Good evening everyone. I'm going to call the meeting to order. Would 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 in 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 algiance to
the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Jessica's statement of publication. Please take notice that this regular
agenda meeting of the mayor and burough council being held on the 16th day of June 2025 has been posted and advertised in accordance with the open public meetings act chapter 231 public law 1975. Roll call. Council persons Bala here. Pesi here. Novak here. Roberts
here. Sarski here. Council president approval of prior minutes. Move the following minutes of the mayor and council be approved on roll call vote subject to correction if necessary the regular and agenda session May 27th 2025.
Roll call. Council persons Roberts. Yes. Bala. Yes. Pissy. Yes. Novak. Yes. Zarski. Yes. Zabowski. Yes. Uh proclamation and presentations. Uh council president. Thank you mayor. I have a proclamation
for parks and recreation month. Whereas parks and recreation programs are an integral part of communities throughout this country, including Seville. And whereas our parks and recreation are vitally important to establishing and maintaining the quality of life in our communities, ensuring the health of all
citizens, and contributing to the economic and environmental well-being of a community and region. And whereas parks and recreation programs build healthy, active communities that aid in the prevention of chronic disease, provide therapeutic recreation services for those who are mentally or physically
disabled, and also improve the mental and emotional health of all citizens. And whereas parks and recreation programs increase the community's economic prosperity through increased property values, expansion of the local tax base, increased tourism, the attraction and retention of businesses,
and crime reduction. And whereas parks and recreation are fundamental to the environmental well-being of our community. And whereas parks and natural recreation areas improve water quality, protect groundwater, prevent flooding, improve the quality of the air we
breathe, provide vegetative buffers to development, and produce habitat for wildlife. And whereas our parks and natural recreation areas ensure the ecological beauty of our community and provide a place for children and adults
to connect with nature and recreate outdoors. And whereas the US House of Representatives has designated July as Parks and Recreation Month. And whereas the Burough of Saraveville recognizes the benefits derived from parks and recreation resources, I on behalf of
Kennedy O'Brien, mayor of the Burough of Saraveville, do hereby designate the month of July 25th as Parks and Recreation Month. I'll take a motion. Move that the proclamation be approved and roll call vote. Is there a second? Second. Roll
call. Council persons Novak, yes. Fala, yes. His Roberts, yes. Sinarski. Yes. Zowski. Yes. And mayor, before we move forward, um our parks and recreation director was unable to be here today. He sent me a note um about receiving this.
He wants he says, "I want to extend our sincere thanks for proclaiming July as park and recreation month in our community. This recognition means so much not just to those of us who work in parks and recreation, but to the countless residents who benefit every day from our parks, playgrounds,
programs, and open spaces. Parks and recreation are essential to a healthy, active, and connected community. Thank you for recognizing the role parks play in enhancing our quality of life and for helping us celebrate the dedicated staff, volunteers, and partners who make it all possible. We look forward to a
fun and engaging July and we invite everyone to get out and enjoy everything our parks have to offer. Thank you. Congratulations, Brian. Uh with that, we we come to the main event of the evening, which is uh from
the youth of Seville and their Shade Tree Art. Um, so if I could get all the all the kids and mom and dad take your cameras out and feel free to roam the council chamber and take these Kodak moments for all eternity. So council, if
you would, we'll go up to the rail. Kids and the shade tree, come on up. If you all want to just kind of stand over on that side for right now, I'd appreciate that. Um, hi, my name is Heather. I'm uh a commissioner for the
Shade Tree Commission. I'm here with Ed Grella, our vice chair, and Chris Kuno, also a commissioner. Um, for the last few years, we've run two competitions. One is an annual art competition, and the other one is an annual poetry competition. We did get a tremendous
amount of submissions this year, which we were more than thrilled to read. And so today we're going to present some awards to students um that did win um in our poetry contest. So Ed, if you wouldn't mind holding them. We
originally were only going to have two sets of winners, but we were just so takenback by how many fantastic submissions that we received that we decided to pick a third set. Sh, don't tell anyone. Okay, so our let's do um third place. Third place first. First.
Yeah. Right here. Yeah. So, we have in third place, Kareem Fields. Shake. I'm gonna have him shake you. Okay. Okay. Okay.
Second place is David C. Do Santos and [Laughter] and first place is Rosa Ortega. Rose first. on to the second set of three. Thank you
for your patience. Our um second third place winner is Abigail McCarthy. A our second second place winner is Venenzo Rivera. Love it. Love the energy. Love the energy. And our second first place
winner is Lunia Martinez. Did I say Luna? I'm sorry. Luna Martinez. All right. And on to our third set of winners.
Our third third place is Mia Alvarado. Yeah. Our third second place winner is Hannah O'Halerin Howerin. And our third first place winner is Penelopey Haney.
Um, I will say we just want to get a picture with everyone and of course mayor and council. Also, when we dismiss, if you could just meet Ed in the back. Um, unfortunately, we don't have the the gift cards with us. They're with our president who or our chair who's on vacation right now. So, we will
have to coordinate getting it to you. I'm so sorry about that. Um, but we hope to continue to do this in years going forward. And, uh, I'll give it over to mayor and counsel. Thank you, Shri. As always, great job. Young Saveville
residents, are you going out for pizza tonight or did you have it before you came? Huh? You had it. Okay. Okay. You had the pizza party. Well, your winners. Your winners. We were very proud of you. Very proud of you. You're
you're really a testament to the good people of Seville, which you're a big part of. and the future is yours and we thank you very much. Smile a little bit. Mom and dad are taking your picture. All right. With that, Councilwoman
Councilwoman Novak is the liaison to Shade Tree. So, let me give her the mic. Okay. Uh I just like I'm so proud of you kids. This is really wonderful. I'd like to thank you for participating. I'd like to thank the teachers. They're such a big part of this.
and they and they are a reflection of their wonderful parents. So, thank you very much parents also shade tree is a is a commission that does a lot of work in town and they not only take care of your trees but they
are also there to pass this on to the next generation. So, I want to thank them again too for that. I just want to say congratulations to all of you. I'm glad you enjoyed your pizza. I did too beforehand and I want to thank Shade Tree for all the good things that they do in the community.
Thank you again. I don't want to repeat but an outstanding job are our next generation in Sarah. Thank you very much for doing what you do. Congratulations again. Good jobs. Keep it up again. I don't know, Mike. Maybe we should just do it together. Let's do it together.
But we really just want to say congratulations. What a wonderful job. Excellent. Thank you, Shri. All right. As you go out, that's a television camera up there. Have everyone get Oh, you want Okay, we're going to get the group photo for
posterity purposes. in the front and then we'll all the flooring adults will stand in the back. Come on. Tall ones in the back. Vertically challenged in the front. Oh yeah, definitely.
Make sure your names. All right. And again, parents, if you can see, head out in the hallway so we can get your contact. All right. So, kids, do me a favor. Hold hold hold your awards up high. Be on TV. You'll be there for all eternity as you walk. As
you walk. Go ahead. Walk forward. Go ahead, Heather. Heather. Heather. Send them on. Send them on their way so they have a procession of Hold Hold your plaques up. Hold your
plaques up over your head. Jeez Louise. All right. Slip to school. Yeah. Congratulations, parents. You did a job well done. Andy, want some water? Anybody want water? I brought my Thanks.
