now welcome everyone to the township council meeting Monday February 24th 2025 this meeting is now called to order please all rise to salute to the flag PL Al to the flag of the United States of America and to the
for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liy and justice for all thank you may be seated Madame clerk please read the statement of public notice take notice that adequate notice of this meeting has been provided in
accordance with njsa 10 4-8 and njsa 10 colon 4-10 as follows a notice of the meeting was primally posted on the bolon board at the municipal building Loc at 225 Main Street Little Falls New Jersey on January 7th 2025 a
copy of the notice was sent to the north Jersey Harald 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 Township
website at www. lfj docomo have been established for the public to participate during the public comment portion of this meeting thank you madam clerk at this time please call the rooll council member Patel council member Murphy pres council member habetz
council member V Cherry present council president scova present have a motion to approve the minutes of the regular meeting of January 27th move moveed by councilman Murphy second by Council M Cherry Madam clerk called the rooll for the minutes of January 27 2025 council member Patel yes council member Murphy
yes council member habblet C council member V Cherry yes council president scoa yes have a a motion for the Workshop meeting minutes of February 3rd 2025 moved by councilwoman Patel second by councilwoman habets Madam clerk please call the RO council member Patel
yes council member Murphy yes council member habetz council member vanu yes council president scoa yes mayor Damiano the floor is yours thank you council president the first item on the agenda this evening is the appointment of Alexis Rema to the
library board with a term expiring May 31st 20 2025 filling an unexpired term uh mayor um I see that Alexis is in the audience would you like to come forward say some words did you prepare
speech hi everyone um I'm would be really excited to do this um thank you so much I'm not sure what else you guys want me to say sorry well we look for to have you on the board there and I know the library is excited to have you as well thank
you the president of the board's in our audience Miss quty would you like to come up no you haven't missed ever since you've been uh the president you haven't missed anyone who's a becoming new trustee you're always here for them thank you for both uh um president qu thank you for the fine work you do we
wish you all the best Alexis it's a quite a challenge at times being on the library board with a li limited tight budget so we wish you all the best anything else mayor yes counc presid a couple things one is I am excited and happy to announce that after a uh a couple of year process the township was
finally approved uh through the federal government to obtain and secure a.gov domain uh this will apply to all Municipal email addresses in the future as well as our new website which I'll talk about in just a second our
everybody's new email address in Little Falls will remain the same with the first half with with whatever their first initial and last name is followed by now with an at it is littlefalls nj.gov uh we have been LF nj.com for a
lot of years using a commercial website domain uh there are some downsides with that in that a number of people that I've communicated with in the past were unsure if it was even coming from a municipal email because many others do have at least a.org uh or a uh several
of the other domains that that have been utilized uh but but we have not so we now have a.gov email address it was a process that needed approval our first initial thought was move over to LF nj.gov unfortunately the federal government thought that was nowhere near
unique enough uh for any town or or city or within a state to to utilize uh the first one they threw back at us was how do we know that's not Little Ferry New Jersey uh so good point we had to come up with a more unique uh domain and
little falls. goov was one of the options that they had given back to us along with a list of others and it made by far the most sense for us here on that our website is now also littlefalls nj.gov for those of you looking to visit
the website and to access information the new website will be Little Falls nj.gov it has gone a not just a website link or domain change it has gone a complete overhaul it is a completely new website uh and this also applies to all
of the Township's brand new social media accounts including Facebook uh Instagram so you can follow the township on all those for information as it becomes available uh so we are excited to now have Dogo emails and domains for our website there are couple of other
updates that I have and these are broken record updates we're still waiting for a psng to provide power to the traffic light at the intersection of Francisco and Cedar Grove Road everything else is essentially done we're now waiting for electric to hit the box from the poles
so that we can power up the lights unfortunately still waiting for that to occur and as far as our Municipal parking lot behind the old PNC Bank uh that is a similar broken record story about we are waiting for Verizon now to move over the low voltage lines from the
