good evening On behalf of the governing body of the city of Pake we welcome you to the April 1st 2025 city council meeting In accordance with chapter 231 public laws of 1975 adequate notice of this meeting was provided by resolution of the municipal council adopted on June
18th 2024 setting forth the schedule of meetings for the year 2024 2025 said notice was published and posted on the city hall bulletin board by the office of the city clerk Please be further advised this meeting will be conducted in person The zoom stream
provided is for viewing only and is offered to the public as a convenience on March 19th 2025 Public notice and zoom instructions for the meeting were published in the Herald News and posted on the city of Pake website at www.c cityopsake.com council agendas
Instructions are also available on the last page of this agenda Please be guided accordingly Roll call please Councilman Love present Councilwoman Melo present Councilman Garcia present Counciloman Colany present And Council President Sher
president Should we please rise heavenly Father we want to thank you Lord for allowing us to be here this evening Father God we ask you to please guide us Lord in the decisions that will take place this evening In your beloved name we pray Amen Allegiance to the flag of the United
States of America and to the republic for which it stands one and justice for all My name councilman will unfortunately not be able to join with us Good evening everyone We are on our
agenda Um this concludes roll call and vocation and the pledge of allegiance We now have the pleasure of welcoming the mayor with us tonight Mayor we did receive a call from the business administrator that he was unable to join us with us tonight as he should join us on Zoom You did say
Zoom You're correct sir I stand correct Cannot join us in person remarkable confidence to provide us a report when he returns of some additional services that we may be able to provide to the community uh that will expedite
processes as well as make it much more convenient and incentivize greater support for our small businesses I look forward to his report when he returns council president and members of the city council I I didn't know if you gave us green light to give the mayor's word
a pause Mayor I would never ask you to give pause Never No I was so quick to answer I wasn't sure if it was time to do anything At your pleasure sir We'd be happy to hear your report now or certainly have the time It's more convenient But we have you scheduled for
now Thank you Council I'll be I'll be brief Um I just wanted to share that the recreation department had a wonderful ceremony recognizing the end of the wrestling season for little wrestlers We have wrestlers council president from
the age of seven all the way up to teen years They had a wonderful ceremony The young lady even ended up getting state champion So we're very excited in her division We also have reports that we recently received over 21 LEU what we
refer to as the spider cans trash cans that we will be specifically placing on Market Street as well as Main Avenue Um we're extremely excited about the funding that comes through sources of the state through applications We have one specific in combination with our UE
our urban enterprise zone the BP grants as well where we'll place five main avenue in order to enhance obviously our commercial corridor ensure that we keep it clean as well as Marcus Street We've recently able to add lights to
additional amenities as the spring is coming once again to have park lights and outdoor eating as that's been expanded throughout the state I'm going to just share that we also received a number of brand new meters So we'll be able to uh increase the number of meters
around the city This obviously helps with turnover of parking ensuring that people aren't leaving their vehicles Just specific example would be how avenue where we did the angled parkings At one time we had meters there Obviously when we change the uh the
parking spaces and increase the number of parking spaces we remove the meters But now with brand new meters arriving especially with new technology we'll be adding those meters there We had a very involved uh administrative meeting
regarding D21 We initially got response from the state to address some portions of the littering We consider that we've had some heavy booms and storms However there are still areas that have not been addressed Council President I want to take this opportunity to thank you in
your role as an assemblyman for your constant support and partnership in ensuring that the state can be responsible for 564 municipalities around the state and they have responsibilities over all of the state roads Route 21 being one of them One of
the challenges that we continue to face is the fact that on certain areas that are state property that are within city jurisdiction it becomes again I'll reiterate a challenge because there is dumping and we are limited through our DPW of how much access we have without
the permission of the state We are in talks with our city attorney council president Lee once again reach out to you in your role as an assemblyman to send a letter to the state with an actual date saying if these areas where they're dumping otherwise are not
addressed by this state then the city will go out and clean it is unfair to the residents of the city to have to drive by and see this and we understand the state may have other responsibilities However we're also exploring quantifying the hours the labor the cost for us to clean it and
perhaps sending the letter to the state and saying this is the cost of us doing these uh particular projects of cleaning up on state property and if that can be considered for us in terms of reinvestment I've also been in talks with our chief of the police department
We've been able to increase patrols around uh the city in the summer We're looking to have additional officers that will be joining through our UEE These are some retired police officers We will have more police officers on the road
more visible We've been able to increase presence in our third ward our second ward area And now with our downtown um specific sight of site or substation we're also going to be increasing more presence coming into the spring Council
President right now that is the extent of our reports I do want to share just additionally through our clerk's office that we have passport date We were initially told there would be no more passport days I mean not passport dates
forgive me We will have an additional passport date Um motor vehicle days We were initially told that they weren't able to have any more vehicle dates until the uh the future past at least I think it was the next one was August
July July However there was an issue after May 7th You cannot travel in the United States without a real ID That's a brand new requirement You will need to have a real ID You can still utilize your passport but traveling with your
driver's license and other IDs that begins as of May 7th In partnership with our simul 36 legislative district and sheriff we were able to reach out to the vehicle through our chief which I requested the chief of the police department and our traffic division to reach out to the vehicles We've been
granted an additional date Um what is that date Madam Clerk uh April 30th On April 30th we will have an opportunity to have residents and individuals come and get their Real ID before the deadline of May 7th We're so grateful for that accommodation Obviously we've
