this meeting is called to order in accordance with the open public meeting act notice of this meeting was provided to the home use tribune the star ledger on the Highland Park Planet on January 8th 2025 and was posted on Bor Hall website at
www.hpvor.com at hbbor.com and on the bulletin board of Borro Hoa 221 South 5th Avenue Highland Park New Jersey and has remained continuously posted as required by law the fire exits are to my right and left of council chambers and
I'm going to ask Noah if you could lead us in the pledge of allegiance alsisible with liberty and justice for all roll call mayor Foster yes council member George council member Hail here
council member George is absent council member Hirs here council President Kenhan here council member Panic here council member Vargas here pro attorney Shaw here administrator here and um we're going to go to awards and
presentation and there's someone in our audience that's really special tonight that he definitely needs to be recognized by us and then when I read when council member Hail mentioned this young man at our high school and how amazing he was and then I read the article in the newspaper I was like wow
I went to visit him at the school and I'm going to turn it over to council member Hill to just do a little blur well thank you very much uh madame mayor um so last month residents of Highland Park saw a very large news story in the home news tribune about the accomplishments of Highland Park High
School senior Noah Berlin Lang um a wrestler who just won the region five title and qualified for the state tournament um this accomplishment is no shock to those who know Noah um and followed his athletic career he was 37
and two in 24 and 25 and 33 and four um the year before um Noah is credited Mike McKenna the owner of McKenna's gym in Highland Park for his help in training started as a powerlifter then moved over to uh to wrestling um and Highland Park
High School athletic coordinator and head wrestling coach Craig Deerman for all of the support um uh in a visit to Highland Park uh high school back in March uh the mayor met with Noah and and the coach and the principal um
congratulating Noah on this remarkable win um and thank you very much Noah for lifting uh local pride in our town um so I just really wanted to wish you continued success um you know I Noah and and uh uh his parents Tom and Lisa we
were neighbors um a long time ago and I remember Noah being a lot smaller than he is right now he has certainly grown not only as a wrestler as a as an adult but he's a big dude and he certainly shows out there on the wrestling mat um
both my sons wrestled i wrestled for a year and spent most of my time on my back so I know exactly how tough it is to be a really top-notch wrestler it takes a lot of dedication takes a lot of effort um and perseverance grit all of those types of things so we just wanted to make sure that the the whole town
knew about your accomplishments um you come from a great family and we're very very happy and proud um to recognize all of your success um and thank you very much for doing it here in Ohio Park uh can we get a picture uh resident photographer
thank you good to see you you go next because I look like before student very cool all right one two three one two three and one one thank you thank you can you say a few words or would mom like to say a few words
i think maybe I mean I'll say a few words i'm gonna let you use the microphone because you want to hear what you have to say sure thank you um it was just an absolute pleasure coaching Noah i told the story numerous times he's a guy that came out
for wrestling as a sophomore uh and he didn't win very much at the beginning and wrestling is a really really tough sport and here we are two years later uh he wins the region tournament it's like a three county tournament it's a huge tournament it is a very big deal we've
only only had one other uh region champion in school history so this is a this was a fantastic achievement and uh he's also just great with the younger kids in the program he's like having a third coach uh and we will certainly miss him a lot next year uh it's just
been uh it's been a great experience and uh I just want to say thank you and congratulations and great work and Noah's going off next year he's going to wrestle at Stevens Institute of Technology and Hobok and so I'm hoping I can sneak up there a little bit and see
it in the future too so congrats and thanks please do yes so uh thanks a lot for having me i'm uh pretty honored it's cool um and I'm I'm glad I was able to bring uh pride to the town like that's a
nice thing to hear but I think uh a lot of people see Highland Park as a small town and see it as a sign of weakness but I see that um that can be a sign of strength and that can be something really good for our athletic programs and the people in this town because
we're really tightknit community and when we get behind something or someone uh great things can happen so just on the wrestling team alone I've seen kids who are not in as good of financial spots and the team comes together to help them get to tournaments or clubs or
things like that and I just think you know we have an opportunity in a small town like this with a lot of very smart people in the town who you know we can really help bring up the next generation of athletes and people like me and I don't have to be someone who's so
special so I really hope that the the next few years in Highland Park people are able to uh go past what I've achieved like I don't have to be someone who appears every decade i think we have the the facilities and the coaching well maybe not the facilities but the
coaching staff the the coaching staff and we have the people that it takes to be one of the top you know group one programs in the state um and just you know when people really rally behind it uh great things can happen so I hope I
get to be a bit of a catalyst for that in the future and uh just uh thanks for having me and uh yeah keep me on now I can see why they think you motivate the younger kids that's very motivational speech that you gave thank
you so much thank you i got to go to practice though you're excused you can go right on here thanks for coming uh roll call nobody calls oops okay sorry i'm still on that page
i got caught up may I have a motion to approve the minutes of February 25th 2025 work session March 11th 2025 regular meeting and executive session meeting March 18th regular meeting as distributed
second roll call council member Hail yes council member Hir yes council President Ken Choan yes council member Ptoic yes council member Vargas yes and now we're going to move into council
report council member Pelnic first tonight thank you mayor uh so my name is Jason um I'm the chair of the health and human services committee uh the council i just had a brief report for tonight uh there are just a couple items on the agenda that I wanted to
highlight uh the first up is a resolution authorizing an application to the state department of environmental protection uh for a grant to help with the purchase of a very much needed community bus uh this grant will provide us the extra funds that are needed to acquire an electric shuttle bus goal of
ours that best meets our needs so I just want to encourage all my council colleagues to support this resolution so we can move forward uh with uh acquiring those community bus and get back to providing a full range of transportation services to our residents uh the other thing was just a little shout out uh for
uh we have uh up for appointment tonight uh Marian Castanza to the board of health marian brings a wealth of experience of mental health issues uh so I think she'll be a great contributor in that area which will be a new uh field that the board of health will be starting to pick up some work on and I
wholeheartedly recommend her for this appointment um and lastly just wanted to talk about the upcoming food distributions for the month hp Gizen will be providing free groceries every Tuesday and Wednesday from 10:00 a.m to 11:00 a.m at the zone 16 center and 600
street and the Highland Park food pantry distribution will also be providing free groceries on the second and fourth Thursdays of the month from 9:00 a.m to 10:45 a.m and 600 p.m to 7:00 p.m and on the Saturdays of those same weeks the 2nd and 4th from 9:30 a.m to 10:30 a.m
