okay good evening everyone please stand for a short prayer and a salute to our flag almighty God grant us the wisdom to make those decisions that are in the best interest of all our residents May the heavenly father of us all bless
those who have given the ultimate sacrifice and service to our nation and may He watch over and protect our service men and women now guarding the gates of Freedom salute to our flag I pledge aliance to the flag of the United
States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with and justice for statement of publication take notice that this regular agenda meeting of the mayor and burough Council being held on
this 27th day of January 2025 has been posted and advertised in accordance with the open public meetings act chapter 231 Public Law 1975 roll call Council person's Bala here poliisi Novak here Roberts here
senari here zabowski here council president approval of the prior minutes I'm sorry I I move the following minutes of the mayor and Council be approved on roll call vote subject to correction if necessary December 9th 2024 and January 1st 2025
second roll call Council persons Roberts yes fala yes polii yes Novak uh I'll abstain on December 9th and yes on 20 January 1 tarski yes zabowski yes okay is Mr Shaw
here okay that being said it is our honor to honor a beauty queen so I'm going to ask the governing body to come up front okay I have met the beauty queen before
at the sa s's Carnival but Lenor let let us honor you as is rightfully your place thank you so much I'm going to have the council president Donna Roberts do that and then the rest of the guys are going to oole you the husband's right
here same thing in OG okay so this is a certificate of recognition presented by the mayor and burough Council to Lenor sabell Lambert in honor of her outstanding achievement as Miss New Jersey senior
America 2024 the burough of serville proudly recognizes and commends Lenor sabelli Lambert of Parlin for her grace t talent and dedication to representing the dignity maturity and inner beauty of
our senior Americans on May 30th 2024 at Harris Resort Hotel and Casino Lenor stood among eight remarkable contestants and emerged victorious in this time honored pageant which has celebrated extraordinary women since
1971 her heartfelt an inspiring performance of my grown-up Wishful list reimagined r edition of my Grown-Up Christmas List conveyed a powerful message of peace and hope earning thunderous Applause and the admiration
of all in attendance her achievement is a source of Pride for middlex County and the burough of cille and we honor her as a role model for Elegance talent and Community Spirit congratulations thank what well this is in the way can I
move this guys would like to talk to you absolutely and councilwoman Novak come get over listen I've been enough of these things in Hudson County so I know how we did okay Al righty thank
you hi I'm very well thank you thank you so much yes well I I'm trying to get more women from the central to Northern New Jersey involved because it is a very well-known event that happens and it's a national
event so it's a wellknown event that happens and turn around to the camera so everyone sorry right I'm sorry so I'm very honored to first of all live in the town of cille in Parlin and I think it's
very important that senior women from the age of 60 and over realized that there is more to life than what the founder of this organization did in 1971 and he was in a senior center in a senior home and he saw women sitting
around do not doing much of anything except sitting in a rocking chair and he vowed that he would take women from the rocking chair to the runway and so from 1971 when he started it right here in New Jersey down in Atlantic City 3 years later it became a national
competition so any women that are 60 and over in the state of New Jersey can walk with me at the Harris Casino on May 29th and they can be part of this organization it's not just the crown
what I do is I have traveled throughout this year my rain is up May 29th but I go to senior centers we I am part of a Sisterhood that is called The Cameo club we perform at senior centers uh Memory
Care Centers 55 and over libraries we've been in Tom's River but no one really knows about me and about this organization here from Northern central New Jersey North so it's a very big
organization very well known lots of contestants from Brick New Jersey and South and so I have tried this year to really make it known what we do and it's it's not about Medicare anymore it's about Sparkle and
bling and having fun and learning that we women have a lot to offer after we are 60 so my job now is to get other women involved get them up get their blood pumping and to show them that they
can have just as much fun as the rest of the um 65 women that I'm a Sisterhood of right now so I competed nationally in October for miss senior America I did not place but I had a
great time I met 43 women from so many different states and I became friends with them and it's really just about bringing people together and doing more in life than just your your average day so I thank you for letting me take this
time and I appreciate each and every one of you I appreciate you and I appreciate you and thank you mayor O'Brien it was great to meet you at the carnival we had a lot of fun did and thank you so much thank
you I appreciate it thank you very much I'll pass this back to you okay Lenor you make us proud thank you very much and Lenor I just want to say I looked you up before this and I really liked your quote about reaching the age
of Elegance and never giving up so thank you for that those encouraging words thank you thank you here you go I beg your pardon okay at this time we're going to go into close session counselor if you
would uh oh you have it just section eight of the open public meetings act chapter 231 Public Law 1975 permits the exclusion of the public from a meeting in certain circumstances and whereas this public body is of the opinion that such circumstances presently exist now therefore it be resolved by the mayor
and bur Council the burough of saal County of middle sex state of New Jersey as follows the public portion of this meeting is hereby adjourned in order that the governing body may meet in close private session for approximately 20 to 30 minutes to discuss the following matters litigation Personnel attorney client privilege affordable
housing following the conclusion of said close session the governing body shall reconvene the open portion of this public meeting to consider any other matters which may be properly brought before it at this time the nature and content of the discussion which occurs in close session shall be made public at such time as the need for non-disclosure
no longer exists this resolution shall take effect IMM there a motion I make a motion to go into closed second roll call council person Roberts yes fala yes poliisi yes Novak yes sinari yes zabowski
yes okay to return to open second sorry berts yes fala yes polii yes Novak yes sinari yes zabowski yes okay so at this time I'm going to ask the governing body to uh go up to
the rail and I'm going to ask Mr rishy sha to come forward hi okay Mr shot a pleasure we're so happy that you honored the borrow uh with that I'm going to have our council president read the
proclamation thank you mayor the certificate of recognition presented by the mayor and burrow County Council to Rishi Shaw in honor of your outstanding dedication to community service and Leadership we proudly recognize your exceptional commitment to the buau of
cille your tireless efforts in serving as the president of six School clubs former secretary and head high school representative for the burough of cille human relations commission as well as your role as vice president of the Teen
Advisory board at the serville public library exemplify your dedication to bettering our community your passion for volunteerism has made a profound impact on those around you your recent achievement of the lifetime presidential volunteer
service award signed by President Joe Biden is a testament to your unwavering service and Leadership on behalf of the burough of cille we extend our deepest gratitude for your contributions and congratulate you on this well-deserved honor your
