brief. I'm very appreciative of the council. Thank you very much for this recognition and honor. Thank you so much from this prestigious body because the
last four times I've been in this room, I've been pleading guilty to traffic tickets. Okay. And uh thank you to the mayor. Uh he came to the event and he said some very very nice and kind words. So I'm so thankful for that. And lastly, I'm going to
continue. I I grew up in Engle Cliffs, but I went to Dwight Marorrow and I've lived here ever since. And this is my hometown. It's going to be my hometown. And as as long as I'm on this earth, I'm going to be here to help the city of Angwood. Thank you.
[Applause] Yeah. And I just want to acknowledge um Chelsea Glice who just came. Not the last one. No, not the last one. You took an extra. I want to acknowledge Chelsea
Glyce who just came who is president of the board of flat rock and um Chelsea we just did the resolutions so Scott has the ones for the flat rock and the honores. Thank you. Thank you for
Okay. So now we have resolution 175. This is a resolution of appreciation to the Ruckers University recreation strategic plan study team. Can I have a motion? So moved. Can I have a
second? Can I have a second? I will second. Mr. Hoffman, do you want to read the resolution, please? Thank you, Council President. Yes. Whereas the city of Inglewood partnered with Ruckers University
Department of Landscape Architecture Center for Urban Environmental Sustainability to study the city's parks and prepare a strategic plan for improvements and upgrades to Inglewood's park system. And whereas this collaborative effort began during
calendar year 2023 and culminated in the delivery of a report and strategic plan that was accepted by the governing body in March of 2025. And whereas the city will use this strategic master plan as a guide for
capital investment and park improvements over the next decade. And whereas the Ruter strategic planning team was most capably led by professor Wolram Hoffer, director of the center for urban environmental
sustainability. And whereas the Ruter strategic study team made several visits to the city of Inglewood, including scheduled meetings with residents at Morris Park, Crystal Lake, and Madison Park. And whereas the city of Inglewood wishes to thank and commend Professor
Hoffer for his leadership on this project. And whereas the city of Inglewood also wishes to thank and commend James Hill, Jacob Aubberwanowitz, Sue Lynn, Josh Cover, Luke Tilton, and Sam Alaresh, who were
the team members that assisted on this project. Now therefore, be it resolved that the mayor and council and the city council of the city of Englewood thanks the Ruter study team for their vision, willingness to listen to residents, vetting of ideas, as well as the
identification of specific challenges and opportunities for each of our parks. And be it further resolved that this collaborative effort between the city of Inglewood and Ruckers University will prove beneficial to our residents for decades to come.
Can I have a roll call, please? Councilwoman David, yes. Councilman Tokayer, yes. Council President Waski, yes. Congratulations. [Applause]
Send it to sideways, I guess. Yep. Thank you. Congratulations. Good to see you. Thank you so much. Let's put the mic back
in. And now we're going to have a presentation by the SID Management Corporation board president Albert Croll and vice chair Linda Dunham. Okay. Um, Albert Crawl, um, chairman of the SID. Linda Dunham had a family
emergency and cannot make it tonight. Uh, but I have JC Romano, our executive director, who will be making Speak closer into the mic. The mic that way people on YouTube can hear you. people on YouTube, can you hear me? Okay, so um
as I said, Linda Dunham had a family emergency, so she's not here this evening. Um says hello to the entire council and mayor. Um I have JC Romano with me tonight, our executive director. Ji is going to take us through um our
upcoming uh our projects that we've performed in the last year, and then I'll get up briefly to just go through our budget. So I'll introduce Jaci. Good evening everybody. Close enough. Sure. Good. Good. Um I'm here just to hopefully you've all seen the
improvements what we made in fiscal 2025, but I'm going to give you a little description of the things that we've done, which you can also expect that we'll um be doing most of them also in fiscal 2026. And I'll point out which ones we continually do on a regular
basis. Um I hope you've um noticed the Palate Avenue corridor of banners. We did put up the anniversary banners and we have spring banners. The anniversary banners are about to come down um and they'll be replaced. They've been up for a year um for with spring with spring
banners um that are different than the ones that are already exist and they'll be up before they'll be up in June before the July event is our target. Um we worked on all the public access alleyways in terms of safety lighting. They are all now lit with enhanced
lighting. made um arrangements with land owners and a lot of collaboration and cooperation. So those alleys are on um sunlight detectors and go on as the sun sets and stay on until the sun comes up.
Um awning cleaning SID manages to do that every year. Um and we give the all the awnings up and down Palisade Avenue, Dean Street and Green and Grand Avenue a cleaning. We clean the bus stops um
monthly and the landscape maintenance services we we do all over uh the SID area including the walkway to the parking garage plantings are redone, replanted. The triangle in front of the city hall is maintained and replanted
every spring. Um as well as the area in front of the city hall we do as well. Sidewalk cleaning and power washing we do twice a year. that'll be uh done before the July event. Also, um we also have a porter that goes out onto the
sidewalks Palisade Avenue corridor Dean and Grand every morning daily um along the um sidewalk sweepers um that the city does. We do the sidewalks at around the same time um and collaborate with them. We also remove the graffiti on the
poles and some of the transformers. Um, as soon as that we take it down, it goes back up again. But that is a pretty much a monthly process in terms of taking those graffiti flyers down. We introduced social media, Instagram and Facebook over a year ago. We had zero
followers. It's called Discover Downtown Anglewood. Hopefully, you're all watching it. It's a Facebook and Instagram. and the um the attention to the to the um Instagram has, you know, grown steadily. We now have
3,375 followers, about 458 posts, and um Discover Downtown Anglewood follows about 548 accounts, mostly businesses in the SID district. Holiday lighting we do, he put those snowflakes up every year and we take them down. We do
enhanced this year we did enhanced non-seasonal lighting. Um we lit all the trees on Van Brunt uh starting from the corner to the Bergen Pack. Um and we also lit this year the shrubbery on both sides of the walkway to the parking
garage off of Palisade Avenue. Um just making it more attractive and frankly um safer because of the lighting. Downtown event advertising. You see those banners that go across Palisate Avenue. We sponsor those as well. Um those banners are usually advertising city events. We
do tree removal when the trees are dying or have died over the winter and we replace them. We last year did the parking garage PSEG electric car charger upgrades. Um those chargers have now been taken over by the city of
Anglewood, but we did invest in upgrading the chargers for speed um and voltage. We always do a spring fall landscaping cleanup, which includes the planters that you see up and down Palate Avenue. They were just done around
Mother's Day. Um I think they're looking pretty good and we do those again for um the fall. Um we invested in a streetscape beautifification project this year. It's a larger project. We actually came before the city council with our uh
landscape architect and presented the full scope of the plan and we'll be immediately starting phase one which will include the installation of bike racks, benches, some new planters um in some of the bumpout sections um up and down Palisade Avenue.
um tree lighting uh for city hall. We helped sponsor the Santa's chair and the snow globe for game uh bouncy thing for the kids. This year we did we collaborated with sponsors and provided hot chocolate and popcorn. Hope to do
that again next year. Um and that is about it for what we've done this year. Most of those projects will be repeated again for next year. Okay. Thank you. Um, do you want to take questions now or should we do the intro to the budget and
then take questions from council members? Okay. Does anyone on the governing body have any questions or comments? Go ahead. Uh, yes. Good evening. Thank you for your hard work. I think I missed two meetings
in the last many years. Um, and I've been very impressed with your efforts. Um, will there be um opportunities for residents to pay to have dedications on the benches and all of those improvements? We've actually started discussing that at our SID meetings. You
might have missed that meeting, but we did talk about that as an option and or the business businesses that sponsored them as well. Having some sort of confirmation of who they were and who they are as well. Would be nice to put that out there. Okay. Um, and also for
us to honor uh nonprofits and other organizations. Somebody may want to honor Flat Rock or Bergen Family Center. Um, and it's a way to cross reference again somebody who passed away and and and things like that. Um, I'm also
looking to find out in broad strokes your impressions and I I'm privy to this information. And if you can just share for a few minutes the improvement with the meters, why it was necessary and and how you feel the businesses are going to
improve over time. I'd like that put out in the public uh uh space. Are you referring to the parking meters that we did up down avenue? We did do that in fiscal 2024 um where we invested in changing all the
meter heads and going to an IT system that would help track um when people are paying um their their toll their parking meter um use of the parking spaces. There's a way for the city to use that information and figure out what zones
are busy, what zones are not busy. Um turning it off for holidays. it's um more centrally located and hopefully helps the DPW with the collection um because there's opportunities to use cards
andor scanning um a barcode. Wonderful. Thank you for all your hard work. Okay, welcome. Anybody else? Any other comments from the governing body? Okay, thank you for all your hard work as well. You're welcome. I'll turn it over to Al.
