##VIDEO ID:V4awCo0FztE## evening I call to order this regular meeting of the BR Town Council Tuesday the 12th of November 2024 Madame Thor could you please read the open public meetings act in P State the notice requirements of the open public meetings act have been satisfied with respect to this meeting of the township Council the meeting time and date were included in the public meeting notice along with the public internet link and telephone call in information said notice and meeting was posted in the municipal building and sent to the official newspapers of the township the Verona City gr times and Star Ledger at least 48 Hours preceding the start time of this meeting the agenda and public handouts can be viewed online at www. Verona nj.org counil meetings public comment period will be held in the ords listed on the meeting agenda and instructions on how to comment will be provided at the appropriate time thank mad Clark would you call the roll please Council Holland here councilman Roman here Deputy Mayor McAvoy presid mayor tamboro yeah mayor also present tonight is uh Township attorney Brian alya Township manager Joseph Jericho Deputy Township manager kevino Selvin myself clerk Jennifer Kieran thank you just for the record councilman Roman is joining us for see than every please stand for PL Allegiance United States Amer good evening everyone finally Paul based on the leather outside couple items on my agenda this evening I the the pleasure of attending the um Multicultural in inclusion and accessib advisory committee uh Dali celebration which was a really lovely night uh was honored to be invited to light candles and to speak to the group as well um and so thank you to the MAAC and uh and toel and everybody who quit that together um we had our Veterans Day observance yesterday uh at the Civic Center um and it was a pleasure to see some of the veterans out including Mr diarco uh it was a very nice showing and uh I think it was a it was nice to see everybody and was nice to remember um all of our former service men and women and the ones that are so out there my full speech is available in writing on the website and if you want to watch a video the entire ceremony uh that is out there as well so thank you to our atten Administration especially Christine G and Lisa northr uh and our buildings ground staff Public Works and our Police Department for really putting together that uh beautiful ceremony um I wish to remember today Sal Ros Amilia Mr rosilia was one of our crossing guards uh for a long time for the front of police department um on the Grove Avenue by the inter with high school was a very lovely man and is very missed so uh please keep Mr Ro Amilia and his family I do would acknowledge that um we had been in an unprecedented forest fire season New Jersey um I had have actually responded to one of them myself in a an inant management capacity um Thea EMS assisted at that one as well um and our fire department has now responded to several which read to assist with structural protection um and Crush uh firefighting so thank you to everybody who is is out there continues sh get worse until we see significant Improvement in with respect rain and things like that um so hoping everybody is able to um St things that and this between now and then please do not have any fires in your backyards anything of propane is fine but any open fires even Chim or anything like that is um I'd like to thank Miss Kieran our attwn Clark for running a successful election in Verona uh last week it was well put together and nobody uh nobody seemed to have any any complaints which is which is great um I was able to vote and get in and out in the morning and K able and available to answer calls from us so thank you to you Mrs Karan and to all of our poll workers um from our experienced poll workers to our students for making it a very good day and congratulations to all those who uh won election during on the uh last the environmental commission meets this Wednesday uh at 7 o'clock 7:30 um and uh please join the environmental commission is hosting a environmental cleanup at the end of Park Place this Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. anybody is welcome to attend there's no pre-registration necessary just showing up okay uh the Verona Public Library Foundation is hosting its annual uh Gala event this Thursday at 7 o'clock the library so if you would like to be loud in the library this is your opportunity they are still selling tickets uh so please join us there for a very fun evening uh with food gages and Max moring friends of our local musicians with for so please if we can attend I ask you consider recognizing the library foundation with your donations the Women's Club of Verona share light night is coming up there's still time to order your luminaries because of the Wildfire risk that they are doing battery powered luminaries is here so please those and finally the brona clergy Council Thanksgiving service will be held traditionally as it has the Sunday for Thanksgiving this year is at uh the Holy Spirit Church on Gold Street so please join us for that e medical service Mr cultre our County lead good evening very Council hopefully everybody's staying warm and um of things number one I just want to make sure you're aware that the Star Ledger effective um February 1 will no longer be issuing there is a Senate bill that I received from um njac today just forward it to the town clerk um and hopefully they can address it because it impacts purchasing and uh all the other notices that must be we have a resolution on our then to to call upon the legislature to next well there is a Senate bill and if you open your email I sent you two I sent you one wrong one and one uh is the correct one from John denardio the attorney for MJ that being said uh the 21st of November we are uh distributing distributing 100,000 turkeys and 1,000 food boxes at the Cherry Blossom Center which is off hel Parkway in the city of New York it starts at 9:00 a.m. but I would recommend getting there 7:30 8:00 uh first come first serve it's a great event and uh there's only a thousand boxes and a th000 turkeys uh moving into the holiday season you should have all received a a postard or a card uh we're starting our holiday lights which is Friday uh to sat to Sunday November 22nd 23rd and 24th and it opens at 5:00 pm to 900 p.m. and then Friday November 29th to Wednesday December 4th and then from dece Friday December 6th to the end of the year December 31st uh again it's 5: to 9:00 p.m. if you can bring a coat or non- perishable food we would appreciate it and on the back of the car there is also the Essex County historic Holiday Tour Saturday December 7th and Sunday December 8 from 12: to 5:00 pm. uh check with the Essex County Parks uh website and you will get the locations of the decorated homes uh that being said anything from Council thank you mayor I just want to say thank you to the county for their uh I cleaned out my garages and they went to hazardous waste this weekend and they do such a great job lining people getting them through empty in their cars and and there's a lot of dangerous stuff that they pull out of those cars uh and if you mix it up they it could be something bad but they do a wonderful job getting you through getting you in there and getting you out in a in a very timely matter this probably was uh the largest amount of participants that we've had in materials that we have to dispose of yeah usually I go I went like probably 1 130 and there's usually never a line it was still halfway down Grove Avenue but I went through in probably not even 10 minutes so they did a great job thank the county executive for that and there was a correspondence between uh police chief and s g and there were working on traffic patterns at the new location by uh the community center so things are we're working on it thank you thank you thanks CH thank you your night you to on to the touch management report Mr thank you um close sessions I don't have two you almost completed signs for field on today I was reviewing them Kevin will report on that a parking Los SES program thank you to the chamber there's only one sign left and that'll be complete that project I hope everyone like the veterans Banner Center up and I'll have a policy and Council next meeting those banners uh the recreation Field jues Report that's been hanging on here for while um Dave and Recreation has gotten the final comments from the Board of Education and he'll be reviewing those with the recreation advisory committee um I did have a meeting it's not listed on my agenda it was to be item 22 which is blank uh brought in the uh Bloomfield Health Department and the county health officer with our entire staff so that transition will go smoothly for January uh staff was very pleased with that meeting and the people that they met from our new health services that'll be coming in that'll includes thefield health department and the county health office and director of Health that combined service for us and with that I'll lead to the good evening Mar Council um the I'll try to work through my report quickly as as as best as I can um the pool utility uh there's two updates uh the draft version of the pool rate study has been forwarded to the recreation advisory subc commmittee uh they are meeting this week we are following up with them directly and scheduling meeting with Newen and the recreation subcommittee so we can then bring a um a final version of the recommendation uh to the mayor and councel uh the recreation committee meets again December 10th so we'll we'll come back to the mayor and Council sometime shortly after that meeting uh we also have our pool bids which we discussed at the last meeting we do have a supplemental Bond ordinance scheduled for introduction this evening uh that additional supplemental Bond ordinance is uh included within that rate study uh and it is part of the um rate considerations for 2025 and Beyond uh with Wastewater uh we are continuing to work with Boswell on Final summaries and priorities