All right, we'll start with communications. Have the Sorry, Council President the special meeting of July 21st there. Okay, and I'll accept a motion to accept the special meeting minutes. So moved. Second. Okay. All those in favor say I. I.
Any opposition or abstensions? Okay. The special meeting minutes are approved as well. Uh we will go next to communications from the mayor. Good evening. Well, good evening, council president and members of the governing body. We
have a proclamation to present this evening and I'll ask our business administrator to read the proclamation and then I will present it. Okay. Whereas the city of Planefield recognizes the outstanding service and
dedication of Sergeant Kesha Bethea, emergency management coordinator, in response to the recent storms. And whereas the significant storms caused widespread impact and damages threatening the safety and well-being of our residents. And whereas the o the the
office of emergency management under the leadership of Sergeant Kesha Betha played a critical role in coordinating emergency response efforts demonstrating unwavering dedication and professionalism in managing the situation. And whereas Sergeant Kesha Bethea and the emergency management team
worked tirelessly to implement necessary emergency management operations, ensure the safety of residents, and protect the resources of the city of Planefield. And whereas their efforts included establishing shelter for residents with no electricity, providing resources like
bags of ice and water and coordinating with other agencies within the state and county, police and fire departments, department of public works, school district, Red Cross, etc. And whereas the response demonstrated effective leadership, partnership, coordination,
and resourcefulness in the face of challenging circumstances. And whereas the dedication and commitment of Sergeant Kesha Betha and the emergency response team contributed significantly to minimizing the impact of the storm and ensuring the safety of our
community. Now therefore it be it pro be it proclaimed he Adrienne Omap mayor of Planefield New Jersey formally recognize and commend Sergeant Kesha Betha for her outstanding service and dedication to the residents of Planefield during the
storm events. This recognition also serves as a testament to the vital role played by emergency response professionals in safeguarding the community during times of crisis. This proclamation acknowledges their crucial work in emergency preparedness,
response, and recovery efforts. And council president, if you and the members of the governing body would like to join me as we present this proclamation, we'd be more than happy to. Thank you. So you have heard the message of the population,
but all of the members of all experience last month or so and Sergeant
the who's our coordinator. She was baptized by fire and she was forced to drink from a fire hose for a number of weeks. And someone who
was new in the job, having been appointed probably sometime in the spring, maybe less than a week, less than a month before these events hit our city. She did an outstanding job
and she was there around the clock and we couldn't have asked for a better person to be in the role at this time than Sergeant Kesha Bethia. And so we want to really thank you for the work
that you've done and for what you will continue to do as our OEM coordinator. what you've done has been outstanding and we thank you for that. And I don't know if the council president would like
to join me in saying a few a few words. Yes indeed. Uh we still suffer the effects of the devastating tornado and flood. Uh but um
this was an uh an effort where the council came together, the administration came together, the community came together um even with uh a benefit that we had for the benefit of our residents and uh Sergeant Betha was there every step of
the way. Uh, I can guarantee you that she got the least amount of sleep of anyone during that entire ordeal. Uh, the role that she took, she stepped up to the plate. She took it extremely seriously. Uh, probably even compromised
her own sanity and health in making sure that we as a city of Planefield got through this tumultuous time. So, for that, uh, I applaud her. I'm proud of her. Uh I am grateful to be continually
led by her. Uh knowing that she's in that position. Uh all playing fields should rest well knowing that we have such a fighter uh such a tireless worker in a role of OEM coordinator. So I just want to give her props and her flowers
today uh and thank her for awesome service. And hopefully you won't have to do that again anytime soon, you know, cuz you might still might not have caught up on your sleep. Uh but we are grateful for all your efforts and they have not gone unnoticed by this
governing body and this council. Um so thank you so much. Thank you. And we present you with this proclamation and may you continue to serve us in the manner in which you have so far. We thank you for that.
Thank you. Three, two, one. I do. I do. Good evening everyone. I have to say thank you to the mayor as
well as the administration council director children director Abney director Brown you as well listen I want you to understand that I couldn't do this job without a team we know that
team work make the dream work correct and it's not only about me it's about my team and only to do this job is not only about the team but it's about the community as well. So the police
department, the fire department, DPW, even the parking authority is I'm telling you all of us had to be hands on. Those two storms were devastating. And no, you don't get any rest. It's all
about commitment and service. And I just want to say thank you again and I truly appreciate everyone from the bottom of my heart. Thank you. Any more communications from the mayor or is that it? That's right.
Thank you, Mr. President. You're welcome. Okay. uh regarding uh ordinances MC 2527 through MC 202530 and 32. Uh those are scheduled for
public hearing and final passage for the regular meeting as advertised. We now move on to resolutions. Uh the legislative body items are R 290 25 through R 294 through 25. Uh, do we have any questions
regarding those or a consensus to add them to the voting meeting? We have a consensus to add them. What is that? Second. Okay. All those in favor say I. I. I.
Any opposition or abstensions? Okay. The legislative body items have been added. Okay. Would the business administrator present the uh mayoral uh items? Yes, we Thank you, Council President. We have four items this evening. Um the first is a resolution
authorizing advice and consent to the appointment of Yasmin Diaz. This is for a municipal court prosecutor. She's filling a vacancy till the end of this year. The next is a resolution in support of the state's legislation, the proposed legislation for the climate
super fund act. So, this is a this is a bill that would hold the fossil fuel companies um liable for the cost of climate change and and it would authorize us with funds to spend on
mitigation projects. So, it's holding those responsible accountable via money and then having people spend that money on flood mitigation and weather weather mitigation um efforts. The next one is um advice and consent
for the reestablishment and appointments of six auxiliary police officers who are listed in the resolution. And we're going to be reestablishing the auxiliary police officers. Um and finally, we have a looking for
approval to submit a grant and accept the grant from Union County Kids Recreation Trust Fund. is going to be for Matthew Park and it's going to be to resurface the basketball court and also to make the playground ADA accessible and we have funds in capital from last year to
match this. Okay, questions from council members on all um going once going twice. Okay, I would like to
uh remove not remove but uh separate uh R 295-25 regarding Yasmin Diaz because I will uh be abstaining uh from that. Um but regarding R 296, 297 and 298, do
we have consistence to add that to the voting meeting? Yes. Yes. Okay. All those in favor say I. I. Any opposition or abstension? Okay. Uh those items will be added. Okay. The department of finance
floor is yours. Good afternoon everyone. Good afternoon. Um I have five items five resolutions for your approval. Uh resolution 299-25
resolution amending RO26-25 to authorize the qualified purchasing agent to award window contracts over 17,500 but below the new local unit public bidding threshold of 53,000.
Um what this is is every 5 years the state updates the threshold for bidding contracts. Resolution 300-25, resolution authorizing the award of a contract to all paid in to provide online payment
services at no cost to the city of Playfield and with a convenience fee to be paid by customers for a one-year term commencing September 1st, 2025 through August 31st, 2026. This is a renewal of contract for online payment services.
Resolution 301-25, chapter 159, resolution requesting approval to amend current year 2025 municipal budget by inserting four items of revenue and appropriation um in accordance with NJSA 484-87
totaling 2,127,057. 302-25 resolution authorizing the approval to cancel taxes in the amount of $14,830.84 due to 100% disabled veteran exemptions. And finally, um resolution authorizing the extension of third quarter taxes
grace period to September 9th. Um, this might not go to September 9th because that the bills were actually made mailed on the 7th and it's 25 days after that but it extends the grace period in.
