##VIDEO ID:Q9fl5xPMcWQ## e good evening everybody um as we stand for the moment of silence I would just like everybody to keep in their thoughts um the family of Bob Lawrence a longtime Garwood firefighter who passed away this week um we give our condolences to Mrs Lawrence and her children and grandchildren please stand for the moment of silence and salute to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liy and justice for all not as of this meeting was provided to the Union County Hawk and advertised on December 26 2024 notification was sent to the local Source Union County and is posted on the municipal website the municipal public bulletin board and filed in the office of the municipal clerk informing the public of the time and place according to provisions of the open public meeting Law chapter 241 pl9 1975 roll call please Miss Perry mayor blumenstock here councilwoman Bodo here councilman Foley councilman Carney councilman Lazaro here councilman pusc here council president NY here uh John Arthur Victoria Holmes here Chief stoer here Mike disco here okay we will begin with our report from our B engineer Mr disco floor is yours good evening everybody um don't have anything really pressing so I just had some updates here so our contract 2024 D1 which is our Municipal Aid 23 project the contractor uh retained National water main cleaning company to do the TV inspection on the three streets that were involved reportedly they've looked at the tape they're going to actually drop the documents to net tomorrow and I will pick them up when they're here and then I'll watch the videos they said there's probably one service connection that uh was not in great shape it was protruding into the main line we'll look at it we may be able to fix that remotely from the interior or we just let it go until the future it may not need to be repaired at this time but prudently we do TV it before we pave it because we we obviously don't want to pave and then have to do aition and then um destroy the brand new pavement so I'm glad that they had done that work you know in this down period um we're designing um Municipal a 24 project I really want to get that to the uh to dot in February and go out to bid in February or March and hopefully get uh receptive bids um just ah heads up the last couple of years um we' uh always seemed to get a February notice from Union County on the infrastructure Grant so it's just something to keep your eyes and ears open for um I I would say mayor we don't really have any Street projects to do I think if you remember the color map we're in pretty good shape can just let it ride to our DOT application in in the summer um I've talked a lot about the sanitary Source Clint was proactive and got a parsa or whatever they're called to do that and that's great and I just listed you know you may want to do some sanitary sore inii it's it's not a a major profile I'm sure John has many things here either Public Works building or here that you can do uh I did list the traffic sign retro reflectivity that is a mandate probably about six seven eight years ago every town supposed to do that need to have a management method so that it insulates you from liability if there's an accident from a a defective sign at night that somebody couldn't see doesn't mean every sign has to be 100% reflective but you have to have a management method for it so that's something we should do at some point whether that can be engulfed into the um the infrastructure grant program I'll leave that to to the council um I was able to with Sandy uh get uh a reimbursement for one of our older grants um done I got Sandy into the um pmrs system so and uh I we just today we dropped off a final payment from a couple a municipal Aid project from a couple years ago contractor opted to hold retainage for two plus years rather than give us a maintenance Bond it's okay so we I gave the final payment to Sandy and Janis today and then um once that's approved I'll get copies of all the invoices and I'll get the re final reimbursement on that how dot operates is when you put a project out to bid even before you spend a dollar uh on any construction they will give you 75% of the grant amount up front without doing anything the final 25% you have to literally uh complete the project final pay the contractor they do an inspection and have all the te the the asphalt testing comply so um the 75% you get without doing anything the 25% is a lot harder to get and takes time so anyway that's that's what I'll be working on to get that next do reimbursement certainly helping out with the um bike Grant and um everything else I don't have anything detailed other than those bullet points to look out for I thank you um thank you for your help with the uh the grants we're going to talk about that a little bit later um and thank you for the ideas for the infrastructure Grant if council members could um sort of mull it over over the next couple weeks and we can come back together and think of some possibilities there's always always things to go into that one um um I think we get 30 to 40 yeah it's usually about 30 to so um and we use some of that this for the flooring this year which is fantastic um and the police department uh flooring and bathroom uh redo as well um and I don't have any questions I want to thank the residents on beach Hemlock and Myrtle for their patients I know by the time all the curbing was done um it got a little too cold for them to Mill and P so we'll be seeing that in the spring but I thinkk residents for the patients I know they've been eagerly awaiting that but in a way it's good because we just had a big snowstorm and those streets would have gotten mocked up by the the snow plow so um anybody have any questions for Mr disco so um I'm just reading um about the inii point repairs can you explain what that actually is sure so um we've done some point repairs a point repair is an internal pipe it's an impregnate impregnated liner where basically you take an imperfection in the sanitary seource system and without digging you do it internally so you line it it becomes a structural liner that basically has the strength of a an original pipe or a design pipe but you don't have to dig so we had identifi when we did the TV inspection on the north side of the town I think we had identified about a 100 or whatever 50 imperfections when we were doing some of the streets up there anytime we do a street we try to build in the point repairs into it as an alternate um I think on on the most recent dot municipally that's on the all on the south side we didn't have the benefit of the TV reports prior that's why they were included in the in the bid for that that they just did a couple weeks ago um so that's what that is point repairs we have a lot of them and we just don't want a failure to happen that would result in a dig we do have some sanitary sores and some trunk lines that are very deep 15 16 feet in some cases so you could imagine if you had to do a dig an excavation I should say 15 16 feet deep be very costly and disruptive so um you've got how much does like the uh is it vary the actual repair cost a single point repair costs about 3500 bucks to 4,000 bucks so when you put them together in a bid that's the that's the the threshold or the unit price us about a six foot length and again you you take say an imper imperfection a broken pipe or a protruding service that you then um chisel away the protrusion put the liner in then reopen the the service connection and how long does that like how long does that usually last for it's a structural liner so it will last decades okay yeah and you said there was 50 to 100 improv on the on the north side when we did it doesn't mean you have to go there and repair every single one but these things from the video and the reports you identify all of these things so you might have in an eight or 12 inch pipe a pipe that has spider cracking on the on the top or something well that could fail at any moment it also could last for 50 years as it is but so if you do a point repair for 3,500 bucks you get peace of mind that you're not going to have that major repair so we've identified some on the North side we I suppose when when when parsa releases these videos to us or reports we'll have a lot more on the South Side okay so it's something to think about okay thank you and inii is infiltration and inflow that's where you've got uh rainwater groundw that enters your sanitary system and you don't like want that because you're treating clean water at that point and it also could contribute to an exceedence and you don't want to get more than nine exceedances then rvsa charges you a penalty they have a fancy name for it but and just with the inpections that's on the North side yeah and we're still waiting on the south side of results there could be another 100 or so okay easily yeah imperfections doesn't mean these These are absolutely Dreadful repairs that you have to do but if you got a broken pip a crack pipe uh a misalign joint those are things that you know if you if money was not an object you would fix them so you're just trying to be prudent with how you spend your resources