So, our budget, our budget was handed out to council prior to the meeting. I'm assuming everybody has reviewed it in detail. And does anybody have any questions? Why don't you just walk us through it? I can walk you through it. Okay. We have what we we're terming as business
license fees, which is the SID tax at $250,000 a year. This is a fee that has not been raised since the SID was formed um eight years ago. And we're also going to be using some of our capital reserves for our downtown improvements which are going to start to implement this summer.
Okay. Um other of this 450,000 it's broken down by management and maintenance at 60,000 public improvements and planning 142,000 and change advertising and marketing 35,000. This is where we also collaborate with
the chamber of commerce. um professional fees at 12,500 and as I said prior the downtown streetscape improvements budgeted for this year at $200,000. Um this is all posted by the way on our website. Everybody can look
at the details uh accordingly. Any resident, any member of council. Okay. Thank you. Does anyone on the governing body have any comments or questions? Okay. Thank you. Thank you.
Okay. So now I need a motion for resolution 176 which is approving the introduction of the Anglwood Special Improvement District budget budget for fiscal year 2026. Can I have Thank you. Can I have a second?
Second. Okay. Nancy, can I have a roll call, please? Councilwoman David, yes. Councilman Tokayer, yes. Council President Wasatski. Yes. And uh just for the
record, the public hearing and adoption of this budget will take place at the June 17th meeting. Oh, not the June 4th. No, it's it's a 28 day same as a budget. Thank
you. Okay. Now, we have approval of minutes. Can I have a a motion? We need to resolution to take out the close session. Okay. Do I need a motion for that? We need to take out the close session. We didn't should I should do we
need a motion to amend the minutes to take out the close session. Well, can I just amend just say that we're amending? Yeah, just to announce which minutes you're Okay. So, for resolution 177, approval of minutes, we're going to be removing the close
session minutes and and so um I need a motion to introduce resolution 177. And do we where's the list of Let me find
it. I'm going to find it. I got it. I think I have it. So, I have regular, you'll tell me if I miss any. I have regular meeting April 22nd. I have a workshop meeting April 11th. April
1st and that's it. Special meetings April 1st and April. Okay. And special meetings April 1st and April 22nd. Okay. So, I need a motion. So moved. I need a second.
So, I need a second. I'll second it. Okay. Is there any discussion from members of the governing body? Can I have a roll call? Yansancy. Councilwoman, sorry. Councilwoman David, yes. Councilman Toker. Yes. Council
President Wasatski. Yes. Um, is he on? We still need to get through the public session. What? We still need to get through the public session. There's a public hearing on this ordinance.
Which one? No, I do have Dan. Do you have Ken Owen to do this? We still have a public session to get through. What do you mean we have a public hearing August 1st and then he gets on?
But he's on. I just texted him, sweetie. As soon as he tells me he's ready. Okay. Now, we're going to have a public hearing. It's on ordinance 25-25, an ordinance amending ordinance number
24-06 fixing the maximum annual salaries to be paid to officers and employees in the unclassified service of the city of Anglewood as of January 1st, 2025. So the so um before I before
I open the public hearing um Mr. Hoffrin, do you want to say a few words on the on this ordinance, please? Uh sure. Thank you, Council President. Uh over the uh this is the 2025 salary ordinance. So uh this is the maximum
range of salaries. This is uh the the staff will will u make less than this but this is the maximum range that that we have for for the positions that are not represented by unions. Over the
weekend there have been some questions by members of the governing body about a couple of uh specific positions. So one of them was the uh the coal liaison. That's a that's a position that is not uh there is nobody in that position.
This is something that is available should the governing body needed or should should we need it based on the recommendation of our our special counsel for affordable housing in case there's work that has to be done. Uh other questions had to do with some
stipens. So the city for decades has had an OEM coordinator that that individual receives a stipend for the work that they do. Uh there's a planning board secretary and they receive a stipend. There's a planning board liaison that's
been in on the on the uh you know in the salary ordinance for many years. That uh that position is not um not filled at the moment. It hasn't been filled for the past couple of years, but it's there so that if there's additional work
that's needed related to the master plan or to some of the the zoning ordinances that have to be that will have to be adopted or some other work that might be related to the to the master plan or to affordable housing. The council has
options. And then there's the municipal alliance coordinator and that's that's a position that's a stipen position and that's usually um allocated to somebody that's in the board in the health department or the board of health and again that position um there has not
been a payment for that stipen in a few years. So thank you council president. Okay thank you. Okay so the public hearing on this ordinance is now open. Anyone who desires to be heard or ask questions will be heard at this time. Please step up to the mic. State your
name. You have three minutes. Amy Bullock Avenue. I'm a little confused because we have uh a COA liaison on here, but wasn't COA abolished last year, if I'm not
mistaken. Um, and in regards to this planning board liaison, is that the council liaison to the planning board? What is that position? Yeah. And the municipal alliance coordinator.
Um we basically what I'm hearing is that nobody's been doing these these these jobs in the last few years which means apparently they weren't needed. So other than the OEM who we know you know Captain Sorbanelli and the planning board secretary. So if
we haven't had anyone in these positions in the last few years and COA has been dissolved for all intents and purposes, why is it that we need to include this in the budget? We have grants and things being rescended from the federal
government. People's taxes are going up. We are topheavy. Everybody in the city has an assistant and it's impacting taxpayers who are dealing with food insecurities, trying to keep up with their taxes, trying to pay their mortgages and their rent. So, if these
are not crucial positions, why are we allotting money to them? Okay. Thank you. My name is Frank Huddle, former mayor of the city. I'd like to go on the record that I object that there's no communication of the public to the
council president and we have to talk three minutes or less, stand in silence, and then hope the person that screens all the questions, Mr. Hoffman, answers it. So, it'd be nice to have an
exchange, but the city budget has a 1,241% increase in Mr. Hopkins department. I think about 100,000. The coun uh the council's expense account, including his stipens, is about a h
100,000. And as I was mayor for nine years, there was never a stipen. And it's unclear whether these stipens are for elected officials, which I would like to know that answer. And I would
propose that these stipens be eliminated. the position, if you want to leave it in, it should be for a buck and the budget should be amended to reduce the tax increase because these two
numbers alone amount to about 2/3 of the budget increase. So, uh, we like to say we don't understand what's going on, but this is not truly sustainable. So, I'm here to simply say if you're
elected officials, you serve. You have an increase in your compensation, fine, 20, 30%, whatever it is. but to now take stipens and have on the budget a
$100,000 increase with no explanation but now with very detailed specificity what makes up the 100,000 and why do you need the position and if there's a position you
already have you mentioned COA which uh the last speaker is correct it's abolished, but you have a planner, you have three lawyers, you've spent at least $350,000 over the last two years, and
now you want to pay for a lia uh I guess a stipen for more money. It's time you tighten the belt a little and amend your budget and reduce the tax increase. Now, I know you're not going to answer me,
which is preposterous, but that's how you run this meeting. And further, Mr. Hoffman, I tried to park, and there's all city cars parked in every spot. So, not only this is not I'm sorry. You'll have to uh your
comments need to be towards the um the public hearing is toward the ordinance 25. Thank you very much for procedure, Mr. Hoppin. Does anybody those cars be parked there? Thank you. Okay. Does would anybody else like to speak? Please step up to the mic, state your name, and
you have three minutes. Lucy Walker, Washington Place, Ingwood. What is the difference between a qualified purchasing agent and a purchasing assistant? What's Okay, ask your questions and when the
public hearing is closed, we'll answer the questions. Okay. We we are a little topheavy on assistance here and at the board of education. It's weird. Okay. Thank you. Would anybody else like to
speak? Okay. So, I'm now going to close the public hearing for this ordinance. Um Mr. Hoffman, would you like to address some of the questions? Sure. Thank you, council president. Uh, one of the questions had to do with are
any of the stipens for elected officials and the answer is no. uh as I had said before that these are these are um positions that are usually for uh one of them was for the health in the health department and then we have planning
board secretary and we have an OEM coordinator but none of the stipens that are in the salary ordinance are for elected officials. No elected official receives a stipend. The other piece of information that's important is that for the last 30 years there has been
stipens. They just haven't been listed in the salary ordinance. So that was done a few years ago to help with transparency so people could see what was the full of full value of the salary ordinance and what was the what made up
the the city's annual budget. So this is these positions that we're talking about tonight are not new. They just were not put into the salary ordinance before. There's also there was also talk about
[Music] um I guess the um a budget increase which is um which is which is a which is a shame that the um that uh the information that you were not at
the last meeting where the budget was there was a budget presentation and we went in depth and um the $100,000 that's referred to uh in the manager's office as well as the clerk's office had to do with different contracts including um
getting files out of out of storage in Patterson and and places like that as well as um having having money for uh for different spe specialists that are related to to matters of litigation.
