##VIDEO ID:syqQPkmr4s4## e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e all right welcome to um our first uh council meeting of December I hope everyone had a really wonderful Thanksgiving and are uh kicking off the holiday season in a festive and healthy uh way so um going to uh Madam clerk uh could you please read the adequate notice of compliance statement please adequate notice of this meeting has been provided by the city clerk's office in preparation of the Council annual meeting notice dat December 18th 2023 which was properly distributed and per posted per statutory requirements please be advised if 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 deas and return it thereafter thank you uh roll call please Mr Boer here miss Hamlet here Mr migar here Mr palaski here Mr Smallwood here Mr bartan pres president murnan present all right um this time we'll do the Pledge of Allegiance I will lead us today because I miss doing that uh I pledge allegiance 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 thank you um Madam clerk will you please read the explanatory note regarding closed session and hearing and comments a closed session meeting as a 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 Verizon channel 30 and rebroadcast on Thursdays and Saturdays on httv on Comcast 36 and Verizon 33 when invited to speak please come to the lecturn 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's office at city clerk at cityofsummit.org to help facilitate an orderly meeting and to permit all to be heard speakers are asked to limit shall limit their comments to 3 minutes unless you are using an electronic device to follow the meeting agenda or needed for professional emergency contact purposes please turn it off thank you thank you um do I have a motion to approve the minutes of closed and regular session meetings of November 18th 2024 so move second all in favor I I opposed motion carries all right now we're on to our report section of our meeting Madame mayor do you have a report today I'll be as brief as I've been in a long time so um I hope everybody had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday and uh um enjoyed some time off and spent time with their F or family um I'd also like to thank the Department of Community programs on putting on another successful Miracle on Elm Street over the weekend uh it was nice to see all the residents come out and celebrate together um as we start the holiday season there are a number of other fantastic holiday events coming up this month including the annual manura Lighting on the Village Green on Sunday December 29th at 6 p.m. and Summit downtown Inc is hosting their popular annual events including the horse and carriage rides around town holiday music and carollers and much more more information is on the city website and on the SDI website um also want to mention that the Department of Community programs has a survey that's currently posted on the community programs website and on the Facebook page to give residents the opportunity to have their feedback um provided for design for tatlock playground um that's it that's all I have thank you right great thank you very much um our business administrator report Chief Evers please thank you counc president good evening um Summit police department and fire department have released some holiday safety tips for the public available on the homepage on the city website they cover important topics of the year including package delivery safety tips and fire saf information related to the holiday decorations please take a couple minutes to visit and review the information on the city's website especially capital budget Workshop meeting of Summer common Council will be held on Wednesday December 11th at 6:30 p.m. in counceling Chambers at City Hall located at 5:12 Springfield Avenue the meeting is open to the public and will include presentation by City staff on the 2025 capital budget lastly the fire department had its grand opening of the new fir last Sunday we had an amazing turnout uh more than we expected um so we thank the residents the public for all support and the very kind word they Shar with the firefighter throughout the day for those resids who are unable to attend the opening we will be planning another opening sometime in the springtime stat for information and we plan on being operational middle of December and fully by the end of the year um in in that building so and that's my report thank you thank you very much um so my report I'll just start off by thanking the chief and every member of the uh the fire department uh for getting that building open and done it's an amazing achievement I know they worked super super hard they were in there making sure that thing got done um on time under budget and it uh and while they were doing their day job which is keeping us safe so an amazing job so just thank you Chief and all your guys um the only other thing i' i' have to report today is um just on uh our update for our uh full-time business administrator we are in currently deep in the process we have another round of interviews uh the end of this week with uh what we would hope to be some finalists uh we'll see how that goes but we are uh still hoping that we can have a permanent uh business administrator sometime in the beginning of the new year so um that's moving a pace uh Communications officer um we have uh We've identified a person we're hoping that that person will be able to start literally within days um so when that happens we'll make a full-blown announcement and uh but we are moving to uh fill these important positions and that is my report um at this time uh let's move on to our hisor minute uh councilman palowski thank you uh tonight we have Summit High School senior Lena kef ntis come on up lenina she's a uh field hockey and softball player officer on the student council and I think has been a student rep on the board of ed is that right Lena yeah all right um she was a solid basketball player in seventh grade at least when I coached her she still is today um but we're we're we're lucky to have her here and um she's gonna gonna do a historical minute on Summit and The Velvet Underground hello um on December 11th 1964 a so-called cultural revolution happened in Summit New Jersey when the art rock band The Velvet Underground performed at her own Summit High School prom The Velvet Underground an experimental rock band formed earlier that year would soon become legendary singing about controversial topics during the height of the alternative art scene of the 1960s however before Andie Warhol managed them or they were in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame the band picked up some interesting gigs when they were starting out including performing at some at the Summit High School prom the band was the second act on the bill following a group of 14-year-olds called the 40 fingers and opening for a headlining local garage bin the middle class the middle class already had a decent local following and had Co and songs with Carol King and Jerry joffin many of the followers of the middle class came wearing their Finest Clothing but the Velvet Underground staying true to their eclectic sound in style weree all black androgynous clothing had flowing long