It's 7:02. I call tonight's meeting to order. Roll call. Bennett here. Leosa here. Neilie. Sasso here. Skiara here.
Waki. Matthews here. Please rise and join us in the pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance 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. Adequate notice of this meeting has been provided by the annual schedule of regular meetings. here for adopted and posted on the public bulletin board at the municipal building, emailed to the Herald News, the record, the Gazette, and all persons who've requested the mailing as such since November 19th,
2024. Approval of the minutes. Have approval of the minutes for the regular meeting of April 2nd, 2025. Motion. Motion by Leoso. Second by Sasso. Any discussion? Roll call. Skiara.
Abstain. Sasso. Yes. Leosa, yes. Bennett, yes. Matthews, yes. Motion carries. Public comment. I now open the meeting to the public. Anyone desires to be heard on agenda items, come forward to the microphone. State your name.
Seeing no one, I enter a motion to close public portion of the meeting. So move. Motion by Sierra, second. Second by Bennett. All in favor? I. I. Motion carries. Adoption of ordinances. We have ordinance 2364-25, an ordinance to further amend
and supplement chapter 505, article 2, sections 505-5, speed limits schedule 505-54 and 505-9, prohibited right turns at the red signal. Schedule 505-59 as to add certain there two
additional locations. I now open the meeting to the public. Anyone desires to be heard, come forward to the microphone. State your name. Seeing no one, I entertain a motion that this public hearing on this ordinance be closed and that it be resolved that the set ordinance be posted on Boulderboard
in which public notices are customarily posted published in the record made available on the burough website and available to the public. Now therefore be resolved this ordinance be adopted and clerk is authorized to advertise the same according to law. Have a motion. Second
motion by Bennett, second by Skier. Roll call. Bennett, yes. Leosa, yes. Sasso, yes. Skiara, yes. Waki, I'm sorry, Matus. Yes. Motion carries. Ordinance 2365-25, ordinance to further amend and
supplement chapter 505, article 2, section 505-8, prohibited turns at intersections, schedule 505-57. So add to so to add there to a certain additional locations. I now open a meeting to the public. If anyone desires to be heard regarding this
ordinance, please raise your hands are recognized and come forward to the microphone and state your name. Anyone wish to be heard on this ordinance. Seeing no one, I entertain a motion the public hearing on this ordinance be closed. That it be resolved that this ordinance was posted on the bulletin board on which public notices
are customarily posted, published in the record and made available on the burough website and available to the public. Now therefore be resolved this ordinance be adopted and the clerk is authorized to advertise the same according to law. Have a motion. So moved. Motion by Skierra. Second. Second by Bennett. Any
discussion? Roll call. Skiara. Yes. Sasso. Yes. Leosa. Yes. Bennett. Yes. Matthews. Yes. Motion carries. All business. Mike, we'll start your way. Thank you, Council President. Uh, quick question for the mayor. Mayor, I know we talked about
previously about the Real ID coming to Hawthorne. Uh there was a date posted. Um could you remind us of the date and who would the public want to get in contact to schedule an appointment? Uh that's scheduled through the DMV.
Okay. Um I don't have the exact date here, but it's going to be in my Friday letter. Thank you. Okay. appreciate. That's what happened. Raina, not tonight. Bruce, uh, yes. On my, uh, morning walk this
morning, I decided to, uh, follow one of the garbage trucks on its route. Probably because I work a lot cheaper than the DPW guys. You hide. Yeah. And you'll be happy to know they hit every stop along the route and they didn't get anything on my shoes. So, you can tell
Bill Hafler to give them a gold star on today's uh report card because I'm sure our residents have been concerned about this. Thank you, Councilman. Santa Marie, I'll leave Phil alone this week. Nothing. Thank you. How about new business, Santa Marie? So, I did have a
question about um some of the parking issues on um the North A Street and Gothal Road, that area, which has been a sore spot. So, we know that the North A Street is going to be addressed, right? There are some
businesses there and I just want to ensure those businesses that anybody who's parking on the sidewalk on Gothal, anyone that's getting a ticket, it's not going to the business, it's going to the vehicle. Correct. Correct. That's all I wanted to hear. Thank you
very much, Bruce. No, sir. Um, just new business. I just want to let people know about the website being updated, but I just want to give a shout out to Lori and Lisa because um you guys
have been updating a lot of my stuff and when I send stuff to them, it immediately goes up on the website. So, I just want to give a shout out to them because they're working really hard and getting our pages up to date. Appreciate it. And it's so much easier for me just to send it and not worry about it. So, thank you. I just wanted to recognize I
said to Lisa before the meeting. So, um, that's what we're trying to accomplish that there's a point person that it can all funnel to and she's has been doing a great job. So, thank you. Thank you. You're welcome. Mike, I have nothing tonight, but great job, Lori and Lisa.
