Looks a little better. This meeting is called to order in accordance with the open public meetings law. In accordance with chapter 231 of the public laws of 1975, adequate notice of this meeting has been provided. This meeting of June 2nd, 2025 was published
in the Courier News and Star Ledger and placed on the burrow's website and bulletin board at Burough 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 Brian Gallagher, council members Terresa Bonner here, Andrew Ki
here, Glen Deny here, Randy Pitts here, Gina Stravik here, Roger Vroom here. Please stand for the salute to the 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. Okay. Um, first up, uh, which is always a a great day whether we're bringing in a new officer or we are promoting an officer. Uh, we I I will ask, uh,
council, uh, to allow me to bring forward the, uh, promotion of officer Anthony to sergeant. Uh, and that's item number 149. So, do I have a motion on that? Some moved. Second. Discussion. Roll call. Council members.
Theresa Bonner. Yes. Yes. Andrew Ky, yes. Glen, yes. Randy Pittz, yes. Gina Stravik, yes. Roger Verum, yes. Okay. And the oath of office will be uh uh performed by Brian Anthony. So, you want to come forward? Mr. Slooka and Randy Pitts as
police commissioner. Come on up. Come on up. It's cool. Come on up. You're going to raise your right hand and repeat after me. I state your name. I, Brian Anthony, do solemnly swear do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States that I
will support the Constitution of the United States and the State of New Jersey and the state of New Jersey that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same and to the governments established in the United States and to the governments established in the United States and in this state and in this state under the
authority of the people under the authority of the people I do further solemnly swear I do further solemnly swear that I will faithfully I will faithfully impart partially and partially and justly perform and justly perform all the duties of police sergeant all the duties of police sergeant for the burrow of Somerville
for the bur of Somerville according to the best of my ability according to the best of my ability. So help me God. Help me God. [Applause]
Congratulations. Congratulations. See, I told you. So, so Chief, uh, words of wisdom for the newly minted sergeant? No words of wisdom. Anyway, I I do want to thank you guys for allowing us to do this because this is a little bit out of the ordinary
what we're doing. But we run a process, as you guys know, we've dealt with this for 20 years now, 20 25 years. And after the process, Sergeant Anthony came out first and he
will go back to patrol. So, what he has throughout his career is he was in well you guys know you guys know but he was a patrolman he was assigned to traffic safety and he's recently been in the detective so he's got a good handle on
how everything works within the summer police department so his transition into patrol to take over a shift should be very smooth and uneventful but I again I thank you guys and congratulations you deserve it so
sergeant um He he reminded me. He goes, "You you swore me in back in 2008 as an officer." And uh I look older. He doesn't look any older. Started January. Yeah. Okay. So,
um obviously you have a uh uh you you not only did you are you an officer here in Somerville, you live in Somerville or you grew up in Somerville. Yeah. Um and I think that's uh I think that's awesome. I think that's great. Um over the course of the years um the chief has
assembled uh which I I think is just an absolutely dynamite department. You know, you look back there and these are the folks that uh [Applause] that they they protect us every single
day. Um something as simple as a lost cat and then they go from that to, you know, the action we had uh yesterday. and uh and they do everything. Um it's not an easy job. You don't do it for the pay. You don't you do it because you love this town. You do it because
you love helping people. And uh that goes that's for you and for all of the officers that are assembled here tonight. Um it's not a job. It's not a career. I think it's a calling. and uh and not everybody has the the stamina um the will or the
fortitude uh to do the job that all of you do. And uh you know, you've heard me say this before. Um but you know what? I truly believe that. Um when you drive around this town, young kids wave to
you. That's awesome. You know, it's they know you're the good guys and girls. Um it's it's we have a a a a department that's just filled with people who care about the citizens in this community and
uh um I stand all of you up against any any other department uh in in New Jersey because what you do every single day in helping our citizens is just tops. So thank you. God bless every one of you.
