good evening I call to order this regular meeting of the Veron attach Council for Monday the 2nd of December 2024 M clerk would you please read the open public meeting compliance dat notice requirement of the public meetings act has been satisfied with
respect to this meeting of the township Council were included in the public meeting notice along with the public internet link and telephone call and information second notice the meeting agenda was posted in the municipal building and sent to the official newspapers of the the ver nework times
The Star Ledger at least 48 Hours preceding the start time of this meeting the agenda in public at Verona nj.org counil meetings a public comment period in the order it's listed on the meeting agenda the instructions on how to comment will be
provided at the appropriate time thank you madam clerk call the rooll please councilwoman Holland here councilwoman McGrath here councilman Roman herey mayor maoy here mayor tamboro here
mayor also present tonight's Township attorney Bri Loya Township manager Jody Arco Deputy Township manager Kevin oin myself municipal clerk Jennifer kieren if the public could not hear Council Moran is on virtually so you can't see him but he is pres
meeting thank you madam clerk would please stand for the PGE of Allegiance I pledge allegiance to the United States of America We Begin this evening with the mayor's report and we have some presentations this evening so I'll make my remarks relatively
brief um I was fortunate to attend the New Jersey League of municipality conference some great professional development sessions down there um so it's pleasure of the presenters this year my opinion were very high quality um and we're fortunate to have those so
certainly things that we can come back in TurnKey like hope everybody had an excellent Thanksgiving it was my honor to address the interfa Thanksgiving service that uh was sampled by the front interf Council but really a lovely
evening it is one of my favorite Township events in a year um is that service and the um the togetherness that we really feel uh during that time so thank you to them for putting it together invitation like
to congratulate the Verona a team and C team football players and the cheerleaders for winning the Super Bowl um both of those teams won the respective Super Bowls against Fairfield which is a great accomplishment for
Verona and we will be honoring them at faren Square there are just too many football players and cheerleaders to fit in this room um a lot they're quite a few so we will be doing that at Fair in the Square thank you to our Township Clerk for
coming up with that idea because I was wrapping my head to figure that one out if you're gonna go outside and do it in the fridge of temperature on a Monday night um but we have that taken care of so we'll be around 3:45 doing that so if you're at Fair in the Square which many of you will hope that you'll take a
minute to honor them as well um fair in the Square by the way is coming up on Saturday it is another wonderful Verona tradition a small town of traditions that we need to keep going so hope you'll stop in favorite thing to do as mayor is to introduce Santa Claus so I
hope that you're there for when Santa arrives um the Women's Club will speak in a minute but I encourage everybody to participate and share your light night I always have to bribe that Sunset Avenue is probably the best lit Street in Verona so hope one day another
neighborhood will feat us um so please get your luminary kits and participate and we'll hear more about that in a minute and the Verona fire department and rescue squad Santa day it will be Sunday the 13th so listen for the sirens
and pop out and say hi to Santa and please don't donate some food to the food bank the firef will pick that up for you and yes Morris there will be things for you as well the fire deparm is good about giving presence out of the dogs and at this point I'll call up Mr C
our County L on good evening mayor and Council hopefully you're all doing well it's Bridget night uh I'll start with the holiday house tour this weekend and and on the agenda is Kip's Castle will be
open for free from noon to 400m and uh they are dressing it up and please come out and join us the other thing we have is our holiday lights at the turtleback zoo they are now in full
bloom and ready to rock and roll and uh please bring uh either non- perishable food for a new or used coat they are taking donations in that respect and
finally the holiday food drive at the Cherry Blossom Welcome Center on Thursday December 19th uh usually we give out about another thousand boxes of food and it usually starts at 9:00 I would recommend
getting there earlier and um there was one complaint from the deputy mayor around a hole in uh Verona Park and I I saw the hole I was there I discussed it
with the deputy mayor and hopefully it was filled up and Deputy Mayor that's my question to you if not I'll go check on it tomorrow the last couple days it's been too cold to run so I didn't go buy it well you know a good runner always keeps running I it'll give me a reason
to run tomorrow please thank you and then text let me know if not I'll follow up on that's my report anything else may any questions for k no and hopefully I can get to see it be in square well it is wonderful that we have
quite a few pieces of recognition tonight the first one is very near and dear to uh my heart as a big support of our scouting movements um so this evening we have recognition for our silver award recipients for the the Girl
Scouts uh these young women have earned the the second highest award in the Girl Scout um and part of that was doing a project to benefit the residents of Verona especially our commuters which is you know nice uh group twist Outreach uh
because that is a big part of Verona's Heritage so we have this uh identity I suppose um so we have proclamations for our three guests but before that I was wondering if you might want to come up and just tell us a little bit more about your project you don't have to but if
you would like to right right over here I believe one of the Scout had a comp yes yes Josie will not be here so there tell us tell us who you are and you can just give your first names and
um just tell us whatever you would like about your project I'm Alice my name is Maya um our project was about the we repainted the bus shelters in our town and so we started off by making sure
they got all cleaned up from all the trash that was inside of them and stickers on Windows and then with some help from the town we got the Paint and Supplies we needed and we started painting the bus stops yeah we like the whole like purpose of the project was to just make life for like communs and
overall like just people in Verona just like to have like a a nicer and more enjoyable trip when like traveling and like NJ Transit is really helpful and it's like a really valuable like resource to have and like how like like cleaning the bus stops can like help
take use of that and yeah that's what our the purpose of the product was we also put in free libraries right yes we also put in little free libraries it's wonderful well thank you ladies you can you actually can stand right there stay there because I'm G to read some nice
things about you for a minute uh so this this is how the proclamation reads and there's one for um uh for each of our young women so I'm going to read the the same the proclamation all on whereas throughout its long and
distinguished history Girl Scouts of America has inspired millions of girls with the highest ideals of character conduct and patriotism and whereas through girl scouting every girl everywhere grows strong gain self-confidence and skills for success
and learns her duty to the world around her and whereas one of the major objectives in the Girl Scouts program is to develop citizenship through Community involvement and in addition to working for citizenship merit badges girl scouts are encouraged to participate in
community service project whereas this past year eighth grade girl scout Cadets Alice Holland Maya Mahmud and Josie volani achieved the silver award which is one of the highest Awards a girl can earn and these whereas these extraordinary Cadets identified an unmet
need in our community and devised a plan to solve it their project was to increase public interest to use public transportation by ensuring a safe clean welcoming experience for those traveling on it and whereas Cadets Holland mmud and bani approved local bus shelters and
created a mini free library and worked with New Jersey Transit and the Verona Lions Club to increase visible signage near bus stops now therefore be a Proclaim that I Dr Christopher Tambor mayor of the township of Rona do hereby congratulate and recognize Alice Holland
May Mahmud and Josie helani of Girl Scout tro 20528 for earning a silver award and all citizens to pay special tribute to these young ladies these special in talented young ladies in witness whereof I hear to set my hand and cause the official
seal of the township of Verona New Jersey to be affixed this second day of December in the year 2024 congratulations ladies on the uh thing and we'll open for all the comments
congratulations congratulations stand next to your daughter oh you guys you can take your um little and we'll do do this we'll open them up yeah there you go then candyice sorry there you go so then we open it up
like that all right all right's ready than you congratulations Council there have any comments I'd like to share with our our Scouts you're more to welcome to I would like to just uh
thank um uh all three of you I know only two are here but so much for your volunteerism in our community and um I really appreciate this project when we had a crisis when the our main bus line that went to New York City went away
temporarily it was one of the um issues that I actually got contacted the most on so our transportation system especially to New York is incredibly highly valued and workers come in and out of Verona using the bus system so I
think you picked an excellent project and as someone who used to run Used Book Sales I really appreciate your Free Library it's sustainable it promotes reading and it's just lovely that we now have two free libraries on Bloomfield Avenue so thank you girls so much for
your idea and your volunteerism and I can't wait to see um future projects that you and Girl Scouts will do in our community thank you please thank you very much uh as I said the day of the ribbon cutting and
