##VIDEO ID:FXAL1tGiazA## rise for the pledge to the flag IED to the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one under God indivisible withy and justice for all if we all remain standing for a moment of silence uh we're dealing with wildfires in our country and we also uh just have a lot of people over overseas that are fighting for our our protection uh and our safety so please keep them in mind notice requirement of the open public meeting will have been satisfied concerning this meeting the home News Tribune The Star Ledger published a notice on October 6 2023 copy was posted on the municipal bulletin board and should be so noted in the minutes of this meeting can I get a motion to approve the minutes from October 22nd 2024 motion second any questions or comments from Council all favor I oppose eyes have it beginning with second reading ordinances this evening we will take letter a first which is a bond ordinance authorized the appropriation of up to $5,950 th000 uh for issuance of bonds to finance such Appropriations I get a motion that this ordance we take it up on second and third reading and the public hearing be open second any questions or comments from Council all favor I I oppose eyes have it the public hearing is now open on letter a letter A only John vtic Woodbridge letter A the bond ordinators authoriz are making the various public improvements in the end of the wood Township what public improvements are you talking about for 500 950,000 5, 950,000 done payment what improvements are we talking about it's various Paving projects throughout wood Township Paving projects Paving great thank you any other questions on letter A from the public letter A here are no other comment can I get a motion at the public hear and be closed the ordance to be adopted and submitted to the mayor for approval as required by law motion second any questions or comments all in favor I I oppose eyes had it letter B is an ordinance authorized by the mayor and the councel uh to De anex certain lands known as block 23.0 5 lot one I get a motion that this ordinance be taken up on second and third reading and the public hear and be opened motion second comments or questions from Council all in favor I I opposed eyes have the public hearing is now open on letter b letter B only again John on the letter B what block and what landan are we talking about how can we bring up the location physical do block a lot number a lot of we don't know what it is but what is the land and was the for it's in casby um and it's a threers committee um to oversee the casby development plan where the new school over in that area okay good thank you you're welcome any other questions or comments on letter B hearing another the comment can I get a motion that the public hearing be closed the ordinance be adopted and submitted to the mayor for approval as required by law motion second any questions or comments from Council all in favor I I opposed eyes have it letter C is an ordinance uh adopting the amended Port Reading Avenue Area 3 Redevelopment plan can I get a motion that this ordinance be taken up on second and third reading and the public he and be open motion second any questions or comments from Council all in favor I I oppos eyes have it the public hearing is now open on letter c letter C only here no comment from the public public can I get a motion out the public hearing be closed the ordance be adopted and submitted to the mayor for approval as required by law motion second questions or comments from counil all in favor I opposed eyes have letters D and E are both first reading ordinances can I get a motion that these two ordinances will be passed on first reading published in the home newb on November 15 2024 with notice of public hearing to be held on November 26 20124 at 6: p.m. motion second questions or comments from councel all in favor I I oppose eyes have and before you I have listed 25 items under resolutions please pull item number 24 with that said can I get a motion by consent to approve 1 through 23 and 25 motion second any questions or comments Mr Mitch I'll be abstaining from number 25 so noted any other comments from Council Mr Mitch I'll be abstaining from resolution number 21 please so noted any other comments from Council all in favor I opposed I have that's all I have sir okay um at this point we will go into our public portion um uh public comment portion of the meeting uh the microphone in the back uh in the blue U marked off area um is where you should speak from uh you will be given a one-time opportunity to speak up to five minutes uh that includes my commentary I will give you a one minute um uh warning and we just ask that um if you have any signs that you keep them with you and you do not put them in any walkways um and uh uh we'd ask that you um state your name and your section of town that you're from yes sir hello everybody good evening my name is Gary dedeler I live in Colonia Mian country life life could be great and life could be hard life can give you a lot of problems health problems money problems work problems but if you're part of the 99% of people who live in this great country there's one problem you don't have to worry about and that's your freedom because the remaining 1% of that population defends that freedom for you yesterday the 11th month the 11th day the 11th Hour was Veterans Day we honored the men and women who defended this country in the past and right now and it was a great day you had a parade here in town people pledged their allegiance to the flag wonderful words were said of Praise we showed our respect but there's always a butt it's veteran day one day a year don't you think they deserve more than one day in my humble opinion I suggest you find something that you inspire about a veteran something that makes you know that that guy's a veteran whether it's their commitment to serve others before themselves their love of this great country respect of the flag take some of these ideals and insert them into your everyday life this would make the men and women who served our country who fought for our country who put the time in who accepted the sacrifices feel worthy and accepted it would make them feel like they live in a life with purpose September 12th 2001 the day after the terrible tragedies in New York Washington and Pennsylvania flags were everywhere homes businesses cars you couldn't buy a flag what the heck happened what happened where are the flags I drove from Colonia to Mike BFW Post in Kenworth on private homes I counted Seven Flags in three towns excluding the Township's Flags Seven Flags three towns what happened all glory is still the greatest symbol of our nation's Unity displaying our country's flag proudly shows your support for the American values and for those who fought and are still fighting for our freedom let's get our flags back out people Reagan stated some people live an entire lifetime and wonder if they ever made a difference a veteran doesn't have that problem thank you for your courtesy thank you for comments Mr Nar thank you for your service yes sir good evening my name is Ron Wyatt I live uh Chestnut Street in avanel and for quite a while we were having uh speeding car issues coming down our street uh I had two cars total at my house and then my truck was hit and his two-day old Tesla my truck landed on and we had about 15 people come here for a meeting to address it because we were for a couple of years complaining about the speeding cars we came in and and we spoke to the council and to the mayor and Corey and um as soon as we were done during this session the mayor called us out in the hallway and he came and spoke to us privately and he said that he was going to take care of it and to be honest with you we were like we felt like yeah yeah yeah sure the next morning at 8:30 in the morning there were some guys out on our street check out the signs all right and long story short you guys came through for us it's taken us a while to get back to say thank you but we really appreciate it and I want to encourage all you guys on the council who have the power to help the citizens it's it's I'm I'm impressed that he said