Um, and the one that is being implemented from my understanding will increase both the temperature in the park and the surrounding areas of at least 200 ft. um which will increase the costs of neighbors air conditioning bills and it will have an impact on the
environment and um the the neighboring areas. Uh there is also a factory that abuts the park. Um oftentimes in the summer their doors are open to get a breeze uh and that will not be able to happen. They're going to have to
generate some other source of electricity and and install air conditioning. From what I can tell, they don't have air conditioning there. Okay. Um I'm not sure. Well, I can go over that. We do have the impact study here, but I can go over that with the engineer. Uh we have not picked any
equipment yet. This is just preliminary um a preliminary plan that we're presenting for the grant. Um there is always talk of putting uh shade structures over the playground which would then decrease the heat. But this is definitely something that I can speak
to the engineer about and you know see where he stands with this. Okay. And just my last concern is is for regarding the surface of the the playground again. Um research researchers at the University of Massachusetts LOL's Toxic Use Reduction Institute say there's
enough information for them to recommend that municipalities stay away from rubberized playground services. Um and what is the alternative? Uh, there's a company called Porqueen. And there I'm
sorry. Porkin. C O R K N. C O R K E N. Okay. If you give it to Mr. Quron, I'm so sorry. Thank you. Thank you. Sorry, we have rules. Uh, that's a brochure from Quirking.
Excuse the poor print. I think it was a foam print job. So, it's cork. It's corking. It's cork. Yep. which is more sustainable. Uh it's all natural components. Its drainage capacity is much higher than the um the plastic that is currently being poured. It doesn't
smell. Uh lower temperature, significantly lower temperature. It's a lightweight material. there's no cost or significantly lower cost of disposing of it when renovations are um needed to be uh or when the park is needed to be updated again, which I understand that
that is a um significant expense with the current um pouring of plastics. The the renovations and disposal of that plastic is very difficult and costly. Uh and it's better for our environment and
our children. It's non-toxic. It is uh lightweight, fire retardant, and hypoallergenic. I don't work for the company. I don't even know that much about it, but I do know that Monontlair is looking into it. There is a large park in Philadelphia that has successfully implemented it, and I think it's something that we should consider.
Okay. Well, of course, the safety of our residents are always of our utmost concern. Um, do you have this in email form or can I I can email it to you as well. Okay. Um, Mr. Cotron, can you please give this back? Sure. And would you please email that to me? Yes, absolutely. Thank you, Kelly. I
appreciate it. Thank you for coming out tonight. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for your comments. Is there anyone else that would like to speak on Amity? I did just have one more question. I'm sorry. So, what is the process? Um um so we we have been applying for multiple grants
for AMD. Um last year we received a green a green acres grant uh for the playground. Um the Greenacres grant does have a 25% um um portion that the town would be responsible for. Uh so we are trying to
apply for multiple grants to also keep the costs down to the township. Um we have applied also for Greenacres grant this year. Uh that would be for the playground and the basketball court and the sake county grant uh because it does not have a matching requirement would be
an excellent grant to tie everything all together in order to have the maximum amount of grant money for this playground and park. Okay, great. and NJ is offering um some other additional grants as well. And I think that they would be open to considering um further
funding to I don't know put little balls on the map for trying this quen and it's a small playground. I don't think it would be significantly different in cost but um definitely something I hope you will consider. Thank you so much. Thank you for your comments.
Is there anyone else like to speak on a miss? No one in our chat. Have a motion to close the public to the public hearing. So moved by council ventur, second by counciloman habits. All those in favor? I. All those opposed? Motion carries. We'll take both minuteses at
the same time. Have a motion to approve the minutes of February 24th and the minutes of March 10th. So move. Moved by Councilwoman Habitz. Second by Councilman Venterry. This is a roll call. Please call the role. Council member Habits. Yes. Council member Venter. Yes. Council President Scoba.
