Thank you. I've been there. >> We good, James? Go. >> We understand. >> It's all right. We'll just get started and she'll jump in when she gets here. Good evening, everybody. This meeting is being held in accordance with the Open Public Meetings Act. Adequate notice,
this meeting has been published in the bureau's official newspapers and posted in the municipal building and on the bureau's website as permitted by the open public meetings act. The meeting is being held in person and broadcast online via Zoom video meetings. The option to attend via Zoom is a courtesy
of Zoom becomes unavailable and cannot be fixed. The council meetings will continue in person only. For those joining us via Zoom, please raise your hands during designated times to be recognized for a comment. Whether you're appearing in person or via Zoom, you must provide your name to be recognized.
Please rise for the pledge of allegiance. >> Pledge allegiance 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.
Right. >> Can I get a roll call, Mary? Council member Bonitakis, Council Member Facy Blackwood, Council Member Forest, Council Member Janome >> here, >> Council Member Euro >> here, >> Deputy Mayor Trianiano >> here, >> and Mayor Portman.
>> I am here. Um, I'm sorry she's not here right now. Edith Blake is with family down in Manchester. Um, but we are celebrating her 108th birthday, which is amazing.
Just for some context, when Edith was uh born, the the Great War was still going on. I'm talking about World War I. Um the Spanish flu hit and killed a whole bunch of people. So, Edith has lived through two pandemics. Um and I'll
I'll give you a little bit of uh information about her. It is my great honor to recognize Edith Blake on the extraordinary occasion of her 108th birthday. Born on February 25th, 1918 in Brooklyn, New York, Edith was the first of four children at the age of 20. She married
Charles W. Blake, and together they raised four children of their own. Over the years, Edith has been a devoted wife, mother, church member, and community caregiver. During World War II, she worked as a seamstress at the Eisner Factory on Bridge Avenue, stitching army overcoats in support of
our nation's efforts. Her lifelong dedication to caring for children and serving others in Redbank, Shrewsbury, and Little Silver has left a lasting impact on so many families. On behalf of the Burrow of Redbank, the Burough Council, and the entire community, we extend our heartfelt congratulations and
gratitude to Edith Blake for a remarkable life of service, faith, and family. We proudly proclaim proclaim February 25th, 2026 as Edith Blake Day in the burrow of Redbank. Happy 108th birthday, Edith. Amazing.
Mayor, >> can I say something? >> Absolutely. >> They were supposed to celebrate last weekend and because of the snow they didn't. So, I'll take that to give it to Rosie and um they're celebrating this weekend, so it worked out perfect. They were sorry they couldn't come today, Rosie. And but thanks.
>> All right. Excellent. Um we do have uh the our clerk county clerk's running a little bit behind. and they have a presentation. But um in the meantime, we will continue on and whenever um she gets here, we'll we'll
jump to the presentation. Um can I have a motion to open the public comment on agenda items only? >> Can I have a second? All in favor? Anyone have any comments for agenda items only?
Anyone online? Jim No. Anyone? We're good. All right. Can I have a motion to close the public comment on agenda items only? All in favor? All right. Next up, uh, can I have a motion to approve the minutes from
21226? Can I have a second? All in favor? We're going to be done before uh Christine gets here. Um next up is a final reading for ordinance 2026-04 entitled an ordinance of the Burough
Redbank to repeal and replace chapter 205 affordable housing of the burough code to be consistent with state requirements of the amended fair housing act and the uniform housing affordability controls. This ordinance was introduced on February 12th, 2026.
Can I have a motion to open the public hearing on this ordinance only? >> Have a second. >> All in favor? >> All right. Anyone have any questions or comments on this ordinance? No. We good. Anyone online? James.
>> All right. Uh, can I have a motion to close the public hearing on this ordinance only? Can I have a second? All in favor? I >> Can I have a motion to approve ordinance 2026-04 on final reading and adoption? >> So moved.
>> Can I have a second? >> Roll call, please. >> Council, >> council member Bonitakis, >> yes. >> Council member Facy Blackwood, >> yes. >> Council member Forest, >> yes. >> Council member Janon, >> yes. >> Council member Euro, >> yes.
>> Deputy Mayor Triiano, >> yes. >> And Mayor Portman, >> yes. Oh, perfect timing. That's all right. Just don't say it was traffic. Okay. Please. All right. Train. All right.
Train is good. We can deal with train. Um, so right now we have a a presentation from um Clerk Hanlin and I for I didn't get your name, sir. >> Ted. All right. Ted. Uh they're going to give us a presentation on the plans for
America's 250th birthday. >> You know what? He's a morning. Um and so my apolog for for not being here. Um, but I wanted to thank you for for having me. This is Ted Muro. He is the executive director
of the MMT and J250 committee. And one of the things that we've been doing is going to meetings all over the county to talk about the things that are going on for America's birthday and also to encourage participation and uh and try
and get everyone involved. >> Ready that microphone? >> Okay. Um, okay. So, we usually do like a little slideshow if that's okay. Thank you. Uh, okay. So, let's go. We
have like a little intro video that makes it um kind of gives a little context. That's okay. The 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States of America is here >> in Mammoth County. We celebrate not only
the birth of the great. >> The 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States of America is here. >> In Mammoth County, we celebrate not only the birth of the greatest nation in the world, but the significant role our county has played in the fight for
independence. >> Mammoth County was truly a battleground in the cause of freedom. And when the war had been won, the people of Mammoth County gradually transitioned over to the peaceful pursuits of agriculture, commerce, and industry.
>> In the almost 250 years since the signing of the Declaration of Independence, Mammoth County has grown and flourished to be the ideal place to live, work, and play. Join us as we look back on the people, places, and events that have carved Mammoth County's history over the past
250 years. As we celebrate the birth of the greatest nation on earth, the 250th is here and Mammoth County is ready. So that sets the stage a little bit for America's birthday. Um we have been
planning for about three years for uh what's going to happen. And one of the big the first things that um we did was to look back in the county archives to see how the bicesentennial was celebrated um 50 years ago now. And that kind of guided a lot of our planning and
we were able to see what every single town did in Mammoth County to celebrate the bsentennial and it gave us a foundation for our planning. But three years ago we started our website mammothnj250.org.
We launched uh an app recently. It's also Mammoth NJ250 where you can find out everything that's going on. We have an email newsletter that's been going out and I would love it if everyone signed up so you could hear about all the great things that are happening. And
we have our social media uh channels going. And one of the things that we like to do on our social media is to promote what's going on in the different towns or the different historical organizations so people can really get involved in really anything that they
like to do. We did a lot of promotional materials that we give out to people um our challenge coin. We have some for you also. Uh we have um pins and all kinds of things uh that we give out when we go
around to promote uh the birthday celebration. And we did a postcard. Um we have a couple of those here. A commemorative postcard. We also do an activity called send a postcard to the future where people can uh write
something that we save in the county archives for future generations. And another um sort of a a keepsake we did was our Mammoth NJ250 ornament and it is
a fundraiser for the friends of the parks so that we can continue to preserve open space and it's I think it's $30 now. When we first started it was $20, but we had to because we have to ship it. The shipping is expensive. We ship it to people but they're still
available. We sold a lot during the holidays and we'll be selling them throughout. And on the ornament is uh a replica of a very famous painting of George Washington at the Battle of Mammoth. And we got permission from the
Mammoth County Historical Association to use that that image. And it's really a special moment because the Battle of Mammoth was a very important piece of our Revolutionary War history. We've also done a lot of educational
content and publications. We really wanted to get our students and young people involved. Although the things that we have produced, adults like them, too. They like the cross word puzzle and things like that. But Tom, I'm going to do this for Tom because this is he likes
to talk about the coloring book. And this was hand create handdrawn. No AI or you know uh program software to create the coloring book. And it has some um you know, God Bless America type images.
