Council - Regular Meeting

Calling this meeting to order of the Hack City Council. It is Tuesday, January 6, 2026. is 5:34 p.m. Um, if you can read the notice, please. This meeting is being held in accordance with the Open Public Meetings Act, NJSA104-6 ETSC, notice of which was sent to the record and the Star Ledger and was posted on the municipal bulletin board. Thank you. If you can call the role, please. Mayor Gaines, here. Deputy Mayor Tumi here. Councilman Carol here. Councilwoman Clark Collins here. and Councilman Diaz here. Thank you. If you can rise for the uh flag salute, please.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. If I can have a motion for the approval of the minutes for December 16th, 2025. Second. All in favor? I Oh, can we do a roll call on that? Sure. Yes, absolutely. Okay. Deputy Mayor Tumi I. Council member Clark Collins I. Councilman de Councilman Carol I. Councilman Diaz I. And Mayor Gaines.

I. Okay. We are going to go into executive session to discuss ongoing litigation, matters of involving attorney, client privilege, matters involving the purchase, lease or acquisition of real property, any pending or anticipated litigation or contract negotiations. So, we will return back as soon as possible. Uh, thank you. We'll be right back. We need a motion. We need a motion. Okay. I didn't know if we were Okay. Yeah. All right. Can I get a motion to go into executive session? A motion. Second. All in favor? Do you want a roll? We'll do a roll. We'll do a roll. Great. Deputy Mayor Tumi. I. Councilwoman Cler Collins. I. Councilman Carol. Okay. Councilman Diaz. Hi. And Mayor Gates.

I. Thank you. All right. Thank you.

My pants locked. Okay, thank you everyone for your patience. We were in executive session. We have returned and we are at item three on the docket which is proclamations and presentations. And we are going to begin with a with two promotional oaths of office due to retirements for fire captain Aaron Hillyard and Fire Lieutenant Thomas Kavanagh. If I can have Aaron Hillyard come on down, please. How are you? So nice to see you.

How are you? How are you? Good to see you. How are you? Please come on over. All right. Okay. If I can have someone hold the Bible, please. Thank you.

No, I got you. All right. So if you can raise your right hand and if you can repeat after me. I, Eric, I, Eric, do solemnly swear domly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of New Jersey and the Constitution of the State of New Jersey that I will bear truth, faith, and allegiance I will bear truth, faith, and allegiance to the same and to the governments established in the United States and the government established in the United States and in this state and in this state under the authority of the people under the authority of the people and that I will faithfully and that I will faithfully impartially impartially and justly perform

and justly perform the duties of fire captain the duties of fire according to the best of my ability according to the best of my ability.

So help me God. So help me God. Congratulations. Look at this. All right. All right. Sign right here. All right. Thank you so much. All right. Thank you.

I just I just want to chime in real quick and just just explain that there would be a much bigger presence from the fire department here. However, they're all every fire apparatus is tied up at an incident at the river right now. So, no disrespect for the two gentlemen getting sworn in. Thank you. Thank you. And if I can have Thomas, please. Thank you. Good to see you. Okay.

All right. Thank you. I Thomas Kavanaaugh I Thomas Kavanaaugh do solemnly swear domly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States. support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of New Jersey and the Constitution of the State of New Jersey that I will bear truth, faith, and allegiance I will bear truth, faith, and allegiance to the same to the same and to the governments established in the United States and to the governments established in the United States and in this state and in this state under the authority of the people under the authority of the people and that I will faithfully and that I will faithfully impartially impartially and justly perform and justly perform the duties of fire lieutenant the duties Lieutenant according to the best of my ability. according to the best of my ability. So help me God.

So help me God.

Congratulations, sir. Perfect. Thank you so much. Thank you. In case anyone wants to get any photos, um, we'll do that one. And if anyone wants to come up here and get any photos, um, please feel free. We're just going to pause for about five minutes, then we'll get back on with the meeting. Thank you.

