evening I call the order this regular meeting of the township Council for Monday the 17th of March 2025 you please read the open public meeting for that compliance dat the notice repi with respect to this meeting of the
township Council the meeting time and date public internet link and telephone call in information set notice and the meeting agenda was posted in the municipal building and sent to the official papers of the new of the township veronis C New York Times and
star leiser at least 48 Hours proceeding the start time of this meeting the agenda and handouts can be viewed at Verona your comment will be provided thank you madam clerk would you call the rooll please councilwoman
Holland here Council will mcra here Council M Roman here Deputy Mayor makoy pres mayor choro here may also president Township attorney Bri Township manager Kevin oeld myself Municipal cler Jenn thank you would everybody please stand
Alle to the flag the United States America and to the stand One Nation God indivis good evening everyone and thank you for joining us for our regular T of council meeting um due to the crowd in
the room I just want to remind everybody that their fire exits over stairs by where the fleet Chief is standing the other fire exit is over here as well uh I'm going to begin with the mayor's report and we have some uh joyous
celebration here our seventh grade girls Suburban basketball team uh finished their season with a regular record of seven and3 um and including the playoffs nine to3 they won the west division with a 5 to1 record by beating undefeated living
in the last regular season game to advance in the playoffs and in the playoffs the girls beat the top two teams in the East Division and won the championship ladies is very impressive I commend you for your not only athletic Prest but also wins like this take
teamwork they take listening to your coaches uh they take joy in the game all of those things are skills that will transfer to everything that you do in life uh so congratulations to you and congratulations to your coaches um now
I'm GNA come forward and perhaps the council would like to join me um and we have some certificates everybody we'll call some names and please come forward when you come forward um we're just GNA kind of stand in here and then we'll take a picture we're done all right
let's go all right when we pull your name up come on up get to shake my hand the deputy mayor gets to give you the fun all right all right Riley curtain number 11 all right Zoe Dilla Adeline Corino kayn
man congratulations Juliana Molina Lea Morgan Rossi congratulations Lily Simon SI Spina Amelia St conratulations
Ellie Walker and last but not least Whitney Wilkins and I'd like to ask your coaches to come up as well head coach Crystal Rossy uh joea and Joseph Gino he's not here all right
congratulations everybody this is for all right ladies every forward yeah some coming this way you got to shuffle forward a step yeah it good job i' like can call up
count of the Aon Mr J mayor and councel basically we're going into the spring season and does not feel like bra this evening so I have my winter um on Saturday April 5th at 700
a.m. to 1 p.m. at the nor division we have the ch Blom bike race on Sunday April 6th at 10: a.m. we have our Char Blossom pen run uh which is also in Northern
Division and Sunday April 12th we have a one mile fun and walk run at M a.m at the Essex County family gate section by the provencial concert area and Sunday April 13th we have Balloon Fest at the O
at the North Division uh basically we have nothing else really happening and even though our fields are all getting ready for socare baseball Etc Happ to take a little tour we also have open at
Hendrick field is your golf ID if you're just our courses are open lake is not open because we are still doing the renovations that'll probably be open uh sometime around mid
July that is my short report this evening and any questions from mayor and Council Mr thank you J thank you very much on to the rest of the Nao report happy St Patrick's Day to everybody um
we did celebrate our Irish flag raising at our last meeting uh but enjoy the day I last week I attended a couple meetings sponsored by the New Jersey leak municipalities for municipalities that had our um revised affordable housing
numbers contested uh it was a mayor's meeting and for managers and attorneys as well and our Administration attorney uh were on that which was a very informative meeting and I thank the the municipalities for uh for sponsoring that municipalities were able to share
strategies that they had taken which was very helpful in planning um our response as well the ver environmental commission met uh uh since our last meeting and reviewed several site plans including those for ever field uh the council did
receive the recommendations from the environmental commission and I hope that the council reads them um in their entirety they were excellent recommendations I had the opportunity to go to Forest Avenue School as part of
read Across America to read to um this oken's third grade class and as always I was uh welcomed and had a great little press conference uh after which was as informative For Me Maybe as for the students
um with the the deputy mayor and councilman Roman I attend the Boy Scout two pancake practice this weekend is the one time a year I eat pancakes um and they are the best pancakes I think I have in a year right uh so um on Sunday
yesterday we attended the Ramadan Interfaith meal that was sponsored by the Verona clergy Council it was really a wonderful evening discussing the commonalities between the U religious Traditions that exist in Verona we
enjoyed some fellowship um and some understanding together next Tuesday we will be participating in a joint meeting with the brona Board of Education that'll be held at 7:00 in the auditorium of brona high school know what that due to technological restraint
in the school system it will not be um it will be live streamed on zoom on the school system Zoom but it will you won't be able to publicly comment so if you would like to comment at that meeting please come in person and finally um as everybody knows
who's at this meeting presumably there was a horrific incident uh in Verona involving shooting of four individuals in one of our Municipal parking lots in that area would like to start out by thanking the Verona Police Department our
responding officers who were immediately there our officers who came in from home when they were requested um to assist our dispatcher Mario culi who handled multiple 911 calls at the same time I was able to get resources there very
quickly our police Administration and our detective Bureau responded the incident this was truly an all hands on deck uh type of incident also like to thank the Verona Rescue Squad who responded and transported to shooting victims um as a first responder at this
incident I can attest that I saw great professionalism and bravery from everybody present from our police officers to our volunteer uh Rescue Squad members and is certainly that is a source of Pride for i' also like to
thank all of the mutual Aid agencies that came to assist Verona during that time um including the North Caldwell Police Department essexfells police Caldwell Police Montclair police Bloomfield Police Livingston Police barefield
Police and the SED Gro Police Department um who basically is the sister agency toona police uh was present for the basically the entire incident um and provided multiple officers and seene security and
additional resources so I can't thank them enough i' also like to recognize the Cedar Grove first aid and rescue squad who was there also for the entirey of the incident to provide additional support they also handled an emergency call in Verona at another place that
happened during that incident because time does not stop and I'd also like to thank Montclair Ems for attending to another simultaneous emergency while our crews were tied up the university hospital as mayor I am angry that
visitors to Verona violated the well-known peace and safety of our community with Reckless and senseless violence I'm upset that our police EMS were forced to risk their lives responding to this incident and I'm deeply concerned that this incident has
greatly affected our residents and their feelings of safety in our community this will not be tolerated in Verona but as they say actions speak louder than words at this time I'll be asking Chief Chris Kieran of the BR of police
department to offer an update to the council and the public following Chief kieran's remarks Dr manager Kevin O Sullivan will present administrative actions that already been taken by the township to address uh concerns related
to this incident and then after that I will open for public comment on this incident only uh due to the number of people present uh for that J kman as most of you are aware we did have as a mayor just noted we had a shooting
incident on Saturday March 16th in Municipal lot one off the Park Place the incident began as an argument between a small group of individuals who were leaving an event at a local business the argument escal escalated when someone brandished a handgun resulting in multiple suspects
exchanging gunfire total four people were struck two were treated on the scene and transported to University Hospital by the Verona Rescue Squad two other victims self transported to local hospitals three of the four have been released the fourth is unfortunately
still in the hospital in critical condition as for the norm as just mentioned we're immediately assisted by our surrounding agencies but I just like to note uh North Coldwell essexfells Coldwell Montclair Bloomfield Livingston Fairfield this was all Paramount in
maintaining scene control special thanks as noted to the city Police Department our sister agency under the public safety umbrella who assisted us with not only onse investigation but proving additional equipment resources including emergency lighting and a drone for scene
processing recognition to the brona rescue squad for their quick and measured life-saving actions is necessary as well the police department is grateful for the county resources offered I should not I've receed personal phone calls from the es County prosecutor's office chief of detectives Mitch mag
McGuire Sheriff Amir Jones as well as a prosecutor himself Theodore Stevens who assured me that all available resources are being put forward to assist our investigation norc public safety director Manny Miranda also contacted me offering assistance from the norc
shooting response team's resources over the past 40 hours since the incident the r the police department remains Resolute in our efforts in establishing the identity of the individuals involved I'm confident this exceptional work being done by your officers will lead to the arrest of
those resp responsible for this Reckless and outrageous behavior Saturday night appears to be an isolated incident between a small group of party goers there is no active threat public at this time the investigation is very fluid and ongoing we are currently being assisted
by the ESS County prosecutor's office because of this I can make no further comments regarding the case at this time just know that we are committed to ensuring the public safety wellbeing of all owner residents thank you Chief any questions Chief from the council
thank you sorry thank manager thank you mayor and to reiterate a little bit of what's been stated already uh the township of Verona is fortunate and thankful to be served by the Verona Police Department and the
