All right, we are returning back from executive session. It is 7:03 and our first order of business this evening is the swearing in of Fire Chief Keith Rosaza. And so I'm going to just
jump right into it. If you can come on down, please. Any family, please. If I can get someone to hold it. Perfect. Great. You can raise your right hand, please.
I, Keith Rosaza, I, Keith Rzaza, do solemnly swear do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of New Jersey in the Constitution of the State of New
Jersey that I will bear truth, faith, and allegiance that I will bear truth, faith, and allegiance to the same to the same and to the governments established in the United States and to the governments established in the United States and in this state
and in this state under the authority of the people under the authority of the people and that I will faithfully and I will faithfully impartially impartially and justly perform all the duties and justly perform all the duties
of fire chief of fire chief according to the best of my ability according to the best of my ability. So help me God. So help me God. Congratulations sir. [Applause]
Chief, if you don't mind. Yes. Wonderful. I was going to ask if you wanted to say a few words. I kept it under our standard three minutes. There you go. You're allowed. Great. Thank you guys, everyone, for being here tonight. Uh, this means a lot to me. So, good evening. Uh, first I
want to sincerely thank Mayor Gaines, um, Deputy Mayor Tumi, Councilman Diaz, Councilman Carol, Councilwoman Clark, Clark Carlin, uh, excuse me, Clark Collins. Um, I really appreciate this opportunity. Uh, congratulations to all
of you on your recent election victory and I look forward to working with you closely to ensure the safety of the residents of Hackinac and the safety of the men and women of the Hackinack Fire Department. Um, I'd also like to acknowledge city manager Freeman and
Attorney Malieri for your leadership and your guidance. Um, I look forward to working with all of you as a team to ensure the safety of the Hackinac residents. Um, so when I first got hired as a fireman
in the city 25 years ago, I was a young firefighter, I was 21 years old. I had a lot to learn. Uh, some of my most formative years were spent here. and the lessons learned. Um, as I grew up inside the firehouse walls and on the streets
of Hackinack helping people built the foundation for everything I know about leadership and teamwork and service. I was fortunate enough to be surrounded by mentors and leaders, many of who are in
this room, who shaped me not just as a firefighter but as a person. and I'm extremely thankful and appreciative of that. I've also been fortunate enough to work alongside some of the best firefighters in the world. And I mean that, the men and
women of this department who give their everything they have every single day for the people of this city. Their dedic dedication, their courage, their professionalism and the pride are what make this
department so special to me and truly outstanding. To my parents, George and Carol, who recently celebrated their 52nd wedding anniversary, congratulations. Thank you for your constant love, your
guidance, your example of commitment. You taught me the value of hard work and humility, lessons that have guided me throughout my life to help me get where I am here today. To my children, Ella and Carter, thank
you for your patience, your understanding through the years when this career pulled me away from many holiday dinners and sporting events and family time on weekends, just know that even with all the duties and responsibilities of this job, you will
always have my heart. And to my wife, Asia, my biggest supporter, the one who stood with me through every challenge, I thank you. None of this would be possible without your strength, your love, your faith,
your encouragement throughout the years. We are truly blessed as a family, and I'm so grateful for that and for you. Thank you. So, as I take on this new responsibility, I do so with deep gratitude to those who
came before me, to those who stand beside me, and to those who continue to grow this department and shape it to be even better every day. I'm proud to be your chief, serve this great city. Thank you to all of you who support me, for
being here tonight and sharing in this moment with me and my family. God bless you all. Thank you. [Applause] There you go. All right, we are going to take some photos. So, if you can Yeah.
Yep. So, uh, I'm going to let you be in the driver's seat here. First, let's get your wonderful family. Congratulations to you all as well. So, if you can come on over, everyone else can relax if you want to grab a photo. We're going to break for about 5 10 minutes and do some photo stuff. So, get comfortable and
once we're done, we'll be right back. I'll be over All right. And Ryan, what a once again, what a tough act to follow. If you can come on up with your project manager update, please. Thank you. Thank you. Good evening.
