anybody else go ahead Call to order Open Public Meeting Act of Globe 1975 Chapter 231 According to the Open Public Meeting Act this meeting of March 26th 2025 was published in the Bergen Record and Herald News on January
8th 2025 and was sent to the RT town In addition a copy of this notice is been available to the public and is on file in the office of the municipal clerk Roll call Committeewoman Apichi here Committeewoman Arola here Deputy Mayor Miller here Committeeman Trinsky here
And Mayor Judge Cabllo Okay All present Um I ask that we do to ask for a motion to adopt resolution Z25-102 authorizing executive session May I have a motion motion
May I have a second second Okay All in favor i I I abstensions We'll be in executive session till approximately 7 p.m Thank you Okay Thank you May have a motion to come
out of close and to open to a public meeting I'll make the motion I have a second Second Roll call please Committee woman Yes Committeewoman Artollah Yes Deputy
Mayor Miller Yes Committeeman Trinsky Yes Mayor Judge Cavlla Yes May we stand for the pledge of allegiance and a moving silent I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands one nation
under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all [Music] Thank you All righty Good evening everyone Ma any correspondence um nothing for me
Okay May I have the approval of this agenda we do have two walk-ons that are coming on here one is 025-122 and that will bring Michaela to uh appointing her to acting township clerk Um and the deputy deputy clerk I'm
sorry acting deputy No returning go to deputy It says it right here It says that Kayla was appointed clerk Now she's returning to deputy clerk I'm sorry if I didn't get a chance to finish Um so that would be uh bringing her back to
um deputy clerk Uh and that would start tomorrow the 27th and that is 025122 and 025121 would be a shared service with um a register of the mer uh which is our
municipal clerk who's a registered municipal clerk and that would be with the town of Park Ridge approximately we're looking at 30 days on that my understanding and we do have an agreement that we'll be looking at So may I have a motion to add these
to the agenda and approve the agenda i'll make the motion May I have a second second Okay Roll call Committeewoman Aichi Yes Committeewoman Artollo Yes Deputy Mayor Miller Yes Committeeman Trinsky Yes And
Mayor Judge Aello yes Okay Any discussion all right Minister's report Now I'll try to be brief mayor because I know it was long and covered mostly everything in work session Uh first and foremost you'll see a resolution before this committee tonight uh appointing the tax assessor Just note the date on the
resolution is what's statutoily allowable We'll have to revisit this um back in June but uh Mr Ed Brown is here Edund Brown is going to be our new assessor to replace Mr uh Jamie Tai who did stop in the office probably for the last time today to to say goodbye and I
wished him uh a lot of success in his retirement Uh he spent many years being an assessor for Rochel Park as well as for many other municipalities Um and he spoke nothing but uh incredibly highly of Mr Brown and said we're going to be in great hands So I'm looking forward to uh having Mr Brown with
us Uh thank you I know Royy's in the audience but thank you Mr Riotano and Michaela Our dog and cat licenses are up to date They've been reconciled including January and February of this year as well as all of 2024 Everything's paid up to date in the state system Um
so I thank you for all your help in getting that done Just reference real quickly to 2223 open space grant that we combined for Carlock Field Those renovations continue Um unfortunately after I made a post to Facebook today the pavilion materials actually arrived I wish I would have
waited but the pavilion would start being um built very soon There were two minor pieces that came damaged We're already inventorying them photographed the shipping co the the manufacturer actually notified us that they got damaged in transit So they're aware and they'll get the replacement parts to us
ASAP I put in an email that ASAP means I want it in a week or two So once we let them know what it is I hope we have it But again that prog that project continues to move uh forward rapidly The play area will remain open as long as there's no construction going on So we
we have it worked out now Turf fields have been open but now the play area will remain open as long as no construction is being done Looking to looking forward the open space grant I had the mayor uh sign today the uh letter of intent after college
engineering got me my numbers and we'll be moving forward with that application I'll send that to the county tomorrow Let them know that we intend on applying for the grant funding for the 2025 period Howard Avenue is a bid opening for the current roadway work that's been done That's on May 7th I know we spoke a
lot of Rochelle Avenue talking about from Lots Lane to Pake Street just the resurfacing and they to promised a lot of work between now and April 1st Well there's been nothing and I have not heard from the county so I'll follow up with them Um and I believe that's all I have Mayor thank you
Okay so we're going to Attorney you want to go first with your report if you have any i don't have any report mayor unless you want me to go through the situation with the clerk Um we'll do it together Okay Uh clerk any report
okay So now we have the committee reports I'm going to start if everybody doesn't mind but I'm going to start on this Um let me start off with our seniors Tomorrow is their meeting and it's um a wellness nurse will be there
from 12 to 1 The program they're having is uh helping loved ones to find the care they deserve It's by the veteran care service You can bring a friend or neighbor or relative if you wish Also bring any paperwork you might have pertaining to your veteran Coffee will
be served The the police report I have here over here So during the month of February the police department answered 1,603 calls for service Uh
1,73 I'm sorry 173 911 calls 37 motor vehicle crashes 81 EMS calls 315 motor vehicle stops 13 arrests 24 criminal charges and 622 summones were issued for the short
month of February Police department continues to be involved in the community and participates in outreach programs by continuing the cops and shop program and attending several youth basketball games
Um Dean and and some of the other law enforcers have recently attended the senior meeting Um and the police spoke to to the group about many types of scams that are going on Fraud criminal actors that target only mostly only the
elderly This is well time spent and received by the senior since the detective year made an arrest on a male fraud case I think that was just recently Correct Correct As a reminder our residents are asked to always call the police department when fraud is
suspected No government or quasi government agency is ever going to email text or call you for payments especially gift cards The department continues to expand the capabilities of their team with training in many facets of the job include which
include our officer Flli completing his law enforcement against drugs which is a lead officer training which allows him to teach at Milan school with their students also with the police department Um I believe it was
yesterday They uh received a a surprise inspection from the state of New Jersey Department of Law and Workforce Development and this was with the crossing guards Correct Do you want to speak on it or Sure Mayor i don't mind So uh yesterday while sitting at headquarters uh we get a knock on the
door and um I'm told there's a gentleman from Pioa here and to do a random audit of our crossing guards Uh of course my lieutenant Kakowski who handles the crossing guards he's he's administrator of that He's been training them for probably seven to 10 years has all the
records It was his day off So Captain Depra and I put our heads down I said "Sure let's see where we could help you." Uh we actually had to bring in a crossing guard and I want to thank our crossing guard Joet maybe for coming in She had to come in in her full uniform and with all of the equipment that the township issued Um the inspector
literally looked at every piece of reflective garment that she had to make sure it was ANC certified make sure that her whistle worked that her stop paddle was to the proper size Um and we had to produce records that she was initially trained as well as we continue with the and that's 20 hours of initial training
Then we continue every year with our two hours of training for all our crossing guards and an inspection was done of our our nine intersections I'm happy to say that as fast as today um after Lieutenant Kowsky did come in and send some more supporting documents that I
know he we knew he had u we received the letter that we've there was no issues and they're closing our file and that we've passed So congratulations Great job All right So the other thing I'd like to speak about is while we're adding on to these two
resolutions which I just asked to be approved with the agenda and there's a reason why these have to be put on here So on Tuesday the 24th um the mayor the the administrator and
myself received an email and it I understand it's you know it's coming regular mail too but it's addressed to Mayor Terresa Judge Corlloo Township of Roshaw Park and I'll I'm going to summarize it because I don't want to use too many too much stuff in here but it basically
says uh the the Division of Local Government Services is in receipt of the acting clerk reappointment request form completed for the first time appointing and a resolution appointing Miss Michaela as acting clerk for the township of Roshaw Park The township
appointed previous acting clerk to the position um April 4th 2022 for a vacancy that was from January 12th 2022 Uh they also did it uh two other times
April 28th of 23 and August 7th of 2024 giving a third permission The township at that time was advised that they required to have either a registered municipal clerk or enter a shared
service agreement for an RMC on or before January 12th 2025 That didn't happen Um so the permission to grant Michaela
to be our acting clerk is denied because she does not have this this certification Um and it is required to hire or RMC or enter a shared agreement They have to know within the
next 30 days And now we're down to 28 days So moving forward you know there's discussion on on a lot of this going back and forth I can tell you I actually contacted the state
uh the DCA department and asked for all the documents that were sent to the town to notify who was notified No one was notified except one person that I can see off the documents So unfortunately this has now come to um
attorneys and advice of what to do and um we are going to advertise I believe as of tomorrow for a full-time municipal clerk
Um this I believe is in the best interest and I think the committee also does the best interest of the town and we're going to move forward with this Uh they have to get a response The DCA has to get a response in 28 days of what we're doing I believe right now it's
going to be a resolution that shows that we are sheriff service with Park Ridge And um if anybody knows Maggie she'll be the one that will be helping us out for the time that we have to make sure that we get the person we need here to
be a a registered clerk not an acting clerk a registered clerk Is there anything else uh no I think you covered it The shared service agreement is is hopefully for a short time period It's going to run out 30 days out at a time So if the committee the township uh
committee is able to find a certified full-time clerk within 30 days that's all the shed service agreement will be in effect for If it takes longer than that then it will continue until somebody is found And that will comply with the DCA's requirements to have either a full-time or shared service
within a 30-day time period because we want to be in compliance with the state requirements Right Thank you So I mean I've been mayor since Mar from January and it's March and things just keep coming along But we're going to get
through everything and we're moving forward I think in a positive direction and um we're not going to go backwards We're going to move forward and that's my opinion Um and that's all I have for right now So um Peter would you like to go sure
Um recreation April 5th is baseball's opening day at Matthews Field at 10:30 Um I believe an invitation was sent to the home area council and to the school board and to the public to attend Um the annual Easter egg hunt is scheduled for
April 12th with a rain date of April 19th and it'll be at Matthews Field since Carlock is under construction the building department Uh 20 permits were issued 43 UCC inspections were completed Total
value of construction is $699,64 Total permit fees collected $15,987 Uh zoning permits $900 Zoning inspections there was four zoning applications were 11 two zoning violations Continuing certificate of
occupancy there's $900 collected Five property maintenance violations were issued There was 102 complaints and 12 inspections And this is just for the month of February Total fees collected $17,787 That's it
Thank you I I forgot one thing I just want to add that um Mr Miller and I were in attendance of the OEM um drill Is it a mock drill they call it right tabletop Tabletop drill right tabletop exercise And basically it was about the snowstorm and then a roof
collapse And it was very interesting I can tell you that you know how people will react and how what's the what's their job how do we do this and how do we work that next um I will say thank you Mr Donatello Cert uh everyone that
attended Um Miss Artolo was also there and um I think it was about 2 and 1/2 hours that we were there and we got to learn a lot Appreciate uh doing this and I think last year was the earthquake that happened shortly after this So
hopefully we'll not have any blizzards of 38 uh 36 in that was basically put out there And I'm sorry Mr Millie you would like to go am I next all right Good evening The Rochelle Park Fire Department responded to 14 calls in the month of February and members logged a