efforts Inspire others to give back and we celebrate your achievement as a role model for future Generations congratulations thank you so much we'd like you to speak to everyone I stand here today deeply honored to reach to receive the lifetime
presidential Wy service award as I reflect in this journey it's humbling to see uh how a small desire to give back to the pandemic during give back has made such a big turn I started during the pandemic uh been doing small things
like uh small acts of kindness like making cards uh making Mas uh tutoring young students delivering groceries to neighbors help being a helping hand basically those small efforts led me to and uh eventually become president of
six clubs in my High School uh giving me the opportunity to create meaningful change whether it be leading over my local Deca chapter with over 200 members or promoting inclusiv inclusively with through the seral human lense commission I learned that true leadership is about
empowering others with working together to make a lasting impact one of the uh biggest uh things I I did was like create a nonprofit uh the small business support initiative it was a simple idea to help local businesses uh and small businesses across the world during the
pandemic and after to help them uh grow their digital presence till date I have supported over 570 small businesses and Counting through my efforts whether it be improving their digital presence connecting with customers and expanding their
reach uh and we continue to grow with that that's it's a good thing and one thing I'm currently working on is like organization organizing organizing uh for this Valentine's Day like card Initiative for local seniors and soldiers overseas to give them moments of joy and those
who may feel isolated from far and Far From Home looking in the future I'm excited to take what I learned from these experiences and channel it into my P passion for business administration and computer science and yeah thank
you thank you so much Start down sorry ahead thank you so much you want to say congratulations going on there thank you
congratulations thank you so much thank you and we wish you much fulfillment going forward your credit to our to the community of Sero and we thank you you honor us thank you much can I a picture with you there you go thank you so much no
problem okay thank you so much mayor while you're walking back may I just say that Rishi has a very very professional LinkedIn profile already um um and was already um got python on your resume I'm
going to be uh that's my next language to learn so I'll be looking for some tips thank you all right uh appointments um first appointment is Mitch Cooper uh to the library Board of
Trustees a fiveyear term is there a motion I'll make a motion there second roll call council person Roberts yes Bala yes polii yes Novak yes narski yes
zabowski yes okay the next is Recreation a three-year term for Sherry Poe is there a motion make that motion is there a second second roll call
Roberts yes fala yes ly yes Novak yes sinari yes zabowski yes okay and the third is the cdbg administrator gwendel Knight is there a
motion make a motion uh Roberts yes Bala yes polii yes Novak yes senari yes zabowski okay uh for all all of the volunteers in sville I received the uh
appointment list on Friday but over the weekend I was um involved with with uh personal and family matters I just came across it tonight I sent it out uh so it is my solemn hope that at the next
meeting we'll we'll finish up uh the appointments okay that being said uh we're going to go to the public hearing on the submission of a Grant application to the state of New Jersey Green Acres and Jake's law programs for improvements at Bailey Park located at South Minn Aven
Cheesequake Road uh Glenn you want to give a briefing on it before I open to the public uh Nicole has put up a uh rendering of the burough Engineers concept plan for the park and what we plan to do there should we be successful in obtaining these Grant funds there two
separate grants uh that we'll be applying for one is under Jake's law and the second is a Green Acres Grant application both are for the overall Improvement of the Bailey park facility uh an online public survey was posted on the Burrow's website and the community
was invited on social media uh to provide input that was very enlightening and with that knowledge and armed with that knowledge that is how the concept was further developed into what you see now on your screen at this point uh the planned improvements to Bailey Park will
include a Universal Design fully accessible playground for all ages and abilities that's for children with both uh uh neurod Divergent and develop and uh physical disabilities this will be the first such facility in the burrow of cille uh we made some efforts years ago
to add some handicap swings but this will be a comprehensive play area uh for those children it'll include Paving of the parking lot including new entrance and lighting a new Comfort station which will of course be handicap accessible we're going to provide storage space uh
for the bck summer camp uh in the hopes that we're able to locate them back at that facility if they so desire uh enhance the existing picnic area improve walkways and handicap access and of course there will be uh substantial landscape improvements to the facility
um as you can see we tried to provide uh good uh access to everyone from Every Walk of Life it's some of the highlights are there's a dedicated pedestrian pathway uh that runs from Minn Avenue deep into the heart of the park as well
as a vastly improved parking area which will be paved and have the proper drainage and be cited in such a way not to affect the wetlands that are immediately adjacent to the south of the site um an environmental assessment was conducted as a part of the study for this project and the findings were as
follows uh in terms of the impact analysis the project is focused on formally developed areas of the park no undeveloped portions of the site or trees will be impacted mitigation measures will include compliance with permits and management of temporary
disturbances during construction such as dust noise Etc and in terms of alternatives to uh to the proposed none of the alternative sites address the community's desire to improve biley Park the environmental assessment concluded the proposed Redevelopment of Bailey
Park is the most balanced and effective alternative addressing both environmental and Community needs while advancing equity and accessibility goals at this point with your permission Mr Mayor I'd like to solicit any public comments or questions about the proposed application at this time I'm going to
open the public portion Jim thank you mayor Jim Robinson Parlin and thank you for soliciting questions I was going to ask if this was a part of the survey I'm glad you answered that I and number of other people participated in that survey and I'm always happy to see something
like this I just want to make something clear the parking lot in the bottom right corner that's the Arsenal parking lot that's not part of this project correct that's correct okay um and do you anticipate that this will serve a
neighborhood or is this for burrow wide because well it will be available burrow wide as it traditionally has been dating back to when it was ducks nest but it will obviously service that oak tree neighborhood that's immediately adjacent okay one of the things that
uh I wondered about when I when I looked at this plan is there anything that will make sure that and and it looks to me like uh the playground is going in the area where all the maadam and the
construction vehicles and the other debris is dumped right now is that correct okay and uh it looked to me when I looked at that area that that is that's an appropriate place for it but it is right near the
entrance to the pond to the lake and right now any kids that are in that area can very easily access that Lake um through the gates is there going to be something that makes sure that young folks or anybody else that is uh at this
park can't access the water certainly we we've not gotten to the details of that part of the plan yet but we will make uh every accommodation that's feasible for Safety and Security at the site as the plan is developed more further by the engineer
