kind of start. >> No, there's nothing to say, but you can bring it up. >> Do you want me to bring up agenda for the regular burough council meeting mayor council municipal cooperation in the county to say meeting will begin at 7 p.m. on January 28th in the municipal
building 25 L consistent with the open public meetings at the meeting will be open for public comments and shall be in accordance with the terms and conditions of the municipal code. Please stand for pledge loot
to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Please bless this marit council as they deliberate on the best of Pton Lakes. Uh, in conformance with the open public
meeting law, public law 1975, chapter 231, adequate notice of this meeting, setting forth the time, date, place, and purpose of this regular meeting through notice posted on the bulletin board in the municipal building, mailed to all have requested and paid for same, and published in the suburban trends. Roll call, please. >> Mayor Sarah
>> here. >> Council President K >> here. >> Councilman Le >> here. >> Councilman G >> here. Councilman Hinton >> here. >> Councilman Hampton >> here. >> Councilman Ben >> here. >> With us this evening is our burough
county and our administrator. >> Okay. Thank you. Um motion to open meeting for public comments. Update. Let me just go quick update. >> Well, I was going to do it for but uh you know today we swore in our new chief uh AJ Rodriguez. He is now the official chief here in Palton Lakes.
Congratulations to him and his family. We're expecting big things out of him. He's been involved in our police department for a very long time. Uh so he knows what we're looking for. So thank him. He usually is at our meeting, but today he will not be here. Motion to open the meeting for public comments. >> Motion. Councilman Bennon. Councilman
Cruz. All in favor? >> I against. Anyone from the public like to address 12 Rome. I just wanted to thank our DPW for the terrific job they did. I was over in Wayne this afternoon. Hamburg turnpike is horrible. I know that's county, but once you get past Black
Ochre going towards Wayne, it narrows down to a lane and a half. Uh, and the job that you guys did here in town. Wonderful. Keep up the good work, guys. Thanks. >> Thank you. Anyone else like to address? Seeing no one, can I have a motion to close the public session?
>> Motion. Second. >> Hinton. >> Who was that? Councilman D. All in favor? >> I. Uh Paul, thank you for those compliments uh on our DPW. They did an outstanding job. Uh we did I was going to say it in my report, but we did have a county meeting during the storm with
the county and all the towns surrounding us. And the biggest complaint by far to the county are the county roads. They just didn't take care. Not just in our town, in all the towns. I actually got a call from someone high up in the county who said, "I just drove on the roads that you said look bad and they look
fine." I said, "Yes, that's because my guys went and did the county." So, so he said, "Oh, I didn't know that." I said, "Okay." So, I hopefully as we move forward, the county will do a better job with what what they have to be doing, but our guys and we'll I'll talk about it. My report, but did an outstanding
job with the storm. Um, motion to approve the following minutes. Regular meeting minutes January 14th. Close session meetings January 14th. Can I have a motion? >> Who's that? Uh, Councilman Sant. >> Councilman Hinton. All in favor? I >> authorization of bills and and claims as
listed below. Can I have a motion? >> Motion. >> Councilman Vennon. >> Second. >> Councilman Hinton. All in favor? >> Anybody need any other resolutions for? >> No. Okay. Liz, >> where is the mayor and burrow council?
The burough council may set the consent agenda consisting of our proposed resolutions. where the Marin Burough Council of Burough Complex does not desire to remove resolution for individual action from that agenda. Now, therefore, be it resolved that the following resolutions on the consent agenda are hereby approved. Resolution
26-78 through 26-9. >> Can I have a motion? >> Motion. >> Council President Kent. >> Second. >> Councilman Big. All in favor? I >> against. Okay. Ordinances.
Final adoption. Um, ordinance 26-1, an ordinance amending, >> I'm sorry, an ordinance authorizing the mayor of Burough Cliff to execute a lease amendment with the council Metro with a lease.
>> Motion to open the meeting for public comments on ordinance 26-01. >> Motion. Councilman Ven. >> Council President Kent. All in favor? against. Anyone like to address just this ordinance? >> Seeing no one, can I have a motion to
close the public session? >> Motion. >> Second. >> Councilman Santers. Councilman Hinton. All in favor? >> I. >> Motion to approve ordinance 26-01 for final adoption. >> Motion. Councilman Bennett. Is that Venon? >> Yes. >> Second.
>> Council President Kent. Roll call, please. >> Sorry. You just have to get that. >> Councilwoman Kent, >> yes. >> Councilman Sage, >> yes. >> Councilman B. >> Yes.
>> Councilman Bay. >> Yes. >> Councilman. >> Yes. >> Yes. >> We can't put them together, right? >> I always ask that. >> I offered that before. >> Ordinance 2602.
Sorry. Okay. >> An ordinance authorizing the mayor of our clerk to execute a lease amendment through the jail. >> Motion to open the meeting for ordinance 26-2. >> Councilman Hinton. >> Second. >> Councilman Bennett. All in favor? >> I
>> against anyone from the public right to address just this order. >> Seeing no one can have a motion to close the public session on ordinance 262. Councilman Hinton. >> Second. >> Councilman Santers. All in favor? >> I. >> I. >> This is a lot of talking. Motion to approve ordinance 2602 for final
adoption. >> Have a motion. >> Motion. >> Second. >> Council President uh Kent. Councilman Cruz. Roll call, please. >> Council President Kent. >> Yes. >> Councilman Sant. >> Yes. >> Councilman Ben. >> Yes. >> Councilman Bay.
