All [Music] right. All set. Good evening everyone. Hope everyone's summer is going well >> every single time. >> Okay.
>> Yeah. >> Good. >> Good. All right, I'm not going to repeat my summer comments. All right. In compliance with the open public's meeting law, notification of this meeting has been sent to our official newspapers and other publications circulated in the Burough of Voltapan and notice posted on the bulletin board
at Burough Hall. Please be reminded that all of our meetings are video recorded and posted to our website. Please note that the fire exits are located at the main entrance to the council chambers uh and at the rear of the council chambers. Uh roll call, please. Mayor Gallagher
>> here. >> Counciloman Bagi here. >> Councilman Joyce >> here. Councilman here. >> Councilman Marty >> here. Councilwoman Mau. >> Councilman you >> here. >> Would you please rise and join me for the salute to the flag? I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United
States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Please remain standing as Councilman Marty leads us in prayer tonight. Please bow your heads. >> Gracious God, we invite you into our
discussions today. Unite our hearts and guide our conversations with wisdom and patience. Help us seek solutions that honor you and benefit everyone involved. Where there are differences, bring understanding. Where there is tension, bring peace. In Jesus name we pray.
Amen. Amen. Okay, I will uh entertain a motion to open the meeting to the public. Make a motion. >> Second. All >> in favor? >> I. >> Would anyone from the public like to be heard on any matter this evening? >> Please
just name and address for the record. [Music] >> Name and address. I am talking about my silver award project for >> Did we get your name? >> Just we need your name. >> My name is Sanvi.
>> Sanvi. >> Yeah. >> And your address? >> My where? >> Your home address? >> 193 Orangeburg Road. >> Thank you. >> Okay. Please. >> Good evening. My name is Sanvi and I'm
an eighth grader at TDW and a Girl Scout working on my silver award project. Did you know that just one AA battery can pollute hundreds of gallons of water if it's thrown away improperly? I am
proposing a battery recycling program for Altapan. While our town participates in Bergen County's hazardous waste events, they only take place a few times a year. A permanent collection bin at a central location such as the recycling
center, library, or school would make recycling much easier and help protect our environment. Recycling batteries prevents pollution, reduces fire risks, and saves valuable metals that can be
reused. As part of my silver award project and in collaboration with recycle my battery, I am prepared to collect and drop off batteries at approved sites like Staples or the Home Depot and create educational materials
and track results. I also hope to spread the word and bring in more volunteers who can continue this effort after me so the program lasts well into the future. This program would benefit residents and
promote sustainability in our community. Together we can turn something small like a used battery into a big step toward a cleaner greener alapan. Thank you for considering my proposal.
Thank you. Nice. Nice job. Nice job. Now, >> now I notice we have our recycling coordinator in the house tonight. Would you care to comment on that? >> Uh, yeah. She has presented us uh with uh the burough administrator uh plan and
project uh that she has carefully outlined uh as far as the size of the bins, who picks them up, and who is responsible for these. uh he's put uh an impressive amount of research into this and leg work. Um I believe we do have a
spot down at our recycling center. I can only speak for our recycling centers. You would have to contact the library and the schools uh for locations there, but I I could go forward with this plan with her. >> Okay. So, from a recycling center,
>> DPW, uh, Jen, have you created >> I spoke I spoken to our recycling coordinator about this. Um, we didn't work out the details yet, but I'm sure we'll get to it. Sanvi, I have a question. Just You may not know the answer. I don't know the answer. Maybe the recycling coordinator uh coordinator
knows the answer. >> I understand some batteries are kind of dangerous, right? Sometimes they explode when you're storing them or charging them. Do we have provisions to to throw away dangerous batteries like that?
>> Is it the alkaline uh every day? >> Yeah, they're limited to certain types of batteries, >> not lithium ion. >> Lithium ion. >> I was hoping Sonic could tell us. The accepted batteries are lithium ion,
lead acid, nickel, cadmium, nickel metal hydide, nickel zinc, lithium primary, alkaline, carbon, zinc, button, and coin cell batteries. And all cell phones are accepted regardless of
size, make, model, or age. And individual batteries must be no longer than 300 WH. >> Okay. That's quite the array of batteries. >> Tom, that's a lot of batteries. >> Tom, are you okay with that with that list of >> Yes. Um I I believe the concern that you
have is is what we hear in the news about the lithium ion batteries position that we have planned out for for this bin is far enough away from any critical structure in case u an accident does occur. Um I I don't anticipate any
problems um with the question site or question location. >> Okay. So I'll report so as the library liaison um if you'd like to uh you know ask a to put a receptacle there at the library um I can present it to the
library board but we also have a library board member in attendance so you can talk to her afterwards as well. >> Do we think we need do we need more than one? Could it just be DPW? I I >> that's where we do all our recycling. >> Yeah. Central,
>> you know, and instead of involving the library or I don't really have an opinion one way or another. It's just that, you know, recycling is in Alteran is done at the recycling center and maybe it's just, you know, we we limit it there. >> I would agree.
>> So, um uh I anything anything else up here? I will ask uh Councilman Nu who oversees our DPW to work with our recycling coordinator uh Tom Jung to uh uh follow up and and get the ball rolling and figure out the logistics of it.
>> So I think it's a grand idea. Do you agree everyone up here and fabulous? >> Thank you Sanvi. I think it's a great idea. I don't know why we didn't do it sooner. >> Yes. Thank you. >> Good job. Good luck with that project. >> Great project. Okay. >> Very excited.
Would [Applause] anybody else from the public like to be heard on any matter this evening? >> Sir, >> this is a non-aggenda item. >> It's not It's a non-public hearing agenda.
>> There is an agenda item, a resolution talk about. Is that okay? >> You can talk about anything except an ordinance that's on final. So, >> Right. Yep. So, it's open discussion. >> Okay. Thank you. My name is Mike Aerian. and I live at 110 Cotch Lane in Old Tapan. Uh I just wanted to mention a
couple of comments about the handgun carry permit fee. Um that is a resolution up before this board. Um I don't know how many permits are issued in town. I don't know how much money the
town receives from this, but um I believe anyone who owns a handgun and can afford a handgun and wants to have a concealed carry should certainly be able to afford the fee for that. And I
believe those fees can be used to further educate people in our town, our children, and our students on the safety of weapons and how dangerous they are in the community. I wish the council will
take that into consideration. Thank you. >> Thank you, sir. >> Anybody else from the public? Please, sir. uh Joseph Leaporto from New Jersey Firearm Owner Syndicate uh Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey, and again also
representing the National Rifle Association and the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms. Again, I just want to thank this committee for considering the resolution on the docket tonight, the the refund of uh permitting fees. uh as I said last
time, you know, no no constitutional right should be hidden behind an exorbitant payw wall and uh to to recognize the prior gentleman's comments. We do, you know, appreciate the fact that there's administration that goes along with this, but at the
end of the day, um no one should be charged for the right to come here and speak to this council. No one should be charged for the right to exercise their religion. The second amendment uh is not a secondass right. It is the same as anything else in the bill of rights and
there are certainly people who are uh foreclosed from exercising their rights to protect themselves because of these exorbitant fees. So, uh it is as factually untrue that that that anyone can afford these things. Uh I I don't I know I took a lot of your time last time around and I'm I'm sensitive to that and
I don't want to drag this out any further. I just want to thank everyone for for both listening to my testimony in the last session. Uh, and I wanted to again voice support on behalf of our nearly 100,000 members across the state of New Jersey. And I hope that that
resolution will pass this evening. Thank you again. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. [Music] >> Yes, sir. >> Hello, Patrick. >> Everybody. >> Hello.
>> Patrick Ambuty Jr. 16 Autumn Lane in Old Tapan. Um, I have this I typed this up because I got a not a not too long, a couple of minutes, but just so you guys know, I'll be reading. Sorry. Uh, I'm not here to question anyone's constitutional rights,
but to raise some serious concerns I have about the proposal to eliminate Ultan's concealed carry permit fee. I am aware of the arguments in favor. Our fundamental rights should not be impeded by cost. For some people, even $150 is a
lot. And I respect the idea that exercising one's rights should be accessible. But while that argument has a point, we have to think about the practical concerns consequences that fall squarely on our town, our police department, and our taxpayers. That $100
$150 municipal fee covers real costs. fingerprinting coordination, background checks, checks, staff processing, municipal oversight, and court coordination. If we eliminate it, those costs don't disappear. They're simply shifted to the general municipal budget.
