how are you when I see that smile Good morning Welcome to the pre meeting of the Newark Municipal Council on Tuesday March 18th 2025 Council President council members
we have an appointment this morning on page 47 of the agenda Mr Norwood will be appointed to the Civilian Complaint Review Board Mr Norwood please step to the podium
Good morning Mr Norwood Good morning Uh do you have an opening statement you'd like to make uh indeed Uh good morning council members Uh my name is Dwan Norwood and I now have the distinct honor of serving as policy counsel at the ACLU of New Jersey Um and the joy of
being a resident of Newark Um I first want to begin by thanking Mayor Baraka Mr Robinson as well as the commissioners and staff of the Civilian Complaint Review Board uh for their work and support of my appointment Um I am grateful to be appointed to the ACLUJ's
seat on the Civilian Complaint Review Board Um and I look forward to the opportunity to serve uh the residents of Newark Well thank you I I look forward to you serving It sounds like you're going to bring a wealth of knowledge and information to assist us with our comm
our board Uh is there anything councilwoman I would like to sponsor sponsor counciloman Scott Ranchu second by councilman uh Kelly Anything else from the council congratulations Councilman uh Mr Gonzalez are you an attorney uh I I am a lawyer by training
Yes Okay Yes Where did you go for for law school uh well for undergrad I went to Howard University Um where I studied political science and Africana studies Um I then went to law school at Cardoozo Law School in New York City uh where I specialize in constitutional and civil
rights law Well you know we records law folks are up here so but we'll take you anyway I I figured when I heard the question I was like anything else that's it All right Well well thank you and congratulations All righty Thank you all so much Take
care Have a good day Bless you Council members we are on page four of the agenda Item five reports and recommendations of city officers boards and commissions Any questions from the council hearing none Next item
Ordinances on public hearing 6PSFA is an ordinance providing for the rehabilitation of housing units managed by the Newark Housing Authority and other related expenses and appropriating $6 million Any questions from the council yeah Mr Chair I I know at the
last meeting we deferred this item Just want to make sure is is this item set to move forward does uh Mr Guzman uh good morning Benjamin Guzman acting finance director for the city of North Good morning Uh yes we are ready to move forward We did have our meeting with the
local finance board last Wednesday They reviewed and approved our application and we can move forward with the uh sale with the adoption of the ordinance All right Thank you Anything else all right Hearing none Thank you Next item B
is an ordinance to enter into and execute a lease agreement with Bethany Baptist Church for the purpose of providing services to Newark senior citizens in the central ward Any questions from council hearing none Next item
Resolutions 7R1A through H are temporary emergency appropriations A is to provide funds for pensions B is to provide Ryan White HIV health and support services C is the lead hazard program D
is the antiviolence out of school youth project for all wards E is to provide medical care supportive services and education on cickle cell F is to provide funding for the police and fire capital improvement for structural repairs and correct POSA
violations G is to provide funds for the operating expenses until the adoption of the 2025 operating budget H is sustaining public health infrastructure Any questions from the council yes
council president Council Kelly Um yes on 7R1F My question I I know we spoke about this a little bit before about which firehouses are getting um fixed or repaired and I know that um they have
three that are listed but it's not one of the ones that I visited I know Councilwoman Roundtree has visited that's in terrible shape which is Palm Streets um in the West Ward And I'm just wondering if we are temporarily um
appropriating emergency funding to police and fire capital why is this firehouse not included mr President uh Council Gonzalez Yes My question is regarding the budget Well Councilman let me let me finish
with uh Councilman uh Kelly Uh let's finish with that one I don't see the director of engineering here but um I think we could reach out and have her here before the meeting's over so that we can uh well Mel Mr Waldrop uh yes
walked in By the way Melvin Waldrop chief of staff office of business administrator Uh again we've been working off of a list of several firehouses under what we refer to as Project Phoenix And so we'll go back and
look at that if this is not on there and should be on there We'll make sure that's get included But one of the things that we're trying to do is to evaluate all of our capital needs in the city of Newark firehouses as well as other capital needs that uh that we have And so this may be you have the director
here So you stop midsentence Uh I apologize Uh good good morning council president council members Good morning I'm here to support you know chief of staff Um so I think the question was which is the um which houses are why don't we have the councilman restate it
just so much in his words Good day to you um director So on this list there are three firehouses um that are included in the funding for police and fire capital improvement um for
structural repairs I'm wondering why the firehouse on Palm Street in the West Ward is not included in this And the reason I'm asking because it is in dire dire need We have firemen that are getting sick from exhaust problems They don't even sleep
in their in their barracks They all meet in the meeting room because that's the only place that they don't get sick from the fumes Some have gone home with nose bleeds and and headaches Um I've I've gotten received calls from the fire captains I received calls from the the
firefighters This house is in desperate need of repair So desperate I've been there about three times trying to figure it out So when I see this come across my desk and they're not included in the the structural improvement and repairs it's
just absurd to me And I and I I believe I asked you last time this came up has have repairs been done to that firehouse and you said yes But when I checked with them they said that no repairs have been done but I just didn't want to take just
the fireman's complaints I I've reached out to DPW who actually handles the firehouses they said that does fixing uh some repairs there and they said that they haven't repaired anything yet but they were going there that day So I
didn't understand what maybe I missed something of what you said was repaired but what was repaired because these these firemen in the west we need them to be okay so that our citizens are okay in case of emergency Thank you Councilman Kelly Um Council
President um so this is the Sanford as well right the same the same that we spoke about before Okay So we did further investigate and um the exhaust system did have um some issues and fire um department and DPW are addressing that specific issue because it's a
system the whole entire system needs to be replaced So they're working on their end to replace that particular problem with that firehouse Um I believe um there's no PO or any other um issues with the house besides the exhaust system and um uh the fire department and
DPW are working with that with that one exhaust issue because the whole system needs to be replaced So um they I think they they already um have procure the funding possibly and they're moving forward to securing and working with a contractor to get it replaced So you're
saying that the funding is already in place for them to fix the firehouse You're not because when I was there their fixing was wrapping duct tape around it themselves Not talking about that I'm talking about the exhaust system that was causing the um air
quality to be poor in the house I'm talking about the same thing So they're fixing it meaning the firefighters at the time they're fixing it was wrapping duct tape around it So you're not saying that when they No what I'm saying is that the entire system had a failure and
the Newark uh firefighters that work in project Phoenix that we recognize what the issues are with the houses are working together with DPW to remediate and uh in the fire budget if I'm not mistaken they are going to make the corrections for the exhaust system Do you know like when because I think it's
timesensitive We don't know when a fire can occur and I think that this is an emergency So when we talk about temporary emergency appropriating emergency funds and then I don't see this firehouse on the emergency list and that doesn't exclude the the ones that
are on the list and maybe they have emergencies too but I think that is important to have them on the emergency list too Absolutely You have a day or like a a date or when so we are going to meet today and I I invite you and all council members we do meet uh bi-weekly
