Council - Regular Meeting

Good morning. Welcome to the pre-meeting of the Newark Municipal Council on Tuesday, August 4th.

Council President, Council Members, here's a request for an executive session at the top of the meeting.

Council as a whole for an executive session, roll call.

Bay? Yes. Council absent. Crump absent. Jackson?

Yes.

Kelly? Absent. Ramos? Second.

Yes.

Scott Roundtree? Yes. Silva? Absent. Yes.

Upstairs. Second.

Okay.

Council President, Council Members, thank you for your patience. We have a few new appointments beginning on page 54. Is Michelle Beatty in the audience? Ms. Beatty?

Is she up there? She's here. Please come to the microphone. Thank you.

Ms. Beatty is being appointed to the African Commission.

State your name for the record.

Michelle Beatty.

Okay.

Ms. Beatty, do you have an opening statement for the council?

You have an opening statement, yeah.

No, I do not.

No?

I didn't know I was supposed to have one. Okay, no problem.

You don't have any questions?

I'd like to second that.

You're moving the seconder? Okay, thank you. Tomorrow's vote will take place, and congratulations ahead of time.

Thank you. I have been a part of it for a few years now, so just waiting for the official swearing in. But I appreciate your time and me giving back to the city.

All right, thank you.

All right, thanks.

Thanks.

That's sponsored by Councilwoman Roundtree and seconded by Councilman Crump. 8B is an appointment to the Federally Qualified Health Center Board of Commissions, FQHC. Is Ms. Portia R. Bennett in the audience?

Appearing. Come up before the microphone, please. Open statement.

Okay, I prepared a short statement. My name is Portia Bennett. I was born and raised here.

Can you speak to the microphone, please?

Can you hear me?

Yes.

I said, hi, my name is Portia Bennett. I was born and raised here in Newark, New Jersey. I also graduated high school and acquired my associates here at Essex County College. Sorry, I just graduated May 2026 with my bachelor's in psychology from Keene University. I am also an advocate for children with autism and other mental disabilities and have been working in the ABA field since 2013. I WAS INTRODUCED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH DUE TO MY TWO YOUNGEST CHILDREN'S LEAD LEVELS AND WAS ABLE TO GET ASSISTANCE TO MOVE TO A LEAD-SAFE HOUSE AND WAS EVENTUALLY ABLE TO RELOCATE TO PERMANENT HOUSING. AS SOMEONE WHO IS A PATIENT OF THE FQHC, I DEFINITELY WANT TO BE A PART OF THE CHANGE THAT I WANT TO SEE.

ANY QUESTIONS FROM COUNCIL? I'D LIKE TO SPONSOR. I'D LIKE TO SECOND. Thank you for your service. Thank you.

Another appointment to the FQHC is Beatrice D. Simpkins in the audience.

Appearing.

Good morning. Good morning. I am Beatrice D. Simpkins and I'd like to thank Director Allsbrook for the nomination and the mayor as well. I am a Newark resident, a homeowner, uh 2023 bought a house in south ward understand how important health is to this community um and so um worked several years in the health industry around health equity i used to work with saint michael's medical center i used to serve on the north community the nchc um community uh fqac board so i'm familiar with the processes um I'm committed to the city. I know how important it is that people be able to be well. And sometimes just living in a different zip code means that your life is more at risk, that you may not live as long. And I'd like to be able to help the city do something about that and bring real health equity to the city of Newark. And so I'm here to serve. Thank you.

Any questions from the council?

I'd like to sponsor Beatrice.

Sponsor, seconder?

I'll second.

Second by Councilwoman Jackson. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you for your service. Another appointment to the Federal Qualified Health Center Board of Commission, Amoya E.J. Lance. Good morning, council.

Unfortunately, Ms. Angelins had to return to work. So hopefully she'll be able to come before you at the next council meeting.

Okay, thank you. As noted.

Thank you, director. Another appointment to the FQHC, Mr. Michael Miner.

Appearing.

Good morning.

Good morning. Any opening statement, any?

Yes, yes, thank you. You're welcome. Good morning, honorable council members et al. My name is Michael Miner. I live at the Baxter Terrace Senior Housing Apartments, and I'm a loyal and proud user of the Mary Eliza Mahoney Health Center. Some brief background. My daughter, Melissa Minor, one of only nine from the African diaspora speakers of the house for the state of Delaware visited with maybe some of you, the black legislative conference in Chicago last week. She brought me this cap back from the Obama Presidential Center and told me to wear it. So if you see my daughter, please tell her that I complied. you comply with your daughters. I spent 15 years working in television advertising. I spent the last 15 years working on Wall Street. That wonderful experience ended for me on 9-11. You may not know to look at me, but I do know what the words post-traumatic stress syndrome looks, smells, and feels like. After leaving Wall Street, I spent 12 years dedicated to supporting my young, rising Wall Street executive wife and as primary for our kindergarten, second grader, and fourth grade children in South Mountain. After my divorce, I moved here to your community to stay closer to my children. Moving to this community, I joined the Newark Rotary Club under my mentor there, Mr. Don Viper. I launched the first program, the Rotary Reach for Life, where we distributed 47,000 brand new books to schools, businesses, and hospitals. As a member and user of the FQAC, I'm very familiar with the system, the 340B program, urban community health, care coordination, charity care, I am a credible messenger of coordinated ecosystems. What some of you may hear of as the coordinated health labyrinth. Last year, we created the Rotary Club of Holistic Wellness and Education. And we did a number of events sitting inside the critical five determinants of health. We did two senior assessment events, 60 members of the Baxter Health Center and 60 members of the East Orange Senior Center. We convened three focus symposiums on domestic violence, the mind your mental chat with 35, 18 to 29 year old young men exiting the breadth for black and brown men at Essex County with Dr. Akil Kafani. Now you may be wondering to hell with who, how you came to be, what you're going to do for me as commissioner. As commissioner, I will work to strengthen the intelligence workforce layer, connecting the fragmented systems for seniors, particularly recognizing that every human, every grandparent, every child, every parent, every male, every female has a right, has a voice, AND RECEIVES HOLISTIC, COMPASSIONATE, HOLISTIC SERVICE PROVISION. THANK YOU FOR TAKING A MOMENT TO LISTEN TO A 246-AND-A-HALF-YEAR-OLD GRANDFATHER.

THANK YOU SO MUCH. ANYONE MOVING? IS THERE A MOVE OR A SECOND?

I'LL MOVE.

I'LL SECOND. AND SECOND BY AROUND.

Okay.

Thank you.

Duly noted.

Thank you for your service.

Final appointment today is an appointment to the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Questioning Advisory Commission. Is Mr. Paul Aponte-Familia Jr. in the audience?

She's here. She's here? Okay, can you come before us, please? Thank you.

Oh, okay.

Mm-hmm.

Hello. Good morning to residents, staff, and members of the council. So yes, as you may know, I am willing to take part of the committee of the LGBTQA committee. And basically, I just want to say that apart from being an advocate to the committee, I also want to be a voice for my generation and the youth that do struggle and face discrimination on a daily basis. SO THAT'S PRETTY MUCH WHY I WANT TO BE PART OF THE COMMITTEE. AND HOPEFULLY YOU GUYS DO TAKE THE INITIATIVE TO ALLOW ME TO DO SO. THAT WILL BE ALL.

NEW SPEAKER ANY QUESTIONS? IS THERE A MOVER? MOVED BY COUNCILOR RAMOS. SECOND BY ROUND 3. THANK YOU. NEW SPEAKER THANK YOU. NEW SPEAKER BY THE WAY, WITH THE LGBT COMMUNITY, WE NEED TO ALSO as that committee does mean, we also need to engage them with the National League of Cities and what National League of Cities is doing with the LGBT community. Because again, there's mayors and council people at the National League of Cities and there's an organization that that is strong and advocates for those rights and issues that quality and importance. So I would, to the commission, we'll be able to send some materials. I'm going to gather some information and send to you so that you can help us too. Because at the National League of Cities, when we lobby Congress on behalf of cities and villages, we also take some input so we like to have some input so as a member of the advisory council of the national league of cities i'm looking forward to seeing that kind of engagement of getting some response of what issues are affecting our cities and villages and towns around this country so we're going to start here in newark uh looking at that possibility giving you some feedback of what's going on around this country absolutely of ours okay thank you for your service thank you

Congratulations to everyone. Congratulations. Council President, Council Members, we are on page three of the regular agenda, ordinances on public hearing, second reading, and final passage. 6P SFA is an ordinance amending and supplementing cannabis. by amending cannabis establishments to add a section dealing with microconsumption, amending the manner of operations, armed security, and license fees. Sponsored by Councilman Council. Second by Councilman Ramos.

Any questions? Do you have none? Continue.

B is an ordinance authorizing the mayor and or his designee to execute the sale and transfer of properties for redevelopment.

Any questions? And then continue.

C is an ordinance granting a 25-year tax abatement to 636 MLK Urban Renewal LLC for a project located in the Central Ward to construct three new buildings, each a four-story low-rise multifamily dwelling consisting of a total of 42 residential units, inclusive of 33 market rate rental units and nine affordable units.

Any questions?

Resolutions, 7R1A through F are temporary emergency appropriations. A is for the Ryan White HIV Health and Support Services. B is Community Resource Center. C is the Dental Health Care Services. D is Fabian Place Freight Improvements. E is Clean Communities Program. And F is for the Operating Budget.

Any questions, council? None, continue.

G through Q are purchasing contracts. G is for the government access television studio. H is for video services. I, computer equipment. J, auditing services. K is HVAC supplies. L is communications equipment. M is flood damage repairs. N is for the Open Public Records Act and Computer Essentials. O is for Fleet Maintenance Services. P is for HVAC Maintenance and Repair. And Q is for Automotive Supplies.

Any questions? Councilman Jackson and then Councilman Kelly. In reference to M?

I'D LIKE TO ASK FOR A COPY OF THE HAZMAT DIAGNOSTIC REPORT NUMBER ONE. I'D ALSO LIKE TO ASK FOR A COPY OF THE JOSEPH ENVIRONMENTAL REPORT ENTITY NUMBER THREE. I'D ALSO LIKE TO ASK FOR A COPY OF THE FRERA FLOORING. As we are in the third reconfiguration of that, I would just like to make sure that the office for myself and all of my council colleagues is clear of all mold and any hazardous fumes. And I'd like to have those reports as soon as possible. And in regards to the increase for the contract of... $50,000 is that attached to the new floors being put down? And if so, I'm against that because they incorrectly put them in and we should not be paying a company extra $50,000 because they had to replace the floors because they weren't done correctly the first time.

