Council - Regular Meeting

Frank, you good?

Hi, Frank.

No hellos yet. We're not open. Okay, calling this meeting to order of the Hackensack City Council is Tuesday, July 14th, 2026. It is 5.31 p.m. If you can call the meeting to order, please.

This meeting is being held in accordance with the Open Public Meeting Act, NJSA 10-4-6 at SEC, notice of which was posted on the municipal website pursuant to Public Law 2025, Chapter 72.

Thank you. Roll call, please.

Mayor Gaines. Here. Deputy Mayor Toomey.

Here.

Councilman Carroll. Here. Councilwoman Clark-Collins.

Here.

Councilman Diaz. We have a quorum.

Thank you. If everyone can please rise to the flag salute. States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all thank you all right I'm gonna ask for a motion to approve the minutes of the June 30th 2026 council meeting I'll offer I'll second Okay, all in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? All right, I'm going to ask for 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. Can I have a motion for a resolution, please? No.

I'll second.

All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? Okay, we are going to go into executive session. We will aim to be back at 6.30 at or around. 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.

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.

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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.

All right. Thank you everyone for your patience. We are out of executive session. We have no proclamations or presentations today. However, we do have the triumphant return of Ryan Westra for Ryan time to give us an update on our property management. Thank you.

Good evening. First up, we have the Kennedy Street pump station. Work has begun this week on the pump replacement. In the photos, those are the two smaller pumps with the associated control panel. I believe tomorrow they're going to start pulling the larger pumps. I think I have a picture of what those look like on the next page. Yeah, so the bottom right there, that's the axial pumps. There's three in there. We're going to replace two fully and then rewind one of the motors so that we still have three functioning pumps at that station. The other improvements included in this work are in the middle picture there is the rake assembly for the bar screen. Those teeth are worn out, so we are replacing that. Those are expected to be delivered end of September, beginning of October. Just a list of some recent grant applications the city has submitted via Bruno Associates. And then the top part is applications in progress. If anybody has questions on those, I can answer them.

Can you just, I'm sorry, can you just make clear for everyone the difference between pending and in progress?

So the in progress is we're currently working on application to be submitted for the dates. So the first one, it's due at the end of the month. The middle one is August 4th. And then the last one, it has a rolling, so there's no submission date. It's just whenever you get your application in, you submit. AND THEN THE APPLICATION SUBMITTED PENDING WERE ONES THAT WERE SUBMITTED ON THE DATES IN THE LEFT COLUMN AND WE'RE JUST WAITING ON AWARD IF WE DO RECEIVE IT. I THINK MOST OF THESE WERE ANTICIPATING LATE SUMMER, FALL AWARD NOTICES. The next slide is the City Hall. We will be performing some resurfacing work in the parking lot. Along with that, I know it's kind of hard to see in that photo, but we have a recirculation plan that also connects the adjacent John Earl Building building department property. With this layout, we are removing the islands, doing 90-degree head-on parking. We're going to add some bike racks. And then this layout gives the city an additional approximate 40 spots. I think the exact number is 37 additional spots than what is out there now. Fishini Park is substantially complete. It looks good. I hope everybody had a chance to go out there and take a look. PSE&G still needs to set a pole out on Salem Street and then a transformer and then run the cabling. to power up the field lights and the site lighting. We anticipate that hopefully within the next two weeks. They were supposed to come last week, but I think with the storms they've been having, they've dedicated crews to those efforts. In addition, there's just some punch list items, a final plumbing inspection, and then some decorative trash receptacles that we're just waiting for them to arrive. But other than that, all the turf work is complete. Baldwin Park, the work was completed yesterday and then we had some chain link fencing that was actually installed today. So that came out nice. Just to recap, we did the concrete walkway, a new ADA ramp around the park, some asphalt walkways within the park, and then the new mulch and curbing around the existing play set. The mini pitch, we're still working with U.S. Soccer Federation and Hackensack Meridian for the installation of the soccer mini pitch at Pulaski Park. Due to some public comments, we shifted it to the western half of the asphalt area at Pulaski. We will be having a contractor do some asphalt work on the existing pitch. area ahead of the installation. So we expect that probably early fall to be installed. Grand Avenue pedestrian improvements have started this week actually last week The drainage was completed yesterday and some of the concrete work has begun today again that includes the bump outs at the Fairmount school to assist in Pedestrians crossing all four ways of each intersection. It brings them closer together rapid beacons thermoplastic line striping and then these intersections will get resurfaced and Spring Valley pedestrian safety improvements. This includes milling and paving, ADA ramps and detectable warnings at the necessary intersections, thermoplastic line striping for the crosswalks, and also along Spring Valley itself. It's called a road diet. It makes the road seem narrower than it is to slow traffic. And that is going to begin beginning of August. The contractor will start. Get ready for another round of Bergen County resurfacing on River Street This is going to be from where they left off at Kansas Street south to the little ferry line The concrete work was supposed to start this week, but I haven't seen anybody out there yet They'll just be doing some ramps. So that'll you know result in some lane closures But the milling and paving is scheduled to begin on July 27th that week. I In addition to the county pavement, or as a result of the county paving, the county identified some city infrastructure that needed some work that we are going to undertake. The contractor is going to start next week. We got to realign some storm pipe. fill in a damaged pipe that runs across River Street at Kennedy and then run a pipe across Kennedy. The contractor has been selected and they're going to start this work next week ahead of the paving. The city paving work has begun. Three streets have been completed, other than some punch list items. West Lookout, West Anderson, and Coolidge have been concrete work, milled and paved. McKinley will be milled and paved this week, and then Davis towards the end of the month. And then PSE&G, their gas resurfacing, they completed May and June of this year, just to recap all their work is done. and help maintain a healthy sewer. Any questions?