for our smoke testing results there will be uh handful of of projects that we'll need to roll out in the phased approach in the coming years um and we have our primary clarifier Pump Station project out to bid we'll be receiving bids next Friday uh that is the first of a few uh Capital Improvements to the wastewater treatment facility the next two are currently underd designed that's the upgrades the UV disinfection system and the micro screen project uh we also televised the collection system trunk line behind Derwent Avenue there were a few items that were identified that will need correction there was one specific location that Boswell has identified in need of emergency repair uh we are currently getting prices for that work it's a a 30 foot section of that 20-in sewer line that needs to be replaced uh we anticipate having an emergency resolution and an award of contract a one of the upcoming December meetings uh with the water well drinking uh drinking water well projects ly Drive continues uh under construction uh number of the settling and uh treatment tanks will be delivered tomorrow so we'll start seeing uh uh accelerated activity at Lind Drive well starting tomorrow through the completion of the project contractor is still planning on putting the well back into service in December as uh acquired by their contract we also have the Fairview Avenue well project uh that is still pending the final Green Acres approval uh we hope to have that project activate in the next several weeks similarly the clarage drive Pump Station project uh we have final plans construction management contract final specifications down in the ibank um there we're just waiting for a final authorization to advertise that project as well again we're hoping within the next few weeks we'll have both Fairview Avenue well and the clarish drive project out to bid uh just a quick update on storm water uh we have um updated our pollution prevention plan as required within the ms4 permit it's updated on the website and are currently going through an update on the storm water mapping also required as part of the ms4 permit we hold uh lynon Avenue uh we have a few road projects to update lyen Avenue is the first one it's still in the early planning stages but the temporary demonstrations that were installed uh they captured a great deal of of feedback from the community there were nearly 700 uh participants who submitted surveys to the njtpa uh we collected speed data we've received direct input from a number of residents we're now consolidating all those recommendations and um all that data and njtpa will come up with final recommendation to the neighborhood traffic and Safety Committee uh that those final recommendations will be rolled into design uh and ultimate construction 2025 uh Douglas place and balson Whitney windir projects are both complete with final closeout resolutions on the agenda this evening uh regarding field we did have a meeting with both evsl and neglia earlier today uh the uh the 70% design drawings are expected at some point in December uh they are um being modified currently to reflect reflect a lot of the recent comments that came in in the last round of discussions at that 70% design phase we will come back to the council for uh one final present ation and um and that will be rolled into 2025 Capital planing as well the pickle ball and Tennis Courts project we discussed those bids last week uh at the last meeting as well uh there is a supplemental Bond ordinance uh which is prepared and on the agenda this evening for introduction um both sustainable initiatives uh we um we are expecting the final and energy audit from our energy audit team from the state they've completed the reports for all the facilities they're in draft form we expect the final one for the Wastewater Plant uh later this week and we are hoping to schedule them for presentation either in December if the schedule fits or uh in in early January uh we are also continuing discussions with the solar consultant uh we expect them to be presenting to the council at the December 16th meeting we also received uh we had bids which were scheduled to be received for energy Assessment Services for Residential Properties uh they were due November 8th there were no bids so we're coordinating with sustainable Verona at this point as to whether or not there should be uh a rebid of that service and then also our community energy plan is currently underway um we've also met with affordable housing Consultants our Township planner affordable housing planner special Council on affordable housing uh there will be discussion in executive session at December 2nd meeting uh We've also been discussing the Bloomfield Avenue streetscape there were a number of uh design RPS which were circulated uh there is uh a summary of what the general cost breakdown is for those Design Services uh if uh the council has any thoughts or comments on those uh there they we are awaiting those comments otherwise we'll look to schedule uh some presentations from the lower half uh lower price half of those Consultants um winding down by report our emergency repairs to the communications tower building are complete uh there's just some building envelope repairs that need to be scheduled at this point and uh the last item on my report is the town hall windows and repointing we discussed the bids at the last meeting uh there was was a number of alternate bids included in our base bid which uh which rolled in our second phase of the Town Hall repointing projects which were originally scheduled for next year uh the the prices came in very competitively and uh they were below the total estimate but again this was some Capital that was assumed to be scheduled for next year our CFO CFO was able to reappropriate some unused funds from Recently completed Road projects so there is the accommodating ordinance for the reappropriation of those funds on the agenda for introduction tonight um and then the last item on my report which is not on my report but uh should be discussed tonight is the best practices inventory which has been previously circulated through the council uh there were um a number of questions and answers I think that the the general long and short of it is that the town did very well we scored the points that we need so there is no penalty on the uh the state funding as a result of our best practices have any questions from Mr Sullivan Council H thank you um so on the best practices survey normally it's kind of forward pointing on what the state like what's on their mind on making sure that we're in compliance was there anything that we didn't score well on is going to be something that the Township's going to work on over the course of the next year there there were a few items yeah there were six Al together six three of them were not significant and three be work okay and they were in the G the three were working on were in the general area of lead I know they had a lot of questions on the lead right we've been we've been uh working diligently with our license operator on the the lead services so we're we're in good shape with lead Services um there were some questions about certain documents which need to be submitted down to the state um certain filing requirements but it's items that are easily corrected and cured okay great than councilman Hall thank you um I guess I'll start backwards regarding item 11 on your report um we received um so I believe we had applied for the Strategic public use did that include the transit uh component or not so we recall we when we submitted our Grant application we highlighted that we were able to um hit a couple of the criteria for that Grant application um the state has reviewed all the applications I understand that they have recently completed did their competitive scoring process they're scheduled to take formal action at the uh their their monthly meeting I believe it's scheduled the Monday of next week um I believe the township is positioned favorably but prior to them making any formal decision and formal action wait for that that to take place I only ask because if there is a favorable outcome to that I do know that there have been Girl Scouts advocating for increased use of public transport and Lakeside Avenue bus stops are not marked currently I believe uh they it was indicated by New Jersey Transit that they aren't marked because there's inadequate parking available on for the Lakeside bus stops so if this is approved and we are going to move forward with Municipal parking it might be and I believe it is the municipality's prerogative to identify the bus stops and then New Jersey Transit will mark them if we could Mark those stops that would be great um because I I have known residents to have the bus fly fly by or the bus doesn't stop at those locations because the signs aren't posted even though they are kind of informal so that's the only reason why I was asking with regard to The Bu stop marking um regarding point two um on your agenda um specifically item F that you you mentioned earlier in your report so 2f like where exactly are we thinking um where exactly is the location for the Emergency to prepare uh the emergency repair is generally located in the first block between uh Bloomfield Avenue and Lyon it is okay that's very helpful to understand that so thank you for for that that's um so hopefully there's an opportunity that we can move forward and that is the funding for that anticipated I know that you know we we did our rate study and we we do we did increase rates recognizing that there would be substantial Capital Improvements is this anticipated in the rates that are currently affected it can be absorbed whether either through capital or there may be operating budget uh available there's there's some transfers occurring tonight but uh within the next few weeks we'll know if we're either directly from operating or in capital at in in either instance it is covered with the rate structure that would well that's very helpful to know I mean certainly I think this is a necessary