the notice requirement provided for the open public meetings law has been satisfied notice properly given said notice haven't been transmitted by The Courier news on Tuesday January 16th as well as posted on the city's website clerk may I have a roll call councilwoman Briggs Jones is absent during roll call council president please note that the councilwoman did say she would be joining remotely so we are waiting to see if she joins councilwoman chair present councilman McCrae pres councilwoman sesum pres councilman Wyatt present vice president Graham pres council president hak pres we have six members present and a COR okay please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance the United States of America to the repic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liy 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 I have a motion to approve the minutes of the reorg meeting on January 7th 2024 second okay minutes are approved uh good evening director uh the 2024 Council committees have been established and delivered to all council members uh we now have public hearing to discuss the Rushmore recreational complex and the Sidler fill improvements as advertised and required by the New Jersey Green Acres Program a total of 60 Minutes has been allocated for public comments limited to resolutions uh questions and resolutions on this Rushmore Rec recreational complex and Siler fill improvements uh each speaker will be given three minutes please state your name and address for the record and in discussing these projects also reminded if any member of the public would like to CL call in dial 6465588656 and enter the meeting ID 938 3643 9534 d d star n to raise your hand floor is open seeing none may I have a motion to close public comments on this project okay all in favor I I any extensions or opposition okay we'll move to our business uh would the business administrator please present her items yes sorry can you hear me yep okay okay I have seven items for your consideration this evening the first three are um vendors that we engage with annually for these Services uh first one is Acer who is our health insurance broker second one is is claims resolution Corp who is our third party administrator for our workers comp claims all the checks everything goes through them and the third is Brown and Brown who is our risk manager specifically related to workers comp and workers comp suspicious claims then I have the resolution for our July 4th fireworks which will be July 5th this year July 4th we'll do the we'll have the parade and then worked out very well last year to have a Friday night concert instead of on J on July 4th itself so we feel like we'll have increased attendance if we do the fireworks and the concert on that Friday Thursday July 4th will be the parade in the morning and then the next day that night will be fireworks and the and the concert um then we have just an you know annual resolution to hang bangers for our Recreation programs throughout the year and the next two are related to the court interpreter um coming back for $1,037 from 2023 and coming to you looking to um renew her contract for $80,000 this year to the court for 2024 and again I know we went over this um when we selected her from the bid last year but this is a service that it's not just interpretation Services you have to be Court certified to do this um so it's it's very specific type of translation and we did go out to bid for it last year um so that's what I have okay uh I won't call on Council Members individually but anyone who wishes to speak on any of these can just uh indicate that they wish to be recognized council president yes right ahead uh yes one question on r46 d24 I saw that there was a $10,000 increase from last year is that uh resolution for additional Appropriations as well I saw that separately so is this to cut back on the Amendments or is it just an increase overall it well it is to so that I don't have to keep coming back to you because I think this is the second time I'm coming back to you for 2023 numbers from the 70 but also because you know we do have we do we have the need for translation services very frequently at the court so this number is actually in line with what we used last year okay all right thank you you're welcome any other council members wish to yeah uh um and this is for all the courts criminal whether it's traffic or housing inspection issues yeah Municipal Court anything that's happening here thanks any others okay do we have consent to add these items to the agenda yes okay to be clear that's the consent AGA uh yeah to add to the consent agenda okay okay do we need a roll call or a Voice vote for that no okay all right would the finance director present their items council president I think I I'm next on the agenda that's are you next okay with you sir Corporation councel sure thank you good evening council president members of council uh present my items for you this evening um I'll do my best to group them uh the first three items are the payment of bills uh for services provided in 2023 uh these were bills that were received in December and because of that uh or sorry received in January for services provided in December um and because of these invoices we've gone over Appropriations um so for these three firms this will close out all bills for 23 uh the next item is a resolution approving qualified vendors um every year uh we go out for What's called the fair and open process for the selection of our Professionals in the legal department um we go through uh various different um areas of expertise uh Labor uh Redevelopment tax appeals litigation um just to name a few um we look at both their uh experience uh expertise uh handling similar matters and other municipalities um and we received the responses um and we have qualified the firm's list in your resolution uh the next set of resolutions are awarding basically all of the the lawyers that we intend to use for this year um and they are once again Redevelopment Labor uh tax appeals and litigation um the all of these vendors are vendors that we've used previously in years past uh with the exception of garubo and capis uh which is a second labor firm uh we specifically need a second labor firm because um when uh if from time to time when we have disciplinary matters we need the experience of a hearing officer uh to help us with through those matters and this firm will specifically provide those services to us um so I'm happy to answer any questions that any council members might have thank you council president you're welcome any questions from Council Members council president go right ahead Council uh one question same question I started $10,000 increase if we can just explain that uh for certain firms is that what you're saying uh for your firm yes for my firm and also for labor Council as well uh we um we can never accurately uh predict what our legal costs are going to be it's largely reactive we have to see how many cases are filed but um and I generally don't appropriate all the money that we're going to need for the year as you know we come back from time to time um but based on what I've seen over the prior um two to three years uh we thought that the additional 10,000 would be necessary and that was just looking at historic figures used can I could I say that for specifically for labor Council that this is all we need for the year probably not um historically we you know this is an $85,000 appropriation it's generally closer to 150,000 if you look at the entire year uh but I don't generally put that appropriation forward because I like to see how the year plays out hopefully that answers your question yeah thank you any other council members uh just a quick one regarding the tax appeal cost uh that cost covers I guess our representation when Property Owners go to Elizabeth to the tax Court whether it goes before the board or not it's still part of that cost correct Council vice president you're 100% correct all right thanks anyone else okay do we have a consensus to add these items to the consent agenda yes