Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the public meeting of the Burough of the Milford's mayor and council. At this time, I would ask everyone to please rise for a moment of silent prayer and your reflection as we think of Alex Gavan. He was the owner of Brookchester Deli. He was a very good
and kind to our town during CO. He even offered free food to people that could not afford it who were out of work. Also sad news this morning of the passing of Debbie Joerger. Debbie was a longtime softball coordinator, coach, and umpire
and we are going to miss her dearly. Please hold the pledge. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice
for all. Thank you. Before we start, um, please make note of the fire exits behind you into the main parking lot and to my left, your right, into the main hallway.
The New Jersey open public meetings law was enacted to ensure the right of the public to have advanced notice of and attend any meetings of public bodies at which any business affecting their interest is discussed or acted upon. In accordance with this act, the mayor and council of the burough of the Milford have caused notice of this meeting to be published by having the date, time, and
place thereof posted in the burough hall and notices have been sent to the record and the Ridgewood News. The mission of this governing body is to provide essential services through the establishment and implementation of public policy that will safeguard the infrastructure, provide fair, honest, courteous, and professional services,
establish a sense of trust and accomplishment between all residents, and through research and prudent planning, seek to minimize risk while improving our services. We are sensitive to the needs and satisfaction of our taxpayers while realizing that this governing body cannot be all things to all people within the revenue
constraints imposed by state mandates, economic conditions, and prevailing attitudes about taxation. At this time, I would ask the clerk to please call the role. Councilwoman Sanen here. Councilman Zylmer, Council President Duffy, here. Councilman Grosky
here. Councilman Seymour here. Councilwoman Grant. Mayor Pacino here. Okay, first thing on our agenda tonight is recognizing the 2025 Central Bergen Swim League Champions. Congratulations.
So, we have a bunch of certificates for you. Before I start, would you like to say a few words about the team and their accomplishments this year? Um, my name is Veter. I'm with the new Milford Swim Club board, Trust Me boards. And I want to first of all
congratulate the 2025 season. Congratulations. Great job this year, guys. And we also want to thank the mayor and council for all your support throughout the season. We truly truly appreciate it. And I'm going to introduce our head coach, Coach Julie Keith.
Nice house. Hello. Okay. Um, anyways, hey guys, it's your head coach Ulysiz. I'm so grateful to be here tonight. Um, I just want to congratulate our team for winning uh the league championships this
year. And I want to give everyone a round of applause. And I just want to say on behalf of all the coaches and me, Kelly, Maya, my brothers, we are all so very proud of you. Um, this year uh, compared to other
years has been we've seen an immense amount of growth and it wasn't I can tell you personally it wasn't easy at all. But I'm so glad of how we overcame everything. We we grew so much, had fun,
and this was our first um since since winning league championships since 2017. So, I just want to say um congratulations, Marlins, and I'm grateful. I'm happy to be your coach. Certificate of achievement presented to
Amir Arif. Central Bergen Swim League Championship 2025. Your achievement reflects itself in the pride of the community. Best wishes for a successful future. Presented this 25th day of August 2025. Signed by Mayor Michael, Adrien Chua.
No. Alana Carrera. Who's going to be first? Amanda Shamira Bardi. Hi. Andy Sen. Anton Tipwan Jr. Aurelia Rivas Ariel Rivas.
Ethan Ta not here. It's not here. Everly Lee Avery Lee Benjamin Zoo drawing infinity palanka Brook, Caleb Perez,
Chris Brown, Daniel Lee, Dave Bronco, Donovan Kogan, Eddie Brown, Eileen Hassan, Millie Emily Wilmore, Erica Lobo, Evan Kazowski,
Evelyn Perez, Grace Candies, Gwen Coilo. Isabella Finy, James Wilmore, not Jasmine Tri, Jesse Swing. Joseph Tara,
Joshua Williams, Sure, you're up. Kira Fisco not here. Leo Halus not here. Nico Halus. Lily Pianis. Logan Dr. Loen Toriano.
