##VIDEO ID:NEuktmpNnZQ## let me know when you're ready okay we're ready okay we're going to call this meeting to order uh this meeting of the Hillsdale B Council on this 14th day of January notice of the time place of this meeting has been provided at the Ridgewood news Bergen Record copy was posted on the Bing board outside of this meeting room and provided to any interested party please sell andall cell phones wait to be recognized by the mayor during public hearing and the public comments of the meeting you will state your name in town of residence will everybody please rise the flag Council would you like to lead [Music] usice okay we are um I'm going to ask for what oh roll call yes please mayor shinfield here council president ooso here council member kti here council member Fox here Council m m Chong here council member ruko here council member Tru here great okay we're going to uh to provide a meeting to the public we're going to J for close session uh in accordance with the provision of New Jersey public meetings act um the subject is Bal Personnel Police Department can I get a motion motion second second all those in favor signify by saying I I we are in close session well now the bar's here we can get okay guys we're going to go back into session um can I get a motion to reconvene motion motion second second all those in favor I we are back in session um we're going to recognize obviously a whole bunch of guys in dark sweatshirts out here um how you doing um but I'm going to hand it over to council MC kti first uh to say a few words about why you're all probably here thank you mayor um so in 20124 both the hillsel hofk peew and juniors won their respective Super Bowls tonight we're recognizing the Juniors and we're going to recognize the pee's on February 4th's meeting so it being a banner year for the Hawks uh the organization continued to demonstrate its continued commitment to Excellence and to teaching our children in this town the formula for Success uh not only uh in the form of teaching them a sport uh but again teaching them a formula that can help them in life and and I say to all the players and the cheerleaders I hope you realize that you when you're preparing and practicing and executing and then you guys do it all over again you correct you improve and you repeat that cycle your coaches are teaching you how to be successful and the proof is in the pudding with your Victory so congratulations on that um when when recognizeing Excellence we start at the top of the organization so I would just like to recognize Craig Cardell I know he's been around for a really long time contributing to the organization I think he's done a wonderful job uh and and also the rest of the Hawks Association officers countless hours going to running the program and we all recognize that uh next the parents and the coaches you should be recognized because football by no means is a season uh it's a lifestyle and it extends well beyond the regular season it's an enormous commitment so now specifically this team um 37 wins and five losses over the past four years Craig yes 37 wins and five losses they played three in three out of four Super Bowls over those four years they won the Super bowls as peewees they won 11-0 this year and they won the Super Bowl again so congratulations to the Super Bowl champion Hill so at this time the mayor and Council would like to recognize the junior football and cheerleader head coaches and if you could come up um and meet the mayor uh co-head coach Dan defabo co-head coach Mike Weaver and cheer coach Moren wolf thank you very much I think you guys all did this um the dedication I I always say this I'm always astounded by the volunteerism of the parents to get behind this not just for their kids but for every other kids in town got a great job um on behalf of the council thank you uh we have these certificates for you um for all the children as well I don't know all the kids are named on this and so I'll hand this to you a photo be Jan wants a photo of you well if you would like to say something I'm sure that we're all more than happy to hear what you've got to say on how you got here make you got you the M please your parents and the families it's you know as it was stated before it's it's definitely a lifestyle for many months out of the Year oh no I don't want to talk now I'll I'll hold here um the kids are dedicated they have a great time doing it and it makes it a joy to help them get to where they are both for the cheer and the football players it's great time I do love this I love coaching it's frustrating at times it takes a lot of time but we have a lot of good men that are uh teaching these boys uh to be men and um and I appreciate all their help um listen boys you guys did great this year I just want to hear it Hawks on three one 2 3 Hawks uh boys fantastic job like coach said but uh I would just like to thank uh the mayor and the rest of the council Bob thank you for letting us come here and be recognized it's greatly appreciated we really appreciate what the town does for us from the DPW Barry you guys work very hard it's very appreciated the fields are always like set up and you know Dan from you know the wck department uh and it it's just fantastic it's just the the support that we get we cannot be more appreciative so thank you very much greatly appreciate it I can't be more proud of this group of guys you're the best I I honestly never wanted to coach football ever uh I played it my whole life uh I love it this you guys literally awoken a passion of me I haven't had in years I love the game of football I love watching you guys grow I'm proud of every single one of you two ties for you two ties for them go all right thank you very much does any does anybody from the public want to else want to say anything take it out of turn for a minute no if not then you know what we'll take want to take a couple minutes to break so that I know that you nothing better you'd love than to listen to resolution of but maybe we'll take a 5 minute break so you wanted to clear out or go somewhere to celebrate you can do that okay so we'll take Pa thanks guys up [Music] you're good you're good come in slide [Music] [Music] over thank you all right boys every I know this looks great Clowning Around please [Music] know e e e e e e e [Music] we going to come back in as I was saying it here are the true policy junkies right can't get enough of the stuff okay um we're back in session uh can I'm going to approve all the minutes at once we got the council minutes December 3rd uh 2024 councilman Fox absent um Council meetings from December 10th special council meeting December 17th on the Clos council meeting December 17th can I get a motion I motion second second discussion none uh will the cler please read the role council member ma Chong she has to she has to obstain yep I still have that council president Oso yes council member R yes council member tro yes council member kti yes council member Fox obain from just the first one from the first yeah and yes to the rest yes okay great they're passed uh we're going to have the initial public comment uh 3 minutes time limited to items only on the agenda one topic per speaker please state your name and town of residence for the record would anyone like to speak at this time on items on the agenda see yes you would like to speak Rick Savino you're the one Richard Savino 64 West Avenue I just want um there's an item on tonight's um introduction 25-06 the financial agreement I guess this is otherwise the pilot tax payment um and what jumps out at me is this is a 30-year tax agreement for storage space and the one of the consideration for doing giving them a 30-year tax agreement which I think most res residents would consider it a tax break for that you know when you negotiate a a a tax payment like this um was one thing for 255 apartment which really delivered people and but it you know the consideration was 10 full-time employees and I've been in and out of many storage centers and they're staffed by one so maybe if they're open extra hours it's staffed by two people you know it's a minimal Staffing maybe a part-time cleaning guy so it's not bringing employment to the town it's bringing storage space and to give them a 30-year tax agreement is is much more frankly I don't know why they need a tax break at all they could just pay property taxes it's a commercial activity it's a for-profit activity and it's not delivering you know it's delivering I guess it's delivering a development you know that we like to see and will help in town to you know as part of that overall development project but that we have to give them such a a 30-year tax break seems you know maybe it could be a 15-year consideration so I know it's on for introduction tonight and would ask you know to to take a second look and because the and the consideration of bringing employment in the town that just doesn't seem that doesn't make any sense to 10 full-time employees in a uh you know a for a Storage Center thank you for your comments would anybody else like to make a comment on the agenda an item on the agenda agenda seeing none will the clerk let's there is oh please come on you're hiding all the way in the back more come on up okay I forgot what I was supposed to say I'm Rosa manian I live in town 15 over Brook Place I've been