Good evening everyone. I'd like to call the January 5th, 2026 Township Council organization meeting to order. Today is January 5th, 2026 at 7 p.m. here in council chambers. First things first, everyone please rise for a salute to the flag.
>> Chief, would you please lead us in the flag? >> Yes, sir. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
>> Madam clerk, 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 December 29th, 2025. A copy of the notice of facts 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 on said date. A link and a telephone number to join the meeting virtually can be accessed on the
township website at littlefallnj.gov. Electronic provisions have been established for the public to participate during the public comment portion of the meeting. >> Madam clerk, please call the role. >> Council member Patel, >> present. >> Council member Murphy, >> present. >> Council member Habt, >> present.
>> Council member Vaneri, >> present. >> Council member Scoba, >> present. All right, my very brief tenure up here this evening. I have one question and is are there any nominations for council president this evening? >> I nominate uh councilman Anthony Scoba. >> Uh second
>> motion by councilman Vaneri. Second by councilwoman HZ. No other nominations. Madam clerk, please call the role. >> Council member Patel. >> Yes. Council member Murphy. Yes. Council member H. Yes. Council member Vaneri. Yes. >> Council member Scoan. >> Yes. Council President, if you join me
on the floor for the oath of office. All right. Repeat after me. I, Anthony Scoba, do solemnly swear >> that I will support the Constitution of the United States >> and the Constitution of the State of New
Jersey. and that I will bear true faith >> and allegiance to the same and to the governments established in the United States >> and in this state under the authority of
the people. So help me God. I do further solemnly swear that I will impartially and justly perform all of the duties of council president according to the
best of my ability. So help me God. >> Congratulations. I have a motion to um before I start, I I'd like to thank the mayor Dan Mano for swearing me in. Uh my wife, who we started this journey back in 1984 when I
was first elected to the total board of education, my two twins tonight, uh Philip and Nicole, who are now proud owners to be residing in Little Falls. Um before us lies uh some serious issues finding a permanent home from the EMT
building uh and also working with the mayor on the capital improvements request that he'll be coming before this council. Working with capital improvements such as the recreation bathrooms in 2026. This council needs to pass a short-term
rental ordinance to protect the current residents that have homes that are being intimidated by on and illegal apartment dwellers. I look forward to working with Councilwoman Patel, Councilwoman Habits, Councilman Venturi, and Councilman Murphy in the upcoming year. Thank you
for your support and is it is quite an honor to be called CP. Thank you. Have a motion to approve the following uh mayor's appointments for a one-year term. >> So move. >> Moved by Councilman Venter. >> Second. >> Second by Counciloman Patel. Madame
Clerk, call the role. >> Council member Patel. >> Yes. >> Council member Murphy. Yes. >> Council member Habit. Council member Vaneri. >> Yes. >> Council President Scova. >> Yes. Have a motion to approve the following mayor's appointments to the boards and commissions. >> So moved. >> Moved by Councilwoman Hlettz. Second.
Second by Councilman Murphy. This is a roll call. Yeah. >> Please call the role. Bell. >> Yes. Council >> member Murphy. >> Yes. Council member Hwood. >> Yes. >> Council member Van Sherry. >> Yes. >> Council President Scroll. >> Yes. Have a motion to approve the appointment of the municipal auditor. So
move. >> Moved by Councilwoman Patel. Second by Councilwoman Habitz. Please call the role. >> Council member Patel. >> Yes. >> Council member Murphy. Yes. Council member Hab. Yes. >> Council member Venter. Yes. >> Council President Scar. >> Yes. Have a motion to approve uh the the following planning board appointment.
>> So move. >> Moved by Councilwoman Patel. Second by Councilman Venterry, please call the role. >> Council member Patel, >> yes. >> Council member Murphy, yes. >> Council member Hley, yes. Council member Vanererry, yes. >> Council President, >> yes. Uh, the following is a list of council appointments. No vote is needed.
