thank you everyone for uh waiting Uh welcome to uh our first meeting of uh of April and um I know it's April Fool's Day but we are here and we're all business Uh so um we're going to get going Uh now um 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 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 Uh roll call please
Mr Ber present Miss Hamlet here Miss Celmanson here Mr Powski here Mr Smallwood Miss Toad here President McTurn present All right At this time I'd like to call on Reverend Harrell 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 All right Um thank you very much Uh okay
At this time um Madame Clerk will you please read the uh explanatory note regarding closed session uh and hearings and comments a close session meeting is 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 the council meetings are broadcast live on Comcast channel 36 and 34 and Verizon channels 30 and 33 and rebroadcast on Thursdays and Saturdays on HGTV on Comcast channel 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 cityclark 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 need it for professional emergency contact purposes
please turn it off Thank you Thank you very much All right Um we're at our report section of our meeting Um as always Madame Mayor do you have a report for us this evening thank you Council President I actually have a lot to say I'm sorry I'll try to be quick Um good
evening everyone Um first be sure to join us on April 10th from 3:00 to 5:00 pm at our brand new fire station for the first ever Summit Showcase This is a fun and family-friendly event celebrating local government week where we'll bring together residents and our staff to share information distribute fun swag
and showcase some cool vehicles We'll have something for all ages and there will be summit wristbands custom coloring sheets and much more to give away We're excited and we hope we see you there Um I also want to take a moment to express my pride in the work that the board of school estimates has done this year which includes council
members Dillia Hamlet and Kevin Smallwood as well as myself We worked closely with the Summit School Administration to reduce the proposed school budget increase from almost 9% down to just under 4% This was no easy task but uh by encouraging them to find efficiencies and cost sharing measures
we were able to ensure a fiscally responsible budget for our taxpayers while still supporting important projects like the new Jefferson school playground and maintaining crucial programs for our students This is a challenging budget season for schools across the country and I'm proud of the
collaborative effort that went into this Going forward we plan to work even more closely together throughout the year to streamline the budget process from the outset I know Councilwoman Hamlet has been carrying around her trusty mega binder for months diving into the numbers and I'm happy to say that all of
her hard work has truly paid off uh for the entire community So thank you Councilwoman Emlin Um next I have an update on the circulars that many of you have reached out to me about Um I know it's been a source of frustration for many of our residents and I'm happy to report that our wonderful city clerk
Rosie um has been in touch with the company responsible for distributing them They've assured us they are making several improvements They've briefed their distribution distributors rather to ensure circulars are placed properly on driveways and not in the roadway or near sewer uh drains They will also
conduct weekly inspections to ensure compliance and perform a monthly cleanup to check for any improperly p placed or unused bags While we can't outright pro prohibit the distribution I encourage residents who do not wish to receive these circulars to contact the company
directly at 1 800 3766222 Um you can also reach out to our city clerk for assistance Finally in case you missed it our incoming chief of police Ryan Peters and I held a virtual town hall on March 25th We had a great turnout with lots of questions from
residents and we were able to address all of them in our time frame It was a fantastic way to connect with our community in a casual setting and we plan to continue these quarterly town halls to cover various city issues This is a great way for those who can't attend in person but can still get um
great important information If you missed it you can watch the full Q&A on our City of Summit Facebook page Instagram and YouTube channel Thank you and I look forward to seeing everybody at the summit showcase on April 10th Thank you very much Great report Um and now we're on our city administrator
report Uh Miss Baldwin Thank you Council President Good evening everyone I want to start out by thanking everybody who participated in this past weekend's Earth Day cleanup at some of our local parks It's always wonderful to see so many community members come out together
to make the city even more beautiful I understand that there is a picture of Councilman Bob Powski looking kind of like a lumberjack with a tree over the shoulder So uh thank you to everyone And it really is a true testament to the spirit of volunteerism and summit when
everybody gets together to participate in these events Looking ahead we are excited for the annual summit Easter egg hunt It's happening on April 12th Family favorite and a great way to kick off the spring season A reminder this is a Bob
That means bring your own basket The hunt will begin promptly at 1:45 but we do encourage people to arrive a bit earlier Uh the festivities will start at 1 p.m and it'll be a great fun afternoon for all ages In addition I'm happy to announce that our municipal golf course
officially opened today This is a great opportunity for residents to learn the game of golf or enjoy around with friends and family Um membership information is available at summit communityprograms.com And this year we have a new exciting addition to the golf
course which is a permanent disc golf installation which members can also enjoy Uh quick reminder that April 11th is a parking holiday City office April 18th is a parking holiday and city offices will be closed So please plan
accordingly and we look forward to seeing you all at the Easter egg hunt and out on the golf course Thank you Thank you very much All right I'll keep my council president report uh very short Um I wanted to thank our mayor
Councilwoman Hamlet and Councilman Smallwood I don't think the mayor I mean she's very self- aacing She didn't give herself enough credit nor the other two members Um I just want to make it clear we would be sitting with close to a
9% tax increase for our city or our our school portion of our budget if it wasn't for those three They're the only ones who spoke up the only ones who said this we can get a good result from our schools without
digging and costing the average taxpayer in Summit $1,000 more in tax in a city where and in a state that's always already uh affordable challenged So I I just really really do want to thank them
I I I could not be more clear about this That's what would have happened if they hadn't done the work rolled up their sleeves and dug in and worked in a cooperative fashion with the board of ed and the administration over there to to
really advocate not just for our children but for our taxpayers So I can't say how thankful I am for the hard work that they've really done for the last four weeks It it's really really amazing So um thank you Um the other
thing I just hope going forward um for people who pay attention I think I've paid some attention I'm it's an understatement this year I have very little idea what finally got voted on in that budget I think most people would say the
same It's 50% of our uh our property tax bill And that has to change That has to change We need much much more transparency um out of the board and certainly I'm going to be advocating for that um in the future because you guys people deserve to know
what their taxes are going for I know when we're going to start our our budget process and um Councilwoman Toth is is leading the finance committee and we'll give all the numbers out People know what we're going to be talking about and there'll be push back I have no doubt
but it should be transparent So um I'm looking forward to our budget process beginning two weeks um three weeks I'm sorry three weeks and uh and and we'll have a good uh lively engagement with the uh with the public So and that is my report Okay
Um at this time uh we're going to go uh with our historical minute Councilman Palowski Thank you Tonight we have Matt McKver uh who if you can't guess from his attire is here
to hum a few bars about Summit baseball A picky eater though he sometimes tries new things Matt is a Summit High School sophomore He's a talented football and baseball player an accomplished ski racer and cliff diver
as well Um I'm pretty sure he does his homework and does well at school too So let's hear what you have to say Matt I think you forgot golfing at the municipal golf course That's right Okay Anything else no that's it That's it Um good evening everybody Uh my as he said
my name is Matthew McKver and I'm a sophomore at Summit High School and as you said before I play football and baseball Uh and I was asked to present the historical minute here at the council Uh the 2025 baseball team is led by senior Shane Walsh TJ Flack Gavin
Smith Matt Kurrick Ryan Barber Gavin Nolan and Jack Cen along with juniors Connor Moon Alex Schwar Giovani Dagustinino Ben Cohen and Matt Rosoff And then sophomores Gavin Schnull Jav
Bonafonte myself and freshman Ryan Flack Our team practices at Summit at the high school and Soldiers Memorial Field during the preseason I prefer practicing at Memorial not just because it's directly across from my house but also more importantly the field itself has a
long-standing history with baseball Summit High School has played baseball at Memorial Field for over a hundred years The Cornog Fieldhouse is named after Summit coach Elwood Cornog who began coaching in Summit 100 years ago
Legendary players Willie Wilson Arthur Viv Viviian and Robert Brighten spent time on Memorial Field All three led their teams to state championships and were three of the best hill toppers to play the game Wilson went on to play outfield for the Kansas City Royals for
over 12 seasons and as a member of the Royals Hall of Fame Both Brighton and Vivien were offered contracts in the big leagues However their professional careers conceded with the start of the Second World War Both Brighten and Viven were Marines stationed in the Pacific
Ben was seriously injured and Viv and Viven lost his life Summit was also the home to a professional baseball team which played on Memorial Field The Summit Red Sox of the Lacawana baseball league called Memorial Field their home This semi-pro baseball team played in
the 20s and 30s until World War II One player who stood out for the Summit Red Sox was Joe Medwick Medwick played in 1928 1929 and 1930 and was a Carter native He was a sophomore in high school when he was recruited to play for the
Summit Red Sox Undaunted by his young age he rose to the challenge and batted over 400 for his career as a Red Sox At the end of the 1930 summer season while standing on Memorial Field Medwick signed a contract with the St Louis Cardinals