Okay, we'll turn to the administrative agenda presented by Mayor Lane. Thank you, Mr. President. At this time, I would like to ask our chief of police to come forward uh for the uh presentation of the accreditation
behind you. Oh, sorry. Let one of these strappy young men take care of that. This way. This way. Because once you started it, I'm fully honored the treatment that I get. But the mayor remembers I was here
three years ago um celebrating the initial accreditation for the Han Police Department. I think what is different this time around is the fact that they have reached uh achieved their reacredititation. So whereas back in uh three years ago they join an elite group
of about 54% of all the law enforcement agencies in the state of New Jersey that would be eligible to apply and achieve accreditation. Um now they join a more exclusive group of less than 32% of all the law enforcement agencies in the state of New Jersey that actually have achieved reacredititation. that includes
prosecutor's office, sheriff's office, any university or college that that may have their own police department. So it's about 600 of them. So they should be proud of the uh the accomplishment. So if you indulge me for two minutes, I'd like to share with you the significance of the achievement. So
accreditations uh accreditation status represents a significant professional achievement. The Hawthan Police Department has once again made a commitment to adhering to best practices at the state and national level in a highly regarded statewide law enforcement accreditation program. This program administered to New Jersey State
Association of Chiefs of Police in the New Jersey Law Enforcement Accreditation Commission has helped to transparently demonstrate the professionalism, transparency, and preparedness of state's law enforcement agencies in the state public safety system. Excuse me. During these uniquely challenging times and the threat to our health and safety,
encouraging law enforcement officers uh agencies to follow standardized practices and policies is a potentially life-saving and cost-effective investment of time and resources. Accreditation gives an agency a preparedness plan and verification of excellence. And I say again, this is a reacredititation. So this prestigious
reacredititive status demonstrates Chief Nper's firm commitment to state and national standards and the continued expectation for quality professional and ethical policing. Now there are many benefits to accreditation. One of them that the public typically wants to know is what's in it for me. If you belong to
a GIF certainly there's some discounts that are applied to an agency that achieves accreditation amongst others. I think it's important to mention that government officials can be more confident in the uh agency's uh ability to uh deal more efficient efficiently operationally and officers integrated
agencies can take pride that they have been objectively recognized for their professionalism and adherence to the highest practices. I just like to paraphrase some of what was said in the final report when we actually came here as the mayor reminded me early earlier. Um, under the leadership of Chiefs uh,
James Stamper, the the Hawth Police Department have a very active presence in and within the community. The members of Hawth of the Hawth actively engage with several community programs to get people interested and educated about police. Very important. In addition, the Haw Police Department in partnership
with the mayor, the council president, and the council has made significant strides in improving operations and services. Gradation being one of them. Uh the agency has successfully increased manpower, upgraded the fleet management system and is currently advancing the communication system. All items to be
proud of. So it is the opinion of the assessment team that the Hortman Police Department is a highly professional and committed agency which exemplifies all of the tenants of law enforcement accredited agent at the state and national level. And so it is indeed again um my honor here tonight on behalf
of the New Jersey State Association of Chiefs of Police and uh and the law enforcement accreditation commission to congratulate Chief James Neper, Cradation Manager, Lieutenant Matthew Hugmed, the I knew I was going to screw that up and I apologize. That was close. the me the members of the Haw Police
Department, the council president, the council and those citizens that they so proudly serve by having achieved the reacredititation joining a very exclusive group of law enforcement agencies that have made this commitment to excellence in policing. So to all indeed congratulations. This is where you get to
[Applause] cl with a certificate. You've earned it. Congratulations. Thank you. Before you go, can we take a picture together and have the mayor come up? Absolutely.
Take one of the pictures. I got you. He's new to this. You heard me. Joe, you should take it from here. Don't be a lazy guy. Walk around. It's a sit. He only knows how to use the body
cams. Percentage was like 12%. [Music] Let's go in Matty's office. Thanks, man. Good job. Where I have the oath? Okay, I'll start here. At this
time, I would like to ask uh where is she? Diane, if you would come up for the uh Sha Tree Commission. Oh, I got it on. Whereas J. Sterling Morton, a pioneer from Detroit and a lover of nature,
settled in Nebraska territory in 1854. And whereas Jay Sterling Morton advocate tree planting and on January 4th, 1872 proposed to the Nebraska Board of Agricult Agriculture that a special day be set aside for the planting of trees.
And whereas this holiday called Arbor Day was first observed on April 10th, 1872 with the planting of more than 1 million trees in Nebraska. And whereas in 2025 is the 153rd anniversary of Arbor
Day which is now observed throughout the nation and the world. And whereas trees can reduce the erosion of our precious top soil and wind water are cutting our heating and cooling costs moderate and
temperature. Clean air produ produce oxygen and provide habitable for the wildlife. And whereas trees in the Hawthorne increase, property values enhance the economic validity of business areas, beauty, beautiful our
community and wherever they are planted. Trees are a source of joy and spiritual renewal. And we're asked to quote JW J. Sterling Morton, each generation takes the earth as trustee. Now therefore, the mayor and council of the Burrow of
Horththornne do hereby proclaim April 25th, 2025 as Arbor Day in the Burrow of Horththornne, and we urge all citizens to plant trees, to support the effort and protect our trees and woodlands, and to support our community's forestry
program. In witness whereof, I have set my hand in the seal of the burrow of Horththornne to be affixed this 16th day of April, 2025, signed by myself and the full council. Congratulations and thank you very much for the shade tree and what you do for us. Thank you. Thank
you, Maryanne. And I am uh I'm privileged and I'm honored to be accepting this on behalf of the Shade Tree Commission. And I just want to urge everyone as April is the month of spring and renewal to come out to our Arbor Day Earth Day celebration which will be held
this Tuesday, April 22nd, to be followed by celebration at the high school on April 26th. So, it's uh April 26th, right? And uh from 10 to 2. And this is our way of celebrating spring and our commitment to the natural environment.
