##VIDEO ID:Wpko0gt6ujA## the following is the agenda for the regular burrow council meeting of the burough pton Lakes mayor and Council Municipal Corporation in the toy faade the meeting will begin at 7:30 p.m. on January 8 2025 in the Municipal Building 25 Len Avenue pton Lakes consistent with the open public meeting that the meeting will be open for public comments and shall be in accordance with the terms and conditions of the Burrow's municipal code advis please stand for FL conratulations of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible liy and justice for all please remain standing for the passing of our past president thank [Music] you in conformance with the open public meeting Law Public one 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 bulton board and the municipal building mailed to all have requested and paid for same and publish in urban Trends roll call please here here here here counc K here coun here here go attorney and and also pres is our attorney and our administer M okay I have no presentations or updates at this moment so I'm going to make a motion to open the meeting for public comments can I have a motion so council president salor councilman Cruz all in favor hi against anyone from the public like to address just need your name and address and keep it through like five minutes that's right hand go [Music] ahead uh Joe kleinot uh 231 pumpin Lakes uh 231 Willow pumpin Lakes uh also current president of pumpin lakes Riverdale little Le uh my understanding is uh Tonight is the last and final vote for the willowfield slj grill uh project um reason I'm here is um to hopefully City the council approve this um we went to open space meeting everybody except for one unanimous unanimously voted yes the Lance council meeting um it was a straw poll again everybody um approved it and said yes uh including one who councilman who went out but also a council person who is currently on there also voted yes at the open space meeting so was pretty much unanimous across the board uh my understanding is this project is about a million dollars we have $550,000 from um open uh from County monies that if we don't vote on this or get this approved tonight we will lose that money um so for seven years you've either applied for Grants held on to the money and now we're down to the final so um it sound like at some point you wanted this project to go through so let's just see it through uh open space Also committed $150,000 to this project um said my numbers are off I I apologize but I'm pretty much there so I think that leav about 3 100,000 to the mayor and Council um which I think is a pretty good offset of $700,000 from free money we'll call it free money to 300 uh from pin Lakes uh we have about 400 kids who actually need this field uh two of the fields are for safety reasons they're in bad spot for foul balls home runs so that's why we came to the mayor and Council seven years ago to basically move these fields for safety reasons uh We've added another Fields we've kind of added a park um a playground some walking paths which again I'm all for we've kind of expanded it along the way but um we really came here for the three Fields but if you want to throw a playground in there we would uh we would take that too so in closing I would hope that again for the 400 players girls boys that have used this field um that you again unanimously or at least approve it and and sending this forward uh also we've already spent $100,000 of the town's money so if we don't approve this we have now wasted $100,000 and 7 years of paperwork time so I look forward to an approval thank you thank you anyone else from the public like to address anyone else okay have a motion to close the public session motion Council been Ved second councilwoman kilberg all in favor I against okay motion to approve the following Minutes special special open meeting minutes December 11th 2024 Clos meeting minutes December 11th 2024 regular meeting minutes December 11th 2024 reorganizational meeting minutes January 2nd 2025 can I have a motion so moved councilwoman kilberg second council president Paul Dory all in favor I Against uh authorizing of payment of bills uh as listed below can I have a motion motion councilman V councilman Cruz all in favor I I against okay consent agenda anybody need anything removed yes um 37 4142 4142 okay anybody else yes 28 3336 that's one wait hold on hold on 28 say again 33 36 as one what do you mean as one they're combined if you see what they are oh okay you understand and then uh 2534 also 2542 C president 2558 58 are we calling separate action now yeah we're not there we're not at we're not at the we're just through 2544 just up to 44 up to 44 okay 34 42 okay Liz you got those I I just want to make sure it's 28 33 34 36 37 I don't know what 37 41 and 42 42 correct Y and 41 28 33 and 36 yeah no 37 no 37 okay so 41 and 42 after that okay okay whenever you're ready where's the council CC L hased the consent agenda consisting of proposed resolutions where the mayor and B Council L does desire to moove resolutions for individual action from that agenda now therefore they resolve that the following resolutions on the consent agenda are hereby approved so we're going to remove 2428 2533 2534 2536 2541 and 2546 okay can I have a motion for the ones that were not removed motion council president councilman Cruz all in favor councilwoman pador and council president pador and councilman Cruz okay let's start right at the top 2528 Mike you can group those together I guess 34 and 36 what the rising payment in of health benefit 33 and 33 and 36 you Ryan and Sharon Sun yeah well is is there a question is there a question uh yeah I have the question I brought them up um is this normal procedure uh to pay this much money for uh employees that do not take the health benefits for the town yes that's statutory is it um I mean could that percentage is 25% could that percent I don't think we can change uh it so the the program is governed by State Statute uh njsa uh 52 col 14-1 17.31 a um any employee hired after 2010 uh is capped at a $5,000 payment in lie of health benefits uh any employee hired prior to 2010 whose continuously received uh such waiver is eligible for 50% of the Burrow's savings uh and that's based on the premium rates for the for the current year um so we have four employees who are El iig for the waiver we've established a program for this uh that's memorialized via resolution every year um after finding out that we've we've overpaid people in the past um so we've set up this program to to make sure that that doesn't happen again um moving forward so thank you any questions about that so um this is the minimum that we can pay to the employees if they do not choose to take the B it it's the maximum so it's up to 5,000 if if it depends how much the employee makes and what the premium amount is uh it could be as low is $2,000 or $1,000 also a Val per employee yes depending on their salary right I just uh okay well we're going to get to the next ones um okay Liz 34 and 35 well 34 just do 34 authorizing non Sal all right you had a question about that one I've um Through The Years speaking at that Podium that I missed already um I've always had questions about the salaries um I noticed going over the salaries that generally salaries have have been a 2% increase even the mayor and Council St um but I have noticed that there's 12% increases there's 11% increases there's 12.5% increases uh 25% increases and I was just wondering how this comes about I mean uh some of those are contractual when we do when we do their new contracts um and some of them are from the old contracts were still following but I'll let the administrator talk more about that good right so so all non-union staff follow uh the clerical Teamsters agreement based on the cola increase for the year uh for next year is $2,750 uh so all non Union employees get that as a cola and then all part-timers historically have received a 2% increase uh if you see any discrepancies in there it's either contractual was already memorialized via resolution last year or it's a non-union employee uh receiving a union type stien if you will so you would see in there Kathleen tro uh she was appointed tax search official she gets a stien of 1250 but that 1250 is governed with in the union agreement that was a negotiated amount um just happens the person getting that is not in the Union uh but besides that historically it's a 2% or the cola uh given by the Union in uh fairness I see at least a dozen no raises at all I mean uh those are the stiens that we give to the secretaries no no no there something else you're missing there's uh the fire inspector step three Recreation AIDS um the secretaries like you said uh and I was just curious as to In fairness if we as a council are taking 2% why weren't they given 2% we've never historically given those specific positions annual increases uh specifically The Wades got a large increase last year when they were paid under the minimum wage so we had to bring them over the minimum wage to be in accordance uh with State Statute and not to get a wage claim the fire inspectors are governed by our ordinances that dictate Step 1 2 3 and four and are step set by ordinance so I don't have the authority to increase those positions if the governing body wished wish to do so we would have to amend our ordinance first now the increases for us on the council and for you Mr Mayor is 2% um when I figured out the difference between last year and this year and I divided by 365 it came out to 42 cents a day for me and the council um I'm okay with the given my 42 cents to the eight secretaries that didn't get an increase is that possible no the secretaries just got an increase actually they were only getting $500 for many years before this in the last I'm going to say two years of well we increased it to a th000 so we we doubled their salary in the last two years so I can still give my increase you can do whatever you want with your money sure oh you can take care of that from my in and give it to my secretaries instead we would have to look into that yes okay okay 36 oh no was there another one I'm sorry Mr hon was there another one well we had a couple I think we did them all but I just want to make sure I got them all well I still have 40 yeah we'll get to those next yeah okay so so then no 37 wasn't in there correct right 37 41 42 no I thought we voted on 37 I asked for 37 4 oh you asked for I didn't hear you asked for 37 um we voted on it R so tell we can do it we'll talk about it now okay award vid to S SST Broadcasting Corporation for sale certain property owned by bar prompt and LS and certain FCC license for radio broad test stations not required for public purpose pursuant to State Statute block 9959 lock 7 can you just bring me up a speed on what we're doing here absolutely so if you recall uh maybe at the November council meeting we discussed the