All right. The notice requirement provided for the open public meetings law. The notice requirement provided for the open public meetings law has been satisfied. notice was properly given. Said notice has been transmitted to the Courier News on Tuesday, January 8th,
>> as well as posted on the city website. Roll call. >> Council members Briggs Jones, >> present. >> Councilman Graham, absent during roll call. Councilman McCrae, >> present. >> Councilman Wyatt, >> present. >> Councilwoman Ces,
>> present. Vice President Hakaday >> present. >> Council President Cherry >> present. >> Six members present and a qualum. >> All right. Please stand for the pledge of allegiance and remain standing. Tonight's pledge of allegiance will be
um led by Miss Chloe Harris. Okay. I pledge I pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation
under God, indivisible, for liberty and justice for all. >> Thank you. 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 all those who work for peace. Amen. >> Amen. >> Thank you. Good evening everyone. I want to thank Miss Khloe Harris. Um Miss Khloe Harris is a member of Jack and Jill. She's a member of Shiloh Baptist Church. She's an artist, a dancer, um,
and also in her free time, she loves to clean the community. So, Chloe, thank you for helping to keep the clean. All right. Can I have a motion to approve the minutes from the council meeting on March 9th, 2026? >> So, seconded.
>> All right. It's been probably moved and seconded. All right. Discussion items. Um, SBAC is the first one. And I know two weeks ago SEBAC members um met with the chair and also the director of finance. I know that the administration
is aggressively working on um presenting the budget to the council. I just want to thank the CBACK members in advance um for their participation and the time that they're going to be taking to do this budget and their comment. Um remote public comment as you see remote comment
is back tonight. >> Yes. So, um, tonight we do have a volunteer that will be doing that. So, I just want to make sure that we're mentioning just remote public comment is back. Um, as I mentioned last month, um, another highlight is that we have a clock.
If you look to your right, as a countdown, right? So, those the two new added features in this council meeting. All right. We have ordinances um MC 20264 and MC 202605 which are scheduled for public hearing
and final passage for a regular meeting as advertised. All right, we're going to move on to resolutions. Um the legislative body, we just have one legisl one resolution um which is recognizing autism awareness month. Do I have consent to add this to the agenda?
>> Yes. All right, BA, I see that you have two items. Could you please present your items? Yes. Thank you, council president. Um, we have just two easy items for you tonight. One is just a recognition resolution recognizing National Public
Health Week, which was a April 6th to April 12th. And then we have a resolution appointing two new members to the Central Business District Management Corp. Um, Any questions for my council colleagues? Seeing none, do I have consent to add
this to the voting meeting? >> Yes. >> Yes. >> Any items that we want to take off? >> All right. We're going to the next director of finance. I see you have three items. Could you please present your items? >> Yes. Good evening all. Um,
first resolution 153-26 is resolution authorizing a contract award to Prime Point software for payroll services, time and attendance tracking and human resources management origination system. This is for one year and in an amount
not to exceed $97,68. Resolution R1 154-26 is an amended resolution authorizing the adoption of the current fund temporary emergency appropriations. This is for the budget for the municipal
and for all of the utilities. And this is for the months January through June. And this was amended to add one grant and to increase one grant. And
resolution 155-26 is a resolution authorizing the cancellation and refund of tax sales certificate. >> All right. >> Are there any questions? >> I have a question. Council president. >> Yes. Um, Madame Director, can you just
give a real high level overview of exactly how does Prime Point work in terms of uh payroll accountability for city employees? Um, um, we get a report from Prankpoint. We
look at to the employee on a bi-weekly basis. Directors are supposed to sign off on time work for all employees and that goes into Prime Point and that comes out of Prime Point and then employees are paid according to the
hours that they put in. Most employees put in 70 hours for for a two weeks period. And so we have various checkpoints the um director check the times that are
worked by the employees under them and then the payroll runs the the payroll for the two weeks and then that should be reviewed by someone and then that's how payment is that answer your question >> it it addresses it I just also maybe if
you can speak to what is the checkpoints in order to ensure that we are not paying employees who are separated and or retired or no longer with the city So when an employee retires or separates from the city, a form should be entered into the system and we should know that
that employee is no longer on the payroll and um so that employee time cannot be signed off on by a department head. So a department head signed off if they had 16 employees and one retired they should be signing off for 15 and
then that goes into the system and then um with the carro and then that should also be reviewed. So that's like three different checkpoints. So I thank you director. I just want to add one thing. So on top of the multiple
checks that um the director of finance added, our time system is integrated with Prime Point. So our clock employees clock in and clock out and that's integrated with Prime Point. So Prime Point pulls those hours directly. Like if you clock in at 8:07 and you leave at
4:07, it knows exactly what time and that's what gets pulled in to get paid. So you're getting paid the hours that you clocked in. Is that for all city employees including executive level or >> it's not at the executive level but it's at pretty much every other level. >> Okay. Thank you for that level of
accountability. Any other questions? All right. Seeing none, do I have um consent to add this to the voting meeting? >> Yes. >> All right. Are there any items that we wish to take off? >> All right. Director of public works, I
see you have five five items. Can you please present your agenda items? >> Good evening, Council President Cherry, members of the council. Department of Public Works has five resolutions for your review and approval. Resolution 15626 authorizing change order for the
community development block grant from Hannah Atkins inclusive playground. Money is being transfer 61,000 being transferred to Silent Field Basketball Court. The purpose of this is due to uh the grant expiring on June 30th. So we didn't want to lose that $61,000 in
community development block grant funding. So that's why we moved up to basketball courts and the purpose for that because D is authorizing us to do testing of our soil at Hanner. So once that soil is tested it's going to take some time to do that because they're backed up. So we don't want to lose that
forfeit that $61,000 grant. So that's why that funding is there for that solid fill and basketball courts over there. Resolution 15726 authorizing change order number one amount of 29,000 which I'm going to amend that to reflect
$21,35.73 amended to reflect that on the record and that's for the I'm thinking about safe route to school. Sorry, I'm skipping one. That's 15726 is the amount of 29,389. The change order and that's for uh the playground
at side of the field too. That's going to be repaired done over all new. Uh we got an urban parks grant for $415,760 and the balance will be paid with with capital two funds for this project and that's a completely inclusive playground over there.
Resolution 15826 authorizing change order form to J Alexander in amount not exceed $21,35.73 that's being amended to reflect that at 2130573
for the record away from the uh 2719623 and this is for five intersections be created and done over uh in certain areas of of town. One of the areas is West Run Street and Grant A. West Front Street, Park Avenue, West 9th Street,
Army Avenue, Washington Avenue, Carne Wood Avenue, Central Street. This goes back maybe eight years or 10 years to get this all right. It's all federally funded. This whole grant and the total the grant itself that we received
is a total of $1,311,000, $3710. And it has to be broken up into two parts. We have $91,000 for construction and the other $49,000 that's just for engineering services,
construction, inspection, etc. That we have to monitor our engineers with the work. So that's what that's for. Uh resolution 15926 authorizes the amount of $56,492. We have received a grant for $630,000 $883
and this money is both for the from the NJ dot for for the the project. The balance is paid for with capital dollars of this project. We had six biders that bid on this project. Uh so the total cost of this project said don't $6,000 and this is what you do to
work at night. This goes from Planefield Avenue to watch on on street and it's the best way to do that in terms of from a business standpoint. All the businesses, we don't want to interrupt them. So, we're looking to do that between hours of 10 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. to get things done there and that's for $56,64946.
That would be the change order number for that. 16026 is authorized and approval for a street opening at 13321474 North Avenue by New Jersey American Water. And this is for this is at the Netherwood well facility. This is them
just going to open it up and then have to close it back up. This is basically because under moratorum we want to make sure everything is done according to schedule everything to do infrared and everything right to close back up everything. What is that we do and any question? >> Thank you director. Before I open up to
my council colleagues for R156-26 how do you plan to replenish that for Hannah Atkins the 61,000? >> Question. that 61,000 will be transfer that will be transferred over from the capital account back to to Hannah at 61,000. We're using the grant CBD grant
that they would have had. So, we're moving that over for the solid bill project and Hannah will replace the 61,000 capital to be transferred over >> and when does the Hannah Atkins project um when will it commence? >> And that's a good question. Maybe sometime hopefully when they they have
to do the ground penetration radar to check for underground storage tanks, lead everything else before we do that. So it's pretty much backed up. That's why we transferred this money over. So hopefully within July, August, we hope they'll be out there to go test everything over there before we can move
forward because remember we have a CDIP completely inclusive playground grant that's sponsored by Green Acres. So, we have to follow their rules and regulations that go try to speed them up as soon as we can. You know, we're trying to get them get them done as soon as possible.
