##VIDEO ID:y-_pc6ehedM## [Music] [Music] okay at this time I will call this meeting to order Clerk of the board please call the role certainly chair commissioner Baker presid commissioner bodek I'm sorry commissioner bodc here got it commissioner delis for pres commissioner granados what's her name commissioner gradas here commissioner Kowski here commissioner Mirabella president commissioner Williams here Vice chairwoman Leon here chairwoman pal mudad here chair let the record reflect you have nine Commissioners present for this evening's regular meeting thank you Clerk of the board please lead us in the prayer and salute to the flag humbly we ask God The Giver of peace and lover of Charity to give 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 pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation God indivisible with liy and justice for all Clerk of the board please read the statement of compliance with the open open public meetings act the chair wishes to announce that pursuant to the requirements of New Jersey statutes anotated title 10 chapter 4 section 10 of the open public meetings act adequate notice of this meeting with 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 um a motion was made by commissioner Mirabella was seconded by commissioner Kowalski Clerk of the board can you please call the role commissioner Baker I commissioner bodc I commissioner dallis hi commissioner granados hi commissioner Kowalski yes commissioner Mirabella hi commissioner Williams hi Vice chairwoman Leon I and chairwoman pal mudad I let the record reflect you have nine votes in the affirmative on all the communications thank you may I have a motion to approve the minutes of the October 9th 2024 executive session so moved second a motion was made by commissioner bodak and was seconded by Vice chairwoman Leon Clerk of the board please call the role commissioner Baker um abstain commissioner bodc yes commissioner delis forfor hi commissioner granados hi commissioner Kowalski yes commissioner Mirabella I commissioner Williams I Vice chairman Leon I and chairman pom dad I uh let the record reflect you have eight votes in the affirmative and one vote as an exstension on the minutes of uh the October 9th 2024 executive session thank you uh before we open public comment I would just like to make a statement regarding the Clark Reservoir um recently we received feedback from the New Jersey Turnpike Authority the njta about the possibility of allowing this access under the Parkway bridge the njta has made it abundantly clear they are holding Union County fully and entirely responsible for the Parkway bridge in Clark not just the underneath passage but the entire structure above and below this goes far beyond claims or issues related solely to the Waterway they are insisting that Union County assumes liability for every aspect of the bridge structure this stance is unreasonable while we are open to accepting responsibility for the issues that may occur under the bridge pertaining to the Waterway the njta demand for unlimited liability is not only unfair but also imposes a severe Financial Risk on Union County taxpayers this blanket liability exposes the county to the substantial unpredictable cost in the event of any incident accident or damage involving the bridge costs that would be unbe unreasonable to Bear we have communicated this clearly to the NTA through a letter drafted by our County Council Bruce Bergen urging them to reconsider it does not make sense for us to take on such an extensive responsibility when the bridge is part of their infrastructure we are calling on them to put our residents first and modify their position to something fair and manageable for Union County I recommend residents to reach out directly to the njta and express their concerns we are pushing for a fair solution that prioritizes the safety and interests of Union County as a whole thank you for your support and continued engagement the meeting is now open to the public for the purpose of commenting on resolutions being offered for adoption Andor 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 five limit five minute time limit good evening um Delia Collins Clark New Jersey um I had a few questions and I don't know if you'll answer them but one you just answered regarding the New Jersey t a and um we I attended the Clark Township meeting and asked if um Mr Oatman had been in touch with the um Township business administrator and as far as I know nothing was discussed on Sunday I went to the headwaters area off of Oak um Old ritton Road it is shameful take a ride I don't know how anything can exist in that area of the headquarters it is covered in green it smells no water moves and that is the receptacle for all the streams that come in from Westfield parts of Clark Scotch Plains they all go into Headwaters area and there's no movement and I know we haven't had any rain but it is absolutely disgusting you wouldn't want that in your neighborhood um regarding uh the uh document that we were able to see today uh there were some errors in that and I don't know if that should be brought up at the meeting on November 26th but I'd like to know where Madison Madison Avenue is in Clark it's Madison Hill Road um and what portions of Scotch Plains and Westfield are located within the reservoir my understanding is Clark