reached out to our police department and let them know that uh if they say yes we'll be happy If no we'll have our call directly They respond to no say or call We're fine to accommodate So we appreciate it I say that it is best to say that it's always important
to work in collaboration and partnership with the different levels of government to ensure that we can continue to provide services to all of our residents Also we will have another rabies vaccine day April 12th at our dog park That's
been hugely successful in our city So many residents have come and they've been excited and grateful for that opportunity because it becomes a challenge for them to uh go to bed sometimes to get the appointments but each time we've had it we have a
overwhelming participation by our residents So we're excited about that And where I distinctly refer to it as a passel day I'll conclude with that through our clerk's office we'll have an additional pass day as requests have increased in our city for opportunities
And then in the mayor's report at the end I'll share some infrastructure projects as well as well repairs that we are doing throughout the city As you know we are in that season Spring after the winter the cold the amount of trucks that come by there's wear and tear on our roads spend a lot of work with our
utility companies PSCG the water commission We go after them But in the spring we go filling our potholes and investing with money And then council president there will be a much more detail reporting some of the cutting of funds that we have received report
through the federal government They fun through the state including health grants HUD grants that we will discuss and the impact that it will have on our budget I'm going give that up the mayor's report at the end You you excuse me may you'll give that report at the end of the Yes I know that often I'm
going to go to the public but there have been cuts we received correspondence electronic and otherwise telling us that due to the approach of the administration federal government There are certain health grants that will no longer be uh given
to us Also certain reimbursements that we can no longer rely on There have been dates that have been handed to us Just so people have an idea this impacts our wick our lead services nurses programs that range from giving vaccines flu and
otherwise to our health department This may impact staff We also are seeing impact HUD um recreation programs HUD being the uh housing and the development of new affordable housing All of these
we're taking into consideration as we understand that none of these pots of money are going to be guaranteed in the future So we're trying to be very responsible identifying what funds are guaranteed to be given ensuring that we use the money that we've been allocated
whether through the state or directly from the federal government in a timely fashion Today we have not had a return any of the grants who've been responsible as has been assessed and evaluated by the federal government and in our recent government ratings from the state But I I am concerned that I
will ask for full report from our uh finance dire and our business administrator But in my administrative meeting today we went around with all of the directors and discussed in detail the impact that that could have very real impact Now the city of BC is resilient We have innovative creative
and brilliant minds running our departments My instruction I've asked that we look at the priority list of this this administration and see how perhaps we can tailor our applications to ensure that we're in line with whatever priorities while still providing the essential services to meet
the needs of those who are often underserved within our community give an example of if affordable housing is the issue and they're providing more money for workforce housing then let's tailor applications and work with developers in housing to get workforce housing If uh green infrastructure is no longer the
main uh concentration but perhaps infrastructure projects ensuring that there's employment for obvious reason let us go after grants that will uh focus on infrastructure If there are now additional grants to help law enforcement agencies whether buying
apparatuses police fire possession or safer grants then let's go after all these grants Let's ensure that we don't lose out on pots of money as a result of ideological differences or particular disagreements with the political positions We've all taken sacred oaths
to represent the residents of the city and to ensure that we can bring quality services by applying for every fund available And though we are confident that the state will continue to be supportive we must understand that we are living in different times and we must be cognizant of that in our
approach to apply for funding Have we received any word from our congresswoman or our two senators we haven't shout I'll give you I don't even think the word anecdotally is probably Miss Joyce is on
the line She is the head of our community development She said and these were her words verbatim We have we have say radio silence from HUD They are not responding to phone calls or requests to meetings The challenge is we don't know whether we're going to get the grants So
it makes it difficult for us to approach any any programming or any uh any service outside of us going into our own funds We need to maintain the number that we have committed to the community
over the years We have maintained a tax rate of under 5% So we understand the cost of living that has risen even in some of the responses for bids We have seen a much higher numbers which indirectly are impact as was mentioned
by purchasing agents of concerns of vendors or contractor services of how tariffs will affect us So as we see the cost of services rising the cost of material rising and we understand that we might not be getting as many grants Yes there are a lot of concerns that we
face So we've reached out to your congressional representatives We've reached out to our senator We can't speak to Senator Booker now as he is on hour 21 of his uh consistent approach to fight back against the administration
He is breaking a record He is standing up And I would say whether you agree or disagree with his position we must admire the fact that he is working within the law to object to an approach that may adversely impact underserved
communities throughout our country and his commitment and dedication to ensuring if you've watched any of it I've watched it to uh articulately and eloquently present cases as to why we should truly be more concerned about those who are vulnerable
those who are marginalized and services that are essential to ensure that there is an appropriate safety net and that we don't let anyone go without food without proper education without housing without the support that they need to uh
continue forward with the understanding that the mayor will address uh some of these issues at the end of the meeting Are there any questions now yeah I just had a quick one in terms of the real ID Um is it
appointments need to be made okay All right For those who are listening yes the response was yes you need to make an appointment Okay And and how how do a citizen go about making an appointment so we typically post online and then through flyers which we'll send out to the schools post around different
