okay good evening everybody uh my name is Greg ficara I'm uh a councilman in town mayor McCormack had a medical procedure today so you're stuck with the JV team I like to call myself I'm a pitch hitting so we're here today of course we all know um for um the flag
raising ceremony for autism acceptance awareness month it's a month that's a a big tradition here in Woodbridge it's been going on for quite a while thanks in part to many of you people that participate um we have a bunch of people that I'd like to introduce first let me
take a shot from the for the council uh we have Miss Debbie Mian here uh Brian small council person Kyle Anderson and also Howe Bower so we thank them for being here from our Administration we have our oh thank you round of
applause I'd also like to point out I saw him I shook his hand uh former councilman Jimmy Carol who's active with Buddy ball and a lot of the other activities that going on our uh Deputy our Deputy our our our
police chief um Joe nisi U relative ly new but not new to the department it's been around for a long time Jimmy uh and uh Mike Harris and Nate our community uh police officer Nate I'm sorry I don't know your last name s santon so Nate thank you
very much their participation so uh I'd like to start out by uh introducing um Sue bordon from the Board of Education who who heads up these things and Emily is here Emily's going to come up with her uh Emily maybe thank you we all know the applause
was more for Emily than anything else I'm subor an I'm vice president of the Board of Education and I'm honored to be here again tonight um for the I don't know how many annual uh flag raising of the Autism Awareness flag it's a huge honor to be here uh
representing a community that I hold so dear uh for so many years I how old are you now 17 years it's been um since we've been a part of of a community that I never expected to be a part of but have been welcomed with open arms and I
I just appreciate every I know almost every person in this room tonight and I really appreciate seeing everybody and knowing everybody on a personal level um I appreciate that the town that mayor McCormack every year Megan always reaches out to uh to to set up the flag raising I appreciate that it's the first day it it gets flown all month it's a
really um big deal that it's flown all month sometimes we don't get these meetings till the end of the month um and and sometimes we're on spring break and there's not so many people in the crowd but it's a it's a big deal that there's you know the chairs are full um we appreciate the township the council for everybody's support so I won't keep
you thank you very much thank you why don't you guys stay up because we have a proclamation Proclamation is rather lengthy uh and and we we certainly know the intention but I'm going to read a few whereases the theme
of world autism acceptance month in 202 is celebrate differences which encourages us to see that each person is unique and that autism is not a condition that needs to be fixed but rather accept as a human diversity that should be embraced supported and
celebrated and I think that says it all so sue Emily this for you thank you very much Emily and I have been buddies for a long time okay so next on the agenda I am proud to um introduce for some remarks somebody who's been actively involved uh
detective Michael Harris Michael if you can come up and say good evening everybody I've had the uh the pleasure and the the privilege to speak in front of thousands of people and for some reason this seems more important right and it seems uh more nervous than ever so um excuse me if I
get emotional about things like this it's uh near and dear probably like all of you um so so uh from the police department this is um you know detective San Anton and I we do uh Community Affairs right and our job is to what bridge the gap between the community and the police department right the
community in which we serve and that means everybody right that from from 4 to 40 and and 8 to 8 right it just means everybody no matter what so I had this great idea I had this young lady who's my neighbor over here came to my house one day she actually runs the g&t
program uh for the Board of Education in avanel at avanel middle school she came to my house actually selling Girl Scout cookies and said hey I and I said hey I have this really really great idea um could you help me out and uh we talked about implementing something to put actually on our police cars if you want
to get me the ribbon um this is what we put on our ve on our vehicles last year here we wanted to kind of step it up a notch this is what we had last year your run-of-the-mill uh ribbon with the autism print on there so this year we wanted to step it up a notch and uh Miss
Miss Toby was was incredibly pass that around sure was incredibly helpful with with kind of uh allowing that to happen uh she introduced Gabrielle uh to us and and made this happen I'm assuming it was it was a part of a grade right uh which was a great thing for her and she got to
put her skills to work and it's something that is you know really is not something to take lightly um this is something that's going to be on our police cars for the next 30 days and um I've been around the police department for for a little while director nisi could say I I don't think there's ever
been uh something that was inspired by a child on one of our cars right I don't think it has so this is a it's a big deal it really is a big deal and I'm glad that we were able to get this done with the help of Miss toia and uh Miss Gabrielle and everybody else that was involved with doing this um Fast Signs