is continues up until the railroad on the other side of the railroad that is Westfield and Scotch Plains from the railroad back to the beginning of the headquarters that is Clark um and I visit our town hall often I've never seen an updated post of the September 4th map that show showed the changes the only way that you could see it is to get onto the Union County uh site and uh that's it thank you okay good evening chairwoman and Commissioners I'm Amry howth of middlex County I am a former RN of Cornerstone Behavioral Health hospital I am continuing my duties as the union president uh until my duties are completed I'm here today to continue part two of my speech uh from SE the September meeting a couple of nurses had brought it to my attention that the county had not paid us correctly for our holiday pay per our contract we f up for them to review the payroll for all nurses working and previously employed by the county I appealed to Claudia Martin Debian Anderson Katherine Hetfield Karen dismore just to name a few over and over for months awaiting some type of response I was finally told by Claudia Martin when I received my official layoff notice in August that they had found the error and it was in review by the financial department it wasn't until my last Labor Management meeting with Administration on October 2nd that I was finally informed by Karen dismore that we were owed the amount totaling over $60,000 going back to 2019 if we had not not voice these complaints would we have been paid probably not the institutional AIDS are still awaiting uh for their own retray uh to them which they are continuously fighting for and couldn't be here tonight now I see in The Ledger the day after um the county released us that the state is spending $900,000 of leftover federal covid-19 funds to retire the medical debt for 77,000 New Jersey residents what about the healthc care workers who put themselves and their families at risk and still some of us got covid and brought it home if you Google the topic at hand you will find that district 6 Burlington and Camden counties filing legislature to provide bonuses for certain essential healthcare workers in short if the employees base salary was $100,000 or less provided Hands-On care in the Medicaid Program um during the vested period of time the employer shall pay monies not to exceed $3,000 per employee depending on their full-time part-time or per DM status also you'll see um comments made by the New Jersey Federation of nurses uh sorry by the New York Federation of nurses which are doing the same what about Union County the last meeting you were building a boat ramp where it wasn't needed um and now are you not about to save some money uh in the next two months due to the closure of Cornerstone a lease which would have ended expired this December we worked very hard during that time of covid to provide care to the mentally ill who didn't understand why was happening they witnessed the staff dressed up in PPE like we are being deployed into space this only made their paranoia worse they had to be confined to their rooms imagine being in a room with two beds no clock no TV no discussion of when you're going to be discharged day after day and the uncertainty of when will it end and no this is has nothing to do with our retention bonus as previously stated which is in our contract no one wanted to listen to us during that time so I will continue to remind you how hard it was how scary it was to be a Frontline worker during covid whoever is listening from tap into New Jersey you can contact me at she is highly favored gmail.com if you'd like to know more we're still awaiting our last check our retention bonus and our vacation payout which we are told we are getting on October 30th and I stayed in inside my time this time good evening chair ladies and gentlemen of the commissioner board various golden nuggets and Bruce this is Bruce Patterson in Garwood New Jersey uh reso 804 gives clear view data 46 Grand by the nist fingerprint management system uh the reso only notes its procurement so why didn't we just buy it direct and avoid the profit to clear view reso 812 is giving a change order of $850,000 of terminal construction increasing 15% for their $6.6 million contract for the County Parking Deck demo why is this change order generated since the scope was fully known who checks out this huge cost increase time and time again change orders give contractors hidden excessive and unwarranted profits this one probably funnels 160 Grand in in free profit to the expense at the expense of the taxpayers uh reso 816 and 817 as we saw in the previous video is given out 1.1 million in kids Recreation and Greening Union County grants to the county towns I it's it's a great idea but these matching type grants to the towns are considered dollar for dooll where the town has to come up with additional tax monies just to get their own tax money back from the county and the grants why can't the county decrease the money match to only 25% match so taxation doesn't just go up every time you feel generous with our own money especially around election time uh reso 818 is giving R appraisers 3500 for appraising the worn ankle ice rink uh why is this being appra is it for insurance purposes you're not planning to sell it uh please provide the reason to the public reso 820 is a