You're alive. Thank you everybody. Welcome to the regular monthly meeting of the mayor and council Monday, April 27th, 2026 being started at 6:34 p.m. Missy, could you please call the role?
>> Mayor Nazi >> here. >> Council President McGawan, >> present. >> Councilman Kley. Councilman Erico >> here. >> Councilman Guzman >> here. Council Del Cohen >> here. Councilman Mazone >> here. Thank you. If you're able, could you please stand for the salute to the flag?
Pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America to the stands nation indivisible with liberty. >> Thank you everybody. Missy, could you please read the
provisions? In compliance with the open public meetings law chapter 231 public laws of 1975 notice of this meeting was transmitted to the record and Herald News and filed with the burough clerk on November 21, 2025 and is posted on the bulletin board outside of Barrow Hall.
>> Thank you Missy. Uh presentations tonight uh the police department um has been accredited theredit accreditation uh presentation. I'd like to thank the police department chief Russo. This is the first time we've ever been accredited and through
all your hard work and getting that new building. As much as I know you've enjoyed it with Bob, uh I really appreciate your efforts as I'm sure the rest of the council do. So, we're going to move forward with the presentation. Thank you. I'm Harry Dogado. I am the
director of um accreditation for the New Jersey State Association of Chiefs of Police. And um I'm very proud tonight uh to represent them and recognize the Rutherford Police Department. So, just to add context to what I'm about to say,
um there's from all the agencies that would be eligible to apply for accreditation in the state of New Jersey, and that includes colleges and universities, anyone that has a legitimate law enforcement off law, uh excuse me, police department. Um only about 52% of those have actually achieved it. But that speaks to the fact
that it's a very difficult process. And what is special about the Rutherford Police Department is they did it on on their own by themselves, which is incredible. But I was talking to the chief just before and I think we all acknowledge that during that process that's the only way to actually acquire
that transfer of knowledge um that takes place when you uh tackle the process if you will um on your own without consultants without the help of consultants. But anyway before I digress if you indulge me for two minutes I'd like to share with you the significance of the achievement. So the the
Rutherford Police Department has made a commitment to adhering to best practices at the state and national level at a highly regarded statewide law enforcement accreditation program. This program administered to New Jersey State Association of Chiefs of Police and the New Jersey law enforcement accreditation commission has helped to transparently
demonstrate the professionalism, transparency and preparness of states law enforcement agencies uh in the state's public safety system. Now accreditation is more than a professional distinction. It is a strategic investment in organizational excellence. It positions law enforcement
agencies to operate at the highest levels of professionalism while enhancing public trust, reducing risk, and promoting long-term operational success. So, this prestigious accredited status demonstrates Chief John Russo's firm commitment to state and national standards and the continued expectations
for quality, professional, and ethical policing of the Rutherford Police Department. It should be said that government officials can be more confident in the agency's ability to operate efficiently and meet community needs when the agencies is accredited and officers in accredited agencies can take pride that they have been objectively recognized for the
professionalism and adherence to the highest standards in the nation. So the Rutherford Police Department will continue to move forward following best practices, a preparedness plan and a verification of excellence. So it is our opinion of the state association chiefs of police that New Jersey that the
Rutherford Police Department is a highly professional and committed agency which exemplifies all of the tenants of law enforcement accreditation at the state and national level. Therefore on behalf of the New Jersey State Association of Chiefs of Police, it is indeed my honor here tonight to congratulate Chief John Russo, gradation manager Sergeant Bruce
Reid, the members of the Rutherford Police Department, the mayor, the council, and those citizens that they so proudly serve for having achieved accreditation. joining a very exclusive group of law enforcement agencies that make this commitment to excellence in policing. So to all indeed, congratulations.
>> Thank you very much. Uh before before I'd ask the council to step down in a second, I'd first ask the chief and the members of his department to please step forward and take a photo. Kim Thank you. I'd ask you guys to stay there and the council please step before
the dis. Congratulations. Thank you. >> Congratulations. Congratulations, sir. >> Thank you, sir. You want to get everyone
>> Bob? >> Yes. Watching Bob and the Chief over this Thank you. Congratulations. Yep. Thank you. Mr. Mayor, Council, uh, I just want to
add to what Harry said about the, um, accomplishment. I want to thank, uh, Sergeant Bruce Reed and Lieutenant Scanel. Lieutenant Scanel put a ton of work into this while he was recovering from a surgery and put together all of
our testing that all the officers had to do online. Uh, a tremendous accomplishment. Usually you pay for those tests from companies, consultants, you put them on your system and the officers take them. He actually generated all that himself. Uh it was
just unbelievable workload. Sergeant Reed, the accreditation manager, um I I just cannot say enough about what he did with this process. To be able to do this um without a consultant, like Harry
said, is truly amazing. um because we were never accredited. So, we did not speak that language our entire career. We didn't know what we were getting involved in. I had an idea of what we were about to go through. Um
but when I asked Bruce to do this and I told him that we were not going to have a consultant doing it, uh he was more than willing and I have to tell you, he did it so quickly and uh so professionally. Uh just spot on. I I I
could not have asked for a better two people to to be involved with this. I to be honest with you, I don't think we would be here today if I didn't have either one of those here. So, uh kudos to them. They did a tremendous job. Kudos to this council and uh Burough
Administrator Kalleski for what you did um getting us to that point with the building. We would have never tried to achieve a achieve accreditation without a new building. you saw that, you understood it, and uh we don't have to revisit that experience. But I'm uh I'm
glad we're over I'm glad we're over there and and thank you again for everything you've done. Thank you. Now we have a uh another uh presentation. Council president, would you uh please step down front? >> Sure.