Uh, the mayor um administrative office at this time to members who are present. >> Are there any members of any boards here this evening? Gar, would you please rise? Please raise your right hand. Repeat after me. I state your name.
do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of New Jersey and that I will bear true faith and allegiance
to the same and to the government established in the United States and in this state under the authority of the people. I do further solemnly swear that I will impartially
and justly perform all of the duties of state your position according to the best of my ability. Congratulations everyone. >> Thank you mayor and thank you everyone who took out time to do that. That's very appreciative. Have a motion to
approve the resolutions A through VV. >> So moved. >> Moved by Councilwoman Habitz. >> Second. >> Second by Councilman Ben Cherry. Madame Clerk, please call the role. >> Yes. >> Council member Murphy. Yes. >> Council member H. Yes. >> Council member Vener. Yes. >> Council President Toa. >> Yes.
Have a motion uh to open the meeting to the public for all matters. >> Moved by Councilwoman Patel. Second by Councilwoman Hits. All those in favor? >> I. >> All those opposed? Motion carries. Madame clerk. Anyone wishing to address the township council may do so through the council president. It is preferred that 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 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 of 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 mute and unmute themselves and star 9 to raise their hand. Members of the public will have join a meeting via the Zoom application must click reaction by icon and then raise by please give your name and address for
the record once the process is complete attempt to regular order of business. >> Thank you. The floor is now open. Anyone wish to come before us. Is there anyone in the chat room that'd like to speak? Thank you. Have a motion to close the public comment. >> Moved by council Murphy. Second by
Councilman Ventur. All those in favor. >> All those opposed. Madame clerk read the time capsule. 42 years and three months remain until the opening of the time capsule on April 2nd, 2068. The time capsule was buried in Memorial Park on Wilmore Road on April 2nd, 1968 in
connection with the centennial celebration, the 100th anniversary of the township of Little Falls and the then township committee directed that the township clerk shall at each organization meeting of the township's governing body insert in the minutes a notation of the time remaining until it shall be open. >> Thank you. Can I have a motion to
adjourn this meeting? So move >> moved by Council Mattel, second >> second by Councilman Murphy. All those in favor? >> All those opposed. At this time, the reorganization meeting is now closed. Thank you. >> Those of you who would like to stay for our next regular meeting, you're welcome to. Otherwise, if feel free to leave if
you don't want to stay for that meeting. Welcome everyone to Monday, January 5th, 2026 Township Council Workshop meeting. This meeting is now called to order. Councilwoman Patel, please uh lead us to to the flag.
>> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Madame Cler, can you read the statement of public notice, please?
>> Take notice that adequate notice of this meeting has been provided in accordance with NJ 104-8 NJSA 104-10 as follows. 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 December 29th, 2025. Copy of the notice
was sent to North Jersey Herald and News in the Record on the same date. Additionally, a copy of the notice was filed in the office of the township clerk on set 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. At this time, call the role. >> Council member Patel >> present. >> Council member Murphy. >> Council member Hab. Council member Van Cherry. >> Council President Foba >> present. Mayor Damiano. We have an exciting program. The floor is yours. >> We do. Council President, before we get
to all of the fun and exciting things, I just want to remind everybody that on January 26th, our next council meeting, I will be providing the state of the township for 2025 and 2026. So, everyone can feel free to join us at that meeting where I will be presenting the state of
the township. Now that we have gotten through all of that fun stuff, I would ask that first, Councilwoman Habitz, join me here on the floor for the reading of the winners of our light up Little Falls house decorating
contest. Uh, and the tallies that come along with it. Uh, we had a very exciting year this year with our house decorating contest and our very first ever trolley ride that made its way by every single house in town. Uh, it was a lot of fun to be on the trolley this
year. It was exciting. It really kind of brought home that little small town charm that we have here and really started off the holidays the right way. So, Councilwoman Habits, I'm going to hand it off to you to read the names of the winners. >> Thank you so much, Mayor, and thank you to everyone in town who participated.