yes yes all right now will the uh Director of Finance present her items good afternoon all um I have nine resolutions for your consideration seven of them are um approval for vendors which we do on an annual basis and two are refunds for overpayment of taxes um do you have any questions on any of those any questions from Council Members okay seeing none uh do we have consent uh consensus to add this to the consent agenda yes yes okay yes yes all righty we'll move to the police department Police director I don't see are you going to do that in his absence Abby go right ahead I'm going to speak on his absence thank uh he just has one resolution and that's a change order for a boiler replacement that he came to you about a few months ago um it turns out that the amount is going to be different by $1 13,799 because they need to get a differ size boiler than they had originally planned for and we did confirm that with our engineer we heard it from the vendor and then we confirmed it with the engineer and it's it's true we need different size okay any questions from Council Members all right seeing on do we have a consensus to add this to to the consent agenda yes yes yes all right all righty the Department of Public Works would the director please present his items thank you council president good evening council president members of the council and general public I have four resolutions to present but I have two that was part of the public hearing and if you turn your attention and there was a concept plan I was given out to everyone to review uh and it'll be up on the screen for those in the public that would like to watch uh we have two resolutions as r067 24 resolution oriz the city of planfield to submit NJ Department of vment protection Green Acres Program Grant through Jake slw Park initiative not to exceed $ 43,2 120 for the Rushmore recreational complex this is Ada inclusive playground uh that will be put there and this benefits to everyone and everything we want to do is make things better for our kids you can have get around that right that's one of the most important Capital our projects we can present and this is for the Rushmore recreational complex and it's Ada inclusive perod and that's important we have one in milk Campbell that mimics that this will just add to that okay we're trying to do that across the city and the second resolution is one to be placed at Sila field for $415 760 uh and this is all ADA Compliant as well inclusive uh playground and it's for Green Acres funding and this is for under the urban Parks initiative Grant so i' like any any question or that I can answer those now uh this is similar to everything that we have the first one was put in place over at mil Campbell playground so this is going to be mimicking that and again we want to do everything we can to help out those with disabilities so it's important these two playgrounds okay any questions from Council Members regarding uh the Department of Public Works quick question uh yes so thank you I do see that this is going to be paid for by a grant do we know when this will start and be completed both projects and those are good questions we're just waiting with green anchor only takes four to months before we hear back so we waiting for the water letter to come in and then we'll start proceeding and then after that of course we these are mostly on the state contract we will get those vendors that we need to come in and and and our Engineers to design everything because we're looking at approximately 6,000 square F feet at each location to do this uh so the question answer your question based on supply and demand of course the equipment would say it would take like five to six months to get everything hopefully but it should take only about a month weather permitting to get everything done but we're doing a park at a time so we can have a place for the kids to still swing we will start with Rushmore rectial complex because there's no playground there right now and that's going to be part of the aquatics project as well so we'll do that there and then we'll go to silfield and do that and then the goals to do that everywhere in the city to keep mimic everything that's happening at mil Campbell Rush Moren Siler and also Hanah rets eventually so that's what we would do thank you director welcome any other council member wish to ask questions of yes just just one um regarding and I know that the designs aren't final yet um and I know that we in the past we talked about having I guess um workout equipment for adults and and teens and young adults as well uh is that still on the table yes and that will be for Madison Park we're talking about Madison skate park is where that will go yes that is on the table just the one park is getting yes for now yes that's where we're stared will it come to Sadler field well that's a goal something we can look at I'm I'll Never Say Never whatever we can do to make things better in every Park one park at a time we're going to try to address that okay thanks any other council members director dney can you explain what what Jake's law Parks initiative is that's a good question councilwoman so Jake slw it was what happened was it was established by Governor Murphy and this uh kid's name was Jake Cummings nasto he passed away due to complications of the heart surgery at the age of 2 and A2 he was born with hypol lastic heart syndrome and the park was a preferred place for physical therapy so the governor named this after him this grant based on him saying that no every child should a place to play and that's why I want to everything Ada inclusive and accessible to everyone thank you I like what you did at mil Campbell Park and I look forward to seeing the upgrades at rush water thank you anybody else I mean this is uh this is something that our children and our community deserves uh so I'm really excited about uh us about seeing activity here and uh you know look forward to to enjoying these facilities so keep up the good work Mr President I had two more resolutions if you don't mind go right ahead keep going resolution 07024 resolution authoriz Award of professional Services uh contractor engineer Vernick uh this was for flood plane uh FL flood plane services and it's for one year and the total amount of $40,000 and this is something we have to do we have to have a certified flood plane manager at every municipality has to have that any questions ID like to answer I have a question if if a constituent would like to get access to the flood report how do they get access to that that's some we would notify Fe and our flood plane uh manager I'll get the information you give me the information I could try to find and get a report that outlines everything in in the report thank you anyone else okay do we have uh consensus to add this to the consent agenda yes yes yes I had one more to you going one do them all at once cuz I was still thinking about to hear me okay r 0712 apologize Mr pres supplementing and you'll love this one you'll be happy with this one this is another one for supplementary funding that we're looking to get for the aquatics playground okay and that's for $2.5 million we're asking for the supplement the funding that we're doing for The Aquatic Park we receiv received a total of $2.6 million to date so the total project is like 6.6 so this is helping us get to where we need to be so we're looking to see what they're going to give us out of this as wishful thinking that we're going to get 2, 542,000 but we'll get more to this supplementary funding that we'll get to add for The Aquatic sub project so we continue to get every every Green Acres dollar we can we can go after so absolutely absolutely and that that concludes my uh res council president just just to note uh 69 and 72 were removed from the agenda okay gotcha all right council members once again all right do we have consensus to add this to the consent agenda yes yes yes okay all right great let's let's move now to economic development director good evening council president I have 15 items to present tonight the first one is