sale of our radio station and its relevant FCC licenses uh so we did go out to public bid for the sale of the property and the licenses uh with the minimum bid of 450 450,000 uh we got one bidder as identified in my memo uh in your packet uh F fst2 Broadcasting Corporation they did provide a bid of 450 and the burrow attorney and I are recommending the award of a bid uh and the sale of the station uh which is subject to the approval of the federal FCC which can take up to six months okay okay we voted on that last on again we did no okay all right now 41 or 42 lists designating open States trust funds for the willowfield improvements project uh you want to do them both together oh no I'm sorry they're separate all right who had the first CL Mr H I think you had a you pulled it first you had a question on uh 2541 yep little field project this was ever voted on by the council to go forward with this progress we did a straw poll which is a a poll that gives our administrator guidance on how to move forward which is what we did and there was a straw poll taken yes and it was unanimous vot why do you consider or call that a straw poll I mean is it a vote or not a vote it's it's non-binding the idea of a straw poll was to make sure that there was sufficient support on the council to Warrant the business administrator the burrow administrator to go forward um and you know invest additional time in this so what do you mean by non-binding well it's a straw poll it's not a formal formal act by the burrow counsel now it is on this evening for that formal action if I may just clarify one point uh the project in whole is not up for a vote it's the recommendation of 150,000 of local open space tax dollars for the project we did a non-binding straw poll to give me guidance and our professionals guidance to be able to move forward with the project itself okay that was my question I think we needed a point of clarification there is no actual vote on the project tonight we are only formalizing the use of 150,000 open space funds correct okay if if the project is voted through well well no it's two separate actions we are agreeing as a council to allow 150,000 of open space funds to be allocated to this project but we have on a separate meeting to vote on the final proposal for the project after it was updated after this meeting so this is just the one50 for open space correct and this Council will have another uh vote once we receive the bid for the project to award the bid or not award the bid at the total bid price right so okay yes any questions any other questions no I just wanted it to be understood that we were not in fact voting on the whole Project tonight okay so let's uh let's talk about the second one then we'll vote both of them together uh list 2542 to a contract to space bars for deer carcass removal and Disposal Services whoever I'm back again I was waiting for that what are we doing I have the same feel it's ridiculous other towns can have either their DPW or their police remove them we're paying space farms to come and get these animals that sit for 48 to 72 hours sometimes on the street and then they use them for food so either they can pick them up for free or we can find another way to do this yes I so I met with the DPW superintendent today to talk about doing it inhouse and he had to look into a few things for me um but in the meantime this is just to continue on to move forward it's a small not to exceed amount so we are going to look to change our practice and then we can cancel our agreement with us okay thank wait did you just say that they pick it up and they do but we can't touch them until they come here but we're at their mercy of when they I mean I've seen play on the sidewalk for two three days sometimes it says in the contract 24 hours this has been more than 24 hours plenty of times plenty of yes it all right so we heard the answer everybody okay with that answer y okay so uh Liz will do 2541 2542 for a vote so you want a roll call no okay so uh yes uh can I have a motion for uh approval of 2541 and 2542 motion council president paor councilwoman kilberg all in favor against okay can I group all these yeah yeah you well wait what about 28 33 and 34 36 and 37 Oh I thought we voted on those we no I'm sorry uh can I have a motion for 2528 2533 2534 2536 that's it not 37 36 yeah can I have a motion motion councilman venon council president halori all in favor I Against All right so everything should be covered on our resolutions how many can I group these you may may does anybody need any well we're removing one actually right we are pulling 2548 uh that person has pulled his request with the job does anybody need any of these motions pulled for any reason yes please pull 47 and 59 47 479 59 okay and 509 that's it that's it any else 58 okay anybody else the ones besides those three okay so we're going to vote on 25 45 46 49 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 60 61 62 and 63 correct so someone has to make motion oh can I have a motion for that I'm sorry motion council president Paul dor councilwoman kilberg on oh it's a roll call for can we do a roll call for all roll call for all councilman crew yes councilman Hinton yes councilwoman Ken yes councilwoman kilder yes councilwoman paor yes counceling yes okay going back now to 2547 first put 47 and 58 other because my question is pretty General this is we're reappointing 47 just so you want to put them together 25 47 I think my question is basically 59 do they provide different Services than 47 what is the the difference they do so the the affordable housing planner uh for this coming year will will be addressing our new affordable housing obligations which I'm going to address in my administrator's report tonight uh while the other professional uh would be our affordable housing administrative agent who manages uh the existing units and uh and affordable housing units uh and and their numbers if you will uh they manage uh ongoing compliance with affordable housing while our planner again will work on our new numbers for next year so that's something that neither company can pull through inhouse then corre has to be done separately yes historically okay thank you Mr on that on those two I okay so then let's go to 58 award contract to Atlantic Health Services you got a question yeah my question was we're already in joint agreement with Wayan for of Health why are we paying L heal system for public he nursing Services that's our Ser oh right so we used to have a local Board of Health office and we we did employ a full-time nurse uh and then a few year few more than a few years ago we had moved to a shared service agreement with the township of Wayne to do our health department and at the time and there still is a civil service statute that governs that if we were to fire a said full-time nurse that they would they would then have to go work for Wayne and this and be offered the same position so at the time we had to look for alternate means to do that um but I would say for for next year uh we are looking at maybe some changes and I spoke to you about that so there's a possibility of changing this next year yes because it's it's not to exceed $ 27,36 figured if we had a shared service already what do we need to expend that money for yep we're looking at Cost saving measures thank you any other questions okay so 2547 25 58 25 59 can I have a motion motion council president fdor councilman Hinton uh call please yes yes yes councilwoman yes councilwoman yes yes okay ordinances okay ordinance 2504 introduction and ordinance authorizing the mayor and her clerk to execute a agreement andiz agreement with JY police radio Association for sing the state statute motion approve ordinance 254 for introduction so mooved councilwoman kilberg councilman Hinton discussion okay I just you know we have a brand new councilman up here with us tonight so for practice for a little while I just want to again the habit of introductions to have point of discussion so that we can bring Randy up to speed absolutely so this ordinance is an annual ordinance with the nor Jersey police radio Association who operates uh radio equipment and antennas on the cell phone tower by The Summit Falls condominium complex um and we the Pompton Lakes Police Department OEM and fire department historically have used that Tower to to operate our Communications equipment um so this uh ordinance memorializes that uh that uh partnership thank you okay uh can I have a motion motion council president Paul dor can I have a second second councilman avenon all in favor against okay 255 we have a roll call oh I'm sorry roll call and didn't you I I thought that there was a motion on there was there was it was already moved in second then we had the discussion yes councilwoman kilberg and councilman hint okay and then we had a discussion yep that's a roll call now a roll call okay Council yes Council Hinton yes councilwoman Ken yes councilwoman kber yes councilwoman paor yes councilman yes ordinance 25-5 an ordinance to fix the Sal ranges of employees of The Bu of comp L motion to approve ordinance 25-5 introduction Council vennon what was the second one Cruz councilman Cruz all in favor oh sorry discussion I discussion same thing thank you uh so this res this ordinance rather just memorializes our salary ranges for our employees so an employee cannot be paid uh below a certain am amount or above a certain amount uh we just had three changes for this year's salaries uh the burrow clerk we we did uh Grant an increase last year so we had to raise that maximum up a little bit um we rolled the position of election official into the base salary so we are doing away with that position within the ordinance and then our prosecutor uh has been retained via Professional Services agreement so we are doing away with that position as well thank you thank you roll call please CC yes counc H yes counc K yes counc yesc yes yes okay thank you um I'm going to change it a little bit uh if you don't mind I'm going to go to Workshop because we have professionals that we're using here uh so we might as well get them in and then we'll go back to our reports after they do a report so with that we'll start with the workshop thank than you mayor so I would I would invite our burrow planner Kristen Russell and our executive director of the Redevelopment agency Mr Glen Dominic to the podium um we have a matter before you tonight regarding 61q AV and a project that was recommended out of the Redevelopment agency uh to be approved um specifically on for tonight is a an amendment to the Redevelopment Zone that the developer was looking for and they'll correct me if my terminology is wrong um so specifically tonight we're here to talk about uh several aspects of some variances that the property needs specifically for the height and for the use of the property but I'm going to let the planner uh explain it all to you first and then we would open