Borough Council - Regular Meeting

Um 317 off the consent agenda.

Off the consent. This meeting is called to order in accordance with the open public meetings law. In accordance with chapter 231 of public laws of 1975, adequate notice of this meeting has been provided. This meeting of November 17, 2025 was published in the Courier News and Star Ledger and placed on the burrow's website in Bulgen board at Burough Hall. A copy of this notice is available to the public and a copy of this statement shall be included in the minutes of this meeting. Mayor Brian Gallagher

here. Council members Theresa Bonner here. Andrew Ki here. Leniny here. Randy Pittz here. Gina Stravik here. Roger Verm here. Uh please stand for the salute to the flag and please remain standing afterwards.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. And just a uh I I'd like to ask for a moment of silence. I just got word today that a uh a long time uh uh I I he was Mr. Board of Education uh Mr. Recreation uh Ken Cornell passed away uh in the past couple of days. Um for those that don't know, Ken Cornell um was I think he he was on the board of ed we think almost 40 years. uh he was on the uh recreation commission for probably about 30 years and uh he has had such an impact on the youth of Somerville. Uh just a dynamic guy. Um his later years he spent part-time down in Florida and part-time up here in Somerville. Um, when we had the skate park, it was affectionately known as the Ken Cornell uh wheel park. And, uh, you could see him at football games, you could see him in our wreck programs. Uh, he was just a man about town and had a wonderful, wonderful impact on our burrow [clears throat] and our children. And, uh, we're going to miss him. So, please, a moment of silence. Thank you. And in 2010, Ken Cornell was also citizen of the year.

All right. Uh motion for approval of the minutes of November 3rd. So moved. Second. Discussion. Uh all uh roll call, please. Council members Theresa Bonner. Yes. Andrew Kiy, yes. Glen Deny, yes. Randy Pittz, yes. Gina Stravik, yes. Roger Ferm, yes.

All right. Departmental reports are uh and notices are as listed with the uh election day results of November 4th. Um before we get into committee reports, I just want to uh comment on a uh a couple of things. Uh one, one of our uh police officers uh uh Veto Speda um had a uh horrific fire in his home. Uh luckily uh all are okay. His wife, his children, uh everybody is fine and that's what's most important. Um what I will tell you is the outreach and the speed of that outreach of our entire community was absolutely incredible. It was nothing short of spectacular. Uh the immediacy of people stepping up to reach out to help. Um, and that goes to the character of veto and it goes to the character of the police department. And it shows what good community involvement does for a community. And uh it proves that when there is somebody in need in our community, our community stands like no other. And I'm just gratified um at the outpouring of love, compassion, help, support that uh uh all of our citizens have had for the SP Spidia family and uh so God bless. Um and then second obviously there's there was an incident on Mercer and Mastagen Drive uh over the weekend and uh while obviously it's still under investigation I would caution all to uh to wait until the facts come out behind the investigation um there is no danger to the public uh but uh let the facts come out behind the investigation uh before commenting and uh um the prosecutor's office release that as it as it moves forward. So, with that, let's go through committee reports. Andrew,

uh, historic advisory committee meets this Thursday here. Um, so if you're interested in coming and talking about the historic aspects of our municipality, we'll be here to have that conversation and give some updates on some of the efforts we're going through, but work on the portico continues and the facade and uh, we're attempting to do some some things to help support the police as they move over to the to the new space. They want to carry some of the um older items though I think there's a little bit of a conflict on one or two of them. We have to have a conversation but otherwise all good. Great. Thank you, Gina.

Uh the Somerville Rescue Squad had their monthly meeting. Uh the feature was Friendsgiving. Uh so they had a nice turkey dinner provided by the auxiliary. Um the uh the squad will have um significant presence at the upcoming uh holiday events. Um and um they continue to serve our community. Uh they're also uh in the process of accepting new members. There'll be new courses in January. So uh reach out uh to the squad or uh myself for uh help on that. And then the board of health will meet uh this Wednesday uh the 19th uh Warren Street at the county office building. So if anyone has any board of health concerns, uh that'd be a perfect time to bring them up. Great. Thank you, Glenn.