here before and I have three children all with disabilities so what I like to speak about is the Jake law agenda for today the application and my three children one back there hope she was actually in here recently a police officer won an award for saving her life yes I've watched more than three times two of my children almost lose their life in front of me so it's very hard to have disabled children and go through what US parents with children with disabilities go through and a problem that I have right now is that the playgrounds in town are not safe for my children I've had one of my children of ADHD run into a tree at Beachwood I could not keep track of where she was I have one kid on the swing I'm holding another one another one of my children my oldest child with epilepsy fell at metal Brook and because it's just mulched in in the month of May there's barely any Mulch and she broke her wrist Hope Has No swing nothing to play on I'm off-roading with her stroller I cannot seem to get her a disability stroller so I'm using a hand me down stroller for her like nothing is good enough for them and not just my children there are other parents that said that their children's gotten hurt at our Fields or playgrounds and I just want better for our town I understand that Jake's law this specific application is Green Acres funding is really not what the council or the town wants and I understand the points why but I would just like my voice heard and know that there is our children need more you know I want them to I have know parents that grew up here and now live here because they love this small town and I want my children to maybe later on in life say Hillsdale gave me a great childhood and I might want to settle here as well so this is just something that I want for our town and for our children thank you thank you appreciate it anybody else father you know why I came I think I do strongly the microphone come to the I came on behalf of the entire community of St John the Baptist which is about 2000 families to strongly oppose the construction of the story facility about 30 ft from the entrance to St John the Baptist in light of everything that has been happening in that corner of uh World which for some is kind of a bad side of the proper back side of the property nobody can see for us it's the entrance uh so uh I just don't know whether this is the time to speak or I'm supposed to speak later at the this is fine no okay and I know that I have three minutes but uh first of all a full disclosure as a pastor Parish of 2,000 families and many of you know me uh what I have done in this B I'm profoundly touched and hurt by the fact that I'm learning some of these facts now so late in the game when some of the approvals are being done I'm particularly concerned because as many B Representatives know we got almost flooded and the stream of water on Prospect was so strong on December 3rd that it carried the entire pal of the material from the construction set and it cared pipes and other material that seriously in danger people on our property I live about 30 30 ft plus another 60 ft for the house from the intended construction site of the storage facility and I found it to be quite problematic and I used in my meeting with the mayor and the board administrator quite offensive because if for some is just a piece of property in Hillsdale if somebody would build a storage facility right here and this where have 7-Eleven and that parking lot people would say this offensive because for us it means something we this is couple of feet from the place where people enter every day to arrange for funerals to go in this stress I can tell you stories and stories about people that walk into that office which for some doesn't mean anything for us is very very problematic I'm very concerned about the design I'm very concerned about the procedure about the fact that four stories high storage is being slapped so close to the church without any discussion with our community and U I also have to inform you that St John's Community is in the middle of very major serious uh uh Insurance claim uh to the archis of nework the flowing of the entire building of the church started to buckle and we are very concerned about the uh about the uh hydrostatic pressure in that area and all the recent almost flooding of of our community so this what we are I just one a state that will use every mean legal and public relations to protect the priv propy of St John the Baptist and we need to be as vocal and as Direct in this in this situation thank you thank you for your time um does anybody else have anything they would like to speak loud please come on up to the microphone name my name is Majid Muhammad I came here to thank the council for Ramadan C placing uh the lighting ceremony uh I have my daughter here and my wife and from of the members uh who I uh extremely thankful for coming up here uh I want to take a moment to thank you guys uh this event allowing us to place a Ramadan Cent light in our town your support means great deal to us and we are excited to see this symbol of unity shine in our community for Muslims around the world Ramadan is a sacred month of fasting reflection and giving it's time to strengthen our connection with God care for those in need and Foster unity and love within our communities we would love to invite all of you to join us on February 22nd for the official writing ceremony it would be an honor to have you with us as we celebrate this special occasion thank you thank you my wife and my daughter would also like to speak please daugh seems a bit [Music] reluctant good evening everyone I'm Maryann rusa Hillsdale resident um thank you so much um this is my daughter Farah um so I want to thank all of you um on behalf of our family and um the community um for your Forward Thinking and improving this initiative today we stand here not only to celebrate the approval of the Crescent Lighting in our town but also to acknowledge the importance of inclusive inclusivity understanding and the Beautiful tapestry of faith that enrich our community it is truly beautiful when everyone's culture and holiday are recognized especially for children as our community is a Melting Pot of different cultures and religions this gesture goes beyond just the light it's a message of unity a sign that we value diversity within our community and are committed to creating a space where everyone feels respected so thank you all again want to say something there you go hello my name is Farah Muhammad I want to thank the mayor Shan Feld Feld and the council members for approving the Crescent lighting this makes me feel so happy that our town will that will help me and others celebrate Ramadan thank you thank you do you oh s you have another speaker please you sa me having to come down you can the speaker back thank you so much hi ziran from 63 Woodland Road from Montville um my mayor you probably know from Montville mayor gazali has done actually our Crescent lighting over three years ago so um he has always been very gracious and supportive of our community and we are very thankful that we have our neighboring Community doing the same thing as well so I really commend you all and the DPW as well to take part in this event and thank you again do do you know the time about is 6 7 at night evening would anybody else like to speak I cut it off too soon last time I'll see no okay uh will The Click please read the correspondence first one is an email from maid Muhammad requesting the placement of a CR during Ramadan in the park along with this small celebration in kickoff the second is the letter received from the Hill fire department requesting use of the West lot for their annual Carnival from May 5th to May 10th can I get a motion to receive and file motion second second I think we can do this by a voice vot all those in favor okay so uh let's go on to the professional reports Nick from cers that could be your last name right Nick grum callers I I prefer the one that I was getting thank you yes um so not too much active right now as it's the middle of the winter but we do have a bunch of things planned um for this next year and a little bit beyond that so right now we're planning out the njd 2025 project we were awarded a grant in the vicinity of 150,000 was $152,000 um so we're going to be working with uh with Mike on narrowing the scope of that and getting that project designed um we are also currently planning out the 2025 Riverside Cooperative Paving program so that is um something that the town gets great pricing on roads and is a is a great way to kind of take care of the odds and ends that don't fit into certain other projects like the OT project so um we're going to be evaluating roads for that this month um for the mville road project the construction was delayed there um we didn't have great weather there was also water leak on the road so we ended up having to push that construction period into the spring the good thing is the um the contractor is going to be holding pricing so you pretty much have 2024 prices being constructed in 2025 so as soon as weather permits um we're going to be getting that project underway um you know right when it starts getting warmer outside and they can they can lay concrete and and asphalt um for Cent field similar issues we had a um very rainy November which made it