good evening the February 12 2025 council meeting of the Long Branch city council will now come to order R call Mr dangler here Mr rasses here Mrs whts here Dr vote here Mr Vieira here let please
stand for the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible and liberty and justice for all I'm going to ask
everyone to stay standing for a minute we lost a great person this week right from our clerk's office I want a moment to silence if please from for Tracy aventer please thank you I will now read the mission statement of the city council The Long Branch mayor
and the city council and administrations are committed to cultivating an environment of mutual trust and respect our values the diversity of our community we will strive to enhance the quality of life for all who live here by
making making Long Branch a desirable place in which to live and prosper we will treat all members of the public with respect and expect the same in return certification please I I hereby certify that this meeting has been published in the newspaper in accordance
with the open public meeting act and posted as required by law thank you the presentation we have have a presentation today for Black History Month presented by The Long Branch public schools good evening my my name is Salam Muhammad Baker I a representative of
Long brch Middle School I would like to thank you all for this amazing opportunity that you have provided me with I would like to give honors to my mother who is sitting right behind me in the stands and what I would like to talk about today is something that I hope others many others would understand
systematic racism you see racism isn't just about mean words or unfair treatment it's built into this built into the system around us our schools our neighborhoods even the way laws are written it's like an invisible wall that makes it harder for people like me to
succeed take my school for example it's underfunded because our community doesn't have as much money as others why because of things like unfair housing that keep black families from owning and homes and good neighborhoods that means we don't have
the same resources fewer books older computers and less support and it's not just our not just schools my parents work twice as hard hard but still face barriers when trying to get loans or promotions this isn't just bad luck this is systematic
racism linkx and Hughes wrote a poem called mother to son that reminds me of my mom and her struggles in the poem a mother tells her son Life For Me ain't ain't been no crystal stair it's had tacks in it splinters and Boards torn
up this that stairc that's their case she talks about it's like a it's like the path we're forced to climb every day broken and dangerous because of racism but just like my the mother in the poem my mom tells me to keep climbing no matter what she says don't
you don't you sit down now even when life feels unfair I want you to imagine what it's like to climb a staircase with missing steps While others have elevators that's what systematic racism feels like but here's the thing just
like in the poem we don't give up we keep climbing because we believe in something better so I ask you teachers leaders friends help us fix this staircase make schools equal stop judging people by the by their skin color and most importantly listen to us
when we say things aren't Fair because one day I went to look back and tell my own kids life wasn't easy but we made it better thank you [Applause]
your where the Black History Month permit society and celebrate the enhancement of African-Americans and where's Black History Month celebrated during the month of February originated in
1926 where Dr Carter G Wilson set aside a special period February to recognize African-American Heritage achievements and where's the city of Long Branch recognizes all individuals need an
opportunity to understand and common Humanity underlying all people to develop Pride on his or her own identity and Heritage and to understand respect accept identity and Heritage of others
and where there's observation permits Society to enhance and its role in Pro preserving the civil rights of all citizens and where many African-Americans live toiled and died
obscuring never achieving the recognition that those individuals deserve and yet pave the way for future generations to succeed and where African-Americans continue to serve the United United States of the highest
levels and business government and Military now therefore the mayor and the city council the city of Long Branch hereby proclaimed the February hereby designated the Black History Month of the city of Long Branch great job and thank you for coming inbody man thank
you [Applause] what was this I I need something from you young man can you tell me a little bit about yourself well I'm in I'm in eighth grade I'm 13 uh I play basketball or football
I like to what well I just like to be me really it's fun I like to learn a lot of things and my favorite subject is social
studies nice thank you ni thanks a lot you are excellent spokesperson yeah can you tell me your name please again my name is Salah Muhammad Becker a little louder Salah Muhammad Salah Baker nice job Salah yeah nice job thank you thank
you reading the approval of previous minutes I need a motion to to approve the minutes of January 22nd 2025 so moved second R call Mr dangler abstain Mr rasses yes Mrs whts yes Dr
vote Yes Mr viain motion passed consideration of ordinance public hearing and final consideration ordinance 02-2 a bond ordinance providing for various 2025 Capital acquisition and
