All right. Thank you everybody and welcome to the regular monthly meeting of the mayor and council. Monday, May 12, 2025 being held at 6:30. We do have a few things that we're going to change around. Um Missy, could you please call the role?
Mayor Nazi here. Council President McGawan present. Counciloman Delray Con here. Councilwoman Quan here. Councilman Kley. Councilman Ero here. Councilman Guzman here. Thank you. If you're willing and able, could you please stand for the salute to the flag?
I pledge allegiance Thank you. 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
December 23, 2024 and is posted on the bulletin board outside of Burough Hall. Thank you. Uh we have no presentations tonight. We'll move on to the engineers report. Thank you. Uh the Diamond 3 multi-use fields,
that's the northern uh fields north of Diamond 4. We're preparing for a fall bid uh winter construction. Um that would be uh we're preparing for that.
Um we're also preparing for Leisure Lane sometime after that to kind of uh that would include the pathways furnishings around Memorial Park as well as the outdoor fitness court. There's a proposed outdoor gym
u which would be situated in between the multi fields and diamond 4. Uh, our office has also submitted the MS4 tier A annual report for the 2024 reporting
period. We submitted that uh two weeks ago. I could also report that the Walls Field playground replacement has been finished. This is a new uh playground equipment has been installed at Walls Field. And uh for the 2024 roadway improvement,
uh we are restarting this pro uh road program. Uh we met I met out with the contractor today at Fleet Street. Um just to go over the extent of concrete and some repairs over there. Um, we're
looking to start scheduling around school school season. Uh, they're going to start with Silvin and work their way through the rest of the roads on that program. Um, we were coordinating with PSEG. I have good news with that PSEG. They did
have work with Beach Street. Originally, PS&G was going to pay Be Street. So, we coordinated with them. They're going to take the the tonnage the square yardage that they had allotted. They're going to take that and pave prospect police curve
to curb. So PSG is going to give the burrow essentially a free road this year. That'll be prospect place uh north of Union. Um, we are also working on the Lincoln
Park gazebo replacement. Uh, we have a we have a u gazebo is on its way. Um, still in production. Uh, I'll follow up with our vendor, get a a solidified
timeline to see when exactly that'll be uh coming. That's pretty much all I have for today. Thank you. The only thing I would like to add to that is that um on um May 31st at 11:00 a.m. we will
actually be having the uh ribbon cutting with Senator Slo um for all that would like to attend. If anybody has any questions for the burough engineer, council president. Thank you, Mayor. Um, first of all, thank you for your report. Um, and and
forgive me, I may have um misunderstood the timeline. Uh, could you provide, if you if you're able to this evening to provide a little more clarity about Leisure Lane um and and some impact to Leisure Lane? I I think I
was under the impression that that was not an after winter project, but that was there was two phases to that perhaps, right, Bob? I think I think that's what we discussed. So, um, is that being figured into this plan that you shared this evening to do some
immediate remediation and then the long-term? So, perhaps both of you or one of you can answer that. Yes, council president. Yes. Uh, or you may have missed the that meeting, but uh we've coordinated with uh Brian and Tanola about doing some initial uh improvements
to Leisure Lane this year uh before the fall. uh you're supposed to be getting us some quotes uh redoing the pathways uh in coordination with the the fitness court that we're also looking to have installed this summer as well. So yeah, I think those two of those things are
going to happen before the fall. So we'll we'll we'll touch base on that. Yeah, I think for the fitness court we the fitness court can either be on it separate as a standalone project or that could be as an alternate for the um the larger multi- field. It can go either way. I you know we can discuss that at a
separate time. Any other questions? Seeing none, thank you all for your time. Uh you can go uh changes to the agenda. Missy, we'll be moving the mayor's appointments
and making that item number seven. We'll also be moving the public hearing on the municipal budget. Making that item eight. The two resolutions number 122
and 124 will now become item number nine. We'll be removing the ordinance on first read in regards to 67 Kip Avenue agreement. Under resolutions, we'll be on consent. We'll be adding an item E
authorizing the execution of a sub lease with the Chamber of Commerce for the western most part of the train station. And also under consent under authorization, we'll be adding an item G authorizing the street closure on May
18th for the first aid squad barbecue on Ames Avenue. And that's all I have. Thank you. Anybody from the council? Seeing none, I'd like a motion, please. Motion by council president. I have a second. Second. Second by councilman Guzman. Any questions or
comments? Seeing none, I have a roll call. Council president McGawan. Yes. Council Del Cohen. Yes. Council Kotron. Yes. Councilman Ero. Yes. Councilman Guzman. Yes. Thank you. I'll move now to the appointments.
Um Michelle Duca Labor 2 in accordance with the rules and regulations of the New Jersey Civil Service effective May 13, 2025. I'd ask for a motion. Motion. Motion by council president. May I have a second? Second. Second by council del. Any questions or comments by the
council? Seeing none, may roll call. Council president McGawan. Yes. Council del. Yes. Council, yes. Councilman Erico, yes. Councilman Guzman, yes. Thank you. Um, next up I have Lucas
Gomez and Julian Alvarez as police officers conditional of uh of their employment upon successful completion of the pre-employment testing in accordance with the rules and regulations of the New Jersey Civil Service Commission. I'd ask for council
consent. Motion. Motion by council president. May I have a second? Second. Uh second by Councilman Guzman. Any questions or comments by the council? Chief, anything you want to add? Thank you, Chief. Thank you. And just so
you both know, he's given you excellent, excellent recommendations. Um, I'd ask for council motion, please. Council President McGawan, yes. Council Del Cohen, yes. Council Qu, yes. Councilman Erico, yes. Councilman Guzman, yes. Thank you.
Welcome to the Rutherford Police Department. Next, I have uh Sean Walker, police lieutenant, in accordance with the rules and regulations of New Jersey Civil Service Commission, effective May 13, 2025. I'd ask for council consent.
Motion. I have a motion by council president. I have a second. Second. Second by Councilman Guzman. Any questions or comments by the council? Sean, you've been done an excellent job acting in the position and I other than your father, I think you're going to do
a great job. So, I ask for council consent. Council President McGawan, yes. Counciloman De Con, yes. Counciloman Coach, yes. Councilman Erico, yes. Councilman Guzman, yes. Congratulations, Lieutenant.
Next, I have the summer camp supervisors with the attached memo. I'd ask for council consent. Motion. Motion by council president. May I have a second? Second. Second by council del con. Any questions or comments by the council? Seeing none, may have a roll call. Council president McGowan. Yes. Council
Del Cohen. Yes. Council clutch. Yes. Councilman Erico. Yes. Casman, thank you. You guys can go. You don't want to be here for the rest of this. Congratulations. Lucky you. You're punchy today. I like it. Really is.
