[Music] [Music] okay at this time I will call this meeting to order Clerk of the board please call the role commissioner Baker commissioner bodc here commissioner delis for commissioner Granado here commissioner Kowalski here commissioner Mirabella president commissioner Williams Vice chairwoman Leon here and chairwoman pom mudad here chairwoman let the record reflect you have six Commissioners present for this evening's regular meeting thank you Clerk of the board please lead us in the prayer and the salute to the flag humbly we ask God The Giver of peace and lover of Charity to the entire family of Nations true agreement with his will and to Grant the light of his Spirit on all who work for justice and peace amen 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 liy and justice for all Clerk of the board please read the statement of compliance with the open public meetings Act the chair wishes to announce that pursuant to the requirements of the New Jersey statutes annotated title 10 chapter 4 section 10 of the open public meetings act adequate notice of this meeting of the board of County commissioners of the county of Union has been given by mailing the annual meeting schedule for the year 2024 along with periodic changes necessitated by circumstance to the newspapers circulating within the county of Union who are designated to receive such notice and by posting the annual meeting schedule for the year 2024 in the administration building and further by filing the annual meeting schedule for the year 2024 with the office of the county clerk thank you may I have a motion to approve the communications so move Madam chair second uh a motion was made by commissioner Mirabella was seconded by commissioner granados Clerk of the board please call the role commissioner bodc yes commissioner granados I commissioner Kowalski yes commissioner Mirabella I Vice chairwoman Leon hi I chairwoman pal Mar mudad I chair let the record reflect you have six votes in the affirmative on all of the communications thank you uh may I have a motion to approve the June minutes so moved second uh a motion was made by commissioner bodak and was seconded by commissioner Kowalski Clerk of the board can you please call the role commissioner bodc I commissioner granados I commissioner Kowalski yes commissioner Mirabella obstain on J June 5th agenda and regular meeting I to the rest Vice chair Leon I and chairwoman pal mudad I all uh chair let the rec reflect you have five votes in the affirmative with one abstention for the June 5th uh agenda setting session and regular meeting and you have six votes in the affirmative for the June 19th agenda setting and regular meeting minutes thank you uh prior to opening the meeting for public comment I would like to turn the meeting over to our County Council to offer a few remarks thank you chair before the public comment portion begins on behalf of the board and County Administration I wanted to address those who are here to speak concerning the Clark Reservoir project please note that the county appreciates your attendance and comments at this and prior meetings as well as at the July 2nd 2024 Public Presentation and they are being taken into consideration the county has also received numerous emails and other written comments which we are not able to respond to individually but they are also being taken under review at this time the county continues to review the concept plan with the njde and we will provide updated information to the public when that process allows thank you chair thank you Council Bergen the meeting is now open to the public for the purpose of commenting on resolutions being offered for adoption and or on any governmental issue that a member of the public feels may be of concern kindly state your name and town of residence for the record and if speaking on a resolution on the agenda please note the resolution number to which you are referring and adhere to the 5minute time [Music] limit anything you I'm sorry yes can you hear me okay yeah okay um Diana Gonzalez Clark New Jersey I just want to reintroduce myself I think the first time I came here there were three people that spoke on the uh proposed Reservoir project since then we have really organized and I'm serving as an organizer for the Clark Reservoir committee um today I just wanted to say maybe like three points the first point is thank you for arranging the meeting on July 2nd it was a great opportunity for the residents to express how they felt um I was very encouraged that everyone kept it very professional respect and I hope that we can continue that dialogue in in you know in that vein uh the second item I wanted to make mention of is um our Reservoir committee has a page on social media we've been door knocking and talking to Residents people reach out to us on messenger by phone and we've been collecting the feedback and we actually have a draft proposal that we've been iterating through with our committee because we want to make sure that it's really comprehensive and representative of all the feedback that we've been getting and I'd like to submit that to you formally in the coming days or weeks you know when we we really feel like it's buttoned up and have an opportunity to talk to you about it and I guess the third item I wanted to bring up today is um through dialogue with our committee you know somebody was looking at CME projects and they do beautiful projects um just yesterday in fact I walked at Spring Lake in South planfield cuz my daughter plays volleyball so I went for a walk almost passed out from the heat but beautiful Park um and you know and I enjoy um Esposito and Oakridge and roow park terrific Parks but in our conversation it really helped me pinpoint what it was that sat wrong with us and that is that the Clark wildlife and nature preserve is different from any of these other Parks right it's not an urban park it's not a park it is a nature preserve and a wildlife refuge and so then I started doing a search online to see other nature preserves and wildlife refuge and if you do I invite you all to do that do that search what you'll see is there's a theme when you look at these nature preserves they're very peaceful they have limited um structures it's more unstructured you'll see Woods you know maybe wall um Wildlife observation um maybe wooden boardwalks things of that nature so I'd like to ask you to take that into consideration as you revise the plan um one very good example if you've ever been to the Great Swamp you know I I've been there I've enjoyed walking through there that is a nature preserve um I would propose that is the North Star for this project um I think that would be more fitting to to what you know what is in Clark it's a gem in Union County you know we'd like to see that preserved um when we submit our proposal you'll see some things in there uh what's clear is what residents do want is dredging of the reservoir we'd like to see it air rated so that it doesn't become a problem again in the future and then passive Recreation and that passive Recreation is really defined as non-invasive walkways for residents and um um perhaps a fishing pier and maybe some kaying right anything beyond