this meeting is called to order in accordance with the open public meeting act notice of this meeting was provided to the home News Tribune The Star Ledger and the Highland Park planet on January 8th 2025 and was posted on Bor H website at
www.hpborrow.com and on the bulletin board of B Hall 221 South fth Avenue in Highland Park New Jersey and has remained continuously posted as required by law fire exits are to my right and left of council chambers Mrs berstein can you Le Us in the
pleasure Allegiance i al to the flag flag of the United States of America IND andice for all mayor Foster yes council member George yes council member hail here council
member H here council president Ken toan here council member fic here council member Vargas here attorney Shaw here special Council bman here administrator here uh honors and awards tonight we
have a special one that um presentation that we're going to do a proclamation and it's go it's going to a store call from Sweet To Nuts and I'm going to have council member hail because Economic Development Falls in this bucket and he's going to be reading the
proclamation before we do the presentation plus uh the number of times I've gone there for last minute sweet tonights we're going to um here we go proclamation in honor of Mary Bernstein owner of sweet nuts
the coacher candy and gift shop in Highland Park presented at n andboro council meeting March 18th 2025 whereas sweets To Nuts the kosher candy and gift shop in Highland Park owned and operated by Maran bste since 200 2004 has served the Highland Park
Community for over 20 years with gift baskets platters party favors for holidays special occasions and various corporate and family events and whereas sweets theuts maintained a picturesque brick and shop with quaint charm in the middle of Highland Park that was warm
and welcoming to his patrons and has and has also operated a vibrant online presence through its website sweets nuts.com and whereas Sweet To Nuts supported many local fundraising and community events including having a booth at Main Street Highland Park Fair
and featuring local artwork in their storefront they' have also donated countless gift baskets gift flatters and gift certificates to local schools and organizations and and whereas sweet nuts has operated under the strip kosher supervision of the bod h robing of ran
Valley and whereas sweets To Nuts became known as the go-to business for important life cycle events such as baby celebrations bar and Bot Mitzvah engagements Etc and where sweet employed over 75 staff members over the past 20
years teaching them essential customer service inventory and project management skills and where Maran served as a strong role model of a women-owned business for many employees and customers and whereas Maran has announced her plans to close the store at the end of March 2025 and extends her
heartfelt thanks to the Highland Park Community for its support and loyalty to sweets To Nuts throughout the years now I there for Elsie fer May Park um do hereby recognize and
thank Mary and in and her staff for their Stellar record of service to the residents of the burough of Pen Park and wish them all the success in their future Pursuits in witness thereof I hereby set to my hand the 18th day of March
2025 and thank you very much I [Applause] also also want to say that I was there when the facial ribbon was cut um 20 years ago to welcome you into Highland Park and you have been a tremendous
resource for the entire town and myself included when I don't know what's the appropriate gift to give I always run down and say help me and you've always helped me to find the appropriate gift so you have been a god sending a resource door town thank you and all the best we have a little Proclamation council member H would you like to
present absolutely [Music] [Music] I'm family members to the microphone to the microphone want to be recorded it's a part of the official history um this truly an honor really I
love High par it's it's been my home away from home um thank you mayor Foster and to the Highland Park Council for this incredible honor I'm here touched thank you to my wonderful husband Mike and to our amazing family for all your
love support and lots of help over the years much thanks to the Highland Park Community our loyal customers our stellar employees we've had fabulous fabulous employees and to the VOD of
riton Valley this has been an incredible special and rewarding experience for for all of us and as a small business owner in Highland Park in this great town and um and I must say that this was
a sweet representation of shopping local we have to shop local it's important and the value of shopping local is tremendous and I thank you thank [Applause] you continuing on we're going to have
approval of minutes may I have a motion to approve minutes from February 18 2025 regular session and from March 4th 2025 regular and executive session as dist as distributed
second roll call council member George yes council member yes council member H yes council president kiman yes council member ponic yes council member Vargas yes and Council report I'm going to start off with council member Vargas
me hi everybody my name is my name isas and I have the honor of chairing arts and Recreation standing committee this this afternoon I had the pleasure of attending a delightful lunch in the community center to celebrate St Patrick's Day and Irish American
Heritage class event was well attended as was and as always the community center staff went above and beyond to ensure everything was beautifully arranged with delicious food and Life music it was a wonderful experience meeting new residents of High Park and reconnecting with familiar