Thank you very much. Thank you so much. Thank you. And now I have another uh proclamation to read off uh for autism. Whereas in 2007, the United Nations General Assembly declared April 2nd as World
Autism Awareness Day with the goal and being the the world's attention to autism, a disorder that affects tens of millions. And this year marks the 18th annual World Autism Awareness Day. And whereas joined in the international
community, hundreds of thousands of landmarks, buildings, homes, and communities around the world come together on April 3rd, Autism Awareness Day, to light it up blue in recognition of people with autism and those who love
and support them. And whereas autism is a complex neurological disorder that inhibits a person's ability to communicate and develop social relationships and is often accompanied by the behavioral changes. Whereas autism spectrum disorders are diagnosed
in one in 35 children in the in New Jersey and one in 36 children nationally. Boys being diagnosed with autism 4.2 two times more than girls and autism spectrum disorder prevails in the United States and has increased by
312% since the year 2000. Whereas the center of disease control and prevention eliminates the 2.8% of children in the United States have diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder and have called autism a national public health crisis whose
cause and cure remain unknown. Now therefore, be it proclaim that the mayor and council of the burrow of Forthornne do hereby proclaim April 25th as National Autism Awareness Month and witness whereof I have undue set my hand and cause the seal of the burrow of
Forthornne to be affixed the 16th day of April 2025 supported I'm sorry signed by myself and the full council. Uh we do uh we we're sorry that uh this wasn't done uh at the beginning of April, but uh
actually time got away from us and we weren't able to uh to do it, but uh we're we wanted to do it now. And this way we want to uh provide, you know, the the the relief that we can for the uh for the members uh and the families who have autism.
And now I have uh the best part of the whole uh the whole evening uh is uh swearing in of two officers to be permanent uh officers in the burrow of Horththornne. And I'd like Ruth Penna to come forward, please. Can I have a
motion to record? So move second. Motion by Bennett, second by Leosa. Roll call. Bennett? Yes. Leosa? Yes. Sasso? Yes. Skiara? Yes. Come over here. Matthews. Motion carries. Want to hold the Bible?
I, Ruth Penna, I, Ruth Pñena, do solemnly swear do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution that I will support the Constitution of the United States of the United States and the Constitution and the Constitution of the State of New Jersey of the State of New Jersey. And I will bear true faith
and allegiance I will bear f truth and allegiance to the same to the same and to the governments established to the government established in the United States 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 will perform the duties of and that I perform the
duties of police officer police officer of the police department of the police department of the burrow of the bur of faithfully faithfully and partially partially and justly justly to the best of your ability to the best of my ability. So help me God. So help me God. Congratulations.
Congratulations. Congratulations. Keep up. Good work. Congratulations. And now I'd like to also introduce Jose Zuna. Would you please come up with your family? Could I have a motion to record? So move. Second. Second. Motion by
Bennett. Second by Sierra. Roll call. Skiara. Yes. Sasso. Yes. Leosa. Yes. Bennett. Yes. Matthews. Yes. Motion carries. raise your right hand. I, Josea, I, Jose Ozuna, do solemnly
swear do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution that I will support the Constitution of the United States of the United States and the Constitution and the Constitution of the State of New Jersey of the State of New Jersey and that I will bear true faith and allegiance and I will bear true to faith and allegiance to the same to the
same and to the governments established and to the governments established in the United States 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 will perform the duties of and will perform the duties of police officer police officer of the police department of the
police department of the burrow of Horththornne of the burrow of Hawthorne imp partially and partially and justly and justly to the best of my ability to the best of my ability. So help me God. So help me God. Congratulations. Congratulations. Congratulations. Just a couple of reminders. The burough
offices will be closed Friday in observance of Good Friday. Recycling center will be open. The garage the garbage and recycling also will be picked up as normal. Taxes are due May 1st. Grace period is extended to Monday,
May 12th. On Sunday, May 18th at 1 p.m. we will have our third annual mayor's walk for wellness and we will meet at the high school track. Please mark your calendars to join us. I encourage you to sign up for NIXL or go to our website to
read my weekly newsletters for the news of the burrow and and the events. Now, I'd like to turn it over to our attorney, Mr. Michael Pasqual. For those of you out here, you stayed for the mayor's report because he's the
boss. You don't have to stay for mine. So, you are you are free to leave. Couple of matters to report on. Um first of all on the spoiled front as
is always asked uh we are getting heat from the court to move the matter which is good. Uh judge is on top of things and uh really the heat is not being brought on us. It's being brought on Mr. Spoil to stop with delays and to get to
the point of let's get this matter before the court. So, we have dates that are coming up for discovery exchange and trial dates that are all coming up within the next month and a half. So, hopefully we will get some progress on
the civil side of things. Um, couple of things to report on with tax appeals. County appeals are going to be heard in the first week of May. And in addition on your agenda tonight is R73, which I'm asking for your approval.