Laya Kazowski, Megan Frisco, Mia Ta de Carbo. Overall, Niggy Ortalis, Natalia Scochi, Nate, Evergus, Owen Owen Aberus,
Roel Amed, Samuel Dearco, Rebell, Sebastian Pedo, Sophia Debra, Sophia Williams, Sophia Steven Gretz, Sarah Malar, Syra Maler, San Francisco
Zachary, Zaha Senior, and Zoe is not here. So, why don't we get them all together and get the little ones in the front? Sorry, guys. All in the back. Little one in the front. Yes.
I don't know. Very good. Oh, yeah. Congratulations. You are more than welcome to stay for the rest of the meeting. I'll give everyone two minutes if they like
a lot. Congratulations. Oh my gosh. What a huge team. Holy cow. Yes. Yeah. I was a competition swimmer when I was a kid. Love the sport. It's Yeah,
you too. It's a great sport. So, thanks for that. We all going to a party now. I don't know. Very competitive. Congratulations again. Thank you.
Under unfinished business, may I get a motion for the approval of the minutes of the July 28th, 2025 public session? So moved. Second. All in favor? I. Any opposed? There are a few something happened. I stopped streaming. We just
I I wasn't stopped streaming and I don't know why. Did you guys get a I can start it over and see if usually kick the gar.
Look what I got reading. We're streaming. Okay, looks like they're really good. There are a few ordinances up for adoption tonight. The first one being ordinance 2025 column 23. And when the clerk has the opportunity, I would ask her to please read the ordinance. an
ordinance amending chapter 14 of the revised general ordinances of the bur of New Milford to entitle it public lands and buildings and to add section 14-1 regarding the display of flags on burrow flag poles.
Okay. Uh the purpose of this ordinance is to authorize the display of commemorative flags on burrow own flag poles as a form of government expression and to identify the flags that are permitted. May I get a motion to open to the public for a public hearing on this ordinance?
So moved. Second. All in favor? I. Any opposed? Ladies and gentlemen of the public, if anyone has any questions or comments regarding this ordinance, now is your opportunity to come forward. Seeing that no member of the public wishes to come forward at this time, I would ask for a motion to close the
motion to close. Second. All in favor? Any opposed? Make a motion to adopt this ordinance on its final reading. Motion to adopt. Second. Make it a roll call, please. Yes. Councilwoman Sanusen. Yes. Council President Duffy. Yes. Councilman Grosky.
Yes. Councilman Seymour. Yes. The second one up for adoption tonight is 2025 Coleman 24. And when the clerk has the opportunity, I ask you to please read the ordinance. an ordinance amending chapter 30 of the
revised general ordinances of the bar of New Milford to amend section 30-29.2 entitled general rules and regulations permit required regarding the private display of penants banners and flags. Purpose of this ordinance is to clarify
the intent of the regulation governing the private display of penants, buntings, and flags as opposed to the public display of commemorative penants, banners, and flags on burrow owned lands and buildings as a form of government expression. Make it a motion to open to the public for a public hearing on this
ordinance. Motion. Second. All in favor? I. Any opposed? Ladies and gentlemen, the public, if anyone has any questions or comments regarding this ordinance, uh, now is your opportunity to come forward. Seeing that no member of the public wishes to come forward at this time, I
would ask for a motion to close to the public. Motion. Second. All in favor? I. Any opposed? Make a motion to adopt this ordinance on its final reading. Motion to adopt. Second. May I get a roll call, please?
