##VIDEO ID:6mmfWslf-nQ## she wasn't in there good evening this meeting is call to order accordance with the public laws of 1975 chapter 231 and adequate notice of this meeting has been provided by a notice sent to St lged a local source and posted the main lobby of the municipal building and on the township website please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance allei the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all please remain standing for was it roll roll mayor Yuber yes Deputy Mayor laer here committee man capes is not here yet uh committee man Kaiser present committee man Weber here all right oh he's not coming M capid will not be here tonight right I think I knew that will be collected curbside through the month of January please remove lights decorations wire tree stands and plastic bags uh Chief I'd just like to um if I could just take a moment um on January 26th retired Corporal James Sable had passed from a long fought illness Corporal Sabas started with the Springfield Police Department in August of 1969 as a probationary officer and attended the 118th Municipal Police Class training at the New Jersey Police Academy in seagert Jim was a lifelong member of the PBA local 76 beginning in 1969 having served in several positions on the executive board at different points in time he was also a member since 1971 of the New Jersey narcotics Enforcement Officers Association Jim was assigned to the det detective Bureau for 2 years from 1974 to 76 as a plane close officer during his career Jim was acknowledged for his involvement in numerous criminal cases and arrests to name a few apprehending burglars involved in several home burglaries in Springfield and other jurisdictions arrest of a main member of the channel lock gang which was out of Philadelphia which was responsible for numerous home home and Business burglaries in New Jersey apprehension of fur thieves fleeing a fur store robbery in Summit an armed robbery Arrest A Bank Robie arrest a theft and stolen vehicle Pursuit arrest and the capture of a military deserter for which he was commended by the United States Marine Corps he also was commended for his life-saving efforts of a victim of cardiac arrest officer Sable had also served as a training officer for the Department in the late 80s before being promoted to the rank of corpal in 1991 on his own time corpal Sable volunteered for the Jonathan Dayton Regional High School athletic department especially the football program for more than a decade beginning in the late 70s having received letters of appreciation from the director of Athletics of the school Jim retired from the Springfield Police Department in 1994 after 25 years of dedic at service to the township and the arrangements will once I know for sure um I'll put those out is it yes sir um I know he coached my two sons um he was always a jokester he always had a you know good thing to say about everybody he will be missed a lot all right public comment on agend agenda items only Bob groer 98 Washington Avenue and this goes out to the police chief regarding the uh ordinance with the no turn on red I was just curious what streets are affected and on the one that they're proposing I believe that is um for Hillside Avenue turning that right that's the only one yes turning on to my westbound on Hillside turning uh right making going north on Mountain Avenue oh okay only between the hours of 700 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. and 400 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. Monday Monday through Friday yeah it's pretty much mirrors that the other end of uh Hillside in South Springfield sounds good thank you Chief you're welcome anyone else public comment agenda items only we have reports coming from Florida all the way from Florida how you doing John good evening everyone so we had our second snowstorm on the 19th all roads were cleared in the morning hours of the 20th sidewalks were assaulted within 24 hours of the storm due to the extremely low temperatures salting became necessary for days afterwards just to give you an idea because it's kind of surprising we went through 65 tons of salt in that small little snowfall a lot of salt I mean it comes to cost us about $55,000 the township for the salt itself the street sweeper again has to be out we have 72 hours to Street to streets yeah sweep the streets to remove the salt that is left on them so the street sweeper was out right after that psng is going to continue work on myel expect some slight delays in the coming weeks the Public Works brochure was mailed or is in the Patriot residents can also find it on the township website um committee man Weber you asked about the recycle stickers there are some in town hall at the front and we've got more coming tomorrow so if anybody needs one just come on in and they're at Tamara's desk when you first walk in the barriers on Center Street have been removed at the GES property so now you have a fullwith street there for passing PR Patriot Way progress continues there uh I wanted to I wanted to let everyone know we've got a new kind of program that we started we've got a committee that is our our zoning officer our construction official our fire our police our bid we meet with an individual owner of the building on Mars Avenue one at a time we're going over any violations that are there anything that doesn't meet our ordinance and we're also talking to them about improving those buildings or if they're not interested are they looking to possibly sell and have a redeveloper come in and do the buildings knock them down possibly and start over so we're going to just kind of go right down the street and hit every one of those and see if we can get that uh Mars Avenue cleaned up a little bit better we're making progress but it is slow obviously um on the 11th we're going to introduce the plan for the Bank of America building will be presented so anyone that is interested the drawings and everything will be here on the 11th um other than that I think that's it for the moment let