Verona Rescue Squad the township uh the Township's appreciation certainly extends to all those neighboring municipalities and the County prosecutor's office for their support over this past weekend and and in all the instances Mutual a is called upon the immediate response from all the
First Responders was an admirable effort in the face of very difficult circumstances prior to and independent from the events which occurred over the weekend the township had begun reviewing the paletto venue's property files in response to incoming complaints that have been received the events over the
weekend resulted in the township Expediting and completing a zoning review of the property and the business the township remains committed to also reviewing all other potential Code Compliance matters that exist for that property and that business uh based upon the zoning review it was determined
that the business was improperly given a zoning permit and certificate of occupancy based upon the decision of a former employee who is not authorized to issue such a decision therefore the continued use of the property as an
event space is neither permitted nor authorized the business business owner and the property owner have been notified of these findings and have been provided 45 days to either terminate the event rental space use or to seek relief from the board of
adjustment thank you Mr ass any questions Mr ass from Cil before I open for public comment I do just want to thank Chief Kieran Mr solivan Mr alya for being available all weekend um to address concerns that the
council had and also that came through from residents um it was once again everybody was working all day Sunday and today as well in response at this time if there's no objection from the council I will open for public comment on this
issue only Madam clerk would you please read the public participation State anyone from the public wishing to speak on this matter 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
please raise your hand to be acknowledged and approach the elect term once recognized clearly state only your name and Township of residents for record you're 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 will be no cross dialogue during this public portion after everyone wishing to speak has been heard the council May address your comments and or questions thank you madam
CL so anybody in the room wish to make a comment on this issue well we're going to start in the front row come on up okay good evening um my name is Christen kissner and I have been a grown a resident for the past 17 years I have
three children and two of the three currently attend each BW which as you know is just feet away from the shooting this past weekend not only do my boys as well as many of their friends walk past this exact location each week but we also
frequent many of the establishments next to petto venues as do many of our community members I am here tonight to share that a petition was created this afternoon and has garnered nearly 200 signatures in less than 4 hours to urge our local
government government to investigate the Palmetto venues request license revocation if the business violated safety laws and if the investigation declares the business of public neutr we demand our officials to take legal
action I would also personally request that public you informed of this shooting if the shooting occurred within exactly 1,000 ft of the HP school grounds as I'm sure you're all aware it is illegal to possess or discharge a firearm within 1,000 ft of the school
property thank you thank you [Music] Dr second row Sharon O'donnell Verona resident I I composed this piece uh the night that this happened
because I knew that I wanted to get before somebody and either publish it or read it so I did not I was not here I came in the middle of uh what was happening before so some of these issues have been addressed I apologize for the
redundancy 36 shots were fired last Saturday were fired Saturday night right here in Veron 36 shots were fired right over there in the parking lot bound on one side by our Middle
School on a second Side by its athletic field and on on the third by our business community and on the fourth side by private homes one of which is mine literally that lot is in the heart of
Verona and the lifeblood of our community passes through it every day day our children attend the middle school Monday through Friday our families cheer a athletes on the field after school and on weekends and
everyone weekdays and weekends day and night enjoy the restaurants and shops along Bloomfield Avenue now those shops and restaurants are all bound by certain legal by certain rules and legal requirements that are designed to protect both the merchants and their
patrons from any number of mishaps or misfortunes that could take place these requirements are defined as clearly as possible and they are enforcable but that may not be the case with Palmetto venues the event space that housed the party that ended in a parking lot fight
where 36 shots were fired and four people were hit and two of those people were so seriously injured that they were admitted to University Hospital in Newark as we gathered tonight there are people getting Council in reviewing the legal requirements petto must meet to
operate from their current location but because their website lists them as an event venue I'm concerned that pomoto may not be encumbered by the laws and requirements other businesses are bound to follow like Caterers and restaurants
thus enabling them to operate within a more permissive and laxed gray area even though just like Caterers and restaurants alcoholic beverages are permitt on their premise and are consumed by the clients who retain their events space when Verona deals with
businesses that don't fit easily into existing Frameworks what are the guidelines the town follows what are the risks they assess how do they determined whether or not to move forward with granting permits as a resident of Parkplace I
have but I do not like it I I've built a tolerance to the less attractive aspects of living on a Street that's both residential and Commercial things like garbage strewn across my lawn from the night before that needs picking up every
weekend or the noise of late night party music that a closed window can muffle and especially since the opening of palow unruly and obviously drunk partygoers mingling in the parking lot after the party is over I always hope
they will leave quickly and prior to Saturday I and I'm pretty sure many in this room never dreamed they be faced with a business whose client's Behavior
just devolved into a 36 shot gunfight but here we are right here right now facing this moment so what is it what's the next level of inconvenience or or discomfort
the next level of risk or danger to my safety that the Town Council might have to ask me or the community to tolerate M I have to stop you a four minute limit I that so that's
my concern we we heard it anybody in the second row anybody else good evening everyone uh B Township Council thank you Mr Ro Sullivan of course her neighbors I appreciate you all being here um my name is Dex pitzi I
live at 17 Park Place it's important because it's across the street from paletto venues it's deeply unfortunate that I'm standing here before you today uh following the gunfight that erupted uh during and a party at Palmetto venues on
Saturday night as a resident of Park Place I've been front and center to the regular and ongoing disruption caused by paletto venues since their opening a little over a year ago I've been in communication previously with Tom Jacobson Mr O
Sullivan uh councilwoman Holland uh to raise my concerns about this business for months myself and my neighbors have been forced to make calls to town officials and police on a regular basis to reign in the rockus parties hosted by
the owners of paletto venues who are not here tonight however very little action has been taken to dat now after a worst case scenario where patrons of paletto venues erupted in a violent shootout outside of
my front door in the shadow of our Middle School in this very building that we stand in we must demand accountability and action for the sake of our for the sake of my 8-year-old and six-year-old who were feet away when this
happened as far as I'm concerned there is blood on the hand hands of this town who have not acted before this point for months they have been a nuisance now they're a danger they present a clear and tangible threat to myself my family
our neighborhood and the Township community for months we've experienced a dramatic increase in in traffic and reckless driving threatening encounters with partygoers fights breaking out among their customers trash accumulation including a Litany of balloons over the
last 12 months that have regularly left in the parking lot and wind up in the pekman river there's a d complaint on file not to mention declining property values um and ongoing noise disturbance uh disturbances well past legal livits
they're disturbing our peace and reducing our quality of life and I have to live in fear that I'll come home to any number of drunk angry partygoers with a predeliction for guns and the dangers they bring to our doors I also have major concerns about the legitimacy and safety of the business and the
manner in which they're allowed to operate in Barona why are they permitted to host events with more than 160 people when any other similar business is limited to 100 who approv approved this zoning permit for a business that hosts 160 people with less than two bathrooms
or excuse me only 10 bathrooms and less than 10 parking spaces how come they're allowed signage that covers 100% of their Windows When anybody else in town is limited to 25% they operate in a legal gray area customers are regularly served alcohol to excess and that business has no
liquor license they have no catering license but they serve food there are no means to regulate a business that operates outside of the boundaries of any legal framework and it's clear that their patrons have no respect for the law as well and I want to know who is
accountable and who is responsible these are laws as they're written now have enabled this business to push the margins of legal operation to their maximum limit I'm sure you guys recognize this now I'm calling on the Town Council to take the following actions immediately some of which you
already have but we need to revoke their business license and permanently shut down this business Beyond 45 days we need to strengthen our ordinances to prevent businesses from creating similar hazardous conditions across across the community and in my opinion we need to
require event permitting a mandatory police presence and the use of firearm detection and prevention Technologies and this all needs to come at the cost of the business owners I want to thank the Town Council for their serious attention to this matter I also want to thank the Verona Police Department um and their support
of this community um but I have to ask what is the town doing to eliminate the threat presented by this business its owners including Robert Lewis Kim John the I'm sorry I have to tell you off let's not forget the gunman
yeah next anybody else in the second row thank you good evening Emily Fitzy 17 par Place Paul met uses at a minimum a public nuisance for Verona between creating additional vehicular traffic and an already highly trafficked area of