um with uh NBD I'm sorry uh NFD uh and DPW as a project Um we're going I could get those dates for you today and I'll make sure that our team sends you that information for the Sanford Corrections Um the actual line item is for three
other houses I do have the information for you as well but at 1:00 p.m today in conference room 412 we'll be meeting and I think that you know if if we can um if you can come in I it'll be great It'll be great because we talk about every issue of every firehouse across the city
Um and I think that they can give you an idea when those corrections will be made All right Excuse So uh two things council get right to you but maybe I know the public safety director is here or not public director I'm sorry excuse me public safety department is here Um
maybe they can also shed some light on this situation since they were but in the meantime while coming up Councilwoman Scott Rancher you had Yes Thank you Council President to Councilman Kelly's point I just think that all of us should receive that in writing um the entire council after you
have this meeting I know I'm going to try to step into the meeting but I'm going to start requesting when we're getting presentations and it's just an overview that we get some details in writing and not like two weeks later We need to know if this money is being
appropriated for three firehouses We don't actually know what's being done for those three firehouses and what Councilman Kelly is saying about one specific problem I don't know who assesses what's wrong with the departments um and how they determine what they're going to fix but if our
firefighters are having a problem breathing and who assessed that department and how come it wasn't on that list and I don't want to beat a dead horse but if we want our employees to work in good condition so they can serve us better we need to do a better
job about assessing where these employees are They're sacrificing their lives every day They don't need to be sick So please if whatever you're going to meet about please if you can just get us details about what is being fixed how it's being fixed and who's paying for it
Thank you so much Thank you Council President Sure thing councilwoman Appreciate you Thank you Uh thank you Uh uh uh public safety Why can't I recall your title i want to say director assistant director or deputy
deputy Deputy director Yeah Deputy Director Carillo Good morning Council President Good morning council My name is Leo Carillo deputy police director New York PD Um as far as the uh the work uh for Project Phoenix
um I know there was a order of uh priority and the way things have been addressed starting with the roof in some places because again there was leaks uh and moving forward Uh I don't have specific details as to the timeline uh for a lot of these projects but now this is something that's it's occurring weekly uh and getting updates The fire
chief I've been in meetings with both the fire chief and the public safety director to get updates on those Uh and I will work on getting a written update with the status of those firehouses uh to to council Good That will that would be very helpful I think to the council members Thank you Council President Thank you Thank you Uh Councilman
Gonzalez Now yes it's my question was relating the to the budget It doesn't do with the director not engineering Not not engineering Thank you You can stay there if you'd like but I mean I just have already we are already in March I'm
sorry I'm sorry Council I messed up Councilman Silva had a question Yeah I just had a question Director if this um um Councilman Kelly's uh Palm Street is put on this original when are these firehouses expected to begin getting
their work done um thank you Councilman Silva Um so we're getting the um the funds in place and um we have to uh declare whether we have to see if they declare an emergency
or we go through the bid process Um just want to note that these specific line items this 750 is specific for three firehouses three different scope of work due to PIOSA findings um with structural
issues across the houses Um so it's not necessarily something that they're going to see as you know the house looks better but it's something that is going to address issues with the structural integrity of the buildings Um they are being treated with priority Um but it it's very specific and um if you you
know I do have the engines is 198 and five they're going to get some work Um and um I would say by by this summer absolutely the work is going to start because we've been working on them It's just a major work um like structural is taking a little more time because of all
the um assessment but the structural engineer and so on and so forth that we need uh before we move forward with this corrections Yeah I I I know the issues because two out of the three are in my ward so I know the issues My concern is when uh they would begin to get abate
the issues get abated and you're saying probably in the summer is Yes So so we'll be working on um the life safety and health right um the health ones the um um contaminants that will be working on already This is the second step the
structural ones Um so it's an ongoing process Um I foresee this to be done most likely by the end of the summer because we already know what the scope of work is We just have to facilitate um what the um you know who will be doing the work and everything and we are
anticipating possibly declaring an emergency with um the fire department Thank you So the in Thank you Councilman So the information that's going to be provided to the council with regards to the the list of of of firehouses that are going to be uh uh abated to some
degree I' I'd also request that we have uh an estimated time of when it would be uh started and completed Uh yes uh council president we will be able to provide you with that information Again I think that we've done a very good job in terms of the
firehouses that we've started out with We had to prioritize certain things because there were preosa violations that we had to take care of and so that work has come along you know very well We have these three for the $750 $750,000 that's on the agenda for the
day with respect to Palm Street Uh what I will ensure that you get is a schedule of what's going to be done with that uh firehouse Why it may have fallen through the cracks I don't know but I will follow up and uh make sure that you know
specifically what the problems are when those problems are going to be addressed and uh and by when Thank you All right I'm Are we finished you still engineering all right One more engineering Just one more Um Mr be um
chief staff So so we know for a fact that Palm Street will not be um dealt with within the next 30 days within the next three days or or what I'm saying abate it because we're talking about breathing issues and the
exhaust system and I'm hearing that we have to secure funding for that and I think you're going to declare it an emergency but that timeline I know I pray that that's not going to be Let me let me ask you let me well let me ask you to allow this okay
let me get an assessment of what needs to be done okay okay because again this one was not on the was not on the list that I've been dealing with So let me get an assessment of what's required and then I can tell you what we can do by
when But allow me to get that assessment first Thank you so much Thank you All right that's it for the engine Okay My my concern is with Mr Wardrop and the BA We are already March almost at the end
of March This is the last meeting in March and uh we haven't heard anything regarding the budget where we are in in that process I understand that we were going to start earlier this year but I haven't I haven't heard anything So can
you enlighten us well what I c what I can tell you uh uh Councilman Gonzalez is that we're working diligently in terms of getting everything together in order to be able to get this uh budget uh to you Uh it
was our hope that uh we would have had it uh earlier Uh but uh that has not materialized but uh I can only uh indicate that we're working diligently in order to get it to you as soon as possible I I happen to say to be to work
in the in the budget for the county and we start in August So by August 31st we have to have the budget for the next year not the budget for the current year for the next year
So I don't understand why the city cannot do more or less the same so that we can have a budget presented to us in January or February and not in November It's a it's we are approving a historic
document instead of a budget And I don't think that's that's a way that we should do Again you know I have those same uh types of uh you know sentiments and I hope that uh in the future we'll start
looking at that uh schedule and start uh much earlier so that we can have a budget to you in late January or early February Thank you Appreciate it Thank you All right Uh any other
questions are you sure you want to come back up good morning council president city council I got an update while uh uh just in the last few minutes and uh the the the air quality system at the Sanford Avenue firehouse has been temporarily uh