It's a tax appeal settlement. It's steep. I can't say it otherwise. It is one of those circumstances where we have a building that frankly uh justifies in the opinion of our assessor, our appraiser, and me reduction in its
assessed value. The building is somewhat functionally obsolete. it is tenanted, but it's older um long-term tenants, so rents are low. So, we do believe that the exposure that was presented to the
bureau significantly uh was significant and as a result, we do recommend the settlement to you tonight. So again, uh the refund is significant, but to take this matter to the court and face what could be four to
five times as much on a judgment against us, we felt was unwise. And uh so that is one that we recommend. Affordable housing front, the next phase that comes up is that John Sabbo and I are starting
to work, John doing most of the work on our housing element and fair share plan. He and I will be meeting sometime next week to put that together and then it goes to the planning board. So the next step in this process is that the housing element fair share plan is presented to
the planning board which ultimately will conduct a hearing. If the planning board approves that it comes to this body for an endorsement of the housing element and fair share plan. All this has to happen before June 30th. So we are
moving it along and we hope to be before the planning board either second meeting in May or first meeting in June and then back here for the second meeting in June. Um finally I will report on the band show some very sad news uh which
may many of you may have heard but Joe Zisa passed away. Uh Joe was scheduled to be our opening act again this year as he always is and uh after a relatively short illness but uh substantial
obviously he is uh passed on and don't know what's going to be happening with the band but we do uh miss Joe and uh we wish uh only the best to all of his family and friends. That concludes my report. Mayor, thank you Michael. Now
turn it over to our engineer, Joe Burn. Thank you, mayor. Uh the galvanized water service line replacement phase three. Uh all the service lines have been installed and restoration has been completed. Uh final payment is currently being processed. Uh the Lincoln Middle
School and St. Anony's school service line replacements are set to take place during the summer so as not to interfere with the uh school operations. uh the 2024 2025 roadway improvement uh the road program local aid projects uh
with regards to the local aid project uh the NJ DOT has promised the completion of their review by the end of the week um and the bid opening for the uh combined 2024 2025 road program is set
for May 1st at 11:00 a.m. and award is planned at the meeting following on May 7th. Uh the Hawthorne Hockey Rink Improvements, uh the project is set to advertise uh tomorrow, this Thursday, uh
with a bid opening planned for May 1st at 12:00 p.m. Uh for the uh Franklin Field Bleacher Improvements, um one minor punch list item, uh the installation of the handicap plaques remain. Uh once that's completed, the uh project close
out will pro will proceed. And that concludes my report. Mayor, thanks, Joe. And now I'll turn it over to our administrator, Eric Mau. Thank you, Mayor. Uh I also want to offer my congratulations to the police department on their reacredititation and to officers Pena and Azuna on their
permanent appointments. Um following up uh um our attorney's comment on the tax settlement um our the provision was made in our in the 2024 25 budget which is up for adoption
in May um to fund the refund um that's that's going to be due from that uh settlement. So there will be no budgetary surprises uh um after the fact. Um, signage has been placed at the pool parking lot for enforcement of the
ordinance restricting use of that lot to patrons of the municipal facilities. Similar signs are being erected at Franklin Field and the Boys and Girls Club lot and at the Wagfield Field lots. Um, resolutions R 70 and 71 um are
resolutions for two emergency pump repairs for the water utility. Um our second negotiating session with the Ridgewood Water regarding a long-term water sale agreement went well. Uh and we're very near an agreement which um once it's finalized will bring to the
council. Um in addition to the two construction projects mentioned by Mr. Burn, we will also be receiving bids on May 1st for the purchase of chlorine for the water utility. Um grant applications previously authorized the by the council for phase four uh streetscape and for
central avenue storm drain um improvements are being finalized by a grant writer. We are also submitting a federal community funding request through Senator Kim's office for upgrades to the main sewer pump station. These are all important projects which we can't easily afford without outside
financial assistance. And finally, uh, we will have a kickoff meeting next week with the architect um for the renovations to the police department and the second floor of the municipal building. And that concludes my report. Thank you, Eric. Mr. President will answer any questions that the council
may have. Anyone have questions for the administration? Mike? No, not tonight. R, um, just following up. So, since Joe mentioned about the roller hockey that we're advertising tomorrow, I assume the board of education blessed it and approved it and
gave us the blessing to go ahead. Yes, the board of education was given the plans and specs. Uh they also uh met with uh Joe Pamante uh from Boswell. Uh he met with with the committee, went over everything, uh answered their questions. He sent their he didn't have
all the answers that night. He sent the answers to me. I emailed it to the uh the president of the board and uh everything went fine. So, they don't need to do a formal vote like we're just going to take it from the committee. I I don't know. They're going to do a formal vote, but um I reached out to the board
of education and confirmed that they approved of the plans and specs and we were Did we get that in writing? Yeah, I have an email. Okay, that's all I want to make sure that it's all transparency between us and the board of education and the roller hockey so that we can
move forward um on that. Um second thing um Eric um for the grants I'll be um putting together those letters of support for the environmental commission. So I'll get them to you as soon as possible. Wonderful. Okay. Thank you. Thank you.
Menry. Yes. Just a few things. Um Joe, you mentioned that the non-led water lines that galvanize that project is complete. Phase three. Phase three. That this phase uh the water service lines have
been completed to this point. Yes. So if I was curious about one street in particular, Franklin for example. Um I have a person who wants to do some landscaping, but I don't think it's
happened yet. So I wanted I I don't I I don't know that Franklin's on our on the immediate horizon for that. All I can say is everything will be completed by June of 2031. That's quite a ways out.
Um I I don't know. This shouldn't affect, you know, they go from basically the curb into the house underground. So, and so the and I don't think we've had one property we've run into a problem
where they've had to excavate uh um Oh, they had one on Diamond Bridge. One of the the last house they Okay. One. So, one out of the uh the we've probably done four or 500 so far. Um we've had one where there's actually had to be
excavation. So, it shouldn't um preclude somebody from doing landscaping. That answers the question. Thank you so much. I had another question. The um hockey rink, what what's the scope of the work? In other words, once
we go approves um the bid that that's received, how long will it take for this um job to be completed? One week, two weeks, four years. I know I'm being funny, but regardless of what happens, the uh the project uh has to be per the agreement with the board, the project. I
know that, but I mean the actual work that needs to be done to install the new um boards, is it a it's not a lengthy job. Correct, Joe? I'd say maybe I'd have to look back at the specs to see our estimate. I think it was about like three weeks. Three or four weeks, Joe. I
Okay. I'm not going to hold you to it, but it's a ballpark, right? Yeah. Thank you so much. No, it's a hockey rink. I know. I know, Frank. Thank you. Appreciate it. Anything else, Mayor? That's all, Mr. President. Have a motion to record the administrative agenda.
