e e e e e e e e e e 1125 please stand for the Pledge of
Allegiance and remain standing for a moment of silence IED Al to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liy and justice for all as it's customary in
these Chambers we stand for a moment of silence for those defending our freedoms at home and abroad and for our First Responders our prayer Mr bisti dear Lord bless thy servants in the ministry of public affairs who serve you in this chamber give us quiet minds
and hearts that we may hear your voice help us to know when to speak when to be silent give us strength to oppose the wrong and uphold the right grant that we have good conscience and Soul at peace with thee and with one another amen thank
you roll call councilman auli present councilwoman dearo here councilman dama here councilman Desai councilman Garcia here councilman Murphy here councilman Pas gidy here Council vice president Dr
Greenberg B here let the record reflect that council president soar will be absent for tonight's meeting our first um business is a proclamation um for the day of Hope Proclamation Anna thank you welcome everyone thank
you for braving uh the snowstorm that's coming our way we're going to make this very quick uh a few weeks ago the mayor's office received a letter from a student from Mo High School uh Brady o and he had reached out to Mayor Walker regarding a special day that the high
school hosts um on February 13th called a day of hope it's a national day of action designed by hope Squad to raise awareness of mental issues share the hope and save lives the local organization at the high school recognizes this day by hosting a variety
of activities throughout the week from what I understand some of the activi activities that they have is announcements different um a pin pin on it cloth clothing pin activity which I thought was neat uh different morning announcements a hope wall near the
cafeteria uh Wear Yellow um to school and a um different other special announcements as well um mayor Walker was very sad to miss today's meeting uh and asked me to read this Proclamation on their behalf and we're excited to
have their teacher adviser here with us today as well so I would like for you all to come up [Applause] please whereas hope Squad is a peer-to-peer suicide prevention program with a purpose of fostering human
connection community and hope and whereas orridge High School is celebrating a day of Hope which is a national day of action designed by hope Squad to raise awareness Ness of mental issues Shar The Hope and save lives and whereas thousands of schools across the
US and Canada benefit from Hope squads with more than 1.25 million students positively impacted annually and whereas Suicide Prevention and mental health have already been in the National Spotlight with suicide being the second leading cause of death among American
Youth ages 10 to 17 according to the CDC and whereas one way to combat these alarming statistics is by harnessing the positive power of peer-to-peer connection and whereas hope Squad believes in equipping uh equipping our young people with the tools and
resources to combat mental health challenges among their peers and we want to share this hope with our communities and whereas now therefore Elanor Walker mayor of the township of Oldbridge to Township of Oldbridge County of middlex state of New Jersey do hereby declare
Proclaim February 13 2025 as a day of Hope and encourage all Resident residents to join us in increasing our knowledge raising awareness and providing to support to those in need congratulations now I would ask uh either Brady or his Pier or the teacher
to please say a little bit more elaborate a little bit more on the program for us hi my name is Dominic I'm a part of pier and the Hope Squad and I'm a senior at o High School and our goal is to be a familiar face and and the stigmatism for
suicide and to just be there when someone needs someone to talk to and to help guide people towards a leader such as like a teacher an adviser or someone like a guidance counselor um that's pretty much
it I'm Brady um I'm a junior at over high school and I'm really proud to be part of this program because it's a uh a program where we can help students students create a a safe environment to share whatever they're dealing with and
struggling with So yeah thank you thank you next will be appointments reappoint ing the municipal clerk Katherine Hutchinson I please have a motion and a second motion move it second
whatever ioun second byoun Murphy roll call Council yes councilwoman de yes Council dep yes councilman yes councilman Garcia yes
councilman Murphy yes councilman Pas yes Council VI Dr greenber yes absolutely congratulations congratulations thank you thank you okay next is public
hearing H1 performance guarantee release Wood Haven section two phase two blocks 220000 and 22001 lots
37.1 N2 4 4.11 31 32 35 and 37 to 45 application 14 to 13p and our Township engineer and the applicant please come to the front table
thank you good evening hi good evening everybody Brian plocker from The Firm of Hutch mants and plocker here on behalf of the applicant barklay Brook Village LLC thank you Council we're here tonight because uh the applicant Atlantic reality um under an application called
Wood Haven Village section 2 phas commonly known as Barkley BR is asking for a release of their performance guarantee I think everybody on is familiar with um the Wood Haven um development um Wood Haven Village
consists of several residential developments um consisting of single family lots town homes condominiums um we're here tonight for a uh 90 I'm sorry we're here for a 94 unit town home
Community along McCormick Avenue North and South horin Court and Gonzalez Drive um our inspectors a limo group um went out and did inspect the site everything has been built in accordance with the approved plans UMO group that they
didn't have to be present tonight as they have reported back to me um that everything was um in good order and just a save on the escrow billing for our applicant there was a performance guarantee an original that was posted um
for the application in the amount of 1,172 42132 there was a previous reduction by resolution number 2016 so the reduced performance guarantee for the project is in the
amount of $683,000 15,385 46 10% cash portion in the amount of 68,276 2016 um and in accordance with the ml we are asking for 15% of the original
performance guarantee for a maintenance bond in the amount of $190,400 55 um it should be noted to council that McCormack Avenue North and South horen Court and Gonzalez Drive are to be
dedicated to the township after a 2-year maintenance period has elapsed after a final inspection by the engineering department and after the applicant petitions to the council um for us to accept the roadways by way of ordinance um then they become
ours and that's acceptable to the applicant um I also want to make note that um should the council look favorable we ask that the applicant pay any outstanding escrow fees of course the posting of the maintenance uh Bonds in the amount as indicated prior and
then posting of escro fee in the amount of 97708 cents which represents 5% of the maintenance Bond and that just gives a limo group or a consultant an opportunity to then build and go out there and make sure that um everything is still in good
order I'd like to open up to the public if anyone has any questions from the public please come forward seeing no one coming forward I'll close the public portion Madam vice president before um continue that second that second component acceptable to the
act as well yes it is thank you thank you thank you okay anyone on my left have any questions anyone on the right need can I have a motion to approve the performance release second a motion by