Just one thing. Yes. It may, Councilman Carroll and I were there for the 4th of July inaugural game on the field, and it was quite impressive. I mean, really impressive. It came out nice. The photos are impressive, but Just for our folks that maybe haven't been down to Fashini in a while, and I'm sure you have pictures in progress, maybe when something is completed or coming to the point of completion, it might be nice to see a little bit of a before and after. Yeah, absolutely. Because it's night and day, and I don't know if we fully get to appreciate it like this. But thank you for this update. Yeah, no problem. All right. Thank you.

Thank you.

okay our city manager okay good evening just a couple follow-ups from last meeting um we had a report that the scoreboard on field five was was not working uh happy to say that we replaced the part that was bad so the scoreboard is working as of today there are a couple of small led lights out here and there in the scoreboard so we're going to be addressing them but the scoreboard itself is operational Resident, I believe it was and the Konya was concerned want to know if the paving and curb work that we're doing over on Anderson West Anderson area was going to stand to Brooklyn burn and I will report that project manager advise me that it will not extend the book and burn into those roadways. Mister Lennox from West Anderson had some concerns about Maywood residents parking in front of his house also mentioned during snowstorms he had some issues for this traffic. West Anderson Street, it's currently designated as a resident permit parking area between 2AM and 6AM so parking enforcement will be on top of that to ensure that we don't have out of town people parking there. We can only enforce between 2 and 6 but if they're there overnight they'll get issued a summons. West and also traffic reported that West Anderson Street is included in the city's no parking when snow covered road ordinance so during the next snowstorm if we ever get one we will ensure that enforcement of the snow emergency parking restrictions is conducted more thoroughly. MR. SMITH, TO ADDRESS YOUR CONCERN ABOUT THE, YOU REPORTED THAT THE FLASHING PEDESTRIAN CROSSING SIGN ON EAST SALE AND BY FISHINI WAS OUT OF SERVICE. AND YOU ALSO, YOU REQUESTED THREE FLASHING STOP SIGNS AT ATLANTIC AND PROSPECT. But the traffic division went down and to be sound they found out that the traffic signals on East Salem were inspected and found to be operating properly but the issue that they found involved a pedestrian crossing signal on midtown bridge by Bowler City. One side of the crossing is functioning correctly. However, it's not activating the corresponding pedestrian sign on the other side of the street. And as previously reported are are signed shop maintenance people. He was on vacation at the time of the inspection, but he since returned and he will be coordinating the necessary repairs and also finding out whose responsibility that sign is but we're on top of it move again that repaired. Regarding the request to change that requested changes at Atlantic Street and prospect. Traffic division reported that the current traffic control configuration was designed by the city engineer as the safest option for that intersection taking into consideration is proximity to Essex Street and other engineering factors. I know that doesn't make you happy, but you're more than happy to follow up with the traffic division if you'd like to and some additional information to for them. on community notes. Just some community reminders. We have extended we've extended summer hours here and in the city offices to make a life a little easier for our residents were staying open late customer facing departments will remain open every Tuesday until 06 PM throughout July and August stop by after work to get what you need done we're here for you. extreme heat is forecasted so due to the extreme heat forecast for tomorrow all the recreation camps will be relocated to the m m building at 116 hull street parents have been notified via email flyers social media and direct outreach i believe the theater camp at the high school in the carver park camp will be remaining in place since they have air conditioned buildings but please refer to the notifications that we sent out for the changes in your child's camp location Cooling centers have also opened that one Bergen County Plaza and the Hackensack Johnson public library additional details are available on the city website at access dot org and all of our social media channels. 4th of July despite the rain we managed to pull it all together have an incredible 4th of July celebration it was a massive success we couldn't have done it without her amazing community partners. A huge shout out to our city departments for keeping things safe, clean, and running smoothly, rain or shine. DPW, police, fire, health, recreation, and all those involved. It was a great success. We also extend our thanks to our generous sponsors whose support makes these traditions possible. Thank you to everyone who braved the weather and came out to celebrate with us. The Tuesday summer concerts on the green tonight the concerts been moved inside the hack back to to the extreme heat as well. And you can check the hack back website for July program and keep in mind sunset yoga every Monday in July and August at 06.00PM and the summer concert series every Friday night in July at 07.00PM that's my report.

