I would like to advise all those present that notice of this meeting has been provided to the public in accordance with the provisions of the open public meetings act and the notice was published in the city website. Copies were provided in the Bergen record also placed on the bulletin board in the lobby of city hall. Written objections
if any should be made to city clerk could rise for the move the flag. Pledge allegiance to the flag United States of America to the republic which stands one nation stand
indivisible under God indivisible justice for all liberty and justice for all. >> Okay, roll call. Councilman Cohen >> here. >> Councilman Firestone >> here. >> Councilman Fischer
>> here. >> Councilman Imus >> here. Councilman Preszano. Oh, no. Counciloman Le, I apologize. Councilwoman Lac >> here. Councilman Preszano >> present. >> Council President Ramos.
>> Hey, present. >> And Councilman Russo will not be attending. >> What about Councilman Cano? I'm here. Oh, >> Councilman Cano. I said Councilman Cano. You >> forgot about Councilman Cano. >> Hey. Okay. We may proceed. Let me share
the uh if everyone can see council Russo will be uh joining us tonight members unfortunately he he's unfortunate he cannot attend. >> Can everyone see the agenda?
>> Yep. >> Fantastic. >> Yes we can. Great. >> So, we have uh three three items for second reading. On the agenda, we have the standard of person with
disabilities. Uh closing streets for drop off and pickup certain hours for schools and amending parking for police vehicles along North Street. Any questions on uh items for second reading?
Okay. Any questions on petitions, communications, claims, or payroll? Okay. No questions on either. I don't see any hands up. >> Wait a minute. >> Okay. No problem. >> Hold on one second. Could you go up a
little further? >> Up, Councilman Nimus. Up or down? >> No, down. Down. I want to see >> the payroll. How's that? >> Yeah. Could Could somebody um please give me some insight what the other pay
uh is? It said when I looked into the detail, it says retro. Uh Dr. Gonzalez. >> Uh so we do have other pay broken down by um division. Um in some cases it uh
you know it could be stipens. Again in some cases these were the last pay period for stipens. Um I don't know if you're specifically asking about there was one division I guess in police that said um retro and I can I can get that
uh those details to you but my uh my guess is that that would be the um uh an approved union contract um you know retropay that was uh after a salary ordinance was was adopted. Um but I can
get that information for you. >> Thank you. So, I'd appreciate that. >> It was just for the retro item, right? >> Yes. And I guess my other question was is that is this is the overtime pay. I I believe I I would love to see if we
could have the overtime pay broken out over through the whole year. Uh I know that they budget for it. I just am curious as to whether or not uh it's tracking on what they expected. Yes, we could provide an uh some form of
overtime um you know summary by uh milestone within the year. Yeah. >> Yeah, I would appreciate that. Thank you. >> I I could add even right now as we're a quarter in through the year, PD is right on target for their number. Uh fire department is trending about 25%
uh better, but July and December is when they get a large amount of their overtime. But I think the PD should come in without any unexpected emergency should come in right on target. And I I believe the fire department uh will be
that or less a little less. That's something I shot with those chiefs every every two weeks. We have a number of new firefighters that should be helping with the overtime. The fire >> that has helped greatly the last 15 months. It's night and day. Uh from when
we had 118 to where we have where we're at 130 right now. Any other questions on payrolls? Okay, let's go to the Uh consent agenda administration
if two items the administration categor >> council president there's a lag in your audio >> any questions on A1 or >> you might want to uh try turning off your video. See if that helps.
Okay. >> But the council president did ask if there were any questions on A1 and A2. >> We have four items on the community development. >> Wait, I had I had a question on on A1 if you don't mind. Um, >> sorry. Should I log out and try to come
back in? Some technical diffic. >> All right. Council Imus A1. I apologize. >> Yeah. So A1, my question is, is this um is this an addition to NIXL? >> This is a replacement for Nixl. >> Y >> it is. It's an addition to Nixl. So it's a brand new.
>> No, no, it's it's a replacement for Nixl. Oh, it's a full replacement. Okay, great. Thank you. >> I mean, Everbridge has owned Nixl for >> a long time, so I'm not exactly sure what this is, but it's basically the same system that we're now I don't know
if we're contracting with someone else, >> a different entity. >> Are we increasing something? Uh, all right. It says we're So, nothing's changing. Literally no money. So,
I if I'm if I may, um no, nothing is fundamentally changing. Um Everbridge um acquired Nixl. Everbridge has since determined that they're phasing out effectively Nixl um and replacing it with their a very very similar uh
product that does provide the same emergency alert and community messaging system. Um so this is the same kind of credit based system that we that we use currently. Um added benefits are now that we can have um more uh specific
alerts. Um so we can have targeted alerts to specific geographic areas or groups or predefined lists um things like that. That's really the only um change in the service improvement in the service if you will.
It says we have uh uh information she accounts for an allowance of so 95 >> wait an allowance of 9.5 million total credits can I was there's a whereas in there I'm curious number eight >> pursuant to attachment average will
provide a formentioned service in the amount of 32,50 which accounts for an allowance of 9 million 500 total credits what help me out on that one >> uh yeah I mean we we pay I I it would take me a lot to go through their credit methodology, but effectively we pay a
certain number of credits for every text or email, etc. that we send. Um, but our our annual cost is always somewhere in the in the realm of 25 to to $30,000. This year it's about $32,000. Um, for the amount of credits that we
assume we'll use on an annual basis. um you know it it's it's based on our on our previous use and estimated use. >> Okay. >> Okay. Uh A2 anything A2 guys?