he was going to do something and he did it and I think the state of the country right now you got half the people happy the other half not happy you have some very good power in your hands don't take it lightly and and and and again it's been quite a while every time I see the mayor I say thank you but I wanted to publicly thank him and Corey because they came through for us and and I'd like to encourage take your job very seriously and and help solve the problems here you know and that's it I'm almost interior because I'm grateful for what you did so that's all I got to say thank you very much for your coming thank you Mr Mayor thank you Corey thank you Council appreciate it are there any other comments from the public this evening I'm sorry council president if someone sitting in the audience I know you guys have the agenda and the ordinances but I believe that there are two high school students here that need that so that they can follow the meeting if you're not going to do anything with it if you can share with them that would be great thank Youk thank you so much good call counc thank thank you hello again Jessica mayor vietto from abano and um I understand the Woodbridge Town Council in part is here to represent the community and its residents but us as a group we feel that you're being dismissive with us um you've said the only part that Woodbridge plays with sequest is to oversee the food consumption for humans and that's not true because Woodbridge signed off on the permits that were issued I wanted to let you know that sequest in Fort Worth Texas just closed on October 28th they abruptly closed after being reported for possible animal cruelty they're now permanently closed the main society uh the director down in Texas Alex gamas issued this statement we urge them to send all the animals neglected in their care to accredited sanctuaries rather than to other sequest locations or similar attractions the horrific mall-based petting zoo are plagued with animal deaths injured children and adults and more than 100 Federal Animal Welfare act violations Over The Last 5 Years including most recently when customers were bitten by a sloth and a bangal cat both of which are at this location they have both of those animals at this location now I want to mention that I was there on Saturday again I went in and I watched the Bengal interaction and I have it videoed people are supposed to go in in touch with two fingers only these cats were being pet on their full bodies and the employee that was in there with them did not push the bangal cat away from the woman until she grabbed the cat underneath its face it only takes a split second for a bite to happen they're poked and proded out against their will to think that they're not going to react at some point in time is ridiculous that brings us to five locations in the United States that sequest have closed Colorado Connecticut Georgia Virginia and now Texas I want to remind you that this location is still under indefinite probation we're growing momentum we don't look like we're a big group but we are growing we're getting national attention we continue to make it abundantly clear to those that we speak with be it the public or to different news agencies that you're not helping us I know you're saying it's not us it's not us but you are supposed to help the residents I'm not going to go away we're not going to go away the only thing that's going to go away is going to be sequest and I'm asking you to decide which side of this battle you want to come out on with us or when they close and you're in the news as the people who didn't help us thank you yes um before you comment um I just want to um allow our legal uh response so to be clear the township permit that was issued is only for the purpos of verifying that the uh that the premises the animals are kept in are suitable for their health everything else is regulated by the state in fact the regulation of the health of the animal and the premise that's kept in is also regulated by the state and federal government the township has a permit in place that basically says they are complying with state and federal law state inspections all say they're okay Federal inspections say the same thing yes they're are they're under probation at the moment but there's nothing the township can do because the higher authority which is the state government or the federal government they've ruled to determine if they're okay so at this point all we can do is wait for any violations to be issued by the state or federal government at this point there's nothing else we can do as a to okay thank you uh Nicole pattern officer avanel um so I appreciate that information but we did ask to sit down with you in order to have a face-to-face conversation so on October 21st we formally requested a sit down discussion during the council meeting meeting followed up by emails from the group to you all of you on October 22nd October 23rd we received a message Thanking us for our care and compassion but no dates were offered on October 24th we were informed that there informed that there would be meeting options in the coming weeks yet we heard nothing specific after reaching out once more on October 30th we still have received no response for anyone on the council to sit down with us and at least see what we have so while we have been ignored here we are not being ignored in other places ABC News just recently sat down with us so I'm hoping Woodbridge gets the national attention that it deserves at this point congressman Frank Pal's office reviewed our documentation with us and has directed it to the appropriate documentation and the City of summit in New Jersey gave you guys a wonderful shout out the other night um talking about this situation down here councilman Andy miger stated they have been protesting there frequently about a horrific welfare situation happening there for these kinds of situations that are happening all over the state but also in particular those at Woodbridge struggling to make their city council hear them on this issue and help them push this over the Finish Line This is a no-brainer and we can and should pass this resolution so that was Summit talking about a resolution that they were passing to ban off um Pet Shops and other places like this from opening in their city so getting some good attention all over the state as well our voices were also heard by if cage walls could talk a radio show in Chicago and by countless supporters who have signed petitions and Par ipated in email campaigns to amplify our messages but here in Woodbridge our voices have been ignored so let me be clear we do not plan to go away and we do not plan to stay silent we will continue to speak up and inform the public about Woodbridge New Jersey a city for now that seems to be willing to turn a blind eye to animal suffering and public health concerns once again we ask you to sit down with us not as a formality put to generally generally address our concerns and show your commitment to the well-being of our community and the animals involved I'm Carrie Spug from Seaside as you know sequest is an aquarium petting zoo in the Woodbridge Center Mall which is currently on probation due to abuse neglect and death for the past five including tonight New Jersey residents and employees have described threats of human safety animal welfare and illegal procedures currently happening at sequest so before you had mentioned the farm animal permit which is signed by the health department that has nothing to do with the illegal fish pedicure that's going on right now there is no permit for that at a zoo okay see so instead of going on and on about the suffering like we've been doing five five meetings in a row we thought just relaying some numbers would be impactful the probation I mentioned from Fish and Wildlife which is under Department of uh Environmental Protection is 32 Pages the Woodbridge location has a 32 page violation report five cqu quests have closed already 300 animals died at one of them 100 animals died at the Woodbridge location according to former employees we're not making this up we have evidence 100 marine animals