Township Council - Regular Meeting

Okay, thank you. Good evening, everyone. This is a regular meeting in the Township Council of Montclair and is being broadcast live on Channel 34. It's streaming live on TV 34 YouTube channel. It's available on demand and can and will be rebroadcast. This meeting is called pursuant to the provisions of the Open Public Meeting Act. The meeting was included in the revised annual notice of meeting schedule as set forth in Resolution R-26-064, adopted by the Township Council at its regular meeting of February 10, 2026. advertised in the official newspaper on February 26 26 posted on the township website and bulletin boards outside of our municipal building and has remained continuously posted in addition a copy of the revised annual notice is and has been available to the public and is on file in the office of our township clerk please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance 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.

Roll call, Madam Clerk, please, whenever you're ready. Thank you, Mayor. Deputy Mayor Anderson? Here. Council Birmingham absent. Councilor Harrison?

Here.

I'm sorry, Councilor D'Amato?

Present. Good evening.

Good evening. Councillor Toller? Good evening. Present. Good evening. Councillor Williams absent. Mayor Baskerville? Present.

Thank you. At this point in time, we are going to go have a resolution authorizing the executive session of the mayor and the council of the Township of Montclair without the public being permitted to attend in accordance with NJSA 10 colon 4 dash 12 B. Whereas while the Open Public Meeting Act of the State of New Jersey generally requires that all meetings of public bodies be open to the public, Section 8 of the Open Public Meeting Act further provides that a public body may lawfully exclude the public from a portion of a meeting which the public body discusses any or all of the items that are listed under NJSA 10 colon 4-12 B and whereas the regular meeting of the mayor and the council will reconvene following the executive session at approximately 7 p.m. this evening I would like to make a motion that we go into the executive session for the purpose of discussing redevelopment and personnel matters and

And to also discuss other redevelopment matters that are going on with the building.

So would that come under the redevelopment matters that I stated that we'd be discussing?

Yes, ma'am, and Oprah matters. And Oprah matters. Oprah. Open Public Records Act as well.

Okay, and the Open Public Records Act as well.

Yes, ma'am.

Thank you. So those are the three topics that we are expected to discuss, and we are hoping to reconvene as close to 7 p.m. as we can. And I so move.

Second. Second.

All in favor?

Aye.

Any opposed? Thank you. I'd like to make a motion that we exit the executive session of the township meeting and be it further resolved that the mayor and the council of the township of Montclair hereby declare that the minutes of the discussion of the aforementioned subjects may be made public, consistent with NJSA 10 colon 41 dash 3, solely at a time when the items which are subject to the executive session discussion are resolved. And the township attorney advises that a reason for confidentiality no longer exists. And I so move.

Second.

all in favor any opposed thank you I'm sorry, are you doing the national NMSF? Because they had both of these in your chair.

These are just because not everybody signed these. We already did the proclamations last month. Okay, thanks.

Are there two? Then we have the Caribbean, Caribbean American American. Proclamations, Caribbean American, ovarian cancer, any takers?

Okay.

Yeah, we're doing that right now. Eileen, did you want to do ovarian cancer? Okay, so now I'm just, that wasn't, I'm not trying to put you on the spot.

I'm just trying to give everybody an opportunity.

You're doing the dog. You're doing the dog. Guess who's barking?

I'm going to the restroom.

Yeah, I am too. Save a stall for me.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. you Thank you.

I remember you. Good. Congratulations.

Thank you.

Thank you. okay all right they're gonna do the um

What's the date? October 3rd.

What is October 3rd? You know they do the fire prevention funding. Uh-huh.

So put it on your calendar now. It's October 3rd.

Girl, I don't even know who October is anymore, but I'll be there. I took my calendar to the car so I wouldn't lose it.

Okay, I'll remind you. He's going to send me a flyer.

Okay.

so rahul hasn't signed these yet all right he just holds on to me

Hello. Thank you.

Good evening, everyone. Can you hear me now? My name is Robert Duncan. I'm the fire chief of the Montclair Fire Department. Welcome to Department swearing in and thank you all for attending. I'd like to thank the manager, our mayor, and council for having us here this special occasion. I know you guys have a long night ahead of you, so we'll try to keep this moving. I'd like to give a little special recognition to, I know I saw him here somewhere, one of our retired fire chiefs, Kevin Allen, our retired deputy chief, Mike Leza. I know he was supposed to be here. I don't know if he is or not, but our retired fire chief, Bob McLaughlin. He said he was coming. I don't know if he's here or not. And also, I know she can't make it, but our HR director, Alicia Dawkins, you know, she works with a lot of work into these events, and we couldn't have this here without her. I also recognize Chief Evanesi over there in the corner as well. So tonight isn't just about titles being handed out. It's about honoring the journey that brought each one of these members here. Behind every promotion is a story of long shifts, hard-earned skills, and a willingness to put others first. And tonight we're not only recognizing that journey, we're also witnessing the beginning of a new journey as we welcome our newest member. What you see tonight is a result of that commitment, and I couldn't be more honored to stand alongside this team. At this time, we'll invite our manager up to conduct the swearing-ins. First, we'll be swearing in Thomas Hargrave, the deputy chief.

You can stand right here. And you guys can stand right here. Ready? Oh. Ready? Yep. Okay.

I state your name.

I, Thomas Hargraves, do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of New Jersey and that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same and to the governments established in the United States and in this State under the authority of the people I do further solemnly swear that I will faithfully, impartially, and justly perform all the duties of Deputy Chief of the Township of Montclair Fire Department according to the best of my ability. So help me God. Congratulations.

We will now swear in David Hill to the rank of battalion chief. Dave, please come up with your family.

I state your name.

I, David Hill.

Do solemnly swear.

Do solemnly swear.

That I will support the Constitution.

That I will support the Constitution.

Of the United States.

Of the United States.

And the Constitution.

And the Constitution.

Of the state of New Jersey.

Of the state of New Jersey.

And that I will bear true faith.

And that I will bear true faith And allegiance to the same And to the governments established In the United States And in this state Under the authority of the people I do further solemnly swear That I will faithfully Impartially And justly perform All the duties of

battalion chief battalion chief of the township of montclair fire department of the township of montclair fire department according to the best of my ability according to the best of my ability so help me god so help me god congratulations

I'm like, I don't know where to go.

We will now swear in John Fiore to the rank of battalion chief. John, please come up with your family.

Hi. Fred? I state your name.

I, John Fierro.

Do solemnly swear.

Do solemnly swear.

That I will support the Constitution.

That I will support the Constitution.

Of the United States.

Of the United States.

And the Constitution.

And the Constitution. Of the state of New Jersey. Of the state of New Jersey.

And that I will bear true faith.

And that I will bear true faith.

And allegiance to the same.

And allegiance to the same.

And to the governments established.

And to the governments established.

In the United States.

In the United States.

And in this state.

And in this state.

Under the authority of the people.

Under the authority of the people.

I do further solemnly swear.

I do further solemnly swear.

That I will faithfully.

That I will faithfully.

Impartially.

Impartially.

And justly perform.

And justly perform.

All the duties of.

All the duties of.

Battalion Chief.

Battalion Chief.

Of the Township of Montclair Fire Department.

Of the Township of Montclair Fire Department.

According to the best of my ability.

According to the best of my ability. So help me God. So help me God.

Congratulations.

We will now swear in William Roth to the rank of captain. Bill, come up with your family, please.

Thank you.

I stay your name.

I William Roth.

Do solemnly swear.

Do solemnly swear.

That I will support the Constitution.

That I will support the Constitution.

Of the United States.

Of the United States.

And the Constitution.

And the Constitution.

Of the state of New Jersey.

Of the state of New Jersey.

And that I will bear true faith.

And I will bear true faith.

And allegiance to the same.

And allegiance to the same.

And to the governments established.

And to the governments established. In the United States. In the United States.

And in this state. And in this state. Under the authority of the people. under the authority of the people i do further solemnly swear i do further solemnly swear that i will faithfully that i will faithfully impartially impartially and justly perform and justly perform all the duties of all the duties of captain captain of the township of montclair fire department of the township of montclair fire department according to the best of my ability according to the best of my ability so help me god so help me god congratulations thank you very much

Before we call our next one up, I didn't see him before, we'd like to recognize Brendan Gill here as well, who's there in the back. So we will now swear in Samuel Benson to the rank of captain. Sam, please come up with your family.

I state your name.

I Samuel Benson.

Do solemnly swear.

Do solemnly swear.

That I will support the Constitution.

That I will support the Constitution.

Of the United States.

Of the United States.

And the Constitution.

And the Constitution.

Of the state of New Jersey.

Of the state of New Jersey.

And that I will bear true faith.

And I will bear true faith.

And allegiance to the same.

And allegiance to the same.

And to the governments established.

And to the governments established.

In the United States.

In the United States.

And in this state.

And in this state.

Under the authority of the people. under the authority of the people, I do further solemnly swear that I will faithfully, impartially, and justly perform all the duties of Captain of the Township of Montclair Fire Department according to the best of my ability.

So help me God.

Congratulations.

We will now swear in Keith Forenz to the rank of captain. Keith, come on up with your family.

I state your name.

I, Keith Forenz.

Do solemnly swear.

Do solemnly swear.

That I will support the Constitution.

that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the state of New Jersey and that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same and to the governments established in the United States and in this state under the authority of the people under the authority of the people I do further solemnly swear I do further solemnly swear that I will faithfully that I will faithfully impartially impartially and justly perform and justly perform all the duties of all the duties of Captain Captain of the Township of Montclair Fire Department of the Township of Montclair Fire Department according to the best of my ability according to the best of my ability so help me God so help me God congratulations

We will now swear in Anthony Padilla as probationary firefighter. Anthony, please come up with your family.

I state your name. I, Anthony Padilla, do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the state of New Jersey and that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same and to the governments established and to the governments established in the United States, and in this state, under the authority of the people, I do further solemnly swear that I will faithfully, impartially, and justly perform all the duties of probationary firefighter of the Township of Montclair Fire Department,

the township of montclair fire department according to the best of my ability according to the best of my ability so help me god so help me god congratulations

To everyone taking on a new role tonight, understand what is being asked of you, not just to do the job well, but to guide those coming up behind you. This profession runs on tradition, but it grows stronger every time someone steps up to carry it forward. Keep raising the bar for yourselves, look out for each other, and never lose sight of the community you signed up to protect. At this time, the mayor has a few words for all of you.

Thank you very much. Good evening, everyone. Chief Duncan, members of the Montclair Fire Department, my colleagues on the Township Council, Deputy Mayor Susan Shen Anderson, Bill Harrison, Eric D'Amato, Eileen Birmingham, Rahoom Williams and Councilor Amina Toler and Township Manager Marks, distinguished guests and most importantly the family, friends and loved ones that are gathered here tonight. What a wonderful evening this is and I am honored to be able to be here to participate. I want to take just a moment to recognize the leadership that helps us to make a strong and safe community. All of us are interconnected in this process. Our township manager, Marks. Manager Marks oversees the day-to-day operations of our entire township. That is an enormous responsibility, and we are grateful for his leadership, his dedication, and his commitment to ensuring that our municipal government continues to serve our residents' efficiency.

Thank you very much.

Manager Marks. And to my council colleagues, thank you all for your tireless work, everything that you do on behalf of Montclair each and every day and nighttime as well throughout the night. You are continually evaluating the needs and challenging our community, creating policies that make difficult decisions and working to ensure that our resources and our finances support what we believe is going to be the best interest of Montclair and all of its residents and visitors and I am so grateful for our Township Council. That work may not always be visible, but it's essential to the strength of our township. And then there are the people who take those policies, resources, training, and leadership, and they turn them into service on the ground when our residents need it the most. And that brings me to Chief Robert Duncan. Chief Duncan, your leadership and your outstanding work that you continue to do on behalf of the Montclair Fire Department and our community are second to none. I am so grateful for you and your leadership. You understand that a great department is built not only on skill and discipline, but on character, on courage, teamwork, and deep commitment to the people that you serve. And tonight we're going to celebrate that commitment. It's my distinguished honor to recognize Thomas Hargrave, who was promoted to the deputy chief, David Hill and John Fierro, who were both promoted to battalion chief, William Roth, Sam Benston, and Keith Varennes, promoted to captain, and Anthony Padilla, promoted to probationary firefighters. Let's give them all a round of applause. These promotions represent much more than a new title or a new stripe on your uniform. They represent trust. They represent responsibility and leadership. And that's what makes this profession so extraordinary. being a firefighter is about putting out fires for sure but it's about so much more it's about walking into places where others are walking out and it's about responding when someone is having the worst day of their lives and it's about rescuing comforting educating and preventing and mentoring to others and protecting it's about being there for our residents in moments of fear in moments of uncertainty and crisis. And sometimes it's simply about showing up and showing our community that we are here and we care. to the family and the loved ones who are here with us tonight, we celebrate you too. Every firefighter has someone in their corner that understands the sacrifice, that understands the late nights, that understand the interrupted dinners and missed birthday parties. And they worry, and we know what that is to you. And so we want to thank you so much for being there. And we appreciate you for continuing to be a part of our Montclair community. Thank you. To our newly promoted firefighters, Montclair is proud of you. We thank you for your courage We honor your commitment and we trust you with an even greater responsibility to lead, to serve, and to protect. Congratulations and thank you so much for your service.