that feels like it's not fitting into the Nature Preserve and Wildlife Refuge thank you for your consideration thank [Applause] you good evening my name is Alan Swanson I'm I I live in New Providence I'm the uh chair of the laka group of the Sierra Club which represents most of Union County and most of Mars County and couple of other adjoining towns uh I'm on the executive committee of the Sierra Club for the state and um I've uh found out about this project not not too long ago and got involved uh have walked the the area of the St Agnes Forest Area into some of the homes of the people uh living around the reservoir and um I just wanted to say that in looking at the the the properties in the area and representing the Sierra Club it's important as you look at this in the future to consider the impact that changing ing the existing Forest uh will have on climate one of the things that's that we push in the state and I've been pushing a lot in a number of towns in the area are climate action plans for towns and there are a few that have them in in the state and one of the things that they do is they make it every decision that they make they take into account the impact on the environment and all that I'm asking tonight is as you move forward in in considering this to be sure that you make a high priority the impact on the environment and at this point the the project uh in the St Agnes Forest Area uh is a project that we would be opposed to in the Sierra Club uh it doesn't make sense to to be spending money on taking down old growth forest and and putting in especially things like synthetic um ice rinks um I I don't need to go elaborate more it's just the point is that that's really that aspect of the project is invasive and the impact is negative to the point where it it really should be reconsidered Ed and that as has been stated and and as they present to you the plan these really great people who are working on this in that area they recognize that this is an area that would benefit people to have access to but the access needs to be non-intrusive and to have a minimal impact on on the climate um especially given that in our area that there just aren't that many are old growth areas like this that are available so that's really all I needed to say and and um look forward to uh how you're processing and considering this uh development in the future thank you very [Applause] much good evening my name is prita bishani I live in rawe um I'm a rawe resident and I've come to urge the Union County Commissioners to heed the voices of the many area residents who spoke with great passion and concern at the July 2nd presentation meeting and revised the proposed development plan to remove all active recreational components uh including the deforestation of St Agnes's Forest to build the electric train and Depot the Carousel Building the Clock Tower the skating rink Etc um the vast very vast majority of residents in Union County oppose this and also oppose the 10-ft wide asphalt Pathways with additional 2 feet of Timbers on either side that come within feet of residents homes invading their privacy and sense of security I would entreat I would entreat the Commissioners to have greater imagination with what can be done with the $43 million that is in line with the era in which we live uh it's a time of catastrophic climate change and devastating declines in biodiversity and bio abundance on our planet and it's a great opportunity we had so many young people in here I'm a school teacher myself it's a great opportunity to bring Young Voices into the conversation maybe younger designers um who have a sense a tremendous understanding and vision of how supporting and expanding ecosystems rather than tearing them down benefits both humans and nature in mutualistic ways U maybe you know a new vision for the planning and design um of this you know how this money will be used perhaps the plan could be reimagined to use the money for more green infrastructure in other parks in Union County perhaps adding trees and expanding forested areas in other areas especially vulnerable areas areas vulnerable to flooding and so on so on perhaps adding new pollinator Garden to other Parks Community Gardens nature signage educating children about the Flora and Fauna around them all of which would be aligned with the purposes of the grant as I understand it um you were just presenting scholarships and certificates to CH many children um and they represent future Generations I know many of the proposed a amenities are designed to entertain children and provide recreational activities for families as a school teacher for 30 years I can tell you that more than any Carousel Cho choo train or skating rink children are mesmerized and fascinated by wildlife in nature these younger Generations are also profoundly aware of the degradation of the environment and habitats of animals the children of Union County will be acutely aware of the displacement of animals and will mourn the losses of seeing the beauty of a bald eagle in the Treetops a fox scampering by their Reservoir dear lingering at the edge of the woods what more magical classroom what better learning experience than living breathing organisms in their natural environment what amazing opportunities for children to ask questions and learn about the interconnections between species and be inspired to learn more about ecology biology and natural systems adults often forget the magic and wonder of nature until in the presence of children at the beginning of every school year I asked my students to write about what what concerns them about our world Community or school I would say 70% of them write about deforestation animals losing homes air water land pollution extreme weather and climate change in other activities unprompted they write Grim visions of an ecologically devastated future where people have to wear space suits and where many animal and plant species have gone extinct let's do our best to protect our children's Futures and make sure the few remaining woods and natural places here in Union County are kept intact for future Generations I want to express my G my deep gratitude to the Union County Commissioners for listening to my ideas and concerns I appreciate it thanks so [Applause] much Claire Le Bruno CLA Le Bruno Union uh Clark New Jersey sorry uh good evening I would like to thank the county for organizing the July 2nd Reservoir project presentation in Clark in particular I would like to thank Mr opman for his presence at the presentation the location and the time of the meeting allowed for Greater Community participation and I aware that there are residents from at least seven Union County towns in attendance there are three points from the meeting that I would like to address first The Proposal presented on July 2nd was not on public display before the meeting while I applaud the county for making updates in response to public feedback and I appreciate that this is an evolving plan and I acknowledge that the County website now reflects this with the verbiage concept plan subject to change by presenting a modified plan that was not previously displayed a meeting which I would assume was intended