That means every resident, gun owner or not, will effectively subsidize the permitting process, including people like me who do not like guns, especially, and I especially don't like the idea of concealed carry guns. A big point for me as I learned about this fee
is that the $100 $150 fee is actually just one small part of the cost for obtaining and maintaining a concealed carry gun. Applicants also face approximately $50 to $60 for fingerprinting, around $20 for the statewide background check, and $50 to
the state for its fee. Then there's the mandatory liability insurance of $300,000 coverage, which costs hundreds and annually potentially. Then there's the required live fire training, safe handling education, and legal instruction courses, plus ammunition and
range fees. These costs can add up to several hundred, potentially $1,000 per applicant, which does change the way you have to look at just that small part of that fee. Eliminating our piece of the fee doesn't mean meaningfully diminish
the overall financial barrier. It simply shifts the cost for processing those applications. I don't personally like the idea of people carrying concealed weapons in the first place, but without the fee, funds could be lacking to conduct thorough reviews, which increase the risk of
incomplete vetting or longer backlogs that pressure staff to rush approvals. If our town can't keep up with that volume due to the reduced revenue, there's a greater chance of errors potentially and accidentally, excuse me, approving people who shouldn't qualify,
like people with unstable mental health histories, domestic violence concerns, or disqualifying criminal records. A larger number of guns carried in public, combined with potentially weaker screening, increase the risks of guns being present in conflicts like barf
fights, road rage, or domestic disputes. Just for one note, I'm not going to read this whole part, but just for one note, since the the brewin decision, permit applications in our state have gone up by 61,700 applications between then and January of
this year. So that's a lot of extra guns on our streets. If our municipal budget has to be used to cover permit processing costs, that could mean fewer dollars for school resource officers, community policing programs, and emergency response resources. In other
words, eliminating the fee could indirectly reduce other forms of public safety protection. We are a small community with limited funds. You guys know that for sure because you work your butts off in the beginning of the year every year to make sure we have enough
to do what we need to do. Our roads need repaving. Our public safety initiatives need support. EMS and our firefighters need resources. Our schools need resources. Do we really want to pay back a $100 $150 permit applicant when those
needs exist? I understand and respect the principle of fairness. But fairness is not just about reducing cost. It's also about shared responsibility and equitable treatment. We must ensure that rights are exercised in a way that is safe, that our local government remains
fiscally sound, and that all taxpayers are treated fairly. Personally, I don't want a single scent of my taxes raised for somebody else's per uh concealed permit fee. That covers the basic cost of obtaining that fee. That's part of
what they're paying for is the cost of all those things that have to be done so they can have that right to carry that concealed weapon. For these reasons, I urge you guys to think carefully before you make your final vote and eliminate our municipal fee. I respect the rights
of gun gun owners, whether I like them or not. I mean, the guns, not the people. But I do respect the rights of gun owners, but also respect the responsibilities we have to one another and to this community's long-term well-being. Thank you for your time.
>> Thanks, Patrick. Thank you. >> Would anyone else from the public like to be heard on any subject matter tonight? >> Motion to close. >> Second on it. >> Second. All in favor? >> I. >> All right. >> All right. Moving on to
next order of business is a public hearing an ordinance 1283-25, Fire Department, and that'll be for Councilman Guang. >> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Uh this is this is the second reading of ordinance number 1283-25. It's to amend the fire department
ordinance. Uh as a reminder uh it has to do with department officers uh not being able to be line officers in in our town and be line officers in another. Uh the way it reads is department officers shall not be line officers in another
volunteer department but may be line officers here with their career position with a paid department. That is the change in the uh the change in the ordinance. Um so yeah,
I'd like to open up for public comment. >> Yeah, please. >> Second. Second. Second. >> Okay. Would anyone from the public like to be heard on ordinance 1283-25 amending the fire department ordinance? >> Motion to close. >> Second. All >> in favor? >> I council.
>> Thank you. Uh so resolution whereas an ordinance entitled an ordinance to amend 27-15 of the code of the borrowan titled fire department officers was introduced at a meeting of the mayor and council held on the 21st day of July 2025. Now
therefore be it resolved by the mayor and council of the borrowan county of Bergen state of New Jersey that said ordinance number 1283-25B and the same is hereby adopted on second and final reading and be it finally resolved that the burough clerk is hereby authorized and directed to
publish the notice of adoption as required by law. >> Second. >> Any further discussion on it? >> Roll call, please. >> Councilman Bani, >> yes. >> Councilman Boyce, >> yes. >> Councilman Bong, >> yes. Councilman Martin. >> Yes. >> Councilwoman Councilman.
>> Yes. [Applause] >> Okay. Um, moving right along, we have a resolution on our agenda tonight and that'll be for Councilman Martin. >> Thank you, Mayor. Um, before we get into that, I just want to make a couple
comments. Um, so shortly we're going to be voting uh on the resolution authorized the refund of the municipal portion of the Hinden carry permit fee that uh NJPL 2022 chapter 31 131 excuse me enacted. Um bottom line chapter 131
is bad legislation that is discriminatory. It's unconstitutional and should have never been passed by Treton. Um, quoting the uh, NJFOS, uh, impos imposing massive fee increases on these rights has no public policy objective
other than to limit the access of the poor to a core constitutional right and by and by uh, inevitable extension that has a disperate impact on classes of New Jerseyians based on race and and ethnicity. End quote. Um, and I
wholeheartedly agree with that. So, a couple things that I just wanted to address. Um, the $100 the $150 fee that uh is the municipal portion of the uh carry permit that was um that's only
been in existence since December of 2022. Okay. Under chapter 131 that I just read. Uh prior to that, never existed. That was in response from Trenton uh to um
the brewing decision in June of 2022 which uh basically made every state in uh in the nation uh turned them from any the state that was possibly poss a May issue state now they were a shell issue state. All right. Keeping that in mind,
pro in setting aside CCW fees. Um, and I listen, I respect everybody. If you don't like handguns or long guns, that's fine. However, um, the same process, uh, background checks has to be done when somebody goes to get a firearms ID
card, which they need in the state of New Jersey. Um, the same, uh, background has to be done when somebody wants to buy a pistol. they have to get a pistol uh purchase permit through our local PD. Um so that's been done anyway. It's it's
always been done. There's no extra cost for the police to do these things. Um this $150 fee was basically a slap to law-abiding gun owners in New Jersey. Um and that was done. Um you know, in my
opinion, it was it was a malicious thing. Um, and there's one thing that, and I said this in the last meeting, if any of you saw the video, um, and Mr. Leoro said it, there really shouldn't be any fees associated with,
um, exercising your constitutional rights. In my opinion, um, it was mentioned before that, um, one of the there's a mandatory insurance in New Jersey for concealed carry. That's absolutely false. It's actually illegal. And that was, I believe, Governor Murphy, Mr. Laporo
>> was struck down by the third circuit, >> right? Shruck down by the third circuit. So, it's actually illegal for a concealed carry perimeter or gun owner to actually have liability insurance to carry a weapon. So, I don't know where that information was gathered, but that's that's incorrect. Um, believe me,
if they had it, I'd probably get it. Um, anyway, so just I don't want to get sidetracked. Um, basically, uh, the other thing I wanted to point out, and when you think about the fee, it doesn't affect me, uh, doesn't affect most people in this room, I'm sure, uh, or
everybody in this room, but it does affect, uh, a certain population, right? Folks that maybe can't afford it. And if you look at uh you know if you according to the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice um I'm a Hispanic male so black
and Hispanic residents experience poverty at more than double the rate of white residents in the state of New Jersey. So who are we really affecting here? Right? anybody who's low income and we know based on what the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice says that
it's blacks and Hispanics are two times more likely uh to be in poverty. So I I respect everybody's comments. U but I just wanted to put that out there because I think it's important that we kind of see what we're voting on. We're not voting on more guns on the street. What we're
voting on is a a section of the municipal uh portion of the $150 fee that the state says that hey, you guys are going to collect this and do, you know, have at it. Um, and to answer the last question before I read the resolution, um, as of July 1st, we
had 19 um, applicants and residents uh, in Ultan, which equates to about $2,850 in municipal fees um, that have been collected so far. So anyway, thank you for your time and please allow me to read this.