Thank you. We are moving on to public comment on agenda items only. Any member of the public who would like to speak, please state your name, your municipality, what item on the agenda you are commenting on. Please direct your comments to me, and please limit your comments to three minutes. I will keep time for you. Can I have a motion to open to the public on agenda items?

Second.

All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? Seeing none, motion to close the public on agenda items.

Second.

All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? Moving on to new business, ordinance for second reading. This does require a hearing. Resolution 200-26.

Resolution 200-26 is the adoption of Ordinance 12-2026, a capital ordinance of the City of Hackensack authorizing certain capital acquisitions and appropriating $400,000 and being provided that such sum, so appropriated, shall be raised from the fund balance in the general capital fund of the City of Hackensack. This ordinance has been published according to law and now calls for a public hearing.

Thank you. Any motion to open to the public on resolution 200-26?

I'll offer.

All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Any abstention? Any member of the public wishing to speak on resolution 200-26? Seeing none, motion to close to the public on resolution 200-26. Second. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? I need a motion to adopt resolution 200-26.

I'll offer. Second.

A roll call, please.

Deputy Mayor Toomey?

Yes.

Councilwoman Clark Collins. Yes. Councilman Carroll. Yes. Councilman Diaz. Yes. Mayor Gaines. Yes. Be it resolved by the City Council of the City of Hackensack, County of Bergen, and State of New Jersey that ordinance number 12-2026 has passed its second and final reading and is hereby adopted.

Thank you. Okay, we have our resolutions for first read or for introduction. Resolution 201-26.

Resolution 201-2026, introduction of Ordinance 13-2026, an ordinance to amend Chapter 36 for Recreation, Department of.

Thank you. Can I have a motion to adopt Resolution 201-26? I'll offer. Roll call, please.

Deputy Mayor Toomey?

Yes.

Councilman Clark Collins? Yes. Councilman Carroll? Yes. Councilman Diaz? Yes. Mayor Gaines?

Yes.

Be resolved that the above ordinance, being ordinance 13-2026 as introduced, does now pass on its first reading, and that said ordinance shall be considered for final passage at a meeting to be held on July 28, 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. 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 thank you resolution 202-26 Resolution 202-26, Introduction of Ordinance 14-2026, an ordinance to amend Chapter 109, Littering, Article 1, General Provisions.

Thank you. Can I have a motion to adopt Resolution 202-26?

I'll second.

Okay. Roll call, please.

Deputy Mayor Toomey?

Yes.

Councilwoman Clark-Collins?

Abstain.

Councilman Carroll? Yes. Councilman Diaz? Yes. Mayor Gaines? Yes. Be it resolved that the above ordinance, being Ordinance 14-2026 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 July 28, 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 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.

