Council - Regular Meeting

We're going to get ready to go.

OK, we are calling this meeting to order of the Hackensack City Council. It is Tuesday, May 26, 2026.

It is 5.31 PM.

If you can call, read the notice, please.

This meeting is being held in accordance with the open public meeting act and JSA 10 colon 4 dash 6 at SEC notice of which was posted on the municipal website pursuant to public law 2025 chapter 72.

Thank you local police mayor games here.

Deputy mayor to me. Councilman Carol your Councilman Clark Collins here. Councilman Diaz yeah, we have a quote thank you if you can rise and fight.

If I can have a motion to approve the minutes of the May 5th, 2026 council meeting and May 12th, 2026 special council meeting. Second. Actually, do you want to do this one by one? No? All right, great. You got it. OK, so we had a motion. We had a second. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? Thank you. And if I can have a motion for a resolution to go into executive session to discuss. ongoing litigation matters involving attorney client privilege matters involving the purchase lease or acquisition of real property and or any pending or anticipated litigation or contract negotiations second all in favor aye any opposed any abstentions great we'll make an effort to be back by 6 30. thank you

Coming soon to Hackensack.

We will be perfect.

Can't do it. I'm not good enough.

I'm a baseball player now. You drop a pass, you run a mile. You miss a blocking assignment, you run a mile. You fumble the football, you will run a mile.

Perfection. This summer, champions rise under the stars. Let's go to work. From the slam-dunk action of Space Jam to the emotional journey of Inside Out 2, the inspiring story of Remember the Titans, and the ultimate underdog story, Rocky, don't miss Movies Under the Stars at Atlantic Street Park.

Join us for sunset yoga.

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Coming soon to Hackensack.

We will be perfect.

Can't do it.

I'm not good enough.

I'm a baseball player now. You drop a pass, you run a mile. You miss a blocking assignment, you run a mile. You fumble the football, you will run a mile.

Perfection. This summer, champions rise under the stars. Let's go to work. From the slam-dunk action of Space Jam to the emotional journey of Inside Out 2, the inspiring story of Remember the Titans, and the ultimate underdog story, Rocky, don't miss Movies Under the Stars at Atlantic Street Park.

Join us for sunset yoga.

Have you signed up for our Nixle Alerts yet? Nixle keeps you up to date by text and email with instant updates from our Office of Emergency Management, so you can get important information when it matters most.

Get alerts about severe weather, emergency situations, road closures, severe traffic, criminal activity, and local events. Signing up is quick and easy. Text 07601 to 888777. That's 07601 to 888777. Don't wait. Sign up for Nixle Alerts today and stay connected to what's happening in Hackensack.

Stay informed and connected with everything happening in the City of Hackensack by subscribing to the Hackensack Weekly Newsletter. Each week, you'll get the latest updates on city services, events, important announcements, and more, delivered right to your inbox. Signing up is quick and easy. Just visit the city website to join. And if you have something to share, the newsletter includes a community bulletin for local announcements and events. Send your submissions to news at hackensack.org.

Coming soon to Hackensack.

We will be perfect.

Can't do it.

I'm not good enough.

I'm a baseball player now. You drop a pass, you run a mile. You miss a blocking assignment, you run a mile. You fumble the football, you will run a mile.

Perfection. This summer, champions rise under the stars. Let's go to work. From the slam dunk action of Space Jam, to the emotional journey of Inside Out 2, the inspiring story of Remember the Titans, and the ultimate underdog story, Rocky. Don't miss movies under the stars at Atlantic Street Park.

Join us for sunset yoga.

Have you signed up for our Nixle alerts yet? Nixle keeps you up to date by text and email with instant updates from our Office of Emergency Management, so you can get important information when it matters most.

Get alerts about severe weather, emergency situations, road closures, severe traffic, criminal activity, and local events. Signing up is quick and easy. Text 07601 to 888777. That's 07601 to 888777. Don't wait. Sign up for Nixle Alerts today and stay connected to what's happening in Hackensack.

Stay informed and connected with everything happening in the City of Hackensack by subscribing to the Hackensack Weekly Newsletter. Each week, you'll get the latest updates on city services, events, important announcements, and more, delivered right to your inbox. Signing up is quick and easy. Just visit the city website to join. And if you have something to share, the newsletter includes a community bulletin for local announcements and events. Send your submissions to news at hackensack.org.

Coming soon to Hackensack.

We will be perfect.

Can't do it.

I'm not good enough.

I'm a baseball player now. You drop a pass, you run a mile. You miss a blocking assignment, you run a mile. You fumble the football, you will run a mile.

Perfection. This summer, champions rise under the stars. Let's go to work. From the slam dunk action of Space Jam, to the emotional journey of Inside Out 2, the inspiring story of Remember the Titans, and the ultimate underdog story, Rocky. Don't miss movies under the stars at Atlantic Street Park.

Join us for sunset yoga.

Have you signed up for our Nixle Alerts yet? Nixle keeps you up to date by text and email with instant updates from our Office of Emergency Management, so you can get important information when it matters most.

Get alerts about severe weather, emergency situations, road closures, severe traffic, criminal activity, and local events. Signing up is quick and easy. Text 07601 to 888777. That's 07601 to 888777. Don't wait. Sign up for Nixle Alerts today and stay connected to what's happening in Hackensack.

Stay informed and connected with everything happening in the City of Hackensack by subscribing to the Hackensack Weekly Newsletter. Each week, you'll get the latest updates on city services, events, important announcements, and more delivered right to your inbox. Signing up is quick and easy. Just visit the city website to join. And if you have something to share, the newsletter includes a community bulletin for local announcements and events. Send your submissions to news at hackensack.org.

Okay, we are out of executive session it is 6.44 PM. Thank you for your patience and it's nice to see nice full crowd. We are going to go right into our proclamations and presentations. Our first proclamation. will be for Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration National Prevention Week. Whereas substance misuse and mental health problems affect all communities nationwide, and as such, the City of Hackensack will join communities across the country in celebrating the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration National Prevention Week. to increase public awareness of and action around mental and substance misuse disorders. And whereas National Prevention Week showcases the work of communities and organizations around the county dedicated to raising awareness about the importance of substance misuse prevention and positive mental health. National Prevention Week celebrates these year-round initiatives and the possibilities prevention brings, and whereas to encourage healthy decision-making, celebrate prevention, and bring together the community. The Hackensack Municipal Alliance and Stigma Free Committee hosted the Stigma Free Popsicle Social and Wellness Challenge on May 9th and the Prevention Week Youth Night on May 13th, along with various events for the community throughout the year. And whereas, National Prevention Week is an opportunity for us to join communities across the county to celebrate the communities and organizations that make a positive impact on substance misuse prevention and positive mental health. Substance misuse prevention begins with each of us, and we all have the power to foster a healthier future for ourselves, our community, our children, and those we care about, and whereas, National Prevention Week echoes a key message. We can shift the way society thinks about substance misuse and substance use disorders while identifying actions that individuals and communities can take to prevent and treat these conditions. The Hackensack Municipal Alliance and Stigma Free Committee are proud to be part of many groups encouraging people to raise awareness about the importance of these issues and promoting positive mental health in the city of Hackensack. We'll be right back. Now, therefore, I, Kasim Gaines, Mayor of the City of Hackensack, along with the members of the City Council, do hereby proclaim May 10th through 16th, 2026, as National Prevention Week in the City of Hackensack and call upon our community to join us in celebrating the compelling programs and events that support increasing awareness of and action around mental health and or substance use disorders year-round. And after I read the next one, I'm going to ask for anyone who's a member of the Municipal Alliance and or stigma free committee to come forward to accept. Whereas mental health is essential to everyone's overall health and wellbeing. And whereas mental illnesses are real and prevalent in our nation and half of us will have a mental health diagnosis at some point in our lives. And whereas anyone experiencing stress, trauma, anxiety, and heightened levels of depression should feel comfortable in seeking help and support to manage these times and whereas engaging in prevention early identification and early intervention are effective ways to reduce the burden of mental illnesses and whereas the city of hackensack declared themselves as stigma free and will continue to support the stigma free initiative and now therefore i cassine gaines mayor of the city of hackensack along with members of the city council do hereby proclaim May 2026 as Mental Health Month and call upon residents, government agencies, schools, private businesses, nonprofit organizations, and other groups to join in activities to strengthen and protect the mental health of our community. And I'm gonna ask for the members of those committees to please come down and accept the proclamations. Again, please.