difficult to get construction equipment on the field there was a lot of mud um they did make pretty good progress most of the drainage system has already been installed but they were not able to finish the final grading and lay down sad so that is going to have to take place once weather gets warmer it's difficult to say exactly when but it should be early early spring um I think we're still looking at having that field open in the spring but it will be late spring rather than beginning of Spring so um that is pretty much oh and Memorial Field we um we're currently working on the revisions to the concept plan for that so that that's in progress it should be completed pretty soon and um you know we're going to be having additional meetings to to go over that and um and meetings for meetings with the Feld committee what what's good both okay yeah both yeah so that we we'll continue to refine that design as needed um you know based on the feedback that we receive do you think that we'll have that revision done by the end of January I don't say so um the plan is uh to get that plan uh in January and then to present it to the Council on February 11 at that meeting before that we will also be meeting with the rut commission show them what we got but there will be a presentation on the agenda on February 11th for Memorial can you just talk very quickly on the roads to be paved this year we did so Melville which is the one that was slated to be done late this year that's that's going to be done in in 2024 um we haven't finalized the road list for we have a list no for the for the Riverside call we're we're still working on identifying roads for that but we'll have that probably within a week or two I think um um and then the njdot project the roads that we applied for were Liberty a Arcadia way and wor Miss Lane um and then we just have to have a discussion on whether we are going to stick with that as a scope because that may exceed the grant funding amount so it would require some some Capital funding in addition to the grant probably to continue with that scope but that's that's the the plan for 2025 is those okay um um anybody else questions for the engineer seeing none we have uh we have Police Department of the for all right thank you Travis Woods uh Lieutenant H police I'll make this pretty brief so I'm going to just in caps 2024 into five quick uh bullet points so in 2024 the police department participated in over 20 uh successful Community pleasing events uh those include not only there's more to this but our major ones tours of headquarters uh book readings junior Police Academy uh multiple Touch of truck events we did Toys for Tots uh chief for a day uh School drop off event we continued with snow tubing event which is held in campar which is actually again uh this Thursday we did coffee with a cop uh Sergeant seers who's the head of the community policing unit made two separate trips to Asheville North Carolina one of those trips was to donate winter jackets that he personally or the community policing unit uh collected second one was to drop off uh Christmas gifts um to Asheville to the victims of the hurricane um traffic update in 2024 we conducted 1,172 motor vehicle stops uh took 60 selective enforcement details responded to 67 traffic motor vehicle complaints and addressed 280 parking complaints um traffic also partici participated in numerous funerals and parades uh investigations detective Bureau conducted 165 investigations they closed 159 of them um many mult many indictable and non indictable charges came out detective Bureau uh Firearms investigation unit is uh they conducted approximately 170 investigations that's for um fires permits and Etc and our Humane law enforcement officer had seven animal cruelty investigations um opened in 2024 and all closed does anybody have any questions from Lieutenant no thank you thank you RDW confirmed superintendent Barry pet good evening man Council um make this real quick also so for December uh our leaf collection program ended December 20th and we collected a total of 5,979 75 cubic yards of leaves um we decorated during that collection the uh Veterans Park in the train station for the holiday season are December 21st and 24th snowfall two post storms combined about roughly 3 and half to 4 in with a combined total of 150 tons of salt used on all burrow and County own roads uh 100 T of that was reclaimed uh through the county doing the county roads um we've installed the remainder of the palace shelving the main DPW garage to get more equipment up off the floor uh we had a heating issue at the train station uh caused by dead battery and the thermostat it's frozen pipes they were fixed and and along with the uh pipe repairs I installed you guys install some uh pieces of rubber across the bottom of the door to kind of cut back on any cold DS comeing in and that's all I have great thank you any questions for our DPW quick question about the train station uh what things can and can't we do there uh the only thing I can do without uh permission from transit is paint the building the same colors any other kind of construction work I have to get approval from uh New Jersey Transit the uh historical uh portion of New Jersey Transit they're going through all pictures and files and and whatnot because they want to uh restore that building to original historic uh looking which would be different color paint some ornate things across the top of the roof and whatnot that's going to take some time so during the winter the waiting area inside I understand door yeah so we are going to be changing the door this year and we actually have the door already and changing the floor so that that'll be uh on hour time with their approvals but is the door open now every morning yes the door is open every morning um I had unlocked it I think maybe in between myself unlocking in and the cleaning company coming in they may have locked the door behind them uh because the prior week the heat was not working and we had the building locked up so the following morning that was all set ready fly we go in okay great any other questions gentlemen thank you for your time appreciate it we'll move on to committee reports let's start from left and go right cman ruko thank you Mr Mayor I've got four reports to make so just bear with me um seniors uh the senior a on the senior lunch at St John the Baptist was held at December 18th there was a Christmas lunch for the 50 plus uh Club on December 20th 50 plus Club met on January 9th uh I want to thank Patty use for providing musical Arrangement there uh I think it was enjoyed by the folks who attended the next senior event is a senior lunch on January 15th at St John the Baptist the uh Board of Health they'll be meeting on January 21st um there has been Communications between the members of the Board of Health and the bur administrator regarding questions about the proposed shared service agreement with the county that's still an ongoing discussion um the financial committee we metet on January 14th with the CFO and the burrow administrator we reviewed the financial reports for the burrow as well as for the pool utility for December uh the burrow uh nothing unusual on those reports for the month of December uh Stony book end of the year with an estimated profit of 188,000 which is good uh but it is down from the 133% from the prior year we had very preliminary estimates of the 2025 budget very preliminary and uh its funding implications were shown to the committee but adjustments contined to be made by the bar administrator and by the CFO to conform to a number of things our Surplus policy uh our need to provide for essential services and to keep the tax increases to a minimum uh it's a challenging work in progress so I'll be reporting as we go through that process the committee is going to meet again on January 28th to review another draft and then meet with the heads of the largest departments to go over their operating budget and capital budget submissions uh the budget just for all the members of the de uh has to be introduced no later than the mayor and council meeting of April 1st it must be adopted no later than the mayor and council meeting of May 6th um access for all uh this gets a little um a little ly but I'll try to make it sure we they met twice they met on December 16th and January 14th uh the schedule they put forward their scheduled meeting dates they elected officers Ron Miller as the president Yan mermal as vice president Mustafa Aro as Treasurer and inal deari as secretary uh they welcome new members Mustafa Aral and Grace Salah uh they're still asking looking for help from the burough administrator to suggest members who can represent the schools the police Recreation and the Board of Health that's usually a normal part of having an access for all committee uh plans are moving ahead for a 2025 art show at the library with an opening date of May 1st at 6:30 p.m. I encourage the attendance of all the members of the council uh to show Support also plans have been made for a series of arts and craft workshops also in the library to take place on February 22nd March 15th and April 26 I updated them during their meeting on the matter of the council approving submission of the Jake's law Grant to fund the creation of a new handicapped accessible playground in Beachwood Park that would