To the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. The New Jersey Open Public Meetings Law was enacted to ensure the right of all
citizens to have advanced notice of and to attend all meetings of public bodies at which any business affecting the public is discussed or acted upon. In accordance with the provisions of this act, notice of this meeting of the mayor and council was published in the Bergen record and the suburban news on
Wednesday, January 15, 2025. Do we have approval of minutes? Uh, yes. Council President, I'd like to make a motion to approve the minutes from September 24th, 2025. I'll second. Any comments on the minutes?
Not seeing any. And we have roll call, please. Yes. Yes. Yes. Council, yes. Councilwoman, yes. Yes. Thank you. There are no
communications listed tonight, so we'll move right to public comment. Anyone wishing to address the governing body, please give your name, spelling your last name and giving us your address. Please speak in an audible tone and address your comments to the chair. There will be a fivem minute time limit
per speaker unless reduced because of the volume of business on the agenda. Please know public comment is your time. Out of respect and fairness to all, there will be no interruptions or questions answered during your time. No time shall be seated to anyone else, and
no time shall be saved for later use. Any responses may be given during the governing body's comments later in the meeting or as directed by the chair. The burough clerk is the official timekeeper. We're now open for public comment. If anyone in the room has any
comment, please go up to the microphone here or if you're on the phone, let us know. Not seeing or hearing anyone. I'll ask a second to Oh, we have someone. Go ahead. Hi, Amy Ricefield for Crescent Hollow Court.
I'm here to talk about pickle ball courts. I know that a lot has been talked about with Finch Park and I'm concerned about Oak Street, so I would like to Oh, I should have brought my glasses for this. Okay. Um, the Oak Street courts have become a wonderful
community spot where neighbors and friends gather for casual pickle ball games. We are hoping it will stay open for residents to play. While Finch is going to be a more competitive environment, many of us prefer playing at Oak Street. It's not a key and we've
been playing there for years and we would like that to continue and we would love to see the hours extended. Um, that's about all I have to say. Thank you for listening. Thank you for your input. Later on, I'll let Councilwoman Cusk,
uh, since she is chairing that committee for pickle ball, she can add more comments when she gives her comments. Anyone else have any comment? I'll do call number two for public comment. Anyone on the phone? And a third call for public comment.
Did you want to Oh, no. Okay. Not seeing or hearing anyone, we'll close public comment at this time. And we move on to We don't have any advertised public hearing for final consideration.
We do have two appointments which Mayor Dylan will swear in at at our next meeting. We are proud to announce that Mr. Michael Paresi will be the chief of the Ramsey Police Department and Earl Casey Hines has been named the captain of the Ramsey Police Department and
again they will be sworn in at our next meeting um at our executive session or not an executive session at our regular meeting. We'll move into consent resolutions. Mr. Gutler. Uh thank you council president.
Be it resolved that resolutions 173 2025 through and including 179 2025 and have been considered by the governing body of the borrow of Ramsey E and are hereby passed and approved to the special permit request this evening Simba Sanctuary at 151 East Main Street
requesting permission to hold a trunk of tree trunk and tree in their parking lot on Sundays October 26 2025. There are no block party requests this evening. I'll second it. Thank you.
Roll call. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Well, we're moving along. We're going to have our committee and liaison reports once again. Finance and administration.