Uh, so there's just the ongoing list. I'll go into more detail in the next slides. I just wanted to bring the Cso projects back on your radar because the next two phases um, which is going to be west of
rail phase one. We should be bidding that uh, shortly in the near maybe in the next month or two. and then followed by phase two which is on the left of your screen that light blue area. So that's up Clay Street, second street,
third street in that area from uh Payic to Central. Uh firehouse engine 2. Uh the demo is complete. Uh the contractor installed all the necessary rebar. Uh building department performed an inspection this
morning and uh it passed. So the con the contractor is going to pour concrete on Thursday the 16th and then it's going to be roughly 3 weeks cure time before the truck can be brought back in uh Fini Park 8 9 and 10. There's been a
lot of activity on site. Uh the drainage uh has been installed and now the contractor is working on laying down the demarcation fabric. That's the yellow uh fabric you see in the photo and geog grid and spreading out the DGA and stone
to raise the site up. And uh as far as our city paving, the CDBG roads uh which is South Newman into Wolf are going to start at the end of this month and we should finish those two before Thanksgiving, like the week
before Thanksgiving. Uh and then the other roads will follow in that uh time period. Depending on weather, we might just get some, you know, storm drainage in. If the weather holds out, we'll continue, but it's uh kind of weather dependent right now for the concrete and
uh asphalt. In addition, the Bergen County is going to pave uh first they're going to do the ADA ramps on South River Street from the Little Ferry line to East Kansas Street. that is tentative to start this week and that construction
duration is one to two weeks for all the handicap ramps and then milling and paving will follow again weather dependent and their their other other work. So that's going to be a 4-day mill and then a six-day pave. Uh we had a pre-construction meeting last week with the contractor and the county and uh
Hackinack PD. And then in addition, uh the list of roads you see will get um some reservicing due to all the PS&G gas main installation that's been happening for the last year or so. Um
some of these roads have already been paved by the city with within the sewer separation limits and there's one or two of them in our current list. So those square yardages we're just going to add to other streets that were only getting,
you know, if they were paid more than five years ago, they were only getting curb line to center line. So we're going to we have roughly, excuse me, 18,000 square yards of extra work that PSEG is going to do. So um I rode the streets uh today and kind of have a tentative list
of what roads we would add paving to. Uh, so we're looking to to do full width of Clinton, Hamilton, and Franklin just to get that area, you know, full width pavement. And any questions? That's all I have. Yeah. So, thank you as always. Thank
you. Um, just to make sure that we're clear and that everyone watching is clear. Yes. So when PSEG is resurfacing the roads because of their main work,
all of on that list that we saw, everyone who is on one of those streets who has a big repair strip going up and down the street, that's an issue that should be resolved once PSEG has finished their work. Correct. Okay. Yes. And if roads were paved within the
last five years, they're curb to curb. Anything older than that is center line to curb. Okay. Thank you. Good. Thank you. Okay. We need a motion to open to the public.
Okay. Uh second. All in favor? Any opposed? Any abstensions? Okay. Any member of the public wishing to have come forward, please give your name and your municipality. Thank you. Sergey Stoy Hackinac.
Uh number one, I wanted to uh again express my congratulation to Deborah who retired city clerk and I also wanted to secondly promote my nomination of Allison for
deputy clerk of the city of Hackinack. Uh in terms of safety, I wanted to have uh Lisa PD and um FD officials here during our meetings because I'm looking at the past to
inquire about having either bianual or quarterly ward meetings where the concerns of the citizens can be addressed more effectively than in a threeminut die tribe here. And in terms
of those safety issues, again, we saw in CRA in Cranford, you know, those two young girls that were killed on EVs, I'm still looking at what are we doing in terms of Hackinack before we become something similar because EVs are now
here to stay and we don't have the necessary implementation to uh safeguard our residents. And also in terms of safety, it's September, October, November month. We're back to school and I was looking
at the uh the police presence on the streets in terms of uh doing more enforced safety checks on speeders because we do have a lot of them in the city of Hackinack as they rush to other municipalities around the area. And
what are we um going to implement in terms of uh safety checks like they do in other towns where people that come into those towns know that we mean in business and you got a lot of ghost cars here with these fake license plates without insurance.