councilman Murphy second by councilman pasky roll call councilman auli yes councilwoman dearo yes councilman depa yes councilman Desai councilman Garcia yes councilman Murphy yes councilman Pas gidy yes Council vice president Dr
Greenberg Bell yes eight yeses thank you you so much for coming appreciate it and the explanations when they're all done yeah now we'll have the bill list uh yes thank you uh Bill list as
of as of February 11 2025 accounts payable February 11 2025 till to $495,500 44 payroll overtime January 31st 2025
57,6 6373 and that completes my report thank you i' like to ask our business administrator administrator Anna Fels if she could give us a breakdown of the overtime sure thank you our overtime uptake was mostly due to the snow
removal that we had during that pay period uh the Swarm police overtime for that pay period was $1 17,488 27 the duck grants $ 56537 for a total of
$1,831 57 which was 2312 hours men and men and women hours we have three officers on light duty and one and and to two on injured on duty currently sorry about that thank you have a motion in a second
move it roll call councilman ASI yes councilwoman dearo yes councilman dama yes councilman Desai councilman Garcia yes councilman Murphy yes councilman pasky yes Council vice president Dr
Greenberg Bell yes eight yeses okay now move on to public heing H1 ordinance thank you we'll go on to public hearing H1 ordinance amending
chapter 5 Article 13 of the code of the township of Albridge entitled Department of police amending 5- 97 testing procedures for entry level excuse me offic officers applications and
qualifications okay anyone to our left they have a question anyone to the right have a question open to the public for this matter only like to be heard close the public portion seeing no hands
I would like to have a motion in a second for the adoption of this ordinance Mo moved by councilman dama second by councilman auli roll call councilman auli yes councilwoman dearo councilman
dep yes councilman Desai yes councilman Garcia yes councilman Murphy yes councilman Pas gidy yes Council vice president Dr Greenberg Bell yes eight yeses motion carries H2 ordinance of the township of Albridge
County of middlex state of New Jersey amending chapter 5 article three of the code of the township of Albridge entitled Council by amending 5-25 ordinances and resolutions is if anyone to the left
have a question yes okay um I would like to know um um okay so so this has to do with amending the how Council introduces ordinances or um
Mr relli if you can help me out especially with um section two um C okay um how how is this um how does a council person introduced ordinances is this
talk does this talk about this yes okay can you explain expl to me because I'm I'm missing it sure so the uh if you go to B um the ordinances um if it's by Council would require a council member
approved by the majority of council pres let's say and because there's nine of you it's a little more difficult if you know if you simply say a council wants an ordinance drafted and then because he could potentially have nine ordinances at the same time so to try to control
that process uh I thought it' be you know the process would be is a council member um um has an idea and says you know we need an ordinance U regulating the number of cats in town and so then that council member at that meeting
would ask for motion uh to have that U that ordinance drafted so then there' be a vote by Council and then once that's adopted we you can proceed so so it would get drafted and then the next meeting would be in for introduction and then adoption what has to happen now is is the fact
that let's say um a council member wants to have um something uh adopted um what what it would then do is require uh the initial discussion uh before it it there have to be a discussion first right uh
uh discussion item uh listed and then there would necessarily have to be I think the way it was done that um see um should I just notied by heart yeah [Laughter]
right right so so so it could be it's immediately for first reading uh the the way it's on now previously you can have a discussion and then you would have to come and then draft it and then you would have to have a vote to move it for introduction so that's a two-step
process the way it is now once it's approved by Council to be drafted it's immediately going to be in moved for introduction rather than draft it then list it for discussion and then move it for introduction right so we're eliminating that that second step right so the way so what would happen now is
again topic whatever it is we need an ordinance amending it Council approves of it the next meeting it's on the agenda for introduction right so it it it sort of just uh eliminates the discussion right exactly discussion
part right because before as um that the council president soar indicated there was four meetings a month so it was almost allow them more time if they had if there's a discussion the next meeting they could they can have it and then move it but now with two meetings a
month so whenever it's brought up at the next meeting it'll be immediately introduced so you're you're you're missing that intermediate step so it quickens the process that way okay because I just I guess I'm just confused because I remember last year I wanted to um I wanted to introduce an ordinance um
regarding pride month and I couldn't seem to get that even for discussion and I remember emailing you uh what you know like a whole Proclamation thing and I never got any response so I'm trying to figure out you know if something else
comes up again that I want to introduce how do I go about doing it actually I did respond to that email if you go back and check so again the process then would be is you a council member before could bring it up for discussion uh and then there has to be a vote to to uh
authorize the legal department uh to draft it that vote never occurred right because why because no one brought the motion up for the vote cuz I did and I was told that that was not the right procedure no that is no that's not I didn't say that
because that is a procedure and then and then once it's drafted even if they if Council agrees to draft it then there's a second vote that authorized introduction okay so that that process that second process is eliminated by this ordinance so to the extent that someone has once in one of the council
members once an ordinance drafted the motion is taken and then at the next meeting it's immediately listed for introduction once there's a majority of members present who vote Yes okay thank you any other questions in the uh the wording um that
was changed um I might be mistaken but it it seemed to me that you were changing from a council member sponsoring uh an ordinance to the mayor no so this is it got a little cumbersome and I don't know where that language
came from right um the request for the ordinance can come from the mayor but by definition it gets listed right for a council meeting so it's Council who ultimately approves it the language about sponsorship it became complicated for
the clerk the way that the the the the system works with relative to doing the agenda um inherently to the extent that an ordinance is on the agenda it's because it came about and it's on council's agenda Council council's role
in that instance is they move it and they introduce it right so it's a matter of when you look at that language naturally it has to be if it's being listed by Council uh or listed on the agenda it's council's ordinance and Council adopts it uh it's to help to
clarify the confusion for the clerk's office relative to you know quotequote who sponsors it well ultimately the or an ordinance that's listed for introduction is being listed for council's consideration not not it's not the mayor um and it's a matter of it