He's fine.

And while I'm standing, I already have the blood flowing now. I'm already in motion here.

We have one more. There we go.

All right.

Great. Can I have everyone come on up? Yeah, come on up. Everyone for Youth Week. Come on up, please. Hackensack's Finest here. Here we go. All right. Whereas the Benevolent and Protective Order of the Elks has designated May 1 through 7 as Youth Week to honor America's junior citizens for their accomplishments and giving fitting recognition to their services to community, state, and nation. And whereas these young people represent the nation's greatest resource and who in the years ahead will assume the responsibility of the advancement of our free society. And whereas our youth need guidance, inspiration, and encouragement to help them develop those qualities of character essential for future leadership and go forth to serve America. And whereas to achieve this worthy objective, we should demonstrate our partnership with youth, our understanding of their hopes and aspirations and a sincere willingness to help prepare them in every way for the responsibilities and opportunities of civic duty and whereas it is our responsibility to guide inspire and encourage our youth to go forth to serve the community our privilege to manifest a lively interest in all their activities and ambitions and help prepare them for the duties and opportunities of being a citizen in our community and nation, which is an objective of National Youth Week. Now, therefore, I, Kassine Gaines, Mayor of the City of Hackensack, along with the City Council, do hereby proclaim May 1st through 7th as Youth Week, honoring our youth for their achievements and contributions to the life of the community, state, and nation, and urging all departments of government, civic, fraternal, and patriotic groups, and our citizens generally, to wholeheartedly support our youth in all their endeavors.

Thank you.

OK. And before we move on, before folks finish taking off, I just want to ask for us to take a brief moment of silence for one of our Hackensack residents, longstanding member of the community, and someone who has been impactful in a number of areas, Mr. Gordon Scooter Whiting, who passed away last week. Thank you. Moving on to our reports and presentations from professionals and department heads, we have our Main Street Business Alliance 2026 budget public hearing. Oh, there you go, thanks.

Good evening, Mayor, City Council. As you recall, not long ago I presented the city budget, so I wanted our annual budget, and the purpose of tonight is just for me to come and answer any questions that anybody may have. I guess no questions.

We need to open this.

We're going to open it up to the public. Yes, we're going to open it up to the public in a moment. I just want to, if you can just remind for folks that weren't here before, can you just explain a little bit about how this works? This isn't something that taxpayers are directly paying for.

Correct. This is not paid by the general taxpayer role. there's an assessment on the property owners within the district figure just Main Street to keep it simple. And that's how we fund the budget. So there's no there's no general tax roll accounted for here.

Thank you.

All right and then I'm going to give you one more opportunity is anything that you want to highlight before we open up to the public is there anything that you want to know just a little mayor in the city council that we are very proud of the work that we're doing is when I got here 4 years ago there were some immediate things had to get done the streets are cleaner the flowers are prettier the trees are taller. We've have a whole host of events that we have done and plan to do we're building a better main street for everybody and that's it's a an invitation that goes out to everybody across not only the city, but for visitors and and all of our residents.

Thank you. And with that I'm going to ask for a motion to open to the public on the main street business alliances 2026 budget. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? Yes? Please.

So you want to go first? Yeah.

Sergey Tolstoy, Hackensack. So the Hackensack Main Street Business Alliance has to charge the business owners monies to do the street cleaning and promotion, which is basically a city responsibility. So in their annual report, it indicates that their legal fees are 0.5%, but then they have a charge of almost 1.5% for annual audit when they already had a CPA and book fees of 2.3%. So how does that work out?

Our bylaws require that we have an independent audit of our financial statements and everything that we produce. So while we do have CPAs that do the work every month, we can't audit ourselves. It has to be done by an outside firm.

Thank you. Good evening, Eric Anderson. I need an address, right? 14 Bergen Street, Hackensack. As you all know, or some of you know, I'm the chairman of the Main Street Alliance. And John and I work closely together to do all this great stuff for the city. So first, we just want to say thank you to the mayor and council for being so supportive for all of the endeavors that we are going through this year. We're very excited for our amazing agenda and I also want the mayor and council to know that the team you have right here your your new city manager and his staff is is amazing they're doing a great job and they've been extremely helpful so thank you we look forward to more years thank you Tom do you still feel new anyone else in the public wishing to speak

Casey none motion to close the public on this item. All in favor aye any opposed any abstentions cake. All right, thank you for that. We're going to move ahead to topology is going to present their zoning map topology as they make their way up our city planners.

Good to see you. Good to see you all. Good evening, Mayor, members of the City Council. My name is Graham Petto, a licensed professional planner, principal with Topology. Thrilled to be here serving as your city planner. And we've done a lot of work over the past time that we've been appointed as your city planner. And I just want to first give kudos to the staff, Mr. Freeman and Bridget McLaughlin in particular, the zoning officer, who we've been working with behind the scenes closely on this initiative to advance the city's zoning map and take the map to the next level. What's shown on the screen now, I have a couple of slides just to walk through the work that we've done. What's shown on the screen now is the current official zoning map for the city of Hackensack. This is a static PDF map that's contained within your E-code system. You can't zoom in, you can't zoom out, you can't see property lines, you have no idea what the zone is, you wind up calling Bridget and spending all this time on the phone with her, having her answer those questions. Many municipalities across the state of New Jersey have maps in this format, and it creates a lot of difficulty navigating city services, navigating the understanding of what you can do with your maps. Thank you for advancing to the next slide. So some more of the limitations that we have with the current type and format of zoning maps that we have. Difficult to determine the exact zone for individual properties. Limited accuracy at zone boundaries. There's no direct link between this map and zoning regulations. No interactive capabilities and no layering capabilities with more information to enrich the information process. And again, as I mentioned, it requires a zoning officer to kind of walk you through interpreting, viewing, and understanding the map. So what we've developed, and I apologize, we just have a couple of static screenshots, but this is live and interactive, and we will circulate this to you all, and we can get this posted on the city's website as well. We've developed an interactive zoning map tool for the city to leverage. This kind of functions like Google Maps. You can pan around, zoom in, zoom all the way out, You can see individual parcels, and the map is fully functional and clickable. If we advance to the next slide, you can see some of the tools when you go in and click on a property. It gives you lots of information. It tells you the block and lot, the property address, a link to view the property in Google Maps. Then there's on the side pane, it gives you all the land use and planning and zoning information. You have a link to view the bulk regulations, the use regulations for each of the zone districts, the properties located within a redevelopment area. You'll have a link to the redevelopment plan to see that information as well. So this is really kind of a very enriched process and will allow applicants, developers, architects, homeowners, whomever, to come into the zoning office much more equipped with information, to have a more, you know, a deeper conversation. I'm not starting off with the what zone am I in question, we're asking, I understand I'm in this zone, I know these uses are allowed, can I do X, Y, Z? We're now getting much further in the process in advancing those conversations. We've deployed this tool, yeah, a couple of highlights just to show the clickable areas. And we've also included the flood layer as well, and that's hosted by the state of New Jersey. It's not a layer that we're maintaining, so as updates come online for the flood information, you'll see that reflected here. We've also included the ward boundaries as well within the map for the benefit of everyone. And if we go to the next slide, we can talk about what's next. As I mentioned, so we have more opportunities to enhance this as well, based on just information that's out there in the community and to support efforts that we'd like to advance here in the city. As I mentioned, this is all hosted in the cloud through ArcGIS Online. We have the ability to add any map layer service hosted by Bergen County, for example, the state of New Jersey, or the federal government, any GIS information. Some examples include census information we can add to this map, train station lines, bus routes, other things. to enhance that information. And now that we've developed your base zoning layers within the GIS system that reflect the accuracy on the ground, we can actually facilitate adoption of a new official zoning map that can be replacing that static map that I showed at the beginning that's color and a little bit more enriched for presentation in the city's code. So just wanted to highlight some of the work that we've done and this will be publicly accessible as I mentioned. We'll work to get this up on the website and oriented for everyone. Happy to answer any questions if anyone has. IT WILL BE EXCITING. WE CAN EVEN WORK ON SOME TRAINING SESSIONS TO HELP FOLKS.

