[Music] hello and welcome to Woodbridge the best town around my name is John McCormack I'm the mayor of this great town and
we're here tonight for our annual uh women's History Month celebration and flag raising let me do to people from Our Town Council who are here to my right the leader of tonight's uh program councilman at large councilwoman at large elizth Jesus to her right is councilwoman Debbie meing covering the
Fifth Ward of Colonia to her right Sharon mcol councilwoman covering the first W of Woodbridge proper and poor reading to her right Vera Patel fourth W councilman covering Island and menle park terrrace to his right hoe Bower a second more councilman covering Fords
hope L casby to his right Brian small councilman large and to his right Kyle Anderson councilman a large Cory Spiller the council president is here we just had a meeting so I know he's in the audience in the in the building he'll be here shortly so uh I'm going to turn this immediately over to lbth De Jesus
and she helped put this whole thing together and is the organizer behind women's History Month L Beth will you take over the show thank you I usually have something prepare and today I came really unprepared um but but I'm really proud
to see the crowd that we have here the multitude of women and young ladies multiple different careers and and this is what it's about is US honoring the women in our Township who do a phenomenal job at the same time being an example to the young ladies that are
coming up letting them know that if we can do it so can they so I thank all of you for being here today my daughters are always with me Brianna and Maddie because I am the first Latina appointed and elected in Woodbridge Township but I
know I won't be the last and they are always with me because they are my inspiration and they are why they I do what I do they're brothers too but I always think that it's a little harder for girls um to believe in themselves
and to realize that they can do absolutely anything that they want to do and we live in a different world right now so I want to ask everyone sitting here to please encourage the Young girls whether they're your daughters
your granddaughters your nieces your students encourage them each and every day to believe in themselves to realize that no matter what's going out in this world that we're here that we believe in them and that they can come to any of us I know they can come to me if you ever
see me I'm approachable you can come and say hi but Debbie and Sharon the other two women in our Township Council the same and you'll see Sue bordon who's here as a representative of the board of event she's always with her daughter Emily we believe in what we say and we
act the way we believe everyone should be acting so again I thank each and every one of you for being here the Girl Scouts and the young women from the Junior ROTC from Woodbridge high school so I need them to be honored today because I think it's so important they
are doing something that I never thought of doing and maybe they'll continue on in a career in the military maybe they won't but they should they're doing something that it's admirable at their age they made a choice that should be admirable so again please acknowledge them and thank them for the work that they're
doing Colonel Parker and I'm sorry but I forgot your name Sergeant Sergeant um thank you for being here today this is the first time you're here so I'm expecting you back every year cuz that's what we do um the women from the fire department like we now have women in
Woodbridge Township in our fire department that are firefighters so that's president the women in our um Emergency Services we have police officers any career that you can think of you'll find a woman in WB Township doing that job so
again I thank the mayor I thank the administration I thank my fellow councilman for always supporting me in this endeavor and that's all what I [Applause] Happ so we annually give out a proclamation for excellence in community service the young lady getting this
award tonight thinks she's here to speak and I no there an awful lot of people in the audience who were here with her and they're all probably she she'd probably be wondering why are all these people I work with and all my family here well that is because kellyanne Amano is receiving the mayor's award for
excellence in community service so just a long Proclamation but let me just read one the most important paragraph where is kellyan Amano lifelong resident and third grade teacher at Meno Park terce School 19 embodies the 2025 women's History Month Theme by Leading Community
drives founding we feed school program to fight food insecurity and dedicating herself to mentorship service and inclusivity and Beyond in the clom I just want to say Kelly has adopted the the issue of food insecurity like nobody
else in Woodbridge Township outside of of course Craig coflin who's the assembly speaker and who does it at a state level but in Woodbridge the things she does are simply amazing there's five food boxes all over the area mostly in Forts hope LA and cas words that's
needed and people can drop off food and then people can pick up food um she has run drives she's worked with the schools she's worked with uh the cafeterias to make sure they take what they're not using for the day and can't use the next
day to get it out right away and we pick it up and bring it to the pantries same thing with restaurants there was an apartment complex that actually for some reason the the um box was removed we still don't know why but Kelly acted like they removed one of her children
and she said you got to get to the bottom of this you got to figure this out we've been working on and we haven't been successful yet but I was there for the habart food drive as I was for you know in a lot of other other different schools and the passion she has for this issue is just absolutely amazing on top
of all that there's a group called oneon-one which is um connected to the forge kns of Columbus a whole bunch of men who used to belong to my nights of col Miss Island we always did hand inand together every year at um middle sex County College all day with a gigantic
picnic and rides and games and everything for those that population uh and these Fords guys continued it with one-on-one and they meet at our Island Knights at Columbus and Kelly helps run that with her family and all her friends so once a month these Special Needs
adults get a chance to have fun and get out of their school environment and do different games and they have Santa Claus and they have the Easter Bunny and they have all kinds of things so she's committed to that population too she does so much for this town of Woodbridge Township you heard it say she's a
lifetime resident uh from Island she's got a whole lot of connections to menow Park Terrace the best section of Woodbridge if I have to say so myself where my mom still lives and where I grew up but um I just have so much admiration for Kelly and the job she does because she does it because she
loves doing it because it's the right thing to do and ladies and gentlemen it gives me great pleasure to present the mayor's award for excellence and community service to kellyanne Amano and let her maybe say the speech she thought she was going to make [Applause]
anyway congratulations yep gosh I was hoping for a Podium but this will do I was thinking I was going to get a Podium but okay hello I'm so surprised um listen I'm trying to make
it quick for Mrs Macky she's already complained once I have to go okay good evening I would like to thank all of you for coming I am honored to have been selected to raise the flag for women's History Month this year's theme is moving forward together women educating
and inspiring Generations I began teaching at Meno Park Terrace in September of 1986 now I know it's been 38 wonderful years but this is the time we all looking at each other saying not till September not till September this is the
part you're looking at each other saying oh but she looks so young how could she have been teaching for 38 years go ahead Talk Amongst yourselves I have always tried to lead by example children always want to be included and help whenever