And that's it for me. Are there any questions? Questions. Okay. Do we have a consensus to add this to the voting meeting? Yes. Yes. All those in favor say I. I. Any opposition or abstensions? Okay. shall be added. Uh, police department.
Floor is yours, director. Good evening, council president. Good evening. I have two items for your consideration. 30425 is a resolution authorizing approval to apply for and accept the highway traffic safety bureau 2025 drive
get pulled over statewide Labor Day crackdown grant in the amount of $8,750. This is a grant that we get every year. Um, I'm glad to say that the the department's numbers are always very high in regards to this grant. So, we
get the maximum funding usually each year. 30525 is a resolution authorizing for year 2 option of a contract with Aeron Security, which is also known as Arrow Security for armed and unarmed security guards and amount not to exceed
$247,376. This is the armed and unarmed security guards that we now employ at city hall, the annex, and the library, which frees up uh officers to do basically work on the street. That's all I have, sir. Okay. Any questions from council
members? Okay. Uh do we have consensus to add this these items to the voting meeting? Yes. Yes. Okay. Uh all those in favor say I. I. Any opposition or abstensions? All right. That shall be added.
All righty. The Department of Public Works director. Good evening, Mr. Council President, members of council. Department of Works has nine resolutions to present. Resolution R30625 is authorized and approved in the state of New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection
Green Acres Program. Enabling resolution for the Rushmore Park Inclusive Playground. and 0725 is res approved in the state of New Jerseyy's department environmental protection green acres program enabling resolution for the Rushmore recreation complex phase 2.
This is all about these are two enabling green acres resolution uh reflect and confirms the funding for both uh grant agreements for the Rushmore aquatics complex and inclusive uh playground projects. Resolution R30825
authorizing change order number one final the release of the performance bond retainage and final payment amount of $5,656 and acceptance of the two-year maintenance bond for the first place and second place roadway improvements projects to Pipino Builders LLC just for
the record uh this was reduction to in terms of the amount of the uh grant received with savings of 29,478.91 for that project. Uh resolution 30925 and that's for asbuilt materials. That's that was the reduction that we had for
that. Resolution 30925 authorized and change order number one final release of performance bondage and final payment amount of 7,972 an acceptance of the 2-year maintenance bond for the East Third Street Leland Avenue to Berkeley Terrace and Grant
Avenue from West 7th Street to Wsworth Avenue roadway improvement projects. That was another reduction too of 86,43775 for the from engineering estimate that we save in reduction resolution 31025 reduction in asbuilt materials resolution authorizing change number one
final the release of the performance bond and acceptance of 19,7996. This is for core as for compaction penalty that will charge Mr. contractor and a 2-year maintenance bond with the East Third Street roadway improvement project directly to Terrell Road to Spel
Suns. And when I say uh for core asphalt, that's the voids in the asphalt that's compact into the ground. So there was voids in there and every now and then D comes and inspects certain certain projects, certain roads to see to make sure the proper compaction is there. So there's some voids in the
core, so everything's fine, but we checked it out to make sure it's fine. But there was some little defects in the core, meaning the asphalt itself. So that's core. That's what that's all about. Resolution 31125 resolution authorized the professional service contract
association inc. And this is for the phase phase one in the amount of $75,100. This is for the storm water NJT mandatory requirements. This is for our waterershed. This is project we have to do. This is by state law. Uh resolution
31125 resolution authorizing change order number one to devel construction inc. Uh this is for the restaurant recreational complex inclusive playground. But what I'd like to do if possible skip 314 because 314 reflects the 313 and 312 about 31425 res
authorized an amendment and transfer of local recreational improvement grant funds from Madison skate park project to the Rushmore recreational parks complex projects for fencing lockes and bathroom upgrades in amount not to exceed $169,000.
This is a grant that we received was for remediation work at Madison State Park. However, we have enough funding there for that. So, this money was able to be moved so we can get more lockers and other upgrades over at uh the park. So, back to 31225 authorizing change to move
one to the Val construction. This is for the Rushmore Recreation Complex includes a playground in amount not to exceed $56,767. This is for additional fencing on the interior of the park going around the whole perimeter like 2400 linear feet
for fencing 8 foot high. and this mesh fencing that goes in between to keep the bars from being bent, you know, by the kids, everything else what goes on with that. So, this would just make it more stern, everything around the park with that. So, that's what does and plus it keeps
that still decorative look of the park with the fencing at the same time. Resolution 31325 is resolution authorizing changes number two to best go experience enterprise and this is amount not to exceed $50,000. This is
for lockers, bathroom upgrades, etc. over at at the park itself. We need additional lockers. It started off with like maybe 20 lockers, so we're up to 60 now. This will help us get to 60 in terms of lockers. We need probably more time goes
on, but this is for additional upgrades there itself. And that concludes my resolutions. Uh, okay. Any questions from council members? I had a question for R 312-25. Is the fencing for the exterior of the
entire park or the exterior of the pool? No, that's in internal. The stairs ready there. just like the wire mesh where the is going to go and lock and make things internally in the park around the fire park. Okay. Okay. Then we're doing the same old cell
to as well. Perfect. Thank you. And then is there a timeline to completion of this project? That's a good question. We're getting close sometime this month. Everything should be where it should be. The administration will reach out to everybody. You know, know when everything but everything's coming up. And unfortunately with the bad weather,
we had not make excuses because we went in profession. was Memorial Day, but a lot of things happened too. Not taking sides with anyone, but it happened. We had a lot of rain this year. A lot of things happened trying to cure for cement things like that. Things like happened and then supply and demand
certain material was tough too in the White House. Not a lot of things happen. Yes, we're close. Yes. Thank you. And if I may add, counselor to what was
just explained. Um the director didn't mention the supply chain issues that really delay this project, but we're now looking at a possible ribbon cutting
on the 21st of this month. The drop dead date that we discussed with the vendor was August the 18th. So we're looking at a ribbon cutting on or
about August the 21st. And there were issu situation beyond the control of the vendor and we were not happy to say the least. But things are moving.
Thank you. Thank you, Mayor. We're not happy. I know our residents will be happy once it opens. And would that be for the whole complex or just the aquatic portion? The entire complex excluding the playground for like section portion, but
everything gets everything. And then the mayor were adamant about what needs to be done to get everything open. Yes. Thank you. Further questions from council members. I have a question. Go ahead. Um, actually I had a few questions. Um,
and I know I seen I noticed that there was like a change order of course with the monies and the funds, but the first question was I um, and you kind of explained it, but I just want to make sure I put it on record and I wanted to ask, are we out of funds to continue the construction of Rushmore? Is that the
reason why we're using the money? That's the first question. And um you already uh mentioned the uh second question expecting time on the water park to be done. And uh there was another question that I
wanted to ask. Uh and um the monies you said you um transferred from the Madison skate park to the Rushmore Park. Correct. Okay. All right.
So, um, and of course I'm excited about getting this done and I'm sure as sure as the residents because they're buzzing all over Planeville. Uh, so, uh, if we utilize that money um
for Rushmore, um, when or where do you expect to get the money for the Madison skate park? When when do we expect to get that money? Is there any going to be any monies for that for the Madison skate park? Yes, there is. There's money for outdoor fitness that we're going to do, but we have to do remediation work there first. Okay.
