yours came but you made a mistake We got you guys Welcome It's busy Don't down I said you would ask Hi good evening everybody
Okay Adequate notice of this meeting as 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 17 2024 The notice was on that date posted on the bulletin
board of the municipal building provided to the Westfield leader in the star ledger and filed with the clerk of the town of Westfield Miss Law we have a roll call Mayor Riddle here Council members have good Darnia here Here Keeper Saunders here Here Contra here
Here Please rise for the invocation given by Councilman Saunders and remain standing for the salute to the flag Today may we be open to others ideas and beliefs respectful of our differences not threatened by them May we grow in understanding of one another Strength
real strength can always find compromise Working together May we find a common ground Enable us to move forward with a shared purpose May we see what is truly important and unites us focusing on that to banish roadblocks of ego and fear
Today may we open to others ideas and beliefs to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands one nation indivisible and justice for all We'll do that first
Which we'll do We are doing two proclamations First one is for National Parkinson's Awareness Month Thank you for being here ladies Great to see you Okay Whereas Parkinson's disease is a chronic progressive neurological disease
and is the second most common neurodeenerative disease in the United States And whereas Parkinson's disease is estimated to affect approximately 1 million people in the US and the prevalence will rise to 1.2 million by 2030 And whereas 90,000 new people are
diagnosed each year in the United States with Parkinson's disease And whereas Parkinson's disease is the 14th leading cause of death in the United States according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention And whereas it is estimated that the economic burden of
Parkinson's disease is at least 52 billion dollars annually including direct and indirect costs including treatment social security payments and lost income to patients and family members And whereas research suggests the cause of Parkinson's disease is a combination of genetic and environmental
factors The exact cause and progression of the disease is still unknown And whereas there is no objective test or biomarker for Parkinson's and there's no cure or drug to slow or halt the progression of the disease And whereas the symptoms of Parkinson's vary from
person to person and can include tremors slowness of movement and rigidity difficulty with balance swallowing chewing and speaking cognitive impairment and dementia mood disorders and a variety of other non-motor symptoms And whereas volunteers
researchers caregivers and medical professionals are working to improve the quality of life of persons living with Parkinson's disease and their families And whereas increased research education and community support service such as those provided by the Parkinson's Foundation and other organizations are
needed to find more effective treatments and to provide access to quality care to those living with the disease today Now therefore be it proclaimed that I Mary Shelley Brindle in recognition of the need to bring awareness to the plight of Parkinson's patients and their families
do hereby designate the month of April of 2025 as Parkinson's awareness month in the town of Westfield Thank you for being here one of you I always want to [Applause] say on behalf of the uh Parkinson's
group in Westfield I want to thank you Mayor Brindle and this council for honoring us with this proclamation And I just want to tell you a little bit about the group We meet on Mondays and uh actually we were meeting monthly before
COVID that shut everything down and uh before before we were doing that we uh well actually after COVID we started meeting weekly and uh virtually and uh for the time being when we opened up we
realized how important it was to actually be with people and also we could reach out to the ones who could no longer attend the meetings So we now meet virtually and in person We have a hybrid meeting that we meet on the
second Monday of the month and uh we meet virtually only on the other Mondays at from 1:30 to 3 and uh or also during co Jean White the uh fitness instructor who leads Parkinson's classes at the Y
she uh came on and she shares her meetings with us I am responsible for the content for the first 45 minutes and she comes on and leads the group in 45 minutes of exercise afterwards So um everyone
welcome right it is for caregivers and people with Parkinson's Cheryl here is a member and uh we have some great events coming up uh for Parkinson's awareness month Uh we will have an information table at the
library on uh April 11th which is world Parkinson's day and uh we'll be there from 1 to 4 and then also uh we walk we we have a walk on Monday and uh we will
be in the park and raising money park uh we will be walking to raise some money for the Parkinson's unity walk Great Thank you so much And one other thing too uh for World Parkinson's Day we have another initiative for it's a global
