Can you just double Thank you. Okay, good. >> This meeting is being held in conformance with the sunshine law. Notice of time, date, and place has been furnished to the Bergen record in the Ridgewood News. Notice has also been posted on the the bulletin board of the administration building. Would the clerk kindly take the role?
>> Mayor Gerardano >> here. >> Mr. Brennick here. >> Mr. Sak Drake here. Mr. Marello >> here. >> Mr. Richie >> here. >> Miss Smith here. Miss Winkate >> here. >> Everyone kindly rise for the pledge of allegiance. I >> pledge >> allegiance to the flag of the United
States of America and to the republic for it stands one nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Let it have the moment of silence for all Walt veterans and all veterans across our country who have given the ultimate sacrifice to serve our country.
Some not coming home so that we could live in a land that is free and assembled the way we are tonight. >> The clerk, please do the prayer. >> Dear Lord, we start this meeting asking for your guidance and wisdom. May we find unity and fairness. The outcome should reflect our wishes to assist the
burrow in all their endeavors. Thank you in his name. Amen. >> Amen. >> Amen. At our reorg meeting on in the beginning of January, we started a new tradition. I'd like to continue with it. Everyone that's in the room, look to your left, to your right, in front of you, and back of you, and say hello to your neighbor.
>> Tonight, we are here to give the 2025 citizen of the year award out. The 2025 citizen of the year was born in Manhattan and lived in Flushing, New York until his family moved to Raldwick in 1976.
After graduating from Raldwick High School, he went to William Patterson in Wayne, New Jersey, then to Chub Institute for computer programming. His career as a computer programmer introduced him to many people of all different walks of life, which he still maintains contact and friendships with.
In March of 2002, while living in Hoboken, an accident changed our citizen of the year's life. After about a month's hospital stay, he was accepted to Kessle Institute for rehabilitation in West Orange. After one year and a half of rehabilitation facilities and
surgery, he moved back to with his parents. In November of 2012, during Hurricane Sandy, he was at K9 Companions in Medford, Long Island, New York, training with Cuz who would become his beloved service dog. Coast offered him a whole new sense of independence,
loyalty, and championship up until the day in which unfortunately he passed away in February of 2024 at the age of 13 years, 8 months. His attitude and outlook has inspired many people who know him or just met him by
passing by with him. He looks at what he can do rather than what he can't do. He never asks why me. He has reflected on the fact that his situation has given him different adventures, memories, and relationships that he could never had of
have had before. He is the founding member of Worldwick Assets for All Waffle, which was established in 2018. He advocates for and worked with all of our administrators and even with Tatiana and the Bergen County Department of
Planning and Engineering to ensure ADA compliant buttons were installed at several busy intersections that we put in. He provided essential feedback on the Ted Bell Park and Lions Club playground renovations to help ensure that they were fully assembled and in
inclusive for children in all types of disabilities. He worked with New Jersey Transit Accessibility and Compliance Director to highlight the need for renovations at the Waldick train station. His experience as a person living with this disability has been invaluable to World to Waffle's mission.
He is dedicated to opening doors to everyday experiences, inspiring greater public understanding, and champions a community where everyone belongs and thrives. His actions of giving back to our community is love and action. He doesn't just have the time to give back
to Waldwick. He has the heart to give back to Waldwick. He's made Waldwick a better place one step at a time. He has a deep love for Waldick and our residents that is unending. Muhammad Ali once said, "Service to others is the rent you pay for your room
here on earth." It is my great honor as mayor to present the 2025 citizen of the year award to Jim Lachland. information on that later. >> But I want to thank you very much for what you do for us, for weren
the community. You're a great asset and it means a lot to have great people like you and >> thank you. This year it's the the mayor's um fifth annual holiday decorating uh contest was held
and we've had three winners and I'd like to announce them and ask them to kindly come up and accept a certificate and a gift certificate. First we have most outlandish who is not here tonight. Uh that was 65 Lillian Street, Jason and his son Alex. Oh.
>> Oh, you're here. OH, OKAY. I'M VERY sorry I thought you were not going to be here. Congratulations. >> The most creative uh house was 119 Long View Drive. the Chronopololis, his family. They unfortunately cannot be here, but they will receive this
certificate and also uh their gift certificate that we gave them for best overall was 321 White Coff Avenue, the D. The Grao family. They Christopher and Jessica along with Sophia and Zachary who inspired the deem and decorations. They want to thank you, congratulate
you, and have you come up. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> This year, we did a little something different when we had different contests. First, we had the uh Halloween decorating contest in which we've had we did a uh a raffle at the senior club or
the golden club and the the winners of that came out and uh they uh judged the contest. This year, what we decided was uh in regards to the holiday decorating party or the the uh contest, I called it a party because in the car I was with
two young girls who were very chatty. They were talking very nicely. They taught me a lot of stuff that I never knew. And they are very, very polite young ladies. They were with their moms. And what I decided that we were going to have mothers and daughters do the contest this year. And I just want to
let them come up and be recognized for helping us out do the judging and helping us out uh making the decision. They were really serious about it. We had to stop two or three times. We had to look at the houses. They even ran on the lawns and took pictures of
everything. They really enjoy themselves and that's what Waldick's all about. And I always I just want to say one thing before I announce them. I always quote certain people all the time. And I know one person out here, Ella, knows how much I like Disney. So I just want to
let you know, and this was said by Snow White. She said, "Remember, the one thing that can fill the world is sunshine." So always make sure you're happy. Always make sure both of you are happy. make sure you always do the best you could to be the best you could be
because people do see it and people do recognize it. So, I'd like to have Heather and Ella and our our new council women Courtney Wingate and Lucy Connley come up. Okay, this is for you and this is for you also for for
Valentine's Day. >> And so your brother doesn't get mad, I got something for him. Okay. >> And this is for you. >> Thank you. >> This is Ethan. And this is for you also. >> Okay. And I want to thank you very much
for helping us out. And since you volunteered, we're gonna since you've volunteered, we're going to be asking a lot of you. So get ready. Okay. Okay. Thank you very much. >> Now, we're going to take a minute break
to to congratulate everyone. We're going to resume in a minute. Throw up. All right. Go. Hey, that's my iPhone. Before we continue, we're just going to have one of the people from the from the
community kindly come up and uh just say a few words to us. Tom Pinkham, >> you want me to come up next? >> You can come right here >> so you don't have to stay for the whole meeting. I'm Tommy Pink, resided to Roberto Lane. Um, I recently lost my brother and my
wife and you people were gracious enough to send a condolence card. I just wanted to stop up and express appreciation from me and my family. I told them all about it and they were gracious and they they thought very highly of it. Thought it was nice. So, from all of us to all of
you, we thank you. >> Thank you, Tommy. I'll find you council. Um y uh good evening everyone. Uh tonight starts our uh budget process. Uh we had
this uh same style of uh budget meetings last season. Worked out uh great. Anybody that was coming out for council meetings had an opportunity to come um ahead of the council meeting so that we could speak about the upcoming budget. And this evening we have our chief of
police, Chief Seaffort, who will be presenting on behalf of the police department. And we'll get started with the budget capital items from the police. So, um, council, new council, old council, this is the opportunity to ask questions to understand what's being
presented. Uh, the chief has put a lot of thought into, um, what is being presented this evening. Lieutenants are available as well and, um, happy to have them here and be part of this process. Thank you. >> Excellent. Thank you. Good evening, everybody. Uh, thank you for the opportunity to speak tonight. We, uh, really appreciate it. As always, your
continued support for the Walter Police Department is always appreciated as well. Um, thank you for the opportunity to present our capital budget request. Uh, this year we are seeking to purchase the Axon integrated equipment suite. This proposal will address critical
