Is We didn't talk How are you? Is that twice? Yeah. Adequate notice of this meeting is required by the open public meetings act was provided through the posting, mailing and filing of the annual notice
of regularly scheduled meetings of the town council on December 10th, 2025. The notice was on that date posted on the bulletin board of the municipal building provided to the Westfield leader and the star ledger and filed with the clerk of the town of Westfield. Miss Lowshi, may I have a roll call? >> Mayor Burman
>> here. Council members Gilman >> here. Tom McGall >> here. Per >> here. Keeper >> Saunders >> here. >> Atlar >> here. >> Armentoto >> here. >> Victor Ramen >> please rise for the invocation which will be given by Councilman Saunders and
then remain standing for the salute to the flag. >> We gather to make decisions for our community. We may may we use only our best skills in judgment, keeping ourselves impartial and neutral as we consider the merits and pitfalls of each matter that is placed before us and always act in accordance with what is
best for our community and our fellow citizens. >> I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the stands one nation indivisible with liberty and justice for
all. Mr. Gai, >> thank you. Uh I just had a quick uh comment for tonight, mayor. Um to advise the council and the community. Um the this week, probably as early as tomorrow, likely um we will be posting on our website the read it properly
because it's a long title, but the Tamacquas Park design plan community engagement summary report. It's a mouthful just to remind you and the public. So last year we started the Tomakquis uh park design plan with a consultant Dresnner Robin. We started with steering committee uh community
engagement with various stakeholder groups uh public meetings in this room in the community community room uh more state uh steering committee meetings. So what Dresd and Robin we've asked them to do is put together a summary of the public engagement report everything they've learned through the process from the the public from the stakeholder
groups uh from the steering committee and put that in a report which will be posted on our website this week. Uh and then basically we'll get feedback from the public after that and then the next steps in the process are to continue with this and then that those uh the feedback they receive will now inform
them uh to begin putting together a concept or concepts for the council to look at uh and ultimately the steering committee to make recommendations with the recreation commission together to start looking at what concepts are appropriate uh what the public feedback is and ultimately what will be the first phase to be implemented in Toacquis
Park. still a while to go, but I wanted to make sure the public knew that was happening this week. The council have it. It's a very comprehensive, very detailed report. So, I think that it's a it's a really good job your Robin did and then that'll lead to the next steps of the process. So, thank you. >> Thank you, Jim. >> Uh, good evening everyone and welcome to
the first regular meeting of the town council for 2026. Thanks to everyone who is joining tonight, both here in person and via liveream on the town's YouTube channel. As always, the replay of this meeting will be available afterwards on Facebook, YouTube, TV36, and public
comment will be accepted in person only. We have a fairly short agenda this evening, and I'll just make a few brief remarks before we begin. First and foremost, I'd like to address the recent increase in car thefts in certain areas of town over the last 6 weeks, which has included both thefts of cars and driveways and less frequently,
residential burglaries to obtain keys to steal high-end vehicles. I want to be very clear. We are taking the situation seriously and we are treating it these incidences with the urgency they deserve. I'd like to thank Michael Ring for his comments at the January 6th organizational meeting and also for
speaking in tonight's 7:30 conference session. I've spoken to several residents about their experiences and concerns and have been kept fully apprised of all activity by Chief Baloro. I acknowledge the fear and anger that some of our residents are feeling. For those who have been directly
impacted, I am truly sorry for what you've experienced. On a local level, please be assured that the Westfield Police Department is working aggressively to address this issue, which is impacting many towns across the region. We are grateful for the work of the Westfield PD and making two recent
arrests. One related to the incident on Senica and one on Coolage. I'm going to ask administrator town administrator Jim Gildet to speak in more detail about the department's ongoing efforts to combat this problem. >> Thank you, Mayor. Um, and as you said, we talked a little about this in the um,
conference session before the meeting and we also had a public safety committee meeting tonight uh, where the committee obviously talked a lot about this with Chief Baloro, professional staff and uh, what we're doing. Um, so just a couple things to remind the council and the public about um, you know, a couple things. First, uh, the
police department is continues to be and is at high highest level of staffing. So resources are adequate um, and actually in abundance with the police department. Um and uh I want to thank Chief Balora and the entire police department staff because this is a constant issue. This
is a top priority of the department. Uh has been and will continue to be going forward. Um you know, property crime, which is I've lived in town since 1979. My house where my parents still live today was broken into uh in 1985. I still remember it. So these are not
things you forget lightly. This is a violation of your personal space. And so we understand that. Um, but we have highest levels of staffing, highest levels of resources given to the police department. It's important for the public to know that we also have invested in technology, which we've talked about some time. It just bears
repeating a little bit. Um, we have license plate readers. Um, it sounds simple, but we have 25 license plate readers. We are the uh, I guess the third largest license plate reader um, town in the county behind Elizabeth and Lyndon or Rawway, excuse me. Um, and we
have 25 and they're positioned at different parts of town. Why is that important? License plate readers will pick up license plates of cars that are stolen and alert the police immediately of when cars are in the town. And because of where our license plate readers are located, the police can help