and avau was gracious enough to make these things on very short notice uh but they made it happen and they made them look really beautiful so that is her artwork um that was we went to her and I said I need something that's handmade something hand printed hand designed and inspired by a student of uh of our of
our Board of Education which is a big thing again Bridging the Bridging the Gap between the community and the police department so that's what's going to be on our vehicles for the next 30 days so thank you thank you and thank you uh to everybody for being here um we also raise every every every year actually uh
we have patches that go on our on our our vests our outer vests that we wear uh again puzzle print uh the money is going to go to poak just like it does every year it'll be actually given to them uh at the at the walk at w High School in in June June 9th am I getting that right sorry June 8th okay one off
but I'll be there uh I'll get the date right that day so again thank you very much and I appreciate everybody being here uh we're going to put the car the the magnets on the cars well actually you're going to because it's your work we're not going to your your thunder on that so again thank you so much and uh really proud of you really proud of uh
us being able to get this done so the for mentioned uh Gabrielle uh is here uh she is a seventh grader at Woodbridge uh middle school and you've heard all the accolades that she well deserves so we'd like to present her with the plaque but wait there's more oh Gabrielle has
something very important to say no I'm just putting her on the spot Gabrielle you were the designer of this I did warn you that I was going to ask you to speak so slide into the middle tell us a little bit about your thought process when you developed that design okay um I'm Gabby
um when I was trying to design it I looked at different photos and it took me a while to get it just right I worked really hard on it and it's a great opportunity for me and I want to thank Miss toia and Woodbridge for letting me
have this opportunity thank you are you good with pictures we're all good yeah okay do through chat real quick and do the flag in mag okay all right guys if you want to come in here I just a c
I got two more things Mr ha whispered in my all right thank you Gabrielle thank you thank you everybody I just I just wanted to point out some other folks Jenny Perez from the board of education is here joining us this Beth de Zeus from
our Council um VTO samala and Casey Wagner from our Administration just walking in Dan Harris from the Board of Education these are all people that are concerned and care about the program uh our
assembly speaker Craig Coughlin is here and uh I know that he's active and would like to say a few words so Craig why don't you come up I like your shoot by the way thank you very much Greg I'm glad you were there to help me pick it out um I just want to thank I know how
excited everybody gets when we say oh good one more speaker terrific fantastic we're just about to make a clean getaway but I did want to it was it was so nice of you to let me stop by to say hello congratulations on on designing that terrific uh piece of of artwork you must be really really talented and I'm sure everybody's so proud of it it's
wonderful to be here that we recognize uh Autism Awareness uh month and and celebrate it uh it's something that you know for years and for decades was ignored and and now we're we're embracing all of the goodness of
recognizing the challenges that people face and the work that we can do to overcome that uh it what is what makes the township special when we come together around causes like this uh I'm just proud and privileged to be with you all today so thanks for letting me have a couple minutes of your time and now I think we're going to raise a flag we
going to Hoist the flag so let's go raise the flag 5 4 3 2 good evening call the council me an order please rise pled your flag pledge Le flag FL of the United States of America indivisible andice for all please remain
standing for a moment or silence for all our military personnel serving across thank you Mr Mitch notice requirements of the open public meeting all have been satisfied concerning this meeting the home VI and the star lger published to notice on January 10th 2025 is posted on the municipal bulleon board
should be so noted in of this meeting councilman and here councilman Bower here councilwoman Deus here councilman faraka here councilwoman me here councilman Patel councilman small
here vice president Mulla and president Spiller here and I get a motion to approve the minutes for March 18th 2025 motion second questions are call from councel all in favor I I oppose eyes had it
we're beginning with second reading or this evening we going to take letters a b and c by consent a is chapter 7 Amendment B is a chapter 6 Amendment C is a chapter 3 Amendment these are all amendments uh with regards to the position of police
department licensing coordinator expanding his responsibilities with that said can I get a motion to uh take up a b and c as a public heo motion second questions or comments from councel all in favor fa I I oppos I have
public hearing is now open on letters a b and c a b and c only um John would let us see uh the ordinance amended the chapter police regulation to the regulation that woodb Police Department Bureau of
Housing and Department of Health and woodb police licensing coordinat that's mean all the noise not just the traffic noise that means of the you know bar noise or what kind of could you explain it more early what does this apply to
really so this allow this will permit the um S I say the ABC officer off the ability to issue summonses in all of these in a b and c I understand but I'm talking about let for example traffic
