##VIDEO ID:wHkqz3wZ0Ik## a [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] good evening everyone Welcome to our final uh regular Town council meeting for 2024 Mother's Day h we ask ask all those who were able to remain standing and remove your hats for the Pledge of Allegiance it stands na indivisible andice please remain standing for a moment of silence in honor of those in public safety and in the military who have made the ultimate sacrifice in the service to others thank you please be seated this is to inform the general public that this meeting is being held in compliance with Section Five of the open public meetings act chapter 231 Public Law 1975 the annual notice was emailed to The Star Ledger filed in the township clerk's office on November 21st 2023 and published in the West Orange Chronicle on November 30th 2023 councilwoman castelino present councilwoman gber Michel present councilwoman Scarpa by Zoom uh she's joining via Zoom Mr Fagan okay thank you councilwoman Williams pres council president Rutherford here mayor McCartney thank you uh Madame clerk uh Chief EO we have uh some business to attend to microphone is yours thank you sir welcome everyone looks like we have a packed house thank you everyone for coming out tonight just one second Chief uh we're either going to have to close the door or have the folks in the hallway keep it to a low Roar thanks Joe great uh I'd like to begin by thanking mayor McCartney and the township Council for allowing us uh to use this form for our ceremony tonight specifically to councilwoman Williams and council president Rutherford thank you both for your service to the community and for your continued support of Public Safety here in West Orange we always appreciate thanks also to our honor guard for their service and to our bag Piper escorting Us in tonight before we get into administering the Oaths of office I'd like to congratulate our own fire captain Damon Stewart and firefighter Patrick McGovern on their respective retirements this past year which allows us to be here to them in the interest of time because everyone says I talk too much let's get right into it at this time I'd like to call up uh recruit firefighters Vincent DeSantis and Francisco Gonzalez to take their resp the votes of office you guys both want to come on up thank microphone unit states of the United States and the constitution of the state of New Jersey and the constitution of the state of New JY and I will bear true faith I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same allegiance to the same and to the government established in the United States and a government established in the United States and this state and this state under the authority of the people under the authority of the people I do further solemnly swear I under further Sol swear that I will Faithfully that I will faithfully impartially impartially and justly perform and justly perform all the duties all the duties of the office of probationary off firefighter of the office of probationary firefighter according to the best of my ability according to the best of my ability so help me God so help me God f yep right hand here we go I state your name I Francisco Gonzalez do solemnly swear do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States and I will support the Constitution of the United States and the constitution of the state of New Jersey and the constitution of the state of New Jersey and that I will bear true faith and that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same and allegiance to the same and to the governments established in the United States and the government establish United States in the United States and in this state and in this state under the authority of the people under under the authority of the people I do further solemnly swear I do further solemnly swear that I will Faithfully that I will faithfully impartially impartially and justly perform and justly perform all the duties of the office all the duties of the office of probationary firefighter of probationary firefighter according to the best of my ability according to the best of my ability so help me God so help me God if he's waiting for you to you can go good congratulations [Music] okay I would like to Now call up firefighter Glenn Capa to take his oath of office for the rank of fire captain Glen is a glen a West Orange fire department Legacy as his grandfather served the department for 33 years Glenn himself has already displayed his commitment to serve the residence of West Orange for close to 20 years starting out as a volunteer with the West Orange first aid Squad as a teenager he truly found his calling they say find a job you love and you'll never work a day in your life Glenn is the poster child for that expression he's become a go-to guy here at the West Orange fire department he's always up for a new challenge and takes on whatever it is with authority and pride Glenn is here tonight with his parents and brother Zach who is also a West Orange firefighter and is going to pin his badge [Music] for St do solemnly swear solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States stes and the constitution of the state of New Jersey and that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same and to the governments established established in the united states in the United States and in this state and in this under the authority of the people I do further solemnly swear further Sol that I will Faithfully I faithfully impartially impartially and justly perform all of the duties of fire captain all of the duties are fire captain according to the best of my ability according to the best of my ability so help let me go hang and Mr Fagan would like to uh make a special presentation to GL GL on behalf of the West Orange history archives I want to turn over this antique West Orange fire captain helmet to you it better serve in your Chief Abbott would you like to uh take over at this point that was the quickest I've ever heard Tony speak I have to tell you it'll fine job first recruit we're going to swear in this evening is William Evans Jr family our parents William Evans senr and crisilla Evans is a three-year-old son Kaden Evans he's a graduate of Malcolm X shabaz High School in New York New Jersey formal education is a bachelor's degree from Kan University in the area study of sociology and a minor in mathematics placed in the field of Education was a three-year member of Kane University football team recently graduated basic course for police officers from Essex County Police Academy class 242 within the academy excelled to the ranks in leadership as well as academics which led to the earning rank of platoon leader one over a period of eight years he has served as an educator in the charter schools of uncommon schools in Kip New Jersey served in various positions such as a par professional teacher dean of students and assistant principal over the years he's helped shape America's Youth and to the leaders of Tomorrow by creating an unfragmented foundation in the subject areas of stem science technology engineering and Mathematics he's also coached various high school teams track and field and varsity football which means that if a criminal ever outruns you these guys over here go t for the rest of your career I won't be around to see it but trust me it's gonna happen so you better stay in shape and keep running fast you'll stand up and do you have anybody that you'd like to hold the Bible I State un name do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the constitution of the state of New Jersey and that I will bear true faith I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same and to the governments established in the United States and in this state under the authority of the people I do further solemnly swear that I will Faithfully impartially and justly perform all the duties of the office according to the best of my ability according to the best of my so help me God short so first Pi the rank of Sergeant is Matt ree formal education is Morris County College he's been with the department since March 24th 2014 IT professional experience includes Maryland State's least Motorcycle School crash reconstruction pedestrian and bicycle crash reconstruction Humane law enforcement is a Humane law enforcement officer I'm sorry which investigates crimes against animals Advanced room clearing and SWAT tactics he's a Firearms instructor an active threat instructor and a radar instructor his spouse is Kristen his children are Liam and Jack he's received County B award two Medals of Excellence Five Command citations three life saving Awards one unit citation he's a member of PBA Local 25 in the Police Unity Tour and he's also the grandson of Ronnie Fay who retired as a deputy chief and was a personal mentor to me throughout my entire career until he retired Matt Ree do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the constitution of the state of New Jersey and that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same and to the government established in the United States and in this state under the authority of the people I do further solemnly swear that I will faithfully impartially and justly perform all the duties of the office as sergeant according to the best of my ability yet next up at bat is Anthony George btio for the rank of Sergeant Anthony was appointed on July 8th of 2016 his professional exper expence is Advanced room clearing and SWAT tactics active threat instructor and he's a field training officer he's received two Medals of Merit two command citations one life saving award one child delivery St he's West Orange PBA Local 25 executive board members since 2020 and he currently serves up until about two minutes from now as the PBA president from September 23rd until this minute um his dad glou is was our mechanic at the Town garage that kept these guys safe driving cars for many years and his mom was a a nurse down if you're old enough to remember Orange Memorial Hospital cuz I remember it when I had go down there and have to give people their license back that were involved in an accident and taken and you always made sure we had coffee and you always made sure we were safe in the car thank you I do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the constitution of the state of New Jersey and that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same and to the governments established in the United States and in this state under the authority of the people I do further solemnly swear that I will Faithfully impartially and justly perform andly per all the duties of Sergeant Sergeant according to the best of my ability so help me go next up for the rank of Lieutenant is Jeff primel yes I've been with the department since 2007 graduated from n County Police Academy been assigned to the Patrol Division from 2007 to 16 the detective Bureau 16 to 19 and he's been a patrol Patrol sergeant from 2019 to 2024 he's a graduate of West Orange High School and i' also be remiss if I didn't mention that our superintendent my dear friend Hayden Moore is in the back there trying to lay low and fly under the radar but I'm calling him out uh he's earned an associate degree from Ruckers his wife is Michelle KML his children are Kaden and Avery KML his training includes fety active shooter threat instructor me Meb instructor FBI crisis hostage negotiator commendations are eight unit citations two command citations five life saving Awards Four County B Awards three County sea Awards he's a member of the West Orange PBA Local 25 West Orange s SOA executive board he's also the parents of Mr and Mrs kemel who are probably two of the most iconic and well- loved people in West Orange are our native son and daughter and uh he has a brother that's also a sergeant in the police department so I always kid the parents said don't you have another one that you haven't brought out yet you can see my way because these two guys are Aces come on up [Music] I st I Jeffy K do solemnly swear do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the constitution of the state of New Jersey and the constitution of the state of New Jersey and that I will bear true faith true faith and allegiance to the Saints and allegiance to the Saint and to the governments established governments established in the united states in the United States and in this state and in this state under the authority of the people authority of the people I do further solemnly swear I do further solemly swear that I will Faithfully faithfully impartially impartially and justly perform and justly perform all the duties of Lieutenant duties of Lieutenant according to the best of my ability so help amen this abute thank you next up for the rank liutenant is Brad Squires Brad was appointed July 9th 2002 graduated from the ESS County Police Academy 992 previously worked for the Orange Police Department from 99 to 2004 he's a graduate of West Orange High School Ruckers University with a bachelor's of Science degree in criminal justice his wife is Denise his children are Braden and Shay his professional training includes supervisor of the Community Service Unit traffic Bureau mentor Health coordinator for the mental health co-response program crime prevention practitioner lead dare instructor New Jersey Advanced crash investigations one and two his commendations include Medals of excellence and command citations Essex County Class A B and C Awards he's an Essex County Emerald the 2018 Deputy Grand Marshal of West Orange St Patrick state parade and past Police Unity Tour member r can't forget mom St I Brad squs do solemnly swear do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States I will support the Constitution of the United States and the constitution of the state of New Jersey and the constitution of the state of New Jersey and that I will bear true faith and I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same and Allegiance and to the governments established and to the governments established in the united states in the United States and in this state and in this state under the authority of the people under the authority of the people I do further solemnly swear I do further solemn swear that I will Faithfully that I will faithfully impartially impartially and justly perform and justly perform all the duties of all the duties of Lieutenant according to the best of my ability according to the best of my ability so so congratulations should have also mentioned that Brad's uh late father was one of our auxiliaries when I first became police chief and uh served with distinction and pride and was always so proud of his son next up for the rank of Captain tenant Patrick J Mato III date of appointment 3177 2006 promoted to Lieutenant on 81419 and the sergeant on 95 2014 Pat has an Associates degree from Essex County College Maryland state police motorcycle school crash reconstruction pedestrian bicycle crash reconstruction Rucker traffic engineering Advanced room clearing and SWAT tactics crisis negotiation firearms and rifle instructor active threat instructor tactical medical instructor his responsibilities include the traffic Bureau Community Services Unit Department range Master active threat training program coordinator and special events his children are Valentina and Isabella he has two County a Awards County B award three County C Awards two county unit citations medal of Merit two Medals of Excellence four command citations he was the 2017 Chamber of Commerce police officer of the year he's a member of West Orange PBA and the executive board for the Police Unity Tour soon to be Captain Pat Matula do Solly swear to Solly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the constitution of the state of New Jersey the constitution of the state of New Jersey and that I will bear true faith I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same and allegiance to the same and to the governments established to the governments established in the united states in the United States and in this state and in this state under the authority of the people under the authority of the people I do further solemnly swear I do further solemnly swear that I will Faithfully faithfully impartially impartially and justly perform and justly perform all the duties of the office all the duties of the office of Captain Captain according to the best of my ability according to the best of my abil so help me so help me you come turn you don't trust like to thank the mayor for forming the ceremony and allowing this to take place and the council for putting forth the funds that are required to have these promotions and I'd like to make a special wish to council president Bill Rutherford and Tammy that everything you guys do it's a success I'm sure it will be thank you sir and good evening everyone I want to say thank you for everyone being here this evening to recognize and celebrate these individuals for their dedication professionalism and unwavering commitment to our community they embody courage sacrifice and a deep sense of Duty this these promotions signify a responsibility to guide others set the tone for excellence and to serve as role models to shape the Next Generation of First Responders let's acknowledge all of the families here this evening because this support system also make sacrifices alongside them as protectors and guardians of our community so congratulations may you continue to serve with distinction honor and hope God's speak and I can say the same for council president councilwoman Williams Gods spe thank you so we're gonna allow folks to exit are we taking pictures before we go we done with the pictures it's quite a few so we can it's just yeah okay so let's get one with everybody can we get one before we go yeah can we can we do that unless we it's just these guys right let's just do it stand in front Mr F can you still get it for down there you guys stand we'll face that way and Mr F will get the picture down there coming around try to save trip you know listen he's the boss though Chief you got to get in to unless they're going to get if they're standing behind you that's fine just make sure you're in congratulations gent congratulations gentlemen okay everybody look this way thank you congratulations allow just a moment or two for folks that want to exit before we move on with our agenda hi have Mory like were you know for a job was like spe yeah for for okay Grand 18 no Jerry's G have to get that together because they're on the agenda they should have had didn't mean to hope my eyes are tearing allergies it is too late in the year for I was at a funeral this morning and um they had a lot of Li get me and ever since then my eyes have been going all day yeah so my neighbors um their daughter she was yeah I felt so bad they're such sweet people she had like with a issue but it was never anything until this year and sad how are you good I'm wonderful good to see you you all right that's mom said my mic PR right up she get down she oh you I I don't have time say it's gonna actually happen I mean I start we're going to resume our meeting uh thank you for closing the door we have a proclamation honoring Sheriff fontura uh Madam Madame mayor thank you again we do have a proclamation also for um here we go for arando fontoura he's not here this evening Anthony you can relay the information to him okay um we'll present it to him at another time so this Proclamation is for World pancreatic cancer day if you want to come up okay whereas world pancrea or cancer day was observed November 21st 2024 gives an opportunity for communities organizations and individuals around the world to raise awareness about pancreatic cancer its symptoms and its risks and the importance of early detection whereas in 2024 an estimated 66,500 people will be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in the United States 51,00 will die from the disease approximately 1,900 of those deaths will occur in New Jersey pancreatic cancer has the lowest survival rate among all major cancers with a fiveyear relative survival rate of just 133% and accounts for almost 7% of cancer cancer deaths when symptoms of pancreatic cancer present themselves it is generally already in the later stages with only 10% of patients diagnosed when the disease is confined to their pancreas and 87% of the pancreatic cancer patients die within the first five years pancreatic cancer is the seventh most common cause of cancer related deaths across the world there will be more than an estimate five billion new pancreatic cancer cases diagnosed worldwide in 2025 a yearly increase of 3% the good health and well-being of residents of West Orange are enhanced as a direct result of increased awareness about the symptoms and risks of pancreatic cancer and Research into early detection causes and effective treatments so therefore be it resolved that I mayor along with the Town Council do hereby Proclaim November in West Orange as World Pancreatic Cancer Day U I'm sorry that this was postponed but we uh wanted to do this in November also because it's movember to raise awareness for men's health and I'm sorry that it was postponed but it still needs to be heard and we still need to be screened and checked and you can talk more about that you're welcome just want to thank the mayor and the council for um naming pancreatic cancer awareness month for November I was actually sick last month so we had to postpone it I appreciate everybody uh for for doing this just just real quick um I uh this is my brother my niece we lost uh our dad to pancreatic cancer in 2002 um not much has changed about pancreatic cancer in terms of treatment methods the survival rate has gone from 6% to 133% that's a it's an astounding number to think about it 13 out of every 100 people will actually survive five years or longer uh what we're doing today to to raise awareness um I work at Liberty Middle School uh my brother works at the West West Orange High School uh we had um a pancreatic cancer awareness day at the school where everyone wore purple um just to raise awareness we have an event um in parcion it's called Purple stride New Jersey if you know someone fighting pancreatic cancer uh if you want to sign up for the walk um it's a 5k it's April 27th that's a Saturday and you can go to p uh purple stride. org back NJ um if you do know someone that's fighting the disease I encourage encourage you to go to pancan.org um that's our national website uh where you can learn about clinical trials treatment options nutrition information there's a hotline where you can contact someone and they can help guide you through that process um if you don't know someone who's diagnosed you likely will it's growing um and uh you know we want to see an end to not only pancreatic cancer but all cancers in our lifetimes uh once again I want to thank the mayor of the council I want to thank Karen and Melanie for making this possible as well thanks again for your time thank you thanks everybody [Music] are you want to thank um all of you for uh that presentation um we're going to move to the Mayfair Farms uh property presentation that's on the agenda uh Mr horn Mr Howard Mr M mitnik M mitnik uh would you you're welcome to join us up here at this microphone so the folks on Zoom can see okay good evening again mayor McCartney and members of the council thank you for giving me the opportunity to um us an opportunity to address uh you tonight my name is Marty Horn of Mayfair Farms 481 Eagle Rock Avenue um my family has been in business in West Orange for close to 92 years uh when Co hit it really took a toll on our our Mayfair Farms business and we began to look for ways to redevelop our property that would leave behind a positive Legacy for West Orange after much due diligence we recently settled on two groups who we are very happy with uh who will present a brief overview of their proposed projects tonight uh I'd like to introduce Mr Robert Goldsmith of AMS to say a few words about their project and after that Miss Elise hubard of the black inventures hall Hall of Fame Museum as well thank you mayor council members um we realize you've had a long night already um so I um Robert gold smith from Green Val of Smith and Davis we represent AMS Acquisitions and AMS is the proposed developer of the west side of the site um which has been closed for going on three years now we're proposing a topof class multif family residential development with ameni some 200 plus units 20% inclusionary affordable units and um given the recent statute we're quite sure that the municipality will be able to get a 50% bonus on those those affordable units um we are not seeking uh action under the local Redevelopment Housing law we are not seeking a pilot we are merely seeking a rezoning to to permit our use and the use which is very impressive of the black inventors Hall of Fame next door to us on the east side of the property um our expectation is that the taxes on the property will be substantially more than the $320,000 taxes currently paid um it will be an impressive facility we've assembled a top-notch design team we've had some preliminary meetings with some council members the mayor and the planning department we're interested in moving this promptly um I want to introduce uh Rafi mitnik one of the principles and you'll see that both our leader rafy mitnik and James Howard are engaged creative uh passionate about this project and we think it will be well received by the council we're interested in moving it Forward Rafel hello everyone thank you again for taking the time to meet with us this evening just to piggyback on what some of Bob had mentioned I'm rafy mnik from AMS Acquisitions uh we are the contract vend D on the western portion of the site where you see the residential proposed Residential Building um and we are a groundup multif family development firm we're based in Fort Lee New Jersey and we focus in New Jersey Westchester long Island and Connecticut generally and we look to you know really build as Bob mentioned a high-end you know monetized um you know rental apartment community a live example which is on the screen now is a project that we just completed in eam New Jersey and I think you know we wanted to pick this image and then the one following it just to really show that what we proposed is really what we delivered and so that was a rendering of the project and this is a live image I believe from last week as you can see it's fairly similar you know very you know this building it'll be outdoor pool you know steam room sauna hot tub so it'll be you know all the things that you'd want in a uh a new building and similar to what we'd like to implement in the project here in West Orange um you know we're very excited to bring this proposal before the township and we definitely feel this is the highest and best use uh for this site and that'll be an overall positive development for the West Orange commity thank you good evening thank you for your time tonight my name is Elise hubber from The Firm of maraz edian Falcon I have the pleasure of representing the black inventures Hall of Fame who is the contract purchaser on the east side of the subject property which includes the existing Mayfair farm structure uh the museum plans to maintain the historical value and appearance of May Fair Farms with the interior renovations to accommodate the museum use which will include a theater a gift shop restaurant event space as well as exhibit space within the Mayfair building U the museum is proposing proposing an Innovative transition as a gateway to a state-of-the-art 19,600 squ foot three-story Edition in the rear of the building dedicated to large exhibits on the main floor a mezine level open to the exhibit floor and an education center on the third floor the facility will provide tenant spaces meeting rooms and classrooms to accommodate the needs of the community we will be requesting that the council reone the property as Museum users are not permitted the B2 Zone but in addition to the museum use the rezoning would provide for the height of the structure uh establish a parking requirement that currently doesn't exists within the township as well as prevent the ancillary uses which are for profit and will provide adorm taxes to the township uh the proposal includes maintaining the historic Barn structure on the property enhancing the grounds with landscaping and an outdoor public Plaza we believe this will be a complement to enhance West Orange and the surrounding Community as a destination location uh this Hall of Fame is the vision of James Howard he's the executive director and founder i' like to introduce him to say a few words about the museum honorable mayor council Town Council Town citizens it is an honor to sit here before you and explain to you some of the passion that has gone behind this project uh it's four years into the making and I looked at many places throughout the state and region and settled on West Orange for all the obvious reasons this is town where invention lives and the town where invention will continue I think it is essential for all of us to recognize the importance of a project like this this will be the only one in the entire country dedicated exclusively to immortalizing the pioneering Genius of African-American inventors over the past 400 years and I want to thank you for an opportunity to make this project a reality here in the great town of West stor thank you absolutely colle any questions for um any of the folks that make for Farms no thank you very much we look forward to working with happy holidays same way all right given that the time is now 7:39 um going to move into our public meeting uh we're going to forego Council liaison announcements um colleagues if you have anything that is pertinent please uh use your response to public comment um for your liaison announcements and just for the record uh councilwoman Susan Scara is joining us via Zoom uh I do believe she has been moved over as a panelist uh councilwoman can you hear us yes I can can you hear me absolutely thank you very much I got a little sore throat tonight so uh I'll try to speak a little bit loudly oh you're fine you sound great um all right so Madam clerk this is to inform the general public that this meeting is being held in compliance with Section Five of the open public meetings act chapter 231 Public Law 1975 the annual notice was emailed to The Star Ledger and filed in the township clerk's office on November 21st 2023 and published in the West Orange Chronicle on November 30th 2023 councilwoman castelino present councilwoman gber Michel councilwoman Scarpa present councilwoman Williams present council president Rutherford here mayor McCartney I think she left okay that's it all right we are going to be as always with public comment Public public comment is restricted to those that are joining us in person um we're going to invite you to the microphone directly in front of me uh but before we uh begin we're going to allow Mr Fagan and Mr py to address uh to address the council thank you council president uh I have uh several amount announcements um this is obviously only one meeting this month so I'm going to try and Breeze through them um uh this past Saturday night we had our um our uh Christmas tree lighting in front of town hall uh Mr Kio forever the uh the showman uh was uh obviously head of the recreation department uh we had a great turnout um there were holiday characters dancers uh singers um uh Santi Claus was here in council chambers uh there's a train train ride in front of Main Street it would the weather cooperated and of course it uh the the highlight of the evening was the lighting of the 40-foot tree uh in front of town hall and it will be on display through uh the end of the year so come on down and check it out um on Thanksgiving there was a Thanksgiving wreath making event at the Toby cat Center on Tuesday November 19th officer mango had sent me these pictures uh and wanted me to let everyone know that they had a great time uh and it's just one of the many things that Senior Services does for our community U members of the West Star C team delivered over 200 boxes of Thanksgiving dinners on November 22nd and uh I want to point out that c volunteers deliver food care packages on a weekly B on a weekly basis so it's not just on Thanksgiving um we have an online auction coming up on December 23rd for tax sale of delinquent uh taxes for 2023 and prior years um I also want to point out the West Orange leaf collection procedure I spoke with um director uh Reynolds earlier last week and he wanted me to remind everyone that Friday December 13th is the last day residents and landscapers can place their leaves in the street and uh he also wanted me to point out that they don't keep any sort of a schedule because they have found out in years past it's impossible to keep a schedule uh and it's listed here December 27th the last day they will be picking up leaves he he told me that actually they'll be picking up leaves to the end of the year and they have Scout teams out uh scouting the neighborhoods so all the leaves uh uh will get picked up um we also have our annual Hanukkah manora lighting December 26th in front of town hall here uh all are invited and um because this is our only meeting this month uh December 26 January 1st uh Quanza is celebrated so it's worth pointing out at this uh this meeting um also we are still hiring crossing guards for more information please go on our website or contact Kate Davenport at 32545 um she'll