>> All right. So, uh, resolution uh, whereas >> Sorry, excuse me. >> Can I make a comment before the vote? No, let me read read the resolution first then I can resolution then we'll discuss. >> Uh whereas uh persuade to NJSA2C58-4
applicants for permits to carry a handgun are required to pay an application fee in the amount of $200 of which $150 is paid to the municipality and $50 is paid directly to the superintendent of the state police. And whereas the burough of Voltipan
recognizes that the statutory fee structure imposes financial burdens on applicants and wishes to ease that burden for residents by offering refunds of the municipality of Alapan's portion of the application fee. And whereas the burrow of Alapan recognizes that the
United States Supreme Court has long held that taxes on fundamental rights are unconstitutional and that the statutory fee prescribed by NJSA2C58-4 is in excess of a mere processing fee and is therefore a tax on a core
constitutional right. And whereas the burough of Alapan has determined that it is in the public interest to establish an administrative process for refunding the $150 municipal portion of the application fee upon appropriate documentation. Now therefore be it resolved by the
mayor and council of the burough volan county of Bergen state of New Jersey as follows. One, refund authorization. Any application any any application who has should be read, excuse me. any applicant who has paid the $150 municipal
application fee for a handgun carry permit on or after August 18th, 2025 and who submits a valid receipt showing payment may apply to the burrow of Altapan's chief financial officer for a refund of $150 representing the portion
of the statutory fee paid to Altapan under NJSA2C58-4. Uh two procedure refund shall be issued upon applicant submission to the CFO of a proof of payment and b confirmation that the application was processed through the borrowan
three limitation. This refund uh policy applies only to the municipal portion of the fee and does not apply to any amounts remitted by the applicant directly to the state of New Jersey or other agencies. Refunds shall be available only for payments made on or after August 18th, 2025. Four, effective
date. This resolution shall take effect immediately upon adoption. Five, administration oversight. The burrow votan CFO is hereby authorized to administer this refund program and to require any reasonable documentation necessary to confirm eligibility. Be it
further resolved that a copy of this resolution shall be made available to the public and posted on the Burough Volipan website forformational purposes. The within resolution uh excuse me, I'll stop there.
>> Do I have a second on it? [Music] >> Well, that's once again. Do I have a second on this resolution? >> Second. Second. Okay. Uh, discussion.
>> I have some comments, Mr. Mayor. >> So, Councilman Marty, thank you for your comments, and I do respect your opinion, but I want to begin by saying that I do not oppose anybody's right to own a
firearm, nor do I oppose the right to for anybody to protect themselves through concealed carry. Um, while I do oppose unnecessary fees and taxes that overburden our taxpayers,
I believe that it the suggestion that this is unnecessary and maybe redundant, even unconstitutional. I don't agree with that. It's been suggested that our police department does spend countless hours in processing
each and every one of these applications. So that in itself costs money. And just a little discussion on fees. If you own a dog or a cat in town, you know, you pay a license fee every year. And that license fee helps us run
a um a a clinic for vaccinations or rabies vaccinations and things like that and other animal control programs. If you put an addition on your home, you pay
the building department a fee to um to make sure an inspector comes out to make sure it's built according to code and it doesn't endanger your life or anybody's anybody else's life. Um in my mind, fees don't infringe on
your right to own a pet, build on your property, or even own a gun. um rather fees help us offset the costs when residents decide to exercise some of
these rights and and don't impose on others who choose not to. So when mulling over this resolution, I kept asking myself, what does this mean for Altapan? What does this really mean for the residents of Ultan? And from
where I stand, it seems that certain groups outside of our town are more interested in getting this resolution passed than the Alipan residents themselves. So my concerns begin and end with keeping uh with matters that
directly affect our residents. Amongst other things, I really concern myself with providing our residents with fire, EMS, and police department services to keep our safe. And I'm not implying that we fund any of these
capital purchases by collecting fees. But what is giving up thousands of dollars every year mean? um say we had to say no in funding our fire department with personal carbon monoxide
detectors or even purchasing batteries for CPR equipment or other life saving equipment for our EMS or maybe even a new bulletproof vest for our police. And for it is for this reason I cannot support this resolution and we'll be
voting no. Any other comments? >> May I make a comment, Mr. Mayor? >> Please. >> So, as you know, I'm in um lison on to the to the finance uh department, very heavily involved in budget. So, finance is my expertise. I'm going to look at
this at a different angle and uh thank you Mr. Gambbouti for bringing up some of those financial sort of concerns etc. Um what I want to say first is I feel the resolution is not to me is not a second amendment a second amendment
issue that was already determined in the courts right it is not an easy gun access issue it's not an affordability issue right as Mr. Gambi, you brought up that there are other fees to owning a gun, right? Whether it's range fees,
etc. $150 is not going to it's not that marginal fee that's going to deter someone from uh getting a gun, etc. This is about taxation. It's about fees that are that the state is making mandatory
on a local municipality. Now, I've only been doing this for three years. I don't know if there's a precedent of this, but from a budget standpoint for us, when we when we charge a resident a fee, it's because we've determined the cost of
that, right? So, a pet license cost, I don't know, $50 because we've determined what it costs us as a burrow to to uh to to complete that fee for the pet owner. So for us you know we I want to align
all the fees with the cost. Now there are costs involved in background checks etc. But for us there has been no incremental cost. Right? So I talked to uh the police department. There are hours that they put in for background
check but we didn't have to hire another police officer. Right? It was in their it it's what they do. They do background checks for soccer. They do pack rents, right, for for recreation, etc. So, you know, if I feel like this is a
state fee and it's the $150 and it's good for all counties, no matter how much it costs, whether it's um, you know, Patterson, whether it's New York, whether it's Burlington, Kate May, etc. I want to make sure that, you know, the fee itself aligns with our own costs. So
I would reject this meaning you know not have the state mandate it to us. If we want to do our own fee because there is a burden or there is a specific cost then I would do it locally. But this would this is a for me a more general
issue. It's not necessarily a gun issue. It's not a second amend second amendment issue. It's the state telling us that we have to charge a resident for a certain amount for something that we don't know what the cost is, right? And so it's
misaligned and this could go and it might not be the issue for this. It might be something else down the road. They might say, "Well, for a pet license or for recreation, you have to charge $300 a player in recreation or something like that." To me, we need to determine our own fees based on our own costs. And
that's why I support this resolution. >> Okay. Any other comments, Mr. Mayor? >> Please, if um I'm going to be repeating a little bit what everyone said, but I also have some other another angle on uh gun
permits. First, let me say that I'm in no way opposed to the Second Amendment of our Constitution. The right to bear arms, whether it be for hunting or personal protection, is solid, although it's been twisted over the years to match people's different political agendas, but it
still stays strong, and I still believe in it. When someone applies for a gun permit, they pay a fee to the state. The state sends a percentage of those fees back to the town. In our case, it's $2,500, $3,000. Is that correct, Anna?