THERE'S GOING TO BE A PUBLIC COMMENT. JUST DON'T DISAPPEAR. THERE MIGHT BE SOME QUESTIONS FOR YOU. THANK YOU SO MUCH, GRAHAM. THANK YOU SO MUCH. APPRECIATE THE TIME THIS EVENING. THANKS. ALL RIGHT. AND THEN OUR CITY MANAGERS REPORT.

GOOD EVENING, EVERYONE.

Just a couple of quick recaps. We had our citywide garage sale on May 16th and 17th. Overall, townwide garage sale was well received by the community. We had approximately 50 homes participating with strong engagement observed throughout the weekend. We had, I just wanted to provide a quick update from the May 5th meeting. I had two resident concerns. One of them was Marty Smith. I'm not sure if Marty's here tonight. Maybe he's watching. He reported about the pedestrian sign at Prospect and Berry being out of service on May 5th and on May 7th. I was happy to report that our repair shop took care of that. They rewired the sign and it's back up and running. I also had a concern from Mr. Tolstoy about the sign at Anderson Street Bridge. I had project management follow up on that. Apparently, it might have been a misunderstanding. There was no hotline posted on that sign. There was actually an email address. He said, there's no hotline listed on the Anderson Street Bridge website, only an email contact. Under the contact us tab, it's fillable form that must be completed. So if you wanted to get any more information, you'd have to fill out that form. I was resident concerns on report on and then lastly just some community reminders. Splash pads splash pads opened up last weekend, they're open for the summer. That's a power flight parking car park. The hours are 11AM to 7PM. Right now they're only open Saturdays and Sundays from May 23rd to June 28th and then after June 28th will be open 7 days a week. another reminder our hometown heroes veteran banners we still have some limited spaces so if anybody's interested please reach out through rec desk or the city manager's office for additional information lastly hack pack has a lot of june program you can visit the hack pack website for full event information including to live the show and checkoffs people that's all i have to report thank you

OK, we are going to move on to our first public comment of the evening. This is on agenda items only. So if you would like to comment on something that is on the docket for this evening, please come forward. Please state what item on the agenda you are going to be speaking to. You will have three minutes. And I will keep time for you. As we get close to the three minutes, I will politely ask you to bring your point to a close. and I ask that you politely oblige. With that, I'm going to ask for a motion to open to the public on agenda items only. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? Any member from the public wishing to speak on any agenda items?

Hi again. whoever's decision it was to make that map for the zoning. Amazing. Well, well done. We needed that for the last 10 years. So thank you.

Okay. Thank you. Eric Anderson, for the record, Alison. It's Eric Anderson.

Hi, good evening, everyone. Marlene Somerville, Hackensack resident. So to the extent that the map is legal, is there any privacy concerns with having that volume of information? I mean, we have people in domestic abuse situations. We have more. Again, to the extent the legality, I'm not challenging, but what are the privacy concerns with somebody being able to dig that deep into getting information just by simply clicking a button and toggling from here to there?

Sure. I'll ask for someone to address that when the public comments are going on. Anyone else from the public wishing to speak on any agenda items? Seeing none, motion to close to the public. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? Graham, do you want to take that? Thank you.

Happy to. Just for the record, Graham Petto once again. Regarding the question regarding information that's contained within the map, Um, the, the parcel service or the parcel layer that is provided within the map is hosted by the state of New Jersey's, um, office of GIS. Uh, the layer that is pushed out and hosted by the service has scrubbed all ownership information. So there are no owners names, um, or any information about any owner provided within the map. It is literally just the address and the block and lot number. There's no other information regarding ownership of properties, um, that's provided within the interactive map.

Okay.

Thank you for clarifying that. Thank you. Okay, we are going to move on to new business. We have an ordinance for second reading and it requires a hearing. Resolution 136-26.

Resolution 136-26 is the adoption of Ordinance 08-2026, bond ordinance providing an appropriation of $630,000, providing the construction of a replacement elevator for the Johnson Public Library in and for the City of Hackensack, and authorizing the issuance of $598,500 worth of bonds or notes of the City for financing part of the appropriation. OK. This ordinance has been published according to law and now calls for a public hearing.

Thank you. All right. Let me see if the order of this makes it. So we should call it. No, no. Can I have a motion to open to the public on resolution 136-26? I'll offer.

Second.

OK. Anyone from the public wishing to speak on this resolution and this resolution only, please?

Sergey Tolstoy, Hackensack. As I previously stated at the last meeting for the library, the Board of Trustees of JPL, even though they're the best in the Bergen County voted, maybe even the best in the state of New Jersey, They have the monies, and that bond at 598 mathematically is wrong. They have it enough in their purview and their particular bank accounts to bring that down to about 300, which basically puts less stress on our accountant, and that's what I said the last time.

Thank you. Anyone else from the public wishing to speak on this ordinance. Seeing none motion to close to the public on this resolution. All in favor. Aye. Any opposed. Any abstentions. Can I have a motion to adopt resolution 136 dash 26.

Second.

Roll call, please.

Councilwoman Clark-Collins.

Aye.

Councilman Carroll. Aye. Councilman Diaz. Aye. Mayor Gaines.

Aye.

Be resolved by the City Council of the City of Hackensack, County of Bergen, and State of New Jersey that ordinance number 08-2026 has passed its second and final reading and is hereby adopted.

Thank you. Resolution 137 dash 26.

Resolution 137 dash 26 is introduction of ordinance 09 dash 2026 and ordinance authorizing the acquisition of real property known as block 303 lot 19 commonly known as 153 dash 155 Main Street on the official tax map of the city of Hackensack or if necessary by eminent domain.

Thank you can I have a motion to adopt resolution 137 dash 26. Roll call, please.

Councilman Clark Collins. Aye. Councilman Carroll. Aye. Councilman Diaz. Aye. Mayor Gaines. Aye. Be it resolved that the above ordinance, being ordinance 09-2026 as introduced, does now pass on first reading, and that said ordinance shall be considered for final passage at a meeting to be held on June 16, 2026 at 5.30 PM, or as soon thereafter as the matter can be reached at the regular meeting place of the city council and at such time and place all persons interested be given an opportunity to be heard concerning said ordinance and that the clerk be and he is hereby authorized and directed to publish said ordinance according to law with notice of its introduction and passage on first reading and of the time and place when and where said ordinance will be further considered for final passage.

Thank you. Resolution 138-26.

Resolution 138-26 is the introduction of Ordinance 10-2026, an ordinance amending Chapter 134 of the Code of the City of Hackensack, rent stabilization, and to amend the composition of the rent stabilization board and amend the applicability of regulations under this chapter.

Thank you. Could I have a motion to adopt Resolution 138-26?

I'll offer.

Roll call, please.

Councilman Clark Collins.

Aye.

Councilman Carroll? Yes. Councilman Diaz? Aye. Mayor Gaines?

Yes.