thank you for inviting us to the ribbon cutting uh it's it what you cleaned up there is a shelter and when it's not in good shape people realize it and when it's in really good shape people kind of drive by but what you guys did with the
library adding that to it really enhances it and people have really noticed it and and they actually mentioned it a couple times but you've cleaned up a shelter and people may not use it when they're they do use it when they're waiting for a bus but there are times where people just use it just to stop rest relax when they're walking the
Avenue or even by the park so it's a nice little kind of Safe Haven they can sit and relax at so thank you very much for all your hard work I just want to say thank you to your both um I know that you put a lot of hours into this project in fact each
girl that was involved in the project had to complete a minimum of 50 hours of project work in order to earn their silver award it's a tremendous amount of time and a you know total 150 hours of work among the three of you to execute
this project for the community it involved your Outreach and coordination with New Jersey Transit I know that both both of you audited every single bus stop in this town by walking up and down Bloomfield Avenue and taking photos of
of bus stops that were obscured and New Jersey Transit added new bus stop signage as a result of your work you coordinated with the Lions Club with the collective bookstore with contractors to assist you in using sustainable reclaimed wood for your uh mini
libraries this is a tremendous amount um of work and it's to your credit to have done such a really impressive project as middle schoolers um and I know that each of you is already looking at accomplishing your Gold Award in high school so I think that we will see many
amazing things from you um in the future and I'm just really proud of your leadership and I hope that you're really proud of your accomplishments because that's what matters more than anything else that you recognize your accomplishments and that you're really proud of
them good thank you ladies um next up we have another wonderful group of ladies as well uh the Women's Club of Verona so it's my pleasure this evening to welcome Connie Evans Joan Royo Maddie Strauss Mickey Lawrence lanaa Mathers Lyn
Mortimer and Rosanne Russo um and Connie if you'd like to share or anybody on your your group that would like to share's so quiet that I don't know she's be to but what you share about sh your light night and then we'll do
our thank you for having us I'm Mickey Lawrence I've been the co-chair of Sherer light night for several years with Joanne theold who's not here tonight but um it t it takes a tremendous amount of effort to do what
we do and we're not middle schoolers a little bit older than that so lifting those bag with all the sand um and this year we ran into a snag because of the fire hazards in our state and we had all
the kits made up and we had to purchase battery operated tealights and replace them in every kit so we came back to the garages we did all that um on November 23rd we
delivered 575 kids with the help of um the O confirmation candidates and some are are junior at girls so like I said it was a big effort a lot of people it's not too late to order your kit if you haven't
done so and it'll still be delivered to you but um you know the women that are here with me tonight worked so hard on this so I just want to say thank you to them thank you Mickey um it really is one of the most beautiful Nights Watch
walking around town and I encourage everybody uh it is my favorite night of the year to um to walk Verona with my dog so I encourage everybody to take take a stroll get out meet your neighbors go down to town hall which is the Civic Center is always probably have
about 500 bags out there it is it's just stunning um so thank you for that it really really builds it up and shows that togetherness that we have in Bron so uh you're welcome to to sit and relax while I read your pration okay
and so the proclamation reads whereas the Women's Club of Verona was formed as a non-political non- sectarian and non-commercial service organization to promote Fellowship social intercourse intellectual growth and cooperation and working out the vital problems of the day and whereas the Women's Club of
Verona is a member of the New Jersey state Federation of women's clubs and general Federation of women's clubs which is the oldest and largest women's organization in the world and whereas founded as the Isabella literary Society in 1893 the now Women's Club of Verona was
instrumental in the founding of the Bron public library in 1890s whereas her efforts to focus on our community by awarding scholarships to high school graduates recognition of student involvement in community service whereas the Women's Club of Verona has sponsored two girls to the girls Career
Institute residential program at Douglas College continually supports the Verona Public Library the Verona Children's Fund and the Verona Rescue Squad and fire department Verona foundation for educational excellence and many other local National and international programs and whereas on Saturday
December 14th 2024 the Women's Club will hold the 16th annual sharer light night a fundraising event originating in Mexico that is now a worldwide event and whereas Verona residents purchase luminary kits from the Verona Women's Club to display in the front yards along
curves are and driveways creating a ribbon of light symbolizing fig Community with luminaries flowing to form a ribbon of white now therefore be a Proclaim that I Dr Christopher tamboro mayor of the township of Rona to hereby recognize on a Women's Club and thank
them for their service wish them continued success as they celebrate their 131st anniversary of this year as a charter member of the general Federation of women's clubs a witness whereof I here onto set my hand and caus the official seal of the Town Rona New Jersey to be a fixed the second day of
December in the year 202 for congratulations well any ladies wouldn't mind joining us the front [Music] there you go I'm gonna together thank you you you so much you
[Music] the woman Club is probably the only group in Verona that can beat the next group that we are recognizing this evening uh which is the proud funeral home um I this is the 100th anniversary of The
Proud funeral home which is amazing it's the longest continually operating business in the township of ARA they've been in a couple places over the years um but they it is an extraordinary group um the the funeral home and the proud family is a pillar of the Rona
Community um helping people in times of need providing a valuable service and doing it with such compassion and Grace um over the years in Verona all of us spend a lot of time with the prouts um
and time the that were there because something tragic or upsetting has happened um the PRS are approach it with the same professionalism and the same compassion and caring that they do and they treat everybody like they're the
most important person in Verona so um it is such a pleasure to have you here with us tonight um if there's any anybody would like to talk to us before the proclamation come on up you know there we go our pitchell spokesperson Julia
Prout we all know my father's he has tasked me with summing up our gratitude but before I get to that I would just like to say congratulations to these amazing young women here from one Silver and Gold Award Girl Scout to to others I just
really want to offer my congratulations and please keep on achieving because our town is so much better off for it so thank you mayor tamburo and the members of the council for this incredible Honor on behalf of my family
and everyone at PR funeral at home we are deeply grateful to be recognized as the oldest business in Verona but the real honor for us has been being part of such a wonderful Community Rona is more than just a place to live and work it's where friends
become family and where generosity and thoughtfulness are woven into the fabric of daily life as we celebrated 100 years of service it was important to us to give back to this community that has given us so much from Sher light night to Verona
fights hunger week to the band festival and various Sports boosters we've been privileged to partner with so many incredible neighbors and organizations to spread kindness and support thank you again for this honor and for allowing us
to continue to be part of this amazing Community Jo I'm going to read the proclamation and we'll do the same thing and we'll all the council members will be invited to uh uh to speak after the proclamation um the proclamation
reads whereas for 100 years the proud Funeral Home has stood as a pillar of compassion care and service in Verona and the greater Essex County Community whereas the proud Legacy begins with Michael C Prout originally a carpenter and post employee in Montclair Mr proud
pursued A New Path in her funeral director's license the Renard school for Balmer in New York City and whereas Michael and his wife Mary Riley Prout began their business operating out of their home in Montclair whereas in 1924
Michael and Mary moved to Verona and open the First full service Funeral Home in West Essex and whereas the original location of crow Funeral Home was 595 pfoot Avenue across from the Civic Center and whereas in 1952 the business has moved to his
current location at 370 Bloomfield Avenue and has remained a quarterstone of Tona community and whereas in 1970 Michael and Mary's oldest son Frank and his wife Jean took ownership as the second generation to lead the family business and whereas the torch was passed to Frank and Jean's son Robert
and his wife M who further modernized the business focusing on sustainability whereas in 2005 bra Funeral Home became the first in Verona to adopt solar energy by installing solar panels exemplifying their dedic ation not just to families but to the
environment and whereas today celebrating 100 years of service to The Rona Community the fourth generation siblings Julia and Steven proud have advanced the business enhancing its digital presence and offering online planning services to better meet the
needs of today's modern families whereas in addition to providing Compassionate Care the proud family has maintained a deep connection with the Verona Community consistently supporting nonprofit and student organizations commun initiatives and whereas the proud Legacy now extends even further with the
