##VIDEO ID:l3dqm0GDTwc## nice meeting you you ready you good Kevin uh no I'm not okay hold off I'm good okay this meeting is called to order in accordance with the open public meetings law this in accordance with chapter 231 of the public laws of 1975 adequate notice of this meeting has been provided this meeting of January 21st 2025 was published in the curer news andall Ledger and placed on the Burrow's website in Bolton Bard at Burrow Hall a copy of this notice is available to the public and a copy of the statement shall be included in the minutes of this meeting mayor Bri Brian Gallagher here council members Teresa boner Here Andrew KY here Glenn Den here Randy pittz here Gus travic here Roger ver here all right please stand for the salute of the flag I Ali to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for it stands one nation under God indivisible with liy and justice for all okay motion for approval of the minutes of December 16 so moved second discussion roll call Teresa boner yes and andw KY yes Glenn Den yes Randy pittz yes Gina draic yes Roger F Yes actually uh Andrew has to uh recuse himself from 16 recuse because he wasn't on Counsel yet uh so noted okay uh and then approval of the minutes of January 1 2025 so moved second discussion roll call council members Teresa boner yes Andrew KY yes Glen Den yes Randy pittz yes Gina stavic accused Roger V yes all right departmental reports and notices uh none to speak of committee reports so let's go down the row uh Andrew you're up uh not much to report but the county does have some tax assistance going with the County's volunteer services and ARP um for a tax aid program anybody in the county but specifically older or uh low moderate income folks with disabilities people who have trouble preparing them themselves for federal and state so if you need any assistance uh County program County website excellent great Gina uh the Board of Health met on Wednesday uh last Wednesday they uh uh reviewed the contract with uh the County Health Department um for services um they also talked about events for the first half of the year um the Somerville Rescue Squad had their um annual dinner on Saturday um they um did Awards program uh they had their 97th year celebration and they also uh responded to 150 calls approximately last month okay all right thank you Glen great uh so we will be hearing more from environmental commission later on but I will say that uh in our recent meeting we covered a number of different things including looking forward to the green fair in April trying to plan that out and then also we'll be meeting here on Tuesday February 11th at 7 and I'm just going to preemptively say thank you to Jeff and all the environmental team for all the hard work that they've done which we'll hear about in a little bit on their report and then for the fire department just a big thank you to all the work they've done and uh they had uh responded to over 661 alarms in 2024 so just doing a lot of really great work and uh in our recent meeting talked a lot about the preparations and the excitement of moving into the new facility so thank you all right great thank you Teresa thank you uh the municipal Alliance and Youth Services Commission met on Jan uary 9th um we were updated on how the programs uh that were funded um last year uh at the beginning of the school year have been going everything's been going great with the Vander bucks and and planning challenge day and things like that for the Middle School um and uh the library Board of Trustees meeting will be was rescheduled to January 30th at 600 p.m. M uh because there was a conflict with us schedule this month um so I will be giving an update at the next meeting for that um and the Public Safety Committee met um on January 16th at 6 PM uh where we discussed uh the plans for this year and what they would like to concentrate on this year which would be speeding in town corner site triangle on Daven High Street and uh pedestrian education program uh so we'll be meeting again next month on uh February 20th at 6 PM great all right thank you ready thank you mayor as a reminder the downtown somville Alliance annual stakeholders meeting is this Thursday January 23rd 6:00 to 8 pm. where we will celebrate the heart and soul of downtown Somerville thank you for that uh the meeting agenda uh is the 2024 uh annual report 2025 updates networking opportunities and uh with District businesses the DSA is also looking for volunteers to join and support their committees events marketing infrastructure and so much more hope to see you all there and mayor and all Council you're all invited hope great please come out thank you great Roger I have nothing for this evening okay all right um next up we have a uh a presentation of the annual report from the environmental commission uh Jeff lambor outgoing chair of uh the environmental commission who did uh uh at least I know of last year did a fantastic job uh very thorough and expanding uh which is which is nice um I guess you're going to give us an update on all things great that transpired last year from the environmental commission's perspective that's that's the plan all right um Glenn anything you want to add to that uh just the you'll see the the amount of time effort and energy that has come through the environmental commission has been impressive I mean I started uh with them just before covid and uh the amount of time and energy just that people put in um is incredible and it really does impact you know everyone in this community so I look forward to seeing more great you're on all right thank you Mr Mayor appreciate