I know.

Okay. Thank you. Thank you for that and congratulations to them again. Right. We are moving on to reports and presentations from professionals and department heads. We are going to have a department head report from Ryan. It is Ryan time. There we go. Okay. Um, some adjustments to the overall schedule here. Uh, some updates. Uh, we're plugging along on municipal court that works going well. Um the DOT local aid paving will uh will go to the spring as well as the remainder of the city funded program. Uh Baldwin Park ADA upgrades will also be in the spring. And then the Grand Avenue pedestrian improvements. That project was awarded at the last meeting and we have uh scheduled the precon for next week. Uh Fishini 89 and 10. Uh I used the the same pictures as last time. There wasn't too much activity out there. Um, that wasn't exciting. For some additional photos, they're doing uh the the Musco field lighting, foundations. Uh, they're looking to have that scheduled for inspection by the building department on either Thursday or Friday, and then they're going to pour start beginning the pouring the concrete, take advantage of the nice improved weather for this week, and they're going to start that. Uh, municipal court. Uh these pictures were taken uh last week, but there has been significant uh progress made. We had the building, excuse me, framing and electrical inspections uh were yesterday, which both passed. Uh at this point, the ballistic shielding has been completed. The transaction windows have all been installed and they've begun the drywall on the uh lobby side of the the

project and they're going to be beginning the drywall on the interior and we'll hopefully have that wrapped up in the next two weeks. If you get a chance, I'd suggest stopping by. It looks good. Uh DPW garage infrared heater replacement in the in the garage area. Uh we're looking to replace those within the next two weeks as well. Uh the contractor has he dropped off the the lift today, so we're hoping they'll be in, you know, towards the end of next week or beginning of next week to start those replacements. Uh also uh another update or a new new listing for the presentation. Uh the city has entered into uh or has partnered with the board of ed to install uh weather warnings at parks uh Johnson Park, Fini Park, Sty Park, Columbus Park, Polifi Park, Carver Park, and then at all board of ed locations. Uh the features of this uh outdoor warning system uh we have custom alerts uh 247 meteorologist support audio and visual warning with a PA system and strobe lights and includes lightning detection uh precipitation and humidity, temperature, heat index and a wind speed and direction. And we also uh received funding from Bergen County Open Space for this project. Uh we also are scheduled to have a meeting with the vendor. It's called Perryweather uh for next week. We also got uh a notice of award from Bergen County Community Development uh for the 2526 uh CDBG grant funding round. Uh we were awarded for Union Street from Essex to Meyer. Uh the amount that was awarded was $114,17. Uh that work includes milling, paving, uh ADA ramps, uh reset and replace uh iron and uh striping.

And as always, not flush wipes down your sewer. And that's all I have for this evening. Thank you. Thank you. Any questions for Ryan? Everyone good? Thank you. Thank you, Ryan. Okay, we have no city professional presentations, but we do have our city manager report.

Good evening, everyone. Um, on January 9th, 2026, Sylvia Brown will launch her Girl Scout Gold Award Project to fight food insecurity by creating a mini food pantry at the Hacksac Eminem Wreck Building at 116 Holt Street. Guided by the principle, take what you need, give what you can, the pantry offers barrierfree access for those in need and a convenient drop off point for donors, promoting community and generosity. Also, the city of Hackinack has officially named the art gallery at the Hackinack Performing Arts Center as the Ruth Bower Newatter Gallery, honoring her profound influence on the city's arts community. Approved by the mayor and the city council on February 11th, this designation ensures her legacy will live on. Join us on January 9th, 2026 for the opening reception of Ruth Bower Newatter 1997 to 2025. A survey and exhibition celebrating the life and artistic career of Hackinac's own visionary artist and gallery founder. The show runs through January 31st. I'd also just like to remind everyone we had some snow recently. Uh I'd like to recognize the DBW for the phenomenal job they did and uh they continue to do. I would like to remind all the residents to please become familiar with the requirements of the city's uh codes with reference to snow, removing snow from the sidewalks and also the no parking requirements. Um it's it's only through your cooperation that we can get the roads cleared curb to curb eventually and that requires you to pay attention to these ordinances and move your vehicles at certain times. But please refer to the city website under winter storm information for all of the details related to that. Thank you.

