##VIDEO ID:aQc4eZo5st0## good evening on behalf of the governing body of the city of Pake we welcome you to the January 7th 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 regular meetings for the year 2024 2025 said notice was published and posted on the city of Pake 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 December 18th 2024 public notice and instructions for this Zoom meeting were published in the Herold news and posted on the city of Pake website at www.city of p.com Council agendas instructions are also available on the last page of this agenda please be guided accordingly roll call please man councilwoman Melo present councilman Schwarz present councilman Garcia present councilman col monz pres councilman love pres and council president share President should we all please rise father God we want to thank you Lord for allowing us to be present this evening Lord we ask you to please guide us in the decisions that will take place this evening in your beloved name we pray amen Ali to the flag of the United States of America to stand naice council president if I may if I can just ask for a moment of silence in acknowledgement of the LW of former President Jimmy Carter and we recently had the loss of a resident in a fire here in the city of thank you thank you Council as the council will note we had originally scheduled the pic Valley Water uh to be with us tonight to share with us uh information about that agency which is third approximately owned by the city of p as well as the cities of Patterson and Clifton they had asked that we U Move the date uh to our next meeting um and with the council's permission we did uh proceed to that we are on our agenda if you don't have an agenda you can access it through the internet at the city of pic website there you will find all the information uh that the council has received in terms of ordinances Communications resolutions and other information what is available to you is exactly what has been provided to the council by the uh Administration which we thank for their efforts in that sense we are up to R num four on our agenda mayor's update Mr Mayor so wonderful to see you thank you council president um as I mentioned earlier and we acknowledg the loss within our city we had an unfortunate um loss of a resident due to a fire that occurred on New Year's Eve where 25 Apartments were affected and obviously our firefighters in the city of P including Mutual a um that came in from Bergen and pay County assisted and through the hard work of our fire chief of our human services our OEM we were able to get the residents back into the building that was the evening of New Year's Eve we went right into the pinata drop ceremony into the city where we had so many residents come despite the weather and the rain got filled on Main Avenue there were many children and families in this tradition has now gone on for seven years and was noted throughout news channels as well as different media has become something that many residents expect and so it was a a difficult evening but one also of a of Celebration and of coming together of families so again I wanted to share that and with that stated today we had a fire at a fire on Lafayette at 452 Lafayette a two family structure by God's grace and I had mentioned earlier about the loss of life we did not have any loss in this fire we had firefighters again respond from Bergen in Pay County I cannot highlight enough the the appreciation the admiration that I have for firefighters for police for First Responders our police arrived immediately sometime around 4:30 a three alarm fire to find two children uh out the window and they were able to ensure that the children the parents and the families are are out safe right now presently while we're in these council chambers we have over 15 individuals at our rec center right here in City Hall I want to thank the reced cross that is with us to assist with relocation efforts our Human Services Judith Sanchez arrived with coffee and donuts for the families obviously they have lost so many material things valuable sentimental things but all those material things can be replaced and we all know that life cannot it is sacred and again I reiterate that I'm so thankful that we did not have loss of life we had one injury that occurred with the firefighter afterwards it was a result of the extreme weather conditions the water turned to ice immediately in terms of combating the fire as you know extreme frigid temperatures outside but that firefighter is in the ER they've been seen and they they'll be going home so they're fine we keep them and him and the families in prayers we will continue to work with the families to ensure that we can assist them facilitate any application or process to ensure that they are to the best of our abilities I can't say made whole when you lose everything there are things that cannot be replaced but that they would find themselves in a in a position where they once again have roofs over their head and they're secure of course it's uh children are still in school we have five children there so there are uniforms there uh book bags there's a lot that we can do but so much that we depend on the community I did want to share on a much lighter note today was the launch of our first free shuttle service around the city of bay we demonstrated it live today with the department heads it is a free shuttle that travels around the city to every Ward it goes uh from Pake right here on Pake Street down to Marcus Street up monrose Street all the way pass Myrle Avenue to paulison it goes up to Pake Avenue pass vanan hon the train station down Brook Avenue back down Maine Avenue and then all the way back up here to uh City Hall we're extremely excited as it expands opportunity for connectivity around the city and this free shuttle allows you to connect from the train station to different bus stops around the city it helps residents and those who work or visit our city enjoy our amenities whether the park or support our local businesses going down Market Street maroe Street and may naav or as me and the business administrator like to call them the three Big M Moray Monroe Maine and Market Street but also Broadway and Lexington so many of the business owners are excited directly it assists our uh senior citizen population as well as those who can afford Transportation those who may not own vehicles or don't always have the money to jump on a bus it's exclusively staying within the city of Pake we tell people it goes all the way down to Wall Street and Broadway but not New York Wall Street or Broadway we have our own Wall Street here I believe council president is an expert at both of those Wall Streets the one in the financial district and the one here and also Broadway they get to visit our eateries on Broadway it also allows for uh for individuals who come out of school the high school kids or some of our uh middle school kids to jump on the free shuttle right after class as it runs Monday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. so they may be able to go from the Forceman library and jump on to the free shuttle make it back to Market Street grab something to eat and then go back to study that's our goal with our students to have them study eat and then get back to studying but again the free shuttle runs around continuously throughout the city and again we're extremely excited we're going to explore the opportunity of of growing this it's funded through our UE as we sit down every year uh we come up with different ideas of how we can best utilize