Uh, the contest is just getting uh bigger and bigger each year, and we are so thankful to everyone. The trolley really was a nice added addition. um hoping that others will start decorating their houses and we'll have even more contestants for next year and even more
trolley rides. Uh so without further ado, I will start with our honorable mention. Our honorable mention, although they did not receive a prize, they have bragging rights and that would be 29 Hopson Avenue, the Vaneri family. Um
>> it's all him. It's all him. >> The voting was voting took place uh by our trolleys. Uh, so you got to vote while you rode the uh, trolley. The average star rating for the Van Cherry family was 3.96
and a total points of 103. So, congratulations to the Van Cherry family. I'm sure they will be putting out even more blowups next year. Um, our third place winner is 49 First Avenue, the Dowling family with an average star
rating of 4.31 and total points of 112. Is the Dow family here? >> Thank you so much for participating and we'll just have you stay here. We'll just hang tight. Our second place winner is
two Ridge Avenue, the Diaz Morano family. An average star rating of 4.35 and total points of 113. Diaz Morano family, are you here? Come on. Straight up. Just in time. >> Yeah. And then last but certainly not
least, our first place winner who really went above and beyond this year. Um 21 Villa Road, the Burell family >> with an average score of 4.77 and a total score of 124.
really thank you to everyone who just makes this contest so much fun. Um, each of the contestants have been in or have won the contest at some point over the years in different categories. Um, and it's because they just keep really just decorating and more decorating and
they're always out to do something new. So, thank you really very much for all that you've done. All right, one minute. One of our one of our participants here got you.
Where's We'll fill some time. So during the trolley ride, one of the last stops happened to be Villa because of the route that the trolley took. And as everybody arrived at Villa this year, we were greeted by Santa, who was Tommy who's walking in now, the Grinch,
Heather right here, and an entire gang of kids who were having fun playing Christmas music. So, it was definitely a fun and exciting stop. And here is a first place winner. My color. former chief.
>> All right. And next we have our Muslim Heritage Month proclamation. And I'm going to ask our Ramadan committee to join me up here in front for the reading of the proclamation. All right. Come on, governor. >> All right. And it reads, "Whereas the township of Little Falls takes great pride in the varied religious, cultural
traditions of residents of this township and seeks to afford all residents the opportunity to better understand, recognize, and appreciate the rich histories, cultures, and shared principles of Muslim Americans. And whereas Muslims are the world's second largest religious group with 1.9 billion
adherence representing approximately 25% of the world's population. And whereas Muslims have made significant contributions that shape our world, including notable achievements in philosophy, mathematics, astronomy, physics, chemistry, medicine,
architecture, music, literature, and the arts. And whereas Muslim Americans strive to promote peace and mutual understanding between all faiths and identities while upholding the values and principles of Islam and of and those of the United States of America. And
whereas there are nearly 300,000 Muslim Americans in New Jersey representing one of the largest Muslim populations of any state in the United States, including numerous current and former elected officials dedicated to public service in their communities. And whereas incidents
of anti-Muslim violence and rhetoric are still prevalent in our state and educational initiatives are critical to combating bigotry. And whereas Little Falls recognizes the positive impacts Muslims have made and continue to make to the advancement of this nation and believes it is appropriate to
acknowledge and promote awareness and appreciation of the invaluable contributions of Muslim Americans. And now therefore, be it resolved that I, Mayor James Belfford Damiano, on behalf of the on behalf of the Little Falls Township Council, do hereby proclaim
January 2026 as Muslim Heritage Month in the township of Little Falls. I want to thank you all for joining me up here this evening and ask the council to come down and join us for a photo. These guys become
>> That's right. >> Thank you, mayor, and thank you everyone for attending. I have a motion to open the meeting to the public for general matters and agenda items. Moved by Councilman Vincent Cherry, second by Councilman Habits. All those in favor? I. >> 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 the additional time in the sole discretion of the council president. Members of the public who join the meeting virtually and desire to provide comment shall raise their virtual hand and 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 board join the meeting by calling in must press star six to mute and unmute themselves and star nine to raise their hand. Members of the public who have joined the meeting via theation must click your actions icon and then
the raise hand icon. Once the process is complete, we'll return to the regular order of business. >> Thank you, Madam Clerk. The floor is now open. Anyone wish to come before us? I see no one and no one in the chat. Thank you. Have a motion to close the public. So moved by Councilman Habit, second by
Councilman Murphy. All those in favor? I. >> All those opposed. This motion carries. Councilman Ventur, lead us off. >> Sure. Thanks, Council President. And congratulations. I didn't touch anything.
