e welcome everybody if I could ask everybody to stand for a moment of silence and salute to the flag to the flag of the United States of America and to the republ for it stands one nation under God indivisible with
liberty and justice for all adquate notice of this meeting was provided to the 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 the provisions of open public meeting Law chapter 241 PL 1975 roll call please Miss Perry here here here
here here here here roll call of Stef and professionals please here here we will begin with our reports uh
from our B attorney Mr Abramson anything tonight uh nothing need to report a report from our B administrator Mr Arthur yes thank you um tonight you will see a resolution approving a new employee assistance program this provides virtual mental health counseling for employees and it also
helps us to meet police accredit ation requirements um so we received quotes for three different programs this is uh substantially the most cost cost effective and it'll be available to all full-time employees throughout the buau um you'll also see the introduction of
an ordinance regarding uh police department promotions these changes ensure that we will have ample candidates for promotional opportunities um with expected vacancies for Chief and Captain positions um we want to ensure that we can run an efficient search
process uh hiring for both positions off of one list as well and using one test for both as well as standardizing some processes for lieutenant and Sergeant promotions uh we're seeking to enter into a new copier contract for burall
copiers uh represents a savings of about $1,750 per year over a 5year contract um other than that we've got you know uh some parking ordinances and things that we've I think discussed at length um but obviously if you have any question please let me know
thanks and I I actually am going to talk a little bit about that in my report um because I just want to make some some things clear um about the the parking ordinances um but as Mr Arthur said we have on our agenda the adoption of the ordinances that will bring in the second
phase of paid parking in Garwood now due to the freezing cold weather uh we may need to push some of this um the line striping back until the warms up a little bit so we may have to do the actual initiation of it may take a a
couple of weeks um but we have discussed everything up here before obviously but to reiterate um moving in two phases was always the plan uh we along with the police department wanted to initiate the paid parking program on the south side
of the burrow first to monitor it for a while and to introduce it to Residents and visitors and now the bur is ready to phase in the north side um the delay over the past few weeks to implementing this on North Avenue was obviously not because we didn't know it
was a state run Street I've seen that mentioned on social media but we happened we we had partnered with DOT to obtain their go-ahead um however the actual paperwork permitting it took longer than expected and we were just not comfortable moving forward until we
actually had the document officially in our hand um so the the pay parking has been successful not only on the revenue side which pays for the enforcement but in managing and achieving the goal that it was put into place for which was to
help move turnover in the downtown allowing for customers to be able to go in and out of the retail and eliminating the cars that were parked all day taking up those spaces uh the paid permit parking for employees has also allowed those who want to take advantage of it
to have reserved places for their employees to park uh and we have even had some business owners come into our Council meetings to tell us that it has benefited them by enforcing the the turnover uh and we knew there would be hiccups as there were with there are
with any new program and the business owners have let us know when they encountered some issues but our police department and chief stoer have worked with the businesses to address any of those issues and I know they will continue to do so if we encounter them on the North side um the new 15-minute
parking spaces on both the North and South side should also alleviate any concerns about to go pickup um I understand that introducing new programs into Garwood is challenging we're all very used to the way we've always done
things right however for years as a council person I heard the frustration from residents and businesses about the lack of parking in our burrow and about how hard it was to find a spot when going down town to some of our businesses here on Center Street and I also heard from residents in the
surrounding blocks about visitors who come in taking up their spaces in front of their houses on the residential street while they use the downtown retail but now as I do drive through town I very often see cars coming in and out of these spaces and just you know
anecdotally while I'm at bur Hall I have observed customers being able to park in front of the storefront as they head into and then an hour later when they leave another car is pulling into that empty space um so the paid parking well I do understand is something to get used
to has seemed to accomplish the goal of allowing that turnover um and it has relieved the adjacent streets the adjacent residential streets from playing host to the visitors and customers now as we move to provide that flexibility on the North side again we
may encounter a few more hiccups but we will resolve that we will work to resolve them as quickly as we did before um the PD will once again be going into the businesses adjacent to the parking uh to let them know when the parking initiates and we will have have a bit of a grace period as we use warnings and
flyers for Parkers to inform them as well before the enforcement starts just as we did down here on the south side if anybody has any further questions about the paid parking program I am of course happy to answer them and I Know Chief stoer is happy to as well um and going
along with that I just want to remind everybody that I have open Office hours to ask me any questions you you might have um whether it's about this or anything else the first two Tuesday of each month is from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. and the third Tuesday of each month is from
99 to 11: a.m. uh this schedule can also be found on the Garwood website under the mayor's Tab and speaking of the website we do have good news the new format has been finalized and we are about six to eight weeks out to from launching the update I think that not
only will you find it more aesthetically pleasing and easier to read but you will find it more efficient and easier to find the information you're looking for and it will also include an easyto read calendar on the homepage which I I've heard from residents that they they want before and I know it will come in handy
for everyone so thank you to miss lysac and Mr Arthur for working on this one and very much looking forward to it and just to end I just also want to congratulate Mr Arthur on passing his qpa testing um I know how much work it is to become a qpa but it is very B it's
a it's a great benefit to our borrow so I hope all of the Council supports his appointment tonight uh and that is it for me so we will move to comments from the council councilwoman Bodo thank you mayor I would like to take this
opportunity to remind residents that we mayor and Council are also gwood residents but and all decisions made up here affect us and our families although we are elected officials we function as volunteers we do not get paid
we serve simply for the betterment of Garwood is it a choice we made absolutely and believe me we work very hard to get elected just as baby F baby Jade Foley well we don't sign up for however
is the creu criticism memes and defination of character I urge you all to attend Council Board of Education and planning board meetings get your information directly from the source and not just from social media our mayor mentioned
that she has office hours the first and third Tuesday of the month stop by for a respectful chat ask questions offer suggestions get involved it is okay to disagree it is never okay however to be
harassed by a disgruntled resident mayor I want to public publicly thank you for your commitment to Carwood your leadership and profession ISM honorable rest assured that your work is appreciated and that you are making a
positive difference thank you appreciate councilman fing I just want a second uh councilman Bodo um you know I think