starting with r73 d24 this is a resolution to adopt the calendar year budget for our Central business district Management Corporation also known as our special improvement district the sit the total budget being proposed is $250,000 this is $50,000 above the calendar year 23 budget the increases are due to um some of the fees with their subscription the economic development salary insurance stiping as well as payroll audit fees and other events that are being added the next set of resolutions are related to qualifying vendors and then awarding their contract the first one is just to qualify the owner rep and a cost estimator for the city this the first Initiative for this is going to be used for the center of excellence for uh owner rep for that effort the next resolution is to qualify the vendors for the brownfields environmental engineering services and brownfeld management and then award to Lewis Consulting not to exceed $15,000 the next one is to qualify the vendor for economic development services these services will mainly relate to developing a market analysis right now we've been working aot lot with developing our mixed use development this is to look for attractions in our commercial and Retail spaces the resolution after that is to award for this contract to dcg core plan Consulting not to exceed $440,000 the experience this firm has is in Newark West Orange and Union as well as with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey as well as other cities and states around the country the next resolution is to award for our Redevelopment and Professional Services for Nish group not to exceed the amount of $125,000 the next is to award to CME Associates for planning for our board planner not to exceed the amount of25 ,000 the next amount is for CME Associates for our engineering our board engineer not to exceed the amount of $10,000 these were qualified at the last meeting we are awarding today based on the recommendations of the boards and the commissions the next resolution is for to authorize our plan planning board to conduct Redevelopment studies the locations that were listed here are were brought to us by a charter school to develop there for study the next resolution is to conduct a Redevelopment study this is brought To Us by several different private property owners the next resolution is directing the planning board to re-examine a Redevelopment plan the purpose of re-examining the Redevelopment plan for scattered sites for our parking lot is to add an additional use to allow educational use the next resolution is to reexamine the Redevelopment plan for 197 scatter sites it says foreclosure and bankrupt properties I just want everyone to note that that was the original title back in 1999 that 197 refers to the number of original Parcels that were included we have expanded that number since thin but this represents Ved excuse me various Parcels that are across the city what we are looking to do with the reexamination of the Redevelopment plan is amending the density for one District the next one is to direct the planning board to prepare a Redevelopment plan for 1123 through 25 West 7th Street as well as looking at another resolution to develop uh or rather update the Redevelopment plan for to South Redevelopment with revisions what this will do and set in the case of both Redevelopment plans we are adding areas to the Redevelopment plan that concludes my items thank you most of these seem to be uh standard uh qualifications and awards uh that we need to do our business uh on our other boards our planning and and Zoning Board so it's good to see that uh just a quick question regarding 8 324 um can do you which which charter school is that I mean just in full disclosure I I do have in I'm on a board of one of the charter schools I want to make sure I don't vote on anything College Achievers okay not on that one it's Crest Haven and full and full disclosure I'm involved with so I want to make sure I don't vote on anything involving that school um any questions from Council Members yes director zenobi Fields um you mentioned the center of excellence is there a timeline complete so what we've done to date is we've gone through the initial schematic design for that and we've also done the environmental assessment the reason why we need to bring a owner rep on board is so we can begin looking at the construction phase so moveing to construction documents we hope to break Brown sometime at the end of this year thank you second question the 197 scattered sites can you talk a little bit about that are they vacant sure so the 197 scatter sites that was the original number when the Redevelopment plan was developed back in 1999 we have a lot more Parcels than that that are currently in included originally it was looking for looking at vacant and abandoned property that is not the case now in many cases these are private property owners that come to us looking for reel thank you yes councilwoman thank you council president uh director for my ignorance could you please explain um when you say in 8624 as a non-c condemnation Redevelopment area MH sure so we will be presenting if we present Redevelopment plans for your consideration non- condemnation or condemnation Redevelopment plan condemnation would allow us to authorize imminent domain power for taking in most cases we present non- condemnation Redevelopment area plans thank you coun director uh r82 d24 I didn't have an opportunity to go to the tax assessor's office and look at the tax maps how ever I looked up and it looks like the lot one is that the solid waste andur Utility Yard yes that's one of our properties right now they are looking for an expansion of their property so they would like ours included just in case they would like to acquire okay and Lot 4 is the Neighborhood Health Center correct yes okay so they're looking to redevelop lot four the health center and a portion of the solid Wast and story to the art so I I want to be clear because because of the state it's at a study so we don't have the formal plans yet okay all right so this does not include cuz what's that the uh planfield Area Humane Society and it's a house there so they have nothing to worry about none of the buildings on our property will be disturbed okay all right CU I received a few phone calls people had some concern regarding that and they thought it was because of the last meeting um us not going into contract with them so it's clear to say on the record that they have nothing to worry about no we typically include surrounding Parcels just in case we need any form of easements okay all right thank you questions yes um director regarding the uh Sid's budget uh can you just elaborate um how who who what how that uh doesn't affect our normal taxpayers to sit to pretty much control their own budget and their monies are collected through the property owners that are physically in the Sid can you elaborate on that sure so anything that we present so for example last year it was a $200,000 budget that was based on the taxes that are collected from a quarterly basis for all the businesses that are within the C nothing comes out of the city Administration bu got it thank you any other questions we happen to have the uh director of Sid here how you doing all right good doing a great job so keep up the good work do we have consensus to add this these items to the consent agenda yes yes yes okay all right council president yes just want to note that councilwoman Briggs Jones is present virtually okay rather all right welcome Council woman okay Department of Health and Social Services good evening council president good evening I have two resolutions for tonight uh the first one is a submission of resubmission and acceptance of the Community Development block grant this has been before you already we have to resubmit it once again because we inadvertently uh did not add uh a Rushmore Park Ada playground application and it also is our submission of the total for all of the municipal uh applications uh for the amount of $2,341 and99 933 the second resolution is uh asking the