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, and the Highland Park Planet on January 8th, 2025 and was posted on
Borrow Hall website at www.hpbro.com hborrow.com and on the bulletin board of borrow 221 South 5th Avenue in Highland Park, New Jersey and has remained continuously posted as required by law by exit or to the right and left of
council chambers. Maria, can you lead us in the pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the rep for it stands one nation indivisible and justice for all
Mayor Foster? Yes. Council member George here. Council member Hail. Council member Hir here. Council President Kim Johan here. Council member Pistani here. Council member Vargas here. Burough Attorney Renown here. Bur Administrator
Hoger here. Uh may I have a motion to approve minutes of April 1st, 2025 regular meeting, April 8th, 2025 work session meeting. April 8th, 2025 executive
session meeting. April 15, 2025 regular meeting as distributed. Move. Second. Roll call. Council member George. Yes. Council member Hirs. Yes. Council President Kim Johan. Yes. Council member Piston. Yes. Council
member Vargas. Yes. Now we'll move to council reports. Council member George. Thank you, Mayor. I just have a brief report, but first of all, like to thank everyone who made this year's street fair one of the best that's been around for years,
even in a little bit of drizzling rain that kept the giveaway plant at the native plant sanctuary um well watered. The best part that I like to see was the um the number of our volunteers, our members of boards and
commissions. All of our admin administration, our elected officials all out and greeting everyone. All of our boards and commissions had representatives, had stands, had activities, and we really got everyone out presenting their work for our
community and get the message out about our engagement with life and all of its varied activities in Highland Park. Uh with regard to the police department, just briefly, the police department uh safe walking and cycling committee and the Middle Sex County keep Middle Sex
moving are presenting this year's bicycle rodeo on Thursday, May 15th at Bartle School from 4:30 to 6:00 p. p.m. for all ages. They always have games, bicycle safety checks, uh including I think um keep
Middle Sex moving will have a bike mechanic here to check kids bikes out, even adults bikes out. Um activities and people um from various locations including Robert Johnson doing pres presentations on bicycling and scooter safety. Uh I hope
everybody um attends. Last year was pretty big and very active. This year should be even better. in the library. Um, work is quietly going on in some long-term projects uh which the board has been able to return to finally after the past year and more relocations and
pairs and reorganizing. uh believe they're working on plans uh in the planning stage with the human relations commission for a a book reading project tenatively using the heaven and earth grocery store by James McBride which is a a a read that I
really enjoyed last year and a great mirror for looking at ourselves in Highland Park. Fire department continues their monthly training sessions with a full turnout. Recently, the department did host checking and training, very heavy duty training, and the chief
promises more onpoint training every month. And finally, I met with members of the volunteer first aid squad at the tree fair street fair and had an opportunity to see how they're engaged in training and membership as well. They were awaiting the delivery of a new ambulance care of the art of Kushner
estate quest and they're very optimistic and enthusiastic about their mission and their readiness. It was a pleasure to speak with him to speak there and thank you mayor. That's all I have. Thank you, Council Member Bon. Thank you, mayor. Good evening, everyone. My name is Jason Selnic. I'm
the chair of the Health and Human Services Committee. Within that bucket, there's a couple items we just want to talk about tonight. Uh first up is I wanted to thank the Burough's Commission on Universal Access and the Human Relations Commission were Manning Gables at the Spring Street Fair on Sunday. Uh I unfortunately had a scheduling
conflict. is only able to be there for the last half hour or so, but I heard that both commissions were able to engage with a lot of residents um and educate them on the important work that they do. And a special thank you to them for sticking it out through the rain. Um next, there's one item on the agenda that I want to highlight, a favorite
topic of mine, uh getting a new shuttle bus. Uh so tonight, we are hearing a another resolution authorizing a grant agreement with the state department of environmental protection for the purchase of set shuttle bus. This is an important next step to getting those muchneeded shuttle bus. So, I just
wanted to encourage my council to support this resolution. We know plenty of our seniors and other residents are anxiously awaiting the return of a shuttle bus to town and hopefully we'll soon be able to purchase it and get back to providing our usual full range of transportation services to our residents. I also wanted to talk briefly
about our upcoming food distributions for the month. Um, Highland Park gives a hoot will be providing free groceries every Tuesday and Wednesday this month from 10:00 a.m. to 11 11:00 a.m. um at the zone 16 center sector at 600 Benner Street. Um, and Highland Park Food
Pantry will also be distributing free groceries on the second and four Thursdays of the month, which is May 8th and 22nd from 9:00 a.m. to 10:40 a.m. in the morning and 6 pm to 7 p.m. in the evening. Um, and then also on the Saturdays of of those same weeks, which
would be May 10th to the 24th from 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. at the Highland Park Community Center, 220 South 6th Avenue. Um, there's a board of health meeting this Thursday at 7 p.m. That'll be um on Zoom if anyone is interested in attending. Uh, the link will be
available on the calendar on the HP BO website. Uh, and lastly, I just wanted to wish a very happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there. Thank you. Thank you. And that was my report for tonight. Thank you, Council Member Vargas.