operational needs and regulatory requirements while positioning our department for improved efficiency and public safety. Um, our current situation right now and when I say Axon, this covers bodywn cameras, in-car video cameras and our current tasers that we have. We are looking to replace all
three of those. They are uh out of their life expectancy um and they are in need of replacement. Um right now we currently uh our bodywn cameras are approximately 6 years old. Um and our in-car cameras are as well. We use a
WatchGuard system which is owned by Motorola. When we first purchased WatchGuard 6 years, six and a half years ago, they were an independent standalone company. Now they're owned by Motorola which is a much bigger company. and Watchguard is a very small portion of
their business. Uh we are looking at our current tasers right now. We have taser 7s. Um these are due for an upgrade. We are looking to upgrade them to the taser 10 models. Those are owned and operated by Axon which we have. Axon is a very
large bodywn camera and incar camera vendor. We are looking to combine all of our systems into one for easier use, easier access, and um easier for our officers. Um just so you know, if you if you're not aware, our body warn cameras are mandated by the New Jersey Attorney
General's office, and our tasers serve as our primary lethal, less lethal defense tool as per our Waldo Police Department policy. Um also included in our body warn cameras that we're looking to purchase would be our SEO that are that are operated at our schools. They do not have the body warn cameras with
them when they are in the building, but if they are working outside of school events for us, they are required by the attorney general to wear them. They when I say required, police officers in Waldo at all times have their body warn cameras on them. That is a mandate from the attorney general. We have no say in that. Um our rather than replacing our
equipment peace meal with separate vendors, we propose adopting Axon's unified platform. This integrates body cameras, tasers and incar cameras um along with a digital evidence management system and reporting tools into the single cohesive system. Some advantages of the platform. It will eliminate the
complexity of managing multiple vendor systems as I explained that don't talk to each other. Axon and watchguard cannot communicate with each other. If we had the Axon suite, everything talks to each other. Um this will reduce errors in evidence workflows through seamless integration. our Axon evidence cloud platform with centralized video,
audio, and device data, making evidence easier to store, tag, redact, and share with prosecutors. Included in the price that we have for Maxon is their uh evidence management system, as well as cloud storage. Right now, we have in-house storage, which I'm not sure if
you're aware, but it fills up fast. It's tough to keep track of. We have to put more money into it to expand the storage. Here, it's in the cloud. I don't even know where the cloud is. It might be in Utah. We're not sure. Um, but it gets everything up in the cloud and automated activation features will ensure critical moments are captured
when lights or sirens engage. Right now, we currently have 24 bodywn camera device malfunction sheets in the last four months. Those are documented in officers reports. When I say in officers reports, that means we missed something on the body warn cameras that we shouldn't have missed. And we missed it
because of because of the malfunctions. Those are only documented. There are other malfunctions that we're starting to see with our systems. And I'm going to pass this around real quick. One of the things that we're seeing a lot is batteries. The batteries are swelling. Um, we have had to replace about 24 of them in the last 16 months. I keep
having to buy them. It's it's getting to be a little bit of a an expensive cost. Um, I'll just pass them around real quick so you can see, but they're starting to swell and break. Um, with the the new system comes an enhanced hardware performance, longer life on the batteries, wide field view of high resolution sensors for clearer
detail evidence, and real-time situational awareness features. Axon's got a proven track record for this product. Multiple towns around here use it. The Burn County Prosecutor's Office, who is the chief law enforcement agency in the county, uses it. When we have cases that we work with them, it's very difficult for us to take our information
at a watchguard and put it into their Exxon files. It is not easy to do. Um some benefits of the single vendor integration streamline training and support like I said earlier uh consistent training protocols across all equipment meaning everything is the same. Uh single point of contact for
maintenance and tech support. Right now I call Motorola I wait for 48 hours for a call back sometimes. Again I said no Motorola is a very large company and body war cameras is not a big part of their sale. Uh reduce administrative burden on procurement and logistics. It's tough to kind of coordinate with your body warn cameras when they're
consistently going down. Um, and back to the automated activation features that will ensure critical moments are captured when your lights go on. Uh, that's our body warn cameras. Our incar cameras are just as old. We're seeing some some serious deficiencies with those. The wiring's starting to get
a little outdated. When we get new cars, we upgrade the wiring and it just goes car to car. So, our systems have been changed over two or three times. The new incar camera system comes standard in our cars and it's installed right there with all new wiring. It also has a function with AOPRs. So, we have two
functioning ALPRs on our cars. Now, we would be able to throw seven out there with because this new system for the incar cameras comes with the AOPR. Those are license plate readers. Uh the Taser integration. Uh currently, we have our Taser 7s. I think we purchased them in 2018. It's a little hard to find the record when we deployed them out in
2019. Uh the Taser 7s fire two projectiles that need to hit um a person within 12 in apart. They do not penetrate through uh heavy jackets or heavy sweatshirts, but you need to have the two. They have two. Each cartridge has four projectiles. It fires with two.
If you're ineffective, you can throw another two out. If you're ineffective, you got to change a cartridge. And we don't carry multiple cartridges. The news taser 10s are individual projectiles, 10. All you need to do is strike two separate projectiles. um you could hit two leg shots and that will
cause the uh MMI is what we're looking for, which is neuromuscular incapacitation. So the the the 10 is is the way to go. It's a newer product. It's only been out for about 8 months. Um when we're upgrading our our cameras and our incar, it makes sense to upgrade
the tasers while we're at it. Uh body war cameras, just some quick things. Um they'll reduce frivolous complaints and litigation costs by providing objective evidence. We've had nothing but positive interactions with our body warn cameras. We want to make sure we have the best for our officers when it comes to us having our body warn cameras. Quick
response capability for records, requests, investigations enhances public trust. We want to be able to throw something out there if we're if we're here with an open request. We want to be able to get out right away. Our current redaction system that WatchGuards provides, it takes about four hours to redact one hour of video. So, we have a serious incident where we have four
officers there. Could be four hours. We're looking at well over 12 hours for one person to redact video. um the new redaction tools that come with Axon would cut that in probably 75% of the time. It's a lot easier. It's more user friendly. We've demoed it. It's great. We've seen it in other towns and and
there's nothing but positive feedback on it. Um and some future scalability on it. Single vendor relationship simplifies contract support and training updates. And the platform is designed for easy integration of future tools. I can add anything else to it. Um, if down the
road we were to purchase a drone, I could be added into that with any kind of video from that. It could be added into our evidence management system. Um, we are currently using the evidence library that Axon provides because we has to have to have it for the tasers. So, having a uh purchase with the new
bodywork cameras and the incars, it would just be a larger evidence library function for us, but we still have it in there. Um quick uh transition. Axon's integrated suite will deliver measurable improvements in operational efficiency, officer public safety, evidence management workflows, and transparency,
all through a unified scalable platform. This investment addresses mandatory requirements while positioning our department for future technological advancements. Going to the Axon suite in a bundle form for all of these products uh saves on our on our quote that we received about
88,000 in the total price. um if we were to uh piece mail it piece mail it to together maybe something here something next year it could add almost $100,000 in total costs so this is the main reason why we're looking to do this right now in one shot
and that's it I have on Axon questions happy to answer >> what what does it cost >> uh the this the price that we have sticker price is 413,000 that's for 5 years of equipment with a replacement every two and a half years so in two and a half years our body cameras come off and we get new body cameras.