rectified There is a demo system that has We heard it was rectified They're wrapping duct tape around it No So there's an actual new system that was installed uh they're demoing that system uh and they're trying it out for 60 days to see if they if that's going to meet uh whatever requirements that they have
and if so they're going to put in for or commit to grant funding to be able to get that uh and just make that system permanent But there is a new system that was installed and not duct tape So u that's from that's from the chief's office just got that now All right we will follow up but thank you very much for it'll be on the list Thank you
Appreciate it You're welcome Anything else from the items seeing none next one I through K are all purchasing contracts I'm sorry I through L are purchasing contracts I is utilize state approved
vendor and their authorized distributors to purchase trucks vehicles and auto body parts J is a bid contract to provide maintenance and masonary work K is a bid contract to provide horse feed and supplies
and L is a bid contract to provide cleaning equipment and supplies Any questions from the council yeah Mr Chair Councilman Council just uh from from the BA's office if if they can supply us with the list of local
procurement like what does our local procurement numbers look like all right Local procurement with regards to the demographics and Yep Ju just in in in in regards to what is our percentage of local procurement You I
know when we started back in 2014 there was a movement by this administration to uh secure and bring up local procurement and I've been watching and viewing over uh the last couple of months and and it
seems like we are we are going out a whole lot I know we're doing a lot with state contracts again Um I don't foresee a problem with state contracts but uh in areas where we can ensure that there are local vendors who are out here uh in
this area that is able to compete and put in for the RFPs or bid processes whatever it is that we should be doing our best uh to continue to lift up the numbers uh in this city as it relates to local procurement Thank you So through the clerk's
office you can request that information Councilman Gonzalez I may add is if I am a local vendor I don't want to do business with the city because I don't get paid They say we I believe we I have been talking about this for 19 years and
the the people of the they say the city doesn't pay on time They say takes 60 90 days 120 days to get paid So why would I as a small business owner would do with business with the city i I believe that
we are the ones precluding the people from the city to do business with the city That's right Thank you Councilman Anything else from these items all right Hearing none Next item
M is accepting a gift the basic license fee for the use of credential hall for the state of the city address Mr Mr President if I may go back a little bit to the procurement All right let's go back to that in terms of the I want to know the motorcycles in
the in the police department I understand that at one point in time we had like 18 19 motorcycles Now I hear that the motorcycles are old and uh and that we have to canalize some motorcycles to repair the others Erh why
don't we lease as we were doing before so that the police officer will have new motorcycles at least every 3 years we can renew the lease uh count uh good good question deputy director good morning
council president Leoor police uh deputy police director um to Councilman Gonzalez's question uh yes uh We we do have a a varied number of motorcycles some a bit older some a bit newer only a couple years old Uh but that is the plan
moving forward is to uh kind of copy the model we did with the actual police cars to get a newer fleet Uh there is a group right now currently working on that Uh and uh I do have a breakdown of the uh of the number of bikes that currently exist which I can forward to the to the
council Lace All right Thank Thank you You're welcome deputy director Uh any any moving on to uh 7R1M Are there any questions from the council regarding hearing none Next item N and O
are application acceptance of grant funds N is for the environmental justice government to government program and O is for the rehabilitation and restoration of the interior of city hall Any questions from the
council hearing none Next item I'm sorry One question Yeah quick question Um is the for 7R10 for the money that is going for the interior of city hall is any of that money being put toward the elevators
because I know we're doing a lot of work with the elevators Um thank you for your question And um Councilman Kelly Mr President um this uh line item is to apply and accept in the future Um this is going to be for
repairs across city hall We do have um a capital uh improvement plan put together in which the elevators are included So it's a separate funding source for the elevators We vote we voted on something for for the elevators previously right yes
Thanks Thank you All right Next item I'm sorry Councilwoman Scott Roundtree So here again I know that we do have legisar and we do have um this item before us Um when you're dealing with the historic trust you're dealing with are we going to be dealing with the fourth floor as well or do I need to
just have you send the entire council exactly what's going to be done specifically for this building um Councilman Run is that the um the the the top um Okay Um yes So for that um we're putting together a capital project
as well So that hasn't been done yet I'm sorry Is that part of this or is that something okay Um so this will have we have to um we have a previous uh uh uh 1.5 that we secured and that's going to be to put together the plan to refresh
what needs to be done Um and then part of this uh money will be for whatever projects that we can complete um the overall fourth floor and for us to be able to remove you know what we have there uh for safety reasons that's going to be part of the capital improvement
because the the scope is very large So we're going to find um you know a project within the new plan that we can complete with this 1.5 Um and then again the the bigger picture like the entire um city hall will be under the capital
improvement plan for the whole building So we will be addressing those problem issues first once again because you're saying the whole building but there are some issues that have to be assessed once again are dealing with the health of the employees are dealing with and
this is before you got here these issues have been here so we're addressing the building and dealing with historic funding then I would think that we're going to look I don't know you're the engineer that you will send us something in writing of what those problem areas are that are going to be addressed first with this funding
Yes ma'am Yes ma'am And to your point we always address any safety issues first um other than aesthetic um when we have you know fund coming in Thank you And thank you for your Mr President Thank you Uh Councilman uh Can Yeah In terms of the administration we could look into
uh there's a an a line of of funding coming out of Washington for historical landmarks and we should be uh mindful that there is money So if we can if you could uh assistant business administer
if you could talk to our friends our lobbyists in Washington uh uh because there is money and matter of fact at the National League of Cities uh was talked to us at a presentation that there is funding coming out of the
federal government uh from the previous administration So we have to be able uh I understand what the director is saying respect them for that but we need this that this is a historical landmark and this is not just somebody who's going to
come from somewhere and come and decide they're going to fix this building right there's specs there that are very crucial in terms of this building That's why it has taken so long because of the the level of construction of a
historical landmark This is not just a building This is a historical landmark So we got to get that in place So there is some funding from the state too We need to look at because again this is a registered a landmark that has to be
taken care of like a like what it is not just covered and and try to fix the ceiling This is more than that This is a lot of work This is a lot of abandoned This this building has been abandoned for a long time and every time every
every administration has talked about where's the money where's the capital I hear the capital capital But you know again we're going to get it fixed and we got to put a stop to it because it's going to continue to deteriorate
again please if we're going to do this and I would advise you to talk to our friends our lobbyists in DC and where's the funding where's the funding for this kind of structure these elevators have been out for longest and it has been a
makeup they clean them up and put them up again and and and again they need to get gutted out Some of the things in this building have to get gutted out We got beat up We got beat with a bathroom that was done on the third floor the