Sasso motion. Motion by Sassa, second by Leosa. All in favor? I. Motion carries. Introduction of ordinances. We have ordinance 2368-25, an ordinance to fix the 2025 salaries, wages, and compensation of the employees
of the Burough of Horththornne County of Pake State of New Jersey. Now, this is going to be less section five that was in your uh packet. Uh section five discusses the Teamsters Union relationship with the dispatchers which
no longer is. So that will be removed in the final adopted version. Look at section five. Put an X through it. You're good. Be resolved. This ordinance is now passed first reading and said ordinance to be further considered for final passage at a meeting of the governing
body in the municipal building 445 Lafayette Avenue Horth New Jersey on May 7th 20125. At said time and place all persons interested will be given an opportunity to be heard concerning the same. The clerk is hereby authorized and directed uh to publish a set ordinance
with the record at least once one week prior to the hearing with this notice of its introduction, time and place, when and where a set ordinance would be considered for final passage. Can have a motion. Motion. Motion by Leosa.
Second by Bennett. Discussion. Roll call. Bennett. Yes. Leosa. Yes. Sasso. Yes. Skiara. Yes. Matthews. A firm. No. Because you can. Motion carries. Not
because I can, cuz I want to. Ordinance 2369-25. An ordinance to further amend and supplement chapter 505 article 2 section 505-6 one-way streets scheduled 505-55. So to add there too certain
additional locations. This is to make North Eth a oneway going into Prospect Park. Be resolved that the ordinance does now pass the first reading and said ordinance be further considered for final passage at a meeting of the governing body in the Minnesota building 445 Lafayette ARO, New Jersey on May
7th, 2025 and at said time and place. All persons interested will be given an opportunity to be heard concerning the same. And the clerk is hereby authorized and directed to publish a set ordinance in the record once at least one week prior to set hearing with the notice of his introduction in time and place when and where said ordinance would be
considered for final passage. Have a motion. Motion Sasso second. Motion by Leosa, second by Sasso. Any discussion? Discussion. Go. Uh assuming we we pass this ordinance tonight, do we know when
this will actually take place? The ordinance, and Lori and I went through this, is effective as of June 3, but we intend to put up all the signs and begin the one-way transition immediately upon adoption. The county pake has asked us
to do a 60-day study as to the impact on traffic in all directions, whether it's impact elsewhere, impact in Prospect Park, impact here. So, it by its own terms will expire July 7th. Um, but we
intend basically if you adopt at the first meeting in May to put up the signs and start making it a one-way street as soon as possible after that meeting. Right. Okay. Quick question followup because I always have a hard time understanding that. So,
once it expires, it's not going to really expire. It's going to continue, right? No, it expires unless extended. The county wanted this to act as a study and so this is a trial basis for now. If
in fact it turns out to be uh successful in both Prospect Park and Hawthorne, they'll believe it such then this will be permanent. But for the people who live on North 8, they have to understand this is not it is a county road and the county wants to see how it goes first.
So what happens after July 7th? It goes back to a two-way street unless there's two-way street unless there's any further action taken and which would require another ordinance. So it will go back. That's where she's coming from. It
will absolutely go back to way street. Okay. So to clarify for the public here. So, we're going to put the signs up after July 3rd and we're going to have a 60day after May 7th or May. After May
7th, they want a child period in school while they're in school as well. Okay. Correct. However, it's not enforceable though. Correct. After you put the signs May 7, we didn't want to tell the whole world that, but yes, that's a that's a
true statement though. Good news. Not every our rating that I'll strike that our ratings aren't that high. So, uh, on So, just to be clear because the ordinance I tried to read and understand it and I had no time to make a phone call to you, Michael. So, we're going to
put it out May 7th. We're going to do this traffic study. We're going to actually implement so the people on North can park on one side and we can kind of not have such safety issues with people and everything. And then we're
going to come back in mid July and find out from the county if they say go ahead and prosper say go ahead then we can do another ordinance to permanently leave it. It won't be that quick. It won't be on July. You know in other words um it's
very doubtful that the county and Prospect Park and Hawthorne will all reach consensus like within hours of the experiment ending. Okay. So, if we had to forecast, probably with the start of the new school year in September is
where you're probably looking at whether or not this becomes a permanent one-way street. So, okay, just for clarification for myself, right? Um, we're going to make this a one-way starting May 7th. Correct. For a two-month evaluation, to
report back to the county to see if it was successful. And it's going to go back to a two-way. It has to. Yes. has to go back to two weeks. A little bit confusing. Okay. And then and then we have to begin introduction of another audience and that's going to be a whole another month of a process. Oh yes.
Absolutely. Correct. It's a two a two-step process. Okay. I got it. I understand. It is a county road and this is I don't have to like it, but I got it. Yeah. This is what the county wanted to do. It's it's in the county logic, too. Yeah. In the implementation, it's a little awkward.
I'm not going to lie. But um it we understand what was trying to be accomplished and keep in mind it's two communities. It will have impact on Prospect Park and so um Mayor Kula is on board with it at this point but we don't know if in fact this impacts adversely
in that community. Okay. So I assume Prospect Park is doing what we're doing right now in their next county. They don't have they don't have to do anything. They don't have to do anything. It's all on us. This is only from Goth Road to Okay. It's just that the flow they're not going to be able to flow down. Correct. Yes. And so they
will see if there's in fact an impact on their community um that is negative. Negative to their business is negative to their traffic. Um so that's why everybody's going to be working together on this. Okay, great.
