Welcome everyone to Township Council meeting Monday, May 19, 2025. This meeting is now called to order. Councilwoman Patel, please lead us in the flag salute for it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and
justice for all. Madame clerk, please read the statement of public notice. Take notice that adequate notice of this meeting has been provided in accordance with NJSA 104-8 and NJSA 104-10 as follows. A notice of the meeting was prominently
posted on the bulletin board at the municipal building located at 225 Main Street, Little Falls, New Jersey on January 7th, 2025. A copy of the notice was sent to the North Jersey Herald and News and the record on the same date. Additionally, a copy of the notice was filed in the office of the township clerk unsaid date. A link and a
telephone number to join the meeting virtually can be accessed on the township website at littlefallsenj.gov. Electronic provisions have been established for the public to participate during the public comment portion of the meeting. Thank you, Madam Clerk. At this time, please call the role. Council member Patel,
present. Council member Murphy, present. Council member Havitz, Council Member Vener, present. Council President Scoba, present. Have a motion to approve minutes of April 28, 2025. So moved. Moved by Council Murphy. Second by Councilman Venturi. Please call the role to approve the minutes of April 28,
2025. Council member Patel, yes. Council member Murphy, yes. Council member Habits. Council member Vancherry. Yes. Council President Scova. Yes. Can I have a motion to approve the minutes of meeting May 5th, 2025? Moved by Councilwoman Habits. Second by I'm sorry, Councilwoman Patel. I'm
sorry. Please call the role to approve the minutes of May 5th, 2025. Council member Patel, yes. Council member Murphy, yes. Council member Habits, Council Member Vaneri, yes. Council President Scova, yes. Mayor Damiano, the floor is yours. Thank you, Council President. Uh, this
evening, the first item up is my appointment to the library board of Alexis Ama for a 5-year term that would expire May 31st, 2030. And that requires the advice and consent of the council. Whatever. Go ahead. Mayor,
you can take the motion second now to advise the consent. Okay. So, we want to make a motion for her. Okay. So, there's a motion on the table to approve the recommendation of the mayor. So, moved. Moved by Councilwoman Patel. Second by
Councilwoman Hitz. All those in there's a roll call. Please call the role. Council member Patel. Yes. Council member Murphy. Yes. Council member Hits. Council member Vanererry. Yes. Council President Scoba. Yes. Great. Thank you, Council Members. And we have several proclamations this evening before we
invite up our two honored guests here. And we're going to start with the three proclamations that we have. The first of which is National Bike Month. And if you're able to somehow fight through the pollen in the air that is triggering everybody's allergies and able to get out there on your bike, uh we certainly
encourage you to do so. Uh just make sure you take your Zyol or your Claradin or one of those before you get out there for too long because it is sure coming down heavy, hence the clearing of my throat frequently through the meeting. In National Bike Month proclamation reads, "Whereas throughout the month of
May, the township of Little Falls will be celebrating biking and the freedom, the joy, and the well-being it instills within us, as well as the power that more people riding bikes has in making life better for everyone." And whereas May 12th to May 18th, 2025 is bike to
work week and May 16th, 2025 is bike to work day. And whereas biking has been shown to improve citizens health, well-being, and quality of life, growing the economy, attracting tourism dollars, and local business spending, and reducing pollution, congestion, and parking costs on our streets and roads.