Medwick played in the major leagues for 17 years He had a batting average of 324 and won the World Series in 1934 And he was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1956 So it is with this proud tradition of baseball excellence the Hill Toppers
intend to take the field again at Memorial and carry on the tradition of Cornog Medwick Brighten Vivian and Wilson Our home opener is Thursday at 4 p.m against Rosell Park We hope to see you at the field and hope that this brief history of baseball and summit
enhances the experience Go Hill Toppers Thank you Matt Hope Summit gets a few of those torpedo bats Uh they're welcome Could I get his report oh if you have a written report can you please either email it or hand it to the clerk
thank you Thank you guys All right Uh we are now uh to our ordinance for introductions I just want to say I know there's a lot of people here These are ordinances We are introducing them today The hearing is in three weeks where people will have an
opportunity to speak on each of these ordinances Um we are going to have public comments after the business of the meeting is done People want to stay and talk about what they want to talk about That's aok Okay But I just want to set expectations when we introduce these
we will not be talking about them Okay Um but I do you know obviously you guys are here You want to talk about something Um and I'm we're more than happy to hear it but just at a different portion of the meeting Okay Um so that's that Um all right Do you want to say
something Madam Mayor yes Before we start um before there is one ordinance that before it gets introduced I'd just like I feel like I need to make a couple of comments based on some feedback that I've received over the past couple of days Um first uh I want to apologize to
my um mayor's homelessness task force for the whiff of not giving the task force a heads up on the um sleeping and camping outside ordinance that is being introduced this evening Sorry my voice is not good today Uh in hindsight I
should have And so my apologies for all of you who have worked so tirelessly to house 20 individuals in the last nine months It's been an incredible effort And uh so I just sorry about that I hope you can forgive me It was definitely an oversight Um second I do want to be
clear that the timing of this agenda item has nothing to do with um the ending of the Warm Hearts Day program Um it is jokes on me it's April Fool's Day I don't know Um it was really unfortunate timing a really unfortunate
coincidence that that that those are sort of coinciding Um it was certainly not the intention Uh and lastly um the hearing will be on it'll be three weeks Uh it's on the it'll be on the 22nd Somebody I think asked me if there's a chance that we can move the hearing but
once the hearing date has been announced you we cannot by law So but the good news is that we do have an extra week between this meeting and the hearing And we do welcome feedback I have heard some already and I expect to hear more and I'm sure we all will hear some more So just wanted to go on record of saying
all those things um prior to ordinances this evening Thank you Thank you Madam Mayor All right Um so uh we've got a couple of ordinances for introduction Um Madame Clerk will you please read uh the finance ordinance for introduction please yes ID number 11876 bond
ordinance providing for the acquisition of a portion of property parentheses 402 Broad Street in and by the city of Summit County of Union New Jersey appropriating $210,000 therefore and authorizing issuance of $200,000 in bonds or notes
of the city for financing financing such appropriation Thank you very much uh Councilwoman Toth Thank you Council President This ordinance will allow the city to purchase the so-called finger lot on Broad Street between the former firehouse and the Chestnut Street
parking lot And acquiring this final piece of that larger property allows the city to sell it to a developer so it can see its highest and best use And specifically this ordinance allows the city to spend up to $210,000 which includes the professional
and transaction fees associated with the purchase um city puts down 5% and therefore can issue a bond for up to $200,000 I move to introduce this ordinance Um I will second it Thank you
Okay Um roll call please Mr Ber I Miss Hamlet I Miss Cmanson I Mr Powski I Miss To I President McTurn I Motion carries All right Madam clerk will you please read the first safety and health uh
ordinance for introduction id number 11870 an ordinance amending and supplementing the code of the city of Summit chapter 3 police regulations to add se new sections 3-17 entitled skateboards scooters and other non-motorized personal
transportation devices and 3-18 entitled electric personal transportation vehicles Thank you very much Councilman Ber Thank you Council President I think people have been waiting for this one Uh this is ordinance ID number 11870 regulation
of personal transportation devices and is intended to enhance pedestrian safety and summit by establishing clear rules for the use of personal transportation devices in our community It prohibits electric bicycles and scooters from being operated on sidewalks and
pedestrian pathways throughout the city ensuring these high-speed devices are used only on designated roadways Additionally it bans the use of bicycle skateboards and other non-motorized devices on sidewalks within the downtown
district And if you look in the packet um it states out what the streets are uh a hightraic area where pedestrian safety is our top priority Outside of downtown non-motorized devices are still permitted on sidewalks but riders must
slow down and yield to pedestrians at all times This ordinance promotes responsible use of devices while protecting the shared use of sidewalks and public spaces I move to open this ordinance for a final hearing Second
All right Roll call please Mr Ber I Miss Hamlet I Sorry Miss Camson I Miss Fowski I Mrs Toth I President McTurn I Motion carries All right Um Madame Clerk will you
please read the second safety and health ordinance for introduction id number 11880 an ordinance amending chapter 3 police regulations of the code of the city of Summit to revise section 3-16 entitled resident protection Thank you so much uh Councilman Ber Once again
thank you Council President Uh this is ordinance 11880 which updates and strengthens our city's police regulations reinforcing our efforts to protect residents from growing threats of property crime vehicle theft and home
evasions Specifically it prohibits the unauthorized presence of private presence on private property while possessing devices capable capable of cloning key fob signals detecting key fobs inside vehicles or homes or jamming
Wi-Fi signals that could disable alarm systems or emergency communication It also expands the definition of suspicious activity such as peering into vehicles or attempting to access private
structures and clarifies penalties for violations I respectfully request to move this ordinance for a final hearing for introduction For introduction sorry Uh do I have a second second All right
Uh roll call please Mr Ber I Miss Hamlet I Miss Calmanson I Mr Pilowski I Miss To I President McTurnan I motion carries All right Last uh safety and health uh ordinance for introduction Could you please read it for us madam clerk id
number 11871 an ordinance amending chapter 3 police regulations of the code of the city of Summit to add a new section 3-9 entitled camping or sleeping on public property Thank you Uh Councilman Boyer Once again thank you Council President This is
ordinance ID number 11871 Uh this ordinance adds a new section to 319 to the city's police regulations establishing clear rules that prohibit sleeping or camping in public spaces such as sidewalks parks
streets benches and other public areas The purpose is to preserve the safe and accessible use of public property for all residents pedestrians and businesses This ordinance addresses the growing concerns about obstructions and public nuisances caused by encampments while
ensuring our shared spaces remain clean safe and welcoming for the community Uh I move this ordinance for introduction Introduction Second All right Uh roll call please Excuse me
Council President Although there is no hearing this evening you've traditionally allowed council members to speak when an ordinance is introduced and I would like to speak Okay I have traditionally not done that but I will allow you to speak You you certainly you have on multiple occasions Well if
you're requesting to speak Councilwoman Toth I'm more than happy to allow you to speak Thank you so much Council President Um I oppose the introduction of this or ordinance after two years of significant process progress on reducing homelessness in summit capped by our
receiving national recognition at the recent national alliance to end homelessness conference in Los Angeles This moves us in the wrong direction Morristown recently was ready to move forward on a similar ordinance and after community backlash it pulled the
ordinance and elected instead to follow the model that Summit established That model has drastically reduced the number of unhoused and has improved public safety We should not go backwards Now members of um a number of
organizations working on solving homelessness knowing they could not speak have chosen to show up tonight to to witness their disapproval of this ordinance It includes members of Family Promise both nationally for Union County
Monarch Housing Bridges Ship and Grace Um for these and many other reasons I oppose the introduction of this ordinance Thank you Council President are you going to oppose it as well absolutely I'm No I'm going to I'm going to make a comment since Councilwoman had
made a comment So hold on I This is not We're We're just introducing it Absolutely There You are in favor of introducing it You've already said your piece We can talk about this at the hearing Okay Okay Council President I think it's only fair that if
Councilwoman Tove was able to make a a speech to everyone right i'm introducing this ordinance I think it's only fair that I comment I actually was going to say something but out of respect to this council I didn't But since Councilwoman Toe did I think it's only fair to
address the public as well Can you allow me that please council President out of order Thank you Council President You may speak I appreciate that Um in some sense we have two different
ideas right to me they're both compassionate but they're simply just different ideas On one hand you have a group who want to help the homeless or the unhoused as some would say while
they're homeless And on the other hand you have a group that would rather stop them from being homeless But really the biggest benefit is to stop them from being homeless Now
I want to remind everyone that it was this current administration that housed 20 out of the 25 individuals out there Wasn't the last one Wasn't the one before that It was this one It was our mayor that put
together a task force with the help of some of you in the in the crowd here um that house these individuals So it is a balance you know as we've seen across cities like San Francisco Seattle some Toronto you know when