community centers which will either have a QR code or a telephone number or a website where you can sign up in order to make appointments or call directly Madam clerk is there something There's a link Yes that's what I said Either a link on it or a QR code that will take you to the link or you can call there's
usually a phone number that you can call us to get instruction of how to do it And when will that be available for this next for the 30th i think we're working on the flyer now right we're working on the flyer but the appointments will open up um the week before the 23rd Okay All
right Thank you For those who are online if you haven't heard the week before the 23rd appointments will open up Are there any questions for the mayor at this time seeing none we are on Roman numeral five of our agenda minutes of January 21
2025 and February 4 2025 both city council meetings Are there any additions or corrections to the minutes as presented by the clerk seeing none is there a motion please to accept the minutes as presented second and second Thank you
Roll call please Councilman Monk Yes Councilman Love yes Counciloman Melo yes Councilman Schwarz yes Councilman Garcia yes Counciloman Colom and Council President Sher yes
Thank you We're up to Roman numeral six on our agenda hearing of citizens In accordance with the open public meetings act NJSA104-1 it sec the council opens every public meeting for comments of the public However in accordance with
NJSA10-12 nothing in this act shall be construed to limit the discretion of a public body to permit prohibit or regulate the active participation at any meeting Therefore please be advised that the city council will not entertain any
comments from persons who communicate obscene material make statements which are considered bias intimidation in which a person intends to intimidate any individual or group because of race color religion gender
handicap sexual orientation or ethnicity or makes comments intending to harass or speak any offensive language The person who makes these statements will relinquish their allowed five minutes for public discussion Would anyone like to adjust the council at this
time if you could please share with us your names please Evelyn Reyes I'm sorry If you could bring the microphone a little bit closer and speak a little bit louder Evelyn Reyes And I'm Paula Young Yes Miss Rice Miss Young I am the mother
of um my son that got shot on November 8th and um I want to know why I haven't heard anything from anyone Elijah is my great nephew Elijah's a good student He's a good kid and he's
traumatized He hasn't heard anything from anyone There hasn't been any feedback on the incident that occurred I'm asking places that she's talking about Um Elijah is afraid He thinks he's a target He's he still thinks he's a
target because this hasn't been resolved There has been no contact at all with any family member to let us know if there's any updates or anything And I'm here tonight to ask you on behalf of the mother on behalf of Elijah who's at
football practice right now to please find who shot my nephew Susie do we have any response as a legislative body as a legislative body we cannot take action Uh I would suggest that this is a
matter for the police Chief [Music] of the incident This was last year The end of last year Yes Right The end of last year Was that um in the northwest sector by Monroe no On Aspen Oh the one
on Aspen Okay Oh I'm sorry Okay All right Um do you remember what detective had the job i could find out And but do you remember who who had the investigation part of it joshua Joshua Torres Medina Joshua
Medina Detective Medina All right I'm going to have a conversation with Joshua to get you an update on where that investigation stands I don't want to speak about it Um but you can rest assured it's if if someone hasn't been caught the investigation is still
pending It hasn't been closed Um there's there's a lot a lot of things that have to be done uh ballistics things of that sort that have to be looked at but um I need to check in with Joshua Medina uh to find out exactly where we are in the investigation and I'll make sure he gives you a call
tomorrow Council President I believe this was the incident at Aspen Place that also involved Miss Alice Miss Alice Monz I believe we spoke on the phone Um I know that I reached out both to the families went to see Miss Alice in
person and reached out Um I believe I spoke to you on the phone No because I know I spoke to one of the parents The phone number that was given to me directly to explain the followup but I do want to share that our police investigation involves our prosecutors when it comes to shootings And often
times um individuals may be under the perception that the police uh are responsible solely for charging and arresting where that usually is an arrest investigation which involves our prosecutors and then we utilize the
relationships with other levels of law enforcement to ensure that if the individuals who may be guilty individual or individuals are within the city or outside of the city that we could continue the investigation But I assure you that if you need to speak uh
specifically to the detect the detectives the chief will make an appointment for you to sit down and be updated Often times we don't share information to the public because we may compromise an investigation So sometimes people have the impression that I'm not saying here in this case others will go
well why aren't you guys sharing on social media Facebook where you're at with the investigation just to give a scenario um not related to this but a general one to make the picture If we go we are close to catching the individual and they are I won't say somewhere in Newark let's say we know that they are
in Sacramento then we're also notifying the individual is in Sacramento however you are right you should have been updated uh specifically as the mayor I want to take responsibility for that if you have not received uh any notification or any
update at all from the moment that the crime occurred to now I was in the impression that you were updated I know that I went into Aspen and I spoke to Miss Alice and the number that I received regarding the family I know that I left a message and was able to speak to family members However I think
the saying is that uh that blame is uh is typically an orphan but uh credit has many fathers I think in this case as mayor I want to pass this on to anyone else but myself If you feel that you have not been updated I personally
apologize to you and your family and I will ensure that our chief and our detectives reach out and that you will have a meeting to be given the updates appropriate updates as to where we are with the case If I may ask out of curiosity this is under the purview of
the city or the prosecutor's office Um both Obviously the investigation continues with our local police However any any crime that may result with a weapon or a potential if unfortunately uh we end up with loss of life or an
attempt to lose life the charges come typically from the prosecutor's office So we work together However in certain cases and this is not speaking towards this case if we have a suspect or suspects that may be involved in other crimes then at times we are working in
collaboration with the state or even federal agents And until the investigation and when we say investigation because that could entail so much until they can capture the individual wherever they are and have all of the charges placed we are not at liberty to give details of an ongoing