Councilman Michael G. Thank you again, Council President Kilman. Uh my report for this evening um for the library board, the harvest fest event was on Saturday, September 26th was a big success with around 400 people
in attendance. Featured a touch a truck, a trackless train ride, crash refreshments, and scab hunt. Special thanks to the various emergency services who were involved in this event and Sarah Shopright uh for their cider apple cider donuts Lutheran church for parking
and a friend of the Ramsey library for volunteering their time. The annual Halloween boo event will take place Saturday October 25th from 1 to 3 p.m. at the in the children's room will be transformed into a familyfriendly haunted house. Friends of the Ramsey
Library will hold their used book and jewelry sale jewelry fall sale from October 16th to October 19th. All proceeds go to supporting library services and residents can check the library's website for fall programming for recreation commission. Uh fall rec
soccer is underway. Winter basketball registration is open through December 15th and available through team snack with the season running from January to early March. The Halloween parade will again be coordinated with the fire department. Parade is at 10:00 a.m. on
Saturday, October 25th and a uh fire department will be hosting the trunk and treat right afterwards. Uh till noon time. The Ramsey Farmers Market is open from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. through November. Touch a truck will be held
October 26, sponsored by Ramsey Juniors. the second chance toy collection sponsored by the Ramsey environmental committee uh green team on November 16th. Uh come check out all the great vendors that are attendance at the market each and every Sunday as well as crafts for children and music and a
nonprofit organization is usually in attendance. I just want to congratulate uh the incoming captain and chief of the Ramsey Police Department. Thank you very much. public safety. Um, it falls to me. I
have just one comment this evening. The design team continues to make strong progress on the Ramsey Emergency Services Complex on South Island Road. They are developing a revised comprehensive concept that remains within our set budget parameters despite
ongoing inflation and construction costs. Once this design phase is completed, it will be presented to the full mayor and council as well as to the public. Following an internal review of the proposed plan and bid package, the burl will submit the materials to the state
office of controller for approval before proceeding to the bidding phase. At this time, there is still no timeline for when these state steps will occur. And I also once again want to congratulate our new chief and captain. And at our next meeting, I'll have more
to say about uh Chief Lyman and how much we appreciate his time with us. Um and we will move on now to building planning and zoning. Councilwoman James. Thank you, Council President. This is kind of my off week. Uh I would like to
congratulate our new police chief, almost new police chief, Michael Pesy, and almost new captain, Casey Hines. very happy that they will be in those roles. Um the design review board meeting will be uh Tuesday, October 28th. The senior trustees board will
meet tomorrow, Thursday, October 9th. And the zoning board of adjustment will meet Wednesday, October 15th. So that is the end of my report. Council President, thank you, Councilwoman. We'll move on to it'll be a quick evening of utilities, buildings, and grounds
except for with Councilwoman. Just thank you. You can have my time. Congratulations to our future appointments Michael and Earl Casey for the Ramsey Police Department. The Ramsey Planning Board last met last night. There were two public hearings.
John Roy on 87 East Main Street and this hearing will be continued to the 21st of October. And Thomas Ash Bahamian. Thank you everybody. I'll I'll use fanatics next time. On the Spring Street warehouse project was approved. There
was one waiver which was approved and the next planning board meeting is October 25th. So I actually didn't start off my typical way that my report will give an update on the planning board shade commission board of public works and I will also touch on our our um recreation areas. Our shade tree met on
the 18th of September. The next meeting is 16th of October. Ramsey's a shade tree city now. a tree city now for 30 years. The board of public works last night on September 15th. The next meeting is 20th of October. Per and poly
florinated substances POS are a large group of humanmade chemicals and their persistence in the environment is a concern. The EPA has set forth POS water quality limits impacting our wellwater supply. HQM, our architectural and engineering firm, is collaborating with
the Ramsey Water Department on treatment solutions for our well facilities. Our burough POS projects are under consideration for low interest loan uh opportunities from the I bank. The lead service line replacement project
and program. The board of public works continues planning and implementing measures to comply with New Jersey Department of Environmental Protections lead service line replacement mandate which requires all lead service lines in the water system be replaced by 2031.