faces the Arts commission is excited to introduce a new initiative called flag which stands for a free little art G this concept is similar to the idea of the free little library but instead of books um the gallery will feature art the artwork is free for the public to take home or to contribute their own
creations and I'm eager to see the first few flag installations around town um and announce those um locations as soon as they um get this going I'd also like to invite you to the closing ceremony of Windows of understanding which will be held at the library on Wednesday March
26 at 5:30 p.m. this event will celebrate the collaboration of artists from s six team Center and the pride Center of New Jersey and I hope you can join us to honor the art work and creativity the art work is still up in the FR Windows you want to take a look at it a couple of weeks ago I had the
privilege of visiting Bal school to read to a group of fourth graders the book I read was what do you do with an idea by KOB yam a powerful story about the potential of ideas the students ask thoughtful questions waging from my
hobbies um to have the AES how old I was um to whether I knew the governor um and even what I wanted to be when I was a child I shared that I once aspired to be a teacher which while not my career path allowed me to emphasize the importance
of teachers and shaping the future of the students and their need to support education after the reading I was able to walk with the students to the art class and on the way one young girl asked me where I was born when I told her I was born in Puerto Rico her eyes
lit up and she asked if I spoke Spanish and I responded see and her excitement was palpable um she began speaking to me in Spanish right away and we had a really nice dialogue so we um had a brief conversation but in that moment I understood how meaningful it is to feel
represented um it wasn't just about the language but the connection we felt um instantly and I could tell that she walked away feeling very very happy that she saw someone like herself um um representation can come in many forms
through language background or even shared ideas and goals um which was the point of the book that I read to the class and that is my report for tonight thank you council member representation matters council member him thank you madam mayor um so next
week on March 25th we're gonna be holding a a bringing government to your neighborhood meeting this is something that the mayor has started um uh bring uh our meetings out into the community so we're going to be at River Ridge apartment which is 30 South Adelaide
from 6:30 to 7:30 um we'll be discussing downtown Redevelopment um as well as the state New Jersey program um and our assembly men sterley and vich um are also going to attend um to talk about the state New Jersey program so please it's open for everybody but come on out
um March 25th uh at 30 South Adela from 6:30 to 7:30 um as I mentioned we have formed an advisory for Third Street um Plaza uh uh and uh we had a very productive first meeting with that um and with the input
of the of the community members and business owners um we were able to narrow down the list of Landscape Design Consultants um and we'll be interviewing them the next couple weeks it's really exciting to see uh some some significant progress happening on the South Third Plaza um we have a lot of great firms to
choose from and so please stay tuned for that um uh as we uh say say goodbye to to Sweet the nuts um I just wanted to also know that there is a whole bunch of of of new businesses and and moving around going on in Highland Park um as mam said shopping local is fundamental
to keeping Highland Park running um so I just wanted to mention a couple of those um me too is a new uh tea and flower shop um down between second and first on meriton the grill house is a coer meet place um also right next door McKenna's
gym uh has moved to a new location um uh over behind the Dunkin Donuts down there first um Bloom hair coloring which got rid reviews from a couple of our our members so much that I might try oh never
mind is they're moving into part of McKenna's old spot right on R um we have Serenity Studios which is a health and wellness final feedback shop up on 85 ridan and the drum roll appr please Jerusalem pizzas received all the approvals necessary to open hopefully
they'll be open shortly after passing so um fantastic for that um but stay tuned um so as we've got um some businesses moving out hopefully we got a lot more moving back in so please please shop local it's it's important um as uh as
always the farmers market is open Fridays uh from 11:00 to 4: so come on out for that remember that the 5K and the street fair is going to be on Star Wars Day May 4th in the 4th PR um porchfest is May 18th um and downtown planting days are May 22nd
and 23rd um so lots of great stuff coming up for the summer um you can check out all those things at mean stre hp.org that's my report thank you thank you mayor thank you
sweet thank you for servicewe uh my name is Matthew herish I CH of the public works and Public Utilities uh committee uh thanks for being here um uh there some exciting stuff on on on your report I think I will do I think I will
participate in all of it excellent um oh wait because councilman hail is representing 1986 um on the recommendation um on on the sorry it's sunny out you know we have to
