Borough Council - Regular Meeting

Please stand for a flag salute. I pledge allegiance to the flag

Western Samaritan Council as they deliberate on the best of palms and legs yes Oh, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. In accordance with the New Jersey Open Public Cleaning Law Act, adequate notice of this meeting has been provided. The time, date, location, purpose of this meeting and agenda were posted on the Municipal Bulletin Board, transmitted to individuals requesting notice, and published electronically on the official website of the Borough of Palmton Lakes. Roll call, please.

Thanks, sir. Here. Council President Higgins.

Here.

Councilman Begg. Here. Councilman Cruz.

Here.

Councilman Higgins. here here that's been vented is excused one big official okay thank you

Okay, thank you. Just a quick update. It's been on social media for people who are not watching. We do have a little outbreak of rabies going on in town. There's been four confirmed cases of bites of individuals who had to go through the systems and get tested for the shots. Both animals came back rabid animals. I have a little history with this. I've worked with animals for a long time. Once an animal is rabid to the point where it's going after humans, it's close to death. They're ready to die, but they're also crazy at the same time. That's why they'll go after people. I recommend if you see, not just a raccoon, I'll talk about that in a second, any animal wandering towards you, walking towards you. Most animals should be walking away from you. They shouldn't be walking towards you. If it's walking toward you, you should try to get inside or get in the car. When they're rabid, they get crazy enough where they will chase you and go after you. The other thing to keep in mind is the way this spreads is because the animals right now, the raccoons are rabid, they go after other animals in the wild, and they come across a skunk. They get into a fight with the skunk. It's transmitted through saliva. Now the skunk becomes rabid also, and that's how it spreads. It also spreads through the fact that if you feed your animals outside and leave dog food outside or cat food outside and a rabid animal eats that and then your animal eats that food, the saliva can spread to your pets also. So it's very important at this time. Our animal control is on top of the cases. The individuals are being treated for this. It's not something that's just going to go away tomorrow, so we should be prepared and you should report any sightings of animals that are not looking usual to the police department or to our animal control officer. But if you call our police department, they will gladly reach over to our animal control. Food bowls and water bowls. It's transferred through saliva. You don't want your animals or pets getting it. A rabid raccoon, which is out of control in mental capacity, will go after a bear. They'll go chase a bear down, and just because they're crazy, bite the bear, the bear could get it, and then the rabid animal will die. It's a whole chain that keeps moving along. Okay, that's my update for now. Motion to open the meeting for public comments. So moved. Councilman Cruz, Councilman Sanchez, all in favor? Aye. Against? Anyone in the public like to address?

Mayor, just on the topic of the raccoons, just so you're aware, Lisa Perry advised the borough and or me that that rabid raccoon that's been out and about was captured and tested. And so it is off the street, the one that was causing the problem up on Glen Court and then Lenox Ave. What about the one on Hill and Ringwood? That one, no. Just the one between Lenox Ave and Glen Court.

Okay.

So I just want to give you that update. Thank you.

Again, anyone from the public would like to address? Seeing no one, can I have a motion to close the public session? Motion. Second. Councilman Cruz, all in favor? Aye. Against? Okay, motion to approve the following minutes. Police Awards Special Counsel Meeting, June 9th. Regular Meeting Minutes, June 10th. Closed Session Meetings, June 10th, 2026. Can I have a motion? Motion. Second. Councilman Begg, Councilman Sanchez, all in favor? Aye. Against? Motion to approve bills and claims as listed below. Can I have a motion? Motion. Second. Councilman Cruz, all in favor? Aye. Against? Consent agenda? Anybody need something to claim or remove?

Yes.

Got me right before I said it. Rookie gauge? 26, 270. 26, 271. Just a question. Okay. Any others? 26, 273. 284 and 286. Okay.

Okay, Liz, excluding those, read away.

Okay. Whereas the Mayor and Borough Council has proposed resolution, whereas the Mayor and Council of Borough Council does desire to approve resolution for individual action from that agenda. Now, therefore, it would be resolved that the following resolutions on the consent agenda are to be applied to 26 267 through 292, and we're gonna pull resolution 270, 271, 273, 284, and 286.

Okay, can I have a motion? Councilman Cruz? Second. Councilman Hinton, all in favor? Aye. Against? Okay, 26270 and 26271. Yeah, both of them are the same. Let her read it first.

You said the award contract would be for the utility vehicle for the Office of Emergency Management.

You want me to read all of them? Yeah, both of those. You read both of them? Both at the same time.

So award contract would be for enterprises for the uplift of utility vehicle for the Office of Emergency Management.

Okay, what's your question?

Yeah, my question was definitely needed. My question was, is it that expensive to outfit the vehicle? Do we need all those bells and whistles? I mean, 48 for the vehicle and 22 to outfit it? Those are the costs.

That's the going cost to do these, okay.

Yeah, thank you, Councilman. So typically the vehicles come, you could get them either fully upfitted or partially upfitted or not upfitted. This company just happens to have two separate entities that they work with. One is the dealership, one is the company that they use for the upfitting. But a basic Ford Explorer police interceptor package is what this is. typically is about $65,000 off the lot for the vehicle. And this vehicle was budgeted for at this amount, so it's within budget in terms of our capital plan. And that just happens to be the going rate for the police interceptor package. We felt it was appropriate for OEM purposes. That is what the DPW superintendent has as well. So it's just a common vehicle that you would see for that type of arrangement.

So in a major emergency, OEM has all the bells and whistles that police and DPW have.