I I know I'm out of order, but I just want to stay on the same topic. So just curious since this is a for me it's a new uh scenario on the trial period will the traffic signs going into process park the one way let the drivers know
hey if you want to come back this is the way you should go north 7th or north 6th we're not going to tell them where to where they have to go in order to come back we're just telling them that they can't come down North 8th street again it'll probably be north 6th or north
7th in Prospect park, but it's not set up like a detour where it directs you where you should go. They'll simply be like many streets where it begins one way and you'll see do not enter with an arrow going down
the hill presumably. Um, think Parker Avenue. Yeah. But traffic flow, right? It's not nearly as much traffic, but but that's what happens when you come come in Parker. You hit and you can't go further. you have to make a turn before
you got it can progress. And of course with our top-notch uh new website design, it'll be there. But we'll set I'm sure we'll send a Nixl to the residents so that there's no uh shock to anybody that's going to go
and they can't go back down the same street because we want this to be a successful trial. This has been on the table for a long time. 30 years. Yeah. I Yeah. Well, I'm not that old, but you know, we know that this is a stressful and there's safety issues for the
residents in that area. The traffic flow, it's been challenging. So, um, happy that we're going to give this a shot. I just wanted to be successful in however it comes out. So, thank you. You're welcome. How do we notify the GPS companies?
Didn't get that far yet. Think about it. Roll call. Uh, Skiara, yes. Sasso, yes. Leosa, yes. Bennett, yes. Matthews, yes. Motion carries. Resolutions. Off cassette agenda, we have uh
67-25 emergency temporary appropriations and that was increased today to include a couple dollars for which item was it, Eric? Field maintenance and vehicle. Vehicle maintenance and field maintenance.
Yeah. Okay. Have a motion. So moved. Motion by Skier. Second by Leosa. Any discussion? Roll call. Bennett. Yes. Leosa. Yes. Sasso. Yes. Skiara. Yes.
Matthews. Yes. Motion carries. Consent. We have R68-25 through R73-25. R68-25 is a municipal alliance grant application for 2025 through 2026. R69-25 is professional services for Boswell for the Peach Tree
Rehabilitation and Construction Administration. R-25 is to rebuild the pump motor street pump 2 Longo. R71-25 is pump repair mainten pump station. I'm thinking it's uh Sto off. Is that
supposed to be south? It's Sto off. But they put an H2O in the middle out of cleverness. The two is silent. No one told me. R 72-25 dedication by Ryder Homeowners Heroes
Banner Program Trust Fund. And R73-25 is a tax appeal settlement for 662 Gothal Road, block 146, lots one and two. Have a motion. So moved. Motion by Bennett. Sasso. Second. Second by Sasso. Any discussion?
Roll call. Skiara, yes. Sasso, yes. Leosa, yes. Bennett, yes. Matthews, no. On 73-25, yes. And all the other motion carries. Reports of special counsel committees. Mike, nothing tonight. Rea,
uh, just a couple of things. Um just want to reiterate um with Diana about the shade tree commission. We're going to have our 33rd cellar bration at the high school um April 26 from 10 to 2. Um the shade tree will be doing and giving
out tree saplings. So I just want to really promote that. And second, we're going to do a plant swap. So people bring plants and then you can swap with other people with plants. That starts at 10:00 to 11:00. And I just want to talk about snakes and scales. that will be
going on as well. There's two shows with that. Um I just really want to highlight that and our partnership with the Sha Tree Commission. Also, um I just want to um thank Structural um is a local company in Hawthorne who
dedicates um and gives back to the community volunteer ar hours. And so this morning they worked with um my DPW and Chris Tambbora with the community garden and did a spring cleaning. Um they did a really great job, mayor. Um and Chris
helped out. I went back to the DPW this afternoon and um so the garden is up and running. We did give out the four beds, so we are fully um full for the community garden season for 2025. So I just want to recognize that. And um if
you haven't noticed, there's daffodils all over the place. And that is a partnership with the Shea Tree with Al Idon. and we've been planting daffodils all over the place. So, the community garden is blossoming, the 8acre woods, the um pocket park, but the beauty of
where we have it is at the burrow hall and at the library. So, um and rescue 5 had some daffodils too. So, um there was an article on top tonight, Tree City as well as daffodils. So, thank you Al for all the work that he has done for that.
Diane, thank you. Did the spring cleanup include maser place? No, actually not. We just focused on the community garden for those hours, cleaning up the leaves and the weeds and the grass.
