##VIDEO ID:V9QOzDqDhpM## good evening ladies and gentlemen welcome to the public meeting of the mayor and council at this time I everyone to please rise for a moment of Silent prayer and reflection as today is National um Public Safety workers day so we think about our police officers our fire departments our gpws and our EMS across the country pleas with the FL FL United States of America to the for it stands one nation under God indivisible with liy and justice for all thank please not the fire exits to your rear through the door into the parking lot to my left your right or to 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 in which any business affecting their interest is discussed or AC in accordance with this act the mayor and Council of the bur of Milford have caused notice of this meeting to be published by having the date time place thereof posted in the burough Hall notice have been sent to the record in the Ridgewood news the mission of this governing body is to provide essential Services VI The Establishment and implementation of public policy that will safeguard infrastructure provide Fair honest courteous and Professional Services establish a 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 old people within the revenue constraints imposed by state mandates economic conditions and prevailing attitudes about taxation this time I would ask the clerk to please call the role councilman San here councilman saraki Hurley councilman Duffy here councilman GR here councilman Seymour here Council President Grant here mayor patrino here under unfinished business may an approval of the minutes may get a motion for the approval of minutes from the October 16th 2024 work and close session meetings so move second all in favor I any oppos the new business we have two ordinance introductions and when the clerk has the opportunity I would ask you to please read the first ordinance Bond ordinance to authorized the acquisition of two new pumper fire engines including original apparatus and equipment in by and for the B New Milford in the county of Bergen New Jersey to appropriate the sum of $1,915 th000 to pay the cost there of to make a down payment to authorize the issuance of bonds to finance such appropriation and to provide for the issuance of bond anticipation notes in anticipation of the issuance of such bonds okay uh this authorizes a down payment of $992,000 and the issuance of bonds for the balance to appropriate 1,9 $915,000 for the acquisition to pumper fire engines these are the ones that we've we've been talking about this one of them for about a year and a half now unfortunately we did not get a grant to help fund and uh as we know they are both in need of being replaced so may I get a motion to introduce this ordinance on its first reading so second I get a roll call yes councilman sanen yes Excuse me yes councilman Duffy yes councilman gry yes councilman Seymour yes Council President Grant yes okay the public hearing on this ordinance will be at our November 18th meeting that's yes in the courtroom okay the second introduction up for tonight is 2024 call 28 and we're going clar has the opportunity I ask please read the this Capital ordinance of the Barne Milford in the county of Bergen New Jersey authorizing the installation of pedestrian Crossing flashing lights at various locations in by and for the burrow appropriating therefore the sum of $15,500 and providing that such sum so appropriated shall be raised from the capital Improvement fund of the borrow okay the purpose of this ordinance is to appropriate $15,500 from the capital Improvement fund to install pedestrian Crossing flashing lights at the intersections of River Road and Rambler Avenue and River Road in Canterbury Lane may you get a motion to introduce this ordinance on its first read second May a roll call please yes councilwoman San yes councilwoman Duffy yes councilman grotsky yes councilman Seymour yes Council President Grant yes uh the public hearing on this orance will also be at our November 18th meeting okay item number one tonight is best practices inventory administrator thank you mayor uh you probably recall this is uh the best practi inventory which is issued annually by the division of local government services and the purpose is to assess each New Jersey's municipality's compliance with various laws and to evaluate the implementation of fiscal and operational best practices this year's inventory consisted of 69 questions and included talk ICS such as ethics Personnel Financial Administration transparency cyber security and procurement 17 of the questions were part of an unscored survey section which is intended to help identify areas where municipalities may require additional assistance a minimum score of 35 out of a possible 46.5 points is required to receive the M municipality's full allotment of state aid the borrow score on the 2024 inventory was 4 3 5.5 the CFO and the chief administrative officer must certify the inventory and the municipal clerk must certify that the results were or will be discussed at a public meeting the borrows best practices inventory was certified and submitted prior to the deadline uh to the state on October 18th well I think it shows that all of our departments and staff and administration is doing the right thing we try very hard we do done yes increase that would be great that would be be very nice is there any questions on that okay item number two is attorney 2025 AR rates okay some of you will remember that a number of years ago we were paying our attorneys we pay attorneys across the board per hour we were around 120 when the average was around 140 so at the time we had discussed we to slowly bring it up to try to catch up uh and meet the average of everywhere else in that time the average has gone up higher so we are currently at 150 the average is 165 and that even includes not even attorneys but when you see the rfqs for like engineers and everything the basic person it's 165 an hour so our attorneys across the border under so we want to bring that up next year to 160 it's still a little bit below the average but it's a it's a $10 Jump For Us in in one year so that's what I'm proposing and that's what I'm asking for a motion to do so for 20 starting in 2025 attorney fees will go up to $60 $160 an hour may get a motion for that or any questions some second can I get a roll call vote in this Cas yes councilwoman s youon yes councilwoman Duffy yes councilman grotsky yes councilman seor yes Council President Grant we have some fine attorneys working with the burrow in various and various boards and commissions