all right let me good evening everyone and welcome to the state County Board of County Commissioners meeting for February 25th um at this time I'll ask for a roll call County Commissioners Bartlett here
Cruz here D'Or here Duffy here James here deputy director Lara here director laor here announc the open public meeting law uh ladies and gentlemen notice requirement at open public meetings law has been satisfied with respect to this
meeting specifying the time date and location included in the annual notice adopted the reorganization meeting follow with the county clerk posted administration building and mailed to two newspapers in accordance with the provisions of the law M duy please Le us from the flag salute
join me flag Al to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all please uh Father Ryan invocation
please God our Father we pray for all those who have asked us for our prayers the poor the needy the downtrod the neglected the abandoned those who have no one to care for them let us be their protectors and Keepers and keep them close to our
hearts we remember a special way Jerry spiel's dad who passed away we keep in mind our Holy Father who was Gravely ill and all those who need our prayers forever and ever amen please may standing for a moment of
silence to remember the men and women who have died while serving in the United States armed forces who have died from covid-19 especially the 2322 residents of stake County thank you take a motion to approve the minutes
of February 11 2025 second by James second by Cruz roll call County Commissioners Bartlett Cruz yes D'Or yes Duffy here James deputy director Lazar here director uh
leor yes um approval of the minutes approval of the Proclamation move second Cruz second by second Maron roll call County Commissioners Bartlett yes Cruz yes D'Or yes Duffy yes James yes
deputy director Lazar yes director laort yes administrator's report yes thank you director good evening um all I only have one item on my report tonight it's a hold over from our Black History Month celebration honoring our wonderful County Superintendent of Schools kha
dford so I'll turn it over to commissioner deor thank you director oh sorry thank you m I have two hours good evening everyone good evening it is our pleasure to continue our celebration of wonderful distinguished
and black excellent uh members of the pay County uh Workforce the theme for 2025 is African-Americans in the workforce last time we uh honored three members of the four and today we're honoring the fourth
member uh superintendent Kesha dreford uh this young lady I've known for I won't say decades because she's only 20s something um but we we we go back in a sense of work related as well as family
but it was not a hard task to add her to the list of people being honored for this particular year 2025 Black History Month she is a wonderful educator a tremendous boss and her worth
ethics is second to none so miss superintendent can you please join me as I read your Proclamation I'm a little older than you so I have to a little be
nice all right whereas the month of February has been designated as Black History Month and in the recognition of the unbounded contributions and achievements made by exceptional African-Americans that shaped and continue to shape our nation
and County's risk history and bright future the board of County commissioners of the Pake County of Pake deems it fitting and appropriate at this time to honor and recognize keser T dford you can applaud
and whereas Kesha T dford was born and raised in Patterson New Jersey graduated from PA from patteron Catholic Regional High School earned a Bachelor of Arts and political science from Virginia State University and a master of arts in public administration from the
University of akran and whereas Kesha T dford held pivotal roles such as eof counselor and assistant director to the College Bound program at P County Community College and a multicultural Affairs director at Sunni college and of
Technology at Alford and whereas Kesha T dford made history in 2020 as the first African American female to be appointed executive county superintendent of schools for p County New Jersey
[Applause] Applause and whereas Kisha drer is a member of the Delta Sigma Theta sorority Incorporated a lifetime member of the National Council of negro women serve as a member of the Workforce Development
board serves on the boards of pay County Community College pay County vocational and technical schools and the youth educational Academy all while remaining a passionate advocate for the students of Pate County and whereas Kesha CH
dford co-chairs the educational Council of P County where she lead needs efforts to honor academic excellence and create scholarships for deserving students and partnered with the Pate County Sheriff office during Autism Awareness Month to host an art competition where students
designed a sheriff patch incorporating the autism symbol and now therefore being proclaimed by the paain County Board of County Commissioners that is hereby publicly recognize and Applause Kesha t dford for the significant contribution she has made to the County
of Pake and to the community and be it further proclaimed that the board wishes kha T dford health happiness and all her future endeavors God bless you thank you words thank
you thank you very much um thank you thank you so much to First the board of County Commissioners I would like to say thank you to each and every one of you uh my voice is a little shaky uh because it's just been that way uh this has been
a rough year so thank you to each and every one of you uh County Commissioner Orlando Cruz County Commissioner ter Duffy County Commissioner candra laara Mr le e mhof board uh County
Administrator Matthew Jordan you know one of my uh County Commissioner Pat la and County councel uh NZ all ERS and county commissioner John Bartlett County Commissioner Bruce James County Commissioner Rodney la oh can I messed
up your name Rodney D'Or and ma'am Miss Vivian thank you so much thisuh for bestowing this honor upon me so and thank you all to my fam's friends and um other members out there so I did
did have a little speech that I wanted to say but it's probably a lot for me right this minute but I just want to say this is befitting during the month of black history I also want to say thank you to the Commissioners for taking the time out of their meeting today to