So, you got it, Bruce. Anna Marie, I would like to just say that the Horththornne Ambulance Corps is having yet another CPR training course. um they are really knocking it
out of the park. Not only are there our volunteers, which they're always accepting uh applications, but they're having another CPR training course on April 19th. These classes book up quick if you want to subs, you know, uh uh put in an application. You get to learn how
to use one of those cool AED machines, which I think is awesome. Um the email is on the website. Look for it, sign up. Uh, I think it's an incredible opportunity. Um, I just also want to congratulate our two new officers who
are official. Uh, Officer Pena, Officer Ozuna. Welcome to the family. That's the end of my report. Thank you. Uh, last night's planning board meeting was cancelled, which brings me to the Chamber of Commerce. They want to remind you the Spring Fling
Shopping Contest is still ongoing. So, shop local, make a copy of your receipt, and drop it off. you'll be entered into a contest to win a prize. They also want me to remind everyone that the farmers market is coming up pretty soon and all vendors from last year's market have
committed to return and there even have a discussions with a couple more to come. That concludes my council committee reports. We have no correspondents, but we have bills. Have a motion to approve the bills and forward them to the treasur for payment. So move motion by scar second. Second by
Bennett. Any discussion? Bro, Bennett, yes. Leosa, yes on everything. Abstain on the Hawthorne Environmental Commission invoices. Sasso, yes. Skiara, yes on everything. Matthews, yes. Motion carries. Public
comment. Now open the meeting to the public. Anyone desires to be heard, come forward to the microphone. State your name. Ronald Vogle 16 Horizon Terrace. You look very nice this evening. Presentation is everything. I want to direct this question to the mayor. What
duty do you as the mayor have for the citizens of Port? What duty do you have? My duty is for all the residents of Burough. I understand that. But how do you protect me as a
citizen of the town? It's very simple. We have different departments that provide safety, provide different services for the community, for the residents, and this is all transparent. I
mean, again, it's all transparent. Okay. I I don't want to interrupt you, but I'm just like up to here with this deal. My neighbor again went to the town for a permit. Again, they gave him the zoning permit. Again, he said he was doing the
work, but I got proof that he has a contractor and he actually put a towel over his name. That's illegal in this town. Am I correct, counselor? I can tell you that I spoke with the building department
today just to confirm uh that your neighbor took out a valid building permit zoning that is zoning permit. My apology that the work was done to lower the height of the retaining wall. So the retaining wall that you have been
complaining about was lowered in height so that it does absolutely conform without any question now to the zoning ordinance. The zoning officer signed off on it and so the matter is closed out in
the burrow. I'm going to show you a picture of that wall with a tape measure. It's over 3 ft. I'm gonna tell you that our zoning officer went and measured the wall and found it was he found that it was complained. 3
ft is not the rule. 4 foot is the rule, right? Okay. You want to see this counselor? I inches are a thousand words. 48. Three inches in uh three feet in four inches. Yes. Which is permitted. No. Three foot.
No. Four. The code states three feet. Four. Oh, for for an engineering report. Yes, he needed that. Now, when he put the French drain in there, can I run Ron? Go by the microphone. So, you're Can I ask the uh engineer where the
water is going now from him doing this work? It's It's not a question of where the water is going. The question you have raised is whether or not a valid approval was granted in this town. The your neighbor who's gone through a great
deal of expense in this matter went and lowered the wall so that it absolutely according to our zoning officer complies with the zoning ordinance. Okay. Let me ask you. He went through a lot of expense, right? Yes, he did. I
bought my house as an investment. I'm going in reverse over 200 grand. I can't get the price that the houses are going for around that area. So, you tell me that he's in he's in this for a lot of money. So, I'm going to drop this right now. I'm going to let you know that I
have no pending litigation to the town. I'm going to the uh attorney general's office. I'm going to the DCA. I'm going to the EPA because I don't know what kind of water is going on my property because coming here I'm going nowhere. I'm standing in a safe spot. You dance
with me. I'm showing you right here. It's over three feet. It is over three feet. If I show you the the the code, it says four feet. Am I correct, Joe? Four feet. Four. That's for engineer, right? Four. But anything over three feet, you need a a building permit. He's got his
own. He's got all the approvals that he needed for this construction. It's done. Our municipality has closed its file. Ron, if you're not satisfied at this point, you do have apparently avenues
that you wish to pursue. We're done. That's what my property looked like. If I show if you come there and look at it right now, if it was your property, forget about it. Well, we're going to go in another direction because I am not
getting nowhere here. You're you're right because you're not getting the answers you're looking for. The truth is, Ron, I'm looking for fiction. We have answered your questions. We did everything we were asked to do and we're required to do. Our files closed. Okay.
Could I ask the engineer one question? If I show him something, I there's no pending litigation. You I don't whether or not you want to How do you listen? Hold on. This is not a question and answer session where you get to pick who you get to ask questions to. This is not
No, no, no. This is a council meeting. That's correct. Your comments are to be directed to the president of the council. When I do that and I be honest, I answered the question because I had knowledge of it. But at the same time, you don't get to choose. I'm going to
ask this one a question, that one a question. You're not going to answer ask questions. You just told us you're going to the EPA, the attorney general, correct? You're going to the DCA. You're going right. The fact that you're going to all and threatened
litigation, but you just you're going conversation's over. Thank you. Thank you for your time. Anyone else wish to be heard? Wow. Sorry for you guys. You were great though. You were great. Oh, Kathy
Sarafin, uh, 148 North Wong Drive. So, I just have a few questions. Sure. Okay. So, um, is everything that we're talking about for North Wong and Rayf Extension, is that all related to the there's paving is going to be done on the street? Is that correct? They're going to they're going to mill North Wong pave
it and pave it. And do you know when that's going to happen? Well, we're just going out for bid. We're going to accept bids I think the first week of May. No, I No, that's for the road. I don't think we're out to bid yet for the uh um local aid streets. This is This is a local aid
street. So, so that is we don't we don't have a def a definite schedule for that yet. Okay. But everything that's going to get done is has to wait until after the paving and the milling or the milling and the paving, right? When you say as far as no left turns no Oh, that's going to be before that. Yeah.