Okay. Because I found some some historic contaminants that we have to get rid of and we're waiting for the D to approve a grant for us. Okay. To help offset all of that cost to remove all that material. Okay. Once that's done, yes, there's major upgrades from administration to the park. The the outdoor fitness center is
going to be there, a double playground, etc. So, everything's going to be renovated in that park and taken care of. No parks being left behind. Okay. And was there and and you said for the grant is there a time limit on this grant that you are transferring over do you have to use it by excuse me use it by a certain time or
well the grant we're using yes the El grant local recreation improvement grant yes that has to be used before April so there's a lot of things we have to do that's going to help us get everything done with Rushmore and add to it lockers etc and upgrade the bathrooms a little more too to add some more things to the bathroom so we don't want to lose that
Elbert grant so we can use that for these funds right here for parks so we're allowed transfer that which was a good thing for us just to add to some things we want to do with defensing etc at rush. Okay. All right. Thank you. Further questions from council members. Okay. Do we have consensus to add this
to the voting meeting? Yes. Okay. That sounded very unanimous. Any opposition? Okay. This shall be added to the voting meeting. All right. Uh the department of economic
development. Uh, director, you're there. Good evening, council. Can you hear me clearly? Yes, we can. Okay. I have items 315-25 through 325-21-25. The first resolution is looking at
releasing a maintenance bond. This is for the 829 South Avenue property. This is Netherwood Flats. They have con completed the construction. So this is to release the maintenance bond. The next resolution is related to
accepting a grant for Brownfields remediation. This particular property is for 1092 Arlington Avenue. We received approval from DP to receive a grant from the New
Jersey Economic Development Authority. This would be to prove that we actually remediated the site and now it's ready for redevelopment. The next two resolutions are related to support for the Planefield housing
authority. These are first one is to support 225 unit senior affordable housing units. These are going to be located at Richmond Towers. This is to support a redevelopment need
that's required by the housing and mortgage finance agency. The next resolution for that is related to Joan Hollis Gardens. This is to rehabilitate 128 units. This is also for family
affordable housing and this is something that's required from HMFA. Um we'll be able to pause at the end to ask questions. We do have the Planefield housing authority present as well as the
development attorney for wind development that's going to be doing the rehabilitation. The next resolution looking at 319. This is related to a lease extension. This is for the 508 Watchon Avenue property. We
originally signed on for a 5-year lease in 2020. The lease has expired. This is to extend the lease for an additional 5 years. The next resolution looking at 320.
This relates to ordinance MC 25 2025-29. This is to wave the estopo period. The reason why we are requesting to wave the estopo period in order to have the school year start in time because this
is in support of the Obama academy using space within the boys and girls club. we would need to forgo the stoppple period so they can start that first week in September. The last resolution looking at 321.
This is an acceptance of a grant from the Department of Environmental Protection. This is also to remediate a property. This particular property is related to 520 to 532 South Avenue.
That concludes my presentation. I I will say we also have the Planefield Housing Authority as well as their developers present to also answer additional questions. Okay, questions from council members
and are there any questions of uh of the housing authority um related developer? If there are then they're welcome to come to the mic. Yes. I just want um the housing authority just to give a general description as to the scope of work um
that's going to happen with the uh rehabilitation of the apartments. Thank you sir. Good evening ladies and gentlemen. Good evening Mayor City Council and administration Randlewoods my name executive director of the housing authority of Planefield.
I have with me also Mr. Keith Gennard who's vice president representative of wind development. To answer your question, Councilman Graham, what we're doing, we're looking at Richmond Towers 225 senior housing units to rehabilitate the building. Okay. Um it would probably
take it's going to take approximately timeline wise 15 to 18 months before we really get started. But right now all the prerequisites and if you you are gratuitous enough to pass the resol resolution of need that gets us going
not only under the the prerequisite of New Jersey HMFA but also under the rules and regulations of repositioning under HUD housing and urban and development which is section 18 of the federal code. So, um, we're going to rehabilitate there. Also, simultaneously, we're going
to be working on Joanne Hollis Gardens, 128 units of our family housing. Now, we're still contemplating demolition or rehabilitation. That decision has to come from HUD. That has to come from HUD. But either way, we're going to make
it beautiful. We're not going to, you know, have anybody um let's say, you know, put out. It's, you know, you hear a lot of talk of folks saying, "What's going to happen? Are we going to lose our place?" If you're in good standing, you will not lose your
place. You will not lose your place. We'll also with those that have been struggling through stipulation agreements, we're doing all we can between now and then to make sure they're viable. So, we're preparing folks now to be ready for the transition. And unfortunately, you're
going to lose some people. Some residents may fall besides, you know, below the wayside, but we're going to do all we can to help those because we don't want to see anybody disenfranchised put out on the street. That's not what the housing authorities about. Okay. I'm going to yield over to
followup follow-up question. Sure. with regard with regard to the scope of work within the apartments. Is that new bathrooms, new kitchens, new appliances, everything? Okay, totally gut it. Okay. Okay, I'll yield to you.
Good evening. My name is uh Keith Canard. I'm the uh senior vice president for wind development with public housing. Uh and I'm uh it's an honor to be here this evening. I guess I'll just elaborate a little bit on the the scope of work. Uh it it is all kind of an
iterative pop process. We have to do a physical needs assessment. We've done that. That has to get examined along with the amount of funding we're able to get both from EDA and HMFA and our own private debt support. So once we kind of
pull all of that together, what Mr. Wood said is absolutely within the apartments. There's going to be floors, doors, kitchens, baths, uh complete gut rehab, but then the rest of it comes for the balance of the building, the resident community spaces, the hallways,
the elevators, the pipes behind the walls, the boiler systems, energy efficiency systems. All of that gets kind of heaped into the mix, prioritized, and addressed. Okay, sounds good. All right. Thank you.
I had a question. Council President for Joanne Hollis. There's currently how many current units are there now? Is it 128? 128. 128. Is there a possibility to increase with this RAD? Um not with our current pro. So our
current process we're really looking to address the the units current units and the current residents. um if we we would need to talk to the housing authority and and see if there is a desire to increase density or add additional units, but the current
project really is really focuses on improving what's there. Thank you. A question, Council President. So, could you um speak a little bit to what would be the transition plan for the residents who are there? If you're going to do a full demo or even a rehab, I'm assuming
they'd have to temporarily relocate somewhere else while that rehabilitation or full demo is going on. What does that look like and what what kind of notice would they get in advance so that they could plan their life accordingly? Oh, excellent question. So, the one of
the things that we do is we hire a third party relocation expert. We have a firm called housing to homes who actually has done this in many of places across the country dealing with public housing relocations. this particular development
and and and rehabilitation project while it will be extensive we look we aim to minimize the relocation effort and taking people out of their homes and how long I will tell you that people will be temporarily relocated whether it's for a
day whether it's for a week uh they they will be uh temporarily relocated the the idea is in all of these is to have a kind of a a concurge lounge downstairs where if we're doing minimal work in the apartment. Let's say it's the last two
or three days of that particular apartment. The residents can stay there. We'll provide food. We'll provide uh all the things to make that comfortable. If some residents will be relocated to other uh apartments within the building that are set up uh for them to stay for
several days, when we start getting to really extensive, let's say uh uh 504 disability rehabilitations, those particular units take a bit more time. Those residents may need to go to a local hotel. We will handle all of those
arrangements in terms of helping them pack, packing for them, moving those things into a storage unit, moving it back in for them, making sure they're located in the hotel, having transportation for them if they need to go somewhere and get something to eat, whatever, what have you. But all
relocation is temporary. 100% of the residents are uh provided the uh right to come back to the developments once it's complete. I don't know if you want the operator. I'm going to add a little to that Keith.