analysis that was done um we've had you know concerns expressed throughout the municipality about our infrastructure and this is something that I've had a lot of interest in in my time on the council so I do appreciate the administration taking this seriously doing these studies and making these necessary repairs so thank you any questions just to follow up on that uh this section that we're planning on repairing is that going to solve our problem that we've had with the residents in their backyards uh it will solve one of our problems there are other issues and efficiencies in the pipe that still need to be addressed which you'll see in the 2025 Capital planning um but it it will address the um most direct need at this time okay and then uh something that wasn't on here just just a followup where do we stand with our uh council chambers audio video upgrades uh well the there is again that is another 2025 capital planning item uh there is potential for some offset that's actually one of the items that we'll need to discuss in executive um for potential offsetting funds than Council Roman any questions no question okay questions all right um thank you this time we'll move on to council M reports C thank you Mr right uh first I want to uh obviously we know last week we had daylight savings last Sunday uh I want to remind everybody to change the batteries in their smoke uh and carbon monoxide detectors uh it's always a good time to do it twice a year they usually say daylight savings uh just to be cautious uh the dwali celebration I apologize for not making it there it came up on my calendar the 31st because that's the day and I had scheduled uh I wanted to attend the West Orange planning board meeting on the 30th so I couldn't make it uh unfortunately that's an event I always enjoy attending so uh thanks to the group that got that going and especially too for keeping that going uh a smooth election day I did uh like to thank the C for uh all of our hard work on that and all the workers that uh put time into that and we have uh last uh November 6 a sustainable uh Verona meeting uh the deputy manager went over uh pretty much everything we talked about seeing the energy Audits and the community community energy plan uh they're coming off a very busy year uh and they're regrouping and getting ready for next year and they have a lot of other good plans in mind uh and then lastly uh I'd like to thank all of our veterans uh that did attend yesterday yesterday thank them for their service thank them for coming out yesterday Mr Mayor wonderful job with the ceremony yesterday and I'd like to thank uh Chris G and the rest of our staff uh for what they did getting this going uh and I too have gotten a lot of compliments from people on the banners that they take on the avenu thank the township Administration for getting that going completing that and that is all I have for this evening thank you de May Roman uh I'll yield my time this evening uh apologies for not being there in person with all of you this evening thank you m Roman I appreciate you be on REM councilman McGrath uh thank you mayor and um I apologies I was a little delayed this evening um I have a couple things to report I want to Echo previous comments U thanking our municipal clerk and all of the PO workers and the county staff for a very successful election day which is not just one day turned out to be stretched over um eight uh full days of early voting and early voting really took off this year with the uh Verona Community Center being uh featured even Statewide um in its turnout numbers uh which was very exciting I want to thank all of the residents who voted we had some of the best turnout in the country I'm sorry not country County um and um the votes are still being counted but I do want to appre I want to send my appreciation to all the residents who voted I do want to congratulate congresswoman L Monica mcgyver for winning her first full term in Congress um very excited to partner with him uh with her um uh over the next few years um and to see um how we can advance rona's interests I was able to attend the dwali celebration I want to thank uh the Multicultural inclusion and accessibility advisory committee and uh Verona resent TL Patel for planning it uh this is really a special event where so many members of the community have come out repeatedly because now this was our I believe third or fourth year doing it um and it's really wonderful to get to know that community and to celebrate and we were treated to some beautiful music this year um speaking of music I want to um thank everyone for planning the Veterans Day and in particular uh thanking the high school choir that came out to sing and all of the veterans who I got a chance to speak to uh they were really wonderful I wanted to mention I'm very excited for the upcoming um Library Foundation gala which is actually on Thursday night at 6 o'clock um to celebrate and raise money for our library and then finally uh it was a very busy month for the neighborhood traffic and safety advisory committee I was able to attend the uh walkable Workshop which I believe was mentioned um in the deputy manager's report um on the Lyndon Avenue demonstration um and to really kind of observe the Public's feedback on that um and we actually walked to Lyon Avenue and then saw the demonstration firsthand um this survey was a huge success over 400 people uh took it which is amazing and then some residents I think did their own survey which is even more amazing feedback um and at our meeting of the neighborhood traffic and safety committee meeting we had a robust discussion on that demonstration um they are also still working on the complete streets policy um with the administration and um finally we actually had robust public comment there uh which is great I think residents should feel free to use that committee uh to discuss safety issues and I think the chief of police in particular for his service on that committee and that's my report thank you thank you Council woman Hall thank you um I won't repeat what others have said before me but I do want to take a moment to acknowledge the recent election um our municipal clerk has done a tremendous job in running our elections and advocating for Verona to be an early voting location the turnout was impressive the lines for early voting at the Verona Community Center were very real um and from those lines I heard more than one voter speaking about the beauty of our facilities um and the convenience of the early voting location our Fields our playground our new playground and our beautiful Verona Community Center uh facilities are really some of the best ad advertising for our community and it really shows um that Verona is a gem here in Essex County so I want to thank you Miss Kieran uh for your leadership in advocating that Verona host early voting um I voted actually on the morning of election day partially because those lines were really long and I actually wanted to watch my kids sports games um so I thought I'd be able to pop in that was not going to happen so I voted at about 6:15 a.m. on the Tuesday Morning um and as I told Miss Kieran at the time I was so impressed with the pole workers it was quite possibly my best experience voting uh at District 8 uh at Brookdale and this is really another reflection of your dedication and experience um and the value that you offer our residents and this community um and really all of County because they got to enjoy the early voting so I want to thank you so much Miss Kieran uh for what you do for our community it's very truly impressive so thank you um thank you um I also want to congratulate our new Senator Andy Kim and our congresswoman L Monica mcgyver Miss mcgyver has already shown an interest in our community um attending several events as a candidate and in her role as congresswoman and she did have representation at our Veterans Day ceremony and Miss mcgyver and I share a similar interest in infrastructure having seen the devastating effects of climate change so I'm confident that she will be a fierce advocate for our community and I'm very excited um for her new term um with regard to climate change uh echoing some of the comments earlier but not but you know not saying necessarily the same things I I think it's really important for us to recognize that climate change is real so what we've seen in the last 12 months is is terrible flooding in the state of New Jersey that both impacted residents here in Verona as well as across the state if you remember like throughout December and January we were seeing like road closures and massive flooding and then here we are within 12 months so less than a year um we now are in a significant and devastating drought where we are seeing these stunning wildfires wreaking havoc across our state so I think it's really important to understand that climate change is about extremes it's not about global warming it's not a political issue it is a reality that is affecting all of our lives and it is something that we have to address here at the local level and at really all levels of government so I am committed to to doing that that is something that I am very passionate about I think it's important for us to have the infrastructure improvements to address these serious experiences and for our residents to be prepared so I I really just want to stress how just watching these events and really trying to comprehend how we had those devastating floods less than a year ago and now here we are in the situation with a drought and Wildfire um it's just it is stunning to me and I just want the community to know that this is something that I take very seriously so thank you that concludes my report thank you at this time I'll open for comment on any item the public participation State anyone from the public wishing to speak on any matter if you're visiting by Zoom please raise your hand by pressing the raise hand button on your monitor if you're dialing in by phone press star n if you're attending in person please raise your hand then approach the