>> Okay. Hopefully you guys can hear me much better now. Uh community development. Any questions on community development items? We have a number of community development items on the agenda.
I believe we have 12. Is that correct? >> Four. >> I think I messed up my my agenda. One, two, three, four. Okay. So, any any questions on community
development, my friends? Okay, I got my order back. Okay. Uh, community service. >> What What is this? I'm trying. I mean, I read it, but I'm like, it's us teaming up with the university. Yeah.
>> Yeah. This is allow interns from the university to work for with the social workers and gain uh class credit for it. >> Doesn't cost the city anything. >> No, >> it's really common in high red.
>> Yep. Uh corporation council that that's two workers compensation settlements I believe. Uh, clerk Laura sent u the items about that via email.
>> City clerk. >> I I might have looked at it quickly, council president, but I thought I saw the same description twice. Maybe could just double check that we got two separate descriptions of two different settlements. >> Okay. So, Jerry and
>> just double check that. Yeah. Jerry or Director Perez, can you just double check that for us, please? >> Yes, we will. >> Thank you. >> Okay, finance. Only one item for finance. >> Actually, there are two items for city clerk before finance. Council president.
>> Yes. Yeah. So, any questions on CL1, CL2? Yeah. And see with CL2, we're going to have uh we're going to start the council meeting off with the presentation uh and speakers regarding autism awaren awareness month.
I think we we'll probably have three to four speakers. What? Finance department. >> Is there a total amount associated with that? >> I think it's 110,000. >> Yeah. Yep. 110. >> That's correct. Is that is that about
how much we paid last year for these services or like what what's driving the number? >> Yeah. Um so we paid about 90,000 last year. Um it's our best estimate based on where we are currently. So our our uh you know tax assessor looks at all the
appeals in the pipeline and um we think it might be slightly higher than last year which is why um we're proposing 110 instead of 90 but of course it is and not to exceed um you know so it'll only be be build on an hourly basis. Do you know do we have any sense of
like what the what our I don't want to say success rate but I guess success rate and winning rate is in the in these. >> Um that's a very interesting question. I will I will ask um our assessor to put something together for you. >> Okay.
>> Infrastructure has a number of items. >> Yeah. So any any questions infrastructure? We have a number. Council president, you want to start us off? >> Yeah. Number one, my favorite. >> So just a quick question here. This is
the contract to remove the snow on the streets. Correct. I'm guessing is this this person or no? Is this a different person? >> This is the contract for overnight snow removal on city streets. >> Okay. So this was 132 and then 584,
right? Or an additional 584. So a total of 190. Correct. >> Correct. The 5845 is from the most recent snowstorm from February 23rd to the 25th. >> 23rd to 25th. Okay. And so that was for
how many streets? >> So that was for 44 city blocks. It's about 2.7 miles of city streets. Um they worked basically overnight and throughout the day to clear um those areas over 39 hours. >> You know where I'm going with this.
Northwest Park was $17,000. >> Yeah. >> What are you guys doing? What are we doing? 117 to do a park and $190 to do the whole city. I I mean I'm flabbergasted here. I'd love to know. I
understand emergencies, but emergencies when the city's getting their face ripped off on this stuff. I mean that's you can't have the park 117. He's down in the Bahamas now probably kicking his feet up having a M tie but this is 190 for the whole city and they they cleared a lot more snow than what's in Northwest
Park. So I I would like to have some answers and some more details on what was done with this and uh who was it Stan? What was it? Um >> who was the other guy that got contract for North? >> Lose. lose lose
>> lose. >> I'd like to see lose invoice >> versus >> Yeah. lose landscaping versus this one. >> And I want to understand what's going on because something's not right here. Something's something doesn't pass the sniff test here. So, I need some more information on that. I mean, everything
down to like pennies. I don't know what to say because I'm looking at these two things and I'm going to vote on this. It's already passed. However, when I look at the totals, something just doesn't make sense. >> Councilman, if if I may interject on this, um the scope of work for these two
contracts for the Lu and for uh underground are two totally different. Yes, it's snow removal, but you're talking about it was not the entire city that underground utilities did. It was only specific streets that we had identified as immediate need to remove
snow. Um it is not manual labor. they are operating equipment and they are going straight through. The difference with loose landscaping at the park. It does require um people to shovel certain areas. They cannot use equipment all throughout the park. They are also
providing the deicer and the salting and the pre-treatments and post snow treatments. Um which all of that adds to the cost much different than what underground utilities did which was simply move the snow and get it off the streets. So, I'm going to say this
again. 2 point 2 2.7 miles. They ripped up all the ballards because I pulled them out of the snow. And thank you for you guys going and pulling those out as the snow pie uh snow piles have been melting. And hopefully we can reuse them. But I still don't I don't buy that. I I can't sit here with a good
conscience sit here and say for 2.7 miles of snow that was removed that that contract is only $80,000 different from somebody shoveling in the park. I I I just can't buy that. And I don't think the taxpayers can either. So, you know, going forward, I would ask that the
administration does a little more homework on this emergency or not. Then we have to have a a plan for this because I >> Yeah, >> it's just a tough one. So, I I'll leave you I'll leave it at that. >> Thank you, Councilman. >> Uh any other for infrastructure items?