council to adopt an affordable housing plan for 2023 2025 uh these monies were recaptured monies and recaptured monies simply means that there was a fund of of uh funds that we never tapped into and we are tapping into them now it is basically because of um let me just make sure I say this correctly uh at the New Jersey housing and mortgage Finance Agency they had Urban Home Ownership recovery program funds and what that simply means is we have uh three town home uh communities in planfield and if someone and and therefore Workforce Development incomes and if the person elects to sell that property after a year uh there's proportion of that money has to come back into the fund uh and then we uh have to apply for that money to get out of the fund we've not done this for many years and that's why it's such a substantial amount of money uh and it took us about three years to actually get this to this point and so we're asking Council to approve uh the resolution so that we can then go on to the next step got it thank you any questions from Council Members yes I have a question go right ahead EXC my back no problem okay director Brown if you can just speak to because I was going reading this and these are actually great things that are offered so uh money will be allocated to first time home buyers program uh financial literacy program and also the emergency repairs program so if you can just one speak to those and then tell us how you prepare to Market this to the community to so people can know where how and where they can access these dollars sure so the all of these monies are things that are are being active in the office or Division of Community Development vment so I'll start with emergency pairs we already spend about anywhere from $150 to $300,000 depending on our Grant application the allocation that we receive to help people in their homes that's generally funded through the chat program um comprehensive housing assistance program uh we also do give out smaller grants in the amount of $10,000 for income eligible uh tends to be seniors but income eligible individuals we will add that to the money we already have to increase that pot of money uh FEC which is a Financial Empowerment Center was something that I brought to the council last year it was through an initiative through uh Bloomberg philanthropies and Chase Bank and some other Banks and that is to create uh almost a financial literacy Center in planfield uh but but it's called Financial Empowerment Center because it's a little bit more than financial literacy it'll help with credit and repair uh if a if a person has a goal a financial goal it will help through a counter reach that Financial goal uh one of the challenges for us us was that we had to raise the money and so this is one of the ways in which we raise the money and then it is matched uh we are actually pursuing another Grant to help us get uh you know advanced in the year so that it's not a oneoff we want to be able to have this as a sustainable program and the first time homeowners uh project it while it's a small dollar amount that we'll be able to give anywhere from $2 to $5,000 uh it is helpful particularly if you are buying a house I mean it could cover inspections it can cover anything but $2 $55,000 is is what we uh proposed to to help uh new homeowners first-time home buyers I don't and just the marketing oh yes yes so so we generally use all the vehicles available to us through Communications um the mergency repairs I mean people seem to know about that because we have a waiting list so they seem to find us but we generally use Communications and and that that's the uh vehicle we use okay all right thank you other council members director B one will these funds be available for our people to access well our goal is we get it approved this year and we have up until 2025 to use it so after this step then we have to take it back to the state once the council has approved it thank you you're welcome so so with that said when do you anticipate will there be an application of some sort or that that that will be released so people can start applying for fund sure soon as we know we'll we'll put the applications out and everyone can start applying okay any other questions do we have a consensus to add this to the consent agenda yes yes yes yes thank you okay will the department of solid waste and Sewer present the resolutions good evening good evening I got 10 resolutions tonight six are equipment upgrades and that covers a wide range of of of equipment uh I have two Engineering Services one to approve uh Professional Services and um what group and want to actually approve uh CME Associates as the solid waste and Sewer utility engineer service not to exceed 98897 and then I have two resolutions for renovations to the Rock gav transfer station questions from council members yes thank you director Le um for the equipment upgrades what are you going to do with the current equipment the current equipment uh is old has thousands of hours of operational use on them so some we are going to try to repair and keep as a backup but most of them will be auctioned off thank you you're welcome any others uh yes if you could just explain the five still rolling doors off the forget which resolution it was um only because I don't want us to be hypocritical because we did um pass a resolution saying that store owners cannot have them but I know that there is a need for your department so if you could just explain that okay these are not the security type doors I think you're referring to these are your garage doors at the transfer station and it's basically uh you know doors that come down to close up the building so have nothing to do with the security component thank you director just talk generally about the uh Investments you're making in the department to help us help move us you know to the Future in terms of what you're doing with the Department because obviously you know these are significant uh expenditures and upgrades that we're making uh talk about your overall goal and what you're trying to do to bring us bring us to the Future well thank you council president uh it's this is a commitment that the mayor and his administration started back in July 1st of 2022 and that is to improve the services to the residents of Playfield and keep cost or stabilize costs through efficient operations and the equipment and the upgrades that you see tonight is just that um it's going to put us in a better place to be on time and reliable if you don't I mean the men and women at the utility I think have proven up to this point that they can get the job done and this equipment will make sure that we can continue to move forward and be reliable and on time to our customers uh two uh it includes it improves the employee safety this these vehicles are equipped with all the safety uh um gadgets if you want to call them with cameras you have strobes you have a lot of safety features that the current Vehicles do not have um better fuel efficiency right now as you know most of you have driven older cars the fuel efficiency goes down as the starts to increase and these uh this equipment will not only increase our fuel efficiency but also reduce our carbon uh footprint as they say because it's got all the emissions uh uh new emissions that are on these vehicles um the big one too is transportation there's a lot of vehicles in there there's two trailers and two tractors that um move all the debris at the transfer station this not only helps us for the daily uh operation but whenever we get a big storm here in the city we have to move material a lot and it may take several days of 24-hour days and with newer equipment it minimizes the downtime that we may experience with older equipment and this is big on me um employee motivation and appreciation it's tough enough to go out there and pick up solid waste on a good day um having a old vehicle that the controls may not work right and other things may happen and it really frustrates the employees to put it nicely um but with newer equ equipment you kind of eliminate those