up open it up for Q&A welcome Christin how are you thank you I'm good how are you Happy New Year everybody year year um there are actually two items on the workshop um agenda amendments to the Redevelopment plan and 61 AQ um they're back to back as I speak you'll hear that they kind of overlap and um kind of intersect each other and so I'm going to try to keep it clear as to um what topic relates to which um item agend agenda item but if you get confused please stop me and I will clarify um so just as background for anybody who's new in the room um Redevelopment plans are essentially zoning um with kind of some extra fluff added to them extra requirements um and extra control you have to Redevelopment plans um downtown Redevelopment area one and two we have more than that but that's what we're talking about right now um those are embedded in your zoning code which while legal is not particularly common and is not ideal um the reason that it is not ideal is that a separate Redevelopment plan typically has additional content um and more control over what the outcome of a development is um I have heard over the past year or so from the Redevelopment agency from this board and from um plenty of conversations that Pompton Lakes has concern about the um Aesthetics and the final product of some developments that are may have come into downtown um in an effort to um make things a little bit tighter it is my recommendation and I have given um Michael a um proposal to extract the current standards of the two downtown redevelop zones and pull them out and craft a more typical Redevelopment plan around what already exists that does not necessarily mean that we will be changing the existing requirements but we will be adding to them um that is a somewhat longer process than the more focused project the second item that I'm talking about which is 61q 6 61 AQ Falls within um the downtown Redevelopment area 2 Zone um and they have already gone before the Redevelopment agency many times to hash out what they would like to develop on that property what they would like to develop on that property does not entirely conform to the standards of the zone as it exists today now I should also add that because your two downtown Redevelopment areas are pretty geographically it's a pretty big area right there's lots of properties it is very hard to create zoning standards that will apply to all of the parcels because some are really big and some are small and some are shaped funny and some have weird topography and sometimes you just have a developer that comes up with something that's really um unique and we hadn't thought of so the idea of amending a Redevelopment plan to suit a particular development is not inherently bad or wrong so what they're asking for to amend their parcel is not inherently bad or wrong and in fact regardless of what you say to them yes or no we're interested we're not interested this will will probably happen time and again as developers come in to Pompton Lakes and see sites that they want to develop um so 601 ail they've worked with the Redevelopment agency to um come up with and massage a project that finally got to a stage that the Redevelopment agency was happy with let's say but the Redevelopment agency is not the body who gets to write the zoning or not even gets to write but who has control over that that's you um you are the body who um adopts laws and Zoning is a law um so what happens is the developer asks you if you support their suggestions their their request and then you pass it along to the planning board to amend that code amend the Redevelopment plan they give they do that they refer it back to you yes or no and then you adopt or don't adopt it so I have a list of the variances or the the non-conformities that 61q currently has with the zoning that is in place now so it would be that developer's request that you consider amending the plan to match what they wish um you do not need to necessarily you may say no the zoning that we have is the zoning that we want um and you need to develop specifically in accordance with that or you may say we're open to um what may perhaps turn out to be a better project because you know we we we couldn't think of everything possible um at the time of the original drafting so I'm going to tell you what their um non-conformities are um height the current zoning allows two stories and 35 feet and they want 50 story 50 feet and four stories um the other big one is use um the current zoning requires ground floor commercial and they are asking for um ground floor residential um those are the two big ones and by big ones I mean that a um a developer and a Redevelopment area is still entitled to ask for variances from the planning board in the way that any other developer is however certain variances including use and height are not eligible for those variances so if you by way of the planning board do not want to entertain those ideas they just simply cannot do it there are other variances which include a rear yard setback um Park front yard parking um parking setback um driveway location number of parking spaces um what does this say provision off all street parking and loading location and um screening of dumpsters those also the developer wishes that the bureau would consider revising the Redevelopment plan for you could say no um and the developer could still ask for variances from the planning board from all of those things so um it's a bit of a um where you fall policy-wise do we want do we like this project enough to create a conforming plan um which which would mean you recommend the planning board make these amendments do we like some of them and not others um or and do we maybe want to make them argue the necessity of those variances before the planning board and convince the planning board that it's okay or or do are you not on board at all that's all up to you um but that is what is being requested by the developer upon let's say blessing from the Redevelopment agency with the understanding that it's in your hands as legislators so what you're saying is just I want to clarify for everybody the Redevelopment does the the leg work but we still at the end of the day make the vote on if we're going to accept the the plan that's put in place Y and and beyond that also the planning board is the one who ultimately approves any site plan approval yeah and and the they also have the option if they didn't want these variances to just go to the zoning board no or the planning board and build build what they want without our input if you were to say we don't we don't want to deal with this um we're not going to give you any input they could go to the planning board with a project that conforms with the current zoning that's in place right now right but then we would have no say at all on that project the planning board would but this Council would not that's true so we as a council would have no say and then the part which I you can touch in or maybe Glenn's going to touch on this um the reason they do they do this the Redevelopment and the pilot and and what that means with the planning board and not the planning board I'm gonna let Glenn talk about before sure no we're GNA take question I want to follow up with that question so we decide we don't want to be involved they go back to the planning board with the request for the variances I think are we using the right wording in saying that at that point we have no say because at some point it does come back to the council for final approval that's right if you were to say tonight um we want you meaning me to um draft revisions to the Redevelopment plan I would then present it to the planning board they would give their opinion send it back to you and then you would still have the ability to say no at that point it's just like now we've done a whole lot of work um and but that's if it's a Redevelopment project if it's not a Redevelopment project with a p no pilot oh if it's not if they are well they could still get a pilot with the without amending this plan maybe I can clarify so first say who you are I'm Glenn Dominic I'm the director of the Redevelopment agency it's nice to meet everyone happy New Year I feel Michael's pain I've been there um I think it it's two separate steps the amendment to the plan goes to the planning board for review and consideration and comes back to the governing body for adoption or non-adoption a pilot they are entitled to under Redevelopment law which ultimately they you know the the Redevelopment agency would recommend to you and then you decide that separately and distinctly from the process of amending the plan to allow a conforming application but they also have the option to not do a pilot at all correct correct yeah and then just go as do you right as do us and and they could just go to the boards themselves without presenting anything to us if they don't want to pil it correct yeah but they still have to stay within the current zoning law yes correct correct so that would unless they get variances from the planning board they seek relief from the board yeah but there are a few of these variances that cannot be granted by the planning board two correct the first two correct first two that were listed MH all right so any other questions and go ahead by you want to add whatever you want I don't no just wanted to clarify the point because I think Kristen's really done a good job in outlining what needs to be done I just pilots and plans are a little different so this is a workshop though right we're not formally voting on it you're not and that's that's what I wanted to address a moment just so we can back up a moment just so everyone understands what we're here for is a workshop just a Q&A to just um feel the the council out on this ideally will'll take a straw pole um a non-binding vote to either authorize Kristen to make some amendments to drop some amendments to the plan to conform with what the developers requesting and if she does that you'll that'll come back to this board at our next meeting is that possible at the 20 meeting of the 22nd I think that's where we're shooting for right I don't remember yeah uh ideally uh it would be brought back to this board to um approve and forward the amendment to the planning board for the planning board to review and approve and send back to this board well when I say approve approve it recommend recommend it to the planning board for the planning Board review it would then come back to this Council for formal action only this only the seven well it sounds like based on this very limited dialogue we're being asked to authorize you to go forward and make an amendment that will overhaul the entire Redevelopment plan to accommodate for this one two sep things there are two things this is where it that's a little bit confusing I would say that in terms of the larger overhaul um that's not really going to have a whole lot of bearing on 61 AQ because that is a longer