Be it resolved that the above ordinance, being ordinance 10-2026, as introduced, does now pass on first reading, and that said ordinance shall be considered for final passage at a meeting to be held on June 16, 2026, at 5.30 p.m., or as soon thereafter, as the matter can be reached at the regular meeting place of the City Council, and at such time and place, all persons interested, be given an opportunity to be heard concerning said ordinance and that the clerk be and he is hereby authorized and directed to publish said ordinance according to law with a notice of its introduction and passage on first reading and of the time and place when and where said ordinance will be further considered for final passage.

Okay. Before we move on to the consent agenda, is there anything that needs to be pulled or reconsidered from the consent agenda? yes I would like resolution 155 dash 26 pulled I'll second that okay all in favor of all the favor pulling it separately right or we just pull it separately okay great so we'll just call it separately all right anything else OK. So if you can call the consent agenda absent resolution 155-26.

And just for clarification, we've also pulled 152-26 before. Thank you. 152-26. Yes. So 152-26.

Pulled from the meeting. Pulled from the meeting. It's not going to be pulled. Got it. It's been stricken off the agenda. Got it. Yep.

Struck. Struck.

Yes.

Okay. The following items are considered to be routine in nature and will be enacted in one motion. Any items requiring expenditure are 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. The consent agenda includes... Resolution 139-26, resolution authorizing payment of bills. Resolution 140-26, resolution authorizing tax refunds. Resolution 141-26, resolution adopting Main Street Business Alliance 2026 budget. Resolution 142-26, resolution authorizing 100% veteran tax exemption for 326 Prospect Avenue, Unit 11H. Resolution 143-26, resolution authorizing the acceptance of a state fiscal year 26 law enforcement wellness and resiliency grant. RESOLUTION 144-26, RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE SUBMISSION OF A GRANT APPLICATION AND EXECUTION OF A GRANT AGREEMENT WITH THE NEW JERSEY DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION FOR THE FISCAL YEAR 2027 MUNICIPAL AID PROGRAM. THAT'S FOR ATLANTIC STREET FROM FIRST TO PROSPECT AVENUE. RESOLUTION 145-26, RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE SUBMISSION OF A GRANT APPLICATION AND EXECUTION OF A GRANT AGREEMENT WITH THE NEW JERSEY DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION FOR THE FISCAL YEAR 2027 MUNICIPAL AID PROGRAM. THAT'S FOR TEMPLE AVENUE FROM UNIVERSITY PLAZA TO MAIN STREET. Resolution 146-26, resolution authorizing the submission of a grant application and execution of a grant agreement with the New Jersey Department of Transportation for the fiscal year 2027 transit village grant program for Demarest Place Transit Corridor. RESOLUTION 147-26, RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE CITY OF HACKENSACK TO APPLY FOR AND ENTER INTO A GRANT AGREEMENT WITH NEW JERSEY DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNITY AFFAIRS FISCAL YEAR 26 RECREATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES GRANT PROGRAM. RESOLUTION 148-26, RESOLUTION CONFIRMING THE DETAILS OF THE SALE OF GENERAL OBLIGATION BONDS IN THE AGGREGATE PRINCIPAL AMOUNT OF $2,352,981 OF THE CITY OF HACKENSACK, COUNTY OF BURGIN, STATE OF NEW JERSEY TO THE NEW JERSEY INFRASTRUCTURE BANK AND THE STATE OF NEW JERSEY ACTING BY AND THROUGH THE NEW JERSEY DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION PURSUANT TO THE STATE FISCAL YEAR 2026 NEW JERSEY WATER BANK FINANCING PROGRAM KNOWN AS PROJECT 16. Resolution 149-26, resolution confirming the details of the sale of the general obligation bonds in the aggregate principal amount of $1,208,075 of the City of Hackensack, County of Bergen, State of New Jersey, to the New Jersey Infrastructure Bank, and the State of New Jersey, acting by and through the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, pursuant to the State Fiscal Year 2026 New Jersey Water Bank Financing Program, known as Project 22. Resolution 150-26, resolution requesting approval of items and revenue appropriation, NJSA 40A4-487, for State Fiscal Year Law Enforcement Wellness Grant. Resolution 151-26, resolution requesting approval of items of revenue and appropriation for the 2026 Clean Communities Grant. Resolution 153-26, resolution authorizing the renewal of liquor licenses for the 2026-2027 license term. Resolution 154-26, resolution authorizing the city of Hackensack tax collector to prepare and mail estimated tax bills in accordance with public law 1994, chapter 72. Resolution 156-26, resolution authorizing the issuance of requests for qualifications for professional services to the City of Hackensack. Resolution 157-26, resolution authorizing the City of Hackensack to execute an agreement for use of city property between the City of Hackensack and LEAD Inc. Resolution 158-26, resolution authorizing the City of Hackensack to execute an agreement for use of Bergen County property by the City of Hackensack. And finally, resolution 159-26, resolution supporting use of affordable housing trust funds in connection with 89 to 95 Essex Street, block 10719, lots 20 and 21.

Thank you, Tim.

Could I have a motion to adopt the consent agenda as read?

I'll offer. Second.

A roll call please. Councilman Clark Collins, I can't see Carol I can't see the D. S. Mary games I sent agenda passes.

Okay, thank you. Case so with resolution, one 5526 to a table and do what I want to do it.

So mayor would have to be called and then there could be a motion to either approve disapprove or table.

Okay. All right.

So, uh, resolution one 55 dash 26 resolution one 55 dash 26 is a resolution authorizing the execution of an agreement with where's the strategy group for public relations services.

Okay.

When the motion you could make a motion to table if you like a council or you can make a motion to approve or deny.

I make a motion to table it.

I'll second that move.

Yes, we do roll call please.

Councilman Clark Collins, aye. Councilman Carroll, aye. Councilman Diaz, aye. Mayor Gaines, aye. Resolutions tabled.

Okay, moving on to double-sided I'm out of order no we're good all right okay we are opening up to our second and final public comment this is three minutes on whatever appropriate topic your heart desires I will keep time for you as we start to get close to the three minute mark I will ask for you to wrap up I ask that you oblige and um please state your name and your municipality as you come forward please thank you can i have a motion to open to the public i'll offer second Okay, all in favor, aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? Just give me one moment. Okay, you're good to go.

Hi, so good evening. I'm Marlene Somerville, city of Hackensack resident. So grant me a little bit of leeway because I'm wearing three different hats tonight for presentation, right? Three different committee reports to give. So the first one is for the HEC, the Hackensack Environmental Commission and the Green Team, the May overview for the council. And just wanted two items to call out. The first is that we have finally released our spring edition of our newsletter. So that will go live this Friday attached to the city newsletter when it goes out. So I just wanted to say to my committee members, thank you. It was a lot of effort and time put into putting it together, making sure that we had the correct information, that it was structured correctly, and that it aligned to what we had with the city. So again, congratulations to my team for them doing a really good job. And the second is I want to say on behalf of the committee, congratulations again on us being awarded the $20,000 for the PSE&G grant that we just received. There was a lot of work that went into that initiative, especially for Vicky and Josh Cohen, who were the ones to actually work with the team to put the report together. So again, just wanted to say congratulations and a thank you. to the city manager. I would like to be able to set up a meeting in your office. This now falls under my purview, even though I wasn't the person to deal with it initially, and it's the maintenance and upkeep of the Prospect Avenue triangles. So I think initially when it was done, right, the concept was a collaborative effort between the Garden Club, the HEC, and I guess the DPW on doing the maintenance of the triangles. Usually it will be between the spring and the summer that that needs to be maintained. So it's, spring is here, a lot of rain, it's overgrown, the garbage can is there, the benches move, so would like to see how we can facilitate a collaborative effort with DPW. Not quite sure who to reach out to, who to have a conversation with, so would like to be able to engage your office to get some assistance with kind of moving that forward. Now I will move to the second hat as the Hackensack representative for TANIC and I'll just run through really quickly the updates. So we had our last meeting on April the 15th and I will just hit the high points. We are Moving towards the Route 17 alternative, and basically the Route 17 alternative is getting the pilots to utilize a route that does not go over Hackensack Hospital and the city of Hackensack, but utilize the route to go over the water, right? More over Route 17, over water, and then pivot to come for a straight landing in. It was championed by the FAA in January. It was released to all the pilots in February. And so far, we have had limited usage, but at least it's being tested and used, right? More to come as it ramps up, but we're hoping to be able to get them to move to not a hundred percent but my goal is twenty percent and forty percent and so on but you know like i said small steps is better than no steps so we're a little bit over time and we got a line so i'm gonna give you about 30 more seconds and i think that is the the last part of the issue is just Oh, there was an accident, so I need to have a conversation with you and maybe legal. There was an accident at Teterboro Airport, I think it was April the 16th, with a small airplane crashing into the airport, right? We did reach out to Teterboro Airport to ask them for a copy of their risk assessment you know what's the policy what happened mediation currently we're told that it's under investigation but there's been no other updates so may need something on city letterhead at some point in time to ask them you know to request for feedback got it thank you thank you

