Thank you. Turn this mic on. Is that your mic? Colon here. You better lower it. trying to say this meeting is being held in accordance with the public laws of 1975 chapter
231. An adequate notice of this meeting had been provided by a notice sent to the star ledger the local source and posted in the main lobby of the admissible building on township website. Pledge of allegiance is here.
Not here. be led by. I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands one nation under God indivisibley and justice for all.
Please remain standing for our troops here and abroad. Thank you. Okay. Roll call. Mayor Yuber here. Deputy Mayor Laer present. Committeeman Capides here.
Committeeman Kaiser present. Committeeman Weber here. Okay. Proclamations and announcements. Springfield 55 55 plus residents calendars for October is out. Um fall
festival and car show Sunday October 5th 11 to 5. Free admission food trucks vendors live music beer garden and much more. Rain date is the 19th. Okay.
All admissible office offices will be closed on Columbus Day, Monday, March uh October October 13th. Uh Quarry War walk is Sunday the 19th from 11 to 1. Arrive no later than
10:45. No dogs or strolls are permitted. Rain date is the 26th. If you've never been on it, you should try it. It is very nice. Bars Market last day will be Monday, October 27th.
Please remember bikes and strollers are prohibited from the track at Meiselle. Should anyone observe a violent violation of this policy immediately contact the Union County Police at 9086549800.
Pole work pole workers are needed. earned $300 $300 from November election. Call 908-527-4123 for details. Now we'll have swearing in. First we'll
have uh Captain Westover. All right. I state your name. Swear that I will support Constitution of the United States. that I will support the Constitution of the United States and Constitution of State of New Jersey and the Constitution of the State of New
Jersey. And I will bear true faith I will bear true faith and alliance to the same and allegiance to the same to the government established in the United States and in this state. the government established in the United States and
under the authority of the people under the authority of the people there will faithfully and that I will faithfully partially and partially and justly and justly perform all the duties of the office perform all the duties of the office
according to the best of my ability according to the best of my ability [Applause] Lieutenant Daniel Caesar.
That way you can hearbody. Okay. I state your name. I do solemnly swear that I will support Constitution of the United States. Do you swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of New Jersey and the Constitution of the State of New
Jersey and I will bear true faith and that I will bear true faith and alliance to the same allegiance to the same and to the government established in the United States and to the government established in the United States and in this state and in this state and the authority of the people under the authority of the people
and I will faithfully and I will faithfully and partially and partially and justly and justly perform all the duties perform all the duties of the office of the office according to the best of my ability. according to the best of my ability. So help me God.
[Applause] Turn around. Don't want your picture. Congratulations, [Music]
Lieutenant Keith Christopher. Hello. Congratulations. I state your name. I, Keith Christopher, do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States. do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of New
Jersey and the Constitution of the State of New Jersey that I will bear true faith and that I will bear true faith align and allegiance to the same to the same and to the government established in the United States and to the government established in the United States
under the authority of the people under the authority of the people and I will faithfully and that I will faithfully and partially and partially and just justly perform all the duties and justly perform all the duties of the office of lieutenant of the office of lieutenant
according to the best of my ability. So help me God. according to the best of my abilities. So help me God. You can stab him if you want. I mean somebody There we go. Oh, I see there's a slot. Just leave it down. Everybody's watching. Everybody's watching.
Okay, hold. [Music] One second. One second. Police officer Anthony Crutcher Jr. Go here. Yes. Okay. I state your name. I, Anthony
Crutcher, do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of State of New Jersey and the Constitution of the State of New Jersey. And I will bear fair true uh true faith,
I'm sorry. and that I will bear true faith in alliance in alliance to the same to the same and to the government established in the United States and to the government established in the United States in this state and in this state under the authority of the people
under the authority of the people and I will faithfully and that I will faithfully and partially and partially and justly perform all the duties and justly perform all the duties of the office of of the office of police officer according to the best of my ability. So help me God.
According to the best of my ability, so help me God. Congratulations. Turn around. You taught me. Oh, hold on. Hold on. One more. All right, mayor's only given me five minutes. So
um those who have been to my somewhat lengthy or not so lengthy speeches before, you know I talk more than five minutes, but uh I just have a few things I wanted to talk about each officer. So I'm going to call each one up individually as I discuss the four of
them. So Ryan, if you want to come up first. So I was contemplating. I got very large print, so it looks like a lot of pages. Not that bad. Um, so I can either be squinting in all the pictures or I can put on my readers, which I think I'll do to save you some time, but they're all
fogged up, so never mind. Anyway, very hot even though the air is on. Anyway, um when officers are hired or promoted here, I always look beyond their professional resume, which obviously always says the best of everybody about
themselves, um to try to understand the person that I'm dealing with and who I'm looking to either move up or bring on a department. Ryan Westover has had an impressive career thus far, which began when he was 18 years old. When I asked him for some
updated information for tonight's meeting, uh he only asked that I acknowledge his sister Erin. She passed away two years ago this week on the 23rd. After a nearly three-year battle with triple negative cancer,
um I had the honor of meeting Aaron in an amazing human being and I was uh glad to have gotten to know her. His family and friends are here tonight, namely his parents Rich Senior and Diane, brother Rich Jr., wife Jackie, and son Jack. And
I know that Eron is here as well in spirit. Captain Westover is a second generation police officer, the son of retired Sergeant Richard Westover and brother Detective Richard Westover Jr., both of whom served and served for the Edison
Police Department. At the age of 18, Ryan graduated from Middle Sex County Auxiliary Police Academy and volunteered as an auxiliary officer for Edison PD. He went on to study criminology and political science at Montlair State University before becoming a 911
telecommunicator for the Edison and later Piscataway police departments. In 2009, he attended the Somerset County Police Academy, graduating in December of that year. Sworn in as a police officer in Springfield in 2010, he served in a
patrol division and quickly distinguished himself with a dedication to community safety. His work led to his selection as a drug recognition expert u which is extremely difficult. I been there and it's you burn a lot of brain
cells doing all the studying. Uh becoming a court uh recognized expert in 2018. He also taught the department's DARE program and established our successful junior police academy with officer Kuna. Ryan was transferred to our special
services traffic unit in 2016. Amongst his duties were crash investigations, traffic enforcement accreditation and many others. He was promoted to sergeant in 2017 where he supervised in the patrol division and then was assigned as a supervisor in the traffic special
services division. As a sergeant, he spearheaded technological advancements within the department. Ryan was later appointed as a deputy coordinator of the Springfield Office of Emergency Management, where he has been an intricral part in disaster planning and coordination of assets for
the auxiliary police unit. In November 2021, he was promoted to lieutenant, assuming an administrative role. During this time, he assisted with three reacredititation processes, which is a highly prestigious accomplishment to the New Jersey Chiefs
of Police Association. 2022, Lieutenant Westover was awarded the 200 Club Valor Award for his life-saving efforts along with the New Jersey State Trooper, both of whom pulled the victim of a motor vehicle crash from her burning vehicle moments before it became fully engulfed.
Just this past year, he received his master's degree in emergency management from Fairley Dickinson University and was chosen to speak as a representative of New Jersey in Washington DC on artificial intelligence in the public sector. He's married to Jacquine and has
10-year-old son, Jack, who dreams of becoming an astronaut or a famous singer. I know that. And he's good. I I've seen him, too. And I He's a comedian. Uh Ryan was promoted to captain in July of this year, overseeing the patrol
division. Due to our ongoing reorganization, which includes other promotions, Ryan asked to hold off on this ceremonial swearing in until tonight so as to be able to have it with the other officers who are part of the reorganization.