>> Oh, can can you go up? Yeah, >> but I think uh council president Zano that's the sentiment of many council members I would say with regards to the snow removal cost with Northwest Park. >> Um I haven't
>> That's it, Paul. I saw that's it. Any any other items? >> No, no, there's another one. I got another one. >> Okay, that's it on I1. We're good. All right. Any other items? >> That uh Councilwoman August, did you go before me? I'll I'll heard you. Was that you? Oh, I just had a question about I3.
Um, I believe that I3 was the sinkhole that was the small one over by I think it was um, >> uh, the Demar building if I remember. >> Um, and I just feel like that seems like an
awful lot of money. It was a very small. I mean, I guess we don't know what was underneath it, but is that typical of what we should expect to for for that type of repair? 35 grand. >> So, so this sinkhole was at 411
Bloomfield Street. This was last summer. Um, and so this in this situation, they had to excavate about 8 ft down to identify the leak that was causing it. Um, and then back fill that area. Um so maybe the sinkhole was small on the top but it did require extensive excavation
underground to identify the source and patch it. Um and so the purchasing that we go for this for for the shoger group as well as the other um company we use for sinkhole repair is through the cooperative um extension. So the pricing is effectively negotiated um as a region
because the city participates in the cooperative. So, Shoger for their, you know, for performing this work does do it based off of cooperative uh pricing. It's not necessarily um, you know, there's not really much variable for for the same services.
>> This is paid for by the water utility, right? >> So, this one is actually paid out of the engineering OE line. Uh this there's a sinkhole repair line. Not not not within the water utility. >> But if it's a if it is a water leak
related, wouldn't the whole thing be in the water utility? >> So it was not related to the water uh water utility leak. It was effectively a pipe that was it probably um like a sewer pipe um had deteriorated and leaked and caused caused the uh the
soils above it to collapse and cause a sinkhole. And was it a main sewer line or was it a one from the property? >> I don't know the specifics of that. I can get back to you on it though. >> The only reason why I say that if it's a main sewer line then shouldn't the NHSA
be paying for the whole thing? So one of the reasons that this resolution the sink hole occurred back in June of last year um there was a back and forth between NHSA viol and the city to effectively determine the who was responsible for it and ultimately it was
the city um because the city was the one that responded and authorized the work um to go here and so I can get back to you as to more details as to how that exact determination was made. It was made last year. So, I can I can get back to you on more specifics on the exact situation.
>> I mean, it is I what I would say is it is what it is, but I it would be helpful to know like a lesson learned from it if if it was determined that it was our fault because we went first. Um maybe there's a different process that everyone gets in the room first and says
who's at fault. They should be the one that fixes it or or something cuz it feels like if it's an NHSA pipe, they're the ones that should have paid for everything relating to um you know the situation. So >> yeah. Yes. And if I could chime in
there, I mean that definitely is the case in most of our sinkholes. Um usually you can determine responsibility whether it's a service line be it water or sewer whether it's uh you know a main water or sewer. Um they all have different responsibilities. In this
particular case there was a lot of uncertainty as to what actually caused it and that can happen sometimes. Um we certainly have had that in the past where we can't determine full responsibility. That said, we'll get back to you with much more detail about this particular case, >> but it sounds like we should have some
sort of agreement in place for these exact situations, which is we don't know what it is, but we all agree when we get down there if it's obviously X or Y, we all agree that X will pay for it if it's X's fault, right? Like some sort of >> we don't need an agreement to do that.
And that is already how we operate. We because whomever is determined to be at fault takes responsibility. Um, but there are situations where we can't determine responsibility. Exactly. And that's where it becomes a a difficult
situation. >> Okay. Any other questions on that item? >> No, but I definitely want to have a followup on that. That >> I agree with you. >> Begs more questions. >> Yep. Uh, any other infrastructure items? I
>> six. That's you, Paul. >> Perfect landscaping. >> I six. >> Yeah. So, this is Is this for I guess I'm reading certain parks? Um what parks? Where? Um
is this for the whole city? Is this our only contract with one person that does all the parks or is this just what's the specialty or what? I guess I need more information. >> Yeah, >> director RJ I can provide a breakdown.