grant of $10 million for the Clark Reservoir project so thank you very much on that uh I'm very disappointed to hear that the New Jersey Turnpike Authority come down say that the whole bridge is our responsibility I I'll tell you what's worse in the county level is the state level I mean talk about idiocy but uh I am asking who do we reach out to cuz I'm going to write a letter is it emails or whatever please uh give us the data there res 21822 increasing two election related contracts to Royal and B&B press for 90 grand last meeting you were increasing these election related fundings 300 Grand to them this is another 90 grand and all within a month of the general election why are these sudden costs and why weren't these costs anticipated upfront to avoid banging the taxpayers these recent costs apparently funnel and unwarranted excessive hidden profit of at least 75 Grand to them 828 who's the qpa in the county presently uh reso 829 is giving Civic operations group $1 million for an Outreach this company originally I believe was named MV strategies which the state comproller is looking into for improprieties of arpa covid monies back a couple years uh no results have been released to the public regular comments uh we saw recent County press release regarding the Clark Reservoir and a change of use being generated we also saw an executive session last meeting about the reservoir uh since the minutes are being released uh maybe you could elaborate what documents impacted this formal change of use of the reservoir was it a master plan the state or the DP zoning regulations uh one other question is what was the original zoning use and what is considered the use now uh since I don't know if BBY Taylor is here but if she is here um and over and she oversees the lrsa biosolid project maybe she can give the public a status report on that project and how it is being impacted by a third-party biosolid project three blocks away and five times a size uh this has been going on since around 2019 uh the public would like to know since the county taxpayers are liable for 50 million in bonding costs thank you seeing no one else I will sorry about that seeing no one else I will close this portion of the meeting and ask um Clara Fernandez to respond to 821 and 822 uh yes good evening 21 is uh amending the contract with Royal Printing um this usually we have when it comes to vote by mail we get a request of Voters approximately 30 plus 40,000 let's call it it's the tops that we get and we had built it into our budget however we did not anticipate that as of today we did have a cushion there but as of today instead of 40,000 we have mailed out over 53,000 vote by mailes applications so we're running very very low and they continue to come in by bucket FS we're no longer getting pieces of mail we're getting buckets of mailes asking for this so that's what we needed it and also we are requesting envelopes for a possible special election in January which we need to request now we just found out but we need to request it now because it takes at at least eight to perhaps even 10 weeks to get those envelopes in so we cannot wait to the next um to the next meeting to request that in terms of 8:22 uh that was uh a reprint a reprint that was needed for several of the ballots there was an error made at the local level when uh at the time of certification so those ballots had to be reprinted thank you thank you and I'll ask keny manager to respond to the various other sure chair uh for number 804 that was the lowest bidder for 812 there were some additional demolition that was required but more uh the bigger issue was some more espe aestus excuse me was found that we did not believe was there so that increased the cost for 8817 sorry 818 excuse me uh this requirement of d because we have to assess the land for for building a park land so they want to know the value that's one of their requirements and the qpa is Laura she's in the back row qwave Laura to Mr Patterson that'll be our qpa I think that um answered the questions thank you thank you uh at this time I'd like I would like to ask for a motion to adopt resolutions 224-8326 so moved second a motion was made by commissioner Williams and was seconded by commissioner bodak Clerk of the board please call the role commissioner Baker I commissioner bodc I to all and abstain on 816 and 8817 commissioner delis for hi commissioner granados I at all with abstaining on 2024 816 2024 8817 commissioner Kowalski yes commissioner Mirabella IID to all obstain on 2024 816 and 8817 commissioner Williams I to all commissioner Vice chairwoman Leon I and commissioner chairwoman pal Mar mudad I to all let the record reflect you have nine votes in the affirmative on all resolutions with the exception of resolutions number 202 24-8 16 and 202 24-87 where you have six votes in the affirmative with three extensions yes thank you at this time I would like to call upon my colleagues for their reports and comments I will start with commissioner bodak our right to vote is one of our fundamental rights here in this country and I want to remind the residents of the upcoming election day on November 5th plan your vote and then choose the option for voting that works best for you you can votee in person on Election Day the polls are open from 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. on