improvements for the city of Long Branch in the county of Mammoth state of New Jersey appropriating 11,421 68 therefore authorizing the issuance of 9,821 68 on bonds or notes of the city
of Finance part of the cost of therefore thereof this ordinance was introduced on January 22 2025 and provides for various Capital acquisitions and improvements consisting in renovation and
construction of the health and Technology Center the renovation of the construction of the city cental park acquisition of the real property located at 228 Morris Avenue and acquisition of the real property located at 209
Westwood Avenue this ordinance will authorize the city to borrow a maximum of 9, 8216 8 to build a new health and Technology facility for the City Center
Park I need a motion to open the public hearing on this ordinance only so moved second all in favor I if any member of the public has any comments to make on this ordinance only please come to the podium and stay your name and address clearly for the
record you will have five minutes and may only speak Once on This ordinance question one minute notification Vincent Lor 33 Ocean terce Long Branch Mr Martin section 3A why was 28.70 years
established as the useful life for the renovation and construction of the health and Technology Center that's established by Bond Council it's a for buildings that's how they great buildings for renovations buildings are
rated for 28.70 Mr Martin how does the health and Technology Center have a useful life of 28.70 as opposed to section three CN D for acquisition of real property at $100,000
each with a debt authorization of 93,471 useful life of 40 years each cuz it's vacant land vacant land has a useful life of 40 years it's the max it's a maximum on the New Jersey Bond Law correct it's a maximum but you don't have to do the
maximum for the useful life no you have to when you Bond that's the maximum that you're required you're maximized at 40 years for vacant land correct as opposed to 28.70 years for a building correct Mr Martin section 3B the total
appropriation of 2,572 538 including $850,000 Grant with a debt authorization of 1,553 612 for City Center Park explain why the useful life is 15 years that's
vacant land well it's not an explanation it's it's a it's a schedule that's require that's part of the state law it's what's in state law well this is vacant land here that's 15 years and then you're telling me real estate here is 40 no well we bought the other one was the purchase of vacant land this is
actually the construction of landscaping walkways paths and the purchase of an insulation of playground and exercise equipment and benches and other bacing land no it's not should be noted section 20 cost professional fees there you go
$500,000 with debt authorization of 4671 167 Mr Martin in section 4 there's a statement except for the grant in the event however that any amount so loan contributed or Grant gred by the United States of America state of New Jersey or
county of mammed shall be reased by the city after the issuance of the bonds or notes authorized in section two hereof then such funds shall be applied to the payment of the principal interest on the bonds or notes so issued and shall be issued for no other purposes end quote
section 2B center city park has $850,000 grant that funding Grant is from the Department of Housing and Urban Development of the United States of America Mr Martin is this $850,000 grant already in the city coffers or is it subject to
a federal freeze and clawback 800 subject to a federal freeze I suppose we don't have we hav received cash you haven't received the cash okay Mr Martin the health and Technology Center is reported to be funded by $4
million in state and federal grants that the city supposedly has been issued that $4 million has it been received and spent already not all of it not all of it all
been received but not all spent right okay all right so those grants are subject to Federal clawback as well freeze and clawback is that correct Mr Martin not as far as we know I'm going by Mr Martin's prior
answer Mr Martin why aren't these federal grants the $4 million why isn't that in this Ordinance one minute notification for the Technology Center they wer been appropriate other ordinances for this
project they were appropriated in other ordinances for this project yeah for this project Mr Martin what is the total amount city is spending on the Technology Center if this was appropriated 4 million and
we're talking 8 million something here in this Bond 8,1 14970 what is the total amount approximately about 15 million 15 million I have no further
questions thank you see there no one else I need a motion to close so moved second all in favor I this is the second reading of ordinance 02-2 I need a motion to adopt in the
second and final reading and advertise according to law so moved second R call Mr dangler yes Mr rasses yes Mr witus yes Dr vote Yes Mr Vieira yes motion passed
ordinance for introduction there's none public participation for Resolutions and general comments I need a motion to open the public portion of the meeting for all comments so moved second all in favor I I
oppose if there's anyone in the audience that has a comment to make please step to the podium and state your name and address clearly for the record you'll have five minutes and they only speak once Vincent laor 33 Ocean terce Long Branch requesting one minute