Thank you, Mayor. Um, hello everybody. My name is Mai Vargas and I serve as a council lean for arts and recreation. So, I have a couple of updates. Um, the arts commission officially launched its learn and create workshop series last week with a fantastic start. The topic was unleash
your inner poet. Um, and it was very well attended and an inspiring event. A special thanks to commission member Ariana Assuni for leading the program and to all the commission members who helped plan the sign um the promotional materials and spread the word. Their next workshop is called simple and
stylish beginner jewelry make making will take place on Monday May 27th at 7 p.m. at the Highland Park Library. Please look for details on the arts commission social media as well as the B community calendar. The commission's
next monthly meeting is scheduled for this Thursday at 6 PM at the Highland Park Library. As always, all board commission and committee meetings are open to the publics and we welcome community input, participation, and support. On the community center recreation department side, they had an
exciting opening day for UT ball and spring NF NL flag football on April 23rd. participation is at an all-time high and their flag football program is currently weight listed across all divisions due to high demand. Um the
HPYTC spring youth theater program concludes this week with performances of High School Musical Junior at the high school at the Highland Park High School Auditorium. Performances will take place on Thursday, May 8th at 6:30 p.m. Um, and Sunday, May 11th at 3 PM. Admission
is free with a suggested donation of $5. We have some upcoming special events in the community center. For May, there will be the Mother's Day lunchon on Tuesday, May 13th at 12:00 p.m. It's going to be entertainment by Alexander Bologn, which is Italian music. So, that
should be fun. Um, in June they will have the senior prom, Dancing Under the Stars, will take place on June 13th between 4 and 7 PM and they will have a DJ. Please contact the community center for more information on any of these events or questions about their
services. Their number is 7328190052. And of course, I'll keep reminding everybody to save the date for fireworks in the park, which is Thursday, July 3rd at 6 PM. And I think I skip the uh memorial day parade that's coming up um as well that will take
place I believe starting at the double um statue. Um so anyways do reserve the date for fireworks in the park and there will be an Atlantic City trip um that that the community center is organizing that will take place on July
15th. And of course the parks stop summer concert series is coming up on se Thursdays in July and in August at the park. The details will be coming soon, so stay tuned for that. And that, as usual, will be posted on the social media handle page. I also want to extend
sincere thanks to the community center team and the main street park for coordinating the 5K race and the Spring Street Fair. Despite during the event was vibrant and full of energy, it was really a joy to walk down Rean Avenue and see the range of vendors, taste foods um from around the world, and
connect with friends and neighbors. I'm already looking forward to Arts and Park um festival later this year. Also want to take a moment to highlight the incredible volunteers who make these events possible. Main Street Highland Park, for example, is led by volunteer board just
like many of our other boards and commissions and committees. These individuals found jobs, family, personal challenges, and yet they still find time to give back. Their work often goes unseen, but it is deeply appreciated and I want to thank them for their continued service to the community. Last week,
something really stood out to me at the spring career. The diversity of vendors from children to seniors, people of different races, religions, and backgrounds. Everyone was represented. Um, it was a beautiful reflection of who we are. So, let's be clear. Diversity is
not something to be feared. Diversity is strength. The earth is diverse. Humanity is diverse. Our community should reflect that too. We should champion diversity and embrace it, welcome it and celebrate it because the community that makes space for everyone is the community that
thrives. That's my report tonight. Thank you, Council Member. I agree. Uh my name is Matthew Hirs. I am chair of the public works and public utilities committee. Good evening everybody. Uh just a few announcements. Um the uh New
Jersey Department of Transportation has announced its uh fiscal year 2025 local transportation fund projects and that includes um uh awarding the bureau more than $600,000 for improvements to South 7th Avenue, South 11th Avenue and Lawrence Avenue. Uh the transportation
fund is this is this is that gas tax that you hear about. Uh it gets deposited into the state transportation fund and is allocated through an application process. So, thank you Terry and your team uh for making sure that we're on top of that and we continue our road reconstruction projects um slowly
and deliberately. Um and so the plan for work is as follows. South 7th Avenue from Eden Avenue to Donaldson Street. South 11th Avenue from your Woodward Avenue to Aurora Street. Aurora Street is the best name for street park by the
way. Uh Lawrence Avenue from Harrison Avenue to Lincoln Avenue. Uh the timelines and and and And when that construction will take place, uh we'll be uh the public will be notified and certainly residents will be as well. But keep a lookout for that as uh the summer
