##VIDEO ID:W36Vz7G2z9k## e e e e e e e e e e I need to go lay on my couch feel nect e e the notice requirement provided for the open public meeting law has been satisfied notice is properly given said notice haven't been transmitted to The Courier news on Tuesday January 6 as well as posted on the city's site clerk may we have a roll call council members bricks Jones pres councilwoman Sherry pres councilman Graham present councilman McCrae present councilman Wyatt present vice president sesum present and council president hak present we have all members presentent a Corum please ride for the pledge and Allegiance and remain standing for the invocation the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation God indivisible withy 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 on all those who work for justice and peace amen amen okay may I have a motion to approve the minutes of uh second okay all in favor say I I any opposition or abstentions okay the meeting minute meetings minutes of the meeting have been approved okay we're going right into our discussion items today uh we'll start with councilwoman Cherry with uh the presentation to Lieutenant elamine [Music] I'll give her her picture good evening city of planfield good evening good evening tonight I have the honor and privilege to recognize Lieutenant mahasan alamin the daughter and of retired captain sadik alamin and our former councilwoman Fahim alamine with 19 years of dedicated service to the city of planfield police department Lieutenant alamine exemplifies the true meaning of Public Service living by the Mantra service is the rent you pay for a living we're here tonight to celebrate her remarkable achievement her graduation from the prestigious FBI Academy lieutenant me is not only the first black officer but also the first female officer in the history of the playing field Police Department to attend and graduate from the FBI Academy by breaking these barriers Lieutenant Lieutenant Ella mean is Paving the way for future Generations her achievement sends a powerful message to little girls everywhere that they too can change can Aim High and accomplish greatness thank you lieutenant elamine for making history and putting playing field on the map your legacy will inspire many for years to come we are giving you a nice picture and also a resolution a council Matic resolution from the entire Council and I'm not going to read the whole thing but I'll read the first and last whereas the planfield city council recognizes your extraordinary achievements of individuals who bring distinct and honor to our community through their dedication and service and professional Excellence be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be presented to Lieutenant El as a token of the city's appreciation admiration for her dedication and Leadership and it is adopted unanimously by the entire city [Applause] council at this time I want to invite our very own assembly one Linda Carter to come up thank you councilwoman Cherry um good evening everybody evening mayor council president in Council how y'all doing today happy New Year yes all right Lieutenant I can't believe it's been 19 years but I remember okay your first day with this city planfield oh yeah I remember and it was an amazing day you know and I know that you've made your family proud but you've made the city of planfield proud you've also made the state of New Jersey proud and be on behalf of the Senate General Assembly our joint legislative resolution sponsored by Senate President Nick scari assembly mckennedy and myself we also have a resolution for you um nicely framed you know not I know your picture would have been better in this but you know it looks good and know I think the two right next to each other would be fantastic don't you all yes but let me say this you truly have exemplified what it is to dream what it is for you know what when you put your mind to and put a plan in place and what you can achieve and you are truly an individual that all young girls not just our young girls but our young boys Our Youth and um even all of us you know what when you sometimes things don't go all the way that you think that they're going to go but if you put that plan in place you can achieve it so thank you for all that you've done thank you for all that you're going to be doing and we look forward to still continuing to make your mark not just here in planfield but throughout the city and throughout the country thank you well I didn't expect to speak or say anything however thank you thank you council members I I truly am just humbled and grateful and appreciative and I want to thank my director you know he couldn't be here today however he nominated me because he saw something in me to attend this this prestigious Academy and I also want to thank my family for sticking by me and encouraging me and my father for planting the seed yes before I came on the job he planted the seed for me and I said you know what I'm going to do it and I'm going to make it and I did so thank you everyone and thank my community as well for for sticking by me and believing in me thank [Music] you mayor mayor in the council could you come down for a picture can I'll invite the mayor if you'd like to say some words yeah I just want to really recognize this outstanding lieutenant in our plan PD who has done a wonderful job over the years and to go on to get this kind of training with the FBI is something that we should all be very proud of and we here at the city the governing body Industry Council we're very proud of you so congratulations [Applause] 3 2 1 one more your did you just her that look CC three two one [Applause] okay uh mayor you can remain standing you have the floor next uh for presentations and I believe Ronnie Taylor is president here I would ask her to come forward and we have two resolutions I believe it's old 56 and 57 okay and both family members are part um yes um Mr President if we could wait for a few minutes on the family members okay absolutely sure yes do we have represent uh she's here oh just like that just in time so there there's two you have both I just have one because there's no form number for the other one I just want to reference the other okay please okay certainly first let me uh thank council president for his accommodation as always and city council MERS and the mayor um I'm always allowed I'm Ronnie Taylor I'm superintendent of Parks and Recreation for the city of planfield and as you know when I come up here I always say history is important and the mayor has charged me with uncovering history and making sure that we place it in planfield Parks so for Black History Month I have presented for consideration two resolutions to city city council um and that's in support of the two events that the division of parks recreation is offering for the month of uh February we're going to do a viewing of the movie The 6 Triple 8 and we've identified two women who were discharged from Fort Dicks to the city of planfield and lived here for some time and so that's one resolution and we had four planfield high school graduates go Cardinals uh who served as Tuskegee Airman and while we've uh tasked local historian Etha Washington for doing our interpretive plaques which will be placed in a yet to be determined piece of land here we'll have uh two interpreted plaques one for for the 68 and the two privates that served from the city of planfield and four for the four tus men uh Airmen who were um who served from plan for high school and we've been able of course to identify for which I have a personal connection to uh one family Mr Henry so I I'll do the resolution for the um Tuskegee Airman First resolution honoring first lieutenant s Albert Black second Lieutenant Russell Carpenter second lieutenant Warren Henry and first lieutenant Charles Miller for their service as T Tuskegee Airman where since 1976 the United States to celebrated black history month and each month each February to seize the opportunity to honor the accomplishments of African-Americans in every area of endeavor Through History of the United States and whereas the citizens of planfield Honor planfield high school graduates first lieutenant s Albert Black second Lieutenant Russell Carpenter second Lieutenant Warren Henry and first lieutenant Charles M for their service as Tuskegee Airmen and whereas on March 22nd 1941 the Tuskegee Airmen the first African-American military aviators in the United States armed forces began training at Tuskegee University and whereas the Tuskegee Airmen fought for the freedom of their Nation during a time in history when they also fac segregation and other oppressive laws and resolve the citizens of planfield celebrate the deeds and sacrifices of first lieutenant s arbit Black second Lieutenant Russ Carpenter second Lieutenant Warren Henry and first lieutenant Charles Miller now therefore be resolved an interpretive plaque shall be installed commemorating the service of the first lieutenant Albert Black second Lieutenant Russell Carpenter second Lieutenant Warren Henry and first lieutenant Charles Miller and be before they're resolved a copy of this resolution and duly executed copy of this contract will be filed with the office of the city clerk and joining us this evening we have Joanne Jo Allen Henry oh thank planfield um my father was one of nine children um raised over on Arlington Avenue in a house that no longer exists um and he was very proud to be one of the four people they were separated once they got to um uh Tuskegee but um they knew not only did they know each other but there are stories to tell which I will help Etho Washington enhance um about their their tutelage there they thought that they would be um broadening their Horizons and widening their skills um and I have very much appreciated all that they have given this community and all that playing field has given to them that can't be underestimated and you know at the time there was it was a smaller community of black people so I they definitely knew each other and I have heard stories and and their children knew each other and their grandchildren knew each other so we're very fortunate to still have those connections thank you thank you all thank you very much absolutely we gladly present you with this resolution recognizing the enormity of the contributions made and so there you go thank you and thank you planfield and thank you you are welcome anywhere and we'll take a photo so don't yes yes to me please all [Applause] just a reminder for the division parts of recreation in honor of Black History Month we're offering a Vie of library for free on February 11th and we're doing a viewing of uh black wings in honor of the black Aviator from the aviators from the city of planful so I hope that you can join us and for everybody else I know mayor math and I will look forward to seeing you at grits and Giggles on Friday at the planfield Performing Arts Center so thank you again thank you [Applause] uh I I love when we highlight our history like that um it just goes to show you know for those who are watching and kids who are growing up in Playfield the the the cream of the crop uh has come from Playfield in all fields of endeavor uh and it's if we don't celebrate it then who will right so it's it's up to us to celebrate our own and I'm glad we took the opportunity to do that uh we'll move on to the presentation with ke University floor is yours good evening members of city council president mayor map thank you for granting us the opportunity to speak about an initiative that has the propensity to advance Education Health Care and Community Development in planfield before I begin I would like to acknowledge uh Dean James kipac from Kane University's College of Health Professions senior vice president Dr Michael Salvatore and managing director Jason ples joining me as well tonight is um general counsel Dr elardo Webster and my name is Dr Julie bun um representing College of Chief Central before providing additional details about the cane University collaborative I would like to provide some general context about college achieve Central and its role in clean field and North clean field communities College achieve Central is a public charter school committed to Preparing every scholar for success in college and Beyond College achieve Central was established in 2015 and serves approximately 1500 students with a strong focus on academic Excellence equity and opportunity the school's mission is to ensure that students are equipped to excel in rigorous educational settings and to graduate from some of the nation's top college and universities by prioritizing individual instruction Advanced coursework and Char character development College achieve plays a vital role in fostering educational opportunities in fact College achieve centrals graduating classes have the distinction of a 100% graduation rate for all three years a 100% College acceptance rate and uniquely this is with every College achiev Central student taking at least three advanced placement courses coures in alignment with this Mission College a chief Central is proud to collaborate with Kane University a partner with strong established relationships with the school communities in Union and in fact across the globe on an ambitious and transformative project this partnership is designed to bring dual enrollment shared services and Community Health Care to the historic mberg Hospital site the muber hospital site has long been a Cornerstone of plan Field's history repurposing this site into a hub for education and Health Care allows us to preserve its Legacy while meeting the modern needs of the community this Vision reflects our shared commitment to innovate while providing access and education and health care services and ensures that planfield remains at the Forefront of regional development there are two key goals of the initiative the first is to expand educational opportun unities through dual enrollment programs students will have access to college level courses in Health Professions such as autonomy medical terminology and public health the program could also offer a seamless pathway from earning a certified nursing assistant CNA credential to enrolling in Kane University's Bachelor of Science and nursing program with tuition discounts to reduce Financial barriers for students who both attend caps and those students from across the community who would also benefit from Innovative educational access the second goal is to drive economic and Workforce Development with graduates and their families by training culturally competent healthc Care Professionals locally this initiative addresses Workforce shortages while creating jobs in Education Health Care and facility management the revitalization of the mberg site will undoubtedly attract investment bringing long-term economic benefits to the city of planfield we anticipate this initiative will be rolled out in three phases aligning with best practices we will begin with a planning phase where formal agreements will be established between cane University and college achiev Central Community forums will ensure local stakeholders have a voice in the shaping of this project and a comprehensive renovation and operational plan for the mberg site will be developed next we will begin pilot implementation where the dual enrollment programs will launch with an initial cohort of students pursuing the CNA credentials and Beyond and finally expansion where additional health care services and academic programs will be introduced the center will become a model of Education and healthc Care integration supporting Advanced degree attainment in fields like public health and speech and language Sciences we understand that making this Vision a reality requires careful logistical planning of which we will start in the planning phase key considerations though also include Transportation College achieve will conduct a comprehensive study to ensure transportation and facility access will minimize any disruptions to the community and maximize positive Community impact