smile we have to laugh the World Baseball is going exactly um so on the agenda tonight you'll see uh item 12b I just wanted to to flag that one on the recommendation of the public works and Public Utilities committee we have a resolution uh on the agenda to endorse
assembly Bill 4696 and its Senate counterpart 3545 otherwise known as the New Jersey climate Superfund act this bill comes at the recommendation of sustainable Highland Park was vetted by the public and Public Utilities committee um under the and sustainable Highland Park under the leadership of
past chair Tina Weiss house uh who recogn recognizes that uh that this legislation is a top priority for the state's environmental movement that empowers the state to collect on the damages caused by climate change by large fossil fuel corporations that do business within our borders uh the bill
mod modeled after laws passed in New York and Vermont has 26 legislative co-sponsors across the assembly in the Senate including our own Senator Patrick Dagan and senman Robert Caravan the Senate version passed out of the environmental committee on December 12th
uh and I'm sorry in December and 12 municipalities Statewide have passed resolutions in support of this bill uh and now Highland Park hopefully with our vote is going to be lucky 13 we no longer have to Envision what a world affected by climate change looks like or feels like we see the impact of
more severe storms and flooding you see the sun peeking through an opaque Sky clouded by distant and not so distant wildfires we breed the particulates that cause respiratory illness cancer and so much more this is something our seniors Youth and persons experiencing homelessness
and so many more are already familiar with particularly in environmental justice communities with an uncertainty at the federal with uncertainty at the federal level it's essential that we act as states to advance strong environmental stewardship stewardship initiatives and I'm proud to advocate for this as part of a growing chorus so
thank you for your consideration Council uh just a few things to report from from Public Works um our monthly report uh is in thank you to uh uh Frank Troy of Public Works for for providing these numbers uh to datee uh uh this year alone uh the Public Works has collected
56372 tons of uh of of of garbage collection uh delivered to the billx county landfill I'm recycling to date uh your to date is 165.7 tons and that does get recycled I I I I've said said here before there
seems to be a kind of a vexing myth out there that uh that recycling does not get recycled it does uh and it goes to the Colgate Paper Stock company over in New Brunswick uh we would love to arrange a tour with you if you ever wanted to go uh we've gone we've G on site visits with our environmental
commission and it's really interesting uh and it's interesting to see kind of how you know how how our recycling is processed uh public works also did 33 signs uh they they they repaired replaced 33 33 signs they serviced or repaired 16 vehicles uh they used almost
three tons of hot mix asphalt used for pot home repairs uh in 23 pothole spilled so hopefully that pothole that you are avoiding uh is no longer there if you see a pothole though don't wait for it to be filled please report it you can go to
www.hbo.com and report a pothole or you can reach out to any of us uh and um public the work sets aside Wednesdays as po repair today I also want to point to resolution 12 a uh which is from the public works and Public Utilities committee authorizing the purchase of Ford
F450 uh multi-use vehicle for public works so that's really exciting and much needed uh this Thursday March 20th from 7 to 8m uh in the community room at the library join uh us for a meeting on gas
leaf blowers health risks and Alternatives this event is sponsored by the Highland part gas Le flower task force a burough sponsored ad hoc committee including the board of health environmental commission and sustainable handland Park come here from experts members of sustainable handland Park and
me talk about other Municipal ordinances that's this Thursday March 20th at the library at 7M uh a little PSA I wish I had the more you know graphic kind of shining behind me uh but we did want to raise a uh an issue raised by the public
by by Public Works uh so-called flushable wipes are a costly and damaging issue that facing Our Town sewer system uh despite what packaging claims these are not flushable so please never put wife down the toilet uh like toilet paper instead they can cause
blockages in household plumbing they can cause Municipal they can clog Municipal sewer lines and they can lead to expensive repairs that impact every taxpayer uh unlike toilet paper which disintegrates quickly in water wipes remain intact for a long time accumulating in pipes and mixing with
grease and other debris and they form massive blockages um and they can cause and they can really wreak havoc on on on on older homes older older sewer lines uh so please uh use every precaution to only dispose of toilet paper uh in your
toilet um and I'm really glad I got to deliver that news too uh it's really important though uh I did want to point to something that uh you know was was um uh near and dear I think to all of us
and it would have Ed uh the portfolios of councilman George myself and probably all of us in some way is um you know uh Highland Park is not immune to to Elon Musk we're not immune to Donald Trump we're not immune to Doge uh and the million dollars in federal funding that