>> Could we have the members of the Elks please step forward? Good evening everyone. Uh, tonight I am honored to present the proclamation to the Rutherford Elks Lodge 547. Whereas the benevolent and protective
order of Elks has designated May 1st through the 7th as youth week to honor America's junior citizens for their accomplishments and to give fitting recognition of their services to community, state, and the nation. And whereas Rutherford Elks 547 will sponsor
and observe during this week in tribute to the junior citizens of this community. And whereas no event could be more deserving of our support and participation than one dedicated to these young people who represent the nation's greatest resource and who in
the years ahead will assume the responsibility for the advancement of our free society. And whereas our youth need the guidance, inspiration, and encouragement which we alone can give in order to help develop those qualities of
character essential for future leadership and go forth to serve America. end. Whereas to achieve this worthy objective, we should demonstrate our partnership with youth, our understanding of their hopes and aspirations, and a sincere willingness
to help prepare them in every way for the responsibilities and opportunities of citizenship. Now therefore, be it resolved, Mayor Frank Neniado and the Burough Council do hereby proclaim the first week in May in May as youth week
and urge all departments of government, civic, fraternal and patriotic groups and our citizens generally to participate wholeheartedly in its observance. Congratulations. >> Can everyone come down please?
>> Can everybody join us in front of the das? reviewed the changes to the podium. Uh we have no changes on the agenda tonight. We have the public hearing of the budget. Anybody from the public wishing to
speak? That took way longer than I thought to get up there. >> Nobody else wants it. >> Just a uh David Labirdo, 423 Styverson. Just a few questions uh directed to the council but maybe our
business administrator could answer for the public. Um looking at the uh presentation from uh couple weeks ago. So it was mentioned that the assessed value for the community it's 2.7 we'll leave it at
that that number 2.7 billion and then that assessed value is down 9.6 6 million and it was said that it was a lot due to utilities uh less than 50% uh home phones. So that utility
assessment comes off the board and it was just wondering what that number might be because we've discussed in the past there seems to be a lot of development in the town at least uh homes being redone all of those get reassessed I understand. So I'm wondering about the delta that's
involved in that. Right? If utilities went down but these other went up, I just wondering about those numbers and how we come to those uh conclusions because then in the past we mentioned there's a lot of uh well I guess a year or two ago there's a lot of outstanding building permits that hadn't been closed
out. Once those get closed out all those homes are reassessed also. So just wondering about those two issues because the second one that I mentioned right there was something that had been discussed in the past that was being handled. Uh second uh comment that I had
was uh and it's not in the budget and uh actually I didn't have time to come to city hall to check on that or burrow hall. Um in the budget it talks about uh an amount of revenue associated with parking meters which is $411,000.
uh was just wondering how many parking meters we have in the community and then that works out to be some number per parking meter because I know in the last meeting we had some conversation about parklets and cost and all those things. So I think that kind of number would
inform the decision and then of course it was uh rejected. But uh is it going to go on forever or what type of notice would have to be provided to our local establishments so that they would know maybe these things going to happen in
the future. I know they made investments at this time. Luckily the tax structure lets them do 100% uh business deduction currently. Um third thing I had to ask about and I didn't dig through all the budget to see but um tax abatements in
there in the short budget every year it has an amount that is foregone in tax abatements right they have real amount that would be collected under standard taxes versus what it is uh with respect
to what we collect for the tax abated properties and and there's an amount that is foregone as I as I just mentioned and you know that we saw with the budget 60 approximately 60% 59
something% of the budget goes through the school system. So you know that informs future decisions also because that's a large amount of money that's not provided to the school system but goes directly into this budget. So right
the numbers work some way, right? The school budget makes up a certain amount and the town budget makes up a certain amount and our budget is lower and right. So, we're not responsible for the school system, but they both interplay
a lot. Um so there was that and then uh it was also mentioned that we collected more than anticipated in tax abatements and I uh for the tax evated properties and I was wondering how that happened because um you know there's anticipated
numbers we relied on a financial analysis when these development projects occurred which said these properties are not going to be viable without a tax abatement And the only way that we collect more money is as I understand it is if their
revenue increases. And if their revenue increases we get that certain amount but we only get a 20% and we only get a recapture when their profit goes above 12%. So I would say or think then that they
collected 12% in profit where when we had our financial analysis by our service providers they said the project wasn't viable because they only make 3% and then we said well we have to give them a tax abatement so that they make 6% or
something like that. I don't quote me on the numbers but you guys certainly are aware of them and could look them up. Um so to make the project viable that was necessary but the only way as I understand it like I said maybe you could explain to me was if they collect
more than or they make more than 12%. So you can see either something happened that we didn't expect or a financial analyst didn't expect. So that should inform us in the future about how good these projections are, how good these
numbers are. So those are the comments and then uh lastly about the transparency and dropping uh whatever that resolution was again I'll urge the council for the future to put in
some ordinance suggested by the state community development portion of the state adopted under Murphy about having an ordinance that would lay out what is required for future tax abayments in order to grant that. So the community would have information because as I
remember last time the financial analysis was a simple spreadsheet that listed what we get and what we will get. And when we first started this project and this tax abatement stuff and Agnu had a
stack of papers like this that laid out all of the financials, what expected costs were, what blah blah blah, on and on. And it seems like over the course of time the amount of information that was submitted and that the decisions were made on or at least that were presented
to the public has been reduced by a large amount. So I would think that at least you know different than a resolution which of course you can adopt any kind of rules that you want in the way that you
organize yourself but the state suggests >> you're over but I'll let you finish. Give me one sec. Um, the state suggested that communities should have an ordinance that lays out the requirements and what should be obtained from the developer and then what should be
provided to the public so an appropriate weighing of the considerations can be made. So, thank you, Mr. Mayor. >> Thank you. Anybody else from the public? >> Frank, should you go first? >> My name is Joseph. I live at 279 West
Erie Avenue and I'm on behalf of the residents of Erie Avenue between >> Are we speaking to the budget? >> I don't think so, but >> there's a there's another moment for that to happen, but it's just not right now. >> Okay, almost there.