somebody has a question or a comment yes can you please explain how Springfield gets its salt in the county okay so we share the Dome up at the Quarry and we buy the salt we put it in the dome when we go to get salt it has to be when the county is open we go up there they load the truck then we get deducted from however much salt we take if it's after hours we have to call and see if somebody can come in and open up for us to allow us to get salt it's not the greatest way but it's what we got to do now we are looking at Mr beter and I are looking into putting up some kind of small small barriers up at the pool to store some salt for an emergency so that if it happens during the middle of the night and we can't get salt from the county we kind of got to backup if the county does not have enough salt what happens then we got a problem and that's why you know we we and again we have to get clearance from the county to have salt delivered so if they tell us for some reason the Dome doesn't have room or for whatever reason they can't take salt we can't just call up the port and say send us over you know 200 tons of salt how many municipalities locally around us have salt silos there are several I could get you exactly how many I don't know off the top of my head but I will tell you from past experience Berkeley Heights is is shared with the county also it's it's in Berkeley heights' DPW so they have direct control over it and the county then comes in and takes the salt but in that instance the county has the key and they just go in and take it and say you know we took 100 tons so it's a little bit different than the situation that we have okay thank you and we can't put it just over at the pool because environmental yeah the problem is is that you'll end up with D or EPA coming in if you don't contain it because you end up then you know run off polluting the ground so so we're trying to figure out a way to maybe put some of those heavy Jersey barriers up maybe you know something underneath it to protect the ground but again that's for emergency only we're only going to have a little bit you know couple of truck loads until the county opens in the morning then we can go up and and fill all our our trucks now obviously if we know that there's a storm coming Mr betra always sends up immediately and fills all of our trucks up as quick as we can if we get caught then that's when we end up with a situation so it's not perfect but we're we're working on it we're trying to make it better thank you Mr rer anybody else okay minutes I will make a motion to adopt the regular meeting minutes and executive meeting minutes of Fe of November 13 2024 and November 26 20124 as emailed oh we're so behind second that all in favor one month I I have to abstain that was okay new business ordinance second reading none first reading ordinance 20253 this ordinance amends the Township Code of chapter 7 to amend the Township's traffic regulations prohibiting right turns on red as specified I would like to make a motion to adopt ordinance 2025-the on February 25th 2025 second [Music] question any discussion about I mean we do it every is thank you for your question Mr yeah that kind of cleared it up clarified yeah good all right roll call uh committeeman Weber yes Deputy Mayor laer yes mman Kaiser yes mayor Huber yes right resolutions if you want me to put on all let me know 20 25 51 20 25 52 20 25 53 54 55 we have this second turn it over I did turn it over FR page should be on the second page 5 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 and 65 do I have a motion I'll make a motion to adopt resolutions by consent agenda resolutions ranging from 2025-the [Music] yes um just a quick question I know it went through the proper channel is is the uh on the resolution we awarded to the pool the vendor is that the same as last year yes I know it's tough to get people yeah okay discussion and action items uh C accept accepts the resignation of Bonnie LM f as a member of the rent leveling control board with the position expiring December 31st 2025 I'll make a motion to adopt uh to accept her resignation um the uh uh all in favor all in favor favor I I uh just thanking her for her service and I think this uh is an ad for that we need uh several people I think we have a few openings on on that board and I think other boards so maybe Mr Mayor maybe you uh through our Pio officer maybe we do a announcement saying uh to the public anybody who like to serve on any board um send your rumes in the township administrator and we can uh we'll go over them and we'll get in touch with you right away we're looking for people all right next accepted donation of laow Park equipment shed by the soccer club of Springfield that includes extra Vents and windows and delivery that approximately $3,000 make a motion to accept the donation uh by the soccer club of Springfield which is extremely generous uh that you know that it's not a cheap item so i' make a motion to adopt that please second okay committeeman Weber yes committee man Kaiser yes Deputy Mayor laer yes mayor Huber yes all right the next oneing Rita FZ as a mayor's representative to Springfield Free Library uh library for one year uh time expiring December 31st 2025 um I'll make a motion the uh for your appointment Rita FZ uh for the Springfield free public library second all in favor I I I'm exemp I okay um Finance it's time to pay some bills uh I'll make a motion to adopt the payroll and invoices for the period of January 15 2025 through January 28 2025 in the amount of us this is a small one it's not in a million 72991 126 I will second that committee man Kaiser uh yes Deputy Mayor laer yes committee M Weber yes mayor Yuber yes correspondence Roy valure Authority connection fee update public comment on anybody have anything to say about that before we go into I just want to go back to the the Laurel Park donation you know um we we the township you know because of the what these things cost we we depend a lot on on donations from the clubs and uh I just want to make sure that you know the