Uh, welcome everyone to our first uh, council meeting of November. Uh, want to comment on our big crowd that we have today. Something must have happened this week. Why nobody's here. Not quite sure what it might be. Um, but um, we I'm hoping people are watching from
home. Um, with that, uh, Madame Clerk, will you please read the adequate notice of compliance statement? Adequate notice of this meeting has been provided by the city clerk's office in preparation of the council annual meeting notice dated December 16th, 2024, which was properly
distri distributed and posted per statutory requirements. Please be advised that fire exits are to my right, your left, and at the back of the room. The city has a listening system to assist the hearing impaired. If anyone needs hearing assistance, please obtain the system at the deis and return it
thereafter. >> Thank you very much. Roll call, please. >> Mr. Ber >> present. >> Miss Hamlet >> present. >> Miss Calmanson. >> Mr. Palowski >> here. >> Mr. Smallwood >> here. >> Miss Toth >> here. >> President McTurn >> present.
All right. Um at this time I'd like to call on Miss Bonnie Morrison to lead us in the pledge of allegiance. >> I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and
justice for all. >> Thank you, Bonnie. >> All right. Um, at this time, Madame Clerk, would you be so kind as to read the explanatory note regarding closed session hearings and comments? >> A closed session meeting as authorized
by state statute was announced and held prior to the start of this meeting, and the known items for discussion were listed on the published close session agenda. Please be advised that council meetings are broadcast live on Comcast channels 34 and 36 and Verizon channel 30 and rebroadcast on Thursdays and
Saturdays on HTTV on Comcast 36 and Verizon 33. When invited to speak, please come to the lectern clearly state your name and address, spell your last name, and speak into the podium microphone so that your comments can be understood by all and properly recorded.
Whenever an audience or council member reads from a prepared statement, please give or email a copy to the city clerk at city clerk@c cityofsummit.org. To help facilitate an orderly meeting and to permit all to be heard, speakers shall limit their comments to three minutes. Unless you are using an
electronic device to follow the meeting agenda or needed for professional emergency contact purposes, please turn it off. Thank you. >> Thank you very much. Um, at this time, do I have a motion uh to approve the regular and close session meeting
minutes of October 21st, 2025? >> So move. >> Second. >> All in favor? >> I >> I opposed. Motion carries. All right. Uh, we're on our report section of our meeting. Um, Madame Mayor, do you have a report for us this evening?
>> Indeed. Thank you, Council President. Good evening, everyone. Um, first for Veterans Day, we'll be honoring our veterans on um, Tuesday, November 11th at 9:15 on the Village Green. Please come out and hear from some of our local veterans, myself and Councilwoman
Hamlet, as we pay tribute to those who have served our nation. Refreshments will be served afterward, and it's always a meaningful morning for our community. Um, Home Security 101 is uh, next Wednesday, November 12th, here at 7 p.m. in City Hall. Our own officer,
David Katiggo, will lead the session sharing practical tips on how to secure your home and protect against common vulnerabilities. It's a great opportunity to learn how to keep your family and your property safe. He came to my house and I got a dog out of it. So, for those of you who are looking for
a puppy, great opportunity. Um, and very important, um, please be sure to participate in the Other Fellow First Foundation's annual turkey drive and their 25th anniversary celebration on November 23rd. It's a Sunday right before Thanksgiving from 1 to 4:00 in front of the Summit Diner. Bring a
frozen turkey to donate to the community food bank of New Jersey and stay to enjoy and also perishables and they will take monetary donations as well. Um and it's a great way um stay to enjoy music, fun activities, first responder vehicles for the kids to explore. It's a great
way to give back and celebrate this long-standing community tradition. And lastly, I want to thank every candidate who ran in our local election. I will reserve my congratulations until this county certifies the results, but I want to thank every single person who raised their hand. I know it's a lot of work
and I know that everyone worked tirelessly for last several months connecting with voters and residents. So, um, it's a really demanding, uh, role and it requires countless hours of volunteerism and I know that every person, candidates and volunteers behind
them alike, um, they want to serve because they care so deeply about our community and they want what's best for our residents. So, um, as mayor, I look forward to continuing to collaborate with our council to move Summit forward, and I really want to extend my deepest
gratitude to all of the candidates and the folks that that help them along. Thank you. >> Thank you. Great report. Um, all right. At this stage, uh, Miss Baldwin, you have a city administrator report for us today? >> I do. Thank you, Council President. Uh, Summit Free Market will be held this
month on Saturday, November 8th from 8 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. and on Friday, November 21st from 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the transfer station. Summit residents with a parking disposal permit can attend and browse donated items, take what they want for free, and also
donate. Their donation guidelines are available at cityofsummit.org/freearket. Please note that due to Thanksgiving, the Friday event will be taking place on the third Friday of the month instead of the fourth Friday. City Hall will be closed next week on
Tuesday, November 11th for Veterans Day. Tuesday is also a parking holiday and summit with no fees required for on street parking or parking in the municipal lots and garages. There is no change to the trash or recycling collections. Lastly, milling and paving.
PS and PSEG and New Jersey American Water are continuing milling and paving projects throughout town, in case you haven't noticed, with work scheduled to continue tomorrow and Friday and early next week. We update the schedules on the city website daily as we receive new
information about the projects from the utilities. They do change often, so stay tuned and check out that schedule. You can view that online at cityofsummit.org. back slashfall25paving. And that concludes my report.