and Mike is that something you would be able to when looking at sort of prioritize for us which ones okay absolutely there's degrees of those imperfections okay okay anybody else all right thank you Mr disco you are free to go if you'd like yes um do we have an report from our bur attorney good even filling in for us yeah I don't have a report tonight okay thank you a report from our B administrator Mr Arthur hello everyone so our 2025 budget process is underway um you know thanks to our CFO and our finance committee getting started on all that um we've met with every department head and program manager and we started meeting with the finance committee as well uh a notice to biders for concessions at the Athletic Field Complex was posted in the newspaper today and uh is available at g.org so if anyone has questions they can please reach out share it with anyone you think that might be interested in running the concession stand at the Athletic Field Complex um the Community Development Block Grant application for Senior Services has been submitted thanks to our Recreation director you'll see on tonight's agenda a resolution approving a PBA contract uh it was just awaiting some signatures and they've been completed at this time so the resolution is just required to fully ratify the contract uh three parking ordinances that had been tabled last year as we were awaiting some feedback from the state which we've now received um ordinance 25-1 add 6h hour maximum paid parking on North Avenue between Walnut Street and Cedar Street as well as in JFK Plaza with need 252 remove sections of North Avenue from 2hour parking so that we can add them as paid parking um and then 253 adds 15minute parking uh there's a space on Center two on Willow two on North and some in JFK Plaza uh the ones in JFK Plaza are kind of at the discretion of the chief of police so um that's what those ordinances are all about and that is it okay thank you um and I know I know Miss lysc on it but if we could just make a um a point to advertise the concession stand um advertisement uh on our socials that way we can all share it around cuz I'd really like to see if we could get somebody in our kitchen this year um I have a small report uh this week we had congresswoman MacGyver's office come to Garwood for her mobile office hours where they brought their services to the burrow I thank congresswoman MCA for this program it's very helpful to have her office come directly to us uh but I urge residents to contact them anytime uh for the services that the Congressional office can provide which includes small business help um help with a federal agency or even just to bring your concerns or ideas to her uh congresswoman MC Iver also coordinated a meeting last month between the dis between um Union County's Municipal officials and the Army Corps of Engineers so that they could provide an update on the feasibility study for the raway river flood Basin I've discussed this up here before but just as a summary the Army Corps of Engineers reactivated a study into flooding solutions back in the beginning of 2023 uh they held a charet with local officials such as myself and surrounding Municipal Mayors and Engineers uh they gathered feedback and then they determined four different Alternatives or possibilities for remediation during this past meeting the Army Corps discussed the analyses that they've conducted on the Alternatives thus far um that work including cost estimate and benefit to cost ratio will continue for the next few months um they are working towards selecting a plan in April of this year following that it will go through an extensive approval process that will last through till August 2027 so this is a lengthy process um certainly but I remain optimistic that the study will produce some tangible results in the next few years and I thank congresswoman mcarver and the Army Corps of Engineers for this update Union County is applying for a grant through Green Acres to update unami Park and should they receive this grant they would be able to replace the playground uh set at the park making it Ada accessible as well as provide an ADA accessible path from the parking lot to the playground area uh I wrote a letter of support for the grant uh and you can do your part by going to the County's website and completing a survey to share your feedback we have uh also shared the link and Q QR code on Garwood social media Pages uh there's also a link there to see more detailed plans about the project so while you namami is obviously a County Park and not Garwood um it it obviously plays a big part in our community the green team has adopted the park and has been helping maintain it adding walking paths trees and birdhouses uh and many of our residents obviously use the park on a daily basis so an imp an improved playground area would certainly add to our community so I look forward to hopefully be being able to give you some good news in the future on that front and speaking of the green team they are applying for two grants from sustainable Jersey as you can see from resolution 25-42 uh the larger Grant would go to offset Center Street pedestrian and bike improvements uh that we've been talking about up here on the council uh including bike Lanes the smaller Grant would go towards possibly creating a wildf flower planting on the hill on Center Street by the Mobile gas station uh so I hope the council will support the green team in these efforts for voting by voting for this resolution and lastly the citizens advisory panel met last week with myself and councilwoman Bodo uh we discussed a number of items including those improvements to the Center Street Corridor with the bike lanes and temporary bump outs as well as the possibility of doing a circulation element for our master plan um something we've also spoken about before up here it was certainly a productive conversation and as the finance committee goes into the budget meetings we will continue to work with the citizens advisory panel pel to solicit their input and feedback on the priorities for Garwood and that is all for my report moving to comments from the council councilwoman Bodo no comments tonight thank you thank you councilman Foley no comments tonight councilman Carney uh thank you mayor and uh good evening to everyone tonight um leading with a comment to commemorate the service of Garwood firefighter Bob Lawrence uh who spent most of his life serving with uh our volunteer department in many capacities uh I got to know him as the secretary of the Liberty Hose Company executive board uh but I hear that his years of active firefighter service were at least as colorful as his commentary on meeting minutes and roll call votes that I experienced as fire commissioner and uh former council president Graham is in the audience smiling and nodding at me because he's knows exactly what I mean so um uh thank you to Bob and his family for the many years of dedicated service to Garwood uh I also want to thank Mr Arthur for his summary on the ordinances up for introduction on tonight's agenda which originated from the police committee last year uh I'm excited to finally get the North Avenue part of our parking program off the ground and also with a thank you to Chief stoer uh for staying on top of the state DOT and getting that done for us um on the topic of affordable housing uh we have a resolution on the the consent consent agenda tonight uh following the recommendation of our planning board and various professionals to accept the obligation as proposed by the state uh while I have previously SP voiced uh specific objections to the application of the new law centering on the lack of infrastructure support from the legislature and also the lack of consideration or consistency with how affordable versus market rate is calculated uh with regard to local density uh when I consider the long history of this topic I conclude we are paying now for poor decisions made anywhere from 10 to 40 years ago by Governors legislators courts and local governments uh which all amount to one giant kicking of the can uh this is a can which has landed squarely back on local government here in 2025 uh the need for more housing is clear we do not have enough Supply and it's leading to inflated prices to both rent or own uh if only our predecessors and state and local government had followed the lead of some of the bigger cities and fully implemented Mount lurel 2 in the 1980s instead of litigating it into limbo or outright killing it like Governor Christie did uh hundreds of towns in New Jersey would not be where we all are today of course we'd all have more residents too but we'd have had decades to build out the infrastructure and support system for for them instead of the few years we're going to get to figure it all out now uh so I know other people are going to have uh news on this tonight from from the council uh and I look forward to continuing the conversation on this topic uh both with residents and the several members of the legislature that I speak to about this topic who are no doubt tired of hearing about it uh from me by now uh I will also continue to Advocate focusing the eff