men's bathroom We spent a fortune is deteriorating It's It's a disgust It's disgusting All the capital projects You take the the the one Lincoln Avenue the precinct it's falling apart You know we got to find out what
we're going to do here all these precincts We talked about firehouses Councilman Kelly and I agree with you but we just there can't be a fix or we're going to do something in terms of getting these buildings back where they need to The police officers at one
Lincoln can't even get to a locker room They can't even go to a locker room But you go to other towns they have showers for the officers males and female locker rooms workout rooms We don't have these things here We keep talking about these capital funding it's
coming It's coming And it's frustrating when it doesn't nothing happens So I want to know where all this money through your through your uh office where's all the capital dollars that came to the city and where has it gone because I remember sitting on this
council and Councilman Gonzalez you know for 19 you've been here 19 years I've been here a little more And we have heard capital capital capital capital Where's the money let's we got to we got to look at the the picture What did they do they put a uh a net upstairs Y and
it's been there for a long time since and it's does nothing to a depreciation of our city hall When people come to this building they they assume that a beautiful building of this level has been forever taken forever And no
disrespect to the director director there's a lot of capital money that would we voted on in this council and I have not seen the capital money well in terms of the precinct the plans for the precinct at one Lincoln that's horrible you go over there it's like a mess the
heating system in that place you got I mean in in in the summer you can't go in the building because it's just so hot and then in this building you take upstairs that net has been there for 16 years or more more than 16 years Right
So we got to we but there was money through through administration through administration to make sure that we would take care of this responsibility of this building This is the people's building and we're not taking care of people's building Okay Again I could not uh agree
with you more uh what I will say uh to you I think that it starts with a solid effective capital improvement program bringing the needs understanding what those needs are and
determining how we're going to fund those needs and wherever those sources of funding will come from we can pursue that there may be some federal dollars out there to do that if those federal federal dollars are there we will pursue that but primarily
is going to come from our resources We've neglect unfortunately neglected this over over the years and again we have to make the investment whether it's in these capital facilities or whether it's in rolling stock we have to make the investments but it starts with
defining what the needs are and then we have to sit down and determine what those costs are and how those costs are going to be funded So Mr Waldrip I I I I'll be honest I would hope that it's already been done Um I think at this point that there should be some uh capital improvement program maybe a
rolling one because some things fall off the list once they're completed but there should be an assessment of all the of all the city buildings and the condition that they're in and prioritizing them and figuring out what needs to be done and and first and foremost and then I mean obviously
figuring out the funding too But I'm I'm hoping sooner than later that the council can get an assessment a list of all the buildings and the conditions they're in Not just I know we talked about fire but in what Councilman Kentana just said we should
include police uh precincts as well as quite frankly all other city buildings so that we have a full assessment and understanding of where we are Especially as we come closer to the budget and knowing full well what not knowing full well what the
future holds we should really be prepared to to see where we are and and figure out how we move forward So I hope that's something that is either in process of being done or it's going to be done very shortly As I indicated it is it is in in progress To my
knowledge what you're you're talking about in terms of a true capital budget does not exist right now I think that uh the uh best thing that we've done and this has kind of served as a model is project Phoenix in terms of taking those
groups of firehouses okay and determining what need needed to be done with those firehouses and how we were going to fund that We need to do the same thing with all of the buildings here And and again I would encourage you to look at capital improvement programs
in other cities and see what those look like that unfortunately does not exist in the city of Newark right now and that's what we need to need to get to and and just the way you approve the general fund budget you should be approving a capital budget as well All
right Thank you Councilwoman Scott Roundry Yes I I just um sorry Chief of Staff Mr Waldrip um I just want to make a statement You said that um we are working on assessment Some things are
just so obvious Uh Councilman Kentana and and other council my other council colleagues are saying what we've been looking at Um I don't even want to talk about the elevator situation That's something totally different U but that is a situation when
your elders come here and they're all broke down and they can't get up the stairs Um but back to the net I think the last time I remember real work being done on this building is probably during the James administration when the scaffolds were
around I don't know how many years ago that was and funding was secured to do whatever that was But the internal the fourth floor the net that is so obvious and how many years does take not this is no no reflection on you
whatsoever Please don't take it as if though I'm just saying how many years does it take for us to see the obvious with one link and see the obvious in this building that we work in that the people come in and pay their taxes for us to be here How obvious does it have
to be for us to see these things and just say we have to assess them that that's just a statement I'm not even asking for an answer So just just let me briefly say if I can Yes we we see them But in terms of the assessment okay what do we need to do in order to repair and
you mentioned elevators Okay Yes we know that the elevators needed to be repaired but when we had to do an assessment to determine okay what is actually required okay And when we started looking at what is required I mean we're talking about okay not going in and tightening a few screws or belts or whatever We're
talking about a major expenditure So when I talk about assessment that's what I'm talking about I want to know what needs to be done how much is it going to cost me to do that and what is the time frame going to be for in order for me to get that uh done now maybe it should have been done some years ago okay but I
now I have a document that I can go to right now and look at it and say okay I just need to update this because the cost was put in there and now I need to add an inflationary factor and we're good to go okay all right thank you I think thank you sir yeah I think let's
let's move on to next item seminar 2A A is a private sale redevelopment to provide new construction of a two family dwelling to sell at market rate in the south ward Any questions concerns from the council
we have requested that uh GJJ urban development come here so that we can uh ask some questions Good morning council president council members Allison Lead director of econ economic and housing development Um we
do have uh the gentleman here who represents J EJJ and I'm going to let him introduce himself and answer any questions Is he the developer or is he Good morning Jose Suarez S O A Res Yes I'm the developer And Mr Suarez have you
developed anything here in the city before yes I've been building u individual two families three families since 91 Where uh Southward on Fabian on
Styverson on uh Persine on Badger So yeah we've done quite a few Thank you Thank you Thank you Any other questions all right Thank you Thank you
Councilman council anything good for that all right next item B is introducing the 2025 annual budget of the Aaron Bound Business Improvement District Questions concerns like to sponsor that Knew that was coming
Sponsored by Councilman Silver second by Councilman Kintana C is authorizing execution of access agreement with PPG Industries in connection with remediation required at the Riverside Industrial Park Super Fund
site Any questions from the council concerns from the council Hearing none uh for that item Council McKelly Just want to go back to um to the um budget for the ironbound business I know um you spoke about it before Step
move closer to the mic Pardon me Um I know we spoke about it before um about having all of the bid budgets presented around the same time So I just wanted to know if that was going to happen or or why wasn't that