>> Thank you very much. Um I've got a short report uh this evening. Uh one uh an update on our affordable housing as I've been giving every council meeting. Uh we're still going through the process. Um, we are meeting with developers to
talk to them about where we might have some opportunities to agree and get a little closer to what they want versus what uh we desire for the city. That process is continuing. There is no scheduled mediation uh meeting set up. I
think what if you guys go back and listen to my comments from a month or so ago, um there was supposed to be this process where we would meet with uh with um the court uh master. None of that's
been scheduled yet. Um the thought was we would have another mediation center or meeting with our mediator. Um that will probably happen, but when you guys when we hear about it, we'll let you guys hear about it. So the process continues. So I would uh ask everyone
who's interested to keep in touch and uh we'll get through this. Um the thing other thing I want to do is I want to echo uh Madame Mayor's thanks to all the candidates who ran. Um the results are
still being certified and this is part of our process. Uh you know our clerk I want to thank her. She counts all the votes. It's a it's a it's it's a big job and she was
she was here late last night making sure uh everything ran smoothly. She does a fantastic job not just during the general elections but the primaries as well. Uh so we are in good hands that people who vote in summit uh can really rest assured that their vote matters and
will be counted and that's uh a real tribute and we're we're lucky to have Rosie doing that for us. Um there is though a lot of mailin ballots and early ballots. The mailin ballots are still coming in which is why I think the county hasn't uh officially certified
the election when they're all in. We'll know the final results. Um and um I will say more when when that happens. Uh I do want to thank our residents though. Turnout was massive. It was big. Uh I
tell my students you know this is the single best way to express your views in in the you know in the best way possible. Um it's built into our system. It's it's a right that we have to vote. A lot of people in our nation don't get
that right or not not I'm sorry not our nation on our planet don't get that right. Uh we're lucky that we do and uh it was great to see that many people come out and and express their right through our election process yesterday
and I'm I'm proud of our uh summit citizens for doing that. U and then the last thing I want to say around Veterans Day next week if you see a veteran thank them for their service. It's super super important. Um, one of the reasons we do
get to vote in elections is because what our veterans do to keep us safe and free. That's a real freedom and we should thank veterans for for uh providing that. And I want to start with that and thank you Councilwoman Hamlet for your service.
>> Thank you very much. Appreciate it. Council President, I want to say um real quick for those of you in the audience, we have a really uh special guest speaker um Purple Heart. uh young gentleman who moved into towns and he couldn't be more of a hero to this town. Probably the most highly decorated
veteran that we we have. So if you have an opportunity, it's a real special opportunity. And um just as a reminder, kids are allowed um to miss uh school for a couple of events. One is Veterans Day and the other one is you can do it to take your kids to school or something. So for me, if I'm not sure if
I'm going to be here on Tuesday now, um I may be going away after a much long campaign season. Um, but uh I do recommend, you know, I've invited some of the elementary schools to come because I think it's really important to show uh the kids the value of service and and honoring our veterans. So, >> yeah. And thank you again, Councilwoman
Hamlet. Um, and that is my report. Okay. Um, at this stage, um, Councilman Palowski, do we have a historical minute? We do. Um, this one I did not write. This was written by my favorite history
teacher from Summit High School, Art Catrell. Did you have him? >> Art Catrell. >> Jamal, was he did he retire by the time you got there? >> Mr. Catrell. All right. >> Oh, was he? Okay. >> Remember, you're like eight years older than four. >> Just four. >> Don't even say
>> Well, it's called uh a summit role in the American Revolution. While there wasn't an area known as Summit during the American Revolution since it wasn't officially established until 1869, there is an area in the present summit which played a very important role in the conclusion of our war for
independence. The action at the area of the present- day municipal golf course was the site of a hoax perpetrated by General George Washington which kept the British commander Sir Henry Clinton uh headquartered in New York City
fearful of possible moves by Washington. Clinton had a large force in New York with which he was carefully watching uh Washington's forces in New Jersey as well as in New York State and Rhode Island. Meanwhile, the British general, Lord Cornwall Cornwallis, was moving his
forces into Virginia with the hope of closing out the war in the summer of 1781. In the meantime, Washington and the French general K de Roshambo had been planning a joint campaign against Clinton in New York. As Cornwallis moved his troops into Yorktown, Washington
decided to make a major change in his plans and make Cornwallis his target rather than Clinton in New York. Somehow a hoax had to be developed in order to hold Clinton in New York while Washington and Roshambo headed south to take on Cornwallis in Virginia. What
could be done? It would not be an easy task. Washington circulated rumors of an imminent siege of New York to and allowed secret documents and letters portraying this deception to be captured. This was a time when there was a significant number of British spies in
New Jersey. To support the misleading reports, Washington had a field near New York City, New York City, an area which now holds Summit's municipal golf course, converted into what appeared to be a permanent encampment for a large body of troops. Storehouses, and a
bakery large enough to supply a daily bread ration for 3,000 men were built in 10 days by French troops stationed there. The brick ovens for the bread were housed within a 66- ft shed located 200 ft east of River Road and a short distance from and parallel to the
highway from Elizabeth to Morristown known then as the King's Highway. >> I think that's probably now 24. Um, this was an area which the British were familiar with as they had fought in nearby land at the Battle of Springfield the previous summer. The exact site of
the bakery, it is believed now, is covered by the present since 1962. Alignment and shoulder of the south service road of Interstate 24. Clinton had become convinced that the camp with its brick ovens gave a sense of permanence would become the staging
area for an attack by Washington on New York City from New Jersey. Clinton decided to strengthen his position in New York and not to send any reinforcements to Cornwallis in Yorktown. When the French Navy under Admiral Degra was able to block off the
British Navy from bringing supplies to Cornwallis through the Chesapeake Bay area, Washington and Roshanbo were ready to leave for the south. Interestingly, the French troops were not assigned to the campsite in Summit, even though the bakeries were built by French artisans. American troops occupied the Summit site
while the bakeries were operated by French bakers and the bread baked in Summit was sent to the French troops on their march to Virginia. The American and French troops divided into three separate groups until they reached Princeton. Then they crossed the Delaware at Trenton and continued south through Philadelphia. The line of march
as the troopers went through the Philadelphia was over 2 mi long. The army reached Williamsburg in 28 days, a distance of 400 miles from the New Jersey, New York area. The siege of Yorktown, which uh was to begin shortly after, was to bring the American
Revolution to a close. Although it took two more years before the peace treaty was signed in Paris. Clinton had been thoroughly misled and failed to take the steps that would have thwarted Washington's plan and helped the British cause. After the war, Clinton in his writings alluded to the strong camp
behind the Payic River with its wa with its French bakery, now Summit's Golf Course, which is one of Summit's five revolutionary war sites. Truly, Washington's hoax had played an important role in concluding the war in 1781. >> All right. Very good.