>> Yes. >> Councilman Cruz. >> Yes. >> Councilman H. >> Yes. Ordinance 26-3, an ordinance authorizing the mayor and bur clerk to execute a lease amen amendment with the burough lakes youth organization.
>> Motion to open the meeting for public comments on ordinance 26-03. >> Motion. >> Councilman beg >> second. >> Councilman Hinton. All in favor? >> Against? Anyone like to speak about just this motion? >> Seeing no one, motion to close the meeting for public comments on ordinance
2603. >> Motion. >> Councilman Hinton. >> Second. Councilman Santis was that? >> Yes. >> Uh, all in favor? >> I. >> Motion to approve ordinance 2603 for final adoption. >> Motion. >> Councilman Bennon. Councilman Cruz. Roll call, please.
>> Council President, >> yes. >> Councilman Sans, >> yes. >> Councilman Bennon, >> yes. >> Councilman, >> yes. >> Council, >> yes. >> Councilman, >> yes. >> Orders 26-04.
Authorizing the mayor of Bur Court to execute a lease amendment for Mr. Thompson links board of education. >> Motion to open the meeting for public comments on ordinance 2604. >> Motion. >> Councilman Santers. >> Second. >> Councilman Hinton. All in favor? >> Again. Anyone like to address just this
ordinance. >> Seeing no one, motion to close the meeting for public comment on ordinance 26-4. Councilman Hinton. Councilman Cruz. Wow, you guys are going fast. Motion to approve ordinance 2604 for final adoption. >> Motion.
>> Who was that? >> I don't know. >> Councilman Sanders. >> Second. >> Council President Kent. Roll call, please. >> Bless you. >> Yes. Thank >> Councilman Sanders. >> Yes. >> Councilman. >> Yes. >> Councilman Bay. >> Yes. >> Councilman. >> Yes.
>> Councilman H. >> Yes. >> Okay. Great. Thank you. Okay. Under my report, like I said, we just swore in the new chief. Um, we're expecting nice things to happen in town. He's very involved and cares a lot about this department. He's been in the department for a long time. So, um, he's excited.
We're excited and hope things work out well. Let's talk about the snowstorm a little bit. I thought the, uh, communication between between all our department heads, they kept me apprised with, you know, we had some calls and textes going back and forth. Everybody was jumping in saying, "This is what we should do. This is what we shouldn't do.
There's a problem here. There's a problem there." All in all, I think it was handled well. We didn't I didn't get a lot of calls or complaints. Our roads did look good. There was a lot of snow. I mean, you know, this was a lot of snow to move. This was not an easy storm. Um uh so at the end of the day, really the
only complaints I got were on our county roads, unfortunately. You know, uh especially at Waniku and Ringwood at at you know, at one point weren't done at all. And you know why people were out and about at that time, who knows? But they were on those roads and cars did get stuck on those roads. And we we did try to help them out. But, you know, uh,
between OEM, the police, the fire sir, ambulance squad, the DPW administration, um, we were all together talking about how we're going to handle things. Um, and it worked out well. So, kudos to everyone involved. Uh, I know that, you know, we're not over with the season
yet. DPW is well aware that we still have to move snow around. Um, and we're getting to it. One of the the situations that we will talk about in that same group is Wanuku Avenue trying to remove working with the bid trying to remove some of the snow from the sidewalks to make it a little more easy to get in and
out for parking and and and and stores and to make, you know, we have to have a place to put that snow more snow comes. So, you know, we had somebody full-time, we had DMK in the pond hole, working full-time in the pond hole removing that snow. Um, so, uh, thank you for everyone who was involved. Uh I attended a
meeting uh with Oakland and our administrator and more to follow on that. We had a finance meeting where more to follow from Councilman Hinton and Councilman Bennon. You know, let me just say that and they're going to talk about it more, but you know, this is a tough year for finances. Our health care
costs right now are up almost $960,000 just health care costs. Okay, that's a huge number for a small town to try to make up. So, we're behind the eight-ball before we do anything. We are being uh creative in how we're going to handle this. We're still thinking about it, but
uh I want everyone to be aware this is not an easy we're not we do not want to cut services. Uh we want to keep everything as it is. Obviously, we don't want to reduce our workforce in any shape or form. So, uh but more to follow on that. We also had a personnel meeting
uh again uh discussing some um future projects that we might be doing. Uh we had a resident every year the county puts out a calendar uh and they took drawings from uh different towns in the
pose county. One of our residents uh where is it? Um Audrey Speck of Lincoln School. She was Miss Fe February. She was up there for her drawing. So that's very nice to see that's up there and uh always excited to have that put on on
place. Um I did have a conference call uh with like I mentioned with the county and all the mayors and all the DPW and our administrator our DPW supervisor were on the call and for the most part that you know everyone's handled their own and and they were basically saying
when's the county going get involved. So uh at the end of the day having the salt dome here we do have a salt dome here that the county uses should be an aid to us because they have to come here to get the salt. Uh so uh you know we have that working to our advantage but you take a town like a West Milford or a Wayne lot
of streets in those towns a lot of them are county roads uh and if they're not covered it could cause a lot of problems. So hopefully we'll move forward with that with that discussion and that is my report. Oh no I have a um motion motion by the mayor with advice and consent of council to appoint
Michael CS as a member to the environmental committee to fill unexpired term December 31st 2027. motion. >> Uh, uh, Councilman >> second, Councilman Cruz. All in favor? >> I. >> Okay, that's it. Thank you. Council present.