And in terms of the uh Halloween coming up, uh we should be doing a promotion, prevent the tragedies that's been happening every Halloween time where we hear about families being burnt out. And the guy that just got lost his life the other day where he ran
back into the house not knowing that uh family members had already left. So those are my safety concerns. And again, uh I'd like to promote Allison as the new chief clerk. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you.
Hello, Randy Glover. Hackinack. Hi, Randy. All right. So, I'm the executive director of All Access Commission. Um, we're a 501c3 nonprofit and are a
bunch of seniors with the exception of one person, but everybody else is like a senior. I'm not going to give the number, the age number. Um, working to make Hackin a better place. We've
been distributing food and for five years. Uh in the previous year and a half we spent $410,000 on food purchases from Hackinack business. We spent $60,000
on mental health paying for PES. Okay, that's $250 for a nonprescriber, 350 an hour for a prescriber. We were paying for that for low to moderately low income people. Um if people a food
menu at our food pantry like today we hand out food every other Tuesday. Um we serve shrimp, pork chops, whole chicken, halal chicken, uh Italian sausages, eggs and
such. We believe in delivering food services to our residents that they deserve. We don't believe in just giving cans that, you know, we wouldn't even really eat. So, we're not
giving subs subsistence food. We're giving real food. Um, oh, we also do salmon. Like, we had salmon fillets today. So, we're purchasing cases of that at I think it's a $183 a case, right? So, we haven't
come up with what we're spending for 2025 yet as far as all the groceries. Um, so one of the other things we're about to do is we created a program with Paul's Restaurant here in Hackinat to um
service seniors. We're going to develop small plates uh where between they can um purchase food. We're setting up the program for between five and $7. Okay. As you know, a dinner uh regular price dinner is like $15 to $17.
Uh we think everybody deserves a great meal. During COVID, we purchased warm meals. a total uh restaurant meals for seniors and we deliver to every single um apartment uh senior apartment complex
here in Hackinack. Okay. Um so we've been putting in the work. Um so we haven't asked the city for anything in all this time, right? But we think at
this point [Music] take take another 20 seconds. Okay. We think at this time the city uh should consider partnering with us because other cities have food pantries. And then the last thing I want to say is um please remember in January to um the
celebration honoring uh Ruth Bower, nurse stadder. I think that's very important uh for our city culturally. Okay. Thank you. Thank you, Randy. Good evening. I'm Marty Smith Hackinack. Good evening.
I'm a member of the city's condo co-op advisory board and the chairman of the traffic safety committee. Uh there has been a surge in pedestrian accidents not only in Hackinack but
throughout the country and because of that hundreds of cities and towns throughout the country have instituted certain procedures to reduce this incident going on. And by that I mean
they have made it a traffic violation for a pedestrian to talk or text on a cell phone while crossing a street. Some of these accidents are caused by drivers, but many are caused by these
pedestrians talking and being distracted. So we think that it behooves the city of Hackinac to follow the lead of many other cities and towns in doing the same thing and hopefully we will see
numbers get reduced here in Hackinack just as these other towns and cities have experienced. The second thing I'd like to bring to you is the installation of crosswalks
on Anderson Street at Union. If you are familiar with that intersection, you know that there is a curvature on Anderson Street at that intersection, which makes it slightly more dangerous than a typical T
intersection would be, which would be at a normal 90° angle. So there also are two bus stops at that location. One on the north side of Anderson and one on the south side and people will be
getting on and off buses during business days in the weekends and we need those crosswalks to be installed. It would make that location much safer. The other thing we would like to see done in conjunction with those crosswalks is to
have flashing pedestrian signs located on the uh north side and the south side for east and westbound flowing traffic. Okay. Thank you for your time. Thank you.