It's a little different. I guess if you're reading for the total outfit, police department is different. As OEM, I'm sure OEM doesn't have the police cage. They might not have the computer. They're not going to have the shotgun mounts, things of that nature. There could be other things that he has in there that he has associated with OEM that we wouldn't have. Like, for instance, I know fire is now required to have, like, a special thing for their gear inside a vehicle that I'm sure is not cheap, that the police department wouldn't have in their vehicles, like, so that if you have fire, like, the firemen are not breathing and all that kind of stuff. that smoky stuff that's on the gear inside the vehicle. It's in a special box. So everybody's a little bit different, but either way it's a costly number.

This is a very base purchase.

Yeah. So all I can say is it's a good thing it wasn't a top-up.

Perhaps.

And more. Okay. Okay, 26273. We'll do them all at the end for one more time.

A board contract with security cameras reminds our technology when we contract. So I'm assuming this is for the recycling center, is that correct? Okay. Question? These are the cameras at the... What's the cost? Recycling center?

Yep.

I don't want to apologize, but I'm looking at nickels and dimes.

Well, when we look at nickels and dimes, it's got to go both ways. We can't hire new employees to do trails and at the same time try to cut our cameras. So it goes both ways.

And I guess to address the question, this was part of the budget and capital process all along. So it was fully budgeted for. For this type of arrangement, we had two options. We could either purchase outright or lease the cameras. But the small amount compared to prior projects that we did with cameras being $200,000 and above, we just decided to put it in our capital plan. So the contractor is expediting the installation ahead of the Borough of Oakland shared service, which I'll address in my report. And we do need them, as you know.

We do need them. You really think we need cameras on the dumpster? Well, we've got people stealing stuff from the dumpsters, yes. The metal is their worst money.

It's not worth $29,000.

No, but then we also have accidental, if something happens and someone makes a claim about something, we now have proof that that happened or didn't happen.

If someone gets hurt. Yeah, I think if you have any type of illegal dumping incident, if you have some people that are not, that are accessing that area, if we have to do an investigation, we also store property on that county lot, the DPW does, so I think It's definitely a preventative measure, but I think without those cameras, when the police department would have to investigate those things, if we didn't have the cameras, we'd have to put man hours down there to either set up surveillance, and then you're talking about a lot of man hours that hopefully now this would deter and avoid by spending the money to have these things in place.

So is there a console in the recycling as well for the attendee as well as the police department? No, just for us.

Yeah.

Just so the feed is going to come back over here. Here and we can go on individual phones.

The superintendent, the supervising landscape supervisor, and myself also have access to the recycling center.

Okay, 26284. Award a contract .

Yeah, it was just that I noticed on the paperwork it says a 2026 Chevrolet Suburban Utility, and then on the next page it says 2026 Chevrolet Tahoe. Are they the same thing, or is this misprint on the paperwork?

Yeah, we're getting a Chevy Tahoe.

Then why does it say suburban?

It might just be a misprint. There was a couple of different spots that said suburban. They're most definitely getting the Tahoe.

Yeah, it's a Tahoe. For sure.

But he's right.

Yeah, we'll follow up to make sure. It's a Tahoe. Yeah, it's our mistake.

Okay. It shows what I'm reading. It does. 26286. So Susan O'Malley has left us from the planning board and the building department, and she's entitled to pay outs for her time.

Yeah, but was she a secretary under the secretary rules, or was she a... vacation time come with that?

She was full-time. She's a full-time employee.

It wasn't like Shaytree. No. She was a full-time employee working in the building department.

Just for the record, employees that get payouts when they resign are not eligible for sick time because sick time per state statute is only payable upon retirement if and when you were hired. In this case, it's a very minor payout for unused vacation time. Thank you.

Okay, Liz, 26, 270, 26, 271, 26, 273, 26, 284, and 26, 286. Can I have a motion? Motion. Councilman Sanders, Councilman Cruz, all in favor? Aye. Sanders and Cruz.

presented for second reading on final adoption on July 27th. Ordinance 26-22, an ordinance amending chapter 11 of revised general ordinances of the Borough of Compton Lakes to add section regarding the Borough of Compton Lakes Civic Community Center.

Okay, so this is about what we talked about of the use of the Civic Center, what we're going to do with it. Motion to approve ordinance 26-22 for introduction. Motion. Councilman Begg? Second. Councilman Sanders? Any discussion? Roll call, please.

Councilman Cruz?

Yes.

Councilman Kenyon? Yes. Council President Kent? Yes. Councilman Sanders?

Yes.

Ordinance 26-23, ordinance amending and supplementing the salary ranges of the employees of the Borough of Frontenac and the County of the State and the State of New Jersey.

Motion to approve ordinance 26-23 for introduction. Motion. Councilman Hinton, Councilman Bay. Any discussion? No? Okay. Roll call, please.

Councilman Cruz?

Yes. Councilman Hinton?

Yes. Council President Smith? Yes. Councilman Johnson?

Yes. Yes. Just for clerical, you know, ours are reading different than your list, right? It starts with bag on ours.

Oh, really?

Yeah.

It's okay. I'm not insulted. I just want to make sure.

Okay.

Final adoption.

The order submitted in Chapter 5 of the West Virginia Permit, Business Regulations, Section 20, Solicitors and Campuses, Subsection 5, Time of Operation in Section 21, Soliciting Charitable Subsection time of operation of the borough council.

Motion to open the meeting for public comments on ordinance 26-20. Motion. Councilman Hinton. Second. Councilman Begg. All in favor? Aye. Yes. Anyone like to address just this ordinance? Seeing no one, motion to close the public session on Ordinance 26-21. Motion. Second. Councilman Hinton.

Councilman Sanders.

Was that Sanders? Begg. Begg, all in favor? Aye. Against? Motion to approve Ordinance 26-21 for final adoption. Motion. Councilman Sanders? Second. Councilman Begg, roll call please.

