the deputy clerk. Um, please join us in standing for the pledge of allegiance. Thank you. To the flag of the United States of America and to the fory andice for all.
In accordance with chapter 231, open public meetings act, adequate and proper notice of this meeting has been given to the public by publishing a notice in the Glenidge paper, Glenidge Voice, Montlair Times and the Star Ledger and posting said notice on the bulletin board in the
municipal building. The agenda and public handouts for this meeting can be viewed online at www. glenrichenj.org. A public comment will be held as listed on the agenda. Please state your meeting for the record and note that comments will be limited to
three minutes per person. Um, Mr. Deputy Clerk, this roll call. Councelor Leovich here. Hughes here. Zimit here. Law here. Meer here. Moody here.
Mayor M is present. You have a qu. Thanks. Um, we will table the minutes of May um 12th. We don't Do we need to do a motion for that, Mike? Oh, that's okay. Okay.
So, we'll pick those back up um at the next meeting. Uh any written communication? Not this time, May. Not this time. Thank you. Um I have comments. I just want to thank everyone um in the Kuanas Club for the great
Memorial Day. Sorry, we missed it. We had a family obligation. Um, and we are we won family quiz bowl light uh at the national academic competition down in Florida. So, I just want to let you guys know that. Um, it was
well worth it. Um, and we have a a proclamation. So, I will go ahead with that. Um, declaring the first Friday in June. to be National Gun Violence Awareness
Day. This proclamation declares the first Friday in June to be National Gun Violence Awareness Day in Glen Ridge Burough to honor and remember all victims and survivors of gun violence and to declare that we as a country must do more to end this public health
crisis. Whereas every day 125 Americans are killed by gun violence and more than 260 are shot and wounded with an average of nearly 19,000 gun homicides every year. And whereas people in the United States are 26 times more likely to die
by gun homicide than people in other high income countries. And whereas New Jersey has 437 gun deaths each year, a crisis that costs the state 5.3 billion dollars each year, of which
168.9 million is paid by taxpayers. New Jersey has the fifth lowest rate of gun deaths in the US. And whereas gun homicides and assaults are concentrated in cities with more than half of all firearm related gun deaths in the nation
occurring in 42 cities. And whereas cities and towns across the nation including in Glenidge are working to end the senseless violence with evidence-based solutions. And whereas protecting public safety in the communities they serve is the mayor and
council's highest responsibility. And whereas support for second amendment rights of law abiding citizens goes hand in hand with keeping guns away from people with dangerous histories. And whereas mayors, council members, and law enforcement officers in partnership with
local violence intervention activists and resources know their communities best and are most familiar with local criminal activity and how to address it and are best positioned to understand how to keep their citizens safe. And whereas gun violence prevention is more
important than ever as we see gun violence continue to impact communities across the country. And whereas in January 2013, Hidea Pendleton was tragically shot and killed at age 15. And on June 6, 2025, to recognize the
28th birthday of Hidea, people across the United States will recognize National Gun Violence Awareness Day and wear orange in tribute to Hidea Pendle and other victims of gun violence and the loved ones of those victims. And whereas the idea was inspired by a group
of Hidea's friends who asked their classmates to commemorate her life by wearing orange, they chose this color because hunters wear orange to announce themselves to other hunters when out in the woods. And orange is a color that symbolizes the value of human life. And
whereas anyone can join in this campaign by pledging to wear orange on June 7th, 2025. and people across the United States will raise awareness about gun violence and honor the lives of gun violence victims and survivors. And whereas we renew our commitment to
reduce gun violence and pledge to do all we can to keep firearms out of the hands of people who should not have access to them and encourage responsible gun ownership to help keep our families and communities safe. Now therefore, be it resolved that I, Mayor Debbie Mans of
the Glenidge Burough, declare J 2025, the first Friday in June to be National Gun Violence Awareness Day. I encourage all citizens, residents to support their local community's efforts to provide to prevent the tragic effects
of gun violence and to honor and value human lives. Thank you for that. And with that, I will turn it over for comments from the public. I think we have some of our friends here.
