##VIDEO ID:ywAFw8zxi7o## welcome everyone uh happy day after election day uh we're going to get our meeting uh going at now uh Madame clerk uh may you uh 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 dated December 18th 2023 which was properly distributed and posted per statutory requirements please be advised the 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 dayis and return it thereafter all right at this time I'd like to take a roll call Mr Boer here miss Hamlet Mr minegar here Mr palaski here Mr Smallwood here Mr ban present president murner present as well uh at this moment uh I'd like to ask our American Legion uh members to lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance I to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liy and justice for all thank you very much uh Madam clerk would you like to read the uh explanatory notes regarding closed session please a closed 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 Verizon CH uh 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 phone 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 her email copy to the city clerk's office at city clerk cityofsummit.org to help facilitate an orderly meeting and to permit all to be heard speakers are shall limit their comments to three minutes unless you are using an ad electronic device to follow the meeting agenda or needed for professional emergency contact purposes please turn it off thank you thank you very much um at this time do I have a motion to approve the closed session and regular meeting notes of October 22nd 2024 so moved all in favor I I opposed motion carries all right we're on to our report section uh Madame mayor thank you council president and the Samson parking lot which is adjacent to lotony Johnson Middle School will be closed from 6:00 a.m. a. tomorrow Thursday November 7th to 6:00 a.m. on Friday November 8th for restriping throughout the parking lot additional resident and employee permit parking is available in the Railroad Avenue lot behind the post office or the Broad Street Garage during this time summit police department will be hosting a community event tomorrow Thursday November 7th from 6 6:00 pm. to 8:00 p.m. at azukar which is at 96 Park Avenue in Summit citizens are invited to stop by and chat with spanishs speaking Summit police officers ask questions or voice any concerns free coffee and delicious pastries will be provided to attendees um next Monday November 11th is Veterans Day and we will at 9:30 a.m. we will host our inaugural Veterans Day ceremony the event will be held at the war Monument on the Village Green all members of the public are invited to attend um and then the summit y will be hosting a free breakfast for all attendees after the ceremony Advanced registration for the breakfast is required um you can find that information on the city website and on the YMCA website the city of summit fire department will host a grand opening for the new Firehouse located at 281 Broad Street on Sunday November 24th which is the Sunday before Thanksgiving from 10 12:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. members of the public are invited to attend the event will begin with a closing ceremony at the current head fire headquarters at 396 Broad Street followed by a parade to the new location for some Firehouse opening traditions and attendees will then be invited to tour the new building more information for all of those activities is available on the city website lastly I would like to congratulate the two newly elected Council women Michelle cinon forward one and Clare to forward two thank you thank you very much um at this time uh our inim city administrator Mr Tucci would you like to make a a a report yes thank you uh just a couple of quick things just want to report that the search for City administrator is going well we have 11 resumés to date we get a couple every day and I'm sure we're going to get a great candidate to sit in this seat to bring the city and move it forward secondly I'd like to Echo the mayor's sentiments I want to congratulate the two council person elect both of you congratulations and I want to thank the two unsuccessful candidates for their particip participation in the process the process is the most important thing that this country has to offer we all get to speak our voice The Voice has been heard and the elections are over now the heart part of the job begins let's govern thank you very much thank you um for my report I'm just going to add to that i' I'd also like to thank or um to congratulate Claire and Michelle for their uh wins in Ward uh two in Ward one respectively I know they worked really really hard we saw them here almost every meeting I also would like to thank Don and Mark it's not easy running uh it's it's easier when you win it's a tough when you lose uh but we do appreciate it this is a as I've mentioned many times before this is effectively a volunteer job that you have to get elected for it's not easy um and people really do put themselves out here so again I'd love want to I I'm really looking forward to working with Claire um and working with Michelle um going forward um the other people I'd love to congratulate we had a it was a big election so we have a our uh our congressman was re-elected Tom Kain to uh represent district 7 we have a new Senator Andy Kim uh it's it's a nice thing for New Jersey he is the first korean-american uh elected to uh Congress so that's a real great accomplishment and it's a really nice thing uh as that shows New Jersey values diversity and promotes it so that's really we should all Pat ourselves on the back for that um and then uh and finally I just would say at the top of the ticket some people were happy with how uh the election of President Trump went some people were not that's democracy too um it's great for the process um but now we need to turn the page and move forward and I would say you know for those who are uh happy that's great hopefully uh you know the country can move in the direction that people uh want for those that it didn't work out for the sun came up today you know I get it you you you you have concerns that's fine but I would say let's wait and see and try and come together um the reality is I've always said this and when I talk to my uh students about elections in government local government touches your life way way more than federal government is and in my humble opinion and maybe I'm biased because where I sit I would change the ticket because who you elect locally matters more than who you elect at the presidential level around affecting your life on a day-to-day basis so I would flip it if I had my way but I don't um and so when you talk about the top of the ticket it's the presidency and the council people are at the bottom but it is certainly important and then I think that's something to consider when we think about the results of the election we have two new people in uh representing Summit they will affect your life a lot more than the person at the top so if you're disappointed you have that to fall back on and have some solace in that um but I'm really looking forward to uh turning the page and moving forward and hopefully the passion I'll use that word may be redirected into doing what's best for Summit going forward rather than talking about dividing us talking about what brings us together and that we can move uh forward together as a community at least that's my hope and that is my report okay um we've got a proclamation today don't we Madame mayor we do sir I'd like to call up Elizabeth McCarthy who's the president and CEO of the Community Food Bank of New Jersey Chuck Salman who is the Community Food Bank is a board of direct on the board of directors and is president of Peerless beverage Amy uh sostowski director of foundation and government grants and Megan Varan who also happens to be Mrs V individual giving and women fighting hunger [Applause] manager I think I remember to turn it on I usually don't okay whereas Kathleen d diara started the food bank in the back of her station wagon in 1975 in 1978 she began the emergency food program of the arch dasis of new Newark and in 1980 the food bank and whereas Kathleen diar's lifetime of service began in the early 1970s when she organized the Loaves and Fishes food collection at her church in Summit New Jersey in 1975 she founded the Community Food Bank of New Jersey which propelled the organization towards its mission of ensuring that everyone in New Jersey always has enough to eat eat today the Community Food Bank of New Jersey is the largest anti-hunger anti-poverty organization that provides enough food for more than 90 million meals annually and whereas Kathleen diar's compassion and dedication to helping those in need knew no bounds and extended Beyond her leadership of the Community Food Bank of New Jersey her Visionary approach focused on the Holistic Solutions to food insecurity and poverty Kathleen diara designed and implemented programs that have been replicated by food banks Nation wide and helped start the national diaper Bank Network where she learned that food insecure families struggle to afford diapers as well and whereas Kathleen diara has received numerous Awards both local and National including those from three presidents three governors of New Jersey and Pope John Paul II among other prestigious Awards and honors she was a 2013 inductee of the New Jersey Hall of Fame and received eight honorary doctorates from colleges and universities in New York and New Jersey and whereas Kathleen diara was selected as the recipient of the John Van hangle fellow award for her vision and Leadership of one of the most Innovative and productive food banks in the country and whereas the city of summit wishes to honor Kathleen deer's memory recognizing