were shipped from Colorado sequest to Min Minnesota location a 100 dead marine animals upon arrival who does that they shipped 100 animals they were dead and Frozen upon arrival and the last two weeks we got 7,824 citizens to sign the petition to shut down sequest in Woodbridge the residents don't want this here 50 just signed for the illegal pedicure 34 reported bites 19 page complaint from Peta 19 protesters every two weeks 80 citations over the past five years from government authorities have you ever wondered why the CEO just stepped down in August two state laws have blatantly been broken New Jersey statute 45 5 b-13 D and New Jersey statute 13 col 28- 2.15 these laws are obviously being brok broken if the Woodbridge Town Council is not going to take action to enforce these laws what's our next move do we get the police involved thank you I have another comment from our legal just to clarify those statutes cited are enforced by the department of col cosmetology which is a state agency not municipal government here so we have no jurisdiction over that issue and theology depart ref a attorney to the health department well that's improper on their part the ordinance is clear I'm sure the state statute is clear that they have enforcement authority over that issue not the township right the board is in charge of LIC nothing to do withal okay we can't have back and forth if you wanted to stay at the microphone you could have stayed at the microphone um uh we we are and our position is to um to set policy um resolution um and and pass laws for for Woodbridge Township um as our legal um representative has stated we are not in the business of enforcing those laws there there is an agency in the state that we go to when complaints are brought in many businesses have operated under probation it's their probation is giving a business an opportunity to correct the reason that they're in prob on probation um and so they go in they get inspected during that time um but uh it is not our job as a council to go in and enforce we'll listen we will listen to the complaints when and we redirect them we redirect complaints to our health department who then contacts fish and wildlife that's the process that we go through it's not it it it's not our responsibility um well it is our responsibility to see that we um that we have businesses that operate um within the parameters and the laws that are set in Woodbridge Township but um we have there are there are measures in place so that that happens and uh as I said we're not we're not law enforcement here all right we will listen to complaints but uh we've received the emails we've read all of them uh we've spoken and listened to um people as they come when they said that we're not listening we are listening and we discussed those matters um I did not agree to meet with anyone all right I know members of the council may have done that but feel that some of them have had second thoughts um based on the information that has been given to us from our legal team okay are there any others that would like to speak my name is sit and I live in Fords I would like to ask you about the quiet ordinance I did ask in many different occasion and I'm here again two times per week I get up before 5:30 not because I choose to but because the white truck with the Woodbridge Township logo on it comes to pick up the garbage from my next door neighbor who runs a business from how we all know by now on residential home so I'm a resident I need my quiet time I do not have and I do not wish to get up 5:30 like today and every other time on the garbage is picked up how you are going to address this issue our start time ma'am uh for trash pickup is 58 am okay I am not talking residential Crush which doesn't bother me when they pick up from the residential neighbors I'm talking a commercial the oversiz dumpster which has wood pallets which has pieces of Medal and most of this garbage Believe It or Not comes from out town they bring it by trucks I even have videos about it they threw it in this dumpster which is supposed to be an office and then I get 5:00 up because they have to pick up this trash it's not residential on Resident on residential whatever garbage is pick up I don't even here it's nothing heavy duty it's just some household items so it's a commercial one not is there any way you can take it after 7 our our business administrator would like to comment on that well I just I will say if you have any evidence of anybody bringing garbage from out of town into town to be dumped by us give us the evidence that's illegal we'll take action they do actually have three businesses operating on Woodbridge Avenue in Edon right that's not evidence you need to give us evidence give us a license plate of the truck a picture of the truck a video of the truck Li if anybody's bringing garbage into Woodbridge Township to dump it and we're paying for it and it's not our garbage give us the evidence we will take action right away okay what about the time picking the time is 5:00 it's not residential it's commercial it's commercial it doesn't matter 5:00 is when missable and Commercial garbage is picked can be picked up so in other words I do have a special treatment to get objects because my neighbor on residential Zone it's running a commercial business I'm a resident why cannot have the quiet time like every body else why there are businesses operating out of residential Zone if you have evidence of a business working out of a residential house please provide that that's also illegal for that's not a residential that's a business Zone uh forth La more it's in residential six it's it's a permitted use in a it's a business permitted use in a residential Zone you have 1 minute remaining that's not illegal there's residen there's businesses in residential zones all over town they may have gotten a variance when they opened who knows businesses are allowed to operate in residential zones what is their scope of practice is that conforming zoning from residential Zone the scope of practice scope of what scope of their practice what is their activity they sell lawnmowers they're allowed to they're allowed to and uh repairs they're allowed to do that all under 1,000 square ft there are at least three businesses it's allowed to it's all allowed we've looked into this we've communicated with you over and over again everything they're doing on that site is legal thank you for your comments ma'am there any other comments from the public this evening alen rhods Fords I am here once again to advocate for a dedicated and fully structured tnrv program for Woodbridge Township this year we have trapped 100 79 cats this number does not include the litter of kittens or friendly cats that We rescued off our streets last time I was here in April Mr Anderson you said the shelter was going to tnrv 100 cats this year to date they did 38 cats I doubt that that 62 cats will be completed by December your vet the township contracts would cannot complete that number in 6 weeks also from June to the end of August the shelter claimed to have ringworm so no intake of cats whether stray TNR or owner surrendered were permitted in the building dogs and other animals were allowed to enter ringworm is an infection very contagious but can be contained to one room to prevent spreading I also feel your organization should have had an alternative plan in place for this mildly infectious disease council president may I address the mayor yes you may but I will make the first comment that I did not say that we will um yeah you did I said that we are on target that we had done 25 at that point and at that point it looked as though we would get to 100 okay but we got to 38 we were extrapolating data mayor Mack you keep telling residents that the township does have an operational TNR program when the residents call the shelter they are told no program is available I opened the shelter and was told told the same if only 38 cats were completed out of 100 that was promised there seems to be a miscommunication somewhere do you know where the issue is the availability of space in our shelter and when we don't have space in our shelter for