>> So, think about that the next time you go to the MUN. >> Maybe we should put a plaque there or something like that. >> Yeah. >> Site of the French bakery. >> Yeah. Um, thank you very much, Councilman Palowski. All right. Um, we're on to our presentation section of our meeting and we are lucky enough to
have a presentation uh this evening. I'd like to introduce Gigi Robinson who's a me mental health advocate and um she's going to speak to us today about helping children with chronic illness. So, welcome Miss Robinson. >> I hope this is Is this good? Can you
guys hear me? All right. >> That's good. >> Okay. I don't normally use these things. Anyway, so nice to be here. Um, I can't wait to meet all of you hopefully. I have been in Summit for just over a year. So, I I have to say I was a born
and raised New Yorker and I really love Summit a lot. When people ask where I live, I do still say New York. And they say where. And I says Summit, New Jersey. And they say, "Do you like it?" And I'm like, "Don't tell anyone. I love it." Yeah. >> So, I just want to say thank you for all
the work you're doing. I have loved living here for the past year and hopefully many more to come. Uh before I introduce myself a little, just by a show of hands, how many of you either live with a chronic illness or know somebody with one?
Okay, that seems like a decent amount of people here in this room tonight. So to paint a picture for you, I got diagnosed with a condition called Ellers's Danlo syndrome when I was 11 years old. And if you haven't heard of that, essentially
that's like a hair tie or a rubber band that lost its elasticity, except it's not a rubber band. It's the muscles in my body and the ligaments that hold the joints and all that together. And so my family grew up trying to figure out why
I was in so much chronic pain and what was going on with my body, why I kept getting hurt in gym class, why I couldn't continue competitive swimming because my shoulders hurt at the age of 11 years old. Until I went to doctors that figured that out and they said to
my parents, you know, your daughter has this thing called Ellers Danlo syndrome and she's going to have to just do things a little differently. Now, when you're an 11-year-old child and your parents all of a sudden give you a piece of paper that your doctor wrote to give
to your gym teacher and your teachers that basically says you have to use an iPad, a wheeling backpack, the elevator, and you can't play gym class. Imagine what that did to little old me when everybody was looking at me saying, "You
look fine. Nothing's wrong with you. you look like a completely normal person. Why do you get to use the elevator? Why do you get to use the iPad? Why do you get to, you know, not do gym class? And I turn to art at that time. And so if
you have a child that is dealing with a health issue, they may start expressing themselves in ways that maybe they're not verbal, maybe they're not direct, and maybe they don't even understand what they're doing, which I found in my many years of doing art that I didn't
really realize what I was doing until I was in college. And I was struggling with these same exact issues. I was waking up at, you know, 5:30 to commute in Los Angeles out to Cedar Sinai for physical therapy or a doctor's appointment before my 8 a.m. classes.
And my teacher said the same thing, "Gi, like, you look fine. You're you're managing a full course load. You've got your internships. What is going on?" And there was no other way to explain to them what I was struggling with than to
document it. So, my claim to fame on the internet and now doing public speaking is really showing my struggle online and inspiring other people to advocate for themselves. Not in a way that's pushy,
not in a way that is asking for attention, but in a way that genuinely makes an impact for me, for other people, and for families across the world. And that's why I wrote my children's book, a kids book about
chronic illness. Um, and that is detailing a lot of my story. The reason I Well, I met Bobby at the dog park, which I know this is not the talk, but I love the dog park. It would be really great if you guys can make that happen,
but I met Bobby at the dog park and kind of mentioned a little bit about my career, how I work online, how I talk at a lot of places. This is my first council meeting, so it'll be good to to know more about how you guys do these things in the future. But I I wrote the
children's book really to help parents and to help teachers even understand when students are dealing with an invisible illness and how to support them. And really that is kind of what I just wanted to come here to talk to you
about to see what kind of programs are happening for both teachers, for parents, and for kids struggling with chronic health issues. and hopefully inspire people to push beyond what an illness can look like and really just
recognize that invisible health conditions are a challenge uh for the child, for the parents, and for everyone in their community. So, that's really what I have to say. Uh and if you have
any questions, I'm happy to answer them. >> Yeah. >> Cool. >> Thank you. Any questions from council? >> Councilman Bler, >> just one. Do do you have a YouTube channel or? >> Yeah. So, you can find me. You can go to
my website. It's just my name given.com. My handle on social media is the at symbol, the word its and then GI Robinson. So, it reads it's GG Robinson. But if you just type up GG Robinson, you're going to get someone else. So, you have to have the word its in front
of it. Uh, and yes, I do have YouTube. We'll probably be watching your videos like all night now, you know. >> Yeah. And and I do also talk a little bit about future of work and kind of how chronic illness inspired me to work for myself the past 5 years, graduating
during the pandemic, moving from California, well, New York to California, back to New York. Um, and now Summit, New Jersey, working for myself here, uh, having different LLC's that I'm running and doing all of this while managing my health. So, I just I
love talking about the future of work as it relates to health because I made my own dream possible. >> So, yeah. Thank you. >> Other comments, Councilman Palowski. >> Yeah, I just wanted to thank you. Uh we'll definitely clip your uh your presentation here and forward it over to
the nurses and people at school. and if there's anybody who um is suffering from a chronic illness um they'll be able to direct them to you and um and hopefully help somebody. So, thank you so much for coming in. >> Yeah. Thanks.