elect turn once recognized clearly state only your name and Township of residence for the record you not required to provide your street address however if you do please note that these meetings will be posted on the Township's YouTube channel and addresses will not be redacted for any purpose you'll have four minutes to address the council there could be no course dialogue during this public portion and after everyone wishing to speak has been heard the council May address your comments and or questions CL is there anybody come that LE over excuse me state your name for the record please before you begin and do not give us your address just give us your hi um my name is Roseanne Penna I'm at the uh Verona senior housing and for two years we've had an ongoing situation with the management there and I'm hoping that the council can help us or direct us with these problems the first thing is we can no longer control the heat in the building and 68 degrees is way too cold for most residents between the ages of 65 and 85 it's not consistent throughout the building we no longer have an intercom system so that if there's any emergencies other than running around pounding on everyone's door do we know what's going on and this week there was a a an odor leak which they thought was gas and that's what happened the police department had to come and knock on everyone's door to let us know um we've been having a big theft and a par vandalism issue but because it's private property we're told that there's not much that can be done the parking is very limited I don't know how we can help help us with that and um our windows don't open and close properly they don't the the draft that's coming off and the no heat we're freezing and if there's an emergency where we have to get out of the window though I don't think we'll be able to open them and they've been working promising us for two years that this is on their agenda of repairs is there something that the council can do to help the management and the owner of the building has not responded to any of our requests which are in writing we uh we don't respond by way we wait till everybody's done with okay all comments on all issues and then okay and I just have one more question I don't know if it's right is there a number to call if the heat is giving us a problem like a hotline does our town have that once again we can have across dialog so answer thank you anybody else in the gallery wish today com I'm from Hillwood too uh some of the problems that Rosanne was speaking about are quite urgent I have a window in my bedroom which is silly to get into a situation two years I cannot open that window because when you open it it falls up comes down you can't close it then I had wasps coming in so they told me not to open the window they have people coming granted they do call people in look at this stuff people look at it they leave two months later you get somebody else to come in they keep sending people to look nothing's being done we need something to be done not just Pat us on the back and say well we're seniors we're tired of that we have rights too and this is getting to be a little ridiculous with some of the stuff heat yes we do need extra heating first off they do put a heating monitor or whatever you call it in our Apartments it's a uh it tells you what your apartment is supposed to be but it's always at 74 it'll go down 72 73 but it never goes up hardly ever goes up past 74 you could come into my house at 5 six o'clock in the afternoon you could put your hand through my radiator to feel it it's ice cold come at 11:00 it's ice cold in the morning we get some heat it's got to be regulated some some people in the building their apartments are steaming they can't even breathe it's so hot and yet you get other people like myself who is very cold and now in our lease we are told we are not supposed to have heaters well I'll be damned I went out and bought a heater I don't care I'm not going to freeze something has to be done through the landlord to help us regulate the heat they send people in it's not being fixed I don't know what to tell them but we thought maybe the council could give us a hand maybe even make a phone call to the landlord or just see what's going on so you got old residents and Groner starting to complain and like I said this is things we would like the council mayble to look into for us when it comes voting time we all vote for you people so there's no problem so we appreciate for you to take a look at everything thank you thank you anybody else in the we're g to go to the folks on Zoom Mr M Jamal you're up yeah uh okay very good can youall hear me yes very good J Jamal mood uh from uh The Landing section uh in Verona um and uh I just wanted to speak briefly on behalf of the Verona pickle ball community and thank the council for continuing to um consider the project um and just say there's lot of uh there's a lot of excitement about uh uh the the pending development of the pool courts um and we appreciate any updates uh that you have in terms of uh how it's going I know that the uh um there was uh I guess the talk of of uh uh this additional Bond ordinance so I just wanted to you know any comments you guys have on what that means for the future of the development would be uh appreciated but basically thanks for continuing to take up the issue any other public comments hello my name is Elena Thomas I'm a housing Justice attorney from Ruckers housing Justice and tenant solidarity Clinic who's been working with the residents of the Verona senior housing building that you've just heard from I just wanted to introduce myself and let you know that they have Outsiders working to help assist and we would really like some support in actually reaching out we've already reached out to the owners and property managers of the building and would like some assistance so if anybody um can exchange information so that we can follow up we'd greatly appreciate that this time I'll close public comment we'll be another opportunity meeting I will start up by responding um I've met many of you before as a rescue squad member unfortunately for for some of you um and I'm in hill with terce a lot um and uh I do understand your concerns because I had some them in just randomly entering Apartments as well um and so I not only sympathized but also empathized with you as somebody who rented for many years as well having that interaction is uh important I'm glad to see that you have representation uh as well in this way so the the tal council is not a law enforcement body in this way um we do however have Municipal codes that and state laws that need to be followed so Mr diarco as our Township manager can ask I can't we can't order him to do this but I am I'm just giving you the overview of what can happen at this point um Mr tarco can ask our code enforce officials to go over to Hillwood whether it's our construction zoning uh fire code enforcement officials at health and Health Department to go over and uh goes the building they will need specific documented complaints Miss Thomas if you can share those with Mr diarco it's just J dco at for nj.org where you can exchange information with Mr on your way out Mr s are the he uh manager and that would be the place to start to make sure that the the laws are being enforced because there are specific regulations I'm not a legal expert so I'm not going to Pine on that but there are regulations related to what temperature things must be at as certain times as you well know Miss Miss Thomas in that way um but we do have multiple enforcement uh opportunities in that way to make sure that's done um since the facility is no longer building there's no board there right there's no so that is one of the one of the issues that unfortunately that's normally where we would have gone the deputy mayor actually sat on the board for many years right and uh but once that wasn't hug building anym there was no and went into private ownership there was no uh requirement to have that or trustees in that position anymore um so we we appreciate we don't have any as the council direct authority over your land more um but if Mr diarco sets up a meeting I'm more than happy to attend um not all of us can go because only two of us are allowed to be in place at a time but I'm happy to go I work across the street from there and I'm happy to to stop by uh any time to have that meeting if my assistance can be required mrco on that but unless Our Town attorney and our manager offer a different perspective I would say that we probably start with code enforcement and then work from there and then if we're something isn't um isn't actionable on the code enforcement mechanism that's when we start to use our our uh our government um roles to see if we can help resolve some of this conflict on an informal basis before you end up in the Lut tenant court all of those things and that is something that we can do just note that we don't have any Beyond The Code Enforcement we don't have any any recourse officially Beyond uh beyond that piece um however if Township manager and the mayor another council member show up um that can make a statement to the the owners of the building uh and somebody who's been there multiple times I can share my perspective on on many things they know me they don't particularly like me there so um because of some things that have happened that I've had to get involved with mer management things like that um but but just know that I'm happy to advocate for that knowing what you're doing comments from Council thank you de mayor yes uh I I feel for all of you uh I do have a knowledge of the building as uh the mayor said uh a prior uh board experience up there uh unfortunately in the original bylaws of the building uh there was a uh the board uh had control for 30 years so that went away and it went directly to the owner so now the owner hires the management company so they have full control of what goes on up there uh but I I know as far as the state goes there's rules and regulations as to heat and it has to