addition of a new and unique family member Morris V Prout certified funeral home therapy dog and my favorite proud family member I love all of you as I said but this guy has a special place in my heart bringing Comfort to grieving
families with his gentle presence and contributing to our community Through visits to rehabilitation centers and nursing homes and whereas for 100 years the proud Funeral Home has stood as a pillar of compassion care and service to our community as they enter into their second
century family remains dedicated to their legacy serving the community with the same wavering commitment that began with Michael and Mary in 1924 I therefore be a Proclaim that I Dr Chris H tamboro mayor of the pwn Verona to hereby honor the proud family during
their 100th year anniversary and commend their dedication and service to the township the witness whereof I fear unto you set my hand and cause the Great Seal of the township of Rona and the county of Essex state of New Jersey to be a fixed on the second day of
December congratulations boy wait for oh look at me buddy to smile he look congratulations right one more time okay all right if any council members have anything to
answer fors before the proud stum out counc certainly just a congratulations to the proud family you are an inspiration to not only families in Verona but businesses in Verona uh the
amount of time you give back to the community is just amazing uh as the mayor said at times of need you're you're someone that everybody goes to for obvious reasons but I think the appropriate name of your business is
home and when someone passes you want to go home and that's a true feeling when dealing with your family during a time of need so thank you for all you do for Verona and for what you do for the rest um and I just want to um add and
thank you for not only continu continuing the legacy of having your business here but for that huge impact that you've had on the community you mentioned not only many recent events that I've attended that I've seen you support I want to acknowledge all of the hard work and support Bob has put into
the shade tree commission um for 25 years more years so 1979 1979 um and I first
became and I first became aware of your whole family through the junior Women's Club of the perona where you have such a strong Legacy as well seeing mother and daughter here um and so I just uh thank you for all of your service and what uh you bring to the community and now
adding a new level with Maris which um is really actually brought compassion in a time when we need more compassion to a new level especially community so thank you a new level also is mik as husband of
J I would just also add thank you so much for all of your service to the community there's little more that I can say that hasn't already been said but you are a tremendous um asset to this community and so I look forward to 100 more years of present in the township of
Verona so congratulations um and your legacy is is very impressive so thank you so much thank you everybody thank you everyone good night mrov thank you mayor ever my found in front of you and we'll have two items
to discuss in close session and Deputy manager kin will review all the projects we have here highlights just good evening everyone uh the the uh quick update on the pool we
will be cheing out some Communications to SCH membership regarding uh 25 grade study they'll be going at the membership this week uh we have a bond ordinance supplemental Bond ordinance for second reading on the agenda tonight and a contract
authorizing um the relining of the main pool on the agenda as well uh number of Wastewater updates uh we received bids for the primary clarifier Pump Station Improvement on November 22nd we had
three bids there is a resolution authorizing an award of contract on the agenda for tonight uh the three bids were balanced and competitive and uh actually a good deal lower than what the engineers estimate was as
well um number of other projects still remain underway uh with the Wastewater Plant um shum we have uh some upgrades to a emergency repairs to a collection system
trunk line uh they are scheduled to proceed uh we were thinking they were're going to be mobilizing this week it may be early next week but there are some mergency repairs to the 20-inch sewer line uh which runs parallel to Derwent
Avenue we'll be undertaking those before Christmas uh L Drive well is uh scheduled to return to service this month and we are hoping we'll have Fairview Avenue well out to bid in the very near future we're just wrapping up
the last a hoping to get the final approval from Green Acres in the coming weeks uh clarage Drive pump station is another project that's been kicking around for some time we are advertising bids this month uh we plan to have bid opening January 22nd for the Claridge
Drive Clum station um we received the grant for uh repaving of do terce after glow away in Summit Road uh that Grant amount from V loade was uh just over
$330,000 uh we will be uh starting on Project planning for that project additionally Lyon Avenue the temporary demonstration project is over we're waiting for the njtpa to provide their final recommendations uh for traffic calming
and pedestrian safety measures ever field continues underway uh we are expecting 70% design drawings at the end of the month we look to schedule meeting with uh Township Council either in January or February depending upon when we receive those
plans uh that lines that project up for Capital planning in 2025 um quick update on pickle ball and Tennis Courts there is a supplemental Bond ordinance on the agenda for tonight
uh there's also um the companion award resolution contract for the award of a Construction contract for the Reconstruction of pickle ball Courts at the pool uh few updates on some of our stainable initiatives um the energy
audit team that is assessing all of our facilities they've been a little bit um slowed down by the Wastewater Plant it's a little bit more of a complex audit than they were expecting but they are expecting to be complete with that final facility mid December we'll schedule presentation from that team uh sometime
in the new year and uh we do expect to have our consultant back in before the Town Council at December 16th meeting to provide an updated presentation on the uh the solar um the potential solar projects
for the township uh we're also underway with our community energy plan uh we're working with our consultant on putting that together uh Lakeside Avenue parking lot uh was another uh project that is uh advancing we have a little update we
have a received a $1 million grant for the acquisition of the property from the njeda uh that acquisition will uh be coordinated with the church and um the
Township in the coming weeks project is currently under design and we'll present the final design to the council before we put the project out to bid later this winter um uh we also have uh last update I'll I'll
provide for my report is the town hall windows and repointing project again there's a reappropriation bond ordinance to reappropriate unused funds from prior Bond ordinances uh for second reading tonight uh this allows us to advance
both phase one and phase two of the Town Hall window replacement and repainting needs uh this uh is also accompanied with the companion authorizing contract authorizing the award of a contract for
that project as well thank you any questions Mr Cil um yes here so on the emergency uh trunk line replacement off of Derwent with the cold weather is that going to
get the Le well the the contractor was actually hoping to start this week um because there is uh a little bit of uncertainty with the forecast for Wednesday night uh they were looking to get past that potential weather event
and start the project next week and then on the turning the lind Drive well on that's like a major that's like a major milestone in a very long journey that we've been on we just like put the switch and it's on I'm assuming there's more complex project process no so there
is um a lot of the new equipment and processes that were installed in the last several weeks the the longest lead time was the manufacturing and the delivery of some of the holding tanks and and the filtration systems
those were received the beginning of November uh the contractor has been working um constantly since the delivery of those those tanks to get the um all the valves pipes fittings connected so that way the well runs through this new
um this new cleaning process the pumps and the well and the entire process it's been going through tests over the past several weeks um from what I understand what I've received from the
uh inspecting uh engineer is that the the tests have been coming back favorably we have a followup meeting with that engineer scheduled for Wednesday of this week uh so um the contractor has not requested any extension so we are
EXP expecting that as he continues to finish up each of these installation elements and as the tests progress uh we are expecting to put the well back online putting putting the the pumps back into service so we are wrapping up the final few
testing measures of that uh that project but we are on on schedule and does New Jersey D have to sign off or we're just good to go uh the well this is an ibank funded project um we will need to um
submit a return to Service uh uh certification to the state that'll be handled by aing uh once that gets uh returned to service by um DP ibank everybody will be
notified of of that okay thank you any other questions for Mr thank you Mr moving on to your council member reports probably pretty sure just a reminder obviously fair and square
to uh the league municipalities this year was uh as stated the seconds were very informative this year also I always enjoy Walking the Floor to the vendors uh there's always some good uh ideas on what we can do uh with some technology
things in town so we have them in the back of our head to sh there uh had a historic preservation Commission meeting uh last Thursday they are still uh looking for uh people in town who have historic
homes uh they are targeting two more homes to hopefully get on the registry and uh they'll be pursuing that I don't think through December but in January uh and then lastly uh on Wednesday this week the Chamber of
Commerce has their uh a meeting at 8:30 in the morning in the annex we're moving it a week early so we can prepare for fair in the Square uh so it's not going to be the 11th it's the 4th and 8:30 welcome anybody who owns a business you don't have to be a business on