He doesn't even know what that means. He's missing out on all the love that All right. Now, we're going to open up for a public hearing on the budget. Anybody from the public wishes to speak, please step forward to the microphone. Keep your comments to five minutes or less, please. And
Frank Wilson, 171 Montrose, Rutherford. Um, first thing is with the budget, it's too late now, but next year, um, Bob, can you coordinate with the Department of Education as far as having the budget on the same day at the same
time? Theirs was last week and they said that the reason why they can't is because it's in stone and blah blah blah. And I said, "Well, did you go downstairs and ask the burrow that you were going to have it on this date?" So, one of these could change. Their answer was no. So, they didn't tell you, and I
don't know if you know, but you had it the same day, same time. So, you can't be in two places at once to go over the budgets. So, I was at their budget. I ran out of here and I ran down there. So, next year, as far as this year's goes, it looks like um you have a
hearing of citizens, but right after that, we've got resolutions to pass the budget. So, I don't know why I'm up here if we're going to pass it anyway. So, like I don't know what waste of my time, but um the reason why is that um I want to ask about being as the budget is the
pilots. And this is a demographic study that was commissioned by the board of education back in 2017 by Whiteall Associates Incorporated. And on this because they were trying to get the referendums pass,
they list the Parker Park Avenue one as having six students. Okay? That they're projecting six students. If that's true, that's a h 100,000 a year per because they're between 15 and $18,000 a
student. So that's 100,000 a year over eight years. That's $800,000 that we had a supplement the board of education from the developers. They like a copy, you can make a copy of this, but this came from them and I just happen to still have in
the archives. So that's 800 grand that we didn't get from a developer because of the school system saying it's going to be six kids in there and we know pilots don't cover cover kids. So I know you're all going to vote on the budget. There's nothing we could do about it. But the little things like
this and giving away any more pilots like the one that's on Chestnut and West Payic. It was there was a pilot there and then because it went through I believe they had to rebid again. Am I correct on that? The one that's on the corner used to be
the gas station. There was a pilot issued there at one time. Trust me, there was a pilot there. I I looked at the paperwork. I I opened it. So, um, and the pilots go away because it's a second owner. So, if they come back again, please don't give any
more pilots out for these reasons. So, thank you. Thank you, Frank. Anybody else from the public wishes to speak? Hi. I wanted to speak on Don. Can you say your name and address? Is now the time for me to speak? Yeah, that's what
I was thinking. I just didn't want to miss my chance. Okay, so wait till Councilman Ero presents the new business. I'm sorry. This is just on the budget. Hello, David Laberno, 423
Styverson. Question about the budget just because I haven't had an opportunity to look through all the numbers, but um could you tell us whether the assessed value of the town has gone up this year? you know, last year found it unusual that it went down
given that there's so much development going on in the community. So, just wondering about that for this year. And then, uh, secondly, uh, with respect to the budget, uh, it's been a long time since we've had a re-evaluation, and I'm just wondering about the status of that.
Maybe you could share that with the community. It's been an inordinately long period of time well beyond the requirements of the state law. The next thing, give me a moment. Just
think. Um, and then also following up on that with respect to the assessed values. Some year, two years ago, we had a talk about we had an inordinate delay in building permits and having those computerized and having those
closed out. And I was just wondering about the status of that again with respect to the budget because obviously that impacts the assessed values of of the community and and the way that the uh you know taxes are assessed on
everyone in the community. So if you could just share that those items with the public, I appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you. Anybody from else from the public? Seeing none, I'm going to close it to the public and I'll open up for any council comments. Council President. Uh,
thank you, Mayor. Um, uh, Mr. Wilson, uh, thank you, uh, for speaking. Um, Dulie noted about the timing of the presentation of budgets. Um, we don't normally have that issue.
the timing was a little off this year, but I I do think that's a healthy point of feedback for us to take into consideration um because when people do want to hear about both sides because you know this is we're only presenting one part of of our total
municipal budget um I I think that's a a reasonable request. So, thank you for bringing that forward. Um, and with regard to 51 Union Avenue, that's actually the uh I believe that's the address for the property you were referencing, the one on the corner of Chestnut. It's known as 51 Union. And
and I'll defer to the burough administrator to correct me, mayor, if that's okay. Um, but I believe that we they had site plans previously under prior owners um that were approved. Um, and and so what you were saying was correct. When there was a a transfer of
deed, when the property was sold, those site plans do not follow. And so they had to go through the entire process. So, um I don't believe we ever actually got to a pilot status last time, but I I do know that we did have a site plan approval, but um they're now going through that entire
process and there there's requests happening now. Is it okay if I refer to Bob for a moment to just give us clarity on that? Sure. Thank you, Council President. So, with regards to 51 Union, uh the prior owner of that project uh did have an
approved project, but never had an approved redevelopers agreement or tax uh long-term tax exemption or pilot agreement with the bureau. Uh those two documents were never executed, never approved by this governing body. Uh
while that owner tried to sell it as such, it was not true. uh when the new owner took it over, they had to start from scratch. So, they start all over. So, um they are going through that process right now. They do have a an execute a redevelopers agreement. They
do have an approved plan, but there is no pilot at this time. Um quickly, I'll just say uh the burough values have gone up $6 million since last year. The prior year, they were down because there was a significant tax appeal with regards to the pro uh properties at 201301 Route
17. Um the uh with regards to the revaluation, uh we have been ordered by Bergen County Tax Administration to uh execute that project pro process in hopes of having
it completed for 2027. uh there that will be a challenge because there is only a handful actually even less than a hand only a few companies that are capable of doing revals and only one of those companies is currently located in North Jersey. Uh
and they are doing all the ones that Bergen County have ordered as well as Hudson and other nearby counties. So they have a full play right now. So, um, we're not entirely sure they'll be able to get to us and have it completed for 2027, but we have been ordered and we
are following through with that in in due course and in accordance with, uh, guidance from the county. I think I've answered everything that's been asked. Okay. Thank you. Anybody else from the council? Thanks, Mayor. I just want to say to Mr.
Wilson, I I agree with you about I I'm uncomfortable with pilots to some degree because I think the purpose of pilots is supposed to be to incentivize development in blighted areas where the development would not happen otherwise.
So I think we should have a a standard that the developer has to kind of demonstrate to us and to the public that the pilot is necessary. I don't know what that would be or how that would work, but I think I think we've slowed it down if you I don't know if you've
noticed, but we've slowed it down in the last couple of years. We're not just giving out pilots um because I think we want to investigate and interrogate that process more closely. So, um love to talk to you about that further. Thank you.
I have one more thing there. Uh with regards Mr. Wilson with regards to the Parker and that 2017 study where you say six students uh I believe that study is uh references if there were affordable
housing on site for that project um that would generate six students and and that is the case uh when you have uh redevelopment usually it's the affordable housing uh not the market rate that generates school age children uh in the Parker's case uh they do not
have afford affordable housing on site. Uh they made a payment to the burrow in lie of constructing housing on site. Uh so that that study may not be entirely accurate this time. I don't I don't have it. Uh but I think that's the case where
affordable housing generates the school age children, not the market rate. So thank you. All right. We're going to move on now to number nine. Council President.