Thank you. Madam Clerk, as noted by Councilwoman Jackson. Yes, sir. Response to those. Councilman Kelly and then Councilman Grump.

Thank you, Council President. My question is, is anybody here from the management of the television station or out of communications in reference to G, 701G? No one's here. No one's here? No.

CORPORATION COUNCIL. GOOD MORNING. I DON'T USUALLY WATCH IT FROM NEXT DOOR. I'LL GO GET SOMEONE RIGHT NOW TO ADDRESS THE QUESTION.

YES, PLEASE. I GUESS WE CAN GO TO ANOTHER QUESTION.

ALL RIGHT. THANK YOU, MR. PRESIDENT. 7R1J ON PAGE 13. Just trying to get a better understanding of what occurred here. I know it says that it is an amends and corrects the clerical error. But my question really is a couple of questions. One is it's correct needs to pay them out this year. According to the contract, I think it's from 23 initially. How do we pay the previous years? And then what's the length of the contract?

Mr. Guzman. Good morning. Good morning, Council President, Council Members, Benjamin Guzman, Acting Finance Director. The reason for this resolution, originally when we had awarded this contract, it was an extension of the state contract that PKF O'Connor Davies has with the state. Originally, our intention was to contract them for the exact same period of time that their state contract is valid with the state of New Jersey. When we awarded this contract, the intention was to not to exceed $150,000 per year. And we would fund it from the budget codes of each budget year provided that's in this particular resolution right now. uh apparently the language as it was originally written said that the contract would not exceed for 150 000 period um on average it's under 150 000 per year that they have built in prior years they have been paid um this was going through the review as there's soon coming to uh expiration and and renewal we wanted to correct it for the period that it has right now So that was the main reason why. The original intention was to have the contract for the same period of time that their contract is valid with the state of New Jersey.

And so this ratifies, I'll use that word, previous payments that were made to PKF?

Yes, that'd be correct.

Okay. All right.

Thank you. Thank you, Councilman. Thank you, Mr. Guzman. Thank you.

Councilman Ramos. Yeah, going back to Councilman Kelly's point about the TV studio, I think at some point we should just have a conversation with the administration as far as modernizing, having a presence on some of these new platforms. it seems like what we're doing with the studios is outdated right like and we just approved this contract year after year i don't even know what kind of viewership we get on channel 78 anymore you know like it'd be good to hear from them um as far as the kind of reach that we have with channel 78 and and what are some of the opportunities that we have

um in in other venues whether social media or youtube you know to to to to reach more residents thank you i'm just add on uh i know we're waiting for them to come but um that was essentially what i was just gonna you know if we're talking about lions gate is coming here and And we have other studios that will be neighboring in other neighboring cities. And this is essentially turning into, you know, New Jersey is the largest city in the state of New Jersey. And this is turning into the media hub. We need to have our own media rights. you know, and have different programs for our youth who want to get into television. We shouldn't have to wait till Lionsgate builds the school next to the studio when we have Channel 78 right here. And, you know, me coming out of media, I know that there's so many things that we can do, and I feel like I speak to them and assist them in a lot of ways, but I think we need to have more support for them.

Channel 78 from our communications department here with administration council in terms of the history of how that channel of there was a person on this council by name, Donald Tucker, and he was very instrumental in making sure that this studio would translate what this city was going to go forward as so again we we have to there was a time where the there were a particular councilman because cable vision there was cable vision was how this occurred because of the settlement of that agreement so as a historian i know this history of the city and to say that at the time it was supposed to be to give access to our council folks to have a a platform or put something together or to their constituency so that needs to be revised again where let's say where weather is uh uh whether that would just say whether it was a condition there were some services a particular ward is having a some kind of event that it would utilize that network and give it an opportunity to the governing body and to the general public. It was not just only for the council or the mayor. It was to be the whole entire community that is the agreement and that was the agreement that was done with cable vision at the time when they settled the settlement was that they would give us a studio that studio was orchestrated by the city council by councilman the late councilman donald tucker So I just want to put that on record because Councilman Tucker was the one who was very instrumental with the federal communications authorities in making sure when that settlement was that that was the blue pole. So again, I like to see and to my colleague's point is that there needs to be more access to us with that network.

And we have a great opportunity with all of these media and studio television and film companies coming here. And it's not just Lionsgate. There's so many subsidiary companies that are actually moving to Newark, New Jersey. So if these companies come to Newark, New Jersey, and we're not taking care of our own media company in a proper light or the proper way that we need to, I think that, you know, that's doing a disservice to the people of Newark, New Jersey. You know, I really want to see Channel 78 and our media here in Newark, New Jersey really take flight, really, really start to get better adequate equipment and start involving our youth. There's programs that could be set up with in between, you know, utilizing Channel 78 and teaching them so that we're preparing them for the workforce.

Good morning. Name for the record.

Good morning, Council President, Council Members. My name is Crystal Rosa, Communications Director for the City of Newark. My department does oversee NORC TV. I've jotted down everything you said, agreed that we should have a conversation about NORC TV. And I can put all this together and provide that to you.

Okay. I think, Madam Clerk, I think we should... uh invite the uh department communications to meet with us and especially yes so that we can also present to them uh a floor plan of what we believe that should we you know like advising what is it that we like to see for our viewers and the constituents our constituents yes sir thank you thank you so much Thank you. Yes.

Um, just wanted to just go back real quick, um, to seven R one M um, to, uh, councilwoman Jackson's point. I just want to know exactly what we're getting with this extension, because, um, as she mentioned, the, the issue with our offices are still not resolved. I have not been able to work in my office since January and the, you know, the, the, the, What has been done has not been done. And so I need to know what is it that we're supposed to be getting and what's the timeline for all of this to be completed. But what are we getting with this extension? How does this benefit? What is the work going to look like?

Madam Clerk, I wish the council should get some response by no later than tomorrow. I don't think it's very difficult. I think before we vote on it, that's what you're saying. You would like to have a response. So we would like to get some response for the questions that have been raised.

And just one more real quick. on resolution P260940. This is a contract for HVAC maintenance and repair. What I would also like from this resolution is a copy of, from the two companies, F&O Mechanical and Virocon. When is the last time they changed filters? When is the last time they maintained the HVAC system? When is the last time the HVAC system has been blown so that everything is done? Because as you guys can see, I'm very, very concerned about the air we're breathing in inside this building with so many things going on. So I just need to make sure that this contractor is living up to their obligation with us. And what is the scheduled rotation for filters to be changed inside this building and any place else they cover?

Madam Clerk, as noted by Councilman Jackson,

Yes, sir. R through U are VA OIT and personnel contracts. R is grant funds for urban growers. S is sustainable grant funds for micro forest. T is a state contract for building supplies. And U is a contract for health insurance broker services.

Any questions?

Just a question on S. Some of the young folks that were working for the sustainable grant to do the roof cooling painting, they were having some issues in terms of payment, their work schedule, et cetera. I just need to know if that's been rectified. And if it has not been, I NEED THESE EMPLOYEES BOUGHT IN AND I NEED THEIR PAY TO BE GIVEN AND THEM TO BE GIVEN SOME APOLOGY FROM THE CITY AS TO WHY WE ASKED THEM TO DO WORK. THEY DID IT AND WE DID NOT COMPENSATE THEM. THANK YOU.

NEW SPEAKER THANK YOU, COUNCIL PRESIDENT. SEMINAR 1U, PAGE 23, JUST A COUPLE OF QUICK QUESTIONS. NUMBER ONE IS HOW MANY companies submitted to RFP. I didn't see that information. And number two, who is the committee, who is on the committee that makes the determination to select these three insurance companies?

Thank you for the record, director.

Yes. Good morning council, Tiffany Stewart, personnel director of city of Newark. To answer your question, we have, we sent it out through a fair and open process as an RFQ. We got back three responses. Those are the respondents that we see that you see before you. As far as the committee that is evaluating the respondents that is comprised of myself, the assistant director, and sometimes we also do use the accountant as well.

Thank you. Mr. President. Yes, Ramos. As far as the rates, these are the same groups that you've been dealing with for a while, right? Yes. So in your assessment as a director, do you feel that they have done a good job of navigating the healthcare costs for the city. We know that those municipalities and other levels of government that are tied to the state health benefits plan have been experiencing like double digit increases every year, which not only increases costs for the government, But it also increases costs for the individual employees that are required now to pay into the share of the health benefits costs. Like, how are we faring out compared to those entities that are part of the state plan?

Yes. So to answer your question, I have been tracking the state health benefits plan and what our costs would be. Had we stayed with the state health benefits plan, I do this as an annual analysis of various options that we have, including whether we should remain self-funded or whether we should reenter the state health benefits plan. Based on the information that I have, the increases that they've seen over the last few years, had we remained in the state health benefits plan, we would have paid over $200 million more and health insurance costs for that plan. So we have made the right decision in coming out and being self-funded. That being said, I do still remain committed to ensuring that we try to mitigate costs as much as possible. So I meet with the brokers regularly to determine whether or not the products that we're offering are still in our best interest. I do financial analysis regularly as well. We go out to market to get quotes to ensure that we're receiving competitive pricing. And we offer, you know, non-traditional products as well, like our reference based pricing and things like that. And we are working to try to incorporate more sort of non-traditional ways of getting access to health care that is more affordable for the city.

What kind of increase did you see from last year to this year? I know we're going through the budget process now, so we'll know in more detail what that number is. For 2026, what was the number compared to 2025 for active employees?

Under the self-funded plan that we have right now, I believe the increase was somewhere around 12%. Whereas the state health benefits plan was nearing like 30%. Okay.