Tuesday November 5th you can vote early in person early voting starts this Saturday October 26th and runs through November 3rd the locations of the early voting uh places in Union County can be found at vote. nj.gov or you can vote by mail apply now at vote. nj.gov and make sure your ballot is postmarked or dropped off by 8:00 P.M on November 5th for more in information please visit www.nj.org booe thank you very much chairwoman and that concludes my remarks thank you commissioner delort thank you chair the Union County Board of County Commissioners is proud to Showcase a collection of artworks by students from Community Access unlimited featured at our commissioner's Gallery right outside of this meeting room on the sixth floor of the Union County Administration Building here at 10 Elizabeth toown Plaza in Elizabeth this exhibit is open weekdays from 9:00 a.m to 5:00 p pm. through November 22nd and it highlights the creativity and talent of ca's Academy of continuing education Ace students the Ace Program offers educational and artistic opportunities for adults with developmental disabilities for more information about CA please visit www.c nj.org or you can call 98354 3040 to learn more about Union County arts program contact the office of cultural and Heritage Affairs at 908-558-2578 grant program and that concludes my reports thank you commissioner Mirabella thank you madam chair uh the Union County Board of County Commissioners invites all residents to the final household hazardous waste event of 2024 on Sunday October 27th from 9 to 2 at Union County vocational campus in Scotch Plains this free contactless event offers a safe way to dispose of items like oilbased paint varnish is propane tanks pesticides motor oil batteries fluorescent bulbs and more the Union County police will also accept fireworks and ammunition for proper disposal car bike and motorcycle tires up to eight per household without rims will also be accepted latex paint is not accepted residents can can dispose of this by drying and replacing it in the household trash proof of Union County residents is required and for more details please visit ucnj.org recycling or call 90865 4 9889 uh Madam chair I just have one last uh comment and I was asked by Nancy malter to make a an announcement um this is not from me this is from Nancy she said let's go yanies I want everybody to be abundantly clear that I didn't say it I'm just taking care of a friend in the back thank you that concludes my comments as it should commissioner Kowalski thank you chairwoman um very soon you can discover the wonders of gemstones and natural rocks at Union County's annual mineral Gem and jewelry show at Trailside Nature and Science Center in Mountainside this familyfriendly event event on Saturday and Sunday November 2nd and 3rd runs from 10: in the morning till 4: in the afternoon visitors fall ages ages are welcome to explore the displays of minerals rocks and gems it's free admission and for more information you can go to ucnj.org Trailside or call 98789 3670 um I'd also like to thank all the people who part participated in four centuries in a weekend uh chairwoman palmary mudad and I and I think maybe a couple other Commissioners uh visited some of the sites um I think there's a total of 38 different historical sites in the county and they're mostly run by volunteers and this is the one time of the year when everything is open at once and uh I got to between the two days I visited about a third of the sites and it's it's just it's a a great showcase for Union County History so um cultural and Heritage Affairs staff uh did a great job of of setting everything up and also thanks to parks and other County staff who pitched into help as was a big crowd at deserted village and also pretty busy other places and I think we all know it was a busy weekend every organization seemed to have an event but uh EV everything came through well and uh just a quick note to Tri County radio Association who had their event last week weekend um they are volunteers who uh are interested in the ancient art of radio uh which shortwave radio I mean when there's a an Emergency when the electric power is down we depend on people like the Tri County radio Association members to uh to communicate between Emergency Services I mean the county has our internal communication but the r radio people are able to really be in touch um on a broad scale when there's an emergency so we don't hear too much about them but they they perform an important service so thanks chairwoman thank you commissioner Baker uh no comments Madam chair okay commissioner Williams thank you chairwoman uh the County Commissioners will host a beyond the bin recycling event uh on Saturday November 2nd from 9:00 a.m. to 1: p.m. at Union County colleges Cranford campus that's 1033 Springfield Avenue in Lots 5A and lot 5B um residents are invited to bring acceptable items for proper recycling uh including Electronics uh plastic film clothing textiles reusable bags food waste styrofoam mattresses uh properly wrapped and pet items for donation uh for the full list please visit ucnj.org recycling if you have any questions please call 908 654 9890 um I also was able to attend this weekend the 7th annual Queen City Film Festival which uh is hosted in the great city of planfield at 3 separate sites there were a