in addition Partnerships with local Transit providers will provide further Community Access and as we reflect on yesterday's remembrance of Martin Luther King day I Envision the Caps community giving back substantially to the city of planfield through specific service projects the second consideration is the facility utilization shared classrooms and Labs will maximize the use of the muber site while reducing operational costs and not just for cane and not just for college achiev Central but for planfield public schools and other partners who would like to take advantage of those opportunities as well this initiative represents a unique opportunity for plan field to lead in combining education and healthcare for the benefit of our communities we are asking for your support in facilitating the necessary logistical infrastructure and in engaging the broader Community to bring this Vision to life together we can continue to enhance playing field successes one where education and Healthcare intersect to uplift the community and continue to transform lives thank you for your time and consideration and we're available for any questions thank thank you any questions from Council Members I've got a question the proposed uh campus um is that going to be Cap's only location or is this going to be an additional location this will be an in addition location um but we will probably wind up uh reallocating um some of the grades from from different from different buildings that we have now okay that was my only question go right ahead let me first say I think this sounds like an amazing opportunity for the residents of planfield and also providing Workforce Development you mentioned that um the plane for residents will have access to that what does that look like um I think we envision um the facilities being open on weekends and evenings uh to be utilized by Community groups um we're open to it um I think it makes sense the way we're going to lay it out and be happy to work with uh other interested you know nonprofit organizations um we want to be a community Hub and as I was reading through the the backup you mentioned um I'm good thank you any other council member wish to chime in uh yes council president through the chair I have a few questions here first I would like to say thank you for this presentation and it's good to hear that you have K University as a partner and it's always good to to have a university uh have some space here in the city of Playfield um so the question is does this program aim to complement or compete with the planfield public school district initiatives um I think it's a compliment um I think um I'm sure that uh we'd be happy to incorporate them I don't know what I know they have some initials right now with Kane um and Kane is expanding its Public Health Initiative um I don't we don't see this as an exclusivity um type thing we're we we want to work with everyone okay all right next question what is the projected enrollment capacity and how will it scale over time um I think we would prefer to get back to that question specifically through um through president chair um but we do believe somewhere around 500 um the reason why I would like to provide more specificity is because there is some opportunity with the grade configuration that may be able to be housed at that site um between a 7 through 12 facility versus that of a 9 through 12 facility so I I really just want to make sure that we have factual information for you okay all right uh the next question is uh you spoke about Economic Development so how many jobs will this create for planfield residents and what type of roles will be available um I mean we'd have obviously some construction jobs I mean we work with the you know First Source folks and in the town we're building out the facility um I think a lot of our employees already from planfield we have a lot of people that work at our bu buildings and currently in our school that are fromont plane field obviously those people are going to still be there um but as we expand and grow you know I think we we we like to hire local first and we like to be quite honest hire you know uh family and friends of our of our of our students to be quite honest we've done pretty well with that so um I think it's going to be very good for playing field I think there'll be I don't know number of jobs I mean we can run the math on the construction budget and come up with a number um permanent jobs I think we have what do we have in caps Central how many what's the many have working for probably have 130 140 people working in caps in in in our in the in the playing field schools schools okay and you kind of hit on this but I just wanted to ensure it for the record uh Will planfield based contractors or businesses be prioritized in construction and operation contracts operational contracts yes okay and lastly this is for the uh Administration um and I I mentioned this because the superintendent of the planfield public school district he pinned a letter to uh the editor of tap and 2 asking for a moratorium on um the expansion of charter schools until disparities are addressed and he asked that the NJ dooe also got involved and intervene to kind of create that framework so that we can work um collaborative together so I asked the council and first the administration that we reach out to the planfield public school district and ask what impact this will have on the district and their budget as well well you don't have to answer that now and to the council they we reach out to our other elected officials here in the city of planfield which consist of the commissioners of the planfield Board of Education to create some dialogue and kind of get their perspective on this before we push this forward so I know personally that the answer is no so I just ask if we just take time to one if we can table this let me do this correctly I put a motion on the floor that we table this until the next meeting we can schedule a meeting with the New Jersey Department of Education Representatives of course uh the planfield public school district the superintendent including the commissioners of the planfield Board of Education and also all of the leadership of the charter schools uh we see that the need is collaboration so let's fill that need by Leading by example getting together sitting down and talking through these things so we can bring projects like this to fruition but making sure that we're working together when it comes to education here in the city of plan field there is a motion on the floor council president yes just like to know we're at the workshop shop part of the meeting right where we gather consensus to add it to the regular meeting so the so we first have to determine whether or not we have a consensus to add it to the agenda the top proper time to table it would be during the regular meeting okay Mr uh let uh vice president sess go next thank you uh council president um good evening and I want to thank you for your presentation um I am a big champ ion of Education I know what it's like to have uh Educators say that a child that looks like you will never grow up and amount to anything I remember my third grade teacher making that comment and here I am five degrees later one of them from an Ivy League school and so I am a big supporter of our children in this community getting the same opportunities that I got if not more I see this as groundbreaking we all know if you look at cities that are also college towns there's a major impact on that City so I'm super excited about that but I'm also excited about the fact that you're filling a career Gap that we know is an industry that's hurting right now we have had many of the nurses associations come before us talking about just how much overtime they are working because they don't have nurses and other folks filling those medical roles and we have an opportunity for our children to go to a top university and get a worldclass education as Kane likes to say for our kids and our community so we can have conversations about collaboration but let's get this done for our kids thank you uh mayor did you want to say something well thank you council president I I just want to add a few very brief remarks and I'll just like to respond to you know some of the concerns that were echoed by one of the members of this body and that is to say that the Administration has been working collaboratively cooperatively with our planfield school district director of economic developments in no Fields has met several times with the superintendent of schools with the president of the Board of Education and has introduced both to a number of developers we have toured sites around the city and we are doing everything that we can to assist the school district to help them to meet some of their needs for space and this is an ongoing conversation but we have been very transparent in terms of the interaction between my administration led by director Fields the superintendent of schools and the board president in terms of introductions the developers the touring of facilities and we will continue to do that because we are here to help now what I heard presented here this evening is about the intersection of Health Care academics economics Partnerships and the many anciliary services that will benefit from this kind of a a partnership and this is something that I believe most members of this governing body the residents of this entire city will get behind because it is a GameChanger it is transformative and that is what we all ought to be about and so I will just like to appeal to you the members of the governing body to recognize something that is great when you see it when you hear it and what you've just heard presented here it doesn't get any better and I would like to close by this I also heard you mention a 100% graduation rate 100% College acceptance rate what more do we want it doesn't get better and that is what we want to see for every student that is living in planfield every student in the surrounding areas because I'm not going to limit this just to planfield but plan field is the primary beneficiary of what is to come to that campus and so so I ask for your support council members thank you thank you go right go right I did have a question so would there be a cost Associated to these training programs for the Youth and or the planfield residents um so I mean we're still working on a lot of those things um the reality is is that um we're going to the biggest goal for us is to be able to get our kids what we call dual enrolled right so we're going to wind up paying can C the Caps is going to pay cane but the kids are not going to pay caps so it will be no cost to the kids um I'm not sure how the rest of the community is going to plug into that and how they're going to pay but we have to pay K but we believe that it makes sense for us to dual and rooll because our kids are going to get three things at one time they're going to get AP credits uh they're going to get um they're going to get college credits um and they're going to get um credits towards graduating high school so it's a no-brainer for us um to be able to combine them in these programs and and we think that you know it makes sense to you know a lot of our kids we've one of the reasons we're doing this because we realized a lot of our kids are trying to have to work during college and so we can give them 60 credits you know before they get to college and a job essentially where they can make you know $40 $50,000 instead of 15 bucks an hour um while they're in college it makes their college experience a lot different so one of the things we're trying to really focus on is um what are the impediment for not just getting our 100% % of kids getting admitted to college but how do we graduate you know 70 80 90% of them from college right so that's that's our goal and what we realize is that this opportunity is there this Hospital SL campus is there um Kane is um expanding its health services and so it just all kind of came together and um it makes a lot of sense for us um it makes an enormous amount of sense for us I think it makes enormous amount of sense for Kane to have a foot in Playing Field I think it makes a lot of sense for playing field to have a a school that's already doing very well um have a combination with the university that's killing the game um under a president and a m you know a lot of people are kind of looking this makes sense and so we we we're we're comfortable um that if we can get you guys comfortable that this is going to work um and we think if we do it right it'll be a national model um because what we're doing our school relatively Young School is already one of the top academically one of the top 20 25 public schools in the state of New Jersey and from a black and brown stpoint it's probably number two or three in the state of New Jersey so we we we we are real comfortable and real excited about the numbers that are coming out um and where a lot of schools um kind of went down after covid you know we've continued to to grow so excited about the whole platform and if we can make this combination work we want to upgrade our facilities um we think this is an upgrade to if we can build it out the way we see it if we can get some amazing kind of college level professors to come and and teach our chemistry and biology and and and and the hard Sciences um we think that that starts to break down and and we also think that that helps our kids get into better schools because now they've got a huge stem foundation and a lot of kids are kind of afraid of that um but a lot of colleges are offering a lot of money uh for kids who are interested studying stem so it just makes sense for us it makes I think it makes sense for you guys because at the end of the day our 16 or 1700 kids are your kids um you know so I think it makes sense for you guys um and and we're excited about it but if I can just add I want to be very clear in our conversations with Kan this was not a conversation about college of Chief Central this was a conversation about the city of planfield and the the scholars and students of planfield um so I do just want to make sure that I represent fairly that Kane University is partnering for the sheer fact that this model has the um ability to transform and that that is not specific to any school that a child in plane field attends that's specific to Cain representing that they really um care deeply about the trajectory of students um and I think I I just want to make sure that while this is something that would have direct facility access as a charter school we need school facilities um but that doesn't mean that that access is um not available to other students and partners who would like to participate thank you okay quick question do you have to test to get into the program how does that work or is everybody eligible how does that work it's a public charter school um so it's open to any member of the public who meets the age requirements um the way that Charter School enrollment does work is because College of Chief Central has more interested Scholars than they have seats it's a lottery but it is a blind Lottery system um the dual enrollment in general and some of those shared services that we contemplate should you know we continue to move forward would have some sort of requirements in order to matriculate so meeting the credit requirement meeting the requirement for those credits to count towards either their their keing future education or those credits that they would achieve as a high school student okay I'm sorry I didn't miss it but where's the location where's the location going to be do you have a location in mind mberg the old mberg hospital the old mberg hospital okay councilor president go right ahead just one more remark um so I do understand like I said again thank you for the Excell excellent presentation and um it was said when you see something great recognize it and get behind it but I implore you to also do your due diligence and just talk to uh the people who elected one the same people that elected