Congratulations to Captain Westover. [Applause] should have went with your font. Um, so this five minute thing is really going
out the window. Uh, so this is short though. Uh, to give anything less than your best is to sacrifice your gift. Um, it's a good quote that my brother actually uh connected me with that a long time ago. To my fellow officers, all the long nights, early mornings,
headaches, stress, and pain. I can tell you in this moment, uh it's all worth it. It just uh want you guys to keep going through this change that we have coming. My entire life, all I ever wanted was to be a cop. Uh the one you call who races around town, lights and
sirens to make uh your worst moments a little bit better. A number of years ago, Chief Cook, uh, then Corporal, now Captain Rachel, uh, decided to give me a chance. Uh, they saw something in me that I didn't know I was capable of. I
spent months trying to figure it out, like what what was I chosen for for this position. I was clearly not um, I didn't feel I was qualified for it. Um, I just wanted to get in the car and drive around. But uh through task after task each one
more difficult and evolved I slowly evolved into something uh or into the reason I'm standing here before you tonight I didn't see the potential but I attent I am eternally grateful that they did as my voice beame or began to hold value I realized I have ability to be a
voice of change in a profession that can quickly crit that we can be quickly criticized or judged. I have the opportunity to support and guide those who work for me just as I was supported. I have the opportunity to be everything I want to be.
Uh, Mayor Huber, Mitty, thank you. I appreciate this opportunity. I'm not going to let you down. Uh, Chief Cook, Captain Rachel, your guidance and believing in me. Thank you for that. Uh to my fa to my family, my wife Jacqueline, my son Jack, um my brother
Jazz, Oliver, uh my in-laws, they're all here, the girls, everybody. Uh my cousin Michael, detective from Lyndon, supported me through this journey. Um I've learned that I shouldn't wait for the perfect moment. Take the moment and make it perfect. Uh appreciate
everybody. Thank you. You other guys don't need worry about having speeches. It's Ryan asked. I did, you know. So, but I do want you to stand up here. So, Dan, if you can just stand here so everybody can see who it is I'm talking about.
Lieutenant Dan Caesar. Dan began his law enforcement career with Springfield December of 2010 as one in the first group of officers I hired as officer in charge of the department. Between Dan's father, uncles, grandparents, and now
Dan, his family has over 200 cumulative years of public service as members of police andor fire agencies. Lieutenant Zeser served Springfield as a patrol officer for seven years, functioning as one of our field training officers and as a grant writer for the department, getting thousands of dollars
in funding for traffic enforcement and various pieces of equipment. Dan was assigned as a member of the Union County Emergency Response Team in 2015 and 2016. He was promoted to sergeant in December of 2017, serving in the patrol division. He received
departmental accommodations for honorable and meritorious service for two separate incidents involving a gun- rellated arrest. Lieutenant Zizer is currently a radar and defensive tactics instructor and is a member of our department's arrive team, which is a program in Union County uh that aims to
provide mental health crisis response with police and mental health professionals acting together as a team. Dan is joined here tonight by Kelly, his wife of 10 years, and their daughters Evelyn and Sophie, his parents, Dan Senior, Danette, and his siblings
Michael and Kristen, along with other family and friends. Congrats, Lieutenant Caesar. Could you could add lib something, you know. That's right. Then he would have put the pressure on her. Lieutenant Keith Christopher. In 2005,
Keith decided to follow in the footsteps of his uncle Richie retired from North PD and his cousin Anthony retired from Elizabeth PD and pursue a career in law enforcement. He was accepted into the alternate route program at John H. Stanler Police Academy and began training in the summer of 2005,
graduating in December. Upon graduation, he was hired by Springfield as a police officer. After completing his field training, he was assigned to the patrol division. During his time in patrol, Lieutenant Christopher served as a field training officer, crisis intervention officer, Alcatest coordinator, and
Narcan coordinator. In 2013, he was recognized by Mothers Against Drunk Driving with the Distinguished Service Award. He also received several letters of commendation during his time as a patrol officer. In April of 2015, Keith was promoted to the rank of sergeant
during which time he served as a training officer for the department. As a sergeant, he was awarded the exceptional duty, honorable service, meritorious service, and the line of duty wound medals. Here supporting Keith tonight are his wife Elizabeth,
daughters Madison, Hannah, and Jordan, as well as his parents Jim and Teresa, his mother-in-law Barbara, along with other family and friends. Congrats to Lieutenant Christopher Anthony. saved you for last and build up the
stress on you. So, Officer Anthony Crutcher joins our department after serving five years with the East Orange Police Department. Beginning his law enforcement career at the age of 19, he gained experience across multiple assignments, including bike patrol, regular patrol, and most
recently the Enhanced Community Safety Team, a proactive crime reduction unit. During his tenure, he earned several commendations such as the marksman shooter award, excellent duty award, and the high merit award. He is also a certified SWAT officer.
Beyond his professional accomplishments, Officer Crutcher is family oriented and values the importance of community. While with East Orange PD, he frequently participated in community events, working closely with the local youth, and building strong relationships with residents. He believes in giving back,
fostering trust between the community and law enforcement, and creating lasting connections while balancing his commitment to family and service. I'd like to thank Anony's family members, mom Sandra, Dad Anthony Senior, Sister Nica, girlfriend Dana, for
trusting us to look out for him as we do for each other as family. We welcome Anthony to our team and look forward to his positive contributions to our community. [Applause]
Uh if the four of you want to Scott wants to take some pictures. Um while that I just wanted to thank the committee again. Um this is all part of our reorganization trying to make our department uh bigger and better to serve our community. Um so thank you everyone
for allowing me to do the hiring and the promotions. uh we're getting things in place uh for a bigger better future. So, we're very excited about it. And I'd like to thank all the colleagues here tonight, family, friends, colleagues from other agencies. Thank you guys for coming out to support. Um we'll just
take some photos and you all can get out of here. Get that. Yeah. Um while they're taking photos, I just want to say a few things. Uh Chief Cook, thank you for Well, I let them take their pictures.
Okay, Chief Cook, um, thank you for cultivating an environment that is able to produce supervisors uh like you've given the township during the promotional process. I see some people here who actually took
the promotion here and um you guys did very well. You are the future of this department. There's no doubt about it. The promotions you see in front of us, um you are extreme representatives of
the community. Your job now is to keep your officers safe and protect them and make sure that the decisions they make are are the right ones. Anthony, turn off the TV. Don't Don't
pay attention to what you see in the other areas of the world. This town loves its police officers. Stop the car, get out, say hello. It's like nothing you've ever seen. You know,
I'm retired from where you come from, you know, over there. And um the interactions you have with the community are are are going to be different. And enjoy being a police
officer. It's a lot of fun. Go out there, do your thing, and and this committee will always support you in the performance of your duties. and our new captain and our two lieutenants.
Everybody cannot be in better hands than they are with you and and you have our full support. Thank you for doing so well. Thank you, sir. Um I I love whether it is um something that is a promotional event or any type
of swearing in. I I love it because I get to see my other family. I get to see the Springfield family and the people that are being sworn in and honored or recognized or whatever the case may be. The family shows up to welcome them. So
to officer Anthony Crutcher, welcome to our family. To your family, don't worry. We'll take very good care of them. And welcome for sure. You're going to love it here and we'll make sure of it. to Captain Ryan Westover, Lieutenant Dan
Ceser, and Lieutenant Keith Christopher. Your stories are about family. Um, I have being up here, I have probably had a professional or personal connection with you specifically or your families
for for some time now. Uh, the three of you have been there for me, for my family, and for this community and these residents. and for that we're extremely grateful and your promotions are welld deserved and uh we know you'll do us
proud. On a personal note, out of the three promotions, I've probably known Captain Westover the longest out of the three during my tenure here. And um I got to know Captain Westover pretty
well. And um I do have to say for someone who has had family around him in Westover for WTover in Edison to to go away from that and come to Springfield, you know, to to make a name
for yourself in a new community that is nothing short of phenomenal. And we are so proud that you're here and we are so proud that you were able to join our family. and uh we wish you nothing but success in your new position.