hair and Shining silver jewelry no one knew what to expect when the band took the stage but the speaker suddenly surged with a pounding beat the band played songs like Venus and Furs and I'm winning for a man according to sterle morington the Velvet undergrounds the guitarist the response was ride ranging teachers students and parents fled screaming the underground Summit High School gig marked the band's first performance with Mo Tucker and its first performance outside of Manhattan's hippie downtown it also marked the start of the band's cult L following exemplified by the backlash the local newspaper received when a teen columnist insulted the band's music a group identifying as Some Velvet Underground fans responded to the column stating you're neur music critic sadly the camera filming the performance went missing at night we and we can't exactly relive this music history in the making but many suspect the band stole the camera overall through my research of her towns brushed with Fame I learned that Summit has always been extensive patron of the Arts even in the 60s I hope we can have an exciting band like The Velvet Underground perat our next proom very nice thank you that was great thank [Applause] you okay all right we have no presentations uh this evening so we're going to go no ordinances so we're going right to resolutions um we're going to start off with Finance resolutions uh councilman minegar Finance resolution number one please thank you council president this is number 11619 and this resolution authorizes the intro intra budget transfer of Appropriations from accounts with a surplus to those that are over this is a re uh this is a regular occurrence in the last two months and first three months of the fiscal year and this particular set of uh transfers totals $179,100 I move to adopt this resolution I second comments from the public comments from Council all in favor I ient we need a roll call oh we need a roll call on this one okay sorry it's okay Mr Boyer yay Miss Hamlet hi Mr migar hi Mr palowski I Mr Smallwood I Mr Varan I president m turny i motion carries all right uh Finance resolution number two councilman Minar thank you council president this is number 11617 and this resolution authorizes the schedule of payments uh a quick explanation of how this works the city collects taxes and pays them to the schools earlier this year there was a similar resolution for payments from July through December um the school's fiscal year is July 1 through June 30th of the following year and the city's fiscal year is the is a calendar year so this resolution updates the payments amounts payment amounts and the dates for the remaining half of the school's fiscal year which is January 2025 through June 2025 each payment is in the amount of 6,128 28 I move to adopt this resolution I second comments from the uh from the public please comments ments from Council all in favor I I opposed motion carries Finance number three councilman migar thank you council president this is number 11618 and this resolution authorizes the municipal sewer parking and school debt service payments uh this is done every year it includes principal and interest amount uh interest payments on all bonds and notes um in those respective categories I move to adopt this resolution I second comments from the public comments from councel all in favor I I opposed motion carries uh Finance number four councilman migar thank you council president this is number 11616 and this resolution authorizes a Professional Services agreement for tax appeal Council services for 2025 in an amount not to exceed $110,000 uh the agreement with d Francesco baitman kman Davis lar and FL PC includes no rate increase over the prior year I move to adopt this resolution I second comments from the public comments from Council all in favor I I opposed motion carries uh Finance number five councilman menar thank you council president this is number 11598 and this resolution authorizes a two-year extension of an existing contract for walk-in hardware and building supplies purchases by the city uh at a convenient local location without having to go through a purchase order or quote process and it prevents the city from having to keep an inventory of parts and supplies Etc uh this agreement with Summit Industrial Hardware Incorporated is in an annual amount not to exceed $660,000 I move to adopt this resolution I have a second do I hear a second I'm sorry I have I second but I just have a have a question so all right uh first let's go count uh question from the public all right uh comments or questions from Council councilwoman Hamlet as I was trying to second I was coming up with my question which I just started uh I guess my question is do we need a second quote for this since it's this certain amount Tammy or no just asking because I truly don't know the answer that's okay through you council president um we use local hardware so I'm not sure if she received more than one quote the qpa but she goes with the easier access for the you're on a job and you need a couple of screws you're not going to come in and do a purchase order and all of that so I don't think um we exceeded the um quote threshold last year okay for that okay any other questions from Council all right all in favor I opposed motion carried carries Finance number six councilman minegar thank you council president this is number 11603 and this resolution per Clos session discussion declares a vacancy in the position of assistant City Treasurer in the finance department I move to adopt this resolution I a second comments from the public comments from Council excuse me what was that resolution that he mentioned because I think disagree with what we have here uh the number I had was 11603 yeah yeah no that's not on our 116 I don't know how I got that on there thank you yep yep um three council president it's uh number 11654 thank you for the correction sir thank you so it's the declare a vacancy um any comments uh from the public comments from Council all in favor I I opposed motion carries all right um we're moving right along to law and labor number one councilman palowski thank you this is resolution ID number 11597 to authorize continuance of the mayor's task force on homelessness in Summit uh mayor Fagan has put together a great team to uh help address the homeless situation in Summit it includes our First Responders and a spread of community leaders including representatives from nonprofits like Bridges and Grace their good work isn't over uh so they may continue their mission I move we adopt this resolution I second thank you um comments from the public please comments from Council yes madame mayor um I just want to give a quick update because um I was hoping that we didn't have to continue this um obviously uh we have made some strides we have made some differences um we have helped house um some of our uh unhoused folks that have been living in Summit unhoused for some time and we're hoping to continue that mission so um thank you council members for supporting this thank you other comments all in favor I I opposed motion carries law on labor number two M councilman palowski this is resolution ID number 11613 uh to authorize 2025 city solicitor labor coun Services um each year we