Yes. Mayor Daniano. The floor is yours. Thank you, Council President. This evening, uh, I'm going to leave most of my report to the, uh, the women's history presentation that we'll be doing in just the next minute or two. Uh, but as far as municipal updates, uh, we are still waiting for some coordination with
PSEG and Verizon to finalize uh, the getting the poles removed from the new downtown parking lot on where Stanley Street previously was. Uh once Verizon gets the low voltage wires moved, we'll be able to remove those poles, get the top surface paved there. Uh and we are
still waiting for PSCG to install the decorative lights that will illuminate the entire parking lot. Hoping to have that done soon, but soon is relative term, I think, when it comes to some of our utility companies. uh as far as and there's been some discussion here before
the meeting started the traffic light at the intersection of Francisco A and Cedar Grove Road. U similarly we are waiting on some final electric to uh connect all of the wires there and we will have some lights illuminated there hopefully in the relatively near future
as well. Uh council president unless there's any questions from the council I will leave the rest of my report to the women's history month presentation. Thank you. Councilwoman Habitz, would you like to uh start us off on the women's history? Um I would I would just like to say uh as councilwoman uh women's history month
is a powerful reminder of the incredible contributions uh that women have made throughout history. Um less than 100 a little more than 100 years ago uh women were not even able to vote and now I sit here proudly as your council woman and um very proud of everything that we have
accomplished in this town. Uh we were incredibly lucky, Little Falls, to have so many incredibly uh incredible women um doing amazing things and it was a pleasure to have um had input on honoring these women today. Thank you,
Mayor. Thank you, Council President. Before we begin by recognizing each of the three women who we are going to be honoring this evening, uh the first thing I want to do is read a proclamation. The proclamations are identical for each of these three women. So, I'm only going to
read it once rather than reading it three times to each and every one of them. So, we'll start with this and then we'll invite uh the women up here to join me as I say a few words about them and some of their incredible accomplishments. And the proclamation reads, "Whereas each year Women's History Month offers an important
opportunity for us to shine a light on the extraordinary legacy of trailblazing women and girls who have built, shaped, and improved upon our community. And whereas in overcoming discrimination, harassment, and hardship, women have been bold and fearless, never giving up on the promise that with hard work and
determination, nothing is out of reach. And whereas, in remembering the trailblazers of the past, and the heroins of present day, we honor their legacies by carrying forward the valuable lessons learned from the powerful examples they set. Whether teaching our children, caring for our sick, serving in our wars, starting
businesses, serving in elected positions, or venturing into unknown frontiers, generations of women believe their gender was no obstacle to what they could achieve. And whereas during Women's History Month, we recognize the advances we've made in this state for women, but acknowledge that more needs
to be achieved so women can gain gender equality and access to the prosperity of this state. And whereas during Women's History Month, let us honor the accomplished and visionary women who have helped build our community, including those who whose contributions have not been adequately recognized and
celebrated. And now, therefore, I, James Belelfford Demiano, mayor of the township of Little Falls, hereby proclaim March 2025 to be Women's History Month in the township and recognize all of the women in our community and especially those in leadership roles who continuously improve upon our community each day. And
in this proclamation, we mentioned just three types of women who have been done incredible things. And through this, we've mentioned uh those who have started businesses, those who have served in elected in elected positions and those who have ventured into unknown
frontiers. And tonight, we're going to recognize one of each of those women as they join me up here in the front. And the first person I'm going to ask to join me up here in the front of the room is our Senator Kristen Curado. So before I present the proclamation this evening to our senator, I want to
read just a few words about what she has accomplished. And this really is a very short blurb because if we went through all the accomplishments of our senator and our former county clerk and our for so the list goes on and on. Uh we would be here a very long time. So we start with this evening. Senator Kristen
Curado proudly represents New Jerseys 40th district. A lifelong resident of Totoa, she's earned her law degree from Satan Hall University and is practicing attorney in her family law firm, Curado Incorpor Senator Curado began her public service
as Pay County Clerk in 2009, serving two terms before being elected to the state senate in 2017. She remains deeply committed to her constituents in Little Falls, whether by addressing their concerns, attending community events, or advocating for critical funding, such as recent efforts to support our Pecman
River. Little Falls is grateful for your dedication and is honored to present you with this Women's History Proclamation. And now that we've heard about one of the women in our area who has served in an elected position, the next woman I'm going going to ask to join me up here is
a lifelong resident of Little Falls who also owns a business here in town. And I'm going to ask Jannine Veron to join me up there. Janine Baron is a lifelong resident of Little Falls where she and her husband Tom have raised their family while remaining deeply involved in the community. For the past 10 years,
they've owned and operated the crearyy, a favorite local business that has provided jobs for many of our town's youth and certainly put some inches on my waistline. Janine has a strong passion for education and public service. She previously served on the Little Falls board of education and was reelected
last November. As vice president of the Little Falls Education Foundation, a nonprofit she co-founded with her brother John. She's helped to raise over $200,000 to fund vital programs for our schools. Beyond her work in education, Janine's been an active member of the
PTA, earning its prestigious lifetime achievement award and currently serves on the Shade Tree Commission. Thank you Janine for your dedication and invaluable contributions to our community. The next individual I'm going to have join me up here is a woman who has
certainly ventured into unknown frontiers. And I'm going to ask Jessica Myers to join me up here in the front. Jess Myers is an inspiration. When her young nephew Liam was diagnosed with cancer at just 8 weeks old, Jess ensured that his life would be defined by love and joy. Not just from his
family, but from everyone he encountered. And so, at community events and parades, when there was a chance to remind everyone of the courageous spirit of this little person with an enormous personality, Jess encouraged us to rally behind Liam. Like lots of kids, Liam loved our first responders, and the ones
he met fell in love with him. When he couldn't make it to a parade, the parade came to him thanks to the efforts of the community volunteers who who were too numerous to count. Essentially, Jess and her family asked us to become the best versions of ourselves and we did it. We watched him fight, celebrated his
victories, and collectively we shared our devastation at his loss. Her mission was that Liam's life would not be defined by his illness, but by his happiness. Today, all of us can remember how we were able to contri contribute in some small way and how it made us feel to lift up this young treasure of a boy
who was with us for far too brief of a time. In the midst of Liam's struggles, Jess founded Liam's Warriors and was a founding member of the Red Carpet Warriors, organizations intended to help families that are going through the same difficulties as Liam by giving them ways to smile and laugh and to emotionally
support them and provide them some financial relief as well. Liam's legacy will continue through Jesse's work to help those families so that children like Liam will always be remembered, not for their pain, but for their happiness they shared and the smiles that shined as bright as the light in their hearts.