Bloomfield Avenue a lot of home businesses uh are members of the chamber and it's a good way to get exposure uh through our social media campaign that we've been doing for the last uh six or eight months and it's been very successful and that is all I have for
receiving what day is this oh sorry we Wednesday :30 is all right uh C romen thank you very much um just wanted to say I'm very excited for fair in the Square I promis to attend that one in person and not on
Zoom um so that is like the mayor said it's just a just a great day in Verona um also wanted to recognize uh it was great to see a full parking lot at the Verona Flats um again that was a project that was a you know very long road and it's great to see that we have residents in there and I hope that the new
residents feel very welcome to Verona um excited to see the rest of that uh Building open up and uh the developer did a great job of constructing that complex so that's a nice addition to Verona and that's all I have for this evening thanks C councilwoman McGrath
thank you um I too attended the league of municipalities and attended a lot of great sessions in particular on affordable housing and energy planning and a great session on a municipal building that Hamilton um is currently building which I think
there's a lot of applicability to what we're doing um I also attended as I like to the state legislature session with top leaders from the assembly and the Senate where they spent most of their time talking about affordable housing and tax reform uh this is the only
training that we receive so I know many of my colleagues attended and it's always a good um couple of days of exchanging new ideas and learning something new I want to thank Congress and mcgyver um who was in Verona profiling and spending time at two local
businesses uh the Collective Book Store and doce Marie um and she really spent some quality time um understanding the needs of our business owners and then she profiled them on social media um she's also having listening sessions um
for uh members of the public from her District they will be on Zoom uh the Verona session is on Wednesday at 5:30 I believe our municipal clerk has the information on how to attend uh but you can also find um a sign up form on her
social media I also attended the interf Interfaith Thanksgiving and I want to thank the uh clergy Council for pulling that together it is really a beautiful event uh showcasing the diversity um and strength of our
community yes um this weekend was small business Saturday and it's um I once again uh went from retail business to retail business speaking to business owners and I did my own profiles of them on my social media uh this is one of my
favorite days of the year and the business owners really appreciate the support um it's a chance to really connect on um how things are going I did get some good suggestions which I will pass on to the administration I do encourage for owner residents to shop
locally this holiday season we have everything from clothes to books uh to specialty food items to Home Care to Vintage um so we really have everything for your gift needs um and just to profile besid fair in the Square at the same time um the friends of the library
book sale will be going on it starts on Thursday and runs through Sunday this is another great sustainable event that actually promotes our library and helps raise money is event an event near and dear to my heart because I ran it for many years um and I will be in attendance picking up a lot of books I
hope to see you there and also I want to just thank the junior Women's Club of Verona for once again thinking about our our Verona residents in need their wish trees are up at several local businesses they have direct gift wishes from Verona families that right now are having a
hard time um and I do appreciate appreciate them for once again um organizing this very comprehensive uh giftgiving event and that's my report thank you councilwoman holl thank you um I was at the league of
municipalities as well and I did attend a number of sessions including interesting ones regarding the use of AI in government as well as other advancements and technology and efficiencies that could be beneficial to our community and other I was honored to
read the Thanksgiving proclamation of the Interfaith um Thanksgiving service which is in fact quite a beautiful service and I do encourage all residents to attend I do hope that everybody had a happy and healthy Thanksgiving and I want to thank congresswoman MacGyver's
office for their proactive Outreach um to our community as well as their attendance at Verona's fair and square this weekend I think that's really impressive to have our congresswoman so actively engaged in our community um and I also just want to give a a plug for
the hbw chamber group that will be performing at fair and the square as well on the step of the Town Hall so if you have an opportunity to listen to them play their Christmas music they have been practicing for months so I hope that you enjoy it thank you thank
you council at this point I'm going to open the meeting to public comment on any item that any member of the public wishes to bring forth Council Madam clerk would you please read the public participation statement wishing to speak on on any matter please raise your hand by
pressing the raise hand button on your monitor or if ending in person please raise your hand before FR recognized state only your required to provide your street
address however if you do please note that these meetings will be posted on the Township's YouTube channel the addresses will not be redacted for any purpose you have four minutes to address the council there can be no cross dialogue during this public por after everyone wishing to speak has been heard the council May address your
comments Andor your questions thank you madam Clark anybody the gallery Paul try grown in New Jersey you know I can't pass up chance uh my questions are guess might be for uh Mr Sullivan I guess but the
solar panel study that uh or the solar study that we've been doing um a few meetings back I don't even know how long ago but somebody mentioned uh one of the council members mentioned that there were unused solar panels that we bought previously and if they were just sitting
around and if we were able to do anything with them because that was just you know it would help the cost so uh the unused solar panels what's going on with them and then uh awesome to hear about the well but uh when will the well
uh affect the residents like when are we going to know about like sech Charges going away waiting for the other well or stuff like that so that's really my only two for right now trans else from the
gallery anybody at home I'll say like I do on the wedding speak now for no okay at this point I close public comment um Council Mor Roman thank you since uh I think he was referring to
some comments I had made about the solar panels um there was an old solar system at the wastewater treatment plant that was deliberately taken out of service due to issues with the panels uh that system is probably at least 20 years old so there's not really going to be any
recovery value in it and those panels are not something that um you know that should be reused so any solar that we we do would be would be current product so that's that's the status of that system it should not be put back into
service I can address the um that we heard about a little bit about the timeline on the on the well but as far as the rates go the bring that well on on the schedule was included in the rid study that uh informed the new water and
solver rates that we have so there there won't be any change in your um in those rates at this point for the r payers Mr s anything else to no that's that's correct okay uh now we are going to move on to the hearing and Adoption of
ordinances Madam clerk the first ordinance is number 20 24-37 would you pleas read the title of this ordinance is the record Bond ordinance providing a supplemental appropriation of $195,000 for the Improvement of pickle ball pennis courts including equipment
in by the township of Verona and the county of S6 New Jersey and authorizing the issuance of $195,000 bonds or notes of the township to finance the cost thereof K would somebody like to move this ordance so move motions made by the deputy Mayors or a second second second is made by
councilman McGrath this time I'll open the public hearing on ordinance number 20 24-37 the same public comment statement applies that was previously read however all comments must be confined between this ordinance and the meeting is
just come up here state your name don't tell USA don't tell us your address uh so Jamal mmud I live in Verona uh before I get to well can I just say thanks for the proclamation for my daughter was very nice of you thank you well we'll give you one
time this thank you back to the topic uh so yeah just just because I'm here you all know why I'm here I appreciate that I've had the chance to speak with pretty much all of you about this um just want to thank you on behalf of the Community for um you know considering this project I know you all have a lot of priorities
to balance here in the town to to keep everything going but uh we appreciate your paying attention to this particular thing so hopefully um uh this is all uh in the plans tonight and uh for the rest thanks thanks to all of to help uh help us get the best result we can I
appreciate it than y any other couple comments on this morning couple comment I uh start off by just offering a comment we did hear a lot of the community and I have to say in my entire time on the council this is probably the most emails I've gotten on
one issue um and uh I just do want to clarify that the council previously actually did allocate money for this project and it went up so a lot of people were asking you know about why it hadn't been done whatever and that's because when we put these products out
to um we we get estimates on the project cost and then they actually go out bid um you know different things come back and we learn of other expenses and everything is getting more expensive by the day so um it is very important to
do this I I am excited to vote on this it is a lot of money it's about it's over a half million dollars when we put everything together but at the same point uh we have spent a lot of time investing in a variety of infrastructure in our municipality um and Recreation