renew the city's contract with our city solicitor and our label labor Council who are one in the same the clear giobi firm their work is excellent their rates are competitive and I recommend we authorize the clear Jobe firm to continue as our city solicitor and labor Council and I move to adopt this resolution second do I have any comments from the public comments from Council I'll just make one um want to just thank mattord all his hard work he's been a great uh I mean as I've kind of parachuted back in here he's been a great person to go to with questions and stuff it's super knowledgeable I think we're lucky to have them that's agreed agreed thank you very much yeah um all right uh all in favor I opposed motion carries all right uh moving right along we've got administrative policies and Community Services uh councilman Varan thank you council president this is ID resolution ID number 11612 to authorize Professional Services agreement uh with our for our 2025 Risk Management Consultant which is acore LLC uh they've been the city's risk manager since 2018 uh the the rate will remain the same it's 6% of the Premium cost that is paid for by the joint Insurance Fund uh this is they have done a good job uh and the rate uh they've done a good job for uh the same rate as the previous risk manager I move to adopt this resolution second comments from the public comments from Council all in favor I I opposed motion carries all right we're moving to uh safety and health there's one resolution uh councilman berer thank you council president this is resolution ID number 11641 authorizing the appointment of three new probationary career firefighters um these firefighters have successfully completed the fire department's interest exam process uh the appointments will become effective December 30th 2024 uh the appointments will fill vacancies on the department that were approved by the common council's um uh by the common Council earlier this year the candidates are currently members in good standing of the volunteer Division and have been interviewed and approved by the Safety Committee I move to adopt this resolution second comments from the public comments from Council all in favor I I opposed motion carries all right uh one resolution from capital projects and Community Services councilwoman Hamlet thank you council president this is ID 11622 uh this uh resolution as discussed in closed session uh will be to declare a vacancy for the lead technical assistant to the construction officer uh again this was pending closed session discussion tonight and I move to adopt this resolution second comments from the public comments from Council can we say that this is called Taco this is we've talked a lot about this tonight this is called the Taco uh director Sher do you want to talk about this a little bit or just it's sort of a different um new position that we had yes it's true you council president and the position is actually determined it's actually defined by the state in the UCC code uh what it essentially is is a person who has a technical assistance certification but you're technically like the lead directly to the construction official so it would kind of be of currently well we have three staff members up front this would be the one that would oversee them and kind of be a bridge between the front line and the construction officials so it's a little more Technical and construction oriented than just the um staff up front um but a very important position and it helps us move forward as we look to succeed in the future awesome thank you uh any other comments or questions from Council just I guess one more council president um just to further clarify that this was not in the operating budget for 2024 but I would imagine that this is something that the state requires director shager so we will have to put this in our budget for 2025 yes correct and the UCC also the Construction office is is funded through fees so it's it's not a taxpayer fund um division um but yes they would still have to budget for it to make sure it's there the position is defined in the salary ordinance but we just need to budget for it and the timing is good because here we approach the calendar flipping a page thank you for explaining the taco all right thank you um all in favor I I opposed motion carries okay um consent agenda a time um do I have a motion to approve the consent agenda as presented so moved second all right do I have any comments on the consent agenda from the public any comments from Council you council president yes please Mr Excuse me um I am uh pretty excited that Earth Day is coming up again I participated in that a few times I read through here and I noticed that there are considerations for locations and I'm wondering do we know when that will be announced the cleanup locations I can uh Council woman Hamlet uh I mean I'll pass this along to director Sher I know one of the ones that we're trying to add I think it was for this year was actually the downtown I'm not sure if it's officially been designated yet I think we have as an optional one but I'm not sure if uh Kevin if you know or director shreer one will be announcing that so I I could see you council president um first I Just Want to Thank The Summit environmental Commission because they always get this very far in advance so we never miss this so obviously we were planning for what's essentially uh almost 4 months ahead which is great so um as a result yes they've left it not you know fully confirmed where they'll be but in in the weeks leading up to it they'll announce specifically where they are they have taken on the downtown in the last um few years they have been there so I'm sure they'll be there again so but finalize will be as the weeks as we approach near the date so yeah and just on that date I think what is it scheduled uh last weekend of March the 29th and the 30th so they are planning way ahead yes is great any other comments from Council all right um all in favor I I opposed all right consent agenda passes all right at this stage of our meeting we are now at public comments um please remember the uh Madame Clerk's admission keep your comments to 3 minutes or less please and state your name and your address as you approach the the podium oh and staff you guys um have a good evening thank you for coming I was going to say go once hi good evening everyone um I'm Carlos and is uh from 85 Butler Parkway here in Summit uh good evening uh Mr murnan and having had the pleasure of meeting you I haven't attended one of these meetings you were appointed so congratulations thank you I also want to acknowledge the email that you sent me in response to uh my concern uh as I saw the email that came out of the uh Department of Community programs uh last Friday thank you for that you took pretty quick action I read your statement that you said in clarification so thank you well done and I think it resets the tone uh although I do think that damage was done by the DCP in sending that email that email was pretty sophisticated used Graphics used the logos of the Department of Community programs so it is definitely very concerning and I think you shared that concern I'm not sure if you have any further understanding as to why that happen um and what steps have been