And I just want to state, you know, for the record that I have a history of not voting for broker contracts. To me, the brokers sometimes, and I don't want to paint them with a broad brush, but my experience is that they're not always transparent. with the municipality. You know, I have to commend you and your team because I think, you know, the city is in a better position compared to our other governmental neighbors. I know there is a big effort on behalf of your office and the broker to contain some of these out of network charges that are crippling some of our governments around the state. Many of these procedures uh are out of network and then those costs are being passed on to the to the municipalities and county governments so you know i i i do feel that um you know at some point maybe we can have access to the brokers have a more detailed conversation so that the members of this council can understand a little bit more about the work that they do and what their role is to help navigate coverage, but most importantly, make sure that the coverage is adequate, but at the same time, affordable for the taxpayers and the employees.

Absolutely. I'll work with your teams to facilitate a meeting.

So Jackson, just two things real quick. I won't be voting for this this afternoon or tomorrow. I just think it is what has happened with the health care insurance to the employees of this city. Police, fire, sanitation and others has been horrendous. What we just went through because I speak to them. So I can only speak to who I'm talking to that works for us. That little $250, whatever the little bonus card was for the coverage of nothing. when people's children not being covered, when we had the state debacle, people that were working at the board and people that were working at the city lost coverage. I go to single, I'm Larry to Larry. Larry has to, excuse me, but just for the example. Councilman Crump, but just for the example, he's Larry, AKA the new husband. He has no coverage now. I don't have coverage for the children because of the fiasco. I just would like for, as to echo Councilman Ramos, these brokers who are in it to make money. Let's be clear. They're not in it for anybody's benefit. That's my personal opinion, and I'm entitled to it. They're not in it to win it. They're in it to win it for themselves. I see a lot of families that have a problem. That new insurance that we had, there were a whole bunch of people running back to human resource and every place else to revert back to the Aetna or whatever they had. I just think that we need to take time to make sure that we have the best. There's a lot of things in the new company that came in that are not covered. And families are being inundated right now with medical bills because we keep making the quick and alleged economic decision where we're not thinking about folks long term in terms of what we need to do. So I just would like to see that come in. I'd also, the next time this happens, I'd like to see some employees at the table. to help barter, to let you know what their experiences is with insurance, what they're denied for that they need, because there's a lot of denial going on, not just with us, but across the board, because they don't want to pay for these things. So while we're talking about it, we do need to make sure that we have brokers that have our best interest, and it's not always cost saving. And I understand sometimes that has to go over to the employee, but I don't like what I've seen. in this system in the last five years. I just don't like it. And I just think it's very unfair to the city for them to be disingenuous with us because I don't think they're honest brokers because we know there's a lot of politics involved in these insurance brokers. And I'm not even in that field, but trust me, I know. and everybody's borrowing let me get north let me get north they got the most employees and a lot of times they're not honest brokers and our people and that's what i'm concerned about that work for us our front line don't have the best coverage and when something happens to them when you get that lower standard of care you get sicker and i'm very concerned about that so thank you mr for your time hopefully we can you know change how we negotiate and also include some of the employees in the city from the director spots down in this negotiation to see what would be best

Thank you. I'll facilitate a meeting so that the council is able to ask any questions that they need to ask. The plan that we do have, the reference-based pricing plan, is actually the exact same plan design as our Aetna plan. So I do want to make that clarification. There's no difference in the coverage that's provided. And if anybody does have bills or anything like that, they should come to HR. That's what we're there for, to assist them. So BUT I WILL CERTAINLY PROVIDE EVERYONE AN OPPORTUNITY TO ASK QUESTIONS OF THE PROGRAM.

NEW SPEAKER MADAM CLERK, THANK YOU SO MUCH. MADAM CLERK, IF YOU COULD ALSO HAVE A PRESENTATION TO THE GOVERNING BODY.

OF COURSE.

NEW SPEAKER I THINK IT'S TIME TO DO A PRESENTATION. WE HAVE NEW PERSONS ON THE COUNCIL AND THINGS HAVE CHANGED. SO I THINK THAT'S IMPORTANT THAT WE SCHEDULE.

Council President, if I may, I think Councilwoman Jackson brought some important questions to the fore, some of which I think need to be addressed right now. I'll start with the last part, if I could, about having employees involved in the process for the insurance that we get. Insurance is one of the largest drivers of the budget that we have here. We are not the largest employer in the city with respect to insurance. The Board of Education has a larger budget than we have and they have similar health care costs. But employees are represented to this degree. Every one of the negotiated collective bargaining agreements talks about health care coverage. And when we change providers, we have to make sure that we provide substantially similar benefits when we go from one to another. In order to do that, Director Stewart meets with the presidents of each union every time there is a substantive change in insurance, and they have to be notified they are. They are given opportunities to ask questions. Those questions are incorporated into the negotiations. that we have to ensure that the coverage is the same or better. And we have not had, I think I heard you say, more issues where employees are not covered and not taken care of. That's not true. And if you have data to support that, I would love to have that so we can address the concerns of those individual employees and make sure that they are taken care of appropriately. Director Stewart mentioned that one of the things that we have implemented is reference-based pricing. Reference-based pricing gives us the opportunity to negotiate directly with providers and hospitals through our brokers and others to get better rates than you would get otherwise. And that is one of the ways that we have been able to keep the costs down. So there has been an increase. There's been an increase across the country everywhere. And our increases are so much less, more than 50% less, 60, 70% less than other places. I think we've done a great job. Part of that has been done by the brokers that we have. You'll notice that we have three brokers. They have expertise in different areas. There are some brokers who claim that they could do all of it. Based on the assessment, excuse me, based on the assessment, of the abilities of these brokers, the determination was made by our personnel director and her team that we get a better benefit from having these three individuals. And also note that the cost that we're paying those three individuals firms is less than the cost that we would have otherwise paid to one single firm that likely would not have provided the level of service that we have received. But I'm most concerned about though, is your claim that we're not providing as good coverage as we have. And, you know, As I've done, you are always welcome to come to my office to bring me that information. You know, I can't have a council meeting without me inviting you and me to meet in person and we can address that.

Thank you, Mr. B. Any other questions? Continue.

seminar two a through k are private sale and redevelopment agreements a is a private sale redevelopment for a new construction of two three family dwellings consisting of one ada compliant apartment unit and two standard units each dwelling to be sold at market rate in the south ward any questions B, new construction of a two-family home where one unit will be owner-occupied and the other unit will be leased through the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program in the South Ward.

Yeah, Ms. Chair, I want to sponsor this item.

Okay, so sponsor, second. Second by Councilman Rountree. Continue.

C is new construction of a two-family home with market rate rentals in the South Ward.

Ask for this item to be deferred.

IS THERE A SECOND TO DEFER? SECOND. SECOND BY JACKSON. CONTINUE.

D, IS NEW CONSTRUCTION OF A TWO-FAMILY HOME TO BE SOLD AT AN AFFORDABLE RATE OF 80% OF THE AREA MEDIUM INCOME IN THE SOUTH WARD?

I ASK FOR THIS TO BE DEFERRED. IS THERE A SECOND? SECOND. SECOND BY BAY.

THAT'S THE ONE, BAY. CONTINUE.

E, IS NEW CONSTRUCTION OF A THREE-FAMILY HOME TO BE SOLD AT MARKET RATE IN THE WEST WARD?

Okay, you're moving. Is there a second? Second by Council Roundtree. Continue.

Second by Roundtree?

Yes. Thank you. Council Roundtree.

F. Is new construction of a two-family home and a four-family home both to be sold at market rate in the Central Ward?

I make a motion to be deferred.

Is there a second? Just quick. This is F, right? I'm sorry. Oh, yeah, we had a question about that. So we have 559-561 South 10th Street. When you look on the map, when doing my investigation, this says that the odd side number streets on South 10th Street, it's on the border of the West and the Central Ward. and that the odd number, which is this side, is actually the West Ward. So can we clarify if it's the West Ward or not? And if it's the West Ward, I would like it to meet jointly with the Councilwoman, since it's right on the border. But I just want to clarify if it's actually the West Ward. But it says the odd side number is the West Ward.

Madam Clerk, that's noted, and we can get an answer.

Yes, we'll check.

Okay, continue.

G is construction of a mixed-use building consisting of 32 residential apartments with 20% of the residential units designated as affordable housing in the Central Ward.

Yes, I also ask for this to be deferred. There's a meeting pending.

Is there a second for defer? Second. Second by Jackson. Continue.

H is construction of a new four family residential home designated for households earning up to 80% of area, medium income in the central ward.

Um, yeah, I have a same question that, um, councilman Kelly had about the, um, the other one, two Oh five Avon avenue. We've looked it up in different maps, have it same, same timeframe, but have it in different, um, different wars. So we could just get, um, clarification if it's central ward or not.

I'm Clark. That's an order by council in bay.

Yes.

Continue.

I is new construction of one new two-family home to be sold at market rate in the South Ward.

I'm asking for this item to be deferred.

Is there a second? Second. Second by Kelley. Continue.

Item J will be deferred. K is new construction of a two family dwelling with one unit designated for owner occupancy and the second unit to be leased to an income qualified household at 80% of area medium income in the West Ward.

Yeah, I would like this item to be deferred.

Is there a second? Second. Second by Jackson. Continue.

L is amending the 2026 annual budget for Newark Alliance.

Any questions? Yes. Councilwoman Bay.

Thank you, Council President. So a couple of things. I know that we have some upcoming meetings with Newark Alliance, but I've previously asked for a more detailed budget regarding the parks now that's under Newark Alliance in DD, the scope of work that's under that and how much of the budget goes towards that, the the area that is covered, equipment, all of that. And then also to a follow-up meeting and follow-up conversation regarding their involvement with FIFA and the advertisement and marketing that was supposed to be done to help OUR LOCAL BUSINESSES BENEFIT FROM THAT. IT WAS SOME GREAT THINGS THAT WERE ACTIVATED IN THE EAST WARD AND I CONGRATULATE COUNCILMAN SILVA AND THE CITY AND EVERYONE WHO CONTRIBUTED TO THAT. BUT THERE WERE A LOT OF AREAS THAT DIDN'T GET ANYTHING. SO I JUST WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENED TO THAT. AND WHERE DID THOSE RESOURCES GO? BECAUSE THEY DIDN'T GO INTO A LOT OF OUR AREAS THAT WERE PROMISED. SO I WANT TO GET THAT INFORMATION.

AS NOTIFIED BY COUNCILMAN BAY. MR. PRESIDENT. COUNCILMAN RAMOS.

