##VIDEO ID:H0rohvDElSE## 2024 meeting of the pay County Board of County Commissioners we're going to start as always with a roll call followed by the announcement of the open public meetings law Lou County Commissioners Cruz here Duffy here Gallow here James lour deputy director Lazar here director Bartlett here ladies and gentlemen the notice requirement of the open public meetings law has been satisfied with the respect to this meeting specifying the time date and location and included in the public notice um on September 30th 2024 in the record in the Herald News uh it was it submitted on the 30th and it was in The Herald news and the record on on October 3rd 2024 the Bay County border County Commissioners on September 10th adopted resolution R 24-7 747 which calls for the location of the regular meeting scheduled for Tuesday October 22nd 2024 at 5:30 to be changed from the Bay County Community College Environmental Center to the Bay County Administration Building located at 401 Grand Street second floor Patterson New Jersey official action will be taken thank you very much Lou uh please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance and remain standing for our invocation and moment of silence please join me in saluting the flight greatest country World flag United States of America theice Father Ryan would you do us the honors good and gracious God we thank you for the gift of today we thank you for all the blessings you end our way which at times we forget to notice give us eyes that see the goodness in this world and the goodness in so many people that come our way give us good health give us a right mind a good attitude and always be grateful for everything we have and we ask this forever and ever amen amen director may I have one second to just acknowledge absolutely you know I'm in enough organizations as everyone are and whenever there's a change I'm sorry whenever there's a change there's always tension or friction or egos getting in the way or whatever it might be this man made the transition a a very difficult transition smooth there's no ego in this guy you know and he didn't puff up his chest he just did his job and that's what he needed to do in this County and this Sheriff's Department is blessed in having him amen Amen to that than thank you Father please remain standing for one more moment of silence as we remember all the men and women who have died while serving in the United States armed forces and all those who have died from co9 it's nice to see this number has not gone up since our last meeting especially the 2,3 2 residents of B County thank [Music] you I have a motion for approval of the minutes of October 8th make that motion County Commissioners Cruz yes yes Gallow yes deputy director Lazar yes director Bartlett yes going to have a motion for the approval of proclamations one and two second County Commissioners Cruz Duffy yes Gallow yes deputy director Lazar yes director Bartlett yes and that brings us to the administrator's report Matthew yes thank you director it is um as Father Ryan mentioned Italian heritage month and we are um honoring our acting Sheriff Gary Gardina I'm call down um commissioner lazara and commissioner Galla they have a proclamation I could just say on a personal note uh it was a very trying year and um you know I have a vivid memory of meeting with Gary a week or so after we lost sheriff bernick and saying that you know I like to think that everything happens for a reason and there was a reason why that you were the executive undersheriff because um your temperment and your leadership was what pay County needed to lead us through a very trying time so with that turn over to commission [Applause] o so we have a very nice Proclamation but I think for everybody here that knows Gary we know the kind of person he is dedicated in control uh empathetic I think you lead with it not only what you know in your brain but also you follow your heart and you know and I just learned something new about his time it's breakway anyway and I asked uh my colleague uh commissioner Gallow to come down and I wanted to invite him to say a few words because you know Italians we kind of stick together anyway I'm going to take a moment and read the this Proclamation then I or do you want to speak before I read it okay I just want to congratulate our Sheriff you're doing a great job and I hope you stick with us please iate thank you yeah you gonna stay oh I'm putting you on the spot but you know what Gary did step up at a very um emotional time for all of us and he he's been leading this department with such integrity and perseverance um it's just amazing what how what you've stepped up and did in this year since January uh I'm just going to read this now whereas the board of County commissioners of the county of Pake has a desire to recognize Pake County acting Sheriff Gary F Trina in honor of Italian heritage month and whereas G can I just I'll just say Gary because we all know you holds a Bachelor of Science degree in criminal justice from Jersey City State College now known as New Jersey City University a master of administrative science degree from feely Dickinson University and is a certified public manager whereas Sheriff Gary began his career as a patrol officer in Clifton right mhm in uniform before reassignment to the street crime narcotic unit where he remained after he was promoted to Sergeant whereas Sheriff G served as Patrol Sergeant prior to his promotion to Lieutenant where he took command of the field operations Bureau which was made up of uniform services Patrol Community Police and bicycle and traffic motorcycle divisions he was then promoted to Chief in 2010 until until 2014 when he retired Gary then joined the pay County Sheriff's Department as business administrator in 2014 after retiring as chief of police in Clifton after being there for 36 years and was sworn in as executive undersheriff in January 2022 and became acting sheriff in January 2024 Gary