Good evening everyone. Good evening. My name is Helen McFaten and I'm from Hackinack. I'm back again with the parking problem. U I'm just coming back to see how much longer do we have to wait because it's like it's
getting worse really. And I I had this letter here where we uh the other group that was here and they sent the letter out to each one that lived on this street. I don't want to interrupt you. Can you just move the microphone down? Oh, I'm so sorry. Yeah. um have this letter here that
everyone on that street received and they was telling us um about the sticker in the car and when it'll be purchased and how much it would be but we haven't heard anything else. That's why I'm keep coming back until we get some results from the parking. It's really bad and it's getting worse. Now this past week
there was a car stay there from we we park on the side on for Wednesday. Thursday he parked on the other side. So from Thursday on till the next Wednesday that's when he moved it. But nobody does anything. So we I'm wondering what can be done about that because
this is this is High Street, correct? High street. And then we don't have driveways there and we have no other place to park. So we I appreciate if you will speed it up a little bit. I know you got a lot on your plate,
but I appreciate it. Thank you so much. You want a copy? I know it's a copy that we that I have. Yeah, if you don't mind this letter. Do you have an extra one? Can we keep that one or No. Could I get a copy from this because I have all the dates when the um Yes. As soon as as soon as we'll get your copy and we'll take the copy.
Anyone else from the public wishing to be heard? Seeing none, motion to close the public. Motion second. All in favor? Any opposed? Any abstain? Okay, we are Oh,
gotcha. All right. So, if I can have a motion to close executive session. I make a motion. Second. All in favor? I. Any opposed? Any abstensions? Motion to adjourn the cow meeting?
Motion. Second. All in favor? I. Any opposed? Any abstensions? Okay, this meeting is adjourned. We'll be back at 8:00 PM. Thank you. We are calling the meeting of the Hackinack City Council to order. It is
Tuesday, October 14th. It is 8:00 PM. Right into proclamations. Oh yeah. Oh, we're going right into proclam. Oh, we're doing it. Okay, great. Wonderful. Let's do it. All right. So, we have two proclamations this evening.
Whereas breast cancer affects hundreds of thousands of women and thousands of men annually. hand. Whereas breast cancer is typically detected either during a screening examination before symptoms have developed or after symptoms have developed when a man or
woman feels a lump. And whereas breast cancer is about 100 times more common in women than men. And women are at increased risk as they get older. men. Whereas breast cancer is often hereditary and individuals whose family history puts them at increased risk for
breast cancer should discuss with their doctor or qualified health professional the proper prevention and early diagnosis strategies. And whereas since the early 1990s the pink ribbon handed out and spread by the Susan G. Kman Foundation has been the symbol for the
fight against breast cancer. Japan. Whereas October is breast cancer awareness month, an opportunity to increase awareness of the disease and to encourage individuals to have a plan to detect the disease in its early stages. And whereas it is vital that those
affected by cancer have access to quality affordable care and that research of all forms of breast cancer continue to be vigorously supported. Now therefore, I, Kasim Gaines, mayor of the city of Hackinack, along with the members of the city council, do hereby
recognize the month of October as breast cancer awareness month in the city of Hackinack. Whereas National Hispanic Heritage Month, established in 1988, is an opportunity to celebrate the rich cultural traditions and honor the significant achievements of our
Hispanic, Latin, and Latin American communities. And whereas Hispanic and Latino Americans have made innumerous contributions to our diverse society by sharing their talents, culture, traditions, and their deep connection to family values and a commitment to faith
and a desire to live the American dream. And whereas according to the 2020 census, over 37% of Hackinac residents identify as Hispanic or Latina or Latino. And whereas the city of
Hackinack has many Hispanicowned businesses that contribute to and shape the community in which we live. And whereas we recognize and honor the many ways the Hispanic community has enriched the fabric of our society while also rededicating ourselves to address the
lack of equal access to opportunity that many still face. And whereas the city of Hackinack is proud to honor the history and contributions of Hispanics in our community and throughout our state and our nation. Now therefore, I, Casimin
Gaines, mayor of the city of Hackinack, along with members of the city council, do recognize and hereby celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month. Can I have a motion to approve the minutes from September 30th, 2025 cow executive in regular session?
