Council - Regular Meeting

Okay. Okay. We're going to go back on the record. Can I get a motion to reconvene? Motion. Second. Second. All those in favor? We are back on the record. And we are back in session. Let's start. We have uh let's start with the approval of the council minute meetings from January 6, 2026. Can I get a motion? Motion. Second. Second. All those in favor? I. Motion passes. Council minutes from January 13th. Can I get a motion? Motion. Second. Second. All those in favor? I. Motion passes. Close session minutes from January 13. Can I get a motion? Motion. Second. Second. All those in favor? I.

We are now moving to the initial public comment period. Uh there is no one here at the moment, so we're going to move past that. Um we have a discussion of the cell signal gap study. Um will the BA like to take us through that?

Yes sir. So we have uh two proposals. One is from 360 RF and one from wirelessmapping.com. Uh we asked them to submit a proposal to do a cell signal gap analysis in the area of this Tony Brook pool and tell us where the gaps are. And then the second side of that is to recommend solutions to it if it's a you know short um the 5Gs or the tower or there's any other technology. Uh the two proposals you have in front of you uh the wireless mapping comes in at uh $1,800 uh and delivery within seven business days and then the 360 is about 5800. uh again a similar time frame and the ask is uh we can go through discussion but we need uh to suggest one of them and uh and we'll give them the job.

Okay. Uh is there discussion among members of the council on this matter? Does anyone have any idea why one of them is so low and the other is two three times as high as that? Is it the same scope of work? Exactly. Is it the same scope? The same scope work? Yeah. It's just one's more descriptive than the other. Is that what we think? It's the same. I spoke to them to to both of them and give them the same exact scope.

But what they say one at a time. No, I was going to say what so the detailed scope in both of them is is different in terms of what they've documented on the bid itself or the proposal itself. Um, and I don't think it's obvious to what their exact process is going to be. So, for example, the wirelessmapping.com proposal appears to be something they're going to do at a desk and they're not going to go out in the field and and actually take measurements. So, I think that's a big deficiency in the wireless mapping proposal. I think 360 degrees implies that that might be done, but it doesn't specifically say it. So I think we do need to go back to 300 360 and have that be more specific than this was just a comparison I did the two,

right? So ground level testing, are they doing it? Define test points, are they doing it, tool transparency, photos, written narratives, um, do they provide independent certifications and not to exceed. So those are things that I think they could be more detailed on in the quote itself to ensure we know what we're getting or we ask MA wireless mapping to come here and do exactly what you just said here what 360 is offering both exact same thing we're not I don't think we're going to hear apples to apples it feels like we have two different sort of proposals at least the way it's written in me Mike you spoke to both of them what what is your interpretation of what we're getting

so they do this all the time and the way that they look at this is they look at the maps whether at the desk or coming in with an RF measurement machine. Uh they like they would look for the signal gap and come up with a map and say the gap is here and we suggest that you have a tower here or short towers there. That's what we asked them to do. That's wireless that's the wireless method both of them been tasked with the same right they're given the same charge. I didn't ask for the method on how they're going to accomplish all that. Um I would just assume this is your your scope of work. You can do it. Yes. Uh we will come up with the information.

Yeah. I just I just don't want to leave it to chance that we're going to get what we expect. I think we need to lay out a list of deliverables and and expectations for both for both providers to make sure it's apples to apples. You know, again, I want to address this expeditiously. I don't want to delay, but it just seems to me that they're not on the same page. What else do you need to know other than the cell with signal gap and what solutions to fix it? Well, I I've got a couple of things.

I mean, one thing I was hoping to see was that whether either one of them was going to talk about alternate sites for the 150 miles. I don't I there was no mention of that in either of them. The second was we know there's a a cell tower in Riverale. um can we rely on that when it is up and running? It is not up as I understand it now. And that would be another thing I'd like to have the consultants opine on. And then thirdly, are there any concerns because they talk about the small cell u approach a lot and they they assuming like that that's the only solution. Are there any concerns with the RF exposure issue? That's the issue that some of the people have raised uh that are thrown off by small cell towers. I'm not a technician. I'm not a scientist. I don't know. But I would like them to cover that same topic with small cell towers the way that we've heard from some people the 150 monopoles do the same thing.

Mike, has there been uh had am I correct in remembering that there was a small tower analysis done at some other point? is and how applicable is that like how similar is that to the work that's being proposed here? So the one that we did three years ago with Municip they suggested 36 small towers around town. Uhhuh. Um and they had to have almost like a line of sight in between them. That's why they needed all that 36. They gave us a map with the different locations. U but that's for the townwide but Mike that was also to address true 5G. was only 5G because 5G that was a 5G company

and really it was part of it was them securing those 36 very unique locations right um which were down to you know a square foot like they really mapped it but then it appears that the roll out of construction really never happened and but that's what that was for and was it was that the the study or consultancy that said that had topog topography concerns is or is that something different? No, I I I looked at that document. Yes.

Uh there were three documents. There was the contract that I signed as mayor. There was the resolution and I think there was an ordinance. I it does not talk about nowhere did did they do a a study of the town to see where the weak spots are where there are caps. Yeah. I thought it was more on the burrow's part to stipulate who one service provider so that we didn't have multiple companies vying for other many changing look and feel and from their end I think it was securing the most beneficial locations but I don't think it was to solve a problem. No

it was more like if 5G preemptive I think it's preemptive is the right word. Yeah. So if time is of the essence, if you pick one of them based on what you see here, I can call them tomorrow and see if we can add the other into the scope to make sure it's part of the scope and make sure it conforms with whatever price that they pitched and make sure that it's included in that. Yeah. Yeah. The the one thing I also wanted to be addressed in this work that's being done is 5G is a new technology that's out there, right? From my understanding of the uh macro towers, they don't do very well with 5G because of capacity issues. So, you're talking about a monopole.

I'm talking about a monopole uh versus the small cells, right? So, three, four, five years from now, right, these carriers could potentially uh push towards putting these small sales in our community anyway, just because that's the course. I don't I I think we hurt ourselves if we start to assume that we're experts in these. Yeah, I don't want to include

Well, but but my point is if somebody came along and said to you, we're proposing our proposal is X, whether it's monopoles or micro towers, and this is what it is. um you have to presume as the experts that they aren't going to put in and say we want to do this but we know that in three years we're going to be outdated. So they have to have some sort of delta f futuristic thinking about how this is going to evolve and we have to take that I want them to include that instead well okay but but my point is that anybody that's going to make that pitch knows a heck of a lot more than anybody sitting on the stage. Well, I hope so, but in reading some of their proposals, I didn't get that feeling from. So, you're discounting their validity.

No, I'm not. It's what I've been reading on one page document that we're receiving. But I I noticed like on the 360 one of point number two, they were they are going to include other options to bring cell signal to fill the gap. Currently, we only have 150 foot tower as an option. Are there other are there any other options? That's good. But I don't see wireless mapping. See, we have to tell wireless mapping to add. They have it here on the Well, so so these are my words. I typed this for him and he copied them and he pasted it. I did the same for the other one. Yeah, I like what Mike asked RF to do. Apparently they did it. But wireless mapping,

see here, if a coverage objective map is not provided, I will show a cluster of small cells. Yeah, that's that is the only small cell. I would like the broader statement the way that Mike suggested to 360 they adopted it. Wireless mapping apparently did not. So I I I gave them the same write up but I'll do if you pick wireless mapping I'll make sure that they they follow this instruction that

so mayor if you want to do it uh at this meeting to pick one and I'll work with that one company. Personally, I think that um the most time that we can give somebody the best if people are comfortable that Mike is going to go back to them and make sure that the specs are the same, that what we're going to get is the same and that it's what we need and that it's not going to cost more than what they've been. I think we should authorize him to do that based upon whichever one we want to go with. It it may cost more if we add to the scope. Well, if we add to So then what are we doing here tonight? Well, one is 5800, one is 1,800. If you pick the 1,800 and we add to the scope.

So at that point, council, can we do a not to exceed? Why don't we just have them both in at the next meeting? Just having just do that. I think that that's I I think we're I I think we're um we're asking some I don't know that we're going to get somebody to come in at that price to come in and sit down and give us what we want. I think that that's is asking too much a committee available this week where three people can meet with one of these anybody during the day and report back. I mean we have another mayor mayor if I may.

Yeah. I think there's a very specific list that we can put together that uh that Mike can easily send to each of these vendors and they can probably turn it around very quickly, but I don't think there's a need for a meeting or anything like that. But I think there's a very specific list. We already have a template of of a comprehensive of what it should. So if we if we take that list, add the things that Councilman Rico brought up and anything else that anyone wants to bring up now, I think we can probably turn that over. So the the three things I am going to add is to suggest an alternate site. Does river veil site help if it goes when that goes live and what is the RF exposure issue with smaller towns? Is there anything else in

I think they have to be extremely specific on the real world field testing that they're going to be doing that they're not sitting in a computer behind a desk coming up with this. They're actually if they're both proposing that though. We want we want them both.

No, no, no. I understand that. What I'm saying is if they're both proposing that they can do this work from a computer based upon whatever signal strength and whatever whatever that they do like I said to to Councilman Oso I don't think any of us are experts to be able to say this is the right way to do it or the wrong way to do it. We have the way we may want it to be done which is more tactile but it may not be the right one and I don't want to pigeon hole us if these guys are doing this for a living. If both of them said we don't need to come out to do this and I don't know if that if that's the case but I don't want to tell them their job. We can give them the scope of what we what we're looking for but to to tell them what to do I think is a mistake. To tell them how to do it is a mistake. They are the experts. That's my feeling.