Good evening. My name is John. I'm a long time president here in behalf of every time safety and the Essex County chapter of Action forense America. Thank you all for the proclamation this evening and for the
work that you do to support violence prevention. You all heard the statistics that were included in the proclamation. I won't repeat any of those. I thought I might very briefly highlight three developments that I think underscore the importance of being committed to gun
violence prevention. Um first of all, there are simply many more guns in our communities than ever before. You know, we are lucky in New Jersey to live in a state that has pretty strict gun laws and we have correspondingly relatively low levels of
gun violence. Um however, Supreme Court ruling in 2022, the socalled ruin decision, just about anyone can get a permit to carry a concealed weapon. So, and they have been, unfortunately. Some of the numbers uh in the roughly two and
a half years before Brewan, there were 1,548 applications for concealed carry permits approved in New Jersey. In the roughly two and a half years since Breuan, 71,9
8 permits have been approved in Essex County. The number of permits granted went up from 426 to 6,080. So just think of those numbers,500 on the one hand, almost 72,000 on the other. Uh the second
development over the past few months, New Jersey has lost $35 million in federal funding for gun violence intervention programs. These are the on the ground efforts by people who literally put their lives at risk um to
contain and combat gun violence and these efforts will be almost completely wiped out as a result of the stock. Um third, there is a movement uh of foot in Congress to establish a
national reciprocity policy whereby that we in New Jersey would have to accept the concealed carry regulations of any state in the union. So if uh you are a res of any of the 29 states that have
completely completely done away with any kind of training or permitting for guns, uh they will be allowed to carry guns here in New Jersey. This despite the fact that research has shown that these developments have been absolutely
devastating for public safety. Just one example from West Orange from West Virginia, I'm sorry. Um and Uh 2016, West Virginia passed the so-called permitless carry law. By 2020, four
years later, gun homicides had increased by 48% and suicides had increased by 22%. We don't think we have to live. We should be have to live under these kinds of circumstances. So that is why moms and my colleagues here wear orange to
advocate for gun violence prevention and why we are so appreciative of your to support our work and for issuing this proclamation tonight. Thank you very much. Yeah. Well, thank you for all your work to educate our community and and to show leadership on this. So, we
appreciate it to all of you guys. Just curious, what type of process does New Jersey have to carry a concealed weapon? You mentioned training and permit process. I'm not familiar with the detail. Okay. You know, prior to the law, New Jersey
like New York case actually concerned New York. You had to establish a reason why you needed to carry um the decision turned completely on its head. So now you don't really you know
you have to pass I guess basic it's a medical psychological background check as well as the safety course at an established location that is certified to prove safety and efficiency with the law
has also thrown the courts into a bit of of chaos because um you know the ruling says that um any gun prevention law safety law has to have some analog in
prior law either from the founding of the country or from the time of the 14th amendment in the 1860s. Uh and so suddenly we turned our courts into historians come in and the gun right what the gun laws were
in the 1860s or in the 1780s crazy. So and New Jersey still has a case pending to ensure that we can restrict guns in certain sensitive
places. We'll see how that turns out. But again, we really appreciate your support. Thank you. Any other comments from the public? Um, all right. We'll move over to the business portion of the meeting.
Um, okay. Uh, councelor left. Um, certainly. And, uh, search for something here. Yeah. So, um before getting into the uh finance and uh administration
committee, I I just want to speak for a moment as your designate on the board of the library. Uh to just give some some good news about the library. Uh I'm sure you all recall uh last fall the library
put out a survey. uh your library, your voice. Uh most of us here probably responded to that survey. The response rate was excellent. They got 840 uh responses to the survey. U you know,
roughly a third of households in Ridge uh responded to the survey. Well, now the New Jersey Library Association uh which is having their conference this week in Atlantic City is going to award this campaign with their PR marketing
award for the year just in recognition of the great job that GL did and reaching out to the community to inform the strategic plan of the library. So, so I want to commend the library for
that. on on the uh finance and administration committee. First of all, I have resolution 102-25 uh to resolve that the uh claims listed in the resolution be approved and
warrants be drawn to the same. Most prominently we have payments to the uh board of education and Essex County uh because we are the uh tax collector for them and the other funds that are
listed in the resolution. So I move resolution 102-25. You heard the motion by councelor Lewit. Do I have a second? Second. Heard the motion by council left. Seconded by council Moody. Any
discussion? Seeing none, um, Mr. Deputy Clerk, could you read? Councelors Leovitz, I Hughes. Zimit. Hi, Law. Hi, Meer. Hi, Moody. Hi.
Six eyes, no nays. The motion carries. Um and uh next madame mayor I have ordinance 1823 for final meeting. This is an ordinance establishing titles for non-union and other employees of the
burrow of Glen Ridge and fixing the 2025 maximum annual salaries and other compensation for those titles. Madam Mayor, this is to state for the record that this ordinance has been published and posted in accordance with
the statute. I declare this meeting open for discussion of this ordinance and this ordinance only. This being the time and the place for the public hearing. And we could just say most prominently uh this ordinance is to adjust the uh
compensation for the crossing and summer staff and to Yeah. and compliance with the state uh minimum salaries as well. Exactly. Any other comments? Uh, no further comments forthcoming. I
declare this public hearing closed. So, uh, Madame Mayor, I move that this ordinance be adopted. May I have a second on that? I'll second. Heard the motion by councelor Lecoit, seconded by councelor Hughes. Um, will the deputy
clerk please call the role? Councilors Levitz I. Hughes. Hi. Zimit. Hi. Law. Hi. Meer. Hi. Moody. Hi. Six eyes. No name. The ordinances adopt. Perfect.