town to generating unsightly waste that litters the nearby streets and ends up in the pekman river to the regular violation of Township noise ordinances this business disrupts the Peace of those who live close by and those who frequent the businesses and the residences surrounding 10 Park Place I
wish I could stop there but after arriving home to my residence located at 17 Parkplace at 11:00 p.m. on Saturday March 15th with my sleeping children in the back seat seat of our car I have no choice but to use my voice and this time to share with the Town Council how petto
venues went from being a nuisance to a very real threat to the safety security and well-being of my family my neighbors and all Verona residents at 1100 p.m. we turned onto our street to a scene of flashing lights police and crime scene
tape had we arrived home only minutes earlier we would have been within range of being struck by a stray bullet barely 100 ft from my front door gunfire my 8-year-old daughter awoken by the chaos as we pulled into our driveway started to cry and GS what's happening Mommy why
is there an ambulance and police I'm scared me too this horrific event leaves me both angry and terrified I'm deeply saddened and Afraid for the safety of my family and for our community how could this
happen gun violence has no place here many local businesses serve the township of Verona how is this business servicing our community what value is Palmetto venues bringing to our community I not seen this business make any meaningful
or superficial contributions to Verona in fact between the traffic trash noise violations and now gun violence I don't think I'm being unreasonable when I say that PTO venues does a disservice to the community and is a detriment to our town PTO venuses has not brought any value to
Verona it has devalued our home and our home this business has brought violence and fear to Verona this is truly Unthinkable and unacceptable in the Verona Police Department's update last night they stated there is no active threat to the
public at this time the Verona Police Department remains committed to ensuring Public Safety and the well-being of all Verona residents we deserve Safety and Security we deserve immediate action to address the business that has put our Town's Public Safety and well-being into
question and so I asked slightly revised due to the information provided what will be done within the next 45 days while the business is asked to take action as you described what will be done in the next 45 days to ensure that petto venues is no longer a threat to
our communities all thank you very much my name is eileene and um new provid your last Carney and on one part place I live right next door to Pal meow
venue I arrived home Saturday night around 10:45 p.m. and I saw the balloons in the signage so I knew that I Was preparing for the usual Ruckus that occurs after every party at palow there's always yelling fighting General
drunken chaos when the party goers leave the venue and head into the municipal lot and hang out there for an extended period of time and then Saturday night happened and what I thought were fireworks turned out to be 36
bullets my family has owned this home on Parkplace since 1958 and in all those years we have had wonderful relationships with all of our business neighbors it has always been a
great Community spirit I want pometto to find a new location I want to feel safe again and I want to know what the town plans to do to keep us safe thank you thank you for your comment I'm going to
move to Angela who's on Zoom Angela you can come off mute and you've been given permission to speak on Zoom Zoom all right um we have another Zoom attendee eron
Paul switch to Erin hi there can you hear me I can hear you go ahead okay great hi um yeah my zoom account says Aaron Paul but I am Ain oand um I'm a resident of Verona I'm
over um sorry I just put my baby to bed um I've been listening to what everyone has to say and you know I just I want to express my you know sympathy and empathy for the folks who are directly next to this business I can't imagine that
feeling I have a four-month-old um and that's certainly not something that I think Verona stands for um I've been a resident here for four years now but my husband's family has been here for over 40 um
and you know just to put it pretty plainly if I wanted to deal with this crap I would still live in Washington Heights I wouldn't be here in Verona um so you know kind of echoing what everyone else has said in a much more articulate manner um I'd really like to know what the town is planning to do
about this because I plan to make Veron my home for a very long time um but stuff like this is is why I left the last place that I lived um so I would really love to know what the plan is going forward I've heard a little bit but can't wait to hear more
thanks thank for your coming I don't have anybody else on Zoom anybody else in the second row second row no I'm gonna go to this side I'll get back to you this side's been very patient Andrew did you have your hand up yeah yep
on my name is Andrew dero and I live in Verona for 23 years I'm also the operator of a beastro in Verona and the owner of what M Taco super be Shak Smash and I you know I did meet the owners of
the venue and they seemed very nice and everything but I did notice that things were getting a little bit out of hand there and I feel like as a business owner that's been held to a high scrutiny with a liquor license and food licenses and gone through several zoning
applications I feel that now I'm discovering that this license is operate this operation is operating without a license um I forly worked many years ago in New York in the nightclub business and I'm very familiar with Cabaret licenses and liquor licenses and all that all the different intricacies of
things and um I had no idea that this was done without any like Board of adjustment review like I've had this to go through in the past to get my businesses open the cost and the agony of going through all the experts and
whatnot to get your approvals and I know I feel bad that other people you know have to go through the same right of passage as I've had to but I also feel like I've been cheated because other people are getting away without having to go through that and I also would like to thank the the Verona Police
Department First Responders for coming and you know the other thing that was disturbing is I got a call from my manager that our patrons and our employees were ordered lockdown in the facility for save me and we're we're
trying to answer to our customers who weren't permitted to take their cars out for the security crime scene and also the damage it does to the reputation of our business that we built so it's the only comments I have but again thank you for hearing thank
you yeah good evening my councel mrvan um I would like to Echo everyone's comments and thank our our chief of police and the police department and all the local um responders that attended on Saturday evening I just had um I Echo
everyone's sentiments here and I heard the bullets from my house under went in my family room that evening I thought they were fireworks I just want to U make a few comments um regarding the zoning that was approved back on August of 2023 for
um petto venues to go into that 546 Bloomfield Avenue location I would like to just make note as Mr O solivan noted it is not our current zoning officer that approved that to go into that location that person is no longer with
the township so I would like that to be on record because our zoning officer right now doesn't that job and that's what we want for Verona we want someone to make sure that things are being looked at and not overlooked so we're not sitting here again for something
like this so I know sometimes this um people come into the office and are upset with the zoning department because of the rules but the rules are the rules and this is why so that wasn't followed back in August of
2023 just going um also with the note of the 45 days um to terminate or of the use of the event rental space or seek relief from the board of adjustment if this pometto venue Waits
45 days and on May 1 they come into the board of adjustment zoning office and they want to file an application that brings us to May 1st they file their application Zoning Board
of adjustment as everyone should know it takes a few months to get heard to be put on for the board of adjustment so now if they even if tomorrow they come in and want to go for the board of adjustment application are they going to
be able to operate for 45 days plus when they could be heard the board of adjustment is meeting right now if you come in today to file an application you're not being heard until June June 12th there's one meeting a month so
that's just something that should be out there for the record because will this will they continue to operate and if they do continue to operate then I truly believe that there should be some form of security that Pomo venues has to hire
police officers on their dime to cover the events that go on to make sure something like this does not happen within the next four or five months from that being heard should they want to go through the board of adjustment um and as for safety issues
of that building we I I don't know how they even are in there the egress they can't get out of that building if there were shops fired in that building there would have been a major issue of them getting out of those 30inch doors there's only one in the
front and one in the back so if there's 200 people in that building at one time there would have been a major issue so and if you look on their Instagram account Facebook account or their their uh Tik Tok videos they have flames shooting up it's not a very um good
venue for verilla so just um I just appreciate all of you and again thank you for our First Responders thank you thank you for your comment anybody else on this side of the room Paul uh
Verona um basically I want to thank police fire First Responders everything like that um now as Pam spoke about the zoning um when that comes if they do file that and that comes ahead uh I
would like to say to the towns people that you know one meeting is not we shouldn't show up when something bad happens stuff like this the zoning meetings I go to Every meeting and I try to fight for our town on everything to stop things like this from happening so
I just hope like Pam says we're notified when this zoning application or something does happen so we can bring support like this and we can shut that down you do not need this business to keep running the fire codes as you spoke last town meeting I was probably the only one in the audience the last town meeting we talked about code enforcement
you need more people to enforce the code and stuff like that if we had more people to enforce the code fire code would definitely be enforced things like that this the business is operating illegally we all know that you guys are going to take the right steps we all trust you to take the right steps you hear from the town I just ask that the
town's people show up to more meetings so we can be heard before bad things happen because right now I'm the only one showing up and I'm trying to fight for you guys and we all show up when it's too late so thank you okay going back to this side of the room Christian