kind of issues and it also shows the employee that you know we're investing in them and we appreciate them so those are the big factors uh for the investment that I have before you tonight and I'm open to any more questions any any other questions director with the modernization of equipment will there be additional training that's required for employees uh most of the equipment um we'll get a standard uh you know overview with the a vendor and maybe a couple of the mechanics at the yard uh there are a couple of pieces like the heavier pieces that we will have on on job training from the vendor and that's free of charge it comes with the purchase thank you with the auctioning of the um the vehicles how much revenue do you think you'll anticipate coming back to the city well it's hard to say I mean last we had an auction a couple of months back uh in 2023 and we did pretty good I was surprised to see some of the numbers that we got for a vehicle that we probably only got maybe $1,000 if we would have took it for uh scrap we ended up getting I think one was $18,000 which I was really happy with so we're hoping to get as much as we can thank you all right I mean it sounds amazing um this is this is what we hope for uh when the city took over the operations uh what a lot of residents are concerned about um similarly is just what the impact of uh of taxes would be uh do you have a sense on and the finance director could chime in as well but do you have a sense on whether or not this impacts our budget or tax or you know well this is through Capital purchase so I mean I'm sure director um Beverly can speak on that but um it's it it's in the current budget and it's a minimal charge okay it's spread over many years it will spread over many the it'll be included in the budget and um the impact would not be substant IAL all right I mean we heard it I mean that's what we like to hear you know Improvement in quality of services with uh minimal uh or no uh minimizing the tax ramifications of those things so do we have a consensus to add this to the consent agenda yes yes yes all right great yes okay we're going to move move to ordinances on first reading would the business administrator present uh those ordinances yes okay so we have for you this evening seven ordinances the first one is related to personnel and this is the addition of the assistant director of it role into the pmma Union that's the manager division head Union this is a new title but not a new hire um so we're not looking for a new hire it's just a new title then we have three ordinances that are Redevelopment plan amendments uh the first one is to have an Entertainment District in on the uh East Third enrichment Redevelopment plan the second one is to add the geoc Keller building into the South AV Corridor Redevelopment plan and the third one is to allow for mixed use Apartments um on the West Front Street and Clinton Avery development plan then we have two cannabis related ordinances for you the first one that you'll see is changing the hours for cannabis retail to align with liquor stores and changing the hours of the consumption Lounge to align with bar hours the second cannabis ordinance is to change the process and price procedure by which we collect the Cannabis Revenue um we're looking to get a report directly from the State instead of waiting for the owner and then our final ordinance is a gate rate change for non only non-residents for sewer and solid waste um and this is to have a uniform $75 per per personal vehicle for out of town people who are coming to dispose of bulky waste there's still no change to our residents they can um pay per pound it's this is just people coming in from out of town in their own personal vehicle they have a flat fee okay thank you any questions from Council Members regarding these resolutions go right ahead I have a question on um 20 20 2405 can can you explain the rationale for changing the hours of the Cannabis lounges um this is the first one where we've entered the hours for the Cannabis Lounge we're changing the hours for the retail but the Cannabis Lounge our original ordinance was silent on it our original ordinance didn't have any hours operations hours for the can Lounge followup questions I I hear I hear councilwoman Briggs go right ahead councilwoman yeah you were saying something about the Cannabis hours I know if you talking about the canidates lounge on um front and Clinton Avenue yes we is that that's the one okay all right so um and I know we were also discussing about the hours and or it was brought to you all's attention um because of the school zone of it being by the school also as well that was a that was a concern am I correct I'm I I don't recall but in our ordinance we don't have any Geographic limitation due to the school zone okay all right and um also I know we had said something about I I believe you see I don't have my I don't have my printed backup with me but that's okay um the we were talking about the salary with the the pmma um the person that's going to be uh taking on that title I mean the person that's going to be taking on that title is it anything has to do with the salary is there going to be a salary that's going to be affected by that is is it going to be an additional salary even though it's going to be added to the pmma to the union no no it's the person is right now in a title that's not in a union so it's just adding that title into the Union contract all right so the salary is gonna stay the same yeah it's budget neutral okay right okay and then the um the lowered costs for the nonresidents I I think that's a that's a great idea um you know because we of course the revenue is is a is a good thing but um you know being that the out of town residents come sometimes they have they have complaints about the cost and to lower we want them to keep coming and just know John Lise you're doing a very good job I just want you to know that too um but I think that's a great idea so whoever put that in the resolution thank you I think that's a great idea any others yes council president so the incre the increase from the hour from 1:00 a.m. to 2 a.m. um are those is that facility required to have security or some type of Public Safety yes all cannabis related businesses have to have security thank you all right seeing no others it's are those hours I got another question um because this Canabis also is going to be located not too far and you know from the bar also as well so um that that is a good thing cuz all candidates do have to have security I do know that but um I'm just hoping that that's not a a real great concern also to the residents about that because the bar is right there also as well thank you for ort councilwoman council president yes uh one question MC housing we're still working out the logistics of the Redevelopment agreement as well as the financial agreement so when we present the Redevelopment agreement to you you will have the breakdown of the mix of affordable versus market rate okay and when you guys talk and negotiate um with the developers do you also discuss the CVA the community community benefit agreement we do you do okay all right thank you good come all right thank you do we have uh consensus to add these items to the voting agenda the voting meeting yes yes okay thank you all right we'll have a five minute recess and we'll come back for the voting meeting we will have another public comment yes recording in progress okay we'll resume our session uh we're going to just for the record we're going to have two public comments uh one will be limited resolutions motions and ordinances to be introduced on first reading and there will also be a general public comment at the end so depending on where you fit in uh you know when to uh approach the mic all right so now uh total of 30 minutes has been allocated for public comments limited to resolutions and ordinances being considered this evening each speaker will be given 3 minutes uh please approach the mic state your name address and identify the resolution or ordinance that you wish to speak about uh