to not only be informative but to assuage public concerns perhaps raised concerns over a lack of transparency the County's contract with CME page five which I have here uh states that quote at a minimum the following meeting shall be required I'll skip to Bullet item three which says two openhouse public meetings with the general public user groups stakeholders and Clark officials end quote it is curious that this meeting was not not held when permits were submitted to the D in April or even before then to receive public input I request that before the next openhouse public meeting whenever it should be held the most updated version of the map and project proposal be made publicly available at least a week in advance on the Union County website and the map be publicly displayed in Clark town hall and this Administration Building second I feel the need to put on the on the record that the public noticed all the and I would deem them as PR changes made to the public facing version of the map dated 62824 the gray scale the items removed from the legend the removal of so many details from the map such as the repairing Zone the hall sites the number of parking spots Etc I will also mention the inconsistencies such as the eight walkways denoted on the map and Legend while the walkway detail still shows a 10-ft walkway with two foot of railroad tie edging on each side therefore requiring 14 ft of clearance in the future I am asking for more transparency not less information third during the public comment section I stated that I noticed that the proposal presented was not the proposal previously on display and asked if the change management documents would be made public to be clear I was asking for the revised document logs and change order log Mr melin's response was that the main change was a storm order management baseman when I repeated my question I was told I could call him and he would walk me through the changes at the end of the meeting I collected his card frankly this was not an acceptable answer even if County processes would allow for him to respond to me it would be an enormous waste of public resources I created my own log where I noted over 20 changes between the publicly displayed plan dated 92723 and the more recent plan dated 62824 as CME is contracted by the county I am requesting that the county requires a revive Ed document log and change order log to be publicly available thank you for the opportunity to speak this evening and thank you for your consideration to my [Applause] requests how you doing name is Ron ordner uh Clark New Jersey been a Union County resident most of my wife grew up down in Elizabeth Port uh Clark resident past 14 15 years um really appreciate the meeting on July 2nd um it was probably more people I've ever seen at any meeting before in Clark by far um one thing I want you to keep an eye on is uh I do have my notes sorry about that is um was do you know if there was a wildlife assessment done by CME during this time and if not um is there a a more detail County storm water uh management plan course there was a management plan online from 2009 that shows that the reservoir is um the reservoir was either moderate moderately or severely impaired and that was 15 years ago so I want to make sure that we do put the dredging on the reservoir as a priority I know it's expensive but I want to make sure that gets a priority on that and then like I said I appreciate everybody working what usse your opening remarks today kind of made me feel good I was getting ready to leave got to go over to Valencia and get something to eat but figur I'm going to sit here first and talk but now I'm going to go eat thank [Applause] you hello everyone my name is Gloria Bowski I'm from planfield um I'm here to speak about the two about two environmental issues in Union County which are connected first the Clark Reservoir project I'm hoping that you will restrict your project to remediating the water body and abandon your other plans to take down many trees to pave over the land to erect a carousel the Clock Tower and a kitty train is there anyone who thinks there's too much unded veloped land in this County anyone I don't think so understand that undeveloped land has value to everyone on July TW on July 2nd the residents of Clark spoke eloquently about the project I watched it on your t on their TV station they spoke eloquently and politely about the project and not only the residents but uh IND indviduals from environmental groups too I think the the fellow from the Sierra Club it's ridiculous not mening words of the county should have even considered this project whose idea was it um which if carried out would despoil a nice relatively untouched area of Union County once once touched it's not coming back and it would be wrong you the Commissioners apparently have just been giving lip service to cons to conservation of the environment you need to go home and write 100 times undeveloped land is good and then take it to heart please um and I think that I'm I have green on tonight I didn't have a t-shirt but I have my green leaves a second environmental concern relates to the Clark Reservoir is is wildlife which who are displaced by development of natural areas in this in this County and this is happening more and more Union County for the last 30 years has had a deer kill which largely has been um carried out and incited by the hunting Lobby in Union County many of the hunting people are in Union County employees are closely connected and residents have been bambo bamboozled and maybe you too thinking that oh this is the OWN this is what we must do we must kill these deer and they're killed in a cruel fashion they're killed by crossbow people [Music] are um convinced or talked into thinking that they that deer are a threat to uh human health and are factor a big factor in the spread of Lyme disease that's that's been discounted by institutions like ruter University and Harvard University and then people say well what about deer and car accidents well in planfield uh my neighbor and I OA this OA this with the city and really the number of deer related accidents in planfield is low much lower than human car and Interac ction right now people should accept that deer are in the environment and adjust their behavior to Deer being there just they're planting and and put up fences that that sort of thing we are seeing more deer because there's less of their natural habitat killing deer doesn't work because when deer are killed there's a rebound they have twins they have triplets and as I said uh they're killed by crossbow which is a particularly cruel kind of of kill uh after some investigation into Union County practices via Oprah we've I came up with a few just a few things I'm going to mention um by their own accounts and this is in Union County Oprah uh the hunters have said that killing deer at crosso is very in can I say inaccurate many deer are injured don't die but have to live with arrows impaled in them and the percent is quite high as an example and this isn't the first one on December 1st 2023 Facebook lit up with many reports of by residents of two deer thank you Arrow it's the time limit thank you [Applause] can you hear me okay uh my name is Christina D Luisa I live in Clark New Jersey I wanted to first thank you for coming on July 2nd again um for the information session and listening to all of the residents and their concerns um and I don't want to go back over all of the things that um they said I know that you all know that there is an environmental issue with taking down trees and um putting in pavement that's imper impervious to rain so I'm not going to go over that but I do want to just voice um my opposition to some of the features that you want to put in the area behind St Agnes Church um like my fellow residents we would like you to preserve that area for wildlife in nature so no trains no Carousel no skating rank um and I'm not sure if anyone realizes there's a synthetic skating rink right up the street on Madison Hill Road at the elementary school um so there's already one accessible to the public um right up the street um no concession stand um and when you tell people not to do stuff it's good to offer Alternatives so some of the Alternatives that I thought that you could put instead of those things that wouldn't harm the nature would preserve um are things like a fishing pier a bird watching area similar to the one that they have at the Great Swamp um my husband and I are big birding people I'm fortunate enough to live right across the street from the reservoir and I get to see the bald eagle dive down into the reservoir and catch fish and it's totally awesome and I'm sure every kid in this County would love to come and watch that happen we have Osprey we have red tail hawks we have lots of birds of prey that come and feed off that Reservoir and it's really cool to watch and I can't imagine any kid wouldn't want to see that in person if it gets us excited as adults I can only imagine the kids seeing it um instead of paved Trails um maybe behind St Agnes to put in raised Boardwalk Trails as to not disturb the existing wildlife and nature um along the trails like you've done in other County Parks like Warren AKO and Railway Park I see that on the trees you have QR codes with information about the trees and some of the other Wildlife that's in those Parks which is great um there's no reason why we can't do that and make it more of an educational setting rather than just you know choo choo trains and carousels there's lots of places in New Jersey parents can take their kids that already have that stuff you know and my friends have kids they go to the boardwalk and they take their kids on all the rides they don't go to nature preserves to do that you know you go to a nature preserve to um enjoy and respect the wildlife um so that was my alternative ideas for behinds Magnus as for the boat ramp um I'm a resident of Wendell place um so I am opposed to the boat ramp that they want to put at the end of Wendell place um not only am I against you know obviously removing more trees and creating more pavement but that corner down there where you want to put that parking lot and boat ramp there are a lot of kids Wendell place and lefors Lane is like a huge culdesac and right at that corner we have a very high population of children that are outside all the time in the summer they're playing in the streets they're on their scooters um they're all over the place and to open up that area where people have purchased these homes knowing that their kids would be safe in the street now we're opening this up to the public to invite traffic to come to these areas I just don't think that that's a very good idea um and I would ask that the the county Maybe um instead of if if you need emergency access to that portion of the reservoir maybe put it across the across the reservoir at the end of um Riverside Drive behind Bartel field and I had am I allowed to ask a question have there been any Environmental Studies done and if so do we have access to them we answer questions at the end sorry I'm sorry and my other question is when will we hear of any updated plans now that you've heard feedback from the residents on the July 2 meeting and also tonight um at what point will we hear any feedback those are my two questions thank [Applause] you hello um my name is Susanna SEI from Clark um thank you for letting me speak here tonight uh I have spoken before I'm trying to not to repeat some of the things I've said before um as everybody said thank you for coming to the meeting uh in clock on July 2nd um to allow the more of the residents to be able to speak up I would like just as the lady right before me says would like to hear the feedback from you guys on what as a result of that meeting what have is there anything that has Chang change from The Proposal that was laid out to us during that meeting I understand that there's money on the table that you guys would like to use um but besides the needs of dredging and aration let's really only spend the money on what things that can improve people's lives and improve the environment not to ruin it um let's improve Life For Everyone by leaving the very rare wildlife habitat and preserves that we have in yunan County there's not too many of these let's not ruin them let's build upon this this whole area by adding more trees by removing all the dead ones by cleaning up all the swamps if you want to spend money on it let's not build this big loop that required walkways to be built um next to people's backyards supposedly that was the premise of the the project was a build a loop so therefore all these Bridges and every and these walkways behind people's backyards has to be built why maybe that part should be cancelled and with the extreme heat wave as you all know we all experiencing it together climate change is really hurting us so why are we trying to kill more trees and cut down more trees we should add trees instead so let's not cut down trees and forests to build Kitty trains and carousels and Ice Rings If you must build them build them in Oakridge Park which is only a mile away it used to be a golf course it's it's all flat land so we're not cutting down trees to build these things if you must build them uh I agree with a lot of people who says that we really don't need those things we need other things instead um so let's let's really reconsider all those active things that you want to put in the kitty trains the carousels and all that and move them to somewhere else where you're not cutting down trees at least or maybe we don't need them at all uh and and the portion of the project off the end of a residential street window plays with that boat ramp and the parking lot once again we are killing trees and cutting down trees to put in parking lots and then you you put it into the middle of the woods off at the end of a residential streets with this boat Ram to me that's you're asking for trouble as far as safety is concerned can you imagine if there's a dead end of a street in the middle of woods and there's a parking lot don't you think that there's young people going to be loitering littering um underage drinking um people horse playing and there's a boat Ram there you can get pushed into the water why are we trying to set it up set up a setting that encourage these things to happen