or the whole meeting. That sure depends on work. I'm going to try to stay as long as I can, but it's kind of an emergency situation, so I don't know how long I better be on for. Okay. Well, I'd like if you're going to be on the meeting to be on the meeting for the whole time. I don't want you just on for, you know, a minute and then
you're off. All right. All right. You know what? All right. Okay. was ready. The following is the agenda for the regular burough council meeting of the burough of Thompson Lakes mayor and council municipal corporation in the
county today. The meeting will begin at 7:30 p.m. on May 14th, 2025 in the municipal building 257 Thompson Lakes consistent with the open public meetings act. The meeting will be open for public comment and shall meet and conditions of
the burough municipal code and bylaw. Please stand for action. I pledge to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, liberty and
justice for all. Please bless this mar and council as they deliver deliberate on the best of Palton Lakes. The conformance with the open public meeting public 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 Bolton Bay municipal building may add to all have requested and paid for same and published in the suburban trends. Roll call, please. Here, sir. Here. Council President here. Councilman Cruz here.
Councilman Hinton here. Councilwoman K here. And Councilman Bennett here. with us this evening is our burough attorney and our burough administrator Michael Dell. Okay. Thank you. Uh under my presentation, it's it's always a sad day
to see one of our council people go. Um you know, Councilwoman Kilberg uh was here for us with two years and you know, I can say this about the fact that she was here. She took the time and energy to learn the system and learn how we do things. She knew and she jumped in to to
listen and to pay attention to how things were run here. She didn't just run and take it her own way. And I give her credit for that because coming into an area that you don't really understand well and trying to understand it quickly is sometimes hard. And I know Mr. Hen feels part of that. Um it takes time to
learn what we're doing up here and and especially when you come from the private sector. Private sector can do things a certain way that a town really can't. Um so you know there's a lot of soreness and red tape and you you come across that and Lisa handled that very well. So, I have to thank you for the
time and energy you put into this into what you've done and into this job. I you know, she's leaving for a good reason. Um I I don't know if you want me to say or not. You're going to say that. Okay. So, with that, I'm going to read a little plaque a half early. She has some words that she'd like to say. Bmpton Lakes presented to Lisa Kilberg,
Councilwoman from 2023 to 2025 in recognition of your dedicated service and leadership to the Burrow of Pompton Lakes. Michael Sarah, mayor, burrow of Pmpton Lakes. You don't want to pick it. [Music] Sure. Just going to read a little
something, but I didn't realize I would be standing facing this way. You can face the face the crowd if you want. Yeah. Okay. It said, "As you all know, I have resigned my position on the council so that I may prepare myself to relocate closer to my family. I wanted to express my heartfelt thanks for the opportunity
to serve alongside all of you. It has been an honor to work with a group of people who are dedicated to the community. I'd like to thank the recreation committee, flood advisory board, environmental protection committee, and the library board for your commitment to the community. It has been a privilege to work with all of
you. While moving on is bittersweet, I leave with great pride in the work we have done together and a deep appreciation for the relationships built along the way. Please accept my sincere gratitude for your support and kindness that was extended to me throughout my time on the council. I am confident that
the council will continue to serve the community with excellence. A special thank you to Michael Carelli and Liz Brandness for all they do to keep the town running. I would like to congratulate the mayor on the birth of his granddaughter and his grandson. And I'd also like to congratulate Dave
Rutenberg on the birth of his grandbaby. I wish your families health, happiness, and many cherished moments. Thank you. Thank you. Okay, we're going to miss you up here. Okay, I have a uh motion to uh um
appoint an alternate role public defender, Alyssa Hascup. Uh can I have a motion? Motion. Council President Palbury. A second. Second. Council Councilman Dennon. Roll call, please. Councilwoman,
excuse me. ask a question on this. Okay, why don't you? I would like to. Um, it says, uh, Mayor Sarah moves with the advice and consent of the council. Um, God bless you for what you do for the town, but I didn't know anything about this
appointment. So, it's Well, you know, when I make the appointment, you get to vote yes or no. Oh, okay. That's how But that's all it is. That's all it is. That's my advice and consent. Yes. Continue. Okay. Continue roll call,
please. Uh, I think you had one. Yes. Councilwoman. Yes. Councilman. Yes. Council Cruz.
Councilman Cruz. Yes. Council H. Sounds like a yes. Okay. Okay. Okay. Since we just heard that our councilwoman uh Kilberg has left the seat, we have to fill the council vacancy. So, we can have a discussion
now on how that works. And I'm gonna let Dave fill us in on a little bit of that first before we So when there is a council vacancy, what happens is that the political party from which the councilman uh is a part of uh provides
three of three uh recommendations to the burrow council and then the burrow council is to act on those uh recommendations within 30 days of the receipt of the resignation of the council person. My understanding is that we have three recommendations from the
uh from the party and so the uh the council has within that 30-day time frame from um councilwoman former councilwoman Tielberg's uh resignation to act on those. This is the first of two meetings in which they will have an
opportunity to act on those. Okay. So any uh any questions on how the process is done? No. Okay. So, does everybody have a motion? Motion to You have to say the name. You have to point someone. Make a motion to appoint
whoever. Um, I'll take my motion back cuz I I would like to make a motion to appoint Anthony Misero. Okay. All right. A motion made for Anthony Misero. Can I have a second? Second. Roll call, please. Can we have a discussion? Sure. Discussion. Sure. My
understanding that Mr. Rouser is running as an independent uh candidate. That was made at at some fireman's event or something. I was told that by a few firemen uh over the weekend. There have been no petitions
filed. He is a registered Republican and was appointed by the Republican County Committee. Did he not make that make that statement? He has filed no petitions. Okay. I think the question is, is he going to file a petition to be a independent? I'm not sure but even if he
does this calendar year of this year and that would not take place until the next year. So that is not an issue for this year. Is that correct? That that's correctly. No, I think I think the council woman is just bringing out to light that we would be disappointed if someone was to switch parties um from
Republican to independent during this if that's going to happen. I don't know if that's going to happen. I guess we'll have to wait and see. But that's not the issue at hand for this motion. Okay. Any other discussion? about Councilwoman Kemp. No, but we should I mean I want to vote on we're Republican and it's a
partisan vote and I want to make sure that anybody whose name is given to us is a Republican. It's going to stay a Republican. So maybe you want to explain for everyone that doesn't understand that whether someone does or does not run as a Republican, the uh as an independent, their party does not
change. Well, he's still a Republican at this point. So I I don't think we have to have that conversation. He has not filed as an independent at this point and the party has appointed him. So he remains a Republican at this time.
Any other discussion? Anything? No. All right. So I need a second on Council President's uh nomination. Councilman Hinton. Roll call, please. Councilman Kent.
No. Councilwoman, yes. Councilman Dale, no. Councilman Cruz, yes. Councilman Hay, yes. Okay. So, the motion passes. Um, I don't
see him here, right? So, you're not going to do any swearing in. We'll That'll be at the next meeting. Um, the resolution is on, but Yeah, we'll take that off. That's fine. Yeah, we won't have to remove that. Yep. Okay.
Uh Liz, whenever you're ready for the uh public. Yep. Authorizing adoption of a budget in the amount of $339,100 for the special improvement district in the B of Conquer Lakes. Motion to open the meeting for public
comment on the 2025 special improvement district. Is it a SID or a bid? I we were always a bid. Now we're a SID. Yes, Mike. It's either or. Okay. Doesn't matter. Okay. Budget. Can I have a motion? Motion. Councilman Bennett.
Second. Councilman Hinton. All in favor? I. Against? I. Any discussion on the budget or any questions on the budget before? And we do have some people from the bid here to answer those if we have any questions. None. Okay.
Motion to close the meeting for public comment on uh public comments. Have a motion. Councilman Dennon. Second. Council President Poldori. All in favor? I. I. Motion to approve unless I'm sorry. Would you like to say something first about it? I have anything you want to
say? Okay. Give me that chance. Motion to approve the 2025 special improvement district, the SID budget for a second reading and final adoption. Motion. Councilman Bennon second. Councilman Hinton. Roll call, please.
Council Lincoln. Yes. Counciloman. Yes. Councilman Ben. Yes. Councilman Cruz. Cruz. Yes. Councilman. Yes.