Congratulations to all four of you. So, uh these microphones are tricky, so if I like get pitchy, it's not my fault. I'm sorry. Um, Officer Crutcher, I had the privilege of uh sitting in your interview, your final interview with the
department. Um, and you know, when you want to you want to have an interview, you want it to last about 30 minutes. Uh, we were done after like 12. So, um, it's a testament to the things that you'll do here that we had to come up with 18 minutes worth of BS
uh, to illustrate how qualified and ready for this position you are. you will do great things in this department. Thank you for coming. Uh so uh it's true. I just re I just realized uh that we have our very own Lieutenant Dan um in
uh in our midst. Um and uh once again I was I was privileged as chairman of the public safety committee to sit with you um for your promotional interview and um the to say that I was surprised that like
the exactly what you look for in a police officer actually exists. Um and and and that's you Dan Zeser. You were you were buttoned up. You were exactly what I want. and I was ready to make you chief of police. Uh but
he didn't tell you this, but he was there. Um and uh and uh and I'm very excited for the future that you have in um in this department. So, thank you,
Lieutenant Christopher. Uh I uh on the day I was also lucky enough to sit in your promotional interview and and to say that he got all of the answers right is is really just not at all a fabrication. Um and and I also received
a phone call from one of our community leaders and he said, "I want to talk about um Sergeant Keith Christopher." And my response was, "Oh Jesus." um and he said absolutely glowing things
about you and um and the the temperament and understanding that it takes to be uh to further yourself in leadership in this department. Um I really look forward to uh to to great things from you, Lieutenant. Thank you. Now, Captain
Westover, um, you know, you were like, uh, you know, I earlier today, I likened, uh, the leadership of this police department to a football team. We have a head coach,
Chief Cook. We have a coordinator, Captain Rachel, and we were missing a third coordinator. Um, and that's you. And I know that, you know, when you hire a coordinator, you look for a subject
matter expert. And uh you are a subject matter expert when it comes to police to policing. You were the person that when they were a child, I want to be chief of police one day. And uh I'm mentioning chief of police way too much in this. I'm sorry. Um but uh but uh I know
you've already done huge things in this department. you will do uh massive more and just know that you have uh five friends up here and uh we continue to to root for you and cheer with you. Um and
to the the four people that got sworn in today, thank you um to to the people that were part of this process. Uh you are seen, recognized, heard, and appreciated. Especially to the people that did not uh receive promotions this
time around. you will soon. Um, but Chief Cook, thank you for being the head coach and uh I know this police department will do great things. Thank you.
[Applause] Uh uh you know, first off, thanks for everybody and and thank you for all coming. It's a appreciated and shows how much of a a support we have of the community and and the entire department.
Uh toss for Crutcher, uh thank you for joining our our team. I'm I I know you'll make us proud from everybody that has talked so highly about you and and of course, thank you to your family for lending him to us to ensure that he keeps our family and our community safe.
So, we appreciate you. We thank you and and and I know you'll do great things. uh uh to Lieutenant Christopher and Lieutenant Zezer, you know, thank you for your continuing hard work every single day uh of keeping us safe and and continuing to innovate and and make our
department better and stronger every day. Uh we couldn't do it without you and we couldn't make our community as strong uh uh without your support and your help every day. So, thank you. And uh I know Christopher, you you you keep an eye on us. you always mention it when
I used to walk in as mayor and you were like, "Hey, we saw you with this person, dude." So, keep doing that. I'd appreciate that. Uh and and lastly to Captain Westover, thank you so much. Uh uh uh uh a phenomenal accomplishment, a sec
exactly what we want, right? A second generation uh uh uh officer that continues to rise through the ranks and makes not only your parents so happy, right? This is deja vu because we kind of already did this and uh uh uh seeing
your parents come in that day uh uh before you got sworn in originally, you know, is exactly why we all do it, right? So, thank you for you uh and uh I'll see you hopefully at a Ruckers game this season.
One minute. I'll be a minute. Um, I've been up here long enough to see I think almost the whole department sworn in. I was here when Chief Cook has sworn in. Um, remember most of you guys is coming in and girl and women. I remember that
we don't have term limits. But um, no, it's great to see it growing. But as far as Ryan's concerned, I remember when he was a training officer and who his training officer was,
but he I've known Ryan since he first started and saw him grow and I it's welld deserved what he got today. You all did. Thank you very much. And I will take a five minute break. Everybody can get out of here.
Oh, wait a minute. Does chief want to say something? He li he likes to talk on a microphone. Go ahead, Chief. All right. Just two things. Um, my timing is off as far as jokes go, but I should have said it right after deputy
mayor finished his comments. Um, Dan, you will not be bringing me anything to drink or eat for the rest of your career being that uh he's got you wi up for my spot. Um, and I just want to take this moment. I know it's a little bit off yet, but there's a bunch of us here. Um,
if we can all just uh, you know, Erin as well, but we lost our brother, Detective John Patrick. It'll be a year ago um, to a line of duty injury October 21st. U, if you can just keep him in mind. If you want to read about him, he's on our Facebook page, but I just wanted to take
advantage of as many people that are here to uh, keep him and his wife and two girls in your thoughts. So, thank you again for your support, everybody being here. fire, EMS, retired guys, guys from other agencies. Thank you very much. We're all family. Um, go have a
great time. Thank you so much. We reconvene in five minutes. Five minutes. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Thank you. Yeah. Uh, close the doors. Shake. John, should we close the doors? Yes.
Doors, I think. Yeah. Close. Yes. Close them. There's Lyn. Lyn will get everybody out. All right. Was he here, too? Yeah. Linda, want to close the doors? No. Okay.
All right. Hey, a poo. Do you mind? Okay. Or that. All right. Don't do it. No, you can't close them. You can't close the doors. Close the door.
Leave Leave one open at least cuz we have to be open to the public. I I need one open. One door remains open. The meeting has to be accessible to the public at all times. Yes. Okay. But I was with you. All right.
All right. Keep it moving out there. Public comment on agenda items only with the exception of Oakland Avenue Park. We are not talking about that in the beginning. We will talk about it though. All right. Public comment on agenda
items only but not Oakland Park. Okay. Anybody would anybody like to come forward talk about anything? Yes. On the agenda. Can I say something nice about the police? I
All right. Um Drew Stern, Berkeley Road. I would I'm a senior citizen and I just want to say to the Springfield community take get involved if you get to know your police. I was being scammed which
they like to come after people like us. I came down to the police department after this person from another country told oh don't tell anybody. I came Lieutenant Christopher was on duty and he just got me right through it. He even
took the f my cell phone and talked to those people and they never bothered me again. It was wonderful. Get to know for anybody watching there, get to know your police. They're there to help you. Thank you. Okay.
Thank you for that. Anybody else on agenda items only? Seeing none, close that portion of the meeting. Presentation of
Oakland Avenue report. All right. We don't have Yeah. Put one there, one on the other one. Yeah. Put one on each side. Can I give some comments on each drawing or
excuse me? Can I give some context to each drawing first? Sure. Okay. Good evening everybody. So, uh, it took about 3 years of working with Outfront to attain the
land that is on Oakland Avenue and South Springfield at the intersection, a little triangle. We went back uh 60 70 years and it was billboards. It is
something that had been grandfathered in and was absolutely not something that would have been given today if we were faced with that. These buildings were set on concrete pilings
and wood and they were in there. So out front after uh you know hearing our case and pleading it uh agreed to let us purchase this land for $1.