present this honor to me because they did it two weeks ago and I was out working with the Community College we were in DC for a conference so I was unable to make it when they did have the black history ceremony so I'm sad that I missed it because it was a whole ceremony so I want to say thank you to
them again for um taking the time out to do this today I want to thank God for giving me uh the grace and giving me the wherewithal to be able to do all that I'm able to do and to be able to work in education every day I want to thank my
mom who is no longer with me but all that she has instilled with me is with me every day and she walks with me every day I would like to thank my staff who is here with me cuz they just support me and they help me every day to make sure
that I'm as good as I can be CU I'm only as good as they are so they're great so they make me great um and also uh my SAR sisters um some of my staff our SAR sisters they're friends too um and they're great too my cboard members uh
my Alex she she's an attorney she's great you all probably know her but I just want to say thank you because I'm only as good as the people who are around me and so I try to surround myself with great people uh and I walk
on the shoulders of the people who came before me and they paved the way and they did work that was great and so we have to continue to work in our communities and so if they could do the work we have to make sure that we continue to do the work we're living in
some difficult times right now and so we have to make sure that our kids are able to live in great safe places and they able to go to schools that provide them with opportunities so that they can become great people and great citizens
so I try to be able to do what I can do but we have to make sure that we go out and we do what we can for them so as we move forward I need you all to help me be great so understand when I say my fames
and my friends you all are my family and my friends all of you so you help me be great so that we can be great together so thank you and thank you very much again pictures uh in addition to your Proclamation we also have uh citations
from Congress woman Cheryl Mikey Cheryl uh the county Pake of County Clerk Danielle arand hhof as well as 35th legislative district from Senator uh Benji wimbley uh shy Suter and alas all
right family and friends we can take some pictures okay you got it okay that actually worked really well sister TJ best mom you all know so one of the flowers is presented to you from the
STA and then the other one ised to you from alum [Music] congratulations see you Dolly [Music] uh director I just want to recognize hailen councilwoman uh and pcti board
member Alexander atask and P County Community College trustee tyana pord joining us tonight so thank you both for being here to recognize Kesha that's all I have tonight okay motion regular order
second second Bruce uh James and D'Or can I just make a sure I want to explain why I have a hat on um I have this massive spot of boldness from a barber who didn't know what he
was doing and I it just looked so bad that I had to cover it up so that's why I have this I am always at the police academy they know me so they were kind enough to give me this hat so in their honor I wear it and in their honor I
don't look like I'm bald so that's why I wear it okay not if there's anything wrong with being bald I I don't find anything wrong with being bald but I I second that I have a roll call please okay it was uh do a
roll moved by James second by okay yes okay thank you County Commissioners Bartlett yes Cruz yes D'Or yes Duffy yes James deputy director Lazar yes director leor yes B ordinance 2025 D2
uh Bond ordinance to authorize the undertaking of various public improvements for pay County Community College in by and for the county of B state of New Jersey to appropriate the sum of $4 million to pay the cost thereof to authorize the issuance of
bonds to finance such Appropriations and to provide for the issuance of bond anticipation notes in anticipation of the issuance of such bonds motion to open the public hearing on bond ordance 2025 -2 move it second
move by Bartlett second by Cruz roll call County Commissioners Bartlett yes Cruz D'Or yes Duffy yes James deputy director Lazar yes director uh lour yes
anyone wishing to be heard on bond ordinance 2025 please step to the microphone state your name and address and remember that anything that you say is a matter of public record seeing no one at the podium I move the close portion second motion Bay by Duffy second by Cruz to close roll call County
Commissioners Bartlett yes Cruz yes dvor yes Duffy yes James deputy director lozar yes director leor yes motion to adopt Bond ordinance 2025 D2 I'll make that motion second by second second by lazara roll
call County Commissioners Bartlett yes Cruz yes D'Or yes Duffy yes James deputy director Lazar yes director report yes uh Bond ordinance 2025-the the making of various public
improvements and the acquisition of new additional or replacement equipment and Machinery new additional furnishings and new information technology and te telecommunication equipment for p County Community College in by and for the
county of B state of New Jersey to appropriate the sum of 2 million $387,500 to pay the cost thereof to authorize the issuance of to issuance of bonds to finance such Appropriations and
to provide for the issuance of bond anticipation notes in anticipation of the issuance of such bonds make that motion motion made by Duffy second second by lazarra roll call County Commissioners Bartlett yes
Cruz yes D'Or yes Duffy yes James deput director Lazar yes director laor yes does anyone wish to be heard on bond ordinance 20253 please step to the microphone state your name and address and please note that anything that you say is a
matter of public record seeing no one at the podium I move to close the publish motion second motion made by Duffy second by Cruz to close public portion roll call anyy Commissioners Bartlett yes Cruz yes dor yes Duffy yes James deputy director lar yes director leor
yes motion to adopt by ordinance 20253 so moved second by Cruz second by Duffy roll call County Commissioners Bartlett yes Cruz yes dvor yes Duffy yes James deputy director Lazar yes director laor yes
motion to resume the regular order of business so moveed second motion made by D'Or second by Bartlett roll call County Commissioners Bartlett yes Cruz yes theor yes Duffy James deputy