And for that, we're thankful to Jess and her entire family. With us tonight, uh, we have our engineering company, Boswell, represented by Joe Pamanti, and a resident of our very own, Al Kawatti, who also works for Boswell. They're here
tonight to present I guess you want to call it an award on the Wilmore Park that I can tell you the council and the mayor and the staff worked countless hours along with the engineering company but with Joe Pomante and Boswell to see that park
come to tuition. Mr. Pomonte. Good evening, council president, members of the council, mayor, township representatives. Um, on behalf of Boswell, I don't know how I'm going to top the presentations by the mayor, but
I'll try. So, it has been a privilege working for the township of Little Falls. Uh, Boswell Incorporated is a member of the American Council of Engineering Companies, which is a trade organization that strives for engineering excellence not only in New Jersey, but throughout the country. Uh
every year the New Jersey chapter, the member firms internally picked uh projects that uh basically display unique engineering challenges and are really spectacular signature projects for the company for that year. This past
year, fall 2024, we had an internal meeting at Boswell and the project that we selected to showcase with with our peers throughout the state was the Wilmore Park playground uh renovation. very very proud of the project. It came
out really really wonderful. Um with a lot of help specifically with Councilwoman Havitz and Mayor Damiano. They spent countless hours really working on the thematic nature of the playground. Uh that playground was submitted as uh for review and we actually were awarded the distinguished
project award at our recent engineering excellence bank. What I'd like to do is just read a part of the summary of the application because I think it really distills the essence of the project and then what I'd like to do is I'll give administrator quatronone the uh I won't
come up I saw what happened and I know chief problem that being said Wilmore Road Park in the township of Little Falls now hosts a state-of-the-art playground that promote pro promotes outdoor play and
inclusivity for children of all ages. It is more durable, more beautiful, and more fun than ever before, and requires less maintenance and work hours than the previous playground. This new playground no longer highlights and segregates children with special needs, but allows
them to use all types of equipment and play right next to their peers. In doing so, it shows that special does not have to mean different and builds a sense of community that makes everyone from those of us at Boswell Incorporated to the
Little Falls leadership crowd. This playground is an exciting addition what is officially known as Memorial Park. There to commemorate those who have given so much for others. In that spirit, this playground is a gift you all who enjoy a swing on the swings
during a spring day and laughter of the children as they head down the slide. And again, it's a wonderful project that the township can enjoy for years to come and we are very fortunate that worked with you on this. So again, thank you very much on behalf of the entire mayor.