that what we are seeing is a form of uh sort of extreme like political extreme Behavior that is it's it's it's crossing over into uh kind of the physical off the online world and I think that this
behavior um really is it's fueling division Our Town it makes it people less likely to uh be involved in our Town's uh matters um and I think it's very detriment to the welfare and health
of our community um you know as a council person I think it's important to point out that I am accepting you know it is important to be have criticism um it is a Bedrock of democracy but what we are seeing is not
criticism um it's anger it's hatred it's fueled by online chats and groups and we have seen it kind of spill over uh and I think it does uh the question the welfare and safety of people who live in this town
I also want to say that you know our mayor is a dedicated public servant and I'm very grateful for what she does um she works hard she puts Garwood uh you know first in many ways uh alongside
being a committed mother and wife and um you know I think you know at the end of the day you know she puts uh the her commitment not into words but actions and so I'm very grateful for that and I say it be on the behalf of Garwood we
are grateful for that so thank you thank you councilman councilman Carney uh thank you mayor and good evening to everyone and I just want to uh express my uh agreement and appreciation with uh
councilwoman boto and councilman Foley um these uh things that have been going on online have just uh it continues to uh to grow a little bit like a like a cancer and uh
it is really just unfortunate everybody sitting up here yes we all put ourselves out for these roles we all work hard and uh we go out and we campaign and we talk to folks and um most of us up here do that year round not just during election
season um you know there there's a line of uh of respect that shouldn't be crossed and uh you know on the flip side of that coin is um the concept that people can
say or do whatever they want because they're directing it at an elected official is also erroneous we're we're also people we have the same rights as everybody else so um this speaking only for myself um you know the the saying
goes in my line of work come correct if you're going to if you're going to come and need something or you have a complaint you disagree with something one of us or this body has done there's ways to go about expressing that without devolving into some of the stuff that
we're seeing um so uh with that being said off the cuff uh I also uh would like to call the council's attention to uh the ordinances up for public hearing tonight uh the mayor discussed them already um but uh
with the hopeful adoption of these ordinances the burrow will be able to move forward with the North Avenue part of our paid parking program uh I also circulated the text of the last two resolutions on the consent agenda uh consent agenda to the council
for review last week uh thank you everybody for reviewing and specifically to uh councilman pusc for his thoughtful feedback uh which has been incorporated into the final text of the affordable housing resolution that's before us later tonight
uh I believe both of these resolutions make a strong statement to the legislature about what local government really needs from our partners down in Trenton which is good government initiatives and finally putting money behind our shared priorities uh and finally uh
congratulations to our burrow administrator Mr Arthur uh the achievement of becoming a qualified purchasing agent is impressive uh that is a very difficult test uh it's a huge benefit to the burrow having a UPA on board and I'm looking forward to
supporting the resolution appointing him as such a little bit later thank you councilman lazara um just so yeah I I'll just quickly I'll be brief um I'm very grateful for everyone who serves on this on this board um I'm grateful to our
mayor for the commitment that she has I'm grateful for everyone who volunteers her time and uh you know definitely understanding obviously of the nature of criticism but you know yes it is something that we have to constantly remind ourselves that things we post on
social media have oftentimes bigger you know impacts than we consider so having said that I also want to congratulate um Mr Arthur for the qualified purchasing agent agents um test and uh it's a huge benefit to our burrow I know that this
is something that we were when we interviewed for this position it was something that we thought was a really important aspect to this job and we know that this is going to allow more flexibility and for our burough to be more efficient in getting things done so thank you so much for pursuing it and
congratulations thank you councilman fusak uh thank you mayor and I'll just I'll Echo the foring um thanks and congratulations uh I I'll just say with councilman Carney that it was very important to me um that language be
included in that resolution that reflected um our hopes for maybe changes and how um the affordable housing is allotted both our need for funding and the need for reform in terms of how that's done so I'm really proud of what we put together and I want to thank
everybody for navigating what has been a very difficult process um because it's a it's a difficult it's a difficult issue um to my more formal comments I'll be very brief I just wanted to thank the almost 20 new stylist makeup artists and other professionals at Sola is next to
Leal that opened up recently want to welcome them to garwood's business community and I'm looking forward to what promises to be a Spate of openings over the next few months we've got a few uh some signage going up things like this so that's very exciting um I also want to offer a quick update uh to
Residents and to members of council I met with mayor blumenstock and members of the planning board to discuss usage allowances for particular zones in our buau nothing over it to say at at this moment but I hope to have a more robust report in the future and lastly uh I'm
still working with the mayor on garwood's film ready status um after meeting with her and discussing with residents we've identified some potential locations and vendors uh with whom I'll be getting in touch over the next few weeks as we wait for the New Jersey motion picture and television
commission to announce the date for their next workshop and that you need to go to that to start the process formally so that's what we're waiting on and once we attend that um you know hopefully we'll be well on our way uh getting that going so thank you very much thank you appreciate your work on that council
president noi no comments for me other than to congratulate Mr Arthur on his passing the test thank you okay we will move to the minutes uh Miss Perry minutes of the regular meeting and executive session of the
mayor and Council held on January 23rd 20125 can I have a motion to accept the regular and executive meeting minutes as presented so move second all in favor I I opposed okay Communications Miss Perry
notice of New Jersey state Planning Commission cross acceptance public meeting Union County February 25th 2025 at 6m Bruce Patterson correspondence to Mayor and Council regarding the affordable housing process previously
provided and that's it and received and filed and moving on to our ordinance Miss Perry can you read ordinance 25-01 by title only an ordinance of the buau code of bar of Garwood by amending chapter 21 entitled V vehicles and
traffic article one traffic and parking section 21- 8.8 paid parking zones did we have any correspondents concerning this ordinance no does anyone present wish to be heard concerning ordinance 25-01 if so please come to the mic and
state your your name and address and please limit your comments to five minutes okay can or good evening May ladies and gentlemen of the council uh Bruce Patterson 325 Willow Avenue uh just a question you know I I came to the uh parking meetings
I guess there was two of them we were discussing the Southside uh parking issue and according to I guess it's resolved however now you're moving over to the north side and I'm just wondering were the uh retail establishments and the and
the store owners over there also complaining because uh when we had these other meetings whatever two years ago or so you know we were talking about the Southside uh Merchants that were complaining so I'm just wondering you know did the North Side Merchants complain and so we're now resulting to