it and uh Council great to have you uh your attention we do this because we like it um I'm going to attempt to keep this uh about 10 to 15 minutes I'm probably going to be 15 minutes based on how how uh the previous reports have been but uh as uh mayor Gallagher mentioned my name is Jeff Lamborn I am the outgoing chair for the environmental commission about two and a half years um and uh I have a couple members here today at least one for sure here to support so that's nice to have that um but I'll go through this and and let you guys know what we've been up to this year and I appreciate uh if you have any questions feel free to let me know otherwise at the end happy to take those so the uh let me know when it's uh transferring there good okay um so the environmental commission is uh uh uh our mission is to educate Advocate and promote the best policies and practices for the bur's environment and the health and safety of his residents um our team is uh a very diverse team uh that's been around for many years the Stars uh next to everybody's name here on the Commissioners list and the uh closely related green team that we have are people that have been with us multiple years um so there uh there's M there's former chairs that uh are constantly part of this commission and new chairs uh that are coming in it's nice to have what we do have here a lot of vigorous conversation um and uh uh great ideas that are brought to the table every month for our meetings in addition to here and there emails back and forth and The Social Network that we built together so uh we we tackle local environmental challenges and advocate for sustainable practices those are important for us and our efforts reflect the belief that when community members collaborate there's lasting impact that follows us um to give uh some highlighted numbers for us we have uh a volunteer list that we maintain and over 75 of those people came out to help for various things that we did this year uh we were able to put to work over $150,000 worth of Grant dollars um that resulted in 202 trees planted which is nice to see a growing tree canopy many hours and when you convert that to uh What uh the internet tells us a volunteers hour is worth in the state of New Jersey um we're putting in some serious work to help out what we do here um a bit new for us this year is our plans and ordinances those are something that um we brought to the attention a couple time so we're happy to keep at it as long as um a good effort uh Works between us and and Glenn uh thank you again as our L on we're able to bring these to you guys here on on the burough Council we can get done a lot but uh our partners are the most important on the left is a list of those in Somerville which are over a dozen uh within the go within the local government businesses as well as the high school and uh other other clubs here in town uh beyond that there's a lot that we learn and we bring back to Somerville both between grants as well as uh knowledge um it's nice to have so many of these um groups to lean on and these relationships that we're building are are really uh paying off for us U the bulk of the presentation I'm going to talk about what we've been up to this year um so as you can see there's a lot of smiling faces here at our community garden these are uh a combination of our green team that manages the garden uh as well as commission members and uh Growers of uh uh various plot plots that we have here about the 15 plots there uh for those that are unaware the community garden is located at the intersection of Veterans Memorial Drive East and Main Street uh by firan field and you can see the tennis courts and the pickle ball courts in the background there uh our highlight uh event every year is for Earth Day uh and in particular this was a a new Venture for us this year a lot of great photographs here show all the people involved the majority of our event and attention was spent on Division Street but we uh that was a spinoff from what we always do which is a uh um a uh on the top right here a town cleanup uh where we every year for gosh I mean Gina how long have we've been doing this for um over 30 years over 30 years and and uh just related to Earth Day and general finding a reason to come out and clean up the town uh so we have a trash pickup that the Department of Public Works helps us coordinate and and make sure that we do get uh supplies and and efforts to clean up what we do find um we do provide seedlings uh this by the Arbor Day Foundation that we give out to folks to plant um that's always great to have and as I mentioned this year on the left side of the of this is our our green Fair we moved this to Division Street this past year and hoping to continue it over 25 local organizations from the state private organizations businesses um and many others from uh came out to kind of talk sustainability and and uh and show what it what it means to to go green if you will in in the various different flavors that those are um it's a it's a new event style for us where uh it's a kid-friendly space for families to learn about our local environment and we we paired it around lunchtime so there was a lot of otherwise traffic that may not find us out there uh and it was really happy we're really happy for how it came out this year and uh the last item I want to put mention to is a high school student three years ago Bridget lerta helped us put together a uh a town swap which is in a way a yard sale for the town so put items that are used whether the condition you would want to put out as long as someone wants them for the weekend that Earth