infrastructure certainly something that we should be doing uh um and it has been you know a long time since we've actually really invested in in a piece we have a couple other projects coming up um in in a time where Fitness is so
important uh it is just fantastic to see how many people are participating in the sport or at least telling us they are um there was one comment though that I did want to bring to the attention of the council and potentially discussion on a minute uh there are a couple residents
that asked about restricting access uh apparently sels does this and restricts access to Residents uh Mr diarco is our experienced manager I don't know if this something that were done or dealt with but I did want to bring that question for you to comment on for those residents who have asked about thank you
m resident uh U policies are in place um previously on the old existing system we do have a locking system with a code it will get more sophisticated with the introduction of computer access but it
is for Resident only so I hope that that answers those questions and certainly uh we'll keep that facility an operation for a long time May other Council comments yes deputy mayor uh thank you Mr Mayor uh at
first and I talked to several in the pickleball Community about this I thought it was just a huge amount of money for what we were getting here uh doing a deep dive into it and looking at really what's got to be done there uh I'm thinking you I know that you have
because of the elevations of this property you're dealing with retaining walls so it's adding a when you're dealing with retaining walls it adds a cost to any project uh but also to exactly what you said Mr Mayor I don't think I definitely have not gotten as
many emails on any one Topic in Verona than we have on this uh and they're still popping up during the meeting uh so we we have quite a few out there uh we did uh receive very few against it
one or two uh but not really against it but questioning uh how we're doing moving forward and you brought up the one thing I think you were looking at my notes but uh I'm happy we're going to address that and and make it for Verona residents uh but there are other things
you know maybe we can do through the rec department as far as like educational classes to maybe generate some revenue from this also and pick time s not Saturday or Sunday morning when it's going to be used by the uh pickle ball Community but I am definitely uh seeing
how many people are involved with this uh obviously I worry about tax dollars but seeing how many tax paying residents are all for it uh I am also uh on board with it that's it Council mcra uh thank you um I've been happy to be an
enthusiastic supporter of uh renovating these courts from the very beginning uh this is unfortunately another example of how we let our existing infrastructure go too far um I have not been pleased that our existing um resents had to play
you know we had to do a safety fix by basically Paving it with asphalt just to make sure that no one got hurt um as we waited to design and then finally get the approval for this project so I'm very excited to support this tonight um we do already have Recreation classes
that normally are held there I do look forward to having a broader conversation about Recreation and and the scheduling because I know those classes actually for children normally actually cap out and sell out very quickly so maybe we can expand capacity uh by using these
Courts for both Recreation educational purposes for leisure for all the um the leads that we have um and um I look forward to addressing future Recreation needs um that we have in our Township thank you
that's thank you I I likewise have been a longtime supporter of of renovating these pickle ball courts I do think it's um tremendously important for us to invest in our infrastructure in this community it is a topic that I ran on and I've served on the recreation
committee for the last four years um and I've seen the enthusiasm for the pickle ball um for pickle ball as a sport but also just that pickle ball community's enthusiasm which is evidenced by the number of emails that we have received today so um I think it's really
important for residents to have their voices heard so other residents should you know follow this example because it was tremendously effective to hear from so many residents um about this topic um I'm very pleased to vote for it but I do
want to acknowledge that yes it is a cost increase and part of the problem with the Kick the Can down the road approach is that you're either going to pay more now or you're going to pay an awful lot more later and unfortunately the situation that we found ourselves in in the town of Verona with having had
prior many prior examples of that kick the can down the road approach is that we have had to pay a lot more later so I'm also optimistic that we have an Engaged um Recreation advisory committee um that will be working with our Community Affairs department and the rec
department to ensure that we do have appropriate kind of capital planning to make sure that we have the investment in our important Recreation infrastructure on kind of a more regular basis so that we don't get to the point where things are so deteriorated that we have to do
like a full rebuild um we should be doing regular maintenance so that we don't get to this point nonetheless I think it's tremendously um important for us to move forward with this and I'm very um happy to to vote for it so thank you Council Roman thank you very much uh
when I look at investment in Recreation facilities I always look at um what the likely utilization of the investment will be and I'm very confident in this case that these are going to be heavily used I do appreciate all of the comments um both Pro and some con uh there are
obviously a lot of competing priorities if we weren't investing dollars here there would be something else in wck we could also spend money on and we have to make choices as to what we do even if these were to stay as tennis courts they would still require a rebuild for safety purposes uh in this case we're being
reactive to a uh to a current use and a likely use so I do look forward to these going together uh we did discuss you know project management costs overhead costs Etc um every time that we do these projects we try and get a little bit better about our cost estimating and our
project management process um I'm satisfied for what we're getting here given the extent of the site work required um as the deputy mayor stated there's a lot more going in than just the courts here in order to make these last a long time um so I'm going to be I'm pleased that we're going to be doing this project right and I look forward to
it to it being a successful job and a long lasting amenity for the residents of the township so I'm proud to support this as well CL call Council woman Holland yes councilwoman McGrath yes councilman
Roman yes Deputy Mayor M yes mayor choro yes mayor ordinance 2024 37 passes 5 and it will be published according to law thank you madam clerk the next ordinance the agenda is number 20
24-38 on second reading would you please read the tit of this ordinance into the record a bond ordinance providing a supplemental appropriation of $225,000 for the Improvement of big pool for the pool utility in by the township of Verona in the county of nessex New
Jersey and authorizing the issuance of $225,000 bonds or notes of the township to finance the cost thereof thank you madam clerk would somebody move the ordinance please is made by councilwoman Holland and the second is by councilwoman McGrath this time open
for the public hearing on ordinance 2024 38 the same public comment statement applies related to comments on this on I will close public comments any Council discussion Council one Holland I'll just
say that I think it's really important for us to be investing in our full utility um I do know that the rec a advisory committee and a subcommittee thereof have been spending a tremendous amount of time analyzing the costs that
it takes to run our pool facility and appropriate rate structures going forward and while we've been sitting here this evening an email would have gone out to pool members if not all residents in the community regarding the cost implications of running that
utility it is an important part of our community for many people it is a defining aspect of their summer and a big part of what it means to be a resident here in Verona so I do think it's incredibly important for us to continue to invest in this asset and for
us to ensure that it is run effectively um so I just want to recognize those residents that are working on the pool rates um and how these Capital Improvements such as the one that we're voting on this evening are ultimately funded by those pool membership fees um
so thank you that concludes my remarks thank you I was going to bring up the same item that this does come from our rates that are being paid on the pool this is not coming from the Township's capital budget directly so Town spare dollars are
not any further discussion on cler Roll councilwoman Holland yes councilwoman McGrath yes councilman Roman yes Deputy Mayor M Boy Yes mayor tamboro
yes Mar 202 24-38 passes 5 to Z will be published according to law thank you madam clerk the next item on the agenda is ordinance number 202 24-39 on second reading would you please read the title of this ordinance into record reappropriated 140,000 proceeds of
obligations not needed for their original purpose in order to provide for the repointing of the township hall and by the town OFA and the county of Essex New Jersey thank you madam Clark do somebody moove the ordinance please is made by the deputy mayor the second
is by Council woman McGrath this time for public comment on this ordinance only same public comments St FES anybody like to talk about firsts we no comments about bricks and mortar I thought we'd get a little more public participation on that but not
nearly as exciting as pickall any Council discussion Council MRA I will just say to kind of wrap up the theme of these three ordinances I think we're making great strides and I do want to credit our Administration and our town manager Joe diarco for you know really
kind of getting all of this backlog of projects you know planned appropriately and now financed and you know and then moving on to construction phase it's just there are just as the public can see a host of um issues that we need to
deal with with infrastructure and we do uh need to um prudently but aggressively address each one of these things this is you know it it sounds like you know I was like what is reining but we have water that's coming into town hall and that water caus with a lot of problems