First of all, I'd like to commend the Bergen County executor and his crew for the work they've done on River Street. It's amazing, some hard work, and people got to understand. Number two, I'd like to commend city employees of Hackensack. for the work they do, especially for Frank Borselli and Allison Serbey. The website has drawn many a Hackensack resident into Hackensack, and now they're more aware and more involved. number three crossing guards robert burke 70 79 year old decorated vietnam war veteran was fatally injured in high bridge new jersey in november 2024. bruce marlac the 74 year old retiree died friday morning december 6 2024 in burlington city gene schultz It all was killed Monday afternoon, May 4th 2026 in the bearer of Woodland Park like to request a moment of silence, please. That comply compile shows that from 2015 to 2025 10 years. At least 230 crossing guards across 37 states and Washington, D.C. were struck by vehicles with nearly three dozen killed. Woodland Park stood up and stood strong with Mayor Tracy Khaled promising the Borough Council days after the deadly incident that there would be an immediate and thorough review of the conditions and traffic patterns. And that would be, there would be increased police presence and targeted traffic enforcement in Woodland Park. In Hackensack, New Jersey, where two pedestrians on Hutchins Street in 2024 seriously hurt in a crash, they got tickets for jaywalking. Where on July 17, 2017, in the Shoprite Riverfront Plaza Mall, a 60-year-old man was struck by a Bergen County vehicle, actually a truck, and he got no justice. Two and a half ton machines are allowed to avert the traffic laws and risk lives without serious consequences. Local traffic laws in the city of Hackensack, New Jersey, the county seat of Bergen County, need to be revised and adopted to a 21st century environment of safety from reduced speed limits to increased roadway rumple strips and bumps. You have to lead by example. Safe streets, then safe lives. Because on May 8, after I spoke here the last time, a 74-year-old man was killed in Hackensack, New Jersey, just after this meeting, where safety issues were once again raised. So my question is, how many more? How many more? Thank you. Thank you, sir.

Richard Muller, Township Resident. Just coming back up here to ask about what's going on with Linden and Anderson Avenue. If anything's been looked at or anything for the parking over there and possible creation of more parking over there on the street. I know it discussed previously with you guys and discuss that it would actually be a benefit on London to slow traffic down coming into Anderson Avenue. Wondering if anything's happened with that or we've gotten anywhere with that.

Rich servo 46 spring Valley have. And the buses continue empty down or I've been you speeding OK, no one does anything about it. I mentioned this years ago and you know our previous may used to say well, maybe they're going to fill up the buses as they go and they're going past you as they're empty. No, they're empty everywhere. I don't get it. Look into it. The buses are empty and they're speeding. What's happening? OK, so that's that. I just wanted to ask questions about you were elected about a year ago, right? Was it so it's last year, 2025. OK. And I remember reading a about it because you won so handily. You won by a large margin. And they mentioned that you had been ushered in by the Democratic Party, OK, and that some kind of machine was helping you win and get your votes and this and that. I want to talk about that, OK, because this is a nonpartisan town. okay there's no way of keeping the parties out but that money should be kept out because they can influence lots of things democratic party money can influence a lot of things so can we talk about it if we're going to go back to that and have candidates run under the you know the moniker of uh Democrat or Republican or whatever, independent, let's talk it through because this seems to be surreptitious that you won with Democratic assistance, okay, and how, Are they going to influence our city? And so it's a kind of a larger discussion, but I think it should be talked out. They used to talk about it years ago, and they knocked it down. We've stayed nonpartisan. They wanted to put the election into November. and have it under a party heading so it would bring out more and more votes. And I guess the Democrats have their ways, OK? So I'd like to have a response anyway. Thanks. Thank you.

The white for 51 Washington. So the reason why I'm here is I want to discuss Pulaski Park in Washington Avenue before this project starts with this soccer Reno whatever you want to call it foot soccer. I think it has to be looked at as the mayor and council you guys should come back to the residents and access what do you think about it is that I'm taking up a tire double court basketball court and putting a soccer catastrophe there. Why? Let's talk about it. We have an abortion down here at Johnson Park. $18 million. It's supposed to be the soccer park. Put it down there. Put it somewhere. I don't care if you put it at Pulaski, but let's talk about it. This is not my first rodeo, guys. 25 years I've volunteered in this town of sports. Everybody knows me. I'm all about the kids. FIRST OF ALL, WE GOT TWO BASKETBALL CARTS, LARGER THAN A HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL CART. WHY? LET'S TURN THEM. LET'S MAKE THEM, INSTEAD OF THIS WAY, TURN IT THIS WAY, SHORT THEM DOWN FOR THE KIDS CAN PLAY. THEN WE ALWAYS TALK ABOUT THERE'S NO WAY FOR THE KIDS TO RUN AND PLAY, RIDE BIKES. WE HAVE THE ASPHALT. Let the kids go there. Let's take the soccer foot court, whatever it's called, and put it in the back grass area. There's a large area to put it. If not, let's just say this is the asphalt now. We have a basketball court here, a basketball court here. You guys wanna put it here and you're gonna block the entrance to the school for the parents that have to walk, one, and two, it becomes a safety issue. Because when they have fire drills, they go to the basketball court. Yes, I get it, it's city property. But that's what the school's plan of action is. So you're going to make these people walk around. The track that goes around it, every 10 to 12 feet is broken. So we can sit down and come up with ideas. Our playground has holes in it. It's rusted. It's 28 years old. What happened? A girl's foot went through it. They put some duct tape, a piece of metal on it, another kid in school went through it. What do they do? They come back with gorilla tape. Still the same problem. Same solution. Two weeks later, they come back, take a piece of metal, put rivets in, oh, the playground's fixed, let's go play. Come on, safety? It's 28 years old, it's rusted. I haven't seen anyone from the rec department down at Pulaski Park in years. I just saw one. When you sent them down two weeks ago, thank you, Tommy, because I know you and I have spoken, you've always worked with me. He came down, he looked at it, he says, are you crazy, this is rusted. I said yes, there's ideas for that playground we can turn it we haven't put new which chips in it since 2021. DPW first year in 4 years came in raked it. Benches are broken. Sorry that's my desk on. We have a walkway that they put in prior Council. There's no shaded area in that park. Let's put a gazebo we spent what a $100,000 this type or let's put a small winning this last the park, the only part without a flag. And my time is over that one more thing. Garbage cans. What is it? The garbage cans.

Garbage cans. Good.

Go for it. Well, no, I had two things. Oh, no, no. All right. So I thought I'm trying to be nice to you. All right. So I forgot his name now. We discussed Washington Avenue becoming a one way. We have cars that fly off of Route 80 as a shortcut, 70, 80 miles an hour. That little blink blink, 25, 26 works when it wants to work, doesn't slow them down. Speed bumps we haven't graded that street since 1976.