investigation again because we may compromise the investigation so we don't make them public But to the extent that the parents and family members have a right to know as many details as can be given whether by the prosecutor's permission or federal government then they should meet with our chief and our
detectives to be updated If I if we might suggest to you to uh if the chief you could speak with him and get his phone number um and we can be helpful to you on this Chief if you don't mind outside with him he'll he'll take a meeting with you and make sure
you get all the information you need One second Okay As a resident of Chestnut Street um in the past few weeks I've been subject to hearing gunshots late night um this club this new um new top club that's across the street on
Main Avenue And Chestnut it's a nuisance From 10:00 to 3 or 4:00 in the morning I'm hearing gunshots I'm hearing car horns I'm hearing police And it's an annoyance I'm an elderly woman I'm 61
years old And I should not have to listen to this every single weekend I'm being awakened by pow pow pow pow pow I know what gunshots sound like This is not the first time This is becoming a
regular thing here in Pay and I'm concerned I'm concerned for myself I'm concerned for the people who live in my community And I need to know that something is being done I see a lot of buildings going up but I need to see more active involvement in police
activity in my community as far as being out there and supervising or keeping these young people under control because something bad is going to happen on that corner and it's going to happen this summer If it's already happening now
it's going to happen this summer It has to stop and they're adding on to it now So you have non-stop traffic You can't get through there on a Friday evening because there's that club There's a another club across the street There's a
lot of heavy activity on between Main Avenue and Sherman Street and Oak Street and it's just not comfortable anymore Chief can you help us on this one we haven't received
any shots We haven't received any that location As far as the traffic as far as the traffic condition I'll have officers as soon as possible go in that area to make sure that that the traffic flow is is correct As far as
the the nuisance of the noise we'll also look into that Yeah it's a lot of uh bottles liquor bottles and and this is next to the church you know and they shouldn't have to go into that church on Sunday and experience that right there's all kinds of clothing and stuff shoes
thrown around It's it's it's a public nuisance And like I said my fear is it's going to get worse You know I just want to let you guys know make you aware of what's going on And it's happening like I said more
often than not now Thank you Thank you for coming by council president We also want to add through the council president city council and I know that the chief is adamant about sharing this information that when residents hear anything that may u be interpreted as a gun shooting
to please call our police department immediately Obviously when we respond and we have reports even if if no one is a target there are typically shell cases or uh evidence of shooting in the area What we did have and I'm not saying this is the case was we found an increase of
the uses of fireworks They began being sold months ago and we were getting a lot of reports of the loud usage coming in That's why the chief may not have reports It could very well be gun shooting in that area but we had an increase and we've been cracking down on that recently Sometimes depending on the
evening or what time it is individuals will hear these go off and say there's a gunshot and the police will come They won't find any evidence of shooting But we have been cracking down The uh the woman who spoke um I'm sorry I didn't catch your name I don't believe Mrs
Young Thank you Mrs Young I believe the first uh young lady gave her name Mrs Young had shared Yes there are additional businesses in that area Council President we've actually had a conversation um with Pastor Har
specifically of the uh Manzian Church as well as with the business owners They were at one time using the lot That's no longer available to them The police have stepped up patrolling the area because they were going into Chestnut oftentimes in the back So I had an instruction met
with the chief and the deputy chief We instructed police to be there around those hours I think we should step it up because one thing that perhaps wasn't mentioned but it just came to mind as you said that it's spring and typically in the winter there wasn't a lot of
crowd with the new rooftop dining and and it is a wonderful addition to our city It brings more individuals out and though we want to ensure that we're supportive of people who come for recreation for dining for entertainment we want to make sure that the residents are heard So chief if we can step up
patrol in the area especially specific that window when individuals are coming to use those facilities or coming to go to the dining or those uh club areas absolutely Absolutely Thank you May chief how aggressive are we in terms of
of areas such as those so we we we try to focus on on most of our hotspots with our specialized units our gang units and um our community response units and of course patrol when when there's a report of something like the mayor was saying
it's very important It's critical that we get a call so that then we can document the scene We'll find at these locations like the mayor said shell casings that we can correlate to maybe other incidents that have occurred in not just in Pay but anywhere in the
United States Uh we send the show cases out and we correlate them to other uh incidents that might have occurred in other towns of people that might have been even arrested So um it's critical that at any time that someone suspects shots being fired that we get a call Do
we do we require chief these establishments to have security yeah Most of those establishments that have those type of uh uh uh those type of venues have to have some type of security and it's it's it's incumbent on them to give us a call if any something
occurs Um their licenses depend on it Yes Exactly Not just security but each individual is to be checked as they come in They are required to do so And if there is an incident as a result of them being derelct in their duties or not um being consistent with the expectations
given by the police department they will lose their entertainment license their alcohol license We have closed down a couple of businesses because of this and refuse to allow them to open back up in Pake So we are we are extremely strict and rigid when it comes to those issues
I mean as a taxpayer we're all taxpayers right as a taxpayer object to the fact that part of my taxes has got to monitor these kinds of establishments um you know it just seems to me unfair so they can make a living you
know we have to suffer thank you thank you sir are you finished or did you have he hasn't started me that was okay good evening my name is Derek Young I'm
the uncle SL grindfall to Eliza Anthony I have a question on the Optimus Club Yes I'm sorry You Yes How did his name come about of being one of the outstanding kids in like how did what how did his name come about for him
