Council - Regular Meeting

And then I'm not going to

all this talking is going to extend the over under and the chief. Okay, stop the recording. We're going to get going. [laughter] Welcome to the reorganization meeting. Uh, this is a regular meeting of the Hillsdale Burl Council held on the first and second Tuesday of each month. Please uh refer to town calendars, etc. for all the things you need to know, including when you can read us and see us on [clears throat] TV and online and on our YouTube channel. I'm calling the meeting to order and let's everybody please rise for the pledge of allegiance. Clerk, how would you like to lead us?

United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisibley and justice for all.

Great. [clears throat] We are conducting our annual reorganization meeting of the Hillsdale Burough Council on the 6th day of January, 2026. Public notice of this meeting was given to the Rididgewood News and the Bergen Record. A copy was posted on the bulletin board outside of the speeding room. A copy was filed in the office of the burough clerk and a copy was posted on the burrow website. Please notify the municipal clerk for any disability requirements necessary for attendance at mayor and council meetings. At this time, we ask you please silence your cell phones. We're going to start by administering oats to our new members of council and after that we're going to allow our county commissioner to hand out certificates. So, um, you're [clears throat] down here already.

Yes, I've got my pen. What do you know? Okay. I don't know who it is yet. I'm just going to go for the left. If somebody wants to be serving longer, it's the luck of the draw. Anthony, you're first. Come on up. Here you go, [applause]

Mike. Did you want to How do you want to do this? We're gonna We're gonna pose here first so the mic can get his picture.

Okay. Okay. So let's come about this way now for the audience. If you would repeat after me, [laughter] boy, turn me around. It's the only time you get to That's right. Okay. You repeat after me. Okay. I, Anthony D. Ro I, Anthony D, do solemnly swear solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the State of New Jersey. I will support the Constitution of the State of New Jersey and that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same. and that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same. And to the governments established in the United States. and to the governments established in the United States and in this state and in this state under the authority of the people under the authority of the people. I do solemnly swear I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully that I will faithfully impartially impartially and justly and justly

perform all the duties of the office perform all the duties of the office of council member council member for the burrow of Hillsdale Hillsdale for the term ending December 31st 2028 for the term ending December 31st 2028 according to the best of my ability according to the best of my ability so help me God so help ME GOD CONGRATULATIONS [applause]

YOU WANT TO HAVE A SEAT? ACTUALLY, YOU KNOW WHAT? You better sign. Make it official. [laughter] We'll make it official. It's done now. Okay, next up, Chris Camp. [applause] ARE you going to stand by hold it? Okay. You hold it high first. We got We have pictures here. Okay,

you got left hand down here. Right hand in the air.

I, Christopher Camp, I, Christopher Camp, do solemnly swear do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the State of New Jersey that I will support the Constitution of the State of New Jersey and I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same. and that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same. and to the governments established in the United States. and and to the governments established in the United States and in this state and in this state under the authority of the people under the authority of the people. I do solemnly swear I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully that I will faithfully impartially impartially and justly and justly perform all the duties of the office perform all the duties of the office of council member for the burrow of Hillsdale of council member for the burrow of Hillsdale

for the term ending December 31st, 2028. for the term ending December 31st, 2028. According to the best of my ability according to the best of my ability. So help me God. So help me God. CONGRATULATIONS. [applause] CONGRATULATIONS. Before you go up there, you got to sign. Okay. Sign this here. Okay. Um, I know you have two more that you would like to do. So, we're going to call up Commissioner Tracy Zur to Congratulations.