Thank you very much, Mayor, for those kind words. Really appreciate it. Will everyone please rise for the retirement of the department colors? thank you everyone for attending this concludes the swearing-in ceremony thank you to our honor guard and those who worked on this event thank you again to the manager mayor and council um there will be a celebration right after said just jakes everyone in attendance is uh on park street everyone in attendance is invited to uh attend thank you all and good night

Thank you.

Thank you.

yeah yeah yeah Thank you.

Here we go, here we go.

Thank you, drinks on a minotaur.

Okay, thank you very much. Now, next up we're going to do proclamations.

do me a favor tell them they can go to second floor conference

Thank you everyone. We're going to proceed with the council meeting. Thank you so much for coming. We have a conference room upstairs on the second floor if you'd like to take more pictures. Otherwise, just Jake's is a great background. I see you there.

Oh, I think I have one. Thank you.

So, this meeting on. The meeting on.

Okay, thank you, everyone. So next up, we're going to have proclamations. Are there people here this evening who would like to receive the proclamation for the Caribbean American Heritage Month? Is there anyone here to receive the proclamation? Okay. Okay. We have a proclamation for Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month. Are there individuals here who would like to come down and receive the proclamation for Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month? Okay.

Thank you.

100th anniversary of the Neighborhood Child and Infant Care Center. Are there individuals here to receive? I see you, Beak. All right.

Good.

Hey, Eddie. Eddie, how are you? Good to see you. Okay. The proclamation will be read by Deputy Mayor Sushin Anderson.

welcome welcome um so it's my pleasure to uh present this proclamation in honor of the 100th anniversary of the Neighborhood Child and Infant Care Center. It's a wonderful child care center that's been, you know, part of the small care community for a century now, and they're celebrating this week at a gala celebration. So just to tell you a little bit more about this, whereas the Neighborhood Child and Infant Care Center, founded in 1926 by the Junior League of Montclair-Newark, has served as a steadfast pillar of early childhood education in Montclair and the surrounding communities for a full century, Whereas NCICC began as a small two-bedroom neighborhood initiative created to support working families, providing safe nurturing care during a time when childcare options were scarce, and quickly became known as a trusted haven where the neighborhood raises its children. And whereas over the past 100 years, NCICC has expanded into a multi-classroom program serving infants, toddlers, and preschoolers, offering developmentally appropriate, culturally responsive, and relationship-centered early learning experiences that honor the whole child, And I think you'll also provide aftercare services for public school children as well. And whereas NCICC has touched the lives of thousands of children and families, many of whom return as parents, volunteers, educators, and community leaders, demonstrating the center's profound and lasting impact across generations, And whereas NCICC has contributed to the broader community through partnerships with local organizations, participation in neighborhood initiatives, and its long-standing commitment to family engagement, advocacy, and equitable access to high-quality early childhood education. And whereas under the leadership of Executive Director Avisa Beek-Penniston, NCICC achieved national accreditation through NAEYC, strengthened its professional development for staff, expanded enrichment opportunities, and upheld the highest standards of early childhood practice. And whereas NCICC continues to provide home-cooked meals, outdoor learning experiences, trauma-informed care, and a warm, inclusive environment that reflects its mission to nurture confident, capable, and joyful learners, And whereas the center's 100-year milestone stands as a testament to its resilience, its dedicated educators, its supportive families, and its unwavering belief that every child deserves a safe, loving, and enriching place to grow. Now, therefore, the Mayor and Council of the Township of Montclair do hereby recognize and celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Neighborhood Child and Infant Care Center. We honor its century-long legacy of care, education, and community service. We extend our deepest appreciation to the staff, family, alumni, volunteers, and leadership whose commitment has sustained NCICC for generations. And finally, we commend NCICC for its continued dedication to children and families, and we look forward to supporting its mission for many more years to come.

Thank you so much, Deputy Mayor. I'd just also like to say that this is family and community at its best. As we celebrate the 100 years, not only are we celebrating the years, but we are celebrating people that were grown right here in our Montclair, many in our fourth ward of Montclair who were raised there. and then who came back and who reached back and lifted up others behind them and now are educators there. Such people, we have Eddie, right, Eddie? I remember Eddie when he was just a little wee one. But I'm just saying this is Montclair at its finest. I am very proud and honored to say that my grandfather, Charles Baskerville, Sr., was one of the founding members, and we will celebrate with them. And we want to invite all of you all to come and celebrate with us this Friday. Friday we are going to recognize one of our own, Fourth Ward Councilwoman Amina Toller. She is being recognized. And again, this is something that we really should celebrate most because they understand the needs of the community and they continue to provide for us. Cousin Beek, I am so grateful to you for everything that you've done. And the road hasn't always been easy, but still we stand and we reach back and we lift up.

So thank you all. Congratulations.

And Cous, take it away.

Take it away, Cous.

Thank you so much. Thank you, Renee, cuz, for always being in the backbone of this program. As one of the founding recipients who have always said, we did 85 years. So just- No, but we did 85, but we honored you then. so yes we just want to thank the township for your support for always being there for us as the mayor said it had not always been easy but we stuck it out and I'm one who is very strong in faith And even though sometimes get discouraged by people saying you should close, you don't have, I said, when God tells me to, I will. And so we're here as a testimony to celebrate 100 years. And thank you, thank you, thank you. And we will celebrate, you know, we are a team. And Amina, I told her at our meet and greet, I'm not gonna be long, that there were names there and I do my reading and research before I vote. And along with voting for Renee, I voted for Amina because I saw the trailblazer and the fighter in her when it comes to supporting the Fourth Ward. And so we don't just give out honors. We recognize the work that people are doing in the community. And so this is a well-deserving honor. And so we look forward to big celebration on Friday. Thank you all so much. Look forward to seeing most of you, not all of you. And on behalf of the board president and myself and the rest of the team, thank you so much.

Okay, and so I think that that is the – oh, no, we have another proclamation. Oh, photo op. Okay, photo op. I'm in.

I'm in. I'm sorry to hear that. I want to jump in now. Come on. Come on. Don't be shy. Come on. All right.

Okay, everybody. Beautiful. Come on now. Just like school. One, two, three. One more for safety. One, two, three. Beautiful.

Thank you. Thank you.

so our final proclamation for this evening is for the care center service dog month do we have people that are here for that I was hoping that we had a care center service dog with us this evening okay okay Oh, no, no, no. But now you can do, Eric. I understand that the person that's going to accept the Caribbean American Heritage Month is here. Yes. Okay. I'm going to call, please, the individual that's here to receive the Caribbean American Heritage Month proclamation.

all right so maybe people are wondering why I want to do this it's very it's a part of the world that I actually have spent a lot of time and have some ties and I'll just put it this way is there any other member of the council that has cooked curried goat at home this year I said this year all right oxtails too Whereas Caribbean American Heritage Month is observed annually in June and serves as a time to recognize and celebrate the rich history, culture, and contributions of Caribbean Americans to the United States, Caribbean diaspora has played a significant role in shaping American society across numerous sectors including government, education, healthcare, business, the arts, and aviation. This observance highlights the enduring legacy of Caribbean people and their influence on the culture and economic fabric of the nation. And whereas the effort to formally recognize Caribbean American Heritage Month began in the late 1990s led by the Institute of Caribbean Studies and dedicated advocates who sought to bring national attention to the contributions of Caribbean Americans, and their descendants. In 2004, Dr. Claire Nelson launched the official campaign to designate June as National Caribbean American Heritage Month. These efforts led to a legislative milestone when a bipartisan resolution was introduced in the US Congress. I'll skip ahead a little bit. Whereas Caribbean American Heritage Month also serves as an opportunity to educate the broader public about the diverse cultures, languages, and traditions of the Caribbean from music and cuisine to literature and festivals. It represents a vibrant mosaic of cultures that has enriched the American experience, and that is so very true. And in keeping with this spirit, the second annual Caribbean American Heritage Month celebration was held on June 27th, 2026 at the Montclair Art Museum in New Jersey, founded by Anthony Thomas, a volunteer at the MAM. The annual celebration serves as a local platform to recognize the contributions, achievements, and cultural heritage of Caribbean Americans. So whereas Caribbean American Heritage Month continues to gain visibility, it reinforces the importance of honoring diversity, promoting inclusion, and recognizing the valuable contribution of Caribbean Americans celebrations at both the national and local level serve not only as cultural observances but also as opportunities to strengthen community ties foster civic engagement and inspire future generations for years to come now therefore the mayor and the Council of the township of Montclair do hereby dedicate and proclaim June and I would say also September and October as Caribbean American Heritage Months and celebrate the great diversity of our residents. Thank you so much.

I'll be very brief, but good evening, everyone. It's a pleasure being here with Mayor Dr. Rene Baskerville and . Councillor Tola, and thanks for your support from the beginning. As the proclamation said, I'm a volunteer at a museum, but that's of great need. Caribbean American Heritage Month, a lot of folks don't know it exists, and with It's our responsibility to educate and promote and support. So I approached the museum and the director was kind enough to offer the facility for us to do the event. So Mayor Baskerville, I reached out to her blindly. I don't live in Montclair. But I love Montclair. So when the prices go down a little, I'll try and move here. But, you know, she endorsed it from the beginning along with Councillor Tola. And, you know, it just goes to show that we all can make a difference. Regardless of who we are and who knows. So thank you very much and I appreciate it.

Thank you very much. And I'd just also like to say that today marks the beginning of the Hispanic Heritage Month, as we have grown to know it on our calendar. Of course, we celebrate our Hispanic heritage every day, but I just wanted to let you know that we have things planned in the township of Montclair, so please go on our township website and other places to stay tuned. The thing that is coming up that I'm aware of at this moment is on this Sunday in the Montclair Art Museum. It's a gala. It's a lot of fun, dancing, music, good vibes, so if you're around, come on and let's celebrate. Thank you.

I don't even see where did I put my phone um i'm sorry Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you. I'm sorry. I know, but I keep going.

OK, so next up, we have the approval of the minutes. Has everyone been presented the minutes of our August 11, 2026 meeting? Are there any corrections or additions? I'd like to make a motion to adopt. Second. All in favor?

Aye.

Any opposed?

Yes. I wasn't here for two meetings. Abstentions. Abstentions for both. Thank you. Thank you.

Next up, we have our health department presentation on rodent activity.

This is something we all need to hear. Yes, and just before Ms. Monaco speaks, I want to thank- Councillor Tolar. Sure. I just want to thank the Health Department at the last minute for agreeing to do a small presentation. It shouldn't take long. We've had an uptick in many residents emailing with many, many concerns regarding rodents. And again, the Health Department agreed to come in last minute to just share some pertinent information to help us get this under control I call it rodent patrol like paw patrol but she didn't want to name it that so yes thank you good evening director Monica

okay so I wanted him involved in the conversation because of the solid waste piece of it so we definitely have been seeing an uptick in reports really across the township and so you know the biggest factor there's several factors right that contribute to rodent activity But garbage not being placed in bins, left in bags, dumpsters that have holes and have grease on them, all of these things are really an attractant. The other things that also attract rodents naturally are water, and we have a lot of waterways running throughout town, and development. So anytime there's construction, that basically releases usually you know a significant amount of rats because there's burrows in the ground and so you know i've talked to um and mr marks has talked to the construction official when we're going to try to do something in terms of requiring people who apply for permits to have a road and control plan in place and excellent pre-baiting and then throughout the process up until the end when the ceo is issued so that hopefully will help with that component but definitely the you know solid waste is a big issue and there's lots of little things people can do on their property and I actually have a handout I put out and back but when people have complaints please the main thing is to contract into the portal to report an issue that's on the front page because then we can track it it gets routed to the right department And, you know, we have a sense then of where the reports are coming from. And I imagine with GovPilot, we'll have something similar, which will probably be more sophisticated. And so that sort of across departments, we'll be able to see really what's happening. So, Michael, do you want to say a few words about the sanitation piece?

So one thing we are doing prior to me being put in this position is they hire two refuse inspectors part time. They're going to be going around traveling the routes, inspecting how people are placing their garbages out, and giving out tickets as part of enforcement. One will be onboarded in the next two weeks, and then the second one will be followed shortly after. They'll go through their training, and then hopefully we can get ahead of this and curve the issue that we have in town. That is our ultimate goal, obviously.

So I believe code enforcement will still be playing a role in this?

Yeah, code enforcement will still be able to enforce the code from their end, but this will just increase the capacity where we can send these to employees directly from Public Works to go inspect any complaints that we may get. So it is something we are, again, working to get implemented. They'll be trained by code enforcement. They offered to help train them. So we'll also have our... REFUGE SUPERVISOR CRAIG, HE'S GOING TO TAKE THEM OUT ON THE ROUTES. MR. BRANDON'S GOING TO SHOW THEM PLACES. SO IT'S SOMETHING WE'RE REALLY WORKING TO HELP RECTIFY THE ISSUE, AS NO ONE WANTS TO SEE RATS ANYWHERE. IT'S NOT A LOVELY SITE.

RIGHT. SO IT'S REALLY A MULTIPLE

can you just use the mic so the people yeah thanks so it's really a multi-pronged approach we need to you know residents need to do their part and maintain their properties you know disposing of trash properly restaurant owners businesses you know the township needs to follow through on the enforcement piece and making sure people are complying so it's really all of us and so we need to kind of coordinate that that effort and so we don't work closely with Michael until a permanent person is installed and hopefully we'll make a little bit of a dent but rodent activity just it also sort of goes up and down season you know like certain years you don't see a lot of activity and then some years you do so what drove it this year to you know get to this level I'm not really sure I don't you know think anyone really has that answer but we'll do what we can so

Thank you. Councillor Tolar.

