The notice requirement provided for the open public meeting law has been satisfied. Recording in progress. I'll start again. The notice requirement provided for the open public meeting law has been satisfied. Notice was properly given said having notice been transmitted to the C courier news on
Thursday September 24th as well as posting on the bulletin board in city hall. Clerk, may we have a roll call? Council members Brooks Jones present. Cherry present. Graham present. McCrae present. Wyatt present.
Vice President Cessum present. Council President Hawiday present. All members present and equal. Please rise for the pledge of allegiance and remain standing for the invocation. I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the
republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, liberty and justice for all. Humbly we ask God, the giver of peace and the lover of charity, to give the
entire family of nations true agreement with his will and to grant the light of his spirit and all those who work for justice and who work for peace. Amen. Amen. Tear it up. Okay. Hello.
We are going to commence this me meeting with executive session. Madame Deputy, please read the exection executive session. Executive session resolution. Whereas the open public meetings act authorizes the public body to exclude exclude the public from the portion at a meeting which specified topics will clearly endanger the public interest or where
the personal privacy or guaranteed rights of individuals who activities or affairs are to be discussed would be in clearly in danger of unwarranted invasion. And whereas the matters about to be presented for discussion clearly meet the circumstances test of such act. Now therefore be resolved that the munipal council of the city of
Planefield and the county of union now adjourns its public session to recon reconvene in executive session for the purpose of discussing the following pending anticipated litigation and contract negotiations. Be it further resolved that the discussion in
executive session will be disclosed in the minutes to be released at the next regular city council meeting provided that consideration of the subject matter has been closed or that where such matters adversely affect the rights of prospective current or past public officers or personnel of the city of Planefield. Such individuals have in
writing requested the disclosure of such discussion at a public meeting and provided such public disclosure were no longer clearly the public interest. Be it further resolved that the public is now hereby excluded from this portion of the executive session. May
I have a motion to go into close session? So move second. Uh clerk, roll call. Roll call go into executive session. Council members Rick Jones, yes. Cherry, yes. Graham, yes. McCrae, yes. Wyatt, yes. Vice President Cessums, yes.
Council President Hakaday, yes. Now in executive session. Okay. Thank you. recording in progress. Okay, we will resume business for the evening. Uh beginning first with public comment limited to resolutions and
ordinances being considered this evening. A total of 30 minutes has been allocated. Uh the floor is now open. [Music] Good evening. Good evening. Uh Nancy Pavar
playingfield um regarding R 359-25. First I want to be clear that I'm here before you tonight as a citizen and not connected to any organization or group just as a representative of my family. Unfortunately, you are in a difficult situation with no easy choices. It is
admirable and charitable on the part of a developer and the city to enter into a community benefit that would financially benefit the health center. However, this resolution is a bit alarming to me because of the precedent might set and because the health center was formally in bankruptcy for 5 years. It took a lot
for the federal judge and the trustee to get the health center out of bankruptcy. I have a lot of questions, but I'll go to the bottom. Are there any other options available to sustain the uh federally qualified health center? One other option besides asking a private
entity redevelop or assist the health center, why not ask JFK or Hackinack Meridian Health to assist the health center like Muenberg used to do? JFK and Hackinack absorbed all of Muenberg's assets with which the donors of those funds did not intend. There were two
court hearings to repurpose some of the Muenberg restricted funds. In 2017, a court transcript, Mr. said, quote, "The city of Planefield was noticed as a party of interest here. The city has no objection to the modification of the trust so long as the
funds remain at the nursing school and the city of Planefield. The city should ask JFK and Hackinac Meridian to provide an accounting certification that all the repurposed trust and endowments remain in the city of Planefield and at the nursing school and provide an accounting
of all the other nonrepurposed Muenberg trusts and endowments. I know there are at least two trusts that were not repurposed and those trusts could be used to help the health center as the original donors intended as long as a court so ordered. One of those trusts
has provided over an average of $80,000 each year for the past 5 years to the Muenberg Foundation. Through my research of the Muenberg Trust and Endowments, I found out that my family has a vested interest in that trust because one of my
father's Ohio relatives was named as a party to be noticed about the trust. These Muenberg trusts and endowments were donated by residents to provide health care, access, and scholarships. And these funds should quote remain at the nursing school and the city of
Planefield. As Mr. Manello and I said in court in 2017, the trust connected to my father's relatives could be used to help the health center and I am willing to testify in court to that effect on behalf of my father. Thank you.