Thank you. Consent agenda, please.

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 203-2026, resolution authorizing payment of bills. Resolution 204-2026, resolution authorizing tax refunds. Resolution 205-26, resolution authorizing recreation refunds for park permits. Resolution 206-26, resolution authorizing the tax collector to convert charges to property lien as per NJSA 40-48-2.14. Resolution 207-26, resolution requesting approval of items of revenue and appropriation for the community energy plan grant. Resolution 208-26, Resolution Requesting Approval of Items of Revenue and Appropriation for the Local Public Health Infrastructure Grant Program, 2027. Resolution 209-26, Resolution Authorizing the Purchase of 43 Tactical Armored Vests for the Hackensack Police Department through a Bergen County Co-op Approved Vendor. Resolution 210-26, Resolution Authorizing Extending a Bid Contract for the 2026 Summer Food Grant Program. Resolution 211-26, resolution authorizing the release of a maintenance bond for 22 West Camden Street. Resolution 212-26, resolution authorizing the release of a maintenance bond and escrow funds for 103 Johnson Avenue. Resolution 213-26, resolution authorizing the release of a performance bond and escrow funds for 20 to 30 Diet Place.

Thank you. I missed something. Can you read that whole thing again? Thank you. Can I have a motion to adopt the consent agenda?

I'll offer. Second.

Roll call, please.

Deputy Mayor Toomey. Yes.

Yes.

Councilman Clark Collins.

Yes.

Councilman Carroll. Yes. Councilman Diaz. Yes. Mayor Gaines. Yes. Consent agenda passes.

Thank you.

Mayor, may I interrupt for a moment, please? On the non-consent agenda resolution 214-26, I have a conflict on that matter, so I'll respectfully request that you allow me to step down from the dais and ask Special Counsel Steven Medeker to take my place.

I will allow it. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you. Steven. Okay, moving on to the non-consent agenda, resolution 214-26.

Resolution 214-26 is a resolution authorizing a global litigation settlement of Charles K. Aziza versus the city of Hackensack et al. Docket number 2 colon 17 dash CV dash 055 with all Hackensack defendants funded by selective insurance company with the city of Hackensack.

Thank you. Can I have a motion to adopt Resolution 214-26? I'll offer it.

Second.

Roll call, please.

Deputy Mayor Toomey?

Yes.

Councilman Clark Collins? Yes. Councilman Carroll? Yes. Councilman Diaz? Yes. Mayor Gaines? Yes. The motion passes.

Thank you. I believe you are dismissed. I might as well continue to sit there. It's up to you.

I have a settlement agreement for the city to sign. I'll leave it with the clerk.

Thank you. OK. Thank you very much. You're very welcome. And while we have the changing of the guard here, we are going to move on to public comment. I'll just orient everyone once again to the rules of engagement. Frank, if you can put up the slide with the rules of engagement, please. So OK, please clearly state your name and municipality, please clearly state, please direct your comments to me, and please limit your comments to three minutes. These can be on any appropriate item you are welcome to speak to. I will keep time for you and just ask for you, sorry, I'll keep time for you, and as your time is coming to a close, I'll respectfully ask for you to make your point, or to bring your point to a close. Thank you. Oh, I'm sorry. Can I have a motion to open to the public? Second.

Second.

All in favor?

Aye.

Any opposed? Any abstentions? OK. Thank you.

Good evening, Marty Smith, Prospect Avenue, member of the Hackensack Condo Co-op Advisory Board. I want to thank the council for saying to us that our mysterious disappearance of the golf play sign has been replaced, and it was good to see that was done. The flashing pedestrian crossing sign at Prospect and Galt Place for southbound traffic is not working. It's out of commission as of yesterday. When I saw it last, it was not in operation, so maybe we should check that out. Mr. Freeman, could you tell us if your office has been in contact with Bergen County traffic in regard to eliminating the merge points on Summit Avenue at Essex Street for northbound traffic and that Polar Fly Road in Essex Street for northbound traffic? And if so, have you had any feedback from them concerning this issue?

Mister Smith, I'm going to ask you just to direct your comments to me Mister but Mister Freedman's listening and though there's usually some time at the end will respond to whatever he wants to go to thank you at the last Council meeting.