noise or loud music noise a different no I'm different I'm sorry no it's just the way the ordinance is written as the header but this specifically deals with our ABC officer being able to go out um and issue summonses as it relates to ABC
violations thank you any other comments on that a b or c there are other comments can get motion I'll be here and be close the three ordinance will be submitted to the mayor for approval as required by law motion second any questions or comments
from councel all favor I I oppose eyes have it we will take the first reading ordinances listed before you as letters d f g h and I can I get a motion that these ordinance be passed on first reading published in the home news tribun on April 4th 2025 with notice of
public hearing be held on April 22nd 2025 at 6 p.m. motion second any questions or comments from Council all in favor I I opposed eyes have fing Mr President resolutions 1 through 20 and I get a motion to move them by
consent motion second any questions or comments from Council all in favor I I oppos I thank you Mr Mitch we now go to the public comments portion of tonight's meeting want approach a microphone please State the name your name and what section of the township or state you
live in you'll have a onetime opportunity to speak up to 5 minutes all videotape must be done in the what I will call the blue box back there any signs of posters must be kept out of the exit access exit exit discharge thank
you any comments from the public this evening hello my name is Jeffrey wisneski I'm coming here from Patterson New Jersey and I'm here to speak about the sale of sequest Woodbridge
which recently happened and I would like to say that let just let everyone know that the sale of this business is being allowed by the
people in this room and nothing was done by the people who have the authority here to stop the sale of sequest Woodbridge and now it's undergoing a a name change to be
Woodbridge aquarium something or other but all the same issues are still going to be happening at whatever you want to call it now Woodbridge aquarium or
whatever after a 100 animals died after 3500 complaints from visitors and former employees of Woodbridge sequest Woodbridge nothing has been done by the
people of authority here the council or the mayor and the mayor was actually the one who invited Woodbridge to come and open a location so he was a big part of that and after all that and a New York Times
article and an Animal Rights Campaign to shut down Woodbridge which is a national campaign for the entire business of sequest still nothing was done by the people who could affect uh who could
affect the sale who could affect the licenses for the business and we want to know are these licenses going to be the same licenses carried over to the new business or will the new business have to apply for new licenses we want to know that
information so the new business will have to apply for any necessary permits um any other business uh this one's a little different because it deals with animals uh Mr S I know we discussed earlier regarding the um sure on the if you look on our uh agenda this evening
on one of the ordinances that we're uh first reading is the change of our ordinance for uh farm animals and Licensing of farm animals the initial intent for that uh ordinance was for uh residential use only it was never intended for commercial use or display
of animals or showing of animals uh so we are recommending a change to the council uh in that ordinance that it's for residential use only uh and if it does pass on the second reading next meeting uh we will not be issuing the new owners if there are any we haven't
seen them we just heard through an email uh we won't be issuing them uh any of our health permits as long as they're not having any food that that that would be different type of permit thank you Mr s so to finish up
here we cannot allow any licenses to be granted to this business which is still going to be ran by the same previous owner so nothing's going to change and I just want to say it would be a disaster for the township of Woodbridge to have their name on an aquarium that's known
to exploit and abuse animals and neglect them and every animal that continues to suffer and die is going to be everyone's responsibility who had a chance to do something about this and didn't do anything one minute sorry
sir thank you any other comments from the public to see good evening Nicole patterer avanel section um so I think we kind of answered some of my questions but I just wanted to really let you know that the person who is now opening it's going to
be Woodbridge aquarium and Wildlife encounters is the new name uh Jeff Cox already had a a good deal of shares in sequest he has been involved with the cavino family who was the owner of sequest for years we we don't really see anything that's going to change um they
have put up social media so they do have an Instagram account and they do have um a Facebook account we went on social media on Instagram specifically asked them what they were going to do differently how they could assure the public it was going to be different uh they deleted the comments uh they
blocked us from their social media already so we don't and no one was negative in those things the questions were things like cquest was this way what do you plan on doing differently or how can you assure the residents of Woodbridge that this is going to be
different of SE than uh it was and they deleted all our comments and turned off commenting for the uh for the posts so I I don't see us going in a different direction when we're already doing things like that um so they're actively trying to avoid any questions that we
have um and I just wanted to I hear what you're saying so the current permit system is set for residents only the change potential change would be to involve commercial no I'm sorry okay I just wanted to make sure we understood that we have not involveed commercial