uh that congressman Frank palone secured for us to reengineer Ben of Magnolia is no more uh and it was UN ceremony it was it was an unceremonious um uh uh withdrawal uh but that was part of the it got chopped and that and that was
part of the uh the um that was part of the bill that passed that was part of the continuing resolution that pass that that pass passed Congress so all those ear marks um uh in New Jersey all those Community projects uh that were going to benefit their communities uh we will
have to find other ways to finance them uh particularly at the and right now you know at the state um the uh the state is is in the throws of its budget uh uh cycle right now so uh there's a lot of work to figure out how to reconcile uh
state budget Municipal allocations with the loss and uncertainty at the federal level um I'm going to be in uh in Washington DC next actually I'm G to segue to this in a second um I did just want to finish on sustainable Highland Park they will hold their regular meeting next Wednesday March 26 at 7:30
on Zoom I will not be there uh and here's why I'm going to be away for work uh uh in Washington DC to advocate for uh several housing dollars for affordable homes we are not polanish and we certainly don't think that U you know
that there is enough support in Washington DC to support a lot of the things that are so important uh to us on a daily basis uh um uh cuts to HUD cuts to housing resources cuts to the VA uh uh it's really de defunding the federal
government uh is alarming it puts a lot of people at Peril and we have not begun to feel the effects uh what we do know right now and the reason why I held it up as an example is that the engineering of Ben Magnolia two roads that fit really well in bicycle and pedestrian
plan in order to put bike Lanes um beautification and slow down traffic there is not happening right now uh and that is a real real shame uh and um I think we can all just kind of reflect on the loss and figure out how we move
forward under this new environment so that's my report thank you thank you council member George uh thank you mayor um I'm Phil George um Council leaon to Public Safety police Fire
EMS our C team um to follow up on councilman H's comment I ask specif question if we're saving all these massive amounts of money because we've cut most of our government apart will
your taxes be reduced next year I don't think that being said wonderful news from the police department um Miss clarabel perala will be joining us today was her
first day uh as a new police officer she comes to us from apologize per boy where she is already a seasoned officer bilingual uh her interview uh was phenomenal she's um chose to come to
Highland Park because of her interest in community policing being part of the the neighborhood and life in the vibe of town and we welcome her here's a mi usually you know I report on the library as well but here's the mix last night at the library
meeting the chief they uh we uh brought in a featured speaker the chief of police um uh the library board asked him to come in and uh address uh the library board and members of the public about um some of the issues we've had at the
library with um people coming protesting or challenging uh book selection and actually the whole meeting was about um community policing in town and how the library fits in as a center and a hub of community life is a very
very interesting discussion very Lively with members of the public uh the library is trying to Institute a program relatively informal of inviting um different members of the uh coverting body different members of our our
different department heads to come in and explain uh their connection with uh the library and how the library can connect with us very interesting program so it it was very delightful and I just have to say um I hope that the LI
continues that finally my stfe walking and cycling meeting again next week um the last meeting we discuss um another Bike Rodeo which was very successful last year um hopefully around just after
the street fair in May hopefully the following week but we'll work out the dates and times with the burrow and with the police department thank you mayor thank you council member post thank you mayor good evening my name is Jason mik I'm the chair of the
Health and Human Services committee um and I brief report for tonight uh first uh with the measles outbreak growing uh the Board of Health wanted to remind everyone of the importance of getting the MMR vac um and they want to encourage everyone who hasn't received it to get we are
currently below the levels needed for her of unity in our area and is important for everyone who is able to to do their part get themselves and their children vaccinated and help get this disease back under control uh as a phrase that was repeated offer in the last boort Health meeting you do not
want to get nles please reach out to your doctor with any questions and make an appointment need one um next just want to announce set the human relations commission will be meeting tomorrow night at 7M there will be a hybrid meeting taking place in person in the
Fishbowl conference room uh in Bur hall right across uh from council chambers um and we'll also be meeting over Google meet the Google meet L can me access from the B calendar and the B website hpb.com and lastly staying with the human relations commission I just wanted
to note that there are a number of vacancies on that commission so if anyone is interested in joining and working on crosscultural educational programs events that bring people together please submit a volunteer application available the B website again hpb.com and that was my thank you