be equally distributed throughout the building so if one room is cold and one room's hot it's their job to fix it uh so hopefully you know the management here can talk to the management there and and work it out I will also if since I have a knowledge of the building if if you need another council person to attend I would be more than happy to attend and go through the building but we will work on it for you thank you I just want to say I I know many of you and um this just really distresses me so I it's wonderful that you're all here well let's keep the lines of communication open and I also wonder if there's opportunities with Essex County to also if there's ways of of their assistance because I know Essex county has come in and done food distributions that's where I've seen many of you and was so present during the pandemic and I don't know if they have any resources that could help mediate this and and intervene um obviously what we already discussed um we can only have two council members but I am more than willing to jump into any meeting as well um but let's keep that communication both formally here but also informally as we know each other and and I I do hope this gets resolved quickly this really does uh distress me so to hear um how frustrated um and upset you all are so I I'm I'm hopeful we can resolve this thank you um as you already have three council members offering to to come to your building I I I won't uh create greater competition there but I do want to thank you for your advocacy um I think is so important um I was not aware of some of these challenges until you came forward this evening um I I think it's wonderful and I I'm confident that our Administration is going to be responsive to your concerns so I I just really want to thank you again for your advocacy it is precisely the type of thing that you should bring to this governing body because if you hadn't come forward I would not have otherwise known about it so thank you for doing so I also want to you know compliment you for reaching out and working with the Ruckers housing advocacy Clinic because I do think it's really important that we have these clinics available to you know seniors because you absolutely do matter and I think it's really important that your needs are represented um so I hope that you do reach out and speak to our Township Administration and that we can help you to get some of this addressed and if not like I would expect that we are getting update to Council on on this experience so thank you again for coming forward evening I know it's not terribly convenient and it is a tonight as well so again thank you so much for your advocacy that's Roman anything I'll just echo my thank you to the residents for making us aware of this issue um regardless of you know what body has which regulatory enforcement power it's valuable for us to know um the state of housing issues within our community and uh I am confident the township Administration will uh review their options for uh for for what sort of enforcement mechanisms we have and uh assist the residents as best as possible and would also just like to acknowledge Mr mahmud's comment as well thank you for your continuing advoc advocacy regarding the pickle ball court and there will be further discussion on that this evening thank you Mr did we miss anything I think you hit our options as well all right so thank you all very much and please please communicate all of our email addresses are on the website Miss Thomas so if you have a document that you can send to us so that we're all prepared that certainly helps um if you have specific lists of these items and apartment numbers and things like that Mr diaros think there the more data that you can provide the easier it is to start engaging in some talks enforcement on that side um and if you can keep us in the loop as you follow with any other enforcement mechanisms mayor I may please um somebody CL has my C my email address is on there you can send me the material that the mayor is referencing that you discuss tonight list of Apartments I'll be assembling the enforcement staffs tomorrow which will be they'll get a a directive to go to the building which will be police it'll be fire construction Health um and if NE Neary once we get the preliminary assessment in um the state department of multiple dwelling inspections Etc I'm sure it's under their own also so if you can get me all the information first and I'll send the teams will be notified tomorrow and then they'll they'll get to your building thank you thanks thank you thank thank you so much real quick I just want to say to Residents if you uh someone spoke about their thermostat if you see a temperature on your thermostat and I would say below 62 definitely if you can take a picture of it because now you're documenting that that you're having a problem with your heat uh and it would help your case a little better so definitely you know help yourself by doing that also we're moving on to to hearing adoption of ordinances mam Clark the next item on the agenda is ordinance number 20 24-35 on second Reading Please read the title of this ordinance chapter 150 zoning article 25 storm M management controls and requirements of Township Cod thank you madam s could somebody move the ordinance please so move motions made by the deputy mayor is there a second second second made by councilman Holland this time I'll open for public comment on ordinance number 2024 35 only same public comment statement applies doesn't cck we have anybody new on here any comments on this ordinance only there not I close public comments Council discussion I will just note that the planning board reviewed this for consistency and found it we don't find it consistent we find it not inconsistent as our planning board members and just house but we uh they did review it and I think uh our s for their help call councilwoman holl yes councilwoman mcgr yes councilman Roman yes Deputy Mayor makoy yes mayor Tambor yes may ordinance 24-35 passes 5 and it will be published according to law thank you madam cler next gent is ordinance number 202 24-36 on first reading a second reading Madam cler would you please read the title of this ordinance into the record amending chapter a 5651 schedule of fee specifically store War fees of the Township Code thank you madam cour would somebody move the ordinance so moved motions made by councilwoman m is there a second second the second was made by councilwoman Holland at this time I'll open for public comment public hearing on this coordinance only same statement apply hearing none I hereby close public comment any Council discussion yes just not for the public that that just being moved in the chapters it's not any substantive change but cler would you call it councilwoman Holland yes councilwoman McGrath yes councilman Roman yes Deputy Mayor makoy yes mayor tamboro yes mayor ordinance 2024 d36 passes 5 to Zer and will be published according to law thanks Madam clerk the next item on the agenda St an ordinance on first reading La H1 mad clerk please with the title of this Bond ordinance providing a supplemental appropriation of $195,000 for the Improvement of pickle ball tennis courts including equipment in by the township of Verona in the county of Essex New Jersey and authorizing the issuance of $195,000 bond Jo notes of the township to finance the cost thereof thank you madam clerk would somebody move the you know what I'm gonna move this one I'll second it thank you I don't get to move a lot of things and that's true I'm very taken by pickle ball so um Mr Mamu just asked a promise to teach me um which is going to take a lot of patience so uh um any Council discussion on this item just we'll know for the public that this is a a supplemental appropriation so this is beyond the original price Mr of Sullivan mrco could you provide just a little insight as to how we we got there we're not going to be able to hear you super Poli here the uh the low bit for the project was 44,000 uh there were additional soft cost for design construction management services and a 10% con construction contingency uh the total project cost is $569,000 and the original Bond ordinance was approved for $375,000 which also included a $75,000 Grant uh the shortage is the 195,000 supplemental ordinance that is on the agenda for this evening the difference is we had an engineering estimate and then we got the actual bids in correct the the work uh the scope of the project expanded slightly and the final construction bids were slightly higher than the original estimate which is going to happen because everything's getting more expensive yes so as far as I'm concerned now is a better time than ever just to get this project moving have any other Council discussion there none Madam cler call the r councilwoman Holland yes councilwoman mcra yes councilman Roman yes yeah couldn't hear you yeah yes or type in the chat uh I got a yes on that thumbs up yes Council Norman has signified his thumbs up Deputy Mayor makoy yes mayor tamboro yes mayor H1 will be numbered 24- 37 it will be published according to law and a public hearing will be held on December 2nd thank you madam clerk the next item on the agenda is ordinance is H2 would you please read the title of this ordinance into the a bond ordinance providing a supplemental appropriation of $225,000 for the improve of the big pool for the pool utility in by the township of Verona in the county of Essex New Jersey and authorizing the issuance of $225,000 bonds or notes of the township to finance the cost thereof thank you mam clerk would somebody please move this ordinance so moved thank you councilman McGrath is there a second second seconds by councilman Holland is there any Council discussion on this supplemental appropriation I just have one question um does is this going to affect the New Gen report the New Gen report assumed this actual construction cost so it will not affect the report so call from presentation just making sure yes it makes everything just that much more complicated any other Council