and that will be at the High Park Community Center at 2:20 South 6th Avenue and now is my report thank you council member Vargas thank you my name is Vargas and I am the
council for artists and recreation i am pleased to share some important updates on upcoming events happening in our community the department of aging will host a presentation by the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights on protecting housing rights we invite everyone to attend this
pres this presentation on Tuesday April 8th from 1:30 p.m to 2:30 p.m at the Highland Park Community Center this is a great opportunity to learn about your rights and engage in an informative discussion about what constitutes bias and how to report it there will be an Atlantic City trip
on April 29th um you can join the community center it is open to the public um this trip is on April 29th the bus is $45 which includes bus transportation and a 40 a $20 players credit this trip um again is open to all
the community members i actually had the pleasure of going last year with my father we had fantastic time with fellow residents on bus and um once we arrive there so for more information or to register please call 7328190052 or visit the community center
and stop by um their office we have some exciting upcoming events um Memorial Day parade please mark for mark your calendars for these events the Memorial Day parade will take place on May 20th at 11 a.m we'll be starting at the boy statue um weather providing if it does
rain it does inclement weather it will take place indoors at the community center um concert series is coming up join us for these concerts in Donaldson Park will be starting on July 17th July 31st August 14th and August 28th between 6
and 8:00 p.m please check the BO's Facebook page um or any of their social media or the Department of Recreation social media for more details um and of course Fireworks in the Park will be July 3rd at Donaldson Park festivities
begin at 6 p.m with fireworks at 9:1 um spring youth programs are ongoing please register now will be showing up soon they'll be having youth soccer youth tennis and classes basketball academy and girls wrestling um these programs do
help children develop new skills build confidence stay active while having fun spaces are limited so don't wait to register please visit highland park.com for more details or call the community center at 728190052 um last week I had the honor
of attending the windows open and closing ceremony at the Highland Park Library excuse me as a council person and leazison to the arts commission it was a deeply meaningful um to be part of this initiative having previously participated when I was on the human
relation commission i want to commend the arts commission for their collaboration with incredible organizations such as the Art Institute of Middle Sex County the New Brunswick Cultural Center Ruckers Mason School of Arts the Pride Center of New Jersey and
our very own S6 Teen Center and many others as well as all the artists involved who pou the hearts and soul into every piece of art this year's theme emphasized the impact of climate change um on underserved communities and the future of generations to come
addressing these issues is vital to ensuring that everyone has the ability to breathe eat work and flourish in a sustainable environment um also in honor of local government week which takes place between April 6th and 12th I will be participating in a
coffee and conversation event which is an opportunity for community me for community members to meet with the mayor and council members i will be at Lacazito restaurant located at 421 Robert Avenue on cable 6 between 12 and 1 p.m for some Mexican cafeesito um so
if you know anybody that speaks Spanish and wants to connect with the local government um please come and bring them along it'll be nice to connect with those community members and lastly I want to give a special thank you to Senator Corey Booker um I really want to express my
gratitude to him for his remarkable leadership when I first heard that he was going to hold the Senate floor for as long as possible to amplify the voices of countless Americans I wasn't sure if it was possible historically the largest the longest spibust was held in 1957 by
Strong Thurman who stood for 24 hours and 18 minutes in opposition to the Civil Rights Act a moment driven by racism and determination to plan to prevent black American voting but now that record has been broken by Senator
Booker and as of the starting time of this meeting he is still on the Senate floor um and he's using his time to fight for those who need their voices heard his dedication as a public servant represents the best of what leadership should be and I am incredibly grateful
for his tireless work on behalf of our state and country thank you Senator Cooker for standing up to all of us council member H hey everybody my name is Matt H i chair the economic development uh commission um so last week we had a meeting at River Ridge as
part of the mayor's bring government uh to you uh uh effort um we had Assemblyman Caravich and Sterling uh come uh to speak to the residents and and others at Riveridge um to talk about the state New Jersey tax program and we
also had some good discussion on downtown redevelopment talks um and infrastructure in Highland Park so it was a great event we look forward to doing more of those um but I just wanted to give a shout out to everyone who came out to River Ridge last week um on that
same theme as Norma mentioned uh next week is the League of Municipalities Local Government Week um I'm also going to be participating um I'm going to be uh aties which is 17 North 4th on Tuesday April 8th from 12 to 1 eating as much pizza as I possibly can um but uh
also meeting with folks so please come on by and uh I will be there uh you'll notice that on tonight's agenda we have a number of different lease renewals that are coming up um these are our uh agreements between the burrow and a variety of different nonprofits for temporary use of some of the properties
owned by the burrow um we have the races cultural center which is using the environmental building down on river road um the lower raritan watershed partnership which is using the old gas station at 101 Ritan um main street offices which are are currently at the
the farmers market lot and then the reformed church is also using things um at the old gun and boat all of those are properties that we own but we're also able to lease those out um on a on a temporary basis um for all of the nonprofits uh that I listed and um it's a sort of way of giving them some
temporary space for some of the things and the activities um that we use um and then as we move ahead with our our redevelopment um we'll move ahead that way but it's it's really nice to to be able to to to help these uh these these
different groups out um uh as uh in the economic development bucket we talk about uh neighborhood participation program again um one of the things that the steering committee has uh decided to do some work on is um Carsey Park which
is one of our our larger parks but um one that could use some tender love and care so we are in the process of of trying to come up with a an overall strategic plan about all of the things that need to be done at Carsey Park um which we can implement over over time so I'm looking forward to that if you have
any suggestions or ideas or things that you want um at Carsey Park um please uh reach out to me and we'll we'll make sure those are in the mix um and then finally remember that the farmers market is up and running and ready to go so please come out every Friday afternoon
uh to support the farmers market uh and with that that's my report thank you Council Member Hirs thank you Mayor good evening everybody my name is Matthew Hirs i chair the public works and public utilities committee uh it's
nice to see so many people here uh tonight just a few things uh to update uh you on in uh in my neck of the woods uh keep a lookout for uh uh Middle Sex Water uh companies coming through doing some leak repairs uh uh on North 10th uh
um on Thursday April 3rd from 6:00 a.m to 6 p.m the road will be closed uh between Abbott and South Park Avenue uh and then on uh 31 Lincoln Avenue on Friday April 4th from 6:00 a.m to 6 pm uh Lincoln Avenue will be closed from