does say that it had right it says By Request of the mayor which was before it was at the request of the mayor that that that that Lang that didn't change it's just the language talking about you know once it's requested by the mayor it's through the council president if it's requested by the mayor it's going
to be through councel because it's going to be on council's agenda it's not like the mayor mayor can sign you know draft and sign an ordinance herself I think it it's a matter of because there was there always been confusion in dealing with uh with you know talking to Kate and listing it on their their Peak system as
to who the the quote unquote sponsor is and dealing with council president they just made it simpler uh and took that confusion out recognizing that a an an ordinance uh in order for it to be adopted uh it is Council is the one to adopt it not it's not the mayor yeah you
know reading that ordinance the way it is now it it seems to me that you took out uh a council sponsoring and and you left the mayor in no so what I'm afraid of is in the future interpreting that um
someone could interpret that as meaning that only a mayor can bring forth an ordinance no it's well except the provided by law all ordinances and resolution shall be drao Department law either upon motion of the uh majority the council president or at the request
of the mayor that that language at the request of the mayor was there before yeah there's another right then words that you struck right where it says it's understood that the ordinance requested by the mayor shall be through the council president as all ordinances must
be sponsored by a council person the reason why that's out is because um it only gets on the it gets on the agenda Council has to adopt the ordinance right so inherent it's inherent that is being placed on the agenda
through the council president because the council president is the one who sets the agenda that's council president not the majority of the governing body right that that's never been the situation what the agenda and Kate will tell you when she sits with Administration with the council
president sometimes a vice president they set the agenda so the council president at that time's part of that process and those matters that are listed are necessarily with the council president and the council president controls with on the agenda so it's only the drafting part hasn't isn't changed
and the language but that next sentence was actually confusing because it's inherent that if it's listed on the agenda it's through the council and the council president all right I just wanted again it was it got cumbersome for for the clerk's office to because if
you look at when you look at on on the agenda well who the sponsor is well for ordinances she has you know next to it say clerk but again the agenda is set the ordinance is introduced but necessarily it's a council president who controls
the agenda and what's set so by by that affirmation it's being sponsored by the council president and then Council votes on it okay thank you that that's why I always say when Council comes to me with with something for the agenda I always say it has to go through council
president because that's who I take direction from the for the Vice President in the council president's abs so if you want an ordinance on I'm going to tell you speak to the council president and then she'll direct me whether or not the ordinance goes on
understood thank you I'll move it open to the public anyone have any comments on this seeing no hands I'll close the public I think motion by councilman auli
second by councilman pas roll call councilman ASI yes councilwoman dearo yes councilman dep yes councilman Desai councilman Garcia yes councilman Murphy yes councilman pasti yes Council
vice president Dr Greenberg Bell yes eight yeses motion carries me ordinance amending chapter 10 vehicles and traffic section 10-14 and 10- 16 of Township code regarding stop and yield
inspections I would like any questions to the left any questions to the right i' just like to make a comment um this is for the intersection of marbor Road and and Southwood been working on this for about
six years and uh it's finally come to pass um really appreciate the engineering department their help with the uh the county and the state thank you thank you open it to the public anyone have
any comments on this seeing no hands I'll close the public portion and make motion first and second second motion by uh councilman auli second by councilman Pas gidy roll call councilman aoui yes councilwoman dearo
yes councilman D yes councilman Desai yes Council Garcia yes councilman Murphy yes councilman Pas gidy yes Council vice president Dr Greenberg Bell yes 8 yeses motion carries okay age four ordinance amending
the code of the township of Oldbridge specifically article 8 daycare program section 16-31 fees for full day summer camp any questions on the left any questions on the left any questions on
the right like seeing no one no comments I'd like to open it up to the Public Public have any comments please come forward seeing No Hands I'd like to close the public portion and ask for a motion in a second
move it motion by councilman Pas gidy second by councilman auli roll call councilman asset yes councilwoman dearo yes councilman dep yes councilman Bai yes councilman Garcia yes councilman
Murphy yes councilman pasky yes Council vice president Dr Greenberg belli yes eight yeses motion carries okay and now we will move to ordinance um hbot excuse me H5 ordinance
establishing the flag display policy for the township of Oldbridge County of middlex state of New Jersey anyone on my left have a question yes okay Carol so it's in all right so it's in
the ordinance whereas uh relative to uh where flags are displayed by the township of Oldbridge uh whether it's obvious the the most notably out here in front of the municipal building I'm not sure if there's other locations but typically there's three flag Poes and
it's following uh state and federal guidelines which states that there's three there's three flags of primary flags being the United States flag the secondary flag being the state flag the third flag being the P Mia flag state flag being the highest state and I mean
Federal United States flag being primary and highest state flag and then the Pod Mia flag so we're we're what we're doing is implementing that policy the question became relative to using the flag poles for other other reasons uh and um I know
the mayor had pushed and asked that this proceed relative for that policy um and so that's what we're formalizing that policy Cara yes so um so this is simply pertaining to what goes on the flag poll
correct it's not it it's not other flags that are not specifically on those three specific flag polls correct it has to do with the uh where the township has flag monuments or I'll call them flag pole monuments right right I'm not I I I'm familiar with this one I don't know if
there's a at the any of the U Municipal comp Sports complexes if they have if they have if they exist so would apply to th those as well okay because I I'm I'm assuming and I don't know but I'm assuming that this came to came to be because of
um last year I brought up the whole you know flag raising for the pride month and things like that um and it says okay the flag polls are not intended to serve as a forum for free expression and and I understand that those are specific for um what they're for they're for the
American flag you know the United States flag the state flag and the p uh P um I'm sorry the Mia P flag um now my question is so what if say someone wants to have a smaller flag and I know um
councilman with uh Indian his Indian uh Heritage um they had been doing flag raising last year they did a they used a smaller flag pole um are those smaller flag Poes that
