it is now 7:31 p.m. it is February 12th 2025 this is the regularly scheduled meeting of the municipal L Board of the bur of River Edge this meeting of the municipal Lage board is being held remotely and recorded first five minutes due to power
bur council chambers on availability and is in compliance with the provisions of the open public meetings act and Associated regulations notice of this remote meeting was published in the Bergen Record posted on the front doors of burrow Hall and posted on the Burrow's website the notice included the dial in and login information necessary
for public participation and access to while whoever's in a crowd if you could just mute [Music] yourself I think it's Lisa because her little box is lighting up leis there we
go okay notice of this remote meeting was published in the Bur posted on the front door of bur Hall and posted on the Burrow's website the notice included the dial in and login information necessary for public participation and access to this meeting remotely a copy of the agenda for this meeting was made
available on the Burrow's website near the posting of the meeting notice and included the dial in and login information during the public comment period of this meeting if you would like to make a public comment please press the raise hand button on Zoom or dial star9 on your telephone keypad to raise
your hand the board will address You by name or by the last four digits of your telephone number you may mute and unmute Yourself by pressing the microphone icon on Zoom or dialing star 6 on your telephone keypad you must state your name and address clearly prior to making public
comment and with that I will turn it to our Council Mr Stewart if you would kindly call the role please absolutely if I mispronounce anyone's name I apologize in advance uh Mr Mayor yes Mr Mayor
yes Mr cin here miss Bolan here Mr gardier here Mr feffer here Mr Craig here Mr
chinigo here cman glass here Mr Gibbons here Mr Salva here uh Mr dekin here Mr Barons Mr baren trying to find that mute button here thank
you and Mr Costa this is me Jason Flores uh I'm covering Mr Costa for tonight's meeting okay everyone's here good job Mr Stewart got everybody's name pretty pretty close um with that the first item
on our agenda this evening is under the approval of minutes a set of minutes from our January 22nd meeting was circulated to the board prior to this evening's meeting for review I open it to the board for questions or comments on the draft minutes there being none I'll look for a
motion to approve the minutes as drafted well moved thank you Miss bowan is there a second I think Mr God as a second um Mr Stewart just confirm I believe both uh Miss Bolan and Mr
godia were present at the last meeting so that yes they were okay all right so we have a motion to approve the minutes in a second um we uh do a roll
call Mr Mayor yes Mr CN yes Miss Bolan yes Mr gardier yes Mr feffer yes Mr Craig yes Mr chinigo yes councilman
glass stain I just didn't have a chance this time to do a thorough review I apologize Mr Gibbons yes Mr Salva yes okay okay okay thank you everyone we're going to move on to our next next item excuse me on the agenda this evening under
discussion uh and the formation of an affordable housing subcommittee and the burrow and the burrow is looking for two members of the land use board to serve on this subcommittee of the mayor and Council Mr
Mayor turn to you if you have any statements you'd like to make on this sure uh the state legislature passed a new set of um statutes regarding affordable housing uh we are in what's uh sometimes referred to as round four
so these uh laws have been created uh partly because of uh the New Jersey Supreme Court's decisions about land use and the state legislator's response to that these laws have very tight deadlines for municipalities all 564 of
them in in New Jersey 70 in Burton County and as such we need um to form a committee the committee will have a limited role in that uh its duties won't really last more than this year as I understand it though that may
change um and uh the members cannot come from uh because I'm already on it it can't be uh councilman glass so we're looking for two members who would be part of this uh somewhat of an ad hoc
committee to to review what the state is requiring of River Edge uh and uh so that River Edge May submit it to the state according to the deadlines the state has already created if somebody has a question other than that they can pose it towards me
but I don't know how much I'll be able to answer it Tom barings actually might be able to give a much more uh informative answer right so mayor just to follow up I think that was a great summary so just so everyone's aware the the full land use board acting as a
planning board will be responsible for adopting the Burrow's fourth round affordable housing plan no later than June 30th 2025 that's a state requirement so the the purpose of the subcommittee is to sort of streamline the information that would go to the board and vet certain we'll call them
preliminary issues and doing some background data research Etc But ultimately it will be the full complement of the board that that reviews and vets these things and makes certain decisions as far as um how the burrow is going to satisfy its fourth round affordable housing obligation so I
I would assume we would have periodic meetings with the subcommittee maybe once or twice a month at least initially and again this would be uh in an effort to prepare the planning board to do what it has to do in ultimately preparing and adopting a housing plan so that there would be some extra amount of time
commitment um might be a little interesting for those interested in the topic and just you know uh that have some uh knowledge of the burrow and you know how it's been developed in the past so um but if anyone has any questions like the mayor said be glad to answer now or
offline also want to add that I've not spoken to anyone on the luse board prior to this meeting so it really is open to every member of the L use board with the exception of councilman glass and of course myself because we're
already legislative um the council body and therefore it would be two people who were not us okay with that I'll open to the board for any questions for either Mr Baron of the mayor and if if there's expressions
of interest from anybody any members of the board who would be willing to serve on the subcommittee I'd be willing to serve but if somebody else would rather I mean I don't need to serve but I'll put myself out there so but if anybody else would
rather please jump in uh appreciate that Mr K I think we need two people so that that's one anybody El looks Mr given looks like he's I'd be willing to help if uh if we have not enough
sure all right so as far as formality goes I don't know if um we need to take a vote on that I think it's just a uh why don't we do an informal um I nominate um Ryan
Gibbons and Dario kigo is there a second I'm sorry second yeah I'll second that yeah okay so we have a a motion nomination for Mr Mayor and Mr gardier and I think we can just do a Voice vote on that all
in favor I I opposed okay congratulations and we appreciate uh you st up to fulfill the role if a a memo or an email can be sent to um to Lizette
appella appella our business administrator uh stating that these are the individuals uh and to the clerk and DOD that would um you know memorialize it and I would appreciate that Mr alter would you be able to take care of that
for us excent thank you sir all right we're going to move along then on our agenda for the evening we're going to move now into memorializations uh the first memorialization is for I Chihuahua restaurant we have a draft resolution
granting site plan approval with a variance relief for a retail food establishment property of 637 ker Kack Road this is block 614 lot 802 draft of the resolution was circulated for review prior to this evening's meeting and I open it to the board for comments or
questions on the draft of the resolution there being none I will look for a motion on the resolution please so moved thank you thank I think it was Mr cier Mr Stewart when you're ready you
can call those who are eligible Mr Mayor yes Mr castlin yes Miss Bolan yes Mr guard here Mr gr here looks like he's
Frozen yeah all do you hear me yes okay Mr feffer yes Mr Craig yes Mr Keno
yes councilman glass yes Mr GI yes okay Chris you're muted no I don't think so can you hear me no different Chris it was me sorry thank you Mr Mayor you're welcome uh next item on our agenda is Eugene and
Angela God input property is 8:30 Summit Avenue this is block 206 lot 16 uh the board received a correspondence from the applicants uh Council last week uh seeking to withdraw their
application uh and have it dismissed without prejudice we have a uh resolution to provide for say that was circulated for review prior to this evening's meeting open it to the board for comments or questions on that
resolution there being none I'll look for a motion to approve okay I think I've got Mr cray on a first and a second I'll take Mr given on a second Mr Stewart when you're ready uh
Mr Mayor yes Mr CN yes Miss Boland I I abstain I don't think I'm eligible this is the this is a prior meeting it wasn't the last meeting am I right no I think this was last no it was
two meetings ago have been two ago Iain okay okay Mr gardier yes Mr feffer yes Mr Craig yes Mr kigo yes councilman glass
yes and Mr Gibbons yes okay thank you and our final item of memorialization for the evening uh we have a resolution uh seeking authorization and direction for uh the
board to sign on as a party to a developers agreement concerning a prior application the board heard the applicant was quality home developers LLC property is 312 web Avenue block 301 Lot 12 a draft of both the res ution and
the developers agreement was circulated for review offer open up to the board for comments or questions on either of those documents there being none I'll look for a motion to approve please make a motion to to approve thank
you Mr Craig is there second second than preer okay I'll do a roll call uh Mr Mayor you're you're muted y yes okay Mr castlin yes Miss Boland yes Mr
guarder abstain Mr feffer yes Mr Craig yes Mr kigo yes councilman glass yes and Mr Gibbons yes
yes okay thank you everyone we're going to move now into the completeness review section of our agenda for this evening the applicant is the Rosen bam yiva of North Jersey property is 666 Kinder Kack
road block 616 lat 9 application seeking approval for a proposed fence of 6 foot height which is not permitted uh for the code um Mr Stewart I would ask if you could
start us off I'm going to swear in well hold on we're just doing completeness now so I just want to make sure that we've got the proper notices we're Rec circulated this review hi Chris this is Marina I don't know if you can hear me I can hear you I
can't see you yes um you're coming up as the riv I'm just leaving another meeting but we our office did review the proofs and they are sufficient for the board to hear the application tonight okay thank you Miss
sty um G move now to Mr baren yes good evening so from a completeness perspective the application is um in some way simply for the installation of off fence so we have a survey which delineates the proposed locations of of the fence we have fence specifications
and some other information that's been submitted by the applicant so I believe the board has enough to proceed this evening with the fence application okay thank you sir Mr dekin any input from you uh no objection to continue okay thank you sir and Mr