efforts of this Council on mitigating the impact to local government finances that development has the potential to cause instead of tilting at the Windmill of somehow stopping it all uh in the flight of fancy we've seen a handful of towns spend a lot of fruitless tax dollars on uh in the last few months any rational person can see that we need more housing so I'm asking everyone to get together and let's do it in the best way possible for our communities thank you thank you um well said um and I know we will have more to say on this topic a little bit later in the meeting um at this point moving on to councilman Lazaro's uh comments no comment okay councilman pusc thank you mayor um I'd like to start by thank everyone who came out and volunteered on MLK day especially representative mcgyver uh Garwood will lived up to the smalltown BART moniker and uh it's just it was a great way to get started my service to the community a little update uh the mayor and I met with representatives from New Jersey's motion picture and television commission who walked us through the steps toward making Garwood film ready the process involves scouting prospective locations making connections with local businesses and ensuring the proper procedures are in place to guarantee everybody's safety comfort and happiness when film projects come to the burrow and of course with film ready in place we can expect to see some more stars in town so looking forward to that hug Jack again that'd be great thank you thank you councilman uh council president ndi no comments okay um and you know what before we move on I do want to just thank everybody for their participation on uh Martin Luther King Jr Day of Service it was fantastic um some new families families from other towns new families in Garwood seniors uh stopped in to help and congresswoman mcgyver stopped in to help as well as well as our Police Department uh so it was really just a a great day overall so thank you to the recreation director and committee for setting that up as well uh minutes Miss Perry minutes of the regular meeting of the mayor and Council held on January 2nd 2025 can I have a motion to accept the regular meeting minutes as presented so move to Second all in favor I opposed okay Communications Miss Perry Union County public hearing notices three Parks Union County Board of County Commissioners 2025 meeting schedule rvsa minutes that were approved at the December regular meeting approval correspondence regarding parking ordinances 2501 through 2503 and Bruce Patterson letters to Mayor and councel regarding affordable housing previously provided received and filed uh moving along to our ordinance is up for introduction uh Miss Perry can you read ordinance 25-01 by title only an ordinance of the barau code of the buau of garard by amending chapter 21 entitled vehicles and traffic Article 1 traffic and parking section 21- 8.8 paid parking zones um do I have a motion to introduce this ordinance so moved second uh V call please councilwoman Bodo hi councilman Foley hi councilman Carney I councilman Lazaro I councilman pusc council president ndi I uh Miss Perry can you read please read ordinance 25- 02 by title only an ordinance of the barreau code of the Bureau of Garwood by amending chapter 21 entitled vehicles and traffic article one traffic and parking section 21-8 2hour parking do I have a motion to introduce this ordinance second roll call please councilwoman Bodo hi councilman Foley I councilman Carney I councilman Lazaro I councilman pusc council president ndi I moving right along uh Miss Perry can you read ordinance 25- Z3 by title only an ordinance amending the burrow code of the burough of Garwood by amending chapter 21 section 21- 8.2 entitled 15minute parking do I have a motion to introduce this ordinance so moved second uh roll call please councilwoman Bodo I councilman Foley councilman Carney hi councilman Lazaro hi councilman pusc hi council president noi I okay Council standing committee reports Finance councilman Foley thank you mayor uh last night the committee met with representatives from the police department and the public uh Department of Public Works to review the preliminary budget proposals for the upcoming fiscal year we also began discussions on the 5-year Capital plan to address long-term needs and Investments while no decisions were made during this meeting there was an important step in understanding the operational and capital priorities of these critical departments discussions will continue as we ensure the proposals align with the Burrow's strategic and financial goals secondly the finance committee discussed moving forward with a SE fee we are still weighting the exact Fee number as well as debating pros and cons of a flat across the board fee as opposed to different numbers for multifamilies there's pros and cons to both obviously but we have been in talks surrounding towns as well to discuss their mythologies we'll be assessing this fee on apartment complexes such as verilla as well we will have more discussions over the next few weeks and be able to Prov more concrete information at our next council meeting I want to add that this fee is also about fairness and the key focus of the discussion is ensuring that fairness particularly regarding larger apartment complexes like verilla um the sewer fee is to ensure that verilla and future developments contribute their fair share to the Burrow's infrastructure and utility costs this fee is about equity and we are committed to ensuring that the buring does not fall disproportionately on single family homeowners or smaller Property Owners as we heard earlier from our bur engineer we have found much wear and tear on our sewer pipes on the North side and are expecting much more to be found on the South Side this fee helps us be proactive and maintaining the health of our sewer system and making financially prudent repairs through preventative maintenance it's easier to prevent a problem than to fix it after it happens financially so I also want to add through the budget process I will be taking time meet members of the public discuss any concerns or questions um about the budget process or the sewer fee uh I will providing updates and detailed information to ensure transparency and keep res this informed about the progress of these discussions um thank you very much thank you uh fire councilman Lazar I just wanted to extend my condolences to Bob Lawrence and his family and um I just you know obviously I'm very grateful for the service that he provided for the fire department so thank you thank you Community Development councilman pusc thank you mayor um as we continue to move forward with the paperboard site and uh with the full recommendation of the planning board as had been mentioned earlier the Community Development Committee is recommending we move forward and accepting garlett's fourth round uh housing obligation and after extensive discussion members of the planning board and planner Mike mrea suggest that we accept Our obligation of 80 units as Mr mrea has previously explained he does not believe the number would be lowered should we challenge the DCA calculation it would also open us up to a legal Challenge from developers at a time when we're inactive negotiation with garden homes over the development of the paperboard site and that it's not even to mention the monetary cost of such a challenge uh regardless of the outcome I do recommend that anyone with questions goes back and listens to the planning board meetings in which this was discussed and you know please attend the council meetings over the next few months as we determine along with Mr MRE and others how best to meet our obligations for the for this round uh based on the current calculations I I'd also ask you to please keep in mind that accepting this rounds number does not mean we cannot and should not seek at the state level a modified process for the distribution of housing need in the future as councilman Carney mentioned before people need housing uh but our communities must maintain their infrastructural safety and integrity and um I I think that's something that we need to we need to work on going forward appealing to those at the state level thank you thank you um yes I just want to comment um I really do recommend that um everybody with a question about how we got to this number or I should say how the DCA got to this number um really go back to the November 13th planning board meeting um Mike Musta lays it out step by step by step with the calcul um and how they got to it and why our number even if we were to challenge it he does believe DCA would say nope this is what we get because he went through it all and that's the number he got um you might notice other towns a few towns I I did see Scotch Plains they're they're challenging it but if you notice why they're challenging it they are challenging it because there seems to be a problem with their vacant land analysis and how what DCA designated as vacant land um that isn't the problem here in Garwood unfortunately or fortunately we we don't have any vacant land um and DCA recognized that uh if you if you go back to the meeting