>> And there's no charge for that. >> No charges included in the price. >> And that $413,000 >> Yes, ma'am. >> price tag is for the total 5year buyin. >> Total 5-year buyin. >> Full warranty on all five years. Something breaks, we fix it. Currently
with our I'm sorry to Currently with our Motorola, we are out of warranty. So every time we make a per we have an issue, we're we're spending money. We're spending a significant amount of money. Our redaction program in itself is costing us around $6,000 a year. I feel like the bureau is putting good money
into a bad product at this point and it's something that we don't support >> and Axon has allowed us to make those payments over time. >> We can The way I have it drawn up is I stretch it out as long as they would allow. So we have an initial payment in the year and it can be up to five years
for payment. So we'd be looking around 78 76,000 each year for five years. >> Okay. Are are there any grants available for this? >> So, there was a grant issued in 2020. When we first purchased the body warrant cameras, we we did receive a grant for just the camera portion. I've been
speaking to our grant writing company now. Nothing is available from the attorney general's office. There could be something that's released this year since most towns are out of the 5-year warranty window. Um, we're looking at it. If it comes out, we're going to pop it in right away. >> Got our fingers crossed and we put our fingers crossed anything. I believe that
we if we were in contract and in in making this payment um the body warn camera cost just for the equipment would be around 52,000. So we could you would apply for the grant just for that portion that would cover us in the five years >> after the 5 years. Do we have to buy
again or how long is the life? >> I the contract is goes into another into another uh another phase after that. They like to replace their products in every every two and a half years. We've gotten two product replacements out of that. So what they visit what they give
to us after the five years we'll get a new product in five years and then after that I'm not sure what the pricing would change and I'm not sure what the deal would be in that in that point >> and what other towns are doing this >> a lot lot >> uh well the prosecutor's office is the main one um I what what they what they
use is is really what I feel all towns should use >> and you and you talked to a lot of these people about >> talked to talked to several this is this is this is what we feel is the best product for us >> for our town okay >> next question uh what's the proposed timeline line for transitioning from watch to Exxon. >> Uh we could get it done in a in a matter
of months. The the installers would come from Exxon. They're based in Massachusetts. Spends about two days on each car. Um and in-house training they would provide also for our body warning cameras and our tasers. Lieutenant Moore is our taser instructor. We're we we train frequently with our with our
tasers now. So it would be what we think is a seamless transition in this bundle. Also comes with a lot of VR training that comes with the tasers. um with VR goggles. So when we train with our less lethal, which this is our preferred method of less lethal, knock on wood, we haven't had it deployed since we've been
in in in use since 2019, but we want to make sure that we train and we're proficient with it. >> So I the next question, it geek in me, right? We have internal servers sitting over there that hold all of our existing footage. Yeah. >> Would that be transitioned to the cloud servers from Axon? >> So it stays in the WatchGuard server.
There's a very large fee to change everything over at one time, which we don't think we need. If we need to pull video from that old WatchGuard system, we could do it on a case-by case basis. >> What kind of cyber security protections are there with the system? >> Um, as far as Well, Axon will it's it's
in the cloud-based. Um, as far as their security that they provide, I've never heard of any compromised points with with Axon and their video. Um, I wouldn't expect to hear of any. Um, but I can try to look into it and get back to you. I'm not 100% sure on what what methods they use for the cloud. I I kind
of feel like everything now is cloud-based like >> which also brings up cyber security issues, right? >> Yeah. >> Yeah. Which cloud service is it? AWS? Is it Azure? Is it you know where is it? Where is it backup? All that stuff. >> I think it's in Utah, sir. That's what I'm going with.
>> Utah. Are we paying anything right now for WatchGuard or is that contract like all paid off? >> That contract's all paid off, but every year we're recurring fees between 10 and 12,000. >> 10 and 12k. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Do we know if we've gotten quotes from WatchGuard on what it would
cost to upgrade their equipment to >> I have not certainly because I've been very turned off on the product, especially the last 18 months um with equipment failures and the redaction programs that aren't that aren't working for us. Um we're a small police department. We do have a CI civilian
records uh records clerk, but a lot of times we can't let him do those most of those redactions. They have to be done by supervisors for the liability portion also. But he'll assist us with it. I'm I'm devoting a lot of manhour to a redaction program that I don't feel is worth is worth us paying personnel for
that. >> That leads you to the next question. What metrics can you follow to see what the ROI is on the investment? Is it is the hours for the the men who are working on it right now? I feel it's that I feel it's the efficiency of the system. Um I feel it's uh it's what I
hear and what I see from other other areas that uh this is the preferred way to go. The video quality is 10 times clearer. Um I I and I can't stress enough that when we're at a scene when we really need it, if we don't have it, that's bad for us. Um it's bad for the
liability. It's bad for it's bad for our officers. Um it's and I want to I want to make sure we do everything we can to make sure that doesn't happen. Mhm. >> The cost at 413 is that based upon number of pieces of equipment we have right now. If we add officers, whatnot, we have to add more equipment.
>> Yeah. So, I I I did put a uh I put a for all of our uniforms officers and administrative and our detective bureau and I put one extra and I put two in for our CLO. However, if there is an issue where one breaks, it's an automatic replacement. So, if we did add, we would
have in hand. We wouldn't have to we wouldn't have to add our seven cars that that are seven patrol cars would all have their own incar system. I can't do anything with that. And then the taser 10 purchase would be for 10 taser 10s which is what we currently have now. So we're just replacing what we have. And
we devote uh three of those for training uh four for the for patrol and then we keep two extras just in case any go down. Chief, can you just confirm that um tasers regardless of anything else need to be upgraded for 2026? Is that
>> Yeah, they're they're so they're they're out of our warranties point. Um they are still supported by Axon, but we wanted to bundle it as the, you know, we wanted to have the best technology that's available for our officers. So, if there's a new a new product that that
they're pushing, we wanted to try to push that in with our bundle. Um, pushing that in with our bundle helps our for our cost as well. Um, if we wanted to do this a year down the road, it would be more expensive if we added. >> Chief, another IT geek question for you.
Is there any um IT infrastructure cost or requirements that we have to have in order for their equipment to work? >> No, I spoke to our uh our our IT company uh Copen Computers. Several of the towns they service use Axon. They're very familiar with follow up on that, Chief, if you don't
mind. When it comes to software uh software management, patches, upgrades, etc. Is that all included in this or is a cart menu? >> All included. >> It's all included. >> Yes, sir. >> Okay. How about hardware downtime? >> Yes, sir. When we when we >> What's your turn around with that? >> Uh Axon says that they could have the
equipment in between 7 and 10 days. So, if we're if we're sending something out that's broken, as soon as they get it, they're looking at it and immediately sending us one back. Okay. And that's included in the price. >> Yes, sir. Thank you. You mentioned the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office. Have you been in
communication with them about >> Oh, yes, ma'am. All the time. Well, they run Well, they run the grand jury section, so we're constantly putting evidence into their file. >> Oh, it's about this system. >> Yes, ma'am. We have to take separate steps because we don't use the Axon platform. >> Okay. Yeah. Just to know how well it works in real time.