example there was just a fire in town and nine cats were rescued from there and they're in the shelter now that takes up the valuable space we can't bring in a TNR cat if we don't have the room we have a program in place we're satisfied with the program in place we have no intention of expanding the program in place okay but when we don't answer a call for a TNR it's because we don't have the room okay well as for title four the shelter is not required to keep TNR cat's house in a shelter for 7even days due to the fact they are Community cats and not considered TR Strays that's just a little fiyi you don't need to hold them for seven days they can go right back out there are so many residents overwhelmed and looking for assistance they are actually doing doing the right thing by calling the shelter when they have one or two cats to no avail they do not get help by the time they call us they are so discourage the population of cats have grown but we assure them that it's very possible to manage the colony by doing this it prevents kittens from being born and the cats are vaccinated and fixed Mr Anderson you also inquired why we do not work with Wag the rescue and I say that not knowing what it really is according to wag president it is not a rescue only only use the fundraise for shelter pets they do not have forers bottle feeders Trappers that volunteer in their program I'm not sure why all of you refuse to acknowledge the need for a tnrv program or or to get financial support or recognition we are all devoted volunteers and do not get paid to do this we usually end up using our own money to support this course in ending this I am proud of myself and the volunteers who do this thankless job to help our community I just want to share with you these are the people we helped this year okay thank you so much for the work that you're doing thank you are there any other comments from the public this evening good evening um council president Anderson uh Vice Council vice president Spar and council members uh thank you for the opportunity uh for allowing us to speak tonight and thank you for all that you do uh for our wonderful is your name sir I'm sorry my name is Gerard uh my name is Gerard Wrangle okay are you from Woodbridge or is there another part of town um so I am technically from Piscataway okay that's fine okay yeah we were benefited uh Christina will speak shortly we were benefited from the uh um you know WV um Arlene uh specifically uh for her help and her volunteerism um you know and so it's a privilege to speak today even though I'm not technically from Woodbridge but we do really appreciate you know Woodbridge um public libraries it was for it was um you know her her older sister's uh first home you know um the restaurants it's it it it's very dear to our hearts uh this Township uh especially because uh it gave us uh one of the biggest parts of our lives uh our rescue cats um we just wanted to kind of uh extend um kind of give kind of illuminate uh what arene is kind of saying tonight uh and so I'll start off by just kind of explaining uh how this process was for us as lay people um just trying to navigate the available resources that we could find as best as we could um and so it was um it's very difficult I I I know and and so to guide us right it's the Woodbridge Township municipal Co code Humane treatment required no person shall feed an outside cat unless the cat is speed and neutered uh that is the abiding rule I I wasn't even aware of that until I you know tried to look it up and try to educate ourselves on it um it's very difficult you know since uh June um I just want to kind of show um if everyone could see this photo this is just kind of the reality that we we try you know when we go to um as soon as we open our door uh they're very friendly cats and and it's very difficult to try and navigate this space um trying to buy by the municipal code but also um trying to you know we go to St James you know the Catholic church we believe that it's our our duty to be good stewardships to the animals you know and and so it's hard not to not leave out food you know um and we're grateful for arleene and W um WV because it allowed us to finally get them uh TNR trap neuter release you know it was a difficult process and so um I we well Tina will speak uh briefly about she did most of the work in trying to reach out to many different uh organizations and nonprofits and and rescue um and it was um it was challenging not impossible but we're telling you this because we're wondering if it's possible to maybe consider um or to the means extendable right practical um if there's any resources that could be done uh more you know uh for Lay people to get more education about what we can do when all these Community cats um come to the doorstep and multiply uh at a very rapid rate um this is something that we tried since even 2020 you know it was it was manageable in 2020 but it's kind of revved up this year uh and so um that's that's my time if you want to comment before Tina speaks though thank you um we have okay my name is Christina lobis I'm a resident of Port Reading um I've contacted several organizations to help with the TNR um of the cats because we care for them so much and we just want their wellness and their well-being uh taken careed of um so I was very grateful for Woodridge Animal Society volunteers with Arlene um that they were so generous to help us um quickly so that we can address the issue before the winter time comes and to take care of these animals um that deserve a home and um need the help so just wanted to ask and um get the support that these animals need thank you thank you for your comments are there any other comments hi Council my name is David Rd I live in Fords and I just wanted to thank you very much for the opportunity to speak tonight um I do want to acknowledge Arlene and the hard work that she does with wasas uh these ladies I know you know them I know that you've had a long conversations with them over over time and maybe it hasn't always come to be eye to eye maybe we haven't really reached uh a solution yet there is a c problem in Woodbridge like there is in any town and it will continue to grow if it does not get addressed and the work that these awesome ladies is doing from the bottom of their hearts uh to help address it is I think very much needed um as their numbers show and as some other people will state that they've been benefited by it uh cats get out of control they just do if they're not neutered and um so I was wondering if there is a program in in Woodbridge why it's not functioning well enough and if it could function better and maybe if there's some way uh that W could be supported by the Woodbridge effort uh maybe some collaboration of some kind so there is a program that our health department has that's that's a a word that uh our and I we don't agree on she doesn't believe it to be a program we believe it to be a program as she pointed out um and I I would have to check her numbers I'm going off of her numbers right now that um we have TNR 38 okay um this year at the time when the last time she came to the meeting there were 25 um and I that's why I said well it looks as though we were on target where we may hit a 100 I'll have to check with the uh Health Department tomorrow um if we TNR 100 there will be someone that will say well why aren't we doing 200 okay um there will always be a number that won't be satisfactory to someone that would want um the department to grow and expand to do more and more more um we I don't get many complaints about a cat problem in Woodbridge um I do hear about it from Arlene Arlene sends me messages regularly and I read them arene okay and she knows that all right um Arlene and I are friends we we we you know we just don't agree on this subject okay our our boys play ball together and and I I I love her she's a good friend of mine but we're we're um we're not on the same page on this just because of where our health department has met uh needs for um the Stray animals um that uh come that we can house um but it could grow and grow and grow and then there are other programs that are out there that if we