grand total of 111 hours for the month of February On February 1st the fire department was dispatched to an overturn motor vehicle accident The fire department was able to stabilize the car that was on its passenger side They removed the front windshield and successfully rescued one party from the
vehicle Thank you to the Rochelle Park Fire Department The library hosted Snakeman in the senior center this past Saturday where 109 people came out to see some reptilian friends It's shaping out to be one of the most popular events
for the library So that's very exciting The library is also hosting a spring celebration on April 13th Be sure to bring the family and come experience face painting glitter art and more Flyer and details are to come Access for All is hosting an autism awareness ice cream
social event at Hearttoart and Rochelle Park There will be an ice cream truck karaoke and a sensory gym for children 12 years and under It's all happening on Thursday April 17th from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m The Rochel Park Shade Tree
Commission will have its first meeting on April 3rd at 6:30 p.m They're planning an Arbor Day celebration and discussing where to plant leftover trees from last year And that's all for me Thank you so much Thank you Mr
Miller Mr Since my last report I have had two additional meetings with the tabletop planning team and on Sunday I participated in the exercise as you already mentioned Yes At the tabletop a complex scenario is presented and the participants have to determine how they
will address the emergency It started with a video of a weather report stating that even though it's been warm a blizzard was coming During the snowfall amounted to 24 to 36 ines of snow there was a power outage Then a bus full of people was stranded on Route 17 and soon
after there was a roof collapse at the Ramada Inn with fatalities The police fire department sir DPW and crisis response had to state their immediate actions and devise plans for rescues mass notifications debris removal calls for mutual aid evacuations
shelter security transporting civilians to a shelter and emergency operation center activities They had to document the information make leadership decisions and communicate the action plans to their teams while communicating with each other The room was packed
Thank you to all who participated and to our guests who observe and gave their input A big thank you to the tabletop planning team especially OEM Pete Donatello Pete um Lieutenant Kowski Lieutenant Stapleton Sergeant Leo acting
clerk Michaela Jennin Cert Patty Donatello Sir Bob Casmir Fire Chief Charlie Garo Fire Department Daryl Damont and Sir Sal Sally Antista Thank you to all the planning team The court report for the month of
February is as follows Traffic 524 criminal 26 total of $17,95210 This is up nearly $1,000 from last month We thank the court colleagues and the police for their hard work this month Their efforts are evident in the
number increases At a previous meeting we heard a presentation about the benefits of a shade tree commission In that presentation the example of the town of River Edge was used I have since learned that River Edge has done away with their commission as has Pamus Please note that
I disagree with the legal format of commission and these examples further support my vote against it My disagreement with the legal format of commission ends there I am in support of the work that the DPW has done with tree planting and I am also in support of the
work that our administrator has done in conjunction with the DPW and for the work he has done for getting us 30 free trees from PCG Most importantly I am in support of our volunteers In almost every committee report over the last 5 years I have
thanked our volunteers Although I would prefer to see a shade tree committee over Sha Tree Commission I am still very supportive of those volunteers Last week I was notified of a Facebook post of a picture that we had all taken as a group with the volunteers of our last township meeting but the
picture had been altered to remove me from the picture My name was also excluded from the post Mayor one of the promises that you made with the Sha Tree Commission would work in conjunction with the township committee and not make decisions on their own Based on their words you either support this alteration
of this picture or perhaps did it yourself or was done with your knowledge Please tell me how you would there Excuse me That's false accusations I did not alter it I did not even do I didn't take the picture I'm not sure who would
or has done that So please do not accuse me of something that's incriminating on your part Falsely accusing me Okay So then of having some part of it But you said that they wouldn't be able to do things like that without your commission Do what did you support the shade tree
commission i explained that I support Did you support it i did not support the legal aspect of it Did you say I supported the I supported this is why when we asked I all I said was whoever come to the picture take a picture that's all I said yes and I support the
volunteers so I I when the invitation was put out to the entire township committee I stepped into that but to alter me out when am I doing I can guarantee okay so then please tell me how you plan on rectifying this situation and defend my right as a
township committee member to disagree I believe that anybody who walters it that's their decision I had no part of it How do how do we go forward i asked nicely that people do not No it wasn't on Oh was on was it was it on the Facebook or a private Facebook page was
it a private you saw it it wasn't It was a Sha Tree Commission page It's a volunteer page It's not a township affiliated page And it it says it in the bio of Okay Well I support what they're trying to do and I would appreciate that that not be altered and I'm asking you for help that um when I do support
things even if I don't support it 100% I am in favor of trees I am in favor of the work that has been done and I just agree with the the legal format of if it's a yes if it's a private Facebook page that you you could request it but they're under no obligation to do it
because it's their own Facebook that would be like if you saw somebody else in town put something on their Facebook page that you didn't like you could ask them oh I'd like you to take that down but they're under no obligation I don't know who did it but it it has Shay Tree Commission in in the that Yes but it was
a private Facebook page Okay Well also whoever did it did a bad editing cuz my hand leg and nose are still in the picture which is kind of odd Okay And then um lastly I would like to thank the volunteers of our former
planning and zoning boards These boards have terms of multiple years and those terms were not completed because those boards were eliminated Mayor and township committee I would like to ask that we bring those volunteers to a township committee meeting and thank them publicly for their service Is this
something that we are willing to do we could discuss this further They did get a note um I believe yesterday went out thanking them for for I'm I'm sorry The people that applied for the land use got the note The other part is thanking the people that were there Some did come on to the land use and I would like to see
if we could discuss that and thank them for their time I know there's somebody that I believe was almost 40 years if not 40 years um that that could be looked at but yeah maybe yeah we could discuss that and maybe we can recognize them Okay All right Yeah Very good
U Mr Chowinsky Hello everyone The school board held their monthly meeting last night although I couldn't attend Among usual board business they honored Denise McCormack as teacher of the year and Maria Malales as educational service professional of
the year as well as students who made honor role for the second marking period Um with regards to the DPW the DPW had a call for one sewer backup They
started flushing out the sewer line as they do annually Is that quite the um sorry I was thinking that made me think of a colonoscopy for some reason We removed the the DPW removed an
unsafe set of bleachers at Matthews Field and we'll be replacing it with an extra from Carlac field The PSEG project with our HVAC systems is now completed Um anyone wishing to have a tree planted on the town easement in front of their
home should call the DPW to get placed on the list Apparently the street sweeper has been out sweeping this month for 14 hours DPW also started doing some of the property cleanups and they started prepping Matthew's baseball
field After a few meetings with the burn county engineer when Rosha Lav gets paved they will be attempting to address the ponding water issue at Peak Street Apparently they feel confident enough that using a process called micro
profiling they will be able to get the water to move down to a storm drain inlet They should be milling and paving in mid mid to late April Uh reminder the electronics pickups which just happened are the fourth
Wednesday of each month Please call the DPW to schedule if you have any electronics when you leave it out on the curb Um also I wanted to mention earlier yesterday into today I had gotten a call Um for those of you who have been following anything with the
roofs um I had helped um bring forward some information to um help us get a better um a better system I believe than what we uh originally were looking at putting
on and a longer warranty non-traditional product right yeah Newer non-traditional product Yeah I I just want to say it's a it's a newer and what I'm calling a non-traditional product but uh it will save the township a lot of money And if
it comes with a 30-year warranty I I you know we handed it over to our engineering to take a look at it and I think we're going to be a go So we had budgeted I think for 800,000 for that It'll be the last go was at a 20-year was at 250,000 to do not just
the budgeted one roof but to do the entire building on this upper and lower but now it's going to be extended to a 30-year warranty if the newer system is accepted by Collier and by us right and um and actually I think that number will
be driven down even beyond the 250 So anyway um just to let you know sticking my my two cents in and trying to help where I can I know OEM Pete has been very uh patient waiting for me to get over to the building He had a couple questions I'm trying to help answer and
help put forth any information I can that can help save this save our save save this township money and get us in a better position for the future So anything I can do to help that's what I'm doing I've also been out and around in the public wherever I can and when I
can I do have a day job so sometimes I am a little bit tied up and people call me and I can't always stay on the phone but I try to do my best But that's all for me Thank you Very good Thank you Mr Twinsky All right So we're going to move
forward and may I have a motion to open to the public i'll make the motion May I have a second i'll second All in favor i I Any nos any obsessions no Okay It is now open to the public at
7:36 p.m Okay So if you can please when you come to the microphone state your name in the town that you reside in you'll be limited to 3 minutes unless the at the mayor's discretion She wishes to extend the time When there's approximately 30 seconds left I will let you know So this way you know whether to
wrap up your statement And uh if your statement or you have a question uh can be answered the mayor will direct the appropriate person to uh respond Thank you I'll do my best Michael Warren Rochelle Park Um Dean quickly before I make my statement hopefully Dave will
check with the Shade Tree Commission on planting trees that people call them for I think Yeah I think the list will be forwarded to you of course I hope so Well township committee Gail Artol is crying again But let's take a closer look at what Gail is crying about this
time because this is a true showing of her character and what she stands for And it's not for the residents of Rochelle Park but for herself Gail wants things both ways To not support something but at the same time support something which is complete lunacy but
it's what I come to expect from Gail in the past six years I'd like to give you a list of things that Gail has not shed a tear for She didn't cry when we didn't have the 150th anniversary celebration of Rochelle Park that she completely failed
at planning She didn't cry when she blew up the town budget by $1.9 million over two years She voted for that and that was the largest expansion of our budget in decades And you have to clean it up She I'm point to everybody She didn't
cry when she squandered over $1 million in cannabis revenue with nothing to show for it She didn't cry when she ignored the road uh the roof of the police building and and municipal building for years which left the residents with a price tag of $180,000 repair She didn't
cry when she cut down over 100 trees in town and then pretended to care about it but in reality did absolutely nothing Those PSEG trees that she keeps touting are three years old now She didn't cry when she forced out
longtime resident police officer and town administrator Bob Davidson after years of dedicated service She didn't cry when she allowed the continued harassment bullying and intimidation of former committee woman Linda Bonaface by Township employees and volunteers She stood by and didn't speak
up She didn't cry when she blew the American Rescue Plan funds of over $580,000 so she could fill holes in the budget She didn't cry when she gave away an entire street to Shopright and got absolutely nothing in return She didn't
cry when she agreed to the terms of the 120 West Pac street pilot agreement which screwed this town so badly we'll be filling it today and forever And tonight this clerk debacle not one tear for the residents
of Rochelle Park What makes Gail cry not being included in a picture that was posted on a supporters of the Rochelle Park Shade Tree Commission Facebook page She's not a supporter She could dance around and
give you all the legal mumbo jumbo She fought it every step of the way And then you feel entitled to be in the picture You actually got up from your seat and came down to smile like you did something Gail I'm I'm sorry Me I'm