I AGREE WITH MY COLLEAGUE. I THINK AT SOME POINT WE SHOULD HAVE A CONVERSATION WITH THE FOLKS AT THE ALLIANCE. I MEAN, BY DISSOLVING THE DOWNTOWN DISTRICT, THE TOURISM BUREAU, YOU'RE ESSENTIALLY CREATING THIS MEGA SPECIAL IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT. AND I THINK FROM efficiency standpoint, it made sense at the time, but we just have to make sure that we clearly understand that the stakeholders who are contributing to these districts, whether it's the hotels or the property owners along the downtown district, that there's adequate representation because they are contributing financially toward the organizations that are tasked with delivering certain services and they should definitely have a voice to ensure that the mission of those different entities are not forgotten in the creation of this mega organization. And from my understanding, the Alliance is in the process now of hiring an executive director. So at some point, it'd be a good time for them to come in and talk to us about how they separate out the different arms of this mega improvement district to ensure that they're doing what they're supposed to be doing, not only in the downtown area, but like the Councilwoman said, as far as the Tourism Bureau is concerned, promoting Newark as a destination, whether it's restaurant week. I think the World Cup presented a great opportunity, and I know he's not here, but I got to really thank Councilman Silva and the city partner with him And that was kind of like an independently organized fan fest or whatever you wanted to call it. It wasn't part of what the state spent millions of dollars putting together around the state. We didn't really see that in Newark, right? They ended up joining with the fan fest that was put together by this independent coalition of people.

know there is great opportunity for the tourism bureau to promote things that are happening in the different wards right like we all have you know festivals and things going on and i really feel that that should be part of their mission yeah decided by council ramo i think that it needs to be a presentation uh in the month i mean in september we're gonna have a we're gonna have a special so we should look at these having specials with the items that we have talked today AND I THINK THIS IS THE NEW YORK ALLIANCE SHOULD MAKE A PRESENTATION OF WHAT GOES ON WITH THE TOURISM AT THE AIRPORT AND WHAT ARE WE BENEFITING OUT OF THAT ENTITY. SO WE DON'T THERE'S BEEN CHANGES WITH THE ENTITY. SO I KNOW THAT WE NEED TO ENGAGE WITH THEM AND BRING THEM IN AND SEE WHERE THEY'RE AT. YES, COUNCILWOMAN PAYNE, SORRY.

No, I'm just saying this is, you know, this has come up a couple of times. And so I just, I don't feel comfortable moving forward on this until we get the information because it's been a couple of months now.

Okay. As noted by Councilman Bay. Continue.

M is to authorize the execution of a memorandum of understanding with Essex Plaza Owner 1 LLC in connection with the installation of a public mural.

Any questions?

JUST A COMMENT. AS WE ARE APPROACHING, ALTHOUGH IT'S WARM TODAY, THE WINTER SEASON, THERE ARE ALWAYS ISSUES. AND I KNOW THIS IS A MURAL, NOTHING TO DO WITH IT. but i think in good faith we shouldn't make any agreement with this for me until we make sure that that building is brought up to code i i can't tell you the calls i get from the residents at 1060 they're my adoptive grandparents and i it's it's just always every cycle including in the summer that heat or that ac doesn't work now i might be a little out of order with this but Because I know it's just a MOU for the mural, but I just don't think we should do anything with them until they bring that housing up to code for those elders in that building. It's always an issue. I bought gloves, coats, reason in a hallway. They're not good business partners with our community. And maybe we should put the mural someplace else because I don't like the way they treat my elders in that building. So I'm not supporting it. Just can't. Questions.

What is the mural of? Is it anything specific? The artist? Does that even matter? Is there a Central War artist or East War artist or somebody from the North? What is it of? Is it something that was spoke with the elders of the building? Did they have a say-so in what the mural is?

Maybe the Department of Economic Development. Can you?

Because it doesn't say in the background information.

Hello, Brandy Daniel, Legislative Coordinator for Economic and Housing Development. Councilman, to your question, I can get all the information from you today, for you today, and get it to the council before the end of business day.

Okay, thank you. Thank you. Let's load it. Continue.

7R3 A through E are engineering resolutions. A is for professional design and engineering services. B and C is for professional engineering services. D is a bid contract for improvements to Broadway Park. And E is a support resolution for Clay Street Bridge Replacement Project.

Mr. President. Yeah, with 7R3D, I know Trust for Public Land has been designated as the partner for the construction site there. So I'm just trying to understand what are we paying for here as far as Broadway Park? Because I thought the money that was raised goes to Trust for Public Land. They end up hiring the contractor to do the renovation. This is another $5 million here. So if they could just answer that prior to tomorrow's meeting, you could just send me a quick email. I'm just trying to figure out who's getting what, because I know we've approved some grants that have come in. And I thought Trust for Public Land was the one that was handling the construction. But you could just, Director and Ms. Harris, just send me an email, copy the council.

As noted by Councilor Ramos, by his request. Thank you.

Yes, sir. 7R4A is authorizing a tax sale to enforce municipal liens.

Any questions?

Yes.

Yes, Councilor.

Just a couple of questions. Oh. The process of tax liens has been a very contentious one in the community. And there are a lot of elders that are receiving tax notices that say they have liens on their properties that are not clear as to where they come from. And I just think before we do this electronic online tax lien sale that many of us won't be able to participate in, I'm concerned about one, if the adequate notice is given to the players that will be able to be a part of this electronic, because I know that as we sit here as council members and I'll try to text someone in the audience and councilman council will and councilman Ramos, it all won't go through at the same time. So we doing an electronic sale. I'm concerned about the not saying illegal. So let me just make sure I'm saying that the fairness and people have an access to the bid if I'm being understood. So I want to make sure that if everybody's sitting in this room, GOES INTO THE TAX SALE PORTAL. I THINK THIS IS THE FIRST TIME WE'RE DOING THIS. OKAY. IF THE B.A. COULD GIVE SOME MORE INFO ON THIS. LIKE I SAID, I'M JUST A LITTLE CONCERNED WITH THE LEGALITY OF THE LEANS THAT ARE ALREADY THERE AND DO PEOPLE understand how they got there because you know as i get i get calls i'm not gonna speak for my colleagues but i'm sure they do um some elders in particular don't understand the lean process but i'm a little hesitant because now to be electronic and i can sit right here on my phone and just bid on everybody in the this example everybody in the audience's house and i just don't want ONLY MY PHONE TO GO THROUGH AND NOT COUNCILMAN KELLY OR COUNCILMAN COUNCIL OR COUNCILWOMAN BAY. I'M JUST, IS THERE, CAN YOU GIVE JUST A LITTLE ON THAT FOR ME?

THANK YOU.

Eric Bennington, business administrator. I think I forgot to give my name the last time I came up here. The tax sale process is governed by state statute, and we just oversee the liens for the municipality with respect to your concern about I think your state statute. and we just oversee the liens for the municipality. With respect to your concern about, I think your concern is whether or not everybody who attempts to go on digitally has the same right of access. You don't want the system to crash because too many people are on at one time. There's a couple of things. If you're using a telephone or an iPad or a desktop or a laptop, it's a different platform. But desktop and laptop are essentially the same platforms. But if it's a phone or a tablet, you're on a different platform. And a phone, you may not be able to even do the bit on the phone. Things have been upgraded, so perhaps now you can. This is not the first time that we've done this electronically or digitally. It's been done several times in the past. As far as I know, it's never crashed. Perhaps there is more interest now than there has been, but there's sufficient bandwidth with the services that we use. It should be able to accommodate everyone that we have. Again, if you're aware of anybody who has ever attempted to use the service and they couldn't get through for some reason, I'd be happy to get that information. We could talk to our provider and make sure that there's not an individual glitch. It sounds like it's an individual problem and not a system problem.

So this is, if I could just one more while you're there. So this, I'm looking at a second time, this is electronic and in-person?

No, just electronic.

Oh, just electronic. Okay. And so how do we, how would, well, how would you, Mr. Pennington, regular, find out about this tax sale?

It's advertised in the paper. You're talking about it now. It will be on the city's website. Individuals whose properties are going to be in a tax sale, they're notified in addition to the general notice of the tax sale. They receive, before it goes on a tax sale, you get several notices and you have opportunities to make the payments or make payment arrangements.

I'D JUST LIKE TO REQUEST THEN THROUGH YOUR OFFICE AND PROBABLY MS. MICHELLE IF WE COULD DO A SESSION SO THAT PARTICULARLY THE ELDER COMMUNITY UNDERSTAND, YOU KNOW, WHAT THAT IS ONCE THE LEAN COMES. BECAUSE I THINK SOMETIMES THEY DON'T UNDERSTAND THAT THEY HAVE SOME TIME TO MAYBE RECTIFY. THEY HAVE TIME TO GET TO THE FAMILY AND MAYBE COME DOWN WHEN THE SALE IS AND THEY CAN TRY TO REVERT THE PROPERTY BACK TO THEMSELVES.

Certainly. I will make this representation for the tax collector now, Michelle Jones, that if any elder or anyone else has a question about their property going to a tax lien, they can call her office and they will address it directly. There's two different things that we're talking about a little bit. One is the individual properties that are going to be in the tax lien. Those individuals have rights and they can call the tax office and make sure that they exercise those rights to protect their property. the other issue is the actual uh bid itself that process that's a separate process okay it is possible but unlikely that the people who are affected by the taxing are going to participate in that tax sale they would just pay off their lien so those are you know two two different things but i'm happy to to get you whatever information you need okay to be satisfied and the people who are listening now if they call the tax collector's office uh they will explain to them the process Yeah.

And that has happened. There's still so many with the questions like people are going to the hospital for some periods of time and coming home and dealing with that and just not, you know, focused on.

And certainly you don't want it to get to this point, but there's a two year redemption period as well. So even if somebody purchases a tax lien, they can't foreclose on the property for two years and they have to keep the properties current with the taxes. And then the homeowner would have to repay what was paid plus the interest on the property to reclaim their property. But they have a two year period to do so.

So thank you for that because I think those who are listening that are not necessarily here, the people on 78, YouTube, et cetera, there are some seniors that don't have that info. And I just thank you for giving it because I do get those calls as well.

Certainly. And for you, Councilwoman Jackson, if you connect me with any of those people directly, I'm happy to talk with them and with you to explain the process myself. And if I have to get the tax collector involved, we will.