only residential sorry Council that's okay no thank you so that would not they still be able to get this permit no problem they they are not we are getting correct me if I'm wrong uh the ordinance tonight which will be approved possibly or not but on April 22nd is for
residential we will not be issuing moving forward we will not be issuing any type of permits unless it's a concessionary vending something like that we will not be issuing permits to this type of establishments anymore great um and then what do we know what would happen or is there any idea what would happen for the animals the farm animals that are already in there like
George the pig um obious obviously I think what I what we picture them doing is kind of just slapping the new name on sequest I don't what would happen to the animals currently there so council president th those animals that are currently there still fall under the same licenses by the USDA and New Jersey
Fish game and Wildlife those animals will be taken care of under those those under those guides and guidances and if the only thing we'll answer to is a cruelty call animal cruelty we'll send out our detectives our health department will take those uh complaints as we
receive them and report them to the two agencies that I just mentioned okay all right thank you thank you are there any other comments from the public this evening veran CBR I'm actually from Michigan um and hearing about what is
happening at sequest and now Woodbridge aquarium um is horrifying and I'm hoping that we can trust that with the new new ownership or name that the animals will be treated
differently I understand that there is a sanctuary to where they can go so there is somewhere that um there is a a better option for these animals and I just want to let you know that there are many more eyes on this than what you may think um
so just want to like there's a lot of pressure on this so I hope you do the right things any other from the public uh joh woodb uh up here coming quite a few times over here and those people against the closing this stuff
because it's abused it's losing money it's going bankrupt are we buying this thing from previous owners or we just let us let them use our name why would we do something like that if that thing is non profit it's not making money why would we buy something something why would get involved with something like
that it's a sinking ship I'm sorry Mr why we doing this just for a little clarification why would the township purchase what why are you purchasing this this this aquarium we're not purchasing it by me we are the township is not purchasing cquest or any other
aquarium why would you let them use our name it's just it's got bad reputation bad things we have no control over the name they choose to use we don't own the right to use the name Woodbridge there's many companies out there that have the name Woodbridge the title for example right next door the Woodbridge Brewery that's not W wood Bo
it's only one of a kind but you got a wood this wood that but my question would be why are we getting in in it we wild animals domestic animals or just bu bu somebody out sinking ship from s ship
um are they getting involved with what to to help them out to stay business business we're not helping them out at all what are you doing now why do they keep the same name then I don't understand question I understand I can't hear them I'm sorry I can't hear they're
new owners they're new owners they changed the name they got they bought own new own proceed the other company's in bankruptcy and the new new company bought it they're changing the name to Woodbridge we don't have control of the name Woodbridge as as as Eric pointed out there's probably a hundred
businesses in Woodbridge called the Woodbridge fill in the blank okay now so we we don't have we can't tell them to the new owner took it over not existing owner it's not the existing owner as I understand it it was in the the the existing owners were in bankruptcy and
the new owners who was an one of the board the members I I guess or co-owner whatever partial owner is the purchaser through the bankruptcy court I'm not mistaken thank you are there any other comments from the P thank you Mr PA Mr
L I'm sorry um John in the back can you get that out of the exit access you're here and I gave the uh D instructions thank you sir yeah thank you hello Ken Gardner 101 scotter Avenue Woodbridge um I have questions about ordinances
hni uh they both look like they're long-term uh tax exemptions um first i' I've said this before before I just want to say it again to the council and to the administration um I think the public I'm confident the public is
overwhelmingly opposed to the building of more Apartments so to give apartment Builders tax breaks is just ridiculous and I would again ask you to stop um ordinance H looks like it is a a tax exe
exemption for the Main Street property of VTO Maza is that uh another 30-year tax abatement can somebody just explain to me what that is so Mr Gardner regarding that is charge 30 is it 30 years corre 30 uh
that that pilot um is 30 years uh the proper the project site currently generates only $554,000 in real estate taxes however upon completion and stabilization the project will pay a base annual service charge of approximately
$200,000 per year estimated to be in excess of $3,200,000 well I'm sure you won't listen to me and you pass it so when you do pass it could you at least give us a tax cut with all this money you have coming in I mean you're building apartments all over the