And whereas throughout the month of May, the residents of the township of Little Falls are encouraged to experience the joys of bicycling. And now therefore, I, Mayor James Belfford Damiano, on behalf of the Little Falls Township Council, do hereby proclaim May 2025 as National
Bike Month in the Township of Little Falls. The next proclamation we have this evening is our National EMS Week proclamation. And I am proud to say that Little Falls has had averages, excuse me, of less than 4-minute response times
with our ambulances here in Little Falls since moving to our our program that we currently have. uh and it has been a tremendous benefit to the residents of this municipality. And this proclamation reads, "Whereas emergency medical services are a vital public service. And whereas the members of the Little Falls
Fire and Emergency Medical Service teams are ready to provide life-saving care to those in need 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. And whereas access to quality emergency care dramatically improves the survival and recovery rate of those who experience sudden illness or injury. And
whereas emergency medical services have grown to fill a gap by providing important out of hospital care including preventative medicine, follow-up care, and access to tele medicine. And whereas the emergency medical service system consists of first responders, emergency medical technicians, paramedics,
emergency medical dispatchers, firefighters, police officers, educators, administrators, prehosp nurses, emergency nurses, emergency physicians, trained members of the public, and other outofhos med medical care providers. And whereas members of the emergency medical service teams,
whether career or volunteer, engage in thousands of hours of specialized training and continuing education to enhance their life-saving skills. And whereas, it is appropriate to recognize the value and accomplishments of emergency medical service providers by designating emergency medical services
week. And now therefore, be it resolved that I, Mayor James Belfford Demiiano, on behalf of the township of Little Falls Council, do hereby proclaim the week of May 18th to May 24th, 2025 as emergency medical service week within the with the EMS theme we care for
everyone and encourage the community to observe this week with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities. And I just want to take this opportunity to thank our EMTs and all of our first responders here in town that provide emergency medical care to all of our residents. Uh I know we do have uh in
fact about 1,600 calls per year or maybe in excess of that. Uh so while everyone likes to think and I'm happy that everybody likes to think that emer Little Falls is a small town where there's very few emergencies or calls for service, the fact of the matter is our Little Falls EMTs are out there
working every single day to ensure that Little Falls residents uh remain healthy and safe and are able to get the care they need very quickly. So, thank you to all of our EMTs in town who provide this service to all of our residents. The next proclamation that we have is National Law Enforcement Week,
and it reads, "Whereas National Police Week is observed every May to honor the service and sacrifices of those law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty while protecting our communities and safeguarding our democracy." And whereas, there are more than 700,000 law enforcement officers serving in
communities across the United States, including the 34 sworn officers serving our town. And whereas since the first recorded death in 1786, more than 24,000 new law enforcement officers in the United States have made the ultimate sacrifice and lost their lives in the line of
duty. Whereas the names of these dedicated public servants are engraved on the walls of the National Law Enforce Officers Memorial in Washington DC. And whereas the new names of the fallen heroes are added to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial every spring. And whereas the service and
sacrifice of all officers killed in the line of duty was honored during the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund's 37th Candlelight Vigil held on May 13, 2025. And whereas May 15th is designated as Peace Officers Memorial Day in honor of all fallen
officers and their families and US flags should be flown at half staff. And now therefore, be it resolved that I, Mayor James Belelfford Damiano, on behalf of the Little Falls Township Council, do hereby proclaim May 11th to May 17th, 2025 as National Police Week in the
Township of Little Falls and publicly salute the service of law enforcement officers in our community and all communities across the nation. And as I just thanked our EMTs for their countless hours and incredible support to our community, it certainly goes uh
without saying that our police department is also a 247 365 operation. We have officers uh on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Meaning that they are here working to keep us safe on nights, on holidays, on
weekends, and every single day while we're out enjoying uh and with this upcoming Memorial Day. Of course, I want to honor all the veterans who have served and made the ultimate sacrifice. Um many of our veterans getting into law enforcement uh in their future careers.
Uh so thank you to all of the not only police officers but families of the officers who uh allow their spouses to walk out the doors or their children or their their friends every single day putting their lives on the line to make sure that we all stay safe. So thank you to our entire police department here in
Little Falls as well as all officers across this nation who keep us safe every single day. And now on to a couple of very exciting individuals that we have here in town. And while I have certainly enjoyed being
the mayor in Little Falls here for going on my ninth year, there's been a number of occasions where I have been truly proud to be the mayor of this township. And this is one of those evenings where I'm extremely proud to be the mayor of this town to have two individuals from
Little Falls make the rank of validictorian and saludiatoran at Sake Valley High School. And we're so thankful to have both of you here this evening. And I want to read a little bit about each of you. And I'm going to ask each to join me up here individually and then together at the
end as I read just a little bit about all the incredible accomplishments that you've made, not only academically because that goes without saying if you're the validictorian and saludiatoran, but all of the things that each of you have done in addition to putting your head down and getting
through school with the highest grades that anyone can achieve. you've done so many things outside of school that really show the true character of what the two of you have done for this community. Uh and and and I want to thank you for all of that. So, the first
person I'm going to ask to join me up here is Willamina Youngberg, the saludiatoran of PV the student All right. So, Willamina is the saludiatoran of Pake Valley's class of 2025. She's serving as the president of her school's
chapter of the National Math Honor Society, as well as the treasurer of the Art Honor Society. Her fall season consists of playing for the varsity girls soccer team, of which she was a captain this year. She's amassed over 800 saves as the goalkeeper of this team. Pretty impressive.