um and so this is going to fix that and we need to have a safe working environment for our sty so thank you very much for um bringing this um and I look forward to this project being done next year um and um I look forward to having future conversations about
infrastructure Improvement thank you CL sorry sorry Council Roman go ahead uh just also wanted to uh recognize the deputy manager as well just we uh the councilwoman spoke about our project pipeline um Mr ulvin has just been doing an outstanding job in terms of getting
all these projects through execution um and completion so just wanted to make sure we recognized him as well coun and thank you Deputy manager now you can call the role Madam
councilwoman Holland yes councilwoman yes councilman Roman yes Deputy Mayor maore yes mayor Toro yes mayor or 202 24-39 says 5 to Z and it will be published according to law
okay thank you madam Clark the next item on the agenda is ordinance number 20 24-40 on second reading which please read the title of this ordinance into the record amending chapters 14036 no parking certain hours 14038 time limit
parking and 14068 parking meter private parking zones designated thank you m cler would somebody please meet this ordinance motion is made by councilwoman McGrath is there a second a second
second is made by the deputy mayor now it's time for public hearing on ordinance number 202 24-40 public comment statement applies no public comment I close the public hearing at this point any Council discussion deputy mayor uh just a thank
you to the police uh Chief and the police department and management for their time to go through this and clean this ordinance up uh and bring out all the uh stes in the past we change things so it's good to have it uh cleaned and
shed up thank you Council McGrath uh yes I just want to say that I'm excited to support this I hope this alleviates some of our parking issues in our town center complex between the municipal building library and the middle school it's a source of a lot of complaints I have driven around
um having trouble finding a parking spot midday and hopefully this change on gou Street will be one that is welcomed by residents and will help uh people uh do business more efficiently um in those three buildings thank you thank you
clerk call councilwoman Holland yes councilwoman McGrath yes councilman Roman yes Deputy Mayor yes mayor tamboro yes mayor ordinance 202 24-40 passes 5 and willing
to all right the next item on the agenda is ordinance H1 on first reading Madam clerk would you please read the middle of this ordinance an ordinance authorizing the revision of the 2025 municipal election date from May to November thank you
madam Park will somebody move the ordinance for discussion so move motions made by councilman Holland is there a second second secondly by the deputy mayor um I will open for any Council discussion on this item I guess the
first clarification is we actually have two different versions of the ordinance we have the original drafted version and then uh councilwoman Holland uh made some very good U suggestions that is on a separate red line so that is the blue
red line that have blue blue line um the I think most of it was to align this with the actually uh the township attorney sent red line of the red line to actually conf sessions at the start
of the meeting I believe yeah the council knows the the sub substance of the ordinance hasn't changed but we've changed the uh the format the format of it where it now reads the ordinance will read as follows and has how go into our
code okay all right um I think most of yeah has subst changed the only I think the big thing and we had a an email about this was this does include um any reference to the
um the the boards and committees anything that's June 30th being moved to January for um board and committee expirations um and I think there the end do it so my only question on this was we put in there that any references to that
would be considered January but then potentially we would have conflicting language in the code where we going to amend the code based on this this ordinance can do all of that originally it was just drafted it seemed like it was referencing that but now it's actually doing all so we could do it in
one false okay well that's a lot more efficient so thank you to our warriors uh both on the council and our Council Council for their assistance in that um so we are going off then the revised
H1 um any Council other Council discussion I just do want to address one item on my own um for uh members of the public when this was brought up by our our manager
several months ago um I was one of the undecided uh individuals and I needed to see certain things and data including a voter turnout um I wanted to answer some questions to make sure that we wouldn't leave anybody
behind um so people that traditionally vote in May I wanted to make sure that people who vote in May would also vote in November and I did a side by-side analysis of May voter turnout and a a um a non-oral vter turnout year for like the
assembly elections and you know there are a couple differences there but obviously we can't account for all of that because some people just may not haveed um and I saw that that was helpful so it's helpful to have that data that analysis after getting it um I also had the opportunity to speak with
uh C from another municipality that made the change and were're able to share uh their anecdotal experiences which was uh very helpful in bringing my decision to that end um I will say that the you know speaking to residents there's a lot of
positive feedback of it I will note for the record just one concern is that um there is concern that this might bring with it partisanship into the Municipal elections um and I think that is a a
valid concern because the municipal nonpartisan elections which this is not changing um and make them partisan will happen at the same time as partisan election the the counter to that and this is something that I know a lot of people are concerned about is that our school has been nonpartisan F and it
moved um recently in the last during the chis chrisy Administration when school districts were um incentivized to move their elections to November so got public TS on the ballot Board of Education did move its own elections so this is not the first time we've actually seen a move like this in town
um and while there are obviously still some potential you know partisan influences um you know they they have been able to do it so um I will be calling on the the uh the heads of both of our uh our Republican and Democratic
uh committees in the township to ensure that they and request that if this ordinance is passed that they communicate with their members especially the their um uh the representatives from each of our voting districts to ensure that the
uh political parties support a nonpartisan election and deliberately remove themselves from a conversation about it um obviously one of those um party Representatives is here in Council McGrath so I made the statement and I
will if the ordinance passes out to uh a republican counterpart and request the same thing because that is the one thing that I heard from most people is that they want to make sure that there is no significant partisan influence and this is a um an expectation I think the
community has for both so I did want that on the record and listening to people's concerns um and I hope that that's something that uh will be able to be handled in that way otherwise I think that the the ordinance is a a good
process in uh and be able to save some money um and our timeline is very similar to if we had put this out to referendum I did not believe and I think going to Mayor merus Ryan's point is that the municipality Els us to make these
decisions I did not believe a referendum was necessary um and I still don't um but we would be on the same timeline approving today as we put have a referendum had gone by the time we got certified election results so we're on the same timeline there so just my
thoughts that I wanted to share um in getting this um getting this onto the agenda and I thank our municipal clerk and our Municipal attorney for being able to turn that around to meet the timeline um we do have the pass tonight
and then on uh the next December so that we can uh advertise into all of that in order to move the election for this year because um otherwise the council packets go out in January traditionally so we um so
that's my comments I just want to provide that for context any other comments yeah mayor you uh without being repetitive I just I also my big concern was uh keeping it nonpartisan that's the big one has been for quite a while since
we changed it former government back in the 80s so I was I hope that it stays that way uh and it doesn't go in any other direction uh the only other thing that uh the big concern was was our financial burden of this which is up
over 75 or close to $80,000 per election uh and we share the county costs with uh other municipalities so knowing that at that time in May every other year there's three other M two other
municipalities that share that cost uh if one of them drops out uh and they're going to have to worry about this with us uh that if one of them drops out our costs are you know with cost Rising they're probably going to double so $150,000 for an election is a lot of
money so I think we'd rather be proactive rather than wait and have to spend that money for one cycle so uh that's why I was had my thoughts on this also and brought it to this table thank you
Council mcra ah thank you um well I have a couple thoughts to share um you know I I think it's important um for me always to engage the voters so I am I am
continued to be disappointed that we did not do a voter referendum um on this matter we had incredible voter turnout in November we had over 9,000 residents vote out of 13,000 we had turnout at 68% of our
voting electorate is one of the largest turnouts in Essex County um and I want to thank all of the voters who did come out um I think it would have been a wonderful um educational and engagement opportunity to solicit feedback from
those 9,000 individuals and certainly what I'm hearing today and I I really appreciate that my colleagues have come around to some of the logical arguments that our Administration laid out and things that I have discussed found in May and June um and you know I think