and fall progress. Uh our um the uh the intersections and and just related the intersections of Lincoln Avenue and Lawrence Avenue, South 7th Avenue and Donaldson Street and Eden Avenue are part of the 2018 Save Roost School project. Uh you'll recall that this was
a grant that the burough received from DOT uh back in 2018 uh to improve our crosswalks and um and intersections uh for more pedestrian mobility. Uh and this would include a curb ramp improvements at the intersection of
Lincoln Avenue and Lawrence Avenue. Uh um using the design provided by NV5 Inc. Uh which some of you may recall was safe to school consultant. Uh next up uh uh bulk pickup is underway. Uh so the uh
Department of Public Works uh is is collecting bulk bulk waste collection uh uh through May, June, and then into September and October with the summer off. Uh pickups are scheduled on Wednesdays during these months, but you have to make an appointment. Uh please
call public works at 732-2247-9379 uh during business hours uh to make an appointment. Uh I have a fairly large hall uh removed. So thank you uh to uh to to our public works team for uh sure that you know we're able to do
do that spring cleaning. Uh in um in September there will be additional pickups scheduled uh in correlation with the town garage sale. Uh and those dates will be announced where you will not need a uh an appointment in September. Uh each household may request up to two
collections per year. Um, and I'm sorry, I do have the I do have the dates. The week after the townwide garage sale, Tuesday, September 17th through Thursday, September 19th, there will be bulk pick up with no appointment necessary. However, recycling will not be collected during
the week of September 16th through September 20th. Uh, materials may be placed curbside no sooner than 1 hour before sundown of the day prior to the scheduled pickup. Materials not properly secured or bundled and unacceptable items. And please refer to uh the list available www.h
hb.com the unacceptable items will not be collected. Uh materials put out for collection without a scheduled appointment or on the wrong date also will not be collected. So pick up the phone, make that call. It's really easy and um uh and DP will come out and we
will be thankful for that word. Uh the environmental commission will meet tomorrow, May 7 at 8:00 PM on Zoom. Please go to www.hpro.com for the link to the Zoom meeting. Uh the shade tree advisory committee uh will hold its regular meeting uh next uh it regular monthly
meeting next Wednesday May 14 at 7:30m and please go to www.hpb for uh.com for the link to that meeting. I want to give a special shout out to the shade tree advisory committee um Terry Hob and your team for uh
shephering through the spring 2025 tree planting uh schedule. Uh you may have seen that we have a hundred new trees out there lining burough streets and there is always more and there's always room for more trees. Uh and so we look forward to to to to further plantings uh
you know into the fall and as we make an additional tree planting cycles. Um you can fill out a tree request tree planting request form that is also available at www.hpb.com. Uh if you have a missing gap on your street uh you can uh you can
submit a form and the next the next round of plantings we'll make sure that a tree gets out there. So why plant a tree? I do want to get into this because it was Earth Day on the on the on April 22nd and it happens we celebrate Earth Day on the 4th. May the fourth be with you by the way. Uh so trees help
conserve energy by blocking winter winds and shading the summer sun. They reduce noise pollution by absorbing sounds. Trees filter and cleanse our water. On average, trees add from five to 6% of the value of a to the value of a house. A large shade tree can produce enough
oxygen for 10 people each year. Trees make the world cooler by reducing the urban heat island effect. They control soil erosion. They enhance the appearance of our streets. They clean the air by absorbing carbon dioxide and harmful pollutants. And obviously there
are a million other ways that we enjoy trees and we appreciate them. Uh and that's why we make these investments uh every year. Uh so on Earth Day uh I do also want to give a special shout out to Sustainable Highland Park uh under the
leadership of Rosie Lorenzo and the past chair Tina Tina Weiss House and their team uh for putting together an incredible Earth Day uh celebration at excuse me Sunday. Um, prior to that, uh,
a many thanks to, uh, to to the subcommittee of Sustainable Island Park for the eight amazing volunteers who removed nearly 20 pounds of of of litter from Raran Avenue, North Third, and and five rain gardens on South Third, fourth, and fifth. And this was done
just in time for for the street and and Earth for the street fair and the Earth Day Fest. Uh, so please thanks to everyone who pitched in to make our streets shine. You know, it's funny. I'm here on the council. what we can do or what I consider our our work to do is really be an advocate for boards and commissions to make sure that they have
the resources, the guidance and the direction that they need to achieve their goals. And I'm fortunate enough to to to to represent um boards and commissions that are so energized, so organized and are so involved in just the betterment of the burrow. Uh we are
