##VIDEO ID:-M12oLYizeI## there still fire in yeah but who's with who I don't know well I see church people over here I don't yeah these are probably is your wife here with the church people she came but uh can I get a motion to reconvene motion second okay all those in favor signifi by saying I we are back in session wonderful okay um we have wow recognition of the Hillsdale football wow okay uh I'm going to defer to councilman klei here who uh is is the man if you would like to to take us off here sure thank thank you mayor uh so on on behalf of the mayor and Council like to welcome the residents and the Super Bowl champ Hawks tonight uh we know 2024 was a banner year for the organization both the Juniors and the peewees won their respective Super Bowls uh and it's just it it's a demonstration of the continued commitment that this Hawks organization has in town to teaching all of our kids a level of excellence and and a formula to win so we're appreciative appreciative to the whole organization for that uh so that type of Excellence we always talk about it starts at the top of the organization so that starts with the president Craig Cardell and the football Hawks Association officers they put in [Applause] they put in countless countless countless hours into running this organization uh at the at the uh Peewee level right the coaches work with third and fourth graders uh in an extremely tough environment right it's their responsibility to find that very delicate balance of fun safety and success so we commend the coaches for that thank you to the [Applause] coaches and and finally the parent because we all know that football is in an absolute enormous commitment so thank you to the parents now specifically this peee team went 10 and one and they won the Super Bowl 15- 14 and kind of to set the table uh for what happened in that Super Bowl the Finish could not have been more exciting or drama filled uh the team scored with only a few seconds left in the game and opted to go for the two-point conversion to win rather than onepoint to tie and and they scored and now we have the Super Bowl champ what was the I don't know the play but [Laughter] broken so at this time the mayor and Council would like to recognize the peeee football and cheerleader head coaches so we'll call your name and if you could please come up and and and and meet the mayor we'd appreciate it so head coach Zach Rafel and cheer coach Danielle McNair [Laughter] [Applause] [Music] never thank you something you like to say you got the FL please just use the microphone yeah sure there you go it's all you all right good evening everyone I guess the one thing I want to say you know we all know the story and if you didn't you heard it there these are eight and niney olds that put in it's about eight and a half hours a week of practice for about 30 minutes a game and they are just dedicated they love the sport they love their teammates and it's really an honor to coach them but to see what happened in the last minute there it wasn't uh on accident it was on purpose because of the hours and hours that all those guys back there put in they're young I mean some started probably 7 years old when they first the season started and uh it just shows Boys on me right that hard work is what's needed to succeed in life right and so it's all the hard work you guys put in for the last two minutes of the season to make it all happen and it's a Memory I hope you guys never forget because us parents I'm still hearing about it okay we will never forget it I hope you guys do too so we're really really proud of you guys all right thank you [Applause] stranger speak yes um good evening everyone uh my name is Craig Cardell the president um I just would like to say I was here a few weeks ago and um I love it because that means it's a good thing uh I just want again just Mr Mayor and the rest of the council thank you very much and the rest of the town the DPW we get such amazing support and you know what it really without that we we don't have anything so again thank you very much for having us here two times I know it's a little difficult a little crazy but it is it is greatly appreciated thank [Applause] you mayor should we invite them up for the picture you want come picture yeah come come up have them stand so many of them well let them go just stand way let's get [Applause] the son years [Applause] [Music] ago stand here yeah we'll stand here we'll take your spot you can't see us anyway they taller than [Music] me yeah can't even see us anyway know oh we can see us it's okay there's people back there there you are we're here the camera's coming down not straight there's of you number [Applause] [Music] you're thank you thank you good luck'll here maybe I but but there's a few of them this is just like 8 N grade there's Junior PE what are these are these Juniors what were n these are they like 9 years old so what I want to know is why why is everyone sending blowing you kisses because I know all of them okay no one's one of them I've known having fun there there're my sons they're and now the room is emptying out parking park somewhere whatever [Music] and I do it now or I wait until commentary they're going to speak at the end well cuz it's not on top e e have you paused the recording or you didn't no okay yeah let's see what we can do with that look out Boba there a lot of people out there still or they're pretty much gone okay well unfortunately that's it's the kind of the way it goes that was the fun part of the evening I suppose right yeah here we go okay uh let's let's resume do you have the microphones back on and we're we're good to go yes okay um we are going to do these uh one at a time real quickly the council minutes uh this is for the approval of the minutes Council minutes from January 7th can I get a motion motion second all those in favor signify by saying I I passes Council minutes for January 14th 2025 can I get a motion motion second second all those in favor signify by saying I I thank you motion passes close council meeting minutes from January 14 2025 motion motion second second all those in favor signify by saying I I and that passes as well we are now at the initial public comment portion of the evening time limited to 3 minutes items on the agenda only one topic per speaker please state your name and town of residents for the record would anybody like to speak on the agenda tonight would you are that's going to be it's not on the I don't think it's on for was suppos to be today there it isn't on you're talking about the um the AFA yeah that's not on the agenda for today but we'll we'll take your comment afterwards okay okay thank you uh um no correspondence professional monthly report we come to callers hello Nick hello I will be very quick tonight we don't have um a whole lot going on just yet still early in the year um we're working on the 2025 Riverside Co-op right now that's going to be submitted at the end of this week so um we're going to be Paving a bunch of Roads under that um and then we also have the Memorial Field project which we are scheduled to present to the Council next week um we have a meeting with the residents this Thursday so that project is is moving along we have another revised concept plan which we submitted last week um you know and we're hoping to uh get that wrapped up and and move into a actual final design for that project I'm sure that can you just talk about the Centennial what we can expect over the next couple months sure so Centennial was put on hold um for the winter just because they pretty much got as far as they could get and then weather constraints and things like that um force them to to hold the project off until the spring so the the second that weather is good enough for them to start working again they're going to wrap up the drainage system which is mostly complete already but there's still a few things that need to be done and then they're going to be laying sod as soon as they start cutting sod and you know we have that resting period where the sod needs to take and after that we can get the field open so when you it does depend on weather a little bit you know it it depending on when it starts getting warm and when the saw starts getting cut usually we're looking at about four to six weeks after