Flores uh good evening chairman Ard uh planning board members uh yes our office reviewed the site plan that clearly delineate the fence that um the applicant is proposing uh we also review our letter of denial prepare by Mr
dekins um the uh memoranda from our planner to baren and uh a couple uh the details and pictures of the property and the rendering of the proposed fans and the details of the of the proposed fans that
they are uh proposing and is I you know is is sufficient for uh the board to proceed with you to hear in the application okay thank you Mr Flores questions or comments from the board as to completeness okay uh I will look for a
motion then to deem the application complete so moved thank you Miss bow there a second second thank you Mr pepper Mr Stewart when you're ready uh Mr Mayor yes Mr CN yes Miss Boland yes
Mr gardier yes Mr feffer yes Mr Craig yes Mr kigo yes councilman glass yes Mr Gibbons yes okay okay thank you br we're gonna move now
under new business on our agenda this applicant is Rosen bamy of North Jersey the property is 666 kendri KAC road block 616 l 9 applicant is seeking approval for the installation of a proposed fence in excess of the permitted
height I believe we have uh Mr Barrett I saw you yes Mr chairman yes good evening sir how are you good evening fine thank you would you care to make a opening statement um just briefly I the primary
purpose of the fence is for security uh and so we have with us uh tonight uh m Joe staros will be testifying as to the security concerns and and the proposed remedy to those concerns or
at least to alleviate some of them um I also have with me tonight from the yiva MR jurgenson uh because we had the opportunity to review Mr Baron's comments and so we're able to address some of those in terms of the placement of
Defense I also have the head of security from the Yesa Mr Cardon um I don't don't see him on here but I believe the contractor Mr anochi is here maybe RAB and of course Rabbi CLA
from the Yesa itself um but I would like to uh start with Mr staros although I don't see him but I have a limited number of people here he's he's on as a panelist that needs to be invited in two or excuse me the other way around he's
an attendee that needs to be a panelist oh okay so Tom Stewart I don't know if you've got control of the meeting or Ed if you can bring him in it actually be Tom okay I'm sorry could you tell me the
name one more time Joe stos s a r o s t I'll bring him in here and there was one more person I think that Mr Barrett mentioned was the contractor right Mr
Anon is he in there a is he under Bruno is that his first name I I don't think so no okay I don't see him in there then okay okay so why don't we go ahead well let's let's uh get everybody sworn in
who's GNA uh give testimony this evening right so that would include all everybody I name and then of course the rabbi okay so anyone who's um going to be testifying the witnesses and the experts uh please put your video on and
raise your right hand do you swear or affirm that the testimony you're about to give will be the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes I do okay
and Mr Jer can you uh please State your full name and address for the record uh my full name is Christian h jurgenson i 4th uh my address is 513 Charles Street New Milford New Jersey 07646 and are you here as a security
expert no no no I'm the superintendent of buildings and grounds at the school I've been here for 10 and a half years okay and do you have a uh New Jersey license in good standing yes I do okay and then I think we also have to
get uh Mr stos and uh the rabbi right and Mr H Cardone and Mr Cardone uh we'll do Mr Cardone Mr Cardone can you please State your full name and address for the record I think M you're muted
here I'll uh I'll prompt the unmute there you go can you hear me yes yeah okay Paul Robert Cardone one Peach Tree Lane North helden New Jersey 07508 can you briefly uh please State
your experience for the record uh I have 29 years of law enforcement experience I'm retired detective Lieutenant from the Bergen County prosecutor's office and I have 19 years of security experience with the
ISA okay uh Rabbi thank you so much uh at frim CLA I live at 35 Hallberg Bergenfield uh this is my 11th year at the yiva as the executive director uh formally as a
teacher and director of operations thank you and I believe there was one more yeah Mr starst Mr starus I think we have to fix your camera looks like it's coming up as a yeah for some reason I'm not able to
fire up my camera it's not giving me any options to do so are you on a phone or a computer computer on the bottom left there should on the bottom there should be a black bar that has audio video and then some other
icons I have audio microphone speaker I don't have any camera settings if if you can't access the camera that's okay um just provide your information for the record for right now and we'll and try to sort it out before you get
your testimony on the record okay outstanding thank you so much my name is Joseph stst um my experience is actually I live at 247 Manning Avenue in the burough River Edge uh my experience is 27 and a half years as a law enforcement officer with the burough River Edge uh
retired in 2024 as a Patrol Division Commander um I've been working at the aiva as security guard for the past 11 months uh during my time as a police officer with the bur River Edge I was active school
shooter instructor for the the uh the burough officers um and I've done numerous um security threat assessment walkthroughs with the Yeshiva um with St Peter's Church as well as Temple abidat
Shalom thank you sir okay good evening all Mr Barrett I'll turn it back to you all right um so maybe we're gonna try and help Mr uh staros with his camera uh is it possible that you're what are you on a laptop Joe I have on a laptop
correct I selected my uh my camera to work and it for some reason it is not you might just have to exit the meeting and come back in Mr Barrett if you could proceed with someone else first that would be better surely all right um let
me go then to um Mr Jurgens jur sorry it's close um so we've had the opportunity to meet and you reviewed the comments from Mr Barons
with respect to the um placement of the uh fence um I think I think for the board the board has a copy of the plans I think for Simplicity sake we divide the fence into three sections we have a South section which is that uh closest
to the post office we have the central section which is in front of the main building of the ISA and then we have the north section which is in front of the new probably 10 years old or more or more um
and also adjacent to the office building just which in turn is just south of the Chase building um so we had the opportunity to discuss uh the comments uh as in particular the fact
that the uh southwest corner of the site the defense was shown as uh on an angle and that that would be closest to the the post office correct yes so it was origin originally
shown at an angle will there be any problem with uh having that rear line parallel to the front lot line I don't think it'll be a problem at all and and in addition there was a concern raised excuse me uh about site
distances for the cars that are exiting how far back can the fence go and still serve its purpose of providing security to the children uh and also afford adequate
site distance for those exiting the site I would say 30 to 40 feet approximately okay can we can we can you say without a doubt it's a minimum of 30 feet that could be done anything could
be done I understand but you see the board the Board needs to deal in certainties rather than approximations uh when we're talking you know a distance difference of 10 feet so
still serving its purpose how far off of the sidewalk which is within the boundary lines of the property how far back do you think the fence could be located and again still serve its purpose oh you said a magic word you
said you think I'm sorry you know hang on one second okay yeah we we have about 30 feet definitely okay and so versus what was shown on the plan um Tom Barons can you uh could you share
the plan maybe we could yeah I I think we need some clarification what that 30 feet means so I I will share and then you guys can try to help us react to that uh so bear with me while I attempt to share my screen maybe you can teach me how to do
that we could do that absolutely all right so the the point of concern if you can bear with me is this this area right here we have an egress driveway and we have an active very active I would call pedestrian public sidewalk that people Traverse you know
during most of the year and as proposed the fence would sort of aut uh the driveway and the sidewalk and come right to the intersection of where the driveway meets the sidewalk where it goes up a hill and I think it just an obvious conflict point and we want to
keep everyone safe you know it's I think it's a legitimate safety concern so the proposal is to move the fence back by some amount it's not clear to me what that means as compared to what's shown present I thought I thought that the the place where it could be moved
would be on what I call the southern portion so closest to the post office okay because that's where that's where the interference would come because to you know you're limited to a right-and turn and so be tra
traffic traveling Northbound that you want to have a clear vision of as well as the pedestrians themselves I so what I'm hearing is this line that's at an angle to kinder KAC would be made parallel and brought back to the 30 foot setback that's one thing I my honest my
my primary concern was was this conflict point where if somebody's coming up a hill maybe quickly and maybe the coast is clear as far as vehicular traffic but if there's somebody walking around a bike coming Southbound on the sidewalk that I wouldn't want there to be a
collision Point here I'm not an engineer there's a few Engineers on the call but again you'd be the vehicles would be going up the hill there would be a 6-ft fence adjacent to the driveway and also a six foot fence that pretty much goes the length of the sidewalk and I I think
it might be tough at times simply to to see people walking or biking down that sidewalk so so do you think do you think just at the uh the corner um of the you know just just above where
it says proposed gate just that portion could be pulled back a little bit because again you know we have the steep slope uh that has to be dealt with I I think you can offer that as a solution again I would ask the engineers to Aline as to what the I'm I'm a plan
sometimes I play I I delve into that realm and I I shouldn't so I that seems to be a a possible solution and the concern Tom I think you're raising is that this we'll call it the the middle segment of the fence um is proposed essentially along the trees and the
ballards the reason being that there's a steep slope and to bring it back would be too close to the school I think that's your position so well and and also and also Mr staros will testify um that it would lose some of its Effectiveness because you no longer have
the height although it would still be six feet right because of the steep grade you've effectively lost some of the height right all right so just just to f refo one thing at a time what you're saying is at least as far as this issue is concerned you'd be open to