>> I I would say just want to uh close with thank you for sharing your story. I know I know this is kind of what you're doing now, but I I bet it wasn't easy to start out with. So, really appreciate you doing that and putting yourself out there like that. um particularly around
how you're you link physical health with mental health. >> Yeah. >> And I think a lot of people forget that those two things can really be um >> you know are are co co-joined. >> They are. >> And um so I appreciate you doing that
and I I mean I would encourage people to use this as a resource if anyone from our community is um has a person that they know and love who are going through this. So thank you very much. >> Of course. And also on the note of mental health, um I have a 60-minute
sitdown that I did with the Jed Foundation. Um so you can go look up Jed Voices GG Robinson and I sat down there and we talked all about invisible illness, what that means in school, uh personal life, you know, self-development, relationships, um and
family. So that might be a helpful resource as well that directly works with their work around suicide prevention and mental health. >> Great. >> Yeah. Thank you guys. >> Yeah. Thank you so much. >> Thank you. [Applause]
All right. Um, thank you for that. We've now uh are on to our ordinance for hearing section of our meeting. And we do have two that are on the agenda that we're going to talk about. Um, madame clerk, will you please read the capital projects and community service ordinance
uh 25-3359? An ordinance amending the code of the city of Summit. Chapter 35, development regulations ordinance. Article 7, terminology, various subsections of article 9, general zoning uh provisions.
Article 14, design and performance requirements and relocating the development design guidelines from attachment one to part two zoning. >> Thank you so much. Uh, Councilwoman Hamlet, I understand there's a story about this ordinance. >> Yes. So the planning board at our last
meeting decided uh to hold off on this. They want to add some storm water uh management on this and then uh there's also some questions around the tatlock light the field use. So we just wanted an opportunity to look at it um with the pending litigation just didn't feel it was appropriate. So we're going to do it
maybe hopefully maybe this year but if not um we can pro it's not uh anything too crazy. So you know we might be able to do it probably next year. Right. >> Are we making a motion to table? >> Yes. >> All right. So, um, so there's a motion to table. Do I have a second? >> Second.
>> All right. Uh, all in favor? >> I opposed. >> Okay. Table that till the planning board looks at this again. Um, all right. We've got a second ordinance for hearing. Uh, madame clerk, will you please read the safety and health ordinance 25-3360?
An ordinance amending the code chapter 7 traffic section 7-8 parking subsection 7-8.7 parking prohibited at all times on certain streets. >> Thank you so much Councilman Ber. >> Thank you council president. Uh as you
just stated this is 25-3360 and I would like to table this ordinance. Um reason reason being is that uh on Bedford Road there is um there's an issue with
um the the location of where we don't want parking. So we want to take another look at it, make sure we get it right. >> And and this is more than a scrivener's error. >> Yeah, I checked with this our city solicitor and it's more than a scrivener's error. >> Okay. So we'll go back and relook at
this then. Um second. >> So So I hear a second. >> Second. >> All right. Uh all in favor? >> I opposed. >> We'll table that. Okay, that means we have no ordinances for final consideration. Um so that we're going to move on to ordinances for introduction. Madame
Clerk, will you please read the first one? Community Program and Parking Services Ordinance ID number 12213. >> An ordinance amending Chapter 7, Traffic Section 7-8, Parking Subsection 7-8.5, Parking Time Limited on Certain Streets,
Subsection 7-85B2, Time Limit Parking Parking Zones of the Code of the City of Summit. >> Thank you so much, Councilman Smallwood. >> Thank you, Council President. This is ordinance number ID 12213 and this is to allow for additional
parking uh that's open to the public. Uh our parking services director has uh requested the council to amend the parking regulation on Park Avenue to convert four of the six employee permit spaces into two-hour customer parking spaces. This change would maintain two
spaces for all day employee parking and provide four spaces for short-term paid parking for customers. I uh move to introduce this ordinance. >> Second. >> All right. Um seeing that is introduced.
Uh roll call please. >> Mr. Ber >> I. >> Miss Hamlet >> I. >> Mr. Pilowski >> I. >> Mr. Smallwood >> I. >> Miss Toth I. >> President McTurn >> I. Motion carries. All right. U, Madame Clerk, will you please read the safety and health ordinance for introduction
number 12238? >> An ordinance amending the code chapter 7 traffic section 7-8 parking subsection 7-8.4 stopping or standing prohibited during certain hours on certain streets. >> Thank you so much, uh, Councilman Ber.
>> Thank you, Council President. Uh this ordinance uh is going to be put in place or um introduced for a hearing uh because from the area of uh Tulip Street to Colonial
Drive, the visibility is really poor. I actually run that street almost well I used to almost every day. And what happens is uh this is right in front of um Oaknull uh all the way to Tulip. And what
happens is that uh the cars are parked and the cars that are coming on on oncoming traffic have to go around them. Um and that creates a hazard for for everyone. So we'd like to restrict parking on that street.