everybody here they elected the Commissioners on the planfield board of education it seems like you're okay and willing to sit at a table and have that discussion and I bring that up because there are five charter schools in Union County all five are right here in the city of planfield so not saying that we need to not go forward with this project but it's having the conversation if we really serious about making a change here in the city of Playfield when it comes to education that's it thank you okay anyone else all right thank you very much for the presentation okay uh the 2024 Council committees have been established and delivered to council members uh we're going to take a short recess just two minutes uh a lot of folks came here for the ceremonial aspect and you're welcome to stay uh but some may uh want to leave so I want to want you to be able to do that without much Interruption of our business so recess for two minutes thank you e e e e e e e [Music] recording in progress thank you okay we now move on to resolutions uh first start with the legislative body items R53 d25 through R 55-25 and 10925 uh do we have a consensus to add these items to the voting meeting yes so move second okay uh any uh all those in favor say I I any opposition or abstentions on any items in in legislative body okay those shall be added to the consent agenda uh we next move to uh the business administration items with the corporation Count Council please present those items yes thank you C thank you council president as you can see our esteemed business administrator is not with us this evening so I'll be doing my best to uh handle uh her items as you can see uh uh R56 and r57 were matters that were previously presented um and we ask that they be uh added for consensus okay questions from Council Members regarding these items any okay do we have a consensus to add these to the voting meeting yes okay all those in favor say I I any opposition or abstentions okay that shall those shall be added okay Corporation Council thank you council president um under Corporation Council we have items r58 to r67 these are uh all of the uh legal services that will be required for the year year uh for the city of planfield um uh if you think of the city of planfield as a basically over100 million corporation uh there are numerous legal services that are required uh to service the city of plain food throughout the year uh specifically those are uh Redevelopment Council labor Council litigation Council and tax appeals um those services are all covered within the professionals provided um um and I happy to answer any specific questions about those uh specific professionals most uh all save one are uh repeats from prior years uh who have a track record of uh success uh for the city uh but of course I'm happy to answer any questions thank you council president questions from council member yes go right ahead Council Cher so I see there are a number of um renewal of awards and also vendor agreements on the agenda does the city when you're awarding contracts do you award them with the Dei perspective or use a framework as far as a well by law we are required well no actually not by law we are in the city of planfield uh what we could call a fair and open process uh what that is we look at qualifications uh we look at your track record we look at your uh expertise we look at your experience um do we uh do we have a formal policy of um awarding uh contracts to uh women or minority owned businesses over other uh law firms we do not however if you look at the actual Award of contracts um all save one of our prosecutors public defenders and judges uh are either women or minorities uh if you look here there are actually Four law firms uh which are uh where our representation is uh through minority attorney so if you look at our actual track record I think it's pretty good and it speaks for itself however is there a formalized process um which prioritizes no we do not do that hopefully that answers your question it does thank you any other questions okay do we have a consensus to add this to the voting meeting council president I would like to abstain from one of them okay R 58- 25 council president pursuing to our rules that would require a separate vote Yes yep so can we remove that one uh and do we have consensus to uh add all except for that one yes second okay all those in favor say I I I any exensions opposition okay all right that shall be added to the voting meeting with the exception of the the one that is noted by coun uh Council vice president thank you council president yep okay the Department of Finance uh please present your items uh Mr President I will be presenting the items on behalf of the Department of Finance beginning with 068 which is a resolution to award a one-year contract to selective benefits group and selective benefits group manages the 457b for the city there are two 457b plans that we have one is with Nationwide the other is with Empower and the fees for Selective benefits come from the two U plans from Nationwide as well as from Empower all 069 is a resolution approving qualified vendors and service providers in accordance with njsa and the backup for that the backup is attached and basically this is something that we do on an annual basis to approve a list of qualified vendors and from that list contracts can be awarded 07025 a resolution authorizing the adopt of the current fund parking utility and solid waste utility and Sewer utility temporary budget and what we doing here is inserting a grant into the temporary budget that was already introduced at the reorganization meeting if we were to be able to access those Grant funds those funds would have to be inserted into the budget and the vehicle to do that given that we don't have an adopted budget would be the temporary budget R71 is a resolution authorizing the transfer of Appropriations in the calendar year two 2024 budget to the tune of $562,000 and what this is basically doing is that when you end the year at December 31st any Appropriations that are not spent roll over into what is known as an appropriation Reserves from those reserves bills from the prior year can be paid against those reserves and so that's what we're doing here we're making um Provisions from the appropriation reserves to be able to pay for outstanding obligations from the prior Year resolution 072 is a resolution authorized in the city of planfield to enter into contracts with certain state approved vendors and these approv vendors pertain to the fire department similarly 073 we doing a similar thing as it relates to the IT department 074 also very similar in this case it's the Public Works um Department resolution 075 authorized in the city of plane field to enter into into contracts with certain approved vendors for for Contracting purposes this is similar to the previous three this pertains to vendors for the purchasing for um a purchasing department these are all state contract vendors 076 a resolution authorizing the city of planfield to enter into contract with certain state approved vendors and this pertain to solid waste and Sewer we contract with a number number of vendors on an annual basis and this is making Provisions for us to be able to award contracts 077 resolution authorizing the purchase of a couple of low sulfur diesel fuel to the tune of $430,000 and this is being done through the Mars County uh Co-op that allows us to purchase directly from the co-op without having to go out for a separate FID because this Co-op has already gone out to the market to solicit bids and so we're able to make purchases through this Mars County corop and we do this on an annual basis um 079 resolution authorizing the purchase again of I I think I might es skape 078 but that is um very similar resolution authorizing the purchase of of um Heen oil and that's also through the Morris County Co-op 079 is a backup for resolution 077 a similar purchase and if we need to utilize that particular that particular purchasing program it's the hunon County Educational Services Commission which is another Cooperative purchasing program 080 is a resolution authorizing the purchase of onlet automated Automotive gasoline and that will be done through a state contract these State contracts the state normally goes out on an annual basis or by annual and they secure the best prices which allow municipalities and counties to purchase using the state contract vendors 081 is a resolution authorizing the approval to cancel taxes in the amount of $114,000 this was as a result of 100% tax exemption this pertains to a nonprofit which is a taxable entity and once the proper research and proof was made we need to refund the taxes to this nonprofit 082 is a resolution authorized in tax refunds on properties per the attached schedule that was um provided and this is due to successful tax appeals overpayments and other erroneous payments and Mr President and Council that concludes the finance department's presentation any questions thank you questions from Council Members I have a quick question uh thank you mayor for the presentation uh must have been looking at my notes cuz the one question I had was about the the use of the state approved vendors I'm very familiar with that process and you're absolutely right it is highly regulated monitored so that the state can procure at the best prices um I'm wondering if you're seeing are you going to see that as a trend that maybe plane field will start moving for moving closer to using more and more state approved vendors for our purchasing well quite frankly we do use a plethora State vendors for any number of items and we do it rather consistently either State vendors or vendors that have been qualified through and Cooperative agreement such as the Morris County Coop the UN County Coop or in one case here the Huntington County Coop so State contracts as well as uh cooperatives we use them quite a bit thank you you're welc over council members yes question and this is uh just a overview of all of the contracts um so as we all are aware last year the New Jersey disparity study was a study that uh they looked at the availability and utilization of small minority women and service disabled veteran-owned businesses and just looking at some of this data I just pulled it up black Americans represent 9.19% of the available construction businesses and received 0.14% of the dollars on construction contracts asian-americans 6.43% they receive 2.03% of the dollars on construction contracts Hispanic Americans uh represent 11.65% and they receive 1.5% of the dollars women businesses represent 2448 and they received 8.73% so as we are awarding these contracts are we keeping this in mind and I know that we looking at the uh State contracts and the qualified vendor but are we paying attention to the study and making sure that some of the minority businesses are able to get some of these contracts we are very familiar with the disparity study and what the disparity study suggests is that there are grave disparities in purchasing across the state of New Jersey at the state level and at the municipal level but pling field doesn't make the laws that govern the state in terms of who we can procure goods and services from and so we utilize the state laws in order to better facilitate the purchases that we need here in the city of planfield so yes the New Jersey Urban mayor Association we have been beaten that drum about the disparity study and the inequities that exists within State Contracting and purchases and so on but there's a fix that needs to be done at the state level and we will continue the New Jersey Urban Mayors and all of its member municipalities to be draw measures to try to get the state to address the disparities that exist it's a big big problem that requires a significant amount of attention from our State Legislative leaders and playing field will do its part part the urban mirors will do its part as well to not only call attention but to seek Solutions but in the meantime we follow what we are able to follow in order to facilitate the Expediting of goods and services to the city of planfield and its residents council president go if I may um in response to the Shameless uh disparities study there are 12 bills that have currently been approved unanimously by the assembly's committee on development and women's Affairs that are targeting this racial Injustice I know the committee um is being led by the chairwoman of the black cish uh Shi hum uh Sumpter so we should be paying close attention to those bills and seeing how we can then take from those bills and Implement in our city so this is definitely something we want to keep an eye on at the state level through the chair one more sure um yes now understand that we don't govern the state level but we do govern the local level here so I just want to make sure that we're not only just watching but we are doing what we can do on the local level to close this disparity and this wealth Gap uh that's been happening for far too long here in the state of New Jersey and that's a good point uh counselor what we do on an annual basis is that we publish rfps and rfqs and when we do that we are B basically advertising for all qualified professionals qualified vendors to come forward let us know that you have a good or a service to offer to the city and you are invited to submit a response to the rfps and the rfqs and we also have bids which are different from rfps and rfqs and anyone can submit a response to those bids and as far as bids are concerned we have to go with the lowest accepted the with the lowest responsive bid whoever submits that so we can't if we even wanted to if there were two bids coming in one from a black person one from a white person we can't necessarily give it to the black person simply on that basis it has to be the lowest responsive and responsible response to that particular bid so they guidelines that we must follow when it comes to procurement thank you okay all right so do we have consensus I to add these second all those in favor say I I any opposition abstentions okay those items shall be added to the voting meeting okay Department of Public Works please present your items Mr council president members of the council Department of Public Works at seven uh resolutions to present resolution r325 approving qualified venges for Engineering Services we have five submissions uh resolution 8425 Is Res approving qualified Vengeance for architectural services we had five commissions to that uh resolution 0825 resolution support city of plan submit application Department of Community Affairs for the amount of $100,000 for the hand Ain of playground resolution 08625 resolution water personal service contract and only Associates not to exceed $100,000 this is for onee period resolution 8725 res authoriz approv for Street opening at 400 Grant Avenue and everything done here will be done back curve to curve monitor that it is approved by Council uh resolution 8825 resol the water fresh service contract verick this is for flood plane Management Services not to exceed $40,000 for onee period resolution 8925 authorize Bo of a contractor to CL your engineering uh for the safe rer School improvements project an amount not to exceed $ 49,9 this is all Grand fund Federal Highway Administration no City okay do we have questions from Council Members hearing and seeing none uh do we have consensus to add this to the voting meeting so move second all right all those in favor say I I any opposition or abstentions okay shall be added and we're moving to the Department of Economic Development good evening Council I have resolution 0902 5 through 103-2 for presentation so the first resolution is related to the presentation that we saw from cane University as well as College achieve Public Schools this is to enter into a letter of intent moving forward with what was proposed today the next resolution is related to the JFK Hospital Redevelopment site millburg Redevelopment site this is to add primary education on through high school to as one of the uses to the