they lay sad at a minimum to get that to take before it's safe to play on um so we're hoping to be late spring is is probably the target but it it is it is weather dependent the may may time yeah around around Memorial Day I I I would say is like a pretty good idea I have I have a question so you've heard you've been with us now for a while on this topic and and last year you know that I was a proponent of trying to get more of a discussion going about the uh benef artificial versus natural what are the benefits what are the negatives um and we never got to that point it it never happened um there was a uh a presentation in November where also from on the financial side there was some criticism from the public and from me as well that you know we wanted to see something all in because I think the the public felt that the financial presentation of natural versus artificial it didn't do justice to the full 10-year cost or the the you know the full life what would it cost the burrow all right um so to to me you know you know now that we're on the verge of approving this or making a decision about it next week I think is the is the time frame would would you as as a professional representing cers be willing to say go on the record that there is no significant risk of going to artificial Turf and that there is no you know both from an environmental perspective and a safety to the children perspective I mean because that's I feel like I'd be willing to vote for the for the field for Memorial Field s's lights you know without the lights but I need comfort as a member of the governing body not having had the discussion about you know presentation about the environment the safety issues there's a lot of stuff out there on the way a lot of it is funded by manufacturers of artificial turf I look to you as my engineer to tell me it's okay all right so are you willing in the next week to because we're going to take this up next week and if not next week then I guess it's the week the February 11th and we're going I feel we're going in blind we got proponents of the field of Memorial an artificial turf but they're representing their interests I'm supposed to represent the interest of the entire Community people who pay and don't use the field people who feel significantly like you know our environmental commission and public members that came to the last Board of Health meeting that and the board of health started to say there may be environmental issues I'm not a I'm not an engineer I'm not a scientist I need to rely on you yeah and I hear what you're saying and I would actually I would say that the scope of a lot of these questions actually falls outside of engineering itself too so in terms of the environmental impact and safety there's there's studies that go both ways on that and like you said there's special interest groups funding some of them and other special interest funding others so it is it's hard to kind of decipher where the truth lies in a lot of these things uh I will say that we will have Carl here next week who is at kier's our expert on Turf projects he's done a ton of them he's done them all over Carl Carl I respect Carl because I met with him eight years seven eight years ago when we first talked about putting artificial turf on Centennial and he gave us he gave us an estimate but he also talked about the risk or the non-risk you know of artificial typ and what it would cost at that time the estimate on Centennial was like 2 million I think somewhere around this is a different field this is a different time time has taken his toll so I I just you know feel like I'm Flying Blind at this point yeah I I I think that that is that's a a good question to bring up next week when we're when we're talking about this in depth the Memorial Field project I'm not comfortable answering it this time definitively whether or not right you know it is environmentally safe or and that's why I'm bringing it up like at least seven eight days before because I wanted you to think about it and if you tell me if Carl comes back says I don't feel comfortable doing it okay I'll just keep that in the back of my registry understood yeah I'll I'll make Carl aware of that ahead of time so you know he he knows it's coming and we'll we'll see where that conversation goes thank you I just want to go on the record here for all that the councilman said well we're not doing lights we don't know that we don't know what the Dynamics of of what the proposal is going to be whether it's going to be lights or not lights I won't vote for lights I'm not I'm not suggesting one way or the other but I'm saying we have not been presented with the plan yet and to so to either include or exclude any of the components of it now is premature and and I've only reflected what I learned at the public portion of the rec so I don't no but I don't want your comments to be taken as that I'm revealing something that nobody on this I'm not saying you didn't but but all right enough said on the on the matter here other other other questions for go ahead question with regards to Memorial you provide a cost estimate order of magnitude yes yeah I'm sorry say again an order of magnitude estimate yes okay I mean that's something that you can do that's your that's your bread and butter that's your Warehouse yeah right so we're we're looking at other similar projects that we've done recently taking you know pricing for all the different components of this project and and kind of putting together a range right over the life like 10 years or 12 years life cycle cost you're talking I'm talking about a construction cost estimate but life cycle cost is something we can also provide I would I would want the life cycle cost because I I have to know that despite the people who want artificial TR because it gives them certain advantages and that's fine I get that but would it have been better from a financial perspective to stick with a natural Turf taking into account all the maintenance that it's required which artificial turf doesn't require correct if we could have those estimates a couple days prior so the CFO can run an analysis on like principal and interest payment over 8 10 12 years understood I've I've already provided a a rough estimate for for Mike so he has that number already okay okay is there any other questions for Nick mayor um before we switch to the next topic you have the authority uh to change the order of of the agenda if I can request to give the lady with a baby on on her shoulder in a few minutes she she she doesn't have to wait I don't want to go I for to wait until the end of the meeting with the baby unless your child to sit through this and sleep through it would you like to get up and and you know what my daughter actually wanted to like read something that's okay few minutes that's fine thank you thank you mayor sure children and pets that always always give me a tissue Bo um so hi my name is Rosa manasian at 15 over brook place we were here a month ago it's my daughter Michaela anian um big sister to Hope here so last time I was here I wanted to just give you a quick brief um I have three children all three with dis abilities Michaela here has epilepsy hope here has s of them cerebral paly she's legally blind um epilepsy a very rare form of it so we also have a the middle child um Ellie who's not here and she has ADHD it's tough and um we're just looking for some support I know you guys are working the play uh the fields and everything and I was hoping that a playground for all-inclusive or accessible playground for families like me all families sure this some could somehow be put into this project that you guys are working on in the agenda so my daughter here wrote something that she'd like to talk about that she would like to include in the playground wonderful to start off um I have two younger sisters come on up toward the microphone to start off I have two younger sisters one has ADHD and my other one with many disabilities I think this park should have a swing with um a wheelchair access another one like a twers swing so they both feel safe and finally the one person swing then in the playground there should be a mirror on the ceiling or the roof also there should be a contrast on the Wall Part there should be one slide with wheel chair