>> Okay. Do um do I hear a second? >> Second. >> All right. Uh roll call, please. >> Mr. Ber, >> I. >> Miss Hamlet, >> I. >> Mr. Pilowski, >> I. >> Mr. Smallwood, >> I. >> Miss Toad, >> I. >> President McTurn, >> I. Motion carries. All righty. Uh we're
moving right along. We're on to the resolution portion of our meeting. Uh we have a few from finance uh today. Uh Councilwoman Toe, you want to do finance number one? >> Yes. Thank you, Council President. Um, resolution 12228 is a bit of housekeeping. When the Summit Housing
Authority separated into its own entity, its payroll, benefits, and pension were no longer under city control. There were a couple of unresolved items that have been carried on the books for years. Um, the city has a receivable of 28,599.66
for pension payments made on the Summit Housing Authorities's behalf. And at the same time, the city owes the Summit Housing Authority $27,792.80 for an old health insurance premium. Um, the Summit Housing Authority has paid the city the difference in those
amounts, $86.86. So, the two entities are even. Um, and this resolution allows the finance department to remove the receivable and clear the account on the general ledger. I move to adopt this resolution. I second. All right. Uh, do I hear anyone
from the public who wishes to comment on this resolution? >> Would anyone from council like to comment on this resolution? >> All righty. All in favor? >> I opposed. Motion carries. Uh, Councilwoman Toth, finance number two.
>> Thank you, Council President. Resolution 12216 authorizes the city to renew its contract with Millennium Strategies, our grant writing consultant. This is the second one-year extension on its contract, and the maximum fee of $45,600
remains unchanged from 2025. This is for 2026. Um through October, Millennium has assisted the city in securing three grants totaling $349,000. And that's not a bad return on investment. I move to adopt this
resolution. >> Second. Comments from the public, comments from council. Uh all in favor? >> I opposed. Motion carries. Uh finance
number three, please. Councilwoman Toth. >> Thank you. Council President, resolution 1220 authorizes the city to contract with Wildcats and Company LLC to perform auditing services for 2026 and into 2027
as needed. The city had put out a request for proposals for these services and received two responses. Wildcats was the lower of the two bids at $56,000 and is the city's current auditor. They've served us well in the past. I move to
adopt this resolution. >> I second. Comments from the public. Comments from council. >> All righty. All in favor? >> I opposed. Motion carries. Last finance
resolution, please. Councilwoman Toe. >> Thank you, Council President. Beginning in November each year, the city can move funds between accounts from those with the surplus to those facing a deficit. This allows us to pay our bills while
keeping our budget balanced. Resolution 12251 is the first of these, moving a total of $483,545. Most of the transfers stem from staffing. On the surplus side, there are unfilled positions in community
services. On the deficit side, police department retirements have led to payouts of vacation and terminal leave that weren't in the budget. There are also overages for utilities and department heads are investigating these. And finally, we've exceeded our
budget for legal services. I move to adopt this resolution by roll call vote. >> Second. All right. Comments from the public, comments from council. I would just uh say we our legal
services are high this year. We deal with a lot of um legal issues and I think you know to be prudent going forward we live in a latigious world sadly um that maybe for next year we budget a little more more for this.
Right. Councilman. >> Or we could or we could just eliminate frivolous lawsuits like Broad Street West and the Tallac lawsuit. Out of our control. Um. All right. Uh, any other comments?
All right. All in favor? >> I call I'm sorry. Roll call vote. I apologize. >> Okay. Mr. Ber, >> I. >> Miss Hamlet. >> I. >> Mr. Palowski. >> I. >> Mr. Smallwood. >> I. >> Miss Toes. >> Hi. >> President N. >> I. Motion carries. All right, we're on
to uh capital projects and community services. Uh we have a few there. Uh Councilwoman Hamlet, uh number one, please. >> Thank you, Council President. Uh sorry, it's on the wrong page. Uh okay, this is resolution ID 1 2236.
Whereas the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, NJD, is administering the Resilient New Jersey uh regional assistance program to support municipalities in identifying and addressing climate v vulnerabilities through comprehensive community-led regional resilience actions plans. Um
basically uh the city will be working with uh Township of Berkeley Heights, which will serve as the regional team prime and other participating municipalities including New Providence, Longill, Cadam, Scotch Plains, and Planefield. The program supports the development of a comprehensive community-led resilience action plan to
address climate risks, promote green infrastructure, and support uh development strategies. And I'd like to move this resolution and perhaps ask uh administrator Baldwin to just talk about um I because I wasn't involved in that meeting, but I think this is going to be also looking at the Saltbrook area.
>> So, would you mind if she just >> Yeah. >> gives a little brief description because I wasn't >> through you, Council President. um engineer uh Aaron Scherger and I were on a meeting with uh various municipalities.
There is a resiliency grant through Dows specifically calls for municipalities to work together. So you have to have um at least three municipalities. You also have to have an outside organization. So New Providence um kind of got everybody involved. Berkeley Heights is taking the
lead on it. Um also Long Hills involved. And so it's to come up with a resiliency plan along the tributaries of the Pate River, which of course Salt Brook is one. Um, and so all of these communities are affected by these tributaries. So
there's going to be continuous meetings. The mayor is also on another there's there's a couple of things going on with regard to um these types of climate issues. So the mayor's on another coalition with other mayors from other municipalities that uh Mr. Treger and I
will also be involved with. So, we're trying to attack it with the council, with the mayor from all angles um to see what we can do to plan better and to try and get grants to help us assist where we can. >> Thank you for the uh information. All
right. Do I hear a second for this resolution? >> Thank you. Uh comments from the public, comments from council. All right. All in favor? I I opposed. >> Motion carries. Uh capital projects and
community services number two. Councilwoman Hamlet, please. >> Thank you, Council President. Uh this is uh resolution 12218 authorizing the execution of shared service shared services agreement with Summit Board of Education, Vehicle Maintenance and
Repair Services. This was pending close session discussion. Um give credit to Director Shreger for coordinating this. Uh this is uh where the summit board of education owns and operates vehicles for school district purposes which require periodic maintenance and repairs. Uh the city possesses the personnel personnel
facilities and equipment to provide vehicle maintenance and repair services. Uh the party's desire to enter into an agreement pursuant to the uh uniform shared services and consolidation acts to allow the city to provide vehicle maintenance services to the board to achieve efficiencies and cost savings.