original poles to the new pole locations so that the poles can then be removed and the lot can finally be paved and completed SO waiting on those uh to to finally move forward unfortunately uh we have been very communicative with them
they just don't provide us with updates or times or responses to uh when they will be coming to complete the work uh so we will continue to to follow up with them but unfortunately no uh no definite answers yet any other questions from the council that I can answer mayor uh you've been in touch with the uh with
the federal government concerning the Pacman yes uh I had a meeting with uh our our representatives from the Army Corps very recently it was primarily about the relocation of infrastructure in areas where the F the pcman flood
tunnel will be Crossing about sewer lines about electric about a number of other you know water lines and things of that sort uh I did get a response from the Army Corps that advised us that the actual timing of the work and I I've
been I want to make sure I have the exact dates here the projected start date is a late 2027 early
2028 construction uh so I know I was excited as many people were in town that four years ago they'd be breaking ground in two years uh we're now two years beyond that and being told that it is a
tentative start of late 27 early 28 the actual plans are about 30% complete um we did physically see them uh Mr quatron and I uh they do have real plans that are well underway they're going to actually begin doing test samples and test pits along what will be the the
flood tunnel route starting actually this week they'll be starting at the DPW Yard and making their way towards the the Pake River uh they so the the process in progress is really and truly underway uh it is just unfortunately as we see with so many especially Federal
projects never mind uh State you know and and then local projects it is a a a long process to to undergo to get there but uh it is really moving along the funding is still allocated so we are excited to to continue to see this move along I actually plan on doing an
informational post about that soon because we finally received this update from the Army Corps about their their tenative start date does the council have any questions or comments we'll move on councilwoman vatel thank you council president um just a
few upcoming events all the events are on the township website on the calendar the Flyers are attached but there is a vein screening you get um a free leg ultrasound tomorrow um between 12:00 and 300 p.m. at the Clifton satellite office
there's a heart health screening on Wednesday February 26 that's from 10: to 12 um that's going to be at the clipon city hall registration for that event is required all the information again is on the township website there's a mental
health screening on Friday February 28th um again at the Clifton satellite office then there's a program on Seasonal effective disorder which is actually going to be taking place here in Little Falls on Thursday March 13th at 10: a.m.
Dr Joanne is going to host the event and it's going to be informational but there's also going to be exercise and a meditation that she's going to lead to help combat these symptoms um and finally there is Stress Management
counseling that being offered through the clipon health department all it's appointment base so you can call 551 237 3151 to make an appointment and then finally our next public health committee meeting is going to take place on March
12th at 7 o'clock right here uh in town hall that's all I have council president thank you councilwoman Patel councilwoman haetz thank you council president um so congratulations again to Alexis um I know she will be a great addition to the library Board of
Trustees um this weekend I was able to attend with council president scova um our annual Ramadan event uh thank you to councilman van Cherry it was a wonderful event and to the uh Little Falls Muslim committee uh for putting out such a great event there was the uh Crescent
lighting at the park and afterwards festivities um and it was a very well put together event it was a lot of fun so thank you and to councilman vent cherry and a blessed Ramadan to all who celebrate um for a library updates they
are also having a Ramadan Story Time and craft this Wednesday the 20 um the 26 at 6:30 pm and they're also will be uh the monthly royal tea Club at 11:00 a.m. uh learn about all things Royal while having a nice hot cup of tea uh the
farmers market is preparing for another season we are still seeking new vendors and we are also seeking a new market manager uh so if anyone is interested in either they can reach out to Toler pasaro at LF Farmers market.com that's thank you councilman vent Cherry thanks
council president and thank you Council havet yesterday we had the Ramadan services and then we had the celebration at the rec center just want to thank say thank you to all those that were involved especially to the Little Falls Police Department Little Falls DPW as well as the Little Falls rec center
helping behind the scenes just putting everything together residents that came out thank you for that so one uh one project down and then sort of today you start shifting gears to the next one so I'm actually working on the next couple events that we have coming up over the