Redevelopment plan the next resolution is to do a Redevelopment agreement for the is actually to enter into a memorandum of understanding with the developer East Fifth Street planfield L LC this is the developer that will be doing the center of excellence the center of excellence memorandum of understanding relates to the purchase and sell of properties as well as moving forward with a number of the contracts that are associated with affordable housing it also relates to the community benefit agreement the next resolution or the next looking at 093 3-25 through 96-25 these are all related to returns of performance bonds all of these projects the construction has been completed there is no longer a use to hold the maintenance bond for these projects the next resolution is to perform a area in need of Redevelopment study this is for 20 208 to 22 to Lee place this is looking for a study for the possibility of affordable town homes for sale the next resolution is granting a permission for the planning board to reexamine Tod South Redevelopment plan this would reexamine the plan for additional uses specifically looking at the uses of educational facilities as well as parking the next resolution or rather the next resolution is going from 0992 10325 these are all related to Professional Services contracts the first one is related to our Redevelopment planner which would be CME Associates Redevelopment planner for the planning board also the next one is related to CME our planning board engine engineer then thewing group as our Redevelopment planner our board attorney for both the planning board as well as the zoning board any questions any questions from councilman I have a question I'm sorry sure goad um r0 97-2 um where you said the tow houses are going to be going to possibly be placed how many town houses is the first question and I believe this site was the old magella cleaners and I just want to reassure that there's no contamination in that ground because this was the old magnell cleaners for those who've been in planfield a long time you would know that mhm so this is just for a study we do not have the concept for the number of town homes yet the second one the cleaners they are responsible for doing the remediation of the site and they have already reached out to us so in other words it has been done no it's being it's still the soil still has to be tested okay all right thank you any other questions councilwoman Cher yes for um R 9-25 um the presentation with Keen what is the timeline I know they talked about the three phases but what is the timeline to start actually is it the build is is the mberg does it need a big a lot of rehab like what does that look like so this building right now this was a part of the Redevelopment of the entire millburg site so currently right now they have a shell of of a building it hasn't been a tenant fit out so that's what they still need to do right now we are at the point of doing a letter of intent between the organizations being Keen caps and it's city of planfield once that is reached they still have to decide what's going to be built whether they're going to purchase or lease or or go from there in terms of having the fit out done we should know by the spring which the timeline for construction thank you the council members uh yes uh r090 d25 uh again I ask the council to make a motion to the council to table this until we are able to have a conversation with the superintendent of schools the commissioners of the planfield Board of Education represent representatives of the New Jersey Department of Education and also the leadership of charter schools uh before we move forward with this project um it's simple we can just have a conversation with them to get an understanding of how this will impact the school district you cannot call them Community Partners and do things to undermine uh the things and the initiatives that they have and are pushing forward so many of you just think that okay this is a great opportunity let's get behind it but there's a price per pupil for each Child in the City of playing field if a child decides if a parent says you know what I want my child to go to a charter school That Money Follows that child to the charter school we don't know what's going on with budgets as you know we just had a new president and administration get sworn in yesterday um so I believe that if we want to work together as a city and we're serious about education for our students that we would come together and have this conversation with all the parties that was named previously there is a motion on the floor Count Council president so there seems to be um we can take that one off the voting meeting uh we'll vote on it separately take off the consent off the consent I believe I believe that that it probably be taken off consent but that that motion can be made but it would be made at the at the regular voting meeting yes correct exactly so okay any other questions from Council Members regarding the items um the the the 0 9-25 just one of the simple question I meant to ask them while they were still here and maybe you can pass along this message I just want to know what does that look like being by the mberg school of nursing that I hope that don't collaborate with them also as well for the health services I just wanted yeah it is a different curriculum which some of it was described in the concept paper but as we get more details we we will be able to share it okay okay okay so do we have a consensus to add all items except for uh the item R 90 yes V meeting okay uh all those in favor say I I any opposition or abstentions okay those will be added to the voting meeting uh with the exception of r90 which will be voted on separately uh the Department of Health and service Social Services floor is yours even counil I have two items 1042 and 10522 is our annual submission to continue our shared agreement with the county un County for our CG um funding uh this is actually our first year our 50th year in which we participate in that program the second one is a new resolution to to the city it's in collaboration with national CI and it's recognizing income uh tax credit uh what what we have discovered is that many uh individuals who are work in class or have not fully participated and use this earned income credit and it could provide us $8,000 when you do get taxes so what we're going to do in that recognition day is we're going to mail out things to individual institutions so that they can have that information of course we're going to use social media uh but what we're going to do and it's going to be in March actually we will have a v program and the VA program is free tax assistance to individuals so they will be coming to receive free tax assistance and that will start in March or March 12th 12 and that's work in part with a uh nonprofit so we're really kind of excited about this program this the first time we're doing it uh and questions from Council Members okay do we have consensus to add this to the voting meeting so move so move all those in favor say I I any opposition or abstentions okay those shall be added the department of sewer uh and solid waste good evening council president Council I have three resolutions for your consideration tonight r106 through r108 r106 is a resolution approving qualified vendors for Engineering Services for the sewer and solid weight uh utility we receive three proposals r107 is a resolution authorizing the award of Professional Services for Engineering Services for solid waste and Sewer an amount not to exceed 98897 108 is a resolution to purchase three new 2025 Ford F-150 pickup trucks with snowplow packages under the Mars County Co-op and an amount not to exceed 15 51 77870 any questions any questions from Council Members okay do we have a consensus to add this to the voting meeting yes okay all those in favor say I I any opposition or abstentions okay those shall be added uh Corporation councel please uh list the ordinances on first reading thank you council president um it gives me great pleasure to introduce our our first uh ordinance this evening uh which is an ordinance to establish rent control in the city of planfield uh as you may recall uh beginning in the uh fourth quarter of last year and then uh at the reorganization meeting on January 1st the mayor uh set the ambitious agenda to establish uh rent control legislation um it would be the first initiative of the office of home of homelessness prevention um to that end uh as as the mayor promised uh we have tonight for consideration by the council an ordinance to establish rent control in the city of planfield um this is a very comprehensive uh piece of legislation it's uh approximately 20 pages long so I'll do my best to summarize it uh in very broad Strokes um and then happy to answer any questions that any council members might have about it um I think the first question is uh what does rent control mean what is a possible increase on a rent control controlled property and the answer to that question is 5% any property uh that is subject to rent control within the city of planfield will have no greater than a 5% increase per year per unit um what is what units are covered well not all units are covered um and unfortunately state law dictates what we what uh properties can and cannot be subject to rent control any property that is subject to a mortgage uh as the basis of its Construction and building um is exempt from rent control or up to 30 years whichever is less so for instance if a property has a 15-year mortgage on the property it would be 15 years exempt from rent control and then rent control would take effect um there are also um other properties that are exempt Section 8 housing is completely exempt from control because Section 8 housing is federally preempted um and there is a whole body of law as to uh what is acceptable for uh for um for Section 8 housing um there um so those are the those are the types of properties um that are exempt you can tell that if it's not subject to an exemption it would be a 5% increase um there are uh certain increases that will can go though beyond the the 5% if there is a large Capital Improvement uh to a specific property they may be entitled to uh additional uh additional rent um if there is a new assessment on the property and the taxes go up a landlord may be subject to an increase um to help us regulate this and to make adjudicate any issues that exist between landlords and tenants we also call for the creation of a rent leveling board um the rent leveling board will be a a five member board um in the ordinance uh presented this evening it says that in order to be a member of the board you have to be a resident or to be a landlord uh but in consultation with the council vice president uh we'd like to recommend an amendment tonight uh which says that only one member of the board can be a landlord and that all the other four members must be residents uh those individuals will be nominated by the mayor with advice and consent of the governing body um there's also a Vision that I want to draw bring your attention to called uh vacancy decol if for instance a uh a tenant is to leave a uh property I'm sorry leave a unit um if the um the uh landlord can show that they've made uh improvements to that unit they may be able to petition the rent leveling board to get the property to market rate however they can only do this once every 3 years because we don't want to incentivize landlords to try to push out tenants so that they can get the rents back to market rate um so that's something I just want to draw your attention to there's also a provision that if a landlord feels that there's a hardship specific to their particular property they can petition the rent leveling board to have uh their rents increased by more than 5% but obviously that would have to be there would be an application made and they would have to uh make their case to the r leveling board uh there are certain fees attached now to um to the registration of all units um and that you can see listed in the ordinance I won't go through the fees there's a an exhaustive list uh but the annual registration fee at Le uh at least off the bat will be a $10 per dwelling unit um who is to assist us in the in the enforcement of of this uh rent leveling uh ordinance we will have a rent level we have a rent control officer and uh this will not be a separate position this will also these duties will be done by the director of the off office of uh homelessness prevention so um these two these these duties will be subsumed into that role uh they will be one and the same um so this is obviously a uh a huge step um in the afford in in making planfield more affordable uh for tenants um uh and uh we put this forward for your consideration and I'm happy to answer any questions that you might have thank you I've got one question so far um so with the property owner having a mortgage that would exempt them from the rent increase mortgages paid off and they refinance would that uh make them eligible again to so it would be the original it's the original mortgage correct now if you're doing a very large uh or very substantial Rehabilitation to a property say you take a property that is uh really blighted um you can make an application to the rent leveling board uh to have that property exempt uh but you would have to make your case to the rent leveling board and you would have to ask for how many years you wanted that exemption the rent leveling board would have that ability I mean but that would that's only in the circumstance where it's incredibly blighted but to your question specifically just a refinance of an existing mortgage would not suffice rent the rent control would go into effect right um another question so I guess how would we determine if the property owner actually has a real mortgage because sometimes you know we borrow hard money to rehabilitate a property and that hard money has to be paid off with this in a specific period of time but it's not a mortgage well all that information will have to be provided to upon your registration your initial registration it'll be incumbent upon the landlord to provide proof of that mortgage sufficient enough to uh satisfy the rent the rent uh control officer if they were not satisfied with the decision of the rent control officer they could appeal that decision to the rent leveling board but the landlord's going to have to prove it sure okay thank you council president go ahead um I'm going to apologize Mr Mello I have a list of questions I'm going to try to be as expeditious as possible um my first comment and I referenced this to you but I want to just put it on the record that uh we would want to move forward with language that was more gender neutral the document you know continually refers to the term chair man and he um it could be a chair woman and she um so more gender neutral language such as chairperson would be appreciated if at all possible um do we have a sense of how many dwellings in the city um fit the five or more units um at this point in time um I do not have a hard count for you and I I think through the registration process we'll a very good number uh but I do not have any preliminary numbers for you okay great um are the rent leveling board will the rent leveling board meetings be considered public meetings wherein agenda would have to be posted 48 Hours um in the paper and in advance prior as well as the meeting minutes yes they will the rent leveling boards will be public meetings they will be subject to the open public meetings act must be noticed must be public okay and there must be an opportunity for the public to be heard thank you what training um or do we we have an idea of what type of training the rent leveling board members would undergo I.E such as ethics confidentiality basic understanding of current statutes regarding rent do we have a a sense of the training and will will they undergo training um we we can certainly to to meet that that that's an excellent question and we as uh like the office of Corporation Council