Uh the city will charge the board at an hourly rate of the city's mechanics and the agreement should be for 5 years. Uh either party may terminate the agreement of 90 days uh notice to the other party. So uh great job director Shagger getting this done. I'd like to move this resolution.
>> Second comments from the public, comments from councel. >> I would say one thing. Um >> yes, please. Director Shriger has done a really good job at um at what's the word I'm looking for? What's the word I'm looking for?
>> Coordinating >> coordinating coordinating our updating our shared services agreements between the board of ed and it's really important because um sometimes it just gets overlapping and and messy. So I think the more of these that we can do um the better off everybody will be in the long run. And this is this will
ultimately um be a good thing for the city and for the board of So nice job. >> Yeah. And I know we do a few of these with the board of ed. I mean, we're all one big happy family obviously, even though they have separate budget than the municipality, as we've talked about at Nauseium. Um, however, uh, there are
things that we can do together, and this is obviously a great example of that. >> And I would say maybe one we can look to in the future for next year would be, um, like the tatlock garbage because I get a lot of complaints after games and things like that. So, I think the more things that are, you know, in writing and so we don't have to ask questions
all the time would be helpful. >> Yeah. and council president. >> Yes, Councilman, >> we had mentioned this earlier in the year. It would be nice to have an agreement with the Summit Housing Authority as well. You know, they're on our property. Sometimes they use vehicles and walkways and different different things. So, we can work on
that. That would be great, too. >> It's a good idea. Um, other comments. All right. All in favor? >> I opposed. Motion carries. All right. Last project capital projects and community services resolution. Councilwoman Hamlet, please. >> Thank you, Council President. This is
resolution 12237. Whereas, uh, due to the resignation of the current building inspector, uh, Adam Sluik is necessary to declare a vacancy in the position of a full-time building inspector. uh pursuant to policy section 5-1 employment procedure
recruit rec recruitment vacancy is hereby declared for the position of full-time building inspector in the department of community services and that authorization is hereby given to the construction official to either offer this position to the next candidate on the eligibility list or to a current employee or advertise same and
provide testing if appropriate. So I'd like to move this resolution >> second. >> Thank you. Um do do I have anyone from the public who would like to comment? Comments from council. >> All in favor? >> I opposed.
>> Motion carries. >> All right. Uh we're at the consent agenda portion of our uh meeting this evening. Uh do I do I hear a motion from any council person who would wish uh to move the consent agenda as presented?
>> So moved. >> Second. >> All right. Uh comments from the public on anything on the consent agenda? Comments from council. >> I just have a quick comment. I just want to ask city administrator Tammy. I have a question on the authorization of
certification for fees of special lean for 104 Beakman. Um, Director Shger, I know that we have to go there and do routine maintenance um because they're of the the tax situation with that property, but I guess my question is do we get that money when the lean is
released on the property? So, there was a current that was on current tax sale. So, if that was on current tax sale, I guess my question would be why doesn't that person who just got the tax sale have to pay for that now? Why why don't we because they just paid, you
know what I mean? >> Through you, council president. Um, we're just certifying this now. So, every time that we go out there, we'll we'll hopefully it's not going to be forever, but forever how however long that we have to go out there and maintain the property because they're not maintaining it, which is a separate
issue from them not paying their taxes. Um, but we will collect those and we'll have those certified. Then they'll be put into the tax lean sale. So when somebody purchases the tax lean, they
will be paying those fees for them and then they will collect them. So this this is um I don't know how I mean I guess it's public information. This happens frequently with this property. So somebody buys the tax lean and then they come in time to pay it off. So
>> yeah, I mean this this property it's a problem. It's I mean it is I don't know if the board of health needs to go out but it's it's constantly in disrepair and I know we're our hands are sort of tied but I mean there are the roof is falling out. Um my
children actually live in the house behind and there's like rodents and it is unsightly. Um and it's a shame because it's in a really nice neighborhood. So um it is a it's turned into a hazard. So I don't know how we handle that. I think we I think August
has some ideas or something. Um but >> we can certainly have code enforcement go out and see if there's any other issues besides the the not maintaining the pro the grass. >> I guess there's nothing else we can do, right? >> Just keep mowing it. >> But um they like their doors falling off and I don't know
>> just drive by there every day. It's a beautiful old home that's >> All right. Uh Councilman uh Smallwood >> to that point. Is there anyone living in that property? >> No. I mean to me it sounds like a great opportunity for outhouse.
>> Well, we would had to we would had to get involved in a tax lane. I don't think we could have done that. >> So through you again, council president, we are currently looking into the municipal land use manager and myself. We just started discussing this option that um Milbour has codified something
some process which I'm looking into with their administrator where they can actually purchase properties. the the issue you have is that you have to collect all of your taxes. So, if let's say that we were able to that we came up with a process, Milbour's using
something. So, I want to see what that is because I'd very much like to do that if it's possible for us. um we we would have to buy the lean out or buy the taxes out um to be able to purchase that property and then perhaps someone like
an our house or an another type of affordable housing could come in. But there's a whole process to the tax sale and legally what we're allowed to do. So I have to do some more research on it and see if it's a option for us in the future. >> Yeah. Because te tax leans, you know,
the the property owner has x amount of time. It's usually what like two years to to cover their leans before you can auction the property. So, it's a I know it's a long drawn out process and it's done for a reason, >> right? And the leaners lose the property, but >> correct. And the lean holders buy them
in hopes that they won't pay and then they can take the property. So, it just >> typically here somebody always pays off their lean right before that is going to happen with a with a 18% premium. So, >> yeah. Okay. Thanks for looking into
that. >> Yep. All righty. Um, any other comments from council on the consent agenda? >> All right. All in favor? >> I opposed. >> All right. The consent agenda passes. All right. Um, thank you everyone. We're now on to our public sector public
comment sector. Thank you uh uh city officials for staying. Um, at this time, would anyone from the public like to make a comment on anything that wasn't on the agenda? I would ask um if you come up, state your name, your address, and please limit your comments to three
minutes or less. Give other people an opportunity to speak as well. Good evening, council president, Mayor Good evening. >> Since 3 minutes is only three minutes and I can't go on for too long. 3
minutes is good for a song. >> It's true. >> So, we're going to do that. Um, I was saddened to find out that you lost Kevin and that you lost. Um,
yeah, it's unfortunate. And Tom as well. Uh you guys are are the better people and you guys have integrity and uh yeah so this this song is about Dan Chriselli
and uh guess we'll title it Liar. As you see, I have a Dan is a liar tagged on my guitar. And I really have no almost no business trying to play this song because I wrote it today. I had a different song written
that I made up a couple days ago, anticipating a different outcome. and unfortunately it left me scrambling while I was working today to jot down some lyrics and uh just come up
with a different tune. So, uh I'll go for it. When I was speaking at the meeting, he was bitching and just freaking berating the chief because he did not stop my speech.