okay and when will all those What's the timing on this um generally speaking the Green Acres grants land sometime in early summer uh the Jake law I don't know this is a new grand opportunity for us that I've never engaged with um you know we'll uh
will trigger further planning moving forward and hopefully be in a position to be shovel ready should the funding arrive okay and is the mechan that is dumped there does that present any kind of problem now everything all debris will be removed the proper process of Land Development under the supervision
of the engineer will be conducted and if any uh concerns are identified they'll be addressed before construction begins and the question that a few people asked me no splash park involved in this right no okay and just for your information we're we have another funding
opportunity coming up in June which we plan to use for the back half of the park around the pond and the picnic area to do further improvements but we're limited by the size of the grant we other resolutions on the agenda tonight what you're talk talking about no no okay all right very good very happy to
see this thank you are there any other questions being no other questions I'll entertain a motion motion to close the public second Council person's Roberts yes ala kisi yes Novak yes senari yes zabowski
yes introduction of the following ordinances ordinance number 1-25 bur of saille County and middlex state of New Jersey ordinance regarding fee for yearly Farmers Market license move councilman B I'm sorry move the ordance to be approved on first reading advertised according to law and
a public hearing be held on February 10th 2024 second roll call Council persons Bala yes poliisi yes Novak Roberts yes sinari yes zabowski yes introduction of ordinance
number 2-25 an ordinance of the buau of SVO approving revisions to Riverton street names schematic map and amending the Waterfront Redevelopment plan to incorporate said revisions uh Council councilman zabowski move the ordinance to be approved on first reading advertised according to
law in a public hearing to be held on February 10th 2025 is there a second roll call Council persons zabowski yes ala yes poliisi yes Novak yes Roberts yes sinari I'm voting
yes but I got a comment John can maybe you can answer a comment on the Silver Star Award street names how did that get done it was done before our time but the the veterans Alliance met with the rton people to go over our veteran Street
ordinance with okay and everything was U they everyone was satisfied okay thank you ordinance number 3-25 an ordinance supplementing and amending ordinance number 40-23 fixing the salaries of certain bar officials officers and
employees for the years 2023 to 2027 councilman Bala move the ordance to be approved on first reading advertised according to law and public hearing be held on February 10th 2025 second all call Council person's Bala yes Poli yes Novak Roberts yes sari yes zabowski
yes ordinance number 4-25 and ordinance supplement supplementing and amending ordinance 40-23 fixing the salaries of certain bur officials officers and employees for the years 2023 to 2027 councilman Bala with the ordance to be approved on first reading advertised according to law and a public hearing be
held on February 10th 2025 second roll call Council person's Bala yes polii yes Novak yes Robert yes sari yes zabowski yes ordinance number 5-25 bur of saille County of middle sex ordinance accepting
amendment to easement in favor of the burrow of saille relative to block 30701 Lots 1.02 and 1.03 councilman zabowski move the ordinance be approved on first reading advertised according to law and public hearing be held on
February 10th 2025 second roll call council person zabowski yes fala poliisi yes Novak yes Roberts sinari yes great this time I'm going to open the public portion on consent agenda items other
questions on Jim thank you mayor Jim Robinson Parlin on resolution 2025 33 it references the Community Development block grant committee is that committee staffed and working and meeting and
I I don't know I had no interaction with them this was uh handled inhouse with the CD I'm sorry I can't hear Mr skarzinski to my knowledge no I've not had any interaction with the cdbg committee okay because the resolution says that the committee met and they
recommended that we do Park improvements here improvements to the sidewalk at War Memorial Park and I know in the past going back here when in fact when I was involved um we used to take that Community Development block rant money and make
money available for seniors and low-income folks to fix up their homes and some of that money you know one of the other resolutions we're going to talk about 194 present or rehab units that we have to comply with our affordable housing some of that money
was used to rehabilitate homes so they could be counted in our affordable housing and so for each one of those homes that we do that we rehabilitate that gets counted that's six market rate units that don't
have to be built somewhere so we're talking about the Community Development block grant committee recommending these improvements to the walkways in the park and I'm just wondering why aren't we doing this well does the committee really exist resolution says
it does Glenn says doesn't have knowledge of it right Mr Robinson if I could just interrupt you could you pause this time so I could just okay and uh let me let me just answer she stopped your time you could resume uh the cdbg committee I don't interact with I all my
interactions with cdbg or through Miss Knight who was reappointed tonight she's our cdbg coordinator so I'm presuming she met with her committee I can't attest to that factually but if there I I I have faith in a resolution and regarding your comment uh past use of
cdbg funds you are correct but we are now going to be leveraging affordable housing funds to do exactly the type of projects that you're speaking of our planner and our burough attorney have uh finalized that and we should be rolling that out sometime in February to the benefit of our senior population okay
thank you but we are passing a resolution saying that happened so we ought to make sure that it did and in addition to that fun that I was instrumental in getting us to to and and some of the other folks here in the audience were instrumental in getting uh created there
is this Community Development block grant money that we ought to look into rather than sidewalks through the park and on that resolution which is 39 um there there are a couple mistakes I think in the weas section we talk
about the burrow Committee of the burrow maybe that's the burrow Council of the burrow it should be I'm not sure but also in the in the be it resolved section and I'm sure you've all read this I'm sure you caught this um it talks about submitting this to the
Superior Court in hunon county and that was maybe a cut and paste error from on the attorney's part is that what that was that's it should be middle sex nobody mentioned that I read these things so I it stood out at me and and how about the other parts where we talk
about the burrow Committee of the burrow is that a typo should that be maybe the burrow councel of the burrow yes it would be the burrow Council I'm just trying to find okay on that same well I don't want to take my time but on that same issue of the affordable housing I read the other day
that the Riverton um number of residential units were reduced and consequent the affordable housing units were reduced from 200 to 130 now we were counting on those 200 what does that do to this
resolution what does that do to our numbers if there are 70 fewer affordable um and I would ask but I don't want use my time yet the ues contract New Jersey tree uh Foundation the first person I
asked about it was Art because he's chairman of the trade of the shade tree commission he didn't know anything about it so I if we could have an explanation on that I think it would be helpful the Camelot Bond released we had some residents here and a couple of them called me last week had some issues
wanted to know if they were resolved before that money is resolved before that money is released are all those problems resolved for those folks I'd like an answer to that question why are we selling that property on Johnson's Lane um you know is a treed property is