AES another one that would fit two people and then the long one person on of the playground Ro there should be wheelchair access like a ramp there should also be Footprints so people like my sister hope can practice walking finally the ground should be rubbery so if kids fall they won't get they won't hurt themselves I also don't want anybody to fall because I broke my arm because the ground had wood chips so I believe we should have this Park thank you thank you now now you can you can certainly go home with that but you know you've made a lot of recommendations how you would you consider leaving it for us to go over you would okay thank you if you could give it to to the clerk here come on up yeah she truly really thought about like not only disabled children but children like herself and other families like to swing with two people it's wonderful to be so considerate of others as well I'm just hoping that we get the same support that you know thank you thank you thank you for coming by well done okay we're going to move on to committee reports and why don't we start we'll just go right down the top of the list with council president Doo uh the recommission uh had a meeting yesterday um um uh we went over the revision to the Memorial Field concept plan uh it was presented uh there'll be uh the concept will be presented to the Council on April 11th we discussed that April 11th sorry uh February 2025 okay uh some of the the key things that were were changed were there was additional parking added uh there was changing access so the primary entrance and uh and leaving of the park would be on hillsel Avenue you um there's a sitting area um there's a designated area for a playground uh which hopefully that we can get some funding for so we could address some of the things that we just brought up here um a meeting uh a meeting for the surrounding residents is scheduled for Thursday uh February 6th uh 2025 at 7M in uh the council chambers here um and again that's just not uh limited to those residents but if if public yeah if you want to make a comment you please come and join us then I know we espcially outreached to the residents surrounding there was a letter there was a an email or 200 foot radius descent yeah you no descent 49 houses they were mailed okay and and there there were some residents that may have been left out were just on the outskirts of that um but uh please if if even if you weren't invited formally please uh attend that meeting again February 6th in this uh in this room right here uh with regards to the the spring brochure it's going to be released on February 18th uh things to look for forward to on that are cooking classes stem classes and track and field you can find that on the Hillsdale Recreation website uh also want to make a point that the summer camp registration is going to be open on March 11th and March 12th uh you're going to have 10 days exclusively for Hillsdale residents then it's going to be opened up for uh Rivervale last year uh that camp was um filled rather quickly so I would suggest being on top of those dates um and also Dan K continues to research grants that are available to the buau matching grants uh Bergen County open space grants that'll help provide improvements to Beachwood field the park there as well as other designated playground areas that we have like mcspirit over there by the library um you know we next week on next week's agenda is going to be uh the review of The Police contract uh so we'll speak more about that next week um and that's it great okay thank you um Council M kti thank you um in terms of the fire environmental commission uh as we noted there are two seats currently available which we're interviewing candidates for there were seven candidates that had reached out with interest three were interviewed in January another three will be interviewed in in February's meet during February's meeting uh and one individual dropped out of the process so the EC's goal is to make the recommendation to the mayor by the end of of of February great okay there there will be one permanent member and uh and one alternate uh we are still waiting on the approvals for the Beachwood nature trail the first and the second Grant so I know the ba is working to to try to get updates on those and try to get those through so thank you uh pasak Valley Board of Education had their meeting on January 27th next meeting is February 24th uh the focus of this meeting was mainly on their internship program which I thought was outstanding that's uh led by Mr Joseph orlac uh for those that aren't familiar with that the internship program is in its 15th year it's offered to Juniors and seniors over 250 businesses participate uh students get the experience of writing a resume writing a cover letter interviewing and then actually executing the internship um there's a wide variety of opportunities for them including but not limited to uh they work with veterinarians to trades culinary Physical Therapy nursing marketing so it really is an outstanding opportunity for the kids uh so I commend them on their continued execution of that program finally the fire department we held our Council fire committee meeting with Chief Farrell and deputy chief Kelly uh we discussed we kind of took the approach of discussing their pain points and and their in their areas of opportunity so from a paino perspective one of their concerns is their daytime coverage before 4 p.m. uh right now there's Mutual Aid which is necessary and we're supported by numerous towns in the area uh and chief Farrell stated that he needs a minimum of two more firemen during the day to have comfortable coverage so we discussed increasing the number of DPW workers who are also firemen other towns currently requireed DPW workers to be fireman in the past Hillsdale has done this and tried this uh but it's seems to kind of be uh tied to the superintendent's uh wants at that time for the for the Department right now we have an interim superintendent who supports this dual Hat type uh scenario uh so we currently have two firemen on the DPW we're soon to have three with the recent new hire uh so that that new hire will be servicing both the DPW and he will be a fireman as well and the ba and our interim DPW superintendent Barry uh Peterson they they both support this dual hack concept and we'll work together to increase this further over time uh in terms of Grants which was considered another paino of the fire department currently identifying and applying and writing for Grants needs to become a concentrated effort for the Burl to help them out so you know I believe that we should consider potentially using a thirdparty supplemental grant writing Service uh I'll discuss this further with the BF uh ba and CFO to see if it's something that we should do uh and finally their areas of opportunities uh they're working on a plant to potentially refurbish their rescue truck to save the Town Money rather than have the more meaningful or significant upfront capex to replace it and they're also working on a third-party maintenance contract um which would probably be recommended when you're bringing in we're bringing in the new ladder truck at the end of the year the beginning of 2026 so we want to make sure that the the preventative maintenance on that is done right at the most professional level possible possible so it's something that once they present their analysis we'll present to the council as well than okay thank you Council woman M John okay let's move on to ambulance um last month Hillsdale and riverville held an emergency medical shared services meeting um that served as an introduction to the riverville team and included discussions on the process and the new model that hillo has developed was very impressive the model is outlined in a detailed document which specifies all the roles and responsibilities it was also an opportunity for both towns to collaborate and align on these new Shar service agreement um this joint process officially began on the 20th and it's valid for a year so it'll be reviewed and refined as needed and uh park Chief John Bey they have had great results so far which is awesome um and so far you said either covering Rivervale when when they've been out of service or in need of a second ambulance so I just want