and I certainly think that this would do and hopefully one day in the future we will be up to average but we you know certainly doesn't have any with but you always sacrifice a little bit that so item number three is schedule updates tomorrow Tuesday October 29th is the milford's annual domestic violence imposing it's actually the six di sponsored by the B of the Milford in the Milford Public School District and in the Milford it starts at 6:00 p.m. and will end roughly 8:30 p.m. it takes place at the New Milford High School auditorium for more information you can go to our website or you'll see it on social media and tomorrow morning I will also uh repost the actual link to the live stream that the uh school district is doing so anyone who can't make it in person can watch it on Saturday November 2nd is mil's paper shredding event sponsored by the DPW it'll be from 9 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. if you know it's from CL parking lot information for that is also on our website and in addition we actually just added a second day to that so Sunday November 3rd will also be paper shredding at the same time and location uh if the truck gets full it'll end before the 1:00 time so my advice is to get there early just in case so Saturday and Sunday is there a new truck come Sunday yes yes making sure yes all right on Monday November 11th is milford's annual veteransday ceremony sponsor by by the mil public events committee it'll take place at 11:00 a.m. on the B Hall lawn more information for that is on our website Friday so now we're going to start some of the holiday things on Friday December 6th is the milford's annual Nativity lighting sponsored by the new public events committee it'll take place at 6 pm on the ball lawn uh soon there'll be information about that on our website and social media on Sunday December 8th will be n's annual Christmas tree sponsored by the New Milford public events committee that will also start at 6 p.m. on the ball lawn information will also be on our website on Thursday December 26th is the milge annual manure Light sponsored also by the public events committee 6 p.m. information will be on our website and social media all three of those events all start at 6 p.m. they are all on the ball lawn and at all of them we will be doing a food collection drive so we will have bins and all we ask is that you bring a can of non- perishable food to any of those um events and we will deliver them to the food pantry in the mid is there any other events coming up that I missed okay I know that um I think it's going to be the 17th but I do believe I got word that I think Santa Claus will be visiting us by helicopter again so once the information comes out from the uh police department we will certainly get that out to item number four is the ministry M report thank you mayor the deadline to apply for a vote by mail ballot for the November general election is tomorrow which is Tuesday October 29th and applications must be received by the office of the county clerk on the 29th you can you can collect one in person at their office as well uh actually we have we have applications here as well that can be picked up and completed in return to the county clerk early voting began on Saturday October 26th and will continue through November Sunday November 3rd hours are 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on Sunday there are nine early voting locations throughout buron County and beron County residents can vote at any of the nine locations during the early voting period the general and I can ask actually if you know the residents go to another 10 my param can they go and for local candidates and the answer is absolutely yes yes you're going to get the same ballot that you would get on Election Day here in Nord yes uh the general election will be held on Tuesday November 5th polls will be open from 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. the borrow Hall will be closed on Monday November 11th in observance of Veterans Day and there is going to be just one meeting in the mayor and Council in November which is a public session and it is scheduled for Monday November 18th and that's it for me mayor thank you any questions to the resolutions has everyone had a chance to look at the resolutions are there any further comment Andor vote motion to file committee Report with the clerk motion second all in favor oppos okay let's go around real quick we're going to start with Council President Grant thank you mayor yesterday the all season chamber players performed at the library as usual it was well attended and as usual it was a fabulous concert Refreshments res served and pleas going afternoon um we are uh progressing with our search for a library director to replace Terry Paul it's not easy but we have several really candidates and we will be interviewing in soon I provide update and we have more information thank you thank you you councilman SE thank you mayor um well I I thought that last night was very special the New Milford Municipal Alliance One once again did a fantastic job putting together this year's Adam event alcohol uh drug awareness Memorial in memory not only of Adam Roth who's a new Milford resident who was tragically killed by a drunk driver but in loving memory of all those we've lost to addiction um and I thought the speakers Did an absolutely fantastic job and it was a very moving event I'm very appreciative of the work that our community does and the municipal Alliance does to raise awareness of such an important issue mayor and I also just want to uh again thank this mayor and councel for its support for this year's domestic violence Symposium uh if there's one message for those watching at home it would be that if you're a Survivor you're not alone and if you know somebody who's in an abusive relationship they're not alone and that is the purpose of the Symposium is to to remind people that help is out there resources are available uh and people want to help and I also just want to just mention that we're again grateful to the New York Giants for their support they've been tremendously helpful and almost a dozen Bergen County Police Department's mayor in addition to nmpd who have reached out to me to offer support and even collaboration planning this event so I was very grateful to their police Chiefs and to the lieutenants and captains in those departments who've reached out and asked how they can help uh join us in this pause and uh I'm proud again to uh thank councilwoman San hus from the moment we created this program she's been on site on camera helping to run the event