you'll see they gave us a 399 developable land which is essentially zero um when you do the calculation so we have it that's really the step that a lot of towns are looking at to see if they can challenge this number because apparently there were some discrepancies however they came about deciding what was vacant land and what wasn't unfortunately we're at zero so the the calculation is what it is um and again as everybody said uh you know our the recommendation is that it would not get lowered due to that so while I agree with um the planning board and the committee on accepting that as was said before I do think we we deserve and our residents deserve to continue to push our legislator to make some changes to the way that this the way that affordable housing is is done in New Jersey we it's a broken system we know that but yet we need more housing so how do we change that what are some of the things that we can do to help municipalities out and they were mentioned by um councilman Carney and councilman pusc looking at infrastructure Aid to benefit those municipalities who follow the law and build like we have um looking at ways to change the ratio between affordable housing and market rate and so I know we up here have been talking amongst ourselves a lot about it we've been talking to our legislators and other elected officials a lot about it um and um councilman Carney you have brought to some of us that you would like to put a resolution together and I know you're going to be circulating that so that um in the in the next couple of weeks so that we can as a council decide if we um want to pursue that and and forward that along I think it's important no matter how small we are that we make our voice heard on that um so I wholeheartedly encourage this Council to put forth some of these ideas to the legislature um officially so um with that I don't know you know I would like to open if anybody else has anything to say this is a very important topic but I think we have covered what we needed to cover with it I know because I know residents do have questions about this but you know I'll just add and and people can see this if they go back to look at the November meeting but uh a lot of this has to do with the district in which we're grouped which is I'm not sure if it's the fastest growing or the most densely populated but effectively it means we get a a bigger share than we would if we were say to the west or or to the South so um you know maybe that's something to be looked at in the future is where you know Union County or Garwood is grouped who knows but it's just important to remember that there are steps that go into this to the determination and that we as Council Council people do not uh we can simply analyze if those steps were taken correctly correct you can't affect what the steps are correct um and oh sorry if I may mayor um just to follow on with uh councilman pusc has said um and you mentioned I I've had conversations with members of the legislature about this uh there's definitely points that are tweakable uh and I do think that we need support especially towns like ours that have made those good faith efforts to comply with the prior rounds um you know and we have been discussing uh putting together a resolution but I just want to point out that part of that resolution process is the discussion with the legislators uh and also I'll have discussions with members of councils and committies or whatever the form of government is on the towns that surround us uh in an effort to get more governing bodies to to sign on I do think even if it's a a drop in the bucket when we have done the ones on the energy tax which this Council has supported several of them for me over the years um I do think that is effective advocacy from our level and it's essentially the only advocacy we can do uh as councilman pusc said we can't set these rules we're not assembly members we're not state senators um we're we're your Council and we're we're trying to do our best with the situation we've been handed uh with that being said I I will be finalizing a draft and I hope to have it out for the uh rest of the council to take take a look at and I will be in touch with some of our our peers in the surrounding municipalities and uh who knows it's a moonshot but we'll try it ter ref thank you um and Mr Arthur I actually I think if everybody like I said goes back to the November 13th planning board meeting the methodology uh Mike mrea goes through the calculations and by the way he will be here as we move along with the plans to go over this with the council but because he came to the planning board meeting and explained it so extensively and it's on video I didn't feel the need for him to come back and have to repeat it all again um just so we can refer everybody to that but I'm wondering Mr Arthur I know he had sent a memo and I have it and can get it to you laying out the the calculations and how they came to it and how he went and checked it he essentially did it on his own to check the number that DCA sent um I I want to double check that it's okay to put up on the website I would imagine it is because he went through it at the meeting um we just have to take a look at the memo and make sure that we're just releasing that but it's um we'll D if you could double check with Mr mrea and then perhaps we can put that section up on the website just so everybody can see for themselves it's a lot of math not going to lie it's a lot of math that he went through but it does help to look at that document as he's talking about it so I will check and we will put it up if if it's okay to do so okay all right okay thank you councilman appreciate that and Public Works councilwoman Boda thank you mayor um in addition to their reoccurring activities the DPW continued to perform preventative maintenance on public works truct and Equipment assisted with setup for the manora lighting and Martin Luther King Day events began the annual residential Christmas tree pickup program which includes disposal at the Fanwood recycling center removed holiday decorations throughout the burrow provided assistance to the police department with various tasks on December 21st 24th and January 11th the throughout the barrel before and after the storm as needed on January 19th they deed and all Supply through the barrel I'd like to thank our DPW employees for a fantastic job doing the snowstorm uh that's the end of my report thank you thank you uh police councilman Carney thank you mayor the police committee met earlier this month and continued work on items carried over from the end of last year uh we have unanimous consent to recommend out of committee additional updates to the burrow code which will complete enhancements and standardization to the promotion process for the ranks of sergeant lieutenant and Captain uh along with allowing candidates for these ranks the opportunity to review the scoring process uh I expect the ordinance drafts to circulate uh to the council soon uh with an eye to having it on the next meeting agenda for an introduction uh work is also continuing on a update to the code for dog licensing and to lay the needed groundwork for establishing bike Lanes along Center Street uh I'm also pleased to report that councilman Foley has organized a guard wood specific Safe Streets proposal uh which we will be working over in committee for the next month or two uh this proposal will complement the new County and state level initiatives announced this month uh and will focus on community-driven efforts to improve safety on the roadways uh which as we know but I feel the need to point out once again are shared uh not just by vehicles but pedestrians B bicycle Riders and and much more um I have the activity report for the Garwood Police Department from the month of December 2024 uh there were 1,888 cat entries recorded uh these calls include but are not limited to 227 motor vehicle stops 61 parking complaints 80 fixed traffic posts for a radar stop sign or distracted driving details uh 23 motor vehicle crash investigations 26 69 building and property checks uh 44 medical assists 94 community policing posts 21 walking posts and that's impressive considering the weather uh 25 investigated suspicious person and vehicle complaints and 16 criminal investigations uh and just one final note for everyone the uh Garwood police department has advanced to the final phase of the accreditation process with the New Jersey State Chiefs of police assist Association uh this has been a Herculean effort undertaken by Chief stoer Captain Roco and the men and women of our Police Department uh I am looking forward to the final inspection next week and uh fingers are crossed for all good news I can't wait for this I they've done such amazing work to get here so it will be well worth it um we are moving on to community engagement thank you mayor um uh our community engagement report is as follows this week the Garwood partnership for arts and culture received good news from the Union County Office of County Commissioners gpac is receiving a Union County heart grant for the Garwood poetry Festival in April gpac is presenting two