term undertaking um and that is something that I would um professionally I would say it really needs to to be done and we could convene a subcommittee perhaps of you know somebody from um the governing body somebody from the development agency somebody from the planning board so that we all understand what's going on um that's a longer term project 61q is a very short-term project and the longer term projects can happen regardless of what you decide to do on and we would also have to budget for the cost to do the uh yes which would be another conversation not 61 AQ the budget would be to do the plan which by the way all the boards including this this board have come forward and said they think it's a good idea to do so Redevelopment planning have all said they would like to see it all come together under one page so we can understand it a little better and and and have a little more guidance that's going to take some time though right I would highly recommend that yeah and it's something we we all are on board and I don't see any reason we've been talking about it for a while it's time to move forward and I think it would be budgeting issue it's a budgeting issue also um so we're here to talk about so we know that that's what Kristen's presenting that's not a real discussion today that's just to inform you that we're looking to move forward to do that in the future at some point unless you have a question about that no fine okay so then the next thing would be the 61 AQ which she they're asking about the two variances which we're not going to vote on today but we got to give Michael and and and Kristen guidance to start the plan development it still would come back to us so are you only straw polling on the first two that we have a say in or on just on on the seven that we the other ones are minor so I I should mention I don't think Kristen mentioned but when anybody does a Redevelopment project most of those other minor ones garbage containers parking spots all those things are in included in those things those are normal procedure when it comes to Redevelopment um I I see uh just I thought I saw if you this is Steve M he's he represents them so I think he was going to answer some concerns okay uh good seeing you all thank you for the time mayor to to address everybody um I am the attorney Steve melenic who's representing the uh the three brothers who are in the room Steve Jen and John right here Susan who I'm sure many of you know who've owned this property for a long time and which I'm sure you're aware of its condition and what it's been like for the last 25 years since it's been out of activation um this project in particular started in a world where we didn't know what the Corona virus was that's how long ago it was and we've gone through multiple multiple rounds of meetings with the Redevelopment agency um to find you know tune this project to a way that can meet your ordinance as much as possible while still providing multiple benefits to the municipality including obviously reactivating this property in an area of the downtown that has been sitting follow for a long time and as well as the mayor mentioned the the significant financial benefits that the pil would bring which we estimate to be about $2.4 million in Revenue over 30 years whereas the property right now is generating approximately uh $60,000 over that same period time um the requests that are being made quite frankly and I'm going read about the attorney are are not out of the ordinary they're they're quite usual there are specific reasons why this particular project requires those variances on height in particular if you go up and down wanu you'll see the average setback in the front it's about 6 feet 8T sometimes 10t this is got to be 75 ft um it's why one of the variances that are requested that are the C variances or the bulk variances is to allow that parking in the front and a lot of that deals with the toog deals with the sloping you know the river is right behind it and so there's environmental constraints as well um and the property also slopes down so the height when viewed 75 ft back um is not going to have an impact it's also set back beyond the property that's directly next to it so it's not going to have an overshadowing effect on that property now with respect to the other variants the retail on the first floor um as M Russell mentioned this is a property that is not going this if this change were to made it would not impact any other property of already in existence under your either of your Redevelopment plans this would be Standalone just for this project uh and we feel strongly that having a property in its current location really um to the north of downtown on the Northern edges um and set back 75 ft with a parking lot in the front that could not accommodate retail uh customers at its location that the best use would not be retail in the front it would actually be a bad use um and for that reason that's what we requested um also financially if it was was forced to have uh retail on the first floor it would significantly impact the parking it would significantly impact the affordable housing obligation that we are complying with under your ordinance and which is going to be an important factor in your fourth round coming up that I understand Mr Kell is going to talk about in his report today um and it would also significantly impact the finances of the project um to a point where it probably wouldn't be able to be built um with respect to whether you just decide to vote for the two D variances use variances the ones that we wouldn't be able to go to the planning board for and not the others to me I I wouldn't necessarily think that's a good idea if you're going to vote to express your um intent to follow for though there's going to be no vote it's just going to be when there is if there were to be a vote correct mayor um it should be an expression that is all in that this is a project that is good for Pompton Lakes it is one that your Redevelopment entity your agency that you establish to do this leg work and which have come out with a recommendation uh not only just for its project and a Redevelopment agreement but in that Redevelopment agreement specifically recommends to this Council that they adopt all of these ordinance amendments as well as the pilot um I would recommend and request and respect that recommendation um and all the work that they did and rather than just approve some of them approve all of them because that's what's necessary for the project um Happ to answer any specific questions all right so what I'm going have Krist and and Glen just discuss what what He was discussing was there anything issue with anything he said there no I don't okay okay and the other question I would have then could both of you answer this this property is in in in distress uh situation is that why it's in it's in the Redevelopment Zone because it's been sitting empty for 20 years I mean what's the reason yes I mean I don't I don't remember the exact criteria that was used to qualify this property but there are a series of like six criteria that a property must meet one or more of in order to be eligible for redevelopment and did meet that eligibility and if you're telling me that it has been vacant vacant for that long that would have been a qualifier all right so I'm going to open it up need several of the qualif it did the the infrastructure is probably exceeds 50 years old and that one of the qualifiers for redevelopment I would imagine that the property meets the majority of the criteria for redevelopment all now Council to any any of the three up there if you have any questions so just a quick question I know there was um discussion on additional parking that outside of the property there through the county so where are you with that oh thank you for that question so we've had very good discussions with the county in fact what what has taken um so much time in this process is not necessarily Redevelopment agency but working with the county because a lot of it uh deals with the county not only is wany Road a County Road not only do we need parking to your extent on other properties U but Grove Street actually while it's your Burrow road um they actually own a piece of that adjacent to our property where we're looking to Traverse over the driveway so we needed a lot of cooperation from the county we obviously needed site plan approval from the County planning board uh we needed the right to Traverse their property over Grove Street for that and we also needed parking um so we're in a very good place with them we have site plan approval from the county for this project uh we have um discussed basically that the easeman over grow street is acceptable we actually are just waiting on an appraisal to Value what that would be and that will be papered over and then with respect to the parking we've had good meetings uh with them uh we provided them a proposal that was generally in line with the discussions we've had uh they have a meeting I believe next week they said I didn't know the date yeah they didn't tell us the date but they have a meeting upcoming to review our proposal um the way the Redevelopment agreement is structured with the Redevelopment uh agency is that if we were to get those eight spot spaces on the county property which we feel very confident about the density would be the 23 units if for some reason we're unable to do that the density would drop to 17 unit so the parking ratio would remain the same just remind me where would the additional parking be located it would be on the county property just um I don't know what direction it would be West on Grove Street uh by your recy they're building the uh recycling center where our recycling center is yes the county park property starts on the other side of it right there right there okay okay okay Mr H those eight parking spots we're just building a brand new salt shed the county is building there are they before the salt shed after the salt shed they're going to be part of the overall so the county is part of the project and the Housing Authority they are developing a lot of parking on that project themselves these eight spaces would be um The Proposal would be that they would be designated for overnight because residential use is primarily overnight and then during the day they would be free use for all uh and the proposal also includes us providing the county with electric uh electronic vehicle charging stations uh there uh to cover some of their required under the ordinance and let me just throw in because this is a I don't you might not know this Mr this is a a nonprofit group that's kind of sharing with the county to build this project so the nonprofit would would would reap the benefit of the cost that they're going to charge for the parking spaces so if they're charging $1,000 a year per spot $88,000 a year that would go to the nonprofit to help run the Institute it wouldn't