Would you like to accept that? And I will say with the location of my office, I always know when the weather has broken because I hear through my window all the kids playing on that playground every single day when the when the weather is nice outside. So,
thank you for all of your hard work in making that project come to fruition, Councilwoman, for the countless hours that you put in. And uh I think I part-time GCED that project with how close it was to my office. Uh so it was certainly fun and exciting to see come together. So thank you for
We'll take a we'll take a little break for those that would like to depart. And if you have other places to go, you're please welcome to move on. Uh we don't hold no grudges here. Good night. and go home and zoom in. Hey, Councilman Habits, would you lead
off the council reports, please? Just a few brief reports um for the library. The I the library will be having um an art studio this Wednesday the 26th with art with artist Georgia O'Kee
um she will hold a um I'm so sorry she will hold a class art studio class uh for children ages seven and above. Um, also there will be a health coach uh workshop on the 25th, which is tomorrow
uh 7 PM by certified health coach Lisa Kaufman. Uh you can learn some health tips and techniques and also if you get a chance to stop by um there was some beautiful lighting uh that was an addition to the library that was installed on Saturday. Uh so if you get
a chance, stop by the library. It looks fantastic. Uh thank you to uh the board of trustees and our library staff for putting that all together. Um also for other things that are happening at the library this month. Uh check out their
website or check out their social media pages. Uh the farmers market season is almost here. We're still accepting vendors and sponsors. Uh please reach out to Tyler Pacero at tpaceroiddlefallsnj.gov gov if you have any questions or would like to be a sponsor or a
vendor. And that's all I have. Thank you, council. Thank you, Councilwoman. Councilman Venturi. Thanks, Council President. Uh, first want to congratulate the three honores, you know, with Senator Curado, Dean Baron, and Jess Meyers. You know, all three of them very well, and they're all three outstanding, you know, people who do
great things for our community. So, congratulations on that. And congrats, Councilwoman Havitz, on the award from our engineers. The park is amazing. You know that. everybody enjoys it there. Uh few updates from me. On uh Tuesday, April 1st, uh outside in front of town
hall at 6 p.m., we're going to do our annual autism flag raising as we kick off autism awareness month uh for the month of April. So, if anybody is around, you're more than welcome to join us. Just finalizing the program details about some of the speakers that'll likely be there to say a few words. Um,
in terms of some upcoming events, I'm just pulling together all the uh planning around the May 23rd concert in the park as well as the May 24th Memorial Day parade. Just right now kind of confirming a few things in terms of the talent for the 23rd as well as the
participants on the 24th. So, a bunch of communications and the flyers are going to be going out next week to start planning that. And then at some point too, I'll probably reach out to PD, fire, and DPW and and the rec center just to kind of plan a meeting to go over everything for the day of the parade so that we're all buttoned up in
advance. Um, I did have a chance to to connect with the county. At the last meeting, I mentioned that I had met with Commissioner Orlando Cruz uh to see if we can add some handicap parking over by Wilmore Road Park uh because that has been a concern from a number of
residents, especially um you know, those who attend the concerts in the park in the summer as well as some of the older residents who bring their grandkids to the Wilmore Road Park. Um and then we also made a pit stop by Main Street to look at the area by 44 Main to see if we could possibly add another handicap
spot. So, um, based on that conversation, Commissioner Cruz went back to the county engineers and I am waiting for them to get back to me because they did do a site check, um, last week. So, I'm just waiting for the engineers to follow up with the next steps and then we could figure out what
we're going to do from an ordinance standpoint on our end once we get the the county buy in. So, I'm following up tomorrow with the county. Hopefully, I'll have an update soon, but just wanted to know that was uh, happening. And, you know, Mr. Pamonte just left unfortunately, but I did introduce him to Mr. Baron today because the
frustration as mayor alluded to earlier is the traffic light on Francisco and Cedar Grove Road. Unfortunately, it feels like it's a lot of back and forth with our PS&G liaison never really getting a hard uh concrete answer in terms of the timing. So, luckily Senator
Curado was here as well and we did pass on the information to her and her chief of staff. So hopefully the senator can maybe make a call too to kind of push this because it is very frustrating like been up since December, but unfortunately there's nothing blinking or turning. And you know, anytime there
is an accident, my phone does ring or there's a near miss as uh I let the PS&G folks know last week when a resident almost got hit at that intersection and she proceeded to call me and tell me how she almost got hit. So hopefully we'll get an update soon because like I said, this has been a long time coming. It's
been a two-year process to get this light. So hopefully it's up and running soon. So I'll keep you posted on that. And lastly, I did want to mention uh because I know a lot of people have reached out to myself as well as uh Tyler Pacero at the recck department. The Real ID is coming to Little Falls
next month. Now, the portal is going to open this Friday at 300 p.m. for anyone looking to make an appointment. I do want to stress that appointments will go fast, so make sure you check out the portal because it's up on social media. I know there's going to be some blasts
that are coming out too from our web master this week. Make sure you check the link at 3:00. You will notice too. Um there's a bunch of other towns, but unless they are open, go to the Little Falls one and please book it as soon as possible. So hopefully you can do it um
and come here to the Civic Center next month. But I do want to also emphasize too, it's open to anyone when it comes to the mobile Real ID. You don't have it's not just for Little Falls residents. It's for anyone. So, just know everybody's going to be searching that website looking. So, just a