Thank you, Mayor. I'd like to move resolution number 122 authorizing a self-examination of the CY2025 municipal budget. Motion. I have a motion by the council president. May I have a second? Second. Second by Councilwoman Quattron. Any questions or comments? Seeing none,
I may have a roll call. Council President McGowan, yes. Counciloman Del Cohen, yes. Council Quatron, yes. Councilman Erico, yes. Councilman Guzman, yes. Thank you. Next, I'd like to move resolution number 124 authorizing the
adoption of the CY2025 municipal budget. 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, may roll call. Council President McGawan. Yes. Council D Cohen. Yes. Council Quadron. Yes. Councilman
Erico. Yes. Councilman Guzman. Yes. Thank you everybody. We're going to move on to ordinance. Ordinance on first read. Councilman Delp apologies. Um, for this ordinance, we are moving to adopt flood hazard maps designating flood administrator and
providing for severability and an effective date. I'd like to ask Missy to please read the ordinance by title only. An ordinance by the mayor and council amending the burough of Rutherford code of ordinances to repeal chapter 37 to adopt a new chapter 37 to adopt a flood
hazard map to designate a flood plane administrator and providing for severability and an effective date. Thank you. I'd like to make a motion that the ordinance be passed on first reading and advertised according to law. Motion. I have a motion by Councilwoman Del. May I have a second? Second. Second
by Council President. Any questions or comments? Mayor, if if Bob, if you would wouldn't just mind explaining very briefly that this is a standard that's um required of us under law. Thank you. Yes, Councilman. So, this uh as the ordinance read, we are
replacing our current uh flood ordinance. You know, the current ordinance that we have on the books uh is not totally compliant with the National Flood Insurance Program. Uh New Jersey D and EPA have worked together in uh crafting this document to make sure
us and as well as all the municipalities in the state of New Jersey are compliant with uh the National Flood Insurance Program. Therefore, they've made some uh you know changes to the document that we are looking to introduce and adopt in two weeks to be compliant. Uh, this has
been reviewed and approved by DP before introduction. So, it's it's routine business at this point. Thank you. Thank you, Bob. Yep. Can I have a uh roll call, please?
Council President McGon, yes. Council Delone, yes. Councilman Quron, yes. Councilman Ero, yes. Council Guzman, yes. Thank you. We're going to move on to second read. Councilman Eric. Thank you, Mayor. The ordinance on
second read is amending our council bylaws to better represent and memorialize our council agenda and procedures. Uh Missy, can you please read the ordinance by title only? An ordinance to amend chapter 5 of the burough code entitled administrative code. Thank you. I'd like to make a
motion to move that the ordinance be passed on second reading and advertised according to law. I have a motion by Councilman Eric. May I have a second? Second. I have a second by Councilwoman Quatron. And at this time I'd uh open it up for the public for any comment on this
subject and this subject matter only. Seeing no comments from the public. Anybody from the council? Council President. Thank you, Mayor. I just want to commend uh Councilman Erico for taking this up. Um uh it is a very
customary practice um annually even when we are um getting our year off to start to see new practices that um are either outdated, right? We want to bring things up to speed and or retire some old practices. Um so this is something I
think we do pretty much every year. I appreciate the fact we're memorializing this and doing it publicly. Um, and so, Councilman, you should be commended for leading that effort. And I think it's healthy for the public to see what we normally are doing. We just don't do it
up here in the public uh, session. But I think it's actually very important that the public is aware that this kind of continuous dialogue um, examining um, how we do things to try to make ourselves more efficient and effective um, have been continuous at least for my
11 years up here. So, thank you, Councilman, for your good work. I appreciate it. Thank you, Council President. Anybody else? Seeing none, may I have a roll call, Council President McGowan? Yes. Councilwoman Del Cohen, yes. Counciloman
Catrell, yes. Councilman Ero, yes. Council Guzman, yes. Thank you, Council President. Thank you, Mayor. Uh, this ordinance on second read is regarding the capital or or capital ordinance uh providing funding for various capital
projects. Missy, can you please read the ordinance by title only? An ordinance providing funding for various capital purposes for the burrow of Rutherford and for appropriating 130,000 for such purpose. Thank you. I'd like to make a motion 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 del. I'm now going to open this up for the public for any comment. David Lobero 423 Styverson. Last meeting I had a question
about uh this bond specifically item number E about the years that this was scheduled for. Uh these items don't necessarily appear to me to be long-term items. This lists 13.23 years for
computers, wood chipper, volleyball equipment, snow apparatus. I was wondering if you could itemize these things and what specifically is under these items because you know I know we have to keep operating budget or the yearly annual
budget under a specific amount but uh you know I'd be interested to know how many wood chippers we have already because as I mentioned last meeting I know that I saw a brand new one out there the week before that last meeting and then um you know we have the parking
meter program that was uh initiated a few years ago and then as our payments come due then we're bonding. So I'm just interested about this particular item possibly you could itemize this and tell us what kind of volleyball
equipment we're bonding for and then with this specific item paid back over 13 and a half years. I'm just wondering what the total cost to us would be to borrow this $400,000 if Thank you very much. Thank you. Anybody else from the
public? Frank Wilson, 171 Montros. Um I took this off the website and it says our debt services in 2020 was a little shy of 22 million and
Then in 2023 it was a little over 24 I think 24 million. So we put on 2 million in two years. Now I believe we're going up to 28 million. I think our debt services right now is 25. This is going to tack on another three. So we're 28. So since 2020 till now in five
years we put on $8 million to debt services. Um you think that might be getting excessive. went what's is there a cap on this thing? But I don't want to be sarcastic, but in 2020 we were a little under 22 million. And five years
later, we're 28 million. So that's $6 million since 2020. Five years. No, more than six million. It's 28. So it's $28 million. So yeah, we're up $6 million. So there's something for you to look at. Thank you. On the
website. Thank you. Anybody else from the public? I'm going to close to the public. Anybody from the council? Seeing none, may I have a roll call, please? That's a good question. Um,
actually, the question that he's um Bruno's asking would be itemized, so you might want to take that one offline uh unless you know. Okay, Gordon. both rooms.
So in terms of the first one with regards to capital and the equipment, equipment has a life of five years. That's the minimum requirement for capital. So anything that has a fiveyear life and equipment generally falls into that category.
Um it it get advertised over five years. Now what you see there at 13 years is because it's accumulation of all the categories in that ordinance. It's not just that equipment. It's and roads is a big part of the ordinance and that has I
believe it's a 15 year life. So when you weigh it all out, it goes from the 15 for that and then these the amounts for the equipment uh be it either or vehicles or five years that will bring it down but the dollar amount of the ordinance is such that the waiting of
the 15 years has a lot more effect than the five years. So that's why you see that, but on a weighted basis, it's really not being paid out over 13 years. That part of it really just going to be bait out at a fiveyear um over five years.