taken to prevent it I also would like like to understand if you expected or require the DCP to send the same statement that you put in social media to the maining list that the DCP used to communicate because not everybody's in social media but they do have access to email um and then the the last point that I make um the meeting on Wednesday that's coming up to discuss the studies um two of the studies have been provided in draft form one study has not been providing in draft form and I heard as of last night that study had not been concluded yet apparently the DCP already communicated in that email on Friday that that study reflected no problem so wonder why why the disconnecting there a study has not been completed and it should have been published so that it could be discussed on Wednesday with people having enough information to have an informed conversation thank you thank you um I guess I can speak to a couple of those things um we have begun conversations around um revamping or or clarifying our Communications process um it's clear that there was not a lot of um things written down around it uh which is an issue and needs to be fixed so um so that is going to go on and we will get something that department heads and Council people have a very clear understanding of about um how do you communicate uh proposals versus City projects because there is a difference um so that is something that we're going to work on um as far as the meeting my understanding is that the that uh field study um uh report which is I think what you're alluding to um they are almost done with it I ask the same question that you just asked and it should be ready I um I think the the DCP committed that they would um release these studies as soon as they got them in which is why the other ones went up on the websites when they did this one's they're still putting the finishing touches on it um and they do know they need to have it for tomorrow but they want to make it as comprehensive as as clear as possible and that's why they're they're still working on it they should not have stated at a conclusion on it because he's not ready right so thank you thanks I I also want to comment I did get an email with your statement today this morning so if you didn't same I received it I did receive an email from DCP with with um presid council president mcan's um statement so you should have received that as well okay I will check I thank you hi Kelly aav valy 151 Colonial Road um I know the meeting is tomorrow tonight regarding the proposed um lights I just wanted to come and express My Views um and my thoughts um as we all know there have been lights at tatlock for many years on the upper field as well as down by the tennis courts um there's a strong need in Summit to have more field space in this town for a variety of reasons lights will help solve a lot of the issue and add additional benefits for our broader Community not just athletes having coaches having coached across a Sports in this town it's very frustrating when half of your regular season games or practices are ended early due to Darkness families pay for these programs and should be able to see their children play games in their entirety or when fields are closed because of rain teams could then be reallocated to tatlock if there were lights there sports in this town have grown considerably example year round baseball year round soccer year round lacrosse the addition of girls flag football the addition of a youth field hockey program these are all very positives for our children active youth help reduce screen time obesity and have many other benefits lights at tatlock as many have tried to say will not just benefit football and Lacrosse they would benefit all sports across the community and the entire Community the broader Community as a whole can also benefit many families in Summit both have working parents being able to come home in the evening and go to the track to work out in a safe en environment would be an added benefit parents can get off of work take their sons or daughters to the field and spend some time in the early evening I live across from the high school I've lived there for over 20 years so I understand residents concerns and we have had a variety of issues over the years that we have had to deal with pertaining to the high school and lights but I knew living across from school would have positives and also negatives I can say the positives have absolutely outweighed the negative I think there's a way to add lights with guidelines for example limit when the PA system can be used bused should only be parking in Washington school parking lot when available in addition parking should be restricted to one side of Butler Parkway the field side and enforced scheduling also a break between practice and or games for 15 minutes so traffic can get out and new traffic can come in all these things can with guidelines can help us um manage lights at tatlock thank you thank you um if you have a prepared statement could you please just leave it with the clerk thank you thank you other public comments Joseline Modesto 61 Butler Parkway um I didn't come with a prepared statement but I just wanted to address um some of the comments that were just said um one of the things is that light should be put at tatlock this way there can be more use of the fields everything that we've heard so far is that people want more turf fields we heard at the boosters meeting that people will wait later to practice because they're waiting for turf field and not use perfectly good grass fields or what they don't consider to be perfectly good as far as the rain that you can reallocate to tatlock if other fields were turfed then they wouldn't have to be postponed or cancelled due to rain if we turfed more of the fields we also wouldn't have to close them over the late fall until early spring while they get receded so that would also open up more time for um sports teams to use the field um we can also reduce screen time in obesity if we Turf more Fields I think the whole point of this is what I'm trying to get at is that everyone needs to do their fair share every field needs to pick up more of the slack instead of tatlock and the high school all in Washington District having all of our Fields Turf having three4 of our Fields lit as they're proposing I mean there there's other ways to do this with Distributing the burden here we're just trying to stick up for our neighborhood like every other neighborhood has in the past Wilson neighbors fought against having their field turfed and it was not turfed Franklin was supposed to be turfed the same time as Washington it is yet to be turfed Memorial we've all heard this one before right the neighbors would have a fit uh Memorial was talked about to have lights at their tennis court yet they don't have them and they were put at tatlock so we just feel like tatlock is taking on a lot of the burden that some of the other places can step up and there there are other Solutions um to this field crisis but again as Carlos said they've already said the conclusion that there is a field crisis yet we haven't seen the report they've had months to work on this report since this discussion started in January or February so it's very frustrating that we