>> Good evening. Frank Wilson wants to do what Montros have. Um just to make this quick because I have to run over to the board of education budget which is the same night which should not happen. You guys got to change that. Um first thing I don't know if you have any impact is to rolling our healthc care with theirs
but their budget's calling for almost $13,000 in health care costs. I haven't looked at what ours is but theirs is 13,000 $13 million excuse me in healthcare costs. The cost per child is now up to $20,000 per student. They're
showing an increase of 72 kids this year over last year, which I keep driving home these pilots that don't go to the school system and somewhere they've raised it 72 kids in a year. So, they're coming from someplace, which leads me to
say, please stop giving away pilots. The uh Parkers that's over in East Rutherford, that big building is built with no pilot. So obviously developers want to come to this area. When we gave away the Amazon building, they pay
nothing really on that. They pay it on the land. I looked it up. It's vacant lot. Um so this just goes to show what's going on. There are people in Rutherford. So we need to stop watching this stuff. I'm glad the park lits were brought up
again because I had this thought the other day is that if it's still $300 now and it's $300 from 5 years ago, we've raised taxes on everything in this town and food's gone up, but the parklets haven't gone up a nickel.
So, h how does that work? That we're raising citizens on this, we're raising citizens on that, but the parklets stay the same. Anybody that can afford a quarter quarter of a million dollars for a liquor license, I'm sure could pay their fair share in a parklet.
Correct me if I'm wrong. We can also, if we want that saying, well, we can't raise it because it's a parking meter. I looked into that. Also, if you put a municipal bag or whatever it is above the meter and now that meter is null and void, the parking space is now null and
void. Look it up. So now you don't have to abide by that $300 thing because there's a meter there. If the meter now is is sealed up with one of those vinyl bags and it's no longer a working meter, we can then raise it to get some more
revenue in this town. But again, if you look at if you want their their budget, I've got it. And it I keep saying to everybody 60% and at $20,000 as you well know cost per kid and 72 kids came from
someplace. You got to watch out what we're doing especially with these pilots because it's it's it's not all on this side. But between the two of us, I'm hoping we can get somewhere a better deal on healthcare because $13 million just on their side. I don't know what
our side is, but if you put them both together, it's got to be a better package. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Wilson. All right, we're going to close it now regarding the uh hearings on the budget.
Uh resolution separate for consent. >> Mayor, we have to open it up for the public hearing for the uh open space grant. >> Oh, I'm sorry. I missed that one. My bad. Um, anybody wishing to speak to the o uh the open space grant?
Seeing none, close. >> Mayor, can I just explain what the grant is? >> I was going to open it up to you in a second. >> Okay. Sorry. >> But go ahead. So, just so what everyone knows, we're applying for uh with the Burton County Open Space Application is funding to
resurface uh the ADA playground at Memorial Field uh known as Kidsspot, uh new rubberized surfaced, as well as funding for a a small ADA parking lot near the near the
playground. Uh the funding for that is part of your tax dollars that you pay. There's a a county open space component of your tax bill. That is the funding that we're applying to get back to Rutherford. Uh so that that's this
year's application. Just I'll uh with that being said, does anybody now want to speak to this? Nobody from public. Anybody from the council have any say on this? Being none, I'm going to close it.
Um, now I have resolution separate from consent. >> Thank you, mayor. First is resolution number 101, amending the 2026 municipal budget. Motion. >> I have a motion by the council president. May I have a second?
>> Second. >> Second by counciloman delong. Any questions or comments by the council? >> Bob, I just fig Let me explain what the amendment is. Uh it's a couple minor adjustments. The uh one is just
correcting the uh proper placement of the uh state aid line within the budget. It was incorrectly put on one line when it should have put on another. But by law, we have to correct the line and correct the totals of everything that that impacts. So uh while the amendment
might look very long, it's uh not a a huge amendment. It's that's one of the amendments. The second amendment is just making an adjustment to the uh DPW uh salary and wage line item as all the overtime from this year's winter season
finally hit the books. Uh we realized that we we've underfunded that account. So we we're increasing it to make up for that. Uh then there's an offsetting increase in one of the revenue items to offset that increase. So those are the two major ch actually two only real
changes to the budget. Uh the the changes themselves do not trigger anything requiring an advertisement. Um it has been reviewed by the state of New Jersey. The state of New Jersey has approved the budget with the amendments as as listed here tonight. Uh so I just
figured I want to speak to that before uh the council voted. Thank you. Based on Bob's information, does anybody now have anything they want to speak to on this particular one? >> Thank you. >> Ask for council consent.
>> Roll call, please. >> Council President McGowan, >> yes. >> Councilman Ero, >> yes. >> Councilman Guzman, >> yes. >> Council Del Cohen, >> yes. >> Council Mone, >> yes. >> Thank you, mayor. Next is resolution number 102 authorizing the adoption of
the CY2026 municipal budget. Motion. >> I have a motion by the council president. Have a second. I'll have Bob speak to it and then we can all comment. >> Did somebody second? >> Second. >> A second.