being nominated or selected for um one of the outstanding kids i'm not I'm not sure I Excuse me Councilman I'm going to interfere if you don't mind This is a council meeting sir That question you'd have to ask the Optimus Club or whoever
but certainly not a member of this council It was not within our purview We don't get to vote We don't get to decide No I'm just asking because like how did his name come out of that you know what I'm saying but yet about what happened Respectfully I would That's what I'm saying
Respectfully I would direct you to That's what I'm saying Like Like don't use him as no political porn and none of that Don't do that sir I'm not I'm suggesting that Optimist Club can answer their own questions My man said on Optimist Club I'm asking them an honest
question I'm not asking nothing I'm not I just want to know I just want to know Again I'm going to to redirect you and ask that if you have a question please ask the question but the questions go to the council president not to anyone else
Council President I know that you clarified if I may to the council just to be clear those that are watching that the the Optimus Club is not in any way directly or indirectly associated with our government or the uh city council It is an autonomous independent
notfor-profit organization that has existed from I believe the 1950s So their operations because some people may assume that they're a branch of government they are not a branch of government They receive recommendations from anyone in the community but they
are not part of the city Thank you mayor Thank you Anyone else uh wish to address the council at this time evening Glad to see everyone Um few things on my agenda I would like to say your name please I
said my name Um I'd like to say a few things Um as the gentleman spoke that the summer's coming up Um and last year uh summer was a bit crazy for the city's sake in crime
First thing first I am a security guard in the city of Sikk and it's really really um tiring for me to see bikers um urinating on my property where I um do security and I can't do anything because
um as a individual for security I have a partner who who's um has rights to do certain things and he told me he can't do anything And I contacted the police department numerous times They they're they can't ticket
anyone They can't arrest anyone My question is can we get something done because these bikers right now are urinating and also um doing flips and all craziness and going
through traffic lights and making dangerous moves through this city of sake And this is going to be continuing throughout the summer And I want it stopped immediately because the more dangerous they are we don't know if they have any
guns or weapons on them I want an investigation immediately because this is um this is a dangerous thing that is going on and I could tell you where exactly they are They go on Main Avenue
to Brookav and and I am on Main A It's really ridiculous that we have these type of um bikers going on right now and it's going to get more dangerous
We invite you sir to speak with the chief of police I've spoken to the police department I believe that there are some legal considerations that uh he necessarily must take into effect You can't just stop someone on the street
because of a loud motorcycle or because you believe that they might have even if um even for health concern or believe that you believe or believe that something is legal that's going on unless you have some sort of proof I'm saying for health concern they're urinating on my property where I do
security Well you'd have to have a photograph or some testament that I do that he did it I do And then we suggest that you share it with the police chief for his perusal But I'm saying that the police
department I've contacted them and they haven't done anything I can't comment on that And I know that the police are tied up in many other things including the testimony that you heard just a few moments ago from someone in Spear I'm saying can we get a
orderance in at all because of this an ordinance to doing what sir to um not allow vehicles flipping their vehicles um backwards and doing certain things like that I I'm not a bucky on the law and I wish that I were at times although
that now was one of the times when I'm pleased that I'm not but I don't believe that doing those cartwheels or willies or whatever they're called is against the law So is there any way that we can get something for just for the city's sake can we get a bill done well the
only purview that this body has is indeed the city of Pake and nothing further um we can discuss it with our attorney again to see if there's any kind of room for action but in most cases we're dealing with constitutional guarantees
Okay And the US constitution apparently and obviously trumps the ordinances that the city council may may pass at one point or another Thank you very much Thank you Anyone else like to address the council
yes Good evening Joe Connesenti Council President It's been a rough month of March Why the first incident they had was a
homicide That was the first one Um the rest of the month the gang members are back and they have a new gang out there I'm sure they I'm sure the chief everybody's familiar
with the new group they got out there now There's been baseball bats There's been stabbings It's been a whole month a whole big mess with the young generation too But the problem there
is these young um teenagers that are getting hit in the head with a bat or get stabbed they're not coming forward because they're afraid It could be they could come back
and maybe wipe out the family You know these are how these gang members work It's a serious matter we have but like I said we're ready in March It's starting early We had it on Henry Street Madison
Street Merrtell Avenue Colombian Park You know it's spreading all over the city Now I'm sure the chief knows about it My next question is 41 Merlo Avenue which is the substation the traffic
division whatever you want to call it the place Um I'm noticing at night they have no lighting on the building I don't know if the switch is off the lights are not working I don't know what the reason is but it would be better if they had the lights on around
there Um my last question is Chestnut Street and Tulum You go from the top of the hill from the uh rehab 360 Chestnut all the way down
to Tula That street is horrible It needs to be You can't patch it It needs to be uh repaved I don't know if it could be done this year or when but that's a horrible Anybody can go there You can see
yourself Patching ain't going to help These are my questions tonight Very good sir Thank you And thank you for your questions Um in terms of it being a rough month of March um there
have been difficulties certainly here throughout the state and throughout the county And um number one number two you mentioned that the lights at the substation are not working right okay We can certainly look into that Council President They're working I believe he claims they're they're off at night The
lights in the area are off at night In the building the lights are off At night yes Why would they be off at night at a certain hour they come off just like the lights around the park go off Um we we do have less traffic in the area and
traffic or I believe the gentleman's words verbatim was or whatever they call it Do believe it's referred to as traffic The traffic division is there and obviously they work in the area during the daytime But much like the lights around city hall are off it doesn't mean there are not police