Thank you so much, Mayor. I really appreciate the opportunity to address you guys tonight. I am goofily excited always by reorganizations because it is an opportunity to turn the page and to rededicate ourselves to to serving our neighbors to making sure that we're stepping up and and you know as you both just stood there and said promised to to do this to the best of your ability. I know that you will. You've did this you operated throughout this campaign with a lot of tenacity, a lot of engagement, a lot of feedback, and now you're going to put that all into action. So, thank you guys for for coming forward and being willing to serve. Um, thank you to your families for for sharing you because this is not something that we do alone. Um, and I just want to reiterate to all of you that we uh on the board of commissioners, all of my colleagues stand as sounding boards as op if you have ideas, if there's ways that we can partner, if there's ways we can engage in shared services, whatever we can do to make sure that we are fully and completely meeting the needs of our residents. There are it is a challenging environment. We are always trying to do more with less and we are here to be your partners in all of it. So, thank you all for the service that you give so willingly to to your community and uh let us continue to go from strength to strength together. Thank you so very much. I have I have certificates of commendation both for both candidate for new both newly sworn in councilmen. Um and um if I could just have you do a quick picture and uh we we'll have all the rest of you in the back background.

Then we'll have you call the role and we'll get going. Tracy just one more. Thank you. Thank you, Commissioner. [applause] She's on a on a quick time frame off to which what's the next municipality? Ben River. [laughter] Okay. Well, you're heading back. You're heading back towards Hackinack. Okay. That's where I want to go. Exactly. Byebye.

Thank you, Dr. Meerson. Good to see you. Um, will the clerk please read the brand new roll call for the start of the 2026 year? Mayor Shinfield, I am here. Council member Christopher Camp here. Council member Robert Kleti Jr. here. Council member Anthony D. Rosa here. Council member Melissa Mazach here. Council member Clemente Oso here and Council Member John Rugo here.

We're ready to go. Congratulations, guys. Again, um we would recognize the dignitaries are all walking out. So, it's it's the family here. And former councilwoman, how are you, Janetta? Long time no see. It's glad to have you back here. [applause] Um normally this is where I would give the state of the burrow address. I'm not going to do that tonight. I'm going to spare you all having you listen to me. Um, we've got a lot of work to do. I have a lot of confidence in the people that are up here. We will do the people's business. Uh, and if we're not doing it right, I hope that everybody will come in and let us know. That's about all I've got for the moment. And again, congratulations to the two gentlemen to my far right. Um, it is now time to take nominations to put forward for a council president. I ask for a nomination for the council president of the year 2026.

I'd like to nominate Clemente Oso. Second. There's that was before you even asked. We have a second. Okay. Are there any other nominations? Not seeing any. Can we get a vote? Council member Camp. Yes. Council member Kleti. Yes. Council member D. Rosa. Yes. Council member Mazda Chan. Yes. Council member Oso. Yes. Council member Ruko. Yes. That's it. Congratulations. You're council president for a second year in a row. Come on down. [applause] I feel like I'm getting the prices right. Come on down. We're in another room. There we go. Uh, nobody wants to hold hold this up. I guess I can hold it up for you. My daughter would rather play tennis. [laughter] I'm sorry to hear it for you, but you repeat after me. I comment Oso I comment Oso

do solemnly swear do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the State of New Jersey that I will support the Constitution of the State of New Jersey. And I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same. And that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same. and to the governments established in the United States and and to the governments established in the United States and this and in this state and in this state under the authority of the people and and under the authority of the people. I do solemnly swear I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully that I will faithfully impartially impartially and justly and justly perform all the duties of the office perform all the duties of the office of council president of council president for a one-year term for a one-year term ending December 31st 2026 ending December 31st 2026 according to the best of my ability according to the best of my ability

so help me God so help me GOD [applause] I left my hand up there so tomorrow. [clears throat]

Okay. Um, with advice and consent, uh, it is time to appoint the borrow attorney. I present the name of Mark Maado, Esquire, address, as we all know, in Bergenfield as borrow attorney for one-year term expiring December 31st. Um, can I get a

can I get a motion? Motion. Second. Second. All those in favor say I. I. I. Congratulations, sir. Thank you, mayor, and thank the governing body for the chance to sign. Okay, great. Um, it is time for the bylaws of the burrow. We It's We've got no changes proposed from 2025. So, the 2026 bylaws are the same. Can I get a motion? Motion. Second. Second. All those in favor?