soccer club understands we we thank them a lot for this that the kids are going to love this uh we do have something coming also so for Chism center from softball MH they're going to be doing something also uh I don't know if baseball has anything in store yet but um they they've they've re they've done stuff in the past especially Snack Shack and Rosner and stuff like that yeah we don't survive without things like that and you know I know we appreciate it but I know the parents and the kids appreciate it more than anybody else so thank you guys for that thank you appreciate all right um public comment on any government issue if you have anything to say come up and say give your name and address Scott harowitz 74q Drive um I'm sure you're all aware of what happened in South Orange over the weekend the anti-semitic incident and I know we don't have that issue here but it is only about five miles from here I just want to make sure we have a plan in place to protect not just synagogues but all houses of worship in town and and basally make sure everyone feels safe when they have to go to pre yes we we work very closely with all the necessary agencies involved we reach out constantly and uh y not going to discuss what the plan is obviously but we're we're aware all right right thank you you're welcome Ken Harter asks 8 S6 Road um just want to ask if we can think about opening up Ruby for Junior's parking um a few weeks ago my son and several of his classmates received tickets from the Springfield Police Department because they were parked on Rose my son's been parking there since September no issues no one ever warned them or anything I firmly believe they should have received a warning since their high school students needing a place to park to get to school uh I've called the school in September they don't want to talk to you because you're an underclassman it's a senior privilege I talked to them again after the ticket uh their complaint is there's no parking I go through there all the time there's plenty of parking but it's a senior privilege I understand that but uh kids need to park um I really you know was disappointed they got tickets they've been parking there all year and all of a sudden I guess a according to officer kuna who's been very helpful with me he's been speaking with him for the last week or so um he said uh I guess someone on the street complained uh the kids usually park not in front of people's houses but there's a I guess a little lot that's empty where they Park and they still got tickets there um I understand the law is the law but as parking there all year long without any issues I think I think knowing that these were high school students uh they should have got a warning before getting a ticket uh so since this is going to be an ongoing issue with parking for 2hour parking or wherever around the school areas I would appreciate if we look into opening up Ruby field for the kids and maybe do something where I guess the under the underclassman last year there was an issue that's why they Clos that park for parking uh but maybe we do something about that where they don't block the uh entrance for the uh parks and wreck and whatever Vehicles need to go through uh this way our kids have a place to park because obviously underclassman and kids just just getting their license need to drive to school because they need to practice in driving and uh that's all I have to say say I appreciate you guys can rethink about that and on behalf of the Republican committee we wish Mr Huber a happy birthday oh we we we'll put it on the agenda to discuss the next week uh next meeting next meeting yep fair enough for the reason um they we stopped it because the equipment tried getting in to cut the lawn and do what you know DPW it couldn't get in because the kids were parked all over we will if we do there'll be spots for the there'll be spots for the kids and if they change it they'll be kicked out right it's that's common sense you should not block something where you know so I mean because we T last year we did that right you know I I I I think we if I remember right I think we left it up to the school I I you know the pro yeah yeah the problem is is this kind of sets up a battle between us and the school yeah yeah and we're almost we're stuck listen my son got pinched and told me they were going to tow his car last year well the year before you know if he did it he got caught as a junior too I have mixed feelings on it half of me is just like what's the big deal let him park there and the other half is again setting us up for a battle with the school I don't I don't even know which side's right there are and I know there's a lot of spots in the lot cuz I uh been through there their complaint was there's a lot of construction going on and there's still seniors getting their licenses therefore there's no parking there's no spots but like I said I've gone through there many times different hours of the day CU I work from home luckily and there's always tons of empty parking spots make them pay underclassman or have a lottery system or something but they don't want to hear anything I didn't even get a chance to speak to the principal because I got knocked off right I guess at the at the entrance saying you know talking about parking and that was once they heard I was a my son's under classroom they didn't want to hear anything else you got to you got to understand something that that this this is not as easy for for us as it is because again it sets up a battle between us and the Board of Ed so and and the seat sorry I don't want well the school doesn't want to hear anything I know and the police department called the school they don't and and uh they told them basically the same thing but there should be no reason why Ruby can't be opened up if it's done properly let's discuss it at yeah I definitely think we discuss it next meeting I mean the senior privilege has been there since forever but it's definitely worth discussing I think one of the things we have to be careful in Ruby though is