next few months including the Autism Awareness Month flag raising uh for April I'm just working on a date I'll keep everybody posted there was a resident that I've been trying to get in touch with that had reached out and was looking to help out and do some things in town so I'm hoping she'll get back to me so I can start planning that and then
today spent a lot of time sort of planning a Memorial Day weekend I know my colleagues I reached out to each of you as well just let me know um if any of your committees or groups want to be a part of the concert that'll take place on that Friday night followed by the uh parade the next day as well um also
putting together some letters for some invites including the uh Sheriff's Department I'm hoping finally this year now with Sheriff Adamo in charge you know we can get a nice presence from the sheriff's department like we see in some other towns so I'm going to take care of that this week as well and then lastly um I'm waiting to get some dates from uh
the county uh engineers and road department I had talked to them a couple weeks ago about addressing um by the Wilmore Road Park some handicap spaces we've heard from about four or five different residents that have talked about this and so I asked Ken Simpson to get me some dates in March where could
set up some time and meet at the park Park so Chief I'll keep you posted on that so if you can join with the Traffic Division um you know a lot of times when we work with the county it's just easier to physically have them here with you to show them what we're proposing or what they're willing to do because Wilmore
road is a county road so if we're looking to add some handicap space uh near where the park is because that's a concern from some of the residents especially you have grandkids I want to bring them to the park and there's really nowhere to park sometimes so looking into that I'll you get posted once I hear back with some dates next
month in the counties that's it thank you councilman Murphy thank you council president just a quick update on the township calendars uh they have been dropped off to the post office this past Friday so most of Little Falls should receive their calendars by this week it
is the United States Post Service so you may not receive it this week but most residents should receive it sometime this week um so just keep an eye out for that uh next Tuesday uh the 4th um we do have a domestic violence awareness uh committee meeting uh March is still
zoomed so if you do want to hop on that Zoom just shoot me an email um because it is not on the town website just yet but if you want to hop on the zoom just shoot me an email I'll send you over to the link and this week could join us all have council president thank you councilman Murphy um I do want to say I got a call from a congresswoman who
needed a private space to conduct a meeting and right away I thought of the library in the nice conference room that was developed downstairs and it worked out very well um it's a nice addition to that library to have a private space to conduct uh a private meeting so that was
a well received on uh Wednesday March 12th at St Patrick's Day luncheon for the seniors from 12:00 to 3: at the Little Fall Fall Civic Center it's $20 for non-residents for those that want to
attend please call 973 25602 49 or reach out to Tyler at the rec center or call the municipal building um before we continue for those that don't want to stay we're not insulted if you leave uh it's quite a long meeting tonight but if you would
like to stay you're welcome to stay councelor do you have anything this evening thank you have a motion to open the meeting to the public for agenda items so moved moved by councilman Murphy second by councilman habets all those in favor I all those opposed
motion carries Madame clerk anyone wishing to address the council may do so through the council president it is preferred if you give your name and address for the records comments are limited to three minutes however if appropriate you may be granted additional time and so discretion of the council president
members of the public who have joined the meeting virtually and desire to provide a 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 nine 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 completed we will return to the regular order of
business thank you the floor is now open uh we have one individual I think with their hand up yes um Adam Z zerber can you hear hear us yes council president thank you can you hear me the
floor is yours yes thank you I I don't know if um Miss Rema and Miss katti have taken you up on the opportunity to leave but um if they're still there I just wanted to uh through you council president to extend my congratulations to miss ARA for her appointment uh I had the honor of filling that seat on the
library board for five years unfortunately had to step down to a due to a change in my work schedule but um having seen the great progress at the library under the leadership of board president an katti and councila on Christine haetz director Jennifer Cole and the rest of the trustees uh just
wanted to say that I have no doubt that Miss ARA is an excellent choice a wonderful addition to the board and will help continue that momentum that's been built so thank you that's all thank you for your comments and for your service that you gave to the library board uh we appreciate that dedication on behalf of