Day is uh come out to the curves and find what you want uh if you don't like it then don't have to take it if you do like it it's yours but bring it back if it's out in the curve at the end of the day and what it does is gives a new home for things that may be loved but just not uh planning board puts aside as part of the burough Development Fund we use that to plant 17 trees with the dpw's help um that end up on uh the median between streets um and sidewalks for uh for residents so uh there's a demand for it and it's great to see we're going to continue the pro that's something I'll talk about a little bit more here in the next slide um partnering with the New Jersey Electric Vehicle Association and we did our first seminar with the Native Plant Society here in this room of Somerset County talking about the benefits of native plants and what it means to tackle invasives and what is considered invasive so um there's a couple flavors to that and it's pretty interesting to see a good partnership grow uh we did uh on the top right here is a photograph of U our commissioner Jerry disapio and uh the uh historical interpreter I believe is what his title is Paul suus at the uh Wallace house in Old Dutch parsonage um and uh every we every um through every year they do a celebration for um uh the tree that we planted it's a Salem Oak so kind we call it our baby in a way but it's among other things it's a nice um a throwback to what the community here has done for many many years and and a conversion to the environmental side uh we do a rain Garden pruning that we have uh in front of Carol pager Park uh that absorbs a lot of rain water uh thank you to The rer Cooperative Extension for putting that together and we continue to try to maintain that as best as we can um our EV car show uh was a couple things one of them uh most importantly was a community poll which is uh kind of what's listed mostly on the slide here uh this occurred in the first weekend of October at a street fair that uh the U the town puts on um with the help of a private organization shuts down the majority of Main Street and and uh through gracious um hosts were able to uh partner and put together a car show that uh has given us a chance to put a tent and talk about what we want to prioritize in town so um up on on the on the right side of the slide is uh our priorities and our Focus where we we have some questions of what environmental areas do you think need attention here in Somerville and and what environmental activities or skills would you like to learn about uh so we got to learn a handful of things about what over 250 people uh gave to us here whether they be residents nearby or in adjacent town just it's nice to see what people have we found that a lot of people um consider the environment to be the parks um so it goes coincides with restoration of the brook to make it more uh um uh accessible for everybody and and a great place to spend time uh biking and walking trails um dog park is a big thing someone mentioned including a cat Park I didn't know that was a thing but someone was wanting to put that one on there um more trees especially on Main Street was nice to see that's something that we are uh we like as well and uh infrastructure in town with EV Chargers as well as more trash cans and better recycling information and educational opportunities were things that we learned so it's something that we're going to continue and we you know hope to learn what you know what we know is what we think is important but what we're here to serve the the town so uh nice to see what the town has to say as well uh onto the community garden uh this is our second year as a full swing of the Season uh there were two volunteer days to set things up where we uh had about 30 individuals prepare the garden breads uh along with the dpw's help we had the planting soil brought over and stockpiled adjacent to the Garden where everybody was uh digging shovels and moving wheelbarrows to put those things together um this year we had 45 applicants for our plot and part of a lottery system 15 plots are available we're hoping to expand that it was already 12 last year up to 15 so it's nice to see that and the growing season was a good one um a lot of the photos kind of show where people what people like to spend time with it here but it ends up being a bit of a community on its own right um there was a workshop that we hosted in June to discuss the basics of soil Health composting and garden pests as well as uh having the Girl Scouts come by to learn um um about what bold planting is and how to what crops are good over the winter time uh next year we're looking to expand and have some fundraising opportunities uh that could hopefully add a little bit more space to what we do have it seems to be a demand for it and we're happy to fulfill that um something that is a nice gem to have in the burrow here um the M Main Street trees are are something that we're venturing into um and we're using this to Champion what I call Champion current and future needs um the trees and are in good shape overall as we learned through a walk through with most of you here actually a handful of you came about for that to walk with a a licensed tree expert uh that we've uh maybe I have to actually ask Kevin that question we hopefully we have him on board for doing a full inventory and a condition assessment U but trying to get in um a regular Ben regular maintenance on these trees and understand taking out what we believe those fences to be a bit of intrusive um and making the most of what the space is available there uh it it's part of a a