Route 27 to Walter Avenue uh North Adelaide Avenue will be closed from Route 27 as well uh thanks Chief for dispatching an officer to be uh there uh to to uh to monitor the progress there um please let us know uh if anybody has
any questions or concerns regarding this work uh and if you are concerned that you may have a water break a water man break or a leak uh please report it immediately it's really important that uh uh that we're able to get out there and address it as soon as possible um I don't know if you heard
the sound yesterday uh I certainly did of uh sunny weather and 70°ree temperatures but uh spring is here and I'm guessing it was just the sound of the sun crossing the equinox uh but uh it's really exciting and um with spring
being here it also opens a lot of doors uh in the public in the public works space uh so this year I am excited to share that the burough's ambitious tree planting program will continue with the addition of 100 new shade trees along our burough streets uh this uh effort will start taking place on or around
April 8th and as such uh Highland Park Shade Tree Advisory Committee uh which I'm liazison has scheduled its caring for our trees webinar on Monday April 7th from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m during this session the Sha Tree Advisory Committee will answer your questions and offer
tips for how you can help Highland Park's young trees grow and thrive it's critical that uh the the young trees that are planted uh are maintained watered and taken care of and um we are asking uh that if there is a tree near your home that you participate uh in in
that maintenance we can lose up to 20% of those young trees uh for any reason in the first year uh so making sure that uh those uh trees can thrive and someday become tall beautiful uh trees like like the rest in town is really important um
this is also a rescheduled date so if you uh were trying to attend two weeks ago we apologize for the technical difficulties but uh Monday April 7th from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m uh also did you know that the Burough has a gas leaf blower task force composed of member of
the Burough Council the Board of Health Sustainable Highland Park and the Environmental Commission uh the gas leaf blower task force is exploring community concerns or issues related to gas power leaf blowers uh like the state legislature and other communities throughout New Jersey are doing uh we are all interested in healthier cleaner
and quieter landscaping options uh and the G and to start off this discussion in earnest the gas uh leaf blower task force held one public information session at the library two weeks ago and is planning additional meetings please stay tuned uh please keep a lookout for a survey and we really want uh
everybody's feedback as we move forward uh in public works uh just a reminder that it is April um bulk waste collection uh takes place starting this month and will take place in April May June September and October uh pickups
are scheduled on Wednesdays uh again during the months of April May June September and October but they are by appointment only so if you need to make an appointment please call public works at 732-247-9379 each household may request up to two um uh uh scheduled collections
per year however please keep in mind that the week after the townwide garage sale Tuesday September 17th uh through Thursday September 19th uh there will be bulk pickup no appointment is necessary for that so if you have uh things to unload if you are cleaning out your
basement um you do not need an appointment for that but please note that recycling will not be collected during the week of September 16th through September 20th a note I just add and it's very very early but you know I I just uh it's good practice just to just to say it as we announce it but uh
you know with bulk pickup there are also a number of options in town uh where u folks may be looking for something secondhand gently used uh so you know it's really important to also see if some of those items uh that you may not be uh using anymore can find a home of
their own uh and I would just strongly encourage you um looking to your neighbors or checking out Swap Me Highland Park or any of the number of uh online forums that uh that where where you can find good gently used items from your neighbors
um okay i will also be part of the coffee and conversation uh series I think as we all are um and I will be uh at a Kihei tea shop on Monday April 7th uh at 5:00 pm that's at 248 Rarden Avenue at the
corner of uh of South Third and Riden uh so please stop by um I will be having a uh a bubble tea of some sort uh and uh really looking forward to you know it's that it's a it's I I love Aki i love
their hours and I love their customer base they have a real energy that they bring into to to the store and I think their hours are really favorable for students uh for high school students for college students uh so when they keep those late hours it brings life to town
uh and that's definitely one of the highlights of the summer uh to see that type of activity uh right here late night in Highland Park i did just want to echo um um uh uh Councilman Vargas' um uh appreciation for Cy Booker as he
takes a stand against uncon unconstitutional cuts uh hitting New Jersey um Cy Booker's stand on the Senate floor is to speak out against a government that prioritizes billionaire tax breaks over working families veterans and the central public services
uh these constitutional these unconstitutional cuts are reckless and they cut critical services like education public health uh and these are as I said in the last meeting we haven't even begun to feel the effects of this and they are coming to hit home in New Jersey um Senator Booker's leadership
could not have come at a more critical time um and these cuts aren't just numbers in a budget they're real attacks on New Jersey families schools and public health uh and all all the while we have an an unelected billionaire running the show um waging his own
personal war against students seniors veterans and working families while clearing the way for massive tax cuts for the ultra wealthy uh as budget cuts hit home and workers are laid off the ripple effect will also create new inefficiencies disrupting essential services straining local economies and
adding unexpected burdens to state budgets these cuts are devastating and they're creating new obstacles that will make it harder for communities and businesses to thrive and function in New Jersey um and I think Councilman George at the last meeting um uh said something along the lines that these cuts will not
result in tax relief uh for you uh for us for anybody there these services are going to have to be made up at the state and local levels and we have to see how that's going to shake out 31% of New Jersey's budget state budget comes from the federal government 31% that's a
third of a 50 of a proposed 58 billion fiscal year 26 budget so let's put that into consideration particularly when we look at the funding for you know county services funding to do things like code blue funding for local projects like park park restoration um uh road
improvements and so much more um uh and I just wanted to add one more number that federal funds support over 50% of key New Jersey uh state department budgets so really put that into perspective as we're listening to uh you know so-called uh efficiency
maneuvers take place at the federal level they are not it is really intended to dismantle the federal government and I feel that this is nothing short of a coup so we really do need to look out uh and really prepare as we move forward really listen to what the gubernatorial
candidates are talking about in this in this election and really pay attention to the state budget cycle because I think that's your Highland Park because Highland Park and every other town in the state are going to have critical decisions coming when it comes to local investment um that's my report here thank
you council President Kim Johan hi everyone u my name is Stephanie Kim Choan and I uh am the chair of finance uh first on the agenda tonight is the 2025 introduction of the 2025
municipal budget um I'd like to thank um our business administrator Terry for um working in this tough challenging year um and also the finance department that's led by CFO um Nia