I. Anyone opposed? No, we are passing the bylaws. Okay. Um, we have before you the the committee assignments. Um, we have the standing committees first for 2026. Um, I guess I can read everyone, but does anybody need to hear that? Every all the members here comfortable with what they've got? Yes. Can I get a motion for what's on on the page? Motion. Second. Second. All those in favor? I uh we have passed that. Now it's time for the council liaison and my proposed list uh for the year 2026 with advice and consent of council. Uh is everybody comfortable with that? Can I get a motion? Motion. Second.

Second. Okay. Um all those in favor? Motion carries. And now we've got um the special committees. So we have public relations, flood and disaster negotiations, parks, fields, affordable housing, community center. Um, everybody on the day has a chance to look at that. Motion motion. Second. Second. All those in favor? I.

And there we are. Okay. Uh, approve. Fire department officers. I'm presenting the names of the fire officers for 2026. I had the honor of swearing them in last Saturday. Um, I can't speak highly enough about these guys and what they do every year. Can I get a motion to approve and motion file? Second. Those in favor? I. Any opposed? Seeing none, motion carries. Um, we have the police department organization and our CEO lists. A motion to approve and receive and file. Make a motion. Motion. Second. Second. All those in favor?

I. Motion carries. Um now we have the um commissions for the various different committees and commissions the appointments and I'm going to call them out by name and I'll just tell you that um these people are giving of their time. It is a wonderful thing and we are very appreciative for everybody that goes out and and gives us of their time and and gives us their best effort and it's just wonderful. I thank them so much. So, environmental commission, we have Owen Peacock and Anthony Re, Tony Re. Can I get a motion? Motion. Second. Second. All those in favor? Great. Access for all committee, Jennifer Romangh and Ron Miller. Motion.

Motion. Second. Okay. All those in favor? I. Great. Okay. Planning board Ed Alter and Scott Raymond being reappointed. Can I get a motion? Motion. Second. Second. All those in favor? I passes. the Office of Emergency Management. Uh Matt Fuser is the deputy coordinator. Can I get a motion? Motion. Second. Second. All those in favor? I. It's [clears throat] passed. Okay. The board of health, Lane, Dr. Susan Kushner, and John Klein. Can I get a motion? Motion. Second. Second. All those in favor? I. And we're passed there. Okay. The council planning board member, bless you.

Thank you. The council under laws permitted one nominee for class three membership on the board representing the planning board for a one-year term. I now ask for a nomination to be put forward for the class 3 member of the planning board. Motion not a motion then nomination. Nomination I nominate Robert Kleti. Fine idea. Can I get a second? Second. Uh now can I get a we got promotions? Uh all those in favor? I and congratulations. You are you are the man. [laughter] We think it's congratulations.

No, it's good. It's good. Come on. I'm there every every every [laughter] other week. I'm there. Okay. Um for the library committee, Bill Birdie and Janetta Trimeuk, it's the mayor's alternate. A motion motion. Second. Those in favor? I.

Janetta, thank you. You're the one in attendance. And it's great that you This is not me forcing Janetta to say, "Please do something." Janette said when she left council she wanted to stay involved and I truly appreciate it. You are you are most welcome to do that and I'm I'm very excited about that. Parks and recreation Sarah Armstrong, John Coring and Lucas Kira Merkel who is our student member. Um and Clemente, thank you for putting that together. Um we haven't had a student member for a couple of years so getting one on there is a great thing. Can I get a motion? Motion. Second. Second. All those in favor? I

motion passes. The swimming pool commission uh Ro is coming back on. Hey, uh Meredith Anidas and Thea Greco Melendez. Can I get a motion? Motion. Second. Second. All those in favor? I. Great. Okay. Now, it is time for public comments because um before we do the resolutions, do you want to come up and speak, Miss Martin, or are you okay later? You want to do We well I mean we know what it is. You get this is your opportunity really. It's well actually this is not on the agenda but do we have a uh do we have a only chance?

No. This this will be your only chance. So come on up please.

