##VIDEO ID:tEXyfLE0je8## welcome everyone to the township Council Workshop meeting Monday December 9th 2024 this meeting is now called to order all please rise to the salute to the flag Madam 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 4-10 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 4th 2024 a copy of the notice was sent to the north Jersey Herald in 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 www.j.com electronic Provisions have been established for the public to participate during the public comment portion of the meeting thank you at this time Madame clerk please call the role council member Patel pres council member Murphy present council member habblet present council member van Cherry pres council president scova pres this evening we have uh our health officer John beagle with us uh John the floor is yours thank you um good evening everyone um I'm here with Jennifer kid our project's Health coordinator and we're just going to go over some of the topics that have been um present within the last month or two um so for next year though in February we're going to be doing a presentation on our annual report which will go over all the aspects of the health department and what we do in Little Falls um as far as this past year we have done all we've completed all the retail food establishments within U Little Falls and that includes the Monclair state food uh facilities we also finished all the pool inspections daycare inspections and anything regarding environmental that includes the schs as well the health department received a survey that we had to respond to from the State Health Department regard regarding response capacity Surge and that is regarding the possibility of Aven flu um the height of Avan flu which not to get anyone nervous but it it's just there's been no humano human transmission and pretty much there's been no cases in New Jersey so let's not jump you know but there are 58 cases that um have been found in United States mainly in California and it's been really found in in cows and dairy dairy farms um individuals working with the cows have been associated with uh with the Aven f blue um it's also with Ral milk as well so we are keeping an eye on that it's something that we monitor the state monitors and then any issues that they feel that we need to you know address we are you know locals are are there um to work with them um we also work with I I receive something called epicenters and that is it's a um indication of any type of anomalies in the hospitals and of course now we're starting to get the height of flu season and um Co and we have found that the in the hospitals there's an increase of GI um episodes so possibly neuro virus which you'll find usually in this time in January which is basically the 24-hour flu if you do have anything like that you always have to make sure you hydrate yourself because that is the key and that's how you really become worse if you do not hydrate so that's something that we always um review um our social services department has been working very closely with United Methodist Church United Methodist Church provided care packages for our homeless uh with food and hygiene products and if there are any unhoused individuals um that you see in the township please give our health department a call we have um social workers that will come out and meet with the individuals and anytime the temperature drops below 32° uh we have something called code blue we have a warming Center in Clifton uh the police can transport any unhoused individuals to that warming Center until um you know until it's called off so we have one coming up Wednesday Wednesday night and also from Thursday evening until Saturday morning we have it staed with uh Human Service U employees um our nursing division will begin the audits in January from the schools and if any indications from the past our school system in Little Falls does a great job with all their vaccines and things like that so that's a very positive thing and then lastly I'm just going to end with our respiratory illness surveillance report we received this um on a weekly basis from the New Jersey Department of Health regarding Co um Co activity right now is low but they have noticed slight increases um which into the emergency rooms and um the one good thing right now is that the the strain of Co is in the vaccine formulation that was given in the last um vaccine so that's a good thing it's a good match so hopefully you know those individuals that received the vaccine covid vaccine will not end up in the hospital and that that's a good thing um the influen fza again it's starting to increase as well and we did see that um RSV the percentage of positivity continues to increase uh particularly among children Z to four years of age they've seen an increase in the hospitals um emergency room visits so those are all things that we monitor on a regular basis and you know we work very closely with the State Health Department and again our epidemiologist uh epidemiologist within the county and the state I'm going to turn over to Jennifer for some updates so we've been very busy in the township of Little Falls this past quarter um we have a new Facebook page uh for the little fall fall for Little Falls Township um which pretty much gets updated um if not um every couple of days definitely on a weekly basis so if you don't if you don't follow Little Falls uh Health Department Facebook page please um look us up and start following us for the latest news we also have a new podcast that we've started it's called Clifton Health on air and um episode 114 is actually an interview with the mayor of Little Falls um so if you're interested you can tune in we have a lot of um we have about 30 episodes from this past year covering a variety of topics we're one of the only Health departments in New Jersey to have a podcast U we're very proud of it and um you can find us on on any podcast platform online we were busy with mindfulness classes um in the township we were working with um your school number three third graders and um running a four-week session with