canopy that includes a lot of greenery for many different ways as we've discussed here um so uh we're looking forward to continue with that and um again these were this is something that we presented to you guys on October 7th here um so a lot of benefits to Treet trees and we've learned a lot uh including I have a picture here of a reference guide where uh they talk about cultivating these trees that are specifically designed to work in an urban environment so um you can't just pick a tree and hope it works it needs to needs to have a planned for it so and you put a list together correct we do have yeah thank you for that reminder we do have the list together it's need to we need to send that over um thank you for that reminder and and uh um introduce that for once for consideration here uh for everybody to to look at um on to uh what we what we did end up doing with the money that we earned from Grants and funding a lot of organizations the majority of which came from the D for a grant for 150 trees planted along petersbrook um this was to uh limit um the erosion uh that occurs on the brook as a result of flooding events so it's nice to have these put in um the environmental Club from uh summer Somerville high school and other volunteers helped put those together and the DPW is assisting in making sure that they actually grow and and maintain as they are so uh that's helpful for a lot of respects um a lot of money came from the Arbor Day Foundation uh and MetLife where we planted 35 trees um which has been nice to see some more more of those those grants are always great to have and uh anjac which is the association of New Jersey environmental commissions um gave us$1,500 grant for community garden support and uh continued uh um seedlings and giveaways and clean up supplies from our budget with the New Jersey clean communities at the DPW and and uh we help work with so it's nice to have those things I always like to see my face on the slide um but uh posted next to me in the middle is uh our incoming chair Tim Mar deal um she and I are closely working to with an and uh getting getting awards for what we do here in town so we we were given one of the few environmental achievement awards this year and uh we are uh outside of the cycle thankfully practices uh uh advice and guidance that they offer uh is we're silver certified which is one below the best it's nice to have that here in town so uh 2025 this year will start gearing up for our application next year as we go through it and uh we updated our Urban and Forest Urban and Community forestry plan that's a 5year plan uh that we submitted and was approved here uh by you guys here on council at the end of last year and uh pending approval from the state I think we're going to have that in there which is nice to see uh What uh what we can do here in down um what we what we have done and and I so many words on this slide but I didn't know how how best to to shrink it so on the on the left side our our goals from this past year 202 4 two of which we we're going to try to uh continue on to next year and um and into and this 2025 here uh continue to make our Earth Day as a highlight event increase the tree canopy and assist in uh uh the burough Council and and planning board and what the required ordinances that they have put forth uh for what those mean for the town and what we can do with those um more Community engagement strengthen the Main Street trees and the experience that that those bring downtown uh maintain and improve our community garden and uh continue our engagement with the burough entities um DPW uh downtown some Alliance the planning board um we all we all work together so uh we certainly appreciate uh being heard and and listening back and forth and having good conversation so um it's nice to have this as is uh conclusion um we we strengthen our community by uh collaborating and identifying local challenges um these are things sometimes the RO just cannot afford to do whether it be time Workforce money to put these together so it's nice to have this opportunity and uh we do it because we like it it's it's good for a lot of reasons we we feel there's a responsibility that we have as individuals for the stewardship of our community and and uh we like what we're up to so um that being said uh wanted to recognize I mean they cut they move their meetings up a half hour so that they would get done earlier and we're just staying an hour later so typically their meetings will go from 700 p.m. to 10 p.m. it's incredible the amount of enthusiasm and interest that they have and uh I'm grateful for all their good work um and thank you Jeff for your past leadership thank you so I've never heard of a cat Park yeah that's a new one that's a new one on me um now you know what Jeff you always come you you you're informed um you're concise and you give us a lot of great information that's easily digestible so I thank you for that um you know the work you do it's it's it's you know you're you're you're growing knowledge you're you're you're you're growing trees you're growing a community and that's that's really um it's I think you've set a standard for chairs uh because I've seen a lot of chairs over the years and uh and I think you've uh you know we don't always agree um that's okay but but we actually managed to come to an to an understanding of where the goal is always the same it's just how how we get there um but you've uh you know you've LED uh the committee and and I thank you for that um I think you're doing some great work uh and that shows you know you just take a walk through our parks and and the amount