it's not paved I think it's Stone so it's going to be difficult to make stalls yeah you know that's the only thing and then DPW goes over they got to be able to get in turn around get out kind of things we could we just need to look at that carefully I think there's other options besides Ruby I think we talk about parking as a whole I mean there there could be a solution I think it's something we're talking about okay who was that yes sir your name and Steven grow 17 Pine Lane Springfield hello everybody hi how are you how are you we both had a lot more hair back then right let me just say one thing I have no desire to be back there again I'm not here as a controversy hi Linda hi um I'm here just to see if we can get some ideas flowing um I'm sorry I just want everybody to hear you from everybody's very curious I just want everybody to hear you from mic um I'm just here to see if we could get form some ideas as a group something that is going on in the United States and in towns around us I just want to make read one thing and then it'll kind of get to where I want to get to it's this terrible things are happening outside poor helpless people are being dragged out of their homes families are torn apart men women and children are separated children come home from school and they find their parents have disappeared that's from The Diary of Anne Frank January 13th 1943 um I am not going to get political here I don't care what side of the fence you sit on whether you like the president or do like the president that's not what I'm here about um what I'm here about is after I heard what's happening uh what happened in Newark uh with the arrest of three people one of them being a US veteran uh it just hit me it hit home and I think it hit home with everybody here um that none of us I don't care who you are it could happen to you and I know we're in Springfield we're in shell we're a nice Community chances of happening here but then again gun violence happens in schools it can happen anywhere my my point is how are we protecting the kids it's one thing for the adults and we'll get into that another time how are we protecting the children in schools churches synagogues preschools uh is there a way that between the Boe Chief cook you know the police and the township committee to come up with some ideas to protect our schools and our children I can't imagine how it is to be in a in a room with a gun and in my classroom but it's another thing also to have ice coming in with their AR armed police officers coming in and barging in and grabbing a kid out of school it's got to be pretty traumatic uh event um I have done some research there are some people out there that are putting together uh ways this is I can I can email this to to Linda if you'd like and you can distribute among them I'm okay and it gives an outline it's about five pages long and it gives ideas on how we can come up with this whether it be a resolution now I don't know it's been a long time um the Board of Education can have their own resolutions for their school is that correct you don't have any prec you don't have any ruling over that but what about a church or synagogue or uh preschool how does that get protected do you have any does anybody have any idea all right good yeah so the I was speaking with committee Weber uh and committeeman Weber and I make up the Public Safety Committee um we are going to be having a meeting in I believe I think it's a week or two and the the agenda for this meeting with police will be um among other things will be uh you know working out plans for how this has happened I mean everybody didn't expect Newark West New York Union City like we didn't expect it um we've I've already been in contact with the superintendent they would like to be in on on the creation and development of this plan of these plans as well um so we're those conversations are ongoing okay is is the answer that so you started something already we've started to hear that we've started conversations um and they'll be they will be continuing at right at a more official level at our next public safety committee meeting um I do know that what's there at the second largest um School District in Massachusetts is getting um a resolution together where it's setting up safety zones uh for kids and again I don't want to see any adults getting arrested that are that are innocent either I understand some people want everybody out that's not what I'm here about I just it's really for the children I have a grandson in Mountainside now and um my son lives in Mountainside and I just I just feel bad for kids if they have to go through something like that and I'm just asking you people to see I'll be happy to not political I'll be happy to help whatever if you get a committee together if you if you'd like to get a hold of me I'll be happy to spend some time with you and help you out with that um L your number right your number I'm listed well I have my I have a cell phone I'll give it to Lind if you want at the end of the meeting you want me okay I remember no I I just want to say one thing you know we've done a pretty good job up here of staying clear on a lot of national mess over the time we've all been together the last real M National mess we actually had to address was covid and and I think we we handled that better than most towns um and I think we did well my opinion on this and this is my opinion only I'm all for throwing out anybody who's nonproductive criminal or whatever I have a serious problem when you go to somebody's job or school which shows that you're a productive part of society and and extracting them from places of work or schooling that that's what that's not what my understanding that this was going to be this was going to be getting rid of criminals or people that doing harm to our place right our country I should say MH so on a national level I know I know residents are curious where we would stand on something like that throw them out you're committing a crime I I I agree with you I agree with you wholeheartly but if you're a 