Thank you. At this time a I need a motion to open to the public on agenda items only. I'll all in favor I. Any opposed? Any abstensions? Okay, just as a reminder because the format has changed every once in a while, we just do a little reminder. Um, this is an opportunity to comment on any agenda item. Um, there'll be a second public comment later on in the evening for general orders. Anyone from the public? Seeing none, motion to close to the public. All second. All in favor? I.

Any opposed? Any abstensions? Okay. New business. Uh, resolution 01-26. Resolution 01-26 is a final adoption of ordinance 25-2025, an ordinance to amend chapter 170 of the code of the city of Hackinac vehicles and traffic to add residentonly on street parking areas overnight. This ordinance has been published according to law and now calls for a public hearing. Okay, great. Um, can I have a motion to open to the public on this resolution, this resolution only? All in favor? I. Any opposed?

Any abstensions? Anyone wishing to speak on resolution D-01-26?

Good evening, Bridget. We already have the one that we have up there. Now, this is a overnight parking. So, kind of explain to me how the hours between 2 and 6, we're going to have parking enforcers that actually work that those hours. Is that the end of the question?

No. Only because the one that we have from 7 to 7, you don't have enough parking in forces that work those hours. So now you're talking about two to six overnight. So make it make sense and then explain how we're going to have enough parking enforces because I know every time those that live in the area where these residential parking um ordinances are at, you have to call the police department and we shouldn't have to call a police department even from the 7 to 7. So I'm just want to know how this is going to actually work from 2 to 6 in the morning. I'm going to ask for this new measure.

Yes. Thank you. We um we've been we've been meeting regularly with the police department and and trying to address these concerns. We have identified that the enforcement has been um I don't want to say lacking, but it could enforcement could be better. Uh we have identified some reasons why the enforcement hasn't been been going as well as we would like. So, we have made some strides in and we're going to be purchasing some new equipment to equip the parking enforcement officers vehicles with automatic license plate readers that will allow them to just drive through the neighborhoods and that will immediately identify a vehicle that's in violation. Now, it's not going to happen overnight. The equipment is on order right now, but that's our goal is to get to that point. We've also given the approval to hire a traffic enforcement officer to work the midnight shift during the midnight, which we did not have before. So, we're hoping that this is a step in the right direction and uh you know, we're trying to we're trying our best, but thank you. Thank you. Anyone else for this ordinance? Seeing none, motion to close on this ordinance.

All over. I'll second. All in favor? I. Any opposed? Any abstensions? Okay. Can I have a motion to adopt resolution 01-26? I'll offer. Second. Okay. If you can call the role, please. Deputy Mayor Tumi. Hi. Councilwoman Clark Collins. I. Councilman Carol. Yes. Councilman Diaz. Hi. And Mayor Gaines. I. Thank you.

Be it resolved by the city council of the city of Hackinac, County of Bergen and State of New Jersey that ordinance number 25-2025 has passed its second and final reading and is hereby adopted. Thank you. If we can move on to the consent agenda, please.