Thank you. Uh I'm going I'm going to suspend uh public comment just for a bit because I want to have the opportunity for the health center to give their presentation. so that the individuals making public comment could be somewhat responsive to
that. Um so um let's uh handle that order business. So you can go forward with your presentation and then we will reopen uh public comment for all who want to maybe chime in on uh what what's presented. [Music]
So floor is yours. I was as was mentioned the health center did exit a bankruptcy in 2020 and had projections for the payment and
repayment for bankruptcy debt. Um and consequently in May of 2020 of exit exiting bankruptcy went into a pandemic which caused a the health center immediately pivoted services and pivot the organization to address the
immediate needs of the community and we did that for several years giving um staying open providing services getting vaccines doing tests and being integral part of the organization much like other healthcare entities that are finding themselves stressed coming
out of the pandemic, neighborhood health, if everybody else had a cold, we had the flu because of the extra debt that needed to be um addressed. So we did look into doing a recovery plan and
we're in the process of of doing this rep recovery plan to make sure that neighborhood stays in this community providing the muchneeded services recognizing that there would be a huge gap in care if there we were to not be here. And so with that we have been
reorganizing our staff. We contracted the organization down to reduce expenses. We are looking for partnerships that are going to add services like uh in-house pharmacy which well in addition to providing services
increases revenue for under 340B. We have um you know I as the CEO has been working for strategic partnerships that are going to drive more patients and services into this organization. We have switched EMRs for improved patient
flow. We executed a comprehensive plan to reorganize the um outstanding vendor accounts. We onboarded a new revenue cycle management company to improve uh uh patient service revenue collections and again reduce salary expenses to be
in line with our grant revenue. So that would also stabilize payroll obligations. We have looked into um and applied for emergency response credits which the PA the health center is looking to apply that to also help the health help um stabilize it and also
looking to do a sale of the undeveloped land just to go over some utilization. Um and these are according to 2024 UDS data which is our annual um report. the federal uh government requires a
comprehensive federal reporting out on several different um data points, but we focused in on and this is just for Planefield. Under our UDS data, we have 8,388 patients and about half of those
patients are Planefield residents proper. And of that, you you can see the breakdown um significant amount um are uninsured or on Medicaid. We um contracted the organization. So,
we currently have now 56 employees and 10 of those employees are residents of the Planefield area. Just wanted to review the services that the health center offers that are critical for the health of this community and this is provided with
integrated care. So I will give you you know comprehensive from birth to to geriatrics. In addition we have Ryan White services that services the um HIV population. We have a perinatal
agreement with JFK at Kennedy Hospital where they have OBS on site to to handle our high-risk um OBGYn patients and we are part of the new cickle cell New Jersey cickle cell pilot program
which is one of a kind and we are one of those uh five sites throughout New Jersey that is in the process of rolling out cickle cell services. We also opened up a comprehensive ultrasound on-site ultrasound services
and are soon to be um opening up a 3D mimography or mammogram services as well. We work with closely with Penningfield as we have done for years. We are in the department of health where we have the immunization um program there. We are
partnered with the this the physician the board of education as the school physician. We were approved to be a wick site and we are also an approved community food bank of New Jersey site where we um have distribute food to up
to 400 to 500 uh people at every fourth Tuesday of the month. And in addition to that, we are part of another food bank program with Costco and Aldos where they also donate food and we've been giving a a van with freezer and refrigerator where we pick up those foods and we
offer those to the patients at least two to three times a week on site as well. Again, we talked about the cickle cell program and the stor's nest program um which provides a a lot of prenatal
advice and care to patients and with those uh sessions that they have and this is to address um maternal infant mortality. They are able to purchase much needed um much needed clothes and things they need for their baby.