I make a motion. Second. All in favor? I. Any opposed? Any abstensions? Okay. On to the city manager's report. Uh, good evening everyone. Once again, the veteran banner program is still
ongoing. We still have plenty of spots for the next round of veteran banners. Uh just contact the city manager's office uh for details on how you can sign up for that or you can go through reces as well. The city newsletter, just a reminder, visit the city of Hackinack website to sign up for the new weekly
newsletter. That's I believe every Friday it comes out very informative and uh Frank does a great job with that. Hackinack Totoberfest was a tremendous success. That was last week. Uh, thank you to the Main Street Business Alliance and every city department whose dedication and teamwork made this event
possible. Your hard work, creativity, and commitment truly brought our community together. The Hackinack Municipal Alliance presents Hidden in Plain Sight, an interactive drug awareness program for parents. Discover how everyday items in your teen's room can hide signs of drug
use or risky behavior. Join us at the Hackinack Performing Arts Center on October 16th at 6:30 for this eye-opening presentation. Also, another reminder, the pumpkin carving contest is ongoing. Uh, instructions are on the website. Um, you
can find that at city of hackinac.org. Um, it involves Instagram, so all you young people out there are very familiar with that. Every like gets you one vote. Submission deadline is October 31st. Prizes and winners will be announced
November 1st. Some other events coming up. We have Slam Dunk the Junk on October 25th. Slam Dunk is back. Registration is open until October 17th. We're excited to invite you to join our upcoming community cleanup event. Your participation helps
keep our parks and public spaces clean and beautiful. And your group could earn a $500 clean communities grant. Visit our hackinack.org website for more information and to register. The annual Halloween party. City of Hackinack and the Recreation Department invites families to a free annual children's
Halloween party on Saturday, October 25th from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. at the Rec Center, 116 Holt Street. Enjoy a fun-filled variety show, sweet treats, and a festive costume parade. Costumes are encouraged, but please note, no costume weapons will be allowed.
Hackpack Events: Howdy Strangers Improv: Zombie Apocalypse, October 18th at 8:00 PM. David Myoko's Electrifying Tribute to Liberace, October 24th at 7:30. Swinging with the Rat Pack, October 26th at 8:00 p.m. Visit the city website
under Arts and Recreation Performing Arts Center for more information. That completes my report. Thank you. We have no reports of special committees, no special orders, no unfinished business in general orders.
So, on to new business. Resolution number 432-25. Introduction of ordinance 45-2025, an ordinance to amend chapter 170 of the code of the city of Packag Vehicles and Traffic to add a new handicap parking space in section 49.2 parking for the
handicapped. Thank you. Can I have a motion? All in favor? I. Any opposed? Any abstensions? Be it resolved that the above ordinance being ordinance 45205 as introduced does
now pass on its first reading and that said ordinance shall be considered for final passage at a meeting to be held on October 28th, 2025 at 8:00 p.m. or as soon thereafter as the matter can be reached at the regular meeting place of the city council and at such time and please all persons interested be given an opportunity to be heard concerning
said ordinance and that the city clerk be and she is hereby authorized and directed to publish said ordinance according to law with a notice of its introduction and passage on the first reading and the and of the time and place when and where said ordinance will be further considered for final passage.