her accomplishments vision and dedication to those in need now therefore I Elizabeth Fagan mayor of the city of summit Do hereby proclaim the day of November 6 2024 as Kathleen deera Appreciation Day in the city of summit and ask all citizens to join me in expressing our profound appreciation to a remarkable individual and inspiration to many in witness whereof I have here un to set my hand and cause the Seal of the city of summit to be affixed this sixth day of November in the year 2024 thank you thank you all so much um I was lucky enough to get to know Kathleen in my just over a year at the food bank and really an incred human being but she would want me to say that she was not an incredible human being because when people would call her a saint or say she was special she thought it let other people off the hook she said normal people can make a difference and that's what she did she saw a need and she filled it and I think um that's something that all of us can relate to and that all of us can do she saw something wrong and every time she she had trouble saying no to things she always wanted to take on more and I'm incredibly humbled to walk in her footsteps and all of us from the food bank are just so proud of everything that she started right here so thank [Applause] you all right thank you so much okay uh we've got a presentation for this evening as um mayor Fagan mentioned we've got Veterans Day coming up and we are really honored to have uh representatives from the American Legion lindsy Street Post here with us to talk about this sacred holiday so um please uh Henry Bassman Rick wolf and Bill rap would you come up and uh present your presentation please first to go first you can turn a little one a little one well it's good to be here and um and Veterans Day is a special holiday just to honor all those veterans U Army Navy Air Force Marine Corps space force that that serve our country and have served our country and I appreciate uh the city and the YMCA partnering for this uh event on Monday uh at the on the Village Green um it's going to be at the the site of the renovated memorials which uh we worked very hard to uh renovate two years ago I think we opened it or reopened it uh two years ago December um I'm going to talk a little bit about that um I think everybody's been there everybody's been there to see the The Monuments um I think just real quickly um the history of those monuments I was walking around those monuments a couple years ago with Henry and the Old World War II monument was falling apart and I was moved when I you know picked a couple of names off of the monument and just Googled those names and lo and behold you there life stories of these young men that I should say their kids in their 20s that that sacrificed and gave all for our country and we Henry and I said it with Bill Let's uh let's fundraise and see if we talk to the City and let's see if we can't get these monuments uh restored and uh the it's kind of like a snowball and we went down the hill and and working with the city and uh we we reached out to our Legion Post members and the members of our Elks Lodge I know there I think everybody here on Council is a member of our Elks lodes we solicited donations we told the stories I remember the first story we told was about the speedone brothers I saw two the names two spones I thought they were cousins maybe they and but they're brothers and they grew up on Woodland Avenue and they both went to serve one was a navigator in a B24 was shot down in the Pacific Theater and died I remember reading the after action report by another crew that said we lost our best crew today and so it touches you it's 22 23 years old and then his brother was a field artillery officers that died the day before Germany surrendered in World War II and you know they they didn't come home um one you know one of them's buried in in in Germany the other ones that there's nothing left of them the plane crashed there's nothing left um bottom of some Bay somewhere Subic Bay somewhere the Philippines but we told those stories and the money's pour in and you know we started with a budget of $60,000 we hit that very quickly and and we kept expanding The Monuments and well we can we got enough money we can we can do the back of the monuments and then then Mike McAn was on our committee and I got to thank Mike because he said hey the summit Foundation formerly known as The Summit area foundation they were originally chartered to take care of the Village Green and so Mike put a proposal together and they were our largest Doner and all of a sudden our budget was we're over $100,000 and we can do a lot of things and working with Aaron shreer and Public Works we got it demolished and you know the old monuments and we got it done so that's the story we're very proud of it um I walked over there uh this evening and I Lov the lighting are that you guys put out everything's displayed illuminated of course I'll probably bother you with some tweaks on trimming some shrubs and stuff but anyway I got your email address so but I appreciate all the hard work of the city because it really was a joint project working with the legion the Elks Lodge in the city to and everybody you know pulled their weight and we got it done so am I done hry okay I always look my boss bosses are you also want want to thank the uh city council for uh that um even though I live in chadam Township uh my uh U my body bleeds Summit blood uh as a over 30-year resident of summit um I attended all the Memorial Day uh parades and uh all the the uh the activities here in Summit for many times so my heart is still in uh still here in Summit the uh this project is very very near and dear to my heart and when uh Rick said that uh it uh the project Blossom that is an an understatement it originally was well maybe we can refinish the plaques with the names well if we take them off uh the thing is going to fall apart well maybe we can replace it and we can re-engraved well maybe we can reconstruct it and rein and put a different kind of uh Stone on it well if we do that then maybe we could have some other way of putting the names on well if we do that then maybe we could put some maybe some pictures on it well if we do that then maybe we can have some special kind of pictures well if we do that then maybe we can have some kind of uh special kind of facing so it looks more natural well if we do that then maybe we can do some more research well if we do that then then what if we look at the other monuments and we can do something about that well if we do that then we have to make the whole area look a little bit better well if we do that then we better improve the Metal of Honor Monument well if we do that then we better do something about the sidewalks well if we do that then we better do something about the benches well you kind of got the drift of where I'm going here and that's how we went from $60,000 to to uh over $100,000 and it was well worth it and Aaron my hats off to you everything that they did it was great because when we started to dig the hole for the uh the the new flag pole we ran into an electrical uh issue and the hole filled with water and we didn't want to electroc crew so we had to take a break and get that pumped up so thank goodness uh for that we're looking forward to the uh the ceremony on uh on Monday and uh as a side note I should mention those of you who go in and out of City Hall you may have noticed that the flag box is missing well because that flag box is being taken down was taken down and is being refurnished it's been sitting it was sitting there when it was black and uh red white and blue back in 2009 and it is now being painted uh and restored completely white the new decals came today and it's going to be reinstalled back there shortly probably in the next uh week or two and we're going to have a rededication ceremony and it will be back there uh better than ever and I've been working with uh uh Chief ERS and uh it will be then the official deposit for uh used and unserviceable flags and uh we will have more dedication ceremonies rededication and retirement Ceremonies for Flags which we will be then using the uh the Boy Scout Troop uh from uh uh St Teresa for service projects so thank you all thank you um I always knew that Summit was a veteran friendly town uh some other places I had lived were not so veteran friendly and uh as I was here I learned about the rich tradition that Summit people have serving in the military and then coming home and serving the community as veterans so I'm going to identify some of those people who through the years have contributed to our community and what they've done it's not an inclusive list it's representative so if your name is not mentioned please don't be offended in terms of military service there are 11 World War I names 77 World War II names 10 Korea War names and 16 Vietnam War veins of men who didn't come home from Summit in World War I Alan Edgars and Thomas OA were awarded the Medal of Honor the highest award for Valor that our country bestows Tom O'Shea did not come home both of those men were members of the first platoon of the 107th machine gun company which was filled with so many people from Summit that it got the name the summit Gunners uh William Earl Smith was a founder of our American Legion Post he was a member of the 369th Infantry Regiment known as the Harlem Hell Fighters he receiv received two croar one the unit award and the other the personal award which was given with distinction for his bravery in World War II Murray Ross became nine times president of common Council the longest sitting president of common Council Frank Lair was a council member mayor and Union County Freeholder Hugo fultz was a state assemblyman and County Manager um miles McMahan was an