This is just a general overview of the cickle cell program and again it's designed to fill a gap in care because there are 23 pediatric cickle cell p uh programs in the state. There's only one adult. So there was a lot of work to um
create this cickle cell pilot program to link patients who uh come out of pediatrics into adult and also to link them to services um with the hospital and again um looking to get a on-site infusion center so that patients do not
have to sit in the hospital for hours. This is an overview again of the storks nest program and that's that's it. Okay, we are going to resume public comment for resolutions and ordinances
being considered this evening. Name and city. Good evening. My name is Beverly Chris. I reside at 531 West Street here in the city of Planefield. Greetings, mayor, map, and city council member. By way of introduction, I am a lifelong resident
of the city of Planefield and a former volunteer and former senior executive assistant of Neighborhood Health Services Corporation, also known as Planefield Health Center. More importantly, I am a patient of Neighborhood Health Services and have
generations of family members who have been patients of neighborhood health services. My unwavering gratitude has always been with the center, particularly for the health care services that my father received as the
cent's first HIV AIDS patient. The care provided by Planefield Health Center enabled my father to pass away with a sense of dignity. This evening, I stand before you with dire concern regarding the condition of
the facility and services as well as the current financial status of the center. As many of you may or may not know, Neighborhood Health Services filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the District of New Jersey bankruptcy court on January
7th, 20 2015. Due to unsatisfactory submission of a financial recovery plan and the board of directors failure to perform its judiciary oversight, the bankruptcy proceeding lasted for more than four
years and resulted to a courtappointed administrator being assigned to manage the operations of the center resulting in the removal of then the CEO and appointment of the current CEO.
My concern is with the cent's inability to sustain the November 12th, 2019 court approved financial recovery plan. I am specifically concerned with the proposed $1.5 million being infused into the
center. My specific concerns are is the $ 1.5 million bailout funds a short-term solution or long-term solution? What exactly will the $1.5 million be used for?
What is the total debt of the center? And are there other partners willing to provide financial support and or bailout funding? Did NHSC provide the city with a list of unpaid vendors and are they
currently providing services or have they discontinued providing services? Is the internal revenue part of the old vendors? I also would like to know are all payroll deductions up to date? Thank
you. Thank you. Next. Good evening. Good evening everyone. Good evening. Sharon Robinson Briggs, president of the Planefield Area, NAACP,
Planefield, New Jersey. Just have a couple of comments. One, um, I was asked a lot of questions outside with regard to this resolution. So, may I ask that for those who may not understand if this body could please explain in layman's terms exactly what this resolution is
about. Um wondering also with regard to the health center and I join those who uh have spoken before me that uh I enjoyed the services that the health center uh rendered on behalf of the people of Planefield. In fact, years ago, the
health center used to offer many free community uh services, community events, uh free ones to help improve the quality of life for its residents. And um one of the items was a health fair that would be given and it would be given in the parking lot and many folks would be able
to attend and participate uh in the uh the HA health fair. There would be immunizations there would be information literature that would be given just a lot of things that would be offered to the community that was extremely beneficial. So, I'm wondering if uh if the health center is given this money,
would you be able to do some of these type things for the community uh to help embrace the community and bring people uh back in the fold and be able to uh have the services rendered that they used to get? Will there be an advisory um community group form to work with the
health center? um one that might be uh able to work with the board as well as be able to provide suggestions for management and oversight because the bottom line is that we all need health services uh but we need to make sure that every few years we don't end up in
the same position. Okay. And so I would assume that um if there is a way to get such a large sum of money to the health center that hopefully when we all come back to this room on I guess the 14th is the next meeting, I'll be back to talk
about those four families that had uh fatalities from the flash floods. Thank you so much. Next. [Music] Good evening, council president. Good evening, mayor. Um, council president,
mayor, city clerk. Sometimes it's largely a thankless job, and I thank you all for the jobs that you do. Um, name and city. Uh, for the record, I will be remaining anonymous tonight. Um, and I my first question is, um, is
there a time clock so I know what my time limit? Is there a time clock? There's a timer but not a clock. So I don't How much time do we have? Three minutes. Three minutes. Okay, that's an issue. Um because it'd be really simple to just put a clock up
so the public could uh have an idea of we can make an announcement when there's a minute left. But but um the other question is is there a public portion at the end of this meeting to speak on items not on the agenda?
No, this is a special meeting that's for regular meetings. Where's the burough attorney at? Right. You are aware that every municipality in New Jersey has to set aside a portion for the public to speak on items not on
the agenda, even if it's at a special meeting. You are aware of that, correct? Sir, what resolution are you speaking about? This this this here is I'm against the resolution for all these things that I'm mentioning because there's some housekeeping issues. So for
the things that I just mentioned, each and every one of them, I'm against the resolution because we don't have a public portion set aside that New Jersey legally requires for items not on the agenda, regardless of a special meeting.