Yep. I just wanted to again restate what you just mentioned that people should go on the township website and report a problem.

Absolutely.

Tracking is going to help your department and your department kind of hone down on what it is we need to do. Right. So report a problem on the township website.

Yes. quicker even then you know because it'll get routed right to the department if it goes to mayor and council right then you have to sift through the email send it to us so it's really beneficial you know for everyone just to you know submit it to the portal and it's on the back there's some handouts back there okay okay and we'll put the handout on the website or the information yeah okay thank you again for being here thank you for the last minute council Birmingham

thank you both for being here I have seen in like Bloomfield Hoboken they're having similar sort of uptick and rats and so just looking at what other towns are doing I I'm wondering about some additional legislation that we might do here. Things like, I'm not clear that we have grease trap and requirements for cleaning grease. Grease is a big attractor of rodents, right? It's not clear to me that we have strong enough grease management policies here just looking at our codes we have a lot of restaurants right we have a lot of grease it just follows to me i feel like we should look at that and maybe we could look at that we had a strong ordinance in bloomfield when i was there yes so so go ahead so in terms of grease trap you also have passaic valley sewage commission comes in and samples the grease traps of all the restaurants any restaurant is required to register with them Right, but I know like Maplewood, Bloomfield, they have rules on how often you have to clean it, all of these things that I think would potentially cut down. The other thing that I'm curious about is, and maybe you could explain how this works, We all have our garbage that we put out, like we have our day Tuesday and Friday or whatever that we put in a can, residential. How does it work for the businesses? Because those are sometimes what I see is you see businesses who are putting out three, four, five bags of garbage. What do we need to do to prevent that?

So are you talking about specifically restaurants or just businesses in general?

I will just say businesses in general. Yeah. But maybe restaurants are most important because they have the food that they're probably throwing out. Yeah.

I mean, restaurants typically are actually, I can't say all the time, better about it because we sort of instill in them the importance of it, not that they're always compliant. think sometimes it's restaurants and sometimes what happens is tenants in apartment buildings if they don't have enough trash you know like access to disposal in their building mm-hmm they'll end up throwing stuff on the street as well so I think that is a component that may be needs to be looked at. I'm not sure how we enforce that exactly. But that's something I can give some thought to. OK. So did you look at other towns? I know you often will.

Yeah. I mean, they'll have certain containerization rules. I mean, we have something like that. But I guess we should look to see if they could be made stronger, probably. Right, right. And more enforced. That'd be something. Yeah. OK.

would the uh we have invested in some new trucks that have the capacity to have 90 gallon you know to have high quality tipper containers would that would that help if we were to switch over

As it stands right now, we don't pick up a lot of commercial garbage. We are mostly residential, whereas a lot of the restaurants have their own dumpsters that they are required to have a third-party company pick up. So that's also where you run into the issue, I think, a lot of times is when their dumpster is not picked up and they have extra garbage. You see it out by our big bellies on Bloomfield Ave a lot of times and the other business district where they may just have overflow that they leave out for us to pick up. so this is not and in the residential zones this is not causing a problem that people i don't think you i think a lot of times in the residential zones you see just cans out you don't see bags just on the curb it's it's mostly cans yes you have the few and far between but more you see that more in the the business districts you see the bags all along the curb so to mention just piggyback because i did you attend the zoom i sent you the link for a while back i did with bloomfield and their rodent problem i can share it with you

But you're right. We should look at legislation, our ordinance, and maybe even the dumpsters need to be reviewed. And I've seen some of the dumpsters that some of the commercial businesses have, and they're in bad shape. No shade for Glenfield School, but that dumpster is a wreck, a complete wreck. We need to make sure that there's lids on top. Even some of our garbage cans don't have lids in residential places. I'm for uniform garbage cans. Where are we?

we are way we would need three more trucks to implement unless we did out in zones like we discussed in the infrastructure committee meeting but if we were do the total town it is 1.2 million in cans and another 1.2 million trucks I'm not I'm I'm in deputy mayor

for being so responsive when we reached out in response to resident complaints. And I think it's really good that the two refuse inspectors to help with the enforcement and the education, which I think is really important. Will these individuals be going around just in response to complaints that are

called in or are they going to be sort of doing I think it's gonna be a mix they're gonna be just riding the town they are they are part-time employees so one's gonna be working during the morning and one's gonna be working later in the day but we'll obviously have them obviously directed to the complaint areas first but if they can get through them faster you just kind of have them ride especially the business district areas again I think that's our biggest issue right now so I'd really like to just say hey just right up and down the avenue right along Valley Road where you know where we have the businesses and just see what's out see if we can try to figure out a way to eliminate it okay yeah as well as the apartment buildings that are yeah yeah well yeah anywhere that we have again the bags at the curb issue just have them ride those routes when they're here on top of the complaints just to try and again be proactive as opposed to reactive okay thank you very much

And so next up we have the public comment portion of our meeting. All speakers must complete the sign-in sheet next to the podium before addressing the council. the amount of time allotted for public comment is three minutes before speaking please clearly state your name for the record if you wish to comment on a pending ordinance listed on this evening's agenda please make your comments during the public hearing for that ordinance first up is Lisa Gephardt

Hello Mayor and Town Council.

My name is Lisa Gephardt and I am here to talk about chickens. I have kept chickens here in Montclair for over 10 years and I first of all want to thank you for taking the steps to ensure that people are keeping them in a humane way and in a healthy way and ensuring good treatment of these animals. The thing I really want to talk about is the six hen limit. What happens is chickens have a laying life of about between five and seven years. Chickens have an actual life of 10 to 12 years. So you could have three hens that aren't laying, and I don't really want to send them to slaughter. They're my pets. But that means I may have one that's too young to lay and two that are in lay. Looking at the very well thought out plan you have here with 100 square feet of run space, that is the absolute amount for 10 hens, which I think is a much better solution. The other thing I want to bring up, because it has environmental implications, is the cleaning of the coops every two to three days. There are some people that do that, however, A lot of small chicken owners will do something called deep litter, which means that you put out compostable shavings in the coop. When the hens have used it, you put more on top of it, and you keep doing this for four, five, six months. The thing that's better about this is you're not scooping and causing the release of ammonia in the coop, which can be very harmful to the hens. Everything composts much faster. And in the winter, it actually provides warmth for them. As long as it's kept dry, there is absolutely no smell. And it's been used since the 1920s when actually it was recommended for small backyard farmers. So there are some other things, but those are really the two ones I wanted to bring out. But once again, I do thank you. putting in overall reasonable when I first moved here it said no chicken runs and I was like we're just gonna keep the chickens you know buried in their coop all day you know they need to get out so I really do appreciate you taking the time to really look at that thank you thank you next up Tony Martin

Hi, Tony Martin, 41 North Fullerton Avenue. am a town resident of 30 years and I'm a resident of this neighborhood and by that I mean these blocks around this municipal building of about a decade I'm a frequent flyer here because of I live in proximity to Town Hall partly because of that and also because I care very much about what goes on here two of my favorite themes when I've come to speak to you and to councils before you are the importance I really feel we need to always put first in planning and development of our community in deciding its future is that the residents who will be impacted by our moves will come first in your thinking. Resident-first planning, that's what it's called, and that's what I believe in. Secondly, another really important thing to me is more sunlight in government. I've spoken to you about that often. I feel that people need to know what's going on in order to be able to represent their own interests. I come to you tonight, obviously, with a particular point in mind and that is the item on the agenda that would allow a zoning change for this municipal complex if it is redeveloped one of the changes in the zoning proposed is that you would allow this site to be used for a utility station which previously as far as I know and I try to follow the news carefully was to be cited behind the police station at Valley and Portland Place or Valley and Bloomfield Avenue now we're evidently talking about possible siting here in my neighborhood this raises so many questions this is a really densely populated neighborhood we have a lot of apartment buildings with many residents so to me that seems like a poor choice I would really like to know how we got here how even considering this And I have many other questions, and I think some other residents will likely bring some to you. I've tried to raise consciousness about the fact of the implications of what is on the agenda. Thanks so much.

Thank you very much. Next up is Pascrell.

Hi. My name is Glenn Pascrell. um i've been living in this neighborhood for 32 years and my wife is joining me tonight i just would like to read a few since i only have three minutes for you quick points um madam clerk mayor baskerville and the council um i'd like this letter to be part of the record i believe i emailed it to all of you for tonight's public hearing on ordinance uh oh 2639. I've lived in, I'm sorry, I said that far. My wife and I also own 201 Claremont Ave, the building right next to this one, next to the redevelopment area that we plan to make our home. We're in the process of getting those approvals to live upstairs and to have the first floor remain in office. The plan's stated purpose is to redevelop the site in a manner that reflects the scale and character of the neighborhood. That's directly from the redevelopment municipal plan. I support, I think everyone does, a reliable electric system and better municipal facilities. I ask that this decision be made in a way that protects that character on a public record. Adopting this ordinance gives away the township's leverage. The plan itself states that the unified plan and the zoning ordinance permit only public uses on lots 12, 14, and the mix of office and residential on lot 15. Of course, I'm talking about the municipal building, the parking lot, the halfway house, I'm sorry, You know the name of that. Cornerstone. Thank you so much. I say it every other day. And the raised site where the bank used to be. Under the municipal land use law, a utility that has refused local approval must go to the Board of Public Utilities and prove there at a noticed hearing where Montclair is a party that its use is necessary for the service, convenience, or welfare of the public. My point is only that that's not required at this point because we don't even have a citing study or which sites were eliminated. There's nothing on the record that reflects that in one year from the original presentation that the PSAG made to this council on August 12th of last year. Nothing on the record except the Allen, Leung, Young, sorry, The project manager for PSE&G said that there's up to a 52% chance that there might be power outages as a result of the 100-year-old substation that exists there today. Only permitted is the decision. I really want to stress that point. The council may hear that this ordinance only permits a utility use, a public utility, but it decides nothing for the next 30 years Permitted means a utility may build here by right subject only to site plan review. The decision about whether the site is appropriate is made tonight, not later. So I would conclude this is our request. Please use F, public utilities, from the plan before adoption. It can be added later by amendment if a document need and a public citing study support it.

Thank you very much. Next guest, please. We have Jeffrey Grayson.

Good evening, Mayor Baskerville and council members. Good evening. I'm Jeffrey Robert Grayson. Of all the information that was shared during the master plan reexamination, the most revealing to me came during the discussion on demographics. Montclair's African American population is at its lowest point since 1950. This shocking cultural bombshell was delivered by the planner with the cold clinical detachment of a medical examiner reading an autopsy. There are those that will say this is an unintended consequence of Montclair's insatiable appetite for development. Others will say this was always an unwritten objective that was baked into the master plan. What nobody is saying is that Montclair is going to implement policies, programs, and elect leadership to aggressively reverse this trend. Talk of affordable housing has devolved into politically correct buzzwords and public relations designed to deflect criticism of rising housing costs, luxury apartments, and hyper-gentrification. The skyrocketing cost to live in Montclair directly escalates the cost of affordable housing. So the question then becomes affordable to whom and to what income bracket? The publicized goal of the reexamination was to provide a blueprint and elicit public input to help shape Montclair's future landscape. Missing from public input and scrutiny was the off-the-record probe into Opportunity Zone development tracks for specific streets within the Fourth Ward. Some have claimed this probe was nothing more than a rumor. Apparently this rumor was seeking a signature, so this rumor could be sent to the state and become a fact. The pros and cons of Opportunity Zone development in this residential neighborhood is not the immediate issue here. What is more concerning is the lack of transparency and respect shown to a community that is being displaced at record numbers, and those numbers don't lie. It all boils down to a matter of trust, and it's time to tell it like it is. Who do you trust in a town that has allowed African Americans, generational residents, affordability, and trees to enter the endangered species list? Who do you trust when realtors use diversity as a marketing tool, but the master plan is engineered to put a chokehold on black working class families by methodically erasing a substantial segment of color and culture? Who do you trust when you question or criticize a public official and they falsely claim that you are attacking them? Who do you trust when permit carons try and dictate where and when black people can have a community cookout in a county park? The words I speak when I come to this microphone may strike a nerve with some people, and based on the look of contempt that I received from one of our elected officials at last month's jazz festival, they surely have. I have no problem lending my voice for those that don't or won't speak for themselves. And all you have to do to turn criticism into praise is to do better by my community.

Thank you. Next guest is Deirdre Karcher.

Hi, I'm Deirdre Carter from 24 Franklin Place. I just have a couple of comments. First of all, I wanted to thank the folks from the Neighborhood Child Care Center for their 100 years. I live in a fourth ward, have for over 30 years. I love the fourth ward, and I like it very much so the way it is. And it was an affordable place for my family and I to live. It does get to me when I see all this gentrification and moving on happening there. anyway just to move on is safe streets Montclair you've been doing a great job with that and good things however again I want to express my want for a greenway along Willowdale connecting Glenfield to Canterbury Park it could even be extended up to Orange Road and across high streets initially in Park I could continue on in that circle Also, speed bumps down by Glenfield School. We need a couple more on the other side by Elmwood. They already knocked out one of the speed I put it back on, actually, today. Also, I wanted to comment on the surveillance cameras. We have a right to know who is watching or place limits on who is watching us and who the information is being given to. We also have a right to know what organization is hanging the cameras from the utility poles. As far as Montclair knows right now is that PSE&G is hanging them, but they get or something like that they get the information they get the permits but they are not the ones hanging the cameras like organizations rent that space so who is it that's hanging those cameras the ACLU has and my phone went out but the ACLU has a thing that you can go look at let me see if I can find the name of it before my timer goes off it's called they have a good layout plan I've seen it and it's called the April dragnet APR L dragnet and if you go to the ACLU you can find that in there so thank you very much and thank you all of you for all you do thank you very much next guest is Rostafa

Good evening, council.