funds to uh enhance the quality of life for our residents and provide services especially for those in the greatest need while ensuring that we support our local businesses and this route goes through our uee zones so we're very excited we have two buses right now the capacity in each one is 24 it's welcome to all unless you're the 25th person then you have to wait for the second bus and then the second bus welcomes you but uh today we were exploring some additional stops council president members of the city council potentially by the uh dog park as well as Midway on May now we want to make sure that we maximize the opportunities and again our reiterated is free free to anyone to utilize we're also exploring in the future a potential to work with the county and have one that goes from Clifton Patterson and Pake for free going back and forth and I think our Council president's Been instrumental in those conversations as well as our business administrator and the administrator of the county because this effort and though we are excited to launch it seems to be something that got everyone else excited and they want to get on board the pun is intended it's just not a good one we got it we the jokes will only get worse as the new year goes on but again I'm extremely excited about this new launch because it means so much to our community and then if you look right across the street our parking deck is really moving along we have already put the first two levels on uh the pieces are coming in as it's a prefab and it's coming together that's 300 new parking spaces available for the community in addition with all of the uh parking lots that we've been able to identify around the city and be able and we were able to create in order to provide more parking in what has recently been uh I think we were at one time the fifth most densely populated city in the United States we may have moved up one or two maybe we're at eight but when ju opposed to uh municipalities of 50,000 or more we're the fifth most densy populating 3.2 square miles the opportunities to create additional parking means a lot and I want to thank the efforts and the cooperation and collaboration of this Council my Administration everyone who's working so hard to ensure that we could provide greater services for the residents in this city so it's it's been uh it's been quite a week with ups and downs losses and reasons for celebration but in a city like that's what happens but we continue together and we're optimistic and excited about all the good things in store for us in the future Mr business administrator is anything that I'm missing okay thank you thank you council president on the country Mar thank you thank you for the many initiatives that were taken um the New Year celebration I'm I all of my colleagues were there as well it was an absolutely Sensational event um despite its having come at the time when it did um very important question Mr Mar with the temperature being as hot as it as cold as it is the buses are heated president the buses are heated to the eltion of uh Francine wise who uh who said that that was the only condition she would uh jump on the bus initially but no they are heated and they're also uh handicap accessible I think that's an important Point thank you for reminding me of what's included on the bus we ensure that every individual to the best of our ability has the opportunity to enjoy this free service around the city excellent any questions yeah just want the hours Mr Mayor the hours right now are 10:00 a.m. to 6:30 pm. we have an app there's a QR code on the bus and on all of the bus stops um councilman and whoever looks at the QR code you can put it on your phone it gives you the exact route and time one of the additional features I think is exciting is that you can see up to the minute when it's coming and where it is so if you're if you're at a business and you want to get a coffee or a dut or uh as business administrator Fernandez said a snack whe one that you eat or otherwise if you're single some people will get that from the live you're you're able to uh to take some time and then schedule it for the bus pickup so it's from 10 10: AM until 6:30 the reason why 10: am. is that's when most of the businesses are open and since it's in our U Zone we want to ensure that individuals can travel to our business our different eateries our retail stores until 6:30 and that gives enough time after work after school for people to enjoy in the future we want to explore the potential for the weekend but as we're beginning and we're going to assess and uh see and gather data we're going to see how we can improve enhance or perhaps change but we were very excited with the launch today it went extremely smooth around the city and there's information online on there's information online on our website you can download the app the app is called uh P go pel go just like you're spelling p p a SS but instead of the AIC it's uh IO b b which means uh traveling and go which literally means go just you just that's all it means I have nothing clever for that I'm sorry but B go and you download the app and it gives you all of the routes and the days so right now Monday through Friday from 10: am. to 6:30 pm. all right any other questions to the mayor with the council's permission we're on R numeral five of our agenda hearing of citizens in accordance with the open public meetings act njsa 104-1 and SEC the council opens every public meeting for comments of the public however in accordance with njsa 10 col 4-12 nothing in this act shall be constru to limit the discretion of a public body to permit prohibit or regulate the active participation Pati at any meeting therefore please be advised that the council will not entertain any comments from persons who communicate obscene material make statements which are considered bias intimidation in which a person intends or to 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 will relinquish the allotted five minutes for public discussion is there anyone who would like to address the council hello everyone my name isar I would like to talk to you about the proposed rank control okay sorry about that I would like to talk to you today about the proposed rank Control Ordinance I am a tenant and a resident of aake for 38 years I moved into my unit 2002 therefore I'm not protected by the current rent control law U my landlord purchased the property on December 13th on December 17th my landlord um sent me an email raising my rent $300 effective January 1st without a valid reason um he did it to other apartments there's 16 Apartments where I live some of them do fall under the K rank control most of us don't um I tried to negotiate by sending him an email um because at this time it is hard to just come up with an extra $300 a month whether it's January 1st or February 1st because he shouldn't have raised it for January 1st the apartment um has not been upgraded um in the 22 years that I've lived there um there has been no upgrade to the bathroom the kitchen it's it's livable but it's not fair market he's never going to get fair market right the way he looks um I just wanted to let you know I know there was some hiccups about whether you should pass it or not in New Jersey there are currently 117 municipalities ities that have enacted rank control I am the rank control administrator for municipality in New Jersey um their ordinance allows for 4% rent increase not an 8% and Senior 65 or over their rent can only be raised 2.5% um there's a fee there's a registration fee for units there's