director Lazar yes director leor yes um the only commissioner has a uh a report is commissioner Bartlett thank you director um very glad that I got to see Miss Drakeford do her uh receive her recognition because I missed our last
meeting and Black History Month here in uh P County uh because I was down in Washington DC representing both pay County and the north Dury Transportation Planning Authority at the board meeting of the national Association of regional councils and if you're one of those government people that love acronyms yes
that's narc worst acronym I could think of for an organization but a very effective organization that represents uh County governing bodies uh Municipal planning organizations Metropolitan planning organizations like njtpa and so
forth in a really uh difficult and important time for us uh in Washington we have benefited tremendously over these last four years from funding through the ija the infrastructure investment and jobs act better known as the bipartisan infrastructure law um tens of millions of dollars into P
County billions of dollars into the state including for State projects that are happening right here in P County and serving our residents and as we come to the end of the bipartisan infrastructure act's five-year period And as we go into a new presidential Administration there
are a lot of open questions about what's coming next for infrastructure funding uh and that has local effects and it has Regional and National effects when you're talking about a project like the Gateway tunnel so we're fortunate to have allies from across the country and
some great Advocates down in Washington our behalf I met with congresswoman Poe Congressman Menendez Congressman palone I met with Carman Cheryl staff and uh all those folks and our entire delegation or at least most of them from our region are committed to keeping that
funding flowing if possible we don't know what to expect expect there's always a debate uh send it all to the States versus sending it to counties and municipalities we know how effectively we're able to work here in Pay County with those funds so we're pushing hard through narc and through our other
National allies to make sure that piece of it continues to flow uh we don't know again whether there will be another bipartisan infrastructure act or whether uh these next years will look like um the prior Administration where it was frequently commented that this was
infrastructure week but the president actually didn't ever direct any funding anywhere for infrastructure so we're hopeful to continue doing the good work and getting that funding uh and as I say we're fortunate to have some great Representatives down in Washington advocating on our behalf so thanks to
everybody for holding down the fort while I was gone all right and thank you John uh great job you're doing with the njtpa uh I I don't even know if uh the good residents of fa County fully understand or or know exactly what you do down there but you're bringing a lot
of money into the county and that's all we really need to know and keep up the good work director if I may sure uh just to piggyback off my colleague um Thursday at 6 pm. In This Very Room residents of the city of Patterson and Clifton uh there will be an information
session on the Lake View Avenue project and so I think it's very important for those who live in that area but also travel through there uh so they know the County's plan on uh really revitalizing that area creating a safer passageway for our residents uh and pedestrians bus
stops Etc so uh for those who live in in that area and travel through that area uh please if you can come here and learn more about it ask questions uh and get informed on the project that is happening on Lake View Avenue thank you director thank you
um there's no Communications take a motion to open the public portion of the meeting I'll move it move by lazara by D'Or roll call count County Commissioners Bartlett yes Cruz yes D'Or yes
yes James deputy director Lazar yes director leor yes anyone from the public wishing to be heard um please step forward to the podium state your name and address and please be mindful of the fact that anything that you say is a matter of public record seeing no one at the podium I
move to close public portion second by Duffy second by Cruz roll call County Commissioners Bartlett yes Cruz yes dor yes Duffy yes James deputy director Lazar yes director Le for yes I demand we need a 2third vote resol uh vote on
this resolution resolution authorizing the Chief Financial Officer to execute budget transfers between the 2024 budget Appropriations pursuant to njsa 4A colon 4- 59 I'll make that motion motion made
by Cruz second second by Bartlett roll call County Commissioners Bartlett yes Cruz yes D'Or yesy yes J s deputy director Lazar yes director laor yes uh item o the consent agenda I understand we have a late
starter yes director through you we have one late starter tonight it is resolution it's a resolution authorizing third amendment to a purchase and sale agreement and and Es for agreement by and between the county of p in Spring Brook Acres Inc for the purchase of
property located at 335 Union Avenue Bloomingdale New Jersey pursu went to njsa 40e call on 12-4a I would ask that resolution 049 be added to the consent agenda okay um I'll take a motion to add
0 49 to to consent agenda move it second by lazara second second by Cruz roll call County Commissioners Bartlett yes Cruz yes Dore yes Duffy yes James deputy director Lazar yes director laor yes uh
before we move on any uh Comm commissioner who wants to remove any resolution from the consent agenda please let me know now okay seeing nothing being removed um I'll take a motion on uh 01 to
049 move it move by lazara second second by Bartley roll call County Commissioners Bartlett yes Cruz yes dor yes Duffy yes James deput director lar yes director leor yes new
business Personnel need a motion I'll move the Personnel agenda second motion made by Cruz second by Bartlett rall County Commissioners Bartlett yes Cruz yes D'Or yes Duffy yes James deputy director Lazar yes director laor yes
I'll take a motion on the bills list I'll move the Bills second motion made by Cruz second by Bartlett roll call County Commissioners Bartlett yes Cruz yes D'Or yes yes James deputy director Lazar yes director lour yes I'll take a motion to adjourn
make that motion second motion made by Duffy second byor roll call County Commissioners Bartlett yes Cruz yes dvor yes Duffy yes James deputy director Lazar yes director leor
yes that's how [Music] thank you very much