We brought up the issue concerning the pedestrian crossing. At at Atlantic and Prospect. And currently the situation is this, that traffic from Beach Street to Essex Street and from Essex Street to Beach Street can flow uninterrupted between those two points. We currently have that traffic safety device that overhangs Prospect Avenue. That was very expensive, I'm sure, but it did not belong at that location. As we said at the last meeting, it should have been installed on Prospect at Thompson, where we have many pedestrians crossing that crosswalk on a daily basis. So we suggested at the last meeting that that device be moved to Prospect and Thompson. and that flashing stop signs be installed at Atlantic and Prospect. These are the advantages to having that change done. The first thing is that with those stop signs in place, traffic will be moving from from Beach Street to Atlantic and slowing down for the stop signs and then starting more slowly between Atlantic and Essex that goes for both north and southbound traffic. No more uninterrupted travel from those two points, from Beach and Essex Street. The second thing is that with stop signs in place, pedestrians will not have to push any buttons to activate any traffic safety devices.

Sorry, Mr. Smith, I'm just going to ask for you just to bring your point to a close because we're out of time. You can wrap up. I'm just going to ask you to wrap up, please.

Okay. Thank you. The last thing is that currently traffic exiting from Atlantic Street onto Prospect have a difficult time with constantly flowing traffic between Beach Street and Essex Street. And by having stop signs there, they will be able to make their exit from Atlantic much more easily and more safely than currently exists.

Thank you, sir. Thank you. Thank you.

I'm Richard Serbo, Spring Valley Avenue. And, you know, I've tried to say many things here in the last few weeks, and we've been stifled here. And I think it's partially Robert's rules that needs to be, I don't know, looked at again. It's stifling Robert's rules here with the with the meeting itself okay and so that's that's first so I'm gonna just say what I want and then sit down instead of waiting for a response which I used to do and so I'm just gonna say what I want and go and then you could comment on it if you want okay it's a It's up to you. First is, I mentioned the nonpartisan status of Hackensack. And is it going to be challenged? Are we gonna change it? Is it intact? It just seems that, you know, outright, we have a democratic policy from this council. Okay, next is, I don't know if I brought it up last time. Union dues for the schools is supporting lots of things. And we'd just like to know if we can find out what those dues, which is a lot of money, is supporting. That's number two, okay? So... ANOTHER COUPLE OF THINGS, YOU MENTIONED AFFORDABLE HOUSING A LOT AND THAT'S PART OF YOUR FOCUS HERE. AFFORDABLE HOUSING, BUT I THOUGHT AFFORDABLE HOUSING WAS, IT NEEDED TO BE PART OF THE THE DEVELOPMENT. I THOUGHT EACH PLACE OR EACH DEVELOPED BUILDING HAD TO HAVE AT LEAST SOMETHING PUT ASIDE FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING. I DON'T KNOW. AND ISN'T SECTION 8 SIMILAR TO AFFORDABLE HOUSING? THERE'S LOTS OF SECTION 8 APARTMENTS IN HACKENSACK, OKAY? you know, coincide with each other, the affordable housing that you're talking about, and Section 8, blah, blah, blah. Okay, a couple other things, and I'm sitting down. That's it. What about the tax cap? I thought we had a tax cap. Did it just expire? It was years ago, maybe? There was a cap on taxes, and obviously there's no more cap on taxes. I don't know if that goes back a while. Maybe it does, okay? So that's that. And what else was I going to say? Oh, the Roberts rules, I think, should be looked at or at least discussed. Because discussion has a format. there should be a format when we have a meeting. And this meeting is kind of just a sit down, shut up, don't say anything, and the meeting's over. So I think there needs to be a format to the meeting and discussion sort of ensuing instead of, you know, hey, you just say what you want and go ahead, get out of here, which is what I'm doing this time. So thank you very much, and... You know, there was a couple of rumors years ago about Hackensack being a private club. I don't know. Maybe you could address that, too. Is it still a private club here? Thank you very much.

Thank you, Mr. Serbo.