yes Nancy p 1129 Myrtle Avenue I'm a bit concerned about resolution r82 d24 I believe the um Economic Development officer talked about a charter school there if I heard her correctly I wasn't sure um that's dealing with the proposed investigation study of Myrtle Avenue and Rock Avenue Redevelopment this area is in the Greenbrook lower flood Basin uh flood control project and if you go on the US Army corp's website there is a 1997 report that includes this area I read that The Rock Avenue Bridge will remain but levies are proposed for the north side of the Greenbrook and portions of the Southside the US Army Corp does not have the authority to stop any development along the brook as far as I understand from the last meeting that I attended but when this lower Basin project gets this far into planfield border there will be land Acquisitions as I understand it and any investigation study that the planning board needs needs uh that does uh anything that the planning board does needs to include the US Army Corps as an interested party Andor a review of the 1997 report that's on their website that may or may not impact what is being proposed tonight uh or in the future by the city or any developer this is a sensitive area and I do believe the levies will extend on the north side of the brook all the way past this area and force the water South onto the flood plane where these properties are uh and where this study is being undertaken um I do have uh on one of the pages from their report that talks about this you can find it on the website but I'm very concerned about the flooding in that area and um if you look at the maps that they have on their website the levies extend all the way to Clinton Avenue and will force the water North onto planfield and so um when you do this investigation study I hope that the planner looks at that because uh I'm not going to be alive when those levies get put in there but um it's really a concern uh before my father passed away he told me about levies and is concerned about levies and uh luckily I live on Higher Ground but the people down there by um you know the the animal shelter the transfer station and the health um the health center and the houses Along on First Street probably going to get flooded out I'm also concerned about our 883-2414 and one last thing on mc2 uh 202 24-4 uh Clinton and West Front Street at the last planning board meeting they made another amendment so I don't see that that Amendment on that particular uh notation on that ordinance thank you very much you're welcome also reminder that if anyone is online and or would like to call in uh dial 6465588656 and enter the meeting ID 938 3643 9534 th star nine to raise and or lower your hand this information is also posted on the city website if you did not hear me clearly anyone online okay all right seeing none uh public comment is now closed for Resolutions motions and oh okay great we allow then all right if you are now audible please state your name address and the resolution that you're speaking regarding um my name is a Chris I reside at 531 West Forest Street in planfield okay are you speaking regarding a specific resolution or would you like General comments yes uh regarding a specific resolution go right ahead resolution 0824 and I don't know much about this information but I know this is uh concerning um I guess a designation study that you guys are um proposing to have done um regarding uh the property at 1700 58 Merle Avenue which is and that's block 207 Lot 4 which is the property of the Neighborhood Health Center and my question is um if this designation um is given in terms of the nonon condemnation rev Redevelopment how would this impact the existence existence of the health center and the patient uh that they serve there that are both at or uh under insured or uninsured does that complete your remarks yeah okay all right thank you for your question um I will have at the conclusion of public comment I'll have the director uh answer answer your response thank you answer your question with a response okay anyone else okay we're going to close public comment uh director you can just quickly address that that that point so in response to resolution 08224 in terms of the property that's at 1700 to 58 Myrtle Avenue the patients and the health center will not be impacted um as I mentioned before what you're seeing this is simply a study and we can we include all the neighboring Parcels for the study that does not mean that one that the property will be designated for redevelopment or it will be impacted by potential development thank you director Mr clerk would you please please announce the consent agenda yes council president the consent agenda items are identified as resolution 0424 through 0992 24 that concludes the consent agenda okay may I have a motion and a second to approve the consent agenda so move second okay Mr clerk can I have a roll call roll call on the consent agenda items council members brid Jones you have to unmute yourself we can come back to councilwoman brid yes okay yes councilwoman Cherry yes councilwoman McCrae yes councilwoman cess yes councilman Wyatt see yes vice president Graham yes council president hak yes that is unanimous the consent agenda items have been approved okay so we don't have any nonconsent items right correct so uh all right we now come to ordinances on first reading uh m madame Deputy will you please read MC 20241 by title MC 20241 and is an ordinance amending the schedule of salaries and wages adopted pursuant to article 14 chapter 11 of the municipal code of the city of planfield New Jersey 1971 planfield Municipal management association pmma salary amendment number three I'll now entertain a motion to adopt this ordinance on first reading so move second clerk may have a roll call council members Briggs Jones yes Cherry yes McCrae yes sesum yes Wyatt yes vice president Graham yes council president hak yes ordinance to been introduced on first reading okay Madame Deputy will you please read MC 20242 by title MC 20242 is an ordinance of the city of planfield in the county of Union adopting the east3 and Richmond development plan Amendment dated December 7th 2023 I'll now entertain a motion in a second move second clerk may have a roll call council members Briggs Jones yes Cherry yes McCrae yes sesum yes Wyatt yes vice president Graham yes council president hakay yes this ordance to been introduced on first reading thank you Madame Deputy will you please read MC 20243 by title MC 20243 is an ordinance of the city of planfield and the county of Union adopting the South Avenue Corridor Redevelopment plan Amendment dated December 7th 2023 I'll entertain a motion in a second so move second roll call please roll call MC 20243 council members Briggs Jones yes Cherry yes McCrae yes sesum yes Wyatt yes vice president grm yes council president hak yes this ordinance has been introduced on first reading Madame Deputy would you please read MC 202 24-4 by title MC 20244 is an ordinance of the city of planfield in the county of Union adopting the West Front Street and Clinton Avenue R development plan Amendment dated November 2nd 2023 I'll entertain a motion in a second move second roll call please roll call MC 20244 council members Briggs Jones yes Cherry yes McCrae yes sesum yes Wyatt yes vice president Graham yes council president Hockaday yes this ORD has been introduced on first reading Madame Deputy please read MC 20240 5 by title MC 20245 an ordinance of the city of planfield in the county of Union amending chapter 17 the land use ordinance article 9 section 17 colon 9-4a cannabis related businesses I'll entertain a motion in a second so move second roll call please roll call C 20245 council members Briggs Jones yes Cherry yes McCrae yes sesum yes Wyatt no vice president gaham yes council president hak yes six in favor one opposed this order has been introduced on first reading Madame Deputy will you please read MC 202 24-6 by title MC 20246 is an ordinance of the city of planfield in the county of Union amending Chapter 20 The cannabis transfer tax and user tax