Chapman who um leads also under under reports to her as the tax department as well as far as other departments about that falls under her and lastly my colleagues who we went back and forth
some portfolios had to take some cuts um due to federal funding um and just very tight year that um we had to run with and also getting numbers working with the school as well so I really
appreciate everyone's patience and um understanding for this year's budget and last month the rent control board convened to discuss uh several important topics regarding um the ordinance change
changes um including exemptions the CPI calculation uh vacancy deontrol and just and fair returns so I look forward um to hearing more on these matters and that's
Wednesday April 9th from 12:00 p.m to 1:00 p.m um I will be at the Meet You Tea and Flower Shop located at 114 Ritton Avenue for local government week
as as many of my colleagues will throughout the week as well so um stop by and we can discuss whatever you like from your music from what's going on current events local events um and I'll
give you some suggestions as well if bubble tea isn't your thing you can leave with a bouquet um April marks the 22nd anniversary of financial literacy month a time dedic dedicated to
promoting financial education and empowerment as inflation global events and um global events and um economy pressures continue to challenge
households enhancing financial literacy has never been more critical so I encourage you this month as an opportunity to expand your financial knowledge consider reading a
personal finance book listening to a financial podcast or um taking a free online course it's never too late to start um also take this month to look at
all of your subscriptions apple seems like they charge us every other day i know there's some kind of something going on with that so just that that will be a good start to um to this month is look at your subscriptions and that's
my Thank you i'm gonna flip right back over to Council Member FS and I think he has something he wants to add to his report thank you Mayor uh yes I do have an addendum to my report um and it's only something that's like right in front of my face and
highlighted in bright yellow um but I did neglect to mention uh and I and I promise this wasn't just because I'm an introvert and was trying to bury this but uh I will be uh aton next Wednesday April 9th from 1
to 2:00 p.m um be able to talk um about anything that may be on your mind um come share a cup of coffee or get uh they have fresh orange juice uh pastries i have recommendations i've had I think just about every single one that they have cookies um sandwiches salads that
was amazing uh we can literally break bread they have fantastic bread uh so I look forward to you joining me this coming Wednesday April not this next Wednesday April 9th once TV on public thank you Mayor thank you for administrator report
no mayor i don't unfortunate thanks attorney's report and now it's time for my report i'm going to echo what everybody else has been saying next week um it's local government this was sponsored by the New Jersey League of Municipalities it's a
statewide event and it's called Local Government Activity Week and I also will be at joining the rest of the group and on April on April 9th I will be at um Pentock Coffee i think I need the coffee
right now because their coffee is super strong and super good so um I will be at Penn Coffee and that will be from 2 to 3 p.m come on out and uh bring your questions that you may have and also support local businesses that's really
important that we support the local business that are in town and you know and we have a good time with them and bring your questions that you may have we also have our park partners grant coming for 2025 and the it's open to residents of Highland Park and the it's
$2,000 that will be awarded the following categories could be from environment art cultural cultural and diversity safety universal access health and wellness and it's open to Highland Park High School students as well and
clubs so come on out um if you're interested go to the website and look up Park Partners Grant his information is there or reach out to Harry Glazer and he will provide you that information the deadline is May 13th at 1 p.m so I hope
that you will apply and I in the past I've seen some really creative grants come my way so I'm quite sure that's going to happen again this time and that is my report and now it's time for our first public
participation 21 minutes total three minutes per speaker limited items on this agenda comments from members of the public attending in person will be heard first followed by persons who are on Zoom if you're in Zoom just press the
Zoom button raise hand button first public comment everyone thank you so much for your reports um I just had something really quick I wanted to share um I have your name please oh yeah sorry uh Rachel Tim I'm down on South Second um I just
wanted to lend my support uh and say thank you to the town for leasing the space to use Cultural Center um they're just a really wonderful organization um as just a resident of Highland Park um taking classes there they're just such
great people and I love that they're using that space so I hope that they get their leads again and thank you for giving it to them in class anyone else sorry we have one on Zoom i do see a hand up on Zoom uh phone number ending
445 please state your name let us know who you are hello Lois here calling to the satellite people can you hear me yes we can okay thank you on your agenda number 12D
ordinance 25-2109 you're authorizing the lease i think it's a continuing lease of the second floor of Main Street 212 Raton Avenue to the Reformed Church to maintain an emergency shelter for residents p.s that is illegal federally
wise not my law back in 2019 early 2020 when you had a ramp installed finally on Main Street I was speaking to I believe it was the access board down in DC and also the technology people in Department
of Justice that are uh accessibility experts and and answer questions for free and it was very specific that if it was an apartment was rented out up to four apartments the government owns can be
rented and do not have to be accessible because other places should be available but it could never be a shelter both the access board told me that and Department of Justice i'm all for it but I'm just letting you know and
maybe no one will care at the federal level anymore but a shelter has to be excluded from an upstairs apartment because it is not acceptable apparently i can get more information but just to
let you know it's probably been fine but it might not be i think that's all I have to say until the final public session thank you
thank you anyone else no mayor no hands up seeing no may I have a motion to close public participation second roll call council member Hail yes council member Hirs yes council
President Kencho yes council member Panic yes council member Vargas yes okay ordinance requiring a second reading reading clerk can you report on ordinance number 25-2105 an ordinance amending and repealing part
two general legislation chapter 150 contracting reform article one redevelopment agreements article 2 public contracts payto-play reform of the code of the burough park has been duly advertised for consideration of passage on final reading by title and
affidavit of publication are on file now it's time for public hearing on this ordinance if you would like to speak on this ordinance please come up to the microphone identify yourself if you're on Zoom please raise your hand anyone on Zoom no one on Zoom and just
for the record there are three attendees seeing none may I have a motion to close to close public part close public hearing on ordinance number 25-2105 so move council member Hail yes council member
Hirsh yes council President Kimchan yes council member Pavic yes council member Vargas yes may I have a motion to adopt or reject ordinance number 25-21005 so move call council member Hail yes council
member Hirsh yes council President Kim yes council member Piston yes council member Vargas yes ordinance ordinance requiring first reading clerk please report on introduction of ordinance number 25-2106
an ordinance authorizing release of a building located at 20-40 River Road to the Resist Cultural Center by administrative committee for consideration of passage on first reading by title motion to approve or or reject ordinance