That the state send us back fees from the this permit. you get 150, >> right? So in in Altapan, it's over two grand. The same person also applies also applies has these other expenses. Cost of the firearm itself, which could be
$200, could be $700. I did a little research. Average $300 $400. Cost of ammunition, dollar a bullet from what I've been told by our police chief. Cost of training, few hundred bucks. cost of continuing
training, a few hundred bucks. You can get up to over $1,000, which is just an estimate. Don't hold me to that. Paying $150 for a permit is one of the lower expenses on this list. So, when you add it all up, I don't feel like it creates a hardship for the prospective gun owner
who can afford the other items on the list. Thank you, Mr. Xarion, for bringing that up. If we were to apply the same logic to other fees in the burrow, then we should return zoning and building permit fees. But we can't because we spend time and money into each and every permit. Our
police department spends time doing background checks as well as other gunrelated paperwork, which requires salary and benefits, all paid for by you. A sergeant may take up to eight hours if the permit is more complex than other
permits, and some of them are. A sergeant 8 to 10 hours is over $1,000 in salary and benefits. Most permits only take three to four hours, so that's a lot less. So, just like a building a a building permit fee
that is assessed to the applicant to cover these costs, it's the same. So, I'm looking at this not as a gun thing, as a permit thing. Unlike other fees, the state returns a portion of this particular fee to the burrow. I would I would be in favor of using that money
for, not exclusively for, but gun safety, education, or other items that as mayor and council deem worthy. Also, as a matter of privacy, and this hasn't been brought up yet, the way it is set up today, no one except the police know
who has a permit and who cannot and it cannot be revealed with an open request. If we return fees to individual residents, it would become part of public record as well as part of an audit trail where anyone can Oprah this
information. Their names will also be announced during the consent resolution at our public meetings that are on video. Some people don't want their names announced that they have a concealed carry permit. But this would if if we pass this, then we we're going
to be issuing checks to people. We're going to be announcing their name. If people are very passionate about this, they should contact their state representatives and look to the state of New Jersey to modify the law. If you take away the word gun, it becomes just a permit application. And I
feel it should be treated as the same as any other permit application, which includes a fee for the services that the bureau provides. For these reasons, I don't see the need to be in favor of this. So, I will be voting negative. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. >> Thank you.
Any further comments on the resolution before us tonight? >> I'd like to make some additional comments. Um some of the things that were mentioned so regarding manh hours to do uh the background check for and saying that the
$150 fee helps um cover that as I mentioned before the same background check if somebody goes in and says hey I want to get my FID fire ID card for those that don't know and I want to get a uh I want to get a pistol purchase
permit. They pay whatever the fee is to the state. I believe it's, don't quote me, I know each permit is whatever, 25. That's something else that's being challenged in court. But anyway, um the same amount of time is being uh covered
to cover those background checks. Uh the only difference is the state says, "Hey, just because you're going to get a concealed carrier, even though we're going to do the same background check, we're going to charge you another $150 to do the same background check we'd do if you weren't doing that. if you were just getting an FID. Makes absolutely no sense.
>> Okay. So, uh you and then I'm a little confused. You said that there's a return from the state and somebody said $150, but you misspoke, >> right? That's that's not that's not the $50 fee that you pay to the state police when you apply. That goes to what they
have. I think it's the victim's uh fund. >> The victim's fund. That's it. The state police doesn't even keep that. All right. So, it's put in there and to yet I don't know of any victims, but that's what they have. I'm sure the state will find something to reallocate those resources. And the $150, they don't send
us any money back. The This is what we're discussing, the municipal portion that is only being asked to collect uh being collected by the municipality for the CCW, not for anything else. Um, so I I don't know. I just want to make sure that we're just uh everyone's on the
same page. You're entitled to your opinion. you're entitled to your vote, but some of the stuff that was said was not uh accurate. >> Um yeah, that's all I want to say. So I think >> Okay. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> So um let me put the final point if I if
I may um on this um I got a just a note in front of me. So let me read it. Let me be clear that I support our second amendment right, but I don't feel this resolution challenges this right. Many are unhappy that the legislators of the state of New Jersey enacted what some
call excessive fees to carry a concealed firearm. Why? I cannot answer that question as the Bureau of Old Deepan was not asked to comment nor involved in this decision. As I reported last meeting, there are many unfunded mandates that Old Depan and our
residents must adhere to based on the decisions of our legislators. Many I do not agree with our police, first responders, golf course, golf course department, the department of public works all face increased training,
increased licensing fees and other mandates. These fees, these fees collected, although not a lot, are used by Old Depan to balance our budget for all residents and help pay for a part of many of these unfunded mandates.
Agree or disagree, old pan will follow the lawful enactment of legislation and follow the laws of the state of New Jersey whether you agree or disagree. And those are my comments on this resolution. So we have a uh we have a
motion and we have a second. Uh Jean, roll call, please. >> Councilman Bogi, >> no. >> Councilman Boyce, >> no. I didn't get much time to speak. I I had time but I didn't raise my hand yet and I had some thoughts but no with a
caveat I don't think this is quite thought out yet properly but um I think there's more work to be done on this topic that was a no >> yes with determination if we want our own local fee
>> Marty Yes. >> Councilman. >> No. >> Okay. The resolution is uh not passed. It will not move forward. Thank you for everyone's commentary, opinions, and I hope uh we can move
forward past this. Okay. Moving on to our consent resolution that is for council president voice. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Be resolved that the following resolution placed on the agenda by consent require no discussion
and same having been previously reviewed by each council person be and R hereby adopted in their entirety by the mayor and council of the provable dependent bills and claims release cash bond and escrow refund soil moving permit fee contract award
and J cooperative uh pricing system playground equipment change order number one and final Perry Street drainage improvements phase two bid award, golf course, bunker uh renovation, bid advertisement, curbing and sidewalks, and lastly, the new
firefighter Rumcy or a second on it. >> Second. >> Any uh further discussion? Any comment on our consent resolution? >> I just have a question for Bill probably. I noticed that the bunker renovation was awarded to Down Street Company. wondering what kind of
experience I had >> doing bunkers. >> Downstream service has grown exponentially in the last 30 years that I've known them and they do all sorts of construction uh specifically regarding bunkers. Yes,
>> golf course bunkers. >> They do everything and they are well suited for this type of work. >> All right. >> Okay. Anything else? Roll call, please. >> Council member, >> yes. >> Councilman Voice. >> Yes. Councilman Black. >> Yes. >> Council M. >> Yes. >> Councilman. >> Yes.
>> Moving on to our engineers report. Tom, please. >> Thank you, Mayor. Good evening, everybody. >> Good evening. You've been busy. >> Me? >> Yeah. See a lot of emails. >> Lots of emails. Yeah, for sure. >> Thanks to our lovely low biders.
>> Yeah. >> So, you're probably well aware of a lot of this stuff, but I'll just bring you up to to speed a little bit on some of these projects. um the Wolf Road, the milling and paving is left of that last little piece from um Ogle to Orangeburg. Um it is now
scheduled for Thursday. They're going to get everything done in one day. Uh milling and paving um including a repair on Birchwood. They plan to be out of here by like 1:00. So we're talking about a couple hours worth of work um on DWolf and that is scheduled for
Thursday. Um the Perry phase 2 drainage project is is complete. You had a change order on your agenda tonight. Um that covers their final payment. A couple minor um changes in the the item uh individual items, but still well within
the the aotment that the burough received from NJ DOT. Um our road paving project is also essentially done. This is the municipal road paving project. Uh we have one issue on Perry and the lots need to be striped. Um there's a couple
minor punch list items. The big one being Perry. Um the contractor is going to look at that issue with me while they're in town on Thursday, but that will ab absolutely be addressed. Um that's been the subject of a lot of the emails you've seen going back and forth.
Um clearly the contractor made a mistake there. I took some elevations myself just so I was comfortable in that. Um so the burrow is in a very good position to to have them make that fix. Um it's just a matter of actually defining what that
is. Um so that's what I'm going to talk to them about on Thursday. And then the last item I was going to mention um are the Central Avenue ADA ramps. Um I did get two quotes as of late this afternoon. I'm not sure if anybody even
saw those. Um, but the low bid was Angel's Construction, who's done a ton of um, curbon sidewalk work in town over the last couple years. Um, they were given to me by Andy, the highly recommended. Um, and they were the low bidder at $13,292.50.
So, we're well below the bid threshold. Um, once you've had a chance, Anna, to take a look at those bids, uh, I believe the money is in place to just move forward. Um, so we're still trying to get those done. before school opens. >> What the other bids come in at?