I keep in mind mayor Verizon is confirmed to come here on March 10th. So we have to have it done before then. But a month is a long runway assuming we can make a decision at the next meeting. That's two companies. It's not hard decision. One one by the way was uh recommended by Mr. Burke and the third one while the second one while mapping is dependent I I found them online and reached out to them. Okay. And and both of them have given you recommend references that say that they can do the job and

that they're qualified to do it these these references. Okay. Is everybody in favor then of tableabling it, casting a vote to give Mike um a little more chance to go back with them with a with a more complete scope, lock it down, ensure our price with the idea that by next week we'll be in a position to cast a vote on which one we want to retain and get that done in advance so that of of the meeting when Verizon will come here so that both the the so that everybody here can be well verssed on exactly what we're looking at and where or where not there may be deficiencies and and how to potentially address it. Yes, that's fine.

That's fine. You assume, Mr. Mayor, that the consultant will complete his work before the March 10th. Yes. It's my understanding that the way that this works is from the people that I've spoken to this could be done in 5 days or less. So, uh, you know, but but that's just again you're talking I'm talking as a layman to a layman. So, that's what they've given us. Um, and if they're all saying that, I think we kind of have to take them for their word that their deliverable is to give us the time to prepare. And and given the fact that we will still have yet another meeting, I think on the 3rd of March, that will give us is it was the first meeting in March on the 10th. Yeah.

We're not That's the second Tuesday. So, okay. Okay. So, then that would be So, that would be the first meeting of March that they would come in. This would be the 10th. Okay. So, so then that would be tabled until then given those parameters. Is everybody comfortable with that? Yeah. And again, Mr. Mayor, I I just don't want to leave the chance that we get a product that we're not satisfied with. So, I think the more detail that we provide, we've given we've given the BA the criteria and I think that we have to allow the experts to do.

Is there something else that you want to add beside these? No, we can be covered up on and again I just want to emphasize though and I understand what you're saying but I think it's very important if you even go back to the town hall we had when they put up the coverage maps right nobody trusted the coverage maps because they weren't actual site readings right and that's nobody in the public did but but we don't know we still haven't heard myself as a council person as well yeah but but we don't know what went into that from a professional standpoint to see what those coverage maps were exactly

and I think my point no I'm not because well may be. But what I'm saying is that the experts have to define what it is we're looking at because, you know, you could you could look at anything a layman can look at anything and say, "Well, I have a problem I don't know." And then we require an expert to give us that detailed explanation of what it is. I agree. I'm just saying that if it's based off of anything other than something that if if it's based on anything that could potentially show different coverage than actual coverage, we shouldn't be in a position to accept that. And Bob, I think to that point, I think it was alluded to at the town hall meeting that the best way to do that is on the ground, right?

Any research I did, and again, we're not professionals on this, right? But obviously, we're basing this off of advice from third parties as well as research we do suggests that you need to do that. Now, I understand there might be a different method and a credible method to the mayor's point,

but that would need to be substantiated, I think, for us to be satisfied. If we're going to retain a professional, you know, this is this takes me back to the Bill Parcels's joke, u where you can you can tell me what groceries to buy, you can't make me cook the meal, too, right? I have to have some latitude here, right? I'm not talking to me personally. We have to give them the scope of the work. They are the experts and we have to allow them to do that work with whatever whatever standards and whatever best practices they use beyond Hillsdale to any town, however they do this. I mean, if we start getting into involved saying, you know, I really think that you'd be better off if you went over here and did this. I mean, when when a plumber comes into my house, I don't say to him, "Have you tried this? If you go over here, I hire a plumber if they're good and they do the job." I have to trust that that's what they're there for. They're licensed. They do that. And I think to assume otherwise gets us into trouble. That's my position. But but but would it be appropriate to ask the lawyer that we engaged for consulting services on wireless on how best to tackle coverage areas within the town? Mr. Luba,

we could certainly ask him, but that's but that's for our reference what we ask the professionals to do and to see whether or not it qualifies to review it so it can be a trained eye. But again, I don't want to get in the business of telling whichever expert we go with how to do their job. Yeah. I just want to make sure it gets done. That's well that's that's what we're going to find out. And and one different way to approach this is to ask the consultant SUPO to actually write up the specs for these two companies and and and Mark would be allowed to do that. Of course, he can certainly do that. I can ask him

that his legal services. I I even think but but I do think by tomorrow close of business, we should be able to get the 10 questions that have to go to each company, you know, at 10, 12, 15, whatever the number of questions are. Anybody I can imagine could email questions to Mike, but I think they're going to all overlap a lot, right? And they're I just don't want too many cooks in this. I think that we have to and I get it. People can submit their questions at some point. We have to allow the professionals whoever that's chosen to go and do their job.

I I I don't want to muddy the requirements for the project too much because as Mike mayor Mike said that we don't we don't know what we don't know essentially. So we don't want to layer them with all these questions which some of them obviously are very important like based on what location but if if they just work off the questions and stop there and then because we don't know what we don't know that then they don't do the full breadth of work in the scope that VA might communicate.

I I I I'm not concerned with questions. I'm concerned with directing them in a position that they may look at and say this isn't how we should go. this isn't how I ever go or whatever. I think we should allow them to say here's the broad aperture. Here's the things we're looking for. Can you do it with between whichever people we finally decide and allow them to go do their jobs? Yeah, we just set the expectation and let them do it. Yes. So, wasn't the expectation already set though? Like what what am I missing? There are things in here that we want spelled out specific. Well, that's just in the in the actual wording. Yes. So it's just a matter of like getting th that specific scope

to make sure things to make sure the things that we want covered that we've we've referenced here are definitely part of that project the results not the not the way that they're going to achieve those results right whether they're sitting at a desk going in the field whatever measuring device that they have and however they come up with it that's their business I mean if we engage with them and they've got good references then we have to assume that they know what they're doing

so the direction I have for these two companies uh the scope one evaluate where the cell signal gaps are in the area of the story pool and surrounding area in Hillsdale and two offer options to bring cell signal to fill the gap. We we have only one solution now the 150 ft tower as an option. Are there any other options? And will the would the river veil cell tower site be helpful when that is live? But is the RF exposure issue issues with small cell towers? Now I have here for the real world. I would leave that to them how how to go about their method. Yeah.

The only thing I would say to any of that is um I would make it broader than just say Stony Brook Pool. I think we should say the east side of town because I think that that encompasses they're they're identifying a problem. They're not going to say, "Well, I didn't go beyond Metobrook because that's where it is or I didn't go beyond the high school." Let them identify the problem as it exists beyond the signal that we get to the east side of town. Mike, can you clarify though what you mean by when you read the last bullet there about real world whether what are you proposing for that? because they do have to substantiate to us the scope of their work which would include how are you going to do this in detail.

So this is the methodology is what you want to know. Are they going to you come in with an RF signal machine or are they doing it from their desktop? Yeah. And you have to have it in a comparative format that you can choose between one or the other. Right. Is there an industry standard? I mean I don't as I said I don't want to start getting into if they do this for a living and this is how they they come up with it. I can ask for you know that's where maybe if you consult with loop on how that's actually done and done correctly right what does loop suggest in person or yeah with regards to okay

well wouldn't wouldn't loop once the results come back from both consultants then Lupo can say to you Mike I don't I don't see in my experience I don't think you know they're hitting the nail on the head they need to be more specific He could or he could come back and say this one's better than the other or he could say that that they're both acceptable or you could say neither. That's right. If he says they're both acceptable, then it's up to us and whatever concerns we have about each of the respect, right? But but the first time you reach out, it's a good practice to give them give them a template and say, "We need a minimum this stuff answered by you." Right? And it allows you to do an apples to apples comparison.

Okay. The last thing you want to happen here from a timing perspective is that we get this back and we still can't tell the difference between the two. We don't know the value we're getting for the dollar spent. Right? So if if I personally believe it will be a mistake if we do not give them those criteria so that they can answer the same exact questions then add whatever else they want. Again, what we're looking for as criteria is I I'm all for that. I'm just opposed to telling them how to go about doing it. That's their expertise. And I don't think Bob is mentioned. That's fine. I just don't want to go down. He's just saying this is what I want.

But that's what I'm saying. I just think that those four general bullets that Mike has right there there's a lot more bullets that need to be included with that when he sends it to them. Right. And and if we need it defined in a technical way, that's what we have a loophole for. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So, everybody comfortable? We're we're going to basically table an assignment of of this review until we get more specific information based upon the information we've asked Mike to gather from the two proposals we've got before us. Is everybody comfortable with that? Yes. Anybody Is anybody opposed to that? Then that's your direction, right? Yes, sir.

Okay, great. Um, so that's it. Now we've got correspondence to consider at this point. Um, we have 23 letters of correspondence. I did the rough count and saw that there were 14 in support, three that were opposed and the rest had various questions. Um, as far as the this is all related to the cell tower. Um, can I get a motion to receipt and file these emails? Second. All those in favor? I. Great. Okay. You guys came in at just the right time, are professionals.

I I hope you we didn't bore you too much. Anyway, um let's go by the order you're on here. Uh Chief, you're going to have to wait. We're going to get a report from Nick from Collers. Nick, go ahead.