The following items are considered to be routine in nature and will be enacted in one motion. Any items requiring expenditure or supported by a certification of availability of funds. Any item requiring discussion will be removed from the consent agenda and consent agenda items will be reflected in full in the minutes including any exceptions and/or additions. This includes resolution 226, resolution authorizing payment of bills. Resolution 3-26. Resolution authorizing tax refunds. Resolution 4-26. Resolution approving towing companies for the years 2026 through 2028. Resolution 5-26. Resolution authorizing person-toperson liquor license transfer for Aurora Restaurant Group Incorporated to MQ Clifton 1081 LLC for license 0223-33-051- 012. Resolution 06-26, resolution authorizing appointment of special law enforcement officers, class one, for the 2026 calendar year. Resolution 7-26, resolution authorizing 100% veteran deduction for 493 West Anderson Street. Resolution 8-26, resolution authorizing adoption of the 2026 temporary budget. Resolution 9-26, resolution authorizing the transfer of 2025 budget appropriation reserves. Resolution 10-26, resolution authorizing certain statutory payments of claims and other claims regular in nature outside of meetings. Resolution 11-26, resolution authorizing the adoption of a 2026 cash management plan, including designation of approved depositories. Resolution 12-26, resolution authorizing approval of the establishment of the 2026 petty cash fund. Resolution 13-26, resolution awarding cooperative purchasing contract for the purchase of two garbage truck chassis. Resolution 14-26, resolution awarding cooperative

purchasing contract for the purchase of two garbage truck bodies. Resolution 15-26, resolution awarding state contract for the purchase of three 2026 Chevrolet Traverse all-wheel drive vehicles for the building building department. Resolution 16-26, resolution awarding cooperative contract for the purchase of a 2026 Chevrolet Tahoe for the building department. Resolution 17-26, resolution authorizing cancellation of small balances. Resolution 18-26, resolution authorizing the rate of interest for non-payment of taxes, assessments, or other municipal charges. And resolution 19-26, resolution authorizing an accelerated tax lean sale.

Thank you. Before we vote, does anyone need anything pulled out? Okay. Okay. If I can have a motion to adopt the consent agenda, I'll offer. Uh, if you can call the role, please. Thank you. Yes. Deputy Mayor Tumi. I. Councilwoman Clark Collins. I. Councilman Carol. I. Councilman Diaz. Hi. And Mayor Gates. Hi and consent agenda passes. Thank you. Okay, we are moving on to our second and final public comment of the evening. If I can have a motion to open to the public.

I'll offer second. All in favor? I I I.

Any opposed? Any abstensions? Anyone from the public? Just again as a reminder, we no longer have the clock coming up. I will keep time for you and as you start to reach that that time I will um politely ask you to bring your point to a close. Thank you. Anyone from the public? And if you can just state your name and municipality when you come forward. Thank you.

Martin Smith, Prospect Avenue. Good evening.

Member of the Hackinack Condo Co-op Advisory Board Traffic Safety Committee. At a meeting of this council recently, our committee requested that you consider enacting a traffic ordinance that would make it a traffic violation for a pedestrian to cross a street while texting or talking on a cell phone. Um, in a recent article concerning traffic accidents here in New Jersey, 2024 saw 237 fatal pedestrian accidents in New Jersey, the worst since 1986. So, obviously, there is a need for improving traffic safety, particularly for pedestrians. We'd like to know if you've come to a decision whether to move forward on this um traffic safety ordinance since we mentioned this to you.

After public comment, I'm going to ask for our city manager to address it after the public comment session. So, he'll address your your question after whoever else wants to speak. Okay. Also,

if you have anything else though, please feel free. Also, if you recall again at a previous council meeting, we brought to your attention the fact that two years ago, our advisory board requested that the city lower the speed limit on Summit Avenue between Payic and Spring Valley, which currently is set at 35 miles an hour, which to our estimation is a high speed for a residential street. Strangely, Summit Avenue is a county road, but for some reason, the section between Payic and Spring Valley Avenue come under city jurisdiction. And our idea was to bring that section of Summit Avenue into compliance with the speed limits on other city streets that are at 25 miles an hour. Um, when the previous administration was in power, Captain Antista, I should say, I should remind you that in 2024, the city called for a survey to be made in that section of Summit Avenue, which was conducted by the Bergen County Sheriff's Department. That survey was submitted to the city for consideration. in a letter from at that time Captain Antista to um Mr. Caruso at that time the city manager stated that the city traffic department did not recommend lowering the speed limit in that area. Uh he mentioned certain things such as maintaining a uniform speed limit on