Good evening.

My name is Rostafa. I'm a proud member of MAC, which is Montclair Cultural Arts Advisory Committee. Proud to be here. First and foremost, I would like to acknowledge certain members of the council that were able to make it to this past weekend's Tupac Revisited event. It was a wonderful event. We had Dr. Michael Eric Dyson as well as Hafiz Farid, who's lived in this community for over 50 years. He has a brief statement that he had sent me and I would like to read to you as well as other information that I will read to you. Just briefly, he said, Tupac Shakur still calls to us from the other side. Listen and your solitude, you may hear him. Rest in peace, Pac. Now, I would just like to say for the record that we did raise $2,000 for Family Healing Center. which I'm very proud of, and I will let know when we'll be able to deliver the check to them, and also create a video so that way we are able to communicate with the outside world the work that we did, because we don't want to just say we did it, we want to show that we did it. On that note, I would also like to highlight a few events that are going to be happening. I'm pretty sure that the council knows, but for those that don't know, this coming Friday, of course, we have the 100-year event, event. I'm going to try to see if I can make it. Unfortunately, I'm very tapped out right now, but I'll try. Yes. And this Saturday, MAC also has the privilege to also be part of the themed festival that will be happening, I believe, on Orange Road, if I'm not mistaken. And we're also going to be, I also want to shout out to Latinos Montclair for their event that's going to be happening this coming Sunday at Montclair Art Museum. And speaking of which, with Montclair Art Museum, I'm proud to announce that Saturday, November 7th, I will be, along with six dozen other people, are gonna be a part of the band's last waltz, which is gonna be the fourth annual event in which we are raising money for Tony's Kitchen. And on that note, we're also celebrating the 50th anniversary of that concert, which happened in 1976 in San Francisco. The significance of this event has been drawn by many, many different forms of people from all across New Jersey, but specifically in Essex County. And I also want to highlight everybody and every sponsor that I've ever had that has helped with this event, that helped make this event grow, because this is about people. specifically making sure that during the holiday seasons we do not forget our people whether if you are for them or whether you don't want to be for them that's your choice but ultimately we have to remind our citizens that people definitely need to be clothed they need to be fed and of course let them know that they are not alone And by the way, with the Tupac event, of course, this was all about mental health. And specifically, I've been an advocate for it, not just as an activist, but also as an artist. And I'm going to continue to do that, along with various other ventures I am a part of, as well as contribute to MAC, which, by the way, I have the privilege of sitting on. Last but not least, I would just like to say again to my deepest thanks members of the council that did show up and that did show their support and again like again this is why the system works because people make it work thank you very much I yield my time thank you very much next guest is Jules D Benedetto

Hello, dear members of the council. My name is Jules C. Benedetto. I live on 57 Melrose Place, and I'm a junior at Montclair High School. And I've been coming to these meetings for nearly a year now. I'm here tonight as a founder of the Mosaic organization, founded following the anti-ice walkout that took place at the high school back in March. The walkout was organized by myself, Nola Kim, and Victoria Luna, who are also here tonight as founders of Mosaic. I have a question for you all. How many times do you use your car realistically in a day, a week, a month, a year? How many times have you, to any of the women in this room, asked for someone to walk to your car with you out of fear someone was spying on you, taken four right turns to see if someone's following you, or even held keys between your fingers out of fear someone was watching you? What if it wasn't a question of if someone is, but a matter of when it will end? Currently, there are several known license plate readers in Montclair and plenty more around Montclair. These license plate readers have access to the time your car passed, license and registration details, car owner details, including name, house of residence, et cetera. Police, EMTs, and many more can have access to these cameras. I know an EMT who is 19. She's not old enough to rent a car, yet she has access to where your car was at 7 p.m. last Tuesday if she is given permission to look at said cameras. Certified police officers, however, are able to look at the cameras if they are given an account to. There is no training for this. This has given a rise to the issue of stalking. A man named Zachary Klein is an officer from Texas who, using the cameras, tracked seven license plates. One of these license plates was searched more than any other plate. This plate was searched over 3,400 times in 10 months. This could be any officer with access, and you'd never even know they were there. I'm 16 years old. I'm about to start driving and I've wanted to drive since I was little and discovered that I was able to. But now I'm not so sure if I should be excited to drive because the idea of someone knowing where I am is terrifying. We need a surveillance use policy and I urge you council members to look into adding one to the agenda.

Thank you very much. Nola Kim.

Good evening. My name is Nola Kim. I'm a junior at Moncler High School and I'm here to talk about the surveillance use policy. I would like to start with two quotes. You had to live, did live, from habit that became instinct and the assumption that every sound was made, every sound that you made was overheard and except in darkness every moment scrutinized. The second, walking down the street you will see them watching you at every corner. It is best not to walk the same path too many times and it is best to not make a pattern. Now, I could tell you that both these quotes came from the book 1984, and it would make sense. You would believe me. It would make sense that the book, famous for depicting a dystopian society under constant surveillance, would have many quotes like this. But the scary truth is that the second quote isn't a work of fiction. It is a direct quote from an immigrant on the BBC News. The problem with surveillance isn't only when it happens when someone is actually watching you. The problem is what happens when you believe you are being watched. When people know they are being watched, they begin to change their behaviors. They think twice about where they are going, who they are seeing, and how it could be misinterpreted. And eventually, they don't need to be watched. They begin to police themselves. And this is what makes constant surveillance so powerful. The most dangerous part is how quickly it becomes normal. Once a camera goes up, people riot. But after the third, it becomes normal. Eventually, we stop asking, why are we being watched? And we start asking, why wouldn't we be? And this is where I think Montclair needs to be more careful. Because Montclair isn't just statistics, it's a community. People drive to school, work, visit their friends or family. They go to protests, religious services, or doctor's appointments. And for most of the people, they've done absolutely nothing wrong. But surveillance systems don't know what someone's intentions are when it records them. It simply records. People love to say, if you haven't done anything wrong, then you have nothing to hide. But privacy isn't about hiding something. I don't close my bedroom door because I'm doing something illegal. I close it because privacy is a basic human right. I don't think I should have to prove I'm innocent before I'm allowed to have privacy. And I don't think we should accept the idea that because someone is driving in a public road, the movements automatically become something that should be permanently available for someone else to search. Because once we accept that it is normal, it becomes very difficult to decide where surveillance should stop. And that brings me back to Georgia well. When I wrote 1984 and 1998, 1949, sorry, constant surveillance was a warning. It was supposed to make you uncomfortable. It was supposed to make you ask, what kind of society would we become if we knew we were always being watched? But what happens when you stop asking that question? What happens when being watched is so ordinary we don't even notice anymore? To me, that is the real warning. Not simply that we might be being watched, but eventually we might become so accustomed to being watched that we begin watching ourselves. And I don't think we should have to wait until it happens that then we decide we've gone too far. We have the opportunity to make the decision now, before surveillance becomes invisible, before it becomes ordinary. before the next camera is simply another camera that nobody thinks twice about. Because once something becomes normal, it becomes a much harder question. So how much time do we have left until it is normal? And how long will you wait? Thank you.

Thank you very much. Victoria Luna.

good evening council good evening my name is Victoria Luna and I am a junior at Montclair High School I'm here tonight to talk about the surveillance use policy an ordinance that I among many others in our community hope to pass promptly looking at the recent history of this council between the unanimous passing of the Montclair Trust Act to the investment from Citizens Bank your support for anti-ice and pro-immigrant work is clear however This next step is an important one because this is not something that can be taken care of in one ordinance or at one protest or in one night. Change requires constant and reoccurring attention. It requires thought and support from people who are willing to put in what it takes. So once again we call you to make an important decision. Our community has continued to see the damaging effects of ICE. At least 10 people have been taken from Montclair within the last month. I don't know how that sounds to you but to me that is absolutely terrifying. For as long as I can remember, Montclair has been my home. And this country, although it is not my past, it is my present, and it is my future. It is terrifying what we have come to. Is this what America is promised to be? A nation in which people live in fear and hiding? Is this what the American dream is promised to be? A life where speaking out, standing out, being anything that is considered different is un-American and makes you a target? This is not the country my parents or their parents came here for. And it would be all too easy to write a speech about the flaws and shortcomings of this country, but that is not what I'm here to do. Regardless of where we are now, it is still our responsibility to bring change and justice and morality back into play. And this surveillance ordinance is doing just that. Now, I won't spend my three minutes repeating facts to you that you already know. The information is clear for us all to see. But I think what does need to be repeated is that this matters. This matters for the over 300,000 people who have been detained in 2026 alone. This matters for the families of the 10 individuals who are stolen from our community. This matters because there are several flock hammers already in our town. This matters because the people who are being detained look like me. They look like my sisters. They look like my father. They are my friends, your friends. They are the body, the blood, and the soul of our community. We are more than the music and the dance and the food. We are more than the stereotypes, more than the parts you want to appropriate or the parts you want to demonize. These people, my people, and all people who are being targeted are here and we are not leaving. For as long as I can remember, Montclair has been my home. And this country, although it is not my past, it is my present, and it will be my future. So it is my responsibility to tell you what we need to do to take the country we live in today and make it the country I was promised. And it is your responsibility to listen. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Next guest, is it Cassia? Thank you.

Good evening, I'm the councilor and mayor. Thank you. I am partially here to talk about the surveillance policy. So I'm not going to Yeah, okay. There we go. So hello, good evening. I'm Cassie Lang-Robertson. Like my peers, I'm here to talk about the surveillance use policy, or like a potential one. I think it's extremely important. I understand there's multiple sides to the debate, but ultimately I think until we have good accountability over how these cameras are used and we have very good, better transparency on it, I think we should hold off on installing more. But I'm also here to talk about a little bit different, some other things. So there's recently a bigger police presence at Montclair High School because of the e-bike crackdown, which I am personally really in favor of. I think I bike on a regular bike. And I will say my experience going to and from school has felt a lot safer. And overall, it's better. But my question is why I've already probably come here to talk about this already. But my question is why are they just here temporarily? when there were police officers near the traffic stops and near the very chaotic four-way stops that kind of define the commute to Moncler High School, it was a lot like, it felt less chaotic. There was less noise, less people yelling, less people illegally turning. And I think definitely having a police officer there in the morning just to make sure people are following the four-way stop correctly, nothing like, and that nothing abnormal goes on with that is very important to me and I think we should have more presence at Moncler High School to avoid traffic issues. To kind of go back to the surveillance issue, there's a recent AP investigation, I'm not sure if any of you saw it, but most of the technology is being used in a lot of authoritarian states like China, for example, and other places that are known for their surveillance have used the same technology that's made in America and is now being installed around our country. Clearly, global authoritarianism is on the rise, surveillance being one of the elements that defines it. And I think we have to be very careful about what we implement and how we do it so we don't end up being like the other places that are very notorious for their high surveillance. I think we need more safeguards, we need more transparency, and overall, just more accountability towards it. Thank you very much, and good night.

Thank you very much.

next next guest is Pazka P-A-Z-K-C-E it looks like I'm having a difficult time reading the handwriting anybody names to start with the P-A maybe Z-K-C-E oh Parker okay Parker

Hi, I'm Parker Cheahok from Harvard Street. Last week I sent each of you model legislation from the ACLU called the Community Control Over Police Surveillance in the hopes that the council would consider adopting this as an ordinance in Montclair. Here's the problem it solves. Right now, when the town acquires a new surveillance tool, license plate readers, facial recognition, cell site simulators, camera networks tied to real-time crime centers, the decision is usually made administratively, often through a grant, with no public notice and no council vote. Residents find out after the fact, if they find out at all. That's not a knock on our police department, it's just how the process works almost everywhere, and it means the people this technology watches never get a say in whether or not it is used. This ordinance fixes that with three simple steps. First, before any new surveillance technology is acquired or deployed, the department has to publish a surveillance impact report explaining what it does, what data it collects, and how long that data is kept. Second, the public gets a real comment period, and then this council votes on whether or not to approve it. Third, once the technology is in use, the department reports back annually, or ideally semi-annually, on how it was actually used, so oversight doesn't stop at the vote. This isn't an anti-police measure. Over two dozen cities and counties across the country have passed a version of this law, places like Oakland, Nashville, Seattle, Cambridge, and Davis. And in every one of them, police departments still operate, they still investigate crimes, and they still use modern tools. What changes is that the community and its elected representatives are in the loop before the technology shows up, not after. For a town like Montclair, this fits who we already are. We're a community that shows up when five people are abducted by ICE, as happened yesterday. We are a community that chose to align our police with its citizens rather than with the federal government when we passed the Montclair Trust Act. This is a town that has done its best to prioritize public comments in these very meetings. We should have the same voice over technology that can track our movements, log our license plates, or scan our faces. Trust between residents and police is built through transparency, not around it. And right now, on surveillance specifically, we have none. Adopting this ordinance costs the town nothing. It doesn't ban any tool. It simply says before Montclair's government watches its residents in a new way, Montclair's residents and their elected council get to say yes or no and get to see how it's actually being used afterwards. I'm asking you to introduce and pass this ordinance. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Next guest is Susan Washington.