Thank you, Mayor. Um so, we are starting to kick off a couple projects. We have the uh 2025 DOT municipal aid grant that we got. Um we finished the design on that last year. So we're putting together a bid schedule for that right now. Um that project is going to go out to bid on February 11th. We're planning to have the bid opening on March 4th and then we'll start construction on that when the weather permits basically. So that's that project is slated for the spring. Um, we also have the 2026 DOT grant that we received um in November of last year for uh Ralph from Kendrick to Legion and Legion from How to Nickerbacher. That uh that grant you received $194,341. So that's kind of next on the plate for design. So we'll be working with the administrator to put together, you know, schedule to get that design done and whether or not we want to build that either this summer or into next year. We can do either. Um outside of that for Memorial Drive, obviously the weather has um slowed down construction over the last couple weeks. Yeah, they they were making good progress. Um they have the scoreboard relocated. They have done a lot of the prep work for the retaining walls. Obviously, the site clearing has been completed. I know there was some concerns um about the lack of trees after the site clearing. So, we are looking into repurposing Bergen County open space funds that were used for the Beachwood Nature Trail. So, we didn't use all that money and we're working with the county to see if we can repurpose some of that funding towards Memorial Field. And I'm also working with the landscape architects at Collier to get a proposal for the bureau to put together like a you comprehensive landscaping plan to to get that so it's properly screened and everybody's happy with it. Has you have you talked with callers with respect to the concern we had about the visibility of the back of the scoreboard for trees?

Yeah. Coverage. Yeah. The house behind it. That's all they see now is the scoreboard, right? So, we're going to go back and redo the landscaping plan because we talked to other houses around it. Uh and they lost many trees and now all they see is the field, right? So, we want to put something up behind it between the houses that are back there, right, and the back of the scoreboard if possible. Now, we may not hit the height to overgrow at initial, but with the general idea that short of bamboo um that area um to eventually become a hedge.

Yeah. So, I guess the question becomes whether or not we want to put the screening more along like the property lines or if we're looking to like just screen the scoreboard specifically if we could do plantings like just behind the scoreboard. Either one of those are options and we can look at that. Let's just put that out there as a as a as a point in time that people are concerned about. Yeah, understood. That's I have a question for the BA with regards to the monies. Uh that those aren't monies that are earmarked for uh the Nature Trail 2.0. No, no, that's over money from the 1.0. 1.0, right? But yeah, okay. I think in some conversations we talked about maybe utilizing some of that money for nature 2.0, right? So, yeah. So, we have to be Yeah. We have to watch what is said.

Okay. Yep. Yeah. And I know um in terms of the the nature trail 2.0, we have looked at that and how we kind of progress that forward. Unfortunately, what it looks like if we want to do any kind of extension to that trail, it's going to be the same permitting process that we went through the first time, which it can be done, but obviously it's arduous and it takes forever and all that. I mean, we all saw it took over a year the first time to get those permits. Um, plus the like level of detail you have to go into on the plans in order to get the permits is is a lot of that pering process because of what's it's wetlands basically.

Correct. So, um, what's the expected what what what generally when you put in a permit unknowing um because it's wetlands how long that takes. Do we get lucky in a year? Did we Is it expected in a year? Wetlands is typically taking a year right now is what we're seeing across most of our projects. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. The difficulty with wetlands, there is no um there's no clock like they don't have a deadline when you put in a flood hazard area permit. So, if you're just looking for permits within a flood hazard area, they actually have a deadline that they have to meet. Once you submit the permit, they have a certain number of days in order to get an answer to you, which isn't always your appro for a permit, but they have to respond to you in some way, but they could respond to us and still say we need more time.

Correct. They they they can it's that but this is just for flood hazard areas. It's not even applicable to this project. I'm just saying the wetlands wetlands takes the longest because there is no clock. Okay. There is no clock in. Okay. Okay. Thank you. And Nick, with regards to your project timeline for Memorial, um we didn't have a lot of slack to begin with, right? So two or three weeks, how does that push us out to your original plan um with the delivering the field?

So I mean they they always they they always build in some level of downtime, especially when you're working over the winter. It's not like this wasn't anticipated like we're going to be able to work every single day throughout all of the winter. Um, in terms of how this is going to affect the schedule long term, I'd have to ask them to put out another because they have they have schedules that they are generating on a regular basis as to how the project is progressing. I would say I mean we're probably pushed back two weeks right now, something like that. Okay. Where does that put us in timeline then for in theory for an opening? I I don't I don't know off the top of my head, but I I think I think we're still we're still relatively like within the areas that we talked about originally. May, April, end of April. May something more like June. Yeah, like June.

I I think end of May is like probably where we're looking right now. Yeah. And Nick, when you get a better handle on that, just let us know so we can work on scheduling because Yeah. Yeah. I just want to be able to communicate that so we so really it's our recon that's going to have to right obviously at this stage there's there's so many moving parts, right? So So this schedule is going to be ever changing until we hit spring. And once we hit spring, it's going to be pretty clear what what the date is going to be. Um, but as of right now, it's, you know, it's it's weather dependent. We've had freezing temperatures for two weeks straight, you know, and even if the weather breaks, it still doesn't mean it's the ground is thawed. Yeah. So, we could be pushed back.

You you would need you would need a couple, you know, 40 50°ree quite a few 40 50 degree days in a row to get that really like workable. Yeah. Okay. Just one question on Memorial here. you have they're going to start relocating the sewer line soon. That's original scope, not a change order. Correct. Yeah. Yeah. That was supposed to be scheduled for last last week and then the snow happened. So, we push that out until, you know, whenever we can. Are there more questions for our engineer? Nick, when I answered that question, I had my HSA hat on. So, uh, baseball softball association. Anything from our rec leaison on that? You all right with it? You comfort?

Yeah, go ahead. Okay. Um, great. Thank you. Thank you for your report. Uh, let's move on to police chief Travis Woods. Welcome.

Thank you. All right. So, January 2026, uh, we had 710 calls for service, 118 motor vehicle stops, 29 motor vehicle accidents. Uh we did 17 selective enforcement details, 24 parking enforcement details, uh 67 medical calls responded to. We issued 126 written warnings, 27 summones. We had two adult arrests and 101 property security checks. Our detective bureau investigated 28 cases, 13 of which they closed. uh one charge generated from that in our firearms investigation unit completed 18 investigations for carry concealed permits, firearm ID cards or uh pistol permit investigations.

Questions? A question for Chief. Yes. You've seen the new legislation that got passed down in Trenton about ebikes. Yes. What's your view? Yeah. So, I have that with me. Um I'll hit some um bullet points for it just so anyone who wants to uh relisten to this or whatever we've posted on social media um the requirements it changed it it changed quite a bit um it was very not drastic but it was 180 compared to what it was gave us a real parameter.

Yes. Yeah. So just this is what the state sent us. Our traffic uh the state traffic unit sent this out um as a suggestion for enforcement. Also almost like a uh a bullet point. If you read the the legislation, it's long and you know where this um narrows down to very specifics that relate to law enforcement also the users for ebikes. So you the main main things licensing requirements. You must possess a valid New Jersey driver's license or be 15 years old and obtain a motorized bicycle license. So essentially a moped license. Yeah.

So that'll cover you from for age 15 and 16. 17 you get your uh your permit or I'm sorry 16 you get permit. It's a relevant 17 you get your license and that covers you for the uh for the ebike. Uh registration. All ebikes must be registered with the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission. And all ebike ebikes must carry liability insurance. Same as um motor vehicle and motorcycles that you see on the road. And this doesn't matter what class you're in. One, two, or three. Any of it has to be. It's got pedals. Even if it only has a throttle, it's irrelevant. Yeah. All of them. How does that apply for uh people that already own ebikes? Um it doesn't change. They're going to have to get it insured.

Okay. you know, registered, insured, um, if they're under the age, so any of the parents that have children that are under the age of 17 that are riding them, 15 and 16, if you're below 15, you can't ride them, right? Effective immediately. Mhm. Yes. As of uh January 19th, some of the things weren't going into effect for a year though, right? Yeah. So, well, this this it went into effect as of the 19th. Okay. January 19th, 26, the day before the change in administration. Okay. Okay. Um, but they do have, you know, they have a section in here that emphasizes law enforcement. Um, they're pushing law enforcement to educate for a while versus penalize. So, do you think

just because there's going to be a there's going to be a big uh turnover here, which is where I was going to ask, you've got a transition period. Yeah. Do you think is when you say you have to be registered? Yeah. When you have to register a car, you end up with a license plate. And so it's very easy to identify who's registered and then by definition would have a license and would have insurance. You assume if you pulled them over, you had the right to check for it. Yeah. Um how have they have they given you any indication how you could tell that just a random ebike going down the street or on the side has suffic? Yeah, we don't have any real guidance on is there going to be a miniature almost like a motorcycle license put on the back? We don't know.

We don't know. uh turn indicators, reflectors, headlights, all that stuff. There's still a lot of things that are going to have to get worked out, right? So, we have the ability obviously to set our own criteria within the municipality. Like, let's say you can't ride these things downtown, for example, and I know that Ridgewood has that business as as one of the potentials. Some towns say you can't ride them at all. County parks, there's a lot of there's Yes. I don't think you can ride them in Union County. No. Right. So there are these these different things. Um from our perspective, we'd like to work with you obviously to make your job as easy as possible. We we can't say for example um if the state says you don't have a license plate requirement,

I don't think we could require a license plate. But then I'd ask the question, could we require that anybody that that registers with one gets a sticker so that we could identify that person? Yes. uh as it you know we have to talk through those things but I think that we should make it as easy for the police to do their job and make sure that the people that are riding them should be riding them and are are you know qualified to ride one. Yeah. Absolutely. Yep. I mean any we definitely work something out. We used to do bicycle registrations you know when that was like a popular you know thing. But how many people really registered their No. Exactly. They're not doing it. Exactly. make it tough enough to then put a sticker on their car to go dump at the at the recycling.

Yeah. Yeah. Um Yeah. So, I don't know how exactly it's going to work out and you know the 15year-old physically carrying a registration card and they're going to have a moped license. These things are digital now. So, you all these most kids have phones on them where they can carry insurance registration uh license you know via a cell phone um that we can accept. So, yeah. any any um any encounters outside of egregious uh blatant um you know breaking the law, we're going to be educating for a for a while and explaining to them what exactly is required. Same with their parents. Yep.