be glad to give you uh all the necessary information uh coming up in uh council chambers on December 17th uh there's a project review of the Transportation safety upgrades I mentioned this at last the last council meeting and I have it up here uh tonight as a reminder um we have the uh holiday holiday celebration and a gift giveaway at Washington school December 14th there's a lot of things happening in December uh from 12: to 2m uh for more information you can contact Deputy Mayor Rudolfo Rodriguez at 20126 5133 and we also have the Arts uh Council uh holiday art party is Sunday December 15th from 2: to 4:00 p.m and they're located at 551 Valley Road in West St and uh something that has been in the news lately I'm sure you've all heard about it is New Jersey drone sightings they have now been seen in 12 counties throughout New Jersey there's only 21 counties in New Jersey um I I I put this up um uh just to remind everyone that there was no reported threat to Public Safety uh their intention and um presence is somewhat of a mystery but I wanted to point out that the FBI hotline is 1 1800 call FBI or tips at fbi.gov uh for any um sightings uh to assist the FBI in uh in their investigation and certainly I would be excuse me I would be remiss in my duties if I did not acknowledge uh councilman Bill rord and councilwoman Telly Tammy Williams uh for their uh diligence service to our community thank you for your service both and uh I'm sure I join uh dozens if not hundreds of others and wishing you well in your future endeavors pleas as you know there is no public comment from the zoom meeting uh from the zoom audience at tonight's meeting but you can contact all Township council members via email at Council west.org and I'd like to take this time uh to wish everyone a Happy Zoo year uh Happy New Year it's uh happening so quickly and with that uh with Council president's permission I'd like to turn the floor over to uh Mr plesi absolutely thank you Mr P that was done without any rehearsals Anthony FY representing County Executive Joe Devan shenzo thank you for having me uh just want to reiterate what Joe said uh congratulations to council president and Council woman uh for your service um happy holidays to everybody of course happy Zoo year that was one of the scenes taken from turtleback Zoo for our holiday lights which continues every night until December 31st except for uh December 24th and 25th uh 5 to9 we do continuing we are asking people to bring non um perishable non- perishable thank you non- perishable food items uh generally use winter coats and uh Toy new toys uh to help those in need um also at the zoo in the coming months you're going to see the opening of our new Barry arski animal hospital and currently under construction is our um uh new boardwalk and walkways to our Australian Outback exhibit uh both of those projects are uh taking place on existing exhibit space um and um that's really all I have thank you very much you thank Merry Christmas Merry Christmas thank you Mr PGI please do uh take the microphone uh in whatever order you choose please be respectful of those that are in line ahead of you um and give us your name and your address um before you begin yeah thank you you don't have to wait in line um you can if you choose but it's it's not obligated good evening Nicole Bell 31 Underwood Drive I just want to thank council president Rutherford and councilwoman Williams for your service regardless of whether or not I agree with every decision you've made during your time on the council I respect that you gave of yourself you didn't just sit back and Monday Morning Quarterback on social media and pontificate about what somebody else should do you actually did the work and you gave of your time a great deal of time that you could have spent with your families focusing on your jobs on your hobbies and and you did all of that in service to your community so I for that I want to thank both of you for that and wish you well but I'd like to give a special thank you to councilman Rutherford for continuing to work to make this town where everyone feels welcome uh where everyone feels welcome supported and heard in spite of the backlash you suffered as a result I thank you for treating everyone fairly and refusing to take sides in spite of the pressure to choose and I thank you for continuing to try to build Bridges even when others have been determined to burn them I'm sorry to see you go especially under the questionable circumstances in which you're leaving but I look forward to your next chapter thank you Miss Mrs Bill since this is so short uh my name is Aio kaani I'm at uh Southern Glennon place in West Orange uh good evening everyone I want to uh thank Council and particular our council members who are leaving uh council president Rutherford and councilwoman Tammy Williams I want to wish you both well in your future endeavors and I'm sure the continued council members here will uh attend to our pressures uh in all the ways that we want them to uh speaking of pressures I have one thing uh two things I want to mention one is uh I'm a board member at the Museum so I want to encourage you all uh to I asked them to come to West Orange uh they were originally they didn't get into all of this but I want to mention it uh so that it's on the record that they were originally looking to go to nework and other places and I knew I found out through uh councilwoman Williams that the uh West Orange property was available and I thought it was a perfect um uh joint project to have for us here in West Orange and seeing that is right up the street from the Edison Museum I think the beautiful part about that is that um I want to encourage the town to think about having a shuttle that runs between them so that we can think about uh that this becomes a destination place if it was a shuttle we had our shuttle that goes between there and then to the zoo as was just mentioned I think between those three projects that are the major things that this really becomes a destination uh town and I think we we have the ability to do that we just have to have the vision to see how those things are connected and we use our resources to do those things uh the other thing was mentioned also I want to thank you for mentioning Quanza but however we've never had I've me asked about this several times we've never had a Quanza uh uh canara outside we have uh other uh representations here in town but we have no canara I'm asking for canara to be here uh by next uh year uh so that we are if not this year but this year is almost gone but so that we can have an actual uh representation and even uh the west or African Heritage organization we host a Quanza which will be on the 20 27th uh at Washington Middle School or Elementary School and so uh I think that you know in Township people always come to it but we have no representation here at Town Hall so I'm asking that we we we fix that uh the last thing is that um uh every day I travel uh on what is it a Pleasant Valley Way going to 280 going eastbound that's the that spot there I'm sure you all know this there so many accidents there there needs to be a turn signal like there or something because it's so dangerous and cars every time you come around they give you you I'm sure our police officers and others can attest to the fact that the railing is always beat up why because somebody had an accident there because they're trying to make the light and you can't see the next car in front of you if you turn and so either coming down or going up the hill there's always accidents there and we've got to do something to fix that problem I don't know if that's the say location the location is I don't know the the street you turn left on but um it's on U is it Mount Pleasant rather uh right up from where the right up from here right up right up from town hall as you're going to the 280 making a left to go to 280 towards Newark uh so right there that corner um there's there's lots of uh accidents yeah there you go thank you I appreciate you uh my Pleasant and Brennan drive so if we can do something about that I think that would be a great uh benefit for the town and other than that have a great holiday and I will see you all and if I can be of assistance with regard to the museum uh I'm here in West Orange this is what I'm here for that's why I brought them here because I think this is a great location thank you yeah thank you Dr Cal Dr keani is a little bit taller than I am um Doug Adams Nine West over Terrace um um I just want to also congratulate uh council president ruford councilwoman Williams uh for your tenure and your contribution in town um I just wanted to uh take a moment um and a couple things have come up I'm I love the ideal of the museum I would hope that the council as they're talking about new developments in town will consider some things that I've uh mentioned maybe a couple times already about designating some of the affordable housing for Supportive Housing so that our uh special needs Community doesn't have to go into a lottery with the whole state the the all of the numbers and those who think about these things in really high level ways say that it's the healthiest way for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities to be safe is if they can live in the communities where they are known and where people can watch out for them where they're comfortable at and so to make that a more uh Poss a greater possibility we have to change the numbers by designating some of those units specifically for Supportive Housing in um connection to that um it's interesting that the pancreatic cancer um presentation was here I appreciate that uh one of our town residents a longtime Town resident um recently passed away from pan pancreatic cancer and by the time she had found out about it it had spread and she really went to the hospital because she was having some headaches and found that she had two masses in her brain and it had spread throughout her body uh two weeks later she was dead she has a 50 something I won't be spefic Pacific year old uh son who is a lifelong West Orange resident who has no more family in West Orange and is trying to figure out a way to be able to live in West Orange be sustained in West Orange his family and Spokan is looking to support him to try and do that but because of the housing Dynamics and some of the other factors he could have to leave the town where all of his friends are where he knows the area where he walks the streets very comfortably and safe and may have to leave because um housing is very difficult in West Orange and we can do something about that I hope that the council that comes in um which represents a huge demographic shift in our Township leader and our town leadership I hope that they have the capacity to look at the needs of everyone in town finally um here because I did something I typically don't do um but I felt it pertinent to do I am am not a proponent of the propagation of legalized marijuana for recreation use anybody who talks to me knows that that's not my deal you know I ain't dancing that song I ain't looking against anybody who does and I do see the medical or the medicinal advantages of it but since it is the law of the land I think it's critical that our town leaders make decisions on Partners in that industry that have the technical wherewithal and the communal heart to do it well with West Orange as a result I wrote a letter in support of a gentleman's application this company's application uh William W weeker um who I have had an opportunity to speak to take a look at their business model in California their business model in Buffalo New York and one of the things that I found is not only has their businesses been successful but is planned for West Orange or their intentions around West Orange represent what the law is supposed to represent and that's to be able to help people who don't have an opportunity to be able to elevate in this industry my understanding is that they're partnering with uh someone in New Jersey who's a single mom with three kids uh who would not be able to enter into the business at this way without a partner who can come in and being bring significant resources and my conversation with him my understanding is that his intentions are to obtain a residence and him and his son move here during the time of the implementation so that they can mentor this woman uh through the process to make sure that not only is she going to be able to be successful but that they'll be able to honor their commitment to West Orange to be a good partner it's to the council to review the application there are things that I don't have uh access to or privy to that you have and I'm sure that you'll look through that and if there are things that indicate anything other than the spoken uh uh intentions that you'll have the wisdom to know what to shut down and what not to shut down but I did want to come and stand um and speak to the letter of reference was specifically to the gentleman that I met talked about that I saw and their intentions towards West Orange thank you very much thank you uh William winoker I currently reside at 23255 maraposa deoro Malibu California 90265 though uh soon to be uh residing a good portion of the year on ashin Avenue here in West Orange thank you council members um I flew in early yesterday morning from California forgive me if I appear a little groggy but I was up all night last night watching uh basically my neighborhood burn burned down um we have big wildfires in California one broke out last night at around 11:30 at night it literally took out a dozen homes in my neighborhood including a quarter of my own home I wanted to fly home today in the worst way uh but I really uh wanted um you guys to really understand what a high priority this is um to me my family to my partner Elaine and um so um I am a native uh New Jersey kid I was born in Jersey City I I grew up there uh but then spent uh the next many years of my life in tenly um I chose to work with Elaine because as Doug alluded to uh she is a Hispanic single mom raising three kids with special needs and we among other things besides running a very successful business really wanted to partner up with someone in New Jersey that we could also help um Empower and and and lead to success um one way of doing that is to surround her with some of the country's top cultivators and extractors now it's a lot of work to get a letter of support from a Township but that's really um not the end of the work that is really the beginning of the work it's a lot of work and effort and resources to make these businesses cultivation and extra and processing um work and um this will only be the beginning of the work if we are fortunate enough to get your Township support we are experts in the field we have proven track records uh with award-winning Brands um award-winning genetics uh state-of-the-art technology and top Sops uh as Mr Adams alluded to we are already in California very successfully we got our New York license after we actually um had uh worked on started the process here and are already up and running in upstate and Upstate New York we will be white labeling and growing for some of the hugest brands in the country like Tyson's Willie's Reserve uh Viola which incidentally is was founded by a West Orange native Al Harrington also former NBA player a good friend jobs uh the buildout alone it's a million ions of dollars build out we will be um employing 100% of those uh contractors from West Orange uh and Staffing we will look to staff locally West Orange uh individuals at least 60% and train them to also grow with the company uh we take every aspect of the business very seriously security um we don't do advertising we're not retail we don't have armed uh security it's a very low impact deliveries and very safe environmental waste disposal is very important uh we have strong commitments to odor uh mitigation that's required by the CRC as well but we exceed their expectations if you stand outside our facility in California or New York you would have no idea what what that there was marijuana um growing or um on the inside of that facility okay um now we look at this as a partnership with the city the revenues um it there will be some substantial tax revenues for the for the uh Township and um we look at probably within two years 20 plus million dollar of gross sales at a 2% uh level that's at least $400,000 for the city that's just with our a current grow of maybe 500 lights in 23,000 ft in about two years we'd like to take over the rest of the building that would be give us a very substantial cultivation in the state of New Jersey and um basically we really welcome the opportunity to work with the uh the township of West Orange uh in Partnership to become a leader uh in the Cannabis uh industry in New Jersey and uh 137 years ago Thomas Elva Edison made a lasting impact on West Orange we really hope that uh we we can uh create that same um that same formula of success uh with the township of West Orange thank you very much for letting me present thank you good evening my name is Steve Johnston I live on Sheridan Avenue in West Orange I wish that tonight I was here to talk about the lgbtq issues that we discussed at the last meeting but there's a more pressing issue I'll rely on the email that I sent to Council and hope that the new Council will pass those initiatives today's international human rights day commemorating the promulgation of the universal Declaration of Human Rights Article 19 of the Declaration reads quote everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression end quote this is a basic human right our first amendment to the Constitution also grants freedom of speech Article 1 paragraph 6 of the New Jersey Constitution also ensin freedom of speech into our laws the courts have found that when the government opens a public forum to speech by residents all must have access to that Forum one such forum is the social media accounts of the town and our eign the town is posted event flyers for various groups including events that were not run by or sponsored by the town including Italian Heritage Month a kns of Columbus event a West Orange Elks contest and many others these accounts are the same as if Flyers were permitted on the Bolton board outside of this chamber on November 29th residents of West Orange celebrated the UN designated International Day of solidarity with the Palestinian people the town posted the flyer on the U for the UN recognized day on the town operated social media however the mayor subsequently ordered the flyer be removed from all Town publicity efforts before the event took place in other words the mayor ripped the flyer down the removal of one group's flyer and not the others due to the message or Viewpoint of the flyer is impermissible Viewpoint discrimination by a government actor I emailed the mayor and the town attorney the day the flyer was removed and did not receive a response I went to the mayor's office hours and emailed her a summary of the meeting and did not receive a response the mayor was asked and agreed to post a public apology about the removal but no such apology has been posted as of today over a week after the event I asked this Council what do we mean when we say hate has no home here and we are a stigma-free town what are we paying the town attorney for if the mayor cannot be advised on a matter as simple as Viewpoint discrimination under the first amendment in our society today we stand at a Crossroads we can act focusing on on and strengthening the mental and physical health Wellness Equity fundamental rights security and happiness of our neighbors or you can do nothing you can perform without substantive action as a member of the HRC I have been approached by Palestinian Muslim and Arab residents of West Orange to recommend an anti-islamophobia anti-arab phobia resolution to the township I will address this at our de M HRC meeting more generally you are all aware of this situation having been sent the emails the mayor received if I were to remain silent in the face of the mayor's actions and then the resounding silence that followed my silence would not protect me from the next time the mayor decided she didn't like a message or if she did not want to sponsor an lgbtq event or other initiative your silence will not protect you either thank you thank you hi my name is Eric cammond I live at 13 Carter Road I'm sorry could you repeat that uh Eric camons uh Carter Road thank you uh thank you for the time to speak today um it's been quite a while this can you hear me uh it's been quite a while since I spoke here last and uh so much has changed and yet very little has changed um I'm here as a proud Jewish resident of West Orange um similar to Stephen I previously reached out to the mayor see seeing you all seeking clarification as to why promotion of the International Day of solidarity with the Palestinian people hosted here at Town Hall on November 29th was abruptly removed from West orang social media and calendars the day before the event fellow concerned Town residents met with her in person as well and I've heard from some of them explanations quite frankly were weak however the mayor has since indicated she understands if it was a mistake and is planning to take multiple actions to correct that however these are yet to be seen I think this mistake is indicative of the historical indifference and hostility by the town towards the plight of the Palestinian people and Associated cultural events this appeared this appeared intentionally discriminatory the push back leading to the mayor's decision to remove the promotion seems to have stem from confusion as to whether it was a town sponsored event or not which implies that it being a town sponsored event is somehow a bad thing the town regularly sponsors and promotes cultural and religiously denominational Events St Patrick's Day the tree lighting Etc for over a year many of us have sat with you written to you and demonstrated in a myriad of ways how Palestinian Arab and Muslim members and their allies in our community feel ignored ostracized and discriminated against the town's actions and lack thereof have done little to curb those feelings and in fact have have exacerbated them it is not a huge leap given history here to think that the removal of the promotion and shying away from associ association with the event was due to pressure by some of some more extreme members of our community and unfounded accusations that it was somehow anti-semitic this would fit a pattern of taking the world the word of a vocal group in town as gospel when it comes to what Jewish folks think and feel about current and historical events Town officials have ignored over and over again the voices of fellow anti-zionist Jews who have spelled out with literal CIT cited footnotes and and all how criticism of Israel is not inherently anti-semitic and convers ly the assumption that it is is itself anti-semitic many Jewish organizations have organized thousands to stand by our Palestinian brothers and sisters to protest the genocide and to be clear most reputable humanitarian organizations including most recently amnis International agree on it being a genocide in fact for many of us standing against Israel's upor actions is a core tenant to upholding our Jewish principles of morality and and a defining part of our Judaism I yet and I fully appreciate that many of you are not familiar with the non-monolithic tapestry that makes up Jewish identity with that in mind I implore you to expand your view on the topic on these topics seek out input from a variety of sources do not cow toow to weak accusations of anti-Semitism and all that said none of this should have impacted the promotion of the day of solidarity event here in West Orange we have the benefit of our elected officials not being part party Affiliated in theory that should help limit to some extent partisan politics it should also free our elected officials to take stances that sometimes go against National political theater and rise above the fry you have the opportunity at the very least to not isolate and discriminate against Palestinian Muslim voices here in our beautifully diverse Town it is possible to do better the community is once again trying to make it clear that islamophobia and anti-arab haate is a very real and growing concern in our town and it is golden both by a lack of action on the town's part or more importantly the silencing in this case the removal of promotion of the event of their voices there is need therefore for concrete action to mitigate that this this discrimination and hate as you look towards a new year on this council with some of you with some Changing of the Guard I implore those of you that will remain to take opportunity for real change and to finally listen to all voices in our town thank you thank you sir Carla Schultz 20 dock R drive I'm sorry can you repeat that Carla Schultz 20 dock R drive I'm also here regarding the removal of the public messaging for the UN International Day of solidarity with the Palestinian people if that day had been a day to celebrate solidarity with any other group such as the Irish Italian lgbtq plus Etc would receiving a bunch of emails be enough to justify the town distancing itself from the event this isn't the first time this town has tried to silence support of Palestinians it's been a recurring phenomenon I support the passage of the resolution to confront and combat islamophobia anti-muslim and anti-arab racism as one step in addressing the thoughtlessness slander and racist stereotyping hurled towards this group of of people and their allies because this town albeit not only this town has engendered a culture of bias in another time period people calling for a free South Africa were also labeled as terrorist and imprisoned for fighting apartheid like Nelson Mandela one would think that history would have honed our ability to recognize discrimination more readily when we all see it in conclusion we should be asking ourselves in West Orange how we perpetrate the larger culture of discrimination against Palestinian Muslim and Arab people and how we can be anti-racist agents of change through the passage of this resolution thank you thank you good evening happy holidays uh Bret Carrol 34 Clon Road West Orange I'm sorry what could you give me your name again yeah uh Bret Carrol for cl of Road uh you hear me now okay cool all right like I said happy holidays uh congratulations President uh ruford and Council Williams thank you for your service to this wonderful town um I'm here today on behalf of chemistry we we've spoken many times I apologize I was not at the last meeting I was out of town and I was not aware we were on the docket um but I'm here today to uh fight for a company that that's been here for four years now fighting and fighting and fighting and we're here now saying that look we have received your uh your Notions we have sent in our updated information as well as letters I have a lawyer here today for the building that we finally have after four years of trying to find a building we have a building leases are are getting negotiated we speak we are here at the finish line and I'm asking for you guys to just give us a little bit more time I know this has been a frustrating uh thing for everybody involved trust me um this is brand new to everybody here uh on the East Coast especially in West IRS there still a lot of questions there still a lot of things that we don't are trying to figure out on our side as well as well as uh for the rest of the Town um so I get it uh M celino you've been very adamant about being here and and and getting these extens itions uh done and doing the work and our apologies for our stumbles in the past but like I said we're here we are trying we are fighting we didn't want to come empty-handed so that's why I'm saying you guys have those emails with our updated uh resolutions and our letters again we have a building uh my lawyer could speak to you now about the things that we're doing we have leases that are getting negotiated we are at the finish line and I know this has been a very very frustrating thing for everybody um but I'm just asking for a little bit more time and just one more chance to to finish this because you know we we we've been here we've been here we've been working uh and like I said longtime resident been here since 96 um don't want to go anywhere else um I'm supposed to be out of town again this week but I said no we we gotta be here for uh to do this so uh you know I'm stumbling over my words because like I said this just been a whole ordeal um but I'm very passionate about this I think this is going to be a wonderful thing for the to town a town that I grew up in a town that I love a town that I plan to spend the rest of my life at so uh you know just thank you guys and like I said please just give us a little more time to figure this out we are at the Finish Line we have a building we are working we are working we are working and uh yeah that thank you appreciate thank you thank you good evening oh is this on all right awesome uh good evening and happy holidays my name is chevis Osborne I reside at Colonial Woods Drive I want to thank the council members and council president Rutherford for their time and service to our town sincerely when coming here tonight I didn't realize I'd be attending the last meeting of my councilwoman Tammy Williams so on behalf of my family and neighbors I want to thank councilwoman Williams for her time her passion her energy and love of West Orange I know this isn't the end for her and I look forward to what she does next the community of Colonial Woods Drive and Nance R is very new so new in fact that I have no clue what section I live in no idea however collectively our community is paying a guesstimate of more than $250,000 in property taxes our family moved to West Orange because we had the opportunity to build our home and a community for our young family we've had some challenges with the builder which I'm hopeful you all have heard of but that's not why we're here tonight we're here because our community is being targeted by car thieves loiterers and robbers in the past two months we've had at least four or five attempted robberies two actual robbery robberies that included a home invasion at noon 12:00 noon we routinely have random strange cars driving and parking in our neighborhood I've called the West Orange Police Department on several occasions for cars idling in the poorly lit curve behind my home I am requesting that a street light be placed behind my home I have photos I like artifacts that I can share with the council in addition we're here tonight to bring up our concerns but we also will be bringing a petition to this Council to get a sound wall built between our neighborhood and 280 which is very visible from 280 a few neighbors did stop by office hours for the mayor and we've seen a patrol car come through our community at least once a day but we deserve more we didn't build our homes and Foster the bonds of community to be targeted and terrorized we look forward with working with the mayor police department and Town Council to address these challenges thank you for your time thank you thank you soor so I would like to add on to that that's my wife shab I'm Elijah Osborne also a colon West Drive we moved from Monclair um at the police presence in in the neighborhood brand new neighborhood that is I just don't see it I'm up um I work for psng I'm up early um when I'm working day shift when I'm up night shift I come in early and I just don't see police presence in the area um we're on the last block in West Orange before you get to Livingston and as soon as you hit Livingston whether it's first thing in the morning or late at night you'll see a patrol car of Livingston Police right there at the Border West Orange Police I probably didn't know what a petrol car looked like until I was pulled over a few months ago um to to see that protection would be um well warranted just like what uh the township of Livingston there's a patrol car sitting at the borderline of our town um every day so we would just like some more protection in the area um from the uptick and crime thank you have a good night happy holidays thank you Tammy love you I'm G to speak in the mic because uh when some of you are speaking we in the back can't hear you but I think I can project my voice so everyone can hear my name is althia tweeton I'm at 15 at G Ro I have seen the good the bad the ugly and the beauty in my 48 years of as resident of this wonderful town of West Orange but right now I'd like to thank you President Bill Rutherford for your dedicated loyalty and service to all residents of our west of this West Orange Community you brought light in different and different concerns that some residents were not aware of you tried your best to be fair to all residents of the township of West orang not just relatives not just ones that you're friendly with not just ones that your friends were friendly with you did what you thought was better best for the entire city of West orang you didn't let your feelings get in the way of it you tried to be fair and that's what we expect out of our Council people and again I'd like to thank you for that I also want to thank uh Tammy Williams Sora Tammy Williams for her service to the township of West Orange and secondly I got a bill the other day from the sewer department $400 and some dollars almost $500 and I am angry about