agree to work with Arleen's program or if we went with someone else if we went with someone else and said all right well you know what we like this group better it's not always going to make everyone happy because they'll say they'll tell us what that group doesn't do right instead of working with their group so uh we do have a program it just is not um satisfactory to the numbers of uh cats that are TNR in their eyes awesome thank you for your response I I wonder if there might be just maybe some time a way to additionally investigate those numbers and maybe dig down a little more and see if we are doing the best we can all right yes and and we do we do ask behind the scenes we we do speak with our health department uh to get as much information as we can about are we doing everything that we can for this this issue the answer is no we could be doing um we there there we could always be we could do two 300 400 it's at what point do we stop sure yeah and there are and we appreciate the the volunteerism that goes on uh everyone on this day is are volunteers for something that was not funded by the township and we've all done things that we knew that were were were helping others and this is why we've all are blessed to be in this position because we're now able to to help people in other other matters but we're not able to help everyone and we do our best to try to make sure that um we we listen to everyone and we try to help them the best we can it's not always going to make everyone happy though keep on doing it thank you all right appreciate it hello good evening my name is maida I'm from the island section of Footbridge Township I've been in the township for 24 years now uh I recently came across with a need for a TNR program I wanted to call out to uh want to give a shout out to Arlene and March for really kind of you know stepping up and uh in my personal experience I actually had a very hard time finding and getting information or response back from our Township's TNR program program uh my neighbor on on Whose property these Nine Cats actually kind of have multiplied from 2 to 9 actually uh we we got six of them TNR with uh Arlene thanks to WV uh what I was wondering and I heard to your comments to the prior gentleman here I'm wondering is it why is it not a collaborative effort with Arlene if she's if you're okay with they doing the volunteering work and doing catching and helping out then where is it that you know things are like on one either on either side of the fence why is it that there is no collaboration so that this looks like an extended program offered through the township I see arene doing hard work going out of the way to Robinsville getting the cats TNR and it doesn't seem like you need seven days of care and most of the uh you know rescue places that I called I finally got to them of course uh they noted that you know actually animal rescue places centers are not the places where TNR uh you know program should be because most um it's not suited to house them or things like that so my question is why is it that the township not able to hand this off completely or in collaboration work with Volunteers in amicable way so that this doesn't come across like an issue but more like a extended program and the number is then regardless whether it's you're doing 38 or you're doing 100 or 200 I agree with you it's never going to be an end to it but at the same time we could try to do as much together so that's my question so and I appreciate your question I would like to remind everyone that um it was uh the council and the mayor um who who worked and collaborated with Miss Petro to start the animal shelter in the first place I see all right that was many years ago our animal shelter was started because of her efforts and this is how things happen it don't they don't always happen in the time frame that everyone wants it to happen but it was because of uh of her and her advocacy for animals that the mayor listened we started the animal shelter about 15 maybe 14 15 years 2007 actually 2007 thank and and we we appreciate we appreciate um everything that March um the the work that she did to help us uh with that now this is something different this is a different uh task and um this is something that um we we hear about no different than the um people that are coming here the constituents that are coming here on behalf of the animals at sequest um there are people that are going to come in and that that is their issue and that is their topic and they're they're going to bring that to our attention and we as a deis we discuss it we talk about what we can do uh many of us have even said let's let's go over and see for ourselves um what what's going on we're not going to you know when people tell us about speeding in M on Main Street we don't go out and issue the tickets our job is to ask our traffic department to go and do a study and to issue tickets and enforce the law that's how things operate we will collaborate Arlene knows I met with our I went to the Rio Diner with Arlene and we had a very long conversation we also have corresponded privately many times and Arlene sends me a lot of lot of lot of messages I I try to read all of them to your point I would like to at least to me as a lay person and my first time kind of getting a yeah to getting an insight into this it seems like it's some internal dispute or some kind of disagreement if your job is essentially kind of look into this and then try to then I would think there is a scope for you here to kind of you know see where is where are the matters falling apart because based on some email exchanges that I have seen there seems to be some disagreement between two people somewhere in the in the in the seats that they are so it's just that as a result we are not able to you know we we on this kind of you know side either side of it so I appreciate your time and thank you so much for all the uh this but I also want to really because of them uh we could get nine of these cats TNR today and uh we have a controlled population now thank you so much thank you for your comments I appreciate them as I said um we could we could um agree that we would do this if we did a program then it would be how much are we going to do and if we said we'll do 100 per year and we'll say that's not enough so what what is the number what's the actual number and um do you just continue go and and growing and growing because the pro because what will happen is then we will have animals being brought here from other communities that's okay I have to hi your name worries H everyone my name is isan noaz I'm a resident of avanel New Jersey um I'm also here because of farlen and I want to give my thanks to harlene for all her help and assistance um it's also my first time at a city council meeting so I did want to take a chance to give a thank you to councilman Corey I moved to avanel three years ago he was a great help I had some issues he talked to me probably four or five times on the phone for 20 30 minutes each time so Cory thank you very much um but similar to what my colleagues have been saying um after I moved into avanel uh the town home that I bought there was a colony of stray cats that was already living there um I've never been a cat person I'm allergic to cats but over time they grew on me and I grew on them so we've gotten a good relationship um one of the cats end up having a litter of about five kittens so we went from having four cats to having Nine Cats a lot of the kittens didn't survive given them living out in the wild um I did call the Woodbridge animal shelter like many other people have said they've called previously um I was told by the animal shelter that there is no program in place right now and they also advise me to not feed the cats because as far as the township is concerned then the cats are my problem essentially or I don't remember the exact words that were use um I called around a bunch of places and I was told on the low end $600 to $700 to get a cat neutered and Spade which I don't have that across six seven cats unfortunately um I was very fortunate to get in contact with arene who helped us out they actually trapped