Yeah. I mean I've seen in some towns where they put considerable fines on it to the parents and at some point it's confiscation. At some point you have to come down to pick them up and at some point they're gone. You lose them. Um, I obviously hope we don't ever get to that point, but both for the safety of the riders and for the driving and pedestrian public, that should be severely or significantly taken into consideration. Yeah, absolutely. I apologize if this puts you on the spot, but do we have approximately like for Hilldale a number of accidents or injuries that where ebikes have been involved? Are you aware of that? Uh, as far as like documented, probably zero. Okay.

Yeah. I I There was an accident in a shop right I think last month a woman on an ebike was in the rain so it was in her favor in the dark. Yep. And it all depends on if they did they call the police and get an accident. She was on the ground. Travis, there was that incident over at the high school where the kid flipped himself over on the bike and there was Yeah, but that's Yeah, I'm talking motor vehicle accidents driving down the road and crashing into a car. Also, we also get videos sent to us of kids weaving in and out of traffic wheelies. And we would please from the police department's perspective, the videos are great. If you're going to take the time to record a video and send it to somebody, take the time to call the police. If if we don't if we're not there to enforce it, a video does us no good. No good.

That's good. So, Travis, in the event that a police officer stops an individual riding a bike and they're 14 years old, what do they have a warning? Like what what happens right now? It's like driving without a license. Yeah. No, no, no. I'm saying if if that were happen right now, like what gets done? Education. I mean, it's case case dependent, but just a a kid 14 years old driving down the road. I'm very confident saying we're going to call the parents, educate the parents, get the bike home, and explain to that parent that there's a new law in place. There's nothing written right now. We're not doing anything. Um, well, we don't have any Title 39 and all these things are are set um via just state. Um, Travis, what would you do if if uh you pulled over a 15-year-old driving a car? Yeah, it's the same thing,

right? You say you're not driving this anymore right now. We're not going to say drive it home and be safe. Well, call your parents. You say do this. Exactly. Yeah. If you don't have a license to drive a an ebike right now, it's considered a you gota have a moped license. I'm 15 years old. So, if you don't have a license, you're unlicensed. I mean, it' be very helpful then if in the next maybe month or two, you could give the court maybe a couple of the key you cannot do the law has gone into that. Y this is what the laws said the key point like if you are 14 you can't drive an eike if you're not licensed and insured.

Yep. So, boil it down to the simplest messages that the parents need to hear. Yep. So, we put it out on social media already. Um, what I just read, we put it out on like a, you know, a digital flyer. Um, we put it out. I know the state's been very active with putting it out. We put a ebike seminar out um that you're able to attend. Uh, there's a QR code is for parents. Um, we're doing our best to get the word out. Um but you also have to be looking for it to an extent. You know there is a responsibility of parents who are buying these bikes uh to do their homework on it. Yeah. More parents I think would be would get a town notice from the burrow and say than know to look on the

on your Oh, you're saying via like uh mail. We easted posted this on the 21st. So maybe we take this flyer and blast it. I don't know how many you know uses. Yeah. No, that would be great if that could be done. Over 3,000 on the town notice. Yeah, that would be good if that can get done. Yeah, absolutely. That's fine. We can do that Friday, you know, especially in the cold weather we're going to maybe do it multiple times as the weather starts to warm and more likely to Yeah, that would help to see that. Absolutely. Okay. Um, does anybody else have any questions for our chief of police? No deer questions. No, nothing. I'm sorry. No deer. We won't continue with that.

Um, okay. Thank you very much for your report. Thank you. We good. Yeah. For the superintendent, you have a report. Oh, Mike kept a report for the superintendent of the DPW. Okay.

The superintendent is actually in class right now as he was at the last meeting. A very short report. We had the snowfall on January 25 and 26. We had 12.5 in of snow mixed with sleet. The total salt used in the month of January for five storms was 550 tons with 200 tons being reimbursed to us by Bing County for their roads. Uh the salt had have been replenished and ready for the next storm. We did have an issue with our diesel fuel tank during the storm on January 25 and uh our backup source was Westwood. Westwood had no fuel. U so we had to do with u a different source. So we are buying a second diesel tank as a backup and it's 500 tank a 500gallon tank. So we will have 1,000 gallons which will be enough for a big big storm. Hopefully we don't have that. So, we'll we'll be ready for the next story.

Can I ask you um I had heard that we had a water mane break. We're not monta. We haven't I've seen your social media. What's going on there? But, um you know, it's a 5 to1 ratio. I guess you're five times more uh in need, but but I heard that we had it at Cathy. We had we had an issue right I didn't hear anything uh official. Okay. Did you hear that? I heard Cathy Street. Yeah. So, did I hear that from someone? that we had had an issue with that. So, I didn't get anything. Okay. Um, usually we did. We did. Yeah. I just I think we did. And that's been resolved. Well, yeah. I don't I believe uh we had officers out there for the break uh while the work was getting done. Yeah.

We're no longer out there. So, either they got swims or ice skates or something. So, there's a in May break. Call the police. They'll call the water company. up the cones to make sure that that's safe. Um, okay. So, all right. So, I I would had questions with respect to uh the salt to make sure that we're adequately covered. I know that you said we did we we we're getting 100 tons extra. Yep.

Um, and I would, since you're going to be here to extend our gratitude, the DTPW guys were so under the gun with this storm. Um, I I would speak to one of them and say, "I'd like to talk to you some more, but I now have to go to sleep." Yeah. Because they worked 24 hours straight doing this stuff and uh I can't thank them enough for what they did. So, if you would please extend I'm sure all of us feel the same way. Um, our gratitude for what they did.

Yeah. Just so driving those trucks are not easy. They actually have to operate with one hand, operate the plow with second hand, the signal, the wipers in the wind, the coffee. So, it's not an easy operation as long as you didn't car as well. Okay. None of that. Okay. Okay. Uh, anything else for our uh our BA on this?

No. Okay. Great. Thanks. We're going to move on to committee reports. We will start at the far end with Councilman Kane. Thank you, mayor. All right, so the pool commission, um, at the January 14th pool commission meeting, they reviewed both the budget, uh, 2026 budget and the financial performance from the 2025 season. So for 2025, Stony Brook generated approximately 1.325 million in revenue. Uh, we got a million-dollar business here, folks. Uh, that was actually about $30,000 below what had been anticipated. uh that shortfall was driven largely by lower than expected interest on investment accounts rather than by weakness in core operations or membership. So is you can tie that to investments and not uh membership. So given the circumstances of last season, I've actually viewed these as strong results. Uh the pool faced a difficult start to the year with poor weather in the early months and multiple equipment failures. Despite that, the underlying revenue stream proved resilient and uh this stability is especially notable as other pools in the region are struggling to remain open. Uh Stony Brook continues to be a destination for residents of neighboring towns where high uh quality public options are increasingly limited and that position would only strengthen if uh the the new stories going around with the Pasak Valley Swim Club in Westwood ultimately closes.

That's that's a private club. It's not the towns and it's my understanding that they were down tound and something members at all. I don't know how they were even operating. Yeah, they they're the membership was low and they had a lot as documented in the Pascat press, they had a lot of equipment failures. Um they're relying on a GoFundMe to raise $75,000. They've only raised about $3,000 and they need that money before March. So, it's not looking and and I understand I spoke with uh the pool director that she was um putting together something to solicit Yes. Those members who are now poolless, for lack of a better term.

Yes, exactly. So, uh yeah, she's she's putting something together and yeah, that hopefully you know it it we already have seen strong uh membership from outside uh residents from outside the town. So, uh, you know, that that would only get stronger and, um, it's a it's a a good sign for Stony Brook specifically in terms of membership. Chris, do you know what the breakup is between, uh, in town and out of town?

I do. I have my uh, membership mix report that I created. Actually, I'm glad. You didn't know I put this. You didn't know what I'm so glad somebody asked. So, so in uh in 2025 we had uh 739 non-resident families. Uh 7 739 memberships. So, you know, the the most popular membership being the family of four to five. Uh there's 739 of those. Uh residents was 404 families. Um the the non-residents from 2024 to 2025 actually increased from 705 to 739. So we're seeing increase from from out of town

whereas uh the in town has decreased slightly but um there's been strong interest in the things programs that they offer especially around swim team and stuff like that. There's it's you know the there's not a lot of clubs that provide what we do. So it's even like I said the season was a little bit tough with the weather but like we have a very strong position in a stable financial position I think um from the pool which is great. Thank you.

Um so uh on that uh the the commission also discussed important operational improvements. Uh Patty Hughes successfully addressed one of last season's biggest challenges by uh overseeing the full replacement of the pump house equipment. Uh this should materially reduce the risk of future disruptions and costly emergency repairs from last year. There was many and going back to Pascal Valley Swim Club, that's essentially what put them under. So uh kudos to the commission for proper planning and being able to to weather these kind of weather kind of these kind of uh these risks.

Uh and finally, the commission voted to move towards ending student parking agreement with Pasc Valley High School. Uh the arrangement generated minimal uh revenue as only five cars were using the lot and it required keeping the gate open and uh given several incidents of vandalism on the property. The commission determined that the risks outweigh the benefits. It's a half a mile walk anyway. Right. I I make the walk my six-year-old frequently. Your six-year-old's got a lot more stamina than Yeah, he does. Good for calling. Yes. Okay. So, that's the point. Anybody have any other questions? I I can share my mix report with you guys if you want. Senate to DD or something. Do you have any other committee reports today?