they can school 19 does a variety of activities to help our students be motivated and to always participate our building is very Community oriented each month we have different drives that include all of our students backpacks
school supplies coats Thanksgiving food Toys for Tots hats and gloves Soup for the Super Bowl Autism Awareness our veterans breakfast these are just to name a few but before I begin what I do I would like to quote Ruth Bader
Ginsburg fight for the things that you care about but do it in a way that others will join you my fellow joiners thank you that is what I have tried to do Meno Park Terrace 19 11 years ago I approached my principal camera to
Margaret Troopa uh started sharing to have a sharing table in our lunchroom it all began with a little girl Mrs Smith remembers this the little girl who asked for leftover carrots and apples from our lunches Linda treaser and I started
researching the concept of shared tables a shared table is where all the students put the leftover lunches that they do not want that are already sealed for other students that could still be hungry or whose mother forgot to pack them a snack and they could eat it
themselves we started collecting these leftovers to share with our food sensitive students with the help of our guidance counselor Amy vulpi she would call the parents of our food sensitive families and ask if we could send them home their food at first we were only
sending home food bags on Fridays to our families for the weekends since their children would not be getting breakfast and lunch daily soon Katie Dow back row uh got involved and we put containers into our hallways for students to
separate food into our refrigerated and non-refrigerated bins these bins are in all four wings and we collect daily our students have been taught by faculty and staff where the food goes and the classroom teachers have helpers that help put this food out
daily we feed 12 amilies twice a week besides our leftover food we also get supplemented from be the change from under the direction of Dr Norma Bo from cane University which delivers us canned goods from the Central Jersey food
pantry right to our building a special thanks to philik joswick who delivers directly to our food every week I also get food from the replenish Pantry in East Brunswick and Peter Barcelona from weat feed Woodbridge also is just a
phone call away to help us keep our pantries full when covid hit our students were not getting fed from us so I called mayor McCormack and I explained that I would like to have him build mini pantries and have them constructed the three places I initially asked for were
Meno Park Terrace on school property and New Brunswick a on New Brunswick Avenue and Fords and in Hillside Gardens in keby the reasons for these many pantries was for our School communities to have access to Food daily the mayor had our Township Carpenters build these mini
pantries that look like many libraries but they were made slightly larger to accommodate a full-size box of cereal these many pantries are filled every week by myself my family my friends teams veterans students the Colombian
ETS the Knights of Columbus and my fellow teachers they're all here look around um to do it and we became we feed MP t19 it takes a village to keep this going and I am grateful for the help from hoe where's ingred and ingred Bower
who get donations gave us donations of food bags so that we could feed our families twice a week ingred and I can do a lot with a few text messages and a couple of phone calls in the teachers lunchroom at lunchtime to get things done to also Debbie Manan also helps
with whatever we need whenever she can and we are very appreciative for that my fellow teachers Girl Scouts Boy Scouts the one-on-one organization churches teams veterans family friends and students help me keep these mini
pantries up and running whatever I need my family and friends shop for me and whatever is needed my parents Bob and Florence Hall taught me from a young age the value of volunteering and giving back to my community and that is what I
try to help all the time to continue to do my husband Lou helps me by by filling and maintaining these mini pantries and you know the heavy lifting and things I'm not going to do my children Bobby and Jillian Bobby type this which is why his name is first always we're say
they're there whenever I need them to do whatever has to be done my sister Kathleen always shops to add food to help our cause I would also like to thank my students who are always eager to help me sort food but I have two
special teachers that Linda and Katie are my dream team could never do what I do without the help of these two women who are there always to help whenever they need to I also have a special thank you to two students Jacob and Daniela
who both volunteered to help me write this speech for tonight the Ruth Bader Ginsburg is from Daniela okay it is heartwarming to see K to5 students sorting food donating to our mini pantries and to see families
walking up with their children just to make a deposit into our many pantries it is amazing to be the seed that started this movement that has grown bigger and better than anything we ever could have expected I am proud to have shown others
what one small act of kindness can grow into I look forward what to what the future holds for we feed mp19 thank you once again for this honor I appreciate it more than you know
[Applause] thank you thank you thank you thank you yeah oh my God as you can see my introduction of uh Kelly was wul inadequate uh based on all those things she has in her resume I
picked out a couple of them I didn't even know all those things alth I got to say though as somebody who runs the town I know that you can't do it without the support of your leaders and Margaret troop is a fantastic principal she herself is the daughter of a former mayor Phil Syria who I've known all my
life I would grew up in Meno Park Terrace went to St Cecilia Phil was a longtime councilman in the fourth War to us he was the mayor of Island and Men Park Terrace for many years so it's a guy I've known and and worked with in a number of different ways he worked for the town work with him on campaigns he's a wonderful person he raised a great
daughter and you do a great job running School 19 so thank [Applause] you and I'll we'll take a picture you want to take a quick picture now okay let's take well you know what let's do it later because we got to get out get
outside um let me ask now Debbie and Sharon if you did either one of you would like to come up and say a few words as women Council people stay up here stay up K oh stay up um I'll be quick because I really do think um Elizabeth said everything that
Sharon and I feel together um to see the Girl Scouts here and the military and the police officers and fire fire women and first aid it's just it's amazing that our community is put together with so many wonderful wonderful women that do wonderful things here so I'm proud of
all of you guys and keep doing what you're doing it so you have many many role models in this room if you look around all the women so just keep watching them it's great to see everybody here tonight I I like to see the new EMTs that we have here our new EMT girls are
here that are working for the town now uh congratulations on your new appointments we appreciate all that and it's so great to see the Girl Scouts here you start from there you get a good foundation you start and you move your way up girls can do anything if they put their mind to it they can maybe one day even be the president of the United
States you never even know so um just keep yourself going out there you can be business owners you can be CEOs You Can Be You Can Be moms and work in the school and be PTO parent whatever you do just take pride in what you do and
always know that you can be proud of yourself and over always be successful just believe in yourself is the most important thing because that is what you have to do to become successful in life is to believe in yourself thank [Applause]