And it also has some um some pages that are Mammoth County related so that our young people can learn about our history, not just, you know, national history, but some Mammoth County history also. We give these out to all the students. We'll leave some
here so that you can have them. Uh we also created our Mammoth County Revolutionary History Guide. And this is we call uh in the office our top 10. And we took 10 people, 10 places, and 10 events that
happened that have a revolutionary war significance in Mammoth County. And many of the places in here are places that people can visit today. And we wanted this to be geared toward our like middle to high school students so they can read
about the things that happened in Mammoth County. and we took examples of, you know, just people from different walks of life and how they were relevant during that Revolutionary War period, but it's all about Mammoth County. And in the back, we have a lot of activities and that's why the adults like this one,
too. We have like a hashtag page and, you know, all kinds of word jumbles and things like that. So, we created that for our students. Um, and so we've been trying to get everything out there. We also did a Revolutionary War map which
um has uh historical places mapped on the paper map. I'm kind of oldfashioned in the sense that I I like want it on paper and it's like a keepsake, but it's also tied to our G GIS mapping system in the county. So you can go online and map
to these different locations and you can kind of view the troop movements from the Battle of Mammoth. So we we tried to pair the modern tech with sort of the old-fashioned um keepsake mat.
Let's see what else we have. And we have our Mammoth NJ250 truck that was a repurposed decommissioned emergency vehicle. And this truck goes to fairs and festivals. It's been going around
for the past two years already. And there's an application forum. So if you're interested in having the truck at something, we usually try to have it go to events that have like sort of at least 500 like kind of like a bigger community event just because it's, you
know, the staffing of it. There's a lot of staff. And so this truck has been going around for the past 2 years raising awareness, giving out our promotional materials. We have, you know, cornhole and all kinds of games and things to get people interested in
what's going on. >> As we approach the 250th anniversary of America, Mammoth County is going to be a big part of that celebration. We were a big part of the Revolutionary War and we certainly are going to be a big part in celebrating the 250th anniversary of
America. Behind me here, we are looking at our repurposed communication vehicle. This truck will be at all the fairs, festivals, parades, any special occasions that we have. Generate an enthusiasm, generate an
education. I think this will bring to light not just Mammoth County but across the state of New Jersey how important our role was in the Revolutionary War and we expect it to be quite a celebration here as Mammoth County played such a large role in the history
of our country. >> So if you want the truck just you know submit the form. We have the form online and our website, but we also have uh I think the form is in our program guide that I'll leave with you. Um we also launched some contests to get people in the community involved. So please feel
free to share them. We did uh already two rounds of our uh essay contest for fifth sixth through 8th graders and we have done a poetry contest for third through fifth fifth graders. and we
already did two rounds with the schools and we just launched our final round as we lead into, you know, the big day which will be July 4th, 2026. Um, we also have a fine art contest that's
going on um for people who are painters to create works of art that depict different events that happened in Mammoth County during the Revolutionary War period. And to be a little bit more modern, we also launched a digital art
contest that sort of can bring in like some of our younger people who are really good with graphics and things like that. So, we have really nice prizes for those contests. So, please share if you know anyone who's interested in those contests.
The Mammoth County Library has uh created a tremendous um program for America's Birthday. We have some of the flyers here. One of the things that we really wanted to do when we started this two years ago was to try and get each and every kind of aspect of our
community involved in doing something. So, we asked the library system to put together their own program and they have great things going on. So, we'll leave some um some flyers there with you so you can give them out to your community members. um also on linked on our
website and we've created a lot of video content about history um all different parts of our Mammoth County history but also some that are tied into the Revolutionary War. Uh we have a podcast that we started doing where we bring in either
historians or people from different towns or who are planning things for what's going on to kind of raise awareness on America's birthday. And I think we could I don't want to take up the whole meeting so we can skip
that skip that. Um, all of our videos and things are on uh Mammoth NJ250 YouTube channel and we're about to launch um a documentary that's about an hour long. It's a long one uh about Mammoth County during the Revolutionary
War period and we try to within that hour cover with different historians from, you know, the state and the county, you know, what went on here during that period. And that will be debuting at the Garden State Film Festival coming up. And we also have
like an aerial video of Mammoth County coming because gotta get drone footage involved now that we have drones that can do it. And oh, I don't have my glasses on. Well, oh, a few things that are coming up. One of the things that we also tried to do was have a few like
county signature events that everyone is welcome to participate in. And then as we encourage our towns and historical organizations to do things too, we advertise those. But some of our signature events are the um Flag Day 5K.
So if there are any runners in the group who are interested, it's going to be at Bell Works. It's called Stars and Strides and it's on Flag Day June 14th and signups are available already. We are going to have a county parade on
June 28th, which is the anniversary of the Battle of Mammoth. It's going to be in Middletown, and there's going to be a festival after the parade. So, we encourage any towns or, you know, please participate. We'd love to have representation from everywhere around
the county. That is called Red, White, and You, America's Big Birthday Parade. Um, we also are having a gala that you may have gotten uh a message about that already. We're about to send the invitations out. That will be on June
25th. And this is just a way to come together and celebrate um America's birthday. That also will be at Bell Works because it's a big location where we could have like a thousand people. Um we're going to have the Infernos and you know, we'd love every town to take a
table. It's going to be on a Thursday night so we don't interfere with everybody's weekend uh plans. Um but we're really excited about that and all of our legislators in Mammoth County are, you know, co-hosting this with us
and we hope it's going to be a great time. And then also Park Stage, which is uh a partnership with the Bassy. These will be outdoor cont uh throughout the summer in Freehold and
all different acts and the first one is June June 18th the beginning of June but it's on our website and we're really excited about that to have our 250 park stage. Lots of exciting things happening. And also if you are someone
who likes to walk and get healthy, we have our ongoing 250 for 250 challenge. And this is just a personal wellness challenge to walk or run 250 miles by America's 250th birthday. And if you do
that, you get a medal that has, you know, our logo on it. Um, easy to sign up for that. Lots of this is on our website. This is not something that we are doing in Mammoth County, but I really like to talk about it because it's happening here in Mammoth County.
Um, if you remember the bicesentennial for some of us were here. I don't know who, you know, I'm old enough to have been here for the bsentennial. Uh, it was a really special time and one of the big things about the bsentennial was operation sale. And if you weren't here
for the bsentennial, you can look it up. And it was ships from all over the world came to New York Harbor and naval ships and you know all the beautiful ships with sails and then they landed in New
York Harbor on July 4th and it was beautiful fireworks display and all kinds of festivities. Well, just like 50 years ago, these ships are going to stop here in Mammoth County from the second to the
morning of the 4th. And all of these yacht clubs along the shore are hosting the the uh crew members from all of these different ships from all over the world. And what we're told is that the ships will be many of them will be
anchored off of Sandy Hook. So, we believe that's going to be quite a sight to see. Hopefully, the weather's good and everybody can see all these ships that are going to be here. And this is so also a tourism thing for our communities because all of these crew members are going to be in and out of
Mammoth County for that weekend. So, it's going to be really interesting to see. I was not living in Mammoth County at the time of the bsentennial, so I didn't know like everything that happened here. I was living in New York. Um, but I think it's going to be a really interesting time and to go see
these these ships from all over the world is going to be very special. This is really hard to see. I don't have my glasses on, but it it's just kind of like a little uh itinerary of what the ships are doing. Um, and then they will on the morning of July 4th leave Mammoth
County and go up to New York Harbor to be received there. and you know there'll be all kinds of things going on there. So this is just a listing of our county events that we I talked mostly about but
all of these will be on our website and you will be getting them. We're going to be emailing um the gala information and the parade information to everyone very soon. One of the things that we decided to do for our towns to make things easier, um,
number one, we asked to, um, our towns to pass a resolution. I have to say, Mammoth County is ahead of every other county in the state in terms of the towns um, passing resolutions to support the semi-quincentennial. And so we decided to create a logo for
towns to use if they would like a logo. It is based off of our logo, but we put the town name in in, you know, part of it. And then we give the towns like a a plaque um that they can hang um if they so choose, commemorating the
semi-quincentennial. We also created a program guide for the towns so that if you would like to plan something and you're not sure what to do, it has all kinds of background and information and ideas, ways to get in touch with us. Uh all different
resources, different um different entities that have things available, grants and all that stuff. So all that stuff is in the program guide. And since we made it, there's so many more things that you know you you can find online.