>> Thank you so much, director. I'm opening up to my council colleagues. Any questions? >> Council President, >> Councilwoman Cessums. >> Yes. Thank you, director. Uh, just a few questions and and most of this is for learning for me just to make sure that I'm not conflating a municipal system
with a state system. Um I thought I read uh in the supporting documents that the um proposed vendor is saying that um this project their bid was over a year ago. Um this and this is federally funded. Do we know what was the delay in
getting this project started? >> Everything from the federal government. We had to go through their whole process with every step of the way. They kept going back and forth with us over and over again till we can do we were uh with everything. We're prepared. We submitted everything but their process I
mean being one of our six municipalities in the state it was slow and moving get to us and we just finally got we needed we want to keep pursuing it that that's what held everything up just going back and forth with every every process. >> So this particular vendor has not
started the work. >> No they haven't started anything yet. Right. Okay. and and that's the purpose change of course of the time frame for them a year ago saying everything went up the price of everything went up from that time period >> and and and with that statement does our
bid process require biders to include a clear expiration or validity period to protect against price fluctuations such as this? >> Well maybe it's been for a year for a year. >> Okay. Okay. And have we ever reopened a
bid? >> I'm sorry. Have we ever reopened a bid after over a year? >> No. >> Okay. Thank you, >> Councilman Wyatt. >> Yes. To the chair. Uh 156-26, will money be allocated or in the
foreseeable future, will we allocate money for the bathrooms and the concession stand? Because I know we receiving complaints over the past few years at Solfield. >> That's a good question. So right now what we're doing, we're going to try to do as much renovation invasion funding we have with the bathroom to try a
family room in the bathroom and do some upgrades there the best we can and whatever other grant funding comes available. That's the goal to do that, right? To make some major upgrades for that. >> Okay. All right. and just uh 159-26. Uh not to really go into that, but can
you just give a overall overview of how many potholes were actually filled in the uh city of Planefield and just a timet of when you would get around to the the other potholes? >> Well, good question. We're working every day. We're doing approximately two to 300 potholes a day. We're using about
three tons of asphalt to fill in the hot patch across the city. So, we're going to do that non-stop. We're doing proactive and reactive to get things done. So, whatever comes in, we're trying to make that happen. In addition to working to get public service and American water, the goal is to have some time in June to get started doing a lot
of milling and paving and getting these roads back to where they supposed to be. A lot of those potholes, too, from the trenches that were dug and the air voids in them from the rain, salt, etc. that got into them and the cold weather made everything expand. So, that causes to even have more potholes. So yes, we're addressing them on a daily basis,
council, aggressively addressing to try to get things done. >> All right. Thank you, director. >> Chair chair. >> Yes, Councilman Hakan. >> So, uh kudos to the department for following up on uh on the grant. That's
a significant grant uh to um to beautify those intersections. Although the places that you mentioned are are certainly places that uh could use um a a refresh and and more um
clearly defined crossing lanes, etc. So, so thank you for that. Um regarding Hannah Atkins um not Hannah Atkins, uh Silent Field, I mean we we see that the the basketball court is already being resurfaced, etc. When what's the
expected date of completion for that? Another question happened the demolition that was demolition that took place. I mean based on you guys voting tonight but that's what how we keep moving forward with everything. But to answer your question we're looking at uh just maybe the first and second week
in summer weather committee. >> Okay. >> To have that done playground done and back. >> Okay. >> That's the goal done. >> That's aggressive timeline but it's appreciated uh by the community I'm sure. >> Thank you. >> Any other questions? All right. Okay. So, do I have consult consent to add
this to the voting agenda? >> Yes. >> Moting meeting. >> All right. So, now we move on to ordinances on first reading. Um, the BA, could you please present the ordinances on first reading?
>> Oh, economic development. Oh, I sure did. I just I skipped five three departments. >> Yeah. Quick meeting, huh? Maybe we should direct economic development. I see you
have several items. Um R 161-26 through R 173-26. Could you please present your items? >> Yes. Good evening, council. So looking at items 161 through 163 these are
representing UEZ funding asking for submission for an application for program funding. The first item is dealing with UEE funding for communications marketing and special events. The special events that will be
covered here would be those under communication such as the Queen City Fair, Faith in Blue as well as looking at the Pride Festival as and National Night Out.
The next item relates to public safety initiative. So the public safety initiatives we'll be looking at here would be for our community security guards as well as our animal control. Then the last item related to UEZ
funding would be for workforce development. For workforce development, this would support programming under the library for alternative education. It would look at the Queen City mentoring
academy as well as looking at the summer youth program internship program. The next item looking at 164. This is to refund uh construction permit fees. the
work wasn't done at this address for 165 and 166. This is related to our board attorney for both the planning board and for the zoning board. There would be no change in the funding for
the budget. This would just be to align with what was issued within the contract for 167. This would be to designate these properties for non-condemnation
and should you authorize the designation of these properties as areas in need of development, the planning board would be directed to develop a redevelopment plan. These properties in particular would be go into our small home ownerships lots and they would be
affordable homes for sale. 168 is related to 611 West Front Street. We presented this at the last council meeting where they had a financial agreement. A part of their financial
agreement is looking at having a redevelopment area bond. This would be we presented it last time. This would be to issue that redevelopment area bond. The bond was approved recently by the local finance board.
169 is related to 1203 South Avenue. This would be to authorize the license for a load loading zone and pickup and drop off zone. This is a mixeduse complex and this pickup and drop off
zone would be used for moving into the apartments as well as deliveries. It would be off of Leland Avenue and there would be a bumpout that brings it in off of the throughway of the road. It would be issued in the purpose of
safety 170 and 171. This goes back to the small home ownership lots for sale. This would be to designate two separate developers. One where we're looking at 636 West 4th
Street. This would be to designate the developers associated with Faithless Construction to build a two family home at that address. With 171, we would look at 656 South 2nd Street to build two two
family homes at that address. Should you designate these properties for affordable homes today? That would bring our goal that the mayor establish of looking at a,000 affordable homes in
the next 5 years to 1,26. We have designated 495 homes in Ward 1, 391 in W 260.
In W 3, 260 in W 4. Again, we have exceeded the goal. We are at 1,26. Did you designate these last two on the agenda today?
Moving on to item 172. This is an amendment to the resolution associated with 611 West Front Street. We had aou for this property where it was a memorandum of understanding between the
both the developer as well as the health center. This would to be to align the timeline with the current agreements that we have. And the last item is 173.
This is related to directing the planning board to re-examine the terra redevelopment plan. The purpose of re-examining the plan would be to add an additional use to the plan.
Any questions? >> Yes. With regard to the affordable housing, uh can you elaborate on the down payment assistance program and how that works? >> Sure. So, several of these properties,
these are the properties that are owned by the city. In the place of accepting a purchase price for the property, we would require the developers to deposit at a minimum $30,000 to down payment
assistance or 5% of the sales price of the property, whichever is higher. >> Thank you. I just wanted the public to understand how that works. >> Councilman Sassy. >> Yes. Um, regarding uh 169-26,
can you conceptualize what you mean by a bumpout off of Leland? What will that look like? Do we have a visual sketch? I I do have a visual sketch which we could share, but it's more of a bump in.
So, if you were approaching down Leland going towards 22, there would be an indent on the curb that would allow cars to pull in and off of the main roadway so they could pull in for drop off or have truck deliveries. And there would
be a hatch area for loading. So, it's to pull them off the main roadway. >> Thank you, Council L. >> Yes. Just one quick question. 163-26. uh for the summer youth program. When is
the deadline for the young scholars to apply and how many are we looking to hire this summer? >> We are looking to we generally look to about 130 uh applicants. Uh sometimes it's larger. Um as for the deadline, I
have to get back to you because I don't recall what the deadline exactly is. I have to look at the flyer. Okay. >> Okay. And I apologize for that. Thank you. >> That's it. Council W. >> Yes. Um R1 170-26. Um you said that's going to be a two
family house. Is that correct? >> Yes, it is. >> Two family house. Okay. All right. Okay. I just need that clarification. And also, thank you so much for doing the ride along with me today um to go around to look at some properties. Um it it was
it was definitely well needed, but I thank you for taking the time out going out to looking at properties and um coming up with solutions and also um attacking the issues right on the spot. So I I thank you for that and thank you also uh Director Dabney for taking the
time and explaining to me about the Hannah Atkins today when I came in your office. Thank you. >> Any other questions? >> Director Fields, I have one more question. Under the Mount Laurel Desert um doctrine, how many affordable units were identified that we need to satisfy
in playing field? >> So, we have met our obligation, but with the affordable fourth round, what was identified in Planefield out of the 220,000 for the state, we have a need of additional,300
units. >> So, what was the number? >> 1,300. >> That was the original number. the original number. >> So what was the number? The So Mount Laurel, they they designate and they tell us how many affordable.
>> So that wasn't the original number. There have been several rounds since then because we we've identified the need. >> So currently 1300 is the number. >> Yes. >> We're in the fourth round of that round. >> Right. Any other questions?
All right. Do I have consensus to add this to the voting meeting? >> Yes. >> All right. Anybody want to take anything off the agenda? All right. All right. Director of I see the director of communications isn't here. Be you going to present? >> Yes. Thank you. Director of
communications has a one item that she wishes to proceed with this evening. And this is a resolution awarding the contract um for our data center and server and backup and cloud and all of that to CISnet Solutions who has been
our vendor for at least a decade. Um and this did go out to bid obviously because it's 172,000. They were the only they were the only person vendor to bid on this service. Um but like I said they do our cloud backup every day, our major
cloud backup. There are health desks support handle all the back end of the IT. >> All right. Any questions? All right. Do I have consensus to add this to the voting meeting? >> Yes. >> Yes. >> All right. >> Um will the director of sewer and solid
waste please present your items? >> Good evening council president. Council, >> I have one resolution for your consideration approval tonight. R1 175 resolution authorizing the purchase of one new 2027 crane carrier from air
brakes equipment in amount not to exceed 451,915. This is in line with our capital replacement plan that we have and the funding was approved and this is just another step in that process
and I'll be happy to answer any questions. >> Any questions? director uh tell us how uh this investment will assist you and your workers and the department in keeping the city uh functional.