and also all these things that you got we are building that's beyond the passive um Recreations require maintenance which means means even though you have money on the table right now to spend for Capital spending we are all as taxpayers going to be incurring forever increase taxes to maintain these things and I think our taxes are already way too high let's not spend Capital that requires maintenance let's do things that's not going to incur any more maintenance cost in the future we have heard from maintenance people at County parks that they are already stretched if we have to hire more people to do all this maintenance it means our is going to go out so please consider all these V variables and really cut down the scope of these projects to what must be done and what is what could be done to help people and help the environment not to hurt people or the environment thank you for [Applause] listening good evening can you hear me I'm Ann fredman I live in Westfield I live behind tamaka Park and I enjoy nature Out My Back Door um I'm here representing some supportive Neighbors in Scotch Plains and Westfield who want to preserve neighbors who want to preserve nature and support the Clark Reservoir committee I also uh wear a professional hat I have over 30 years experience as a professional planner and I was kind of surprised at the July 2nd meeting um because this project is due to receive a lot of federal funds and most Fally funded projects require community outreach and though although there had been some I could tell from the comments from the people behind me that there really hadn't been much of a dialogue there had been a little bit but there could be more so for instance right now I'm working on a project in Queens the Jamaica bus depot um that the MTA is constructing and they're actually monthly meetings with the people who live around the bus depot it's on Zoom so it doesn't inconvenience people and um the people running the project the engineers and the MTA people uh work very well with the neighbors and they do take their comments seriously so I think that might be a good model going forward Ward to have meetings with the neighbors I don't mean meetings like this that are basically um formal but uh working meetings where um people can work out their differences and come to um a middle ground um and finally I wear a new hat and that is of a new Grandma so I have a six-month-old grandson and when he comes to visit me if he wants to go on a train I know there's a nice one at the turtleback zoo so we'll go there but the rest of the time we'll spend with nature in our backyard thank [Applause] you good evening I just uh Tai zmer I do live on wend place I do want to voice my objection to the proposed uh cutting down of trees at the end of wend place in place of a parking lot and a boat ramp uh I'm not uh supportive of the increased traffic on my street I do have young children uh three-year-old and soon to be twoy old I've been living in Clark for I want to say since 2016 on window Place uh before that I lived in the Bronx and I was fortunate enough to live in the Bronx right uh behind Bronx Park which is a beautiful gorgeous Park and uh part of the beauty is the wooded area so you can just walk and it's pth just natural paths and it's just gorgeous and when I came here I was pleasantly surprised to see that I have this literally in my backyard so I can go out of my deck and just look at the reservoir I've seen three bald eagles Circle above my home um I posted it on Facebook U but to not Echo again what everyone else has said I do want to bring a different point on July 5th uh Fourth of July weekend very quiet 5:00 I came home from work and I hear buzzing sounds of Chainsaw and I was very uh unnerved was what I felt because of everything that's going on here and I sent my husband to investigate oh before I did that I did call uh Clark please and of course it was close to five the response I got from the Clark Police Department was this is a Union County Park let them deal with it I got transferred and to I I don't know who I spoke with but the woman said oh it's probably shade tree and I got hung up not my information wasn't taken or anything and I know it's a preserve but I don't think most of Clark neighbors know it's a preserve so I have a video looking across the reservoir seeing a tree just topple down and this went on for about 30 minutes so I just wanted to share that that experience I was not happy with it and I don't know if there's further ways we can communicate the fact that it is a preserve and the fact that this happened the tree went down and nobody cared I was very upset that's all I have to say thank [Applause] you everybody U my name is Clea Kia I'm executive director of the raway river Watershed Association um I have all kinds of the things I was going to say but most of the people said a lot of it already um I just wanted to um Express um our board's um feeling about this plan um we are all for the passive Recreation part of it um we are for the trail um but I see how it's the concept of it and the idea of it is is really upsetting to a lot of the residents so I think that's something that should be um respected um and whatever kind of Trail is constructed it should be minimal and um not intrusive and and um you know respect the privacy of the residents around the reservoir um the you again we're for Passive Recreation such as as boat launches but again the so many people don't don't really like that one near that uh but I I know there are plans for other um uh other boat launches um boat ramps so maybe there could be a compromise where um at least one is put in an area where you know where where there's no objections um that's what the compromise is all about um I you know we've talked about climate change we've talked about um well nobody's mentioned it but the heat island effect we have here is the increased temperature in urbanized areas due to lack of uh tree canopy um there's so little left and it's getting so hot um I'm not saying that you know Union County is causing um global warming but um every little bit of trees that we take down increases the temperature um of the surrounding areas um so I think it's really important to keep as many as we can um I just wna it's going to be corny but um I want to read um a quote by our 26th president Theodore Roosevelt um the nation behaves well if it treats the natural resources as assets which must be turned over to the next Generation increased and not impaired in value as president from 1901 to 1909 Roosevelt was responsible for creating five new national parks and permanently protecting 230 million Acres a Union County press release from December thir 3rd 2021 mentioned conservation areas that promote healthy biodiversity and pledged the restoration of the Clark Reservoir will serve as our generation's Legacy for the future we look forward to supporting that vision and urge the county to do the right thing thank you good evening um first of all I want to thank the attendees uh that were at the July 2nd meeting in Clark County man pleas state your name oh sure jilia Collins Clark New Jersey a 60-year resident of Clark uh the county manager Oatman