40-hour week worker and you're doing well and you're doing right and it's not for us to really decide that on a national level but if we can get towns as a coalition Milbourne Union Kenworth and we can somehow we always remember when I was up there always tried to get towns to forget the name of to to join forces services but this is something that's really above anything else beside money and you know sharing uh sharing with police forces and whatever and uh I'm glad to hear Mr Weber that you you I agree with you wholeheartedly if you if you're a productive citizen in this country you shouldn't and you've been here and your kids have been here for say they're 11 years old and all they've ever been is in United States and only speak English how how do you have the goall to say you got to leave so I I just don't want to see kids get traumatized over this and um I'm hoping that maybe we can come up with something I know the Board of Education must be addressed on this as well I don't know Mr Huber if you can uh coordinate that or I don't know who's responsible for that if you're even interested in doing something and got kids I have grandkids from [Music] Rich hello I don't think I need it no you're loud I I have grandkids in the school system from preschool up to 11th grade and the police chief and I know for 15 years I've sat up here and I've wanted and they do not as often as I like I want a cop in the schools I want a cop to walk through the I want them to walk up and say officer Alex how are you you know to know him need a lot more money you but I mean I want the kids to be able to go to like officer John and say riches give me a hard time whatever it is I don't want the kids to be afraid to go to school M and in my opinion that's what's happening kids you know kids are going to be afraid to go to school right right and no I I agree with you wholeheartedly these two gentlemen are going to safet the committee they'll sit down with the chief I sat on that committee so I know what you know what you do and I just remember the signs grow now like I remember I was going to wear my hat but I didn't have to call to do it's like a local celebrity but I mean you know I am for the schools you know we have a hard time sometimes talking to him but we will sit down okay and we will we didn't we didn't have a meeting last year did we with the school no but we are going to have one this year guaranteed yep and I'm glad I'm glad to hear that that's a that's a Huber Pro and it was their choice not to have not ours correct but I will say we will have one okay can't and if the superintendent doesn't come she doesn't come but I will have one I I can't imagine why she wouldn't come no she she wants to be involved in in this I mean this is way too important not to it's not political and the synagogues I know we I have a police car at this synagogue on Mountain Avenue every Saturday right right or Friday night Saturday whatever the where your is I don't know about the one up in the back who's whose purview is that for the synagogues for who's who per it's yours the synagogues and temples and the schools are Boe but I mean it's it's it's a it's law enforcement so I mean fall under the the way we police the town the way i' I'd rather not talk much about what we're doing in those places i' rather no I don't want to hear I just want to know is there any way you can make them call a safety zone or something like that that was there's a perimeter I again don't yeah I understand what you're saying okay and you don't have to answer that question then okay no I I agree with a lot you st okay okay thank you we'll do something and you can always call Linda or John they're here all day long okay doing what I don't know but Mr Grow can can you email me and we'll switch numbers and everything else and I'm sorry can you email me and and we'll switch numbers and sure sure I'm going to leave my number right here so my email as well be happy to I'd be happy to send you the uh Thing This research paper which again is be great yes I'd like to see that you know if you get it to L thank you L make sure wait I have a question for you when you were up here did Facebook when you were up here did Facebook exist got a date yes it did yeah yeah did the residence form exist I I didn't join Facebook until after I got off a you off of this desk I didn't want I didn't I had enough craziness going on I know what you all go through so I don't no I moved to Miami right after I left and and and and and Richard you know won the election and I said I didn't leave town because but I just went to Miami for 14 years and I'm back so anyway welcome back okay yep anyone else your name and your address please Bob Gro Bob groer 98 washing Avenue yep I want to continue what he just spoke about um I'm actually agree with Mr Weber wholeheartedly and all of you on this my late dad was a holocaust Survivor came here legally my girlfriend came here legally as an immigrant from Colombia and we had a long discussion about this my attitude is leave hardworking people alone alone leave kids alone get rid of the damn criminals that's all I care about and I think that's what most people care about that's that's that's the whole gist of it exactly what you just said 100% thank you than it anyone else good evening gentlemen Linda Jose G PBA president 100 Mountain Avenue um I'm here today long with the bunch of members from the PBA just to uh read a statement in regards to some remarks made by uh the committee in previous meetings so I would just like to read this out to you guys um if I may as a represent as representatives of the deicated dedicated men and women serving in the township of Springfield Police Department we feel it is important to address some of the remarks made by then mayor Chris Weber during the December 18 2024 Township committee meeting we believe it is vital to provide Clarity on several points raised which we feel May misrepresent key facts about our department its operations and the vital role our officers play in safeguarding our community during the