Councilman Drew. Yes. Councilman Hinton.

Yes. Yes. Councilman Sanders.

How come I wasn't first? No, I'm just kidding.

And let me just say, I think this is a... I'm joking, I'm just joking. This is a good residence. I think this is something we all worked on together to make this a little better for our residents. We did have a lot of complaints about the vendors. I know the attorneys had to spend a lot of time working out the fine print of it, but I think it should help the residents, who rightly so shouldn't be having people knocking on their door at 9 o'clock.

Yeah, because Verizon's out again. They knocked on my door last night. And they didn't have their license with them, nor did they know about having their license with them.

That's what they always said. They didn't know.

Yeah, so.

That's really obnoxious.

Yeah, so.

Okay, under my report. I attended the Flag Day ceremony, always one of my favorite ceremonies to attend, especially when the children are involved and to listen to the words that are said at the ceremony. It's always nice to hear about the flag. And it's the one time that people come together for all the same reason at the end of the day, to salute our flag and support our flag. So it's always a nice event that the Elks put on. We had a personnel meeting. We had a DPW meeting about our new garbage, which I know Mike will speak about soon. I attended the, had a long discussion at the meeting in reference to garbage cans. I know there's been a lot of talk on social media about garbage. We have addressed some of it by saying what we're going to do is buy these compactor cans that are large cans and they compact the garbage down, making more space for the garbage on top. And then as the cans get close to filled, they send a message to the DPW saying the can is filled. We're going to purchase six of them. We're splitting the cost with the bid. These cans are not cheap. They are over $20,000 for the total cost. But we're going to try them. So we're buying six. We'll strategically put them in our downtown in places that we think will work. But at the end of the day, the two things to keep in mind, we live in this town, all of us. We should not be throwing our garbage on the ground to begin with as we're walking. We should be walking with our garbage to a can. Now, we had some situations where the dumpsters were overflowing and it was a dumpster that wasn't being paid for and it became an issue and we addressed it from the town side. Thank you to Dan and DPW. Mike and I called them and said, it's not our property. Go clean the property up. We'll hold the dumpster hostage until, because the business was not paying the hauler to pick up the garbage. So, of course, the garbage built up. We called the hauler. The hauler said, we're not coming out until he pays his bill. So we're addressing that. But those are isolated situations, right? That's a one-time thing that we kind of fixed. What we're looking at is the future of how the garbage will look at So, you know, the other thing we talked about and we're doing right now, we've pulled the cans from the pond hole during the summer hours when the kids are not in school because there's no need, really need. That's when they're crossing back and forth. I did reach out to the superintendent to just remind the kids next year when they come in that when they're going back and forth for garbage and lunch, maybe they have to walk 10 feet holding their garbage before they dump it in the can. OK, it's not just throwing it in the pond hole. And on our side, we have to be more conscious of picking up the cans in the pontoon. If they get filled, the DPW should go fill them. Saying that, Mike and I spoke with Dan, and we're going to have regular pickups. I won't say when, but through the week for the garbage cans downtown. So it's not just going to be on Tuesday and Thursday, for example. It'll be hopefully at least four days, maybe five days a week, or when they see a can filled. And I would hope our DPW is... are conscious enough when they're driving downtown, they see a can filled even though they're going somewhere else, then they call in our superintendent and say, hey, look, those cans are filled, you should probably pick them up. So we are working on the problem. I'm not saying we're fixing it. The other thing we have an issue with is illegal dumping. What illegal dumping means, these are public cans, that means taking a bag of garbage from your home and putting it on the side of the can on the floor because the can is too filled. You can't do that. That's illegal dumping. We do have cameras, correct, Chief? And if we catch you illegal dumping, you will be fined. They are public cans for anyone to use, but to put it on top of the can or on the side of the can is illegal. So if that can's filled, you need to find a better place to dump that garbage. I attended the final design meeting about how we'd like the future of our downtown to look like. It's made up of council members, redevelopment agency members, planning board members, citizens, and some bid members. And we've had numerous meetings over the last five months to come up with a guide for when someone's wanting to do something in town. This is a guide. This doesn't tell you anything. But for an example, what we did is we made a color palette of colors we'd like to see in our downtown. It doesn't mean you have to do this color. There's ranges in those colors. But for example, pink was not one of those colors we want to see downtown. So those are the kind of things that we discussed a little bit. I know there's a lot of discussion about setting the buildings back. But unless someone's doing a whole block, the only way we can set the building back is if they're doing a whole block. Because if they're only doing half a block, you can't have one building half forward, the other building half back. So that is something we are conscious of. We want to move the buildings back if possible. And if someone comes in and wants to do a whole block, we will make them do that. But unfortunately, if it's just a small area, we really can't do that. And that is my report. Can I ask one question?

Will they be, when you're completed with this, will they be coming to a council meeting just to provide a recap for us? I think the first August meeting?

Yeah, we're looking to do the public hearing at the only meeting in August.

And that's directly for the council? People who are on the board to ask some questions, make some comments, and that's for you guys to kind of jump into that. Thank you.

One other thing, Mayor. I was watching Channel 77 the other day, and I was watching the redevelopment meeting from April 30th. Redevelopment meeting was in mid-April, but I guess it got postponed to the end of the month. Yeah. And Councilman Venon was out at next meeting and never gave a report, and you're at every meeting.