of trees that have been planted over the last year or so uh just uh it's you know it's numbers lots of numbers and and that's a great thing so thank you I appreciate that anybody else have any okay I appreciate you coming out and uh please thank the entire committee on on behalf of the council and and uh we will be in touch very soon yeah thank you very much and make and make sure you get that tree list uh over to us because we'll also bring that to the planning board uh and we'd actually like to have you come and speak with the planning board about the trees uh because I think those are the folks that uh that really they're the ones who are going to interact day-to-day with uh projects that come up and they can guide folks to those trees yeah that's good give them the information they need to answer questions that they're going to get exactly so um maybe maybe I'll eventually um stop getting nervous in front of the camera here and you did great five or six presentations here we'll move along you're perfect thank you everybody thank you thanks Jeff all right um next up we have uh two resolutions uh resolution 25121 d039 is a resolution of the burough of Somerville County of Somerset adopting its present need and perspective need for the fourth round of affordable housing obligations so this obvious ly has been a hot topic for uh probably the last year in New Jersey and every municipality uh in the state 564 of us um are uh running the numbers DCA Department of Community Affairs came out with these numbers uh each Town's obligations both for their uh present need and their perspective need uh back in uh back in November and uh there's very tight time constraints on uh um what municipalities have to accomplish I I'll say over the next six months as kind of the driving force um the uh the the council has been working on this um the subcommittee has been working on this and uh when the state came out with their numbers um the numbers uh that that they've given us are for our uh present need is 103 units and for our prospective need it's 74 units um we test professionals with going through those numbers uh and identifying based upon our what we felt was our need uh what we felt was our available open space and having gone through all of those iterations over the past two months um we have determined that the the state's numbers according to the formula that they've created are correct um but what happens now is so we have to either uh adopt those numbers as uh as our own uh and what that will then do is will shield us from a uh redeveloper or developers uh um thank you remedy thank you I got I got from both both sections developers remedy lawsuit and uh and and that is uh very important to the burrow um that's something that that uh that that we we need to put in place um what will happen ultimately though is from these numbers uh if the council so uh decides to adopt these tonight uh we will then create a housing plan which will then meet the needs that are set forth uh in those two numbers um that housing plan will then take into account both the um the housing stock that we have that fits the formula that uh that uh the state has created um and it also uh understands moving forward uh with potential uh development Rehabilitation how we then Implement our fair share housing uh obligation under that about 10 years ago uh we did do a housing analysis and that housing analysis showed that the burrow was compliant uh but through Market forces um and uh and that held for a while uh until I I'll say Co hit and the housing market turned itself upside down the rental market turned itself upside down and the uh the rental rates went from here to here not just in Somerville uh and not just in New Jersey Nationwide and you combine that with an influx of uh people 10 million people over the last uh four years and you have this culmination of demand for housing um which has far outstripped the supply of Housing and and Somerville over the course of many many years has always taken that responsibility uh uh We've shouldered that responsibility I think very well from our senior housing center uh the various group homes um and and what we're now faced with is looking at that again so we have to develop that housing plan that says here is how we are going to comply with uh the mandates of the numbers that the DCA has set forth the state of New Jersey has set forth uh we will then take into account the existing housing stock that we have that fits those parameters and those numbers will then adjust up and down um I think that's an over a quick overview of uh a very complex process uh Chris zangara our uh our our Council for affordable housing is here and I'm just going to ask him to to talk just very briefly about you know what the burrow has to do over the course of the next six months because there are now benchmarks that we have to hit um as mandated by by the state you may have to turn that on Chris I don't know if that's on that might be the hardest part for tonight give it a tap I think it's on good yep you're good so if you would just give us an overview of of and if I missed anything core in in in my overview of what we said just feel free to fill it mayor council good to be here um we serve as both free Development Council um to the burough as well as affordable housing Council and municipality throughout New Jersey are doing exactly what you're doing tonight which is having had your professional review the non-binding recommendation of the DCA establish what your obligation is so back in March 20124 um Governor Murphy signed a new bill which amended the fair share