we'll say uh I don't know angling the fence or cutting it off but bringing it further away from that intersection that that conflict point is yeah that that section there yes whatever we could because again you know the the the ISA has always been a good neighbor wants to
continue to be a good neighbor and whatever we can do that still again serves a purpose of you know safety to the school children um we're more than happy to uh you know accomplish okay so let's I think we'll move on from that
and maybe let the board react to that and go through your various professionals and we can Circle back to what the specifics of that ought to be but I it's good to hear that there's some amount of flexibility to resolve that issue so yes um all right I'll turn it back over to you do you need is there
any need to share the uh uh survey the plan I don't think so all right well if need be I can pop it back up so uh thank you if you could please continue yes sir so I think I think that um I'm finished
with Mr jurgenson uh because he's he's the oh actually not um because I know there was some questions raised by Mr Costa in his report of January 16 and those
concerns were okay so the concern was to specify where the power source is such as connection to the main electrical system so perhaps you could Mr jordens you could tell the
board how it is that these um the gates which I understand will be sliding Gates how they would be powered all right the power is going to come off the main building uh the boxes are going to be supplied by the fencing
company they already showed me the Box they showed me a picture of the box I'm going to supply power to the box I'm also going to do the uh the pipe Run's going to get done underneath the driveway it's going to get trenched it's going to be 30 30 inches
down it's going to have six inches of sand underneath it 3/4 inch PVC pipe um and then another six inches of sand on top of it because we got to cut across the driveway on both sides so there's an escavator or there's a
company who's working with defense company who going to do the Escavating and the digging I'm going to do the PVC work I'm also a licensed electrician I'm licensed insured in the state of New Jersey uh license number 12282 B um and
I'm going to do everything's going to get done everything will have the permits um it'll be 30 inches down 3/4 inch PVC the main boxes on both sides the gate on the entry and the gate on the exit they're going to be mounted those control boxes will be mounted
right onto the building and then the PVC work will go down and go out to the uh fence Motors and sensors and relays and whatever else they want to do okay so essentially all all of the equipment is outside it's outside the
electric comes from the main distribution panel which is in the building um everything will be done according to code the national electrical code and uh yeah the main boxes will be mounted on the building they're not going to be freestanding out
by the the control boxes will be on the building they'll both be coming from the same location it's going to be it's going to be a cat sck going out there and there's also going to be a 120 volt circuit um going out there arcfall GFI
protection and uh pretty much that's it 3/4 in PVC with expansion joint all okay uh so Mr chairman Mr jurgenson is available for questioning either now or uh after other
testimon it's up to the board however they'd like to why don't we keep uh we'll keep going Mr bar we'll get the full picture and then we can Circle back all right thank you Mr chairman um we just had Mr Stars we've lost him there he is he's coming
back all right yeah I I logged on my phone it was just a little bit easier I guess so here I am very good thank you um have you been sworn in yet I don't believe I have okay Mr Stewart when you have a chance
sure um Mr stos could you uh please raise your right hand do you swear or affirm that the testimony you're about to give will be the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth I do sir please State your full name and address for the record
Joseph starst 247 Manning Avenue B Riv please briefly uh explain your experience uh 27 year 27 and a half year law enforcement experience with the B Riv Edge uh retired last year as Patrol Division Lieutenant uh during that time
I was active school um shooter instructor for the bough River Edge um I also had the opportunity to do many um site risk security evaluations for the Yeshiva as well as St Peter's uh church
and the Temple abidat Shalom thank you I'm currently employed by um by Associates security company which is contracted to secure um have a security presence for the Yeshiva thank you sir so Mr s during your time with the
rivered police department did you have the opportunity to serve on the uh Bergen County prosecutor's office uh intelligence and counterterrorism unit or to assist them in evaluating the yiva so yeah at least twice during my
tenure and and what were the findings of the prosecutor's office prosecutor's office they had um numerous suggestions as well as I did for for better securing the um the property and uh having us actually have these students uh in a
safer environment um obviously numerous different um different uh measures were were discussed uh one of them was was was a fence so youw the fact that the proposal is for a six-foot vence um which is
contrary to the ordinances in Riveredge which uh limits it to I believe a four- foot fence in the front yard why why is a fence of that height necessary well based on on current geopolitical factors right we all know fences are can be many different things
they could be a Ally pleasing they can delineate property but um plain and simple for this purpose offenes are a deterrent right uh it's it's not to be to end all but it's a valuable piece of the puzzle coupled along with surveillance and a security team right that provides a sound and secure
environment for uh for our clients uh staff and students so a u and and again why a six-foot fence versus say A four-foot fence A four-foot fence for this would serve no purpose four Defence is easily
bolted uh most people can step over a a 4 foot with a little problem we're looking to actually U make it difficult uh and real deterrent to have not people just be able to just step over our fence okay and you're familiar with how
how the fence is going to operate I don't mean to steal the rabis Thunder but are you aware of the uh the planned usage of the the gates that will be part of the fence installation yes sir I am and what what is the plan for that the
plan will be to have the have the gates secured uh while students are on the premise and in the buildings um I'm told that when they're not in when school is not in session and the students are not in the building the fences will be uh will be in the open position actually the the entrance ways will be in the
open position so in in other words it's only when schools actually in session not of course during the time the children are being dropped off or the school buses are arriving correct right so there'd be no impediment to traffic in any way no
the gates would be wide open both uh both coming and going during that period of time okay dismissal and um the rivals and so at the end of the day when the children are gone the gates are open correct okay um and and you've heard the discussion
regarding the um I know it's not your particular area of expertise but you know attempting to re relocate the a little bit to give a a greater sight distance um for the pedestrians who are traveling um north to south right so passing the building going towards the
post office so that somebody exiting would be able to see them as well as anybody coming from the south to the North during my tenure as a police officer I did many um many presentations for the council at that time for line of sight distances uh for parking
violations and parking uh ordinances that would restrict parking between a certain footage from the apex of the intersection in order to try to uh make people have people safe when they're trans traversing uh the roadway as well as pedestrians on the roadway but it
it's not really my area of expertise but I am familiar with with sight line um issues and and you feel I I made a suggestion that perhaps just that one section uh could be pulled back a little bit um you know where it's closest to the driveway just to increase that sight
distance the as you know the the exit area for for the aiva is at quite a steep angle I I don't have of grade but it is quite a steep angle uh the more setback you give you'll you'll give up uh in fence height you you now you'll be you'll be you be able to see over the
fence and actually be close to seeing over the fence because that that property does drop off so quickly from that area but I think a compromise can be had as far as maybe an angle to to increase sight line from where from where the fence would actually be to where it actually joins the um to to run
parallel with Kinder kak Road I think there there's there's probably some um some some give and take that can be done there so perhaps and again with with the rabbis permission um U Mr chairman perhaps you know Mr Costa's uh office could have a representative um along
with u Mr staros and you know we could come up with a solution that addresses everybody's needs assuming the board sees fit to Grant an approval I've in my in my tenure I've worked very closely with uh with Mr Costa and his crew so and his staff so that would be a
pleasure to to reacquaint oh so again if if we're successful tonight uh Mr chairman that could certainly be a condition of approval okay we can take that under consideration can can can I oine on something um so uh s Kindra
kamak is a county roow right um I just want to uh I'm not sure if this is uh Mr styros how you doing by the way no see um I don't know if he's testifying on this or you're going to have your you going to have an engineer testifying uh I just want to know if if you have
applied for a uh maybe um a planning board uh approval from the county as an exception or maybe just just just to get a letter from the county saying they you know that exempt from planning uh planning Board review just to put the fence in there we yeah we have not yet
applied but uh again that could be a condition if the board saw fit to approve okay yeah just because uh uh the county maybe like two years ago they just come out with this new rule uh that you know even though if you're not improving the site or you're improving the site uh if you're in a county road
now you're supposed to do a design certification for uh side distances uh so that's something that might help too as well I mean if it's get approv by the county then you know the town can take that in advice and then take that consideration of the County as well no problem
okay I have uh nothing further for Mr staros Mr chairman okay uh you have is is the rabbi going to be uh testifying he is okay on we proceed is so we we don't think we have
Mr antonacci here it doesn't appear so okay Raba you're up thank you Tom um and now you you were smor though okay so why don't
you know the the board is board has heard from Mr stles it's heard from Mr jurgenson as the executive director of the Shiva how did how did you get to this point uh you know with the fence and everything else at the at the risk of being redundant um part of what uh part
of our application process for our uh FEMA Homeland Security Grant was applying for a vulnerability and risk assessment from the New Jersey office of Homeland Security um done by um Bill Stallone who's at the prosecutor's office the prosecutor's office sends a representative along with the River Edge