happening You know good morning council president council members Allison Lad director of economic and housing development Uh regarding the question um there are seven um SIDS and bids that are in the city that were
authorized by the municipal council Uh second um two uh were approved at the last meeting Um those are both in the north ward lower Broadway and also Mount Prospect Um one is today um which is the
Ironbound Business Improvement District Um in addition the two um downtown the tourism bureau as well as downtown district um will be submitted as the consolidation continues and that's
supposed to be effective April 1st Um so that's the um I guess delay associated with those two And then in closing the final two are the south ward and the west ward Um we are awaiting their information We sent both directors of
each bid a reminder on March 7th 2025 and we hope that they will submit them soon Um they um historically have tended to lag behind the others but we will follow up with them again So did
did all the uh SIDS and bids receive the request at the same time yes sir This one Okay Yes Um I will just say though that it's to I think um everyone's question on council is is that it is a
cyclical so it's every year Um and we have been working to ensure that they're submitted sooner than later Um I know that we've been fortunate enough to have three including the one today being able to move forward in the first quarter
which is great Um and we just continue to move on the remaining If I recall we did get at least one for 2024 and beginning of 2025 right i think close to No sir all of them for 2024 were
approved in 2024 Were they okay or late 2024 maybe uh that I would agree perhaps that is that could have happened Thank you for the clarification Um but yes um so I will say though as you know it's a partnership um you know the city the
administration we submit when we receive information we also call and follow up and talk to the SIDS and bids to send them as you can see there are some that are more uh quickly to reply the information so that we can provide to
you as soon as possible so um um I'll also reach out my team spoke to both the two south and west ward but I'll reach out myself as well all right thank you Any any other questions deputy Mayor you you guys don't have a deadline that you needed back from the Sids and Bids yes
sir We we do And the the South and West are always I mean as long as I've been here we've been always last So that means that they've submitted the information last Um so Council President to Council Member Kelly's question um
the law says that it has to be submitted by the first quarter of each calendar year That's what the law says Thank you Uh any other questions thank you Deputy Mayor Thank you
Next item 7R3A is authorizing execution of a settlement agreement with Payic Valley Sewage Commission for executive session B is professional service contract to extend the time for the safe route to school project
Any questions from the council hearing none Next item 7R4A is a resolution extending the introduction date and adoption date of the 2025 municipal budget Can we get uh
I I see Mr Guzman has risen and is coming forward Good morning again Benjamin Visman acting director of finance Yes So just coming up just in case any additional questions Um uh this resolution is to allow not the city of Newark in order to
introduce our budget Uh the state does allow for an extension should there be a need and as you know assistant uh BA uh Melvin Waldrop I mentioned earlier we are working diligently on the budget Uh statutoily we are required to introduce that budget on or before March 30th The state does allow for an extension of one
month uh and that resolution here is what is before you in order to give uh the city of New York sufficient time in order to make sure that we are statutoily in require in uh with the requirements uh of the state This is the first year that a state is requiring all municipalities okay to adopt this
resolution uh uh actually requesting for that extension All right that was my next question Uh I I before anybody I additional question is so it extends it for a month What happens after that month if the budget is not introduced do we continue to do
these resolutions uh my I I would have to get some more information Uh my understanding is as of right now I don't believe so It does allow for the extension up through April 30th or the first meeting thereafter Mhm So technically by the statute it would allow us to go into the first meeting of
May depending on our calendar and how our our meetings uh land in the in the calendar year Um but uh I can uh reach out to the state and get additional information and provide that information to uh to the council Thank you Any other questions from uh Councilman Gonzalez
this is new this year This resolution is new this year Prior to this year municipalities were not required to formally adopt the resolution requesting that extension Uh the uh the state has requested that if any municipality wishes to do so starting this year we are required to adopt a resolution And
the due date of April 30th was that is that new too or is that something that was there and we never comply with it is my understanding that is new as well Again statutoily the original due date is May March 31st uh or or soon thereafter the closest council meeting
in order to introduce a budget into the municipalities council This is date set by the state allowing it and extending it to April 30th Thank you Thank you Any other questions for director all right Uh you might as well
stay up there Next item B through D are confirming bond sales B is $31 million to refund certain outstanding bonds for the city issued in 2015 C is
$85,000 for the sewer utility bonds and D is $20 million for bond anticipation notes All right Uh director let's take one at a time Sure Absolutely for uh 7R 7 R4B refunding bonds of uh up to not to
exceed $31 million Uh there are currently uh bonds outstanding for the total amount of $31 million $29 million for general improvements and $2 million for school bonds Uh the market has changed as such where uh it has become financially viable in order to refund
these bonds and bring a savings to the city Uh it'll bring a savings of approximately $1.1 million to the city of NORC over the remaining life of these bonds which is approximately 4.02% which is over the 3% threshold required by the
state Uh therefore we're asking for the authority to be able to sell these bonds and it will bring savings to the city Great Thank you Any questions on that one all right Next item E is professional service contract formulate zone development plan as
required No no no no Next item 7R4C We're going to go through each one of the bond each one of the bond ones My apologies All right 7R4C is for the permanent financing of uh for the super utility bonds related to the joint meeting of Estis County and Union counties Uh this is the city's share It
is coming up for uh permanent financing Uh and we have opted to bond for these which is the $85,000 amount Thank you Any questions from the council all right Next item Uh the next item the $20 million of uh bond participation notes rollover This is in relation to the $20
million loan that the city that provided to the New York Housing Authority last year in order for the purchase of the uh affordable housing uh complex in order to stay within uh control of the housing authority and still remain affordable Uh we had anticipated last year that we would need to most likely roll over the
notes for an additional year Uh last year when we did sell the $20 million we did withhold back the cost of the interest that we would be paying this year plus rollover costs for financial adviserss and bond councils in order to offset any that additional cost in order to roll it over this year This will
allow it to roll over for an additional year But within such times we hope that the housing authority will then be able to complete their transactions re seek the financing that they need and then next year when these come due these bondations not will be paid off Thank you Any any other any questions
from the council all right Hearing none I believe that's the last one Thank Thank you director Yeah you're welcome Next E is professional service contract for formulate zone development plan for the
the um as required by the urban enterprise zone act Uh I'd like to meet one sponsor for this Council president Councilman Um if you want a better explanation I believe Mr Randolph is here somewhere
There he is If you can just come up and for urban enterprise zones Yes Uh good morning Council President Good morning council Yes this uh is a requirement now by the Department of Community Affairs to continue drawing down UEZ dollars Uh the requirement is a
five-year zoning plan that has to be done Uh they do provide money in the allocation that they give the city to cover the cost of this Uh but this was uh put on hold during COVID Uh now that things have shifted back to normal this is a requirement uh for all zone
corporations to do in the state of New Jersey Anything else Councilman over Uh Councilman uh Kelly and then second good day How you doing director doing great Um my question I I I see that