couple let's see the um the city's budget has a 1.98% increase overall that's uh that is very good um then there was the question of what's the difference between a qualified purchasing agent and a purchasing
assistant so the QPA the qualified purchasing agent is a licensed position and that's to make sure that the city conforms to the public contracts law which is title 4A in the state code. So, we have a we have a qualified purchasing
agent who serves the city on a contract. Uh they're doing a very good job. The city had had audit findings uh about public purchasing before the city uh began working with this person. Uh the
CFO is also a QPA qualified purchasing agent and so am I. But we're we're relying on on this this uh individual who is uh basically our full-time qualified purchasing agent. The purchasing assistant is somebody that's
in the finance office that looks at looks at the invoices and the purchase orders and make sure that the city pays uh for the goods and services it receives and also uh make sure that we don't overpay. So when you we we you
hear questions about the bills list that comes from that comes from the purchasing assistant and the CFO. So I believe I've answered all of the questions. I'm not sure. Did I miss any? Council President I I think um you know there's this perception that just because it's
in there that it's in our budget and when it's not in our budget if if we don't put the spot in it's not uh good point. One of the things that I did miss is that the um the salary ordinance
uh is really is not automatic. There has to be money in the budget for the for funds to be paid for those positions, but you need to have the positions listed so if they're needed, they can be they can be used. So again, the budget
is the budget is not related to the salary ordinance. If you look at the salary ordinance, um there's not a direct correlation between the adopted budget and what's what's in the what's in the salary
ordinance because it's it's a range of compensation. And one of the other things that's in the budget is that the uh the council wanted to make sure that all of our staff members are paid fairly. So there's a reserve for salary adjustments that the that uh after an HR
study is done, we can make some adjustments to compensation based on uh the policy that was set three years ago by the governing body. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. So I now need a motion that the ordinance
2525 be adopted. Can I have a motion, please? So moved. Can I have a second? I want it pulled for discussion. No, there's a motion, a second, and discussion. Yes, the discussion the discussion comes after the second. Okay.
Can I have a second of the motion? Okay. One more time. Yeah. For the record, uh, Councilman Rosen Swag has called in. I second the motion. Okay. And Councilman Rosen Swag seconds the
motion. Now we'll have discussion from the governing body. Um Councilwoman David. Okay. Um yes. Um I stand before every one of you, each and one of you, and I propose
the um my vote against the proposed stipens. This matter was never discussed with me beforehand, and I believe transparency is essential in decisions that impact our city budget and taxpayers. It is my understanding that $100,000 was set
aside for a council budget. When adding what we get as council, it doesn't measure. However, our city must remain sustainable. We already allocate taxpayers dollars for attorneys, planners, and other services.
We need to be prudent with every dollar and most importantly I want to highlight the significance of Junth stick in it in our community. Now Junth has been a vital fabric of this city passed down from mayor to mayor right and I've been
involved in Junth for decades because it fosters community friendship and supports many local businesses. While it acknowledges a painful part of our history, it reminds us that united we all stand. Unfortunately, I heard today
this year the citywide Junth event was cancelled due to a lack of funds. I was recently informed that the Junth carnival will not take place because the organizing group Jabari did not have enough time to fund raise after the city increased fees at the last minute. Now
the stipens proposed are larger than what we that was budgeted for for this crucial celebration. Junth is a cherished tradition that should never be eliminated. And I strongly urge that these stipens funds be redirected to support this event and other vital
community priorities. If necessary for legal reasons, I propose reducing the stipens to a nominal amount of $1, allowing the remaining funds to better serve our elected officials for the community and our
community at whole. So, I hope receiving stipens will you guys or whoever receiving a sip will join me in considering a broader impact on our city finance and vote no on these impacts. That's all I have to say. Okay. Thank you. Does anyone else from
the governing body have any comments? Okay, Yansancy, can I have a roll call, please? Councilwoman David, no to the side. What about the It's It's for the ordinance. Ordinance. Um, the ordinance have to be passed ordinance. I'm sorry,
I didn't hear you. Yes. Thank you. Councilman Rosen Swiden. Yes. Councilman Toer. Yes. Council President Waski. Yes. Okay. Now, we have no ordinances for
introduction, first reading, we now have public comment on consent agenda items. Um before we before we open up for comments, are there any resolutions from the consent agenda that anybody on the governing body would like
to pull? Okay. Okay, we're good. Okay. So, um I'm now going to open the meeting for public comments on the consent agenda resolutions. Members of the public are requested to come up to the mic, state their name before speaking, and reminded
to speak on consent agenda resolutions number 178 through 182 only. Okay. Does anyone from the public have any comments? Okay, I'm going to now close the public comment section on the
consent agenda. Can I have a motion that we introduce resolutions 178 through 182? So moved. Can I have a second? Oh, we lost Councilman Rosen's way. What? We lost Councilman Ros. Okay, I'll
second it then. Um, any discussion from the governing body on resolutions 178 to 182? Okay. Can I have a roll call, please? Councilwoman David. Yes, Councilman Toker. Yes, Council
President Wasatski. Yes. Now, we have a resolution on the non-consent agenda, resolution 183. This is a resolution authorizing the submission of an application to the New Jersey Department of Transportation's transportation
alternative set aides program. Is John is John going to stop in the back because it's really distracting me. Okay, I'll ask in a minute. Thank you. I think he's done. Do you want to talk about the resolution? Hi, Mr. Hoffman. Will you explain this resolution,
please? Thank you, Council President. Uh the resolution before the governing body is for a grant application to be submitted on behalf of Denning Park. The deadline for this grant application is Thursday, May 22nd, and it's to submit a grant
application for up to an amount of $1.5 million. The um for improvements in Denning Park. this uh grant application. The some of the improvements that are envisioned is to um put a sidewalk along
Lafayette Place from Teen over to Bergen County Towing along the front of the park and then to put in a porous or permeable walking surface within the park and then to put new fencing in the
park. So, those are some of the um some of the improvements that are envisioned for for our grant application. And again, it's due on th on this coming Thursday. That's why it's on the agenda tonight. Okay. Thank you. Can I have a motion?
So moved. Can I have a second? Second. Any discussion from the governing body? Um yes. Um vote no. Yes, I have. Yes, I have that. I also have a report from um the English
public school. Okay, thank you. We have to vote on this resolution though. That's what's in front of the body right now. So, there's a motion in a second on Yes. So, so there's there's any is there any discussion from the governing body on
resolution 183 which is a grant for Denning Park? No. Okay. Yansancy, can I roll call please? Counciloman Councilwoman David. Yes. Councilman Toker. Yes. Council President Wasatski. Yes. Okay. Now we're on bills
and claims. We have resolution 184 to approve payment of bills and claims. Whereas the chief financial officer has certified and submitted a consolidated bill and claims list for payment as well as a consolidated list of prepaid items. The prepaid items include emergency
payments, wire transfers, and regularly scheduled monthly payments that are paid between bill and claims list dates. And whereas all bills and claims listed herewith have been encumbered and sufficient funds are available for payment. And we're asked the required
signatures have all been obtained on each voucher on the attached list. Okay. Mhm. Now therefore, be it resolved by the council of the city of Anglewood that the bills and claims on the submitted list are hereby approved for
payment in the total amount of 1,129,4141. Can I have a motion? So moved. Can I have a second? Second. Okay. Any discussion, questions from the governing body? Okay. Can I have a roll call?
Yansy. Councilwoman David. Yes. Councilman Tokayer. Yes. Council President Wasatski. Yes. Now, we're going to have communications from the governing body, including liaison reports, um, and communications
from the city manager. Those council members that are not here today uh this evening will give their liaison reports next month. This is ridiculous. I'm going to wait till he stops. You said, "Did you say next meeting or
next month?" Next month, I said, "Because I don't know when you're doing it. Okay, Mayor Michael Wilds. Uh, good evening. So, my public remarks and then my um committee remarks, I suppose, first.