It doesn't give you special privileges to restrict the public from engaging with local government engagement at these meetings. Um, so therefore I'm against the resolution. I'm against the resolution because we don't have a clock
facing the public for clarity. You have one minute, sir. I'm against the resolution because I'm being interrupted. So you can tell me what the time is. You asked that you be notified when the I didn't. Okay. I did not. Okay. I'm against the resolution because we're
withholding the amount of time that I could clar I'm looking for clarity here. I don't just come as a member of the public. I come as the founder of an organization called the neutralization of council meeting conduct. That's NCMC.
And there's a lot of things happening all over New Jersey. A lot of uh non-compliant issues and stuff. And I've seen nothing but just disastrous things since the second I got here. Nice individuals, very nice people so far. I've seen that.
And I do appreciate it. President, if I could just object, we're here speaking about It's my public speaking time. Please do not cut me off. You cannot object. It is my public speaking time. This is part of the issue that I'm talking about. The city clerk cannot cut me off during my public comment time. Mr. Attorney, can you please step in and tell the city
clerk, I'm against the resolution for this reason. You're you're withholding the clock and and interrupting me. I'm speaking to the council president. You cannot during my time. This is my 3 minutes. Is it 3 minutes even? cuz I still didn't get that answer. It's 3 minutes.
Please don't interrupt me cuz I wouldn't interrupt you and I would not disrupt the meeting so I could inappropriately speak during a portion of time that is not does not allow me to speak. Speaker time is up. Unfortunately, we're going to have to come back now. I really hate to do this,
but I mean I just wanted to come here make a couple statements. I don't appreciate being interrupted. Um, I don't appreciate any clarification as I asked about the Okay. Well, thank you. I don't know what to else to say other
than this was a disappointment. Next. Um, good evening. My name is Regina Harley. I'm here on behalf of the Planefield area uh local NAACP second vice president and also I'm on the
advisory board for the garden state leaders. Um first question would be will the health center close if they don't get the money that is on the table right now? Um I'm cons also concerned about
the staffing uh the board of directors uh legal team what changes are going to be made um concerned about partnerships. You know who the new partnerships will be. Um because
how can a turnaround be made if the same people are on staff? Um, there's a mistrust or a distrust with whoever was on staff before in leadership. That's what I'm concerned about. Thank you.
Thank you. Hello. Um, can I make comments about the Waynewood Park building? Uh, is that being considered this evening? I think it is, isn't it?
Okay. Yeah. Uh, my name is James Scruggs. I live on Lafayette Place in Planefield. Longtime uh, resident here in Planefield. Um, from what I understand, there's going to be a several hundred unit um, apartment building going up uh, in Waynewood Park
or around there. And I also understand that there's 08 um uh four point8 of a car parking for each one of the uh the units. Um which I mean I've never seen point8 of a car. First
of all, all of my neighbors seem to have two and three. I'm wondering where the parking is going to be. Also, right now, just getting out of Lafayette Place onto Front Street has become uh challenging. Um with additional several hundred
people, it's going to become untenable. And I'm wondering if there's going to be stop lightss um placed on um Lafayette and Waynewood Park to deal with the the additional traffic. And what happens to uh where do people park in these units?
Is there going to be underground parking? and I'm talking and people are looking at me and thank you for looking at me, but I feel like uh there's no dialogue here. Is that how it works? I just I'm I'm curious and ignorant of the process.
Your your time for public comment is your time and your questions will be answered afterwards so as not to impede on your time. Okay. Well, thank you very much. You're welcome. So, yeah, that's that's my concern. um if this building is going to go up for several hundred units and there's no
parking um what happens and also what happens to Lafayette Place and and uh and um Oxford Place or Waynewood Park. Is there going to be a light on the on the uh corners? Thank you.
You're welcome. So, your questions will be addressed. Okay. Thank you. You're welcome. Uh you came up already. Oh, no. Just once. Any further uh public comment for resolutions being considered this
evening? Okay. A motion to close public comment. So move. All in favor say I. I. Okay. Public comment is now closed. Uh prior to going to resolutions, uh I'd like the administration to address any
questions heard. Uh there were quite a few questions, answer as many uh as possible. uh so we can have some clarification or you can use the questions uh as a as a method of describing the resolutions
that we're going into if you want to do it comprehensively because I know that many of the questions that the community has are those uh that the council also has uh and the administration from what
I understand is prepared to answer. So go right ahead floor is yours. Okay. Um what is being presented tonight is a resolution to authorize the advancement of a redevelopment agreement. That redevelopment agreement
is related to a property that we call uh 611 West Front Street for short. It does involve a lot that's on the Waywood Park location as well. This was a project that was originally
presented to the council and approved in a redevelopment agreement as well as a financial agreement. That project was for a total of 501 units, residential
units, and approximately 60 6,600 square ft of commercial retail space. Originally the total number of parking spaces were just over 700 total spaces.