family knitting and yarn creation workshops led by Garwood textile artist Chia Tani the first session was last week and kids and adults alike enjoy enjoyed working on yarn projects the second session is on January 25th that's this Saturday from 10: to 11:00 at the rec center it is open to ages 6 and up families are welcome everyone can participate at their ability and supplies for children will be provided uh Garwood partnership for arts and culture presents Garwood warms your heart yarn bombing uh we're going to try this uh very brand new activity for us on February 8th with the snow day of February 9th uh we're asking any people in gar wood or surrounding areas to contribute any handmade knitted items including scarves squares mittens po holders and anything knitted or hooked put your items in a bag and include a card with your name address email phone number and availability to participate in the yarn bombing event on a uh February 8th the collection box will be Don uh located at the entrance to burrow Hall from January 10th to the 31st no report for historical it will have its regular meeting at at the library on Monday January 27th at 6:30 the garard recreation committee held Martin Luther King Day of Service in Garwood this past Monday as was mentioned previously volunteers made sandwiches assembled care packages for those in need created cards for troops and seniors and made crafts to honor Martin Luther King Jr's Legacy thank you to the recreation committee members volunteers who participated and those who donated coal cuts and hygiene items the Five Loaves Pantry at the church of St an's for donating bread and to the Garwood senior club for Their donation in the hygiene items congresswoman L Monica R mcgyver stop by the event to assist some Recreation updates youth basketball the teams are in their third week of games for the season the games will run through the end of February at Garwood Lincoln School stop by and check out the games for game schedules please email Garwood Recreation garwood.nj we have tai chi on Tuesdays from 7 to 8: there will be 10 classes starting um on March 4th through May 6th it's $70 for residents yoga Thursdays from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. also 10 classes running between March 6th and May 8th that's also $70 for residents open play soccer is for ages 30 and up Fridays from 8 to 9:50 starting March 14th uh we're also looking forward to Ceramics Wednesdays at 7 uh we have um several dates um I won't mention all of them but they're Wednesdays at 7 it's $18 a class for residents canvas painting will be Wednesday uh March 19th at 7 also $23 for residents so we have some upcoming um youth programs uh fantastic forces for kindergarten through sixth grade by Mad Science on Mondays the walking challenge for ages 8 to 17 during the month of April stem Python and R coding for beginners for grades six uh sorry 3 through eight on Fridays uh stem python R coding for intermediate that's for um I guess a little bit more advanced students for grades 3 through eight laptops are provided for both of these um these events uh these activities soccer classes ages 1 and a half to 7 provided by us Sports Institute Saturday mornings and that starts um in April for six weeks parent and me multisports ages 2 to three and a half also provided by us Sports Institute also on Saturday mornings that runs from for six weeks as well from April to June so I hope everyone will um consider signing up for some of these really wonderful things that we have planned thank I already see councilwoman bodo's eyes for the painting because my painting was so good last time oh Library mayor's representative councilman Lazaro thank you mayor some upcoming events at the library um include on February 4th at 3:30 p.m there's a steam activity join the steam sharks from Union County Magnus school for an adventure in Steam registration is required limit of 10 on February 5th from 10:00 a.m. to noon is the Aging service kiosk Union County division of Aging staff will be on hand to assist seniors or their caregivers with information on services such as meal delivery reic care adult daycare and support services for caregivers on February 6 13 20th and 27th at 3M there's a program called crazy chemworks this is for children second grade and older um they will make slime experiment with different reactions and learn how to use tools that chemists use registration is required and limit of 10 on February 11th at 3 pm. you can grab and go kids uh and adults craft they pick up supplies and instructions for a seasonal craft registration is required for craft kits and is limited to 15 participants for each group on February 11th at 7M there's a program called from Italy with love this is a musical performance that features an array of Italian classical songs performed by renowned vocal tenor Salvatore Celli on February February 18th at 6:30 p.m. there's a program called discover the power of hypnosis with Barry Wolfson it's never too late to follow through on those New Year's resolutions and hypnosis can help join the US for join the library for an enlightening session on how hypnosis can help you break bad habits boost motivation manage Stress and Anxiety and achieve the positive change you desire so that's a that program is again on February 18th at 6:30 and just a reminder the library will be closed on Monday February 17th for President's Day that's all for my report thank you school board liais on councilman Carney managing stress and anxiety I have to sign up for that one uh the garard Board of Education held the annual reorganization meeting on January 6th new members Tracy mccarrick Michael Sask and returning member April Farrell were sworn in for three-year terms uh congratulations to all three of them uh the board elected April Carell and Meen Crawford to return to the roles of President and Vice President respectively and again congratulations uh the board held its regular January meeting this past Tuesday uh due to a scheduled conflict I was only able to attend part of the meeting uh but I did see an excellent presentation from the cooking club uh as well as the announcement of the Mustang movers of the month uh one of whom shares my name so uh congrats to the movers uh and I'll have a full report on the board's relevant actions at our next meeting uh we also held our first joint meeting of 2025 with the board president superintendent and mayor uh we were joined by councilman Foley and board VP Crawford for this meeting uh where we made progress on a long-term pilot sharing agreement uh conversations have continued between council members and board members on this topic I am very optimistic we will have something hammered out in time for this year's budget presentation uh I thank everyone for their patience on this topic it's been a long road but we are almost there we okay uh senior citizens we had our bonly meeting earlier today uh where we had lunch in Bingo and celebrated the January birthdays um we also had funeral director Ryan TS from du's Funeral Home in Westfield speak with the club about prepaying for your funeral and he discussed revocable and irrevocable prepaid funds uh they also showed off their buildings Renovations including their new service of providing an eating area or sort of a cafe in there that can be utilized during Services uh doues also graciously provided the lunch for us today so thank you to dues for this as well as their helpful information our dates for February's meetings are February 6th and February 20th at 12 pm. at the Nights of Columbus uh small business advisory councilman Carney uh thank you mayor the small business boards reorganization meeting is still pending due to scheduling conflicts from some of our members uh Mr Arthur is now assisting me with the scheduling so uh I should have a full report at our next council meeting um on the grand opening front uh I'm excited to say we have yet another one coming up uh on Sunday February 2nd from uh 11:00 a.m. to 2 p.m. we will officially welcome Sola Salons to Garwood uh Sola is home for many independent small Beauty businesses uh with an amazing range of services all in one spot uh if you haven't checked out what's available there I'd recommend giving it a look and uh I hope to see the rest of the council there with us to cut the ribbon thank you okay Board of Health liaison councilman Foley um next Board of Health meeting is uh March 19th at 6m here at Burrow Hall um I do want to uh recommend for all residents to please visit the Westfield Board of Health page uh where they will provide you with information regarding programs immunizations and other uh Board of Health uh initiatives to uh to provide for uh residents of Garwood um I also want to mention that because I had a few residents reach out to me um they had trouble finding it um so I'm hoping to develop something streamlining that information for residents and hopefully put that on our uh Facebook page for the Garwood barel so that's something I'll be working on this month and I'll be in touch with the Westfield Board of Health thank you terrific planning board leaz on councilman Carney uh thank you mayor the planning