And then we should be like at our last we can we can skip that one. Yeah, there's some resources out there. I just wanted to point out a few. Um there is this entity called Keep America Beautiful that is doing sort of like
community cleanups. Um so a lot of towns are using that um you know as like an idea. There's also the Pomer Foundation and they give grants for marking. It doesn't have to be a Revoir property. It can be like any other historic property.
We marked the Minisc trail in Madawan um recently and they applied for this grant and you know they marked uh the men trail. The Sons of the American Revolution has a lot of resources um and also
so many different things going on. You can keep going. Uh and these are sort of the national and state entities that are doing planning. America 250, um, Freedom 250, Revolution NJ is the New
Jersey entity that is working on the New Jersey celebration. And there's also I like to tell people this award that I I read about in the Mun League of Municipalities magazine. Um, they're giving an award for communities that, you know, work on
civic engagement, inclusiveness, and innovation. and it's kind of for uh America's Birthday, like the All-American City Award. So, you can go on their website. And that is the end of the show. I'm sorry it took so long, but
thank you so much. Um if anyone has any questions, I'm happy to answer them. Uh we'd love to have Red Bank doing things for America's Birthday and happy to partner with you on things or support if there's something that you're working on. >> Thank you for uh for coming here.
Appreciate it. Does anyone have any questions for Christine? No. >> No, we good. >> Thank you. >> Yeah. >> Oh, we can we do a photo or >> uh Sure. I think we have a Yeah. >> Yeah. >> Yeah.
>> Oh. That hurts. You got to give her a look. Where >> you want? Okay. I believe um we are up to an introduction of
ordinance 2026-05 entitled an ordinance repealing chapter 562 sidewalk cafes and restaurants and adopting new chapter 475 outdoor business extensions to adopt uniform regulations and fees pertain to
outdoor business extensions. Jim, you want to um kind of you want to give a quick summary of that? Yeah, Greg and I will tag team this one, but this was a um a collaborative effort with uh ourselves, the the council mayor
discussing this as well. Um deputy mayor with her time with River Center as a representative to council liaison and I'm sorry. Oh, there we go. Sorry. you know, this new system. Um and uh Councilman Ben Yuro now uh
representing us on River Center, but we worked with um River Center to discuss some of the fees and the structure around sidewalk cafes, the street ery extensions and just how to streamline that process um through ordinance with
the the ordinance that we passed in 2024 with the uh full establishment of uh Broadwalk with the dates associated ated along with that ordinance just so that everybody can plan and know exactly what to expect um for the opportunity to have
sidewalk cafes and streeteries. The sidewalk cafes are annual so it's a year- round opportunity for businesses. Uh however in the previous ordinance that was passed some time ago there was a fee assoc you know obviously
administrative fee licensing fee uh permitting and then >> oh look at that. Why is that happening? I'm not showing that anymore. Thank you. I don't know if that's for everybody at home because I'm not sharing my screen.
>> Where are you? >> There we go. Thanks, deputy. Um, but the uh so what we did was that that fee structure that was in that previous ordinance was a $2 per square
foot initial fee and then the next year it bumped to a $4 annual uh per square foot fee. Depends, >> right? So after reviewing that, looking at that, you know, pragmatically and everything else, we don't want to penalize the businesses that want to
partake in the the sidewalk cafe. We we want to encourage that because we realize that that provides a great opportunity for them. It provides a great vibe for our downtown, our businesses burrowwide uh to take advantage of that. So um we cleaned up
the structure of that. We also brought in line the the streeteries into this sidewalk cafe ordinance which only address the sidewalk cafe. So now the street streeteries are codified as well with a much um I don't want to say much
lower but a reduced fee structure than what was previously in the resolution and application for the streeteries. So, we're looking, like I said, to work with the businesses in this regard to um offer something that we think is extremely realistic to accomplish um and
encourage and uh incentivize the the businesses for doing this uh at $1.25 per square foot for the streeteries. And we we realize that those go into the the parking spots. So, that's the compensation for that parking spot. It's the compensation for our administrative
cost. It's the compensation for having to go out and inspect the space and making sure it's safe and working with traffic safety, the police department and uh the administration at Burrow >> and and Jim Ben, you attended the last River Center full board meeting and this was discussed and what was the I wasn't
there. What was the feedback from from the full board? I think it's positive and I think you know all the I think businesses would be more inclined to particip and we're to clarify we're talking outside of Broadwalk. >> Yeah.
>> So like I want to see streeteries at Jamians and Five Dimes and Neapoli like they have a great great space. They have the accordion doors. Like I want to amplify every business's outdoor potential. Was there feedback from any of those specific businesses at the full
board meeting that was positive towards towards this? >> I know uh Neapolis was uh very interested in it. >> That's great. >> They seem positive for the >> Awesome. >> You know, at that time it was potential um changes to the structure and I appreciate Jim
>> driving it home. >> Yeah. uh we met, you know, internally between the clerk's office, myself, uh Tom Seaman, our CFO, uh to see what the best way to structure this was that made the most sense. And then obviously we we leaned on uh Greg to put this into some
sort of codification structure for us. It also changes the approval mechanism to align more with our form of government. So it it which would which slow things down right as far as council having to approve each one each
application by resolution. This gives an administrative approval from the you know my office um re you know receiving the permits administratively reviewing that with the different offices fire marshall code traffic getting those signoffs through the the chief of police
um and then you know having that departmental review which I think because we're here five days a week you know and and moving things through the the offices would would speed that up um right so it just expands that internal safety review between uh the the
different departments. Anything I'm missing on that? >> No, I mean in summary, we we had um you know, this has developed over time as frankly really it goes with the ABC, right? The more lenient ABC's been on allowing liquor outside, the more
interested food establishment are in establishing sidewalks and outside businesses because that's their that's a significant margin revenue for them. Um, so since COVID, this has really developed. Our ordinance has kind of been left behind in that it only addressed sidewalk cafes as Jim mentioned. So this ordinance basically
streamlines all of these outdoor business extensions into one section. FL uh same fees for people inside Broadwalk, outside Broadwalk. Everyone's being basically treated the same. And the sidewalk cafes that um the prior ordinance, it's really mostly remaining
unchanged except to not penalize people for coming back for a second year. essentially not increasing the fees, basically made two flat fees, $2 per square foot for sidewalk cafes, which was always the initial fee. And that process continues to work the same for everyone. And then the outdoor, we
called it outdoor business extension. So whether you're um inside Broadwalk, outside Broadwalk, you're using a parking space, a public rideway, you have a creative solution for your business, whatever that might be, it has to run through code, police, fire, uh river center if applicable, and then uh
goes to the manager's desk. uh and then you can just pay your fee and start um if approved by the manager. So it streamlines everything for everybody. It takes all the kind of ad hoc stuff we've been doing since co and puts it all in one place with two flat fees and makes everything much simpler for everyone. Um
and also keeps most of our administrative processes um with the applications going to the burough clerk reviewed by the various departments and the actual materials that we use that people have been seeing that you actually if you're a business owner you come here and you pick up the application. we've actually now this will make the application simpler but
it'll functionally be the same thing. So that's been the idea to streamline it all. Um you know we've codified things at different times from sidewalk cafes to pedestrian mall puts it all under the same umbrella so anyone looking to do an outdoor business extension goes to one chapter and can figure out what they're supposed to be doing and what it costs.