Police Department provide a report about the potential vulnerabilities of a site um and which uh like the former Lieutenant said uh included many things uh one of the main uh vulnerabilities that they pointed out was the uh
open uh in Ingress access from the uh far west side of the property um being that we have classroom windows that face the street and that we have uh very long Frontage that can be very easily walked into by anyone um which as the police department can attest has happened on
numerous occasions thank God everything's been fine but um it makes uh surveillance and um protection very difficult uh so we applied for the grant under um the oses of the of the office of New Jersey's Homeland Security they found that we were in fact vulnerable
and granted us um this state and federal Grant in order to resolve those vulnerabilities um that's uh something obviously work closely with the um rived Police Department we we consider them very very uh important Partners in everything that we do keeping our
children safe and um we you know do whatever we can to help make our police officers feel like uh they can rely on us and vice versa um and it was with their guidance that that we decided that offense was uh was an appropriate step to take in in order to properly secure
our facility from from threats and how how did you come to choose the particular fence model that's shown the specifications that were submitted um those came at a recommendation um aluminum versus chain link it's it's much sturdier it's much
more difficult to Traverse um as Lieutenant can attest um as well as aesthetically much much nicer than chain link uh obviously a lot more expensive thankfully the grant um will pay for you know that fence because it is very secure um but that was again that was
part of the recommendation obviously chain link would be a you know call it tier two but they considered aluminum fencing tier one in terms of uh Safety and Security and then you have you had discussions uh I know we we saw a letter
from uh the chief um that he had met with I presume yourself um so if you could just advise the board how how will the emergency Personnel gain access to the site both during school hours and then or after school hours so as
mentioned our relationship with the police department is accident um we have uh we have members of the police department we had a member of the police department today uh in school um supervising our Safety and Security drills um uh Lieutenant Zed is always a partner
of ours and we uh and we have um given every police officers patrol car actually this was something that um that Joe organized every patrol car has access control fobs as well as access Keys um that can get them into the building both digitally and manually if
need be um the same access will be granted for the uh for the fence it'll have the same type of Access Control um but just as a reminder the the fence will only need to be open um while school is in session and per our procedures and policies while school is
in session we have Security on staff so there there should not be a situation in which the police need to enter the property when there's no one to let them in so either the building is either the gates already open because it's after hours um or if the gates are closed then security should be on site regardless
they'll still have uh key fobs and man ual keys from us in order to enter uh whenever needed same goes for the fire department uh we also have a very very close relationship with the river fire department um with Rob schlosberg they just ran a whole set of emergency drills
uh at our school um they're planning on running another on March 1 we we we deeply value their relationship and we reached out to them immediately to say you know are you okay with this do you have any thoughts and they were both Chief Walker and um Chief schlosberg were both granted us Their Blessings so
thank you Rabbi um and so and you heard the discussion uh about attempting to accommodate the concern about the site distance yeah um I I I just would Echo uh Joe's concerns about the grade um um just to clarify
one point um if if Tom if maybe you can Tom Barons if you could just clarify is the concern the um The Swinging pedestrian egress gate P into pedestrian traffic or is it just that the cars pulling out won't be able to see the traffic moving the pedestrian traffic
moving Southward it's mostly the the pedestrian traffic the gate swinging I didn't even occur to me I'll be honest it it just had to do with vehicles going up the Steep incline and just frankly not being able I mean in the summer kids walk to
the swim club I I don't want to create one safety issue you know by you know solving another one so I I think I think there's an opportunity to um address your concern about having the fence be functional as far as a security deterent and also create more visibility for kids
and anybody that's walking biking scooting at variable speeds down the sidewalk again don't want to play engineer I think Mr uh Jason's comment about getting the County's uh review about the site distance issue seems to make sense but I just some
amount uh of distance between the the conflict point I think would seem to help again I don't want to be an expert I'll let the engineers figure out what makes the most sense for everybody I just wanted to point out that one we're happy to walk with them great I I appreciate the diagram for one second maybe we can just clarify exactly where
that point is that you're worried about yeah sure um and maybe others aren't worried about it that's entirely a possibility also just I can share all right oh sorry Jason Jason why don't you share it maybe
you can give us some yeah sure uh let me see am I allow to share um if uh if somebody can give me access to uh the second computer that I'm signed in as uh Jason Flores computer oh thank you appreciate
that perfect so let me share my screen uh can everybody see this Google Earth uh the the street view image yes so the point that we're reference with uh Tom reference is this specific point
right here where this car is and you can see it now you know luckely for for us for for the convenience of this meeting uh somebody took a snapshot of the car stopping right before by the crosswalk and trying to make a you know a right term into Kinder KAC uh so that's that's
a specific point that Mr Bing is referring and if I go to the plan that's that's the point right here so would it be this fence that you would want moved or this portion that portion
right there uh uh that that's a specific portion because that's technically what is going to affect your side distance uh which will be the you know the where is the proposed gate War the second the second way that you mark uh the second Circle that you mark it oh maybe something like this would be
more um just quick question do we have an engineer testifying today I'm sorry do we have an engineer testifying tonight we do not we do not I just want to clarify something that I you know it wasn't written on the review letter but it's it just got my attention
so if if you can let me see if I can mark this PDF uh yeah I can mark it perfect um Can can you see this dash line I I wonder if that's an easement line uh from the county uh it it's a road widening easement that
which one of our questions yeah okay so that yes okay so that's what I thought you know it's not marked on the plant but uh if that's a rad it's marked it's marked on the plans on oh it is I'm sorry on the West Side other side of Kinder KAC right there that square rectangular
box oh yeah thank you oh perfect okay so that's we much more reason then I I I think that you know application to the county should be uh done just to see if they are going to have jurisdiction over this or just you're going to give you exemption letter and with that the
certification of the side distance uh just to show you what the certification looks like it's a design uh certification for driveways and radway size distance and that includes for any Improvement that you're doing uh within the properties that are facing any any uh County roow
that will uh bear some uh weight on the decision and you know and anything that is for security for the childrens going back to the the S plan yes so where concern is this is
specific point let me see right this a specific point right here okay and Tom um Mr Barrett you're willing to work with the burrow engineer to potentially adjust that once you get
the word from the county on the site yes any anything further Mr Barrett uh I don't have anything Mr chairman okay thank you sir uh Mr Barons can I turn back to you for any additional questions you may have sure I mean I think their
presentation was pretty thorough as to you know why they're making the requests Mr Barrett uh address some of my questions and comments in my review um which I'm just going to Breeze through to see if we've need to touch on anything so I'm just going to go numerically so um I did have a question
about compliance with prior approvals why don't we save that till the end I think it's more productive just to stick with the fence uh I did have a question about access um the applicant discussed how that would be managed um certainly we wouldn't want a situation where the fences are are closed at any point and
would create a traffic backup on Kinder Kack but I I think um I'll I'll defer to the board but it sounds like you've addressed that as again as far as how the fence would be managed certainly you don't want to create any issues for your you know people coming to school so understood s sight distance I don't know
what the answer to that is it seems like we're going to work that out maybe it's not even an issue maybe it is but well again we'll let the engineers in the county weigh in on that and then just getting to fencing um you know understanding the security
need I it is a very visible site in the community it does have a very long front over 400 ft so the hope is that we could try to balance the security need and try to soften or you know enhance the the streetscape at least as far as you know
the public is is concerned and passers by so some suggestions um were for consideration to where feasible to maybe bring the fence back a bit further from kinder kak road again where it makes sense and can remain functional um and I
think that would allow an opportunity for some amount of landscaping in the form of either Street trees or or something again just to soften the appearance I I do think it's going to be a dramatic visual impact but it may not be something um that we can change too
much frankly but just throwing it out there again for consideration um and I mean beyond that those those are really the issues so I I don't have anything further at this uh Point Mr chairman okay thank you Mr Burns uh Mr dekin any comments
you're muted Steve you're muted I think he's trying to find uh nothing further chairman okay thank you sir uh Mr Flores any additional questions uh just one more question uh
just to take in consideration um we know where the this for the children's um I'm a board member myself in the city of Anglewood so I you know anything for the kids is good um the only thing is uh is the Bowers that are currently facing the frontage are going to stay or are
they're going to stay okay um so the only the only comment that I have is just just work it out with the fence at side distance and make sure uh the trees are not being impacted because I see there are numerous trees in there as well that that's it okay thank you sir M Mr chairman just