Okay, that is the deal of a lifetime for our township that we were able to get rid of those billboards. Our plan was to build a park a pocket park for the township and give back some
green space and in addition to it gave the businesses that would be in that area a place to go and sit and enjoy the park. So,
our BA and the rest of our administration applied to the county for a grant. We were granted $416,000 to build this park. And we also presented
two um two different renderings of what we thought it should be. One rendering leaves Oakland Avenue open and has zero changes. And I don't know which one that is. That's that one over
there. That leaves Oakland Avenue open, no existing changes. You see that it has trees and benches and and so on. The second rendering closes off Oakland, makes it a culde-sac,
and gains us uh about 600 square additional feet. Now, there is no decision made on any of this. All right? Contrary to what you've seen online or or so on, no decisions were made on anything. We we purposely
had a hearing for this meeting for this with you residents so you can come and give us your opinion. Make no mistake about it. It is our land in the township. We were able to cut down these trees
there. There was nothing there that was healthy. We had the forester look at it. It's not something that we would, you know, come up here and lie about. We removed massive amounts of concrete pilings from this land that were not
permeable in in the slightest of senses. The plan is to, as you can see with rendering number two, same thing. It has a culde-sac. It has trees all over. It does have a
access point. If you look, you'll see almost a straight shot through from Mountain Avenue to Oakland in case of emergencies and people need accessibility to Oakland. We want to know
what the community is thinking on the renderings. It is simple as that. So, take a good look at them. One of them will be built, but we would like your input on them. Am I missing anything on that? The only thing I would like to add is
that we're looking for ideas. You want more benches, more walkways, you know, more of a gazebo, more shade. So, we're looking for input on what you want the park to look like when it's done. Just so you know, there'll be no vote
tonight at all on this. So, if you're thinking we're going to vote, we are not voting tonight. There there there is I I'll give you a little more. There are additional things that are being done. Traffic studies are being done on the entire area. Um I can
tell you that our engineers and the planners have looked at it. There is no additional runoff problems there. There is there is as a matter of fact we removed enough concrete over there that for anybody to sit there and say
that we're causing a runoff issue that's completely false cuz I can supply you with pictures on what those billboards were were were anchored up on it 5t high from ground level and then
probably four feet below filled with concrete. So um both proposals for both planners and engineers are acceptable with no
uh damage or or or possible issues that the residents of those blocks would face from you know um weather related incidents in addition to what they have
Nothing would cause anything else according to what our planners and and engineers are saying. No, you said it. Um, right now, uh, good explanation of everything. Thank you.
Uh, right now I'm not in a position to be in favor of this park. Um, I'm very interested to hear what public input is. Um but uh my mind is open.
Really? We're going to go down and then No, I I think we're open to listening. I think that's uh the purpose of tonight and then we'll be discussed at future meetings uh after we gather input. I think we've received some written input,
too. Um, I haven't rece I haven't reviewed that yet, but I'm sure uh I will definitely review prior and and and I'm pretty sure uh the administration has already uh uh put that together. Um, but I know
we gotten some written input. Um, uh, uh, adding open space or a park, any green space is, I think, a positive. I will say that. Um, that's where I'm coming
from. I don't think uh uh that parkland, whatever it is, should o is always a positive. So, we we'll start there and then I would love to hear everybody's thoughts. Yep. Go from there.
At this time, it's open to the public. You want to you got to come up. Say your name, your address, and it's like you is allowed three minutes to present your case. All right.
Steven Sachs, 37 Oakland Avenue. So, as you can imagine, on Oakland Avenue, this affects me specifically. Two things. Um, the traffic pattern will change dramatically. in order to make a lefthand turn on Waverly. Now I've got to go on Waverly to go around. It'll be
impossible. There's no traffic light there. Um it'll be very, very difficult. That's one. Number two, was there a specific demand? Was there an overriding demand by the residents of Springfield to build this park? Were you getting
knocks on your door saying we need to build this park? because I think that's going to change uh the dynamics of the area as well. There's going to be a lot more traffic there. Probably be kids there doing whatever they do. There's someone going to be policing them to see
what they're doing. They're not drinking beer. They're not smoking pot. They're not whatever they're doing. It's a very quiet area. Oakland's a quiet street. I want to make sure this doesn't change the dynamics of the area. So, it's the traffic. There's nothing we can do about
that. If you close off Oakland, it's really going to change things. And number two, I am a little concerned about having a park in a very quiet area. So, someone's got to police that, the garbage, the noise, the whatever. So, please take that into account. Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you. Just file up. You don't have to raise your hand. Hi, Mara Freriedman, 85 Lynden Avenue. Um, I I wrote something that I'm just going to read from it. Uh, I just want to say that I was very happy when the billboard at the corner of South
Springfield and Oakland Avenue came down. It had certainly been an eyesore. I was also very happy to hear that that area was to be transformed into a pocket park, sitting park. I thought that was a very good use of space. certainly would be a great spot to enjoy a scoop of Joe
and a perfect spot for students leaving both Jonathan Dayton High School and FMG to have a gathering meeting spot. It would be a great spot for all others as well who want a location where they could eat, gather, and just spend time together. I am not sure why or how there
was ever a consideration to do any more than that. I am 100% against any version of closing off Oakland Avenue. It makes no sense to me to take away the absolute safest way to make a left turn out of that area. It's always difficult to make
a left out of Waverly and there was always traffic coming out of the post office parking lot as well as the lot adjacent to TD onto Mountain Avenue. What would be even worse would be sending any additional traffic to exit next to Turning Point on Mountain Avenue, whether that would be a left or
right turn. As someone who walks by there all the time, I could attest to the fact that many cars come barreling out of that parking lot and seem to ignore that there is act an actual sidewalk in their haste to exit. The sighteline for drivers approaching the sidewalk is very poor with the way the
turning point building is situated. I also have to imagine that the tenants in the strip mall from Keller Williams to Carne Bank would not be happy with the closing of Oakland Avenue. From what I have read on Facebook, this is not something that residents of Oakland or
Waverly want. And closing off Oakland Avenue, in my opinion, does not turn the street into anything resembling a desirable culde-sac. Many people have also commented on Facebook that they do not even believe this new pocket park sitting park will be used. Time will
tell, but I certainly do not think that this is the time to do anything other than just to create the park in the area where the billboard was. I think this is a case of less is more. Oakland Avenue needs to remained as is. And I just would also like to add um that I think a
gazebo in that area in the regular park would be great because if it starts to rain, I mean I've been caught a lot of times walking. It's nice to have a gazebo to be able to, you know, wait out the storm and if kids are going home from school and their parents picking them up, it's nice also to have a little
covered area there also. Um, thank you. And I think it's great that the billboard is is down. That that is magnificent. And I think a park there is phenomenal, but I think it should just stay stay in that area. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
[Music] Hi, good evening. My name is David the Barbarie. I reside at 50 Waverly Avenue. I've been on Waverly Avenue for 19 years. So, um, I have more of a concern with the closing of Oakland Avenue because of the street where you come
down Waverly, come up Oakland. You know, I've been through I've sat there through tons of rainstorms, tons of them, and anytime we get water that's 3 in or more, Van Winkle Creek starts backing in
to that paper road, and that road becomes waves and almost impassible. So, I don't know how the town would want to go about building up a burm to try to stop that. You you you can't get through there. Uh that's number one. Number two,
that's small road. That road is 20 ft wide. And in the zoning ordinances under streets, minor roads have to be 30 feet wide. So, I don't know what you guys got to do. You got to excavate back into the park, cut trees down, the whole thing. You got to provide sidewalks. That's in
the zoning. 4 foot wide sidewalks. It's just a lot of excavation down there on that small road. And then the last thing is the the the culdesac. I see it over here. It says it's a 35 foot radius culde-sac. In the zoning ordinances, radiuses have to be 50 feet for a
culde-sac. So, you're going to have to expand that, too. So, I just don't know how that closing is going to work. I'm really concerned about the residents on Oakland during a huge rainstorm. You're asking them to come down Waverly into a FEMA flood zone A&E flood zone. Coming
down that street is impassible. Or even even if they got to get out coming back out in the Waverly, it's just I mean I I I live two houses in and I had water coming up to my lawn and down there you just cannot move in a bad rainstorm. So
I that's my biggest concern the safety on the people on Oakland because they got to come down into a flood drive up and that's really it. It's just those thing but I love the idea for a park. I'm off for that first one. It's a great
idea and that's all I have to say. Just understand that we asked for ideas. Oh, I know. And somebody said called us. So, we just, you know, I know I'm just bringing up the the safety issue of the water down at the end of the street and and the width of the street and it's just
it's tight and it's a lot of zoning and it's a lot of trees being cut and greenery and stuff like that. So, all right. Yep. Thank you. [Music] Uh, good evening. Uh, Chris ShraMM, 54 Waverly Avenue. Um, I've been there
since 1997 and a resident born and raised here in Springfield my entire life. Uh, went to Jonathan Dayton FMG, raised my family here and my children as well. So, I know this area extremely well. Um, been through many of these rainstorms like
Dave has brought up, my neighbor here. And I have a few points here that I want to bring up. Um, the road at the end of Oakland and Waverly is only 21 feet wide. Both Oakland and Waverly are 30 feet wide. The road was never intended to be a main road, but a convenience for
the local residents to access the light for service and emergency vehicles to have a straight route and not to have to back down the streets like they do on Clinton Avenue because a U-turn is not possible without a roundabout. I know this firsthand about this road as its
development as I was the voice contacting the county and the local government to get it transformed from a dirt mess it was when I first bought my home. It literally was a dirt road and it was a disaster. And I came here, the
town was gracious. They participated in the p in the um uh the cost to put in the cobblestone zone, but the county paved it. And I've been ever grateful for it. And it's improved my life. It's improved the neighborhood tremendously. But it's only 21 ft wide. And it's in a flood zone.