So that's the upshot of it. >> Um I have a couple questions. Uh, how does this impact a businesses that already have permanent outdoor dining like Monosera or Triumph? And Triumph
was designed where it's just >> it'll just be cheaper for them. >> Just be cheaper for them. >> It'll functionally be the same application, be simpler and cheaper basically. And that whatever they have out there, if it's already been approved, should be good. >> Great. And what what if you don't have a business
directly in front of the sidewalk you want to use? Say for example, um there's somebody who's just outside the broadwalk that wants to put up a little stand or something. Are there any is that considered part of those accommodations? >> It's defined. So what the way the
ordinance defines it is that you're allowed to um do this if the if it's already permitted use in the zone. Right? So that's the first prerequisite. The second is describes it as an ancillary use and I left the language flexible in that I I you know this is a
very complicated sound. It's developed over a long period of time and so to try to anticipate or confine it directly in front of a store if someone has a corner lot. You know it's I I left it up to the the administrative processes. If the if traffic safety says it's okay to put it
here and it's not going to be a danger then um you know that'll probably be okay. I I didn't constrain it in that way. It was pre uh I would mention the sidewalk cafes were previously constrained to um really only larger size restaurants pretty much in directly in front of their
>> store and so we changed that a little bit. Um and that will be um you know it might be something we flesh out going further with further amendments but for now I left it flexible to let the manager and the and the the officers who are in charge of this kind of do work it out in in due course.
>> Thank you. Yes, Ben. >> So, in a case of where a landowner may not be that enthusiastic about having a tenant use the front of the property that they're renting or tables, how does
that play out? >> Uh, so the at this point today, the administrative requirements and uh require the property owner to sign off on the application. So you have to have your landlord's permission. >> Okay. So even if a restaurant, you know,
couldn't do that if the landlord also did not sign. >> Correct. That's the rule today and that will continue to be the rule. >> Okay. Can I have a motion to approve ordinance 2026-05 on introduction? >> I'll make a motion.
>> Can I have a second? Roll call, please. Council member Bonitakis, >> yes. >> Council member Facy Blackwood, >> yes. >> Council member Forest, uh, >> I'm going to comment. I think this is a great idea. I want to thank Ben and, uh, our team for doing this. I, one thing
that wasn't mentioned directly is also the economy is tough right now for a lot of our small businesses. And I think us being creative and doing these kind of things for some of our struggling businesses is um, vital for our downtown. And I and I agree with your
comment you said it adds really to the town doing this stuff and I've noticed there hasn't been much uh you know there's been a roll back on these kind of speederies and things like that. I liked it when we had more of them. So I'm glad that we are listening and
making this happen. And that's a yes. >> Council member Janome. >> Yes. >> Council member Yuro. >> Yes. >> Deputy Mayor Triano. >> Yes. >> And Mayor Portman. >> Yes. Uh public hearing for this ordinance will be held on March 12th,
2026, the day after my birthday. Um anyone have anything they want to pull out and um and put some focus on in the resolutions or can we approve them under the consent agenda?
Yeah, everyone good? >> Um, just sorry. Um, just briefly, do you want to explain 2658 um license for a food service push car at the Burough River front parks?
>> I mean, that's a new one. So, >> yeah. So, um I I could well I don't want to speak I'll just the policy intro I can guess I can give you can speak to it after that but um essentially to have food service push carts um at the burough's riverfront public park so
Maple Cove Riverside Gardens uh Marine Park um we're going to solicit for bids for a concession license um we left it open so I don't know if someone wants to do ice cream hot dogs falafel gyros I'm not really we left it open in that
regard We didn't put any requirements on it um of that nature. The requirements that we did put on it are that you um cannot just show up with like a shopping cart and pretzels like it's you're at an NFL football game or a giant stadium or vet life. You have to have a commercial grade push cart um that is appropriately
aesthetically um proper for um a brand new marine park and the area that you'll be working in. In terms of um the areas that the push cart will be allowed, it'll generally be the parks. Um, and we'll obviously, uh, work with the manager to develop some, um, you know,
ways to get between those areas along the riverfront. And I'm sure that the operator of the push cart will eventually find the most popular spot um, economically and and traffic-wise or foot traffic-wise. Um, but that that's essentially we're at the only thing that we did need to do, perhaps we could pull
that one out if I, it's not my prerogative to request it, but maybe perhaps one of the members of council could, is we did not establish a minimum bid um, for that. That's the only thing that would need to be um put in there. Um given that this has not existed before, I I would recommend a relatively
low bid um in that regard. And it's also seasonal. This is a seasonal push cart from uh will be open the same time as Broadwalk. >> Yeah. I just want to also preference to red bank businesses. >> Yes, forgive me. >> Uh that's one of my standard terms, but
yes, there's preference for red bank businesses. Um and um also the final thing I should mention if people or anyone's going to publicize this or what have you um the push cart would I do have in the bid the push cart would be removed at night at the concessionire would figure out how to remove it um or
would have to reach us a satisfactory place to put it with the burrow. It can't just be left in the middle of the park at night. Um that was one other thing I should mention about the operation. Beyond that it's pretty gen I left it pretty open other than the the quality of the of the concession itself. Uh yes.
>> So there'd be no loud generator or anything like that, right? >> Uh no, there's no so uh no noise emitting equipment, no um no music for ice like no bells, no audible. You're not allowed to uh call or or pedal wares in that way. It has to we can approve
signage and things like that. Um but in terms of there'll be no audible um sounds, >> right? And it's not it's not a food truck. It's a like a push cart thing like >> not a food truck >> push cart. >> Okay. >> Great. Anyone else?
>> So, do you feel that we we need to pull it because we need to put the minimum in writing or do you think we >> No, I just think you need to just just decide what it is now and you can approve the resolution with that amount and we can insert it. >> Well, we'll consend. >> Yes. and we'll vote on the rest and then
um I mean you are an attorney in multiple towns that do multiple of these ordinances so I believe we should lean on you for >> I would tell you the minimum bid for a push cart that was ultimately unsuccessful in Bradley Beach was $2,500
>> and that was at the beachfront so you have to figure and you I mean Bradley Beach um you does about a million dollars in beach badges so there's a lot of people at the beach so I would I would say a thou you know under $2,000, you know, um,500,
something something like that. >> It's a starting point. >> Someone can certainly bid more and if more than if if multiple people bid with different types of products, you might consider more than one. Um, you know, we can, you know, this is a I also want to mention this is a concession. So, this
is not a bid. Um because we're advertising in this way and passing this resolution for a solicitation of a concession license, which is for the sale of uh goods or services on public lands. Um you can use price and other factors as your basis for consideration
because we're bidding it in this manner. That is permitted by the local public contracts law. That's why we're allowed to give um preference to Redbank residents. We're allowed to give preference to how what we whether you like the way the push cart looks, the aesthetics. you can use price and other factors that can be considered as part
of a concession license. So, I should mention that you're not constrained to just money. That's not the only factor. So, setting a minimum bid um that won't be the only factor that you'll be allowed to look at in in awarding the concession. Yes, sir. >> I'm just going to ask because I just want to make sure it's clear. So this is also an annual thing like we can tweak
it if we don't like the way something works and just it's not like somebody has a right then to have their ice cream push cart you know marine park say forever right >> so this is a one-year license with a one-year extension at the option of the
concession air so it'll be a maximum of two years >> do we have so we we don't have a limit on how many >> do we have to approve all of them or we what's the discretion that our manager has with I don't know like let's say if 20 ice cream vendors wanted to sell at Marine Park this deserve some level of
discretion or we have to improve all >> price and other factors considered. So, if you like the way that one looks more than the other one aesthetically, it's got a better look for your park, then you can consider that. And the and the reason for that is um for example, take ATMs at the beachfront. Perhaps there's an aesthetic that you have at your
beachfront or on a boardwalk like these. And I use the beachfront example because concession licenses are most commonly used in beach in resort communities. Um, and they bid everything that's on the front from the ATMs to the food to the surf camp to the volleyball to everything that's on that beach and
public lands being offered for a fee um is almost certainly almost like most likely been bid as a concession license unless it's being run by the town. And so you can choose um you know if there's two volleyball uh camps that apply to teach at your beach and one has a famous volleyball player but they're offering
significantly less because they have to pay the volleyball player to show up. you can pick the one with the more famous volleyball player if you think that's the best for your beach. And that's that's exactly what the concession license is designed for in the local public contracts law for those kind of distinctions. >> And uh Mr. Can you cited the example of
the situation in um your town? >> Bradley Beach. >> So the person paid 2500. >> Yes. >> And they they didn't make it. >> They didn't make it. But I also note that there's there's five other concessions on the beach front that sell food. Um and there there was competition
as well. >> Okay. >> So different scenario, but I was just pointing out that you know the opening bid there was 2500 and that was at a beachfront where there's you know over 100,000 people a summer you know month. >> Thank you. >> So I think yours should be significantly
lower. So then we going to want to pull that and clarify it and then we'll do it uh next. >> We'll clarify it and have it with a starting minimum bid of 1500. pull it out of the consent agenda and then we can um adopt that when you guys can set the bid and approve it now and we'll
advertise it. It'll be uh for the public's benefit have it written into be returnable Friday, April 3rd so that we can award it uh one month prior to the start of the concession. >> I think that suggest from from count the deputy mayor was good 1500. >> Okay. >> And we can always reapproach next year.