Go ahead. Whereas section 8 of the open public meeting 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 it
resolved by the mayor and burough council the bureau of several county and 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 10 minutes to discuss the following matters. Attorney client privilege, contract negotiations, environmental
legal counsel. Following the conclusion of said closed 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 clo closed session shall be made public at such time as the need
for non-disclosure no longer exists. This resolution shall take effect immediately. Your a motion. I make a motion to go into closed. Second. Second. Council persons Roberts. Yes. Salka, yes. Kissesi, yes. Novak, yes. Sarski, yes. Zabrowski.
a motion to reconvene. So moved. Second. Council persons Roberts. Yes. Fala. Yes. Yes. Novak. Yes. Sarski. Yes. Zowski. Mayor, I'd like to um appoint special
counsel. Okay. Law firm of Mayor and Landis LLP. Albert I Telsey. Is there a second? Second. Roll call. Council persons Roberts. Yes. Bala. Yes.
Kesi. Yes. Novak. Yes. Sarski. Yes. Zabowski. I just want to report that I received the resolution from the several planning board following a meeting on May 21st 2020 2025 recommending block 174 lots
1.01 and lot 1.02 be designated as an area in need of redevelopment and also another resolution received from the several planning board from May 21st recommending block 53.02 lot 8 block 54.01 lots 1.01 1.02 02 and 7 and
block 14 lot one be designated as an area in need of redevelopment. Hey, at this time I'm going to open questions or comments on Mayor. Before you do that, may I just just explain to the public on that appointment just so it's clear. Okay. Um the uh the appointment that was
just made is for a uh uh excuse me, a uh professional services uh appointment for environmental special environmental legal council. We will have a resolution memorializing that appointment and actually awarding the uh uh professional services contract at the following
meeting. Uh but it's for it's relating to uh environmental concerns and and specifically uh pending litigation relating to the uh Hercules uh Dunham water uh system water property. Um but the um the the appointment uh will be I just want to make it clear that it's not
a a new employee. It is a professional service and it will be authoriz or memorialized by written resolution at the following meeting. Thank you, mayor. Sorry. Okay. At this time, I'll open the public portion for questions or comments on uh 5A and 5B. Other questions?
No, no, no. It's just reporting on the Yeah, we don't supposed to be for ordinance. Okay. That was okay. I stand corrected. All right. Appointments. Donna. Yes, I have um two appointments to make. I
was expecting to get one more um application that I did not see yet. And to the cultural arts committee commission, I'd like to appoint Kelly Espazito and Margaret Grande.
You going to Is there a second? No. I make a motion that her appointments are I make a motion. I made the motion to approve your appointments. Okay. Is there a second? Roll call. Council persons Novak. Yes.
Fala. Yes. Kesi, yes. Roberts, yes. Zarski, yes. Browski, yes. Resolution, you have a second one, Donna. Uh, no. I did not get the application. Okay. Okay.
What's next? Reszos. All right. At this time, I'm going to open to the public questions or comments on the resolutions. Jim. Okay. Thank you, Mayor Jim Robinson.
On the agenda, there is about $5 million worth of improvement um in recreational ility. Um, so unless I ask a question, there will probably be no discussion on what those improvements are because
council doesn't discuss them anymore. So when I'm done asking our questions, I would like it somebody would please explain what those various improvements are. The other thing I'd like to talk about is the redevelopment. Um, there are a couple things mention you
mentioned 5A and 5B and then there's um 171 170 I'm not sure what properties these are. I think one is the JCPNL maybe one Sunshine Biscuit in there. No
but can can you explain and think Not everybody knows lot and block numbers. So can you tell us what these properties are? Uh Councilman Zabroski if you would go over 5 A and B please.
Or seven 78. Yes. 5 A and 5B. So, uh, John, please. Oh, I'm sorry. Yes, I'm sorry. Here we go. Okay. All right. So, blocks 5302, lot 8, block 5401, lots 101, 1027, block 14, lot one.
That is actually the JCPNL site. It's encompassing of that. Yep. The second one is for uh was is primarily the Sunshine Biscuit property, but there is also some area that's on the other side of Journey Mill Road that's inclusive of
the um for the redevelopment area is inclusive of um uh in that area as well, some of those blocks. Thank you for that. And 171, John, that's what I just explained. Why don't I suggest that in the future? I mean, I had an idea what
these were, but I know lot numbers because I have no life as somebody explained a year ago. Um, you know, planning board chairman, I know the lot and block numbers roughly. Um, so I appreciate very much, but I'm going to suggest that when you put the agenda,
just note what the property is so that reading this have an idea of what you're talking about. Yeah, we just made that suggestion. Um, and I I want to thank you for taking a look at the old JCP Enlite on River Road as a redevelopment
site. You know, I had suggested probably going back two years, maybe longer, that you look at that that that is waterfront property. It has great potential. I hope you'll give it the attention and you know it's got great potential and I hope that you look at it creatively and
there'll be well thought out uses that it deserves because we've seen what's happened to most redevelopment sites there warehouses warehouses self storage warehouses oh and uh warehouses
um and let's do better on this prime piece of property that is waterfront let's make it something take pride in that we can use that we can enjoy something that will be a benefit something that will be a benefit to the entire burrow of Saraveville. Now I have
a question about the old Sunshine Biscuit property. Um and as you know I thought that that would be a wonderful location for a school bus depot. I understand the other two that we're looking at there are some
problems with. They already park 70 to 80 tractor trailers there without approval. So we know buses would fit and with a pilot they'd get a big tax break. So maybe in exchange for the pilot they'd allow a bus depot there. Not for free, charge a reasonable rate but but
allow it. Now I just want to mention this. I have a question. when Arsenal came in and other folks came in and we argued against the pilot because the schools would be cheated out of money in the case of Arsenal out of millions about $30 million the schools
will not get because Arsenal has a pilot and the argument was but this is new development they just aren't getting new money they aren't losing old money and they'll still be paying the property taxes on
the uh on the land. My question is this. If you put the JCPNL site into a redevelopment zone and you give them a pilot, because let's face it, that's why they want to be in a
redevelopment zone. So, they get a pilot, will the board of education lose money then if you go from a tax right now, Sunshine Biscuit pays about $730,000 in taxes. So that's roughly about
400,000 that goes to the board of education. They pay 730 in property taxes. If they no longer pay property taxes and they get a pilot, does that mean that the 400,000 that they are now paying to the
board of education won't be paid? And can there be a end? Stays the same. If that money goes up, stays the same. Those bills go up. Stays the same. Stays the same.
Stays the same. Flat. Well, now it goes up every year. So, will it stay the same? So, even that is a loss. How much? 20 seconds, Jim. Okay. All right. So, I just want to make sure that the that the
schools will be will be held harmless in this situation. And even even if it stays flat, well, that doesn't hold them harmless because every year they get more because, as you know, taxes go up every every year. So, I'd like a I'd like a more thorough I appreciate that
off-the cuff answer, but I'd like a more thorough response to that. Thank you very much. Are there any other questions or comments? Being no other questions or comments, I'll entertain a motion. I move the public hearing be closed in the consent agenda resolutions be
approved on roll call vote. Second roll call. Council persons Roberts. Yes. Valka. Yeah. And 24 I mean 2025145. I'm abstaining on the adel bill. Yes. On everything. Kesi. Yes. Novak.