go to the county county would not potenti and how long is the lease that you're seeking it would be in perpetuity we would need that to our operation yeah but you haven't received formal approval on that yet there's well we haven't um had the agreements written up now all right okay now as it stands up Grove Street is going to be on Ivy Street what street sir Ivy Street that's before the recycling center okay there's no sidewalks on that now the tenants in the building are going to be walking in the street there's no sidewalks from those eight parking spots to the project those are town roads sure okay um I believe you probably just say who you are John sujan uh 61 at you have PT um I believe you probably have plans from the county for their project and I I I have I have plans because I I did the sketches for the parking uh first of all answer your question Randy uh the parking is exactly as you said that' be walking up Grove Street cross Ivy and down Laura uh past the salt shed and we requested uh it it'll be a shared service for for all the spaces during the day but at night we requested assignment of the eight spaces closest to the intersection excuse me Laura and Locust okay so just as you go into this into the Housing Authority site those would be the spaces um the was well let me let me just jump in here so I don't want to get off Corral here we don't really have a say on on the on the path and the sidewalks on the county roads and all those things we're here to talk about the variances and the things that we're going to look at you know we could pick apart the windows we could pick apart colors but that's nothing we're not going to do any of that but I understand your question how count those are bar roads what and Grover yes but I think it's a it's um what's the one road that's a county road walking into to Ivy right I Ro stre and iy or Town Road But to answer your question if you look at the if you look at the uh County's plan from Boswell engineering uh you'll see that there it shows sidewalks on Ivy Street so there are no sidewalks now uh the plan definitely shows it uh there are there are sidewalks on Laura uh if if for some reason uh sidewalks were not put on Ivy which I don't wouldn't quite understand since they do show on the county plant uh lur Street has sidewalk right up to oneq Avenue if you just transverse that one they have sidewalks down to the car was then then there's no sidewalks on the on okay well we have to cross the street you know cross again uh this it's scheduled as best I know and another thing to address here with respect to the timing on this uh I've been speaking with uh Deborah Hoffman actually in the beginning put me in touch with uh Janice dejon who is the executive chair of the housing Committee of the Housing Authority uh we've been talking for over three years about this and the problem has been they were unable to do anything until a project got off the ground so in that respect uh we really have been negotiating this thing uh since maybe October all right any other questions from the council yes I have a question um I attended some of the Redevelopment meetings and I thought that during those meetings and maybe this was it's not any longer but I thought that there was going to be a variance for apartment size I think that they were going to be a couple of them were going to be smaller that that is on your that is on your list oh okay I may have missed it it was on your it was on your list on the previously okay uh yes yeah we we our our units I I believe are pretty much in conformance with the other projects in town uh we have three Studio units that will definitely be small they're about 500 ft uh and it's it's essentially a studio so it's it's an open area uh small kitchenet uh and and a fairly good size uh living SL bedroom uh there are 151 bedroom units and I'm going to say they average about 670 Square ft um and then there are three uh five rather uh uh two bedroom units as far as the the uh the the uh col uh requirement uh we are assuming that that still holds we're donating uh one two-bedroom unit and uh we're going to to make the cash contribution for one unit so any other questions from Council Maria any questions no I I just want to um I just want to ask uh suan did you go through an extensive D process uh for any environmental requirements were they all met the the requirements were met uh they were addressed at the uh Redevelopment agency meeting uh the repairing repairing rights are are granted uh we we met the zero net fill requirements by a half a yard uh bottom line is uh we had a fill the the the the the building itself will be 2 feet above the uh the flood plane uh the flood plane exists in the parking lot as it is the parking lot will be coming up so that the uh the the lowest point is above the flood plane um to give give you a rough idea that building has a basement and the family next door the PES uh spoke with both the Son and the daughter uh they have been there since I believe the early 1950s uh I I spoke with Kevin uh Cooper who of Fritz and Cooper who have had a gas station here and owned the property till we bought it in 2013 uh the puses have had water in their basement I think they told me two times uh to the tune of about 2 ft that basement is a full floor below the finished floor of our building and their finished floor uh so uh as much as that property has been put in a flood zone uh we had a flood in 1984 that was bad enough to damage the bridge and need it replacing and there's been no water within 4T of the existing parking lot we're bringing it up 2 ft so uh flood you the all right so any more questions from the council itself I just have one other question sure go so um someone said that the that the building isn't close to the building next to it but I'm looking at a picture no not that it wasn't close next to it just that it's not it it it set back Beyond okay cuz I'm looking at a picture and it doesn't look you you know what I mean the picture doesn't you don't see that how far back so it's it's about building is about uh 13 feet back from the front the P the tailor okay um the the we're at at the closest point we are 7'2 7'2 in from uh the property line okay uh that their house unfortunately is almost on the property l so uh yeah yes in the front uh we come probably approximately I'd say 9 ft from their building only we're 13 ft back uh and and the the buildings actually as you go back from the front they separate from each other further so uh I know I spoke with David early on uh they had a concern because the only way that they can get into their yard to do the Landscaping is through the space between the buildings obviously and going down through through the property that was the service station uh I assured them there would really not be a problem the the curving and the sidewalks design that they'll be able to get the the May if I can just just two but miss Kent asked about I just want to just normally in these sorts of projects we get local approvals then we get County approvals then we get State approvals we did this backwards we knew because of the river and and the issues there that we were going to have our biggest issues at the D we got our D first then we met with the Redevelopment entity uh and they made clear that it was important to them that we had the conversations with the county next so then we got our County approval so we getting the local approvals last um meaning that we already have all our approvals to the point where if this ordinance was amended um we would be prepared to go for site plan immediately and then immediately thereafter be ready uh to move on this so we have all our other PS I have some questions about that makes what you just said makes sense okay thank you the retail I mean we've we've been talking about Redevelopment for as long as I've been up here promoting it as something that's going to build out our retail to grow our downtown we have you've referenced the other property on that space does have two retail stores in it you're basically rendering the accessibility to that retail useless and not encouraging the growth of any additional retail Redevelopment is supposed to be for the town as a whole not piece by piece property why are we allowing there to be so the r the first project that we built Lakeside Commons had retail there uh at the time the council and the Redevelopment agency decided that was not an area that worked well with retail and they did not put retail there this is the same situation of where we are now it's across from a supermarket uh with a big mall two stores that are going to be set back 75 ft would be a little difficult to to invest it I've heard discussions that in hindsight after the Salvation Army project was completed that that was a mistake that they where did you hear that from in the years I've been sitting up here we've talked about the fact that that shouldn't have been let go I I haven't heard that look I think personally and this is just my opinion it's very difficult for the property size to accommodate retail honestly it just does not make sense um if this is a oneoff if the council and mayor council and mayor approve that's fine but I I would find it absolutely impossible to manage the traffic of retail shops in and out where residents still living there um and to be honest with you it the property's been there longer than I've lived here you know so at what at some point something needs to be done and retailer though I do agree with uh council president pa uh council president palori um I also want Council to take into account given the location the size and proximity I find that to be a very big challenge um to do so all right so I'm gonna ask Kristen and Glenn do you want to add anything more to this so just so we're all I know you get it I just want to make sure we're talking about two separate things here we're talking about moving forward with a plan that we're going to put a a committee together and get some funding to take some time could take up to a year maybe right to whatever how long it's going to take six months six months to a year whatever that is that's one thing that we're just she's just bringing to our attention and the next thing now is just to take a straw poll to send Kristen and Michael the direction to move forward to start the planning phase of 61 AQ Avenue and once we start that then they still have to come back to us for approvals for for two things if they're getting a pilot they would need approvals for a pilot if they're getting the variances they would need approval of the variances but this is to start the funding and by the way we don't just so everyone understands we don't pay the cost of that that comes from the developers so they would be paying the costs for Kristen and for the attorneys to do all that work it doesn't come from us Christen is unusual to continue to approve properties knowing that we are making amendments to the