public comment portion of the meeting committee man Weber stated that it is not cheap to hire a police officer and cited the average salary being1 146 $776 for officers in Springfield we would like to clarify that this figure is inaccurate the actual average salary for officers in our department from Chief to the most recently hired patrol officer is $129,800 retain skilled professionals who take on dangerous and demanding roles often at a great personal risk additionally while the cost of hiring officers is substantial it is worth noting that Springfield's Police Department is among the lowest paid in Union County when compared to both starting and top tier salaries this underscores the dedication of our officers who continue to serve with Excellence despite the such uh such Financial disparities he also compared the averages Police salary to that of the police department stting that the salary of for the fire department employees is $119,800 this comparison is misleading the fire department is significantly smaller with just 26 employees compared to our 43 now sworn officers the fire department has recently hired several new members which brings their average salary down while we have hired only one in the past few years moreover the fire department has been operating without a permanent fire chief since 2023 further distorting the comparison these differences and Staffing and Leadership should be considered before drawing any conclusions about salary disparities between departments we strongly believe fostering this harmony between police and fire department is counterproductive especially when both departments share the common goal of serving protecting the residents of Springfield also went on to say he has concerns about officer productivity and clarifies that he was concerned about the bank for the buck that the township receives from its Police Department he also made remarks regarding officer part activity where he expressed desire for high return on investment from his Police Department he has previously said on a record on record in the township committee meeting back in January 2023 that he would like to see a wheelbarrow full of tickets coming off of myel Avenue and also referred to a word that is fairly unmentionable in which he vaguely referred ticket quotas motor vehicle summonses are means to deter incorrect unlawful Behavior they should not cannot by law be used as Revenue generating function for the township we understand that measuring the performance of any public service can be challenging but equating productivity solely with the number of Motor Vehicle summonses issued is misguided while traffic enforcement is an important part of our duties it should not be the primary metric for evaluating the overall effectiveness of the department for context as of December 28th 2024 the Springfield Township Police Department has responded to 13,14 calls for service in including 2659 motor vehicle stops 173 motor vehicle accidents 383 reports for suspicious activities 172 disputes 116 mental health responses 332 school crossing posts among many others Additionally the department conducted 119 community policing activities throughout the year and officers made 270 arrests these figures demonstrate the broad and essential range of services our department provides far beyond issuing s ations the Springfield Police Department Staffing level has remained stagnant at 44 sworn officer for many years despite Township significant growth and development as committee noted the township committee commissioned a study from the Ambrose Group which recommended the immediate hiring of two additional officers however there has been little public discussion about these findings and no action has been taken to address the Staffing shortages identified in the study in fact our department has been under tremendous strain due to the number of of long-term injuries and conditions resulting in in unprecedented overtime for our officers as a result many officers have been burned out many have been forced to work excessive hours often working 5 hours before or after the regular shift sometimes both and at times for four uh consecutive days these conditions are unsustainable while he has repeatedly stated that the committee supports the police department there are times when our office officers do not feel that that support a recent example of this lack of support occurred following the sudden and tragic passing of detective Patrick our department faced an unimaginable loss and yet not one Committee Member attended his wake or funeral these events were attended by residents Township employees and Public Safety agencies from across the state but our officers were left feeling abandoned by those who claimed to support us we realize that you all have bus personal and professional lives actions as they speak speak louder than words and this absence was profoundly profoundly felt by our members and the Patrick family we have raised these points not to create division but to correct inaccuracies and encourage a more informed and productive dialogue between the township committee and the members of the Springfield Police Department we remain committed to providing the highest level of service to the residents of Springfield but we need the support resources and Staffing to continue to meet the growing demands of our community we respectfully urge the township committee to engage in a meaningful discussion regarding Staffing Resources and working conditions so that we continue we can continue to Serve and Protect Springfield with a professionalism and dedication that our residents deserve thank you for your attention on these matters do do you want do you want to stay up here while I address this or do you want to be seated CU most of it was directed towards me so I'll give you the courtesy of letting you stand up there do you want to stay oh Chris oh no I'm going to address this one before you do it go ahead anybody any cop in this town knows I support them that's one thing I'm going to argue with you I support them and