notification for those commemorating africanamerican History Month president Trump on January 23rd 2025 signed executive order number 1416 to declassify the records concerning the
assassinations of President Kennedy president Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr it is fully expected that the Director of National Intelligence and the Attorney General will produce all recors for those three
respectively as well as a few years back in this room Reverend Caroline Bennett spoke about the pl of the African-Americans in Long Branch and now how they've been forcefully gentrified by this city
through the cost of taxes and rents one has a hand with the other she wasn't pleased with the Redevelopment of this city either under palone or the Schneider administrations it's a reflection of the
African-American community and other communities in this city particularly the generational communities that have been slammed by this City's Redevelopment West n Park on Friday June 6 2024 a Dei flag raising event took
place at West End park because of poor attendance for that event approximately 50 members of the city's Police Department including director brownon were summoned to West End Park to bolster a photo op for the palon at this
Dei event earlier on that Friday June 6th the city issued an alert to State County and other local law enforcement agencies to assist Long Branch in preparation for another anticipated potential popup party riot at the
infamous Pier Village while approximately 15 members of lbpd were pulled off their assignments for a Dei photo op on June 6th into this city started coming in where the state
police County Sheriff's department and various other Municipal law enforcement agencies setting up operations to prevent the party riot at Pier Village indeed local lbpd officers during that Friday were posted
throughout Pier Village wearing protected vested gear council president Vieira with so much preparation and Fanfare for a Dei event on June 6
2024 why during this past Holiday City holiday season did you and Council choose not to have a Merry Christmas display in West n Park Mr Vieira you're starting to sound like an old booken
record I told you I'm not answer any of your questions why do you keep asking oh you probably don't have the mental competence to answer these questions anymore so why don't you just resign and get out of here this was particularly after social media made notes of no Murray Christmas
display in West End Park days before Christmas nothing existed in West End park for Christmas again councilman Vieira why did you in Council have a higher priority for Dei in West End Park than a Murry Christmas display in West
End Park apparently your cognitive abilities are taking a quick decline minute by minute at these Council meetings for as many years as I can remember there appeared Merry Christmas displays in West End Park along the prime location of Ocean Avenue and
Brighton Avenue until the palone team took office then it became sporadic this was noted a few 2 years ago when no Christmas display appeared in West End Park the city responded no permits to have
displays no permits were applied for to have displays I put an Oprah in for all permits issued over the years that allowed Christmas displays in West End Park the response from the city to my opra was that no record existed so how did the city all years prior to the
palone team have Christmas displays in West End Park it's shameful the city had no Christmas display in West End Park City's prime location completely shameful about as shameful as you Mr
Vieira not having the ability to answer questions it's time for you to get out of this room Mr Vieira you represent junk government thank you anyone else good evening Council thank you for this
opportunity to speak my name is Christopher Witter I reside at 409 Atlantic Avenue I've been a resident in this town for 30 years I've had the privilege of uh having a great nextdoor neighbor Avery Grant which is we all know he does he's not
here anymore he's fallen he's elderly now he's fallen in dementia he's with his family in Georgia um I'm also involved in the community I kind of like stay in the shadows being involved in the community the last major thing I would say I would do did for this community was in 2020
tensions were high all throughout this nation and I facilitated the communication between the black lives matter organizer for the march from Pier Village and our then police chief Jason robuk because I Mentor the young man that that organized the event
um and I know him very well um he's doing well he's a model he's in China anyways um so the reason why I'm here today is because um my home I purchased in uh 2012 and I've been living at this
home and doing the same thing and having the same routine and utilizing my properly property for 13 years now what I'm getting at is I parked a truck on my grass okay and I've been doing this for 13 years there's no new neighbors around
me nothing so I get a ticket in the mail mandatory court appearance that was written on the 22nd of January and about the 25th I get this you know letter and you know the ticket and everything and mandatory court appearance on the 5ifth
I was like okay no problem I can understand this dir getting out the road or something but in my case that wasn't happening but okay you know yeah okay so I utilized uh resources available to me and I put down Stone in
the area right next to my driveways um on the 29th okay now I moved ahead of myself a little bit on the 29th of uh January two officers came to my door knocked my door at 8:30 in the morning told me I had move my truck