He had already ran from questions then ran straight to the detectives when people wanted to get information before the election at the ballot box. Summit should have gave him the boo.
His was fell and the truth took root. Dan's campaign should have died at the moment that he lied. The voters should have said no way. It's time to go at the bet
[Music] at the ballot box. Some should have get of them. [Music] This is why you shouldn't write a song the same day at the Bad Box. Summit should have said
no way. Dan had hoped he would acquire more votes, but he was a liar and I had came here today. Congratulate Kevin on a win. Dan had added a false component. tried
to tie me to his opponent. I hope he never forgets the moment that he lied. Hoping to acquire some more votes he manufactured. A complete hoax. That type of coward should never seek elected
power. Just wrap your song up, please. [Music] Thank you. >> Thank you for your song. >> Other comments from the public.
>> It's not over till it's everything's counted. Um anyway, I want to say >> Filamina, could you just >> Eric, >> I just want to say um Filamina, everyone has acted with grace and
integrity. So, thank you very much. Um now point I need to make um uh when it comes to emergency services, we need to summit needs to look into
putting um being able to stop uh you got that tune in my head now. I can't think. um being able emergency vehicles need to
be able to stop the traffic lights. Um they need to be able to turn the lights red so that Lord forgive there's a family that's trying to cross. They have the they have
the light and you have an emergency vehicle. You have a chase going on. you have whatever the circumstances and whatever the case, the emergency vehicles need to be able to turn the
lights red. Okay. So, Summit needs to going forward, they need to be able to look into putting that into the budget. Okay. Thank you. >> Thank you for your comments >> and again, it's not over till it's over. >> Thank you. Other comments from the
public? All right. Um, I'm going to close our public comment section of our meeting and we're on to council member comments and new business. Would anyone like from council like to comment? >> Um, >> Councilwoman Toth. >> Thank you, Council President. Um,
Council Member Calmanson asked me to read this statement in her absence. Congratulations to Summit's own recycling hero, Mimi Zukov. Mimi recently received the volunteer citizen award from the Department of Environmental Protection's recycling
awards program. She received this award for her collaboration with Book Smiles to keep used books out of the waist stream. In 2024 alone, Books Miles collected 21,000 pounds of books from the book barn at Summit's transfer
station, which were reused or saved from the waist stream. Through a continuing collaboration with Book Drop, Mimi's action saved Summit money by reducing the tipping fees spent on disposing of these excess books. In addition to chairing the recycling advisory
committee, Mimi brings her expertise and volunteerism to the environmental commission and the summit free market steering committee. So, thank you to Mimi for your tireless work and dedication to our city. >> Great. That's fantastic news. Awesome.
Um, other comments from council members. >> Oh, council Councilman Smallwood. >> Thank you. Uh first I just would like to echo uh the mayor's comments earlier that wanted to thank everyone that who came out to vote uh yesterday although it wasn't necessarily the outcome that I
had hoped for. Um but I will continue to serve the city of summit for the rest of my term here and will encourage others to to vote and step up and raise their hand uh in the future. Uh this is one of
the the greatest honors I've had. So, thank you. >> Thank you. Other comments, >> Councilman Palowski, >> you go first. >> Yeah. So, um I don't have anything
specific on the election except that, you know, win or lose, it's worth it. And I want to read a quote from Teddy Roosevelt. It's not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man
stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who heirs, who comes short again and again because there is no
effort without error and shortcoming, but who does actually strive to do the deeds, who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause, and uh who at his who at the best knows in the end the triumph of
high achievement. and who at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat. And that's he or she.