County Council Bergen Victoria Drake Durban Drake administrator for the open space and Recreation blah blah and some of the Union County Employees I was concerned about the Headwater area on the original plan that was the only plan that was available to us at our town hall it indicated that the Hall Road would come out over onto the area by uh Old ritton Road I just wanted to make mention that if that is the area which it doesn't appear to be on the new map that area has a daycare center a senior housing uh Featherbed Lane school and that area there you know you shouldn't we were subject to the area where we live when they remediated Hyatt Hills Golf Course and we had that smell for a long time people that live in the area of the Headwater area they should not be sub subject to the smells of the and the debris and the vegetation I'm all for the dredging that area I've been to it many times looking at how the vegetation has taken over the Waterway and that should be the first concern is the dredging also on the new map they have that the reduction of this parking spaces from 32 to 14 and they have moved the uh County maintenance building over to closer to the area where the fishing dock will the I'm sorry the boat dock will be and if this going to be another boat ramp why are they reducing the amount of spaces when they're probably will be County trucks I don't even know if the county is going to be involved in the removal and the hauling of the debris and will the debris stay there and how long will it stay and will the D be monitoring the piles if they are there like they are in Cranford at 750 Walnut they have to be monitored by the de thank [Applause] you you don't have to you're on little change of pace here good evening ladies and gentlemen Bruce Patterson Garwood um and various golden nuggets of course uh two general comments and then the reso questions uh I'm astounded to find the state com controller recommending to Governor Murphy to hold back this year's State funding to Union County uh this is in response to the County's Defiance of the controller's recommendation to correct alleged illegal grifting being done by County Manager Oatman and finance director bbby Taylor uh instead you paid Kingston Coventry Law Firm around 150 Grand to fight the state's findings uh please stop wasting taxpayer money in your catic attempts and just address the allegations uh to the reservoir issue I I do support the Clark Reservoir committee here tonight in their efforts to stop the defor station and the destruction of the wildlife habitat around the Clark New Jersey resor I hope you're listening to their grievances I did attend a July 2nd meeting at Clark Town Hall where 150 residents turned out in opposition and many spoke uh to my dismay I saw not a single commissioner in attendance uh and note you Commissioners are actually the decision makers for this issue and none were there to assess The Angst of all residents who attended just watching the video really does not do justice uh rezos number 561 is giving wsp USA contract for 700 Grand to provide engineering for Union County Safe Streets project uh could someone please explain in detail what the 700 Grand is being spent on uh 563 is in agreement between my Garwood and the county for safety improvements to a West Street and South Avenue intersection and exactly what does this agreement entail 605 is a contract for 260 grand for Zimmerman parking lot Improvement uh this needs a lot more clarification for the public what is this expensive work for and exactly where is it reso 606 and 608 is Distributing an additional 600 Grand to three companies regarding Printing and mailing material for the election uh what's confusing is that these companies already have contracts in place for this work so there should be no costs uh these fat change orders can give an extra 20% profit to the companies which is around $60,000 of wasted taxpayer monies uh this exorb Cost needs to be explained 613 is increasing funding for prescription claims for 300 Grand to UC votek uh a month ago we just increased a prescription benefits for the next 6 months costing us $440,000 now we see the same thing for the same six months for another 300 Grand and these resos track back to reso 2023 65 which is actually for Union College so uh what gives 614 is an agreement with the fmba Union going back to 2021 uh the public would like an overview of why back to 2021 and what is the P percentages or cost impacts of this uh 617 is having the county donate 7 million to raway so they can build a 60 unit senior housing complex uh I I appreciate at least a little explanation that UPF front uh but this is good news for the rest of the towns of the county since County money basically is for all the towns and not just raway it sounds like legally each of the other County towns can claim a portion of that senior house in to offset their own affordable housing obligations uh maybe I'll write a letter to the towns pointing that out uh reso 621 is increasing Law Firm costs another 25 Grand in the matter of Beverly figuroa versus UC at L uh this rears its head again going back more than 12 years about alleged retaliation against a whistleblower in the sheriff's department the question I ask many times is what is the total legal cost acrw to date and it's got to be over 100 grand 622 is increasing one of your to your favorite law firms Hatfield Schwarz and others 25 Grand in a lawsuit matter of Megan Tomlinson versus Union County prosecutor uh this is about a whistleblower and retribution and really needs an overview for the public and even another suit cropped up recently Valerie denafo versus Union County and it's about a hostile workplace uh in Union County and I haven't seen any legal cause on that but I mean if somebody could explain the uh to the public an overview of what that's about so thank you very much Robinson and Clark um I sent a letter after attending the meeting here in in June to everybody up up there regarding several issues with the Clark Reservoir project one point in that letter I mentioned in the July 2 meeting which was that the plans that were were presented did not include the changes to the flood levels of the state passed the legislation last summer which is interesting to find out tonight that the permits were filed in April because now that information that was filed with it is incorrect when I made that comment in the July 2nd meeting the engineer who was president at that meeting he did nod an acknowledgement that those considerations were not made in the plans he did say in the comments afterwards that they can't change the level the water that's in there because in my lit to you I mentioned maybe lowerer at 3 ft would you know offset the the new um flood levels but it occurred to me with the talk about the drudging they're going to take the dirt out and dry the dirt and Chip it out maybe they could use the dirt to put a 4ft Burman along the boundary to create that natural buffer to mitigate the flooding along the the Waterway thank you [Applause] good evening uh this my name is Ellen Mulligan I'm also from Clark I want to thank the county for setting up the July second meeting um you've heard