Housing Act and established a new process or an amended process for establishing an obligation representing what your buau what a municipalities fair share of the regional need for affordable housing should be for the next 10 year period the bill set up two steps one was to establish your number and then second was to establish a plan that implements the compliance mechanisms that are going to achieve that number um with any adjustments that need to be made uh so the bill sets out several timelines and the mayor was certainly correct that if you hit the January 31st deadline for establishing your number through a resolution which will be submitted to the DC a you will have within 48 Hours within 48 hours weekends uh uh included uh it's been a fun month for us affordable housing attorneys um you are given a period of immunity if you make it till June 2025 and get your housing element in Fair Share planed done and submitted you will then have a additional period of immunity and the goal is submitting your housing uh your housing element in fair share plan is to ultimately up obtain a certification compliance certification it's Judgment of compliance and Repose which gives you immunity for 10 years to achieve your plan um so that's the road map of where we're trying to get to um this is a planner driven process when it comes to building your housing elements so that's going to be something that you're um that you're going to work with your planners on your community the one item I will note so there is no concern every municipality after adopting a resolution needs to file a court action to get the number into What's called the program it's a program in the court that's going to be reviewing your number and reviewing your plan so we will be initiating that lawsuit it's the only mechanism that existed on the it side for the courts to get this process started uh so just on timelines January 31st is is the deadline to submit then we have February see February 28th is G the deadline for anyone to file objection to a municipality's adopted resolution um as the buau has reviewed the data and is agreeing with the dca's number and establishing a number that mirrors a DCA it's there's a I mean a very good chance that there will not be Challengers that come out of the woodwork can't make promises on that but a lot of municipalities are are proceeding of that assumption that they're safe from challenges if they're accepting a DCA number um there if there are any challenges that are brought and one additional Point your number is given a presumption of validity so there is a very high burden for anyone challenging to have to meet and they have to come in with specific calculations and they C they can't just file a uh shallow challenge um after February 28th there'll be a one-month period for any challenges to be reviewed by the program and then we're off and running with a June get this right June Jun 30th deadline to get your housing element fair share plan done that needs to be submitted to a planning board for review ultimately then come back to you for endorsement so it's going to be a very tight timeline but um so far you've been really on top of it because we've seen municipalities scrambling the last two weeks so um that's your timelines and we'll be working with the buau and the council to get you guys there appreciate that thank you thank you very concise um and just so council's aware about 10 years ago um we did have fair share housing come and do a presentation um at one of our churches uh for the community and and at that time fair share housing said Su is doing pretty pretty good um so it's really it's a matter now of adjusting to the market demand um the increase in in pricing of housing both rental and and ownership and uh so you know the work's not done yet this is just step step well it's not step one but maybe it's step five at a to step 10 and uh and we're uh we we'll charge ahead then with creating the uh the housing plan and uh and we'll keep Council informed uh of those steps as we move along so um at this point I'll ask for a motion on 039 second discussion roll call council members Teresa Bonner yes Andrew KY yes Glen Den yes Randy pittz yes Gina yes Roger ver yes okay uh we have another resolution for a roll call vote because that's the way uh the state and I think again DCA mandates it this way it is DCA yeah um affirming the uh the 2025 downtown Somerville Alliance annual budget uh which is about 1.2 million 1.99 I think it is it's some change so we'll just round it up to 1.2 um before I do that Olivia Manning here the director of the DSA is here and I think she wants to introduce somebody as well so if you want to come up and just make a quick introduction hi everyone um just a quick introduction we do have a new associate director so I wanted to make sure everyone knew who she was this is Leah Horowitz uh she actually comes from a government background she's worked with Parks and Recreation for many years now I don't know how many there are four years would you like to you you can do this Leah horis hi you just threw the threw her right into the fire didn't you yeah it's okay I'm not shy behind a microphone or a camera so I'm really excited to be here I come from like she said municipalities I've been in Bernardsville Mount Olive Basking Ridge um so I'm very well informed of all of this stuff which is so fun um I'm really excited to be here I've always wanted to be a part of a Downtown Association so I've been coming to Somerville my whole life I grew up in Basking Ridge this just felt so natural so I'm really excited to be here and make some great