Good luck, Sergeant. do well and uh make sure you keep smiling at all those young kids that are out there and and waving at you as you drive by. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. [Applause]
Are you free to go? All right. Um, we're just going to wait about 10 15 seconds for the room to clear. And kids, you did a great job. Awesome. Thank you. All right. Uh, let's go into
departmental reports and notices. Uh again, primary election day is Tuesday, June 10. Uh we do have one polling location change. Vanderveir Elementary School is no longer a polling location. The replacement location is the Somerville Emergency Services facility
at 85 North Gaston A. Um, and then just in addition, our board of adjustment has uh, this is just a point of information. Our board of adjustment, which was regularly meeting once a month, uh, and then would have a, uh, I'll call it a swing meeting just for additional uh,
uh, discussion, uh, they have now since moved to two meetings per month. So, that's a good thing. That means there's folks in town, you know, whether it's an addition on their home or uh, or a project, uh, they're looking to reinvest in Somerville, and that's a good thing. So, mayor, I I did have a question from
the public, uh, regarding parking at the, uh, let's hold that for your comments. Okay. Yeah. Um, all right. So, let's go into committee reports. And Andrew, um, the historic advisory committee met, uh, and you know, there's an update on the plaque map, uh, for
historic monuments around town are, uh, is coming and is coming along. It looks great. Uh and uh the work at the burough hall is still ongoing and uh hopefully they're not uh causing any more emergencies. Uh so that's progressing as it should as you're well aware. Uh and
we'll continue to meet uh on the last Thursday of every month. Awesome. Great. Thanks, Gina. Uh the uh Somerville Rescue Squad uh will be moving uh officially this week to uh the for former West End uh firehouse. So uh they're they're moving things over um I
think as we speak and throughout the week. Um, also the board of health met on May 20 uh May 21st and uh reviewed the county um health department's reports for our municipality and we stand in good shape at this point in time. Also, the comment I had was I did
get a question from the public regarding where to park for uh voting at the emergency services building. Was it okay to park in the back? Um I thought so, but um I think we need to clarify that to the public. Yeah, I think uh uh in the back if there are empty spaces,
absolutely. Uh and then obviously there's on street parking uh on Cliff Street. There's on street park some on on Gastonav as well. Uh and then the side streets also. Um good question. Y thank you. We we do expect to have the uh the the rear door open for voting on
the one side and the bay as well. So, um, we did receive today probably about eight signs that will will highlight that area as a voting location and park and would be available in the back. Great. Okay. Thank you, Glenn. All right. So, fire department has been busy
as always with uh 51 calls in May, including five fires, uh, eight different hazards, and a large number of false alarms as well. Uh, but maybe even more exciting, they've had a lot of, uh, positive things with their members. So we had one member who completed fire school with their graduation is ceremony
should be soon. Uh three new members have joined and actually um two less active members have started becoming a lot more active because they've seen such a great positive change in the fire department. Awesome. So I thought that was really exciting and I mean that's awesome to have six six six people
actively engaged that have stepped up and are continuing to volunteer here. So that's great and hopefully we'll see more of that. Awesome. Great. uh short for the environmental commission because they'll be meeting next Tuesday uh June 10th at 7 PM right here. But uh I did want to just highlight uh we did receive
a $20,000 sustainable New Jersey grant to help restore some repairarian habitat. That's the area along Peters Brook with uh some vegetation and other things. So, and we'll be uh officially receiving that in a couple days. Great. Okay, great. That's all for me. Thank
you. Thanks, Teresa. Thank you. Um well, firstly I just want to say thank you to everyone who helped to make the Memorial Day parade um a great success this year. Again, uh there were so many people who
volunteered and stepped up. Um the committee who planned the parade did a great job making sure that everything went smoothly. Thank you to Kevin Sluca for being everywhere all the time um that day. Uh, and thank you to the
Somerville Civic League for um putting the flags along um High Street along the parade route. It was beautiful. There's some still there. Um uh so I just want to say thank you to everyone who helped with that.
That was fantastic. Um I have uh just a couple updates about adult programming at the Somerville Public Library. Um June 6 from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. the Central Jersey Family Health Consortium will be there with materials to support
early childhood development and families will have the chance to fill out the ages and stages questionnaire to evaluate whether a child's development is on track. Uh June 9th, uh 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Pride Social Hour will meet.