Christian 153 morning Side Road just a suggestion um possibly we should look into maybe an ordinance that we can pass eliminating these type of venues in our Township that they will not be allowed to operate in Verona if we you know consider an ordinance eliminating these
type of facilities we have few uh venues here that we have no problems with this type of venue without a liquor license no kitchen Maybe we shouldn't allow that if you guys can consider maybe looking into that type of an ordinance it would eliminate them in general secondly we
have a lot of residents here from par place and other areas in town that have made numerous phone calls complaining about this facility I think the most important question and I hope I can get an answer was there any violations given
to this business prior to the 36 shots this past Saturday thank you you like comment I'm going to invite Stanley B is on Zoom to participate Spitz you have permission to talk if you want to unmute
participate okay I'm sorry can you hear me now yes you can all right I live on uh Church Street and there's another meeting place I think it's called 341 and then when they have they don't have their venues too often but when
they do there's cars parked all over Bloomfield Avenue all over you know it's all over the place and I don't know how they can have something when there's no parking for it they say that they say it's parking for 100 cars there's no parking for 100
cars there's only a dentist office that's really all I have to say they also have drinks and are in the parking lot smoking marijuana which isn't illegal your commenting I just need your
your name as well for the record okay I just the other person talking I just need her name for Mary so one more thank you you can you can participate now go ahead I don't want to be involved with
what if they came on Mars I turned it off thank you for your comment um anybody else in the room on this side of the room anybody in the hallway that's not in the room who wants to
participate yeah yeah all right this point I will close public comment on this item there are additional public comment um opportunities during the meeting I will take an opportunity I want to thank the public for understanding the rules of public
participation understanding that we can't have a back and forth dialogue we do want to address a few things if we can now um as far as what is going to happen immediately for those who missed Mr alivan's presentation
uh the venue has been notified that uh they are a non-permitted use and that their permit was granted uh in error by a foral former employee and at this point they have to either vacate or appeal within the 45
days to go to answer the questions what happens in the meantime Mr suiv and Mr aloya um if they file the appeal do they cease operating during the appeal or they able to operate while the appeal is pending I can certainly tell you you
your options turn your mic on I'm sorry I can certainly tell you your options and tell you what I recommend can happen would you a close session to do that or would you like how would you like to proceed we would go to close session because it's attorney client privilege
and because I'm not I'm not I'll call I'm not a decision maker right I'm an advice um you want to go into Clark's office in five minutes I can answer all your questions you can come back out and answer the way youit okay um why don't we do some more response we'll get out what we can and then if
any other items come up we'll know so we don't have to keep going in and out of Jen's office okay um so that that's item number one we'll discuss and get back to um on that piece um as far as were some concerns about things like signage and
other violations know that did the the um the opeg front glass that was addressed by zoning right those uh some of the comments had previously been received and forwarded to the zoning and
construction and Property Maintenance offices uh some of the comments are comments that need further investigation by department has sorry sorry it's out of order thank you um I'm
G ask Chief Kieran if you can come up to address the number of police complaints that have been received and entered into the the police C there have been five uh noise complaints noise trffic complaints over the past year and that's the
totality of anything CED to that that location that's correct thank you Chief can we make your point of order no I'm sorry uh um you'll have another opportunity for public comment in uh after if you look on the agenda after
the cant manager report we will have an additional close session to discuss an item related to affordable housing I then there will be council member comments and then there'll be another public comment session at that time okay moving on to other items as
far as the concerns about fire egress anybody who does apply for certificate of occupancy has to have a fire inspection correct gentlemen right so that was addressed previously um and that is something of course that the Fire official can review
again um and perhaps Mr oan would ask for a second review of the um the fire standing there and the permit for number of people sitting and standing which is which is different um just on a couple
just trying to go back to some of these other items um there was a there was a comment about the council closing of business that's another item that we will address with Mr aoya that's generally to have an answer for you when we come back um as a
something that generally municipal government doesn't necessarily have power to to shutter an individual business U but there are some options that we can discuss which is why we have our right talented attorney to uh help us with that as well um I do want to
encourage every before we go back that if you are living in that area there is no complaint too small right if You observe something that you think of a violation of our Municipal ordinances please contact the
Police Department police department will respond is a routine thing um so please call they will respond and do so professionally um and what it does is it allows that to be documented and added into those records that the chief just
uh noted as well I would also encourage that if you have specific complaints to contact the entire council with your complaints there's an online form um the there's an online um form that emails all of us it
copies the township manager and the Township Clerk I encourage you to um use that to contact all of us if you have any of those issues so can respond I just stand corrective that our fire prevention Bureau does not do certificate of compliance um inspections
for businesses but the sub code the building sub code um fire sub code official would would do that um so we'll ask the fire sub code official to do it um and also the fire prevention bureau if they note any violations would be able to respond to that as well while
that's happening right at that point I will hear a yes I actually have a question um for the chief um the press release last night said that the business is temporarily closed can you just talk to
that and how long is that under some sort of emergency powers and how long is that expected to last we had concerns for Public Safety um not knowing the identities of the
suspects if that location was in fact um had any bearing on the future um we also didn't know if there'd be any type of retaliation uh the investigation has progressed again that's why I said it
does appear to be an insolate isolated incident between a group of individuals nothing to do with the venue for forona okay so at this moment is it technically temporarily closed or something for discussion got it yes
what sorry members of public I understand your desire to participate the council by ordinance has specific public participation rules we can respond if you call from the gallery right there will be another opportunity for public comment we just have to keep
the meeting going to ensure that everybody's concerns are addressed and we do so in the appropriate And Timely fashion CH so there's not a threat to the public safety based on that incident there were some recommendations I had a very good conversation with the
proprietor uh he's giving law enforcement full cooperation and there were some recommendations that were discussed all thank you for answering my question thank you thank you any other questions from the council for Mr Mr
CH mayor sorry before you run the recommendations uh if they are they just recommendations or are they just recommendations okay same with any other business or or event halls thank you Council so to clarify the business
is not ordered closed by the municipality at the point in time it was a voluntary closure by the owner he worked in cooperation with us because of our safety concerns and there was an event going on that was cancelled he he gave full cooperation and obviously was a hit to his business but
he wanted the safety of of everyone Community the neighbors and work with the township and police department thank you in order to discuss the concerns of the public more completely I will hear a motion to change the order of business to allow for a uh executive
session at this time and then we'll hear a motion to adopt resolution L3 at this time which authorizes that executive session we hear a motion to change the order of business to go into executive session at this time so move the motion is made by
Council Roman is there accept second second is made by councilwoman McGrath this is is there any discussion no all those in favor all right I anybody opposed the motion is carried this time I'll hear a motion to adopt resolution
L3 which authorizes executive session do I have a motion motion made by the deputy mayor is there second second second made by Council enrollment is there any Council discussion I I'll have to call for public comment on the
adoption of this resolution the public comment is limited to this resolution which allows the counil to go into executive session legally I must call for public comment on the resolution the same public comment statement applies or
limited to this resolution any comment on that okay car none I close public comment Madam Clark would you call the role please on L3 councilwoman Holland yes councilwoman be yes councilman yesy
mayor mayor yes mayor I at this time we're going to go into the brief close session members of the public I do ask that you um REM remain as quiet as possible the room does record while you're in here um so please do so if you want to take a break
for a minute and get a class of water there's water found downstairs good evening we are back in open staff tonight I appreciate the Public's uh patience while we we did meet in close session with our attorney
police stre uh at this time I'm going to ask our attention manager Mr Sullivan to discuss the administration's interim response while we're awaiting a zoning determination I do want to note uh that
legally The Count Council is the Appellate body that hears appeals from the Zoning Board of adjustment as a result the council is not able to specifically comment on any
matters related to whether the um a variance should be granted for this property from a zoning stand point because we would Prejudice ourselves if that were to come forward to us on appeal please understand that the
council cannot respond to anything related to that however our Township manager is not enjoined from doing that um and Mr oan will share the interim steps being taken after consultation
with our and police Mr thank you m uh again just uh to reiterate the um the not to the business was that they had to notifi that they have 45 days either terminate the event rental space use or to seek relief from the board of