they're um they're doing work in the west and I believe the south as well Where is the clean and green program happening at in the west yes So uh that work is being coordinated by uh
PWI Uh it should be occurring first in the West Marus Street corridor and then following the Orange Street corridor Those are two projects that were submitted West Mark and Orange Yes Any other questions
all right Thank Thank you Thank you So it was uh uh moved by Councilman Silva second by Councilman Gonzalez Next item F is approving loan and escrow agreements for the joint meeting of Essex and Union counties in the amount of $85,000
And I believe that this is a companion piece to the one that Mr Guzman spoke about Next item unless there next item 7R5A through W are all contracts with subreients to provide housing and
supportive services to persons with HIV AIDS A is New Jersey AIDS services B is Isaiah House C is Newark Beth Ezrael Medical Center D is Catholic Family and
Community Services Hope House E is Positive Healthc Care Incorporated F is Essis County G Township of Irvington H Catholic Charities of the Arch Dascese of
Newark I Integrity Incorporated J Ruckers the State University of New Jersey Infectious Disease Practice K AIDS Resource Foundation for Children L Central Jersey Legal Services
Incorporated M Meals on Wheels Incorporated N Community Health Law Project O St James Social Service Corporation P Positive Healthc Care Incorporated Q New Northbreath Israel
Medical Center and Children's Hospital Ruckers State University of New Jersey FXB Center S AHS Marstown Medical Center T Urban Renewal Corporation U Catholic Charities of the
Arch Dasis of Newark St Bridgets V Apostles House and W Catholic Family and Community Services Hope House Uh Councilman Gonzalez just one question
This how do we determine the allocations do they request the amounts or is something that that we let's say determine how how much money each entity is going to get good morning uh Councilman and
Councilman Gonzalez to answer your question Morning I hate to say this State your name for you but just please state your name Caitlyn Osbbor director for the department of health Thank you So we do follow an RFP process Every subreient submits a bid Um we review
that There's an internal and external review of each application and based on level of services historical data performance etc the allocation plan is designed specifically for the Ryan White program There's an HIV planning council
made up of people living with HIV who have input on the allocation and prioritization of the funding Thank you All right Thank you director Thank you Next item X is application acceptance of
grant funds for the lead hazard and healthy homes reduction program Any questions next item Y is acceptant to public bidding for the first amendment to the agreement to provide for the hosting support upgrades
maintenance of proprietary software in the existing electronic medical record system NextGen Healthcare Inc a federally qualified health center Any questions from the council hearing none Next item Seminar 6A through F are settlement
agreements for executive session with the exception council president and council members A B E and F will all be deferred at tomorrow's meeting Uh say that again A
B and E and F are be deferred Deferred E and F Yes sir Okay All right Next item 7R6 G through N or professional services contracts G is for litigation
defense H is for litigation defense I is litigation defense J is litigation defense K is labor and relation matters L is labor and relations matters
M is workers compensation matters and N is tax appeal matters Any questions from the council hearing none Next item 7R8A is a ceremonial street designation for the honorable Armando Fanur sponsored by
Councilman Silva Second by Councilman Canana Duly noted B is a ceremonial street designation for Dolly and Art Lunchinet sponsored by Councilman Silva
Second by Councilman Canana duly noted C is recognizing and commending resolutions and D is expressing profound sorrow and regret Anything additional councilman can turned it off Councilman
we had uh Jimmy Pillo Yeah Uh Jimmy Jimmy was a uh easter a person who was very instrumental in in in what I call political and in in terms of decency in in
politics and he never started with one side He was loyal to the administration that was there Started with Mayor Ken Gibson Jimmy Civic Association Then he was with uh involved with also with Mary Sharp James and he worked at the housing
authority and Jimmy Perola had one of those the first civic associations of a nonelected official and Jimmy acted like an elected official He was like the the 10th member of of of the council Yeah And and you know Jimmy will be missed
and um even he used to say Jimmy just for the people That was his slogan Jimmy just for the people and and Jimmy Pillo was somebody who uh Wow I want to also remember that he was a great guy helped
out a lot of folks and right heart the right place and then New York was the heart place of his Yeah Thank thank you for bringing that up council Uh council president um I also want to add uh Victor Miranda He worked for the city
here in the water department Uh he passed away at the age of 56 uh after a long battle with cancer Uh and I knew Vic for probably 40 years and uh uh a great person a great human being
Loved the East Ward loved the Ironbound loved the city of Newark Uh so I just want to add his name Uh and I just want to uh convey the thoughts of uh Councilman Quintanana and Jimmy Uh his favorite spot was Andro's Diner Yeah and that's where you could find him That was
probably like his home office Uh and he uh fought a good fight Uh 90 years old Uh he was blessed for many years and he's a great part of the history of our ward uh in the city And um I just want to add something if it's possible I know
Councilman um Ramos um put in the the detective but if we could maybe change that to Sergeant uh speak to Councilman Ramos uh about that just send him an email before you um actually change that But I don't see
a problem because he was promoted postumously uh by the city by our police director our mayor Uh so if we could change that to sergeant Absolutely Absolutely Anything else i
I'm just going to add to uh uh what said about Jimmy Fill Andros was a spot whether you had met him there or if you were going somewhere else He wanted food from Andros It was always a pleasure talking to him and just enjoying his company and it's sad to see you know
we've lost one of the old guards who was um and I think Councilman Katana said it right He perfectly he wasn't one side versus the other He was for Norc and for the city and for the residents So he was good guy that will surely be missed
Sorely be missed Uh but that anything else so we're going to amend for those two Julie noted or three actually for Sergeant to change to Sergeant Joseph uh Anthony Ocona Uh add Victor Miranda
and then add Jimmy Bllo noted 8A was discussed previously 8B is an ordinance granting a 30-year tax abatement to 1098 Broad Street Urban Renewal Company LLC for a project to construct a new fivestory building with
a total of 35 new market rate residential rental units in the East Ward Any questions from the council just uh just for the record if the director would address the
35 market rate units uh this is one of five uh buildings that are are going to be constructed and this one here is all market All right Yes Deputy Mayor council president uh council members Allison Lad
director of economic and housing development Uh Council Member Gonzalez thanks for the question and the opportunity to explain it Um this project is one of five projects in the same neighborhood Um the developer is
ATS Paul Pereira and he has been working to have these five projects moving forward for several years and we are at a good place with all five projects Um second these five projects
are 166 total units with an investment of $53 million The percentage of affordable across all five projects is 32.5% and so it actually exceeds the
inclusionary zoning requirement this project um I'm sorry and these five projects were all considered under the original inclusionary zoning law which gave the ability for some projects to have um
lower on-site affordable or even off-site affordable and so we were able to bring these five projects to you Um the next item is is just that these five projects will be able to um
bring in from a tax perspective uh $333,000 annually and that's compared to 39,700 today So it's about 10 times more um tax revenue that will come into the city Um in closing this project
specifically is regarding 1098 Broad Street Um the project will be 35 residential units 2,000 square ft of commercial space Um and also have ground floor parking of 17 spaces Um the
project will also have 16 twobedrooms and 19 onebedrooms Um so there will be a contribution of $64,500 into the trust fund There will also um be the seven um ICO units will
be placed on 69 Sherman And um in closing um again there will be a tax revenue for this project $81,000 in the future compared to 8,200 today So um with that I'm happy to