that's one of the great things about governing sometimes you get um some new information and then you revise your positioning um so I am really proud that we're getting to this moment um but on the flip side I I do believe really strongly I just want to make the point
it's great to get feedback from other elected officials but nothing would have been more valuable than getting 9,000 um residents to aine on this issue in a in a non um binding way um with
that said um you know there's talk about well if another municipality leaves we're gonna have increased cost well South Orange actually already voted to finalize leaving their yeah so they they uh as of last Monday they had their second reading of
their ordinance they are now moved off of the May election cycle so you know should we um should this ordinance not pass at the next meeting we will be facing even increased costs um if we stick with the May election um in terms of
partisanship uh since I was directly mentioned um as chairwoman as the of the uh Bron and Democratic committee uh the Bron and Democratic committee already has uh written policy to not endorse in nonpartisan elections um both for Town
Council and bordered full stop so that is not the function of political parties um but the political parties do play a role in voter education in terms of hey voting's really important you're going to be voting on these types of things um
the brona Democratic committee for example in the past talked about uh when we had to increase our open space tax fund we educated voters hey you're voting to um on the open space tax they didn't take a position on what they should vote for but the position is
education to make sure that voters are informed and I think that's a good thing um and so certainly you know we can go on from there but what I will say about partisanship is this will really be dependent on candidates so there's one aspect which are political parties but
the other aspect are the candidates who are running and other candidates will be running in November and they can make those choices if they want to be photographed with those candidates are running for partisan um County and state or uh State
position um and so those candidates will have to make those decisions and it'll really be up to them so there's many aspects of partisanship I'll just end to with even in May partisanship had already seed in so I've shared this anecdote many times but I was certainly
asked you know I knocked on over a thousand doors on both elections and some residents really really want want to talk partisan politics with you even when you say no this is a nonpartisan election they say I don't care I I really want to know you know what are your positions so uh it's it's um it's
unfortunately a function of politics today I look forward to more of this vote but what I'm really looking forward to is residents aining on this in the next two week period I look forward to robust feedback on a decision that will be a 10year decision for this uh
Township so I do encourage residents to use the convenient form on our website to um send feedback to all five members of the council equally thank you m I think everything's already been said
however I would just encourage both the clerk and the township attorney to thoroughly read the redlined version to ensure that we catch any typos and formatting errors that may still linger um as we did have some last minute changes earlier today but I also want to
thank the township attorney as well as the municipal clerk for and mayor tamoro for hearing my concerns about the initial draft of the legislation I think it's really important for our legislation to be clear um and transparent um because one of the
effects of uh moving the election is that it would effectively extend the term of everyone sitting on this St right now um because we would otherwise be subject to a May election and a July 1 reorganization this pushes it out six
months so I think it's important for that to be very clearly stated in the legislation and for residents to be aware of that aspect of this change I do think it's an incredibly important thing for us to do for this community because it helps to not only save us money but
it really consolidates the voting process in November you have access to early voting you have a lot more um opportunity to vote in May it is we do not have early voting available um it is an
unusual time for residents to be thinking about voting um and so you know I've certainly knocked on a number of doors and you know it presents you know some challenges for for residents I think this is a great opportunity to kind of consolidate the voting process
and it provides a an important Financial efficiency for the community because as we've said the cost of these elections have gone up significantly over $100,000 so so thank you Council Roman thank you um I share some of the concerns that
were uh brought up regarding the potential for partisanship to bleed into these elections I have sort of very firmly defended the nonpartisan nature of our municipal government I too have been always asked on doorsteps what party I'm a member of and I've always had sort of the same answer which is for
the purposes of this election neither um I think that it's for this community it's important that we maintain this nonpartisan municipal government um obviously we have the capability to do that underneath this ordinance uh the other thing that I've expressed a concern about in the past has been about
having the opportunity to have an election that was centered specifically around the issues relating solely to Verona uh obviously if we make this change that may become a little bit more challenging but I do hope that there continues to be very robust public discussion of the issues that are important to our community because
regardless of what's going on in terms of national or state politics um there's no Republican or Democrat way to pick up the garbage uh and I think that we focus a lot on public services and what we offer to the public during these elections that being said my principal role here is to be
representative of public opinion um I have looked at research and potential issues one way or the other on this but there is a fairly strong uh public sentiment that we should move these elections um there are not a lot of great arguments against it right now uh
particularly given the cost impact which also concerns me greatly especially the escalation of it and the possibility to become responsible for a much larger share of that election cost so in this case I will be supporting this uh this uh ordinance call please councilwoman
Holland yes councilwoman McGrath yes councilman Roman yes mayor maoy yes mayor Toro yes mayor ordinance a H 1 R will be number 2024 d41 will be published according to Law
Public hearing be held on December 16 I just still want to know for the record that the requires a four V super majority to pass at the next meeting great we move on to our public comment
on cons items any I think the same left come in be same stay appes but we will move the consent agenda first anybody need to remove anything from consent
agenda I'll hear a motion on the consent agenda J1 through K and K1 through 16 so MO is made by the deputy mayor I'll second it I haven't second gonna get right in there all right now it's the time for public
comment send public comment statement applies none I close follow comment but I I do want to see if we have a couple Representatives here um from the pool from the library we have our uh Library
board chairperson and a library director if you want to give a little background on K15 since you're here you don't mind me calling on you evening mayor and council members on behalf of the library I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude
um to the council for considering passing the resolution to designate our library as a book Sanctuary um this action is more than just a symbolic gesture it is a profound statement about our community's commitment to intellectual Freedom
access to diverse ideas and promoting free and respectful expression of differing viewpoints the library Board of Trustees passed its own resolution declaring the library a book Sanctuary at its October 17th meeting together we are sending a
powerful message that our community will always protect the right to read and learn your support empowers us to continue our message our our mission of connecting people to the resources and ideas that Inspire change and enrich lives
thank you thank you thank you that I uh I will repeat something I said at the uh the library Foundation fundraiser is that my heart of belief that libraries are the Cornerstone of American democracy so I appreciate you're putting this out there and it is a delight to be
able to add that to the agenda at uh chairperson's request um and I look forward to voting on that as well that statement that you just you just called for the other you guys can unless anybody have any questions for l repard
i questions then you can s okay I I also I agree with your statement about Library being the Cornerstone of democ democracy I also just feel so strongly that when certain communities are attacked um libraries
are really giving us the ability for those residents to find Solus to find materials to find support in the written words um especially for the lgbtq community and I think it's really important um to have just a strong diverse library and I
applaud you the library for your very strong policies and clear communication um on how the collection is uh developed and if anyone has a concern how they can effectively raise that concern policies are key and you really the library board
really has embraced that um and through the leader ship of our wonderful director um and the library board presidents and board members um current and past so I just applaud you on your very strategic thinking um as you've
navigated some really tough political Waters over the last few years so thank you any other Council discussion on any of the Cass joh have a question can this declaration be uh written into an ordinance this is something or do we
plan on doing as every year that's a that's an interesting question Mr alarch we have it for one year okay just for the the public cerification resolutions have a oneyear time frame we can there are several
resolutions that we have that the council renews every year um so you know they're a few on here and uh but an ordinance would be permanent in that way we just have to determine whether that would be appropriate for the Township Code and S research that and get back to