to give them some Kudos as we uh join this new Venture on trans services uh on the 21st there was a regular scheduled ambulance meeting where the officers provided updates on topics such as scheduling new technology there was patient surveys and app usage um they talked about U they ask for assistance in obtaining a mobile plan for their iPad and the bur has offered one of their empty home lines um lastly as part of their cleanup initiative that they've been working on if you haven't seen it the ambulance house is looking great um they have access to help them with shredding so we are the our DPW will be scheding uh something soon an event for them to shred documentation uh as far as Board of Ed I'll have some updates for that next week okay I just want to ask a question I don't know if you've got the answer or maybe the ba has with respect to the ambulance and the merger um are we anywhere even applying or talking through our third party vendor here to help us put together the leap Grant and and where things stand or where going not yet we're uh we're looking so we're we're two weeks into this we're looking to see how this is actually working we actually answered nine calls already uh to River Veil uh in two weeks so we want to build some history and then go there okay and we need some sort of track record to then forward that okay great um so that's it okay councilwoman nothing to report tonight thank you okay councilman the uh Board of Health met on January 21st um first item was the noting of the passing of a former nurse Barbara dearo she had been the nurse who had worked for us for many years uh she had done so much for institutionalizing the operations and the and the procedures for the Board of Health I knew her personally uh she had been sick for a number of years up to she passed away and she's going to be sorely missed um uh they reviewed and approved a new contract for three years with North Northwest Bergen region Health um including additional Provisions to take on the duties that had previously been under our own burrow uh nurse several members of the public which was unusual for a Board of Health meeting did attend um and encourag the Board of Health members to speak out in opposition to artificial turff at Memorial Field on the grounds of environmental risk as well as the increased chance of of um accidents or athletic accidents and uh of children playing on that field um they discussed who would be taking taking over the administration of the municipal Alliance and the decision had been made I guess up until that meeting that is going to be our rec director Dan K I wish him well on that regard uh they discussed the agreement with the uh burrow administrator that the Board of Health could increase the hours in compensation for Lois Cohan who is our other uh nurse uh for the many educational and health related projects that she's taken on their next meeting is February 18th I will be there the um the finance committee met on February 28th uh we are converging on a budget uh it's a difficult assignment um primarily because of increased costs over which we have very little control um and prior decisions having been made by Council that's going to add to to the expenses uh we're meeting with the um uh major departments this Thursday assuming that the ice and snow doesn't prevent us from doing that um and uh that's it you want to mention that's for all field uh Jake's law yeah Jake's law Jake's law yeah um it's not a finance committee meeting issue but um Jake's law as you know there was a resolution 25 I think it was 049 or 42 the last meeting yeah uh we had agreed to this resolution um was to ask the council for approval to apply for a jake law Grant to develop an art an accessible uh playground um but as we went through uh research on Jake's law we found out that there were a lot of negatives if you were take the money um so the recreation director and the VA and and I think everyone who really understood what the issues were said this isn't such a great idea um but we H we had agreed to just postpone it we didn't table it indefinitely it should by right come up tonight as and I I'm prepared to introduce it hopefully it will be seconded and we will turn it down because it's not the way we want to go the deadline is tomorrow um but I but I think from a p from the perspective of being transparent with our access for all people and um and and and doing doing the right thing from a parliamentary perspective we we want to do that because technically that resolution is supposed to be coming up tonight it's not on the agenda but you know that was just an oversight I wish I had seen that factor earlier in the week I didn't I realized it yesterday um and uh wrote to the burrow attorney and and to the clerk and the ba uh to get it back on the agenda but it's not on the agenda for tonight I I just think we need to dispense with but you would be opposed to it anyway and I think a lot of the problem is that what it opens up and it opens up all the fields yes at that point that I wasn't going to get into the negatives of it but well just because the problem is that we're already discussing another field and there are various issu concern relate to it if you take money under Jake's law through the Green Acres Program of the state of New Jersey you have to create a a list of all your uh your uh open athletic fields right um and uh commit that the fields that are on the list and the fields that you're taking financing for are in fact open to the public around the state um and that was something that we didn't feel was appropriate for hillst okay great that's it um we go to the ba now yes thank you um very very brief Mr Mayor the budget meetings uh the budgets and the finance committee uh meeting with the department heads we've we've been busy with that working on finishing the PBA contract which will be voted on next week uh we are preparing the presentation on February 11 next week uh to you about the Memorial Field we will have the financial impact to the borrow uh we will have the police and fire recommendation on the traffic and the the traffic flow currently right now as we speak the DPW are preparing for backtack winter storms this week uh they are currently working on the equipment in preparation for the storm uh last Friday was the last day for our construction technical assistant Mary Williams she retired after almost 30 years of service to Hillsdale we wished her well we did you know the clap out she cried we cried good to go um she will be missed she will be missed uh there is a resolution on the agenda for tonight to approve the hiring of a DPW employee he is a firefighter and he will be joining the Hillsdale Fire Department in two weeks and that's all I have great okay we're going to move on to ordinances 251 for adoption an ordinance to amend and supplement ordinance 0901 chapter 138 fees and chapter 71 swimming pool pool commission can I get an motion to open the hearing to the public motion second second okay um all those in favor I okay great it's open to the public we'll now uh open the meeting to the public if anyone desires to be heard regarding ordinance 2501 please state your name and wait to be recognized once recognized state your name and address of the record does anyone wish to be recognized seeing nobody is there comments among Council seeing none okay I'll now entertain a motion um to for 251 to be closed resolve that this ordinance was posted on the bulletin board on which Public Notices are customarily posted and published in the Ridgewood news copies of said ordinance were made available to the general public motion to close the public hearing ordinance 21 motion to close second second great okay um can I get a motion for uh to adopt motion to adopt second second will the clerk please read the role council member chimu yes council member klei yes council member Fox is absent council member maach Chang yes council president Oso yes council member ruko yes now there be therefore be it resolved that this ordinance is adopted and the burrow clerk is authorized to advertise the same according to law we move on to 252 for adoption an ordinance establishing salary ranges for the staff of the Hillsdale swimming pool Commission in the burrow of Hillsdale County of Bergen state of New