Congratulations once again, James. >> All right. Here, I'll use this one. It's a little better. First, I want to say uh congratulations to Council President Scoba. Uh I know you take this uh position very seriously and you know we continue to offer this opportunity of course because we believe in the work
that you're doing and as always you know this council is willing and able to work with you. So thank you for that. Um just a couple things. Thanks mayor for the proclamation. I do want to recognize the lovely group of individuals that were up there with you and all the work that they do behind the scenes because we are
announcing tonight that we are hosting our third annual Ramadan uh lantern lighting and festival event that'll take place on Sunday, February 15th. We'll have the lighting at 5:00 p.m. at Wilmore Road Park. And then afterwards, we should be done by 5:30. Depends if my
speeches are short. Uh which I promise. Um at 5:30 till 8 o'clock, we will have the celebration at our rec center once again. This is the third event we've done and it continues to grow each year. We had almost 400 or so people last year and we're hoping to get even more this year. And just know that a lot of work
and time is being made right now to make sure that event comes off without a hitch. So I just want to acknowledge the group that's here tonight. Appreciate all the work that they do. I know there's more of you that aren't here tonight, but appreciate everything. it makes my job easier. So, thank you again and we'll uh blast all the information out on our social media channels
tomorrow as well as on the website and we'll post it on our individual ones as well tonight. So, thank you. That's it for me. >> Thank you, Councilman Murphy. >> Thank you, Council President. First, just like to wish everybody a happy and healthy new year. Um and also like to congratulate everybody that was sworn in
tonight along with CP and look forward to another year working with you as well as everybody else in the council and the mayor. Um it's all I really have. Uh just hopefully uh big things to come in 2026 and a good year. Thank you, >> Councilwoman Patel. >> Thank you, Council President. Um
congratulations on getting CP again. Like M uh Councilwoman Vinceri said, we know that you're very dedicated to the position and it's great to work with you and look forward to doing it another year along with everyone else on council and the mayor. Um the public health committee had their first meeting this
afternoon. I just want to thank state county uh health officer Miss Pintel. She joined our committee for a meeting. Um she was very informative and very patient with the group and answering all the questions that we had. Um it is flu season, so anyone that does need a flu
shot, they could always directly contact uh the Clipton Health Department. They have those available for all of our residents. And the next public health committee meeting will be February 11th at 6:30 at the Civic Center. That's all I have, Council President. >> Thank you, Councilwoman Has.
>> Thank you, Council President. And again, congratulations on your swearing in. I'm looking forward to working with you again this year as the rest of the council. Um, also congratulations to all of the committees that were sworn in. Looking forward to working with you all as well. Um, and thank you very much to
our Muslim committee and all that they do and for us to um, have the honor of having you with us. So, thank you. Um, some library updates. Um there will be a strength and balance workshop um every Wednesday at 100 pm. Uh learn the
benefits of strength and balance with a professional fitness instructor. Um there is also happy hour yoga on Tuesdays at 5:30 p.m. Uh join Stacy Meyer Smith for weekly beginners uh yoga classes. Uh you can bring a mat and a
towel and there is a $5 cover fee. And uh lastly, on January 28th at 11:00 a.m., uh they will be continuing their royal tea club, um join them for a morning of tea uh conversation and royal trivia fun that is sponsored by the Little Falls Public Library. That is
always a good time. It's always um um very crowded, so I think you would enjoy it if you participate. Um also wanted to just tell you that we are working on our 2026 farmers market. Uh we do have a big announcement coming. The farmers market
will start in May, but be on the lookout on our social media to continue to blast for our big announcement about something coming uh to the farmers market. And lastly, uh Councilman Murphy and I and Tyler Pero at the recck have been working uh on our calendar and we did
get word today that the calendar will definitely uh be out in about two to three weeks, which should be around the last week in January. Um, your current calendars do run until the end of January and by then your new calendar should be arriving at your residence. Uh, for any reason if you don't receive
them, there will be copies here at town hall and at the recreation department. Uh, that's all I have. >> Thank you. Just curious a show of hands those residents if you would if you would if you use our calendar. Can you raise your hand? >> Thank you.