commands the day-to-day operational activities of the department overseas policy development strategic planning research function which include the development and implementation of Master plans the development of Department policy and budget and of comprehensive research and he's still so calm how do you do all that Gary is an avid motorcycle rider and is the secretary of the blue BL nights of New Jersey chapter 13 a member of the pay County Chiefs Association New Jersey State Chiefs Association a life member of the New Jersey police honor God honor honor Legion and New Jersey Italian American police Society he is also a fourth deegree member of the Knights of Columbus Gary has been married since 1983 has two sons and four grandchildren and so the say County Board of County Commissioners that it hereby be proclaimed and publicly recognized and we applaud Gary for the significant contributions he has made and the exemplary service he has devoted to the county of p and to the community and be a further Proclaim that this board congratulates Gary for his Vigilant service to the city of Clifton County of Pake and the state of New Jersey while protecting the city izens of this country for over 40 years and we wish him continued success and good health for many years to come and we thank you [Applause] Carri so it's true I spent 36 years in Clifton I did start when I was 5 years old so you can do the math um you know I'm I'm very humbled by this honor um I'm not the one that likes to be in the spotlight um so um again I thank I thank the Commissioners for this it was a very trying year um I think we all know that I couldn't do it alone um the rank and file and my administrative staff um stepped up to the occasion so I have to thank my my uh employees uh I always said when I was in Clifton there are no unemploy unimportant positions or people everybody plays an important role in its success and I can't say that uh it's even more so here under these difficult circumstances I also during my career have worked with a lot of um administrations City administrations and I have to say that working with this County Administration has been one outstanding experience for me I can't thank this board behind me enough they've been very supportive of me and the uh Sheriff's Office and um again I can't thank them enough this is probably the best Administration over my 40 plus years in law enforcement that I've ever worked for and I'm not just saying that because I did experience it and I can't thank them enough so I want to give them a big hand and again I just want to thank everybody for this uh I'm very humbled by it thank you [Applause] hear every day have a few more hey chief like abely I'd like to invite my colleague um commissioner Bartlett down and I'd like to ask uh Tony fer to come on up you T come on please so we have our very uh close family friend here Tony vaneri he's um a Vietnam veteran and we've worked so closely with him over the years trying to help you and everything you do to help veterans and one of the two of the open space grants this year for 2024 are going to three different you know what I should really let you explain where all the money's going right yes yes so I here's Tony vaner he'll explain to you where the money is goinge of course the first thing I would like to do is thank the pay County Commissioners for having our back the veterans of Patterson and all of P County and we are so grateful that through this Commissioners we received a beautiful gift to the Vietnam veterans it's in Wayne the Vietnam memorial wall which honors all our brothers and sisters from Vietnam that didn't come home we also want to thank over the years since 2008 the pay County Commissioners are batting a thousand when it comes to our grants to maintain the four veterans parks in Patterson I was the superintendent of the Parks from 12 to 2007 um um from 1992 I'm sorry from 1992 to 2007 I was the superintendent of parks I couldn't get the money from the city to do what we were doing because there were other grants that you gave to other playgrounds which I was part of some of the N our 911 playground on on the Buckley Park which has been changed now but we did that with your help and other parks that I was me and Paul vatrano the former superintendent of DPW uh wrote so when I total the amount we're talking two to3 million that the Commissioners in this room have given the city of Patterson to our brothers and sisters who served and are still living today as an old guy like me but this money which started back in November of uh 2022 and where there was and I have to mention our Congressman our late Congressman William pasel helped us get a grant Federal grant which came to the veterans and it was decided that that money would be better used at that time to the city of Patterson and we had no problem with that because it stayed in Patterson and we are so grateful for our beloved United States Army veteran and Congressman William pasel and and then as we moved along we met with the congressman and mayor Andre seya who has always supported us also and the approach was to get money applied for the open space grants and that's what we did when we met and me and John Carlos John Franco I do that all the time I apologize to John Franco please tell him Kelly and we walked the three Parks the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Park which honors the 33 sons from Patterson that didn't come home and that's gotten some rough times lately because of the homeless men and this new law that we can't take take these people off the streets because it's public property um we've been able to remove some of their toilet areas and things like that but that's going to get a beautiful uplifting um which includes more open area benches to uh be able to reminisce uh on our fallen sons and um then we go to the Ralphy Mar Antonio Memorial Park uh Mr Demar Antonio was a councilman in the First Ward and he was also a combat wounded Marine