including North Avenue on that so thank you thank you is there anybody else who wishes to be heard concerning the ordinance please come to the microphone yes yes please state your name and address
Dr Robert wiise my office is at 332 North Avenue I just have a few notes here so I can not Bard you people okay again I I commend the mayor and Council for trying to solve our parking problems this has been a huge problem for many
many many years you know I'm I'm here to represent the businesses on North End okay um two of them together probably have over a hundred years of doing business here in Garwood okay um we feel
there's going to be some problems with this this app type parking um on North Avenue from my off to Walnut Street is probably maybe 10 spots okay now if you create two more of
those 15 minute ones which I I got it was a problem over here okay because I did do my own survey Tuesday with the businesses over here on Center Street and they they're telling me there are some problems how this app works other
problems with seniors okay and so on and so on and so on so I don't know how well it's so well ceed per se okay um but so we have 10 spots okay maybe maybe okay um two of those spots may be are 15
minutes so that leaves us eight okay now we have apartments above some of these businesses which people are parking there pretty much all day they probably take up at least two and I know you're trying to correct that problem okay so so so now again um we have no other
parking okay now when the mall was developed across the street for me the state mandated no parking from my office down to Cedar Street on both sides so we lost that street parking okay so we don't have much parking available okay
so this this is the problem so this is why we see that this app could create a a a problem okay now I've been connected with this town since 1968 okay I lived in town okay I served on a zoning board here for a number of years and when I was serving on the
zoning board we okay there were strict strict parking requirements for businesses when they wanted to add on develop their business actually there's a business right up here on catry that came before the board that wanted to put a two-story addition onto
her her building it was denied because the parking again you have to have so much parking per square foot I don't know whether that ordinance is still here okay then she then then they came back with a one story proposal that also was denied because of parking okay and
it was another issue I think with the fire department trying to access the back of the building in itself too now over by me as well next door to me the old rusties again they approv apartment above there with no parking requirements
okay none zero okay so that's creating problems okay so the town itself is really creating some problems in parking but again allowing this development especially smaller develop without the the the parking requirement
okay now so again um you know um you know I was the first president of the Chamber of Commerce okay way back when okay I I really wanted the group form to to have the business have some representation to the powers of be okay
and again at time so we dealt with parking problems they want to put up meters they wanted they wanted to take half of the lot over on Willow and Center for longterm parking for public work okay we said well no we need it for the
businesses and I said why not use the lot over here right here at the Miss they said they couldn't because it was Green Acres money that that that purchased this lot and developed it so they have to open it to the public now I'm seeing now there's permit parking here now I don't know what that's the
proper use of this lot right now if it was purchased with Green Acres uh money okay so that's one other issue that I'd like to bring up here as well too um again um yeah just about one minute what's that just just about one minute okay I get it
that's why I try try to have not I appreci I'm on I'm here on behalf of the businesses over there we see some problems here and again as you're saying that problems are coming up trying to address them we would like to request a meeting with the mayor and maybe the small business lay a on person prior to
enacting putting up signs and so on so we can maybe figure out our problems maybe maybe figure them out before they become a problem okay so that's what I'm here to request a meeting so I'm I'm looking forward to to
to you know to that meeting thank you I answer all questions after public comments closed so okay thank you I will respond is there anybody else who wishes to address the mayor and Council okay can I have a motion to
close public hearing on ordinance 24-1 so moved second all in favor opposed okay um thank you both for coming up and and speaking on this ordinance
um and a little bit of my answer to Mr Patterson does go a little bit to to some of what you're speaking about Mr wise um when we did have those Town Hall meetings and yes we were focusing on the south side but we did discuss moving it to the North side at that time and there
actually was a a business owner um who who was there from the north side and was very in favor of this and requesting it um you know to couldn't wait till it moved over to the north side to be honest because she found as you have
said Mr wise that there were people parking in those spots in front of her business all day long and not allowing any of her customers to to park there um so my hope is that this does uh
eliminate some of that problem um I am completely open to meeting with the um business owners of course up there um I know uh I have spoken to many of them um in terms of some of the
issues that are the business owners have seen on the sou on the south side and they did come in and mention a few of them our chief really has worked hard to correct some of them we do know that there is an issue sometimes with the seniors not you know having ability to
um use the app and understand how to use the app our police officers have worked with them I know they even came into our senior club meeting and downloaded it for some of them and showed them how to work on it and they've come in here and asked and our police officers have gone out and and helped them um to figure it
out um and there is also as you know the number that you can call if the app if you prefer not to use the app um so that is an option uh but our our some of the other issues are chief has worked with those
owners to rectify in terms of I don't know Chief if you want to speak to some of this um what you've done to download the app uh we came up with those passes where the business would
download the app pay for the play ticket to put on their card um you really have any usage because I don't know if you so a lot of the problems that start in the beginning have worked themselves out and um I'll work with you every day I see
all yeah 100% I I'll meet up you after this and no yeah and I'm I'm happy to sit down and talk but it's I know that there were some of those issues with having seniors come in and not knowing and and and honestly some of the issues in the beginning were just that people didn't know that it was there and you
know perhaps they got a ticket or something like that but it you know now people know that this is there some of some of those obvious issues have have been eliminated and again there will be a grace period on the North side we're not just going to
start ticketing um there does have to be a lot of um education in terms of what's Happening um we will be putting out on social media all of that in the papers all of that that this is happening um so I I I'm hopeful that nobody becomes
unaware that it's it's occurring um we do also have and I know the the concern is the parking in front of the businesses on North Avenue um we do have JFK Plaza however and I do know that you
know nobody wants to walk across the street but that's well there's a light you you cross at the light I I would encourage everybody to please cross at at the correct intersections um and so that is um part
that our businesses are able to tell their customers that they can use and um just anecdotally I do notice there's always um spots there I've never really had a problem finding a spot over at JFK Plaza to then walk over to the coffee
shop for instance um so while I understand everybody wants this spot like right in front of the business I understand that um you know with the growth that all of these towns are having and with the visitors coming in from all of the towns next to us um we