You have pictures too. I have plenty of stuff, but no, I would not do that to somebody else. That's not that's not nice. Okay.

Um, hello. Thank you again. Not here about lights this time. So, we're moving ahead here. Um, I am here again about the parking situation in town. As we've heard from you many times, we only have space for two cars. I was uh given the impression that this was going to be rectified um with a solution where we would pay for a sticker or a sticker would be provided for residents if you know $20,000 in taxes wasn't enough. Um this past weekend um there was we were woke up to a wonderful ticket on my car and my husband's car. Um and unfortunately apparently we were the only two in town that received these. Um so we're feeling a little targeted now. Um there were cars up and down our street. Um two other people were in front of our home. Um they both received warnings, not tickets. A New York visitor was across the street. No warning, no ticket. Um Lincoln was cars up and down, not one warning or ticket. Um Hopper has had a car there for six consecutive nights. Ice on it. Hasn't moved in six days. No warning, no tickets. So I'm not sure why. Um, but we did get another two tickets. Um, we had been for a while doing the every 3 days. Um, which is very timeconuming. It's not as user friendly as you would think. Also, not a real solution to the problem. It I thought this was a temporary solution. I thought we were still moving forward with the parking decals. Um, I was advised at some point that it was probably not necessary anymore since people knew that those were our cars. Um the um mayor was nice enough to even come to our home, look at the situation to actually assess the fact that we don't have another option. Um when it snows, we actually park either in Westwood at my mother's home or sometimes at neighbors will let us park it temporarily at their home. Um

the online option again is not user friendly. Um this is the same um police officer that has ticketed us twice. Um, also we just recently received a Hillsdale warning that also made me think that this was no longer an issue. Um, when it snowed, we did receive an alert saying no over parking tonight due to anticipated inclement weather. So that made me believe that we are now allowed to park in the street overnight. So I think that there's some miscommunication. Um, so I'm I'm not too sure why we got ticketed, but I will assure you that no other car on our street, on Lincoln, on Hopper, or anywhere else to my knowledge received tickets that evening. So, I would like to know if somebody would look into this for me and figure out if there's a reason why um we received these two tickets from Officer Bruce.

Thank you. Okay. Appreciate it. All right. Um Oh, and how do I move ahead with finding a way to get these stickers that we spoke about? We we'll talk about that offline here what we're maybe doing. Okay, we're at the part for the consent agenda. So, we're at resolutions 26001 through 2538. Does anybody have anything that they would like to pull or to discuss? Not seeing anything. Can I get a motion? Motion. Second. Second. Will the clerk please read the role? Council member Rico, yes. Council member Camp, yes. Council member Kleti, yes. Council member D. Rosa, yes. Council member Mazuchan, yes. Council President Oso, yes.

And the consent agenda has passed. Council commentaries. Normally, I would start this, but um you're going to hear enough from me this year, I'm sure. So, I'm going to I'm going to pass that and we'll start at the far end here to Councilman RO.

Thank you, Mayor. Um I'm looking forward to working with my colleagues on council and with you, Mr. Mayor. uh in 2026 we face uh some interesting challenges particularly in the budget uh as we seek to maintain essential services while assuring that we do so in a fiscally responsible manner that is made more difficult in a state where the cost of living is very high and residents are suffering under the burden of high property taxes and high state income taxes. I have confidence that our CFO, Dave Young, will advise us on the finance committee uh with options allowing us to face the challenge responsibly, but success ultimately depends on our willingness to make decisions that may not please every resident and every employee. It's easy to bask, as I've said before, in the light of ribbon cutting ceremonies and parades and uh holiday celebrations and photo ops, but it's more difficult to face the financial uh challenges and make everyday decisions that are going to ensure that the [snorts] town remains affordable both for families and for seniors. So, that's what I hope to focus on in 2026 in addition to getting uh my fellow council members to address the urgent need to call our unsustainable deer population. and you and I have spoken about that several times. Um, and institute stronger controls over the use of ebikes in town, which continues to be a problem.