the council and the mayor is there anyone in our audience I'd like to come before us on agenda items have a motion to close to the public moved so move uh moved by councilwoman Patel second by councilman Murphy all those in favor
all those opposed motion carries c a motion to approve the consent agenda so moved moved by councilman Murphy second by councilwoman habets are there questions on the consent agenda I have one uh the blue light permit is that for every
fireman that's they have to do an individual application uh and so this one in particular is just for one individual um when you join uh you have to apply for it get the permit and they are able to respond once they receive the Grant from it thank
you no questions or comments on the consent agenda have this is a roll call Madam clerk call the role council member Patel yes council member Murphy yes council member habblet council member van Cherry yes council president scoa
yes madame clerk read ordinance 1508 second reading and public hearing of ordinance number 1508 an ordinance entitled ordinance of the township Council of the township of Little Falls in the county of Pake state of New Jersey amending Township Code chapter 71
fees Recreation Department fees thank you the public hearing on ordinance 1508 is now open does anyone wish to speak on ordinance 1508 seeing none come before us the public hearing on ordinance 1508 is now closed osed c a motion to adopt
1508 mve by councilman Patel second second by councilman V Cherry roll call please council member Patel yes council member Murphy yes council member havitz council member van Cherry yes council president scoa yes madame clerk read ordinance 1509 please second reading and
public hearing of ordinance number 1509 and ordinance entitled ordinance of the township Council of the township of little fall falls in the county of pic state of New Jersey amending Township Code chapter 71 fees building department fees thank you the public hearing on 1509 is now open does anyone wish to
speak on ordinance 1509 see no one to come forward to speak on the public hearing of ordinance 1509 is now closed have a motion to adopt 1509 so moved moved by councilwoman um councilman Murphy second by councilwoman habets Madame clerk call the role to
adopt 1509 council member Patel yes council member Murphy yes Council havitz council member Vu yes council president scova yes madame clerk read ordinance 1510 second reading and public hearing of ordinance 1510 an ordinance entitled ordinance of the township Council of the
township of littlefalls in the county of Pake state of New Jersey amending Township Code chapter 109 land use procedures the public hearing on 1510 is now open does anyone wish to come before us for 1510 seeing no one come before us for
1510 the public hearing is now closed have a motion to adopt 1510 so moved moved by councilman Murphy second by councilman V Cherry please call the RO to adopt 1510 council member Patel yes council member Murphy yes council member habetz council member ventu yes council
president scova yes madame clerk read ordinance 1511 second reading and public hearing of ordinance 1511 an ordinance entitled an ordance of the township Council of the township of littlefalls in the county of pic state of New Jersey to amend chapter seven on street
regulations of the code of the township of little the public car of ordinance 1511 is now open does anyone wish to speak on 1511 seeing no one come before us for 1511 is now closed have a motion to adopt 1511 so move moved by
councilman V Cherry second by Council habets please call the RO to adopt 1511 council member Patel yes council member Murphy yes council member habblet council member vaner yes council president scoa yes madame clerk please read ordinance 1512 introduction of
ordinance 1512 an ordinance entitled an ordinance of the township Council of Township of Little Falls in the county of pic state of New Jersey to amend chapter 3 administration of government of the code of the township of Little Falls with a second reading and public
hearing scheduled for March 10th 2025 mayor do you have any comments on 1512 I'd like to explain on our former government how that works sure so uh this there are specific roles assigned to every governing body
member and I think there was some maybe uncertainty or maybe not enough Clarity uh over my particular role and what I am authorized and not authorized to do this is simply an update to provide
additional Clarity in the scope of the roles that I'm permitted to to active thank you um so kind a motion do we int we did I say motion to introduce 1512 not yet have a motion to introduce
1512 move by councilman Venter second by council member Patel um Madame clerk please call the rooll council member Patel yes council member Murphy yes Council council member habetz yes council member van Cherry council president scova yes have a
motion to open the meeting to public matters so move moved by councilman Murphy second by councilman vent Cherry all those in favor all those opposed Madame Clerk anyone wishing to address the council Township Council may do so through the council president is preferred to give your name and address for the record comments are to be