>> Well, this is a conventional real loader. In layman's terms, it's a garbage truck and uh we run uh 12 daily and they get pretty worn out over time and we have to constantly replace them.
And so this uh purchase would not only give the manpower equipment that they need, but it keeps the downtime down uh um repair cost to to a minimal. >> So, there's a lot of benefits to continually upgrade your your fleet.
>> When was the last time that we purchased a new one of these? >> I'm sorry. >> How how how old is the newest one besides this one? >> How old is the newest one? We have some still on the road from 2014. So, we'll be coming back. Uh like I said, this is
part of a capital uh replacement plan that was already approved and as we put the information together and we decide exactly what best fits our you know our needs then we present it to you for approval. >> Okay. Is it typical for them to last 10
years or more >> uh with the right TLC and the right conditions? Uh yes. >> Yeah. Thank you. >> All right. Any other questions? >> Yes. Director. Uh, Council President, I just want to answer Councilman Wyatt's
uh, question. And the deadline for the summer youth employment application is May 16th. >> Thank you so much. >> All right. Do we have um consensus to add this one item to the voting meeting? >> Yes. >> All right. Moving on. Now we move on to ordinances on first reading. All right.
Will the business administrator please present the ordinances on first reading? MC 2026 through MC 2026 uh through MC2026-11. >> Yes. Thank you, Council President. We have six ordinances for your
consideration this evening. The first one is an ordinance to amend and supplement the no parking um ordinance. This is in response to resident complaints in that area. And this would be no parking on that south side of East
Front near Raymond Aav. Uh the next one we have is an amendment to the home ownership small lots redevelopment plan from February and we're looking to add two addresses into that plan and change the height um the maximum height up to
three stories. The next ordinance is adopting the east front and Sanford A redevelopment plan from this from last month. That's the old Bank of America and this is to allow for town homes for sale in that area.
Um the fourth ordinance is uh adopting the Planefield A redevelopment plan. This is the one that was sent to study last month um in the are we in now? April. So at the March meeting and this is the one where the commercial space
has been vacant for 10 years. So we needed to think about how we could fill that space. The fifth one is related to the resolution that director Fields brought up and the Leland A loading zone and this is um accepting the deed
restriction for that. And then finally, the sixth one, the last ordinance we have this evening would create 30 minute parking spaces on East Front Street, parts of East Front Street that are very popular for, you know, running in and out of stores. We think it would help
the shopping area. >> And that's that's it on the ordinances. >> All right. Before I open up to my council colleagues on the last one, the the area on the east front that you said is very popular. Could do you know the
block number? >> It starts on Park Avenue and goes up about half of the block towards watch. >> Okay. Thank you. All right. I'm open up to my council colleagues. >> Councilman Graham.
>> Sure. Question regarding MC 2026- uh 06. Um, after having a conversation with our police director, I understand that there are potential uh concerns regarding this T intersection. My
question is, how many other T intersections that you know of do we have in the town where parking was not prohibited? >> That's an interesting question. Off the top of my head, I'm not sure. I can say I can say this
though. Uh T intersections are are are a tricky thing to deal with because of the nature of them. Any intersection where there isn't a free flow across traffic like this and it bottles here creates problems for the motoring public and
also for any residents or businesses in that area. Um, the easiest way to do a comparison would be to compare this intersection and as we discussed previously to the intersection at West Front Street and Planefield Avenue at the Drake House at that T intersection
on the north side of the street because that's where traffic would flow and emergency vehicles, trucks or anything else. There is no parking in that area by the Drake House. The reason why is that you do not create a bottleneck at that intersection. So that same logic
applies on the other side of town at the T intersection we're talking about with Raymond Avenue. Considering that it's it's a it's an artery on to Route 22. There are several major businesses even though they are not in Planefield at the end of that block. We have an apartment complex at the end of that at the end of
Raymond Avenue to the to the west side which is on Milton Place where we would need emergency vehicles to get down that street and most emergency vehicles would come off of Leland Avenue up front street and down Raymond Avenue to that location. That is the reason why we put
four we put this fourth. Now I'm sure there are other T intersections in the city. One that I could think of off the top of my head, well, since you brought it up, is the one at Woodland Avenue and South Avenue. It's basically the same type of thing. The difference is is that
the roadway is a little bit wider on South Avenue than it is on West on East Front Street. So, where we can make allowances, we do where it's too tight of an area, which it is in that res which is really a pretty much a residential area, we can't make any
allowances there. That's what that's what this ordinance is about. >> Great. My next question. Um should this ordinance pass, um is the expectation that enforcement uh would be prioritized here over everywhere else in the town?
>> Absolutely not. >> Okay. >> It would be met on a case-byase basis. Obviously, you hope for people to be in compliance with anything. If we get calls to that area and there's cars parked there, obviously we're going to issue summones. If officers ride through the area and
there's cars parked there, we're going to issue summones. But will it take precedence over any other I can say police function? No. It'll be treated like any other parking violation that we have in the city. >> All right. And how should uh the neighbors handle this matter? What
should they is it do you recommend that they take matters into their own hands? Like if they see a car that isn't supposed to be parked, do they approach the person to say, "Hey, you can't park there. like what should they do? >> Absolutely not. Any any resident who has a problem should always contact the police department. I say this all the
time. We are a 24-hour operation. You can call us for any type of need that you have. If we don't handle it, we can put you in we can put you in position with an agency, whether it's through the city or through the county or through the state or federal level that can help you. But you should never take anything
into your own hands. That is what the police department is for. That is what the council people are for. They can obviously contact you and you in turn will contact my office and I will then handle it. If it's a police matter, if it's a fire matter, it's for this young man right here.
>> Uh um one one one last question just for clarity on this ordinance. Uh this is no parking even for the homeowners that own the homes on this block. >> No, there's no parking on that side of the street >> at all for for every everyone. >> Everybody.
>> Okay. It's too tight of a block. >> Sure. Thank you. >> You're welcome. >> Director Abney, just to um piggy back off that question. >> Yes, ma'am. >> On the block the the block after Hillrest, is there parking allowed on that street >> that following the next block?
>> The is parking allowed on Hillrest and is parking allowed on Reefs Terrace and is parking also allowed on Raymond Avenue? So, unfortunately, the society that we live in today, everybody wants what's basically considered drive-thru service, even if it's not a drive-through business. I want to be
able to pull up to the front door, run inside, do what I got to do, and I'm going to leave. Unfortunately, because of the way this intersection is set up, we can't operate it that way. You can park a little bit down the block. Once you're past the uh the areas that will be designated, there's no parking. You
can park a little bit down the block, walk to the business, handle your business, and then go on about your way. That way, the area is safe, the business stays open, and everybody should be happy. The other thing in regards to what Councilman Graham said is that all of the houses on that side of the street
have driveways. So, there really is no reason for us to um there really is no concern for the department in terms of the residents because if somebody's visiting them, they can pull into their driveway. If they have any type of uh emergency services or anything that they
need, they can pull into their driveway. But if it's a police car, fire truck, ambulance, or anything like that, obviously no parking that doesn't that doesn't matter. It's an emergency situation, so we will park there if we have to. >> Thank you, director. >> You're welcome, ma'am.
>> Any other questions? >> Have a question, council president. Yes. >> Um, uh, MC 2026-11, the 30 minute time limit. Are we concerned that that may impact people wanting to come downtown and um you know
uh take part in the businesses there? Is this going to do you anticipate this having a negative impact? >> No, it should be a positive impact because we are we're not looking for the entire side of the street. We're only looking at a half a block and it's meant
to be a turnover. What we have right now is that we may have people that are parked downtown for the whole day. You can keep feeding the meter. This is meant to make sure that we have people turn over to go to the businesses that in and out. >> So, will the meters only limit at 30
minutes? Is that what's going to happen? They'll be programmed to limit at 30 minutes. Okay. Thank you. And um I just want to echo a little bit of what Councilman Graham said. Um, being that the police director mentioned South A and Woodland and I would just want to
say that I I would want that same level of consideration at that T intersection as well. Um, that side of town has had some concerns about, you know, with the development that goes on in South A and how it's so hard to either come out on Woodland and and come down south AB. So,
I would want that same level of consideration at that intersection. Thank you, council president. >> Thank you. Any other questions? >> Yes. On the property for the um the Bank of America, those going to be town houses, you said. Okay. Are those going
to be affordable? >> So, we haven't presented the agreement to you yet. That should be presented at our next council meeting and we'll answer all those questions. >> Okay. All right. Thank you. >> Any other questions? All right. council. Um, do we have
consent to add these to the voting meeting? >> Yes. >> Yes. Do we have consent to add this to the voting meeting? >> Yes. >> All right. >> All right. Can I have a motion for a fivem minute recess? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Second.