it I'm the only one in my household why can't the sewer bill reflect the quantity of usage as a water bill in the electric bill I I would I'm the only one in my house so I paid $488 someone with six or seven in a family pay 48 the same amount is that fair and half the time I'm not even in New Jersey um I'd like to see it done maybe a little bit differently Maybe could charge just for my usage charge me what I use and charge four or five of the others for what they use I don't think it's fair for me to pay $480 for the sore Bill uh maybe the council can do something about this and that's just the way I feel thank you so much and have a pleasant day thank you yeah good evening thank you my name is Matilda Bayer 75 Colonial Woods um I'm picking back on sh shevis and her husband for what they reported earlier I lived in Orange for about 17 years before we moved to West Orange I have never once been to the um a meeting like this this is my first time and the reason why I am also here with our neighbors this evening is because we are terrified we're sleeping in our rooms with one eye opened in the night and now it's happening in the day so it seemed like we moved from somewhere coming to West orang thinking it's safe and we don't know what is happening in the next minute we're here this evening to ask that with your your powers you please give us some more please Patrol in that neighborhood it's a brand new neighborhood we were very excited to come into it and we're doing everything and meeting every need as residents of West Orange we don't think we're being treated fair when it comes to police patrol and that is why people are taking advantage of us and blooming the place as as they want come and go it is not fair and we we're not safe we're not feeling very very safe and very okay in that Community um secondly we also want to passionately ask for the roads starting from the beginning of Colonial Woods leading into um the new build the new community in Colonial Woods those roads the um Port holes as soon becoming like graveyards we we need to do something about it because it doesn't look well for the people who live there in the amount of taxes we pay it doesn't seem good for us we're asking asking we we're pleading with your office to do something about these two things for us in that Community thank you very much thank you good evening Council my name is Robert James scabetti Jr I'm the attorney for property owner who also happens to be my father of the same name Robert scabetti 101 Pleasant Valley Way um Mr Carol just spoke on behalf of chemistry I'm here tonight on my client's behalf just to let the council know that the chemistry organization and my client have been in good faith negotiations on a lease for a 2500 square foot Suite in the building for their operation a draft has been circulated with chemistry's attorney we are in the home stretches and I'm just here to solidify the statements made by Mr Carol earli this evening as to their efforts to find a physical location in the township for their operations thank you thank you hello Lawrence Cohen Lincoln Avenue West Orange um just like to mention something I have in common with the Colonial Woods U residence um year but year and a half ago there was a um high-end mercedesbenz that was stolen in in broad daylight on on our street Lincoln Avenue and uh I was just shocked you know coming to West Orange New resident here and I see this and um the police said that there's not much they can do I said what about cameras now Colonial Woods and uh Lincoln it's easy access to 280 I think all these access roads to 280 they should have some sort of cameras it's not expensive and also license plate readers so I mean that would help a lot this is the the exit route of most of the thieves and also I like the point about the noise of 280 it's terrible up and down West Orange I think it's a federal or a state issue more than local but somehow they can butress a sound barrier much better than they do now um back to the my main issue which is trees um I spoke with Walter Kip and there's only a few trees that are going to be planted I said what's what's it about and he said uh he mentioned that the labor cost is about $80 uh per hour for a worker it's like a union wage that the contracts go out whereas the normal wage would be about 20 to $25 per worker if we could give out contracts that don't have this High I guess it's like a union wage or something for for independent contractor uh of um nurseries I it would it would allow us to plant many more trees and we we need a a lot of trees around here uh I I've been looking around the the two parks there's two parks I I guess I got to hit this topic Colgate and Degan there's two proposals Degan proposal is uh to put rubber on the surface now there's wood chips I I asked the neighbors there and they said they love the wood chips it's it's when the kids fall off the swing it's they don't suffer the abrasions or or even it it absorbs their false and uh if could keep the wood chips that would be great and they did say they wish they had benches for the parents to sit there's no benches and they wish there were shade there no trees they said please give us some shade it's very hot in the summer and then on top of everything they said they wish there were some sort of water uh sprinklers or something for the kids in the summer they said that would be great it's very hot summer so those are that's for uh Colgate Park I me the whole the whole proposal of of putting a whole rubber surface all over and and doing a uh I guess it's a curb a brick curb it's all out of money it's not necessary and I think it's it just urbanizes it and will make it ugli and also change all the the the um the the the the the swings and the the um whatever you the the um whatever all the different uh I don't know what you call it um all the different toys that they play with now I think they could just add to add some uh some attractions they don't have to just take them all away and dispose of them um then to another Park um Degan Pond um they they propose a lot of asphalt to be redone all around it and I think they should be careful with that idea because the asphalt is is is um perking up because of roots of trees and um it's uh it might hurt the trees when they take away the asphalt or put in so they should be careful because we have very few trees in this town uh finally I'd like to support the mayor for um you know standing up to the Jewish community in this town uh this is one of the key Jewish communities in America West Orange T neck Riverdale New York Cedarhurst Woodmere Long Island I mean these are these are major Jewish towns and for for somebody a war would just happened um Gaza Hamas attacked Israel in a brutal violence this is not the time for you know celebration of of the nationalism that attacked Israel so I support the mayor um what else that's that's really it thank you and I want to thank uh councilman ruer and councilman Williams for the great job they've done and councilman Rutherford has been such a tree Advocate I mean he when he says something he says I'm going to stop by I'm gonna do this he does it he comes by he came back odd hours he he tried to protect the trees on Lincoln and uh I really appreciate it thank you thank you sir my name is gordus tja I'm from 78 Colonial Woods the drive in West Orange and I just want to uh re reiterate what sh Elija and Matilda they said about the daytime robberies and crime on the newly developed Colonial Woods Drive and another thing I'm sure you guys know that uh in my daughter's home on Colonial Woods the Builder he did not make the the catch Basin correctly and anytime there is a rain the water comes in the basement and nobody has solved that problem and basically that is it can you just tell me again what the issue is with the catch Basin catch Basin what happens whenever it rains the the water the water comes in the the water come the water stands on the pipes and it it goes in into the home and it does not go out in the catch basin thank you very much sir all right good evening Council and Council attenders couple things tonight first of all I just want to say thank please state your name address Lisa Adams Nine West over terus West Orange as I've been coming to these Council meetings I want to commend you as a council as a whole on how you guys work through stuff don't always agree but you find a way to get to a happy end and I appreciate the authenticity of our Council want to say welcome back castalano councilwoman castalano Rutherford and Tammy great great work on the council great representation uh there's something near and dear in my heart my husband touched on it to tell you I've worked uh with the township for West Orange for 18 years with the the world likes to call him the disabled population I like to call them and change the program name to the mayor's program for the uniquely gifted because that's who they are they are uniquely gifted individuals they've been born with various limitations and disabilities but if you get to know them they are uniquely gifted folk and as I listen to all the different uh topics that people bring that they want fixed and not knocking anything trees houses parking whatever not knocking any of the things but before this year 2024 ends because usually I just let my husband come and share the things that are on our heart or his heart I cannot let 24 stop uh and without just sharing my heart for our uniquely gifted population and I think it's uh really pressing in my heart greater than it always has uh is because of one of the young men that my husband alluded to who just lost his mom this past week he was a uniquely gifted young man and his mom passed and he was the it was him and her and one of the challenges I ran the program for the mayor's uniquely gifted program for 18 years I pulled back because I had brought my parents here to live with me for seven years and they passed four days apart my dad left on a Monday four days later my mom passed away and she wasn't sick or anything the love of her life had passed away after 62 years and so she just didn't wake up and that's when I stepped away from the uniquely gifted program because I needed to handle that but I continue and my husband stepped in thank you for that great man but I say this that population working with them for 18 years relationships I'm not just talking work I'm talking relationship we have tons of families in West Orange that have uniquely gifted sons and daughters and the challenge that I'm seeing these days is they get they're based on their tears their ability they get money from the state the challenge is it's not a lot of money and so when it some of those that are strong enough to move out in their own place with some support they can't stay here because they can't afford it my daughter 37 years old 37 basically more like a 10 12 year old but they get money from the state where they could live in their own apartment and she does but I had to move her to a place where she could afford and I'm looking at young adult after young adult after young adult that get the funds to be able to live on their own it's not a lot it's like the senior citizens their income changes we've got stuff for them thinking I'm beseeching the town to think of a process something to put in place so that our uniquely gifted young adults when they reach that place with the right support they could move out and stay in West Orange and not have to go to cheaper affordable communities next door to us I pray that we would look into ways to assist our uniquely gifted adults staying in our town with the money that the state provides them to pay their rent and to pay their things there are other towns that are being able to do it but a lot of the folk that I've been with for 25 years now as I watch them growing they're moving as I watch their parents passing away they're moving moving because they there's not a place that their funds can help them and they can only get what they qualify for on the tearing that's in New Jersey and so I would just ask us to brainstorm you've done a great job I am not complaining you have done a great job the years that I ran the program there was nothing that I asked for that the town didn't help me get the mayor the council people whatever I needed programs camps Transportation whatever I needed running that program the town did it for me and I am just asking that we would brainstorm and find a way to keep our uniquely gifted young adults when they're able to get on their own keep them here find ways that they can afford to stay in the town that they've grown up in and that they love thank you for your time thank you anyone else wish to address the council and public comment seeing no one public comment is now closed going to um invite my colleagues to respond um we will go in reverse order councilwoman Williams uh thank you council president um just want to take an opportunity to thank everyone who is with us on this last meeting of December 10th um whether you're here in person or whether you're here um virtually on Zoom we thank you for tuning in and sharing in what is going on with your municipality thank you Mr Fagan thank you Mr pesi for your timely information um thank you Nicole Bell I will um respond to the um presentation of the black inventors Hall of Fame Museum uh thank you Akil that was indeed a tremendous opportunity um to connect the dots with the horn family and the black inventors Hall of Fame Museum hoping that our um town and our next Council will do all things necessary to expedite this wonderful opportunity and transform uh West Orange into a more of a destination Community um one of the things that they neglected to highlight um was the stem Center that um will be connected with our schools so we're excited about that opportunity as well um Mr Adams Doug Adams Lisa Adams thank you so much um for your continued advocacy for the uniquely gifted in our community um had a beautiful opportunity last night um to attend the community reading um event by the wo CPAC um families and um just an opportunity to read um to our uniquely gifted children the families to come out to celebrate the holidays at our West Orange Public Library um was just an inspirational event I know that they will continue um to do more um there's Renewed Energy and leadership in the W CPAC program and hoping we can unite all of our different uh Community organizations so that our uniquely uh gifted Community just continues to expand and grow um certainly the opportunity um for the dedicated housing is something that we have discussed in the past and I think it's important um that we not only identify um opportunities to support our un uniquely gifted adult children as they age on but also um for our veteran Community as well um for our First Responders our teachers um there are so many opportunities now that we understand um the housing impact in the fourth round for affordability and what it can present and the opportunities that are here um that can be available in West Orange to just continue to support um our workingclass uh families um so hopeful hopefully that is something that whether it be the Council the administration or the experts that come in and try and guide us on um what affordability um obligations are going to look like in West Orange um I think we have about a thousand units in the next 10 years that we have to build um that's a do awesome and daunting task um but done with a lot of tremendous thought and planning proper planning it is something that um I believe that our community um Can can sustain um to the uh families in Colon Woods that came out um thank you so much for sharing and making sure um that we're aware of some of the challenges and struggles um that you all are going through um I spoke with many of the families just not too many months ago um understanding that there are some still challenges with the catch Basin um our engineer is here this evening and has heard some of those and continues to listen um to all of those complaints and responds um as as well as she can um but again thank you for your advocacy apologies for the crime spree that is happening and targeting in your community um I have to tell you I live right at another entrance to 280 the entrance to 280 right off of Pleasant Valley Way um so I'm very familiar with the targeting the direct targeting and how it does feel um especially when you're close to that 280 access point um that there is more of a crime element in those neighborhoods um certainly the chief of police is here as well I'm sure that he will take note and um order more patrol cars in that area so that we can increase um your feeling and sense of Safety and Security a lot of times it is just a deterrent of seeing a patrol car pass by every now and then um that will increase your level of security as well um so I'm sure that'll be duly noted um Miss tweeten came in and talked about the sewer bill um this council did address um the sewer bill when we went to the model the bedroom model um it was with a tremendous amount of hesitation um that we did transfer to that model and we were promised um that if we would look at a the capacity to do um a usage based model um we have hopefully continued to work with American Water who does Supply our water um so that we can migrate to a user based model um that was the intent of this Council um the administration also exhibited an identified interest in doing that as well we just have to figure out the formula and again just make sure it happens gets done and doesn't slip through the cracks um regarding the removal of the flyer uh for the day of solidarity I attended that event um it was a very peaceful welcoming and warm event uh for the Palestinian and Arab Community um I did not personally um feel any type of um uh anti-semitic Behavior rhetoric and none of that happened and I'm not certain about the flyer um have not spoken to the administration or the mayor about the removal of the flyer um and if you all have already spoken to her then her words will stand as she iterated them um herself um so again that is the responsibility of the mayor and the administration and for those who um felt uh that it was inappropriate hopefully you will get that um come to some type of understanding um so that it doesn't continue to happen again um as far as um I'm sorry putting on my glasses to make sure I don't um as far as um our cannabis entities some of that is on the agenda so we'll speak to that um when we get to the appropriate um time on the agenda again just want to congratulate our uh newly um um promoted firefighters and police officers and Sergeant um to West Orange we will continue to keep you all in prayer it is indeed exciting to continue to see the diversity of our First Responders in our community um and then I think that is the gist of my comments I'll end my remarks with um just something that I personally prepared um as I in my tenure as our first black Council woman so over the past four years as the first black councilwoman and first black Council woman president together West Orange we made history faced challenges and worked tirelessly to make West Orange a better place for us all I am profoundly grateful for the trust that you placed in me and the opportunity to represent you with Integrity commitment and passion while my time on the council has come to an end my dedication to this incredible Community remains steadfast just as I did before my election I will continue to serve Advocate and contribute to the fabric of West Orange in every way that I can this transition will also allow me to focus more deeply on my foundation and to amplify our mission of increasing awareness and prevention of suicide mental health remains a corner Cornerstone of my advocacy and I will work tirelessly to ensure we create a space of Hope healing and support for those in need as one door closes I look forward to pivoting to the next open doors of opportunity I'm excited for what lies ahead and R remain committed to being a part of West Orange's bright future hence the black inventors Hall of Fame Museum I want to extend my heartfelt gratitude to everyone um who sat and worked with me on the day as those who have been here now and um who have left us uh for everyone in town hall for the administration for our former mayor paresi my colleagues and neighbors who I've had the privilege to work alongside your support collaboration and kindness have enriched my my journey in countless ways thank you for allowing me to serve and I look forward to continuing our work together in this place that we love and call home thank you that complet thank you councilwoman uh councilwoman Scara are you able to yes can you hear me yes you can okay great I have a sore throat so I'll try to keep it short but um of course I want to thank our firefighters and our police for all they do uh they know how I feel about them they were a tremendous support for me and my family when I was a caregiver for my dad after his stroke uh they spent a lot of time with me and I did in that riding as a passenger in that fire truck to St Barnabas and I just cannot say enough about them the work that they do um also I want to talk to uh Doug Adams and his wife um they you know I am an SLP a speech language pathologist in our schools and work with the uniquely gifted children um uh I love them as much as you do and I share your concerns um I would love to see us must be able to find a way to uh use our development credits that we need for senior development for for that population and I I hope maybe we can research that I think as we look to get a town Planner on staff and we research some of the opportunities um for using those credits maybe we can find a way uh to keep them in our town because it it is just so important and I agree and I I promise I will try to take that effort on in the new year uh to Stephen Johnson and all who came out in support of our Palestinian friends and neighbors you may not be aware but at the time I put the anti-Semitism resolution together I also drafted a resolution in support of our Palestinian neighbors I had sent it out to the mayor and to all of my Council colleagues and I don't think that was I'm not sure that was shared or there was action taken on it I had done considerable research at that time and I drafted it very much based on the Teck resolution so I will get that out to Stephen Johnson so that you can take a look at it and I hope he will share it with the HRC I will and if there are any other residents who have spoken tonight who want to take a look at it um I would be happy I had actually just drafted as an outline or a working document that you know could be improved upon in any way but I did do some research and it was very much um like the one that tenek had adopted so uh I hope to get that to all of you I think our goal is to really put the politics aside and to assure that all of our residents feel respected safe and welcome in West Orange Alia I agree with you on that Sor Bill uh we are all so concerned about that and I have spoken to our new CFO uh John Toc and I hope that in the new year he will look at that as enough action was not taken by our former CFO um but we need to look at that very carefully in the New Year it's one of our major projects to um all of our friends from Colonial Woods I will let the chief address the crime in your area I hope we can do something about that to Lawrence Cohen uh I completely agree with you uh we don't want to urbanize our playgrounds than our Parks we need more shade and uh benches and we need to look at those expenditures more carefully and so I probably will be voting no tonight on um on those projects projects as you know uh for those who are concerned about storm water issues in our town we recently passed an ordinance that I felt did not have enough teeth I promise I will bring that back in the new year and we will um put some teeth in that ordinance so we can address all of these storm water problems as we move forward with our development in West Orange and uh I think that's about it for tonight thank you councilwoman uh councilwoman GB Michael good evening everyone I would like to thank everyone who took the time to attend the meeting in person and virtually especially to those who shared their thoughts during public comment portion of today's council meeting your voices are crucial in shaping our community and we appreciate your engagement in local matters now regarding the November 29th event I'm not sure whether the Administration has a response on behalf of the mayor regarding her actions or why she removed it but I'm sorry that this happened I wish I could have been there to attend the event but I had another commitment with family over the holiday weekend and I did reach out to some of the event organizers about that and I did hear that it was a peaceful and beautiful event so I was there in spirit um now uh I do look forward to hearing from you uh Chief Abbott about the safety precautions and a possible sound wall um in Colonial Woods and to the residents here tonight thank you for you know speaking up and um telling us how you feel no one should feel unsafe or like their quality of life is diminished and to have to as you mentioned ma'am sleep with one eye open at night so I'm sorry that that is happening to you guys and this is what you're experiencing and regarding the sewer bill we had asked our CFO La uh last year our former C CFO to look into a usage based model in fact he promised us that he would and that he would reach out to the American Water Company um and I don't believe that ever happened so you know I'm disappointed and it's not fair to the residents especially with the taxes that we pay with inflation and there are a lot of people struggling right now so I'm hopeful that our new CFO Mr thec will tackle this and reach out to the American Water Company to see what we can do to help save the residents some money because it doesn't makes sense that's that someone living in a three or four bedroom in a four or five bedroom house it's one or two people are paying this much money so I'm really hoping Mr DAC that this is something you can tackle on um and be prepared to I guess give us feedback in January um thank you so much and then regarding chemistry I'm so sorry that this happened to you I have been very supportive of your application and I have advocated for you and you guys were grandfathered in and I thought it was extremely unreasonable that we only gave you one or two weeks to respond when you were so close and I am honestly disappointed that I was outvoted but it is what it is every council person here has a right to vote the way they want to um but I'm not sure whether we can resend the resolution we voted or not I will defer to Mr Moon especially if you have a lease right now it just took a couple more weeks that you needed um so I will defer to Mr Moon our legal council but again I am so very sorry that this has happened and it's very unfortunate and it's a huge loss for West orang especially when we need Revenue we often complain about taxes and this would have been a wonderful way for the township to recuperate Revenue so again I'm sorry and with that I end my response to public comment thank you council president thank you councilen Williams thank you councilwoman um councilwoman celino thank you council president president um let me start off with chemistry uh piggy backing on uh my colleague's comments um you know Mr Carol I I know it's been a tough process and I've been very understanding all along especially because your root here in West Orange and and knowing your family for so many years and all they've done for our community so um but we have been getting we've been getting inquiries we've been getting um questions of our process and and I'm I'm gonna watch what I say because I know Mr moon is here and he could respond to some things but at the end of the day um to come for an interview you need ass signed lease and at the point um where you were coming in for the application obviously as you stated earlier you haven't had one you haven't had it it's but it's been over two months so it hasn't been just a couple days or a couple weeks so um I would recommend that when you do have a final sign lease if that's the route you're going to go um you know then you would make another request but from here on in we have to clean up our process because we can't have interviews and this goes back to the early task force we can't have interviews unless folks have the one large requirement of of site uh control and technically you you don't have that so that was the big issue for me and um and that's all I'm going to say on this matter um because legal's here but again I I've extended and and voted the way I did through the past few years uh because I was was was rooting for you and and the application um moving on to some of the other comments I appreciate all uh the the uh neighbors of the Mount Pleasant Community coming in and I hear your frustration uh hopefully the chief will say a few words in a little bit uh maybe I'm not sure if a direct Patrol has been placed on your community or not um so that's something I would recommend and request from the police department that a direct Patrol does get placed uh there um I think it's great that all of you've been communicating because that's the one way to keep your neighborhood safe myself being active on our civic association many years ago in in my neighborhood which had the same issues and uh when the uh neighbors all communicate with each other and um respond with police and have great communication I would recommend a neighborhood uh uh watch uh meeting with one of our officer so everyone could look at uh signs of what to do and how to call in uh calls and um that always I found to be very productive in our neighborhoods that have a watch group so you might want to uh work together as far as the sound uh barrier I would think that would again I'll wait for the chief to to state make a statement but I think that would be the burden of the state to have to put that sound barrier wall up I could I could be they're shaking their head so okay so being that 280 is uh belongs to the state and uh definitely would advocate for that for you as a sitting uh uh official uh because um you your when they built 280 obviously your neighborhood wasn't built at that time so I don't know what the process is but it's definitely something we should look into for you so thank you for coming out tonight and bringing everything to our attention I I know how stressful it has been and hopefully things will get better um and the lighting too Chief if you didn't hear the comment about the lighting we could get public service to to right his house and he hasn't been able to get it oh wow okay I mean it's a process yeah no no I I I know so Mr okay with that uh looking through my other comments here so I appreciate the Adams coming down um Mr Mrs Adams um such great advocates for our community and uh all their time volunteering so affordable housing it's something I'm could be looking to jump into next month with um with the deadline I went I attended the uh seminars actually three seminars down in Atlantic City a couple we weeks ago at the league of municipalities and I was very frustrated because you know we sit here in the township and we try to put these uh projects together uh with developers and um you know we have right across the parking lot I've I've wholeheartedly supported 65 units of affordable housing for our seniors uh lo and behold um and I knew it wouldn't be 100% West Orange residents uh but the process with the state it's it's a lot lower than I expected and being in the affordable housing meetings I've learned that's not the case just for West Orange but through the other towns uh within the state of New Jersey there was a lot of angry elective officials in some of the meetings that I attend that are very frustrating that they're supporting projects in their Community thinking we're doing the right thing we're providing the numbers with the state only to find out um our residents are getting the uh the uh opportunities that we thought would be for our residents so I look forward to that conversation uh next month as we approach our numbers and even listening to how they formulate our numbers from the DCA the Department of Community Affairs um you know mayor uh I recommended that she challenges those numbers because I saw a lot of flaws in those numbers and took the work workshop and listen to what has been happening to other towns so that's all speak on it this evening I look forward to the conversation in uh in 2025 um but yeah I mean all we can do to get housing for uh for our residents I'm all all four and um again look forward to that uh let's see Mr let's see so Mr Lauren M Mr Cohen Lawrence thank you for coming in this evening Mr Johnson so um I appreciate your comments on the recreation we'll you know get to those resolutions but again a lot of great recommendation you know we have yet to go over a capital budget and a lot of what you mentioned uh writing the list you know all comes through uh with these projects with grants and and capital budget to get these items taken care of I know our Recreation director uh you know very serious when he looks into our parks and the materials used for the playgrounds and what not and it's all about safety first so um I uh always support what he recommends um he has does the due diligence and um you know I look forward to that conversation