Yeah, I can do that next time, no problem. I can give you a report now of what they talk about if you want. What we call the ice cream station project, the Smith project came to the redevelopment. It was approved by the redevelopment agency to go ahead. They made the project much smaller, which was the recommendation of the redevelopment board the first time they were there. So they went from 52 units, I think, to 41 units. The other recommendation from this council was, well, from the redevelopment agency, was losing no retail at all. Initially, they were getting rid of the retail on Colfax Avenue. They're keeping all the retail. They will no longer need a garage, really, to have the basement parking, and then they're going to be buying spots from us, about 22 spots from us, from the town, which we have in the Pond Hall. So that's more revenue that we're going to make off this project. So I think the redevelopment, she looked at it as a good trade off. They did come back listening to the recommendations of the board and the next step for them now would be coming to us to counsel for the plan to redevelopment plan.

Do the spots that are there, is there any impact to the senior parking or any of the parking during the day at all?

No. So another deal I'm trying to work out is the parking here that's part of the new building that's going to, oh I should talk about that, but the new building that's going to open up soon, I'm trying to let them, let us use that during the day until like 2.30, 3 o'clock for parking for shopping. And then when the residents come in, they'd have to park there at night because they need those spots. But we, because unfortunately we lost the theater, which we saved 100 spots for in a pond hole, We now have an extra hundred spots in the Ponto. So that's what we're making up the difference. The other suggestion, by the way, that they came up with, which was a good one, is on the corner of Colfax and Lakeside, they angled the cut of the building so it makes the sidewalk wider on that corner. On both corners, actually. On that corner and the Colfax and Wannacute. So it's an angled cut this way, making more of a wider sidewalk. Now, the question I'm always hearing from a lot of residents All the businesses are offered to come back to that establishment if that's where they want. Obviously, they've got to build the building, so they're not going to be able to build it with people there. I don't know if people are aware the ice cream station did sell again recently. So I know that every retail person that's there now is offered to come back if they want to. I can't tell you what the rent will be. I can't tell you any of those things. I should also throw in that we had a meeting with the new building, the Capodaglia building. That will open up probably for leasing if everything goes right with their permitting, August, first week of August. They will start leasing that building and hopefully have some residents in there by mid to late August. Another thing by the way that we discussed in this design meeting was those flag poles, which I'm not a big fan of to be honest, but it was a good suggestion that we don't allow advertising on those flag poles. So the only thing that can go on those flag poles are state, local, and federal flags. So they can't have a sign up there that says, free leasing, this is how much it costs. They do have three poles there, so we'll see what they're gonna put there. But this does affect them, because this was passed before they actually did something. Well, if we get it done in August. So I think that'll help us too. I'm pushing a little bit, I'm talking with them privately, maybe remove the flags or whatever, but I don't know if they'll go for that.

So in this design, there was previous design, access from parking underneath out onto Colfax Avenue. So that's been eliminated.

No, you can still come out to Colfax Avenue.

No, there was a parking garage in this project.

Oh, the Smith project.

Yeah.

and there was yes that's gone yes that's gone yeah so all the parking will come in the back of the building from the pond hole and easement will have to be worked out with our attorneys in this board uh how to get in and out and then that'll be to enter the parking on the bottom and then any additional parking will be in the pond now remember when i say additional parking they're not guaranteed spots it's not like 20 spots closest to their building they're guaranteed 20 spots throughout the palm trees because as you're aware we have an issue with the st mary's food bank

A lot of people come for their food, and they're getting tickets.

I had a conversation with Father Frank over there, Father John, I'm sorry, Father John, and he apologized to me and said they had no right to contact us and to bitch about that issue. They're very happy with the way it's set up right now, the church, and they see no issues with the way it's running.

So those 100 parking spots for this project. shouldn't affect St. Mary's Food Night?

Not 100 spots. They're asking, I think, 22 spots. We have an extra 100, because we put 100 aside for the theater. a couple of years ago, but we're close.

I just wouldn't want to see a project with a problem with St. Mary's.

No, no, we want to keep the picture. Did you want something else?

If I may really quick, just to go back to the flagpoles at the Meridia building, we did get an inquiry from a resident who's a professional engineer. Our engineers were also aware of this. There's some sort of ADA issue with the flagpoles. There's not enough room between the flagpole and the sidewalk going down Babcock for a wheelchair. So we suspect that those polls will have to be moved.

Good. And I thought so, too. I said it was awful tight.

So we'll follow up. Good. Did you have something, Jude? Yeah, I was just going to relay the same thing with St. Mary's. So we have a good relationship with the police department at St. Mary's, as does the borough. And I was going to say the same thing. Once that post went up, the church said, Uh, contacted us said, you know, it's very explicit saying that that whoever made the posts not represent the church and just so that so to yourself and the rest of the council know that food pantry. We, we, we worked with them extensively on, um. food pantry what goes on down there allow multiple people within the church people to come down there to have the passes so that they can park down there so it's been working very well and if there is any issues you know they they know that that they did just call us and we usually take care of it so as far as I'm concerned I understand it did go out on social media but It wasn't accurate. Maybe it was accurate to the individual that wrote it, but that's not how the church is looking at it. There's no issues.

Okay, good.

Thank you.