them on mindfulness and teaching um the students how to be um living in the present um how to cope better with stress how to deal with um some fears and anxieties how to Express gratitude it's it's a very successful program very popular um so popular that um actually every school that we've been to wants us to come back um and repeat the program with them we're also working with the Banyan school with the the high school students there um on a mindfulness program and we're actually wrapping up that program um I think this week uh at Banyan school we had a very successful Alzheimer's presentation at the Civic Center on September 26 where we had uh 22 people in attendance um so that was a great turnout we also had the wise program which was about a 4-week program at the Civic Center um it's it's a wellness program for senior citizens and um they cover topics as nutrition medication safety um physical activity and topics like that we also had a flu Clinic here um in November we had 22 people that were immunized against flu um we also attended the October Fest um we had a couple of our um Health Educators do some um Outreach and education at the October Fest um we have upcoming a breast cancer presentation um this Thursday no this Wednesday the 11th um at the Civic Center um we have flyers for all of our upcoming programs and I will leave them um at the Township Clerk yes we do oh there's plenty of room for the breast cancer presentation yes uh we also have a Paint and Sip um also being offered at the Civic Center next Tuesday evening um the 17th there are a few spots left for the Paint and Sip this is something uh we did in Clifton last month with the John there Cancer Center at hackin University Medical Center and um it was incredibly popular we had a weight list and so we decided that we would do another one here in Little Falls the topic of the evening is going to be breast cancer again um because that's what we did in October and there was an interest on the waiting list in that topic so um it is free um we're going to have some some coffee and tea to serve and some light refreshments and um we're looking forward to that uh we also have a vein screening coming up at the uh Clifton health department on Thursday and I believe there are still openings for that program as well and our health education leel helwani has been wrapping up um our bloodborne pathogens training with the fire police DPW um and Recreation departments she's actually doing a training right now for the fire department um ATP um and what we'll leave tonight is we have flyers for all of our upcoming programs and we also have a newsletter that we put out quarterly our fall newsletter was published recently and we have a page that is dedicated to the township of Little Falls within our newsletter so we will leave those with you as well oh yes and we also we applied for a grant from the chilon hospitals Foundation um it's a grant so that we could provide Mental Health First Aid training to the community members here in the township of Little Falls uh we have not heard yet whether or not we have made it to round two um for the grant uh but as soon as we hear if we have been accepted into round two then we will prepare the application um so that we can offer this very vital training to the community thank thank you both for a very thorough report councilwoman Patel this is your committee do you have anything you would like to add at this time no oh just thank you for all that you do it's always a pleasure to work with you and I'm excited excited to see what we're going to bring to Little Falls next year at this time I'll we'll allow anyone who would like to ask any questions or comments we'll open up the floor please approach the podium it's a public health meeting my name is Norman Shera longtime resident of Little Falls first I want to thank Jana Patel she's close to putting together a public health committee for little BS who one of the few towns that doesn't have either a Bo Health work committee so I think I think it'll be helpful uh one of my colleagues uh Ani rodkin has been advertising uh and asking people to uh submit their names if they're interested Jane and John beagle and I have spoken on a number of occasions and one of things I've asked him to do is to take a look at the services that citizens get in Little Falls versus those in Clifton uh and are there differences and if so what are they and uh uh what would it cost to uh because money is always always an issue uh to remid in I'm an old Public Health guy I think you know my background I work for CDC I was an assistant Commissioner of Health in New York City and I want just mention something about a threat to Public Health that we are uh that we're facing uh first of all uh the unexpected uh is is is always the the the stuff that uh UND undos undone does uh our preparations and it's hard to tell you know what new virus lies lies around the corner but we do know a couple of things one is that people are fatigued about the issue of vaccines and so I I I I think that we need to be really concerned about whether or not we can maintain the level of vaccines whether it's for flu or RSV or Co or or what have you at a level that we've had before and without getting in into into politics we're also facing a change in the uh leadership of of Public Health in this country uh possibility is that we will have a new uh director of Health and Human Services who believes that vaccine causes autism it doesn't uh and uh uh we're going to have to also take a look at as as people are as few and few people are vaccinated and another issue that's begin to creep up and that is a a growing number of conspiracy theories and antivaccine theories that that begin to take hold the latest one that my former CDC colleagues and I are taking a look at is a theory that the Chinese Communist party has taken hold of fiser pharmaceuticals and has aled the vaccine of fiser pharmaceuticals so that uh oh this is what they're doing and it's hard to believe and you I can't believe it myself as I as I talk about it uh that that what that the side effect of this