So there's uh six different categories underneath the RFP. The first is resiliency parks. So there are five total resiliency parks included in this. Um this year we've added in southwest resiliency park expansion southwest uh park original south 7th and Jackson park and plaza as well as resilient city
park. Um, at each of these parks, they'll complete spring cleanup, horicultural visits, um, lawn care, specifically soil testing, monitoring, um, arration and seating, pest management, so that's management of insects, uh, not necessarily rodents, um, that's covered under a separate
contract, as well as fall cleanup. The next is, um, certain park areas. And so that's effectively um at uh Stevens and uh Sonatan uh sorry um George Park, Stevens and Allesian includes uh lawn
care there as well as pest management um and then right ofway green infrastructure. There's about 28 rain gardens um included within each of these parks and the surrounding areas uh as well as along Washington Street. So that's the actual landscaping itself um the plants that are within it. So that
includes ma management of those plants themselves as well as uh irrigation system activation, winterization, and service visits. >> So wait, didn't we just approve a $35,000 contract for rain gardens? Was that what's that one? >> Yeah. >> So So the there's two
>> Yeah, there's two different contracts. One is for the AIGS, one is for anything subsurface. So that's all the pre-treatment, all the sistns and the containers that treat the actual storm water below ground as well as manage the the treatment facilities. This one is for the actual plants that you see
within the right of way. So this is actual seeding management of you know of those plants themselves. There's two different aspects of it. >> Right. These rain gardens are nice nice gifts to keep on giving. Um and then I So we have other part we have other not just picture perfect landscaping. We
have evidently other people it sounds like. Is that as well or is this we just bid out certain things or we bid out the city as a whole? I'm trying to figure this out because if we have like L's landscaping doing this, we got Joe's landscape doing this, we got Specialized Landscaping or Picture Perfect. I mean,
I'm trying to find out how many different vendors do we have and do we look at the whole city holistically and put out one bid to cover everything on that? >> That is what this contract is. This includes >> that's the whole city. So, the whole city,
>> this is for specialized This is for specialized routine landscape maintenance. There will be certain situations where you would need to have you know other work but this is anything that our you know we our public works and parks teams do not do in-house. So
the irrigation the aeration uh all that is included in this >> but this is this is for all 35 I think we have 35 parks that's all I just need to hear. >> Is there any other said differently R.J. Is there any other contracts for any other spaces
um in Hoboken other than this one? >> So, this is for specialized landscape services. We as a city still do we mow the lawns of all those other parks and do additional upkeep and maintenance on those grounds. This is specifically for
the work that occurs at the parks I just listed and the essential services. So, and then there's additional contracts that are not covered by the city, but are covered by the South Wood Corporation as well as Maxwell. Um, and so those are covered by those budgets
and those are procured separately by different vendors. Um, so to answer your question, this is the maintenance contract for city parks that we do not do in-house. >> How did how did we used to do it in the past? cuz it feels like this is
something that we wanted which was more of a holistic approach to this and in the past it felt like it was a little bit more peacemail but maybe I'm wrong. Can can someone talk to the difference between the past and in this contract? >> Yeah, I can answer that question.
>> Um you are correct. We used to do um separate peace meal for each of these individual services. um we would go out and get uh just estimates from vendors um and then we would go ahead and award to whichever one provided the the lowest
cost. Um so instead of doing a peace meal, we did one full RFP so that it could be competitive contracting goes out to various vendors, whoever wants to submit. Um the RFP did have specifications that included they did not have to bid on every single part of
it. um we could have uh had more vendors submitted uh their proposals and we would have had more options. We kind of selected various vendors to do separate work um but we only had one um vendor respond to the RFP.
And do you have a sense of how the aggregate landscaping costs the peace meal approach that we've previous done previously did if you aggregated all of that how that would compare with this this contract and the price of it? Um to be honest the the total contract
amount that I'm seeing for for this year is pretty much in line with what we would expect as a holist all all across for the work that is being requested here. >> Right. But when we did peace mail if you added up all the pieces would that be
the 143 or 143 or would it be more or less do you think? Um well, not counting the cost of labor and supplies that have also gone up um over the years, but we're probably in line with an estimated increase from past years.
>> We can get you the Yeah, we we can get you the the number. Um I believe it was peace meal until last year and we can get you um correct >> two or three years. just order magnitude because it it seems like it it seems like if you have a good vendor and
they're priced competitively and they're providing all your services, it's a better outcome to do it that way. Um but you know, let's at least look at it side by side because if you told me last year, you know, peace meal approach was
30,000 versus 143, I'm being extreme in my example, then maybe that isn't directionally where we'd want to go. But if it's, you know, kind of in the ballpark and similar, it' be I think it'd be helpful. Um, I think it would be helpful to see that. And also just a general,
you know, can we get a, you know, what is what is a total landscaping, you know, for Hoboken? You identified all the stuff that we need to have at all of the parks that are over and above the everyday. We have the everyday, the um
the mowing, etc. Um, but if you add into it Maxwell's budget, add into it um the southern waterfront, you know, what what is it? You know, what is that aggregate amount to landscape and maintain our open
spaces in Hoboken? Cuz we know we're adding more into it, right? We're going to add um all of the the new parks. We're going to add the expansion of or the widening of um uh Sinatra Drive. We're going to add the
maritime park phase one, you know, the cove park. Like it I think it would be a useful exercise to see what the aggregate landscaping for our city is >> in your copious amounts of free time. >> Anyone else? Thank you, Councilwoman.
And if Councilman Russo was here, I think we know what his question would be. Uh how come a lot of this work isn't being done in house? So be prepared for that question on Wednesday. We do the next one. >> Uh, public safety. Yes. >> No. I >> apologize.
>> I get a seven, too. So, >> I do, you want to go first? >> Sure. >> Me, too. >> Yeah. I mean, clearly we definitely need this. The one question I have is relates to just kind of where we are in the
season relates to nests and eggs and nests and what we're doing with them. Uh, and what this contract allows them to do, which I hope is actually two things. My my focus, listen, we need to handle the geese, but we still need to do it in a humane way, right? One is,
are we breaking eggs that actually have babies in it and not yolks? And two, as we've seen with the geese chasers out there, they when the babies do come, the dogs will separate the babies from the parents, and that just shouldn't be allowed. So, I just want to understand
what the humane, you know, guard rails are within this contract. >> I can answer that. Oh, yeah. >> Do you want Okay. Um so the the contract with geese chasers does include uh the egg addling that is under the fish and
wildlife laws regulation. Um geese chasers is um registered with fish and wildlife and they must operate under the regulations of the state. Um to my knowledge they cannot and the dogs and
we can speak to them as well. They should not be separating the baby geese that once they already hatch from from their mothers. Um if that if anyone does see it, please let us know, but we can have that um conversation with them. And
my understanding is that the eggs have to be taken um before the embryo develops. when so they pick up the eggs and look at them and if they have already been developed they put them back down.