it we just sell it because we like to get rid of treed properties and I also note that we are paying jcpnl which stands for Jersey Central Power and Light $73,000 this month um it maybe 20% of
our street lights are still out some of us have contacted our legislative delegation to get them see what they can do Mr OES and I have talked about that a number of times and we're moving on that maybe it ought to be Jersey Central Power and sometimes light company but
you know if we're paying $73,000 a month to the power company the least they can do the least they can do is get the street lights working and this is not something that went out yesterday or last week or even in December this is something we've been
talking about for 18 months 20% of our street lights are out we're a big customer $73,000 a month to jcpnl so um and well that that's all on resolutions
thank you and you want me to stay here for the responses or should I sit down no sit down okay thank you let it go okay uh anyone else being no one else entertain a motion to close the public portion make motion make a
motion to close the public and adopt the resolutions is there a second second roll call Council person's Roberts yes fala on 2532 I'm going to staying on the adelux
bill the Casey sign bill and Kelly wolf Bill yes and all our items Lisi yes Novak um there's uh I went up stain on 39 on I
really wasn't involved in a lot of this I'm was uh happy with what I heard um that you know this isn't uh you know nothing is set in stone where there's ways to you know reduce this number but I'm still going to abstain on it till I get some more information and excuse me
there was one other I wanted to obstain on now I'm just going to say yes okay Denari I'm voting yes on all of them except 20 2532 I got a comment 25 20
2532 I got a comment about that I am also involved with Jersey Central and I am definitely in don't like the way it's being run as far as not us not getting our lights repaired uh I'm also concerned about the temporary permanent generator that they're transforming that
they're have over by chameleos not chameleos down by Camelot so I do want to work with Jersey Central and try to get some of these problems alleviated but I'm voting yes zabowski yes and just one more comment on that I
and uh I I would ask our burough attorney uh I know that there are a number of other townships that have initiated some some lawsuits in reference to paying Jersey Central uh because of the street lights being out so this is kind of an epidemic issue not just in CA but it's in other counties
and probably in our County as well could would you be able to take a look at that I don't know if not paying is is the is the correct uh starting point or if there's another Avenue that would bring bring more fruit to getting these lights
repaired quicker absolutely um uh councilman I I can absolutely look into that and report back at the next meeting I appreciate and I I vote yes to all the resolutions okay okay I need a motion to accept the correspondence as listed make a motion to accept the correspondence as
listed s a second second roll call Council persons Roberts fala yes polii yes Novak yes sari yes zabowski yes and just under comments I just want to thank uh Paul Duffy for her time serving Sarah
uh having been on the board and work with her uh she was uh she had quite a contribution to our commission okay Council reports Administration and finance councilman Bala thank you mayor uh we're busy uh compiling the figures for the budget and until the budget's
further along in the process weely should not be adding any new positions at this time and otherwise progress Planning and Zoning councilman zabowski thank you mayor just a few things first and foremost I just want to uh express my condolences to Joe Rudy family if
anybody knows Joe Rudy he was a very active member of our uh veterans Alliance particularly at the American Legion with the honor honor guard as well uh and uh again my condolences to his family uh the three committees planning board Sarah and board of
adjustment all met this month or reg organization uh one of the things I did want to add although it was previously discussed is the affordable housing Rehabilitation plan uh that should go into effect as of February as as Glenn
mentioned in the interim however if there are uh members of our community who do have needs for repairs to their home homes uh obviously it's based on income uh but you are welcome to contact our clerk to get your name on the list but once the portal is open and there
will be a portal available you'll be able to go directly online it'll have terms and conditions and what have you related to that um finally I just want to also thank Jen Bal and her staff what they do at the Active adults Center starting February 4th uh they'll begin
providing free income tax preparation through the United Way there's a Dropbox in the lobby that will be available after that date and your uh tax information can be dropped off securely if you want to have an appointment you may do so by go contacting the office uh
for an in-person appointment which will be from 9: to noon on Tuesday mornings and mayor that's my report thank you thank you councilman Public Safety councilman kesy thank you no so far uh I sat with the police chief plumacher
and um also got uh in touch with the fire chief George gin and we went over a whole list of things wants needs uh concerns in the town so I'm excited to work on this now and um so so far with
uh the report to date and the fire department was 81 calls as of uh January 27th so ranging from structure fires car fires motor vehicle accidents fires with uh
carbon alarms so um that's quite a bit so they've been a a bit busy so they're currently working with their underwriter for insurance and um um for the information on the fire rating in the burrow so they have not uh he has not
had time to sit down with the officers to discuss the part the Department's future but uh going going forward we'll just uh start working on the capital budgets now and then with the police department same
thing sat with uh Chief plumacher and um we first formulated that response to the uh recent break-ins on the 17th we sent it out on H social media um about this current epidemic of
crime we have at this moment but uh there's plenty in involved and um we're looking at ways to uh cure this okay so going forward so for the people who are not on social media uh we're going to
try to get the word out in a myriad of different ways so um I'm excited to start all of this and uh let's just go forward and keep you up to date thanks okay Public Works
councilwoman Nova back yes i' I'd like to thank uh the public works department uh they did a great job with uh snow removal um also um I'm going to at this time U respectfully request that we allow for public participation in Zoom
meetings I know in the past we've had some abuses of using this zoom and I hope that uh that would not start up again but I having worked with this it didn't drag our meetings on that long
and it really was for the for the seniors that can't get out and I respectfully request that we go back to that let me look into a little more it was done specifically for for Co so let me see what the real need is um and I'll get back to you even if we just help one
or two people you know okay I have hundreds of people doing customer service Monday through Friday I I got that I just you know it's just my opinion that you know it really was good for the public and I I'd like to publicly you know respectfully request
that we go back to that okay um is there any way that we can have the attorney look into um not paying the Jersey central bill I mean at some point like let's say if a light is out for 30
days that we can start deducting for these lights you know we hearing on uh Facebook and with the police chief and residents emailing us maybe some addition they're telling us to leave all our lights on in our house so many lights are off on the street and we are
paying for it so could you check with if the council is agreeable have the attorney check into the legality of that I don't know if anybody's ever done it it's brought up before but I really think it's necessary at this point because unless you start hurting them in the pocketbook they just basically you