us the good news is we have a year to figure that out right so uh we we you know we have made that um statement that way um and uh you know as an educator I 100% um reflect Council grats statements
on ensuring uh that literature that represents everybody is president um is such an important thing to make people feel safe and um part so thank you for making that point and any other
yes I do have a question for the administration can they um you please walk us through the emergency uh declaration um as because that well this is almost a continuing conversation about the equipment that we need for
deeper value emergency appropriation yes just for the public cerification and because this is now like our third meeting where we're talking about the same we love ourselves a good Dum Shu yeah or is it
K1 yeah so this is is of those trucks uh I have to interrupt you you mind overation think he wants to guess sure the uh the resolution K1 uh
was prepared after the CFO has reviewed the purchase of the DPW trucks with both the auditor and the bond Council uh the bond Council came up with a recommendation which uh expedites the financing process and eliminates the
need for the township to temporarily lease the vehicles for uh a six month to 9mon duration until the permanent financing goes into place thereby eliminating any interest that be grouped through that lease leasing plan so this
emergency appr appropriation resolution then uh establishes that emergency fund for financing as part of the uh 2025 budgeting process so it allows us
to do an outright purchase of the vehicles immediately rather than relying upon uh temporary Leasing and then outright purchase in the middle of 2025 I'm so thrilled about this because that's I wanted a couple meetings ago so
we're moving the right direction yes I appreciate it appreciate it any other items any discussion on the is Happy hearing n Madam clerk would
you call the role on one and K1 councilwoman Holland yes councilwoman McGrath yes councilman Roman yes Deputy Mayor makoy yes mayor tamboro yes mayor resolutions K1 through k16
will be number 22439 okay thanks mam CL we do have an agendum this evening she is label as M1 with some Cas move the addendum moves motion made by is there a second second second made by councilwoman Holland this time I'll open
for public comment on the agendum same public comment statement applies Ben you have anything to say about the agenda Ben does not not hearing none any Council
discussion hearing none none cler call the yes councilwoman hollly yes councilwoman McGrath yes councilman Roman yes makoy yes mayor Toro yes mayor M1 we
number 202 24-240 thank you madam clerk we don't have any listed items on new ORF finished business but does anybody have any do I finish business okay hearing none I will open
for public comment on any matter that any wishes to discuss public comment statement applies I'm gon I'm G to call Mr Ryan first uh first all uh we have mayor merus Ryan on the line Mr Ryan your music
K can you hear hear me now yes okay uh on on the issue of the uh the moving of the elections I know you just introduced the ordinance but since it's my time to speak on any matter I am I am going to
address part of that specifically the idea of a I just want a partisan versus a nonpartisan election uh there's always been sort of a myth in this town that uh whether you feel you're a republican a Democrat or an independent that somehow
when it comes to Verona you're this empty vessel uh where you just put all of your other thoughts aside uh having run in re-elections that's not the way it works guys you know that as well as I do uh to the other point I just want to make sure that uh not having had the I
read the original ordinance but not having read your revisions I will look at them before the next meeting to see if I have any comments on them but the other thing that I think has has to be made clear and I'm assuming since we're still staying nonpartisan that you can
still get on the ballot with a just by getting a minimum number of uh signatures on a petition and I believe it still will be based upon the percentage of uh voters from the last election I just want to make sure that provision is still in there because that
that effectively is the one way you do take the partisanship out of the local election you don't need a uh a party uh putting you on a line the other thing that I hope will still be carried through uh in in in the elections in
general is the elimination of the party line okay I think that will uh help uh La any fears in any uh part of the ballot that uh that we will just be able to look down the ballot and uh and pick
uh the person that uh uh that we want to vote for he he he or she uh the uh partisanship issue you know is always going to be out there uh I do agree with councilwoman WTH when she states that it
very much is dependent upon the personality of the people who ultimately decide to run uh it's very difficult to uh to police that uh and I think basically the only thing that hopefully that both committee chairs will agree will they will not come out with a
formal endorsement but people do talk to each other let's be real folks I mean that's that's always going to be part of the process you're never going to you know you're never going to take that out of the uh out of the equation and uh and that's just basically uh you know uh I
will commend you for putting this out there uh there are some minuses to it but I think the pluses and I stated this I think back six or seven months ago the pluses totally outweigh the uh uh the minuses on this and uh even even putting
the financial considerations aside uh getting more people involved because they are used to voting in November is a big plus uh the one downside for the candidates is uh a lot of people don't realize with these little local
elections it still costs a lot of money to run folks so you may be competing when you run in November with other people who are out there uh raising money if I had a nickel for every uh email and uh and text solicitation I got
from everybody running in the 50 states for the election this time I I'd be a rich man today so that that's that's something that uh I think someone who is considering running for local office uh may have to consider uh you know when when the ballot when the election is
moved to November may be harder to raise money if you have to do that or you may have to do more self uh self- participation or self-funding rather I'm sorry but uh thank you for the opportunity to comment and I hope that uh the rest of the community will give
you some positive feedback before you have to vote on this at the next meeting next time paulat Trang Verona um basically I just want to say one thing uh totally out of left field obviously than where
I'm usually coming from but uh we're going to preach Recreation and I love how we're doing all the recreation things but uh I just want to mention Cedar Grove has an amazing basketball court outside and
Verona not on any educational property Board of Education property we don't have any so like yeah well I mean well I have not seen a basketball court I need a basketball court I think with all the designing of Everett and
everything else we're doing with the pickle ball courts if that's all it takes for a nice basketball facility get your emails ready cuz I know a lot of people so and I mean I just got done basketball practice that's why I was late so the numbers in basketball
probably at wreck probably outweigh the number of vbsl so because vbsl counts travel plus wck kids twice so I just I think basketball's a great place thank you Paul anybody
else um I will close public comments there's anybody else um um I will close a public comments um there is as the deputy mayor pointed out there is a basketball court right over there uh that is open
to the public at certain times outside the school day on the hbw property so take a look around back um years ago uh before there was run of high school they actually played practice basketball outside at winter because there was no
indoor basketball cour uh so we have a long history of outdoor basketball playing in this town and I will certainly refer your emailers to there um because that is a service that we have from the from the board um but something to look I also do want to note that we are one of the few
municipalities in the area that has our own indoor basketball courts in our community center so uh which is very important on Mr Ryan but I appreciate your point about the partisanship I just do want to note um that I I disagree on on some of the points that you made
about uh people going out there I when I ran for office three and a half years ago I made a very deliberate Point um that I was an independent and that I would not opine on any national issues um and I would only opine on state
issues that related to the operation of our government uh in the township and that's an example that I hope others will follow uh but as Council grad said there's a choice and I think our voters in Verona are intelligent enough to
understand uh people who really are are meeting the the needs of the of the community uh not par in spirit that we have grown over so many years so that's my comment on that Council M grab uh yes just going
back to Mr J's Point um I don't think the township has any I don't think the township owns and maintains any outdoor basketball courts they're all on board of bed property or in the pool complex which is not open to Residents outside
the pool season and not open to Residents who are not members but I do agree with you we have a wonderful indoor facility but uh this is not the first time that I've actually heard the fact that we're missing this asset however um as part of um some of the
conversations the Administration has had called well maybe that can be solved there or again on future strategic Recreation plans is there something that could be addressed but I do encourage basketball Enthusiast or Enthusiast of any sport um
or service to send us emails we have capacity to read more emails and respond to more emails so send them away I would love to read them I I would note that uh in the open space committee meetings we are still discussing uses
for the uh Recreation space between Brookdale and uh Commerce Court and that was an idea that was actually pitch then so all right um we have previously passed a resolution to go into executive
session will we be taking any official action executive session being that that is the case we will see everybody weeks nice evening goodby