triangulate where those cars are. And our goal is to intercept them, drive them out, or apprehend them when possible and obviously prevent the crime that's about to take place possibly. Um, we've actually had some things. We've had these 25 uh breeders, license plate readers for some time, but we're moving
them around now to be more in strategic locations. So, for example, someone coming in on Central Avenue, passing down Central into like Virginia Street area, we'll pass one there and then we can if they don't hit another one for the street, we know they're in a certain neighborhood. The police can go out and fan out and get that thing. So, we've
been successful uh these have really helped us be successful not only in helping to prevent the actual thefts or crimes, but also sometimes the attempts. and our goal is to push them out of our boundaries. Um, crime like this does not know municipal boundaries. It will happens everywhere. It's happening all
the towns around us. We're no exception and at 85 um it's been happening for decades and will not stop. Unfortunately, we have a lot of things in this town people want. Um, but our police department does a phenomenal job pushing the crime out of the town. In addition to that, just technology wise,
we also have um an officer on staff and a few we have drones that we use. So when officers are out on patrols, extra patrols, they do use drones. That helps us obviously aerally see what's going on. It helps us actually um uh locate these vehicles where he puts them out. Last thing just to mention about this,
um I think Mr. Ring had, you know, comments last meeting. Um I want to continue that conversation. And so one of the comments he brought up was could we have additional patrols or additional supplemented staff at different times? And I want to let the public know we do that. Um so for example in the cooler street area uh where we knew there was
being targeted there for a while you might not have seen us there and that's by design. uh police department has undercover patrols um that happen in areas that are targeted and sometimes it's coolage it's two years ago it was Hillside Avenue it can be anywhere in town and we actually will have have
supplemental patrols overnight undercover uh and we found that that works but even when we're doing that one of the lights were on coolage undercover we had an incident on Senica different side of town so it's never perfectly predicted where this is going to happen but we do do that we will continue to do
that uh as long as we continue to be successful and some of those undercover patrols have yielded what mayor mayor Burman actually said before um sorry still getting used to it um mayor Burman said before of arrests place we had an arrest connected to that we had an arrest for coolage and they're working
on other possible arrests going forward so our staff and police department is doing a phenomenal job but this is a constant problem it's county statewide uh and Union County is unique in the sense that we are very close to Elizabeth to uh other towns that are
close to the ports of Newark. So, the towns in the periphery of that are ones that are targets, but it's easy to get cars out to the porch, shipped out, and so forth. So, um again, I just, you know, thank you, mayor, for letting me say a few words about that and the police department, but we have some things that are happening. We do take this very seriously. It's a top priority at all times, and we will continue to do
those things. Thank you. >> Thank you, Jim. Uh and thank you to the police department for their ongoing diligence. Um as we all know, the legislative component of this issue, as we just discussed in conference, is equally important. I've already reached out to our two newly elected assembly members, Andrew Mccertie and Vincent
Carney about the urgency uh for state level action, which I will also be communicating to Governor Elect Cheryl's office. Our officers will continue to work diligently to investigate, make these arrests, and secure our community. And as Jim mentioned, uh, the public safety, transportation, and parking
committee of the town council, chaired by councilwoman Gilman, and joined by council members Adoir, Dmagal, and Saunders met this evening, uh, for an hour and a half, uh, for the first time this year, and we'll continue to make this issue a top priority for our community. Um, so moving on to upcoming events over the next two weeks. The MLK
Association of Westfield will host its annual commemoration events on Monday, January 19th, in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The march will begin at 12:15 at the MLK monument at the South Avenue circle with the interfaith service to follow at 1:00 at the First
Congregational Church of Westfield on uh Elmer Street. I look forward to joining members of our community to gather and honor this meaningful day. And also don't miss the 4th annual Build Westfield in Lego event to be held on January 24th. Our special America 250 edition will include national landmarks
like Independence Hall and Mount Vernon along with over 50 beloved local buildings. Please register through the civic wreck and join your neighbors as well as General Washington as we kick off the nation's 250th in this fun familyfriendly afternoon. Uh many thanks to the historic preservation commission
uh of the recreation department for bringing this unique uh event to Westfield. Tonight's agenda is very straightforward. I would like to briefly highlight two ordinances on first reading as they pertain to recently settled labor negotiations with uh for town employees. The first relates to the Communication Workers of America, the
CWA local 1040, which represents approximately 35 town employees who work in various support CA capacities effective January 1 of this year through December 31st, 2029. The second relates to the firemen's mutual bene benevolent association, the FMBA branch 30 that
includes 38 employees from the Westfield Fire Department effective January 1 this year through December 31st of 2030. Both ordinances implement the salary ranges and guides for various employees in the bargaining unit for the term of the respective contract. Once the ordinance
is adopted in a few weeks, it will be followed by a resolution outlining the specific salaries for each employee effective for 2026 and that will be retroactive to January 1st, 2026. Let's begin tonight's agenda.