officials back down and face short-term pressure It leads to things that they have to now then turn back on Right look at San Francisco encampments all over the streets So you had to the city
council had to come back and remove them Now people elected me probably to say what they probably wouldn't get up here and say what what they're what they are thinking You know um we are balancing
compassion with accountability and upholding law and justice And that's what this is about It's not about criminalizing homelessness but it's about doing the right thing We want to prevent homelessness not maintain it
Thank you Council President Council President I'm calling for a roll call now Roll call Mr Boyer I Miss Hamlet I just I have a question about procedure Can I ask a question about procedure council president yes Mr Gobe yes Are
comments allowed from the council during an introduction or not if the chair permits it and the only reason I ask is because I actually had a comment about the electric vehicle one and I'm just curious what the typic typically this is an introduction and with an introduction you're just introducing it putting the
public on notice that there's going to be a hearing on it where the council will will make comments and they'll hear comments from the public and that's what you're doing three weeks from now Okay This is merely an introduction the council the chair permitted um limited
comments but it's more typical that it's done just with an introduction The the reason we have ordinances for introduction because they're ordinances they're laws They carry more weight than resolutions That's why they are pre-announced to be introduced So the
public has every opportunity to understand that they can come when there's a hearing to talk about it but they're just being introduced It doesn't mean an ordinance gets should be talked about twice Okay resolutions get talked about once an ordinance gets talked
about once Um but because as you people are here understand ordinances are different and the governing body for full transparency wants to make sure that people understand it's out there They're introduced They're not taken by surprise They have an opportunity to
make plans to come later to speak That's why when we introduce an ordinance everyone will have an opportunity to talk about it but they'll talk about it in the hearing Okay that's why we don't we're not doing discussions Okay Does that answer your question that's fine
Like when do we have time to discuss like the ordinance for the for the motor the electronic scooters I actually have the only time we can actually talk about stuff is when we're up here When we have our hearing right okay That's fair But but but we don't have any time to adjust Anyway I'd respectfully like to make a
comment but I respect the fact that I'm not allowed to considering I was on the homeless task Okay But that's okay Roll Uh we've had one vote Councilman Miss Hamlet I Miss Celmanson I Mr Palowski I Miss Toes nay President Tieran I motion
carries All right we're on to our resolution section of our meeting Uh we have a few tonight Uh first up is capital projects Councilwoman Hamlet Uh thank you Council President This is ID 11806 Establishing 2025 fees for
operating and maintaining the sanitary sewer system The 2025 sewer user charge is derived by combining charges established by the joint meeting of Essex and Union counties which I serve on with the city's sewer sorry sewer
utility operating budget Uh the fee is lenable The 2025 proposed rate is $399 The number of units in Summit is 11,521 New Providence is $277.98 with 34 unit 3,400 units And
then the industrial total is $300,851.40 I would like to move this resolution Second All right Uh do I have any comments from the public comments from council i'll just make one comment
Um we we we are an equity owner in the joint meeting So um we're one of correct me if I'm wrong uh Director Shaker 13 towns that own it correct yeah Um this could not be replicated today It
just couldn't be This was built in the 1920s Um this is a an amazing asset that we have Um this is a bargain for for Summit residents at $399 Any community around here you're
these are your sewer fees are going to be $100 $200 more uh per household So the the the uh management I know uh Councilwoman Hamlet sits on the board Uh it's collected from different towns It's a well-managed organization Um they raise capital they fix it they do all
those kind of things Um and this is one of the great things that uh living in Summit gives you is a great service at a very very reasonable price So that's my comment Um all right All in favor i
opposed Motion carries All right Uh capital projects uh number two Councilwoman Hamlet Thank you Council President This is uh ID 11827 authorizing the 2025 submitt of the 2024 tonnage grant report to the New
Jersey uh state department of environmental protection Whereas the mandatory source separation and recycling act has established a recycling fund from which tonnage grants may be made to municipalities in order to encourage local separation and recycling programs And whereas the city of Summit has maintained a cycling
recycling program which conforms with New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Bureau of Recycling and Planning Rules and Regulations Whereas the city of Summit has incurred expenses associated with recycling that are not offset by revenues from the sale of the recycling materials And the city of Summit
continues to actively promote recycling of as many materials as practical in order to achieve a minimum recycling rate of 50% Uh now therefore be it resolved that the city of Summit Common Council endorses a submission of the recycling tonnage
report for 2024 to the New Jersey uh D and this will result in a tonnage grant for 2025 I'd like to move this resolution Second Do I have comments from the public comments from councel
All right All in favor i opposed Motion carries Capital projects number three Councilwoman Hamlet Uh thank you Council President This is ID 11879 Before I begin uh Rosie I'd like to mention there's a scribers error in uh packet page 31 There were no bids received in
the memo It says a loan bid was received If we could just mark that down Uh is that correct Mr Shriger for you Council President Yes it's correct Later in the memo it says there was no bids but we kind of rushed this one on so I missed that That's on me but there were no bids So again this is 11879 whereas no bids
were received uh by the purchasing agent for the 2025 microsurfacing project uh on March 25th Whereas the Department of Community Services requests permission to readvertised for the 2025 microsurfacing project type A Uh I would like to move this resolution Second
Comments from the public comments from council All in favor opposed motion carries All right Uh moving right along to uh community programs and parking services Uh number
one Councilman Palowski Thank you This is resolution ID number 11841 to authorize down payment to purchase playground equipment at Tatlock Playground under a New Jersey state contract In anticipation of our renovation of the Tatlock Washington
School playground we're placing an order for a custom owl the Washington owls um and an egg with a bench accessories To place that order we need to make a down payment The amount of $56,774 This resolution authorizes us to place the
order enter the contract and make the down payment I move to uh pass this resolution Second Comments from the public Comments from council I have one question Yes please
Councilwoman Hamlet Uh Councilman Palaskowski I just have a question about the how and Tammy you might be able to answer this If we typically have to put 5% down for the for the capital capital budget and we were planning the entire playground but we're only getting two
items for this how do we how is that working i know it's sort of a long question but I'm just need to re rectify in my brain What through you Council President Um so these items have like an eight-month or ninemonth lead time So we
are only paying a down payment from funds that we secured We we adopted a portion of the funding for the project last year's capital budget and the rest of it this year So this down payment for these two items will get them started manufacturing them so that they're ready
for installation And again it's coming out of last year's capital Okay And so maybe this is a question for um Mr Rosski But the owl is not just an owl right it's part of the playground for $399,000 Okay It's we just want to make sure Sorry since I'm up here make sure just
looking over the budget here Since I'm up here we did have a presentation u by David Guida and it's a play apparatus So it's not just the owl the actual playground right that's right It's a big piece of the playground Checking Sure We It wasn't that expensive but Okay Thank
you Thank you Uh any other comments from council all right All right roll call or not roll call Um all in favor opposed motion carries All right Community programs and parking number two Uh Councilman Palowski Thank you
This is resolution ID number 11847 to appoint community programs advisory board member Uh in accordance with our closed session discussion I move to appoint Alex Lev to the um Department of
Community Programs Advisory Board Second Comments from the public Comments from council All in favor i opposed Motion carries All right Uh we're on to finance Uh finance number one Councilwoman Toth Thank you Council
President This is resolution 11875 Um the finance committee just recently put forth the proposed ordinance to acquire the fingerlot property on 402 Broad Street This resolution authorizes the city to
establish a temporary capital budget for the land acquisition similar to our temporary operating budget Um this item will be included in the larger capital budget when it's introduced at the next meeting I move to adopt this resolution
via a roll call vote I second And before we go forward Council President having just introduced this resolution I move to amend it Um and specifically I'd like to amend the third whereas clause by adding the words
for the specific purpose of acquiring the property located at 402 Broad Street in the city of Summit to the end of that clause Um it would then read "Whereas it is desirable to adopt a temporary capital budget for the year 2025 for the
specific purpose of acquiring the property located at 402 Broad Street in the city of Summit And this amendment clarifies the property being purchased so the resolution can be understood on its own terms I move to amend this resolution." Uh just a point of order Uh
Matt do should do do we need to vote on the amendment first or can we just vote the amended you can adopt the resolution as amended by counciloman All right So I'll second the amended resolution Okay For in um Okay Um good That was clear
for everybody Yes Can we just add portion of the property requires a portion of the property Thank you Thank you As amended again Okay All right All right And I smithing as we go Council President just for clarification hold on
one sec Um is it is it or clarification on the amendment yes Yes please Yeah I'd like to ask our city solicitor what so the language changes What significance it's just a portion of the whole property It's the finger lot So it's