number 20 25- 21106 authorizing publication authorizing publication as required by law and set up public hearing for April 15 2025 so move second roll call council member
Hail yes council member Herd yes council President Kima yes council member Panic yes council member yes clerk please report an introduction of ordinance number 25-2107 an ordinance authorizing the lease of a building located at 101 Ritton Avenue to
the lower Ritton wershed partnership by the administration committee for consideration of passage on first reading by tit may I have a motion to approve or reject ordinance number 25-2107 authorizing publication as required by law and set up public
hearing for April 15 2025 so move second roll call council member Hail yes council member Hirsh yes council President Kenchoan yes council member Piston yes council member Vargas yes clerk please report an introduction of
ordinance number 25-2108 an ordinance authorizing the lease of the first floor of a building located at 212 Ryerson Avenue to Main Street Highland Park to maintain office space by the administration committee for consideration of passage on first
reading by title may I have a motion to adopt or reject ordinance number 25-2108 authorizing publication as required by law to set a public public hearing on April 15 2025 so move
council member Hail yes council member Hirsh yes council President Kim Choan yes council member Piston yes council member Vargas yes cler please report on introduction of ordinance number 25-2109 authoriz uh ordinance authorizing the
lease of second floor of a building located at 212 Rton Avenue to the Reformed Church of Highland Park Affordable Housing Corporation to maintain an emergency shelter for residents by the administration committee for consideration of passage on first reading by title
may you have a motion to adopt or reject ordinance number 25-2109 authorizing publication as required by law and set up public hearing for April 15 2025 motion second roll council member Hail yes council
member Hurst yes council President Kinhan yes council member Donic yes council member Marcus yes clerk please report an introduction of ordinance number 25-2110 an ordinance authorizing the lease of
127-133 Rson Avenue to the Reformed Church of Highland Park Affordable Housing Corporation to maintain a storage and repair area for donation of the household items first floor and an affordable housing unit second floor by the administration committee for consideration of passive on first reading by title
may I have a motion to adopt or reject ordinance number 25-21 1110 authorizing publication as required by law and set up public hearing for April 15 2025 so move
second council member Hail yes council member Hurst yes council President Kohhan yes council member Piston yes council member Marcus yes ordinance number 25-21-11 capital Ordinance
oh please report the introduction of ordinance number 25-211 capital ordinance providing for improvements to North Avenue and Wilker Street project by the finance committee for consideration of passage on first reading by type may I have a motion to
adopt or reject ordinance number 25-2111 authorized publication as required by law and set up public hearing for April 15 2025 second roll call council member Hail yes council member Hirs yes council
President Ken Johan yes council member Pelic yes council member Vargas yes please report on introduction of ordinance number 25- 2112 ordinance amending and supplementing administrative legislation chapter 72
salaries and compensation to establish positions and provide compensation for specific employees of the burough park New Jersey by the finance committee for consideration of passage on first reading by title may I have a motion to approve or reject ordinance number
25-2112 authorizing publication as required by law and set up public hearing on April 15 2025 so move council member Hail yes council member Her yes council President Kim Cha yes council member yes council member Marcus
yes resolution requiring a separate reading clerk please report on introduction of the 2025 municipal budget municipal budget of the Burough Highland Park County of Middle Sex for the fiscal year 2025 be it resolved the following
statements of revenue and appropriation shall constitute the municipal budget for the year 2025 be it further resolved that said budget be published in the home Tribune in the issue of April 6 2025 the governing body of the Bur Park does hereby approve the filing of budget
for 2025 a hearing on budget and tax resolution will be held at Burough Hall on May 6 2025 at 7 p.m at which time and place objections to said budget and tax resolution for the year 2025 may be presented by taxpayers or other
interested parties budget presentation for administrative thanks Mayor give me a moment you want to share my screen thank you it's right in front of my face thank you uh good evening everyone um
going to present uh my very similar slide deck to prior years updated for 2025 numbers the slide deck will be put up on the website along with the ordinate uh the uh budget document itself uh so you can refer back to that
um and uh so just know that you'll have access to these slides after the presentation so hang on one second my screen kids um so just to jump
in kind of with the property tax snapshot um basically I I'll go into more detail on the municipal budget uh towards the end of my presentation but what I'm presenting here is the total amount to be raised by property taxes
across all uses municipal schools county and library tax and I have some other charts that will kind of show this in different ways but essentially what we're looking at is an increase of about 2.2 2 million uh in the amount to be
raised by property tax across all uses and I'm presenting to you the total assessed value uh because essentially how the property taxes are calculated and how the bill is calculated you take the amount to be raised you divide it by
total assessed value and that's how you get your rate so essentially you can see we have a rate when we look between 2024 and 2025 we see an increase about 104 per $100 assessed between those two
years i do mention estimated I should just you know for 2025 the reason I'm estimating I'm basing those numbers on the most recent numbers given to us by the board of ed but it's my understanding their public hearing isn't to the end of April and those numbers
may change a little bit and it's based on I believe the county numbers as introduced but again they could change a little bit so but this gives you a general picture um what that means for the average property tax bill um in 2025
the average assessment is 4815 that's basically the tax assessors taking for single family homes what the average assessment is in town that's his number and so if you apply that rate to that average assessment you get a bill that
looks like $12,882.74 which is $542 more than the 2024 bill for the year um so that's about a 4.4% increase or um $45 a month just to kind of put it
into different terms so taking those numbers um and just I'll I'll show it in a different way um this pie chart shows the allocation of those funds and those tax dollars as you can see 60% funds the
municipal schools uh Irving Bartle and middle school and the high school um 26 of that goes to the municipal budget the budget we'll talk about more shortly um so basically you know 26 cents on every dollar of that tax bill
is funding municipal obligations and that's inclusive of everything uh that we do 12% is going towards Middle Sex County taxes 1% towards specifically the open space tax um and then 1% of this
pie is towards the library statutory minimum requirement uh as you'll see in future slides we actually fund well over the minimum amount but 1% is is the libraries by statute so I'm showing that here
and just breaking it down along the same lines as I did before you know you know 60 26 12 one and one but you know you're looking at um for the average for the average assessed bill at 12,88274 the schools portion is about
650 per month just trying to put it the municipal share is about $278 per month um and so forth this is just another way to kind of look at the same numbers but we're here introducing the municipal budget so I'm going to
kind of pivot at this point and take a quick look at what's going on with the municipal portion of that pie chart that 26% total appropriations um did go up by 1.98