everybody's comments I'm not going to repeat them um I'm respectfully asking you to tone down scale down this project all the uh am amenities the Carousel and everything we don't we don't need that keep it natural keep it a habitat and as far as the the ramp boat ramp and parking at the end of Wendell that's a quiet old residential street leave that alone we don't need three boat ramps and we're all for dredging and cleaning up the reservoir it desperately needs it and if you put walkways in please try to keep it natural and away from citizens homes thank [Applause] you okay seeing no one else I will formally close this portion of the meeting um I'd like to ask um Rick Matas to come forward on resolution 631 I'm sorry 561 563 thank you chair uh resolution 2024 561 is a contract award for wsp they are an engineering firm uh they will be conducting a uh and preparing a safety action plan that will be countywide it will involve all 21 mun uh municipalities and the county uh and it will be uh reviewing accident data pedestrian data uh and looking at alternate molds Transportation throughout the county uh resolution 2024 563 is an agreement between the county and the burough of Garwood for safety improvements uh to the intersection South Avenue on West Street uh that's going to include the addition of a crosswalk a rapid rectangular flashing Beacon and striping thank you very much um I'd like to call our Parks director Vicky Drake to respond to resolution 605 thank you chair um Zimmerman Park is a county park it's located on Mars Avenue in Union and we are expanding the parking at that at that Park thank you if I could call up on Clara Fernandez from the county clerk's office to address resolution 60 6 and 608 thank you um actually resolution 606 7 and 8 I'll address all three of them all three resolutions are due to the untimely death of Congressman pain which necessitates an additional or a special General and primary and general election which is as a matter of fact the primary was last night um these these expenses are also going to be reimbursed to the county of Union by the state of New Jersey thank you thank you um if I could call upon director lar scari to um address resolution 6113 and 614 uh for resolution 613 this is for the portion of our claims through the Union County vocational technical schools um this is for the last contract we just renewed for another 6 months but this will close out uh they went over the estimated amount that we had estimated from the Brokers and they will get invoiced and we will get reimbursed for that thank you for 614 for the uh Union contract this is a six-year contract um for 21 22 and 23 2% increase across the board and for 24 25 and 2026 will be 3% uh across the board increase thank you Deputy County Manager Amy Wagner can you please uh comment on resolution 617 yes absolutely through you madam chair uh the county is not donating money to any project this was an RFP process these are federal funds through the home investment partnership program thank you and um County Council Bergen can you please uh comment on six 21 and 622 uh thank you chair these are both ongoing litigation matters um as we always do the county vigorously defends cases uh sometimes we move toward settlement but if Plaines will not be reasonable then we are forced to litigate and we have to pay our lawyers and that's what this is thank you and again as our um County Council Bergen stated earlier we thank you um um our members of the community from the Clark reservoir uh committee uh for coming to the meeting for expressing your concerns and we will continue to keep you updated um on the process as we go forward uh so at this time I would like to ask for a motion to adopt resolutions 2024-25 d632 so moved second a motion was made by by Vice chairwoman Leon and was seconded by commissioner Mirabella Clerk of the board please call the role commissioner bodc I commissioner granados I commissioner Kowalski yes commissioner Mirabella I commissioner Vice chairwoman Leon I commissioner chairwoman pal Mar mudad hi uh chairwoman let the record reflect you have six votes in the affirmative on all resolutions um I'm sorry County Council Bergen there was one other um topic that was brought up that I'd like you to comment on thank you chair addressing the speaker concerning the State Controllers report the statements by the speaker could not be more misleading about what really happened this is a two-year ongoing process in which the county has vigorously uh corresponded with the state controller's office defending our actions which we believe were fully and completely proper under the law uh in that time the state controller has issued reports put out press releases and taken actions uh without advising the county just doing it for publicity uh we believe in the hundreds of pages that we forwarded in response that we fully documented what we did and that is correct um many other count counties use the same process uh John denardio from the uh New Jersey Association of counties who was here earlier put out a statement supporting Union County's actions in this matter and over the course of the two years the state controller has never responded to our frequent frequent requests to meet with him and his staff to discuss this so uh I I would say that the County's position Remains the Same and that is that the control is seeking to have us do something which would in fact be contrary to the law and what we have done is correct thank you chair thank you uh at this time I would like to call upon my colleagues for comments uh I will start with commissioner Kowalski thank you chair and uh I just like to thank everyone who's come to participate in the meeting tonight and also encourage everybody I know the weather has been warm but there are many activities in all around the county which you can find out about youer Parks people many of you so you you probably know about some of them but you can uh check out the website ucnj.org um we have a change in the we1 New Jersey um location the Union County Center for we one New Jersey has relocated from 288 Broad Street in Elizabeth to a new facility on Irving Street in raway 1591 Irving Street and this location is located within walking distance of the raway train station and also uh a bus line bus stop number 29392 we1 New Jersey provides a variety of services including US citizenship application help Preparatory classes for the citizenship test and referral notary and trans ation services at low or no cost and these services are really invaluable for helping legal immigrants integrate into their communities and Achieve US citizenship so for more information about we1 New Jersey Union County Center you can also check our website or go to www.we are1 new jersey. org or you can contact the coordinator Elizabeth Montes her number is 9 8249 4360 or her or you can email her at elizabeth. n Tes ucnj.org thank you chair thank you commissioner granados thank you chair no comments for tonight commissioner bodak residents with oversee travel plans should note that the US Department of State has announced a new processing wait times for passport renewals and new passport applications the state department