Good evening, everybody. Good evening. Bridget. Thank you for our meeting, Tom. It was, I'm hopeful, productive with you and Lisa. And I'm hoping that you look back into the certification thing again. Okay, with that being said. The litigation. How much are we, the taxpayers, responsible for on the litigation for Mr. Ziza? Next thing is is he even deserving of it. I think he got 3.2 million out of us of the last time he sued. But when the wizard sits behind the curtain and can pull the puppets to do his job that becomes a problem for the city. That that's a big problem. That's not even transparency. So you guys can't sit up here and say that you're doing better than the last five that were sitting here because you're almost just like the last five that were sitting here. So with that being said, also you had, what was it? Recreation ordinance. will we get the actual what is it clarification on duties for the superintendent of recreation will that be posted so people can see what those actual job duties are for that person and what else and the penalty for the trash and the litter around the city thank you it needs to happen because there are some areas of hackensack that i drive through that look horrible and that goes for homeowners and businesses as well it is a shame that hackensack would even look like this so hopefully the businesses will get in tune to pick up the trash in front of their businesses and cut down their weeds along the way because i i believe that you would want the city of hackensack to look better than what it's looking right now So hopefully that can be done. But when you get a chance, I'm hoping that you will answer me on the litigation part and what we, the taxpayers, will be responsible for this case here. Thank you.

With pleasure. Thank you. Okay. Anyone else from the public wishing to speak?

My name is Margo Cooper, I'm a resident here in Hackensack. Homeowners have been hearing rumors pertaining to the fact that millions of dollars will be paid to Mister Aziza. That is the case. As homeowners, we would like to know why will this be done? Has the decision been made? Why has it not been presented to homeowners? We have problems here in Hackensack financially. Several more million dollars going to Mr. Ziza, number one, The question is why? Is it justified? Has that decision already been put through? Do we have any power as far as homeowners are concerned? Is it going to be part of our quote unquote new taxes? We would just like to know what will these million dollars, I don't know the number, but when you talk millions, that's anything over one million. I don't know how far. How many? For what purpose? Is it justified? We are suffering here in Hackensack, especially seniors. I'm a senior. And there are a lot of seniors that are not able to keep up with their taxes. And if this is an instance where it's not justified, don't do it to us. People are losing their homes and it's not fair. You're not going to have another generation living here in Hackensack. There's a generation that grew up here. They can't afford hackensack at this point and it is not getting better is escalating. So I think the council needs to look into the situation. Let us know hopefully or just say no and boy. I don't know the facts but we have heard. So have some compassion pertaining to the homeowners, especially the elderly people. They want to live here. I want to live here. But if the taxes get too high, properties will be sold and Hackensack will be a completely different program. We're trying to take care of it, but we can't do everything by ourselves. So just kind of stay out of our pockets. That's all I have to say at this meeting. Thank you.

Of course. You're welcome. Thank you. Anyone else from the public? Seeing none, motion to close to the public.

Second.

OK.