Uh, so first ladies and gentlemen, good evening to everybody and to Mr. Redeeine. I think he already No, he's still here. Mr. Governor, thank you again for gracing us with your appearance and your service to just about everything important in this great
city. Uh, first of course, congratulations to Edan Alexander, Tennerfly resident after being released after 580 days. Um my um I am proud to
announce that the mayor of Tennifly and myself were asked by the state of Israel to go on a mayor's conference next month. I checked with the ethics lawyer and our city lawyer to make sure that I was beyond reproach and I'm honored and humbled uh to join uh the mayor on this
trip. I had asked if they would include him given the fact that he was such a big supporter of his residence. I had the privilege last night of attending the induction at themies at Anglewood class of 2029 uh is in the house. We cut a ribbon this
week at ISI. ISI stands for iron sharpens iron. It's a rapid uh deployment uh kind of exercise uh experience. We welcome them to the Chronicle of Englewood. We thank uh Rabbi Kanekov at the Kabad of Englewood for a wonderful logar event at Madison
Square Park. um you know attended by hundreds of people. The Flat Rockbrook uh annual dinner was very well attended again with the Oritani, the Garden Club and Scott Reedin uh being at the top of uh their honores. Uh this past week
scores of Anglewood residents attended the Israel Day parade. We have the Caribbean Day parade in Anglewood that will be coming up in the next weeks. Uh there was uh this coming Thursday, I invite everybody to 151 West Forest
Avenue where there will be a luncheon celebrating Anglewood's veterans. Uh Miss Keys hosts this. I will be giving a keynote speech. Uh and it will be accompanied again by uh Councilman um Wilson as well. Um I also had the
privilege of hosting five mayors from the state of Israel this week. I was asked as I declared May not only to be mental health awareness month but also Jewish American Heritage Month. Congratulations to Arts Horizon on the
45th anniversary um for celebrating not just music, joy and opportunity for their parishioners all these years. A new in Englewood you can find also modern bread and bagel in the wandering queue. I did some
promotion uh for those restaurants as well. Seems a gentleman isn't happy with hearing good things in Anglewood. Uh the Mloud concert and art show took place about an hour ago. I had the privilege of addressing the parents and the
children at this wonderful uh event and we are planning a pride day again at Angwood's library on June 11th. This is a special year as this community feels extraordinarily threatened. Um, there was an event that took place in a
neighboring Bergen community and I've heard from a lot of people that they didn't want to have the event this year because of the physical risk that they feel. I would like to have the event and I'm going to speak to our police authority that residents that are LGBTQ
should feel at home in the city and safe. We should not put the event off, but we're going to continue forward. I invite everybody uh each Friday I have a coffee with the mayor session. I've been doing it strong now,
ladies and gentlemen, five years plus. I may be miss six Fridays because of Good Friday and other Jewish holidays, but I do it every Friday from 11:00 till about 1:00 sometimes or a tight hour and we have special guests where we can. And
finally, I would like to invite everybody to the Memorial Day event uh parade this coming Monday where we will have a grand marshal. I selected Hilda McDonald. She's a 96year-old resident of our city. She's a storied member of the
famed 68 brigade. This was a battalion of black women who went to Europe to sort out 71 million pieces of mail. When there was no connect between parents and
their children and warriors and their siblings and parents, they went and they just got it done. Netflix did an extraordinary story. but as an exemplar of character to this city, this state, this nation. As if that wasn't enough,
do you know what she did? She then served 25 years in our municipal court so nobly, so quietly, so beautifully. So this is a woman who served her nation, served his city, came back when she
couldn't even drink from the same water fountain in this city or eat in the same restaurant. and with dignity live through all of this and will be regailed this coming Monday. She received the Congressional Gold Medal. It is a big honor for us much like the Tuskegee
Airman and all the other wonderful warriors and heroes and chirros that we've had through the years. So, I urge you all to join us uh as we take um a wonderful walk. We don't have Olga. We don't have Elellaner. We don't have
Frank Luciana. But we have our very special Hilda McDonald. And we have a lot of residents in this community. Those who served, those who came out of concentration camps. And we have a noble obligation to attend and show our
children and our grandchildren how we regail our veterans and warriors. Ladies and gentlemen, I reached out to the environmental commission which I appoint as well as the library board. I will leave the
planning board to Councilman Wilson uh to recite uh when he returns. Um this is my report on both uh boards. The environmental commission has many concerns beyond the national honeybee event which was organized in the last
few years. Extraordinarily well attended I should say. I want to thank Crystal Brown, our uh commissioner, our chair, uh Kevin Lake, Jack Sberman, and a lot of the other commissioners for the hard work that they do. Um these events
foster community engagement, education about native pollinators, and the fifth annual event should be coming up this year. They're identifying orphan properties to plant with native plants for pollinators and stormwater management. They're looking at the
city's lighting ordinances and and making suggestions to the governing body. They're looking at a presentation on planet Geo, obtaining a free mapping and assessment of our tree canopy. Do you remember the beautiful meandering sidewalk we have by Flat Rock Book where
they were able to go around? It was Ken Albert's work. I should tell you Ken Albert's cell phone. It's emlazed in my brain. 5697590. This was a city engineer who when a child was struck on the way to a synagogue by a vehicle came up with an
artful way of expanding the sidewalk while protecting the canopy of the trees. In any event, it's an important study to have. They're working on the rehabilitation of the Third Street Community Garden after vandalism and they're trying to make it to rebuild it,
make it more accessible to multiple generations. They're installing native plane um plant rain gardens at Janice Dismas School. Uh they've reached out to the superintendent to make the triumph pool a pollinator friendly area uh while
it's being unused. Uh they're fielding inquiries from public and tree removals and tree hazards and I get copies of the agenda. It's very robust. They trend countless wind webinars on storm water management, recycling, climate change,
drought. Um, and they deal with uh Erin Thomas who is who I appointed as the liaison and I appointed her to both the planning board and the uh environmental commission to make sure that every project has an environmental review that
comes before us. They mentor STEM club at the Janis Dismas School making sure that they give out flowers uh to students. Um they um deal they have junior environmental commissioners. They maintain two beehives for the city at
the third street garden and collaborate with the health department and participate in the health fair. In a nutshell, that's uh what they're up to uh as well. Um I'm just going to double check. I asked if they um were
comfortable having meetings where they were. They weren't. I asked the fire chief if they could meet with regularity in the firehouse. He concurred and they're very comfortable. So they have their monthly meetings at the firehouse. It's open of course to the public. Uh
with regard to the library, um the library is gracious to host our coffee with the mayor sessions every Friday. Kate is a fantastic director. I want to thank her for her stewardship. And also I'd like to thank Dr. Stacy Rosenwig, uh, the wife of our
councilman from the first ward, who single-handedly found a $2.5 million, uh, grant, and they're under heavy construction at this point. Um, an amazing jewel like the Flat Rock, the library is for our city. For want, if
anything, it's actually our community center, and it appeals to so many different generations to kids going after school. It's a heating and a warming center. uh as well. The renovations from the CPF grant started this week. The demolition in the children's and main level bathrooms
along with the McKay room are underway. The new bathrooms in the ADA compliant offer changing tables for parents. Uh as well, I have uh a lot of little grandchildren that like that bathtub and uh like going to the library and it needs to have been improved. The HVAC
boilers were being replaced with PSEG's direct install program uh with any lights that are not LED as part of the energy saving mission. Uh and a date is to be determined for that. Our programming in the library as a result has been scaled back due to a lack of
space because of the renovations. In June, the summer reading contest for all ages will begin in July. The summer uh series, Jazz Under the Stars, will have its annual 8-week run on the front plaza. Performers will be uh announced
shortly uh as well. Again, that is an update on our environmental commission on our library. Um the city's electric signboard was installed in front of the library. The signboard matches those scattered throughout the city. um and
they met with some complaints due to the brightness and the content which they currently have no control over. That came forward uh from the board. Uh circulation and the patronage of the library remain high hoping the trend will continue. Um neighbors and property
managers of the Renaissance building are coming. Um and construction use of spots and dumpsters are being uh looked at with some regularity. Uh the library's art gallery will be emptied until the earliest of fall. That's due because of the construction uh allowing their
contractors to have space to put materials uh in stage. The Rotary honored um the uh library with the SARI weaving event uh as well. Um and I'm just reading through some of the minutes. There's a lot that's there. I
would like to thank um Nina Nassie the chair of the library uh and all the wonderful uh library commissioners as well. Um the board members uh are to be lauded as well as the commissioners for the environmental commission for giving so many countless hours to two very
special uh parts of our city. Thank you. Okay. Thank you, Councilwoman David. Yes. Good evening. Um there's so many events at the um school district, but today they had my brother's keeper and I believe mayor you on next week, right? My brother's
keeper. You will be on that next week. Um that was today from 10 to 2. And also June 3, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th at Quall School, the pre the preK will be moving up between um 8:30 a.m. and 1 pm. Greco
will be moving up on June 9th, the third grade. The 13th of June, it will be calls um moving up ceremony and um at the kindergarten from 9:00 to 1. June 12th, Mloud at 10 a.m. Janice Dismiss also the same day at 1:30
and the same day the high school graduation on the green at 400 pm. Also, I have a a email that Monty wanted me to read. The superintendent of schools um the Inglewood public school district
is extremely is already experiencing a negative impact of policy changes under her administration. In February, the district, which is um SEMI, which stands for special education medical initiative, reimbursements were
drastically reduced from 280 to 28,000. So you went from 280 to 28,000. These funds are vital to supporting students who receive special education services such as OT, which is occupation therapy, speech, and mental health support. That's a drastic drastic
um that number went 200,000 off. In addition to this dismantling of support within the United States Department of Education, we are preparing for potential reductions in title and IDA, which is Individuals with Disabilities Education Act funding, both of which are
critical to serving our most vulnerable students population. Furthermore, we received prek funding through the Department of Education. While we are grateful that the New Jersey governor's budget has provided an increase in preK funding for our
district, we remain concerned about the federal government's long-term commitment to early childhood education. We are also witnessing a troubling rise in students being absent due to the ongoing deportation of undocumented immigrants.