could certainly provide some uh initial training however is there a formalized program Statewide no there is not um but I would I welcome the opportunity to provide guidance uh to the members yes and if I may add just like um Commissioners on housing authorities are required to take certain classes although it's not a requirement here you know administratively we would require members of the rent leveling board to get some formalized training thank you um throughout the document it constantly references that there shall be notification made to tenants um I would just want to emphasize that that notification should be made not only in English but in Spanish to make sure that the tenants um understand in their first language what the document is saying and have full understanding um I also noticed in the document we talked about we we utilize the term certified records um in certain places however in some places we were very clear where we said it had to be an affidavit um can you just talk about what a certified record would look like is that the landlord saying this is true um how what is a certified record I mean I I would think that they would generally a certified record is one that is certified to as being a true and accurate copy um that can be done by affidavit I'm sorry I'm not trying to mix terms for you but they they they can often be used interchangeably but an affid David of certification could could create a certified record okay um I didn't see any language about zero tolerance for housing discrimination will we be including some language around we are a city that does not discriminate um against anyone around housing regardless of race Creed gender or economic status or citizenship so I would like to see some language in there around that um and I think those are the ones I'm going to share my time with my fellow colleagues thank you any else if I could just respond to one Council pres questions as to the general neutral language uh we will I I view that as a uh although very important would does not change the substance of the uh of the ordinance itself and therefore we can make that change in advance of the second reading and be happy to do so thank you council president so did the admin did the administration research any comparable municipalities before you drafted this ordinance we we certainly did um I can just name a few of the of the municipalities that we looked at we looked at um uh Woodbridge morrist toown uh Irvington Newark uh Asbury Park those are the ones that I can think off the top of my head that we looked at but I also want to add and I want to thank all of my colleagues who are sitting here Not only was this was uh the work of the business administrator my office but then every department head that you see sitting here had the opportunity to review this document and weigh in on it so this was really a collaborative effort across every Department in the city of planfield we're very proud of what we put forward thank you thank you next question um and think about collaborative do you see code enforcement and this rent officer working together this department because I'm I'm looking speaking about like our legal dwellings our rooming homes how do you see that those two departments working together I I think there will be overlap um but it's important that the we want the rent officer to have have a a really uh specific charge um and it's really about the enforcement of uh of this rent leveling ordinance this entire regulatory scheme that we're putting together but I can't I I absolutely agree there will be overlap between the two departments and but I think it's necessary to keep it aside that's what I'm saying thank you in the 19 in the 19 page document because it was 19 Pages read it three times um um if you you you've had this effective for August 2025 why not sooner um we we thought there be uh there needs to be a uh a period um to uh educate the public with regard to this and I think that there will be a um a public campaign to make sure not only that residents but that landlords understand the the regulatory scheme I'm sure there's going to be questions um it also gives uh time for the administration to ramp up with all the administrative pieces and enforcement that's going to be required to make this work and we also have to convene the rent leveling board so I think this gives us ample time we want to do it but we want to do it right um and we think this is the runway that we need to make sure this is uh done um in a way that ensures uh proper enforcement thank you um as it pertains to the rent roles I see that in that document it's really not a lot of language um submitting the information to the city clerk is will there be backup documentation required to actually prove that the mortgage was collected absolutely that and that will be the role of the rent of the of the uh rent control officer to ensure that all documentation is is appropriate and I think that's it thank you thank you other council members councilman Wyatt council president uh yes thank you for telling that joke and making light of the situation uh this Administration has the reputation to sometimes act like they don't see people or hear people um so as you know that I did roll out a rent control plan um I also held the community Forum about it I submitted it to legal councel for review and didn't receive anything back until it was on the agenda um so just for clarification purposes and and first let me start by saying I don't really care who gets the credit as long as our renters can breathe easily then that's all that really matters when it comes to this here um so for clarity purposes as a member of the governing body right one of our jobs is to write legislation so I thought I was following the proper protocol which was we drafted an ordinance submitted it to legal counsel for review asked for it to uh be returned by the 10th of January it was submitted over the holiday break didn't receive anything back so what is the process that we as the governing body should follow when it comes to submitting legislation just so I know going forward uh thank you councilman um I just want to Echo that everything you said is 100% correct in that you you did provide a draft uh of an ordinance on ring control at the same time that you had submitted your draft uh the administration was well underway in putting together um the um the a full a full regulatory scheme for the city um your your draft was considered um but uh it was my thought as Corporation counsel that it would be duplicative to have two uh competing ordinances uh both coming out of the office of Corporation Council and so I thought to meet the end that you had saw and seeing that we also have a a rent Control Ordinance we thought that we' that the one provided by the administration would suffice Mr President may add something to that as well um there's a person in the audience who submitted an email to the administration dated said September the 29th the administration was way ahead of that email in terms of planning for rent control the councilman submitted his four-page document on January the 2nd I spoke in these Chambers about rent control on a number of occasions I spoke about it again at the reorganization meeting in my state of the city address and so this has been months into making and it wasn't a knee-jerk reaction as I said previously it required extensive research and we wanted to get it right so we weren't going to take a month two months we took the period of time that was necessary in order to do the research and to get it right and that research everything that we did resulted in a almost 20 Page document because the the research was that extensive the importance of this to the council and the administration was that significant as well as to the residents of the city and so we took our time to do the right thing and to bring forward the ordinance that you have for consideration this evening po Clarity the question was as a member of the governing body who one job is to write legislation what is the process and submitting uh that legislation because I submitted and asked for a legal review and feedback on it which I didn't receive so going forward so I don't take months as well to work on something and submit it and think I'm going to get feedback um from the legal council what should I do going forward and what should we as members of the governing body do going forward when we want to submit legislation well as far as the office of Corporation counsel I I mean absent this extenda circumstances where we had you know the administration and a council member both working on the you know towards the exact same end absent that I'm always happy to help any council member draft any legislation um that you want uh you know for consideration by by by the the entirety of the governing body I think this was that rare circumstance where uh you councilman you you had ask for something that the that we were already well on the way um and um I think I tried tried to uh make that point in in my second email to you when you when you followed up with me um but um in every other circumstance councilman all council members my office is available to help draft anything um or to do a legal review of any uh legislation that you wish to put forward okay so just a few questions here if I may um so cuz I had to take the time and read the 19 pages and do a compare and contrast to make sure that uh it had been meet and it would satisfy the residents here in the city of Playfield so just to highlight a few things just to ask questions about uh so in what is it chapter 21 it exempts multif family dwellings with four or fewer units uh the city of planfield has multiple um rents uh multifamilies meet that criteria so why are we exempting four or fewer units um we we felt um this was looking a couple things it was looking at other other ordinances uh throughout the state but we also felt that that our Target here wasn't really a um a owner of a two or three or four family um of home we were looking at larger landlords we were looking at larger landlords who um could possibly absorb the cost of having a rent controlled building and we felt that we we saw that landlord who owns four or less units as somebody who is you know maybe struggling as well so um we made that specific policy decision or offering up that specific policy decision for Council that those individuals be exempt um because we know how hard it is to be a landlord of a small uh of a small for uh small you know uh or home or small building um so that was a policy decision okay um and just keeping under that one so August 20125 you did say that it takes time to you know roll it out and educate the community I just ask that we change the date from August because that in August of 2023 what we did was condemn a building and put several people on the streets and now this is like we created a problem and now we're selling the solution so we can just look at changing that date uh the rent control provisions the original ordinance uh we used the rent increases as the lesser of the CPI which is the Consumer Price Index which has been 4.7% over the last couple of years with a cap of 6% so whichever was lesser that's what we would use so what made you decide to go with 5% of the base rent a flat number once again uh looking at other uh ordinances throughout the state and making a policy decision um we had to we thought the number obviously it's fairly close to the bottom of that CPI um and it was um we we thought it was fair for both landlords and and tenants um so you know I'm C we could certainly argue about whether it should be 4.7 or up to six um it was once again a decision that that was done in the interest of fairness okay another uh item here the permits on Capital Improvement Ser charges was capped at 10% and the plan I submitted uh you went with 15 % of the base ront if we just have an explanation on that 15% on Capital Improvements yes c um you know once again uh you know we we wanted to as much as we are this this entire regulatory scheme is to ensure an affordability but we also had to consider the actual costs of being a landlord um and we didn't want to stifle uh we didn't want to stifle landlord's attempt to make their building better for the for their residents so we had to give them opportunities to recoup real costs for their buildings and so that's why we uh established the a cap at 15% as opposed to any other number it was only to ensure that landlords are incentivized to keep their buildings uh you know as good as good as possible based on the financial conditions okay uh moving on to the rent leveling board uh so we both had a five member board uh which is okay so you decided to create a rent control officer and house it in the homeless uh the office of homeless prevention office that's not created yet one that I personally think that we do not need uh because we do have PL fill action services and if you look at the website and the duties and the things that they do uh it's kind of duplicating services and adding another level of bureaucracy uh the city of planfield has a bad reputation of partnering and collabing with nonprofits are actually doing the work uh so many of times we just take a step back invite them in have the conversation and see how we can collaborate um I can name a few off top but we have to change the reputation to support the nonprofits who are doing the work in the sector rather than just creating another office and throwing money at a situation where we already also have a bad reputation of enforcement as well um so those two differences I didn't understand why create that position and put it under the uh homeless off of homeless prevention uh the tenants protections uh so we talked about let me just see here let skip that we go to the penalties so if a tenant wants to appeal if they go to the rent leveling board and they want to appeal who do they appeal in your plan who do they appeal that to what what would the tenant be appealing so if a if a tenant a landord say you know what I want to increase the rent they go to the rent leveling Bo they don't agree with that decision who do they appeal that decision to when if if the um if the if either AG grief party wants to appeal the decision of the rent leveling board they would have to take that to Superior Court okay yeah so I put in the plan that they can appeal it to the governing body the mayor and the city council so why skip over that level and go right to the superior court I mean we we I think the the interest here was to have a dedicated board that was really Focus I think you know city council has a lot on its plate and this is a policy decision that that it is important that the um the rent leveling board be focused in its Mission um I think it has the ability to make sound decisions because that's all it does is just deals with these issues of land landlord tenant uh disputes or concerns and also I I think that as an attorney to have every decision of the rent level board come to city council could be a potential nightmare I think you could get clogged up with numerous cases I think individuals need to know that if they are not happy with the decision of that board they have to seek it before a judge in the in at in the superior court I think that gives more weight more gravitas more teeth to the decisions of the rent leveling board and empowers them to to uh make decisions that stick um but that's the attorney in me yeah so as well as I should add it should not be a political football where someone can come to the seven members of this board you Lobby person a you Lobby person B to get to the decision that you want to arrive at it ought to be an objective person and I'm not saying that you are not objective but I'm just saying that the process should not invite politics into it and if you leave it up to the city counil that's what you're doing all right um no further questions for now thank you Council okay any other council members I go ahead for the r leveling board will there be a bilingual um because we do have a large um