initiative by a group called the PD Avengers and it is called Spark the Night and we are advocating for people to light up buildings And we're lighting up town hall Yes we are
And so if you see buildings in blue on April the 11th at night it's Parkinson's awareness Excellent Thank you so much for being here Really thank you Thank you so much
Okay next I think we have a crew that's going to come up here for it is National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week and I think our dispatch folks are here Come on up you guys Please Chief Chief you can come here Come on How are you it's great to see you guys here
And I have to say uh credit to Chief Balora for requesting this Um and I will uh read this proclamation and then I'm going to ask the chief to say a few words Uh so whereas emergencies that require
police fire or emergency medical services can occur at any time And whereas when an emergency occurs the prompt response of police officers firefighters and EMTs is critical to the protection of life and preservation of property And whereas the safety of our
police officers firefighters and EMTs is dependent upon the quality and accuracy of information obtained from citizens who contact the Westfield Emergency Communication Center And whereas public safety telecommunicators are the first and most critical contact our citizens
have with emergency services And whereas public safety telecommunicators are the single vital links for our police officers firefighters and EMTs by monitoring their activities by radio providing them information and ensuring their safety And whereas public safety
telecommunicators of the Westfield Police Department have contributed substantially to the apprehension of criminals suppression of fires and treatment of patients And whereas each dispatcher has exhibited compassion understanding and professionalism during
the performance of their job in the past year Therefore be it resolved that the town council of Westfield declares the week of April 13 through 19 2025 to be National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week in Westfield in honor of the men and women whose diligence and
professionalism keep our city and citizens safe Thank you all so much for your service and congratulations on the accreditation this year Such a proud moment for the department and for you guys in particular and I'm going to hand it over to Chief and maybe talk a little
bit about the number of calls these folks receive Thank you mayor Uh I want to thank the mayor and council for recognizing these six dispatchers here Um we're very fortunate in Westfield to operate our own public safety communication center It is a public
safety answering point which means we answer 911 calls and it is also a public safety dispatch point which means we also dispatch for our public service agencies To give you an idea of the workload these individuals handled in
2024 they answered over 5,000 911 calls They answered over 30,000 administrative phone calls Those are calls that come in on our seven-digit or I should say our 10digit non-emergency number which in many instances are in fact people reporting emergencies And they process
over 53,000 calls for police fire and emergency medical services That's in one year So that's a very substantial workload Um it's very fitting to honor them or to recognize them uh this week because we are about to undergo a very
extensive uh accreditation uh or I should say reacreditation examination uh the first week of May Um and we would not be an accredited communication center if it weren't for the efforts of these six people Just to give you an idea there are over 550 law enforcement
agencies in the state of New Jersey While not every one of them operates a public safety answering point a public safety dispatch point we are one of only 10 that are accredited by the New Jersey State Association of Chiefs of Police So not only is our law enforcement agency accredited but so is our public safety
answering point We became the fifth uh just the fifth agency in New Jersey to achieve both such accreditations The only one uh initially only one in Union County Elizabeth is now accredited as well but we are one of only 10 agencies in the state of New Jersey So Michael
Alexa Thomas Robert Joseph Kim thank you for your efforts I am greatly appreciative [Applause]
Okay Jim do you have any remarks thank you Mayor Thanks for honoring our exceptional dispatch crew Uh couple updates for me tonight real quick Um just uh more public information points Uh community or conservation center is
open Uh has been open Permits are still for sale online Uh we have uh despite some of the raindrops uh grass is starting to grow So lots of activity at the conservation center for that and recycling Uh pool memberships We have now uh gone through the first couple of
tiers of membership renewal uh is now open to residents and non-residents We have less than a thousand individual spaces left for the year and we will expect to sell out again uh for another consecutive year We I guess a reminder to the public We have over 9,700 individual members that join this pool