>> Thank you, mayor. I just want to ask everyone to please be safe when shoveling your sidewalks and your driveways if you're not used to lifting uh heavy snow. It's I was reading something about someone had a heart attack uh doing this because they're not used to lifting. Um, and there's an
equation regarding how much snow per shovel when it's certain wetness. So, it's if it's not fluffy stuff, be very, very careful. We don't want to lose anybody for an unwelcome heart attack. Um, hopefully I'll meet be meeting with the veterans commander in the next few
weeks. Uh, Connor Otto is now the commander over at the VFW post. So, we're going to be talking about veteran affairs and and the flags and so on. So, I'll be doing that hopefully this uh maybe next week. All right. Again, I want to thank the DPWEM, police, fire,
sir. They were going to have a warming station if they needed it, but thank God we did not lose power. So, uh, but we're good. But they were ready to go. We have a wonderful, uh, emergency crew. Uh, Dan, the guys did a really good job with the, um, with the snow plowing. And, um,
just be careful when you're out on the road. And I'm looking forward again working with Chief Rodriguez. He is uh he's I've known him since he was probably eight years old and it's really wonderful to see his family tonight and receive his award and I'm looking forward to working with him as our chief
and that is my report. >> And you bring up a good point. You know, having someone who went through the ranks and now he's our chief who grew up in town. Yeah. >> To me is a big deal. You know, that does mean it does mean >> um >> Oh, I'm sorry. One more thing. I want I wanted to ask our attorney um Mr. Mr. Morero, next next uh meeting, could we
talk about the DuPont letter that our previous attorney wrote to the D regarding I think $75 million, >> the reclamation letter, $75 million, that >> Sure. to know where that's where we stand with that. >> We're trying to fight for a piece. >> We want a big piece of that. >> I have already emailed them uh to get a
copy of it and see if they heard anything and I'll I'll report back. >> I I appreciate that. Thank you. >> That's it. >> That's it. >> Councilman Hit. >> Yes. Thank you, Mayor. Um I attended the uh senior meeting and um everybody was fine and well and um they're planning
their trips for this year. So uh it was a good day. It was a good day. Um I also attended my first finance committee meeting. Um being I'm new to that. Um there's a lot of issues that we're going to be discussing through the year. Um,
so I'll let Councilman Venon, who's more experienced on that committee, uh, elaborate a little better. Um, I want to congratulate Chief, uh, Rodriguez. I mean, it was a nice ceremony we had at the Carnival Center. And, uh, I also
want to congratulate the DPW on an excellent job. They worked long, long hours. and uh and then to have to do the county roads on top because the county was lax was added burden upon them. But they handled it all well and they did a
great job. Um they plowed my driveway in but uh but I was able to dig out. Um I also had a personnel meeting and um we have issues that we'll deal with through the year on that also. And uh signed
purchase orders. I signed so many I was like where is Councilwoman Ken? My hand is my hand is tired. >> It's a big challenge. >> But um and that was that's my report. Thank you. >> Thank you. I I should all also mention with the snow removal that at the end of
the day the the residents did a good job in removing their cars from the street. They did. We did ticket some cars uh but you know for the most part they took heed and moved their cars off which it doesn't seem like a big deal but it becomes a big deal if a car there and a plow has to go around it and now it
makes the road become very narrow. So I thank all the residents for at least listening to the advice we did in reverse 911 and we didn't put that out and they did follow it. I know sometimes it's hard to find a place to put these cars but it does help us to get those back out. And you know, the other part
of it is we should try to clean out the fire hydrants if there's a fire hydrant near your house and even a drain, a storm drain, if you're able to get it open a little bit just to let it run a little bit because when this all melts, that's when we'll have other issues, right? So, at the end of the day, we got we got to stay on top of that. >> That's true.
>> Um, Councilman Sant. >> Yes. Uh, brief report. I attended the plan board reorganization meeting. Uh congratulations Mike Simone was named uh chair uh chairman and uh Brian Auto vice chairman there uh are
new no new no new applications as of right now. Um congratulations to Chief Rodriguez. Um and also the DPW. Yes, they did a great job and I understand what goes into plowing. Everybody thinks
it's just driving a truck and uh and but you're out there long hours. You are avoiding all kinds of obstacles in the road. So, it's just not driving a truck and pushing snow. It's it's a lot goes into plowing. So, congrat
uh that's my uh report. >> Thank you. Uh Councilman Bennett. >> Thank you, Mayor. I also want to congratulate uh Chief Rodriguez on your promotion. looking forward to working with you in your new role. As Mayor Mike, Mayor Sarah, and Councilman Hinton mentioned, uh, finance committee met
last week. Unfortunately, we are anticipating an increase. Um, the biggest cost driver is healthcare. Uh, we are looking to reduce that that burden. Creative ways by um, Burrow, uh, Administrator Carelli. Uh, keep in mind
that of the dollar that we collect of your taxes, 55 approximately 55 cents goes to board of ed. I'm happy to pay that because they have amazing uh programs. Both my girls are in uh in the public school system and the opportunities are amazing here in Pmpton
Lakes and they're looking to do more to keep students here within Pmpton Lakes um instead of going to other schools. 55 cents board of ed, 20 cents of your dollar goes to the county, 25 cents goes to the burrow. So with that quarter, we
pay for uh police, fire, we help uh first aid, all the services in town, DPW. Um we do a lot with that 25 cents. So uh appreciate everybody's uh consideration as as we move forward with this process. Personnel committee also
met and there's uh speaking of the tax burden, we're looking for at an opportunity to reduce the tax burden with some projects that we're going to uh discuss later. Redevelopment also met. Uh congratulations to our new chair, Abby Novak, vice chair Matt Sini.