almost done Two more paragraphs Gail I'm going to reiterate what my friend Linda Bonaface has asked you time and time again What have you done for this town in the past six years besides take pictures are you running again no I am not Good Because it would have been worse than 2022 Yeah you make fun of me
a lot Because you're dumb Gail Okay All right All right Working class people in Ro like the people of Rochelle Park expect their leaders to deliver results and you have delivered nothing for this town Nothing They did choose me over you
Good And and we paid for it And we paid for it All right Thank you Anyone else please everybody just breathe Andrew Matson 14 Elorado Court Um I'm here to speak on the project labor
agreement I hope you guys can all support it I think it's um I watched all the meetings I know people ask why now I think um this this this committee is putting residents
first and any future project we have I think you there's there's residents in this town that are in a labor union that sets the prevailing wage and what happens is the reality of the
situation the mechanisms for going after contractors that don't pay the prevailing wage It's not like there's cops on the beat that look for it You have to have somebody say "You know what i'm going to make a complaint I'm going to There's a lot of leg work that there's nobody
there to do So what you get is you get a contractor that comes up from Texas and you get a job site with all the out ofate plates and they haul up in a hotel and they take them to the check cashing place and say "Well you're not going to get that prevailing wage cuz you're not going to have a job done and you're
going to give me a kickback." And when you go with the union contractor you're actually going to get what you pay for And you're going to get a contractor that is going to say "Let's do this job." Like you go to Carlock Field and you see there's never anybody there And contractors are going to come in and say
"We're going to bid this job and we know how many man-hour it's going to take and we're going to hire that many men to get it done by the contractual date cuz we want to get paid and we know the money's sitting there especially municipal money So they're going to man the job with people that want to just work every day
cuz they're contracted to be on that site for 40 hours a week at least So in this town alone I I represent as president of the Bergen County Central Labor Council there's 309 affiliated union members in this town and the
really only way for them to benefit from the projects that this town does with their taxpayer money is to pass this project labor agreement So I'd ask you all to pass it Thank you Thank you Mr Anyone else please bring in Verhassel Ro Park Uh first I
wanted to give a report on the welcome to Rochel Park committee Um the bags have arrived Thank you Michaela for taking care of ordering them Um I'm busy getting coupons from several businesses in town that are going to include their coupons in the bag and the library has
completed um their flyer and I know Michaela Dean and Michael for land use working on theirs Um and when they're all done I hope within a month we'll have everything ready to go Um I do appreciate I can thank Ann the audience
and another realtor who have provided me with names of in the past year plus new home owners etc So we know who we're going to be going to How far back are you going i'm sorry Uh the past year 2024 I mean if you know someone before that I have no problem I just thought
you know it's current You know you wouldn't believe the list When I Oh no I know When I received the list I was shocked by how many you know you see houses for sale but you don't think there's many Um and two other two questions First um and I don't know if this is to the
lawyer who might know the answer to this When you have something presented to the code enforcement and there's no blame on the person who it currently is um something that has been with code enforcement from when fire prevention
was doing it So you're talking 5 6 7 years multiple multiple summones have been given to the home that has the problem They're supposed to go to court They ignore it again and again and again So I want to know if there's any recourse for the neighbors that live by
this home You know I was told by code enforcement they can only keep giving summones and I understand that But then does this person get to just you know there's wild animals living there there's all kinds of things going on and
if this person does not ever go to court is there that's their way of saying okay eventually just do what you want I don't know that's why I'm asking the legal the other thing which is no connection to that um I was asked by somebody else um if there's a website and again no
connection to my first question where if you want to know and Dean I don't know if you know this or the lawyer um course is handled by the court if they want to know you know who was plead guilty Y dismissed etc I know it's public record but they didn't know where to look for it so they asked me to find
out Those are my questions Council yes So uh first with respect to uh code enforcement that is a problem in every town because uh prior to co a judge could issue a warrant when they didn't appear and that usually
encouraged them to rectify it other than having to come to court and sit through a court session and perhaps even the judge you know confining them But then a ruling came out that said that municipal courts could no longer do that So the only other option would be to file an
action in superior court which would be quite costly and there is no guarantee that a superior court judge would order the uh violations be corrected because they could also not show up for that and uh and then you get a default
you get a judgment but now you still have that you're in the same situation You have a violation without enforcement The the third option is depending on on uh if the town wants to do it Sometimes if it poses a hazard to the not an
aesthetic hazard but a a health hazard that the the the town undertakes whatever the repair is and puts a lean on the property But then that requires the town to outlay the cost to make the repair and then it may take a long time
to recover the funds from the property owner So essentially it is extremely difficult when the issuance of the violation does not in itself encourage the property owner to remedy the or
address or abate the violation unfortunately So since this has been going on five six years and it definitely is a health hazard uh this concern that one day things are going to go on fire and the neighborhood is you know we don't want to have to get to that point We don't want to wait till some of the animals living there bite
somebody in the neighborhood Um the homeowner and I was told this is way back when lives in Maywood the way back when and this is for you but um they even had fire prevention taking care of it back then
they were told an excuse someone wasn't living there he wasn't feeling well with the same excuse what he currently gave the you know today's or not today but our current code enforcement So since it's been that long and they certainly have not done
anything if you want if you wanted the town to do something is that something what do we do or do we have the code enforcement person do it i mean I don't know Well I' I'd have to get I'd have to get the file to see if it rises to that level and then the township committee would have to then authorize the work to be done and then a lean placed on the
property Uh provided we have the ordinance in place that allows that Most towns do uh have an ordinance in place that allows a lean to be placed on property So is it being rented now i think so I think it's the same homeowner the same homeowner who lives in Maywood
I don't know where I don't know the name And this I've been told by code enforcement has been the homeowner and the same people have been living in the home renting it for however long Okay So maybe you could reach out to um Mr
Scatino and and give the name and maybe check it to the files to see what if anything's done it He's told me you know he's looked into it I'm not questioning that he's done it And then he's the one who said to me they've ignored multiple multiple summones and court requests I
guess it's called I don't know We can send So well I I'll ask the administrator to send me the file please Uh copy not the original right and uh and then I'll advise the council the governing body as to what steps can be
taken if they choose to do so And as to uh the court record Yes They they're usually very cooperative there If you have the name it's easy if you have the docket number or the summon number I don't know if they do Yeah If they don't and they have the name then they the
easiest thing to do it is on the website I mean you could access it Uh but otherwise you can call up you know the court administrator the county court administrator and uh they would probably direct them on how they can get the information And that's who could tell them the website to look on to I guess I
don't think I don't know if they could get onto the website actually because attorneys can but I mean wouldn't that be a public record like if you you could open it if they have the name they could but if they don't in other words like oh if they don't even have the name of the person then there was an accident let's say and you don't have the other
person's name because the police were handling it I mean I know there's a police record but yeah if if you don't if you don't have the name of the person I don't think but isn't it a record like if you It used to be if you went to the court the day that was a court today I don't know whenever it is you could have
seen everything that was happening Yes You know this person's dismissed this person pay whatever I have to believe somewhere there's a record of you know right but you would have to be able to provide some information to pinpoint it Now if there was if there was an accident and you know the date of the
accident you could probably go to the police department and say "Can you give me all the accidents that occurred on this date?" And they would be able to do that Yeah You Well you're supposed to open it Yes I'm sure they have a police report They have it That's okay Thank you very much Thank
you Anyone else please how you doing excuse me Walter Hton Russell Bark Um I'm the chairman for the Access for All Committee and like Mr Miller said on April 17th we're hosting an autism awareness event at 17 Legion
Place with Hearttoart Um since April is Autism Awareness Month I would like to publicly ask that the town acknowledge that by posting a sign out on the digital board
possibly an autism awareness flag something to that and to make sure that our committee and our community people feel welcomed Also um I'd like to thank OEM for the
tabletop discussion Um I did participate and we are working to make sure that our residents with special needs are addressed and taken care of Also Saturday Snake Man um my committee was there We did represent in case uh we did
make it a sensory adaptive uh invet So in case anybody did have a meltdown or not homeostasis then they were able to be consoled in a professional certified
manner Um we are looking forward to working with any and all organizations within the town to promote Rushel Park and the residents with disabilities Thank you Thank you Mr I believe that we do have the second read on the flag ordinance on this agenda Um I and if
you'd like to present a a flag it's under the donation Um then it would go on as a resolution to be passed by the committee Um and the then the majority Can you hear me now no Okay I'm sorry Do you want me to start again can you hear me so we do have that on for second read
tonight for the flag ordinance on this Um and then you would present or you'd give um donate is the best way of putting it consider it a g the flag and it then would go on a resolution for the township committee where the majority would vote yes or no on it and we would
go forward hopefully with autism and is of my opinion that that would be voted yes but we'll have to see from here but we can work on that and um as soon as you want to see if you want to donate that forward then we can maybe have that on the next agenda if this flag organ should pass tonight Um thank you I was
at the snake uh library event that was pretty cool I I enjoyed that tremendously and I did see you and your and your uh other person from Access for All and um it was sensory The kids loved it It was I loved it It was really different but um and I appreciate you
doing this um heart to heart I think it's heart to heart right that you're looking at over there Um you know this was something that was done last year It was it was pretty good attendant Hopefully more people will come out to attend and be aware of everything that's being done That's good for children with
sensory and or other needs special needs But thank you I think I addressed everything Was there anything else I missed Mr Helen for you okay great Anyone else at this time Rochelle Park this question is for uh I guess the
business administrator Mr Penda Did we get the audits yet for this year or last year for the storage and for the apartments storage was uh submitted and sent to our auditor who approved it The
um audit for the residential did come in but it was broken down over a year We've recently as recent as today re-requested just from um the period that Kathy's reaching our auditor wants Once we get that it'll go again to our auditor But they did
send that information They sent what they thought is their audit to you as I'll repeat myself The storage sent their audit that was reviewed and approved by our auditor Right They're good The residential portion submitted
an audit but it's it's incomplete We asked for only certain months from June through December They sent it from January to December We asked that they send only June through December because that's what our auditor needs because that's when they got their TCO from so
the date range from when they got their TCO through the end of the year is what we need from them A a request is re in person request was given again today Um and in front of me the gentleman called his auditing firm They said they would have it either by today or tomorrow So
once we get it again it'll go to Lurch our auditor and they will do their review Okay Second question is in the past we've always had a bills list attached to the public meeting Are we going to have that return