you we're running a little bit late I wanted to introduce Carolyn erck who's the highest ranking woman in the Woodbridge Township government is chief of staff and head of Redevelopment carollyn early former council person at a 11year career on the Town Council now works has worked for the town government for the last 18 years
the woman who put this this whole event tonight is our Deputy communications director Megan kushu and I'd like to uh as Kyle Anderson would like to say a couple of words key word there being a couple very thank you mayor um I was just moved
by Kelly's speech because um we have a lot of people in here that I kind of grew up with and uh some people that I've interacted with but uh I know Kelly is Kelly Hall um I grew up in Islan and uh Kelly and her brother John they were
good friends of mine and my brothers and um uh I saw Kelly walk in and I was moved and she told me that her mom was here and I wanted to acknowledge her all right the reason I want to acknowledge her was because for several years she
was my crossing guard every day that I walked to school and you have no idea how much a crossing guard means to a kid when they're going through things on their way home and I
got so many hugs from Mrs Hall her husband and she were the sweetest people that I knew they were always so nice John and I started playing baseball together in minors and every day I would go to school and if I had a note that I had to bring home I
ran it by Miss Miss Paul on how I was going to explain it to my mom or or or anything she made sure I was safe but she always had a kind word always had something really nice to say and um you know Kelly it's no wonder you're doing
what you're doing and on behalf of the county as a county superintendent I truly appreciate it we work very closely with replenish uh which is uh our countywide feed system uh for the students and food and security is real and we have to make sure that there are
kids and there's nothing that makes me more emotional when I see the commercial with the boy who opens up his lunch box and it's empty and he goes out and gets a drink of water and he comes back and his classmates filled it up for him okay and and that's what it means uh to go to school every day and to know that there
are kids that um that need that and need something on the weekends as well my daughter is now a teacher and I hope she can be exactly like you thank you very much [Music]
color it up [Music] [Applause] [Music]
around [Music] call Council May order please rise the flag to the flag of the United States of
America and to the for it stands one nation God indivisible and justice for all please please for a moment of silence for all our military personel survey re thank Mr requirements of the public meeting law have been satisfied
concerning this meeting the annual notice schedule was published in the home news tribun The Star Ledger on January 10 2025 a copy of the schedule was posted on the municipal bulletin board it should be so noted in the minutes of this meeting councilman Anderson here councilman Bower here
councilwoman Deus councilman farara councilwoman me councilman Patel councilman small vice president MCA and president Spiller here I get a motion to approve the minutes from February 18th 2025 motion
second thank you any questions or comments all in favor I I oppos eyes have it beginning with second reading ordinance of this evening we'll take letter a first which is amendment to chapter 7 titled traffic and parking and this is to add a handicap parking on
Loretta Street in Hope law motion second any questions or comments from Council all favor I I oppos I have the public hearing is now open on letter a letter A only he no comment from the public can we get a motion of the public hearing be
closed your be adopted and submitted to the mayor for approval as required by law motion second any questions or comments all in favor I I opposed eyes had we also have a second reading on letter B an ordinance amending the uh sewer user fees under the ordinances
chapter 28 I get a motion that this ordinance be taken up on second and third reading and the public hearing be open motion second any questions or comments from Council all in favor I I oppose I have it the public hearing is now open on this letter letter B hearing no comments from the public
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 councel all in favor I oppos eyes have it first reading ordinances listed letter CDE e f g and H can I get a
motion that these ordinance be passed on first reading published in the home News Tribune on March 7th 2025 with notice of public hearing to be held on March 18th 2025 at 6: p.m. motion second any questions or comments from Council all in favor I I opposed eyes had and Mr
President under resolutions you have listed 1 through 19 can I get a motion by consent to approve 1 through 19 motion second any questions or comments from Council uh yes Mr Mitch I'd like to abstain from number 19 thank you so noted any other questions or comments
all in favor I I oppos I have all thank you Mr Mitch we'll now move to the public comment portion of tonight's meeting When approaching the microphone please state your name and what section of the township or state you live in you'll have a onetime opportunity to speak up to a 5minute period all video taping must be uh taken from the rear
room in the designated area again the public session allows for five minutes hello Mr President Ken Gardner 101 scotter Avenue Woodbridge if I if I could just start in honor of women's History Month um to go way back our our
first uh councilwoman was Kathleen Hamilton way back in 1984 so it's a long time ago got to know her well I I had the pleasure of serving as her campaign treasure so I'd ask everybody to keep her in mind I also want to highlight uh
tonight we had some ENT EMTs female EMTs and Fe female firefighters here um there's been a uh Linda York is a volunteer firefighter with me here in in district one she's in the Volunteer Fire Company for more than 20 years as
everyone knows it's quite a different world than it was 20 years ago so I really take my hat off to her for the outstanding work that she's done these young ladies that are getting these jobs today whether they're career jobs other volunteers we have Mary warts over in
Island the First Volunteer Fire Chief uh many of them are standing on on the ground that Linda built way back way back when so I think uh you know we should give her some recognition as as well for all the great work that she's she's done
um when I worked for state government I worked for the office of small business women owned business and minority owned business and during that time we uh our team I'm very proud that we were able to uh establish $1 billion in contracts to
those groups and to the the young women that are considering starting businesses today I just want to offer uh there's a great program it's called The Small Business Development Centers uh when I worked in shron I had uh one of my functions was to uh be the liaison for
the the federal contract that was involved with the um small business administration and the New Jersey Small Business Development Centers that program is still going strong there is a uh a branch at ruter uh Piscataway New
Brunswick and um I believe uh there's a $20 fee or something to get into the first program to learn something about starting a business and there's other program but none of it is too expensive it's not not not the college fees you're not paying so if you just Google New Jersey Small Business Development
Centers they're located at the Ruckers business school something else uh young ladies might want to take a look at if they're interested in starting a a business sorry sir you said that New Jersey Small Business Development New Jersey Small Business Development Centers and they're in partnership with
the United States uh small business administration um they're headquartered up in nework but they have a branch at the ruter business school in in Piscataway um at the last meeting I learned a lot about sequest from so many speakers and