Jersey can I get a motion to open the heing um on ordinance 25 V2 motion second second second um okay uh all those in favor I I okay great I'll now open the meeting to the public if anyone desires to be heard regarding ordinance 252 got I pulled it up sorry for a second uh please state your name and wait to be recognized once recognized state your name and address for the record does anyone wish to be recognized on 252 seeing nobody uh I will now entertain a motion um for the ordinance on 2502 to be closed and that it be resolved that this ordinance was posted on the bulletin board on which Public Notices are customarily posted and published in the Ridgewood news copies of said ordinance were made available to the general public can I get a motion to close the hearing on 252 motion to close second second great can I get a motion to adopt 252 motion to adopt second second will the clerk please read the role council member maach Chang yes council president Oso yes council member ruko yes council member chimu yes council member kti yes council member Fox is absent now therefore be it resolved that this ordinance is adopted and the borrow clerk is authorized to advertise the same according to law uh we will move on to 2503 for adoption an ordinance establishing Recreation Department program and summer camp fees in the borrow of Hillsdale can I get a motion to open public hearing on 253 motion second second uh all those in favor signify by saying I I I I will now open the meeting to the public if anyone desires to be heard out regarding ordinance 253 please say your name and wait to be recognized once recognized state your name and address for the record does anyone wish to be recognized seeing none I will now entertain a motion that the public hearing on ordinance 2503 be closed and that it be resolved that the ordinance was posted on the bulletin board on which Public Notices are customarily posted and published in the Ridgewood news copies of said ordinance were made available to the General Public can I get a motion to close the public hearing on 253 motion second second second councilman ruko um great uh now we're going to do uh motion to adopt uh can I get a motion motion second second M clerk please read the role council member tro yes council member colleti yes council member Fox is absent council member maachan yes council president Oso yes council member ruko yes now therefore be it resolved that this order is adopted and the borrow clerk is authorized to everise the same according to law we move on to 2504 for adoption an ordinance establishing salaries for the recreation department can I get a motion to open the public hearing on 254 motion second second all those in favor I I I will now open the meeting to the public if anyone desires to be heard regarding ordinance 2504 please say your name and wait to be recognized once recognize state your name and address for the record does anyone wish to be recognized I will now seeing none I will now entertain a motion that the public hearing on 254 be closed and that it be resolved that this ordinance was posted on the bulletin board on which Public Notices are customarily posted and published in the Ridgewood news copies of said ordinance were made available to the general public can I get a motion to close the public hearing on ordinance 24 2504 motion second second uh will the uh all those in favor say I I all right we're going to move on to a motion to adopt ordinance 254 um do I get a motion motion second second okay uh will the clerk please read the rule council member Maan yes council president Oso yes council member ruko yes council member chimu yes council member kti yes council member Fox's now therefore be it resolved this this ordinance was adopted and the borrow clerk is authorized to advertise the same according to law we're moving on to the consent agenda resolutions 25059 through 25071 does anyone have any resolution they would like to PLL yes yes yes what resolution would you like to pull 2560 25060 okay 25060 can I get a motion to accept the consent agenda uh with the exception of 2560 motion second second the clerk please read the role council president Oso yes council member ruko yes council member choim yes council member kti yes council member Fox is abson council member maach yes and the consent agenda 25059 through 25071 with the exception of 2560 has now passed um can I get a motion to consider 2560 motion second second discussion Council woman Jus um so the reason I pulled this is because I believe this is the property that there was some conversation about lashed here um the property on Ruckman um and so I was kind of looking for what was the outcome or settlement of the conversation and issue from last year regarding this properties um giving us you're talking about for Affordable Credit yes for affordable housing how did that end up going it looks like it looks like the uh attorney is grabbing the microphone and would like to comment was taken we discussed make sure I'm on here uh myself Darlene our planner uh all discussed whether or not some of the actions we were likely to take would have actually yielded beneficial affordable units and it was determined that in truth because of the way they're counted and we need Darlene here to talk about that a little more technically uh the fact is it didn't it wouldn't have accomplished that the the key to that is the word beneficial so we we could have gotten to some sort of discussion mediation legal whatever but the truth of the matter is that even if we had prevailed the credits that they had offered to us would not have helped us toward our round three obligation so we decided rather than pursue that we would let it go so that was the outcome that was the outcome now this is just a normal application to apply for a tax exempt status from the borrow for real estate taxes correct so these are reviewed I'm sorry is this forever or how yes well they they have to reapply every year every three years whatever it is but the evaluation is done by our assessor so it's not really something that we evaluate the assessor is satisfied um that new Concepts meets the definition for the exemption in that classification and of course a lot of things do and um so that decision on the part of the uh assessor is really one that we more or less carries the weight carries the weight we really wouldn't have a basis to say no to it right okay but that title's clear the house title I I don't yeah they would have a clear title there was no we didn't weren't able to to put a deed restriction is that there's a de restriction no no there's there were no affordable housing action taken okay so in the event for some reason this property um becomes a different use or becomes a use that is nonexempt it will come back onto the tap of the tax rols but yes you're correct there is no special deed restriction right so that's the question that if in five years whatever this house now is just going to sold as a regular piece of property a nice house then it it they would not have the tax exemption obviously they would go back on the tax roles the only thing is just like restricted just like if any number of properties houses of worship firehouses train stations if they are no longer at tax exempt use they go back on the tax rols as a regular tax tax okay any other questions okay so that would be the clerk please read the rule on 2560 council member ruko yes council member Chim Muk yes council member kti yes council member Fox dson council member mazang yes council president oo yes 2560 passes as well we're now moving is there nothing's on the non-consent agenda I I would like to to motion that we consider and take up resolution 2542 on the offc consent agenda that's the Jake law um request for Council approval to apply for a jake law Grant to build an you want to put it on the book but you I would like yeah I would like to you want to speak on that well yes um the I mean well first of all does any does I need a second motion to there's the motion for is there a second to discuss this second okay seeing that uh would anyone like to be heard on this Council I mean I I tried to explain it before I think I did it this was a a resolution that asked the council for approval to apply for the Jake law Grant so that that money could