really really really lucky to have folks uh who step up and put in those volunteer hours. Um the urgency of environmentalism is not is is is uh you know is not is not missed by I think by I think by any of us. Um from the melting of polar ice caps to the
formation of contin of continents of plastic waste in the oceans from major fires ravaging the largest forests and the increasing number of extreme weather events. From the degradation of air and water quality with direct impacts on the health of entire sections of the population to the daily disappearance of
animal and plant species. environmentalism and environmental stewardship has never been more important. And I think, you know, when we have volunteers who who are approaching the burrow specifically to get involved more involved in environmental stewardship and environmentalism, it really speaks
volumes about, you know, the zeitgeist and where people's hearts are right now and where people want to target their their urgency. You know, from, you know, we're we're unfortunately we don't have a friend at the federal level right now. um you know the EPA uh and one of the
reasons why the gubanatorial election coming up is so so important is that we need people who can who can who can represent good environmental stewardship. So thank you to our local volunteers. All that all that activity and action starts at home and u um we
are lucky that uh uh we have some amazing volunteers who call park home. That's my report. Thank you. Thank you. Um, now we're going to move on to um, our administrator's report. I'll get
that for administrative report. You want me to go next? Yeah. Okay. Uh, thank you, Mayor. Uh Terry Hova, our administrator. Just a couple items on the that I'd like to mention that are on the agenda tonight. We have of course are hopefully adopting our budget. Uh
that's a important task that we have before us as well as the main street park budget. Um and I do want to take this opportunity to thank our CFO and Nora Champion and our auditor Jerry Stanquist who are here tonight um rooting for adoption
uh and um all the hard work that was put into getting us to this point. and I thank you for your consideration of the budget in a few moments. And there's also a bond ordinance on for introduction that I just thought I'd mention. It's for $1.5 million. Uh that's pretty much what a new water man
on Woodbridge Avenue is going to cost. It's a portion of Woodbridge Avenue. Um I'm we were able to marry the replacement of the water man to the road project that's forthcoming from Middle Sex County. Uh so at least we're saving on roadway restoration, but uh I hear
that the project's finally getting off the ground with the county. So we need to have the funds to pay for our share of the work, which uh a large part of it is the uh water main. So I appreciate your um consideration for that item on the agenda. Um that's all I have. Thank
you, mayor. Ready? Oh, yes. Thank you. And I one slightly disappointing item. There was uh item number uh 11A which Jen pointed out maybe a cursed item because that seems to be ones we have to table. Uh we have to table unfortunately
or it's advisable I believe to table um the film ready ordinance that we have prepared for introduction. We got some feedback from the film ready commission uh that they have some new best practices that they're asking towns to incorporate. So rather than adopt and
amend it makes sense to take a pause. are going to give us those comments and I'm hoping it'll be on in on the next meeting uh for your consideration. Nothing I don't even have details on what they are uh but this is their attempt at having some consistency across the municipalities. Um and we
want to get our film ready certification. So they're basically indicating we have to require that. So, um I would advise us to table that for now and bring it back when we have the additional uh feedback from the commission uh incorporated into the
draft. Thank you. Uh council presidents. Thank you, mayor. My name is Stephen Shan and I am the chair of finance. Last month, the rent control board uh convened to finalize their
recommendations to council regarding um uh exemptions and CPI calculation, vacancy, deontrol and more. And tonight also like the uh Terry had mentioned um on the agenda is the adoption of the
budget. Um, I want to express my gratitude to the entire staff as well that's here and council as well for their hard work, especially in light of recent grant and funding cuts. Um, I appreciate your your
understanding. We we currently have an uh opening for a part-time tax assessment clerk. If you are interested, please apply on our burough website. I also want to wish Kathy Davis well as she retires at the end of this month.
So, thank you Kathy and happy AAPI month in celebration of Asian-American and Pacific Islanders Heritage Month. This year's theme is a legacy of leadership and resilience. I want I would like to
express my gratitude to my fellow AAPI community members for your contributions. Your voices and experiences are invaluable to our Highland Park community. Lastly, I want to wish a
happy Mother's Day to all the moms celebrating this weekend. Enjoy yourselves. You deserve it. Um, I for one will be treating myself to a platinum hydro facial at the Park Med
Spa courtesy Yeah. here in High Park. Courtesy of my husband. This is my second Mother's Day and I can't wait to celebrate. So, I look forward to that. I've been wanting to go there for a while. And that's my report. Wonderful. Great.