board met for reorganization on Wednesday uh January 8th uh new and returning board members were sworn in uh and the board elected Steve greet as chair uh along with Kathy vagio as Vice chair uh we also welcomed Adele Lewis back as the board secretary a role that she has performed admirably for many years uh the board's regular January meeting scheduled for yesterday but this was cancelled due to a lack of new business the next regular meeting will be held on Wednesday February 28th thank you moving on to officer reports Miss Perry zoning Enforcement Officers report for December 24 property maintenance code enforcement officers report for December 24th can I have a motion to accept the officer's reports Some Mo second all in favor I osed got his first one in you got to be quick up here he's done okay if there is anyone in the audience who wishes to address the mayor and counsel please step to the microphone and state your full name and address and please limit your comments to five minutes you might have to turn that on Mr Graham there you go good evening mayor and Ladies and Gentlemen of the council Russ Graham 12 over the um I've been wanting to come up here and uh talk to you guys for a while I really wanted to come for the for the reorg meeting and uh we had a a family event that was changed from lunch into a dinner at the last minute so we missed because I wanted to witness my friend councilman Foley being ree sworn in and my newest friend councilman DNC whose name I learned without to say pretty quickly um getting spor so I know it's a special time and uh having gone through it myself let me just first by saying wow you guys it is so bright in here you're not going to get away with anything and this floor is unbelievable when I bought these boots they came with Taps but since I'm out of politics they're no longer tap tap Dan dancing is no longer in my repertoire so like I don't use them but they perfect opportunity right here right so um I want want to welcome all of you uh and uh uh you might take this as a admonishment you can if you want to but my point is you guys are all here for a very very good reason you you're all very responsible you're all very intelligent you're energetic you're well-meaning and that came across when you all ran for office here in this town not by any means a Democratic town I mean maybe slightly over Republican but mostly independent but you appeal to voters because you appeal because your common sense and your decency and just your willing to work for nothing your time your effort your your sacrifice so just keep that in mind every single day you sit here you're out there doing what you do I mean all of you are bringing a tremendous amount of talent to this board without without fighting without without the bickering without the constant negotiation to get one little thing to give up so much more I know it I experienced it I know what you went through so take advantage not advantage of the town obviously wrong wrong words but make it productive you don't have to waste time and energy you know what the mission is you'll find a way and at the same time maintain your own opinions maintain your own thoughts you're allowed to express them just like you were before continue to do that and if it doesn't change your mind vote the way your conscience tells you to or your knowledge tells you to whatever you feel is best things will work out none of you are managers perhaps maybe the mayor the point is you're supervisors you're here to make the town work you have a wonderful administrator wonderful clerk fantastic Warriors a great town engineer wonderful Police Chief Fire DPW the town works because our professionals make it so and if they screw up your administrator hopefully be the first to know you'll all be able to react the way that you you know you're impounded to do this town runs because everybody works really hard and you know what hard things are not easy but the six of you the voting people in this town representing over 5,000 people you six have been empowered to make the final decision to do what you know is right because you have all the facts no nobody count me among 99.9% of this town that don't have to pay attention every single day to what you guys have to you guys ultimately make all the decisions and the choices and none of them are Easy A lot of them not easy some of them are really hard but you have to be made like this affordable housing thing like the costs that come out of nowhere that we have to deal with in our budget and whatnot so just keep that in mind and you know just champ down the noise and uh and all the you know the static that you get because everybody in this town knows there's nothing going on nobody's getting rich there's no crap there's no none of that you know it doesn't happen here in Garwood simply doesn't why because people like you and believe me if if it started to you know there would be a different complexion here but it's not happening so you know you all bring uh different expertise to this which is fantastic Karina Karina and Clarissa sure you you know maybe working together on the Arts Vinnie you are individually qualified to lead this this thing on on the communication issues as far as the radios and go you know if it wasn't for you I don't know if it ever would have happened but our First Responders their lives were in jeopardy with the radios that we had and you straightened it out I mean it cost a lot of money but we got it straightened out and how much like the fir truck one life saved worth it radios communicate from a burning house to a street worth it Sean you've done a fantastic job increasing Communications mark your expertise with the budget you know all these years Chase I'm sure you'll find your Niche I mean you're already impressing me pressing the crap at I'm gonna give you a minute warning don't even sorry I saved up I sa I know it's I across the board I know I saved up though Chase when I when I campaigned with you um you impressed me immediately with with your report on the porches we got to talk to so many people which is so unusual people were so open and and sharing with their opinions and their thoughts and you were you were right there Common Sense came across every time you open your mouth you care you just want to serve and you're doing it congratulations I mean I think it's wonderful um well I think that's it I think I made 10 seconds I'm sorry I couldn't tap dance because I do have a couple moves but without the TS would be the same um congratulations everybody have a great year and uh you know see me time thank you thank thank you Russ thank you is there anybody else who wishes to address the mayor and Council what yeah Laur Thompson 32 nice to see you all hope you're all staying warm um I came here expecting to argue about the affordable housing thing and I'm very pleased to see that in your resolution here you thought to put in phrases and motions that allow us to change what we're going to do in the event that these lawsuits do provide some sort of leniency in this respect that makes me much happier to say the least um my concern still at this point and I'm sure that you guys are beginning to realize it is that with more affordable housing not mentioning just the units themselves that are going in at paper board and everything else we as a town and you as the Town Council and the Board of Education need to really start thinking about what we're going to do about the the infrastructure the police department we're hiring another cop every time we turn around we're hiring another police officer we need more firemen we have the glider truck okay wonderful but you heard the report about the police how many calls did they have how many things did they do this month that's a lot on a course this small and it's only going to get bigger the need that we have so we really have to start looking at where we can get grants funding look to the state put it to them look we're we're going to take on what you told us to take on but you have to help us you have to provide some resources for us because otherwise we're going to drown and all these people that you've sent here are going to drown because if something goes wrong we don't have the ability to take care of you don't have the police force you don't have the fire department you get two big fires in this town at the same time it's going to be all chaos you know everybody does a phenomenal job but they can only do so much wrong all human that again goes to the school board the statistics say right now 1.2 one to 1.2 children per family so not even talking aordable housing you're putting in how many units over there how many kids are going to get and right now they're stretched to the to the gills already so again we're looking at with the more housing that we put in the more students we're going to have and we're running out of room so at some point we're going to have to start thinking about where are we going to build and what is it going to cost us and unfortunately that's all coming back down to the town the town's taxpayers I'm glad to see that I and I don't know if I was under the impression that we could not charge