Okay. Motion to open the meeting for public comments. Motion. Councilman Betty. Need a second. Second, Councilman Hinton. All in favor? I I Anyone of the public like to address, please. Okay, I'll take Steve wants to
go first. Uh, good evening. Steve Bake, 60 scholar. Um, I'm just here as a member of the Fountain Lakes uh prevention coalition and I'm speaking behalf of on uh coordinator Ryan Gassiker and assistant coordinator Dr. P. they couldn't be here tonight, so they asked me to come up and speak. Um, this
Sunday, May 18th, is the annual Walk for Hope. Um, sponsored by the coalition to bring awareness to mental health and substance abuse issues. Um, we'd love as many people from the community to attend as the goal is to have 400 participants. Um, Ryan and Dr. Pete also wanted to extend a formal invitation to the mayor
and council. Um, it was great seeing you all in unity last year at the event and, uh, we just hope you all can attend again this year. Great. Thank most of us will be there. So, thank you. Thank you. Please step up. Good evening, Alexander Court. I'm a
little bit confused. I have a question. I always thought there was a difference between a bid and a SID. I thought so, too. Business improvement district is what ours is. A SID, as what I believe Patterson has, is a special improvement district, and you get reduced uh sales
tax, right, in that special improvement district. So my question is if we're going to get the discount on our sales tax, I'll take it. But otherwise, we should specify it cuz it doesn't say that in the uh thank you words. Um anyone else from public like to
address? Seeing no one, motion to close the public session. So move. Council President Paul second. Councilman Hinton. All in favor? I against. Thank you, Mr. Beg. we will uh keep it in mind. I think we'll get a good showing and it's always a
good event and and they do a great job at that alliance. So, I'm I'm looking forward to being there. Al, I am Mr. Evangelist. I'm sorry. We uh agree uh I will agree with you. I've always called it a bit uh in all the years that I've been involved. Um it's first I've heard
Sid and there is a difference I know that between Sid and Bid. So, we should distinguish that as we move forward. We've always listed it that way on the agenda. Uh but we'll certainly consult with our attorney after the fact. Do you have anything to say at this point? No. Like I said, that's how it has been done for 10 years. Bid is correct. Yeah, it
is business improvement. We'll number check it. We'll call we'll contact you. Okay, great. Thank you. Okay. Motion to approve the following minutes. Regular meeting minutes, April 23rd, 2025. Close session meeting minutes, April 23rd, 2025. Can I have a
motion? Motion Councilman Bennett. Second. Councilman Hinton. All in favor? I against uh authorizing the payments of bills in the uh amount of 5,656,745.60 as listed below. Can I have a motion?
Motion. Councilman Hinton. Second. Councilman Bennett. All in favor? I I uh that's the agenda. Anybody need anything removed? Uh, yes. Okay. 25 178.
178. 251 184. Hold on. 178. Okay. Is that one? 251 184. Okay. Just like to hear some talk about 251 193. Um
25195 and that's all. Thank you. Anybody else? Okay, Liz, accept those couple. Let's do the rest. Where's the mayor of Burough Council of the Burough Council consent agenda consisting of proposed resolutions?
Whereas the mayor burough council of the burough contemplates does desire to remove resolution for individual action from that agenda. Now therefore be it resolve the following resolution from the consent agenda. I hereby approve resolution
25-17 through 25- 197 and we're going to move 25 1784 193 and 195. Okay. Can I have a motion? motion. Council done council
presidenti. All in favor? I against I. Okay. 25178. I I'm I'm assuming it's just a tax refund. Go ahead. Authorizing refund of partial quarters 24 through 25 taxes.
Which question? question was um those are a lot of quarters that were refunding taxes and the lot and block was blacked out and the address was blacked out. Was there any reason for that? Yes, Councilman, this is due to the fact that the property owner is on
what's called Daniel's law exemption. uh meaning that the individual uh is classified under Daniel's law as protected and uh in accordance with state statute, we the burrow cannot release the uh address of that
individual to any via any uh public means. Whether it's a resolution, an agenda, it's on our website, it's on our social media pages, the resident is wholly protected and our burough clerk manages who's on that list. Uh it's been
in effect for about you know 3 to four years at this point. So thank you though. I can understand. Thank you. Okay. 25184 uh ultimate drug employment representative from just a question on is there a stipen
with that appointment? Uh no uh councilman. So th this is uh again this is our drug employer representative. What this is is uh the US DOT sets forth criteria for uh our truck drivers that
have CDL licenses and those that are have their CDL license are subject to uh random drug testing throughout the year. And in reviewing our personnel manuals with our labor attorney, you know, it's come to our realization that we never uh
appointed a drug enforcement representative, VER it's called. Uh so in the interimm we're looking to appoint an official deer for the burrow and then when we release our employee handbook later this year we will then codify that
appointment uh moving forward. Okay. So as of right now there's no stipen and to answer your question no it's part of the duties. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. 25193 rejection of the bids. Uh Michael will explain that the bids came in too high but go ahead Michael.
Thank you mayor. Uh so as the council's aware, we accepted bids, public bids for the Willowfield Improvements Project on May 7th. We received four biders. We had a dozen biders pick up bid packages from our engineers's office. However, we only
had four bids. Uh, as you can see in the enclosed spreadsheet from our burough engineer, uh, all three of the four bids that came in exceeded our construction cost estimate and our amount of available funding for
the project. The lowest responsive responsible bidder uh, was within our budget at the time of the bid. However, the uh contractor notified our burough engineer that he would be withdrawing his bid due to circumstances out of his
control. So that leaves us with only three biders at this point. Again, all of which exceed our amount of available funding. So, in accordance with the local public contracts law of the state of New Jersey, uh if you do not change
the uh if you do not substantially change the bid specifications and construction cost estimate by more than 10% of the estimate, uh you can go out to bid two times before you can negotiate with any willing contractor.
Um, now as an aside, I met with the burough engineer and the little league the other day and as you can recall in our discussions about this, we had talked about how we're overconervative with our quantities and with our numbers and and estimates of the project. We
always want to make sure we have enough available funding for the project. Um, so I think as a strategy, we're going to be looking to reduce some of the quantities to be less conservative, to be more uh tightened and in line with what we specifically need uh to kind of
get the price a little down under uh what we have in available funding. Uh so again, we're looking to go out to bid again uh sometime within the next 3 weeks and then we will accept bids again. And at that point, again, if the bid specifications are less than 10% of
a change, we can then negotiate with a contractor after that point. And we are also hoping that some of the bids come in uh lower than the last bid. That would be helpful. You do? So, we're going to rebid them and see how it works. Yeah. Good. Thank you. Okay.
25195 shared service agreement with the Bur Bloomingdale for mechanical services. Mike, that you will go. Thank you, Mayor. Uh, yeah. You had a question. Uh, my question was I was just looking at the pricing on this. Um, we're looking at uh
9,166 a month. Um, over $110,000 for the year. Um, I've kind of figured out between $420 to $460 a day for this contract. Now, and on what I
understand also from DPW is they just work on the vehicles. They don't work on any lawnmower equipment. They don't work on any snowplow equipment. Um, which is a necessity for the
functioning of our DPW. Um, is are we looking at this? They don't use a co-op to buy parts or vehicles. Yes. So, this has been a topic for over a year now at this point. Uh, so this right here is a carryover shared service agreement to
carry us through June 1st. Uh, this vendor has been our vendor for several years. However, the DPW superintendent and I have negotiated a new contract with a separate vendor which will be discussed at next council meetings workshop agenda. Uh so again, this
resolution just carries us through because Bloomingdale has been servicing us for the time being. Uh there is a there is a monthly amount in the resolution. I will note though that I uncovered an error in the shared service agreement that lists a yearly amount. Uh so we're going to fix that on the back
end. But like I said, at the next council meeting, you're going to be introduced with the new proposal to take out the DPW from this um and to bring in a vendor that could fully service us with all kinds of services, including providing parts. So, it would be a
centralized program that we would be able to accurately budget for moving forward. And again, they would service our snow plows, our snow equipment, our salters, our garbage trucks, and provide all of the parts for all of our equipment. Uh, again to centralize, you
won't see part invoices on our bills list anymore. It's just going to be from this one vendor, but we're going to talk about it at the next meeting. I had a question, too. Then I was going to pull that one cuz you and I have been going through this for more than a year now. Um, this is to continue to get us
through June until we discuss removing DPW, but this shared service agreement covers more than just DPW, doesn't it? Yes. So, what happens to the rest of the contract for the remaining departments and vehicles? I Yes, I've spoken with the fire department, uh, the first aid
squad, and, you know, over the course of the last several months. Uh, they tend to like the services that Bloomingdale provides. Um, so Bloomingdale has provided me with a separate proposal at a very reduced rate to service those vehicles moving forward. And again,
we're not necessarily having a parts issue with those vendors necessarily. I mean, on occasion we run into issues, but from my perspective, our issues have been with the DPW fleet. Uh, so again, we're looking to take that out, but we're going to have more details at the next meeting. This just carries our
bills through at this point. So then there'll be a revised contract for if we go ahead with the DPW contract. The contract for the remaining vehicles will be revised. This will be Mullen Boy then. Yes. Yes. This it's only through June, right?