>> Um I'll get the specifics but I know that they they do a test on site to check the status of the egg. >> I mean some of it is just timing like had they had we approved this a month ago then you know as given that I look
out my window and I see nests and I know where they are in the process and the females sitting on nests. Had we done this a couple weeks ago, the nest would have just had eggs with embryos in it. But now, because it's only about a 20 I
think it's 28 days or 30 days um for them to hatch, they're sitting on eggs that actually have, you know, babies or little geese inside them. So, that makes me nervous that they're going to be cracking open these, you know, halfrown um eggs.
So, >> we got to have a conversation with them just to get better understanding. >> Yeah. >> And this is where um where will this contract be for? And does it include Maxwell and does it include the southern
waterfront? Because those are two of probably the biggest areas that we get the biggest concerns. >> Correct. Um this contract is just for city parks, Stevens Park, World War II Memorial, and Sinatra Park, including the walkways. Um Maxwell Waterfront, the
Park O&M board did approve their portion of the contract um with Geese Chasers as well. Um so there is some consistency in services being provided. Uh, South Waterfront Corporation does have a three-year contract uh with a different vendor, but we have already spoken with
them about increasing their um geese control uh to a higher frequency daily. >> Great. And is is there any other thought given to address like other ways to address the the geese um other than just
geese chasers and then a more regular cleaning um service? But you know is there I don't know like putting fence up or just anything else that that would scare them away and keep them away or in the water? So we do um have flight
control applications to the lawns um that is included in the landscape for Maxwell and South Waterfront. Um by law we cannot trap them, >> remove them um you know use any sort of lethal ways of getting rid of them. Um
and we do not classify under the state laws um for the removal either. So unfortunately we there we do have to follow fish and wildlife laws and and do this in a humane manner. >> No, not unfortunately. Fortunately. >> Well, yes, fortunately. But
>> unfortunately for those that want them to not be in our parks, but they are here. >> Yeah. >> Any other questions on I7? >> Okay. Hold on. Sorry. Um >> sorry about background noise, guys. The
kids are a little reimbured today. All the sugar from Easter. Um >> I have So Pier A is not covered. Pier C is not covered. Correct. That's under the South Waterfront. Is that correct, director? >> Yes, >> that is correct. Yep.
>> And we do do they use the same people for this or do we have a different vendor for that or they you can make comments on that because we have a massive problem on Pierc and Pure A right now. I walked by yesterday. I don't know how people were sitting on the puree. It was disgusting. Um, and
I've had massive complaints from locals in there that, you know, frequent the park walking around. They see it all the time. So, I know that we, um, Director Fortonado, we had discussed some things. I just didn't know. Now, I thought the geese police I could call them. I would
say keep them there 247, but they have a different service, the Southwest Committee or the Southwest Corp. That's correct. They have a different vendor in >> a different board. >> And is there a reason why we have two? I
mean, we all work together, right? Or is there a special something special there? >> Uh, no. The um the geese control was part of the landscape um contract that the board had approved and that was a three-year contract that they signed.
>> And it's a different company than Geese Chasers. >> Correct. because it's a little confusing. >> They use the same methods. Um they have the border collie dogs. Um they do the flight uh control applications. Um but
they do it's a different vendor >> that that's fine. However, there's a mass confusion, right? So when we give out the information now that I won't um I'm trying to tell residents different things and they have to call different people for different key I'm sure if you walk along the waterfront there's geese
everywhere and so if you have to call two different numbers and delineate that makes it more confusing for residents. So I mean I would recommend uh that maybe somehow we can get on board with everybody although after the three-year contract is up that we use the same for the whole waterfront so
that it's not confusing to residents. Uh but two I would like to mention as well that pier A and pier C and all along that area is a mess. >> A mess. >> Um and so we need to we need to address that as well. >> Yep. >> Is it possible that the scope of work is
different? >> Not different. um different vendors and I I think just geese in general have a depending on how the the vendor is coming and doing the um you know letting the dogs run uh all plays a role into
it. But uh we'll have a conversation with the contractor and um make sure that they're increasing the number of visits. Uh >> thank you. Any question on I8? No questions on I8. Public safety.
>> It's a decrease. Council president. Why would we complain? >> Listen, >> you never know. Public safety. Any questions on public safety? It's just a grant application. Uh tax
collector uh any anything on transportation and parking and again this is the area around city hall >> T1 and T2 >> just on the transportation and parking estoppel is one word it's not hyphenated
T1. >> It is. >> There it goes. >> Good job, Councilman Doyle. >> Looking like a true player. >> Jim will be proud. >> Jim would be very proud of you. Want a medal. >> Thanks. >> Okay, we have a number of items for first reading.