eventually i just put the resolution that you requested So is it the pe the name of the people and then the amount what's the the amount so we have the account of them and the amount What are you looking for Miss Hen no we usually
we don't a lot of us go through the bills list to see what right I believe on taxpayers money The whole backup list isn't on there Just the account and how much is on there for each account So I went to state paper Just put it on
when you put on the agenda Attach it to that It has been attached where it has the This is what's the public have this no Oh that's only the account because you told me to just do the the account We'll fix it Miss out I
think there was a miscommunication We'll fix it We We'll have the um the account like we had in the past and then the dollar figure Is that what you're looking for this Yeah this is it Yeah it's right here I'll leave it right here If anyone want to take a look at this we have it on here please I'm sorry But
we'll fix it for you Okay All right Thank you Anyone else uh Matt Mooney Roshial Park Sorry I came from work but uh you got uh Sorry Mr Pinto you brought up uh like working on the park before Um I was just wondering with plans to I
guess renovate it and stuff Uh is there going to be like a dog park possibly added because I mean when you walk down Chestnut there is the uh the doggy bag and uh basket which honestly I find very helpful when I walk my dogs But uh I mean there's that there's that open
grass space that it's not being used And I mean I think I remember a botchi ball court was supposed to be put in a couple years ago but it is there Oh it is there now yeah Maybe like take a lip break right down at the bottom cuz the green things I don't wear my contacts all the
time until I saw it but it actually was put in with the pavement that's there Okay The other area you're talking about is at the top of Chestnut I'm sorry to interrupt I'll give you a few minutes that I believe is being looked at by um the shade tree for some planting of some
trees memorializing trees there I don't know about dog park You got to watch we do know dogs like trees We do Well I mean I also figure too it's like we have to be careful Well we uh dog parks you have to be careful of also because you have the liability of dog parks also
right you have to have insurance and everything else I understand what the space you're looking at Okay I mean I mean I'm just I'm just asking because I know the park's being renovated so it just seems like that might be a thing people in town would like about the top area
not exactly that spot but I'm saying anywhere if we're renovating car lock you know something but I just figure it's a consideration not I'm not demanding it they're very they're they're also very expensive to construct believe it or not dog parks
but we'll look get to what you know what your request may be I'm not sure if we can do it but we'll try And then also um I know I haven't been to a WCK meeting but uh Miss Peach I don't know if you remember I think I asked you like last year maybe the year before about a WCK softball team for like adults uh like a
league Um I have heard from people in town that have actually asked me because they know I play in uh different leagues about one maybe for this town And then I also saw a Facebook post about it in the Rochelle Park one and then I've seen a couple in
the Bergen County I don't know if that's something you could bring up to the wreck Absolutely We tried it in the past and it fell apart the first time and then the second time we didn't have enough people but we can absolutely re we'll revisit it Yeah All right Cool Yeah Thank you Before you go I I'd like
to say that uh the same thought has I've heard that same thought and myself included when I walk past that that same area you're talking about about the dog park I've heard that about 10 times I've heard people mention the same thing Many times I've thought about just letting my
dogs run around in there for like about 10 minutes but Okay great Anyone else thank you Anyone else okay Hearing assuming no one may I have a motion to close the public i'll make the motion May I have a second
second Call Committeewoman Aichi Yes Committeewoman Arola Yes Deputy Mayor Miller Yes Committeeman Trinsky Yes And Mayor Judge Cavllo yes So now we're going to in this ordinance for introduction May Michaela would you read
the ordinance number 1225 yes 25 Yes Mayor Judge Cavllo asks for a motion to introduce by title on the first reading ordinance number 1225-25 by way resolution number 025-0 sorry -103 which is a correction
103 or 102 it's 103 so let's correct that on our agenda that should be 103 instead of 102 an ordinance to amend chapter 185 entitled land use and development regulations of the township code of the township of park state of New Jersey and
it be published in full in the Bergen record with notice of public hearing to be held on April 9th 2025 Great Any discussion may I have a motion please motion May I have a second a second
And roll call Committeewoman Apichi yes Committee Arola yes Deputy Mayor Miller yes Committeeman Trinsky yes And Mayor Judge Cavillo yes All right That's corrected the order in so this is going to be 104
105 106 so if we can look at our agendas here these are going to have to be corrected it's going down to the next one would be 104 that's 025 104 the next one is 025 105 O5 right yep and then we have to do 025
106 you see in the body of it you can correct like that And let's see we have move to the next one Yes But the other ones are adoption so we're good All right So please um Miss Michael would you read 1226 025 mayor Judge Cavlla asks for a
motion to introduce by title on the first reading Ordinance number 1226-25 by way of resolution number 025-104 An ordinance of the township of Rosha Park in the county of Berg State of New Jersey The township providing for special emergency appropriation in an
amount not to exceed $190,000 to fund the preparation and execution of a complete program of revaluation of real property in the township and to be published in full in the Bergen record with notice of public hearing to be held on April 23rd 2025
Great So the houses have to your homes will be re-evaluated starting very soon Mr um Pinto do we have a date of the start of that evaluation so the process has started I'm going to ask Mr Rigotano to come up to the microphone too for this process should there be any further
specifics as to the bonds But um yeah we've they've reached out We're doing their background checks on their personnel than Mr Brownley if he did Um and if again if there was no objections to that sample letter we provided them with the envelopes and they'll put that on letterhead and residents should start
seeing mailers soon Okay So the rebal was ordered by the board of taxation Burden County Uh we exhausted all our appeals and um it's a court order so we have to have it done and it'll be ready for next year's taxes I believe there's
an end date that it has to be done by uh December 31st It'll be on the Yes And it'll be on the books next year And Roy how does that 190 get paid back that'll be uh in the budget next year at five It's paid off over five years It's a special emergency
It's paid over five years Over five years we'll pay 190 off Back up a little talking Yeah it's $190,000 divided by five years Okay Very good Very good All right Any other discussion
may I have a motion please motion May I have a second i'll second And can I have a roll call committeewoman Aichi yes Committ Arllola yes Deputy Mayor Miller yes Committeeman Trinsky yes And Mayor Judge Cavlla yes
All right Moving forward we're going to look at the introduction ordinance of 1227-25 Miss Michael would you read that please mayor Judge Cavlla asks for a motion to introduce by title on the first reading ordinance number 1227-25 by way of resolution number 025-105
bond ordinance providing for various 2025 capital acquisitions and improvements by and in the township of Rochelle Park in the county of Bergen City of New Jersey appropriating $2,32,000 therefore and authorizing the issuance of
1,972,100 in bonds or notes of the township to finance part of the cost thereof and it be published in the in full in the Bergen record for notice of public hearing to be held on April 23rd 2025 Administrator would you tell us what this bond is actually for sure mayor I'd
love to So Howard Avenue the paving project from Harvey to Patent Court not the current existing uh Howard that I spoke that's going out to bid Uh that's an amount of $530,000 but we have $123,000 of CDBG grant money that goes
towards that Also Berdan Street we have a it's going to be paved from Chestnut to Pake Uh there's a lot of collapsed and/or re um remedial work needed to be done on our storm water
system That comes in at 775,000 We have $190,50 from the NJ DOT grant towards that Matthews Field that's an open space project That's $647,000 but there's a $230,000 open space grant the reval and
then uh there's a supplement for Harvey Avenue in the amount of $80,000 for road project Wonderful Thank you Any other discussion i just have a question Yeah These repairs that they're doing Dean on these streets these are curb to curb
correct not necessarily So where required you know where literally where not we are where required Uh Dave walks we've walked with the engineers If the sidewalk or I'm sorry if the sidewalk's in complete dis repair as a result of a
township tree we'll make those repairs If the driveway is not up to code the handicap ramp is not up to code they'll be done But it's not entirely new sidewalks and curbs However milling and paving is curb to curb which is what's going to happen in the second part of Howard Avenue It goes out to bid on May
7th But this Howard Avenue yes is milling and paving curve to curb as is Bdans Creek Okay great Thank you Thank you Anyone else all right May I have a motion please i'll make the motion I have a second Second
Roll call please Committeewoman Apichi yes Committeewoman Artola yes Deputy Mayor Miller yes Committee Trinsky yes And Mayor Dutch yes Thank you All right so let's look at introduction ordinance number
1228-25 Miss Michaela would you please read that mayor Judge Cavello asks for a motion to introduce by title on the first reading ordinance number 1228-25 by way of resolution number 025-106 calendar year 2025 ordinance to exceed the municipal budget cost of
living allowance and to establish a cap bank and it be published in the full in full in the Bergen record with notice and public hearing to be held on April 23rd 2025 Mr Atolla would you please explain this bank cap okay Uh the bank cap is uh it allows us
to go up to 3 and a half% uh for the budget If we don't use it all it is banked for the following years Um and we will be using the three and a half% this year due to the uh extra cost in health benefits and the garbage
removal Thank you Are there any questions discussion if not may I have a motion please motion I have a second I'll second I'll call please Committeewoman Apichi yes Committeewoman Arllo yes
Deputy Mayor Miller yes Committeeman Trinsky yes And Mayor Judge Cabella yes Thank you All right so we're going on to the ordinances for adoption Um this is ordinance number one 1219-25 Miss Michaela would you read this please mayor Judge Revel asks for a
motion to open the public hearing on ordinance number 1219-25 an ordinance to establish a procedure and authorize rules and regulations there for the licensing of outdoor cafes in the township of Rochelle Park May I have a motion please
motion May I have a second i'll second Okay And a roll call please Committeewoman Aichi yes Committeewoman Artollah yes Deputy Mayor Miller yes Committee Men Trrowinsky yes and Mayor Dutch Pavllo Actually I have to open Do I have to open this up i have to open
this up to the public Okay Yeah So I just voted to open up to the public please Anybody have any questions on this hearing or seeing none I would like to um motion to close to public and do we'll call for this adoption of ordinance
right close Motion I'll second I'll second Okay All right May I have a motion to adopt this i'll make the motion I'll second Okay Roll call please Committeewoman
Opichi yes Committeewoman Arola yes Deputy Mayor Miller yes Committeeman Trinsky yes And Mayor Judge Cavilla yes So we're going to motion is the ordinance is adopted on that one So we're going to go to our next one which is
uh ordinance number one 1220-25 Mr Kaylor would you please read this mayor Judge Pllo asks for a motion to open the public hearing on ordinance number 1220-25 an ordinance to amend chapter 102 entitled fire prevention of the township code township of Roial Park
state of New Jersey May I have a motion open to the public motion You have a second Second Okay All in favor i I It's open to the public Any questions concerns comments on this
hearing or seeing none may I have a motion to close to public motion I have a second Second Okay May I have a roll call to adopt adopt this ordinance committeewoman Aiji Yes Committeewoman Arola Yes Deputy
Mayor Miller Yes Committee Yes And Mayor Judge Cavella Yes So the ordinance is adopted Now the next one is ordinance number 1221-25 And Miss Michaela would you read that please mayor Dudl asks for a motion to open the public hearing on ordinance
number 1221-25 an ordinance establish establishing access to all advisory board May I have a motion to open a public motion May I have a second a second Anyone from the public any questions concerns comments mr Warren hi I want to publicly state I
am very much in favor of this advisory board and very happy that Walter H is the chair and will be doing the good work of the all access committee Thank you very much Okay may I have a motion to close the public motion I have a second I'll
second All in favor i Any extensions no Okay May I have a motion to adopt this motion may I have a second second Roll call please Committeewoman Apichi Yes Committeewoman Arola Yes Deputy Mayor Miller Yes Committee Trrowinsky
yes Mayor Judge yes Ordinance adopted So the next one is ordinance number 1222-25 M Michaela would you read this please mayor Dougllo asks for a motion to open the public hearing on ordinance number 1222-25 an ordinance to authorize general capital bond issuance for pump