before we go on and maybe this would help the board questioning so just two more questions just to be clear the fence is to be black that's the proposed color black aluminum okay and um I I guess the question I would ask the applicant at this juncture before the board ways in um is there any
opportunity to uh set back the fence on any of the three segments I think we resolved the one nearest the post office that it would sort of hug the the 30 foot setback and be parallel I think that's a Fair solution I'll I'll defer to you guys about the the middle segment I think you basically what we've heard
is that there is no opportunity from a functional standpoint I'll I'll leave that as it is and then because yeah because of the grade and but I think Rabbi we discussed the we call it the Northerly section right there's an opportunity there right to set it back a little bit further the grade is not as
steep there and we can probably set it to match what we have on the South Side uh probably that'd be great or or by some amount would I think any any amount would be helpful again for the purposes of softening it Landscaping it whatever the case may be and then I guess the third question would be is there any
consideration to adding some Landscaping in the front yard where where feasible and in a reasonable way we can certainly try I know you know you and I walked last time when we did the solar panels we found uh I think suitable Solutions in terms of the uh shielding of the of
the parking lot Landscaping um I believe we actually did try to do landscaping for our Ballard installation as well we had uh several arbores and some uh some pushes that did not make it through the first couple Winters unfortunately um but um we're we we also have some um
some trees and bushes already there maybe we can set the fence right behind them I'm happy to walk with you again if if you felt it would be helpful I appreciate that and and to that end there's a there's a very wide spectrum of what can be done from a landscaping standpoint so if the board has any
feeling about what they might like to see um you know if if it moves that way then uh be good to get some direction on that so so thank you thank you Mr Burns uh let me turn to the board now for questions um Mr
Gibbons can I start with you sure I just have one practical question as as a parent um is there going to be some sort of um intercom system or camera system at the ingoing gate so when you know kid doesn't come with his math book the parent needs to
get onto the campus how how's that going to be handled um sure uh yeah the plan is to have um a gooseneck intercom box where uh if if they're a teacher they'll be able to swipe their key fob the gate will open automatically if they're a parent they'll ring the bell uh similar to how we actually have at the front
door now they ring a bell and say how can I help you here to drop off Jimmy's lunch here to pick so and so up for a doctor's appointment um so- and so forgot their backpack whatever uh and then either a member of our security team or a front office will buzz them in through the gate direct them into the parking lot to come into the main entrance and would there be camera of
some sort so you can see who actually is sitting there right okay um that was the only question I had you know I do think we should do something with that um that ESS you know of making sure that that line of sight is uh is safe um you know but otherwise that was the only
questions I had thank you okay thank you Mr gibens Miss Bolan yes uh same um same questions with the site distance I don't want to keep repeating it I know like for a vehicle coming there's plenty of sight distance
because it's a right turn only but as far as the pedestrians I don't think there's a set standard but we would still have to make sure it's safe so I I think uh deferring to Mr ca's office to make sure that there is a whatever the
distance is that makes it that the V more so that the vehicle can see the pedestrians um what that distance is I don't know it either okay thank you Mr Bolan Mr feffer yes thank you so I'll start off
just by uh seconding what everyone else is saying about the sight line issue um and I do agree with Mr Baron's uh suggestions about just seeing how much we can pull back that fence um from
kinder kch if if feasible um and of course working with the um the county the planning board uh to just see what's practical in terms of pulling it back to some degree um and and doing the Landscaping
the idea of having a 400 foot long black fence um gets me a little bit nervous right along Kinder kamac Road um which is our main our main drag in town so you know from a safety point of view and
also an Aesthetics point of view I think we really should make every effort to um pull it back a little bit and also um work on the Landscaping aspect um I did have a couple of questions uh about some of the testimony
and I may have heard this wrong so I'm just asking for clarification uh at the at the end of Mr jurgensen's testimony did I I heard something about the electrical and it sounded like the fence would have some
electrification is it am I wrong about that it's not an electrified fence right no can you hear me yes okay no the fence is not electrified no this is for the gates you know the electricity and the intercom the c or Cat 5 um yeah that's
going to be for the gate operators only it's not going to be an electricite okay perfect unless you want one then you know that wasn't my suggestion no um another question is there any issue of
um or has anyone looked into the issue of there being any kind of fire hazard in the sense of I'm thinking of a situation where there's a fire or some other situation in the building where people need to escape the grounds quickly and get off the premises quickly
if that fence is closed how is that going to be dealt with and let's anybody who wants to answer that I actually spoke to um to Chief schlosberg about this while they were at uh while they were School the other night doing their drills and training um
and I believe I believe it actually should be reflected on the drawings that were submitted if not um we can clarify but there are egress Gates out um as you've probably seen and Kinder Kack we we do our uh mandated fire drills um
many times a year and uh and we would ensure that the gate would always allow craft bar egress access out um obviously that's you know her fire code um he had some suggestions about where specifically the doors would go uh one
on the far Northwest side um one um one that I know this delineated was just in the drawing a minute ago um up towards Kinder KAC um and then obviously towards the parking lot side uh towards the east side of the property we already have uh those two erress gates out both on the North and South Side so yes I did
discuss it uh with with Chief schlosberg um happy to you know revisit with him on his suggestions as to where the best places to put those egress gates are but yes it was brought up okay thank you for that um last question and I'm sure this
was uh looked into already but just to get it on the record if there God forbid is any kind of incident at the premises the thought that crosses my mind is that you're gonna need to have law enforcement and others be able to
monitor monitor the building from a distance potentially does that six foot high fence create any kind of impediment or or how how does that get dealt with in that kind of situation where it's not a matter of Ingress or egress but a
situation where the building has to be monitored from a distance that might be a good good one for you Mr [Music] star can you hear me yes um as far if
there was a say a hostage or standoff at the school perhaps um normally all assets for the from the county whether it's the rst regional SWAT team or even local assets would be would be doing that from inside the school uh protocol
from from the county is that there's ever an incident at the school uh law enforcement shall make entry as quickly as possible into the school so um warm zones would be set up inside the school cold zones set up inside the school but a Hot Zone would be dealt with inside the school property
itself so monitoring from a distance um I can't think of an opportunity or a reason where that would have to be done the campus is so large that a portion of the school can be used for CP easily uh while another one is being worked
at okay all right appreciate the answer I have nothing else okay thank you Mr peer Mr Keno um thank you Mr feffer said the fence made him a little nervous it makes me more than a little nervous I'm terrified that this is going to look like a jail
when we're done um it's going to look terrible better than a chain link fence I I'll give you that but I'm I'm I'm I'm scared of the way it's going to look and then I said to myself obviously while safety is number one we have a lot
of schools in town and this is one of them but how's a 6-ft fence really going to serve this purpose I mean I understand it's more than a 3-ft fence but if somebody really wants to uh be an aggressor here six foot fence is not going to stop anybody I mean I'm in my
mid-50s I can climb a six foot fence in a couple of minutes somebody who's younger and wants to do harm the fence is really not going to serve this protective purpose if it's open at all other times then there's going to be access by cars and and so forth to the
inside areas so it's not going to protect you from you know God forbid terrorists wanting to do something terrible so I just don't see how the six- foot fence all around is going to do much more than just segregate the school from the
community um and basically provide false protection because anybody who really wants to do harm the six foot fence is not going to stop him and I can't believe like I can't you know I can't see how it would and even even reading some of the
submissions I saw we were given one packet that was all blacked out um does somebody remember what that was that was the security assessment by the prosecutor's office and that so most most of it was redacted because it's not
relevant to the issue of the fence no no that that that's understandable and but the one portion that wasn't redacted was number six fencing and in there it says it is important to recognize the fencing provides very little delay when it comes to motiv ated aggressors but it can act
to a psychological deterrent I don't see how anybody who really wanted to be an aggressor against children is going to look at this fence and go oh never mind forget it you know I'll put my guns away and stuff so I understand the reasoning behind it you had said uh somebody uh
testified earlier we looked at some other measures or some other measures were discussed but we weren't told what those other measures are maybe they would serve the same purpose without putting this barrier between the school and the town and everybody else that is
going to be ever present because when the summer and and people are out of school this fence is still going to be there sure it may be open it's still going to be this this not visually attractive and again better than chainin fence if that's our only option that's
fine but it's still not going to be a visually attractive um site for anybody going through our town and and we don't need you know you know the town to get uglier I mean that's part of the land use board's you know mandate to keep this town Charming so you know the in my mind