that I couldn't go to the funeral I couldn't do anything I had just had a double bypass understood I mean so don't say the whole committee I mean things happen and we couldn't do it we are we have been discussing adding officers on we can't get them we we've discussed it how many times I was going to speak after Chris I'll there's a lot to address here yeah there is yeah all right let me let me let me start off with with the salary situation uh I don't want you to think this is biased I'm going to ask this to the CFO how much do pension and benefits you gave a salary you said that the average police officer makes 120 right I gave you a gift at 147 or whatever I said what does pension and benefits cost us please per officer on average per officer if you take the feemale reimbursement rate it's approximately 75% of the salary all all friend all which if you just based at 100,000 75,000 so if you went on top of the 120 you're at $ 195 roughly almost $200,000 per officer I gave you a gift at 147 that's number one okay number two let's address tickets let's address them because I gave you one and I'm going to say I because I was a chair of Public Safety for six years you got a seven-year contract you got your full medical restored back when you were retired which you were not entitled to cuz it was taken away by chapter 78 and chis Christie but I restored it when we were in contract negotiations your ticket numbers went from January of 189 to 458 477 632 when we signed the contract 495 425 341 370 246 280 they just kept going you want to get into last month and the month before we went for November we had we had 168 tickets total for a 44 man Department versus 282 the year before 2023 for December we had 545 this month we had or last month we had 156 all right I'm protecting the township here I've given you everything you've needed everything you guys can all sit there if you think this was in your best interest do your thing but I sat here and I tried to help you in every way imaginable now I'm sorry I don't know if it was worth it to do it because it's staggering the cost on the residence for per police officer is almost $200,000 I didn't make these numbers up you could open them you can do whatever you want to do with them take a look at them you have opportunities to work unlimited overtime for whatever you want at almost $100 an hour that is the rate that you get to do roow jobs fire does not have that opportunity I didn't put Sal out there to to to create division between police and fire I put them out there because you guys Encompass an enormous amount of our budget 30 to almost 40% of our budget that's an staggering amount so when I sit there and I say yeah I'm looking out for the bank for the buck for the residents absolutely I am and it I'd be wrong to sit here and do that so if you want to address what happened with the tickets if you want to address address why overtime you want to address why overtime not even considering comp numbers for the month of I'll start with November 1st was $ 42,3 4968 and then overtime for December was $46,988 4.31 that's not even including the time that you put on the books as comp time which we have to pay you out depending on on the level that you work if you're a 10-year veteran and you held on comp time for 15 years boy you better triple or quadruple the cost that we're going to pay you out at the end of the time which you will walk out with a with we I was on the job what do we call it we call it a boat check right because everybody goes and buys a boat when they retire so if you don't think I have to look out for the township I do all right we committed to hiring 50 people 50 because of the development and everything else we're trying to find the money that's number one it is not as easy as just digging it out and just throwing more we have a budget that is we run the township on I think 309 to $40 million alone all right that's just our portion that pays police fire DPW and the township workers and and everything else right it's not easy I I I don't know what more you guys want from us or I should say that's why I decided not to be the chair of Public Safety anymore maybe I just am not connecting with you that is why Deputy Mayor laer is now the chair of Public Safety so you can address those with him as far as the funeral's concerned I'm sorry that I was not there but I'll tell you what we did make sure we did make sure that he was that he was promoted to a detective that night we did make sure his spouse and children received medical for six times longer than they were entitled to paid by the township paid by the township didn't have to do that but because it was the right thing to do it was the right thing to do and we did it no questions asked all townships give 30 days we gave her six months so what was more important me attending a funeral or somebody who was out of state when I was sick or giving her the spouse medical benefits so she had time six months to regroup and and and formulate a plan I know you guys thought this was a good idea you didn't think this through good enough now if anybody you smirk all you want you guys want to talk about it afterwards you can find me you know where I am we can gladly talk about this and I can hear your gripes but everything you're throwing my Ray right now I have to protect the interest of the town I'm done thank you as far as tickets go you can ask the chief ask um Captain Rachel I call every I'll say once a month twice a month I live on Rose Avenue and I used to leave at 4:00 or 4:30 in the morning every day and it was cars parked on my street I've gone into the police department police station and asked I said how many cars were you know called in and a lot of times none I mean I'm not saying you the residents give them a warning put a warning on their thing so they know hey they got a call I mean I look at this I mean the tickets I'm not saying go crazy giving out tickets but you got to give a little bit and get a little bit and you've gotten a lot mayor I add one more thing y we have a ratio here right