>> Uh we only got one other from Huitt that was 15 and change. >> So that those two crossings, >> it's at Chestnut. There's two ramps. >> Chestnut. Okay. >> And then at the high school entrance on the north side,
>> there's there's an existing ramp on the school side. >> Okay. >> So we're just putting one ramp in on the Aita side. >> Okay. between >> but we're putting striping. We is that a county >> county does all the striping. County does the signage, the striping. >> Are we getting flashing lights if you
push a button? >> That's something that the burrow can consider. I think we actually have >> I've seen them in other towns. It really it works for me. >> I think we have one because we didn't know we were going to do >> We do have one right by the tennis courts. >> When I'm driving, I see it. It makes a
difference. I think we ordered another one very budget or we said we were going to get one. Okay. But we didn't know we were going to do two. So probably just have >> Well, let's get one at the entrance. That would be really important. >> We were going to have a third crossing that was kind of opposite Nickerbacher. >> Yeah.
>> But that one was a little dicey and we were just making the minimum sight distance. >> The road's really wide there, too. >> Yeah. So, if we were going to proceed with that one, that was one where we I was recommending to have the the flashing sign. >> Okay. >> Um >> I like the lights. Anyway,
>> what the county does standard is 250 ft in advance, it tells you that there's a pedestrian crossing ahead and then at the crossing there's the pedestrian crossing sign with the arrow literally pointing at the crosswalk. So, there are two signs in each direction. Um, but I
certainly am in favor of the the >> when they're flashing, it's totally different. >> Yeah. >> Also, Tom, I'm sorry. Ted, did I interject again? Um, to Wolf Road, the the road will be closed. >> It will be closed for like an hour for the milling and an hour for the paving,
but >> Oh, okay. So, it'll be quick. >> Yeah. >> Okay. So, the golf course will be good. Other businesses on the street might be okay. >> Yeah. And it'll the detour will be in place for that, you know, that short period of time. >> Okay. Thank you, Tom. Tom, I was at the library last week. The
parking lot's paved but not striped. Do you know the status of that? >> They're saying this week. Um, this contractor has been a nightmare. The work is mostly good. The communication, the coordination, the being able to rely on what they said
two minutes ago has been brutal. >> So, we're working on that. Um, but they're supposed to be out there this week. Do you think they can use the parking lot without the stripes? >> Oh, absolutely. >> Oh, they can. Okay. >> And I understand. They're just worried about the people from the high school
going there and parking all over the place. >> Yeah. >> That's their only concern. >> There's always a a lag between the paving and the striping. And in a known situation like that, I personally don't think it's a big issue. But I would leave that up to >> Right. It's been a couple of weeks,
right? It's been a few two weeks or so or three weeks maybe. >> Yeah. And it it's we've been asking repeatedly, >> okay, >> to get it done. They haven't been paid a dime. >> Have not. Okay. >> Have not. >> Okay. >> And um they have because I know the
library wanted specific striping. So that's cleared up, right? >> Yeah. But we're not doing that. The the final my understanding of the final is that is that the striping that was there is going back. They wanted to put some wording in some of the stops
>> and the police chief kind of overrode that that was not the best thing to do that he would step up having somebody drive through there at that >> so they know that cuz I thought she >> I was under the impression she thinks they're something
>> specific no >> I'll call her tomorrow >> yeah and I agree with the chief I think I think a better way to do it is just to show up a little bit there >> I agree but I just want her So to do non-typical striping is it's going to look ridiculous, honestly.
>> Yeah. And no one's going to look down and read it anyway. But >> yeah, I I I would agree with the chief and I think that's the way to go. But if they want it, we can still do it. >> You still put it after the fact. Yeah. It doesn't have to be this round if you wanted. >> Well, you can always do it. >> Okay. >> Thank you,
>> Tom. Just a quick question. Um couple of weeks ago when Altapan Road was being paved, is it common for the road to be closed for maybe 2 hours for milling? I can imagine when the milling machine's coming through, got to have to close a
road. When it's being paved, it has to be closed. But I understand that it's uh residents coming out of Christristen were stuck for a good two hours now. I don't know if something happened where they couldn't get out of Kristen, but >> I thought
>> it was the same. >> They were only stuck when it was paving. They were not stuck when it was going, >> right? >> So, it was probably like 30 minutes or so. >> Yeah. I don't know the exact timing. >> Same here. So, right, I live off of Old Pan Road. My culde-sac feeds in. There
were hours we couldn't uh we we had to park on the other side of the street, etc. It was because it was really hot that day, super humid. And I was talking and they said they had to wait for it to dry and it took four hours instead of the normal one or two >> and there's nothing I could do. Right. >> Coming back home
>> uh both I was there during the day back and forth. >> Okay. >> And I think part of the problem was two things. Same contractor. The the communication was horrible. The police didn't know. >> Um there was no real advanced notice
given. Um, people could have been told to pull their cars out so that at least they could walk out of the >> You can imagine everybody and Cheryl and and uh Kristen were stuck for I don't know, they say two hours. >> I I realize that was a real bad situation. That was that's not a burrow
project. The burough police assist, but they can only do as much as they they're told. >> Okay. >> And they just weren't told. And otherwise, it's a county project and we we really have very little control. >> And if I recall, they changed a few things that morning. that morning. >> I mean 6 a.m. >> I think that's Yeah,
>> we need we need more police officers now, >> you know, things like that. >> Right. >> Yeah. There was no communication with the police chief. I I know that directly. I was there. >> So, how if we didn't know, how do how do we inform our residents? >> Right.
>> Well, when we did inform the next day for something else, they changed it the next morning. >> Okay. I guess that's just you're dealing with the weather and you're dealing with certain contractors >> and even how they attack the road changed >> how you attack the road.
>> How they attacked it. They, you know, we were going to go in this direction. We were going to do this much and then and then come back and finish the other side >> and then they just do whatever they want to do to to produce the most that they can produce. But it it's it's literally >> we'll we'll say anything to your face in
the moment to improve their situation. It's brutal. Anything else for Tom? >> Anything else? You got anything else for us? >> I don't. Thank you, sir. >> Thank you, Tom. >> Thanks, Tom. >> Thank you. >> All right, moving on to our council committee reports. We'll start with
Councilman Yu. >> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Um, report of our senior citizens. September 25th, they will be hosting a lunch and learn. I'll give I'll provide more details as the date approaches. on October 7th. They are tremendously
excited for their trip to West Point and the mayor's already expressed interest in going. So, I will be looking forward to seeing him on the trip to West Point. Um, report of from the recreation department. There is no commission
meeting this month as most are away in vacation. Town Day is going to be held on September 6th and planning for the event is is coming to a close. Um the committee is still seeking sponsors for the event event. So if
you're interested or or able to donate any money, please contact me or Gloria Weezner. Report from the building department. It looks like total permits open right
now is 45 and for the month total payments of in July and total payments we collected in July for permit fees was $23,81. I will talk about our tree ordinance under old business
um report of the DBW. I'm happy to share with the council some of the work completed in July. There was lots of repair and cleaning of our storm water drains because of all the rain. Uh they set up and cleaned up after concerts in the park. HVAC system was repaired in
the police station. They did a lot of prep work for the burrow road paving project. They did a movie night setup and cleanup. Stanland and Oaks Park signs were repainted. They started new employee interviews. Um just as a
reminder, we are still searching for one more laborer to fill a vacancy. Um they assisted summer camp with setup in cleanup, repaired damaged and leaning street signs, took delivery of a new
frontend loader, worked on building four grading and bathroom, and started and completed burough shade tree trimming. And also under sewer they there were repairs done at pump stations one and two.
Um a couple of meetings ago I mentioned there were some vehicles that we as a council need to decide what to do with in particular a 2003 Dodge Durango which was a former chief police chief vehicle and a 2004 F250 the former golf course
superintendent's vehicle. I did confirm with Andy that they are unusable and frankly dangerous to drive. I made the suggestion that we uh donate to the fire department for training.