Okay. Motion to approve the resolutions that we just list spoke about. Motion 84, 93, 95, and 78. Uh, council president have a second. Second. Councilman Hinton, roll call, please.
Yes. Council, yes. Council, yes. Councilman Cruz. Council Cruz. Yes. Councilman. Yes. Okay. A resolution for separate action
authorizing the issuance of not exceeding 4,388,222 bonding disination notes for the Burough Park Lakes in the county. Motion to approve resolution 25-197. Motion. Not. Councilman
Bennett, get a second. Second. Anybody didn't do a second. I'll second it. But see, you never picked me though. Okay. Well, I didn't hear it. Yeah. Have you said your name? I three times I tried. Okay. It's hard to hear. I'm sorry. I I'll second. Okay. Councilwoman Kent. Um, roll call,
please. Uh, Councilman Kent, yes. Counciloman, yes. Councilman Benny, yes. Cruz, Cruz, yes. Councilman H. Yes. Okay. Ordinances.
Ordinances will be presented for second reading and final adoption May 28th. Ordinance 25/19, an ordinance amending chapter 14, refuge and recycling of the revised general ordinances of the burough conflict and amending the fee for collection of tires.
Motion to approve ordinance 25-9 for introduction. Motion. Councilman Bennett. Second. Councilman Hinton. Uh roll call. Councilwoman Kent, yes. Counciloman Kiori, yes. Councilman Bennett, yes.
Councilman Cruz, Cruz, here. Councilman Hint, yes. Ordinance 2520, an ordinance chapter 11 revis General ordinances confirmation amending the insurance requirement for
events in public. Motion to approve ordinance 25-20 for introduction. Second. I mean I mean commission. So now he council. Can I have a second? Second. Councilman Bennett roll. Can we have discussion on that one? Discussion.
Sure. Just if you could just review general discussion on that. Of course. Uh thank you council president. So uh we recently received an application for a boat launch out of Lakeside Park. Um and we had had sent it to our risk manager to
just review and make sure everything was okay. and our risk manager came back with some suggestions on the insurance provisions as part of the code that more wholly related to park permits is the specific section that it's that it's in. Uh so again, our risk manager is
recommending that we require uh insurance for individuals who take out permits, right? We give permits to organizations and groups and and businesses. uh but we don't have a provision on uh individual insurance again for individuals that take out
permits. So they are recommending uh that change in the code uh with minimum with a minimum limits of liability of not less than 500,000. And then under paragraph uh B they looked at our hold harmless language um and they had some recommendations on our hold harmless
form that we provide to the applicant. Uh so they revised our hold harmless form and it's an addendum to the application moving forward. Uh so we should be good to go with all of our insurance requirements for this. So the request was made by an individual to
launch the boat. That's correct. Do we I know we had requests for groups that were running events and we were charging for that. But do we typically I I was always under the impression that you just launched your boat. I didn't realize that people actually reached out and made requests for permits for that. Yes. I'm I'm I'm mistaken that it was a
request by a group and when the risk manager was reviewing it, they brought up this individual change that's needed. So what spurred it was a group that was coming in. So we're charging Yes. Yes. We're charging fees for them to use that as a group, right? That's correct. Okay.
Yeah. Thank you. Okay. Um where was I? Uh a roll call. Councilwoman, yes. Councilomanori, yes. Councilman Bennett, yes. Councilman
Cruz, yes. Councilman H. Yes. [Music] Final adoption. These ordinances have been advertised. bond ordinance appropriating appropriating 933,500 and author authorizing the
issuance of 886,825 bonds or not to the burrow for various improvements for purposes authorized to be undertaken by the burough company and the county for sale. Motion to open the meeting for public comment on ordinance 25-17.
Motion Councilman Bennett second. Councilwoman Kent. All in favor? I against anyone just to address this ordinance. Seeing no one motion to close the meeting for public comments on ordinance 25-17. Could I ask a question on this or
too late? Just curious of the utility vehicle from the police department. What is that? No. Thank you, Councilman. That that is to replace a vehicle from the detective bureau that has uh gone in complete disrepair at this point. Uh that that is needed to be replaced. Uh,
so we're looking to replace the detective bureau's uh Dodge uh direct if I'm not mistaken. So that's considered a utility vehicle. That's just the way our bond council writes it. But yeah, it's a vehicle for the detective bureau. Also, uh it says the civic center by
renovation thereof together with all of the afterward all landscaping, engineering, design, site work, equipment work. Um I thought we were from the new construction. Meridia was paying for the That's correct. But the
ordinance is written in a way by the bond council uh that if in the future we need to use the money for any of those purposes, they write it that way. That way we're not tied up in the future. You know, if they had written it, you know, that that this ordinance is only to replace the roof and we had this great
pool of money, but then the sink broke. Technically, you can't use the money for that. So, this covers everything that could go wrong. But again, goes to your point, this is just for the interior furnishings, the the kitchen and the conference room and the offices. So, there's some talk that we're going to
put some for historic some shelving with inside that they're going to keep a lot of historic memorabilia that we have on the inside of that. So, that would be the cost of that. Okay. Thank you. Okay. Um, where was I? Motion to close. Did I close the public session list? It is. I
did. Okay. Motion to approve ordinance 25-17 for final adoption. Motion. Councilman Bettton. Second. Councilwoman Kent. Roll call, please. Councilwoman Kent. Yes. Council.
Yes. Council. Yes. Councilman Cruz. Yes. Councilman. Yes. Page 2518, an ordinance amending chapter 10 animal control of the revised general ordinances of the viral council. Motion
opened for public comments on ordinance 25-18 motion. Councilman Bennett second. Councilman Hidden. All in favor? I against uh anyone from the public like to address just this ordinance? Seeing no one motion to close the
meeting for public comments on ordinance 25-8. Motion. Council President Palori, Councilman Venon. All in favor? I against motion to approve ordinance 25-18 for final adoption. Motion. Councilman Venon. Councilman Hinton.
Roll call, please. Councilwoman, yes. Council member, yes. Councilman Bennett, yes. Councilman Cruz, yes. Yes. Okay. Thank you. Okay. Random my report. I had to accept the resignation
of Melissa Huha as a trustee of the library board of trustee leaving unexpired term until 12:3126. I'm just accepting that. Um under my report uh I attended the river cleanup. Always a good event even though the
weather didn't cooperate 100%. We got a ton of uh a ton of tonnage uh collected there. I mean, I think the biggest item which we couldn't get out was by some people sitting in this audience. Uh, a very large and wet couch that's been sitting in the lake for a long time, but
I think if I understand correctly, the uh, police boat came out and helped pull pull that out. But good group of people. I have to thank Steven Beg and the environmental committee for putting that all together. Uh, well organized, wellrun, a lot of people there. Unfortunately, a good part when we went
back to eat, it started to pour, so a lot of people didn't really show up for that part of it. But thank everybody for showing up and taking care of their own community you live in. It's an important thing in this town when you think about keeping our our community clean by our own residents. That's a big deal. Um I attended the open space meeting where
there was a lot of discussion about um some future projects they'd like to see and they're going to come back uh with some ideas that they might have. I attended the Rotary Beef Stake, a great event put together, you know, well well organized, a lot of people there. Good to see people from town supporting the
Rotary. who really does good work here in town and and they're always looking for for uh donations and help with anything they do. Uh had a couple meetings with uh about our COA obligation, which if you're not familiar with the COA obligation, every four or five years we have to redo it. They're
redoing it now. Uh it's very involved. It we have to hire experts to figure this out. And when we we're talking about it, you know, we're a three-mile square town. to find places to build uh income housing is very difficult because we're pretty much built up. So, they have to identify areas and that's what
they're in the process of doing as we move forward in this new obligation that we'll have. We also had a meeting with uh Chil Chilton Hospital just to see what our needs are. You know, they reach out every year or two to kind of reach out to the local communities to see what
kind of needs they think they can bring to uh our community, things that we're interested in. So we we spoke with them. They were very accepting over the ideas we gave them and they're going to bring it back to their boards and see if there's some ways they can help us in in our area. Every town is different in every need that they might need from
from a hospital. So you know we're lucky enough to have Chilton as a close enough hospital to us which is a big advantage. So I'm glad that they stay involved in the communities. I had numerous meetings with the administrator over over some positions movement in in town.
Uh let's see. And uh that is my report. I think I got something here I can't read. Council President Paul. Thank you. First I want to thank Councilwoman, former council woman Lisa Kilberg for her time and dedication. Um not only did we serve as
fellow council women, but we also were running mates and friends. And it was an absolute pleasure and an honor to watch you work and learn up here. And I want to thank you for all your support. You clean the sounding board. You will be missed. Congratulations on the birth of your first grandchild and your big move.