um I really believe that I know the town is taking the action that it said it could under specific license but I I think that the Town Council should consider the resolution that the group was offering there's so many bad things that have happened there from from the what they've talked about from the
leadership and everything else I really think the place should be closed down uh at the last council meeting I also spoke about funding in the pilot programs uh the Woodbridge fire district is putting a small addition onto their Firehouse so that is a capital project uh they also
just bought a new fire truck which is is also a capital project the mayor had said that uh the pilot money was being used to fund fund capital projects so those are two great examples uh although 1100 Apartments have been built within a half mile of the
firehouse and there's I believe uh over $3 million in Pilot programs from from those projects in this year's budget uh money should really be going to the fire district uh why why should the fire district be providing a service to all
these properties but yet not receive any Revenue they don't get any tax they certainly deserve the fee um in addition although it is not a capital expense it's an operating expense in salaries the fire district has built a significant Administration with a career
fire chief I believe five Deputy Fire Chiefs and so I believe funding should be sent there as well uh the council has the right to review the budget and control the budget process and so I would for that consideration to be made with those dollars thank you thank you
are there any other comments from the public this evening sir when you're ready you can just go right up good evening council members my name is Nicole patterer and I'm from the Avenel section of Woodbridge so today I would like to kind
of elevate this I have been coming here regularly to talk about an ordinance within the township but I would specifically like to address U assemblyman coughin Coughlin and ask his help in supporting Animal Welfare Protections in New Jersey I would urge
you to sponsor a bill like nosey's law which ban the use of animal wild animals in traveling acts but to extend this protection to permanently housed interactive aquariums and Penning zoos that exploit exotic animals for entertainment facilities like sequest
and blo operate under the guise of education but have been reportedly cited repeatedly cited for animal neglect public safety violations and poor conditions these businesses prioritize profits over proper care leading to stress injury and even death for the
animals in their care children and visitors have also suffered bites scratches and unsafe interactions due to lack regulations this proposed legislation would not impact reputable facilities that prioritize Animal Welfare accredited zoos and sanctuaries
specifically those recognized by the Association of zoos and Aquariums AA would be excluded our goal is not to punish responsible institutions but to stop exploitative for-profit petting zoo and interactive aquariums that har harm
animals under the pretense of education so what this bill would do prohibit public contact with wild and exotic animals for in profit interactive aquariums and P zoos require a higher welfare standard for businesses housing
exotic species and ensure accountability for facilities with a history of violations and of negligence New Jersey has already led the way with nosey's law and it is time we extend these protections to other animals suffering in commercialized captivity I
respectfully ask you to Champion this cause and help New Jersey set the standard for ethical and responsible Animal Care thank you for your time thank you are there any other comments from the public you want our information
yeah sorry you told that gentleman standing up over there from my my staff BR get your information thank you hi again I'm Jessica mayor from evanel I wear this sweatshirt every time
I come here to remind you of something this is not a gimmick that I came came up with this is the truth it's a fact and it's not past tense I have a question um if the Department of Fish
and Wildlife found enough violations of neglect and cruelty to revoke the permit and then seized the exotic animals last week and knowing that these animals such as the sloth and the otter were sequ quest's main money M makers what do you think that they are
giving as far as care for the unregulated animals that are there as space fillers sequest was negligent with the animals that were being closely monitored from Fish and Wildlife why would they give proper care to a pig or a rabbit that they can
easily replace and no one would know the difference you said yourselves that you have no idea which animals are there where they came from what could have happened to the ones that disappeared were they rehomed did they die and if they did die what did they die from now
I did the Oprah request and I saw the vet report which was just seemed to me a vague lookover at everything when you take your animals to the vet your dog your cat the vet actually has hands on the animal they go over the records from
the previous year they do blood work they do vaccines none of that was done and in the from what I read in the Oprah report the vet that is for sequest was not made aware of the missing
animals said that she was not part of their rehoming so why is there nothing there's no paper trail where did these animals go or like some that we know of that were put into plastic bags and thrown into the trash is that what happened to them there needs to be some
kind of record for these animals and their and their vetting of how they're being cared for not just they look okay council president at our last meeting you asked you were asked a question by someone here how long do we have to wait for something to be done
and your reply was that this is not 1800 and we can't just March down there and close the doors and it's not 1800 and there's absolutely no reason in today's day and age that these animals need to be held prisoners for humans to gawk at and be
led by a concept that it's okay there are other means of learning about how animals really should be cared for and how they should be living their lives there are Nature Documentaries interactive online Educational Tools and legitimate animal sanctuaries we have unlimited options
for Kinder entertainment a greater understanding of compassion animal sentience and the importance of freedom and autonomy sequ quests came into existence for profit only they are failing they are no longer
profitable they didn't do any of this for any kind of Education or conservation it was all about greed to quote David atenor if children don't grow up knowing about nature and appreciating it they will not understand
it and if they don't understand it they won't protect it and if they don't protect it who will sequest is not nature it's unnatural and it's cruel thank you thank you are there any other comments from
the public to see them greetings my name is Jameson Rosado I'm a resident of Woodbridge I reside at 86a Golden Square Court um I'm coming here to seek some assistance from the council uh because
the state the city and the county levels have failed me um in this matter I'm a former supervisor of the FB New York division before I was wrongfully terminated in 2012 for what the EEOC identified as whistleblower
reprisal but refus to remedy I filed suit in 2015 after the EEOC wasted x amount of years of my life that i' never get back only to have the district court waste 10 years uh this
year this matter is a decade old so the district court dragged my complaint out from June 12th to 205 uh 2015 till August 5th 2020 two days later the district court
judge who is no longer a judge uh now retired abused his office by sending Marshals first to the Carterette Police Department where I resided at the time and then to my home where they entered unlawfully to discuss my recently dismissed
case several days later on August 13th after the district court judge had a phone call with me the Carterette police came back to my home this time to arrest me where I would be charged with a turbo harassment complaint to help the