in a little bit think Miss tweeten you're comments were addressed um but yeah Mr detc was one of the things we had asked him to do uh was look at that uh uh sewer sewer tax when we first hired him so I have full faith that he as soon as he gets an opportunity I know also it had to do um we weren't able to get the information from New Jersey water company because the way our computer uh program is and I guess you could speak on that because we we're looking to upgrade that system as well again that's all about um capital budget and getting that pass so we could change over our system and let's see here I get everybody okay so let me go back to the beginning of the meeting I want to congratulate uh congratulations to our bravest and our finest for coming in this evening um just seeing so many of our uh West Orange firefighters and police families here this evening uh also happy to see that in um we're settling the contracts um tonight so that will be um proving for all the unions this evening uh which were very you know I appreciate my Council colleagues work on that and uh council president and able to get that done for our our staff um which is a tremendous feat that was done um this this year the past couple months uh to Todd and Lee Cohen uh they are great family of Educators and to come here year after year um just making awareness for pancreatic cancer um I just appreciate them for all they do for our school district uh also I want to thank Mr Moore he was here this evening uh what I love about Mr Moore is I saw him in the hallway coming in and I said what are you doing here this evening and he said I have to support my kids and as kids mean a lot of our firefighters that were here and police officers getting promoted were once his students and that love of community and coming back to West Orange and I saw him Saturday we had the downtown West Orange Alliance of breakfast with Santa uh down at Washington Street School him Prince M Deo Our Food Service uh Department amazing just they all get dressed up every year serving the food to the students um the our Junior ROTC program our our our board members that came in to help our great team of volunteers um we just thank you all so much on behalf of Miss bril and Miss mccampbell for everyone coming down and making that uh event great and all I appreciate my Council colleague for coming into uh Council Williams to um to the trolley and the councilwoman GBA Michael for her assistance as well I know you couldn't make it this year and was disappointed but it just uh and councilwoman Scarpa was sick so uh just just a a great day and serving so many uh children in our neighborhood and our and our families it was just a great Saturday um Mr Johnson in regards to that with promotion and events and whatnot yeah we we need to be consistent there needs to be a process I know we try to stick to a process Administration handles that um so I you know I I'm sure the mayor will you know she told you she was going to do something you got to give her an opportunity to get to get it done hopefully she'll um you know she'll work with you um and as far as the resolution goes um just just to note I made a note here um the anti-Semitism resolution was not done in its original form when councilwoman scorper first proposed it that evening it it did not get passed it didn't get put on the agenda at first because it wasn't reviewed so I know you get fustrated sometimes with us and we have processes but you know we always want to make sure that everything is looked at and properly um vetted out before it comes to the council so with that being said I would just like to take a moment along with my colleagues to thank uh our colleagues for their service through uh the last four years um I have uh really really um enjoyed working with both of you uh I think this has been a dynamic group uh a lot of uh expression the past few years and we all uh we're all very passionate about what we do here but at the end of the day um you know we all take time from our families and both of you have done that on so many occasion it's not just you see us here on on Tuesday nights it's the meetings after the meetings it's the it's the meetings with the residents it's the phone calls from any hour of any day I from late in the evening to even I've saw my phone ring at 6:30 a.m. so it's being there for the community and um and yeah trying to do our best we all may have a different way we approach situations but no one can say that both of you have not um put your full heart and effort into this job and I know from the bottom of my heart I appreciate all that you have done I know how hard that this has been I'm gonna uh before we have something here from us I'd like to uh pass over to my colleagues to say a few words um councilwoman Scarpa do you have a you ready I just want want to say thank you to both of you for all you've do and probably will continue to do it's been a pleasure to work with both of you thank you and councilwoman give a Mich councilwoman Williams I want to thank you for your year the service on the council and I wish you all the best in your future endeavors thank you thank you for serving the community thank you for all the events that you put on and I hope you'll continue to throw events you're really wonderful on HR and that's where I met you and we worked closely together and hosted you and I planned many events throughout my many years on the HRC so thank you for your commitment to West Orange council president B my friend it's been an absolute honor and privileged to serve alongside you on this Council your leadership as council president an unwavering commitment to good governance has made a profound impact on West Orange you have been instrumental and ensuring accountability and transparency in our town and your dedication to serving our community with integrity and fairness has been inspiring and I will always be grateful for your guidance and your friendship and I look forward to continuing to work with you and supporting you in your future endeavors including your next election thank you for all you've done for West Orange and I know you will continue to lead and serve our community meaningful ways I know it hasn't been easy I know it's been tough but thank you thank you thank you yes on behalf of on behalf of this Council and I thank Madam clerk for her assistance and administration we have a plaques for you and a gift from your colleagues from us uh the pla saying recognition of your commitment and dedication to the township of West Orange January 1st 2021 to December 31st 2024 a time to look back with admiration a time to look forward with faith and optimism thank you both thank you both you want to say something Council woman you said it already I've already thank you thank you everybody thank you um so glad I did not actually cry yeah true yet it's still possible um so I did not do my response to public comment and I want to um uh but I I and and I I have some notes so I want to make sure that I I cover some things uh first I want to thank uh obviously my colleagues um past and present that have served an elected capacity here in West Orange these four years have been very interesting uh challenging difficult uh rewarding um and the the work has um been enlightening and inspiring um you know I leave having met thousands of people that I otherwise I'm gonna need coffee so that I don't cry I'm gonna need something all right thousands of people that I otherwise uh probably would not have met and uh there are some of them that I've worked closely with on particular issues uh and that work uh um has been very rewarding and challenging um trying to do the right thing isn't always popular or convenient being willing to call balls and Strikes regardless of who the pitcher is is not always welcome in politics um but that's what I've tried to do and whether we agreed or disagreed I hope you can respect that um now while it has been challenging we have some things to look back on that were um impactful and I think will live beyond the four years that I spent on this de um tonight we're going to talk about Colgate Park um while we don't have soccer mini pitches there give them to us for fre by the New Jersey Devils um I am glad to see the park being addressed parks are part of what makes um a Township community or neighborhood uh I'm disappointed that we won't be able to vote on the capital budget as my colleagues or some of them can attest I did everything I could to get that done this year uh before this meeting uh because I wanted more money for Park um and I I was very clear I was not going to vote for that capital budget if there was not money in there for parks in particular for Hazel Avenue uh school um but I am glad to see the progress on Colgate uh in particular stag field and others uh I had an opportunity to uh help preserve Crestmont uh the property that we purchased from the Crestmont Country Club one of my commitments to this community was to be responsible with regard to development and preserving that Forest uh keeping it from being developed into tow houses was important and all of those neighbors um are grateful for it uh and advocated and worked hard to make that happen same thing with Rock Spring um I was committed to not making it housing and I did everything I could no you you did I kind of regained my footing but I will lose it again so this is helpful thank you sir c f yeah um so yeah preserving that uh permanently and not allowing housing on that property was important to me it was something I committed to four years ago and something that I've honored um the movie studio on Main Street uh contrary to what some people would have you believe I was the liaison on that I was in all of those meetings um and I do want to thank councilman castellino um in particular for uh working with me on on that there were were couple of moments that it was very touchy um and it required an extra effort um and so while we don't agree on everything I do think it's important that we be able to work together uh and and so I'm grateful for that ability and I'm grateful for the work we did there um tonight we're also going to talk about town hall contracts uh for our public employees and you know four years ago I made a commitment um at that time our police are with we're without a contract um multiple residents tonight talked about uh improved policing in their neighborhoods uh I am very proud that we have a long-term contract that is fair um and I'm also proud that we have about a dozen more maybe even more than that police officers on the force now than we did four years ago um now we're not where we need to be there's a lot of work that's still undone um but we are certainly moving in the right direction um with regard to those contracts and and the culture in town hall um I want to thank the Neighbors in the Colonial Woods area we worked on flooding over there uh 410 Main West desic Highlands and many other neighborhoods including my own we've got a new request there and going to speak to the chief about it tonight um that's what makes local government work when a resid presidents and your elected officials sit down at a table and work on problems together so I'm grateful I had that opportunity um now as I said before Main Street still not done got to work there um I'm going to advocate for some things in the next capital budget even though I won't be on the deis uh I will certainly continue to um uh encourage additional investments in town hall um a stem Center on Main Street to replace the library whenever we get that development done whatever it ends up being a townwide solar project um and I am going to make sure that I hold everybody accountable even though I am not a council person um you know part of what council mcber Michael was referencing uh is the ability to make sure that people honor the law don't just um honor it when it's convenient but across the board um and that people are treated fairly um so some of the things some of the stances I've taken have angered some very powerful people God bless them I don't answer to them um I will continue to take those stances even though I will no longer be a an elected official in West Orange uh and finally uh and probably most importantly um I want to thank my wife thank you Joe I want to thank my wife uh my daughters and my church family uh for their uh support unwavering support of me over these uh four years um joining us virtually are my mother my father uh my younger sister I want to thank them my older sister as well uh for their uh support um especially my mom who has come to council chambers and regulated um I do appreciate that I have a lot of her in me uh and I'm grateful for that uh so to all of my colleagues Uh current and uh past I am grateful for this opportunity to have worked with you whether we agreed or disagreed and I look forward to continuing the work uh in the future um now I think I can get to public comment and hopefully that won't make me cry sorry about that I should have waited that's all right um and so thank you though um and I didn't ask any of this uh from anyone but I am sincerely grateful for all of it um all right Mr pesi and Mr Fagan you guys you know I will miss you guys uh catching you you know on a bi-weekly basis uh with your timely updates but I will be watching you on YouTube and I do expect to be in Council meting meetings in the future so this is not uh goodbye but it is farewell uh to miss Bell Mrs Bell you are an outstanding human being I thank you for uh your kind words and your support over the years uh and your continued advocacy uh in town Mr Dr calani uh the shuttle that you referenced I've been talking about it now for years um for whatever reason it's been a difficult thing uh to get off the ground um but it does make sense whether the museum is there or somewhere else or not at all we have enough assets right now to have a loop around town with the zoo and uh the museum and the two malls the County Parks and other spaces in town uh that having a shuttle run especially on weekends um would make sense um and I'm happy to support you in the effort to get a canara um lit on the front uh lawn of town hall next year um I can't address everybody but I will say to Mr John uh to Stephen I want to thank you again for your involvement in advocacy on many issues um you know I I'm I will apologize to you if you're yes I will apologize to you on behalf of the township um you know uh I had planned to go I caught a cold on at Thanksgiving uh which actually extended it bothered me for over a week um I ended up missing quite a bit um but that was one of the events I had planned to attend um I've attended other events uh that were like that uh West Orange for Humanity knows that I um am a supporter and I do listen to them and I think that's what elected officials should do just listen to everybody whether you agree or not uh that's actually irrelevant like the entire town Alex us we're all at Large uh so I apologize on behalf of the township for um the taking down and then the lack of response to your email from the mayor I'm not the mayor uh but I am apologizing on behalf of the township uh because uh if we make an agreement we should honor the agreement uh and I do expect that it will be addressed in the future Council uh hopefully as early as January um the anti-islamophobia anti-arab hate resolution that was referenced is not what was presented to this Council I wanted to make sure so I went back and checked um what was presented to this Council uh was um a basically it was called a peace and unity resolution it it had no teeth it it did it didn't move the ball forward um and we were in such a heightened um uh an intense moment in the history of the Town um we had to make some very difficult decisions and one of them was to hopefully allow the temperature to lower just a little bit uh people in every Community uh were legitimately afraid um and and so in an effort to kind of do that instead of addressing things uh forcefully or publicly a lot of the work was done quietly in living rooms um um and so so I do want to thank you for your understanding and for your work and your continued advocacy um and now that we are at a better place and I think a lot of that has to do with how we um as a council have you know gone out into the community and addressed some of these issues now that we are at a better place um I do think it's important uh that we have some statement and then get out of that business because what folks will do in politics is use these divisions to keep people fighting against each other so that we don't deal with the real issues that affect all of us that we don't understand how powerful we are when we're United um so uh both to Mr Johnson Mr uh Cayman um I do thank you for your continued advocacy U Miss Schultz as well uh on the same issue uh Mr Carol um so uh what I will say is you know I I understand your position I I sympathize with you um I I feel like the council has been Fair um now you may not feel that way uh but I do feel like the council has been Fair um there have been multiple extensions for multiple reasons over the course of time um and I think we and and this won't involve me because I won't be here next year uh but the council has to balance individual interests with the greater good uh we are trying trying to craft an industry in West Orange and we've had some fits and starts along the way um and it certainly hasn't been easy it has required a tremendous amount of effort and understanding a learning curve uh for each council member that has been involved um and so in trying to administer those kinds of rules for everyone one of the things we have to do is be fair and I've tried to be fair and I think we have been Fair uh but uh you are uniquely situated uh you are one of the original resolution um of local support uh recipients um and Mr moon in a moment will address uh your concerns um directly uh or to the extent that he can in a public meeting um but you know the proper uh venue for you I think is to work directly uh with our legal department uh on what legally can be done now that we have you know moved past all of those timelines um I believe it's Mrs Osborne I may have gotten that wrong I think she left um you're not that Colonial Woods neighborhood is not the only neighborhood that is seeing an increase in these crimes of opportunity now uh and these thefts and burglaries and uh at this time of year we see an increase in general uh but I I feel like um you know West Orange it feels like we're getting a disproportionate number of those incidents I want to uh thank the chief uh while you were commenting he forwarded some information to us uh with regard to Colonial Woods what I would extend to you is the same thing I'm extending to my own neighborhood who had a s similar incident not long ago uh opportunity to have our community service police officers come out uh meet with you we've done it in other neighborhoods um over the course of time uh the the chief and our um police officers are um both informed um and they are able to share some things with you in a quieter setting like that that they won't share in a microphone um and then also be able to help us be more informed and better better residents so that we can spot these things a little more quickly and get uh police responses um uh a little quicker to uh these incidents you know hopefully deter some of them from happening but if they do happen catch the folks which then gets out into to that community that you know it's a little tougher to get away with stuff in West Orange so either send me an email or grab my phone number after the meeting and and you know we'll work that out for you as well uh and that's Miss bayz as well right um so that's to you as well miss tweeton uh I want to thank you again for your friendship and support over the years um and I'm looking forward to the next chapter uh this is not the end uh for me um Mr Cohen um while we don't agree on everything what we do agree on is trees um and we've done some good work there unfortunately it hasn't uh yielded the results that we would like uh but the fight is not over we have one of the strongest tree ordinances anywhere uh and we're going to do everything we can to make sure including with some work we have on the agenda tonight uh that everyone abides by that tree ordinance now the new Council may want to make some changes to it um okay I'm glad they don't um and and many of them I know at least one of them is has already stated very voice uh uh forcefully that that she doesn't um uh so if if it stays as it is it will remain one of the strongest tree ordinances around and our job is to make sure everybody abides by it um um Mr Dena I address Colonial Woods and uh Mrs Adams um with regard and Mr Adams with regard to the uh special needs housing you know that's absolutely an important issue to address it is low hanging fruit in my opinion um we we could certainly you know include some units um in developments down the road and we do owe quite a few um so there there certainly is room uh for that to be done here um it costs money uh but developers make a ton of money on these developments it's up to us to hold them accountable uh make sure that the deal is fair for the town as well that's what I've tried to do over the last four years uh I will do it from your seat uh over the next few um that concludes my public comment but I do want to just thank again all of you uh that I've worked with whether elected or or employed uh residents um even some others from outside of West Orange that have taken an interest in West Orange issues the Haitian community in particular is one um and there are others I want to thank you guys um for your support uh for your involvement uh to all of our town hall employees congratulations if you don't stick around for later on congratulations on what I expect is going to be a great night for you uh that does it for me Madam clerk oh okay thank oh sorry yes thank you um consent agenda approval of minutes of previous meeting public meeting and executive session November 25th 2024 I think there's an edit there an executive session it states that we spoke about $1.8 million Bond and we did not speak about it in fact because after because it so long we just wanted to get back that when we came back I had to ask Mr daac my question about that so hope you can cross that off yeah I'm gonna edit it okay thank you as amended yes thank you consent consent report of Township officers none reading of petitions and Communications and bids none Bill list are there any questions on the bills s okay so for Resolutions Bill list sorry I did have a question on the bill list and I apologize I don't have the bill list in front of me um it was for an adobi um payment to I don't even know where on the um to to Brian feny for the historic preservation commission okay and I wanted to understand what that's for and if I just wanted to understand what that's for and I apologize for not calling the the reason why it struck out to me is because we've heard a lot of our chair people for commissions and Boards not have the ability to have whether it be a zoom or something so I just wanted to understand why does that particular commission have that as something that's reimbursable let me look up the the particular transaction give me one minute I'll I'll try to respond absolutely um if we can yes council president tonight there'll be a few um resolutions pulled from the agenda two of them have to be heard after the adoption of ordinances and then two of them are requireed public comment uh so that's four Al together there number three 33924 339 339 yes 345 to4 yep 346 going to pass 339 345 three 45 second page 346 correct 346 and then 361 361 and um and then 359 uh Mr dinc said that that requires a vote off of consent agenda okay okay 359 359 correct thank you so much you're welcome so if anyone else has anything they want to call I just want to add to Mr detc for 359 you I had few conversations and emails and I thank you so much for your quick replies if you can just be ready for the next meeting to explain it in layman's terms for residents and people who don't understand Municipal finance and budgeting sure thank you so much are we pulling 356 57 and 58 that's up to you yeah we have we have so 356 seven and eight right uh any others have some questions on some other yeah I had questions all right so let's begin councilman celino which ones you have questions on I have questions on uh 341 and 344 341 and a comment on 350 we comment on 350 350 351 wait 353 350 and 351 I'm sorry okay 350 and engineer comments so com comment SL question so I have question on 338 I'm sorry uh 337 I have a question M um I I have a question on 342 342 I also have a question on 35 and 351 and then I'm GNA go ahead and let you P council president and then I'll pull out for you all right go ahead um you have questions on what 340 341 I'm sorry 338 you have a question on 338 340 341 okay that one's already questioned oh 340 and 341 got it all right 347 348 okay and then I have some questions on the 352 through 355 the housing agreements MH but it's it's just a question same here okay uh I think was 3:38 pull for questions yes I pulled that you pulled 337 right no she pulled 338 you pulled 338 okay all right um are we just let's just do the questions and then we'll pull the vote no all right okay go in order yeah let's go in order so 337 uh Council mgber Michael yes I had a question are these a fixed cameras these are um what they call alprs which is an acronym for automated license plate readers yes but is it fixed to like a structure or light or is it on there arrang through the County prosecutor's office to be on County equipment so it's on the traffic lights it's on the traffic lights okay they're they're Fick I guess that's not on a car I'm sorry I understand they're fixed units yes that's correct thank you Chief is there a grant for those that on the car there's a grant for these fixed units there's $99,000 left we're TR still trying to figure out councilwoman gber Michael reach out to me about that we're still trying to figure out if we can use that for something else it's not really clear we'll certainly find that out we're not going to just give it back if we have to give it back we will but what about a larger Grant to put them on on patrol Vehicles there's nothing not a grant right now gonna have to do that in capital if we do it all right I would encourage you I mean I won't be here but I would encourage you to do that I personally am a bigger of the fixed units I think you get a lot more data with them than you do you can place them more strategically they they're just yeah I mean it's me I'd have one I never reach single traffic well and cameras as well uh certainly on the 280 caror um yeah cers don't do as much as people think they do they just show you a vision of what you already know occurred in most instances we really don't solve a lot of crime with cameras in something like this um Healthcare Executive that was just shot in New York City it's kind of different um but with stolen cars and things like that you don't really get a lot even the if you see most of the Ring doorbell cameras and the other brands they usually have face masks on and hats on but the make model vehicle the license that's usually the car that's stolen and the car that they're in that took them there is also stolen car so I'm not saying they're useless but they don't do as much as people think they do okay all right any other questions on 37 no all right um so we're not pulling that vote no no 338 and my question um was regarding this is the money already appropriated in the 2024 budget this is the purchase of the it equipment for the continued upgrades to the Communication Center which yes this is part of an exist ing Capital ordinance thank you I didn't have a question that's what I missed it that was done councilwoman you had a question on 340 as well yes I did um uh this was for the block grant so there were only it looked like there were only two awardees main street counseling and um the um and roadway to no no no that's not what I'm saying Main Street counseling Main Street counseling and Bethany Center for Champions and I wanted to understand why it's been reduced to just those two entities um in the past we've had up towards five to maybe seven or eight different entities that received the CBD Grant and I wanted to understand what the application process is how how organizations are alerted or is that an internal decision well could be for roadways too yeah she good evening council president and council members uh with regards to the uh resolution 340 um this is not an internal decision um it is advertised by the cdbg of Essex County um typically um we will get uh three organizations in West Orange and whatever I receive by the deadline when they approach me that's what you see in here so it's not much time on this grant to be worked on I would say it's probably a roughly a month at most and typically to have it in front of the council I typically pick the last meeting in December like this one so these are the only two that responded and provided an explanation and a scope of work as well as the estimate of the needs of their organization thank you is it possible for us to maintain a list of all our PR prior at least for the past five um years CBD Grant award e and then you know go back out to them and make sure they're aware I don't know if the county is letting them know that the application process is open the county posted on their website and typically what I do when I do find out that they're actually up around I will say November 4 or the 5th I found out about it I send an email on a Friday night to all the three previous participants if I only get two responses it's nothing else I can do understood and I I I understand and I thank you for the information and the clarity and again I just think it's it's money it's money that's available and it's money that helps our community organizations so if at all possible in any opportunity to just make sure we get as many people to apply absolutely we've done that in the past so I would like to see more than just two organizations be the recipients of the grant thank you you're welcome hold on one second counil can we advertise it in the future on our on our social media our websites when we post Flyers around town hall to let and an effort to let more people know about it you could probably advertise it on the website and we're probably going to have to basically make like a deadline so that they get all the information to me by an a specific date and then also to let them know and understand that when they do apply for the grant they going to have to contact uh Essex County cdbg and work with them or participate on the webinars for training and not you know expecting us to basically like do it for them right unfortunately I can um I don't know what their needs are nor can I speak on their behalf so do you know and and this may be more geared towards the administration do we have an email list of organizations in town we can eblast this out I know that the county does this often we have an extensive email list we're constantly emailing information out and the downtown Alliance has a list the chamber the list sir so we should be sharing with all these organizations because it's a really it's a missed opportunity for for GR money is an organizations yeah that's all right something think about going forward sure so I have a question there's a on the back of it it says something about potential Road workor there's a third um something about potential road work I'm not looking at it in front of me sish Avenue from Park Avenue to Lakeside Avenue nor and Fremont Street from Samuel to Monclair so is that is that finalized are those the only streets that are going to be done are those streets going to be done this streets will be done if we get the grand yeah but those are the ones so that because I don't know let me pull it out it looked like it was uh not oh yeah two Road it says you will be applying for two roadways sish and Fremont yes yes okay the roadway improvements are always a part of the CBD grant let me yeah yes so we've done it looked like we've done I mean at least in the four years we I've been here we've done more than just the two two streets is that because of the length of the street or is that what is that what determines typically we have done it like we have done either four projects or five projects if we have three uh nonprofit organizations that will be one two and three then the last two are typically Road Number Four which is a priority and then Road number five which is one last year we did the same thing we did one two three and four we did Franklin and Oxford separately and then the two organizations that applied during the interview process with the cgb representatives they decided that it was more convenient just to combine those two streets instead of having two applications okay and it also actually it makes my life easier I only have to do one estimate one application no I I understand that was the question see one two three if this year instead of one two three four otherwise I would have to do a standage by itself and then um the other Road by Exel as well got it that's it for me on questions anybody else have a question I'm done with that one the next question thank you thank you director 341 at 3 oh yeah they were multiple on 341 okay um councilwoman yeah thank you so my question missa if