These parking spaces were never in intended to be.8. It was above and beyond because the original owner wanted to ensure that the parking was more than sufficient.
Um what's being presented tonight in terms of the advancement of the redevelopment agreement is that the original developer which is SWE development they are now looking to
transfer or sell the development to a new buyer that is BH611 that's located in the resolution a Part of transferring this resolution is that there's an opportunity to
negotiate not only the terms of the redevelopment agreement again, including the community benefit agreement. Originally, the community benefit agreement was for $500,000.
What we're considering now as a a way to support the cash infusion needed by the neighborhood health center is a partial increase of this amount and a partial expedited payment. The total increase
that we have gone from $500,000 to 3.75 million. This increase of 3.75 million will include an expedited payment of 1.5
million. 1.3 million of that 1.5 million is intended to support the the financial needs of the neighborhood health center. We have the opportunity to look at when we're looking at our community benefit.
One of the six categories is supporting health and wellness. So that 1.3 million would go to support the health and wellness and additional 200,000 would go to the city. And in terms of an immediate payment, that leaves 2.25
million for future payment. That 2.5 million for a future payment would be used to support a community shuttle for the entire city boundary. The reason why
we arrived at the 3.75 million was a part of the discussion looking with the new developer which is BH611 is that there was a request to revisit the financial agreement which is the
ordinance that's on for tonight. I I would like to place on the records in terms of ordinance MC 2025-38. We are not going to be considering that for council approval tonight. We will the administration will present it at a later date.
But the reason why I am explaining about the financial agreement is that there's also opportunity to look at that as well. We arrived at the 3.75 number because we did a financial analysis of
what there could be a a change in in terms of waiting for a payment over time versus a decreased amount for the pilot or the annual search charge. Um so again what is being presented
tonight is a red advancement of a redevelopment agreement. A part of that advancement of the redevelopment agreement, we are seeking to support a cash infusion for the neighborhood health in the amount of 1.3
million. As a part of that, we are proposing a memorandum of understanding between the city and neighborhood health, which one of the or two of the restrictions or recitals for that
agreement would be that the city would be consulted on land use and real estate in relation to about 3 acres of the property. They would also have accountability in terms of reporting
moving forward with neighborhood health and that would include looking at finances and also con consultation moving forward with that. There would also be a cons future consideration of a
board position on the neighborhood of health. The second memorandum memorandum memorandum of understanding is related to the new developer. So as I said, we have a new developer that's coming in to
purchase the property. This is BH611. this developer. What we're looking at in order to get the 1.5 million, again just stating on record that 1.3 is proposed to be distributed to
neighborhood health, 200,000 to the city would agree in terms of the expedited payment that should this agreement or this resolution be passed and also ex
executing thisou Um, another thing that should be o noted that within this 1.5 million there is a contingency clause that should we not
reach an acceptable and binding redevelopment agreement or financial agreement by January 31st of 2026. the city would be responsible for reimbursing the 1.5 million in the
expedited payment. And um council president, if you could just remind me if there's certain questions that you would like me to cover in particular. Well, one of one of the questions was uh the the the parking. Uh you said it was 08. Is it now one one or or better?
Right. So right now the parking is definitely better than one to one. There are a total of 501 units. There are a total of 548 parking spaces proposed now.
Okay. Can you also discuss uh the uh commercial component of this development? Right. Originally, the project was proposed to have a little over 6,000 square feet of commercial retail. The
proposal is to move to 20,000 square ft of commercial with the intent to move forward with a ger. Okay. Any questions from council members? Council president. Yes. Councilman Wyatt.