in Sian so um we need that there's there's a major flooding problem there uh during rains and of course during the summertime when they have the sprinkler system near it's a very attractive Park and then and our mayor Andre say really dressed up the commons field and so and then finally comes our Vietnam V yeah the Veterans Memorial Park at Hayden Heights which we call the hill of Heroes that represents most of the monuments that were scattered throughout the city and I'm proud to say that as superintendent and the the late Mayor Marty Barnes listened to my proposal to instead of having one group of 12 people and 25 people in this one whether it was Korean War World War I we decided to condense uh put them all together the Vietnam Wall the the Vietnam Stone on Union Avenue was brought to the hill we the Korean Monument from Westside Park was brought to the hill and I'm proud to say as a Vietnam veterans we were the ones that finally got some recognition for our World War II Sons and Daughters from Patterson up there and as you know the monument there was built in 1939 the sculpture on that is a real uniforms the real weapon an M1 the 45 is real the bayonet that was been broken was real they were they were used during World War I and our famous AR uh Sculptor federici gatan built that and um we've had some minor problems with the wall having cracks and things like that and that's why John Franco is very much important to this project because we going to make it sure that we put the right things there now most of our monuments in the city of Patterson are at the hill of Heroes it represents all the wars as far back as the war of 18 uh n the S the Spanish American war all right which we had two pisoni received the Congressional Medal of Honor and they are there and up at the at that Park the hill of Heroes we honored the women in 2010 and it represents like I said all of the men and women from Patterson and P County there so it I that's where the money is going to go um Madam chair I mean M M Mr director and Madame chair because she was our chairperson with the Vietnam Vets uh project we would one thing we we do want we do want to make sure that I don't want to that one project at a time and I would like to support of the Commissioners to make sure that I don't want the three Parks done in one time I want them one time so we get it right we do everything right that's the way I did it over since 2008 if I had two projects I did one at a time with the money that was given to us by the open space and our commissioners so that's where the rehabitation the rehab will go I'm a little nervous tonight uh I think my Sugar's going down but I'm so grateful to all of you every one of you you are batting a thousand when it comes to the council in Patterson since 2008 starting with Mr Duffy Mr Bruce and Mr leaport they're both not here figures but that's all right and then every and then commissioner lazara jumped in and she was she was there running she hit the ground running when it came to the veterans and I know her dad was a World War II veteran and Mr Duffy's brother a Vietnam veteran who we lost to agent orange his cancer so there's there's history back here uh Mr L son is a Marine in Iraq so it this is what it's all about this County never forgot our veterans and will continue to remember us and we're so grateful and on behalf of the pison veterans Council thank you so much and everyone here absolutely well first of all if your if your blood sugar is going down next stop I want you to make is the fridge in the conference room we've got orange juice okay please grab a bottle of orange juice take care of your yourself and your health but all I want to add is that we're all accustomed to saying thank you for your service to Veterans and very often we're talking about their time in the military but when you talk about you Tony benary and some of the other extraordinary veteran Advocates here in Pay County when we say thank you for your service we're talking about everything since we're talking about all the stuff that you just described of making sure that the veterans aren't forgotten and that those that are still with us us have the the services and the connections and the opportunities that can improve their quality of life so thank you for that service just as much as thank you for all the lives that you saved in Vietnam as a combat medic so thank you very much and we're very proud to be part of acknowledging these three Grant these two grants and three projects here this evening thank you very all [Applause] right and Tony I just want to invite everyone on October 30th to come to Hayden Heights at 11:00 we'll be presenting you with a ceremonial check and joining you in celebrating the funding you have and all the work you're going to be doing on those Parks so we okay a picture thank you piure come on [Music] orange ju will kick it right up um director just uh two other things to report um one keeping with our theme of veterans uh the uh as you know we've been working diligently uh Janice dejan at the lead of our division of housing on our um development of 65 units of affordable housing for Veterans and seniors in Pompton Lakes I'm pleased to report that uh we opened bids uh two weeks ago received a bid from a local pay County um contractor for 19.6 million which was within our budget uh that contract was awarded um by the affordable housing Corporation um this afternoon so soon we will be breaking ground on uh that very exciting project uh and the other thing it's fitting that the sheriff is here um on your agenda there is a um resolution ratifying a memorandum of agreement with the rank and file Sheriff's officers we have officer moretto here who was on the negotiation committee um it was uh long and laborious uh negotiations but we got there to what I think is a fair deal um for the men and women uh Rank and file men and women of the sheriff's office but also the taxpayers so I'd recommend that being approved thank