discussion I do want to note that I enjoy so much that we have in legally they turn big pool all of that Madam Clark to call the ball please councilwoman Holland yes councilwoman mcra yes councilman Roman yes you got to turn the volume up is it up yeah yes we got we got okay yes Mayo yes may H2 will be numbered 20 24-38 it will be published according to law and a public hearing will be held on December 2nd thank you madam clerk the next ordinance uper introduction is currently label H3 Madam clerk please read the title of this ordinance into the record re appropriating $340,000 proceeds of obligations not needed for their original purpose in order to provide for the repointing of the township hall and by the township of Verona and the county of Essex New Jersey thank you madam clerk will somebody move the ordinance please is there second I'll second it by Council Roman there he is okay the motion was made by the deputy mayor by thumbs up Roman is there any Council discussion on this item is this the total amount to repoint 340 phase one next okay we get okay okay all right Madam clerk to call the RO please councilwoman Holland yes councilwoman mcgr yes councilman Roman yes Deputy Mayor makoy yes mayor Toro yes mayor H3 will be numbered 2024 39 it will be published according to Law Public hearing be held on December 2nd s all right next up is our consent agenda we have including J1 which set of minutes K1 through 13 uh which is several resolutions including budget transfers various purchases and contracts change orders and Closeouts construction Professional Services contracts our um contract for the the fireworks the previously tabled contract related to the T plug Works me and dump trucks um and uh applications for participation in the PSG energy efficient partnership program and we are also getting just some obsolete equipment which is always my my favorite time in governance so somebody please move to consent first does anybody need anything called from the consent if I may uh can we pull item K3 y from the consent agenda please thank you you got it anybody else um I would like to pull um K7 I think that's just worth a separate conversation all right was move K 1 and two 4 through six and 8 through 13 so second made by the deputy mayor seconded by the councilwoman uh at this time I'll call for public comments on any of we're going to have public comment now on all cassette agenda items regardless of whether they are the ones we just pulled or not so we only have that one session it's all the same deal so we're going to have public comment on this I will open that the same public comment statement applies hearing none any Council discussion on the moved items n Madam cler call all pleas councilwoman Holland yes councilwoman McGrath yes councilman Roman yes Deputy Mayor makoy yes mayor tan burrow yes all right K one and two 4- six and 8 through 13 will be numbered 210 through and including 220 thank you madam clerk will somebody please move resolution K moved motion is made by councilman McGrath is there a second thank you I would like to recuse myself from this matter just want to State for the record noted thank you any discussion on this item hearing none Madam clerk would you call the RO please Council woman M sorry Council woman McGrath yes Council en Roman yes Deputy Mayor makoy yes mayor tamboro yes mayor K3 will be numbered 221 and it passes 4 to Z one one recusals thank you m Clerk somebody please move resolution K7 some questions made by the deputy mayor I will second this motion um this point I would like to open for discussion I know we had had we had originally tabled this from the last meeting because there were several questions on it Mr Sullivan provided us a detailed report um I'd like to invite our DPW superintendent up as well to offer any comments cheuck these your Dum trucks yes you like to add or say while you're here I think uty manager covered everything we talked about and I think he show a reason why I need any are there any questions for either our attention manager or our superintendent in this item I supp have the one question that that I brought up the last time but I just need to get some clar ation on right now this resolution is only approving for the until the end of 2024 right we're entering into a contract presuming we pass this that last several years so we're going need to do another resolution in January that's correct the January my understanding is in January you'll do this via a um a bond a bond which will cover the rest of the contract and from a legal perspective one of the reasons why I think that's um acceptable is because it will be the same Council next year we don't have a case where it is a different Council if there was an election in the future um you know that's the way our government worked where new January yeah so the same body is going to approve that Bond presumably on January whatever 6th 8th 10th whatever the first meeting is um and then my understanding also is that our CFO has contacted the Auditors and they were ALS so all right the switch from the operating to the capit okay thank you just one request make of the administration so I know we had it like very hard to streamline the budget process last year was very successful especially with capital putting things into one Bond and I know this did come up as um you know in discussion then so just as a goal moving forward to really try to identify the the needs and the wants just to highlight them just a little differently in the budget process um and as uh and I brought the last meeting having preceding these items with a memorandum that explains them would be certainly a good procedure that way uh any other discussion mayor I would just like to thank the deputy manager for your very detailed explanation of all this I know this is the department that I don't think anybody in town ever complains about uh especially for snow removal so I certain hopefully we won't need them but I certainly don't during the winter months when we have snow want see any drops down I not say that climate change Le it put out the fires um I do want to note that I am impressed by how long you have catch those other dump trucks going and one of the first things to did even before I was on the council but after being elected was Tour all the facilities in town and touring the maintenance department at the Public Works was one of more interesting experiences as far as uh as far as that and uh there's still several pretty old old good vehicles there uh that we are need to plan ahead I would think that would be wise just to have like we do with all of our other infrastructure these are these are not permanent infrastructure but have a replacement plan in place we kind of do fire truck and ambulances and it would be helpful to have this looking for many years ahead at least on some kind of estimate purpose so we can get all that Clark would you call the r please councilman Holland yes MC yes Council Roman yes Deputy Mayor makoy yes mayor tamboro yes mayor K7 will be number 222 you got your sir thank you all right um moving on to we have no l permits we're going to move on to our addendum there are two items on the addendum the first is um an ordinance on first reading to manage the uh parking rules so we cannot we can't bundle these so Madam Clark the item on the agenda ordinance on first reading it's label M1 which pleases with the title of this ordinance record amending chapters 14036 no parking certain hours 1403 time limit parking and 14068 parking meter permit parking zones designated thank you madam clerk would somebody please move this ordinance so move Mo made by the deputy mayor there a second second second PA by councilman McGrath there any Council discussion on this [Music] item mayor I did have some questions and I reached out to both the clerk and our chief and he answered my question so I both all with this uh the changes that are made any other discussion comments car on Madam clerk hold roll councilwoman Holland yes councilwoman McGrath yes councilman Roman yes Deputy Mayor makoy yes mayor tamboro yes mayor ordinance M1 will be number 2024 D40 it will be published according to law and a public hearing will be held on December 2nd all right the next item on the addendum is resolution M2 and somebody please move resolution M2 so moved the motion is made by Council mcrath I will second the motion um this time I will call for comments on M2 the same C comments stli here on I will close couple comments as a matter of discussion uh Madam clerk I'm actually ask to present this one okay well this um is asking the state legislature to um permit online news platforms for legal newspapers as right now um we have the Star Ledger but Star Ledger Trenton Times and a couple other Jersey Journal going out of print circulation after the first of the year we won't be able to comply with the public meetings as is as we won't have two papers paid for circulated within Town um so this just urges our state legislature to to address that as soon as possible okay uh thank you for for including this and should we pass this resolution which is an immediate matter thus why it's on the addendum we will send it to our legislative delegation councilman Holland I just want to say say again thank you for your leadership I think this is incredibly important I think the um recent events are going to create legislative challenges not only in the broad compliance with the open public meetings act um but also in other public notice Provisions sprinkled throughout the New Jersey statutes um and so I think various administrative agencies and really the bar association as well as the league of municipalities are really going to have to kind of scrutinize those statutes and see if further amendments are necessary so I I really want to compliment you for being ahead of the curve um for recommending this resolution um and for you know providing it to our legislative representation um I think it's very important for us to advocate in this way thank you Council MTH um I have a thank you um so I have a question