I got it. Thank you. Also to answer your question, there's a portion what we call deconentration. Deconentration means that as you're moving forward, HUD will give us the permission when we have empty units, vacant units. We don't fill them. We
don't fill those particular units. So therefore, through the transition, as Mr. Canard was saying there'll be a time where we can move residents into maybe 15 or 20 vacant apartments. So you have 20 you're working on 20 apartments at a
time. So that's part of what we call deconentation. Deconentration comes through attrition. So that's part of it. The other thing is what we want to we we what we do monthly and we've started two months ago. What we do we speak to uh
all the residents. We have a resident meeting once a month, one for Richmond Towers, one for Joan Hollis Gardens to keep everybody arrested to every step that we take and we make sure we get them all prepared so everybody's fully notified. And again, I'm open door
policy. They know how to get to one way the one way or the other. So, I hope that was hope that answered your question. Thank you for that. You are welcome. your um time frame that you have um and you said the next 15 months. 15 to 18 months realistically, but we're
move we're moving expeditiously. Okay. So, hopefully I'm I'm thinking in my mind I don't know 15 to 18 months hopefully it be somewhere like near the summer or something. So, families like you know with their kids and everything with schools they have to be relocated
as far as schools is concerned. And then you have some parents sometimes they don't drive. So that would definitely be a concern also as well that they have the appropriate transportation you know to get around. And then you have the seniors when I know it's three
I believe three seniors that's on oxygen also as well. I'm sure they'll be like priority. Absolutely. Um as well. So um those are the things that I would be definitely um concerned with. We'll make sure we'll keep you ab breast at every step of the way. And all of those
concerns have already been taken in consideration, councilman. Yeah. And then it might be something that we that you that you not me that you can partner with the planefield board education as far as the transportation is concerned, you know. Um that would be something you might
want to look into as well. Sure. You know, just in case it's it, you know, depends on the the timing of when it's going to take place. Absolutely. Contingency is always important. Mhm. Director, one last followup question with regard to unforeseen
circumstances that could happen with the renovation. We run into plumbing problems or are we running to more issues where we're uh transitioning to high efficiency heating? I'm I'm assuming we have enough money in the budget to uh conquer those
circumstances. Absolutely. Okay. Absolutely. That's all I want. Thank you. All right. Thank you very much. Okay. You're welcome. Thank you. Okay. Do we have uh consensus to add the economic development items to the voting
meeting? Move. Yes. Yes. Okay. All those in favor say I. I. Any opposition or abstensions. Okay. That should be added. Uh the Department of Health and Social Services is next. Director, welcome. Uh good afternoon, council president and
council. I have one resolution. uh resolution 32022-25 which is a resolution authorizing a shared service agreement between the city of Planefield and the city of Elizabeth. This particular shared service agreement is for the uh
leadbased paint inspection program, rental program that the state has mandated. Uh this is not the first time we presented this resolution. We have to do it every year and a half, every every two years because you have one year of a renewal. Uh and so this is what we're
doing today. Uh it includes uh all single and and two family rental units and some multiple dwellings uh constructed on or after 1978. Uh there are properties that are exempt but they would have to be exempt through the state. Any questions from council members?
Okay. Do we have consensus? Yes. All those in favor say I. I. I. Any opposition or abstensions? All right. The department of sewer and solid waste is next. Okay. I'm going to speak for uh Director Louise. Sure. He has just one item which is um look
he's looking for authorization to purchase a dump trailer that's to move vegetative west to waste to the disposal site and he has this in his capital funds. Questions from council members. All right. Do we have consensus? Yes. Yes.
All those in favor say I. I. Any opposition or abstensions? All right. Okay. We'll move on to ordinances on first reading. Okay. Council President, we have just two ordinances for you this evening and
they are both adopting redevelopment plans that were approved by the planning board. Um, the first one is one that you saw also last month, but it's being resubmitted for first reading again. Any others? You said two. Yeah.
Okay. Questions from council members. All right. Do we All right. So those are on first reading. Do we have consensus to add those as well? Yes. All those in favor say I. I. I. Any opposition or abstensions? Okay.
Those shall be added. All right. We'll have a fivem minute recess and return back to the voting meeting. Recording stopped. Recording in progress. Okay, we will continue our business. We move first to consideration of public
hearing, second reading and final passage. Uh we move on. Uh, madame deputy, please read MC2025-27 by tattle and further certify its compliance with all legal statutory
publication requirements. MC 202527 is an ordinance of the city of Planefield, County of Union, State of New Jersey, amending and supplementing the city code so as to amend article 13 fees chapter 17 colon 13-22
which shall be entitled affordable housing development fee ordinance. It is hereby certified that notice of a public hearing on this ordinance was published in the Courier News on July 20th, 2025. Okay, the floor is now open to any member of the public that would like to
speak regarding this ordinance specifically. Hearing and seeing none online uh and entertain a motion to close public hearing. So moved. Second. Okay. Thank you. Uh may I now have a motion to adopt this ordinance on second reading and final passage and if
adopted? Second. Clerk, may we have a roll call? Roll call. MC 202527. Council members Briggs Jones, yes. Cherry, yes. Graham, yes. McCrae, yes. Vice President Cessums, yes. Council President Hakaday,
yes. This ordinance has been adopted on second reading and final passage. Thank you, Madame Deputy. Please read MC 2025-28 by title and certify its legal compliance. MC 202528 is an ordinance of the city of Planefield in the county of Union
granting a tax exemption with respect to certain property identified on the city's tax map as block 548 lot 953-55 West 4th Street Planefield New Jersey and authorizing the execution of a financial agreement with Mubarak
Holdings Urban Renewal LLC in connection therewith. It is hereby certified that notice of a public hearing on this ordinance was published in the Courier News on July 20th, 2025. Okay. The floor is now open to any member of the public who would like to speak regarding this ordinance
specifically. No one's online. Seeing none in person, entertain a motion to close public hearing. So moved. Second. Thank you. Uh may I now have a motion and a second to adopt this ordinance on final passage?
So move. Second clerk. Roll call, please. Roll call. MC 202528. Council members Briggs Jones. Yes. Cherry, yes. Graham, yes. McCrae, yes. Vice President Cessums, yes. Council President Hakaday, yes. Ordinance has been adopted on second reading of final passage.
Thank you. We now move to MC 2025-29. Madam clerk, please read it by title and certifies legal compliance. MC 202529 is an ordinance of the city of Planefield in the county of Union adopting the downtown east front street
redevelopment plan amendment dated July 2nd 2025 is hereby certified that notice of a public hearing on this ordinance was published in the Courier News on July 20th 2025. Okay. The floor is now open for any member of the public who would like to
speak on this ordinance specifically. Anyone online? Seeing none in the gallery, uh, entertain a motion and a second to close public hearing. So move. Second. Okay. Now, may I now have a motion and a second to move?
Second. Roll call, please. Roll call MC 202529. Council members Briggs Jones, yes. Cherry, yes. Graham, yes. McCrae, yes. Vice President Cessums, yes. Council President Hakaday, yes. That is unanimous. This ordinance has been adopted on second reading and final passage.
Okay. Madam clerk, please read MC 2025-30 and certify its legal compliance. MC 202530 is an ordinance of the city of Planefield in the county of Union adopting the West Front Street and Clinton Avenue redevelopment plan
amendment dated July 2nd, 2025. It is hereby certified that notice of a public hearing on this ordinance was published in the Courier News on July 20th, 2025. Okay. The floor is now open for any member of the public that would like to speak regarding MC 2025-30.