That's the president's report. Okay. I've been under the weather a little bit, so I'm trying to talk fast. I did help. My neighbors were one of the ones that were involved with the rabid raccoons, and that was a very frightening thing. to have two of my neighbors bitten, attacked, severely attacked. And, you know, it's not a pleasant thing to have to go through now, these rabies shocks that are I think there's four consecutive ones. My neighbors had had 12 needles the first day out there, including the rabies and tetanus and antibiotics and so on. So I take this very seriously. Any animal that is crying out loud, acts peculiar or aggressive day or night, please contact the police department. And I wish all of the people that are injured a full recovery. I was going to ask our attorney regarding the letters to the governor's office for the $75 million that we received as part of that money for our damages here in Compton Lakes, but I understand that there's been no response yet. So that's three times now that we've sent out a letter and no response from the governor's office. That is unacceptable. Unacceptable. So I think at our next meeting we should decide what we're going to do. When Mark, when Mark comes. No, not right now. Thank you. I also attended the bid meeting and as the mayor said, these are very expensive, but I think they're necessary. Trash compactor garbage cans. are used because it's very important that we have a nice looking downtown. And I did reach out to our Chief Rodriguez And I asked him in his report to address the littering ordinance that we have on board, because in my opinion, if we can catch someone who's littering, all we need is one person to make the example out of it. You can't leave your garbage on the street. You know, if you have eggs and bacon, and I think that was one of the pictures that I watched, you know, and it's sitting right there on the curb. Unacceptable. We're very proud of our town, and we are proud of our community. of all of the DPW works that we had. We had to remove garbage cans. You know, I can't believe at this day and age we have to do this, but this is what we have to do and spend quite a bit of money on very expensive cans just to make sure that we have enough room. So people, please just, you know, treat downtown like your hometown like it is. But I thank you, Anthony, ahead of time for putting that email together on the ordinances, and I know you're gonna discuss that later. We did have a question, Mayor, regarding the sports complex off Walnut Avenue.

Yeah, that's been addressed by the police. It's a legal part, that's what it is.

Okay, I just wanted to see if that was addressed or not. All right, thank you. And I'm looking forward to working with the Oakland Borough DPW staff on a shared service agreement. I think it's going to be a very successful event. And I did bring the gentleman's cookies down there the other day just to welcome them to Pompton Lakes. I thought that would be a nice gesture. Okay, I'm also looking forward to the completion of the Meridian building. I mean, it's a big building, it's a beautiful building, and looking forward to taking some of the pilot money, starting to have that pay itself off in our taxes. I also was on the design standard call regarding the new buildings in the borough. This is something that was a long time necessary and I'm glad that we're at the point that we're at because now a borough can actually decide what colors and standards and appeals that we want for our future buildings. It's very important. I know people want to keep the downtown looking a little bit historic and we'll have that ability to do that now. Well, I'm going to be meeting with the Urban Space Committee in July. There is no vacation. Although they tried to sneak one in, but they shut them down. Thank you. Councilman Begg for doing that. It's very important because we really have, we're really working very hard to get all of these projects underway. And it's hard when you take off a month and then you come back a month and then people are on vacation. That did not happen and I appreciate that very much. We're also going to be talking about what the future of Hirschfield Park is going to look like as well as the Muller property on Lakeside Avenue. I also called our mayor, I mean, I called our administrator regarding the street sweeper. Had no water in it, 7 o'clock in the morning. You can't sweep a street without water in the machine. And Mike, they came back and they did clean the streets again and it had ample water and it was clean. So I wanna thank you for doing that. And I made it, thank you. Oh yeah, and there is on our website, a lot of information about the raccoons. So please take a look back if you're curious. Okay, and that is my report.

So going back to your street sweeper, Mike, did they acknowledge there was no water or what was the answer?

They just reiterated that they'll inform their staff to make sure that there's water in the, you know, in the apparatus. We did have a conversation with the Borough of Riverdale. The Borough of Riverdale is purchasing a new street sweeper and they are interested in working with us. So we're going to look at that if it's feasible or not.

Let's do that.

Because I know they came down West Street too with no water.

Yeah, it's pretty obvious.

Have there been any discussions? that they can get water here in town, and they're not going back to Bloomingdale to get water?

They typically fill up with the hydrant at the DPW facility. So they do, but they don't fill it up. That's what the problem is.

It's like a big dust bowl going down there.

Oh, yeah.

It happens on Broad Street sometimes, too.

But I think more to come with maybe a different provider. Okay, Councilman Begg, you've got a whole book here to read.

I'd like to make a motion to approve a request to hold the Pompano Lake Sponsor Fire Department 125th Anniversary Celebration in Antique Musker Saturday, August 22nd, 2026 from 2 to 8 p.m. at 1 Passaic Gap in Pompano Lake. Passaic Gap will be closed to motor vehicle traffic prior to the event between Granville and Hamburg Turnpike. Road closure begins at 1 o'clock through 9 p.m. Alcohol will be served, ABC 1 and 8 permit. Temporary fencing is required for alcohol consumption area by the Alcohol Beverage Commission. Fencing to be constructed by the Department of Public Works. No alcohol beverages will be served or permitted outside this area. assistance from the DPW for garbage and waste, traffic assistance by the Ponto Lakes Police Department, road closure, road closure applications to be submitted to the state county, food truck vendors to participate in the event, and they must obtain a food permit. Police, first aid squad, and fire departments have been notified.

Before we go to a second, Liz, have they applied for the permit yet?

For the alcohol?

No, no, for the alcohol.

They said they did.

Okay, so we haven't heard anything yet.

I don't believe that I've gotten that yet. I would have to look.

All right, we just got to stay on top of that to have that. Okay, can I have a second? Okay, can I have a second? Second. Councilman Sanchez, all in favor?

Aye. And I'd like to make a motion to approve the request of the Pompidou Lakes Business Improvement District to close the 1 and 2 ad between Pompidou Lakes and Lakeside ad between the hours of 4 until 8 p.m. on Thursday, August 13, 2026 for the spring and summer stroll. Also, to the use of Bartholf Ave, Raripo Ave, and Lakeside Ave as a detour route to post road closure signs at Pompton Ave, Wanaque Ave, Colfax Ave, Wanaque Ave, Babcock Ave, Wanaque Ave, Lenox Ave, Wanaque Ave, and a local traffic only sign at Lenox Ave, Raripo Ave, St. County Board of Commissioners, Oversilk County Engineer, the CHF, police, fire aid, and fire departments have been notified.