During winter, she takes part in girl show as the head of green posters where she works to design, draw, and paint the themes of the main events. She's volunteered at school blood drives, helped paint the mural for the Little Falls Recreation Center, and participated in the charity Hey Jude
concert to benefit St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. In addition to playing music, she also loves to paint, sew, and bake. Another thing that I can certainly get behind, who will be attending the College of New Jersey in the fall to
further her academic career by major by majoring in nursing. She hopes to become a labor and delivery nurse in the future. I want to congratulate you on such an incredible accomplishment this year and really thank you for for being such a part of this community every
single day. Congratulations. Of course. And we want to present you with a proclamation that outlines uh essentially we just what we just said. And we want to thank you for everything that you've done. And I'm going to invite the council up here for a photo along with your parents here. Come on up.
All right. And now I'm going to invite Maria Richards to join me up here, the validictorian of Pake Valley's high school class of 2025. In addition to being the validictorian of the class of 2025, Bree's been a dedicated student and active leader. She serves as the
president of the school's GSA, vice president of the art club, the school's largest club, and secretary of the debate club, another thing I enjoy doing. Beyond the classroom, Maria is a member of the varsity fencing team and is deeply involved in mentoring
programs. She supports incoming students as a peer mentor and serves as a fast friend to students in the special education department. Her commitment to service extends throughout the community. Maria regularly volunteers at food drives at the Toto Public Library, helps students as a homework helper at
the Alfred H. Bowman Public Library in Woodman Park, and supports local initiatives in Little Falls, including the St. Agnes food drive. During her summers, Maria continues to pursue academic challenges. Most recently, she competed in a 4-week artificial intelligence program at Carnegie Melon
University. This fall, she'll attend Princeton University, where she plans to major in chemistry. Maria's nature nurtured a love of baking since childhood again very much after my own heart and aspires to blend her passion for food
with her academic interests by becoming a food scientist and we wish her the best of luck in her future endeavors and can't wait to see what you can do in the future. Congratulations Come on. One more question. ask question.
All right, council president, that's enough for me this evening and I willh turn the meeting back over to you. Thank you, mayor. Um, it should be duly noted that besides the mayor, there's also three alumni from Seg Valley that sits on this deis. So, again, congratulations
Yep. Right. I don't know if I was the best student, but notice she was leaving. Yeah. We'll move to council reports. Uh Councilman Murphy, would that like to lead us off, please? Thank you, Council
President. First, I just like to congratulate um both of them tonight. What a what an accomplishment and uh it's great to see him here and uh glad gladly honoring them. Uh some exciting news for the domestic violence awareness committee. Um this year again we've partnered with the Girl Scouts um for
the Memorial Day parade. So um when you see us on Saturday, the committee will be marching alongside the Girl Scouts which is just a really awesome um thing to partner with them out on and to see them alongside our our our members is is just a really nice thing. So keep an eye out for them. It's exciting. I know the committee's excited for it. I know the
girls are excited for it. So, just a really nice thing. Um, also on June 5th, we have our partnership with the prosecutor's office for the presentation at Pacific Valley High School. Um, and we have a meeting on June 3rd as well. So, a lot of exciting things happening for the committee. Um, and a lot to look
forward to. Uh, other than that, just want to wish everybody a happy and safe Memorial Day. Thank you, Councilman Murphy. Councilman Venturi. Thanks, Council President. I too echo congratulations to our two students that are here. It's always great to see when uh Superintendent Healey puts out the
communication and the two students that are being honored are from Little Falls. That means the world to us obviously and thank them for coming here and I'm sure their parents are proud and we're looking forward to graduation next month. So going to hear their speeches. Um as Councilman Murphy just said, you know, this weekend obviously we got a
lot going on in town. Friday night is the annual concert in the park. We're back for our sixth year. Uh we have two bands lined up. We have three food trucks. The Boy Scouts will be there also selling some hot dogs and water. The Girl Scouts will be there. If you need Girl Scout cookies, they still have plenty they want to get rid of. So,