Council council president Kim Chan hello everyone my name is Stephanie Kim Chan and I chair of Finance so uh there isn't much to report at this time as of uh all efforts have been focused on finalizing
the budget um however I would like to highlight uh two important items uh first the first quarter payment for water and sewer Services is due at the end of this month um I do want to remind residents that the burrow has
established a safety net to help ensure that you never miss a payment deadline by implementing the autopay feature um when residents access online um online bill pay through the burls website you
will have the option to enroll in um auto pay but we're still traditionally you can come in at the uh office and here at the window to pay if you also choose to secondly the um rent control board will
be meeting next Thursday March 27th in here in council chambers at 5:30 and as a final note spring is just around um the corner so uh stay safe at thank you
counc B administrative report just an extremely quick one may I just thought I'd report out I heard from Mike our Superintendent at Public Works that we have changed the controller at Madison and Cleveland so hopefully we'll have uh
less vibrant uh blinking lights during the evening months um uh we're still figuring out exactly the controller so we may make further adjustments but just the ADV I know that was something that came up at a few meetings and that's all I have thank you for attorney's report
attorney for uh attorney bman yes mayor thank you um I'd like to speak briefly on item 12 e on our cons agenda so you'll recall that the govering body authorize
the preparation of a study on whether Pro blocks block 1704 L 4346 to 49 constitute an e condemnation area in need of Redevelopment that study was completed referred to the planning board the planning board reviewed it and took
action and has referred to the pack recommending that it does beat the criteria um this is a property that has been um we've been in dialogue with this property owner for about eight years and uh the pro the adoption of this resolution will not stop that process um
even though the resolution is includes the word comination my experience is that ever happens we fully expect and hope that at some point we're going to come to an agreement with the property owner again we've been in dialogue with them for um almost six or seven years um but we remain hopeful that we'll be able
to resolve that uh that issue but in the meantime it did meet the criteria uh the planning the planner concluded that the planning board agreed and now it's back on your plate to consider uh officially designating it as pleas
with thank you um and now it's time for my report and I'm pleased to announce that I also attend in the St Patrick days lunch in over at the community center and I have my proof because I have my my St Pat's Day necklace to prove it it was a great lunch and and um
didn't do the jig but I'm quite sure everybody had a great time they enjoyed the meal uh also want to say speaking of seniors I received a letter from the greater midex County Meals on Wheels and this year marks 53 years of meals and
wheels providing much needed nutritious meals to our seniors currently in Highland har we have 40 seniors that participated in Meals on Wheels and I was given the task of calling five seniors to see if they're interested in joining the program which I started
making my phone calls and I spoke at one delightful senior this afternoon and she says save it for some one else I I thought that was so awesome that people are being considerate to others that may not have may have a greater need and she says at this time I don't need it but
mayor please do save it for someone else so I'm going to be adding someone else to my list for meals and wheels to see if there's a need in their home so it's a great program and I hope it will continue to thrive I also want to announce that it's
that time of year again and it's bough Highland Park Park partner Grant Partners Grant 2025 so um we be the mayor and Council invite you to come out and if you're interested in participating the Grant
come out and give our give you give us your ideas here are the categories category one is environment the other is two uh Arts cultural diversity safety universal access health and wellness and
Highland Park High School student class SL club projects so anyone who's interested in applying for this grant the application um deadline is May 13th at 1 pm you can start applying now so um
the the announcement will be made at the community center on March on May 18th from 1: to 4:00 p.m. and um all borrow residents age 13 enough are eligible to apply and we want to see you when we
make the votes so come on out how much is the grant for it's for $2,000 so if you have a great Highland Park project that fits into any of the five categories that I that I spoke about please do take a moment to um come out and participate in the grant see you're
a lucky winner and how do you access the grant go to our website and it's go to the Bor Hall website and it's called tinyurl.com so H https tinyurl.com 42722 zazen zebra. da so or if that's
too much just reach out to our public informations officer Harry Glazer and he can be reached at H Glazer at hpb.com to drop off your application or to get an application and remember the deadline is May 13 so please do come out and
participate and help shape our town and make our town better because these friends have been doing fantastic work through the years okay all right so that was my report so at this time it's our time for first public
