Okay, we are calling this meeting to order of the Hackinack City Council. It is Tuesday, May 26, 2026. It is 5:31 p.m. If you can call, read the notice, please. This meeting is being held in accordance with the open public meeting act NJSA10 col4-6
notice of which was posted on the municipal website pursuant to public law 2025 chapter 72. >> Thank you. Roll call please. >> Mayor Gaines >> here. >> Deputy Mayor Tumi. >> Councilman Carol >> here. >> Councilwoman Clark Collins >> here. >> Councilman Diaz >> here. >> We have a quorum.
>> Thank you. If you can rise for the flag salute, please. I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
If I can I have a motion to approve the minutes of the May 5th, 2026 council meeting and May 12th, 2026 special council meeting. >> I'll open >> second. >> Actually, do you want to do these one one by one at We have no
>> You got it. Okay. So, we had a motion. We had a second. All in favor? >> I Any opposed? Any abstensions? Thank you. And if I can have a motion for a resolution to go into executive session to discuss ongoing litigation matters
involving attorney client privilege matters involving the purchase, lease or acquisition of real property and or any pending or anticipated litigation or contract negotiations. >> All second. >> All in favor? >> I I Any opposed? Any abstensions? Great.
We'll make an effort to be back by 6:30. Thank you. Coming soon to Hackinack. >> We will be perfect. I can't do it. >> I'm not good enough. >> I'm a baseball player now. >> You drop a pass, you run a mile. You miss a blocking assignment, you run a
mile. You fumble the football, you will run a mile. Perfection. This summer, champions rise under the stars. Let's go to work. From the slam dunk action of Space Jam to the emotional journey of Inside Out 2, the inspiring story of
Remember the Titans and the ultimate underdog story, Rocky. Don't miss Movies Under the Stars at Atlantic Street Park. Join us for sunset yoga. >> Have you signed up for our Nixl alerts
yet? Nixl keeps you up to date by text and email with instant updates from our office of emergency management so you can get important information when it matters most. Get alerts about severe weather, emergency situations, road closures, severe traffic, criminal
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today and stay connected to what's happening in Hackinack. Stay informed and connected with everything happening in the city of Hackinack by subscribing to the Hackinack weekly newsletter. Each week, you'll get the latest updates on city services, events, important
announcements, and more delivered right to your inbox. Signing up is quick and easy. Just visit the city website to join. And if you have something to share, the newsletter includes a community bulletin for local announcements and events. Send your
submissions to news at hackansac.org. Coming soon to Hackinack. >> We will be perfect. I >> can't do it. >> I'm not good enough. >> But I'm a baseball player now. >> You drop a pass, you run a mile. You miss a blocking assignment, you run a mile. You fumble the football, you will
run a mile. Perfection. This summer, champions rise under the stars. Let's go to work. From the slam dunk action of Space Jam to the emotional journey of Inside Out 2, the inspiring story of
Remember the Titans and the ultimate underdog story, Rocky. Don't miss Movies Under the Stars at Atlantic Street Park. Join us for sunset yoga. >> Have you signed up for our Nixl alerts
yet? Nixel keeps you up to date by text and email with instant updates from our office of emergency management so you can get important information when it matters most. Get alerts about severe weather, emergency situations, road closures, severe traffic, criminal
activity, and local events. Signing up is quick and easy. Text 0761 to888777. That's 0761 to888777. Don't wait. Sign up for Nixl alerts
today and stay connected to what's happening in Hackinack. Stay informed and connected with everything happening in the city of Hackinack by subscribing to the Hackinack weekly newsletter. Each week you'll get the latest updates on city services, events, important
announcements, and more delivered right to your inbox. Signing up is quick and easy. Just visit the city website to join. And if you have something to share, the newsletter includes a community bulletin for local announcements and events. Send your
submissions to news@ hackansac.org. Coming soon to Hackinack. We will be perfect. I can't do it. >> I'm not good enough. >> But I'm a baseball player now. >> You drop a pass, you run a mile. You miss a blocking assignment, you run a mile. You fumble a football, you will
run a mile. Perfection. >> This summer, champions rise under the stars. >> Let's go to work. >> From the slam dunk action of Space Jam to the emotional journey of Inside Out 2, the inspiring story of Remember the
Titans and the ultimate underdog story, Rocky. Don't miss Movies Under the Stars at Atlantic Street Park. Join us for sunset yoga. Have you signed up for our NIXL alerts yet?
NIXL keeps you up to date by text and email with instant updates from our office of emergency management so you can get important information when it matters most. Get alerts about severe weather, emergency situations, road closures, severe traffic, criminal
activity, and local events. Signing up is quick and easy. Text 0761 to88877. That's 07612888777. Don't wait. Sign up for NIXL alerts today and stay connected to what's
happening in Hackinack. Stay informed and connected with everything happening in the city of Hackinack by subscribing to the Hackinack weekly newsletter. Each week, you'll get the latest updates on city services, events, important announcements, and more, delivered right
to your inbox. Signing up is quick and easy. Just visit the city website to join. And if you have something to share, the newsletter includes a community bulletin for local announcements and events. Send your submissions to news@hackansack.org.
Coming soon to Hackinack. >> We will be perfect. >> Can't do it. >> I'm not good enough. >> I'm a baseball player now. >> You drop a pass, you run a mile. You miss a blocking assignment, you run a mile. You fumble the football, you will run a mile. Perfection. This summer,
champions rise under the stars. Let's go to work. From the slam dunk action of Space Jam to the emotional journey of Inside Out 2, the inspiring story of Remember the Titans and the ultimate
underdog story, Rocky. Don't miss Movies Under the Stars at Atlantic Street Park. Join us for sunset yoga. Have you signed up for our Nixel alerts yet? Nixel keeps you up to date by text
and email with instant updates from our office of emergency management so you can get important information when it matters most. Get alerts about severe weather, emergency situations, road closures, severe traffic, criminal activity, and local events. Signing up
is quick and easy. Text 0761 to888777. That's 0761 to888777. Don't wait. Sign up for Nixl alerts today and stay connected to what's
happening in Hackinack. Stay informed and connected with everything happening in the city of Hackinack by subscribing to the Hackinack weekly newsletter. Each week you'll get the latest updates on city services, events, important announcements, and more delivered right
to your inbox. Signing up is quick and easy. Just visit the city website to join. And if you have something to share, the newsletter includes a community bulletin for local announcements and events. Send your submissions to news at hackansac.org.
Okay, we are out of executive session. It is 6:44 p.m. Thank you for your patience and it's nice to see nice full crowd. We are going to go right into our proclamations and presentations.
Our first proclamation will be for substance abuse and mental health services administration national prevention week. Whereas substance misuse and mental health problems affect all communities
nationwide. And as such, the city of Hackinac will join communities across the country in celebrating the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration National Prevention Week to increase public awareness of and action around
mental and substance misuse Disorders. And whereas National Prevention Week showcases the work of communities and organizations around the county dedicated to raising awareness about the importance of substance misuse
prevention and positive mental health. National Prevention Week celebrates these yearround initiatives and the possibilities prevention brings. And whereas to encourage healthy decision-making, celebrate prevention,
and bring together the community, the Hackinac Municipal Alliance and Stigmafree Committee hosted the Stigmafree Popsicle Social and Wellness Challenge on May 9th and the Prevention Week Youth Night on May 13th along with
various events for the community throughout the year. And whereas National Prevention Week is an opportunity for us to join communities across the county to celebrate the communities and organizations that make a positive impact on substance misuse
prevention and positive mental health. Substance misuse prevention begins with each of us and we all have the power to foster a healthier future for ourselves, our community, our children, and those we care about. And whereas National
Prevention Week echoes a key message, we can shift the way society thinks about substance misuse and substance use disorders while identifying actions that individuals and communities can take to prevent and treat these conditions. The
Hackinac Municipal Alliance and Stigmafree Committee are proud to be part of many groups encouraging people to raise awareness about the importance of these issues and promoting positive mental health in the city of Hackinac. Now therefore, I, Kasim Gaines, mayor of
the city of Hackinack, along with the members of the city council, do hereby proclaim May 10th through 16th, 2026 as National Prevention Week in the city of Hackinack and call upon our community to join us in celebrating the compelling
programs and events that support increasing awareness of and action around mental health and/or substance use disorders year round. And after I read the next one, I'm going to ask for anyone who's a member of the
municipal alliance and or stigmafree committee to come forward to accept. Whereas mental health is essential to everyone's overall health and well-being. And whereas mental illnesses
are real and prevalent in our nation and half of us will have a mental health diagnosis at some point in our lives. And whereas anyone experiencing stress, trauma, anxiety, and heightened levels of depression should feel comfortable in
seeking help and support to manage these times. And whereas engaging in prevention, early identification, and early intervention are effective ways to reduce the burden of mental illnesses. And whereas the city of Hackinac
declared themselves as stigmafree and will continue to support the stigmaree initiative. And now therefore, I, Casim Gaines, mayor of the city of Hackinac, along with members of the city council, do hereby proclaim May 2026 as mental
health month and call upon residents, government agencies, schools, private businesses, nonprofit organizations, and other groups to join in activities to strengthen and protect the mental health of our community. And I'm going to ask for the members of
those committees to please come down and accept the proclamations. >> Again, please Sure. >> Good. Thank you all so I already have the blood flowing now. I'm already in motion.