limited to No I understand that But what's the significance of the change like changing just making it clear Okay it has no impact It's just making it clear and I think as counciloman to sorry Rosie uh I got
scolded before for not talking to my mic Uh Councilwoman Toast pointed out that it that if you read it on its own people understand what this is for It's not it you can read it without having all the other backup Okay Okay Great Um All right So I
seconded that Um Okay Do we have any comments from the public on this amended amended resolution no Comments from council yeah The only thing I would say like where this is a little different than what we normally do but um uh as
was mentioned with the ordinance uh we're in negotiation to try and make the the the old firehouse lot more uh desirable to be to control all the lots the contiguous lots So we've been
negotiating and we're happy to say that um we've come to a a verbal agreement uh where we're going to be doing a land swap between our property and the owner of the finger lot Um whereas we're it's basically for parking spaces Um so uh
it's a uh we think council has well approved going down this path We have to pay for part of it because we're getting more land than we're giving up um I think is kind of the long and the short of it That's exactly right Yeah Um so um with that unless there are no other
comments Okay All right Um roll call please Mr Ber I Miss Hamlet I Miss Calmanson I Mr Powski I Miss To I President Mc Motion carries Okay
Uh finance number two Councilwoman Toth Thank you Um this is resolution ID 11864 Um and this is our routine non-emergency resolution authorizing emergency temporary appropriations to
the temporary operating budget And by now we can probably all recite this one together Um in January council passed a temporary budget allowing us to spend up to 26.25% of last year's budget Expenses
are lumpy many are front-loaded Um and thus until we adopt our operating budget next month we regularly authorize what the state requires us to call emergency temporary appropriations And I move to adopt this
resolution via a roll call vote Second All right Uh comments from the public comments from councel All right Roll call please Mr Ber I Miss Hamlet
I Miss Cammonson I Mr Pilowski I Miss Toth I President Mcnan I motion carries finance number three Councilwoman Toth Thank you council president This is resolution ID 11865 This is the sewer utilities
routine non-emergency author um resolution authorizing emergency temporary appropriations to the temporary sewer utility budget And this expense is necessary to keep our sewers flowing until we adopt the 2025 sewer utility
budget next month I move to adopt this resolution via a roll call vote I second Comments from the count Comments from the public Comments from council Roll call please Mr Ber I Miss
Hamlet I Miss Calmanson I Mr Palowski I Miss Toth I President McTurn I Motion carries Uh finance number four Councilwoman To Sorry Council President Yes Can we go back for a second uh on
11865 we just voted Yeah I apologize I thought I didn't need to ask a question but I do Um why are the numbers 625 versus 725 there's a $100,000 difference I just don't understand it I don't know if it's an error but I I
should we should I should have paused us and I thought I didn't need to Um it says that um on sorry it says whereas the total emergency chapter resolutions adopted in 2020 25 pursuant to the provisions of NJSA chapter 96 for
the sewer utility budget in this resolution total 725 But then in the bottom line it just says other expenses are 625 So I just wanted to confirm what the final number was Okay Um our CFO is I don't know how we go back but it's a $100,000 difference So yeah No it's fine
Take a pause [Music] through you Council President I believe that I was trying to put 725 as a total So it's 625 in the joint meeting and 100,000 in the other OE Um but that
would make the total 725 for the temporary budget and I and I missed that in the total What what's the other OE um other operating expenses aside from the joint meeting payment which is typically broken up into two yes Okay So that makes sense then So what we should do
then is just um do another roll call amend We should amend this to be my fault Yes And then we'll revote it Okay Sorry I that's my fault Thank you for that Not your fault Thank you Councilwoman Hamlet Um all right So I have a motion to amend the uh so moved
Second All right Um roll call on the amended resolution Mr Ber I Miss Hamlet I M Miss Celmanson I Mr Powski I Miss To I President McTurn I Motion carries The amended carries Thank you Councilman
Councilwoman Hamlet Um okay Uh finance number four Councilwoman Toth Thank you Council President This is resolution ID 11849 Um at its reorganization meeting council passed a resolution authorizing police chief chief Steven Zagorski to
write checks for up to $200 at a time from the city's petty cash account Chief Zagorski is retiring and effective May 1 Chief Ryan Peters will head our police department This resolution transfers Chief Sagorski's check writing authority to Chief Peters I move to adopt this
resolution Second Comments from the public Comments from councel Councilwoman I'm not sure if it matters Just a recommendation to add um Chief Peter's name on the on the resolution ID
I'm not sure if I'm seeing the right one Um I'm think this may just be the the the note Rosie or the memo I'm sorry The the Yeah we had pointed out there was a typo in the memo Sorry I missed that Y So it says Andrew Bartalotti Oh yeah That that's the res that's the memo Okay
Yeah Other comments all in favor i opposed Motion carries Finance number five Councilwoman Toth Thank you Council President This is resolution ID
11878 Uh the city's qualified purchasing agent plays a critical role in our finances It's how we It's the person who makes sure we can buy things and award city contracts Our qualified person purchasing agent Natasha Matisc is on
temporary leave And while she's away our recently hired assistant treasurer Anne Stnik will serve as the qualified purchasing agent Miss Dustnik has the credentials to act in that capacity I move to adopt this resolution Second
Comments from the public Comments from council All in favor i opposed Motion carries All right moving along Uh safety and health resolution number one Councilman Ber Thank you Council President This is resolution ID
number 11820 Um I am happy but sad to announce that Captain Michael Shriber has um put in for retirement um and that his effective date of retirement will be June 1st 2025
So this resolution is respectfully requesting um to declare four vacancies for captain lieutenant sergeant and police officer I move this for adoption Second
Comments from the public comments from council All in favor i I Sorry All right There will be other times I can talk about how wonderful he is Yes All right Um safety
and health number two Councilman Ber Thank you once again Council President Uh this is resolution ID 11835 which authorizes the Summit Police Department to apply for federal funding through fiscal year 2026 New Jersey Division of Highway Traffic Safety state and
community highway safety grant program Uh this grant supports initiatives aimed at improving traffic and pedestrian safety including enforcement against distracted and aggressive driving impaired driving and enhanced protection
for pedestrians bicyclists and other vulnerable roadway users Uh given Summit's weekday congestion and consistent consistently high volume of pedestrian traffic this funding would
directly support targeted enforcement and education efforts designed to enhance pedestrian safety I move this resolution for adoption Second Comments from the public comments from council
All in favor i opposed Motion carries Uh safety and health number three Councilman Ber Thank you Council President Uh this is resolution ID number 11846 which accepts a generous $5,000 donation from the Summit Elks
Lodge number 1246 in support of the Summit Police Department's DARE program This program which is taught in all five of Summit's public elementary schools plays an important role in educating our youth about drug resistance responsible
decisionmaking and building trust between students and law enforcement The Elks Lodge the Elks Lodge's continued support is a testament to their commitment to our community wellness and youth engagement I move this resolution
for adoption Second comments from the public comments from councel I would say is um thank the Elks Lodge for their generous donation and I know um Officer Katiga does a fantastic job
uh with our our DARE program It's just a my kids went through it through the middle school Um I think it's memorable for them They do a great job and it's a one of the many ways our uh police department does community outreach and it's a really really good one with a super super great purpose So this is
awesome that the Elks is supporting this All right Um all in favor I opposed Motion carries All right Uh last one safety and health number four Councilman Ber Thank you once again Council President This is resolution ID
number 11869 authorizing the execution of completion agreement the firehouse project Uh as discussed in closed session I move this agreement for adoption Second comments from the public please
Comments from councel All right Uh all in favor I opposed Motion carries All right Uh Moranto the consent agenda Do I have a motion to approve the consent agenda as presented
so moved Second All right Do I have any comments from the public on anything on the consent agenda comments from council yes Councilwoman Hamlet Uh can we just I just wanted to talk about the SDI one that's in here because I don't know if we had resolved
the one that was pulled from the prior meeting on the insurance So Rosie do we have to so through you council president yes Uh STI is continues to be on our policy Okay Although um they have secured their own
it is not complete without some need for improvement on on their part That's all I wanted to know Work in progress We're going to kind of work That's fine I don't need to pull it out then Yeah Great Good question Um other comments from council on the consent agenda
All right All in favor i opposed All right The consent agenda passes Okay that is done with the business portion of our meeting Uh we are on to our public comment section of our meeting or just
ask people um if they would like to make a public comment please approach the dis uh give your name your address and please uh just to help everyone uh comment um please limit your comments to
3 minutes or under Thank you And items that are not on the agenda Oh and these are for items not on that have been spoken about on the agenda Thank you Good evening Mayor Fagan Council President McTurnon members of the council My name is Richard Ununak I
serve as the president of Bridges Outreach and we are located at 120 Morris Avenue in Summit I really wanted to share tonight how proud I've been of the work that's being done in Summit uh the formation of the mayor's task force to solve homelessness and summit the
datadriven housing first approach and our ability to bring in DCA to help facilitate a rapid rehousing sprint We've been doing all the things right With the mayor's leadership we were able to convene key stakeholders We established a by-name list and there has been consistent weekly case