plan and just not knowing what those amendments are or the final plan is going to be well as I picture it the Amendments part of the big overhaul amendments are going to be changing the um the substance of the zoning in other words I do not picture it changing things like use and height now if we if we convene a committee and that changes then so be it but as I picture it right now it's more to add things like design guidelines which really help with the materials with the massing with the windows things like that that really make a streetcape um attractive to a place that you want to go um Landscaping signage that sort of thing that's how I picture the um overhaul to be um really focused on um and so the meanwhile the Redevelopment um agency has spoken to this developer throughout the process about those type of things and they've kind of updated their plans to show um some of those design characteristics that are not currently written into the code so I think we've mostly captured that type of thing but it took a lot more effort and discussion and negotiation than it would if it was properly in the plan so we're not making adjustments to height or use in your vision for the overall plan but we are looking to make just those accommodations for this correct now if the Bur tell that would be a committee decision but but the guidance would be what you just said yeah I mean you end up that's part of a bigger discussion that would happen at the committee level but yeah but ultimately the what they're seeking is only for this project doesn't change the under site specific correct all right so unless anybody has any other questions thank you gentlemen and ladies for helping us with this because it is confusing and it is hard to understand I'm just going to take a straw pole now to move forward just for Mr hens just means specific yeah I'm a Str poll on whether you want to authorize Kristen to make amendments the recommend the agency's recommended amendments to the Redevelopment plan specific to 61 AQ Avenue so you mean approving the variances is that what you're asking we're not approving anything no you're not you're you're you're authorizing her to go forward to make those amendments to bring them back to this Council for you to review and then if you decide you like them to refer them to the planning board well but if we're not comfortable with updating he and use are we wasting time we say yes well it's a vote it's not you know it's a just it's a vote from the council I think that maybe it can go either way but I think it would go to the planning board before you guys vote on it because you'd want to hear their recommendation I think that's another disc doesn't have to come back here for us we have to refer it to the planning board normally I've seen it done is that you refer to the planning board for me to make the Amendments then I make them and show them to the planning board and then I bring them back the planning board has to make the recommendation to you but we make the recommendation to the planning board to make the recommendation to you you adopt introduce an ordinance with the Amendments attached you refer to the planning board for master plan consistency and then the recommendation from the planning board on that consistency along with any other recommendations to the plan as governed by the local reu housing law then is back to you so on hopefully on the 22nd if that were to happen if the sh was that way the ordinance would have to plan amendments ATT wa are you does that timeline expect me to have the Amendments written by the 27 we're hoping but we're not putting you on a clock yeah if that works it works if it doesn't that might not that might not work do you okay just quickly do we move forward now on this draw poll here to you move forward before the county has had a chance to make a decision on what the height is going to be because I know the height is still pending the county has nothing to do with the height I mean with the um the number of spots that inrees the number of units so the Redevelopment agency has set in their parameters between 17 and 22 or 23 spots if they for some reason don't get the spots it goes to 17 that's written into their agreement already with the Redevelopment if for some reason they get the spots then it would be the higher number so it they they okay a window units depending on the number spots all right Maria I'm going to start you cuz you're on the phone so confused I'm fine okay uh Randy okay yeah I'm fine okay thank you Maria I we got it I'm fine too yes then just to be short we're we're just moving forward to have this this is coming back here again yes yes yes okay you got your answers you got your Maring ERS I thank everybody for their time and energy with this um we do have one other uh we do have another Workshop thing real quick Mike I'm going to let you jump on that well I will say this unless you guys are here to say something do you still want to talk oh absolutely okay so go ahead mik thank you guys have a good night have a good night you good night thanks CHR thank you mayor um so we we just have a a pretty simple Workshop right now uh so specifically regarding the the the tree removal model ordinance that was adopted last year uh from from the D uh the burrow Forester and I have have been uh progressing through the ordinance everything seems to be working out well um we are recommending a slight change to the ordinance um we are recommending that any uh invasive species tree uh meaning any non-native to the New Jersey ecosystem and whose introduction causes or is likely to cause economic or environmental harm uh to human health uh again an invasive tree would be exempt uh from from the replacement schedule so if a resident took down an in an invasive species we wouldn't want to charge them that fee in Lou planting uh so we're just looking to lessen the burden on our resident and make that small change everybody get that does that include bamboo uh bamboo was addressed last year here where it's it's now prohibited in pped L but if you remove here's a good point if we if REM a there quite a bit still that's why I'm asking is that good question it would be deemed an invasive speci but if they before we brought this up if they were to remove the bamboo would they needed a permit for that uh I don't know that it's a tree I don't I don't know that it's a tree but it's not classified as a deciduous tree okay right okay so you'll write an ordinance on this going to make the determination as to whether it's invasive or noninvasive that's correct I imagine that there's some list of what is cons I mean he not just choosing what's invasive there probably is a list of trees that are deemed invasive absolutely the uh New Jersey Division of Forestry uh has a promulgated list that they put out uh you know Japanese maple Shrubbery that kind of stuff you know in along with invasive species we don't want to charge a permit for um so we're looking to lessen the burden unless I hear any objections we'll have an ordinance onine okay thank you okay I'm going to leave it up to the council do you want to go to our reports or you want to go to the second Open Session and let them talk it's up to you guys second Open Session okay all right motion to open the meeting for public comments motion council president Paul Dory councilman venon all in favor against anyone anyone from the public like to address hi Joe you're on all right I me Joe kleo uh 231 Willow still president of conf lak for little Le um I understand is the last month we were so my question is last month we were supposed to officially vote on this project but now we've now pushed it off another month was there a reason why we push it off and if by pushing it off are we going to attempt to lose these monies because I my understanding is we're supposed to start digging or at least put a shovel on the ground by April so my hope is we're not just delaying this and just pushing it off like we had for seven years and just let the monies go byebye um that would be very dis Point um I'm sure the 400 or actually 800 voters in this town um after spending $100,000 uh taking 550,000 from the the county um I'm sure they wouldn't mind the money back but I would almost think if you held their money for this long they might think secondly about giving you any more money because it just sat there and you guys didn't use it so I would hope and pray again for the 400 uh players we have in this league that actually need this field moving forward again I don't have a vested interest I don't have a kid to leave but I would hope he would do it for the rest of the residents but I would like to know why it was pushed off another month and hopefully pushing off another month just doesn't let that money P byby so thank you thank you anyone else in the public like to address good evening angelist rwood Court I just had a question on the previous issue the uh I know they said that was site specific as far as the plan but the fact that there's not going to be retail on the ground floor is that going to set a precedent for the rest of the buildings up in down WQ Avenue where they would be coming in saying I want to turn my store into Apartments that's my question okay thank you anyone else from the public like to address seeing no one can have a motion to close the public session so moved Council Cruz councilwoman kilberg was that you yep all in favor okay I'm going to wet M jump in but I think procedurally this is the way we have to do it with the open space we can't do it both at the same time but Mike I'm going to let you jump in of could we have voted for both at the same time right now I I was a little confused in all transparency by by the public comment uh the the council had to get the straw pole in order to figure out if we were moving ahead with the project and then you know historically then we would vote on the open space funding uh so so there what I think the public is asking is we voted on the 150 to be used from the open space funds why wasn't then we voted at the same time to just vote on the project uh because uh in order to move ahead with the project we would have to do a bond ordinance and the bond ordinance can't be introduced and adopted in 2024 into 2025 it had to wait anyway uh so we can't move on anything at the time being that's why it took until now all right also waited for the revisions on the proposal that just came in right we got a revised cost estimate just yesterday so just for the Public's when when a year is ending you can't do business in the end of one year and then start that same business in the beginning of the next year it has to be done in in the year that you're working so this is the beginning the first meeting of the new year we approved the 150,000 from the open space to be spent on this I would think at the next meeting or which what meeting do you think we'll be voting on this well if I may address the procedure