It's pretty darn good. I guess the calendar program stays a unanimous vote. Mayor, you know, chief, what do you have for us tonight? >> Thank you, >> Councelor Wzel. You want to give this uh governing body and the audience a quick
update on the affordable housing? I know uh this township is part of that lawsuit and the hearing is going to be in Trenton coming up, >> right, Council President? Uh and congratulations to you for your return to the center seat. It was a little disturbing to have the mayor sitting up here with us.
>> So, I'm glad that you're back here. Um, so this Wednesday there is a hearing before Judge um I'm going to butcher his name, Quidari, uh who's a federal um
district court judge down in Trenton. Um what has happened to date is that our filings in the state courts have been routinely rejected on procedural grounds by judge Loi in the state courts. Uh
however what um has been done is a filing has been made in the federal courts under the uh United States Constitution and other federal claims. Uh when that motion was presented to the
judge, the judge made his clerk and his staff purposely set aside special time to have a hearing on this. And for uh those of us who are in the uh in the room who are attorneys, uh it is very
unusual for a judge to um delay other cases that they may have in favor of something that was recently filed. So this clearly demonstrates that the judge is at the very least interested in hearing arguments on the case. the state
was uh state attorney general's office was not particularly prepared nor happy about the fact of having a hearing uh and apparently because of I don't want to go into the deep procedural background here but fair share is
technically not a party to the hearing so they failed to make the filing in essence uh so fair share technically can't argue before or the judge. Uh I'm pretty sure the judge is going to be
rather lenient to allow that to happen uh considering all the circumstances. So the outcome of Wednesday's hearing could be uh anything from the judge issuing a stay of the uh implementation
of the the state's affordable housing regulations. It could be that he wants more hearings. It could be that he doesn't do anything. Uh it could be that he decides against us. Uh however, at the very least, this is the first time
in this litigation that we've uh we have felt the attorney group has felt that we had a uh open ear by the judiciary. So, um, we will see and obviously, uh, I
will report back to the mayor and counsel. Uh, I'll get an update probably sometime Wednesday afternoon from the lead council who's done quite frankly, uh, Mike Collins and his office have done a fantastic job uh, with this and
they've worked uh, diligently in every aspect. So, uh, this is this is a little bit of reward to them because they've really been stunt me at every level. >> Thank you, councelor. Have a motion to uh open the meeting to public and agenda
items. Moved by Councilman Venturi, second by Counciloman Havtz. Voice vote. >> All those in favor? >> I. >> All those opposed? Motion carries. Madam clerk, >> anyone wishing to address the township council may do with the council. It is preferred if you give your name and address for the record. Comments are
limited to three minutes. hour of appropriate 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 a virtual hand and zoom application. The meeting moderator will cue the members of the public that that wish to provide comment and the council president will
recognize them in order. Members of the public who join a meeting by calling in must press star six mute unmute themselves and star 9 to raise their hand. Members of the public who join a meeting via the Zoom application must click reactions icon and then the raise hand icon. Once the process is complete, we'll return to regular order of business.
>> Thank you. I see no one in the chat. Would any like anyone wish to come before this governing body? Seeing no one have a motion to close the public comment. >> Moved by Council Murphy. Second by Councilwoman Patel. All those in favor? >> I. >> All those opposed. I want to thank the staff for assisting me greatly with this
reorganization agenda and our regular meeting. Have a motion to close this meeting. >> Moved by Councilman Ventur, second by Councilman Habits. All those in favor? I. >> All those opposed, this meeting is now closed.