you want to hang up there for a little bit so the capital approvement so we had the fiveyear plan we again we didn't get the capital presentation um I know we're going to have it next meeting but so I just want to understand these improvements or for money already improve uh approved or would this are these improvements scheduled for as if the capital budget was approved this improvements are to be presented with the Capital Improvements presentation and I believe I when I made my request to the CFO I made this I would say item number 10 of my priorities more or less um and this is just to award um the architectural Professional Services because they were working on it I would say in 2022 for X Y and Z reason they had to stop working on that and worked on something else so that's the reason why we went back to the firm and decided to add um the improvements to um fire station number five which we know is in need of repairs yeah since some water is filtering through the facade of the building so so if my car she'll be back she just went to get water okay so so we had done a a feas uh buil study yes or our facility study on these on the firehouses oh wow since I think 2017 2015 15 it was 15 okay and so again this is following that plan to continue the improvements for it is following that um I believe the architectural firm got the uh visibility studies for the firehouses and this is to address number three four and five yeah I'm supportive I just wanted to just double check what's included in the capital budget so if we pass this tonight it really should be including the capital budget well this is just to award Professional Services yeah once it is introduced to for the capital budget then that's the money that is basically going to be used for the construction yes um the reason why I have it in front of you in this council meeting is because the professional needs time to finish and be able to do the work and also for us to get it out to Vi at a certain amount of time now I I understand but we have you know two new colleagues coming on that I want them to be able to understand it as well thank you well before you go so U you know I I I understand I just want to be clear there is a a decent chance that Monies to improve the fire stations won't get approved in capital budget like that is a a real danger um yeah it's not even just like it's like a likelihood right so if we spend this money now I need to understand the impact if we're spending the money now and then capital budget doesn't fund improvements to fire stations like how long are these architectural plans good for what would we then do um if the money to actually fix them does not come through and that can be answered by anybody yeah it's going to be tough not fun that it doesn't happen yeah I had the same questions I had down um when were these repairs originally funded or the original assessment done so you've answered some of those questions but I'm somewhat concerned that this particular body can authorize the preliminary work um and then the next incoming Council can say we're not going to do it and so that would be the spending of this money um and it would be wasted or either put on hold again so my question to the administration would be wouldn't it make more sense for us to table this until the new um council is seated and then they can determine based on the likelihood of whether or not they're going to approve these repairs I mean it just doesn't make sense for us to waste this money if they're not going to to move forward with the capital portion or you could approve it and then not spend it yeah like I I think you probably want to hold at the very least off on spending it um but it may make more sense to to wait but you spoke to some time frames so can you help us understand what what you were referencing talking about I hope the time frames that you need well typically a project in order to be able to be designed and for us to put it out to bid for contractors to bid on it to build it it typically takes about it could take between at least at a minimum I would say nine months basically to a year so My Idea is we put it out it starts the conf finish up the design some of the work I will say in some of this fire station especially number five because the water is filtering behind the facade of the building if we don't do anything we are basically gonna have to do it as an emergency so it but that would be so that would be done under emergency hold on one second that would be done under emergency authorization then I mean it is is it affecting the the Integrity structural rigidity the soundness of the building some of these repairs I I could speak to it from previous that some of these requests have been made from the prior Chief so and it it wasn't correct it's getting worse it's just built up um over time so we we need to really look at these projects so even if we get what what the director's saying about we at least start putting it forward and if the next Council decides not to then it's going to be our job to convince him as to why because it may become an emergency at least we have stuff in place to move forward with it well I oh sorry so and that's I'm just telling you that some and I don't know all the exact specific things there but some of the things that are they're being uh asked to correct have been asked to correct and have probably gotten worse since it was previously asked we are certainly supportive of fixing the firehouses I think this Council as currently constituted would give a four or five vote in support of it the challenge though is if we approve 85,000 tonight it may not get done unless it is of your POS you're of the position that it could be done under an emergency authorization if it can't be done under an emergency authorization if it's going to require the council to vote on the capital budget to do it there's a a significant risk that that won't happen so we don't want to spend the 85,000 now knowing that that's what we're likely facing she just table it to the next Council I don't would that certainly understood that position um come to you in one second you're your next what you want to say d director even if let's say the up incoming Council doesn't approve it in within the next three months or so of the new year when we present the uh budget at least it will be under the sign and then we could present it again in the 2026 budget and then it will definitely and I I am hopeful that it will be approved and we could put it out to bid right away which is the intent and it would give us the year to get the ball rolling and put it out the bid before it becomes an emergency appropriation that's just two weeks my my point of view okay thank you director councilman uh G Michael I'm 100% supportive of this we took tours when I when myself and councilman Scarpa first got elected five of us took towards of the fire stations uh last year and I was honestly dis huren to see the conditions of some of these firehouses and it's not or stations and it's not fair to our men and women who serve who you know it it's I was disappointed and no one should be in in those conditions at all and they give their life on the line they put their life on the line for us and they spend you know hours there they go out they come back it's such a dilapitated state and it's not right and you know at the end of the day there is zero quality of life without Public Safety and we must take care of our employees it is very very important to me and so you know on also on that note um I'd like to say that I'm hoping that my colleagues in January will support this in the capital budget well you know because one of the things that's important to me and I and I and I say this often is we can't put our residents first if we're not putting our employees first at least by offering Fair decent working conditions councilman scarper are you on the can you hear us yes I can and I completely agree with everything councilwoman gabra Michael has said there are three of us who will be on the council next year and our firefighters should never have to be in the squalor that they are in now I would definitely approve this so I want to thank you councilwoman Scarpa for um for this vote um but also for your vote when that comes up in the capital budget um under this particular line like you're gonna you may get some all right so we're counting on your vote councilman scarpet spend this 85,000 we're counting on your vote councilwoman will you got it say I want to say the same thing that you know I am absolutely not objecting my concern is is that the incoming Council will not support the capital budget and the and and these needs and so right now what we have identified is a commitment from um three members of the 2025 Council so please do not disappoint we're going to hold you accountable um for all of the commitments that you are making to the community and the statements um that you you have made over these past four years residents have come and held us accountable they have come and they have um called us out and you will still be in the hot seat and I won't and I will absolutely come back and identify when people have made statements and commitments and revers their position thank thank you councilwoman so I think we're good on 341 um we're not pulling to vote uh questions were answered 3 42 councilwoman G Michael yes so 342 the resolution does not explicity State who is paying for the Environmental Services provided by matrix New World engineering while a document mentions that the work is being carried out to comply with the njde requirements and includes coordination with the EPA due to the in uh inclusion of these areas in the orange Valley Regional groundwater contamination super fund site it does not CL clarify whether the cost will be fully or partially covered by either the njd by the njd EPA grants for the township so just looking for just some clarification on that because there's so many parties involved so for resolution 342 for uh Professional Services with Matrix new world is basically for them to provide us assistance with the compliance process if I'm understanding your question correctly ly this is in regards as to whether or not some of these organizations are paying yeah are helping or if there's a grant or it Sol on the township Sol on the township okay thank you director simple question thank you so much you're welcome do you want to pull for no or no no it's just that was the only question I had any other questions on 342 well I do so now that it's being paid for by us is this also part of the um monies that are going to be um paid in advance by the developer proposed developer they were supposed to be giving us a some type of loan or something this is this is for the valley this isn't this isn't the isov the uh BR for the re Development Area for Central Valley which is already established and then also for the new one that we put an application in for within JD for the Lakeside right it says Lakeside Avenue on here oh Oh I thought it was only the valley Lakeside is the movie no no I know I know ancillary uh lots too so is this the the Barton press lot or is this the Lakeside Avenue Lots the whole all the whole all of all of the Town own properties in that District okay so then this is then reimbursable this is from the from the developer this is the money that they said that they would put on loan to so that we wouldn't have to borrow or Bond and then once we get the grants for it we pay them back the yeah but I this this is more regulatory this is Matrix helping us comply with all these voluminous requests to make this a Brownfield development um I don't I don't know for sure I mean I guess that's a question for legal but I don't think that this part is covered I think this is us looking to direct work with the federal state agencies to get this cleaned up this is hire a law firm it's it's you you're hiring uh Matrix new world so you're you're so this is so that we can get the designation is that how we get that yes for this one we already have it down the valley but this is like an expansion there so do is this thing going the work that they do from 342 is that going to be included in our application for those grants to actually remediate the site I don't think this would be covered I don't think that it's going to be covered this is basically for for them to assist us with the designation of the uh Brownfield Development Area in Lakeside okay exclusively the designation of the area right now the designation doesn't exist we've submitted an application and it's under review right now by NDP as a matter of fact we had a meeting last Thursday with them and we were talking about the Central Valley uh BDA area which is already designated and work is going on hold on hold on a second oh councilwoman can you mute Council oh thank you please continue so for the one for the Lakeside Avenue like I was mentioning it will be hopefully we will find out sometime next year whether or not we our application has been approved and the one for the central value is already ongoing and on that one this is also to assist us with that but there's already ongoing work for which we're being reimbursed in other previous approv proposals we're being reimbursed for the work but not for this not for this no all right so my my last question and I'm happy to hear from my colleagues so is this Brownfield designation and this may or may not be for you um but is this Brownfield designation required in order for us to get the state grants that we were talking about for the remediation yes yes absolutely you need you need to create and the way they explained it to us because we had a meeting during the summer uh our assistant business administrator was present the mayor uh Matrix new world uh the lsrp from the developer myself and the way that they explained it to us was you need to create this BDA yeah area first once it is created and established then from then we could actually utilize that to be able to apply for Grants otherwise we don't qualify for anything got it and then and last thing then so do we have to vote does the council vote on designating it a BDA Brownfield Development Area I believe that's an EPA designation correct they they we apply and they give it to us okay I I think we do have to and according to councilwoman thinks we have to vote on it does the council vote or not the council voted for a resolution when we apply for the gr back in the summer right so now we're just waiting for them to review the application and make a decision as to whether or not they accept what we propose as the BDA for lak side so so specifically the council has to vote to designated a Brownfield Development Area you said we did that already you did it for the resolution of I will say of support for the obligation for the grant okay to go for the grant like we have to vote but that wasn't the five million that we're talking about that was a different Grant this is to make the designation just to make the designation okay all right I think I'm clear at least I'm clear enough any other questions lot of steps this all right thank thank you director um you're good on 34 me council president just to follow I sent you an email from um Miss rynolds for the bill list so if you have a question about the bill list she she provided you the answer 7 so you can look at it later but it was for Zoom it was for U somebody who was running the zoom meeting got it that for that board and just you further context these expense reimbursements have been made to this particular individual um since I mean I can go back to 2021 for the zoom and and the Adobe uh subscriptions thank you so to that point then my only question would be because when I talk to some of the other boards that they don't have um access and the town has told them um that we can't provide them with services so them that's inconsistent why are we doing it for this particular board and not doing it for others I yeah I don't have an answer for why yeah I don't have an answer for why um we're only doing it for the board of adjustment and not for any of the other boards I can only go off of the the history that I can see for this particular individual and this particular uh budget account and board and and again we've been paying these particular reimbursements for the last three years so I would just ask the administration that we be consistent with how we're reimbursing any type or sponsoring any type of boards because you know yeah I second that I mean should be across the board I understand I I I think it's going to be not at all because it's fairly expensive and you know how many commissions and Boards we have well that's my point you know absolutely so you want to pull that then I mean it's I'm not going to pull it for reimbursement because obviously it's a pra a past practice that we've already done what I would like to happen is either we end it now and not do it again or we do it for everybody I you're going to have to give them through the end of the month or whatever the case may be but um all right I think you made your point there thank you very much councilwoman um yeah wait a minute I had a oh no I was 343 pulled I had a I think I had a question on 343 nobody pulled that we're gon we didn't pull anything yet questions question yeah but I do have a question on 343 okay I have on 344 uh so on 343 it it it references a loan or a grant um what is that necessary do because we're really applying for Grants we're not applying for loans this is 343 I believe is The Rock Spring one right uh it's open space it's roxb Golf Course correct yeah so that's that's Supple that's supplemental funding um that we put in for each year for Rock Spring we don't know what they're going to give us at some point in the future they'll give us enough that we meet the halfway mark and then we'll have to determine another supplemental funding project that's the most they'll give us but at some point in time we'll get half our money back we just don't know upfront how much the state's going to budget to give us each year we ask for the full like five million or what it is right but if they came back and said okay well we'll give you a million this year but it's in the form of a loan I don't want to approve that I don't because it references say alone so let me give you the exact language um if you look down at the very bottom the now there therefore Clause I mean it says it other places too but at the bottom it says the governing body board resolves that Susan McCartney or the successor to the office of Mayor is hereby authorized to a request such a loan and or such a grant but isn't loan exed out no I I exed it out yeah but it says Andor such a grant yeah and or right so they can ask for a loan and a grant they could ask for a loan or a grant so we've only asked for the grant we did not ask for a loan so why do we have the loan language then I I don't so that's Green Acres yeah I think that's their standard form is is that the case we amend the resolution to take the loan portion out yeah all right so let's remove that in a just to request such a grant it should re re request such a grant okay so that was my question but why why would you want to wait because there are some questions here with this with getting the the okay so you want to talk about it when we get no I want to wait until January all right already apply for the grant though are we in process of receiving funds yeah we'll we'll miss the yeah so we we've applied and we're awarded a grant for 2024 this is the 2025 application when is the deadline for the 2025 application it might be in like a month or so probably soon I mean don't come out real early she's looking it up so why would we not apply for Green Acres funding can we we're gonna we're gonna deal with it we'll address it we're so 343 is gonna be I'm good with my questions 343 we're going to come back to those that need to be pulled for a no vote uh or for an independent vote so are you pulling 343 I'm not but my colleague is so P I do want to change the language okay so we'll talk about that yeah it's gonna be pulled we can do it when we pull it yeah just okay all right so now councilman celino PLL 344 so 34 question question well question or statement so basically Miss carala on the safe roots of school so two things here with this grant um first of all the N NJ doot we announced this earlier this year that the 2022 award uh was to go to sidewalks in the Gregory School location this is the one on LEL Avenue uh resolution 344 right this is the same I'm pretty sure it is I just want you to D and I just wanted to know the time frame after this got approved what's next because I just don't want folks to think that this is on here and you know the sidewalks are going to be done in the spring so you could just give a little time frame of I sorry to break the news but this is for the save rout to schools 20122 Grand yeah which is for five different schools um in the township which were Kelly hael uh Rosell Gregory and I know I'm missing one more okay I know I walked them all with do when we met oh here they are here they here it Redwood so this is in support of that one okay so so this is what was awarded on the 2022 so this is basically for the preliminary engineering design and what's the time frame again while these projects done well the preliminary engineering phase takes at least between nine months to a year then after that we will have to reapply to njdot for another grant for the Final Phase design so that might take it could take three to six months to get another agreement then after that we will do the same thing that we're doing now for the Final Phase we will do a resolution um and so that everybody knows this is at reimbursable Grant as the consultant is doing the work we submit the invoices and we get reimburse the monies or the funds from njdot so figure after during final design phase it will be another 9 to 12 months and then after that you will go out to bid couple years then okay I just people see these on our agendas and they get all excited but unfortunately it's a couple years away thank you you're welcome that's it council president uh thank you uh 345 uh uh um no sorry 347 yep that was me Council um 347 both and 348 at the same time I read through the um language in the application and um where I tried to look at similar uh Grant applications or opportunities when we put it out to bid um we don't use any specific langu anguage um that speaks to trying to preserve our trees so when we're doing curbing or when we're doing um Road um Paving I would think that in order for us to get bids that are going to be inclusive of any type of tree preservation that we might want to indicate that language um in in the bid specs you okay so I don't put it on the RFB that I put out to the professionals because typically before they design or do anything I do meet with them on the field and we decide whether or not the curb needs to be removed because as you understand sometimes when we made the obligations for the grants um how would I say this might be a couple of years down the road when we do the work so the physical condition of the curve might have changed now for the specifications we could definitely put a language in there but most likely it will be on the plans as well but if we don't to be removed I'm just trying to think about again we're not here we're not sitting here and you know for the past four years we've talked about how can we strengthen our tree ordinance how can we strengthen and protect our trees and I'm just saying if I'm reading the same application and it doesn't speak to tree preservation then why is a company going to care about tree preservation that's what our concern is so we I'm not understanding what exactly you're asking for me asking me to put that type of language on the RFB on the request for Professional Services so when they're doing their when they're doing their um bids and they're coming back and they're giving us quotes if they need to bump out on a on a tree to protect a tree and that's not in their original bid then where then they're going to come back to us later and ask for more money Mone no they won't well how how are we going to move towards an opportunity where the people who are repaving the trees are going to protect repaving the roads are going to protect that will be put on the specifications to the contractor at the time of bidding not on the RFP okay the RFP is basically for Professional Services for us to get an engineering consultant to be able to do the plans and specifications and in the process the engineer department is is involved now with this two streets um the rehabilitation of Franklin Avenue there is literally no curb removal on this project I could tell you that firsthand and with regards to Oxford Place there's literally no trees on the road and we are only removing a few pieces of curb it's most it's mostly mle and Paving and the replacement of the curb rims at the various intersections of the streets all right understood but I think at some point if we don't change the language in the bid application then we're never going to get to a point where the companies are going to to have as a priority to protect our canopy it will be on the specifications at the time of bidding so so I would like to I want to stress something as well director because we've had uh disagreements about which trees should be preserved and which shouldn't um I do expect every uh time we repaved the streets that the tree ordinance is abided by um that means what is in the tree ordinance with regard to who can take down a tree that is honored many of these trees that are being taken down when we do Street Paving should not have been taken down and it's it's not that they can request to have them taken down a resident can't even request to have it taken down unless it's unhealthy if it's unhealthy it's a whole another story but but if it's not a hazard if it's not a dying tree or an unhealthy tree our tree ordinance requires us to do everything we can to protect it and I want to stress why like right now uh Mr Wier tonight talked about his hometown out in California being burned up it's December normally that fire season ends in November we just had a fire ban in New Jersey in November which is crazy so we see the effects of climate change and it's very inconvenient and it is going to be costly but that tree ordinance has to be honored every single time we rip up streets curbs whatever they are and if it means we can't pull the curb out there if it means we have to leave the curb and do a bump out around it if it means we have to use some of the alternate technology that Mr Kip sent to All of Us in email then we have to do that but that's what the ordinance calls for that is the law in West Orange and that has to be abided by whether it's this project or any other I just want to stress that for you because that I I I I I think if we don't we are doing ourself a disservice but we're doing an even greater disservice to people that are going to come behind us um all right any other questions on on what was that 347 no thank you very much director uh 348 councilman Williams same thing or yeah I said 37 347 and 348 the same application okay um 350 oh I had a question yeah we all did so 350 or South Valley Road are are these theet streets for the crosswalks on lington um over by Valley vintage is that this is to address the meeting that we had with the residents I would say a couple of weeks ago yeah from the Gregory um Avenue area this is to address the uh midblock crosswalk that they were requesting at the intersection of South Valley Road and Fairview okay okay that was my question thanks and then my question okay go ahead my question goes back to the same um dis process it said that that residents met um I wanted to understand what residents were met with from the area how many residents and then um how did we decide on Bright View um receiving the application for the repairs so we had approximately 40 plus residents that met with the mayor uh a few Council members were present myself um Captain Pat Mulo we also had invited the uh assistant County engineer and they met with the with the with the residents and we discussed you know their needs their concerns and what else they want us to do to improve safety in this areas and brigh view how did we decide on them I pick Bri view because typically I don't know if you have noticed 90% of the resolutions that we do any uh safety studies they're always the lowest price uh there also any work that they do is accepted by the county they are actually recommended by the county itself and because we're doing Gregory Avenue and it's a county road I figured I wouldn't go wrong with this thank you you're welcome did the residents request sidewalks they requested crosswalks they request the sidewalks um are we going to do them I'm sorry are we going to do the sidewalks well well we got a grant uh that we applied for last year um is the 2024 safe roster School Grant and like I Tred to explain to the residents it is a long process process um right now I am waiting to hear back from the dot in regards to the agreement once I have an agreement then we could review it accept it put it in front of the council once that's approved and signed then we send it back to the OT and then from there then we'll be able to uh proceed with the preliminary engineering so that will be something that hopefully will be happening next year and then after that it will be you know final design phase that will take probably another year and then bidding well thank president and just a piggyback in that meeting so um they yeah we you saw the faces drop when they saw the heard about the timeline and because it is amazing when especially we all first get here as Council uh elective officials to see how long it takes for a project to get implemented from the time a grant is awarded and um they asked in the interim what can we do prior to receiving that funding and so the engineer uh is going to look at different ways but again all goes back to the capital approvement so we asked her to identify in this capital budget when we hear the presentation what items whether it's painting uh uh you know putting signage on the street whether it's extra signs or stop signs to certain locations so she was very accommodating with the residents and we'll see what gets passed in the capital budget but she'll bring up all those points when we get there thank you so my question was why why did we break out 350 and 51 like if it's going to it's the same type of work it's going to the same company it is going to the same company but one of them doesn't have the speed uh Raider study which is the one on Gregory Avenue so I would rather separate the two and they're probably going to be done a different times more or less so I rather keep things separately in case I need to present it to the County because one is a County Road and the other one isn't okay timing I I have a question director on 351 351 is the county requiring the study because we know there's an issue there why can't we just you know place the signage and crosswalk okay unless it's the county that mandates it or the do that mandates it um I'm GNA be direct on this one we do meet with the county we have met with the county actually back in early last year in regards to the needs for the Gregory Avenue Corridor they agree to construct the curb ramps and crosswalks along Gregory Avenue now they require the township to basically purchase and install and be responsible and sign a non parans agreement which I have to put in front of the council for the town to install and get permission for all the LED crosswalk push button signage the county also added an LED speed feedback sign now the residents are asking for more more they're saying it's not enough they still say that there is safety issues because we don't have a sidewalk as a result we apply for the grant last year unfortunately when you get federal grants they're not like dot grants in which like you go out to bid and you get 75% of the money ahead of time before you go into construction or like a cdbg grant where within a year you have to go out to Bid And as you are constructing the uh project you are being reimbursed that's not the case with the safe route to school which is a federal monies so to address their needs we had this meeting and during that meeting the county was very clear that they will not be f it funding any extra lighting for which I requested Captain matul to have the somebody in the police department to do a lighting study for all the poles that are in the area so that I could request pcng how many lights do we need and more or less what it's going to cost us so we have tried our best to work with the county and obviously there's only so much they can do and I will residents want more they say need more and that's why we're doing this crossover study just to make sure that indeed the county and myself as the engineer of the township are in agreement with the crosswalk thank you so much director you're welcome I mean it sounds like you're in in agreement with it already so yeah just need I'm not a fan of M crosswalks they're not um how would I say this prefer they typically are intersections like we have um because this mid crosswalk let's say on Gregory Avenue is like between two crosswalks already one is already where like a traffic light is so that's the reason why the county and myself would like a study just to make sure and how can we improve it I also don't want