Okay. So yeah, this isn't a back and forth. What he can do is he can put something together for you for you to review. Uh and then as far as the debt, the one thing that's I know it's you said it went up seven eight million that's at
the end of the year. So at the end of this year we're still going to pay over $2 million in debt service that we're paying down. So it's not that full amount. So the timing from year on year December 31st and December 31st it's not quite as it's two that $2 million less
than that and part of the extra two million um this year. What's that? Yeah. And potential um Yeah. Okay. Um
so it's it's not quite as much as that, but we've been doing a couple of projects just to um get the fields in order and stuff. So that's where that's Thank you. And if you would like, we could put a breakdown for you, Frank, or Mr. Lebruno.
uh just so you can memorialize it in writing. Thank you. All right, we're going to close it to the public now and open up for any council comment. Seeing none, may have a roll call. Council President McGawan, yes.
Council Delone, yes. Council, yes. Councilman Ero, yes. Councilman Guzman, yes. Thank you. Council President. Thank you, Mayor. Uh, this next ordinance on second reading is regarding our bond ordinance authorizing
various capital improvements. Missy, can you please read the ordinance by title only? a bond ordinance authorizing various capital improvements in and for the burrow of Rutherford in the county of Bergen, New Jersey, appropriating 3,800,000, therefore and authorizing the issuance of
$3,610,000 bonds or notes to finance part of the cost. Thank you. I'd like to make a motion to move that the ordinance be passed on second reading and and advertised according to law. Thank you. I have a motion by the council president. I have a second. Second. Second by Councilwoman Del Ray Con. Any
questions or I'm sorry now going to open it up to the public for any public comment? Seeing none, I'm going to close it to the public. Any council comment? Seeing none, member roll call. Council President McGowan, yes. Councilman Del
Cohen, yes. Council, yes. Council me, yes. Council Guzman, yes. Okay, now we're going to open up for the regular hearing of citizens. Anyone wishing to speak, please step forward to the microphone. Yeah, Brian Hansen
Harding. Uh, I'm sorry, I missed your names. Can you say that again? Brian Hansen Harding. Okay. 278 Mountain Way. Uh, member of the green team. Uh, I just want to bring up something. I was here in November and I had asked
about what had happened to the uh yellow pedestrian crossing signs. I don't know the right word that were uh on Park Avenue. And um at the time I was told that they would be put up again in
the spring and now it's the spring so I'm just wondering what's going on. Um, I just want to say that, uh, you know, I see some things that are going on on the roads that are really good. I noticed there are these orange plastic ballards
at intersections that are helping to daylight the intersections, which I think is a very good move. I think also notice on Ridge Road there's that, I forgot what you call it, but that kind of live speed sign, which I think is very effective. But I really think that
and I and I don't know and maybe if someone has an answer for this, I'd be curious. You know, these yellow crossing signs appeared everywhere. I don't know, five, seven years ago. I'm not really sure. I'm not sure where they came from or why. I think there was some funding.
I don't know. And I think what was happening was um when they were up is that drivers were learning that they had to slow down. And um I think another effect of it is it's sort of traffic cal. You know, it's there's a there's an object in the middle of the road and a
driver doesn't want to hit it. And so it's traffic cal and I think we need that on Park Avenue. I think Park Avenue is a place where we want pedestrians to feel uh safe and that they could walk around, they could patronize the businesses we have in town. Um you know,
we are a transit village. You know, people uh take the train. Um, actually I I don't want to limit it to Park Avenue, but I'm just saying that's where they were. Okay. Um, and they've disappeared and I don't know why. Um, I know that there is some concern that in the winter
there's going to be snow. Snow removal is going to be problem. Of course, we didn't have snow this winter, so that was not a problem. But, um, but now it's May. It's fullfledged spring and it's been six months. And I'm just wondering what's happening with that. And I just don't know. I I don't know where the
funding is. I don't know, you know, if we need to buy more. I don't know what kind of concern that would be. Um, and I'm sure there are people who are more versed in, uh, um, you know, uh, traffic and pedestrian, you know, uh, issues
than I am. But I know that as a member of the green team, we are very concerned with complete and green streets. And it's one of the things we're going to be doing is we're going to be urging the bureau to adopt a new complete streets plan. Um this is not technically part of
complete streets, but I think it's sort of adjacent because it's you know it's basically saying the street is for pedestrians too. It's not just for cause and um you know just I mean in a very random anecdotal uh bit of evidence I mean when I step
out onto the street sometimes people do slow down and stop and sometimes they they don't and I I what I will say is this I think the fact that some people do slow down and stop is because those signs were there and I just feel like
every day every week every month we don't have them there. there are drivers learning that it doesn't matter and that's really all it is. Thank you. Thank you, Brian. Anybody else from the public wish to speak? Hi again. My name is Dawn of Agiano and
I live at 130 Mountain Way. I wanted to speak on behalf of allowing home and apartment owners the chance to rent out their living spaces during the FIFA World Cup in the summer of 2026. I am a superhost on the Airbnb platform and have been actively managing
properties for the last 10 years and other towns of course because um not in Rutherford since the council banned uh short-term rentals. To be fair, it wasn't at least three or four of you here. it was a past council who banned
it. Um I would like to share that a lot of the time the people who did rent out my home during the time frame that it was allowed here literally um other neighbors who were having work done on their current house in town who needed an extra place to stay or even relatives
of other Forian families whose loved ones passed away and they needed extra space or bedrooms for their family members who are attending the funeral. I also had lovely guests from European countries who came to stay at my house because they wanted to experience New York City and getting to be a tourist
there, but they had a family of four or more where it would have been too expensive to stay in a New York City hotel. Staying in Rutherford made it more affordable for them to travel to the States, and Rutherford in turn benefited from those guests spending money at all of our local shops and
restaurants. The Airbnb platform is brilliant for how it handles their bookings. Every booking is validated with a review system where the guests review the host and the ghost the guests are reviewed by the host at the end of each stay. You can also see their past
reviews when deciding whom you would like to rent out your space to when it is requested on the Airbnb platform. 99% of the reviews on Airbnb are five stars and extremely reliable when spotlighting a guest or host's general personality
and how they treat their shared rental properties. I have never personally had a problem with a guest and I have rented out my condominiums and my home at least 300 different times over the past 10 years. And in being a superhost, I have
also acquired 234 unique, amazing five-star reviews regarding my hosting abilities. [Music] Um, I am hoping that this mayor and council will create some type of addendum or a new ordinance that will
allow the town's people of Rutherford to have control over their own homes and apartments with renting their spaces out to respectable paying guests during the FIFA 2026 World Cup. And even though I do not rent out my home to anyone anymore, even by the year, it would be
worth considering a second look at the current ordinance where short-term rentals are banned completely. When this came up a few years ago, there was only one house in town that had an issue. Therefore, I think it was an overreaction to ban short-term rentals based on just one example. In that time
frame, we have now probably lost thousands of dollars in money spent by tourists and our local economy. And Rutherford has lost out on all of the taxes that you could have brought in and earned with the built-in hotel task tax that guests are charged when they book
on these popular rental platforms. I hope that you all will do some of your own research and seeing the immense benefits that short-term rentals could have in the burrow of Rutherford. Thank you for listening. Thank you. Anybody
else from the public wishing to speak? Meredith representing the Chamber of Commerce tonight. I wanted to thank all of you for getting this what's going to be voted about ours letting the train station. Um, I just wanted to put that into perspective because I'm not sure if
everybody knows where we are with that, but um, Rutherford Chamber of Commerce. We're all volunteers. We're 250 members strong at this point and we've got an office down at the railroad station. that would not only be the you have to