we just do have to look at some of these other possibilities and and yeah it's it's changed like I said I understand it it's changed getting used to parking across the street or something like that but um I do see that I I it's
interesting I used to get complaints about having no parking at all downtown and I have not had that since I haven't had anybody coming to my office to complain that they can't find a spot anymore now whether that's because now more people are walking which I hope um
or whether because there's enough turnover now which I think is is the other possibility so um I have to look into the uh Mr wise the other thing that you mentioned with a lot with Green Acres I don't really know anything about that um so I will do a little digging
with Mr Arthur um but I I I so Mr Patterson yes the north side businesses there were some that were actually at the the town hall meetings but they all have been informed about this and talked to about this as well but there's a lot
more education to do as we move into this and as I said it's going to be a few weeks before like with weather um just before anything's implemented and then of course we will have a lot of time to um do warnings and flyers and let the businesses know and then work
with the businesses for some of those issues that um Chief stoer has worked with the owners down here on so I hope that answers um some questions but again we can set up some time to talk um if I may have a motion to adopt
ordinance 25 21 I'll make that motion second roll call please Miss Perry councilwoman Bodo I councilman Foley I councilman Carney I councilman Lazaro hi councilman pusc hi council president noi
I okay Miss Perry can you read ordinance 25- 02 by title only an ordinance of the Barrow code of the buau of Garwood by amending chapter 21 entitled vehicles and traffic Article 1 traffic and parking section 21-8 2hour
parking uh do we have any cons uh correspondence concerning this ordinance no does anyone present wish to be heard concerning this ordinance okay um can I have a motion to close public hearing on this ordinance so move
second uh any discussion among Council okay is there a motion to adopt this ordinance so moved second uh roll call please uh Karina uh roll call please
councilwoman Bodo hi councilman Foley hi councilman Carney hi councilman Lazaro hi Council Pres pres PC no I oh sorry counc PC Council I'm still getting used to his
name all right and you need did you do council president the council president n oh I said council president NY I'm sorry I okay um Miss Perry can you read
ordinance 25- 03 by title only an ordinance amending the burrow of code of the burrow of Garwood by amending chapter 21 section 21-8 point2 entitled 15minute parking do we have any correspondence concerning this ordinance
no does anyone present wish to be heard concerning this ordinance okay um can I have a motion to close public hearing on ordinance 25- 03 second uh any discussion
okay is there a motion to adopt this ordinance so moved second uh roll call please Miss Perry councilwoman Bodo hi councilman Foley hi councilman Carney hi councilman Lazaro I
councilman pusc I council president ndi I okay we have an ordinance a couple ordinances up for introduction Miss Perry can you read ordinance 25- four by title only an ordinance amending the burrow code of the burrow of Garwood by
amending chapter 35 34 entitled Police Department section four entitled appointments do I have a motion to introduce this ordinance moved second roll call please councilwoman vodo I councilman Foley I
councilman Carney I councilman Lazaro hi councilman pusc hi council president NY hi Miss Perry can you read ordinance 25-5 by title only an ordinance amending the
burrow code of the Bureau of Garwood by amending chapter 71 entitled businesses and occupations article one Hawkers pedlers solicitors canvases Distributors of advertising 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 thank you moving along to council
standing committee reports finance and Personnel councilman fley thank you mayor as as we prepare for the 2025 budget we have updated it to reflect the flat1 sewer fee for all Residential Properties and units including adjustments for senior and Veteran
deductions I want once again state that this fee is about fairness a key focus of these discussions is ensuring that larger apartment complexes like thela as well as future developments such as paperboard contribute their fair share to the Burrow's infrastructure and
utility costs Equity is a driving principle behind this approach ensuring that the burden does not fall disproportionately on single family homeowners or smaller property homeowners additionally we have seen significant wear and tear on sewer pipes
and according to our burough engineer we have hundreds of areas of concerns with our pipes on the north side of town and we anticipate similar conditions on the South Side this fee allows us to be proactive in maintaining our sewer system and making financially
responsible repairs through preventative maintenance it is far more costeffective to prevent a problem than to fix it after it happens remember that the sewer is a utility much like how you pay for gas or electric however in this case the
burrow sends the check to rvsa and pays for maintenance and repairs with the annual large and I very large increases in rvsa which this year alone is increasing over $42,000 as well as an increased cost for
cleaning and repairs it is just not sustainable to continue on in the same way it also isn't fair to cover those increased costs through taxes when our new developments should share that burden a separate fee is something many
other towns have implemented many years ago to cover the Gap while a fee isn't something we know everyone looks forward to we will not Kick the Can down the road like so many councils before us we won't put Garwood in a financial that financial situation any longer that
being said we are mindful of rising costs and when looking at fees in surrounding towns we feel we have been uh Jud uh judicious coming in much lower Clark comes in at 280 Cranford just amended their charge to 210 and
Westfield amended theirs last year to $265 just to give some comparison again just to note the finance committee is recommending that seniors and Veterans who received the state deduction on their property taxes will also receive a
$25 deduction on the fee um Mr Authur and our burough attorney are currently working to draft this ordinance I would also like to add that we have opted for a flat $100 sewer fee instead of a use usage-based system
because our administrative Department lacks the infrastructure to manage usage billing without hiring additional staff other towns have faced significant challenges implementing usage based fees and based on their experience a flat fee
ensures fairness and efficiency Finance also met with the Garwood fire department this week to discuss their 2025 budget requests including operational needs and Equipment upgrades uh for the bur we will be produ uh producing a budget presentation for
everyone in the community on April 2nd at 6 PM in burrow Hall throughout the budget process I will be meeting with members of the public to discuss any concerns or questions they may have about the budget and the proposed sewer fee I will provide updates and detailed in information to ensure transparency
and keep residents informed about the progress of these discussions ensuring Financial fairness and sustainability remains a top priority and I look forward to engaging with all of you as we work together on these important initiatives thank you thank you
councilman uh fire and OEM councilman Lazar thank you mayor the fire committee met last week with uh the chief and assistant fire chief to review priorities for the upcoming budget season we discussed a variety of issues including ways to improve a communication ations and idea is to turn
the firehouse into a eligible Organization for training or fire department on a variety of critical skills this resolution is seen in the consent in the consent agenda as 25- 53 and was supported by all members of the
committee this would authorize the fire department to hold trainings at the firehouse that otherwise may not be eligible without this resolution in place so I encourage the council to vote in favor of this resolution and that's all for my report thank you councilman community development councilman pusc uh
nothing to report mayor Public Works councilwoman Boda thank you mayor in addition to their reoccurring activities Public Works employees perform the following operations during and after the light winter snow events on February 2nd 3D 6