Thank you for everything. Um, I also want to thank Rotary for another outstanding beast stake. It was well attended. I appreciate all that they do for our community and the causes that they serve with the funds that they raised. So, thank you for that. Um, I want to congratulate our officers that
participated in this year's police unity tour. And on behalf of the coalition, I have a few announcements for first, uh, on behalf of Ryan Gossiper, he would like to thank everyone that participated in the 2025 Sticker Shock campaign, which was held last Saturday. Uh, they partner
with the Hawk program at Pmpton Lakes High School and our police department. They shared a lot of pictures. It was a very productive event. They have two more back-to-back events coming up this weekend. Uh, first there is the Cardinal Coalition Diamond Classic which is
taking place on Saturday, May 17th. Uh, and that's from 10:00 a.m. Uh, and the first game is at 10:00 a.m. The second game is at 12:00 p.m. and that is at Independence Park in Riverdale. Uh, they did this not so long ago for basketball. It was a great turnout. They had a lot of activities for family. So, uh, please
consider attending if you're looking for something to do on Saturday. And then again on Sunday there is the Walk for Hope. Uh it was a tremendous turnout last year. That is at the high school starting at 9:00 am. There is no rain date. Um so you know, please come dress prepared. Ryan has informed me that they
have a little over 100 ponchos to hand out if we do have rain that day. So I hope to see everyone there as well. Um I was informed by Dan with the DPW that we are finally to the point of uh the installation of the the flags for heroes
banners. I believe they will uh start to be hung on this coming Wednesday. So, just in time for the parade and I'm looking forward to seeing them as well. I also want to well I also I have a suggestion or or an ask and uh a
question. So, first I was speaking with um Sue and Valerie from the bid briefly before I brought it up here. Michael, perhaps this is something you can help me out with. on social media at the same time in two different places. There were uh two two residents and then other residents that kind of piggybacked on
that asking about seating uh if we had seating or anywhere to sit or you know enjoy food when they when they shop uptown anywhere on Wanqav and then simultaneously on another thread someone had asked about having a dedication made to a past loved one at Rotary Park. So,
it got me thinking that perhaps um with the bid, if possible, we could find a way to see if um there would be a way to have some benches installed sporadically along Wanqav and we could see if it's something we could work in as a way that some of them could be either purchased
or or donated through the bid uh in memorandum of individuals that were looking to have benches donated for loved ones. So, I know it's county. Perhaps we can look into seeing if there can be some seating along WQF. Yeah, absolutely. We can look into some sort
of bench uh donation policy, if you will. I know some other towns have been talking about that. Uh so, we can look into that. Coincidentally, we have a bid meeting tomorrow, so I'll talk with the bid folks as well, I believe. And we also talked about doing a walkway maybe of stone in front of the library. I
spoke to Mr. Hinton about it. uh you know, we can't we can't supply a ton of benches if people start asking, but we could buy bricks that people can donate with their name on it and maybe think about some places to do that and just keep expanding that as it goes. So, if somebody has a loved one or somebody who wants to put in a brick would be an
easier way to do this. So, that's something we should we're going to also have Michael look into a little bit. Thank you. I'll report back. Thank you. I appreciate that. Um and then, you know, I know perhaps that's something we can look at sharing or or putting out. And uh then the other thing I wanted to ask is I was approached by one of the
homeowners. I believe it's Wanu AB rear that has some concerns uh and it's not the first I've heard of it, but there is some increased concerns about what traffic's going to look like when the Meridia project is occupied. And I'm not really sure, but I believe that that one
of those roads off of Wanu out through the back parking lot is a oneway. And her question was, who owns that BFW? It's not even really called BFW way. Who owns that road? And is it possible to look at perhaps alternating one ways on
the four roads that are there? So, can you find some information out on that road? This actually came up at some time in the past at a bid meeting on actually who owned that road. Was Lindsay. Lindsay D. Yeah, I'll look into it for you and we'll report back. Okay. I know that the owner of the home that asked me
this has been in contact with Lindsay about it and I don't think there would be any press back as far as having that established as a oneway. I don't know if you're aware of this, but there are four roads that lead off of Waniku to that back parking lot and they really are single lane roads. So if in if traffic
increases over the next couple years, it's going to get dangerous there. Okay. Yeah, we'll talk with our ber engineer and we'll come back with some recommendations. Okay, perfect. Thank you. And that is my report. Thank you. Uh, Council Mckette. Oh, thank you, Mayor. I want to congratulate you, Mayor, for your two new grandchildren.
And thank God your daughters are doing very well and and I also want to congratulate uh ex Councilwoman Lisa Kilberg for her beautiful grandson. And I am going to definitely miss you. We we campaigned together. We worked together.
You took all my hard uh committees and they didn't want me back. They wanted you back. So, I guess you're doing a really good job. So, um but I wish you all the best. I wish Dennis, I wish you all the best as well and we will miss you very much. Um, so Hersfield, so good
news is the Hersfield park playground is at its final stage and the equipment was installed. However, we still trying to get the mulch installed and spread properly. It has to be, I believe, over at least 1 ft in depth. Uh, with the rain, it has not happened yet. And they
had some problems with the uh, installation of some concrete. So they had to redo uh the contractor had to redo a couple things. So it should be done pending the weather. Uh I guess this coming week or so it will be announced. Uh number of people asked you
know where do I go to with the gra with the children and you know we still have Pacificico Gallow. We have Styles Court or Styles Park and we do all have Lakeside Park. So we do have parks for the children. Um you're not really stuck at home. You just have to you know go to a different park. They're all wonderful
parks. They're all different and they have different equipment. So, try the parks until uh we can actually get you back on to Hersfield. The DPW report is that our landscape crews have been diverted to garbage and the recycling uh due to some
personnel issues and injury. Well, no, they haven't been diverted. Some of them some Yeah, some have. But the we've had a quite a few questions about the parks and the the grass. I'm just going to ask that you please try to just bear with them a little bit. The intense rains uh
stop them from doing the grass cutting because you can't cut grass. You can't cut wet grass with the equipment. It it wrecks the equipment. So, just give them another uh you know, give them a little time and and it it will get it'll get better. Okay. So, just, you know, uh Katie Cole Park is is one that I know
came up to a couple people and it it will get done. I we promise it has been done. It has been done. Oh, okay. I I didn't I didn't get his final report. Good. So, see it does happen. Um, last week I was away pretty much at a New Jersey State Federation
Women Club convention. uh over 350 women from all over the state of New Jersey came and our local club took two state reports for uh second and third place for women's history and child adv advocacy awareness along with grand prizes for their achievement awards
including crafts quilting and baking and uh we're very proud to bring these awards back to our club members and they will be be displayed in June in our uh cases out in the hallway. Our police department display
case is here. I want to thank you, Michael. I know you worked very hard on that. And um we're going to be I guess the police uh uh chief will be putting the police awards in that case. That'll be their case to display all of the awards that they have. And we'll be
taking pictures. And I'm happy to say the hallway is done. Okay, it's pretty much done. So, it took a little while, but that's it's it was worth every ounce of of uh time and money. And um I want to thank the DPW for the beautiful work
that they did and um all of their support throughout this. And I also want to thank Liz, our clerk, for working with them on that whole issue. The most beautiful shade tree contest is up and running. We are accepting photos for trees that you feel that are possibly
outstanding in town. And if you want to enter the contest, please just go to the Shadtree website. And if you have any questions, you can come see me or or uh one of our any of our commissioners that are on the Share Tree Commission at Shadtreempton
Lakes-N.gov. We're looking to award a number of different um trees for, you know, maybe their their height, their beauty, their their flowers, whatever. So, that's something new we're looking forward to to holding. I also attended the Rotary Club Beast Stake. It's a
soldout event. The Bloomingdale Fire Department did an excellent job. It was really wonderful to see all of the the folks from the bid and Paul, thank you so much from the Rotary. They did an excellent job and uh we had a very good time and I also signed all the bills.