Uh yes on everything but uh 170 and 171. I'm going to abstain on those. Uh only because it's not that I'm not in favor of this. It's just that the the uh information that we got from the planning board said that they relied
heavily on a the SEAR's planners report and they said it was attached and it was not attached. So I didn't get to read it and then our our resolution actually says that we read all of these reports. So I don't want to say yes if I haven't
read the reports. Yes. Zabrowski. Yes. All right. Next item. I didn't motion to accept the correspondence as listed. So moved. Second. Second. Roll
call. Council persons Novak. Yes. Bala. Yes. Police. Yes. Roberts. Yes. Sarski. Yes. Zabrowski. Yes. Okay. Mayor and council reports. Administration and finance. Councilman Balcon. Thank you, Mayor. Uh the
auditors are on site performing the 2024 audit and other than that progress. Okay. Planning and zoning. Councilman Zabowski. Thank you, Mayor. Uh first off, happy belated Father's Day to all and those that uh uh serve in that capacity as well. Appreciate it. I had the real uh honor uh speaking father's
day to attend the father's day brunch at the epic church uh by invitation by Reverend Bulock. It was actually uh because the mayor was unable to do it. Uh what a wonderful afternoon I spent uh with Pastor John. Uh and I thank them for the invitation. Uh I want to move on
to I guess what I would call a PSA. And uh our construction agency recently received some complaints related to work that people do on their property uh whether it's uh buildings or on actually their grounds. In this particular case, it was on their grounds. It had to do
with actually um driveways and front yards. Um so a couple of things the as far as the complaints are concerned our construction agency um is handling those um and handling them accordingly. Uh there is a process under which uh to do
that. The PSA is this. If you're doing any pro any work on your property, check first. Construction agency so that you in fact know that what you're doing is able to be done uh either with a permit or with permission through uh the various boards, whether it's planning
board or board of adjustment. U it'll save you a lot of time. In this particular case, when we're talking about front yards, you think, well, okay, I I can probably pave my front yard if I want to. But in all actuality, there's rules involved there. And the rules not to encourage you or to slow you the process down or to tell you that
you can't use your own property, but there's also a public interest involved as well. Environmental issues, um, public safety, as well as your neighbors, your next door neighbors. So, um, I thank those that forwarded those complaints. I thank our construction
agency and our zoning office for taking attention to that. And again, I put that out for a public uh service so that everybody can kind of make this process a little bit easier for each one of us. Um secondly, I have a request to uh
actually I guess it would be through uh the mayor or the chair for a request for a burough planner. Um recently the planning board had went through a rather long application related to a conditional use and one of the issues was the size of the property
acreages. Um so I took a look at this a little bit because it's concerning as the fact that uh when this was changed and the reason for that and I couldn't really come up with the reason for it but I will tell you the change actually took place in 1999 1999 and it was at
the recommendation of then borrow planner at time hired and grl um I think it was in conjunction to the master plan and it was a request for changing of the land use and I'm sure it was under good reasons at that time, but times change.
We're now 25 26 years later. The environment changes, laws change, court cases changes. So um to take that into consideration uh so that in the future um there's a more clarity to it and applications will be handled a little bit differently. I'm going to make the
request that our burough planner uh take a review of the conditional uses that are uh still in the um in our zoning ordinance particular for uh residential areas of I guess it would be R seven, R10 and R20 where those conditional uses are at. uh so they could do a
comprehensive review to see if in fact the changes could be done uh and if they would be proper to do um if that's okay. I have no objection. Is that a a motion? Uh if it's needs to be a motion, I'd like to but I don't know if it needs to
be. It does not need to be a motion. Uh unless the council wants to not necessarily be a motion just to see if anyone objects or if no one objects then appreciate that. And just one last thing, I apologize for talking too long. Some good news as well. Sarah had been working with uh businesses and residents
down in the downtown area of Sarville uh right down here. And uh one of the issues that came up through the survey and to talking to folks was that traffic particularly speeding is an issue. Um, so we tasked uh the commission using our
several police department b uh traffic bureau as well as our burough engineers uh to put together an investigation and a report and a request to change the speed limit to 25. Uh this had to go to the our county and our county did review that investigation, that report and that
plan and they accepted it. So, uh, mayor and council can expect to see a formal request from, uh, Sarah, uh, on that, uh, in probably at the next meeting. Uh, but it's not just the reduction of speed. In order to do that, we also have to do traffic calming as well. So, it's
a it's a more comprehensive plan of reducing uh, the recetivitism of speeding uh, down in that lower area and also to protect the pedestrians that are walking in that area as well. Again, I apologize for the long report, mayor. That's my report and thank you. Can I ask a few questions? Yes. Uh are we just
talking third the speed limit 30 to 25 or all the way from the beginning where it's 35? So it'll be from the MacArthur Avenue intersection down to uh what is that main and Washington road? So what we consider to be I guess the downtown proper area. Yeah. And calming things.
Are we talking about We're not talking about speed bumps, right? No. No. We we've we've discussed those a number of occasions and my previous job and and your yours as volunteer. We know that those things can be problematic, but what they are talking about is additional pedestrian crosswalks, additional signage as well uh in order
to be able to um to calm that down. Sounds good. Thank you, Mary, for those questions. Thank you, Councilman. Uh public works uh public safety rather. Councilman Klay, thank you, Mayor. Um
my first report to be relayed from the uh director Barsley of uh office of emergency management at uh OEM continues to prioritize preparedness and coordination across the community. On June 12th OEM staff attended a
full-day training synopsium at uh Mammoth University. They focused on enhancing emergency response capabilities and inter agency cooperation. So looking ahead, OEM will be operating under a unified command post for both the middle school and high
school graduations on June 17th and 18th to ensure the safety and smooth operation during these important events. Additionally, on June 28th, OEM will partner with Middle Sex County OEM, the
prosecutor's office, Saraveville Police, and fire to establish the unified command post for the community's fireworks celebration, reinforcing our commitment to public safety during largecale events.