Uh, yes. Um, I thought Dr. Pal's presentation would had a little more teeth to it. Um, so it was asked in executive session and some of the uh community members asked a question as well. Would the 1.3 million sustain uh the health center? Um, so Dr. is it if
it's okay, Dr. Pac, would you speak to how this infusion of cash would help and how long it would sustain the health center? So this in cash infusion is part of a comprehensive financial recovery plan. So in and of itself, it's not designed
to uh just sustain the health center. There's multi- um prong approach that we are moving towards which includes some other um tax credits that we are getting federally in addition to sale of the
land in addition to restructuring um our debt and handling the bankruptcy debt as well. Council President, um, also it was brought to our attention that if the council does not approve this tonight
that the doors would close tomorrow. Correct. The health center would need to close. Yes. Okay. And, uh, lastly, we do realize that you operate in Elizabeth as well. Um, so will you scale back in Elizabeth and is Elizabeth going to add
to this? Are they going to um, contribute to this at all? Not at this time. I'm still I am still looking for other partnerships and I've been in the process of doing that as well. Okay. So, the 1.3 million from the city
of Planefield will cover the location here in Planefield and Elizabeth as well. Mhm. Yes. Okay. Other questions from council colleagues? Yes, please. Councilwoman Sherry. So, I I did see there was uh roughly 8,500
individuals served through the health center. What the breakdown between Elizabeth and Planefield? So, there are about 4,500 patients that are Planefield and the
there's another,7 that's surrounding Planefield and the balance is Elizabeth. So the majority of the patients are here in Planefield and the surrounding North Planefield uh Piscataway that area and it's about another a
thousand for Elizabeth exact what is your plan B if this is not funding and especially for our most vulnerable population our OB and our also infectious infectious disease. So I
am in conversations with Hackinac Meridian Hospital, Trinitas Hospital, with HERSA, which is the governing body of federally qualified health centers to either find um another FQC that would
come in or in the immediate time um like for our OB patients that JFK is where we're already partnering with, but they would see those patients at the hospital and as well as to Trinitas's um hospital
and then there would be uh provided a list of providers that are in the area that the patients could have a choice from but I wanted to make sure that all those critical patients would be cared for and then HERSA would also for the Ryan White
program they're identifying a sister program that's close enough to take over those patients as well. Have you approached the city of Elizabeth for any funding? I have not. I have approached both hospital systems, both Hackinac
Meridian and Robwood Johnson Hospital for funding. So, at this time, the only confirmed um plan or opportunity on the table is this 1.3 million. And there's another 1.3
million that Robert Wood Johnson um has been in communication with me about. So, if funded, how much of this would the 1.5 million? Well, 1.3 1.3 million. Yeah. and then the 200 would go back to the
city. How much would that how far would that take you? So it's because it's not the only funding. It's not where we're just getting this payment and say that this is going to last 3 months. There is a performer with projections for how this
is being applied to um reorganize debt and with combination with other money that is coming in to pay down that debt so that when we operate we are not um underwater with the bankruptcy obligation.
Thank you Dr. Pal. Um couple questions. Um, so what is what if we were to parse out Elizabeth?
Um, what does that look like in terms of us only sustaining the planefield location? Because if I heard you correctly, our 1.3 we are we would then be supporting another municipality. Well, we we service all of Union County.
So, I don't I don't I'm responsible for all of Union County really. And so, these patients can be they can come to the Planefield location or be from this around this area or they could go to the other site. Sometimes the Planefield residents will visit the Elizabeth site
as well. So, it's not so uh separated like that because it's one healthcare system. So there are times if the patients need to be seen over in Elizabeth, they can go over there from the Planefield location as well. So it, you know, I've given you a breakdown of where the patients are located, but they
utilize the entire system. Well, thank you for that because uh and I'm I'm assuming that you have data that can support that that the Planefield residents also go to the Elizabeth site. So, thank you for that. That is new information for me this evening. Um, can we talk about fiscal management and
fiscal accountability and who's on the team at the center? Uh, do you have a CFO? Um, can you talk about, you know, who are your fiscal leaders that are advising you um, as the CEO and president? You know, who's running the
day-to-day operations? Like, who is advising you on, you know, the fiscal management of the center? In addition to the finance committee of my board, I have a finance department and right now we have a consultant that is providing supplemental acting interim CFO as I
look for a new CFO. My new my CFO has just stepped down in July. And so I have a consultant that is providing CFO services and I have accountants that are on staff. And are you satisfied with the fiscal advice that you're receiving from your financial leadership team? Well, I
I would prefer to have a new permanent team. So, you know, you you even for finance or operations, you can have staff that come and then if they resign, you have to look and search for a replacement for them. So, I am happy with the projections and the work that
is being done by the consultant and this is also being presented with the board and the finance committee of the board as well. Have any of your top paid staff taken any salary cuts given the emergency situation that we are in? Is and I
believe in paying people well. I believe that people should be compensated for their years of education and their experience but in looking at the data we have people who are making a significant amount of money um on the payroll and so
um oftent times there are sacrifices that have to be made. So, I'm wondering, have any of them um taken any salary cuts and is that a part of the plan? Yes. And yes. Okay. Good to good to hear. Um that's it right now, council president, but I may
have some more questions. Thank you. Any other council member? I remembered my question. Council President, I'm sorry, Councilwoman. I just remembered my question. Um so you know as as you are asking us to consider
this um there have been some uh feedbacks and suggestions in terms of oversight moving forward. Uh would you all be in objection to there being board representation by members of this administration on your board?