>> I would like some guidance from the council with that. >> That would be my suggestion. >> I read the report. I >> They're not drivable. >> Yep. And essentially worthless. They're they're good for junk. So, do I need do we need a resolution for that?
>> Yes. >> Yes. Signaling. Yes. >> Till next meeting. >> All right. So, if we could prepare a resolution for those two vehicles, the uh other dump truck, I'm still we're still trying to figure out what to do with. I'll have further guidance on that
in the future. And Mr. Mayor, it looks like that wraps up my report. >> I have one quick question. Did you perform any exit interviews for the DPW folks that left >> or did the DPW have exit interviews?
>> There was some interview performed but we knew where they were going. They were entering the private sector. >> Okay. >> Essentially they got paid more to leave. >> So it was a it was a compensation question. It wasn't work environment or
anything like that. >> Was not. >> But it's a good point though. We we did this council decided, you know, that we'd like to do that more of that when someone leaves a key department or so. So, um yeah, we could kind of work on that going forward. >> Personally, I did speak to one of them that left.
>> What's our process for that? >> Well, we >> do we have a process? >> We did I did speak with um with Rob in particular because uh he was a heavy loss. >> Yeah. Mhm. >> Um but it it was
we could not compete with what it was all financial and we could not he had nothing bad to say about his employment environment. >> Yeah. I don't I don't want to say just on this one. I'm just saying I know we
we we're we're trying to do um not a better job but we're trying to implement more exit interviews going forward. So yeah, >> we did have Andy and I have them in and both actually both of us. >> All right.
>> Okay. Thank you, sir. Um, Councilman Banagi. >> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Police report for July. Following activities reported represents calls for service in July. Total of 1,27
calls for service and special details were attended by the Old Panam police officers, 169 motor vehicle stops, 66 motor vehicle summones, 161 radar details, 115 traffic enforcement details were completed
throughout the burrow. 63 security awareness cards, six firearm ID cards. Officers responded and investigated seven motor vehicle accidents, one arrest for simple assault, one one arrest also for simple assault domestic
violence. That's it for there. Uh the county paving project county does not pay for a car or admin fee that we usually charge and they were not easy to work with. It wasn't the county per se, it was the
contractor, but we went over that just now with Mr. Scrabble. So you're aware of that. Um interesting to note the uh the county has installed uh closed circuit TV for lack of a better term on Old Pan Road in Central.
It's not in operation yet. And they're going to be a license plate reader on Old Pan Road in Orangeburg installed. I think it's installed now. If not, it will be very soon. Um, we delivered, our department, our police department delivered three SIM cards to the county
for the burrow units. We have to provide the SIM cards. Um, one's on Ultipan Road in Rectenwald, which is down by Latchman's Bridge. One is on Westwood Avenue, uh, as you leave town by Stone Point. And there's a, uh, like I said, closed circuit on
Old Pen Road, Orangeburg. Um, this way we know who's coming and going. you know, we have stolen car issues, we have this and that. It's good to know there's a plate readers. You know, the the one of them is a plate reader, which will tell you, you know, the read the
plate, tell you who owns it. Uh the one police car 605, uh it's a Chevy and has possible uh cam shaft issues, which is kind of weird. 50,000 mi. They're looking into that this morning. It went I think I think it's a warranty
thing. So, they're at the I think the car went to the dealer this morning or it's going tomorrow morning with the police chief. Um, that's all I had. Uh, our new recruits are doing really well. Our new not not recruits, our new our new hires. Two two new guys doing really
well and uh they're uh they're acclimating well, very young, very energetic, and it's great to see. That's all I have. Sure. >> Ron, do you know if that uh cam shaft issue was with a 6.0 liter engine or a 5.3?
>> I don't know, but >> because there might be a recall on those. >> I think there I thought you were making a joke cuz Guy Caraza always said that. >> Um I'm sorry. I didn't mean Okay. >> to laugh. Uh I don't know that that answer, but it's it's the second car,
the second vehicle of this the same model to have the same issue. >> Yeah, that's what they've been saying. >> Yeah, possibly. Okay, Ron, under your responsibilities on grants and I know Anna probably are we uh how are we doing on grants are is that I forget the company's name that we work with?
>> Yeah, growing up they've gotten more have they dealing more with the EMS and the fire department. We haven't really had um >> anything that really falls into place. We're still waiting for the after
quickness the effect goes through. Um, but nothing really substantial right now. >> Okay. All right. As long as they're looking for us. >> Do they still send a report? I mean, they I used to get a report from them.
>> Yeah, they did. Monthly, quarterly. >> If you could, I haven't seen it, so I used to see it all the time. >> If you just stick it on the email, that'd be great. Send the invoice, too. >> Okay. Thanks. Uh, Councilman Marte. >> Thank you. Uh board of health, uh
nothing new to report. Uh they don't have any meetings during the summer. Those will resume in September. Uh first aid, uh 46 total calls for service in July. They were uh able to respond to 85% of those calls. So they uh responded
to 40 of them. Uh schools, uh we're nearing the end of uh summer break. First day of school for TBD and CDW is Wednesday, September 3rd. Just want to remind the public to uh please uh while operating motor vehicles, pay a little extra attention and be vigilant uh with
our students going to school and back home. Um back to school night will be Wednesday, September 10th. And lastly on the schools, the uh the board of ed um is or has voted to um open discussions
up for the possibility of um expanding um TBD school. Um they with all the uh overdevelopment that we've had um we have a lot more residents and they need the room. So they're looking at potentially um expanding TBD and TVD
only. That's all I have. >> Okay. Thank you. Uh Councilman Guan. >> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. A couple of updates here from OEM. Uh July was not a busy uh month. That's a good thing. Uh
this is from Andy. Uh they're uh OEM is planning uh for town day. Uh there's going to be a tabletop exercise uh on August 20, so 2 days from now, Wednesday. Um they also monitored the paving, so old pan road and the burrow
streets. Uh Andy also said he used code red app to notify the public of street closures and it worked well. So, for those that are on the app, um we're notified and and again, I don't know what percentage of the residents have it, but um let's continue to roll that out. So,
>> they're properly notified the next time, uh there's emergencies or street closures. Uh for the library, there was no board meeting this month, so I don't have an update on numbers, etc. Uh as we spoke as I spoke to Tom earlier, the the
parking lot has been paved and uh waiting uh the striping. Uh but meanwhile the librarian and the library has closed the parking lot. So uh the residents or the visitors have to park uh on the street. Um so I see them walking little kids across the street to
the library. Uh I'm going to hope that the striping happens before back to school because those parking spots are for uh the juniors at the school. And so let's hope the striping gets done uh quicker than that. Uh library is hiring
a part-timer. Uh the job posting went up a few weeks ago. And then a continued concern and that's the roof looks like it's leaking again. Uh heavy rain has caused uh water in the back part of the
library on the on the floor there. So uh they're going to have to search for a a different solution. Could be brand new roof, etc. But uh the library has been battling uh that leak for a couple years now. Uh, and when it rains heavily, then you know, they're out there with the buckets and cleaning up that water, etc.
So, that's something they're going to look into. Uh, and that's the end of my report, Mr. Mayor. >> Okay. Thank you, uh, Council President Boyce. >> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. So, I noticed we have two members of our environmental commission here tonight. I know one spoke on behalf of the good ordinance.
Um, but there's another one, Wendy King, who called me last week and was curious about the piece of property next to Oaks Park. saw for sale sign there and was hoping that somehow the town could expand the park there and that reminded me of what former mayor Kramer had
wanted to do with that stretch to increase parking and maybe some open space. So I don't know if there's any money in our budget to do such a thing, but I would rem be remiss if I didn't at least mention it. >> And >> well that's the property just sold.
>> Yeah, we it's sold. >> That's sold. That's sold >> privately. >> It was a family thing. >> Okay. >> And we can't buy it from whoever they sold it to, I'm sure. >> No, there's a price for everything.