to put a crosswalk in an area that is dark there is no lighting that's the last thing that I want to do it's not safe okay exactly yeah thank you very much director uh anything else on 350 351 352 so I asked for 352 through 355 352 53 54 55 I just wanted to understand um why the uh amount is only $250 for six programs I I don't know if that is just consistent with with past um what we've done in the past but I'm not suggesting that we not do it I'm just trying to understand why it's at $250 I spoke with Director Van D earlier and she she told me this is is basically a reimbursement for services performed and that's an agreement they've had it's been a standard practice since she's been in the office nothing has increased it's a same amount of money to support the other the senior programs that she's providing the services to so my concern there came up with this analysis and maybe this is not the appropriate way to look at the services that are being provided if you would so it's a requirement for six different events activities um throughout the year so that's every other month if she's if they're taking a couple of hours to do an event or an activity and they're doing offsite how does $250 compensate for what we would be paying them if just as employees it's I'm just saying it's not Equitable like we're we're giving them and providing them a service but the $250 what what really would that cover I mean that's not even gonna cover snacks she basically she said just reimbursement for things of to host the parties and things of that nature um I could ask get in more detail for you I this is what I she told me today this has been the past practice what they did and um we should get itemized Bill to see I I will discuss that with her because this is this is a reimbursement for the year because I even questioned him when I saw for the period of till 2024 I thought it was a mistake and I thought for this going to be for future and she said no this is the way it's been since she came here I didn't know this about this we asked a question I will discuss this with her so in the future we have we got to have a more itemized Bill and figure out what what was happened here but this is what she explained to me today and that's the best in explanation I can give you I mean it's it's these are situations where you can't not support it because we definitely want to support seniors our buildings and give them services but at the same time we also have to be Equitable in the cost associated with that and $250 would barely cover snacks for one or two events not even IOD I will ask her to we or we people speaker I'll speak to her see what we do make this improve this and not to pull just to ask those questions okay I don't even know why there's resolutions I mean for that small amount of money buet issue that you my question I thought it was 2500 I how why are we doing 2050 a general purchase order would cover this yeah you don't need our authority to spend $250 I different ones for 2500 oh actually you wouldn't even need it then either no it's to up to 175 technically I guess you could figure it out clean it up and let us know yeah I'll I'll speak to that may just be Miss Van's misunderstanding that think she needs a resolution for all these um we'll find out all right we'll discuss it I think that's it for questions all right so now let's look at what will be pulled for debate potentially voting no should we pass cons we gotta pull them out yeah so what are we pulling and vote no colleagues okay 327 s okay 343 343 all right I've got uh we're going to have to pull 356 seven and eight you've already automatically pulled four and then also 360 anything else being pulled no no councilman Scara you're muted no I'm okay okay let me just review what 339 right 327 was the first one oh I'm sorry 327 I apologize 327 339 343 345 346 356 57 58 59 60 and 61 no we didn't pull 5 oh yeah that was ped automatic sorry yeah I'm pulling I'm gonna I'll explain why I'm going to keep 61 pulled pull 361 well the administration pulled it yeah it was folded oh yeah that's is that the that's automatic right yeah that had to be uh the ordinance have to has to be approved first okay so now can we do the consent uh move to the consent agenda consent okay all in favor I I thank you uh any opposed consent agenda is implemented uh resolution 32724 resolution authorizing an award of contract for 2024 tree planning at various locations uh to Frank G breath and Sun excavation in the amount of $142,100 councilwoman G Michael Yes uh thank you so much so um in our last meting this was I believe tabled um many of the Tre listed here are nonnative and violate our tree ordinance um Mr D had told us that if we didn't go ahead with this resolution that he would expense the money and save it for you know next year in the spring so we can still use that money not lose it and purchase so yeah I'll Reserve Reserve that's the word thank you the money for thank you so much so I'm hoping that we can uh vote no on this my colleagues will support me we must follow the tree ordinance um and hopefully we can put out a bid with trees that are native noninvasive non-invasive and Native thank you uh council president with that Mr Kip is here to speak to that if any Mr Kip would you uh like to to address this the there are multiple I think the majority of these um are either non-native uh or invasive I understand that there's an email that went out about some of the them being subspecies uh can you clarify for us before he does can I I wanted to I wanted to look at this so the Okami Cherry non-native want I'm G to Bucher some of these names but I was told to read on into the record the quanan Cherry nonnative the Autumn flowering cherry non-native the kuza Dogwood non-native colar Sergeant Cherry non-native not sure about the Princess Diana amelink here the ivory silk Japanese tree lilac non-native Queen Elizabeth hedge maple non-native ruby red horse chestnut non-native red Spire pier pair non-native Jefferson L Elm non-native Armstrong red maple non-native the only native ones are there three unless princess Dian ends up being and that's American horn beam swamp white oak and single stem River Birch and thank you um Mr Kip I look forward to hearing okay uh the problem is there's 33 native trees to New Jersey okay 75% of them can't live where we're goingon to plant so that knocks out wait say that number again there's 33 native trees to the state of New Jersey that's it all the rest are non-native naturalized and place where we plant them in the most toxic place we have is all the leeching and so forth and so for salt you need trees that survive and also other thing is with the trees they have to be vase shaped because of the trucks the sidewalks the wires they can't be f like most of the Native species are mushroom shaped so they Cascade out therefore the trees get hit by the trucks all the time or we have to excessively prune them to make them look like the power line trees uh the other thing is a lot of the Native species has been attacked by insects and diseases the native ashes all dead the uh the crab apples they get a bad fungus on them the native crab apples so a lot of these trees there aren't CH cheer trees that are native except they have cherries on them and it's not good for live sidewalk your lawn cleaning up it's just they're a lot of the native trees are not good for the environment there are only six shade trees actually that are good for the environment that are native and they're on the list and milaner is on the list that's a native uh there's three two or three other ones on four P four on on the list that will grow in the native ones so I did put that on the list I just they won't grow there's only one native one native ornamental and six native shade trees that grow on that list that'll that'll be good for our things because some of them the hickories have big gigantic nuts on them you can't really have that on the street on the sidewalk that's why in the in the in the town right away uh a lot of the N trees don't surprise American dog Woods don't that's why I replace American dog with cusa because they're n they're hybrid they're cross between a native and a you know Japanese can you can you put this in writing and send it to us in an email because there are many residents who have reached out to me about this for passion about this and I can go ahead and share it and you know my request for pulling this is to vote no and wait until January because we have a council elect who's coming in who's very passionate about the environment and does have some experience it would be great to have her feedback on the D other thing is with invasives these trees I chose are not invasive because they do not propagate they they get like they they grow by cuting you have to cut them put them to another tree and then they grow so they do not propagate thank you so therefore they're not invasive uh Council M castelino and Council Williams so the cherries that are on here do not prod produce the fruit then is that what you're saying okay so that won't be a mess in the street so my simple question is we have this in the ordinance weren't you working with the folks that together in the town tree or yes I was uh in the town Tre did did you lose this argument like like why what like about the yes but uh the town is exempt from the town tree ordinance town is not it says it in the town tree or it shouldn't it's on page I forget what page but it's in there it shouldn't it's under the prohibitions exemptions we debated that in public and I thought we changed that right it's in there though I look at it I got it it's there but at the end of the day we need to you know I there's no rush to do this I I yeah I I I know but at the same time I just hope we all start listening to you know the issues that could arise if we Implement some some things but I I agree if you could please write it up sure and give it to us so it could be debated out in the future okay thank you yeah thank you so I just wanted to be very very clear um as we continue to sit behind the deis I I looked at the ordinance I pulled up the application it says Township of West Orange preferred tree planting list it doesn't reference illegal tree planting anywhere in the ordinance that I saw it just says preferred trees so the statement about things being planted that are illegal it doesn't ref illegal plantings said illegal yeah no one did okay I can change that that's not easy to change all right so that that's the only point I no don't change it no I change the I can change the uh what species on they're making I mean that's not in the town treat I put that in my right I I I understood what you meant we can do that all right thank you yeah so you know listen I I got the same phone call uh some of my colleagues got including even today even though this was on last um meeting as well we got it that time too uh just want to be clear I think you know um you know I don't know what we can do about expanding the list to you know non-native trees uh but it's my recollection that the tree ordinance required native trees I I could be wrong I'm going off memory uh you are correct um but the again town this this this is EMP well we're going to have to revise right so yeah so we can we can punt this down the road um but uh a town is not like that we debated that in public multiple times we talked about the county talked about the schools talked about the town Town should not be uh exempt from the tree ordinance we can't expect everybody else to follow the tree ordinance and we're not going to follow it that's almost the direct quote um during the debate before we passed it and and second if we need some feedback with regard to allowing other trees that are not allowed in the ordinance uh please give us that l or give the you know send to the council that language uh so that when we do take this up or when the council takes it up we can consider that as well Council I have a question for Mr Kip or for for well probably Mr Kip so according to the ordinance now obviously this is our list for the township so if I'm a resident and I'm taking down a tray and I'm going to replace it I can't utilize anything on this list is that what we're saying we didn't put that in the ordinance no some of these trees are native no no say um about the nonnative the non-native one so if I'm a resident I want that's not what it says preferred it doesn't say the the ordinance says preferred tree list it says prer okay so I don't want to penalize residents if they want to plant something on the property it doesn't say there are some restrictions on what they can plant um there are some some trees that we know right now um are um they're very they're attractive to the spoted lantern fly whatever that thing is that we we trying to get and so they congregate on those they're attracted to those and those are not native trees so um you know we we wouldn't want you to plant one of those trees to help the spot Lantern fly and all these other I can speak to that the in the town tree ordinance uh you're you have to remove them tree of Heaven yeah the tree of Heaven it's in the town tree oh that one yeah that one but there's not a whole list of like no there's not a whole list of tre don't can't plant yet okay all right so this was pulled to vote no or to you want a table no okay um off for your motion oh before you do councilwoman SCA anything uh before we move to a motion no I'm good you no you offer your motion you pulled it all right I offer a motion uh well actually I'm not going to offer a motion I'm not going to offer a motion to approve 327 I don't want you can offer a motion to approve and then you vote now okay um offer the motion to approve 327 second okay councilwoman castelino um if you're not going to approve it you have to vote now well so you're okay uh okay yeah fine yeah yes well that was going to be my question so we don't have to have a resolution in place for you to uh Reserve funds so I I I'll reserve the funds in the balance sheet for the purchase of trees based without our consent based on the bid yeah we're not I'm not buying anything I'm not authorizing the purchase of I'm just reserving the funds on the balance sheet thank than you so so my understanding that the funds have been already appropriated through the budget you're just not going to spend them on this or anything else correct they just going to be reserved thank you okay your I guess yes yes oh no vote no if you don't want to approve it no okay no okay I'm enough councilwoman Scarpa no councilwoman Williams um I'm a little conflicted but I'm going to vote no because of the concerns of the species that are being planted but not voting no because I don't want to reserve the money okay council president Rutherford no okay the motion fails all right we're gonna hold off on 339 correct well they pulled it the administration pulled it it's going to be voted on after the ordinance right correct okay uh the next one 3433 yes 343 that's you yes okay so I'm gonna ask that we table this till January and this is and this is why it is my understanding that we have not received any money from Green Acres um because our application is incomplete and also the deadline for this is February 5th also my understanding I could be wrong so I'm I'm going to say what I have to say and then get clarification from the administration that our application is complete and that West orang needs to send in a survey title indeed uh survey title deed with specific Green Acres language and preliminary assessment with an environmental report and therefore it's deemed our application deemed incomplete and we won't get the money until we submit all those items which if that's the case is a huge red flag and a lack of transparency consider we've been told several times by the administration that we have applied the application's complete and that we did receive the money $1.1 or $1.2 million this summer per our pre PR CFO and mayor is that is that correct what she's so so I'm looking forward to the so so we were awarded uh $ 1,50,000 um I mean I've never said that we we received that money I think in in private meetings I've I've always maintain that we have yet to receive the funding um as to why the the the reason that you're you're putting forward is is news to me I have not heard that from from our grant consultant that we regularly meet with and and this is one of the projects that we discuss you know all I know is that we were awarded um there is a press release out there that we were awarded this money uh if there is something related to our 2024 application with we're deficient in um you know we will speak tomorrow uh with our grant consultant and please do because it's it's my understanding that there's there's proof of it and I will see if it can get circulated to you guys yeah I I I welcome it absolutely um thank you and this is not to you uh Mr I know that you know this is stuff that's been said prior to you joining us here in West Orange true so and then and you're right um the the deadline is February 5th uh for the supplemental funding request and obviously part of the application is we do need the enabling resolution you know which you know hopefully we we would get with that first meeting of January yes um but whatever information you can forward to myself and the chief regarding uh the 2024 application we would happily accept and and move on one second Chief did you want to add anything to that are you aware of I'm aware of that I've never gotten anything to that AFF from the grant writers that were deficient in any way I I like John said there's there's a press release out there that said we awarded 150 I do know from Mr not received it but we've never been told you're not receiving it because of a b or c uh councilwoman celino do do you have a timeline on when this rejection was one that we were supposedly notified of I recently found out and so which is why I mention it here tonight and I'm hoping that we can table this until January and there'll be more information and time for the administration to do their research and then when the other colleagues come on and they'll be well I I I would uh request MRC whatever you do find out and speaking with the um grant writers tomorrow that you circulate to the current Council I I'd like to know because you know I'm under the same impression as all of you we were I well I actually thought we took receipt of it I do recall in the council meeting um being told that we we received which is different than being awarded but no I don't remember I did and that's fine we can memories can differ uh but I do want I want to know can one at a time please I do want to know whatever it is you find out from the grant writers directly and uh please do include dates when if that is true if we were notified of some deficiency when were we notified okay thanks sir thank you Mr so is there a motion to table well just I just want one clarification from him U Mr dinc um so yeah and the d uh director carella have you received any notification number one and number two is there a time frame if we table this and it waits to January 6 like what does that look like so I have not received any notification regarding any deficiencies in our 2024 application uh as a reason for holding up the payment um so I have not received any communication uh regarding the the grant deadline of February 5th provided we can get that enabling resolution done in January to submit with our application I I think we'll be okay um you know we'll consult with our our our grant writers tomorrow about sort of this amended timeline being that we're not able to pass the resolution tonight uh director do you want I don't have much to add uh from what our CFO has said uh the resolution is just basically for supplement and funding from njp based on what we were awarded last year in regards to any deficiencies on the application um I have not received anything in my emails or letters thank you very much but I am looking forward to this being looked into further because again my understanding is that the money has what has not been received because the application is not complete so so you want to table this table January I'll give everyone time to do their investigations and look into it okay so there's a motion on the floor of the table I'll second thank you sorry councilwoman celino yes councilwoman gber Michael councilwoman Scarpa yes councilwoman Williams yes council president rord yes the motion carries to table 345 okay so this is state of New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Green Acres Program Vincent's Pond walkway and dredging improvements this requires public comment if anyone has any so um we well didn't you pull this too briefly five no the administration pulled 345 and 346 Public public hearing all right so we are now going to open up public hearing public comment on uh resolution this a Vincent oh you got to give us your name and a Lawrence Lincoln Avenue a Vincent's Pond is if you just refresh me just a second what this is the park the dean uh that's what the dean uh Park yes yes okay um okay the pond if it's going to be dredged it's going to kill everything in there uh except I guess some fish that could get away through the gate and there's a there's a when there's not a drought there's a the stream that goes down they could Escape there but it it requires uh you know a lot of uh disruption to the lake it's not that deep though it's maybe about two and a half three feet deep at the most so it's full of silts I mean it it does need dredging I've read some stuff it says maybe it could have used maintenance over the years you know you could you could maintain a lake over the years and not have to have a kill and a dredge but just maintain it you know but we haven't done that so and uh so I'm a little worried about that but um and then also um the the asphalt is uh around the lake um is able to be um navigated by a wheelchair if somebody's pushing it it's it it Pockets a little where there's there's as I said before where there's some Roots but a person could pull pull pull uh with an aid could push a wheelchair if somebody had a I looked at the Ada uh requirements I don't know exactly if that includes a person who has his own electric wheelchair that probably would be difficult if he was just alone with an electric wheelchair I don't think you'd have a good a good ride there and it would be a little too bumpy um so um whatever I mean then my overall com uh coming out the money the open the Green Acres is priority wise it would be great if the Green Acres could go toward buying up open land in West Orange which is a rare commodity like maybe Ridge Road or the highlands whatever could be money could go toward these beautiful spots that are that are um uh you know in the developers eyes you know to to build hundreds of houses that will overcat our schools they will clag our roads with traffic so I think anyhow that would be the priority if Green Acres money if this money is fungible it can go from one place to the other or it's just directed just to the grant of this part that's all I'd say and gu to be as careful as possible with uh with the the life inside the lake if it could um be um moved down to the uh to the stream or even just collected saved and then put back in the lake later at some point or I don't know uh but uh I did I did ask people around the lake and they said they would they're in favor of the dredging because they said that the lake um used to have uh the water spouts go very high and used to oxygenate the lake and they felt the lake was much more healthy with that and now the lake is so full of silt that they they consider the lake a half dead lake so thank you very much thankk thank you Mr Coen I think that uh Doug Adams 9 West over um really 340 5 and 346 are kind of the same thing for me uh the first thing is um we want to be very careful and I appreciate Mr Cohen's um time that he spent there but I think it's it's important to be very careful about uh physically able people making decisions about what works for people who have physical challenges and in our schools all across the ADA rules there's one phrase that always works the least restrictive environment and people who have developmental disabilities physical disabilities somebody that needs to use a power chair shouldn't be excluded from the lake because now we really didn't want to put the asphalt there to make it more comfortable for them to be able to go even a senior citizen who walks but has mobility issues whether it's a walker or some other form of adaptive equipment to help them to appreciate that area deserves to have that area accessible for them and the the terminology that's often used and and it really is cold language about something being too Urban the reality is the money that they want to spend over at Colgate for that part and the money they're talking about has to do with accessibility all those wood chips if somebody's a wheelchair they can't navigate that very easily if someone is using a walker and many of our children many of our adults have to have adaptive Mobility equipment and the wood chips are not necessarily suitable for that and then when it gets when it's wet out we have rain the rain clears it's a beautiful day the kids want to go out the problem is now you got all these wood chips holding the water so it's muddy it's it it now the park becomes not usable this is where the conversation about what it means to serve all of West Orange becomes very critical because the ideal of something being Urban to somebody who just wants to be able to take their kids out to play on the swing but they got to use power chairs or something to do it they're not concerned about whether somebody else thinks it's Urban they're concerned about whether or not their kids can benefit from that resource that's there so I think we want to be very care careful about those words because the reality is there are Urban environments that just do better services to the residents sometimes in some areas than we do and so I think we want to be very mindful of that I think the idea that degnan particularly since we use Toby cats for our senior citizens we use Toby cats for our uniquely gifted residents I think it's all the more reason to be mindful of what it means for that area to be accessible for them to be able to get around it and for them to be able to enjoy it and Colgate and particularly that area in co uh West Orange when we think about that ok Conor has a beautiful wonderful accessible Park it's got a rubberized service surface the families go up there and they have a wonderful time I think the people down the hill deserve that type of quality environment as well and so I just would encourage uh the council when they think about these Dynamics and we talk about serving all of our residents and I know councilwoman Scarpa said that she's planning on voting no on this I would just ask that you would reconsider voting no if we really are vested in making sure that we're creating least restrictive environments for all of our families and all of our young people to be able to actually have access to our parks and to be able to use our parts thank you thank you does anyone else want to address Council on uh 3:45 seeing none public comment is now closed um I have my own questions and concerns colleagues I'm happy to hear yours uh councilwoman castelino and uh just before you go councilwoman Scara if you uh need to be addressed just you know unmute and let me know okay I will thank you uh thank thank you council president um so the request at Vincent Pond walkway has since I've been on the council in 2015 has been a yearly request I I I can't express enough I appreciate uh uh Mr Adam's comments uh yeah just getting from the parking lot if you park in the um if you park in the um High School parking lot to walk to an event at the toic cat Civic Center even for myself you someone walking to the event in heels you could easily twist an ankle so that walkway has to be done um for safety reasons for so many reasons and and I'm not going to reiterate uh what Mr Adams just said uh drudging um you know Mr Kio I I would like to get you know when we we get to that point he could walk us through then with that entails we've done that before but and that's also a need also um there's an odor that protrudes so that also needs to be addressed and uh again um you know and I agree with Mr uh Cohen in regards to having something implemented uh so we don't have to always stretch the lake again that goes to back to why we need to support certain items in our capital budget in the future so I'm going to be very supportive of this uh this uh initiative and I appreciate Mr kio's um creativity and utilizing this grant thank you council president uh thank you Council thank you um Toby Catz senior facility um events held on a monthly basis that I attend events and parties that are hosted or by other residents in the community I haven't hosted anything of their late um but I'm there quite often and to walk U from the high school to the facility around the lake um it's very dangerous so not only is it dangerous as my colleague indicated with people who are wearing heels um because I've certainly uh not broken one but almost lost footing um when you go to events it's a beautiful landscape it's a beautiful Park in West Orange but it's not maintained as you indicated um in your comments we haven't dredged the lake we haven't maintained the lake this is an opportunity for us to get a fresh start um we received a grant a couple of years ago from Mikey Cheryl's office to continue to do improvements at this particular um Park as well um those haven't been done as yet um but again these are improvements that are necessary for us to make sure that all of our residents have access and accommodations um to our parks and recreational facilities I'm absolutely supporting this um and again with the intent and the hope and desire um that the the lake is properly maintained from this point on so drudging isn't something that has to be done on a repeated basis anyone else before I go no so um you know I think all of us support maintaining uh Vincent Pond I certainly do uh and doing the walkway my question is uh where's this 995 coming from is that open space recck money or is that capital budget of Prior year is that capital budget upcoming year where where's the 995 come from that kind of information should be in our resolution yeah Green Acres is giving us 995 and we're giving 9 995,000 so where does the money come from I believe ours is 1675 you 507 but that's cold gate sorry yeah I'm on 345 milon that's a lot of money so it's it's existing capital I I filled out the capital accounts I think after the the resolutions were printed um the Paula has the capital accounts uh but it's existing Capital as our match so that means that something that was approved in a prior capital budget yes was was not done and now we are diverting money from whatever that project was to this project correct it's utilizing existing Capital how can you guarantee that it's not being taken from our existing open space trust fund we're not charging it to the the open space uh can we put a clause in here because there's fears from certain people from the community who have reached out to me that this is coming from our open space they feel it's coming from our open space trust fun and an effort for it not to I would because if not I'm going to vote no on this I would feel more comfortable that there's a clause in here either way that states this is not coming from our open space trust fund money and I'm I'm still curious as to how would we know if we don't ask and I'm this is not critical of you Mr DAC just I want to understand how would we know what prior capital projects without proactively asking what capital Improvement projects that were approved voted on by the council were not done and then that money was then reallocated I'd like to know both the project that wasn't done and then what it's going to be applied toward and that you know that's I think that's only fair if we you know our last CFO um I I won't go down and row it's our last night what I think we should do is if we're going to Di that kind of money I'm not talking about $155,000 but this is a million dollars rounded up if we're going to divert a million from one project that was already voted on we should know that hey we voted this million over here we didn't do it and it could be totally legitimate reasons why we didn't do it but we didn't do it and now we're g to put it here right like because there's no way for me to know where this 995 comes from based on what's written on 345 or the on 67 for 346 unless unless I ask right so probably multiple things can I probably not a $1 million doll project it's probably multi and also things that came in under budget so that that would that's a major win that's a major win and that's something I think the administration should should like scream from the mountain tops we we approved this at whatever price we came in under budget now we're able to do other project because we were so efficient with the use of your tax dollars but whether it's that or something else I think we should know based on what we've approved you know either it was done uh and it came in under budget or and that was the savings from it or it wasn't done at all all of the money this and this is information that it should be in the resolution um and for that reason I'm going to ask that we table this one