I I I did I I I also have a DPW report. Um Mike covered most of it, but um I did we did get communications uh regarding salt supply that I think was was worth uh touching on. And Bergen County and the state have communicated that there's uh no statewide salt shortage. uh any short-term challenges uh some of the municipalities in the area have had uh relate to surge demand and transportation logistics, not a lack of available material. I can also share that our DPW superintendent has confirmed that Hillser received the full amount of salt that was ordered as Mike had already said, including the county provided salt. Um, and then more importantly though, I I have to recognize the incredible efforts made by our DPW crew over the two over two stroke straight weekends because we had the 12 and a half inch and then they had a snow event the weekend before. So, they were working through the night and they were working the weekend before and the long hours and difficult conditions and sustained performance like over that time the the community is very appreciative. And finally, I want to share like, you know, with all this snow being on everybody's mind, we kind of had like a feel-good uh story here. Uh I I wanted to highlight responsiveness of our DPW in a recent situation. Um residents on Yeser Way contacted me personally. Uh they were concerned about a growing pothole on their street. It was getting bigger and bigger and we communicated that to to Barry and the DPW. And within a day, the crew was out there and addressed the issue. And the residents were ecstatic. They couldn't believe that the turnaround was that quick. And they were out there. They were taking pictures. I I I reposted one of them on social media. And you know, these are the type of things that don't always get the big headlines, the public attention, but I I think I keep on hearing over and over again um you know, residents that are happy about the

responsiveness of our DPW. And I think it's great and should be highlighted. So that's it. If if I can just add to that. Yeah. For the so if you have a a pothole or an issue, call the TBW or call the office. U because if you all you start calling the council members, call Chris, right? Yes. It won't be, you know, well, it's fun for me. We did there is a process. Yeah, there's a number process that gets logged in and they follow up on it very quickly. So you're advising residents called DPW calling you. No. Okay. But thank you for the kind words. I'll let them know. Council D. Rosa.

Uh unfortunately I wasn't able to make the ambulance service meeting because it was the same night as the cell phone tower town hall. So I'll see them this month. Um did attend the regional board of education meeting last night. That's um uh PV and Pasc Hills. Uh they mentioned the Belltobell governor's new policy. although they cited that they already follow a similar um policy. They're just going to look a little closer at that. So now have no use of cell phones between the bells. Uh Ron Voluone was given the life changer award. Ron was a or is a PB graduate. Um he played baseball. He actually does some of the announcing for the football games. It's just nice to see a local boy um young man uh get a life changer award like that. Uh the cafeteria group and the BA at the um school of board of education set up a table-totable um program where surplus food from the cafeteria is donated to food banks. Um, and there was a number of Hillsdale uh residents, the Hillsdale Hawks coach, some present and former Pasc Valley football players, and some younger um middle school uh kids, all expressing concern over the current um coaching situation. And they were urging the um uh the board to consider uh options for next year. Uh, and then

yeah, football. Yeah. Uh, and then I reached out to the interim superintendent to just kind of have a one-on-one meeting with him pretty soon. So, that's all I have. Counc.

Yes. Thank you, Mayor. Uh, OEM report. Uh, preparedness meeting was held with the burough's emergency services, DPW, the BA, mayor, and myself to coordinate the town's planning and response for the recent uh, winter storm. And I think the response was uh, very well uh, done. And um I think that you know we've uh given a great deal of recognition to the DBW and the police uh for doing the work that they do. Um OEM is currently working with the developer of the new Patterson Street Apartments as they install an internal radio station uh radio system in their building and parking deck for fire department operations. The group is currently in discussions with the county dispatch center in Mawa to renew the shared services agreement for dispatch and 911 as the agreement will expire on August 31st.

Um our rec our ongoing dispatch with the peace is scheduled to expire. Yeah. I mean the contract needs to be right. So that could be an increase to an expense

there which we'll we'll address probably in the finance meeting as well. But that's at the back half of the year. Right. Um OEM is working on updating evacuation plans for various facilities and buildings inclusive of the schools at Hillsdale House and the new apartment complex and training continues on the burough's high water vehicle. Uh two members of the team were recently sent to a driver training class sponsored by the county. Uh just one note uh for the environmental commission. Uh looks like a shared services agreement with Ridgewood for recycling services for styrofoam will be put in place next week. An event will be scheduled hopefully sometime in April May and communicated to the burrow where residents can bring their styrofoam to a predetermined location where will be bagged and then delivered by the DPW to the burrow of Richmond. The styrofoam will then be put into a densifier that can reduce the volume of the foam by 50 to 90 times. Uh, and you know, this is new to me, but uses include uh, for this new product, uses include crown molding, picture frames, and coat hangers.

So, it's a good use of styrofoam. So, keep collecting, and there'll be an opportunity for you to get ready. Everybody gets a hanger. Everybody gets a hanger. And you get a hanger. Perfect. You get it. And then the library will meet on uh on the 23rd. So, I'll provide an update uh the first weekend. They just celebrated their 90th. And I saw that councilman was there for the picture, right? Uh, yeah. be outside for the for the 19th celebration. They will be planning a bigger event. Yes. Later in the year, right? Oh, great. Okay. Is that it? That's council.

Thank you, mayor. I'm going to start with the planning board. I'll give a little bit of detail here because there's three ordinances and one resolution on tonight's agenda that we'll be voting on. So, the last meeting was January 27th. The next is February 12th. the planning in the last meeting the planning board adopted uh their planning board resolution 20268 approving the burough's 2026 housing element and fair share plan as an amendment to the master plan and uh during that process they determined that this plan is consistent with the master plan's goals and objectives it protects it's designed to protect public's uh safety and health and it provides access to affordable housing to meet our present and future housing uh requirements and the report recommended that this governing body endorses the plan which is on tonight's agenda, resolution 26069. As a continuation of that process, we also received a letter from the planning board attorney Mark Leeman uh regarding the municipal land use review that they performed on it. And the letter confirms that ordinances 2026304 and05 which are on tonight's agenda for approval are not inconsistent with the master plan or intended to implement the 2026 housing element and fair share plan. Uh so the planning board again recommends adoption of all three of those ordinances that are on our agenda this evening. Um on a lighter note with the planning board they did also close two hearings that night. 1 C variance and one combined C and D variance. Uh fire department January had 36 calls versus 31 in January 2025. So a slight uptick, but if we recall January of 2025 was significantly higher than the year before in 2024. So we continuing to see an upward trend. Uh there's no update on the grant that we applied for. Hopefully we'll hear that soon. And then the big ticket item which is the request for a new engine. So, an up the update here is

that the fire uh department council committee met with Chief Kelly and Deputy Chief, excuse me, Chief Farrell and Deputy Chief Kelly uh back in January regarding the engine and they presented uh to us a video uh that demonstrated how pretty much fire and combustion and flashovers have evolved over the last 30 years. when you compare, you know, materials from 30 years ago to now, which are more composite based and more flammable. And a video showed that the these modern materials literally in in minutes, in five minutes, you could have a flashover in a house versus years ago. And it's really changing the way that they view their equipment and the needs of their equipment. Uh spec specifically again they're concerned with the fire engine that's 30 years old and has about a 555gallon water tank which they feel is too small given modern standards. Um they do feel that their equipment specifically this engine is obsolete or at minimum operationally limited. But again that's their opinion and they're still going through the process of assessing. Uh we're going to continue to work the the fire committee is going to continue to work uh with with our business administrator and the CFO on putting together a replacement plan, something that's reasonable and works with the budget, but also risk mitigation in terms of of of mitigating the risk here with the old engine. But in the interim, I think it's important to note that this 30-year-old engine just last week failed during their bimonthly drill. So right now that engine is down. It's out of service.

What does that mean failed? like inoperable. It didn't start. It didn't start. Okay. So, we're awaiting an update from the mechanic regarding the cause and the anticipated repairs. And in the inter room, they're going to continue to rely on more mutual aid as needed. We'd have to, right? Um, did All right. I I wasn't aware that Ry was able to work on those engines. No, he would just do an assessment. The assessment if it's a battery, if it's the starter, but it's engine related. Okay. Okay. Did as a side note question, um I'd spoken to some of the guys over there who were talking about the back stairwell. Did that come up at all? The exterior stairwell? Not recently. What they wanted to do?

Not recently. Months ago, they started talking about potentially repairing or replacing. I think if you, you know, if any of us walked over there and you go up and down those steps, you can see it's in it's in need of repair. Yeah. Issues. Yeah. Okay. Anybody else have any questions for Thank you. Councilwoman Mazach.

Okay, we'll start with economic development. Uh we met on the 22nd of January. So the committee discussed uh hosting a bagels for business on Monday, February 23rd. This event is open to all of Hills business owners. Um there will be representatives from the NJA and the Bergen County Division of Economic Development. Um there's uh five grant programs available that will be presented um offering free money, free services to small businesses. So these representatives will be there to answer any questions um and assist with the process. Um and just a note to our business owners, these grants are easy to apply for. Um they don't require grant writing experience. Um and many of them are going to expire this year, so there is a little bit of an urgency. So we really do encourage them to attend um and apply for them. there has been um communication sent out via BB Blast. So, thank you. I saw that it was posted on social media today. So, we're going to continue to reach out to our business owners to make sure that they're um in attendance. It's also a nice way to network uh with all the other owners in town.