>> Thank you. Yes, we need it. >> All right. Three or four. >> All right. We now move on to ordinances on second reading and final passage. Madame Deputy, can you please read MC
20264 by title and further certify that the ordinance has complied with all statutory publications and requirements? MC 202604 is an ordinance of the city of Planefield, County of Union, New Jersey,
granting a tax exemption pursuant to the long-term tax exemption law and the redevelopment area bond financing law with respect to certain property identified on the city's tax map as block 233, lots, 611-9
West Front Street, 3605-609 West Front Street 718-20 Planefield Avenue and 12 115-33 Waynewood Park, Planefield, New Jersey, and authorizing the execution of a financial agreement with BH611
West Front Street, Urban Renewal LLC, and authorizing certain other actions in connection therewith. It is hereby certified that notice of a public hearing on this ordinance was published in the Courier News on March 15, 2026. >> All right. The floor is now open to any member of the public who would like to
speak on this ordinance. All right. Anyone? All right. May I have a motion to close public comment? >> So move. >> Second. >> Um clerk, can I please have a roll call?
>> We need a motion to adopt a second. >> I'm sorry. Can I have a motion to adopt this ordinance on second reading and final passage? >> So move. >> Second. >> Council members Briggs Jones. >> Yes. >> Graham. >> Yes. >> McCrae, >> yes. >> Wyatt, >> yes. >> Cessums,
>> yes. >> Vice President Hakaday, >> yes. >> Council President Cherry, >> yes. >> Unanimous. This ordinance has been adopted on second reading and final passage. >> Thank you, Madame Deputy. Could you please read MC2026-05 by title and further certify that the ordinance has complied with all
statutory publication and requirements? MC 2026 05 is an ordinance of the city of Planefield County of Union, New Jersey, adopting the 14th amendment to the 197 scattered sites redevelopment plan dated
February 19th, 2026. It is hereby certified that notice of a public hearing on this ordinance was published in the Courier News on March 15, 2026. All right. The floor is now open of any member of the public that would like to speak on this ordinance.
>> All right. I have a motion to close public hearing on this ordinance. >> So move. >> Second. >> Second. >> All right. May I have a motion to adopt this ordinance on second reading and final passage? If adopted, this ordinance shall be published as required by law. >> So moved. >> Sec.
>> Clerk, can I please have a roll call? >> Roll call MC 202605. Council members Briggs Jones. >> Yes. >> Graham, >> yes. >> McCrae, >> yes. >> Wyatt, >> yes. >> Cessums, >> yes. >> Vice President Hakaday, >> yes. >> Council President Cherry, >> yes. >> Ordinance been adopted on second reading
of final passage. >> All right. We now move on to public comments limited to resolutions and motions. A total of 30 minutes has been allocated for all public comments. Each speaker will be given three minutes. If any member of the public would like to call in for public comment, please dial
646 558 8656. Enter the meeting ID which is 934 91 4887.
Press pound star 9 to raise your hand to be placed in the waiting room. The floor is now open. >> Can you please state your name and city for the record, please? Good evening. My name is Peter Morales.
um an attorney for the property owner of 1300 East Front Street and I'm here on be on representing her with regards to MCH 2026-06 which is a no park in the south side of East Front Street between Reeve Terrace and Hillrest Avenue. This restriction
falls directly in front of my client's property. My client has a tenant at this property that operates a business, a fruit stand which is a legal and permitted use. Uh, our position is the proposed amendment to the ordinance arbitrarily
targets this business and my client's property. This is a street with parking up and down East Front Street. There's only one block that the city's looking to prohibit parking, which is this particular block, and it's about six parking spaces.
We believe it's an abuse of municipal power to arbitrarily target a business and the property owner and its patrons. This ordinance is essentially disguised in a way to shut down the business. We have evidence that this is an abuse of municipal power and the targeting of
this business because the property owner has a video a video and audio footage of a city council member entering and interrupting the business, stating their elected position and advising customers in the store that they cannot park there. If the ordinance passes, in addition to
the to in addition to the arbitrary and capriccious capriccious targeting of this business, the property owner may also have a valid claim for inverse condemnation. This parking restriction would severely impact economically impact the value of this property. I suggest the table
council the first reading and think this through with a proper study in consultation with the county. If safety and traffic, if safety and traffic are a concern, we should get an engineer to do a proper study, not just an opinion from
the police department as far as traffic on that T intersection. That's not a rational basis. I've seen a video there's I think there's uh statistics of 16 car accidents up and down East Front Street in an eight block radius. 16 accidents, two accidents on this
block. the other blocks that are having no other parking restriction. Just this one. There's the the city needs a rational basis to implement this. The T intersection safety concerns. This ordinance would
actually endanger uh patrons of this business versus make it more safe. The patrons would be expected to park across the street and cross the street and there's cars speeding up and down East Front Street.
I think a proper engineer study of traffic and safety would look into that fact as well, not just arbitrarily target this one business. Thank you. >> Thank you, Council President. Can I just ask the attorney a quick question? Would you mind? >> Sir, can you just you mentioned you you're representing a client, but you
didn't say who your client was. Can you offer that name tonight? 1300 East Front Street, LLCA is the property owner. She's in the process of selling that building. >> State your name and city. >> Salvatore Corano, 1284 East Tren Street. Here is a picture presentation
of accidents. 18wheeler trucks parked on the south side of East Front Street. 64 pictures of blocking driveways causing accidents.
Two council meetings ago, someone essentially called me a liar and said the accident occurred 400 ft away. This proves you need to go back to school and count how many feet that's
away. The skid marks will tell you it is a dangerous T intersection. Talk to New Jersey Transit. They can't get through. Talk to the public school drivers of the school buses. They can't get through.
Talk to the property owners. 64 ring and pictures of blocking driveways that can't get through. And all I continue to hear is from the store operators cuz I haven't seen LLC
formation papers yet that they can't control their customers. No, they can't. The city can. So, I greatly appreciate your resolution, your first reading. I look forward to the
second reading and the final passage. Thank you. And these will be available for personal view. >> Thank you. >> Name of city. Maline Corano. 1284 East Front Street. The other half of SA.
I cannot tell you how many times I worry when my grandchildren come to visit and they drive now and they're pulling out and they can't see any cars coming because you got a whole row of cars to the right, a whole row of cars to the
left. Just the other day, taxi, our driveways have become a pickup and a drop off in front of our homes. We go away. We come back. There's a car in front of our driveway. They're waiting to for the other person to leave to pull
up. Okay, that's not fair. It's not right. It is endangering. And you should know better because our lives are put on the line. And let me tell you that resolution, it
will help. It will help enough for me to feel a little bit more comfortable about my grandchildren, my children, my family, our neighbors, and my 86 year old father not having to go through
that. Taking them for a walk and I have to walk around a truck because it's blocking the the walkway because there's not enough parking space in a driveway, mind you. not a parking lot.
Yes, it is endangering those. And as far as crossing the street, they're already parking across the street. They already doing so. So, what's the difference? The difference is that we get peace of mind coming out of our own
home that I don't have two orange cones in front of my house having to deal with people that are parking in front of it and they park in front of it anyway EVEN WITH THE YELLOW THE ORANGE CONES. So please keep this in mind.
Thank you. >> Thank you. Well, >> name of city for the record. >> Yeah, Nancy Pavar, Planefield, um, West End. Uh, I have a question about R 167-26.
Uh, I was at the planning board meeting and um the planner that was hired talked about 832-34 Monroe Avenue and um he mentioned that there was a pumping station there at one time and I did a little research and there used to be a a a sewer pumping
station there. So, I don't know what impact that will have on our sewage in that uh neighborhood if they develop that lot. I don't think the pumping station's there anymore, but um it was mentioned at the planning board meeting
and uh the city did used to have a sewer pumping station back in the 1930s there. So, I don't know what's underground there and I just wanted to bring that to the attention of the city. Thank you. >> Thank you. Name is city for the record. >> Good evening everyone.
>> My name is Jose. I live in Plenfield and I work at Mini Mar Shai. I am here for to represent my mother who who owns the store. These ordinance 2026 will be affect my business to the point I I will
have to close. The two parking space provided by the city will not exist. And I I understand the chief of police or proposing this ordinance. We must consider a expert on traffic. Before we
accept this ordinance, I have six uh 600 signatures to uh that propose this ordinance. Both property owners inclined. Thank you. Um, good afternoon. My name is Cladio. I live in Port Jervis, New York. I came
all the way from Port Jervis, New York. Um, our company did the drawings for the rehab of 1300. Um, is from the street. Um, from my observations, we always have a
problem with uh with the owners of 130004 during the renovations. Uh, we have a hard time. So, I went I came today early. I just observe what I saw. I saw a lot of neighbors
that really uh they don't get along with the with this uh with u with the people that live in 1304. So, and to be honest to you, I was in the
business there. Um from my perspective, I think it will be a good business for your city. It has a different kinds of of fruits, exotic fruit, fruit fruits that only you find in other countries.