vermel for sore fees that the pilot fee was supposed to be it we can build bmel I also am under the impression and this is third party that tenants at vermel are already paying a sewer fee on their rent part of their rental is a fly item for a sword fee so I don't know if anybody wants to check that out um you know just something to think about and again we need to start planning because we're going to run out of time thank you anybody else wish to address the mayor and Council yeah thank you for reminding me there so I remember good evening mayor ladies and gentlemen of the council Bruce Patterson 325 will Avenue and I apologize for uh coming in late but I was at a county commissioner meeting and they actually had a presentation uh for greenacre grants for various Parks one of them was unami and and I know uh Commission Council M Carney was asking what are they doing there and they actually did a nice presentation I it's a lot of stuff I I can't you know just expound on what it is but I guess I can afford um the time period because it's recorded and you can actually listen to them and they they went through surveys and elements and things like that and it was very detailed it's going to cost about $1.3 million the upgrades so it's going to be very nice I mean from what they're talking about ky's engineering is doing it so I'll I'll send you that data uh when I get a chance uh as to the affordable housing you know it is is great uh Miss Miss Thompson was talking about it and I'm I'm happy to read the the uh resolution as it is also it does have enough covenants and conditions to at least leave the door open unfortunately we have to actually list those numbers 31 present need and 80 uh prospective need in that resolution but um the interesting thing was and now they know about that there's a directive what that called in there it was directive something I I don't know where that came from if somebody could uh elaborate on it what was it it was called the directive oh 14-24 which I guess came down from the state which is allowing us some kind of declaratory relief uh just somebody could explain what that is and also uh once we have the declaratory relief uh by attorney Renard he's going to submit it I guess to the state but anyway just moving forward what is our plans are we actually going to try to reduce the numbers because Westfield just did by about 9% I think Cranford is is also looking into it and the Westfield leader had Scotch planes and and fam wood also hopeful in that the numbers that were assigned by the DCA uh they're going to be able to mitigate it somewhat so but it was good and I'm I'm glad to read the uh resolution as is uh I even wrote a note here I you know it attorney Adam definitely earned his keep on that one uh yes as to the police officer oh yeah why why are we hiring another police officer that's that's a question on that one and how many police off officers are we going to have and is there a I don't know is there any anyone leaving I guess uh the last yeah the last the last issue I have I mean resolution 25-45 is talking about uh parking changes on North Avenue and I I know you were talking about you're going to be addressing uh parking over there on the North side and my question is are you going to actually have two public uh comment periods much like you did for the parking on the south side so I think that is all I have to say I apologize I I missed a lot of The Upfront uh work but I'm glad I was here for Russ Grahams Love Fest thank you very much thank you anybody else wish to address the mayor and Council okay can I have a motion to close public comment you want to read this yes I'm sorry we do have something from um Michelle an email correspondence uh it's an email from Michelle cap biano and she wanted her comments to be read into the public comment it's regarding resolution 25-41 Garwood committing to dca's fourth round affordable housing numbers questions one is the burrow accepting the fair share assigned by DCA present need of 31 units and prospective need of 80 units as final and there will be no adjustments to lower these numbers to if yes that the above numbers are final what was the Barrow's process to come to that conclusion are there documents posted on the Barrow website and available to the public to review three if the answer that the above DCA assigned numbers are not final what is the process to assess and charge cha excuse me change the numbers will the process analysis and documents be posted on the Barrow website available for the public to view comment reading through this resolution I suggest adding language into the eighth section that states the buau is accepting the DCA numbers of 31 and 80 units subject to any vacant land Andor durational adjustments I would like to see the below statement added to the above section after durational adjustments or a windshield survey for a more accurate estimate of present needs units thank you Michelle CAPA 404 Myrtle Avenue okay thank you can I have a motion to close public comment so moved second all in favor I opposed thank you Miss K you remind me and I forgot again um I actually believe we answered every single one of Miss Capa bianco's questions when we discussed this going forward um and I know she had some comments about things to be added but that it seems like those comments um have to do with the vacant land which we also discussed um earlier in this meeting that we're at zero vacant land essentially so there is no adjustment to that um moving uh let me let me first start with Mr Graham thank you for your comments I want to say I know that there is always this thing about having one party up here and everybody gets worried if there's one party as opposed to different voices um I don't think that could be further from the truth because and I think if everybody has gotten to know all of us through these years that we've been on or at the door for our most recent ones I think we have some very different voices up here um who do not always agree with each other um but it is as you said Mr Graham we we have we as professionals and we are professionals up here we should be professionals up here have learned how to work together and and uh make things happen despite having different opinions sometimes it's called compromising um and that's something that we do and I think I hope that everybody has seen um in terms of my management style over the past two years um is that I very much encouraged discussion up here I think we've had some discussions that go on too long and I've gotten criticized from my Council people that I've let things go too long to be honest because I do think it's important important to have those big discussions because we don't always agree up here just because we have that one party that D inment we do not always agree um and we had several split votes last year uh and that that alone should show you that we take this seriously we do not just all have one opinion uh we are not afraid to express our opinions yeah sometimes we we agree but sometimes I agreed with uh the other party Council people from the other party up here as well it's it's about going into this as you said doing what's good for the public I I'll let Mr Arthur hopefully it's it's okay okay um sorry little video issue um but we we all have had our our arguments up here but they're I don't like to call them arguments because you're right we all handle ourselves I think appropriately and that's what the people deserve out there so I don't want any of the residents to be worried that everything is just stamped and ready to go there is a lot of discussion that goes on in committee before it even gets here I'm a big proponent of things going through the committee first and then coming here and then having a full discussion as I think you've all seen for the past couple years um so I thank you for those comments you look like you wanted to say something I just want to say as I said uh during the weor meeting there is no Republican or Democratic way to ensure our streets are clean so yes that is true and I I think we've shown that up here so um Miss Thompson um thank you for your comments um I agree with you and I think that our conversation about this topic earlier shows that I think we all agree with you on that that there needs to be something else done to assist municipalities if this is the methodology that is going going to come out um and you will see as we discussed earlier I think a a more formal written resolution addressing some of those things that we think should happen as we said in terms of some aid for our infrastructure because you're right it that that is the one of the big faults I believe with this is that we need more housing but with that brings costs and we need a way to address them particularly in a small town with a small tax base um did I see you wanted to jump in was waiting for you to finish okay um in terms of the schools I also think they need to participate in this conversation um with the state because I do believe they're looking to cut even more further state aid to the schools and when you do that and we're building infrastructurally it's it's it does affect