Green acres cannot be touched, cannot be widened. You can't touch a tree down there. Yep. We want to keep it that sanctuary. Um the end of Oakland has no drainage or proper runoff. for rainwater or snow melt in the
wintertime. This end of the road is often frozen with hazardous ice due to drainage issues. The closing of Oakland will make this issue worse and funds need to be allocated to correct this. I won't hold my breath as this has been the way it has been forever. The end of
Waverly, you put in cold in culverts. Oakland, it's a dirt mess. If I lived on Oakland, I'd be here every day complaining because that is a disaster and it freezes. you slide right off into the woods there every time. Um, there are five commercial businesses on
Mountain Avenue, uh, stating 191 through 2011. They have access to Waverly Avenue by cutting through the parking lot of 211 Mountain Avenue. This happens especially in the evening when there is a line of cars dropping and picking up children at Turning Point Dance Center. Sometimes these cars cut over to the
Waverly and cut through the back of parking lot 223 Mountain Avenue to get to Oakland so they can use the light and make a lefthand turn. I would have to assume they do this because they are making a left-hand turn on Mountain and I know this is the easiest and safest
way to exit that area. 211 Mountain Avenue is the cardiologist office with very high volume of patrons and employees that aren't able to come here and speak tonight. coming and going during regular business hours. All will be forced to use Waverly solely
affecting the residents and trying to make a lefthand turn. I have been at Waverly numerous times when an elderly patient comes out of the cardiologist's office, doesn't know any better, and is trying to make a left turn and they are just frozen and I'm sitting there and sitting there. So, I usually just go
around to Oakland to avoid these people to be honest with you. Um 223 Mountain Avenue has six commercial businesses with employees and customers traveling daily in and out of their parking lot using both Waverly and Oakland. Currently all of this traffic will be
forced to use Waverly only. Making a left will be a nightmare affecting the residents. 39 Waverly Louis Delmoro building has numerous landscape trucks and trailers that exit the premises on a daily basis and enter the premises
during the weekly rush hours. Many times it is more convenient for them to go around to Oakland Avenue to the light so they can exit onto Mountain Avenue due to the slow nature of their vehicles and to be safe. This will be taken away from them and will make them forced to try to
make a left turn in a very difficult situation. um causing bottlenecks and backups on Waverly when other residents are trying to exit at the same busy time as well as commercial patrons affecting the residents. In order for this panel to make an
educated decision, I would insist they invest in a traffic survey, which I heard was being done tonight, documenting the amount of vehicle traffic using both Oakland and Waverly currently. And on a weekly basis, I predict it will be a thousand or more. and the study should be determined if
this number of cars can be rerouted to Waverly only without major backups and safety concerns. I would request you also give me one other case where traffic light giving access to a major county or state road
was eliminated. It is always the other way around. Lights are added to slow down traffic and give safe access on and off of county and state roads. To sum up my concerns, the panel needs to think hard about the effects this road closure will have on the quality of life for the
local residents and business owners and non-residents as well. If they feel it is a difficult business to access, they may look elsewhere for ease and safety. The town is working hard to promote local business in Springfield. Don't
make it worse with for these businesses by making the access very difficult. And I would also like to thank you for developing this park. I think this option here is beautiful. It's a big improvement. It will be a positive upgrade for the Mountain AB business
district and the local residents. But please don't make it a bad move by closing Oakland and making the residents and business customers suffer with unsafe inequate road access. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
[Applause] Hi, Allison Miller, One Hemlock Terrace. I chair Springfield Environmental Commission. I just want to say thank you for adding a park to Springfield. I'm always complaining we need more protected green space. This is a great thing. I I still have a kid in the high
school. This is somewhere they can go. They can have ice cream. They can have pizza. They can have a bagel. There's nowhere to go and sit when you go to any of those places. So to be able to go across the street and have a place to sit, fantastic. I live across the street from Laurel Park. It doesn't affect
negatively at all. There's kids hanging out there all the time. They're not doing anything bad. It's not a bad thing to live across or or next to a park. I just wanted to address that to you as somebody who lives literally across the street from Laurel Park. Um also wanted to take this time as long as I'm up here
and it's public comment. The Hudel Quarry Walk is coming up, guys. It's a great thing to do. Please come check out the quarry. It's amazing. And clean community day is November 2nd. Anyone that wants to help us clean the parks, get rid of some of that garbage,
we welcome all the help we can get. And are we allowed to comment on other things, too, or does it just have to be the parks? Go for it. Okay. One other thing. Go for it. As somebody who lives, you got a minute left. All right. Laurel Drive. Okay. Ever since that man had his pipe fixed
turning onto Laurel Drive, I bought him out every single time from Myiselle. It drives me and all the residents that live on Laurel Drive insane. It wasn't like that before. The man had his pipe fixed. Now all of a sudden there's a dip
there. I I have to go all the way around to Southgate and come into my neighborhood that way so that I don't destroy my car. It needs to be fixed. Whoever did that needs to be held accountable and it needs to be fixed. We're all destroying our cars turning on Laurel Drive. Okay, that's it. Thank you very much.
Can we look at that? And if you didn't Did we look at that? Thank you. We did. Okay. And and we're looking at from an engineering. Well, the county. So, who do I need to
talk to at the county? Who do we need to? It's so bad. Okay. So, you know, you probably bottomed out. He was there. I had them all there with me. I I promise you, we were there because I'm 100% with you on that one.
They were there. Engineer was there. They are working on something to try to eliminate that severe of a hump. It is bad. Promise you. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Anyone else? Come on up. Hi. Uh Dave Novak, 43 Skyllock Road up
on top. I just have a couple quick questions. Are these kind of the final choices or are they still open for They're open. Oh, they are. So, it's potentially you could put cover over here. Yep. Does this include any kind of lighting or anything like that or are they kind of
closed at dark at this point? Again, as we said, nothing's been really decided. We're looking for input. We we actually talked about possibly Wi-Fi. Do the residents would like to see water in there? They want a water fountain. You know, we're we're open.
Right. Okay. No, that's what I wanted to see was just how because I see the two choices kind of guiding one to the other. is not okay. Let let me let me give you I'll interrupt you for No, finish your thing and then and then I'll I'll No, and then I I was actually down there
to kind of get a sense of the area and um I noticed that there is a traffic monitoring device, but it's on one of the poles more down the street on Oakland and it doesn't seem to be in a position to take account of the traffic coming in and out of the parking lot,
which I think would be significant. Um, were there other traffic monitoring devices that I didn't happen to see? I mean, are you monitoring like the top, the middle, the bottom? Yeah, I know we're doing the studies there. Uh, I'm not sure how many devices they put out. We're doing a week's uh
worth of data on each roadway, but I'll um if we need to adjust that, it'll be adjusted if there's not one there already. Yeah. Well, that I mean that for obvious reasons, right? there's gonna be high traffic and then if it's behind that it doesn't take that into account. I don't know if that's a Yeah. No, we're we're aware of the business situation too. So, it'll be
dealt with. Um and then lastly, um you know, I I hear people talking and I mean I gosh, the Oakland thing that's really tough because that's they're right. That's that's a tough left. But, um along with the park and and the idea people people
will use it, it' be great. It'll bring some energy to the downtown. Has anything been done to alleviate um any pressures on the businesses? In other words, um are, you know, is is TD allowed to do more Supreme Bagel, the ice cream shop? Are they allowed to do
more in front of their places so that they can have people sitting there? They can have they can flow out, maybe build out some of that grass and make it a little more of a outdoor area. I mean, can we be a little friendly? We have an outdoor dining ordinance. I'm sorry. We have an outdoor dining ordinance.