adjustment the interm period during which uh a lot of these questions have have been raised is during those 45 days uh they will be uh noticed tomorrow of all of the outstanding violations and Code Compliance matters that have been
raised during meeting and others that may exist uh that other departments tach are aware of and they will not be permitted to return to use if and until they address each and every one of those those matters so that is a notice that
will be ued to that business theor uh an addition Mr Sullivan out of fairness the township will be sure and uh again uh out of fairness the the township will be providing that
business uh the list of of compliance matters that do exist and they will be offered the same uh uh the same opportunity that every other business has to come into compliance with those matters uh again this is um matter of
both providing them that list and the opportunity to rectify those those compliance matters but the business will be closed uh until they do address each of those compliance matters and our zoning department will be doing a review
of any similar facilities that is correct those all of those items that may be applicable to other similar uh businesses or any other compliance matters that may uh be applicable to other locations throughout the town will
be reviewed and the the same standards will be applied to both this particular business venue and any other business venues to which they apply thank you Mr all right um at this time Mr O solivan we are ready
for your the highlights please uh well in uh in light of the the hour there were a number of updates on a number of uh infrastructure projects that are going on throughout the township uh we do have some activity
picking up uh the um the main pool improvements are mobilizing this week we are working on some of the preliminary work at the Wastewater plant We are continuing with design work for some of the additional needs at the Wastewater Plant uh the lind Drive well is
obviously online in service uh it's an item that we've been discussing for several months the Fair viiew Avenue well Rehabilitation will be going out to bid this month uh we uh also have our pickle bow and Tennis Courts under
construction uh the contractor has has been making great progress on those projects um and then um the last item is regarding affordable housing uh the township has
uh has previously passed a a declaratory number was provided declaratory number of prospective development uh housing units that foral housing would be required in the township of Verona uh that number was uh total count of 173
units uh the township uh took a reduction based upon um some uh miscalculations that we believe the the state had made uh we took a a declaration of 149 housing units for our for ground foral housing
obligation uh the uh the township was subject to two appeals that were filed uh this past Friday afternoon we had a conference settlement with uh fair share housing and the uh the judge assigned to
the township of veron's matter uh there was a good amount of back and forth the township was able to demonstrate that um not only have we been good actors in affable housing in Prior rounds and and um maintaining compliance with our our
prior round obligations but the miscalculations that we had pointed out um of Miss open space land that should have been taken into consideration was acknowledged by folks fair share housing and the courts and the settlement uh
discussion that the settlement conference resulted in a recommendation for the Town Council to accept a settlement number of 155 units uh which is uh 18 units less than what was initially assigned to the township but
six units higher than what uh the township believe the number should be so with that summary there will be a resolution for consideration by the council tonight I think the execution of a settlement agreement to that effect
and that settlement would insulate us if beir share housing is successful an argument that the remaining uh unfilled lead has to be redistributed among other towns this settlement would protect us from any liability for additional units
if that would happen the settlement would would would lock the number at 155 that becomes the township number regardless of any decisions or actions that come thereafter exent thank that's all any questions for the3 the
council okay hearing none uh Mr oin would you like to recommend that we adopt the budget or I'm sorry CFO she has to no we're do that in your business good evening uh before you uh
the first thing that we have to do is the cap ordinance um so you should have that in front of you um and then we can move on to the resolution to introd introduce the uh 2025
budget all right somebody Madam clerk would you please read the title of e1a into the record an ordinance to exceed the municipal budget appropriation limits and establish a B pursu njsa 44-
4514 thank you madam clerk would somebody move the ordinance please so move second which is made by the deputy mayor and seconded by councilwoman grath this time I will open for public comment on ordinance e1a which is the c
Index the comment is limited to this matter uh Madam clerk to read the uh public participation statement then just because we've had people in and out just sorry you're absolutely right so do that any Council
comments all right hearing n m clerk M councilwoman Holland yes councilwoman mcra yes councilman Roman yes Deputy Mayor McAvoy yes mayor tamboro yes mayor Orton 25 will be numbered I mean 2025
d07 um hearing will okay thank you madam clerk will somebody please move resolution e1b the introduction of the 2025 Municipal
budget made by Council Holland consecuted by councilman any Council discussion on this item just a thank you to our CFO for all our hard work during this process and the budget meetings were
fantastic really think they went very smoothly and probably one of the best was the second one that I think we I've ever been through in my years appreciate it EO those thanks and for all the work that you and your team do in responsible managing the finances and taxpayer
dollars as we work with here thank you for your effort throughout the year and this process thank youse thank you and I would encourage all the members of the public who are joining us tonight to watch our budget meetings because they are very informative and that is one of the most
important things the council does uh in our year so please take a look may find May thank you March 24th at our April meeting at 7 o'clock pm which you can attend your Zoom or
first thank you madam councilwoman Holland yes councilwoman McGrath yes counc Roman yes Deputy Mayor maoy yes mayor Toro
yes resolution e1b will be number 20 25-65 thank you madam Clark we'll move on to the reports of council members Deputy Mayor m uh thank you Mr Mayor in light of the evening I'm actually going to take this
opportunity to uh I am the liaison to a historic preservation Commission in Verona and there is a meeting on Thursday night I'm also part of the uh sustainable Verona and both volunteer groups are in need of more members so
since we have such a large audience I just want to get it out there if you have anybody interested in sort of preservation or you know anybody who would want to jump on uh please let them know and please uh ask them to go to the town website and there's a little button there you can click and give your information we would
appreciate it uh I'll move on to the incident over the weekend I obviously want to thank our Police Department chief and his crew uh one of the police best police departments in Essex County if not the best uh I have to also thank the Verona Rescue Squad uh the mayor was
on call at night he's not going to thank himself so I'll thank him on behalf the town uh and the rest of the Verona Rescue Squad and all the other police departments and rescue squad Personnel that backed up Verona uh I think that's that's Essex County we are one big
family and when some this was an example of when something like this happens uh everybody gets together and everybody uh jumps up and helps each other uh where we do that in Verona we're a close group uh I am a lifelong resident of Verona so
when something like this happens it's it's tragic it's happened many times thank God no one uh from town was injured but uh it really thinks that others were injured uh whether they're good people or bad people it's just awful to see and
for our First Responders to have to go through that and see that is is even more uh awful I I have to thank everybody here tonight for their comments for their respectful comments uh I I go go online and I I read some of
the comments on there and I have to tell you from the old white guy sitting up here some of them are very racist and I'm really ashamed by it I hope I hope when when we go online next time we can just take a step back and be respectful
of others uh I I do know the owners of this venue and I'm pretty sure that anybody that owns a business in Verona never ever wants this to happen no matter what it is uh bar owners or whatever it can happen anywhere and we all know that and sadly
there just are too many guns out there uh these people uh you know we talk about they're not in town they're not here uh I think they might have wanted to come here but there might have been a little afraid uh they're members of the Chamber of Commerce they're very active
they jumped on board right away uh and they do support uh Verona in other ways we had several uh events for the Chamber of Commerce scheduled in the next year but uh we'll see you know what happens with that and how that goes so I just ask that everybody you know take a
breath you could see that the township is doing what we have to do to resolve this issue and this problem and and we're doing everything we possibly can uh and I think tonight showed it we just had to wait I mean everybody jumped on
social media right away and criticize but the cops the police department the detective Bureau they did a heck of a job and Mr Kieran Chief Kieran we I'm gonna go into what we had an event last night at at the Islamic
Center and he showed up at six o'clock after zero sleep for 24 hours so I commend you for your work and what you do for this town and how much you put into it uh and I did say to him if anybody had an excuse not to be there last night it was Chief Kieran and he just said I have to do it because uh
this Council that gets together does so much for the town uh meaning the clergy uh Council but I I I like that everybody showed up tonight and everybody hopefully uh got it out and we're doing
what we can and we're going to continue to do what we can for the residents Verona we want them as safe as as you do and we'll do whatever we have to uh with that I do want to thank the uh clergy Council for their event last night it
was very very warming and I I do I will mention something that they said uh they were talking about fasting and what each fast uh how the each religion fasts and they're very much alike all all religions really when it comes down they
all said we're all pretty much the same uh but they did say fasting isn't just not eating not drinking soda not eating candy uh one of them said it's you know you can fast by not going on social media and saying bad things and and that
really hit me because I spent all day probably more yesterday on social media than I did in the last year so uh I thank everybody and uh that concludes my report Mr Mayor thank you Deputy Mayor councilman R just would like to also