Summit Avenue when in reality Summit Avenue from its northern terminus to the Loi line has three speed zones. 30 miles an hour north of Spring Valley area. 35 m an hour from Spring Valley to the firehouse on Summit Avenue and 40 m an hour to the Loi line from that point. So really it is not a uniform speed limit for that street. We asked Mr. Caruso if he can tell us why the city traffic department refused to lower the speed limit and what the parameters were that they used. He said he didn't know, but that he would find out. Unfortunately, he was no longer city manager by the time the situation continued to go on. And um so we gave you the parameters that we felt were necessary in lowering the speed limit. So, I was wondering if this council can check with the traffic department to find out what those parameters were that they used in deciding not to lower the speed limit.

Yeah. So, I I can answer that part and just say I think that that's something in terms of finding out what the parameters were for the study that was done and the determination that was made. I think we can get an update for you as to what those parameters were. Um, I'm going to hold off on I'm gonna ask the city manager to hold off on the other part of your question, but um, we're a little bit over time. So, thank you so much for your comments this evening. Thank you. Okay. Thank you. Thank you.

Hello. Happy New Year. I'm Rich Serbo. And Spring Valley Avenue has no speed limit. Okay. So, mark that on your your calendar or something. There there are no speed limits on Spring Valley Avenue. It is like a race uh a racecourse. Okay. So, uh I wanted to just mention what uh Mr. Freeman uh said a few minutes ago. I know we praise all our departments. I mean, that's that's a good thing. Uh but the uh I work on weekends and Saturday morning um uh last week we had some we had some snow. It was it was kind of piled up a little, not that much. And uh but the roads and me getting up Spring Valley was not great. Okay. But as soon as you cross the line into Maywood and into Pamas, it was like it was like sunny Florida. It was so clear and beautiful. So something is different in Hackinack and other towns with plowing the streets. Okay. There was not a good plow job. And even that little snow before uh this past weekend, uh it was it was smaller. It was a few inches uh the week before, I think it was. Even that was not so great. And okay, let's but let's praise the department anyway. So, I'll go along with that. Thank you for uh clearing the the roads perfectly, but it was not the case. Okay. So that's that's that um this whole story that's out here in in the local weekly paper about the uh the Sears u kurfuffle I guess you'd call it. Uh so can we you know when we see a story on the on the front page of a newspaper we

don't hear anything about it here. So if it's there, is it not important here? Is that is that what that's about? Or could we discuss that? And what's going on with that? You know, what's going on with the development project on the Sears property? So that's that's number two. And what else? I I forgot what I was going to say. So I'll give you a uh a quick verbal crossword uh um question. A roll in the kitchen. Four words. Can you do it? A roll in the kitchen. It's four words. Okay. Thank you very much. Thank you.

Good evening everybody. My name is Ed Mesa. I live over on Brook Street here in Hackinack. And um the reason that I'm here tonight is to uh warn the city council that the uh new gym for the Hackin Sack Police Department is literally a Trojan horse that that's in that's that is on city property. It's um you know everything points to city endorsements of the project yet. No, I don't I think I don't believe that the um human resources the HR department really looked into it very well. Uh there could be things like work, you know, going to working out uh while you're while you're on the clock. Even if you're on your lunch hour or, you know, lunch time frame, you go there, you get injured, is it a workman's comp claim or is it a disability claim? Being that there's all these endorsements, it becomes a workers's comp claim. Taxpayers are going to be on the hook for that mistake. And I don't see why vouchers couldn't be given out to these uh patrolmen to go work out on their own time and off premises to erase any kind of hooks that a potential lawsuit can have on the city of Hackinach's taxpayers. And that that's about the only thing