These these grants are are substitive, too, right? There's something like $50,000. It's like $50,000. Give an example of what what the grant like what a grant is. So, for example, there could be a grant if there's a small business that uh wants an e-commerce page or a website built or help with marketing. Um they'll they'll have a design team or services that they can provide. So, they get a certain dollar amount certain dollar amount. If there's a business that is saying they need a new awning um and they need help with, you know, pricing out the awning or so there's different there's all different kinds and it's again it's not it's simple easy way uh to fill out these brands. doesn't require I think you hear the word grant and you like panic a lot to do

right so some some like I think the the the rent reduction grant um you just need to show a lease that's of at least I think four years right to get to get a rebate back from the state right through the county basically to um to to help small businesses um pay their rent

and why wouldn't you want to you know take advantage of it we just have to make sure we spread the to our businesses and and hope they attend. So, uh, another thing that also came out of the meeting was we will be officially forming an economic development committee consisting of two council members and maybe two three or four uh, community members. Uh, we're currently developing a public facing communication that's going to outline those specific skills and backgrounds that we're looking for. Um, but our goal is to recruit volunteers um who are interested in supporting our businesses and building those relationships that we're hoping for and obviously strengthen strengthening the businesses in our community. So, um, look out for that. Uh, let's see. I had a wreck meeting yesterday. Memorial Field Nik already gave a great update. I was just going to say we won't have an updated timeline until the snow clears out. So, we're hoping in a few weeks to have a little bit better of an idea of how this timeline has shifted. Um, as far as the community center, we are expecting to get the keys turned over later this month. Woohoo. Excited. Uh, furniture is expected to be delivered March 2nd and 3. There will be an opening ceremony and ribbon cutting as well. Um, as well as open houses. Those dates are TBD. Uh, but we'll communicate that as soon as we can. Um, the spring brochure, there's a spring brochure that's going to be released on the 17th of February. Many of those programs are going to take place in the community center, which is exciting. Um, also summer camp information will be released as well with registration dates and locations. I they worked something really great out with the with the board of education as far as locations. So um also there will be um summer concert series and those dates are going to be uh released pretty soon. Um and last is an upcoming event. We have the Ramadan event that's going to be held on Thursday the 12th at 6:30. This event will be held at the Hillsdale Methodist Church. Um, and the mayor and council are all invited to attend. I was there last year. It was a beautiful event. So, I hope that everyone can make

it. That's it. Um, okay. So, have you had any discussions with respect, maybe the BA can answer this. There's been an ongoing issue for what we're talking about the Hillsdale Community Center with parking right now. My understanding is that there's 60 spots potentially available during events that we can we have to alert them. Alert the building and say, "Hi, we have an event." And and it's if I'm not Is that a mix of indoor outdoor? It's in indoor would be 60. Oh indoor we would have 60 indoor 48 but I have an update on so

yes because we have gone back and forth on this but I think that there is a solution. Okay. Anyone else questions for council Ruka?

Thank you Mr. Mayor. Uh seniors met for their monthly lunch but not at St. John's. They met the American Legion hut because there was a problem with the heat at the church. Representative Senator Representative Senator Shapi's office was there to educate seniors on various state and county programs available that might help seniors and how the senator's office could be of assistance in a variety of ways uh by calling their office. The finance committee is going to be meeting this Friday to discuss a draft of the 2026 budget. The board of health met on January 21st twice really. Um, one was their organizational meeting, the other was their regular meeting. Chris Loose was reelected as the president. Louisa Toledo was reelected as the vice president. Elaine Meerson was reelected as treasurer. Mrs. Meerson, Dr. Susan Kushner, and John Klein were all reappointed to their seats, which expire at the end of December 2028. Other employees were acknowledged by President Wu. was Lois Cohen as the public health nurse, Denise Cohen as the burough registar, McGlaughlin as the deputy registar, and Brenda Palmer as the minute secretary. Uh they set their meeting schedule, 10 meetings throughout the year, 2026. Uh at the regular meeting, Chris Loo uh expressed pleasure with the efforts that the uh board of health had made to educate the public on the role that the BO plays and to increase its visibility. reports were accepted by the nurse, nurse Cohen as well as Northwest Bergen Regional Health Corporation and uh they reviewed the status of various topics in the municipal alliance, the Hillsdale day or town day preparation which they intend to be at. There's going to be a skin cancer screening in the summer. Uh they still have outstanding invitations to our emergency response personnel to attend be a board of age meeting. Um and they also discussed the status of a long-standing hoarding case on Cambridge Road. Um that's all.

Okay. Ba Gali.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. We are working on the budget, working on several fronts to deliver the council and the mayor a reasonable budget given the high insurance increases that we're are working with. C tower talked about, excuse me, the community center. So, there's a ton of excitement about the community center. uh from the recreation, the seniors, uh the council, the residents, of course. Uh exciting time uh to move in. Uh I I do caution everyone to slow it down a little bit. Uh we still don't have the CO. We were promised the key by end of February. That still stands. Uh but there's still work to be done. Uh so we need to install TVs. We have to set up the storage room. We have to get the furniture. And the furniture has to be actually put together. It's not uh setup. Uh so you know that takes you in a few days. Uh we would do you know few runs. Uh we have to make some changes. Um as far as parking so uh we have four uh spots uh dedicated to the center right in the front. One is handicap and three with signs. It says just for the community center right in the front. Very convenient. We also have access to 40 to 45 spots inside the garage during scheduled special events. So, those we actually have to call in advance and book those spots. One of the other options we're looking at is uh and I'll be talking to the chief and to the captain, excuse me, is uh street parking on one side with timed permits. uh when you register for an event uh and you pay for it, it'll print you a permit and you put that permit on on a dashboard and you park on passenger street on on one side of the street

actually on Pastor Street as opposed to the the 18 spaces that go down the side of the building in addition to those in addition in addition to those if we need more space. So we if we're going to utilize that are we going to be calling upon the police department to provide safety because that road is then getting narrow. So I had to talk to the chief and to the captain again u map all this out and see if the road is wide enough for that and if that is the case we will have signs and then we'll we will have to program the system you register it brings you out to permit between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. and then it expires. Okay. Yeah. And and Mike the um those spots that are on the side street there utilized by the businesses there too.

So that's the problem is other businesses are using it. So we so we need our own spots and the only way is to have it with a permit and you that permit will be a temporary permit. Basically you print it and expires at a certain time.

So that's one thing I'm working on with the chief. Uh we did have staff changes. We uh we had to u eliminate a full-time position uh as a result of shared service agreement. Uh we have a donation of land to the bora. Uh the owner of the Patterson Street development is donating about 1 acre of land by the brook. This would be a great asset to the town for uh recreational activities such as the fishing derby. It' be done on property

like we don't need any uh any approvals or permits. Uh lastly, I do want to give a big shout out to the police, the fire, to the ambulance in addition to the DPW crew during the snowstorm, the cold weather, and the wind. Uh 2 a.m. first responders were still on the job u in the snow doing those things. So, you know, thank you and thank you to the fire and to the ambulance. Mike, they've been doing a great job getting rid of the snow, too, off the streets. Right. Did it? Yeah, I was going to comment on that. A lot of that went up to Centennial. So, we moved a lot of that uh in the middle of the night from downtown. We heard from res

and we heard from residents and we told them and I told them I told a few of them you want to hear the beeping at 3:00 a.m. or keep the snow on the street. Right. So, but that's that's over for now. God willing there's not going to be another major storm and then we Yeah. But does come we have the process, right? And and that is the place where Yes. we dropped snow. Yeah. And so unfortunately there are going to be some residents who are inconvenienced. We can melt it on a spot that's very expensive. Yeah. It was easier to just just fall away. As somebody who's downtown at 6:00 in the morning far too often. You saw that

to see them uh blocking off the street, blocking off Broadway and getting those trucks together there. It's it's like watching a dance all in sync is that they're going here and pulling it all up and getting it going. It's I don't recommend getting up at 6 a.m. just for that, but it's uh it's impressive. Any questions? Anyone got any questions?

Okay, I'm going to take a drink of water because we're moving on to ordinances by reading part. Okay, we're going to introduce 2606, an ordinance to amend and supplement ordinance 0901, chapter 138, fees, and chapter 71, swimming pool commission. Be it resolved that ordinance 26-06 does not pass a first reading and that said ordinance be further considered for final passage at a meeting of the mayor and council in the build in the municipal building 380 Hillsdale Avenue, Hillsdale, New Jersey on March 10 at 7 p.m. or as soon as thereafter and at said time and place. All persons interested will be given an opportunity to be heard concerning the same. And the clerk is hereby authorized and directed to publish set ordinance on the Burrow of Hillsdale website uh as required by public law at least one week prior to said hearing with a notice of its introduction of the time and place when and where said ordinance would be considered for final passage. Can I get a motion for introduction?

Motion. Second. Second. All those in favor? I.

It is introduced. 2607, an ordinance establishing salary ranges for the staff of the Hillsdale swimming pool commission in the burrow of Hillsdale, County of Bergen, state of New Jersey. Be it resolved that ordinance 2607 does now pass a first reading and that said ordinance be further considered for final passage at a meeting of the mayor and council in the municipal building 380 Hillsdale Avenue, Hillsdale, New Jersey on March 10th, 2026 at 7 p.m. or as soon as thereafter and at said time and place. All persons interested will be given an opportunity to be heard concerning the same and the clerk is hereby authorized and directed to publish set ordinance on the Burrow of Hillsdale website as required by public law at least one week prior to set hearing with a notice of its introduction and the time and place when and where said ordinance would be considered for final passage. Can I get a motion?

Motion. Second. Second. All those in favor? No. Quick question. No, a quick question though. Um, I noticed one two or three of the maxes are increased, but the bulk of them are not. And it's it strikes me as unusual. Can someone explain what criteria was used to pick why some maxes were increased and some weren't? So, this was said by the pool commission. Do you do you understand why they maybe Chris?

Um, I I don't want to speak to it specifically. I know I know it was I know it was discussed that um specifically for the the an additional that third assistant that that rate the max rate of 10,000 they were concerned that it was too low. So they want that they wouldn't be able to get uh anybody hired at that um at that rate. So I know that specifically that assistant was discussed that because you start to conflate a salary ordinance then with a minmax ordinance. That's that's the only thing I'm asking. If you're going to increase your maxes, you usually do it with some sort of forecast. Well, all the all of them have to go up by 5 to 10% or whatever the number is, right?