myself included Um and it's a great place to be And then again thanks to Heather Lauren the recreation department for really doing a great job again getting the memberships uh out there and doing the work on the pool reminder We have a new filtration system this year which is on its final stages of being installed will be tested in the month of
May as well as some new features in the uh children's area So really exciting um season coming up Um road paving So I'm going to be up here now every every single council meeting talking about road paving It starts really this week Uh we are beginning our carryover state
aid job Uh the first one we're getting to was awarded last year carried over to this year is the Francis and Clover paving job Uh and uh what'll start later this week is the handicap ramp installations There's only a handful there and then next week we expect the mill and pave to be done and then
there'll be some state testing required because of the state money we're getting but that job should be completed weather permitting by the end of next week if not sooner So that'll be the first carryover job Reminder we have two other state aid jobs we'll be actually awarding this year Rawway Avenue um from
around Cotting Road to um uh Clifton uh and then also um Elma Street from Dudley to uh East Broad That one was delayed because of Elizabeth Town Gasport that's currently going on there Um and so then also we have our roughly eight miles
tonight is the capital budget So we are actually getting ready to approve the aotment of money to do just just shy of eight miles of road by the town along with other little projects included in there So that gets approved tonight in the month of May We'll be able for the first time to award some contracts and can work contracts beyond there as well
So we're excited about that and our town engineer is working diligently on getting bid documents together for those items Uh last two items Uh again sewer fees were due April 1st Again as always 10-day grace period So this Thursday is the 10day window where it ends So thank you for those that paid If you haven't
paid please pay by Thursday online or in person and uh avoid any uh any late fee charges And lastly was mentioned before uh we have the ability now to um we have always lit up town hall but we have the ability thanks to public works and Craig Gibson to change the colors of how it's
lit up So this month we are uh letting it for Parkinson's awareness uh month as well as autism awareness month in the same color blue for the month So every night for the month of April starting April 1st we've been letting up a blue so before you leave take a look It looks really nice Um and we have the ability to do that now for other events
throughout the course of the year So uh thank you That's it Thank you Sure Um so just a few comments before we head into the agenda I um also want to remind everybody in case you didn't know this week we celebrate National Public Health Week which provides the
opportunity to express our gratitude to all of our public health workers and in particular our regional health department which is led by Megan Avalone which provides public health services to 120,000 residents in nine municipalities including Westfield A lot of people don't realize about the reach and extent
of extent of of our Westful Health Department and it serves nine municipalities and has quite a stellar reputation statewide and I know certainly down in Trenton Um but unfortunately there have some recent federal decisions which I think we're all pretty much aware of um uh that is
uh due to these decisions public health professionals all over the country including here in Westfield face significant proposed cuts that will impede critical services that they deliver to their communities Uh in fact the proposed cuts to Medicaid will put about $10 billion of crucial federal
funding for New Jersey residents at risk That's a 7070% reduction from the current 14 billion in Medicaid federal funding the state currently receives and it will devastate the state's current 24 billion dollar Medicaid budget On March 28th
Megan and I sat in the audience here in Westfield while Governor Murphy hosted a roundt discussion here in Westfield on this topic He was joined by the state's health commissioners and seven residents from our congressional district whose lives would be ne negatively impacted by these cuts The panelists consisted of
residents with disabilities as well as caregivers and practitioners all relying on Medicaid to receive or deliver services including the CEO of Children Specialized Hospital Dr Matthew McDonald who I spoke to at length afterwards Children Special Specialized which I'm
sure Councilman Armentoto knows well which is the largest provider of charity care and uh and care to Medicaid beneficiaries in the state of New Jersey receives 50% of its funding through Medicaid to care for its patients And so I think my big takeaway after sitting in