So, I'm glad you're all here tonight to hear this part. Storm water drains. Burough friends, please keep help keep clear debris from storm water drains. Clean drains prevent flooding, protect roads and homes, and keep runoff into
the ponds and streams free of pollutants. And also connected with that, our Ramsey leaf removal starts from the 13th of October. Please help make this effort safe and efficient. referred to in the annual fall weed pickup which is posted on our burough website which will provide a schedule of
the leaf collection program. Please also be aware that piles of leaves should not be placed in a manner which could impede public safety. If the pickup timing doesn't meet your schedule, leaves can be taken to the Ramsay Recycling Center located in the rear of the Main Street
commuter lot. And I can't leave this subject alone. Let me give an update on pickle ball. [Applause] Okay, thank you everybody. The Oak Street Courts, uh, new plantings have been added around the courts to help with
sound mitigation. They'll become more effective as the trees mature. Um, uh, recreation director Tyersie and I met with representatives from USA Pickle Ball to discuss improvements and best practices at the Oak Street Courts.
There's been updated signage reflecting new and usage guidelines and we're looking at options to secure the ports when they're closed. Um, in collaboration with recreation department uh director Tyber, we're also exploring additional sound mitigation measures
such as installing sound barriers and introducing quieter equipment options and I will address um Miss Rightfield your comments in a second too. Um, Benchmark At our September mayor and council meeting, preliminary plans were shared
for the addition of five new pickle ball courts at Finch Park following an on-site meeting with land engineering who are our designers last week. Burough administrator Mos recreation director Ty Bersie and I
along with the engineer from land, we were able to identify additional space by using portions of the basketball court out of bounds area. So, we're not cutting into the basketball court and there's a soil pile location there. So, this adjustment has allowed us to expand
the plan to include at fence a total of six pickle ball courts. There are space constraints that are um with the softball and baseball diamond, the playground and the access road and a water line. So, um I just wanted to to um add that there. Um lastly, the
basketball courts as this was discussed will rem designated for basketball maintaining their current playing surface dimensions and um right now six pickle ball courts at binch and basketball courts uh still staying
there. So um regarding competitive versus casual both facilities are for pickle ball court players and in all sports in the spirit of the game there should be a courtesy for all of you as athletes.
No one has exclusive access. Whether you're the world's top pickle ball player or whether you're just starting out on the sport. I'll say it again. No one has exclusive access. It's incredibly important that everyone has fair opportunity to enjoy what will
be beautiful new space at Thank you, Council President. Thank you, Council Councilwoman QC. Appreciate it. We move on to public and governmental relations. Councilwoman Sarah P.
Thank you, Council President Gilman. Um, I just got back from meeting with the Ramsey Chamber of Commerce. They recently held their home and garden show at the farmers market. It went well. They had over 20 members participate.
Um, they will also be participating in the 25th October trunk or treat with the fire department down on Island Avenue. Uh, November to mid December, they are
joining with Ramsay Neighbors um, and 46 members, which is about half their membership. They're going to do a townwide scavenger hunt, which sounds like a lot of fun. There's a uh, great prize at the end. I think it's $2,000 worth of merchandise. And basically,
you're going to be going around and taking pictures of different businesses of receipts or purchasing things or what have you. So, more information to follow on that. The Ramsey Municipal Alliance
will um next meet on October 27th, but this is for a parent academy on raising resilient children at the high school. Ramsey Journal uh submissions are due
23rd of October. There is a new submission process where we're no longer accepting emails. So, anyone who does have submissions from the Ramsy Journal um should look at this early and make
sure they don't have questions and a big congratulations to Michael Paresi and Casey Hines on their appointments. Thank you. Thank you, Councilwoman. Health, Education, and Social Services. Councilman Clint.