Uh there are no applications. Uh we also discussed uh forming a committee to update the redevelopment master plan. And lastly, thank you DPW. Um amazing job. You guys tough work. You guys are out all night and it's not easy job the
way uh as described by Councilman um Santers. Also reminder, clear fire hydrant of the snow. Um and we did lose power briefly in the south end near Lincoln school. Couple hours >> today on the day of or >> today was the yesterday was the poll on
Hamburg turn. >> I forget which day it was. It might have been Sunday for a couple hours. >> Monday. Um uh and to report any outages because JCPNL prioritizes the response based on impact. And that's my report. Thank you. >> And that's a good point you brought up.
Yeah, we no matter if it's just your street, you should be reported because at the end of the day, they go by the numbers of reports on how they handle those cases. So, if nobody reports it, we go to the bottom of the list. So, you want to call 10 times, call 10 times. That's what I suggest. But I think also another good point you brought up. I
want to re reiterate that out of a dollar, the town is responsible for 25 cents of a dollar. Now, we have a great school system. The county takes a piece of that, too. Uh so, what we do with our 25 cents is the best we could handle. you know, when we start, and I know I'm speaking to other mayors, they're in the
same process, the same issues we're having, and they're talking about cutting services, cutting employees, you know, changing benefits, you know, important steps that make big changes. Uh, so we're trying to avoid that, but for a small town, it's tough. It's tough. Uh, Councilman Beg.
>> All right. Um, first I'd like to make a motion uh to approve request for Lempton Lakes Riverdale Little League to conduct the annual parade that leaves the PPMP Lakes High School parking lot Saturday, April 18th, 2026 at noon and marches through the business district to Joe Gro Little League complex near the south end
of town for opening ceremonies. During the parade, the police department will temporarily close the route. Uh, portions of this route include county roads. Um, so notifying state county for road closures, notifying police, fire, first aid. >> Have a second. >> Second.
>> Councilman Menon. All in favor? >> I'm very happy to hear us talking about spring things already, so that's very good. >> Okay. >> All right. Uh, for the rest of my report, um, again, I'd like to also congratulate Chief Rodriguez on his appointment. Um, also thank uh, Dan O
and the DPW for all the work that they did during the storm. Um, first off, the coalition. Uh they're working on a number of different events. The next one coming up is the Hardwood Classic February 9th. Um it starts at 11:00 with Unified Basketball. We know that's during the school day. Um if you can go,
it will be open to the public. Uh JV starts at 4:00. Um youth program will follow afterwards and then varsity um probably around 7:00 will have their game as well. Um I also attended the bid meeting. Uh the business directory is live and updated for each business in
their respective categories. The website uh will have continual content updates. The site name is um pomptonlakesbid.org. And Google ads they are promoting the website on Google. Um newsletter communications are now being distributed
on a bimonthly basis to the bid uh businesses and monthly to the general public. Um you can register for the newsletter on the bid website. Um for Valentine's Day, there's a Valentine's making event for kids that is February 7th and it's free. Uh the event will be
held at um 274 WANQ a which is the big coalition office. There will be two seedings uh noon to 1:30 and then 1:30 to 3. Um and they'll give all the supplies for that event. Um lastly, bid bucks. They're going back on sale February 14th at the high school parking
lot. The sale is from 10:30 to 1 or while supplies last. Um the bid bucks do go fast. Um so I would definitely get there early because it's probably going to sell out. >> All right. I also attended the historic commission meeting last night. Um they started their meeting with the
reorganization. Uh Laura Jennings Pit will remain the chairperson. Uh Paul Bulby is the vice chair and the secretary position is open for application. However, we do believe a candidate um is already been asked to fill that position. Um the Pique County Park on Union A and Bloomingdale will
unfortunately not be able to be used um due to the being prone to flooding. Um, initially that site was looked at as a museum for Pade County and we'd get a part of it. Unfortunately, that's not going to happen at this point. Um, hopefully there'll be a new location moving forward in the future. Um, I also
attended the recreation uh commission meeting last night. Uh, they're working on several events for this winter. Their programs right now being held are women's get fit every Monday and Wednesday at 7:00 at Lincoln School. Men's basketball is every Tuesday and Friday at Lincoln School from 7:00 to 10:00. The Pontton Lakes Explorers Wreck
night is every Thursday night at Lincoln School starting at 7:00. Uh pickle ball is every Saturday morning from 9:00 to 11:00. That's also at Lincoln School. Um the walking club is on Tuesdays and Thursday nights from 7:00 to 8 at Lakeside Middle School. So there's a group that actually goes around and walks the middle school for an hour. Um
and then summer camp, just to get everybody on page with that, um that's going to be held June 29th to July 31st this summer. Um be on the lookout to register your child. And then lastly, this year's Easter egg hunt. It will be held on March 28th at 2 o'clock. Um, this is different than the burrow
calendar. So, I just wanted to make the community aware that there is >> always bring it up every meeting. We should bring it up. >> And that's my report. >> Well, going back to historic, you know, if there's anything the the burrow can help and you can reach out to them and let them know, you know, a regional museum, I think, is a great idea. I mean, if we can really push that idea
because not one town can afford to buy the property and do it, but if they do a regional, it's a great idea. So, you know, I'm all for that support. Um, and if they need us to write a letter in support of that or the administrator to write order, just let us know. We'll take care of that. >> Thank you. >> Uh, Councilman Cruz.