things happen thank you everyone great thank you thanks yeah real quick um I just also want to say thank you for all the support um for the for the DSA I actually was handed this folder tonight it's press from 1987 to 1986 when uh the original organization was put together so it's very interesting to see the iterations of this um organization over the years and that we're about to make some more changes so I appreciate the support thank you thank you thank you all right uh motion on 040 so moved second discussion yes I have a question is there any money in this budget for um the minor repairs needed for the sidewalks downtown so so there there is money in the budget for for maintenance uh councilwoman the um we have a grant that we're working on right now it's called the transportation setad um which will initiate the F hopefully successful to uh participate in the first phase one of redoing some of the uh pavers and and locations based on the report that was adopted by arterial design through the board um that that provided a framework of where we're going to go um it it is the because it's a commercial District um the liability and and and the requirements to do sidewalk actually does fall with in the commercial establishment um as many people have done you've seen some the developers fix their sidewalks and and redo the sidewalks um we will be able to assist them and certainly guide them in the requirements to do that work because downtown you can't put in your own type of sidewalk you have to comply with the plan that's in place and and that's the goal is to um to not take on that cost uh in the DSA nor nor necessarily take it on with the burrow at all as well uh to do it with a combination of both private and and and public opportunities and that will be the goal as as we move forward we have to be very careful of the work that we do on the infrastructure downtown because the DSA doesn't own it and and the burough doesn't is not responsible for it so there there's been some interesting case law that has taken place over the last couple of couple years in which the the municipality has really failed to remind the commercial owners that they're responsible for those sidewalks so that is something we're working on to make sure that they they understand that they have to maintain them they have to shovel them they have to clean them that's their responsibility of the commercial property owner not necessarily the business but the commercial property owner um and that's where our vision is right there if there's opportunities to assist them on getting grant money um you know where we have the capability to do that but right now we are looking at a a grant that's I'm do actually doing the training next week in May of this year um I'm sorry it's March of this year that's due which would be a small phase of that kind of select the area that we most want to um repair I shouldn't say repair renovate because the goal is to to renovate that if if we have areas in the downtown that that are causing some issues um we could certainly address those property on as as we go as we go and and that's been kind of the vision over the last couple years as we do I know that that probably Strays away from what you're looking for for the DSA to do but but that that that you know the dsa's goal is to promotion market and and so forth um and it keep downtown clean um and and and and obviously have events and and and help the property owners I should say the business owners promote their business and continue to grow while the property prop owners H maintain um their ability to supply the tenants trash cans assist uh provide the cleaning and and that's that's the vision can you clarify do we have the grant we don't we you you'll be you I'm doing the trainings uh I think next week it is it's required training before you can apply for the grant the grant is fairly substantial um but no we don't have the grant we've applied for it before um unsuccessfully but not particular in the framework of of doing sidewalks this particular year it is available for Street scrapes of Main Streets I I cannot stress enough the need for repair it is there is outright safety issues trip hazards liabilities so whoever's responsibility is it needs immediate addressment if it's not in the budget so be it but um that had been a precedent before that DSA was doing sidewalks so so um and I'm going Jeff just one thing this is we and we discussed this and this may actually parlay into um uh sidewalk repair we talked about how the trees it's not that they're lack of water it's lack of oxygen right so there has to be some standards out there and we talked about this of of grading with a t not a not a d but grates yeah um can you see if there are uh Design Elements out there because rather than repairing sidewalks maybe it's installing grates that would then have a beneficial effect so so what I'm trying to do is to marry the two so if you you know if that's something that the environmental commission can kind of take a look at and see if there are case studies out there if there are um other municipalities that have faced this and and come up with something very creative unique different which actually solves both problems arterial design did come up with this honeycomb a grid system which which they shared with the environmental commission uh probably early last year or or late the prior year that that is a more trendy very expensive uh way of of encouraging both tree growth and and and air and water um but it but it's some something that that we hadn't you know the DSA had looked at to plan and endorsed that