Councilwoman Sanus, yes. Council President Duffy, yes. Councilman Gratzky? Yes. Councilman Seymour? Yes. Okay. The last one up for adoption tonight is $225 25. The clerk has the opportunity. I would ask you to please read the
ordinance. capital ordinance to appropriate an additional sum of $20,000 for the undertaking of channel stabilization improvements to the Frenchbrook in the vicinity of corpson road in bine for the burough milford in the county of Bergen state of New Jersey
and providing that such sum so appropriated shall be raised from the capital improvement fund of the burough purpose of this ordinance is to appropriate $20,000 from the burough capital improvement fund to supplement the funding authorized by ordinance number 2024 col22 and adopted by the
burough of the Milford on August 26, 2024 for channel stabilization improvements to the French bro. May I get a motion to open to the public for a public hearing on this ordinance? Second. All in favor? I. Any opposed? Ladies and gentlemen of the public, if
anyone has any questions or comments regarding this ordinance, now is your opportunity to come forward. Seeing that no member of the public wishes to come forward at this time, I would ask for a motion to close to the public. So move. Second. All in favor? I. Any opposed? Make it a motion to adopt this ordinance on its final
reading. Motion. Second. Make it a roll call, please. Councilwoman Sanen, yes. Council President Duffy, yes. Councilman Gratzky, yes. Councilman Seymour, yes. Moving on, we have a few ordinance introductions tonight. The first one
being 2025 col 26. And when the clerk has the opportunity, I would ask you to please read the ordinance. an ordinance amending chapter 12 of the revised general ordinances of the burough of New Milford entitled property maintenance to add section 12-6 entitled
bamboo to regulate the planting and removal of running bamboo within the burrow of New Milford. Purpose of this ordinance is to establish regulations to preserve and protect private and public property from the damaging spread of running bamboo grasses and to protect indigenous plants and the wildlife they
support from the invasive spread of such bamboo from any neighboring property line. Make it a motion to introduce this ordinance on its fresh rating. So second make it a roll call, please. Councilman San, yes. Council President Duffy,
yes. Councilman Gratzky, yes. Councilman Se. Yes. The public hearing for this ordinance will be at our September 29th meeting. The next one on the agenda is 2025 col 27th. And when the clerk has the opportunity, I would ask you to please read the ordinance. Capital Ordinance of
the Burough New Milford in the county of Bergen, New Jersey. Authorizing the acquisition of various equipment for the use of the fire department in, by, and for the burrow, appropriating therefore the sum of $10,200, and providing that such sum so
appropriated shall be raised from the capital improvement fund of the burrow. Purpose of this ordinance is to appropriate $10,200 from the burough of New Milford's capital improvement fund for the acquisition of various equipment for the new Milford Fire Department. May I get a motion to introduce this ordinance on its first reading? So move.
Second. Make a roll call, please. Councilwoman Sanusen, yes. Council President Duffy, yes. Councilman Grzky, yes. Councilman Seymour, yes. The public hearing for this ordinance will also be at our September 29th meeting.
And the final one tonight is 2025 col28. And when the clerk has the opportunity, I ask you to please read the ordinance. an ordinance amending chapter 18 of the revised general ordinances of the Burough New Milford entitled streets and sidewalks thereby amending sections 18-1
entitled excavation in streets 18-2 entitled opening grading and improvements 18-4 entitled construction of concrete curbs sidewalks and driveways and 18-7 entitled portable storage containers and similar storage
devices in residential zones. Okay. The purpose of this ordinance is to update the the position titles referenced in the ordinance to reflect current procedure, to modify the contractor registration requirements, to clarify curb, driveway, and apron requirements, and to provide the renewal
of portable storage container permits. Make a motion to introduce this ordinance on its first reading. So moved. Second. Make it a roll call, please. Councilwoman Sanen, yes. Council President Duffy, yes. Councilman Grosky. Yes. Councilman Seymour.
Yes. Okay. Moving on to item number one is memorial bench mayor. Um the reason why I added this to the agenda is we have had families in the past and one recently who is interested in um purchasing a
memorial bench and putting it somewhere in New Milford. Um, I think it's a great idea. I said the problem was we actually do not have a procedure in place. So, what I'm looking for tonight is a motion to allow us to establish a procedure by
which families or organizations can um fund raise or give money and and buy a bench that we would provide at some location in town. Um, the way we're going to do it is the benches are all going to be uniform. They will have to purchase the bench
that we are going to be using for memorial benches and the DPW will install it. Uh this is going to be a break even. This is not going to be a money maker for the burrow. It's just going to be something that people can do and pay tribute to someone they lost. How do we decide where the national will
be? So I've spoken to Sill and John Heinman and they're going to do a review of all the areas and see what locations are most suitable and how many we'll be able to have in the future. They are. We are also reviewing types of
benches and coming up with one that's going to be uniform and and work well for our area. I think it's a great idea. Yeah. Mhm. Everyone's okay with it. Can I get a motion to start a um a memorial bench program?