a application fee for Capital Improvements there's an application fee for a hardship application there's an application fee for vacancy allowance application which is only allowed every five years so what the mayor's proposing I think is more than fair while I may not agree with the 8% an for six years because the average person does not get a raise in their salary um of 8% every year or their social security income doesn't go up 8% every year I believe that something is better than nothing and what you're proposing is fair and acceptable and if if my landlord was willing to negotiate and speak back to me instead of threatening with court eviction I would have probably gave them the $300 he said let me upgrade these things in your unit but instead of coming at me with the offer I gave him he just denied it and said well we'll just see each other in eviction court so with all that being said I've been dealing with this since Thanksgiving um I'm glad that the ordinance Was Heard and it wasn't tabled at the last meeting and I'm hoping today you would consider and pass it thank you for your time thank you for your comments forgive me just you mentioned your name I didn't get it my name itar i a m a r Roman r o m n oh and um quick shout out to the RNR advisers who've been putting up with me for the past couple for the past month because they've been great in explaining the current ordinance and um dealing with giving me information on reaching out to Legal Services thank you you you'll forgive me the the reason I specifically asked is uh I believe you had shared with members of the council copy of your resume in oh yes I did oh okay I I didn't want to mention I just want to get clarity and an interest to serve on our soon to be we think uh rent control board sure I I definitely would be from your resume I gather that you are from May 2022 to the president the rent control administrator yes in Montclair I established the office it actually became effective in May of 2022 and I established the office from basically they said here's a 20page ordinance create an office so I did everything from the the forms to um help with the board we have seven board members to alternate so it's nine alog together we do three mandatory meetings a year I do the minutes the agendas um pretty much some of them are virtual some of them are there I prepare special meetings we've only had one Capital Improvement application um we've had maybe two complaints go in front of them um because their ordinance is a little different than this one but yeah and and it's working in Monclair it's working I mean I I yeah it's working I I got in the beginning like with anything that happens um but real estate is booming in Monir I don't see it going down um apartments are being rented vacancy allowance applications are being submitted um tenants are I notice that tenants are scared and when I do speak to them and give them the right to I don't realize I don't think tenants realize it can be a little bit of a bully sometimes when they just automatically say well and people get scared going to court I'm not scared because I've worked around plenty of attorneys and it's okay for me to it's a person to me let me just speak let's negotiate you want something that I have and I'm willing to pay for that service but some people get scared and you know they don't know English they don't know the language like one of my neighbors she doesn't speak English so we were talking and she's like what are you doing I said well I'm going to the council meeting today because you she's like well that you know what happened so the only one I was able to bring was my other neighbor she's lived there 50 years and she falls under the um 1999 rank Control Ordinance but she's here in support good thank you so much you're welcome um you independently submitted your resume to the city yes I did very good yes I did and just for clarity sake it was as an expert as a landlord as a ten as a tenant as an expert I I I mean I worked in Section 8 so I guess I would qualify under I still help that office parttime in M well in the city I work in I don't know if you want me to say where uh I work but I work at the manager's office and the Law Department I help that Section 8 office parttime and then I do the rank control Administration as well you too thank you thank you so much problem councilman yeah I have one question if I may do you have a a lease with your landlord no he's month a month why is that a is that say he won't give a lease the landlord the landlord owned the the building for many many years passed away so his daughter Managed IT he owned it they both passed away within three days of each other um so about a year ago when the ARs took over they finally decided to sell the building we received leases in November I didn't sign the lease I didn't even review it because if you haven't closed on the building why am I even entertaining a lease I emailed the current owner at the time and I said I got this lease but you haven't sold the building yet she never answered me I emailed him and I said said hey you're in the process of purchasing this building when is the closing what's going on he never answered so now I got a slew of of email threats and no one's answering me came December 13th the building's purchased I got a call I gave them my email address all I get is a statement in the email saying hey your rent's now $1,700 $300 more and I said okay I emailed back I said I'll give you CPI well you don't fall under rent control the previous landlord she always rent raised the rent every year um whether it was CPI or the $25 she she worked with us so she has raised the rent every 12 months um okay when and then all he said was you know it's 300 or nothing I I appre I just want the clarity because you know most usually there leases in place so landlord can't just say okay next week I'm raising you $300 right so if there's a lease at least a person's protected for 12 months 15 months 18 months whatever it is so I was just curious how you able to how you just tell you okay you know next week I'm was Raising it was supposed to be raised in August because she does it every 12 months but because of the whole passing away and the property being for sale they didn't raise it in than thank you very CL with the council's permission I'd like to include Roman's resume with the other three resumes that we've received in terms of consideration by this Council this evening or not at its pleasure is there anyone else who would like to adjust the council at this time Joe kenti good evening Happy New Year to everybody council president my first question is um back in 2024 I gave a list of uh things that that I've seen and witnessed to have done and as of hopefully 2025 they could be all taken care of um my first one is Irving Place the inlegal one side of the street parking brought it up many times there's a study being looked into that's all I got the whole year um bus stops the parking and bus stops um the same routine doing a study looking into it blocking crosswalks and the double parking so they started the thing with the double parking but they only come out in the morning what about the rest of the day or come back around and you see the same cars again we have a big problem with double parking and all these violations that's there we got five tow trucks Co companies maybe you should bring back uh towing cars again like they did before and maybe we won't have all these problems this seems like nothing is working a officer goes with a double park car and he's on a on a horn blowing