>> We have one more. >> There we go. All right. Great. Can I have everyone come on up? Yeah. Come on up. Everyone for youth week. Come on up, please.
How are you? >> Hackinack's finest here. >> Here we go. All right. Sorry. >> Whereas the Benevolent and Protective Order of the Elks has designated May 1st through 7th as Youth Week to honor America's junior citizens for their
accomplishments and giving fitting recognition to their services to community, state, and nation. And whereas these young people represent the nation's greatest resource and who in the years ahead will assume the responsibility of the advancement of our
free society. And whereas our youth need guidance, inspiration and encouragement to help them develop those qualities of character essential for future leadership and go forth to serve America. And whereas to achieve this
worthy objective, we should demonstrate our partnership with youth, our understanding of their hopes and aspirations and a sincere willingness to help prepare them in every way for the responsibilities and opportunities of
civic duty. And whereas it is our responsibility to guide, inspire, and encourage our youth to go forth to serve the community, our privilege to manifest a lively interest in all their activities and ambitions and help
prepare them for the duties and opportunities of being a citizen in our community and nation, which is an objective of National Youth Week. Now therefore, I, Casim Gaines, mayor of the city of Hackinac, along with the city
council, do hereby proclaim May 1st through 7th as Youth Week, honoring our youth for their achievements and contributions to the life of the community, state, and nation, and urging all departments of government, civic,
fraternal, and patriotic groups and our citizens generally to wholeheartedly support our youth. in all their endeavors. >> Everybody look here. One minute. Thank you. Okay. And before we move on, before
folks finish taking off, I just want to ask for us to take a brief moment of silence for uh one of our Hackinac residents, um long-standing member of the community and uh someone who has been impactful in
a number of areas, Mr. Gordon Scooter Whiting, who passed away last week. Thank you. Moving on to our reports and presentations from professionals and department heads, we have our Main Street Business
Alliance 2026 budget public hearing. Oh, there you go. Thanks. >> Good evening, Mayor, City Council. As you recall, not long ago, I presented the city budget. So, I wanted our um excuse me, annual budget. And tonight,
our purpose of tonight is just for me to come and answer any questions that anybody may have. >> I guess no questions. >> We need to open this. Thank you very much. We're going to need to open >> No, could you wait? >> We're going to need to open up to the public. >> Yes, we're going to open up to the public in a moment. Um, I just wanted uh
if you can just remind for folks that that weren't here before, can you just explain a little bit about how this works? This isn't something that taxpayers are directly paying. >> This is not this is not paid by the general taxpayer role. This is um there's an assessment on the property owners within the district figure just
Main Street to keep it simple. Um and that's how we fund the budget. So there's no there's no general tax role accounted for here. Great. Thank you. >> All right. And then I'm going to give you one more opportunity if there's anything that you want to highlight um before we open it up to the public. Is
there anything that you want to >> No, just that you know, mayor and city council, we are very proud of the work that we're doing. When I got here four years ago, there was some immediate things that had to get done. The streets are cleaner, the flowers are prettier, the trees are taller. Um we've have a
whole host of events that we have done and plan to do. We're building a better main street for everybody and it's it's a an invitation that goes out to everybody across not only the city but for visitors and and all of our residents. >> Thank you. And with that, I'm going to
ask for a motion to open to the public on the Main Street Business Allianc's 2026 budget. >> Second. >> All in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? Any abstensions? Yes. Please
go first. >> Yeah. >> Sergey Toltoy Hackin Sack. So the h the hackin sack main street business alliance has to charge the business owners monies to do the street
cleaning and promotion which is basically a city responsibility. So in their annual report it indicates that their legal fees are 0.5% but then they got a have a charge of
almost 1 and a half% for annual audit when they already had a CPA and book fees of 2.3%. So how does that work out? Our bylaws require that we have an independent audit of our uh financial uh
statements and everything that we produce. So, while we do have CPAs that do the work every month, we can't audit ourselves. It has to it has to be done by an outside firm. >> Thank you. >> Good evening. Eric Anderson. Um I need an address, right? 14 Bergen Street
Hackinack. Um, as you all know, or some of you know, I'm the chairman of the Main Street Alliance and um, John and I work closely together to do all this great stuff for the city. So, first we just want to say thank you to the mayor and council for being so supportive for all of the endeavors that we are uh,
going through this year. We're very excited for our amazing agenda. And I also want the mayor and council to know that the team you have right here, your your new city manager and his staff is is amazing. I think they're doing a great job and they've been extremely
helpful. So, thank you. We look forward to more years. Thank you. >> Tom, do you still feel new? >> Anyone else from the public wishing to speak? Okay, seeing none, motion to close to
the public on this item. >> Second. >> All in favor? I. Any opposed? Any abstensions? Okay. All right. Thank you for that. Um, we are going to move ahead to Topology is going to present their
zoning map. Topology as they make their way up our city planners. >> Good to see you. >> Good to see you all. Good evening, mayor, members of the city council. Uh, my name is Graham Pedo, uh, licensed professional planner, principal with topology. uh thrilled to be here serving as your as uh your township city
planner. Um and we've done a lot of work over the past um time that we've been appointed as your city planner. Um and I just want to first give uh kudos to the staff uh Mr. Freeman and uh Bridget McLaclin in particular uh the zoning officer who we've been working with behind the scenes closely on this initiative to um advance uh the city's
zoning map uh and take the map to the next level. Um what's shown on the screen now, I have a couple slides just to walk through the work that we've done. What's shown on the screen now is the current uh official zoning map for the city of Hackinack. Um this is a static PDF map that's contained within your e-code system. Um you can't zoom in, you can't zoom out, you can't see
property lines, you have no idea what the zone is. You wind up calling Bridget and spending all this time on the phone with her having her answer those questions. Um many uh municipalities across the state of New Jersey have maps in this format. Uh and it creates a lot of difficulty navigating city services, navigating the understanding of what you
can do um with your maps. Thank you for advancing to the next slide. Um so some more of the limitations that um we have with the current type and format of zoning maps that we have. Difficult to determine the exact zone uh for individual properties. Uh limited accuracy at zone boundaries. There's no
direct link between this map and zoning regulations. Um no interactive capabilities and no layering capabilities with more information to enrich uh the information process. And again as I mentioned it requires a zoning officer to kind of walk you through um interpreting, viewing and understanding the map. So, what we've
developed, and I apologize, we just have a couple of static screenshots, but this is live and interactive, and we will circulate this to you all, and we can get this posted on the city's website as well. Um, we've developed an interactive zoning map tool, uh, for the city to leverage. This, uh, kind of functions like Google Maps. You can pan around,
zoom in, zoom all the way out. Uh, you can see individual parcels. Uh, and the map is fully functional and clickable. Uh, if we advance to the next slide, you can see some of the tools when you go in and click on a property. Um, it gives you lots of information. It tells you the block and lot, the property address, a link to view the property in Google
Maps. Um, then there's on the side pane, it gives you all the land use and planning and zoning information. You have a link to view um the uh bulk regulations, the use reg uh regulations for each of the zone districts. Uh if the property is located within a redevelopment area, you'll have a link to the redevelopment plan uh to see that
information as well. Um, so this is really kind of a a very enriched process and will allow applicants, developers, architects, homeowners, who whomever to come into the zoning office much more equipped with information to have a more uh, you know, a deeper conversation. We're not starting off with the what
zone am I in question. We're asking I understand I'm in this zone. I know these uses are allowed. Can I do XYZ? We're now getting much further in the process and advancing those conversations. Um, we've deployed this tool. Yeah. A couple of highlights just to show the the clickable areas. Um, and
we've also included the flood layer as well. Uh, and that's hosted by the state of New Jersey. It's not a layer that we're maintaining. So, as updates come online for the flood information, you'll see that reflected here. We've also included the ward boundaries as well uh within the map uh for the benefit of everyone. Um, and if we go to the next
slide, we can talk about what's next. Um, as I mentioned, so we have more opportunities to enhance this as well ba based on just information that's out there in the community and to support uh efforts that we'd like to advance here in the city. As I mentioned, this is all hosted in the cloud through RGS online. Uh we have the ability to add any map