We're working on that as well. Councilwoman Bazach. Okay. So, congratulations to Councilman Camp and Councilman D. Roza on your election. Um, we all know it takes a great deal of effort to campaign and um, even more just do the daytoday behind the scenes work um, that just strengthen our town. So, thank you guys for your willingness to serve uh and best wishes for continued success. Governor Lenny,

thank you, Mayor. Um, I echo uh John's concerns about the, you know, the task we have at hand this year in terms of making sure that, you know, we bring in a manageable budget, something that's fair to the community, but also doesn't undermine the services of the community, which is a tough task. So, we got a lot of work ahead of us. Uh, and I want to congratulate Anthony Bose and Chris Camp, right? Chris Camp, welcome to the council. Anthony, welcome back. Look forward to partnering with all of you. Thank you. Thank you. Mike, normally I don't have you here as a council commentary, but since we're not going through it all, would you like to I just wanted to do the same thing. Uh congratulations and uh looking forward to working with you and happy new year everyone.

Great. Newly appointed council president Aeo. Thanks, sir. Thank you. Um big welcome to Chris Camp and Anthony D. Roza. Uh, I think that uh they're going to be set up for some great success up here on the deis and Anthony. This is uh uh coming back to old business. Frank Y and Chris and uh I look forward to working with you uh now into the future. Great.

Um we have a great team up here to serve the community. Uh with the challenges this year, we'll also have opportunity to prepare for the Bure Bureau's future. I look forward to the Memorial Field opening uh hopefully uh late spring. And I also want to welcome uh look forward to welcoming the residents at the new Pestry Passion Street building which hopefully will be taking on tenants uh somewhere in the May time frame. Okay. And now we go to our our our new and returning here we go. Um Councilman [clears throat] D. Rosa.

Thank you. Uh after serving on council for 10 years uh losing a bid to get back and winning the primary, I'm pleased to be back for another three-year term. I'm deeply deeply grateful for the support and humbled by the trust the residents of Hillsdale have placed in me. Rea regaining my seat has been a long journey and I'm proud of this accomplishment. I now look forward to leveraging my decade of experience to begin contributing starting today. Um the uh during the campaign uh I valued the one-on-one conversations with residents which gave me insight into your questions and concerns and insights that I will carry through through my term. Uh unfortunately my running mate Luke Sal did not prevail. However, I'm happy to see that he was appointed to the uh rec commission. So he continues to serve the community. Uh finally special thanks to my wife and family for supporting me through these ups and downs of community service over these years. Uh growing up in Hillsdale has shaped who I am. Uh and I work hard to shape its future in return. I'm proud to serve the residents once again to give back to the town that's given so much to me and my family. Uh, in simplest terms, we're here to make life better for our community. And for me, that starts today. Thank you,

Councilman Camp. Yes. Final word, huh? You have the final word.

Thank you, Mayor. Thank you. Uh, I, you know, I'm very grateful to the residents of Hillsdale for the trust they place placed in me. Um, serving the community is a responsibility that I'm going to take very seriously. And I want to thank um the former council members who served before me uh council member Triny and Council Member Fox. Um and now also the the council members on the day that I join here. I'm very excited to work with all of you. Uh uh the work of local government uh only happens when people are willing to show up, listen, and do the hard and often unseen work. So uh my family and I chose Hillsdale because it's a place where community matters. And that sense of responsibility is what brings me here tonight. [snorts] And uh while my son is still convinced that being on council means uh I can magically make a a McDonald's appear on every corner. I don't think it's going to happen, Colin. But you know, one can one can hope. I'm ready to contribute and to learn from all of you here and to do the work that this role requires. So thank you for the opportunity to serve. Thank you.

Wonderful. Okay. Okay. And I just want to note that those of you who had the under for 42 minutes tonight are winners. Can I get a motion to adjurnn? Motion. Second. Second. All those in favor? I. We will see you back here Tuesday, January 13th at 7 p.m. Thanks.