are going to get a report tomorrow and then be expected to intelligently have a conversation about it um so thank you very much thank you good evening um Diego H Aral court and apologize I forgot my reading glasses um council president I think it's important that the 2025 budget receive a unanimous vote and for this reason on November 14th I sent you an you and outgoing Finance chair Andy mener an email outlining a few Common Sense suggestions to achieve this goal by improving the budget process and Essence we can get better alignment if we set a goal for maximum percent increase to the levy so the tax rate can be reduced if rables remains rable growth remains strong I suggest a 1 and a half% cap to the levy to increase to the LI increase to limit increases in spending my eyesight is doing a number on me this discipline will serve us well whenever ratables go against us related set a goal for percentage growth in operational expenses versus 2024 for latest estimate instead of versus 2024 budget I suspect I preached to the choir when I said this is what most successful companies do B improve the capital budgeting process by following these Common Sense steps one agreed to a level of spending for each year consistent with our desired debt position in future years if the city were to keep to the 2024 29 capital budget as is in 3 years our debt would grow 19% to reach reach 74 million that's 5 million higher than when the firehouse was paid for and 11 million higher than last year no one wants such a high debt so projects must come off the 2025 and 26 Capital budgets a way to do this group projects by type before prioritizing for example bucket one routine projects that require consistent spend every year an example repaving every year we should fix different streets but spend similar amounts of money bucket two necessary upgrades essentially one-off projects that must happen such as repairing the Anderson Fieldhouse bucket three ni to haves discretionary oneoff projects that improve quality of life for our neighbors projects can be prioritized after Council decides how much money to allocate to each bucket the administrator CFO department heads can propose specific projects for each bucket while making public list of desirable projects that are not funded I remain ready to help this Council bring these Common Sense ideas to fruition thank you thank you thank you Jacob other public comments you can only speak once Mr Hernandez sorry follow I answer my question about the DCP main well we can I'll we I'll I'll we can talk offline okay thank you um any other public comments all right we're going to close uh public comment session and go to council members comments and new business would like to I know some of you have some comments in new business I I do but if you can come back to me you want to go last all right who would like to go um I I could go I I just have a please president yes please Council laer I just want to let our residents know about the not to protect program uh no it's actually not to protect yeah I I was the one that's you know dislexico to email you know um I'm thrilled to announce that we've teamed up with the Department Department of Homeland Security and our Summit Board of Education and our national palal to bring you no to program this is a parenton event and it will be held on January 27th 2025 at the Summit Middle School this is a uh national public awareness campaign launched by DHS in April 2024 aimed at preventing and combating online child sex exploitation and abuse this important session is designed to provide parents with prevention education reporting and support a highlight of the project is where experts from Homeland Security investigations team will share real real world case studies and actionable advice to help you protect your family uh this initiative is supported by Partnerships such as Tech leaders Google meta snap Incorporated and Roblox as well as national sports leagues um amplifying its reach across our communities uh please don't miss this event this is a parents only event I think they get really deep into details about how to protect our children uh if you need more information feel free to contact me I know the city will be promoting this as well uh thank you council president actually just one more thing it was an honor and a privilege to be able to march down the street from The Old Firehouse to the new Firehouse and this past year working with Chief Evers has been a pleasure um we've been really pushing to get this thing done he's been putting up with us you know and these change orders coming in and uh you and your staff have been working hard we have a state-of-the-art firehouse and as people are driving up um Broad Street I mean you you can see it it is the jewels remarkable and Sumer residents should be really proud thank you thank you thank you thank you councilman Boer other comments I'll make a couple com yeah please councilman ban look we can't be out of here this hour my wife won't know what's going on if I come home this early uh anybody that with money on 9 o' is out of it anyway so it's fine um so uh I I I'll have much more to say you know next week but I'm my way out the door from Council there are a few things that were brought up tonight I want to dig into a little bit and then there's another thing I just want to talk about for a second so uh first I want to largely agree um with the capital budget meeting coming up next Wednesday I think the quote is uh don't tell me what you value show me your budget and I'll tell you what you value right and I think it's not just what's in it it's not just what's in the budget versus what's not in the budget it's the prioritization of those things that is a very important thing for this community uh to have from this Council clear direction from this Council on this is this is our prioritization of these things will help not only not only with the budget part of it not only with the debt part of it but with the public relations part of it with the community engagement part of it which brings me to the second point about regardless of your position on lights regardless of your position on any Capital project a city Department we I think we most of us agree a city Department should just not be advocating in that way using City resources to push an agenda um and I and I look forward to us digging into that and when we have a city administrator when we have a communications director putting down on paper how that should go but I mean we have a lot we've had a lot of conversations this year about accusations of part ship up here and disagreement being being uh construed as uh just rank partisanship and I think that that you know that's that's not right but I think what's what's a bigger deal is when you know my understanding is the second on this committee the DCP committee didn't even know this this email was coming out I certainly didn't know it was coming out and I'm the chair of admin right so we have to we have to address that stuff so that the community doesn't get divided further and then the third thing is I also do want to talk about the fire department um first of all to highlight what you council president highlighted before which is that we did come in this project did come in under budget