participation um total time is 21 minutes 3 minutes per speaker limited the items on this agenda comments from Members attending in public will be heard first followed by those attending on Zoom so any member of the public who
wishes to speak can do so now um no we have six attendees oh I take it back I have a hand up okay uh Rosel satini please state your name to confirm
it you um yes hi there this is rosella satini hello hello I'm a a resident from southi Avenue I've been in Highland Park for about 30 years now I also am an activist
with the food and watera action of central New Jersey uh group and we are um I'm wanted to just speak on support of the climate super fund act that Matt hch earlier mentioned um I just want to voice strong support for it and also
share there was a a development just recently the State Assembly uh actually voted to adopt pass the resolution as well so sorry for my voice I I actually caught a cold because I attended that meeting along with a hundred other
activists um in Trenton last Monday we had uh people from across the state joining us to um let the assembly know how much support there is for this bill as resident here in town and as a taxpayer I am definitely concerned about
the um ongoing costs of uh climate impacts on Highland Park having lived through um super storm Sandy and seen many other flooding events excuse me um so I am uh hopefully will witness
uh Highland Park being a green Community um seeing a a positive uh adoption of this resolution and I thank you for your time anyone else no other hands on May I see there's no other may I have a motion to close
public participation come next time um second agenda is it on this agenda yes yes it was about the same item actually I didn't realize earlier that yeah yeah we normally have the members of the public speak first and then then those
on zoom and then we close out but go ahead thanks okay so my name is chenan uh I live at Walter Avenue um and yeah I'm just here to also express my support for the super fun resolution I hope passing here
for so thank you anyone else okay see none may I have a motion to close public participation so move council member George yes council member hail yes council member H yes
council president Kim Chan yes council member ponix yes council member Vargas yes um ordinance requiring first reading clerk please report on ordinance introduction of ordinance number 25- 2105 an ordinance amending and repealing
part two general legislation chapter 150 Contracting reform article one Redevelopment agreements article two public contracts payto playay reform of the code of the burough fin park has been introduced by the administration committee for a consideration of passage on first reading by
title may I have a motion to adopt or reject ordinance number 25- 2105 authorize publication as required by law and set forth in public hearing for April 1st 2025 move second roll call council member George yes council member
hail yes council member H yes council president Kim Shan yes council member pistonic yes council member of AR yes and um now I'm going to move to the consent agenda and we're going to um separate out
12E for any comments that anyone may have so let's look down go down to the consent agenda we're going to separate separate out 12 B and now I ask members of the council if there's anything else on the consent
agenda that they would like to pull for a separate vote okay see that there's none may I have a motion to adopt or reject the following minus 128 um 128 through 128 so
second council member George the super fund uh resolution put it down to the street level where you are two studies came out last week about the pollen problem that we're having and the sicknesses and the
throat problems we're having found out that the Northern Tier is experiencing a minor uh degree change that increases the pollen from Oak and radle and it increases the protein that lines it that
causes our infections and our throat infections absolutely yes council member hail yes council member HS thank you Council George yes council president Ken Johan yes council member pistonic yes council member vage
yes okay now we're going to go to 12E which is property identified on tax record of the Bor of Highland Park as block number 1704 Lot number 43 46 and 49 AKA Classic
Cleaners as as condem condemnation as needed needed of Redevelopment in need of Redevelopment they in need of Redevelopment any questions from members of the so now now it's com yes now it's com
um I just may council president wishes to speak um I just would like to um urge the business owner to actually work with the burrow and as this is a tool um we still
will be able to vote again down um the line again for this property as well so in in that time I hope we don't ever have to go down that route but I do encourage the property owner to um come
to the table and meet with the anyone else okay I think I just have uh attorney Bowman can you please again go over what this process is sure 12E sure
mayor happy to um so uh I I'll take it from what happens next I think so the next step is if the governing body uh determines to approve the resolution uh we'll send a copy to the property own and the property own then has certain
rights to object or um file a challenge to the designation U which will choose not to do or do so um following that process um we will continue to engage with conversation if we think we need to use