There's no objection. Okay. More than one seat or just one? I would talk to my board but we're open to that. um having that representation and there was it was raised earlier about community involvement and input. Um could you speak to if there is a
community advisory board and what does that look like and if not would that be something that you would be open to moving forward if we were to support you? Yes. So there's a community advisory board right now currently for Ryan White and I am working well working with a um
consultant to develop a general advisory board. Okay. Thank you. Go right ahead. Okay. Um just I wanted to make sure that I bring this to light also again. Um how many staff members do you have on staff right now?
Right now it is 65 to 70. Okay. And that is a reduction within the reduction for the last five years. How many um people have been laid off or maybe left on their own or resigned or something? Can you give me that number
please? uh there I have not done any layoffs until this year. So during the pandemic there was no furlows and there was no not any layoffs other than someone wanting to switch and go to a different job. Um I don't have all of
the numbers for the last 5 years. So we had we originally start we had two rounds of layoffs. We had one in about March April Aprilish May and then we had another one in July. And so we had two um rounds of layoffs and then some um
resignations, okay, that are happening, but that's all recent. Okay. Um and I know you you had spoke about uh the team that you have in place. I just think that it is important that you do think about getting on a new
team because if you were in a position of bankruptcy before, which is in what year? 2015 to 2020. Okay. And then what happened in 20 2019 I think it was was it I know you said 2015 they was bankrupt right we went they went into bankruptcy in
2015 we came out May of 2020. Okay. And from that time what has changed especially when you we're we're now in a different space. So what has changed what happened? Was it more services? Was it more people? What has
happened from that time until now 2025? uh the COVID pandemic was a huge um impact on the projections uh that were originally uh charted out for the bankruptcy plan. So the bankruptcy plan we had to support operations moving
forward plus bankruptcy debt that needed to be paid quarterly and because of the pandemic they made a major hit to uh patients that are coming to the health center. So the health center is not functioning at 100%. And so it did have a significant impact on the projections
that we originally were relying on for the bankruptcy uh for the bankruptcy plan. Okay. Okay. And I know we spoke about um if this doesn't happen that the the center will close um immediately and then of
course a plan would be in place to notify those patients. Right. Yes. And um and if that does happen, you want to also make sure that you um service the Spanish community too and make sure it's in a different language. Are you going to stay open or not?
Councilwoman Sherry. So going back to what council vice president um she asked the question about Elizabeth. Now, being that, you know, the city of Planefield and the council is looking to infuse this 1.3 and there are no other municipalities that are coming to the aid, you're still
looking to keep Elizabeth open. Yes, for now. Yes. Because again, it's usually it's utilized by both especially um pregnant patients, dental depends on we may have staff over in Elizabeth or they may be here. So, the
patients do go to both sites. So they don't they're not completely um functioning as two separate isolated practices. So what percentage of our plane for residents go to Elizabeth? I don't have that number. I don't have the percentage off the top of my head.
Thank you. Um just a quick question about your board members. So I was looking at the the members of your board. How many of them have finance backgrounds? uh right now so my board chair he is he
does do a lot of uh consulting and things in finance and he's Dr. P I'm here too Dr. Pat Dr. Devaris, you want to speak to that? Oh, sure. Um, so I um I serve at as a executive of Jefferson Health in
Philadelphia and I manage a budget about three quarters of a billion dollars on my team. Uh so I have plenty of financial background. We have other folks on the team, the board that are financially savvy and I also in addition to being the chair of the board, I also chair the finance committee of the
board. Do you have any board members who are all who are medical doctors? No. Thank you. So, question. Um, during your presentation, you did say that uh out of
the 65 employees, I don't know if you gave a number, but you said Planefield area residents, but how many Planefield residents uh work for your organization? 10 right now. Council President.