Attorney's report. Thank you, mayor. Um, would you like me to go over the public participation? Yes, sure. Sure. Good evening everybody. My name is Aaron Reon. I am an attorney with Reon Cofflinello. I just want to take a few minutes and kind of give a refresher as
to what the public participation is. For those of you who have already been here, you're you're aware of it. For those who are participating for the first time, it's just a good piece of information. Uh, the public is able to speak at these meetings on two different occasions here. Uh, the first one is is part 10. Uh that affords everyone three minutes
to discuss any item on the agenda. Uh at the end of the agenda, you'll notice a second public participation that gives the public an additional three minutes to speak on any topic that they want. Um for those three minutes, the time is yours depending on, you know, if it's an agenda or not. Uh they're not back in
force for the purpose of efficiency and to to allow everyone an opportunity to speak. Um what we do is we encourage everyone to speak for their three minutes. They'll sit down. Uh the council will take all of the questions and comments under advisement. Uh and upon conclusion of the public portion uh
we'll respond to uh the comments as necessary. Um it's it's a fairly straightforward process and it's it's really designed to ensure that everyone has an opportunity to speak to have their opinions heard uh and then to move on and allow another participant to uh be a part of the same opportunity. So I hope that that clarifies um the public
participation. Mayor, if you have any other questions, I'm happy to answer them, but I think we're good. Thank you. Appreciate that. Um, my report is brief. I joined a group called the Mayor's Alliance of the Mayor's Alliance of the US. And um, sadly to say, I'm only one
of five me mayors in the state of New Jersey that joined the alliance. And the alliance has 57 members. And it the it's there to make sure that no kids go to bed hungry. And it's it's a champion for
we're championing no hunger for kids as we see that some of the programs such as free and reduced lunch may be impacted or maybe cut snack may be cut. So there is a a movement that we we must all work
and collectively to make sure that no kid goes to bed hungry. We have seen here in Highland Park that our food pantry and give a hoot that delivers food. Um I think food pantry is on Thursday, food is on Tuesday and we have
seen a huge uptick. I was surprised on Tuesday morning I was driving by to see that the lines for food was wrapped around the building. So we are having a serious food uh crisis and I want to make sure that children especially in Highland Park and across the United
States don't go to bed hungry. So that's why I became a member of this food alliance and um happy to say that one of the person's champion this is our racial race she has a cooking show and she is very much aligned with making sure that we can provide food for the most
vulnerable amongst us. So there is going to be a number of dates and a lot of opportunities that I will be sharing where people can sign up to support this alliance to especially um to write letters saying that if you do support that SNAP programs and u free reduced
lunch program for school kids should not be cut. So I will keep you posted as we move along. And um another thing I want to say that part partners grant is coming up real soon. The deadline is May 13th at 100
p.m. If you're interested in receiving uh the grant this year, please reach out to Harry Glazer and you can go on the website and get his information or just call in and get information or go on the website and fill the application out for the fire partners grant. And I did not
want to interrupt my colleague when he was speaking, but I thought about it afterwards and I thought about uh council member as you you talked about um DPW called DPW for people who have garbage.
I thought about the students that are that are at with us temporarily and they're going to be leaving because there's a graduation coming up and oftent times people just discard mattresses and what have you on our sidewalks. So, um I think it's really important that we can notify if we can
notify as many persons as possible say please call DPW. They'll come and haul that stuff away. We don't want to see mattresses and furniture discarded on our sidewalk. It makes our town look unsightly. So if you can work with us and just call the number for DPW then that would be
awesome. And I also want to thank all the members of all the departments in in this world from police, fire, first aid, OEM, cert um team, the members of the community
center. They all came out this weekend to make the street fair again a wonderful success and we couldn't have done it without the the teams of volunteers and everyone else to make this happen. One interesting thing that was at the street fair it is this u this
year it was called the HPDEI cookie and one of the questions was asked what do you think of the HBDI cookie you had to say something about it and I said in in Highland Park our diversity and inclusion is what you see on the street there um council member Vargas spoke
about it she talked about the diversity of people and how we all got along we celebrated we had fun and that's what makes us special here in high park because we and support all our diversity in food, culture, people, and everything else. So, that was awesome. And last but
not least, I want to wish everyone a happy American Pacific Islander Month. And that's my report. Uh, Council Member, thank you very much, Madam Mayor, and I do apologize for being late. Um, little
family issues of transportation. So, I do apologize to everybody. Um, I'm I'm sure it's been said, but I'll just reiterate um uh uh by what I'm I'm assuming my colleagues and mayor have said about the street fair. It was a tremendous um uh success. The rain held
out. Um it's funny that you mentioned diversity because I'll show you how. Oh, I'll tell you what I wrote. Around 11:15 on the morning of the street fair, I got a text from my uncle Richard who said that this was the best street fair ever. and I responded why why is this the best
street fair ever and he texted back variety and so I just wanted to show that even there um diversity is really important to to Highland Park so I thought that was a fun story we really did have a great bunch of vendors this time around um and I just wanted to
specifically thank and uh Rebecca Hirsh and Main Street for the street fair park um but then also Kim McGra and her team um who really took a step up in their involvement with the 5K this year um So it was a a great partnership I think between Main Street and everybody else.