And to be honest with you, a lot of the people in the community come to buy there. And I think for them to have 600 signatures both of the neighbors and the clients, it says a lot about business. I
understand we're having a problem with the traffic. I really believe that we should consider an expert in traffic. We always used when we do malls, when we do anything that has to do with traffic, an
experienced person to tell you how to resolve the matter. Everybody's expert in one field. My company expert in doing blueprints, architecture blueprints, laundromats. We can tell you about it but we cannot tell you nothing about traffic. That's my observation on the
whole matter. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Good evening. My name is F Gonzalez night 14 Avenue. Um, I I want to talk about the the parking problem that
the neighbors from the the owner complained about, but I wanted to bring you into think about this. the Hispanic community or the immigrant community
have been and is now the one that contributed to this this city in every level not only in business but also in real estate and all that. So if he
anyone complain about my business for you to close it because I have no parking, I will highly um asking you respectfully to consider the fact that we the
Hispanis are the one that keep this sound going in and any level. I passed by the the the business that then was talk about it. But the parking problem we have, we do have it in all
the city. It's not really like for example here in port Avenue. It's a little sometimes impossible for people to parking. The restaurants sometimes then lose business. I have been I'm going up to the restaurants a
lot of time. They don't have no parking. So respectfully, please consider that and consider also that every time somebody bring a a resolution to the table, I guess to the Hispan community,
we already have enough with eyes here. Why we going to have also another problem with the parking or the business person to complain about us? Because for me, then complain about the one Hispanic then complain about us. So please
respectfully please review every single angle and allow this business to continue his business. Thank you. >> Good afternoon. My name is Maria Vasquez. I'm living in Rift Terrace for
almost 40 years and the past seven years I don't have even parking in front of my house. Okay. I'm so happy about this business because that house particularly that house is empty for many many years. We also me and my husband try to buy the
house but that house have a lot of problems. We need to invest a lot of money. So we think about it. He say no. So finally this family take this business they make spend their own money. I don't think so that's fair, you
know, because that's not their problem about the traffic because they can't control the traffic. There's only, you know, they want to work. They can say outside is like like a crossing guard. They can. The only
thing is I want to say to everybody, please consider this point because I don't think so that's their fault. They need to work. They spend a lot of money. I know I can tell you this a lot of money because we making numbers before they buy this house. Thank you.
>> Council President, if I may for a second, >> the administration would like to make a request to table this ordinance. >> Yes. >> I make a move that we pull this ordinance. We table this ordinance. >> Second.
>> All right. Can I vote? We're actually during public comments and not uh this ordinance isn't on the table at this point. When we get to that point of the ordinance, the motion can be made to table. >> Do we get to speak or >> Yes. Go ahead. >> Okay. City.
My name is Denise Riley and I'm at 1283 East Front Street across the street on the other side of that business. When that business opened, within a week, I had to call the police because
there was a car in my driveway. Not on the sidewalk, but in my driveway. The driver had no driver's license. He got tickets. He got all of that stuff. It's annoying. And then he lied and
said, "Oh, the car wasn't wasn't functioning." But once he got the tickets and another friend of his came, all of a sudden the car magically turned on and they drove away. The other thing is this Saturday,
I was fixing my fence. There was a pickup truck right at the corner across the street on the other side. Right at the edge. It was like right here. There was a car coming this way, a car coming that way. I almost got hit with the car,
too, because they couldn't see. How can anybody say that that's a good idea to have no space where people can see when you have a tea? The driver ended up on my neighbor's
lawn to avoid hitting the telephone pole, hitting me. And this is ridiculous. I'm not I'm not mad at having a business there, but there has to be some safety measures put in place because why should we be
worried about either our driveways are going to be blocked or we may get hit by a car or the other car, the other car that's coming this way and another car coming this way are getting into accidents. We see it because we are there. And it's not about her business.
It's about safety. And the other thing is this mo I I get up at 4:00 in the morning to go to work this morning. And I'm going to I'm going to leave this picture. Trash.
Trash. This is not a residential trash. This is commercial trash. Rats. Okay. Because it's fruits, it's vegetables and all of that. It's tubs. is all of that. Why should we have to be
subjected to that? There's no dumpster. They're using resident garbage cans, but we have to be considerate and not say anything. No, we've been living there long before that place came and hopefully we'll still be there for the
future. And I'm just bringing these up because it's like I'm concerned about safety and I'm concerned about health. Thank you. >> Thank you, Miss Fidley. This is my car in my This is the car that was in my drive. I got two pictures
of that. And then here's the trash. >> Name the city for the record. >> Hi, uh Quan Chambers, Planefield, New Jersey. I want to start out by saying congratulations council woman for doing what you said that you would do in terms
of public comment. I appreciate that. I appreciate you, Sister Moren, for coming out to volunteer um to make sure that happens. Thank you, police director. I want to thank you for uh starting the project years ago, but finishing it most
recently so that I now have safe passage into the municipal chambers without having to go uh through the police department to get in. So, I want to thank you for that. Those are really the only two comments I came until I heard all this speech here. Number one, I didn't know that it was the Latino
community that keeps Planefield going. I thought that we were a multicultural community with multicultural people keeping this community going. So, you need to calm down on that comment because that's not true. The other thing is I'm also a New Jersey transit rider.
I ride the access link. So when I'm going to afternoon dialysis when everybody is there buying, no, my bus cannot get through. It is too much parking. It's too many people parking
everywhere. And I think what needs to be happen is if you're concerned about your community having access to the fruits and vegetables that are native to your country, I think that's wonderful. have a family meeting and say, "Hey, we're in a we we're in jeopardy of losing this
opportunity if we can't come together and respect the rules of the neighborhood." When I was a little girl, you didn't park in front of the house where the person paid their mortgage, whether it was an ordinance or not. That is the level of respect that we had for each other on the block. You had this
spot in front of you and you also had your driveway because at that time we were two car families. No, there was no ordinance on the book. It was community understanding and community rules of what we did. You come into a community,
you're welcomed into the community. Learn some of the more ways and the four ways of the community so that people won't come together and say, "Hey, we want you out." And you think it's a us versus them. It's not a us versus them. It's a all of us versus safety.
And I trust the police director. He is an expert on traffic in the city of Planefield. And since we want to do a study, do a study that shows that losing two parking spots is going to make you lose your business. Do that study and then come back to us. But we're not
going to do this us versus them over some parking spots. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Name the city for the record. Uh Lisa Sullivan, 1457 Shirley Street. Um I just have a I'm changing the mindset. I have
a different issue. Um I don't mind the beautifification of the tree planting. My only concern is that the tree that's planted in front of my house is I believe it's too close to the PSNG um gas lines. I did call and spoke to
Deandra on March 25th. I asked someone to from the the township to come out and take a look at it because we know that tree roots spread. And if you look at the place where the tree is planted versus my gas PSNG gas lines, I have a concern. So, I just only ask that
someone come out, take a look at it cuz today is April 13th. I still haven't had anybody come out yet. I'll be working from home tomorrow. So, if someone wants to come, feel free to drop by anytime. Can you give your address to Winston?
>> Sure. Do you >> Thank you, >> Council President. If I could just remind that comments are in this section are only for agenda items only. Thank you. >> Anything else that's on the agenda? >> Hi, my name is Meg. I'm from Pointfield.
>> Hi, Meg. Um, I just wanted to start off by uh thanking you, Councilwoman Cherry, for following through on the return of virtual public comment. Um, I wanted to, I guess, ask I I can sense tensions are a little
high. I do think Planefield absolutely is a multicultural community and city. However, I do think it's it's um a reasonable request to take into consideration um what's going on specifically with
this business in this street. Um there doesn't appear to be a lot of Latino representation, I guess, before me. However, I uh my my question is when this business was established and these parking spots
were designated, um what was the uh justification in that moment? And then I do appreciate I guess consideration of doing a full study if safety is a concern. Thank you.
>> Thank you. >> Anybody else from the gallery? Council President, we have time for one more comment. >> Yep. Thank you. >> You can say your name and city. foreign. Okay. No forgot. Thank you. All right. All right. May I
have a motion to close public public comment? >> So move. >> Second. >> All right. Mr. Clerk, could you please um announce the consent agenda? >> Yes. The consent agenda items identified as resolutions
150 26 through 17526. That's all the items on the agenda. >> We did have a motion to pull um to table. The ordinances come after the resolutions. >> All right. May I have a motion to approve the consent agenda?
>> So move. >> Second. >> All right. Clerk, may I please have a roll call? >> Roll call on the consent agenda items. Council members Briggs Jones. >> Yes. >> Graham, >> yes. >> McCrae, >> yes. >> Wyatt, >> yes. >> Cessums, >> yes. >> Vice President Hakaday,
>> yes. >> Council President Cherry, >> yes. >> Consent agenda items have been approved. >> All right. Um, we now come to ordinances on first reading reading. Madame Deputy, could you please read MC202606? >> Madame President, I move that we table
266. >> Second. >> All right. Property move is seconded. Um, do we need to do a roll call? Yes, please. >> Can I please have a roll call? >> Roll call on the motion to table MC
2026. Council members Briggs Jones, >> yes. >> Graham, >> yes. >> McCrae, >> yes. >> Wyatt, >> no. >> Sess, >> yes. >> Hakaday,
>> yes. Council President Cherry. >> Yes. >> Six in favor. One opposed. MC 2026 has been tabled. >> All right. Madame Deputy, could you please read MC 20267
by title? MC 2026 07 is an ordinance of the city of Planefield, County of Union, New Jersey, adopting an amended homeownership small lots redevelopment plan dated February 19th, 2026.