I said what I said you guys already gave me a ticket on this and I have a pending mandatory appearance in court on February 5th and I'm going to fix this before court so you guys are making me feel like you're harassing me cuz you're trying to create stress and alarm by
coming here and knocking on my door over a ticket that I'm utilizing my own property that I pay taxes on and I understand I don't want it to look bad I want my neighborhood to look good too so I told him I wasn't happy I told
him leave and leave me alone okay so then they've decided since then to write me tickets every day even though on the 5th the judge said okay I understood what you're doing you know you put down some Stones so you could park your
vehicle now and you're not putting your vehicle on the grass and refusing to move it and the car won't start no I put Stone there now on the 30th I got a ticket for work without permit for placing Stone it's an impervious surface it's not a
permanent uh concrete or asphalt but you're allowed to utilize stone for a parking area okay but these Class 2 officers to write the tickets for code enforcement are on a power trip and think because I asked them to leave me alone that they should be writing me a
ticket every day now that I'm parking my vehicle on Stone and they're writing me a ticket for parking on a lawn what's the definition of a lawn well if we look in the Webster dictionary it says an area that has grass growing on it that is mowed and kept regularly
I'm not parking on grass I'm not parking on the lawn all right I tried to comply when I saw the judge on February 5th I explained this to him and I explained to him now I realize I'm going go through
zoning and get this approved and the judge adjourned the court until uh March 26 to give me the time because uh surveys are a few weeks out and then the process of the paperwork going through zoning you know
fine but the officers want to keep on writing me a ticket every day and harass me about this this has got to stop is this what I mean how much money is this costing a town for them to come by my house and do this send certified letters and write
tickets and harass me okay um here's a suggestion okay when somebody's you drive through this town you see people parking all over on their lawnes okay and the police tell me the
class 2 officers say oh it's because somebody complains well if this is an ordinance it should be enforced upon everybody that's just because somebody complains okay five minutes number two I would like to make a suggestion that instead of trying to make a criminal out
of your residence okay that is going about their life not bothering anybody okay how about you give them a warning okay I gotta stop inste of ticket I got to stop because we we try to stay to that five minute Mark yeah and if I let you go I have to let I have to let
everybody go yeah so I have to put I just wanted to suggest how about a warning and then if they don't comply then start trying to enforce it uh send them a letter stating what process they have to go through if they want to be able to park the vehicles chrh we'll look into that Charlie yes Mr W if you
can stay afterwards I'll talk to you we'll talk to you we'll straight that out for you thank you thank you anyone else I need a motion to close the public participation portion of the meeting so move second all in favor I
oppos I will now ask Madame clerk if there's any changes to the list of resolutions no changes have been made thank you I we can take the list of resolutions as in a consistent agenda so
move second Ro call Mr dangler yes Mr rassis yes Mrs whts yes Dr vote Yes Mr Vera yes motion passed applications I need a motion to appoint the following members of The Long Branch fire department Joseph V Valentino
independent active David masserie Oceanic fire fire police Jonathan kman Independence active so moved second roll call Mr dangler yes Mr rasses yes Mrs
whtas yes Dr vote Yes Mr Vieira yes motion passed miscellaneous business for the good of the order councilman dangler yes tonight I would just um like to say that the young man that did a a black
history uh presentation from the LA Branch School Board of Education uh did a beautiful job uh and uh for eth grade it's not always easy to get up at the mic and speak so uh I'd like to just say thank you and
congratulations on the fine job thank you councilman dangler councilman resses thank you president Viera I also would like to thank uh the student from The Long Branch public schools for a nice presentation to commemorate Black History Month also like to thank everyone for coming out this evening and
wish everyone a Happy Valentine's day this week thank you Council morasses Council women wit us um I too would like to congratulate the young man for speaking tonight and thanking thank the uh law branch public schools for always participating in all
the events they're always they always go above and beyond um and I'd like to thank them and thank thank you everyone for coming out this evening and Happy Valentine's Day that's thank you Council woman vote thank you council president
this student was so impressive we all need to comment on him uh it it's just uh I know I say this slot so encouraging it's so wonderful to see our students and um it our student and I was particularly impressive with his
presentation and with his message so um thanks to uh thanks to our schools and our teachers for all the great work you do with our with our students um certainly our hearts for I think I speak for everybody our hearts go to Tracy's family um God bless her um please uh