Um uh so uh thank you for that. Um uh I also as many people have heard um there's been numerous uh reports that Wraid is closing um uh at the locations not just the one in in in common park but all their locations. Um we had
always hoped and often were told that Wraid um was likely safe because it also had a liquor license. Um but according to these news reports after filing a second bankruptcy proceeding um it's likely that most of the right aids um all of the right aids are going to close. Um I want to assure everyone that
the bro is ready and and willing and able to do everything we can to figure out what happens next. Um we've been in contact with the folks at Wraid um and we're going to continue to do that. Um obviously it's going to take some time to fully sort this out. um corporate restructuring is is no easy business,
but um Highland Park is is willing, ready, and able to do whatever we can to make sure that there's a um a great tenant in that in that facility wherever it might be. Um I also wanted to to mention just two quick agenda items um that are on tonight in addition to the
budget. Um one is the film licensing ordinance. Um this is the state of New Jersey um has been moving very very aggressively uh towards um uh uh craving it's my apologies that's
we support it. We're very excited for next time. Thank you very much. Thank you Norma. I appreciate um uh Okay. Well, how about this one? Uh we are also as I said last week we hired Arterial which is a landscape
design firm um to help us work uh on the on the third street third avenue plaza. Um it's a a great opportunity um to work with a great company um to build a great space. So, I wanted to to mention that um I I know generally that we we stay
away from elections and politics. Um but there are uh elections coming up um June 2nd primary. And I just wanted to mention real quick that um this is one of the first times ever that there have been competitive races on both the Democrat and Republican sides. And so I wanted to point out and highlight to
people that there are debates coming up between the the candidates um on both sides. On the Republican side, um there's a debate on on May 7th, which is right around the corner. Um and another one on May 20th, so check your local listings for that. For the Democrats,
it's May 12th and May 18th. Um so four debates in one month. It's a great opportunity to see the various candidates and what they stand for. So please, in addition to going out and voting on June 10th, please make sure you go out and learn about all the candidates. And then lastly, uh I also
wanted to to mention um that May is um also Jewish Heritage Month. Uh the month is uh designed to celebrate the numerous ways in which Jewish Americans have contributed to the development of this country since uh we first got here in 1654. Um that the the date of May was
chosen as an anniversary by President George Bush in 2006, about the 350th anniversary of the arrival of of Jews to American shores. With the un enormous and unprecedented rise in anti-semitism both locally, nationally, and internationally, I think it's really
important to recognize and remember all the tremendous accomplishments made by Jewish Americans to our community, our country, and our world. Um, so please also join me in addition to AAPI, which Jewish Heritage Month. Um, so, uh, let's celebrate that as well. Thank you very much, Madame Mayor, and again, I
apologize for being Thank you. Uh, now it's time for public participation. 21 minutes total, three minutes per speaker, limited to items on the agenda. Comments from members of the public attending in person will be heard first, followed by those members
attending via Zoom. And anyone on Zoom, Terry? We have five uh attendees on Zoom, but no. Okay, seeing there's none, may I have a motion to close public participation? Second. Roll call. Council member
George, yes. Council member Hail, yes. Council member Hirs, yes. Council President Kentel, yes. Council member Piston, yes. Council member Vargas, yes. Okay. Ordinance require requiring a first reading. Next we um 11 A. 11 A has been tabled.
So, um, next we have 11. Ordinance number 25-2. [Music] Oh, may I have a motion to table ordinance number 11A? 25-2213. Second. Okay. Roll call. Council member
George. Yes. Council member Hail. Absolutely. Council member Hir. Yes. Yes. Council President Kim Chan. Yes. Council member Stunning. Yes. Council member Vardis. Yes.
Cler, please report an introduction of ordinance number 25-2114. Fond ordinance providing for various water and sewer improvements appropriating 1.5 million thereof. Therefore, from the water and sewer utility and authorizing the issuance of
1,500,000 bonds or notes to finance cost thereof by the finance committee for consideration of passage on first reading by title. May I have a motion to adopt or reject 25-21-4? Motion to adopt. Second roll call.
Council member George. Yes. Council member Hail. Yes. Council member Hirs. Yes. Council President Khan. Yes. Council member Pisci. Yes. Council member Vargas. Yes. Now we have resolution requiring a separate reading. Um, may I have a motion to adopt or
reject resolution 5-25-1-125 authorizing the reading of the budget by title only? Second roll call. Council member George. Yes. Council member H. Yes. Council member Herd. Yes. Council President Kim
Johan. Yes. Council member. Yes. Council member Hardy. Yes. Public hearing on the municipal budget. May I have a motion to open up public hearing on the 2025 municipal budget? So public
hearing anyone on Zoom? No. I see six attendees now with no hand. Okay. May I have a motion to um to close? See see there just now. May I have a motion to close public hearing on the 2025 municipal budget? So moved.