uh.918 million um that's about 2.8% 8% over prior year 2024 but I think it was interesting because when I looked at these numbers I was pretty surprised but one big difference between this year and last year if you look at total
appropriations subtracting out grant uh appropriations and the reason I do that is grants are specifically offset by revenue not raised by taxes so if you if you take that out um the change over the
prior year is really more like 55 $54,000 a year um and that's in a large part due to the tremendous job we did securing a large legislative aid grant for uh South Third Avenue Public Plaza a
million dollar grant so that's a big change from prior year just so kind of I thought it was important to show that um and then the amount raised by taxes went up by about $416,000 um I should mention that we had
about an increase in debt service of about $400,000 so we're really the majority of the increase over last year in our budget um we we we had very little control but I'll I'll show you that um so then just to kind of go into
that same analysis the municipal portion of the tax bill for the average assess one at 4815 um is $3,330.94 in 2025 based on the budget that's being uh discussed tonight and that's
$105 more per year uh for that typical household or average assessment I should say uh that's 32% over prior year um and just present it down to $26 a quarter $875 just different ways of thinking
that amount and then drilling down on that further I mentioned the total appropriations um the amount here is the amount to be raised by taxes 14 million but our total appropriations are 22
million and change there um 25% covers our public safety budget that includes police fire our dispatch contract with records uh municipal court you know all those things that are in uh council and
George's portfolio uh fall in that budget um I should mention though that salaries and wages however pension and social security and unemployment are covered under statutory insurance in a different part of the budget so and
that's true across all departments the next largest kind of pot departmentally uh is public works uh 16% uh but that's inclusive of garbage recycling including not just the cost of picking it up and
taking it to the facilities but also the tipping fees at the you know you name it it's included in that amount buildings and grounds custodial contracts um what have you facilities maintenance repairs those are all included in that 16%
number um there are some road uh improvements on there but there are the smaller ones like potholes and things like that larger roadways are covered under typically uh capital improvements and you heard earlier a capital ordinance to work on some roads so while
we pay for that in the debt service that's covered in a different portion as well 21% of the budget goes towards statutory insurance costs that's the pension uh that's PFRS is the police fire uh retirement uh public employees
retirement uh social security unemployment and then a big port and it's about even between these two uh and then insurance is about 10% so that they're about 10% each of our budget are just for those important things um
capital improvement and debt that's road capital projects like roads and building upgrades um and those are covered in in this area as part of our debt service once that debt is authorized we have to pay it back over time and we have to budget to make those payments n as I
mentioned we had a very good kind of start to the grant year 9% of this budget is uh our grants that uh we have the legislative aid grants as well as the NPP program on Woodbridge Avenue our CDBG for the time being uh we have
that's a federal grant um uh our recycling tonnage grant that we get every year from the state of New Jersey um those grants are there i should mention that that number will go up as the year goes forward because there are grants we apply for at different points during the year that we won't know the
outcome uh until later this year so they're not available to us to incur include in the budget at this time and last but certainly not least is our library and I just noticed I knew there'd be a typo the color of the square does not match the pie chart uh
but the 5% is correct uh goes towards the library um and as I mentioned we're we fund well over the statutory requirement uh at we fund uh about 1.2 million of the library and that's about
$527,000 more than required we've made a lot of investments in the library lately in the physical and this part of this budget also goes towards their salaries uh and kind of day-to-day upkeep of the building um so uh that's kind of how our
budget is allocated so that's all I have on the municipal budget i'm going to pivot over to the utility budget um and it's a snapshot in a way and I don't get into a lot of high charts on this one because
it is a pretty simple budget um 40% of that budget goes towards the purchase of water fortunately uh we did not experience as large of an increase in the amount that we pay for water um as
we anticipated in 2024 so we're able to hold that number flat in 2025 so we did not change our budget for purchase of water again we purchased water for Bill's water company their plants over Edison uh operations and maintenance of
the the uh utility that's uh the our contract with uh USA Highland Park a subsidiary of Middle Sex Water to operate the day-to-day functions of the utility that's one of the largest aspects of that bill but that also
includes our emergency repairs uh council member Hersh mentioned some water main repairs and we fund a large number of those through our operating budget so that 29% covers a lot of the just the day-to-day management of the um
the utility uh MCU uh the Middle Sex County Utility Authority they process all the sewer that the bureau sends their way and that's 24% of our budget we were fortunate in that uh they too we they estimated us lower than last year
that can vary from year to year um but fortunately so we brought the number down however next year depending on our actuals that number could go up um but fortunately we stabilized the utility over the last few years and we have some
surplus that can help ease some of those periodic increases um and then the last item is capital and debt service that makes up 7% of this budget uh it went down because our payments both went down uh this year by 3,400 i think we have
some debt falling the way the next couple years we're starting to see that number down so the total budget change actually went down by 168,28 um and that's that's pretty much the uh utility budget uh we don't ant we
were we did have to do a rate increase last year we don't anticipate needing that this year um and we're feeling pretty good about you know our projections um so that's the utility budget and then the last thing I wanted
to walk through uh that's in the municipal budget is also what's called the capital improvement plan so this is just a highle highlight of the capital improvement plan um it's a plan it isn't necessarily what is actually going to be
done this year that all has to be authorized by council any additional funding that isn't already secured will have to be authorized by a council by volunteer ordinance or some other funding um but what we put in the plans just to give you a sense of what we're
thinking may be on deck for 2025 we know we have um a serious roof situation at the beloved environmental center and Rice would be wonderful partners trying to work on solutions and in the meantime tarping and keeping things secure in the
building but we are going to have to face that improvement we need some fire alarm upgrades throughout several burrow buildings we need some sidewalk repairs and parking lot resurfacing around some of our buildings uh we mentioned Molly Mock Graph Park upgrades so that's on deck hopefully we'll get to we have some
grant funding we may have to match some of that funding our own funds uh public works we have some repairs needed and upgrades in motor pool to the garage some heavy duty vehicle replacements that are on deck um in the utility we're
anticipating um coming back to council for authorization to do upgrades to water and sewer mains on South Third related to our proposed plaza in advance of said plaza um and that's going to be a priority for us this year and just