reminder to make sure to go on Friday at 3:00, refresh it a couple times, and you'll see the box open up and book it immediately. That's it for me, Council President. Thank you, Councilman Venturi. Chief Paul, you have anything for the governing body? Uh, just briefly, I did attend the
accreditation hearing uh and we were awarded reacredititation officially uh by the commission or the state chief's association. there was no uh trends to report. So, we had no deficiencies, which we're very proud of. Uh April 1st,
we begin our um uh Nitsa, the uh National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. They awarded us uh another grant, so free of charge, 100 hours of enforcement. Uh begins April 1st. So, we'll see uh increased patrols
out there for the distracted driving enforcement. And that's all I have. Thank you, Chief. Uh the uh past week or so we had a great Irish lunchon for the seniors at the civic center. Many thanks to
Christine Habits and Chris Ventur, Counciloman Patel, um to uh Galina and Mark, my committee people along with Marie. And thanks to Mary came in at the perfect time when we were serving co uh coffee. I tell you, serving 100 seniors coffee, I don't
think we got that down yet. You know, I don't know. We've been doing this a while. We still don't have it right. I I still don't have it right, I have to say. I don't know why, but you know, mayor came in, I gave him two big coffee pots. I was like, we were intimidated. Um, but we'll have to work on that. It was a great time. Um, I was speaking
with Jannine Baron, and she really made a comment that the committee was concerned with, and as we as we uh are in 2025, is why don't we have emails for everyone that attends our events? And I can tell you on the seniors and chief will agree like we're working on that really hard um to because if there's
ever an emergency not only with events, not only with the activities that go on which are numerous and we want people to know about those activities, but also in case there's an emergency or somehow that we need to get in touch with somebody. It's really important. So we are going to continue to work on that and expand that
role. We'll move forward. Um councelor Lensel, you have anything for the governing body? No council president. Thank you. Have a motion. Have a motion to open the meeting to the public for agenda items. Moved by Councilman Vent Cherry. Second by Counciloman Havitz. All those in favor? All those opposed?
Madame Kirk. Anyone wishing to address the township council may do so to the council president. It is preferred if you give your name and address for the record. Comments are to be limited to three minutes. However, if appropriate, you may be granted additional time in the sole discretion of the council president. Members of the public who have joined the meeting virtually and
and desire to provide comment shall raise their virtual hand in the Zoom application. The meeting moderator will cue the members of the public that wish to provide comment and the council pres president will recognize them in order. Members of the public who have joined the meeting by calling in must press star six to mute and unmute themselves and star 9 to raise their hand. Members
of the public who have joined the meeting via the Zoom application must click the reactions icon and then the raise hand icon. Once the process is complete, we will return to the regular order of business. Thank you, madam clerk. Is there anyone wishing to come before us? You could just state your name. You
don't need to state your address. Uh Al Dubois Clifton. Um I received a letter in the mail last Saturday and it was a ticket and at first I got nervous. I said, "Well, what did I do wrong?" And there
was a ticket for in front of the on Main Street uh by Ethan and the Bean and the art store. And I have a relative that worked there and we still go in there at times because she likes to support it. But my wife looked at the ticket. I
didn't understand it at first and she said, "Oh, that was me." I pulled up, dropped him off. I was I never got out of the car. I stayed there with the blinkers on and he ran in, got something. Then he had to get a piece of paper or something. And um she said she left. She was there maybe a couple of
minutes. But I know I do that once in a while also when he wants a drink. So I I attend the library very frequently a couple times a week besides going to Holy Angels and stuff. So I thought it was I said, "Are you sure it's you?" And then we finally looked at the dates and
yes, it was her. Um but I received it the letter in the mail on March 13th. That was a Saturday. I opened it up. I called on Monday and the the uh payment
date was for March 19th. So, I mean, I I opened it up on the I mean, it was mailed on the 13th. I opened it up on the 15th and Monday was the 17th. When you read it, it says you have to if you want to plead not
guilty, you have to call 5 days ahead. But then it has a little additional verbiage there. So I didn't know what to do. I called the office and they were very nice. Uh the lady had said, "Well, you want to plead not guilty? You know, you do this and that." I said, "Well, is
there a court fee?" "Yeah." I said, "Will that be waved? I'm not sure. That has to go through." I said, "Is there a prosecutor you can talk to ahead of time?" "No, but I'll give it to someone, an officer, a corporal, who will call you back." Now, this was on a Monday. I said, "Okay." And I also called and I
know sometimes they might get busy so you know it's like okay they might not I called the city clerk's office they were very nice also and she listened everybody was very nice and respect um she listened and said why don't you talk to the
chief I don't know if you know that's his I was talking maybe there's somebody into intermediary because I don't know what law we broke he said because you know we're not up I mean I'm 67 except my wife's sickly. You know, it's like we don't know all the updated laws. We don't know. You know, we didn't see
anything there. We've been doing it for a while. She said, "No, I'll give your number to the chief." And the I'm I'm sorry. Who said we give the number to the chief? Uh the cler lady in the clerk's office. I don't know exactly who it was, but she was very nice. And I was surprised because they were all trying
to help. The good thing was they were all trying to be human and Nelson, but there was no place for no one to speak to specifically who could at least help and advise you. Um, finally I waited till the 19. I came here. I asked the young girl in the, uh,
will you pay? She says, "It's up to you, but there might be a court fee and it's up to the judge. You know, it's like flipping a coin." So, I said, "Well, $30 or $50." I I just paid. I didn't want to be bothered. But, I I feel my wife and I went back there. We scanned the area.