talk more in the mic because I can would not only be the first permanent address rather than our living rooms and our businesses that the Rutherford Chamber of Commerce would have. Uh it's also the perfect location and we are a transit
village. I heard someone say before we do have 2026 coming up that I also heard someone talking about earlier. With that said, um, if the Rutherford Chamber of Commerce was to be occupying that space,
we're going to be more of a catalyst for regional traffic for our businesses. Our mission is to wasn't expecting to come up to actually say this to you, but our mission is to promote the burrow and to
the for the better well-being of our small businesses. Uh getting into the Rutherford train station is something that we've been hoping for for a very long time. Uh right now it's kind of dumpy looking. It's got newspaper with water stains
falling off from the sun. When we go in there, we intend to clean it up, keep the windows clean. On special occasions, we're going to open up the doors to invite the public in for heart art art galleries, historic Rutherford
promotions, grand openings of other businesses that are going to come to use that space inside if they wish and they don't have their own space to do it. Um, most of all, when people are coming in on Fridays and Saturday nights, we
intend to use retirees from the Burough of Ratherford, citizens uh students who are looking to intern who can be in there giving out information about our local businesses. Um I might have been a little bit tongue
tied, okay, but I wanted to say thank you and how much I actually appreciate all of you for getting it to this point already and I hope you will consider uh saying yes to us subleting. Thank you. Thank you,
Dan. Don't be late for dinner. David Labbero 423 styson just a couple of more questions you possibly answer. I know Mr. Guzman was I believe last being talking about the
traffic light down on Jackson and I was just wondering about of course that's a county road we've made in treaties to the county about repaving any portion of that because it's pretty much a disaster right so uh just just encourage you to
do that or or maybe you tell me that you've already done that um and then just resolution 129 about the uh co-op for HVAC improvements are we talking about the old building. Uh it says HVAC improvements for council chambers and
meeting rooms. Uh old the old building. Okay. Very well. Uh thank you. Thank you. Now, anybody else? Seeing none, I'm going to close it to the public and open up for any council comment. Council.
Thank you, Mayor. Um Bob, maybe we can provide Brian with the status on the pedestrian signs because I know that's something that's come up before. Yes. Uh yes, Councilman. So yes, we our intent council Councilwoman, yes, we uh it is
our intent to put those out. Um when the police went to dig them out of storage, those were a little beat up uh from not being knocked over by trucks or whatever. So, uh, the chief, I believe, is purchasing new ones, so we'll be putting them out as
soon as, uh, they get delivered. Have Bob, have the beat up ones been disposed of? Can we put them up in the interim? No, not salvageable. Thank you. That's all I have. Thank you. Anybody else council?
Thank you, mayor. Um, uh, Don, where is she? There she is. Hi, Don. Um, I'm happy to, uh, first of all, thank you for your thoughtful comments. Um I know that there's a lot of interest and discussion around what will be
happening during the FIFA um in 20 event in 2026. So uh I imagine there'll be far more information coming out about that in short order. Um and as someone who was you are correct I was a
part of that group. Um and and your recollection is not inaccurate. part of the challenge becomes about enforcement. Um, and that's what we really learned during that time even with, you know, I'll call it a bad actor, although I I do think there was more than one, but
one in particular was the impetus for that movement. And so when we had to weigh the the benefit um and risk, right, and the enforcement became the challenge, one of the things that um I and many others that were up here
questioned was what's the point of passing something if we're not going to enforce it, right? It has to be enforceable. Um and so I think uh even in revisiting this, and I do think just like we were saying before, there's a time and a place for revisiting these conversations. It'll be interesting to
see if if that part of the convers conversation has changed because I know that was really the driving force behind that. So, um I appreciate your words and your sentiments. And Dan, um I appreciate you actually sharing some of your thoughts about how that was going
to be used. Um I know that I've I've known that informally, but I think it's good for it to be on the record so that the community knows what what the intent is. Um, and I I just think it it's just worth repeating that the effort and energy that has come in uh by the
chamber under your leadership and certainly with the participation of your board and all the members who've been on this leadership board over the last few years. The fact that you've gotten to 250 members strong is is no small feat. I mean, I think it's great that it's going to have a a um a prominent place,
not just a permanent, but a prominent place, right? So, uh, well done to you all, um, in in this good work and I thank our burough administrator for working with you on this. Um, I I did just want to make one more statement because everything else was
addressed, but um, uh, Mr. Lebruno, um, I appreciate you calling it the old building. Um, we are talking about 176 Park Avenue, which is still Burough Hall. And um uh as beautiful and and chief, I take I I hope you take this
with a grain of salt. As beautiful as this room is, I don't know that anything stands to the grandeur of that second floor and certainly of those chambers. Um and I I am one of the I can't speak for everybody, but I can certainly have no problem sharing this. Um I think it
is an honor to do the people's business. I think that it should be done in a forum and in a location that respects the people's business. And so I would I will always be a fan of getting back in there as long as we can have appropriate technology so we can continue um sharing
the feeds of these meetings for people who are unable to be in attendance. Um and that the the room is better equipped than um than where it was uh prior to our change over here. So thank you. That's all for me tonight. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you. Anybody else?
Oh, I'm sorry. Thank you very much, Mayor. Um, Brian, once again, thanks for always coming in and uh reminding us of uh very important uh whether it be safety concerns or or something that may uh the the green team
may have uh want to bring to light once again. So, thank you once again for always coming in and being proactive. I appreciate that. Um Don, I did receive your email today. Thank you very much for sending it in. Um
uh while I appreciate your enthusiasm and I do appreciate uh your experience here and you're bringing it to us um to to share um I do know that there are a lot of factors here. Um I I am not going
negative here at all. I just want want you to know that um I'm going to reserve some of my comments uh for discussion later on under uh Councilman Erico. Um, and um, you'll you'll hear a little bit more of what I have to say about or any concerns I may have. So stay tuned if
you would. Um, Dan Meredith, um, I appreciate the fact that you come here and you thank the mayor and council, but it is you and your team at the Chamber of Commerce that we wish to thank. I'll speak for myself, but I know my council colleagues
do agree the fantastic job that the Chamber of Commerce has done. And to be able to find you a home, I think will just is more empowering for for not only the cham chamber of count commerce, but it also helps the burrow. It it it brings a lot more interest in the
bureau. And you know what? It really looks like wow, that burrow really has their act together. So, it's you that I thank and and your and your colleagues. So, thank you for coming in today. Um Mr. Mr. Lebruno, you had mentioned about the paving at uh the traffic light that
we talked about previously. Um I do not know if there's any paving plans. I I can defer to our broad administrator, but I'm not really sure if uh those plans are in work yet because it is a county. Um is there anything any talk yet? Thank you. I'm seeing a no there as
of now, but something comes to light, I'll be sure to re reach out to you. Thank you. That's all I have, mayor. Thank you. Thank you, Council. Thanks, Mayor. I just want to say quickly to Don, thank you for coming in. Uh, thank you for that very helpful email and and the
remarks. Um, you know, this was the point of us dedicating a separate meeting to having discussions about big changes in the law that we're thinking about so that the public can come in and really weigh in substantively. And you did that. So, thank you for modeling that. Appreciate it. And I will also
reserve most of my comments for the discussion later. And you know to Dan Meredith um my high school buddy I you know you do fantastic work the chamber does fantastic work as everyone has said and I think it's very
evident um how the downtown and the whole all of all of the retail all the businesses in town are flourishing and I love your vision u I love especially the art gallery the historic promotions that just sounds right up my alley. So, I
look forward to working with you on that. Thank you so much. Thank you, Councilman Eric. Uh, yeah, Mayor, I'll hold off my comments about the short-term rental until our discussion later. Thank you. All right, we're going to move on.