limited 3 minutes however if appropriate you may be granted additional time in the sole discretion of the council president members of members of the public who have joined the meeting virtually and desire to provide a comment shall raise their virtual hand in the zoom application the meeting monor will cue the members of the public
that wish to provide a 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 N9 to raise their hand members of the public who have joined the meeting via the zoom application must click the reactions
icon and the raise hand icon once the process is complete we will return to the regular order of business thank you madam clerk the floor is open ma'am um please state your name my name is Karen truka my husband is Tracy trauka we live
at 50 Ridge Road on the corner of um Ridge and uh Francisco and the traffic has increased monumentally on that corner a few days before Christmas an 18-wheeler making a right-hand turn coming up the hill from Francisco making
a right onto Ridge hit the traffic hole knocked it clear across Ridge Avenue Ridge Road um my house shook um they cannot make that turn they're not able to make that turn without the entire row of cars backing up and I don't
understand if there's something that can be done about that they come up Francisco they come across Ridge I know they're County roads but this is uh this is kind of a dangerous situation there are people waiting on the corner for buses there are no sidewalks for people
who walk and aside from the 18 wheelers and the trucks that come up and down and across that road they speed up as they come up Francisco when they see the light turn yellow they step on the gas instead of stepping on the brake I have personally witnessed them flying through
red lights and um I think there's going to be a terrible crash there have been many crashes before but I'm very worried that it's it escalated and I think there's going to be a a major crash and somebody's going to get terribly hurt if not killed on that corner um I don't
know if there's anything that we can do but they speed they don't pay attention to the uh speed limit on either Road up and down or cross and uh it's a dangerous situation right now the second thing I have to say is I
are there any um anything in place for leaf blowers in this town because the noise is becoming unbearable and I'm noticing that people are now using their gas powerered leaf blowers to blow the snow um not only the
leaves during that season but the snow also and it's really difficult to be outside um without the level of noise between the traffic leaf blowers and we've been in the house for over 20 years um and it's become really hard to
live on that corner so um to does the council members have any questions or comments Council May Mr speak it's funny I was actually at that intersection maybe about a week or two ago and it's funny you say that because I did see somebody blow a red light and
the next time I went to that light I I actually looked at it and I timed it and when most lights go from red to green and the other side goes from green to Red there's usually about a 3se second pause in between there I noticed there's almost no pause it's almost instantaneous and I don't know if that's I know it's probably the county control
but I know something we could request from them because usually there's a pause I don't know if we can get a pause in there probably pretty dangerous and as you said there's been some pretty bad accents over there I don't know if that's new or old but maybe I don't know Council if you have some more insight on that mayor with that light you know it's really about the timing because know
we've looked at some other ones but I know we have to kind of check it up it's an older light I'm not mistaken it's not like the newer so as all of you know I live in that area and frequently uh make my way towards that light especially if I'm going to visit either of my my
brothers um so I'm there regularly I'm familiar with it I actually was there the day that the the truck took out the light pole a little bit after that um frankly I don't think trucks have any business coming up franisco to begin with whatsoever never mind car carriers which can't clear the railroad tracks
but 18 wheelers as well unfortunately we don't get to dictate the truck routes in town on County Roads it is something we can certainly reach out to the county about I don't know how we would prohibit trucks from coming up that way um we have looked into truck routes in Little Falls on a couple of occasions going
back six seven eight years ago now even uh with the county unfortunately we weren't successful in even modifying any of the current permissions that they have uh through our town because they were County Roads and those are technically usually the truck routes
that are assigned to avoid local roads um that aside I will tell you I think some of the issues at that light have to do with the timing of the light not only the timing between the red and the green alternating but the timing of the light
itself there are times I mean there other times I almost always when you hit that red light on Francisco have you sit there for what seems like an eternity and it probably is about a full minute at times which a lot of times especially