>> Okay. So now you're opening it up to discuss the public. >> I need I didn't get a sec. Did I get a second? Yes. Oh, sorry. Councilman Guzman Bob, could you explain it, please? >> Sure. Uh yeah, I'm not going to go into the details of the budget. We've done that numerous times already, but I I
would like to take this opportunity to address uh some of the questions or comments that came up during the public hearing uh specifically about the assessed valuation going down by 9.6 million. Um and and and the 90% of that
reduction uh was due to uh a significant reduction in the number of landlines used within the town, specifically Verizon. uh by law if 51% of the homes do not have tone as it's quoted as uh
dial tone land use lines uh it allows the utility in this case Verizon uh to apply their or file their tax forms differently uh by doing that they didn't have to go through a certain process that required them to be part of
our ratable base for this year. Hence while why why our reduction in assessment occurred specifically 9.2 million of that 9.6 million is attributed to this Verizon issue. Uh the other 400,000 you had some ad and omitteds you had some tax appeals. Uh we
had some significant tax appeals last year. one with the the hotel, the Renaissance Hotel, and the other uh tax appeal that hit the books last year was the reduction uh for the parking garage uh at the 2011 301 Route 17 office
complex. So, that is the uh the gist of why those rails went down. And always, I know this leads to the next question, when is the uh uh reval going to occur? And as we all know, we have been ordered by the county tax board to begin that
process. Uh it looks like we're going to be completing that process in 2028. Uh the firms uh that are eligible to perform that service, their calendars are booked already through 2027. They would not be able to
take on another municipality. And there are several towns in in Bergen County alone that are have been ordered and then face the same dilemma that we have. So 2028 we'll begin that process. So we'll be you know going through that starting next year. Um number of parking
meters I think I heard that come up. Uh we have over 400 parking meters in town with a tax and a uh and a pay station in the kip garage. And uh why do we realize more revenue and pilots or tax abatements? So, you know, when we get those financial statements and they get
reviewed and uh you know, we realize that in prior years there were some uh you know, to your point, additional revenues were realized and that they owed us a little bit more and our financial advisor was able to uh uh dig through the documents that were provided
to the burrow. Specifically, it was the uh the warehouse, the Amazon warehouse was the one where we we realized a little bit more last year because that whole corporate structure, you know, when Link Equity sold it to UBS, the whole tax abatement concept,
you know, was kind of foreign to them. So, our financial advisor had to do a little bit of an education process with the UBS people and uh so we we got our the money owed to us and we realized it in last year's budget. So, Uh hopefully I've answered those questions that were
addressed by the public tonight. That's it for me. >> Thank you, Bob. I'll now open up for any council comment and also um if Gordon does have a microphone should you have any questions directly for him. Councilman, >> thank you, Mayor. Um, you know, I I
think it's good that Bob spoke first because I was going to come at my comments in a moment of frustration and I actually never think it's good to speak from a place of frustration. So, now I'm going to speak from a place of fact. Um, I cannot stress enough again how danger it is it is to make public
comments implying that information is being kept from the community. I I can't stress it enough. And it it happens repeatedly and I'm not sure why. And it's always with the well you can look it up if you want to know what's being held ke kept from you. Um it's
incredibly frustrating. It's incredibly dangerous. And we're living in a world where more and more information is being manipulated and in a way that really impacts our community and our neighbors negatively. So, I challenge anyone who really thinks that we're keeping
information from them to specifically ask for that information and be told no and then come back here and say it was kept from them because that simply won't happen. Um, I also need to address because it came up and I hate that it keeps coming up uh the fact that we
somehow um did away with a resolution about transparency. Um, a resolution is a piece of paper. I understand Mr. Lebruno, what you were saying is maybe it needs to be an ordinance, but it goes back to the same pre premise, which is I, as a council woman, have never asked for information
that I've not received, and I've never been asked for information that I haven't shared. So, a a a system requiring transparency that we indulged under a prioring body was done that way because members of that governing body
were not seeking information and instead were requiring that we discuss it on the deis. that is no longer necessary. Um, if you have a question about an ordinance and I open this up to everyone or a resolution or anything really, uh, I challenge you to contact one of us and and see what will happen. You will get
it. You will get that information. Uh, the other buzzwords that were used that I are just constantly used are pilots. Um I'm not sure we have yet to see any of the buildings built for which we were given pi we have given pilots but I want
to remind the community that we are in the unique rock and hard place situation of needing to build affordable housing needing to have developers that want to build here build that housing and to do so legally they are entitled to ask for
pilots. So, um, it is not an enviable enviable position, but to say that we are willy-nilly giving up pilots, u, my favorite is when people bring up Agnu, which I've heard about as a curse word since I got here to Rutherford in 2017 and still hasn't been built. So, um, I
think we need to be really careful about the words we use um, for public consumption. That's just my personal opinion. U, Mr. Wilson has left. Um, I wanted to speak to the parklet situation. No one on the stasis that I know of, but I'll at least speak for myself, said that we were not