station reconstruction May I have a motion to open i'm sorry Motion Yes Motion to open to the public Motion May have a second Second All in favor i Any substensions okay Open to the public Anybody have any
questions concerns comments hearings and seeing none Oh there is one Mr Davidson turning that That's fine I can always hear you I'm just very very happy Finally got there Took years dealing with this thing
and it's believe me something that's over overdue Not because of anything that's been done here We've done everything we possibly can but this certainly is something that absolutely needs to be done And I'm very very happy since I was on the ground floor for this thing to see that is finally coming to
fruition So thank you very much If I may mayor listeners I know we've said we've said this in the past that during the introduction of all these ordinances and trying to get here but uh Mr Davidson was absolutely instrumental when I first t took over as administrator and helping me get through the second set of grants
to get this done So thank you Bob Yes Thank you to everyone that's helped We finally have gotten to this point where we will hopefully break ground not too short time from now right we're looking at maybe a couple of months or I will follow up with uh Boswell Engineering
but I know we're uh you know we just approved the project to do the site inspection So soon but I'll follow up It would be this year Oh I'm hoping this year Okay Well we're we're getting there And thank you to everybody that helped Motion to close Anybody else no Motion
to close to public Motion May I have a second second Um all in favor i extensions Okay All right May I have a motion to adopt this ordinance motion May I have a second second
Who's taking a 10 either one I We both set it up at the same time Okay Roll call please Committeewoman Aichi Yes Committeewoman Arola Yes Deputy Mayor Miller Yes Committee Trrowinsky Yes And they are just Yes probably All
right And now we're going to add these two These were added on We have to I still have these I have this I'm sorry 23 and 24 I have anyway Okay Here we go Uh mayor
this is an ordinance of 1223-25 Mr Michaela would you read this ordinance please mayor Dougl asks for a motion to open the public hearing on ordinance number 1223-25 an ordinance amending the code of the township of Rochelle Park respecting the display of flags on the township flag poles May I have a motion to open public
motion May I have a second it's open to public Any questions concerns or comments hearing or seeing none May I have a motion to close the public motion I have a second Second
Okay Mayor that your your motion was to close it and also that it be adopted with notice of final passage So I'm going to do that Okay I'm doing it separate I know Just wanted to make sure Okay Yes So I may I may have a motion to adopt this motion May I have a second
second Roll call please Committeewoman Apichi yes Committeewoman Arola no Deputy Mayor Miller yes Committeeman Trinsky yes Mayor Judge Cavllo yes Ordinance has passed All right Now we have ordinance
number 1224-25 Miss Michaela would you read it please mayor Judge Cllo asks for a motion to open the public hearing on ordinance number 1224-25 an ordinance to amend chapter 15 entitled property maintenance of the township code of the township of Roshaw Park state of New Jersey Okay I have a
motion to open public motion I have a second A second All right All in favor i suppose No Okay great It's open to the public Hearing assume no one May I have a motion to close the public motion We
have a second Second Okay All in favor i Great Now I just want to also say this property maintenance of Township Cove of New Jersey Mr Administrator would you please go into what's going on with that one
everybody understands We did this before I just want to make sure everybody understand This is regarding the lead inspection the lead paint inspections Yeah Are Don Warnett's also certified for visual lead in uh paint inspection so anytime a home is sold it changes hands uh the the services being offered
through the township could be cheaper than some private services as well as it saves us from um we could you know put some money back towards the state but it could bring in some revenue for the township and make it easier for residents knowing they can use their local building department and I ask that
our realtors share that information please Oh okay Very good Thank you May I have a motion to to adopt this ordinance motion May I have a second second Okay Roll call please Committeewoman Apichi
yes Committeewoman Artola yes Deputy Mayor Miller yes Committeeman Trinsky yes Mayor Davala yes Great motion Ordinance adopted All right So the next thing is the introduction of the 2025 municipal
budget Please read that So this evening uh this is on introduction only Uh no public comment This is basically to allow have I'm sorry I just have to have Michaela Read this part Mayor Judge announced that the 2025 township budget is being introduced
tonight Asks for Miss Jennin to read the budget resolution Township of Rochelle Park resolution number 025107 introduction of 2025 budget me I'm sorry Please proceed So procedurally uh this introduction will be published
within the next 3 to 5 days uh be published in the papers and we will have a public hearing where the public can then have public comment on April 23rd That'll be the budget hearing Um budget
is what it is It's uh coming in at a $17 increase on our household So that's a household I understand of um 334,000 assessment on that on the average home So this is seven that we're looking at right now is $17 Yes Last
year it was 20 This year it's going down to 17 Yes Which is good I understand that surrounding towns are much higher than $17 Much higher Uh without disclosing the actual towns in this vicinity are anywhere between two and
$500 a house per household Per house Okay All right And is there any questions any concerns i have concerns about this budget So should I just talk about my concerns go ahead So I have concerns with public safety
We're we're taking from public safety for their operating expenses which is their trainings some of their supplies and equipment testing and stuff like that We're taking away from all public safety which is a big issue for me for the
residents and for the burrow um that we're going to do that But then I see that for one department we're actually giving an increase Which department the seniors We're giving an increase
We're giving the seniors $2,000 Last year they got 5,000 Where's the increase well last year was 12 12,5 Last year they got an actual $5,000 This year they're getting two There's no Right But we're taking away from public safety How much did we take away from the public
safety 10,000 from the police The crossing guards were taking five But this impacts summer camp the parade their operating and their operating costs come out of the police department which I don't know how we're going to do that OEM is we're
taking 5,000 away The fire department we're taking 10,000 away and 3,000 from fire prevention which is their salaries which I understand I just think that taking from public safety
which I understand we're trying to cut the budget that hurts the residents with training aspects you know and the the equipment that they need to purchase We're limiting them now on on that I think if we're cutting we shouldn't be doing any increases to any department So
Miss um Aichi what was the $10,000 for last year at the fire department right I understand And what was it for it was for them to give a 50-year uh That's why it was cut What was cut in the police department their operating expense And how much are
they operating on now what are they operating on now mhm What's their operating budget right now it's 160 I believe it's 180 Mr 150 150 for close It was 160 It's 150 this year
Well this year So it's going down 10,000 So it's downtown If you look at other towns this is very low for our town for the police department for trainings I just think that we're taking away
We can't afford layoffs for what for the for the town I mean we're taking from I think we're taking from the wrong areas Well we I understand what you're saying but it was spoken to and it was discussion I believe the police chief at this time believes he can operate on
that budget I have to ask the chief administrator if you'd like to weigh into that or not at all I think I've made my you know uh comments clear during every budget meeting that we'll make do Thank you What else i I mean
that's just my concerns I just have concerns that we take their supplies their trainings any equipment that needs to get purchased I I just have a concern with that Mr PJ I think that if if I can speak for myself in my opinion I'm probably the last person that would take
away for anybody for public safety ever Uh my family and I have been in public safety for a very long time But we also have to look at how we can actually make it $17 and not 200 and or 500 per household This is probably the easiest
way to do it at this point And now we have to have a hire a a full-time uh clerk right so that's going to bring a little bit So that could be 17 18 depends on what it is But in my opinion this to me is a very fiscal
budget We worked hard We worked diligently on it I I can't tell you how many times I came in I met with Mr um Matano a few times I met with the chief Uh we spoke quite a bit about it Public safety is probably one of the biggest concerns that we have right absolutely
And we never ever want to go without We just hired police officers last year Correct So I mean we do our low sap with the the fire department OEM We try our best I'm sorry we had a say the breakfast couldn't happen but some people did bring some stuff in which was
very nice Um but at this point we have a 3,000 I believe it's $3,000 increase in our uh whole life insurance whole um insurance Believe it was 3 or 4,000 increase on that Yep Let me give you the real number Give me a real number Go for
it [Music] insuranceances in general went up a couple hundred,000 The liability insurance is $310 However $1,000 plus additional money
that is out of cap which helped us with the law that we can take some of these expenses and take them out of cap So the total amount was another 34,000 So it's three It's almost the same on the
liability but the group insurance is up over almost $200,000 Is there anything we could do with that yes So we've tried in the past we've done uh our due diligence Uh the chief
and I went out to bid with a couple of the agencies and because of our experience or the um claims that we put in they would exceed the premium uh if we went private
which would be astronomical It would be another $2 million higher than the state health benefits Okay Did also the um uh increase in the garbage pickup and the BCA did that also increase so the
tonnage is where the money is this year and it went from roughly $30 more a ton and we experienced in October November when we had some flooding we had additional pickups and each one of those
pickups cost us roughly $10,000 a pickup So each time if there is a flood or something that should be an incident that happens each pickup is approximately 10,000 If we do two that's 20,000 right there that we'd have to kind of have in reserve just in case
this town does flood Yes Correct Yes Okay I I see Mr Miller jumping over here So go ahead No no no Mayor may I yes please Um I want to just provide some context to what Mr Aiche said I think a lot of what you're referring
to has to do with the way in my opinion that this budget has been mismanaged in previous years Um we had amazing cannabis revenue and it simply inflated the budget If you look at the n our our budgets prior to cannabis revenue I'm
referring to 2019 2020 and 2021 you saw an average municipal budget increase of 17% Once cannabis showed up in Rochelle Park our budget increase 20.53%
We saw originally in 2022 over $500,000 in cannabis revenue The following year we saw $950,000 in cannabis revenue The public needs to know that we only saw
$671,000 in cannabis revenue That is a $300,000 drop in one year our construction fees That revenue dropped $130,000 in one year We have to make cuts but unfortunately the cuts are
happening because the budget was totally inflated by previous administrations So this work is inevitable What I will say that I like about this budget it is just a
2.9 increase in budget since last year That is the lowest increase since 20121 prior to when cannabis came to Rochelle Park Right Very good Anything else Mr Miller thank you Anyone else yes So I
have the same concern about the $10,000 cut to the police Um I asked our chief what they were going to do He said that they would eliminate voluntary trainings However the voluntary trainings are the ones that the individual police officers
find their interest So these are their are our future detectives our future future traffic experts our future uh negotiators And this is why we have um top officers for such a small town We have top officers and actually some of
them are uh looked for by other towns because of their work and their expertise So if we cut that we have newer officers that won't be able to explore those Do you actually believe they won't be able to Is that a statement you'd like to make they won't
be able to be trained No the voluntary trainings the ones that they are Are you saying to the chief the chief said that he said there will be no voluntary training if they have to cut training Is that true speaking as police chief that's the biggest area that I can cut is
discretionary training So that would be one of the you know if an officer put in for a class that's $300 I'd have to look at it and say you know what not this year Mhm So that's that's one of the areas How is $10,000 is going to make the difference of get these police officers being trained this is it's got
to be made up somewhere mayor And that's how you know as the department head So what about maintenance on the vehicles or anything else so vehicle maintenance is its own fund Understand that So that's is there any way of using that to to go and move it over to that part uh if we actually lowered that but because we've increased the leasing when we went