And uh my next report is from Chief Plumacher. The uh Saraveville PD continues to make progress on background checks for prospective officer candidates. Our goal uh their goal remains to have all investigations
completed in time for council interviews ahead of the our uh next July 12th uh 21st meeting. In addition to recruitment efforts, the department and PBA Local 98, they
proudly participated in the 42nd annual Special Olympics torch run. So, Sergeant Steve Maslowski served as a safety escort vehicle, helping ensure a safe route from Island Beach State Park all
the way up to Perth Damboy. Their involvement reflects our department's deep commitment to both public safety and community service. Our officers also took part in the middle school career fair, engaging with students and providing insight into careers in law
enforcement. Events like these strengthen our community trust and inspire the next generation to consider public service. So, uh, that's the end of the report and I look forward to, uh, seeing everyone at our Independence Day
celebration in Kennedy Park on Saturday, June 28th. That's all I have. Mayor Hey, uh public uh public works. Uh Councilwoman Novak, uh I'd like to talk again about starting
on August 1st, we will be going to automated garbage cans for our recycling. So, we will have less recycling blowing around town. I'm constantly getting reports that it it's it's a shame no matter how it happens, but I think an awful lot of our bottles
and cans and milk crates and stuff that are floating around in our ponds and our streams and our parks are coming from our recycling cans. So, we're we're very excited about this. We'll still be working. This is still going to be with the county. They are just going to a new
collection service. uh anytime starting in uh the beginning of July, you your cans might be dropped off, the new cans. They're going to be just like our green ones as the same size, only blue. And but you're you can't use them until August 1st. So I I'll probably just keep
saying that at every meeting until until August. Also, I'd like to talk about our flag day services. I was a little Wait a minute, Jim. We we can only the the mics pick up the the conversations from the audience. So, if you'd let one meeting
go on at a time. Go ahead, Councilwoman. Uh, Flag Day services. Uh, a lot of people don't realize that, uh, the veterans organizations in town, they they collect everybody from all over town. You drop off your flags during the
year if they've been in any way damaged. And they have what they call a retirement ceremony where they burn them. I was a little late this year, unfortunately. My memo said 7 o'clock even though I knew it was six, but I figured it maybe it would been changed. So, but it it really is a wonderful
service and anybody that has a flag of their own, whether it's a small one or a large one, uh the proper way to dispose of it is burning and if you uh there's boxes usually in front of the both the Legion and the BFW to collect these flags during the year and then they will
have a service where they are all burnt and it's really a nice service. It's behind the Legion but in War Memorial Park. So, it's really nice and I'd like to thank the the veterans with all they've done that they continue to do and they continue to show this for the next generation. Other than that, progress. Mayor, thank you,
Councilwoman. Uh, water, sewer, environmental, Councilman Sinarski. Uh, thank you, Mayor. Uh, the first thing I want to say is I want to thank John for and the police department and everybody else for working on that Main Street problem that's existing, but I've definitely had progress. People were
telling me that things have changed on Main Street as far as the parking and people are definitely happier. So, with the new speed limit changes, I definitely think that's going to be also an improvement. As far as the water and sewer goes, uh even though we've been getting a lot of rain, there is still
not a drought situation, but the wells and aquifers are still low. Just for example, they always say that in the spring months, we're going to be using more water. Sure enough, in March, we used 145 million. They produced 145 million gallons of water. In May, it's
175. That's because the sprinklers are all on the water. People are watering our yards, car washes, everything else is more than cycle. So, just want to say people still in town, please conserve your water. It's one of our vital things that we need. And if we run out of water, we're going to have big problems. Uh the next thing is the community
garden. The community garden has 44 beds active. Uh I stopped in there. I help them clean up the weeds. I do whatever I can do for him, but there are I have to do get in touch with Glenn and we got to work a little bit to try to get some other problems taken care of over there. Other than that, progress mayor. Thank
you, Councilman Recreation Council President. Thank you, Mayor. Um, first to piggyback on the graduation, just to let everyone know, the library will be closing early on Tuesday the 17th and the 18th for graduation. So, um, check
the library schedule. They've got a lot of other great events, but they will be closing early because of the graduation. Our Independence Day celebration, again, Saturday, June 28th, 4:00 p.m. till 9:30 p.m. Um, free inflatable attractions, rock wall face painting at 4:00 till
8:00. Food trucks featuring multiple types of cuisine. Live music from Frontiers, the world's number one tribute to Journey, begins at 7 PM and the fireworks should begin approximately 9:15. So pray for good weather.
We're also going to have in conjunction with the farmers market on June 26th from 5:00 to 7:00 a bike rodeo, 10 bicycle games and challenges, free familyfriendly event. Bring your bikes, scooters, skates, and helmets. And you
can register using the information on the flyer on the recreational website. We also have June 25th, lots of things going on. Teen night from 7:30 till 10:30 at Burks Park. It's going to be an end of school year pizza party and movie
night. Registration is required. That's also on the recreation website. And I do want to say cultural arts is working on a very active calendar besides for te night. I believe we have a meeting tomorrow to finalize all of that. So once that's all finalized, um we'll
share the schedule out. Um and we'll be post publishing that so you can attend the many activities and bands and um other things, cultural activities that we're going to have on that upcoming schedule. So a lot of things coming out.
Let's just hope the rain is done. And I do want to um see if I need a motion for one thing that has come up. Um, we do have background checks for those who who are going to do volunteers with our our
students. I thought it would probably be a good idea to do a background check just on all of our boards and commissions just to make sure um we have that. Can we look into that? Yes, I I can start looking into that and uh present something to the council for
its consideration or you know report back for and if there's something that requires an ordinance or or resolution, I'll start preparing those with the council's direction. And I think that would be a good consistent um practice across all of our boards and commissions.
Anything else, council president? I believe that's it, mayor. Thank you. Thank you, Council President. Uh for myself uh for those of you who were not aware, there was uh the the trial about the murder of uh Councilwoman Ununice
Dwamfor was concluded and the there was a conviction. Um and the sentencing I believe will be in July, Glenn. Um so our thoughts and our prayers and our best wishes go to her family, her
daughter. Uh and may that never happen again. Um it was truly a tragedy. Uh second thing uh this Thursday, Friday, and Saturday is the annual St. Sans Carnival, which is a which is as much of
a much of a town event as it is a parish event. So for those who were unaware, it's Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Uh and um it's a lot of fun. It's a great deal of fun. Uh with that we'll go to u
general discussion and agenda items. Authorization to amend the shade tree ordinance. I make a motion to table that second. Do we need a motion or we can just pull it? Um well for the council to act it has to be a motion and second
unless it's just tabled administratively. Okay. Okay. Who you might use is do we need a roll call? Yeah. Council person's Roberts. Yes, Bala. Yes, Kesi. Yes, Novak. Yes, Sinarski. Yes,
Zabrouski. Yes. That being said, I did ask the attorney to give a report on this. Um, it's the last thing that we need or want to make this a football item. Uh, so
this is something I've been sitting up here as mayor for 23 years. Uh a and it's very common to go through our ordinances and do housekeeping and bring
them uh current. Uh Jim, if listen, if you want to go out in the hall and and do what you want to do, you might get some attention out here, but you're not getting any here. That being said, um as Councilman uh Palowski once said, and
and I use it quite frequently, government is a living document. So that which was done 25 years ago, 30 years ago, 50 years ago sometimes needs to be brought current. So I asked for a brief
um uh report from the burough attorney on shade tree ordinances both in Seville and in the state. So councelor, if you would please. Uh yes, mayor. Um the Yes. Yes. Um the origins for for this ordinance
that was prepared and was discussed the last meeting was in fact that we're I'm working with the administration to actually go through uh our current ordinances specifically with regard to our all of the different boards, commissions, and committees of the borrow to make sure they're up to date and also consistent. We have certain
boards that operate differently or commissions that operate differently than others. They have different rules. So we're looking at those to try to make it more consistent. And when doing so, we were looking at the specifically with regard to the shade tree commission. Um it was um you know discussed it on the administration side that you know what
would it be able to or would the burrow be able to change that and make it more of a advisory type committee rather than the commission as it is currently forming. Uh there are different commissions and and committees throughout the state. Some of the shade trees are in fact shade trees are in
fact advisory committees. They're not commissions. uh they others are commissions. There have been other municipalities in the state that have moved from commissions back to advisory committee types uh uh bo bodies rather than the commissions under the statute. Uh the interesting part is with regard
to specifically sha tree as well. It's not one of those bodies that's required to be even though it's stat it has statutory framework. It's not one that's required to be had by a municipality. Municipality is not required to have a shade tree commission. it most do or most have an advisory uh committee uh in
lie of a commission but they most do have some type of shade tree body uh but it is mixed between whether or not it is a commission operating under the statute or whether it is uh a separate body that's created by the ordinance so what I had done is drafted a draft ordinance
that included terms that I have normally put in with regard to uh other advisory committee type boards but all of it is in the discretion of the governing body even with those I know one of the points that was brought up at the last meeting was the fact that I had included language in there that said it wasn't
subject to the open public meetings act and the reason is is because they aren't but that doesn't mean that this body if they decide to go if they decide to go forward with the ordinance they can't make it still subject to the open public meetings act and they can voluntarily make that body subject to that was just a term that I normally include on all
advisory committee type boards or ad ad hoc type committees because they aren't legally required to but you can as it is a body that's created by ordinance of the governing body, excuse me, can be included. So, those are just terms that I I came up with trying to be consistent
with what the burrow had previously had through the commission as well as looking to update it based on what I've seen in some of the other municipalities with regard to being more of an ad ad excuse me advisory versus the uh statutory commission. Uh so, that was really the origins of why it was
drafted, what was in that ordinance. It is sub subject to absolutely the governing body's discussion, comments, revisions, uh and to to make it into a form if it even goes forward if they want to change it at all as it is. Uh the the reason why is if it's kept as a commission, it is following the statute.