Yes, thank you.

That's only for you, not all the other council people, just you.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Continue.

7R5A through F are resolutions from the Health Department. A, B, and C are subrecipient agreements for mental health emergencies. A is for New Directions Behavioral Health Center. B is New Community Street Team. And C is Raise the Flags LLC. D is an amending resolution to increase the funds for the Newark Drop-in Center Program. E is acceptance of grant funds for the dental care for uninsured residents. And F is a gift donation for homeless outreach.

Any questions? Council Member Gray?

Yes, I'd like to sponsor A and B.

As noted. Second? Second. Second by Kelly and the other one, Roundtree. Okay. Virginia?

7R6A is for executive session, which discussed. B is referral of proposed ordinance to the central planning board for formal review regarding shipping containers. C, I'm sorry. C through H was discussed in executive session.

Any questions? I'm saying none.

we are on page 47. 7R8A is an appointment to the Second River Joint Meeting. Council President, Council Members, there will be an amendment on the floor tomorrow to appoint Councilman Kelly instead of Councilwoman May.

Okay.

is a ceremonial street designation for Luis Reyes.

Yeah, Madam Clerk. In terms of before we do this, if we turned in a resume, this person is deceased, but the family has a business right at the corner. And we just want to put down a record. The street dedication of this person's deceased was a good standard, and you have the resume.

I'd like to second, Madam President. Thank you. I mean, Madam Clerk, I'm sorry. Promoted to the location.

C is a ceremonial street designation for Ms. Dorothy L. Harris, sponsored by Councilman Crump.

Is there a second? Yes, I'd like to second that. Second by Round 3. I'll continue.

D is a ceremonial street designation for Bishop Frank Harris, sponsored by Councilwoman Scott Rountree.

Mr. Chair. Yes. As we move forward, I just respectfully ask that when we're doing street dedications and specific people wards as the at-large people that they at least reach out to the ward people at first, so I can get some understanding of what's happening and what's going on. I just want us to be...

This morning at our executive, we spoke about that moving forward, any street dedications in different wards, they would like to have a conversation with the ward council.

Right.

like a sign-off that all of us are in agreement, and that there be a bio of every person, and also that the ordinance would be as follows, proceeding forward, that the resolution states that person has to be a certain age and that resolution has to read that. Also, if a person is a veteran of coming back from war, that they be recognized. So we are going to put those into that the ward council people will have some say in what happens in their wards. Thank you. Yes, council.

And we do have a council president. Council President Crump, there was an application process put in, and in this, in some cases, I don't think there's ever been one time, maybe with this exception, that I have not spoken to the board people about a street dedication in their ward to participate, and emailed to really get their approval, because I am coming into their ward as an at-large. At-large doesn't mean I get to go into your ward and do anything without the respect of speaking to those who are at council.

Yeah, I'm not here to start a spat, Council President. What I'm talking about is just the level of respect as colleagues, because there are some instances where we're naming streets after individuals where when they did the predominant amount of work in a different ward, that ward should be recognized for the work they did there. And then we're rewarding them in another ward or area when they've only been there a specific amount of time. And so we get blowback as ward council people about some of the things that we're doing because we spend the majority of our time in that ward. That's all I'm saying.

And then we'll get back with some of the revised. We talked this morning about the revised street dedications.

Yes, sir.

Thank you.

Councilman, council, are you seconding this?

No, I'm not seconding it.

We need a second, please.

Is there a second? Is there a second?

We need a second. For item D. It's a ceremonial street, doesn't it?

Maybe you'll get it by tomorrow.

Okay, so E is a Whole Harmless for the Senior Summer Barbecue, sponsored by Councilman Ramos.

Second. Thank you.

F is a Whole Harmless for the Wellness Fest, sponsored by Councilman Ramos.

Mr. President, with F, I'm having a moment. I can't remember what this is about, so I may pull it if I don't get more information. I'm just trying to figure out what this Wellness Fest is for.

Okay. G is waiving special event fees for the Tillinghast block party sponsored by Council and Council. Your second?

Second.

Thank you.

H is a resolution declaring the month of August as National Breastfeeding Month sponsored by Councilwoman Scott Roundtree.

Second. And by Kelly. Okay, continue.

Thank you. I is recognizing and commending resolutions and J is expressing profound sorrow and regret. 7R10A is an acceptance of grant funds for the litter abatement.

Any questions? Yes. Yes, council.

I'm going to talk about this, but also continue to bring this up during our budget hearing because I think it's important for all of us. One, the use of the dollars that are coming out of our clean community funds. I've asked numerous times for signs to be put up on islands throughout the ward about not littering. I asked for posters to put up about not littering with QR signs on there that people can post and get information from DPW about pickup days and all these days. We have to begin to use this Clean Communities money correctly. And I know a lot of times we're not, we're down there, we're purchasing vehicles, and there's a multitude of things that we can do with Clean Community Funds. We can hire a litter patrol team and pay them out of the Clean Community Funds to make sure that the islands remain clean with all of the dollars that we get there. And if we're not going to be responsible of how we utilize these Clean Community Funds, I'm not going to keep voting on these items, and I'm going to continue to push the administration to look into the usage of these clean community funds as they should be utilized. And in some instances, yes, you can purchase some vehicles and keep litter clean and pick up litter. You can purchase recyclable garbage cans, but also it's for the use of signages, it's for the use of awareness and litter campaigns. And if you wanted to employ some folks and pay them out of the clean communities to keep the islands clean, you can do that based on what the law says around New Jersey clean community funds. We have to be better stewards at how we utilize clean community funds.

Supported by council.

Mr. President, I'm going to have to excuse myself because I have the senior event from 12 to 1. So I want to make sure I stop that. But I do have an ordinance on the agenda. Just wanted to respectfully ask for the council's support in advancing it. And it relates to these short-term party rental places that are popping up all over the city. I have one on Verona Avenue in the residential area, which I'm not even sure how this party rental place was allowed use in a residential area. And there's one on on Broadway. It's a street that Luisito lives on over there, not far from the Taco Bell, right on the corner that we get a lot of complaints from residents about garbage being dumped on the corner and there's no parking, 8th Street.

8th Avenue, I'm sorry.

So these short-term party rental places are a popular thing these days, and through this ordinance, we just want to make sure that they're being properly approved by the city, that they have fire safety compliance, and also that they have a separate business license that would enable the city to better control where these kind of businesses are popping up.

I noted to that, those are hall license. And back then, there were hall licenses in the city. I don't know if we still are collecting on them. But if entities that had dancing places or such, they have to have, by the ordinance, they would have to have. license for a dance hall, or for events or things of parties, because what you have on on brutal Avenue, you have a party place that doesn't have, I think, a license for banquet hall, and etc. So we should look into those two to the administration.

Yeah, and we have one on Broadway in Chester that opened up initially as a restaurant and it's strictly being utilized as a dance hall and it's an after-hour place. This place doesn't open up until midnight. The neighbors, I believe Gwen's mom lives on Lincoln Avenue and she could attest to the fact that they have people hanging out at that dance hall till six o'clock in the morning. And the city has been there numerous times with the vice squad. And for whatever reason, this guy is able to keep opening up his illegal business. So a lot of these little short-term party rental places are creating major quality of life issues for people that live in our city. And we got to figure out a way to better deal with them and shut them down. I bet you half of them are illegal.

You know, so I started by council Ramos. Thank you.

Can you seminar? 12 a is a contract for the sale of water to the township of Belleville.

Yes. Madam clerk. What is, what is the amount on this? What is the amount?

Uh, from the township of Belleville, I can reach out to the department to get a dollar.

I'm a director. Where's the amount?

Good afternoon, Council President, Council Members, Kareem and Dean, Director of the Department of Water and Sewer. It's just the increase, the increase in the total take to 7.5 million gallons per day.

Are they up to date with their payment to the city? Yes. Okay. I just wanted to...

They want to buy more water. They're doing development, so they need to get more water before they can develop.

Thank you. So just one quick one. This is the current contract to 2030? Yes.

Yes, this is an amendment to their current contract. They want to increase the amount of water that they buy from us.

Thank you.

Okay.

Make sure they're not opening a brewery. Thank you.

B is a professional service contract for legal services. Okay. Communications. Items 8A through I were already discussed. J is a reappointment to the Newark Caribbean Commission. K is a reappointment to the Newark Caribbean Commission. And L is a reappointment to the Central Planning Board. Item 8M is an ordinance requiring a deed restriction and ensuring that any purchaser of city property sold for the purposes of redevelopment complies with any and all applicable best efforts workforce requirements.

Mr. Chair.

Yes, Councilor.

I would like to sponsor this item in advance and adopt on first.

Moved by Council and seconded by Kelly. As noted. Continue.

And is an ordinance authorizing the city to accept corrective deeds from the Newark Housing Authority correcting the city's previous conveyance of property located in the Central Ward?

I'm sorry. Sponsored by Councilman Bay. Second. Second. Okay, continue.

O is an ordinance amending LIV Noric Loan Forgiveness Program for advancing closing costs or providing funding for eligible facade improvements.

Yeah, Mr. Chair. I would like to sponsor this item as I did on the first in advance and adopt on first.

Second. Second by Councilman.

Council President.

Yes, Ms. Deputy Mayor.

Council President, Council Members, Alison Ladd, Director of Economic and Housing Development. I wanted to note that there is an error in the title. The title at the end says that we were going to go up to 50,000. The number we are going to go up to is 30,000. And I just wanted to make sure that was addressed as an amendment on the floor prior to your consideration tomorrow.

Madam Clerk, just make a correction.

Yes.

As a as a change.

Thank you.

Absolutely. He is an ordinance providing for the Wayne pump station upgrade project and other related expenses and appropriating $7,400,000 thereof. There's a request from finance to advance and adopt on first reading the question.

Can I continue?

Cues and ordinance amending amusement to establish a comprehensive regulatory framework for short-term event space and party rental venues sponsored by Councilman Ramos.

I'll second.

Second by Kelly.

And this item will be advanced and adopted on first as well. Pending business. 9A was already discussed. 9B is an ordinance amending housing code by establishing the property compliance cost recovery program.

Any late starters? How many late starters?

hearing, public comment.

We are now in the 30 minute public comment portion of this meeting where each speaker will have three minutes to speak. Please state your name for the record. Is there anyone wishing to address the council members?