thank our uh police department and our Rescue Squad uh and the township Administration for all their work this weekend um this was very shocking to everyone in Verona just simply because we do live in a safe community um the last incident of this type that I
remember was the sooco station which was a very very long time at this point um we are not you know we're shocked by Islands because thankfully we are not desensitized by it because it's you know relatively rare in this community so I want everyone remember that that you should feel safe and lucky to live here
in Barona um and when something happens we respond aggressively very quickly and we're try and figure out what's going on um we have an excellent Police Department um it comes from our hiring standards our training standards our supervision um and the caring of all of
our police officers about this community um a lot of them grew up here a lot of them live here um it means a lot to them to be a police officer in Verona um I also will say that we very intensely investigate crimes when they happen um that's one thing I grew up in a larger
city than this and the big difference between being in a small town and being in a large town is in a small in a large Town um a lot of crime goes unsolved um particularly what we might consider Penny crimes or smaller crimes sometimes even violent crimes um in a small community where we have a police
department that is pretty well staffed for the size of population that it's serving um they're able to very intensively investigate crimes so I'm very hopeful that uh they you know I know that they're going to keep working on this until they figure out what happened to every Last Detail so I just really appreciate that I appreciate the
rescue squad so we have a member sitting right up next to us here um these are people that volunte their time and uh go running into situations like this and train and prepare um for the worst case scenario and you know we all say that we hope we never need some of that training and the tools that we have but uh when
we do we're glad that we're prepared so I really do appreciate the response and then obviously um over the weekend our countship Administration has been reviewing the administrative matters surrounding this and uh you know came prepared to determine what our next steps are so I just really appreciate
all of that and uh you know this is a good town always has been always will be um and I would also like to Echo you know the comments to thank the Boy Scouts for their pant tap breakfast which again great way to start a meal in the morning and thank you to the clery council and to the Islamic Center for
just a wonderful event last night um a lot of learning um that was you know I find understanding religion and the different traditions of faith and uh what's different and what's the same I find that kind of just a fascinating topic um and the presentations were all
very very engaging and very informative and I think everyone there really appreciated uh being brought together in a moment of unity so just wanted to thank them for the invitation for having all us at us n thank you Council woman M uh thank you um I do Echo all of the
comments of my peers um as some of you know from the public I spent a significant personal time dedicated to gun violence prevention prior to joining the council uh spent five years with an organization called mom's Man action for gun safety in America and was a um
Regional and state leader this was obviously um you know my worst fear realized for our community um the level of trauma and violence that gun violence um inflicts I Heard it directly from the residents of
Parkplace um and um having worked with gun violence survivors which unfortunately now you are a member of that uh group um it is is uh it is a lot um that we have to bear as a nation um
and um and now as a community uh so I want to thank everyone who came tonight Who's listening online or who may watch be watching the replay um and um I want to of course thank our excellent police department and our police chief Chris
Kieran all of our First Responders especially uh the rescue squad um again while they may train for this this is a lot to be Witnesses and to come onto a chaotic and potentially unsafe scene um
and I they really put themselves on the lines as volun volunteers and of course our police force does um for me you know when I ran for office when I sered when I take the oath and retake the oath uh when um in my second term um you
really you're really acutely aware that your main job is to keep this community safe to keep um the residents safe the community the police department all of our First Responders that is my top priority so um and I want to thank the
township manager as well for taking my call over the weekend and um for moving the administration moving swiftly on not just my concerns the council's concerns the resent concerns and the community's concerns um I to went to the boy scale
bre this um but missed my Piers um and I do want to thank that wonderful service organization um I also went to the um Interfaith ifar last night which uh for the second year in a row which was really a lovely service and I do appreciate our faith community so much
uh the neighborhood traffic and Safety Committee for which I am liaison did meet and talked about the very robust feedback that we received on the lynen Avenue um temporary demonstration project and they did summarize their comments and sent it to the
administration as it will be incorporated into the final design of Lon Avenue and I believe there will be a Public Presentation um on that at an upcoming meeting the shade tree commission for which I'm also liaison also met they
have additional comments for Everett field which they will if they have not already will be sending to the administration that was the main part of their discussion um I also o sit on the Multicultural inclusion accessibility advisory committee or mayak they will be
meeting on uh Wednesday March the 26th but more importantly they will be hosting their annual women of impact panel on Sunday at 3M at the community center and I want to congratulate councilwoman Cynthia Holland for being one of this year's honores in addition
our first woman mayor ever Maria force will also be honored along with Alana Dro who's behind Ali's uh Jennifer fin F and um Linda Zang so congratulations to all the women I
cannot wait for this panel conversation on Sunday at 3 at the community center it will be live streamed it will be on Zoom um and um it should be a wonderful conversation as it is has been for the last few years and that is my report
thank you thank you ccil thank you um first of all I want to thank the members of the public who came out this evening several of you are still here um I met several residents of Park Place
when I was running for office and we got to speak about the pekman river um and I didn't anticipate that we would be speaking of some of the matters that that we've had to address this evening um but again I just want to thank you for coming out I will say um I am a
liaison to two actually three separate committees um for the township and we've had activities over the last week and into this coming week which stand in this like stark contrast to the rest of the discussion that we've been having
tonight so I'll start by referencing the fact that I'm the liaison to The Rona Municipal Alliance committee and we had family night on Thursday night and family night is this great opportunity because you know dinner is this great opportunity to talk with your family and
interact with your children and of course how we celebrate family night often times in the township of Verona involves going out to our local uh restaurants where we have a lot of coupons uh my daughter actually was one of the finalists that that Drew the
posters for the poster contest and it's in the front of several of our downtown businesses so you know on Thursday night we were at Town scoop and you know picking up food on the Avenue um with my family and celebrating so it was a
really joyous night um and then Saturday night we did get the news of this um horrific incident um in that same downtown and I guess I just want to start with reference to the fact that I do have two daughters that go to hbw um
and I think of the members of the council I live closest to where this event happened um and I was actually I'm often not awake at that hour which says something about me but nonetheless I was awake at that time and
I was kind of watching it unfold um both on you know on my phone but also just like nearby and and seeing some of what was happening um I can't even fathom what it must have been like pulling into your house with your children um or
watching it from your front step um and so I really want to thank you for the testimony that you provided tonight it was deeply moving um it was incredibly powerful um and I and it was very courageous of you to stand up and share
those experiences so I didn't want that to go unacknowledged um and I think that councilwoman barrath is correct that there's a trauma that comes from surviving this gun violence especially having it happen directly in front of your homes and I don't want that to go
unacknowledged this evening um I've you know I I've addressed environmental disasters I have never had the direct experience here even when I've volunteered um on gun violence prevention but you know I so I can't
fully comprehend what your experience is but I have great empathy for it and I want you to know that that I am thinking of you and that I really do appreciate you having the courage to step forward I also want to thank our First Responders um for all that they did that evening
through the next day for chief Kieran speaking to me on the phone addressing some of my concerns that were raised um especially among the middle school students um it was very very um you could tell that we are a family as a
community so as much as there's been a lot of struggle and a lot of turmoil as a result of this event you can see that we as a small town do function very much as a community and that was really underscored by attending the following uh event the ifar ceremony uh and
service excuse me that several of my Council colleagues have discussed where you had communities that have been separated by a lot of turmoil like a lot of religious strife and some very very massive um conflicts like globally um
coming together and breaking bread breaking fast um and being able to do that with in less than 24 hours of this brutely tragic event it was like I said at the beginning of my remarks this kind of start contrast where you had something that was very divisive
something that was very traumatic followed by something that was very meaningful and a coming together and a very peaceful event in our very own community so I do think you know it's it's one of those moments where I think our community can heal from this but I
just I know that it's very raw and it's very fresh right now um I do want to recognize that um residents have come to the township and that I believe that you were heard um and I just want to make sure that that continues to be the case so as others have said please Avail
yourself of the contact forms on our website if you have concerns continue to contact us we've gotten a lot of Outreach from residents some of whom are here tonight as well as others um so please just continue to have that dialogue with us I try to be very responsive to Residents when they reach