you're going to have them there. Uh the Clifton Health Department's going to be there. Our police department is going to have a table for community policing as well, and some others are going to be there. So, if you get a chance on Friday night, stop by. We'll be there at 6:00 and we'll probably be there till 900 p.m. or a little after that. Then the
next day uh is our annual Memorial Day parade which starts at 10:00 a.m. Uh I've put flyers all over the place thanks to the police department today. They put out the digital sign right on here on Main Street as a reminder. We have a banner over at Wilmore Road Park. I'll probably do some videos this week
to remind people because I saw a post today. When's Memorial Day parade? It's always on the Saturday Memorial Day weekend. It hasn't changed, but I'll make sure that it's communicated. Um, we have a good lineup that's set up with uh members from the military, you know, past and present that are going to be marching. We have some military
vehicles. We have the police, fire, so many different organizations and groups have signed up as well. There's going to be some music, too. Uh, so I want to just let people know that. Um, and then on Thursday, we're going to meet uh with all the different departments here just to go over all the plans to make sure that we're squared away for Friday and
for Saturday. And I do want to remind people too on Saturday, make sure you know after the parade you stick around. The Little Falls um the American Legion Post 108 holds their annual services to honor the men and women who gave the ultimate sacrifice. And then of course there's a couple barbecues that
afternoon. One by the American Legion, another one by the U Mason. So if you you're around town this weekend, hopefully you can support some of the activities that are going on. Uh that's it for me. Council. Thank you, Councilman Venturi. Councilwoman Habits. Thank you, Council President. Um, I too
would like to echo another congratulations uh to the two girls. That is a great feat and so very proud of them. Um, also congratulations to Alexa on her appointment to the library board. Uh, she is a great addition uh to
the trustee board. Some library updates. Um, there is a read with Daisy. It's back this Wednesday um at 6 PM. Uh, you can read with the certified therapy dog. So, please register at the library's website. Also,
please follow the library social media pages or their website and they have a brand new social media uh series of historic New Jersey actually tap into was just talking about it and how wonderful the library is. It is a great addition. Uh they take journeys uh
through the historical New Jersey landmarks um and then posted as a series. So, might want to catch that either on their web page or their social media. Uh the farmers market started yesterday. It was a great start. We had over a thousand people in attendance. It was really great. Uh it was great seeing
the community come together and enjoy all the great vendors uh the market has to offer. This Sunday we'll be bouncing into summer with a great giant big uh bounce house from 10 to 1. So start your summer off right. Start at the concert on Friday, the parade on Saturday, and
then Sunday stop at the market for the bounce house. That's all I have. Thank you, Councilwoman Havitz. Uh, Council Member Battel. Uh, thank you, Council President. I too want to echo uh my council and congratulate the graduates. Um, as one of those PBLOM,
it's great to see Little Falls residents continue to shine. Uh, I also want to thank our health director, John Beagle, and his entire team at the Clipton Health Department for uh, being there this past Friday to help us remember the lives that were lost during the pandemic
um, at our second annual CO 19 memorial. On Thursday, May 22nd at 6:00 p.m. at the Little Falls Civic Center, they are hosting a mocktail paint and sip. And so residents are able to paint their own masterpieces, sip on mocktails
while also being informed on sun safety. Um on May 29th at 700 p.m. at the Clifton Senior Center, they're having a presentation called Spring into Wellness. It's essentially a presentation on holistic approaches to
wellness. Um encouraging participants to develop skills that support their well-being and overcome life challenges. So, I encourage any of those that want to attend that um either contact me, you could contact the Clifton Health Department directly. Um, I do also want
to thank the Clifton Health Department for applying for and being awarded a $5,000 grant from Chilton um that's going to be used to raise awareness on mental health and also to help uh teach
those in Little Falls on different mental health techniques to help um anyone that is in need. So, thank you to them for that. And then finally, we had our last public health committee meeting on March 14th. We are in the process of creating a new survey. Um, if everyone