Second. All in favor? Any opposed? Thank you. Okay. All right. Item number two is schedule updates. We're talking about September already. I know. There we go. Thursday, September 18th is
the New Milford High School football game first responders night sponsored by the New Milford Public School District. It will be at 700 p.m. will be the game start at the New Milford High School football field. They'll be honoring and recognizing uh first responders at halftime. And prior to the game will be
a tailgate party at the pavilion sponsored by the mayor and council starting at 5:30 p.m. Saturday, September 20th is family funday sponsored by Shoperate and the Sarah family. It'll take place from 2
2:00 to 7:00. At 700 p.m. is when there will be a free concert. It'll be at the Nightsfield parking lot and New Moon High School football field. There will be vendors, crafts, and food trucks at this event.
Friday and Saturday, September 26th and 27th is the Friends of the Library book sale sponsored by the Friends of the Library. Um, Friday afternoon, it'll be Friday afternoon and then all day on Saturday the 27th. It's at the New Milford Public Library. And if anyone
has any book donations, they can be dropped off at the library between September 1st and September 24th. Saturday, September 27th and Sunday, September 28th is the townwide garage sale. Also sponsored by the Friends of the Library. Uh it'll be all day events
townwide. Maps of the locations will be available starting at 8:30 a.m. at the library. Um once we get a copy of the maps, we will put that on the Burough website and uh I will post that on the Office of the Mayor Facebook page. And contracts for
garage sales are also available at the library. Do you have to go to the library to sign up for that or can you come here also if you're going to be uh I think to the library. Library. Okay. So if you want to have a garage sale that day, go to the library.
Se Sunday, October 12th is fire awareness day sponsored by the New Milford Fire Department and it'll be at the Nightsfield parking lot. I believe it's going to start at it's either 11 or 1, but once we get the confirmed time, we will we will post that as well.
On Sunday, October 19th is the fall festival sponsored by the Berkeley School PTO. It'll take place from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the Nightsfield parking lot. This event will also have vendors, crafts, food trucks. The rain day for this event is October 26th.
Were there any events that I missed or you wanted me to add? Okay. The full festival is brand new, by the way, so I'm hoping it becomes an annual event. Item number three is the administrative report.
Thank you, mayor. Uh for my engineering update, we're receiving bids for the Burough Hall bathroom renovations, which is funded through a Burden County Community Development Block Grant, and those bids are due in August, Wednesday, August 27th. We'll be receiving bids for the French Brook Channel stabilization,
which is partially funded through a New Jersey DCA capital project grant on on Thursday, August 28th. and the advertisement for bids for the NJ dot main street improvement project will be published on Wednesday, August 27th with
the return date of September 24th. Um, on other items, the mayor, the recck director, and I met with the sports and recreation director of the New Milford YMCA in April to discuss potential opportunities for collaboration, and they have now reserved the tennis court
at Sutton Place on Tuesdays from 4:00 to 7:00 and Wednesdays from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. during the months of September and October for their introduction to tennis program. Registration priority is going to be given to New Milford residents. Uh the
electric vehicle charging stations at the library and Burough Hall are operational. Work at the Nightsfield location continues and completion is contingent on multiple inspections by public service and we're currently tracking to be operational by the end of October at that location.
Uh the committee that was established at the July 28th meeting met and Lieutenant Paisano is working with the burough attorney to draft an ordinance to establish a system to offer overnight parking permits. Once the draft is complete, it will be forwarded to the governing body for their review. Uh Bur
Hall is closed this coming Monday, September 1st, in observance of Labor Day. And the next meeting of the mayor council is a work session which is scheduled for Monday, September 8th at 7 p.m. That's it for me. Um, one thing I just wanted to add regarding the parking, I know that there
was a lot of um, misinformation floating around town about having to pay to park on the street. What the committee is meeting about and what the intent is is nothing that's current is going to change. Parking restrictions are lifted on weekends, holidays, and during the
summer. And everyone still has the ability to log in eight times a month and be able to park on the street. What we're talking about is adding um some sort of, you know, way for people who can't make that work. someone who might
have a one or two car driveway, four or five cars, they do not have the ability to expand their driveway, give them the opportunity to purchase a permit, and be able to park on the street all year. This is not mandatory. This is just an additional thing to offer residents who
are having a hard time with the current um established overnight parking restrictions. So, I just wanted to make that clear. Any other questions for the administrator? Okay, resolutions. Everyone has had a chance
to look at the resolutions. Are there any that need to be pulled for further discussion and a vote? Negative. Let's move on to council committee reports. We're going to start with Council President Duffy. Thank you, Mayor. You're welcome.