>> And we can see the difference when we look at Axon. Um, all of our special operations in the county uh that run through the prosecutor's office. So some of our officers that are trained on those are in our regional SWAT team, rapid deployment team, rapid deployment force. They all use Axon. So we have three officers that are train four
officers that are trained in how to use the Axon body cameras also. >> Thank you. >> Well, when we look at the 413,000 and have options, payment options versus a lump sum payment. >> Yes. >> If we go to the payments, is there an interest rate applied to that cost us more? No. Or is it
>> I did not I did not see an interest rate. was trying to be as uh as welcoming to the to the town to get our business as they can. Five years would be the most they would stretch out, >> right? When we look at it from our capital budget perspective, right? If if if there's an an opportunity to take it
a hit in one year and save us the flexibility for capital in future years for other projects, something to look at. But if we're stretched and we have the opportunity to, you know, >> Yeah, I was going to ask it's probably a question for Colleen. Do we even if we pay this over 5 years, do we have an expense it as a prepaid upfront or can
we actually stretch it out from budget to budget? >> Are you saying perspective? >> No, from our perspective, do we have to expense it as a prepaid all up front or can we actually did speak with she did some Do you want to come up, Colleen?
we'd end up having to do an ordinance for the full amount. Uh but we don't have to draw the money down uh right away, you know, draw it down in pieces. >> So our down payment can reflect just the one year's >> the one and then every year we Okay. All right.
>> So, at a minimum, Axon uh would require 75,000 for year one. But if we wanted to increase that to Joe's point, so that you have a little flexibility on years 2, three, four, and five, >> you have that >> 0%, right? >> 0%. I basically just took the whole number and asked them to cut it into
five payments. And that's what they were more than happy to do for us. >> So, it gets cheaper every year. >> Yes. >> Anybody else? Well, thank you. >> You're welcome. Uh, one last thing on my on my This is a two-year twocar year for
us at the police department. I'm not sure if you're familiar, but every year we do one car replacement. Then the next year we do two and then it goes one and then two. So, this is a two-year twocar year for us. Um, years ago since I've been here, uh, we used to lease cars. Um, we have been in contact with some
companies this year to try to lease our our two police cars this year. Couple different factors on that. One, the payment's better. We pay for 12 months of the payment in one time in the year and that's it for the year. Um we can stretch these over five years as a lease. After the five years is up, we
can buy the car for $1. Um the good thing about it is that warranty is a very big component of this. Now with our lease vehicles comes with 5year warranties. Um right now we're seeing our patrol cars at three four years that are out of the total mileage generally about 75,000 on the warranty mileage.
We're getting kicked out of the warranty and having to pay for some of these things. um in full. It's running a little expensive on our budget line, so we're looking to uh to explore the leasing options this year. Uh we we think it's better. We think it's more economically feasible for the burrow. We
would pay for this through our um our traffic uh car fund that we use. I'm not sure the exact name of it. >> Colleen uh can come up. You can give an idea to the council. The the nice uh thing about using that account is that this would take the uh vehicles outside of the capital uh budget process. So
we'd be able to use the money that we've collected. >> So when we when we work traffic details, we put a separate charge on the vendor per hour for the car. We rotate that into a separate account and then we would like to use that for our upfit cost and for the lease payment that we would make for the year.
>> And the charges for the outside duty is is calculated. It's done so that we make sure that the bureau is not footing the bill for any of the outside duty. So there are different components that are added to the hourly rate for the police officers. Uh they cover social security
uh workers comp uh the m the car usage of the car. Um what else we got? Um >> workers compet two other things but social security match. Um so each of the charges for for
these jobs are are put into uh separate accounts to cover the cost that the bureau initially has to output. So with the vehicle maintenance um we have a separate uh trust account where those funds are accumulated and over time it's
enough to you know purchase a car or two. We presently have enough to cover uh the two whether we purchase or or lease. We we just think the leasing is a better option. It's a much less of a payment. Um and it will lock us in for that five
years and then we save them for dollar. You might notice in the side there we keep about four cars that we just devote to traffic. They're older patrol cars that after we're done we rotate them out and they just work traffic for us. So they're out there making replenishing basically that fund so we can just put it to four cars. >> Right. And to that point the vehicles
that you've taken off the road um will be available for auction. >> We have three to auction this year with getting these two. You gave me more time to think. Um, what's the record retention policy on our old server for all the WatchGuard
film? How long we have to keep that because that'll determine how long we have to keep paying for that server and all the upgrades on that. >> Great question. Um, some stuff you might have to keep forever. Um, there are certain retention rules that make us keep it forever. Um, some things will pop out in 90 days, some things three
years, sometimes seven years. I think that's as high as it goes, right? But some things we need to keep. We need to keep forever. So we will still have the unit inside, but as far as I'm concerned, we pay for that already. That's ours. There would be no additional charge for it. It would just keep it in the rack.
>> Yeah. But we got to keep the server upgraded, patched, maintained, all stuff like the same. Correct. >> You know, so there there's cost to that. >> Yeah. And I'm not sure what Cobin would charge us or if how Cobin would would work that. >> Yes. That's why I'm thinking at some point if there's things that roll off
and you have a smaller set of data, does it pay for that point to move that to the cloud so we can offload that server? >> It would be. I I priced it out with them and it was around 45,000 to integrate that all into our current uh into the current Axon >> for the current data that you have.
>> Yes, ma'am. I just thought that would be a charge that we didn't need to to put on us right now and that we could just go case by case. Meaning, if we needed anything, we'd still have access in there and we could pull it off. >> Yeah. We just got to do a low cost. I mean, how much it cost us to maintain that server. If it's 5,000 a year, making up a number, you know, what's the
point of breaking even on moving it? >> I understand. >> Right. And you get that server out of there. You don't have to worry about it flooding flinging out. >> Absolutely. >> I didn't I didn't price that out, so I look at that. >> Going back to the cars, can we see like a financial analysis showing leasing
versus buying with actual numbers? >> Sure. I think I uh I have that in an email um that I think I might have sent. I believe the percentage on it was about 6%. So it' be about a $6,500 difference if we lease rather than buy
>> less or more. >> What's that? >> 6,500. Okay. >> More. Yeah. >> Okay. >> It is still a lease. So there is a a percentage on it. An interest charge. So >> uh the Ford leasing. >> Yes. I think it was in the second document. I kind of broke down the the
pros and cons of both sides. >> Uh I'm sorry. The a 6.13% rate. >> 6.13. >> I think we always did well with leasing. Of course, >> we >> we really did and then we got we we got out of it. Um I just don't think that we
could find a good deal then. Um we we looked into it this year. We called a couple companies and we found what we think is the best one that we can do. And it all comes out of All American Ford, which is local to uh to us here. So, um we don't think that there would be a long wait like we see now with turnover when we purchase because we
purchased from the factory. So, by the time we get our budget approved, if we purchased in April or May, we're generally getting the car in August, September, and we're not road ready until February, March of the next year. here. I feel like we're we have this if we have on lot supply, we could at least
immediately and start our transition. >> And how much more would it cost to transfer everything into the the new vehicle from the old? >> So, those are the upfit costs that I don't have. They generally run between 20 and 25,000 per car. Um the one car that we would look to purchase here would be to replace an administrative car. So, that would be substantially
less of a hit than outfitting the whole patrol car. I would like to kind of time it if we are approved for the Axon so that I'm not ripping a car apart on an upfit and then have to rip it apart again for a new incar camera system coming. So the money we're paying to to redo the car, it'll be the lease will
buy same same price. >> Same price. And we would and after that after that 5-y year lease, $1, we own it and it rolls into traffic and it works for us still, >> right? >> Um like we've had great success with these, but these are older. We have some 2014s out there. One of the cars we look
to auction is an 09 administrative car that we have. We're starting to have to put a lot of money into it. So it's probably just easier to auction it off at this point and redo. >> Okay, great. Anyone else have any questions? >> Well, thank you very much. >> Oh, thank you for having us. Any questions? Email, cell phone, whatever
you guys need. >> All right. Thank you so much. Have a great night. You guys >> Thank you. >> Okay, we're going to be continuing the meeting >> under the mayor's report. Just a couple of items. Uh January is always a busy
time of the year. Uh first uh the beginning of the month I was asked by food emporium to do a a grand opening of their store. Uh it was a great day for uh the emporium company, the family and especially all the residents. Everybody in the in the community here is very happy but what the store looks like, how
they're being treated there. And I'd like to welcome them and wish them and all new business in Waldwick a great year and great success. And thank you for all being a part of our Waldwick family. I presided over the planning board reorganization meeting until they voted on a new chairperson and the new
chairperson would is again Del Benti. I attended the board of health meeting to introduce them to their new layers which is Angela Smith and I thank them for all that they do for Waldwick and and our residents. Angela will probably talk about that more under her committee. I attended the environmental committee
meeting in which I'm their leazison and uh that same night the board of head board of health meeting uh they have many new ideas for 2026. Their main idea is to bring back the beautifification committee and u make Waldick a little bit more beautiful so that people are
proud uh of the of the community. Not that they're not but just to be a little bit more proud of their community. I also attended the ambulance court meeting to introduce them to their new layers on Courtney Windgate and I thank them also for their continued help and support to our residents. Courtney will
do a report on that since she met them for the first time. Also, I attended an emergency meeting with Chiefs Troy Seafood, DBW, Police Department representatives, the OEM, Councilman Andy Bren, Administrator, and Burough Curry to discuss the plans for the storm that just hit us. I want to thank the
ambulance corps who volunteered to open up their building just in case uh anybody was without power, they could go there as a warming station and keep warm. Also, I'd like to thank all the residents for helping out their neighbors this uh big storm. Uh, a lot
of people are a little concerned about how the streets were plowed, but we're doing our best to go back and correct everything. Our DVW men did a great job. They worked 18 hours, then they took a little time off, and they went back to work. Uh, great snow like this is hard to put anywhere, so they're doing the
best they could. Also, I'd like to thank the Waldick Snow Angels. It's an organization that is on, I guess, social media, and they got some people together to go to residents homes to uh shovel them out. Uh this was this was done once before and that they keep on doing it.