I know the environmental commission looked at as well it is starting to get a little more use but it is um an environmentally friendly plan that that allows for both the pedestrians to provide greater space however having a system underneath the pavers to to I I don't even refer to trees I I refer to missing bricks that aren't even near the trees I refer to Bricks piled up that haven't been picked up and I think one very simple reme to the issues with with the trees is in those areas is to put some benches around the trees so people people aren't even exposed to walking on that area so I think there's some very simple things that can be done and need to be done immediately especially before spring and or I don't know with with the road being torn up how everything's going to be effective but it needs immediate attention well well certainly and like I said the the property owners are being placed on notice as a result of those those those lawsuits that took place last year where where um where where the Improvement districts were being pulled into cases in which the same thing with Somerville obviously 20 years ago the burrow and along with the DSA had had uh at the time it was the DMC had had constructed all the sidewalks and and but that didn't take the liability off the property owner to maintain that and I think that maybe there was you know over a period of time there's lost communication with that but we'll certainly have I'll work with Brian from our our property maintenance and he he'll go up the street and we'll identify those areas and put those Property Owners on notice we can provide you with the report it's already been done through uh this um ridewise okay and then that and that's paraph we we can certainly start from there I think they'll you know you know you'll get some we'll get some compliance in that way and then we could identify other funding sources to assist people on infrastructure improvements thank you thank you uh roll call council members Teresa Bonner yes Andrew KY yes Glenn Den yes Randy pittz yes Gina straic yes Roger V yes all right uh I will ask for a motion to open the meeting to the public so moved second discussion roll call council members Teresa boner yes Andrew KY yes Glen Den yes Randy pittz yes Gina straic yes Roger V yes all right meeting is now open to the public please state your name and address for the record please address your comments to me hearing n I'll ask for a motion to close so move second discussion roll call council members Teresa bonor yes Andrew KY yes Glen Den yes Randy pittz yes Gus travic yes Roger F yes all right uh ordinance for introduction uh this is ordinance number 2754 it's a bond ordinance amending Bond ordinance number uh 2715 23717 finally adopted by the burough Council of the burough of Somerville New Jersey on August 7 2023 uh do we have a motion so moved second discussion roll call council member Teresa boner yes Andrew KY yes Glenn Den yes Randy pittz yes Jina travic yes Roger ver yes okay consent resolutions we have one walk-on resolution which is resolution 050 which is authorizing the submission of the state DCA once again uh grant for ball fields located at Carol pager Park um we will take that one separately at the back end so uh are there any that anybody would like to have pulled off for further discussion all right uh 041 memorializing and approving the execution of contract for E ticket renewal agreement uh between Somerville police department and gtbm 42 is resending resolution uh as noted awarding a contract to G2 automated Technologies in the amount of $ 14,580 44 for emergency services facility 43 is authorizing the award of a non-fair and open contract for redevelopment C Council to Renown Coughlin Mello attorneys at law 44 authorizing change order number one for contract with AA burms LLC for the construction of Veterans Memorial Drive Plaza 45 is authorizing temporary appropriation for the 2025 current operating uh Municipal budget 46 is authorizing free parking on February 14th starting at 4M at all metered spaces and lots 47 is authoriz or sorry supporting an application for a supplemental hdsr Grant for additional remediation activities at the landfill BDA Redevelopment area located on Route 206 North in the burough of Somerville 48 is awarding a contract to firefighter one for wallmounted and freestanding lockers to be used at the emergency services facility 49 is authorizing properties uh as noted to place banners bearing advertising for businesses located at the same addresses beyond the 14-day requirement and shall conform with chapter 102119 upon the removal of scaffolding do we have a motion so moved second roll call council members Teresa bonor yes Andrew KY yes Glenn Den yes Randy pittz yes Gina straic yes Roger ver yes all right 050 is authorizing submission of the state of New Jersey Department of Community Affairs fiscal year 25 local Recreation Improvement grant for ball fields located at Carol pager Park known on the tax map as block 108 lot 14 uh do we have a motion so moved second discussion roll call Council memb Teresa boner yes Andrew Cony yes Glen yes Randy pittz yes Gina straic yes Roger ver yes all right Roger bills and vouchers uh I make a motion to pay bills and vouchers in the amount of 2,521 83455 cents second discussion roll call council members terresa Bonner yes Andrew KY yes glenz yes Randy pittz yes Gina straic yes Roger FM yes so Tom is not here for me to ask him for a motion for adjournment so I'm gonna I'm going to give it to the new guy oh motion for adjournment okay second discussion all in favor I opposed this meeting is adjourned