Thank you.

They repaid that in 1998 they just went over what was there every month or out filling holes and we look at changing it to a one way. Thank you.

Thank you. Mister white. Thank you and good to see you.

Fred Caserta for 50 Jackson Avenue Hackensack. I my complaint is about the proposed mini-soccer. Whatever it is and put a Pulaski Park. It's a right into the Paul there is no restrooms if you increase the amount of people that are there there's no restrooms The parking we have no parking as it is the it every spot is filled every night every. Most parts of the day even. I I have water problems from when they put the walking path and and I don't want to make the problem a lot bigger if it has anything to do with getting near the drain that's in the middle of the basketball court. Also, the ingress and egress going from Jackson Avenue to the school. If you block the path. There's a lot of people come down Jackson Avenue dropped the kids and have have to go to defense to get to the school. It would be a lot worse for the people just to have a many a soccer court there. And I that that's about it and I want to thank Tom. The city manager for coming down and looking at the problem.

Right in the park. They have a big. thing to play on and they have they already have places for the thing and my house is right there on the edge so when they come home from school they cut across and that's fine but now if they have another thing there it'll my windows are closed everything i'll be right there the park is there and there's my house so if they're playing that i'm going to get broken windows and there's the whole the whole street Parking is bad. And it's just not good to have more stuff.

Thank you.

You know, it's just terrible. I mean, they're not going to make it. Because you have it, the school, the school comes running out, and then there's the thing where they play. So they don't need more stuff there. you know they have enough they have best of all things and then they have this and they don't want to do more. My my my house is going to get broken windows right now that the dead end to talk all over the place and then these people come in they don't work there they don't live there and they want to use the park they should put more stuff there. Thank you for your comments.

Hi, my name is Marie Osorio. I live at 444 Washington Avenue, right across from Pulaski Park. I've been living there over 40 years. The park has gone through many changes. When we first moved in, we had kids from the neighborhood setting fires. There was a small bathroom in the middle of the park, and they used to put fires. So it really wasn't great then. I'm really not a fan of the soccer proposition, only because there's no parking. The school parks in front of my house to drop their kids off and, you know, pick them up. And it's very dangerous. Also, too, there's no, well, I just said there's no bathrooms. And I have a few pictures. It's from another park that's very close, and it's South Hackensack. And they have very nice benches. They have a little thing for dogs, a dispenser for the dog, you know, to pick up after the dog. They also have speed bumps and flower pots. is just a suggestion because these are the benches we have now which are probably leftovers from 1930. And you know my thing is we're trying to do this for the kids, the next generation of kids for Hackensack and if we're going to do something and improve it we might as well do it the right way. Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Browneita, Sissy, Sharif, Passaic Street, Hackensack, peace and blessings to everyone. At our last meeting, I mentioned ADUs. I didn't get a response, Mayor, on that question at the end of the last meeting, so can you give me an update? Number two. I've often talked about that school on 2nd Street, about having some transparency on that. There's an actual school there. Most people don't know that if you don't live in the neighborhood. On Passaic and Haynes, a couple weeks ago, there was a terrible accident crossing over from Clarendon, coming down Haynes. The crossing guard has a terrible time there. It's a four-way intersection, and she has a terrible time. The kids sometimes have to run across the street The cars, when they're coming down off a summit, instead of them waiting when a car is making a left-hand turn, they want to go around on the right-hand side. It's a one-lane street, and you're not supposed to pass on the right. There was a bad accident. The little girl came out the car crying and screaming, bent over, talking about her stomach hurts. It's bad for some of these crossing guards. And whoever was speaking about the crossing guards, we need to do more to protect them. We need signs. We need some transparency that there's a crossing guard there. When you're coming down off a prospect, you don't know when you're going around another car on the right illegally There's a crossing guard there trying to cross the children until you get there and skid. This car banged into the curb, slid down the street. It could have been worse. So we need to do more to protect our crossing guards and make people aware that there's a crossing in front of them and just wait. Be patient. Because it could have been worse. They could have hit a child. Second Street needs to have at least a school zone marking in the street. And is Second Street going to get repaired? It's so raggedy.

It's raggedy.

And Bill, you was wrong about one thing. I've been down to Pulaski Park. I went down there almost two months ago and I took pictures and I talked to the resident. She had a child there. It's like they like nonchalant about it because they don't think anything's going to get fixed. And I have pictures in my phone of the holes and the tape and all of that. So those things need to be taken care of. I did bring it up in a board meeting. I didn't follow up on it, but I will follow up with Lisa on, you know, what we could do and what we could recommend down there. But Pulaski is ghetto. Yeah. Okay, so we need to get that going. Right, Bill? Yeah, and Bill is the man. He knows. Okay, thank you. Thank you.

Good evening. Josh Cohen, Hackensack. First, congratulations. Thank you for making progress towards making a new park on Main Street. I love that. Also, congratulations to the Environmental Commission on being awarded a grant for their environmental resource inventory. That will be the first one in the city since the 1970s. I also want to echo something Councilwoman Clark Collins mentioned recently that these meetings have become informative and better attended. You're reaching a broader cross-section of residents. One thing I'd love to see help build on that momentum is more context from city leadership on how these individual projects connect to the city's larger goals and adopted plans. That kind of communication can help turn these individual projects into stories and help build public confidence and leadership. Hackensack already has some of that framework in place. The Open Space and Recreation Plan is a thoughtful, data-driven document developed with input from staff, boards, schools, community stakeholders, and it's the project of community engagement, which I think we heard tonight is something people are looking for. It identifies short, medium, long-term action plans by park and neighborhood. It distinguishes an active place from passive recreation spaces, accounts for demographics, open space availability, and it gives us a clear basis for aligning projects, grants, public communication around shared goals. Example, at the last meeting, Ryan presented on a lightning detection system being installed at every city park and school. It's a huge accomplishment. It's something you've been working on for years. And I know it's a medium-term action plan in the open space plan. But if you were watching that and you hadn't read the document, you'd have no idea that that was a larger goal that we've been working on for so long. What else have we accomplished? What is our current status of implementing the plan? What are we currently working towards? Those are genuine questions. And how do we accomplish those long-term goals that are in that plan? And that's the kind of leadership communication that Hackensack really needs. Why is this important? That plan, for example, evaluates a splash pad at Stipe Park as part of a broader park improvement. It doesn't go at Baldwin Park, which doesn't have bathrooms, parking, or space. That's the kind of site-specific work that took effort to produce and helps inform which projects move forward and which grants get written. The city's grant writers, engineering consultants, professional staff are the ones positioned to frame those projects within the master plan. If those proposals are coming forward without that framing, the council should expect it as a baseline. So I encourage you to use that plan more actively as a management tool, not just for compliance, but as a living roadmap. When staff bring forward projects, futsal courts, as you heard today, ask, which action item in the open space plan does this advance? That framing ensures our investments are thoughtful and you have a response to people tonight who have concerns about it. You've thought this through already. The plan may also contain items no longer reflect your current priorities. It was originally written by a different council. That's fine priorities evolve But if that's not if that's the case We need to update the plan to ensure that the staff boards and the public are all working from the same playbook When the city completes an action plan say so connect the plan to the work to the plan Take the credit it reinforces that planning leads somewhere It'll build confidence and shows residents that commitments are being followed through. Thank you.