Uh and this is a good feeling for the burough that they know if they need help that the residents will uh come come forward for them and help them. That's all I have to report for now. Uh financial administrative committee, Mr. Martinelloo. >> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. New side, new
order. It's all, you know, crazy over here. But >> last week, same room. Same room. >> Same room though. Uh last week I had a uh time to meet with administrator Tatiana, clerk Kelly, and chief financial officer Colleen regarding the timeline and the procedural steps for
the upcoming process for budget. Um the finance administrative teams are currently working on closing out the the year end which includes closing out fiscal accounts, reconciling expenditures, and preparing final reports for for the audit review. Um with these tasks nearing completion, our
the focus will shift over to um development of the 2026 municipal and capital budgets. Um the key priorities at this stage include the labor negotiations with the police department and simultaneously uh the team is conducting a thorough review of capital
expenditure submitted by various departments with the the emphasis on identifying projects or other significant um value projects that will add to the community. But we have to ensure that we're being prudent with the fiscal management of those. And
parallel, we'll start developing the operating budget for 2026. We'll leverage the same framework from last year um that worked well for us and uh promote this streamlined workflow and enhance the efficiency throughout the budget budget cycle. to maintain a transparent communication. We'll have
weekly meetings with the finance committee with Councilman Richie and Councilman Bernick um on Fridays with with the team here in the office and the sessions will serve as an ongoing forum for status updates, issue resolution and collaborative planning. Uh we'll ensure
that we keep the council updated every uh meeting that we have and uh any uh information that we can share with the team. Um it's important to recognize at this point that there's several external factors that are beyond the council's control um which exert a lot of
influence on our budget. Um notably there's an increase in dependency on our surplus funds um to balance the budget with a trend that you know we have to continue to watch as we go forward here. Council Richie has talked about that a lot over the last couple years. In response, we have to take a
comprehensive review of both potential tax increases, unfortunately, and surplus fund utilization for the 2026 fiscal year. Analysis is intended to support the council's commitment to long-term fiscal sustainability and responsible stewardship of the public's
resources. Other opportunities for topline revenue growth have to be reviewed, especially in conjunction with our redevelopment project here in Waldwick. Our ongoing efforts remain focused on maintaining low capital expenditures wherever feasible while strategically prioritizing investments
in high impact projects that address core community needs. Tonight, we heard from Chief Seaffort on a potential project that meets that criteria. In addition, we'll be reaffirming our commitment to essential infrastructure improvements like our road paving program, which we definitely have to
continue investing in that. We hear it all the time from the residents. And we also have to start making plans for the remediation of the water issues that will come back from H2M. So those plans will will cost money. We'll have to prepare for our capital expenditure on
those. So that's it, Mr. Mayor. We'll have more uh updates as we continue. >> Very good. Thank you very much. >> Thank you. >> Fire and Police Protection Committee, Mr. Bren. >> Thanks, Mr. Mayor. Um to date to today date the fire department responded to 27
calls uh multiple u multiple calls uh different types all over the place but that's what we do. Uh Thursday night there was a um there was a multi- agency uh ice rescue drill that was conducted
by the fire department in conjunction with the police department and Walac. It uh was well attended. Um, it's an annual thing. Uh, so we're prepared. During the snowstorm, we responded to one call for
service. Um, I was in contact with the, uh, the fire chief both before and during the storm just to ensure that all of the pieces are in the right place, that everybody knows what everybody else is going to do. Um, it was well planned
out, it was well thought out, and it was successful. Um, I don't have anything else. That's it. >> Thank you. Public safety committee, Mrs. Winggate. >> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Um, so last week I
went to the Wallback meeting where the mayor and I um or the mayor was introduced me to everyone. So, I was able to meet everyone. Um, and I was able to speak with the president, um, Lucas, and he let me know that, um, they
need are in need of volunteers. Um, so they're doing everything they can to, um, recruit volunteers. So, if you are interested or know anyone that is interested or even want to sign to put up just to, um, make sure the town knows that they need volunteers, um, you can
go to WVAC and they'll give you all the information. Um um they they discussed at the meeting um the first lieutenant Ashley Satudo and the second lieutenant April Trainer slept at WVAC HQ during the winter storm
fern. Um they took two calls and they were there to you know make sure that the town was covered. Um there was a total of um 21 calls taken on monthto date and um also they attended the um
WFD the ice rescue training that um Mr. Brennick just uh referenced. Um and also Lucas is working with the fire department and the police department to um work through the recruitment and of
you know getting the volunteers and then also to make sure that they have enough drivers um to make sure that the town is covered. So they're doing that in the interim um doing everything they can to get volunteers. Um, so I want to just also thank them, you know, for their for
their um everything they do for the town. It's um um really great. And anyway, um sorry, I'm nervous my first meeting. Um let's see what else. Um I think that's all I have to report on
WVEC. So >> yeah, they're very busy. Yeah, they they told Courtney and I they're very busy on recruiting people. That's the main thing this year. They went back to old members for drivers. They went to uh um new members. They're looking at I think they picked up two new people or they were
promised two new people, but the fire department would help out. Fire department's taking a good stand with them, I think. Didn't he say that they're going to be going to their meeting or something? >> Yes, the uh Yeah, Lucas will be going to the fire department's business meeting to also work with the fire department
and working hard to make sure they're covered with drivers. >> Yep. and him and uh Tatiana and uh our police chief are constantly meeting to discuss this. It's not a problem for the burrow, but they don't want to make it a problem eventually down the road. So, they're jumping into it really quick.