Yeah. they're able to do it if they want, you know, if you're if they want it. No, I'm just saying because it it seems like we could do a little give and take here, like, you know, some have something like this and this this is beautiful and I and I do appreciate that, but I'm I'm just wondering in conjunction because, you know, you had
mentioned that that may not be a park and may not be anything at all, which you know, that's possible, but it's possible. Yeah. Yeah. But you know that you know another step might be whatever we can do to relax that ordinance or you know forgive
some small area just to make it a little easier on the businesses so that you know we we can bring that energy. We can do that for the kids. We can do that for people that are walking. We have our executive director of the business improvement district. Can we survey those businesses to see if they'd
like any outdoor dining further outdoor dining options? Yay or nay? it. That's another thing. Yeah, I'm just here like it it serves kind of the same purpose and and if that were not restricted to time anymore. I I don't think we did either, but I
mean if there's something that we can be doing, we should do it. All right. Thank you. Thank you. I I just want to give you a little bit of of context real quick of how the culdeac idea came about. If you go back
A few months ago when the ice cream store was was was coming into play, there were complaints from Oakland Avenue about the amount of traffic it was going to generate for the block about parking being an issue and people
parking on the street that were customers of these stores and there were issues with kids in the crosswalks in the streets. Our response to that was developing the culde-sac idea in addition to the leaving Oakland
idea. So yeah, contrary to what you because David, you and I have had a lot of going back and forth on Facebook with stuff and there's been some stuff that has just been out of it. Right.
This was just a response to, okay, we acknowledge that Oakland has a a possibility of having a lot of traffic overflow from these stores. We acknowledge that there's going to be parking issues when you have a busy downtown that there is a chance that
you're going to come home and not have a a place to park your car in front of your house. We acknowledge that. with the kid issue in the street. Well, that's been that's been going on longer than I've been here. I think there's there's two crossing guards over there. There are two over there
coming out, right? Yeah. So, so that's just how the genesis of it came about. This was not us wanting to, you know, pick on Oakland to shut it down. But that's how that idea cultivated and so on. That's the context behind that culde-sac.
Yes, Mark. Oh, Mark Henis, 89 Troy Drive. Uh just want to thank the committee for working on the park and uh the town of town of Springfield uh also for working on it, getting everything uh getting those billboards gone. But I am entirely
opposed to the closing of Oakland. Just want to go on record for that. Thank you. All right. Hi. Uh, Drew Drew again from Berkeley Road. I'm not a expert. I like the idea of this park. I happen to um I just want
to address the question about kids hanging out and stuff like that. I play tennis at Henaw. I play tennis at Laurel. I play tennis at Rosner. I'm practically there by myself most of the time except when there's baseball
season is going on at Rosner or it'll be a a a parent bringing their kids to play and I swear I've never seen a three-year-old light up a joint to smoke marijuana. All right. So I worrying about the kids in this town ruining a
park is I I I can rest assured it it will not happen. And this park uh looks wonderful. I just wanted to get that in. But I also since somebody else brought up something, I think we should start addressing because what happened in Scotch Plains and I was in another city
over the weekend and the ebike problems. I heard brought that up last that was last week. I missed. I'm sorry. Last week you brought up the chief is checking it out because we want to something. We got to get something. It It's also being looked at on the state
level. They're flying up my road. Yeah. And you know, it's terrible. And and what I saw in Alexandria, Virginia, it's they have the sidewalks for people to walk on, the streets for people to drive on, and then
they put down a uh I know it's expensive. I know it's expensive. Amazon is cutting is paying for most of it. A line just on the side of the uh the street and the sidewalk so the ebikes can go up it. That's all I wanted to
say. Thank you very much. I also I also uh got a call last week because there were ebikes and that riding around the track over at um Yep. Weiselle. So, I mean, we're trying to stop
everything. Yeah. And not stop. They're also riding on the tennis courts, which I was told to call the police, but I don't want to call the police on on a bunch of kids having fun. Yeah. you if you don't call the police and it gets torn up, you're going to come to us and say, "Well, you got to fix it." And then,
correct. Here here's the problem we're facing with eBike. Here's the problem we're facing with ebikes. This is a technology that that yes gained rapid steam within 6 months. If you if you if you dial it back a even a
year or two years ago, an ebike was simply unaffordable for a kid. Ebikes were three four $5,000. Well, now you can go to Teimu and get an ebike for five, six, $700. They are cheap. They are almost the same price as other
bicycles. I don't think anybody expected it to evolve this rapidly. Am I correct with that, Chief? Yeah, absolutely. I mean, we've been working with other um other chiefs in the county. I know we're all getting together and throwing ideas out there
and we were the captains and I were working on you know especially since yesterday. Um working on something to present to you know you five about that as well. Yeah. And it's it's being and it's being sorry and your helmet. I'm sorry.
I was just saying it's being looked at from you know the state legislative perspective. I mean, I was in a meeting today about ebike legislation, about making it uh, you know, trying to trying to rein it in because it's already out of control. Oh, it's way out of control.
If I'm not mistaken, I'm glad you're deputy mayor Laer can can and I'm sure committee Kaiser can because they're they work more in the state level. I'm certain that the state will have something in effect sooner than later in regards to ebike that will supersede
anything that will come up with that. I think it's this this year is possible. Yeah. Anyone else on Oakland? I can't. Joan Cookan, 551 South Springfield Avenue. A question I have is you're going to be doing some studies. Will you
have another meeting before you make a final decision? We're we're months away from getting making a final decision. But it's possible you'll have another Oh, yes. meeting beforehand. Yes, we will. I promise. I promise you.
Thank you. Thank you. Anyone else? Come on up. Usually they don't let you, but I'll let you. Um, with this traffic study, how will the residents be notified of the results? Will it be public? Do we need
to call you? I'm curious when you think this will be done and open to the public to see the results. When we get it done, we'll be an open meeting and you can always call the police department. We'll be You have an idea timing. Are we talking two months, six months? What is it? You
know, it could be two months, could be four months. Yeah, we need a good We need a good sampling of it. And and honestly, before you guys leave, there will be another meeting. But but those issues I brought up to you before, I really want you to think about in
terms of um you know traffic maybe increasing on Oakland, parking being an issue on Oakland. Just think about that because there will be another meeting with with that uh and the traffic studies all accounted for. So So you guys will have um all of the
information in front of you with that. I'm also worried about you guys having all the information in front of you that you can make a good decision and knowing the exact amount of cars that you know the surveys being done in front of the driveway into the uh businesses and getting counted
properly coming in on Oakland. We have meetings on the second Tuesday and the fourth Tuesday. Right. You got it. come to town hall the week before the Monday before day before and and and so you can think
but basically are you saying that the survey will be presented at a meeting is what you're saying that's all okay this is meant to be a pleasure for the town not a we'll get it when you get it and I don't think I feel comfortable speaking for everybody I don't think anybody's looking to make a rushed or rash decision on this
no and nor do do I think you are either but I just want to have the information you have the information. We can really look at this 100%. You know, I live there. I know it's going to be a disaster, and now I have to convince you guys. So, you know, I think the park is wonderful, but the So far so good. It's a disaster.
Yeah. Thank you. Anyone else? Seeing none, I close it to the public. Okay, now we can go on. Uh, if you guys We're going to go on to regular stuff. If you guys want to leave, thank you very much. Thank you.