Look. I mean, you have these uh detectors like you're in a totalitarian state, big brother that's taking your picture if you if you just happen to be there more than so many seconds. You never would expect that in Little Falls. It's so
family. We I mean like everything we heard here tonight, we attended all the park concerts. My wife's family is all from Little Falls. So, it was just shocking to see this and having to pay that. I'm not happy that I had to pay it. Actually, I mean, if there is
somebody that can talk to me or call me afterwards to say, "Hey, maybe we can make some kind of arrangements to reimburse you," I would be happy for that because I wasn't aware of it. I guess there's yellow lines where we pulled into the area, but there's no real big sign like you see with the bus stops, you say, you know,
specifically no, there was nothing there. And we did ask a couple of the businesses who said that they don't they're not that crazy about it. It's only caused a lot of problems for people. So, I went came here tonight Everybody was nice and respectful and
you have to obey the law. But you know, we just went through national administration that went one way all the way this now we're going with another administration that's going all the way that way. Is it needed? I again I I you know I don't know. But there was just some kind of human element where you can
talk to somebody and say, "Look, I'll go. I don't want to pay a court fee that's going to be just as what the fine is to say I'm not guilty." Or it could have been I mean something like this that's new because it's not all around. You give a warning notice. You mail me a warning notice saying
you're being warned. You're on record. Um if it happens again, we have these here and now we know that it's Little Falls has this. So I had no idea. The lady in the U where we paid a fine, she showed me what it looked like. But you know, I'm I just came just to share that
with you. I'm not I don't know if other people have had this problem or not, but thank you for coming out and explaining your situation and thank you for the comments on the staff. We really pride ourselves on that the staff should be uh work with the residents and those
that call. So I'm happy to hear that I could make a the right decision. I can't advice, you know, as far as we'll comment now about um I know you made the point about big brother, but we'll comment. I'll let uh Councilman Ventur and the mayor why we have the parking
sticks there and why that is about Councilman Ventur. Well, I think where you got the ticket was in between the traffic light and crosswalk. Correct. On Main Street by in front of the beam. That's where you got the ticket. You were parked in the yellow where the
yellow lines are. Yeah, where the yellow lines are. So, you're just past the intersection pretty much. You're Chief, keep me honest. Title 39, there is no parking in the the crosswalks and that's why there are the two safety sticks there because unfortunately a lot of people have been parking there illegally
and they're blocking the crosswalk. It's been a problem. That's why the police department worked on putting the sticks in as well as the yellow striping to indicate no parking. But they park. What's that? They park there and they're getting in the car. Yeah. It doesn't.
No, know why the sticks are set up so 90 seconds it captures your photo. Chief, you want to add to that or Yeah. So, I'll So, the the New Jersey motor vehicle statute when it comes to illegal parking includes all manner of different
things. Uh you can't park 50 ft of a stop sign, although people do, right? So, an officer can drive by and he can observe you within that distance and he can just give you a ticket. It doesn't need to be posted that you can't park there. You can't park in an intersection. can't park on a crosswalk. You can't park within uh 25 25 ft of a
crosswalk. So, what we have done is proactively to increase public safety and make the crosswalk more visible for our pedestrians, we've installed these devices. Um it it it's autonomous. Yes, that's the downside to it. U but it's
247 monitoring and anybody that parks there gets gets a summon. Um, ultimately, and I apologize, sir, that you did get a ticket for parking your vehicle illegally. Um, but it ends up changing behavior because now you're not going to park there again, right? So,
what we find over a period of time is yes, initially when the devices were installed, we saw an increase in summones, but now we're actually seeing a decrease in summons because people aren't parking there. The word is out that that's an illegal space. you will get a ticket automatically. And and
we've been very successful with that. Around our recreation complex, we've parked them and it's to the point now where the residents actually police each other and if a resident sees another resident parked there, they will yell to them, "Move your car." So, what we're looking to just do is keep the
visibility for the pedestrians. Um, you know, we can't speak enough about the dangers of a vehicle encroaching on the crosswalk because now you can't see. somebody passing by might not be able to see that pedestrian who's going to cross into the roadway. So the so they have been um successful. And the other thing
I'd like to say, and maybe you don't follow us on social media, we were very proactive about getting the message out. Recreation put out blasts um to our residents before we went live with them before we took the enforcement action. Um and they're really not new now. It's
been over res. Correct. It has been resonance, but it's been on our social media also. We did a press release. Um, Mrs. Papus was in the audience put a put a nice article out there that Little Falls went live with these and, you know, it's just unfortunate, sir, that you just happened to be, you know, one of the people that that parked there.