considering increasing the price of the fees for parkletits. Um, we recognize it has been the same fee for a while. What we said was I thought that we were not making any changes for this year because there was not enough notice given to the business owners to plan for that. No one
said we are not going to increase it. And I actually personally will speak for myself. I think that's a very good idea. Finally, um, Mr. Wilson said, and I quote, "We should find a better deal on healthcare." I could not agree with him more. um if he knows where to find such
deals, I encourage him to provide us with that information. But I can assure you that our burough administrator as well as all of our staff as well as our adviserss as well as our insurers are we're doing the best we can with a really terrible situation that is I
would say an epidemic of of cost around the country and not something plaguing uh Rutherford. But Mr. Wilson, if you listen to this later, if you have ideas for how get to quote get a better deal on healthcare, I think you should be advising a lot of people, not just uh the bureau of Rutherford. So, I thank
you for any information you can provide in that regard. Thank you so much. >> Thank you, Councilwoman Council. Council President, >> thank you, Mayor. Um, I just wanted to take a moment of gratitude to acknowledge the great work. Um, I
believe that was done in an extraordinarily challenging year by our CFO Gordon Steltter and to our burough administrator Bob Keleski and also to acknowledge the work that's been done by our department heads. Um, I've actually lost count of what year
I'm on as the finance liaison for the council. Um this has probably been the most trying year of all of them particularly because uh the request was we will not compromise the services of our residents. Um, and in the same
breath, we need to find a responsible way to present a budget um, that minimizes, we knew there would be impact, but would minimize it to the best of our ability. And I know it's jarring when people hear 2.95% in Rutherford, because we have worked so
hard uh, during your entire tenure here, mayor, and mine as well about maintaining that level um, you know, at a very conservative um, rate. But I I want to uh encourage those who are
concerned about that to listen to the budget uh increases of municipalities around us across Bergen community and across the state. Um and and so I I felt like before we adopted this, I know that you've done a great presentation at our
last meeting, Gordon, and I know how many times we've come back to you. Uh Councilwoman Delray Con is second on finance. the amount of time that was spent in their mayor. I know that you met with everyone as well and all of my council colleagues were so um actively
involved in this process. They have always been, but particularly of interest this year. Um, and so I I just felt before we move forward with adopting this budget, I needed to take a moment of gratitude publicly to
acknowledge the good work that was done by both of you in stewardship with all of our department heads on behalf of all of the residents. So, thank you very much. >> Thank you, Council President. Anybody else? John, I'm going to close it to the
council now and ask for a roll call. Council President McGowan, >> yes. >> Councilman Ero, >> yes. Councilman Guzman, >> yes. Councilman Deone, >> yes. >> Cuz yes. Thank you. Thank you, Gordon. Thank you, Bob.
Uh, we have nothing on first read. Um, nothing on first read tonight. We're going to move to ordinance on second read. Council President. >> Thank you, Mayor. under second reading uh capital ordinance providing funding for the various capital purposes for the burrow uh appropriating 690,000 for such
purposes. Uh Missy, can you please read the ordinance by title only? >> In order to providing funding for various capital purposes for the burough of Rutherford and for appropriating $690,000 for such purpose. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. I'd like to move the ordinance be passed on second reading
and advertised according to law. >> I have a motion by the council president. May I have a second? Second >> second by council del con I'm going to now open it up to the public for this subject and this subject matter honor almost there almost no not yet anybody
wishing to speak on this subject close to the public and open up for any council comment being none I'm going to ask for a roll call >> council president McGawan >> yes council Erico yes >> Guzman yes council >> Mone
So when I go like this, that means you're >> council president. >> Thank you, mayor. Uh, next is a bond ordinance authorizing various capital improvements in and for the burrow of Rutherford appropriating 1.8 8 million. Therefore, and authorizing the issuance
of 1.710 1,710,000 bonds or notes to finance part of part of the cost thereof. Oh, okay. Missy, can you please read the ordinance by title only? A bond ordinance authorizing various
capital improvements in and for the burough of Rutherford in the county of Bergen, New Jersey, appropriating 1,800,000 thereof and authorizing the issuance of $1,710,000 bonds or notes to finance part of the cost thereof. >> Thank you. I'd like to move the ordinance be passed on second reading
and advertised according to law. >> I have a motion by the council president. I have a second. >> Second. >> Second by councilman. I'll now open it to the public for this subject and this subject matter only. Anyone in front of the public wishing to
speak? Seeing none, I'm going to close it to the public and open up for any council comment. >> Can I please have a role? >> Council President McGowan, >> yes. >> Councilman Ero, >> yes. >> Councilman Guzman, >> yes. >> Council Deone, >> yes. >> Councilman Won, >> yes.
>> Thank you. >> Next, mayor is the bond ordinance reappropriating 360,000 proceeds of obligations. Missy, can you please read the uh ordinance by title only? >> Bond ordinance reappropriating $360,000
of proceeds of obligations not needed for the original purposes and to be used for various improvements by the borrow of Rutherford. >> Thank you. I'd like to move that the ordinance be passed on second reading and advertised according to law. >> I have a motion by the council president. May I have a second? >> Second.
>> Second by council no con. I'm now going to open up to the public for any comment on this subject and this subject matter only. Seeing none, I'm going to close it to the public and open up for any council comment. Seeing none, I'd ask for a roll call. >> Council President McGowan, >> yes. >> Councilman Erico, >> yes.