These are all experiments. But this this also goes back to um when we changed over the building in Riverside Gardens Park to a parking authority building. Um one of the conversations that I heard from residents was that we were losing
um you know concession in the park and I still hear about that. I still hear about our park experiences about not having concession in the park. Um, and then I also have heard about that balance of but how can it be Redbank businesses or Redbank residents and and
how can it not be a food truck? I mean this is really after you boil down a lot of feedback it came down to okay if it's not a food truck and it's not the generators then maybe it's a push cart and if it's not that restrictive you know then maybe it's a zone. So, this is
really just an ongoing conversation in the burrow about, you know, how we make it more comfortable in our parks when, you know, I know as a parent when you're in the park, you know, sometimes you just really want a snack or a drink and you don't want to leave the park
>> or Spongebob ice pop. Yeah. >> But we want to continue to support our Redbank businesses at the same time. So, >> I have a question. Um, you mentioned the $1,500. That would that be applied for like a two-year period, but that
>> that would be per year. That would be the annual fee. >> What if we lowered it just to encourage competition, more competition than lower than 1500? I'm just saying New York City is 50 bucks. I'm not saying go that low. I'm like thinking a thousand maybe.
>> I have no Yeah, I have no problem with that. >> Okay. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. I could go even lower, but I didn't know how you guys felt about it. But I think I think it's something that we have to think about and flush out a little bit. >> Yeah, I think a starting point is going to be a starting point. Any there's so
many variables with these types of things in every municipality. Like, you know, Greg is a valuable burough attorney in that he does work in so many municipalities and works on so many ordinances, but at the end of the day, there's just going to be so many variables and we just have to pick our
own starting point and then learn and grow from there. So whether we start at a,000 or 1500, the same way as we learn and grow with Broadwalk and we tweak and we get better, um it's going to be the same thing with this. we have to pick a start point and then learn from it and
then we have every opportunity next year um to pivot. But I'm fine with $1,000. That that works as well. And now that it's been out said out loud in a public meeting, I would never want a vendor to think, you know, oh, that could have been the start point. So, let's keep it at $1,000 and and have that be the the
start point for us. I agree. >> I think too it's important to establish the skin in the game, too, for the business. >> Um, you know, we're improving our parks. We're putting a lot of time and effort into them. We're giving the space for the opportunity to do this. I think it's
it shows uh the business being serious with the burrow in that collaboration. So, if that's the starting point, I support that as well. >> Sounds good. >> We got to start somewhere. >> Okay. So, then um let's do all the other
resolutions. Can I have a motion to approve resolution 2648 through 2657 under the consent agenda? Do >> I have a second? Roll call, please. Mary, >> council member Bonitakis,
>> yes. >> Council member Facy Blackwood, >> yes. >> Council member Forest, >> yes. >> Council member Janome, >> yes. >> Council member Yuro, >> yes. >> Deputy Mayor Trianiano, >> yes. Mayor Portman. >> Yes.
>> Um, can I have a motion to amend um resolution 26-58 to include a $1,000 opening bid, minimum bid for pushcard concession license annual? >> I'll make that motion. >> Can I have a second? >> A second.
>> Do we roll call the J? No. All in favor? All right. And uh can I have a motion to approve 26-58 as right with it with it with its amendment? Right. >> So moved. >> Can I have a second? >> I'll second.
>> That we need a roll call for right. >> Roll call. Mayor. >> Council member Bonitakis. >> Yes. >> Council member Facy Blackwood. >> Yes. >> Council member Forest. >> Yes. >> Council member Janone. >> Yes. Council member Yuro, >> yes. >> Deputy Mayor Trianiano, >> yes.
>> And Mayor Portman, >> yes. Thank you everyone. Um, more good news from the volunteer fire department. Looks like Maxwell J. Aimov has uh put in an application for active membership with the Union Host
Company. So, good on you, Maxwell. Uh, can I have a motion to open the floor for public questions and comments? >> Make such a motion. >> Can I have a second? All in favor? Anyone have any questions? Jim, anyone online?
>> Oh. Oh, we can see it. Oh, yes. Barbara, sorry. They're all working. Barbara, >> we're rich. >> They're in the They're in the uh in the booth. Or do you want you want the handhelds?
Um, we we could use a lesson for some of you. Um, you you really need to use them these >> nice and close, Ben. Couldn't hear a word you said, darling. So, we'll talk later. Um, I have a I have a very
serious question to ask and then a silly one. Um, I am really concerned with our traffic lights. We are one of the few towns in the country, I think, that does not have signals that make noise for the for the
blind. Um, I think we are behind in that, which is very, very unusual for Red Bank. We're usually ahead of things. We need to do something about it. I don't know how we
get away with it. So, what can we do? >> I got to look into that. >> Well, that's good. >> It's a start, right? >> Do you think it could work a little faster than than a crosswalk? >> Wow. >> Yeah. >> Come on. I personally went out there and
we met. >> Yes. >> Yeah. >> In the middle in the middle of the street with our own paint brushes. Um, yeah. I I I'm real concerned. I see people I mean seriously older people and blind people. I mean that cannot
function with without some sound effects and I mean freehole ass come on guys we are beh yeah a lot of a lot of the majority of the >> beep >> none of them beep.
>> They don't beep. They don't stay live. Again, we're talking about a lot of state and county rows. >> You know what? >> And yeah, no, I agree. We have to bring it back. There is a law called ADA that maybe we could just say, you know, this
does not meet the ADA laws. >> I'm with you. >> And um I have >> become very aware of this lately because of a new job I've taken. But >> are you referring to the countdown timers? >> Yeah. Okay. Well, no, not even that.
They when they change from red to green, they make a sound like a chirp chir chir chir. When it's green, it chirps so that a person understands that this is a green light. They all do the same thing. They chirp like birds. And so, this is an international kind of a thing. And we
have a lot of crosswalks. We have a lot of places that you really have to be careful and and and pay attention to the to the light. And we have a mixed population. We have people with visual um impairments. We have people who are
old and don't understand and um a lot of other things. So we have to do it. It has to be done guys. It really bothers the living Jesus out of me. Now that that was my grandmother's word. Now, my my
>> and just real quick, I mean, what the and like the deputy mayor pointed out, this is a lot of state and county intersections that we're dealing with. I know you know this, but they're required to do it when they update and bring those traffic signals up to standards,
which costs a lot of money to update. >> We pay a lot of taxes. >> Yeah, it's hundreds of thousands of dollars to change traffic lights. >> We pro I probably should have asked this question when the county people were here. Um >> I'm I'm trying to answer you, >> but uh >> No, I'm only teasing.
>> But I So I think because the traffic lights are obviously in place and and when they come, you know, when somebody >> crashes into them or, you know, knocks them down or they come down for various reasons or the upgrades of those intersections, that's when they're supposed to be doing it. >> Yeah.
>> Um but it's definitely something we can look into and I'll get an answer from those entities. you know, it it I I I know that I know I know there are obstacles in all of these things and and I appreciate it, but I have become very much aware of this because I'm I'm very
active in in an organization for handicapped people and um it becomes more and more obvious to me that we have a lot of problems with um ADA stuff in Redbank. Um but now my shameless
ad question ask Education Foundation is having >> March 11th >> March 11th a trivia night at the triumph 7 to10 $50 a ticket. All the money goes
to the school to give grants to the teachers so that they can can do special things with the kids in the school. So, if you know anybody and you have a team of four or five and sometimes just come by yourself and you we can find you a team. All right. So, I'd like to see all of you there.