>> All right. I'll entertain a motion to adopt this uh ordinance on first reading. >> So move second. >> Cler, can I please have a roll call? >> Roll call MC 202607. Council members Briggs Jones. >> Yes. >> Graham. Yes. >> McCrae,
>> yes. >> Wyatt, >> yes. >> Assassins. >> Yes. >> Vice President Hageday. >> Yes. >> Council President Cherry. >> Yes. >> Ordinance been adopted on first reading. >> All right. Madame Deputy Deputy, could you please read MC 20260 8 by title?
MC 20268 is an ordinance of the city of Planefield County of Union, New Jersey, adopting the East Run Street in Sanford Avenue redevelopment plan dated March 19th, 2026. >> All right. I'll entertain a motion to adopt this ordinance on first reading.
>> So move second. >> Cler, can I please have a roll call? >> Uh roll call on MC 2026, I'm sorry, 08 0608. Uh council members Briggs Jones. Yes. >> Graham. >> Yes.
>> McCrae. >> Yes. >> Wyatt. >> Yes. >> Cessence. >> No. >> Vice President Hawiday. >> Yes. >> Council President Cherry. >> Yes. >> Six in favor. One opposed. Ordinance has been adopted on first reading. >> All right. Madam Deputy, could you
please read MC 202609 by title? MC 2022609 is an ordinance of the city of Planefield, County of Union, New Jersey, adopting the Planefield Avenue redevelopment plan amendment dated March 19th, 2026.
>> So move. >> I'll entertain a motion to adopt this ordinance on first reading. >> Second. So move. >> Clerk, can I please have a roll call? >> Roll call MC 202609. Council members Bricks Jones, >> yes. >> Graham, >> yes. >> McCrae, >> yes. >> Wyatt,
>> yes. Sessims. >> Yes. >> Vice President Hawkiday. >> Yes. >> Council President Cherry. >> Yes. >> All right. Madam Deputy, can you please read MC 202610 by title? >> MC 202610 is an ordinance accepting the
deed restriction for right of way from OP Planefield 1203 South Urban Renewal LLC to the city of Planefield. I'll entertain a motion to adopt this on first reading. Move. >> Second.
>> All right. Clerk, can I please have a roll call? >> Roll call. MC 202610. Council members Bricks Jones. >> Yes. >> Graham. >> Yes. >> McCrae, >> yes. >> Wyatt, >> yes. >> Sass, >> yes. >> Vice President Hogay, >> yes. >> Council President Cherry, >> yes. >> That's unanimous. Yours has been adopted
on first reading. >> All right. Madame Deputy, can you please read MC 2026-11 by title? MC 202611 is an ordinance of the city of Planefield in the county of Union amending chapter 16 vehicles and
traffic article 4 section 16 col4-5 schedule 5 parking time limits on certain streets and areas by adding 16A-4 schedule 4 C time limit parking 1 half
hour 30 minutes I'll entertain a motion to adopt this motion adopt this ordinance on first reading. >> So move second. >> Cler, can I please have a roll call? >> Roll call on MC 202611. Council members
Briggs Jones. >> Yes. >> Graham, >> yes. >> McCrae, >> yes. >> Wyatt, >> yes. >> Cessums, >> yes. >> Vice President Hawkiday, >> yes. >> Council President Cherry, >> yes. >> That is unanimous. This ordinance has been adopted on first reading. And that
concludes ordinances on first reading this evening. All right, general comments. A total of 30 minutes has been allocated for all public comments. Each speaker will be given three minutes. If any member of the public would like to call in for public comment, please dial 646558656.
Please enter the meeting ID 934914887 and press pound star 9 to raise your hand. The floor is now open in the gallery. This is general comment. >> Good evening, council members. My name is Alicia Kelly and I'm a minority owner
and head of operations at Plant-Based Dispensary. Um, I did start with a bunch of numbers, but I decided not to bore everyone with that, but I will just start with saying that um, with the way that Planefield um, planned it dispensaries, we per capita Thank you.
Thank you, brother. Appreciate you. um are probably one of the most saturated uh places in the nation with all variables, even more saturated than my hometown of the Bay Area. Um but I'm going to get straight to the point which which was the question, what is the benefit of a consumption lounge bring to
the community? Um and that answer is pretty simple. A consumption lounge gives people a legal control place to go instead of pushing consumption into the streets, cars, sidewalks, and other unmanaged spaces. The New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission has
already said that the purpose of consumption areas is to promote public safety and to expand access for people who cannot who cannot or who do not want to smoke in their homes. The state's
current guidance also makes it clear that adults may generally consume on private property if allowed by the owner and at licensed dispensaries and consumption lounge which we are what we are trying to provide. Um
and those limits do not affect everyone equally. They hit the black and brown residents, workingclass residents and renters the hardest. People in federally supported housing face restrictions. Landlords can prohibit cannabis use on their property. Many people downtown do
not own homes and do not control the rules where they live. So when the town allows more dispensaries dispensary dispensaries but blocks designated consumption spaces, it creates a system where cannabis is legal to buy. But for
many residents, there is no practical place to legally use it. that shifts the burden of unmanaged public consumption onto the same downtown community that we seek to help revitalize. New Jerseyy's own rules show how narrow
the availability of smoking is. Smoking is barred in indoor public spaces like restaurants, bars, and offices. And the state guidance specifically says there is no smoking in parks or beaches. You cannot smoke in your car driving or
not driving. Um and there has also been talks to completely ban public consumption. So if people cannot legally and realistically consume in their homes, where can they consume? And they cannot responsibly consume, then where can they
consume? This is also why denying lounges while approving all of these dispensaries is not just a business issue, it's a community management issue. More retail access without managed consumption spaces means more outdoor smoking, more odor complaints,
um more packaging, more litter, and these are things around the nation that we have already seen. Um again, we we appreciate you guys. We're asking for you to allow us to execute our business model. Thank you. >> Thank you, Alicia. >> S Corano again, 1284 East Front Street,
Planefield. First, I'd like to I couldn't do say it any better than Q. So, thank you. You're welcome. Um, we are a mixed community. My wife is Puerto Rican. My father-in-law was born in Puerto Rico.
He can't get out of his driveway to go to church. He can't get out of He can't come home from church. That's a problem for the city. I'd like to say the quoted council person
on video, I will support you. I will witness you. I will testify to your care of safety because a huge box truck was parked on East Front
Street blocking the view of people passing by. So if your concern was the concern of doing business and the safety of your constituents, bless you and I support you.
Three council meetings ago, economic development claimed that the mixed use was from the 1950s of the said business that opened. Well, unfortunately,
whether you believe it or not, the fact that section 179-37 land use ordinance of our own city would be allowed, which should not be
permitted since the zoning is purely one and two family zone are four. The old store in the 50s and 60s and the old business which was a
hair cutting place. That building was abandoned for a decade. Vacant. Abandoned. Listen to those words, attorneys. Abandoned. Gutted. Not a single wall survived.
Not a single heating source, plumbing, electrical, your own 2year zoning ordinance does not exist any longer for grandfathering. Not at all.
Thereby a variant. So when it was quoted three council meetings ago that we didn't need to notify the public, sorry, yes you did because the permits to rebuild the place shouldn't have even
been issued until the variance went through and maybe then a proper study maybe demanded by the business owner or the homeowner should have been required. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Grano.
Buenos, you name a city for the record. 1300 miltos is from a street. free. Construction. sticker. Sticker Stress is from a street. East Street. Okay.
Fore! Foreign! Foreign! Thank you. for the record. Okay. F Gonzalez again 410 Washington Avenue. Um I hear very clear what they're talking about multiculture
and I'm here to to give um thanks to the director or the police department. Thank you director for attendant one of the Hispanis that was recently
beaten very badly. I now want to say specify what kind the group people was because I really don't want divide our city and I guess the lady do not
know me. I came here on 1997. Oh, 1979. I'm sorry. December 1979. So, I know this town from the top to the bottom. I have known all the politicians and I have been there in high position. But I'm not here
to talking about me. I'm talking about the people that desperately need help. And I congratulate the director because when he was beat up the police respond, but he was cutting his fingers.
He was damaged his head. He could he have three operations already and he have children's and no money to pay rent or to pay food. We are multicultural. It's time for our own
community to unite and not allow what happened many years ago. I believe one 1995 85 or something where we was hunting by another group of people. I I hate to mention it. It was very severe.