FBI take away my firearms and a harassment complaint both in the name of the Carterette police officer but who was not the first Carterette police officer who showed up at the first unlawful visit to my home
on August 7th so long story short the officer who never showed up for court and these are State charges because the district court judge specifically did it that way the officer never showed up for
court the FBI has my the well the count the Carterette police have my guns now for five years I've been trying to get it back and I was railroaded in not one but two State proceedings one by Colleen Flynn in New Brunswick the other by Alan
Comba in Carteret the first judge to sign off on the turpo was William fold for five years I've been asking what was pres presented as probable cause for him to sign those warrants I've gotten nothing from the state the city the town
or the federal district court what the district court failed to mention to the Carterette police before filing these false charges was that in the lobby of the courthouse while my case was pending there was a I call it a
prejudicial document akin to some sort of active shooter bulletin the court did not anticipate I would find out about this I found out about it I've been very specific in requests for it and I did a an Oprah request with Carteret Carteret does not
have the document and I said I'm not surprised because I'm not supposed to know it exists there's a photo of me in a beige suit from my FBI employment the judges names are on the document and the
document is dated 2017 which was right in the middle of my Pro complaint process most recently they dismissed it for a third time I've been to the AG's office for New Jersey I was escorted out of the
door now keep in mind in my civil matter excuse me I'm sorry one minute I just want to make sure we're all on the same page here because I want to make sure you get everything out of your five minutes uh what are we doing here with in terms of Woodbridge that's what I want to make sure you are want make sure you're heard what are we doing here okay
it's a county issue as far as being here um I didn't go to Carterette because I don't reside there so what I wanted to do was the District Court's been fighting with me about judicial immunity and I said when I tell you that there's a document with the judge's name and a
date of 2017 there is no such immunity what you're confusing is I'm not supposed to know about that document and the court never prepared for what happens if the litigant finds out about this prejudicial document what the judges have been doing has been keeping me out
of the court room so as not to have a say because they don't want to address that egg on their face so my reason for being here was to come to some public forum so because I'm going to come back in another month and when I leave here I am going to Carterette Municipal Court
to actually give Judge James Pastor these words or this statement because nobody is doing anything all right thank you sir and when I was arrested I appreciate your five minutes are up you're more than willing you're more than uh capable reach out to myself as council president anybody we'll try to
help you out the best that we can with the par within the parameters of what we can do being that it's IL legal case but thank you very much judges fixing cases doesn't concern thank you very much have a good night okay any other comments from the public this
evening good evening Council it's Carrie Spug from Seaside you may have seen there have been several press releases about sequest and how New Jersey fish and wildlife revoked their permit so I wanted to read some from that were fresh
off the press this is New York Times Woodbridge made New York Times the this is updated March 4th which is today New Jersey Regulators accused interactive Aquarium of mistreating animals the Woodbridge New Jersey location of sequest an interactive aquarium and
animal attraction that promotes encounters between people and Wildlife was rided by New Jersey officials on Thursday after Regulators said a lengthy investigation showed it had repeatedly violated animal protection laws in a statement fish and wildlife division of
the state's D said it has sieged 25 animals including a sloth otter a toucan pythons and critically endangered amphibian called an oxal oxal and found new homes for them after sequest failed to properly care
from them Woodbridge made the New York Times also another article that just came out today my central New jersey.com this just today
March 4th the state department of En Environmental Protection division of Fish and Wildlife removed 25 animals from seu and aquarium at Woodbridge Center following continued violations the removal which occurred Thursday came just weeks after the state began the
process of the revoking the facilities permits so we keep seeing articles over and over and over again about sequest deaths neglect abuse they've filed bankruptcy and then also they said in
the hearing that as of mid-February they no longer had money to take care of the animals so it's a skeleton crew over there and it's just very cruel and we're asking that you look into it a little bit further and see how you can help now regarding the illegal fish pedicure last
time we were here we were told that Woodbridge Council was not responsible for the fish pedicure and for those who don't know it's when the public puts their feet in a tank full of fish and the fish bite their feet but that causes microabrasions which causes disease to
spread to humans that's why it's illegal in New Jersey because of disease spreading now last time at the last council meeting we were told that it's not Woodbridge who oversees the illegal fish pedicure but rather fish and wildlife so guess what fish and wildlife
were contacted they said they do not oversee the illegal fish pedicure so has there made been any progress made or who oversees is the fish pedicure as we discussed last last meting it's the fishing G absolutely so
so U it's covered by either Department of Cosmetology or fish game and Wildlife we do not enforce State Statute Okay you Okay the Board of Cosmetology told the Peta attorney that they are not in charge and they put the complaint over
to Woodbridge health department and Woodbridge Health Department didn't take any action and it's not fish and wildlife we were told by James Oxley at Fish and Wildlife that they do not cover fish pedicures so who could take responsibility for the illegal procedure
that's being done in Woodbridge at sequest at the Woodbridge Mall council president so wert's Township along with our attorney uh notified Fish game and Wildlife along with the division of Cosmetology uh just before the new year uh they have our our
complaint uh and it's filed with them with fish and wildlife with both Fish game and Wildlife and the department of Cosmetology okay so we're in waiting mode again as possible disease could spread I'm sorry to hear your comment so
disease could be spreading as the Public's putting their feet in this contaminated water it's an illegal procedure but we've been waiting for months 6 months as we told you before we can enforce a state statute that's up to
the state divisions to take care of that all right so we'll contact New Jersey fish and wildlife again thank you have a good night thank you any other comments from the public this evening camello from Aberdine how good
evening as you can see I've been around for a few years and I hope to have learned some things in my time one is that to lead a good life one should try to reduce the amount of suffering in the world most if not all religions and
ethical codes support this idea I assume that you try to reduce the suffering of the children in your life the seniors the cats the dogs other pets and I hope the residents of Woodbridge the 18 the uh the noted
English 18 Century philosopher Jeremy Bantam said the question is not can they reason nor can they talk but can they suffer he was not referring to humans when he said that and what is suffering
I think one way to suffer is not being able to do that which is your natural inclination especially when you cannot do anything to change your situation the animals at sequest may be healthy prisoners in jails are mostly