and then I want to make a statement so is this the league of municipalities is um or the municipal clerks Association is this what they're advocating for versus like eliminating the two paper requirement and allowing us to Post online only on our own website for right now because this just came up the focus is just to get something where we can all be in compliance without newspapers okay that are in publication but I well I have the opportunity I just want to mention since the public will be listening is the uh public information officer and I have created a button on our main page of our website for legal Public Notices so whenever I go to publish in a newspaper or whatever may be in the future after the New Year we're also going to post it on our website as well um it will be immediately posted there whereas it would take a couple days to be posted in the newspaper so even if the state does go that way we'll already be in compliance okay great I I want to Echo um you know thank you again for your leadership you're really one of the best municipal clerks in the entire State and we are really lucky to have you um I am really dism that the um that the Star Ledger will no longer be in print this is another degreg of local news which is so important for well functioning democracy um I know the residents through my numerous numerous conversations with them over the last you know six years really are say print qualified print newspapers that cover the council and the board of Ved and other local happenings in our community um and it is really um I think this level transparency that newspapers provide only makes governing stronger um you know normally there would have been a newspaper reporter in the gallery listening to the residents concerns and that would have been a front page story um and really be able to kind of amplify you know what they're experiencing and you know it may uh not get any news coverage so um you know this certainly and and also the another newspaper folded announced they're folding on the same day as Starlight here so it was really a troubling day in New Jersey I do hope the legislature acts quickly during lame duck uh in particular uh they seem to pass a lot of things at the end of December so I think this is well timed um and I'm excited to support it and I do uh I'm sure it will be a topic at the league of municipalities and I do hope we we the state legislature take Swift action thank you Clark please councilwoman Holland yes councilwoman mcra yes councilman Roman yes Deputy Mayor makoy yes mayor tamboro yes mayor M2 will be numbered 20242 223 and will be sent to our representatives of the state legisl thank you m clerk um the next item on the agenda is our new one F business first item is discussion on proposed ordinance establish new chapter 173 Cod Lev business license and insurance required mrco this has been something you have brought up several times I'd like you to brief us on the public on this item um there's there's now two reasons servicing by the requirements for little State we required town of required best business L geces and uh in our case you you will then govern all of these businesses that come into town um landscapers plumers whatever um they'll have to take a license out to do any work in our town and if they violate our codes if they're issued summonses for violating the plumbing codes the building codes whatever you can rebok their license which is a privilege to work in the town and Brian may have a comment on the state pieces of this which these State mandates they allow us to charge so you'll see number two is also the amendment of a565 which is the fees I think the recommendation it up it's $25 if I it's um this also applies to all rentals single family homes even so while rentals are also required to have the insurance and show proof of the insurance so it's a it's going be quite an administrative burden on the township trying to collect all the stuff on a yearly basis they I just have a couple questions the U the effective date says takes expect immediately and we do have a lot of businesses operate in town that would need to be noticed of this we also have a lot of poal units so think the ordinance says effective immediately but the ordinance the the resolution or the body of the ordinance is effective immediately but I think we did January 1 yes January 1 is actually effective and the only reason we did that is because um what we're hoping to do um and the way the or is written is is a prated amount if you do it like if you show up in June this way it's everybody's do the same time because if you don't have that if you had rolling with thousands of these things do would be you know next to impossible to try to calendar everybody this wayone to do on the on the same January date so my my only concern with this is because we have so many and we would need to find a way to notice everybody in this that we would push the effective date of this off until maybe mid year um just to get it out Mr de and I had a short conversation about this during in the middle of the house fire and that was you know the the the fire investigation not been out yet if there were some contractor negligence that would allow us to prevent that contractor from working in town again right so there's some advantages here but at the same point with all the rental units we have with all the businesses with all this stuff I think we need to give people some Grace in order to get it out there we need to do Eng engage in a massive campaign not only to businesses but also to our residents to notify them that they should only be they should be asking to see business licenses of any of anybody they use right um and my you know and obviously the fee isn't the fee isn't that much I guess there is a concern with like like the kid out you know mowing lawns for for people and stuff like that and obviously I would hope that we're not going to be engaging in some kind of enforcement mechanism to stop a 16-year-old from you know mowing his neighbor La if they're agreeing to it um there'll be a public information effort uh to notify business communities and and people Vending in town um we can have a startup date of January that's why we so that it's not rolling every month and we try the office it will be effective over January the Fe will be prated as I would I would be more comfortable having it a July 1 start for the first time charging everybody $25 for the the first year no matter when so people can apply anytime between now and then pay the $25 the license would go into effect on July first for everybody and that gives everybody time to breathe and we're not gonna be out of compliance or anything if we do that Mr right I'm actually looking at it see this so while ours might be slightly juicier if this is a state law so we're actually required to pass this and I believe I'm trying to look it up right now online I believe that it actually needs to be effective for next year Jen you know that start February 2023 23 so we're already late it's in the local Finance yeah said the state approved August 5th of 22 what's a couple of months no the thought the thought being is we'll we'll come to compliance here but even when we wrote this we did have conversations when we meet you know every Wednesday and one of the things we talked about was there is no plan right now or thought that this the t ofon is going to come down and everybody there's GNA be a huge educational thing and this will more likely than not take at least a year before the wheels get greased and whatnot so we hope that people would apply and would start registering next year once the ordinance comes effective but um as the manager indicated there's going to be a huge educational campaign but as well as an internal let's set this up let's try to figure out how we're going to do this how we're going to notify every year spreadsheets Excel spreadsheets you know cards that maybe go out every October or whatever so there's a whole procedure so this will really just get the procedure started um no one that I knowly I'm wrong if they're here in the township believes that this is going to be something where we're going writing tickets forcing ordinances you know in January as long as it's not as long as we don't see enforcement right away think you can that's different now would this would this apply in the way it's written to just let's say somebody does not conduct business but they own an LLC that is that is listed as the register address in the t r are they paying a registry certificate for that well it's it depends you know it depends so if we read the first thing and this is right from there that no person shall conduct on and zibit promote or engage in any business activity within the border of the township um that's a pretty broad definition however if you just have an LLC established you're not conducting you're not carrying on you're not promoting you're not engaging in any business activity you have a a silent you know it's almost like having a pocket license for a liquor license you're not engaging it you just own something so I would argue that that you know more likely than not is not it's one of those things that depend because once someone starts to do anything they could be engaging um even you know even if they're promoting it from their house but you know it's online nobody from Verona is using it if that's engaging in business in the tach quarters so okay so there are three council members at least that I know of that own LLC is in this municipality so in that case we would have to declare the doctrine of necessity to then pass this the a resolution um that part I first off I have to look at that so you know I'm not going to give an Ethics opinion sitting here it would be a research thing but then with regard to other Council people I only you know like the local Finance where we only Give opinions people ask we ask um and then this has the same effect as everybody so there's a high likelihood that nobody would be conflicted at it wouldn't be the doctor necessity just because