To allow you the flexibility to hire, but in this case, they pick and choose and it almost is like a salary ordinance, which is so maybe before we before we adopt it, we'll introduce it, but before we adopt it, maybe they can answer that question to you. Yeah, I think the meeting either next week. Yeah. Thank you. Soon. Yeah. Okay. So, we had a motion. Do we have a second? Second. Second. Okay. All those in favor? I.

Any opposed? 2607 is introduced. Now, we're going to move to 2608, an ordinance amending chapter 310, article 34, development fee ordinance to amend the development fee ordinance in accordance with NJACK 5 code 99 regulations be resolved. that ordinance 268 does now pass the first reading and that said ordinance be further considered for final passage at a meeting of the mayor and council municipal building 3 creating Avenue New Jersey on March 10, 2026 at 7 p.m. or as soon as thereafter and at said time and place, all persons interested will be given an opportunity to be heard considering the same. And the clerk is hereby authorized and directed to publish set ordinance on the Burrow of Hillsdale website um as required by public law at least one week prior to set hearing with a notice of its introduction at the time and place when and where said ordinance would be considered for final passage. Can I get a motion?

Motion. Second. Second. All those in favor? I

it is introduced. We are going to move on to 2609, an ordinance amend amending chapter 310 of article 33 affordable housing regulations to amend the affordable housing ordinance in accordance with the uniform housing affordability controls. be resolved that ordinance 2609 does not pass a first reading and that said ordinance be further considered for final passage at a meeting of the mayor and council in the municipal building 380 Hillsdale Avenue Hillsdale New Jersey on March 10, 2026 at 7 p.m. or as soon as thereafter and at set time and place, all persons interested will be given an opportunity to be heard concerning the same. And the clerk is hereby authorized and directed to publish that ordinance on the Burough Hillsdale website as required by public law at least one week prior to set hearing with a final notice of its introduction and of the time and place when and where said ordinance would be considered for final passage. Can I get a motion?

Motion. Second. Second. Those in favor? I. Anyone opposed?

No. Okay, we're moving that um to the Hillsdale and Pson Street Development Plan. Okay. Um an ordinance of the B of Hillsdale County of Bergen, New Jersey adopting an amendment to the Hillsdale Patterson Street Development Plan. Be it resolved that ordinance 2610 does now pass a first reading and that said ordinance be further considered for final passage at a meeting of the mayor and council in the municipal building 380 Hillsdale Avenue Hillsdale, New Jersey on March 10th, 2026 at 7 p.m. or as soon as thereafter and at said time and place, all persons interested will be given an opportunity to be heard consuming the same. And the clerk is hereby authorized and directed to publish said ordinance on the Burough of Hillsdale website as required by public law at least one week prior to said hearing with a notice of its introduction of the time and place when and where said ordinance would be considered for final passage. Can I get a motion?

Motion. Second. Second. Those in favor. Any opposed? It is introduced. Uh now we're going back to uh the adoption of ordinance 2601, an ordinance establishing recreation department programs and summer camp fees in the borrow of Hillsdale. Can I get a motion to open the uh to the public for a hearing on ordinance 2601? Motion. Second. Second. All those in favor? I.

Great. We're now open to the public. Uh, anybody who wishes to be heard regarding 2601, please come to the podium and state your name and wait to be recognized. Once recognized, state your name and address for the record. Does anyone wish to be recognized? Seeing nobody, I will now uh entertain a motion that the public hearing uh be closed and it should be resolved that this ordinance was posted on the bulletin board on which public notices were customarily posted and published in the Bergen record and on the Burough Hills website as required by public law. Copies of said ordinance were made available to the general public. Can I get a motion to close the public hearing on 261? Second. Second. Those in favor.

Okay. Can I get a motion to adopt 2601 with discussion? You want to have discussion on it? You have to have a motion. Motion to adopt and then we discuss. Okay. And so, Councilman RO, be you the first to I motion motion. That's what I meant. I'm just doing this for the clerk. Clemente secondary discussion.

Yeah. And I guess I'll address this to to Mike. I I asked this uh question originally and I know I think Councilman Ruka brought it up as well, but in terms of the actual fees for the camp. Um it looks like pretty much every every one was kept flat year-over-year. Um you know, I can't help but look at this through the lens of, you know, where I was trained, my finance lens, but that's normally a, you know, our costs are going up no matter what the camp occurs. it it it's held in the assets of the town whether whether it's paid through this budget or the board of eds budget it's still taxpayer money why wouldn't we pass through inflationary increases on an annual basis and again I know it's not a big dollar amount but we're in a position where every everything helps

so this is a service uh to the residents and we try to keep them self-funding so if the program is not selfunding we would increase the fees This is not the money maker for the town. We even have a surplus at the moment, right? We do. So, it wouldn't make sense to raise the fees when we're not trying to make a profit and we have a surplus. We want to be reasonable so more residents can actually take part in this and not uh not be too expensive. But if there's program that we're losing money on, we do raise it. Uh so, it's selfunding. That's only reason. But so, but but it is by choice. We're looking at it as a service versus a profit center

of course as a profit center. Yeah. But at the end of the day, what it comes down to is governing our annual cost increases and and any revenue streams to help us do that. At least from my seat would be well, but we can't use that for the general revenue of the town anyway. It's got to be directed towards the rec department. And they've got the money in house already as a surplus. So it would be redundant because I believe it's 5% that we can take out of it as the maximum. That's so right. So it would have to be used there anyway.

Last year when we were having these discussions about the rates because of the balance about trust, right? It was deemed appropriate to keep the the rates consistent with where they were last year because again there was a significant balance there and if there was any money that was needed to be drawn to cover these expenses, it would be okay. And keep in mind continues to build each and every year. Yeah. people choose a town uh number one for the schools and two for the recreational activities. If we make it too expensive for them not to be able to join um that's not what people want.

I can see if we were running a deficit then then I think but we're not just selfunding we have surplus that can't be spent on anything else. So that's why because you're saying it goes into the rec trust. Yeah. It's in there. It's not it doesn't go into the general revenue for the town to use. Yeah. Why we and recently there's an administration fee that was put in there right to what you referenced the 5%. Right. Yeah.

And it's just a general comment in terms of right of of turning over every stone in terms of trying to help. I understand the restriction on it. I understand the trust funds right but at some point a percentage of that could be used. So it's just really food for thought at the end of the day in terms of how we should I think we should be looking at all these programs. I think the pool should be looked at the same exact way. I don't think you should have a year where your rates aren't going up in especially well in that in that instance that is considered I mean that is a separate entity but it falls within our purview if we were to decide we're going to reclaim it and in years past we've done that and um there are also a few residents not a lot few who can't afford a program and we actually let them

we subsidize them as a result yeah I mean I mean I just think you know Councilman Kotti is raising a point which I mean I asked that question at the rec meeting. So I got an answer um which you you didn't hear obviously but I think in general your points are well taken in that um if inflation is at 2% and and if there's a demand for the particular program um the program is going to survive despite a 1 or 2% increase and I I understand what the mayor is saying is that it goes into the right trust fund but what I think Clemente was talking about is the more that trust fund builds or the more you can collect you can wait you can um

you can allocate a certain percentage very small percentage yeah to capital improvements that pertain to that but it's not like you could say unless we unless we have a history of let's say demonstrable history of using the amphitheater year in and year out. We couldn't donate we couldn't designate any revenue towards the repair of that amphitheater. Right. that that's just to add to that point is that the burrow is allowed to use the interest that's earned on that account. Okay. So, we've already had a first second and discussion. Is there any more discussion? All those in favor? I

I. Anyone opposed? It is adopted. We're going to go on to 2602. An ordinance establishing salaries for the recreation department. Motion to open the public hearing on ordinance 2602. Can I get a motion? Motion second. Second. All those in favor? I I.

Anyone opposed? I will now open the meeting to the public. If anyone desires to be heard regarding ordinance 2602, please state your name and wait to be recognized. Once recognized, state your name and address for the record. Does anybody wish to be recognized? Seeing none, I will now entertain a motion to public hearing um public 2602 to be closed and that it be resolved that this ordinance was posted on the bulletin board on which public notices are customarily posted and published in the Burket record and on the Burough Hillsdale website as required by public law. Copies of said ordinance were made available to the general public. Can I get a motion? Motion to close. Second. Second. All those in favor? I.

All right. And we're going to have a motion to adopt ordinance 2602. Is there a motion? Motion. Second. Second. All those in favor? I. Now. Therefore, be it resolved that this ordinance is adopted. The borrow is authorized to advertise the same according to law. We move on to 2603 for adoption. An ordinance amending chapter 310 land use and article 13 use schedule section 53.2 2 mixuse 2 district of the borrow code to amend the permitted resident residential density to address the burough's affordable housing obligation. Can I get a motion to open the hearing on 2603? Motion open. Second second. All those in favor? I

I will now open the meeting to the public. If anyone desires to be heard regarding ordinance 2603, please state your name and wait to be recognized and recognized, state your name and address for the record. Does anybody wish to be recognized? Okay. I will now entertain a motion to the public that the public hearing on 2603 be closed and that it resolved that this ordinance was posted on the bulletin board on which public notices are customarily posted and published in the Bergen record and on the Burough Hillsdale website as required by public law. Copies of said ordinance were made available to the general public. Can I get a motion to close the public hearing on ordinance 2603? Motion to close. Second. Second. All those in favor? I.