Thank you. Uh the consent agenda please. Consent agenda consists of resolution 433, resolution authorizing payment of bills. Resolution 434, resolution authorizing
tax refunds for county and state board judgments and overpayments. Resolution 435, resolution authorizing endorsement of proposed Bergen County Community Development Grant. 436, resolution authorizing 100% veteran tax exemption for 150 Por Street. Resolution 437,
resolution authorizing leave of absence ex extension for Michael Skangangerella police officer. Resolution 438, resolution appointing a representative to the Tito Aircraft Noise Advisory Committee. Resolution 439, resolution authorizing release of escrow for funds
324 to 3266 Washington A. Resolution 440, resolution authorizing raffle licenses. Resolution 441, resolution authorizing leave of absence for Jir Defritus laborer. Resolution 442, resolution authorizing accumulate
accumulated leave payout of $27,647.97 to retired city clerk Deborah Carlson. And resolution 443, resolution authorizing a cumulative leave payout of $142,574.74 cents to retired fire chief Anthony Real.
Thank you. Can I have a motion to accept the con the consent agenda? Second. All in favor? I. Any opposed? Any abstensions? Okay. Okay, I need a motion to open to the
public. Second. All in favor? I. Any opposed? Any abstensions? Any member of the public wishing to speak? Floor is yours. Say your name and your municipality, please. Thank you.
Hi, good afternoon. um city council members, uh uh deputy, uh city clerk, uh city manager, legal counsel. So, two issues today. The first issue, Marlene Somerville, uh citizen of Hackinac, and this is on behalf of a follow-up
question from my last meeting from the chair of the HC. So, there was a question proposed to the council in reference to eminent domain, right? And there was an ask as to why not we could not invoke eminent domain for um
redevelopment purposes i.e to prevent like a builder per safe right from building something in. So I would like to ask the first one of legal council just to kind of explain to the citizens like what is eminent domain and like what is the criteria for the city of
Hackinack to be able to invoke you know eminent domain for something. It was tied back to a question to do with open space act, right? And then the second part of the follow-up question is on the open space act. So currently I did some research and looked in Hackinac as large
as we are for the amount of money and funding that we have for the open space. We do not have an open space advisory committee, right? There is towns like Jersey City and Newark that has this committee. I think it would be on the benefit on behalf of the city council to
actually put the committee in place. Their job and responsibility would be to look into anything that's going to come before you guys. Right? They would have done the the groundwork. They would have said whether or not it has any value add, whether or not it makes sense and whether or not it met the criteria for
the open space funding instead of us consistently coming back. Right? Every time the HC or green team or shade tree or any citizen think there is a prospective purpose for open space to serve for us to constantly come here do a presentation or have this meeting,
right? The committee would do all the groundwork just like we do for zoning just like we do for the HC or Sha tree. If you have a question or concern, vet through it and then have an answer and at the end of the day the council along with you know whatever recommendation was made would be where you guys kind of
come to say okay yes this is feasible or it is not feasible. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Rich Serbo. Uh, Spring Valley A and, uh, you know, just a a couple comments, a
couple of, uh, house cleaning things, everything. Uh, first of all, uh, men can also get breast cancer. I I never hear that mentioned. It's possible men get breast cancer, too. So other uh
little things uh which I like to start with is uh this um these parking spots for disabled or what what what do they call them? Um handicap parking. Handicap parking. You know, I respect
every one of those persons and they they need assistance, of course, but there seems to be too many of those spots. They're everywhere. some sometimes empty in front of many buildings, many places, many parking lots. So, that's just
another thing I want to mention. Other other things are sanitation. I just uh you know, Friday when I come out and get my empty uh trash can, it usually has stuff in it still. So, you know, I called a few
times. I don't I don't want to make a big deal of it, but can somebody say to sanitation, please empty the the cans? Uh the the blue things, the the blue the blue cans. Uh uh because sometimes I'll
I have little smaller uh garbage packs in there and they don't they don't come out. They stay in the bottom. I got to take them somewhere, you know, whatever. All right. So, uh the last few weeks I mentioned uh a few things. I was concerned about I never got any answers.