place the existing non-handicapped access that would replace the existing uh playgr that's there now it's not handicapped accessible we have a resolution tonight r 25042 on the agenda uh but I intend to make a motion when it comes up for discussion to postpone consideration of that resolution uh for the next council meeting and I'll explain why uh we have a letter from the access for all president Ron Miller dated January AR 8 in support of that project there's been a petition of about 350 signatures uh in support of it and several emails to the mayor and Council that we've all received um however I informed them that it was recently brought to the attention of the council Lea council president oo um that uh and he brought it to the attention of the rec committee that Jake's law Grant in the state of New Jersey uh had to be approved under the aices of the state's Green Acre program um that would mean that the burrow would have to agree to restrictions on the use and sale of all recreational Open Spaces in the town including uh our being required to let any New Jersey Town any New Jersey Sports Association or organization or individuals um who use that that open space if it was available assuming that it was funded by a Green Acres Grant it also has been clarified by the state that those conditions would apply to any of our recreational uh open space facilities so it if you accept green acr's money it comes with a bunch of negatives uh some towns have agreed to this quid proqual others have not if the council is not concerned with these restrictions then it probably should not vote for postponement tonight as I move to postpone it uh it should move to approve it uh but if you have some concerns um postponing it will give us time to finalize our understanding of what the uh green ACR restrictions really are I've assured the uh access for all memb is that the recreation committee and at least several council members uh here favor creation of a new handicapped accessible playground and will be open for ways to fund it perhaps even without a grant uh I will intend to ask the CFO and the ba at a finance committee meeting to explore whether it can be budgeted for in 2025 if not in 2026 if the council is agreeable to that suggestion in the meantime the recreation director has agreed to explore what other grants are available and if necessary work with the ba and the rec committee to determine a more cost effective design I think it's very important at a time when we're considering spending millions of dollars for the renovation of Memorial Field and we've already spent close to a million on Centennial it's important that we demonstrate support for the children and families who may not be able to reap the full benefits of our Centennial Field and Memorial Field Renovations um that's all I have thank you Council yes hello um the uh Library Board of Trustees meeting uh was on Monday night um they elected a new set of board of directors um the president is Amanda Miller vice president Cal sheeper uh treasur Bill Bird and secretary is Barbara white um as a general report for 2024 I think what really stands out is that the library is now back to the um circulation that it was at prior prior to co it's taken all this time to get back up to that level and so in uh 2024 the circulation um out of this 3,684 uh residential addresses associated with um Hillsdale um of that 1,6 64 actually hold a library card and have actually used it during the course of 2024 which represents 44% of the households um which is up from the year before which was only 42% so the point of that being that the library is strong going strong continuing to be a um a sort of a center for the uh Community um they do have a lot of programs um there um and I I always urge every time I give a report because I always tell people they should go to the website and you will see all sorts of programs for children for adults um last night for example there was a program on Iceland uh somebody was giving a whole presentation about traveling to Iceland so I mean there all sorts of there's music concerts Etc and you can see that by going you know to their website and you know you should I I always encourage everyone to drop in the library is beautiful inside um and they're constantly making Renovations and changes and they're it's it's almost going to be on its way to to sort of be almost like it's a very Gathering Place for the community uh especially for children children families with children love to go there um Moms little children who aren't in school yet seniors love to go there so I just I'm just trying to put it back out there in the public that please go check it out if you haven't been there I think you will be surprised at at what what's going on in there um and that's it for my library board any other just Library board well there was a planning board meeting also and they elected uh also a new um panel but um unfortun I don't have all their names well I think they may have switched up a little no say the same they exactly the same KES is still the is still theair is the vice chair and Scott Raymond is the secretary because our mayor is a representative on the uh I was there with you so yes he was there with me um and um I think that that would be it for that meeting correct you that's it yes thank you okay Council ma okay so I have a couple of updates um to reports um I'll start with ambulance my first ambulance committee meeting is scheduled for next week I'm looking forward to attending this meeting as it'll provide an opportunity for me to engage with the committee and gain an understanding of their current operations uh but in preparation for this meeting I do want to thank Richard Savino sitting in the front there for uh you know I took the initiative to visit the ambulance house last week um and during my visit I did receive a comprehensive tour of the facilities which was very insightful it was a great overview of their daily functions responsibilities a sneak peek into uh vehicle and all the wonderful equipment that's in there uh I do want to uh thank you again because experience did give me a valuable firsthand knowledge of the work that is needed and all the work that they perform and the critical role that this ambulance does play um in our community so I do look forward to building on this Foundation uh collaborating with the ambulance committee to support and enhance their efforts and I'll provide uh hopefully I'll have an update for you guys uh next meeting uh I'll move on to the board of at local so a couple of weeks ago Mr Sax and the Board of Ed they shared a detailed update on the progress of our Middle School construction project um building on that update I'm happy to share that the construction documents are moving forward and remain on schedule The Architects engineers and construction managers are working hard to finalize the projects uh phases and uh as we prepare for code and B submissions um they are also closely monitoring construction costs in real time as these costs continue to fluctuate uh as we as they have noted throughout the process um also huge shout out to uh the staff that they recognize last night there was a recognition of five staff members uh have earning 25 years of service um it was Andrea Lincoln Tracy alderton Joy Goodman Marissa Lamont and Eileen Thomas so the board as well as the mayor council are very thankful for their service commitment and impact um on the student experience during their 10 years that's it council president Oso yes uh the police committee had an opportunity to meet yesterday uh new members of the committee Melissa maach Chang and Jan Tru I introduced to both lieutenant camparelli and Lieutenant Woods who was Al also the officer in charge uh they were um kind enough to provide us an overview of the department um uh just an update on the uh the PBA local 207 contract that was negotiated last year uh it will be presented to the mayor council in February for approval um and that'll be presented by uh die Gali um with regards to the rec commission uh Edward Grill was elected chair uh John coring was elected vice chair and uh quick congratulations to an Crome who was uh reappointed um to her seat there um basketball recreation has started uh there are 330 registrants uh that uh have signed up uh it's just it's in line with where they were last year in terms of registrations uh the spring brochure for uh Rec is going to be released on February 15th uh please check out the Hillsdale Recreation website the dates of events uh events that you can find out there the summer concert series uh the Halloween uh the Halloween parade and and other various events that were very successful through the year um John um John provided us us a pretty significant update on the Green Acres I written some stuff to say about that but I don't want to reash everything I think some was pretty thorough uh also when we uh get to the resolution we'll have additional time to discuss it as well um also wanted to thank Rick Sabino for providing the supports associations at the recommission meeting last night uh an opportunity for safety and first a training uh that the commission will strongly consider and hopefully we'll have a number of people that will register for the program great is that it y councilman Fox uh the intern superintendent of DPW took care of my report