are separate from the main flag poles will they does this have anything to do with that no again it relates to the Township municipal flag polls that's what that's what those are just what I was checking okay thank you
what is the reason just to restrict any other Sovereign country's flag because last 30 plus year oh sorry last 30 plus year South Asian Indian Community has
celebrated India's independence day Saturday after August 15th year after year people shows up and celebrate their Joy of independence of
India all of sudden this year I had personally applied with the mayor's office as well as with the recreation department because after the celebration we have a
light refreshment so we needed place and that place we use the Civic Center everything was approved and then before few weeks left I got the
call from mayor's office that they will be not allowed to raise the flag India's flag so we were talking I was talking to council president miss soar and I and mayor back and
and finally they said both agreed that you can buy a temporary pole and you can raise your flag there I still cannot understand we were still able to raise the flag at the township
property very next to the three standing pole so why we are just prohibiting sovereign country there is no political agenda here this is simply a
celebration of sereine country and India being largest democracy on the face of the earth when you are denying 20 plus th000 people who lives in Middle County from India descent and
in our town I don't have the exact number but it's close to 10,000 so I think this is dis service I believe this should add the one exception that any sovereign
country I'm not talking only India any sovereign country should be allowed to raise the flag and people of that country should be able to celebrate their culture and
diversity so this is my request to all my Parow colleagues sitting on the Das please let and I'm introducing and I think Council can tell me can I do
that addition in this particular ordinance or do I have to wait for future so all right so so that's that's the whole reason is that governmental entities cannot act arbitrary right right so to the extent
that um the township decided well we're going to you know number one what's a Sovereign Nation what's what what's not a Sovereign Nation then they start flying flags for Sovereign Nation then then we get in then the township gets in the whole issue of well if you're going to fly with a Sovereign Nation why not a non-sovereign nation and why not this
group that's the whole issue that's a definition of arbitrariness and and again we had discussed that it the purpose is to avoid that arbitrariness to utilize the flag post for the purpose the reason why again public property people have the ability to utilize Free
Speech right within obviously you know their safeguards but if it's public property and someone wants to bring on their nation's flag on on on on that they're permitted right under First Amendment there's some limitations but that's why you can do it but for the utilization of governmental property in
this instance orridge property it's important to be consistent so the the again the goal and intent of this ordinance is for that consistency so that no other groups can come back and say well you're treating this this group differently than me so therefore I'm being discriminated against and then the
township get Su so that's to avoid all that I personally still think that what happened last year is really bad because we already announce to our
community and it is a fixed date and you cancel at the last minute I think that was disgrace but again if majority do not like to respect
sovereign country I think that's up to them the people should know that majority of Oldbridge council is not ready to respect at least Sovereign County just to raise their flag one day I'm not talking a
week we generally celebrate Saturday so Friday night due to the preparation in the morning we put the flag on and with the help of recreation department and next day in the evening
Recreation departments take it off and keep it with them that flag for our next year celebration so I'm still my humble request to council please consider at least for
exception and again my Council would be in response to that is that legally you can't do that I would have to say I would like to speak that there's no disrespect to you Mr Desai or to anyone you have you you know I've come to many Indian festivals
over the years and been to many of those um flag raisings times have changed and here's how the times change and I'm just and I the mayor couldn't be here tonight um but you know she has mentioned it to me that she is
inundated with calls from many many different people to raise a flag not just from India from everybody so if you could imagine every week or every day and someone else is coming forward I want my flag raised we're not saying you
can't have your ceremonies you can't raise your flag but it just can't be on public property anymore cuz she's inundated with it and some you wouldn't want to have the flag up there because you know and so some she can't say yes she can't say no so this is just to keep
everything copesthetic and peaceful and that's why this ordinance is being you know being considered can can I just I'm sorry can I just clarify just something that you said councilwoman um just because and that because that's why I was asking the
question um and according to what Mr relli said it's simply the flag polls that is that are involved not a general public property scope or maybe I mean that's what I'm reading so
again it's the three flag polls but not public property in general right I mean again there's other laws that deal with those and the free you know free expression and First Amendment uh so you know to the extent we've had people on public property before they came out whe
where if they want to hold their flag whatever Nation they can hold their flag right you can't desecrate any public property you can't mess it up while you're doing it because you know there's other concerns but you know a flag's a a sign it's an expression uh so some of th those rights are guaranteed including on
public property again in generally but you obviously there's sometimes restrictions have to be placed so that people don't go out of control and they don't damage public property just want to say the last word it is a tradition not only in
Oldbridge or state of New Jersey but all over the USA hundreds of places town and even at the state level and county level India's independent
day flag raising ceremony is being celebrated we will be the first town to say no now you said any poll Municipal property we cannot do it so
basically we may have to go to other town to raise flag and citizen of Oldbridge of Indian descent has to travel those
places for the celebration of their mother country I think that's a disgrace and I'm sure I'm going to vote no on this particular ordinance just for the council's um
information sville has a similar ordinance that they adopted I think last year any questions on the right any questions on the right no I'd like to open up to the public if anyone has anything to say please come
forward you can you can speak now this is three minutes just on this ordinance yes we don't we actually and then during public comment you'll get you can have another to speak okay so um I came tonight because I wanted to support having a flag raising for the pride flag for
pride month and um I think that it's really important to show our residents that we support our pride and our gay people so I um wanted to tell you guys a story it's not long about why I think
it's so important so uh about three years ago I went out with my girlfriends we went to um a restaurant and there was a band there and it was two women and I you know I was It was kind of unusual to see two women in a band and then one of my friends told me that they were