Seeing no one online, no one in the gallery. I entertain a motion, a second to close public hearing. So second. Second. Okay. Now, may I have a motion to adopt this ordinance on second reading and final passage? So move and a second. Roll call, please. Roll call MC 202530. Council members
Briggs Jones, no. Cherry, yes. Graham, yes. McCrae, yes. Cessums, yes. Council President Hakaday, yes. Five in favor, one opposed. Ordinance has been adopted on second reading of final passage. Okay. Um, Madame Deputy, please read the
MC 2025-32 and certify its legal compliance. MC 202532 is an ordinance to repeal certain parts of chapter 16A section 1, schedule 1, no parking. It is hereby certified that notice of a public hearing on this
ordinance was published in the Courier News on July 20th, 2025. Okay. Uh the floor is now open for any member of the public who would like to speak regarding MC 2025-32. Anyone raise their hand online. Seeing none in the gallery, I entertain a
motion and second to close public hearing. So move. Second. Okay. May I now have a motion to adopt this ordinance on second reading and final passage? So move. Second. Roll call, please. Roll call MC 202532. Council members Briggs Jones, yes. Cherry, yes.
Graham, yes. McCrae, yes. Vice President Cessums, yes. Council President Hakaday, yes. That is unanimous. This ordinance has been adopted on second reading and final passage. Thank you. That concludes ordinances on first second reading and final passage. Okay. We now move on to public comments
limited to resolutions and motions being considered this evening. A total of 30 minutes has been allocated for the same. Uh if you are online, the instructions on the website on YouTube floor is now
open. Uh please state your name, your city, and the resolution or motion that you're uh speaking regarding. Hi. Hello. Good evening. Thank you. Good evening. Okay. Is this general public comment
section? Uh, not yet. It's coming shortly. Then I'm a little premature. I'll swim right back. All right. We welcome you back shortly. Thank you. Okay. Seeing no one else, no one online. There's one person online. All right. Please uh have them unmute
their mic, name, and city and resolution you're speaking regarding and the floor is yours. So, good evening everyone. Um, this is uh Quane Chamblas, Planefield, New Jersey. Um, I apologize. I'm from my phone so I don't have the um agenda in
front of me but it is the ordinance from economic development regarding uh public housing and the RAD program. Go right ahead. Floor is yours. Okay. Thank you. Thank you for allowing because I don't have the number. Um it I
just wanted to read it that we're not adding any new senior housing. We're not adding any new family housing. We're just working with the housing that we got. I hope I I think that's where we are. Also, um I thought it was clear
that they were going to rehab and not demolish, but I do know before when they were talking about demolishing, they were talking about a smaller number of units coming back, reducing that number from 128 to something smaller. If they
do that, is that still the plan? And third, I heard the gentleman say that they hired a uh a firm that has a history in being able to help rehhouse or rehome people, but I want to make sure that the residents are getting
really good information because he didn't say really how those apartments are going to become available through attrition. And if one of those ways is by section 8 vouchers, do the residents
know that if they do not find affordable housing or a landlord that will take their voucher, they cannot come back to public housing and then we would have people homeless. So what is the guarantee that we have that we're making
sure that the people are getting the right amount of um counseling and information so they are making um a wise choice as to whether to wait the process out and allow themselves to be you know
relocated somewhere else or take the section 8 voucher and take the risk that after your extensions are over if you don't find a place you no longer have a voucher or a public housing unit. Thank you.
Thank you. Okay. Uh we are I'll entertain a motion and second to close public hearing. So move. Okay. So public hearing is closed. You can address the questions.
Thank you. Um there was a lot to unpackage uh with that particular question or questions, but let me just say this. The type of rehabilitation and relocation here is not uh long-term relocation. Uh these are not section 8
vouchers that people are going to be given to go live somewhere for a year or 2 years or 3 years. That's normally associated with uh total demolition and rebuild that requires several years of relocation. This is uh maybe days to
weeks of relocation. there is no section 8 voucher given to someone to ultimately move. So that part of that question I hope that addresses that part of that that question uh succinctly. Um
I don't know if there's anything else that uh in in terms of uh communication to the residents. I believe and we believe that we are our philosophy is to overcommunicate with the residents. So far, we've had 14 meetings with the
residents at both Joanne Hollis Gardens and at the senior building, and we're, as the director mentioned, we're still probably 13 to 15 months away from beginning the actual physical construction. We will continue to have those meetings. We also set up websites
dedicated, a website dedicated to Joanne Hollis Gardens and a website dedicated to Richmond Towers so that the residents can go there at any time and read about any of the questions that they may have about relocation eventually about scope. They can look at the timeline. Those
questions that that those websites are constantly monitored. Um we've had several hundred unique hits uh from the from the uh website. So, we did that just in case the residents in between meetings uh feel as though there's some
questions that need to be addressed before we get back to them, let's say the next month. So, we we continue to address those needs. We have a meeting coming up shortly in which the architect will come out. We'll start dealing with the scope of services, the types of things that will go into the units, the
types of things that will go into the building, and those are all things in which the residents will have additional input on. And so they'll be able to help on the selection of the types of floor, the types of uh appliances, windows, things like that within the two or three
different choices that we have. So we will continue to communicate. I believe overcommunicate to the residents through this process. I hope that addresses the question. Add something too. I think part of the question when it came to density depends on the type of
architecture if you're going to do a demo if it would increase or if it would decrease. It would probably decrease if we were to do a demolition because we would try to make the apartments a little bit larger. So again, uh there's
no tenant protection vouchers involved in this particular project. Okay? It's not like the one we did at Elwood. So folks are allowed to come back if they're in good standing. And um the density as we have we still plan keep to keep family housing at 128 units and of
course at Richmond Towers which is our senior housing 225 units. So that does stay remains the same. Okay. So I hope that answers answers the question. Yes. Thank you. Okay.
All right, we now uh move to the consent agenda. Uh clerk, would you please announce the consent agenda? Yes, council president. The consent agenda items are resolution 29025 and 29026
through 32325. Listed on the non-con non-consent is resolution 29525. Okay. May I have a motion to approve the consent agenda? So move second. Second. All uh clerk, may we have a roll call? It's roll call on the consent agenda items.
Council members Briggs Jones, yes. Cherry, yes. Graham, yes. McCrae, yes. Vice President Cessums, yes. And Council President Hakaday, yes. That is unanimous. The consent agenda items have been approved. And now we move to resolution 29525.
Motion and a second, please. So move. Second. Roll call. Roll call 29525. Council members Briggs Jones, yes. Cherry, yes. Graham, yes. McCrae, yes. Vice President Cessum, yes.
Council President Hawiday, abstain. Five in favor, one abstension. Resolution's been adopted. Okay. We now move to ordinance on first reading. Uh, Madame Deputy, please read MC 2025-31
by title. MC 202531 is an ordinance of the city of Planefield in the county of Union adopting the TODN North Avenue redevelopment plan amendment dated August 11th, 2025.
Okay. I'll now entertain a motion to adopt this ordinance on first reading. So move. Second. Okay. Roll call, please. Roll call MC 202531. Council members Briggs Jones. Yes. Cherry, yes. Graham, yes. McCrae, yes. Vice President Cessums. Yes.