Several students have been directly impact by the detention or removal of family members. Now, these situations have led to a significant social emotional crisis within our school community, requiring increased
counseling and mental health services. The uncertainty surrounding future budget cuts has contributed to widespread anxiety among our staff, families, and students. Additionally, we are concerned that the administration's
anti-dei diverse equity and inclusion the rhetoric may eventually lead to funding reductions or roll back of essential programs that support equity inclusion across our district. As we move forward move forward, it is
critical that we advocate for the state, the state and federal levels to protect the resources our students depend on. We must be vig vigilant and um in addressing this. Um it's bigger than what we think it is, but we're right now in a crisis at the public school
district. Thank you. Thank you, Councilman Tair. Thank you, Council President, for the opportunity. Um here's some information I learned uh on the call last night that I would like to share. I'm on the recck
department. I'm a rec leaison. Um, so the recreation department is now fully online, so you can sign up at the comfort of your home or as Tashan says, on your fingertips. Um, pool membership is now open and online. June 20th is the opening day, and the hours are 1 to 8,
uh, Saturday to Sunday. The pickle ball and towns membership port will be open very soon. Track and field's last meet is June 1st, and it's a home and it's at home. Uh, football registration is now open. The recck department is gearing up for summer. So things are a little bit
hectic right now, but they've been airrating and seeding uh Tryan and Denning fields and have already begun the landscaping work just on track and on cleanup of all the parks and on schedule. Um more updates will be following uh to follow coming soon as as
I get them on the uh monthly meetings. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. Okay. So, I'm the liazison for the Angler Municipal Alliance. Our next quarterly meeting is scheduled for June 30th at 5:30 p.m. via Zoom. And if
you remember, last year the municipal alliance was not compliant with our ordinance. It is now up to code with 50% of its members consisting of Anglewood residents and all members are appointed to the by the council for a specific term. The Municipal Alliance is
currently promoting an online training through Bergen County for Naron training in case of opioid overdose. It's scheduled for May 22nd and limited to 20 participants. And there's a special stress reduction strategies class on May 21st. And for more information, please
contact Alicia Smith at the Anglewood Health Department. On May 13th, I had the privilege to attend the 27th annual coverage awards gala where the Angler Police Department were on was honored for its dedication to public safety and mental health health. Congratulations to
police chief Greley and Deputy Chief Dar Rosa on their outstanding leadership. Also last week on May 14th, Anglewood Police Department held an awards night at Anglewood Hospital. It was a night of celebration and congratulations to all
the honores. The Bergen Family Center senior prom earlier this month was a great success. I thank the Bergen Family Center for all they do for our community, especially for our seniors and young. Earlier this month, we had the swearing in of Anglewood resident
Zack Butcher as a probationary firefighter. I was also honored to attend the promotion ceremony of Lieutenant Don Devra of the Anglewood Fire Department. I was sorry to miss the Flat Rock Bala last week. Congratulations to all the honores. I'm
glad that we had a chance to acknowledge Scott Reedine, Chelsea Glice, the board president, and all the Flat Rockbrook honores tonight earlier in the council meeting. I hope to see you all at the Memorial Day ceremony and parade on Monday. Mr. Hoffman,
thank you, Council President. The as was mentioned previously, Memorial Day is Monday, May 26th, and uh please join us at the World War I Memorial and then uh following for the parade. City offices will be closed on that Monday, May 26th.
Uh tonight's council meeting, there were uh there were some important pieces of information that the council adopted. So, thank you to the council for that. So, we're going to be paving some parking lots based on the approval of resolution 178. So, there's two parking
lots in in McKay. So, we'll be paving the parking lot on William Street near the playground across from the TIB center. And then we're going to be uh repaving the playground behind the gate house between the gate house and the the playground. We're also going to be
paving two of the parking lots on Bergen Street. There are two small municipal lots that need attention. So, we're going to be doing that as well. The uh the city will also be beginning its road paving and drainage projects very soon.
LA earlier or I guess yesterday Bergen County started milling and paving East Palisades Avenue um in Englewood Cliffs from 9W. Basically, it's going to go into North Woodland here in Englewood. So, just follow the detours and that
should be done by next week. And if there we have people that are interested in uh writing a letter of support for the Denning Park grant application, please let me know. Uh the letters are due on by by the 22nd. I also wanted to
congratulate a one of our police officers, Officer Kim, who will be receiving a lifesaving award from the Bergen County Sheriff's Association on June 18th. We just found out about that late this afternoon. So, congratulations to Officer Kim for helping to save a
life. And I would like to close by wishing a belated happy birthday to our city clerk, Yansy. Her birthday was yesterday. Women are ageless, so we will not ask her how how old, but just congratulations to Yansy. And an early birthday wishes to Councilman Wilson,
whose birthday is later this month. So, thank you very much, Council President. Thank you. Okay, I'm now going to open the meeting to the public. Speakers are asked to step up to the microphone, give their name, and you have three minutes to speak.
One second. Mic's not mic's not on. One second. He's coming. Amy Bulock Avenue. Um, I first want to say I was a little disappointed to hear that the city was not going to be partnering with Jabari again for Junth. They've done so for years. It has been a
well attended event and the fact that the city is not going to sponsor this in in collaboration with Jabari is very concerning. This is not just a date that's significant to the black community. It's a part of American history and it needs to be acknowledged
and it needs to be celebrated that the slaves were freed. So, I hope that the city manager and the council are willing to reconsider and not impose these outrageous fees on a nonprofit organization who is actually doing something to help bring enhancements to
our city. Um, the second thing I want to say, piggybacking off of Councilwoman David's comments regarding some concerns around DEI and some of our Hispanic uh residents having to deal with immigration issues. New Jersey has a
statute that says a municipality with a Hispanic community of greater than 10% may create a Hispanic advisory committee. I've mentioned this before. I suggest that the council give it consideration since that's the largest growing population in our city and
you're there to represent everyone. Lastly, I just want to make some comments in regards to what's happening with the affordable housing and the overlay to the council before the June 4th planning board hearing. As I've stated before in the
draftmaster plan, it was noted the west side of town is less wealthier and less white. Those were the words that were used. The fact that nobody saw an issue with that other than me is concerning, but it it is what it is. It's also
documented that the west side of town has an increased heat index and less tree canopy and that that poses financial and health risks to the people who live on the less wealthier and less white side of town. And yet, now that
we're in the fourth round, you continue to focus development in these low to middle inome and minority neighborhoods that are actually overburdened communities as per the DP. But yet, the east side of town is still being
protected against the overabundance of unaffordable housing that is infiltrating our neighborhoods. So, I am asking the council to please take a look at what you're doing. You are destroying communities. You're
adding in areas over by Tolman Place and St. Cecilia's. That is a Hispanic community over there that you're about to disrupt much like what you're doing in the fourth ward. It is discriminatory. It is exclusionary to
the first and second ward. And you are playing with people's lives. and you really need to stop. Okay. Thank you. Good evening. My name is Veronica Leone, 130 Glen Brook Parkway. I am here tonight to urge you to please follow
through with the new updated proposal to remove the overlay zone by Glen Brook Parkway and Central Avenue in Ward 3. But I also want to acknowledge that our community members are being disproportionately impacted by the development in the proposed overlay zones, including newly added proposed
overlay zones. Jumping off of what Amy said, three quarters of Anglewood is designated as overburdened by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection due to our minority, low-income, and limited English proficiency demographics. We have a tale of two
Anglewoods here, and it's getting very frustrated. I do want to say a special thank you to Angela David and Kevin Wilson for listening to the concerns of W three and four of residents. Thank you. Um but we seem to be ignoring a lot of the infrastructure changes that are going to be needed to support these
overlay zones. We we keep saying we residents keep saying the flooding is getting worse. The sewers are old. The parking is atrocious. The traffic jams are terrible. We have more imperous surfaces coming with this development. I heard a little bit about putting some
walkways in a park that are now porous surfaces. That's great, but it's really not going to compensate for all the new development that you're planning. We're losing tree cover. We're in a heat island. We need to consider the environmental impact. Mayor Wilds just mentioned before that the environmental
commission is planning uh environmental reviews on development. We need to keep these things at the forefront. Every time we mention development and property zoning and overlays, we need to keep mentioning infrastructure and the fact that these are very much
disproportionate to our Englewood residents. Thank you. Thank you. Good evening, Suzanne Mullings, Phelps Sav. I notice Fran is not here, but I would like an update on the Broadav crisis. I don't know what we're waiting
for to happen. Uh I want to know if Mayor Wilds made any uh headway with his suggestion to revert the changes that were made. Also, I want to know about the changes
to the use of the parks where the increased fees were approved. I don't know. I guess there's a committee that oversees that change, but it seems like we're being dis discouraged to use the parks as taxpayers instead of
encouraging the use of the parks that we pay a lot of taxes for. We should not bear the burden for misappropriation of the budget to now try to gouge the taxpayers to use the park. I don't think that's fair. And in regards to Jabari,
if you all in good faith have been sponsoring the park, you come out, you support, why would you not give that organization the courtesy to make adjustments if in fact the changes are going to impact an event
that's less than two weeks away. I don't think that's fair. Another thing in front of my home on 102 Phelps, there was a gentleman that uh experienced excessive force from the police department. I have the video from
my room my camera and I would like someone to look into it. It was on Sunday at 8:00 p.m. Otherwise, I'm going to put it out for the public. This is not the way we govern the streets of Inglewood. I
don't think anybody on any given day maybe five people are walking on that block that are recurring and I think it's what's happening here is very very unsettling and for it to happen in front of the home that I lived
in 50 years. I think that that needs to be addressed and if you want me to call you I'll call you on that issue. Thank you. Thank you. Good evening. Daniel Kraton, 16
Brookway. A uh I'm just want to touch on this Jabari situation. I've been work me myself, I've been working with Jabari on the on the Junth program ever since they got started. Okay. And like I was told, the city is trying to pull is stepping
away from it. I really believe it's all stemming from uh felon the felon that's in the white house right now since he's taking everything away from black people. I think that's where it's all coming from. Okay. To be truthful, y'all be talking about calm down the uh
anti-semitic against Jewish people, but it's been a lot of uh racist stuff going on between uh against brown and black people in this country lately. And it's very noticeable if people open up their eyes. So I just wish y'all would not
take this Junth away from us and keep on bringing in everything about Jewish people. It's okay. I feel bad for Jewish people. But you know what? This is America. Slavery happened here, not the Holocaust. We need to practice people all the time. Thank you.