layer service hosted by Bergen County, for example, the state of New Jersey or the federal government. Any GIS information. Uh some examples include census information we can add to this map, train station lines, bus routes, other things um to enhance uh that information. And now that we've developed your base zoning layers within
the GIS system that are, you know, reflect the accuracy on the ground, um we can actually facilitate adoption of a new official zoning map that can be, you know, replacing that static map that I showed at the beginning that's color and, you know, a little bit um more uh enriched um for presentation in the
city's code. Um so, just wanted to highlight some of the work that we've done and this will be publicly accessible as I mentioned. We'll work to get this up on the website and uh oriented for everyone. Sure. Happy to answer any questions if anyone has. >> It'll be exciting. So, yeah, we can even
work on some training sessions to help folks. >> There's going to be a public comment in just a moment. >> Um, sorry. Just don't don't disappear. There might be some questions for you. All right. Thank you so much, Gra. >> Thank you so much. Appreciate the time this evening. >> All right. Thanks. All right. And then our city manager
report. Good evening everyone. Uh just a couple uh quick recaps. We had our citywide garage sale on May 16th and 17th. Uh overall townwide garage sale was well received by the community. We had approximately 50 homes participating uh
with strong engagement observed throughout the weekend. Um, we had, um, I just want to provide a quick update from the May 5th meeting. We had two resident concerns. One of them was, uh, Marty Smith. I'm not sure if Marty's here tonight. Maybe he's
watching. Um, he he reported about the uh, pedestrian sign at Prospect and Berry being out of service uh, on May 5th. And on May 7th, I was happy to report that um, our repair shop took care of that. They rewired the sign and
it's back up and running. Also had a concern from Mr. Toltoy about the um sign at Anderson Street Bridge. Um I had project management follow up on that. Uh apparently there might have been a misunderstanding. There was absolutely
there's no hotline posted on that sign. Uh there is actually an email address. Um he said there's no hotline listed on the bridge website, only an email contact. under the contact under the contact us tab. It's fillable form that
must be completed. So, um if you wanted to get any more information, you'd have to fill out that form. That was resident concerns I want to report on. And then lastly, just some community reminders. Splash pads. Splash pads opened up last weekend. They're open for the summer. Uh
that's atly park and Carver Park. Uh the hours are 11:00 a.m. to 7 pm. Uh right now they're only open Saturdays and Sundays from May 23rd to June 28th and then after June 28th they'll be open 7 days a week. Um another reminder, our
Hometown Heroes veteran banners, we still have some limited spaces. Um so if anybody's interested, please reach out uh through rec desk or the city manager's office for additional information. Lastly, Hackpack has a lot of June programming. You can visit the Hackpack
website for full event information, including to live, the show, and Czechov's people. That's all I have to report. >> Thank you. Okay, we are going to move on to our first public comment of the evening. Uh, this is on agenda items
only. So, if you would like to comment on something that is on the docket for this evening, please come forward. Please state what item on the agenda you are going to be speaking to. Um, you will have three minutes and I will keep
time for you. As we get close to the 3 minutes, I will politely ask you to bring your point to a close and I ask that you politely oblige. Um, with that, I'm going to ask for a motion to open to the public on agenda items only.
>> Second. >> Okay. All in favor? >> I. Any opposed? Any abstensions? Any member from the public wishing to speak on any agenda items? >> Hi again. Whoever's decision it was to make that map for the zoning. Amazing.
Well, well done. We needed that for the last 10 years. So, thank you. >> Hey, thank you. >> Eric Anderson for the record, Alison. It's Eric Anderson. >> Hi. Good evening everyone. Marlene Somerville, Hackinack resident. So to the extent that the map right is legal,
is there any privacy concerns with having that volume of information I mean we have people in domestic abuse situations? We have more. So again to the extent the legality I'm not challenging, but what are the privacy concerns with somebody being able to dig
that deep into getting information just by simply clicking a button and toggling from here to there? >> Sure. I'll ask for someone to address that when the p the public comments are going on. Anyone else from the public wishing to speak on any agenda items?
Okay, seeing none, motion to close to the public. >> Second. >> All in favor? I. Any opposed? Any abstensions? Graham, do you want to take that? Thank you. happy to but just for the record, Gran
Pedo once again um regarding the question uh regarding um information that's contained within the map. Um the the parcel service or the the parcel layer that is provided within the map is hosted by the state of New Jerseyy's um office of GIS. Uh the layer that is
pushed out and hosted by the service has scrubbed all ownership information. So there are no owner's names um or any information about any owner provided within the map. It is literally just the address and the block and lot number. There's no other information regarding ownership of properties um that's provided within the interactive map.
>> Thank you for clarifying that. Thank you. >> Okay, we are going to move on to new business. We have an ordinance for second reading and it requires a hearing. Resolution 136-26.
Resolution 136-26 and it is the adoption of ordinance 08-2026 bond ordinance providing an appropriation of $630,000 providing the construction of a replacement elevator for the Johnson public library in and for the city of
Hackinac and authorizing the issuance of $598,500 worth of bonds or notes of the city for financing part of the appropriation. Okay. >> This ordinance has been published according to law and now calls for a public hearing.
>> Thank you. All right. Um >> I was the order of this mix. So we should call it. No. No. Can I have a motion to open to the public on resolution 136-26? >> Second. >> Okay. Anyone from the public wishing to speak on this resolution? This
resolution only, please. Sergey Toltoy Hackinack. As I previously stated at the last meeting for the library, the board of trustees of JPL, even though they they're the best in the Bergen County
voted, maybe even the best in the state of New Jersey. Uh they have the monies and that bond at 598 mathematically is wrong. they have it enough in their purview and their particular bank
accounts to bring that down to about 300 which basically puts less stress on our accountant and that's what I said the last time. Thank you.
Anyone else from the public wishing to speak on this ordinance? Okay, seeing none, motion to close to the public on this resolution. >> All offer second. >> All in favor?
>> I. >> Any opposed? Any abstensions? Okay. Can I have a motion to adopt resolution 136-26? >> Second. >> Roll call, please. Councilwoman
Clark Collins >> I. >> Councilman Carol >> I. >> Councilman Diaz. >> I. >> Mayor Gaines. >> I. >> Be resolved by the city council of the city of Hackinack, County of Bergen and State of New Jersey that ordinance number 08-2026
has passed its second and final reading and is hereby adopted. >> Okay. Thank you. Okay. Resolution 137-26. Resolution 137-26 is introduction of ordinance 09-2026,
an ordinance authorizing the acquisition of real property known as block 303 lot 19, commonly known as 153-15 Main Street on the official tax map of the city of Hackinac or if necessary by eminent domain.
>> Thank you. Can I have a motion to adopt resolution 137-26? >> I'll offer. >> Roll call, please. >> Councilwoman Clark Collins. Hi, >> Councilman Carol. >> Hi, >> Councilman Diaz. >> Hi, >> Mayor Gaines. I >> be it resolved that the above ordinance
being ordinance 09-2026 as introduced does now pass on first reading and that said ordinance shall be considered for final passage at a meeting to be held on June 16th, 2026 at 5:30 p.m. or as soon thereafter as the matter could be reached at the regular
meeting place of the city council and at such time and place all persons interested be given an opportunity to be heard concerning said ordinance and that the clerk be and he is hereby authorized and directed to publish said ordinance according to law with notice of its introduction and passage on first
reading and of the time and place when and where said ordinance will be further considered for final passage. >> Thank you. Resolution 138-26. >> Resolution 138-26 is the introduction of ordinance 10-2026,
an ordinance amending chapter 134 of the code of the city of Hackinac rent stabilization and to amend the composition of the rent stabilization board and amend the applicability of regulations under this chapter. >> Thank you. Uh, can I have a motion to
adopt resolution 138-26? >> I'll offer second. Roll call, please. >> Councilman Clark Collins, >> I. >> Councilman Carol, >> yes. >> Councilman Diaz, >> hi. >> Mayor Gaines, >> yes. Be it resolved that the above ordinance being ordinance 10-2026 as
introduced does now pass on first reading and that said ordinance shall be considered for final passage at a meeting to be held on June 16th, 2026 at 5:30 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 place all persons
interested be given an opportunity to be heard concerning said ordinance and that the clerk be and he is hereby authorized and directed to publish said ordinance according to law with a notice of its introduction and passage on first reading and of the time and place when and where said ordinance will be further
considered for final passage. >> Okay. Before we move on to the consent agenda, is there anything that needs to be pulled or reconsidered from the consent agenda? >> Uh, yes. >> Is your mic on? >> Yeah. Sorry.