remembers, we did one when I first got on board. Um, so we really just want to get a better understanding of what the residents are are looking for um, when it comes to public health. And that's all I have. Council President, thank you. Chief Pearl, do you have anything for us this evening? Uh just briefly,
council president, I just wanted to give an update on the April you text, you drive, you pay grant. So we did exhaust uh 92 hours of enforcement that resulted in an additional 180 motor vehicle stops. Uh we issued 77 summones. Uh
these aren't just department statistics. Those are in the department report. This is uh in addition to um and solely based on the grant. 18 cell phone violations, 46 others, two seat belts, six suspended drivers, four uh careless drivers, and one reckless driver. Again, this is uh
due to the good work of our uh grant writer and uh you know uh the support that I received from the mayor and council and the pursuit of those grants that we're able to bring these enforcement grants to the community. So, I just wanted to give a report on that. I do have uh some good news. Um the uh
Mothers Against Drunk Driving just announced the annual award awards for 2025. And I'm happy to report that the top gun, the number one um DWI enforcement for all of Pay County was patrolman Matt Yunuzi from Little Falls Police Department. So this will be the
third year in a row that Matt is awarded. So there'll be a breakfast that either myself or somebody from the command staff will attend and then uh with your permission, I'd like to bring him back before the council in the future. and we can present, you know, his ribbon, his award in front of the
community. Thank you, Chief. It' be a great honor uh when that schedule permits, get in touch with me and we'll make that arrangements. Uh Chief, can you just circle back? You said 181 individuals were pulled over for texting. Is that what I heard you say? So there um there was an additional
180 as part of the enforcement grant. So we had an officer on on the grant and they conducted 180 motor vehicle stops. the the reason or the uh reasonable article suspicion for the initial stop could have been a various things but it was targeting distracted drive or you
text you pay. So all distracting driving and distracted driving doesn't necessarily equate to you being on the phone. You could be playing with the radio. You could have a dog on your lap. It's just anything that's the driver is doing to take your attention off the roadway and then the officers specifically go out and target those
things. Thank you. Chief, councelor Wenzo, do you have anything for us this evening? No. Council President, thank you. Have a motion to open the meeting to the public for agenda items only. Moved by Councilwoman Abbott. Second by Councilman Ventur. All those in favor? All those opposed? Madame Clerk. Anyone
wishing to address the township council may do so to the council president. It is preferred if you give your name and address for the record. Comments are to be limited to three minutes. However, if appropriate, you may be granted additional time and the sole discretion of the council president. Members of the public who have joined the meeting virtually and desire to provide comment
shall raise their virtual hand in the Zoom application. The meeting moderator will cue the members of the public that wish to provide comment and the council president will recognize them in order. Members of the public who have joined the meeting by calling in must press star six to mute and unmute themselves and star 9 to raise their hand. Members of the public who have joined the
meeting via the Zoom application must click the reactions icon and then the raise hand icon. Once the process is complete, we will return to the regular order of business. Thank you. The floor is now open. Seeing no one come before us, have a motion to close the public. So moved by Councilman Murphy, second by Councilman
Venturi. All those in favor? All those opposed? Motion carries. Have a motion to approve the consent agenda. So moved. Moved by Councilman Patel Patel, second by Councilman uh Venturi. This is the call. This is a roll call for the consent agenda. Madam clerk, please call the role. Council member Patel. Yes.
Council member Murphy. Yes. Council member Habits. Council member Venturi? Yes. Yes. Council President Scoba. Yes. Madame Clerk, at this time, please read ordinance 1517. Second reading and public hearing of ordinance number 1517, an ordinance entitled, an ordinance to establish a new chapter in the code of
the township of Little Falls, chapter 180 entitled restricted areas and municipal buildings. Thank you. The public hearing on 1517 is now open. Does anyone wish to speak? Seeing no one, I I'm closing the public hearing on 1517 is now closed.