>> Thank you, Mayor. Um, just want to ditto everybody's comments. Obviously, Superintendent Our Great job. I can't believe they have to do the county roads, you know, considering. Uh, but great job. I mean, the roads were amazing. Uh, Chief Rodriguez, I just want to say, you know, career law enforcement, welld
deserved for his family, obviously for him. Um, it was a great ceremony to the mayor. Um, everything was just fantastic. Little emotional with that speech. You can see them. They're getting, you know, but it's great that, you know, you you acknowledge that it's a family effort really when you're involved in law enforcement for extended period of time. Um, and that'll do it
for my report. >> Okay. Thank you. Attorney's report. Report. >> Good evening, Mayor. Uh the big project that we're working on right now is just finalizing the fourth round affordable housing uh plan. Uh so we're going to in
the upcoming weeks have some resolutions and ordinances to finalize everything. Uh other than that, everything else is status quo. >> So just so the public understands, our fourth round is okay. It's our third round that we're working on. >> Well, the way that they look at the
fourth round, it's it they're combined. They're combined. >> They're combined. So uh but there are resolutions that have to implement uh different aspects of program compliance and there's going to be some zoning
ordinances and uh other program programmatic ordinances that have to be implemented and adopted. Uh but uh I think we're on track. >> Good. >> That's it. >> Yes, that's it. >> Okay. Administration. >> Thank you, mayor. Uh so to start uh I've
been working with the recreation director to select interior paint colors for the renovations to the Hersfield Park storage building. Uh the Burough's contractor has begun installing the exterior hardy board siding and the exterior stone has uh since been
completed. So I would invite you to take a look down there. It looks really nice and is coming along very nicely. Um and the contractor does remain on schedule at this time. Uh as for the Willowfield Improvements Project, we are on cold due to the snowstorm. Uh the contractor
Downs Tree Service Company is doing everything that they can to work around the weather, but we are at the mercy of the weather right now with the snow. Um we are in consultation with the burough engineer to ensure that we're meeting deadlines. Um again, to echo comments
from council, the finance committee uh met last week to discuss our preliminary municipal budget. Uh our health benefits are up $1.5 million uh for this year. Uh so we're dealing with that. The committee also discussed the need uh to
increase the employee contributions moving forward. Uh so that's something we're going to look at with our uh expiring union agreements. And we do have a follow-up finance committee meeting on Monday, February 2nd to discuss our departmental capital project request that we will bring forth
to the governing body at a future date. Uh we are working on scheduling an ordinance committee meeting in the next few weeks to continue our discussions on chickens, wildlife, and parking related ordinance amendments. So that's coming up soon. Um and again just want to echo
council on congratulating Anthony Rodriguez uh on his promotion to the rank of chief and want to thank the DPW OEM cert for state squad fire department police department uh on a great response to the snowstorm. Uh their efforts are certainly not unnoticed. So thank you
everyone and thank you. >> I I have a question. Um where are we with Wayne on using the facility? I believe I reached out to the Wayne Township administrator maybe a month ago and never received a response. So, I'll follow up with him. >> All right, let's see where we are with that because I I know some residents are
asking me about wanting to be involved with that. >> Thank you. >> Any questions for the administrator? >> Yeah, just quickly. I mean, not part of his report, but just a question on the letter that was sent to Senator Ponacio regarding the uh the DPW garage, which is, you know, I mean, we need to
definitely get support on that. >> Yeah. So, thank you, Councilman. Um, so yes, we did send a letter to Senator Pacio's office. We're taking a unique approach. Um, I'm sure the public is aware that our DPW facility is in eventual need of replacement at some point. Uh, so last year we reached out
to Senator Kacio. We're doing again so earlier this year. Um, we're seeking a state budget appropriation in the state budget. It's basically a direct line within the state budget that would supplement funding to us. Um, so we're starting the process early. We're getting the senator down here in person
at the end of next month to see the facility. Um, we're also reaching out to Congresswoman Po's office uh through the federal earmark process which is a little more bureaucratic than the state budget appropriation and would take a significant more amount of time if we
were to get a federal earmark. Uh, so we are focusing on the state budget. uh we think we have a good chance considering our governor uh was a former congresswoman serving our district, you know, so we're taking all the approach approaches that we can. Um >> and I can tell you that I spoke I spoke
with Senator Pacio. This is his number one project right now is to get us this DPW garage. So he's he's putting his weight behind this which is great. I also called the new governor uh spoke to her um and put it in her ear um in that uh and we'll we'll talk about this later. If we go forward with a shared
service with Oakland to do the garbage, that's a unique approach that that the governor should be aware of that we're crossing county lines. We're doing a shared service that's saving money for both towns. Something maybe the governor's team would want to get behind. >> So, we put that in their ear and and then um like Michael said, we sent the
letters out. We're going to try to get the senator here so he actually sees what we're talking about. I mean, once you see the building, I think it explains >> I mean, are there any immediate concerns that need to be addressed in the short term? because I've seen the condition of that and these storms are not helping. No. >> Right. So, we did call out the burough
architect on several occasions and he basically indicated that nothing is worth fixing at this point, but the building is safe for our employees right now, but he does recommend an eventual replacement. >> He put that in writing. >> Yes. >> You know, we're holes in the wall.