on a horn give him a ticket he shouldn't be there it's a violation my next question is uh bake Avenue and V Howen The Underpass one side of this uh the underpass has lights and the other side don't have no lights so I don't know um maybe that could be looked into this year maybe get that strained out and go back to 147 149 Broadway last year there's a so many things going on with this property it was sold uh they took over the uh Flores now next door that's another building so there's three buildings and I don't know if it's still under the owner or they gonna get a new owner or what's going on you know this garbage trash everything all over this property it's terrible part of the buildings coming down in the front in the bags of porches are coming down you know the place should be knocked down already um you know something got to be done with this landlord I know he's supposed to be in court but I don't know if he's ever going to go to court because if you knock the buildings down what's the sense of going to court so whatever happens there uh going to New Year's Eve 361 Madison Street the fire they had there which was a tragedy um the problem is during this fire they had no alarms I don't know this building is under investigation or what is what's happening here and this landlord throughout the city I'm sure you must know who he is he's a slum Lord he's getting in the way with a lot of his property under violations under city and state violations he's getting away with it I don't understand why you know this stuff should be you looked into um if the buildings are not livable shut them down that's it get rid of this guy my last question is the shuttle bus it might be a good thing for some people but we have senior buses we got County buses we have people's insurance they can get Transportation all free we got Jersey Transit we got mini buses I mean what and now with this bus you're taking a away a parking space wherever they G to park you wherever they got to stop you're taking a parking space so now that's cause the so I don't see the purpose of this bus this is terrible too many buses you're only 3.2 miles how many buses you need NS and these are my questions hope I get well I appreciate you being here appreciate your uh reminding us of of the concerns that you have and so many other other people have as well double parking is an ongoing problem um the police officers are do move the cars along as they need to be moved um there is just so much that one can do because obviously there are the concerns that the city faces on a day byday um in terms of double parking I I will understand uh your concerns um and the concerns frankly of every municipality that I've spoken to and that's a lot and I know the mayor and the ba as well as my colleagues on the council have explored this throughout stop toing them excuse me sir I'm responding to your comments no it's all legal no no sir this not a give and take it's me responding to your comments um in terms of the van hon underpass Mr Fernandez we're redoing that aren't we yeah so actually this opens up a beautiful thing that we're in the process of doing uh we received $5 million from the Department of Environmental Protection to redo that whole section and build a pump station that will pump the water up out into a retention system so we are currently working with the Department of Environmental Protection so it would be um would it be financially sound to start spending money in that area when we're going to redo that whole section down there but we did receive over $5 million uh we're excited about the projects we are now working with the state of New Jersey D um to figure out the best approach to get the project funded and moving forward there's some additional Renovations that will occur and obviously we're going to ensure to coordinate with this particular um work but we are adding lights as was mentioned one half does have lights there was a time where they were both out so we got that working but we are looking to add additional likes we're just going to coordinate to maximize because if we start working it has to stop as the ba is stating because of this more involved uh project and and that wouldn't be wise thank you sir Mr Fernandez I wonder um we have too many buses in the city of Bic so just to uh respond to one of Mr kend's comments they are not free so the majority of the things he just said are not free like the New Jersey Transit bus and the the uh you know the ride share programs and the parent transit buses that are free are for seniors only um and so it's a very particular segment for a very particular purpose this is much needed within the city of P for those individuals that do not have vehicles uh to get around which is the vast majority correct that is correct we have one of the lowest car ownerships in the state of New Jersey if not the lowest car ownership as well as uh getting access to just Traverse the city we want to encourage individuals to come to all parts of our city and visit our commercial districts and with a free bus you can literally park your car at the beautiful 300 space Parking Deck the mayor was just talking about and really go to every single major Park of the city of Pake and the business districts that surround them all for free within one day you can make an adventure of traveling the city of Pake mayor which obviously and I'll dovetail off that may reduce congestion and parking issues if individuals are going to take that shuttle bus imagine 24 individuals on the shuttle bus instead of them driving vehicles but again this is more for individuals who may not have access in regards to the issues of parking council president they will be parked on our property so they won't take up parking on the street they stop at designated bus stops so it actually goes to uh the gentleman's comment they they won't be taking up parking space on the street they'll be on bus stops people shouldn't parked anyway and then if I may and you indulge me 2025 I've decided to focus on the positive and the uh glass half full I just want to point out that before he said it was terrible he said it could be a good thing and I that's the part that I heard he said this could be a good thing so for a year of optimism I'll focus on that part um Mr Fernandez I'm driving around I'm walking on the sidewalks and I see a property where there's refuge and uh garbage and trash what what do I do trying to be you're free to call the the code enforcement department will send our inspectors there Property Maintenance uh to do that and and on that note I just want to say there was some disingenous statements because uh Mr con has come for that same property multiple times and not once as he said the multiple times that we have actually Abad the situation uh to the point where we went from wood Shoring up the building with wood to using metal panels after one of his Council meetings so I just want to just Express that that every time that he's at a council meeting we send inspectors and there has been changes this is part of a Redevelopment project and as we all know Redevelopment projects take a little bit longer than your number normal run uh development projects as Mr Kandi stated himself they were collecting other properties to make a more viable project than the original one just to remind the council the original project if they would have demolished it would have had no parking now that they have this new uh building next door the project will be able to Encompass parking which is why the mayor promoted that project and the council approved