advocate for seniors Bob Max was the last living slave laborer American Soldier turned into a slave laborer for the Nazis and was very uh active in charitable organizations in the the Vietnam era three of us are from there Brett hair who founded the other fellows first at Foundation the turkey Drive will be held again this year under their hospices and there's a lot of other donations that other fellows first does quietly uh Amiel George was principal of the Middle School Bobby Butler was a very active member and a leader of our post and the county Dave bomgar Pat Hurley and M Mike vernotico all served on common Council and William Bennett served as mayor uh in the post Vietnam and global war on terror era there were a w a wide number of people and I I don't know them all but David Morton for whom you did a historical who did you did it I'm sorry a historical minute Roco diano who's very active with the Els and has raised a lot of money for veterans Billy Gava Andy Smith and Delia Hamlet who are both veterans and both serve as uh common council members today the military uh the military sacrifice tradition continues Gabby hly formerly known as Gabby fredman and David non are on the way to getting uh Commissions in the United States Navy Todd Walsh last summer received a a commission in as an officer in the United States Marine Corps um Matthew Sloan who's Eileen Kennedy's uh Eileen Kelly's husband is in the naval Reserve and Mitchell horn who is now the commander of the American Legion Post is also an officer in the Air National Guard uh these are all people who uh served and built in the tradition of the people from Summit and served the Community State and Nation thank you very much [Applause] uh we do uh actually we don't he can send it to me tomorrow yeah Henry uh just can you send Rosemary uh a copy of your uh statement just sure I'll give it to you just the list of the names oh okay thank you thank you Henry you're welcome thank you Henry for thank you all right um that was a lot of history and appropriately uh that lead up to our own historical minute uh councilman palowski do we have one this week we do we do um anybody have this on their coffee table well we have the author here tonight Miola thank you for the plug you can get it at CVS I believe good evening Council and community members mayor Fagan City staff and special guests I am Patricia Miola president of the all volunteer Summit historical society and this is one of our trustees Lori dah we are the proud caretakers of the Carter House at 90 Butler Parkway which dates to 1741 and is summit's oldest surviving structure from September to June dosens staff the house every Tuesday morning and Wednesday afternoon and admission is free we are always happy to arrange other more convenient hours too please visit and peruse our archives which include material about homes businesses families and so much more in addition we have on display corpal Lo's Medal of Honor we were part of Union County's recent uh four centuries openhouse weekend an annual event and we welcome visitors from throughout the region which is wonderful but we always have a special place in our hearts for people who are from our own City and visit in particular we'd like to invite the community to two upcoming special events Thursday November 14th at 700 p.m. we're hosting a karaoke fundraiser at the Elks Lodge on Maple Street tickets are available on our website and your $40 entry includes catered snacks from what a dish and music provided by local resident Michael fusco's Summit sounds it's an event that's a bit out of our wheelhouse but we think it'll be a good time whether you just like to sing or you'd like to sit back and be entertained please think about joining us on Tuesday November 19th at the Carter House we will unveil summit's newest historic marker graciously funded by the local Beacon chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution in honor of that group's 100-year anniversary we've also received a Dar Grant towards conservation of various items in our mum which will include include the reframing and conservation of a number of um significant items this multi-part project was years in the making the marker is absolutely gorgeous and we are so pleased and proud to have it placed on our front lawn come down at 10:00 a.m. for a short program coffee and cookies and a chance to celebrate some its history in closing I'd like to share a passage from author e Robin Little's 1949 City history book in which he noted that location does not make full-f flown a good Community Mr little wrote Good citizens make good communities as to why Summit has so many good Citi cens the answer is that since its formative years it has had to attract good citizens it began as a community of homes as a place favorable to home life it therefore had a good start towards decency shared responsibilities and good government like attracted like and good citizenship became firmly rooted into the hard black rock of these Hills thank you very much thank you so much I'm going to leave stacks of these on the table outside so anybody that would like to take one or take a shot of um our QR code you'll have all of the information thank you thank you fantastic thank you P could send me her presentation if patty patty if you could just send uh or clerk your copy of your presentation so we put it in the record thank you so much okay all right fantastic um all right uh we're getting into the uh business section of our meeting and we are starting off uh with an ordinance for hearing uh councilman Boer um counc president may I read the oh yes please I'm sorry that's okay skip it that's okay ordinance number 24- 3326 an ordinance amending the code chapter 4 General licensing section 4- 9.6 minimum standards of performance subsection D minimum storage requirements thank you now councilman Boer thank you council president if you recall the proposed amendment will allow Heavy Duty Towing Companies to have their storage facilities within one mile radius of City Limits uh this change ensures that the city can use heavyduty towing services in compliance with the ordinance addressing the current service Gap it also provides greater flexibility for light duty toe Services ensuring more consistent and efficient operations especially if the schedule toe provider is unavailable or ceases to operate I move to open this ordinance for a final hearing second all right I'm going to declare the uh ordinance for hearing open at any the any comments from the public at this time all right hearing none um I you can open up to the council any comments from Council uh Aaron just one question uh if there is a tow service that wants to be a part of this in a city contract and what what would the steps that that company would take to to be considered do you know than you council president I I think there's more purchasing or CL office okay yeah I'm just not aware Council Boyer uh there's an application process that is um submitted to the city clerk's office and then the criteria is there and reviewed and then if if everything meets the requirements then we issue the license or the permit thank you yeah uh Rich if you're watching there's your answer [Music] buddy all right any other comments from or questions from Council all right I'm going to declare the uh hearing closed Madam clerk will you please read the ordinance for final consideration ordinance number 24- 3326 an ordinance amending the code chapter 4 General licensing section 4- 9.6 minimum standards of performance subsection D minimum storage requirements thank you we're going to do a roll call on this um actually we give it to councilman Bo I'm sorry councilman Boer I'm all discombobulated make a motion to thank you motion thank you once again council president having close the hearing just a moment ago I move this ordinance for a final adoption I second it all right uh roll call please Mr Boer hi Mr midar hi Mr palaski hi Mr Smallwood hi Mr bartan hi president MC turny I motion carries it's approved okay uh we'll move along to our resolution section of our meeting uh we're going to start off with Finance uh Finance number one councilman minegar thank you council president this is number 11 excuse me this is number 11544 and this resolution authorizes the intra budget transfer of Appropriations from accounts with a surplus to those that are over uh this is a regular occurrence in the last two months and the first three months of the fiscal year and this particular set of transfers totals $138,600 I moved to adopt this resolution second thank you um do I have any comments from the public comments from Council one thing I would just say uh Tammy this is where we have this period of time at the end of the year and we may see some more of these is that correct correct okay thank you it count sorry yeah just real quick for clarification just the people watching so that period of time runs from December until January to through you council president um for the 2024 budget you are statutorily allowed to make transfers in November and December and then in January February and March thank you you're welcome any other questions or comments same thing okay great all right heing um all in favor council president this requires a roll call vote okay getting corrected all day today um yes roll call please thank you Mr Boer hi Mr migar hi Mr palowski hi Mr Smallwood hi Mr I president MCT I motion carries all right Finance number two councilman minegar thank you council president this is number 11558 and this resolution authorizes an agreement with the wots and Company for the city's 2025 audit services not to exceed $76,000 this um so Tammy I'm going to also ask if you if it's okay to explain eventually um we have a new principle that is assigned to us which gets another set of eyes