and councilman R updated uh on the pool Revenue so have nothing else to report okay councilman ketti thank you uh in regards to the PB High School Board of Education there are no updates from last week uh at which time they reconstituted in terms of the environmental commission uh the commission did hold in conjunction with the Boy Scout Troop for 8 and the DPW their styrofoam recycling drop off event this past Saturday in the west lot uh that was an enormous success about 78 cars dropped off styrofoam filling what I believe was either a 30 or 40 yard dumpster plus uh the back of one of the DPW dump trucks uh the majority of the residents were from Hillsdale uh there were some from Woodcliff lakes and Montville uh and there were numerous requests uh to determine if we could hold such an event more regularly uh what's going to happen with this is all the product is going to poly molding and that styrofoam will be recycled into park benches so very successful event and in terms of the fire department we will be reconstituting hopefully sometime between Thursday of this week and the end of next week and I can provide updates that great beol thank you Mr Mayor I have a very short one we have a new business in town sha Japanese Kitchen uh coming to 321 Broadway we don't have a date opening yet and I just want to uh clarify just one point um coun ruko uh for the second time says that Centennial cost us a million dollars uh we actually pull the numbers from 2019 I just want to go on the record just to clarify so we're all on the same page and I will make this available to the council and to the mayor since 2019 uh we paid DMR $49,000 stat paid him $165,000 col year we paid $177,000 uh and then we have the Environmental Group about 50,000 that comes up to 363,000 up to that point where we started the new plan the new plan costing us 374,000 and Engineering about 50,000 environmental about 50,000 all in all uh including the previous work from 2019 to date when we are handed the key to the field it will cost us $842,000 um so it's close to the million but it it it includes you know the new plan was any of the work that was done from previous able to be pulled forward into the work that's done now so Kier uh engineering and from satil we used uh some of the services that they gave uh in 2021 and 2022 uh use that data for the plan if we didn't have that we would have to pay more to get that okay also while we have Nick here uh Nick you've uh you're familiar with that field right yes the work that was done in the past inclusive of that $400,000 investment that was made uh did that add any value uh with regards to drainage and uh being able to uh make those fields playable uh that wasn't throwaway work right the work that was done previously by chrisel are you referring to yes um quite honestly a lot of that drainage system didn't really function properly it's not that it's it's throwaway it still is going to remain in place um but it wasn't really working so it's what we're doing now is additive to that or a supplement so so yeah to answer your question the answer is yes that still yes that's that's what I okay any other questions no okay I just just want a question when we spoke to be clear the work that Chris ttil did which the resulted in a visual look that the parents didn't like uh they the statio engineering put new drainage in pretty my my understanding after talking to you was that it had to Beed it was like we we put money in but it's a no so yeah it was it was a a bit of a Band-Aid fix right um but it it did it does provide some benefit it does store some storm water so it does reduce the amount of storm water that is Flowing off site and or ponding on the site but you wouldn't change anything you're doing because he did that work that's correct yeah our system is designed to work as if that is not there right but it does his his drainage design does supplement our system so it does add a benit right right there's also that is it not true that there are there are some uh costs by virtue of us having decided to do centen redo Centennial Field that that we've introduced more intensified D testing that has to be done on a quarterly basis as well as about a 55,000 expense for the lsrp so the specifics of that I think you would need to ask your ELP that question I would say in relation to the construction activities there are testing requirements and that is what that additional 50,000 is related to the current current construction if we were to do any construction there that would probably be the case I don't know if the price would be exactly the same but anything you're doing at that field because it's a landfill is going to require monitoring to make sure that it doesn't have impact to the the landfill below or there's methane deposits that are being released or anything like that right but our work now our decision to move ahead with Centennial Field and and redo things that we'd already done and improve upon that is costing us more money monitoring expenses than we had previously than what was going on before correct there there's a there's a monitoring expense that is just an ongoing kind of like maintenance expense and then as active construction occurs there's additional requirements that's correct if you know me you know that I'm a big proponent of being honest and open I think you are with the uh with the costs that we're experiencing when we get benefits there are also costs and I just want those costs to be made known to the [Music] public and John those costs for the d d monitor they'll come down over years right we hope so okay they'll go away well do they go away forever well when we first Capp that in 2000 Mike knows the the dates a little better than I do but um they they made us test and they just contined to make us test for years you have to push the D in order to uh get Freedom okay all right we're going to move on to the ordinances everybody gets to now hear a speak quite a bit here okay 2501 at the beginning of the year we start with one an ordinance to amend and supplement ordinance 0901 chapter 138 fees and chapter 71 swimming pool commission be it resolved that ordinance 251 does now passed first reading and that set ordinance be further considered for final passage at a meeting of the mayor and councel in the municipal building 380 Hillsdale Avenue Hillsdale New Jersey on February 4th 2025 and then and at said time and place all persons interested will be given an opportunity to be heard in concerning the same and the clerk is hereby authorized and directed to publish said ordinance in the rwood news once at least one week prior to said hearing with the notice of its introduction and of the time and place when and where said ordinance would be considered for final passage can I get a motion motion second second uh can court please read the role council member chimu yes council member kti yes council member fo yes council member maach yes council president oo yes council member ruko yes uh that is introduced okay 252 an ordinance establishing Sal salary ranges for the staff of the Hillsdale swimming pool Commission in the burough of Hillsdale County of Bergen state of New Jersey be it resolved that ordinance 252 does now pass first reading and that set ordinance be further considered for final passage at a meeting of the mayor and Council in the municipal building 380 Hillsdale Avenue Hillsdale New Jersey on February 4th 2020 25 and at said time and place all persons interested will be given an opportunity to be heard considering the same and the clerk is hereby authorized and directed to publish that ordinance in the Ridgewood news once at least one week prior to that hearing with a notice of its introduction and of the time in place when and where said ordinance would be considered for final passage can I get a motion motion second second will the CL please read the role council member ketti yes council member Fox yes council member m m CH yes council president oo yes council member ruko yes council member chimu yes consider introduced 253 an ordinance establishing Recreation Department program in summer camp th in the borrow of Hillsdale be it resolved that ordinance 253 does now pass a first reading and that set ordinance be further considered for final passage at a meeting of the mayor and councel and the municipal building 380 Hill Avenue Hillsdale New Jersey on February 4th 2025 and the said time and place all persons interested will be given opportunity to be heard concering the same and the clerk is hereby authorized and directed to publish set ordinance in the Ridgewood news once at least one week prior to said hearing with a notice of its introduction and of the time and place when and where set ordinance would be considered for final passage can I get a motion motion second second is there a second there second okay will the clerk please read the rooll council member Fox yes council member ma CH yes council president Oso yes council member member ruko yes council member chimu yes council member kti yes we're going to move on to 254 introduction ORD is establishing salaries for the recreation department be resolve that ordinance 2504 does now passed a first reading and that said ordinance be further considered for final passage at a meeting of the mayor count and councel in the municipal building 380 Hillsdale Avenue Hillsdale