then be put to use in building uh partially and and a a uh accessible playground somewhere in the burrow maybe Beach Park maybe elsewhere um but as we researched the implications of actually getting that Grant if we were afforded that Grant there would be negative consequences for the Arrow which the council in in its discussions internally at committee levels at the recreation committee we didn't feel uh we wanted to to take on those potential liabilities I view this more as a statement since it wasn't on the agenda we can't really put it on the agenda to to vote on it but I I'm you know I understand what your the reason the reason I felt we needed to was because we had we had not tabled it indefinitely we had only we had only put it on we had only put on for postponement to this meeting and the deadline to apply is tomorrow so if we don't do something with this resolution we sort of look foolish well we do but we but but I mean I I guess you could say we look foolish but I mean I wouldn't view it in that way but but unfortunately it's it's not on the agenda officially um I see your point yeah we can't and and we can't just sort of pull it back on if it's not on the agenda we didn't get the public a chance to right but but in the well it had been alerted it's a resolution it doesn't need a public hearing and we have in the past many times put resolutions on our agenda at the last minute even coming out of if if the council wants to vote on that to put it on to to vote it up or down I suppose that's the prerogative of the council um what what are we voting for well whether or not to first to consider the resolution and then you can decide what you want to do with the resolution that was to allow the rec director to file the grant yes it was for approval to allow him but's in a position to file it he does not want to file yeah because he has done the research are the items that you raised earlier right right he wants to just close the loop I want to close it for for purposes so if you want to put that back on now I suppose we have the latitude to do so always do and so if you want to consider that and then we can put it to bed or you could say you don't want to consider it so it's really let's let's pull do you want to would you well there was a motion already to consider that matter back as an active matter on okay so can we get a motion to to move it back on to the consent agenda I'll motion to move it back on second the second it okay so all those in favor signify by saying I I okay so now we have to consider whether or not we what we want to do with it and okay unless discuss has been had I've had it so okay um I guess at this point since there there a motion to to vote on 25 on I don't number is it 2542 was it no we have the motion it's just now we have to vote now we have no I know do you want to approve it or not right no no I I get that so will the clerk please read the role I'm so confused this is whether or not we're going to look is there a motion we did a motion we had the motion in the second adopt that resolution and apply yes and apply so this would be to affirmatively apply for the resolution does anybody want to make that motion because if no one makes that motion it simply dies you'd rather have a vote I would rather have the vote because in I'm the liazon to the access for all I feel like I need to have this closed they expect it to be closed so I ask your Indulgence in this do you have a do they have an opinion on this the rec committee when I spoke to them last access for all yes they are opposed to this their opinion is they initially wanted it but when the last time I met with them and I explained to them the problems liation they saw the okay so we understand is there a motion is there a motion then yes yes I second clerk please read the role we had enough council member troh Muk no council member kti no council member Fox is ABS council member maach Chong no council president Oso no council member ruko no it has died under its own weight thank you well no it's died because we killed it well the loop is closed is Clos we have done what we've what we've got we're now going to open um this meeting to to the public for public comment limited to three three minutes on any topic um you can state your name and town of residence um let's get our stopwatches out and ready is the Y you're you're with it okay um motion to open it to the public motion second second all those in favor I those who wish to be heard please signify raise your hand Father Peter you'd like to go first please we're going to we're going to keep to three minutes as best we can but go ahead okay thank you mayor uh I really wanted to be here uh to consign to you and to all the council men and women a letter from me uh with that strongly uh States my and our objection uh the letter is is prepared it has seven big attachments uh that kind of illustrat some of the points here uh it's about three pages or so uh and uh and this obviously not lying yet this is just a lineup of very serious arguments that we have I stated in the beginning that I have been here for four years in Hillsdale and I have worked tirelessly in building proactive and mutual beneficial relationships and engagements of our Parish with brother Community here in Hillsdale all those efforts have been U motivated on my part not only because I kind of believe that that's what pre should do in the community but also because of uh my belief in the importance of who we are as a community of St John the Baptist and who we have been for about 100 years while personally in our Parish Community are gravely concerned about the potentially long-term consequences of the storage facility project on the on our proper uh attached to our or close to our property and U of these consequences on our property on our faithful please uh allow me to State as follow St John's Parish Community is absolutely opposed to the construction of a four stories high storage facility a few feet from the entrance to our Parish property decades from now as the entire area will be redeveloped a planned storage facility would stand right by the entrance to our church property as a true example of human and cultural inent insensitivity in ongoing process of the Hill day Paris and Street re Redevelopment uh we are not simply a neighbor within 200 ft which you need to inform or somehow you ask our opinions we have been for almost a century one of the most significant human spiritual and educational institutions in Hillsdale with community outreach Beyond alboro County and even state of New Jersey we are community of about 2,000 families from num numerous municipalities of Northern New Jersey or Southern New York our St John's Academy educates about 332 children bring every day their families on our campus and they come from about 50 different ZIP codes in New Jersey and in state of New York every year countless people from all around the United States and the world come on our church campus therefore we respectfully request that our community and our institution should be treated and respected accordingly regular and serious flooding on the so Southwest side of our church property from the Hillsdale Avenue is well known and I will have a pictures here for you how serious it I'm going to ask you to to wrap up you've got you've done your three minutes we give you a little bit more time but we really three minutes is three minutes okay so uh this has about four or five other paragraphs and that letter will will arrive coule more seconds I just wanted to show you how how serious the is in that area where we are intending to build a storage facility uh and u i uh uh I don't think you have have you ever had meeting over the last couple of years that you have not talked about parks in Hillsdale I don't know whether it ever crossed your mind that we are with that property I think the largest park on this on the west side of of uh Broadway in Hillsdale outside of Dem Farms hundreds of people come there and I don't know whether you would build a storage facility at the entrance to any of the parks of Hill there but thank you more in this letter thank you okay thank you thank you would anybody else like to be recognized we'll start here we'll go back to the troop 108 good evening my name is Douglas Bower I'm a