the cats earlier today um but the point of my story here is essentially I understand we can't really expand the program too much or whatever the limitations are I would ask that you all please at least consider it um to the point that you actually just made a few people coming in from out of town um I I wouldn't entirely agree with that I originally came from Union which had its own program in place um if I could go out of town and go back to Union to do it I would have done that but seems like that's not really an option of course um so thank you for all that you do of course but please I would ask you all to consider expending the program or at a minimum maybe having something in place to educate residents when we call again I'm new to all this being told that there's nothing in place didn't really help me all too much so thank you for your time appreciate your comments hi everybody watch Petro you all know me um I'm glad you brought the shelter up Mr Anderson because the Woodbridge enal shelter was opened for Woodbridge residents and I have a huge issue with all these other towns we we've taken in for what reason you've taken them in you're stressing out the shelter you're testing out employees and I don't know why you need to take in all these other towns I I don't get it why you're doing that but whatever PE numerous people have cold to shelter and I don't blame them for saying there's no TNR program how much do you want them to do the building is small it's not huge joint shelter like New York or something so far since February of this year I've taken in 45 kittens that would be out there reproducing and 15 friendlies mamas or what have you the rest we te in are there's no reason why the township can't work with us or or work together you don't have to talk to people we could do it by email I mean this is getting ridiculous truly it's getting to the point where it's so out of control I don't think you have any idea how out of control it is with the cats then when people pull the shelter and the shelter says we have no program or we can't help then you know what do you expect them to do it it's just a no- win situation so I think people need to work together on this and start thinking of something sitting down trying to solve find a resolution to this problem because it is a problem and it's not going to get any better and with all these new apartments they're all animal friendly so if somebody moves or they don't want their pet anymore where they go that is out there and I don't know see why I don't understand why we have to take animals from other towns don't we have enough in W fridge I think we do any answer I didn't know if you were asking me a question no I'm just looking for a response I'm just out there it's just I was nodding my head in agreement that uh you know that uh you've pointed out a number of things that you've observed over over the years um and our our our town does grow um and with that yeah there there may be an issue why are we going to other towns why would he have why is the shelter contracted with other towns is money that important what do you need the money for see this is what I don't understand so we do work with other towns yes in our in our shelter yes for various reasons is shared services uh we share we use shared services and and other capacities as well it's not just it's not just but but you know when when Hurricane Sandy uh hit um a lot of our heavy equipment went over the Driscoll bridge to help a lot of the communities down there so it's the same but it's the same thing we do things to work we we barter uh where they will help us with some services and we help them with some Services yeah but now we're talking okay but we're talking about a shelter that was opened up for wood residence that's my point president uh if I could she makes a good point and I think that as these contracts come due it is worth a look to see if we should be doing them okay thank you especially the ones that are not even I wait a second I mean i i s my heart whatever but it's only here because of you well kind of yeah Mar you have one minute I just don't like the idea that we're taking another CH it's my personal opinion i' never turn the animal away anywhere but come on is our shelter you put too much stress on the shelter too much stress on the employees they're running I see them all over the place I go you know I see other services and other accounts okay but you know let's wrap this up well Marge you've always been a deal maker all right and it looks like you may have struck a deal tonight all right and but what it goes to show you and I've I've heard it from a few people that have stepped to the mic that have had personal contact with people on the deis we do listen and we don't just come out and have a hard line and say no absolutely not but there are times when when enough people come out there are times when things do make sense to us and we we want to make sure that you understand that we do listen I think we made some ground tonight I do think we made some ground to to reconsider a contract with another town because maybe we can now open up and do some more for for Woodbridge okay all right are there any other comments suceeding from the public thank you I'm sorry you're only allowed one street sign missing sir no no you you the name of the street is missing for four months it's excuse me Council Anderson that's my word so after the meeting can you just come up here and give me the address the area the sign will take care of it thank you I mean four months I got a phone call out earlier okay after the meeting is come up see me thank you are there any other comments from public to see uh a job at ding wood again I'm Mr V uh J it was a very impressive long night I guess we all learn a lesson and we all kind of agree and might some of disagree but I want to say first thing about our yesterday tomorrow if we could um limit the conversation because I can't hear Mr V I'm sorry I want to I want to just with can't brother yesterday about a wetan day myself is a Child Of The Lost Hero in Europe you know a lot of us take that freedom for granted now you got it you don't take care of it you're free you disobey it you don't honor it and how are we going to pass it down to next Generations only we can do it by never forget what happened before so what's very great and let us not forget what we got treasure it respected and God bless America but again I want to uh talk about the lady with the people with the problem would be center with a fish problem I'm the one that is a cosmetolog license for Less 65 years to get a cosmetology license you have to now you do 12 hour in schools and be a cosmetologist you cannot work with a patients put a hand on a human being in a salon if you don't have the license now anybody can own the salon business that's a different license that's a shop license or na license that's another license which is bought by state it is a state licenses but again to tell people that you can hire and work in a salon that hasn't have license to work on a customer qu you can't put hand on it that's how explain the disease but you have to cosmat is probably most hardest this maybe the nursing but we know more about bones and and clearers and hygiene and everything else it's cosmetology question could be in those stores in you got would be Central why is only how many are there in in a state I don't two three maybe maybe not D why not if it's probably good business but how come the other communities don't allow them to open up there got to be the reason so let's look into it I mean some municipalities they don't approve the license like you don't approve all the licenses it is town no matter if State approves it but that doesn't mean you have to do it there was there too let's talk about our uh uh beloved cats and dogs we all love treasure the mayor said you all agree with it I'm proud of it we all know as the town is growing so it's going will be the more pets the problem we got that's all over the world people have them a lot of times they move to different places then they all low to haveen so what they do they let them go they throw them a street