place you're giving all these people tax breaks the homeowners aren't getting any tax breaks so why don't you take the money that comes in from this stuff that you're not listening to us while we're asking you to stop and give it back to the taxpayers we deserve a tax cut is question how about how about on ordinance I I'm sorry was that a
question or is that just you that was a statement okay um how about on ordinance I can you explain that exactly where that is so that is the former which has been mentioned here on numerous occasions that is the former Lord and tail of property at wri Center Mall upon
completion the project is estimated to generate an inial I'm sorry right now it generates approximately $279,000 upon completion of the project is es to generate an initial amount of 378 over 30 years of the tax so it's
another another 30-year tax break that is what I said yes that's correct we have businesses all up and down Main Street that have been successful sanos pizza has been there for 57 years I think give or take IL Costello is great
restaurant on Main Street very successful before it was there it was mandas maybe it was something else in between success we have successful businesses all over the township Woodbridge is the crossroads of New Jersey every major highway highway crisscross is in Woodbridge it's a
beautiful Town we've got great neighbors why are we giving all these people tax breaks the the people that deserve tax breaks are the homeowners please stop giving these businesses tax tax breaks the businesses that are here have been successful not just on Main Street but
around town and it's an unfair Advantage you're giving a few select businesses thank you thank you are there any other comments Sor uh Council your time is done Mr Gardner thank you councilman for car thank you I my time is done did I have time left you
started walking I I don't have to stop watching in front of me well I mean if it's on the subject how much time you started to walk away I didn't I'm just if the council you can stay there all you want on my comments I already yielded the floor to Mr farara I will wait until you're done in case
there's anything else that Comm well I I want to hear your question I don't have a question councilman for already said excuse me excuse me sorry counc no that's okay councilman councilman F already said he will yield you can finish your five minutes Your Time Is Running if the councilman wants to talk
on the subject I'm asking what he has to say and I responded that I'll wait until you're finished in case there's something else I'm going to follow one minute sir so you refuse to debate this subject excuse me it's not the form for debate it is the form for debate oh
according to you so according to the according to our democracy sir okay it is the form for debate so why do you refuse to debate me on this subject you're giving tax breaks to all these people refusing to debate you but now is not the time to do that when when should we do oh I don't know you're running for
Council why don't you think about it I I'll stop by tomorrow if you'd like after you know I get out out of work at 4: we can stop by let's let's have a debate on Main Street any day you like but this is the proper place I don't understand why you why you're holding off in your comments you'll hear my comments and then you can
come back at the next meeting right are there any other comments from the public this evening my two comments are number one the pilot program that is mentioned is payment in lie of taxes and the majority of the money that is saved by the people
that received the pilot comes out of federal and state funding the local funding as it was presented by the president we get a nice chunk of money that is used and there a long list of things that we have done that are good for the community that affect our
property values that is a positive thing for the town the other thing that I wanted to mention is like Mr Gardner I'm a regular Main Street on many of the restaurants that he's referring to and you can talk to any of them since these apartments these high-end apartments have been built the foot traffic on Main
Street has increased significantly therefore their revenue has gone up and it's a very exciting time so that's all I wanted to say council president I appreciate the fall thank you Council motion to close the public comment portion motion second any questions or
comments all in favor I iOS I thank you very much we will now move to the agenda portion of the meeting um sorry with me item number 12 uh I said this last meeting but I want to make sure all the
residents um hear it uh item number 12 cable commission one of of the biggest concerns raised by our residents for the past two decades has been the lack of competition among cable companies for phone computer and internet services fortunately two new options are in the works to bring this competition Verizon
has already already begun a new propo project to invest in willbridge by building the infrastructure necessary to bring files to the township Optimum has applied for permits to build 10 sites to house there fiber only infrastructure for yet another option for our customers both will be up
and running in some sections of town later this year with expectations of full wiring within 3 years we are still in the application permitting stage of the projects with the BPU uh the rest of my agenda is in order just one announcement uh very excited the busing impanata boys are back and
their whole crew and family the busing terminal is now open at 1020 raway Avenue home of the former feed your soul please come and check them out for fantastic food and atmosphere um food's great so please come on down thank you to all emergency responders Fire EMS our wood Police Department C and all our