>> Um, I would like resolution 155-26. Uh, pulled. >> I'll second that. Okay. Uh, all in favor of of All in favor of
pulling it separately, right? Or we just pull it separately. >> You don't need a motion for that. Any council person. >> Okay, great. So, we'll just call it separately. >> All right. Anything else? >> Okay. So, if you can call the consent agenda absent resolution 155-26.
>> And just for clarification, we uh we've also pulled 152-206 before. >> Thank you. Which one? >> 152-26. >> Yes. So 152-26 >> pulled from the meeting is pulled from the meeting. >> It's not going to be struck off the
agenda. >> Got it. Yep. Okay. >> Yeah. >> Okay. The following items are considered to be routine in nature and will be enacted in one motion. Any items requiring expenditure are supported by certification of availability of funds. Any item requiring discussion will be
removed from the consent agenda and consent agenda items will be reflected in full in the minutes, including any exceptions and/or additions. The consent agenda includes resolution 139-26, resolution authorizing payment of bills. Resolution 140-26, resolution
authorizing tax refunds. Resolution 141-26, resolution adopting Main Street Business Alliance 2026 budget. Resolution 142-26, resolution authorizing 100% veteran tax exemption for 326 Prospect Avenue unit 11H.
Resolution 143-26, resolution authorizing the acceptance of a state fiscal year 26 law enforcement wellness and resiliency grant. Resolution 144-26, resolution authorizing the submission of a grant application and execution of a grant agreement with the New Jersey
Department of Transportation for the fiscal year 2027 municipal aid program. That's for Atlantic Street from First to Prospect Avenue. Resolution 145-26, resolution authorizing the submission of a grant application and execution of a grant agreement with New Jersey Department of Transportation for the
fiscal year 2027 municipal aid program. That's for Temple Avenue from University Plaza to Main Street. Resolution 146-26, resolution authorizing the submission of a grant application and execution of a grant agreement with the New Jersey Department of Transportation for the
fiscal year 2027 transit village grant program for Demerest Place Transit Corridor. Resolution 147-26, resolution authorizing the city of Hackinac to apply for and enter into a grant agreement with the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs fiscal year 26
recreational opportunities for individuals with disabilities grant program. Resolution 148-26, resolution confirming the details of the sale of general obligation bonds in the aggregate principal amount of 2,352,981 of the city of Hackinac County of
Bergen, state of New Jersey to the New Jersey Infrastructure Bank and the state of New Jersey acting by and through the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection pursuant to the state fiscal year 2026 New Jersey Water Bank financing program known as Project 16.
Resolution 146-26, sorry, resolution 149-26, resolution confirming the details of the sale of the general obligation bonds in the aggregate principal amount of 1,28,75 of the city of Hackinac, county of Bergen, state of New Jersey to the New
Jersey Infrastructure Bank and the state of New Jersey acting by and through the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection pursuant to the state fiscal year 2026 New Jersey Water Bank financing program known as project 22 resolution 150-26 resolution requesting
approval of items and revenue appropriation NJSA4A 4-487 for state fiscal year law enforcement wellness grant resolution 151-26 resolution requesting approval of items of revenue and
appropriation for the 2026 clean communities grant resolution 153-26 resolution authorizing the renewal of liquor licenses for the 2026 2027 license term. Resolution 154-26 resolution authorizing the city of
Hackinac tax collector to prepare prepare and mail estimated tax bills in accordance with public law 1944 1994 chapter 72 resolution 156-26 resolution authorizing the issuance of
requests for qualifications for professional services to the city of Hackinack. Resolution 157-26, resolution authorizing the city of Hackinac to execute an agreement for use of city property between the city of Hackinac and LE A, Inc. Resolution
158-26, resolution authorizing the city of Hackinac to execute an agreement for use of Bergen County property by the city of Hackinac. And finally, resolution 159-26, resolution supporting use of affordable housing trust funds in connection with
89 to 95 Essex Street, block 10719, lots 20 and 21. >> Thank you, Tim. >> Can I have a motion to adopt the consent agenda um as read?
>> I'll offer. >> Second. >> Okay. Roll call, please. >> Councilwoman Clark Collins, >> I. >> Councilman Carol, >> I. >> Councilman Diaz, >> I. >> Mayor Gaines, >> I. >> Consent agenda passes. >> Okay. Thank you.
>> Okay. So, with resolution 155-26, do we want to table it? Do we want to What do we want to do with it? So, mayor, it would have to be called and then there could be a motion to either approve, disapprove, or table. >> Okay. All right. So, uh, resolution
155-26. >> Resolution 155-26 is a resolution authorizing the execution of an agreement with FURZA Strategy Group for Public Relations Services. >> Okay. What am I making? >> So, the motion, you could make a motion to table it if you'd like, uh,
Councilwoman, or you can make a motion to approve or deny it. >> Um, I make a motion to table it. >> Is there a second on that motion? >> I'll second that move. >> Okay, >> we need roll call on it. >> Yes, we do. Roll call, please. >> Councilman Clark Collins,
>> I. >> Councilman Carol, >> I. >> Councilman Diaz, >> I. >> Mayor Gaines, >> I. >> Resolutions tabled. Okay, moving on to double-sided. I'm out of order. No,
we're good. All right. Okay, we are opening up to our second and final public comment. This is three minutes on uh whatever appropriate topic your heart desires. I will keep
time for you. Um as we start to get close to the 3minut mark, I will ask for you to wrap up. I ask that you oblige and um please state your name and your municipality as you come forward, please. Thank you.
Can I have a motion to open to the public? >> I'll offer. >> Second. >> Okay. All in favor? >> I. Any opposed? >> Any abstensions? Just give me one moment. Okay, you're good to go. >> Hi. So, good evening. I'm Marlene Somerville, city of Hackinack residents.
So, uh, grant me a little bit of leeway because I'm wearing three different hats, um, tonight for presentation, right? Three different, um, committee reports to give. So, the first one is for the HC, the Hackinack Environmental Commission and the green team, the May overview for the council. And just
wanted uh, two items to call out. The first is that we have finally released our spring edition of our newsletter. So, that will go live this, um, this Friday, uh, attached to the city newsletter when it goes out. So, I just wanted to say to my committee members,
uh, thank you. It was a lot of effort and time put into, you know, putting it together, making sure that we had the correct information, that it was structured, you know, correctly, and that it aligned to what we had with the city. So, you know, again, congratulations to, you know, my team
for them doing a really good job. And the second is I want to say on behalf of the committee, congratulations again on us being awarded the $20,000 for the PSEG grant that we um just received. There was a lot of work that went into
that initiative, especially for um Vicki and Josh Cohen who were the ones to actually work, you know, with the team to put the report together. So again, just wanted to say uh congratulations and a thank you um to the city manager.
I would like to be able to set up a uh a meeting in your office. It this now falls under my purview even though I wasn't the person to deal with it initially and it's the maintenance and upkeep of the Prospect Avenue triangles. So I think initially when it was done
right, the concept was a collaborate collaborative effort between the garden club, the HC and I guess the DPW on doing the maintenance of the triangles. Usually it'll be between the spring and the summer that that needs to be
maintained. So it's spring is here, a lot of rain, it's overgrown, the garbage can is there, the bench is moved. So would like to see how we can facilitate a collaborative effort with DPW. Not quite sure who to reach out to, who to
have a conversation with. So would like to be able to engage your office to get some assistance with kind of moving that forward. Now I will move to the second hat as the rep Hackinac representative for Tanic. And I'll just run through really quickly um the updates. So, we
had our last meeting on um April the 15th and I will just hit the high points. We are moving towards the Route 17 alternative. Um and basically the Route 17 alternative is getting the pilots to utilize a route that does not
go over Hackinac Hospital and the city of Hackinack, but utilize the route to go over the water, right? more over route 17 over water and then pivot to come for a straight landing in. It was championed by the FAA in January. It was
released to all the pilots in February and so far we have had limited usage but at least it's being tested and used right more to come as it ramps up but we're hoping to be able to get them to move to not 100% but my goal is 20% then
40% and so on. But, you know, I like I said, small steps is better than no steps. So, >> we're a little bit over time and we got a line. So, I'm gonna give you about 30 more seconds. >> I think that is the the last part of the issue is just Oh, there was an accident.