disobey him and I think only answer is maybe you know like town is growing so maybe should proove the animal shelter make it bigger there'll be nicer people over here they will hard hard for them they need volunteers I St to walk the dogs and take care of the cats but making bigger facilities as the town grows it's going be more people more cats more dogs whatever you want to call it so I think you the right trick let's talk about s the problem but again I was made aware of it dog park in Evel people say people come up to the bring the dogs from stain is in a bu with trucks they let them run over there and I said well do they have a life lies well no there should anybody no dog or any animal should be allowed to go into facilities with the door I'm sure the thing now most important again tonight God bless you people uh mayor last on October 1st of uh last month you said over here that you are extending Omar Avenue in in uh in aanl and the reason was because of the uh warehouses I have cut shorts anyway warehouses and SP $82,000 first phase of the thing and the thing we doing that because the warehouse is traffic my question would be to you before I know I remember you know many years the Builder has to build the roads before they build the structures and just yesterday I mean Monday was was the journal the warehouses the warehouses in new JC 5.7 million warehouses are owned by Chinese renting question is is any warehouses in woodb that's a Chinese tenants were own by Chinese all right you finish this question I have no idea I don't care if you want to know who wants to the warehouses you can go look them up if you want to know who rents the warehouses you can drive by and look at the signs it doesn't mean I'm not going to help you with this one okay listen mayor that's your that's your time sir you asked your question he answered it long as people heard it thank you are there any other comments or questions from the public tonight here know the comments can to in motion that the public comment for should be closed motion second I oppos I have okay we will go into our public portion uh I'm sorry our agenda uh portion of the meeting I want to thank everyone for their comments tonight that came in um again uh we appreciate um all of those who are advocating on on behalf of uh uh animal rights um I would like to acknowledge that our Woodbridge Community charity fund has one day remaining um you first prize is $2,000 second prize is $1,000 and third prize is $500 tickets are on sale at the mayor's office and you can call 732 602 6015 and that's between the hours of 9 and 400 p.m. and you can purchase tickets um through um Geraldine mourich and Loretta Dow on the third floor um the winners will be announced tomorrow at 5:00 P pm at The Acacia Youth Center on Port Reading Avenue and the winners do not need to be present um I do want to acknowledge some of our youth um Sports and cheering programs our Woodbridge football Broncos are in the Regional playoffs for our 9u and our 10U uh programs this weekend um our 10U will be participating in Bucktown Pennsylvania and our 9u will be uh participating uh at Woodbridge High School um on Sunday Mountain support the Broncos our JV cheerleaders have qualified for Nationals in Florida and we're very excited about um the cheerleaders for our um these are our Middle School cheerleaders um they're going to compete down down in Disney and that'll be exciting for them uh I want to acknowledge all of the Fall sports for um for Woodbridge Township in particular my Al moer um JFK um had a significantly improved fo season this year and I'm I'm very happy for those young men and then also Woodbridge High School and brand new coach George um who came in in his first year in May um which is very short notice uh to take over a team and led them to a school record 10 10 wins and one loss uh on Friday they lost their their game and uh had a very outstanding season uh they had 20 seniors that they're going to be graduating and uh we're going to miss all of them um other than that I'm going to ask if you are if you know anyone who is um out of work and looking for work please go on to our Employment Opportunity Center on Woodbridge Township website um there are a number of companies especially at this time of the year number of companies that are advertising specifically looking for woodrige Township residents I'm going to move over to council vice president uh Mr Spiller thank you council president Anderson I number one AV anel having El very merry holiday lighting please join us on Sunday November 24th from 4 to 6 for our annual tree lighting andur Lighting Event will be held at the Avo Firehouse please come out and have pictures with Santa Santa and elf enjoy bumper cars horse and carriage light Refreshments our Local School cor groups will be singing your favorite Christmas carols and much more please come out and watch us like the 17t Christmas tree and 6 foot manure rest of my agenda is in order council president just two announcements the New Jersey Department Environmental Protection and the New Jersey Division of fire safety has implemented a fire ban on all properties throughout the state this includes what would normally be classified as permitted all open burning in devices on all properties even even if you're within the permitted language of the open burden ordinance residents would be in violation during this band and just like Gary the one resident said just like to thank all our veterans for all their services not only on Veterans Day but for the entire throughout the entire year thank you to all our emergency responders our Fire EMS our W Police Department C all our Public Works and Township employees pleas God Bless America thank you council president Anderson thank you Council vice president councilman B council president my agenda is in order this one announcement uh there's no reason to wait four months to come to a council meeting to complain about a signing us down see something say something so you can reach out to any of us on the day our emails are found on the township website or you can contact the police not emergency number at 73264 64 7700 like to thank all our veterans out there for their service those serving here and abroad God bless all our responders and God bless America thank you council president thank you Council small thank you council president uh join us at the porting Firehouse for Port rting annual Christmas tree lighting hosted by Port rting EMS and fire Tuesday November 26 at 6:30 I ask you to please bring an unwrapped toy uh it'll be donated to the bristl Meers scrip Children's Hospital uh you'll enjoy roses Moores making crafts take a picture with Santa here carols from the Ws High School choir enjoy holiday treats and hot chocolate send a letter to the North Pole and much more and I want to thank all our general generous sponsors who participating in it on November 30th is our annual light parade takes place at 6:00 it starts on Main Street right here please go to our website to see the Lo uh the route locations and we have approximate times where it's going to come to your neighborhood it's going to be bigger and better than ever and I want to thank M Mr Mitch for all his efforts I want to thank all our veterans all our First Responders Township employees and God bless America thank you Mr President thank you very much councilman De Jesus thank you council president I just my agenda is in order I just have one announcement the Woodridge Public Library is accepting registrations for a citizenship class that will begin in January please contact Anita Alvarado of literacy New Jersey at 98486 177 um sens 402 the Chamber of Commerce W life lies and local author Jay Logan have put together the first Central Jersey Book Festival to be held at Rost Street School in Woodbridge this Saturday November 16th from 11: to 5: with a visit from Santa schedule from 4 to 5 55 authors will be on hand to talk about their work and sign their books including Alec lesnian Kiana Davis and dein check this in case they oh and case there is another collection in town um the libraries have placed boxes inside their entry doors for a Coke donation