which I think is worth saying again um so thank you for that um I was I was uh I had a cold and did not want to get anybody else sick uh walking with uh with people in the parade and coming in um but again my words of congratul ulations to you and the entire department on on the opening of The Firehouse I also just want to say uh the just seeing you around town and getting the notifications fire department has been extremely busy uh and and just want to say thank you uh for keeping us all safe and knocking down that especially fire yesterday very quickly so thank Youk thank you very much thank you councilman Varan uh councilwoman Hamlet uh thank you uh Greg I think your comments are actually um at least for me very well received and I also struggle a little bit with the budget process um as we're going to the capital budget workshop and I know this is something we've been doing for a long time and we've been doing it the same way but um I think as a almost a brand new Council not only do we have to prioritize but rep prioritize um because we do do it by department and while that may make sense I do think as a from a top down approach I think it may make some sense to rep prioritize um so I think um Diego I think your comments around the buckets make a lot of sense to me um they resonate with me not all of them but some of them um and Greg I do think perhaps we should look at you know do we want to spend more money on playgrounds and not five ton trucks this year so let's have those conversations you might to be a little bit more patient um our CFO just got new software to uh run our budget so I think that we're going to give her an opportunity to um to look at it a little differently so um thank you for your comments on that and guess the other comment I had is is the mayor and I spent the day over at Bristol Myers squib was it yesterday it seems like it was seems like 100 years ago it was yesterday it was two days ago um we we got an invitation along with um a senator to kind of any other government officials to go visit um Bristol Myers squib was uh really moving uh there was they treat um blood cancers like multiple Myoma lymphoma and it was a really good opportunity to see how those processes work um one of the the other reasons it's important for you as the community is because we definitely hear about um concerns over noise violations and In-N-Out traffic so we got a better understanding for what they are challenged with and how we can work together to advocate for you um in the community um so hopefully that will be a benefit and they'll be a continued partner for us I know they donated to the Firehouse hopefully we'll be getting a grant from them soon so we and hopefully that's for playground equipment um so we're excited for that um and the last thing I would say is the paddle courts started Believe last week they'll start officially Thursday and hopefully they'll be done within 7 to 10 days so Greg I challenge you to uh game of paddles I know you didn't want them but uh uh I challenge challenge you to place some paddle up there with us and uh but thanks for your comments thank you councilwoman Hamlet councilman palowski thank you um first I want to thank Chief Evers and his department for a great grand opening the um the sheer Joy on the faces of the children and the adults alike uh throughout that day was heartwarming was a great experience and made me proud to be a hill topper um second I want to commend and thank uh councilman Boer for taking the initiative to address uh this important issue that we're all worried about with our with our children um so thank you for that and so as the councilman um ven's comments certainly mere disagreement is not partisanship right it's not rank partisanship so coming out and saying I don't agree that paddle courts is the best use of this money maybe we should put it into a playground or something else that's disagreement saying I don't like your pet project because I think the money should go someplace else kind of takes it to another level so you know we all need to take some accountability as to how we how we phrase things and let's not um you know discount what was actually said and attribute it to Mere disagreement I think we can all all do better in that regard and we should thank you other comments councilman Smallwood thank you uh council president um I have a couple things one congratulations to Matt uh on his uh new appointment for next year as our Council I will be uh I I believe the understanding is I have to move to the next chair uh so in the next Council year I'm not quite sure how we're going to be able to determine whether it's the over or under uh tonight Matt took the under of 8:30 so how much time do I have to speak um so congrat congratulations uh Chief Evers congratulations to you on the opening of the new fir house uh unfortunately I was sick as well and was unable to attend um um but I'm sure it was it was a great event I saw the pictures online so congratulations thank you um I want the last council meeting we had a presentation from a group of ladies who uh spoke about wait until 8th and that is uh a program that is encouraging uh parents as well as their children to wait until the end of 8th grade to stay off social media uh I'm proud to announce that we are having a meeting with the mayor the council president uh and the Department of Community programs to uh find out ways that how we can work with them in their program uh and we're meeting with them uh on Friday at at 3:30 so I'm really looking forward to that so again thank you to the ladies that came in that gave that presentation last year uh with regards to the um email that was sent on Friday uh you know the Department of Community programs you know sends out emails on a constant basis and I don't think they've ever gone through the admin to get approval uh however they have in the past worked with our Communications Department and since we currently you know haven't hired a or at least haven't received our our our new communications director uh I will take full responsibility for that um you know this was something that you know some of us may disagree about the fact that the Department of Community programs and the Department of Community programs Advisory board has been on their lights of tlock have been on their radar since 2018 I believe that's when the first presentation has been given and you know if the department that is proposing a project uh can't promote or ask for support for their program I who who is so maybe the the wording of the email probably was a little strong and offended some others that are are against the the lights at tatlock and I I would like to apologize for that uh that's something that I I could have possibly uh worked with the Department of Community programs on their email uh on maybe some better messaging so I will take certainly full responsibility for that uh as for the field you study uh we've changed it a couple of times because it when when it's going to be Del when it's going to be uh emailed to or put on the website I'm not sure if it's going to be emailed but the email it will be on the website this evening uh it is not just a spreadsheet it is actually in presentation form of how it will be presented tomorrow evening so it Mr