healthy yet I think they would agree that they suffer however they did do something that got themselves into jail but the animals at sequest have not done anything to get them where they are and they are suffering George and his
companions cannot see the sun breathe the Clean Air or roam free they exist in small enclosures some alone some crammed in with others relying on hired help to keep keep them clean and fed they are
subject to unnatural noise artificial light unwanted touching that they cannot escape from but does the sunless suffering gain anything sequest doesn't seem to be gaining since they are losing money and gone
bankrupt employers don't see employees don't seem to be gaining since enough of them have quit over conditions there and I don't think it provides much in the way of career advancement the young visitors May gain short-term pleasure and knowledge that we can bend and
control nature and its resonance but is that what we really want to teach the young shouldn't we be teaching compassion and understanding now you may think that George and His companion suffering is a small thing but I believe a short Parable will help here perhaps you know
it a man is walking down a Long Beach in a distance he sees a person moving oddly at the water's edge as he gets closer he sees that there are hundreds of starfish on the beach the tide has washed them in as he gets to
the stranger who's throwing the starfish back into the ocean he says what are you doing there are so many you can't make a difference the stranger replies I just made a difference for that one and this one as another starfish goes flying back
home so I ask you to try to lead a better life and end George and His companion suffering by releasing them to sanctuaries thank you thank are there any other comments from the public to see uh good evening John V
Woodbridge uh I want to rephrase a little bit different way my daughter travels all over the country federal government and her which I don't kind of agree she always brings cats from Pakistan from Jordan from Serbia every two years she's
got to be country and she says it takes more documents to bring exotic animal or any animal to United States all the papers or the shots or everything else when you got exitic enimal over here by having it over here
because I just heard that they removed 25 of them how long they were there how many animals do they I'm condemn what you call got sick because of them how many people got sick from them you know I admire those people here they tell you something is wrong here it's not just in
Woodbridge find other places how they handle it it's not your job I say it's somebody's job if somebody said there's a fire you pay attention to it so if we can have other states or other towns why do a wood Beach that's all we want to know because it's dangerous I mean I
travel a lot you can bring the airport you can bring any without permission maying it's clear it's vaccinated his animals and blood so I admire him but pick you up it's your job to find out who's responsible with it and again being a hairdresser for 60
some years I don't think they went to school 1200 hours like I did 60 years ago Cosmotology lies will not cover pet stores orent like Des border Health might but not cosmology so don't put it on from this person to the other person
it we got a problem and we all got to get together because they tell you if something is wrong we know it's wrong so do something about it you know look all over the country how they do it but don't just let them be and give them a f and get away get away it's dangerous CU you know look at right now chickens are
dying the birds are ding fish are dying so why so thank you congratulations uh I want to say a couple of things over here uh about four weeks ago we had a casualties on a casualties on a Lyon Avenue and
I'm sorry Mr years ago four weeks ago approxim there was an accident on on the Grove Avenue and L Avenue and I believe the lady died young girl died was L some dead and of course we got same problem
in High Street my other place but you about Church Street and Len Avenue you got a stop sign that is uh flashing lights and it seem seems to work because people speed and and I don't say people rush to go to carate always cuz there's
only four Street between Green Street and the Church Street there's a way to get to the Rob Avenue and go to caret so if you can put that traffic light that there a not traffic light stop side there a flashing light s like you the Church Street and Lyon Avenue be great
idea uh a second thing uh I would say that would be great but again uh mayor uh next in three weeks we will have uh Springs coming my question would be how far did you give the EPA to open the kby park
because it's finished couple years already direct your question over here Mr vtor by me you direct your question through me and then I will okay I'll how long would take you been a long time how long is going to take to get a permit from EPA to open the park you said you
open now you got EPA approval from a different things which is u i don't want to mention it but how long is going to take before you get approval and the the third would be excuse me I'm sorry mrar can you stop the time for one second please sir if
you're recording that's great if not we don't wait online you'll be heard okay you're recording fine the answer I stop your time Mr T I'm not talking to you sir I'm talking to the gentleman behind you if you're recording that's fine if not take a seat you'll be more than you everyone will be heard thank
you please start the time Mr MIT thank you thank you Mr okay we have a medal detectors over here we got medal detectors where you go to school meeting and Sir metal detector you got detector at the the Schoolboard
Schoolboard my question would be how come they have Medal detected schools that's what it's supposed to be because the schools we supposed to have a security we supposed to have a police we supposed to say but you don't have Medal detectors why are we more important here
than our kid in school schs if you're asking why are there metal detectors in school that's a school district matter you should take that question up at the school district sir I didn't he what the school said what if you're asking about why are there medal detectors in schools they're not that is a school district matter you should take that up at their school district meeting sir I did no
well you take again then if you didn't get your answer thank you are there any other comments from the public this evening here no other comment can I we're going to keep roll this along otherwise we're going to close the public portion
hello microphone you'll be heard thank you from Patterson New Jersey Jeff ruseski hello I'm here to talk about sequ Woodbridge I was here last week as well asking questions about what's going on with the animals and why the licenses
for for sequest having these animals had not been revoked as of yet thankfully the people from the state they did actually take some action and revoke the licenses and they took the animals from
sequest which cquest should not have had in the first place so I'm very glad that someone could do something about that and we know here that the Town Council they do have power to revoke the rest of
the licenses for the animals who are still at sequ so last week we heard from Council president saying gave a big speech saying that if there was anything that he could do personally that he
would walk down to sequest Woodbridge and bang on the door and ask them to release the rest of the animals but then acted like there's no there's nothing that could be done when we asked about licenses and permits well
then someone else thankfully took action and took those permits away and took the animals away from sequest we know that the animals in sequest are being neglected we know that they're not in good condition we know that they're suffering and we know that
they're being exploited for a corporation to make profit from and that's wrong and we all know that that's wrong and now the New York Times has made an article about this so I'm glad that the word is getting out but there are still animals