They have new procedures in which they're going to be how they're going to run their calls and everything, which is being supervised by our administrator and also by our police chief. So, I think we'll be all right. But is every anybody wants to, you know, help out as a driver, it's a good organization and
uh it'll be a good great way to give back to the community. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Recreation and health committee. >> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Um, as the new chair of this committee, the first thing I want to do is to thank our um, council
president, Joe Martinelloo, for his two years of service as the chair of this committee and for what he's done to make sure that our community is is healthy and safe and everything also that he's done to make sure that warrior sports are promoted. So, I'm going to hopefully
continue in the same tradition. So, I did attend the board of health um meeting and the mayor was there to introduce me as well on January 15th. Their focus was uh it was a reorganization meeting and their focus was on looking at how existing services
are utilized and what new services could be offered. Their particular emphasis is on mental health and wellness programs that might be introduced this year. So upcoming services that are actually scheduled, the the Wald Child Health
Clinic happens every third Wednesday, a third Wednesday of every month from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. at the Waldick Health Clinic, which is right behind the Ambulance Corps building. It serves children from 6 months to 17 years of age. And the next one is on February
18th. There are some details about eligibility and scheduling that are on the burough website. And if you have any difficulty finding or accessing information on the website, feel free to email me and the bureau and um the
bureau will do its best, you know, as well to find the information and get make make sure you have the information available. Last but certainly not least, with all the snow on the ground, it's hard to believe that opening day for Waldig baseball in softball is April
25th. Um it's always a great event and registration for players and coaches is open now on their website and the um WBSA president who actually just left the building is our own chief seaffort. So I just wanted to thank the chief for
also um chipping in to be president of WBSA. So go Warriors. >> Okay. Thank you very much. Public works committee. Mr. Richie. >> Thank you Mr. Mayor. I don't have a whole lot more to add. Uh, obviously the DPW was working a lot. There's a lot of
snow, so I think everyone was doing the best they can, the DPW and the residents. I think everyone was struggling to find places to put the snow to be to be honest with you. Um, so I I was in touch with our superintendent. He he thought, you know, things went well. We promised to touch base on the capital budget, uh, kind of
what their needs are, uh, after he's had, I think, a chance to, you know, after everyone's had a chance to rest a little bit. Um so we we promised to uh connect this week. Um you know and then as as my um new role as a sewer authority liaison uh I did miss the
first meeting. I was traveling for work. Um but uh but anyone who's watched our meetings over the last year knows how I feel about that. I don't know how that place some somehow smells worse in the winter than it does in the summer. And I I intend to try to figure out exactly why. Um, and the mayor's uh mayor and I
have have agreed to meet this week to discuss maybe an aligned framework to uh potentially figure out why that sewer authority is smelling so much lately and now that we have nice new beautiful businesses coming in across the street. I think we want to try to address that uh with them as soon as possible. So I
look forward to being a part of that process this year. Thank you mayor. >> Thank you. Go to grounds committee. Miss Ericoli Drake. >> Thank you mayor. The biggest ongoing project is currently at the pistol range where we have a contractor working at this time. Anticipated completion was
the beginning of February. They've completed the framework for the project, but the electrical control panel is currently on back order. So, we're now estimating um another month onto that completion date, so hopefully opening in mid-March, but we'll keep you posted. At the police department, we went from a
dry system to a wet system, and part two of that was insulating the attic. So, we were able to get a contractor to do the spray foam in the attic using our capital budget money. We now have heaters in there, so it's made a huge difference in the overall heat of the building. Next is Burrow Hall. There are no projects approved for 2026 yet as we
just started our budget planning, but a couple thousand heating repair may be possible for upstairs. And there's also a big storage space at the top of the stairs that we've been thinking about using as a meeting space location. for the DPW building. They would like to spruce up the front outside of the building for a long-term maintenance of
the building. And finally, I inquired with Tatiana about any potential road work planned that might affect the 5K route for May 3rd. Um the only thing outside of our control would be county projects. So like to follow up with her today if uh if they've found anything about that
>> and put it on Mike's radar and he'll let us know what they what they tell him as they flush it out. >> Thank you. That's it. >> Okay. Thank you. our administrator. >> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Um, everyone has talked about it, but just want to extend uh thanks to the community um for really
um focusing on getting your cars off the street during the snow. We're anticipating uh some possible additional snow this weekend. Uh I know it's difficult and um as the councilman mentioned, it it becomes difficult on on finding a place to put the snow, but um
Burough Hall was buzzing on Friday. We had a great team uh meeting in preparation for uh the storm operations between the DPW, the police department, Kelly, myself, the mayor, uh Councilman Brennick, uh as the leazison to the fire department. Um and I think that helped
tremendously. We were able to put all our thoughts and ideas on paper ahead of time throughout the weekend. We were all in constant communication and um you know, in real lifetime, we're we're addressing any concerns that were coming up. So, uh I'm happy to work with this team. I think that um everyone's got the
best interest of the community at heart and um I think the results shows. So uh with that u that that's all I have for this evening. Thank you. >> Thank you. Borrow clerk Kelly. >> Thank you, Mayor. U by now everyone should have uh received their 2020 uh6
calendar. Um this year we changed the format um so that the months are back to back. So, I'm going to So, they're all back to back. This way when we get to December, >> everyone will know
that the calendar runs through January of 2027. Um, we hold back on the calendar uh in December because we receive a lot of additional information that we like to put in the next year's calendar. Um, and
so that's why we hold it back. If if we can give you this information, it it just helps us in the long run and it also helps you. So, um, some of that information we don't get until mid December. So, that's why we hold back on it. But that's also why we made it a
13th month calendar so that you do have the month of January of the following year. So, we hope that that is helpful to you. We hope the new format's helpful. Um, and we begin that process in June, Kelly. Right. uh every week we or every month rather starting in June
we meet and we um and we start to plot out the year. So um many hands on deck for the calendar. Thank you to to Melissa and Kelly for all their efforts on uh putting it out. It is extremely valuable and as Kelly said some of the information from outside agencies don't
get to us until December. Uh and our effort is to get as much as we can inside so that the questions um that you guys have as a community are answered ahead of time. So, uh, a lot of thought and process and thought, uh, goes into that process and, uh, we're happy with the way that it turned out. Um, and also
just want to mention that we also have a digital version of the 2026 calendar on our website for anybody who might want to use the calendar in that way. Um, elections for this year, county committee and two council seats are up. Um, I will send my annual election uh
email to the party leaders next week and petitions are due by March 23rd by 4 p.m. Uh, Melissa and I will attend the Bergen County election officials uh annual meeting on February 19th in Hackinack and report back anything that we we might need to. Um, I know it
sounds like it's far away, but April 8th is the deadline to change your political party affiliation. Um, and those forms are available on our website. We also have them here at Burough Hall. Um if you're looking to change your political party affiliation and that includes going to be uh an unaffiliated voter if
that's what you choose. Um starting tomorrow, just so that you're aware, our election dropbox will be open for the special elections that are being held in Hokus, Norwood, and Mawa on March 10th. And so we're required to open uh I'm not required to the county will be coming to
open that box um so that people can drop their ballots from any of those towns um if they if that happens to be the closest for them. Dog licensing is ongoing. Uh Melissa's uh again doing an excellent job keeping up with the licenses and and also um cleaning up
those the roles even more. We've issued 475 licenses as of today. Uh, Hocus Free Rabies Clinic is February the 11th from uh, 6:00 to 7 PM at the St. Luke's Church parking lot. There's also a free rabies clinic in Wyoff on March 21st
from 1 to 3:00 p.m. uh, at their DPW garage at 4 uh,75 West Main. Um, our alarm registrations will be going out shortly, followed by the tenant registrations. Uh for those of you who get the email blast, uh you've noticed that there's been a legal notice in there with
regards to uh public law 2025 chapter 72, which is uh how we're going to be transitioning from traditional print newspaper to online platforms and the requirements that we have to go through in order to do that. Uh this was signed
by the uh Governor Murphy in June of of last year. So, you'll see that on our website um in the Friday email blast. And right now, we have to required twice a month for the entire year of 2026 to put um an an
ad in the paper. It'll be in the paper online and on our website telling you that you will be you need to go to our website to find um the legal notices. Um we in March that notice will change
slightly um when we get the uh secretary of state's link to her central legal notice web page. Um the zoning board and planning board applications have also changed um as the requirements for legal notices have changed. Uh Joyce has been informed of that and she has made the
changes to both of the applications. Um I think that is all I have. >> Thank you very much. of our attorney, Mazan. >> Uh, thank you, Mr. Mayor. I'm pleased to report this afternoon, I got the order from the court on our COA uh, settlement
and everything that everything's been approved. So, the next step in the process is we're going to have to amend our ordinances. Uh, there's been substantial changes with the regulations that just came out. Their planner is working on revising the ordinance, but it's something we're going to he'll have
done for us shortly. will get it introduced in February because then it's got to be flipped to the planning board for their review and comment and they will review it hopefully at their March meeting and then by March 10th at this council meeting on March 10th we'll have
the public hearing on the ordinance because it all has to be adopted by March 15th. The legislation gave us a very narrow window in which the regulations get promulgated at the state and we have to do our uh our process. But luckily the meetings work out with the planning board meeting the first
week of or the first week of the month so that we can consider the public hearing at the second meeting in uh or the first meeting in March. And that's all Mr. Mayor. Thank you. >> Okay. Thank you. Consent resolutions and resolutions of the governing body.