that I would bring up right now. Thank you very much. Thank you, Bridget. Um, on December the 10th, I sent a letter to the city manager's office about Anderson Street and the garbage disposals that are on Anderson Street. I sent pictures. I think you have uh one, two, maybe three. One on the corner of Lynen and Anderson. Another on the corner of um what is that? Anderson and the little small street. I can't think of it. The name of the street union. Yeah. Well, anyway, the garbage is disgusting. The overflow is awful. I mean, I've never seen anything like that where garbage is not picked up on a regular basis when the garbage people are there. So, I'm going to ask maybe it's time for you guys to send a letter to property owners, to business owners about the garbage because it's spilling into the streets. It's blowing all over everywhere and it looks it doesn't look presentable for a a building that's coming and a building that's already there. It the presentation just does not look correct. So, I would hope that we would send a letter to these property owners and these business owners about the trash and then that the city would actually follow up with picking up the trash and emptying out those um areas. Now, I know at one time I want to say the Bergen um what is it? Uh Bergen on U Main Street. Uh

yeah, they were I think they're the ones that set up those dispens dispensaries on that area when they were be yeah when they were

right when they were beautifying the area and stuff, but I guess there was no upkeep to the trash and stuff. So, I'm just going to hope that we would do something about that. The other thing is the double parking on Anderson Street. Looks like New York City. That is what we're starting to look like. Um, it looks pretty bad. I know most of you don't live in the area of the third ward or the fourth ward. So, my thing is I just like to see a lot of little bit more beautifification there as well and concentration of the area. Okay. Thank you. Appreciate it. Thank you.

Anyone else from the public? Seeing none, motion to close to the public. All in favor? Any opposed? Any abstensions? Okay. Before we get to council comments, sorry, Deputy Mayor, before we get to council comments, I just want to see if Mr. Freeman wanted to um address the the first question.

Uh Mr. Smith asked um oh about the uh you requested a an ordinance to make it illegal to text or talk while crossing the street. It was noted uh I didn't put it to an official uh request to the mayor and council, but I will do that and see what the mayor and council's official feelings are on it and get back to you on that. Okay.

Thank you. And I can also I can also say that I did revisit after you brought up last time the speed limits on Summit uh Summit Avenue. I talked to the Captain Capidana from the traffic division. We met Chief Antista met and they felt that those studies were still accurate and that they were not in a position to being in favor of lowering the speed limits or changing the current ones that are there. Now I will revisit that again with them just to ensure that we were accurate in our determination. and I'll I'll provide you with anything else that they update me with. And just real quick, Mr. Serbo, I can honestly tell you that I received many many compliments about the snow. I did not receive one negative. So, we can only act upon what we hear, but if you have a concern during the storm about it, please, you know, call it in and we'll get somebody on it.

No, Saturday morning.

Okay. Thank you, Mr. Serbo. All right. So, um, sorry, Deputy Mayor Tumi. Thank Okay, good evening everyone and thank you for coming out for our first meeting of this year and happy new year to all. I'd like to start by uh congratulating the promotions for fire captain Hilliard and Fire Lieutenant Kavanaaugh. Um good luck to them. We appreciate all the good work that they do. Uh, I'd like to thank um Ryan and our city manager Freeman, our city attorney for always uh keeping us in the loop and um and making sure that we our city attorney makes sure that we do things according to the law. As we move forward into this year, let us remember that progress is not made by titles or positions, but by choice choices. Choices to listen, to lead with integrity, and to act in the best interest of those we serve. The year ahead will ask much of us. It will require steady leadership, open minds, and a shared commitment to doing the hard work that meaningful change demands. But I'm confident that together we are more than capable of meeting that challenge. Let 2026 be a year defined by unity over division, solutions over excuses, and hope over hesitation. A year where we turn plants into action, challenges into opportunities, and vision into results. Thank you. And here's to a strong, productive, and inspiring year ahead for our city.