How's everybody doing? well thank you how are you doing okay my mother always used to say when you meet people you say how how's everybody doing well so i i don't know i have the lady the young girl was just talking she was saying she hopes to make montclair her home i don't think so i don't think these young children are going to be able to afford montclair You know, when I was growing up, I moved out of my mom's house when I was about 19 or 21, and it was a whole world out there. We could afford things, you know?

We could truly afford things back then.

My sister kept saying, Susan, you gotta get out of here. It's time for you to get out of mommy's house. And it was time because it was affordable. But now things are not affordable. We had these rents that are like five, $6,000 a month here in Montclair. i've been here for 20 jamie's 27 25 20 27 years and it keeps going up and up and up she says she's gonna make montclair her home she better be a millionaire because if you can't afford it now what makes you think you're gonna afford two thousand two hundred two million dollar properties properties are like what the average home here in montclair is about seven hundred thousand Do any of you guys have children? Do you think that they're going to be living with you guys for a long time to come? I mean that. You know that there are garages where you have four cars in the garages now? Who is that? That's Becky and Donnie and everybody's still living with Mama. But when we were growing up, and I think you guys about my age, we were able to get out and sort and do things because things were affordable. I thought probably after COVID that things would have got better. But it's like you go in the hospital, you get sick, you wait for the process to get better. But everything seemed after COVID to just escalate everybody. We all have children. I mean, don't we want the best for them? I'm looking at these kids, they're living in a delusional unless they get people who care, who really is going to say, I really care. But it seems like everybody is for me, find me, me, find me. It's not going to be that way. Only the rich... is going to be able to afford montclair only the rich guys we got to get a hole and get out i mean we got to do something we got to see to ourselves not let's not think about ourselves our generation your generation had it better you know we all want better for each generation but it's not happening and you know it's not she's looking at me she know i'm telling the truth she know that claire is coming home sit sitting and sitting there i know my door is not going to go anywhere until she Whatever, she's like, well, I'm going to be home until I get married. Like, you ain't got a boyfriend yet. Or nobody you want to marry. But just some things to ponder, that's all. And also, I live right on this strip, and the reason why I came here, because as this lady was saying, I don't understand why it just can't be a parking lot over there, everybody. Thank you.

Thank you. The next guest of the evening is Sarah Avery.

Yes, thank you. Good evening, Sarah Avery. I live on Irving Street. So really, I think this is kind of a continuation of other people's topics this evening. Dysfunctional democracy is characterized by its failure to serve the public good or solve major problems. It's interesting to note that community members see the dysfunction in Washington, but are blind to the local dysfunction that allows neighbors to steal from neighbors. In arms-length transactions, there must be a level of risk assumed by the developer. But in Montclair, developers are guaranteed everything by complicit professional advisors, boards, commissions, and councils. So residents end up assuming all the risks that should have been spread ratably, even though the master plan objectives and goals call for developers to contribute to infrastructure costs that is not something that can be swept under the rug this is a fundamental injustice that disenfranchises the residents people frequently refer to montclair montclair as progressive but is it The word progressive includes progress, but there has been no progress in Montclair. Instead, there is significant regression so that the risks we knew would get worse due to increased density did get worse. None of the recommendations to mitigate these risks were implemented by the planner. I'm just going to jump because I may not have enough time. You follow some of the laws some of the time and even then maybe not the entire law, only part of it or the part you omitted or the numerous nips and tucks that are made along the way to change the law so that it achieves the desired result of enriching the developer at the expense of the residents. State law requires the master plan reexamination every ten years to analyze the problems and objectives from the last reexamination and subject them to scrutiny. What changes have occurred? Have problems increased or decreased? What new problems have developed? The reexamination process was started three years ago and abandoned. only to be resurrected suddenly this summer in the form of public input sessions at the end of which the public comment period was terminated. According to the state municipal law on reexamination, the master plan reexamination for Montclair hasn't even started yet.

Thank you. And the final guest that I have on the list for this evening is Jessica Salzberg. If I'm missing someone or if someone is here and wishes to be heard, please let me know.

Hi. If it turns out that a repair is in progress, then I will simply be sharing with you, I guess, an autopsy about time elapsed. Good evening. I'm Jessica Stolzberg, a Montclair resident. This is an ADA, can you hear me, an ADA pad with what are called truncated domes. They serve pedestrians with visual impairment and have been added to many of Montclair's corners in recent years to meet ADA requirements. I brought this from the northeast corner of North Fullerton and Garden, one block from where I live. This is the school crosswalk where the crossing guard of Wachung Elementary School stands. My husband and I walk across this corner almost every night walking our dogs. Hundreds of school children and their parents and caregivers walk across this corner twice a day. This ADA pad, along with its twin, have been leaning against the nearby telephone pole for four or five months. The corner is gravel. I called code about this corner on March 24th. I was transferred to our Neglia engineer, and I shared with him this corner has a grading problem from the street, as it is submerged after rain in a large puddle well beyond the sidewalk corner. Last winter, it sat under a puddle of melted salted snow, which is likely why the pads failed. The engineer said he would look into it. I called code again 45 days later and reported the corner again. In a letter from the homeowner dated May 12th and stamped May 15th, he explained the poor condition of the corner sitting under water. He included a photo of the ADA pads submerged and wrote, this corner turns into a huge puddle every time it rains. So there's a drainage issue and when the street got repaved this started. This means these domes often sit in water and in ice. The concrete under the domes is completely deteriorated. There needs to be a long-term solution to a problem that is clearly one of street design. The drainage issues should be fixed as this corner is with high foot traffic and car traffic right across from the school and the regular flooding and ice creates safety issues. I was not aware of this letter when I called the town manager's office on August 20th. After the summer, walking past the ADA pads leaning against the telephone pole, I asked if this corner could finally be repaired before school children returned. I share this all with you tonight because it's evidence that even when residents follow protocols to get something fixed to keep children and others safe at a school street corner, that nothing works. Residents called, code knew, the engineer knew, the homeowner wrote, and nothing has happened. It has been six months. I hope this corner can be regraded and made safe and compliant as soon as possible. And I will return this ADA pad to the telephone pole on my way home.

Thank you very much. okay so now we're getting ready to move into the next portion of our meeting we have pending ordinances on second reading and we have new business ordinances and we have a consent agenda to go through council members do we have any items that need to be

pulled the question I'm sorry mayor counselor Williams was I'm sorry sharing something I didn't hear everything that you mentioned I'm sorry did you just repeat it again I'm just trying to find out if there are agenda items that need to be pulled on a consent agenda yeah yes for me okay are you asking me or I'm asking everyone but yes please let's start with you counselor number one mm-hmm number 11 mm-hmm number 20 21 26 28 and that's it for me okay anyone else please I have 27 did somebody want 27 fold was that you your honor no okay 28 I'm sorry

I'm sorry I can't hear you we pulled 12 and 13 yes yeah and anyone else please eight thank you councillor D'Amato

19 and 20. 19, 20.

28 and 34 because I'm abstaining.

28 and 34. Okay, anyone else?

first of the tree of the one of the grants just as a typo it refers to the township committee of the council but it doesn't need to be pulled if that can be is there a number I'm looking I'm looking okay yeah it's a big pile Number five. It's just a typo that we should fix. It just says Township Committee.

Number five, typo.

So it can stay on the consent agenda, but just... Hmm?

Hmm? OK. So we're going to begin with the pending ordinances on second reading. I'm going to open the public hearing without objection. Is there anyone here present who wishes to be heard in relation to the proposed pending ordinance 0-26-37? An ordinance to amend chapter 202, land use procedures of the code of the township of Montclair, New Jersey.

seeing none council members yes deputy I'm just to remind people this is to amend to change increase the escrow deposits related to review of applications to reflect increases in professional fees I'm going to close the hearing without objection

clerk mayor may I have a movement in a second I move the ordinance I'll second thank you deputy mayor Anderson yes councillor Birmingham yes councillor D'Amato yes councillor Harrison yes councillor Toller yes councillor Williams yes mayor Baskerville

Yes, thank you. We're going to open the public hearing without objection on pending ordinance 02638, an ordinance to amend chapter 341, water section 341-24, which is meters and remote registers of the code of the township of Montclair, New Jersey. Is there anyone here who wishes to be heard on this? Please come forward. Seeing none, council members?

I do have one question on number six under the new red line. I was not here for the first reading, and perhaps this question was already asked and answered. It's just the thing. Like the last sentence, it says, upon notification by the Water Bureau, the property owner shall repair or replace the meter within the time frame specified by the water department. Is the time frame identified anywhere in here?

So it would be because they're purchasing the meter through us. If there is a lead time on the meter, we wouldn't hold that against them because we'd have to order it through our vendor. So we didn't want to put a specific time frame if there was a hold up on material. We don't stock every large meter just because of the shelf life of them is not great. There's no reason to keep them on the shelf. But if there is a hold up from the factory, we did not want to hold that against the property owner.

OK, that was my concern. I didn't want people to start getting violations. No, no, no, no. It's not identified.

No, that's why we're having them purchase it through us so they couldn't be held liable for it.

OK, thank you.

Anyone else, counsel? Seeing none, without objection, I am closing the hearing. And I will move the pending ordinance 02639. Second. No, I'm sorry. Pending ordinance 02638.

Deputy Mayor Anderson? Yes. Councillor Birmingham? Yes. Councillor D'Amato? Yes. Councillor Harrison? Yes. Councillor Tolar? Yes. Councillor Williams? Yes. Mayor Baskerville?

Yes, thank you. The next pending ordinance, I'm going to open the public hearing without objection. Are there people here who wish to be heard in relation to the pending ordinance 02639? This is an ordinance adopting a redevelopment plan for the municipal complex property. Please, if you're here for this, come forward.

Thank you, Mayor. I just want to finish my remarks from before. Thank you again. Removing the use F, which is the public utilities use that's being added to the Montclair redevelopment municipal plan, the plan's own procedure for amending the approved plan allows you to amend from time to time. That's your prerogative. If a documented need for a utility on this site is shown, it can be added then, at that point. on a public record. I'm not asking the council to stop the plan. I'm asking the council to keep this one decision until there's evidence to support it. No citing study has been made public, none. So if you just follow the timeline, last August was the meeting, I believe, Councilwoman Birmingham asked questions about how big the facility would be. What would the facility look like? Can you provide pictures to us? None of that has been provided, certainly not made known to the public. And what is interesting is nothing has been made known about why the site that the PSE&G originally selected was changed. Um, even though, um, and I don't want to go into any detail about other sites that have, have been proposed. There's been articles to Montclair local about a site on the Verona border, a D camp, a bus line site. Um, there's been other sites, but we've been told underground congestion, or it's too far from that. What I'm saying here, and I want to be explicit. I'm not undermining. Montclair Council has the authority to stop this rezoning to get the information it needs from the public utility, PSE&G, a private company that is going to try at their own expense to reduce the costs and make it as convenient as it is for them. Finally, I just want to make a final. I think I talked enough about... from a legal standpoint, but really my heart is this. I've lived in this neighborhood longer than I've lived in Patterson, the city I'm from and that I was born into. And this neighborhood is all I've ever lived in within a four block radius of this very municipal building. It makes no sense to me how this would be allowed to happen, this rezoning, because the very words in the redevelopment plan say you can't have electromagnetic, you can't have noise, and really we need to respect the character of the neighborhood. I don't know how what we've been told is going to be three or four times the size of the substation that exists today at the Valley and Portland location. I understand maybe those people didn't want it in their backyard either, but this area is much different than that. Part of the municipal lot itself is the Montclair downtown area, not even a tertiary area. It just so happens the little sliver that we purchased is OR3. The heart and soul of the community is mixed use. We have a paper plane, we have businesses, many large apartment buildings with renters and as well as homeowners. there has been no citing study or alternative studies just to say okay we really want this location but the township has the right to say if it's our property no or a private property owner has the right to say no right and why would the township give up that power to a public utility by rezoning before it's even made a play or a proposal, an offer for the property, let alone the worst case scenario where they go to the BPU and say, we have to have this. Why? It doesn't make any sense to me. Apart from that, that kind of logical argument, this neighborhood is part of downtown. This is part of what characterizes Montclair and what makes it so great. And I've been here so long, I know Nancy, who owns the building. I rented from her when I was 26 years old. I'm 58 now. Everybody, there's a lot of characters in the neighborhood that I love, and I just don't understand how this aligns with the stated purpose in the redevelopment plan. So my last point was, I, I mentioned, uh, I didn't get to point B. If the council keeps use F, um, the carry, carry ordinance 02639 to a later meeting until PSEG siting and alternatives information is made public. That to me seems very reasonable. Um, and. We reserve all our rights and we thank you for your consideration. Thank you again.

Thank you very much. Anyone else from the public, please?

We have very eloquent neighbors in my neighborhood. I just want to emphasize that we don't have enough information on whether or not this is a suitable site. I don't understand the chicken and egg question here of why we can't gain more planning assessment of this site for whether or not it's useful as a utility site considering the neighborhood impact how where does the neighborhood impact study come in here and where in this municipal redevelopment plan is the interests of residents considered? Yeah, I know the interest of residents figures into the need for more power generation, but we're talking about impact on people where they live. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Any other members of the public who wish to be heard, please come down. Seeing none, council members please.