8th 9th 11 and 12th they were busy theing of all Municipal streets burrow own sidewalks and parking lots before during and after the storm travel to the Union County Public Works facility and loaded Each truck with the icing materials before and after the storm has
needed plowed all Municipal streets and burrow owned sidewalks and parking lots removed and reinstalled The Pedestrian Crossing stanions removed stack pile snow from handicap wraps at each school crossing a quick reminder that garbage
and recycling do not have an exact pickup time but it must be completed by the end of the day boxes should be broken down and tied up especially on Windy days the next recycling of electronics concrete brick and motel oil is
scheduled for Saturday March 8th you may drop off items behind the DPW building at the end of Willow Avenue between the hours of 10: a.m. and 2m that concludes my report thank you thank you yes and thank you to the department there's been a lot of nasty weather out there so
thank you the feedback is as usual our streets are topnotch so uh we appreciate that from there police councilman Carney uh thank you mayor uh my first item tonight is an update on the accreditation process uh since our last
council meeting the on-site inspection was completed successfully uh and I'm happy to report that the Garwood police department will be recommended for accreditation uh I'm looking forward to a future presentation for this which u i host to uh hope to host at a uh upcoming
council meeting uh the police committee has continued discussions this month on a code update for dog licensing and uh we are considering examples of local codes from multiple surrounding towns as we work through our own chapter on this
topic uh we do not have a consensus in committee yet for exactly how this is going to look uh but areas under consideration are streamlining some language uh which appears to date from the mid1 1980s uh the best public health
health practices for a li ing program uh including if we should additionally register domestic cats alongside dogs uh the ability to register for the length of a rabies vaccination and ways to encourage compliance since our review of current registration shows less register
dogs than expected uh I've asked councilman Foley to Loop in the Board of Health and the Westfield Regional Health Department to consult on the best practices and I'm hopeful to have a recommendation out of committee and a full Council discussion on this soon uh just a note to finance uh our ability
to handle an increase in registrations through an online portal uh will be a factor and how we proceed on this legislation and how we construct uh any incentives for compliance uh the police committee also continued discussion on Center Street
Bike lanes and uh the Safe Streets proposal uh work is still in progress on both uh and just before I get into the police activity report for uh last month uh I just want to take a moment and highlight the massive increase in motor
vehicle stops over the last few months um we've discussed robus traffic enforcement as one factor of Safe Streets uh in the police committee for some time now uh and I'm very proud of the current efforts of our officers to address not just any violation but how
they're focusing on offenses which reflect aggressive behavior by drivers so outstanding work to the uh to the officers uh in the month of January the Carwood Police Department
reported 2,216 calls for service uh these calls include but are not limited to 325 motor vehicle stops um again I just have to note how
impressive that is that is multiple stops per day every day by every officer working to to get to a number like that with the Department this size so again great work uh 79 parking complaints handled 90 fixed traffic posts for radar
stop sign and distracted driving 272 building or property checks uh 47 medical assists 95 community policing posts even in this horrible weather uh 22 walking posts 23 suspicious persons
in vehicles investigated and 18 criminal investigations uh and one final note the uh installation of the new radio system for uh both the police and fire departments has begun uh the police department is currently field testing several of the portable radios and working on the
program configurations uh so far the radios have been exceeding expectations the system is expected to be completed within the next few weeks and that's all for this report thank you I just want to Echo your sentiments about the number of
Motor Vehicle stops um and how big the increase has been over just even this past year um and even the past couple of months uh I know when Chief stoer uh was installed as Chief uh that was one of our you know biggest discussions and
goals was to increase the the number of Motor Vehicle stops and and the aggress to limit the aggressive behavior and the speeding aggressive driving behavior and the speeding in town um and you know as we go um door too or residents come to
me the biggest complaint you always hear is speeding right um but the the way we can uh really figure out if we're making a dent in that and and the you know if it's being enforced is this sort of data
and the data is proving that you know we are really moving in such a good direction with that so um I applaud the Department chief stoer your leadership there and and all of the officers who have really taken this on to to make this a priority so I appreciate
it Community engagement council president ndi thank you mayor um the Garwood partnership for arts and culture is currently presenting Garwood warms your heart a yarn bombing project now on display through the end of February on the corners of North and South Avenues
in Garwood in January GAC collected knitted items from community members Robin Marco a member of the Garwood Public Library knitting club made a large donation of scarves hats and neck warmers texti artist and gpack member Chia tyanne presented two family
knitting and yarn creation workshops at the Garwood Recreation Center in January kids and families created pom poms and needle point tiles in early February the yarn bombing committee met to combine the pieces into panels that could be shown onto the lamp posts eight panels
were created and on Saturday February 8th gpeg members Chia tyanne Christine gerero Council B and myself SE them into place on the burrow lampost corners of North uh North Avenue in Walnut and South Avenue in Center Street for more
information about the garard partnership for arts and culture please visit the gpac website for recreation we have um several upcoming adult programs that are available for registration at Garwood rec.com we have taiichi on Tuesdays from
7 to 8 there are 10 classes beginning March 4th through May 6th yoga on Thursdays from 6:30 to 7:30 there are 10 classes beginning April 3rd to June 9th uh there's open play soccer Fridays from
8: to 9:50 starting March 14th that's a free program Ceramics Wednesdays at 7 there are um the dates are the 26th of February the 26th of March the 30th of April and May
28th there's also the last one I want to highlight is painting for adults Wednesday the 9th of April uh at 700 p.m. and then we have some upcoming youth programs that are also available
for registration at Garwood bre.com we have a Lego based program called brixology which is for um grades kindergarten through five and that's presented by math science Mondays on from 5: to 6 that begins on March 3rd
walking challenge that's going to be for ages 8 to 17 that is going to be during the month of April so you would walk um record your steps and um be eligible for prizes stem Python and R coding for beginners grades 3 through eight this is
being held six Fridays starting on um March 21st through May 2nd from 5:30 to 6:30 laptops are provided stem Python and our coding for intermediate grades three through 8 which is also same time frame
uh starting on March 21st but that one goes from 6:30 to 7:30 and again laptops are provided soccer classes ages 1 and a half to 7 by us Sports Institute Saturday mornings for six weeks beginning um April 26th parent andme
multisports ages 2 to three and a half also presented by us Sports Institute also on Saturday mornings for six weeks beginning on April 26th for historical the historical committee met on January 27th to discuss
its plans to organize and catalog its collection for the purpose of making the collection available for the public the next meeting of the historical committee is February 24th and that's all for my report thank you thank you um and great job on the yarn projects I have to say