So, it does have to follow what the statute says, you don't have as much uh authority over what those terms and conditions are. And that's really where we are. And I understand it's being tabled, which is absolutely fine. But if there is any comments or questions, feel free to reach out to me. I'm happy to
assist, modify, revise as as deemed requested. Okay. Councelor, the chairman of the shade tree had reached out to uh the borrow administrator wishing he had questions for you. My understanding is you did contact him and what was the
nature of the conversation? We spoke last Thursday uh before he left on vacation. He uh advised me about this initial meeting uh that the commission had held on that previous Monday. Uh I was asked to attend that. Unfortunately, I couldn't I had another engagement that evening because I just found out about
it that morning. Uh but I I couldn't make it to that meeting to answer questions. So, I had offered through through the mayor administration to submit questions to me and I'm happy to answer any questions uh that the commission may have come up with at the special meeting. Uh in lie of submitting those commissions uh we uh we spoke Art
Art and I spoke on the phone. Uh he was asking me questions about the same kind of the same ideas. Where's the origin the origin of the ordinance? uh you know what was uh you know some of the the background of why it was being presented and what might be the fate moving forward and I explained the same thing that this is that was just a draft that
I had come up with you know to be circulated and commented on it was just something that it had a lot of terminology that I normally use and trying to incorporate but it's it's the the governing bodies the council's you know document so it can be revised and and modified as they deemed fit. uh you
know he had asked about you know the the the commission itself and we talked about how you know it is it is a it's a discretionary body it's not one that's mandated by statute uh even though it is in the statute there's it's on a mandated body that the borrower has to have so it is in the governing body's discretion as to whether it keeps it
modifies it or changes it uh one way or the other and then we also spoke about the tree fund and how Yes. Go ahead. Sorry, I thought I heard someone um and whether or not you know uh who has the control of that body that
money and what's the purposes of it and we went through you know I just explained my reading of the ordinance and how it was designed and you know that it is any any expenditure does require uh unless it was part of a portion that was uh uh um uh budgeted to the committee uh that any expenditure
still has to go before the council. It is a council uh fund. It's not a it's not something that the the commission can cut checks off of. It does require council approval. Uh it's but it's something that's under tree, you know, shade tree type of protection or or or uh intentions and recommendations. So it
is something that they would be recommending the bureau how to utilize and spend it. Are there any questions from the governing body? I I just have really a statement I'd like to make. I can't hear you, dear. Okay. Uh what I
object objected to was I mean your explanation sounds really nice except for the fact that it wasn't something that was advisory. It showed up on the agenda for first reading of an ordinance and that does not follow our protocols. It should have been on the agenda
meeting and then we should have asked you to do something for the next meeting. That's not the way it worked. I knew nothing about it until I received my agenda on that Thursday. I had no knowledge of it at all and I am liazison to shade tree. So the process was not
followed at all. It just showed up on the agenda on the business part of the agenda as first reading without any discussion with the council prior to that and that's just not what we're supposed to be doing. Thank you. Uh I mean the the um I am new to the
borrow so I can't say about the past practices. Uh I know I've I've looked through the burough rules though when I came on board to make sure I'm comfortable. Um there is actually nothing in the burough council rules or any any of the ordinances that require agenda sessions um or that it be reviewed through agenda. So my
experience just in representing municipalities is part of the introduction process is when you put on the agenda for introduction that is the in the the inception of that conversation with the council. Um but that's that's ridiculous because you money was expended that was not approved
by the council first. So, how can you say that's the normal course of business? You were advised not by the council but by somebody. The mayor said that he was the one that did it. So, I'll accept, you know, the fact that he's the one that did it. But any
expenditures are supposed to be they start here, not with one person. So, it would have to necessarily be discussed at agenda meeting for us to direct you to do this. And you were never directed by the council to prepare an ordinance and put it on the agenda. You're
correct. But I I I as as the burough attorney, you I'm also advised and directed to act by the administration, by the clerk, by by the mayor. Uh there's a lot of things that don't come before the council that I have to work on that I spend money on that I have to do. Uh including preparing contracts, resolutions, reviewing oper requests,
providing legal advice, and preparing an ordinance would be the same thing. It doesn't get adapted without the council and it does require comments but that would be the if the clerk asked me to prepare an ordinance or the administr administrator asked me to prepare an ordinance or the mayor asked me or the council asked me to prepare ordinance
that I would still prepare that same ordinance being the burough attorney. uh whether or not that goes through for introduction and adoption and process you know actually being and and enacted by the governing body that's different that comes before this body and that is
what you know the process is being introduced being discussed as as the council but for me to actually prepare the ordinance that's very common for me to do so with directions of of of any any part of the I you said this you I I've been sitting up here this is my
20th year 21st year and nothing ever gets put onto the business part of the agenda un unless it's an emergency and we all agree put it on the business part of the agenda even though we didn't discuss it. That's the way it's been done. Now, I'm going to be honest with
you. We used to approve all the rules of order at the first meeting and we used to hand out a book every single year. I if it's been changed since I've been off, but uh it was always in the rules of order that everything had to be discussed in the Yeah, it's not in
there. It might just been the past practice. It might have just been the past practice of the council. Uh but I I and I apologize right from the start. I said I'm new. I I don't know what the past practice of the council was. I'm only All right. We're moving forward. Yep. Okay. Are there any other questions
from the governing body? Okay. That being said, uh item two, authorization for the tax collector to refund taxes and cancel all all subsequently bill taxes due to 100% disabled veteran tax exemption for block 32.03, lot 14 in the amount of 8,000.