Thank you, Council President Kilman. Um, I too want to congratulate Michael and Casey on their appointments. As always, you know, thank you for their service. I'll start off with uh first group which is RIFE. Challenger soccer continues
right 3:00 on Saturday at Dator Dator School till mid November. Reich also had a art night uh this past week and they had 25 rifers make a beautiful Halloween picture um that I'm sure everyone thinks
that they made the best picture for sure. But our all those postings and the pictures will be up on the website. Uh board of ed had their meeting on September 30th and uh two things that kind of came out that I think everybody should take a peek at is Dr. Mattio
shared a shared a state of the education in the schools and a lot of data, a lot of information in that presentation. So I found it very very interesting to see that presentation. And number two are the construction projects that everybody kind of knows and going around. Everything's moving along very very
nicely. The parking area should be done by October. the um auto and concession stands by the second semester and the tennis court in the back is going to be ready for the spring spring season. Uh and my last is environmental which we are meeting on the 14th and that
concludes my report tonight. Thank you Councilman Pablo. As Miss Benian said, Mayor Dylan is away. Um so now our burough administrator, Mr. Bruce Bozac. Thank you, Council President. Just a couple comments on things on Couple
items on the agenda tonight. Resolutions 178 and 179, which we've discussed, are the appointments of the chief and captain effective November 1st. As was noted at previous meetings, Chief Lyman is retiring effective November 1st. I know Mayor Dylan noted at the last
meeting that the current captain, Michael Paresi, will be the next chief. As we talked about with Captain Paresi's promotion to chief, the captain position was open and current Lieutenant Casey Hines will be promoted to captain again effective November 1st. Both of these
positions openings were posted and Captain Paresi and Lieutenant Hines were the only candidates that applied for each of the new positions. They were then interviewed by the governing body's public safety interview group and recommended to the full governing body for appointment by the mayor and approval of the council.
is a testament to the outstanding careers both of these officers have had to date and their recognized leadership ability and the department the other department officers belief in them as the future leaders that they were the unanimous candidates for their positions from their fellow officers. The two
resolutions confirm the appointments again effective November 1st and we will have an official recognition and swearing in of the officers at the October 22nd meeting. On the agenda tonight, there's Introduction of an ordinance to allow a midblock crosswalk
on East Main Street between Veterans Park and the Ramsey High School parking lot area. The Ramsey School District and Dr. Mario had requested a midblock crosswalk on East Main Street from the area of Veterans Park across to the new parking lot area for the high school. Midblock
crosswalks are atypical and not usually permitted. It is a Burton County road and therefore ultimate jurisdiction will lie with the county. The county had indicated to the school district they would ultimately approve it if the burough enabled it first through a local ordinance. This ordinance would approve
the midblock crosswalk in this location. As this crosswalk would only serve the students and other people attending school events, the board of education will be funding the design and improvements needed for the crosswalk and the crossing signals to be implemented for safety and any grants
that could be applicable to mitigate any taxpayer cost through the burrow or directly with the board of education will be pursued as well. And that was all my comments for today. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Jose. Counselor, do you have any comments? I have no comments. Thank you, Mr. Counsel. Miss Bendy,
no. Okay, on that we will now move to the introduction of the ordinance that Mr. Jose was just talking ordinance 23 2025. Be it resolved that an ordinance entitled an ordinance
amending chapter 7 of the code of the bureau of Ramsey, Bergen County, New Jersey, and more particularly section 7-32 thereof entitled midblock crosswalks. pass the first reading by title and that said ordinance be further considered for
final passage and adoption at a regular meeting of the mayor and council to be held on the 22nd day of October 2025 at 700 p.m. prevailing time or as soon after as the matter can be reached at the municipal building in said burrow. And be it further resolved that the
burough clerk be and she hereby is instructed to publish in an official newspaper of the bureau in a manner provided by law a copy of said ordinance together with a notice of introduction thereof and notice when the same will be considered for final passage and
adoption. Do we have a second? Yes, council president. woman and I second. Thank you. I have no further information to add beyond uh Mr. Bose's um comprehensive that. May we have roll
call, please? Councilwoman, yes. Council, yes. Councilman, yes. Councilman Pablo, yes. Yes. Councilwoman, yes. Thank you. Do we have any unfinished business?
Do we have any new business? Seeing or hearing any, may we have a motion to adjurnn? Motion to adjurnn. Second. Second. Thank you. All in favor? I I thank you everyone
and have a good pleasant evening. My part