particular vaccine uh it's an anti-id vaccine will be to uh decrease the fertility rate of women in this country in order to depopulate the United States uh and there are people who believe this stuff and if you go online and you take a look at some of the theories that go around uh it it just simply raises a new threat and and the way we we we beat that threat is as as John beel and staff knows is with uh with better education but thank you John for uh I think the Clifton Health Department does an extraordinary job for uh for little PS and thanks for listening thank you I Mr vagle I just need to clarify anything that the clion health department provides any service is the same service for little Fall's residents so there's no difference in any anything that we provide I just wanted to clarify that thank you you're welcome to stay for the rest of the meeting but you're also welcome to leave thank you happy holidays everyone happy holidays thanks have a motion to open the meeting to the public for General matters and agenda items so move moved by councilman vent Cherry second by councilman Murphy this is a voice vote all those in favor I all those oos motion carries Madam clerk anyone wishing to address the township Council May uces to the council president it is preferred if you give your name and address for the record comments are to be limited to 3 minutes however if appropriate you may be granted additional time in the sole discretion of the council president members of the public who have join the meeting virtually and desire to provide comment sh shall raise their virtual hand in the zoom application the meeting moderator will cue the members of a 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 in Star 99 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 I I see there's no one in the chat is that correct I'd like to speak and seeing no one come before us in the council chambers can have a motion to close the public comment so move move by Council habets second by councilman vent Cherry all those in favor I all those opposed motion carries we two items tax appeal settlement resolution and the resolution authorizing participation litigation to address affordable housing mandates so the first one had uh the council members have gotten the back out to to the tax appeal uh settlements I know we don't like to see something like this but this does occur from time to time I know this Law Firm very well I think they've done an excellent job in trying to protect the town the best they can unfortunately U as we know there are certain properties especially as you saw in your information the Walgreens that is vacant that would cause for a tax appeal as you could see that that occurred are there any questions regarding the tax appeal settlements moving on to the affordable participation litigation so as you see this is before us tonight to participate we've discuss discussed this currently there's 30 towns in the state of New Jersey that's joining this lawsuit on December 20th I think uh councelor hold me they're going to this lawsuit is going to ask for a stay um those towns that are participating if this lawsuit is in their favor will get the benefit uh that's why we decided to join um it's going to cost $20,000 $10,000 in 2024 and $10,000 in 2025 uh council members know that our quote is it quota is that the right word or our mandate let's use the word mandate I think it's 268 units am I correct counselor on that I think it's close to that5 285 28 sorry I apologize so the correct number is even worse it's 285 and I think if my calculations hold me right in order for this Township to hit a number of 285 we're probably looking at putting up 1,900 Apartments so are there any questions regarding the resolution in litig in the litigation to address the affordable housing mandates have a motion to approve resolutions a through C so move move by councilman Murphy second by councilman V Cherry this is a roll call please call call the RO council member Patel yes council member Murphy yes council member Hab council member V Cherry yes council president scova yes have a motion to approve the following applications which is the Unico Pake Valley uh Rafa which will be held on 312 so move move by councilman Murphy second by councilman habets please call the role council member Patel yes council member Murphy yes council member habet council member vener yes council president scova yes Madam clerk please read ordinance 1 155 second read second reading and public hearing of ordinance number 1505 an ordinance entitled ordinance of the township Council of the township of Little Falls in the county of P state of New Jersey amending chapter 218 storm order management of the code of the township of Little Falls thank you public hearing on ordinance 1505 is now open don't see anyone that wants to speak on 1505 we'll close uh the public hearing on ordinance 155 is now closed c a motion to adopt 1505 still move moved by councilwoman second by councilman vent Cherry this is a roll call please call the road to adopt 1 155 council member Patel yes council member Murphy yes council member Hain yes council member vaneri yes council president scova yes councilman Murphy why don't you lead us off thank you council president I'll be quick tonight uh we do have a domestic violence prevention committee meeting tomorrow night um but due to some conflicts we will be switching that to a virtual meeting and we will be changing the time to uh 6: p.m. from the original 700 p.m. meeting so if anyone does want to join just shoot me an email I'll send you the uh Zoom link link over because it won't be at Town Hall anymore we'll be having it on Zoom um did want to thank John beagle and his team for doing a fantastic job I did hear a couple residents actually speak this weekend about the health committee so it's good to see all they're doing all the programs that they're bringing and uh for councilman Patel for spearheading that as well um think that's all I have council president thank you thank you councilman Murphy councilman V Cherry thanks council president I also Echo you know thank you