Council President Hakaday. Yes. This ordinance has been adopted on first reading. Okay. Uh MC 2025-33, please. MC 202533 is an ordinance of the city of Planefield in the county of Union
adopting the block 533 lots 8 and 9 redevelopment plan dated August 7th, 2025. I'll entertain a motion in a second. Second. Roll call, please. Roll call. MC 202533. Council members Brooks Jones,
yes. Cherry, yes. Graham, yes. McCrae, yes. Vice President Cessums, yes. Council President Hakaday, yes. That is unanimous. This ordinance has been adopted on the first reading. And that concludes ordinances on first reading. We now move to general comments. Uh
general uh a total of 30 minutes has been allocated for general comments of any nature. Uh, if you are online, the instructions are there. The floor is open. You only need to give your name and your city. Your address is
no longer necessary. Okay. Well, I apologize for jumping the gun a minute ago. I'm used to being on the opposite side of this microphone, so it's a little different on this side. So, Sharon Robinson Briggs, uh, Planefield, Planefield Area, NAACP,
uh, elected officials, administration, community, and guest. Good evening. Again, I'm Sharon Robinson Briggs, and I am proudly the president of the Planefield Area NAACP, and proudly the former mayor of this great city of Planefield. We have members, partners,
and community members who are all very interested and concerned about a specific subject matter which I will inform you of. We extend our heartfelt sympathy for all who were very negatively impacted by the recent flash floods
last month. As I wrote to mayor and council, um I was out on Route 22 for one of them for 5 and a half hours and I was terrified. So I can only imagine what others experienced. We extend our heartfelt sympathy for all who were very negatively impacted by the
recent flash floods with special reverence and concerns for four families in playingfield who suffered unthinkable tremendous family tragedies. And we extend blessings, love and blessings to all those families. Thank you for
hosting a concert and raising non city funds to assist with the cost of funerals, property damages, etc. For the totality of situations such as this, the city of Planefield established a human relations committee. Uh, initially the
committee members, nine members served for one year. Then it was it went on to three years. The mandate of this commission uh was or still is uh advice and consulting the mayor council administration concerning proposed and existing municipal ordinances or
proposed ordinances administrative directives and to exercise such powers as what's allocated in New Jersey statutes annotated 10 col 5-10 and to foster its work of this commission through community effort and
establishing goodwill establishing cooperation between the city and the community. So, I have some questions and I hope that uh someone will be able to refer me to the appropriate person uh who will be
able to respond if not today sometime uh in the near future, please. So, on behalf of the NAACP, um we'd like to know exactly how much non-city funds have been raised and or received by the city of Planefield. How much has been allocated to date for the
residents in playing field? Does the human relations committee commission still exist? And if not, please consider vote v voting it back into place. It's really needed and it's a great opportunity for uh residents in the city of Planefield to work with the
administration council mayor. What is the city policy for allocation of non- city funds uh which does not require a special meeting for checks to be written and or allocated? Have the four families that unfortunately
suffered a fatality and lost is that my three minutes? You can finish your question though. Thank you. And lost beloved family members all been contacted. And does the city policy for these non- city funds
include full payment for the four funeral invoices as well as some payments for property damages um which may or may not be covered by homeowners insurance or auto insurance. Good folks, I'm speaking about human
beings, human lives, people, residents of this great city who suffered and were lost. families who will grieve for the rest of their lives. I'm respectfully asking for
reconsideration of the non city funds uh for entire amounts of funerals to please be compensated. These families, when you think of a funeral, it's more than a funeral. There are lingering expenses that they're going to have to continue
to pay. Um a multitude, but I know that I'm out of time, so I won't go into that. I'm just respectfully asking you to please reconsider. If you were able to uh raise 90 $100,000, thank God and thank you for doing that. But families,
they need your help. So, we will have uh the administration uh discuss those items at length at the conclusion of public hearing. Thank you very much. God bless you all. My name is Omar Whitlock, a resident of
Planefield, and my question is, what is the city doing to help when it's a disaster? I'm sorry. My mother was the one that was lost in this. And I'm being honest, the calls that I got that the city
didn't send nobody out there. I want to know and my family want to know what are the city doing when it's issues when you got a rescue team. What are they doing? So I need an answer because nobody gave answers. We got
played in our face. Yeah. You had a concert. I was told to bring the bill and then it was played in my face. That's something different. I lost my mother in this. And because of the city failed us, you let my mother stay in that car until the next morning.
So I want to know right now the city of Planefield failed my family, failed the other family. So what is this? So what are y'all doing when a disaster to send people out there? They shouldn't wait. If they train for it, they shouldn't be told when neighbors call that they the
fire people is not going out there, the police is not going out there until the water go down. and you pulled my mother out the car at 3:05 Tuesday morning. So, I need some answers. But I guess y'all can't get that either.
The same way y'all looking, that's what we got. The same way when y'all came to the house and stuff talking about you was having a concert to pay for the bill and all of that. You played in my family faith and you did not pay the bill. No answers, right?
I got the answer. No answer. God bless you. I have to say the city can't I will never vote for none of y'all to members of the council to Mayor M. Um, I do have some questions um,
concerning the disaster that did happen in Planefield. This was the second time. This is the fourth um, of my family. I think it's this the fourth vehicle we lost in a flood since we've been living
in Planefield and since 2021. Yes. Um so one of my questions is are inind donations part of this fund and how are they distributed? My next question is
how are decisions communicated to applicants and is there an appeal regarding the amount? How will ongoing needs be addressed if the situation extends beyond this emergency?
And who is the designated contact? Who oversees the funds governance? What internal controls exist to prevent fraud or conflicts of interest? Will there be public reporting on
distributions, including a list of beneficiaries? Are there audits and reviews planned for these funds? Thank you for your time. Is anyone online?
Yes, with one hand raised. Okay, please caller, please unmute yourself. Give your name and city. Hello. For the record, the floor is yours. Hi, my name is Darling Jones, Plainville, New Jersey. Had a question
or concern or comment regarding the um storm drains um particularly those in le on Leland Avenue because I live in that area. Is there a plan or is there a procedure or a policy where the city department of public works go to each
drain basin, take the grate off and clean out the vegetation because a lot of them in my area are um clogged. Second comment or question is regarding the brook that runs between I guess
Enwood Place and Wat Chong. Is that city city property or county property? Thanks. Does that conclude your remarks, your questions? Want to make sure you get them all in before you conclude. I think that concludes. All right,
two more callers. Hi, how are you? Um, Quane Champlas, Planefield, New Jersey. Um, I'd just like to follow up with uh my president um from the NAACP
regards to questions pertaining to how the money will be distributed, how are they going to decide who gets what and how much. Because we know that if the city applied for $5 million for
the city to recover what they had to put out as a result of the storm, we know that $95,000 with the number of people who were impacted and affected really um is not going to kind of um mediate some
of the damage. I did I thought I saw that $5,000 per family who lost someone was allocated. I might be wrong. um maybe something has changed, but you know, at $20,000 that that leaves
$75,000 not that you could do much with. So, I eagerly await the explanation of how all of this um is going to go down and even how the city gets involved with distributing um volunteered funds and whether or not that was I don't know. Uh
you guys have a lawyer, but anyway, I'm not sure about that. Last, I want to thank the gentleman who spoke out about the housing. Um, if I'm sure that if I heard right that people will not be offered section 8
vouchers to leave to try to open up some of those apartments. What wasn't clear was how is the attrition going to happen? Some kind of way people do have to leave voluntarily or be evicted or whatever for those apartments to be
opened anyway. So, I'm wondering what is the method of attrition? Everybody have a good uh night. Thank you for your time and thank you for the work that you do. Can I speak? Sure. Uh Nancy Pavar, um Myrtle Avenue
Playfield. First of all, I want to offer and extend my deepest sympathy to the family members and the co-workers of the two ladies that passed away and also to the family members of the two gentlemen that passed away on my block. Um th
those two storms has impacted this city in ways that I've not seen all the years that I've lived in Planefield. Um, many years ago, um, when I was a lot younger and I could travel around the country, which I don't
do anymore, in other areas of the country, um, there are signs put up. I mean, there's a lot of people in this town now that don't realize where the flash floods happen. We're going to see it more and more. And I don't know, I
can offer a suggestion. Um, I looked online. I purchased a couple signs. I'll I'll give them to Mr. uh Dabney so he can look at them. I had people calling me the night of the flood, the day of the flood, asking where high ground was.