some roadway projects that are coming up these are primarily funded through grants through from the NJ DOT the first two Highland ad minimal because PSCG came through and did those roads but we have Graham Street South 8th North 10th and Vulker as we mentioned earlier and
then Woodbridge Avenue hopefully Middle Sex County will get that out to bid and we'll see that I've carried that project over in this presentation now three times and so we're really hopeful to get that bid out but that is a project we're doing with the county and we have to you know we
work partner and they're handling the bid process for And just to highlight some projects that were on this list yesterday that are currently underway the community center bathrooms the roof replacement we also got a lovely facelift on the painting in
the building and on the floors that were done through our redevelopment agreement with the uh school on Cleveland Avenue uh we have already underway in town working on the sewer main lining project and then we have our water service line
inventory and test pick program uh underway that's essentially we're doing a hydro excavation of the unknown water service lines in town so we can know if we've got lead or galvanized pipes that we need to deal with and address in our
replacement plan so I think that brings me to my last slide yes and mayor I'll I'll close there thank you okay may I have a motion on the introduction of the
resolution the 4-25-103 2025 municipal budget for first reading on title and scheduled for public hearing on May 6th 2025 second
council member Hail yes council member Her yes council President yes council member Pande yes council member Hargus yes clerk please report on the introduction of the 2025 Main Street Highland Park budget at the burough council of the
burough of Highland Park the following statements of revenue and appropriations shall constitute the Main Street Highland Park budget for the year 2025 said budget shall be published in the news tribune park New Jersey in the issue of April 20 April 6 2025 a hearing
on the main street fire business improvement district budget will be held on Tuesday May 6 2025 council meeting in Burough Hall 221 South Fifth Avenue at 7 PM at which time and place objections may be said objections to
said budget and resolution for the year 2025 may be presented may I have introduction of 2025 I mean 24-25-105-2025 Main Street but Main Street Highland Park budget on first
reading by title and schedule for hearing on May 6 2025 so move member H yes council member Hirs abstain council president Kim Johan yes council member Piston yes council member Vargas
yes may I have a motion to adopt or reject resolution 4-25-105 resolution authorizing amendment to 2025 temporary budget second call council member H yes council
member H yes council president yes council member Ponic yes council member Morgan yes and now we move to the consent agenda may I ask any council member if they have anything that they to pull and separate from the consent agenda
seeing none may I have a motion to adopt or reject the following consent agenda items 14A through 14 I so move council member Hail yes council member Hers yes council President Kohan yes
council member yes council member yes and now uh appointments public information committee and verman board of ed representative board of health Marian Castanza may I have a motion to confirm
so move second roll call council member yes council member Hirsh yes council President Kim Johan yes council member Piston and is great mayor is great yes council member Vargas yes okay library board of trustees Harry Glazer mayor's
mayor's designate no confirmation needed now it's time for second public participation three minutes per speaker on any topic subject to conclude by 900 p.m comments from members of the public attending in person will be heard first
followed by those on Zoom please introduce yourself yes thank you Mayor Council my name is Alan Leeman 119 North Avenue Park had a couple of quick things uh first we heard earlier some very appropriate commendatory remarks
about Senator Booker what he's fighting for and standing for very appropriate condemnatory remarks about what the administration of Washington is doing to jeopardize many of the things that we assume were forever and always part of
American democracy communities our laws our foreign alliances the fabric of our democracy one thing that we can do to stand for the principles that many of us believe in is to work with some of the many good
community organizations in Park Church Park under pastor Seth Pepperdale um they do wonderful work with communities that are uh in jeopardy voiceless powerless and in need of help
uh I've had the great privilege since I retired over five years ago to do various volunteer items of work for that church many others have done far more than I have but it's been very rewarding
to me and so I would encourage anyone here or listening or watching to find time to support any of the many good organizations that we have in town that do the necessary work to protect people who are in the greatest jeopardy at this
very moment so I hope people find time to do that the second point I want to make has to do with an issue I raised at a January meeting of the council which I spoke for the first time years um it was specifically a public
safety issue council member George is not here tonight but police department is representing and it was about the proflegate disregard that drivers in this town have for the traffic laws in this town um in particular a particular
concern was the tendency of many many drivers to report stop signs on streets and intersections i gave an example where I live Abbott and a you stood there with a video camera on
a given day I'm sure you would find dozens of violations 30 seconds people treat the stop signs as yields roll through them on their way to get to the other side to make a turn they're speeding underneath as well but I think
the stop sign disob issue uh I was told at that council meeting by council member George that there was an upcoming meeting with the police department to discuss a plan or a response it's been two months i've not heard anything i've not seen
anything out of the council in the mayor's office and I hope that there is in process some plan to do something before a life is lost by then it'll be too late to do something thank you hello
council south um I'm here tonight just to um encourage the burrow in its efforts for redevelopment to please reconsider using the tool of condemnation and eminent domain against
uh plastic cleaners i understand and I fully support the world in their efforts to redevelop it because our downtown really does need it and I do think the M& domain is a very useful tool in redeveloping our downtown but I do think that it
is misapplied in this instance um the classic nurse has been in business for 75 years and the last 30 years um operated by its current owners and that building is more than just the value market value of the building it is a
business in its entirety it's my belief that I'm sorry i don't know why I'm so nervous in speaking about this i don't have any skin in the game other than I really do support the redevelopment of
our downtown and I fully fully fully am behind the burrow and all of its efforts that it's made to acquire all of the property that it's acquired and it's planned to make our downtown greater but I do think that this is a really bad book for the burrow i don't think that you should reward a business a company
that's been in business 30 years in this burrow with condemnation offering him um the value of the business of the building does not at all satisfy how much he will cost for him to lose his business
um I just think this is a bad look for the burrow and I wish that the bur would reconsider using combination and eminent domain as a tool for uh achieving its goal of redevelopment i know that this
one building poses a you know hole in the donut of this grander plan but I would implore you to please find a more creative solution and leaving that business there i think it's important for the community and I do think that this sends the wrong message to other
people who would like to purchase buildings in this town and invest in buildings and invest in their businesses in this town that are not large developments that it sends a bad message to or the wrong message to other small business owners that if they invest in