Jim, I'm going to ask you to to go out take whoever you want to talk to, just bring it out in the hall. I can't have two meetings at the same time. So, uh please please take all your meetings out in the hall. All right? Please don't conduct them because the microphones pick it up. It's distracting. It's
annoying. Aside from being rude. So, you're more than welcome to go out in the hall, turn the light on, shut the door, have all the discussions you want, but not in here. Not while the governing body is is engaged. In the amount of $8,53266.
Application for membership as a firefighter received from Richard Ramos Castro accepted by Morgan Hose on March 6, 2025 and Anthony Mastro accepted by Morgan Hose and Chemical Company at their May 1st, 2025 meeting. Is there
any objection? Next item. Request to travel received from Melrose Hose Company to attend training on August 6th and 7th in Jersey City. Any objection? Next item. Authorization to enter into an interlocal agreement with Middle Sex County for disposal of
paint. Anything needed? Next item. Um, authorization to extend groundskeeping contracts with Cris Landscaping and Custom Care Services for one additional year term and increasing the contract rate for Cris Landscaping to $101,85248.
Can I just ask it says increasing it. How much of an increase was that? It just says increasing it too. We know it's a little over 1%. Thank you. Next item. Authorization to purchase 95gallon automated garbage cans from IPL
North America through HGAC contract in the amount not to exceed 41,3723. The objection. Next item. And request received to hold a block party from the following residents of Cleveland AB on July 5th from 11:00 a.m. to 11 p.m. The objection. An application for special
event received from the South Amboy Seville Rotary Club to conduct a car show at the BFW on Journey Mill Road on June 29th from 10:00 a.m. to 4 pm. Any objection? Okay. Thank you. Uh business administrators report. Mayor, several
months ago, we were contacted by Jennon, which is the property owner for Jersey Central Power and Light Facility. Uh they're divesting of all of their holdings in Saveville. uh they approached us uh with an offer to give us Crab Island uh as they no longer have
a use for it and they're not going to have any operations in Seville anymore. It's been reviewed by both the engineering and law department and there's been no objections from those professionals. So, I'm looking for permission to have the burough attorney draw up a uh ordinance for acquisition
or acceptance of this donated real property. Are there any questions or objections? Next item. liabilities with that. Next item. Thank you. We got a couple of grants in. Oh, I'm sorry, Glenn. Were you done?
You're done. Okay. Um, we had a couple of grants come in. Uh, DCA grant for Jerry O Recreational Complex in the amount of $500,000. Uh, 2025 clean communities grant in the amount of $13,11749. and 2025 recycling enhancement grant in
the amount of $10,000. Anything else, Danielle? Nope, that's it. Thank you. Glenn, if you would just go over uh the grants that became available for the US complex that you spent the last several years putting together, please. What the total cost is
and how much of it is non- taxpayer non serville taxpayer money. Thank you, mayor. None of the money we're employing for that project is savable money. The bulk of it is legislative grants uh through the legislature and also included in the funding for that is the
million dollars we received from uh Traml Crow from the warehouse project um totaling I I I think Jay were we at 4.5 or something like that $4.8 approximately for the $4.8 $8 million. Um, and currently, just in answer to an earlier question, the original uh
concept was to do a baseball field, parking improvements, and a multi-purpose field. We're still a little short on the funding. So, rather than chase our tail and continue to wait to deliver on the project, we did move forward with the bidding for the baseball field and the parking improvements. And this next half a
million dollars will start inching us toward the multi-purpose field once we have full funding for that. Okay, good work, Glenn. Thank you. uh burough engineers report. Jay, would you also include an update on the firehouse in in your report tonight, please? Sure. The item listed as Burho
Walkway Project. We're receiving bids prior to your next meeting. So, if everything's in order, looking for a resolution toward that contract at your Jul July meeting. Uh with regard to the firehouse, our office has completed the remediation plans and specifications. They're currently being reviewed by your
architect. So once he signs off, then we'll be able to proceed with the bidding of the remediation phase of the project. Okay. Um burough attorney's report. Uh nothing further this mean uh this evening. Thank you, mayor. Okay. At this time, I'm going to open the public portion for questions or comments. Other
questions or comments? Jim. Thank you, Mayor Jim Robinson Parlin. First, I want to thank Councilman Zabrowski for his comments about changing the ordinance. Um, there's a particular one that I talked about a few times, and I'm I'm glad that's being done. Secondly, uh, I'd like to say
this. Despite the burough attorney's very convincing argument as to how that ordinance mysteriously showed up on the agenda last week, one thing I've learned from watching things around here in the in the last few years is nothing happens
for the reasons the people think it does. So, I operated some information about the John Deere enhanced performance loader that was purchased and later charged to the tree bank. And this is what I saw from the documents I
received. In May of 2023, the burrow ordered the John Deere 624 P loader with the enhanced performance. That was in May of 2023. In June of 2023, after hit it had
already been ordered, the council authorized its purchase at a cost not to exceed $368,554. When I looked at the invoice, which was dated December 2023, 7 months after it was ordered, it showed the cost was
$400,000 and we got a $14,000 trade in allowance on a 1994 Thomas we traded in. So the cost was $386,554. 386554.
The resolution didn't say anything about a tradein, but the real cost was 386554. The amount the council approved was 368 554. So there was a little transposition of
numbers here. Mary, you know how that works. You ran on the slogan, make several better, not bigger. Well, that too got transposed over the years and we made several better, not bigger. But somewhere along the line, somebody figured out we had ordered a machine for
$386,000 when the council had approved $368,000. No problem. The tree bank has money. So, it was decided that they take money from the tree bank after the fact. But as long as they were taking money,
why not charge the whole thing to the tree bank account? But when I add up the payments deducted from the trade tree account, it comes to a little bit more than $420,000.
Not 368, not 3.86, but $421,000. Maybe somebody can look into that and enlighten me on that at the next meeting. So, the Shade Tree Commission objected to that money being taken from the tree bank and started to ask questions.
Everybody knows how we feel about asking questions in this town. And by the way, the Shade Tree Commission minutes, I have to compliment them. Their minutes are very thorough. They raise concerns that they weren't allowed to plant trees on board of education property. But when residents complained about not enough
trees at Camelot, the mayor's aid, Zach, improperly said the tree bank money could be used to plant trees on Kaplan's property, which Kaplan should have paid for. So, they caused a problem there. They asked too many questions. You know
what happens when you ask questions? So when the shade tree starts to ask questions, not play ball, without discussion, an ordinance appears on last month's agenda. And let's not forget that a few members of the Shade Tree
Commission are also members of the historical society. And after the firehouse debacle, we know what some folks up here think of the historical society. This stinks. It's underhanded. It's retribution.