know spinning their wheels is everybody in agreement with that the the councel is writing it down okay I just want to make sure not just on my word that the council went along with that okay um I noticed in um the general
discussion part of the agenda um we're asking that CMA do some uh work with uh the building next door and I was wondering back in November which three months ago now uh we made a motion to
hire an attorney to help us go through all of this what is the what is the where are we at with that have we hired an attorney have we interviewed or where we at what yeah in November we authorized
looking for an attorney that would help us navigate you know repairing this building and bringing it back up yeah the firehouse I'm sorry I said the building next door sorry we're going to cover that under Glenn's report okay because uh you know I I at this time I
would also formally like to request that we make the historical designation of that building I mean because there's probably just like there were grants available to pay for the last study we had done there's probably grants available to do this and we're spending
taxpayers money when it's not necessary so I make a motion that we we declare uh that building an historical building it's it's very important uh the taxpayers actually I was pleasantly surprised with the way that went in the
uh meeting so I'm making the motion if anybody wants to what what exactly is the motion Mary I would like to declare that building in historical building a historical designation for The Old Firehouse yes please okay is there a
second second roll call Council person's Novak yes valala yes kisi no not yet Roberts no
sinari no not yet zabowski no I think that's premature at this time okay I I I was hoping for a better uh turnout than that with the vote because uh again we just keep spending taxpayers money when there's probably
grant money out there that could pay for that although I am happy that we are starting to do something I appreciate that and let me know what the thing is with the attorney so you know we Glenn did they kind of drop that in your lap to look for an
attorney Mary I don't recall that resolution nor was I directed to do anything but we'll follow up on that first L tomorrow it was at the last meeting in November okay and anything else Mary no thank you very much okay thank you uh water are
sewer environmental councilman sonari thank you excuse me thank you mayor uh water and sewer is uh one of our big utilities underground and a lot of people don't realize how important it is uh last year when we were on the recck department that's very important but
it's very visible the utilities underground are getting a lot older we're still producing over a million and a half gallons of portable water this month uh we had over billions of water produced throughout the year but we have an aging infrastructure and there's
going to be some money put into that in the future so I just want everybody to be aware of that thank you other than that progress thank you councilman uh Recreation council president Roberts thank you mayor the recreation department is getting started we have the weekly Farmers Market that's been
moved indoors from Thursday Outdoors it's now Wednesday indoors at the senior center from 12:00 to 5: I'm sorry the active adult center um we have camp counselor applications available beginning February 3rd I was a cam counselor um one of my jobs that Park
doesn't exist anymore the top of Elizabeth Street it was like a desert um and a full event schedule will be announced in early February one of the things we're working on um is getting a comprehensive schedule together so we
have a lot of committees that do um schedule events so we want to make sure we don't have competing events and that we can support each other so we'll be looking forward to some of those um that kind of information um for everyone here on
Council I believe we had gotten an email about the um annual elected official seminar through the mael every one of us that takes it we get a $250 um credit towards that so uh Mary I know we're going to set you up here
somewhere so you could take it and just I recommend everyone here take it so we can take advantage of that savings checks only no cash of course um and on very good news I we're going to announce this bigger
later but our Recreation director Brian van donon I can't say his name it's only d dongan d dungon has been selected by the New Jersey Parks and Recreation Association as professional of the year
once again he'll be honored at their annual Gala on February 25th in Atlantic City and I believe we are going to publicly acknowledge this this um honor a bit closer to the date of the ceremony so that was a little sneak peek on that
um so a lot of good things going on and I feel like I'm forgetting something which is always the case um so I will remind us later if I recall it but I think that's it everything's going well Recreation is going to be a new position
for me I was on Water and Sewer I'm going to miss the environmental commission but I'll visit periodically and thank you mayor progress okay thank you um there were two things I uh I wanted to talk about tonight one
was Paul leuy who I've known for since the the late 90s who who was a super energized person committed and devoted to the burrow her Parish her
her family and occasionally her husband but that being said Paula had had a hip operation and it's a challenge getting better but she was um certainly an asset to the town and I I wish her a
speedy recovery um so that she can get back at it so Bob if you would p uh pass along our sincere thanks and our best wishes on a on a on a quick recovery all right uh second thing I
just wanted to say goodbye to my friend Joe Rudy he uh he was a remarkable guy he was everything you would think about with a veteran he he he always kept his composure he was an All-American guy
Korean War veteran uh dedicated to his community his church his family and um it'll be a long time before I meet another man of his character and caliber so I know you're you're already already up there Joe
um you will be remembered well that being said we'll go to the general discussion agenda items authorization for the tax collector to refund taxes and cancel all subsequently bill taxes due to 100% disabled veterans tax exemption for the
following 23 Orchard Street in the amount of $494 5 161 Madison Street in the amount of $438 46 any OB next item authorization award a non-fair and open contract to jaffy Communications for social media
consultant Services an amount not to exceed 40,000 any objection I just have a question it's okay um uh do we have a copy of the contract and does it discuss exactly what his duties are I know he
was appointed last year but I really was I don't know any of those particulars and before this comes up for a vote if I could get that thank you just bear with me one minute okay authorization to accept and
adopt the Central Jersey joint Insurance funds 2025 safety incentive program any objection next item authoriz changes to the this is basically just renewing what was there before their safy last year it's yeah it's the same yeah uh authorization to affirm the burrow civil
rights policy as required by cjf for the safety incentive program any objection next item it's no changes no changes you authorization to sell block 371 lot 2.03 on Johnson's Lane any objection next item uh authorization for the burrow
clerk to advertise for the receipt of sealed bids for abandoned unclaimed Motor Vehicles any objection next item authorization of purchase ballistic carrier vest from the activity group through NJ coop of purchasing Alliance program in an amount not to exceed
$153,700 award and uees contract to NJ tree foundation and an estimated amount of $100,000 for the Webber AB Macarthur Avenue flood plane restoration project any objection no objections but um the
uh shade tree and that's under Public Works um doesn't seem to have any information on this if you could make sure that they get all the particulars on you get it to Glen thank you anything else all right next item uh Glenn authorization to promote Ryan Erikson
from laborer one to ground maintenance worker one in the public works department affected February 1st 2025 any objection next item authorization to promote Deborah Turner and Susan feno from record Support Tech one to record support track two in the police