it just to refresh everybody's recollection so the end of a year one usually one tries to look at all the things that have happened both good and bad um we're a little bit late it's January um how were we last year from your point of view you've you've been you preceded no you haven't preceded everyone here but you preceded most people here um so I have to say that it's been one of the most successful years that I've ever seen in the city of Pake and not only that overcoming a pandemic which is one of the first in its recent past um that has ever been overcome even with all those trials and tribulations through this mayor's Administration and the city council there's been changes unlike any other in any time in the past I mean may I think when you were talking to Mayor Goldberg the last time there was any massive impact like that was when they removed the train tracks back in the 60s right like if you put it in perspective h a municipally sponsored parking deck for 300 units of of spaces I mean good thank you anyone else like to adress the council at this time you didn't answer the last one well too bad right we're going to have to wait until next time I guess anyone else like to address the council yes sir Edwin Garcia 65 bling Street um uh I just wanted to share um really quickly about my appreciation for this new bus route um I currently hold the title of assistant principal at bake high school and while I'm not here to talk on behalf of the school I can share from experience and from knowing my students that they will enjoy uh being able to uh especially with the upcoming School we're going to be located at the moment at three places one is eight School eight n and 21 it'll help us stay interconnected which is part of our plan making sure that we stay as a one high school and keep our kids together as best we can I'm pretty sure that they will enjoy days like this that it was frigid being able to take a ride on the bus um and get to the different locations and and on that point I think it'll also help when it comes to some of the parents so um and what I mean by that is that I have done studies through my education my personal education on barriers to parent um engagement and part of it is parents not having transportation to get to specific locations like the schools especially we're going to be in multiple locations this will give more access to some of our parents to be able to get to the school to participate in different events whether it's a parent meeting or if they have concerns and they want to talk about something with their kid to provide support um some of the evening things so I appreciate this and I hope that there are opportunities to expand this I hope it goes well and uh I look forward to an optimistic Year too thank you sir anyone else like to address the council to close the public hearing second motion and second to close public hearing roll call please councilman yes councilman love yes councilwoman Melo yes councilman Schwarz yes councilman Garcia yes councilwoman goz and council president share yes thank you we're up to R numeral six of our agenda ordinance for second and final readings hearing is required number one proposed ordinance 2473-20 an ordinance amending the designation of restricted parking for disabled persons by New Jersey license plate number introduced at the December 5 council meeting is there a motion to pleas to open public comment motion is there a second motion and second roll call councilman mon yes councilman love yes councilwoman yes councilman Schwarz yes councilman Garcia yes councilwoman go monz yes and council president Shar yes thank you ladies and gentlemen at this time the council will be deliberating proposed ordinance 2473 is there anyone who would like to address the Council on this item and this item only say no hands I'm move to close the public portion there's a motion to close is there a sec there is a second roll call please councilman Monk yes councilman love yes councilwoman Melo yes councilman Schwarz councilman Garcia councilwoman go monz and council president Sher yes thank you on the ordinance is there a maker Mo second motion second roll call please councilman monk yes councilman love yes councilwoman Melo yes councilman Schwarz yes councilman Garcia yes councilman monz yes and council president Sher yes thank you the ordinance passes we to proposed ORD number 24 74- 24 an ordinance amending chapter 231 rent control to chapter 231 rent stabilization amending the section of and adding section 23 rent stabilization Act of 2025 of the city of pay code Mr Fernandez can you help us with this please where are we looking at yes council president so this is U an ordinance of uh much discussion this amends our current 19 pre-1999 ordinance for rent control and would set a standard for rental units moving forward within the city of Pake one of the mayor's Clear Directions was to provide affordability and equity for all our tenants and landlords and what you have before you is um an extremely balanced ordinance that addresses the needs of not only the landlords tax payers but most importantly of our tenants that uh really especially coming off of the pandemic and all these increases in the economy uh we feeling the pressure and this would help address alleviate some of that pressure and keeping people in their homes mayor did that summarize it accurately uh appreciating your comments councilman Schwarz I know that you took a special interest on this and I wonder if you could share with uh our colleagues your thoughts I think that this is a good ordinance IT addresses some of the significant problems in the city of pic um we may do some further revisions on it but in concept um it does present a fearer playing field for the tenants and protects them from just that particular case where you have a building which flipped to new ownership they don't really care about the current tenants and they're pushing an unreasonable rent Inc Ines there was a lot of thought that went into this um and I think that it is beneficial for the city at this time to um to pass this ordinance thank you sir it is my understanding as council president that the ordinance which is being presented tonight for second and final reading will be accompanied by an another ordinance at the end of this meeting for first reading to be then concluded at our next meeting as well well uh which will Encompass all of the points agreed upon is is that the correct so my understanding is that that Amendment would come at the next meeting for for first reading so that that not your statement is correct with the exception of it would be for first reading at the next council meeting that way the council has an opportunity to digest what the change is uh based on the discussions and then we can move forward from there so the the statement of the amendment is accurate but that'll be coming uh at the next council meeting mayor is that what I'm trying to avoid is the possibility that um that one ordinance will pass and the second ordinance uh will not pass are we assured of of support from the council and from the administration that we will go forward as as stated you have the commitment of the administration that it will definitely be on for the next meeting and in regards to conversations with the Council of course i' defer that to the council president the memb of the council but I do understand that there is a desire to have that ordinance on in the second um meeting or the meeting following this one of the new year and that will be the case Okay I want to commend the administration