New Jersey on February 4th 2025 and at said time and place all persons interested will be given an opportunity to be heard concerning the same and the clerk is hereby authorized and directed to publish set ordinance in the Ridgewood news once at least one week prior to set hearing with a notice of its introduction and of the time and place when and where said ordinance would be considered for final passage can I have a motion motion second second will the clerk please read the role council member maachan yes council president Oso yes council member ruko yes council member chimu yes council member kti yes council member Fox yes okay ordinance 2505 ordinance of the burough Hillsdale County of Bergen New Jersey adopting an amendment to the Hillsdale Patterson Street Redevelopment plan be it resolved that ordinance 255 does now pass a first reading and that said ordinance be further considered for final passage at a meeting of the mayor and Council on the municipal building 380 Hillsdale Avenue uh Hillsdale New Jersey on February 4th 2025 and at said time and place all persons interested would be given an opportunity to be heard concerning the same and the clerk is hereby authorized and directed to publish that ordinance and the Ridgewood news once at least one week prior to set hearing with a notice of its introduction and of the time in place when and where set ordinance would be considered for final passage can I get a motion motion second second clerk please read the role discussion please usually we do we discuss introduction typically on every motion there's a lot for discussion okay so the discussion is on the motion in some way or on the merits of the ordinance the merits of the ordinance I is it is that your at this time is it's been motioned it's seconded the normal process is according to robits Rules of Order to have you can bring any M to discuss I'm thinking it through as we go this is not something you would hold until the actual adoption of the ordinance I think that would be my choice okay let's just discuss a it's already been uh the only matter I'd like to discuss or or at least bring out to my fellow council members is that we've had uh St John Baptist pastor indicate that he's uh concerned about it I because of the potential for increased flooding that occurs at St Johns um I think it's important if someone is going to object to that that uh that objection be sustained by a Engineers report or some evidence because what this mayor and Council have seen uh from um the work that's been done up to this point is that with the addition of retention tanks both in the residential part of the prior approved development as well as now the new Self Storage development um there might be an increased capacity to whole water that falls down in that area um but I would be sensitive to any scientific study that is presented before the council that argues to the contrary and that's all I want to say okay heard that no now there's something there's a motion before it for vote it's been postpone with a cler the [Music] RO question this is just an introduction that's all it is one quick question for the ba um are we changing the date to the mention yeah uh and that's to uh actually to accommodate St John the Baptist we have more time if we can change it to February that from February 4th to February 11th as read okay thank you so the motion would be can we get a motion for it on for the 11th right okay so any other discussion no so this is for the 11th will the clerk please read the role council president Oso yes council member ruko yes council member chimu yes council member Ki yes council member Fox yes council member maon yes uh we're moving on to 256 introduction ordinance of the borrow of hillso County of Bergen state of New Jersey approving an application for a long-term exempt uh long-term tax exemption and authorizing the ex execution of a financial agreement with Pont Avenue urban renewal related to the Redevelopment of loot 128 lot one on the tax maps of the burrow be it resolved that ordinance 256 does now pass a first reading and that set ordinance be further considered for final passage at a meeting of the mayor and councel in the municipal building 380 Hill Avenue Hillsdale New Jersey on February 4th uh and at said time and place all persons interested will be given an opportunity to be heard the same concerning the same that the clerk is hereby authorized and directed to publish set ordinance in the Ridgewood news once at least one week prior to set hearing with a notice of introduction and the time and place when and where set ordinance would be considered for final passage is there a motion motion there a second second discussion please second you'd like some discussion same comments that I made with respect to the earlier uh ordinance um in this case I know councilman uh ketti and myself were disappointed that the first attempt to introduce this uh did not have uh the uh the fiscal plans the study Exhibit C it was then added to it um I reviewed them so as councilman Ki and and I guess all council members have as well it adds considerably to the revenue stream that the council uh is looking for in the next future 10 20 30 years so it's a positive but again um I'm sensitive to the need for um to make sure that neighbors around that development um that we don't harm them um so I'm open to any other scientific evidence that is presented to this body any other comment question um yes if these two are sort of related to each other so to speak um if we extended the date on the first one would we want to do that on the SEC on this one also February 11th I don't have a problem making an agreement about something that we that's fine still so 06 would be would be put on the 11th not on the 7th as well February 11th I mean yeah February 11th instead of the 4 74 that's fine okay I don't problem anybody else fine okay so 256 with a with a second consideration of it for February 11th yes will the clerk please read the role council member ruko yes council member chimu yes council member kti yes council member Fox yes council member m yes council president Roso yes great okay so we're going to move on to the resolutions on the consent agenda 25039 through 25054 I realize we're going to pull one but let's uh let's get a let's get a motion and we'll ask to to pull it can I get a motion motion second P I think we pull we should pull first we to no we're going to pull 2542 is I'm sorry is there a motion on the consent agenda with it SS 25042 I think want yeah I'd like to pull 254 254 to be considered separately please okay is there any other resolution to be pulled yes 2554 25 054 okay okay is there another you got three no we have three oh you have three I got three more we easier just cons okay so with the ex the consent agenda with the exception of 2540 25042 and 25054 is there a motion motion second second well thir please read the role council member Tru yes council member kti yes council member Fox yes council member mazang yes council president oroso yes council member R yes the consent agenda passes with the exception of those three resolutions let's consider them one at a time 254 discussion we're going to have to well we have a motion discuss yes discussion okay uh so this is the resolution supporting Amendment of the fair housing act as proposed by the New Jersey Institute of local government attorneys um I believe that the the resolution is is is factual and warranted however there is a slight or Amendment I'd like the propos to the language in here uh in the third where at say quote unquote here it says thereby turning our Garden State into the garden apartment State close quote um in my opinion these types of statements are opinion and it could undermine the the factual nature that we're trying to present here so iose for that to be construct that entire where at just that no no just thereby turning our Garden State into the garden apartment State okay no problem that to be oppos it I second the motion to amend so um we're agreed to the me so let's vote on it as amended correct the removal okay will the clerk please read the role can I just get clarification so I'm removing turning the Garden State thereby turning our Garden State into the Garden State so the sentence will read forces municipalities to overdevelop comma or semicolon and spikes the obligations on taxpayers as Municipal governments mhm okay deletes that from the comic to the semi okay please read roll okay I just need a motion in second motion am second second okay clerk please read the council member kti yes council member Fox yes council member Mazon yes council president Oso yes council member ruko yes council member Tru yes the resolution 2540 passes as amended 25042 let's start with a motion and we'll do amend 2542 is there a motion motion second second all right discussion I motion that it be tabled uh more accurately under the Parliamentary procedure temporarily postponed to the next council meeting um it'll give us time to think about whether this Council wants to incur the restrictions of of a Green Acres uh Grant um and it'll give the finance committee time to talk to the CFO with the ba to determine the feasibility of putting it in our budget without the benefit of a grant it'll also give the recreation director time to see what other grants might be available um so for all