department retroactive of January 1 2025 any objection next item authorization to appoint Wade Meyer as laborer one in the public works department effective February 1 2025 any objection next item authorization for CME associat to prepare plans and specifications for the
preservation of The Old Firehouse and resurfacing of walkway in the Veterans Memorial Park any objection next item authorization to renew the contract with BRS Incorporated for Grant planning and administrative services not to exceed 44
any objection okay cfo's report Danielle okay uh burrow Engineers report Jay Corell thank you first item is improvements to minin Avenue that project's been completed recommending the contract be closed out and a final change order with a net reduction be approved you need a resolution to do
that any objection next item same thing for this next project French and Albert Street drainage that's been completed recommending close out with a net reduction change order next it any objection next item finally May the Camelot at Main Street project that's been completed all the bond improvements
uh have been completed recommending the project be closed out and subject to a posting of a uh 2-year 15% maintenance bond to guarantee the improvements the maintenance of the improvements that are installed on the project any objection anything else Jan that's it mayor thank you thank you burrow attorney's report I
have nothing this evening mayor but I am getting up to speed on everything in the burrow and look forward to uh having something to report at the next meeting well welcome aboard okay with that we'll go to the public portion for questions and comments on all issues uh Ken thank you very much mayor Kendall sheski
sville at the last uh meeting that I was at a couple meetings ago uh the mayor had some comments about me a personal basis um and of course he he did it after the public commentary was over so
uh uh thanks for that mayor that's that's that's quite a an act that you should be proud of um but I do want to thank you I want to thank you very much for the comments you made which I will answer maybe I won't get time on the five minutes ton I have another thing to
go over but rest assured I will answer them uh but I want to thank you mayor uh because you didn't refer to me as an a-hole uh nor did you refer to me as a Dopey person with with no life because that's how you normally refer to the
members of the public here so thank you very much for that mayor I want to move on and ask about a job that that I talked about this microphone before we hired someone
from South Jersey basically Philadelphia area 15 miles uh north of Philadelphia he hired someone there and the information I got was that uh was
hired as a clerk IST it's hard to find that information because of course uh you don't answer questions uh so as I said before that's a good Avenue and Route to the secrecy leads to corruption
in most cases so you don't get the real information but he was hired as as I heard by said clerk typus then the mayor introduced him later on as a as an aid one of his many AIDS uh kind of like the
the mayor of New York City has oh except he's already under indictment um and then and then we hear that in addition to that he is now an assistant director of Sarah and I believe somebody at this
microphone right here said not too long ago that he was shair of a pack for people don't know what a pack is a the definition of a political action committee but basically it's a fundraising committee for
politics that that that this same gentleman was chair of a pack and the PCT was used for the campaigns of the mayor and of his people on this Council in the last couple of years
now does anybody know any anything about that if that's true of course nobody's going to answer well let me tell you what that sounds like to me that sounds like job selling are we going to take in and put a sign
up B whole jobs for sale and the person who raises the most funds he gets the job and then he moves through the burrow pretty quickly kind of this guy must be the greatest thing since slice PR
or is it that he raised the most money for your campaign mayor and for those of your colleagues up here this sounds like a job selling deal um my facts may not all be right as I say it's hard to get information here
but I think that should be investigated and if in fact that is correct this sounds like a job selling deal and wow this burrow should be a shame of that and you people that voted for this
person these jobs you should be ashamed of that too that's downright horrible and just to uh to to comment a little bit on I'm going to run out of time so I'm going to have to wait with replies for uh for your comments from uh
from last uh last not last meeting the last meeting I attended but rest assured I will have comments and I'll have a lot of other comments mayor the problem is going to run a time of the year that five minutes five minutes a meeting is not enough time for all the things that
I'm going to talk about if necessary if you want to do that mayor I'll let it up to you but I'll be glad to reply to anything you come up with and finally I'd like to say I agree with the mayor Joe Rudy was a great guy he worked I
worked with him when I shared water and sore in the barl and he was a fine gentleman and I send my condolences to his family the last thing I have you keep talking about Jersey Central Power and life and nobody yet as that I know has put out a resolution a resolution to
our legislative delegation about this where is the resolution to the legislative delegation are we just going to talk about this and ring our hands where where where our Senator he has to he has to sign off he has to vote he has to vote
for uh the the Board of Public Utilities that's the people we should going for I have no problem with the with the uh the money that's a great idea but we ought to be going to the Board of Public Utilities and the guy that's responsible for that and for
voting for it is Senator Vitality thank you very much all right goad ahead Mary I believe that when that ordinance was changed back it wasn't limited to one five minutes am I correct when it was changed five minutes
just one and okay I'll have to get a copy of that thank you Arthur okay thank you um happy New Year everybody uh one quick thing on the affordable housing I know the legislature is looking at
changing um the rule the Mount Laurel and I would hope that you're in contact with the legisl L to look at that so that we're not spending and giving the builders $19 million like we did the last time
um I'm concerned as chairman of the shade tree commission that we were not informed of anything that's going on with the New Jersey tree Foundation shade tree commission is the authorized party to deal with local County state
and federal properties and the planning and maintenance of trees in this Barrow we are a commission we are separate we can do ordinances um we also have other plans we have going we've been asking to get
the names of the people at Ruckers that we have not been able to get uh we would like to work with the business administrator um but we have not given the information that we need to get as far as the Historical Society I
still cannot believe now after tonight the people in this town voted over 5,000 votes in favor of spending $3 million we're still not asking to spend a dime you're sending out to CME to
prepare plans and specifications they already did a report you spent $26,000 that wasn't necessary to be spent could have been covered under a grant there are grants available it's very simple our grant writer in the
town can't even apply to him because one of the questions is going to be do your mayor and Council approve of making a local historic site and the answer is no even though the the public has said an overwhelming yes I've never seen
anything in town election wise have a 5,000 vote plurality in the 30 years 30 plus years that I've been here so for you to say oh well it's not time now we got to wait no you've waited since a year ago you've
waited since the November election and you've done nothing to me that's a d elction of Duty you are the legislative branch Don president you're supposed to propose these things Council you're the legislative branch the mayor only votes