>> Cuz yes. >> Councilman Del Con? >> Yes. >> C Mazone? >> Yes. >> Thank you. Councilman Guzman. >> Thank you very much, Mayor. I have uh >> Sorry. Ordinance on second read amending chapter 126 establishing a handicap
parking space on Woodland Avenue. Missy, would you please read the ordinance by title only? >> An ordinance to amend and revise chapter 126 vehicles and traffic of the burough code of the bur of Rutherford to establish a handicap parking spot on Woodland Avenue. >> Motion that the ordinance be passed on second reading and advertised according
to law. >> I have a motion by Councilman Guzman. May I have a second, please? >> Second. >> Second by Councilman Mone. I'm now going to open this up to the public for any comment on this subject and this subject matter only. Seeing none, I'm going to close it to
the public and open for any council comment. Seeing none, Missy may have a roll call. >> Council President McGowan, yes. >> Councilman Ero, >> yes. >> Councilman Guzman, >> yes. >> Counc Del Cohen, >> yes. >> Councilman Mazone. >> All right, one more and you're up. >> Councilman, >> ordinance on second read amending
chapter 126 establishing a handicap parking space on Eastern Way. Missy, would you please read the ordinance by title only? >> An ordinance to amend and revise chapter 126, vehicles and traffic of the burough code of the burrow of Rutherford establishing a handicap parking space on Eastern Way. >> Motion that the ordinance be passed on
second reading and advertised according to law. >> I have a motion by Councilman Guzman. May I have a second? >> Second. >> Second by the council president. I'm now going to open this up to the public for any council comment. I mean any public comment. Seeing none, I'm going to close to the
public and open for any council comment. Seeing none, I'm going to ask for a roll call. >> Council President McGowan, >> yes. >> Councilman Erico, >> yes. >> Councilman Guzman, >> yes. >> Councilman Del Con? >> Yes. >> Councilman Mazone? >> Yes. >> Thank you. You're up.
>> I don't know if you remember me, but I stopped by your office last year. I'm I'm here on the behalf of Erie Avenue down by Katie's Corner. Okay. It's like we have five houses on our >> Sorry. Could you just say your name and address for the record? >> Josephine Gotber.
279 West Erie Avenue. >> Thank you. >> Okay. So, our street is the only one that's not paved down there. Um, it's between Vanderberg and Grant. It's been deteriorating since I've been there
since 1982. Um, we have it's been patched and in addition to it's leading to Katie's Corner, okay, which is where the new fields are. So why is our street not the only one
that's not paved? Like you got Manona, you got every other one, but ours is not. And we only have five houses on ours. And I understand because the last time I spoke to you, there was a discrepancy about Erie Avenue. Okay. Um
the county road is up there and the town road is ours. I called PSEG and they told me that the town is responsible for our paving of our street. >> We can discuss that with the bur administrator, but we don't do back and forth. But I'll let you finish and then
we come. >> Okay. So, we we understand that the city's infrastructure programs are planned, but we encourage the council and to privatize this request to ensure the safety and well-being of all our residents and many of the drivers and
pedestrians who utilize this road to access the parks and playgrounds. Thank you for your time and attention to this matter. We look forward to prompt response regarding to the steps of our street. >> Thank you. Do you want my letter?
>> Um, you could give it to me. Let's see. >> Um, before I open it up to the council, Bob, can you you want to address any part of this? >> Thank you. I will uh take this information. Usually each year we get recommendations from the burough engineer, our DPW superintendent. Um, we
assessed the streets part of the recommendations based about based upon our funding for the year. As you heard tonight, we adopted our capital improvement program for 2026. Uh, and that includes about $1.3 million in uh
roadway infrastructure improvements. Uh, I don't believe uh your streets included in 2026. Um, but I will certainly uh put that on their radar for 2027. And if for some reason when we go out to bid and uh you know if the bids come in lower than
anticipated and we have some additional funding maybe we can do something quicker. Not promising you that uh prices don't normally go down uh as we all know. Uh but I will certainly uh bring this small section of West Erie to uh my engineers attention and see what we can do.
>> Okay. But just for the record, Erie is part of the county road system, but I understand that your area. So Bob will address it with the I'll let the council speak first. I'm sorry. Uh anybody for council wishing to speak.
>> So what I'm sorry guys if I could just comment. Um I'm your neighbor. Um I live on Manona AB. I greatly appreciate you bringing this to the council's attention. I think the activity not only at Katie's Corner in the fields but the community garden. Um so um you have an
advocate. So, I appreciate you taking time to bring that up to us. As the burough administrator said, you know, it's all consistent with planning, but um just raising it to us, I think, is tremendous. We appreciate that. Thank you. And >> and as Bob did say, occasionally, I
can't make a full commitment to this, nor can any of us up here, but we do end up with excess. So, I'm sure that Dennis will make sure that uh if there is excess, it's yours. But we will we will Dennis will advocate for this. I assure
you. >> Um we're going to move on now to anybody else from the public. Seeing none, um we'll move on to the consent agenda. Council president. >> Thank you, mayor. Uh all items are
authorized to be consent by the council will be enacted by one motion. These items are routine in nature. Motion. >> I have a motion by the council president. May I have a second? >> Second. >> Second by Councilman Guzman. Any questions or comments? Seeing none, I may have a roll call, please.
>> Council President McGowan, >> yes. >> Councilman Eric, >> yes. >> Councilman Guzman, >> yes. >> Council Del Coen, >> yes. >> Council Mone, >> yes. >> Thank you. As we have no new business discussions tonight, we'll move on for the council member reports. Council President, >> thank you, Mayor. Um, just a few things.