May I have a motion to accept the following appointment uh for the recreation commission Andrew Bronin as chair uh term expiring December 31, 2026. >> So moved >> by Councilwoman Gilman. Second >> second. >> Seconded by Councilman Armento. Any
discussion? All in favor? >> Yes. >> Opposed? The motion is carried. May I have a motion to approve the minutes from the town council conference executive and regular meetings of December 9th, 2025 and the town council
reorganization meeting of January 6th, 2026. >> Move moved by uh Councilman Dagala. Second >> second. >> Seconded by Councilman Saunders. Any discussion? All in favor? >> Yes. Opposed? The motion is carried. Uh
now it's time for open discussion by citizens. Anyone may come up to the microphone and speak to the council on any subject on which this council has jurisdiction. Please state your name and address for the record and limit your comments to five minutes. Mayor, council. Uh, good evening. My
name is Sean Keegan Foley and I am a former councilman and operate a mental health practice here in uh Westfield. Um I am currently visiting municipalities across Union County as part of a regional effort to address algorithmic rent pricing by building support through
municipal resolutions. I have shared a resolution with the full governing body through the town clerk earlier this week. This resolution is about affirming that housing markets be fair, transparent, and competitive. I hope you all have a chance to review the resolution at some point and consider
supporting it on the record. Thank you for your time. Thank you, Sean. We have received that communication and we'll take a look at that. Any others? Hearing none, I close this portion of the meeting and move to bills and
claims. Councilman Pcker. >> Thank you, Mayor. I'd like to move bills and claims in the amount of 1,260,446. >> May I have a second? >> Second. >> Seconded by Councilwoman Adoir. Any discussion? All in favor? >> Yes.
>> Yes. Opposed? The motion is carried. Uh, next on the agenda is reports of standing committees, beginning with the finance policy committee, Councilman Pcker. Thank you, Mayor. I have 11 resolutions I would like to move as a package. Number one, resolution authorizing the chief financial ad
officer to draw warrant for dog licenses for December 2025. Number two, resolution authorizing the chief financial officer to draw a warrant to treasur state of New Jersey for 2025 fourth quarter marriage civil marriage and civil union license fees. Number three, resolution authorizing the chief
financial officer to refund street opening cash bond. Number four, resolution authorizing the chief financial officer to refund dumpster security payment. Number five, resolution authorizing the chief financial officer to refund recreation department fees. Number six, resolution authorizing the chief financial officer
to draw a warrant for board of adjustment escrow monies. Number seven, resolution authorizing the chief financial officer to prepare warrants for postage payment in connection with tax assessment notices. Number eight, authorizing the chief financial officer to draw warrant for fourth quarter construction official state permit fees.
Number nine, resolution to appoint building and mechanical inspector. Number 10, resolution authorizing an affordability assistance grant pursuant to the town of Westfield's affordable assistance program for a tenant in an affordable housing unit at 440 North Avenue East, apartment 1A. 11,
resolution authorizing an affordability assistant grant pursuant to the town of Westfield's affordability assistance program for a tenant of an affordable housing unit at 3101 Echolane, Unit 3101. >> May I have a second? >> Second. >> Seconded by Councilman Daggala. All in
favor? >> Yes. >> Yes. opposed. The motion is carried. >> Next, I would like to move general ordinance number 2026-01 on first reading, an ordinance to amend the code of the town of Westfield, chapter 2, administration, article 2,
town officers and employees, division 3, personnel positions and salary schedule sec2-12.28 schedule. >> May I have a second? >> Second. >> Seconded by Councilman Saunders. Any discussion? Please call the role. >> Council members Gilman,
>> yes. >> Domin, >> yes. >> Pecker, >> yes. >> Saunders, >> yes. >> Yes. >> Armentoto, >> yes. >> Mayor Burman, >> yes. This motion is carried. >> I would also like to move general ordinance number 2026-02 on first reading, an ordinance to amend
the general ordinance number 2022-16 entitled an ordinance fixing the salaries of certain employees of the police and fire departments in the town of Westfield and various amendments there, too. >> May I have a second? Second. >> Second. >> Second by Councilman Armentoto. Uh, any
discussion? >> Please call the role. >> Council member Gilman. >> Yes. >> Domo. >> Yes. >> Tucker. >> Yes. >> Saunders. >> Yes. >> Yes. >> Armentoto. >> Yes. >> Mayor Burman. >> Yes. The motion has carried. Next is public safety, transportation,
and parking committee. Councilwoman Gilman. >> Thank you, mayor. I have two resolutions I would like to move as a package. One, resolution to appoint fire official. Two, resolution to appoint special law enforcement officers. >> May I have a second? >> Second.
>> Second. Councilwoman Adoir. Any discussion? >> All in favor? >> Yes. >> Opposed? The motion is carried. Uh, last is the public works committee. Councilwoman Adoir. >> Thank you, mayor. I would like to move a resolution authorizing an award of
contract for the disposal the disposal of recyclable material. >> May I have a second? >> Second. Seconded by Councilwoman Gilman. Any discussion? All in favor? >> Yes. >> Yes. Uh opposed. The motion is carried.
>> May I have a motion to adjurnn? So moved. >> Motion by Councilman Saunders. Second. >> Second. >> Second by Councilwoman Adoir. >> All in favor? >> Yes. >> Opposed. >> The motion is carried. The meeting is
adjourned. Thank you every Thank you everyone for coming.