So maybe I'll just repeat it and maybe get an answer this time. Uh the the rescending of deals uh which I thought was retaliation. Uh illegally a retaliation. I never got a response on that. Okay. If it's not,
just say, "Okay, it's not blah blah blah." Okay. The the next uh next thing I mentioned was the letter in the tax bill. Uh you explaining that uh here's your taxes. They went up pretty
pretty good amount. Uh but we're not responsible for it. I mean, I think that's kind of way out. Okay. I don't think it's necessary for a mayor and council to do that. So, I'm just uh commenting on it. No one answered it. No
one said anything to me about it. And the last thing is today I I I I noticed on our tax bill that we pay more for schools than municipal government. I I noticed that. And and we have a mayor that's the uh
head of the teachers union. And I'm wondering is there any kind of conflict there? Is there some kind of, you know, something going on that's uh that's a conflict of interest with other decisions or certain decisions when it
comes to taxes? So, good enough. I got perfect timing. Thank you. Always on time. Thank you. Thank you very much. You're very welcome. Good evening, Doug Gafalo, Anderson Street, Hackinazac. I'm just a few things. I just
You recognized um um Spanish, Latino, Hispanic. Thank you. I always get it. Don't know how to say the right way, but this month, October, is Italian Heritage Month. George Bush put that into place
in 1980 something. So maybe next year or next meeting, although it's almost over, we can make a similar proclamation for the city. Second, I just like to commend our sanitation department because my
pale is emptied completely every week. Maybe if the pales are not clean by the residents, garbage will stick. So look before you critique our wonderful
sanitation department and the handicap spaces. Having a mother who is handicapped and uses those spaces. There are more than never too many handicapped spaces because at any given time there may be
two or three people that are handicapped that need those spaces. So the more the marrier in my eyes. That's all. Thank you. Thank you. Anyone else from the public wishing to speak?
Seeing none. Motion to close the public. Second. All in favor? I. Any opposed? Any abstensions? Okay. Deputy mayor [Music]
Good evening everyone and thank you to everyone who attended this week's council meeting. Your participation and continued support are what keeps our community strong and moving forward. I'd like to take a moment to congratulate our newly appointed fire chief.
We are proud to welcome him into this leadership role and confident that he will that his experience and commitment will serve our city well. Congratulations on this well-earned achievement. Over the past week, I had the pleasure
of attending several wonderful events in our city, including Oktoberfest, the grand opening of Wonder, and the Hackinack chapter of UNICO's um National Columbus Day celebration. It was a special honor to be present as Bergen
County Executive James Tedesco was recognized with the distinguished community service award. Each of these events showcase the vibrant spirit and diversity of our community and I want to thank all the organizers and
participants who made them so memorable. I would also like to take a moment to recognize that October is also Italian-American Heritage Month, a time to honor the enduring contributions of the Italian-Americans to our nation and
our local community. For generations, Italianameans have helped shape the cultural, economic, and civic life of the United States. From building our infrastructure and enriching our cuisine to shaping music, art, business, and
public service, their legacy is woven into the fabric of our communities. Here in Hackinack, Bergen County, we are proud of the Italian-American families who have played vital roles as neighbors, educators, entrepreneurs, and
civic leaders. This month we celebrate their heritage and the values of hard work, family, and community that have defined their journey in America. Let us continue to uplift the voices of all cultural
communities and reflect on the strength we gain through our diversity. Thank you for coming out. Have a good evening. Thank you, Councilwoman. Good evening, everyone. Um, I just
wanted to mention that because it is breast cancer uh awareness month that uh the breast cancer walk is scheduled for October 26, next Sunday. Uh I believe it starts at 10:00 a.m. in Overpek Park. Uh
if you haven't signed up for it, um I hope you do so. Uh it's being sponsored by the Inglewood uh hospital. Um I will be there and I hope to see you there. And uh once again, I would also like to
congratulate our new chief, fire chief. Uh thank you for coming out and get home safe. Thank you, Councilman. Uh just two uh two things. Uh the chief, he left. Um I want to congratulate him.
I did, you know, on the side, but publicly. Uh good luck to him and uh I know he'll do a fine job for us. And second, uh, tomorrow, uh, is the 200 club dinner at the Venetian. Uh, it's a
good night. Uh, we have like 30 police and fire uh, personnel that are being honored. So, we should be honored that they're being honored. So, we will be there tomorrow at six o'clock at the Venetian. And that's all I have. Thank you.