Public Works and Township employees God Bless America Council vice president mcallum is excused councilman Anderson thank you very much council president um I have one item to mention uh our tooling around the annual tooling
around the township program um will be uh this August uh April 21st uh April 26th I'm sorry um if you are looking to volunteer we are looking for volunteers we've already selected the homes for this year um if you would like to be on
the list for next year um you can always contact uh 732 602 6015 or you can email tooling atwp woodbridge.nj.us however we are looking for volunteers for this year and this
tooling around the township is a a great volunteer opportunity for a lot of our uh high schoolers who are looking for volunteer hours also for a lot of our um local organiz ations that will help residents that are looking for assistance for their homes and the
projects vary it can be from a yard cleanup um but there also are some some jobs that um do require um some craftsmen and uh we do have a number of people uh that um we have uh lead lead
Craftsmen or or uh contractors um to lead the projects and what we're really looking for is some some laborers or some groups that um would willing to do so so if you are interested please contact the township we'd love to see you out there in April 26 thank you
that's all I have thank you councilman Council thank you uh council president just a few things on my agenda first of all as we approach Easter uh not this Saturday the following Saturday April 12th from 10: to 12 over at Parker press
if you have young CH well they don't necessarily have to be young but pictures with the Easter Bunny over at Parker press uh between the hours of 10 and 12 and that's always fun our Township Earth Day celebration is also on April 12th from 10: to 1 p.m. at AAA
Youth Center on Port Reading Avenue we'll have tree planting there's a lot of different vendors there talking about things that involve our environment for the better of our environment April in Woodbridge Township is youth uh youth month I just wanted to point out that
during our uh spring get to it right here just speak for a second during our spring break from our schools on Wednesday uh the 23rd is our big wheels day that's a very nice tradition in Woodbridge all heavy equipment and
trucks are out in the parking lot at Woodbridge Center the kids can climb on them blow the horns blow the whistles it's a lot of fun it's a lot of excitement um and a special Thanks goes out to Jen stoel and our youth services team and our Recreation folks Brian
molar for putting that all together and then looking um way ahead to our fourth of July celebration I know that's a ways off but people like to plan uh the celebration is scheduled for Thursday July 2nd on a
rain date of the next day Friday the 3D I believe Warren Park uh Mr samuca it's not waren Park Alvin P Williams Park is closed until 4 door gates open at 4 P p.m. okay so the park will be closed that whole day and then you can enter at 4:00 so that's all
I have thank you council president thank you Council M uh I'm sorry Council M Small uh thank you council president uh no I'm sorry Council small no before they left you on the C page good yeah they'll be back okay counc back oh yeah if you want to go now as
well um just uh a couple announcements uh mayor Max Cafe open Monday through Friday 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. located at 881 uh West Avenue Court riding comeing enjoy a terrific breakfast or lunch and I'd just like to uh commend uh
director nisi I had the privilege of attending along with the council president and councilwoman Mian the uh swearing in on the new officers and uh the awards given to the officers it was very nice and thank you we appreciate that and that's all I have this evening
uh council president God Bless America thank you counc small smart sorry for missing you for a second Council M thank you council president my agenda is in order have an announce one announcement tonight fors business community easter stroll will be this Saturday uh April 5th from 12: to 2: p.m. then starts on
new brunsick Avenue at the public uh parking lot next to the fors VFW it'll be food vendors food trucks uh giveaways and a good day to come out and meet your local business owners event is weather pending so please check the FBC website and Facebook page for any updates that's
all I have tonight council president thank you very much thank you councelor row councilwoman the thank you council president um item number five I just have a couple of announcements um police community relations I want to go over a couple of
um events that our police Community um officers have planned and I think that they're great events today they attended the flag raising for autism here in town hall Kennedy Park School number 24 has an Autism bubble day Friday April 4th at
10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. the rain date is April 11 jgo school has autism bubble day on Friday 11th April 11th at 1:15 p.m. similar to school 24 um both schools have a high
population of our kids with special needs um is the middle schools and this is exciting because I've been to a couple of these and they're always a lot of fun so if you have nothing to do Islam Middle School cops versus kids dodgeball will be Thursday April 17th at
1:00 p.m. again it's a great opportunity to engage with the students and then they will be participating in tooling around the township Saturday April 26th at 9:00 a.m. it's a Township wide event where they will fix 22 homes in town um they would like everyone to wear either
a police department or a pbh shirt and if you are interested in getting a pbh shirt contact Mike Harris because I know that they have um a shirt on sale right now again you can find his number during in our website for the community