the three-foot fence really is going to serve the same kind of deterrent as a six-foot fence it keeps people out but it it's not this overwhelming structure you know and I think we're being asked for the variance from the three to the six foot because I think you could just put the three foot uh fence in and I
would I would say reconsider see see what other measures you put the three-foot fence in see what other measures uh can be uh appli apped to increase the safety uh be IT cameras or other surveillance I mean we live in an incredible techn technological age in
that sense and you know don't put this giant barrier between us and and and the school the the the community and the school and and just driving down Kinder kaca can just imagine this you know in in the winter there's no leaves on the trees it's just gonna it's going to look like a jail that's what it's gonna be
it's going to have you know the two two setbacks that that we've already discussed on the North and the South ends it's it's the center part where the fence has to be closest to the road but the other two sections they can be pushed back and there can be there's
there's room there for landscaping as well to soften it so it's not going to be a straight run I think they tried the Landscaping what happens is in the winter the uh um salt and and and the road uh the the the machines that take
care of the roads end up destroying the trees that are planted near the road and that and that's the Practical reality so we can say yeah we're going to put landscape in but what's going to happen three years from now the same thing's going to happen the trees are not going to be there they're going to be dead and what we're going to have is what looks
like a jail everybody driving by I think again you know it's going to be set back further than the existing trees that are there now the fence itself trees don't make you think of a jail Mr Barrett I mean a a a iron bar is Mak me think of a jail I don't know what it makes anybody
else think of same with the chain link I mean chain link makes me think of the DBW yard and we don't want it to look that way either so you know I think the three-foot fence is still going to provide you the psychological deterrent but not quite the same then behind the
three-foot fence you can put some arborite or other trees that can you know further Shield but it doesn't look so um so Stark so so so so dreary we don't need that in River
Edge I I really don't so I you know if there's I mean if if there's I don't know that's that's my thought so thank you for for your time if I can interject sure um like I said geopolitical factors
being considered um I already said that offense is a deterrent right it's not the be to end all um we talked about you know three-foot fence and how easy would be your four-foot fence to get over that fence you it's going to be difficult to stop a True Believer um someone that's
that's that's that's has a pension to cause maximum amount of damage right as we've all saw watched in horror not this past September but the September before uh when Israel was attacked Israel was surrounded by fences they got over fences they flew over fences um gliders
the whole nine yards so a truly motivated individual to be able to get on the school property yeah six foot fence isn't going to stop them but that's where you have the security device right um this the six foot fence will stop your casual purse and maybe just thinking about going there and seeing what kind
of damage they could do short term uh this six foot fence will prevent that from happening um fence would just be the first the first barrier have there been instances of that what's that sir have there have been recent upticks and instances of that against this particular property not to my knowledge
so no but this is one of the ones this is one of the locations that is is on the terrorist watch list in the County and is constantly patrolled by the rsk and uh in the sheriff's department again I'm not arguing with
that what I'm arguing with is that the six- foot P fence is not actually going to serve the purpose that is being brought before this land use board and the reality of it is what we're going to be left with is what looks like prison bars along kerac Road okay and
ultimately if somebody really wanted to cause the kind of harm that you're trying to prevent the the fence is not going to do it okay three or six foot fence okay and this casual uh uh U destruction that you're talking about it doesn't sound like there's been any sort
of up uptick and yeah I understand the world is volatile it's been volatile for a long time you know with the old protests uh in t neck and Englewood right in our backyard uh that would keep protesters from actually walking on to the
property so Mr chairman can I ask a question for Thought Mr Cano Mr feffer yep thank you and this is a question just pertinent to this dialogue that's going on there there are
certain and I'm not a landscaping expert but I'm looking for a way to you know to try to get uh everyone comfortable on this project um there are certain trees and
Flora uh in town that are less susceptible to the elements in Winter I know in my own backyard I have a nice row of evergreen trees that never seem to wear out no matter what the weather
is um can we uh specify as a condition for approval something more than just Landscaping but something that would require that the whatever Landscaping is
chosen has to be of a yearround nature and I I can foresee I mean I I definitely you know I mentioned it myself so I definitely um sympathize with Mr Chino's concerns although I'm
I'm not at the point where I will object to the project or object to the application on those grounds but since that is a concern the Aesthetics is a concern um can we uh condition this upon
um doing landscaping that's that's all season permanent year round I know that there are ways to do that I'm not the expert to consult on that but I do know just from my own experience that there there are um ways to do it so I would
just suggest that just to clarify Bruce what I was talking about was the salt in the winter what happens is it gets spread to um you know obviously the sidewalk and and so forth um but to clear the streets right it gets it gets spread out yeah hits the trees and it
kills them that's that's what's killing the trees you know I'm sure they tried to plant the correct trees there is just that they get killed and we Face the same thing in in Riveredge long Howland uh plantings were made and they uh de W came to us and said don't make plantings there because what happens is we spread
the salt it kills the trees so the only thing that's going to live there is grass that's theal reality that's all I was saying but just this would what I have in mind that this would be an obligation of the Yeshiva to maintain it and so if the trees die they have to replace them if you know if there's a
way to protect the trees you know with some sort of protection around the the roots of the tree that's up to them yeah so so if I may if the board adds as a condition of any potential approval um
Landscaping needs to be maintained it needs to be maintained for as long as that the project project is in existence so if the Landscaping dies after one year then the uh yiva is going to have to figure out a new plan um one of my
suggestions might be that the in addition to working with the board planner with the applicant can that are working with the I don't know if the burough hasn't a shade tree commission um there's a shade tree committee
committee maybe shade tree advisory committee but essentially uh that's being run by DPW so that would then be in collaboration with superintendent molo would that be agreeable Mr Barrett how about if we finish getting
comments from the other board members first before we like come to some kind of decision would that make sense we can do that too so what let's hold on to that thought for for the moment um continue
going along here Mr Mayor questions comments yes uh a couple of things uh I was looking at the uh the uh concept drawing from Fiverr it looks like f i v r r and it appears from the concept
drawing that the six foot black aluminum fence would completely surround the property but I'm looking at the um the uh blueprints well whatever you call them and it seems like it ends at uh a
certain point on on the push back so is the fence only uh to be placed from um from in the front half of the property or will it go all the way around or is it going to stop where there already is existing fence so I just like some
claric on that if I could yeah absolutely yeah it's only going to be on the the front of the property we already have existing fencing on the other three sides um the renderings uh I guess the graphic artists got a little too enthusiastic uh uh no but the project will just be the
uh the front side as enumerated in the actual submitted plans so Rabbi Claire um the uh existing fence that uh it will be link U linking up that'll be matching up to is it already 6 foot yes yes okay
um Rabbi uh and others uh um I like the idea of the setback to the uh what's called the setback line on the drawings uh in the North and the South I think that would offer symmetry uh I have a question it's a clarification question
it seems to me from the way I'm looking at the at the uh drawings that uh aluminum fence will go behind the ballards in in every case correct good um I'm concerned about the
standpipe um water Vault um the standpipe as I'm looking at a Google draw uh Google Map seems to be right where the fence is going um I assume that uh the fire department looked at
that and there was some understanding about how that standpipe uh and the fence would not the fence would not impede the access and the use of that standpipe is that correct yeah uh and we can get further
clarification whether they'd rather it on the inside the outside uh we can make that modification without issue okay so that uh because I would hate for this fence to go up and then there's an issue and they can't access the standpipe without destroying the fence absolutely
and also that would slow down the fire response so um so um I'm as I said I'm com able with the North and the South part being um uh set back to the uh what's called the setback line on the
drawings I think that would offer symmetry I hear what uh councilman I sorry U Mr Keno is saying and uh I do understand that concern um but as a as a as a retired teacher I also understand
that uh deter come in many levels um and um and uh some of them um uh would discourage say a high school or a young adult who have often been uh Shooters
they're looking for an easy target a soft target the harder you make the target the more they move on to something that seems a little bit easier to get to and to slow access to the property I think is a good thing so I
would have to say um with uh with just the question of sight line that uh Mr baring brought up and um with um with some sort of landscaping that kind of
diminishes the um the the prison fence feeling that uh Mr Keno brought up uh that I could strongly support this uh proposed um variance thank
you thank you Mr Mayor uh councilman thank you I sympathize too a lot with what um Mr chinigo pointed out to us um there's all kinds of technology I think available for
security purposes including cameras motion detectors um probably provide quicker and earlier Warning Systems and offense is just offense you know like we all acknowledge it's easily
penetrated um or bypassed so you know I am very concerned about the Aesthetics I think some great points were raised about the challenges with Landscaping there are other things