And I would say this to the bureau attorney's excellent report on how this ordinance came about. If what you say is accurate, if it is so important that we take a look and we do this, then why did you all vote to table
it? You all voted to table it because you know, you know, that explanation was pulled out of the air after this ordinance was requested by the mayor
because the shade tree commission asked questions about $420,000 taken out of the sha of the tree bank account. That's why this happened. The other thing I'd like to say is,
mayor, you have one meeting now. What's that? Five minutes. Jim, your time's up. Okay. You have one meeting that still says five minutes. You have one meeting a month. It's not working. It's not working. Yes. Thank you for your comments. All right. Well, I I will I
will overlook the fact that it's not working and that it's cutting into my time. But you know what? Thank you, Jim. We get up minutes a month. There used to be two meetings twice a month so that residents could talk about the cable TV franchise ordinance, why we can't have
fiber internet company for residents. We could talk about the driveway permits that were issued. Please have a seat. Talk about the progress on the street lights. $18,000 to JCPNL. Please have a seat. Jim, is my time up? It's been up. Says five
minutes. Jim, we just went through this. Please sit down. Okay. Well, thank you, mayor. Anyone else? Ken. Oh, this gentleman right here. Hold on, Ken. Good evening, council. Uh, my name is
Paul During. I'm from Morgan, the Morgan section of Sar. Your street, Paul? What's that? What street are you on? I'm on 37 Dodd Place. Uh that section of Morgan is uh if you remember where the Club Bonnet A was is directly across uh across the highway. Um I'm here on
behalf of my uh neighborhood residents and I was wondering if I could pass around the uh some of these photos. Okay. The map. Uh if you can look at these photos. Uh no, the the whole issue I'm having is with
curbing. Um there's a street adjacent to Dod Place and Tyler Street that was just recurbed and uh from what I understand Place and Tyler Street, they won't be done for a long time. The the process was explained
to me. I'm hoping these pictures might like expedite the process if if you can see and I also there's a map there. If you look at the map, you can see everything that's highlighted green, all of those streets have been recurbed.
Uh the ones that are highlighted pink, those there there's only like four four streets that haven't been recurbed. So, in any case, it's the the uh residents, my neighborhood residents are a little frustrated and
perplexed as to why the it it's taken so long. It's it's almost like as though our streets were overlooked. Um the uh all of Morgan is, you know, that the streets are are pretty good, but our streets are
horrendous. When's the last time they were dump? They were never curbed. No. When was the last time they were paved? Paved. They were paved about five years ago. Right before the pandemic, I think. I'm not sure why the curbs weren't done. Usually, the old rule of thumb was if if we,
let's say, mill and pave, that was always the preferred method because it was the least expensive, which means you you you take the top coat off and then you lay a new top coat down on the road. So if if we just milled and paved, now
the this is an old number um we could get about 13 to 15 streets done a year. If we did the curbs, it was Jay roughly about half of that. The curbing was that expensive. Um we we will absolutely give
this uh attention, but I would appreciate that. Okay. But so yourself and and you're on the Fernando stake side of the road. Well, for Fernando Steakhouse is Morgan Avenue. Okay. All right. That's if you're coming up 35. You're on that side of 35. Yes, I'm on
that side. You're on the northbound side. You're only It's a small quaint neighborhood. I've lived there since January 16. Knocked on the doors there over the years. And uh it's just like all all my neighbors are saying, if you go to that meeting, ask them why. Why was Morgan Avenue recurbed and our
streets were were not? I don't have an answer for you, but we we'll we'll find out. probably had to do with money. Uh that being said, we we adopted the budget recently. So, you know, I don't want to mislead you. Can you leave those
here or I can leave these photos here? I'd like them left Jay with the engineer with Jay Cornell, please. Thank you. Okay. And and we'll we'll take a hard look at it. Uh and we'll get back to you. Yeah. My my fear is is if
if they if they come in and say, "Look, we're just going to repave. That's that's all we can afford, right?" If they come in and repave, it's that my neighbors are like, "We're never going to get curbs because they're they're going to come around and rate I guess
they rate the road. Somebody rates it." Yes. Yes. Okay. So, if they if they come up our street, Tyler Street or more or Dodge Place, and they say, "Oh, this is just repaved a couple years ago." that we're you're not gonna you're gonna wait another 25 years. Yeah, we'll take a look at it from the curbing. We'll take
a look at getting we have were these streets ever curbed? Never. So they Now there's If you look If you see in the pictures, there's a lot of makeshift curbs made out of wood. The curbing I have in front of my house, my dad did that 50 years ago. He just put Belgium
blocks in there. They're all crooked. Uh there's bricks. There's just the curbing is atrocious. We'll take a look at it. We we'll I give you my word. We'll take a look at it. I I really appreciate and and we'll communicate with you. Is your contact information in that full
I'm the one who sent out in in April. I sent out letters with the petition. In fact, I have a p a petition here. Every resident, you know, on Dod Place and Tyler Street signed it. Okay. So, um thank you. I appreciate it. No, no.
Well, the guy down the end of Do you know Jay? You will now. Yes. I I I talked to Jay. Okay. Uh when I came in, he explained the process, but I'm hoping that like the pictures will expedite. Well, the
whole thing is we'll we'll go because it it's one of the older sections of town. I'm just grasping for straws right now. There there could possibly be some set aside grant. Don't know. Um, but we're going to we're going to find out. It's
always best, the rule in Saveville, it's always best when somebody else picks up the lunch check. Uh, so that's the first place we look. We look for a rich uncle. That being said, we'll we'll try to work something out. All right. And I'll reach out to my neighbors and let them know
that uh you're sincerely going to try to We'll take we take it very seriously. All right. Okay. Thank you much. Thank you, Paul. Ken, thank you. Mayor Ken Alres, uh, I found the discussion on how items get on the agenda to be quite
interesting. Um, not too believable, quite frankly, the question Mary asked. Um, I sat up there for six years. I never heard of an item getting uh uh put on the agenda in in the terms of an
ordinance uh without the approval of the governing body. And talking about agenda items, I I heard other things about appointments. uh the second engineer that was appointed on January 1st. Uh there were
questions that I I heard overheard about how that appointment got on the agenda and who knew about that and who didn't know about it. And it all goes down to what I've been saying here for months about no questions that we do not answer
questions in the governing body. And what it means really is we're running a secret government here. And secret government is a corrupt government. You know, I I've talked to friends in
Mammoth County, Ocean County, Union County. Talking about local government, and everybody's got their complaints, don't get me wrong. Uh nobody said, "Well, my my governing body is wonderful." But when I mentioned that our governing body doesn't answer
questions, that's where it stopped. Everybody said, "Oh, wait a minute. I never heard of anything like that." Uh, how meetings are run. I talked about this at the last meeting I was at here and the mayor which after he closed the public portion he made some kind of a
reference and you can correct me afterwards if I'm wrong mayor but that you checked with the with the veterans and uh they're happy with the way you run meetings. I' I'd like to ask a few questions about uh what they're exactly happy with. Are they happy when you move
from a five minute to a threeinut public speaking? Are they happy when you called the people who come to these meetings a-holes? Are the veterans happy when you call the people who come to these
meetings dopey people with no lives? And were they happy to see when residents came not out of order, but to ask questions and talk like I'm doing now, that you had a police or escort take them to their seats? I think that's what
we get when we talk about not answering questions and a secret government. And you want to talk about veterans, let me tell you, I've got plenty of veterans that have been in my family and my wife's family who served in World War
II. I have a brother that served in Korea. And I have a brother-in-law that was a prisoner of war in Germany who fought for democracy in this country. And it's a democracy that people like two bit politicians are trying to take
away the freedoms of the public. Democracy is a two-way street where people have a right to talk to their government and have them be accountable and answer questions. You've taken that away. And as I said, two bit politicians
that want to turn around and go and hide under veterans. I'd like to know what veterans uh what veterans condone these things that I've said here tonight. I don't think too many and we got a distinguished veteran who was a councilman uh here for us Stanley draw a
graduate of West Point and a lieutenant colonel in the military who specifically asked that you continue Zoom meetings for people like his in some case that couldn't come and that's been ignored too. I'd like to know these veterans and
I think it's an insult to talk about veterans like that. There are no veterans that I know that are that are anti-democracy. Thank you. Are there any other questions? Heather. Hello. Uh Heather Yonoski 71 Zeleleski.