So it is time for our community to unite and be the voice in the eyes of the people. Care about the people. I care about everyone. I have represent everyone with with highest standards and I dedicate my life
to this city and I want to die in this city and that the only ask God for me is to help me to be here until the last day to raise the voice of my people and the people of this community all over to say to the community time to unite because
we are being attacked from every single level. It's important for us to talk about culture. Let's do the culture, multiculture. It's time for you to unite. When you see something wrong done to to my neighbor that is Hispanics or
African or Asian or whatever, be there for them. If you don't want to say something, the police department is here, director. Thank you. Because because of you, he is safe now, but he is very injured. We have another case
that the person and I came here couple of months ago and I'm asking about a meeting. Thank you to the mayor and the administration for the meeting. >> But one more minute >> I'm sorry your time is >> okay but we could talk after the meeting. >> Well, it is about another meeting. Thank
you. >> Thank you. Name a city for the record. Thank you. Kevon Carter, uh 148 East Second Street, Planefield. Good evening, city council. Uh my name is Kevin Carter, co-founder of
Plant-Based Brand Dispensary. In 2021, when my team and I met with the mayor and his administration, there was a clear vision to redevelop Planefield's downtown into a destination, a place that attracts more people, engages a younger demographic, and creates an environment where people want to spend time. That vision is exactly why we
chose Planefield as a cannabis brand and dispensary. From the beginning, we didn't just plan to open a dispensary. We built a business with a foresight, one designed to contribute to that redevelopment of downtown. Our model has always included not just retail, but also a community-driven lounge space
where we host yoga, pilates, live podcast, cultural events. This wasn't something we added later. This was presented as early as our planning board prep meeting in 2022. Since opening, we've already shown what that vision looks like in action. We've brought people from across the state of New
Jersey, as well as New York and Pennsylvania, into downtown Planefield, many for the first time. We've hosted soldout events, created a safe and structured environment, and contributed to growing energy in the area. Beyond business, we've invested into the community. Before we've even opened, we
offered uh 75 meals to families for Thanksgiving, holiday gifts for 50 children, school supplies for over a 100 students, and hosted expungement clinics that serve nearly 100 residents. This is who we are. This is how we operate. When the state introduced the cannabis consumption lounge endorsement in 2025,
it aligned directly with the model we had already created. This was not a change in direction. It was an opportunity to fully execute our business plan. We understand there were there were many concerns and we've made efforts to speak out to the council members to prove clarity of what was
regulated professionally managed lounge look like. We've already demonstrated our ability to host events safely, responsibly, and in a way that benefits the community. Granting this endorsement not just about our business, it's about the the redevelopment of Planefield. Plant-based is already contributing to
the downtown area. With this endorsement, we can expand that that impact, creating a more consistent foot traffic and supporting nearby businesses. I'm sorry. Uh, and continue to build an environment where people want to gather. We are not asking to introduce something
new. We are simply asking to execute our business plan that we created. Thank you. >> Thank you. East Street. Okay. Okay. He does not work for the city. So, how
can he stop construction for a facility or a home? How she says we terrorize her? I didn't even know who she was. Didn't even know she was the owner of that property until short maybe a month ago. Okay. We didn't know this. So, how
could we terrorize or or or say something against this woman? They bring up the Latino card. I am Latina, but I am not a victim. I also worked hard. My husband and I worked hard to buy our home. We have a right.
Okay. driveway. Okay. So, this Latino thing, no, it has nothing to do with race, color, creed. It has to do all with safety.
It has to do with our home, our families, our neighbors. You heard our neighbor speak. It wasn't just my husband and myself. You heard our neighbor across the street. Our other neighbor couldn't make it here because her father has the nurse coming in with
an oxygen tank. Okay? So, she couldn't make it, but her voice would have been heard here, too. She actually told us that she trusts us that we shall be her voice. So, I'm not going to play this Spanish,
English, whatever. It has nothing to do with that. Thank you. Uh, good evening, council members. Uh, first and foremost, I want to thank the city of Planefield. >> Name of city. >> Oh, sorry. Um, Prince Abedoi, uh,
Planefield. Uh, good evening, council members. First and foremost, I want to thank the city of Planefield for giving me and my team plant-based the opportunity to open our dispensary at 148 East Second Street. When we first came in 2021, what we pitched was never a dispensary. What we
pitched was a dispensary lounge, a space to be a true community hub. At the time, there was no process to get licensed. Um so we moved forward as a dispensary with the intention of coming back and in 2025 we came back in June. Um we heard the conversation um but we didn't get the
opportunity to fully present the vision since then because what we're doing right now and who we are as a business is not what was described. We are hosting wellness events, yoga, pilates, personal training, giving people a place to focus on their health and relieve stress. We've created a space for local
creatives to show showcase their work and express themselves. We've hosted uh community events to celebrate residents. We've partnered with local organizations and nonprofits to give back and support Planefield. That's who we are and we want to grow that. We want to do more
for the community. But the lounge is the missing piece because lounges are destinations, especially in New Jersey where there's very few people travel for those experiences. When people come, they don't just visit us, they spend time downtown, they eat at local restaurants, they shop, they explore. we
could become a driver of traffic into the area that doesn't just help our business but others around us. We can't serve food and so we partner with local businesses in order to get food to our customers, right? And just as important, we help create more knowledgeable customers. A lounge will give us the
opportunity to bring brands closer to customers so they can have an opportunity to experience products and understand the brands and figure out what works for them. Uh when a customer is more knowledgeable, they're likely to shop and not just our dispensary, but other shops in the area. We all carry
similar products. We all work within with the same vendors. So building knowledge helps customers be more um knowledgeable customers and be able to support the local businesses because the truth is the current state of cannabis is not looking good downtown. It's five
of us with another one to come. Uh businesses already selling their licenses. the ones that were early were lucky. Um, the rest of us will have to deal with the saturation and the um the idea that the licenses are losing value. For most of us, we're workingass
minorities trying to get our business together. But with the lounges losing u value, it's going to be hard for us to um get back what we invested. And so, a lot of us businesses will go out of business, mostly um black and brown businesses first, but we won't be able
to sustain. The only people that can sustain are the um the rich and the developers. Thank you. And I hope you consider us for a lounge. >> Thank you. >> Testing. You hear me? All right. Cool. Uh good evening all. My name is Eves Tony. Uh local resident, minority
business partner at PlantBase. I'm on Planefield Avenue. Uh before I get into the business side of it, the curbs, the curbs on 11 on Planefield Avenue, there's a maybe like a two-mile stretch where the only difference in what Planefield looks like and what South
Planefield looks like is our curbs with all that erosion going to the street and whatnot. Make our grass look better, make our property value look better, we pay more taxes, y'all get more happy, right? Yes. >> All right. Yeah. All right. I got a little something. But uh I'm going to
try to wrap this up. I didn't write anything. my partners wrote um I'm just going to try to pitch it and talk a little bit about partnership. Um we got into this thinking we was going to be a partnership with Planefield. Um the leadership in Planefield said this they wanted not only to be involved in cannabis but they wanted to make this a
destination location. Right. So we we applied that to our business model. We didn't just want to open up a dispensary. A lot of them were going to come up. We knew that. We didn't complain about it. We had some uh predatory uh contractors that we had to work through. We didn't complain about that. We knew we had the partnership in
Planefield cuz their vision was aligned with our vision. So, we wanted to stay with that, right? Um, oh man, time's running fast. Wow. But, uh, so what we thought we were going to get involved with was like, hey, look, if we came up with an idea, we pitched it, they'd be
receptible to it and either give us a yes or no. But at times, it's the communication that we didn't receive. We didn't we set plans to like have a meeting, we didn't get no return back. We can't even pitch our idea if we don't get that that communication coming back. Right. Um my time is running short, but
I'll just I'll just uh touch on a couple of things where I was even shocked as a partner to see how cannabis and uh the expungement clinic that we had before we made a dine in the town. We ran an expungement clinic. Kevon spoke on it briefly. I want to elaborate a little bit. We able to have over a hundred
people come in. Now me, I'm a little long in the tooth. I got a little salt and pepper like most of you and whatnot, right? So, I thought it was going to be a whole bunch of young people coming in to get their records expuned. The opposite. They were closer to my age. I was like, "Well, you guys, you guys are hard in your luck. You might
need a little help." Said, "No, no. I got a great job. I work for Transit. I work for this. I work for that." Then why do you need your your records expuned? If you're an apartment, I didn't even know this. I'm a homeowner. Been here for 20 years with my wife. And my wife is half Dominican. So, I appreciate the uh you know, the unity. Let's not separate like this. This
there's a great community. Great great community. I love it here. I absolutely do. Right now, now the Wow. Thanks for the applause. Appreciate that. Uh but when the people that were affected the most were people around my age when they wanted to go for
another apartment, I didn't know this. Like I said, I I own my home, but you had to write on the uh application whether or not you've ever been convicted of anything. So, that's the one thing that were holding these people down, and that's the thing we dedicated our time to when we got here, right? First thing we did on the agenda, we
thought we had partners aligned with us on that. >> Thank you so much. I'm sorry your time has expired. >> Good evening. I can start. Yeah. Okay. Good evening. I just want to thank um the council, especially Briggs Jones. Um I have been
talking with her in reference to my block. My name is Sharon Rosario. La Familia. I'm here. I'm here. But I just want to um thank her because the ride along it made a big difference
in me cuz I'm born and raised here. And I appreciate that someone cares about my block. And she came, she saw, and she brought it
back to you guys. Um, on my block we have potholes. You can't even turn the block because there's like three big ones coming into the block going out of the block. The cow, Grace, and Johannes
pie holes and the filth. I'm a little perturred about that because I know we talked about cleaning up and so forth, but it has not come to my block. And again, we on this multicultural thing. My community is
multicultural. They're afraid to come out and some of them are homeowners, some of them are renters, but they stay in their homes. They don't come out and clean up the garbage cans.