and I commend uh councilman Schwarz especially as well as all members of this Council um this is an extraordinary move forward um meeting the needs of uh both our residents and tenants U as well as home owners and businesses and the rest um it was a tremendous step forward for the administration to initially propose and an even even greater one as the administration sought and as this Council sought to have a ordinance which reflected All Points of View and was indeed as if I may quote Mr Fernandez as fair and Equitable as possible and it seems that we have achieved that thanks to all concerned that being the case is there a second please to open public discussion second motion and second roll call please councilman monk yes councilman love yes councilwoman Melo yes councilman Schwarz yes councilman Garcia yes councilwoman colz yes and council president share yes thank you ladies and gentlemen at this time the council will be deliberating proposed ordinance 2474 d24 and ordinance amending chapter 231 rent control of the city of p is the a motion please to open public hearing so move second motion and second to open public hearing ra call please councilman monk yes councilman love yes councilman Melo yes councilman Schwarz yes councilman Garcia yes councilman colz yes and council president sh yes thank you ladies and gentlemen at this time the council will be deliberating proposed orders 2474 is there anyone who would like to address the Council on this item and this item only yes sir I don't Garcia 65 bla Street um as I stated before uh I have um students that I uh speak to and look after and this ordinance affects them directly um I listened to the last meeting uh via uh YouTube um and I heard everybody's um comments and questions and um I appreciate this being put forward because I on uh many cases have seen situations um where this has affected our students negatively a rent increase um where sometimes the families come to us not knowing whether they're going to put food on the table because it's place to leave live or somewhere to eat so I appreciate um everybody's comments on this I appreciate the work that was put into this um you you'll be surprised at how much this situation comes up in many of their lives um and I I just want to commend everybody because this is what good government looks like people discuss um they ask questions and they look out for everybody so that's all my comments for uh this I appre as this is going forward I believe that it's a good ordinance I don't know what the Amendments look like but I appre I look forward to looking at them uh later on thank you thank you sir is there anyone else who would like to address the Council on this item and this item only seeing No Hands move to close public hearing second there's a motion there's a second to close roll call to close councilman monk yes councilman love yes councilman melow yes councilman Schwarz yes councilman Garcia yes councilman col yes and council president Sher yes thank you I have a light on please yes thank you council president I just want to Echo uh Council president's statements earlier um this is a u an ordinance that typically is is hard to get everyone in the same page you know because there's so many different thoughts of where things should be right and um there's the tenant there's the landlord there's there's also the city itself right in terms of there there are cities where sometimes we put things in control where they hurt development they hurt growth that which which benefits everyone as well and um it's very clear from this ordinance that the administration gave it a lot of thought to find the right balance and like to commend the mayor and their business administrator for making it very apparent that this wasn't just a you know an ordinance just you know put in AI you know tell AI you know shoot out an ordinance you know this is U clearly every part of it was thought out and a lot of effort must been put into it so appreciate that councilman if I may I want to take this opportunity to acknowledge Chris Rodriguez our attorney for our rent leveling board this rent stabilization ordinance as well as the work of Susie FNS who's our attorney and the business administrator um we had many many conversations many conversations and uh there were often times where the uh direction that I wanted to go to added additional work late night work and some additional research but I also want to take this opportunity to thank all of the council members and as mentioned and I think the the speaker Mr Garcia Dr Garcia has shared the best that that's what good government involves conversations questions pushback and consideration we cannot make arbitrary decisions we have an awesome responsibility on our shoulders to ensure that our Direction and the work that we do takes into consideration all of the residents of this city you know the speaker previous who uh works as the uh rent control officer for different municipality we had a conversation um as I walked in and it was a pleasure to meet you today she said in an Ideal World there would be no need for these ordinances L Lords would do what they're supposed to and tenants would be able to live comfortably in in apartments or uh residential areas that are wellmaintained and feel happy about the rent they paid we know we don't live in an ideal world and it is not the case to the best of our abilities we consider the concerns and the needs of our community and we try to enact policy or ordinances that addresses and makes it better I think within this ordinance there's so much but what I most appreciate is that and we in no way take such an arrogant position to believe that we can impose our wisdom upon uh future Generations in perpetuity but rather consider that in the time that we are in right now there is a genuine need coming off the pandemic looking at some of the approaches of some landlords and that is not to say that we don't have have good and responsible landlords to all of those considering the comments that I shared with the speaker prior thank you for being considerate and responsible and doing the work and putting in the renovations and and not having unconscionable or extraordinary increases to those who are already protected by the 1999 or 3% prior to that you remain the same to all those around the city the broad impact means this we went from nothing to protection that is a result of the responsible and and wise approach of this Council the hard work of the professionals that I mentioned and this Administration may not always get it right perfectly we make a commitment to do our best to provide you with the very service that you have entrusted us to provide you with I'm so very proud of this Council the attorneys the Professionals of our administrator and all those who have worked hard to get us to this point if you look at the approach over the years 20% set aside for affordable housing and any new development no matter where we're going passing of adus accessory dwelling units the incentivizing development Redevelopment otherwise to ensure that we can increase affordable housing the 100% affordable housing projects that on Lexington the veterans one this Council has gone a long way if you looked at it as a whole all the efforts that this Council has supported over the years and the efforts of this Administration now there wasn't One Magic Bullet I know some municipalities perhaps and don't judgeing will take a radical approach on one initiative like councilman monk says may end up losing in another area whether the development or investment