policing and this just shows what our police department and the men and women of the department do to engage with the community outside of regular hours um item number 11 Baron Art Center I have two announcements they have a Springs
artist reception on gallery on the main on April 24th featuring wordss by various artists and again it's gallery on the Main and it will be the weekend of April 24th through April 26 and the baron Arts Center is still
we'll have the senior art show will be on view from April 3rd to the 22nd with a reception on April 16th um from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. and again that's the wdge senior art show 2025 and it's artwork by our senior residents of wridge Township
that is all that I have thank you council president thank you Council woman to council woman meet uh thank you council president my agenda is in order tonight thank you uh Council excuse uh Mr thank you Mr pres my agenda to is an order just a reminder we will be going
into the Board of Health meeting after Mr thank you council president I have two items on my agenda this evening I have a tax and Sewer over payments and I have 100% disabled V thank you council president thank you Mr director nki thank you council president on my agenda
I have an ordinance proposal for a yield that's it Director D thank you council president just our standard by refund resolution thank you than thank you council president uh my agenda is in order I have nothing
SE council president um I omitted some comments um and I just wanted to read something on on behalf of a student that had reached out to me would that be okay just very brief very sorry all right um good evening members of the council
my name is Samantha um samita uh Barry and I'm an Edison freshman and I'm speaking on behalf of myself and my friends um havisha Gan Gula and Hassani uh Mara uh who go to Woodridge Academy
couldn't couldn't be here we are asking Woodridge Town Council to join matachin Franklin uh Franklin Township at Essex County May uh Kate May and others to pass a resolution endorsing the New Jersey green Amendment and I've passed a
handout about about it um the New Jersey uh student sustainability um Coalition is made up of high school students across the state we care about this so much um that our members have uh worked uh to build support for it uh constantly for 5
years the green Amendment could be a ballot um resolution in the November election if both the New Jersey Senate and assembly hold a hearing and approve it with enough support before the summer recess then if passed um by more than
50% of the voters um the following wording and another paragraph would be added to the new New Jersey Constitution and it's every person has a right to a clean and healthy environment including pure water clean air and safe climate
ecologically um healthy habitats and to the preservation of the natural and Scenic um qualities of the environment um the state shall not infringe upon those rights um the state's uh natural
resources among them um its Waters airs and flora fauna climate and public lands are the common property of all the people including both the present and the future Generations the state Shall
Serve as a trustee of these uh resources and shall conserve all M and maintain uh the benefit for all the people um this is not a radical idea it is a bare minimum the green Amendment um isn't about politics it's about ensuring every
person has the basic right to uh breathe clean air and uh uh it right and it's a right and not a luxury I know that there are environmental regulations that protect us but don't want to provide the same uh protection as the Constitutional
Amendment prioritizing the environment is so important now um microplastics from air and from water are already our blood in our blood our organs and even in our babies um and uh climate change
is accelerating uh biodiversity is plummeting um are you telling me that we have the right here uh to hear to bear arms but not the right to breathe fresh air um and I'm just going to um Woodbridge has been recognized for
sustainability and it's cleaner uh cleaner thanks uh to their efforts of this Council and many others um this is a time for you to show that you care for New Jersey's Youth and uh Wildlife um we are the generation that is uh growing up
with the constant fear of environmental destruction uh show us that you will take a hold of action when it matters most make this uh moment where we Bridge leads by example uh where you will choose to stand uh for the people uh for
the future and for the right of the healthy environment I'm reading this on behalf of samita um Sita had reached out to me um and unfortunately she missed out the opportunity to speak because she arrived a little bit late I am reading this on behalf of her and her her fellow
classmates it's me to thank you very much and council president and the rest of the council thank you very much for affording me the few minutes to read this for for Sita thank thank you C thank you I got a motion to go right into the board of alting motion second
questions or comments all in favor I I opposed uh Mr C health health quarterly Health Report please president my agenda is in order I just have um two reminders um two May events coming up um one is our second of
three free rabies clinics uh it'll be held on Wednesday May 4th May 14th I'm sorry from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. and we have our Mental Health Awareness Day as well which will be held the same day as the street there on Saturday May 17th from
11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at Town Hall so please try to attend and call for support thank you director for the information uh we will for motion motion meeting Jour thank you have a
good day