you thank you very much Matt that is always uh and all all great news uh from your uh your agenda there so that brings us to uh County Commissioner reports um I just want to mention two things one's on our agenda and one's coming up in just a couple of days uh on our agenda I want to let folks know that item number three on the consent agenda is an author is a resolution where we're authorizing a contract to River North Transit LLC this is a pilot microtransit project when you're talking about Transit getting people tuned from they need to go there's what's Transit experts call the first mile Last Mile problem which is how do you get from your house to the Train the bus uh the nearby destinations where Transit it's in the traditional sense might not be practical and there's an emerging movement called microtransit if you ever go into Jersey City you see the bright purple or fuchsia uh Vans and vehicles in there uh that are microtransit it's local it's really hyperlocal it's the Quick Trip um and it's a it's a very low right low rate thanks to the way in which we're able to subsidize it we are piloting pic County's very first microtransit project in the cities of pic and Clifton uh that's going to be we hope a model for the future in the same way that we're seeing as I say in Jersey City and some of the other folks and actually River North Transit LLC is uh Jersey City's provider they call it via we're going to call it pay County move but it's going to be an exciting opportunity starting I think next year for residents of p and Clifton traveling uh within their cities and and uh a little bit of an area around um so we're very happy about that oh sorry um want some orange juice I'll about a prayer father um I want to acknowledge our P County surate zo Casanova who's with us here this evening and I'm going to do the short version of this because I'm hacking up along here Election Day is coming up next time we meet we'll already have been through it early voting starts this Saturday election day is November 5th please whoever you vote for make your voice heard here in Pay County thank you Sandy yeah I don't have I don't have anything uh commissioner Cruz just follow along on the list guys okay I just wanted to just continue the congratul congratulations for acting Sheriff done a wonderful job taking over adist building the main to sitting side to ensure that the resources reach those that are the most vulnerable and those who need it the most I don't think no matter what we do up here or anywhere I don't think we can do enough for vet [Applause] I just have seven resolutions on theend I'm sure you've all read them I I certainly hope expect you all vote for it one is interesting is the uh appropriation to Angel sense to provide uh individual GPS tracking devices for autistic elderly or medical need citizens so Chief I got one for you that not I wish you the very best I know you have some plans the house down the shore i' love to go fishing with you sometime only one of us will come back of course but that's all I have I wish are the very best GPS well that's exactly right yeah all right that's it Go Yankees sorry about the Mets I just want to wish all the candidates uh in this upcoming election good luck and don't forget the vote all right thank you all very much and thank you for your patience um it feels like we're acknowledging everyone this room but I want to mention as we're talking about both veterans and people with great records of service in our Sheriff's Department Alberto quadr is here our under Sheriff which which branch of the military did you serve in Umberto Army um originally from Puerto Rico and now a pride pattersonan do we do we need the Civics lecture on Puerto Rico um seeing no Communications um that brings us to the oral portion of the meeting this is the part where if you want to say something you come up to the podium and say it you get 3 minutes we ask you to start with your name and address and take note that anything you say will become part of the public record of this evening's meeting with that can I have a motion to open the oral portion second too quick County Commissioners Cruz Duffy yes Gallow yes deputy director Lazar yes director Bartlett yes see no at the podium I move to close the public portion County Commissioners Cruz yes Duffy yes Gallow yes deputy director Lazar yes director Bartlett yes okay um Council I know we don't have any late starters or any need to go into executive session I do have a question um can we take a two-thirds vote um with five people on the day yes yes we can okay uh then let move on to L1 resolution authorizing the Chief Financial Officer to execute budget transfers between the 2024 budget Appropriations pursuant to the reference law can I have a motion and second on L1 make that motion second County Commissioners Cruz yes Duffy yes Gallow yes deput director Lazar yes director Bartlett yes the consent agenda is M1 through M 51 51 I have uh actually first of all are there any items that any Commissioners want to remove from the consent agend genda and vote on separately seeing none can I have a motion to adopt a consent agenda M1 through 51 I move it moved it was moved by Gallow second uh County Commissioners Cruz yes Duffy yes Gallow yes deputy director Lazar yes director Bartlet yes that brings us to new business uh can I have a motion on the Personnel I'll move it County Commissioners Cruz yes Duffy yes Gallow yes deput director lazara yes director Barlett yes can I have a motion on the bills I'll move the Bills second County Commissioners Cruz yes stuffy yes Gallow yes director Lazar yes director Bartlett yes anything else before we adjourn M mja that's right everybody join us down the crowd this small there's going to be plenty so come on down enjoy our celebration of Italian itage can I have a motion to make that motion County Commissioners Cruz Duffy yes Gallow yes deputy director Lazar yes director barish yes good evening everyone [Applause]