collaboration When we began the byame list had 35 names on it And since then through rapid rehousing homelessness prevention all the acronyms and diversion we've made huge progress Diversion by the way I feel I should clarify is also known by its full name as shelter diversion It's a process by
which we use flexible funding in order to prevent a household from needing a shelter placement Diversion is not just sending someone somewhere else unless we're connecting them by way of a warm handoff to supports at that other location During this time we have also prevented homelessness for seven households right here in Summit
Homelessness is on the rise in New Jersey and evictions are the primary driver The fastest growing trend happens to be single moms facing homelessness Our outreach teams must remain vigilant and our case managers must remain creative To be clear our aim at bridges
is to pivot to a stance much more focused on homelessness prevention and summit and I believe that to be possible in the short term I believe there is a solution which affirms the rights of all involved and I would encourage you all to reach out to the office of government services or office of homelessness prevention to produce such to pursue
such a path Thanks very much Thank you Um if just uh as a general statement if you if you're reading from a prepared comment could you either email it to the clerk or if you have a hard copy just hand it to her and then we'll make sure it gets into the public record Thank you
Uh excuse me Uh Tom Zeber 768 Springfield A apartment A3 Uh good evening Um I know this was touched on a little bit earlier but I decided to come and give remarks tonight because I felt compelled to offer thanks to Mayor Fagan Councilwoman Hamlet and Councilwoman Smallwood for their work in ensuring
that the final school budget for fiscal year 2025 and 2026 is fair both to Summit's students and Summit's residents So by way of background I'm 38 years old Uh I'm a proud public school kid myself My wife is in her mid-30s Uh and we
don't have children yet but when we do we expect that they will attend Summit's outstanding public schools Um I fully support our societal goal of providing access to quality education to every student and believe that our community is better off when every child receives
the best possible education But the original school budget proposal which would have imposed an 8.83% 83% increase on summit taxpayers did not adequately strike a balance between the school board's obligation to students and its obligation to those who foot the bill Budget increases may well be necessary
from time to time but to allow them on the scale that was originally proposed was not reasonable So again I want to thank Mayor Fagan Councilwoman Hamlet and Councilman Smallwood for their work on the board of school estimate and their commitment to public education at Summit while still being sensitive to
its impact on taxpayers Thank you Thank you I'm I'm going to email you Okay Good evening Adriana Alerhan Springfield Avenue Al R Commenting to address the urgent situation with Salt Brook No
surprise Um I never knew what what we always refer to as the stream that ran behind my house was called Salt Brook till I had to do so much research and work around it Fun fact Saltbrook got its name when the locals dumped their salt into the brook to keep it out of the hands of advancing British soldiers
during the American Revolutionary War Wonder what the D would have said about that Councilman Powski you can put that in your back pocket for a historical minute down the line Maybe you can come in and and give one Um I do want to take a moment to thank
Mayor Fagan uh council members Hamlet Plowski and Ber and CFO Tammy um Baldwin for visiting my property on March 21st uh with county representatives and Congressman Tom Keen Jr I appreciate you taking the time to assess this situation
firsthand and I hope that Congressman Keane's support will be the final piece to the puzzle and we can finally get the problem resolved The land loss is accelerating with every rainfall and I'm in desperate need of help The drainage
system is overwhelmed by overdevelopment leading to uns unsustainable runoff into Saltbrook What was once a gentle brook now transforms into an aggressive river during rainfall The broken county pipe needs immediate repair and the entire
length of the stream requires re-evaluation to address the increased runoff from recent construction But that's only part of it Upstream developments and alterations over the years both sanctioned by the town and those that weren't negatively impacted downstream areas like mine through
effects such as altered flow patterns increased sediment movement directly leading to bank disabilization and collapse And so while I'm in immediate need of help to stop the catastrophic devastation caused to my land this illustrates the importance
of a greater long-term solution as well for the stream from the beginning to the end I'm so grateful this mayor and the council is willing to uphold those fiduciary duties that were neglected by predecessors because so many of you have
observed the situation is worsening rapidly clear that one more raintorm storm could lead to the loss of the little that's left in my backyard Your prompt attention to this matter is essential I've passed along contact information for two companies who have
reached out and are capable and willing to provide temporary mitigation now and possibly wider range solutions in the future I really hope that the town teams together with other government officials to solve the larger problem as well This grave issue affects the entire community
along Saltbrook making it a shared problem Thank you for your time Thank you You want to hand your statement to the clerk i sure emailed it Oh perfect Thank you so much Um okay Other comments
susan Bowen 45 Waldron Um I just came to this meeting for general interest but as I sat here I thought about the fact that um I my other house is at a lake and when you have a teenager who wants to drive a boat as Don can tell you it's
sort of a cumbersome process to get a boat license And it's serious and it's the same test that adults take And I'm wondering if we have these essentially children driving motorized
bicycles why aren't we thinking and this isn't a criticism it's just an idea Why aren't we thinking of some sort of city-based adult serious and cumbersome process before they even get on that bike because I'm not a doctor but I
watch a lot of TV And the reason I like the boating licenses is because driving a boat is life or death Like it or not even on Lake Oatcom it's life or death Driving one of these little bikes is life or
death Or maybe even more complicated It's a lifelong injury It's a TBI And I'm just sort of thinking maybe we should be thinking about it Just an idea That's all Thank you
Don Nelson 20 Plain Street Uh these motorized uh scooter electric scooters they're motorcycles with electric motors They really are I'm a lifelong motorcycle rider I wear all the gear whenever I go out How about we go back to um city licenses we used to license
bicycles used to license mopeds I know it's another bureaucratic thing but short of hey there's a guy on a black scooter where he shouldn't be Hey look there's a bicycle license hanging off the back of his motorcycle scooter or or electric bicycle from the city of Summit
and then we can track who it is I have my mom's moped from 1974 cuz she she used to see me ride all the time and then she got a moped to keep up with us but they were way too slow She had to register with the city of Summit I still have the license on the back So maybe that's another way we can think about
tracking how these electric scooters work Uh like I said scooter does 25 miles an hour The doctor could probably confirm this You fall and hit the ground at 25 miles an hour the bicycle helmet's really not it'll help but it's not really going to help a lot So really it's about safety Like I said a lifelong
motorcycle rider always wear your gear but we need to track these things and make sure that they're that that people are held accountable for their use Thanks Thank you Good evening John Bulier originally Summit resident from 2006 to 2011 and
recently moved back in 2017 where my family and I live on Three Colony Drive In the early morning of February 10th at approximately 4:00 a.m our home was invaded by three perpetrators Please note that our home and cars were fully
locked when the perpetrators broke and smashed the window on our heavy front door and reached through the broken window to unlock both the deadbolt and the lock on the door handle Again the cars were locked in the driveway and the
key fob the key fobs were stored in the kitchen The perpetrators were very strategic and purposeful with their plan I had actually been up overnight working out of the back of the house and was awake when the intrusion took place So I
immediately went to investigate the loud crashing noise inside the house I naively thought it might have just been a picture frame that fell I was absolutely startled and shocked as I looked down the stairs to see two men in
gray hoodies and masks on standing in the house One was opening up the front door and manning the door The other one was holding a flashlight and rans sacking our dining room It was a very surreal moment I
yelled immediately for the perpetrators to exit the house but surprisingly they continued to ransack the house So I yelled again that I had actually called the police And at this point when they were still being stubborn I actually
started to come down the stairs Concurrently there was a third perpetrator who now comes flying out of the hallway from the kitchen with the three key fobs and exits the house The other two followed The first perpetrator
to exit jumped into the last car in the driveway and got away with the truck The other two actually jumped into the getaway car and both cars sped off very quickly down the road After checking on my family
upstairs to ensure their safety I ran back to the office in the on the second floor of the house to grab my cell phone to call the police Thankfully no one was physically hurt in my family but I will share it has left us all feeling
violated and vulnerable The Summit police were very helpful uh and actually even recovered the car later that afternoon but unfortunately the perpetrators were never found I know this is uh a story one story of many and
is consistent with the continued problem over several years I'm happy that there was a downward trend in 2024 but the home burglaries and summit continue and the perpetrators continue to get bolder with recent incidents of
perpetrators carrying a gun I am encouraged that Summit has implemented strategies to reduce these aggressive acts but I think we need to keep doing more We need more reform to disincentivize
potential criminals In addition I think we need to continue to support the Summit Police Department with additional resources across technology and personnel I know we've done license plate readers and drones but technology is not enough I think we
also need additional officers to patrol more In summary we can do everything right lock our houses and cars but we can still be victims Everyone deserves peace of mind to know that their families are safe I wanted to share this story so