Thank you. Good evening, council. Leroy Campbell, 287 Tennerfly Road. Um, I kind of like want to piggyback on what M Mraton just talked about because um it's it's kind of sad. For the last
12 years, the city has worked with Junth. I'm not even going to say Jabari. The city has worked with Junth and now all of a sudden it seems like they want to distance themselves from Junth. Junth is
not just Jabari. Junth is about African-American people. African-American people. It's not just about Jabari. Jabari just happened to be a sponsor of Junth. And I don't know and and I've I've also worked
with Jabari and Junth. I don't know where people think that they're making money. They're not making any money at the end of that function. They're not really making any money. And the little bit of money that they may make, they they give it back into the
community. They sponsor things for children. We got to we got to work with these guys. We we we have to we have to withdraw this. We have to not and I don't know who made the decision, you know, $50 an hour and uh
it's it's crazy. It's it's absolutely crazy. So, we we we need to reconsider this. I think we strongly need to reconsider this. Um I had a meeting with some of the the pastors today. Um, I explained
to them what's happening with this um the layout and um, you know, they're not they're not happy either. They're not happy either about how this is being handled this year
um, versus the last 12 years. Also, I have I have a print out here of some salaries or projected salaries. And this is this is kind of like outrageous. Where all of this money gonna come from? The city operate on t on tax
dollars. Where is all of this money going to come from for all of these salaries, projected salaries? I I mean, city manager 250, chief of police 260. First of all, how can the chief of
police makes more than the city manager? the chief of police answer to the city manager. It's this is this is I mean I can go on and on. I can go on and on and I and I know that you guys have the same thing that I have. We got to we got to we got to figure this out
because listen, you can't put this on the backs of taxpayers. You just there's there's no shouting out during the public session. You just can't you can't put this on the back on the backs of taxpayers. We we we listen, we got to come together because right
now there's a there's issues and we got to come together and resolve them. Thank you, Katherine Glenn. Thank you. Katherine Glenn, Englewood, New Jersey. Over 1,000 residents have voiced clear and consistent opposition
to the proposed plan to introduce highdensity apartment development into Englewood single family neighborhoods. Yet, despite the strong public sentiment, a city council majority continues to advance a strategy that has
been broadly rejected by the community. At the recent affordable housing forum, city planner Sabo noted that the council's affordable housing subcommittee is re-evaluating its initial proposal, which would have
applied overlay zones throughout much of the third and fourth wards. The revised approach now focuses development on Grand Armory, West Lafayette, and Englewood avenues. While this shift alleviates some concerns in parts of the
third ward, it does so at the expense of the fourth ward, an area already under considerable pressure and a profound historic significance. This isn't just about buildings. It's about history, community, and preservation.
The fourth ward is a cornerstone of Englewood's heritage, home to landmarks and residences tied to the region's complicated legacy of slavery and civil rights. Bulldozing forward with development threatens not just homes,
but the powerful stories they hold. We urge our elected officials to do the right thing, not because it is easy, but because it is hard. safeguard the cultural and historic integrity of our city. Honor its people. Stop this
misguided plan before it's too late. Thank you. Still Lucy Walker. I was very surprised to hear all the talk about environmental because I was expecting to
see that we had decided to actually assign the job of environmental health inspector to someone. I'm hoping that that's still going to happen. And there's something else I really do hope is a rumor. Are
you actually planning to build a three-story parking garage over depot square? Really? That's insanity. Do you Is it for your office?
So there'd be parking because that's about what that's another really bad idea. Especially since you're talking about making from Tolman Place to Dimmerous, you know, a
complex. And another thing when shop right floods where I live is basically on the shoulder of the street because we all know Inglewood River. Water runs and people on my street get
water in their basement. When Shopright floods, we are Atlantis here in Inglewood. And you're talking about putting more imperous surfaces north of Chappé. Did you talk to Fish about that or you is it
all about money? Okay. Thank you. Frank Huddlewood, New Jersey, former mayor. I think I'll address this to Mr. Hoffman. Junth, it is much more than
Jabari. It's now a federal holiday. When Mayor Wilds was here the first time, I don't know. Uh there was a state holiday through Byron Bear, Senator Bear, uh but not federal. Uh Jabari had their event in
McKay Park which those who attended could remember when it rained it turned into mud. Junth's holiday here and when it was shifted to depot square was several people involved in
making that happen. And one person was dean of the council Jack Trafer. The other was Councilwoman Lyn. This event is much
more than one group of people. It is a citywide event at this point. I have witnessed it firsthand on the days at McKay Park, the first year at depot square and what it
has involved in. We have we don't have Anglewood Day, but we're celebrating a major federal holiday and I would request kindly to Mr.
Hoffman to find the money which is not much and you can pull back although you already voted on it the stipens. But reconsider this. This is not the west, the east, the north or the
south. This is our community. Definitively one community. Kindly don't make this mistake and reconsider it. Thank you. Thank you. Good evening. My name is Joseph Hoy,
Elmore Avenue in Englewood. Uh I just want to say that um I did get an opportunity to speak with Mr. Hoffman prior to the to the meeting and we are going to meet with Mr.
Hoffman, the Jabari Society and discuss moving forward with uh possibly a bigger and a better plan with the city of Inglewood uh participating in Junth and sponsoring the Junth event. I think it
can be bigger and better and with the city's cooperation and help we can move forward with it. Um quite frankly this Junth event would have never happened without the city's support.
So just know that we all are conscious about that and appreciative that the city of Inglewood has committed themselves to the Junth event for the past 13 years and we hope that that support
continues. Um on another note I just would like to uh mention about the development in the fourth ward. I live in the fourth ward. My home is on Elmore Avenue and quite frankly I think enough
is enough with the overdevelopment in the fourth ward. If you want to come into the fourth ward and beautify the fourth ward by making some upgrades and changes and landscape, we're all for it in the
fourth ward. But to pack more people into the fourth ward with traffic, it it takes me from my house on Elmo Avenue. I'm a block away from the monument. It takes me 15 minutes to get around the monument. I work here at the fire
department. Some days I have to leave earlier to get get to work on time. Just two blocks away. Quite frankly, I should be walking and I could walk more, but just the drive with the new traffic patterns is a little
absurd. Every week I see the sewer truck in the area of uh my neighborhood. Every week, I don't know whether that's just general maintenance or that we're really having some engineering problems with
the sewage. And can we handle more development in the fourth ward? Is that a discussion that is that something that the engineering department is taking up with? Because we're really taxing the fourth ward. I think that development
should be spread out throughout the town and not focused in one area. Enough development in the fourth ward. Let's beautify the fourth ward, but the development, let's spread it around the town.