Um, well, if there's any chance of getting a reimbursement because it did say, I mean, I have the dates when the letter was mailed. It does say you have five days put in a request for non-guilty and that was already I didn't even have a chance. It was already only two due date. That would be through the
court. I don't handle any of that. We we do the enforcement end. But they don't we do the enforcement end of it. You I'm sorry. They referred me back to the chief. I I don't know why people refer but you know I'll give you the answer. It's fine. But but um I don't I don't handle you know reimbursement. Dano,
would you like to comment? Yeah, sure. And Mr. B, one of the things that you stated early on when you got up here is you tend a lot of things in Little Falls. You find it to be particularly familyfriendly. Um and and I'm very happy to hear that. But one of the biggest concerns that we have and one of
the reasons why so many years we've gotten AAA awards uh for pedestrian safety is we want our crosswalks to remain safe. And when vehicles are parked within 25 ft of a crosswalk, it does become very difficult as you're approaching an intersection or crosswalk
to see someone who may already be several feet into the roadway when there's a vehicle there obstructing that view. Uh so again to the chief's point by by putting in these sticks by ensuring that people remain permanently reminded not to park within 25 ft of the crosswalk we are essentially increasing
pedestrian safety which is a major objective and has been a major goal. I know the chief knows that uh people not vehicles not stopping for pedestrians and crosswalks is one of my pet peeves. Uh and they do those enforcements regularly through town. Uh but this is
really and I've had this discussion with a number of of residents as well and and also non-residents where they've said to me similar to you and some of them not nearly as as pleasant to deal with as you uh screaming and yelling that it's unreasonable and it's ridiculous that
they got a ticket. And my response to that is simply, I would gladly have this conversation with you over a conversation with a mother or a father who just had their kids struck by a vehicle and either badly injured or
killed. And while I know you're not here on great terms in the sense that you wish you never got this ticket, but having this conversation with you is something that I not that I welcome, but I'd prefer to have over a conversation with a parent who lost a kid. Uh, and I'm sorry that you were parked in that
location. Um, and I again, you know, and that you did get a ticket. Unfortunately, courts do not give refunds or reimbursements after tickets are paid and guilty pleased. The dates are off even though the dates are off. Yeah. Unfortunately, once you came here and plead guilty, um, yep, you entered
your plea. Um, but again, you know, it's unfortunate that you got the ticket, but again, having this conversation is something that I'd prefer over having a child or a parent to deal with that conversation. So you do have a beautiful town everything run by. I just I know
I've done it a few times within the last month. So I hope another letter doesn't come in, but I'll plead not guilty. You've moved quicker than 90 seconds. 90 seconds. And that's why I mean I'm not going to do it no more. I mean I don't know if you lose if the businesses are losing money. I don't know if they're offended. No, they've been good. I can tell you this because I
frequent the false kitchen and they've let the Uber eats type drivers, the GrubHubs and stuff because they tend to do that as well. They're getting tickets. They remind them constantly the sushi place around the corner in Patterson A. He has a sign in the window. I was there last Friday. He goes, "Chris, look, I'm telling them don't park there because they know
they're going to get a ticket with 90 seconds. Utilize the parking lots. We have two different lots. We have the municipal lot on Stevens AB and we have the Morris Canal parking lot. The challenge is a lot of times in by Ethan the in the bean it is problematic. People tend to park there because they just want to run in. But guess what?