now of One Sergeant for every two officers one Sergeant for every two officers if that's not staggering now you you're you're talking to a guy who comes from that the chain of when you look at the span of control you all know that you it should be one to five at a you know out a minimum one to two that's insane so what are we going to do now do we have to look at the Motions I mean what do we do at this point we we we've asked nicely and I I I'll bring it up we've asked because we're short for superiors superiors defined as Road sergeants and bosses to answer calls if they have to they've de they've decided to file a grievance against the township and us because they don't want want to answer them so what do we do then do we just OTE and bring it back to patrol officer not sure what we do this is a small Department that doesn't have a lot of advancement so when there was opportunity to advance and and and do it I I never turned it down because a lot of times departments like this get gridlocked it's not a thousand man Department like where I come from from and they promote 80 sergeants at a time so when somebody says or when a chief says hey you know this person's deserving they've passed the test they' they've met the requirements can we promote them sure promote them but now don't even want to answer the jobs you could take this fight to any newspaper Source you want the township the residence anybody I'll Stand My Ground with it you you guys determine if this is the fight you guys want to have yeah so can I call you Jose um first off um I don't think anybody up here would diminish um the contribution that the entire police department gives to this town um second there is the way I feel there there's a there should be a mutual respect between the police department governing body leadership in the department there obviously seems to have been a disconnect in that communication greatest uniform you could ever put on in your life what what Chris said uh is a th% right I take a a lot of issues when it comes to officer Patrick may he rest in peace um we we went more than above and beyond to make sure that that family was taken care of um I for one uh could not attend the funeral because I had cut my hand and had I been driving I would have gotten one of the summonses that apparently don't get written um so I I take issue with that and and I'm going to do what uh I felt should have been done which is extend an olive branch I would love to sit down with you as chairman of the Public Safety Committee president of the PBA include anybody you'd like and I would love to sit down and I would love to hear what what uh what ways you feel we can make the department better because I believe in mutual respect and I would love to work with you and your entire department to make the town better so thank you for coming and making us aware of the apparent disconnect that's here thank you don't leave yet I guess we have a a failure to communicate right uh uh I think my record stands of where I support our law enforcement from every single vote that I've taken the six years I think we've provided a contract when other towns don't provide a contract we haven't fought I came in here day one six years ago I'll tell you I was fighting to make sure new hires lived in Springfield uh uh and maybe that would give you the opportunity to then come on our side if you lived in the town because then you could run for office Chris Weber said hold up young horse and don't do that so I've I've I've we can push further and we can push back and forth that's not productive for the town we didn't do that we've worked with you every single time but to come here today and not even not even come and sit amongst the people right for the meeting you stood outside in the hallway as what ways to intimidate that's how I would take it now I won't take it that way but that's what could be perceived I'm not happy with how this is I hope you'll sit down with the the public safety committee I'm not on that but I am on the budget committee I'm a fierce defender of making sure that we spend what is right uh uh uh I have said from the f I think I fought with May mayor Weber at the time of of increasing it to 50 people and I think I think today is that uh uh unfortunately unfolding where we should have kept it at what 42 at the time I forget well nothing's un everything could be changed so I I don't understand I have been livid the last few weeks with the the ision of the sergeants to not be on patrol get out of the office and on the streets that's what I would say unbelievable unbelievable thank you unbelievable unbelievable any other public comments on anything I I don't understand I see in the back over there would you like to come up and have a comment too you're you're a sergeant you're you're you're a senior Sergeant I'm asking you anything cuz everybody seems to know when to stop and find me or have my address or have my phone number everybody seems to call me when there's an issue you have you have a comment you'd like to say here Sergeant come on up you could wave you could wave me off I'll be outside in a minute we could talk unbelievable any other public comments on anything I think we should close public comment closed executive session resolution 12825 whereas article six of the open public meetings act provides that a public body May hold a closed session and whereas during whereas the township committee will during this meeting enter into discussion of the following matters attorney client privilege and Personnel whereas the matters to be discussed in Clos session are to remain in the strictest of confidence by all Township committee members in furtherance of their fiduciary duties to the township now therefore be it resolved matters discussed at this meeting will be released to the public when the reasons for discussing and acting upon them in closed session no longer exist may I have a motion motion second all in favor I I um no action will be taken after this meeting correct e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e for