Uh I instructed somebody to actually go to the Drake house and they stayed there for at least an hour, hour, 45 minutes. And then I saw on Facebook um pictures that um a friend of mine from Burkeman put on. People actually went into um St.
Mary Cemetery cuz that was the highest ground. My suggestion and maybe we maybe you've already thought about it is possibly put up some signs that possible flash flood areas. Um they did that the
last storm they finally after the first time in the history of my lifetime they actually closed off Cedar Brook Park areas where unfortunately um the two ladies passed away. I know that area very well because I used to travel that
way going back and forth to the post office and whenever it rained we all knew not to go that way. But a lot of people aren't unaware of where the areas are especially like the um the uh rail stations um underground the um
overpasses they all flood. So my suggestion is perhaps think about putting up some signs. Somebody said to me, "Well, who's going to read a sign?" If you say one life with a sign, it's worth a sign. And perhaps put up a sign in places that we can identify where
high ground is. They even need them along 22, but that's not our issue. That's the state's issue. But people need to know where high ground is. And um after this meeting, I'll I'll give the samples to Mr. um Dabney so he can have it. But I also um on a positive
note, uh I did put together a certificate of appreciation to Mr. Dabney and Department of Public Works because as you know I do take care of the Drake house and whenever there's an issue and this weekend within like 48 hours they did remove a tree that was
leaning and I really appreciate that because if that tree had fallen it could have fallen on somebody that was walking down um Gerard Avenue and I do appreciate it and I do have a certificate of appreciation for you and your DPW workers. Thank you.
Thank you. Good evening. My name is Sharon Rosario, Plankfield, New Jersey. Um, I just want to ask a question and refresh some memory. When we had these emergency meetings last month in reference to the
flood and the uh hurricane and everything, are we still looking into getting a sound system possibly to alert everyone in the area? Um,
also the um the units that will be rehabbed down along the uh housing project. He said that some will be offered housing to come back. What about
the ones that will not be offered housing to return? Will the city be responsible to find them homes like they did other families when they had different um situations that come along in our city of Plainsville and
will it be tax funding meaning the resident will we be responsible for those bills? That's my questions and my concerns. Thank you. Thank you. Yes. Floor is yours.
Name and name and city. Regina Harley, Planefield, New Jersey. Um my I have another concern that um when the families of the deceased members did approach the city, I just would like to
know if perhaps there can be someone that's actually trained and trauma informed because the way that you respond um to victims and f you know family members, friends um really has a lot to
do with how they receive and how they're going to process what you're saying. So, if you have traumainformed training, that will definitely help. Um, the next thing that I saw, um, from July 4th
until July 14th, I saw, um, still trees that were cut up still on some of the the sides of the roads, which I think attributed to some of the flooding because the more rain that came down on
those trees that had leaves in it meant it's going to wash into the gutters and further clog up the drain. trains. So, um will there be more workers hired in this city? Will the since I mean we know
that these uh this floods in Planefield and um these are taxpayers in Planefield living in these houses? Will there be more people hired? Um what will happen in between the time that the city
receives that money um that you're looking for from the businesses to come in and pay for whatever is wrong in the city and the sewage and different things. What will happen in the meantime until those things happen? So there has
to be some other teams available beside just 911. you need to also um look to the members uh and residents of playing field for answers because they have the answers pretty much the ones that are
living in those areas of what to do in the meantime. I know, you know, I know what you're probably thinking, but a lot of times the answers are within, the resolutions are within to help out until these other plans go through.
Okay, seeing no one, two hands still up. Okay. Caller ending in 149. You can unmute yourself unless you didn't mean to raise your hand. Okay. Go to the next one. caller ending in 396. You can unmute
yourself unless you didn't mean to raise your hand. Hello, Terrell Planefield, New Jersey. Um, back in June, I believe it was, I
sent Councilwoman Cherry you still with us? I believe it was your volume. Uh, please speak more directly into the microphone on your device. I can't hear you clearly. I of the corner of Wong Avenue and
Second Street in front of the post office. The handicap crossing uh square that they have there. You cannot ride on it. It is very bad. She sent me a text back. saying that it was he has spoken with
the postmaster and it is the postm's problem or thing to fix. Here it is, August, and I haven't heard anything else. And as of this past Saturday, it still has not been fixed.
You can't ride on the other side seat on Watson Avenue across from the post office. because the sidewalks there are horrible and there's a driveway there and you can't even get through it. So, I'm just wondering who do we need in
authority poss. Thank you. Who who's going to take that one? And uh there's another caller now with their handwriting. No problem. Caller, the floor is yours. Name and
city you live in. Call them out by their number. Ending 268. Please unmute yourself. Okay, we gave our best effort to include as many as we could. Uh, entertain a motion
to Hello. Oh, are you there? Name it. Name and city. Hi, my name is Sharon Rosario Planeville. Can you hear me? Sharon Rosario Planefield. How you doing? Well, floor is yours. Well, I I just want Hello. Yes. I'd like
to just thank my council woman uh Briggs. She is wonderful. When we had these issues with informing the public, she came right in and, you know, she was knocking on doors, she was delivering water, and there was no fanfare with
her. So, I just want everybody to know how hard she works and how I appreciate her hard work. She's here on the ground. She's informing the residents on the west end fourth ward. So, I just want to say thank you and let everybody know a good job that she's doing and how she's
out here every day informing the residents, letting us know what's going on, taking our questions and and running our concerns and and you know, it's very important that we get that feedback because we the public has voted you guys
in. So, when we're ignored, we feel hurt. But when we have a council woman like Briggs who's actually concerned about what's going on in the community and not just her community, we appreciate that and that needs to be noted and I just
want to say thank you and I appreciate you. Thank you for comments. That is noted. Okay. All right. Entertain a motion and a second to close public comment. So move. Second. Okay. administration if uh I I know we
need to discuss uh the grant and the donation funds and any other items that uh that the community wants you to speak about. Go right ahead. Floor is yours. Okay. So, I will speak about um the
grant applications and that process and then I'll turn it over to Director Dabney on the other issue. I want the first thing I want to say is that I I really want to clarify that the $5 million that we had a special meeting about is completely separate and apart
from the money that we have to spend on residents who've applied for recovery funds. Um legally we can't touch that $5 million. We are paying it's that $5 million will be paid back by the city over the next 5 years. So that those are
tax dollars not donation dollars. In terms of donation dollars, we have about $95,000 pledged in donations. And I want to clarify that I'm saying pledged because if you look in the account right now, you won't see $95,000. You'll see
significantly less than that. Um, and that's why we had an August 1st deadline. And I know it was a quick turnaround, but we really needed to make sure we could capture everybody and figure out how much money we have and how many residents applied.