Somewhat. Yes, Mr. President. Oh, Michael. Yeah, but by the way, I. I said of Sils, Cummins and Gross, we represent a number of operator shipping container operators and carriers. And I want to address, which was on the agenda, 7R6B26-1052. This is on for resolution tomorrow. So this is the fifth time that the council has attempted to go forward with an ordinance. It has adopted some prior ordinances. The current ordinance was an ordinance in 2024. That ordinance was challenged. Our law firm represents the plaintiffs, the operators in that case. The litigation has been going on for two years. That ordinance suffered from any number of infirmities. The court in that case sanctioned the city, awarded attorney's fees to the plaintiffs. A year ago, the city said that it was going to repeal the ordinance. That still hasn't happened. Hasn't happened today. Yesterday in court, the city's council told the judge it still hasn't happened. Now, I understand that the city is thinking of going ahead with this new ordinance. And let me tell you that this new ordinance is equally infirm. And what do I mean by that? Well, as was with the first ordinance, there are all kinds of issues. violates the Commerce Clause. It has no relative connection or basis to the cost that would be necessary to just enforce a licensing scheme. What's happened is you've hired a consultant. The consultant said, oh, there was the fire, regrettably, a couple of years ago. The roads are being worn down too soon. We represent container operators, dry containers, those containers and for how long they sit do not add to any of that. And let me say this, I don't think the council appreciates this. And I'll give two examples. This is on the fee structure. If you took a operator with 1,600 containers based on this schedule, which now has increased to $3 a container from $1 last time, that operator is going to be paying upward of millions of dollars. Millions of dollars. That can't be right. It's more than what the operators are charging their customers. That is not right. And so I would urge the council to give this very close consideration. And I think it should look at other ways to raise the revenue and not to put it on the backs of these folks, because you'll chase them away. Thank you.

Good afternoon.

Assalamu alaikum. You guys are not used to seeing me down here on pre-meet. But first, I want to make you aware that one of our children returned to our lot, passed away. Cynthia, Honorable Cynthia Brown, the clerk, we used to honor her for over 30 years. They just had a Geniza, over 2,000 people there. I'm going to be lying. She, you know, I love her more because we graduated together. We quit high school in 1972. So I wanted to say that. Also, I wanted to say that Gail Cheneyfield Jenkins is at home in Florida with her husband. And they rumbling. They're going to rumble. Just want to say that to you. And Council Pat, you know, you might do. Thank you, man. Just hoping that. The change in the president, which I was praying for, from LaMonica to Larry, it was horrible down here. It was horrible. People getting banned. LaMonica banned Carlene Fields. One year for nothing. And what you don't understand was, even when I was on the housing authority, Carlene was the speaker. Whatever her problems were, she would tell us. and messed around, and Carlene is homeless now, living in Penn Station, man. I come to my house one day on a Saturday, and she's sitting in the hallway waiting on me, says she need a coat. And she was banned for nothing. So that behavior more so of trying to protect Larry, trying to protect the mayor and them, it got to stop. And that's why I'm just so happy, Mr. President, that you're here. But I want to say something, because it happened to me last time we was here. We was talking on InvestNORC and I didn't mention nobody's name. I said person next door. And then all of a sudden somebody get a text and they get up and they address me personally. So when somebody addressed me personally, Mr. President, I'm gonna fire back. But people, Rahman Muhammad, Debbie Mason saying, people don't listen to them activists down there. Hey Donna. He said, they don't listen to y'all. Y'all wasting your time. You know what I mean? And guess what? Even in the votes, why people don't vote? They listen to you. I'm telling you, I was up in Orange and I sat next to somebody and I went to say something. He said, oh, my name is Sacha. So I'm a councilman. I said, I'm Ali Muhammad. He said, I know you. You ain't coming to Orange, are you? And, you know, so what I'm just, I just wanted to come down there. And also the last thing about, putting the camera back on the people that are speaking. Because y'all showing a bald spot in my head from behind. And that's not nice. While making my song.

Thanks, speaker.

Can you hear me?

hi good afternoon council president uh members of the council chris murphy uh with the law firm of murphy schiller and wilkes um i'm here to discuss 7r6-b26-1052 it's the container storage ordinance um where you're being asked to adopt a resolution asking the central planning board to review this ordinance and make a recommendation back to the council. As my colleague from Sills Comis, another law firm who represents some of the plaintiffs in the previous lawsuit of 2024, my law firm represented a plaintiff in that litigation as well. I think Michael laid out some of the legal reasons why the ordinance shouldn't be passed why the change of the zoning ordinance shouldn't happen i just wanted to touch on some of the more practical reasons why i don't think that it should go through um first i think there's a lot of ambiguity in the ordinance it defines shipping containers and automobiles in a way that could capture a lot of other uses that i don't think the city is trying to regulate in industrial outdoor storage use, truck parking, and trailer storage. There's some ambiguity as to whether those are included or not, and I think that is going to have some real negative implications if this goes through. I think that it's going to ultimately drive investment and jobs out of Newark. And I know that people stand up here and they say big things. You're going to ruin business if you pass this. I will tell you, this isn't a hypothetical. I was negotiating a lease this week with a shipping container company that said no. They said, you know what, we're going to pull back. We're not going to sign this lease. That is a direct example of of a project that's not going to happen, the jobs aren't going to be here, the investment's not going to be here. I think it's critical that we think about that when we're looking at this ordinance. Companies aren't necessarily and operators aren't necessarily going to fight City Hall. They'll just say, I'll go to Kearney, I'll go to Harrison, I'll go to Elizabeth if I don't have to add this extra cost to my operations. And lastly, I just want to say April 2nd of 2025, the Trump's tariffs came into effect. When I read this ordinance, I said, this is Newark's version of the Trump tariffs. I believe most of us were against those because we'd understood what they would do. It would drive businesses not to operate. They would cost jobs, cost investment, cost money. And they did exactly that. I don't want Newark to be the place with what I call the Trump tariffs but our local businesses. I think we should be supporting them. And I think that I would just ask that the council hold off on recommending this to the central planning board. Let us sit down with the stakeholders and go from there. Thank you so much.

Next speaker.

Hello, my name is, good afternoon, council president and council members. Good afternoon, council president and members of the city council. My name is Anaya Blocker-Jenna. I was born and raised here in the city of Newark. I am the owner of Beyonce and I'm also a managing agent at Clinton Food Bar. All of your offices have been emailed with the relevant evidence document in the events that I want to discuss today. I'm standing here because today I'm operating in a business that has been in the community for almost seven years. The business has been operating with all these required licenses, and it was still abruptly padlocked. We pay our state taxes, we employ local residents, and we invest in the city of Newark. Yet today, our doors are still closed and remains locked while employees are out of work and my business continues to lose money every day. The initial reason why the business was shut down was because of licensing. And once that came back to prove unfounded, it wasn't a licensing issue, the UCC was called based off of a complaint. Only have two notices, one for licensing, one for a complaint. So once they came, basically I was told that we needed a permit for the hoods and things. So as I come to city hall to rectify why the business is still shut down, I was given a handwritten note as a violation instead of an official notice of a violation. So right now I am just coming here to ask you guys, I'm demanding that you guys intervene into the situation because we don't have any answers as to show cause why the establishment can't still be up and running if we only have minor issues of plumbing. That is what the UCC found, plumbing. So right now the business is still closed just for plumbing. And so that is why I'm here speaking to you guys today about this, because I still don't understand why my business is closed. So again, like I said, all the relevant information has been emailed to all of you with the pertinent evidence backing our claims. And, you know, we just want to continue to be in this city, support the city and be upholding citizens of this city. But this treatment is kind of, unfounded. And I just really would like answers overall. So thank you for having me today. And that's it.

Thank you.

Next speaker.

Congratulations, Lou, on the presidency. And one of the things I'm happy about by you being the presidency is what you used to do when you was the president or whatever that we got to get back to is sending letters out to the different agencies, different counties, different authorities, the other municipalities, borderers. If we had a question, you would go, let's get a letter out to this person, let's get a letter out to them. We don't do that no more, even the private landlords. Like for instance, on Broadway Market, you got these buildings vacant there for my whole life. So when are y'all gonna bust a move and do some development? We can't have the building there just sitting vacant, young boy getting shot over there the other day. No type of development. What happened to Broadway Market, Lou? Can you tell us something? Can you let us know what you're doing something? Send these letters out. I would like a letter going out, Lou. I'm not going to take too much of your time today. I'm coming back tomorrow, Lou. I got some sexual assault on black women. Under my watch, I'm not going to let any black women get assaulted on these job sites. It's because you got a little power and you have mental health issues. You got a couple of dollars in your pocket. Don't mean you can sexual assault black women in the city of Newark. I don't go up to Rockland County assaulting. I don't even talk to your women when I'm up there. I go to the office, handle my business, go home. You're going to develop, build on the construction site, leave our women alone, and do your thing. But Lou, we got a lot of work to do. We got to notify who we're going to notify. and I hope you give me that rain day for the golf out so I can come. Have a nice day, council president. Thank you. Thank you, Lou. Lou, I want you to send a letter out to the EPA. I understand that the state law says you can't transfer a property in the state of New Jersey if it don't have an environmental cleanup. Could that be a letter you said, what's the status? You can't transfer the property. So I don't know how when the city of Newark sells a property to a developer who don't develop the project without total EPA approval. Because a group there down there on Freedom and Heisen Avenue crossed with Seth Borden by the Mickey D's. How are you going to do it if the state says you can't do it? So we need to find out what the state law is. Maybe we get a letter going out to them.

Thank you, Council President.

Thank you, Mr. Davis. Speaker?

Speaker?

Good afternoon. Excuse me. Good afternoon. Kiata Hendricks, 18 Kier Avenue. I'm here because I'm concerned about the summer youth employment program to which my daughter is currently working. She's been having a lot of trouble getting paid as well as a lot of other young people. I know the application process when she first did it was a mess. because the website was unstable. A lot of the documents she had to upload kept getting kicked out, which is very discouraging for a lot of young people. I pretty much had to help her with the application. And since then, she's been employed downtown at Source of Knowledge Books, and she's been having a hard time getting paid regularly. She's been turning her timesheets in, and she's been told she had to go back to the Welcome Center, go to different orientations just to get paid. And I'd like to know what can be done to rectify the issues that I'm sure her and other young people have been facing, just getting paid for working. with that program. So that's my main concern, not just for her, but for the other young people who have been working diligently to raise money, either to go to college, take care of their bills, just got out of college and are working and are not getting paid at all. So that's it. Thank you.