>> Yeah. Um, >> we did uh just just for, you know, for your we we did have conversations about it >> with the family. >> Um, but as our bur administrator pointed out, it was really a family thing there. and
>> they uh collectively >> opted to sell it on the open market. >> Okay. >> All right. Well, um in happier news, um Timothy Müller is working on his Eagle Scout project, which is to put a Purple
Heart um dedication area within the new Veterans Memorial, which we'll be breaking ground on soon. I'm meeting with Andy this week to do a new layout. Um the challenge that he's facing is uh in his fundraising. I think he may have put the cart before the horse a little
bit if I'm understanding Fred correctly in that he's already had the monument made, but now he's getting into his fundraising. So he was hoping that the Veterans Committee could spot him $800 or so uh with the intention of getting paid back. I told Fred that's not
generally the way it works with an Eagle Scout project and that he needs to come up with some good fundraising options and um you know Fred made some good suggestions with the Norwood American Legion uh post 272 and also the
Hillsdale American Legion and also uh the VFW and then crowdfunding and all sorts of different options and bake sales. So, there's lots of different things. I've been down that road myself. Uh, the planning board, we did not have our August meeting, so there's nothing
to report there. Uh, the environmental commission, again, that's not meeting, but we discussed what's going on there. and golf. Um both our bird administrator and myself have been to the golf course three times
in the last um two weeks because we are hearing a little bit of um chatter from different golf course members that the standards of the course are not being met from a cosmetic standpoint. Maybe the grass
isn't as good and there's some lowhanging fruit, if you will, things to fix that would really dramatically improve it. So, um, those things include cart paths. So, to that end, we've compacted three loads of, uh, what's called QP. It's dense
graded aggregate, and you roll it out on the cart path to make it more smooth. The irrigation system's been having trouble since the the new pump really pumps. Uh, and some lines have been broken. So, Joe's actually done a pretty good job of fixing those. Shouldn't say
actually, he's done a good job of fixing those and receding them. We have a problem with pond scum, a lot of it. So, we really need air raators. So much pond scum that it's clogging up the pipe that pulls the water in and then, you know, spreads it over the
course. So, we really uh are hoping to find money in the existing golf budget for air raators, which we've gotten a couple bids for. Uh next year it'll be different because we'll treat it before it becomes a really bad situation. It's also
unsightly. Um, there have been open trenches near the pump house that will be filled in, I think, as soon as this week, which will again look nicer. The bathrooms look terrible. So, I'm hoping to come up with some bids on retiling the bathroom. Maybe we can consider that
for next year's budget. Uh, we did fix a gate on Mavis at the end of Mavis that their contractor broke. Luckily, the contractor paid for it. So, that's all nice and repaired by Bergen Fence. Thank you, Bergen Fence. and the crab grass is creeping and we're
hoping that we can keep it at bay for the for the rest of the season, but it's uh doesn't stop moving, never sleeps. Um, one really quick old business that I just want to throw in here is that the Oaks Park house plans are done. We're sending those to Tom Scrabel so he can
start working on the bid package for that and we're hoping to have it out. The only real change substantively was to make the conference room wider because the architect had a little too narrow. Uh so now I believe it's 12 feet wide, but it's it is going to be a very nice structure.
>> Where do we So where do we stand on that? I mean, I understand what you just said there, but when is when do we see a building there? >> Um I'd like to award the bid this calendar year. >> Okay. and then get the foundation in hopefully before winter and then framing
and they can the DPW can do interior work. >> We have uh we have money budgeted for this. >> Yes. >> Yeah. >> But once we we get we don't have we have he has a plan but we don't have a I guess
>> amount too. >> So we need to we might need to budget a little. I think we only have 200,000. >> 200,000. Oh, that'll go a long way. >> Yeah, we >> we've already spent >> We have 200. So,
>> was it not a matching grant? What's our >> or that includes that? Oh, we just have the 200,000. Okay. >> So, maybe we'll know what gap we have by putting it out to bid by the end of the year. >> We cannot award a bid without having the
money >> certified. So, we have to get to the point where we kind of know how much this this is, >> but we've also discussed with Andy possibly doing some portions of the work to get the foundation, the structure, the restrooms and and maybe finishing
off the interior with some of our DPW help and etc., etc. So, >> would this would these plans would they go to um a prefab? >> It's no, it's a customuilt. We can send
it, but I don't think that they'll respond. >> Okay, >> that concludes my report. >> All right, thank you. Um, I'll look at two uh just two quick things for me uh tonight. Uh on a on a
lighter note, I had the uh the pleasure and the honor uh once again to uh join in matrimony to uh two young or young couple live in old Japan. and they live in the village and uh I oversaw their their wedding. So that's uh that's
kind of the fun part of the job. So um that was a couple of weeks ago here in uh in Burough Hall. Um one thing that's very important to me is is uh transparency and open communication and a lot of questions arising with development and fees and and this and
that is where is our where's our tax money going? where we're we're you know we must be taking in the plethora of new tax dollars and things like that. Um and if you know uh our auditor Jeff Bliss with the the help of our CFO and and our
bur administrator uh if you're not getting my newsletter I ask that you sign up. We put a we put a blurb in the uh in the newsletter kind of explaining on where the school takes the biggest chunk in the county and utilizing some
surplus that we had then and if we didn't your taxes would actually go up much further. So uh that I believe Anna is on our website now that explanation. So, uh, if you're here tonight, please take the time to, uh, read it and understand it and tell all your friends
to, uh, uh, to read it as well, so they get a good understanding that, uh, uh, how the revenue comes in and and how it's spent in the town, with the school districts, and, uh, and with the county. So, uh, that's that's one thing I I'd
really wish I'd like to get 100% part participation and people understanding where the value of your tax dollar is going. Uh, and that's the end of my report. Uh, so we'll move on to action on the minutes for council presidents. >> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I'd like to make a motion to approve the minutes from the
regular meeting held on July 21st, 2025. >> Second, any discussion on the minutes? Roll call poll, please. >> Councilman Bak, >> yes. >> Councilman Boyce, >> yes. >> Council Gore, >> yes. >> Councilman Marty, >> yes.
>> Councilman, abstain. Okay, moving on to old business. Uh, our tree inspection process. I believe that's for Councilman Yu. >> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I know I reviewed the video last um month now, and I know
we talked about it in detail, and I would like to uh make a suggestion that we move ahead and use Mr. for Shawn Bole as a 1099 employee to take care of this tree u
permitting and enforcement issue that we have with the building department. Um he has a PhD in biology, so he's well qualified for the job. Um, I just have to go over details on how to get him on
our $1099 payroll system. Um, and how we're going to collect that $25 fee when when an applicant submits this. >> We already have that in place. >> Okay. >> Collected the building department and then the 1099. You just have to fill out and then they come in and we he invoices
us for the service he provides with the paint. >> Simple as that. >> Okay. Easy. >> J, could I ask what happened? We've talked about the guy we already are using, Wayne. >> I I was I was told that he didn't want the job. >> Okay. No, that's fine. I I get it. I just want to make sure we're all on the
same page. >> All right. So, with everybody's approval, I'll go ahead with this. >> Could I ask also? >> What did you say? He has a PhD in >> biology. So, what does he know about trees? >> You know what the study of biology is,
Ron? >> I do. >> Study of all living things. Okay. So, but >> he'll be he'll be suitable. >> Obviously, he knows about trees because he has a PhD in biology >> and we have to address him as doctor. >> Let that one go. >> Dr. Tell if it's dead or alive. >> Knock yourself out. >> Dr. Boil.
>> Dr. Bole. >> So, he's branching out. >> Sorry. >> Okay. All right. Well, thank you for uh >> I don't want to truncate this discussion >> this long process uh closer to the finish line. >> Okay. uh like a tree and leaf
>> lightning detection system. Uh our B administrator is going to chat about that. >> Um we are at a point where we have to get something in place. Um the high school is going with Perry weather. Many of the other towns around us is going
with Perry weather. And now that the high school has gone with them, we have nothing because without their sensor, ours don't work. Plus, our stuff is obsolete. That's what got us into this method and that they can't be updated.