So, let's just go. Uh, get my other notes. Ordinance number one. Any questions on ordinance number one, it's the cat bank. >> Is this uh is the increase the increase is allowed by law just with an approval
of the governing body? >> Yes, that's correct. Has that always been the case? >> Yes. >> Yeah, we've always had that. >> Yes. Every year you approve a similar ordinance. >> No, no, no, no, no, no. Every year we approve a cat bank of 2%. We're going up
to three and a half. >> They have it banked, Tiffany. They have up to I think it's like nine or 10, I think, if I remember correctly. >> That's not the Every year we're allowed to approve a certain amount in the individual year. And my understanding is
you're asking for an amount higher than what has been previously allowed. >> That is correct. >> So that's where you're asking for an additional 1% increase over what would be allowed. I mean the cap the the the bank itself changes every year but I believe it's the percentage above 2.5%.
Um that is the request that is approved by city council every year for the additional 1%. I can go back and check the um prior years to confirm but I believe that's the case. Okay. >> Okay. Uh,
ordinance number two that Yeah, it doesn't sound right because we're the the cap is at 2% and the point of it is for us to use anything that is below the 2% and that's
the statutory cap to be able to bank it. So, there's something about going to 3 and 12% that I haven't seen before. We've only ever seen the 2% I believe. >> I will check past records. >> Yeah. >> And just what's allowed under state law,
>> of course. Yeah. I believe I believe this additional 1% is what requires the the uh ordinance. Um, >> okay. I'm actually looking at the 25 uh the 2025 um ordinance right now. Um and it
references the same state legislation um 2.5% unless authorized by ordinance to increase to 3.5%. >> Got it. >> But the amount changes obviously on a on an annual basis, but I believe that percentage is is fixed.
>> Any other questions on the cat bank? Okay, we have ordinance number two, which is uh the filming fees. I don't see anyone. Okay. >> In the cat bank requires how many votes? >> Five or six? I
>> think it's six. >> Believe six. >> Okay. Uh no questions on ordinance number two. Uh ordinance number three. This is development fees comply with state affordable housing registrations. Okay. Nothing there. Ordinance number
four and this is coincides with ordinance number three. put in those housing regulations ordinances. And ordinance uh number five, extension of metered parking hours for Fridays and Saturdays.
Dr. Sharp, you want to give a qu a quick summary of this, please? >> Sure. and then and and and she had a conversation you and I had earlier today as well if you can. >> Yeah. So, so this ordinance would extend
the hours that metered parking uh would be enforced in the city's business districts from 900 p.m. to midnight only on Fridays and Saturdays. Uh and from a policy perspective, one of
the goals there is to better align the time frame that uh businesses are operating in these areas uh with the time that the meters are actually on to help facilitate better access uh to the curb and and better access to these
businesses. um over 60 of them are operating uh in these areas on Fridays and Saturday nights uh later than 9:00 p.m. in some cases even later than midnight. Um so uh that's the first part of it. Uh
the second part of that of this would be uh that we are currently working through a way to uh provide free parking for any resident that lives or has an address uh in the affected uh meter parking zones
that are in this ordinance and they have a a valid resident parking permit. Um there are a few different ways we can implement that. So, we're just kind of working through uh a couple different options right now, but wanted to put that in there as well uh as an important part of this.
>> Any questions on uh ordinance five, my friends? >> Okay. Uh ordinance number six, an increase in metered parking fees. Can you amend the title to just say it's
to add CPI increases in the title? >> Sure. >> Given that's all it is, I think people should see that, not have a heart attack. is that good councilman the the addition on the screen.
>> I'm just looking. Um >> we'll uh we'll we'll add the >> What do you want? Okay. >> Yeah, we we'll add that. Ordinance number seven, increase parking meter. Uh, sorry, just
parking violations. Any questions there? Okay. Uh, ordinance number eight, no temp increasing no temporary parking fees for construction. Number nine,
increasing the parking permit fee for residential and visitor parking permits. Okay. Uh, updates to electric vehicle charging fees. >> Yeah. So, number 10. Um,
I I'm I'm not sure I still know enough about what you're trying to do here. I'd asked some questions and maybe you sent answers to me, but I didn't um if you did, I haven't looked at them. But I
in you know, the spirit of what I think we're trying to do is make sure we always talked about this from the very beginning that our charging stations are charging stations. They're not priority parking for electric vehicles. And so the way to do that is to charge whatever
we're charging for the actual electric charge and then you know shortly after that's over whatever the time frame is um is to increase the cost of parking there in a way um at a level that is
high enough that will incentivize the um person to move their car. >> And so right now that wasn't the case. If anything, it seemed like it was almost it was barely more expensive than um than parking there. Anyway, so um we had
that conversation and but what came back I just didn't understand the financial implication. Two things. One because it was suddenly on a kilowatt hour. Two um because I'm not sure it should start immediately as soon as the charge is over. Maybe give a 10-minute grace
period or something. And three, the dollar amount went from what seemed to be like $3 an hour to, you know, $20 an hour or whatever, which seemed just like a huge jump. And I I want it to be big, but all three combined I had questions
about. And as a result, I'm not sure I know what it is. And I don't want to sponsor something without having more clarity around all of that. >> I can answer some of those questions. Um, >> yeah, sure. So, so Councilwoman, you're
you're you're correct in that you know the idling fee is what we call it that is charged basically once you're you you've completed your charging session uh at 5 cents a minute. It was very far below market. It was introductory rate that was um adopted back when uh the
first on street charging station was uh installed in Hoboken on first street back in 2021. Um at that time there was also a charging fee of $1 per hour uh that was adopted for that station. And so