a new set of eyes um on our on our audit so that's a very good thing I move to adopt this resolution second thank you um comments from the public comments from Council through you council president if um if Tammy could just tell us the benefit of having a new set of eyes on the audit this year yes through you council president um we've had the same partner in charge for uh from 2019 through the 2023 audit um he retired in June so they put a new principal in charge so I've been working with a new principal auditor um some of the team that comes in um will be some of the same folks but this does give us a way we're not changing the firm but we are changing the partner in charge so it is a new set of eyes so there's actually um two partners assigned to this uh the principal owner and another partner um so I'm looking forward to working with them thank you other comments from Council I would just wrap up to say we had a discussion about um some of our uh professionals that we've hired and I know there was a discussion uh the other meeting about talking about putting these things out for rfps and uh this is something that I think the um admin committee next year will be looking to put a schedule together for for um some sort of systemic RFP bit so it's during the year when it's not busy I know Tammy you're very busy right now um that will begin to look and and try and uh put these things out uh every three once a a third every year something like that so that we can make sure we're getting the best service and the best Professionals for Summit all right um roll call please it doesn't requ but again no we'll do a we'll do a Voice vote all in favor I opposed motion carries I'll get this down it's on stage uh Finance number three councilman minegar thank you council president this is number 11585 and this resolution authorizes summit's participation in the National cooperate Cooperative purchasing program through membership in the National purchasing Partners government this is Zer this is a zero cost to be in this membership and the city will gain access to pre-negotiated contracts for primarily fire and Public Safety Equipment saving us all money in the process I move to adopt this resolution second thank you comments from the public comments from Council council president I just want to know if uh Chief ever you want to talk about this at all you don't have to I'm just saying if there's anything to add about um this purchasing uh benefits or I mean it cost the city nothing but I I don't know if you had anything to add though about it yeah yeah most of the grants are uh you don't have to put up any money from the city but they're all grants this U so do with fire safety Public Safety um there's the safer Grant and afg Grant on the federal level that come across we always take advantage of it lennium does a great job in writing your Grant so you always apply for them so the great Grant it helps them with offsets of our Capital expenses and we always take advantage of them so all right thank you any other question questions just to expand on that Cooperative purchases does not cost the city any dollars but it does save the city dollars it saves you going through the process of putting a bid together because the Cooperative has already done that and it saves you time so the chief's comments are are well taken that you know this doesn't cost you money but it ends up saving you money and that's the point I want to highlight it saves the city money to do this good comment okay uh any other comments all right all in favor hi hi opposed motion carries all right moving along to capital projects and Community Services uh resolution number one councilman Varan thank you council president I'm pinch hitting here for councilwoman Hamlet um okay this is resolution number 11579 which authorizes the installation of an ADA ramp at the Reeves Reed Arboretum so the Arboretum is a treasure uh this community Community has a public garden uh that is a wonderful place to visit uh celebrating their 50th Anniversary this year and I will say you can now walk there with the new sidewalk uh along Hobart Avenue uh makes it a wonderful place uh to go and not have to spend any money to get in and spend some time among nature uh what we are authorizing tonight is the culmination of several years of work uh to make the Arboretum accessible to everyone in our community which is uh the creation of a what is going to be a beautiful uh Ada accessible ramp uh that will make the whole grounds uh accessible to folks so uh I am enthusiastically uh moving this resolution for adoption do I hear a second second thank you uh public comment please no any comments from Council yes please Madame mayor um I just want to Echo uh support for this um I was privileged to see the presentation of um the the schematics uh it looks beautiful it's going to enrich the experience at the Arboretum and really make it um accessible for everyone and I'm really excited to see this come to fruition thank you yeah I I would encourage people watching from home if you can go you can go on the city's website and look at the packet they they're the schematics are in there it's going to be beautiful I mean it's a beautiful site already but as councilman ven that it be more accessible and even more beautiful so uh Echo that any other comments all right all in favor I'll make one yes Council lowski get in there sorry it's more of a uh story than um did you guys have to do a uh biology project when you're in high school you go to the Arboretum you get a leaf from every tree you put them together yeah well if they still do that for any of you kids out there watching if you decide to lay them out in your mom's dining room table rubber cement goes right through paper and it will ruin the finish so be careful you go words of wisdom thank you councilman um all right all in favor I opposed motion carries all right uh capital projects uh number two councilman Varan thank you council president this is resolution number 11571 to award a bid uh for 2025 and 2026 snow and ice removal services for the parking lots and decks to SNL contractors out of kennworth New Jersey I move to adopt this resolution thank you uh do I hear a second that's my job tonight second all right uh comments from the public comments from Council yes good yes please okay thank you counc president I just want a quick question there's obviously no minimum for this this is just where this is the maximum amount that we would that we're approving correct so we don't have to hire them to give them a Min minimum per year yeah um and I'm assuming since there just there's a couple in here that have four wheeel drive axle single axle which uh maybe director sh sher's uh comment but these will be able to get to our upper decks quicker than our own trucks that we have in town yes through you council president so in regards to the dollar value if it doesn't snow they will not get paid anything uh I can't predict the weather I don't think the the weatherman actually can anymore so I I think we're we're due but either way if they there is no minimum uh it's a gamble they take to staff it for for the work that we need um and and hopefully we don't need a lot this will be funded out of Parking Services the equipment is it's it's twofold um we don't have uh many pieces of equipment that can get up to the tier garage the top Lots because it does have a low height clearance so this will be able to so they will um because we only have one or two pieces of equipment that can and really it's to supplement our our staff who in in a true real snow season uh we wouldn't be able to get to the parking decks for you know a day or two after because of all the obligations we do have so um just looking back though the last year you know 2021 snow year at was $30,000 was the total that was paid so okay so when we when we do have a heavy snow that we'll be able to bring them in to do our our decks right the the parking service is lots and decks yes okay especially Parking Services is going to be paying for yeah haveone speed up thank you any other comments from Council all right uh all in favor I I I opposed motion carries capital projects number three councilman Varan thank you council president this is resolution number 11570 to award a bid uh for the purchase and delivery of Odor Control chemicals uh from January 1st 2025 through December 31st 2026 in the amount not to exceed $89,400 so city does have a sanitary sewer system and from time to time uh does have an odor so these chemicals are used to lessen that odor or ideally eliminate it um but they are expensive so uh I move to adopt this resolution thank you second comments from the public comments from Council okay all in favor I I opposed motion carries capital projects number four councilman Varan thank you council president this is resolution number 11556 and it authorizes a two-year contract extension uh this is for our current on call Professional landscape uh maintenance contract uh which we are extending uh for uh the period of January 1st 2025 uh through December 31st 2026 uh for $195,500 I move to adopt this resolution second comments from the public comments from Council all in favor I I opposed motion carries capital projects number five councilman Varan thank you council president we're moving uh this is ID number 11588 uh I see our former clerk uh David Hughes sitting over there uh he he used to call The Transfer Station the dumps uh which and I still does I'm sure and he's there I think every Saturday morning right exactly uh so uh it's uh called the transfer station because very little actually stays there uh it is in fact uh transferred out of summit so in order to do that uh the waste needs to be put into gigantic metal custom trailers and uh the one of the couple that we have uh