Thank you, Councilman Clark Holland. As we close tonight's meeting, I want to take a moment to thank our residents for their continued engagement and support of our city. As we head into the new year, I encourage everyone to make a conscious effort to support our local businesses throughout the city of Hackinac. Our small businesses are the backbone of our community. They they create jobs, bring life to our neighborhoods, and help keep our city vibrant and thriving. We are also excited to welcome many new businesses that are opening across the city, and more are on the way. To stay informed about new openings, city events, and opportunities support local commerce, I strongly encourage residents to subscribe to the city of Hackinac weekly newsletter. It's real simple. You just go to our website, hackansack.org. It pops up on the screen and you enter an email address. That's it. Together, by shopping local and staying connected, we can continue to strengthen our economy and build an even better Hackinack for the year ahead. Thank you for coming out and get home safe. And also, congratulations again to the promoted officers. Thank you.

Thank you, Councilwoman. Councilman,

good evening and uh happy new year to all and I want to also congratulate our firemen on their achievement on uh being promoted. Just a couple of comments. Uh parking enforcement, I agree with you. Uh needs to be enhanced more uh especially on Main Street, double parking on Anderson Street, double parking, especially on Saturdays. Um, I'm going to sit with the city manager and hopefully we can come up with a better plan and try and issue more tickets so that we don't have that problem. Uh, again, I think it was uh, one of the residents that mentioned the garbage on Anderson Street, myself uh, included. I've seen it. And one of the problems I think that we have there is um a lot of the businesses are actually taking their garbage, which I've seen, and throwing it in our receptacles instead of uh putting the garbage in their cans. I don't know why. Uh maybe it's uh time. I don't know. But maybe a letter has to go from us to those um owners to say, "Hey, use the receptacles, not the outside receptacles." Um and that would alleviate some of the problems. So, yes, I do agree with that. Um and one of the other residents uh mentioned about the gym. Uh I'm a retired police officer. I was there for 28 years between being involved with the city and now a councilman almost 40 years. Um, knock on wood, no one has gotten hurt and sued us. So, I I agree with that premise of the gym and

somebody getting hurt, but it's been good so far. Um, other than that, thank you for coming out tonight and uh hopefully see you next month. Thank you, Councilman.

Thank you, Mayor. Uh, good evening. Uh, it's an honor for me to be here tonight uh on this first public meeting of the year. Uh, while the year is new, our commitment to this town is exactly the same as yours. You want a community where our families thrive and our voices are heard. We here to listen, to learn, and most importantly to get to work for you. Please don't hesitate to reach out. Let's make 2026 a great year for all of us. Thank you and good night.

Thank you once again. and happy new year and congratulations to the promoted officers. Um I wanted to to comment on the snow actually. Um Ryan mentioned the ADA ramps and it's important as you go out and shovel to not forget about those ADA ramps. um it takes a little bit longer, but if you can just shovel those out um when plows go through it's just it's the nature of you know that's they even in Maywood when you go through a street um th those ADA ramps are going to get blocked off but keep in mind um you know there are plenty of folks who are able-bodied there are plenty of folks who are not who may need those ramps that's why those ramps are there so if you can just take a moment and and fire hydrants so if you can just take a moment and just do that Um, it's a it's a good neighborly thing to do for all of us. Um, I wanted to also encourage folks to come to the events that we have for the food pantry opening um that Sylvia Brown has put together. She is a high school student. Um, this is an amazing thing and it's the kind of thing that we should be celebrating. Uh we have one of the students in our schools that saw an issue in our community uh did what can be an intimidating thing came here and did a presentation in front of all of us and um earned our support and when I say earned our support I mean she did a lot of homework we had questions she met with department heads um and she really earned uh the the ability to do this project and so uh it is great to go to ribbon cutings for restaurants and things like that and I I don't say that facicious ly, but um this is a great opportunity to support one of our local kids who's doing something nice for folks in the community. And the same with the art gallery opening. Uh Ruth Newter is an amazing local artist. Uh we bring lots of people into Hackpack. Not