them as well um they're in the same boat so I think their continued pressure on the state would be very helpful as well um the other police officer um it's not we're not hiring an additional police officer it's filling a role of somebody who uh left so that is uh that I don't want anybody to think we're we're adding to the roster um and in terms of the tenant sore fee we don't really have control over what how Russo development I'm sorry how he how he does his fees and everything like that I'll let um councilman Foley talk in a second he can split it up like that to me um you know that that's just part of when you rent especially in a a a large development like that um but they would be part of this fee structure that we would put together um per unit it's just a water usage fee there's no sewer fee I I'm not saying they don't think about it in their heads and put it into their rents you know they add that as they move their rents up each year they could we we don't control that um but to me that's kind of even more reason why we should find this Equity with with our sore fees um did you want to add about the AFF housing infrastructure I no I wanted to there was two comments I wanted to address uh the the first was and I'm going to assume good faith in the uh two structure Fires at one time comment but that is what the Union County Mutual Aid System is for I yeah I I think we're we're up here talking infrastructure so I think it's just I mean I would when we were at at planning and uh at a couple weeks back you know some of the thoughts I was having as board members were kind of spitballing things was um you know anything more vertical is going to require more of a commitment to our fire department um we're going to need more Staffing or a different way to staff and we're going to end up needing more equipment at some point and yes more police officers would be on the horizon uh but what you're seeing from the police department now is there there's turnover you have officers aging out and retiring um it it's not any more than there than there's been before uh you know the goal is to get to a full roster and then the full roster is never really full and we've seen the same thing with with public works if you have injuries or you have something going on or the police have a lot of mandated training that they have to do now which uh Chief stoer has really bent over backwards to minimize uh overtime exposures on that and and to get get it done uh with what he has when he has it um but yeah these are things that every municipality is struggling with whether it's you know tiny Garwood or the city of Elizabeth with needing to increase uh Staffing and infrastructure and yes the the school district uh I I would hope is also going to advocate for itself uh especially if there are impacts on on state aid this year or going forward um everyone already knows how I feel about state aid and that they even call it that um you know that is actually our money that is getting trickled back to us um but I just wanted to make clear that you know two structure fires God forbid three structure fires whatever it is they will pull resources from every surrounding community and from counties away if they have to yes I don't want anyone to go away from here thinking they're not safe of course we we make those contingencies with that was my my concern it could just be taking the wrong way um and then yes on the on the police officer front uh yes there's one on for a resolution tonight you you may see some more uh in the next couple of meetings and a part of that is also just how challenging the recruitment process is now with police licensing uh it's taking even longer to to get a candidate through the process and if there's you know people who are eligible to to retire or who are coming up on their retirement eligibility Chief stoer is just being proactive here and I I applaud him for that yeah we're not the only Town seeing that there was actually a Fanwood spoke about it at their last council meeting the difficulties in Staffing uh police departments at this point um but thank you for those questions uh Mr Patterson um we discussed the unami park Grant uh earlier before you got here um and I appreciate uh you wanting to send the data we have it all um so no need for that but I do appreciate it and um we had and I also want to say um M Miss Thompson and Mr Patterson expressed their happiness with the way the wording uh the reso was worded and that we put different things in there uh I just want to say we we do have very good um employees working with us on this issue um you can be sure of that our planner and our attorney our affordable housing planner and our affordable housing attorney uh have been doing this for a long time they were with us on the last round and I think they did a great job in in creating these plans um and they're with us now and this is all they do you know every day so they they've done a great job um and they will continue to keep us safe as as it were with the with the proper language and moving us forward the declaratory plan is basically it just it's the directive um from the DCA that says we have to send this over within 48 hours um or else we are essentially not um immune to any sort of uh lawsuits we're we're not in compliance that's all it means so we are on it I know um should this pass Miss Perry will send it right along to our attorneys and they will get it right over to the DCA so that we do not lose our status as compliant um next steps uh and I just want to say we talked about this earlier as well Mr Patterson the other towns who are looking to lower their numbers uh they have discrepancies in their vacant land analysis or they have they believe there are discrepancies in their vacant land analysis that DCA did not determine the correct number we unfortunately or fortunately as I said before do not have that issue our number was essentially zero there's no getting away from it so looking for a lower number unless there's some distinct changes to the methodology that's used or there's any sort of allowances in the legislature in the bill that are made our number as it's calculated will not change um as opposed to some of these towns they may DCA may say hey yes we did do this wrong we had 565 municipalities to do and we didn't get it all right but in garwood's case because we are smaller I assume and because we have virtually no vacant land it it was wasn't as difficult I guess the process at least it doesn't seem to be we were at zero so there's not really any wiggle room in terms of lowering that number per se as it is now does that mean we're not going to as we talked about um look for other ways to help um and encourage some changes to be made that could possibly help us lower that number sure that that's what we we spoke about earlier so um in terms of moving on to your comment about the parking or uh the parking resolution we did not have two public comment periods about the parking ordinances we just had the the one I'm not sure if you're talking about the town hall that we had about all of the parking way back when when we were in the planning stages but that town hall also encompassed the north side discussion um so we didn't have exact details yet on that but it was essentially this you know laid out that this would be what it was so um in terms of public comment there will be a public comment when we uh go to approve the ordinance uh should it pass int uh well it did pass in so approve the ordinance at the next meeting um I think that's it so we're g to move along consent agenda does anybody have anything they need to remove okay can I have a motion to adopt the consent agenda some move s again roll call please councilwoman Bodo I councilman Foley councilman Carney hi councilman Lazaro hi councilman pusc hi and council president ndi I okay payment of claims Miss Perry be it resolved that the following claims as approved B and the same are hereby ordered paid when properly signed and verified and the payment of payrolls as listed is hereby confirmed and ratified do I have a motion to adopt payment of claims so moved second rot call please councilwoman Bodo I councilman Foley I councilman Carney hi councilman Lazaro hi councilman Bak hi and council president NY hi okay um we have a resolution to go into executive session miss Perry can you read resolution 25-49 Clos session resolution authorized in executive session for the purpose of discussing litigation and matters of attorney client privilege relating to the above and in accordance with and JSA 10-4-2 closed session meetings open to public exclusion of public subject of matter you want the whole thing or um can I have a motion to adopt resolution 25-49 moved second um roll call please councilwoman Bodo I councilman Foley councilman Carney hi councilman Lazaro hi Council in pusc hi council president ndi I okay thank you everybody um action will not be [Music] taken e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e I we're back we're back uh live second 2025 at 7.m in council chambers for meetings is posted on the Barrow website can I have a motion to adjourn second all in favor [Music] I and