at night on weekends when there is not one other car even coming down Ridge Road you feel like you're sitting on Francisco for an eternity that results I believe in people thinking I don't want to sit at this light for a full minute so when it turns yellow their reaction
is to press the gas instead of the break to make sure they don't have to wait at the light maybe this is something that our Traffic Division can look into at the time the timings of the light how you know if there are any changes this may to your point councilman one of the traffic controllers that we have an
issue updating because of how old it is uh unfortunately while the truck took down the traffic light itself it didn't do us the favor of taking down the control box that would have allowed us to put a new or would have required the county to put a new timer and control device in uh so we I think that may be
one of the intersections that has a very old control device in it uh which makes it a little bit harder to update I'm not saying that it can't be and that we can't look to see if it it may maybe can be updated um but looking into the timing of that light may impact that I believe uh we were looking to do a new
traffic study in that section of the roadway as well particularly the section between a ridge and long the top of long hill uh where I know sometimes there have been issues with speeding or or you know concerns of it in that area uh I
think we did do a study at some point we can look to see if we have that that information I will say I don't know it was during a period of time when MSU was in session I do find and I could be dead wrong on this and a speed study would tell us this uh but I believe that the
amount of vehicles that use that section of the roadway when MSU is in session is higher than when it's not in session so if we did a traffic study during the July or August time periods when you know June July August when school is not necessarily in there may have been may
have been a lower volume may have been lower speeds uh versus is the eight or nine months a year when MSU is in session uh so at a bare minimum we may be able to get at least get an update of uh you know the the speeding uh or speed test in that area that may assist us in
uh addressing that issue or that concern uh as well and figuring out a way that we might be able to do some targeted enforcement in that area through our through our Police Department essentially it's it's a highway well and one thing I want to add um the one thing that we've been working on with the county is we're actually changing the
speed limit on Ridge it's going to go from 35 to 25 a little process that we have to do on our end first we got the permission late last year for them to go ahead with this we're going to pass the ordinance on our end of course but then what we need to do is send it to the county and then they're going to adopt
it on their end so that we can officially change it from 35 to 25 and what we've been doing as well is our Police Department's been in touch with Cedar Grove and I've been in touch with the Essex County they're going to change their speed limit as well because they get a lot of complaints Ridge as well you know where the school is you go
further down the hill there's constantly a police officer there because of you know it's 40 and they're probably doing 50 55 it's easy when you go up the reservoir so that's something that we're looking to do and then there will obviously be some signs with the change and then enforcement but I do think Chief maybe we could do is connect
afterwards with the residents here and then maybe fill out the the report look into it and then the Traffic Division can reach out because a lot of times once they get the information there's specific times when they do the check for the speed and everything we can get a sense of when a high volume of speed at what time of the day that sort of
thing and they can help enforce it and and with the light if we're able to change it it will help tremendously because we've changed the Lights On Main Street right here on Union adding more time because you would see when the highways backed up right um Main Street would get backed up especially by
Monclair and and the the post office so adding more time with the left has allowed that and same thing further down the road over at Main and Steven so it's something that we do take serious if we can alleviate some of those problems but to the mayor's Point too with the trucks we've tried and there's a whole
Interstate trucker Commerce too that you hear because we get it from Cedar Grove Road as well you know that's where they hate the trucks coming through and we've noticed too I think probably a pickup with the speed humps on Houston and Jacobus they're not going on those streets anymore they're go they're sticking to the county roads the 18
wheelers rarely went down uh Houston or Jacob yeah once in a while they would go down um but but to make that right turn for a truck can't there there's simply not enough room for them to swing and make the turn uh it's a problem but they're permitted to drive on those
roads as part of the truck routes right now maybe we can follow up with the county again to see if there's something we can do about prohibiting a right turn I don't know if they would actually uh you know for trucks I don't know if it's possible or something that would even be entertained but we see a lot of the trucks coming from the uh industrial