to the leasing program we lowered that line item It's pretty much at its at at the the bare minimum it can be Listen we'll be able to survive It's um So is it better to try to work around training or just start laying off police officers i think it's much better to work around
training Thank you Anyone else i wasn't finished Um I also have the same concern about the $5,000 cut to OEM in a town that floods as much as ours does I think that's dangerous Where does OEM get the money when we do flood
from the budget From what part of the budget the OEM line item I'm sorry The OEM line item So is there any other areas they if the town should flood that that it would be payments for whatever we need i don't know Garbage
pickup That would come from a different line Correct That comes from the uh solid waste removal Right Okay And is there any other places that it would be um sometimes we can go for grants if we have that bad of a right We do have FEMA
We have a right to sign if it's a state of emergency We do have a right and we always do We always follow up with a FEMA reimbursement Yep Okay So we're worried about I see I see you Mr Donell One second I want to make sure that you're
saying the 5,000 you're worried about for We have a town that floods OEM is a very important in this town possibly more important than other towns because we have such a dangerous situation of flooding and I think it could be a dangerous situation to cut 5,000
I also I'm sorry He gohead Mr I I just want to add some more context Roy when I sat down with you with the budget can you recall what the original tax increase you had in mind to be able to afford the budget that was previously
laid out for the committee it was roughly $50 a household I heard $149 when I sat down with you It could have been $149 That would have been that would have been a 600% increase since last year
We're low we are only increasing the budget 2.9% and we're lowering taxes simultaneously with very minimal cuts The budgets the departments that you guys are referring to were functioning
on less money in 20 in 2019 2020 2021 once cannabis revenue came into this town The budget was inflated I knocked doors this past year One of the most common questions I got was where is
the cannabis money okay Thank you I'm sorry Mr Dantell Yes Just a uh you can make there's there's not you can't ask questions about it but you can make your comment please I'm sorry Say that again We're not opening technically opening it to the public because it's just an introduction but he
gets to speak I want to speak too That's the problem Yeah See then we start we start So yeah just I want to just make clarification on the flooding on how that reimbursement works with the FEMA right yeah we're not always guaranteed that it rises to a level I understand of
a reimburseable not the microphone's not on just speak loudly and hopefully management coordinator I just wanted to be clear or make clarification on how we're reimbured if we get reimbursed on a flooding event unless it
rises to a level of what would be considered a Stafford act uh event in which we would have to uh um document our damages that we would submit that to the county If the county gets to a level okay that could be considered reimburseable It goes to the governor it
goes to the president we get money We don't always uh when we flood we don't always qualify or rise to a level of the Stafford Act where we could be reimbursed by FEMA We've had that happen in the past where we've had localized flooding we've had homes flood we've had
debris put out on the curb um didn't rise to a level you know even though we may have significant flooding in Rochelle Park unless the county hits a threshold okay uh we don't qualify So in the past we've had uh to pay for that
debrief either out of the OEM budget or out of some other means or some other mechanis I believe if I may interrupt one second I believe that in the past there were other budget part that was brought over to cover a lot of what with the flooding especially the garbage pickup I know where that came out of
that was a big that was a big problem um how many times you pick up how many times you know one two three four and I know there were residents who didn't time enough for pickup So they wanted another one Couldn't afford it Got to be brought over from another part of the
budget Um I understand your operations of OEM I understand what you're saying Everybody understands but I I also understand what Mr um Miller is also saying that we have to cut somewhere And it wasn't just OEM it was a lot of other
places Now before I go any further I actually have to ask if this could be open to the public correct or well you would need a you would need a motion and a second to open to the public Uh then people are asking vote Well I mean right now because I see other people standing
here I mean this normally is not open to the public It's only I mean if Mr Don gets to speak then uh to speak I know well one person has already spoken so I'll make the motion to open up to the public Second open the public Second All
right Roll call please Committeewoman PG Yes Committee Arllah Yes Deputy Mayor Miller Yes Committeeman Trinsky Yes Mayor Judge Capella Yes I'm sorry I have to go by procedure Yeah I understand I apologize I didn't mean to open up That's okay That's okay Something here
but I just want really wanted to make sure that everyone was clear on the level of reimbursements that where we when we could and not qualify for federal money coming in However being that it's open to the public let me just add to that before I sit down $5,000 out
of the OEM budget I believe is about a third which is a pretty significant cut in my budget Um if I'm not mistaken anything coming out of public safety is certainly detrimental in my opinion and I think we all share the same opinion However onethird of an is quite a bit to
lose If I think that number was correct if I remember right it did not could be taken out Look as a taxpayer I get it I appreciate the fact that you keep my taxes down here Okay I get I have a responsibility as an emergency
management coordinator to address that And I would just ask you to reconsider I think a third of my budget uh to uh to lose is is significant uh and you know certainly does p problems Thank you Mr Thank you Thank you I I appreciate Mr
Donatello sharing that Just to add more context the budget last year for it was $15,000 $15,000 the year before that Prior to can prior to cannabis revenue it was at 8,000 and
9,000 Correct Yeah that's what Yeah Okay But I don't think but the budget last year in the past few years worth 15,000 will be taking 5,000 away So a third of the budget that's going to be going to be
out of out this year We also have in that Mr Donatello salary and wages of $6,300 I don't believe that is part that comes down to the operating Well no that the operating budget was 15 and it was still $6,300 for salary wages right that was
in last year No I don't think 2024 I'm looking right at it Salary and wages office of emergency management $6,300 Right For the two for the coordinator that coordinated I don't believe that was out of the operating No it's not No no no no I'm I'm stating two different things Salary and wages 6,300 That was
last year And now it's also the same this year That was not changed The oper It says other expenses expenses is 15,000 last year 10,000 this year And I think that is in reserve of 4.2
So you do have the change of the 5,000 there and I understand what you're talking about but I'd like to know if there's a itemized way that you could tell us what what's needed for this 10,000 What's needed i would have to go back and look at what I said Unfortunately you don't have I didn't see all of it So
if you could tell me or us if you could send it to us of what it's used for for 10,000 15,000 Sure Actually I just got a line item budget found Um so I have to look at that and uh well you know training I thought that was brought up before
about supplies Supplies uh that that come out of that Uhhuh Yeah there's the training is a big piece of it There's a mandatory training that we have to maintain our certifications to a certain level each year in order to hold on to this position So there's trainings that we have to attend Unfortunately not all
of it is for free Uh we do have to pay for that But again I just have to look at the budget Uh I honestly I don't remember everything I submitted Okay But well I signed a lot of purchase orders last year and I'm not you know saying anything other than I know that the lights the air conditioning the heat
everything else is paid under a different budget That's not coming out of your expenditures So the expenditures I would believe and it might be wrong but I believe that would be your training your papers that you have to do I'm not quite sure other stuff Again if you could tell us that would be great
you know give us an idea I I do recall Mr Donatello it was a $17,000 list Listen Yeah The the list that of the itemized list that you asked for for this budget was 17,000
17,000 17 2,000 of it said um office supplies Can you speak to that oh yeah Be happy to Yeah all this stuff that we printed uh the other day for that uh um for the table exercise and the emergency operations plan that we have I have to
provide hard copies of that Uh so I need the supplies to be able to do that The maintenance of the of the copy machine supplies that we need I add certainly a rough number out of that office supplies um uh and whatever I need to support the computer equipment that we have Um I
believe that's paid through the town different budget the computer supplies the the printer also isn't that under contractual to be maintained yeah we lease our copers but that gets attributed to each department Like I have the police
departments here I'm close to you know $400 I'm almost $600 a month for Yeah The cost of a copy is not in there The uh manuals that I have to print uh the stuff that we did in preparation for the exercise the um the manuals that we have to actually have that to address those
issues we need hard copies of all of that The emergency operations plan is over 500 sheets and I have to distribute that And we certainly need hard copies say department have to have that Those are all part of the cost for office
supplies not necessarily pens and rights but you know the notebooks that go with it and you know those kind of things equations or some of those print and handouts be done by slide projection or digital maybe a digital rather than we
do Yeah exactly We do that too Matt We put you actually buy USB USB drives There you go I distribute that as well but that's actually the least expensive way to do it But I do have to maintain hard copies for backup uh just in case the electronics fail and I certainly
believe in having a redundant system That's one of the reasons I do buy USB drives and distribute them Okay department and the key personnel So that all comes out of department that office supplies as well So you know I'm just going to say this I believe it was brought up by somebody in a previous
meeting or two that maybe maybe they should come everybody should come in their department and come with their wish list and tell us what you need it for I'd be happy to maybe that's something we need to look forward to Welcome the opportunity to come justify my public needs Unfortunately if I knew
this was going to fell off I would have had it with me Well this is not supposed to really be public technically but I don't know Mr Donello I you know you spoke now that people want to speak too I have to now I'm sorry No no no I'd welcome the opportunity to come and speak with you about the budget I would have been a little bit more prepared had
it in front of me Maybe been able to specifically and I got a full logistic of all the doctors and receipts that I submitted I would have been happy to bring that with me and you'll just sit down and talk to you about the justification and the needs And I'm sure after my presentation you would really seriously consider that $5,000 one third
of my budget but hopefully some of that if not all of that would come back So I do welcome the opportunity Great Thank you so much Thank you Any Oh hi There's more Okay Hi Mr Mat I want to understand the numbers that you gave
committee member You're saying that Can you say your name please i'm sorry I'm sorry Andrew Matson 14 Is this thing yeah I got it Turn it on Turn it on It doesn't matter I'll be live So good It's going from back to 10,000 but it's still higher than it was
in what year 2021 So 21 and maybe 2022 I I think it was 22 Yeah And he's saying it's a 30% cut So that was his his budget was increased by 30% It was increased from 2021 to 2023 was an 86%
increase in that budget So yeah in the OEM budget correct so I really appreciate you guys really going through the budget and seeing what really needs to be there And I do think we need the wish list of who who wants
what who needs what And we all get to hear like all right maybe they need the 15,000 but Maybe it's a big increase from percentage wise and you think well you know the cost of doing printing has gone up 30% So all these things were being
done before I don't you know I know things got more expensive but what what are we really talking about yes And uh it just seems like a lot a big increase So now it seems like it's it's like a cut but it's really not a cut And
when you think about it in the terms of of a 5year look I I think there were two too big of increases in money that we thought maybe was going to come in as a a reliable source of money but just from the supply and demand thing there was one store in the whole county where you
can go buy a joint and get stone And now there's a whole bunch of them and they're drive-thru They're everywhere So obviously supply and demand are cut of that is going to come down Very good Thank you very much Mr Matson
Hello Michael Warren Uh this is I'm just going to reiterate what I said before We certainly paid for it Certainly paid for it You just want to hand out money all the time I want to thank Teresa Matt Tommy for doing the
hard work restoring the budget to their proper numbers before cannabis bad cannabis money I cannot believe that the prior administrations from Parn to Gail Jen Vinnie the most conservative among
us spent it all and now we can't get off of it I I just want to applaud you guys for that And it's not easy work Uh even at my own job budget cuts for next year Things we have to go without And we'll