Have a second. Second. Councilman Sanchez, all in favor? Aye.

I guess. Okay, thanks. Thank you. For my report real quick, I attended the EPC meeting this month. They have a tent for National Night Out. They're preparing for that event. There is no EPC meeting next month for July, so it'll conclude back in August. After the APC meeting, I attended the open space meeting. Prior to the meeting, we all met at Willow Field Complex to review the new lightning detection signs. The county produced the signs at a reduced cost, and we want to thank them for that. So I know they proposed that when we met with open space. That's good. It's really good for us. Our next meeting will be on July 9th at 6 o'clock, so different than 7.30. We'll meet at Lakeside Park to review the Bullard property and then have our meeting take place afterwards in the park. So, you know, all more than welcome to participate in that. What's the date of that meeting? That's going to be July 9th. Yeah, so normally we meet at 7.30. We're going to be at 6 so we can review the property, decide some things that we might want done with that. It is also to put in there that, again, the fence is not coming down until the following year. The county is trying to help us out with sidewalks in, which is good for school safety stuff. Even today, I was going down Lakeside Avenue and there are kids, they're walking in the middle of the street. So hopefully getting sidewalks down there provided by the county will be a great benefit to the town. It will be on the residential side. It won't be on the lakeside part of it. And it's needed. It's needed. Yeah, I really do think, I think we all agree it's needed. Can you send me a notice so we can post it on our website that you're changing? I did ask Alexa to send that to you. If she does not send that to you, I will 100% get that to you. And then I also attended the flag ceremony held at the Elks Lodge. It was my first time attending. Really nice, really educational. You know, I learned a lot from it. So thank you to the Elks Lodge for that. Later that night, I attended the Palmton Day meeting. Everything's come together pretty well for Palmton Day. We're moving along quite well. We are over halfway more than the vendors we had last year at this point. And like, you know, a ton of food vendors. So I got to calculate the food vendors probably close to 20 or anything. So it's really good. And then last Thursday, I attended the bid meeting via Zoom. The next stroll is July 16th. Another has been rescheduled for August 13th. The first concert is actually tomorrow night with the 3M band. We anticipate a large crowd, so get there early and claim your spot on the lawnmower, library lawn, sorry. And then finally, last night I attended the recreational meeting. Summer camp starts on Monday. There are still opening registrations, so you can register the day of camp or even the second day if you need to. Pick up balls every Monday and Wednesday night.

And you register in camp, right? You go right to Lakeside to do that.

I mean, Hirschfeld. Yeah. So if you want to register Monday or Tuesday, you can go right to Hirschfeld Park and we'll register you on the spot. And then pick up balls every Monday and Wednesday night from 68th through August 19th at Hirschfeld Park. Volleyball takes place on Monday nights from 68th at Hirschfeld Park. And then lastly, our paddle ball – Paddle boats and kayaks are open for rental every weekend until Labor Day at Lakeside Park. And for free, you can go out and play cornhole and different activities out there.

We really encourage residents and not, there's a lot of non-residents that actually go out there and rent our kayaks and paddle boats.

So it's a really popular activity and we encourage you to really go out there and participate in it, even if it's your own kayak. go out there and have fun on our waters. I think it's a 175 square acre lake or something like that. And then the last piece is I'd also like to congratulate our baseball team on making it to the group finals. And I wish to congratulate the class of 2026 on success as we move on to our future endeavors.

So thank you. Michael, just one thing we talked about, something we should look into at the pop debate meeting. I think we should look into purchasing a golf cart because the cost of these golf carts now are really a lot of money. We're spending what will cost us to buy a golf cart. Even if we got it used. So it doesn't have to happen right away, but I think we should look into it because we're spending five grand a year just on golf carts.

And I got two POs from my school district. We just purchased two golf carts, brand new. One was just over $8,000 for it. brand new.

In two years, we'll make up the difference.

And it's a four-seater. Storage underneath.

So years ago, the county would let us have the carts for free or very cheap. They've since gone away with that program, even though they have their own golf course that we pay into. They charge us full price for this. So it's something we should talk about. Okay. Councilor Cruz. Nothing to report, Mayor. Okay, thank you. Councilman Higgins.

Oh, that got thrown on me quick. Wait for a nice long report. Well, I'm prepared. Yeah, I attended the Firstfield Park footbridge ribbon-cutting ceremony. That was a nice little fair in Passaic County. And they turned over the bridge, turned it down at the top of the lights. We're also waiting for three trees that are gonna plant for us. When the installation of the bridge, they took a large tree down so they're gonna be planting three more trees. Discussion with Michael, we might hold off until the fall because of the watering situation and the heat of the summer. But it was a nice little ceremony. Had a meeting with the police finance committee That same evening, on Monday evening, went over quite a few items with the police department. Let's see. I met John Linson, our arborist certified tree expert down at Hirschfield Park. Pete was on vacation and John was scheduled to come that day. So I just walked around with him and he pointed out different issues in Hirschfield Park. But if we're starting summer camp, A lot of those issues can't be addressed unless they're able to do it in the afternoon.

Unless they get it done and it's safe for the next day.

Yeah, so it might have to be postponed until after. There's quite a few trees that need to be cabled because they've got V crotches on them and two need to be removed and a few need crown reduction. So I went over it with Pete today. because he's back from vacation. Let's see. Met with Michael Corelli out at Hirschfield again for those three trees. They wanted to know species and location. So we came up to a conclusion on the species and location for those trees. We had a meeting that Wednesday night with DPW and went over a few issues of which we're going to have another meeting. One of the issues that we came up with and they talked about was possibly picking up garbage in town four days a week.