at sequ they're still trapped there people can still go and view them like it's some sort of exhibit to make fun or enjoy someone else's
captivity and like the other gentleman said these animals are like it's like like they're in prison right now they're in a prison but they didn't do anything wrong
they didn't commit any crimes and some of the EXO exotic animals there were taken from places very far away from New Jersey and by what means they made it to se Quest we don't know but they were
taken there thankfully they're not there anymore but they're still animals at sequ and they still need help so what Count Council what are you going to do to help those animals because last week you gave us the impression that you were
on the side of the animals that you would do something for them so I'm asking you now directly there was a protest last weekend I didn't see any of the council people there okay so don't act like you don't have any power to do anything about this because
you wouldn't be sitting where you are right now if you didn't have sway or influence or power so please do something about this are there any other comments from the public Sean O'Neal mouin a friend of
mine went into view SE Quest when we had a protest not this past Saturday but the one before on video she has uh taken some two Lambs in a tiny little enclosure and all you see is someone's hand reaching down just hear screaming
and yelling the the Lambs look terrified it's totally unacceptable and I would like to just say that I feel that the mayor and the council have all rened on their Oaths of office when the voters voted you in I feel that you have betrayed the voters
and the taxpayers of this town someone I just Googled a lamb can bite a human so I don't know how you can just sit there and allow all your taxpayers to be at risk of this town being sued because somebody is going to get hurt so I feel
that you you all need to se and resign you haven't done your jobs sure thank you any other comments or questions for the public hi my name is Peter Ortiz and I'm from New Yark um I was here last uh two
weeks ago I know that you were concerned about the potential implications to the town if something were done to shut down Woodbridge um sequest Woodbridge that somehow would put the town into some legal trouble but and I said this two
weeks ago you really need to think about the even bigger implications of doing nothing uh whether you like it or not the name of this business is sequest Woodbridge and their mistreatment of the animals reflects badly on its Town what
kind of message do you think the town is sending to respons POS businesses here when you continue to allow cquest Woodbridge to stay open what message does that send to your community to your constituents and what message and
impression does that send to visitors to your town especially when Woodbridge is part of the sequest brand the good news is that sequest Woodbridge has made this easy for you by their irresponsible actions that have
led to the death of a 100 animal anal since 2019 and know who knows how many other injured animals there are sequest Woodbridge is the poster child of this kind of business that the town should never welcome you can see that by
reading the overwhelming number of negative reviews on trip advisor and Google you still have time to do the right thing for the town of Woodbridge you have the moral High Ground And The Leverage here and you need to use it
you need to to let your constituents know that you're you are standing up for what is right that you are not okay with allowing a rogue business to continue to operate and to be associated with this town sequest Woodbridge days are
numbered the smart thing to do from a moral ethical and political stance is to proactively fight to shut it down even if you don't have the direct power to shut sequest Woodbridge down the public and your constituents need to hear you
publicly denounce sequest Woodbridge and call for its shutdown you're speaking up matters for Woodbridge and for people you represent thank you thank you are there any other comments from the public uh good evening my name is Edward
from Newark and I will be talking about the matter at sequest and I was here from two weeks ago the last meeting that we all had um I'm going to start with these two quotes uh one from the mayor and one from Council president
Spiller uh from the mayor he said we completely understand the concerns of people that have been coming to our meeting we are not defending sequest and frankly find many of the accusations of the last several months to be disturbing and revolting and have no reason to not
to believe any of the speakers um council president Spiller said there's not any one of us up here that wouldn't love to see every one of those animals in somebody's sanctuary and somebody's home we've said it over
and over again we don't want to see those animals there I'd like to give every animal to a sanctuary or adopt or in the ocean uh my question to follow up would be um what you are all doing personally to
help the animals that any of you contact the judge uh the USDA the mall owner or fishing Wildlife any complaint that we get uh we automatically forward off to the proper
entity okay and uh last point I do want to bring up um is uh who here out of you have chosen to walk into that mall into the sequest exhibit that has received
3,500 complaints uh have any of you taken a look to see the conditions that the animals are in no is that that's the question yes if any of you from the last time that we had the meeting did any of you visit and see the the the animals at the
conditions that I'm going going to speak for myself what we do in our off time um and what we communicate with each other okay um I will close it off by saying I was at that protest following the last meeting we had here and there was a police officer who
stopped by checking to see that there's nothing uh out of line uh that we're all protesting peacefully and even that police officer said that when uh they stopped by to look into uh sequest into the exhibition
uh he could see that the animals were in distress uh especially a stingray that uh he had a very distinct memory of who was the most uh uncomfortable in a very tiny tank I will end it with that thank you
for hearing us out thank you are there any other comments this evening from the public other comments I get a motion got the public comment motion closed motion fav I hello um sorry the public portion is
closed thank you we will now move to the agenda portion of tonight's meeting uh item number 16 Greenway family Success Center is excited to introduce their first caregiver support Circle in which we'll provide a safe space for parents and caregivers and special needs children right at that Center this will be an ongoing support group every second
Wednesday of the month from 11:30 to 1:30 additionally this month we will fac facilitate a parent Cafe program that will occur excuse me I'm sorry I'll stop we all sat here and listen to everybody so I'll make sure everybody gets to go out and say what you need to talk about
in the hallway you know we listen to you you don't have to listen to us but you will respect the council chambers when the council president is speaking so I'll wait for everybody that wants to get up and leave so you can leave so you're not interrupting us where we did not interrupt you one bit over the last
year thank you I'll do it again item number 16 Greenway family Su Success Center excited to introduce their first caregiver support Circle in which they will provide a safe space for parents and caregivers of special needs children right at the center this will be an
ongoing support group every second Wednesday of the month from 11:30 to 1:30 additionally this month we will we will facilitate a parent Cafe program that will occur at our Center on Thursday March 20th from 5: to 7: that also provides a safe space for parents to reflect on their experiences as a
parent you can contact the center at 73252 7 3400 and again that they are located at 1005 raway Avenue and avanel uh the rest of my agenda is in order God Bless America Council vice president Malla thank you council president my agenda is