>> Fun night. >> And >> it's a fun night. >> It's a fun night. Yeah. You get to eat and drink all you want. No, you have to pay for that. But >> the questions are hard sometimes, too. >> The qu the the questions are very hard and and there are a lot of smart people
there. the the young people know everything about everything and the old people only know the stuff like history and novels and mo old movies from the 40s and the 50s. So, but >> so the trick is you get old and young people on your
>> and you still come in last. So, it doesn't matter, you know. >> Spoon once. I came in last. Yeah. >> Yeah, we we both come in. >> Came in last. >> Yeah, we have too. So, thank you for listening and please >> I was wondering about I have one question about the lights because I've been in towns that have them and they are really nice. Um, but is there grant
money like a for ADA stuff like that? Like we could look into >> Yeah. All right. Do right. Some grants maybe to look into because they are expensive >> grants forens everything. >> I know. We know we get a lot of them. >> I know you do. And it's good. It's
really good. But one of the other things too is like the the traffic light at Bodman that's proposed with the Saxum project. I mean that would be part of that application process of of making sure that that has this the signaling. >> Yeah. Especially that corner. That's a really bad corner.
>> Yeah. Well, that needs like an elephant sound or something. It's a terrible corner. >> I'll bring Barbara there for the ribbon cutting that. >> We'll make you cross the street with the new light. >> Sure. the old the old lady by the new fancy light.
>> About these these lights, um, if they're at a county intersection, then it's a county light. So, the county would be the one to pay. And if it's something like a flashing beacon, the on a county road, the county would split the cost of
the municipality. That was the newest thing. Yeah. I just want to make sure they're not going to say, well, you know, we'll split the cost of the light, too. So >> but but that but one there is a state road right 3 it leads into 35 right the one
>> then it's a whole another thing right >> if it's controlled by the higher jurisdiction so if it's county and state then it's controlled by the state if it's county and town it's controlled by the county >> right okay >> online too also on your traffic rules uh lesson of
the week if it's in within 150 ft of a state highway then you must contact the DOT to do anything within that 150 foot zone because that's where their jurisdiction extends. >> Okay, got it. >> I have a motion to close the public comment. >> So moved. >> Have a second.
>> Second. >> All in favor? >> I. >> Christina, what do you got for us? >> Thanks, mayor. Um, couple of things. Uh, just wanted to mention, uh, this weekend I had a lovely time visiting the T.
Thomas Fortune Cultural Center with a couple of uh council members uh Councilwoman Janon, Nancy Facy Blackwood, and uh the mayor. Um they it is a beautiful space, Maple Hall is what it was called. Uh historic building uh
that was residence of T. Thomas Fortune, who was really a pioneer of the black press. So, it was a great place to visit during uh Black History Month. And there's still a little time left during Black History Month. I' uh encourage anybody to take a visit. It's very
interesting. They have great uh guides throughout the place. They call them fortune tellers uh that we'll show you around. They have wonderful exhibits um and also some programming. There's one more movie that they're going to be having and they also have some films that they're going to be screening there
for Women's History Month next month. So, I encourage everyone to take a look at what they offer and pay it a visit. Um, it's a really great asset that we have in town and a very important and interesting part of our history. >> Um, aside from that, I just want to
thank again anyone who was involved in cleaning us out after this latest snowstorm. So, DPW, Jim, uh, the mayor and deputy mayor, uh, everyone who got their cars off of the streets. Um, I I think we were back in gear after the
second one, but it felt almost like this wasn't as major as it was. So, I really appreciated that. And Jim, I will just ask for a friend if anyone sees an issue where there's remaining snow or ice as a pedestrian because it happens. I was
just talking to Councilman Euro. We walk a lot in town, so it's after these storms, it's navigating again. Um, where can you go on on the website? What's the best place to put that uh information? >> Yeah, on the website there is that report of concern um tab that anybody
can go and use. Uh obviously even emailing myself or code enforcement. I will say that you might not see it and the condition might still remain, but likely those instances were ticketed and enforced already. >> Yes. Right. When it's when it's not the
town, it seems like we did an amazing job. So proud. Um, but there's still an occasional business sidewalk, what have you, intersection, so it's great to know. Appreciate that. >> Yeah, Ben.
>> Yeah, just to echo that, uh, shout out to public works and Jim. Um, awesome job. I feel like we set the standard for, uh, that level of service. Like pretty much immediately there was a noticeable difference to Christina's point.
um you know, much appreciated as a you know, active person in town, but just in general. I think it's an awesome job again out there today. Uh gigantic trucks every time I turn a corner, so it's good to see. Um yeah, just keep
punching above our weight and all all realms. Um River Center, a lot of excited exciting stuff coming up um for the spring and summer. They calendared some of their call them tentpole events like the main
events for the year. Um we have the dog walk on broadwalk Saturday May 16th. Um 72nd annual sidewalk sale August 7th 8th 9th. We have the pop culture festival which was a you know uh talking to Marin
and Tom at River Center they were really surprised at the um turnout for that. So they're excited to put it on again this year. pop culture festival that was September 19th. And then my favorite event in recent memory, October Fest, uh Saturday, October 10th with a rain date
of October 17th. Um then on top of that, it's going to be a very exciting year for Broadwalk. Um a lot of planning is in motion. There's going to be monthly calendars going out with programming. Um so everyone will be aware what's going on. and a lot of the businesses are going to be corroborating
with those events. Um, so we're really excited about that. Um, and calendar invites going out across social media for the um, major kickoff event we're going to do this year. Um, May 15th, it's a Friday. It's the first Friday of
Broadwalk. Um, and we're really excited. Um, a lot of cool stuff planned. So, more to come, but really excited for the spring and summer. Best time in Redbank. >> Thank you, Ben. Nancy,
>> hi. I'd like to uh join in with praising the hard work of DPW. And I also want to thank the administration and the OEM team. I want to say the communication was amazing. Uh, I mean when we weren't getting texts, we were seeing email
blasts, phone calls, as well as all over social media. And, um, one thing that I was very happy to see this go around when um, residents were asked to take their cars off the streets that the train station was on the list as a place
where people can park. And I know that people on the west side, you know, do have concerns about having to go all the way to Count Basy Fields or all the way to White Street. So, the train station was a very good uh compromise. So, Jim, thank you for working working that out. Um, moving along to the environmental
commission, I just want to remind everybody that they're having a sustainable yards presentation. Um, grass is overrated. Um, gaspowered leaf blowers are not your friend, etc., etc. So, that's going to be on the 24th at the Redbank Public
Library. And if you want to learn more about being green and clean, you can come to the green fair and that's going to be on the 22nd of April, the actual Earth Day at the Redbank Middle School. Um, if I may go, Jim, I'd like to say that the completing green streets
committee met this past Friday and we met with the consultant that is doing the work for um to our vision zero program, safe streets for all grant and they um gave us an introduction, the timeline and you know what the
components are for the action plan. So there expect a lot of communication coming in the next few months. There's an ongoing bicycle survey. Please take it if you haven't already. Um, and uh, that's about all I have. Thank you. Oh, yeah. One more thing. Uh, after the
council meeting, I've noticed that the Boro YouTube page does have the video of the meetings for anyone who's interested. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Forest. >> I don't have anything to say. I think I covered all the all the things. I think
I covered it all. Um, I don't We had parks and wreck meeting. I went to RBR on Wednesday. I I wasn't planning to go, but they had that little uh flooding incident, so I thought I'd go over and hear the details up on that. Um, glad you don't have any indoor ice skating
over there. That's it, Mr. Mayor. >> Oh, Laura, you're up. >> Okay, so I'll be long then. Actually have typed up stuff because we had so much stuff going on. Um, mayor wellness campaign. So we had the Mexican
consulate um at the senior center Saturday. I happened to be there taking blood pressures with the Parker Clinic and my husband Joel Janome. Um so we had 125 people made appointments but there were a lot of walk-ins. So um Audrey
updated me that they had about 250 people um assisted at the day of the event. Um I want to give a shout out to everyone who planned it. um Adriana AFSC uh CRC. I mean it was just
really really organized and um so Joanna and Johanna and Audrey Audrey sat at a table in the front. So they were putting people in and answering a whole lot of questions. Um, so some people got back to see um the Mexican consulate himself
and they had a lot of questions about uh things that were going on and so they did over 125 um people that saw the consulate. They did um 20 uh legal consultations, 30 power of attorneys. Um
I know Joel and I did a lot of blood pressures. Um thank heavens everybody's pretty healthy for the stress that people are under. Um they had three C crisis interventions. They did um hook them up right away because we had CPC there. Brenda was there with CPC. Um
actually one of them has already been um in seen a counselor already. They saw the mobile response was there. So it was um pretty amazing to see our community in action. Um so it was a great day.