Good evening, everyone. Um I uh plan to meet with uh three of my committees next week after Labor Day. A lot of uh a lot of them took the the month of August off
and uh so um the historic commission and the revolution to 50 committee health department and beautifification all will be meeting into September. I do want to
touch on our white deer program that we held a couple of weeks ago. Uh it was very well attended by the public. Um I am very grateful to uh Brian Shum and Megan Mills from the
Fish and Wildlife of New Jersey DP. They were both biologists and they were extremely informative and uh really want to talk to us more whenever
we need them. They will come back and discuss the issue of living with the deer in our neighborhoods. Um I would say the top two uh takeaway from this meeting was number
one do not feed the deer. Do not you are hurting them and you are hurting yourself by doing that. And number two uh to always remember that the deer are
wild animals. So you should never turn your back on them. And of course um we were able to record this presentation. It was very good, very informative and it is uh on the burrow website as well
as our YouTube channel. Uh so if anyone wants to view that, feel free. It was really good. Um, and a special thank you to our uh DPW Superintendent Silasa.
Uh, without him, he made the contacts. He, uh, was present during the presentation. So, uh, thank you, S, for everything you did. But it was really good. So, yeah, I was away. I'm going to have to watch it. No, that's good. It's very good.
That's it. Excellent. Councilwoman Sus. Thank you, mayor. I had an opportunity to be president at that meeting. It was very informative as uh and so thank you for putting that together. I think people it'll be a worthwhile watch. Um talking
about uh benches, I have a report on the trucks collection and we once we collect as a municipality 1,000 pounds of the recyclable films, we are awarded a bench. So uh we have so far collected
835 lbs. So New Milford is uh just a under 200 away. Um so this TX program is really really well adopted and popular with the uh with the uh residents. Uh
it's really great. The uh DPW uh bin is always full, which means we always need more volunteers. So, I'm going to put a call out for volunteers who are interested in participating with the green team to help with uh the TX
collection. And uh I if people are interested uh they can send an email to volunteer at New Milford Burrow and put in the subject line green teen tracks collection. We'll train you. Uh it's a
good time fun and um we are always looking for volunteers. Uh the green team's home energy assessment program everyone's been talking about with the heat and the weather uh energy bills. So, it's top of
mind and New Milford was the new Milford green team was proactive in participating in the um sustainable Jersey and PSEG grant for the home energy assessments. So far, since we started the program in January,
uh 63 people have uh have viewed the website and uh with 99 views. So, and then from National Night Out, we had six new people. We had six people uh participate there. So, a lot
of people got information at National Night Out. Um the green team is able to host information sessions. So, interested organizations and groups are welcome to contact me at my burough
email to set up appointments. Uh the municipality uh the greening team. So, thank you mayor and council for supporting this initiative with the green team because this is uh people have been very appreciative about having the information to help navigate these
programs. So, this are whole home energy assessments that are free to people. So, it's a worthwhile program and I encourage everyone to go to the burough website and check it out. Take advantage of the programs. Excellent.
And I'm complete the the the environmental commission is still working on their program. We'll have more they'll meet September uh 2nd, Tuesday. So, if people are interested in attending that meeting, they're welcome. And uh Mayor's Wellness Campaign
continues to rock and roll. So, we'll see what what Kelly has up up her sleeve next. So, she's always got good things coming. Excellent. Thank you. You're welcome. Thank you, Council Seymour. Uh, thank you, Mayor. I I'd like to just begin by again
complimenting our police department, our DPW, and our fire department, and um our of course events committee on doing a great job with National Night Out. Uh it's it's always a great hit. Uh it's it may just be me, but it seemed like everyone in the town came out this year.