is at the end of its life we have been trying to purchase a new one uh for several years the manufacturer is finally ready to get that done for us and we'll finally take our $185,500 to do that so I move to adopt this resolution second comments from the public comments from Council yes councilman palowski it's the dump there's an s on the end there's an s on the end I second day definitely don't it's so much more though there's you can go get books there there's lots of great stuff there there's transferring things exactly one person to the other yes and we have our free market as well there um all right uh any other oh councilman small um I mean I have no idea if $185,000 is a lot or a little for something like this is this is this something that we can get you know off Market are we buying a brand new one that's going to last for another 25 years uh it is there a second market for this or a secondary Market yeah through through you council president we're we're at a disadvantage is our trailers that we need our custom uh for the size and then for them to fit into our building um you know specifically so we are required to get you know we can't that's why we had to go out to bid twice and eventually find someone willing to manufacture it when we did go out to bid no one even we didn't have a bidder twice so unfort forun due to the transfer station itself that we do have to get these Customs so I can just share it's double the price since 2007 when we bought the last one um which is kind of more indicative of you know the world we live in with the economy and the cost of aluminum um but in terms of secondary Market we we'd have to find someone that has basically the exact transfer station as we do and then has them in decent shape because they get abused quite a bit with daily use and just being packed with you know literally garbage so unfortunately not we will uh attempt to auction it off we've gotten some money in the past sometimes it's just scrap but we will get a couple thousand dollar for the the old ones okay yeah for at least the ones that we have we can get some sort of scrap metal for it yes okay other comments councilman Minar than you council president uh what part of the transportation requires that to be custom a door size or is it a yes through you council president but the so most people when they go up top they're just throwing garbage down in so when you pull up if you actually look to your left you'll see where those trailers are backing into the Packer units so that's the part that needs to be customed so it's fitting into our actual station and then the Packer units themselves okay um so one more question how do other cities do it would they don't they can use these pre pre-manufactured uh trailers they could well first very few municipalities have their own transfer stations so uh you know if you go to like Morris County they just have a whole different setup where they just have literally probably 50 or 60 on their own but they're specific for their station but they just do much more you know Mass um processing of of trash there so um so that that's really what it is other ones are are privatized so um you know if you're starting from scratch you could build one that goes to a custom um not a custom but to a standard size transfer trailer um but unfortunately we're not doing that but then we're also in the situation if we were to upgrade our facility to accept a more standard trailer by De roles we're going to probably have to upgrade the whole facility for millions of dollars so we don't want to do that either so this is kind of The Balancing Act we have thank you so other comments all right all in favor I opposed motion carries okay capital projects number six uh we pushing that hopefully till uh next meeting uh capital projects number seven councilman Varan thank you council president uh this is ID number 11584 declaring a vacancy in the Department of Community Services and the division of public works for a part-time custodian per our closed session discussion 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 do I have a motion to approve the consent agenda as presented so moved second oh I should ask for comments before we do that no take the mo I'll take the motion thank you um thank you uh do I have any comments from the public on the consent agenda you need a second first I I don't know said it thank you sorry that's any comments from the public on the consent agenda no comments from Council I may yes please councilman migar just because we've spoken about it a lot of times in finance I was wondering if we could so the op settlement Grant um mayor you talked about some ideas that were were pretty promising for use of those monies okay yeah um so we've spoken Tom and I and actually and um Tammy have spoken about what are the options and there are many um one of the places that I sort of see uh this could be very useful is in prevention um and Tom there's no reason I can't sort of expound I don't I'm looking at you because I don't it you could use it for prevention you can use it for homelessness if it has a component of prevention right uh involved with it uh it can also be used for programs it could be used for training for police and fire and other uh Municipal Employees so there's a whole host I have reached out to uh an attorney who actually he's the guy who settled all these opioid settlements he's represented about 16 to 20 towns he's going to be sending us a whole host of information on how we could proceed forward and he's uh mean to guiding us on how to spend this money in a in a prudent manner and yet efficient to get it spent and get the best bang for the city's Buck council president can I addad yes please so I've been working kind of a separate track on the in the in the back end um waiting to come together with the mayor on different parts but I've been meeting with different uh organizations like uh Sage ELD deare right we have a conent population out there that are elderly um and I know that they also coordinate care um in addition to that uh httv can do some broadcasting about opioid awareness so I met with them in their board the other day um they were ecstatic about that I mean they have the broadcasting system and everything else um but the way I see it and we'll talk we'll talk more abundantly about it is uh we want to get people off the street right and the way to do that from my point of view is you have to address their health needs which is including mental health because if you find housing for a person that is struggling from um mental and addiction uh they're not going to be in that housing for that long right so we have to address the needs I look at it as as I was sitting down with with sage I was looking at it as a triangle right so off the street into coordinating care mental addiction while you're doing that finding housing but these are just ideas that we'll get together and and talk about so there's a lot that like you said uh Tom there's a lot that you can do with this so I'm looking forward to it good comments uh councilman Varan thank you council president so uh three thoughts for me about this so one is maybe a question we have about 800,000 right in this in this account from the it's more than that more yeah so I mean this is a serious this is a serious amount of money uh number two is one of our uh summer interns spent a ton of time um putting together an in-depth presentation for us on how other municipalities were handling their opioid settlement funds uh sounds like there's a range of ways some some municipalities are just giving it over to the county I don't think that's a good idea uh I think we should definitely keep it within Summit but one of those three year one of those ideas uh was my third point which was almost every city almost every other municipality put together a group of people to evaluate the essentially like a grant award committee right and then they evaluated requests that were coming in for how this money should be spent and then they made recommendations to the governing body so it sounds like we have a lot of very good things going on but I think we should try to centralize this so that we make sure number one we're we're not duplicating efforts but number two that we don't wind up out of money right before we we approach it with a comprehensive strategy so that would be my thought council president if I might just expand upon yes please councilman Ban's comments uh the attorney I spoke to said that is the first step in the process creating a committee to offer recommendations to the governing body but again we're going to get this guidance in writing so that you'll be all be able to see it good thank you and just um I think the idea is is that to you have to know what's out there and you know I've been meeting with professionals overl hospital um doctors and we want to get uh a fluidity of ideas right um I think the mayor and I agree that we know what the problem is kind of in Summit and bringing all of those different groups to the table I see how it works with with our homelessness task force which is amazing it is it is amazing and I like the idea of kind of doing the same thing and we'll we'll get to that point this is not um disjointed what whatsoever right I think once we bring the people to the table I have a group of people the mayor I'm sure has a group of people and then we can we can start so I think we have a good strategy yeah I would just add um this is a good problem to have right I mean hopefully the scourge of what's been going on in our country for decades now and there's some now some money to actually begin to try and um do something about the poor people affected by this and prevent others from falling into this so this is a good problem to get to spend this money um I um I just want