Uh, resolution separate from consent. Council President, thank you, Mayor. I'd like to move resolution number 126 authorizing the tax collector to prepare and mail estimated tax bills. Motion motion by the council president. I have a second. Second. Second. Second by
councilman Quattro. Any questions or comments by the council? Seeing none, I may have a roll call. Council President McGallen. Yes. Council Done. Yes. Councilman Quattron. Yes. Councilman Erico. Yes. Councilman Guzman. Yes. Thank you. Next is resolution number 127
authorizing the hiring of entrylevel law enforcement officers. Motion have a motion by the council president. Have a second. Second. Second by councilman Guzman. Any questions or comments by the council? Seeing none, member roll. Council president McGowan. Yes. Council Deborah Con. Yes. Council. Yes.
Councilman Erico. Yes. Council Gosman. Yes. Next is resolution number 129 awarding the co-op contract for HVAC improvements to the council chambers and meeting rooms. Motion motion by council president. I have a second second. Second by council del
con any I'm sorry any questions or comments? Seeing none may have roll call. Council president McGawan. Yes. Council Derek Con? Yes. Council yes. Councilman Ero. Yes. Councilman Guzman. Yes.
Consent. Thank you, mayor. All items authorized to be consent by the council will be enacted in one motion. These items are routine in nature. Motion. I have a motion by the council president. May I second? Second. Second by council del. Any questions or comments? Seeing
none, may have roll. Council president McGawan. Yes. Council del. Yes. Council, yes. Council me, yes. Cuz yes to all except for the minutes of regular meeting minutes of April 28th, 2025 of
which I abstain. Thank you. Thank you. Uh we'll move on to new business discussion. Councilman Ero. Thank you, Mayor. So I have uh as my colleagues alluded to and as Dawn mentioned as well, a discussion item regarding uh permitting short-term rentals in the
burrow for two months uh during the World Cup next year. Um, just to set context for for this, as I think we all know, um, short-term rentals, which we define as a property rental of less than 30 days, have been not permitted in Rutherford, I believe, as of
2018. Um, the World Cup is occurring next year in 2026. There are a couple of events at Medlife Stadium, including the finals, which are on July 19th. Um, we have discussed this informally uh among the council and and have heard from several residents about a desire to rent
out their homes uh as short-term rentals on platforms like Airbnb, VBO uh to host groups coming in for the World Cup. Uh my thought or our thought is to create a licensing regime similar to obtaining a certificate of occupancy which would
permit property owners to use their homes as short-term rentals. Uh we would also be able to inspect homes for uh safety, compliance with our laws, things like that. Um my proposal is that we would permit short-term rentals for uh only two months, which would be June and
July of next year. We would only permit rentals of entire homes, meaning no uh individual bedrooms or spare rooms, basements, attics, just uh entire homes or apartments. uh the rentals would only be by property owners, meaning no tenants uh at least not without the
consent of their uh landlord. We would probably pass some sort of limitation on short-term rentals in multif family homes or apartment buildings. Uh and we would probably limit the number the minimum uh number of days that a rental could be active for. So maybe three days, something like that. Um my thinking is that these limitations would
help to impact some of the um negative effects of short-term rentals on neighborhoods that we've alluded to just a few minutes ago. Um essentially would encourage larger groups to stay um longer than just a simple uh single game. Uh, I think the urgency of
discussing this now is that uh most short-term rental websites that I'm familiar with, including Airbnb, allow a homeowner to begin renting a year out from from the time of occupancy. So, a year from the World Cup, uh would be this June and and this July. So, if we want this to be something that we do uh
as a bureau, we would probably need to act on this uh relatively soon. But I know there are concerns uh about this um that we've raised internally, informally, and residents have have brought up as well. So, I'd like to have a discussion about it and maybe flesh
out some thoughts and ideas. Anyone have any questions for the councilman? Councilman Guzman. Thank you, Mayor. Uh Councilman, uh thank you for uh bringing this up for discussion. much appreciated and um I appreciate the thought that's going
behind us. Um as I understand it, the World Cup is is scheduled to be in our area June 11th through the 19th of July, which obviously is like about 42 days, if I would. Um and your proposal is for a
60-day um uh lift of ban if lack for lack of better words. um which uh I completely understand. Um my concern until it's satisfied would be
the having the op the professional opinion of safety for our residents. Um I do not know and I have never rented my home out before. So excuse my ignorance there. Um, but I just would love to know uh would I would need to have a meeting
with our professionals, especially our police chief to get his opinion on uh what goes on in neighborhoods. Um I just uh want to make sure that um we are first and foremost resident safety is there's you know nothing more important
than that. Um, but I I I like the opportunity that the some of the residents may have here of being able to take advantage and possibly bring in some income into their homes, especially when times are tough for so many people. Um, to to uh the world climate, if you
would. Um, so I think that there's there I like I appreciate the fact that you bring this up. I think that uh yes, it is becoming a more of an urgent thing to get moving. um our ordinances would have to be uh I understand that you or maybe I don't understand that you're saying
that that we should be uh revising the ordinance or or or you're looking to possibly do this elsewhere. I mean we could only do it through the ordinance. Um the uh permitted uses would have to be changed chapter 96A and I believe
also advertising is is prohibited um if I'm not mistaken currently. So, that's another thing we would have to look at. Obviously, enforcement is a concern for me, but um like I said, I will do my homework and sit with our chief um our bureau administrator um and um be happy
to report any of those findings back to you um as well. Um so, um again, that's all I have. It's just again for me, the biggest thing is safety uh when it comes to uh rentals, short-term rentals. Thank you very much. Thank you. Anybody else?