We did have over 400 applications um for the money that we have, the donation money. And the first thing that we did with those funds, and again, we don't have in our possession all of the $95,000, but the first thing we did with the funds that we had was we did make
$5,000 payments to funerals. With the remaining funds, we have a committee. committee is made up of members of finance, members of social services team, members of the administrative team, and that committee
is going over application by application for all 400 of them. We are documenting which requests have receipts and invoices and which don't. That was a requirement for the funds to have a receipt or at least a quote. So,
anything that doesn't have that will not be considered. We g that spreadsheet is also being um is we've also identified all of the seniors in that spreadsheet because if you're a senior and you're a homeowner,
as long as you're income eligible, you can then instead apply for the county funds, which are up to $10,000 for repairs. So, we feel that that's much more beneficial to the seniors and therefore they'll be coming off of our of our list of applicants. So, that 400
will come down by the amount of seniors eligible for the county grant. Once we have a final count of how many applicants we have and what their uh provable expenses were via the receipt or the invoice, we will then
give a percentage of the request to each applicant. So based on how you know depending on what amount of money we have, what percentage that is of the total ask, then that will be distributed based on
percent. So let's say we get let's say just for ease of math we get 10% of you know we our what we have is 10% of what's requested then everybody will get 10% of what they personally requested
that's a verifiable expense. So if you applied for $10,000 you'd get 10% of that. If you applied for $500 you'd get 10% of that. And that speaks to not everybody had the same amount of damage. So, you know, if if you had a small
amount of water versus if your entire basement was flooded and it's not comparable. So, that's why we're doing it by a percentage and not a flat number. Um, residents who will be giving those given those funds will have to come in
and fill out a W9 for the city. We we'll go through our regular purchase order process, which is a state process. You'll fill out a purchase. We'll we'll do the purchase order. Once you do your W9, it will go through finance. It will go through audit and control. And then the check will be cut. All of this will
all of this is public information. Um just like any of our other checks are public information and there's nothing different about this process than any process by which we distribute money. Um and that's that's the process. I'm
sad that, you know, it's not um going to make everybody happy, but it is the process that we have in place that we believe to be the fairest, most equitable process. And Mr. President, if I may add, the business administrator use a 10% as an
example. So, I don't want anyone leaving with the impression that if they submitted a request for $100,000 that they're going to receive a check for $10,000.
I want to be very clear. That was just an example that was used. But the city did all that it could to assist families
in this very difficult time that we have been experiencing over the last several weeks. And it is not something that a city normally does. Cities don't pay for funerals.
cities don't have these kinds of funds to help in these situations. But because these events happen in the way that they did, the city decided that it would go above
and beyond the call to create some level of support that might be able to assist affected families financially. We always knew that there was no way
that we would be able to meet the needs of every person who incurred an expense. And so there was a letter that we published earlier this week which was meant to temper expectations
so that residents are not of the view that they're going to be receiving a check for the expenses that they have submitted to the city of Planefield. If you do the simple math,
$95,000 and that amount could rise to $100,000, $105,000, that doesn't go very far. And when you take $15,000 off the top because we were very
generous in assisting the families who lost loved ones. And it pains us to see people struggling and going through these very difficult and challenging times.
But we did all that we could to try to raise as much as we could from relatives, from friends, from neighbors, from several of the vendors that we deal with, from foundations,
and we were able to raise a little short so far of $100,000. So, we have to be realistic in our expectations and that was the reason for the letter that went out earlier this week to temper expectations so that residents
know that we cannot meet all of their needs. we cannot meet their expectations because a $100,000 can only go but so far especially when you're talking about what 400
over 400 applications I mean just do the simple math and it tells you what that looks like. So we we are very sorry for all of those who suffered
significant losses, especially the families who lost loved ones. And believe me, we did everything that we could. And it pains us that we couldn't do more. But the special emergency, which we
adopted a couple weeks ago, was intended based on the statutes of the state of New Jersey to cover expenses incurred by the city as a result of these emergencies. And those
funds would have to be paid back by property owners in the city of Planefield by way of their tax bills. And so next year there ought to be no surprises because you have to pay the piper. And
that is what these storms have done to us cause us to incur significant unexpected expenses that have to be repaid. But in the meantime, we have to rebuild
all of the damage that was caused by these storms to city property and we have to restore things to a state of normaly. And that is our goal and that's what we're working on. And if there is any way that we could
find to assist affected families that we have not yet identified, we will search for those means of doing so. But right now, it is what it is. We have a little less than $100,000 and we will let that stretch as far as is possible. But know
that we dealt fairly with the families who lost loved ones and there's nothing more that we could have done under the circumstances. Thank you. Okay, director.
Floor is yours. Yes. Thank you. uh to the person that called regarding the uh post office that watch and second street the uh handicap ramp. It was brought to my attention by counciloman Cherry uh the mayor himself
as well. We did reach out to the postmaster was supposed to take look at that and take care of and get it done. I will make sure that we follow with that tomorrow my office and I will personally go to myself to see what's going on because that should have been addressed by now. We didn't hear anything back,
but we will definitely follow up on that to make sure that is totally addressed. We have zero tolerance for something like that to be done from a federal agency that should be addressed in issues like that. But whatever action not be taken, we will take it ourselves to make sure that's addressed. So, we want everyone to be able to cross the
street and make sure all our handicap ramps are uh safe. So, we will definitely look into that and make sure that's addressed. In terms of storm drains, we are cleaning storm drains across the city on a daily basis. that will not stop. Leland Avenue itself, we
will check that to see what vegetation is growing out of it and address that. We want everybody to know too that when you put things to the curb or debris on the street that winds up in your storm drain, yard waste, everyone generates that. So, you're going to have that at the curb always. We have treeine streets
and throughout the city of Planefield. So, we're going to address everything we can in terms of with vegetative waste at the curb, etc. We're definitely proactive with proactive with this. to make sure we address everything. Even with our detention basin, we're making sure we keep that clean and make sure
things are right with that. We're addressing everything citywide to make sure we meet the needs of the city of Planefield. We've always done it. We're going to continue to do that. But when you get the type of rain that we had, there's nothing that can be done until of course that does recede so we can
address issues. But we are on that on a daily basis, that's a guarantee to everyone here. Pass along. Wherever you see a stone drain, call our office. you see something going on, we'll address it. But that's for everybody to know that we take pride in what we're trying to do to make sure everyone is safe with
that with storm drains, etc. We're addressing everything. I think that was pretty much it. The uh flash flood warning signs, I'll look at that. We'll see what we have and do that. It's something we thought about to administratively to make sure we address
a lot of issues. So, we thank you for that. probably also have to work with the county on that since that's a county park in terms of the signage, right? Yes, sure. And there was one other question that was asked about an early warning system.
Yeah. Sound or a siren of some sort. And yes, we have started working on that for the last few weeks and we have an upcoming meeting and that is a priority of this administration. Okay. You will be seeing that residents
will see the evidence of that so that when events are about to occur when we have these weather warnings, we would not have to just rely on the alerts that come on our phones. Those sirens will be
blasting across the entire city of Planefield and they'll be heard externally as well as internally. And so it's a priority of this administration. All right. Okay. I think that we've uh answered
questions. Go right ahead. BP also respond to the inquiry about trauma informed care training. Sure.
I mean, there when when people are informed of a loved one's death, that h that comes from the police department and they do have special training in in how they're informing family members. President, do we still have the human
relations committee? Yes, there's still a human relations um committee and I believe they meet from time to time, but there still is. I know one person that's on the committee is John Brinkley and it still has a number of members. How frequently
does this um committee meet? I do not know, but it does still exist. Are they appointed? Yes, every member is appointed with advice and consent and there has always been a shortage of
members on that commission. So, we're open to taking recommendations to make sure that it is up to its full complement based on the ordinance that's in place.
Thank you. Well, if we get a committee for the OEM team, I'm down. I'll come on your team, Sergeant. All right. Sounds good. Okay. I'll entertain a motion and a second to adjurnn. So moved.
Second. Okay. All those in favor say I. I. All right. Meeting adjourned.