peace to her family going through these very difficult times um but on a brighter note um to all of the dancers in the audience if you did not go to the senior
center this past Monday night you missed um a wonderful time with a world class um Ballroom dancer um prizewinning who um not only did a de a
demonstration um for us um but also had all of us up on the Dance Floor thinking we were ballroom dancers it was a wonderful wonderful fun event um if you didn't know about it remember to check
the eblasts go to the Long Branch website make sure you check it weekly you can you can also get on their distribution list so that you get it sent automatically to your your uh email so uh cud to our senior center uh for um
setting that up and thank you for coming tonight thank you Council One V mayor palone thank you council president I also want to thank the young man who is here today in celebration of uh Black History Month
um thank you all for being here today just a couple of quick announcements uh a very big one is the uh main library which has been closed for about 22 months if I'm not mistaken uh their grand reopening is next Thursday
February 20th at 4:00 um everyone is invited to attend we're excited about the library to open again refreshments and music will be served and I just want to add that um uh our library is one of the uh original Carnegie
libraries um and uh it's been totally restored as close as possible to to the way it was and it's just absolutely uh beautiful so please if you can attend next Thursday at 4:00 that's the 20th please do it's open to everyone they
will be open until 8: in the evening and the celebration is probably for the first two hours or so uh another um our Hometown Heroes Banner program is starting up again uh from now until March 21st uh that's been very popular
uh and for more information uh please uh visit our website at www long branch. org or or you can call City Administration and Susan could give you all the information on that this is uh uh along the beach front on it runs from
Memorial Day through Veterans Day uh and like I said this is a very popular program um and the um uh finally the third annual Long Branch disability resource fair is on May 3rd from 12: to 2:00 at the Long
Branch Senior Center be indoor and outdoor uh please join us for games resources uh arts and crafts music and uh more I I'd like to uh thank uh councilwoman wit us because the home
time hero Banner uh program was was hers so uh thank you for that and um uh the uh sorry Anita what were you talking about you were talking about something that I
know you resp responsible for too uh whatever it was um whatever it was thank you so and and that's it thank you very much thank you mayor palone and I want to say thank you to everybody for coming out tonight today
I'm going to start out with the letter that we received from bass Day Foundation addressed to Mayor palone and members of the city council dear Mayor John palon and members of the city council on behalf of the b day foundation we want to extend our harm our hardw worth gratitude to our
contined support of our mission Best Day Foundation is dedicated to creating a special days for children with special needs by providing them with lifechanging experience throughout Adventure based on activities like
surfing and Beach fun we are thrilled to be the returning to Long Branch for our third year at the Great Lawn beach and we deeply appreciate the warm welcome your city has always provided this year we are expecting to
host four Incredible Days and events Saturday June 21st 2025 Sunday June 22nd Saturday July 19th and Sunday July 20th fall 2025 over these days we plan to welcome
140 children with special needs supported by an amazing team of 300 plus dedicated volunteers it is truly an honor to bring joy confidence adventure to these children in such a beautiful
and welcoming Community we are especially grateful for our exceptional City staff who work tirelessly to help make our events success their profession professional excuse me
professionalism enthusiasm and commitment to supporting our program do not go unnoticed and we sincerely appreciate their efforts we hope that you along with the members of the city count will join us again at the beach to
witness firsthand some of the smiles laughter and Unforgettable moments that our support makes possible being part of the Long Branch Community means so much to us and we look forward to another amazing year together thank you again
for our Contin partnership we look forward to seeing you at the beach also with another notice I give a big thumbs up a big hand up for Salam great job he did I want him to keep climbing those stairs because those stairs are very important and uh our
hearts are to Tracy's family and our prayers with them and with that I like to say good night council council president I'm sorry may I just you know I had on my I didn't have it on my nose here but I was congrat congratulating uh
councilwoman vote was it was her idea to work in partnership with the school system and I see uh board member V Peters is here to celebrate the uh monthly uh uh National Heritage uh month
which you started against a couple of years ago I'm reading from my notes and then I'm like okay what was that no problem also want to thank the Long Branch public schools for being part of our meetings with that like to close I need a motion to close still move
second I in favor I oppose I good night