I guess moving forward uh so hopefully at the first meeting in February we'll be considering a bond ordinance for the project which would then be adopted at the second meeting in February then we would have to authorize a contract with the engineer to do the bid specifications and the final design and then once that's done we canl out to public bid it has to be bid for at least 30 days um and then once we get the bids back we would put it on the next council meeting for an award of a bid and then once we get the award of a bid we can hold a pre-construction meeting and hopefully start construction this summer uh or after the season and then just to just just a point of clarification um the county doesn't need to see a shovel in the ground they need to see movement that we are uh investing and or Contracting with uh engineers and or the potential contractor to move ahead with the project they need to see movement uh and that's purpose so welcome to state government this is how it works um nothing get happens quickly but this is the first step in the process to make it happen going forward I think in short I think what they just so they want to know exactly there's no funding that's going to be lost this is already been it's just a matter of approving it as we go along nobody is taking that money back because we have not done anything with the funds that have been provided right as we've been going through this process I've been communicating with the county uh on a regular basis you guys understand so we're not losing any money that was worth I know okay so I think that's everybody's concern all right so so really just so we all on the same page this is the first step then it takes another month everything that we do up here as a council when we vote on is it takes two meetings so that's one full month to make that happen in November and in December we only had one meeting for each of those months so there's a lot of things we couldn't do in November and December because it can't carry into the new year of January so we had to put off a couple things this is one of them so this is why it's on the first agenda first meeting now as the administrator said we'll move forward we're in the process it's happening it's moving forward it's just going to take some time that's what's going to happen uh Mr Evangelista um I I don't think that really matters because the first project we built uh they they put no retail in that one also and then the project after that they did put retail in so it is a site specific and they can do it site specific as they move forward from each each group if we all remember who's ever been here in town long enough remembers there was retail initially where Lakes side commment was at that time the council and the Redevelopment agency decided that wasn't a good spot for retail and that's why they didn't put it in but that doesn't say the next project they can say it does need it okay so now we're going to go back to our reports uh mayor sure concern I think I think with the the president of the baseball association I think he want some kind of an assurance that we're not going to stop the project once now that we obligated $150,000 from Lo space funds I think the U the baseball folks are looking for that that promise that we're moving forward as as a council I believe that's what he said right but to to do it by the steps that are put in place this is how we have to do it we can't make a promise now for something that we don't foresee forward but I I don't see any issue moving forward I don't I the money's being the money's being put aside to be spent we've already got the money from the county it's sitting there knowing if we don't use it we could lose it so these are all things that are going to make make us move forward with this project and and I I know our administrator works hard at speaking with the county to make sure that we're we're in the same page and the County's given us know as long as we're showing them evidence that we're moving forward there won't be an issue okay thank you all right okay under my report very quickly uh I attended the grand opening of a movie by PA panti who I saw here but he had left uh it was really an interesting movie most people don't realize the movie was an hour and 15 minutes it wasn't a short movie um it really covered the history of Pompton Lakes from the 1700s all the way up to to date and it was very interesting I mean I don't care who you are if you grew up here in town or you're new to town you learned a lot of information I I think it's almost something and it was it was a positive vibe there was no bad news in that in that movie everything was a positive thing that came out of that movie um I think it's something the children should probably see at some point in school to learn the history I mean you learn things most people don't realize where the Bell is where the triangle is was a yell house where George Washington and Martha Washington both slept in numerous times uh unfortunately the county tore it down to make the the road wider but it was one of the more historic buildings in in North Jersey um so it was I thank Paul for putting it together it was a really nice event they did a uh a nice uh opening and it was probably over 100 people there to see it so it was it was a nice event oh I did a lots of weddings in December probably over 10 mayor can get that on channel yes I think Paul and Maria correct me if I'm correct but Paul's going to work on getting that out on on file to everyone right no so I asked him he could see it and he said no it's far from completion oh no he still has to finish it yeah but they did a it's not done yet yeah he still has to put some titles in and some names and things but the movie was presented as it is as the movie um but he still has to add headers this is so and so this is so and so but I think at the end of the time it will be on our web page I would hope at least um and on channel 77 that would be great uh I had a call with the FAA this is a while ago over our whole drone activity um it was a wasted call Mike and I were both on it really they said nothing offered no information and uh said they get back to us on most of those things it since has died down but I I I guess there will be more conversation about it I know some uh some of the towns are looking into finding out more information on what happened attended the planning board meeting I I thank Liz and and the staff and Michael for putting down together party for the town which I attended was nice to see everybody here and having lunch I attended the Redevelopment meeting I attended a grand opening uh I attended the Hanukkah lighting which happened to fall the day after day of Christmas actually but actually lighting was the day after Christmas they had a nice turnout Rabbi there does a great job he really gets people there and makes the best potato wakas I've ever had in my life um uh just yesterday we attended a herfield park Bridge uh water gauge assessment with our OEM director to figure out and it was a good point when they redo these bridges over the the rivers how are we going to keep track of the gauges that are attached there now so it's a conversation that's going to keep on going um then we had a meeting yesterday with which I think our administrator will talk about about our affordable housing requirements just so everybody understands the affordable housing is very complicated and we're going to get an update today about it but you know the state mandates things that we have to follow and they make it very difficult to try to understand what's going on and I I know the attorneys were on the call too so we have someone who can kind of guide us in that direction and hopefully we'll get some good information with that and with that that's my report council president palor thank you um I'll keep it brief we we haven't met in quite a while it seems like December was forever ago but it is always a wonderful month in Pompton Lakes there was a lot going on so thank you to everyone that works behind the scenes for the Santa breakfast Holiday Stroll the manora lighting Toys for Tots our parties here um it really was it's it's really a beautiful month in pton lakes and the community is together often and celebrating so thank you for everyone that makes that possible um I really just at this point want to congratulate my fellow Council people on their Victorious win this is councilman hinton's first official council meeting thank you so thank you for all your hard work I look forward to working with you this year and I want to thank each of you for your support in electing me to be your 2025 council president um I want to work with all of you on continuing to increase our transparency and Foster really good and productive dialogue up here so that we can make sound decisions for our town thank you thank you uh councilman Cruz thank you mayor um my report is going to be brief as well um the board of head Board of Health meeting was held on Monday unfortunately I could not attend my youngest was not feeling well uh you were you were there man I did um but I did receive a few uh things I just want to mention I just want to congratulate Michael Morris and ason faletto on their three-year term they were sworn in that night um there were a few resolutions that were also passed that night the usual for every uh start of the year um uh establishing meeting schedule and there was my laptop meeting schedule for the Board of Health designating two newspapers to receive Board of Health notices establishing the Board of Health hours were not in session establishing certain positions and salaries within the Board of Health and lastly establishing flu pneumonia vaccinations to be given a no charge to for employee first aid and fire department volunteers um yesterday the Board of Education as well just jump in real quick one important part that came out of that is the next Board of Health meeting which is going to be in March they're going to have to change the date because the nursing staff can't be there so they'll get you a new day and yeah they actually we going around today about that with the email so yeah they will be sending out communication regarding that and uh yesterday as well I attended the board of Board of Education meeting I just want to congratulate Scott sanser shayy Blake and Mike baletto I know you're in there buddy on being sworn in for another three-year term guys are great wishing them that the best and also just want to congratulate Jerry luani he's the new uh bardette president and AJ Rodriguez as the vice president I wish him all the best um as uh president and VP that would do it for my report thank you uh councilman hit wow my first report huh it's going to be even shorter than councilman Cruzes I like you already well I don't really talk that much um no the only attended a senior meeting they were happy to see a council representative there um senior we just