Thank you. Any other speakers? Director?

Good afternoon, Karen Gaylord, Executive Director for the Workforce Development Board. I understand that there were some concerns about pay for summer youth employment workers. So we are in about the middle of the summer process. We're in the second phase. We've just about closed out the early program for college students. They're finishing up. and in the first pay cycle for the folks who started after school ended. many reasons why uh more than a thousand somewhere between a thousand and fifteen hundred people might have uh some disparity between what they believe they were to be paid and what they are paid it's a lot of people um i don't think that we can cite any one reason why we have some folks who have issues with pay or concerns about their pay. One of the things that we've done every year is make sure that we retrain everybody in how to submit their timesheets and then go through a reconciliation process after that. this is training this is what workforce development looks like when you're working with young people who've never been paid before we have done a i think a great job this year of getting more people into direct deposit many of them still don't understand that they're not getting checks they're getting direct deposit and they don't understand that you hold back sometimes um a week or so because you have to process pay it doesn't happen the next day so we're working through retraining many people did orientation some did not and so they are lacking some understanding and so we're going to go back and redo it and make sure that they do understand but at the end of the day we're going to also make sure that everyone is paid for their work that's what this is all about If there are specific questions, I'm happy to answer them.

Yes. Has anybody been paid from the Summer Youth Program?

I'm sorry, for the Summer Youth Program?

Yes. Are there pay periods for the Summer Youth Program?

There are a number of different pay periods. We've just had one in another couple of weeks. There'll be another one, and then there'll be a closeout one after that. We also have some people who are in pay cycles that don't end until the fall.

to their different pay cycles. So the first payment for all of the young people that were in the summer youth program, do you know what date it was? Did everybody receive pay? Like the first cycle is July 1 to July 20th pay period, then July 20th to July 30th pay period. So they would know when the dollars go into their account if they did direct deposit.

A part of what happens is that not everybody starts at the same time and not everyone is paid at the same time. Their start and pay are different. We have a cascading program of start dates and pay dates. And as I said, that will be happening all the way until the fall. So there'll be different startups and shutdowns throughout that period. It's also the case that we have families, if there's more than one person, who aren't on the same pay periods. And that creates confusion for maybe the parents if they are on different cycles, if they have somebody who's coming home from college, for example. And then somebody who's a high school student, they're not on the same pay cycle.

Have we created a staggered pay period scale so that those students who are on a staggered stay period scale will be able to get the document and say, listen, you started on this date. These are your pay periods. And so that they know actually when they should be looking for payment.

Yes. And that was communicated during orientation and clear to those people who attended the orientation.

Were they given a document?

I don't know, I have to confirm that. Can you confirm that you were given a document?

I'm asking for a document that was given to each summer youth employer to say, welcome, this is your work site, these are your pay periods, right? If there's any issues or concerns, reach back out to this specific person.

Fair question. Well, we'll find out of the sets of workers who received those documents and how they were transmitted to them. There's also communication that is in terms of pay, some of it electronic. We are meeting with people and have been for the last several days to reconcile any pay issues. For those who don't know it, our office is open from 8.30 AM to 8 PM, Monday to Friday. And we're open on Saturdays. So we were seeing people from Friday's pay on Saturday to reconcile pay. And then we, yesterday, had people come in again. We reached out to them. It was unclear. and to make any corrections that may need to be made. We'll continue to do that until everybody's pay is reconciled.

Councilman Kelly.

How you doing, Director? Thank you. So with the program, there is a component of the program that is for the adults, am I correct? For the summer youth program? Well, we... That a grant pays for.

Yes, so there are a set of workers who assist us with mentoring and monitoring work sites, mentoring our workers, and overall assisting us with program oversight. I don't know if that's what you're referring to. There are some adults.

I've had a few SYEP workers, interns come to my office and work for my office. But there was also a component where I had older gentlemen who were probably of higher risk, about three of them that all got out of the neighborhood. And I was asking the workforce about employment and they steered those three into a program that was grant-based. And it was supposed to be for six months. And after one month, it was stopped. So what happened is it created these three gentlemen were already at high risk of in our neighborhoods. And it really deterred them from believing in the system. It made them not believe in what I had to force them to get in the program. And the program stopped after a month. One that was in my office, he didn't get paid until the program ended. And then there was two other people who were doing great work for DPW, cleaning up lots, mowing lawns, you know, I mean, some dirty work. and they were just let go. So now I have all three of them kind of just waiting, saying, now what do we do? Do we go back to our neighborhoods? And I'm trying to help them look for other jobs. But is there, I guess the question I'm asking, is there anything that we can do for these three who thought they were going to work for six months, only worked for a month, and one of them didn't get paid until the program ended? You know, I think that we at least owe them the opportunity to submit, apply for something else or put them in another space or position to get work because after they thought they would be here for six months and one month and it was over.

Thank you for that question. That is actually a different program. It is not related to summer youth employment. It's a different grant program. We have a program for returning citizens. And I think that's the one that it sounds like that's the one that you're referencing that was intended to be, it's a short-term grant program intended to be an entrepreneurship program This is our second time doing this program. We found that when we give the folks who are trying to start up a business the opportunity to work within a professional office, that they learn more about what it takes to run a business on your own from the employee's perspective. And that was the intent of that program. And that's the model. Most of that program is training. um uh and even when they're working they're sent uh they come in to us for additional training and help with business startup models um this was not uh a six-month work program it was a intended to be a six-month entrepreneurship program and some of that period was intended to be work i think that may be where some of the confusion is there

But if it was a six-month program, the program ended after 30 days.

That program has been going on in terms of the training and entrepreneurship, the credible messengers who are working with them, and the other contract people who are working with them for far more than 30 days.

So I guess a better question is why are the three that I put in the program were released? And the answer that they were giving was that the program ended.

OK, I will have to look into who those three are and whether or not they started the program at the same time as everybody else. I don't know.

Yeah, please.

Touch base with you and find out.

You know, and the reason why I'm asking, because, you know, as councilman who has his boots on the ground in the West Ward, you know, the Office of Violence and Prevention and Trauma Recovery does an amazing job. But we too, as council members, we go out there and we build faith back in these young men who have been displaced, incarcerated, and who can bring some disruptions to our neighborhoods. And we tell them that we support them, that we're going to guide them. And then when things go awry, they say, see, this is why I didn't want to do it. This is why I didn't believe in the system. And these are three young men who have a lot of influence in our neighborhoods and i think uh miss jackson you know what i'm talking about and i would love for them to have a sit down or looked at or something they would do they were on time every day they were uh showing up they were doing things that they felt like was beneath them. And I had to talk to them to get them to show that this is what you have to do. And then all of a sudden they were told they were let go. And one of them wasn't even paid until he was let go.

We will definitely look into whatever the pay disparity was, but to I think the wider question that you asked, which is what's next for them. Yes. An entrepreneurship program doesn't immediately, especially one that's short term like this, isn't going to immediately lead to growth. a startup of a business right it is an introduction to you know here's what it takes um because you've said you want to to have your own business someday that's what it is um most of the people in that program have been sent referred to other employment opportunities that align with the type of business and the industry that they want to be in. That was one of the aims of the program. Some of them have been to several interviews and we continue to stay with them. They don't leave when the program is over. We're still case managing. We're still working with them. Those who have a business model, the last time we did this program, several of the people who set out to be entrepreneurs a year later succeeded in that. But I wouldn't say most of them did. Some of them did. A few of them did. The rest of them we continue to work with until they're ready for that, if that's what they continue to want to do. But most of the time, we're talking about placement in work or work experience elsewhere. And we're committed to that. None of them were cut loose. We're still working with them. They have counselors assigned to them, job developers assigned to them. And we're continuing to work with them.

And I'll let you go after this. I definitely understand that. Those three, I actually sent them to a nonprofit organization, which I used to be the ED of, 211 Community Impact, to actually help them get their EIN and business numbers and certificates. And they did. And then they came to work for you. So these guys are all ready. That's why I continuously get the calls. And they're saying that nobody is contacting them, that they've just been cut loose. So they are ready. They have their paperwork. I made sure of it before they even started to work for it. for you guys because that's what they want to do. They want to do some landscaping and stuff. So I thought it would be great to have them part of DPW. They already have all of their paperwork, but they feel like nobody is contacting them. Nobody is reaching back out to them after they were cut loose.

We will definitely look into the three that you're telling us about, but we've had, since the time that the program ended, we've hosted and invited and included all of those participants in at least two job fairs at our own site. Not all of them found what they wanted in those experiences not all of them participated in those experiences but i will get the names of the three that you're talking about and make sure that the folks who were assigned to follow up with them are actually doing that and that um you know at the end of the day you can refer them to me send them to me i will thank you so much

Ms. Gillard, you know I'm going to love you. It's so hard for me. But at the end of the day, it's got to be discussed. This summer program has been horrible. I don't care who don't agree in terms of paying our children for the last at least five years. This paid period, this new card system, horrible. I cannot have young people and their parents calling me telling me they don't get paid. I can't have young people in this building walking up to me Friday, Thursday, last week, I haven't been paid. Everybody doesn't have the information, and I'm glad that you were at the mic today to say that. I'm outraged that I didn't know the summer program changed. because I need to know when we stop doing six weeks. I need to know when we stop hiring children right after the 4th of July and letting them work. Now, I remember when the program changed from working every day, because I used to be a speedy recipient, and I'm clear now that the federal dollars are different. However, the city could have been more savvy, not personal to you. The city could have been more savvy in resurrecting this program, particularly in 2026, Well, what we got going on in this community with the economic need in this community, we should have been back at five days a week, five hours. If they found a way to do it, and I'm sure there's a smaller group of kids, I get that. But if they found a way to do this over on the violence prevention side, the city has the opportunity and the obligation to do it as well. Because guess what? This year, to my understanding, we didn't do 14 to 15-year-olds. That may be an error. But the posting said 16 to 24. now my problem with that is that a 14 and 15 year old can't go to a mcdonald's can't go to a checkers because they're not early enough to make those jobs so for me we should have never cut 14 and 15 years right be quiet rock i'm not talking to you so we we can't afford right We can't afford to not have, don't answer me right now, Rachman, I'm telling you it's gonna be a problem. Cause I'm not gonna do back and forth with you. And you're not gonna disrespect me. Because I know the kids in this building that came to me yesterday that have not been paid. Okay? No, it's not no let's go. And you gonna stop being disrespectful. Yes you are, cause I'm not talking, I was talking to Ms. Gaylord. You're not the director, Rachman. I am the deputy mayor. I'm in charge of all of them. Hold on, hold on. Let's get this in order.