Okay. Be it resolved that the following resolutions herewith listed by consent having been considered by the governing body of the burough of Waldwick are hereby passed and approved. 202646 approval of consent 202647 approval of
minutes recess December 16, 2025 meeting which was held January 6, 2026 and the reorganization meeting held January 6, 2026. Policy votes A. Britney Rodriguez, request to use pavilion A on May 16th from 2:00 to 4:00 for a birthday party
with alcoholic beverages being served. B. Markell request to use pavilion B on July 18th from 1:00 p.m. to dusk for a gathering with alcoholic beverages being served. C. Uh, Waldo Pistol and uh, rifle club requests to use pavilion A on September 13th from 6:00 a.m. to 6 p.m.
for a picnic with alcoholic beverages being served. 202648 authorizing submission of a grant proposal to the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs fiscal year 26 local recreation improvement grant program 202649 awarded non-fair and open professional service
contract to Peter Lupo Esquire Hoplake Communications LLC as telecommunications attorney in an amount not to exceed $10,000 202650 award a non-fair and open professional service contract for risk management consultant Frank Cavelli of
professional service associates 202651 authorized service contract with the Westber and mental health care of um employee assistance program and municipal allocation 202652 authorized release of road opening escrow block 163.16 law 18.03 3 202653
authorized waiver of permit fee to the board of education for the installation of a generator at Waldo High School. 202654 approval of council manual for 2026 202655 approval raffle license 202601 for the Waldo Lions Club uh off- premise
merchandise raffle 202656 approval raffle license 20262 for the Waldo Lions Club off premise 50/50 202657 authorized autoc cab license for VIP car and limo service 202658 appointment of keyboarding clerk uh Juan
Gina Paloo 202659 reappoint of keyboarding clerk Juan Denise Broadick. 202660 appointment of emergent temp temporary emergency temporary help Johnny Milano and William Schmidt. 202661 appointment of emergency temporary help
for Deborah Bignino. Uh 2026 accept donations various in 2026 payment of vouchers. >> Do we have a motion and a second to accept? Motion by Katie, second by Joe. Anyone on the question? Um, just want to talk about 2026-60.
Uh, these are two retired men from the DVW. Uh, when you have a snow like a big amount like this, your staff should not be working more than 18 hours. So once they left or took a rest, we had these men uh here just in case to to fill in
until they were the other men got back from resting so that there was nothing no problems with anybody in the town. Anyone else? Please take the role, Miss Clark. >> Thank you. >> Mr. Bernick, >> yes. >> Miss Sarak, >> yes. >> Mr. Martinelloo, >> yes.
>> Mr. Richie, >> yes. >> Miss Smith, >> yes. >> And Miss Windgate, >> yes. >> Okay. >> Okay. We have uh one uh introduction of ordinance. Would the clerk kindly read the ordinance? Uh, ordinance number 20261, an ordinance amending chapter 91,
vehicles and traffic, section 91-12, parking time limits on certain streets subsection A for West Prospect Street to change time limits and hours. Motion a second is in order to move and pass the ordinance on first reading and data be advertised on local legal newspapers required by law set in public hearing
two weeks from tonight's meeting or soon thereafter as the matter may be reached. Do I have a motion and a second? Motion by Andy, second by Angela. On the question, would you like to take this one? >> Sure. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Uh, this is a recommendation uh from our police department, our chief specifically. Uh,
we have had some issues in terms of parking for extended periods of time in this area of town. And uh the recommendation was to limit the parking in that area to a half hour, which uh we feel is a fair amount of time for um for
customers coming into the uh businesses in that area, but uh also an opportunity for the police to be able to monitor it um more easily than what's been going on now. and uh you know trying to avoid anybody from parking on those streets who might be using the train um or
overnight parking for uh homes or town houses in that area as well. So um this is on behalf of the the PDA uh an opportunity to clean up that area. >> Okay. Anyone else? >> Clerk, please take the role. >> Mr. Bick, >> yes. >> Miss Sarah Cold, >> yes.
>> Mr. Martinelloo, >> yes. >> Mr. Richie, >> yes. >> Miss Smith, >> yes. >> Miss Wgate, >> yes. >> Any from the count? Anybody from the council have any unfinished business? No new business. Just a couple of items. Uh it's been posted on our website and
also uh the the school has it. It's the New Jersey State League of Municipalities Scholarship Program. It's given to a junior and a senior from Waldwick. Uh which there's applications to fill out and what it is is you have to do a uh a um essay about what my
municipal government does best. There's a deadlines, criterias. Uh all applications have to be uh submitted to me by March 9th, 2026 by 3 p.m. Uh at which time whoever put an application in, there is a committee that is set up already that will review the
application. It will be sent to the state and then the state reviews who we think that is worthy of it and the winner will receive a thousand dollars. Uh we've done this for the last maybe seven years and uh so far we had one person that received a thousand and the
rest of uh the the students got honorable mention and they receive a certificate and everything from the league of municipality. Also the third annual Ramadan crescent lighting is January 31st which is Saturday at 2 p.m. in the library. Uh we're tracking the
storm just in case there's going to be snow on Saturday. We'll have to work it out. If not, uh, the DBW will be cleaning the area out so that they we could put their, uh, the crescent out there for them for the the length of time that the Ramadan is, uh, being honored. Uh, that's all I have. Any
other new business from anybody? >> Nobody. >> I have some new business. >> Yes. >> Um, just want to um talk about the board of education meeting that was held last night over Zoom. So, I attended and just wanted to introduce myself. on the new
leazison and um just at the it was a short meeting but one resident did ask about um the field trips um so they were wondering why there was a discrepancy between um some of the trapagen field trips and the Crescent school field
trips and um the board just informed her that they don't uh have anything to do with those choices. Um so they referred her to the school administrators. So, uh, she will, you know, talk to the principal of that, um, so they can work
out the field trips. And, um, one other thing that was mentioned was on, um, Wednesday, February 11th, they'll, um, at Trap Hagen, they'll be doing a, uh, a screening of the movie Screen Aers. So,
that's about um, the impacts of screen time on your children. And this one would be for the grade school children, the younger children. So, um it's important I'll be attending to I think that's important for all parents um to
see that. And um and then going forward, I will be attending the board of education meetings to meet everyone in person. So, I look forward to that. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. >> Thank you. >> Okay. Anybody from the public would have any comments, please come up, state your
name, just not your address, and then once we're finished here, then we'll go up to the people in TV land. >> Uh David Guy, um I was just I was at the last council meeting. Um we honored one of uh our members uh for 50 years. I was
just a little curious why the other three weren't mentioned. They were honored at your installation today. >> Uh but not in a public forum. Um I figured they would at least get an honorable >> They received they received the same plaque. They received the same honor. They received the same speech. I think
Mr. Brennick was there because I was in Florida and you honored them at your installation dinner. Usually we do honor everybody at your dinner. This gentleman didn't want to be at the dinner and he asked he asked to have it here. In the future, if there was a problem, you should come to us beforehand. You knew
about it. The chief knew about it. He could have called us and told us this this information. >> Yeah. I just think it's a little bit uh of a lowblow that one person is honored in a public forum in the town setting and the other one is honored in I guess
in a room of their peers at that that much >> in the future. Maybe they should come and talk to me about this. >> Well, I'm just bringing it up to you that I think it's a little bit of a low low blow for especially when one is sitting in the >> in the audience. Um, I mean 50 years is a pretty big accomplishment, too.