So, we're paid and that is my report. Thank you. I should mention because it's been brought up a couple times. I I had two grand a grandson and a granddaughter this last week. Both my daughters went into labor a half hour apart from each other um unexpectedly of course. So I
was blessed with a girl and a boy in the last week. So everybody's doing well and thank you for all the concern. Oh may I have just I forgot. Sure go. I attended the river cleanup and I have to tell you it was amazing even though there was a threat of all that rain and it actually did occur. What' you have like 80 people
85 people? 76 76 people. Amazing amount of people came and I want to thank Steve Beg and the environmental protection committee uh for putting that thing on. They had awesome handouts, great shirts and um it's what the 23rd event 23rd. Uh
yeah. Yeah. So it's that's a re and people from all over the state come to that. So I want to give you a lot of credit on that and it's a really wonderful event. Thank you very much for mention that. Okay. Okay. Uh, Councilman Bennett. Thank you, Mayor. Uh, to piggy
back off that, I want to thank Steve Beg, environmental protection committee, and the all the volunteers for the river cleanup. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend this year. I was in Ohio with Pompton Lakes High School uh music department chaperoning uh their field trip to um a music
festival. Um the band booster Pin Lakes High School band booster trick uh was a couple weeks ago and that was successful. Thank you to all who um participated. Thank you to the uh Rotary Club for an awesome evening at the Beef Steak in in Bloomingdale. Uh trails
maintenance was last Saturday. Since it was the week after the river cleanup, there was much less to do. Um Keith Jennings and I just cleared some grass from uh the the bike rack near the trail trail head there and uh they went on to
do a couple minor other things around the trails. The next trails maintenance is scheduled for June 1st at 10:00 a.m. So that's a Sunday. Uh we meet near the MUAF. So if you plug in 2000 uh Lincoln A, uh that's you'll find where we are uh
that morning. And that is my report, ma'am. Thank you. Uh Councilman Cruz, any report? Uh no, mayor. Okay. Thank you. Uh Councilman hit. Yes. Thank you, Mayor. Um, a motion to approve the request of the Pumpton Lakes
High School to close Lakes I have from the Ponhole entrance to Adrian Street on Wednesday, June 18th, 2025 from 400 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. for 2025 high school graduation ceremony
that will commence at 6:30. Rain dates Thursday, June 19th, 2025 and Friday, June 20th, 2025 with a time to be determined depending on the weather forecast, police, fire, and first aid to
be notified. Can I have a second? Second. Council President Paulori. All in favor? I. Against. Okay. Um, I attended uh the open space meeting um talking about the lakeside dock to be installed within 3 weeks. So that was a
good start. Um the Hfield Park bridge August start for that. Um let's see. Boat house in Hersfield, the design has been completed. Two handicap bathrooms.
um prices to be put out for a new gazebo at Lakeside Park. Oh, emergency services doing their job. Thank you. Um so there's a lot going on with open space. Um at the time of the open space meeting, u Mr. Mr.
Mayor, in all due respect, you had said to the open space committee that we're going to start picking up uh Oakland's garbage in January, but as of right now, that has not been voted on. Yeah, it has. So, uh I think that was just a tad
of a premature announcement. Okay. Yes, you want to say that. We can say that. Okay. Um thank you. Um, also I attended the uh trails committee meeting on June 7th, 10:00 a.m. the National Trails Day.
So, um, excited about that. Um, I have a sign that if we could pass this down to Liz that the coordinator of the trails committee would like to be hung in the municipal building on the billboard if she
could. Thank you. Um, they're going to ask uh burrow administrator Carelli for paint and refreshments uh to do on put up on the new signs. So, I think Mrs. Venon's going to email you on that. Um, they
also had a question on um an emergency question. Uh, the trails, they're unsure if all the police know the color of the trail. God forbid something happens to somebody on the trail and they called into an emergency to the police
department and say, "I'm on the red trail." Well, if they can work coordinate with the police department to make sure all the officers or emergency personnel know where those trails are. I don't know the answer if they do or don't, but it's a good point. They
should if they don't. So, so um Michael, can we reach out or who's my liazison? Lisa. Oh, Lisa. Lisa, could you reach out? Well, the new person will, but Michael, can you Yes. Yes. Okay. Um, so that was a pretty important point that they wanted to do. Um, also I had
conversations with Dan Ror. Dan Ror mentioning on the lower end of Lincoln Avenue, there's a lot of, and we can work with uh, Councilwoman Kent on this also. There's a lot of um, dead ash in that area. Standing dead ash trees, one
huge one right by the trail. Um, so I was uh Mrs. Venon is also on the flood advisory board. The discussion I had with Dan O'or about if we can't go in, it's very expensive. Our administrator will tell you to remove all those trees
or if we could just hire a down street service to go in there and just drop them. So my question to Mrs. Venon was if we just dropped them, would that be a flood hazard issue? um she felt and that in the entanglement
of everything, even if we did have a flood, those logs laying there wouldn't really go anywhere. So, um it's something that we all could work on. That would be a question for our engineer, I guess, cuz they would have to let us know. The engineer flood advisory because the D might have regulations, and I don't know if they do
or don't, that we can't just drop trees in flood zones. I don't I don't know. Well, the whole aspect of it is like Mrs. has been pointed out is we either drop them or they fall or they're going to fall themselves. So I don't know whe the D would have a problem with it. Well, have you met the D? Um yeah, we've
been doing some dealings with the D. Yes. Um so that was a it was a pretty good meeting. I wasn't able to work with them on the trails. I had another meeting to go to, but uh they're a pretty efficient group and
uh we respect them. Um, I had a meeting at the MUA. Um, they're going to be working on Styles Court. They're doing a valve repair, so there might be some water shut down. Um, happened to do a wedding at that house where they're doing it yesterday at the house and they
had no water yesterday for the wedding. They were a little upset about you were kind of on the spot, I would guess. I didn't I said I don't work for these. Um they're going to start work on the uh pump station behind Max and that's a
issue we have to talk about. Um I attended the Sha Tree Commission as a resident which was nice and brought up some topics for um the liaison Mrs. Kent and um the trees at the DPW. We still
have three 10 trees to be planted. So they're all working on that. Um, but there was an issue for the past 2 years now at 940 Puquanic Avenue. It's a dead asht tree on private property. And it
was brought up at a time with our building inspector and our property maintenance man. And they stated that property maintenance doesn't do trees. Now, from what I understand from our New Jersey certified tree expert, arborist,
John Linson, every town that he's ever been in, they do do trees. It's part of property maintenance. When you say do trees, meaning what's that? In other words, if there's this is a dead dying tree. There's a This is in a red zone. This is where the kids cross for Lincoln
School. Uh there's a lot of large dead limbs on this tree that are over the sidewalks. So this is a threat to pedestrians and um so our forester I would think would have to look at that. He did. Okay. So I I would it be might correct me if I'm wrong. It would be his
recommendation of what we should do at that point. So mayor just so clarif I I I I u sent an email to Michael and identified seven items that were of that. Yeah, I saw that email. Yeah. And so Michael is going to is working on that right now and as soon as
he gets an answer, he's going to respond to us. Unless you already have the answer and I don't want to I don't want to take up your Well, the answer is that we've known about this tree for some time now. Uh and our building inspector is correct that our code does not uh specify that we govern private trees and
the maintenance thereof. Uh and that really it's a civil dispute between neighbors if there's a tree. uh if it is a hazard, which this one was, we had sent out our forester to look at it just as a safety precaution because again, it's within the school zone. Uh he
confirmed that it was a hazard, but again, it's a private tree. It's not within the rightway. So, as good stewards, we informed the homeowner that they have a hazardous tree. And I mean, we put them on notice and that's really all that we can do. Again, we can't we
don't have anything in our We have no authority to go on private, right? We don't understand issue a notice violation for I understand that completely. But that's a hazardous situation and it has to be taken care of. But if it's on private property,
unfortunately, we can't tell them to do anything. This is a dangerous situation for our school children. I I and I'm sure it is and I believe you. But we still can't make them take a tree down. Even if it's dangerous, it's on their property. this data. We have we have done what we we
are able to do which is we've put the homeowner on notice that they have a dangerous condition. That's all I can do. It's still there. That that notice is ineffective. It's not working. But we could follow up with another
notice. They're not going to get fine. Is that is that what you're asking? That's not going to happen. I'm not asking for any fine. I'm asking for the treated go by who? By us. whoever. Now, on all tree issues that I've dealt with through the years, any part of the tree
that hangs over, next property owners, that property has every right to cut right straight up to the to the good lord. They do. So then we have the same right on our property on our property on burrow right away. Straight up to the
good lord. Correct. So if we need to prune that tree, we should be able to do that. Is it hanging over the roadway? Anything hanging over the sidewalk property. Okay. Anything over the sidewalk is barrel right away. Yeah. I'm just I I didn't hear that part of this that that
was hanging over the right way. So the question becomes though, the part that's hanging over the sidewalk, is that the dangerous part? Of course. Okay. So that's something we can if it's on our property and correct me if I'm wrong. No, if if it is over our property, we are permitted to to trim that.