if it's a tie he doesn't make the legislation you do um you know we've got the 20 50th anniversary of this country coming up it'll probably be 250 years before you
do anything with the firehouse because you keep waiting and waiting we could be spending our time on that we could be spending time on the firehouse I strongly urge you again to make it a local historic site there are plenty of things
available um grants you have preservation New Jersey and I'm sure the attorney knows many places to look for for historic preservation the state has many things my friends down at Middletown again
$200,000 to fix up the train station is their Museum why because they don't want to be known as the people who don't want to celebrate the history of this country unfortunately cille is the mayor and Council that doesn't want to celebrate
this country yeah thank you mayor Jim Robinson Parlin first I want to thank Mary for your suggestion on allowing people to participate by Zoom once again and thank Mary and commission and councilman Bala
for the trying to get the historical designation and stash you and Mary seem to be supportive of doing something about the light so I thank you for that um back in 2023 mayor Kilpatrick and mayor McCormack suggested we buy and
preserve the 40 acres adjacent to Kennedy Park that is owned by moo back then the council agreed they order an appraisal to put the wheels in motion to acquire that property then in 2024 mayor O'Brien was back he met with
Mr Marco and they discussed building homes on that site right Glen and progress on moving ahead with procuring that preserving that for the burrow was stopped oped the appraisal that the council
requested and it was denied I don't know what the secret is we paid for it if we're not buying the property as the mayor said what's the secret and over the holidays somebody asked me what I thought the cost of that
property was and I thought it was an excellent question and so I'm a licensed commercial realtor and a successful one I might add um and I've dealt with similar properties so over the Christmas break I did my own research I looked at
Maps B dating back to 1930 I looked at toppos I looked at Wetlands I looked at comps I walked the property I did a pretty thorough review for an old guy property is Zone Prime so it's limited as to what you can do there the burrow
assesses it at $395,000 I believe after researching everything that I did this property is worth surprisingly only about $155,000 an acre that entire 40 acle 40 acres I
believe was probably appraised that's somewhere near $600,000 and if I'm wrong tell the public tell them I don't know what I'm talking about I'm an old man who's lost his marbles and I'm just babbling but if I'm right
and that $600,000 figure is a is a real appraisal if you don't preserve that property then shame on you the people aren't happy with all the building the mega warehouses the condos the apartments the traffic the destruction
of trees and the destruction of the wildlife habitat now is the opportunity to do something mayor you've not spent a dime on open space in your 20 years as mayor a few years ago you vetoed the purchase of properties to stop apartments from
being built thankfully the council overrode that veto and so Apartments weren't built there four and a half acres was added to Kennedy Park Danielle what do we have in the open space fund 8 8
10 there's about $9 million in there 9 million okay I was close all right so 6 $100,000 is 7% between six and a half and 7% of the total amount that we have just
sitting in the bank in that open space fund and if we can preserve 40 acres from Warehouse or residential development why not do it mayor I know you like referendums although they don't
always go your way why don't we asked the people if they would like to spend $600,000 of the $9 million that we have in that account less than 10% to preserve the 40 acres before the most Builder friendly pro-development
Administration in the in the Burrow's history gets their hands on it just as the people spoke on preserving the firehouse I think the people want to preserve this space and add it to Kennedy Park because the one thing about land they ain't making it anymore and
once it's gone it's gone you can drive anywhere in town and see that and in the burrow form of government it is the council not the mayor that rules the council passed the resolution the council asked for the appraisal and you
know stop you know what happened people don't like a council that bows down to the mayor that's why the O'Brien team stashed with all due respect that's why you came in second Mary that's why you came in first the people want the
council to do their jobs and you said you want that space preserved you asked for the appraisal I still when I asked you hav't gotten I don't know if the council has gotten that Jim thank you thank you Mayor
Bob Bob Duffy 111 merid Avenue I want to thank you mayor for the kind words to my wife kind person uh we have a new attorney on the council now uh the last attorney he was going to
try to come up with an ordinance for people to go in front of boards that all of fines and stuff was supposed to be this was in the summertime
okay uh an ordinance to come up with an ordinance that if anybody wants to come in front of any board with property that their taxes Their fines right and okay you know yep yep so I'll go over it with
him okay uh number two is uh clean bill of health clear title yeah well I mean why go in front of a board I got you when you're getting fine for what you're doing you want the board to rectify it make it all good
again it's let them pay the fines and Endo it's money into the to the township uh the other thing I'd like to talk about is there an ordinance for people to go door too in town yeah they
have to have a permit right okay thank you now Michael Bob there's a no where you can you can is it the police they call I think it's on our website for the Nook you can go to the
website and and and there and anybody who's coming in to go door too will get a sheet of homes that they're not allowed to knock on okay I just want to wait wait let make something clear is only if they're licensed they get that uh sheet if they're not licensed through
us if they're just freelance people we we we don't if we know about it they have to they have to get a permit okay because of the ration of C thieves and breaking in we need our police to
question these people ask them in my area in Meritt Avenue up at the end uh we had three in the last month okay and one was very suspicious it was raining real hard and
he was going door too selling roofs okay we called the police and he was out of our sight we got in our car and followed him and I don't know if the police ever showed up
I think Michael in your reports with the public safety you're given a number of calls number of things I think you should get some time response maybe we can make it
better ABS bring that to the police that that'll deter that'll deter the the bad guys that coming in once they know they're going to be questioned or get arrested right away for not having a permit or
something they'll go somewhere else I mean you're there's nobody here more involved with police other than John zabowski than you are because of of your brother-in-laws that being said as you you know when a call goes into the switchboard it's prioritized right so at
any one time we you know in the in the in the evening we have four to six officers on the road so if there's a heart attack if there's other issues that they're dealing with they're prioritized I'm 100% with that I I understand not that your call isn't
important no I I grant you that but if you remember years ago you changed the shifting of police officers because of the way the Bars were closing right you know what I mean so if you get response
times and you can have someone look at it that's an expert and maybe there could be a change in it or something no no everything can be improved Bob yeah I'm just saying yeah I'm not arguing with you it's on the list the the times and would not deteriorating the police
force we just want to make it more efficient I think we happen to have an excellent police for oh always have I didn't say we didn't no I know you didn't you're Pro police you are I know that from a police family I know I know okay you mayor