>> And they were all honored the same way. >> I had no idea that that they were not. >> I had no idea that was happening. I wouldn't have been for that. I think we should have honored everybody. I was at the installation dinner. >> Yeah. And even then, I didn't know that some were given an honor then and not here. I
>> I I'm fully aware that they got all the same plaque and everything, but at least an honorable mention to say, hey, otherwise >> fine >> should have been taken care of. That's all I'm The fire department should have also thought about that when they when we did the same thing for Tommy Gus. No one complained about that when everybody else was honored in another way.
>> I'm not sure what >> here also >> who was honored here. >> Thomas Gus. He did not want to be honored by the fire department and he wanted he we honored him here. But in the future I will check with the chief and make sure the chief understands what's going on or your president also. >> Yeah. Very good. Thank you.
>> Thank you. >> Anyone else? Hello. Um, back in DC, I just wanted to um bring up two different things. So, the first um I don't know if Waldwick has ever uh since we don't have a community
center um approached Midland Park um to talk to them about the possibility of, you know, letting Waldwick residents use their um their Dairy Street Recre Barn where they have, you know, the kids can play basketball and there's ping pong tables and things like that. Um so, I
don't know if that's something that was ever considered in the past and if it wasn't if that's something that that might be considered. We do. Uh so there is a program for their camp, their summer camp which um includes that red barn. Yes. >> And all of the activities that they host
inside and outside. They do open up that camp uh every year for many years to Wald residents at the same um at the same fee. So um and then Waldwick has in return allowed them to sign up for the Waltick pool as uh as members uh
resident member rates. Uh, so it's a nice relationship we have outside of that. I don't know if that's ever been explored at different times a year, but we can we can always reach out and ask them about that. >> Okay. Yeah. I thought I had about it too is if you know a you know they weren't interested or the town wasn't interested in in a big agreement like that even
something simple like um how at the library they have passes that you could you know get for the day to go to the Hermitage or for the natural history museum you know would the library you know be able to have like a pass that somebody could pay you know a couple dollars for it to be able to go to the
rec barn for a couple hours um just to hang out there like I know my ninth grader would pay, you know, $2 to be able to go to the rec barn and play ping pong with friends for a couple. >> We could also reach out to Allenale because I have a new rec center. >> Good idea. Thank you.
>> Um and then the other thing that I wanted to bring up is I'm a member of the environmental committee and um it's nice to see you at the meeting. Um, I, you know, I was excited to hear about the property that the town now owns by the, uh, Walter Gardens. And, um, I know
at one point, you know, there was talk that we might be able to do a walkthrough as part of the environmental committee. And I personally am pretty excited about, you know, the possibilities of what could happen there. You know, who knows what it could be, senior center, community center, community gardens, um, you know, passive
park or something like that. But I was curious if you know there has been any um you know further talk about it or if that might be a priority for the next year as to what the town does want to do with it and you know going forward. >> Sure. So the uh council had made a
decision at the time of purchase that that would be a remain passive park area. So it's a conversation we've continued to have in 2025 about the long-term plans. We haven't any drawn anything up yet, but it will be passive parkland. Um there is a a house at the
back side of the property that go that exits out to Brady Street. That property and that house will uh stay as is and then the rest of that property right up against the uh gardens will stay as Parkland. So uh while no firm plans have been made for what that'll look like,
that will be drawn up based on what the council wishes to have there, but it will be passive open Parkland. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. Anyone else? Good evening. Um, Lo Gagliotti. I'm a resident of
Harrison Avenue and I also own Evolve Salon right here on um, West Prospect. Um I just had um a question about um being that right aid is now vacant, has there been any um consideration in possibly the town
um acquiring some of that parking lot for the West Prospect businesses because um you know, Right. Aid has been lenient with everybody being able to park there and if a new tenant comes in and uh doesn't allow us, it could be pretty detrimental to the to the business
district. It's privately the the property is privately owned. The council hasn't made any um you know determinations that they would want to purchase any of that. Um but you know that's something they could consider if they wanted to, but they'd have to be in touch with the private property owner for for plans. Uh while
we don't have firm plans on what is going on in there, um we do believe there's a new occupant that'll be coming in um and they're preparing for it and um you know they'll work through the building department on that. But uh yeah. >> Yeah. I mean that's I just wanted to kind of bring that up because
>> if somebody else takes over that building, it's hard for us to buy, you know, anything from them because they're going to want that building for themselves. >> Yeah, I know. And then with the development that's going to happen, it's just it's going to >> But I think the previous like right was very generous with everybody park. So
>> whoever this new company or whoever's coming in, maybe we should uh reach, you know, residents or whatever, we could sit down and talk with them. I know the Lions Club used to they use area which they've been very generous with. The Lions Club Lions Club takes care of them also. >> Yeah. Yeah. So just wanted to see if
there was anything or just to throw the idea out there basically. Thank you. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Anyone else? There's not anybody in one hand raised. >> Joanna, are you able to unmute?
>> I am. Good evening. >> How are you? Good evening. Very well. Thank you. Good evening, Mr. Mayor. >> Good. Good evening. May I please ask for an update to museum from the uh hydraulics engineer on the
water remediation plan to deal with our groundwater situation. >> Sure. Um we did receive a preliminary plan from H2M as we've all been anxiously waiting for. internal review of that plan is currently taking place
uh so that we can come up with any follow-up questions or clarifications that we need on our end. Uh but I can tell you that the uh plan uh and the memo that they sent over to the bureau talks about a number of different possible options uh to start long-term
remediation of the system. Um nothing that was a surprise, but um Councilman Martinelloo touched on the fact that you know this will help guide the conversation on the capital project side for the water system and um you know what the decision is by the bureau to
move forward and and where funds um may want to be allocated. So once that is like I said internally once we are clear there were some questions that we had um some information that was uh possibly missing there was a map we were waiting for. So once that is all completed and
we can all take a look at it uh we can go ahead and share that with the public as well. >> Yes. >> Okay. Anyone else? All right. Do I have a motion to adjurnn? Motion by somebody. Uh Courtney. Second by Joe. All those in
favor. >> All those opposed. Good night everyone. Please be careful going home.