So, I need to have a conversation with you and maybe legal. There was an accident at Tito um airport. I think it was uh April the 16th with a small air um airplane crashing into the airport. Right. We did reach out to Teter airport to ask them for a copy of their risk
assessment, you know, what's the policy, what happened, mediation. Currently, we're told that it's under investigation, but there's been no other update. So, may need something on city letterhead at some point in time to ask them, you know, to request for feedback.
>> Got it. Thank you. Thank you, >> Sergey Toy Story Hackinack. First of all, I'd like to commend the Bergen County Executive and his crew for the work they've done on River Street. Um, it's amazing. Some
hard work and people got to understand. Number two, I'd like to commend city employees of Hackinack for the work they do, especially for Frank Borceli and Allison Survey Survey. Um,
the website has drawn many Hackin Sack resident into Hackin Sack and now they're more aware and more involved. Number three, crossing guards. Robert Burke, 70 79year-old decorated
Vietnam War veteran was fatally injured in Hybridge, New Jersey in November 2024. Bruce Morac, the 74 year old retiree, died Friday morning, December 6, 2024 in Burlington City. Jean
Schultz, Eddie Ool, was killed Monday afternoon, May 4th, 2026, in the burrow of Woodland Park. I'd like to request a moment of silence, please. Data compi compiled shows that from 2015 to 2025 10 years at least 230 crossing
guards across se 37 states in Washington DC were struck by vehicles with nearly three dozen killed. Woodland Park stood up and stood strong with Mayor Tracy. Tallet promising the burough council days after the deadly in
incident that there would be an immediate and thorough review of the conditions and traffic patterns and that would be there would be increased police presence and targeted traffic enforcement in Woodland Park
in Hackinack, New Jersey where two pedestrians on Hudson Street in 2024 seriously hurt in a crash. They got tickets for jaywalking. We're on July 17, 2017 in the Shopright Riverfront Plaza Mall, a 60-y old man was struck by
a Bergen County vehicle, actually a truck, and he got no justice. Two and a half ton machines are allowed to avert the traffic laws and risk lives without serious consequences. Local traffic laws in the city of New
Hackinasack, New Jersey, the county seat of Bergen County, need to be revised and adopted to a 21st century environment of safety from reduced speed limits to increase roadway rumple strips and bumps. You have to lead by example. Safe
streets then save safe lives. Because on May 8th after I spoke here the last time a 74 year old man was killed in Hagtech New Jersey just after this meeting where safety issues were once again issu
raised. So my question is how many more? How many more? Thank you. >> Thank you sir. >> Richard Mueller Township president. Um just calling coming back up here to ask about what's going on with Hackin uh with Lynden and Anderson Avenue if
anything's been looked at or anything for the parking over there and possible creation of more parking over there on the street. Um I know we've discussed it previously with you guys and uh discussed that it would actually be a benefit on Lynen to slow the traffic down coming into
Anderson Avenue. Um wondering if anything's happened with that or if we've gotten anywhere with that. Thank you. I'm Rich Serbo 46 Spring Valley A
and the buses continue empty down our avenue speeding. Okay. No one does anything about it. I mentioned this years ago and you know our previous mayor used to say, "Well, maybe they're going to fill up the buses as they go
and they're going past you uh as they're empty." No, they're empty everywhere. I I don't get it. Look into it. The buses are empty and they're speeding. What's happening? Okay, so that's that. Uh I want I just wanted to ask questions
about You were elected about a year ago, right? Was it? So it's last year 2025. Okay. And um I remember reading uh about it because you won so handily. You you
you won by a large margin and um they mentioned that you had been ushered in by the Democratic party. Okay. And that some kind of machine was helping you uh win and get your votes and this and
that. I want to talk about that, okay? Because this is a nonpartisan town, okay? There's no way of keeping the parties out, but that money should be kept out because they can influence lots of things. Democratic party money can
influence a lot of things. So, can we talk about it? If we're going to go back to that and have candidates run under the uh you know the moniker of uh Democrat or Republican or whatever
independent, let's talk it through because this is seems to be uh surreptitious that that you won with Democratic assistance. Okay. And how are they going to influence our
city? And so it's a kind of a larger discussion, but I think it should be talked out. Uh they used to talk about it years ago and they knocked it down. We've stayed nonpartisan. They wanted to put the election into November
and uh have it under a party heading uh so it would bring out more more votes. And uh I guess the Democrats have their ways. Okay. So I'd like to have a response anyway. Thanks. Thank you.
>> Bill White, 451 Washington Avenue, Hackinack. So, the reason why I'm here is I want to discuss Pilaski Park in Washington Avenue. Before this project starts with this uh soccer arena, whatever you want to call it, foot soccer, I think it has to be looked at.
As the mayor and council, you guys should come back to the residents and ask us what do you think about it instead of taking up a entire double court basketball court and putting a soccer catastrophe there. Why? Let's talk about it. We have an abortion down
here at Johnson Park. $18 million supposed to be the soccer park. Put it down there. Put it somewhere. I don't care if you put it at Palaski, but let's talk about it. This is not my first rodeo, guys. 25 years I volunteered in this town of sports. Everybody knows me.
I'm all about the kids. First of all, we got two basketball courts. Larger than a high school basketball court. Why? Let's turn them. Let's make them instead of this way, turn it this way. Shorten them down for the kids can play. Then we always talk about there's nowhere for
the kids to run and play. Ride bikes. We have the ashalt. Let the kids go there. Let's take the soccer um foot court, whatever it's called, and put it in the back grass area. There's a large area to put it. If not, let's just say this is
the ashvault. Now, we have a basketball court here, a basketball court here. You guys want to put it here, and you're going to block the entrance to the school for the parents that have to walk. One, and two, becomes a safety issue because when they have fire drills, they go to the basketball court. Yes, I get it. It's city property, but
that's what the school's plan of action is. So, you're going to make these people walk around. The track that goes around it every 10 to 12 feet is broken, you know. So, we can sit down and come up with ideas. Our playground has holes in it. It's rusted. It's 28 years old.
What happened? A girl's foot went through it. They put some duct tape, a piece of metal on it. Another kids in school went foot went through it. What do they do? They come back with Gorilla tape. Still the same problem, same solution. Two weeks later, they come back, take a piece of metal, put rivets
in. Oh, the playground's fixed. Let's go play. Come on. Safety. It's 28 years old. It's rusted. I haven't seen anyone from the wreck department down at Palaski Park in years. I just saw one when you sent them down two weeks ago.
Thank you, Tommy, because I know you and I have spoke and you've always worked with me. He came down. He looked at it. He says, "Are you crazy? This is rusted." I said, 'Yes, there's ideas for that playground. We could turn it. We haven't put new wood chips in it since
2021. DPW first year in four years came and raked it. Our our benches are broken. Sorry, that's my Dexcom. Um um we have a walkway that they put in
prior council and there's no shaded area in that park. Let's put a gazebo. We spent what $100,000 at Sky Park. Let's put a small one in. >> Palaski Park. The only park without a flag. >> What?
>> No flag. >> And my time is over, but I have one more thing. >> Garbage cans. >> What is it? >> The garbage cans. >> Garbage cans. Go ahead. Go for it. >> Well, no, I have two things, but I will No, no. All right. So, I I talked to >> I'm trying to be nice to you.
>> All right. So, I um I forgot his name now. Uh we discussed Washington Avenue becoming a oneway. We have cars that fly off of Route 80 as a shortcut 70 80 miles an hour. That little blink blink 25 26 works when it wants to work.
Doesn't slow them down. Speed bumps. We haven't graded that street since 1976. >> Thank you, Mr. We paved it in 1998. They just went over what was there. Every month they're out filling holes. Can we look at changing it to a oneway?
>> Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. White. Thank you. And good to see you. >> All right. Fred Casserta, 450 Jackson Avenue, Hackinack. I my complaint is about uh the proposed
mini soccer um whatever it is um in uh Palaskki Park. Uh >> is right there into the park. >> There is no restrooms. If you increase
the amount of people that are there, there's no restrooms. the the parking we have no parking as it is the every spot is filled every night every uh
most parts of the day even. Um, I I have water problems from when they put the walking path in and I don't want to make the problem a lot
bigger if has anything to do with getting near the drain that's in the middle of the basketball basketball court. Um, also the ingress and egress
going from Jackson Avenue to the school. If you block the path, there's a lot of people come down Jackson Avenue, drop the kids, and have have to go through the fence to get to the school. Um, it
would be a lot worse for the people just to have a a mini uh soccer uh court there. And I that's about it. And I want to thank
Tom uh the city manager for coming down and looking at the problem. >> I just have something to say. >> Our house is right in the park. There's a school, there's a park, they have a big thing to play on and they have they
already have places for the thing and my house is right there on the edge. So when they come home from school, they cut across and that's fine. But now if they have another thing there, it'll my windows are closed. Everything I'll be right there. The park is there and
there's my house. So if they're playing that, I'm going to get broken windows. And there's the whole the whole street there's the parking is bad and it's just not good to have more stuff. >> Okay. Thank you. >> You know, it's just terrible. I mean,
they're not going to make it because you you you have it the school the school comes running out on the then then there's the thing where they play. So, they don't need more stuff there. You know, they have enough. They have basketball things and then they have this and they go want to do more. My my
My house is going to get broken windows. Right now it's a dead end. They park all over the place and then these people who come in, they don't work there, they don't live there and they want to use the park. They shouldn't put more stuff there. >> Thank you. >> Would be a problem.
>> Thank you for your comments. >> Hi, my name is Marie Osorio. I live at 444 Washington Avenue, right across from Palaski Park. Um, I've been living there over 40 years. Um, the park has gone
through many changes. Um, when I we first moved in, we had kids from the neighborhood setting fires. There was a small bathroom in the middle of the park and they used to put fires. So, it really wasn't great then. Um, I'm really
not a fan of the soccer proposition only because there's no parking. um the school parks in front of my house to drop their kids off and you know pick them up and it's very dangerous. Um I um
also too um there's no well I just said there's no bathrooms and I have a few pictures. It's from another park that's very close and it's South Hackinac and they have very nice benches. They
have a little thing for dogs that a dispenser for the the dog, you know, to pick up after the dog. They also have speed bumps and flower pots is just a suggestion because these are the benches we have now which are probably leftovers
from 1930. And you know, my thing is we're trying to do this for the kids, the next generation of kids for Hackin Sack. And if we're going to do something and improve it, we might as well do it the right way. Thank you very much.
>> Thank you, Mr. Sora. Thank you, >> Brownita Sheree P Street Hackinack. Peace and blessings to everyone. Um, at our last meeting, I mentioned ADUs. I didn't get a response, mayor, on that question at the end of
the last meeting. So, can you give me an update? Uh, number two, um, I've often talked about that school on Second Street about having some transparency on that there's a actual school there. Most people don't know that if you don't live in the
neighborhood on Pake in Hannes. Uh, a couple weeks ago, there was a terrible accident uh, crossing over from Clarin coming down Hannes. Um, the crossing guard has a terrible time. there's a four-way four-way intersection and she
has a terrible time. The kids sometime have to run across the street. Um the cars when they're coming down off a summit instead of them waiting when a car is making a left-hand turn, they want to go around on the right hand side. It's a one it's a one lane street
and you're not supposed to pass on the right. There was a bad accident. The little girl came out the car crying and screaming, bent over, talking about her stomach hurts. It it's it's bad for some of these crossing guards. And whoever was speaking about the crossing guards, we need to do more to protect them. We
need signs. We need some transparency that there's a crossing guard there. When you coming down off a prospect, you don't know when you going around another car on the right illegally, there's a crossing guard there trying to cross the children until you get there and skid. This car banged into the curb, slid down
the street. It could have been worse. So, we need to do more to protect our crossing guards and um make people aware that there's a crossing in front of them and just wait. Be patient cuz it could have been worse. They could have hit a child. So, I'm look, Second Street needs
to have at least a school zone marking in the street. And the Second Street going to get repaired. It's so raggedy. It's raggedy. And Bill, you was wrong about one thing. I've been down to Palaski Park. I went down there almost two months ago and I took pictures and I
talked to the resident. She had a child there. It's like they they like nonchalant about it because they don't think anything's going to get fixed and I have pictures in my phone of the holes and the tape and all of that. So, those things need to be taken care of. Um, I did bring it up in a board meeting. I
didn't follow up on it, but I will follow up with Lisa on, you know, what we could do and what we could recommend down there. But Pilaski is is ghetto. Yeah. Okay. So, we need to get we need to get that going, right, Bill? >> Yeah. And Bill is the man. He knows.
Okay. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Good evening. Uh Josh Cohen, Hackinack. Uh first, congratulations. Thank you for making progress towards making a new park on Main Street. Love that. Um also, congratulations to the Environmental Commission on being awarded a grant for
their environmental resource inventory. that that'll be the first one in the city since the 1970s. Um, I also want to echo something Councilwoman Clark Collins mentioned recently that these meetings have become informative and better attended. You're reaching a a broader cross-section of
residents. One thing I I'd love to see help build on that momentum is more context from city leadership on how these individual projects connect to the city's larger goals and adopted plans. That kind of communication can help turn these individual projects into stories
and help build public confidence and leadership. Um, Hackinack already has some of that framework in place. The Open Space and Recreation Plan is a thoughtful datadriven document developed with input from staff, boards, schools, community stakeholders, and it's the project of community engagement, which I
think we heard tonight is something people are looking for. It identifies short, medium, long-term action plans by park and neighborhood. It distinguishes an active place from passive recreation spaces, accounts for demographics, open space availability, and it gives us a
clear basis for aligning projects, grants, public communication around shared goals. Uh, example, at the last meeting, Ryan presented on a lightning detection system being installed at every city park and school. It's a huge accomplishment. It's something you've been working on for years, and I know it's a medium-term action plan in the
open space plan. But if you're watching that and you hadn't read the document, you'd have no idea that that was a larger goal that we've been working on for so long. Um, what else have we accomplished? What is our current status of implementing the plan? Uh, what are we currently working towards? I I I
those are general general genuine questions and how do we accomplish the long those long-term goals that are in that plan. Um, and that's the kind of leadership communication that Hackinack really needs. Why is this important? that plan of like for example evaluates
um a splash pad at Sty Park as part of a broader park improvement. It doesn't go at Baldwin Park which doesn't have bathrooms, parking or space. That's the kind of sight specific work that that took effort to produce um and helps inform which projects move forward and
which which which grants get written. The city's grant writers, engineering consultants, professional staff are the ones positioned to frame those projects within the master plan. If those proposals are coming forward without that framing, the council should should uh expect it as a baseline. So I
encourage you to use that plan more actively as a management pool tool not just for compliance but as a living roadmap when staff bring forward projects uh footsole courts as you heard today ask which action item in the open space plan does this advance. That
framing ensures our investments are thoughtful and you have a response to people tonight who have concerns about it. you've thought this through already. Um the plan may also contain items no longer reflect your current priorities. It was originally written by a different council. That's fine. Priorities evolve.
Um but if that's not if that's the case, we need to update the plan to ensure that the staff, boards, and the public are all working from the same playbook. When the city completes an action plan, say so. Connect the plan to the work to the plan. Take the credit. It reinforces
that planning leads somewhere. It'll build confidence and shows residents that commitments are being followed through. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Good evening. Um Darling Bod Sombrana um resident. Um just want to state one
thing. Um, back in 2023, August 1st, I sent an email to the previous administration, of course, in regards to um the intersection of Clinton Place and Main Street. Um,
and apparently the the main street falls into the county road. I think a previous I think you have seen my previous communication with the county in regards to River Riverside Road. Um but this in particular
intersection I would say requires a proper um some sort of traffic signal. They send it back to me. I did forward you the email by the way to John uh Thomas um just recently just now forward you the email what the county informed
the city that this intersection does not meet the MUTCD traffic signal 8 hours guarantee for installation of the traffic signal you have an Aldi there you have a new multi-dwelling coming in
and I can assure you that every day like around 3 4 or 5 o'clock in the afternoon there's There's a lot of foot traffic and pedestrians are going over 20 um um motorcyclists are going over 25 miles
per hour and they're not stopping for pedestrians and I can assure you that because I have taken videos and and and photograph of these cars and nothing was done back in 2023, right? This is my
first time addressing this to you guys. So maybe you guys can look into it. I will appreciate that a lot. Um I go to the church right there in Trinity also. I walk all that area with my dogs and it's really concerning especially when
my dad goes to Aldi. So if you can kindly look into that intersection. I can send an email to the county but uh I don't think they want to see my name anymore after my Riverside. Um, just to know like it's so beautiful
to know that River Road is as smooth as it can be now. I don't have to go like this like I'm drunk driving. So, thanks for the county for doing their work finally. Thank you. >> Thank you.