Um they meet monthly and offers a safe space for LGBTQ plus adults and allies to socialize each month. Um and June 10th from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. English uh con conversation group um will be there
to practice speaking English in a friendly setting. Intermediate English skills are required. Um my last report is the public safety committee. Uh they've been looking at a couple uh intersections in the burrow that have
high frequency of accidents. Uh right now, actually, as we speak, they're out looking at an intersection with uh members of that neighborhood because there's been a lot of concerns over on Grove Street. So, um they're the public
safety committee is really working hard to keep Somerville safe or make it safer. and they encourage anyone who would like to attend any of the meetings, please do come to the civic center uh third Thursday of each month. Um we welcome they welcome public
comments and concerns and that just helps to make Centerville safer. Thank you. Great. Thanks, Randy. Thank you, mayor. With us with us just witnessing the uh promotion of the sergeant, I have really nothing else to add. Okay, great.
All right. Thank you, Randy. I mean, uh, Roger, sorry. That's okay. Uh, thank you to all the participants of the family fun ride. Uh, it was another great success this year before the parade and obviously before the um, uh, the bike races. And thank you to Kathy
and the volunteers of the recreation committee that make it possible every year for the families and and other participants to be able to preview the track before all the professionals get out there and and uh make it an exciting afternoon. So, thank you everyone
involved. Uh and I'll just echo the uh uh the sentiments. Um the the whole day, Memorial Day was fantastic for Somerville. uh for the families, for the veterans, um for everybody involved. Uh the bike races uh the weather was
perfect for it and it was probably one of the largest bike races I think they said since the 80s uh in terms of ridership and I believe also in terms of people coming to town. Main Street was packed. Uh High Street had its uh uh uh
consistent parties and uh and and both were fun. Um and uh kudos to uh the folks that organized it this year. Um uh in particular uh Ellen Nardoni and Rich Wrightman. And the two of them did a phenomenal job along with a number of
other folks including Glenn. Um Glenn uh I asked Glenn to be the liaison to the bike races and he took that uh that that position very seriously and I know helped out greatly with uh with the show. So well done to all involved. If you if you guys are having a wrap-up
meeting, please pass that along. We'll do. Thank you. Thank you. And again, thanks to Kevin for for all the work he did pre, during, and post. So, well done. Well done by everybody. Um, at this point, I will ask for a motion to open the meeting to the public. So
moved. Second. Discussion. Roll call. Council members Theresa Bonner, yes. Andrew Ki, yes. Glendon, yes. Randy Pitts, yes. Gina Stravik, yes. Roger Ver, yes. All right. Meeting is open to the public. Please address your comments to me. State your name and address for the record.
Good evening. My name is Amanda Rivers and I live at 153 Hamilton Street. Excuse me. And my question is, uh, when are you going to complete the paving on Southside Avenue and Hamilton Street?
It's been pretty raggedy for many years now. Whi uh which which section? Your section. Southside Avenue Hamilton Street. Right in the corner in the intersection. Yes. Uh do we have good question? Uh it's an excellent
question. Yeah. The the uh I don't I don't know the paving schedule. I'm not familiar with that actually being on this year's paving schedule, but I'll have to evaluate and uh get back to you. Yeah, I would think it's it's more the the Hamilton portion than it is the Southside portion. Hamilton and
Southside. Yeah, because I was told two years ago by the council members that there was a pipe problem. Um yeah, I'm not I'm not familiar with that. Yeah, Mr. Rivers, what what we'll do is we'll get DPW out there tomorrow
uh and have them take a look. I I I don't know if you were told that two years ago as as before I came back. Yes. You weren't you weren't the mayor, right? No. So, um, we'll we'll, uh, we'll get DPW out there. We'll assess what the intersection looks like, the road looks like, um, and find out if
there are any pipe issues. I I would imagine half of Hamilton Street near the apartment building is paved, but the other half are not paved. Okay. All right. Yeah. Well, we have we're going to have to take a look at that. I just don't I mean, I run those
roads. I just don't recall, you know, the exact condition of them. Okay, I've got to take a look at it. I know where my next running adventure is. Thank you. Any other public comment hearing? None. I'll ask for a motion to close. So moved. Second.