on behalf of the Rotary Club of wrid bir danoy new and gently used codes for all ages and sizes will be collected and distributed um and then I have a library from Greg since he's not here he wanted me to announce a couple of things uh the senior free movies will begin our Thursdays from 12:30 to 2 2:30 p.m. Brown Bag complete lunch for $5 November 14th 23 in Blast which is the PG-13 movie November 25th is 21st is girl haunt boy another PG 13th movie these are all held at the community center um bagel and coffee seminar the host will be Maria Ben eard MVP Insurance topic glober 202 5 plans Wednesday tomorrow from 11: to 1: in room 2:14 at the community center pickable November it is uh every day I guess you can call the Woodbridge Community Center for their times non free for members and there's an admission fee of $10 for non-members TRX and Kettle bable training starts Monday December 9th at 5:40 5 a.m. to 6:30 a.m. is a six week session members pay $54 non-members $79 again at the community center join us for our senior holiday lunch in December 10th from 12: to 2:30 there will be music food and prices at the community center this T Tuesday December 10th from 12: to 2: at the roller Inc please rsbp by Tuesday December 3rd there will be an $8 admission for lunch and dessert contact guest services at 73259 64170 the cafe is open at the community center every day um Monday through Friday from 11: Monday through Thursday 11:00 a.m. through 8:00 p.m. Fridays 11:00 a.m. to 10: p.m. Saturday and Sundays they open at 9:00 um and again if you go at to the Woodbridge Community Center online or if you go to the location you can get the November adults for adults and teens their schedule and that is all I have thank you so much thank you very much councilwoman Mian thank you council president um my agenda is in order I just have two announcements please join us for the uh annual Colonia tree lighting on November 30th at 6:30 at the Evergreen center on imman Avenue there'll be a sing along with St Jo St John B's choir costume characters and hot chocolate and snacks served up by the colony of Fire Department as we await the township light parade with Santa who will briefly stop to light our tree on December 6 we'll be hosting the holiday cookie and cans event from 6:00 to 9: at the Colonia BFW we will be collecting donations of food for families in need so they can enjoy a nice holiday meal along with homemade cookies to send to our local troops that are serving away from their families as holiday season if you have extra candy you want to get out of your house we'll take that too cuz we'll put that in the boxes um also if you have a love home from Woodbridge Township that is serving overseas or um at aate and you want them to get one of these boxes please reach out to me we'd love to send them the box with all the goodies and the handmade cards from the children you can reach out to me at 732 382 0273 also that evening we'll be collecting toys for our our Township uh Troy toy drive to help bright and holidays for local children new and unwrapped toys can also be dropped off at the woodrige community center and all of our Township senior centers and that's all I have thank you to all our veterans for serving thank thank you very much councilwoman Mcall thank you council president um my agenda is in order I um want to I only have one announcement now because other announcements all went out so um uh we are going to have a tree lighting in Sea this year on December 4th at the Memorial Park on Woodbridge Avenue so look for the details on that and also I should talk about the um I know that councilman small talked about the light parade prior to the light parade on November the 30th the Holiday Stroll is going to be in downtown Woodbridge so come out get some uh check out what's going on town we have going to have an ice skating rink there it's not a real ice skating rink but you can ice skate there's going to be um I don't know if I'll have some Wars with the uh fire restrictions but they usually have some morees they have someone who does ice sculpting with a chain Sal which is a really cool thing that happens and there's going to be um horse rides and stuff like that so come out and check it out before the light prade stay for the light parade which is really a great event and uh also go there and visit the gallery on Maine which is located on Main Street um and you can get a free holiday ornament that is made by some of our local artists that display in the Galler on Main that's all I have to say today thank you God bless uh all of our Serv men and women that are serving and thank you for taking care of our freedom in the United States thank you very much Mr sen uh council president if I could I just want to uh mention the weekend we had for veterans in Woodbridge which was absolutely amazing it started with the luncheon on Friday at the avanel maple tree Senior Center it was coordinated by Han kider who runs that Center he did a phenomenal job uh his supervisor Cynthia rusich all the other five coord ators of the senior centers chipped in last year there were 50 veterans this year there were 81 veterans Hank went to every VFW every uh American Legion the coordinators went to all the people that come to their place and just did a phenomenal job it started with the St James singers and the bell ringers went to the north Jersey Young Marines for the flag ceremony uh they had Carl FAO singing America the Beautiful a longtime veteran uh Jee Burkhart from Island American Legion with the the missing veteran table Ray orus given a speech the grand Marshals were three I can't say three people it was a man woman and a dog it was Jeff Mullins who we all know we've known him for years his wife Nancy Mullins they've been very active in the town for a long time and they're service to ooy um they represent rebuilding Warriors they were a great choice for for the tri Grand Marshals and they were so happy and they were so proud uh their organization is actually moving to woodbr that National Organization is going to be run out of for now their home and Forge they're taking over the whole thing and then they're going to look for office space and be right here in town uh there was gifts for the veterans there was a tremendous lunch for them absolutely terrific the job that that our staff and our people did and then Sunday the parade Brian molar Paul and lo and the recreation department did a fantastic job 35 marching groups um Main Street was lined with people more than I've seen it a veterans parade and I've been doing this quite a while um excuse me more people than we've ever seen uh and that they should be commended everybody who chipped in public works police of course everybody there and then yesterday there were six different ceremonies in town unfortunately they're all 11 11 at 11 and none of us can be in six places at once we managed to get to all six uh one active and the other five we just hung around with the people afterwards but they were all incredibly appreciative we got enormous amount of comments and compliments about the lunching and about the parade so this was a weekend where we all should be proud of the job that the people that work for us they work us as Administration you as the Town Council we should all be proud of the job that our employees did this weekend it was absolutely wonderful seeing all those vets at the parade at the ceremonies and at the lunch and and how proud they were and how thankful they were for everything so kudos to everybody thank you council president um I'll just Echo your comments the town uh does a job Second To None when it comes to recognizing our military and our veterans thank you uh Mr simuka thank you council president I only have one item tonight taxes over payments thank you assistant director ly thank you council president my agenda is inorder director Darden thank you director Brew thank you council president have two items one is the release of ay bond for Tupac Street naano and the second is proposal from coler's engineering that's a green aror survey update that's all I have Mr Mitch the only thing I have is just the best practices motion to adj Mo