uh a resident uh let me know that they get a they it just makes them smile when he walks his child to school every day it just brings a smile to his face and I said that's exactly how every time I pass it it just that first of color makes me smile so it was fun that was
fun thank you for doing that um Library councilman Lazaro thank you mayor so some of the upcoming events in February and March include on February 18th at 6:30 p.m. discover the power of hypnosis with Barry Wolfson certified hypnotherapist Barry Wolfson director of
the hypnosis counseling centers of New Jersey will share his Insight on how h nois works and its Effectiveness in helping people achieve their goals on February January 19 sorry from February 19 I'm combining months on February 19th at 3M there will be a Lego Club be
inspired by the month's theme or build whatever comes to mind some Creations will be displayed in the Showcase registration required a limit of 12 on March 4th at 3mm and uh there will be the uh grab and go kids craft and on the
following week will be the grab and go adult craft pick up supplies and instructions for seasonal craft registration is required and for the craft kits and is limited to 15 participants on March 8th at 11:00 a.m. there's a program called from Italy with
love this is a musical performance featuring an array of Italian classical songs performed by renowned vocal tenor Salvatore Chelli and finally on March 27th at 3M this one sounds really cool it's uh a program called mush join nogin
the sled dog and her human Karen land land is a three-time participant in the A Thousand Mile ID Tri ID tribe ID tribe yeah I'm going to go to that sled short dog race across Alaska she along with her lead dog Noggin and her mushing gear will discuss how it feels to ride behind
the team of dogs and what it takes to care for the dogs and again that's on March 27th at 3M that's all for my report that's fun thank you school board leaz on Council MCC Carney uh the next regular meeting of the Garwood Board of Education will be
on Tuesday February 18th uh the mayor and I also scheduled for a follow-up meeting with the superintendent and board president that same week so uh stay tuned thank you um for our senior club we met on February 6th and enjoyed
our meeting lunch and bingo um and where I discuss some upcoming events as well and our next meeting is February 20th at 12:00 pm at the Knights of Columbus small business advisory councilman Carney the small business Association
board met via zoom and held the annual reorganization meeting as required by its bylaws uh congratulations and welcome back to our three returning officers president Eric Weiss vice president Lee Frankl and secretary Stephanie Savino uh we did have one
resignation from the board so we are actively recruiting volunteers to fill the remaining open positions and I think I might have heard one out in the audience a little earlier um the board also reviewed its uh 2024 activities uh discussed 2025
goals uh and considered this year's initiatives uh in addition to the return of the taste of Garwood restaurant week and wellness month the gsba will focus on networking events where small businesses from in and around Garwood can make connections and support each
other this will be a Twist on the traditional uh business card exchange type of event so I'm looking forward to seeing that in action uh the gsba board will meet again early next month to finalize the dates and plans for Taste of
Garwood thank you Board of Health councilman Foley um next meeting is March 19 6m at burough Hall thank you planning board councilman Carney uh next regular meeting of the planning board will be on Wednesday February 28th thank
you um officers reports Miss Perry zoning Enforcement Officers report for January 2025 Property Maintenance Code Enforcement Officers report for January 2025 uh can I have a motion to accept the officer's report so moved second
second all in favor I I opposed okay moving on to public comment if there's anyone in the audience who wishes to address the mayor and Council please step to the microphone and state your full name and address please limit your comments to 5 minutes
John P 410 SCH was the first time since November when I come here to council and new audience here must thank our police officers
firefighters R squ personel because frankly and protecting us count on because they have I'll be kind of attitude it serves us well
serves them well as they serve us let me say this Poli departments poish fire polishing risky squads is not the answer and Mark I say gentlemen should Nega
answer we must back them up on everywhere because they're out there for us and also to back our military personality as we serve our country at home and
abroad especially when a time of country so our surgeons Sailors Marines post as they protect and defend America
Protect and defend our Constitution that time from God with lost their lives fighting for our country honesty they show us with loyalty sh and they
us and show she state thank Ladi and gentlemen thank you Mr Petri is there anybody else who wishes to address the mayor and councel G mome 19 Willow Avenue I have a few questions about in reference to the
tickets with the snow with the Ordinance do we know how many have been issued with the storms that we've had um I know I get Nixels I don't know how else it's being
put out I know that years ago and I'm talking years ago and I believe you a longtime supposedly Cranford resident I don't remember you uh we had the sound truck that would go around to do reminders can we do it with the PA on
the police car because now I have cars on the street that can park in driveways that leave it out there I had a business truck van that was parked there from Saturday
and the tpw was fantastic but then again on Monday after they moov the vehicles after the plows went around them then our DPW comes by and cleans it up which gives these people say well I don't have to move it it's going to be cleaned up
when the rest of us are out there cleaning up the rest of us have moved the vehicles how are they being notified besides nixo on my phone being blown up which is fantastic and I say something other people are like well how'd you find out is this on
Facebook because another problem is in December with the Christmas Day on recycling on the North side we had no Recycling and I did not know and a lot of people other people did not know that it was going to be the that Saturday after Christmas I was told oh well it's
on Facebook I'm not on Facebook another thing is brought up on dog licensing when I went this year I had to have a registration form did we get a new computer system because otherwise you could go in
give the new updated rabies the name's on it your name's been in the computer for years mine's been in there for over 20 years between two dogs I bring in a new rabies oh you have to have a registration form what are you talking about um the concession stand at the
athletic field is this has now gone out to bid we don't have the volunteers to run the kitchen do we have volunteers anymore I mean you talk about volunteers I was very upset to see a concession stand was going out to bid when the people of
garard are not running the concession stand in the 80s I ran it for over 10 years not married and still no kids involved and I ran it and I was there five nights a week and also another thing is soccer
field at the athletic field is this rented Sunday mornings by young men is this out there being rented on Sunday mornings every Sunday morning it's around 7 7:30 you got these
men running back and forth screaming with soccer now also now with the parking has been brought up how much is the revenue been brought in with this parking with this app and how is it working we paying the
company need to guide this with the uh app and what was the store owners who are the store store owners on North Avenue that would came in two years ago with the re I mean the change in the stores over there which ones actually came in two
years ago about this parking thank you thank you is there anybody else who wishes to address the mayor council good evening mayor ladies and gentlemen the Council of Bruce Patterson 325 Willow Avenue just to follow up on uh
Miss mom's uh query about the revenue on the parking and and I've asked this many times and for the public to understand um how many parking tickets have been given out downtown because I'm sure the public would like to know if the people are