actually married they're actually a regional band they travel all around to different um places but they're married and they have a family and I thought oh that's nice you know and they were really good and we danced and we had a really good time and then about two years later you know I didn't think much of it about two years later we were at a
different place I think Jack on the tracks down in Belmore and this same band was was there but when I looked at them they looked different and I noticed that the one of the band members was a male so I said to one of my friends is this the same band did they get a new person or and she said no actually one
of the band members transitioned from a woman to a man and she and she also shared that Journey on Instagram and this friend of mine said she actually you know went and looked at the looked at it and it was very interesting the what how she made her decisions and how
it she all came about so they were playing and they were very very happy and joyful they smiled at each other and they were just spreading Joy there was so many people there everybody was dancing it was such a great night and I was just I just got so happy and I was like why am I so happy I mean I'm not
gay I'm not trans I don't have kids that are I don't have and then it hit me it's because that was Freedom they represented Freedom this person was able to be their authentic self they were able to show the world how they feel inside they were able to show that outside they were also able to marry the
person they loved they were able to raise a family and they were able to make a living doing what they loved and I thought that is freedom so I thought I was just thinking if we raised the pride flag we would show people that Oldbridge
belev in Freedom because if you don't have freedom to be yourself you don't have freedom and that that's all I want to say thank you thank you anyone else just state your name I don't State my name just state your name oh Nina
Kate by the way congratulations in your reappointment um by the way um are you going to prosecute the person who destroyed my public property when we had our Pride Celebration the flags are you interested in doing that sir oh well I know but you you okay okay Council um as
you know I've been avoiding meetings because I don't really feel the council really gives a crap about what the community cares about but I came here today because you're trying to limit Flags flags are positive symbols of love community and diversity yes some Flags negative Flags exist but I'm talking
about Flags like the Irish Italian Puerto Rican Israeli Indian Polish breast cancer awareness and of course the lgbtq flags so many of them that I'm not even listenting tonight these are these each represent our identities our commitments to diversity right here in
our town and all are positive and should be celebrated last week the president removed from federal holidays holidays which in months of that embrac diversity celebrate greatness in the leaders in our country communities which made our our country great and even one that
recognize the success against the pure evil of Hitler he removed that one can you imagine he removed that today it's our it's Flags Tom tomorrow it could be Hanukkah candles and Christmas lights or Santa on the fire trck who in this town doesn't like that tradition the council
is lo is at risk of losing traditions and celebrations that bring us together including what Kieran desde just spoke about 30 years of flag raising in this town limiting Flags undermines American values life liberty and happiness do you really want to vote against these principles Happy Valentine's Day and
remember that any decision that restricts symbols important to one group May later Fe face legal challenges on another one are you going to um enjoy having a challenge against a Christmas tree or Santa on the fir truck or just some Manoa lighting all of these then
can be challenged they're on our public property so why don't we celebrate diversity instead of restricting it happy President's Day happy holiday H Happy Valentine's day happy day of Hope on the 13th and again Katherine
congratulations thank you anyone else from the public just state your name good evening my name is Katherine and I am a lifelong resident of Oldbridge my grandparents parents settled here after World War II
in lawence Harbor my mother was raised here I was raised here I grew up in Madison Park I remember distinctly when the first Indian family moved in to a very white area and how crazy it was
what an idea how could they be invading Our Town we're a white town I see tonight with all of you that you do not represent the people of Oldbridge if you think you do then I'll make it my mission to make
sure that there is a diverse an included group that run against you this year because I alls I see is white faces and probably you know we just want our stuff that's it we don't want to
include the Indian population the Asian population the gay population who are you who are you representing and do you care do you care about the town I haven't heard one of you say anything about caring about
what's happening in this town we are not what we used to be I don't know if you're trying to make it that way by whitewashing it but I don't agree with this I think it's a beautiful thing that we're diverse it's a beautiful thing that we
have celebrate cultures don't [Music] you okay okay like have motion I actually close the public please
actually I would like to say something after my council members said something I think it is totally outrageous when people make assumptions and accusations when you don't know any of us personally you don't know our families you don't know what we do in
our daily lives and works our workplaces and to say some of the things I would never say those things I accept everybody my family is very diverse in many different ways than you could ever imagine and to say that because we're
White that's just ridiculous and I never looked at as anything for whitewashing because I look at the American flag and you know what that does that Embraces us all it doesn't matter what color you are
what religion what nationality what your sexual preference is which in particularly I really don't care you know how I look at a person from your heart and your kindness and that's what I prefer to look at someone
for and not what I heard when people are saying mean things that are not true that is unacceptable this is done for a reason and the reason is and you go other places and as I said we are very
accepting I go to different events all the time and embrace everybody there is a reasoning for this and I think the American flag says it all it Embraces us all and it's a beautiful flag that we can stand by through
365 days a year every year every year after every year and that was I choose to do I make a comment like to make a I'd like to make a comment as well just for the record I
am white and I am Puerto Rican so don't judge me on my race I am Puerto Rican same on you I please have a motion in a second motion by councilman as second by councilman
pasy roll call councilman asul yes councilwoman dearo no councilman dep as it pertains to the three flag polls yes Council Desai no I'm I promise this
Council that this year in 2025 we have a larger celebration of India's independence day maybe not not on Township property which is not Township property it's a public property
maintained by our own tax dollar is it Asian or Caucasian but it is public property so I assure you we'll have a big celebration in this town that people will remember what
community can do if they get together thank you I woulde no on this councilman Garcia yes councilman Murphy I agree with the three flag poll councilman Pas gidy yes Council