Article 1 Section 20 colon 1-1 I'll entertain a motion in a second so move second roll call please roll call MC 20246 06 council members Briggs Jones yes Cherry yes McCrae yes sesum yes Wyatt yes vice president Graham yes council president hak you know it you say no I said you you know okay yes yes that is unanimous this ordinance has been introduced on first reading Madame Deputy please read MC 202 24-7 by title MC 2024 07 is an ordinance of the city of planfield solid waste utility in the county of union state of New Jersey requesting the approval of adjustments to the utilities transfer station bulky waste including mattresses type 13 for non-commercial passenger vehicles non-residents and neighboring outside municipalities I'll entertain a motion in a second second roll call please roll call MC 20247 council members Briggs Jones yes Cherry yes McCrae yes sesum yes Wyatt yes vice president Graham yes council president hogade yes that is unanimous this ordinance has been introduced on first reading okay we'll move to General comments a total of 30 minutes has been allocated for all public comments each speaker will be given three minutes and uh I'm not going to repeat that number again but it is on this City's website uh if you uh wish to call in name and address for the record good evening Council my name is Colin Karan I live at 1300 Pier Street in the city of raway I a nurse at Robert Wood Johnson Hospital in New Brunswick I'm here this evening to request that you the city council as leaders in our community pass a resolution in support of State legislation to establish minimum nurse staff ing standards in our hospitals uh namely Bill S1 1941 in the Senate uh and the former a 4536 in the State Assembly which uh is not yet reintroduced in this session uh some of my colleagues were here last month and I'm here to reinforce our message uh unfortunately hospitalization is a reality it will be for all of us we're all going to end up in the hospital so this issue affects all of us um studies demonst a clear link between adequate nurse staffing and decreases in patient mortality length of Hospital stay and readmission inadequate Staffing results in Greater frequency of medication errors patient infections and overall patient IND uh injury uh as a nurse on a surgical oncology floor I have seen firsthand how adequate Staffing affects the care we're able to give our patients um there's a high high risk of complication after surgery with our patients and the sooner we're able to see any kind of change in status and address it uh the more likely it is that this patient will have a good outcome uh even aside from life and death type of situations uh the more Staffing we have the fewer patients each nurse has to take care of uh the more time we're able to educate our patients uh encourage anxious patients after surgery um spend time with family members and be present in end of life situations and all of these kinds of things uh the difference between having four or five patients compared to six uh which uh used to be our maximum we have a new contract after going on strike we're hoping the hospital will stick to a four patient maximum makes a big difference compared to six uh other hospitals nurses can have seven8 n patients because there is no legal limit in the state of New Jersey um if you ask the hospital administrators and the uh American Hospital Associates and these kinds of people they will say that this is a distraction the real issue is a nursing shortage uh the truth is that in the nursing industry there's a great uh crisis of nurse retention uh I know on my floor we go through nurses they come in it's too difficult and they leave uh uh after only two years on my floor I was the third most senior nurse on the day shift uh on a unit where there should be about 20 nurses overall Staffing the day shift um so there's a great issue with retention more so than a shorted now there is council president council president the speaker's time has elapsed okay thank you uh just urge you as leaders in the community to pass this resolution thank you so much thank you I'll give you uh my email and when we're done you can send me uh a model resolution good evening Daniel meesza 225 Wang Avenue this month we celebrate the work of Martin Luther King and dedicate ourselves to his unfinished business one of his greatest goals during his lifetime was fair and safe housing for all Dr King had a dream but one we never dreamed was that we would be told to leave our own home with less than 24 hours notice and nowhere to go in his 1966 speech on housing Justice Dr King told us now is the time to make real the promises of democracy now is the time to open the doors of opportunity to all of God's children these words go unheeded when the doors of your own building are shut and the families and children who live there are locked out we have been turned away but we are not going away we are children of God when our buildings were condemned without notice we had no time to prepare and lost much more than the time we lost our belongings both Necessities we need for life and keepsakes that makes life meaningful we lost Trust us when we were promised we would be able to return to pick up our belongings later and later never came we lost the rent and security deposits stolen in the course of depriving us of our own Living Spaces we were denied our dignity when we faced with lies and humiliation and of course we lost our homes as a new Council takes its place we need you to know that this problem was long in the making was long ignored and is from far from Over the scars of children who can't go back to their home who have their life lives turned upside down who in some cases are threatened by a city employee demanding to know whether they are citizens and belong here do not go away these parents who travel far to find work and feed for their families who go to any length to locate new homes for them are here to stay for the for their loved ones and in the life of the city we are playing field we are here for each other and many of our neighbors have shown up for us many times at your meetings and others throughout town we what we need now is a solution that will last in affordable housing and commitments from government and guarantees of fairness and meaningful dialog dialogue and genuine listening from our Council and mayor the dream of sustenance and security is not an unreasonable one we are unified and organized and hopefully in partnership with you our representatives and not just in dreaming but getting it done um I was delivering a message um on behalf of the displaced on West 7th AB thank you thank you good evening uh my name is John shu to 219 West shley Avenue Edison New Jersey um just want to um speak on behalf of the nurses uh I'm a Committee Member that got involved with their effort and um I've seen them U grow um very very much as a political force uh pushing for the safe Staffing bill in terms of coming to Municipal meetings we have um passed many resolutions uh throughout the uh the county uh Union Middle sex um Windfield lynon uh north planfield um uh North planfield and uh Fanwood uh here here in Union um but this is a public health issue that's why we've come to the council meetings we want to educate the public on what's going on in the hospitals the the lack of Staffing um that that hurts patient care it's a um it's a patient health issue so you want to um protect the lives of our patients we want them to uh we want we don't want the nurses to be stressed out uh we don't want them to make uh mistakes that can be pre preventable uh with adequate Staffing uh this is a bill that is championed by uh Senator U vital in Woodbridge from Woodbridge uh he is the chair of the health committee and he is um certainly he's pushing for the bill we had a uh senate committee hearing 3 weeks ago where he spoke very um very strongly in advoc uh in advocacy for the bill U there were panels from nurses unions and hospitals but um he was able to address the um the concerns hospitals had and um we see that he's behind the Bild but we need