actually learning to park properly and and not to get violation so if you could just uh give us a number or the chief give a number uh also there's an executive session on the agenda about litigation could you give us an overview of what that litigation is
about um yeah the shared service between the uh Municipal and the Board of Ed uh Council M Carney actually brought it up I guess you guys are going be meeting but anyway just just to just to mention a reasonable solution because I mean obviously this thing is dragging on for
months and months and months with no resolution why don't you do this vermella one all that revenue from the pilot goes to mun vermella 2 all that Revenue goes to the board of ed extremely simple there has to be no
negotiations after the after that I you know I've mentioned that there should be a fixed number back and forth and so that would make a lot of sense uh the the council meeting last uh meeting the council meeting last time I'm sorry I missed the beginning but the sewer fees
were brought up and tonight councilman Foley actually uh did mention that there's going to be a $100 flat fee per unit which is fine you know I don't see a problem with that right now anyway but anyway my question is uh vermella have they actually uh
agreed to that $100 flat fee and if so now we're talking about the the financial agreement that was set in place between the municipal and vermel um back in 201516 So now that's going to be
adjusted obviously and it's going to have to be amended by the uh bur attorney and of course voted on and ratified for the record if if these numbers are now coming out of vermella these additional dollars unless it's
it's doing some other thing this $100 per unit so maybe could explain that a little bit uh you have resolution 2557 on the uh agenda that's about um I guess advocating for governments to have the
Public Notices put on on their websites uh I don't even know why you have that there I suggest you kind of dismiss it when it comes up for a vote it's it's not necessarily for you to actually advocate for it because all it does is is you advocating for the death of
newspapers and I'm sure you don't want that because that's a serious uh a serious issue that the newspapers are have been talking about so I suggest you didn't this Miss reso 25 death 57 uh the the affordable housing process uh
councilman Carney uh the other meeting was talking about he was going to generate a a resolution and I was looking forward to it being an an opposite an opposing type resolution and it turns out all he did was put together something saying we'd like more funding
uh for affordable housing so basically if you agree to it I guess you're rolling over but I'll tell you I've been sending documents over to you guys that you know you can actually put some some teeth into an opposition or or a fight against what's coming down to us
one of them was uh I did I did one let's see when was it it was um January 20th it was by the New Jersey Institute of local government attorneys it showed an alternate way of generating H affordable housing numbers and and there's an Excel
there that showed uh that Garwood would owe 14 units instead of 80 units uh recently uh February 10th I sent a proposed bill s881 in opposition to the AG process um that one you know if you if you put
together another resolution which would be great you know Rec confer to that because I sent it to you there's also two others out there scr 25 and ACR 28 that's the Senate and the uh the house uh those two which is interesting
they what was that one minute one okay those two are very interesting uh because they're talking about having the legislature control the ah process not the DCA and that I agree because there's a Chevron doctrine that the scotus just
overturned last year you probably know about that where agencies are overreaching and creating their own rules and laws and by All rights it should be done by the legislature so I mean if you want to really sit down and and craft something up with teeth in it
you know I'll be glad to help out um lastly yeah to the to the beginning of the council meeting some of the council members had had expressed a wman at whatever criticisms out there I haven't really seen it so but all I want to tell you is
a couple of words look inward because maybe it's whatever the criticism is it could be have in a reign of Truth so thank you very much is there anybody else who wishes to address the mayor and Council okay can I have a motion to
close public comment so moved second all in favor I opposed okay um Miss mome um in terms of snow enforcement they are doing snow enforcement if it gets to over three in
I don't believe that we have gotten to that point yet this with any of these um storms recently um we do put out nixel letting them letting everybody know if it does um that they need to move their cars however and when it that three
inches has hit we would put out another alert to let people know but it hasn't gotten to that point with these recent snow uh conditions that we've had um it is on multiple social medias Facebook and Instagram um but it is also just a a
part of the code that you know I know living here all these years you know but it is enforced um we just these past couple ones we haven't had any it hasn't gotten to the three-inch Mark um dog licensing yes I believe there is there
was uh some new system put into place this year yes um and I believe uh from the clerk's office and the register's office that the reason for that was some to meet some state requirements um so that's the reason for the change we're also looking into um some potential uh
digital options for filling out licensing next year as well so that potentially wouldn't have to necessarily come into the building for yes okay so the the changes were to that we weren't meeting some certain state requirements with the system that we we were
previously using so um My Hope Is that um through our budget talks this year that we are able to fund the um online module the online portal where we can do online dog licensing I know that would be greatly appreciated I think by the residents for that
convenience um in terms of the concession stand um no we do not they we don't have a um baseball league per se anymore or teams that are playing there is a I believe a softball team or perhaps two softball teams but that used
to be the volunteers came from the Little League um and that is no longer going on um and that's a private that's not the burrow is not in charge of the Little League that was a private organization um but there I and I just
want to say in terms of volunteers yes we and we're not different from any other Town we've seen a big decrease in the number of volunteers as all towns have but I do think honestly that a lot of that goes back to what we talked what some of the
council people talked about in the beginning of the meeting I've heard from a lot of people when I asked them to volunteer for things or hey do you want to do this there's so much vitriol out there online that when somebody goes to
volunteer to do something a lot of times they're you know taking a task on social media for it and you know that volunteer sitting there going hey I'm I'm volunteering my time and I'm going to get you know called names on and yelled
at on social media it's just not worth it to me and you know I saw it just this week when I put up the video of the gpac doing the yarn installation it's a cute fun art installation done by volunteers
who enjoy art they brought workshops to the town for people who want to learn it and then did a fun little installation that's temporary it's going to be up there for a little while just to bring some color and it's been done in another 10 in various ways and they thought it was a fun idea and yet I do have people
on social media criticizing it and saying it's ugly and it it's a waste of time well if you're a volunteer and you've been putting in your time doing these things how much motivation do you now have when you know that that's going to
happen we've had green team events when um you know we'll do cleanups and then we'll have people on social media uh say oh you missed something why didn't you pick up this you know this team just sat this team just walked out for a a couple
of hours doing pickups and they get you know chastised online for something they get you know yelled at online it really the motivation you start to lose it and I do think that's why you do see less and less people wanting to run for local elected office as well they don't make