You're going to get a ticket. That's why sometimes it's better to park a little further and walk down to to avoid that because I can tell you too this weekend the gentleman that's over there with the Valley High School sure he has a softball tournament. He's going to tell everybody at Patterson A that pulls up there, don't park there. You're going to get a ticket. He's going to do that all
day Saturday and Sunday and the weekend f following that. So yeah, I would emphasize and the businesses know as well. If you go in Ethan and the Bean, they know it's there. False Kitchen knows, Pencil Works knows, the haircuts, the jewelers, they all know it's there for a reason. It's it's the crosswalks
because you'd be surprised how many complaints that we get from residents when their kids are going to school in the morning and there's a car uh blocking the the crosswalk. So I know it's a tough thing. I was debating, but not You're welcome to come. You're welcome to come, sir. We appreciate your time. that this opportunity to
absolutely I don't get nothing else. Don't park there. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Is there is there anyone else I'd like to come before the governing body? Seeing none, have a motion to close the public comment. So move by Councilman Venturi, second by Councilman Hlettz. There's all there's a voice. All those in favor. All
those opposed. Motion carries. Have a motion to approve the consent agenda. Moved by Councilman Ventur, second by Councilman Habits. This is a roll call. Madame Clerk, please call the role on the consent agenda. Council member Hits, yes. Council member Ventier, yes. Council President Scoba, yes. Madame
Clerk, read ordinance 1513, please. Second reading and public hearing of ordinance number 1513, an ordinance entitled an ordinance of the township council of the township of Little Falls in the county of Payic, state of New Jersey, amending chapter 82, fire prevention of the code of the township of Little Falls. The public hearing on
1513 is now open. Does anyone wish to speak on 1513? Seeing no one, the public hearing on 13 on 1513 is now closed. Can I have a motion to adopt 1513? Moved by Councilwoman Habitz. Second by Councilman Venter. Madame
Clerk, please call the role. Council member Habitz. Council member Vaneri. Yes. Council President Scoba. Yes. Madame Clerk, please read ordinance 1514. Second reading and public hearing of ordinance number 1514, an ordinance entitled an ordinance of the township council of the township of Little Falls
in the county of P state of New Jersey amending chapter 71 fees fire prevention fees of the code of the township of Little Falls. Thank you. The public hearing on 1514 is now open. Does anyone wish to speak? Seeing no one come before us, the
public hearing on 1514 is now closed. Can I have a motion to adopt 1514? Moved by Councilwoman Habitz. Second. Second by Councilman Venter. Madame Clerk, please call the role on 1514. Council member Habits. Yes. Council member Vaneri. Yes. Council President Scoba.
Yes. Madame Clerk, please read ordinance 1515. Introduction of ordinance number 1515, an ordinance entitled an ordinance of the township council of the township of Little Falls and the county of Pay State of New Jersey to amend chapter 33 cannabis of the code of the township of Little Falls with set second reading and
public hearing scheduled for April 14th, 2025. Thank you. Have a motion to introduce 1515. So moved. Moved by Councilman Venturi, second by Councilwoman Habitz. Madame Clerk, call the role to introduce
1515. Council member Habits. Yes. Council member Venturi. Yes. Council President Scoba. Yes. Madame Clerk, read ordinance 15 16. Introduction of ordinance number 1516. an ordinance entitled an ordinance of the township council of the township of Little Falls in the county of Pay
State of New Jersey to amend chapter 280 zoning of the code of the township of Little Falls with second reading and public hearing scheduled for April 14th, 2025. Thank you. Have a motion to introduce 1516. Moved by Councilwoman Habits, second. Second by Councilman Venturi. Please
call the role to introduce 1516. Council member Hits, yes. Council member Vaneri, yes. Council President Scoba, yes. Have a motion to open the meeting to the public for general matters. So moved by Councilman uh Ben Cherry. Second. Second by Councilwoman Hits. All those in favor. All those opposed. Madame clerk,
please read the statement. Anyone wishing to address the township council may do so through the council president. It is preferred if you give your name and address for the record. Comments are to be limited to three minutes. However, however, if appropriate, you may be granted additional time in the sole discretion of the council president. Members of the public who have joined
the meeting virtually and desire to provide comment shall raise their virtual hand in the Zoom application. The meeting moderator will cue the members of the public that wish to provide comment and the council president will recognize them in order. Members of the public who have joined the meeting by calling in must press star six to mute and unmute themselves and star 9 to raise their hand. Members
of the public who have joined the meeting via the Zoom application must click the reactions icon and then the raise hand icon. Once the process is complete, we will return to the regular order of business. Is there anyone wish to come before us? Seeing no one can have a motion to close the public comment. Moved by Councilman
Venturi, second by Councilwoman Habitz. All those in favor, all those opposed. I want to thank the staff for assisting me in putting this meeting together. Mr. Controne, Melissa, and Madam Burke. Thank you. Have a motion to close this meeting. Moved by Councilwoman Havz,
second by Councilman Venturi. All those in favor, all those opposed. Motion carries. This meeting is now closed.