this applies to everybody in the world who has a business um and no one um is is uh singling anybody out or whatever doesn't have an effect just on you and in fact again this is a state requirement it's not even out so my one major question with this is uh this applies to say an LLC of a property owner and I obviously have that so if your property has a retail business in it then that means that the property owner has to pay a fee and register and the business has to pay a fee and also register that's correct but it's not just fee and register you actually have to prove you have insurance property owner you have to have insur obviously a bank is going to requir you to have insurance anyway so that's that's like checked in that well that's only assuming you have a mortgage and this specifically applies and again it's the state law not our law to because we're talking about the insurance requirement to single family rentals as well so it's not even like you know single family homes that are rented our exemp almost like using the rent control ordance you applies to like four families and above this doesn't this is you know arguably you're not I'll call it in air quotes a business um when you own a single family home that you're renting right they're looking at this as business and for whatever reason they want to make sure everybody has this certain amount of insurance it's not less than $300,000 I guess right um you know to give you a quick look so you touched on my next question uh single family or as it said in here four or fewer units has to pay that that's correct so why is it that the owner of a four or fewer building has to pay the fee but someone who owns Hillwood Terrace when you have that many units there why why are they exempt from paying this oh no they're not exempt they all pay it the uh the the difference between a and b and insurance requirements is one has a $500,000 limit and the other one has a $300,000 limit so four or fewer uh has a lesser requirement for the insurance for whatever reason again this is from the state law when you come Insurance requ be made up anything else okay uh for now no ccil thank you so I'm really trying to wrap my head around this so if an attorney is working out of their home and they have a business and again their clients are all outside of Verona they still have to to pay this fee when you say working outside of their home well I'm sorry they let's say an attorney uses their home as their place of business in bom yes they would pay this fee and they would actually have to prove insurance as well let's say someone has one of the new categories of business that the state finally um licensed a year or two ago a home baking business where they make cakes does that person need to get this license yes okay we we talked about like if someone has a formal babysitting business with a or dog walking business they have to get this as well yes it's it's extremely broad but it's it's it's it's the way the legislator wrote it you know and we can I can even start doing research now as specific examples come up there might be some case law on the specific examples that you're using but any anyone who has a Consulting business they're paying this fee out of their home it's a very broad definition yes what about nonprofits what about nonprofits I don't believe that they're except Corporation yeah could we perhaps get a research memo about legislation in Perry Materia and how they Define business activities because this just says an owner of a business or an owner of a rental unit as I read the legislation I think it would be really helpful and I think it would also to be really instructive to our residents to have a definition um in in whatever proposed uh or ordinance ultimately moves forward because um if we are taking the position that it is that expansive that it's going to include somebody's home baking in you know uh home baking business like a sole proprietorship a single member LLC um you know nonprofit corporations things of that nature um you know I think we want to make sure that that we have a really sound legal Bas basis on that so um I I would really appreciate having some research into the legislative language around this because the the the the reference chapter law and when I look at it um is is very piffy um it it has very little here and so it is going to be part of a broader part of the code and perhaps there is uh information that we can glean from other sections of the statutes as well as Kate's law on on what is intended by owner of a business and owner of a rental unit and if we are perhaps behind some of the other municipalities in the state that have implemented ordinances uh for business licensing I think it would be really instructive to see what they've done and how they've interpreted this um because I mean if we're gonna be reaching for dog walking businesses and things of that nature I mean this is this is a first of all it's just not GNA even be practical we're just trying to boil the ocean at this point so um I really think we should we should make this practical and statutes should really be read um in such a way that that they aren't just silly I that's just principles of statutory construction are such that it shouldn't be so overly broad um that it would sweep in everything CLE Roman yeah I'll also offer the I think this covers extraordinarily large businesses PSG Verizon um you know large other large utilities any any of these are conducting business within the township and we're going to have to chase down insurance and I wonder if there's anyone that might be self-insuring for liability this doesn't appear to cover that at all it appears to require you to to pull a liability policy rather than some other means of financial responsibility um I would kind of agree that we need to we need some sort of more deta research and and documentation help us make a decision and craft a statute that actually meets the intent of the law because I do feel like this is vastly over Brad I agree and I think that we need to have the if we are required to pass this as with many things the state forces us to pass there should be minimal compliance to meet the spirit of the law if we know that that more compliance is going to create problems for our residents our residents ability to hire people at a at an economically appropriate um cost you know it's like there I think you're and you're putting municipality you know this municipality situation like it's almost un enforceable to an extent so so you're passing un enforceable legislation which I don't see the point in doing um when really there's no you know unless you're hiring an investigator to troll the business registry records of the state of New Jersey which right now are only accessible some of them by fee so now we're paying for for that um to to try and track people down and demand Insurance you could form an LLC and you know your insurance needs may be different than what is it here it just like some I mean there are some ENT business entities that are discarded entities right so I mean so the it's kind of indistinguishable from the individual so so there are concerns there also I mean the legislation largely focuses on ownership and not as much activity which becomes very interesting with regard to the example that councilman Roman brought forward about you know PG and others because like if we're extending to operating within the municipal boundary well then that is massive yeah think about everybody that works from home like I suspect that that is not the intended effect of this um I would also like to um similarly request an Ethics review of how this would affect council members that either own their own um business entities or have family members with their own business entities every every council member has to request that individually to the town we can a BL it uh can a blank an opinion I've already requested yes of that for myself and thus I am doing the same again the reason for that is everyone facts might be different and again I am doing so myself record I will request it I established my facts of if you have a family member that owns one of these businesses or owns a business whether or not that would also be a disqualifying I encourage everybody to share with the their individual STS circumstan I want to go back to the beginning brought up uh I I also think that if this is a January 1 thing I I we may have to hire somebody for the clerk's office for the week before the two weeks before January 1 if all these people are coming in but real quick I don't think they'll have people just just throwing it out there but uh and one little scribers error in uh 1733 and B the the very end we have one or more persons in it has person in so to separate that thank you um I also just wanted to point out in the last paragraph uh third paragraph under 173 point2 there was just gendered language in referring to the police chief so that could be revised that would be greated thank you so I think I'll summarize by if nobody has any objection the council is unprepared to move forward on this at this time we request significant additional information we will contact you regarding individual circumstances but also we would like to see what other towns are doing with this we have to list of fees from other municipalities it's probably just easy to get their ordinances from those same ones as well um and uh and I can I will say that I'm not in a rush necessarily to get this done if we're going to get it done wrong uh rather get something done right Solly and if the state has an issue with that then they can spend their time and resources addressing that which I do not think is GNA happen so thank you any other new or unfinished business hearing none um at this time I'll call for public comment on any matter same public comment statement applies seeing none I close public comment whether we have made pass a resolution to go to an executive session we will do so at this time any official action to be taken no then we will see everybody the first Monday in December