Yes. Oh, okay. Okay. And what about the guardrail? That's going to be the guardrail is part of the construction for the the paving project. Okay. So, that will be for the Okay. And then Okay. So, I see now that there's that flashing speed limit thing or speed tell
you what speed you're going on Northw Watch and and that's great. My husband's very happy about that one. I didn't realize that people sped all the way down that I only know that they speed making the right onto Ray of Extension. So, he's very happy about that. But I'm wondering, can we put one now when
you're done with where that one is? Can we put one on ray of extension down further like where the Mandelas live like around there? You you mean at a speed like a radar? Yeah. Or whatever it is that you have on North Wong now. Can we put that when it's done there on on
Ray Avenue down there? Yeah, we can. They they already did that uh all the way. They they did it halfway down almost by the mandelas and then they did it all the way down just before you make the curve. They did that about a year ago. They they they do they do have
numbers for that. Uh but yeah, we have no problem in putting another another one there just to see what the what the uh what the traffic is there and how many cars and what the speed is. Okay, that's great. That's great. Um and then the only thing the other thing I have is
the the revving of the of the motors. I I know that the speeding has I think it has dropped not considerably but it's less than it was but the revving of the motors and I there's no law on Kathy
Kathy I was laying in bed I forget when it was maybe Saturday night or Sunday night it's bad he I'm going to say he started at the curve down below and it must have been a motorcycle cuz he just opened it up and then he opened stood up
again after he got past North Wong and it was like what the heck is that? It's every night though. It's every night now. I hear it and I'm there. That's what I said. I don't think they're speeding anymore so much, but that that noise is just deafening sometimes. The leaves will be coming out and hopefully
will damper it a little bit. I live closer to 208 and I hear those motorcycles speeding up and down 28, especially in the winter. I'm not saying it's going to solve the problem. Maybe it'll help it. Maybe. But it's also those little cars too though that they put those special things in the back.
The fart mufflers. Yeah. That make it like it's incredible. It's It's I don't understand why anybody wants to drive with a car like that. But anyway, okay. So, I think um usually on That's all I'm good on this. Thank you. Does anyone
else wish to be heard? That's going to be hard to talk. Hello. Hello. It's not on. It'll be green around the bottom. There you go. There you go. All right, let's try this again. Much better. Hello, I'm Brian Russo. Uh, I
live in North Halton, 883 High Mountain Road, North Halen, New Jersey 07508. been there 45 years. So, I pretty much have been in Horththornne uh nearly every single day of my life. I'm sure there was a couple times I've gone the other way. Uh Route 19 rather than 208.
Anyway, um I'm a member of Empower New Jersey. Empower New Jersey is a coalition of uh environmental groups in New Jersey. Uh and I wanted to talk about something. Uh I want to talk about emissions and climate change. So, I worked uh for an insurance company
as an auto damage adjuster where I saw firsthand the emissions and the waste in the auto industry. When working for an insurance company, uh we also saw pretty clearly that the impact of those emissions were affecting the uh damages
that we were seeing every year. So every year as we saw more and more climate events occurring of higher magnitude causing more damages to uh property damages to people we were seeing less less profit less money in the insurance
industry. So I became a climate activist when I realized that I most likely would not live until retirement age and I would most likely die because of catastrophic climate events or related events. So, at a time when climate scientists agree that we must lower
emissions and do what we can do to decarbonize and transition to renewable energy, we have an administration and many politicians that take money from the fossil fuel industry. But there are internal documents that show that despite getting government grants and
subsidies, the fossil fuel industry invested in spreading misinformation and lobbying uh government. and they were successful because there is a lot of misinformation out there. So, a lot of people don't believe that emissions
impact on our climate is real, but believe me, your insurance companies know that it's real. And as we continue to degrade our own habitat with our emissions and waste and excess emissions in the atmosphere, which is making storms stronger, causing more damage
every time. And now we're facing uh, you know, the impact of of burning fossil fuels. A study from Harvard related one in five deaths because of fossil fuels and because of the emissions the particulate matter. Uh so people uh near
near fossil fuel power plants you know have higher ratings as far as uh more more cancer and other other illnesses. So, um, at a time when the federal government and the state government are
are basically fighting for power, there are many lawsuits. There's over 32 lawsuits against the fossil fuel industry for their known deception despite getting government grants and lying uh to the public and not operating in the public's best interest. So, we're
seeing cost of living rising. Life expectancy is dropping and the fossil fuel industry is making record profits while insurance companies are pulling out of certain states and we're seeing premiums going up very very sharply.
It's basically the the climate crisis is a health care crisis. It's an insurance crisis and the there's it's basically causing a lot of damages. We're seeing the wildfires. We're facing droughts. Uh so legislation was introduced called the
climate super fund act and the idea is basically to put a a charge on carbon to for the the big oil companies to to pay based on their emissions and that the money that they would be using would go to uh be spent for mitigation and to
help the places that are affected by climate change or storms related to climate change. So, what we're doing as a member of uh as a member of empower New Jersey and a local I'm asking uh what I wanted to do is give provide you
guys with that legislation and uh give you some time to think about it and see if you would vote on passing a resolution in support of the New Jersey Climate Super Fund Act. When you get it, you give it to the clerk. Thank you. Thanks for your time. You're welcome.
You're welcome. Does anyone else wish to be heard? We got one more back there. No. Seeing no one want to entertain a motion to close the public portion of the meeting. So moved. Motion by Sierra. Second. Second by Leoa. All in favor? I.
The next council meeting is Wednesday, May 7th, 2025 at 7 p.m. Have a motion to adjurnn. So move. Motion by Bennett, second by Skier. All in favor? I. Motion carries. We're adjourned. [Music]
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