Everyone loved the fireworks. Everyone had a great time. Uh I know I had a great time, and so did my daughter. So, I I thank all of our participating agencies for doing a great job. Uh, once again, I also want to compliment our swim club. Um, I heard tremendous
feedback this year from our residents who had a wonderful time there this year. Um, who had a great time and it was also a great um opportunity to bring our community together as as the family that it is. They also like to compliment our flood mitigation advisory committee. They are
already working and they met as recently as last week to start coming up with new ways to share information with residents about ways to respond to floods, prepare for floods, and really just to come together more as a group to information
share uh even more so. Uh and and mayor, it was an honor and privilege to be interviewed by Vernon County Commissioner Maryroso on her podcast about our domestic violence program that we started here in New Milford. And to that end, our theme this year will be ending uh digital abuse, cyber
harassment, and cyber stalking. And that's my update. Excellent. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Councilman Groski. Thank you, Mayor. As Matt had indicated, National Night Out was a huge success. We estimate there were about two to 3,000 people there. Fireworks night was
fantastic. Say three. Yeah, closer to three. Yeah. Uh DPW, fire, police, everybody was involved. Did a great job. Uh Sha Tree Commission at night out uh had about 30 people sign up
for trees. They were delivered last week in the residences. Uh there's about 70 left out of there and they will be planted in four byW and public uh locations. Uh also the planning board met last Tuesday. They heard a
subdivision at 62 in Eagle and by a 5 to4 vote they approved the subdivision. That's it from me. Thank you, Mayor. If someone still wants a tree, can they get it? Not to my knowledge. We're trying to I
mean, we were planting it on borrowed land. I'd have to check and see if the DPW was willing to A couple people have reached out to me and said, I guess we saw people getting trees. I guess we did. Let's find out. Right.
Okay. Yeah. I'll throw in the back of the thing. Sure. Yeah. Um for historic New Bridge Landing, um the Bergen County Historical Society is moving forward with the construction
of their barn/museum. So, I think the um path is cleared for them and they're going to start with the foundation. So, they are very excited. This was a lot of years in the making and it's going to be a uh I think I believe a two-phase project. They're going to start with the foundation.
They're still fundraising. So, if anyone wants to donate to the museum, they are, you know, they'd be very happy to accept and then they will do the rest of it. Under OEM, uh we've been in constant contact over the past uh week or so with
all of the activity with Aaron and other storms in the Caribbean. Uh luckily for New Milford, everything has veered away and uh we are very happy about that. We know what it's like to have the remnants of hurricanes here and it's we don't
even want to think about it. And the other thing I wanted to bring up is um I had a conversation with our administrator and our uh rec director this morning um with the news of um the passing of Debbie Joerger. I'd like to name one of the softball fields after
her. I had spoke to her daughter this morning and mentioned it to her and wanted to make sure it was okay with the family and um they think it would be a great way to remember her. So I'd like to get a motion to name the A softball field after Debbie Ager.
Motion second. All in favor? Any opposed? Thank you. Okay. Okay. At this time, will we ask for a motion to open to the public for public comment? So moved. Second. All in favor? I.
Any opposed? Ladies and gentlemen of the public, if anyone has any questions or comments regarding to the uh good welfare of the B of Milford, we invite you to come forward. We'll give you 5 minutes and uh take it from there.
Seeing that no member of the public wishes to come forward at this time, I ask for a motion to close the vote. Motion. Second. All in favor? Any opposed? Okay. May I get a motion to adopt resolutions? 2025 col 196 through 2025 colon 208.
Motion. Second. All in favor? I. Any opposed? Ladies and gentlemen, we are going to be going into close session. When we adjourn from close session, this body will take no action. So, before I ask for a motion to go into closed, I just
wanted to wish everyone a uh have a happy and safe Labor Day weekend. I hope you enjoy the summer and uh school will be starting soon. So, please be extra careful on the roads. There's going to be a lot more traffic out there. So, just uh keep that in mind. At this time,
I would ask for a motion to go into close session. Motion second. All in favor? I. Any opposed? Thank you. Have a great night. It's up to you. You did it once.