>> No, and that's why it has to be addressed. We have nuts. So, the mayor and I figured, you know, we'll take another year uh to try to get some grant funding, but I think at some point we need to seriously think about what we're doing. >> Well, I commend your efforts really to continue doing this. So,
>> thank you. >> Any other questions for Mer? >> I just want to you mentioned something that you were going to meet on something with the health with the with wildlife. >> Yes. >> Just can you explain that a little bit? only the only reason I'm bringing this up is on social media this past uh week
before uh on my street on Summit and in that area, Hill Court, there were two coyotes that were starting to den underneath a homeowner's uh porch and and that concerns me because I mean the kids run up there. They don't, you know, they have their indoor um you know,
>> but that resident has to call complain about. >> Well, we did. >> No, not not the residence that the resident who lives there. It's their private property. >> Oh, yeah. No, he they did and and so did I and so did a number of people because, you know, there's a lot of people that walk up there. Children do walk home from school there and I'm very concerned
about that. And I I did speak to the uh United States uh agricultural service gentlemen. I spoke to our uh Bloomingdale Wildlife. >> They said there's nothing that they can do because it's considered a nuisance. That animal is considered a nuisance. So
unless it it shows aggression or unless it digs holes, there was not much they could do, which to me was really not acceptable because we certainly don't want coyotes, you know, denning underneath. They can call a private uh pest removal service. Of course, it's
probably several hundred dollars to the homeowner. Um, and and they said they were very pretty much hands off, which when you bring this up with the the agency that you're going to be speaking with, I'd like to know if we have, you know, we're not talking about cute little rabbits or even deer. I mean,
we're talking these things can be aggressive. They are hunters >> and and on social media, some of the people were talking about, you know, naming these uh creatures and and feeding them meat. And, you know, I don't think people understand the seriousness of that. And I can tell you,
you know, I was, you know, I grew up in that field a little bit. And they're in a mating set now. So that that's why they're together. They usually don't hang out together like that. And so, you know, if they were to mate, they would come back to the den where they they mated if the pups were born there. So it it I if I'm a resident living in that
house, I would be hiring someone right away to get removed them. I I we let's reach out to Lisa, see what we can get from. So I'll follow up with >> And I can give you the name of the people that I spoke with. And that's from USDS. Yeah. Very nice. And then Councilman Cruz and I are working with the ordinance committee uh for maybe
some refined uh language to the wildlife feeding ordinance. >> Yeah, that'd be great. >> Among chickens and other several issues that we have. So >> any other questions? >> Thank you. >> No. Okay. Uh okay. Uh the pomp fees.
>> Thank you, mayor. Uh so tonight we have in attendance our recreation director Karen Murphy. Uh so Karen, Councilman Be and I met a few weeks ago to talk about Compton Day. Um it might seem early, but it is it is not. Uh people do submit
their vendor fee applications uh quite early for the program or for the event rather. Uh so that got us critically thinking about what we're charging for Pompton Day. Um I had distributed a cost breakdown of what it costs us as the
burrow to run Pompton Day. um which I can I'll I'll distribute to the governing body. Uh but we are recommending some fee adjustments for Compton Day after looking at our cost breakdown from last year. Uh so for a single space uh the current fee is $70.
We're recommending $80. Uh for a double space uh regular vendor is 95. We're recommending increasing that to $130. For a food vendor, the spot is $125. We're recommending an increase of $150 and for the nonprofits, the current fee
is $35. We're recommending an increase of $40. So, I'm just going to invite Karen up if she has any comments or anything for the governing body. >> I'll speak for Karen >> if anyone has any questions. >> So, just be aware that the food vendors,
for example, they make thousands of dollars from from day. So, a $150 permit fee is really we should be maybe even thinking about increasing that in the future. I agree with you. Um the uh the the the nonprofits, the reason we charge I know some people might ask why we're
charging nonprofits. If we don't, we'd have a whole street full of nonprofits and not room to put anybody else. So, that becomes an issue. So, we do have to have a little set there. And then the other vendors, depending what they're selling. So, I I think the numbers are fair unless somebody has a concern with them.
>> No. Um, no. That >> all right. So, we're going to prepare an effectuating ordinance for the next meeting, uh, fee resolution or fee ordinance, however Mark is going to do it. Um, and yeah, we'll go from there. So, thank you. >> Okay, great.
>> Can I just say Hton Day is such a success and Karen's been at the beginning of it and thank you Karen and and all your all your committee for all they do. >> Yep. It's a big deal. It's a lot of work. >> It is. >> Okay. Motion to open meeting for public comments. Motion. >> Councilman Cruz.
>> Second. >> Councilman Hinton. All in favor? >> Against? Anyone from the public like to address? >> George Papov, 11:04 Kfax Avenue. And for some of you, you're bored as hell to see me. However, for the others, I'm back.