vice president Dr Greenberg Bell yes councilman Murphy you you did yes correct just for the record so it's clear yeses two NOS okay moving on ordinance for first reading ordinance adopting the
crossroads Redevelopment plan Amendment dated February 10th 2025 spe specifically block 21210 lots 6.11 6.12 and
13.12 I need a motion a second second moved by councilman dep second by councilman auli roll call councilman auli yes councilwoman dearo yes councilman dep yes councilman Desai
abstain abstained councilman Garcia yes councilman Murphy yes councilman Pas giddy yes Council vice president Dr Greenberg belli yes eight yeses public hearing set for March 11th 2025 now we'll go to the consent agenda
I ask for a motion in a second then we'll bring it back for items of Separation move it moved by councilman pasky second by councilman auli uh councilman auli any items removed for separation yes C8 C8
councilwoman Deo any items for separation C6 C6 councilman deama C5 C5 councilman Desai no counc Garcia I have none thank you councilman Murphy I don't
have any objections I just want to make a comment on C8 I think that's great I think a $750,000 grant that's it so no no separation correct councilman Pas gidy no separations thank you Council vice president Dr Greenberg Bell I was going
to separate 65 but Mr D already did so I'll comment on later so we need a um a vote on the balance of the the consent agenda with the removal of C5 C6 and
C8 roll call councilman Assi yes councilwoman dearo yes councilman D yes councilman Desai yes councilman Garcia yes councilman Murphy yes councilman Pas gidy yes Council vice president Dr
Greenberg Bell yes eight yeses okay C5 Mr dama and then I'll add in please lady ladies first please that's okay now first of all I'm just asking if you have it in your heart please visit our shelter and adopt a pet there are so
many loving animals that really deserve a loving home and so what we're trying to do is clear the shelter and for those who are not aware there are special days throughout the year where pet adoption fees um are wave for the one- day period
and those are Oldbridge Day holiday adoption day it's usually between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day and this heart have a heart um campaign is from February to March and then we have summer adoption between May and September where the reduced adoptions
fees for the month then um February 14th through March 15th um pet adoption fees will be wav for cats and uh the reduced fee for $25 uh for dogs so please visit and I know if you do visit and see see those
loving animals you will surely take one home thank you I just wanted to separated to make sure that we um that we highlighted that what we were doing here and to thank the Alber Police Department the animal shelter and the administration for
putting this together thank you Mr D can we have a motion move it second moved by uh councilman dama second by Council vice president Dr Greenberg bell roll call councilman ASI yes
councilwoman dearo absolutely yes councilman dama yes councilman deide yes councilman Garcia yes councilman Murphy yes councilman Pas gidy yes Council vice president Dr Greenberg B yes eight
yeses then we had C C6 C6 please so I was just wondering if um Mr relli can just explain to the public what um what's going on here Venus want
to come up I'm sorry Venus SW perfect thank you for the public renal planner Venus one yes um these are two Parcels um that have Frontage on of County Road 516 and J Brown Road they have remained wakened
for a significant amount of time um there have been various uh proposals in the past but uh never have come to frion so I think it's um the right time to evaluate it we H when we did the segme
project the redeveloper had committed to uh constructing Jake Brown Road and connecting it to White Oak Lane one of I think with the area investigation and the designation it will help us build that road we connection as
well is this is this property um opposite where the Y is is that on that side um no it's to the I'm trying to orient myself west of the Y
okay okay gotcha all right thank you I have a motion to second please I'll move it second second motion by councilwoman dearo second by councilman dama roll call councilman
asul yes councilwoman de Caro yes councilman dep yes councilman Desai yes councilman Garcia yes councilman Murphy yes councilman Pas gidy yes Council vice president Dr Greenberg Bell yes eight
yeses and now C8 Okay so have a quick question this this this um Grant um is that for the special needs Park G yes it's for the inclusive playground that is so cool so it's going to move forward is that what we're saying that's really exciting
correct our Parks and Rec director Matt Mercurio will actually be meeting in the coming weeks with SEPTA to get some of their feedback as well because we want to make sure that the playground is is inclusive in every way as much as it can be so we're going to get their feedback as well so it it really will be a
community effort that is so exciting I know that we have if I'm not mistaken probably 20% special needs here in Oldbridge right and this is this is just I'm just excited to see it come to F this this is fantastic so thanks for clarifying no problem yeah like Motion in a
sec second motion by councilman auli second by councilman Pas gidy roll call councilman auli yes councilwoman dearo yes councilman dep yes councilman Desai yes councilman Garcia yes
councilman Murphy yes councilman pasy yes Council vice president Dr Greenberg B yes eight yeses now we'll move on to report of the Township Clerk I have no report Council vice president report of the township attorney uh no report Madam vice
president and an administrative report thank you just a short report for you all this evening number one Parks and Recreation spring bore the Parks and Recreation spring bore is now a now available on our website resident registration for all programs and pickle
ball started yesterday on February 10th at 6 p.m. non-resident registration will start on February 17th at 6 p.m. for more information please visit our website at o bridge.com Recreation or call the recreation office at 732
721-5600 extension 4999 retirement of Township employees it is with heartfelt appreciation that we announced the retirement of six employees from the township of Oldbridge first we would like to recognize Lieutenant Joseph Napoli of the police
department who served the township for 39 years Sergeant Robert Kowski who also served the police department for 27 years police officer Michael John's who was with the police department for 25 years police officer
Edward raportti who also served for 25 years Russell neelen a bus driver at our Silver Lining Center who was there for 21 years and Nancy re who was our program coordinator who also served at the senior center for 20 years all of
these employees have retired as of February 1st 2025 each of them brought dedication and passion to our organization their presence will be de be deeply missed and we wish them happiness in their retirement congratulations to the service that we
provided and the only other thing I would like to mention is please be careful it is already snowing out there I also would like to send a quick thank you to our public works department and our Parks crew who were out overnight Saturday night into Sunday dealing with that ice storm uh that we had it may not
seem like a lot but it was quite a bit of a storm even though it didn't have a lot of accumulation um they worked on the last holiday Mor lucking they'll be working on tomorrow's holiday it seems like so we appreciate all of their efforts in keeping our town safe making sure that everybody can get where
they need to be safely and uh thank you very much and they'll be back at it tonight at midnight so thank you everyone any questions for administrator yes I have one question what is the purpose of registering for pickle ball what does that mean so we run an outdoor pickleball