Latino community in planfield will there will that be part of the qualifications no it is not a a qualification however I I think it's really important that the uh to the council vice president's concerns and yours that we have uh interpret an interpreter servic is uh at all the meetings and also that all the materials be in English and Spanish and I think on behalf of the administration we'll commit to that making that available and I should add you know appointments coming forward from me as mayor will reflect the demographics that you see in this city my last question how do we avoid and again this is maybe an anomaly um a resident that is scared or fearful that their rent has increased and they don't want to to speak up is there another Avenue again I know there's the rent leveling board but is it the director they appeal to like what is the steps if you I mean there is specific language in the in the ordinance that says that if you feel that you've been retaliated against because of a complaint you've made to the rent leveling board that that is also yet another violation that you can bring to the rent leveling board so um that's in separate in aide um I think the best thing we can do is educate everyone on their rights um and let them know that no one should be scared to come forward and that if you are we will that the rent leveling board and the rent leveling officer will take Swift action uh to Institute fines and penalties against any landlord who would do that thank you and I hope that we do have some trainings in the city that educate our residents about tenants rights any other council members all right uh do you have more items don't you I'm sorry do you have more items uh actually I will take uh the next uh ordinance um uh uh director Abney asked me to speak on this one specifically uh this is an ordinance toop a uh to establish a four-way stop sign uh four-way stop I'm sorry four-way stop intersection at burkeman Street and East Third Street um I uh spoke with the with the director and he advised me that that area had become dangerous there had been several accidents um they instituted a traffic study which confirmed that a fourway stop is necessary at that spot and he's asking Council uh to move this ordinance forward so that we can establish the before we stop there thank you any questions regarding that from Council Members okay do we have consensus to add those items to the voting meeting second are you going through all of them or you just those two um I'm happy I think we're just at the at the consensus phase for one yeah for one and two oh yes I guess do we have cons um council president was there consensus for uh 20251 I'm not sure if I missed that no was there consensus okay oh that was to both I'm sorry my my apologies um as to 2025 -3 if I could ask director fields to jump in for me that'd be great thank you sure this is an ordinance amending the scattered sites Redevelopment plan this would add um another parking requirement to the Redevelopment plan okay any questions from Council Members okay do we have consensus to add that to the voting meeting so moved second any opposition or abstentions okay all those in favor say I I okay that should be added to the voting meeting the next ordinance is to amend our land use ordinance currently our ordinance requires that we submit up to 15 copies of paper copies of a submitt to our zoning and our planning boards this would move to digital copies reducing the paper copy requirement to two copies and one digital copy as we would go for digital reviews sounds prent any questions from Council Members yes I have a question so for the digital copies uh I guess how would a zoning board or planning board member I guess view plans each member would have a laptop or a tablet oh cool okay so that's going to be new M all right cool thanks additional questions do we have consensus all those all those in favor say I I any opposition or abstentions okay that shall be added council president asking to remove ordinance 20255 all right so we'll just leave that off the voting meeting any others okay I'm moving on to 20 25-06 this is to amend the land use ordinance this is related to the amount of structures permitted on single family Zone Lots we would also allow the one primary structure plus an accessory dwelling unit to be constructed the accessory dwelling unit construction would go up to 800 square ft and up to a height of 24 ft okay good to see a Adu resolution here uh can be helpful uh to those in mitigating costs and also generating income for for uh for owners any questions from Council Members question is that limited to one per residents or I'm I'm not understanding yes so you can have one primary structure and then one accessory dwelling units and this would be permitted in the single family Z zoning districts which are R1 R2 and R3 um can you paint a picture for me I'm not good with square feet is that the size of a garage pretty much so let's say you have your primary home that has to be occupied by the property owner and then the accessory dwelling unit could be a garage an apartment over a garage okay a two-car garage and these are areas where the houses currently have driveways or are we putting more vehicles on the street all of these zones require driveways okay thank you any have questions from council members uh yes uh director so the existing um accessory structures that are on single family uh properties where there's space above a garage and I guess the current zoning does not allow there to be Plumbing does this change that you yes this would allow for plumbing electrical and so forth okay thanks okay do we have consensus to add this to the voting meeting yes okay all those in favor say I I any opposition or abstentions Okay add that to the voting meeting okay the last ordinance is to amend the scatter site City own parking lot this is to allow for the address 18 through 24 Madison Avenue which is the parking lot behind McDonald's for to build affordable senior housing questions yeah I have a question sure will you um Define affordable and what's the income sure so in this case what we're looking at this is 100% senior so you're looking at 55 and older because this is going to be a subsidy they have to be be between 30 and um 60 an 30 and 80 area meeting income so what does that mean that means that it's going to be a combination of Studio one bedroom apartments in our case a studio could be as low as 600 a month uh two bedroom at 80 Ami could be as high as 1,800 thank you so much is this highrise no how many levels the restriction for the height is six stories okay other questions okay do we have consensus to add this to the voting meeting yes all those in favor I any opposition or abstentions okay that shall be added all right anything else all right you have all right we're going to motion for a 5 minute recess so Mo all right I all right recording St e e e e e e e e e e e e go ahead recording in progress okay we will resume our business we now move on to public comments limited to resolutions and motions being considered this evening total of 30 minutes has been allocated for public comments limited to resolutions considered this evening each speaker will be given three minutes give your name and address for the record the floor is now open good morning name and address and state the resolution you speak sure uh Quan Palmer champas 1227 um East Front Street planfield New Jersey I um I forgot the paper that has the resolution on it but I'm going to be referring to the resolution that has to deal with with Ren control that was a very interesting and a very needed and a very necessary back and forth uh on this topic I just like to say for the record that the resident that our mayor was referring to with the email on the 19th was myself uh and I did speak on it and let me just say the email was not to the mayor the email was to the Department of community service and he was cced on the email I did not hear from our mayor about my concern I did get an email from his Administrative Assistant I don't know if I'm giving her title right Miss Workman who asked me to send her pictures of the letters that I did receive I did send the picture of the letters to her came to a council meeting I didn't hear anything about the letters that I sent I sent another email asking for followup to the situation I still didn't hear from the mayor's office or any councel I did come to the council meeting I believe it was November or December and I asked about the situation and I was told that I needed to take that up with DCA because they already had things on file to address that and my response was well what about the city what are you doing to protect the resident so there was no answer from the mayor about that and then again I'm going to say it publicly again and then all of a sudden Mr Wyatt announced that he was going to tackle the issue of rent control and now all of a sudden here come the ordinances which like I said before it's good right if you're going to do the battle of the ordinances only the tenants could benefit from that but had this young man not made that statement publicly there would have been no response and so if the mayor had something in the works to address that then the two or three times that I asked for followup he would have said we heard you we understand we have heard from other residents we have talked to Miss Cherry from the United Way we have talked to other Council people we have talked to Mr Brown in Health and Human Services we have talked to rashara who's already doing this work and this is what we have planned but it was nothing at absolutely nothing and even when he announced it I said in this meeting does that include rent control because that was not part of his announcement and then he said yes and then he came back in December with another layer I also agree that there is no need to create two jobs for this we already have people doing this work can somebody make a a um a motion to extend time because I wasn't going to talk about this until he made the comment about the email that I sent there'll be but I want to talk about the school stuff and the other opportunity and I want to be able to finish because speak time has elapsed and there is no extension that's correct and okay there is no extension and by the way I want to know that you were very Petty and not mentioning that Mr Wyatt had a hand I have a comparison of the two ordinances up thank you I have a comparison of the two ordinances and you used a lot of his information in your ordinance and to reference the councilwoman here for her input and not recognize him for his input makes you petty and if every council member had a role you should have mentioned him too we need to stop the pettiness you called for civility this year you called for civility and that includes speakers stoping talking time up not to include this gentleman and what he did so let's be civil thank you tell the whole truth if you going to tell it tell it all good evening good evening my name is Victor Thomas um I represent Evergreen Cemetery in Playfield on planfield between 4th and 6th which resolution are you speaking regarding um resolution general public comment I called the city and they I actually called and speak out of order I'm sorry you're out of order so this is this is just on resolutions ordinances only there's a general public comment at the end of the meeting general public comment we're not we're not at that section yet so okay so there's another yeah there'll be another opportunity okay so I'll come back good evening Nancy p were 1129 mle Avenue I would like to respectfully address um ordinance uh resolutions R 9-25 and r91 d25 the reexamination of JFK mberg Hospital Redevelopment plan I appreciate the clarification given tonight about R 90-95 and its relevance to R 91-95 however murg site is a complicated issue and more complicated than perhaps the office of Economic Development may be aware some of you were not in office when the initial JFK mberg Redevelopment plan was first prepared in 2017 this plan was prepared before the subsequent merger in January of 2018 between JFK and hackin saac Meridian health and before the sale of the mberg nonprofit land to mberg urban renewal LLC which was the name that was used at the time of the land transfer in 2018 Mr Mello was president present at the court hearing in Elizabeth for the sale of mberg land there are two legal agreements documents that include covenants the deed includes five restricted covenants and the final plan of merger may contain two Community covenants which run for a specific length of time both agreements contain stipulations that involve property and Playfield which may or may not constrain what the office of economic development is proposing do these agreements supersede what the city is proposing have lawyers thoroughly examined investigated these two documents and agreements and all the legalities regul relative to this reexamination there are very specific types of law that are involved are there any state regulatory authorities that require notification since the State Attorney General was involved in both the deed restrictions and the community covenants it would be very remissive me not to pass along this information it is my civic duty to inform you that these two legal documents exist and may impact what the office of economic development is proposing like let me make myself very very clear I Oppo I at court oppose the deed restrictions when mberg was sold my name is in the deed opposing those deed restrictions the deed restrictions appear to be in conflict with some of the services that Cain and caps have conceptualized according to R 90-95 and it's Cain and caps aware that there is going to be a Rucker detox center on that property I just don't want the city to be put in any legal Jeopardy by any of this and I I respectfully request that you look at the deed restrictions and that you look at the community covenant thank you very much great timing I I I know how to do [Laughter] it next name address and resolution you're speaking with God Carol Ruiz wind of the spirit 225 Watchung a here to speak on resolution 5325 and rent Control Ordinance I'm inspired to hear your discussions about access to education when I was an undocumented immigrant I was denied an education because of that status at County College of Morris Wind of the spirit immigrant Resource Center uh lobbied to change that policy so today I stand before you as a count College of Morris graduate a Drew University graduate and a SE Hall University School of Law graduate I ask that each member of this Council Lobby your state legislators uh legislators to support the Immigrant trust Bill the resolution 532 uh 25 and I look forward to a unanimous vote in favor of this resolution in support of the Immigrant trust act it is clear to me um that uh you don't need me to tell you how important that is not just for plan field but for New Jersey should you have any concerns regarding resolution 5325 please reach out to us to wind of the spirit to the ACLU to the League of Women Voters to the hadti solidarity Network or any of the hundreds of organizations that support this bill we wind of the spirit also encourage you to compare the proposed rent Control Ordinance with the rent uh leveling ordinance in Newark that is the best one we've examined numerous rent control and rent level in ordinances in partnership with the fair share housing center and we have found that newark's ordinance is the most beneficial to both municipalities and tenants without creating an undue burden on landlords I encourage you to consider the realities that planfield tenants face single family homeowners and multi family homeowners with less than four units are charging as much as $1,000 for a room one room in one house and then denying the tenant uh unlawfully the use of the kitchen or the driveway or common spaces um landlords not all but many are taking advantage of tenants and the ordinance as that I heard described is not going to protect those tenants of course we are still concerned