30 days ago, more than 30 days ago, I was told that there was on my issue, there was progress. I haven't heard a thing since then, and I'm really at a loss. What is going on? How does this administration ever get anything done?
Damn it. It's been 2 years since we started this project under the current administration, and nothing has been achieved. The process is not the objective. Resolution, getting something done.
You know, I'm not trying to indict anybody. Just, you know, tell me when the hell we're going to have an answer. My family and I are in danger of collapse and other dangers around the property.
The storm drained. was discussed for 16 years, not a year. 16 years about had has caused all of the damage. When are you going to when are you going to solve it? You know, that's all I'm asking for. I'm not trying to be up here
and I've got better things to do on a Wednesday night and I'm sure the rest of you don't want to hear me. Doesn't matter. I mean, please solve the damn thing. Finish it. I can't understand you, Mike. What are you doing? Nothing. >> I'll I'll explain it.
>> Yeah, I know you'll answer me, right? You give me a twominute answer. >> I'll explain. >> You know, I've got more time than that on this. But I'm tell you, I am tired of this. I'm not a young man anymore. I wish I were. If I was your age, hell, I wouldn't worry about it as much. But
that's be different. I want to get it solved. I want to get on with it. the contractors that can fix my prop our property, my family and me are already looking at projects starting in March. You know, we've got to move
on. We need resolution, not process. It just it's it's unbelievable. That's all I can say. Just unbelievable. For 2 years, we've been discussing this, talking about it, and we're moving on. Right. So,
let's see what you can come up with. Thank you. >> Thank you. Anyone else from the public like to address? >> Seeing no one have a motion to close the public session. >> Motion. >> Second. >> Councilman Venon. Councilman Cruz. All in favor? >> Mr. Popoff, let's take let's break this
down a little bit. And I understand your frustration. I believe me. But first off, we fixed the pipe. The pipe is done. Now we have to deal with your claim. >> You haven't even proved that the damn plug works. We can only go by what our engineers say and they're saying it's fixed. >> Who's saying it? >> The engineers?
>> No, I haven't seen any report. >> Well, it has nothing paper. Nothing's been documented. >> There's nothing has to be documented. The the fact of the matter is we hire engineers to tell us how to fix something and it's their responsibility to make it happen, which they did. So, now let's get on to the second part. You
put in a claim for your damages. Your claim was way out of line, but we're not arguing the claim, but we can't pay the claim. So, the best way to to make it work for you is we're involving our insurance who might be able to. Putting
uh uh uh making accusations is not going to help. We're trying to get you what you want. If it doesn't go that way, unfortunately, you won't like the outcome. So, we're trying to work with you on this. And I'm going to let the administrator address this a little bit, but if the >> need better communications, I haven't
heard from anyone about anything. >> Oh, well, I'll let the administrator handle that. What we're trying to do is let the insurance claim pay for it, which would be beneficial to you and beneficial to us. If that does not happen and we have to pay for the claim, it's a whole different ballgame. So,
that's we're trying to work with you on this and I understand the frustration. It's a long time. I understand the down the the drops of the ball and all those things, but the pipe has been fixed by what the engineer told us to do. Now, we have to deal with the claim. And then I'll let Michael address the communication claim.
>> Right. So, George submitted a claim over a year ago. Uh, you know, these types of claims are very complicated with our joint insurance fund, but we we did pick it back up with our former risk manager who was working with us with the burrow engineer at the time. Uh, the GIF had
several well, not several, had several questions uh, regarding the claim that were more of an engineering question that we had to respond to them with. Uh, so the matter was referred to the burough engineer. I did receive a response from the burough engineer yesterday with all the qu all the uh
questions answered uh and I have since sent that to the JIF. Um now >> JIF is our insurance company for >> we do have a new risk manager. So there's been a transitionary period of about a month. So you know we have to take that into account. The governing body appointed a new risk manager. Um
I'm getting him on boarded at at this time but it's just taking a little time getting him up to speed on the claim. Um but we are making progress. We did respond to the GF yesterday or today rather. Um and hopefully we'll have an answer from them soon.
>> Okay. Okay. Uh the floor any >> um yeah I just wanted to mention that um I forgot to mention before uh NG Gilbert Tree Trimming. They're work with JCPNL. They're in town. They were on my street
today. I got a I got a letter in my door saying they're coming out in March. >> Yeah. Well, they're they're going to be here for a while. >> So, let me ask you, Mr. Shre, exha why would there be a letter on my side if I don't have the wires on my side?
>> That's interesting. I don't know why. >> Yeah, I was wondering maybe if you parked the car on the street. >> Maybe. I don't know >> what the what the letter say. >> If you park your car in the street, maybe if you park on the other side, too. was just letting >> Yeah, I just I've never received a letter when they're doing tree trimming of the wiring which is on the other side
of the street. Today I received the letter. It was today I >> What did the letter say? >> They're going to do tree trim on February or March. >> Maybe they uh brought it to their own house. I have no idea. >> I'm hoping. Okay. >> You know, but they are in town and they are trimming a lot of the trees. >> Uh and I I thank you. I also have one
thing because I get a lot of calls on it. >> Unfortunately, Verizon is allowed to go door to door knocking on your door. Okay. They have a permit. They're allowed to do it. They are allowed to go past the dark hours. So 7 o'clock they can still knock it. Now what I tell them because they come to my house quite often. I do not want you coming back on
the property. You have to put them on notice if you don't want them coming back. If you just say we we're not interested, they'll come back. Okay. But unfortunately there's they're not breaking any rules. They have the permits. They have the requirements. I think it's till 8:30 they're allowed to be out and they do out they go out at 8:00. They do it. It's not right for the
especially the the seniors who are very upset to hear someone knocking at the door at 8:00 at night. But unfortunately that's >> but who who issues the permits? >> We issue the permits. >> Can't we put a limit on that that clock? I mean a time. >> Well, our permits are set for standard permits.