officers inside of the police department Okay Thank Thank you mayor Thank you That's critical Obviously um the gentleman also mentioned mayor and I don't know if this is for Mr Fernandez who I believe is uh zooming with us
right now but the top of Chestnut Street is it yeah From the top down From the top down needs repavement I know that uh you work with the traffic department and the roads repair um and you uh prioritize which is which and which
needs to be done Yes I know the business administrator is on council president if you were referring to Mr Fernandez Can you help us thank you Council President Uh Tul Tulup is actually one of the roads that's on our list to get repaved and I want to announce Tulup
Yes I understand that there are intersections in which they have to decide which one is in greater need of repair So there is a system and I do know that that area is being addressed u as funds come up uh that we will
continue the road repair We have numerous roads Um I know that we're going to be sharing that shortly right Mayor i don't want to steal your thunder but we will be we're preparing uh to kind of discuss all the roads that have been repaved within the city of Pake which are quite numerous but as you know
council president you know it goes um by grade and location So as they um worse the grade the first they get repaved But there is a plan and that area is getting addressed I will have to go back and
check exactly when Chestnut um is on the list but I can guarantee you that we are addressing roads uh in that area and not only roads but the mayor was adamant and directed that all the potholes now that the summer that the spring has come that
DPW get out there with multiple trucks to start addressing and patching all the holes So we are addressing that Uh it is just the start of spring uh and it's it's not uncommon that a lot of the roads a lot of the repair on the roads are worse uh due to the winter
And Mr Chairman just to be clear if if I would give you a call or my colleagues on the council would give you the call the mayor a call and say "Listen Bond Street is a particular disaster Have when will it be redone?" Does does that happen
um the discussion will happen but the list you know we it's actually goes by the degradation of the road and the list of the degradated road so there is a scaling system in fact um there is and the funding available and obviously yes
thank you mayor sorry and the funding available council president obviously and I want to point to the original report that we're getting uh obviously um calls being told that there will be less funding infrastructure grants and some monies and that directly impacts
the work that we're going to do on roads We we try to do as many roads as possible on a schedule Do calls occur yes we have 58 linear miles of road Every day we receive calls with requests Can you pave this area we historically
have done more in the last two years than in the past 10 years We have a list and we're putting it out We're talking about Monroe Street We've been able to do Summer Street Myrtle Avenue Hudson Third Street Ascension all over the city but we do not have the funds without
drastically raising taxes If we are not receiving additional grants then paying for these roads patching may not be the ideal I would argue it does help rather than the whole to patch it but the cost of paving all of these roads would be astronomical and put an unnecessary
burden on our taxpayers So we try to schedule them out every year with our engineers with the business administrators Correct We give them to the engineers They look at the road They go "This one was done five years ago This one was done eight years ago We really need to take care of this one as opposed to this one where perhaps we
could put it on the list for next year." So we need to confront a new reality where we can't do everything that we wanted to do And there might very well be occasions in the future where other roads that you think are particularly in bad shape Mr transent as well as other people as well We just don't have the
money to fix it Council members if I may may for the council Benson Benson is an example of a road that everyone is requesting but because we've received grant and this is secure for some green infrastructure as we redo the McDonald Brook Doing that road right now wouldn't
make any sense Obviously we'd be paying double for the same work But if we wait when we begin the work there we can actually include the road repair with the additions the adjustments to uh the covert or the bridge and all of the work that's being done there So sometimes it
just makes more sense financially for us to wait on a project so we can do it inclusive with other work that we're doing in the area And you also we've noticed over the course of time under your administration that you seem to choose a street from each one of the
four wards Yes we have had remarkable success in applying for grants in the past and ensuring that we're fixing roads in every single warden and whether we're adding a traffic light on Pennington or on how a Myrtle or we're going downtown to redo Third Street we
are hitting every area of the city and we have the records to show Thank you very much Anyone else wish to address the council at this time seeing no hands I move to close the public portion Second There's a motion There's a second to close public portion
Roll call please Councilman Monk Yes Councilman Love Yes Councilman Melo Yes Councilman Schwarz Yes Councilman Garcia Yes Counciloman Colom Montz Yes And Council President She Yes Thank you Roman numeral seven on our agenda
Ordinances for second and final reading Hearing is required Number one proposed ordinance 2480-25 an ordinance amending the designation of restricted parking for disabled persons by license New Jersey license plate number Is there a motion please to open public hearing move it
Second Motion second Roll call please Councilman Monk yes Councilman Love Councilwoman Melo yes Councilman Schwarz yes Councilman Garcia yes Counciloman Colz and Council President Sh Yes Thank you Ladies and gentlemen is there anyone
who would like to adjust the council on this item and this item only seeing no hands I move to close the public portion Second Motion and second to close Councilman Monk Yes Councilman Love Yes Counciloman Melo Yes Council Yes
Councilman Garcia Yes Counciloman Colz Yes And Council President Sher Yes Thank you There was a motion to close Yes Is there a motion please to make the ordinance second Motion and second Roll call please Councilman Monk yes Councilman
Love yes Councilman Melo yes Councilman Schwarz yes Councilman Garcia Councilman Gom and Council President Shar Yes Thank you The ordinance is unanimously approved Repunication Roman numeral 8 on our agenda items 2 through 7 Are there
any questions please on 2 through 7 seeing no lights at this time is there a motion please to accept 2 through 7 so moved Second Motion and second roll call Councilman Monk yes Yes Councilman Love yes Councilwoman Melo yes Councilman
Schwarz yes Councilman Garcia yes Counciloman Bomz yes And Council President Sher yes Thank you All matters listed here are considered to be routine in nature Items 8 through 15 Are there any questions please on 8 through 15 Special on 15
I'm sorry Councilman Special on 15 Special on 15 Thank you I'm terribly sorry that I didn't catch that before Questions please on 8 through 14 and 15 and 15 No question No I'm sorry So it's 8