any money up here and you you do what you can and yes criticism asking about things asking questions giving ideas working out things out together that's a part of it but some of the other stuff is really detrimental to getting people
to do these things some of that that anger and nastiness that's just not yeah necessary when people are volunteering their time and I sorry to go off on it but when you when you mentioned uh about having no volunteers for the concession
stand that that is a big part part of it there's just not that volunteer staff I'm sorry we we can talk I don't like to do a back and forth so because the AUD we can't hear we I do I the Garwood little league is not a part of the
burrow so I I can't tell you what's going on with that or why um but as far as I know there are no baseball teams playing this year last year and this year um the soccer field is rented out one
day a weekend um and the other week the other day is free play you know it's open to anybody um open to the public so I'm not sure if you're seeing people that are coming in which days and times you're looking at but there are people that do rent it all day and then there's uh different groups that rent it
throughout the week as well and then we do have people that I know my daughter goes over there and plays soccer you know during the week and on weekends as well when it's available um the parking enforcement um the
revenues I I I feel like we've talked about this Chief um do you want to go talk about the revenues how much we were getting an average transaction okay um and in terms of the number of tickets I don't know if you
have that information because I don't you have a total and that is a small percentage I I know we talked about that that that's a very small percentage of the total number of tickets that we have we have about you get about 1,200 and so it's
it's a small percentage um and and it's you know I know tickets are going to happen I got in under the mark when I was you know paying for my Park Mobile over on Center Street but I got there just as it was expiring so I was okay
but you have to watch um let's see the sore fee we do not have to amend a Redevelopment plan similar to when we did we have Implement any new fee that
would affect um residents such as new turnover inspections and things like that you don't have to um amend the original um Redevelopment PL
Gela participates in those turnover inspections and pays their fees for that as well it's a similar sort of situation um and I think that's it for questions so okay moving on to the consent
agenda does anybody have any resolutions uh they need to remove um could you remove 2557 sure uh anybody else okay can I have a motion to adopt the
consent agenda as amended so moved second second uh any discussion okay Miss Perry rall please councilwoman Bodo hi councilman Foley hi councilman Carney hi councilman Lazaro
hi councilman fusc hi council president noi hi um can I for resolution 25-57 can I have a motion to adopt it so moved second second
discussion I just think um I understand the need for wanting to uh put this on official government websites um but I do think um with the changes and information and the changes in the more
digitized World um um it has hindered local journalism um and I think it's really important to uh invest in that and so I uh just want to address that and anybody else uh I just want to respond to
councilman Foley's comment um I uh circulated this and put it forth onto the consent agenda um my reason for it is is very simple um I Heard uh Mr Patterson criticize this and now also you you
um the news industry has done this to itself uh there's just not proper focus on things that there should be and that's why you're seeing less local journalism
but this goes back you know uh 20 years to the Advent of New Jersey Advanced media taking over um buying out the Star Ledger buying out other local public cutting and slashing their staff cutting and slashing editorial staff which is
the the big piece of why you know if you go on new jersey.com eight out of the top 10 stories are fluff like you're not getting a lot of news anymore but us subsidizing any
um newspaper uh and most of them aren't even actually papers anymore uh that's with tax dollars so that's why I brought this forth I just think this is something you know years ago I wouldn't have even considered but we don't live in the same information environment now
that we did then and at this point it's just money coming out of us so what new jersey.com can post it on their website instead of g.org so I'm hopeful that the legislature will address this uh public notice thing going forward that was the point of doing
this anybody else I'll just ask a question about you know May maybe those with either maybe not without internet access but perhaps those who are accustomed to receiving it
in a physical copy I mean it's a maybe a parallel concern to how things have that some of the issues that were raised about the app for parking in that case we have gone with the app simply because meters are not feasible for Garwood as a
just as a financial question um in this case I don't know what the cost is per notice but um it does seem to me that the option is at least on the table in a way that it's not in in the other case so I I just like to to register that that it may reach some people who otherwise
would not be reached and I don't think that can go on forever but there you know is a question about when when do we um move outside of that window where there are going to be people who won't be reached by the the digital and I don't have an answer to that question but I think it needs to be in the record
now the legislature has to look at this issue um of the breakdown of local durum and I don't think this is the correct uh way to move forward on their end I just have a quick question about it so is the um the resolution so right
now um we where do we actually publish our notices it's published in the Westfield leader the hawk I mean the the hawk that's where it is currently okay yes well I believe the existing uh statute require re ired publication in
two newspapers and the issue the reason why the legislature passed this this stop Gap measure last year was that with the shutdown of uh The Star Ledger and also uh the I think it's called the journal in in Jersey City um there are
no print Publications available or there's no second print publication available to something like 80% of the state so uh if the legislature does not take action we're going to be in violation as of March 1st um
so again just looking at this from with my good government lens on why are we going to pay New Jersey Advanced media to post this on their website when we could post it on our own I'm not opposed to maintaining legal notices in the local paper of record but most
municipalities don't have that option and to then have to pay New Jersey Advanced media when we could just put it on our own website I I think that's ridiculous so I'm hoping that these resolutions and I know uh multiple towns around us are considering this one and
their meetings uh within the next week or so I hope this gets Trenton's attention and they do something to address this from a good government perspective it's not about cutting off access to information um that the news the newspaper industry's already done
that to itself we're really just reacting to what's actually happening the legislature would have this discussion with the concerns of of the issues with local journalism I would agree with it but I don't see any
discussions um any concerns about it and I think local journalism and state journalism is a Bull workk against any unethical uh or or practices by uh people in power and the fact that we're
reducing any income for it uh I cannot agree with anything else I appreciate the discussion um do I have a motion to adopt this resolution uh I motioned oh I
already motioned okay roll call councilwoman Bodo hi councilman Foley no councilman Carney I councilman Lazaro hi councilman pusc n no council
president ndi I it passes okay thank you um moving on to payment of claims um Miss Perry be it resolved that the following claims as approved being 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 second uh roll call call please councilwoman Bodo hi councilman Foley hi
councilman Carney I councilman lazarro hi councilman pusc hi council president ndi hi okay the regular meeting of the mayor and Council will be held on Thursday February 27th 2025 at 7 pm in council
chambers information for meetings is posted on the barel website can I have a motion to adjourn so move second second all in favor I oppose okay thank you everybody what yeah