Thank you. I

Good evening, darling body some runner. Just want to state one thing back in 2023, August 1st, I sent an email to the previous administration, of course, in regards to the intersection of Clinton place and Main Street. And apparently the Main Street falls into the county road. I think you have seen my previous communication with the county in regards to Riverside Road. But this, in particular, intersection, I would say requires a proper, some sort of traffic signal. They send it back to me. I did forward you the email, by the way, to Thomas just recently, just now. forward you the email what the county informed the city that this intersection does not meet the mutcd traffic signal eight hours guarantee for installation of the traffic signal you have an aldi there you have a new multi-dwelling coming in and i can assure you that every day like around three four or five o'clock in the afternoon there's a lot of food traffic and pedestrians are going over 20, motorcyclists are going over 25 miles per hour and they're not stopping for pedestrians. And I can assure you that because I have taken videos and photograph of these cars and nothing was done back in 2023. This is my first time addressing this to you guys. So maybe you guys can look into it. I will appreciate that a lot. I go to the church right there in Trinity also. I walk all that area with my dogs and it's really concerning, especially when my dad goes to Aldi. So if you can kindly look into that intersection. I can send an email to the county but I don't want to see my name anymore after my Riverside and just to know like so beautiful to know that River Road is a smooth as it can be now I don't have to go like this like I'm from driving so thanks for the county for doing their work finally thank you thank you.

If you want to make the point for someone else to with the you've had time during the section so I just want to be fair to everyone else. Anyone else from the public wishing to speak. Seeing none motion to close the public. All in favor, aye. Any opposed, any abstentions? Okay, oh. Councilwoman, no deputy mayor today. Councilwoman. You're up first.

Oh boy.

You never know when your number's getting called. You're up first.

I'm telling you. Yesterday, despite the rain, our community came together at Veterans Memorial Park to honor the brave men and women who have served our nation. I want to extend my heartfelt thanks to everyone who attended. Your presence showed true appreciation for the sacrifices made by our veterans. I also want to extend my deepest thanks to all the volunteers who helped make yesterday's Veterans Memorial event so meaningful. Your dedication, organization, and willingness to show up, even in the rain, ensured that our veterans received the honor and respect they deserve. From setting up the park to coordinating the program to supporting our guests, every effort you made reflected the very best of our Hackensack community. Events like this don't happen without people who care, and I am truly grateful for your time, your energy, and your heart. Thank you for helping us honor our veterans with the dignity and gratitude they have earned. I'd also like to thank every first responder who continues to protect and serve our community. Your courage and commitment never, never go unnoticed. Tonight we approved updates to the rent stabilization board ordinance. These changes were made to ensure the board can meet quorum and continue its important work. The rent stabilization board plays a vital role in helping resolve disputes between landlords and tenants promoting fairness and stability in our city. I encourage residents who are interested in serving their community to consider joining the board. Your participation can make a meaningful difference in ensuring that Hackensack remains a fair and supportive place for all who call it home. Hackensack thrives when our residents take an active role in shaping the future of our city. With the recent updates to the rent stabilization board ordinance, it is now easier than ever for community members to join this important board. The rent stabilization board plays a vital role in helping resolve disputes between landlords and tenants, ensuring fairness, stability, and transparency in our housing community. Your voice, your experience, and your commitment can make a real difference for families and property owners across our city. If you care about housing, fairness, and community problem solving, I encourage you to consider serving. This is an opportunity to come tribute to a board that directly supports the well-being of hackensack residents together we can keep hackensack a place where everyone feels heard respected and supported. I'd like to finally close by saying giving you a reminder to get out and vote next Tuesday June 2nd and the primary election as always thank you for coming and get home safe.

Thank you councilman.

Councilman. Thank you that you took up half of my speech. I'll keep it short. To our residents, Mister white on a place to park. nothing set in stone there so we want the community engagement and that's what we got which is great we want to hear what the community says we're not just going to put something somewhere we're going to suggest it we're going to keep it open to our residents whether it's on Pulaski or Anderson Street and we want to hear what you have to say some glad that you all came out and voice your opinions on that we will take that under consideration. For that young woman that made the suggestion at Clinton and Main Street. I agree with you. There is construction going on there. I am going to talk with the city manager because the way they have the fencing, you can't see through it. So you actually have to creep up five feet past the stop sign before you can make a right or left and the traffic is crazy. So yes, we're going to address it with the city manager and see if with we can come up with. What else do we have Anderson street we're trying to keep an eye on that again we got complaints about double parking on the weekends. I believe that the police partner was going to start doing some kind of drone patrol. I didn't get a report on that but hopefully something happens there because I have driven down. And it's a lot of double Parker so it's a A work in progress, everything that we do, and I appreciate everybody that comes out and voices their opinion. We take it, we write it down, and hopefully we can come up with some kind of remedy to make everyone happy. And thank you for the Main Street Alliance. Keep up the good work. You're doing a great job down there. Expand it, I think, to Route 4 instead of cutting it off at Anderson Street, but my opinion. So thank you all for coming, and God bless.

Thank you Councilman. Good evening. As we bring this public hitting to a close. I want to express my sincere gratitude to everyone who came out and spoke tonight. Your feedback your concerns and even your criticisms are what keep us what keep this Council grounded and focus on what really matters. We're taking some notes tonight as you saw and I assure you that your input will be front and center as we deliberate on these issues moving forward. But it's also one thing that I want to make clear tonight. When we make decisions, when this council make decision, We don't think as Democrats, we don't think as Republicans, we don't think as independent. We think as committed citizens of Hackensack. That's the way it is. And thank you for your time, your passion, and your dedication to making our community a better place to live. Have a safe trip and enjoy the rest of the night.

Thank you. I'm going to just briefly echo the Councilwoman. Yesterday, we had quite phenomenal turnout at the Memorial Day ceremony. Despite the rain, it was quite, quite strong turnout. And so thank you to everyone who was there and Special acknowledgements to the Veterans Board and former Mayor Mike Melfi, who spearheads it every year and does a fantastic job. There's also Hackensack History that's a part of the ceremony. So if you haven't been before, please join us next year. And if you want to see what happened this year, you could watch it hopefully from a dry spot on social media and probably on the city's YouTube as well. I just want to tick off a couple of things that have been mentioned that haven't been addressed. First, River Street, that is a county road. I'm happy to kick that one to the county. But I have to say driving down River Street, to me, I'm one person. Worth a week and a half of a hard time to me because it is smooth. If you haven't been down River Street, it is smooth today and we know how roads go. I can't promise it'll be smooth next week, but it is smooth today. And so it's a well traveled road and I encourage you to go down it. But thank you to the county for doing that. I want to just address, there were a number of things. I think Councilman Carroll talked about some pedestrian safety things, talked about Anderson Street and Clinton and Main. All of these traffic concerns or safety concerns, we are happy to let our experts in PD look at those things, investigate those things. None of us are traffic experts, but we certainly rely on our PD to do that. Pedestrian safety is something that we take very seriously. In the city of Hackensack in 2011, I lost my grandfather in a vehicular accident while he was on foot in Hackensack. And so I don't need to be convinced about the importance of pedestrian safety. But it is something that what works in one municipality may not be able to work in this municipality for a number of reasons. But traffic looks into all of those things when they are raised here. So to all of our residents, continue to raise those things. And we have had a number of actions taken because of things that were raised here. The one that most immediately comes to my mind because I pass by it every day is Anderson and Prospect, which now has four illuminated stop signs. And hopefully that's making some sort of an impact over there. But thank you to those who raised issues. I am not going to allow you to say I didn't address the auxiliary units this meeting. So we have had folks look at it on our end to just look into the feasibility of it and to see what other municipalities are doing. I know that you mentioned, I think, Teaneck. I think you said Teaneck. But we're looking into it. So I don't have a definitive answer. It's something that we're exploring. But we've been doing some exploring. But that's OK. Keep me honest. I appreciate it. Regarding, oh, I think I did that one. I did do that one. Regarding the parks, OK, so lots of conversation about Pulaski Park. I want to echo what everyone said. Thank you for coming to talk about Pulaski Park or talk about any of the parks. It's important, and I think it's good for us to hear people's comments, whether you agree with us or not. So thank you. And I know it's a weeknight, and it's late, and so thank you for that. I want to acknowledge that I heard two things happening at the same time in that conversation about the parks. I heard that the benches look like they're from 1930 and that the equipment is rusted and that the wood chips haven't been tended to in a long time and that there's duct tape on equipment and also that we don't want new equipment because it may attract more people to use the park. So these are things that need to sort of be reconciled in the same sort of space. I certainly recognize and acknowledge that we have equipment that needs some TLC. Maybe a lot of TLC. I also am going to use the privilege that I have here to say that the things that we're talking about, the wood chips from 2021 that haven't been updated predate us. DPW came and they tended to it, it sounded like. No one has come down to the park in years. Our city manager has been down there. We got some fresh eyes. We got some fresh eyes. We're trying. We're trying. So I'm going to ask for the manager to just speak a little bit because this particular soccer pitch that's being proposed is something that is not something that originated with the city of Hackensack. It's something that we were offered via a grant. It's also not taking up the full basketball court. So for folks that play basketball and want to continue to play basketball, they'll have the ability to do that. This was discussed, I think, in the last meeting. But I'm just going to ask for the manager to just shed a little bit of light just to make sure that we're all talking about the same thing and thinking about it the same way.