yard in Cedar Grove they make their way down Cedar Grove Road or technically Little Falls Road to Francisco or east Lind there they make the right they head up and over the tracks and then to your intersection where they they if there are other cars in the other lanes they just do not have enough room to make the
difference no and I can reach out to the engineer Jonathan who handles that road because he's the one that's been helping us out with the the speed limit change the ridge I can ask them to see what they can do and a lot of times it's getting them like I said before with having um the county come to Wilmore Road Park getting them physically to
come here to see it and understand what the problem is especially when an 18 whe are trying to make that turn especially if there is car on Ridge at the L it's not easy it it really isn't so I'll uh I'll make a call to there have been accidents where the cars not the trucks
but cars car accidents that have wound up on our lawn yes no I know I was there increased traffic now it it worries me I mean that traffic light could have landed in my house no I totally understand I was there a couple years ago with officer Panola because there was an instance where a car actually
crashed it took the guard rail out and ended up in someone's lawn over there for speeding yes so totally it and that's why we've been pushing to change the speed limit too to get people to finally slow down so we'll keep you posted we can look at we'll talk to after information you can stay there
please so you also mentioned about noise this evening and you I think your two comments was traffic and gas leaf blowers so yeah it does seem interesting that gas leaf blowers are now being used to remove snow when it's not too much of
the snow if it's an inch or two it seems to be quicker and EAS easier to for someone to break out their gas blower and blow the snow we don't have an ordinance against that you know um so hopefully they're not doing it at 2 o'clock in the morning but having said
that there are also uh people who need to get to work and there's sometimes liit limited number of uh companies that will remove snow and they do show up at your neighbor's house or residents you know at odd hours because they have to get to many homes um so we the town kind
of doesn't go around you know telling those people don't do their job people need to get to work we have an understanding of that but um if you ever feel that noise is over and Beyond you're always welcome to call the police department and and make a complaint
thank you than add to that briefly um I have spoken to a number of uh people that I know who reside in Montclair and they had initially supported the initiative that Monclair had to eliminate gas leaf blowers and it turns
out every single one of them that has a landscaper now regrets pushing the initiative to go to battery power devices because the cost of their Landscaping has dramatically increased and a lot of that reason is because landscapers were all forced to purchase
new machines to to perform the work the number of batteries that they require to operate throughout the course of a day and the generators that they now require on their trucks to charge the batteries that they are using throughout the day uh has caused a very steep incre
increase in landscaping costs for them uh so it's one of those things where in the future maybe his battery powered devices you know the technology with that continues to improve and we see longer life longer lasting batteries and and and and you know easier ways to
charge them it may be something that we can consider but right now unfortunately just seeing the repercussion that it had there I think it the burden the financial burden that it puts on residence in a town May outweigh the benefits of the quieter you know
machines that they're using to to perform the work um and to your point council president our ordinance for noise does have a specific car out for snow removal and the reason being is that often times snow can be a safety issue for people we don't want to stop them from using a snowblower or or
something in the winter time to remove the snow at 2: a.m. if it's required for them to maybe get to work or do whatever it is that they may have to do uh so there is a carve out for that uh again if somebody's using a leaf blower at 9:00 p.m. or 10: p.m. or 11:00 p.m. it may be a different issue uh depending on
our noise ordinance in the day of the week uh but unfortunately snow it would not apply okay thank you Kev a motion to close the public comments move by councilman Venter second by councilman habets Voice vote all those in favor all those opposed motion carries C motion to
go into executive session uh to discuss uh Personnel by Council Vel second by councilman V Cherry all those in favor I all those opposed motion carries uh probably be about 15 minutes what
e e e e e e e e e e
e e e e e e e very thank you now I'm going to are we all here yeah k a motion to return uh to open
session so move moved by councilman vent second by councilman all those in favor I all those opposed there was no action uh thank you Melissa for stepping up at this meeting at the last moment um have a motion to adjourn this meeting move by
councilman habet second by councilman V Cherry all those in favor all those opposed this meeting is now closed