Um, so then we did go over to see Thomas Fortune and the emergency system went off while we were all sitting there. So that worked too. So thank you again. >> Yeah, it was like we're all like buzzing like sitting. I heard the mayor's mind went off. I was like, "What is that?" And then we come home, Joel said, "Mine
went off too." So it was good. Thank you. Um, February 18th at the um, we talked about that about the senior center. Well, we had a meeting at February 18th at the senior center with all the stakeholders
um involved with mayor's wellness. So, there were 18 stakeholders that came. I think we thought seven were coming. We had a kind of small table and then 18 people showed up which was great. Lunch break, lots of people from the community. Why? Um a lot of stakeholders were there. Um Count Bassy, I won't
mention them all, but a lot of people showed up. Um, so we went over a lot of our missions and goals, what we've been planning. We meet every Wednesday, the leadership team, Susie, uh, Dyer, Audrey, um, Fantima, and, um, Brenda
from CPC. So, we meet every Wednesday and we had a lot of ideas that we brought forward, but then the stakeholders had more ideas that they give us. So, we're looking into all those, too. So, we have everything mapped out pretty much for the whole year. Um we have um February I told you
about the Mexican consulate. Uh March we have Blue Zones lecture on March 11th that's going to be um at the senior center that I have a flyer up here about that. She's a physician that volunteers now at she's cardiologist. She
volunteers now at the Parker Clinic but she had a big practice and she's going to be talking about uh blue zones living longer living better. And that's going to be right after bingo on a Wednesday. And we know when we have something after bingo, a lot of people from the senior center stay for lunch. So we get a lot
big thing, but it's open to the whole public um strategic planning, right? That's what that was. Um in March, uh so that's what we're having in March. In April, on April 11th, we're having expungement clinic. Um we just firm that up. In May,
we're having a woman's health talk. Patty White from town and she's midwife is going to be talking. I'm going to talk to her about that tomorrow about some topics for that probably on a Wednesday. We'll do that at the senior center, too. She says she's fine on Wednesday because she also volunteers at the Parker Clinic also. Um they're
having a sneaker giveaway in the Parker G um Parker Clinic also in May. Then there's the August sneaker giveaway at the lunch break which we all trend. And then of course the November turkey giveaway. So, we're really busy with um
Mayor's Wellness, but there's all good stuff. Uh the library meeting is tonight at the same time. That's why Steve's not here. I just same time. So, um but I did go to the library the other night, Joel and I, to the It was Tuesday. It was the talk on
restoration of the 1888 class one ice uh yacht called Rocket. That was most interesting talk. the guy who the team that rest restored it, one man that was on the team had pictures of the whole thing and how many years it took to restore that and it was just really very
interesting and it was really well attended. A lot of people interested I guess because of the race this year. Um animal welfare they donated $250 to the Andover shelter that had the fire in it up in Andover. The rabies clinic as I mentioned last time is May 2nd up at the
first aid on Spring Street. that will be um an all day event and then um Ben Yuri has mentioned that um May 16th we're going to have the dog um walk on boardwalk. So that's it for me. Thank you and thank you to DPW and everyone who the streets so nice.
>> Thank you Laura Deputy Mayor. >> Thank you mayor. Um start out by um congratulating former councilwoman Anita Lewis on receiving um her black history month award from LD11 myself and multiple people on this day
um were present on the unfortunately it was a zoom uh it was going to be an in-person event to honor the honores but then there was more snow on Wednesday so we were on a zoom um but it was wonderful to see Wanita recognized for her years of service to the burrow on
the council on the board of ed um with lunch break um with the and also of course this is a Democratic event so of course with the Redbank Democratic Party um for years. So congratulations to Wanita Lewis. Um I
have a report um for the Redbank Housing Authority as I am the liaison to that now. Um, so on December 10th, uh, the HCV team held a very successful home ownership seminar, uh, which provided information for clients about home
ownership under the HCV program. Presenters included representatives from Affordable Housing Alliance, Exit Real Estate Agency, Ocean First Bank, and Loan Depot, who provided invaluable uh, information to the eight participating HCB clients. On January 14th, the HCB
team met with affordable housing alliance to perform mock presentation for the getting your house in order to prepare for client workshops. On January 19th, the executive director, Lisa Richardson, represented the RBHA at a welcome table, which I know a lot of us
visited at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. commemorative event at the Vogle as a community partner and provided information about public housing. Uh this was a new step for our housing authority and the outreach was wellreceived. Um and it was great just to provide transparency and to just
inform the public at large about what the housing authority is, what HCV is and and what they do in the community. Um development program executive director Lisa Richardson worked with N Northwest Financial NW Financial on RFP drafts. RFQ for environmental consulting
services was published January 10th with a due date of February 10th and RFPs for developer partner architectineering services and for construction management consultant were published January 22nd with a due date of February 26th. The executive director works with Northwest Financial on significant amendments to
the 2025 5-year PHA plan and public hearing notes which were published January 26 with a public hearing date of March 18th. The Redbank Housing Authority Redevelopment Committee, which is commissioners uh JP Nicolades, Alfa Reynolds, Lewis, and um Jones had a
virtual meeting on 12726 to provide an update on progress to date, including preparation of publication of the RFQ and RFPs, the significant amendment to the 5-year PHA plan. Obviously, all this is around the redevelopment of the housing authority. That's why it was
titled redevelopment. Um public hearing is scheduled for March 18th at 6 pm and the resident information notice of resident meetings which were February 19th at 1 p.m. and February 26 today at 6 p.m. Um all meetings for the residents
are held at the Evergreen Terrace community room. Um, if any of that was a lot to absorb in this report, um, luckily Lisa Richardson, the executive director of the housing authority, is coming to our March meeting to touch base and give a full report in person as well about the progress around
redevelopment of the housing authority um, and where it stands in that process. Um, as far as the community equity engagement committee, um, they've been doing great outreach to businesses and working on
just like an entire basically like business mapping for the burrow, which is something we've never had in Burough Hall. they're working together um with community engagement um just to have a better understanding of like all the businesses in the burrow and just having
that you know community solidly formed. Um they're working on the community spirit award again um which is a wonderful addition to the burrow. So I'm excited for that to come out again with applications. Um and they've welcomed in new members who have you know more
interest in the social media and are younger. So, I look forward to seeing more creative posts uh come out of that collaboration. Um, and again, I just want to stress my deepest gratitude uh to the government of Mexico and the Mexican consulate um and their embassy
services um for just being so beyond in this moment in history. Um I'm just full of gratitude for the amount of resources that Mexico is giving um right now and their preparedness in this moment. Um it's it's miraculous that the
work that they're doing and the partnership we have with them in Redbank and um I'm full of the deepest gratitude. So thank you so much to the consulate and to everybody who works so hard as a team here in the burrow. Um there's nothing like it in the state of New Jersey and we're it's just it's
beautiful. So thank you to the entire governing body and to every single burough employee and every single partner and nonprofit that makes it possible. And it's it's extremely special to hear that that many appointments, you know, are are are h
happening. It's it's life-changing. So, thank you. >> Um, we've heard a lot about um the public works department and the work they did, but I got an email today or was it yesterday? Oh, it was yesterday.