Great. Thanks, Mayor. Fire department has been very busy. October, they responded to 58 different calls uh including four top four fires and two motor vehicle crashes. Uh on a happier news, the holiday lights parade is coming on December 6th. Starts at dusk around 6 p.m. Uh the lights parade registration is in full swing. Expect more apparatus this year and even better parade. Uh and the maps program from the Somerville High School is will be assisting in decorating the Sunville apparatus on Thursday, December 4th. So great to include the high school as well. Uh, also, uh, on a happy holiday note, get ready for Santa and the Summerville Fire Department to deliver some gifts. So, you can go online and find the form and wrap the gifts, drop them off at the emergency services facility. And we want to give a big thank you to Tammy Stuchko,

STCO,

Stutcho, sorry, Tammy Stutchov, who has headed this event for over a decade and brought joy all around the town. I know my own children have enjoyed uh, their special delivery as well. Uh you can find the form at somerville fdfd.org uh for this year's form. Uh presents are already being dropped off now. And then excuse me, as far as the environmental commission, they uh met last week and uh just to recap on October 10th, they had volunteers that supported the beautifification efforts at the Wallace House and the Old Dutch parsonage. Uh leaf pickup will continue uh start October 27th, goes all the way to December 6th. Uh the environmental commission would like to urge you to also consider composting your leaves or using them as mulch or even mowing them to help fertilize your lawn. On November the 22nd, uh you can join the green team from 10 to 1 at the J Scott Memorial Garden as they clean up and put it to bed for the winter. Uh you may also schedule a free home energy assessment with PSENG and you can find that information on the burrow website uh on the environmental commission's uh quick links. Uh, additionally, they submitted feedback to the master plan uh about the master plan to the planning board. And then as an an interesting note, there is a route 222 long-term project. Today's the last day to comment on that. It's a state project. You can go to ww.rt22cord longterm.com and you can uh make comments on that. They're working on uh planning various driveway improvements along 22 and even talking about uh adding a new entrance to 287 just north of the Bridgewater Commons Mall. So, you can take a look at their present presentation there, route 22quarter longterm.com. And then uh there will be no December meeting for the environmental commission, but we do look forward to seeing you in 2026 on Tuesday the 13th at 7 pm right here at the Civic Center. So, thank you. Lots to do.

Great. Thank you. Thanks, Teresa.

Thank you. Um, so the Municipal Alliance New Services Commission did not meet this month, so I don't have an update from that. Uh, but the, uh, grand reopening of the Somerville Public Library was a great success, uh, not this past weekend, but the weekend before. Um, tons of people were there celebrating, uh, the reopening. Um, there was a harpist, there was delicious chai from Dosi and Chai, uh, who graciously donated her product. Um, and we had a couple commissioners there to help with the, uh, ribbon cutting as well. Um, so, you know, we they encourage everyone to come and visit Somerville Library, see what the new layout is with everything on the one main floor. Um, and uh, also as of today, the Somerset County Library System, which includes a Somerville Library, um, is now joining the main library alliance, which means that there are more books, more media um, that we can access that we were not able to access before. So, uh, if you go on the app and reserve things, there's way more materials there that you can reserve. Um, and they're very excited about that. And, uh, the public safety committee will be meeting this Thursday, uh, the 20th at 6 PM right here at the Civic Center. If anybody has any questions or concerns for the public safety committee, please come and join us then. That's it.

Okay, great. Thank you, Randy. Thank you, Mayor. Uh the DS days holidays happening in downtown Somerville. Uh the calendar event starts on November 27th, which is small business Saturday. That's the day to shop and support our burrow small businesses. Yes. Including mine. December 5th from 5:00 to 9:00 p.m. is this is Somerville's holiday Jubilee tree lighting which is on Division Street. Uh Santa will be there. And following that, as Councilman noted, the next day, December 6th, starting around 6 PM, is the Somerville Fire Department light parade. Santa, I guess it starts at 6. I would

check the website. Yeah, let's not give out the wrong information. [laughter] And I was about to say for more details, visit downtownrville.org. That is it. Thank you. Thank you. Roger. I have noted. All right. Excellent. All right. Uh, at this point, I will ask for a motion to open to the public. So moved. Discussion. Roll call. Council members. Theresa Bonner. Yes. Andrew Ki. Yes. Glen Deny. Yes. Randy Pittz. Yes. Gina Stravik. Yes. Roger Ferm. Yes.

All right. Public portion is now open. Please state your name and address for the record and please address your comments to make. Tim Hayes, 52 Grant Avenue. And uh on behalf of John Kennedy and myself, I just wanted to congratulate Gina, my friend and my neighbor, and Roger on their victory two weeks ago. So very well done. I enjoyed the campaign. I love to talk and meet people. I love to walk. So walking and talking, I got to do both of those things. But it was a very interesting experience and I just want to congratulate the both of you. Um thought it went, you know, it was uh a a very good experience. Now I'm dieseling a little bit. I apologize for that. But congrats, Gina. Congrats, Roger. I'll take it home.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Tim. Thank you. Any other public comment? Hearing none, I'll ask for a motion to close. So moved. Second. Discussion. Roll call. Council members Theresa Bonner. Yes. Andrew Ki. Yes. Lendon A. Yes. Randy Pittz. Yes. Tina Stravik. Yes. Roger F. Yes. Our public portion is now closed. Um and I think that's what uh is is very special also about Somerville that our our campaigns are campaigns to help our town and they don't get personal.