through 14 Yes Motion second and second please On 8 through 14 Councilman Monk Yes Councilman Love Yes Councilwoman Melo Yes Councilman Schwarz Yes Councilman Garcia Yes Councilman Colonz
And Council President Shar Yes Thank you 14 only please Is there a maker 15 15 Something about that Second Motion and second Roll call please Councilman Monk Yes Councilman Love Abstenture Councilman
Melo Yes Councilman Schwarz Yes Councilman Garcia Yes Councilman Coltz Same and council president shar Yes thank you We're up to resolutions for consideration Number 16 is a resolution authorizing closed executive session of the city council pic Susie do we have
anything no council president Mr Fernandez anything from your perspective no council president Thank you sir Mr Mayor none at this time council Thank you Some members of the council Very good On items please 17 through 27 Are
there any questions please on 17- 27 seeing no lights at this time Is there a motion please to accept 17 through 27 so move Motion and second Roll call please Councilman Monk Yes Yes Councilman Love Yes Counciloman Melo Yes Councilman
Schwarz Yes Councilman Garcia Yes Councilman Colz Yes And Council President Shar Yes Thank you Repair 10 on our agenda payment of bills Uh council president excuse me So two addendums There are addendums I
apologize There's an addendum submitted by the clerk and approved by the council to include It is item proposed item 27A a resolution authorizing the acceptance of additional grant funds from the New Jersey Department of Transportation for
the transportation alternate alternatives design assistant grant for the final design FD phase for the market streetscape improvements project Is there a are there any questions please on 27A no Seeing none
is there a motion please to accept 27A so move motion and second Roll call Thank you Roll call please Councilman Monk Yes Yes Councilman Love yes Councilman Melo yes Councilman Short yes Councilman Garcia Councilman Colinez and
Council President She Thank you Proposed addendum item number 27B resolution authorizing amended agreement with NVS for the final engineering design services for state of New Jersey Department of Transportation Market Streetscape
enhancements Any questions please on 20 proposed item 27B seeing none at this time is there a motion please to accept 27B so move Motion second and second Roy call please on 27B Councilman Monk yes
Councilman Love yes Councilwoman Melo yes Councilman Schwarz yes Councilman Garcia yes Counciloman Golz and Council President Sher yes Thank you Uh payment of bills Are there any questions on the bills as submitted by the clerk seeing no lights at this time Is there a
motion please the bills Motion Second And second on the bills Councilman Monk Yes Councilman Love Yes Councilman Melo Yes Councilman Schwarz yes Councilman Garcia yes Counciloman Colz yes And Council President Sher yes Thank you
Administrator's report Mr Fernandez None at this time sir Thank you sir Mayor's report Council President um as I've already gone into some detail regarding uh the news that we received
potentially stopping certain grants and programs I'll have a full report for the next council meeting Again as I shared our health department is concerned regarding specific monies that were put aside to help whether it's women and
children through wick whether it's flu shots and vaccines that were made available A lot of the co money made available has been stopped Thankfully we were very responsible in how we utilize those funds within the city So we are
not in a position where we're overly concerned that there's money that has to be returned or money that was uh allocated for certain programs or uh services in the city that they're going to call us and say "We need this money back or you're not going to get reimbured for." However moving forward
many of these grants again whether it's a HUD through housing then we may not have funds whether it's for home repairs whether it's for firsttime home buyers program whether it's assistance to families that find themselves in
desperate need and many of these funds are up in the air our director of community development Though she's had good relationships with staff members and directors Joyce Hunt has mentioned that when she has communicated in the past however because they're not receiving specific direction they're not
giving specific direction to municipalities like ours So they're not getting a lot of phone calls returned or emails responded outside of just we don't have any further updates as of now makes it difficult for planning how we
will approach this year Um in the next few months I know that our director of finance Omar Garcia along with our business administrator will give a full presentation of our upcoming budget to the city council Our finance director
was with our auditors today as we do every year where we go through an extensive and detailed audit of all of our funds and how they're utilized within the city to ensure that a full report is given to the council I do want to share um that the very first well the
first woman who became a police officer on record in the city of Bake became the police officer in 1930 June 24th Miss Stella Center Miss Stella Center However after that one of our pioneers Judith
Kha and Judith Kha passed away last week She was uh as of record the second There may have been someone on the force in 1917 but we have no official record We're looking back that far to see if we can uh find out We'll ask the chief I
believe he was just starting his career as a police officer in 1917 He was a rookie at that time But um we do want to say I spoke to the daughter Kim directly and that she was appreciative of the condolences sent on behalf of the city I
spoke to the chief to ensure that we put a plaque recognizing as we often um do when we have the information immediately of retired officers that have passed away in our wall that recognizes officers who have served in our city and have passed away So I wanted to give
that information as well as share with the council that we recently received a grant for $100 million and I'm extremely excited about that money Um we're looking to see how we could use it for roads or police We're trying to invest
it in in the world's largest municipal koi pond where we will remove all of the parking in the islands If we can get the project done by the end of today April 1st if we can get it done by the end of April 1st by midnight we'll apply the
money If not we have to return it all I was told uh specifically if the koi pond is not completed by midnight they will take back the hundred million on April 1st People that's the only April Fool's uh comment that I'll make on this day
Sorry Council President We had a post on behalf of the city that people thought was serious on our behalf where we have a rendering of a koi pond going down the islands Some individuals were a little concerned and others were very supportive of an amazing addition and
amenity that they thought would be added by midnight tonight and we had to clarify that is that is not the case The city is not investing in a hund00 million koi pond But I wanted to make you aware in case you get any phone calls
had m if I may ask um I know you're in close touch with many other municipalities under government structures what are responses to these significant significant declines there are concerns to a certain extent this