Thank you, C. Thank you, Councilman and Councilman Diaz. Thank you, mayor. Uh, good evening everyone. Uh, I just want to take a minute to thank and congratulate everyone who helped make Hispanic Heritage Month such a great
success here in Hackinack. from the celebration at Hackinack High School which just happened from between 6:00 and 8:00 today uh to the Girl Scouts event, the uh
public library fiesta and that fun salsa social on Banta place. It's been quite a month. I think a few of us are still recovering from all the dancing, including my major because when I met him there, he was swinging like uh
nobody was watching. That was good. That was good. But truly, each event showed the pride, culture, and heart that make our community so special. Thank you for being here tonight and for keeping that Hackin
spirit going strong. Have a good one. Thank you. I promised Councilman Carol I'll be brief. So, let's see if I he holds me to it. So, um once again, I I want to echo everyone in congratulating new fire chief Zaza. Um we are looking
forward to working with you. 25 years is an amazing accomplishment and it's it's just beginning. This next chapter is going to be wonderful for him and the department. So, thank you. Um Hackis Octoberfest was fantastic. For those of you that missed it, you missed it. Don't miss next year. It was
fantastic. Um, I just want to say a couple of words. First of all, you know, our municipal workers are truly fantastic. And I just want to I just want to stress that because during the city manager report, um, the
newsletter was mentioned. And if you signed up for the newsletter, I'm not sure if you realize just by way of example how much work goes into producing a weekly newsletter that not only has forwardlooking things, but also backward-looking things. It's soliciting
flyers from a bunch of community organizations. And there's so much work that goes into that. And Frank works on that closely with Allison. Um I give things a look over, manager looks over things. And it is just um just one
example of what goes into not just the city running and functioning, but also that's just an added perk for people to have the city be accessible to them. And so, um, when I show up at these events,
and when we show up at these events, I'm always struck by how many, there's DPW, there's parks, there's fire, there's police, there's just a lot of people on hand, and everyone contributes, and these events function because everyone does their role. So, when you go and
enjoy these events, um, and you see one of our workers out there, thank them, congratulate them, um, because they're really an impressive group of folks. And I just feel compelled to say that. Um I also, you know, it's it's great that we
happen to be in the overlap of Italian Heritage Month and Hispanic Heritage Month. And um I when I think about these communities, I think about how Hackinack has always been this great melting pot and
receptacle for people from all over the world who come to Hackinack to make Hackinack their home. and we have our deputy mayor being an immigrant from Italy herself. Um, and I just think it's it's a wonderful testament to our community the way that
these different parts of the world come together to contribute to the fabric of Hackinack and it seems like no better opportunity to mention that in this intersection of those two months in particular. Um, this is going to be the last time that at least I speak on this
and I just want to make sure that Mr. Serbo is listening. Um, just a couple I just want to you got me. You good? Okay. So, just a couple things. All right. So, number one mentioned the letter in the last meeting. So, if you want to go back and watch, we did address the tax letter in
the last meeting. So, just go back and you can see the comments there. Um, but one of the things that we're always going to do is communicate and we're going to communicate honestly. The budget that was approved was a budget that was approved by the previous administration. And one of the things
that I mentioned last time was that my own taxes have gone up by $700. And so I completely commiserate. I understand. But we try to communicate whether it's about events or information. We ask people to come to the podium and share
resources and we try and do that honestly. And the letter was about communicating the reality of we came in inheriting a budget and that tax bill is reflective of a budget that was approved
by folks that occupied these seats before we got here. So I just want to make sure that that is crystal clear and I addressed that also in the last meeting. So if you want to go back and listen to that. Um no retaliation. We love everyone here.
We love all our residents. We're good. Um, and I just want to thank everyone for coming out. Thank you to everyone who spoke. It's important that we hear you. And with that, I would like a motion to adjurnn. Motion. Second. All in favor? I.
All opposed? And he obsession.