with me helping to plan the event with me Council woman thank you for your partnership and thank you for being friends to the cause oh thank you for the acknowledgement and it's behind the camera people see you know thank you thank you I'm behind the camera there you go you're in front of the camera going back you're welcome it's ath CA and it's really it's really an honor to be there so thank you Council I would say most of the things we do are very worthy and meaningful last night's Adam event just once again something about seeing the candles on the water on the pond and hearing Ripple in the background it's just very moving exem because everyone knows someone who's been infected it's crazy so okay Council DPW is busy this week and probably next month cleaning up leaves so everybody could put their leaves out in front of their house and they'll be getting around doing it I think they've already done One Sweep of town uh also uh the DBW Island today and tomorrow will be picking up about 20 some OD new trees and they will be planting it over the next few weeks to have the burrow so uh they'll be using the money that we've set aside uh in the budget to paper the trees and uh hopefully we can start uh reforesting uh the B and I hope they pick up the candles in the pond this morning Council sure thank you mayor uh first of all uh under beautification uh just want to a big thank you to the DPW uh for putting up the corn stocks uh as they've been doing the last few years and uh I think they give a really nice festive mood to the town so thank you to them for that um in order to keep my report um brief I just would like to report on two items from uh the Board of Health meeting uh all of their uh you know numbers and the registar report uh can be found on L uh but these these two things I thought were interesting uh the health officer reported that uh mid Bergen is who our um our inspectors come from they conduct tobacco age of sale enforcement to test businesses to see if they sell tobacco products to miners so they will hire um with the parents approval a minor um and they will pay them $25 for each business they go to and they try to buy tobacco products so it's very interesting um and of course they take note of those that have they then um we'll have to go back the the uh uh you know our inspectors will go back uh if they fail again and of course they will be ticketed and we'll have to pay fines and all all fines would go to uh the burrow back to the Bur uh the second item was something that came up a couple of meetings ago in the port of health and was regarding bicycle Els and after discussion um with the mayor Matt uh the police chief our president of the board and our guest uh nurses aid uh spoke to the police and that they cannot um they can't enforce it because it has to do with parental H rights and they're underage so they did speak to rivr who every year runs a bike safety day uh so after some discussions and um you know ideas uh looks like the Board of Health and PD and maybe the council uh will partner in the spring to do a bike safety uh you know event you have done those before not for a while but I gave remember that years ago you may be right but of late they have not and because of this law but from a Bor to help point of view you know wearing a helmet is part of Public Health really in an indirect way and I'm always excited when I see the board relating to the community because they deal with a lot of statistics and the um you know the inspectors go out issues you know summonses collect findes but in this case it's something that the board can interact with PD people parents PE people of any age writing by that El um so I look forward to having the event this FR is there a difference between requiring um m is to wear B and requiring and cars for young children yeah some do different yes what does motor vehicle code totally different totally different it is I see so many young people now riding those electric sco electric you know without helmets and without risk that is huge yeah agre that's me thank you mayor I want to report that the environmental commission had the hosted the clean communities day so thank you everyone for your participation in that there were a total of 46 participants and just under 400 lounds of uh garbage collected so it was a very successful day the environmental commission is also attended uh a a grand intake uh meeting via Zoom to uh related to the community energy planning Grant so they're preparing and getting ready to to get ready um for that big project so more more on that and the Green Team last I'll finish with says thank you for uh posting the RFQ and uh thank you for your uh support with that energy Outreach for residents so most of our energy in our municipality is consumed by residents so it's really important to reach out to the residents and inform them of all the uh incentives that are available to them thank you I'm complete thank you um since our last meeting we did have fire awareness day and know Council councilwoman Duffy was Ill that day so just could make it but just once again thank you to the fire department for having all of their stuff out kids both the rides in the truck they had the ladder it was great it was great I wish attendance was a little bit higher so but you know people that were there did learn a lot which was good and the other thing that happened was Recreation sponsored the uh annual pumpkin patch this was a record for amount of people to come from pumpkins there were zero pumpkins left over it was absolutely amazing wow it was just great to see so many people grab the pumpkins and it was I it was probably 74 degrees out absolutely so I want to say great job for them because running an event that has two 100 kids running around is is Pretty Tough so kudos to them really okay at this time there ask for a motion to open to the public so move second all in favor oppos ladies and gentlemen of the public if anyone has any questions or comments regarding the good mare the B Milford 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 motion to close this motion all in favor anyos may get a motion to adopt resolution 2024 call 228 to 2024 col 23 all in favor opposed okay ladies and gentlemen uh we will be going into Clos session when we come out of Clos session we will not take any action and we will immediately adjourn the meeting so at this time I would ask for a motion to go into close session second all in favor hi and post ladies and gentlemen thank you very much for joining us tonight we hope you have a happy Halloween be safe and don't forget to vote thank you