this town in 5 years 10 years 15 years when the borrow develop that block are they going to lose their businesses so I would just ask that you reconsider this and find a more creative solution that
keeps this business where it is and that happens thank you anyone else okay there's one hand up good evening charlie Prattville live on Sedam Street New Brunswick pleased to be with you tonight Park i am here to ask
about a disturbing video i saw on HPTV the uh February 27 2025 rent control board meeting uh by this time I imagine you're all acquainted with uh uh the facts of what took place there and maybe you've seen at least some of the
recording uh so I wanted to ask Mayor Foster if you had any reaction to what happened at that meeting you may not be aware of our procedure you put all your questions and then we we'll close the public session we decide if we're going to go through and answer
questions really and really for what purpose is that rule in effect now i've spoke here many times before and been able to have dialogue in real time ask questions what What's the purpose then what is the purpose of that rule where you're now saying you won't answer
my questions when I ask them i just explained to you no I didn't hear a purpose but our attorney would you like to explain what we have implemented in
place for public discussion yes um thank you Mr kra for your comments um what ends up happening our procedure that we implemented last February is that everyone has to put their comments and questions on the record and then the public portion is closed and then at
that point the mayor then either responds to the comments or questions looks into it or appoints someone on the dies to respond to your questions and comments thank you well it's unfortunate that the council would take action to limit suppress dialogue and it seems
pretty obvious that the the main effect is that you limit follow-up questions so I can't get an answer to a question and ask a follow-up question uh in the same night uh thanks to this policy so that's very unfortunate uh mayor and council but what I will say is I'm very concerned about what I saw in that
meeting video i saw the attorney uh first of all represent the uh the the burrow here tonight but also represent the rent control board i think the rent control board would be better served to have its own attorney and uh you know I'm just a lay person i'm not an attorney but I'm pretty sure the
attorney gave some bad advice to the rent control board that night and I know at least one of you was there Miss uh Kim Choan and uh for instance you asked at one point hey can we go to an executive session and uh correct me if I'm wrong but uh you can introduce a
resolution at any time to enter an executive session it need not be advanced notice under the OPMA and uh the attorney told you you can't gave you bad advice told you the the wrong thing
uh additionally I would ask through you mayor for the attorney attorney client privilege who holds that privilege is it the attorney or is it the client because my understanding is it's the client that holds the privilege but your attorney
was trying to use attorney client privilege to bully the board members to not be able to talk about something that was that was confidential in her mind but the board members were free to speak about and I would like for her to address that question is attorney client privilege her privilege or is it the
client's privilege because I've never seen anything like that in and I watch a lot of government meetings i've never seen an attorney fight with their client in front of the public that was really inappropriate and unprofessional and I would like some type of response from the elected leaders because notably
nobody elected the attorney people want to hear from their elected officials i'm sorry you have this policy uh where you're not answering questions i hope you'll change that right away right now fine anyone else we still have a hand up um I believe
Lois Leving if that's you can you just confirm that hi again Lois Lebing North Second Avenue two subjects and I congratulate the last speaker the gentleman i couldn't hear much but I agree this is uh it's pretty
funny that they answer some questions at the end and mostly they don't but okay on windy days like today could please DPW especially during March April could could they stack together a few of the round recycling cans someone might put
out or at least invert the cans so that they might not run into the street and block traffic that's my one request my second subject is classic cleaners i know that's not litigation but it's top
secret and you're supposed to be paying fair market value i imagine the average of three uh assessments for the land and the building i wonder who pays for the loss of the business who pays for the equipment etc etc um I wonder why the
lees owners of the classic cleaners don't seem to be getting the same treatment that you breathe their neighbor had gotten when they somebody found and purchased the town purchased a three- bay not a two- bay garage as the first
mistake was made purchasing a two bay for Ubris and the leads didn't get the uh dry cleaner that just moved out on Raritin Avenue under Dominic's office 705707 Raritin he had the dry cleaners
on one side now a barber shop and to the right was the bargain box that went out i don't know who in redevelopment didn't put a word in asking for those two structures the two storefronts and then
simply open uh them up together with a doorway of some sort under the staircase that leads up to Dominic's why aren't the leaves getting it it's just very unbalanced if it indeed they don't end up getting something similar like you
brief and you had an opportunity a few years ago to purchase 810 North Second Avenue down at the end where Hilltop Lab had been it's still vacant that has a parking lot that has a block building i
don't know what the neighbors would think but that would be the boom there's a business that I don't see a place for them to move to in town what's the deal they have to clean their land the Environmental Protection Act of what is
it hazardous Waste List has Highland Parks Gun Shop Bureau the vacant property at 133 Raritton Avenue is still on the active list needs to be cleaned so why in the world why can't developer
Deborah leave the building lease it back purchase it in 10 15 20 years from the leaves and then like Somerville Somerville redeveloped the main street there's a wonderful walkway an arched area roofed got benches I'm sure video
cameras and lights you walk from the parking in the rear to the main street and it's lovely so why can't that be a cleaners that amenity for a decade or two and then you remove that from in
between the residential development the wall of Lego blocks and then you have a parkway a little walkway little greenery couple flowers that's all thank you take care bye
okay um seeing there's no further comments for members of the public or online may I have a motion to close uh public session participation so move second roll call council member Hill yes
council member H yes council President yes council member Panic yes council member Martis yes um in regards to um the traffic concerns over on Abbath and North 8 Council Member George is not here but I would
suggest that Mr allen that you speak with our chief and try to see if there was some kind of discussion that was had so you can get some clear answers and you know I'm quite sure they'll try to put some kind of traffic caling devices in that area to alert people of how fast they're going um on the streets and yes
we all need to get involved and support organizations it's now more than ever that we're going to need to do that kind of support as it pertains to classic cleaners um last meeting our borrow attorney Bowman came in and he explained what the process was and it's a quite a
lengthy process before it gets anywhere near enem domain and um we have been having conversation with Mr so we hope that the conversation will continue um so that's on that that's on that and Ryus is going to stay and we
hope to get some money to fix the top of the building to fix the roof and um and that's it for my comments on that may I have a motion to adjourn seriously wow all in favor pretty fast
second oh I'm sorry okay who would I need a second i need a second all in favor next meeting is scheduled for April 15th at 7 p.m thank you