thank you anything else that being said I'll entertain a motion Jim you you already came up I have something else you you can call on me again I don't know well I have to check but I think it's once one no Jim I didn't call on
you you called on you I didn't mention something Jim mayor at the re this is pretty important at the reorganization you never say anything failed to appoint councilman zabowski to the planning board 4055
d-23 says the governing body needs to appoint a member appointed by it appointed by the governing body we have a very important application before the board zabowski was appointed liaison to the committee but not appointed the
class three member of the planning board so I listen to the sh I I specifically made that appointment or I made so no you made the liaison appointment you didn't appoint him to the I'll and besides that mayor it isn't
the mayor's appointment it's the council's appointment so if you specifically made that appointment it's not a valid appointment 455 d-23 says a member of the governing body to be appointed by it I did that I did that and I listened to
the tape it wasn't done I'm not trying to cause the problem I'm trying to solve I'm trying to make sure there is we we know what happened we'll take care of it okay and I would suggest you do it tonight Jim thank you sit down okay my
pleasure I'm always glad to help mayor Jim did it for the did not no no I did I sent I sent in the appointment by email to both the um planning board and there's a special category for the
planning board and the environmental I specifically that was Christin all I did that so for the environmental not the class which one do I need to appoint class three you didn't you didn't reappoint
the class two no we did class two he did yeah which one is missing class three Council men all right so I appoint councilman Z Browski it's a motion motion by the
council I'll make a motion to appoint John Z Browski as the class three Delegate for the planning board and I'll second second roll call Council person's Roberts yes Bala yes kisi Novak
yes uh SAR yes zabowski thank you sometimes the dopy a-holes know what they're talking about but not you um with that being said I will entertain a motion to close the public
portion come on up you are good evening uh Charlie Caville I'm the editor of New Brunswick today uh Community News Outlet are you here as a reporter or as a citizen I am both go ahead Charlie thank you sir uh here
to follow up on a concern I raised at your reorganization meeting about Judge Spencer Robbins uh if you recall I raised a concern about uh a criminal case from 10 years ago uh I'm still looking into that and I did take your advice and I was able to get a number
and did call his office and haven't heard back yet to get his side of the story but I have that's come to my attention there's more concerns um in particular looking up his record uh uh disciplinary record as an attorney um
the Supreme Court of New Jersey has a whole system for attorney discipline I believe there were two of the lowest form of uh punishment is called an admonition one from 2005 and one from 2015 or I'm sorry 2004
and 2015 but um much more concerning is a more recent order from our state supreme court uh this is a what's considered a censure and so I'll just read a little bit from this uh in the matter of Spencer B Robbins attorney at law attorney number 02 9951 981 the
disciplinary renew review board having filed with the court its decision in drb 24-9 recommending that Spencer B Robbins of Woodbridge who was admitted to the bar of this state in 1981 should be censured for violating RPC
1.5d parenthesis failing to comply with the record keeping requirements of rule 1 21-6 and RPC 8.1b parenthesis failing to cooperate with disciplinary authorities um and you know it goes on
from there uh but this was signed by uh the uh um Stuart rabner Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and the clerk of the Supreme Court uh the 3 of December just uh uh last year 2024 so I I didn't realize it at the time when I was
bringing up what I brought up at reorganization meeting but this is a very timely concern looking into judge Robin's record uh how he was appointed uh the vetting that was done and and I think since he has taken the bench there's now a new matter that's that's
also of concern so I wanted to uh get your side mayor hear you and the council talk about how you vetted uh Spencer Robbins and what's being done we submitted the name to the assigning judge and the assigning judge passed it so I I I you know
whatever your issue is with with our judge is your issue he's done he's done a commendable job here you you know I assume you might have lost a case he might have represented somebody on the other side of the aisle from you
because it seems awful personal for you assume wrong I've I've actually never met the man I no I I recommend you keep calling him okay well I I'll give him another call but I I think that at this point reasonable people should be
concerned and if you know one of the municipal judges being censured by the state supreme court is not caused for concern then I think we've got an even bigger problem and so I'm just bringing it to all your attention because you're the governing body that has appointed him to this position of power in the in the burrow where he's overseeing lots of
cases you may think he's doing a commendable job and whatever that's based on I I I'm sure you have your factors you consider hey Jim if you're gonna talk take it out in the hall just from the public perspective this is concerning that that uh this person with this
record is a judge list go right ahead you can you got five minutes to say what you want to say and that's and then away we go sure sure I guess I was hoping to prompt some discussion from the the mayor and Council here and um if anybody want a public portion it's not a press
conference fair enough fair enough I'll just say I'm I'm here to bring this to your attention I want to thank the person who brought this to my attention after I spoke at your January 1 meeting someone called me and I encourage people to call me with tips and information about things that need to be investigated need to be exposed need to
be lifted up and raised up so I give my phone number right now to anybody who wants it 732 99396 N7 encourage the council to give me a call if you want to talk about this matter or anything else same to you mayor and same to the the general public at New Brunswick today we're here to
help we are a community news outlet and uh this is our community so thank you for hearing me out and hope that uh we can keep an open line of communication okay anything else anyone else take a motion make a motion to close the public second roll
call I I make a motion to ad Jour not yet Donna sorry there is something that that's I wanted to point out when it comes to open space one of the things you have to have is a willing seller so over the over the course of years I have
asked Mr Marco from time to time if he would like to sell some of his property to open space so and he didn't uh so I think during my predecessor's term he
has about 140 Acres on the other side of Kennedy Park on the Main Street side and that was went through the planning board and it was approved for warehouses uh so now on on the Washington Road side
uh he has 40 acres which he does not want to sell doesn't want to sell the warehouse side doesn't want to sell any of his property you are Jim you have a personal relationship with the guy you can call him anytime you want and and ask him if he wants to sell it ask him if he wants
if a if an acre on Journey Mill Road is going for half a million dollars for a warehouse I don't see how 40 acres in Kennedy Park is going to go for 15 I'm not here to discuss show us the appraisal what are you hiding show us
the appraisal wherever the appraisal is property behind Kennedy Park is different property and its own Pride bit Jim except you're not allowed to be appointed okay so what everybody
needs to realize is you have to have a willing seller and if you don't have a willing seller you're not you're not going to buy it at any price and that's the point that I wanted to share with anyone that being said I'll entertain a motion make
a motion to close the meeting second call all in favor I I Mo thank you everyone