out to me and I know my colleagues do as well um I I was nominated and selected to be a woman of impact so I do thank councilwoman McGrath for referencing that if you haven't had an opportunity to go to that panel I really want to encourage you to do so it's a very
empowering moment and you really get to appreciate um some of the really significant women um from our community I wouldn't have necessarily counted myself among them but I do appreciate that others nominated me um and I'm honored to be there with the women there
especially Ally um for doing her Ali's elves experience um if you haven't done that um you really should she's she's been a an incredible um woman of impact at such a young age um last but not least I do just want to acknowledge that
March 15th is the end of the winter moratorium period so if anybody is having difficulty or was having difficulty during the winter months paying utility bills that moratorium period has ended so please do what you can to work with your utility um to
address those unpaid balances thank you that concludes my remarks thank you at this time I'll open the meeting to public comment on any matter on the agenda Madame clerk would you agre the public participation here wishing to speak on any matter
please raise your hand by pressing the raise hand button on your monitor if fing in by phone please press star nine you're attending in person please raise your hand when you are recognized please approach the left arm once you're uh recognized clearly state only your name and Township of residents for the record
you're 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 can be no cross dialogue during the public
portion to speak has been heard thank clerk anybody on the left side of the room on my left you know we not just having people here thank you uh say your name and your dexa New Jersey uh thank you again for
the opportunity to address you um and also thank you for the uh the quick response to this issue um I don't want to make this a personal indictment of anybody here but I do need to raise some
some concerns that have come up in in your responses um somebody com uh commented that you didn't anticipate something like this ever happened um as somebody who lives across the street from this venue I did
and I've started to I started to raise these concerns with Mr ulvan back in January I'd raised other concerns relating to the trash and the nuisances with the police and the zoning department prior um so I think it's
important to note that perhaps collectively we're ignorant of the dangers of this kind of business but I've had been make working to make the town aware of this in a neighborly way for months um but perhaps those
neighborly appeals um you know fell on slightly deaf ears now councilwoman Holland you mentioned that you're the closest person on the council who lives uh within proximity to petto venues
however um nobody lives closer than eileene and her partner R nobody lives closer than uh Denise who who left and her her upstairs neighbors Tony and Amy nobody lives closer than my children
Olive and August pitzi nobody lives closer than Sharon and her four children William Jillian gwenith and Bridget um and I just want this heard by the community that this impacts us on this
block more directly than anybody else and nobody has to live in more fear and under the threat of this business than anybody else other than us um I do appreciate that you made it
available to us to raise these concerns but I do feel like the response after I raise those concerns were limited um in fact I POS a number of questions to Mr O solivan and Tom Jacobson back in January and my emails went unresponded
to um I also want to point out that the uh uh councilman McAvoy um I am a little bit concerned that you would defend this business owner who is not even here tonight uh to defend himself uh specifically when they've been enabled
to operate with virtual impunity for over a year um if you've known about this business you've known about these business owners for so long and so closely how can we have allowed them to continue to operate in this fashion um
knowing that there are also this Litany of violations um that does not sound like a responsible or good business owner for this community um for example do they employ anyone in town aside from the
anecdotal evidence that you've provided about their personal association with the council what about any of us have CI as Citizens what have they done for us if they're so good why do they have so many violations that Chief Kieran have has already referenced and I want to
point out that I alone made more than five calls in one weekend about this property several weeks ago so that number is significantly reduced um most importantly uh and to bring this back to the responsibility of the owners their marketing is such that
they're actively working to attract a group of party goers regardless of race economic status or anything like that um and these events are inherently dangerous to communities like ours thank you again for the opportunity your
comment anybody else in the room yes okay um good evening again uh Kristen ker Verona resident um so just to um Circle back after hearing everyone's responses tonight I would like to uh formally request that the
list of items that will be provided to palmento venues tomorrow by the building department um that they provide that information um to the public and also that the public is informed when the list is completed um if they choose to
do that and when the business is projected to reopen finally I do understand that the building department you know handles the issues with codes regulations I'm not going to pretend to know anything about that area I don't um and of course the
police will handle the investigation with the suspects and the victims but as I mentioned men earlier um we do have a community petition with now just recently checked over 230 signatures and growing requesting an
investigation to determine if palmento venues is a public nuisance and if determined to be a nuisance we demand that our officials take legal action thank you thank you anybody
else side yes anything yeah all right Paul you start my four minutes let's go I'm ready all right Paul BR to New Jersey all right uh totally on a different topic here all right uh I'd like to know about the intersection Claremont and Pompton
what's going on there because I rumors have it that there's no more Starbuck probably that was going to go in might be a laundry map but there's active work going on and missing that traffic light is huge because it's just a total mess um what's going on with Commerce Court last we talked there was on the survey
there was a few properties that needed to update the survey remove some structures then we could be moving along with the uh application on open space or whatever that was um uh my next thing is the water line the waterline I received
this in the mail twice um my wife says it's 79 cents a stamp or something like that so that's $150 a household I own two other houses one in rad one in Lavalette both in New Jersey both online take a photo submit a form online done this right here we are paying a DPW
worker to come to homeowners homes during the day while we're at work so it inconveniences everybody I've already done this twice in the past month and submitted the form online I did not need to be there I just drove down the beach took a photo done um it's a there's a
lot going on all right actually I think that's it yeah that's it that's all my notes right two and a half minutes as you can tell you carry that over to
next there's no cross dialogue folks um anybody else at this time I close public comment look again I I do want to thank the public your remain for as I think I said
prev vious ly um your civil approach to uh to comment and you can watch videos online of Council meetings gone bad it's like you know must be a YouTube channel on it um but I appreciate everybody taking their turn and bringing up your
suggestions um as far from um Dr Ker's questions related to the publication of a document um any document that the township produces is accessible via Oprah the public records act and you can request
that document um out of fairness we don't you know there are a lot of documents created by The Zing Department the building department in that time um so generally we don't signle out one property to publish all of that
information um but I'll leave that to Mr solivan to address but you can certainly request it by Oprah but you need to wait until the document is created you can't request the document that hasn't been created yet okay but I do encourage you to request that um when it
happens um to Mr petrangeli uh Mr O solivan do you have any update on Claremont Commerce Court uh as far as Claremont goes the property owner uh did have their zoning
board application they received their approval uh they are moving forward with the traffic light there have been um extenuating delays in that developer receiving the materials for the installation of the traffic light there is every intention to still install that
traffic light though um if there is any uh deviation from the approved plans they would be required to go back to Zoning for at that time as far as Comm Commerce Corp uh there there were um open space items that needed to be
addressed which have been addressed for the Commerce Port site uh the property has been uh resubmitted to the uh DP Green Acres and the township has an upcoming open space committee meeting to discuss next steps for use of that site
uh and then I think the last item was the uh service lines we have been working with our license operator for compliance for lead Ser uh lead service law the replacement requirements the notice requirements I will reach out to
them and uh they had not indicated the ability for the photo option I will have a discussion with them see if that is an opportunity can explore thank you Mr okay at this time U Madam clerk the
next item on the agenda ordinance number 20 25-06 on second reading which please read the title of this ordinance seen the salary and compensation of the Deputy manager thank you madam clerk would somebody move to ordinance please so Move Motion made by
councilwoman McGrath is there a second a second second is made by councilman Roman at this time we'll have the public hearing on ordinance number 2025 d06 same public comment statement applies our comments are limited to this
ordinance only at this time any public comments I see Peggy wood Miss Wood are you commenting on the salary ordinance or did you have something else that we can hear later um I was comment on the prior comments
regarding Saturday's incident I'm sorry if I raised mic late yeah we'll have another public comment opportunity just a couple minutes okay just keep your hand up and we'll call on you then perfect thank you see no further public comment any
Council discussion Council um yes I just think there were some members of the public that were confused so right now by ordinance our salary for theut manager position is 145 to 147 so this uh
ordinance that is up for a vote is actually lower that range to 120 to 145 correct that is correct it's lowering the starting floor salary in in that range it's all yes people had interpreted that as that person getting a raise so just public we do not