in order I have no comments for this evening thank you thank you very much Council vice president councilman Anderson thank you council president I have only a few few comments um there was a uh blood drive at woodb high school I want to um congratulate and commend woodb High School uh for
conducting that um blood drive there were many uh High School seniors who were of age uh who were able to give blood and uh you know your you're saving a life um and I want to continue to encourage uh the schools in our Township
uh to do so um also uh our our local employment opportunities website is still active and current um if you are out of work and you're looking for work please visit that site uh we have the United States Postal Service
uh Wick companies uh BASF Stone mounting printing is looking for customer service rep on a part-time basis and you can visit that at jobs atsm printing.com as you saw earlier today there are a
number of young ladies selling Girl Scout cookies throughout the township please support our Girl Scouts I don't want to steal anyone Thunder but um they're you know they're pretty good cookies you know so um please uh go out and get some for yourself um I do want
to congratulate um the Woodbridge high schools boys and girls bowling teams on becoming the GMC division Champions um and along with that I do want to congratulate our own uh coach uh
Amanda small who is the daughter of councilman small who is the who was recognized today as the GMC Red Division coach of the year and the GMC conference girls Coach of the Year congratulations and um uh our Colonial
High School Patriots are competing tonight in the uh the state semifinals um hopefully they'll win that one and move on to the sectional finals for the third year in a row and we're
hoping for a threee they also um uh had backto back wins for the GMC County Title of the year so they they won the GMC title two years in a
row and I do want to recognize Aiden durak who is the alltime boys leader as a scorer with 1682 points he's going to expand on that tonight um and Aiden uh has it has an
opportunity this is girls uh you know women women's History Month to catch his sister uh Taylor who has over 2,000 points so he has one more year to do it um but it's nice to see the girls are
leading the way um and I want to uh commend um the independent Club of Colonia for closing out Black History Month with a fantastic event last week um they uh did a great job of uh not only recognizing some of our our
local um uh leaders they also um brought a lot of um song um history there was a lot of Education there and at the same time they also raised money for raise food for our food bank so I want to congratulate the independent Club of
Colonia and that is all I have thank thank you councilman Anderson councilman car's excuse councilman B thank you council president my agenda is in order no announcements tonight thank you thank you Council B councilman small thank you Council president uh number 16 on my agenda the American Irish Association
will have its 51st annual St Patrick's parade March 9th stepping off at 1:30 p.m. the parade will exit woodb high school as ambor away followed normal route down Freeman to Lyndon to Green to Amboy to Maine ending at Town Hall many pipes and pipe bands High School bands
and other entertainment to join our communities uh from Woodbridge and the surrounding areas the association welcomes everybody along the parade route so mark your calendar to Sunday 1:30 is the American Irish parade uh God
bless all our First Responders and God bless America that's all I have thank you council president thank you councilman small councilman councilwoman de J excuse councilwoman Mi uh thank you Council I just have um two thank yous that I want to acknowledge uh thank you to everyone that participated in our
2025 have a heart food drive we collected $25,000 more over $25,000 more than 220b of food to support the efforts of local food pantries in their work to Aid families in need throughout Woodbridge Township more than 100 Township
corporations buil businesses schools charitable organizations and residents contributed to the success of this year's drive and then I just want to thank everybody that came out this past Sunday we held a chili cut golf at Acacia Center just want to thank Brian
molar and I kuga from the rec department for putting the event together it was a great day at Chile friendship but most importantly it was a beautiful Embrace from our community in support of JP May of colon who's battling cancer and his family JP has a long fight ahead of him
but he has a strong Army behind him thank you to everyone that came out to support the family the love and the kindness in that room on Sunday was incredibly humbling to everybody in attendance so just thank you for helping this family it means a lot to them and that's why I have to see thank you thank
you Council great job thank you councilman till yeah thank you C president my AGA is also in but I have like few announcement well uh uh we are approaching St Patrick's Day in about two weeks I extend my
warmest greetings to our vibrant Irish American community in Woodbridge and honor their Rich Irish heritage traditions and contributions that have helped to shape our woodb comedy so
special also so as we celebrate March as a women's uh History Month extend my heartfelt congratulations to all strong inspiring and courageous women around the township your efforts resilience and
contributions are invaluable in shaping our community this month is a tribute to your achievements and struggles as we are extremely proud of you that's all for tonight thank you thank you counc uh Mr Mitch thank you my agenda is in order
just thank you for taking some action on some wer licenses de seeing that's all I have thank you thank you Mr Mitch mayor thank you council president just want to say that Debbie mean thanked a lot of people but she forgot to thank someone very important in the case and that was Debbie mean because she brings her Army
of volunteers uh from Colonia Kathy and tasel and Joanne and terz and I don't want to I'll probably forget half of them but they're all out there every single time Debbie has something going on whenever there's a catastrophe a tragedy and illness whether it's Colony
or anywhere on Town Debbie's team comes to the rescue with pancake breakfast it's a spaghetti dinner it's in this case the uh chili cook off uh baskets which makes all the money in these events the the tricky trays make more
money actually than the food uh so it's just amazing what they do uh they're they're a wonderful group of people they all like hanging out together they're best friends and they worked so hard for the cause and Debbie thank you and please thank all your uh your friends for the job they did it was a lot of
money for the family that needs it and it was incredibly touching to see everybody who won gave the money back even the 50/50 gave the money back it was such an environment of just feel good that the little boy little guy 16y old was sitting there in his wheelchair
and and it just made everybody feel good the way people worked and the way people got along it was wonderful so Debbie you're a big part of that so thanks thank you mayor business admin business administrator Mr Sima uh thank you council president I have several items on my agenda tonight I have a shared service agreement an extension of a
shared service agreement with the uh town of sville uh DPW for DPW Services I also have a a tax and Sewer over payment and I have a 100% uh veteran exemption thank you council president thank you Mr s police chief law enforcement officer
Murphy thank you I have thanks Chief uh Director D thank you director director BR thank you council president my agenda is in order and I have nothing Miss even thank you thank you and please thank your Cruz taking care of that little
uh we got over the absolutely I'm sorry Mr Callin help thank you sir uh leg me see C thank you look for for motion motion second meeting adjourned have a good evening thank you uh