figure it out like Dean says we will Uh and I know Dean will figure it out That's what good leaders do Um this cannabis money we really need to rethink how you put it into the budget I've been up here before I'll argue with Roy Nobody wants to argue
with me about it It should be in a special fund that is spent in the next fiscal year only only on special projects It's a finite amount Buy you want a new recycling bin Buy if you want a new
whatever But make it finite because by having a $2 million increase over two years we have to make up for it because we are shortchanged from the cannabis money It's gone now It's gone We got
drunk and now we're waking up and it's not a great morning Thank you for the $17 I think we'll all survive with the very small but manageable cuts that were made Mr Miller if you have a chart or something with those numbers I'd love to
have it I'm going to frame it Maybe I'll put it on team Marshall Parks page to show just how inflated it got What was the number 20% over two years or 20.53% since cannabis revenue came in When Bob was admin u when I was up there
it was just uh.17% It was less than a percent and he got chased out Thank you Thank you Okay we're going to make this real I have a question before we move we move away from that topic I just I'm sorry Do you want to address me the chair and then
you want to ask the question i just want to put it out there I didn't want to address necessarily you but I wanted to put it out there The question I had was being new to the podium What was the intention of the cannabis money was it supposed to be in the general fund or was it supposed to be in a separate or
it can't be in a separate it cannot be separated A separate fund It has to remain in the general fund that came right from the state of New Jersey It was nothing to do at Rochelle Park And do a better job of managing it instead of just throwing it away
do a better job So there if I Okay Mr So so the the cannabis revenue that come it's considered as part of the general general fund It is and it becomes surplus It's part of the surplus each year Okay And it's not dedicated revenue
as Mr Warren said it is not dedicated uh revenue and it can't be it cannot be it cannot be No but we could go into surplus and we can use that surplus That's what you've done this year So it goes into surplus and then we use it for
the That's how you got to $17 Okay To the point that was made though I guess that money uh that comes in from cannabis we can't earmark that for some sort of projects or or can go into surplus and surplus we can't use it for
certain projects and certain you can do what you want but now with that dedicated cannabis revenue that comes in it goes into the general fund and then it's lapses to surplus the following year So the money that came in last year is
in that surplus number of 4.3 million and you're using roughly two out of that four two to balance this and take it out of there Okay Okay We're just keep it Okay Go ahead
Um I appreciate what you said about possibly doing the wish list I think that what would be wonderful I realize it's only a few weeks away but if it could be done at the work session which is us when it used to be done it was done during the work session prior to
the budget being presented to the public not you know the official presentation where people can get up and ask all the questions which is what you this is just the introduction of the budget this is different than that that's you know with the slideshow and everything else right
the slideshow you have planned for the individual What do you want i believe it's the end of April right april end of the way it used to be is the work session prior to the budget meeting was when all the departments came in and did
their wish list I need an increase This is what I want I want this toy I want this equipment And some of them I'm calling them toys because that's what I appeared to the public I'm not saying they were but um and the entire public it wasn't a presentation just to the
committee It was it was a regular public work session And if there's any way you can do that again I think as a member of the public we would appreciate it It might answer a lot of questions that people have about you know whatever is in the budget You know when each department says "Okay we're getting X
amount." And it's spent on like you were asking Pete just now it would answer questions of everything There's a lot of time to the process Fantastic I mean it used to be every year I understand Thank you It would be great if you could do that Do we have extra time to do something like that we
have to have extra meetings We'd have to actually have extra meetings to do something like that right we'd have we'd actually have to bring Sure Dean and I did all this whatever you're discussing Every department came with their wish list and we went through it So say that
again please We met with the departments the administrator and I on their wish list Okay And mayor if I may hold on Good And just to confirm Roy to have the
budget include those wish lists The residents would have seen a 600% tax increase And that's what that $149 number was That was part of it Yes So minister and us saying no to that
right us looking at it Roya and I go "No that's not realistic." You know let's keep the number either stagnant or reductions So that 149 before it even came to you we dropped it $100 And then then you all went and we
did more cuts all all in congruency if you will We all agreed So So hold on Time out please Nothing from the audience please read at this time So Mr Miller said it was $149 I
believe that's what I was given also before that was the first before we began the cuts system That was before you began you began the cuts or the commission Everyone everyone had a say put in the cuts Yes Okay Mayor may I add one more so with minimal cuts we are
lowering taxes to $17 and we are only raising the budget 2.9% which is the lowest increase since 2021 prior to cannabis revenue From 2022 to 2023 there was an increase of
10.7% in the budget So that just puts it into context So if I may what are you trusting me why you always ask me if I'm talking to you i'm trying to talk to the people I'm trying to talk to our professor Okay My
mission Go ahead All right The question I have is the the question it seemed like it was asked was can those can those budgets go back to the work session be presented in front of the public so the public could see what their tax dollars are being spent on Correct Am I correct that's what the
request was And if it was done that why wait why can't we do that i understand what you're saying that we did make cuts and you met with the departments and all that but the the public has an interest to see what's being what's being brought up to be cut and I I don't understand why Is that a problem can we do that or
Sure Not tonight I'm saying but can we can we bring that back bring those back to the work session well I mean let the attorney answer your question because I think it's best he doesn't Go ahead That you know again that would be up to the township committee but you're adding a
lot of extra public meetings You you couldn't do it I don't think you'd be able to do it by just having it at a regular work session You'd have to add meetings and then whenever there was a personnel topic you'd have to go into close session It's not let me put it
this way I'm not aware of any town that does it that way because it's not very practical Could you do it sure you could do anything I mean if you if you choose to do it you can do it but it's not as productive and you're going to putting be having a lot more meetings public
meetings and uh you're going to be inconveniencing Not that I guess that won't be a major consideration but you have to pull people out on numerous meeting nights And I know you know for the most part you got a lot of volunteers involved but that's you know that's again your call but you would be
the only town I'm aware of that would do it that way No I I was just listening to Mrs Verasso and she said it was done on one night in this town and we it was didn't seem to be a problem So what I'm going to propose is that we honor her
request and seriously think about this and seriously think about this as a town counc that go ahead point We spent about 20 minutes just talking about a $5,000 uh change in one appropriation So if you think you can you know do a million
multi-million dollar budget when you just spent about 20 minutes on a $5,000 issue then maybe you can It just doesn't seem possible in light of what we just heard and went through And you didn't and when a decision wasn't even made you still need more information on that one
$5,000 topic So just imagine doing that on every line item in the budget And if you can get it done in one night that would be quite remarkable The only the only thing different would be it would be presented in a more productive way They would have a chance to bring like Mr Donatello said he'd be able to bring
his and be more prepared This came off the cuff and came off the side I understand what you're saying with the discussion side Mr Mr Twinsky they were Mr Rano came off the side of a discussion that we weren't going to have a public hearing tonight Nobody was prepared for that No Mr Riotano said that he spoke with the chief and they
went through all these cuts The chief said Ministry I'm sorry that he was cutting those things No yes no whatever So it wasn't just us or township committee people doing it They started it Correct If I may mayor Yes please So
back in November and I do this I've done it in November of every year since I took over as interim administrator I sent the department heads a request for their following year budget and I want what it is you're looking for Those memos those emails are all taken and I
sit with Mr Riotano Eventually I sit with our auditor going over the budget and we take here's their requests and we look at the numbers what we've spent and we kind of say "Okay no." And we we go from there Okay So I've done
I've done that just not in the public's eye but uh I provide one You OEM has provided one the fire chief has provided one the building department has provided one And you meet with them and speak to them at all I speak with them probably you know often enough We have conversations Fair enough And I just see
one No Miss Bassel I cannot address you again Please Wait a minute Other people came in You have somebody standing that was waiting before you already spoke Mr Davidson you're next Think is happening is now Mr Davidson is next speaking Thank you So in other words we're going to work on incorrect information
I'm sorry Hold on Just let Mr Davidson and then I'll get to you Okay Okay Because I I think that there's a little confusion Yeah Yeah Because quite frankly the meaning I believe you're really talking about really capital expenditures right which is a totally different thing outside of the
budget and you you this way that I just do it sat down with each of the so you used to do it too Mr Json absolutely sit down with the department heads They go over everything they have and then from there then if we
have our meetings we whatever the case might be We come up with a conclusion as to what we think we can present to the township committee That's fair And then of course it's up to the township committee to decide what direction you want to go in Okay But what you're
talking about really is what everybody calls it wishes right and that's that's capital expenditure totally totally different than what you guys are trying to do tonight And if I may again mayor Yes please So I literally had a conversation today with
our OEM coordinator on just that issue He's looking for looking for capital improvements to the building down on Fox Lane I said Pete we're not there yet Um we'll have those discussions Now I do ask as part of my November email I want you to send me your regular operating
budget request as well as any capital improvements you may need but I can tell you and even speak I'll speak for Dave Brown who's not here I know since he sent me his wish list to today his his chippers on its way out the wood chippers So we we'll have that
conversation and that's something I I certainly think that would be beneficial to the committee to meet with each department head to hear why Dave needs a wood chipper Um why I want to possibly seek removing the shed down at the range and putting a garageelike structure So
all those things are absolutely and can be done out of this that meeting Nope Completely separate That's what Mr Davidson was letting you know We've done the homework I did it you know the way I learned because I was a police chief Bob was administrator That was the process I knew Jack Dhune did it the same way and
I've continued to follow that But for capital projects we can absolutely have those meetings that Mr Miller Mr Chinsky and yourself will probably benefit from as well as the public Of course you're separating the operating operating budget from the So
again the bonding aspect that the board of ed can't do We have that option here And those are the items that yeah you just cannot afford We cannot put a a GIS proposal that the DPW really wants that comes in at $45,000 to monitor and you remember this
conversation I'm sure to monitor storm and sanitary sewer lines to be properly mapped and we can list all of those improvements in this system and meet all of our MS4 requirements Well that $40,000 cannot be done in this municipal budget or we're going to see crazy
increases but it can be bonded for So that would be one of those items as a wood chipper Thank you Mayor Mayor may I just uh uh Dean brought up Dave I got to give Dave a shout out with his DPW
budget It has been consistently basically the same numbers since prior to cannabis revenue came to Rochelle Park So I also want to add that context Very good Thank you Okay Francino I'm just basing on what we saw what I observed was part of for many
years The board session when the different departments presented their wish list No people from the public to ask a single question So you're concerned about being an hourong meeting Let me just Okay nobody made a question DPW and I'll use that for an example got