I'm not the one. I'm not the one. Why don't you finish up and then you can... That's what I'm talking about.

So let me just say this to you, Rahman. Since you want to continue to be so disrespectful, because you should have let me finish. And then I'm going to let you talk. No, you're not. You told us game on the move. So you want to continue to keep being disrespectful, you want to get what your hand dealt for. And I'm telling you, you're not going to keep doing that to me.

All right, you're done? Yeah, I'm done. Okay, good.

All right, so first of all, it's not true that we didn't hire 14 and 15-year-olds. I don't know where that came from. In addition, we do have a six-week program and we have an eight-week program. The program that Ms. Jackson is referring to, I got a call this morning about it, and I was called to reach out to her staff to explain to her what's going on, is a college program that started June 8th. It was an eight-week program, and yes, All those kids got paid. It ended July 31st. This is the same program that we had last year that ended August 1st. The reason why that program ends during that time is because those kids go back to college in August. So yes, we not only have a six-week program that started July 6th that's still going on, We also currently right now also have kids that work eight weeks in our program. Oh, and by the way, we also have kids that's working five days in our program in addition to four days in our program. So if you're over 18, you work five days, five hours. If you're under 18 years old, then you work four days, four hours a day. That's the state law. That's what the feds give us. The money that we get, we spent. The problem that I have is that we have a lot of individuals that like to put out misinformation when what they only have to do is come down and ask us what's going on. We never stop hiring 14 and 15 year olds. Where did this come from? In addition to what you're saying, Councilman, the grant we get is from the DOL. We did the same thing last year. There's a sunset to these grants. This isn't sending funds. We only have a certain amount of money. When the money ends and the participants are told when the money ends, just like every participant was told when they started June 8th, they were going to end at July 31st. The college kids, right? The individuals in that program were told when they were going to end. So, I mean, we at some point, we have to get the right information or contact. No one has contacted myself. or karen and asked us but what we've done is i got a bunch of phone calls today saying donna's upset donna's upset i'm like why is donna upset oh we stumped she said somebody took the money and stopped the program a week early no that's not true the program was an eight-week program donna it started june 8th i'm not here to lie to you i want you to get the right information

Rachman, I'm not going to do this back and forth with you, but what you're not going to do is disrespect me as Councilwoman Jackson. First of all, there ain't no Donna, okay? Deputy Mayor Muhammad. Let's go there. So since you're doing things on the order, carry yourself down there to the mail room. Those children were terminated yesterday. Be quiet. Let me finish. Because I'm done. Those children are not college students. They are not.

The girl is 16. She's 16. Once again, let me repeat what I said. Go to the mail room because they're there today and ask them why they have not been paid. Let me repeat what I said earlier.

I heard what you said. The children started June 8th.

It was an eight-week program, Councilwoman. It was an eight-week program. It ended July 31st. Now, there are some kids that may have started a week after. We still give them the eight weeks, by the way, if they start, just so you know. That might be the three. I don't know. But what I'm trying to say to you is we had 250 kids who are college age kids who started on June the 8th. They end July 31st. This is the same program we did last year where we ended it on August 1st. It's an eight week program. So listen, either we want the right information. Or we want misinformation out there. Me, it ain't a back and forth. It's I'm going to correct misinformation. And whether you're a councilwoman or whoever you are, I'm going to correct the information. And that's not disrespect.

Thank you, Deputy Mayor. We're going to continue because we have a lot of businesses. And I think you should meet and discuss this.

I invite Councilwoman to the 375 McCarty Highway. And I've invited her when she first got elected, by the way, and said, Ms. Jackson, won't you come down to our office and we'll show you what it is that we do down there. She did obey invitation that she could come down.

Thank you. Thank you. But we got to move forward. Thank you. Thank you so much. We have included the speakers, right? Now we're going to do the late starters. Do we have late starters? Do we have the late starters? Yes. Okay.

You're not going to disrespect me. That's not going to happen.

All right.

council president just is there can i respond just to uh one of the speakers first or no you want to go right to the added starters it was with respect to the uh beyond seoul restaurant yeah Yeah, Council President, I just want Eric Pennington, business administrator, there were representations made about the, I think, the unfair closure of Beyond Soul restaurant. And I just wanted to address briefly that the entity Beyond Soul does not have a business license, still doesn't have a business license. There is another entity that has a business license at that location, but there's no paperwork that indicates that the two are affiliated. And each entity that operates has to have an appropriate business license. My understanding further is that HVAC work was done on the premises without a permit, and code enforcement went into the location, made a determination that that was the case. While they were in there to check on business licenses, they observed improper food handling. Because of the improper food handling, they have an obligation to bring in the health department. They have an obligation to bring in UCC. and have an obligation to bring in fire inspectors when they see that there's a problem. They went back the next day with the health department and it was a determination made that the place was unsafe and had to be shut down. My understanding is that the owner of the building came down to get the appropriate business license, but still has not obtained a business license for beyond. So until they get the business license squared away, the health concerns addressed appropriately, any fire issues and permits for the HVAC is going to remain a problem. We have an obligation to make sure that the residents of the city are safe. And that includes this establishment, which I understand has been there for a while, but they have to maintain the high quality standards of any other place. And if they don't, we will continue to make sure that they are shut down. Mr. B. I think I had to start.

Please start us.

Sure.

How many? Seven in the possible. Okay, only because it's summer, right? That's why we meet once. Okay, got it.

And I will say that the reason why there is, we do recognize and appreciate the fact that we normally have five. But because of the summer month schedule and the fact that we have one meeting instead of three or four per month, we are trying to do our best getting things done to move the city forward. So the first one is in reference to number 26-1159. It is a purchasing slash engineering contract that it deals with citywide elevator inspectors, contractor for inspecting elevators throughout the city. The second one is 26-1016. It's actually a settlement to accept money. As you all may remember, the company called Z-Tech was involved with the process of dealing with Hayes Park and their failure to complete the project. We had to deal with the fact that, of course, there were some losses that we took throughout that process. There's $1.2 million to come back to the city that we would like to bring in. In addition to that, there's another item, 26-1090. It is in reference to a company called Direct Waste. I think it's called Carjohn as well. They're going to be making a payroll tax payment of little more than $375,000. We wanted to make sure we got that taken care of. The IT department has an item 26-1079. It's in reference to a new equipment uh contract from what i understand the uh current contract ended in june so as a result of that they worked to get the equipment contract the process with uh shi it's a reference to you know computer software uh tech support cyber security etc that contract from what i understand is a one-year contract for the amount of 8.6 million dollars Finally, the next items are from EHD is a settlement with the Fidelco group. The reason why I said seven impossible because that one has two items. Those numbers are 26-1154 and 26-1155. And I know that the deputy mayor can address that necessary 26-0895. It's in reference to an item that we discussed in executive. We're talking about the amendments to the IZO in reference to, you know, the... Am I there? Finally, there is a last item. I don't have the actual number, but I know the deputy mayor can address it in reference to a munition park. And it's the extension of the easement for military park. So I'm going to ask if the director of engineering can come down and reference to his, uh, I will have, um, Our representative from IT, if you have any questions in reference to that, and then the others, as I said, can come from EGD. Thank you.

Good morning, James Adams, Acting Director of Engineering. The added starter that we're requesting is for our third party elevator consultant. We had declared an emergency last fall due to the retirement of our existing elevator subcode. These are UCC contracts where the elevators are inspected for new construction and also for the annual and five year elevator inspections that is required by city ordinance. The reason why we have to have another extension is we went out for bid to get a permanent contractor, but due to some going to say irregularities it was in the best interest of the city to throw out all the bids and to re-bid the contract in doing that our existing second extension expired in june so we have to expired in july so we have to get another three-month extension to ensure that our third party can inspect the elevators for all the 3000 or so vertical transportation pieces of equipment throughout the city. So is there any questions from the council? Any questions?

yeah just just real quickly did we ever get any uh documentation about from the third party how many elevators were inspected put back online uh initially because we're still having issues with 130 chancellor avenue we never got no information about that i know you want to look to ex expand the contract but the the work that they were asked to do can we get an update on what was happening with that

so so councilman council let me try to rephrase that we can give you an update on the addresses and the devices that have been inspected by the third party to date but i want to remind everybody that our third party elevators are only going out to inspect elevators that have been repaired and previously inspected by the owners of these buildings we are not responsible for repairs The owners are responsible on an annual and then five-year basis to hire their own elevator contractor to go out, inspect their elevators, fill out a two-page checklist, and then call the city and say, we are available for inspection. At that time, the owner's elevator subcontractor or contractor and our third party inspect the elevators together so there is a big onus on the owners of the buildings to have their elevators up and running we're only responsible for the state to witness their elevator inspection you're absolutely correct

But the issue is that when the owners go out and repair the elevators or whatever issues that need to be abated, and we're asking that the third party go out and re-inspect it, that we haven't got the information from the third parties on what happened, right? As 130 is a perfect example, right? So was 103 or 25 Van Belsa. We know that 25 Van Belsa now is back online. But there was some issues around when the ownership goes back in to correct it and fix it, when we send a third party back out to review if the abatement was actually done, that there was no report or no information that came back.

No, you're right, Councilman. We should have had a report, and the report should have been from the third party of exactly what they inspected.

Oh, okay. Well, that's good.

I know. I know. I know. So, I see. So, when he grabbed there, he killed the mice. He killed the mice. He killed the mice.

Testing one, two.

Yeah, they're on. Would they go out? Red light stay on. Red light stay on. But it's on now. So how come your system is not working? I'll be addressing you. I want you to be off. Try on the red ones. The one with the red. You happen to try that.

Testing, testing.