Gonzalez it will be coming out tonight uh I'm not sure of the exact time but it will be if you know it'll certainly be there by tomorrow morning um I'm I just not I just don't know what time it'll be on the website tonight but it will be coming out tonight um so you know I we have had five meetings and my I'm kind of dragging this on mam sorry um what's it paying you because I'll pay you more yeah so you know we have had five meetings with the tatlock neighborhood and we have listened uh to a lot of their cont comments and we've tried the best we can this year to make some adjustments uh you know at the beginning of the spring you know the buses used to park on Butler Parkway and just leave the buses there for the entire game uh from the the traveling team uh we have work worked with the high school and the athletic director there to move those buses once they drop off the students or their banned to move those buses either to the high school parking lot or the Washington in school parking lot to start alleviating some of that traffic that it used to back up on Butler Parkway um and there are some other things that we have tried to in you know Implement with uh uh some of the feedback that we've received from those five meetings and tomorrow at tomorrow's meeting where is the field presentation the traffic study and the environmental study um I would encourage anyone who is for it or against it and ter in terms of partisanship you know this is not a political issue this there are members of the tatlock neighborhood who are Republican and Democrat that are completely against the tatlock lights and I completely respect that and there are members of the community at large who are Republican and Democrat that are for the tatlock lights because they see a need for it so this is not a partisan issue this is a community issue and as a Council we need to weigh all of those options and uh again the email that was sent out on Friday was definitely from the Department of Community programs and the Department of Community programs Advisory board so with that I would encourage anyone um who is interested in learning more about those studies uh to please attend tomorrow night's meeting at the middle school at 7:15 and you know it's this is an opportunity for everyone to be able to voice their opinions okay that's all I had thank you thank you three counc pres yes please councilman menar so Kevin I know excuse me council member um um you are taking responsibility for this thank you for saying that um I do want to know though did you request the email be sent out on Friday did you request that directly and if you did why didn't you let me know about it I know it's not a committee thing we didn't discuss it at all in committee but I didn't hear a single thing about it and I'm wondering what I need to do as second in that committee to get the privilege of either being able to have a message sent out per my request or at least knowing about what is being discussed uh regarding Outreach to the city and I'm hoping that that is part of what's going to be changing in the future with Council president's uh directive changes I'm wondering if that can be put into effect immediately with some kind of statement like we cannot we can't do that we can't uh we can't send out messages without I don't know without going through someone on the on the you know Council president's uh temporary communication group or whatever um I am also interested because I did hear multiple mentions of the field study report um I requested it excuse me field use study um I requested that information um a couple days ago and I was told that I would get it by the end of the day yesterday um what what what really is a problem I don't I don't need it in final PDF or PowerPoint format I need um that information uh that everyone literally everyone else has seen um everyone on community programs everyone on Department of Community uh the DCP Advisory Board I'm guessing you and I'm guessing you council president have seen some type of information if something is mentioned in an email that says um we need we have a a severe lack of of field availability I'm guessing that is based on some kind of report or fact and if not then it's based on it's based on a talking point so changing um how we deal with requests from council members who are in the committee would also be something worth uh visiting that's all thank you um council president yes councilman Boer I just want to point out that I'm still waiting for the um environmental report for the park line which I request like a month ago so I you know I I just this just to um uh agree with councilman Smallwood this is let's not make this a political issue right this is not RS versus D's this is a community thing right and I don't I don't want anyone to be a pushing that agenda it doesn't always have to be Republicans versus Democrats right like we hate hate what they want we dislike what you know have your opinion about the lights I haven't expressed my opinion on the day yet about it but the reason why I just want to speak out is because I don't want this to trickle down into this is a republican thing this is a Democrat thing it's not this is a community issue we should treat it like that this was proposed in 2018 by the Department of community service and this Council happens to be dealing with it now so I I just I just want to say that because I I it's trickling in right and I want it to stay out that this is a republican Democrat thing this is not we're going to we're going to handle this as a community and tomorrow we'll hear what the community has to say thanks councilwoman ham I'll be super quick uh the one thing I will say is when I first got on Council and um councilman minegar and I were on the same committee um that was an opportunity for us to at that point Point vo some concerns as a brand new council member um we were committing a certain amount of money to the musco lighting study and proposal so we certainly hadn't asked for a field user study to allocate funds then um and I totally agree with you I have not seen the field user data I haven't seen Mr um Gonzalez I haven't seen any of the studies yet I I have um I have made the decision to look at them with all of you so that I could objectively uh look at all these studies uh and I'm looking forward to doing that so um stay tuned the other thing I wanted to mention is there was some uh comments today on social media regarding the kot and um someone had asked how many spots we would be losing uh so the kot will be losing 20 spots with the restriping um the one thing I also wanted to point out um Greg I'm not sure if you're aware of this I saw some comments on social media today um but those lines are actually in accordance with our current ordinance uh so if you look at our current ordinance the uh the lines are n now 9 by 18 ft and before I believe it was about uh 8 8 ft by 18 8 ft by 18 um so hopefully you'll be able to park there uh that lot hasn't been full so uh and speaking with the parking director she has full confidence that uh that's the right thing to do and I just wanted to say I fully support uh being able to actually park in that lot thank you councilman V one more quick thing and I know people have money to make on 9:30 now 0 oh 