those three reasons I would say let's postpone it Is there further discussion on this I agree with John um the uh gas can you just provide confirmation that uh that is in fact the way this grant works that is confirmed we confirm that this afternoon with the state Green Acres Green AC yes if if we do take the grant then we open up all our parks and Facilities uh to the general public all of them uh so in addition to the two ways to that we can fund this either through the grant or through the taxpayers will also be looking at uh a possible donation or contribution from a resident or residents uh to fund the project so there'll be three ways we can take a look to fund it okay and and the recognition is is on board on trying to identify financing options for to in support of this program y so there's a motion on the table to uh table 25042 postpone it until the next meeting which is February 4th okay uh will the 13 second for the motion no we have a second second I thought J was a second no motion the motion to postpone did that get a second no so I'll okay is there a motion to second can we move to the 11 because the recommission meeting is I would be over to the 11 yeah is in between the 4th and 11th time I didn't see that being a major the only thing com many would be if you deci if the council wants to Pro proceed with the Green Acres you've got to do it by Def I was going to say is there a time timeline so the Green Acres deadline is February 10th yes so it's either the fourth you better you better pull your recommission so it's got to say the fourth because of the deadline okay okay is there a second second okay will the clerk please read the rooll council member Fox yes council member ma Chong yes council president alsoo yes council member ruko yes council member choim yes council member col yes 2542 has been tabled until February 4 25054 can I have a motion motion second second let's have some discussion yes um it's clear from this resolution that disciplinary charges have been initiated against Chief Smith none of which are characterized as Criminal to the best of my knowledge it doesn't say who initiated the charges but it has been publicly reported in the PCAT press that he was being investigated by the Bergen County prosecutor's office bur officials in December it's been reported in the Press also confirm that the chief had been placed on administrative lead this is all public information I'm not revealing anything that hasn't been made public I've always felt Public Safety as the primary duty of all government it's the first Duty why we have governments therefore those who initiate and conduct any investigation of senior Public Safety officers need to do so carefully they need to do so swiftly they have to weigh the evidence with the proper perspective and with recommendations that are appropriate to the alleged offense the investigation has produced an outcome which I cannot describe because it's in litigation but which could lead to a situation that will seriously affect the management of our police department and therefore the effectiveness of law enforcement in the burrow possibly for years to come back on now the matter rests with how Chief Smith's hearing before this uh hearing officer goes Phill still has been without an active chief for quite a while if after the appeal process is complete Chief Smith chooses not to return or is not per Ed by this Council to return wait a second here are we getting far field here off the resolution I don't well I just want to make sure that we're not violating anybody's right I want to stop me immediately that's why I'm asking counsel yeah I I I I can't say anything that's been said is uh violative of anybody's rights um the resolution though is to app point the hearing officer um it doesn't discuss outcomes and potential outcomes correct so I I I'd like to stay away from that Ian the the the resolution is on for the purpose of appointing a person to do a job um if the councilman seeks to provide some perspective on that it's I don't know than it's necessary but it's his prerogative yeah and at my last bullet point okay excellent um as I was saying if after this appeal process is done and depending upon the outcome if he chooses not to return or is not permitted to return or um I think it's vital that we promptly commence an external review a search of candidates to permanently fill the role of course I think you're getting way ahead of of yourself here I want to protect everybody's rights here and and I think that that's going too far for what we're considering I appreciate the comment but I think that the four corners of this resolution is too someone to resolve this matter and I think that that's what for everybody's protection including everyone up on this board I think we need to confine it to that I conclude my comments thank you okay can I get a motion we've already got a motion in a second will clerk please read the role on adopting it council member maachan yes council president Oso yes council member ruko yes council member choim Muk yes council member kti yes council member Fox yes the resolution is adopted and we have one other item on the non-consent of consent 2556 the bills can I get a motion motion second second comments seeing no one will the clerk please read the roll council member ketti yes council member Fox yes council member m Chong yes council president Oso yes council member ruko yes council member CH yes 2556 pass now move on to the public comment uh three minutes on any topic not just what was on the agenda um for the resid on the record uh would anybody like to speak certainly father if you had we have have we have some wel to come back I'm sorry to cut off the I don't want upset hand your hand is f he has access to a higher power but it's okay you say your name and residence please my name is Joe Caro I live at 26 yesler Hillsdale I've been here since 2006 I really appreciate the mayor and council's um everything you do to look out for the community in the town uh this town's been nothing but a blessing for me and my family uh both my daughters went to St John's but they also went to pasac Valley um there there's no there there's no divide loyalties in my heart um I I do have a question though um since the co lockdown the whole country and Hillsdale is not immune has had been in a mental health crisis um I think something we might be missing is that the church is and any church any synagogue any place of worship is a is a source of emotional spiritual and and mental health support it's part of the network um I really appreciate that you're you're going to study the um the effects of the of the flooding management um there are a number of predictive models available in social science has anyone even thought about studying the impact on the mental health well-being of the community if you build a four-story monstrosity that that does nothing but store items within the footprint of the church um there is a way to study this and you could look into what the possible impact is on community's Mental Health I think my three minutes are up thank you for your comment thank you so much anybody else like to speak Bob please one thing that I didn't clarify is that uh I'm learning about a lot of of this only very recently and the fact that we met yesterday with board administrator new mayor and I just stated something very simple obviously our objections are very broad I Absolut not only on the environmental and flooding um I just don't uh I totally object to the construction of the uh storage facility literally 30 ft uh from from my property so that's one second I wanted to make it a part of the record that I'm not here alone our Corporation as a parish has two trustees uh Mr Aral and Mrs Teresa Henry here uh the head of our finance Council Mr B fan is here so just that that is known and then since I already made a trip I have one very very serious issue that I needed to discuss with you St John the Baptist Community extended our Hospitality to our seniors for for many many years recently dealing with a lot of issues you all s John that is I realized that we don't have any insurance coverage for any events related to The Gatherings of the seniors um our insurance coverage is limited only for our church uh events if something would happen to anyone of these po people especially now when it's cold and slippery and everything else would have very very serious consequences for our community uh uh tremendous uh probably millions of dollars so uh I don't think I will be able to allow any any his Gatherings uh without this coverage so sooner we get this done uh then uh then we'll be able to to welcome until the uh Community Center is completed thank you thank you for your comment is there any other comment one then two you've been deferred to hi everyone Christina Lamb 203 Washington Avenue um thank you for having me back I think you've heard me speak a few times um I just want to say a couple of things first of all I want to really thank our rec department at the hard work that's going into our fields in general across the town the improvements in the Parks it's really exciting to be here and kind of hear the plans that are that are happening um I was hoping the engineer would stick around um a little bit to kind of hear some of the thoughts that we've been mowing over um uh at home and you