Appreciate it. Can I leave? Let's let's take like two minutes. Thank Thank you for coming. Thank you. Where you going? Excuse me.
Report. Go ahead. No. No. Let's keep moving. All right. And I want to touch on a couple of things. I've been chasing Verizon again on these polls. The one that's on Mountain and Mars and the one
that's also on center. I got a note back yesterday and and I know that the permits have been issued because we checked with the state. So the construction team is scheduled for markouts which should clear this week. They said two weeks they should have the poles replaced. It's only been I don't
know six, seven years. So we're getting close. We'll s couple of things I want to touch on. Recycling center is there at the convenience is there for the township residents only. We we know that there's people going in there not from the town and we have to pay to get rid
of it. Uh signage is posted for all acceptable items. Commercial vehicles are prohibited and all violators are subject to a summon. We've we've had a couple there's cameras up there now so hopefully that's going to slow it down
or stop it. Our Johannaway storm station is completed just so you everybody knows with new pumps and motors were put in, new electrical control panels, including the conduit from the street, new exterior fencing with screening. We repaved the driveway and the lot
surrounding the station. We actually got done it about two months earlier than we thought it would be, which was pretty surprising. Training from the vendor is scheduled for early October. the Caldwell culvert. We still have not gotten any update on that replacement project. We'll keep everyone informed
because that is going to tie us up for months once they start digging there. You'll see on the agenda tonight on the reszos there's some U awards that have been made. Midvil and North Veil, I'm sorry, Midvil and North View Mill and
Overlay with 12 new trees that was partially funded with a grant of 120,000. Lawrence and Diamond Road Millan over O overlay and that was partially funded by a DOT grant of 312,000.
Our road assistance program will be awarded tonight also that is for Windsor Drive that's full curb mill and overlay and Highlands Avenue spot curb mill and overlay schedule notifications will go out as soon as we get done with our
pre-construction meetings. Um, I was going to mark left from the fire department. We had an incident at the villas today that I notified everyone. There was carbon monoxide. The fire department was on it immediately. We had 25 units had to be evacuated. They thought it was from
PSCG, but on further investigation, it was a transformer that overheated. Some of the wires burned and let off fumes. So, I I assume that the power is back on. They had to replace some wiring. I was gonna ask Mark, but obviously he had
a call and had to go take care of a fire. Um, I wanted to show some pictures. Marrick, can you give me something? Let's see what we get first. All right. So, there was a question on our traffic boxes. We scraped down all the ones that were not stainless, and
this is the first one that we painted with flat black. All of the paint material came in today. So, we're going to continue on those. The goal is to start them next week and they should all be done by uh the end of October. So
within the next four weeks, all the traffic boxes should be cleaned and painted. Tomorrow next, this is the corner. This is our building on the corner of Mar Mountain and Mars, which is own the old bank. They started
scraping it. They cleaned the windows and we're going to get that building hopefully repainted in the not too distant future. Again, I've stated this before. I know this isn't a home run. You know, we're hitting singles, but at least we're getting some more buildings painted. At least it looks better than
it did. This is a building across the street on Mars Avenue. Uh I think it's 162 where the chiropractor is. They are going to paint this and replace the windows. Tamar, if you can go to the next one. They have replaced the big windows already. They started on it.
Again, it's not a new building, but we're we're getting improvements done. Tamar, go ahead. This is a building across from General Green next to the church. They scraped the building down. And as you can see, Tamar in the next picture.
The building was repainted. It's another building that we we picked off. Tamar go again. This is Patriot Way. They've got the building wrapped in windows in a in a big portion of the building already. This will be done probably within no more than by next year. They're going to
be finished and and probably ready to rent. Building is turning out really nice. Ruby Field, I was there this morning. They finished the clay and the sod has been put. You can see now where the lip was between the infield and the outfield
has been eliminated. All new sod has been put in around the infield. Pitcher mounds were done over and home plate was done over. So Ruby Field will be ready for next season. Yeah, we can stop talk to the soccer club and tell
them they can't go on the infield at all. I will I will move my bet out there and chase them. Good. Well, Linda Linda's Yeah, it's it's hard, Mr. Mayor. You know, I mean, there's there's nobody out there. I mean, we've got it roped off, but again, I I don't know how we can
guarantee nobody's going to go on the field. Hopefully, they don't go on the side. It's brand new. It's going to take, you know, several weeks to establish. So, we spent a bunch of money. So, we're we're hoping that I think Ruby Field is turning out great. It really is a nice location. They did a
great job on it. Tamar next. Now, there's some other buildings. Where's the other? We got some other buildings we got painted. You're killing me. Come on. That's where I broke my Oh, you kill. Anyhow, now you're going to have to make me do it verbal. We did
get I think it was two other buildings in the center of town painted. So, we are continuing to make progress there. We're not done. We're going to continue to bring in the owners and get them to uh hopefully continue to move on and paint. Now, there was two gray ones that that were painted.
Was last week, didn't we? No, we got we actually got a couple more painted be since the last meeting. Okay. So, we're we're making progress downtown. Again, I know it's not going to be what everybody would like, but Single's still a hit. We got to, you know, we got to take what
we can get for the moment. So, Single's still a hit. We're trying to make progress. Does anyone have any questions or comments? I'd be happy to answer. Yeah, I have I have a comment. Um, two. Number one, can you just repeat the first thing you said about Morris Avenue, about the polls? What was that?
Yeah, we have a pole on the corner of Mars and Mountain. It's got wires going into the ground. That has been like that for I've been here seven years. It's been like that for the seven years. So, and I I think I mentioned to you I called Verizon and told them somebody
fell and they sent their crew out to at least fill a hole in. Now, they got to replace the pole because those wires are supposed to have a pole there running down the the wires to go underground. Right now they're just sticking in a pipe. They said
within the next two weeks they should be out to replace that pole. If you look at Center Street, Mars Avenue, the wires running down center, you can reach up and literally grab them. They're so low. Yes. There has to be a pole on Mars cuz the span is too long. So the wires droop. So there's going to
be Oh dear. I'm sorry. There's got to be a pole on the corner of Mars and center to support those wires. They are a little higher than they normally been. I'll tell you right now. I know you but on center in um center street
rich I can reach them. You were today they were up a little bit if I can reach them. They're not very high. John the timetable for that is two weeks. That's what they've promised us that they the mark no the markouts will be done this week. No this week.
And they said that it's on the schedule roughly two weeks to complete the work. So we'll see. I will continue to call the state government affairs representative which is Braxton Plameumber. I'm in touch with him. I also have the construction manager's name and number.