to thank Tammy for bringing this up and and we've had some really good discussions in finance as councilman Minar has said and I would just tell the public this is where starting the process um and again I'm excited to see what good things we can do with this so okay uh other comments about the consent agenda from Council okay hearing none um all in favor hi hi opposed all right consent agenda passes okay um that's it for our business section uh City staff thank you so much for all your help tonight thank you um we're going to now open up our meeting for public comments now this is an opportunity uh for the public to comment on things not on the agenda um please limit your comments to three minutes if you could please and when you come up please again state your name and your address sure thank you Amy deia 1s6 Road I'm a registered Republican and I was proud to support support the former together for Summit candidates that are now sitting on this deis and doing an incredible job running this city you are doing it with dignity and you are doing it with Grace while I'm disappointed that Don Nelson and Mark underson didn't get over the Finish Line yesterday as they are tremendous candidates and tremendous people I'm sure the new Council that will form in January will be successful as we have such strong together for Summit leadership already in place I'd like to congratulate Clare to and Michelle helson on their victories and I am truly hopeful that they will be able to work cooperatively and put Summit not National politics and politicking first as we all know they will be joining a welcoming and capable crew council president Mike murnan dilia Hamlet Bob palowski Jamal Boer Kevin Smallwood along with mayor Elizabeth Fagan they have been steadfast in their commitment to this city however councilman Varan I was hoping that as a sitting council member that you would prioritize the oath you took to serve this community over your newer role as smdc party chair I was hopeful that when you took over as smdc party chair that things might change and that perhaps the unfortunate tone and highly unfriendly rhetoric that's been set by your predecessors might finally be traded out for civility and tolerance but I was wrong Greg you may be smdc party chair but what matters to me and what should matter most to everyone in this community is that you are an elected member of this common Council you are supposed to represent all of us your social media posts during this election suggesting that our fellow Summit resident and neighbor Bob hugan is some kind of villain or unacceptable implying in social media posts that Bob hugan Don Nelson Mark underson or any other Republican in this community is racist misogynistic or a Terrorizer is repulsive especially from a member of this Council who represents the people all of our Summit people Bob hugan is is in fact the New Jersey GOP chair but he is also a summit resident and as an elected official you represent him too Bob hugan is our neighbor and he is my friend Bob and Kathy hugan have lived in Summit for nearly 30 years they are wonderful people who've raised their children here and who've done a lot of nice things for a lot of people in this community speaking of what Henry Bassman was going through uh speaking about earlier Bob is a US veteran and has served this community as a marine excuse me this country as a marine and so have their two sons in fact one is an active duty member of the US Marines as I speak it's high time for you to take your responsibility as a as a member of this Summit Council more seriously Greg and set a better example for those who will sit in your seat next and for the love of summit and the people who live here if you continue on as your party chair I hope you can learn to lead with Civility and bring integrity and tolerance back to the smdc leadership thank you thank you um Amy could you leave a copy of your state comment with the clerk thank you other public comments hello Ariel Williams do you need me to spell it no okay thank you again for the opportunity to speak before the council this evening Tisha and I are back to discuss the proposed traffic improvements on balol Place Glenside AV and Hughes place after receiving the letter from Mr shreer uh dated September 5th for which we thank him outlining said proposals for for traffic Improvement Tisha and I proceeded to conduct our own survey survey of our local government the purpose of the survey was to ascertain reactions to the several ideas outlined by the city we sent surveys to approximately 50 households within the area in question following this effort Tisha and I are very very pleased to share that we received 26 responses to our general question asking whether or not the community is in favor of the proposed changes that the city suggested the breakdown was as follows 16 yeses eight Nos and two undecided one thing to point out is that not everyone who was in favor of changes being made to improve traffic traffic safety thinks this can be achieved in the same way and Tisha will share those responses shortly Tisha and I would would briefly like to share some of the comments from the survey that we feel are worth highlighting again we appreciate the opportunity to be involved in a cause that is very important to us and our neighbors Tish and I will submit a copy of the survey corresponding responses and this note from which we've read today thank you thank you very much thank you please hi uh I'm Tisha Bender at 66 Glenside Avenue I'd been here earlier with Ariel um the beginning of the summer to talk about two traffic accidents destroying part of my own property on the corner of Glenside Avenue and bter Ro place so um we sent out the survey as Ariel had mentioned and I want to just highlight um some of the main comments that have Arisen um in general there is a consensus that traffic is unsafe in our neighborhood and there were many comments to that effect saying that they were surprised nobody had been heard hurt or even killed so far um I want to talk about some specific ones one is actually from a person living on Hughes place and she says uh we're pleased to hear you're considering traffic calming and safety measures on Balter Ro place our family uses belter RO place every day for our walks to Jefferson Elementary School and for bike rid strolls and to friends houses bta's role place is not designed appropriately and safely for its current use message regularly traffic from Glenside Avenue or Balter ro road speeds to and fro dodging Park cars and playing children we see large trucks and other dangerous Vehicles crowding the space we take cover on the narrow edges of the street or in the grass fronting some of the properties and a couple of comments um from Neighbors of mine one of whom is here and I guess to um one had said I live on the corner of Glen side in balol have seen the horrific accidents plaguing this intersection change is needed and safety should be prioritized while making this community walkable and tied to the rest of summit and the other says as a homeowner on balazo place with small children I'm very concerned by the frequent speeding on the street and the two accidents that resulted in damage to the stop sign and fence on our neighbor's property which I saw happening luckily no no one was injured and another comment this is a residential area yet it's not treated as such bter Ro place is in narrow Side Street between two County roads but it's used as a cut through between them even by 18-wheeler trucks this is inappropriate and highly unsafe for pedestrians with young children and dogs especially and um as Ariel had said although there's such a consensus on the safety of the area there's not really consensus on the remedies one of the potential remedies was to make bter rooll Place one way and there have been a lot of objections to that one says I've have some concerns about changing the traffic pattern because we use the street to go in both directions another says can't imagine how much of the out of the way I would need to just get to my house one-way traffic on B's Ro Place sounds like a possible nightmare another one says it could cause more harm than good and will cause more congestion congestion on a adjacent roads and one says we'd like to avoid increased traffic through Hughes place we ask that you take special care impacts could you just finish up please oh right okay so um and then quickly another suggestion was speed bumps most people like it but um and one person said it's the roads like a racetrack so it would be good but speed bumps one person was concerned it could diminish property values sidewalks that's the last point is um statement will be in minutes we'll have your statement and we can read it but absolutely we've got to move on thank you though for that course thank you so much MH thank you though thank you yeah and thank for the work on your survey yes uh other comments from the public uh good evening Tyler Morse at 25 bolst role place so I too live on the corner of Glenside and Bolter roll fortunately my house hasn't been hit yet but it is looming since two accidents over the past year have already struck her property um we've already had many of you out there to investigate where 18 buers are uh edging the uh posts and the light fixtures as well as um uh bumping over the curb right so we have the block curb on both sides you can kind of see the damage um what I want to say here is that I support initiative they're putting forward um but more importantly I just ask that we decide what type of community we want to live in we talk about the sidewalks that uh connected the Arboretum and how lovely that walk is there are no sidewalks on our side of town um I mean the closest we have is a nature trail past the hospital and so there is some uh sidewalks But continuing that effort to connect more of I believe it's East Summit um I think it's a great initiative I think walkability to and from our schools and for kids that walk at night coming from the high school that I see past my house it breaks my heart watching them walk in the roads especially on Glen side so I just say that you know although we cannot come to a complete conclusion on how to fix it but if we can put our minds together I'm sure we can find something better thanks thank you May thank you hi my name is Larry Cohen um I live down the hill in Fanwood but my ties to the summit are pretty deep thank you I taught here for nine years retired from the middle school and I still coach at the middle school and at the high school in the spring um a few years ago the common Council passed an ordinance that prohibited the sale of dogs and cats in pet stores in town now that had nothing to do um with trying to dissuade pet stores from opening in town it had everything to do with trying to disassociate Summit with the cruel and barbaric practice whereby puppies are provided to pet stores from really terrible inhumane puppy mills located mostly out in the midwest I'm back because some some interesting things have happened in the interim first um this movement has now reached 149 towns within New Jersey it's a most of any state in the nation um second it's become an interstate issue eight states in the country have passed Statewide bans on pet stores selling dogs and cats because the evidence that now exists and is so prevalent um linking these puppy mills to pet stores and and documenting the cruelty that is involved is just overwhelming I mean you just can't say it doesn't happen anymore we know it happens um and so I'm back to ask a follow-up question this is this is now a bill in the state legislature uh it was proposed by Senator Brian stack and it it has dozens of co-sponsors in both the Senate and the assembly what we're asking is the 149 towns in New Jersey that have passed this ordinance locally as well as any other towns that want to to pass a simple resolution in support of this bill so that the state legislators know that the towns are behind this having having done this already um the sample resolution I gave each of you is from a a town up north called Westwood which um I I have to give them credit for this idea because when they passed their ordinance they on their own did this they attached the resolution to their ordinance urging the state to pass a bill and ending this really cruel practice in New Jersey so I emailed I emailed each of you earlier this evening with a digital copy of this and I really really hope that you consider passing this and sending it to the state thanks so much thank you other comments from the public sorry for my reading glasses um Diego H and Aral Court um last night most of us had something to celebrate something to be happy about that's democracy I congratulate CLA and Michelle but I do want to thank Don and Mark for their hard work as they saw the Ser our community if you're watching I know how it feels and it stinks and I hope you remain engaged Summit needs every voice this is an a a kind of comment In the Heat of the campaign councilman small would ask on Facebook what I would have done differently about the budget this is probably a better Forum in which to answer I laid out my analysis when I addressed this body three times at budget time so here it goes tax collection was up significantly this year behind record increases to ratables for this reason the counil council majority could have avoided raising or even lower the tax rate additional measures the majority could have taken include releasing 9.6 million of the general fund leaving the fund with the same 2.1 million balance that was left in 2023 limit the increase of Municipal operating expenses to 3.8% of 2023 actuals that was the increase that was used throughout the budgeting process instead the 88.2% increase included a whopping 1.1 million or 15% increase in community services and a 24% increase in general government lower Appropriations could have paid down debt or reduced the tax rate further not a bad idea ahead of an election indeed reducing Appropriations could have saved an additional 1 and a. half million to hire two additional police offices I would have held off in approving the additional three pensional positions are pensional liabilities increase proportional to the number of pensional employees so that's 2.8% budget a reasonable four and a half 4 to 5 million capex uh for out years and show a separate schedule for projects that are not on the list in other words segregate projects on the budget from those on a wish list we all know the 11 million budget for 2025 is too high by doing this we can avoid the politically expedient non-answer that's a wish list next I explain reductions to the Sewer capital budget our infrastructure is aging it would stink if a sewer pipe were to burst um another one would be to include the $1 million grant for the canu parkway to reduce the revenue needed or free up funds to pay down debt and finally rebalance the community programs capital budget we must improve athletic fields of course but can we can't spend 65% of our community programs capex on just one field we must take care of playgrounds provide good facilities within walking access for Neighbors around town for example East Summit oh last but not least eliminate the confusedly named reserve for un collected tax in closing I'm available to have substantive discussions of this complex matter so ill suited for talking in headlines and Rosie I'll email you this because I just edited thank you thank you other comments all right no other comments uh we're going to close public comments uh we're going to open it up to our last part of our meeting which is uh comments from Council through you council president councilman minegar lead us out thank you very much uh Mr Cohen uh I want to thank you for sending in that proposed resolution uh I read the whole thing I'd like to hear in your res your uh explanation of it again today I fully agree with you on this uh message and the resolution that and the message that that resolution sends to this to the state uh and its ultimate goals I have a friend uh and a colleague who detailed for me a situation at the Woodbridge Mall um where they have been protesting frequently a horrific Animal Welfare situation happening there and so for those um for those kind of situations that are happening all over the state but also in particular those at Woodbridge struggling to make their city council hear them on this issue um and to help push this over the Finish Line in the state legislature this is a no-brainer and we can and should uh should pass this resolution so I'm going to I'm going to push for that thank you Mr Cohen other councilman comments yes counc Boer please sorry just give me one second here I want to talk about the park line all right so the park line uh so this year I was the liaison to the park line and um honestly I didn't hear anything about it until about September we went down to um Russell Place residents came out and I didn't realize there was a huge outcry of residents not being heard about issues with the second phase of the park line I actually went down and uh one of the residents is here went to his house we actually got on the lighter and I got up there and I looked around and got a view of what this phase would entail and during the course of multiple phone calls listening to Residents uh talking to our council president and our mayor we got the steering committee together and we decided that that um the steering committee needs to be the avenue to hear the residents concerns and that this position as a liaison shouldn't be a liaison this is a city project there needs to be a chair for the park line committee so that the residents concerns the project is driven and we are on top of this now during these meetings um we address the safety and privacy concerns that was a concern about privacy it was a six- foot fence we got it up to uh an 8ft fence which we believe will provide both privacy and security for residents but um we may adjust the height later if needed I mean but it's a it's a starting point uh parking adjustments we know that parking is a priority and the city is appared to adjust parking rules as needed um there was a letter that went out to the residents in the neighborhood of where this phase would would take place and the letter detailed the next steps of the phase in the project um and also the timing as we finalize the specifics but what I think the big picture here is in 2025 that this steering committee which may um either keep the same folks on it that are that's on it now in terms of the residence or uh as we get applications for new residents to be on the steering committee that that would guide What the residents are telling us needs to happen in in this phase of the park line um I think that is what was missing um you know uh when we had a conversation uh Rick um you know you told me something that really struck a court you said uh sometimes what people truly need is someone to talk to and listen to them and when we spoke we began sharing ideas about what might improve um the project and this conversation became a great example of why I believe in open dialogue and active listening and to be honest that this is the type of dialogue that should have happened in the beginning it became a no I don't want this at all to how can we make it better we want to improve it we want it to be successful I want my house to look nice I want to wake up in the morning and have coffee open the gate and go for a run with lights I think that is the idea of going going into it and the park line uh committee they want it to be beautiful they want it to look good the starting point of no this is not going to happen at all we have to stop you know I don't think that gets us anywhere but what gets us somewhere is how can we make it beautiful I know we talked about sharing costs I know for sidewalks the city used to share costs with the residents on sidewalks now the city pays for the sidewalks um but historically when someone came up to the city and said hey I want to share the cost with this uh this fits the needs of the entire Community you negotiate with the city and maybe it would happen I I look at it as you know buying a home putting 20% down right the bank has an interest in it and you have an interest in it to take care of it um so I felt comfortable uh given a nod to moving forward with the the park line uh I like to talk about Glenside Avenue and uh Miss binder that was here and Ariel and Tyler we went down there we talked about the sidewalks the Congress Congressman Kan came out there's a grant that's pending to put sidewalks there uh I think this is a that was a great example of getting the residents in that neighborhood together and saying all right we have a we have a security concern excuse me we have a safety concern and you want to make it a one way you have ideas of what you want to do all right well pull your neighbors right let's get everybody together I'm going to put you to work get everybody together and they went they went door too they went door too to see What the residents in that area wanted I mean that's partnership right that's partnership with the city council that's partnership with the residents and then we come back and we sit in a safety uh committee meeting I talk to the mayor I talk to Chief zagorski and I say well what can we do in terms of speeding there right and you know the chief does his thing and says hey we'll we'll up enforcement but communication is is definitely key um um in regards to my report on the Summit Housing Authority uh I was at a uh committee meeting there the other day uh we have relentlessly reached out to The Summit Housing Authority uh to help them with rehabbing whether it's Glenwood or Weaver Street but getting them into City Hall uh so that we can work on improving those areas and according to the executive director they were waiting to hire an architect and an engineer to really figure out what it is that they needed to do uh to have fix and I think they are they are almost there so I'm excited to get them into City Hall finally so that we can work on um rehabbing and moving forward with that uh if that is a possibility and I I I pray that it is um these are areas that uh I'm connected to and when I ran for office it was one of the major things that I wanted to be a part of uh last but not least um I want to congratulate Claire to and Michelle cinon on their on their win um I want to also congratulate Don Nelson and Mark Gunderson on a um a hardfought race uh but more importantly when I woke up this morning I thought about Don and Mark's uh wives because every night when I ran for office and I came home whether I was upset whether I was tired or whether I just needed somebody to tell me I did something right when I did something wrong um my wife was there she was she was she was she was the backbone and last night as I looked at uh Mark and Don's um wives I I just you know I I saw that they had that support and that is that is the support that you need um and uh I was filled with a lot of a lot of emotion so wouldn't be able to do it uh without that partnership um I know I'm talking for a while but a lot has happened in the last couple of weeks yeah he's shaking your head yeah funny um last but not least uh congratulations to our new president um hey these are the way things go right you lose elections you win elections um and there's nothing new in history I mean we had presidents that went out and had Duss with each other shot guns at each other yeah yeah that happened Thomas Jefferson John Adams yeah [Music] um we had president's calling other presidents you know French spies president's calling saying another president got you know um had an affair with somebody the you know these things and the rhetoric and stuff it's 2024 none of this stuff is new I mean you know look look at your history this has been going on for a long time the world is going to end this just didn't happen in this election um it Happ happens rhetoric and misinformation happens all the time with every election it's politics which is why I try not to get upset personally when people come on my Facebook page and write the most ridiculous things some of the most hurtful things because at the end of the day it's politics it don't even have to be true right you just say it if you say it it's true I mean it this is the type of world that we live in but I will tell you one thing I love America and regardless of who the president is whether it's Joe Biden KLA Harris Donald Trump they are my president doesn't matter I was in Delaware this summer Joe Biden was there I'm a republican I don't particularly like the guy if I saw him on the beach he's my president I would give him a hug cuz I love America so we all have to be Patriots we all have to love America deal with the process and balance of power um thank you appreciate it okay anyone want to follow that uh M councilman Smallwood on a on a lighter not uh first of all I'd like to thank Rosie for always giving us some chocolates which which which reminded me um to thank uh Mark oosi and and David Guida on a a great job on our Halloween parade and the Halloween event on the Village Green uh it's always one of the the most fun events because I I I tried to dress up like you know one of the founding fathers but I couldn't find a costume in time at least that fit uh so I ended up dressing up as my son in his Lacrosse uniform and I got to pretend to be a lacrosse player for a day um so thank you uh for the Department of Community programs putting on a a great event and uh we have another event coming up on Monday uh Veterans Day so would encourage everyone to uh came out and honor our our veterans on Monday thank you other comments I do but Greg and I are having that standoff we always have at the of the meetings boys come on someone jump in all right um I want to thank Rosie for uh running uh the election she did a superb job as usual I also want to congratulate Michelle and Claire uh for winning and congratulate Don and Mark as well um all four of you ran spirited and positive campaigns um and compared to how the national uh race is panned out here in Summit pretty competitive um you know the candidates here in Summit all pushed each other to do better for Summit and I know we'll all benefit from that uh in the long run so thank you all other comments from Council no I'll just wrap it up real quick um I'd also like to thank Rosie for uh running the election there's been obviously a lot of talk in the Press over the last eight years about election Integrity it matters we have someone right here who is right at the Forefront of of doing that along with a lot of community volunteers who work in all the polling stations I always make it a point when you see those people to thank them for doing that if they don't get really paid much they're there at the crack of dawn and they stay late so it it is something that um the community does and you want to have an election that everyone can trust so I I thank all of them um the last thing I would just say I I really liked Mr Morrison's comment about the community we want to live in and uh just as that on that Park line uh thing councilman Boer spoke to the steering committee I'm excited that that will be a vehicle that will put more of a a process in place to roll out the following phase and excited when those following phases get rolled out because the vision of that Park line it's it is a wonderful place to be but uh he mentioned it it's a connector it connects our community um and that's what's super super important that you can get from one place to the other safely uh in places that haven't been serviced all that well in the past so that's what I'm super excited about I can't wait to see the next phases I'm confident with Community engagement it's going to be beautiful and people will be super super happy about it um so that's it uh oh again Council something I wanted to say about the park line which is um I spoke to uh former councilman Rubino uh and he said that they have budgeted money for Gates so that if you're a resident who lives on the park line and you wanted to have private access to it um they're going to be able to do that yeah I know on the uh the section that's open almost every AB budding residency has has a little access spot and they use it I think it's going to be fenced in no no I I I know on the next phase uh they will but so I I do think residents do find it nice to have that type of access and and that's what's great about it okay all right if there are no other comments I just got to say something on that note I'm so sorry because you're talking about the park line and I don't want get a bunch phone calls tonight all right so um but that's what the steering committee is is for right so that the residents can talk to each other can talk directly to the board members and have a council person there and say what they like on their property what they don't like they're you know I I'm excited that that is going to happen so so it's not it's not doomsday you know on a Friday afternoon and we're talking about going to another phase all of this all of these things will be worked out prior to that and and that's what I'm I'm really excited about like I make a motion to journ I was waiting for that um all right do I hear second second all in favor I opposed we are adjourn good evening everyone