know with some of the neighbors that we are friendly with I don't want to speak for everybody I don't know everybody who has been coming up here to talk um but first of all I want to say that we really need this park to happen seeing the boys here today was really I think uplifting hearing from the coaches um so these improvements are needed for the town and I don't think that anybody's opposing those happening um being so impacted being so close to the fields there are a few concerns that I would like to address traffic is a huge issue in the area when large scale town events happen right now those events are few and far between at that Park 10 or less a year so they're a lot more tolerable um if that field is truly going to be the only place used for large scale events those of those incidences aren't really going to be tolerable anymore because they're going to be constantly happening I would like to throw out a couple suggestions because I don't feel like you can only come with up with problems um one of the things that um has been mentioned is that some of the other fields are not even really worth investing in they're that poorly in shape one of those being Beachwood um I would like to throw the idea out there of using Beachwood as spillover parking for Memorial if it's not worth investing in improving it why don't we take away all that parking issues all the problems with people leaving their cars you know in an unsafe areas by just turning Beachwood into a parking lot for Memorial that will take away that second parking lot in the corner um we can use the space that we already have and then use that as spill over parking it's close enough to walk that will give the w parents and Spectators a safe place to leave their car and will take away a lot of those issues in the surrounding area I think that that's something worth thinking of uh I know lights are a huge issue um hearing from the rec department they're really necessary um but my thought is I think the 9:00 proposed curfew is a lot more fair for the local residents um I would also like to S to suggest possibly only lighting it for Field Sports and not for baseball and softball considering we have lighting for baseball and softball at Centennial and from what I understand and again the engineers could probably clarify further that lighting for field sports is less invasive than lighting for baseball and softball because they can be set at a lower angle um which might be a good compromise kind of for the residents and giving our wreck kids what they need for the town I would also like to throw out the um idea of just putting a um portable PA system and not a permanent one that can be used so that we can host things like County tournaments because I believe that's the need minutes thank you I I appreciate it I believe the need for that is so that we can host these large scale events at our beautiful Fields but we can do it in a way that is only when necessary and I just want to say that I don't want to I don't think any of us want to live in a divided town so I think we can just kind of focus our energy on working on finding solutions for the proposal than you thank you so much Mr Savino 64 Westdale Road Richard Savino 6 for Westdale I'd just like to follow up on Father Peter's points on the uh 05 introduction couple months ago this was originally introduced and I commented about um the council was careful had you outlined why you accepted and rejected the planning board recommendations and that was listed and identified online but I had asked about in the Amendments themselves the height of the building was raised and the impervious surface was increased now father is that's the heart of his objection um and back in November I asked for a further explanation of why that was happening and I note in the intervening two months there is no it's the same document I think that was posted with to the agenda back in November and you know I I don't understand why the storage space needs an extra story and why they're increasing their impervious surface which was already a very high percentage much higher than any other uh any new construction would be permitted in town um that under the Redevelopment plan and that was justified at the time of the Redevelopment plan because it was more permeable than existed when when it was large when it was almost completely paved so I would just ask you know between now and February 4th please explain what's going on we have we have increasing objections here to the to those exact points and I just find it you know I'm just it's distressing that ask a question and no further explanation comes out it's the exact same document being repeated thank you thank you is there anybody else would like to comment seeing none we'll close that period and move on to council commentaries I will begin just by saying uh my state of the burrow speech was sufficient last week so I figure I've talked enough um and we will just go from there this time we'll start at the far end on Council commentaries counc MTI yeah simply put just thank you for the community's involvement in the meetings appreciate your input your statements everything is taken into consideration thank you councilman F no comment council president no com councilwoman job yes I just want to a big congratulations again to the Hawks Junior and peee um Super Bowl champions along with the outstanding cheerleading teams um we're very proud of them and their hard work um I also want to thank Mr Muhammad for his letter and helping to um initiate a new tradition for our town so I'm really looking forward to the February 22nd uh Crescent lighting so thank you for initiating that um also I want to thank Rosa um belli for sharing her story and her concerns regarding parks and for being an advocate um I think you know we really appreciate hearing it and we will work on possible solutions if uh and lastly we'll be honoring Martin Luther King next week uh reflecting on his incredible Legacy of uh equality Justice and service so let's just take this time to remember him and his dreams for a better and more United Future Council woman I would also like to congratulate the Hawks and the cheers um I'm also very pleased that we will be um uh celebrating participating in the uh Ramadan celebration um and I also would like to thank everyone that does attend these meetings it's always um very refreshing for us and um it's a very good interaction with the community and of course as you know most of the time there's no one here so it is very good and and uh secret well YouTu so it's really it's really very um I think encouraging to all of us when we see people coming it shows that you're you know reading listening uh kind of interested in what's going on on Council and I think that people who have uh stake in the community should show up at these meetings um voice their opinions their concerns all along sometimes people just really show up sort of at the end when maybe they've just heard a rumor or or they've just found out something that's been going on maybe for a year or two or three and so it's um you know we welcome still those opinions and ideas but um I strongly encourage people to to you know attend these meetings and if you can online there's always the minutes from prior meetings that you could read to sort of bring you up to date or speed as to what is going on you know if you can't attend right um and I think that's it for me thank you okay ccil R thank you I want to congratulate Mary Williams uh on her retirement after many years of working in the buau in the building and construction Department she has a well-deserved reputation as always being Pleasant helpful and knowledgeable to Residents and fellow employees and she's going to be sorely missed um the last point in a recent story published in the past C press the executive director of fair share housing Corporation said that Hillsdale was a quote historically exclusionary municipality unquote and criticized us for joining a lawsuit with scores of other New Jersey towns that would put a hold and force the legislature to modify the fourth round of affordable housing requirements his would have the public believe that we and other towns uh included in the litigation are practicing a subtle form of discrimination against African-Americans Hispanics and others he apparently is ignorant of hillsdale's long-standing approach of requiring inclusionary housing affordable housing in all new residential developments approved by our planning board this has been going on for years and years it's too bad that he and he's not even a municipal official doesn't recognize that the municipalities he has thrown under the bus are only trying to correct the unreasonable aspects of the state's affordable housing requirements these municipalities are led by both Democrats and Republicans the executive director himself has fallen victim to stigmatizing this legitimate effort to improve the program so that municipalities remain attractive and do not overbuild shame on Executive Director Adam Gordon that's all I have to say thank you before I adjourn I just want to make sure everybody knows the question lighting ceremony will be on the 22nd at 6 pm. in Veterans Park okay thank you can I get a motion to adjourn motion all those in favor we are adjourn the next meeting will be February 4th at 700 p.m. in these ch