>> There's no permit at this time. >> No, there isn't. With the police department, there is. They told me there was. >> I have not issued the solicitor's permit. >> Well, then that's a different ballgame then. If if if the police are telling me they have a permit for them, are we we
did not issue a permit for Verizon? I'm not issue any permit. >> Could we look into that, Michael? And and Liz, just if they don't have a permit, then they can't be knocked. >> Yeah. Then they're violating the ordinance, >> right? >> And they they claim they can go till 9:00. But if they you have a no
solicitors sign on, >> they do it anyway. They do it anyway. >> Yeah. We have a no knock list, right? >> And we also have a no solicitor list. >> Are they required? Maybe, you know, are they required as a Verizon as a to get a permit? >> Yes. So then they should have a permit. >> If they knocked on my neighbor's door,
they had hoodies on, >> right? >> Scared my elderly neighbors and and they called me and I said, "Don't answer the door." But they didn't know >> and it should not be. >> All right. So, let's get an answer. Maybe tomorrow we can find out about the permit. >> Okay. >> Yes. Mayor, if I may, uh, the police
chief emailed us on November 19th, >> uh, basically indicating that Verizon is not exempt from our solicitation ordinance. And after reviewing the list of exemptions, the only exemptions apply to charitable organizations with a permit, political or religious
canvasing, and certain governmental authorized surveyors. Uh, there's no exception for utilities or telecommunication providers engaged in sales activities. and then the police department uh let you all know that if uh unpermanent solic solicitations
continue uh to let them know and they'll address it in accordance with the code. >> All right. Could you do me a favor? Could you get hold of Verizon tomorrow and let them know they have to apply for a permit here? >> Yep. >> And that we're we're insisting on it and we will arrest or ticket people who are knocking on the door at this point.
>> Oh, I want them arrested. I'm I'm serious. >> I don't I don't know if we can arrest them. >> Yeah. They scare They do scare people at 8:30. >> They are aggressive. They are they come back once and they come back. >> They do. They are aggressive. I'm not going to deny that. >> Extremely aggressive.
>> And I I want to say that they came to my house on Christmas Eve. >> Wow. >> Knocking on the door. And I had to argue with the girl and she was >> arguing with me about >> I mean, you know, it's Christmas Eve and I have to argue with this young girl.
>> All right. So, let's let's address that right away if we can. >> Thank you. >> Okay. What's the argument about? You tell them to leave. >> They don't leave. >> No, they don't leave. >> You tell them medically try to convince. >> She argued with me. What do you have against Verizon? >> Yeah. >> I don't have anything against everyone
who's called me. They should really immediately call the police. >> And I did. >> I did call the police. >> And they had identification tags around. >> They did, but they didn't. I asked for a permit when they came to my house and they ripped out a piece of paper that had nothing on it. I said to me, "That's not a permit." I called the chief at the
time. This is a while ago. He said they have a right to be soliciting. But if you're telling me they don't have a permit, that's a different ball game. So, let's look into that. Let's see. >> And make sure you put the time like only during, you know, normal hours and it's not dark. >> I do believe it's 9:00.
>> Well, we got to change that. >> Yeah, it is in our ordinance. That's what it is. >> It's it's it's highly regulated. There's there's a whole bunch of case law out there about how you could uh regulate it certain time. uh from dusk to dawn.
>> Yeah. >> Um I I I could take a look at it and make sure that we're in compliance. >> And I think the reason it's 9:00 is not for the winter time. It's for the summertime, right? >> You know, the winter time doesn't make sense to be at 8:30. Not going to >> All right. So, we'll look at that. I Let's make that happen. Any other posture?
>> No. Okay. Motion to adjourn and close session. >> Motion. >> Second. >> Councilman Bennett and Councilman Cruz. Thank you everyone. >> Have a good night everyone. We're recording. >> Okay. In close session, we discussed negotiation personnel and we're going to
come out and vote on resolution 2691 authorized an interlocal shared service agreement with the burrow of Emerson for burough administrator services for period September 1st, February, I'm sorry, February 1st, 2026 through December 31st, 2026. Can I have a
motion? >> Motion. >> Councilman uh Council President Kent, Councilman Cruz. Roll call, please. >> Council President, >> yes. >> Councilman, >> yes. >> Councilman, >> yes. >> Councilman,
>> yes. >> Councilman, >> yes. >> Councilman Hint, >> yes. >> Okay. Motion to return. >> Motion vote. >> Councilman Cruz. Mayor, just as a followup to that, uh, at the next meeting, we're going to have two
resolutions for the salary increases and, uh, I start on Tuesday, so I'll let you. Thank you. >> Okay, >> I'll second. Okay, second. Uh, did I get >> I'm sorry, >> was Venon and, uh, I guess beg motion to return.
>> Okay, that's it. >> Is anybody going over or not? Yes.