basically both of those fees were very kind of introductory rates uh as Hoboken was kind of feeling its way around with EV charging and to some degree wanted to be a little bit conservative with the pricing there to kind of drive uh demand and adoption and kind of see what what
the data would tell us right for usage and utilization. And five years later, uh that station, the original station on First Street, is in the top 1% of Charge Point's entire network across North America, which
means uh it's getting more utilization than 99% of their network. Um so it's a major workhorse. I think that tells a story that um you know it it has become a station that uh we also get a lot of
complaints for too because uh people will complain that again due to the low idling fees. Um you know it doesn't cost a lot to kind of just squat on that parking and block it for other people using it for hours at a time. And so that's kind of the the impetus for in
charge for charging a higher uh idling fee at 25 cents per minute. And to your point about uh a a grace period, there is a grace period currently. There always has been. And uh in this case, you know, we would continue to propose a grace period of at least 5 minutes. Um
and that's pretty standard across the industry. Uh you wouldn't want to have that kick in immediately, >> right? Um, >> and so so what ultimately I know you're proposing now a kilowatt hour like charge like what is what does that translate to versus what was $3 an hour
before? >> Well, it was $1 an hour before. So if you charge for two hours, it cost you $2, right? It didn't matter how much energy you were using or how much energy your car could take uh through a session. Um, with >> you said you said the idling fee was
five cents a minute, right? So five cents times 60 minutes is isn't that $3? >> Well, the idling fee that's only charged if you have completed a session. >> Yeah, the idling fees after when you're fully charged. >> That's right. I'm talking the kilowatt hour fee change here is the actual fee
for the charge session itself. >> Got it. Okay. Um, and so, uh, it's basically going from an equivalent of $2 an hour. If you're charging for two, you know, two hours, you you'd, uh, pay $2. And at 30 cents per kilowatt hour, depending on the vehicle and how much,
again, energy, how fast you can charge, uh, it probably will be in the range of 4 to 550 for a $2 for a 2 hour session instead of $2. Um, and then you have the the idle fees that that would increase uh from 5 cents per minute to 25 cents
per minute after that grace period. Uh, so it is a little bit of an increase, but it's still uh below market and it's uh quite a bit below market of the other Jolt charging stations that are operating in Hoboken. Um, they're charging a higher rate for idling that
kicks in around a dollar a minute uh after a grace period. Um, and if you kind of look around at kind of the industry standard at other at other stations, um, the the rates that we are proposing here are, uh, a little bit below just slightly below what's
typically, uh, charged elsewhere. >> Can you can you do you think you could do just a you don't have to do like a seven-page memo with a lot of paragraphs, but literally a table of like what Jolt is charging, maybe what a couple others are for the kilowatt hour,
what it equates to cost. um for the car owner versus what we have now and what an idling, you know, what an idling fee is cuz it it it's, you know, they're just numbers without understanding. All all we know is what it com compares to
what we're currently charging them. And I'm not saying it's wrong. It's just help you know, give us a little bit better information so we can be better informed to support it. Um, and then what time is the and and and like I said, we don't need a five-page memo. We
just need like a little spreadsheet, a few numbers, circulate it, like spend 5 minutes on it. Um, the And then what happens? What happens at 2 in the morning? Are these still chargers? They were supposed to revert to parking at 9:00. That's what we had talked about
early on. What do what do they currently do? And what what do we currently do? Are they charging all night? >> They are. Well, the one on this only affects the one on First Street and then the charge point stations on uh Newark
Street, the DC fast chargers. >> Mhm. >> And uh the one on First Street, you can definitely charge there all I think both of them you can charge all night. Um you the difference is you would need a resident permit in the permit zone to
charge. um versus the metered parking one, the f the one on First Street, anybody can charge effectively all night um if they if they're paying for it. >> But a regular vehicle could park there overnight. I mean, a gas vehicle.
>> No, >> no. Right. >> No, no. They're they're EB charging, >> correct? >> 247. >> And do we know if they're used overnight right now? I mean, at a $3 $3 an hour, it's >> that's a cheap overnight, right, for an
idling fee. >> They're they're definitely used overnight. Um, I mean, again, these are the the usage is is is unbelievable compared to, you know, other parts of the network. Um, both sets of stations, so I can add that data as well, so you
can get a better better idea of that. Um, >> well, I and if you but if you go to if you go from $3 an hour to 15 an hour, you're not going to you're not going to have people you're not going to have people there at 3:00 in the morning, >> right? Um, you might have one here or
there. So, like that I think is going to be important for us to put signs up and say we've changed the fee and increased it by five. So when someone tries to park there at night, charge it for their dollar per hour and then idling of $3 an
hour overnight for six or seven hours, you know, that's nothing compared to now it's 15 an hour, right? So, I think a we need to warn them and b um we should monitor what the overnight usage is. And
if the overnight usage is nothing, then we should which which I I imagine it will be um we should consider having these revert to just regular parking overnight and have these just be 9 to9 m, which is what which by the way is what we talked about when we originally
um did these. So, like when we're talking about installing the ones up by me on Bloomfield, the conversation we've always had putting the ones up on Bloomfield is they will revert to neighborhood parking overnight. You know, the it'll be 9 to9 m um and
regular resident parking overnight. So, >> okay. >> All right. So, you're going to give us a little schedule though? >> Yeah. >> Okay. Perfect. >> Yep. Before Wednesday, please. Yeah, >> you got it.