is experiencing a wait time of six to eight weeks for routine applications and two to three weeks for expedited applications processing times begin when this department of state receives the application and does not include mailing times which can take up to two weeks depending on demand processing times fluctuate throughout the year it is essential for international Travelers to carefully check their passport expiration dates as a minimum of six months validity is generally required before departure residents can make an appointment online for the Elizabeth or Westfield office this service is available in person and by appointment only passport photos are also available at both offices for a minimal fee of $10 each to make an appointment at either location please visit ucnj.org forcount dcer thank you very much Madam chair thank you commissioner Marabella yes thank you very much Madame chair uh the this board would like to announce the 2024 edition of family fun and flicks uh running through August 20th at warano Park in Rosel all show showings will begin at dusk with with festivities to begin at 7:30 participants are encouraged to bring blankets and lawn chairs to make themselves comfortable and claim their spot on the lawn this will be family uh friendly festivities before each movie as well as ice cream Chuck on site uh for attendees who wish to purchase a snack the schedule is very interesting coming up um the 23rd of July uh migration uh the 30th Elemental the 13th the trolls band together that's what I'm particularly looking for and on the 20th the little mermaid the 2023 version so no one's confused uh all movies will be shown on a weather permitting basis and for more more information about family fund and flex and other programs offered by the park Parks and Recreation Department visit ucnj.org Parks or call 9852775034 a presidential appointment to one of uh the national associate Association of counties um larger um committees and he's been named the uh the vice chair of the Workforce Development Committee and myself I've also been appointed to uh Finance pension and intergovernmental Affairs and international economic development but I really want to congratulate um commissioner granados for that appointment that's a big deal congratulations on the other hand I can't congratulate commissioner granos on the Columbia uh soccer team I was rooting for them I hate to bring it up again uh but I know uh much of Union County a large portion of Elizabeth rooting for the Columbia team uh and I do want to acknowledge the um the people for the Clark Reservoir and and thank them for their participation I always appreciate the constructive comments and the Civil discourse that's happening over the last couple of months so uh we're hearing um the messages I'm certainly reading a lot of the emails and uh we'll come to the the best conclusion we can hopefully that everyone can be happy with uh but I I appreciate you coming out your time's not being wasted and we are listening and trying to figure out the best path forward with that I can go includ my comment thank you County Council Bergen thank you nothing tonight uh Deputy County Manager Amy Wagner I feel like I should say something but no comments Vice chairwoman Leon thank you chairwoman um um my announcement is to announce that the farmers market vouchers are available for eligible Union county seniors each eligible senior can obtain a $50 e benefit card to purchase Jersey fresh fruits vegetables and herbs at participating Farmers Market to be eligible seniors must be age 60 and older and meet their income requirements um eligible seniors can apply by calling the Union County division on Aging at 9852775034 we just found out the gender that's all my remarks tonight thank you um so this Saturday July 20th we are going to be kicking off our first concert um with our highly anticipated concert art series um this coming Saturday we welcome the little mermen which is a New York City based Disney tribute band along with the fuzzy lemons um at oakd Park from 12: to 4:00 p.m. the little merman are a top Disney tribute band and they offer a unique entertaining and memorable experience for all ages I did see them last year down um the shore and they were really a lot of fun um they dress up in costumes they sing Disney songs it's it's a good fund for the whole family um this will event will also have Inflatables uh inflatable attractions and a rock wall along with other familyfriendly activities and games and we will have food a food and ice ice cream truck on hand for purchase for anyone interested for more information about the summer arts concert series please visit ucnj.org summer4 or you can call the Union County Department of Parks and Recreation at 908 527 4900 um and I just like to mention um there's so much that is always going on in Union County and I always like to highlight some of those things throughout the um throughout our meetings um and I wanted to just thank um all of our camps that are going on there's so many kids in Union County that are being served this summer um at our various camps we have our Trailside camps which are sold out almost immediately uh we have our camps um up at the Wang Stables which is really an amazing thing when you think about it that we have young people between the ages of I think nine I was going to say eight I knew they were young um eight and up um some of them the first time they're ever um experiencing uh being with a horse and and how to care for them and it's a super ton of work on our staff there but they do an amazing job and they love it and they welcome new groups every week um and that is not an easy task we have a baseball camp going on um along with our swim lessons we have senior swim lessons and commissioner granados and I were over in raway the other day uh taking a peek at those and the residents whether they were the little kids and their parents or the seniors were just so happy to be there and um participate and it just makes me happy to see that um we are serving our residents during the summertime as we do all year round so um I'm just really proud of of what we do and all of our staff that makes it happen I know it's been extremely hot and our Park staff um is out there uh our facility staffs are out there all day long making sure that our our County um is up to standards so I want to thank everyone uh have a great rest of July and we'll see you soon um a motion to adjourn so moved Madam chair on questions we were uh yes okay um we do uh I'm going to call our director of parks Vicky Drake thank you uh to address the question regarding the envir mental study um as was stated when we have more information about the project ongoing we will let you we will inform the public I think that was the other part of that question thank you chair um yes there are Environmental Studies done on the Clark Reservoir project as a matter of fact it's probably the largest part of our submission to the njde thank you thank you uh a question answer I'm I'm sorry you can't speak up from the audience thank you that portion is closed uh we're going to motion to end the meeting so second all in all in favor I I thank you [Music] [Music]