Good. I'll continue to to chase them. My my second thing for you is um the painting of the buildings. And I guess what I want to expand on with that is is you have to realize that um township is kind of caught in a catch. Hitting singles is a perfect way to put it
because ultimately the goal is to redevelop all these buildings, right? Yes. If you make a deal with these people and you reface a building, okay, well, they're going to spend an enormous amount of money to reface a building that you're still stuck with uh three corn or three sides of it that is still
an old outdated building that still needs to be redone. Yes. At this point right now, we are constantly working with developers. I mean, that's fair to say in terms of and the owners in terms of
getting these buildings redone. The coat of paint is the easiest um thing that we can do without making them spend a ton of money and then they're going to fight and say, "Well, why you just made me spend a 10020,000 to reface a building?" And
we're still there with the same old problem and the same old building. And the other thing we're trying I had a meeting with with the with um the bid today with Scott and Mike and we're we're talking about trying to put together a program so that we can help the business owners like with awnings so
we replace awnings so that we get something that is clean fresh. Uh maybe I've I've been talking to our planner. I've got some downtown standards that we're working on. You know I guess there's a difference of opinion. Some people like would like the awnings to
have a a common theme. Others would like them to be individual so that everybody can kind of have what they want. So that's something we're going to need to talk about down the road. But we are trying to address as much as we can. It's just it's tough. It just takes a lot of time. But but I think to Chris's
point and Chris feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. Um we're we're still trying to actively solicit I mean we've been redeveloping Mars Avenue for like 60 years at this point. Um um like we're we're still actively
trying to you know to to try and do more than than what we're doing. Like we're we're actively trying to get developers in here and and change what hasn't been changed. Painting is absolutely an
upgrade. Downtown standards absolutely an upgrade, but I mean they're, you know, singles and doubles. We're we're still trying to hit home runs, too. Just so you know, um, we've met with we've met from Caldwell, the corner of
Caldwell, the owners from there all the way up to 78 bridge, and I've personally spoken to four developers about looking at that whole stretch. Is there a way that we can get somebody in to redevelop that? Yeah, we we haven't given up. It just again
and that I think it's important to reinforce that while yes, it's slow, but it's looking better. It's looking better. Absolutely. There's no argument there, right? Every little improvement is is a step in the right direction. It doesn't uh uh
development takes time. We've seen how deals take many years. Painting it is not a uh massive investment. No. Uh that they're going to say, "Oh, I painted my building. I'm not going to redevelopment in the future or I'm not going to sell it." Right. Painting it is
a bare minimum. You don't let your walls in your own house. Right. Okay. Take care of it because it's a nice thing to do and finally we're moving in the right direction. So, and I want to touch on Duffy's lot also because we've been working on that. We had a meeting last week. We had a Zoom meeting last week with D and they were
actually very amanable to some of our suggestions on how to try to fix that lot so it doesn't flood. So we've got an application going into them and I will keep you ab breast at where we go with it. We're trying to replace the pipe, raise the lot,
possibly put a retention basin in the back. So, there's a bunch of different options, but but I'm optimistic that we're going to get something done and and try to get that lot where it's usable because right now it's you park your car and you got to watch the weather forecast, see if I got to run outside, move as hard.
Yeah. So, we're we're working on it, but again, you have to understand when you're dealing with D, it's very time consuming and it's it's long term. It's not going to happen overnight. Okay. All right. New business. Second reading. There's none.
Okay. The first reading is ordinance 202518. This ordinance amends chapter 530 of the county code to update the animal waste removal provisions thereof. Oh, I'm sorry. First,
uh, Mr. Chair, I make a motion to adopt ordinance 2025-18 as read by Madame Clerk, publicized in the local source on October 2nd, 2025 with final hearing on October 14th, 2025.
I will gladly second that motion. [Applause] Roar. Committeeman Weber. Yes. Deputy Mayor Laugher. Yes. Committeeman Capes. Yes. Kaiser. Uh, yes.
Mayor, you we need a discussion. Yeah, we would get a somebody should run through. So, yeah, you want to go ahead. We You can This is a can handle this one. This is a minor but important update to the pet waste removal ordinance right now in town. Um, in terms of pet waste,
everyone has to has to clean it up immediately. Um but where but you're currently permitted to walk your dog uh and do so along the public street or in between um the sidewalk and the public street. We have some streets that don't
have sidewalks though. So this what this does is it gives uh it gives pet owners and dog owners the ability to walk their dog within three feet where there's no sidewalk. They can they can walk the dog on the grass within three feet. That's within the township's right of way. It's a it's it's a narrow it's a narrow
amount but we have some areas some streets where that is the limit of the public right of way something we could do uniformly absolutely this makes it gives it you know a safe area for the uh but always clean also clean up after
your your pets please please God but I've gotten calls where people spend fortunes on their lawn and I agree with this fortune on my warn and there's no sidewalk and people go on there. They
call me and say they can't get on my you know I think it's going to be hard because I know I know Ally has a lot a lot but I mean I get calls. Okay, you can you say something?
I I own a dog walking 140 dogs a day. So, my people are getting yelled at all the time for walking dogs on the little bit of grass, but I'll tell you, in the summertime, that pavement gets hot. These dogs burn their paws. They need a
little bit of grass to walk on or they're going to hurt themselves. So, you know, I've been after all of you guys for this for a while. So, thank you so much because you're really helping dogs. It's, you know, my my crew clean up after themselves. We're
professionals. This is what we do. But, you know, unfortunately, other people ruin it and and don't clean up after their dogs and and shame on them. But, um, you know, we we have to protect our canines. They really they need a little bit of grass to walk on. And people
yelling at us, you're breaking the law, curb your dog. To be able to say, actually, the law is we're allowed three feet is very helpful. So, thank you. You're welcome. Okay. Says feces. It doesn't say anything
about urine and anybody knows that knows about young dogs or female dogs, they'll go on the lawn, they'll urinate and you've now got brown spots all through. So, I can I fully understand the other side where somebody says, "Hey, I spent all this money on the lawn. I want it to look good. Please curb your dog." And
yet people are still I mean I I live on the top up there and I had people coming 30 feet into my yard to walk their dog. You know what the hell's going on? But um that's the other side of the story. So I I do I I understand. Okay. Resolutions.
I'll call them out. Let me know if you want them pulled. 2025 242 243 244 245 246 247
248 249 Pull 249. Yeah. Okay. Two uh 20 25 250 pull 251 252
253 I have Okay. I'll make a motion to adopt the resolutions 2025-242 through resolution 2025-248 and then resolution 2025-251
through resolution 2025-253 by consent agenda second. Committeeman Kaiser. Yes. Deputy Mayor Laer. Yes. Committeeman Capid. Yes. Committeeman Weber. Yes. Mayor Uker. Yes. And
all right. Resolution 2025249. This resolution amends the adopted budget for additional items of revenue and offsetting appropriation chapter 159 for CDBG senior citizens transportation
grant year 51. Uh I wanted to pull it only because do we have to make a motion first? Oh, sorry. Uh uh I'll make a motion to adopt uh resolution 2025-249. I'll second.
I wanted to pull it because uh CDBG is a uh is a is a convening of different towns that we do throughout the county. Community development block grant program which is funded by the federal government. Um and it is uh it's essentially free money for towns to
improve themselves in certain targeted areas. Um John uh our administrator and myself sit on that committee and this is another year of bringing in over $100,000 uh between multiple projects into the town to do them.
Committeeman Kaiser. Yes. Committeeman Capid. Yes. Committeeman Weber. Yes. Deputy Mayor Laer. Yes. Mayor, yes. Resolution 225250. This resolution amends the adopted
budget for additional items of revenue and offsetting appropriation chapter 1559 for CDBG roadway rehabilitation grant year 51. I'll make a motion to adopt resolution 2025-250.
Second, same thing as I said before. Committee Kaiser. Yes. Deputy Mayor Lauer. Yes. Committee minis. Yes. Committeeman Weber. Yes. Mayor
We did them. We did those. Uh I will make a motion to adopt payroll and invoices for the period of September 10th, 2025 through September 25th, 2025 in the amount of $5,864,583 and 111.
Second. Committeeman Kaiser. Yes. Deputy Mayor Lauer. Yes. Yes. Committeeman Capid. Yes. Committeeman Weber. Yes. Mayor, yes. All right. Correspondence, New Jersey Transit hearing October 23rd,
6 to8. Senior citizens and disability residents assistance. Call 973-491772 by October 10th for information. public comment on any government issue. Thank you for being patient.
Jeff Ch47 Shelley, uh, with the street fair coming up soon, is the town going to have like a tent set up only for the reason that, you know, like with the 250, I I was speaking with Commissioner Harris a few weeks ago about, you know, like promoting the next year and getting the residents to get involved and sign up.
Yeah. I mean, I spoke I spoke with uh Jay who's kind of led it on a staff level. Um we'll try and and have some literature ideas available for it. Um I mean the tough part is getting volunteers. Yeah. Um but we will try and have a presence.
Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Just like get more people involved. Thank you. Anywhere else? All right. Executive session. Okay. Resolution 92525. Whereas article six of the open public
meetings act provides that a public body may hold session whereas the township committee will during this meeting enter into discussion of the following matters. Attorney client privilege and personnel police department. Whereas the matters to be discussed in close 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 reasons for
discussing and in close session no longer exists. Motion second. Um all in favor? No action will be no action or action.
Okay. No action will be taken. Hi. Hi.