this round table whether you are a direct beneficiary of Medicaid or not a devastating federal reduction of what is being considered will have a cascading effect through the entire health care system which could force the closing of hospitals and the layoffs of doctors and
hospitals impacting every person's quality of care Here at home the Westfield Regional Health Department has for now been able to adapt their services to this new budget reality and does not have to cut core services at this time thanks to some creativity by
Megan But other surrounding communities immediate surrounding communities however are not as fortunate and they have begun eliminating some of the public health services they provide We do however anticipate additional future cuts and our health department is currently preparing plans for what that
would mean for the delivery of their services And as mayor I do believe it's my job to leverage my platform to advocate for our residents particularly those who are not always in a position to advocate for themselves And I believe and the reason I bring this up regarding
the cuts last time and now it's critical that every resident understand how these federal decisions directly impact our neighbors and community Nobody is immune from the decisions that are being made And all I can ask and implore everyone
is to please contact Senators Kim and Booker and Congressman Kaine to remind them that our health care system must continue to provide the the health services that so many of our residents rely upon Uh on to separate topic I do want to
remind everybody if hopefully everyone is aware that next Tuesday April 15th Westfield residents will vote on an additional spending proposal for the 2526 school district operating budget and a bond referendum that includes funding for school improvements and full day kindergarten Hopefully uh if you're
going away you get your yellow look for the yellow envelopes in the mail Mine came last week Um please those are your uh mail and ballots easiest thing to do is drop them off at the county clerk's office in the box outside Um and it's very important especially for those that
v vote unfortunately falls during spring break for the schools which is a date set by the state Um but uh please if you you can learn about mailin options I know some people just went directly to the clerk's office and were a able to do it in one transaction while they were there So um please please please vote on
this critical project for the schools Um lots of comments If you were driving on portions of East Dudley Avenue today you probably noticed a production crew that's in place between Lawrence and Elm which is part of a film shoot by Netflix We can't publicize the details but I can
tell you it's very exciting with a very top near tier talent Um the crew is going to continue in this lo location through Thursday and then they're moving on to filming in front of Wilson School and the immediate area April 16th through 18th which is over spring break and then onto Sherwood Parkway on April
18th Uh the police department did send out Nixl alerts last night and this morning with details about the timing of the road closures they are there directing traffic etc And they'll continue to do so until the um till the uh film shooting is wrapped up Um so if
you also see a bunch of cars and trucks in the Lord and Taylor parking lot that's where they were they they're um kind of putting all their uh materials and so forth during the production shoot So just know that those additional vehicles are part of the production equipment and catering requirements Um
and they're not being parked overnight in residential neighborhoods Um I also want to remind everybody to fill out that Tobacco Park survey if you haven't done so already The good news is that the by popular demand and we've gotten such great feedback The original
deadline was April April 11th but has been moved back a week or two So we want to make sure that we capture as much additional community input as possible and God bless you Um as a reminder it is part of the recreations commission exploration of a design plan for Tomacos Park to upgrade and expand existing
facilities Lots of exciting uh possibilities I think there will also be some public uh vising sessions I think where people can come in person and provide input as well and David Kefir is leading that as the liaison to the recreation commission So if you haven't
done the survey please do so now You have a little bit of extra time to complete it Um in terms of tonight's legislative agenda a few things that just want to highlight The most exciting thing on the budget tonight is adopting the vote to adopt the 2025 capital budget And capital is always fun because
those are things that you fund that we fund that we can actually touch and see Um it's for long-term projects in public works parks recreation office offerings the library public safety maintenance and infrastructure and paving which Jim mentioned Um and I think the paving and
we'll be talking more about this but by next year if we adopt this uh ordinance tonight um we will have paved all 100 miles of road in Westfield which is since 2018 which is an unprecedented accomplishment by any municipality Um