that can be done to improve the Aesthetics of a fence besides just Landscaping um you know non-living types of um Aesthetics right can be added to offence
um so I'm kind of leaning towards wanting to hear about what the shiv is done to explore uh use of Technology other than fence and beyond that I just point out um I noticed the main access
to kinder Kack on the plans it looks like a double Leaf swing gate that's swinging out and I just want to suggest if this does does go forward um looking at a slide gate
instead of a double Leaf swing gate partly for just safety but also the line of sight issues I I believe Rabbi if you could confirm this that it that it is a slide gate yeah that's not what shows on the
plants it shows a double Leaf it it's going to be slide gate though okay all right thank you right I I don't know if the if Mr Barett I don't know if you or your or the applicant has a response for Council MC glass's other
question and and I'm not sure what you mean by non-living I I'm not sure no I I mean the question more Rel thank you oh about technology with her yeah what technology I mean there's motion detectors there's cameras it sounds like you have a good presence on site with
respect to security you have Security Professionals you know um there's a lot of protection in place already maybe it's a matter of there's other ways to enhance security I mean if you have I would I would think continuous motion
detection continuous cameras across the whole perimeter of the property and someone's receiving alerts able to respond quickly that might in fact be more effective I don't know I'm not expert in security uh then having an offense that can be penetrated bypassed
jumped over you know easily potentially um not serve the purpose I think that you're seeking I'm happen so you know did what type of study or analysis you know obviously you have on board Security
Experts um what type of analysis did they do to uh explore those alternatives sure so I'm happy to speak and what what are the relative risk I mean you know it did someone
evaluate uh a professional evaluate whether a fence really will enhance the security and and provide that much more safety uh for children and investing in the type other alternate types of technology that are less intrusive you know I mean having the fence there that
allows the person to plan right they know the fences in maybe if you have less intrusive hidden types of security it creates greater again I don't know I just like to know what type of analysis yeah a high level professional with
expertise in that yeah happy to speak to yeah absolutely so um just to speak to that point um so Joe stos as his capacity of Lieutenant um in the River Edge PD uh he along with Bill Stallone the chief prosecutor's office came and did uh what's called A V A vulnerability and risk assessment um and part of that
assessment is them walking the property and assessing where our threat levels lie so over the past um 15 years or so we've had several of these assessments done um and there are different levels of um like you mentioned uh mitigation techniques that can be put in place so
one example is cameras that you brought up um and we actually have our cameras currently being viewed by the River Edge police at all at all times if you go into their dispatch desk you'll see our cameras up on their wall um we have alarm systems we have burgular systems we have technology that detects firearms
from a distance um we have license plate scanners um we've significantly invested in our um digital security footprint um it's un an unfortunate reality of running a school especially a private and religious institution that we're required to do this uh we have put in uh
a significant sum of money into enhancing these security setups in addition to our physical security presence including our security guards uh but at the end of the day the the final remaining piece that was actually among one of the first suggestions um years ago that we never had the opportunity to do was a physical
deterrent and in addition to the digital deterrence and the cameras and the alarm and all the things that go uh into the security presence uh at the recommendation of the Bergen County prosecutor's office and the Riveredge Police Department um and of course our own in-house security team with significant uh law enforcement
experience their determination was that offense um prohibiting immediate access at least to slow down or to evaluate a potential incoming you know but the river Ed Police Department were last that the River Police Department is within 30 seconds of our building uh
We've run drills and they've been at our front door within 45 seconds um the fact is is that if offence deters for even a minute that's enough time police to respond so the I'm happy to let Joe speak that a little bit more but that um we did seek the Prof opinion of as many
professionals as we could find of course this is a major expense undertaking for us we'd much rather find you know more cost-effective kinds of uh of solutions but this was one of the ones that was really really highly recommended and and would serve a long way in terms of securing our our students so I'm happy
to let Joe kind of talk to that a little bit more though absolutely just I don't want to beat this like a dead horse um we did do the security survey numerous ones and the missing link was always the fence like the rabbi said a ton of improvements have been done to the
building the uh the building exterior has been hardened absolutely getting into the building um is no easy task but when the weather is nice and you have a couple hundred children playing outside on the five um playground outside
playground areas of the aiva all um three of them within within within a stone throw of Kinder kamak Road um anything less than the fence gives you less protection right um you talking about a three-foot fence where bun of children 25 feet away playing in in the
grass on the side of the building which is one of their their their the recreation areas and you have people that that that are within a Stones Throw with these kids um talked briefly upon you know the the the flash mobs that would show up at at at um at temples
around Bergen County with with hundreds of protesters um do you want them on the property absolutely not we do not what would a fence do a fence would keep them from accessing the property and at least if they tried to climb the fence the riverge police department could respond
but we're talking hundreds of protesters and they've been quite violent in the past and we're talking our backyard we're talking Englewood we're talking te we're talking tly all all the areas in in in the surrounding area have had violent protests within the past six months eight months so this is this is
not new to the area um having a fence would would separate these now are these the True Believers that I talked about no they're not they're Rebel rousers they come from out of state looking to cause problems with a six-foot fence keep those people out of out of out of the property away from the children
absolutely absolutely anything further castman no I'm just thinking about the other schools in our neighborhood and that we don't have similar protection at those schools and you know before um to answer Mr Barrett's question I was
thinking there's plenty of artificial plants right that can survive the weather and serve a purpose Outdoors that aren't living plants that's it thank you Mr chair okay thank you councel Mr
CRA yeah um I guess I want to say that I I kind of agree with Mr kigo um I'm not you know I look at this description of the fencing uh impact from the uh that
counterterrorism information and it says it says it's going to impede observation well this one doesn't because it's not a solid fence it can be a means to defeat standoff weapon systems we've been told that standoffs are not going to happen um you know it can serve as a barrier to
hand throw weapons such as grenades I'm not sure the six foot fence stops you from throwing a grenade I mean so I'm not I'm not seeing the impact and then again you know it it provides very little delay when it comes to motivated aggressors so
you I I agree with Mr T Cano that I'm not seeing this is going to deliver the security impact that that you know we're being told it's needed um and you know coupling it with the
with the um the detriment to to to the appearance of the Town um I I'm I'm very very um you know hesitant uh to to say you know move
forward with that there is a lot of Technology ology available um you know if you put a three-foot fence and you have and you have a fence line you can do fence line analytics you can identify you know instantly a human breaching
that that fence line you can have SMS alerts uh the instant that happens um there's a tremendous amount of artificial intelligence and analytics that are available uh in video technologies that can be brought to bear on on this type of situation and
um you know I I guess you know I would rather see that type of solution um than than than the fence at least the way it's being presented I do have one question I know that the fence is black and I think that even stands out you
know more uh you know even from the standpoint of softening if there if we're going to put in whether it's a 3ot fence or six foot fence you know it's black aluminum or there other options are there ways to soften the appearance even from a color
standpoint um yeah sure this is um it's uh factory made it can be designed in several different finishes it can uh have different it can have uh ornate components on top um BS um I mean there's I'm not a I'm not a decorator
but I know there's many different options for finish um the the color I'm I don't know I I imagine it could painted um but uh but I do know that this is it's meant to be the purpose of this fence is meant to be more aesthetically pleasing than like we
mentioned a standard chain link I'm sure I can speak to the contractor about uh if there's a specific style or um you know finishing on on top or the sides or uh the way it's designed that would make it you know Twisted bars versus straight if there was something that would be more aesthetically pleasing I'm sure I
could speak to the contractor about uh implementing that yeah but again I think you know to to just to be clear I'm I I have reservations about the impact uh on the
appearance of the Town um with the six foot fence you know even with even with softening it with colors and moving it back and you know all the things we talked about um I think it is going to look Stark um I think it's going to be unattractive
and I'm again I'm conflicted because I understand the security concerns you have um my you know I don't want to make light of them um but I'm I'm not convinced that there may not be another that's say okay thank you Mr cray Mr
cier thank you um I share the safety and Aesthetics concerns as voiced by other members um but I also had some questions about traffic so this gate is going to open when a parent pulls up
and is ready to go into the parking lot and drop their child off now if he if the gate opens each time a new person comes up to the gate then theoretically it would close after that person was
through how is that not going to create a traffic back up the testimony was that uh during the hours that children are entering the school the gate is left open okay it doesn't close it only closes once the CH all the children are there and school is
in session okay and and what was described was if Johnny forgot his lunch or books or whatever that then the gate would be closed and the parent would have to you use the term Rabbi I forget what it was but anyway there's a camera and they'd have to identify themselves