up and said "Okay we need bing bing bing bing bing Done." If anybody in the committee asked a question fine The public did not question them The whole purpose of it was so that two meetings later when there was a public part of the budget the public was informed So
then they could ask questions There were no questions when the the wish list was presented So if you're concerned about it being this super long meeting it didn't happen that way I'm what they choose to do is something else But each department get up OEM for example would get up and say "Okay we need $10,000
because we need this this this and this." That was it The same kind of information they apparently gave to to people they already have I'm sorry I'm just going to stop you right there Mr Davidson was administrator years ago Not that not that many years ago a few years
ago Uh he had it done that way Same talk in between Mr Tune had it No I'm sorry Mr I know We're We're what i I do know what you're talking about This is going back way
back So I think Well I was just going to add but legally any public meeting has to be open to the public So you can't stop the public from asking questions if it's a public meeting So so if you're saying that the
public will refuse or or decline to ask any questions you can't guarantee that There may be a controversial issue You may have 100 people here over uh one single budget cut and then all hundred people let me just finish all 100 people would have to be given an opportunity to ask their questions or make a statement
about any aspect of the budget So that's the part that could drag on and be very non-productive and it could turn into a circus to be quite frank I know where you're coming from I'm just telling you for the years that we experienced it it was presented at a work session with the
statement of the public does not get to ask questions at this point There was a public point at the end but they were told if it was a budget question or wishlist question whatever you want to call it they had to wait and ask it at the budget meeting which was two weeks later right but if the public said to
give information again if the public said "Well I want to ask my question that the township committee cannot stop them It's the public portion You're allowed to say and ask whatever questions you want So in that case I guess it was a positive experience Everybody cooperated and refrained from asking questions But you can't guarantee
that I mean we get questions You know there's a handful of people here The public portion is probably running on 45 or 50 minutes and the budget is much more complicated and involved So you know the anticipation you would think would be that there would be a lot more public
participation when you're discussing the whole entire budget for every department in the community and every possible cut that can or cannot be made I mean that's just my Thank you Mr Hustle Informing the public would be nice Oh gosh Okay
Thank you One more Just one last thing Sure This is only going to take a minute I want to offer you a compromise from from what we're hearing and what was done in the past and what you did this year Perhaps each um head of the department has a liaison that sits up on that I'm done
the day is here But maybe perhaps in in the form of a compromise is that the director of OEM with um with my liaison and the administrator and or the finance person and have each department head you with their committee person their liaison go over the budget with them
have a little bit more in-depth discussion and then have that fiscal uh kind of responsible excuse me conversation that we can have and where do we cut or what do we need you know what do we don't need what is fat what did we trim off of that fat perhaps maybe do it that way
send out public portion uh meeting and and you know perhaps worried about time is that maybe we have these discussions you know separate and apart this way when it comes to this you can have uh you know maybe a little bit more intelligent conversations about what we need and what we don't need The entire committee Thank you Mr on tele the
entire committee v votes on this budget and in breaking it up into individuals is is a is not a bad idea but we all would have to speak about it then again um I think that time believe me when I tell you time I've spent many nights to
2:00 in the morning so I'm not I am personally not too worried about time but um you know the the percentages that Mr Miller gave publicly You can't deny those are percentages that have changed over the years So you know we'll we'll
talk more about them See what we can do Mrs Hton first of all the economy is not the best Yes Right now everybody is making cuts Everybody's making cuts at the food store
Everybody's making cuts not buying that pair of sneakers the kids may need right away We'll put it off You know everybody is making cuts wherever they can You are doing us a favor now trying to make cuts Okay no one likes a cut but
sometimes we have to sacrifice Okay you can't keep going on and building this debt all the time because it's going to catch up sooner or later So I applaud you guys Thank you Nobody's happy with what you're
cutting but I'm sure they can manage if they make a few cuts in their departments Thank you I appreciate it I know it's difficult that you know when you hear people cutting and I know it's difficult if it particularly pertains to your
department Oh I'm sorry May I have a motion to close the public there's no one else I'll make the motion May I have a second i'll second All in favor i All right Any I did have one more comment Oh yes Okay So um one of the increases that I've
noticed when signing the um the planner is much more expensive than last year I asked Dean about it and it's each time he makes a simple phone call we get charged We didn't have that before So I'm seeing a big increase
there I just thought that was worth mentioning Okay That's the bird is you're speaking of Yes Okay So I have seen maybe one or two purchase orders of POS come in Mr Pinto how many have come in
i believe two is the correct number Okay And you have seen four What are they for they were for our affordable housing meeting that he he So we needed that meeting Okay And what was the other one remember don't recall off the top of my head something They were
both COLA They were worth related to COA right okay So they were required So you're seeing an increase in what they're more expensive than our last planner So um I just thought it was worth noting We're cutting some areas and then we're
getting Can I uh I don't think we had the affordable housing last year that we had to work on Just that that's the fourth round just started now So do your plan last year I'm talking there both their color their um well he's only hired for the the present planner Mr
Burgess is only hired for the uh affordable housing fourth round certification which you didn't have you didn't you shouldn't have incurred any cost last year for that that's why it would be different we didn't have any of this last year I understand what you're saying you see but they the way they bill is very different than what we've
had in the past everybody bills differently everybody has it's more expensive on us we didn't have it last year how would we know how much it was last year if they did it with that other planner we didn't have them do it so how I'm comparing it to when we talked
to the planner about other issues It was this is just affordable housing cola round four that we're talking about with Burgess It's all we're talking correct But we didn't get charged for every phone call Um are we getting charged for every phone call Mr Pinto
there was bills billing for phone calls on this bill Correct Okay Was there any discussion about that uh I've had discussions with with other professionals with you and when it rises to that level I'll make sure I bring it to every committee person but uh
committeewoman Arola was looking at the PO and the bills and and brought it to my attention and said "Is you know this what you remember from last year?" I said "No that's different." But anytime there's any issue with any professional I I bring it to this committee's attention and I think you've brought a couple to my attention I still
addressed them Correct Correct And it has gone back to the way it should be as we've had before quote unquote Has it not it has Okay Thank you Mayor may I add one thing just in terms of our professionals Um for the past few years
we had an attorney who is a novice attorney who clearly did not know DCA regulations who clearly completely messed up on the NW financial situation from last year Now we have an attorney for the same price with 30 years of
experience and has made such a great contribution to Rochelle Park and this governing body So I just want to add that context to the taxpayers as well Thank you And it is exactly the same amount as our previous attorney who had zero who came into Rochelle Park I
believe with his as his first municipal his second and third year but Mr Cino has over from what I understand over 30 years of municipal law at the same price So you know I understand everybody's upset or concerned or maybe you know hey
I can't buy eggs right now A lot of people can't buy eggs You have to cut back right we're all talking about getting chickens Not me But we all have to look tight I'm sorry We have We do have that ordinance We may not want to look at that But you know sometimes it's
hard to cut back But if I say to you which I just said publicly do you want me to lay off can you do Can you make do i mean it's not I'm sorry You asking me mayor i think I asked you that question And you know we don't want to lay off our our our safety
services Absolutely not I mean my late husband was in for years I'm you know a nurse Everybody has their own concern about it I get it But right now I have to have a concern as well as the rest of the township committee Our obligation to the
taxpayers of what their increase is going to be We could go $200 like a neighboring town per household I think we'd be chased out the door in my opinion We're doing the best we can for the amount that we're getting in We did
generate some revenue I believe I asked Mr Brano last year to put money into a different kind of account that generated 300,000 We did CD I'm sorry It was a certificate of the property that was liquid and 300,000 Yes Okay And so
because of that being brought over that all helped this year It brought in 300,000 of revenue Yes Right So you know we're working to where we can get there But I just have to say everybody's going to have to tighten their belts That's my opinion If you want to keep it at this
rate I cannot see it going over that I understand all concerns but I do not believe and correct me if I'm wrong chief that that the public is in any way of danger of safety because of this this
operating budget here I will say that I think every department can operate in an efficient manner with the current effective and efficient manner Correct With the amount that you're receiving Correct And and obviously we know in the event of an emergency we can do emergency appropriations There's other
options available So that can also happen Emergency appropriations can also happen Strikano if there was a flood or anything that Yes And there's all statutes that cover that Anywhere between 3 and 5 specifically in a specific department it could be brought
over Correct Yes This is what I'm trying to say I'm trying to say we have it in other places and if it's not in that particular thing and there's an emergency emergency appropriations come into play Has it happened in the past yes Thank you Okay So my comment with
the planner is simply were the calls productive absolutely Okay And we've had a planner for the same planner for many many years Maybe it's time that we have a different plan or have a look at the town and put a new set of eyes on it and give us a
new look and maybe and help us go into different directions and and to Mr Scatino's point um it it has to do with affordable housing and the calls were related to the fourth round specifically which we all know this year is you know we're up against it So
Okay great All right let's move forward because we're almost there I think we voted on Which one am I still voting on okay Good night The budget Okay So this is where I know I haven't been here
Thank you All right So this is going to the introduction of the 2025 budget would be appearing in the paper May I have a motion to have that i'll make the motion I'll second Okay Go ahead Okay
Roll call Okay Committee woman Yes Committee woman No Deputy Mayor Miller Yes Committeeman Trinsky yes Mayor Judge Cllo yes All right Let's move forward then Let's see Okay
Great So all the items listed below are considered to be routine and non-controversial by the township committee and will be approved by one motion There will be no separate discussion on these items unless a committee member or citizen so requests it in which case the item will be
removed from the consent agenda and considered in its normal sequence on the agenda as part of the general orders Now this seems to be a little bit out of sequence here So I'm just going to read the numbers for you and we're going to start with all the prefix of 025
So the following resolutions are 025108 1 9 1 1 0 1 1 2 113 114 We're going to 115 116 118
119 121 which is the walk- on and 122 animal Great Um yes I have to recuse myself from uh 111 for the tax assessor Yeah because he he works for me in Wington He works in So
I'm going to recuse myself from that Anybody else okay May I have a motion please so are we um excluding that one i'll make a motion to take that She's excluding it from because she has to exclude right so we have to vote on that separate
She can she can say yes except for approal on that one item Okay Then I'll make the motion Just try and thank you I'll second Okay Roll call Committeewoman Aichi Yes Except for 111 I'm going to
recuse myself Thank you Committeewoman Arola Yes Deputy Mayor Miller Yes Committeeman Trinsky Yes Mayor Judge Clla Yes Okay So we're not going into close session are we we're not looking at anything else Okay Perfect All right So then
we'll have a motion to our next meeting Public meeting is April 9th 2025 We may have a motion for adjournment I'll make the motion I'll second All in favor i Any extensions any all right Have a great night Thank you so much
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