about the displaced families over a 100 families that um suffered here in Plainfield as a result to landlord negligence and I'm wondering how long they will need to continue waiting that happened in 2023 how much longer will they wait for truly affordable apartments as a um window the spirit also Works in moris County and in moris town in particular so please accept and consider my recommendation to you that you ensure your ordinance is not similar to morristown's ordinance despite a rent leveling ordinance Morristown black and Latina latinx communities have been pushed out because they can't afford the rising rents resulting from Redevelopment with pilot agreements this red leveling ordinance is crucial for you please take it carefully thank you thank [Applause] you good evening uh Katherine Hillyard at 1421 Malboro Avenue here in planfield I just wanted to clarify the MC 20 25-06 about the uh accessory dwelling it sounds like um there's a potential for a primary dwelling and that there could be apartments or something over the uh accessory dwelling uh so that sounds like there's uh uh you know added people uh on this lot not just one structure so just wanted to clarify if people would be living in the uh accessory building that's all thank you anyone online yes we have one person on virtually okay public Hearing in person is closed uh please unmute the speaker caller ending in600 please unmute yourself this is Ashley Davis 109 East Fourth Street um so I want to speak on resolution 109 sl-25 by first thanking councilman Charles McCrae and the entire uh City Council on behalf of my grandmother who is the matriarch of our family for this ordinance uh acknowledging The Life and Legacy of my aunt um who did pass on December 18th um while we know that ordinances are simply pieces of paper they provide a comfort to families more than I think sometimes we know as former members and current members of the governing body I also want to speak on MC 2025 d01 which is the rent leveling board um and I think that this is a great start to rent control in the city um one thing I would suggest and recommend is writing into the ordinance that a member of One current tenant is a member of the rent leveling board what we see from other boards and commissions across the city where we have residents who want to do great work who come in with Open Hearts to do it when they don't always live in the areas that are affected by their decisions or they don't or they have the privilege to not maybe live in an apartment they make decisions that really affect tenants in a way that is negative and that's never their intention but if you have at least one tenant one current tenant on the rent leveling board they can talk to the issues in real time and the things that they're really facing and uh really provide a perspective that will make these decisions uh I think more fair and more Equitable um I think that the appeal to the Superior Court can sometimes be seen as cost prohibitive um to people who are just struggling to pay their rent unless the city will provide residents uh with resources or access to resources such as legal aid um at the ribbon cutting of the station at Grant Avenue the mayor talked about a tenants Bill of Rights I think that would be a great addition to this um to this ordinance so tenants understand what their Bill of Rights are as renters in this community um my other concern is how the city is not currently clear on how many units will governed by this ordinance and the fact that a lot of this information is voluntary from landlords um and then my final concern with this ordinance is the extra fees like the sewage wastage fee the fuel passal charge the capital Improvement fee the tax surch charge um is that tax sech charge is limited to Municipal Taxes or is it for all the taxes that property owners can face and how is that going to be broken down in leases so renters understand all of the different things that they are paying for in addition to their base rent uh my last concern is MC 2025 d07 um where the city is giving away more parking to build housing is there a plan to replace uh this parking spaces and the ordinance says that there's no fiscal impact to the city however if these are city-owned lots how much money was the city making from permitting these spaces either currently or in the past so that is all of my stuff I hope I am with my within my 3 minutes but most importantly than all of this again on behalf of my family a huge state thank you for the resolution thank you thank you all right public comment is now fully closed okay Mr clerk uh would you please announce the consent agenda council president yes oh yes absolutely I I I do remember recall being in court with Miss PIR um I I'll say this Miss p uh thank you for for bringing to our attention yet again the deed restrictions on mberg uh the court has never um did not in any way hamper our ability to redevelop the property uh so far but it's as part of any Redevelopment we of course will look at any covenants on the property uh moving forward um but as as I said here this evening at this stage we do not see any impediments to anything that has been proposed uh thus far yeah um just that what's being presented to you tonight is just a letter of intent it is not a designation of a redeveloper there has been no agreement reached with the original property owner for a purchase or a lease agreement as we move forward those will be presented to the council should we move forward with your approval but we thank Miss P for bringing to having that historical background on the covenants on the property we thank her for bringing that to our attention thank you council president may I respond to there was a question about the ordinance 256 it was in relation to the number of structures that are allowed for the primary structure as well as accessory dwelling units that would be two so you can have one primary structure and one accessory dwelling unit allowed on the property I'm sorry I did I not hear the question clearly oh no I was just that thatment over access Building Council president I don't think we can have the back and forth the so just to answer clearly it's one primary structure accessor dwelling unit can exist separately such as a shed building can be turned into accessory dwelling unit or or if there is a detached garage you can have a unit on top of it like an apartment then there was another question in regard to [Music] spaces okay thank you for the clarification director anything further okay clerk please announce the consent agenda the consent agenda items have been identified as resolutions 5325 through 5725 0 5925 through 8925 R 09125 through 01925 voted on separately removed from the consent agenda our resolutions R 5825 in which vice president sesum has indicated her intent to abstain and resolution 9025 which councilman Wy has indicated his intent to make a motion to table also removed from the agenda was res uh was ordinance MC2 2505 okay can we have a roll call you need a motion for the consent agenda motion and the second second roll call please council members bricks Jones yes Cherry yes McCrae yes sesum yes Wyatt yes vice president Graham Council M I have this roll call messed up let me try again council president bricks Jones yes Cherry B Jones not yeah I'm sorry congratulations pardon me one more time council members Briggs Jones it's getting late council members brick Jones he have a fit yes Cherry yes graah yes yes Wyatt yes vice president sesum yes council president hak yes I got that right the consent agenda items have been approved okay non-consent AG uh non-consent agenda items yes we move to resolution 5825 5825 need a motion in a second second what is it roll call roll call council members Briggs Jones yes yes Cherry yes Graham yes McCrae yes Wyatt yes vice president sesum abstain council president hak yes six in favor one exstension that resolution has been adopted and resolution 9025 need a motion second we need a motion in second so moov thank yes I made a motion to table this until the next meeting where we can set up a meeting with all of the parties that I uh listed give me listen again for the record that's okay I think I think we don't you don't need to recite them I think just a motion to table we have a second okay motion do now we can proceed to vote we can proceed to vote now okay so move second roll call council members Briggs Jones yes Cherry yes Graham yes McCrae yes Wyatt abstain vice president sess yes council president hakay yes six in favor one exstension the resolution has been adopted okay any others oh okay Mo on to ordinances yeah is there one more ordinance is on first reading MC 20251 is an ordinance creating chapter 21 rent control to regulate control and stabilize rents and to create a rent leveling board and the duties of rent control officer I'll entertain a motion to adopt this ordinance on first reading as amended so move second roll call please council president if I may can I get a would I can I recommend a motion to amend the ordinance to ensure that only one uh individual of the rent leveling board may be a landlord can can we have that motion please yeah our move our move that we amend the ordinance to reflect that of the five members one only one me member be limited to being an actual landlord and the remaining members must be tenants have a second second the current language says just residents res thank you okay okay uh all in favor I I in favor I opposition or extensions to amended motion to the motion okay so that is has been amended can we now have a motion on the amended come back with second okay we have a roll call on the amended motion roll call on the amended motion council members rck Jones yes Cherry yes Graham yes McCrae yes Wyatt no vice president sesum yes council president hakay yes motion table's been moved okay I need a mo motion to adopt as amended motion to adopt as amended please motion and second so moov roll call roll call on MC 20251 is amended council members brid Jones I thought we was T say it again it's a motion to adopt MC 20251 as amended no Cherry yes yes Graham yes McCrae yes Wyatt no so proper amendments are made yes vice president sesum yes council president hak yes five in favor two opposed orance been adopted on first reading okay next MC 20252 is an ordinance for a four-way stop intersection at burkman Street and East Third Street to amend and supplement chapter 16 vehicles and traffic article 7 through streets stop intersections stop and yield intersections designating certain four-way stop and three-way stop intersections can I have a motion and a second to ad on first so moved second can I have a roll call please Council memb bricks Jones yes Cherry yes Graham yes McCrae yes Wyatt yes vice president sesum yes council president hakay yes that is unanimous this ordinance has been adopted on first reading thank you MC 2025 Dy please MC 20253 is an ordinance of the city of planfield County of Union New Jersey adopting the 12th Amendment to the 197 scattered sites Redevelopment plan dated December 12th 2024 okay um we have a motion in a second please MO second roll call please roll call MC 20253 Council memb brick Jones yes Cherry yes Graham yes McCrae yes Wyatt yes vice president sesum yes council president hoade yes that is unanimous this ordinance has been adopted on first reading thank you uh next ordinance please MC 20254 is an ordinance to amend chapter 17 land use 17 colon at colon 8-2 point a and 17 colon 8-7 point b. 6 in the city of planfield for the additional requirement of submitting digital copies to the planning board and Zoning Board of adjustment have a motion in a second so second roll call please roll call Mt 20254 council members Briggs Jones yes Cherry yes Graham yes McCrae yes Wyatt yes vice president sesum yes council president hak yes that's unanimous this ordinance has been adopted on first reading okay 20256 please MC 20256 is an ordinance of the city of planfield in the county of Union amending chapter 17 the land use ordinance article 9 section 17 colon 9-23 buildings or structures per lot primary and accessory dwelling units can I have a motion and a second please to adopt this on first reading so moved second roll call please let roll call on MC 20256 council members Briggs Jones yes Cherry yes Graham yes McCrae yes Wyatt no vice president SES yes council president Hoak yes that is six in favor one opposed MC 20256 has been adopted on first reading all right 07 please MC 20257 is an ordinance of the city of planfield County of Union New Jersey adopting the Second Amendment to the scattered city-owned parking lots and adjacent Lots Redevelopment plan dated December 12th 2024 you have a motion and a second please so move second roll call roll call on MC 202 20257 council members Briggs Jones yes Cherry yes Graham yes McCrae yes Wyatt yes vice president sesum yes council president hak day yes that's unanimous okay thank you I think that concludes business we now move to General comments total of 30 minutes has been allocated for all public comments each speaker will be given 3 minutes to discuss any Topic at all uh name and address for the record the floor is now open um good evening leave me council president mayor Matt council members Bradford artist retired firefighter planfield fire department I have some paperwork for you uh if you don't mind yes please uh hand it to the clerk all the council members and one for the mayor back in 1992 myself and 11 other African-American firefighters in this room were sworn in the first all African-American class in the planfield fire department we took that moment to vow to protect this City with whatever we had and we did that for 25 years at retirement we were expected to get a benefit of our heal uh health benefits if you look in this we had we ended up going to court and the city appealed it three times lost three times on appeal and are currently refusing to pay seven of us are health benefit two whom are deceased so their families should get those benefits three currently live within the city limits and those members are paying taxes and their taxes are going are being used against them to not allow to allow them to retrieve their money and be awarded this benefit if you look on that last page it say says any member on that department that started before 2010 and had 20 years of service or more are entitled to this benefit remember in the beginning of this I said 1992 and we still have not received our benefit yet and no one can give me an answer why and I just implore you and ask if you could check into it find out why seven members of your department are being refused and a benefit that they're entitled to thank you Charles Holmes 660 Sheridan Avenue planfield resident for 35 years retired firefighter for seven 25 years on a plane for fire department just like Mr Brad uh stated I'll pick up from where he left off we took the city to court three times three separate judges approved ruled in our favor and said pay these guys three separate judges the city appealed three times Mr Mayor I get that could you try again I'm sorry I'm sorry what is going on here Mr Mayor why are you fighting us we're like retired we're like Army vets you know that been fighting the war for 32 years 25 plus 7 you know I love being a fireman we gave 150% we gave our all to to everybody here you know and some of the guys that Mr arst was talking about is is uh paying like $500 to $800 a month coming at a out pension checks the pension checks stay right here so anybody thinking about retiring think twice cuz your pension stays right here when you got inflation and everything else city taxes medical eggs and milk all that comes out but the pinion stays right here you know it it it it we're struggling I'm all beat up I'm banged up I need my medical you know 25 years is from '92 when uh uh the late mayor Mitchell swor Us in in this room you know he was a good man I just found out to the reason why I'm all cuz I just found out one of our lieutenants passed away today on the plane for fight Department you might know him I don't