Yes, deputy mayor. Thank you. And thank you for the people who spoke and sent us emails. I do have a couple of questions, but I was wondering if the manager could please share some information about more information with the public, because I do think that it's important for everyone to be aware of the history. I know that the process for looking for location went back to 2023. So if you could please give the public a little bit more information about what the other sites were that were considered why they were deemed not suitable and the process, I think that would be very much appreciated.

and remarks okay thank you so I composed a memo on the topic which I have here and on the reverse side of the memo is a letter from PSCNG distributed maybe not everybody if anybody's missing so I won't read the memo but just the salient points PSCNG approached the town in 2023 potentially well first about notifying the town that the substation the electrical substation that's currently at I think it's 60 Valley Road is approximately or was approximately a hundred years old at the time and is antiquated and needs to be, it's beyond its useful life and it needs to be replaced. At the time, PSE&G was looking at a site at 651-665 Bloomfield Avenue, which is the gas station at the corner of Valley and Bloomfield and where Cush is now. when the town previous mayor and council brought it to the attention of the Montclair Center Business Improvement District the Business Improvement District objected to the location the proposed location of the substation at that site saying it would be basically a void within the commercial district and they objected and I believe the maybe not officially by like resolution but the mayor and council gave PSCNG direction that that that location was a no-go so PSCNG went back to the drawing board they came back on the reverse side of the memo is a letter from PSCNG dated June 24th 2025 So reevaluating their site assessment, they requested that the proposed electrical substation be located immediately behind the Montclair Police Department. in the parking lot because of a variety of issues, some of which were mentioned before. Congestion within the ground, within the street grid of all the underground utilities that are at that location. Citing the electrical substation at that location would have a huge impact on the police department and or police department operations. I'm not sure if it was possible even to have located an electrical substation in the police department. parking lot without actually taking the police department building so that means that set off a review or a quest to possibly relocate the police department there's just not a lot of alternate locations for a police department there's also two residential properties that would have been taken or been would have been required to have been taken on portland place resident active residential uses residential properties the combination of those three things I think made the you know site selection of the police department parking lot and no-go the building being you know taken the underground the congestion of the underground utilities and the taking of the potential taking of two residential properties gave PSCNG a distaste for that location i spoke with gary williams from pscng earlier today he said an alternate site that they considered but it didn't prove fruitful was immaculate conception high school for a variety of reasons that did not work they're looking for a site that is in the presentation that gary williams and alan young gave last year august of 2025 they actually showed them a systems map of the service area so what then what made them attracted to this site was claremont avenue has less underground utility conflicts it's centrally located And they were aware from a community meeting that the facilities and infrastructure committee held in January of this year that the town was, this building and it's part of central to the redevelopment plan or the redevelopment study. This building has some serious structural issues and some serious considerations with roof, with elevator, with curtain wall. And there's a decision point that if the town is going to stay in this building, there's going to have to be some serious investments in this property. Or is there a more suitable location for the seat of municipal government? So they, PSC&G, became aware of the town's desire for possibly a new municipal building in January. And in May of this year, the director of corporate real estate for PSC&G sent a follow-up letter expressing interest in this building. and if that's something that the if that there's no direct under local land and building law there's no direct way for even though PSCNG is a publicly regulated utility there's no easy way to sell or partner with PSCNG to sell them the property outside of the redevelopment process um we can't even know psng is a public purpose it's a private corporation but public utility there's no easy way to transfer the property if that's something that the township wanted to do so a redevelopment plan and a redevelopment process would allow the town to continue negotiations or continue discussions with pscng if that is something that the township and psng both want to do it was mentioned before there montclair is a mature suburb just about every square inch is has a building on it predominantly single-family homes but predominantly it's fully developed there's not a lot of vacant land available One of the other locations that we had asked PSCNG to consider when we met with PSCNG, it was either last year or earlier this year, was the DeCamp bus site. They had looked at that, but for a variety, it was not centrally located. It's far away from existing utilities. So it was not a site that they had considered. I'm not aware of a formal site selection process. We will, if approved, PSCNG will come back and has expressed all willingness to come back to meet with the town through a public planning process to come up with, they don't have design plans for a new, it would be premature to have design plans for a new substation here today. They want to do it through an organic, authentic substation. process here community input with basically design standards and design guidelines as set by the mayor and council and the community but in order to proceed a redevelopment plan is necessary and that would allow us to continue discussions and and the relations with PSCNJ I hope that answers the questions I think I covered

excellent thank you very very much manager that was an excellent um presentation um deputy mayor i just have one thank you mayor um i i have one follow-up question so um my question is you know reading the rereading the redevelopment plan um i'm just wondering if maybe this is something that we can consider um if you know time is not of the essence to act on this tonight is to carry this over to a meeting later in September or early October. The reason for that suggestion is so that we can put a little bit more in the redevelopment plan around design guidelines and what we would want to see just generally the standards for um you know a building to be there for all of the equipment to be within you know the space um things like that I understand that a lot of that is going to be fleshed out in the public engagement part and in the site plan review and everything um but

that is just something that I would you know suggest that we consider other members of the council I am totally fine with that that's people should know that we are uncharacteristically ahead of the ball on this so like this was just that when they came to us you know and we had a meeting in May early May And they just, you know, they looked caffeinated. And so they asked us for a couple of things. One was, and they still have not told us for sure that this is the spot, 100%. They asked us to do, to authorize the ability to dig a lot of test holes to actually validate the map that they're looking at. So, and from what we understand, they're still doing that. So normally Montclair, and I think they sort of gave us side eye, were very slow to do things. And so with the redevelopment plan, this was just a step that we didn't want to, you know, put off, but it was no sign of like super rushing. And to Mr. Pascal's points, and we had met and talked about this, And I want to thank him for being very thoughtful and, you know, calm about this because did not know and, you know, did this. The only thing that I would not quibble with but just say that I understand it differently or that we understand it very differently is that part of the reason that we're doing this is to get a an appraisal and an evaluate in a you know financial evaluation of this of this property almost independently of any particular thing And the way you do that is by including as many uses as possible. So there is no reason, in fact, to have a redevelopment plan that wouldn't include these other uses. Whether you use them is a different question, but so I understand what you were saying about taking it off the table as a bargaining chip, and I can see maybe how you ended up there, but it's actually, it is the reverse, and I'm not snowing you. We want to have that in there because then when an appraiser comes and looks at it, they say it's worth X. Again, they have not told us, and we're going to see them in two weeks, that for sure they know that this works. And they have not told us in writing, as we asked in May, we gave them a whole bunch of demands, you need to give us in writing exactly what you were asking for. We've asked for that.

Thank you, Councilor D'Amato. Other council members, please. Councilor Birmingham.

Thank you, and thank you, Mr. Mayor for Mr. Marks for describing what has gone on. For me, I feel like we need to hear that all directly from PSCG. I think we need to have a very technical explanation of what the choices are. I think our attorney can also tell us in terms of the power that PSE&G has as a public utility in this state. But something that you said kind of just bugged me a little bit in that you said that the gas station on Bloomfield was considered, but the business community said no. I know you weren't here, but that's not their decision to make. Correct. Frankly, that was not their decision to make. There you go. I am guessing that that would have included the Cush connection, which has all been renovated. But that kind of bugged me because that was not their decision. This is a council decision. We are the elected body. I went to see this. The Orange has a substation. I went to see it because I have questions about the size and the noise and all of that. I do think, looking at what is there, I do think that there is possibility of and flexibility around design that's why I say in terms of it being downtown on Bloomfield and I don't think it should have been dismissed out of hand because I do think that that that something could have gone there as well and so for me right now I would want to pull this for tonight pending hearing more directly from PFC and G around what their thought process has been, what their site selection process has been. So that is where I am tonight. I would move it and then potentially reintroduce on the 30th or a second night.

You want to table this to the 29th of September? Is that what I'm hearing?

You really have to do it.

the meeting after that because we're meeting with PSCNG on the 30th so the first 30 in October first meeting in October I think that's the 12th what's the date in October I think it's the 12th the 6th Deputy Mayor Anderson? Yes. Councilor Birmingham? Yes. Councilor D'Amato? Yes. Councilor Harrison? Yes. Councilor Tolar?

I'm sorry. Are we voting to table, or are we voting on what's here? Yes.

We're moving it to October 12 or 13. I don't remember the date.

The 13th?

Yes. First council meeting in October. Thank you. Thank you. Councilor Williams? Yes. Mayor Baskerville?

Yes. Thank you. Moving on to pending ordinance 0, going to open the public hearing.

Well, I have to close the public hearing, right, for the last one. No, we did it.

We did it. We voted already. OK. OK. Pending ordinance 0-26-40, it's an ordinance authorizing assignment and execution of amendment to financial agreement between the Township of Montclair and 65 Church Street Urban Renewal LLC for a redevelopment project to be developed on block 2208, lot 17. Are there members of the public who wish to be heard on this? Please come forward at this time. Seeing none, members of the council please. Seeing none, I'd like to make a motion that, without objection, I'm going to close the hearing. And I will move pending ordinance 02640.

Second.

Madam Clerk? Deputy Mayor Anderson? Yes. Councilor Birmingham? Yes. Councilor D'Amato? No. Councilor Harrison? Yes. Councilor Tolar? No. Councilor Williams? Yes. Mayor Baskerville? Yes.

OK, now we're going to move on to new business ordinances. new business ordinance E an ordinance to amend chapter sixty five affordable housing of the code of the township of New Jersey department of planning and zoning and does anybody want to move this and have discussion on I'll move it but I just have a question on E when you're ready to take questions

now we're ready for discussion sure so I'm just trying to understand on page two excuse me item E letter E item number three it just says working with the MHL to ensure I think whoever MHL should be spelled out because I can't find it anywhere else in this document who MHL is what does that refer to just trying to better understand is it the month municipal housing liaison yes I just think it should be spelled out it makes you know okay that's weird now I'm sorry just at the block page 2 letter E okay item 3 working with the MHL should just say what it is or who is

I agree that's the only thing that I have Any other discussion on this I suggested an amendment so one and two read the same and I thought I saw an ordinance doing that and

but now i'm not seeing it and maybe it was emailed to me and not not handed out yes councillor harrison i did make the change that you requested so that um items b1 and b2 have the same language send it out i don't know where it went after i sent it out today but that it's a it's a minor change and i agree with what you suggested Do you want me to read it?

Yes, please.

Okay, so B1 would say administrative agent fees related to affirmative marketing and advertising of rental units shall be paid by the developer owner if required as a condition of approval by the planning board or board of adjustment. Number two. oh number number two would read administrative agent fees related to the affirmative marketing and advertising for the initial sale of units shall be paid by the developer owner if required as a condition of approval by the Planning Board or Board of Adjustment so we just track the language owner owner if required that's what we have to add that part okay yeah it's not all right so it puts to clarify it puts the onus on every resolution by the Planning Board and the Board of Adjustment to include this in their conditions to ensure that they're paying their share of the costs can we just recite that I'm sorry the attorney and I were speaking about something else and I just want to make sure she's heard what you said for number two should be after the word developer I'm sorry can you on page one right

No, I just want to make sure that she heard what Ms. Talley read and what should follow after the word developer or number two.

It should be if required as a condition of approval by the planning board or board of adjustment. That's all. Thank you. Okay.

Thank you.

any anyone else council Harrison so we should amend yes okay I moved to amend the ordinance to read as just stated by me tally second

Deputy Mayor Anderson?

Yes. Councillor Birmingham? Yes. Councillor D'Amato? Yes. Councillor Harrison? Yes. Councillor Tolar? Yes. Councillor Williams? Yes. Mayor Baskerville?

Yes, thank you.

I move to introduce the ordinance as amended.

Second. Deputy Mayor Anderson? Yes. Council Birmingham? Yes. Councilor D'Amato? Yes. Councilor Harrison? Yes. Councilor Tolar? Yes. Councilor Williams? Yes. Mayor Baskerville?

Yes, thank you. Councilor D'Amato, number F please.

An ordinance amending Part 2 general legislation, Chapter 327, Vehicles and Traffic, Article 3, Parking, Standing and Stopping, Section 24, Handicap Parking of the revised general ordinance of the Township of Montclair, New Jersey, as amended and supplemented. Can I so move? Second.

Discussion? Councilor Harrison?

I have major issues with this. one differs greatly from what the statute provides substantively in terms of who where when and most importantly the statute says the township by ordinance shall establish handicapped parking in front of houses somewhat simplify this is delegating to complete streets to designate the spaces and I do not think the statute allows that

thank you good evening director Neiman so so that's not the intention of this ordinance the the mayor and council the governing body are still the ones who are going to be creating the parking space this best create but it says it says in e the complete streets department shall review and approve each application which will then be sent it nothing says that We're happy to modify it to make clearer that the mayor and council are the ones ultimately who decide that. That's no problem at all. Because the intention is not to take this privilege away from the mayor and council. It's simply to ensure that there's a process by which a resident is able to request and then receive a handicapped parking space in front of their place of residence when they need it.

So why does it have to say?

Oh, I'm sorry, ma'am. Thank you.

No worries.

Why does it have to say restricted parking zones at all in this clause right here of E? Because why not just say, this says applications for the establishment of and renewal of restricted parking zones and or permits may be obtained and shall be filed with the Montclair. And so it goes into what you need to get a permit, right? Because isn't the zone independent of the person?