answer any questions and thank you for your consideration Councilman Silva I'd like to advance and adopt Second Second by uh Councilman Gonzalez All right Any question any questions no
Thank Thank you Uh thank you Council President Thank you Next item C is an ordinance amending traffic to delete Marian Place on the east side between West Kenny Street and Governor Street in the central ward I do I do want to say it I'm going to
joke real quick and say you know once council now congresswoman left all of a sudden all these central ward the projects are getting done all the stop signs etc I I love it I love it but it's much needed going to continue
D is an ordinance amending traffic to prohibit parking at all times on Marian Place solely on the east side between West Kenny Street and Governor Street in the central ward And E is an ordinance amending traffic again by designating 7th Avenue
West and North 6th Street as a multi-way stop sign intersection in the central ward Any questions no questions Next item F is an ordinance of the municipal council of the city of Newark providing for a cap ordinance to exceed the municipal
budget appropriation limits and to establish a cap bank There's a request to advance and adopt on first All right Uh any questions no Next item G is a bond ordinance providing for the local
units allocable share of capital improvement projects for the joint meeting of Essex in Union counties by appropriating 1,455,000 Any questions shouldn't Next item H is an ordinance authorizing the execution of a
lease agreement between the city of Newark and 169 Clinton Development Urban Renewal LLC to provide housing for a significant homeless population There's a request to advance and adopt this item on first and
the item will also be amended on the floor to reflect that the mayor and or his designate the business administrator are hereby authorized to enter into and execute any additional documents necessary to affectuate the terms of the
lease agreement Uh any questions on this item hearing none Public comment Councilman Gonzalez can we get who owns the building we can't hear you Say can we
get who owns the building they say who is behind uh the corporation that owns the building for 169 Clinton Council President council members uh Louisia director of office of homeless
services Uh yes we we can absolutely ask the uh the owners of this uh building to to appear at the next I don't want them to appear I just want to know the names of the the people that own the building The individual names The individual
names I I wouldn't be able to give you that now Um I will have to send you that information Is there a corporation yes What's the corporate oh it's on here isn't it yes 169 Development Urban Devel Yeah
Is there any other questions regarding this i I would like to get let's say who the principles of the corporation are Sure I I don't know the I we we you provide you provided Yeah obviously we've worked with them but I don't know their their ownership structure and who you know it
it should be in the disclosure forms or something Yeah we so so before the meeting tomorrow we can get that Absolutely I'll get that to you today Okay Yeah Thank you Anything else from the council no that's it Thank you
We are now Go ahead I'm sorry We are now in the 30 minute public comment portion of this meeting where each speaker will have three minutes to speak Please state your name for the record Is there anyone wishing to address the council Uh good morning Alif Muhammad Good
morning I didn't want to come empty-handed Mr President so I bought something Anyway generally when I you know I don't come to pre meetings But I generally come I'm upset or angry about something But what happened was I ran into a council president at the
forum for uh education and we fought it out right there So I'm not angry anymore But this what I'm coming about is the way we are treated on this side and I had an incident the other with the uh Eric Penitent
and what happened was I went and sat down and then after I sat down he turned around and tried to address me and what I said to him is sir do not speak to me and then the president you said I said
the f-word I went and checked with the people I went back and listened to the video I didn't say the f- word I didn't say it right okay So you can apologize to me private I didn't say the f word You ain't got to do it publicly But my stance with Eric Penitent is that the
last it's a it's a quote in the Quran pastor and it says that when the angels come and got bad people and they was hollering we were oppressed And the angel said "Didn't Allah make the earth spacious for you
so what I do is I got issues with Mr Penitent So I kind of stay away from him because the last time he was up here remember he said that he was a little intimidated because I was from the streets and everything and that he was going to protect himself So I stay away from him So what happened i just said it don't talk So but when you address you
said Mr Muhammad and then when somebody else do something wrong you say everybody stop but us you say Deborah That's right Now I know it's hard on you to be the president You following Mildred May God reward her for her goods
You following Louie But L Monica became the ugly black woman She lost votes When when her congress seed over there in my house she got 80 votes She used to get 500 votes Society Hill she got 40 votes
They see you Don't think they see you Don't think So what I do is I stay away from Mr Penitent because he can't even get a budget together In the real world he would be fired In the real world he would be fired Now
Kenyatta who are you protecting when you stop the UC you protected Pat and you protected you You stopped Pat and you stopped Louise Nobody is more team Baraka in this It is these two You was
stopping them from asking questions about the UCC And let me say something to you When I say something everybody know I don't bluff When I say my friends I was talking about them When I say be careful because the feds talked to
me they mean they was at my office for two hours and they talked about that situation So I'm looking out for my friends Thank you for your comments and I'll see you later I got to go to work See you pastor Next speaker
Deborah Salter city of Newark warrior for the people I have a question So I'm looking at this temporary emergency appropriation for the uh Newark Street Team Academy Um and they
have a budget line item for $2 million for 105 students for the summer Now this says emergency and this is a summer program Now this 2 million for 105 students breaks down to about $19,047 per child Is this a line item in
the budget for this street team every year and where are the ratables for what has been accomplished uh with this with this money um also um it's been more tax abatement meetings canled than they've had Now there were
there were several developers that we were supposed to revisit like 440 Washington They were also supposed to have a tenant association meeting that got cancelled It has not been rescheduled with uh the council and and I'm hearing no information Even when the tax abatement meeting was canceled I
find out when I came come here no one's giving that information I want to know where we are with these developers whose tax abatements we were holding hostage until they made the necessary repairs What is going on and why have these meetings been cancelled back to back
because we need to have this information so we can move forward for the people Because see I see how you all are talking about the firehouses and um and even Franklin uh the police uh station on Franklin over here the elevators been down for months and nothing has been
done about it I've seen personally uh disabled people not be able to get to the fourth floor to do what they need to do And it's a back and forth Oh well this one's going to do it This one's going to do it When is it going to get done all the money's out here and people have to suffer because you all are bickering amongst each other and the
money is here to get the work done This is a people city Canana you said it today but I need to see some action You all are talking Gonzalez sat up here and told all the reasons why something shouldn't be done Are you going to turn around and vote yes
tomorrow you said 19 years the net's been here all of these things that you're talking about We sat here and watched this asbestos in this corner for years and it was repaired when you all put up Canana's portrait That's that's when you repaired it when y'all were
getting ready to put his portrait up after 39 years of service So in order for the people to get service it has to be something that's going to make you look good personally How does that benefit us it does not And I want everyone to pay attention to
this Silva loves his precious ironbound But sir the east ward is not just the Ironbound We have issues in the actual east ward If you all do not want the east w to be a part of it redistrict it back to the central
ward Thank you for your comments Next speaker Happy belated birthday first Thank you 65 feels good All right Uh Queen Motheraku Central Ward I am here because I want to put