Councilman. Thank you, Mayor. Um I I don't need to repeat what Councilman Guzman said, so I will just echo many of his concerns. I think um I I feel like we all are sort of bracing ourselves for this FIFA experience in a variety of ways, whether it be traffic or housing
or influx of people. And I think in many ways it's going to be very positive. And in others, we're going to have to maintain a tremendous amount of patience with each other and anyone who else visits. Um, with that said, the reason I can wrap my head around this for short-term purposes is, um, I do think
that otherwise it will be an ask forgiveness, not permission endeavor among many of our residents. Um, in which case we would have no avenues for enforcement and no avenues for generating some revenue for the burrow through licensing and and all the things
that um, Councilman Councilman Erico already said. So, um I I do I am rather tentative about it. Um but, um given the short-term nature and given the fact that I think folks are probably going to do it anyway, um I do think that this
will be a far better approach uh to to Councilman Guzman's point to keep us safe, but also to allow us some visibility into what folks have have planned. Um I do think the restrictions that you mentioned, John, are really important to me. that being that we're not going to start renting rooms in
people's houses or basement or anything like that. Um so I so barring um Councilman Guzman's uh safety concerns and his get those getting satisfied, I do think we're sort of left with little choice because um in some instances it
would just happen anyway. And I know that most of our residents look to do the right thing. So if they know they need to get uh permitted to do what they might do anyway, we would be in better shape. Thank you. Thank you, council. Yes. Thanks, mayor. I agree with the
council woman that the reason I'm leaning towards agreeing with this idea is because I think it's going to happen anyway. As she said, and it's the demand is just too great. Uh there's too much attention here. We're too close to it. I don't think we can avoid that. So, I
think regulating it is the best answer. I just had a question for you about what you're thinking about licensing fees. Can you tell us a little bit more about your thoughts on that? And also, I know enforcement is a complicated issue uh that we need to talk to the public safety officials about, but do you have
ideas about how to enforce it? Thank you. Uh thank you. Yeah, and I I appreciate all these comments from my council colleagues. Um I completely agree. I'm sorry, John, before you go on, did you have something to say, council president? Um thank you, mayor.
Um I I agree with a lot of the conversation that's happening. Um I would just want to add in there just um some consideration. Um as you know we had this conversation around the big game. I don't know that we're
allowed to call it the you know the football the big game. Uh I know remember we were threatened with fines if we called it something other than a big game. Um, there was a lot of hoopla in town about this very thing that everybody was going to want to rent out our houses and
we never actually saw that come to fruition. So, I just I just I'm not saying this isn't going to happen. I'm just saying that we did have something here that was huge and and didn't quite give us the bounce that we had hoped for. Having said that and not putting a negative
connotation on this, if consideration could be given to how would we notify neighbors that someone put in who filed a uh request for permission and I'm thinking similarly to the board of adjusters when somebody's asking for a
variance and you have to notify neighbors. Is that something we can consider? Because I do think that for some neighbors, thinking back to the challenges that we had before, that was really it, right? It was, you know, they felt that people were bad actors, they
weren't good landlords, they weren't good owners, and they were probably not great neighbors. Um, and so they they were careless with their property. And so I just I just I don't know that I feel like it has to be something so regimented, but I would love for us to
give consideration to that. I think if it was being done next door to me and I have a family, I would want to know that that the potential to have a more transient population for that short period of time was something being considered. Not necessarily to say they have to approve it, but to just give
notification so that um residents are made aware of it. That that was my thought. Thank you. Thank you, Councilman. Thank you, mayor. Um, and I I I super appreciate these comments from my council colleagues. Uh, and and I agree
and echo many of them. I think it's very important to discuss the um feasibility of implementing something like this with our uh burough professionals uh and our public safety professionals as well. Um I think to touch on some specific concerns uh that were brought up or at
least you know thoughts that I have um maybe worthy of further discussion. Um in terms of you know it it when we permitted quote unquote short-term rentals prior to 2018 we permitted them in the sense that we just didn't have any ordinance prohibiting them. Uh what
I'm proposing is that we uh enact an ordinance that has an entire licensing regime. So, you know, it not it's not it wouldn't be like we're pausing our prohibition. It would be that we're creating an entire regime where we have uh a fee for a license, we have
inspections, uh we have an entire process. And I I think uh to touch on what that fee might be, you know, our our limitations as a bureau are to charge a fee that's commensurate with the, you know, burden that we would have uh for operating it. that burden I think
would be giving having inspections um public safety issues, you know, whatever else. And so that that fee I think is maybe, you know, TBD based on what those uh fees that we would incur for enforcing it would be. But um you know, I I think all of these points that have been brought up about notifying
neighbors about public safety are are extremely valid and and good to consider. And I'm glad that we're considering them now with sufficient time to research them. uh if we if we did this I think you know a few months before the World Cup we'd be very stressed to um to do this research. So I appreciate all these comments and I
would I would love to continue the discussion. Thank you. Um, so my suggestion would be that um I guess there going to be a lot of independent conversations to be had with the police chief and everything. And
John, you're going to follow through with the comment and maybe come back with the uh the next step of what your plan would be. Yes, mayor. I I believe we have uh there actually was a prior ordinance that was drafted some time ago that had sort of a licensing regime that
I'm envisioning, but I'm happy to to work on that more and then circulate something like that for uh individually to my colleagues and then incorporate as well feedback that we get from uh from our professionals. Thank you. Um so we'll uh we'll wait for John to
come forward with the next um steps and then we'll take it from there. All right. So, we're going to close the discussion and now we'll move on to Council President, your uh committee report, please. Thank you, Mayor. Um I
would like to share a couple uh neat upcoming things. Um on June 13, 2025, the 55 KIP Center will be hosting the summer mixology. For those of you who've done it during the holidays, you know it's a great time. They've decided to put a summer spin on it. Please come out
and support our extraordinary 55 KIP center. Um, and I want to remind uh businesses and residents that opportunities to sponsor uh Saturday lunches uh is still available. Please reach out to the director Kathy
Babiello. It's a wonderful opportunity to communicate um really important information about your businesses or things volunteer opportunities on our community um and and also provide um nourishment and opportunity for fellowship for our seniors which is
amazing. So uh please I ask you to continue your incredible support for the Kip Center. Um, also, uh, on, um, gosh, it's this weekend, May 18th, uh, we've now approved, um, our Rutherford First Aid Squad will be having their annual
barbecue from 1 to 6. It's a wonderful time for members, uh, volunteer members of the squad that get together with their families, um, come together and, and just, uh, uh, be together, see each other when they're not on an ambulance, rescuing somebody in town. Um, and as
always, we want to thank and acknowledge our first responders who are just simply exceptional. So, thank you for your incredible service. Um, and then I'd like to share that on Tuesday, um, May 20th, um, uh, the NJ
um, the NJ D NJDC. Regardless, the statewide disability caucus um uh will be hosting something. I I I was kind of alluding to
my frustration at the last meeting about um the rhetoric surrounding individuals with disabilities and the dehumanization of individuals with disabilities. Um and I'm so thrilled that on Tuesday, May 20th, from 7 to 8:30, there'll be a Zoom. I will be co-hosting with
Rutherford's own Steven Wei. Um and we are doing a statewide discussion about um how is New Jersey fighting back and and the the debunking these myths that are out there specific to individuals
with disabilities um and intellectual disabilities and unseen disabilities. So really behind the rhetoric, right? Forget all the big highlines. What does it really mean? and and we're doing this in um co-sponsorship with um the caucus for
seniors uh particularly because we're talking about Medicaid and Medicare and so um it's just a a great opportunity to be a part of this discussion. There's so many people in this community between access for all in Rutherford. Um we see
it across South Bergen. a very proud thing across um Bergen County and so and and most of the state. And so I want to thank Stephen for jumping in with me uh head first like he always does. He's an extraordinary ambassador for individuals
with disabilities, physical and um developmental and um you know he's one of our own. He's Rutherford's own and I'm I'm just so proud to do this with him. So um I will be posting this on social media and I ask um anybody who wants to participate to please do so.