Yes. So the zones are just a handicapped parking space. They are not assigned to specific individuals.

And that is what Councilor Harrison is saying is our duty to... So why does the word parking zone need to be in this clause at all? Why not just leave out that and just say that it's the permits

are filed with you so they they don't need to get a special permit from me to park in a handicapped spot they just get a regular handicap placard I'm just basically create ensuring that there's a process by which someone can complete a form and know that it's going to be routed in the right place so that it gets before you all to then create the parking space I'm sorry I have a question because some counselor taller thank you if someone needs a handicap placard

they go to the police department to get the application, they take it to their doctor, and that's it. What you're trying to do is say now that they have this placard that says they're disabled and need to have a handicapped spot, we need to have a parking zone for it?

It's just a spot.

No, but that's not my question. Are you saying we need to have a parking zone for handicapped?

I guess I... Attorney.

Yes, Attorney Borum, please. So... The purpose of this is to, one, create parking in residential areas. We do not give out individual parking for individual cars in person. What Mr. Neem is trying to do is to set up where these people can come in and say, hey, I have all my documentation. This is what I need. We need a handicap on my block for me. Anybody can use it who is on that block. So this was basically taken from the statute. And the reason that the application process is going to him and not necessarily the council. The council has authority to set this up. They don't actually have to approve every application of what you're trying to do. So it's for, again, it's for a person to come to say, hey, I need a parking on North Fullerton. I live here. But we don't actually give out individual parking spaces in this township.

So what I'm trying to understand is if the person can't come in, then what?

They can file the form online. They can file the form via mail.

Why are we putting residents through something like this? I don't understand. I mean, are we having issues with handicap parking?

Right now, when I started in the position, there had been some questions about handicap parking spots.

How many questions have you received? I mean, is this a big enough issue that we need to do this? I mean, are you getting 50, 75, 100 emails about handicap? What are you talking about? five or eight emails because I don't understand how we need to be trying to put any restraints and restrictions and people coming in to do this and do that to get a handicap spot on their block. It just doesn't make that sense to me. Councilor Williams, please.

I still want his answer after you finish. No, no, no. This is providing a benefit. It's not a restriction. So just please answer

I understand it's a benefit, but I still don't understand why residents would have to come into any place if they can't. For example, on Maple Avenue, I know of a family who physically can't come in, but they have handicapped parking. So how would that work for them? And, yes, people can do it online, et cetera, but it should be us that decides these spots. I don't.

And the governing body will remain the group that decides to place a handicapped parking spot on a public road as statute intends. The role of the department in this process is to just make sure the paperwork is in order and that the individuals have the necessary disability identification or license plate to be able to receive that parking space in front of their home. If they have difficulty in...

But wait a minute. I don't mean to cut you off.

I'm sorry, Councillor Tolar. Director Neiman, were you finished with your response?

I'm sorry. He just said something that says to verify and check ID and disability.

Director Neiman, were you finished with your response?

Yeah, I just want to tidy it up, which is essentially just to make sure that... When we're placing a handicapped parking spot, when I'm bringing something before the mayor and council to place a handicapped parking spot on a public road, it's going where a resident in need needs it to be. It's simple as that. And the idea is to ensure that there's a regular, understandable process by which those spots can be requested. When I started this role, I asked around and I said, who handles when a resident needs an on-street handicapped parking space? And there was no clear process. It wasn't clear if you should go to DCS or the police or the parking utility or anywhere, right, where to start that process. the mayor and council is the body who are able to create those spots, it's natural to go to you all. But that's not necessarily the best way for something like this to come about, right? Having a clear process that's intelligible and simplified and consistent for all residents, I think is the best way to handle something like this. So could you get a copy of?

So I don't know if you remember, probably when we first started, the folks from Seymour Street were coming up here, and we're all friends now. But one of the ladies that came up here, she was like, there's one handicapped spot, there's two of us on the street that need handicapped parking, and the council created, approved a second handicapped spot there, I think through ordinance. So this process isn't much different. All this is just basically saying here is for these zones, they're going to fill out it. And where the council is creating these zones, they're going to fill out an application. It's going to go to his department, and he's going to approve it. And that's it. It's an additional benefit.

Do they need to be called zones? I mean, wouldn't it be easy to just get a copy of whatever the police department puts in or no? Do you have to be called zones?

I don't know what the rules around the documentation the police department takes in is, right? I don't want to be getting medical records that I don't need nor am I entitled to.

You want people to bring in their proof.

disability you said I just the the handicap placard that they received from the police or from the state yeah the the idea is to make this process simple and straightforward so that when someone say unfortunately needs a handicapped parking space in front of their house they have one clear point of contact in which they can go to to address that concern and and and so they don't have to figure out who their council person is and send an email and hope that the council person is able to respond in time, right? It's about creating consistency and standardization so that there's a clear process by which to achieve the ends, which is a handicap parking space for someone who needs it.

Deputy Mayor and then Councilor D'Amato. You want me to do that way first? No. Okay.

Oh, absolutely. I'm all in favor of creating this process and clear lines. This is more accountability and more like a proper channel. Based on the discussion, I'm just looking at paragraph E. and i'm i think i'm a little it makes it a little confusing for it to say the complete streets department shall review and approve each application so i would suggest striking and approve okay um and then adding language that makes it clear that the council following the complete director's review um that the council mayor and council would um approve uh the zone right um by ordinance, I believe it is, right?

I had the same one. Yeah. Councillor D'Amato, and then Councillor Harrison, and then Councillor Birmingham.

So it's kind of a small point, but like I just, so when somebody wants an overnight parking pass, where do they go?

An overnight parking pass is the parking utility.

Right. If somebody wanted to... I mean, just any kind of pass or things like this, they would go to the parking utility. And in terms of it being organizationally legible, it seems to me that it should at least the public face of it be the parking utility. It would be nice if the parking utility was the body because it's like, I have a parking problem. I'm going to go to the parking people. I don't think... I think... complete streets department would be logical to figure out if it's safe to put a zone on a particular place or if it conflicts with other objectives of circulation and safety and all those other kinds of things but in terms of like getting permission you know getting that that that stuff through I it just strikes me if you were like not in the weeds and all this stuff that like that's where you would look like the logo on the if they're going to be if this is going to be an online you know gov gov pilot form and stuff like that that like the the flow of administrative requests would make sense that it would end up in that in in front of them just not against you it just seems it seemed but I know that obviously the police are involved in another part of it so it's it's mixed up but but again like they won't be people would be like okay I'm going to this guy for this but then if I want an overnight permanent going to somewhere else doesn't make sense to me so that what you said

So, one, I'm fully in support of streamlining it, but I think, I mean, the statute is very simple and clear, and this is like three times the length of the statute, and throwing in stuff that is making it less than clear, and you have, and then you have besides the approval you seemingly have applicants being denied by Complete Streets or if we switch it to the parking utility which raises other questions as can they appeal it you know and there's certainly going to be people who come in and say I need this and are not disabled that I I'm not saying we but I I think we should go back and start with the language in the statute and more closely track that. I mean, you're adding, and I don't think I have a problem with a category that's not dealt with in the statute, someone who's been declared a veteran who's been declared disabled. not objecting to that but I think start with the statutory language and then say okay this is what we want to do certainly there needs to be something in Montclair this is what you do to have the process I don't have strong views where but you know I think it should be something that people who need this can do it and you know in the process of they move they

hopefully get no longer disabled but the more likely is they move out of the house and yeah and and that's part of the intention of the renewal aspect of it which is that we just need to make sure that the ones that exist are still needed and if they're not that can be returned to parking for you know residents on the street who just need overnight parking for whatever that reason maybe yes I'm counselor Birmingham

Yeah. I think I'm figuring out what confused me here, because there seems to be interchangeably used a parking permit and a parking zone. And again, a permit to me travels with a person to get. And to me, if you have a handicap placard, that's your permit. But the zone, to have a designated zone, is something different that would be like that's approval because it's a public road so i think if we could have um we could table this for now just to tighten up some of the language around like having a definition you know in terms of like defining a parking but i definitely respect the you know what you're trying to do here is for people who do have disabilities you want to be able to give them a mechanism for being able to put something close to where they live for a better access. So I definitely want to, I just think tightening it up a little bit would help.

And I'd like to second that if that's a motion there. And I agree with what you said, Councillor Birmingham. So there's a movement for a table, and I second.

I just want to A question for clarity here. So if you have a handy, what do you call it? A placard. A placard, let's just call it a placard. That does not allow you to just park anywhere. It allows you to park in the spot that's associated with the placard.

Yeah, so that are associated with the general handicap placard, right? There's general handicap spots in Montclair. They are not assigned to individual property owners or individual permits. Beyond that, there are special rules regarding handicap parking when it comes to metered spaces. And so that's kind of a different thing, but there are special rules for handicap placards and metered spaces.

Right. So where I was going with this is, for example, for the most part, Montclair does not allow overnight parking, right?

Right.

And if you have one of these placards, you can't just park anywhere. It would have to be in a spot designated for, I don't want to say the wrong thing, that's associated with the placard. So I'm not sure that that was coming across to everyone. Thanks.

There's been a movement to table and a second. Madam Clerk?

Deputy Mayor Anderson? Yes. Council Birmingham? Yes. Councilor D'Amato? Yes. Councilor Harrison? Yes. Councilor Tolar? Yes. Councilor Williams? Yes. Mayor Baskerville?

Yes. Thank you. Moving on. Thank you. Thank you very much. Moving on to Council Birmingham, salary ordinance.

Yep, this is agenda item G, new business ordinance, an ordinance amending salary ordinance 026-21 for the management non-union group for the year 2026. And I so move. Second.

anyone yes councillor toller sure um i see this is from attorney your memo um i just have a question because this reads to me and perhaps i'm wrong is this the manager that put this up for you okay so we're deleting several positions but adding one, two, three, four new title positions. So the positions that are currently being deleted are current employees now. Are they being put into these new positions on some level or are you interviewing? That's all I need to know.

We will be going through an interview process.

So if we approve this, those that are in these positions will still be with us.

If I can answer that.

Yes, thank you, Councillor Barr.

Some of them have changed. So you can see the director of community services is now Public Works, because you guys already approved to change that department. So we're actually just effectuated if you are re-approved. The only one, and as well as administration code enforcement, you eliminate a department with changes to director of human services. So we're just basically effectuating the salary earners, which you already previously approved. So this way we can actually interview and hire these people.

Director of housing services or human services for the director of the code enforcement? Because it says housing. Is it really director of human services?

No, it is the Director of Housing Services. Housing Services. Yes. You remember, this was approved maybe, I want to say.

No, I remember. I just thought I heard you say Human Services. No, no. I'm sorry if I did say Human Services. My apologies.

OK. And as well, you can see some things were just changed to make sure we effectuated the pricing that should have been.

Yes.

Make those correct changes. We saw that some items were not in there. So we also wanted just to make sure all of our non-union personnel were accounted for.

Thank you. Anyone else?

There's been a movement. I did move, and I think you seconded it. I seconded it, yes.

And I'd also like to thank the manager and the finance committee for their work on all of this. Thank you.

Thank you, Council Birmingham, for chairing that committee. Deputy Mayor Anderson? Yes. Council Birmingham? Yes. Councilor D'Amato? Yes. Councilor Harrison? Yes. Councilor Tolar?

Yes.

Councilor Williams? Yes. Mayor Baskerville?

Yes. Thank you. Councilor Harrison, H, please.

This is an ordinance amending Chapter 48, Personnel Regulations Part 3. Discussion? Madam Clerk, please roll call. Deputy Mayor Anderson.

councillor Birmingham yes councillor D'Amato yes councillor Harrison yes councillor Tolar yes councillor Williams yes mayor Baskerville yes please deputy mayor please number I or letter I number I

Personnel Regulations Part 2, Fire Department Personnel, Article IV, Thick Leave, Section 48-33, Accumulated Leave Upon Retirement. Second. Discussion?

Madam Clerk, please. Deputy Mayor Anderson. Yes. Councilor Birmingham. Yes. Councilor D'Amato.

Yes.

Councilor Harrison. Yes. Councilor Tolar. Yes. Councilor Williams. Yes. Mayor Baskerville.

Yes, thank you. Councilor Williams, please. Letter J.

new business ordinance salary ordinance for the police benevolent Association local 53 for the year 2025 through year 2029 so move second discussion yes councillor Harrison councillor Harrison I I want to establish a process last meeting

Mayor Baskerville proposed adding a resolution that had been inadvertently left off the agenda and it was like this was the most horrible thing anyone thought of and then it was pointed out that we were also adding the resolution dealing with the transfer of the redevelopment agreement and we decided to hold both of those this is another thing that appeared after the agenda was published I think we need clear rules as to who why when and that side things get added to the agenda after the agenda is published particularly if it's after the 48 hours and who can do it is it just staff is it council members and staff but I think we need to have rules doing this when so everyone knows when something needs to be added after the agenda is published can it be done who can do it and what needs to be done to accomplish that

Agreed. So what are you suggesting here at this particular time?

Agreed. We can march on. I just want going forward to... Oh, 100%.

Okay. Madam Clerk, please. Oh, I'm sorry. Council of Birmingham?