something on the record And I first do want to say that there are a lot of really wonderful people who work here in city hall people in rent control are fabulous Um other departments I've dealt with just absolutely amazing But we do have a lot of problems in this city and
frankly I'm really tired and disappointed I'm angry I discovered that my landlord was overcharging me twice the amount of rent and uh so got a
lawyer It was rescended Okay So it was uh brought back to down to the rate of the last time that the building had been inspected and also the last time that the building had been registered which was 2015 Okay Code enforcement finds out Got
to take a look at this place All these violations They give amount of time amount of time for abatements Nothing I'm They know me so well here the security because I it's like I live here I'm always here and the
same issue Has has the building been registered yet no Yet still all these issues that affect my health falling brick dust Okay This the bricks weren't sealed when I moved in Also the new flooring that they
put in Lovely looking apartment I love the the stone fireplace and all of this But what good is it if your quality of health is being affected i should not be able to stick my hand into where the ceiling and the the the wall meet in several places and where dust comes down
as the second code enforcement said when he came out And there have been three visits so far since 2023 Each time more violations were found It's March 2025
My doctor said I need to move She said that in 2023 but when it looked like uh there were going to be abatements made okay I'll stick it out I have severe health problems right now I should not be expected to pay rent
either on a place where my landlords have no intention to put any more money into making the abatements as I was told to my face There's a problem with code enforcement but also a lot of the landlords in this
city know that they can get away with things I've sent pictures to you Councilwoman Roundtree to Councilman Kintana and to Council President Trump I've been waiting I'm still
waiting I need to be relocated Thank you for your comments Next speaker Manera el bummani good riddens misleaders that's running our
government like I'm going continue to say we are in a state of emergency Y and I want to ask the question and hopefully we can get some answers Where is the New York Federal
Police Monitor is he still on salary because the tragic incident that we had in our city is this a tragic situation on both sides
The police are out of control You politricsters are out of control The school superintendent board members are out of control The parents are out of
control and the police are out of control Running rampant in our community And I'm watching you jumping out of these unmarked cars terrorizing people in the community So I asked the
question are we still under a descent decree and if we are where is Peter Harvey because the crisis that we just had on our hand both sides should be suing you
Both sides should be suing you And then we keep talking about the rec centers Now we had gang and drug traffickers gun traffickers running our rec centers and and to to this day I I
hear they still running And then you wonder why our children are running a monk in this city Poverty is the worst form of violence and until you address the root
causes to poverty like the jobs Tilman keep talking about and myself and others the tangible resources the McKenna Vento where's the money where's the breakdown of the money I told the
board 1,200 plus new public school students are homeless we have eviction tsunami New York families and children are facing the highest eviction rates in the county of Essex and in the state of New
Jersey What are you doing about it but you're sitting here you know trying to act like you're doing so much and then you wonder why this this city is being driven into the ground Failed leadership No other
way to describe it Next speaker Good morning George Tilman Jr What you're receiving right now is uh an ordinance 6S and FD04051995 Um Deputy Mayor Rakman Muhammed came up
here last time and spoke about me not coming up here and giving facts Well I don't give facts I give the law And I'm going to give the law again Under this law right here it was the amendment to the set aside program
in 1995 And in 1995 also was established was the Affirmative Action Review Council As you go through this ordinance and I'm going to explain it to you a little bit more tomorrow when I have more time If you turn to page two you'll see the dynamics of of this review
council where the members that's supposed to be there at the meetings their duties and what they supposed to do It goes on to um the next page where it talks about um 2.2 2 col 4.3 where he
talks about all construction contracts awarded by the city of Newark and all agreements is connecting with tax abatements funding grants loans leasing of other specific consideration entered into by the city of Newark So anytime
the deputy mayor come up here and say that these I'm talking about just city contracts this ordinances tell you that it's not just talking about city contracts We're talking about tax abatements and everything else That set aside program that was here before it
was done away with by this administration and in in 2015 they came and amended it with the New York resident employment policy that included this affirmative action review council And again I'm asking that um we come and
receive a uh a report from the deputy mayor from workforce development the affirmative action review council because you also you're going here into the last page the fourth page It also says those quarterly
reports that I requested for the last 10 years those quarterly reports If you look under B it says the affirmative action officer shall submit quarterly reports of all implementations and monitoring activities to the affirmative action review council Comp copies of
such reports shall be forwarded to the mayor and the municipal council So not only was I not able to get those reports for the last 10 years I'm asking you did you receive those reports for the last 10 years so I'm going to leave it at that I'm going to see you tomorrow night and I thank you very much Thank you for
your comments Next speaker Seeing none public speaking is closed We got a motion for uh executive session I'm sorry Before we do that uh anything from the council Uh I want to say two things I
think really just two Uh number one we are in the process of scheduling a meeting for 440 Washington Street We know the meeting got cancelled but I just was speaking to uh folks yesterday So that meeting will be rescheduled It's important that we go out there I know several of us have been to the building
and have seen a lot of them uh making repairs Uh they are doing uh some work on that building definitely Uh but we are going to have that follow-up meeting very shortly Uh the second thing I just want to say is you know I think it's
important that if if let's just let's plain and simple If you see illegal activity or know of illegal activity tell the police Tell the police so that they can address it Plain and simple If there really is
truly some illegal activity going on tell the police With that being said I finish with my comments Is there anything from the administration no Uh uh Are you sure cuz we have executive session I like your
suit It looks similar to mine too by the way Kareem director Department of Water Utility Council President council members this was just want to clear something up um regarding the city's capital improvement program and the assessments Okay This administration came in in 2014 Not only most of the
buildings in the city city did buy back some of those buildings for the county county at that time The city is in progress of of doing a robust capital improvement program Assessments have been going on and we did act on stuff Now we're we're bringing that stuff together to see what's still needed The
city has also you guys have been a part of it about five or six new buildings that's opened up around the city that you would have had ribbon cutings the police property room the police evidence room uh and many other different things that we're doing So I don't want us to get totally lost and that it's taking a long time and we we do hear your
concerns but we are addressing it on a robust uh plan to move forward with capital improvement programs You guys have voted on professional engineering firms that's looking at some of these buildings to make sure is it worth fixing these buildings or is it worth tearing them down and building a new one
Project Phoenix is not the only project that's going on in the city That's some of the immediate repairs that we need to do But the city is continuing to look at all the buildings You voted on numerous engineering firms to do assessments on these buildings to see if they worth pumping more dials into or fixing them
up And historical buildings we all know it takes a little more time getting historic approvals All right Thank you Thank you for your comments Uh with that being said uh roll call for executive session
Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes