on your call council president you may proceed thank you good evening everyone thank you for your patience please stand and salute the flag 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 adequate notice of this meeting has been given in accordance with the open public meeting act pursuant to public laws 1975 chapter 231 this agenda is complete to the extent known it was sent to the Trenton Times posted on the first floor bulletin board in City Hall and filed in the city clerk's office formal action will be taken roll call councilwoman Edwards presid councilwoman Figo kenberg Council excuse me councilman because let's be honest 2022 he had some to do with I was trying to but i' ask individual mute themselves please who's in charge of councilwoman Gonzalez pres councilman Harrison pres councilwoman Williams present council president Feliciano present myself Brandon Garcia municipal clerk present Mr kogi legislative councel pres and Mr Wesley Bridges uh City attorney thank you and Madame President at this time if you wish I will read the invocation yes please thank you certainly almighty God who holds the fate of man and Nation we most humbly beseech thee to bless this our city these deliberations and these thy servants that they may act with wisdom and understanding for the good of our community and thy greater good th greater glory amen amen amen and council president this time I understand we have some Council recognitions if you wish to uh announce those yes councilwoman frisbee has two presentations to be made on behalf of council if you would bear with us Madam president for just a minute so as we are entering into um our Black History Month have entered into the black the month of black history I wanted to begin with honoring those who have given their service and their time to our community in particular to our city uh it is always my goal to say thank you to people while they can smell their roses so with that in mind this month and the months of follow it is my intention to honor those who have given their service of at least 20 years or more as I find out about them here in the uh in City Hall and throughout our community if you have dedicated service with that said the first individual that I want to acknowledge um is someone who has been working in the city in several capacities has been working her way up has worked way up in the Comm in the um city and is doing great things for us and making sure that we actually operate at best capacity as possible if you need items done in the in the city when you're needing tables or um just making sure that we're organized when we have events you need the services of Kim Porter and her Department with that said the city the city council of the city of Trenton resolution honoring Kim M Porter whereas Kim Porter a native and proud citizen of Trenton was raised in Lawrence Township and was educated through the Lawrence Township school system and attended merca County Community College and majored in general business and whereas Kimberly not only took took pride in the work she does that she did takes pride in the work that she does but also takes pride in how she and her husband are raising their beautiful children whereas Kimberly currently serves as the management assistant for the city of Trenton's Department of Public Works where some of her responsibilities include but are not limited to overseeing maintenance and improvements of City properties supervising a staff of 50 members and seeing Aesthetics improvements to City facilities where Kimberly is credited with 30 years of employment with the city of Trenton that began in September 1993 where she worked for various divisions of Public Works including the water including water streets and public property and assisted administratively with the Department of Health and Recreation natural resources and culture and whereas Miss Porter credits her experience with with every division as a tool that has strengthened her knowledge of City operations and gave her the mechanisms needed to become a successful manager and where as the city of Trenton is sincerely appreciative of the work and dedication of Miss Kimberly Porter for the outstanding commitment she has shown to our city and its residents Trenton city council recognizes Kimberly as a powerful force in the workplace who uses her knowledge to influence and motivate others and because of the strong relationships she has with several administrations and the community she's an asset to the city of Trenton and whereas the city and whereas the Trenton city council is keenly aware that kimly is a powerful advocate for the citizens of Trenton and became more involved in the city as asme Lo and City's asme local 2286 Union serving as a secretary for the past three years and now therefore be it resolved that the Trenton city council proudly recognizes this exceptional woman who has demonstrated her outstanding service and dedication to the city of Trenton its neighborhood Hood and the citizens of Trenton New Jersey and we thank you Miss Kimberly Porter for your services thank you Council in Frisbee and the entire Council body for recognizing me I've met some great people along the way that are more than just co-workers at this point but they friends and family my union family and my staff I appreciate your support um one of the family members also happens to be my husband also like to thank this Administration especially my director director anit Terry for pushing me and giving me the support and resources needed to get my job done thank you all and again giving people their flowers while they can smell them this lady I met many years back when we F my husband and our family first moved to the city of Trenton and she's the type of woman that when I send her an email and I think she should be sleep at 11:00 12:00 at night she's responding at 11:15 12:15 at night so she is on point on top of her game and I just want you to know Miss darling Herring you are a jewel you are a treasure and I treasure you I appreciate all the work that you do and with that the city council city of Trenton resolution for Miss darling R Herring whereas Miss tering has received several certificates from the George Washington University Center of Excellence for excellence and public leadership for business management and organization the Mercer Institute of Management and technology training through Mera County Community College for project management and for the fundamentals of management and supervision and whereas Miss hering has a professional background with over 25 years of experience in municipal government and public administration as and has held several positions during her 25-year tenure with the city of Trenton from executive secretary to the mayor administrative secretary senior clerk typus radio dispatcher senior clerk typist and Clerk typus and whereas Miss darling is experienced in in strategic planning supervising and administering department and divisional goals and whereas Miss Herring is currently serving as an assistant Administration Assistant administrative analyst for the city of Trenton's Department of Public Works whereas Miss darling Herring has served Faithfully under five Mayors in our capital city and continues to be a major resource for moving our community forward with our endless years of wisdom and knowledge and whereas Miss herring's unwavering loyalty leadership dedication support and professionalism with the city of Trenton has earned us several Awards such as employee of the year in 2007 and the spirit award in 2018 her report with current and past administrations has made her a most Su assist a most asset in moving the city of Trenton forward and where's Miss hering's ability to work under more Under Pressure think outside the box meet crucial deadlines remain positive and professional inspirational and unique in her techniques and motiv and motivates others is truly remarkable now therefore be it resolved that the Trenton City counseling Council proudly recognizes Darlene R hering for her 25 years her able for her able and dedicated work to our great City we thank you for all you have dedicated these 25 years plus and we wish you we wish more people of your talent and character served in public office this is signed by the body of city council we applaud you thank you Miss darling Jesus uh thank you councilwoman frisbee uh for this beautiful token of appreciation I sincerely thank you and your wonderful Council colleagues for your genuine thoughtfulness and generosity um it's truly an honor to be recognized um I would also like to thank mayor re Gora and his cabinet for giving me a platform within the city of Trenton uh to be able to perform my duties to the best of my abilities um I would also uh I'm truly blessed for each and every one of them I I must say I'm truly blessed to work alongside some amazing individuals to whom I am privileged to call my bosses and co-workers um excuse me therefore I share this moment with them as well um um to Adam to Jim to wahab to Hector to Ramona to Kim to Paul to Norma to lordes Yolanda Andrew Lydia John ronet Hillary Janet and the list goes on and on if it weren't for them and countless others I wouldn't be standing before you this day in Closing one thing I can promise that is I will continue to strive to be an Exemplar exemplary excuse me employee a positive role model and a representative for the city of Trenton thank you very much and God bless you you you two beautiful young ladies will come we're gonna take pictures with you real quick thank you and I just like to take a moment but anybody well I guess y'all can say it when we come back if y'all want to say something we'll get the picture first thank you coning this why I have on your call council president please continue certainly council president next on the agenda we have public comment uh if it's your wish we can begin with public comment and I'll ask for the public comment clipboard to be brought to the front all right and council president I have three listed for public comment just so the public knows public comment is uh there is a fivem minute limit on public comment you may address any item that you wish but please understand the council is not required to respond uh the first person for public comment is Eli wise hit the button can you hear me hello good to see you all again um just wanted to give you an update and uh speak out in support of the pilot for Kingsbury that we've requested and encourage you to vote to support it today uh or tonight um we spent most of our day today at kingsbery with the resident with a what I think is a very cons uh successful uh resident engagement meeting we had roughly 40 folks the uh the community room in the East the West Tower there was as packed as I've ever seen it so it was really nice to see all those residents come down and engage with us um we got an opportunity to take a lot of their questions and give a presentation uh Congress person uh Williams was there and managed to give a great speech so we thank you for that um we had some really positive feedback on the new security company that started work uh two and a half weeks ago um and it'll be exciting to see as the company continues to implement their new strategies how hopefully pleased everyone is with that um so again just wanted to let you all know that this this is happening this is real and we're really excited about it um so as you know we've requested a p which is a requirement of our hmfa financing and one of the questions that we got often today was when can we get to work and yeah I'm really excited to get to work and this is one of those items that we need to to kick off construction so again I would just encourage you to keep that in mind when you're voting tonight and I'll likely have to leave early unfortunately to go back to our second meeting where I hope to field more comments so thank you does any council person have any questions since he has to leave early tonight about the pilot now would be the time to ask the question Madam president yes ma'am thank you how you doing tonight thank you for coming again no problem um so my question uh may be just my own ignorance you know towards pilot programs percentage rates things of that nature um but I did have um what I thought was a concrete question when I read the U resolution and um the resolution read that hmfa recommended 6.28% for this pilot and we're talking 32 years and then the same line comma the city deemed it fair to give a 5% percentage for this same you know pilot percentage can you explain that in better detail as to me it didn't make sense if hmfa was saying 6.2 28% is is recommended but the city says 5% is fair and we're given a 32ye pilot can you please just explain that in better detail so that the people understand what it is that you're asking and what we're doing and what we're trying to provide yeah um so I think some historical context for the 6.28% is useful um we in our a couple of our bi-weekly meetings with the subcommittee on Kingsbury John Murray from hmfa has joined and he supported this uh this history lesson which of course I wasn't alive for but um in in the early 90s they came up with the 6.28 number as it was an average of the existing pilots on the hmfa portfolio um so there's really no secret secret sauce no magic to 6.28 it's just become a number that is useful because it's common and at one time it was the average um but I think if you were to talk to someone from hmfa they would explicitly not make the recommendation for 6.28 they would tell you that that's a number that a lot of Pilots are set at but they they don't have a position on what the pilot should be it's really truly up to the city and the reason that we're asking for five and not for 6.28 is because we're doing a substantial amount of work at Kingsbury and we're really excited to deliver on all of the things we've been talking about over the last year and more and asking for five or receiving five versus 6.28 will just contribute to a larger scope of work for safer cleaner more comfortable more affordable housing for these people for longer so just just for a little bit more clarity because I'm I'm ignorant to this this stuff ask away um so if 6.28% was a number in the 90s and now we're at five 30 some years later you know make I mean I'm just I don't understand the significance of that like I would think maybe it might have gone up or might have G you know like but that sign that 1.28% between 30 some years it just doesn't it's it in my brain doesn't make sense yeah I mean the the pilot payment is the rate times the the gross rent so as rents Trend up which they will over time the payments that the building will owe will also in theory Trend up so it's it's not that 5% pilot is less money to the city it's like in the condition that we're we're requesting it's actually increasing the pilot payments um as to why as to why we're requesting five it's really for the benefit of the benefit of the property Madam president CVP you done yeah I I want to actually hear what my Council uh colleague has to say absolutely okay thank you councilwoman Edwards thank you um so C p p has a very valid question um the difference between the 6.28% and the 5% that we have now I want to highlight so we can get to what she's trying to get to the 6.28% was for the entire property and the 5% that is being proposed now is for the highrises alone as per the presentation that we saw last month corre so the last half of the property for the low Rises will will be a separate loan and we're suspecting a separate pilot for that so in turn we're getting 5% for the high risers but we can expect another pilot and another at a probably a lower percent being that it's half the amount of units and half the size or maybe even a a quarter of the size of the property for the low Rises so in turn we could be exchanging this 6.28% for something a little higher but so can you explain um that portion of it the difference between why we were at 6.28 for the whole property versus where we are right now with two separate loans yeah I I can't say why it was at 6.28% because this predates my involvement with the project um but I can say that as I've hope I've demonstrated in my presentation uh two weeks ago the 5% that we're requesting on on the towers alone will increase the revenue to the city over the existing 6.28 that's there today if the building were actually paying its pilot payments which it's not so we're going to deliver immediate increase in Revenue to the city at 5% and then to uh councilwoman Edward's Point our plan is to build another property on the other half of the site which will you know I said it was the cherry on top it's adding another Revenue stream to the to the city which all in will increase the revenue dramatically over the current 6.28 right and so add on to what you said the pilots that we get um when you're paying property taxes regularly the library the school the state the the city is getting bits and pieces is being appropriated between these different entities but for Pilots That's an agreement directly with the city henceforth we don't have to allocate that money that's something that we learned at this past Friday's uh subcommittee meeting can you give us a little detail about um that like what we were getting before under the 62 6.28% was like 140 something thousand and now under the 5% just for this half of the property is somewhere coming around 240 give or take I can't remember what 190 190 oh way more than what I thought so that we half of the property we already revenu half of more twice as much as what we were getting before for taxes but I want to get to the point where all of it stays to Trend stays in train yeah it's a good point thank you for bringing it up um one of the assets of the pilot law that were intending to use is that if we were to pay our property taxes instead of a pilot a portion of those property taxes are going to go to the county not just the city um whereas when we make our pil payments 100% of that Revenue goes right to the city and stays in the city so not only is the amount of money that we're paying going to go up but we're also you know increasing the efficiency of those dollars for the city thank you thanks any other questions director Bridges will somebody be here from kingsberry after executive session excuse me to answer any questions that may come up I'll be here as late as I can be um and if I need to stay longer I will then I would like to um Mr Garcia yes in light of this I'd like to change the um agenda after we finish public comment I'd like us to then go into executive session is that a motion to move up move executive session to directly after public comment yes and is there a second so moved second it's been moved in second call the rooll councilman Edwards yes excuse me councilwoman for yes councilwoman Gonzalez yes councilman Harrison yes councilwoman Williams yes councilwoman figuro vice president figuro kenberg yes and council president Feliciano yes motion carries on your call council president thank you you may continue certainly uh next for public comment we have Maria herwick thank you good evening yes thank you good evening and thank you my name is Maria herwick and I live at 32 Parina Avenue I have a few issues to addressed on the record I have a copy of my statement for each council member and the clerk for charity I commend Council and director Richardson for the wonderful improvements at the Trenton Animal Shelter where I was employed I thank councilwoman Jennifer Williams for her meticulous compassionate and careful representation residents of the north world have seen our lives improve we look forward to her transformational tenure from the ground up about ordinance 2443 I am elated that Mr Wills Kinsley will be in the Safe Streets committee he is a wonderful selfless citizen of this city in reference to ordinance 2413 I am terribly concerned about my health high levels of lead in blood I have suffered chronic severe health problems for the last four years and I would not be surprised if there is a connection given the information that is coming to surface I live at the epicenter of contamination and director SLE just to took notice of this prior to this meeting so thank you I applaud council members who try to advocate for their constituents however I beg that you do not try to dismiss any summons issued in good faith by city employees doing their jobs this applies but is not limited to parking tickets I hope the city will use all its street sweepers and train staff to have all streets swept at least weekly in addition garbage disposal practices should be enforced for residential and Commercial properties I am somewhat disturbed by The Continuous City practice to make very necessary relevant information very hard to access by the general public I do not wish to accuse any department on the record the reality is that there are many services and funds available to many qu qualifying residents who are totally unaware of our many resources I beg Council to do anything they can to improve this instance I wrote to the administration with no response requesting all public system announcements are issued in both English and Spanish I invite this Council to start considering diminishing the sales of city-owned property at a discount to llc's especially those based out of our city limits this has far reaching ramifications but my time is up respectfully submitted Maria harway thank you thank you Matthew [Music] Ooa hello everyone my name is Matthew choah um I'm just here today uh to bring a little bit of light on food trucks here so can you just state your name and address for the record I'm sorry chah 475 Hamilton Avenue New Jersey thank you no problem I'm just here it's my first time uh just wanted to bring a little bit of light into food trucks into the community if I could just read something if you guys don't mind as a local business owner and resident of Trenton New Jersey I am deeply concerned about the lack of transparency surrounding the cities of the pedler license restrictions the issue doesn't affect only me but countless others who depend on these licens of the living hoods China is a home to a Vibrant Community of entrepreneurs who contribute significantly to our local economics however the current opacity around ped license is stiffing and entrepreneur Spirits it makes it difficult for business owners to operate effectively and public streets spaces parks and designated areas the city yet to provide clear guidelines on where we can set up our businesses which leaves us in a constant state of uncertainty this lacks the clarity of hinders growth discouragements Innovations the ultimate impacts economic viy of our beloved City that's all I have to say for today thank you thank you council president I have no more members of public comment as I understand it's your wish to hold go into executive session yes understood and correct me I'm wrong Sol just need uh need the motion to approve 24030 which is authorizing the city council of the city of Trenton to hold an executive session which excludes the public and items are listed it's my understanding there is another item council president that is the will of the administration to uh discuss with you and that refers to pending litigation that's fine yes and Madam president if you want to ask for a motion to for a motion please may have a motion to go go into executive session so move second roll call councilwoman Edwards yes councilwoman frisbee yes councilwoman Gonzalez yes councilwoman Harrison yes councilwoman Williams yes vice president figuro kenberg yes and council president filano yes motion carried [Music] are you coming solicitors as to whether or how I note that item uh pending litigation with respect to good enough that's it basic thank you I noted that earlier so we're good on your call council president you may proceed thank you council president I need a motion to come out of executive session we have a motion to come out of executive session second roll call councilwoman Edwards yes counc uh councilwoman councilwoman frisbee yes councilman Gonzalez yes councilman Harrison is he indisposed in route understood uh Council Williams yes vice president Figo kenberg yes and council president felano yes motion carried and council president if you'd like me to move on forward yes certainly moving through the agenda we uh council president we have uh well you will have a roll call Thursday for communications and petitions you will have additional minutes for approval in addition to the ones that have been sent to you and that would bring us to ordinances oh and uh reports for Thursday I'm sorry uh yeah but they'll vote on those on Thursday uh reports again you will vote on uh Thursday and if there's no questions with those council president we can move to ordinances for second reading and public hearing proceed thank you ordinance 24-2 an ordinance amending and supplementing the Trenton city code to regulate the use of fireworks within the city of Trenton are there any members of the public that wish to speak to this ordinance at this time seeing none Madam president oh excuse me I'm sorry this will be for Thursday I don't know why I'm asking at this point um there will be a roll call ordinance 24-6 calendar year 2024 ordinance ordinance to exceed mun budget appropriation limit and to establish a cap Bank njsa 40a colon 44514 in the amount of $6 m816 six excuse me 6, 81166 85 cents I apologize council president if there's no questions on those ordinances we can move to resolutions continue and council president um are there if you wish to ask if there any resolutions from the docket that the council would like to exclude from a consent agenda uh council president councilwoman I have only uh two two 44 Z and uh 24013 councilman Williams can you repeat those one time for me I'm sorry sure uh 24040 okay 24013 013 with the ex ception of those items and including items listed as added at docet review are there any other items that need to be excluded from a consent agenda just one minute please I'm sorry one moment I just certainly [Music] please I don't have I don't want it to be pulled but I would like um well no I I I'll leave it because I I'll I'll ask the question at the end to the director um questions consent agenda so questions it give okay um a question oh it is yeah that's a resolution yeah I'm good Mr Garcia I'm sorry I'm good you're good you any other members of council hearing none Madam president I we will prepare a consent agenda with the exception of 24-40 and 24013 and if it's your will we can move to ordinances for first reading Mr Garcia yes the walk-on the walk-on being the pilot for kingsberry I'm Excuse me I apologize the inclusion of the walk- on thank you um I apologize there will be incl inclusion of a walk-on resolution and that would be for the Kingsbury pilot yes and I'm not sure that I have the exact writing of that resolution and the title at this time but that will be your walk-on resolution correct yes okay understood that would be be a motion to allow the walk you're asking for the and that would be now the motion as opposed to Thursday okay uh actually know it could be Thursday you're right you're right Thursday's Thursday Thursday's proper okay well wait a minute may ask a question excuse me point of order I'd like to if we can based upon what we discussed because councilwoman Williams has questions about the walk on that she wanted answered out here unod I'd like to go ahead if we can if that's protocol to walk it on so she can ask the question if council president if you approve it it can just be added to the agenda today yes because this is Doc review session so if you approve it it can be it could be added to the agenda uh immediately yes that's what I would like added to the agenda immediately thank you we'll have that added to the agenda with that being the case I don't believe we need a motion or a second for discussion on that item right understood that's correct so now then can ask her question council president can I just go back to one that I wanted to take off the agenda I mean the consent agenda yes um 24-37 I just had a question on that and I don't okay thank you excellent to remove from consent agenda correct to be take it off of the yes to remove y thank you okay thank you councilwoman Williams much I uh a question came up and I'd like to ask um one of the things that we did discuss during our V the various meetings the subcommittee had uh regarding kingsb was about fire suppression systems and Sprinklers and I wanted to make sure before we have a vote on the pilot if you could explain how that's going to change for the building and what's going to be installed because currently uh we do not have ladders that can go up uh very high uh at kingsberry Towers but also uh all the hoses have been removed because uh they were cut and we have empty fire boxes so we'd like to have you give us a full explanation of high the fire suppression system would work yeah um the design is not complete but what I know will be implemented is firstly the fire pucks that go above every stove that will automatically be triggered at a certain level of heat to put out any fire uh above the stoves um and fire doors which will prevent fire from spreading throughout the building uh in most modern Tower buildings this is the way that fire is uh kept away from the apartments and allows for uh entry and exit safely um but I don't want to say anything on the record because it's anything more on the record because I uh don't have the final plans in front of me okay is there an a desire to try to put in at least in the hallways uh near elevators uh sprinkler system I'm not sure about sprinkler but some sort of fire suppression system that will meet code okay are there any uh ideas of what that Poss possibly could be any options that you can share um I can but I would like to give them to you in a different format just not right now because I don't want to say something that's incorrect um so that with that so this is something that uh you as a your company as a developer kingsbery uh is looking to make sure that something is installed to make the building much more safer uh for residents living there in case there is a fire particularly you know given that 19 stories absolutely so count on that without question okay thank you any more questions friend Madam president yes um I think this is more a question for our fire director um just a quick question I know something was mentioned that we don't have um the trucks with ladders that can reach to a higher altitude to be able to um you know put out of fire in some of these higher levels in a building like this in Trenton my question is do these fire trucks with these ladder capabilities exist and is that something that we'd be able to um to get in the near future or you know for our city one second before that question is answered just to be clear Mr um Cruz ba Cruz yes I address it with Mr okay thank you continue then m Mr director Douglas thank you Kenneth Douglas director Trenton fire department um as relates to your question um those high-rise buildings um that you can't have a ladder truck the ladder extends all the way up um we do have Sops related to highrise structur fires that we have to go into the interior to put those fires out um I think it's maybe about maybe 10 stories maybe less than that because of the angle the highest 100 foot ladder um it can't go that but high and plus with the Outriggers the things that balance the ladder when you have a high angle ladder um it couldn't go that high as relates to these buildings so we would have an interior attack um on the fire um from the going up the stairs part of the elevator but we do have a sop for haras fires to fight those fires thank you you're welcome council president did you need me to uh councilwoman frisbee has a question oh certainly thank you so I have a question about resolution uh 24-48 for director Richardson my question prior to her coming up is I don't I want it to be I don't want to remove it from consent agenda I just have a question about it so can I ask the question and just leave it put it back on consent agenda or how does that work the item can remain on consent agenda you just happen to have questions about it okay awesome thank you good evening director Richardson good evening so in Reading um resolution 24-48 um which I am exstatic about that it is for the HUD Continuum of Care for subgrant for agreements for those who are disabled homeless and families in the city of Trenton who are going through hardship when it comes to rent rental assistance Leasing and Supportive Services my question is when I get and I have get several calls and I address them with M Miss Ruth I um enjoy being here it's good that we are helping out those who are um struggling with their rent my concern is we have is your way of us looking for a grant since you are so excellent and finding grants for for the city where we can have a place where folks do not have to get to a place of them having um a foreclosure not foreclosure um they're getting an eviction notice prior to them getting assistance I have several seniors who have reached out to me they are behind like two months on their rent waiting that till that third month for them to get that third um notice and then get any eviction notice of course it's nerve-wracking because even though we say you you'll get assistance they don't know that it's not a guarantee for them is there a way of us getting some type of assistance is there a place that I'm I don't know of that I can guide them to where if they're two months behind on their rent that we can get them assistance just so they can get caught up and get back on their feet um good evening Council Maria Richardson Recreation and health um yes there are the city right now doesn't have funds to assist with rent uh mortgage payments right but there are other organizations in town that are able to do that I can provide a list to all of you um about those organizations right now we are trying to we are writing a a request for funding to the federal government trying to see if we are able to get to help folks that are behind in their mortgages um during Co we had a significant amount of money to help individuals that fell behind in their payments because of covid related um issues unfortunately at that point or fortunately um there there were so many different funding sources to do that that we really were not able to spend all of our money um to assist individuals because they were getting help uh from some other their funding sources so right now now there is a motion before heart to allow us to use whatever money we didn't spend for Co instead of returning it that we will be able to use it for these instances that you mentioned thank you so it would be great if you would place a call to um our reps before the federal government to assist this municipality and others in accomplishing that thank you and I would really appreciate that list great thank you so much thank you thank you madam president you're welcome thank you Mr oh just because uh director Richardson happens to be I just had a quick question regarding 2440 and we might be able to move that to the consent agenda um afterward just I was curious with all the upgrades that are necessary and I saw um the restroom uh historic signage as well as the playground uh Etc sure they're needed but can you describe the current condition of some of these items and why they need to be replaced Yes actually um I don't know if you remember during the previous meeting you you approved a resolution to um purchase and install playground equipment there at the Marine Park terminal we don't have a playground there so that would be a whole new thing um unfortunately the projects that we have been planning for the Marine terminal Park will cost us about $400,000 and so for the last two years we have been applying to DCA to the local Recreation Improvement plan um the first year uh DCA gave us 75,000 the second year 71 that was the money that we used for the playground we are now applying for 100,000 to um fix the bathroom and replace the roof so um that's it right now at the beginning of the spring we will install the playground um but then we will work on repairing the bathroom facilities and replacing the bathroom otherwise we need to continue to use Pats what would be the timeline for completion of everything ma'am well the playground we hope to have it install it by the mid Midsummer just because some some of the we just placed the order for the equipment so it will take probably 3 months before we get the equipment and then that take about a month to get it installed uh we are just applying for the grant to re uh to renovate the bathroom so that might by the time that we get the approval it might be probably in the summer WEA permitting we will begin immediately doing that so I would say the end of the year okay thank you very much D thank you Madame President one second Council thank you Council pres I should you wish we can move this to consign agenda right is your question about this too yes okay so one second thank you Council William CVP hello director Richardson um hello I did ask this question but I going to hear you know your response directly um I know that there's funding coming in I Believe by county and state to reinforce the river wall the River Bank wall um along so will any of this money be utilized for that or that will be or that would be solely by county or state whoever is funding the River Bank reinforcement yes that would be do complete okay yes and the other question is I know that in that area specifically where that Park is um the railings are not very well reinforced um I know that a lot of people fish there I'm not sure if that's where they should be fishing but people do fish there I know there's a lot of kids running around with the creation of a playground in that area where would there be some plan to further reinforce the railing area you know so that for the children um we will be reinforcing the area by the um uh the launch the the oh my goodness um the boat ramp on if you are facing the river the part on the left uh the other part that that we have been in a constant fight with the Army Corp of engineer there is an actual project going on there but unfortunately we are kind of disturbing what uh Marine real river life and so just the permitting process will take us several years to be able to do any installations on the other side okay so like the park on the River Walk I guess Lamberton Park whatever it's River Park um you know I guess with their playground areas are kind of like um bricked in sort of you know and you have to step up to get out on yes will that be something maybe will that be some type of um implementation that you'll use down further down the river then yes okay yes at that part there um we have been working on that portion there but again every time that you do anything that would disturb the river life we have to deal with DP and the Corp of Engineers and it's it has been we have been working there for over six years now so I don't I don't see the end of that yet okay thank you director I just wanted to make sure these things are being considered thank you thanks Mr Garcia certainly council president um I'm going leave it up to you as your will um as far as any resolutions that the council may have questions on or if you'd like me to read through the resolutions in case there are any questions for the directors as they're here this evening so who excuse me the council person please uh for resolution 24013 if you would ask your questions yes ma'am uh it's actually or is my mistake uh but uh so it we'll have a roll call but I did have some questions on that but I can wait until we actually vote if that's necessary or I can handle it now I think um um JN from the uh Bond section is here with us tonight go ahead okay thank you um so actually it was a two-part question for um Mr simple as well as um with um a gent from the bond uh department and just regarding this uh it's a substantial amount to $10 million so the questions I know I'll be getting asked is uh first of all uh where would the um lead lines be getting taken care of as it spread out throughout the city because it's a large number 1,00 to 11700 hopefully we'll get to the 1700 and then the second part has to do with u making sure that the sidewalks that are um taken out regarding uh installation of the new leadline uh removing the lead line replacement of the proper line that those sidewalks are properly replaced with cement or brick because um people are still complaining about about that that that has not been done in the past uh Madam president if I may good evening Council Adam Cruz business administrator um the bond council is here and I know that her first question is regarding the $10 million and why is it that it is so much um replacing lead lines is not a cheap project um you were there when the project was taking place and it takes millions and millions of dollars um so for this purpose I had asked uh the bond counsel to actually be here so he could he can explain to you what the $10 million are and it also it's also related to an ibank application that we have put in as well so he can explain that as well so that the council can understand and I believe this is the first time that this council is being presented with something like this so I want to make sure that you understand the process so that moving forward um you know you have a better understanding so appreciate that so uh Mr ever Johnson and Sean will then address the sidewalks good evening council president and members of city council my name is Edward Johnson I'm buying Council of the city of Trenton a shareholder at the law firm of O Goldman Spitzer um as administrator Cruz mentioned the city plans to borrow $10 million to finance it's going to be phase four of the Le line service replacement program of the city um the city finances its uh debt to finance Le service lines through a program um offered by the New Jersey infrastr structure bank it's a uh State um entity that provides financing for clean water and drinking water projects throughout the state um the benefits of going through the state program are the interest rates and in this in this case principal forgiveness generally speaking uh debt issued through the infrastructure bank is financed 50% interest free and then 50% at the I bank's AAA credit rating uh which is the best credit rating that you know can be offered in the market whereas the city sold the debt directly on its own it would be paying interest on the whole entire amount and at a much lower rating so you paying a lot more interest in debt over time um with regards to lead service lines because of the public health benefits of replacing lead service lines and urgency of it uh they have a special program where to provide principal forgiveness um it's my understanding that and the reason why this is being rushed they were told the city has been told that if they close on a loan with the um infrastructure bank before June 30th of this year that 5 million of the 10 million will be forgiven by the state so you you have to borrow 10 million I say borrow meaning you have to sign a note uh with the state for $10 million but you don't have to pay back five million of that and the balance of the five million uh will be either at 75% interest rate interest free or 50% interest free either way uh it's a real good Financial benefit to the city financing through this program so that's why this ordinance is before you today because of this urgency of having two readings of the ordinance and then it's not a matter of adopting the ordinance and closing tomorrow there are other documents and requirements of the state that be met so that we can sign off the note prior to June 30th to Avail the city of of the $5 million principal forgiveness to assist it in replacing Leed service lines I'm not sure if uh if there's any questions or anything else that I miss that you wanted me to elaborate on but I'm here to answer any questions that you all may have if any councilwoman Williams thank council president so I just would like to ask you Mr John thank you you're always so thorough uh what part of the $10 million will be forgiven hopefully it'll be the part it's $5 million of the principal so I don't think they they don't know like it's not related to specific leg lines okay in general they're just saying you borrow $10 million we're going to for get5 million the $10 million how that $10 million utilized in what areas that's more the the water Department's uh and I gu um because when you're from my not uh 50% of the borrowing will be at regular interest rate market rate so no uh in this case normally that's the case in this particular case since $5 million going to be principally forgiven the $5 million balance 50% of that amount will be interest free okay interest free and then that the triaa interest rate correct okay so the part that we will have to pay back uh would be at the AAA rate that is correct okay what is that currently sir say it again what is that rat currently so I can tell you but the reality is not I'll be kind of misleading you because the way the state works this program works you have to do a a note which is a short-term borrowing for three years and that's usually at a up until two years ago was at 0 perc but now it's like 0 4% and then they go out and do a bond issue when the products are all completed along with a bunch of other borrowers and so the question not is not really what the rate would be today it's really what the rate is going to in 2026 2027 when you actually have to go out when they issue the bonds so who knows what it will be at that point in time but whatever it is it'll be much better than the city's rate when they go if they were to go on their own okay that's good to hear thank you council president thank you any other questions Council thank you thank you so much while I'm here I'm sorry there's a there's a resolution on here I guess you guys s s agenda already so I'm going speak with that at all so your ordinances are also Al approved by the state local Finance board so there's an application that we have to submit for H Bond ordinance so there's a resolution that is on the agenda that authorizes the submission applic I think it's uh 47 so that basically authorized to submit the ordinance down local Finance board for approval related to this Bond ordinance so want to make sure you guys had any questions about that while I'm up here I'll answer that too if not I'll happily sit down and take my seat thank you thank you good evening Council Sean simple director of water and sore so the question is is concerning the restoration process yeah uh the restoration process um once the work is completed going back to the sidewalk uh at or brick in some of their neighborhoods but also uh do you have an idea of what neighborhoods or what parts of the city will actually you know be taken care of because uh thousand lines versus 1700 lines is a big difference and certainly we're hoping for the 1700 to be done so Council woman the cons when it comes to the contractor restoration process that is included in the in their whole bid process the whole contract um if I'm not mistaken there's a difference between what is done by Trenton waterw works and was done by the contractors so the contractors should be at least 90% complete with their full restoration we still have Bond money that we have holding for them in case they haven't made their obligations so if there's any out there please let me know let us know so we could go after them we've been getting complaints here and there about contractor's work now when it comes to the work that is done by Trenton W works it's been many years since we had Bond into roadway restoration is very expensive after whether it's on the road or the sidewalk it's upwards of $2 million a year in restoration cost that is something that we have to bond for I know Mr Cruz might be surprised with me saying this tonight but that's another aspect that we have to look into we cannot uh do the restoration based on our operating budget so this is a capital expenditure and I just had a meeting yesterday with our uh consultant in terms of our bonding or what we have to bond so we going to be coming to your office on more money to do restoration it hasn't been done in the last three years to be honest with you so is that's the estimated cost for the restoration that's it's going to cost us that much so what we've been doing as people complain we try to do little jobs at a time but to get the whole all the restoration done back going back three years is going to cost a lot of money and like I said Mr Cruz didn't no this as yet but um I'll be talking to him about getting some bonding to do these Restorations because there's the only way we could doing Capital expenditures to get the Restorations done okay thank you so much that's very that's really interesting to hear because that's a big question and even in with the contractors that we hire are is it in the contract that they must do restoration or is that an extra budgetary item that we have to cover for the lead lines it's including their contract could expand this actually to even regular streets like if you have to we have to go into a street yes and tear up the street because a lot of places you know we see the asphalt in the middle it's like a a line um and sometimes psng does that and um we may you know have to figure out maybe through an ordinance how to force psng or any contractors in the city to give a full restoration curb to curb yes it depends on the nature of the of the job how much damage is done we have to re ReStore in kind the same way but like I said it's very expensive and we have we contract that out every year but it's upwards of $2 million a year for just to do restoration not just in the city in the townships too but if um when it comes to hiring a contractor say they go to Vine Street and they do work there are they required to replace the asphalt curb the curb where they're only required to replace the asphalt where the work occurred that depends on the moratorium of the road if the road is less than five years we're required to replace it in kind depends on the Public Works director most likely is Road Road um curb to curb or we do um thermal thermal restoration whereas we heat the um asphalt up it's done very it's a good process okay but it depends on the the age of the road all right thank because I'd love to chat with you further about Chase Street uh was it's a very big problem in my a particularly thank you sir not a problem thank you council president Madame President yes councilwoman ERS thank you I have a couple questions um starting with how long do we have to pay back the bond um and how many lead lines will be replaced with this $10 million budget and also to uh councilwoman Williams's Point um I would love to see as we're tearing up our roads to replace these lead lines and psng with their service lines and things like that for the curve to curve replacement to be included in the budget because we shouldn't have to wait several years after these roads are torn up for them to be replaced um the five years or less I I get that but again we it causes a lot of damage to Vehicles having to drive on these types of conditions so I just wanted to reemphasize her point on that making curb to curve a part of it in the very near future but how many lead lines will be replaced with this and how long do we have to pay off this budget oh the bond also do we still have a surplus with Tren Water Works I know sorry it's like a triple question do we still have a surplus how long do we have to take off the bond how does that how does that kind of correlate if it does so I can answer the question about the length of pay back the bonds the 30 years um you'll have to pay back the debt uh on the $10 million terms of the Surplus I'll defer about the auditor accountant so five million after the Forgiveness oh I'm sorry five million and how how long does that take to the Forgiveness so yeah go ahead I'm sorry I was ad miss your question so you said 30 years to pay back the bond correct and that's after that's that's 10 million all together you said $5 million will be forgiven so it'll be five million you're paying back right so when will the $5 million be forgiven it'll be forgiven once all the lead service lines are are replaced in prior to the bonds actually being issued by the state how long will it take for the lead lines to be replaced that I'm not the construction guy if ask these guys I guess we're kind of trying to put the puzzle together here according to the P regulations by 2031 we have to have all leadline service replacers in the city which means that we have to do 10% each year now if I remember you all approve the 5.5 um Federal grant that gives us 700 service lines so the 10 is going to give us about 1,200 to complete our quota for this for this year between last year and this year and then next year we have to come back again okay so we have up to 2031 to complete them all now I can't give you exactly how much leadline service we have in our system we're doing that survey right now and it's ongoing because we never have a history of what is in on homeowner side we have the history is on what's is on the Utility side so right now we going house house to house and we asking residents to let us in to so we could have an accurate uh count as we go along right now we're actually doing the survey for the Federal Grant and if people let us in their houses it will help us tremendously awesome thank you so the $5 million will be done will be for given upon completion of the project the expenditure of this 10 million or the whole leadline service 20131 no it'll be um on a phase-by-phase basis as I mentioned earlier this is Phase 4 and so the way the uh the program works I men you before you enter to a shortterm note the note is basically u a mature is within three fiscal State years so you basically have three years after you signed a contract so I guess I into the Weeds now so you borrow the money you have two years from the time borrow the money to sign a contract with the contractors to replace the Le service lines after that date then you have three fiscal years after that that to actually replace everything before the note matures if the note matures and you have a spent let's say you only spend $7 million of the $10 million well let's go back to I know we have five million but my example let assum it's $10 million then they will basically say okay you spend $7 million of the money then you can only bond for $7 million the $3 million you didn't you didn't pull out because they don't give you the money up front it's a draw down loan so even though you close for a certain amount of money as as the work is done you draw down that money once work is done so they don't just give you $10 milon up front so you basically have that three-year period to spend $10 million to fix everything and if whatever you don't spend when it no matures that's all you can spend and then they'll finance that particular phase at that point in time then in phase two there's a different a different clock that starts this is phase four and so phase four is gonna be a different time frame than phases one and two um in terms of when you're going to be bonded so I would say if you had a good guesstimate at least 2027 2028 is when the bonds would occur um but if they move faster which I suspect they will it could be 2026 remember that when I saying six the state has a fiscal year so right now we're in state fiscal year 2024 but July 1 is State fisal year 2025 so even if they finish everything on July 1 2025 you're in a 2026 fiscal year for the state so basically we have 10 years to I mean three years to spend down this $110 million yes three years for the date you sign a contract so if the contract is signed next month then you have three years from next month if it's signed in in November you have three years from that time so it all depends on when when I say contract mean contract with the actual contractors that will replace your Le service line the actual people you guys how does it work okay I think that was all of my question council president Madam president oh sorry good go I don't know who's first you ask same thing yeah Gonzalez and then councilwoman frisbee thank so my only question was just for the Public's just to educate the public I know you shared with some of us at our community meetings that we've been having but can a resident call in and let you know that they think that they have a lead line and then you will come out send someone out so they can actually call in and schedule someone to come out correct yes okay so that would probably help I just that will help us tremendously because people are not trusting in these times and they won't let you in the houses and we need to do we need to get access to make sure everyone lead line is replaced thank you so I just have a quick question about the draw down um hypothetical if we don't draw down the whole 10 mil let's say we're using 10 million right now and does that affect let's say we only get to eight eight or nine does that affect the next phase this is only phase four so that going forward will they not allow us to draw down then on the full 10 on on an additional 10 if let's say that's the next amount or will they say well you only used eight previously so that's all that will be at your disposal so usually when you finance up to the I bank it's not in phases usually a one project was an easy answer the Project's done you don't need to draw down anymore or it's too late to draw anything down but because you have phases I can't speak for the state U to say yay or nay but it's a strong um impetus to get let service Lin repl so if there was any time for leniency uh it would probably be for this type of project but let's not try to find that out let's try to get everything done uh on time so we're not you know have any money laying around but I will say you only pay back what you borrow so if you only borrow draw down $8 million you only pay back $8 million even though you were authorized 10 initially so that's the one good thing about the bond program you're only paying back when you pull down thank you we don't leave money on the table can I answer a question thank you so about the money [Music] so we're saying 10 million right now we said that if we sign by June 30th we get the Forgiveness of x amount of dollars if we don't Ed the 10 million we still signed by June 30th we use eight we still get the Forgiveness yes F was 50% 50% right is 50% of of the amount you borrow so 8 million then I guess you get 4 million because it's 50% right okay thank you up to 50% cap that five million okay thank you but every year they change the program so that's why I want to get it in now councilman Harrison um my question is regarding do you guys uh do lit like a lid drop regarding like a letter sent out to the homeowners saying hey call this number you know letting them know are you doing that yes well Mike Walker is actively involved in sending out listen I've told that people have never received so much mail from the water utilty until now right so we we plan to continue that no but I'm saying they targeting erors okay they are thank you any more questions Council thank you thank you Mr Garcia certainly council president at this point if there are no other questions on any additional resolutions we are at ordinances for first reading one second we do have a question councilwoman Gonzalez had a question about resolution 24037 it was a really quick question just because I was under the impression at the last meeting that we were not going to accept any more of the Cannabis applications and I wanted to know was this one included in that 10 that we said we were capping at or was this the 11th this is part of the 10 this is part of 10 yes thank you okay that was my only question so we can put on consent so just to be clear for 2440 24013 24037 we are good with them being on consent uh just a point of clarity the 13 is actually an ordinance oh I'm sorry okay all right all right so that would be just the exclusion of 2440 and 24037 correct understood on your call Madam president no 24037 can put that onto consent agenda I'm sorry yes so it's Justa okay Madam president4 04 Z can be put on that's one there too back on okay sorry confusion okay understood understood on your call Madam president you may continue thank you um we are at ordinances for first reading I'll go through the titles of ordinance's first reading which obviously will require a roll call ordinance 24- 007 ordinance amending and supplementing chapter 14 of the code of the city of Trenton traffic four-way stop intersections as it applies to Martin Luther King Junior Boulevard and Ingam Avenue ordinance ordinance 24-8 Capital ordinance providing for improvements to the waste to West State Street San Heen Drive Improvement project 11 by the city of trendon in the county of Mercer state New Jersey appropriating 1,399 38 to pay for the cost thereof which amount will be funded by a grant from fiscal year 2024 Municipal aid program received the expected to be received by the city from New Jersey Department of Transportation ordinance 24-9 ordinance amending and supplementing chapter 14 of the code of the city of Trenton traffic oneway Street as it applies to Hill Avenue ordinance 24-10 ordinance continuing certain positions fixing salary ranges therefore and setting forth certain regulations for the implementation of same analyst trainee assistant purchasing agent senior purchasing agenty your program development specialist aging and yard supervisor ordinance 24-11 an ordinance to revise certain positions fixing salary ranges therefore and setting forth certain regulations for the implementation of same administrative secretary employee benefit specialist paralal specialist account clerk senior account clerk principal account clerk management assistant sanitary driver ordinance 24-12 ordinance amending and supplementing Section 1 15-3 of the trendon city city code relating to penalties for illegal dumping and ordinance 24-13 Bond or Bond ordinance providing for phase four of the Leed service line replacement program in the Trenton Water Works service area by city of Trenton County of Mer state of New Jersey appropriating 10 million therefore authorizing issuance of $10 million for bonds or notes to finance the cost there R I'm sorry that was added at docet review uh I believe we've gone through the other resolutions and that would move us to if there are no questions regarding the ordinances that would move us to cific comment Madam president are there any questions from Council regarding any of the ordinances all right let's go ahead on to Civic comment hearing none Madam president if it's uh it's your wish whatever you'd like to start with for public comment thank you councilwoman Edwards thank you comment sorry go ahead my and good evening everyone um thank you all for coming I will keep my comments very brief I don't really have many today other than to say um about the Kingsbury project uh thank you to my Council colleagues for you know walking us on today as it's very pertinent to get this project um to fruition uh us approving the pilot is the next step in the process and after they have an approval of a pilot from us they will be revisiting hmfa as per the next steps in the process of their application they will be going forward to the board of hmfa for them to um review everything that they have that they've done with all of their renovation renderings and the the deferments from us the pilots from us and things like that and um I wanted to highlight that the deferments that we did for our utilities for sewer water water and for the taxes or the payment in lure taxes that they um outstandingly owe us those have been deferred for us to be paid in full at the closing of this loan so the quicker that we get this done the quicker that they can close on this loan and the quicker that the residents of Kingsbury can start to see improvements of their quality of life and their living conditions so I just want to say thank you in advance for supporting this thank you to my Council colleagues on the subcommittee councilwoman Williams and councilwoman frisbee we have been we went from bi-weekly meetings with the Kingsbury uh Kingsbury and Company to weekly meetings over the last month or so I haven't been able to make every last single one of them but these meetings have been played an intrical part in getting them moving forward in this process so I want to say thank you to council as a whole and to my other two colleagues for spending your Friday afternoons with this and to every other person in entity hmfa DCA um the the HUD or whoever else is at the table with this with seeing this project come to life because um for this to have gone on for so long you know we we we're really doing our city disservice so I'm glad that everyone is at the table and um I think that that is it and oh also on the consent agenda um for myself asking for your support formerly to be the liaison to the Cannabis Advisory Board 24-31 is for me to be appointed so I'd appreciate your support this upcoming Thursday thank you and have a good evening thank you councilwoman Council vice president figuroa kenberg good evening everybody I really don't have anything tonight um I just want to say that I'm appreciating the the position that I have in leadership because um I really did um get a great understanding being in docka review and being able to ask questions of the administration and you know getting um answers from my colleagues as well um I definitely appreciate the clarity and understanding with regards to Kings I was not on board um but you know given the process and everything that has happened um I do believe that what we were what we are projecting to do um it will be the best thing for the city for kingsbery um and for those residents um and that's really all that I have for this evening um thank everybody for coming out have a good night councilwoman for his good evening and thank you Council uh president so I'm not going to go through everything that councilwoman Edward said I Echo uh her sentiments the weeks that we have spent the months that we have spent on kingsberry has been well worth it to see things actually moving these are our residents these are this is our community this is what we're up here doing um all of this for is to make sure that we move our city um together we're doing our due diligence having been in these meetings I've learned a lot and I'm glad to see things are finally progressing it's good to see movements it's good to see conversations like Eli said it is good to see how folks are starting to come out more and they're seeing that there as people are actually concerned about what's going on and it's not just clamor it's not just talk but we're actually about the business of our uh City and they matter it's not just of them and it is our community so I'm excited about what we're about to move this pilot I am grateful for so that we can actually get um them to see where we are actually going to start where they can see the visibility in their own homes of with the demolitions and so on and so forth so I'm excited about that um I did want to address Mr oour who was here earlier but he did leave so I will Reserve that um for now but it is um I'll leave that for now um I do have a flyer from children's future um they are having a fundraising bathon to support maternal and infant mortality awareness throughout and this is going to be in at morisville Lanes on Nolan Avenue if you want more information I will have a flyer in the back or you can just come and see me about this flyer also there is a flyer for FBI jobs 2025 honores internship program and this is a paid internship program um again there will be there a flyer for that as well that applications opened open on February 12th uh and they close March 1st there is a QR code on the application here if anyone wants to scan that it is for our young adults great program especially if you're get a 10-week paid internship course if your children Young Folks are saying they don't know where to go they don't have anything to do here's a good way to get them some money in your pocket and out of your pockets um now accepting new students let's film a free after school program and this is with the James R Hy Foundation this is on Wednesday nights from 4 pm to 6 PM um it is a comprehensive yearound film media educational program for youth ages 14 to 18 um those who have a strong interest in film making this would be something that you would want to have them get into and again there was a um a QR C here and that's going to be held at 5:35 East Franklin Street here in our beautiful city and finally um Foundation Academy is celebrating their schools is celebrating their Scholars this Friday February 9th they ask that we would join them at for their 100 men welcome on Friday February 9th at 7 a.m. not p.m am get up right early and just come out if you can and encourage them this is in Spanish and in English for those of you who might um be interested and I have several copies of that and finally I don't have the other flyer I'm hoping that someone else will Council Gonzalez with the V program that we've been talking about um that is to help those who need help with their taxes getting done for free so um don't have it with me I apologize but there is out there you can Google it you can look on our City website and it will come up but is the vital program and it will help you if you need help there is a tax bracket I believe it was 65,000 or under you can get your taxes done for free with United Way that's right thank you Council Williams with United Way um so with that um I'm going to read our City's mission statement which is to recognize that the people of Trenton have made us Guardians of the public trust we are committed to govern with integrity and fiscal responsibility to seek excellent in the city's operations and to serve all of the city's people with respect and compassion we thank all of you for coming out thank you everybody get home safely and thank you of course to our directors and all of you who stood before the podium tonight um who answered our questions so diligently thank you thank you madam P president thank you councilwoman Gonzalez yes thank you good evening everyone first thank you I'm G to be fast we get out of here and record timing um thanks to everyone who was present who spoke before us and I want to say congratul ulations to those who were honored they our all of our city workers are phenomenal workers but it's it's always great to just acknowledge to let people know that we um some people go above and beyond and so I'm I just want to say congratulations to those two young ladies also um congratulations and kudos to my colleagues and to the residents and everyone who worked really really hard on the keesbury project as you know this is the first phase of us actually helping our residents out there in that in that neighborhood and I just want to say thank you because I know there was a lot of hard work and time dedicated to that and to the residents who I heard you know they had a number of people come out who have been engaged in a part of the process also so thank you to those residents um who were part of this change part of this project um to miss Maria she left out but I wanted wanted to let her know that I am currently working on an ordinance for um things to be disseminated in English and Spanish we are kind of in the back and forth phases of it with the legal department um as it would be a slow process but hopefully we can make that happen soon for the Latino population um and hopefully in the near future we would include other languages as well but we're starting off with um English and Spanish currently um take advantage of calling the Trenton water department as he stated earlier please if you if you know that you need your your lines replaced you can call and schedule an appointment they will come out to see you so thank you uh director simple for that and for your Department because they do send out those newsletters and it's very informative and you guys are present in the community at our uh discussions that are going on and a lot of information is shared so we want to say thank you to you um Capital Health is hiring um so please you can visit their website website and then you can type in whatever field you're looking to uh find a job in and it will pop up I believe she said there was over like 400 positions that they're looking to hire um so if anyone is looking for a job you can visit the Capital Health Website and to uh councilwoman frisbee she mentioned the V program if you make $65,000 or less and need help filing your taxes there are different locations throughout the city um who will have that program up and running um so you can visit the city website for that information and also um I know she mentioned a after school program please take advantage of our free recreational censors that are beautiful and full of things for our kids to do um we hear a lot of things that are a lot of a lot of complaints our kids don't have anything to do we have recreation centers throughout the city of Trenton and all students are welcome please please take advantage of that and just a couple of events we have the Puerto Rican parade who will have their uh dance on February 10th um and also we have the NAACP who will be hosting their next event and that is also in February February 10th I believe February 10th at Coopers um so these are two events coming up um there's several events going on so just you know be mindful check everyone's social media pages and a big shout out to our hometown hero Jer brown one of my unsung nephews that I call from childhood TIG will be playing in the Super Bowl starting um this weekend so please everyone enjoy all your Super Bowl uh parties responsibly but let's let's root for our hometown hero TIG shout out to you good luck and thank you all for being present tonight thank you councilwoman councilman Harrison good evening everyone um I'd like to first start off by thanking my colleagues who work really hard on the kingsbery um your your hard work is truly supported by all of us up here um and um we like to say it's wonderful to see that U Miss Darlene and Miss Kim are recognized are two wonderful city employees um Miss Darlene not only is she a wonderful artist um but she always has a smile on her face and she's so kind to everybody and Kim what can I say a woman's a wonderful hard worker and she's always working hard for her staff and she's a blessing um let's see what else I want to say [Music] uh oh um I wanted to say we did an illegal dumping cleanup and I with Miss Octavia aiz uh Bernard Matthew jeie the college in New Jersey um we did Prince Street and um we did Mort alley so if you go on Facebook check out ni the neighborhood Improvement Association you'll see the wonderful work that we did thanks Wally and his wonderful staff that came out there and uh with the with the uh the dumpster so um hey it's all a team effort right Wally it's all about working for the city so I want to say thank you all and I'll have a blessed evening councilwoman Williams thank you counc president uh just want to say um real quick I really appreciate uh councilwoman Edwards councilwoman frisby's comments they said it very eloquently I'll just add to it that it was extremely heartening today uh to be at the first meeting and see the room filled with residents uh had questions but they you could see that they felt empowered and I was very full of Pride that it came together just brought me back to about a year ago when all seven of us uh and the mayor toward Kingsbury and uh early on it was obvious that this uh issue and all the issues in that building wouldn't take one council person it would take seven Council people and I can't thank my all my colleagues enough uh for never giving up and their encouragement on solving this and as best as we can from the government side to get it right and I believe uh that we've put uh this pod project and our city in a good position to get it right uh also i' like to just uh you say I really appreciate uh Maria herwig's uh her comments earlier they were very nice but she also did bring up some very important concerns that we should consider in the future um particularly as we go forth uh just want to say one of the uh resolutions has to do with trees this week uh for natural resources we have a huge problem with trees that need to be trimmed or taken down unfortunately AST because of uh a bacteria so that's really great that that's going to happen uh one announcement this per uh Friday uh for Black History Month there's going to be a special event for emergency providers and a health Expo uh from 12: to 2: PM so please spread the word on that uh particularly so people have a chance to meet some of their emergency responders but also if they have any health issues uh or just want to get an idea of how they're doing to come out to the health Expo uh finally and and I wanted to use the remainder of my time uh to ask director Wilson to uh come to the podium I just wanted ask him to explain because there are some concerns in the public some this information potentially uh but what is the actual standard operating procedure for when the Trenton Police Department's called to respond to maybe a person that has a mental health issue uh or may need uh assistance just so that we all know uh what that looks like and what it's supposed to be just in case uh Steve Wilson TR Police director um our our standard operational procedures uh for responding to mental health actually depends on how that um call is received by our Dispatch Center a call of somebody who's suicidal the response is different than someone uh who's running in the middle of the street obviously um um what we do here in the city of Trenton um calls are different than in the township um they have services that um we don't have at the moment and that's U one of those SEC Services is called arrive together I'm looking to get that here um however to get to uh how we respond to those calls the operational procedure is to have one officer that responds make contact with the co with that person that's in crisis um this is uh trained um biannually um in our deescalation training mental health uh encounters are part of that training so would they um ascertain at the situation whether additional help was necessary or what type of assistance yes each each call uh is treated differently because there's so many different issues uh concerning mental health some involve addiction some involve uh actual uh um issu issues of schizophrenia or or Suicidal Tendencies um so we when we respond to those things services are offered uh to the folks that need to help um the services that are at hand um here in the city Ben um when you do when uh officers do respond the person that responding to uh check on Etc that person is legally allowed to refuse uh any assistance is that correct yes um some responses um that's absolutely correct we cannot force people to get help uh we cannot force people into crisis only crisis Personnel can do that and that even that is only on a temporary basis uh depending on the call um other emergency resp First Responders may be called out uh such as the fire department and EMS okay and then my final question and I really appreciate you taking the time to do this because I know even in the north Ward we've had issues uh particularly with person uh on North Olden Aven or Brunswick over the winter time it was a tough situation um and multiple times uh emergency responders had to uh try to speak with this person convince them to actually accept help um quite often is it or I should say is it of often in these situations that the person refuses help or is it the opposite where most times they actually do accept help unfortunately most often director I apologize uh you have I know there's been an exchange here but at the same time I have to abide by the same rules for everybody okay so it is that that is your time I'm sorry I did not realize that my bad I'm sorry thank you just ending unfortunately most times they don't they refuse but we stay at it and we stay with them thank you council president Mr clerk certainly sorry about that I was saying let her finish okay thank you Mr Garcia okay I just have to treat everybody the same he's back I was I was the youngest of seven you get a mile all right you're welcome good evening everyone thank you for staying um thank you for being here for your active participation um in tonight's meeting I just want to be brief thank you to my Council colleagues um again that worked on the kingsberry meetings and everything to get us to the point where we can uh move this forward to see something good um come of this project so we're happy to get to this point um I did meet with Dr Pamela puit uh the week before last over at Capitol Health at The Institute for urban care where they're doing a phen phenomenal job with so many different things that I wasn't even aware of she's going to be coming here to do a presentation on February 20th so that Council can hear some of the things that they do so if we've not heard it already or not familiar with it she has been scheduled to appear um Black History Month is here right it's been here so happy Black History Month to all of us that celebrate the month um merca County Community College the James Cy campus is having a slew of events that they are hosting weekly at the college so I encourage you to check online um and see what they have going on let me see anyone that has an organization or a business that wants to give money to Trenton Central High School seniors I encourage you to please donate to our students they are phenomenal I'm a part of the annual scholarship program that'll be coming up um in June so so we definitely want people that can to give there's no amount too small book scholarships full scholarships whatever it is that you can do help us to celebrate our students and to help them along um lastly excuse me on Thursday at our Thursday meeting councilwoman Gonzalez and I along with Council will be honoring the divine nine the um black Greek sororities and fraternities they will be here with us we're honoring the national pan helenic Council the Mercer region so um you know for the tremendous work that we all do councilwoman Gonzalez and I are actual members of Delta Sigma Theta sari Incorporated Trenton alumni chapter so it's our honor to present um the pan helenic council with the honor during this time that being said thank you to everyone for coming out tonight God bless and good night Madame President if you want to ask for a motion to adjourn may I have a motion to adjourn second I have to go through a roll call thank you councilwoman Edwards yes councilwoman Figaro kenberg yes councilwoman frisbee yes councilwoman Gonzalez yes councilman Harrison yes councilwoman Williams yes and council president Feliciano motion carried meeting adjourned