They uh they are there to try to put forward good people who are trying to do good things for a great community. So thank you Tim. Um, ordinances for public hearing and adoption. Ordinance 2776 uh amending ordinance 2757 as noted establishing a salary range for employee titles to be paid to certain officers and employees of the burrow of Somerville. This is housekeeping. We continually adjust during the course of the year the uh the titles and the salary adjustments uh between those titles. Um I will ask for a motion to open the public hearing. So moved. Second. Discussion. Roll call. Council members Theresa Bonner. Yes. Andrew Ki. Yes. Glendon. Yes.

Randy Pitts. Yes. Gina Stravik. Yes. Roger Verm. Yes. Public hearing is now open. Hearing none. I'll ask for a motion to close. So moved. Second. Discussion. Roll call. Council members. Theresa Bonner. Yes. Andrew Kiy. Yes. Glen Deny. Yes. Randy Pitts. Yes. Gina Stravik. Yes. Roger Verm. Yes. All right. Uh, can I have a motion for adoption? So move. Second. Discussion. Roll call. Council members Theresa Bonner, yes. Andrew Ki, yes. Glen Deny, yes. Randy Pittz, yes. Gina Stravik, yes. Roger Ferm, yes.

All right. Uh, ordinance 2778 is amending chapter 166, schedule 3 entitled no stopping or standing on the west side of Gro Street at the intersection of East Summit Street. I think that's fairly self-explanatory. Uh, so I ask for a motion for to open the public hearing. So move. Second. Discussion. Roll call. Council members Theresa Bonner. Yes. Andrea Ki. Yes. Glen Zani. Yes. Randy Pitts, yes. Gina Stravik, yes. Roger Verm, yes. All right. Uh, public hearing is now open. Hearing none, ask for a motion to close. So moved. Second. Discussion. Roll call. Council members Theresa Bonner. Yes. Andrew Ki. Yes. Glen A. Yes. Randy Pitts. Yes. Gina Stravik. Yes. Roger Fur. Yes. All right. Um, motion for adoption, please. So move.

Second. Discussion. Roll call. Council members. Theresa Bonner. Yes. Andrew Ki. Yes. Glendee. Yes. Randy Pitts. Yes. Gina Stravik. Yes. Roger Verm. Yes. All right. Uh, consent resolutions. We will pull 317 off for a separate vote. Uh, any others to be pulled off for further discussion?

All right. Uh, 314 authorizing an agreement with the Downtown Somerville Alliance to utilize space located at 24 South Bridge Street for storage. 315 is approving chapter 159 from the National Opioid Settlement Trust, Walmart. 316 is approving a new taxi driver's license for the year 2526. 318 is designating the Somerville Civic Center as the polling location for District 8 and requesting an inspection of the facilities by the Somerset County Board of Elections. 319 is authorizing transfer of funds to fund certain line items in the 25 budget. Do we have a motion? So moved. Second. Roll call. Council members Theresa Bonner. Yes. Andrew Kiy, yes. Glend, yes. Randy Pitts, yes. Gina Stravik, yes. Roger Verm, yes.

All right. 317 is authorizing and directing the planning board of the Burough of Somerville to amend the West Main Street development plan to include blocks and lots as noted shown on the official tax map of the burrow as determined to be an area in need of redevelopment, specifically a non-condemnation redevelopment area pursuant to the local redevelopment and housing law as noted. Do we have a motion? So moved. Second. Discussion. Roll call. Council members Theresa Bonner. Yes. Andrew Ki. Yes. Glen Deny. Yes. Randy Pittz recuse. Gina Stravik. Yes. Roger F. Yes. All right. Bills and vouchers. Roger.

We got a big one today, Mayor. Uh it's fourth quarter, so that means fourth quarter taxes are being paid out to uh to the schools to the county. Um so the amount that I make a motion to pay bills and vouchers is 10 million 329,539. Second discussion. Roll call. Council members Terresa Bonner. Yes. Andrew Ki. Yes. Glen Deny. Yes. Randy Pitts. Yes. Gina Stravik. Yes. Roger Verm. Yes. All right. And I will ask uh Teresa for a motion for adjournment. I'd like to make a motion to adjourn. Please. Second.

Discussion. All in favor? I opposed. This meeting is adjourned.