They've already started.

They've already started for the summer months. So that'll help alleviate the problem that we've been having lately. So that's a great move. Let's see, five, six. I met with the seniors. Seniors are getting ready for their little casino trip in July. which I'll definitely be on that bus. So that'll be interesting. And I spent a couple of hours with people on Terry's shade tree today. Also going over those trees in Hirschfield and a few other areas. We were over by the mayor's house and the tree guy, your tree. No, that's staying at least got another a hundred years.

It's coming down.

You know, I mean, we can't play favorites here. I wanted to bring up a couple of things. On the ordinance committee, we had talked about bedside. And now we have an issue with rabid raccoons. We also have issues with coyotes. an article in the Trends. Found Animals, it's a program dedicated to creating a safer world for humans and pets. Their recommendation to coyote-proof fences, the fences must be seven to eight feet tall. They dig underneath. They dig underneath. But I'm just saying, height-wise.

I can show you the road that they built between houses. Is this my time?

I'm not talking. But, you know, it's another thing to look at. I mean, the raccoons are getting bad with the rabies, coyotes here. There was an issue over by Council President's House with coyotes. So it's something that really needs to be addressed. And also on the ordinance committee, we need to talk about an issue came up with Chantry, whereas with the emerald ash borer that came through the town in the last few years, there's so many standing dead ash trees. now on the south end of pine street 213 pine the back end of their property the dead ash trees are right up against their name at 68 central and they're wondering what can we do about it now discussions with our administrator we don't really have an ordinance that addresses trees on property through property maintenance this is something that we need to address because right now There's no recourse for 68 Central.

On private property, we don't have a say on private property.

This is what I'm talking about, Mr. Mayor. We need an ordinance where we do have a say and have an ordinance through property maintenance. But most towns do not have that. Most towns do have. I'm talking to Winston. He says Pump the Lakes is one of the few towns that doesn't. On private property we're talking about. We're talking on private property, yes.

You know the surrounding towns around Winston? Because I spoke to the mayor.

Well, I mean, it's between you and our New Jersey certified tree expert. But he works in a lot of different towns, and he says a lot of towns do have an ordinance that covers that. So we need to address this.

Well, we'll have an ordinance meeting on it. We'll discuss it.

So that needs to be taken care of. And let's see, St. Mary's Food Bank I talked about. I'll save the rest of the questions for the administrator.

Thank you. I do want to say thank you for sending out the picture of the mud turtle. It is nice to have natural habitat that we know is coming back.

Yes, yes. We have a good 12 to 14-inch turtle laying eggs down at Joe Grill Field and talked to my son-in-law, who's a turtle nut, and he says good eight to nine weeks they should be hatching. So mid-August. There should be a lot of little turtles running around.

In the mud.

Thank you for sending them out.

Seriously. I have a bunch in my backyard. A bunch of turtles. And actually, they come up to my pool. Oh, yeah?

Yeah.

They want the cleaner water. That's all, Mayor. Thank you. Councilman Sanders. Thank you, Mayor. I attended the last game for the Challenger Baseball Program. It was great to see how much fun the players had. Each player had a buddy to help them run and catch. The buddies had just as much fun as the players did. I also attended the last clinic and it was on the new field. The kids had fun. Mike was coach there. And the kids were hilarious, running around and just having a blast. I also attended the Elks Flag Day Ceremony. It was a great ceremony. It actually taught you a lot about the history of the flag and the background of it. So if anyone can attend it next year, it's a well-deserved the ceremony is really good. I attended the ceremony for turning over the bridge. It's nice. Now everybody can cross. It's now open in time for our summer program. So the kids can ride their bikes to their program in the mornings. There was no planning board meeting last month and MUA getting back to the fire hydrant on Hemlock. Both fire hydrants worked when the MUA flushed the systems during the spring. The MUA Reached out to the fire chief and they were still waiting for an answer back from the fire chief on what the problem was with those hydrants at that fire. And that's my report.

Thank you. Thank you for reminding me. I think some of us here attended some grand openings in town. There is a new therapy building inside what we call the old mall. behind kind of liberty tax in that section there. There was a new building in there. And there was a new karate school that's opening up, too, in downtown. I can tell you that because of the buildings opening up downtown, there's a lot more interest in retail coming in. And it's not just retail coming in. For the people who are the landlords, they can charge a higher square footage now than they were getting in previous years, which is what we're trying to do. When you charge the higher square footage, you get the clientele that you're looking for in retail. So that's a good sign. That's the movement in the right direction. So that's promising to see. Right now, I know people drive downtown, which it's strange to me that they say our town is empty. I drive around a lot of towns that are half empty. Our town is pretty much filled with businesses right now. There's a couple stores that are open. In the Starbucks mall itself, there's not one empty store over there. So I think the town itself is doing a great job of keeping our vital downtown moving forward. It's a hard sell right now, you know, especially with the prices of things. People are going to box stores more than ever, and we really have to remember to shop local if we want to keep our businesses in town. You know, at the end of the day, that's supporting the businesses in town, us. And if we want to keep them, we have to support them.

Also, man, Marine Recruiter.

that wall yes that's a nice and that's going to be another grand opening coming soon for that that's a nice building you still have a chance to join yes okay um attorney do you have any report i have nothing okay administrative thank you mayor uh as an update the borough is making final preparations uh for the shared service agreement with the borough of oakland for solid waste recycling and vegetative waste collection services which again begins on wednesday july 1st 2026 All of our staff is in place and training is near completion. The dumpsters have started to be transferred over to Oakland. Our recycling center is in process. We're, again, in process of installing the security cameras for the start of the Oakland residents to access the center. So we'll definitely keep everyone posted for next week as the start date's a week from today. So definitely excited about that. As an update for the DPW garage, a replacement project.