No, I just would say, I agree. I just think that, and maybe that is what it is, that there are just things that maybe have to get done. Because we're only meeting every two weeks. If there are things that have to get done,

i i yes there was this is going to occur i'm just saying let's have a rule as to what has to happen correct for it to occur this was this was a my apologies this was a pure oversight i had asked that this be added to the agenda on august 28th and for whatever reason this didn't make its way onto the agenda yeah and only when it came to my realization it was not on the agenda this this is related to the PBA interest arbitration settlement that was approved by the mayor council in July so it requires these the salary ordinance for the PBA members from the approved contract they it requires a second reading I'm perfectly fine my only point was

Mayor Baskerville did something that was supposed to be on all the process was followed wasn't on remember those things that's right but yes I'm received and appreciated why this is on here madam clerk deputy mayor Anderson yes

Council Birmingham? Yes. Councilor D'Amato? Yes. Councilor Harrison? Yes. Councilor Tolar? Yes. Councilor Williams? Yes. Mayor Baskerville?

Yes. Moving on to the consent agenda. I'm going to remove number 1, number 5, number 8, number 11. Number 12 and number 14, number 19, number 20, number 21, number 26, number 27, number 28, 31, and 34. Did I miss anything that needs to be removed? OK. With having removed those, I'd like to make a motion to accept the consent agenda. Second. Madam Clerk?

Deputy Mayor Anderson? Yes. Councillor Birmingham? Yes. Councillor D'Amato? Yeah. Councillor Harrison? Yes. Councillor Tolar? Yes. Councillor Williams? Yes. Mayor Baskerville?

Yes. Thank you. Starting at number one, please.

our bills list that you counsel told yes I think we spoke or Michael explain the vendor that I had a question about with the live answering machine and I just wanted to can go on the record to ensure that you know this is the best use of funds because he said it's a twenty four hour live service I know it's a small amount of money but We absolutely have to have this service where I know staff have phones that the township pays for, but I believe this is the best use of.

So staff normally doesn't give out their township cell phone numbers because they would be inundated with calls that have nothing to do with them. So what this call service does, we use it in the water and sewer department. You get an email and a text from the call service of the information, the phone number, and who to call back and what they're calling in regards to. That goes to myself, my two supervisors, and my two foremen in water and sewer, and it would go to all the foremen and all the supervisors at the DPW also.

Okay, thank you, because some residents had questions about, they actually called and said they got someone overseas and they weren't sure.

It's not, yeah, no, I think they're based out of Maryland. I just wanted this on the record. No, yeah, so that's, it's just we do that purposely, especially, you know, we don't want to inundate dispatch, police dispatch with calls that aren't, you know, life-threatening emergencies, but emergencies from our end, right? So it's a better way for us to get in contact with people. sure thank you for clarifying I'm sure it's here and I just don't see it what is the expected time for the call back I can tell you from our end usually you get a call back within five minutes from order and sort because like I say goes it goes to one two three four five cell phones so five people get the message so one person will call you back okay excellent thank you council of Birmingham

I'm sorry, I didn't have a chance to ask about this, but there's one of the, like it's the seventh or eighth item on the bill list for GOCSQ construction. I don't even know if this is you. DOCSQ? Yes, life safety improvements.

That's for the- That's for Clary Henderson.

Okay, got it.

anyone else on the bills list please not for you not for me okay there there are several public service some of which specify what they're for there are two that don't specify what they're for and they're both over sixty seven thousand dollars and and one it's very helpful when it specifies what they're for but i was hoping we were all caught up on public service and

Which POs are we talking for the public service ones?

Page 7, accounting account number?

Or check number? Yeah, which check number, please?

240. Yeah, 240.

yes that that is the main account so that's going to be almost every street light in town that's going to be most buildings that we have so that's why it's so big because we have a plethora of accounts attached at least just to that bill that's like our main one we quit it's called I think like community services but it's essentially every street light this building and a couple other buildings and That's why it's so big, because it has so many accounts.

The two of them, one July 3rd, one July 24th.

Yes, I now download the statements off of the PSE&G website when it becomes available to us, and that's how they print them out on the website. So it comes out. Some of them will say that it's the exact same way, and I can send it if need be. Is this a monthly bill? It is a monthly bill, yeah.

So when do they bill us? Because it reads 7-3 through 8-3, one account number. And then the billing starts again on 724 to 824 with the same account number?

That's what it has on the website.

Did you make a phone call to check?

I have. There's a person I can be in contact with.

Do you understand what I'm saying? It's like they're billing us. They overlap. They're overlapping.

The bill. The account numbers.

We're going to do two bills at the end of July.

We wouldn't pay our own bills this way because you'd say, wait a minute, you billed me from 7-3 to 8-3, then you send me a new bill with the same account number, and now your new starting date is 7-24 to 8-24.

I'm sure Gary Williams could help us decipher this.

Okay, well, maybe he'll call public service tomorrow and triple check that one for us.

I'll call him tomorrow. sorry have we already disentangled the ice arena is the ice arena getting its own bill the ice arena is responsible for its own bill but i believe the ice arena was um entangled with the essex park and that that was further entangled with But it's the Clary Anderson Utilities' responsibility to pay for the power.

And then when the panel, when that big panel, the new panel is done, then it will be finally its own account.

Before I give you misinformation, let me double check with that. The new electrical transformer is for, it's an upgrade in service because it was undersized for the chiller and all the lights. I'm not sure if the transformer was related to the other accounts that were in that area.

I move approval of the bill list.

Deputy Mayor Anderson. Yes. Council Birmingham. Yes. Councilor D'Amato. Yes. Councilor Harrison. Yes. Councilor Tolar. Yes. Councilor Williams. Yes. Mayor Baskerville.

Yes. Number five, please. Approval of change in title or text of the appropriation pursuant to NJSA 40A colon 4-87, the shade tree management grant.

oh yes that was me um i just wanted to know if um you know where these trees are going or have they where you know where they're going to be planted i don't understand this is for the study for oh this is just for the study yeah this is the one with the typo okay yeah but do we know what they're studying or where they're studying this is the operational efficiency to look at all the processes and procedures oh for process and procedures not actual locations no thank you did you fix the typo you saw or

Was there a move and then a second?

I don't know. Councilor D'Amato had something. I move.

Second. Madam Clerk? Deputy Mayor Anderson?

Yes.

Councilor Birmingham? Yes. Councilor D'Amato? Councilor D'Amato? This is for the item number five, the shade tree management grant. Yes. What is your vote? Yes. Thank you. Councillor Harrison? Yes. Councillor Tolar? Yes. Councillor Williams? Yes. Mayor Baskerville?

Yes. Thank you. I'd like to make a motion that we take a five-minute recess. Yes. Is there a second? Second. OK. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? OK. I'd like to make a motion for us to return to the Township Council meeting. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? The next item on the consent agenda that we have identified to be pulled was number eight. Councillor Birmingham will not be joining us for number eight. Anybody want to move number eight? So moved. Second. Any discussion on number eight? I don't know. Councillor Birmingham, there's a conflict.

And yeah.

No discussion. OK. Madam Clerk?

Deputy Mayor Anderson?

Yes.

Councillor Birmingham recused herself. Councillor D'Amato?

Yes.

Councillor Harrison. Yes. Councillor Toller. Yes. Councillor Williams. Yes. Mayor Baskerville.

Yes, thank you. Councillor Birmingham. Now we're going to move to number 11. Whoever asked to have number 11 pulled, please. Resolution appointing an alternate fund commissioner.

Yes, that was me. I just wanted to know if there are any other alternates assigned for this?

No, there are not.

Okay, so this will be one person, and that will be Ms. Dawkins. I do have another question, but maybe I can just email you about that. Do we know who our affirmative action officer is at the township?

Ms. Dawkins.

So she'll be doing dual roles? She'll be doing this and that.

So I'm the fund commissioner. I attend all of the meetings of the Garden State Municipal Joint Insurance Fund. So if I'm ever sick or on vacation, she could fill in. That's basically as an alternate.

Moving down to number 19, please. The resolution authorizing change order number one. Would you like to vote on item 11? I'm so sorry. I'm just trying to move. Yes, I would. Thank you. All right. May I have a movement, please? Second.

OK. Deputy Mayor Anderson? Yes. Councilor Birmingham? This is item 11. Yes. Okay. Councilor D'Amato?

Yes.

Councilor Harrison? Yes. Councilor Tolar? Yes. Councilor Williams?

Yes.

Mayor Baskerville? Yes. Thank you. Now we're down to number 19. Please, whoever wished to have that vote.

It's me. Councillor Harrison. This is, I'll behave myself. I have two maps in my office. One 1890 tax map, one 1900 map, both of which show the stream going under Upper Mountain Avenue. I don't understand why you didn't know if there was a stream and there was a bridge.

Correct. The map we have shows a 30-inch pipe, no stream with a bridge, so it doesn't show a bridge.

You think they were fording it? There was a ferry?

No, sir. There's a lot of culverts in towns that are just piping. So that's what we were going by. We were going based on the fact that it said it was a 30-inch pipe and not a bridge.

I could have saved some money if streams... I understand there are a lot of culverts, but old roads that were put in a long time ago, the more typical solution would have been to do a bridge, not a culvert.

No, I understand that, and most of our maps would show the old bridges, but this one just showed the 30-inch pipe, so that's what we were going by.

The 30-inch pipe was probably a long time after the bridge, would be my guess. That's all.

Okay, thank you.

any other discussion on that there's a movement and there's a second.

Madam Clerk please. Deputy Mayor Anderson. Yes. Councillor Birmingham. Yes. Councillor D'Amato. Yes. Councillor Harrison. Yes. Councillor Tolar. Yes. Councillor Williams. Yes.

Mayor Baskerville. Yes. Thank you. Number 20 please who wish to have that pull the fall tree planting. I did.

Councillor Tolar. Yes. Thank you. I'm just curious and again maybe I missed it and did not see it this is going to go to the lowest bidder of course I'm just wondering where is the schedule of areas that mentions of trees to be planted it says it but there's no actual schedule or it doesn't identify the areas of where trees are going to go so I believe the Department of Sustainability is accumulating or compiling a list oh sorry

yes we have about 80 locations from residents specifically as well as locations in our business districts so I'm happy to send you the list once our arborist has finished compiling it okay so this is basically residents that have emailed in It's not all residents. It's it's other locations as well. But I'm telling you off the top of my head, I know that there's a large amount of residents who have emailed us asking for trees. So a large portion of our trees will be planted in both our business districts as well as locations that residents have requested. yeah if you can just share the list that would be great and this will be for this fall that's exciting November December is the planting window so we're looking forward to a substantial tree planting thank you excellent yes Deputy Mayor and then Councilor Harrison

um i just want to make sure so you your department will be working with the arborist yes to select the appropriate type of trees and the look and um you know identify the locations yes correct um and i just want to make sure that there is um you know clear communication with the other departments that are actually going to be planting the trees

Absolutely. Yes, we're working with Mr. Primavera, Department of Public Works, making sure that everything runs smoothly. And that they're planted properly. Planted properly. The new arborist who's working under Richie right now, who's working with us, John Anderson,

been fantastic okay and one last thing before we skip to is there going to be any sort of education or information available for the trees that are planted at the red like on resident property yes about how to care for them and manage them absolutely we're working on that as well and we do we do have literature for that that we've shared okay one have virtually all native so that's very good yes

Two, and I guess following up, you have both, well, full canopy trees and you have some short trees. How is it being determined as to which goes where?

The size of the parking strip and if there's overhead wires Obviously if there's overhead wires if there's street signage if there are other trees located close by if there's other large trees You can't plan another large tree. So the arborist will determine the locations based on the best tree for the area I assume most of the shorter trees will be going in the commercial districts is what's realistic yes and again if there's you know a narrower parking strip or if there's overhead wires that we have to be conscious of

And these quotes, this is for planting and removal is on us?

Removal is on us. That's completely separate.

And then preparation of the, like, soil amendment and all that stuff is them or us?

It's us.

That's us.

They just plant.

Councilman D'Amato you jumped the queue but I like you anyway so November December planting if somebody wanted trees planted right did they miss the deadline for November December and they haven't already made a request

yeah as long as we still have space they can still send a request in asking for a friend yes yes there was one other I can't remember sorry I just one more question I'm sorry I just want to make sure the arborist will be keeping a schedule of where every tree is going because I think the last arborist didn't have a report or any trees

that we planted so yes there will be a log kept right one thousand one thousand percent and we're also doing our tree inventory with a grant through the dp so we hope to be completed with that within the next six months fingers crossed councillor birmingham

For some of the business districts, some of the trees appear to me, I'm not an expert, but appear to be dead. And you're right. Thank you. Do we have a plan to, Councilor D'Amato's interrupting point, that they will be dug up before the planting season?

Yes, we are working with Downs Tree Removal to remove a lot of trees. OK. So they're going to be removing, and then Barbado is going to plant. So hopefully we can, it'll work out in time. But if not, we still have enough locations to do a substantial planting.

OK. And then those could come in the spring.

Absolutely. If needed. Yep. We'll be doing another planting in the spring. Council William?

and I just want to show you that I was listening to your presentation from other time about tree diversity so they're going to take that into consideration also so if some infestation attacks the tree doesn't spread through okay yeah we have 11 different types of trees that we've requested and that's just for this planting so we we change it up for our plantings do these trees come with a warranty one year warranty

Okay, and will someone inspect, because there are two dead trees on my block that died within the one year, and they're still sitting there very unattractive.

Do you remember when the planting was?