having this what some may perceive as gradual or slow approach but one that is considerate intentional makes a real difference and I genuinely believe will have longlasting effect and will have a great impact on this community and those who often don't have a voice as the first Speaker stated perhaps for intimidation insecurity in terms of communication inability to speak the language lack of resources without having representation will now find that those that they have entrusted with the positions to represent them have cre created mechanisms of process and a system that affords them that opportunity to have a platform to be heard to be defended and an ordinance that will protect them so thank you very much I think what we have done today is is good government but it is a noble thing to consider others especially those in need and act on those needs so again thank you to all of the council members mayor thank you we need to vot we need to V to adopt to adopt the ORD yes sir is there are there any other comments I have a light on May if um would like to thank the mayor and his administration for doing the leg work I mean it's a lot of information that we got to indulge on for the past month or two um but it was very necessary because a lot of times we get to hear the complaints from our constituents when they're suffering as our resident stated because they're intimidated don't understand the language or don't have the means um and this gives them an opportunity to understand that they are protected but at the same token it also protects the landlords because it can be from both sides this also gives them um forces landlords to provide a clear contract that way the contract is what will speak and both parties are protected so this is this is a great thing because it protects everybody and thank you because again it was a lot of information but we got to learn and thank you to the lawyers and everyone that was involved to my colleagues um because they shared a lot of knowledge that we all are now taken and um hopefully this will continue to to move forward and it'll be beneficial to the residents and the landlords as well so thank you again mayor and your Administration thank you Council councilman yes I'll my best not to be redundant but I'm going to be redundant because it's the absolute truth uh mayor you sit in a tough seat you get um the concerns I'm not going to call them complaints concerns from both angles all angles um if if if there are some um and somehow you manage to put together um some legislation that we can build on and I I I want to um as my count my lovely Council colleague thank the attorneys I want to thank you guys because your input and assisting with the leg work and other municipalities help um bring a decision to this ordinance um councilman Schwarz uh councilman monk particularly and the rest of the council um it it it's just a great feeling 90% of what we do is procedural and we get it done without any flare or any um turbulence and but yet the the five to 10% of the things that we do have a potential of turbulence it's done professionally knowledgeably and it's done with with great Precision with the citizens um at hand um I I don't like to reference any particular municip municipalities but uh Deputy um Edwin Garcia Deputy Mayor edn Garcia pointed out good it it's good to be able to look on YouTube and our citizens look and see that we we are taking care of business here um we're not um showboating no one's um having platforms to run for the mayor seat um you know you know have some municipalities have nine Council people and they're all gunning for the mayor seat that's not here and I just want to um say it's a pleasure to be on this Council and have um such great work done any other comments if I may just conclude unlike private Enterprise government has the responsibility not only to produce results but needs to respect an open and fair process and I believe this bill does exactly that if my colleagues will please keep in mind number one at our next meeting we will be given a uh proposed ordinance from the administration uh including some of the uh amendatory language which has been spoken about before and that will be presented for first reading at our next meeting and second reading uh thereafter number one number two please note number 40 in your agenda tonight resolution appointing members to the rent Lev board which this Council has approved for consideration Additionally the council has approved for consideration the inclusion of a resume from Miss itamar Roman as well we have a motion on the floor is there a motion please to close public hearing move to adopt sir to adopt to adop ad okay who is the person second motion and second this is history ladies and gentlemen councilman monk yes councilman love yes councilman Melo yes councilman Schwarz yes councilman Garcia yes councilman and council president sh yes the ordinance is passed congratulations at this point with the council's permission I would like to turn to resolution 40 as well as the inclusion of the uh resume submitted by Ms Roman on her own behalf I believe according to my information we have Maran caperi who's Miss caperi nominated by please Garcia Garcia Garcia onoto Love Is On Soo Luis cologne m andus do we have any direction that we would like to take in fact uh why don't we take them in terms of order um if the council would prefer we can do some of these at other times they may not be done tonight that is at the at the council's pleasure I'm going to assume that we should proceed tonight with acceptance or not of some of the resumés which have been shared with us is that just the council's liking yes very good I have a question yes ma'am um are we are we going to just um are we gonna vote on the alternates also or just we have four resumes in front of us yes I would suggest that we go through each one of them and place them accordingly five five excuse me five you're right five okay okay on maryan capers proposed by Garcia but don't have be specific who's a tenant who's a landlord who's expert this is as a caperi as a landlord tenant or expert expert expert pery as expert is there a motion to accept caperi as expert move move on second take a roll call Capi please councilman monk yes councilman loves yes councilwoman Melo yes councilman Schwarz yes councilman Garcia yes councilman colz yes and council president Shar yes thank you Capers is approved as expert Soo landlord propos as landlord and who is the proposer I am landlord love any questions about Soo motion to accept Soo second mov in second roll callot councilman monk yes councilman love yes councilwoman melow yes councilman Schwarz yes councilman Garcia yes councilman goz yes and council president Shar okay we have two Don next please Palos ten tenant proposed by Melo any questions on palus roll call on Palos please councilman monk yes councilman love yes councilman Melo yes councilman Schwarz yes councilman Garcia yes Council yes and council president Sher yes thank you those are three that we have others that we have that may be included or not at the council's discretion would come as alternates yes on Luis colog I'm sorry that was home home owner home proposed by I'm sorry how many alternates how many alates so three three alternates yep three for each toal oh one for each there are six there are six there are six three and three cologne is as a is that's the landlord so that's homeowner so under that category expert okay okay this is your nomin yes do you wish to make the nomination yes made by cologne is there a second