Yes, please go right ahead. All right. So, this is for the governing body in the administration. Um, so what this will appear to be is a a bailout, a government bailout. What will we have in place uh for any other nonprofit organizations um going forward if they say, "Hey, you guys did this for the
Planefield Health Center." I know that we talk about there's no comparison between some of the nonprofit organizations here in the city of Planefield, but just to think off the top of the head, mental health, somebody may say, "Okay, I like this organization because they provide mental health services. They are closing their doors."
So, what will we do to create a a boundary to say to stop those organizations to coming coming to the city for help as well or will we allow them to open the door and say, "Hey, I need help from the city. Let me attempt to address that.
And thanks for the question. I would guess that there are probably 50 or more nonprofit organizations in the city of Planefield and government is not in the business of
financially profiting up nonprofits. That's just a fact. We have a situation before us where we have a health care provider
that has been in the city since 1969 or thereabout that provides services to just under 9,000 people roughly half from the city of Planefield.
And by services to 9,000 people, that translates into several thousand more visits per year because the average person might go to the doctor or to the health
center two or three times per year. So there could be as many as 18,000 or more visits per year. by those eight plus thousands of people.
The many nonprofit organizations that are in the city of Planefield, and I believe there are many, don't compare to what we're talking about here this evening. We're talking about an entity
that provides health care to thousands of people without insurance, charity care patients. We're talking about an entity that provides regional health care services.
And without this entity, people will literally die. We've seen the cuts that have come down from Washington DC. And if we look at any number of other
nonprofits in the city, um we are not in the business of just propping up nonprofits. But this is an extraordinary circumstance that affects little less than 9,000
people, probably anywhere from 16 to 18,000 visits per year. It just doesn't compare. There's nothing in this city labeled as a nonprofit that comes remotely close to
resembling what the Planefield Health Center does for health care in the city of Planefield and to the region as a whole. And so I am not worried about nonprofit XYZ
coming with a handout looking to be rescued when they encounter some level of difficulty. The comparison just isn't there. And so I don't believe that this governing body or the administration has
a need to worry about that. We have a crisis that is in front of us and that is what we ought to focus on and not guess as to what might happen down the road if Mary Jane nonprofit comes to us
and says we need some help. Um there is actually a portion of the constitution that speaks to this and so that is something that can be addressed with our corporation council
when he returns. Now my concern quite frankly Dr. Paul, in looking at your presentation is that there are roughly
your presentation mentions there are about 56 employees of which only 10 are from Planefield, but you can't find qualified people from Planefield to work for the health
center. Where are the rest of those coming from? It says to me that a little less than one six of the employees are playing field residents and I think that we can and should
try to do better than that. The question posed by the council regarding Elizabeth is also something that needs to be examined very closely. If we have those 8,500 or so patients
Um, the fact that some planefielders might go to Elizabeth, that still doesn't explain why there are about 4,000 plus from Planefield out of that 8,500,
a thousand from other neighboring towns, which brings that to roughly 5,500, leaving roughly 3,000 uh, give or take a few that are from the
Elizabeth area. And I think that for us to be having this discussion and that there hasn't been an approach to our conversation with the Elizabeth administration
to try to seek out some rescue funds as well. I think that is concerning and ought to be revisited assuming that the council does the right thing and support what it has before us this evening
because I don't think that we as elected members of this city ought to allow the health center to close its doors tomorrow
and remove health care from thousands and thousands of people. I think that would be quite frankly, you know, criminal and we ought not to do that. And I use that word, you know,
very very carefully. I say that because people will die and I don't want to see that. I don't think any of us want to see that. This is not the perfect
solution. I wish we were in a better place, but it suggests to me that there's a lot of work that needs to be done by the health center. And those guard rails that we talked about previously, they have to be put in place because the bleeding has to stop. And we
have got to do a better job of protecting an entity that is so badly needed in this city. And without it, I don't know where the city would be, the thousands of people who rely on the health center.
And that's all I have to say. All right. I think that just about does it. Uh, I will entertain a motion to adopt. So, okay, clerk, can we have a roll call? Roll call.
Roll call. Resolution 35925. Council members Briggs Jones. Yes. Cherry, yes. Graham, yes. McCrae, yes. Wyatt, yes. Vice President Cessums,
yes. Council President Hakaday, yes. That's unanimous. This resolution's been adopted. We now need a motion to withdraw MC 202538. So move. Second. Uh all in favor say I. I.
Any opposition or abstensions. Okay, that is withdrawn. Okay, I'll entertain a motion to adjurnn. So move. Second. All in favor say I. I any opposition or abstensions? Motion to meet and adjourn.
Thank you.