Discussion. Roll call. Council members Theresa Bonner. Yes. Andrew Ki. Yes. Glendon A. Yes. Randy Pitts. Yes. Gina Stravik. Yes. Roger F. Yes. Okay. Uh ordinance for public hearing and adoption. Uh this is ordinance number
2764 amending the land use and development fee ordinance of the bureau of Somerville establishing an affordable housing development fee. Um this has been a long process. Um and what we what we uh the committee uh had
made a recommendation to the burough council to adopt this ordinance uh which actually goes a little bit further than what the law requires. The law only requires that we have this fee ordinance in place for developments that are five units and above. Um, this ordinance
contemplates those that are four units and less. Uh, what we saw was a a gap uh where we needed to begin to help fund the affordable housing trust fund. And so as uh developments come up that are
that are less than five units, we now have the ability to capture that a portion of that and it's a defined formula set by state statute so that we can fund our affordable housing trust and begin to implement the program that was developed. So is that a good
synopsis, Colin? Excellent. Thank you. Okay, I will ask for um a motion to open the public hearing. So moved. Second. Discussion. Roll call. Council members Theresa Bonner. Yes. Andrew Kiy. Yes.
Glendon. Yes. Randy Pitts. Yes. Gina Stravik. Yes. Roger Vroom. Yes. Okay. Public hearing is now open. Hearing none. I'll ask for a motion to close the public hearing. So move. Second. Discussion. Roll call. Council members. Theresa Bonner. Yes. Andrew Ki.
Yes. Glen Deny. Yes. Randy Pitts. Yes. Gina Stravik. Yes. Roger Verm. Yes. Okay. Um, I will now ask for a motion for adoption. So moved. Second. Discussion. Roll call. Council members. Theresa Bonner. Yes. Andrew Ki. Yes. Glen Deny.
Yes. Randy Pitts. Yes. Gina Stravik. Yes. Roger Ferm. Yes. All right. Consent resolutions and it would be pulled off for further discussion. All right. Uh number 150 is authorizing the sale of surplus property a commercial range
through municip in accordance with state cooperative pricing system. 151 is adopting title of staff planner. 152 is approving the person-toperson transfer to be held in pocket of alcoholic beverage control license as noted by Chow Bellow Incorporated located at 156
North Gaston to West Main 53 LLC. 153 is approving the hiring of Carrie Quite as receptionist administrative assistant effective June 9. 154 is approving Somerville Fire Department application for Joseph Patty. 155 is approving event permit for Somerville Elks to use Carol
Pager Park for Jack's kids softball tournament as noted. 156 is authorizing the 10th annual Somerville 5K turkey trot on Thanksgiving Day. As noted, approving event uh 157 is approving event permit for just another day to use Carol Pager Park for adult kickball
tournament and giveaways as noted. 158 is approving the event permit for Vville Legacy Leadership. 503 to use Michael Le Park for a yoga event as noted. 159 is authorizing the sale of surplus property being a marathon tar kettle through municip in accordance with state
cooperative pricing system and 160 is amending police chief employment contract. Do we have a motion? So moved. Second. Roll call. Council members Theresa Bonner. Yes. Andrew Ki. Yes. Glendon. Yes. Randy Pittz. Yes. Gina Stravik. Yes. Roger Verm. Yes. All
right. Bills and vouchers. Roger. A much smaller number this month. Uh so I make a motion to pay bills and vouchers in the amount of $745,431.98. Second discussion. Roll call. Council members Theresa Bonner. Yes.
Andrew Kiy, yes. Glen, yes. Randy Pitts, yes. Gina Stravik, yes. Roger Verm, yes. All right. Uh, Councilwoman Bonner, may I have a motion for adjournment, please? I will make a motion to adjurnn. Second. Discussion. All in favor? I opposed.
This meeting is a jar.