second motion and second Ro call please on councilman monk yes councilman love yes councilman Melo yes councilman Schwarz yes councilman Garcia yes councilman colz yes and council president Shear yes thank you and the last resume that we have brought before us this evening from itar Roman I hope I'm pronouncing that correctly um what do we have open at this point tenant ten we have open tenant landlord we have and landlord two openings out of the she qualifi for landlord okay um is there any interest from members of the council to propose it toor Raman absolutely love yes I will and second second motion and second as this would be as alterate ten ten alter alterate alternate tenant please councilman monk yes councilman love yes councilman Melo yes councilman Schwarz yes councilman Garcia yes Council yes and council president Sher yes thank you we have a board [Music] [Applause] yes we're good we're usually not this good though with the council's permission we are on ran numeral 7 Communications yes sir very good are there any questions please on items 3 through 12 see no lights at this time is there motion please to accept 3 through 12 move Mo and second roll call councilman monk yes councilman love yes Council Melo yes councilman Schwarz yes councilman Garcia councilwoman col mon council president Sher yes thank you all items listed routine in nature items 13 through 20 through 21 excuse me are there any questions please on 13 through 21 see no lights at this time is there motion please to accept 13 2 motion and second roll call councilman monk yes councilman loves yes councilman Melo yes councilman schz yes councilman Garcia yes councilwoman colomo danz and council president Sher yes thank you up to resolutions eight on our agenda resolution 22 authorizes a closed executive session do we need closed executive tonight ma'am no council president thank you Mr Fernandez Mr Mayor sir thank you sir members of the council singman at this time if we could please dis 22 and go to 23-44 excuse me that is actually 23 through 39 and 41 through 44 separate on 34 council president separate on 34 are there any other questions is there a motion to accept please is there a motion please to accept items 23 through 399 through 33 second motion and second roll call counc monk yes councilman love yes councilman Melo yes councilman Schwarz yes councilman Garcia yes councilman colz yes and council president Shar yes thank you on number 34 please special vote is there a motion motion second and second roll call I can't second sorry I'll take I need a second please on 34 motion and second roll call please on 34 councilman monk yes councilman love councilman Melo yes councilman Schwarz yes councilman Garcia yes Council monz and council president Sher yes thank you on 35 through 44 are there any questions please move seeing no lights at this time there is a motion there is a second roll call please councilman monk yes councilman love yes councilwoman Melo yes councilman Schwarz yes councilman Garcia yes councilwoman goz yes and council president Sher yes thank you on 45 please 45 is in proposed ordinance amend the designation of restricted parking for disabled persons by New Jersey license plate number is there a motion please to accept for second and final reading at our next meeting of January 21 motion and second Ro call councilman monk yes councilman love yes councilwoman Melo yes councilman Schwarz yes councilman Garcia yes councilman and council president Shar yes thank you on REM numeral 10 payment of bills are there any questions on the bills please Senor lights is there a motion please to accept the bills as presented by the cler motion and second Ro call please on the bill councilman mon yes councilman love yes Council mlo yes councilman Schwarz yes councilman Garcia yes councilman goz yes and council president Sher yes thank you on administrator's report Mr Fernandez none at this time very good thank you Mr Mayor just want to point out two items on the agenda um item 32 and item 35 will received an additional grant funding from the Department of Community Affairs for the 2023 lead remediation and abatement program we received an additional $1.5 million we continue to remove and aade Lead issues throughout the city also on item 35 we received 985 th000 for the third W Veterans Memorial Park improvements we continue to hear from our residents as we enhance our Parks we also receive the funding to connect dundy Island Park and palaski park the fund has been released so that are that is significant funding in our downtown area and our uptown area in third world Memorial Park and our palaski Park we're extremely excited about this funding this project millions of dollars are going to be invested to unite both of these open space greenacre properties and make one of the nicest open space Green Space jewels of the park systems throughout our state I'm also extremely excited to share that the uh track that I had shared with the city that we would make in Third Ward Memorial Park around the baseball field the rubberized track is moving forward we're going to be able to put a rubberized walking and running track around the baseball field on Third Ward Memorial Park uh right by Pake Street off of the vanh train station so this is going to add another opportunity for our residents to walk to exercise we continue to get more and more improvements so again I'm extremely excited about all of the additional funding that we have been receiving as well as the uh project for the new bus terminal on Pake Avenue continues to move forward we're looking for a state-of-the-art brand new bus terminal and once that's in place considering the specific uh parking deck and the monies that has been approved for the rehab of Aspen Place we are looking at the Aspen Place beer Village it has been approved and so they're moving M forward with that project we are looking at significant impactful Renovations additions Park enhancements Transportation connectivity and more and more businesses coming to the city of Pake at the next meeting I'm excited to share a couple big names that I've decided to open up shop in Pake we're still finalizing but we see good things coming for 2025 thank you very much it doesn't get much better than this and of Council soon the bus I just want to say this bus that goes around I think the rate that the mayor's Tak in the city we going have to get one of those sightseeing buses they have in New York City you know it's open on top open on top you find a source of funding councilman we'll fund it we could even have a stop see the assemblyman's home it's right on in all my years in government and there have been a few I will tell you I have never seen such accomplishment it is a it is an extraordinary pleasure to be a part of this Council and the administration on behalf of the C we are all blessed we are blessed to be able to recognize what is right what is wrong what is political and we are a political body but how it is best to facilitate the growth and support of this entire community and what an amazing job we are doing if you'll allow me to be self- congratulated Mr Mayor you are the best yes and to my colleagues if you'll allow me to step back from the rest of you and say to the rest of you that you are also the best this has been a mous night in all of our Lives is there a motion to a jurn please motion motion a second meeting is adjourned thank counc monk yes councilman love yes councilwoman Melo yes councilman schw yes councilman Garcia yes councilwoman colz yes and council president sh yes thank you thank you