Yes, yes, so I think Mister concern and you're still here OK. Yeah, I stopped down. They had some concerns about the location of this it's called a mini soccer pitch. It's basically a small self-contained soccer court. It looks like maybe a miniature hockey rink. It's enclosed with walls on all the sides of it, intended to keep the ball inside the play area. It was given to us at no cost to us through FIFA, through the Hackensack University Medical Center, who was, Hackensack University Medical Center had an opportunity to gift three municipalities with this mini soccer pitch, and they chose Hackensack as one of them. When I heard Mr. Caserta and Mrs. Caserta's concerns about it being too close to the house, I actually visited them and took a walk in the park with them, and they showed me what their concerns were, and I recognized their concerns, and I talked to project management about their concerns, and we spoke to... Musco Lighting is a company that's facilitating this installation of this mini soccer pitch, So we spoke to them and they identified the area that they were going to put it on, which is on the east side of the large blacktop area. It was going to cover the one basketball court and some of the middle area that has nothing in it right now. Not touching, it wouldn't go near the drain or anything. That's where they proposed to put it because that set up most logistically appealing to them. It was flat. There was no, yeah, that's a look at it there. There was no pitch or unevenness that I worry about. Anyway, when I heard their concerns, I saw them in person. I saw the concerns in person. I said if we can move it to the west side it would be away from any of the homes it won't interfere with the foot traffic of the kids going from Jackson Avenue through there was a concern there that Moscow didn't want to put it there because it had a little bit of uneven blacktop there Ryan or project manager has already spoken to our paving company and they're gonna most likely if this is the final Destination they will put a small pad there to level out that area so that it will accept the soccer pitch. I Just I do want to say that you know It's it's it's a tough. It's a tough thing. This is not the first or the second Public improvement that we're trying to do and and Josh Cohen is correct We do look at that that study that was done years ago and it does identify all the parks it identifies which parks have had improvements which parks are due for improvements and we do look at that to decide what parks we should focus on and pulaski has not had any improvements lately so we thought this was a perfect tool to put a perfect piece of equipment to put down there and we also know that soccer you know is is a very big activity for the kids these days so we really thought this would be the ideal place for it hearing their concerns we would definitely consider moving it to the west side there where it won't interfere um and we believe that would be a much better location after seeing it and hearing your concerns also while i had ryan i told him about the drainage concerns down there mr caserta he's got our engineering companies taking a look at that being that there's only one small drain in front of your house He showed me the pictures of the water going into the park following the pathway around the playground and eventually finding its way to the center drain which obviously works very well, but we're going to look at the drainage concerns there as well so I don't want you to think that you know what you what you told me when I went unnoticed or we didn't act upon it. As far as Mister white bill with the playground equipment. we have most of the playground equipment in most of the parks have been identified the ones that need upgrading and we are actually you know councilwoman clark collins is with the is the record liaison she has visited all the parks as well we have put in for grants for most of these playground equipments that need upgrading and they are definitely going to get done eventually i'm not you know i'm glad that you brought to my attention the deficiencies on that one yes yeah Yeah, no we understand that there's no doubt about it and and you said you needed you needed garbage cans down there You reference garbage cans. I don't know what your concern was I

by 60 yards of grass area. There's nothing down there.

There's two garbage cans, one by Fred's house by the opening there, one by Jackson. OK. But there's no shade, no cover. That's why you can't even have the camp program. So there's not a flag for nothing. If you put it with a flag, you'll have shade and cover.

OK yeah, we'll look into it will look into all the suggestions, you know all good stuff and here again we're only trying to prove make improvements here. We're not we're not trying to cause neighborhood uproar. Yeah. I just got you got you and then I guess while I have the Mike real quick. I will pass along to say can haines along to the traffic division and I guess 3 of the concerns were about the many soccer pitch. and then a Linden and Anderson parking I will have to revisit I'm not aware of what anybody was working on there, but if you feel free to email me also if you have questions or concerns you don't necessarily have to bring up a council meeting you're welcome to but you might get a quicker and a more accurate response to just email me so please feel free to do that. That covers everything I needed to answer.

OK, great. So a couple other quick things in terms of the the community engagement. Josh, Mr. Cohen, I agree with you completely. We have been in office for just shy of a year. It feels like a lot longer. I don't know how it feels to everyone sitting out there, but boy, oh boy, what a year. And I have to say I'm proud of a lot of the things that we've done. And to be honest with you, when people say, you know, this has been an issue for a long time, why hasn't this been fixed? Why aren't you fixing it? Why isn't it on your radar? I will be completely honest with you, and I say, I take that as an incredible sign of confidence that you all have in us that in 11 months that the ills of Hackensack, not can be addressed but we're working on it you know we're working on it and and I say sincerely you know I'm proud of our investment in the library tonight I'm proud of the work that's been done in terms of the various environmental groups in terms of soliciting grants and receiving grants I think the ERI study is something that is past due and I think you all did exactly what everyone should be doing, which is that some time ago you came to us, you said this is an issue, you identified a grant, you found a way to help pay for the majority of it, and that's a beautiful thing. So we're going to continue to try and find as many creative ways to address all of the issues that we can in the time that we have. But I'm just going to ask everyone for their continued patience, their continued well wishes and their feedback and we'll course correct as we can. The last thing and I'm only addressing it because Mr. Servo asked for a response and I would hate to deny that request. So as the councilman said, we sit here and when we are faced with issues They're issues that are completely nonpartisan issues in the city of Hackensack. Snow removal is a nonpartisan issue. Potholes are nonpartisan issues. I would not presume, and it would be incorrect to presume, that everyone sitting on this dais is of the same ideology. I would not presume that. And because our election was referenced, I want to just share and remind Two text messages that I received and that we all received on May 12th, the day before the election. So the first one, urgent. Kassine Gaines and Hackensack Unites are far left radicals who've supported defunding the police and turning Hackensack into a sanctuary city. We can't let them take over our town. Vote for Mayor John Labrosse and the Labrosse team, the only team fighting to keep Hackensack safe and secure. That's one text. Sent two minutes later, this text. Urgent. Kassim Gaines and Hackensack Unites took money from a MAGA-aligned PAC and are backed by the Bergen County Republican chairman. We cannot let GOP insiders take over Hackensack. Democrats must show up and vote Team LaBrosse, column three, to stop them. So... I would love any supporting documentation that you can provide to say that we are tools for the Democratic Party. But what I would say is that the injection of partisan politics regarding this council was not done by this council. The injection of partisan politics addressing this council was done on election eve in a desperate attempt by people who knew they were losing 24 hours later. And with that, I'm going to ask for a motion to adjourn. All in favor?