and even the next one to confirm you guys have time to do your research and look into it and then you can bring it back in January once we have well if you're certifying 9995 is not coming from open space They Don't Know Chief just said it could be from several different accounts no no no different capital projects yeah I I don't want to table it Council Celina so so on or and this for Mr TC's purposes so on or our other resolution it says I I hereby certifi funds available from the account number of police Communication Center update so on that was on 338 so and I know Miss carala on the back of a lot of her resolutions she so shows how the project is getting funded whether x amount is from the grant x amount is from um Capital so I think with this one I think I'm okay with approving it tonight but maybe let us know where this came from this is an application no but the funding the matching funds right for our our portion of it where are you going to get those funds from okay okay but still you'd have to accept this via resolution if we were rewarded this and then I would have to attest to the actual funds but I understand Al so at this point I understand like why apply if we don't know exactly what we're charging to so yeah we will provide um so this resolution is basically for the grand application to be submitted to DP once we get the grand then we have to come up with the match depending on what the grand amount is because it's a percentage right now if I'm not mistaken and correct me if I'm wrong I believe it's between $350 and $400,000 that it is allocated located on a separate account for the walkway around Vincent Pond that was a project that was underd designed previously but it has not gotten uh it has gotten out to bid actually last month it's still under review by my department um and the numbers actually came lower than what we were expecting on our preliminary uh Engineers estimate so this is not for allocating the grants right now this is just for the submission of the Grant application to Green Acres so that we can be awarded the grant or at least be considered for it and then once it's awarded well hold on a second so I don't think that was the that may have been the confusion for someone else that was not my confusion I I still think it's important when we're making that application and you're asking for the approval of the council to do that that we know where the money's coming from you know our primary responsibility is the purpose of the pond will be coming from the upcoming capital budget it is actually in there as one of my top 10 items the dredging of the lake I met with residents from CET Road or C Street which is right behind Vincent's Pond and they've been requesting I believe for many many years that the pond be Dred well that's different than what we were just told right we were we were just told I I see Council mcara has her hand up um we were just told that this is prior year Capital prior year capital is the walkway around the lake yeah next this upcoming Capital will be the dredging of the lake there's two separate and if you notice like everything for this applications are on the website all of this has been posted on the website the engineer estimate signed by me the plans that were under design at the time preliminary design plans for the walkway as well as the environmental impact statement or the Eis that it was prepared by my office all of that information is online for both for Colgate Park as well as for the uh Dean Park dredging and uh vincon walkway this project is to be a multiphase project basically phase one would mean that we're going to do the walkway around Vincent's spond and the reason being is because we won't have to do an NJ DP application instead we will do what is called a permit by rule meaning that we will basically put back more or less what is there and we won't have to go to njd for permission then the second phase of the project will be the dredging of the pond for which we're going to have to do a full-blown survey and mapping we're going to have to do crosssections we're going to have to calculate the amount of sediment that is at the bottom of the lake and we're going to have to calculate how much of that is going to have to be taken off and also as part of the uh estimate that was prepared for this application I included the fish removal and restoration for the pond with many other items so the projects are to this project is to be done in two phases and colate park is to be done in one phase uh all right councilwoman Scarpa I have questions on that councilwoman Scarpa yes I just I like the I would like to Second um councilwoman GB Michael's uh motion to table this until we get more information from exactly where these funds are coming from all right so I don't think she actually offered that just yet but I I do understand um all right so now give we need time frames um phase one would take how long when would phase two start and what are the deadlines associated with applying for these Grant dollars I believe this application is due February 1st if I'm not mistaken for this one that's what I heard from our grand writer um all this work had to be prepared because it needed to be posted on our website we needed to do an advertisement on the paper we needed to have it on the resolution to the council and also to be able to provide public comment the recreation department then prepares surveys uh for the residents and all of that was also uh posted on the website so more or less everything has to be in by February 1 for both for both applications poate Park and dekam park there's two separate applications for deam Park the application is going to be for both phases you're going to have phase one which is going to be the path around the uh Lake and then phase two will be the dredging when would phase two start well that depends on whether or not we get the grant even though we have it on our capital budget for I believe I put in a million dollars or so if I'm not mistaken on the list it might be more so we're hopeful that we're going to get the Grand and once we get the grand we'll be able to go ahead and do an RFB for Professional Services and then have them design the dredging of the pond because we will have to submit for permits to njd and what happens in the event the capital budget fails if the capital budget fails then it would all depend on whether or not we get the grant if we do get the grand we might have to be able to do uh the dredging if we we could maybe design the project put it out to be instead of if we get lucky like in other projects and the bits are lower than we had previously calculated it happens so I hope you can understand why that is a challenge I understand that it is a challenge and trust me it is a challenge for myself as well when I have to prepare every single one of this uh Capital budgets as well as to like see which projects need to be prioritized because the truth of the matter is we don't have the money but if we don't apply for Grants then there is no opportunity for us to obtain funding in other ways to be able to make this projects come true so I understand Vincent's Pond is going to have to be dredged at some point it's better to have half of it paid than by someone else than taxpayers but I hope you do appreciate the challenges that at December 10th without having passed the capital budget yes so uh councilwoman be my point and about to make now council president thank you we don't even know if this will be approved in the capital budget come January when we have a new Council it's 1120 we have a room full of people that are waiting on other applications for us to sit here and go back and forth when we haven't even passed the capital budget doesn't make sense to me and there's questions that we have my advice is that we table this one and the next one we deal with the January 6th let's see what happens with the capital budget because if it doesn't get approved we just waited wasted 20 30 minutes time 40 minutes talking about this so then why don't we just CL V then yeah that's what I'm trying to expl hold on hold on this is what I'm trying to explain because it's not fair to the people sitting here who are waiting to hear on their resolutions and it's almost midnight and with all due respect I'm leaving at midnight because I'm in serious back pain and I don't stay here after midnight because of my my spine issues so I would like to pull uh I make a motion to or table I make a motion to table 345 resolution 345 I'd like to Second it three four times yes I have a doctor's appointment with my spine doctor so councilwoman celino I would love to support that but I I can't because I think we got to get this done and it's a lot of residents will be disappointed if this doesn't get done and it's a safety concern so I so I apologize Council woman but I'm I'm going to not support this I think we should vote for it tonight so I'm no to tabling councilwoman gber Michael Yes councilwoman Scarpa yes councilwoman Williams no council president Rutherford yeah this is a hard one because I don't I don't expect it's going to pass in the capital budget um but I do share the concerns um uh this this is to table my vote is no that's okay okay all right all right I offer a motion to approve 345 entitled to your votes as we each are as duly elected officials it won't I don't think it will was there a second to that I'm sorry serious budgetary issues okay to approve um U I want to be S my motion um I need this amended um to include language that it uh none of these funds are going to come from open space I'll second that for both of them uh 345 and 346 but we're on 345 now all right so all right hold on a minute might as well resend yeah so I'm offering an amendment uh you would put it in I guess the the now therefore four clause maybe you know one of the numbers there none of the on will come from open space wreck you can figure out how to add the language what makes sense and it's not an ordinance so it's just a resolution okay so on the amendment councilwoman celino yes councilwoman gber Michael Yes councilwoman Scarpa yes councilwoman Williams yes council president Rutherford yes so that motion carries number CF certified that yes thank you um I offer a motion to P approve 345 second with as a yes okay councilwoman castelino yes councilwoman gber Michael no councilwoman Scarpa no council woman Williams yes council president ruer yes okay the motion carries all right uh 346 has the same challenge um public heing oh yeah that's right we do have to have public comment on 346 yeah um going to invite the public that wishes to uh offer public comment on 346 -24 uh enironment uh Department of Environmental Protection Green Acres Program specifically with regard to Colgate playground if there's anyone in council chambers that would like to comment now is your chance seeing none public comment is now oh we have one okay this this one I'm just re state your name and address please Lincoln Avenue West orang um I I went to the Colgate after a rainstorm uh yesterday rainstorm and the wood chips uh absorbed the rain there was no wetness or anything where kids couldn't play and they were playing at uh even in the rain and it was kind of at the end of the rainstorm went there near Sunset so um I think the wood chips is great I think it um actually um a a rubber surface with the in the summertime will be very hot it's almost akin to concrete and there's no shade there and also under the wood chips is is dirt you can plant trees there they should we need shade and you can also easily put up um um some benches um and and then some more attractions some more slides some more we could add to it we don't have to take everything away destroy it and then put something else there I mean this will be a a lot less expensive fix if we could leave and and and what uh what Mr ads what what Reverend AB Adam says about the um um about people who might have trouble walking on the chips I'm not so sure I think a walker easily can go on the chips and uh and the wheelchair needs to have an aid it will not be you know to and and then somebody whose balance is not the greatest I mean it's a flat surface I don't think it's so difficult I think it's wonderful having the wood chips so I think it's and there's no need for a curb there's a The Proposal says a big curb has to be redone there's nothing wrong with the curb that's there and again I thought is icing on the cake if they could add a water uh feature a sprinkler or something for the summer I mean the summers are very long here and school is out I mean this is this is this will be appreciated by the community so I think I think that you should work with what you have and not just do a total redo and and I will call it an urbanization I mean really I I this hard rubber surface all along and no nothing can really grow there you could put a tree I guess in between the Rubber and it might even just constrict the the width of the tree I mean it just really looks like you're deep in the city and uh you know there's no reason for for this in in our community so you know it'd be I we could even have something like a little corner of the park would be like natural um natural um flowers they grow something akin to a pollinator you have bees coming and the kids can watch nature interact in the air in the in the in the neighbor neighborhood where they're playing that would be great too because this is a pretty big concrete area Colgate Park it's a lot of concrete enormous um enormous parking lot and a big playing field with no trees I'm sorry I've taken up so much time it's late but that's the point Thank you anyone else want thank you Mr Coen anyone else want to address Council on 3 46 seeing none public comment is now closed um Council celino thank you thank you Mr Cohen for your remarks um so just so you know if you go to Verona Park they have this kind of surfacing they also have the paved walkways around Verona Park it's most aesthetically pleasing Suburban Park you you you could imagine um also the the county the reservation uh same thing too with that playground as a a a grandparent Who's Back In Action taking a two-year-old uh back to the park I want that new Surface um it just it is safer believe it or not but I do uh appreciate your point about the shade um there whether Mr K could find a place to uh plant a tree or get the shade coverings I do agree there there does need to be shading there for uh the residents of that um and the children of that uh neighborhood um because as a previous speaker said earlier um you know it it is in a area of town um and you know we we talk about equity and inclusion in our Township and every Park deserves what the Parks have in in other areas and we do the same thing with our school district we try to make it even playing field all around the township so again a important that we support these improvements I just want to tell my colleagues uh reminder to my colleagues and to my uh incoming colleagues Mr Kio has these parks on schedules and the reason being we've had complaints I know Council president's been very vocal this year about about parks and improvements and um I can't I can't tell you enough how backed up our schedule is from prior years when we cut the capital budget um I'm going to ask the directors be present when we do this presentation so they can explain the needs and how they get off kilter we heard from the engineer this evening on uh many items and um yes we could push things back and I I appreciate the timelines and the and the dollars um but these are grants were talking about that we could get some major improvements made to our our much for much needed improvements uh for our playgrounds thank you council president thank you Council anyone else just want to continue to reiterate that we have to continue to improve our outdoor spaces um anything that is going to get our kids out in nature um whether in off the computers and off the games um I'm absolutely supporting and um again we just need to make sure our outdoor spaces are safe safe um and and being maintained and this is a step in the right direction so I need the same language the same amendments here with regard to the loan and with regard to the source of funds um I you know I have been advocating for Park so it's very hard for me to vote against improving either approving improving either one of these uh Parks um can we um uh director uh add to um you know we we approved a bunch of money for trees um in our tree planting can we add some uh to you know both of these places um you know I don't know I don't know what your plans are with regard to planting trees in in both Dean and Colgate or are they already on the list so both projects have a contract allowance which is typically what I do for every single one of construction projects for items not as specified in the contract and in this case we could add some for trees that's not an issue uh please do yeah please uh you know be intentional about the trees especially at Colgate but but obviously at both a question when we do the planning of trees do we have a past practice are we planting mature trees large trees small seedlings what is the practice that we implement the practice that we Implement is whatever the recommendation is from our tree Forester it's no different than when I do a road project I provide the plans to Mr Kip Mr Kip assess the trees and he tells me whether or not they are viable or not and where we can plant trees that's the reason why in the two contracts from this year uh we had approximately 200 trees on each one of the contracts we're planting thank you you're welcome I'm all for advancing and improving our parks and our open space um but I don't believe we're in a financial position to do so at this moment maybe in 2026 we can look at it this is my position my feeling you know when I saw our um supplemental debt statement I was very shocked to see the amount of debt that we were in um and so I'm hoping you know I'm a no on this but again I'm all for open space especially our parks and it's really important but I just don't think we're in a financial position right now to do this and that's the only reason why I'm voting no to this and also Vincent's pond so we'll see what happens you know in January with the capital uh budget but um it's not something I can support this year so I think your position councilwoman highlights the uh difficulty in doing this job we do have competing interests and these are residential property taxes or they're you know property taxes commercial properties too uh but they are property taxes and we we've got to find a way to to to balance the need to be efficient with use of those tax dollars and the need to improve the town um I'm still going to be supportive of this I hope it goes through next year I hope we get all of the funds we need to match um and I'll come to the council meeting and speak as a member of the public to Advocate but you know I don't have High Hopes councilwoman I just have one comment in regards to the capital budget I just want remind the council and the incoming Council I'll remind them uh next month is we already passed the operating budget and in the operating budget the capital this proposed now correcting if I'm wrong Mr TC this capital budget you're you were presenting us is already budged into the budget we already approved correct no so really what we rely on this year's budget for for the capital is the down payment yeah and so and what about the we make sure we don't exceed the capital Improvement funding that's in there what we budget for for The Debt Service is for the existing debt that we have we don't budget for future Debt Service in the Curr budget so so I would budget for I mean if you pass the capital budget in J like even if you did it in January and we went out for a bond anticipation note immediately we wouldn't have a payment due until 2026 so that would be budget I'm sorry oh that would be budgeted for in the 2026 the payment of that that note so we don't sort of you know pre-budget for the The Debt Service have the the interest rate nailed down but we do have to budget for the down payment so so of which already we already did yeah so we're Bound by how much Capital we can issue based on that Capital Improvement fund also had other debt will pay we pay off during the year sure we all right thank you um properties downtown will be in great shape so so did you offer a mo motion um no I moved to adopt wait a minute because you wanted to amend the language yes do that first wanted to amend the language to reflect the same as 345 strike strike out the loan and add the source of funds cannot come from open space second okay okay councilwoman celino yes councilwoman gber Michael Yes councilwoman Scarpa yes councilwoman Williams yes council president Ruther yes offer a motion to approve 346 okay oops councilwoman celino yes councilwoman gber Mich no councilwoman Scarpa no councilwoman Williams yes council president ruford yes the motion carries all right now what is the next one we the next one 36 is 357 58 59 56 57 yeah 356 sorry 56 sorry all right oh yeah 56 57 58 okay all right so 356 is and we don't um y Cana um any questions the comments before necessary okay and just we gonna offer a motion to app a reminder um that two of the three you're only allowed to vote to approve two of the three well that's what we agreed to right yeah um is that what the ordinance said it's it's unclear you can interpret the ordinance multiple ways uh what we agreed to when we had this conversation was that we would vote for the for two so that we didn't have get into the gray area my understanding is that we could only do two well that was the advice given do three and I I prefer Mr Moon if you'd like to weigh in three resolutions of local support yes your canidate already has one of them three now if you want to clarify that and adopt an ordinance basically saying that's for entities rather than resolutions or local support that's fine but as of now you're only allowed to do three licenses so and there's already one that one's already been one's already been awarded that's that's all the clarification I needed thank you okay so so we so for those that are wondering there may be some additional work done down the road to clarify what we intended with the three letters of local support that work's not been done so we're going with what we currently have which is one letter already and the ability to issue two addition okay so I offer a motion to wait a second I am totally confused now by what he just said so in regards to your Canada then why are they on there we if we already approved them because he he has a a this is manufacturing manufacturing two different licenses but we can only approve two more licenses correct so under the ordinance you three local licenses cultivation or manufacturing your has already obtained one of those local licenses they have a full license that leaves two potential local licenses got it right so for cannabis or cultivation for manufacturing cultivation and Manufacturing not cannabis I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm tired folks yeah so let's get through it um okay but I am going to make a comment though because on urana on the the process in general um councilman Celina okay so I want to thank all the investors and for for being here this evening to this late hour and for really really walking I mean it's been a it's been tough from out of the gate it's been stressful on uh for you for us um still disgusted with the way the state had this rolled out and the fusion and again it's you know I'm not even going to get into different where I think things could gone wrong or should get better but when I went back and read the ordinances and I appreciate you coming in for the uh interviews last week um but when I went back and read our process again on our end I was a little disappointed the way we didn't get copies out to the health director police chief uh School District zoning officer fire chief as it states in in our in our ordinance that's number one um number two I think by putting three doing all this at once um it just made a lot of residents nervous I received many phone calls I was out this weekend at town events and you know you know got um you people worried about you know putting three entities right in their neighborhood so um I just wanted to just just just state that um but I appreciate all the professionalism of the um of the applicants and their time that they put into the process but I've been struggling myself with uh with this a little bit um so now you're telling us there's two here yeah you're allowed to goe two Okay thank you I just want a little Clarity Council as I as I in order for a guest for us to be able to award the resolution tonight I had to get them on the agenda no I get it I get it I appreciate that you made that very clear Mr Moon very clear to us that's why I asked to put all three of them on guys been voting theide yeah you've been very clear this whole time with the process okay please make a motion 356 okay councilwoman Celina for the additional manufacturing I'm going to say um yes councilwoman gber Michael Yes councilwoman Scarpa no councilwoman Williams um I would like to have seen something open before we Grant another license I'm so I'm going to aband from this vote council president Rutherford yes thank you the motion carries um let me just mark this down real quick congratulations uh Mr Jackson the Yana family good luck in your um your second license in West Orange okay 357 Blue Violet grow LLC resolution of local support of proposed cannabis cultivation or manufacturing business I'd like to make a motion on resolution 357 I'm second I'm sorry make a motion to to vote to approve to approve getting late it's late I'm sorry my braing we need more coffee you don't need a motion to vote so motion I make a motion to approve okay is there a second thank you councilwoman celino so I'm gonna fortunately going to vote no um I had stated from the beginning I wanted to see a business open we had already committed to one um and I I feel bad about that because I'm very I was very impressed with Miss hardell throughout this entire process um but I I I have to stick with that I have to stick with that so unfortunately it's going to be a no councilwoman gber Michael Yes councilwoman Scarpa I have the same concerns that councilwoman castelino has and I've had many residents come to me with very very serious concerns so I'm I'm going to have to vote no councilwoman Williams yes council president Rutherford yes the motion carries congratulations Miss hardell it's been a long road you've been to countless Council meetings so we look forward to um to you know you opening soon so now 358 um8 we cannot Mark how does that work we vot V down can you vote to T until we have a chance not make a resolution to to stop yeah or there's no motion at all right can we move so let's ask procedurally if we move to table this is there a possibility it counts to woman oh if if we move to table this and we don't table it to a specific time then that gives the council an opportunity to remove it or bring it back to lay it back on the table at their desired time which also could give an opportunity if one of these entities doesn't get opened in a certain amount of time however the council wants to give them then if something doesn't open and we give them notice then this could automatically be brought back so short of short of amending the ordinance which again the ordinance would have to be amended for to either raise the number of cultivation and Manufacturing or to clarify you know well not necessarily because if one of because right now your doesn't have state approval they could get denied and then we have an open license and then we could that's why I'm asking if we can table because if we table and one of these entities doesn't get approved by the state for whatever reason then we have another person waiting at the town that we don't have to reinw that we could perhaps just so yes could you do that yes however we run into the chemistry issue where we leave them out hanging for two years and they're sitting around going are we maybe maybe something's gonna happen maybe something's not gonna happen yeah it's not fair just not fair you have to do another RFA you know what I mean so by the way if they get rejected for resolution now if something open up or the ordinance to change we can do process over again I mean well I think I'd rather not have him have a rejection they should not bring it up for a vote if there's no right motion to approve then they're not rejected they're not rejected it just dies un Vine right that's the same thing as being rejected quite frankly okay make the motion you could always make you could always bring I I my my recomend my motion is to table I don't W to I don't want to reject I just wan to I'm concerned about the chemistry issue too I mean we you know we went through by having them out there we had to bring them back on the we there was one meeting at the end of the year one year we had to bring them back on then we had like I I thought it was confusing okay the chemistry issue though was putting it on at the very last minute at the last meeting what happened okay we were notified well first of all one all you know there were grumblings that chemistry had lost Poli leas to their property then we received a letter from the property owner saying that I've terminated the lease of their property I sent a letter to chemistry and say we've received this notice can you confirm whether you have the property that was led on your application they said no we did not said okay you don't have because you don't have a property we can't give you a resolution you know revoking resolution support because you bought the property however we I specifically said under the way that the ordinance was amended you are in grandfathered in so you can apply your provided a new location a new application with a new location a year past no another a couple months past we started asking we what's going on chemistry what's going on with all the residents so there were two that had resolutions of local sports where there was no movement at all chemistry and piece of Mind construction so I issued I issued yeah I I came to this Council and I said hey I'm going to issue this letter giving them I think it was 30 and then 45 or whatever amount of time to submit your to application those letters went out emry came back to council and ask for additional time I came to the council Council said sure here's more time we get the application for chemistry I circulate to everyone and then there's issued with the application because it missed said okay what do you guys want to do you can ignore the omissions you can you can you can deny it outright or you can grant it even though or have them allow them to so there was a vote should we give them two weeks give them one weeks vote was given them one week that's what I did two weeks right they they didn't give us everything and did it in a man I specifically said give us everything at once not just peace meil they they didn't that so you know it wasn't like we did not give them every opportunity to to come back to us okay this is about blue uh this is about sweet sweet is also like the fact that like I sent a letter saying it was Clos this it's it's got to come to Heaven some we can't just leave them open because look they are negotiating for lease if we're telling them we're not giving you a license then they can end the negotiation and they can walk away we we we've never promised them that we were going to getal totally understood we we got it Council Micha no you good no I was gonna say I don't think the process is fair towards them I know you guys all have I know you guys all stated what you said but it was also came back that you know someone was away out of the country and they needed some more time and I don't understand why we couldn't give them some more time and now they're here tonight saying that they have a lease and they've negotiated they're not done have lease that's not what he said he's negotiating I just need a yes or no do you have a lease no is there a lease is there a lease that's know so but that is we've already dealt with that my point is look I think the the sweet sweets deserves sense of certainty we're either going to receive with them or not it seems like already award to we not so they have a right to basically if it's not going to work at West Orange they can look at other you know they have they've had a conditional license for two years from the state they've obviously been looking for a location and I don't you know to give them the sense of like oh maybe something comes along if something opens up we just we will do the process again or come up with another process if if the C not understood understood so is there a motion on uh thank you very much I'm not trying to cut you off but I think we table there's a there's a was it seconded no is there a second table 358 if they're okay with that and being a limbo for two years I think I you know I would not I would not want someone to be in limbo for two years we don't know that could be a possibility and I want to be able to support your emotions table I just want to make sure that they're okay with it unless they want a definitive answer yes or no I I would I mean you want to definitive answer because at the end of the day any entity is in some type of lease agreement I am resending my motion to table