I'm here to drop this whatever it is but during General entrance times the gates open it doesn't close right and is there any way that the fence could be set back a little more from the street I I think that
um the central part where the main building is the drop off is very severe right away and um again Mr uh staro said you know if you if if you make the fence lower it becomes easier to get over the fence even though it's still six foot
because because of the difference in grade that's why we said that the North and South sections of the fence they can go back because the grade is less severe in both of those places so in those places yes it can go back it's it's the central part that there's really no no
room for it to go back okay thank you Mr Salva now everyone's addressed my questions thank you okay uh like several of my colleagues on
the board I'm struggling with reconciling the public safety aspects with the aesthetic aspects and quite frankly I I I don't have a good answer I I I've heard the testimony um but I don't think I've seen
a a a strong enough concept plan to address the concern six speed is is what's being requested here from a Safety and Security standpoint that that seems to satisfy by those concerns but again the the aesthetic aspects I think
are are what gives me pause on how we address this because it does ultimately I think in my opinion create a basically a a solid wall at the end of the day of just
when you're driving along Kinder Kack and and if there's a I think we have a better sense of you know what Tang ible things can be done to address that um because I don't think the conceptual plans have been submitted really
contemplate or really give the board certainly from my from my perspective give us enough of a sense to really appreciate what can be done here um that's just that's where I'm coming out on this at this time
um M Mr chairman could you give us five minutes so I can U speak to the rabbi uh let me do one thing Mr Barrett procedurally um Miss styley do we have anybody in the public yes there is an individual in the
public okay um let's open for public comment um we have a motion to open to the public move moved think I've got second I've got Mr GI on a first Mr feffer on a second all in favor I any
oppose any abstain all right this time we are now open for comments from the public on this application if you wish to be heard please press to raise your hand and I think we have all right Banks please state your
name um and address for the record oh can you see me we can only hear we can hear you please state your name and address for the record uh uh Peter Hastings uh
107 Adams Avenue R Rich I'm sorry the 107 Adams Avenue in River okay good evening sir hey how you doing doing okay do you have a statement to make concerning this yeah I live right I live
right across the street from Yeshiva um and I was just wondering like has there been a threat I mean obviously it seems like it's gonna be a security fence has there been a a threat to the school you you can ask all your questions now and then we'll answer them
yeah oh all of them okay okay and really okay um and oh if and again if there has been a threat um will it be reasonable for the uh Council to approve a six foot fence
around my house for uh my safety precautions on our and uh if there's a threat to any other school Roosevelt St Peters will you approve six fcing around uh their H
their facilities thank you thank you I I can address that second question series of questions questions um each application is made individually and reviewed on an
individual basis so what the applicant is presenting here is what we're reviewing they're asking for the six- foot fence based on all the testimony that was provided if another person wanted to provide to submit an application um for a six-foot fence the board would look at that individually
and all of the testimony that was provided in that application the other question was about a threat at the school Mr Barrett I don't know if you or or any of your um any of the
applicants you know I think that just generally speaking I think we all recognize that the Yeshiva stands differently than any other school in River Ranch and it's because they're Jewish people that that's the reality of the situation the
world we live in today and especially in the in the course of the last year and a half we've we've we've heard Mr Soros speak about the protests that are taking place and you know again not not taking sides or anything
but the reality is they're different and and they they're looked upon differently by certain people and and they are more vulnerable than other people and and that's that's the reality so spefic specific threats I I don't think anybody
called the rabbi up and said we're going to do you harm I think it's just it's it's what we're facing in today's world which is a terrible place to be it wasn't where any of us were when we were growing up and we didn't have these issues in the schools uh and and I don't
you know I mean that's sorry for getting carried away but that's you know that's what we're facing so Mr Barett before we open to the public I think you were looking for a uh a brief brief adjournment okay um
why don't we do this um by my clock I have 9:18 PM um I would suggest that we reconvene at uh 9:25 is that sufficient thank you thank you Mr chairman all right um I'm looking for a motion to I'm
sorry um Chris just before we should close to the public because than you there was only one member present thank you thank you thank you all in favor I I I oose and abstain okay we're now closed
to the public and I'll look for a motion for brief adjournment until 9:25 so move all in favor I I any opposing abstain okay we stand uh and recess get
back on the way yes uh so now it's 9:26 Mr Mayor here Mr klin here Miss Boland here Mr gotier here Mr feffer here Mr
cray here Mr Keno here councilman glass yeah Mr Gibbons here Mr Salva here all right all members are present okay thank you Mr Barrett Mr
chairman um I've had the opportunity to speak to the rabbi we would like the um the board to carry this application uh so that we can attempt to address some of the comments that we've heard tonight uh hopefully to uh convince the
board to uh grant us an approval um and I believe because last last I heard um this you only have one application on for the um March 12th meeting uh because we'll need a little bit of time to you
know uh address those concerns okay Mr alter what does our agenda look like hope you're unmuted you're un muted we have one application on the
12th that's it after that we're all clear okay what was what's the next Mee after the 12th is it the the uh 26th after the 12th is the 26th okay so Mr Barrett you you feel confident that you'd be ready to come
back on the 12th or this is the 26th the do get more time I I'd like I'd like to have it for the 12th and if we can't I'll get a hold of Mr Mr alter right away okay uh and then push it to the 26th but we would prefer the 12th because the time for the work to be done
is really the summer when the children aren't there okay um questions from the board objections can can I make a quick suggestion I think some really high quality renderings showing exactly what you have
in mind and exactly what it's going to look like from various points particularly someone walking along the sidewalk on Kinder Kack the guy who lives across the street on atoms you know some really high quality
renderings of what you're trying to aieve would be very helpful I think for the decision making thank you any other questions or comments on the board as to carrying the application okay uh in that case we'll
take a motion then miss NY to carry the uh yes we would need a motion okay so I'll make a motion to carry this application to the March 12th meeting okay thank you m thank you Mr kibbons on a first Mr Keno on a
second Styler we just do a voice or uh I can do a roll call vote and this is to carry the application without further notice and Mr Barrett would Grant an extension of time for the board to act correct okay all right Mr Mayor yes Mr
caslin yes Miss Bolan yes Mr gotier yes Mr feffer yes Mr cray yes Mr Keno yes councilman glass yes Mr Gibbons yes Mr
SAA yes okay the motion passes so we will see you on the 12 thank you very much okay thank you Mr Barrett thank you all Mr chairman and yes we're Mr Mayor so uh I'd like to just take a moment for
something that's kind of old business but might also be considered new business if I in just before that Mr Mayor I'm sorry um I just wanted to put the notice on or to make the statement on the record that the application for the Rosen bom miv
North Jersey 666 Kinder kak road block 616 lot 9 will be carried to the March 12th meeting of the board without further notice so if you're here for that application um this will be your only notice that the application is being carried to the March 12th
meeting okay thank you m sty so uh Mr Mayor we have nothing left on the agenda but please go ahead so um as of today it appears that the uh burall um there are burall looks like it's one
building but it's really an original building an addition and addition so where our offices are and where our Chambers are is uh building one and two if you will and the police department is building three it looks as if we will be returning to the building sometime
either late March or early April having asked for an opinion of our borrow attorney uh statutory um committees boards commission statutory must be in person so I wanted
this body to understand that somewhere around probably the end of March the beginning of April we would be returning to uh council chambers because that would require people to
make changes in their plans perhaps as they are members of the board so I wanted to give you as much notice as possible the closer we get to the contractor returning the building to our possession uh the more information we
will be able to give you in addition to that I I just wanted since this may occur on March 26 which is I believe the second meeting in March I will be out of the country on that date so uh I wanted
the members of the board to know that if that's the date I would not be present because I would be out of the country and I wanted to give you fair notes okay thank you very much any additional new business comments from the
board Mr baren real brief Mr chairman so I had sent um barely recently a draft uh board annual report which covers the board's activi in 2024 fairly straightforward I would just offer or request if the board could come up with any recommendations that we put in it
for the council's consideration that's not to say that there has to be recommendations but if anybody has anybody has any that they'd like for the council to consider um we could discuss the next meeting and then seal it up for the year so Mr alter would you kindly put a agenda item for the next meeting
to cover the uh annual report that uh Mr Baron has circulated yes I'll take care of that okay thank you sir anything else before we adjourn for the evening silence being golden I'll look for a motion to close please so
moved second m c thankk you all in favor I name stain we St adjourned 9:33 pm thank you all I want real quick thank you coun um thank you Mr keno and Mr Gibbons for volunteering for the land
use affordable housing appreciate it I I assume we'll hear from someone via an email when that what we need to know yes yes okay good night everyone good everyone thank you