to John ble and Jen from the C Health Department for always being here and providing us with detailed updates on a consistent basis um some updates for me I do want to say thank you to all those that were involved in the holiday parade it was amazing so kudos to the Woodland Park total of little FS fire departments police departments dpws oems everybody that was involved to make this event happen I thought it was a great night you know you could see the smile on so many people's faces along the Route as they watched all the different uh trucks and apparatuses come by so it was really nice and Kudos heard PD uh for coordinating everything on our end as well of course there were a few trolls on Facebook that complained because well they always complain about everything but it was nice to know for a couple hours you can just kind of enjoy something and not have to worry about it so again thanks all that were involved and I do think as a council we need to be on a float next year I think you know we need to plan that instead of standing on the curb I think we need to be there there's a heater yeah bring the DJ equipment I think we can have some fun next year but I think we should be on Flo you can play the music instead of shipwreck s um couple other things I did want to mention I also wanted to say thank you to the L Falls uh police department uh at our last meeting Chief brawl mentioned that you know Triple A was recognizing Little Falls as well as myself for the community traffic safety awards uh there was a lunch in last Tuesday unfortunately my other job got in away I could not uh you know get out and attend to receive the award but I had a chance this weekend to stop by the police station and Lieutenant Hoy who actually nominated me presented uh me with the trophy so um it was pretty nice it was great to see the work that's being done in town by the police department the Traffic Department transportation committee uh to be recognized by Triple A you know and I always say you know there's still more work to be done you know we've done a lot of good things and you know there's still more to work on which leads me into my next update um so we got some good news uh on Friday myself and Mr quatron and the mayor from uh the county we have been waiting on an update in terms of whether or not we could pursue changing all County Roads to 25 from 35 because as you know there are three roads you know Maine and Long Hill as well as Stevens and ridge that still have the fluctuation where it's 25 to 35 so we heard back on Friday from Jonathan Pera the County engineer who let us know officially today that we can go ahead with the next step of adopting an ordinance on our end so it'll come through hopefully uh next month we'll work on it with council president Goa and Mrs Krauss that we would adopt on our end once that is finalized we would then send our approved ordinance to the county it will be reviewed one last time and then it'll be on the County's agenda to vote once that is adopted we can coordinate doing what we need to do to officially change all the signage and all the different warnings but then also from a social media standpoint and other communication channels make sure that you know the PD is getting that information out there and obviously go through the proper trainings um with that the other thing that we're going to have to do as a next step for myself and Mr quatron is Mr quatron is going to reach out to the Cedar Grove business administrator because with Ridge Road in particular and this was something that came up uh when discussing this with the County engineer is you know our speed limit is 35 and there's is 40 so if we change Ridge to 25 and there's is 40 it's a huge you know Gap in between especially as you hit the the reservoir area as you come into Little Falls so um Mr Pon is going to reach out to the cedar Gro ba because he's aware that we were working on this as is the cedar gr Police Department because the traffic departments had been in contact to see if they would consider doing the same thing and maybe drop down the speed limit from 40 to 30 if not 25 and then what I'm also going to do is reach out to the um Essex County Executives office as well to see if they can help with this process this way you know I ideally it would be nice not to have a 15 mile Gap once you hit the reservoir and pass the Little Falls border into Cedar Grove but it's uh good news for sure this has been a long time coming so it's uh we're a step closer so looking forward to bringing this to the agenda for everybody to look at in the coming uh month or so that's it for me thank you this uh is what we set out to make the town almost every Road 25 am I correct where set this go out quite a few years ago uh where so it's not confusing when motor driving through town and what's 35 what's 40 what's this what's that so it's 25 it's 25 it is and that's what it is so that's really another piece to that so good work on yeah and one thing I'll say too is and if you ask the police department sometimes it's as you're monitoring especially like a main street or Stevens it fluctuates and you know you stop and go and you're trying to figure out okay what is it so having that consistency is key and uh one last thing council president if you don't mind I forgot I want to make sure I mention it this Saturday at 9:00 sake Valley High School the little PBA is actually holding their annual breakfast with Santa it's free to all Little Falls residents so please stop by I got a text to say make sure you mention it today so um just wanted to everybody thank you for informing the public of that councilwoman haet thank you council president I just had to cross off something off of my list Council Jerry ticket but that's fine some some Library updates um um I'm sorry uh there will be a um Polish Cultural Christmas um with dancing and Polish food on Sunday um that is the 15th at 12: PM uh also there will be Reed with Daisy which is the certified therapy dog uh this Wednesday at 6 pm and next Monday is uh their cookbook club which is the 16th at 7 pm um with making a holiday traditional um