>> Yeah, that's one of the best quotes about public service ever made. So, thank you for sharing that. It's very relevant. Thank you. Other comments from public Councilwoman H. >> I just have a couple. Um, one, thank you to all the city employees and pole workers who came out. Um, this week it
was Rosie, I don't know how you do it. You work all the time, especially having a council meeting. I would highly recommend we actually I think director Shreger recommended maybe in November next year, we only have one meeting, which I think that might be a good idea. Um, because it's it's hard to come back off, you know, tough campaign season and
then you have the election day and then you're as much as Yeah. As much as we're back here. Um, so I just wanted to mention thank you. Um, yep, we're still counting the votes, but you know, I'd like to congratulate um all the candidates. It looks like seems like the voters voted um you know, for the Democratic party, and I I would hope
that um you know, we can all work together going forward. So, um well done. Um I would like to say that I think something that I'd like to look at is um I think that we can all probably agree that the part the politics this season was a little rough. It's rough on
the employees. Um it's tough on the staff and it divides neighbors. So, I think it would be um it would be interesting to look at uh maybe nonpartisan elections and I think that um the voters I think we should potentially put it on as a referendum. Um I think it is a huge detriment to the
city staff. Um it's demoralizing to watch neighbors um who are Republicans, Democrats, and independents arguing and fighting. Um I think it's it's just a huge detriment for the town. Um as someone who's now gone through two campaigns, it's just not a good thing. I
think uh you really want to get to vote for the person, not the party. Um and I'd like to see us try to get that uh ball across the goal line before uh our time's up and let the voters decide. Uh so a couple things I want to accomplish in my next 45 days. Um I'll
keep a running list. Um I I think it's imperative that all of us up here with the exception of Claire uh were elected to overcome Broad Street West. Um and elections have consequences, right? and there could be a potential that uh all
the work we've done on the overlay zone and getting the property up for sale uh could be gone. So, I've asked for a very specific timeline from the council president. Uh in writing uh I would like to work with the city clerk and the city administrator and I've offered to quarterback uh help. I know Mike's busy working and I don't know how you have
any more hours, but I've offered to single-handedly quarterback that and help in any way I can. Uh it can be my project for the next 45 days. I might need something to take my mind off the election. Um, but I think it's really important to explain to the public where we're at in that process. Um, so right now, uh, we just selected a broker. Is
that correct, Mike? Um, there is a timeline within that, but I think it's important to share that. And Mike, I would just suggest maybe, um, we talk about at the next council meeting and and put us put a very specific timeline together. I'm not trying to be a pain, but it's really important to me and it's why we all got elected. >> It's important to me, too.
>> Um, and then I would say the Salt Brook. Uh Tammy, I just want to see where we're at with the Saltbrook and finding the uh the access to get get in there to fix that area. >> Uh through you council president. It's my understanding that the city solicitor
office is drawing up I don't know if Ron can opine on that. I know we're meeting with law and labor tomorrow, but we're drawing up the agreements with the two property owners. I think that's where we're at right now. >> Yeah, we are. >> So we've contacted the property owner. The property owner has been in contact.
>> Yes. that I know for a fact. >> Okay, that's my concern. Um because I think it's really important that we get that >> uh that we get that done as well. Just so everybody knows, we have uh spent a lot of time in the last 7 to 10
days work I would say working with PSEG New Jersey American Water. I don't know if you noticed, but last time they paved um there weren't like orange paint. There was not orange paint around the manholes. There weren't cones. It was like a complete disaster in some areas and and I felt badly because there was nothing we could do. Um but we've
expressed sincere uh dissatisfaction with some of those contractors. Um and we are requesting, you know, more scrutiny around those inspections from the city because uh it has become a dangerous um a dangerous situation for a lot of the kids. But we are making progress. Springfield Avenue looks
great. Um so I just want to say thank you to Director Shreger and the team and for coordinating all of that work. So and most of it be done a lot of it been done this week. Um LOL and Beakman sort of looked good. So, the alternative is we would have had to wait till the
spring. So, I know it was a pain, but uh we did the best we could. So, that's it. I didn't plan on speaking, but >> Thank you. Other comments from council. >> Really quickly, >> Councilman Boyer. >> So, Dillia,
Kevin, and uh and Tom. Um but right now, particularly Dillia and Kevin, uh I didn't know them. um when I was elected. Uh but we fought so many battles
together for this town and Dillia and Kevin like myself and Bob, you know, we have children. Um and we spent a lot of time away from our children.
you know, some of the the the the criticism and the and the hurtful words that you hear online and you know, some of our kids are in high school and stuff. You know, it it uh you know, it it it affects us,
but we do it because we we love this town. But then, you know, there's moments like this when um there's a potential that you lose an election. you you look at your children and
there's this gut feeling that you may have lost two years, you know, and and and it's it's a painful reality. Um, and I thank you both
because I see you. I see you. I see what both of you have done and I see the sacrifice that um that you both have, you know, with your children and uh
and you know, to the um to the possible, you know, new members of council. Um you know, congratulations, right? You know, sometimes the wind is pushing you forward and you can win the race, but that same win can turn around and uh and
you know, you can lose the race. But whatever the final tally, um all who ran, whether win, lose, or draw, will leave a legacy on this town. Um and so we will greet the new council with open
hands if that happens. Um, and we'll press on because there's work that needs to be done. Um, and lastly, I'll say we don't, you know, torch the the rule book because the scoreboard tilts against us. We honor
the game, right? We shake hands across the aisle and uh we get back to work because we're all hill toppers at the end of the day. So, um, if it happens to go the other way, I just want to say thank you you both for your your service.
>> Thank you. Other comments? >> Uh, yeah, I'll just wrap it up. Um, two things. One, um, I wanted to say thank you to DPW Bob. The, uh, dog park at the dump is much nicer. My dogs have been enjoying
it. So, it's been cleaned up. It's been great. It still exists. the Matt Gould Dog Park. If you're ever at the dump, it's an it's a nice spot to bring your dogs, >> but it won't be open this weekend because of the free market. >> Okay. >> Um Yeah. And then um to follow up on
Councilwoman Hamlet's uh comment, um we will see something on the agenda uh for next meeting around the um the Broad Street West property. And it's a frustratingly slow process. I get it. Um
the uh and I get the frustration. Um but you keep pushing the rock up the hill as fast as you can go. Some people may not be happy with the speed the rock goes up the hill and I don't know what to tell them. Um, as Teddy Roosevelt
said, um, you you chew your best and, um, you know, if people don't like it, you know, I'll take the criticism, but it will happen and, uh, you know, we'll have a timeline and people will know about it and, you know, we are committed to transparency around the process and
people will know what we're doing and like I said, uh, we tried to be transparent from the start around this thing and we will continue to do so. So that is my comment. Um, Council President. >> Yes, Councilman Smallwood. I would like to enthusiastically make a motion to adjurnn.
>> I didn't know you do this all the time. >> Second. >> Really? Oh my gosh. Okay. Do I All in favor? I >> I opposed. We are journed.