Um, and last but not least, and it is by far not least, I um I am so happy to share that um my son after 32 days is back in the burrow of trees and he is
healthy and safe and um the outpouring of love just it it is overwhelming and it's going to take Jeff and I a really really long time to reach out to how many people came through for us with love,
prayers, food, coffee, um, phone calls, text messages, on and on and on for not just us, not just Jeffrey, but for our daughter. So, uh, on a personal note, mayor, I want to thank you. I want to thank every one of my council colleagues. I want to thank the burrow,
all the employees, everybody who reached out, our professionals who are here tonight. Uh, this place is a special special place. Um, I'm honored to serve it, but more importantly, I'm very proud to live in it. So, thank you. Thank you. Thank
you. Thank you, Council President. Councilman Delray Con. Thank you, Mayor. Um, just a reminder that this Saturday, uh, May 17th, is the green team's repair cafe. Um, and it's really important that you
come on by if you have anything at all that needs to be fixed. Um, there are really, uh, wonderful volunteers and technicians there. It is at the library on Saturday afternoon. Um, also I just wanted to let the community know that I'm working with our burough
professionals on trying to obtain a grant for improvements on Union Avenue. Um the grant application is due next week and um our grant writer is doing a really phenomenal job of building um a really robust application. The reason I mention it now is because something
that's very helpful to our grant application would be letters of support from both the community and from local businesses. I missed Dan just by like three seconds because I was going to make my pitch to the chamber. So I'm just going to have to do that privately. But um any uh businesses on Union
Avenue, if you know business owners on Union Avenue and they would be willing to contribute a letter of support to submit with our application, we already have commitment from the board of education as well as the administration at Union School. They will be providing letters of support. What this grant hopes to do is not only make Union
Avenue a little more beautiful in line with Park Avenue, but will um be geared towards improving pedestrian safety for anyone that has gone down Union Avenue at 2:45 on a weekday. Uh those children really don't have a care in the world,
including uh their own safety. So, we're looking to make improvements in and around the school. Um there's a firehouse down there. There's obviously multiple beloved businesses. So, we're looking to improve pedestrian safety, improve uh some of the flooding issues that continue to persist over on the
west end. So, again, if you live on or around Union Avenue, or if you know or are one of the business owners on Union Avenue, please do reach out to me in the next week and if you'd be willing to provide a letter of support, I can definitely tell you more about the grant so that you would feel equipped to do
that. Thank you. Thank you, Council President. Mayor, I'm I am so sorry. Uh, excuse me, Councilwoman Mayor Kulpa. Um, I I it was literally the first thing and I just skipped right over it. Um, I want to acknowledge the great work of our
burough administrator, Bob Kealleski, and our CFO, Gordon Stettler. Um, this is the first time in 11 years I've said that man's name correctly, and he's not in the room to hear it. So, Bob, please make sure that it is shared with him that I I think I didn't say it right. Don't even play a game. You're making
He's teasing me. Anyway, I didn't say it right. Oh gosh, I was so skelter before the T. It's the L before the T. I tried so hard. All right. Well, year 12. My fingers are crossed. I'm going to get it right. Um Gordon is
uh he's been a good partner for many many years and a good steward on behalf of the burrow um in in helping us get to um a budget that we feel I know they're laughing at me. I was so proud of myself
for no reason, but I am proud of them. Uh so regardless of how I I mangled this poor man's name, I do want you to know that we are incredibly appreciative of his great work. Um, and so Mayor my Mayor Kulpa for absolutely skipping the
the highline. Um, and giving myself free reign to screw up somebody's name yet again. So I know how to say it, so it's fine by me. Councilman Qurong. Thank you, mayor. I just want to congratulate um again the
family of Tom Twist Jr., former fire chief for the unve the very nice unveiling of the plaque at firemen's memorial park on Thursday. Uh as we many of us know the twist family have been very dedicated to the community um have
a line of firefighters and they've there a lot of work went into that park. So it was really nice. We got in the ceremony. It was short and sweet. Got it in before the rain. So I just want to congratulate them again. Thank you. That's all I have. Thank you.
Councilwoman Councilman Erica. Thank you, Mayor. Um, next Monday is the Rev NJ, I believe, quarterly meeting. This is a group that the state has put together to celebrate the 250 year
anniversary of uh July 4th, 1776. I believe it's open to the public and I'm hoping to attend uh and get some ideas and talk about things that uh the state and perhaps we as a bureau could do for that celebration next year. Uh if you want to attend, please let me know and I
can give you information on that. Uh I also want to acknowledge that this month is mental health awareness month uh which is something that I think is uh not discussed publicly but is something that has impacted my life and my family and I want to acknowledge that importance. Uh and also it's Jewish American Heritage Month. So
congratulations and I want to acknowledge all of our Jewish residents in the bureau. Thank you. Thank you Councilman Councilman Guzman. Thank you very much, mayor. Um, in regards to my liaison assignments,
um, I'll tie this all into one. Um, last week we I had the honor of going to the, uh, library, um, friends of the library gala, which was an amazing event. I always get it wrong. Foundation. Thank
you. Um, at any rate, it was again a quite an amazing event and you know, um, I just want to put it out there one more time that the honory of Jimmy Rizzo, when you talk about volunteers or
you talk about those silent people that make a difference and have impact in this community, Mr. Rizzo is that person that so humbly sits there and wants to help. Loves where he lives. He's just a quiet man that no matter what turn he no
matter which way he goes, he uh looks to help this community. So, I want to big shout out and a big thank you to Mr. Rizzo once again for all he does for this community. And a big shout out to the foundation for all that they do to give back to the library to make sure
that the library has funding for their events and for their services that they offer to the people of Rutherford um and beyond. Um, and uh, this week in my my newsletter, you you'll see a home uh, homebound delivery program, which I
think is just fantastic that this is happening in partnership with the uh, foundation, Friends of the Library Foundation, um, which they're going to be offering uh, home delivery of books to patrons who are unable to visit the library in person due to long-term
illnesses, physical disabilities, or mobility limitations. Um, there'll be more information in my newsletter, but I just wanted to give a shout out about this this once again. It's our library thinking outside the box and really always thinking about the residents. Um,
mayor, that's all I have tonight. Uh, thank you very much. Thank you, council. Um, the only thing I have to add is uh I would really appreciate if the council can make every effort to uh be and
support the uh ambulance corp at their event. I will be in Florida at my daughter's graduation. So, I really appreciate if you guys can make the effort to attend. So, on that note, I would accept a motion to adjurnn. Motion. Motion by council president. I
have a second. I second by Councilman Quat Councilman Quattro. All in favor? I