We talked about that numerous times. I have two Pacific residents on this block. They refuse to take in their garbage cans 247, 365 days a year. I had damage to my
property because when we had our storms, their garbage cans ruined my car. I had to come out of pocket for that. But again, I think Brace Jones because that ride along made a big difference to
me. It gave me more hope and Maddie and my city that I chose to come back and purchase it. So, I thank you guys. >> Thank you. >> Thank you.
>> Thank you. >> Good evening. Uh my name is Christa Lawren and I live here in Planefield. I just want to say thank you for bringing back the dialin option for public comment. Uh, I think it's so important to encourage and facilitate civic engagement here. Um, I know as a parent,
um, people who are, uh, working late, commuting, there's a million reasons that people can't be here when they'd like to be. And, um, so it's really nice just knowing that we have that option now. Um, a lot of times, you know, I'm I'll listen in even if I'm not communicating, but to know that now we
are we do have that option is uh, really great. So, thank you. um if Zoom could ever come back. I feel like that's a a less cumbersome, easier option, but um so just a request if that is an option that's being talked about, I preferred that one. But um so thank you.
>> Thank you. Uh Nancy Pivar, a Myrtle Avenue playing field. Um I think it's this is off topic, but I it's very close to my heart. Um last week um the defense PM
MIA accounting agency identified Chief Electric inmate John Judson Campbell, US Navy. My brother was a Navy veteran. Um they sent a um Rear Admiral from the Pentagon up to be the officer in charge
to reenter this um soldier in Hillside Cemetery. He was probably mustered in in Planefield, but um he was originally from North Planefield. Um the night before the ceremony, as I was compiling a book of old newspaper articles for his
family, I found a newspaper article that listed two other men who were missing from this area. EMC Campbell and Boat Swain mate First Class Charles Raymond Kelly. In the article, EMC Campbell's mother, Margaret, even her in her overwhelming grief for her son, made
sure she remember she mentioned Edward J. Lloyd. He was a planeful resident. He was a Signalman first class who served on the same ship as the two other men. Three men from the same local community served on the same ship in World War II,
were captured, sent to the same P camp in Japan. were in the uh Batan Death March and they have all have family members sp buried in Hillside Cemetery. Kelly was found and he was buried eight
years later. Um Campbell was just recently found and identified by the US uh Pentagon and um Mia agency and after 84 years he was brought back home. Lloyd
unfortunately remains unidentified. But now that I found out about this, I will be sending a letter to the Rear Admiral and also to the MIA agency to see if we can relocate and bring him home. He was a Planefield resident. He lived on
Clinton Avenue. He went to the same school as my brothers and sisters, Jefferson School. Nobody ever talked about him when we were growing up in the 50s. It's very sad. that his father worked at Mac Truck and um I hope that I'll be able to bring um this soldier
back to playing field. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> All right, we're going to see who have we have online. >> We have one speaker online. Um caller with the number ending in 690, please unmute yourself, state your name and
your uh municipality. Caller ending in 690. Please unmute yourself if you wish to speak. Uh one this is the last time caller ending in 690. If you wish to speak please unmute yourself. Press star six
to un star six. >> Hello. >> Yes, we can hear you. >> Hi. Thank you so much. Sorry about that. I didn't realize that to um spell star um Ayanna Gilmore Planefield. First, I want to say thank you to um
councilwoman um president actually um Sherry for allowing for the um open comment over the phone. I also do want to note that the information for joining the open comment online um is incorrect. So it would be awesome to get that
updated so people can comment. Um I want to bring to the attention of the council a issue that I've reported to um the department of public works often. It's an issue regarded to litter. Um this is on the
back end of the PSCG building on Rock Avenue. So this would be the um the back gate that is on Front Street. There is litter that has been accumulating for months now. It's really bad. I have
reported this at minimum five times to the DPW and it just seems to be getting worse. Um, I'd really appreciate it if someone can reach out to me and let me know what the status is on this issue. Um, and if there's any way that residents can assist with getting this
area clean. It's really sulfate. It's right next to Jefferson School. Kids don't deserve to um have to walk through all that garbage to um go learn. Thank you. >> Thank you. Anyone else on public comment? >> So, we have one more caller came. Never
mind. They're gone. Wait, no, that's them. Um, caller ending in 209, the floor is yours. >> Yes. Hello. Can you hear me? >> Yes. >> Hello. Good evening. Uh, my name is Sebastian Torres playing through New
Jersey. Um, I wanted to uh call in first off to thank councilwoman um or council president now rather cherry for renewing the the callins. So, I wanted to take advantage of that and exercise my democratic rights to to speak up at the
meeting. Um, tonight I wasn't planning on speaking uh per se, but the discussion has been very lively, very interesting. Um, and one thing that has stood out to me, which I I really hate to see, is this kind of like racial animosity and this weird racial tension
that like gets stoked up with this type of um situation. Um particularly I wanted to um address like some of the comments made by u I believe the lady's name is floor. She was making some very strange comments about like persecution
and all this kind of stuff. I don't know what she was talking about but it just it left a bad taste in my mouth and it felt like it was trying to stoke up like some kind of like racist angst or anger. I'm not really sure what was happening there. Um with regards to the parking situation, I feel very bad for both
parties involved. Mr. Corano deserves to live peacefully in his house without having people um all up in his driveway and everything else like that. And that woman I I I feel very bad that her business is in jeopardy because of this situation. But what I can say is that
what is happening here is a result of what I would say personally is a a lack of of proactive action by the city council, by by the city, by the administration as a whole when it comes to um promoting creating businesses and
um helping people, you know, be active in the city in the way they want to be. Uh people want to be able to live their life. People want to be able to have their businesses, but there has to be some clear planning. Now, in Ward One, we have a council person who is in real estate, um, right, Councilman, um,
Graham. So, he should have been aware when this business was opening what kind of business it was going to be, if it was going to bother anyone, and kind of bring the community together to discuss these types of things to avoid the tension that's going on right now. Um, I would say the same kind of thing is potentially going to go on with the the
plant-based um, the lounge that they're trying to have. Um, I was very vocal against it because personally I just don't feel that it is the type of business that I would want in the community. Um, I understand that they're doing great things, but you know, I you could paint it as many ways as you can, but it is problematic to have that kind
of business in my opinion in the community, but when you have the the city making promises to business owners and you have the city taking donations, right, for campaigns like the mayor did from Plan B, then there's promises that have to be kept. And then when these promises are kept, they clash with the
interests of the community. Um so so when you have these private interests clashing with the community, that's when you have these problems. And you know this the the council can have these conflicts of interest because inevit in inevitably in they're going to clash.
Okay, that's the problem here. So um yes. >> Thank you so much for your public comment. >> Okay. Thank you so much. >> All right. Can I have a motion to close public comment? >> Seconded. >> Would any of the directors or the BA
like to answer any of those questions? >> Uh, >> yes. Director Dabney know we can check that block the location see what's going on that's information also the building the PSC
building we're going to check for students what's going on. Uh, about the location. >> All right. Any other directors?
In reference to the com in reference to the comment about resolution 167, we are aware that there will be a utility easement required for that property. So that'll be part of the deed
restriction for that. Again, the tree planting it is in coordination with economic development and with DPW for that. So, we'll look at that location. In terms of the nonconforming use, by
law, we follow our standard zoning ordinance. What's allowed in the non-conforming land use for that? It is inactive since it has been active since 1954. There's no requirement to notify property owners unless there is a
variance and there was not a variance. >> All right. Yes, director John Louise inspectors out of solid waste. If you see cans in the street pass the collection date, please contact the
solid waste office. >> All right. Mr. >> President, I have a question for uh Director Fields. >> Yes. >> Director Fields, with regard to I guess uh 1300 uh LLC or that 1300 um East Front Street,
>> um do you recall the well with with regard to inspections, how many times or how many um citations have has that property owner been given? So, I can look that up for you for sure, but currently I don't have it off the
top of my head. I don't have any citations that I've seen. So, I can look that up and give you that number. >> Okay. All right. That's all I'm going to know. >> Okay. Well, before we close out, one thing I'm going to say is that, you know, one thing I love about Planefield is that we are diverse. I I I move to
Planefield because we are diverse, not because we are one nationality. Um, yes, the tensions were high tonight, but I do have faith in the leadership of the city to fix it. Um, as a city, we're going to have to live together, right?
As neighbors, we have to live together and we have to respect each other. So, although the ordinance was tabled tonight, we do have to find some type of viable solution for that area. All right? So, let's just trust the
process that we will find a solution and then let's lower the tensions because one of the things I heard tonight is that a lot of race. It's, you know, we have to look at things as a safety issue. All right, let's look at it as a safety
issue and let's make sure that we care about all of our residents, the city, all of our businesses and our and and the viability of of our community. All right. So, I just want to close with that.
Can I have a motion to adjourn? >> So, move. >> Seconded. >> Thank you. My