Thank you. All in favor? Aye. Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? OK. Before we get on to council comments, I'm going to toss it to Mr. Freeman in just a second. But I will not talk twice. I'm going to use my opportunity to talk once. I'm just going to move my comments ahead here just for a moment. So first. The 4th of July, everyone, thank you. For those who were there, there were lots of people there. Unfortunately, we got rained out, but I really have to commend PD, especially in moving everyone to a shelter-in-place location because it was quite orderly. It was a lot of people and everything was very smooth and I was very impressed. So thank you to PD, direct, to DPW, to management office, to everyone who had a hand in that. So I'm going to try and be brief, but I want to certainly, I don't want to give Ms. Cooper any further concern, especially with the things that have been heard. So to give a direct answer, because I want to be sure that everything is clear. also just for folks who are home who may be looking online or when you get home or if you want to pull it up right now on your phone the docket is there it's posted every friday before the tuesday meeting and with the docket there is also the language of the resolution so some of the questions that have been answered that have been asked are in the resolution that has already been already been posted So I don't want misinformation to spread. It's there and it's very clear. But I'll give you a little bit of an overview because I presume people have not seen it. The settlement agreement today was not for millions of taxpayer money. The settlement agreement today was for $450,000 of taxpayer funds. The bulk of the settlement is being paid by selective insurance. Selective insurance is paying $850,000 of the settlement, which ends, puts finality to a almost decade-long legal matter. So millions are not coming from Hackensack taxpayers. Not even a million is coming from Hackensack taxpayers. Selective insurance is paying $850,000. I also just want to point out that Selective Insurance is only paying this $850,000 because quite some time ago, almost a decade ago, I believe 2018, don't quote me on the year, but almost a decade ago, Selective Insurance denied covering this case. For all of that time, our predecessors, who we do differ from in this way very significantly, failed to litigate with the insurance to get them to actually cover the case, meaning that we as taxpayers, meaning that we as taxpayers paid the premium on that insurance and then selective insurance said that they were not going to cover that case, which means that that case was hanging over the city for almost a decade, completely uninsured, completely uninsured for almost a decade. This administration filed a lawsuit, which was written about in the record just about a month ago, written about just about a month ago. I believe the lawsuit was filed in April to have selective insurance bear cost for this case. And the settlement is not just a settlement with Mr. Ziza. The settlement was a court ordered, came out of court ordered mediation between not only former Chief Ziza, but also selective insurance. And that is how selective insurance to settle that lawsuit that the city filed is paying $850,000 to settle that, which leaves the city of Hackensack on the hook for $450,000. But there's one more important component of this that I want to make sure is clear. In 2024, the prior administration made a settlement offer of $400,000 to Mr. Ziza, which would have been 100% out of taxpayer money because Selective was not covering anything for that case at that time. Meaning that in 2024, taxpayers would have been responsible for $400,000 And in 2026 taxpayers are responsible for $450,000 and it is a dead issue. It is a dead issue. It was incredibly concerning to us and it should be concerning to everyone that there was a $29 million lawsuit that the city had no insurance for. that we were fighting for almost 10 years. And the last thing I'll say on this is this city council did not exonerate Mr. Ziza. Mr. Ziza has had his day in court and Mr. Ziza has been before state courts which have cleared him, a jury, which has cleared him, the New Jersey Appellate Division, which has cleared him, multiple Superior Court judges in this state who have cleared him. We inherited this. We inherited this. And it's a done issue. So I just want to be very clear that is in the resolution. It is posted on the city's website. It has been there transparently since Friday. The lawsuit that I have mentioned was written about in the record. It is all there and so anyone who has further questions can look or they can exercise whatever rights they'd like to but I just want to make sure there's clarity on that because we are incredibly concerned about affordability and so for $450,000 versus 29 million uninsured, Good investment, I think. Good investment, I think. So that's going to be my time. I'm going to ask for the manager.

Thank you. I just real quickly to recap a couple things. Mister Smith I several meetings ago you did bring up the concern about the merge points at Paula fly and prospect and I for them to traffic division. I will have to go back to my know so I'll get you an answer next meeting. I believe traffic did have a correspondence with the county, but I don't want to give you misinformation so we'll get more accurate information was forward to our traffic division and they did report back to me that they were going to follow up on it. I'm just not 100% sure if they contacted the county or not, but I will find out. As far as your frustration with the stop signs at Atlantic and Prospect, I can appreciate your concern, I can appreciate your suggestion. But I also have to say that our engineering department, our engineers on staff have studied it and they felt that that was not the appropriate use of the stop signs there. and miss rocker the new record and does clarify all the roles and responsibilities of the superintendent so you'll be able to read that in the new ordinance when it's issued and that was all i could report on now anything else i'll get back to you next meeting thank you

Thank you. I've asked the Deputy Mayor's permission for one last point, but I promise I'll be done. I promise. The last thing is, because I just want to be clear on this other point, too. There are multiple defendants in the case. We only have Hackensack's portion. The state of New Jersey has also settled with Mr. Ziza for the exact same amount that the city of Hackensack has settled for. So we are not out of line with what the state of New Jersey has done. And so I know that people can make all sorts of suggestions and allegations, but unless there's wizardry and puppetry from Trenton all the way down, which is possible, you know, long strings. But I think at some point, accept the good news. It's done. Thank you. With that, I give it over to the Deputy Mayor.