lots of uh innovative um uh an innovative ordinance requiring a part partnership with the uh with utility companies um but also even some of the uh the datadriven decisions that were made that really created a paving plan for the next few years Um ultimately
when this is done we anticipate a savings to taxpayers of over $20 million um by having the utilities go full curb to curve repaving and not only that an acceleration of the infrastructure improvements because of that partnership So I call it this one of our biggest
win-wins and we're very excited about uh that big milestone that we're going to be reaching Um and regarding public safety we're also going to be authorizing award of a contract for apparatus refurbishment which is really an award of contract for our truck replacement uh firet truck replacement
with a 25% down payment Um and um and very excited about that I'm sure right Chief Delts Um and we're also going to be hearing an ordinance on first reading to authorize a new yield sign at David Courtney at Carol Road in response to some residents concerns Um and lastly I
just want to highlight one ordinance on first reading from public works Um and it is the not to exceed prices for certain limit items at the conservation center including bulky waste permits landscaper registration one day permits etc I just remind everybody when we do not to exceed prices it doesn't mean
that's what the price is going to be It just gives the council the flexibility to adjust the price based upon the real world um uh circumstances that happen when we go out for those So we'll be doing that tonight So but an act a resolution with an actual fee schedule for each item will come back before the
town council once those decisions have been made So with that oh I do have a personal note tonight I want to wish my husband a happy 30th anniversary I am here He is home with the four dogs alone Um but I do think when I left this evening I I just want to credit all my
colleagues here It is a reminder of how much our family sacrificed I think for our service Although I don't know if my husband would see me being here was a sacrifice on his part But anyway happy 30th anniversary to Kip at home and thank you so much for your support Um so with that
um we'll get to work Miss Lashley are there any advertised hearings yes mayor We have two hearings tonight Starting with general ordinance 20256 an ordinance for calendar year 2025 to establish a cap bank Anyone wishing to be heard on general orders 20256 please come to your microphone
state your name and address for the record Seeing no one may you may close the hearing This hearing is closed Next is special ordinance 202501 bond ordinance to authorize the making of various public improvements in the acquisition of new additional or
replacement equipment and machinery new communication and signal systems equipment and new automotive and electric vehicles including apparatus and equipment in buy and for the town of Westfield in the county of Union state of New Jersey to appropriate the sum of
$5,65,000 to pay the cost thereof to make a down payment to authorize the issuance of bonds to finance such appropriation and to provide for the issuance of bond anticipation notes in anticipation of the issuance of such bonds Anyone wishing to be heard on special warrants 202501 please come to
the microphone state your name and address for the record Seeing no one mayor you may close your hearing This hearing is closed Councilman Contract please move the adoption of these ordinances Thank you Mayor I'd like to move for the adoption of general ordinance number
2025-06 an ordinance for calendar year 2025 to establish a cap bank May I have a second second Second by Councilman Saunders Um any discussion please call the role Council members Dardia yes Domo
yes Saunders yes Yes contract Yes Yes Yes This motion is carried I'd also like to move for the adoption of special ordinance number 2025-01 a bond ordinance to authorize the making of various public improvements and the acquisition of new additional or replacement equipment and
machinery new communication and signal systems equipment and new automotive and electric vehicles including original apparatus and equipment in by and for the town of Westfield and the county of Union state of New Jersey to appropriate the sum of $5,65,000 to pay the cost thereof to make a down payment to authorize the
issuance of bonds to finance such appropriation ation and to provide for the issuance of bond anticipation notes in anticipation of the issuance of such bonds May I have a second second Second by councilman Armento Any discussion please call the role Council member
Thardio Yes Malaw Yes Saunders Yes Yes Contract Yes Yes Mayor Yes This motion is carried May I have a motion to approve the minutes from the town council conference and regular meetings of March 25th 2025