menu you can register for all on the library website as well as see more events on the library website and social media Pages uh don't forget to register for our fourth annual light up Little Falls holiday decorating contest I've been seeing some great decorations out there I actually want to go stick flyers in their mailboxes to make sure that they register uh voting ends uh December 18th and prizes will be given for first second and third place uh you can register online at Community pass uh we will have our annual manora lighting it will take place on Monday December 30th at 6 pm at Walmart Park uh Refreshments will be served so come and jooy the ceremony with uh Rabbi ger and lastly I just want to say um we had a wonderful Christmas tree lighting uh thank you to everyone who attended the mayor and all of our council members uh we had wonderful vendors uh great holiday music and of course a visit from the big guy himself so thank you to everyone that had that night go off with out a hitch our Recreation Department um our gpw and our Police Department that's all I have thank you councilwoman Mel thank you council president don't worry Council one woman I had to cross off a lot more Sean and Jennifer right here I do want to start off by thanking them um it really has been a pleasure working with them uh one event she did not mention is that they are doing a blood lead testing it's going to take place on December 18th from 1 to 300 p.m. it's for children that are six and under and it's going to take place at their satellite office in clipon which is 207 Parker Avenue um and then for my first meeting as chair of the public health committee it's going to be on January 15th at 7 pm here at Town Hall so anyone that wants to join just let me know or just show up on that day that's all I have council president thank you councilman Matel Council renel I'm going to yield to you just if you could explain briefly to the public and uh what what a stay would mean uh if this lawsuit was successful in getting a stay okay so just to be clear this litigation is uh before the Mercer County uh assignment judge judge Loi and uh based upon my information that is the day for the order to show cause to be heard um that order to show cause could result in a multitude of uh determinations by judge Loi uh number one he could completely agree with the municipalities and on that day uh basically state that there is a sufficient likelihood of success on the merits of the claim and therefore he would enjoin and I want to use the terminology here differ between enjoining and staying for a particular reason he would enjoin the continued application of the statute because as I've said to you before if this were to go forward you have an obligation by the end of January of 2025 to enact an a resolution as to the number of affordable housing units that should be um in your perspective need for the next uh 10-year period so judge Loki could do that judge Loki could also say that uh that this is such a big issue that he can't render a decision uh on that day uh and that he needs some time to consider and digest all the various aspects of this and then enter a stay the point of the stay would be for him to say I need time to make a determination as to where I'm going the stay would effectively serve the same interim purpose as enjoining uh enjoining is really what they what the parties are seeking uh a state just holds things off temporarily and then finally judge Loi could uh say I don't believe that there's a sufficient basis to proceed forward uh uh with likelihood of uh of the municipalities winning this case and determin that the uh matter should be in effect dismissed it's not really dismissed but the order to show cause is dismissed which basically is the death nail for the litigation going for forward um so it's a stay tuned situation council president uh the um as you all know this situation is very complex uh it involves uh 565 municipalities all with different obligations and some with no obligations but part of the litigation is about whether or not those communities should have obligations so it involves 65 municipalities even though there's 30 involved in the actual suit so at the end of the day uh and I've said this before to to in in other forms that it's my uh reasonable guess that judge Loi is probably going to at the very least say this is too big for me to make a decision today and in effect but stay that's I think a relatively good likelihood um so it's a it is a wait and see but obviously once uh we hear anything I will let you know and I also know uh I just found out the other day that uh the expert for the municipality side is somebody I work with as a planner in another community and um she's very very good so if I was a state I'd be worried um but in any event that's that's where we are well know about I do know that judge Loi at in his previous career prior to being judge I believe he was he worked as a state uh AG for a number of years I believe um and he's known as a very thoughtful methodical individual so once again I think that all those factors kind of lean towards at the very least him not making determination that thing thank you c a motion to open the meeting to the public for items move by councilman V second by councilman habets 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 however if appropriate you may I'm sorry I lost my place it's 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 Jo join the meeting virtually and desire to provide comment she'll raise a 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 N9 to raise their hand members of the public who would join 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 seeing no one come before us in the council chambers and not see anyone come before us in the chat room am I correct have a motion to close the public comment moved by moved by Council Murphy second by councilman V Cherry all those in favor I all those opposed have a motion to adjourn this meeting moveed by councilman Murphy second by councilwoman habetz uh all those in favor all those opposed this meeting is now closed