Yes. Uh, next. Um, madame mayor, I have ordinance number 1824. This is an ordinance to appropriate capital improvement funds for various capital improvements and equipment. May I have a a second for the
introduction? I'll second. Thank you. Um is there any discussion uh amongst the members of council? So uh this ordinance now that we have adopted the budget this ordinance is to
uh allocate some money for police vehicle and various public works projects in the bur. Thank you. Seeing no other comments um deputy clerk please call the role. Councilors Leovitz. Hi. Hughes. Hi. Zimit. Hi. Law.
Hi. Meer. Hi Modi. Hi. Six eyes. No names. The motion the ordinance passes on first reading. I prefer ordinance 1824 to the municipal clerk for the purpose of statutory publication and posting.
And finally, mayor, I have ordinance 1825, uh, an ordinance establishing titles for non-union and other employees of the bureau of Glen Ridge and fixing the 2025 maximum annual salaries and other compensations for police
captain. This is for first reading. Uh, may I have a second for the introduction of this ordinance? any uh discussion amongst the members of the council. Uh look, we uh we're in the process of
uh we've gone through and we've identified uh that we want to resurrect the chief. Uh we have had an open and fair application process and we are
we've decided upon a candidate who's with us tonight. I was wondering why he was here but able to to move forward with this. We have to uh we have to amend the ordinance. Okay.
Seeing no further comments uh deputy clerk please call the role. Councilors Leovitz. Hi. Hughes. Hi Zim. Hi Law. Hi. Meer. Hi. Moody. Hi.
Uh, this ordinance passes. I refer ordinance 1825 to municipal clerk for the purpose of statuto publication and posting. Thank you. Thank you. Councelor Hughes public safety committee. Uh, just very briefly, Mayor. Right. Good portion of
my report was was co-opted by the ordinance on the salary. Uh but we are delighted to be able to uh to recognize really an outstanding candidate himself who's been a a real positive force for our police department for many many
years. I'm also happy that we are going to be moving ahead with another police vehicle and keeping them current as best we can. Uh and that's all I have to Okay. Thank you. Councelor Zimit, uh, community affairs and public relations
shut down the south end for a food truck festival at the Freeman Garden. Uh so I would like to take a moment actually we so in the past two weeks we've had uh three kind of keystone events in town uh and the town really turned out and uh so between the arts and ecoair
um grow and roses at frame gardens on Friday and then the memorial day parade um you know this is we always talk about how this is a town that is run by volunteers and all those events uh had a large volunteer component. Um, kudos to the the police departments who were
fantastic. All all them keeping people safe. Um, and taking amazing pictures with rainbows. If you haven't seen the the police department uh Instagram, please check out please check out the story. Uh, the picture is is worth it. Uh, and then obviously DBW as well for
all their assistance. So, um, just, you know, every everybody deserves a pat on the back. Uh, kudos to the community for coming out, particularly Roses with with the rain. people break the rain. Um, but they were all all three were a big success. Um, so I just want to thank everybody involved.
That's great and those are great events. Um, council law public works utility committee. Just wanted to briefly thank um public works or police force Kelly uh and their efforts related to the uh Memorial Day parade. Um, I was unable to
make it but I did hear great things about it and these things don't happen by themselves and it take a lot of effort on the holiday and certainly appreciate everybody's efforts there. So that's all I have to discuss tonight. Councelor Meer Parks and Wreck. Uh no no
excuse me no report this evening. Okay. She lost her voice over. Well, thank you to councelor Meyer for stepping in and giving that Memorial Day speech. Really appreciated that. Um Council Moody, Planning and Development
Committee. I'll just keep it really brief. Uh there was a planning board meeting last week at which uh our town planner and our planning consultants gave a presentation uh on the affordable housing element of
our master plan and changes that modifications that we seek to make to be in conformance with uh kind of the state statutory guidelines surrounding meeting our um affordable housing targets. Uh
that will be available on the town website for folks to take a look at. Um and it was well received and I think we're moving it along the next meeting for adoption will be in early June, but the meeting will be moving because of
the high school graduation date. So stay tuned. Yeah, that's all for me. Thank you. Uh administrator, deputy clerk, engineer. So, uh mayor, I'd just like to acknowledge uh our employees retiring
Deb Henry in the building department. Deb started in 2008, uh working with the community pool uh when that was their own entity before we absorbed them. 2012, she moved on over to the building department, became the forward face to
them, and the end of the month, she is uh retiring. uh we have she's been uh we have a new hire working in tandem with Deb and uh so if you have an opportunity for all the public out there just to swing by
and uh you know let it let let her know you appreciate her work for uh since 2012 with us down in the building department. Thank you mayor. Thank you. I have no report. Okay. This Thursday is the rescheduled
Rhino R for middle school. So, as long as weather pending between 9:30 and 12, we'll have Bridgewood Avenue shut for the hopefully. Fingers crossed. You should just keep the blockades like on Avenue.
Well, between that and then Blogger Run. Yeah, just keep them off. All right. Fun event. Okay. We don't have any new or unfinished business. A second chance for comments from the public.
I'll just There are no public. Um, councelor Meyer like to make a motion to adjourn. All those in favor? Thank you. Thank you.