currently have a deputy Pro manager and we're actually yes lowering the salary and that salary is negotiated by the township manager I just know that our non Affiliated staff so people not in unions generally get 2% salary increases so we're not giving anybody $20,000
basis just wanted to make sure that was clear yes yes um any other Council comments Madam clerk councilwoman Holland yes Council
yes councilman Roman yes Deputy Mayor mavo yes mayor Toro yes mayor ordinance 5-6 will be published pass 5 thank you madam clerk the next item on the agenda is ordinance i1 identified on the agenda
would you please read the title of this ordinance into the record for first reading amending chapter 140 vehicles and traffic article 12 schedule 4 time limit parking thank you madam CLK let somebody move the ordinance actually I'm going to move this ordinance I'll second
it thank you deputy mayor uh this time for Council comments I think I'll start on this one um we had previously passed an ordinance to limit parking on Bloomfield Avenue on both sides of the street from Park to
Hillcrest um to 30 minute parking number of residents did reach out to us um arguing a hardship for the arly news condominium complex um the at least my reason for initially for voting on The the change the parking ordinance
originally was to provide 30-minute parking for the businesses really along the north side of that street so the west down Lanes um and this was unfortunately a um a byproduct of that I want to thank our um T manager and our
police chief for uh helping me to you address those concerns as as we brought them forward um and thank you to all the residents who brought them up um I think it is good when government can say that we made a mistake and that we're happy to address that say
any other counc comments Council yes thank you um it is our normal process though to talk about ordinance changes and new business to give the public a chance to kind of review and comment I understand and I did read all of the
residents uh who live in the condominium complex there complaints but I actually have additional questions which I was going to ask our chief but obviously the incidences of this weekend took precedence so I will not be supporting introduction tonight as again I believe
even though there is a hardship amongst the residents we should be following our process and I think there are some more complex issues that we need to discuss about parking in this area thank you comments m cler m councilwoman Holland yes councilman McGrath
no councilman Roman yes Deputy Mayor makoy yes mayor chamboro yes mayor ORD i1 passes 4 to one will be number 20258 will be published according to Law Public hearing will be held on April
7th thank you madam clerk all right we are moving on to our consent agenda which has one set of minutes and now two resolutions because we already passed resol L1 somebody please move P1 L1 and
L2 so is made by councilman Roman is there second second second is made by the mayor I now open for public comment on the consent agenda items only same comment State seeing no public comment any Council
discussion hearing none M call please ccan Howard yes Council McGrath yes councilman Roman yes Deputy Mayor makoy yes mayor Toro yes mayor L2 will be numbered 066 and 067
we have two walk- on items to new and finished business the first I just want to remind everybody that we have the Joint coun Council Board of bed meeting next Tuesday I didn't hear any feedback um from anybody um on any additional
agenda items this is kind of the last call any of that I did propose that we have a discussion on what the township and the board of V can do uh to help continue our efforts to deter um drug and alcohol Ed by our school age students so I will be adding that to the
agenda um and I think that would be awhile conversation yes Council mayor uh you and the deputy mayor were going to be discussing with the Board of Ed President and Vice President the agenda items has that discussion happened and what is the agenda for this joint
meeting so I didn't because I didn't hear from everybody on the council as far as any new items it is what has been proposed by the board there are no objections to what the board proposed and objections to L has that been provided to us what is
the agenda items I I did send that to you and ask for ask for a comment on that at least once I can read it no well yes said it um it's a special I
see um yeah the four our review a current regarding shared services um discuss other areas with distri tacha may be able to cooperate to benefit the community as a whole uh for example distribution of information through both
entities mass communication systems for the flats discuss communication related to move in dates and other areas important running School District pilot projects and then uh I sent the the fifth project send this to Council on March 6th any other items
to add okay hearing none will well School Board vice president is in the is in we'll reach out to um uh the board president and discuss uh we'll finalize
that and that my mind what's that I'll have that by the we yeah well you have it I think you were on that so just that other item so you should have that will connect do Ive that is that
just have the same so the same two okay at this time um I got thank you this time I will he a motion to approve the settlement
agreement uh related to our housing obligation for doet esxl 59425 somebody please move the adoption of the settlement agreement there that's the resolution
there's a resolution behind it that is labeled but it is a resolution authorized in the Housing Council that executed mediation agreement with fair share housing center in accordance with the terms and S agreement so move that motion motions
made by councilman Roman second by the deputy mayor any this time I'll open for public comment on that item same public comments St five hearing none I will close public
comments any Council discussion hearing none Madam cler to call the RO please councilwoman Holland yes councilwoman McGrath yes counc Roman yes Deputy Mayor mavo yes mayor Tamor yes mayor this welcome resolution would
be number 2025 D68 okay thank you madam cler this time I'll open for public comment one last time on any item that any member public wishes to discuss Miss Wood you've been waiting very patiently so we' love to hear from you oops have to unmute to unmute pgy please
hi hello good evening sorry sorry about that can you hear me yes we can just state your name for the record please oh sure Peggy wood from Verona yes okay um I missed the first part of the meeting so forgive me if any
of my questions have been asked or addressed um but first of all I want to thank the community members who live in the area of petto venues who describe their negative experiences and I'm sorry
that it took such a dramatic event to um spur action but of course I do um have great uh admiration for our police and our Rescue Squad and I thank the Town Council for their Swift
action um this evening on your Instagram page I note that I Community update was posted and I have some questions about that update um it states that prior to and independent from the events which
occurred this weekend the township began reviewing the petto venues property file in response to incoming complaints received um so my question is when did that review commence and what did that review and
tail um on the Instagram page it also says that based upon the zoning review it was determined that the business was improperly given a zoning permit andert of occupancy based upon the decision of
a former employee who was not authorized to issue such a decision um my question regarding that statement is when was that discovery made um and and more importantly how can that happen and what review mechanisms are in
place uh to prevent such Rogue actions from happening in the future um I'm also wondering if that um huge error by a Township employee was possibly the result of corruption or
bribery and if there is such a suspicion is there any investigation being done into that possibility um and finally will the township be auditing its commercial zoning permits particularly with respect
to businesses of this type I know another caller expressed concerns about another entity and um I just want to make sure that all of the permitting is in place and that's it thank
you yes I'm well you're we're all you're concluded Uh Kevin Ryan's up next Mr Ryan go yes good evening um uh mayor and Council Uh Kevin Ryan Verona New
Jersey uh uh in not not wanting to be redundant uh Miss Wood raised a number of the issues that I was concerned about so I'm not going to go go through them again but I would hope that you would be able to uh to uh provide her with some uh
Enlightenment on that and uh just a quick point on the meeting that you're going to have with the uh Board of Education I was wondering uh when you might have a posting of the agenda on that uh that meeting so that um if the
public could get a look at it and if they think there's uh maybe an item that you omitted that uh we could uh add something to it before uh your your time period for changes was up uh otherwise uh I appreciate your your uh attention
to the matter that a lot of people have have raised and uh hopefully going forward uh you know we can uh deal with some of the issues that uh our Our Town manager uh raised regarding uh the view
process on some of these uh um land use applications going forward thank you thank you have other public comment at this time I close public comment Mr Alan the questions from Miss
Wood were administrative so I will leave these to you to add anything that has not already been discussed short here thank you the um far the the timing of of the investigation uh I am aware of
complaints that I was I had received in my office directly from Mr Bizzy uh the latter half of January there were complaints regarding Property Maintenance primarily Some Noise complaints both of those is were referred to individual departments for
uh investigation and review there was also at that time a request from zoning from our zoning officer our current zoning officer to review the site for some of the um the other complaints that have been uh received tonight
so that's the general commen it was late January when we were beginning to review and pull files um and again it was prior to this incident and it um and apart from this incident the incident that did
happen over this weekend uh did uh Force the expedition of the and the completion of that review process and it brings us to the discussion that we're having tonight the questions regarding uh the due process and the review of the same zoning standards to other businesses in
the area that was a touched on briefly earlier this evening uh the the zoning and construction department will uh be given directives to review all of these same standards that are are being apply to this particular venue uh to all of
the businesses and uh ensuring that there is the same Equitable treatment for all the businesses and all the standards that do exist are being applied fairly and equitably across all the businesses um and for Mr Ryan of course there'll be a public comment period during the council fored special meeting
so feel free to if you have anything else that you would like the part St to bring it um at this time we have already made a uh pass resolution go through executive session we'll be doing so at this time will any official action be
taken okay um no no okay thank you to the members of the public for your attention our next regular meeting meeting will be on go 7