that we can strategize to prevent additional home invasions Thank you and hopefully prevent catastrophic outcomes from this point forward Thank you Thank you for your time May I have your statement sir just drop your statement I'll send it
I'm a genius Thank you Vicky Letterman Clark Street This is not about zoning As of this evening the Wilson Park neighborhood petition has 217 verified signatures This opposition to the proposed building design on the
Red Cross property together with the huge number of significant zoning variances and the enormous parking deficiency means to keep the peace We should look for another solution for the church the property and for Summit At the March 17 zoning board meeting the
minister Robin Tanner said there are 300 members in the congregation while the website says there are 450 which is a 50 50% more plus another 150 children She also said around 60 members living in Summit assuming that that's also not a
distortion then only 13% of the adults are Summit residents excuse me and 87% live elsewhere There's no reason the church couldn't be built in one of the 50 other communities with more space the website claims the members come from
It's time to think outside the variances I propose the church sell and some buy the Red Cross and Sby Waldron properties for fair market price so the church can be built on a bigger piece of property in a better location This would free the
church of the headache of finding buyers whose projects comply with city zoning and enable them to buy a larger and better suited property There are other much more appropriate uses for both properties that are in keeping with the zoning and historic nature of the
neighborhoods Part of the suddy's Waldron property can be converted into permanent housing for our honorary mayor Andy Anderson and the other house clients The Waldron site can be converted into a mix of affordable workforce and market rate condos while
preserving the historic architecture of the building's exterior and entry hallway which most builders would surely destroy One of the things I love most about Summit is we take care of our own I can just about guarantee that Summit residents would donate generously to
help the city buy both properties for our house and other charitable needs if they are priced fairly This is a win-win for everyone The congregation gets fair price for the properties without the realtor's fees or headache of finding an acceptable buyer They get to build their
dream church on a more suited property that doesn't require variances and has enough parking space And Summit gains a permanent home for its deserving residents in addition to more suitable housing No one loses And we keep Andy
here home in Summit where he belongs Let's do this Thank you Other comments hi I have a couple um statements So I'm going to try to make this quick Um I want to thank the board of ed school of
estimate I really appreciate all the hard work Um I'd also like to talk about the upcoming master plan and uh the transparency I talked about it at the border school estimate and oh Dory Gagnon sorry 27 Beford Um
uh the transparency I have no idea what was on the budget Uh like Mayor Fagan said I have no idea what was cut The only thing I do know that was supposed to be on the budget was a dance instructor because they put a dance studio Um I have no idea if it was cut I haven't looked at what the final budget
was But I do want to say is that um the master plan's coming up and I'd like to have some idea of what we want in this town Long long-term goals I was talking to fellow residents today at Tatlock and I said 'You know Tatlock had
such potential and I know uh Mayor Fagan and I used to coach lacrosse and we had such grand ideas of what Tatlock could be or it could have been years ago and over the the long-term goals of our our all of our playgrounds and stuff and people want want I think we need to
think as a city our goals and so as we look forward to our master plan we need to think of our goals as a town and sit down with our community members members maybe have a town hall and say what are our goals going to be for the next 10 15 20 years The other thing I want to touch on is the homelessness in this town and
I know everyone's here and we all have opinions and I really appreciate the homelessness task force However there's an experience that happened with me over the last several years and not many people are aware of it Um a couple years ago my husband spoke at a meeting that I
had an altercation with somebody Um that was a couple years ago and my son uh had an altercation at work in town He a homeless man came up and asked for food He said "I don't have the authority to give you free food His boss was not
there at the time." And the man said "If I had my gun on you on me I would shoot you." Now I want everybody to take that in who's behind me My son is underage And just think as a parent how that felt for your son to come home to
know that somebody said they would kill him because he wasn't able to give him food Think about that for a second I also want you to know I lost a brother to gun violence M Miss Gang just address
the council please So to have a son come home and say that somebody would kill him because he couldn't give him food is traumatizing This homeless man is not well He needs mental health
He's addicted to drugs He's one of the few that does not want to get help in town Now Mr Boyer had an you know his daughter had a problem in town an altercation and a knife was pulled on his daughter a couple weeks ago Another homeless man does not want to get help So I understand where everyone's coming
from We want to help people Please let's understand there's some people that don't want help but we need to figure out a way to get those people help before our children are hurt So I want everybody to understand where some of us are coming from Thank you Thank you very
much Joselyn Modesto 61 Butler Parkway I would like to compare and contrast the Beacon project on Springfield Avenue and the Tatlock Lights project There have been many common concerns from residents regarding both projects including
parking increased traffic noise decreased home values changing the character of the neighborhood lighting and plans changing once the development occurs But that is where the similarities end The process could not be more different between these two
projects Beacon sent many notices directly to affected residents Residents have the opportunity to ask questions of church leaders and the experts in a civilized hearing with no enforced time limitations Residents are allowed to ask follow-up questions and engage in a bit
of back and forth with Reverend Tanner and the experts that will follow The residents were also privy to site plans schedules and studies prior to these hearings By stark contrast the city had failed to even once notify residents in the immediate vicinity of Tatlock of the
project Tatlock neighbors were told to submit questions online many of which remain unanswered months later The one opportunity we were given to discuss the project with experts was transformed from anformational meeting into a pep rally for lights at the DCP's urging
Residents were provided drafts of the environmental and traffic reports just short of the meeting without the data included and were told to keep their questions to 30 seconds and each expert's time limited to 30 minutes Residents of Tatlock were jered at and intimidated when they got up to speak
The studies themselves were so flawed that they never would have held up under any real scrutiny So perhaps that is why the meeting was formatted to be chaotic and ambiguous a bat study for five days in no in October Not really looking to find anything Claiming a rainy Saturday
afternoon game draws the same crowds as a Friday night lights game Blatantly inaccurate And no full lighting plan exists for the project Only a rendering from Musco showing the eight stadium lights There is no plan showing the necessary lighting for the track
pathways parking lots and sidewalks There was no opportunity to discuss the reach and impact of the lights with an engineer only with a salesman invested in making a $ 1.4 million deal And no one has been able to get a consistent answer on what the plan for use timing
and scheduling of the lights would be The answer is always different depending on who you are speaking to and that is perhaps the scariest part of this entire project I understand that the Beacon project is requesting variances and that is why it went before the zoning board
But the city is looking to deliberately disregard its own lighting ordinance for the Tatlock project So the city should be held to the same standards as any other developer in town Thank you Thank you Other public comments PJ Angler 16 High Street So I've been
here for a couple council meetings again to talk about the Tatlap Light project I obviously I I don't want to address other people from the crowd but address the council Um I think a few things that I just want to kind of highlight is in terms of the research and studies that
that council has conducted I think they have been thorough I think they've been very clear This is not a surprise I think we we know from the field studies I think one of the quotes from David Guida was that there was not a single program that was not having its needs met met with field in terms of field
space Um in terms of the Musco project it's very clear what these lights you know can and cannot do and where the light does shine If you've ever been to any one of these fields Scotch Plains Fanwood has some of these lights you can see it for yourself Um
yes Musco is the contractor but these lights also qualify for the dark sky initiative which means they have to meet certain criteria that is that is deliberately done by a third party to determine that it meets that criteria So I think it's very clear that the impact
to the to the environment and surrounding areas is highly mitigated With regards to the traffic study yes we know there's some traffic issues in relation to home varsity football games graduation the relays those things aren't going to change because we have
lights and they're not going to get worse There's only so many home games that the that the varsity team gets and there's only going to be you know a few nights where there'll be a Friday night lights game So I get that there will be some minor in inconveniences sporadically throughout the year but
again and I've been I've been saying this on multiple occasions the need for the lights is predominantly driven by practice time Yes there'll be some benefits for game times but if you think about how sports work youth sports high school sports the number of practices far out exceed the number of games and
half your games are away So the reality of it is is most of this is needed for practice time to meet the needs of our growing youth sports in town Um this has also been something that's been discussed for 20 years since the fields were originally turfed Um it's
something that's been known and something that's that people have been debating for years So I don't think it's a surprise for anyone um that this is still a you know a topic of of debate Um but again I think this is a this is something that