think you know him his name is Jerry Thompson he was back in '92 he basically taught me how to stay alive cuz firefighting is a very dangerous job you know and there's only one man in this room in this Council that's that's really trying to help us and I'm going introduce him to everybody I'd like for everybody give him a round of applause because he's the only one that that has heard our cries and and hear our hear our prayers and I like to get praise what praise is do to this one man up here and he's the only one who's trying to help us and when I introduce him I like for everybody just give him a give him uh a round of applause and cuz he's the only one trying to help us you know and his name is Mr councilman Richard white yes [Music] yes that's it thank you good evening um my name is Victor Thomas 1017 Madison Avenue I represent the Evergreen Cemetery on planfield Avenue between 4th and 6th AKA first Park Baptist Church First Baptist Church owns the cemetery since the 17 century everyone uh I guess some of the familiar streets you know stelle Randolph and all that um in the city of planfield have the people buried there we out we've actually been there longer than the city of um than the city this building and every other building we've been there the Revolutionary War 1700s so I say that for one purpose we can no longer afford to maintain this Cemetery this Cemetery will go within let's say if we give up this year and don't actually pay the landscaper it'll just be weeds and everything else with dumping and everything unfortunately with our congregation of 216 years we can no longer our congregation got older and smaller right here on 7th Street on right there 315 West 7th Street first Park Baptist Church we've been there 216 years we've made maintain the cemetery all of that time it's Evergreen Cemetery as all of you known uh let's say I mean so many of the Mayors the governor was buried there the mayor so many of these Mayors were buried there Mr Randolph of Randolph Road was buried there the mberg that you referred to the history is deep and our archives date back all the way to there if we surrender the cemetery we would like to uh this is the first step we haven't actually applied there was considered a motion of um release I'm not sure the exact ter ter but according to state law and Cemetery law according to cemetery statute we can release this due to lack of taxes but we don't pay taxes there's only one sewer line that runs through it at one time the city tried to get us to pay that tax but because we don't pay taxes we would our first step in surrendering this to the city is to come to the city council we want to be step by- step with you we're not trying to do this in any T of arbitrary way where actually we want to make the transition smooth uh we'd hope that you don't do anything along the lines of developing it because as I mentioned all of those different people throughout the city history are there I guess the council might um concur up to 50 years if there's no correspondence in a cemetery becomes dormant land that's our concern Our concern if we turn it over uh to the city or if we turn it over to a private developer anyone could develop it you don't have to once a grave is 50 years no correspondence you can do what you want that's 5 Acres of property in planfield we're hoping by giving it to the city you you'll of course say we're not going to do anything to this property we're going to maintain it we'll have the department of Works go over there and take care of it we used to have a pretty good relationship with them but that changed you no longer assist us so at $16,000 a year we're a Congregation of 75 people we cannot afford it anymore we were we had a youth program and a grant for a little while a slap program used to come and help us years ago I started but to make a long story short this is the first step to proceeding along those lines we wanted to come to the city and say that City that property with all of our fall barriers of plain field which we all love will go and disrepair so if we contact the city in our next step two three and four is I notice all the resolutions and different things like that we'd like to comply we'd also like your support the council support that's why we're here clergy we're work together I've been on cery so we will be in touch and if there's any comments or any concern please feel feel free to notify me thank you hello I'm too little for this carol Ruiz wind of the spirit 225 Wang a we encourage you to explore the rent leveling boards in other municipalities as these boards can at times create bureaucratic barriers instead of fulfilling their mandate representation matters I see I don't need to tell this Council that uh the rent leveling board then must include planfield tenants not just planfield residents so please consider that Amendment before your second reading it might be substantive and then you'll need to do it again then do it again and do it right because representation matters if you've never lived in a basement like I have if you've never lived with roaches like I have if you've never lived in an unsafe attic like I have if you've never feeled homelessness or abuse or neglect or violence then how are you going to represent those of us who have and this Council unfortunately right you've been in the news I know it's awful to be in the news about something that wasn't your fault and wasn't under your control necessarily but planfield has suffered abusive landlords that have been splashed across national news and now you have the opportunity to lead the nation or certainly our state in protecting tenants and ensuring that representation you took a great step in putting it on your agenda it sounds like both the mayor um and and and residents and um council members have explored this for some time right so continue doing it and getting it done right um if you if you concerned and and I appreciate that some of you and I apologize if I mispronounce your name council member Dr Sesame SES sesam thank you Dr sesum um if you were concerned about uh tenants knowing uh their rights great thank you Legal Services of New Jersey and wind of the spirit regularly provide um no your rights workshops and know your responsibilities because yes we're responsible tenants right it you know this is not about just bashing landlords we are responsible tenants too just like landlords need to be responsible those workshops are available we can work together we've done I personally have done those workshops in Morristown in Dover in the oranges we can do them here um so it's it's an opportunity for us to work together and help plan field move forward and truly um be a community that moves forward and has progress and continues to provide safe and affordable housing for all your residents all right all right this time hiwan Chamis 1227 East Front Street planfield New Jersey um so first of all I just want to say that um one of the things that I like about living here right is that when I look on this panel I see people who look like me I see people who look like my sons I see people who look like my daughter-in-law and I see people who look like my older uncles with that representation matters Dr sesum I agree with you that being africanamerican sometimes in our Public School experience we are not always encouraged like other students in fact we're discouraged right and all of us know the story of Malcolm X when he said he wanted to be a lawyer and the teacher told him what he should but I want us to carry this as well when we have young people who have desires to want to do something great we need to encourage them and I was told that we cannot control or police what others say but as africanamerican people and for those of us who have africanamerican sons we cannot allow people in the room to discount or disrespect them and if the lawyer was gracious enough to call on you Dr sesum by your name by your name and talk about what you contributed to this document he should have also talked about councilman Wyatt and mayor should have called him by his name instead of the counselor if we're going to show respect for you Dr sesm as black women we must make sure that everyone sitting on this dis whether we agree with their politics or not is shown the same respect and we definitely don't allow people who don't reflect our community to disrespect those of us who who do so let me just say that also let me say that as a member of the NAACP we do have a stance on Charter Schools we do not agree with Charter Schools because Charter Schools take money away from the public schools where the majority of black and brown children have to get their education I don't think it's anything wrong with having a discussion with the Board of Education and other stakeholders before we move on this because we have to ask ourself the question why is it that Charter Schools want to come to planfield what is it about planfield that Charter Schools find a home these are for-profit schools a lot of times their staff is not unionized and the studies show that they do not do any better than our public schools in fact Our Queen City charter school is the lowest paid teachers on the list of paid teachers in Union County so I do think that we should go back and have the question and have the discussion before we rush on everything five Charter Schools we already have why PL field thank [Music] you good evening I'm Stuart seen strier 225 watching Avenue is where our Senator is so I'm here to thank you for supporting the resolution of uh immigrant trust act at the first uh meeting of four towns right after the election the Dreadful election we came to your town as we came to other ones and you're number two to approve it Madison was the first one you're number two and mor is coming in just next week so I congratulate you on that we did not seeing everything eye to eye but on this we and you have a specific very important uh situation because scutari which is the senator representing your town has also a very important position in the Senate so I urge you to talk to Carter Kennedy and scutari to make sure this keeps going where it has to go as you've seen as we all seen from what happen on day one of this Dreadful Administration things are not going to get that much better so it's time for us to get our act together and pull on this immigration specifically and I appreciate your your work on this thank [Applause] you good evening name and address good evening council members my name is Linda Lashley I live at 27 Netherwood Avenue in planfield uh what brought me to this meeting meeting tonight was that I read in tap into planfield that councilman Wyatt had introduced legislation for rent control that's what got me here tonight because planfield has a serious problem with high rents I have seen a dramatic increase in homelessness since you have allowed these very uh so-called luxury uh apartment owners to to build these apartments and charge $3,000 for one bedroom nobody can afford that why are you allowing these people to come into our town charge all this money people cannot afford go to Wawa you see people sleeping in their cars by allowing these developers to come in here and charge all this rent has incentivized the existing landlords to double triple and quadruple their rents every every year right there on Front Street uh what is it Netherwood right next to Netherwood they used to pay, 1500 this guy is going up two three $400 in a year he's driving everybody out where are these people supposed to go what are we going to do about this why you are giving tax incentives for these people to come and displace our people why can't you negotiate a better deal where more low uh income people can get into some of these so-called luxury houses that are like shoe boxes they're not even big enough to be officially two bedroom places so you know I've been here since 19767 we moved here right after the riots I grew up in Greenbrook Village I went to Barlo School first grade our rent was $225 a month for a two-bedroom apartment with a dining room now I have a house I have no dining room my point is that I really would like for you all to be a lot more considerate when you're allowing these developers to come in here charge these high rents incentivizing the existing landlords to double and triple their rents and create a catastrophic situation in our city and that's all I want to say thank you for your time [Applause] anyone online is anyone online no there's no one online okay public hearing is now closed uh is there any any followup with the administration sure um council president I just want to respond I I understand that all members of the governing body received a packet um um and I I just want to state that first I I I want to thank the firefighters for their their service to to the community um it is greatly appreciated but we have to be governed by the law and what was put in front of you was made to you were made to believe that this was somehow a decision an order of a court that stated that these gentlemen were entitled these firefighters were entitled to certain benefits that's not what you got uh what you have in front of you is a brief that was written by their attorney um in the Appel division with regard to an arbitration decision and um if you look at that arbitration decision um it doesn't specify that any of the individuals who got up are entitled to any benefits whatsoever but specifically the decision deals with Benefits post 2018 um retirements uh these individuals do not meet that criteria but what I would recommend to them is that they had councel they had an attorney when they when they filed this that I would welcome them as Corporation counsel I have not heard from anyone any of these individuals who got up until this evening what I recommend is that they either they or their attorney who represented them a in this in this case reach out to me if they feel that they've been grieved in any way I don't believe they have but if they've been grieved in any way I'm happy to sit with the business administrator and rectify the situation but what isn't helpful is coming to a council meeting without ever making any attempt whatsoever to reach out to my office or to the business administ administrator who I've been in contact with about this matter previously so I think there is a way forward I recommend that they reach out to me and communicate with my office directly um and I'm even happen to stay after the meeting if they want to have a conversation thank you council president okay all right uh yes ma go right ahead mayor yes um one I would like to invite wind of the spirit to leave your information with the clerk and we would be more than happy to have a conversation with you regarding the concerns that you rais number two and forgive me for not remembering your name but concerning the cemetery Victor if you can contact my office we can sit down and have a conversation and regarding rent control we have responded to the conern concerns expressed by so many of you and that is the reason why the ordinance was placed on the agenda the reason why it was adopted on first reading because we have heard you and this ordinance is our response and the final thing I want to call attention to is that there will be a town hall at the Washington Community School tomorrow at 6:30 this will be the third Town Hall that my Administration will be hosted in the last three months and there are other Town Halls on the calendar this will be in collaboration with councelor from the first and fourth ward Julianne Cherry this is tomorrow at Washington Community School at 6:30 and it is the third Town Hall in his many months the first one was in the cafeteria at the planfield high school the second one was at the Booker School now the third one is being held at the Washington Community School and more will be coming in each and every ward of our city we invite you to attend I'll see you at 6:30 tomorrow at the Washington Community School thank you Mr President okay good sure so second all those in favor say I all right meeting adjourn e