>> Can I speak on her item? Maybe I could give some light. I uh if if you want to make the point for someone else too, but you you've had time during this section, so I just want to be fair to everyone else. >> Okay. >> Sorry. Thank you. >> Anyone else from the public wishing to
speak? Seeing none, motion to close to the public. >> Second. >> All in favor? I. >> Any opposed? Any abstensions? Okay. Oh, uh, Councilwoman, no deputy mayor today.
Councilwoman, >> you're up first. >> Oh, boy. >> You never know when your number is getting called. You're up first. >> You. >> So, um, yesterday, despite the rain, our
community came together at Veterans Memorial Park to honor the brave men and women who have served our nation. I want to extend my heartfelt thanks to everyone who attended. Your presence show true appreciation for the
sacrifices made by our veterans. I also want to extend my deepest thanks to all the volunteers who helped make make yesterday's veterans memorial event so meaningful. Your dedication, organization, and willingness to show up
even in the rain ensure that our veterans receive the honor and respect they deserve. From setting up the park to coordinating the program to supporting our guests, every effort you made reflected the very best of our Hackinack community. Events like this
don't happen without people who care, and I am truly grateful for your time, your energy, and your heart. Thank you for helping us honor our veterans with the dignity and gratitude they have earned. I'd also like to thank every
first responder who continues to protect and serve our community. Your courage and commitment never never go unnoticed. Tonight, we approved updates to the rent stabilization board ordinance. These
changes were made to ensure the board can meet quorum and continue its important work. The rent stabilization board plays a vital role in helping resolve disputes between landlords and tenants, promoting fairness and
stability in our city. I encourage residents who are interested in serving their community to consider joining the board. Your participation can make a meaningful difference and ensuring that Hackinac remains a fair and supportive
place for all who call it home. Hackinack thrives when our residents take an active role in shaping the future of our city. With the recent updates to the rent stabilization board ordinance, it is now easier than ever for community members to join this
important board. The rent stabilization board plays a vital role in helping resolve disputes between landlords and tenants, ensuring fairness, stability, and transparency in our housing community. Your voice, your experience,
and your commitment can make a real difference for families and property owners across our city. If you care about housing, fairness, and community problem solving, I encourage you to consider serving. This is an opportunity
to contribute to a board that directly supports the well-being of Hackinack residents. Together, we can keep Hackinack a place where everyone feels heard, respected, and supported. I'd like to finally close by saying uh
giving you a reminder to get out and vote next Tuesday, June 2nd, in the primary election. As always, thank you for coming and get home safe. >> Thank you, Councilwoman. Councilman, >> uh thank you. that you took up half of
my speech, so I'll keep it short. Uh to our residents, Mr. White down at Palaski Park. Um nothing's set in stone there. So, uh we want the community engagement and that's what we got, which is great. We want to
hear what the community says. We're not just going to put something somewhere. We're going to suggest it. We're going to keep it open to our residents whether it's on Palasi or Anderson Street and we want to hear what you have to say. So, I'm glad that you all came out and
voiced your opinions on that and we will take that under consideration. Uh for that young woman that uh made the suggestion at Clinton and Main Street, I agree with you. Um there is construction going on there. Uh I am going to talk with the city manager because the way
they have the fencing uh you can't see through it. So you actually have to creep up uh 5T past the stop sign before you can make a right or a left and the traffic is crazy. So yes, we're going to address it with the city manager and see if we can come up with. Um what else do
we have? Anderson Street, we're trying to keep a an eye on that. Again, we got complaints about the double parking on the weekends. Uh I believe that the police department was going to start doing some kind of drone patrol. Uh I didn't get a report on that, but uh
hopefully something happens there because I have driven down um and it's a lot of double parkers. So it's uh a work in progress everything that we do. And I appreciate everybody that comes out and voices their opinion. We take it, we
write it down and hopefully we can come up with some kind of remedy to uh make everyone happy. And thank you for the Main Street Alliance. Keep up the good work. Um you're doing a great job down there. Uh expand it, I think, to Route
4, uh instead of cutting them off at Anderson Street, but my opinion. So, thank you all for coming and uh God bless. >> Thank you, Councilman. >> Thank you. Good evening. As we bring this uh public hearing to a
close, I want to express my sincere gratitude to everyone who came out and spoke tonight. Your feedback, your concerns, and even your criticisms are what keep us uh what keep this council grounded and focused
on what truly matters. We taking some notes tonight as you saw and I assure you that your input will be front and center as we deliberate on these issues moving
forward. But it's also one thing that I want to make clear tonight. When we make decisions, when this council made decision, we don't think as Democrats. We don't think as Republicans. We don't think as
independent. We think as committed citizens of Hackinack. That's the way it is. and thank you for your time, your passion, and your dedication to making our community a better place to live.
Have a safe trip, and enjoy the rest of the night. Thank you. I'm going to uh just briefly echo the councilwoman. Yesterday, we had quite phenomenal turnout at the Memorial Day ceremony. Um despite the rain, it
was quite quite strong turnout. And so thank you to everyone who was there. Um and special acknowledgements to the veterans board and uh former mayor Mike Melie who spearheads it every year and does a fantastic job. There's also Hackinack history um that's a part of
the ceremony. So if you haven't been before uh please join us next year and if you want to see what happened this year um you could watch it hopefully from a dry spot on uh social media and I'm probably on the city's YouTube as
well. Um, I just want to tick off a couple of things that have been mentioned that haven't been addressed. First, River Street. Um, that is a county road. I'm I'm happy to kick that one to the county. Um, but I I have to say driving down River Street, um, to
me. I'm one person, worth a week and a half of a hard time to me because it is smooth. If you haven't been down River Street, it is smooth today. And we know how roads go. I I can't promise it'll be smooth next week, but it is smooth
today. And so, um, it's a welltraveled road and I encourage you to go down it. Um, but thank you to the county for doing that. I want to just address there were a number of things. I think um, Councilman Carol
talked about some pedestrian safety things. Talked about Anderson Street and uh, Clinton and Maine. We all of these traffic concerns or safety concerns, we are happy to let our experts in PD look at those things, investigate those
things. None of us are traffic experts, but we certainly rely on our PD to do that. Pedestrian safety is something that we take very seriously. Um, in the city of Hackinack in 2011, I lost my grandfather in a vehicular accident while he was on foot in Hackinack. And
so I uh I don't need to be convinced about the importance of pedestrian safety, but it is something that what works in one municipality may not be able to work in this municipality for a number of reasons, but traffic looks into all of those things when they are
raised here. So to all of our residents, continue to raise those things. And we have had a number of actions taken because of things that were raised here. The one that most immediately comes to my mind because I pass by it every day is Anderson and Prospect which now has
four uh illuminated stop signs and um hopefully that's making some sort of an impact over there but thank you to those who raised issues. Um I am not going to allow you to say I didn't address the auxiliary units this meeting. though.
Um, we have had folks look at it on our end to just look into the feasibility of it and to see what other municipalities are doing. I know that you mentioned I think T-neck. I think you said Tene. Um, but but we're looking into it. So, I don't have a definitive answer. It's something that we're exploring, but we're we've been doing some exploring,
but that's okay. Keep me honest. I appreciate it. Um, regarding Oh, I think I did that one. I did do that one. Regarding the parks. Okay. So, um, lots of conversation about Palaski Park. I want to echo what everyone said. Thank you for coming to
talk about Palaski Park or talk about any of the parks. Um, it's important and I think it's good for us to hear people's comments whether you agree with us or not. So, thank you. And I know it's a week night and it's late and so thank you for that. Um, I I want to acknowledge that I heard two two things
happening at the same time in that conversation about the parks. I heard that the benches look like they're from 1930 and that the equipment is rusted and that the wood chips haven't been tended to in a long time and that there's duct tape on equipment and also that we don't want new equipment because
it may attract more people to use the park. So, these are things that need to sort of be reconciled in the same sort of space. I certainly recognize and acknowledge that we have equipment that needs some TLC,
maybe a lot of TLC. I also am going to use the the privilege that I have here to say that the things that we're talking about, the wood chips from 2021 that haven't been updated predate us. DPW came and they tended to it. It
sounded like um no one has come down to the park in years. Our city manager has been down there. So, we're we got some fresh eyes. We got some fresh eyes. We're trying. We're trying. So, so um I'm going to ask for the manager um to
just speak a little bit because this particular soccer pitch that's being proposed is something that is not something that originated with the city of Hackinack. It's something that we were offered via a grant. It's also not taking up the full basketball court. So,
for folks that play basketball and want to continue to play basketball, they'll have the ability to do that. This was um discussed, I think, in the last meeting, but I'm just going to ask for the manager to just shed a little bit of light um just to make sure that we're all talking about the same thing and thinking about it the same way.