number of wonderful films by independent filmmakers um and awards Gaya evening and I'm really um glad that the Board of Commissioners continues to uh assist in sponsoring this event it's grown bigger and bigger each year it is now uh considered an International Festival as films come in from all over the world so it was a wonderful event and I'm looking forward to the eth annual so again I want to thank my colleagues uh thanks to um Lamar Maxon who also serves as the chairman of the Union County motion picture and television uh commiss advisory commission uh and that concludes my remarks thank you chairwoman thank you commissioner granados thank you chairwoman we are excited to announce that our annual Paving projects have been completed ahead of schedule in previous years some of these projects extended into March or April due to delays or weather but this year we finished early thanks to the exceptional work of our dedicated team I'd like to give a special thank you to Joseph P director of the Department of Public Works fors and Ricardo Matas our Canon engineer for overseeing the technical aspects of these projects your hard work and commitment along with the incredible efforts of the entire Public Works team have paav over 14.6 miles of roads this year alone well before the winter month set in this success ensures smoother Safer travel throughout the county and helps minimize disruptions to Residents by keeping closures and traffic delays to a minimum we are proud to continue improving Union County's infrastructure and making commutes and travel more efficient for everyone thank you to our residents for your patience and support throughout these projects thank you very much thank you chair thank you uh County Council Bruce Bergen thank you chair nothing tonight County Manager Ed openen no coun uh no council chair Vice chairwoman lordis Leon thank you chair the Union county immunization clinic is offering extended hours for free flu vaccines to help protect our community as flu cases continue to rise we encourage all residents to take advantage of these additional opportunities to get vaccinated the extended clinic hours are the following dates November 1st November 15th and November 25th the clinic will be open from 4:30 to 7: 30 at 40 Parker Road in Elizabeth located on the basement level this service is available to uninsured underinsured or medicate plan um a residents of Union County uh if you need further information please call 908 965 3868 or email uccl Clinic ucnj.org thank you that'll be all for me tonight thank you chairwoman thank you uh this morning I had the honor of being recognized along County manager edman at the retest sha charitable phy National Pharmacy week breakfast uh I know that Ed and I both were very honored to receive the 2024 mortar and pestl award which highlights the impactful partnership we've built with Trinitas Regional Medical Center RWJ Barnabas health and the retes shaw charitable Pharmacy through this collaboration we've been able to provide essential medications free of charge to residents living within 300% of the federal poverty level um in just over a year that this partnership has taken place we've served dozens of residents we've dispensed over 700 prescriptions refilling hundreds more in Saving patients um over $177,000 um it's a ton of money and the lives changed is even more impactful and significant we had residents right here in Union County that had to choose between filling a prescription for medication or buying food for their children um and now because of this partnership we uh they don't have to worry about that any longer um and if you were at our meeting last year I believe it was last year when we had retes here he is just one of the most remarkable people I've ever met and I know that we had Amy and Dennis Burke and Jimmy um join us this morning Laura um and it was just a beautiful morning it was so positive and really his kindness um I think inspires everyone to want to be better people so it was really really nice morning um very humbled to have received that um so I want to thank him and and we definitely look forward to Future Partnerships with the retest Shaw charitable Pharmacy um as uh our commissioners talked about uh for centuries in a weekend this weekend it was a lot of fun my daughter enjoyed and they let her stamp her own passport quite a few times so she was very excited to do that um I had to keep the stamp away from her then because that's permanent ink all over um uh we also I'm really excited that we have launched our second um cohort of the stories of a lifetime program with the UC pack uh we have another nice-sized cohort and this time there are some men in the group so I'm really looking forward to uh them gaining a lot from the program but then also hearing from their stories uh in the upcoming weeks um I see our prosecutor here and I know I just want to highlight the um Union C uh Union County Child Advocacy run for children which took place this weekend I could not get there but I know that we had a phenomenal turnout there were over 200 Runners and Walkers um and great support for a great cause so thank you uh prosecutor for all you do uh for our community um and I I will be there next year um and I think with that I will ask for a motion to adjourn all in favor I okay this meeting is over [Music] [Music]