Absolutely. And then send them a bill. Can we send them a bill? Micro, can we not? No, it's within the rightway. No. Okay. All right. So then we'll address. But then the point my point is going to be then if it's not in our ordinance that trees are not part of
property maintenance, it's time we change the ordinance and make trees part of property maintenance. Well, I would say that you're getting yourself involved in neighborly disputes moving forward and that every tree between every private fence and every
property, you're now having to go testify in court for that matter, which only costs time and money from our construction and property maintenance officials. However, we could certainly have a fruitful discussion about we can look at that. I I do we just need to
work on this. Yeah, absolutely. Thank you. Um, also I was just want to thank the people for the river cleanup. I usually am there, but I couldn't make it. So, I just want to thank you all for all that you've done. Um, I attended the Rotary
Beef Stake. Another good time. Good affair. And uh we had uh a fallen tree today on Ringwood Avenue by Spring Pond across from Cross Street. fell
right completely across the road. Police showed up. Uh DPW got there and uh cut it up and pushed the side of the road. I just want to thank them for all that they did today. And uh that is my report. Okay. A little lengthy like Mrs. Kent sometimes,
but uh thank you. I do a lot too. Attorney's report. One last one last thing. Oh, sure. I want to thank Councilwoman Gilbert for all she's done. I just got to know her on the council and uh a wonderful
person, an excellent council woman and I wish you all the luck in the world with your new grandbaby. Thank you. Thank you. I'll just follow on the heels of that and say it was a pleasure working with you uh councilwoman. Good luck with everything uh going forward. Um, and the only other
thing I'll note is that it's my understanding that for uh reasons entirely beyond his control, um, Councilman Cruz uh signed out of the meeting at about 8:25. Um, okay. If you could uh record
that. Do you want to mention anything about the COA? We were talking anything. We're still in discussion. No, we're still in discussion. You covered it. Well, um 8:30. Okay. Okay. Thank you, Mayor. Uh please be
advised that the schedule for the Doors Highway improvements project again, which consists of the resurfacing of Doors Highway from Riverdale Boulevard to River Edge Drive has been amended uh and will begin on or about Monday, June 2nd. Uh again, the first three weeks
consist of ADA curb ramps, concrete and drainage improvements, and the milling and paving will occur uh thereafter during uh the month of late June. Uh so we're looking forward to that project. Um, I sent an email today that uh JCPNL,
our partners at JCPNL will be hosting a public information session here at the Burough Hall on Monday, June 16th at 6:30 p.m. Uh, you know, as everyone knows, there's been a statewide issue
with inflating uh energy costs, and our representative has offered to come to Pompton Lakes to uh answer any questions from our residents. Uh, so we're looking forward to that and we will record that on the TV channel. Uh, so that's to be
seen. Uh, as Councilwoman Kent covered, the installation of the Hersfield Park playground is complete and the park is scheduled to be open by Monday afternoon. Uh, so we're looking forward to that and we have some things to work on ribbon cutting and we have a contest that is going to go on. So we're going
to talk about that in the future and reaching out to the schools for that. Perfect. Uh the burrow is in the process of scheduling our annual road resurfacing program which is scheduled for this summer. Uh the candidates that were included are Laurel Avenue and
Spruce Street. Uh in addition to the resurfacing of the Hersfield Park basketball court, uh which is funded in part by a prior donation from the Pmpton Lakes PL uh club. So we're looking forward to that and help from Tilcon. Right. We're going to get some and a donation from Tilkcon. That's correct.
So, thank you to Toon for their partnership on that. Um, and a point was brought up today about what our list of road candidates looks like. I had to dig that up. So, I'm going to get that out to everyone. Thank you. Uh, and get that to you. So, thank you for that. Can I
ask on that list, is that the newest list that we did or is that an old list that we did prior to you? It's new. It's pretty new. It's a new list. Okay. On that list, you could put Short Street, which is Short Street. Thank you. between Acriman and NIV. The one I asked
for is through 2025 or is it beyond? Is it segmented? How did we uh it's as of 2024 through. So, we're going to have to kind of edit it. That's why it's going to take a few days. Uh there's been roads since then that we've done, but really
the list remains the same in terms of uh deterioration of the roads. Okay. So, we'll get that out. Uh at as discussed at the last council meeting, uh the burough engineer and I are working on our municipal aid grant applications. So again, we're going to be submitting for
Albany Avenue from River View Road to Arcadia Road along with the resurfacing of Edwards Avenue. And in addition to that, we are looking at applying for funding for Lakeside A from Van A to Wanuku A. And we might be
looking at some streetscape improvements on the sidewalk along line along Lakeside A uh past the Lakeside Commons building on the northern side. Uh so that's to be seen and we're going to talk about that in the future. Uh the
burrow remains in contact with Meridia Capadagi on the civic center. All of the lumber has been received and we're just waiting on the weather to subside at this point uh to begin the framing for the project. uh to to go back to a question on the
bid. Uh just so everyone's aware, the actual resolution for the approval of the bid budget uh states the Pontton Lakes Community Partnership Business Improvement District. So it was just uh worded uh improperly on the agenda. So the resolution is correct. So thank you
for bringing that up. And then lastly, I did want to thank Councilwoman Kielberg for all her service to the burrow and wish you all the best in your future endeavors. And again, May 4th uh through May 10th was Municipal Clerk's Week uh which was on
the agenda tonight. So I would just like to recognize Liz and Kathy Tro in our office for all of their hard work. And uh May 18th through May 24th is public works week. Uh so just want to thank our DPW for all their contributions and that
is my report. Thank you. I just so everybody understands we have an outstanding clerk clerks here. Um this town runs by our clerk and our administrator. Okay, all the time and energy and I thank you Liz for all the time and energy you put in to do that. It's not an easy job. You have to deal
with the public at the same time you're trying to deal with agendas at the same time. You're trying to answer questions on the phone. It's it's a very involved job. So, it's it sounds like you're just sitting there, but there's so much going on every day. So, I thank you them all for that. Uh, Mike, on Albany, what is
the date we're we're shooting for for all because I'm getting a lot of calls about Albany. So, our candidates for this year are is Albany A from Riverdale Road to Riverview Road, which is a short section, and then we're looking at Waterley A. That should be done over the
summer, if not late summer. We're working on the bid specs right now. Your question is uh for the next phase uh we still have to get the grant. So we're submitting a grant application for that. Uh that won't be done until late next year. Okay. So at least we're going to do some of Albany now. Right. This
would be Albany phase 2. Okay. Albany phase 2. Okay. Any questions to Mr. I Mr. Popoff is patiently sitting in the um in the seat there. Could you give us an update on his uh situation? Yes. So I've been in touch with Mr. Papav. Uh,
unfortunately, I think we missed a meeting together. Um, however, our engineer is looking into whether or not we can abandon the drainage pipe that's there and reroute the system to a catch basin more towards the Oakland border.
uh we kind of just had come upon this solution in the very recent past and that's kind of the reason for the delay in terms of finalizing the design and looking for a contractor to do the work and you know issuing a contract for that. We're looking to see if we can get
rid of this problem permanently moving forward. Uh so I think it's a very important and crucial step that we're at to see if we can do that. But we I assure you we're working on this. it's a priority of our engineer. Uh, and you know, we're going to be in contact with
both homeowners regularly. Uh, so I thank them for their patience and I know it's frustrating, but it it is a very complex project and I said send water to Oakland. That's fine with me. Um, yeah. Any any other questions? No, no, I because I didn't
hear anybody else questions. Yeah, but doing that is it that going to be a little more expensive than just correcting the problem that's there now? Uh, we don't know that yet. That's what we're looking into. And if we do do that, are we still going to correct his
problem also? Absolutely. Thank you. Okay. Okay. Uh, motion to open the meeting for public comments. Council President Bur. Oh, I'm sorry. I skipped the workshop. I'm sorry. Go ahead. Workshop.