resident of Hillsdale for 52 years I live at 82 Deer Trail Road in Hillsdale um not only have I been a resident but I've been a a member of the Parish of St John the Baptist um nothing I'm not I'm proud of being a Hillsdale resident um I'm especially proud of being a parishioner at St John's um I'm 82 years of age I had a 40-year career business career and I've been retired for the last 20 years but during that 40 years starting with price Waterhouse getting my CPA license going on to assistant controller of the Associated Press controller of New York University Medical Center now known as langone Medical Center controller of H um Fairley Dickinson University vice president of Iona in new relle vice president of Manhattan College um in those in that capacity of controller or vice president the finance at Administration one of my responsibilities was to make sure that there was any risk that we identified was taken care of right away risk of either trees about the fall or sidewalks broken um You Name It We had to to make sure that nothing happened um so in the last 20 years while I'm retired um as I drive around town and I see threats such as trees about to come down limbs about to come down I me near pcak Valley High School there's a couple trees that really need to be addressed we have kids walking back and forth we have a we have a crossing guard right there that for a tree that needs to be addressed and many times I've called the DPW and they have taken care of it so that's where I'm coming from in the last 20 years I volunteered for Meals on Wheels uh taking care of uh residents of Hillsdale that are um can't drive anymore and so on so this is who I am and I'm saying to you now that in that capacity of a Observer of risk nothing nothing has scared me more than this stream that's behind St John's parish and the fact that be older water company has said they can't do anything about it that they have to follow state law and I'm saying to you I wake up at night thinking about especially when we have heavy rains and we've had a lot of heavy rains lately and we'll probably have a lot more and what's happening is that the water is overflowing the banks coming up very close to the doors to the church and I'm saying that this vote when it comes up when it's when you have to address it it's not just sorry three minutes I just want to wrap it up quick a couple like you proved the the uh development two doors away from the church north of it or the the one that's being constructed now and now you have a third one with the uh rental I'm saying to you is step to other places that there's about the so La um hello life Scout town of H I would like to respond because locate addresses on approximately 300 homes that you approve of if to start the project for Midsummer I would Al be a cost to the everyone something on was to assure that the burrow engineer was comfortable with it and to assure that uh the burough engineer was comfortable and Emergency Services was comforable well you know the the from from that perspective he's not not proposing to diminish it in any ways actually to enhance it so should should run it by those two I understand that I understand plan also because these will wear out do we go back and that we wouldn't every risk the end would some that a great IDE very be I'm a and I you is going opposed and [Music] maybe six units that traffic I ask them I am LIC out purpose of number one that getting up in a sure most satisfy building yes the rest of the property wouldn't be the is not the is not the develop builds us a community center that's not they might but they 14 cross Streeter already tweet the story I'll give you three minutes to you know I if we get at the end of this about it but this on the comment turn for flooding issu any of these planning board as the plan for erected so I'm just has been somewhat out of the loop you know that we and we are the construction of this also not beneficial to our so you knowers of what they're entitled to lay that down as the as the Baseline I appreciate it do you have anything well let's Stephen Finance Council I'm a resale against you an attorney but I'm that we have colleague of our any sort of Str going to have a similar effect the status environmental evaluated process this point I will be with zoning evaluate what is being undertaken here so collaboratively with you project okay ask this question in Mar ask you a question knowing darn well that you don't have to answer answer it anyway over water impact stud the with regard to the I'm just curious thank you does anybody want to I I have something I could say on it but I just want to before we approve any project um a developer is required to have a water containment system as part of their plan so anything that they contained within that block and line that's what the what what the that's what the requirement would anybody like to be the only member of the public toly surprised so I did see the did a tremendous job of addressing all the uh sort of the questions that have come up over the past two months so I thought that was great other than the cost again and I know the lights are in the picture and I am just we don't know that yet I'm dead set against the lights you know hearing that woman's story before which I just heard for the first time about the playground and then hearing about what the Lights cost yeah I just don't understand why we're even considering lights if we have extra money to address that an issue like that to make our town a place where all kids can have a chance to play I mean that just blew me away so I the cost the light and the cost of the lights I think was 1.2 million which is insane so I think we could address the playground issue um they didn't mention security last night I know that came up in a lot of the meetings uh cameras and security for the new fields that didn't come the and netting the potentials for ball the pictures be considered am not for these we build this field I think it's going to make a lot of happy but I think we can also make great place to live without the I think personally completely unrelated to Memorial I had talked a few December streets it was chapter 29222 article 3 which states that no and I know I've talked I assume and I appreciate my name is William Fon I live in Rivervale I'm a parishioner at St John's I'm on the finance Council meet and just a supplement part of the conversation we've had I haven't heard anything talked about remediation uh perhaps it's all been addressed in the uh the studies that have been done but I'm interested about the remediation because the proximity to the parish there was a u parking facility there there's trucks there I don't know what the grounds are if this ground is Disturbed for a foundation I don't know what's going to happen with any runoff potential runoff into the streams and to the affected areas not only by St John's and downstream so I'm just curious to understand about the remedi issues that have been addressed all of this would be discussed at the planning board at some point but yes they are if remediation is required they have would imagine constructed him governing body is of what has been pered for since the Redevelopment plan 2020 Redevelopment plan since the 2020 Redevelopment right okay so that that's how long this has been around for right I'm just I've just come to be aware of these facts and so forth and we have a school nearby too of course with kids and they all interact on the playgrounds the community comes the the grounds to and I'm looking at the environmental impact study to this area all has to be accomplished and of course I imagine there's very significant D and state regulatory issues anywhere near the Waterway all of which has to be done exactly I want to make sure that's also looked into in addition to what's been brought up before I me thank you for your time very good sir it's nice to meet you who else would like to be heard anyone please we got the Memorial Field contingent good evening good evening everyone how's everyone today thank you um I just wanted to oh Kristen Martin I live at 219 Washington a um I also am I strongly believe I live within 200 to 250 ft from the field but never got notified um so I want to know if somebody can look into that Thursday yes I'm going to be here