program so we actually have instructors um who run pickleball classes right at our municipal courts here so the rec department oversees that so you can register so that you can actually take a class with an instructor no no no we actually we mentioned pickle ball specifically because a lot of
people don't realize that we do have a a Township run pickle ball instructional program thank you're welcome motion move it second moved by councilman dama seconded by councilman
pasky roll call councilman auli yes councilwoman dearo yes councilman deom yes councilman Desai yes councilman Garcia yes councilman Murphy yes councilman Pas gidy yes Council vice
president Dr Greenberg B yes eight yeses okay I would like to open up public comments on any subject matter for a maximum period of three minutes would anyone like to come forward and speak the public comment portion of our meeting is to allow the public to bring to the council's attention their
concerns or comments this section is open for any topic or items in the consent agenda in accordance with njsa 10 4-2a and the Oldbridge rules of council the council asked the public to limit their comments to 3 minutes or less only one member of the public shall approach to speak to council at a time
the council will respect the Public's Time by refraining from any comment until the speaker has finished with their allotted time should be further noted that the public comment portion of our meeting is not structured as a question and answer session if a member of the public has questions they seek answers to an appointment can be made with the corresponding Department's
office during regular business business hours Township Clerk will regulate the time during the comment portion of your meeting as you approach the microphone please State whether you please state your name Nina thank you Public Works you guys are great animal shelter is also
great and I help people take up the opportunity to adopt tomorrow by the way before you adopt you or even at if you already adopt you can also go to East Brunswick because they're offering a free rabies clinic in the Township from
3:00 to 8:00 pm at the Civic Center and you can get your animal a free rabies vaccine and then you can come right over to Kate later and register your dog or cat to be in this town it's a $15 I think right is it
$115 fee 10 10 10 10 and 15 15 unspay 10 and 13 oh sorry I apologize thank you thank you for correcting me um I do want to say I do find it interesting that some council members do find it person that they're personally attacked when
individuals come up like myself or Katherine before or other people and feel as though that when we speak that we're actually trying to attack you now we may not like what you say or how you act or what you do but that isn't a personal thing because
believe me I know a lot more about each and every one of you that I want to know that said you did mention um Anita that about the flag and yet one of your council members had the flag upside down for quite a long time the American flag uh upside down for quite a long time Mr
pcti in his property proudly displayed on his fence it was disgusting to me it was disgusting to a lot of people in the neighborhood and yet it went on and on and on and you talk about the three flag polls and how it's really important and it's the American flag the New Jersey
flag and the P flag and all that is really great and groovy but you didn't do anything about councilman from Ward five who honestly had a disgusting display of his flag which he's proudly smiling about right now look at him he's he's yeah he's waving it's really sad
it's disgusting I think that anybody on this this de who does that is is is offending all the citizens and residents of Bridge thank you happy Valentine's Day happy President's Day and let's all have hope peace and prosperity thank you
Mr Desai again for speaking on the indian-americans here in town we'll be at 31 we'll be at that that celebration no matter what something they are attack ATT okay anyone else from the public would
like to come up and speak cling public portion I would like to have council members starting councilman s Tulie yes so first I want to congratulate the Philadelphia Eagles for winning the
Super Bowl I mean they're the closest thing to New Jersey I'm just saying I'm a Jets fan but it is what it is I'm just saying I had to put it out there and I figured one day if I if I ever run for president my first executive order now I know you'd all appreciate it and I'll
guarantee you you'd say this is my first thing I want to do I want to make the day after the Super Bowl a national holiday what's up anybody I know everybody on this Tony everybody would agree they're all smiling absolutely so I figured I would just break the ice but
that being said it is getting dangerous last week Anita mentioned something about social media now I'm on social media a lot and I see things let me read something to you this was an anonymous post and it's it can
get really dangerous for all of us up here we don't know who said it but I want to share it with you hey Oldbridge they want you to build another 529 Apartments off madaan road
and Oldbridge we all need to fight this our schools are overcrowded and our roads disgusting this town is going to crap we all need to take a stand complain to the mayor the council and the builders none of them care about us we have a horrible
Council who does nothing to protect this town we need to fight back this is misinformation it's fake news aren't we tired of fake news and misinformation all of
us it can get people hurt and I'm including everybody on this de because we're making accusations that we may did something that was untrue so as a councilman I'll speak for
myself I went on that post because everybody was like yeah we got to get them I'm like okay I'm your current councilman of War I aren't we tired of misinformation an anonymous post I would be happy to I would be happy to meet with you for
coffee and tell you the truth about what's happening in town I put my contact info my cell phone and I said everybody in Oldbridge deserves the truth it's who we work for it's for orbridge
all of you make no mistake it's our number one priority always I'm looking forward to hearing from you that was a few days ago nobody's called me or emailed me but I promise you something and this is for everybody
here we're here call me email us I'll meet you for coffee and we can tell you exactly what's happening because we serve the people it is our job you shouldn't have to worry about government you should know that we're here to make sure we're fiscally
responsible we take your money and spend it appropriately Public Safety is really important so you can enjoy your life so anytime anybody has a question please go on the post go on the website for everybody watching at home I don't think
anybody here would not want to talk to you so I'm opening up the conversation if you want to talk to us give us a call email us I'd be happy to meet you sit down and have a real conversation because it's my job to serve you and that's the most important thing for all of us and I truly mean that thank
you councilwoman daro yes thank you um first I'd like to congrat congratulate the township employees on their retirement and I wish them well in the next chapter of their lives my husband just recently retired
and he is the happiest man on the face of the planet so uh I just really need to find him more hobbies and he's watching now so um anyway um I also want to thank the people that did speak tonight um just understand that your
voices are heard um I hear you and and um you know we might not all always agree but I think it's important that we listen to people and sometimes people are frustrated and when they say things you know there there's frustration in their voices and as elected officials I