Second. Roll call. Council member. Yes. Council member Hail. Yes. Council member Hirs. Yes. And thank you very much for the finance team. Council President Kim Choan. Yes. Council member Stone. Yes. Council member Vargas. Yes. May I have a
motion to adopt or reject resolution 25-25-126 adoption of the 2025 municipal budget. So move second. Roll call. Council member George. This was a tough budget year, but it was excellent work by everybody, our professionals. Thank you
very much. our burough administrative hardwork council members we lay weighing in each of their in their own particular areas and we managed to pull off a budget and still provide the services to our boards and clinicians and to our
residents and I proudly vote yes. Council member Hail, yes. Council member Hirs, I just wanted to concur with with Councilman George uh that this was a this a tough budget year all around. Uh and I think what you see here is a lot of hard work and now thanks to the
finance team and the admin team uh really appreciate everybody's hard work and you'll notice that you know our boards and commissions you know are are going to be funded to have the ability to do the program that they want to do. Uh we did have to be lean you know we had some plans for for
public works for example in my bucket to to to for our capacity. That's going to have to wait. Um, but we are going to maintain the same level of the same level of service. Uh, and just really appreciate everybody's work. Yes, Council President.
Uh, yes. And I just like to echo all of my colleagues and everyone's um comments as well. Yes, Council Member Christic. Thank you, Finstein. Yes, Council Member Vargas. Yes. May I have a motion to adopt or
reject resolution 5-25-127 authorizing the reading of Main Street Island Park budget by title only. So move second roll. Council member George. Yes.
Council member Hail. Yes. And all of the things that were said about the municipal budget, we said the same thing about the main street budget. So thank you very much to everybody who worked really hard on it. Again, a tough budget year, but um a good budget. Council member Herd, yes. Council
President Ken, yes. Council member Pistani, yes. Council member Vargas, yes. Public hearing on Main Street, Main Street Highland Park budget. May I motion to open public hearing on the 2025 Main Street Highland
Park budget? So move. Second. Anyone else? Same six. No hands up. Okay. Seeing that, may I have a motion to close public hearing on the 2025 Main Street Highland Park budget. So move.
Second. Call. Council member George. Yes. Council member H. Yes. Council member Hers. Yes. Council President Kan. Yes. Council member Panic. Yes. Council member Vargas. Yes. May I have a motion to adopt or reject
resolution 5-25-128, adoption of the 2025 Main Street Highland Park budget? So move. Second. Roll call. Council member George. Yes. Council member Hill. Yes. Council member Hir.
Council President Kin Johan. Yes. Council member Bistani. Yes. Council member Barts. Yes. May I have a motion to adopt or reject resolution 25-129 authorizing self-examination of municipal budget accordance with
[Music] NJSA484-78B and NJC 5-30 530-7 move second council member George yes council member
Yes. Council member Hir. Yes. Council President Kinchan. Yes. Council member Panic. Yes. Council member. Yes. And now we move to the consent agenda. May I ask any members of the council if there's anything that they
would like to pull from the consent agenda before we vote? Anything to be separated out? No. Okay. May I have a motion to adopt or reject the following consent agenda items 13A
through 13K second roll. Council member Borch. Yes. Council member Hail. Yes. Council member Hirs. Yes. And especially 13H. Yes. Council President.
Yes. Council member Ponic. Yeah. I'd like to say something on this. So, it's not about the shuttle bus, but I just wanted to say that I'm very very much looking forward to uh the renewing with arterial looking forward to moving forward the South Third Avenue Plaza. Um I've been nagging um staff and
colleagues about making this happen faster and faster. So, I'm very happy to see this before and I look forward to nagging arterial guest. I just note that for the record that Councilman Pelvic is being very gracious, but this shuttle bus is going to be electric.
Council member will find space for council member Vargas. Yes. Now we move on to appointments. Mayor Teen Advisory Committee. Joan Lindsay, Raymond Rodriguez III, Naria Roach,
Jaylen Roach, Reena Dubass, Joan Cutler, Zion Cutler, Jaylen Flores, Lily Bulock, Gabrielle Vasquez.
May I have a motion to second? Council member George. Yes. Welcome. Council member Hail. Yes. Council member Hirs. Yes. And thank you to the uh departing class. Council President Koha. Yes. Council member Poni. Yes. Thank you
to the welcome class. Council member. Yes. Now it's time for the second public participation. Three minutes for speaker on any topic. subject to conclude by 9:00 p.m. Comments from members of the public attending in person will be heard
first, followed by those who are attending on Zoom. Uh, anyone raising their hands, Terry? No, Mary. Okay, see, sorry, someone just raised. They just needed a second. Uh,
it looks like Tanishka, apologize for the pronunciation. If you could just state your name for the record, please. [Music] not able to hear you. Make sure it's not the volume on the TV.