I'm up here for a few reasons. First is in regards to the reflection arboratum at Felic Park. Um, I did visit it on Monday and notice that the second half of the walk path down towards the lake, the sides of that walk path are eroding.
I have pictures with me. It does uh present a tremendous uh potential liability if someone were to fall and hurt themselves. So, if you'd like to see those pictures, I can show you on my phone. Um, in addition to that, just kind of wanted to talk about this whole
shade tree uh thing. Um I guess my question is why tabled and not just moved on from? Um for me it seems a little political if we're tableabling it. Uh I know election will be here before we know it. Um with that also
being uh said I also it came to my attention that that truck that John Deere truck that costs hundreds of thousands of dollars um finally got labeled that it was paid for by Shade Tree by having a sticker thrown on it. So, I guess the squeaky wheel does get
the oil in that respect. Um, I do want to thank you for finally allowing the burough attorney to speak with our chair. I think that was a very nice thing to finally let happen. Um, we have been trying to foster communication for quite a while now. Um,
you know, I will just say this on a final note. Part of our function as a shade tree commission is to oversee the tree bank and make sure that what is being taken out of that falls within what it should be.
And so with that being said, you know, obviously the governing body will do what it wants to do at the end of the day, but I do encourage you to think of the volunteers that do give their time uh to Seville to the betterment of our
parks and our residents. um you know and think what's motivating changing it from a commission that tends to work well unless we're questioning things uh and change us to an advisory. That's it. Are there any other questions? Being no
other questions. Oh, come on up. Frank, you guys want to see the pictures? I know you saw it. Did you want to see it? Go ahead, Frank. Practal street cereble hard town and I'm also a Libra. You
know, Libras, they got to be balanced. They can uh move here and there, but when they're like this, you got to say what's on your mind. Uh I am against I'm glad you table that ordinance for tonight. I think it would be unfair to these great people. They do a lot of work.
uh like for the kids, they got those two programs, they got the ceilings, and they're always doing something. So, I think to do what is uh out there, I think it'd be a wrong thing to do. Um I disagree. Uh the the first shade tree
was 1940 that the ordinance was drawn up 1940. So, I think uh in my personal opinion, in my humble opinion, that this is just basically two guys having a fallout and it's touching everybody from you guys to
our guys. So, I think two people should get together, shake hands over the rail, and let's move on to bigger and better things. This is uh this is not the right way, you know, to do this. And I wish Art was here today. I'd ask you, Mr.
Mayor, and Art to come to shake hands. Let's just let's just tell the truth here. There's a something going on. It's not about you. That's I don't have details. I don't want to know details. Let's just move on. Uh the attorney's getting in trouble. Everybody's getting in trouble over nothing. So, that's my
two cents. And uh I hope I'm wrong. Thank you, Frank. Are there any other questions or comments? Being no other questions or comments, I'll entertain a motion to close the public port for make a motion to close the public. Second. Roll call. All in favor? I motion to
adjurnn. Not yet. Uh, a couple of things. Um, having sat up here uh, first as a councilman in 1997 and then as mayor at the beginning of the century. Uh, there was a time where we had uh, four
meetings a month. The first one was an agenda meeting and the second one was what we call the action meeting. It was long. It was ponderous. There are certain people who just talk endlessly. Um so in the interest of expediting
things, we went to two meetings a month where we combined the agenda and the action meeting into one. It's worked my opinion. It's worked pretty well. The thing that that I keep reiterating to people is Sville has 45,000 people and
we're here to provide service. So, we're here to provide police, fire, and first aid to make sure that they're properly trained, properly equipped, and they are, and they do a fabulous job. We're here to pick up the trash, you know, our
employees are really second to none. So when you look when you look at the list of services that we provide between first responders, uh public works, parks, libraries, we have about 70 parks,
small, medium, and large. We now have we now provide the every any kid that wants to play a sport in Sville just signs up. Uh we have a fabulous recreation department. We're in the service business. We
provide services. As I said, all of these uh aspersions that were doing something illegal, immoral, etc., etc., it's the same people that that could pontificate endlessly about nothing. And
what I always recommend to anybody that thinks that there is something going on that is dishonest, go right to the prosecutor. Let them know your fears and we will deal with the prosecutor if they
ever come here. This is a very straight governing body. Everybody up here does it for a little bit over a hundred bucks a week. Uh and and it's a service. That being said, um,
as far as the veterans go, in in in my office, my chief of staff is Ken Kelly. Ken Kelly was a medic in Vietnam. Ken Kelly gave aid to the to the wounded and the dying. There is no finer man than
Ken Kelly. And we have and the veterans of Serville are second to none. So when there is a complaint about veterans not being serviced, he is also the head of the Veterans Alliance. I go to Ken Kelly. He looks into it and he gets back
to me and lets me know if there's an issue. And if there's an issue, we address it. So, anyone who wants to make uh make make hay out of what they perceive is ignoring the veterans, they need to go down and talk to Ken Kelly
and and bring Stanley Draw with you because he's Ken's best friend. Secondly, the second person I have down there is Andrew Ozag. He is a Polish immigrant that came to this country with $100 and and he made a life. He met a
girl. He married her. They had a son who is a West Point graduate who is currently serving in the United States Army as a as a Apache helicopter pilot who teaches at West Point as does his
wife who is a West Point graduate and teaches at West Point. So anybody, any phony baloney fake patriot who wants to make or try to make hay that somehow this group of people is ignoring
veterans is completely lying. Um, second thing, this equipment for uh that that's used by the burrow for shade tree for burrow issues, this was purchased under the last mayor. Um, I'm not going to go
backwards. What? I'm only going to go forward. It was a piece of of uh equipment that's used for I guess landscaping. Is that what it's used for? It's a payloader. Okay. So, we have we have a piece of equipment that's used to
help the the people of Saveville. And I'm not going to get I'm not going to split hairs on this. Who has control over the piece of equipment? The people of Seville have control over the pe the piece of equipment. Jim, if you can't go out in the hall if
you can't, if you if if you're going to cat call. Uh, and then the last thing I have, just so it's on the record, our friend Jim Robinson, as far as I know, is the campaign strategist for the Democratic party this year and he's
desperately looking for an issue in my opinion. So there is a lot of of of looking around and trying to develop some kind of scandal so that he can run a campaign for the two Democratic
candidates this year. Uh and uh I just needed that on the record so that uh everyone knows where this stuff is coming from. That issue was first raised by Republican Art Writtenhouse. Sit down. That is your sit down by
Republican Art Written House. Listen, Jim, rather than rather than make you seem like the martyr that you want to be, please sit down. So, all those things being said, I'll take a motion for adjournment. So, move. Second. All
in favor? Opposed? Thank you, everyone.