think it's um important for us to understand that frustration and react accordingly and um you know so so you guys anybody that speaks um your voices are important thank you
councilman dep thank you Kate okay congratulations thank you just uh couple quick things recently in a couple of places around town there have been attempted break-ins there have been you
know people getting into cars using the garage door openers to get in please everyone make sure you lock your cars at night keep your key fobs away from your garage doors um something happen last night I I won't get into any details not
not far from where I am just please just make sure that if you see something if you see strange cars driving around call the police they will show up they will investigate right there you know obviously there are a lot of things that are going on behind the scenes with Chief Montagna and the rest of the
officers to ensure that we are patrolling more um either in mocked cars or unmarked cars but if you do see something you know you're the ones that are in in that neighborhood on that street on a regular basis you know what
cars should and should not be there if you see a car with a weird plate cars that are excessively tinted that aren't normally there make sure you call the police and they will come out and investigate it's the only way that we can stop this and get and drive these folks out of town this is happening in
sayerville it's happening in East Brunswick it's happening all over so it looks like they're trying to come back into town make make sure that if you do see something say something right because it may not be your house today but it may be it tomorrow so please make sure that we are calling in anything
that we seem is very suspicious because it's the only way that we can ensure that we get them before they get into a house and get into and get folks's cars or um other property from their home also just uh everyone just be
careful tonight and this week with the storm tonight another storm tomorrow and thank you to Public Works parks and all our snow contractors clearing the roads uh talking to Casey earlier I know he's having a headache with all the salties dropping down but between the snow and
then turning into ice I know there have been questions as to why are we salting though that snow gets packed down that will turn into hard ice and that's an even worse situation for the drivers than snow then everyone happy Valentine's Day especially to my three
Valentine's my wife and my my two girls thank you councilman Desai my first happy retirement to all those retired official from the township of pbridge after giving their long services
and dedicated services and time to citizen of pbridge so to all of them enjoy the life there is always a life after the work and I
realized I myself just retired this year so second thing Happy Valentine's Day to all of the people of goldbridge and the last thing enjoy the
president day holiday as councilman said tonight and tomorrow is a snow so please drive carefully and do not go out if you don't have
to everybody enjoy the evening and reach home safely before snow arrives thank you councilman Garcia yes thank you I just want to comment on what councilman ASI said earlier
regarding the apartments in Ward one I personally don't want the apartments and I know everybody on this Council does not want Apartments in Oldbridge unfortunately we're stuck with Apartments because of the state so just so you know I'm putting it on the record I do not want Apartments I don't think
anybody here wants appartment it's mandated by the state so as far as these comments on Facebook if you if you need to know facts like C said come see us we'll give you the facts we're not going to lie to you so that that's enough of that I also want to thank congratulate
Kate as well for staying with us for another year or two or three I'm not not sure how many years is long time but stay with us for a long very good uh and Happy Valentine's Day make sure you take your significant other out
Friday if not Friday Saturday and be safe getting home tonight so thank you that's all councilman Murphy yes thank you um first of all I want to wish all the retires that retired tomorrow will be the best day of the lives that just hit
you the next day um Drive snow I'm sure Casey's had the trucks out probably since this afternoon and he probably won't go home till like Friday so I appreciate all the things you've done for all of us and just have
a happy Valentine's Day and that's all I have to say thank you councilman Pas giddy yes thank you um I'll go on the record too I I particularly don't like Apartments um
you know that that property um was turned down to our zoning it got turned down and he sued the Builder sued the town and the judge which have you know he's a judge
that leans left he felt it uh that the Builder should be able to build so you know we tried as a town to stop it but you can only do so much uh when individuals own property
and they sell their private property to builders the builders can build based on what the area is zoned for so um you know there's an awful lot of building going on and um it's unfortunate but the
state um councilman said um mandates us to build to allow building um and um they they just look at an aerial view of Oldbridge and they say look at all that you know
empty space you have you have plenty of room to build so you you can build uh 600 units and um it's crazy because to build 600 affordable units you have to build 3,000 units so it's it's really
out of control there's things going on in the legislature to try and to change the law um but we're stuck um what i' really like to see is us to be able to preserve Farmland because the the farmlands out there and
um you know we can Zone it as Farmland it will prevent building possibly um on the note of the upside down flag that I fly at my
house is in no means disrespect to the country or the flag uh the um the reason why I'm flying that flag upside down is because our government in the last four years has
been out of control they've thrown people in jail that have been in jail so disrespectful it's a shame make me sick thank you don't let the door hit you it means distress that's what it means that
flag in front of my house is always lit up because I absolutely respect this country I love this country uh it's just been run really bad in the past hopefully we'll be on a better track
now so uh that's all I have to say thank you Council vice president Dr Greenberg Bell yes first of all I believe in freedom of speech and I think everyone up here does believe in freedom of speech so I just want to say that if you
want to fly a flag of any type you can fly it on your house you can paint yourself in the color of the flag so freedom to you so I also find that if you look for bad you're going to find bad if you look for good you're going to
find good I choose good beyond that um I just want to say congratulations to our clerk very well deserved and earned and um I'm very uh excited for those that are retiring and thank you for your
service for all these years and dedication to Oldbridge to making it a better town and moving forward and I want to wish everyone a Happy Valentine's Day um spread the love thank you
now can we have a h we need a motion to adjourn and enter executive session for litigation matters uh for nap brothers and potential litigation for summers's property motion move it motion by councilman auli second by councilman
pasky roll call councilman auli yes councilwoman dearo yes councilman D yes councilman Desai yes councilman Garcia yes councilman Murphy yes councilman pasky yes Council vice president Dr Greenberg Bell yes and I'd like to say
we will not be coming um need come back so weed3 53 e e e e e for