So, there's something we can do. So, what I I'd like to get from you guys is a consensus that you're okay with going with Curry so I can get it set up so that we can start in September when you
approve their their um lease. It's it's basically a yearly thing. Um it's going to be comes out to a little bit over $12,000
um per year. You don't buy but that you don't buy the equipment. The equipment is updated by them. It is um all through Wi-Fi. It's more um it's more direct as
to where you're getting the notification whereas before we were getting a notification but the sensor was like indemous. So it wasn't really something that was going on at the at the um golf course. >> Is there a siren? >> Yes,
>> siren and light. They're they're all siren and light. >> The high school has a siren. >> The high school will have a siren. >> And why do we need a separate unit? I can hear it. I don't even have a PhD. >> It's up to you what you want to do and where you want to do it. But
>> no, I'm saying if if they already have it with a siren, >> why don't we just >> What's the local school district doing? >> They are going with weather. >> There's another siren. >> They are putting one there. >> So So these are these are just announcers that we're installing, not
detection systems, right? >> It's a detection system. >> It is a detection. >> Yeah. So to Ron's point, why do we need a detection system? like Stone Point Park. >> Yeah. >> The places we've >> is Stone Point there. >> Chestnut, Irving Street Field. Um the
golf course >> cuz they're holding metal rods. >> Excuse me. >> Well, the golf course I can understand. >> Holding metal rods. >> Yeah. But you have >> because the light goes on and the coaches are told get off the field.
So does does Perryweather tell us where they would recommend we place them given the configuration of our town and our open spaces? >> So they should be responsible for giving us a map of exactly where they want so we have 100% coverage and everybody can hear it.
>> Gallaer Field is right down the road from CDW. >> Then they should just >> you hear CDW, you will hear CDW. >> You don't need it. >> Does it will there be a light a strobe light? No. Well, everybody here CDW >> sign language
>> know what to say. >> We have We have two We have one fire whistle in town. One >> everyone hears it >> unless they're deaf. >> So, yeah. So, let me let me let me tell I sat I sat on the uh webinar team's call. Uh so, it is a little bit more
advanced on what we have where we need them in town. You know, we can we can debate that. Do we need five? Could we go to three? Perhaps if we're going to be on the same system as as our local school and the high school. Yeah, perhaps. Um,
it takes it's a real in-depth weather monitoring system. So, what I like about it is that when it's drizzling out on Memorial Day and everyone wants to call the mayor to ask if we're going to have a parade or not. >> Great point. Okay, good point. >> I get to say I don't make the decision
anymore. these guys made the decision on whether it's going to rain like crazy in in a half hour or not. I'm kidding when I say that. Um liability. Uh I mean my one of my business partners yesterday in Floren Park was on a golf course. Uh you
know the clouds came in here, they went away, we heard about Got struck, he was he was the forome ahead of him. >> Guy got struck by lightning on the golf course. Um, so in this day and age of having technology at our hands to protect our residents, again, we can
debate if there's one at CDW or the high school, you know, do we need one at Gallagher Field or not? As long as we can put them, >> let's say golf course, >> you know, a golf course. >> Golf, we're going from two to one because we don't they said we don't need to. We're just one. Um,
>> so I so I don't know what you need from >> Gallagher. We have one and it's just that you also get that light. So someone who's thin in there is going to see. >> See, Gallagher is great for me because it when it there was no guesswork when the kids got to get out of the pool.
It's going off out of the pool. >> Anyway, I think it's needed tech and I think the technology is there. Do we need five? Maybe we do need three. >> Is it 12,000 for five? It was >> each one each one is 2450 each one of them. >> Okay.
>> Now, talk about how we were paying for this. This was out of >> Well, we were Well, that got >> Oh, that got shut down. >> Yes. By our auditor. Um, we were going to we were going to use OEM funds and uh pay for the four years up front.
>> Unfortunately, since it's a lease, we cannot do that. Okay. >> So, we have to we have found the money. We we did have 2,000 in lightning anyway. So, we have that and you know, we're scraping to get it. If you wanted
to listen, I think we could start off with Stone Point, the golf course and maybe Chestnut Field because it's on that side. So, that would be three. >> And that would spread them out pretty good. Somewhat triangulated spread them out.
>> And then if we see that we really have to, we go for Oaks and Gallagher Fields. That would be the file. >> Will that connect to code red system? >> So say say I'm a parent. >> They were looking into that. Okay. >> Um they were looking into >> say I'm a parent. I'm in Norwood. My
kids at Stone Point. I can't hear it but I get >> it on your phone. >> There'll be an app, right? >> There will be. Okay. >> We used to have an app for the other one. We had an app. And the thing with the app is too that you not only get what you get >> for here, but you will get
at the time. So >> that town that you're in. Okay. >> Yeah. So I mean it's very up to me. >> If anything updates, they update it. All our stuff. If something is down, they know before we do.
>> So I mean it's a great program. The problem is we need to get this done because we are now at a point where we don't >> So we're not budgeted this year for this though. You said you had $2,000. >> We Yeah, >> we looked around and we
>> now so things that we budgeted for OEM. >> Um >> that was in capital. >> That was in capital and this is capital because it's leasing equipment or something. >> So I think we could be safe to go with the three now. um they charge you it's
$400 shipping something like that but the DPW will be putting it up so we don't have installation >> I think the techn I think I think we need as a burrow to place them where they belong golf course I mean oaks is
pretty close right across from the high school we could utilize that but um >> Stone Point >> Stone Point very important town day I remember not too many years ago oh yeah town day was >> you know And I I see coaches across the street from my house. Things go off and
ah I hear it but it's it's get off. >> I I I don't know. >> I'm sorry. We got a question. I'm sorry. Yeah, we got a um the other thing too I remember that uh uh this will notify our police immediately where the other one used to and then it went out. So our
police would go by the field and say off the field, you know, where in the past I've witnessed it that I think we're okay for another few minutes. And >> yeah, >> so it's amazing. >> This is a better system than what we have. It definitely is. It's a lot a lot
more uh precise, uh quicker, and um it's just that it fits our operating rather than us buying the prop equipment and cutting. So, what do you need from the council to consider tonight? I mean, I I'm I'm hearing three. I'm hearing three, not
five. >> Three. >> Yeah. >> Okay. So, I will get a new invoice and by next meeting I'll have the lease to the contract and everything and and we'll go from there. >> And then maybe Jesse, how >> will be a lot less how we're paying for it? >> I think we have
>> No, but if we install it now, we get prrated the amount. Correct. >> What? >> If we install it now, we don't get the full year charge. It's prrated, I assume. I did not hear. >> I don't think so. >> Well, it might I mean the lease might run in September to get another bill, >> but for budget purposes, if you found if
we have $2,000, we could either install one and wait on two for the next year or those are partials that add up to 2,000. >> It's not the It's not a full 2500 times three, >> I think. Yeah, I think it's well worth the cost of 2450 >> for peace of mind. >> Yeah.
>> Yeah. So, we'll have Okay. So, if you're okay, >> go bring us back next next meeting. You'll have something prepared. >> Mhm. >> All right. Thank you. >> Okay. No, thank you. >> Uh, all right. New business. Anything? Anybody have any new business? >> Nothing tonight.
>> See? None. Okay. I'll entertain a motion once again to open the meeting to the public. Motion. Second. In >> favor. Anyone from the public like to be heard? Sir, please. Once again, since you mentioned taxes,
>> our next quarterly taxes, or at least I saw in my statement, are going up quite a bit >> and then they're coming back down again. Why are they going up so much >> and then I'm glad they're coming back down to kind of where they normally are. >> I'll have to defer to our CFO on why they're going up and down.
>> Tax collections can only estimate 5%. That's what we can estimate on as an increase, >> but overall between the county and the board that's why you're seeing catch up quarter and then >> back to
catch up based on an estimate. >> Yeah, >> you're not the only one. >> 16% is burrow. >> I know. >> Okay. >> We'd like to new tax bill is going up there. Um, we'd like to put the
>> paper the uh explanation in there. >> Mhm. >> Yes, please. >> Okay. Uh, anybody else from the public like to be heard? Motion to close. Second. All in favor? I. Motion to adjurnn. So move. Second. Second.
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