lost the senior which was unfortunate just passed away um and um they're looking to plan their trips for the year um their funding for what I understand was restored so they're very happy about that and um just want to wish my Council now and you Mr Mayor a good year coming up and look forward to working with all of you first of all thank you and welcome aboard um but you know uh it's been an area that we've always been a little light on in representing as the seniors in the meeting so I'm I'm glad that you're going to be there to to represent them uh in the past I've gotten calls about you know who's our representative we haven't seen them in a while and and and they have a voice that deserves to be heard so I'm glad you you'll bring that voice back to here and then Rec from there so thank you um councilwoman Kent uh I just want to wish everybody a Happy New Year and I'm looking forward to working with the new Council and I W be giving a report tonight okay thank you very thank you councilwoman kilberg um I just want to wish everyone a Happy New Year and I do have a couple Recreation announcements um there is a cold and get fit you can walk through Lakeside Middle School Tuesday and Thursday nights from 7: to 8: free of charge um get fit classes um at Lincoln Elementary School there are it's $55 for all the sessions $40 for 10 classes $5 for drop-ins it's Mondays and Wednesdays from 7 to 8 from January 6th through March 6th and um Pompton Lakes Recreation pickle ball Saturdays at Lincoln school from January 4th to February 1st from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. it's $40 per person or $15 drop in fee and that's my report thank you just on the first thing you mentioned there's no sign up for that right you can just show up so that's open to any Resident from town can go and walk in schools which is a great thing on this cold weather uh councilman vett awesome thank you mayor I want to wish everybody a Happy New Year as well I want to congratulate Paul bastante and Chris petek on putting together that film that Mayor Mike was talking about I also want to thank uh Vince from theop for hosting the uh the screening um of the the film uh the night before the uh red carpet event held at the Elks uh and that is my report mayor okay thank you attorney's report uh nothing this evening mayor thank you thank you administrator's report thank you mayor um let's see please be advised uh that we've uh sent out our annual pilot billing for the year um and we did collect approximately 336,000 uh in Pilot uh Revenue last year so that that's going to help us in the budget this year I just wanted to highlight that uh next uh the County's new salt Dome at the former uh DPW facility on Ringwood AV uh as we've mentioned before will not be completed for this winter uh I reached out to the burough of Bloomingdale and we have come to an agreement to use their new salt Dome um and all we would have to do is replenish whatever salt we use and we do have existing budget funds uh for that yeah we I I spoke to the are they thinking they're going to have it done they told me the end of December which obviously didn't happen is it going to happen during season or no uh it looks like April 1st ail so it's out for the season right right uh progress continues at the former A1 Auto Body site uh the burough contractor has removed uh over 15 Tons of concrete from the site uh and we're now working on restoration and we will be putting up a split a split rail fence uh to deter traffic and vehicular uh traffic within our property um and then maybe next year we'll convene with the open space committee uh to decide what we'd like to do with that site um but good progress is is moving along with that um and then I did want to address the uh affordable housing uh let's see so regarding the affordable housing um as you know the governor signed new legislation uh in March of last year regarding affordable housing and our obligations amongst all the municipalities in the state of New Jersey um the law changed how affordable housing works and what the obligations are um and now through the Department of Community Affairs through the state of New Jersey uh they've promulgated calculations on how much affordable housing each Town's required to provide for the next round of affordable housing which runs through 2035 so for the next 10 years um Compton Lakes has been given numbers by the state of New Jersey um and we have by January 31st of this year uh tight window that the state has prescribed um we have to either agree with their numbers or disagree with their numbers and then if we disagree with their numbers we have until February 28th of 2025 uh to to file a complaint with our new numbers and how we got those new numbers um as you know and as we discussed before uh We've retained h2m Associates to be our new affordable housing planner uh San sioban who's worked with us before uh is coming to the next council meeting to discuss with you as a board what our obligations are and what her recommendation is going to be for a potential alternate obligation uh to to recommend back to the state of New Jersey um and then I just wanted to highlight that it's important to know that whatever number we determine uh it doesn't mean the construction of that many units or homes um if there isn't enough land if there's problems with things like water and sewer um that would be addressed as part of the ongoing process this is just the initial obligation uh more studies would have to be performed uh to see how much land is available um and if our well if the muas water and sewer systems can even handle that obligation amount um so you know we will have her come to the next meeting and unfortunately we're going to have to make a decision uh at the next meeting well the numbers were pretty close so I don't think we're going to have an issue with the numbers just so the new people understand you know this goes on for many many years this is not something they decide and we fix in a year or two the last obligation which was round three we got we just did a fraction of what they had asked um so they're going to ask us for a large number again and we'll probably end up doing a fraction working towards as long as we're showing work towards what we're doing that's the right thing but sometimes in a small town like 3 m square town it's tough to find land to rebuild on so it becomes a real issue and that's the thing they don't take into account when they're when they're doing this as a process so that's why we hired these Consultants they they know the ins and outs on how to play with these numbers a little bit so they they present to us next meeting are they giving us those numbers on on the proposed projects that could be on all the vacant land in town is that what it is yes they will be both so they're going to give us the number that we ow and then they're going to give us a number what we're hoping we can build that doesn't mean we're going to build okay and that's what they look at that comparison but sometimes we don't get close to that um any any questions for the administration one yeah sorry uh I just wanted to highlight I I sent an email out earlier this week but we did receive a few complaints about Tilcon and dust I just wanted to highlight for the public um after speaking with Tilcon it was explained that their streets s can't run under 30° weather um if they run with water it's going to cause freezing conditions and if they run without water it's going to cause dust conditions um so I just wanted to get that out for the public that they'll resume street sweeping uh hopefully by early March um so just wanted to let the public know about that and that was good because I did also got some calls and and we did reach out to tilot and to learn that they can't run the street sweeper that explains why we're seeing so much dust thank you and then I just wanted to conclude with um tonight this governing body adopted our Teamsters uh Local 11 clerical and DPW Union agreements and I'm just happy to report that all of our four unions uh within the last year have all new agreements and we are uh satisfied for the next three years so just wanted to thank everyone for their work with that um it was a lot of work but all our unions are happy Fair wages on both sides thank you and I got to thank our administrator for you know it's a lot of time and energy that goes into all these meetings to to get there and if both sides are happy at the end of the day that's a that's a plus there's other towns going through some things right now that are just that people are very unhappy in and it's going to get a little ugly so we're we're fortunate that we at least have enough couple years to be in a good spot any questions for the administration two questions um anything going on with the restoration behind the hardware store that property uh yes so we we did and I can get you prior correspondence uh since you've joined a council on this topic um but we have submitted our restoration plan to the State Department of Environmental Protection that restoration plan has been approved we are scheduling a preconstruction meeting uh with the D to to discuss our plans for the restoration which includes the planting of 10 trees uh some fill removal uh some fill along the bank and some vegetation um but we have to wait for the warmer weather for that and then I just wanted to highlight again to the public I know it was talked about a few times um we are enforcing the indemnity Provisions within our contract and there is no cost to the taxpayers um second question you sent an email about a th000 brook trout now who's raising those trouts yes so uh what councilman hinton's referring to is the state again Department of Environmental Protection has a local program with our school schools uh that they have a program where they raise the fish with the students and then they release those fish into approved waterways and Pompton Lakes at herfield Park happens to be one of those waterways and what you saw uh the correspondence on was the permit that allows them to release those in our Waterway so I just wanted to make you aware of that all right who's raising the fish it it's a program uh hosted by the State and and and they engage schools to do that oh so none of our schools are raising I don't believe so any other questions any other questions for the administration okay uh privileg of the floor anybody have privileg with the floor no okay can I have a motion to rejoin into close session councilman Ving councilman Cruz all in favor I against thank you everyone for coming everyone wear record motion to uh come outar session no hold on can't we come in a motion motion motion councilman benon I second second second Council woman kilberg all in favor I against now you can make your oh my God Point fact US senators and US Congressman hold on hold on no close that close that, can't talk you can't Clos session doesn't Le