First, I'd like to start uh Chief Russo. Congratulations to you. um the members of your department for their outstanding work. I particularly loved the comment made about organizational excellence and and I think that uh epitomizes your
commitment and has been your commitment your entire tenure in your service as chief to this bureau. So I was grateful to hear that being recognized for you and and all of the members of our department. So congratulations again. Um, I would like to take just a a few
brief moments, mayor, um, to acknowledge the work of two individuals in our town right now, two young people. Since, uh, we talked tonight about, um, the Elks recognizing youth week, I wanted to recognize two individuals. Uh, currently
we have, um, uh, Keller Alouse who is, um, working on his Eagle Scout project. Um the reason why I'm bringing this up is because it is focused on post 109 um uh for town and um his project is
focused on building a walkway that would connect their re rear par uh patio to their accessible ramp over on Carmea Avenue and they're doing it through this idea of people sponsoring pavers. And so, um, my husband being a veteran and,
uh, a member not of 109, but of another, uh, very well-known, uh, post represented in this room tonight, the Murray Hodge Lodge. Um, I I just think it is a beautiful acknowledgement of the young people in this town that are acknowledging the importance of caring for these spaces that acknowledge the
service of our veterans. Um and so I want to encourage you. He uh is trying to garner folks to sponsor those um bricks. Uh so Calder, I know you're listening and I know that you're working on getting that information out and I promised that as we got it, we would
continue to share it because I think this is a beautiful community project and worth noting. And then uh equal parts because I also uh wanted to share the great work of a silver award of one of the young women in this town um who
is working on her silver award for Girl Scouts um Sophia Townsen. Um May 9th she's working uh with the Rutherford Lacrosse Day and um a part of her service award is to uh collect uh
donations for the Rutherford food pantry in the St. Peter's Haven Food Pantry. Um, and so that will be taking place on Saturday, May 9th from 12:00 to 4:00 at Trion Field. And so I just thought it incredibly fitting today in lie of what we acknowledged through um the
Rutherford Elks. Uh I will continue to share all this out. Um and I want to give a shout out to these two exemplars. There are so many. We have incredible young people that inspire leadership in this town. Shout out to both of them for caring for their neighbors. Bravo. Thank
you, Mayor. >> Thank you, Council President. Councilman Del Recon. >> I'm sorry, Council K's not here. Councilman Eric, I apologize. >> Thank you, Mayor. >> Uh, I want to thank the Shay Tree
Commission and all of our volunteers and employees for uh, Treefest, which happened yesterday. The weather actually turned out to be great, super fun event, uh, very familyfriendly and, uh, it's a great event each year. So, thanks for hosting that and and inviting everybody. Uh, the green team is hosting a
community cleanup on Saturday, May 9th, starting at 9:00 a.m. Uh, this happens a few times a year, and it's a great opportunity to get outside and help to clean up the town. Uh, you can pre-register on the Burough website. Uh, if you want to participate, check-in for that is at 9:00 a.m. uh, at Burough Hall
on that Saturday. That's all for me. Thanks, Mayor. >> Thank you, Councilman. Councilman Guzman. >> Thank you very much, Mayor. Um, nothing uh to report on my assignment, but uh I
want to congratulate um our police department uh for re receiving the accreditation of the NJSA COP. Um, it's just when I don't think I could be more impressed with this department, they
impress me again. Um, they never fall short of making of of following through and making sure that Rutherford is at the top of the game when it comes to public safety. This is a testament to what they've done, what
they continue to do day in and day out. And it's not always we don't always get to thank them as enough for what they do for this public. And I I'm exceptionally proud of our police department um and their efforts and always going this next
step. What's what's next? What's next? And that's a testament to our chief sitting here um the department he runs and his his esteemed team. Um so congratulations chief once again and the entire force um for always putting
Rutherford first and making sure that we have the best. Thank you very much. Um the trade uh the tree fest was uh I want to congratulate them. I thought it was exceptionally well done. The entertainment was fantastic. There was people all over the place. Uh booths
information just uh the weather even helped out a little bit opened up later in the afternoon. So, it was really, really well done and I want to congratulate them uh on an event well well planned and well ran. Um, and I think that's all I have for today. Thank
you. >> Thank you, Councilman. Councilwoman Del Recon. >> Thank you, Mayor. Um, with your permission, I was hoping to update the community on the Tanak meeting that occurred. Um, Jim Linselada gave me an update. I didn't know if you were going
to do that as part of your report. You can do it. I don't have my glasses. >> I'm sorry. >> I don't have my glasses. >> You don't have your glasses. So, I will give an update. Um, so, um, for anyone in the community that is unaware, um, we, the mayor has a spot on the TANK
committee. Uh, the TANK committee is, um, the Teeter I'm going to get the acronym right. The Teeter Aircraft Noise Abatement Advisory Committee. Um and I have um been speaking about these noise issues caused by the Teterboro flights
over our town with some residents for quite some time. There are quarterly meetings um that are held through the TANA committee and Rutherford resident Jim Linselada is the mayor's appointee to attend those meetings. Um I usually try to listen in as well, but I was
unable to do so in on April 15th. So I asked um Jim to give me an update, which he did. Um he indicates that he thought the meeting went well. Um for anyone that's unaware, there was a we were awaiting a new approach to the airport that was hopefully going to take some
air traffic away from Rutherford and put it uh more towards Route 17. I'm oversimplifying for the sake of explanation, but basically um the route the new approach to the runway has been in effect since January, but unfortunately the usage is still relatively low with only 5% of flights
going through this past quarter. Um the FAA and the Port Authority assess that it's partially due to the FAA and the the towers not pushing the approach on the pilots, but also the pilots do have the option to choose the approach they
take as long as it's safe and most of them are most familiar with the old approach to the airport. Um what the TANAC committee and the uh those that sit on the committee have identified is that they need to find a way to engage in more commu community outreach. I
found that a little surprising because I think there's a lot of community outreach going from the community to the committee um but maybe not from the committee to the community. Um, so they plan on holding an executive session with the Teterboro team to figure out how the Teeter Bro Team can support the
community efforts to encourage pilots to use that other approach. Uh Jim did share that um in some ways he thinks the airport is stuck between a rock and a hard place because um these are in most instances commercial pilots paying to fly into Teeter. So, he doesn't really
know how much the airport is going to be willing to get on their bad side, but they're hoping to come up with some solutions. Um, the uh committee has also engaged a consulting company. I think I mentioned this a few months ago when I spoke to this issue. Um, and that
company has also identified two additional arrival alternatives at the main runway and they're going to begin discussions of that with the FAA. Um, of course, this is a very long-term solution as we saw with the approach that just uh came to pass this year. Um,
that took quite a long time. So, any recommendations made by the consultants, I don't want to mislead anyone to think that um that will happen quickly. Um, but for now, Jim's recommendation, and I'm inclined to agree, but he's far more educated than I am in all of this stuff,
is that the best approach is to try to get um Teterboro to encourage the pilots to increase the usage on the new approach that's over Route 17 to take flights away uh from Rutherford. So, I just thought I would share that update.