we need in this town Youth sports is a is a cornerstone of this town and we are struggling to meet the needs of our of our children in this town As those needs continue to increase we need to be able to increase field space and the lights
at a minimum they won't fully fill those needs but it'll do you know be a step in the right direction So thank you Thank you very much Okay Thank you Other members of the public wish to make
a comment Okay I'm going to close uh public comments Uh we'll move on to council member uh comments and new business Who would like to go first councilwoman Hamlet Uh thank you Council
President I guess I have a couple of updates Uh the electric scooters I tend to agree with Miss Bowen I think we should take a closer look at that Uh I see these kids running going all day long on these scooters I almost hit one the other day because it came literally
uh right next to my car Um so I think it's a good start but I I do think we should try to take another look I don't have really any great ideas on it but um might be an opportunity to to take another look It is very very dangerous Um in regarding to the board of school estimate I just want to thank Matty
Jacobe Uh we have a veteran lawyer who represents a lot of boards of ed Uh the job of the school of board estimate is to hold uh not only work with uh the school board and the administration but to hold them to task and and to truly advocate for your taxpayer dollars Um
and I'm proud of the work we accomplished In fact I appreciate a lot of residents who reached out and and taught us a lot about the process as it was our first time And so thank you Matt for your guidance Uh Matt was Matt was the taxpayer bully that week um behind the scenes and you did a great job So
thank you Um regarding the ordinance tonight uh it wasn't too long ago that Rich and I were high-fiving in LA at the homeless task force um conference And you know we have had a lot of successes with the homeless task force Um what I
will say is a year ago I was I would say we were battling about this ordinance right Bob um I was a little hesitant to do the ordinance and I think Mike Callahan from DCA said to me he said you know why don't you guys give yourselves a year 14 months and really make some progress and
we did And so we're sitting out in LA and we're doing a presentation and I'm speaking to the audience mostly who is not too many Republicans in the audience but we're all sharing successes on how we've uh worked together in a bipartisan fashion for
um uh moving along towards eradicating homelessness And I said you know the way we did that in summit is not only did we involve all the partners in the community but we put boundaries on the homeless individuals and it made it a lot better you know they actually had a lot of respect for the fact that we put
certain boundaries on them So for instance we said you know we worked with um Reverend Tanner at Warm Hearts and Grace and and we said you know we don't want to give these folks opportunity in the evening unless they involved themselves in case management and we we made a lot of progress um with that and
they started craving case management and people started getting housed um and it was a true success story um and that was through a lot of the efforts through the community here Um and I I would tell you that there are some individuals who who although we're showing them
boundaries they're scaring our children They're making some of the residents feel safe And they must be held accountable whether they're homeless or not If they're urinating in public we're not going to tolerate it If they're brandishing knives we're not going to tolerate it But the average homeless individual who's sleeping on the bench
we're going to reach out five or seven times to provide them case management to the point where it's exhausting And I know that um our chief here would certainly do the same thing and advocate for his police officers to do the same thing Um there are certain individuals who are choosing uh to be a nuisance in
town and scaring our children and I think that this ordinance will protect your children your businesses and I think it will help um keep everyone safe We've done a great job We should be all of us should be really proud of ourselves So I don't think this ordinance I think it's worth some
discussion I think we should talk to the homeless task force and DCA and we might have some ideas on how to make it better But I think that it's a good start Um so thank you for all who came to talk about it tonight But I think we've we've been able to engage um so many people that we haven't been able to engage in years Um
maybe it's maybe it's luck maybe it's who knows But um last thing regarding the planning board I just want to give a quick update Uh at our last meeting we talked about um by the end of June we will have to have um uh completed our
housing uh fair fair share element plan Um what that means in terms of timing We've had our first public input session for the public Um we'll have a few more These are your opportunities to talk to the planning board about things you want changed Um if you want the light ordinance to be lower if you you know
certain things for the master plan Um we're evaluating our DRRO the planning board is really your opportunity um to talk about things like that Um the planning board DRRO revisions start uh in the planning board and then they get passed to the governing body So um I
think some good points are made around um you know how capital projects are looked at and board of ed projects Um I've recommended a complete capital uh review by the planning board because I think it's a really good point that some projects are looked at differently and we're talking about it a lot but please come to the planning board We only had
two comments uh last week at the planning board so I won't talk anymore but please come to the planning board Um and thank you all for coming tonight Thank you Uh other uh council member comments council president councilman Ber through
you Uh Mr Buler uh my heart goes out to you Uh I know when me and Councilman Plowski was at your house um the story is still still grips me today I you know I could play it back in my head several
several times Um and uh it's heartbreaking and I can only imagine what you felt at the top of those stairs And um your story is kind of maybe the number one reason that I ran for council
Um and I am I am enthusiastic about the future of policing and summit Um the last over the last two weeks I've seen more police officers around this town than I've ever seen in my life I can't get away from
them you know Um I drive by and I smile and I'm like uh Captain Peters you know Uh but I you know I do want to I do want to commend uh Captain Peters I think um the uh the police presence in our
downtown and other areas has been uh drastically uh drastically different I mean it is what it is I think we we just need to get you uh the resources that you need I mean going through these interviews uh with captains and even
interviewing you Chief um I think we know what the police need right um we just need to get there and there are some there's some great plans ahead Um so um I'm enthusiastic about it because we we need to protect our residents
Uh secondly uh I want to I want to thank Councilwoman Hamlet and Smallwood and the mayor but more Councilwoman Hamlet because I talked to her a lot because we're in CFS together And
man she was in the books man I the the board of education uh they I don't think I know it was a partnership to get it lower you know I'll be politically correct but she wasn't letting them get away with that Uh I mean every time I talked to her she had these she had
documents that I've never even seen before I don't even know how she got them Um and I I just I got to tell you I I appreciate your tenacity You know you you did an amazing job People behind the scenes really don't know how hard that
you work You are a stickler for detail for a lot of different things I don't even know Sometimes I'm like what weren't we here and what are we talking about now like um so I appreciate you in that
Um in terms of the uh electric scooters um so I don't want people to get the wrong idea This ordinance was about the outcry of people being hit by them right we had serious injuries where pedestrians were ran over by uh scooters
and electric vehicles and different things And so the outcry for this past year especially emails to me was Councilman Ber you need to get them off the sidewalk We can't walk I was hit in the in the traffic circle and whatever right and I think this addresses that
This makes our downtown safer for us to walk It makes pedestrian safety on the sidewalks safer It addresses that Now um if you want to make summit have a DMV in Summit you know we did talk about that
and man that that's a that's a heavy move right and what I foresee is once you do something like that the state would actually catch up and actually make the laws So all the resources that you put into it will be for not right it just takes some time for the state to
catch up But right now you know I'd like for parents to um you know tell their kids you know to wear helmets because the police will stop them right um stay off the sidewalks right and you know
keep the speed down And by the way I get emails and I know a lot of the parents I call them and I'm like "Your son was going faster than the car next to me You need to talk to Lil Johnny." Right and that works So as a community I know a lot of you know who are riding the bike
bicycles the electric scooters Let's talk to the parents I know some of you have glasses of wine with them Bring it up you know like "Hey seeing your kid the other day he's only 80 miles an hour Can we you know slow it down a little bit?" Um so I think we should start
there Um listen lastly I homelessness is complicated man you know and I'm not going to get into it It's complicated but I don't want any of you to feel never feel like anyone up here whether you're for the ordinance or
against it um has anything against anybody has any discriminatory you know issues don't like this or that I think everybody up
here um generally loves you know people That's why we're up here And if you look at our records we've all done the things to help people right so um I think keep an open mind about about what we're what
we're trying to accomplish I think it's balance So um last but not least uh making really good progress with the Summit Housing Authority Um I think this is the year that the residents there
will finally get um what they deserve what they've been looking for for you know over a decade And I am I'm confident with the new leadership and we're working hard to do it Not only do I have family members there but I have uh some friends that I've known for most
of my life So I'm I'm uber focused on that So thank you Council President Thank you Other comments from council Councilman Palowski Thank you I got a bunch of things on my list here Um I'd also like to thank uh
Dileia Kevin Mayor Fagan and Matt for the hard and good work that they did with um with the board of school estimates Um and you know Dillia you see had a great catch here tonight with one of our resolutions