because I am not going to put someone in limbo for two years okay so the motion has been rescinded is there another motion on 358 terribly sorry Mr wior um uh and crew uh but that motion has not been offered now we're at 359 right yes resolution authorizing a budget appropriation transfer Mr dinc can you just give us a brief overview yes sir yes council president you said we have to vote on it separ yeah no no no vote on it separately okay never mind yes council president so uh this resolution is to transfer between um budget appropriation accounts uh in the last two months of the year um the township with a two-thirds uh vote uh of the full me membership of the council can move appropriation accounts um or move amounts between appropriation accounts um so what I have presented here uh is a a from and two so the from is where we're pulling money from propriation accounts and the two is where we're putting that money into the net effect on the budget is zero uh this is this is simply moving between items um the reason that we're moving uh money into certain accounts is um for reasons that I've listed in a in a separate document that I sent today um but the overall theme is that you know we had um overe expenditures in certain accounts such as our fire OT um so we need to provide funding for that overe expenditure prior to the end of the year um so that's why I I put forward this resolution again it doesn't it doesn't change the budget there's no net impact to the budget um but because we are essentially changing the final budgeted figure figures for uh the accounts that you adopted as a as a governing body back in October it's sort of like you're adopting a budget again that's why we need that two-thirds vote and we need to vote on it separately so I'm sorry I'm GNA ask to be excuse because I'm in a lot of pain and I can't again can't say past midnight so I will join you guys virtually I hope you all have a healthy holiday season thank you both again for your service um we do have to talk about one thing though we there's a a salary ordinance on for I'll be on virtually on Zoom okay just I can't be sitting because it's reversing all the work I've been doing in fiscal therapy this last year and a half since my car accident so got can't sit for eight hours six hours straight totally understand and do thank you um and Mr Fagan please be on the lookout for councilwoman gab Michael do we need a two-thirds vote on this appropriation before correct so that's four votes cor yes Council can you can you stay for this one vote and then get on your call yeah by the time she gets on it'll be it'll be fine I got a question for you Mr yes um the tinac so as I read this uh so for the first line item um uh that has a number in the from column which is Waste Management says 200,000 so that's going from 200,000 to zero no uh we're just pulling 200,000 from this account uh so the froms are we're taking from those accounts and the twos are where we're putting the money into right so you so you're taking 200,000 from the total allocation for Waste Management correct and reallocating that elsewhere yes right so same thing is true for Central Insurance liability it's not going from 800,000 to zero correct that's okay all right councilwoman can you just take this vote councilwoman you just take this vote real so so I'm yeah so I'm going to offer a motion to approve 359 unless there's second okay uh C councilwoman castelino yes councilwoman gber Michael Yes councilwoman Scarpa yeah councilwoman Williams yes council president ruford yes the motion carries thank you very much uh Mr tinac thank you councilwoman gbra Michael um so 360 uh pulled that okay resolution appointing zabeth carvalo as the township engineer for a term beginning January 1 2025 through December 31st 2027 so yeah yeah we're not I'm not going to discuss it I'm just because it's an employeee matter we can't have it in public unless you guys want to go to um an executive session which I I make I make a motion for executive session yeah why not okay I'm going to vote no on that but okay I don't need to go into executive session I'm supporting this you have free votes you don't have to all right so no it's okay okay well then no but ex session he would have to he would have to leave and we just have to be muted you just gotta vote to go into executive session I'm fine then do we have three votes to support this because otherwise there's no need for me to go into executive session I don't know Council M Scar's position I don't know that we can PLL it beforehand no are you supporting it that's three votes you're not supporting I'm not okay then I want to go on Executive session I'm not supporting it either okay I like to go into executive session I make a motion to go into exective second that okay uh councilwoman castalina yes please councilwoman Scarpa no Sor oh I didn't know you were okay yeah I'm on I I got on right before I left I I on okay good good councilwoman gber Michael to go to Executive session yes councilwoman Scarpa yes councilwoman Williams yes council president RF yes okay great Mr Cohen uh if you don't mind excusing us uh for a moment uh we'll have the officer uh come and get you when it's okay um Mr Fagan if you don't mind muting uh discontinuing the feet so wait Bill Bill how are you I'm sorry council president how are you going to do this with scarp and I on the zoom if you discontinue the feed should we call in on our so we do a three-way call you'll call her and I both together so we're both on no they're gonna call you on the phone yeah okay yeah but you're gonna do three-way call right you're GNA call me and her together yeah we're we're going to do it I'm going to call you right now call both of you right now okay should just so they want to go to the conference room so it's just easier that way I'll call councilwoman's scarp on my phone put put them on the same phone it's easier to hear yes that's what I was trying to say we should all be on on the same phone okay somebody else has to do that right I can go get that speaker you can Bluetooth that speaker if you want so you can hear you guys yeah are you going to bring it in here I'll bring it in here yeah yeah confence no in the conference room because we're still on video we're still on video take two minutes go to conference yeah all right all right we going to conference room where you think somebody's gonna read our lips no but it's it's just appropriate ordinances on second and final oh are we GNA have another meeting right it's only 12:30 oh Lord all right so uh we're on 360 going to offer a motion to approve 360 as amended second second amend it though right per no per oh okay gotcha per yeah we amended it in yeah yeah I'll second it already second oh okay okay thank you um coun I'm sorry councilwoman celino yes has amended councilwoman gber Michael Yes councilwoman Scarpa yes councilwoman Williams yes council president Rutherford yes the motion carries all right so now we have to do our ordinances before we can do any of the other resolutions is that correct yeah thank oh thank you director I just want to say thank you thank you for your consideration thank you for your trust I want to thank also the mayor the current Administration and obviously also the pre Administration for giving me the opportunity to work in West Orange and I just hope that I continue to do my job to the best of my abilities and continue to serve the residents of the township thank you thank you thank you very much director and you've done all those things and we know that you will continue to do your best and we appreciate everything that you've done thus far absolutely thank you director all right so um we didn't congratulate the uh unions because they were done in the consent agenda or the conference agenda whatever it was it's late consent you were right um but to all of our unions uh you know for those that don't know we did approve um new contracts with every new agreements with every one of our unions uh and they are for five years and I'm very pleased um to have some stability with our Township employees for the next five years I hope um this is something that they accept and and are excited about uh as well now we have to go to our ordinances on second and final before we get back to the resolutions is that correct yes there twoo yep all right um Cil president if I might just having been for the first time involved with those Union negotiations I would really like to praise the union leadership from all the unions they were very professional there was no shouting back and forth they were reasonable their attorneys were reasonable our our attorneys were reasonable was it was actually a you know an interesting and enjoyable Endeavor yeah you know I you know Chief I want to say I want to thank you for that right um and all of those that participated the attorneys um I I think the culture of uh how we get this business done is is changing um it's not as contentious uh you had a role in that others had a role in that and for everyone that had a hand in that uh the council as well um I think that's exactly what's needed so we are definitely on the right track kudos to you and the team as well as all the attorneys and all of the Union reps um and council president can I just Echo those sentiments please absolutely as as someone who works in government as someone who's in a union it's been an honor to be part of this process and you know as a mentioned earlier today you know we cannot put our residents first if we don't put our employees first and Public Safety is critical to our municipality and to our quality of life there is no quality of life without Public Safety so thank you all and I just want I just want to add to the accolades as well um I I think it is a testament to this Administration there are a lot of things that we can complain about um with this current Administration as this Council continues to do so every time we meet um however I do want to acknowledge that uh when mayor McCartney first came in uh she paid what she felt was owed um to settle some of the disgruntled and the uh litigation between um our unions and under her Administration we have adopted uh what we believe is a fair and Equitable contract um so I think it speaks to The Testament of her intent and will as well to make sure this did get done as well as ours um to make sure that the contract um did get passed under our tenure I think that is something that each of us uh can leave feeling good about is that we made our employees um whole thank you yeah I I I disagree with given the mayor that credit I think if the election didn't go the way it went we wouldn't be sitting here right now uh but I certainly don't want to debate it um Madam clerk sure 2881 d24 an ordinance of the township of West Orange providing for the issuance of special emergency notes in an amount not to exceed $1.8 million to fund contractually required Severance liabilities resulting from the retirement of employees in the township is there a motion to introduce I move for introduction on second of final reading second okay councilwoman castelino yes councilwoman gber Michael Yes councilwoman scorpa yes councilwoman Williams yes council president Rutherford yes okay the motion carries public comment there's no one in can we just um avoid well I have to call for it okay right and we still have to open it and close it yeah public comment is now open seeing no one public comment is now closed okay I move um for the adoption second any discussion any questions no no we discussed last time okay councilwoman celino yes councilwoman gber Michael Yes councilwoman Scarpa yes councilwoman Williams yes council president Rutherford no okay the motion carries okay 2882 d24 an ordinance creating a reclassification and salary schedule of certain uh Township of West Orange employees setting forth their titles classification and salary ranges and adopting a salary guide and establishing the employee status as a Township employee under the guidelines of New Jersey Department of personnel make a motion to approve introdu introdu sorry um I second that okay um or do you want to do a question or no you have to vote on the introduction and then we can do the question all right okay councilwoman celino yes councilwoman gber Michel yes councilwoman Scarpa yes councilwoman Williams yes council president ruford yes so my question is just based on the fact that we voted on a change do we need to um vote on this as amended ask me yeah this particular ordinance um included a few uh changes to titles um so I I I would vote on it because it allows us to then you know for those employees that are impacted to pay their Retros um this year even though these changes are Incorporated in the the other salary ordinance that we're going to introduce for first reading tonight you know by not by sort of tbling this or not taing it I just wanted to know if it needed to be amended at no we don't we don't need to amend it at all that's it it can be voted on a St I'm sorry I'm sorry it's late we wait wait guys I have a question did we vote on didn't wasn't the $1.8 million s881 wait I meant to vote no on that one I'm sorry it's late this is why I don't do meetings after midnight I would like to make an amendment and I want my my vote to reflect no for that please it's very important I'm against that I've been clear about it unless un we get approval I get address unless I hear from the com controller's office we've we've been able to resend things before and and revote we did it last time when I got did the storm water ordinance so we were in compliance with the DP I know we can do this one so I would like my vote to reflect no because un me so so hold on okay so we understand realiz we're on that one at all I'm sorry no no worries simple majority so then it still passes three to two still passes with a simple majority because it's emergency ordinance just so that we're having one meeting yes Mr moon what do we do I say the was a misation no can you yes we can we did it last time excuse me we did it last time with the EP vote we rescinded it and voted again we absolutely can we did it with the storm water ordinance legally can we do yes so let's resend it and then revote and you still pass I want my vote to reflect no okay and if we did it in the last meeting we can do it now we can't pick and Cho I'm gonna tell you I think you've got three NOS on that I I don't think they knew what they were I don't think they I do not know I had no idea you cannot do that I'm gonna vote no on that too I mean I didn't realize that was the one that we were up to so who okay so how you fix this procedurally is the person who made the motion to adopt it to yeah to adopt it has to resend and the second has to resend and and I think I made the motion to adopt and I'm not resending so she can also make a motion to resend but we're still in the middle of 2882 so we've got to finish what we're doing with 2882 and then we can entertain a motion to resend 2881 thank you council president the motion can resend okay no we did it in the last council meeting we can do the maker of the motion has Madam clerk one meeting please Madam clerk we're on 2882 yes so did we call for public comment uh yes and there's no one public comment open and closed I think we did I don't okay all right well public comment is now open and closed there's no one here to comment the adoption on second and final reading okay on second okay thank you councilwoman celino yes councilwoman gber Michael Yes councilwoman Scarpa yes councilwoman Williams yes council president RF yes okay the motion carries all right now Mr Moon uh Council one would like to resend to correct her vote correct because I'm not feeling Wella is not feeling well and that was not a vote that I took in my right capacity we should be ending at 12 o' midnight no matter we didn't so Mr Moon you know what like if if you're saying that you voted on something and you didn't know what you were voted on correct that that's your basis because I gotta tell you that's not like that is my basis I make a motion to resend my vote ande problem is you I'm not I'm not doing legal opinion gave is that the I made a motion that's my that's that's my legal advice take it you start it I'm g i I appreciate your legal opinion thank you very much for that I do understand it councilwoman would you like to make a motion I did I want to make a motion to resend my vote for 28 2,881 okay 2881 and revote that's an invalid I not realiz with everyone talking I I'm gonna ask that we I want my vote to reflect that I'm not for this so can so will someone second the motion I'll second it it's an invalid motion and councilwoman you've not been recognized Madam Madam clerk what is what is your issue have to follow the legal advice of our attorney my leg advice you can't beote on that already what a question can the Reis because I mean we've done it before we have done it on a number of things yes folks listen listen we're still here and I still have to drive home so here's the deal the person in my experience I've been only doing this for 20 years the person who makes the motion is a person that has to resend it because because when we've had that situation Madame clerk always goes back to the person that makes the motion to resend it so I have to agree with Council that's what you're supposed to do so in this instance I'm going to vote no because I don't think it's a I I don't think that's the procedure so unfortunately uh councilwoman um we she's not it's not being rescinded so so it challenged right something could legally to CH at the end of the day the bigger the bigger problem is I don't want to be held violating because we're accountable if we're in violation and something happens we are held accountable because we voted on it and I'm waiting to hear back from the com controller's office okay so that so that that's and I sent them an email and I spoke to them and they're researching and they're getting back to me and Mr DAC where do you stand on this with this this situation I mean I can't comment on the com troller they're going to make an opinion you know whether I weigh in or not um all I was concerned about was was providing funding for something that has already been spent and I said it in the previous meeting that previous meetings that we were doing this so that we could spread the cost out to the taxpayer over the course of five years as has been done in the past two or three years in this Township by by not approving the ordinance I can't go to the state of New Jersey when we do the 2025 budget and say I want to spread this out over five years they're going to say let me see your ordinance and I'm going to say I don't have one we didn't approve it and then they're probably going to come back to me and say raise it all in 2025 the 1.8 million um so you which is about a 3% property tax increase yeah it's it's substantial um but again you know we've already spent this money it's already been uh given to the retirees um no matter what the the issue now is just whether or not the vote reflects the intent of the person who made the vote but it's already passed so Mr um detc yes was there a requirement that the Council approved those payments before they were made I don't think your past practice has been to approve those payments before they're made well there's a lot of bad P practices as as part of the bill list you approve the overall payroll um for the period uh but not the terminal leave or retirement pay well it would be included in the payroll I just it's not I don't think it's separately broken out so that you could say all right well this component of the payroll is for accumulated second vacation I I don't believe you know that was was shown on the bill list I I think it's just sort of lumped into gross payroll um but you're essentially approving it if you're approving the gross payroll so is that that all right that I I can accept that answer I can accept that answer I can accept that can we move on she wants to to she is off of the motion she wants to to revote overal yeah it's not legal right so I mean it's still can Happ so point it takes three votes to to pass it see if get it already passed but my point is if if she's you know you do this new motion to re where does it stand because if it's not legal then it's still passed you can't you can't vote on a void motion you can't and you also would need either councilwoman celino or councilwoman Williams to resend their motions which neither of them are going to do so can we move on to the next um item on the agenda 28832 24 but I I think councilwoman uh has clearly noted her dis satisfaction so yeah and if the com troller comes to me I'm going to tell him that I was not for it I tried to resend it it and you guys don't allow us and if they come back and say we're violating it's not on me it's on it's on all of you guys no voted for it no no if they audit us and they come back with the report it's on you not on me all right so it is noted I and I want to go on record as well as so so Madam clerk please add to the minutes uh specifics with regard to this particular conversation that yes perfect I will I want to noted that I did not mean that my I wanted to vote no on this did not realize we were on this vote and I'm a no yeah for me me as well and I also want to note in there that if the comproller comes to us and audits or investigates us that I will not be at fault for this that's what I'm claiming and putting out there me too I want to be on record as a no every put it on the it's it's on there so but just in the minutes yes I will make sure be very uh diligent specific all right I will I will send them the minutes and we'll be reaching out to them tomorrow to let them know what happened okay just to be very transparent all right 2883 yes an ordinance amending chapter 25 section 24.7 General ordinances of the township of West Orange filming is there a motion to move for introduction on for second and final reading okay is there a second um second thank you so I have do the heing for the public first okay well I have to take a vote on that so councilwoman celino yes councilwoman gber Michael no because our fees are too low comparison with other municipalities councilwoman Scarpa no councilwoman Williams yes council president Rutherford yes okay I I discuss uh no public comment first that's right open public comments open public comments closed now discussion okay so I started this conversation last time because I did not get a chance to I started looking into it and I don't I don't agree I still don't agree with this I think our fee are too low for what you want to change it so briefly uh talk with uh Mr smdo today um so if we pass this the fees are still attached by uh you can amend the resolution resolution and we don't have can we pass this ordinance can we pull the resolution pass this ordinance you're G to pass saying that we can set our fees to resolution you don't you have a resolution you still need to vote on so you could pass this motion I mean this ordinance and then amend your your your resolution raise this does the exact same thing as was done before all this does is give us the capacity to change the fees by resolution instead of our ordinance no no no no because there was a lot of thing items deleted in this ordinance that's where I didn't get a chance to really okay because we were we you know we spent a lot of time on cannabis and okay so 20 other things we were doing the New Jersey film Commission provided us with a sort of a model ordinance of what they they what they require for for municipalities to be designated film ready that's what this ordinance does all the changes that you see in the ordinance but I didn't match that up that's where I was getting confused to be honest with you Mr Moon because I started reading the blanket one that was on the internet for the film commission and then I was trying to read ours with the red line and I wasn't it wasn't D in for me I don't know if I was not interpreting the change I just didn't have time to really okay I didn't have time to really sit and review it like I do some other items so I can say so so for example While most ordinances have will have like the actual um permit fee what the way we set it up it's going to go through resolution resolution I'm fine with that but there was other items no but there's other items in there I mean I don't my hesitancy was I didn't get a chance to really review it like paragraph by paragraph like really break it down it was a quick read and I focus more on the the pricing with other towns and I wanted to go back to I just didn't get a chance this week because I was KNE deep in cannabis and Holiday Open housee and all the 20 other things we so just just for the record if th those of us that think the the fees are too low yeah we're going to vote on 361 we can change those fees before we vote on 361 it's a resolution I just want to make sure the language in the ordinance that was changed because what they did was they also made Lang because at first I was okay with it and a lot of it was we deleted a lot of things in our ordinance right collect me they definitely signic changes yeah and I get I didn't really get a chance to W my my thought around that was that that's what we had to do to be a film ready town is that not right we can we is that not right yeah they we took their requirements to say if you want to be kept a film ready Town these are the changes you we're already a film ready to but we have to keep the designation yeah we can't I mean all right so I'm fine on 2883 that's what started this whole conversation that we weren't matching up to be in the film writing so do start so can this be moved to next meeting is there a time frame concern get it doesn't go tonight it's got Start From First reading y right un let's please pass this so I'm fine on 2883 I think we do have to have some discussion on 361 to raise the level of the fees but I'm fine on 2883 so I move for adoption on second if final reing second because then you have to re advertise everything yeah everything start all over again all right been property Motion in second what does that wait wait I'm not done Council it has to be re you know same thing you you reintroduce it has to be advertised for public hearing and then you you know couple weeks later or whatever you put it back on and we can't even guarantee that our next Council will want us to be a film ready community so I think it's best that I mean if they don't want us to they can always undo it that's true to do with the studio that's a separate action this is well it does have everything it does have everything to do with the studio everything is interconnected they could undo it if that was their choice they still Undo It they'd have to go through the process come out and raise p and Mr SM you reviewed it all right so are we ready to vote on I'm going to vote Yes but not but I wantan to I want councilwoman celino yes councilwoman G Michael no councilwoman Scarpa no councilwoman Williams yes council president Rutherford yes 2885 the motion carries is it Comcast introduce on second and final reading second second okay public comment is open public comment is closed no one here I move for adoption on second and final reading second did you even call for the vote I did not I know so you want to go back and do that okay so on the first motion councilwoman celino yes councilwoman gber Michel councilwoman Scarpa yes councilwoman Williams yes council president Rutherford yes motion carries and then now on the adoption and now we have a motion in a second so councilwoman celino yes counc cwom gber Michael Yes councilwoman Scarpa yes councilwoman Williams yes council president rord yes Carries On First reading 2887 d24 an ordinance creating a reclassification and salary schedule of certain Township of West Orange employees setting forth their titles classification and salary ranges and adopting a salary guide and establishing the employee status as a Township employee under the guidelines of the New Jersey Department of personnel for introduction on first reading second and this is the one where I had the question about whether or not we needed to do as amended with the change that we just did in executive session or does this Encompass so no is this encompasses [Music] um it was set up to incorporate um thect up we're just doing a different step okay great thank you councilwoman will I'm sorry councilwoman Cino yes councilwoman gber Michael Yes councilwoman Scarpa yes councilwoman Williams yes council president Rutherford yes okay and in in resolutions 339 do we have to yeah but in pending matters I wanted uh we have to discuss uh Zoom meeting yeah Zoom meeting all right let's can we do I just want mind yeah that's fine all right so 339 uh for councilwoman Scarpa councilwoman GB Michael resolution of the township of West Orange County of Essex state of New Jersey providing for the issuance of special emergency notes in an amount not to exceed 1.8 million to fund contractually required Severance liabilities resulting from the retirement of employees in the township this is the resolution um that goes along with the ordinance 28 81 that will allow them to bond right now does this take three or four votes uh this is a simple majority three okay I'll make a motion a second it okay the motion is to approve yeah okay uh councilwoman castelino yes councilwoman gber Michel yes councilwoman Scarpa yes wait wait wait wait wait wait wait no no wait this wait no I'm a no yeah so 2881 was the one we had the confusion over right where you wanted to vote no I'm no why we don't have meetings after midnight I'm going to sleep it's one o'clock I know we're still here we all have work tomorrow okay I'm going to start the vote over councilwoman celino yes councilwoman gber Michael no councilwoman Scarpa no councilwoman wi council president rord no so what happens now our taxes go up yeah your taxes are going to go up 3% starting base because you chose not to bonds over a fiveyear period either we pay it in a one shot for coming up or we pay it over five years interest one on$ 1.8 million that's right so and you're voting on something that could be totally unlawful and we don't even know it okay thank you that's the other thing well all right so the vote is registered the vote is registered perfect thank God 339 fails now we are on 361 uh before we introduce uh before we vote on 361 I this is the filming fees um the table yeah to tape yep okay no because we I I that's I my due diligence of so you don't have a good number I have some good numbers if you want to hear it I'd like to hear go ahead okay give me one moment so I can pull it up yeah you can do that just ask the table table yeah this is not urgent let's do that just table itable the table please the 20th on second okay thank you I is that a Voice vote or no councilwoman celino yes to table councilwoman gber Michael I mean sure yes councilwoman Scarpa yes councilwoman Williams yes council president rberg so this the table yes yes so I would just ask that um whoever councilwoman G Michael councilwoman C share with me what you're looking to do so we can get this in place absolutely but can you also it would be helpful I only have um just a couple of of towns information but if you can compile I'll resend you what I said before but thank you so much because thank you so much y all right pending matters the matter of the 1220 meeting for the purpose of the salary ordinance and the filming resolution [Music] um we need to decide on a time I I assume we're going to do it via Zoom yes it has to be done via Zoom okay so we just need a time of day what what day is this again it's a Friday 12 20 20th is the um holiday party on the 19th [Music] 19th so you could do lunchtime right or you can't I've got something that whole day um but let me see what it is because I might what do we need like five minutes how about the 20th how about the 20th it is the 20th so so I I could do yeah we have to do it on the 20th okay I thought you guys were looking at the 19th I was confused no no no no the 20th can we do it before the mayor's party on the 19 no you have to do it on the 20th it's a 10 day 10 day okay yeah 10 day yeah we don't have to see Prett so can we do a can we do an early lunch that day sure can we do it like say 10:30ish I can't huh I can't I'm in school she's in school till 12:15 so 12:15 the earliest 12:5 do you do well do we need your vote I have a 12 o'clock meeting but I have to ask if I could be excused to do this I think you just need yeah yeah it's just a three thre person all right so I may or may not be able to meet okay that's okay you could just tell us your feedback if you have anything that you want us to consider well I'm also on that same boat I'm looking at my calendar and I have at 12:00 if I can be excused from work from the 12 or if I have the flexibility because other people are involved to be able to move it then I can and if I can't then you know if we could do 11:30 I could I one o'clock works one o'clock works better for me one o'clock works for me all right do one o'clock I'll see if I can join do one o'clock all right so one o'clock four pres you're both counil president yeah all right all right so one o'clock on the 20th I'll do the notice tomorrow okay are is there any any other pending matters um oh I hope not no excuse me that it I moved to a John good night W thank you so happy holidays Merry Christmas in favor happy Quanza hi thank you everyone by good night everybody good night everybody