everyone is local, but she's local and um it's nice to go and celebrate her amazing artwork. If you haven't seen it, uh it is definitely worth worth seeing in person. So, I just want to do a plug for those things. the um you know we we don't comment on pending litigation. There is a statement in that article that you read. So we have commented on it in that regard and regarding New York City and starting to look like New York City. I mean, look, I think I think we agree with you in some regards in terms of um the buildings and things like that. And I think that's part of our mission is to look at the city holistically and say what are some of the side effects of all the redevelopment. I think that you've you've hit on some of them. Um in terms of the excess trash, in terms of is it an issue of needing more receptacles? Is it an issue of communicating better with the business owners? Um, there has to be some level of accountability and I completely agree with you with that. And you know, if I'm just being frank about it, I think part of why we're here is that we felt like there we the city of Hackinack felt like there needed to be some increased accountability for people who were coming into Hackinack to help grow this city. whether that was in the form of revenue, whether that's in the form of receptacles, whether it's that's in the form of communic um community engagement, but I completely hear you and agree with you and and it will be followed up on. And I'm going to ask for you in the future to just any email that you have like that, even if it's the city manager's jurisdiction, if you can just copy us on it so we can have eyes on it because it would be great to be able to see that prior to um these meetings. So, thank you for raising

that. Um, I also wanted to, um, on behalf of the entire council, we have a statement that we wanted to read. Um, the mayor and council of the city of Hackinack recognize our obligation to provide clarity to our residents regarding recent federal activity within our community. We are aware that US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, ICE, officers have been present in the city on multiple occasions this week to affect administrative warrants. We understand that the presence of federal agents can cause significant concern and anxiety among neighbors and we want to address these events with transparency our residents deserve. It is important to clarify that the actions were not broad raids or sweeps. Rather, they were targeted arrests conducted by federal authorities. Because these actions were administrative in nature and not criminal, they do not involve the local juris uh judicial system or incarceration. The Hackinack Police Department operates under the strict guidelines of the immigrant trust directive issued by the New New Jersey attorney general, which serves to maintain a clear distinction between local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities. This directive dictates that local police are not to become involved in the execution of administrative warrants. HPD may only assist federal agents in the execution of a criminal warrant or during extinguent circumstances such as if an individual detained by ICE or if agents encounter violence. Our

department had no prior notification regarding these week this week's activities and has not aided or assisted in the execution of any administrative warrants. Instead, our officers have remained focused on their primary local police functions, protecting all residents and visitors to the city and ensuring public safety. The safety and well-being of every person in Hackinack is our highest priority. We are deeply committed to fostering an environment of trust where everyone feels safe to live, work, send their kids to school, and participate in civic life. To support the safety of everyone during any encounter with federal agents, we wish to remind our residents of several fundamental rights. Individuals have the right to remain silent and are not required to answer questions or provide personal information. If approached in a public space, you may calmly ask the officer if you are free to leave. Additionally, federal agents generally require a judicial warrant signed by a judge or a court to enter a private residence without the owner's consent. Maintaining a calm and respectful demeanor during these interactions is always in the best interest of everyone's safety. We commend Chief Antista, City Manager Freeman, and the Hackinack Police Department for their professionalism and for following the appropriate legal protocols to safeguard our residents. We also thank the many community members who have reached out to express their care for their fellow residents. It is truly heartening to know that so many people in the city of

Hackinac are dedicated to the welfare of their neighbors. We will continue to work diligently to ensure that our city remains a place where safety and community trust are preserved for all. And with that, I'm going to ask for Councilman Diaz to communicate that message as well in Spanish. My pleasure, Mayor. control. Fore criminal. Hackinac involved. administr

Federal ordinance. administr Forement information. for Eloh. Freeman Hack.

Thank you. And with that, if I can have a motion to adjurnn. Motion. Second. All in favor? I. Any opposed? any obstensions. Thank you.