>> Before Wednesday at 4:50 or at uh 5:59, >> you'll have it tomorrow. >> Thanks. >> Yep. >> Number 11, fire prevention fees. I think this is raises to the state standard and uh item number uh 12
amend safety to increase and decrease the table of organization. Any questions on number 12? Council president Zanna don't know. after this one. I have
something. >> Okay. Anyone? Uh number 12. Okay. Very good. And uh that's it for the agenda. Council President. >> Yes. Um I would like to know when we're
going to get our Kimberly Horn uh presentation. After all, it's been a year almost a year plus since the study was completed and we still haven't seen anything. And we're doing a lot of stuff to a lot of fees. and I thought we paid for that recommendation. So I think that
should be I would like to ask for a date when we will receive that presentation. Uh after all we didn't against my wishes we increase the contract for this stuff and I you know a year later I still haven't heard anything about it. Is
there any one any color and two when when will we be giving a pres be given a presentation? >> Sure. I don't have an exact date for for you that um or for for that, but uh we can talk about an exact date uh soon. Um
because I know you I know you've been interested in that and uh we're we're preparing to do that. So, it's coming. >> Okay. >> And uh >> I have another council president. I have like two more. >> Okay. >> Oh, go ahead.
>> No, no, you go. I I have a question as well, but you go first, please. Oh, no. If it's on this, go ahead. If it's >> No, different topic. Different different topic. >> Okay. >> Same here. Uh two, uh I wanted to know when the administration will share the results of the survey with the council being that we are working on our budget
process. Um it would be really nice to know what that looks like and then if we have to ask for things. Um being that we haven't seen a budget. Um I'm would like to know when that is going to be presented to the council. after all in all the budget workshops that was used
uh and we had no clue about it. So I think in in a form of transparency that that's something you should share with us uh to either differentiate from what we are seeing or to understand better uh which types of groups have given
information back to us but we still need to see that to uh make judgment calls uh and listen to what people are saying. Um, >> two, the other thing I'll throw in there is >> uh when will we see a budget? Uh, that
that will be another the other question. >> And then my last one will be um this is an a this is an ask. Oh, and I know it's um director forado this is and R.J. Director R.J. there's um a pothole on
Newark. Uh as you turn onto Clinton, you're coming east. It's the same pothole. I know it's the county, but I know we assisted in that. It's It seems like the tar has popped out of it again. So, there's a big there's a big hole. I drove on it yesterday, so I just wanted to give you a heads up.
>> Got it. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Do you want me to respond? >> The bud Yeah, the budget's on the budget one. I'm curious. >> Yeah, sure. Uh, so all of the raw survey data was actually added to the shared folder uh over the weekend. So, we shared a folder of information with you.
So, the Excel spreadsheets in there for your review. Um, we also shared a a series of responses to your requests during budget workshops um late last week. We understand that obviously there's more information to come, but we wanted to make sure that we keep adding
information as it's available. Um, so I'll definitely send an additional batch this week, but uh continue to add information as it becomes available. Um, I understand there's other council members who've submitted follow-up information and we do continue to provide that um or will continue to
provide that um as as we compile it. Um, and as regards to uh a draft budget, um, our intent is to introduce the the budget on uh, April 22nd and our goal is hopefully to have it to you by the end of this week. um we would like to give
you time to review it before introduction as opposed to prior years because as mentioned previously we are aiming to be more transparent as prior as compared to prior years. >> Yeah. Uh Director Gonzalez the I mean I didn't see well you said you added to
the folder and I I but >> just looking for that nothing came this weekend correct to let us know that it came or am I missing something? Maybe >> she sent I think she sent an email before the weekend with >> it was Thursday. and Thursday. >> Thursday. Okay. >> Yeah. >> And I >> And now that it's updated in it's
updated in there. >> Yep. >> Okay. >> It's in that that folder shared shared with you >> uh Thursday. >> It was it was sent uh via Jerry. So if you're looking for a search, I would search uh under Jerry Lure
>> on Thursday 42. I see Jerry. All right. I only see one from Sorry to be the pain and how you doing on this, but um happy to resend if you'd like. Can you res and I see some other things in there,
but maybe I'm I'm misguided on this. Um, but just let me know. I It'd be great to look at that. >> Happy to resent. >> Thank you. Uh, one item, a couple items actually. Uh we may have an emergency uh
resolution or ordinance for 101 Washington Street for overnight work hours and that's for the Whole Foods uh replacing equipment uh bringing in refrigerator bringing out refrigerators that have the overnight hours. So uh I think we missed that
email. I sent it to Director Gonzalez which she was never on the email originally. So we're going to try and have that uh as an emergency resolution for Wednesday night. Uh and then uh the Adam Street redesign, are we having a
public meeting about that? We selected a date for that and what is going on with the Grand Street pilot as well answer that today. You get us those answers on those two items. Uh I'd appre any other questions my
friends. >> All right. Motion to close. >> Motion in >> favor. Thank you very much. Have a good night everyone. Thank you. >> See you. >> Night. >> It's just us. They can't find the leave webinar
button. Yeah.