the condemnation power we'd have to come back as councilwoman suggests and ask you permission um again my uh 30 something years of doing this uh shows me that generally that does we never get to that point we kind of hopefully work things out um I will probably add that I
know because I've worked with you now for 10 years maybe um that you don't take these decisions lightly um this is a property that 11 years ago was put on the DP uh list for noncontaminated site list so 11 years ago um they've move the
deadline to complete that process four or five times um we actually went secured a grant which is pretty unique and the tens of thousands I think almost well over $50,000 um to assist them in doing some of the work step of away so we've been
very engaged uh to try and move this process along uh for as I mentioned actively at least eight years including securing funds in 2017 so what that eight years seven eight years ago um to try and continue to do the process
so you don't come to these decisions like arguably this is a decade in thinking about it um and yet you continue to leave the door open for resolution which is your preferred course in all situations and we demonstrated that time and time again with other properties throughout
Highland Park so again it's as Council suggests it's uh just setting the stage but um a lot of work to be done and I fully expect to have an ongoing dialogue and hopefully improved dialogue going forward with the property owner to a successful resolution that makes
everybody happy thank you so much I I do also have another question yes um in your 30 plus years of making this um doing and this is something that we definitely don't want to have to resort to but in your 30 something years of
working with other towns and and seeing condemnation what is the process say for that in towns that you have worked with that have gone through with this how is the property owner compensated what is that like great question there
so um the way it works is we have to get an independent appraisal uh from a third party to determine the value of the property we have to engage in good faith negotiations so we send the appraisal with a letter offer offering to purchase the property for that price uh then we
have go through a negotiation process by law um could take a couple weeks could take months um if we're unsuccessful uh then we have to we make a a filing with the courts and we deposit the full amount into the courts uh the proper
that has the out the right to withdraw the money and fight about the value further which could end up in a jury trial um or the property owner could withdraw the money and you know accept the resolution once we put the money in court and and we um file with the courts
we have the right to take take title to the property and sort of have it dispute over the value over time but the property will never get less than the fa never thank you for the paration now it's time for the second public
participation oh sorry a motion oh I'm sorry because we went over this may I have a motion to approve or adapt uh 12E so move second call council member George yes council
member H yes council member her yes council president kiman yes council member pel yes council member Vargas yes and now it's time for the second participation public participation three minutes for speaker on any topic subject
to concluded 9 pm. comments from members of the public attending in person will be heard first followed by those attending on soon please come to the microphone say your name and address Jamie soft um I recently attended a r control
board meeting um during that meeting uh the burough attorney uh prevented discussion of the ordinance at hand uh attempted to direct the meeting and then when she was not permitted to direct the meeting stormed out of the meeting uh when she returned she attempted to adjourn the meeting without public
comment uh over the objection of the board and members of the public who were there to speak uh I want to be sure that I indeed heard what I thought I had heard in that meeting so I did relisten to the recording uh at minute 32 about
22 seconds the bur attorney said quote Yeah but I spoke to the mayor and she wants to adjourn the meeting about 10 seconds later she said quote but she referring to the mayor said she was going to adjourn the meeting the whole meaning excuse me uh the attorney's wild
overstep and disrespect of public discourse is shocking and and of itself but there're only two possibilities in invoking the mayor in those comments as well um the first is that the B attorney has misrepresented the mayor to the public uh in an attempt to support her
own position uh or the mayor herself is attempting to disrupt public discourse on issues impacting the essential need that is housing I don't see a third option here um housing is so important and to be unable to discuss it in public
to be unable to be transparent and to have the burough attorney disrupt a meaning where the public has attended in order to understand how we are able to maintain uh our living situation in this town is really unbelievably disrespectful any additional public
comment see that there not is there anyone on Zoom No Hands Up on Zoom we've got five attendees okay seeing that there's no more may I have a motion to close public participation so move council member George yes counc CC
member hail yes council member H yes council president Kim Chan yes council member ponic yes council member Vargas yes sign I I am going to ask for a motion to adjourn our meeting second all in favor I I thank
you our next meeting will be April 1st at 7:00 p.m. thanks have a good night everyone