I'm sorry. Skipped. Thank you, Mayor. Uh the first item on workshop tonight is an access request from the Pompton Lakes MUA. Uh so as you may know and as Councilman Hitton alluded to, the MUA is conducting an upgrade to their pump station that's located behind the Max
American Bar and Grill. Um they're working with their contractor right now to write up the bid specs to go out to bid for a project in the fall or or throughout the winter from my understanding. Uh so the MUA has reached out to us because you know you know from
going back there there's not much room around their parcel and just for in terms of history they have a very small parcel that their pump station is on and then we kind of have a U-shaped parcel around their parcel. Uh so they're kind of tied in by our parcel and I was
talking with uh the burough attorney. We believe that they have some sort of grandfathered access to the site. We're not too concerned about that. But the MU the MUA is looking in terms of their bid specs for our formal approval to use our
parcel, which is the driveway that goes down behind Max to access their site. And again, they've been accessing it all these years. We don't see an issue with doing that. I think we only own half of that driveway. You should check into that. The the other half is privately owned. And I will advise the MUA that
they, you know, as a formality might have to look into that with the private homeowner. But the issue at hand is that the MUA is looking to store equipment uh for the project and they had you know requested to us to use the former A1
auto body site for the equipment storage. Uh I spoke with our burough engineer and as you all know we've received notice of violations in the past for doing the exact same thing. Um, so the recommendation before we go back
to the MUA would be that unfortunately to not allow the storage of equipment on the A1 auto parcel andor the driveway parcel that we own. And the suggestion I think might be to see if we would be amendable given the circumstances to
allow them to maybe, you know, park some equipment on West Lennox Avenue um andor some other site. We're going to talk with our DPW about that. Um, but the issue at hand right now is is what they're asking. Uh, so I just wanted to advise you that they formally have
requested that. We're going to work with the DPW and see what and the police department to see what we can suggest to them. Uh, but in the immediate, you know, we don't think they're going to be able to store equipment. So Mike and I were talking today and I suggested that we if you're familiar with West Lennox,
it has that piece that goes towards the bridge. It's kind of separate from the road there. you know, for a short term, I think we can maybe allow them to park their equipment in that little area there. I don't know how long it's going to be. It is a a passageway for kids back and forth to school. Um, but that's
really the only space that's down there because the rest of the property is in a floodway and we can't really put it on the floodway side. So, we'll have to Mike's going to reach out to them and we'll we'll see what we can do to make that work. Yeah. I think, you know, we don't want to be bad neighbors, but Right. Right. I think this might you could call it a phase one of a workshop
and we'll come back with something more formal. Just wanted to get you exposed to the issue and, you know, come back to it. So, what if somebody calls the D like they did for the other contractor and then they get a fine and then we get a fine? I mean,
they will not be able to store. We're not going to allow them to store any anything. Nothing. on well on the street side. On the street side on the street side is fine. Yeah, it's just down at the A1 auto body on the river side. The floodway we we can't and we had only
because we had a resident come here and complain about truck store uh you know being parked overnight and yeah I think Michael already understands we we're not allowing it on the back side. Okay. It's not our it's really not our decision. I mean well even on the west side that's
still the flood line. It is but it's shaved. So I don't know. I don't know. And the aspect of it is also is they're asking for storage of equipment as opposed to storage of materials. Now equipment in case of a flood or heavy rain that could be moved
there could just like anything else is parked there could be moved in that event. But equip storage of material. Stone though. It might mean stone. I don't know. No. Well, there's a difference between equipment and material. Yeah. I don't know. the um it may be they're so they're building a POS
treatment the equipment may be actually the treatment you know treatment components um we don't we don't know precisely well then you need to hear from John Petroski is yes yeah absolutely more specifically uh another potential solution is to
reach out to the D for some sort of waiver andor exception uh but again we just wanted to make you aware of the issue uh it's a pressing issue they're trying to get their design finalized uh so We're going to come back at the next meeting with some suggestions. Just wanted to bring it up initially. All
right. So, it doesn't go out till fall, I think. Yeah. So, we got time. Yeah, we have we have some time, but you know, they're looking for an answer. So, thank you. And I just want to throw while we're talking about that um Michael who's down on that south side of town sometimes. We smelled the smell again
from the MUA plant and we did reach out Michael did reach out to the plant and said, "Look, we're smelling the smell down here again. you told us to reach out to you when when we do have an odor and I and you know I've had a lot of residents call me and I go down there and it's definitely you can smell it. There's no question in my mind. Um they
still hadn't really given us a direct answer of what it's from. So hopefully they can figure that out sooner than later. Um because the hot weather is coming. Okay. Motion opening for another one. One more. I'm missing both of them.
NJRez, come on. Mayor, I missed both. They're on the bottom of the page. She's working. Thank you, mayor. Uh, so more of a light topic for tonight. Uh, the NJ Transit has reached out to us because they're in receipt of uh a large amount
of federal funding uh to upgrade to upgrade their equipment to electric vehicles, uh to upgrade their trains and and associated equipment and also to uh transform their bus shelters into uh LED solar lighted bus shelters. Uh so the NJ
Transit I guess is doing a survey and they did reach out to us because we do have two uh bus shelters uh on Wanuku northbound and southbound at Laura Street uh on both sides. Uh and the NJ Transit has reached out to us for our
formal approval uh to put in what they call a solar kit which is uh solar lighting within the uh bus shelter. And I don't believe that there's lighting right now in the bus shelters. Um, and just for for context, the way that NJ Transit works, the bus shelters, is that
we actually have to maintain those. Um, we always have, and actually, coincidentally, a large pane of glass broke on one of them uh last week, and we're going to have to pick up the cost to to repair that. Um, so the issue at hand is again, they reached out for this
solar uh retrofit kit, they're calling it. They're looking for us to commit to uh allow them to install the solar kits. They'll provide a three-year warranty which includes damages uh or theft of the product at the time of the replacement uh andor I'm sorry at the
time of the installation of the kit and the warranty will be cancelled after 3 years and we will have to assume ownership and maintenance of the solar kit lighting. Uh so I think you know I spoke with the DPW superintendent we would be amendable to the change. I
think it's businessfriendly and you know it it makes it more of a visible spot that would attract less garbage and litter uh with having lights at night. So we would suggest that we move forward with the agreement. There is no cost. Is there and I don't I know nothing about
how they look. Is it this something easily broken like is it like a bulb that you can hit or it's encased uh there's there's a photograph uh included in that. It's kind of situated uh within the roof of the bus shelter. Um so I
guess we're soliciting any concerns, questions. It's just the lightning mount. It's not the actual shelter itself that's being upgraded. I don't believe that it's at the actual shelter. Is that an option to negotiate since it's broken already and we have something a little bit more modernized with perhaps less breakable glass in it?
Yeah, we could certainly go back to them and say, "Listen, we're willing to do the solar kit if you'll give us a new bus shelter." Uh, it would be business friendly. It improve the beautifification of the area. That's for sure. Because they're run down and if if it has new lighting on it, maybe a nicer, newer, upgraded shelter
altogether would be nice. Okay. Yeah, we could request that. That's that's a good suggestion. That is on Laurel Avenue. It's on Wanqav at Laura Street by the Wendy's. That's the second one. Wendy's. It's across the street. There's two. Yeah. Okay. What about the one that's
over at the end kind of by the bell? Isn't there one there too? by the apartments I believe so but they didn't reach out about that one but we could certainly do a survey with the DPW county there too you know see if we're missing any and okay if we're willing to
participate we might as well if they're going to fix them all and add to it why not okay thank you so any questions concerns can you can you do me a favor when you do that though just so that we know looking ahead what the approximate replacement cost if in year four
something does happen absolutely Absolutely. Yeah. So, we'll bring it back at the next meeting just for final information and we'll go from there. Thank you. Okay. Can I have a question for um update on the bridge at Doors
Highway? Anything from the county on that? Uh over the river right there. Uh yes. Uh we don't have any official update uh within the last 6 months, if you will. Uh but I'll reach out for an update. I'm meeting with the county tomorrow, so I'll ask if there's an
update on that. From what I understand from a resident who was in contact with the county, the countyy's looking to paint the bridge again. Yeah. If we're going to tear it down, what do we need to paint? I agree. So, if you're going to meet with the county, I'll ask them that question. Are they painting
it? Okay. And just really quick, if I could go back, if we're talking about bridges, uh it was mentioned that the pedestrian bridge at Hersfield Park will take place in August. It's actually stipulated that they can't start until after September 2nd due to the Pompton
Day 5K. Uh so in September the project will begin. Okay. Thank you. Good. Thank you. Okay. Motion to open the meeting for public comments. Motion. Councilman Bennett. Second. Councilman Hinton. All in favor? I. Against. Anyone from the public like to address? Please come up.
Good evening. George Pul 11:04 Kovac Avenue and it's embarrassing for me but Mr. Carelli has highlighted exactly what I've been suffering for for 15 years paralysis due to too much analysis. Somebody else is going to come up with
another great idea or think it's a great idea and they'll put her off again a couple of months. It'll be wintertime again. Michael, you should know that. I haven't seen anything about a budget, but you keep changing plans. How
can you even apply for one? And you say that takes 6 to 8 weeks. So, you're telling me that it's not happening this spring. It's not happening this summer. It may happen in the fall. I'll answer when when we're done at the end.