I just found out from a neighbor because the word spreads but I didn't get any formal notification and somebody said it was because of my distance so I just wanted to make sure um that we are interested if there's any meetings um we're still concerned with some of the cost distribution and some of the information I don't really know if it's been released yet the cost it um the okay that's probably why I don't see it yet um just because the I know there was talk of a 10year bond versus a 20-year Bond and the life of the field exceeding the life of the bond um the concern with a playground to me is very um important because I feel like these kids all should have safe playgrounds and I think that we should be ADA Compliant and make sure everything in our town is handicap and I think that should be a priority over everything else um I'm very concerned and didn't know about the um Board of Health and environmental group that had concerns about the turf field because I've heard similar things but like you said you can hear things on both sides so I really would like to hear more from the Board of Health and environment about the safety of the turf um the Nets I think is definitely something that the people on Lincoln Terrace um may be concerned with heard some rumors that that um some with potentially and all those things that we're not just putting anyone else like obviously I knew that people I wanted to so I've given this a lot of thought so I wanted to where things are at least from my perspective I'm not speaking for members of council who actually vote but the property located at block 128 lot one is owned by a developer and it's going to be redeveloped it's not this isn't speculation the developer purchased the property to put something on it they didn't buy it to sit on it the whole purpose of the Redevelopment plan was to revitalize the industrial area with thriving entities which would add value to our community and bring in additional tax revenue to the burrow I strongly believe the decision of the then mayor and Council to redevelop this area was a responsible one the developer came to the burrow last year with plans to construct a self storage facility on the site in question such a facility has always been approved and approved use under the Redevelopment plan passed in November 2020 in other words they have a right to build and operate a business for an approved use on the property they own from the Burrow's perspective a self- storage facility is an excellent use for the property it would not dramatically increase traffic to the area in fact the proposed use would have a lower impact on traffic area uh uh on Area traffic than any existing business or anticipated residents in the area due to the required architectural design standards included in the Redevelopment plan this business would be more aesthetically pleasing than a traditional self- storage facility a self- storage facility would not add additional schoolage children to the community at a time when the residents just approved a costly but much needed renovation to our Middle School unlike potential additional housing it would increase our tax base without impacting sewer or electrical services taxes collected on this property in 2024 were $1 17,520 47 that's more than the average home in Hillsdale currently pays homeowner however under the current Self Storage proposal taxes on the property are estimated over $200,000 a year that's a difference of more than $180,000 a year our action should not be guided solely by tax revenue but it certainly must be considered as part of the equation especially since any shortfall in Revenue would otherwise be offset by a tax increase of our residents on numerous occasions the father has said that he's prepared to engage in a public relations battle as well as taking legal action through the arch dases of Newark to try to prevent this permitted use Redevelopment project from moving forward you've stated that uh you're concerned about potential water runoff from the Redevelopment of the property and how it might impact the church we share your concerns that's why before we approve any project the developer is required to have a water containment system as part of their plans on January 21st I reached out to the arch dicese of Newark and have offered to have an in-person meeting with myself the ba and our Council to discuss this matter with any one they' choose they said they would get back to me to date no one has done so my job and all our jobs is to protect the residents of Hillsdale and that's what we're going to continue to do thank you okay so having said that um we have reached the point of council commentaries I traditionally go first don't wa afterwards um Council commentaries I would just like to we close the public did we close it so all right can we close motion to close motion second second all those in favor I okay so Council commentaries I traditionally go first I'm just going to say um I had the the pleasure of going to the uh Eagle Scout ceremony I see representatives from Troop 108 um for Hudson Guzman congratulations to him again for reaching the rank of Eagle Scott at only 15 years of age it was really a great ceremony and there were a lot of people there that were uh awarded for a step up in class and I learned learned to shake hands with my left hand tried to anyway didn't always do the best and I'm looking forward to your potential project um so that's and I I said my piece on that let's start with Council commentaries we'll start with councilman ruko I'm always second well you know which is better than going last there you go do you want to do you want to go last is that no that's fine I the only comment I I want to make I look left is uh I want to give recognition to uh February being Black History Month and you know it started in 1926 uh as a week-long celebration in the second week of February to coincide with the President Abraham Lincoln's birthday as well as uh African-American abolitionist Frederick Douglas who we've all studied and its popularity grew over the next 50 years uh largely because of the Civil Rights Movement President Ford uh made the expansion from a week long to a full month in 1976 I want to give a thumbs up and this is why I'm mentioning this thumbs up to to my uh granddaughter Gian age s who I lovingly call the Haitian Italian Princess um and uh she shares with me the things that she's learned in school about uh her dual Heritage and uh she does remind me to bring it up at a council meeting so I have completed my obligation there you go anything else cetri councilwoman truk no comments councilwoman maachan Okay so Advantage going second because now I feel like I'm going to be repeating my repeating it um congratulations again to the Hawks pees uh Super Bowl champions and they're also cheerleaders we're so proud of your dedication your accomplishments as you can as you heard they practice a whole lot and we're really proud of them I also want to thank Mela for being so brave and writing and reading us her awesome letter for an inclusive part um your sisters are very lucky to have you um want to thank troop troops 108 for their really great idea looking forward to seeing that hopefully to fruition and lastly I also want to take a moment to recognize that February's Black History Month um it's an opportunity to reflect to learn and to celebrate the contributions of our black Americans throughout history so let's just continue to Foster community that values diversity inclusion and progress thank you Council mcti thank you mayor uh just briefly uh I was unaware about Hudson gizman so congratulation to you uh because I also wanted to recognize Sawyer uh wil and know Sawyer since he was a little kid coach him in baseball for a number of years and the town is just incredibly proud of both of you your quest to become Eagle Scouts so keep up the good work congratulations that's it council president DOA just want to invite Sawyer over to the house 30 Glenn hook if you want to paint that please go ahead little undo influence okay um seeing everybody has had the chance to speak um can I get a motion to adjourn motion second second all those in favor sign IFI by saying hi hi we are adjourned the next council meeting will be on Tuesday February 11th 2025 in this chamber