Um, and I want to share it with everybody because it was very cool to receive it. Usually I get emails if people either have a complaint or they just have a genuine problem they need some help fixing, but this was neither. Dear Mayor Portman, I'm writing to thank you and all of the dedicated
professionals who put in long hours to clear the streets during this last winter storm. As I was clearing my driveway and starting the process of removing the heavy snow the plows had pushed to my side, a white pickup truck appeared. The driver, a young man named Timothy, who was in a Red Bank truck,
saw what I was dealing with and offered to push the accumulated snow into the empty into an empty corner of the edge of my driveway. That simple gesture saved me time and a lot of effort. And at 63 years old, maybe more. I'm not sure of Timothy's last name, but
I wanted to share my story. And if you see him, thank him for his kindness and for making Redbank a great place to call home. So, uh, that that summed it up for me pretty good. Oh, he let him know. Yeah. Good, good,
good. Um, yeah, that's all I got. Jim, you want to give your manager's report? >> Thank you, mayor. Um, yeah, I mean, right, we're we're seeing a ton of snow and some of it has not been seen for the
last 10 years. Um, which creates a strain on many different operations around the burrow. But, uh, we've been working through it. I mean, the guys have done a tremendous job. I mean, I've been out there in the middle of Broad Street watching the operation. Um,
talking with the guys in the trucks and what, you know, getting the game plan what we're doing. Uh, just yesterday we kind of switched gears and did a quick operation on Broad and Mammoth, uh, Wallace Lynen. We continued on White Street today because it's important for
us to keep commerce going in this town and to open up parking and the ability to get to the curb and of course for the burrow to get to the meters and you know continue because everything suffers when we have this this much snow and we know
that the businesses do. Um so we contracted with Redbank Recycling on Monday for an 8 hour shift. We used three of their trucks. uh rolloff trucks along with one of ours. Um we used two of our front-end loaders and one of
theirs at an off-site location where we trucked um I forget how many tons of snow. Um but several many truckloads over an 8 hour period and Redbank Recycling was very accommodating to our needs. Um I'm very thankful for that
partnership. Um of course we paid for it. Um, and it was, you know, it's comes at a premium when you're working with snow and snow removal operations. But I felt like it was very important to weigh that balance of losing revenue, losing
commerce in the town, the businesses not being able to open up as much as they want to and as appropriately as they want to. Um, so we dedicated one full day to that down there. And of course throughout the week our own operations are going to continue uh with public works and you would have seen them out
there today. >> Mammoth White uh yeah so they they were working a lot today. So I mean just to put in perspective right 15 parking lots between the schools all of our municipal lots um the the various areas that we
handled over 23 miles of burrow roadway that they clear throughout the night. Uh we have over 16 trucks out on the road. We over we have close to 10,000 ft of sidewalk that they clear. Um and the whole idea is to get us up and running
as quickly as possible. Uh I was I know I was in contact with the guys 2 3:00 in the morning. Um talking with them. Saturday, we we got together at 3 p.m. on a a Zoom call between the our our chief of police, Frzy, um Lieutenant
Kovar, uh Tommy Welsh from OEM, Mike Welsh from the fire department putting crews on standby. Um we we had Adriana and Fatima from community engagement. We had uh Terrence and Jerry from public works. Um all of us, you know, sitting
in our kitchens talking. The mayor was on a call with us as well as part of the emergency management council. Um so it was important for us to strategize, talk about what we're expecting, look at the latest reports as to what was going to be coming in. Uh parts of Mammoth County
did see more than us. However, we prepared for exactly what we were being told was was coming, which two feet of snow can be pretty crippling at one time and it came down at, you know, 2 to three inches per hour. Um, those guys were working in blizzard white out
conditions and you know at three o'clock in the morning when you had already been out there for several many hours, you know, I give them a ton of credit. They went to the senior center at one point to kind of take take a load off, relax, you know, I said, "Let's get some food over there, feed the guys, um, let them,
you know, shut their eyes for a little bit and then they were right back at it." So, they did a tremendous job and they're still doing a tremendous job. So, I'm truly thankful for everybody across the board, across this burrow that coordinated, collaborated, and communicated uh throughout this entire
storm. They they've been tremendous. Um so, hats off to everybody there. And over the weekend, in between snowstorms, um I was happy to represent the New Jersey Municipal Managers Association. I was asked by the New Jersey League of
Municipalities to uh give a presentation to the newly elected officials orientation uh with myself and my uh a colleague of mine Jesse Mullman from uh Fanwood and we gave a great presentation to newly elected elected officials as to
how to work effectively with your administrator or your manager of your town, what to expect, um what pitfalls to look out for. You know, we was kind of I did this little funny shtick of like how you can accidentally and unintentionally undermine your administrator. So, which I think
everybody kind of got a kick out of because they're like, "Ah, man. I I think I do that." You know, and I'm like, "It's okay. We're all learning." And um and I I even said, I'm like, "Everybody's so well-intended in the room that you may not even realize it when, you know, you're going from department to department and trying to
change things while your administrator is trying to run the town." And I think and I constantly talked about this governing body and the actions that you took in the last couple years to make sure that that was something that was so much more streamlined and more effective. Um, and I think that a lot of
people looked up to that model. Um, and it like I I talk about as well like through the International City Managers Association, it's something that's widely accepted across the country is this model of uh municipal government. So kudos to everybody here.
>> Jim, I had somebody reach out to me. >> Okay. >> From a neighboring town that's that was just elected. No. And they were like, "You have the best manager." It was the best class I had. They were like, "I learned so much." They were like, "It was applicable information." They said that you gave real life examples of like
why chain of command matters. And like they found it to be the most useful class of the day as a newly like they just obviously they were just elected. They've been in office for like a month. But yeah, she told awesome. Yeah. So good. That was really nice. >> I was happy to do it. You know, drive up to the Melands on a Saturday in a suit.
>> I was like, he's not leaving Red Bank. So >> yeah, not going anywhere. >> Um, so that was good. And then one last update is the Bassy reting project. We're obviously delayed in that project. Um, so once I have a better construction
timeline, I will give that as well. And we're also obviously delayed on the Lynen uh Lynen Place improvement project as well. So once I have those updated project timelines, I'll present them. >> Thank you. >> I've I really like the police coming on
our street in the neighborhood with a, you know, in front of houses. I don't know if I got the sound right. >> Perfect. But it got it got um it helped a lot because I don't know that our penalties are really too much of an incentive, but people got out of
their houses and and >> and moved their freaking cars >> for a change because that was a big problem when I I don't know about everybody else's street, but but I have to say it's important that we delivered that message in English and Spanish. Uh we we put the notices out on cars ahead
of time of the storm. again that you're right the pink leaflets you know all this stuff I think matters >> didn't have a car >> I think people were in their houses >> and you see the difference you see when we're able to plow curb to curb the cars
that did remain were ticketed they were ticketed we are being consistent with that message because you have to be but I have to say that I'm extremely thankful and grateful for the community members that did help us out in that regard it's a truly a big help. Um,
however, it can be done. It just showed that it can be done. Um, I know it's an inconvenience. I know timing matters and and all those factors are taking in place, but it can be done and the community showed up for us and therefore we're able to show up for them and it's
appreciative. >> Now, I didn't know that we're using the senior center also as a flop house when we have to. >> That's right. >> That is something I never knew about. Do we have like CS in there or >> We do. Yeah. There's couch. I know there's a generator >> and we we bring CS over as well that we have.
>> You haven't stayed there, have you? >> No, not yet. >> Thank you. >> Can I have >> work manager? >> Can I have a motion to adjurnn? >> So moved. >> I have a second. All in favor? >> I. >> All right. See you guys later.
>> See you later. >> What did you say? What was What was What did you say? Cooperation, coordination, collaboration. Is that a word? You sound like Walt Frasier announcing a Knicks game.