Thank you. Thank you, Mrs. Caner. You're acknowledged. Anyone else from the public would like to address? Please step up. Good evening again evangelist Ringwood Court listening to all your reports it uh just brought up some key things I would like to bring up to your
attention. Number one on Q Avenue with the bus shelters um I remember all the discussion when they put them in and I do remember that we were supposed to be responsible. However, just yesterday I was looking at Facebook and on here Mayor Andre Seya
who I believe some of you know uh he's bragging about uh and I see bragging respectfully that three bus shelters were vandaliz vandalized he immediately contacted New Jersey Transit to take action in his courage to see that the shelters have been cleaned and
repaired. So if he can do it we should be able to do it. Uh the other thing I wanted at Q Avenue, I know talk about park benches. There was a vision when the bid was created, right? A lot of people here weren't involved at that time. I remember to go to all the
meetings and I remember explicitly is they wanted a theme on one QA. They wanted everything to match. Street lights, the benches, the receptacles, and on and on and on. And what I'm afraid of now when people come in, they want to donate a bench here, donate a bench there, donate another bench
somewhere else. None of them match. There's no theme. the theme has gone out the window. Um, we got to get back to that. I know there's a bid meeting tomorrow. I hope they bring that up and discuss it. I have no problem. These people want to donate benches, but they should be told what they can donate so
that it matches the theme and it works into all over, you know, the overview of the uh situation. The lighting, there's nothing from an architectural standpoint, there's nothing like lighting at night to enhance a business district. You drive through any town and
it's all about the lighting. try pass some houses in our town. It's all about the lighting. People light the houses. They hire a lot of they hire people for a lot of money to do that. Uh we should be looking at that as well. I I agree with the lights in the bus shelters. I think it's good for security reason. As
far as enhancement, uh we do have a lot of bus riders during the day. If you drive around town, a lot of buses going through this town every day. Um I had about three people since the weather turned nice a couple weeks ago. I had about three people uh approach me and I can't tell you what they said because I
don't want to be like Brandy uh Councilman Hampton and speak for them. I can't speak for them, but I can tell you this. There's no water at the dog park. That was the biggest complaint. No water whatsoever. No fountain. Okay. I walked over. I tried the fountain. It wasn't turned on yet. Probably from the the
spring. Um somebody brought up to me about Wayne's dog fountain. I went down to see Wanes. I took a picture of it. It's got the regular dog, the regular fountain like we have there by the tennis courts. And then it's got the little fountain down here for the dogs. It's probably expensive. I don't know. But we really, if we're going to have
dogs, the people are using that part. There should be some water source there. And I know that a sprinkler guy could probably just run a sprinkler line down there with a faucet on the end of it. That's really all they need. Uh they don't need anything, you know, overly fancy. The other problem in the dog park that I got to complain was people are
bringing the wrong chairs and they're leaving them there. I guess they're going down the street, they see somebody with chairs, they pick them up, bring them down here. There's about six or seven different chairs down there. So, it's starting to look like six or seven different chairs. Again, the theme thing, you know, keeping it nice, keeping it neat, keeping it good
looking, attractive, kind of going out the window. My last thing on uh well, my next to last thing on the A1 property, I'm seeing a lot of people walking their dogs, okay, up and down one queue out at night. Um, when that new building opens
over here, we're going to have a lot more dogs. My suggestion, we're going to take that parcel of property and turn it into another dog park so that these people are going to have a place and Lakeside Avenue instead of the high school front lawn. They can go down there. It's along the river doesn't
present a problem. It's out of the way. Put some venues down there that are not permanent so we don't get into trouble. And I think that would be good. My last name, Rainwood Court, which I live on, hasn't been paved since the house was built in 1950. Okay. I moved there in ' 85. We now have four different stripes,
color stripes of pavement. One for the water line they put in, one for the gas line they put in. Then they had the existing pavement. I know Michael's like, Mr. Carroll is aware of it. Um, I'd like to see it paved in my lifetime if it's a possibility. We pay a lot of
taxes on that street. We got some odd taxpayers on that short little street, but um the the part that public service did now, and it's been a number of years, is starting to degrade to the point where we've got ruts in the in the in the U pavement, which is several
interesting. And we have no sidewalks. The kids are riding their bikes, they're walking in the street, strollers are in the street. It really needs to be addressed next year, the year after if possible at all. Thank you. Thank you. Congratulations. Best of luck. Thank you. Anyone else with the public report
would like to address? Please step up. Good evening. Mayoro from um 26 Skyler and I've been in touch with Mr. Carellian. I don't know. I would be um premature if this is in the negotiations of property section of Southakota. Is it? Yes. Okay. Well, then I can just sit
down then because we're aware of what we're Thank you very much. Thank you so much. Uh anyone else from the public would like to address? Seeing no a motion to close the public session. Motion. Councilman Bennett. Second. Councilman Hinton. All in favor?
I. I. Against. Uh Mr. Papov, I hate saying the same thing to you every time, but please just give us a little time. You can't you can't you can't respond. I understand where you're coming from. I hear you. I understand that. But if I understand, but if we feel that we can save some money to the burrow and fix
your problem, we've got to look into that to do the right thing by the taxpayers and by you. I'm going to let Michael address the time frame. Seven engineers look at that. Mike, do you have any time frame? I do not. No. Okay. So, we just stay with us. We're We're getting it done. We will. I promise. In
my lifetime. Yes. It will be your lifetime. I guarantee that. Um uh Mr. Vanista, um I agree with you about the benches. I'm a little nervous about putting too many benches in too many places than just overburdening what we have. Um, so I think what Michael and
I were discussing were a a proposal of what is required in the bench and what it can be for too because you know unfortunately and I and look I don't want to be the guy that's bearer of bad news but there has to be a limit on to why the bench is put there. It can't be for a cousin who lives in the next town
over because you want to remember him here in Bonded Lakes. Uh so yes, we're going to look at that program and and I agree. I was part of those bid discussions too and and it was to try to make everything look universal and the street lights and the brick and and the bike racks and all that. So, we should try to stick to that. I agree with that.
Um the water at the dog park, I agree with you. I've brought this up numerous times with the DPW. They tell me they cannot run a a real line, but his suggestion of a sprinkler line we haven't talked about. So, maybe that's something we can look at, Mike, with the DPW to see if that's
possible to do. you know, it's just running a sprinkler line through the ground and then we just turned it off. That because I know I spoke to Dan numerous times running a line through the parking lot and everything else was very expensive. So, that's something we should look into. The chairs, uh, again, DPW, that's Maria. Is that you? DPW?
Yes. Could you ask Dan to have those chairs removed out of the dog park? Oh, sure. Um, they, you know, if people are picking junk chairs, they're throwing them in there. At least take them back with you. Why Why you have to leave them there? How about some benches being put in there? Uh we we could but I I don't know why initially we didn't but that's
something we can look into maybe through open space even. Um uh what else did I have there? The uh yes if if look if my friend Andre and Patterson is doing something like that then we're just going to do it just like him. So can we look at that mic and see if they'll uh place we'll push back.
We'll push back. Yes. Okay. Um and the last part you had was the um I'm sorry I can't read my own writing. the uh Marian court or Marian court. Best I can tell you is where you fall. Greenland um depends where you
fall on the engineers list. That list is made by our engineers, not by anybody sitting here, not by Michael. They they they put a formula in and figure it out. I can't tell you where it stands. We'll have a new list and I can then tell you where we stand with that. Very good. Um Micho, yes, we're going to look into your request about the property. We're
going to talk about that. Okay. Um approves of the floor. and he put it to the floor. I just want to address the uh dog park order. Sure. The open space group did look at that and there was uh push back on that because of the cost. They did have an estimated cost um and they felt that you know if they bring
water for their children they should bring water for their dogs. So um that because of the cost they decided not but the sprinkler idea is not a bad idea because it's just running a line from the sprinkler. So right but it wasn't going to come out of that open space. We implemented a sign program to offset the
cost for that. How is that going? But we do have now that the budget's been adopted an appropriation to spend on improvements to the dog park generated through revenue from the sign program. That's correct. Are any of those signs up for renewal? Not yet. Uh coming up soon. Okay. So
that another turnaround on that should raise enough money to fund this project. Yeah, I would think so. or a split of a cost with the open space andor we could look at within our budget, you know, park improvement budget, DPW, we could see and and I
agree that I I've gotten numerous calls of people who use that dog park every day that in the summertime especially, they'd like to see some water there. So, is it possible to reroute where the existing water fountain is and split it between the tennis courts and the dog park? There is a water fountain all the way to the far end of the tennis court.
They looked at that. They did look at that and then according to Dan it was very expensive to run the line from there to there. So okay I think I'll schedule a meeting with the DPW and with the MUA to look at it further and you know we'll come back with some sort of suggestion at a modified reduced rate if
we can and also a price for a family of course. Yeah that part any other floor? Nope. Okay. Motion to adjurnn into close session. Oh I just want to remind everybody thank you. I want to remind everybody, Sunday, May 25th, we have the Memorial Day parade like we've done. Uh
it starts at 12:00 noon. Uh the ceremony starts at 11:30 at the uh memorial uh next to Lake uh Lakeside Bridge. Um motion to adjourn to close session. Motion. Motion. Councilman Venon. Who was that? Council Council President Palbury. All in favor?
I thank you everyone for coming. Thank you. Ready? In closed session, we discuss personnel and litigation of some properties. Uh motion to adjurnn. Motion. Councilman Betting. Second. Councilwoman Kent, is that you? You put it over there. I can't
hear you over there. Kent, all in favor? Against. Okay. Thank you. Thank you.