Thank you. Charlotte Ben is shown Ottabban Road. I wanted to just share some good things that I have gotten to experience uh in reference to Dr. Hazelton's uh memo that Councilwoman Davis
read twice I have gone to Dwight Marorrow um rather to the public school district over at Greco School for an initiative that's called Parents University and I was there in the capacity of Englewood House being one of the many organizations offered as a
resource and it was the most positive experience because the parents were given educational workshops after a dinner that was served and then an opportunity to go in and if they wanted to hear about Englewood House, we were happy to tell them, but if they wanted
to get information about Bergen Family Center or Community Chest or the Police Department or the city, it was all made available to them. So, a shout out to Dr. Hazelton and any way you can support because we all feel the
federal craziness coming down and we don't want it to hit at the schools. Thank you. Thank you. Ari Mensel, 80 Braen Street. Uh, good evening, Mayor Wilds, Councilman, and neighbors. Um, we heard a lot of divisive comments and a lot of
accusations. Um, not based in fact, and I I want to really make some comments to remind everyone in the room that we all need to work together in order to solve any of the perceived or actual problems in Anglewood. Um, many of you maybe
recognize me from being at meetings, um, most of them this year and last year. um and I started coming regularly. Um what brought me to speak today is really to respond to claims that are circulating on social media specifically post by Amy
Jones Boa. That would be me. In her message, she accuses the mayor and the city council and I quote, engaging in discriminatory zoning primarily targeting low to middle income and minority neighborhoods while protecting Ward one and two where they live. She also claims the overdevelopment plans
being quote being done behind closed doors and without your input. These accusations are false. They're inflammatory. Anyone that's been to meetings knows the facts. These recommendations that are under discussion came from an experienced
affordable housing planner. They were reviewed by the subcommittee that included a majority of council and planning board members from wards three and four. They were presented openly in
public forums, including joint planning board and city council meetings earlier this month. These decisions are not being made in secret. They're being discussed transparently with community input. To suggest a covert effort to harm minority neighborhoods while
singling out Jewish elected officials is reckless. Whether intended or not, this kind of rhetoric risks invoking harmful and dangerous stereotypes. And now more than ever, we need to reject this kind of division. Let's stay grounded in facts, engage respectfully, and work
together and uplift everyone. Thank you. Thank you. Does anyone else from the public wish to speak? My name is Joel. I live over on Forest Avenue. And you
know, I'm still not happy with this monstrosity. They put up basically a five-story apartment building that's down the street from my house. And they basically have a garage that's underneath and they're parking now on the street. So, this is basically what I'm saying. You're putting up these apartment buildings. Are you talking
about the Alfred Avenue project? Exactly. And people are parking outside instead of parking downstairs. So, you know, my whole point is And then there's still environmental issues that are there and nobody's doing anything about it. And they're going to let these people come back and build a second unit. They're not even basically, you know, you're doing the metaltometal, but
you're not doing the environmental issues. People back there have very serious issues with cancer. They're dying. And you people are sitting out here, you know, not really caring about nobody in the community and putting up these apartment buildings that we don't need. Let me calm down.
All right. Thank you. Good evening. My name is Lisa Peterson Gibbs, 341 Place, Inglewood, New Jersey. I would like to know why we have to pay for the park. I'm also with the Elks of um
Inglewood Ib of the world. We're a nonprofit or organization. Now, I know before we never had to pay for the park, but $50 an hour and we are citizens here, we
live here. I don't feel that that's right to have to pay for the park. I can see a permit or something, but paying for the park, I I I can't understand that. And also, we don't need another development
in the fourth ward. It's overcrowded. Okay. Thank you. Anyone else from the public like to speak? Okay. So, I'm now going to close the public session. Okay, just talk
Okay. Thank you. So, Mr. Hoffman's going to address some of the comments to start. He's going to Why don't we start with um the Jabari Association? Is that all right? Okay.
Thank you. Sure. Um so, as Mr. H oily said um we spoke before the meet the meeting and we're going to be we're going to sit down and and discuss the Jabari Society and their um their upcoming needs whether there's whether
there's going to be a parade in the carnival things of that nature. Um just uh just as a as a matter of um information, uh the council did adopt a new fee ordinance for for use of uh of
parks and also city facilities. So the parks are free for all residents, but it's when we have groups that want to come in and use use the park. Um there's there is a fee for that and there's a there's also a fee for the for the use
if if if the DPW is required or the police department things of that nature. So that um that is that is something that has been codified. Um so I'm looking forward to speaking with Mr. But um this is we're we're following the the
rules that were that were adopted earlier in the year and um you know when when Mr. H oily was notified. I said, "Let's let's talk about it after after you've had the opportunity to to look at the letter so we could we can figure out
what's um what's the potential cost and and how do how does some of those costs get ameliated if they if they can be just also for public information, the the Junth celebration was scheduled to be I guess ending Father's Day and then
then the carnival folks uh gave the Jabari Society a curveball. So it's now tentatively scheduled for the last week of June. Is that is that correct? Yeah. Okay. Okay. Yes. So so those are those
are some of the things that had come up about the Jabari Society. There was some in information about affordable housing that um will that uh we have a fourth address. What's that? Okay. You can
address that. It's it's due on due by the end of the month. Um, Miss Walker had mentioned something about a parking garage, and I don't want there to be misinformation. the parking garage. The request for the parking garage was something that I approached Senator
Johnson about, Senator Gordon Johnson, and it was asking to have um to see if if uh he would uh sponsor some state legislation so that we could have a parking garage that would be built somewhere somewhere on there's
three there's three parking lots on the other side of North the railroad tracks on North Van Brunt or a depot square. Now, that was that would be done so that we could have approximately 270 more parking spaces so people can come and visit our downtown, shop in our shops,
and they would have more opportunities to park. It's also wanted to have it situated so that it would be of benefit to the Bergen Pack because when they have shows, we still need parking and so this would be a benefit to our our
downtown as well as as to the pack. So, it's not it's there's no um you know there's no hidden hidden agenda for it. It's to help all of our all of our downtown. Um so, and actually, Mayor Mayor Wilds didn't know
anything anything about it until uh until after after the um the request was made to Senator Johnson. Uh there was also questions about sewer trucks in the fourth ward, and we do have them. We're we're doing
our catch basin maintenance program where we're looking at every catch basin and we're cleaning them out and we're documenting that. But also in the fourth ward in the area um that was mentioned, there's a low spot and so we're we're there a lot especially under EVO because
there seems to be sewer blockages under that new building. So we're we're cleaning that out and we need to we think that there's a broken pipe and it needs to get fixed. And so that's part that's part of what we're doing. But you know, our our goal is to prevent blockages and overflows. And so that's
why the truck is there on a regular basis until we're able to solve the problem. Um, Miss Shears brought up the uh the affordable housing or the the the new complex in Tennifly on Alfred Avenue. Tene, did I say Tennifly? No.
Yeah, it's all right. It's in it's in Tene. I was just thinking about our one of our shared DPW projects in uh in Tennifly, but um the there's been a letter that was sent over to the township of T-neck because we have heard
that they they're going to be asking to connect to our sewer system. And so there was a letter that was sent over and it was emphatic that the city of Inglewood would not allow any any connections to the city of Inglewood sewer system. And it's just I wanted
that to be on record. So that was sent over. Uh we haven't received anything, but I just wanted them to know the answer is no. Um so that's that's part of what we're doing. And I believe council president, I've answered most of the questions. Have I have I left anything out? This um environmental
health inspector. That's is that through the um is that that's a health department position? Okay. That that is. And then we also we also have a yes we have a pos position there. And then then we also have a position of
rec recycling inspector for in the DPW. Yes, council president before you address your item, Mr. Hoffman, um I'd be happy as I'm raising funds now uh for the Anguid fireworks and for the market event. I'd be happy if you speak with
Mr. oil to help uh hit proprietors and owners of businesses and developers for the Junth event. This is the first that I'm hearing that it may not happen and I wouldn't mind joining you at this event, this meeting that you have or you'll let me know afterwards if I could be
resourceful. It is a critical uh part of our city's chronicle. Well, thank you, mayor. Yes, this is the first time I'm hearing that there might not be a Jabari, you know, sponsored junth event. So, thank you. Pleasure. All right. And just just in terms of the
affordable housing, um well, three three of the people who spoke I think it was three about affordable housing is actually involved in litigation with the city on the third round of affordable housing. So we we really can't address them on that. Um but what I will say in
terms of the affordable housing, it's really important that people um come out to the meetings and learn about the process and what's happening. Um there was a public forum at the end of April.