Good evening, everyone. I don't have much to say now. Sorry, sorry. Just kidding, just kidding. Just a few words. Thanks to everyone for joining us this evening. Whether you're here in council chambers or watching from home, your participation is an important part of our local government. And we appreciate your continued engagement. tonight's meeting reflects the work that goes into keeping our city moving forward every resolution ordinance and discussion before us represents an opportunity to strengthen our community improve city services and make thoughtful decisions on behalf of our residents which we we're doing that every every day that we're here. I also want to recognize the dedication of our municipal employees first responders volunteers board members and community organizations this their commitment helps make hackensack a welcoming vibrant and resilient city. As we consider tonight's agenda, I encourage residents to stay involved ask questions and continue sharing your ideas we welcome that. With that, I'd like to just say thank you to all the residents for coming out on the 4th of July, and we made the best of it given the weather. But everything went off as best as it could under the circumstances. Again, thank you. There's a lot of other things going on this summer, and we welcome everyone to attend and take part. Please have a good evening and stay cool and hydrated. Good evening.

Thank you. Councilwoman.

Before I give my closing statement, I just want to say to Mr. Serbo about his comment about the nonpartisan status. Is it intact? I just want to make it clear that I don't know what each member is, who they are affiliated with, and they don't know who I'm affiliated with. We're up here to do a job. We do it together. And if it feels or seems like democratic, then so be it. Tonight, I want to take a moment to highlight the vitality of our Main Street corridor. This past Saturday, we celebrated the grand opening of Cousins Burgers, a new addition to our downtown, and a reminder of how important it is to support the small businesses that invest in Hackensack. It was very uplifting to see such a large turnout. Our local entrepreneurs strengthen our economy, create jobs, and help shape the character of our community. I encourage all residents to stop by, show your support, and continue uplifting the businesses that call Hackensack home and Cousins as another sign of Hackensack's continued growth. I want to also point out that we have a momentous event approaching for our region. This Sunday, the 2026 Soccer World Cup Final will be played at MetLife Stadium, just minutes away from Hackensack. This is a global event and we are proud to be so close to the center of the excitement. We hope the influx of visitors brings new customers to our businesses and shines a spotlight on all Hackensack has to offer. At the same time, with such a major event nearby, we do expect heavier traffic, more visitors passing through, and increased congestion on our roads. I encourage everyone to plan ahead, stay patient, stay alert, and please, if you see something, say something. and use extra caution when traveling around the city so we can all enjoy this moment safely. Thank you for your continued commitment to Hackensack. Let's keep celebrating our progress, supporting our local businesses, and showing the world the strength of our community. Have a wonderful evening and get home safe.

Thank you. Councilman Carroll.

I don't have a lot to say. They said it all. But I too was at Cousin's Burgers. I wish them nothing but the best of luck. They had some tremendous crowd there. The food was very good. I will be returning there. to the city manager, DPW, fire, police, sanitation, everybody, 4th of July. Unfortunately, we got a little rain, but it went off, I believe, with just the one hitch there. And then the clouds went away and the rain stopped and we were able to get the fireworks off. So thank you guys for working hard on that. that's it. I appreciate everybody coming out tonight and we'll see you again next month.

Thank you. I forgot to shout out fire. Yes, thank you.

Councilman. All right. Thank you, Mayor. Good evening. By the way, Councilwoman, let me give you a heads up. Spain won today. So they're just waiting for the next one for the weekend. So be prepared. All right. So I Thank you to all of you for being here today, whether you spoke or you just listened and followed the discussions. But we were very happy to hear tonight from Ryan about the finish of the renovation and restoration in Foshini Park. NOW, I SINCERELY INVITE YOU TO GO THERE, YOU KNOW, HAVE A WALK AROUND AND ENJOY THE PARK. IT LOOKS BEAUTIFUL. IT'S A GREAT JOB, SO WE SHOULD ENJOY THAT FORCHINI PARK AS IT IS RIGHT NOW, OKAY? ALSO, TAKE THIS MOMENT TO INVITE YOU TO TAKE A LOOK AT THE WEBSITE AND CHECK ALL THE EVENTS THAT WE HAVE ON AGENDA FOR YOU. All this July, August, part of September, we will be having different events in different places, and some of them will be pretty much to your liking. So please do so. Take a look. Participate. Let's get that vibe of community once again, all right? And before we leave, so just want to say thank you again for being here today, for participating, for building up this good culture of discussing ideas and proposals. Looking forward to see you for the next meeting. Thank you and good night.

Thank you. With that, I'm going to ask for a motion to adjourn.

I'll offer. Second.

All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? Thank you.