year we have good relationships with the state and I don't say this because you're here council president obviously you work with your colleagues in the state legislature as our assemblymen We've enjoyed historic good relationships with the governor We've been able to ensure that our approach
and applications whether through our grant writers or specific as we present our requests for the city have been done in a way that we can consistently bring in new money either from the state the county and even the federal uh government in order to have projects
moved along enhancing and expanding park space open space But in regards to services and programs I'm going to be candid I'll be direct and try to speak plain This administration has taken a broad broad approach at at looking at
all funding and stopping it and that is going to affect real services To the extent that the city will be okay in the immediate future I commend this council and all of the directors administration We're in a position where we can provide services
to those who are in need Continue DPW Continue police But as individuals come and say "We want more roads paved We want more police More police in third W We want more police in second ward We want we're going that comes with a salary We have to pay We have to pay
overtime We have to pay for those services." When individuals go "We want more DPW." We're going that that's a cost us We would like you to add this amenity to the park We want more recreation for our kids That comes at a cost Government in itself is not a
revenue generating um agency in the sense that we look for profit We're not selling you products out of the city of Pake So we rely on grants on taxes and certain revenue generating services whether it's inspection through permits
or sometimes the funding that comes in through the courts or parking But that's a very small number in comparison to the overall budget So the only real way that we generate additional revenue for programs services staff otherwise would be through taxes And if we raise taxes
then obviously there's push back from the community So then we would look at areas where we would potentially cut services or personnel in order to make up the difference The challenge that we face as a legislative body as the executive body is where do we cut it
we are one of the most densely populated cities in the United States If we cut firefighters or go to volunteers we don't live in a rural community where perhaps a fire in one structure remains contained to that area If firefighters aren't there immediately to respond an
entire block can go in flames So we can't have volunteer firefighters We need people there 24 hours a day If one would say "Well why don't you cut the police force?" I would go visit our council meeting and see how many complaints we have Not even all stemming from issues within the city Sometimes
they come from without the city issues and globally or statewide we hear of threats to communities to areas We must have a sufficient and adequate police department and divisions whether gang units investigative units special units
in order to address the everchanging threats that we face today some which are based on threats that existed hundreds and thousands of years ago But now people have new technology and new means to follow through on those threats
So we need to have appropriate personnel and equipment If you say why do we have so many DPW i would go tell me when it's going to stop snowing flooding when trees will stop falling when garbage will stop being accumulated and I can cut those services If you say
individuals will no longer come to the city looking for passports birth certificates marriage licenses they no longer will come to get permits in order to build their homes or come to any one of our boards for a expanding their property or their children won't come to
participate in programs in our parks There'll be no more activities in the city Then I can talk to you realistically about genuine cuts We try to the best of our abilities to manage But as I speak to our colleagues and I can stay on this soap box nowhere near
as long as our senator Washington but briefly as I say this everyone's feeling the same pinch We recently saw on the news cuts for school boards One of our neighboring municipalities Wayne is looking to remove essential contracts within their school system that may
impact security Now obviously I can't speak to another municipality and why they make decisions They may very well be able to justify it Other municipalities are do massive cuts within their school districts within their city halls Some of them again each
municipality is different when you juxtapose them Some of them can say "We don't really need this many personnel We've looked at cuts not filling positions We're doing everything possible but council president the pressure is being felt not just throughout the state of New Jersey but throughout the country." Sometimes these
decisions feel arbitrary Sometimes some of these decisions come with promises long-term promises Down the road these tariffs will result in greater savings But our purchasing agent tells us that those who are responding to our requests for proposals go I need to charge you
350,000 more for this project because materials cost more We're getting more push back Services cost more We're going we're going to have to hold off that project to next year that we planned for this year because we're not going back to the residents of Paken saying we're going to do a doubledigit tax increase
We can live without this project Now what we cannot live without are essential services emergency repairs These we continue an example we gave in a few meetings ago the garbage contract Garbage contract came up at
$500,000 more than the previous contract a few years ago If we didn't lock that in now we may face a million dollars higher in a couple of years We don't want to do a short-term contract There are certain health uh benefit costs and coverage that have gone on by the state
We have no control over that It's not something we can reject and tell the state "No your increase we re we're subject to it We have to work that into the budget." But when those issues are further exacerbated by withholding grants by
leaving us a bit in the air not sure what monies we will receive I would suggest that perhaps not seven years but for the next couple years this is the years of saving These are not the years of plenty
Seems like the seven counts That's the exact reference Yes Thank you ma'am Thank you Response from members of the council If not may I hear a motion to please so move it Motion and second Roll
call to a please Councilman Oh excuse me I'm sorry Let me hold that thought Forgive me Um the terms of all members of the zoning board will be expire excuse me have expired
if you would please contact the clerk and find out which members you had chosen uh with council approval Um but at the next meeting I would like to call upon everyone to uh diligently fill the form out speak to weather Um all
appointments are made by the council as a whole So there would be an initiator and a second and then of course the full vote That being the case we took a a motion to adjurnn Can I have that again please roll call The only Councilman Monk
Councilman Love Yes Councilman Melo Yes Councilman Schwarz Yes Councilman Garcia Councilman Colz And Council President Shar Yes This meeting is adjourned Thank you Thank you Mayor for that