so moved So moved by Councilman Dardian Second Second Seconded by Councilman Dagala Any discussion all in favor yes Opposed this motion is carried 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 we have jurisdiction Please state your name and address for the record and limit your comments to five minutes Hearing none I close this portion of the meeting and moves to bills and claims Councilman contract Thank you mayor I'd like to move bills
and claims in the amount of 1,88,687.3 cents Don't forget the three cents No Very important Three cents May I have a second second Thank Councilman Saunders Any discussion all in favor yes Opposed this motion is carried Next on
the agenda is reports of standing committees beginning with the finance policy committee Councilman Contract Thank you mayor I have 12 resolutions 11 of which to move as a package First is a resolution authorizing the CFO to refund recreation department fees The second is a resolution authorizing the CFO to refund police department fees The third
is a resolution authorizing the CFO to refund a street opening cash bond The fourth is a resolution authorizing the CFO to draw a warrant for dog licenses for March 2025 Fifth is a resolution authorizing the CFO to draw a warrant for board of adjustment escrow monies Sixth is a resolution authorizing the
CFO to draw a warrant to the treasur state of New Jersey for marriage and civil union license fees The seventh is a resolution authorizing the CFO to draw a warrant for first quarter construction official state permit fees Eight resolution authorizing the CFO to draw a warrants pursuant to the tax court of
New Jersey Ninth a resolution authorizing the CFO to draw a warrant for overpay taxes 10th a resolution authorizing the tax collector to cancel the tax balance for 200 South Avenue which is the property the town just purchased the old Chiffy Loop Station And 11th and last is a resolution
providing for the self-examination of the 2025 municipal municipal budget May I have a second second Second by Councilman Domaggala Any discussion all in favor yes Opposed this motion is carried I would also like to move a resolution
to approve temporary emergency appropriations May I have a second second Second by Councilman Saunders Any discussion please call the role Council members Daria yes Yes Yes Armentoto yes Contract yes Yes May yes This motion is
carried Next up is public safety transportation parking committee Councilman Dardia Thank you mayor I have two resolutions I would like to move as a package Number one resolution authorizing an award of contract for the reconditioning and refurbishing of fire
department apparatus Two resolution authorizing an award of contract for the purchase of a fire department pumper apparatus May I have a second second Second by councilman contract Any discussion i just wanted to make a quick comment for Chief Dulks I think this is
a really good example of being creative you know and spending taxpayers dollars wisely right we could have as a finance committee and Councilman Dagalo was part of these discussions you know said "All right let's just buy two fire trucks." But working together we said "That's a
big it's a big cost Is there a different and better way to get us to the goal which is to make sure we have the right equipment to take care of Westfield's needs?" So Chief I just want to thank you for being flexible and open-minded to our request and coming back with a really good plan that I don't know
remember the exact dollar savings but it's significant and the multihundreds of thousands of dollars that we did not have to put into the capital budget to meet the town's needs Well done All in favor yes Yes Oppose This motion is
carried I'll continue I would like to move general ordinance number 2025-07 on first reading an ordinance to amend the code of the town of Westfield chapter 13 May I have a second second by council Dagala Any discussion please
call the role Council member yes Domala yes Saunders yes Armentoto yes Contract yes Yes Yes This motion is carried Next up is code review and town property committee council and contract I would like to move a resolution to approve
children's amusement device licenses for the upcoming baseball and softball parade May I have a second second by Councilman Saunders Any discussion all in favor yes Opposed this motion is carried Next is the public works committee Councilman Healey Yes I move a
resolution awarding a contract for tree pruning and removal services May I have a second second Second by councilman contract Any discussion all in favor yes Opposed This motion is carried I'll also move uh a general
ordinance on first reading an ordinance to amend the code of the town of Westville This has to do with fees at the very successful con conservation center that we have been running for more than 50 years May I have a second second Second by Councilman Contract Any
discussion please call the role Council member yes Malo yes Sanders yes Parto Yes Contra Yes Yes May Yes This motion is carried May I have a motion to adjurnn tojourn So moved Councilman
Healey Second Second Seconded by Councilman Saunders All in favor opposed This motion is carried This meeting is adjourned Good night everybody Thank you for being here