>> Yes. Yes. So, uh I think Mr. Casserta and Oh, you're still here. Okay. Um yeah, I stopped down. Uh they had some concerns about the location of this. It's called a mini soccer pitch. Um, it's basically a small self-contained soccer court.
It It looks like maybe a miniature hockey rink. Uh, it's enclosed with walls on all the sides of it. Uh, intended to keep the ball inside the play area. Um it was given to us at no cost to us uh through FIFA through the
Hackinack University Medical Center who was Hack University Medical Center had an opportunity to gift three municipalities with this mini soccer pitch and they um chose Hackinack as one of them. Um when I heard Mr. Casserta Mrs. Casera's concerns about it being
too close to their house. I actually visited them and took a walk in the park with them and they showed me what their concerns were and I recognized their concerns and I talked to project management about their concerns. Um, and
we spoke to Musco Lighting is a company that's um, facilitating this installation of this mini soccer pitch. So, we spoke to them and they identified the area that they were going to put it on, which is on the east side of the
large blacktop area. Uh, it was going to cover the one basketball court and and some of the middle area that has nothing in it right now. Not touching it, wouldn't go near the drain or anything. That's where they proposed to put it because that setup most logistically
appealing to them. It was flat. There was no uh Yeah, that's a look at it there. there was no um pitch or unevenness there to worry about. Anyway, when I heard their concerns, I saw them in person. I saw the concerns in person. I I said if we can move it to the west
side, it would be away from any of the homes. It won't interfere with the foot traffic of the kids going from Jackson Avenue through. Um there was a a concern there that Musco didn't want to put it there because it had a little bit of uneven black top there. Uh Ryan, our
project manager, has already spoken to our paving company, and they're going to most likely, if this is the final destination, they will put a small pad there to level out that area so that it will accept the soccer pitch. Um I just I I do want to say that, you know, it's
it's uh it's a tough it's a tough thing. This is not the first or the second um public improvement that we're trying to do. And and Josh Cohen is correct. We we do look at that that study that was done years ago and it does identify all the parks. It it identifies which parks have
had improvements, which parks are due for improvements and we do look at that to decide what parks we should focus on and Pilaski has not had any improvements lately. Um so we thought this was a perfect tool to put a perfect piece of equipment to put down there and we also
know that soccer, you know, is is a very big activity for the kids these days. So, we really thought this would be the ideal place for it. Hearing their concerns, we would definitely consider moving it to the west side there where it won't interfere. Um, and we believe that would be a much better location
after seeing it and hearing your concerns. Also, while I had Ryan, I told him about the drainage concerns down there. Mr. Casserta, he's got our our engineering company's taking a look at that being that there's only one small drain in front of your house. He showed me the pictures of the water going into
the park, following the pathway around the playground and eventually finding its way to the center drain, which obviously works very well, but we're going to look at the drainage concerns there as well. So, I don't want you to think that, you know, what you what you told me went went unnoticed or or we
didn't act upon it. Um, as far as uh Mr. White, uh, Bill, with the playground equipment, we have most of the playground equipment in most of the parks have been identified. the ones that need upgrading and we are actually you know councilwoman Clark Collins is
is with the is the rec leaison she has visited all the parks as well we have put in for grants for most of these playground equipments that need upgrading and they are definitely going to get done eventually I'm not you know I'm glad that you brought to my attention the deficiencies on that one yes >> I ask you a question
>> yeah if you're going to move it to the west side if you look at the length of the basketball court it's bigger than a high school couldn't take two of them and turn it sideways on the east side. And as far as the mayor, we don't want
No, we do want it move to the other side. >> I understand. >> Yeah. >> But the playground is bad. >> Yeah. No, we we understand that. There's no doubt about it. And and you said you needed you needed garbage cans down there. >> You referenced garbage cans. I don't
know what your concern was. See when you picture there's still another 60 yard of grass area. There's nothing down there. There's two garbage cans. One by opening there, one by Jackson. >> Okay.
>> Um but there's no shade, no cover. That's why you can't have the camp program. So there's not a flag. If you put a with a flag, you'll have shade and cover and hopefully it work. >> Okay. Yeah, we'll look into we'll look into all the suggestions, you know, all
good stuff. And here again, we're we're only trying to improve make improvements here. We're not we're not trying to cause neighborhood uproar. >> Understood. >> Gotcha. Gotcha. And then uh I guess while I have the mic real quick, I I I will pass along Pay and Hannes along to
the uh traffic division and uh I guess three of the concerns were about the mini soccer pitch and then uh Lyndon and Anderson parking. I will have to revisit. I'm not aware of what anybody was working on there, but if you feel free to email me also if you have
questions or concerns, you don't necessarily have to bring it up at a council meeting. you're welcome to, but you might get a a quicker and a more accurate response if you just email me. So, please feel free to do that. Um, that covers it everything I needed to
answer. Sorry. Okay, great. Um, so, a couple other quick things. Um, in terms of the uh the community engagement, um, Josh, Mr. Cohen, I agree with you completely. Um,
you know, I we have been in office for just shy of a year. Um, it feels like a lot longer. I don't know how it feels to everyone sitting out there, but boy oh boy, what a year. Um, and and you know, I I have to say
I'm I'm proud of a lot of the things that that we've done. And and to be honest with you, when when people say, you know, this has been an issue for a long time. Why hasn't this been fixed? Why aren't you fixing it? Why isn't on your radar? I will be
completely honest with you and I say I take that as an incredible sign of confidence that you all have in us that in 11 months that the the ills of Hackinack can be addressed. Um, but we're working on it, you know, we're working on it.
And and I say sincerely, you know, I'm proud of our investment in the library tonight. I'm proud of the work that's been done in terms of the various environmental groups in terms of soliciting grants and receiving grants.
Um, I think the ERRI study is something that is past due. And I think you all did exactly what everyone should be doing, which is that some time ago, you came to us, you said this is an issue, you identified a grant, you found a way to help pay for the majority of it, and
that's a beautiful thing. Um, so we're going to continue to try and find as many creative ways to address all of the issues that we can in the time that we have. Um, but I'm just going to ask everyone for their continued patience,
their continued um, wellw wishes and their feedback and we'll course correct as we can. Um, the last thing and I'm I'm only addressing it because um, Mr. Serbo asked for a response and I would
hate to deny that request. So, as the councilman said, we sit here and when we are faced with issues, there are issues that are completely nonpartisan issues in the city of
Hackinack. Snow removal is a nonpartisan issue. Potholes are nonpartisan issues. I would not presume, and it would be incorrect to presume, that everyone sitting on this deis is of the same ideology. I would not presume that. Um,
and because our election was referenced, I want to just share and remind two text messages that I received and that we all received on May 12th, the day before the election. So the first
one urgent Casim Gaines and Hackinack Unites are far-left radicals who've supported defunding the police and turning Hackinack into a sanctuary city. We can't let them take over our town. Vote for Mayor John Le and the Leos
team, the only team fighting to keep Hackinack safe and secure. That's one text sent two minutes later. This text urgent Casim Gaines and Hackinack Unites took money from a MAGA
aligned pack and are backed by the Bergen County Republican chairman. We cannot let GOP insiders take over Hackinack. Democrats must show up and vote team Labros column 3 to stop them.
So I would love any supporting documentation that you can provide to say that we are tools for the Democratic party. But what I would say is that the
injection of partisan politics regarding this council was not done by this council. The injection of partisan politics addressing this council was done on election eve in a desperate
attempt by people who knew they were losing 24 hours later. And with that, I'm going to ask for a motion to adjurnn. follow.