The slides are on the city website. It's under the affordable housing. Well, if you go on to the city website, you hit affordable housing, there are slides. I think it's was it like four down or something? I was looking for for there there's there
slides for the from the public forum that people could uh read. Also, there was a joint um meeting between the council and planning board on May 8th, and that's on YouTube. So, that would be on the city's YouTube channel. I think
it's really important that people listen to it and learn about it. There the um you know a lot of people are talking about the third round of affordable housing. Um in the third round of affordable housing I don't think any of the council members who are sitting on
this deis um um we we we were not involved in the process of the overlay zones. Um the overlay zones just so that you know doesn't mean that there will actually be a development. It means that there's a potential it's aspirational
tourism develop. Uh it's it's aspirational and that there would be a 20% set aside. Um looking at with with a zone that goes over people don't lose their underlying zone. There's an overlying zone and you don't lose your
underlying zone. and um and and it's it's a potential it it and um it's aspirational um in terms of in the third round. So so in terms of the third I I wasn't going to even go into so much detail because it's so complicated and people really have to spend the time to
to go to the affordable housing part of the city's website and just listen to the tapes and and listen to the meetings and get the information. But in the third round there there there was two parts um which was the realistic develop potential. Most of the realistic develop
potential those are those are develop those are are developments that are going to happen or that already happened. Most of those were in the second ward. The first the overlay zones over 60% of that was in the first ward.
Um and that was from the third round of affordable housing. It's been two and a half years. I don't um mayor, how many applications have you had in front of the planning board in two and a half years? It's interesting. It's interesting. We got a letter on two potential projects today. Okay. But it
hasn't happened in the last several years, right? And and um and in terms of what we're doing now. So what we're doing now is the fourth round and this is something that this council is involved in is the fourth from the beginning is the fourth round of
affordable housing. So just people need to understand this is a constitutional obligation. This is a state law that Governor Murphy signed last uh last year in 2024 um about meeting our um the process for
the fourth round and people on this council on this day has wrote letters to the state legislators that we didn't like the process. And so I'm telling people that if you don't like the process, you you know now's the time. You have a governor's race going on. You've got you've got people running for
assembly. Talk to them about the affordable housing process. Uh but this is a process that we were given and and it's important that we follow the process and most municipalities are because the consequences of not
following the process is is severe and what could happen is overdevelopment. What you're afraid of happening is what will happen if we do or or most or potentially will happen more likely to happen if we don't follow the process if
we go into if we lose our builders what's known as builders remedies remedy immunity and that's when a developer can come in and that they and we would lose the control of our zoning and um they wouldn't go in front of our zoning boards and that's when you can have
extra dense developments you can lose setbacks and other parts of zoning. Uh so so what what we did this council this this process is different than the third round and we wanted it to be as transparent as possible. We we did start
a we did um I am co-chair of a of a affordable housing subcommittee. I am co-chair along with Anthony David who is chair of the planning board of fourthwood resident who is on the affordable housing
subcommittee. Well 60% of the affordable housing subcommittee are residents from the third and fourth ward. And who are these residents? It's the mayor. It's myself the second ward representative. It's Kevin Wilson who is our chair who
is our liaison to the planning board. It is Anthony David, the chair of the planning board and Mercedes Cordone in the third ward who's a member of the planning board. So, of the subcommittee of the five members, four of the five members are voting members of the
planning board and I'm the only one on the committee who is not a voting member of the planning board. So, those are the members of the subcommittee. The subcommittee um met with the city planner multiple occasions and recommendations were made but these
recommendations were presented to the public in the at the end of April uh at a public forum where the public can make a comment and make comments. Again, please look at the slides, but it was really discussed more at length at the May 8th joint planning board council
meeting. The meeting was not behind closed doors. It was in public. The YouTube video is up. Please watch the video. Please watch the video. If people um I'll just go on to say
that that the um next meeting is the public hearing on June 5th. Again, a public hearing. You, the public, will have the opportunity to speak at the public hearing. you will hear the plan. Please
learn about the plan. Go to the meeting and have your voice heard. It's really important that you go and have your voice heard. Now, if you It is a complicated process and if you have questions, we're happy to help you.
Okay? My contact information is on the city web page. I'm happy if you reach out to me. I'm happy to sit down and walk you through it. Also, I spoke to Councilman Wilson, uh, who's been an integral part of this
process. He's a member of the subcommittee on the planning board. He couldn't be here tonight, but he said he said to me if people, you know, he said he's fine speaking to people who have questions. So if you have questions, there are people who will sit down and
go through the process and the plan with you. Council President, yes. Can I just add a comment or two? And I just want you to understand, and I can't reedify, I'm not up for election. I got a four-year term,
and I spend all of these hours running to the schools, the different jobs, different commissions and boards. I don't see any un untored actions or activities or pushing against any minority or any part of the city. As
explained to us by two extraordinarily respected professionals, planners and lawyers for the state, the city now has to, despite our beautiful legacy, provide 331 new units because the legislature is just dumping this
obligation on all municipalities. We have to try to spur new life into and revitalize flat neighborhoods. As explained, they look for concreted area like Tom in place in that whole area. If you pull a drone or
a lens back, you'll see parts of the city. They focused on three. West Street, West Anglewood Avenue, Grand Avenue near Honik. They had to create something that has a realistic development potential. That's an RDP it's called. This is aspirational as the
council president said, creating an opportunity. It doesn't mean those areas will be developed, but if they're in a flood zone and nobody's going to develop it, it's going to go from bad to worse unless somebody puts something there. And it's a stones throw away from 111
West Street. And if we create housing and it's um noble housing for people who in their sunsetting part of their life want to live their years in Angwood instead of going south. It is important they would implement those three
overlays and require any developer who creates five units or more in the city to have an affordable housing component which is a noble requirement. Um people can challenge us until August 31. lawsuits may arise out
of this. Come to these events, express yourself, express your fears uh and your thoughts that this is being deployed uh improperly or could be deployed otherwise. Look at the photos, ask the professionals. That's why we're here. We're not here wasting our time or
trying to profit from this in any fashion. Thank you. And and I would just add, you know, I know it's too much talk about affordable housing. But um but it's something that we we've had to spend a lot of time with over the last couple years. So the the last like
the mayor said um the most problematic areas from the third round were taken out were the proposal the recommendation was to take out uh some of the most problematic areas from the third round. And the three area and and again this is all on the tape if you watch it on May
on the May 8th meeting. And the three areas um we needed needed to be replaced in a comparable way. And the three areas as the mayor said was the west side of West Street between between Talman Place and Demer's Avenue. And the reason that that
um that area is across from the park. There are no residents. I mean, unless I'm missing I I drove through it a whole bunch of time. There are no residents that are living there right now. Um and and and there are parking lots, a lot of pavement, not a lot of landscaping. West
Anglewood Avenue from 215 West Anglewood East to Cottage Place. Again, it's it's the Salvation Army area, right? The Salvation Army, you've got boarded boarded up um uh stores there, uh buildings, you have a lot of payment and
not a lot of landscaping. and the west side of Grand Avenue between Van Nostrin and Honik Street. Again, it's not in areas where people are living right now. Again, it really doesn't have enough doesn't have landscaping, a lot of pavement. And so those areas were chosen
to exactly address the issues that you know the the deficits of those areas to improve the landscaping and to decrease the payment in those areas and to and um and and to
and to benefit the area. And so again, if you have questions about it, I'm happy to sit down with you and talk to you. Councilman Wilson, who is also said please reach out to him. He's happy to talk to residents about it as well. Again, please come out to the June 5th
meeting. It's really important that they hear from that the planning board um it's a planning board meeting and it's important that the planning board hears from the public. Mr. Hoffman, do you want to say something before we end? Uh thank you, Council President. Yes, I I missed one of one of my notes. Um and it
had to do with um Miss Mullins at 102 Phelps. She was talk talking about um an incident that happened on Sunday. If we could get a copy of that video, I'd appreciate it because the police are aware it's related to a disabled vehicle
um that uh that incident that there was a there was a break there was something that happened on Lake Street and then the individual wound up being arrested on Phelps. But they they're going through their internal affairs investigation for for use of force. So, if you if you can give us that, we'll
pass it along to the police so that they can have they can have another view besides the body cameras. Thank you. Okay. I'd like a motion to adjourn the meeting. Oh, Broad Avenue. Um um Mr. Hoffman, we were talking about it
today, right? You Mr. Vulce is is working on some of the You want do you want to make a comment about it? There was a terrible accident there a few days ago. Yeah. M um Mr. Hoffman, do you want to make a comment? Just just that M Mr.
Vulce is working is working on some of the issues and he'll come back to the count I'm going to have him come back to the council to address Fort Avenue. Um again, okay. Can I have a motion to adjourn the meeting? So move.
Second. All in favor? I I