Um, and then for my liaison assignments, I just wanted to remind the community that the uh library gala, which is one of my favorite events of the year, is being held this Saturday, May 2nd. Um, I just went on the library foundation website and it appears there are still tickets. Kim, are there still tickets to
the gala? A few teen, there are a few there are a few tickets. So, if you're still interested, I would get on that as quickly as possible and I hope to see as many of you there as I can. Thank you. Thank you, Councilwoman, and I do appreciate the update on the
airport and your working with Jim. Um, and to your point, the problem that they are facing with the the new programming at the airport with the net jets and the flex jets coming in, these are basically Ubers of the sky and they don't want to
pay more than they have to to land their aircraft and that's what we're fighting with. So, thank you for that. Um, Council None. >> Thank you, Mayor. Um, just a couple things I want to start with. Uh, congratulations to the police department
and Chief Russo. Um, professionalism and law enforcement cannot be overstated. Commend you and your officers for the accreditation. Um, also want to just uh acknowledge again our burough administrator and our CFO um on the budget process um and all the work and
effort that went into that. So, thank you. Um, I only have two events to touch on. Uh, one is this Saturday. Um, so before you go to the library gala, you'll have an opportunity to go to, uh, the fifth annual Great Duck Derby sponsored by the Lions Club here in
Rutherford. Um, it's Saturday, uh, the 2nd from 1 to 4:30. Um, you can adopt a duck for 5 or a quack pack, which is really cool to say, a quack pack of six for $25. Um, so that's a great event. Make sure you check that out. And then in the tradition of scouting, want to
call out American Legion Post 109 and sponsoring Troop 166 for the pancake breakfast um the Saturday before Mother's Day. That's going to be May 9th from 9 to 11 um at number two uh East Pacic A over at the American Legion
Post. $10 a person. Also gives you an opportunity if you buy those tickets online to donate to the American Legion Post. So helping two great causes for one fantastic burrow. Thank you. Thank you, Councilman. Um, moving on to my report. First, I
have um the seasonal labors, uh, Tom Federick, Tom Verdino, effective May 10th, 2026, and Brandon Federick as well, effective June 29th, 2026. I'd ask for council
consent. Motion >> motion by council move on Guzman. Um, may I have a second, please? >> Second. >> Second by Councilman Delray Con. Uh, any questions or comments? Seeing none, may
I have a roll call, please? >> Council President McGowan, >> yes. >> Council Erico, >> yes. >> Councilman Guzman, >> yes. >> Councilwoman Deon, >> yes. >> Council Mone, >> yes. Uh, next I have the uh 2026 camp staff
uh with the attachment. I'd ask for council consent. >> Motion. >> I have a motion by the council president. I have a second. >> Second. >> Second by council me. Any questions or comments? Seeing none, may I have a roll call, please? >> Council president McGawan.
>> Yes. >> Councilman Ero. >> Yes. >> Councman, >> abstain. Council con. Yes. >> Mazone. >> Yes. >> And next I have the 2026 spring track and field assistance memo task. May I
have council consent? >> Motion. >> Motion by council president. May I have a second? >> Second. >> Second by councilwoman del. Any questions or comments? See none. May roll call please. >> Council president McGawan. >> Yes. >> Councilman Ero. >> Yes. >> Councilman Guzman. >> Yes.
>> Counciloman del. >> Yes. >> Councilman Mone. >> Yes. >> Thank you. And I will uh end this with a couple of things. Uh Gordon and Bob, thank you. Great job. Councilwoman, Council President, Councilwoman, thank
you for doing the a great job on finance. Um Chief Russo, I'm very proud of the work you've done and your service and your your staff. Bob, thank you for everything you've
done regarding assisting with getting that building built so we can get the accreditation that was needed. And I am so happy that I never ever have to come to your door and ask if he's in there. And the answer is he's in there with the
chief in DMR because that's when we just turn around and walk away. Um, but again, thank you very for all your hard work, chief. On a personal note, um it was five years ago to this week
that um I had my brain surgery and I'm very grateful to be in such good health. Um, I just think that uh as we move into May and it is uh brain cancer awareness
month that everybody should really pay attention to what their body's telling them. So I just wanted to reiterate that as you all know when I did go in I kind of ignored the symptoms in the beginning
and let's not do that people. I can assure you it doesn't work out well. So, thank you for that. Um, and now I will uh open it up again for hearing of citizens to agenda and agenda items only.
Seeing none, I'll close to the public. Any council comments? Seeing none, I will ask for an adjournment. May I have a motion? >> Motion. >> Motion by council president. All in favor? >> I. >> Thank you all. I'll have a great knife.