8:30 right right uh so I I just want to come back to it one more time the boosters email said all voices should be heard at this meeting and then they gave the meeting date and time I think that's what should have come from the city I think it needs to be said again that I disagree with councilman small in the strongest possible terms I believe no City Department no City advisory committee should be using City resources to uh Advance an agenda I I will disagree with you on that and then I will also just again disagree with the kot I don't think we should have spent the money to do that that's where I'll leave it thank you council president who's who's got the over I do yeah shocking shocking uh councilman Smallwood uh I I did want to say you know councilman ban you this is the only lot in our downtown that is the width is 8 feet um versus the 9 ft that we have in every other single lot uh you know we've received letters from law firms because of Damages being done to cars and we have pictures that they've sent us so I would also like to keep the city out of a lawsuit um Additionally you know when you think about capital projects you know we had initially budgeted $20,000 for this project but we were able to tie it in with another restriping project which lowered the cost of restriping the kot from 20,000 to to $133,000 so we've saved $7,000 by thinking creatively outside of the box and tying it in with another project so you know I I don't losing 20 spaces in a lot that is not full on a regular basis um by more than 20 spaces I and making that lot in regulation size in accordance with our ordinance I I don't understand how you're against it I think I've made my point very clear yeah other comments brother if I say yes please Chief um thank you for the kind words before about the fire department appreciate it I think just saying that you only successful as people like that surround you and throughout this project we've been surrounded by some amazing people from this current Council the past Council to uh citizen to Summit stakeholders and Foundations really made this this product a success but most of all men and women is sub in fire department without their dedication and service and hours of time they put on their rough time this probably would never happen so without their help without their um dedication this product really they have all the credit of this product so appreciate it and buildings open to the public anytime I'll come for a tour we're definitely here to accommodate so thank you thank you all right I will wrap it up then if there's no more comments good okay um just a couple things one uh just um on the capital budget uh project I I just wanted to Echo what uh people said it it is December 11th um every year I've seen this people talk a lot about the capital budget and what what they think it should be on it or whatever no one from the public shows up I shouldn't say no one very few people ever show up it's just a fact um if you want to show up please do we would welcome you to come okay it's it is a long night but you know given all the rhetoric around it I would encourage people to get involved I do know um you know we have a uh one of the few municipalities in New Jersey that is AAA rated by all rating agencies uh three that is an amazing impressive statistic I know my first go around on Council when I was on finance I said that is got to be our number one goal to continue to keep that rating and I know uh Tammy and uh her predecessors have worked really really hard to make that happen we actually created a bond issuance program uh that had metrics to facilitate how much debt we would issue every year understanding that that AAA lowered the cost of borrowing for all our residents and was super super important I don't know where that went so I'm I left Council and I think that left with me um however maybe that is something to to look at again uh so please attend it's important uh about tomorrow's meeting so I think my uh statement I made uh on the website says what my opinion is around um what type of uh correspondence should be uh sent out by uh City departments I do think there is a difference my personal opinion a difference between proposals and programs um and as of now the tatlock field project is a proposal it's not it's not a city initiative yet or a city project yet sorry um so I do think that that is an important distinction for tomorrow what I would hope this is a I think was build as an informational session with an a opportunity for feedback um please what I I would ask people who come whether you have a strong opinion going in go in with an open mind too whether you go one way or the other listen to what's said you know if you go in not thinking you can change your mind you won't so be open-minded and if you do have an opinion which I know we all are entitled to it if you have comments let's make sure we're uh disagreeing with other people's opinions and we don't denigrate the speaker we're all entitled to have our opinion if we oppose it you'll have valid reasons and if you want it talk about the logic behind it don't talk about the speaker okay we're all neighbors here at the end of the day and and I think it is a very valid point that this should not be a partisan issue this is about a project it affects one neighborhood more than others that's a fact and we have to figure out whether this makes sense um that that neighborhood should if it has if there is an undue burden on that neighborhood maybe we should come with a plan B but if there's not maybe then we should go with it I have never expressed an opinion on it because I am still gathering information on it and I'm looking forward to seeing the reports explained tomorrow um I have an open mind um and on that just the last thing I'd say on this this is not the end of Community engagement around this proposal uh the mayor and I have been speaking about uh having a yet another meeting if people want to do that but one where uh tomorrow is not an open meeting there will be a lot of council people there but because it's not a noticed meeting um we can't engage with the public because if we did we we'd have to notice it Ros have to take notes the entire time it have to be filmed there's a lot of rules around a public meeting so this will not be a public meeting tomorrow however the mayor and I have been talking about having a real town hall sometime in the uh maybe in end of January whatever um we'll get that going where we will have a schedule of council people to attend where we don't have a quorum but every council person who wants to attend we can have a schedule where the community can really engage with Council people can really give their views and have a dialogue um in order to express what they think whether you're for it or against it um because we do need more engagement around this and it's important that everybody in the community is heard around this so please come uh for info comments uh be polite and understand that this is a part of a process it's not the end of the process okay um and that is my comments so um with that do I hear a motion to adjourn I'd like to make a motion to adjourn second I have a second second okay we are adjourned have a great evening everyone no I'm not coming over to e e