Great. Okay. We're going to go to the motion to adopt 2603. Can I get a motion? Motion. Second. Second. Is there any discussion? There's a discussion. just a you know I understand that this ordinance is here to get the council's formal blessing of the terms of a mediation agreement that stated so way in the in the ordinance itself and a mediation agreement with fair housing because they challenged our plan and it increases the maximum residential density permitted in mixed use MU-2 district from 20 to 25 units per acre um which is seven units 27 units

my position for years on the demands being placed on us by fair share housing to increase density in Hillsdale has been to generally oppose or at least minimize such directional pressure. I believe that allowing greater density moves us away from a suburban community more to an urban environment. It favors more renters and less homeowners. It also inevitably puts pressure on our municipal resources which taxpayers have to absorb. I realize that the passage of this ordinance has to occur. It's necessary for us to close the deal uh in the eyes of the courts with the fair share housing corporation and have them remove the gun from your head and our heads and all of our heads here on the days. Um and that gun is held every round we have for affordable housing. Um now I know that at least if not all of my colleagues here on the day I share my disdain for the heavy-handed manner that this particular round has been executed by the fair housing corporation and by the legislature. uh to implement their vision of what the Pasc Valley housing situation should look like and how to achieve it. But I also know this ordinance will be adopted. It must be adopted um if Hillsdale is to be kept out of the firing line and insulated from builder's remedy lawsuits uh and illegal entanglements. But it doesn't have to mean that its adoption has to be unanimous without a single voice of opposition to the unreasonable process hoisted upon us by fair share housing and the Trenton legislature. So I am going to be that voice in the vote.

I I appreciate that. I would just state that the alternative to opposing this if we had decided we were not going to do this was going to increase our obligation from four to some other number. And what and so what we traded was the prospective potentially someday in that block and lot to have an increase versus which is theory because Bank of America would still have to sell their property to make that a reality and if they don't it doesn't materialize versus the very real fact that our number was going to go up from four to some other negotiated number. So we traded basically known for the unknown and we we we took certainty at a number of four which by the way is a very good number all things considered. I think that our BA could state from his other position he would be envious to get said number but that being the case I understand it but I think we took the bird in the hand for some real certainty on a number that we could all live with in a realistic fashion.

Yeah. And and if I were in those negotiations, I would have done the same thing as you did. But you're Yeah. Okay. Okay. I mean, there's no I'm not You said you're still standing out there. I I just feel that to have a unanimous vote on this is the wrong message. And I'd love to see the vote, you know, 33 with you tiebreaking it, but that's not going to happen. I I I would not be in favor of something like that, but I would have to cast such a vote in that manner. Enough said. Um Okay, that would be my third vote. We had dog dog poop lights at memorial and then this but okay. Um can now that we've done that the dog poop was my favorite.

It was your favorite but I I only get I I vote very rarely. Okay. So we've got a first and second. Does anybody else have any comments on this? Okay. So all those in favor? Anyone opposed?

We have one opposition at the end. Councilman Rugo is opposed. Okay. Now therefore be it resolved that this ordinance adopted by the burl uh is adopted and the burough clerk is authorized to advertise the same according to law. Now we move to 2604 for adoption an ordinance amending chapter 310 land use article 12 zones established section 48 districts of the burough code and amending chapter 310 land use article 13 use schedule of the burough code to create a new section 53.4 for entitled T-C-2 townhouse complex district to address the burough's affordable housing obligation.

Motion to open the public hearing on ordinance 2604. Motion open. Second. Second. I think it was Councilwoman Machanga. All those in favor? I. Okay.

Now open the meeting to the public. If anyone desires to be heard on ordinance 264, please state your name and wait to be recognized. Once recognized, state your name and address for the record. Seeing nobody, I will now entertain a motion that the public hearing on ordinance 2604 be closed and that's that it be resolved that this ordinance was posted on the bulletin board on which public notices are customarily posted and published in the Bergen record and on the Burrow of Hillsdale website uh as required by public law. Copies of said ordinance were made available to the general public. Can I get a motion to close public hearing on ordinance 2604? Motion close. Second. Second. All those in favor? I

I I now take a motion to adopt 2604. Motion. Second. Second. Any discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying I. I. The motion is adopted. Now, therefore, be it resolved that this ordinance is adopted and the borrow clerk is authorized to advertise the same according to law. You're having fun with this. I know. We're moving on to adoption of 2605, an ordinance to amend chapter 310, article 33, affordable housing regulations section 1441, applicability to revise the affordable housing set aside of the burough code. Can I get a motion to open the public hearing on ordinance 26005?

Motion. Second. Okay. Second. All those in favor? I I will now open the meeting to the public. If anyone desires to be heard regard regarding ordinance 2605, please say your name and wait to be recognized. Once recognized, state your name and address for the record. Anybody wish to be recognized? Seeing no one, I will now entertain a motion to the public hearing uh on ordinance 2605 be closed and that it be resolved that this ordinance was posted on the bulletin board on which public notices are customarily posted and published to the Bergen record on the Burrow of Hillsdale website as required by public law. Copy to said ordinance were made available to the general public. Can I get a motion to close the hearing on ordinance 2605? Motion. Second. Second.

All those in favor? I. Great. Um, now we're going to the motion to adopt 2605. Can I get a motion? Motion. Second. Second. All those in favor? I. Okay. There's no discussion on that. Now, therefore, be it resolved that this ordinance is adopted and the burrow is authorized to advertise the same according to law. Now, I can take another drink of water. We are moving on to the consent agenda. um resolutions 2663 through um R2670. Does anybody want to take the consent agenda and take anything off of it? Well, how much reading will you have to do if there'll be very little reading in

So if I remove all of them, you have to read them all. I know I know where you live. Oh, okay. Then forget about Okay. Can I get a motion to accept the cons to adopt the consent agenda? Motion. Second. Second. All those in favor? I I Okay, we're going to take the off. We've tabled the offens agenda, so we can move on to that public comment now. Um, this is on any topic you wish. Um, please, it's three minutes. The attorney will keep the time. Um, and please state your name and town of residence for the record. Does anybody wish to be recognized? Please come forward. State your name for the record. Off we go.

Robin Nimmer, one drive. I just wanted to mostly say thank you. I came to listen today, but I wanted to thank you all for the opportunity to do the town hall. You guys really listened and I feel um there's been great responsiveness. I appreciate the exploration of an RF expert and I hope that person will be independent and really do a good job assessing the range of options and and hope that perhaps we can improve self-service and satisfy everybody by you know maybe finding some alternatives that work without a cell tower. So really I'm grateful that we came together as a community and I just wanted to say thank you. Thank thanks Rob.

Does anybody else wish to be recognized? No. Seeing uh no soup, come on up. Susan Stinkley, uh component here. Um I wanted to ask about the RF study because in the town hall there was a conversation that there was a tower in Riverbale that would be going live. So kind of two-part question. Do you know when that's going live? And then when would the R of study be done that be done after that went live? Because why spend money on something that is knowingly likely going to change?

Okay. It it's comment that really isn't it isn't a back and forth question. I mean if you want to submit the questions or ask the questions after the public com period we can engage in that but this is really just comment. Okay. and and my understanding is is Michael will be asking the two consultants to opine on whether that they'll have to find out a little bit more about the tower. Uh I think council knows that the discussion that we had earlier you weren't I don't think you were here who's on that tower mobile and Verizon

and Verizon. So, it's not operational yet. It will be soon, but we're going to have to rely on the consultants view as to what that tower could do. Thank you for looking into it. Okay, thanks. Um, anybody else? We have one other else. Is that it?

Okay, all the elsees have spoken. Don't feel bad. Um, okay. We'll close the public comment section and move on to concept commentaries. I begin. Uh, thank you everybody. We've just had a lot of stuff going on between the weather um and various things going down and public hearings and issues to consider. And I too am grateful that everybody is giving this all these things um the consideration that they deserve. I also want to recognize that February is Black History Month. Um just in general um we're going to I think are we having the Ramadan event before the next meeting? It's on February 12th.

Okay. So it'll be right after that. So we can comment on that at this time. I obviously encourage people to attend that. Um and those are my big comments here. It's basically thank you to our departments too. Um and everybody up here because I I really appreciate all the work. I probably make your lives a little crazy at times especially with the heat over here. But thank you. Um let's start at the other end this time uh with council commentaries. Nine. None. Good. You're good. council. Uh just want to acknowledge that next week we're going to be honoring the Hillsdale Hall Peewee Super Bowl winning football team at Sheriators. Nice. I think that's happening at 7 p.m. Yes, sir.

We will have an award for them. Okay. Council President Ki no comment. Council D. Rosa. Uh just a thank you to uh DBW again and emergency services. I was remember distinctly being on my couch and hearing the fire whistle go off and being very comfortable on my couch and saying somebody's going out right now in their car to get on a fire engine to go out. So, thank you for doing that. Congressman Camp.

Um I I already uh spoke about how thankful I am for the DPW, but the coordination across all the departments, police, uh the ambulance, uh OEM, like it was it was very impressive. They were working together and you know, we we've all spoke their praises tonight, but uh I think the residents should be recognized. They everybody got their cars off the street. Uh people stayed home largely and uh you know did their part. communicated when streets were were being blocked and we we worked together as a community. So, that's really great to see.

Okay. I I'm sorry. I'm just I would be remiss if I didn't embarrass my twins whose birthday this Friday. So, I just want to say happy 17th. Stay off the roads. They're getting their licenses. I spent today over at the Smith School um teaching parallel parking for the final time before the exam. So, good luck to everybody. Stay off the road. Uh can I get a motion to adjurnn? Motion. Second. Second. All those in favor? We are returned. The next meeting is on February 10th at 7:00 in this chamber. Thank you very much. Good night.