It was okay. Um, hello. Ah, now we hear you. Yes. Hi. Okay. So, may I say your name, please? I'm Seshka Pazipati.
Okay. Yeah. Continue. In 2023, Montana passed an aggressive anti-climate law which forbade agencies from considering the climate when deciding whether to give permits for major projects like new power plants. But Montana youth sued the
state, arguing that the law violated their constitutional right to a clean and healthful environment. A court ruled in their favor, declaring the law unconstitutional, and the Montana Supreme Court upheld this decision in 2024. Now, why were the youth able to
bring this lawsuit? Because Montana has a green amendment in their constitution. Hi, I'm Tanishka and I'm a freshman at JP Stevens in Edison and I'm here to ask you the Holland Park Brow Council to pass a resolution to pass a resolution
endorsing Assembly Bill ACR 1119 and Senate Bill ACR43 nicknamed the New Jersey Green Amendment. I have emailed you a fact sheet with links to resolutions passed by and Princeton and other towns that you can use as a model for your
resolution. The proposed New Jersey Green Amendment reads, "Every person has a right to a clean and a healthy environment, including pure water, clean air, a safe climate, ecologically healthy habitats,
and to the preservation of the natural and the scenic qualities of the environment. The state shall not infringe upon these rights. The state's natural resources among them its water, air, flora, fauna, climate, and public lands are the common property of all the
people, including both present and future generations. The shade shall serve as a trustee of these resources and shall conserve and maintain them for the benefit of all people. Now, I know there are environmental regulations out there, but this amendment offers
protection at the highest level, the state constitution. Rules and regulations can be easily rolled back or not enforced. And this is what is happening now with the federal government, which is actively dismantling environmental protections that took decades to establish. We need
this constitutional amendment to ensure that decisions made at the state level prioritize the environment no matter who gets elected. If this gets on the ballot and is passed, New Jersey will be a role model for other states who want to protect their environment. New York
passed a green amendment into their Yes. continue. You got 30 seconds. Continue. Okay. Over 70% of what is supporting it. We are the generation that is growing up with wildfires and floods in our headlines. We are the generation that
learns about climate disasters in classrooms. But so many people are denying it is happening. Show us that you will take bold action now while you have a chance to act. Please care about the future of youth, of wildlife, and of future generations and endorse the green
amendment. Thank you. And I I will share that information. You sent it to me earlier. I will share with my council colleague and then we'll discuss it. Okay. I'm sorry. I already took her off. Okay.
We'll share that information. All righty. You want to respond to her? Yeah. I think we wanted to share the information with everyone and and have everyone have a chance to look at the material. Then we should discuss.
Oh, you all did? Yeah. Okay. Yes. You have a comment? I'm sorry. I just But we earlier we talked about the public portion and and allowing everyone the time and then the conclus responses and some not. That's that was my only two cents in. I
appreciate that. Thank you. Uh anyone else? Anyone else on Zoom? No other hands raised. See that there's none. May I have a motion to close public
participation? So move back. Roll call. Council member George. Yes. Council member Hail. Yes. Council member Hirs. Yes. Council President Kohhan. Yes. Council member Piston. Yes. Council member Vargas. Yes. And now I have two colleagues that wishes to say something
in regards to this. Council member. Thank you, Mayor. Uh just very quickly, I just want to thank Tamishka for for speaking. We spoke at the Earth Day Fair on Sunday. Uh so really appreciate your advocacy. Uh and as you know, this is something that's that our uh sustainable highland park and environmental
commission are supporting. Uh so we do look forward to uh this going up through the ranks and uh eventually you know council sign up. Uh but uh so we appreciate uh the advocacy and uh
keep thank you. Council member H would you have a comment as well? Sorry m only comment was is that um shared it with the entire council. I believe she's go just to let you know that she had shared it with everybody already. Okay. Thank you council council
person. Um I didn't have a response but I had forgot that it is teacher appreciation week and no one have mentioned it here and it's also nurses appreciation week. I I totally forgot and I've been working with it. I did
want to really share my appreciation for the teachers and also for the nurses uh uh during co nurse appreciation we was through the roof. We all appreciated our nurses. So we haven't forgot about you. So we really do appreciate you. Thank
you ma'am. Thank you. Um then the next thing we have is executive session. And um we're going to move into executive s session be u may I have a motion no executive session which is 165-25-141 resolution authorizing
executive session it's litigation JSM versus Highland Park. May I have a motion to adopt resolution 5-25-141 authorizing executive session litigation. So move second. Roll call.
Council member George. Yes. Council member Hail. Yes. Council member Hirsh. Yes. Council President Kim Johan. Yes. Council member Pisci. Yes. Council member Vargas. Yes. May I have a motion to adjourn? So second.
Thank you all. Um everyone have a great Mother's Day weekend and be safe. Thank you.