Have a motion to adopt 1517. So move moved by Councilwoman Hlettz. Second by Councilman Ventur. Madame Clerk, call the RO for 1517. Council member Patel. Yes. Council member Murphy. Yes. Council member Habs. Council member Vaneri. Yes. Council President Scoba. Yes. Madame Clerk. Ordinance 1518. Please. Second
reading and public hearing of ordinance number 1518. An ordinance entitled calendar year 2025 ordinance to exceed the municipal budget appropriation limits and to establish a cap bank. The public hearing on 1518 is now open. Does anyone wish to speak? CN1, the public
hearing ordinance is now closed for 1518. Have a motion to adopt 1518. So moved. Moved by Councilwoman Patel. Second by Councilwoman Habitz. Please call the role for 1518. Council member Patel. Yes. Council member Murphy. Yes. Council member Habits. Council member
Vener. Yes. Council President Scoba. Yes. Madame Clerk. 1519. Please. Introduction of ordinance number 1519. an ordinance entitled an ordinance of the township council of the township of Little Falls in the county of Pay State of New Jersey to amend chapter 7 on street regulations handicap parking of
the code of the township of Little Falls with a second reading and public hearing scheduled for June 4th 2025. Have a motion to introduce 1519 moved by Councilman Ventur, second by Councilwoman Patel. There's a roll call. Madam Clerk, call the role for to introduce 1519. Council member Patel,
yes. Council member Murphy, yes. Council member Hav. Council member Vanererry. Yes. Council President Scoba. Yes. At this time, Madam Clerk, 1520, please. Introduction of ordinance number 1520, an ordinance entitled an ordinance of the township council of the township of Little Falls and County of Bay State New Jersey. Two men chapter 7 on street
regulations of the code of the township of Little Falls with a second reading and public hearing scheduled for June 4th, 2025. Have a motion to introduce 1520. Moved by Councilman Venturi, second by Councilman Murphy. Please call the role to introduce 1520. Council member Patel. Yes. Council member
Murphy. Yes. Council member Hits. Council member Vener. Yes. Council President Scoba. Yes. Have a motion uh to in uh to open the meeting to the public for general matters. Moved by Councilwoman Habitz. Second by Councilman Venturi. All those in favor. All those opposed. Motion carries. Madam
clerk. Anyone wishing to address the township council may do so through the council president. It is preferred if you give your name and address for the record. Comments are to be limited to three minutes. However, if appropriate, you may be granted additional time in the sole discretion of the council president. Members of the public who have joined the meeting virtually and desire to provide comment shall raise
their virtual hand in the Zoom application. Meeting moderator will cue the members of the public that wish to provide comment and the council president will recognize them in order. Members of the public who have joined the meeting by calling in must press star six to mute and unmute themselves and star 9 to raise their hand. Members of the public who have joined the meeting via the Zoom application must
click the reactions icon and then the raise hand icon. Once the process is complete, we will return to the regular order of business. Thank you. The floor is now open. President public comment. There is a resident here this evening uh whose name
I won't say unless she gives me the thumbs up right now who was a very strong advocate in having the railings replaced at our Little Falls post office. This has been a multi-year campaign and a multi-letter per year
campaign that she has taken upon herself to through our congresswoman's office, Mikey Cheryl, to ensure that the railings that were not only unsightly but were frankly dangerous at our Little Falls post office, rusted beyond belief,
sharp edges. uh she took it upon herself to wage a multi-year campaign to ensure that these railings were replaced and she was recently successful in having the railings replaced at the post office. They are not only much safer but
they are aesthetically much more uh pleasing to the eye. So I want to thank her for doing that uh with numerous letters by herself. And now, if they will only heed your second request of the landscaping and aesthetics of the building in general, um, we'd be in
really great shape. But I want to thank you for what you've done to have the railings replaced at the post office. You may you could come up, please. For the for the record, state your name. maybe inwood, but the mayor when I first
told him two years ago, he immediately called the post office and talk to the postmaster, but that went nowhere. And then you suggested get in touch with our congresswoman and that's what I did. So every six months I would write and every six months I would get back a letter
that would say the same thing. Oh yes, it's going to be done. We're working on it. It's been approved. And it finally was. So, I was so happy. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you, Becky. Have a motion to close the
public. So, move. Moved by Councilman Habit. Second by Councilman Murphy. All those in favor? I. All those opposed? Motion carries. Have a motion to adjourn this meeting. So move. Moved by Councilman Murphy. Second. Second by Councilman Patel. All those in favor? I. All those opposed. The motion carries.
This meeting is now closed.