the public to know what's going on about this uh Public Health crisis um yeah so we do we do want um we do hope that uh president uh Senate President scutari will um introduce the bill um after it gets through the health committee and uh we and we do want we do hope that uh assemblywoman Lyndon Carter and assemblyman Jame James Kennedy will be co-sponsors of the the new bill in the assembly in the next legislative session so um and members of the public if they are interested in helping please call your senators and assembly uh representatives to um to support this bill uh this is definitely something that is very important for the public and and that will affect all of us one day thank you thank you good evening Council my name is Christian Kane and I'm nurse and resident of East Brunswick I'm here to also advocate for safe Staffing Bill S1 1941 which would establish minimum Staffing levels for registered nurses across the state the nursing Workforce is collapsing and this issue is long been neglected a 2013 NIH study found that up to 33% of new nurses left the workforce in their first two years more recently McKenzie and Company found that the nation's registered nurse turnover rate in 2021 was 26% for years the healthcare industry has warned that the looming crisis would be due to the Baby Boomers retiring they were wrong the largest demographic leaving is my own it's 2021 study published in health Affairs found that nurses under 35 have been leaving the workforce at a rate four times greater than those over 50 the author stated quote a sustained reduction in the number of younger age RNs would raise ominous implications for the future Workforce more than half of current RNs are already over the age of 50 so why are we leaving nurse.org state of nursing for 2023 found that 91% of nurses believe that nurse burnout poor working conditions and inadequate pay were the primary causes less than 10% believed it to be due to Patient complexity while Hospital profit margins stay relatively thin executive profits continue to Skyrocket for example a 2021 study of executive pay by the economic research institute found that while the median pay of all nonprofit CEOs was around 100,000 annually in nonprofit hospitals the median pay was 362 $2,000 even during covid when institutions were in the red more than 80% of hospitals continued to provide CEO bonuses even as other Hospital workers were furloughed or had their pay slashed research has shown that CEO compensation is not impacted by either financial performance or quality of care at their organizations lastly I'd like to address the the uh opposition's suggestion that Acuity based Staffing is superior to minimum uh patient nurse ratios Acuity based Staffing is deliberately confusing jargon so allow me to simplify it it's the rationing of care period imagine a husband telling his wife that instead of a set number of meals per day it would be better to restrict their child's meals to their exact caloric needs based on their exercise and expected growth oh and he doesn't want to be the one to calculate it he wants you to do it while you're doing all of the other parenting too wouldn't that be insane if you were as like wife you would leave too it should be clear why nurses are leaving we are running from an abusive spouse and unfortunately we can't take the kids with us and what is this abusive spouse doing with the money 2018 study found that a subst president the speaker's time has elapsed uh I just urge the council to please support the bill with a resolution thank you thank you um I'm sorry for emotion so [Music] I [Music] so [Music] for train for for for thank you for your heartfelt remarks Nancy p 1129 Myrtle Avenue um after that it's hard to follow um but um I I wasn't going to get up in this section but last month when the uh nurses were here I explained to everybody the importance of helping the Robert Wood Johnson um nurses and your union I'm a union person myself um when muber closed um that's our Trauma Center those the nurses deserve assistance all the nurses across the state deserve assistance to have the rational the the numbers that they're requ uh asking for so I urge the city council to listen to my uh brother union members and um um support the resolution that they're asking for in the state um it's important for all of us um I know myself I was a patient at mberg and the nurses got me through a difficult life situation many years ago and um I I just want you to support them and um to the people that got put out of their homes I'm very sorry for you and I know that there have been people in the community asking about what has happened so um I'm sure that there's people listening that may be able to help you in the future unfortunately I don't have the service Social Services to help them but I'm sure there are people listening that have been wondering what to do how to help and um so I will pass that information on to the people that I know that have asked me and I still need a clarification about the r82 d24 whether I heard it correctly or not if there is the possibility of charter school going on and and um Rock Avenue thank you very much okay is there anyone uh online with their hands raised no one with their hand raised currently okay thank you all right public comment is now closed uh director just addressed that last question regarding uh the possibility of a charter school going on Myrtle and Rock yes you did hear correctly there is a possibility of a charter scool going there and in terms of looking at the Environmental Research that is a not a part necessarily of what the city does but any developer is required to do that before they can present from d as well as EPA and that includes the data from the Army Corps of Engineers okay thank you all right all entertain a motion in a second to adjourn council president sure could I respond to the 501 West 7th you may okay so I just want to speak to the people who came to speak about um West 7th Street and the condemnation and I want to let make sure that you know that we have not forgotten about you that um if you have not received services from the three agencies that we're working with that I would ask that you stay here so I can give you so that you can give me your phone number and the best way to contact you because we are meeting with these agencies weekly to go over what what the status is of everybody who was taken out of that building and so if you have not been helped at this at this point I it could be because we don't know that you're you know either you weren't on the lease or you or we we don't know about you so if you could please come see me after this meeting and give me some sort of contact information for you um you will hear from an agency this week that for certain this week um and I also just want to make sure that you know that um affordable housing is a top priority now of this Administration we talked last month about how we have a building of 55 and up 100% affordable coming and we are very much looking at all affordable housing options that's one of the main things that we speak about daily and I I just wanted to make sure that you know that we um were thinking of you know we're constantly thinking about how to help you and also how to help the city out of out of this happening again and then finally I just wanted to mention that um we w we we don't have access to that building you know it's not our building and so we were told that you were going to be able to come back in and get your stuff and that you could arrange that with the landlord I see you shaking your head that that hasn't happened so um we're currently in litigation as everybody knows with that landlord and so we we will through our attorney I'm going to ask our our attorney to reach out to their attorney and make sure that they're aware that that hasn't happened and that you know that was something that we were told would happen um I just wanted to offer that thank you for that time family information appreciate that okay a motion for uh to adjourn second second all right meeting adjourn thank you [Music] I