Um you know sometimes I I think I'm having a nightmare I wake up and there are screenshots of numbers It's like is this supposed to mean something to me um but um I I thank you guys for that Um and to to council president McTurnin's point
about transparency um I had gone to a couple meetings and I spoke to the school board about about that And you know we're we're in a community right where um everything gets politicized right um and there were people there in support
of the budget when it was at 8.8% And if you didn't if you didn't pass it you don't like the kids You're against the kids right and you know obviously that's not true And there are other people who say you can't raise it at all If you raise it at all you're being fiscally irresponsible And what I
asked the school board to do was make the case right make the case for what you need Show us why this is going up Not just vagaries about um you know increased insurance and benefits We know that that's there but that was a a small part of the increase that they were
asking for So um I'm hoping that they will make the case and maybe they can come and give us a presentation like we give um you know a more detailed one I don't know if we can make them do that We can maybe suggest that they do it and hope that they do it
Um Earth Day was great It's great to see the community come together um to clean things up But I'll note that the other 364 days a year I'm hearing about what a mess our our city is And some of us have
gone out on other days with bags and cleaned out tree wells and picked up trash in the streets and and worked on Martinsbrook Park So as far as I'm concerned if you really care every day is Earth Day So get out there It's not
just a photo op once a year Um in community programs we're discussing uh what I'll call a traveling road show Uh with regards to bike safety um I'm not sure if they still do it here
but I remember when I was a kid we would learn all the hand signals you know um where bikes are supposed to go Uh if if a lot of these kids ever learn that um they either blatantly ignoring it or they've completely forgotten um because
we're out there right and and and they pull right up next to the cars and I've seen people you know turn left in front of a car um from the right-hand lane um because they're not abiding by the traffic rules and it's for everybody's safety Um I wanted to um and so so maybe
we can you know put together some kind of an assembly that we hit once a year You know it' be what are there eight schools eight public schools in town right um so you know we hit hit each of those once Um I want to thank John Bulier uh for
coming in and telling his story Um I know it's not easy to relive something like that and and I agree right there are all kinds of measures that we can take and for a long time um you know this was politicized too right one one
faction was saying we need more police Another faction was saying no no no we just need more technology And I always kind of said why not both um let's do both We have to do everything we can to keep things safe here Um and the two are not mutually exclusive They're they're
important pieces of the same puzzle Um I want to give a Tatlock neighborhood committee update We had our first meeting um last week and I think it went well Um we discussed uh a whole host of issues that we're going to try to tackle
this year um improving uh the bus drop off from our visiting teams uh alerting neighbors to events when they're going to happen so that they can plan Enforcement of parking rules Um the Butler Morris uh crosswalk that we've
been working on Um kids speeding from the high school to Tatlock If you have kids that practice there and they're rushing to get down there they got to slow down right washington school kids are getting out at the exact same time And I saw with my own eyes people just flying by Cars illegally parked on that
curb So the cars have to go even further out Uh you have students who are walking down there I saw students walk diagonally from Webster across to the opposite corner of Butler when there are a million cars around Um I spoke to uh
our athletic director at the high school and asked her to to make sure that she passed on to the co coaches to tell these kids to be more careful um parking enforcement positioning of speakers during games
um having no parking signs out during sporting events in certain areas and and and doing it kind of religiously right um the Summit Relays is coming up that's a huge day Graduation home football games big lacrosse games right it really does put a burden on that neighborhood
and we have to have to do everything that we can to help Um and then we also talked about potential parking expansion at the fieldhouse and some of the pros and cons that might go with that So we're exploring lots of options Um we had a really good meeting and I'll give
a report after the next meeting Um and a for Miss Modesto's comment before um you you'd have to say that I have always welcomed any conversation about what parameters would be around lights
and um nobody's taken me up on it yet My door is still open and I'm willing to talk to people about that anytime That's it Thank you Other comments from council yes Uh Councilwoman Countson Thank you
Thank you Council President Um one about Tatlock I think it would be really helpful if the DCP did or somebody did provide some parameters about when the lights are going to be on because I also received two different answers I received one answer from a council
member w within a matter of a few days and one answer from um a DCP employee And then I was told well aren't you going to address that in the committee aren't you going to address the times when the lights are going to be on in in the Tatlock committee and I said well no
that's completely separate from lights That's strictly about traffic So I think there's a lot of confusion and it would be really helpful if that was cleared up Um also about the camping ordinance Um I have concerns about this and I
think we need to talk about it as a community Um I had a a conversation with Councilman Ber We had a very nice conversation earlier I didn't know about this ordinance until a week ago and I I think it needs to be discussed with the community and I think we need to
understand um what the potential consequences could be I don't know if there are any um but I'm glad we have the opportunity I would like for people to reach out to me if you if you want to have a conversation about it I would love to hear from you because I hear you
know I know people they're they're concerned about um people being you know very vulnerable when they're unhoused and we also have people who are very concerned about their children right and I want to hear from everybody Um so I'm
glad this conversation has started Um I think that's it for me Thank you Great Thank you Other comments i have two more things which I forgot Yeah Yeah please Madam Mayor thank you Um one I just wanted to tag something Uh Councilman Palowski sir would you like a cough drop
i'm doctoring on the Deas Um uh Bob mentioned the um the Summit relays which are this Saturday And also uh the opening day for Summit Junior baseball is also Saturday Summit will be a buzz There will be traffic Leave early Park
legally Thank you That is one thing And then I was remiss because I did not remember to mention the one moment three decisions um event that happened at the high school last Wednesday and Thursday coordinated by the board of education the police department and um the
supported by some shaping summit together It's an incredible um uh program It's every it's done every other year This was the fifth time that it was done If you don't know about it please check out um there should be a link on the board of ed website um and you can
actually just in YouTube ask uh type in one moment three decisions or maybe it's there's some other name for the program OM3D Well no no no There's a it's like a national every 15 minutes Thank you Kev Um so it's it's a really incredible
program It's about drunk drug um drunk drug and and distracted driving And it's really really powerful I've seen the video before I've never seen it in person It it it's I was in tears It's really powerful So um something for you
to check out um especially if you have kids that are bea becoming permitted drivers um and licensed drivers because they should see it too Thank you Thank you Other comments from you Council President Yes Councilwoman Boy
Uh I don't know how I um almost forgot this Um uh Chief Sagorski's retirement party will be Tuesday April 29th at 4 p.m at city hall Um we want to give uh the
chief a um the sendoff that he deserves after 36 years of service So I wanted to announce that Um and I think that's it Glad you remembered that That's good
Other comments Councilman Palowski Um I just said um and my wife just texted me that I had too many ums Um there it is Again the Tatlock committee is not about whether to put up lights but I think if
that decision is ever made the parameters around that absolutely would be open for discussion in that committee That's it Other comments All right I'll just wrap it up Um I want to thank everyone for coming
Hopefully um I I would say I would echo what Councilwoman Camelson had I'm not going to talk about the upcoming ordinances I'm going to talk about those at the hearing but I am open to grab a coffee with anybody who wants to talk about
these things Um I'd love to hear different viewpoints and opinions and I hope people would like to hear mine Um so uh so please reach out and I know most everyone up on this dis uh feels the same way Um the
um thank you for uh Mr Bulier and Miss Gagnum for sharing their stories tonight Um it is something that we all take very very seriously and uh you know I said this last meeting meeting before you know one of the things I believe one of
the primary responsibility of government is to keep their citizenry safe and um we do take it very seriously and we are looking at this as a multi-pronged approach uh to to do that and to give our great police officers the resources
that they need They're incredible They're professional Um you know we can't change human nature Crime will happen but we want to mitigate it to the greatest extent possible that we can So thank you for sharing your stories Um
because it is a we do need to remember these are our neighbors people we live with or or that we live next to and um and we should have amazing amount of empathy for what they've gone through So uh thank you for that Um and then I
would also plug what uh Councilwoman Hamlet said about the planning board Um the master plan is going to be happening Uh they're going to start kicking off planning for that Um you will start to see uh the creation of
committees subcommittees um around what we want summit to look like for the next 10 years Okay so these things happen every 10 years or so Um it's going to begin happening soon So um we would welcome input That's that's why our our
city is such a great place to live is because people care and they volunteer their time and they volunteer their perspective to keep to to make it a beautiful place to raise a family and to live Um and I had one other thing but people have been here for a long time so
I'm going to wrap it up with that Um so if there are no further council comments uh do I have a motion to adjurnn so moved Second All in favor i All right we are adjourned