Can I just jump in for a second because there wasn't some talk on social media. Just so everybody understands who's watching this, your garbage pickup here in Pompton Lakes is not changing from what we're doing. It's the same gentlemen, the same garbage trucks, the same people picking up your garbage. Nothing is changing. The only change is in Oakland, we are adding more men and more garbage trucks to pick up their garbage. Our schedule stays the same. And if anything, you're getting an advantage in the next couple months. I won't say it's going to be soon, but maybe in the spring, the fall, we'll be picking up grass clippings from your home, just like Oakland does. So I know there was some discussion. I don't know why that we're going to lose our manpower going to Oakland to work in Oakland. That's not how this is put together. Also, Michael did a great job in working out a five-year deal, and there are accelerators in there for increases in costs and pension benefits and overall costs that go up from year to year. Some people are saying, well, yeah, it's going to be great the first year, but the fifth year, we're going to be underwater. We've taken advantage of thinking of all that moving forward. Did I say we thought of everything? No. But at the end of the day, this is a huge shared service. We're one of the few towns in New Jersey doing a shared garbage pickup with another town in a different county. We spoke with the governor's office a little bit about this, and it's something they want to see happening more in a lot of the smaller towns in New Jersey, the shared services across county lines. One, it benefits the counties, but it also benefits the towns because both towns are going to save money or make money depending on what you're doing on how that works. We're setting an example here. I think it's a great start. I think this is a big deal. There's going to be bumps in the road, no question. The first couple of weeks could be a little challenging until we get the roads down, but here in Pompton Lakes, nothing is changing.

Thank you, Mary. To your point about the cost accelerators, as you know, we did budget for several family plans and single plans for health benefits for the new nine employees. We are seeing that for those employees, are going to be under the waiver. So it's a $5,000 cash payment for the employees in lieu of health benefits, in lieu of a premium of $40,000 to $60,000 per employee. So right off the bat, we're saving over $100,000 just by happen to be lucky in getting people that don't need insurance. So those are the types of things that we're seeing. And again, with the residents with seeing the new calendar come out in the next week or so, they will see that starting April 2027, we will be picking up curbside grass. So that is in the calendar. We will announce that. We can say it now because the calendar is coming out. But we thank the DPW for working with us on that and providing a good level of service to the residents. So thank you, Mayor. In addition, we are working. We did have on tonight's agenda our municipal aid applications with the NJDOT, which again consists of the resurfacing of Arcadia Road from Albany Ave to Hirshfield Park. and Riverview Road from Ramapo Ave to Albany Ave. We do have a pending prior grant for the resurfacing of Albany Ave from Riverview Road to Arcadia Road, as well as Edwards Ave, which will be completed next year. We did submit on tonight's agenda a 2027 NJDOT Local Aid Infrastructure Fund grant for the Lakeside Ave Pedestrian Safety Improvements Project. which again is the resurfacing of Lakeside Ave from Jefferson Ave to Chalen Court with the installation of sidewalks on the residential side of the road, as Councilman Bigg had pointed out before. And we are working on final preparations for the resurfacing of Lakeside Ave from Van Ave to Chalen Court as well as Chalen Court, which we hope to be out to bid this summer and under construction later this fall for the project. So we're looking forward to that. On the next council meeting, you'll see a proposal for engineering services for miscellaneous ADA curb ramp replacements project, which was funded through the 2025 Community Development Block Grant Program. So we can announce that we have ADA replacements at Riverview Road, Edwards, Pine, Willow, Woodlawn, Magnolia, Durham Street, White Way, Perrin Ave, and Riverdale Road. So those are all coming up this year. We hope to be out to bid and under construction this fall. Again, as we approved at the last council meeting, we are looking to resurface the Hirshfield Park walking path, which will be done either in August or after Pompton Day. So that's coming up. And then lastly, we are in receipt of a grant award through the Passaic County Open Space Farmland and Historic Preservation Trust Fund for the Willowfield Playground Project, which was funded in the amount of $229,000 for a new playground at Willowfield. That playground will be where the garbage corral currently is. And our plans are to relocate the corral to another area. So that's coming up. And then lastly, with the DPW garage project, we are anticipating the state of New Jersey budget to be adopted. There was a news announcement that the governor and legislature came to an agreement on the state budget. Once the bill text is provided, we will know whether or not we did receive an earmark for the DPW garage project. We aren't as hopeful. We'll see what happens, but we're definitely interested to see the bill text come out, so we'll definitely report back on that. Thank you.

Any questions for our minister?

Yes. Three items. The whole on Riverview, road by the falls.

Any progress on that?

No update. That is with the engineer's office at this time. I'll follow up tomorrow.

Last meeting that we talked about, Lambert Street footbridge over the Acid Brook. Any progress on that?

Yeah, I did. I did talk to the DPW. We are kind of in prime grass cutting season. So we did reach out to a local contractor that's going to give us a price to repair that. I don't know. We'll have to talk about the pricing of that. That's an option. Otherwise, this could be a project in-house for the DPW for next year. So we'll have to see what our priorities are for that.

but we did we are getting a price for that yeah and in the pothole there was a wall falling over by the saint mary's food night i sent you pictures about that we did send a notice of violation to

Yeah, we sent an NOV to Pompton Smith. That's the only one.

That's the building that's being redone. Right. All right, so that's their property. It's not our property.

Yeah, we had Sal go out and verify it is their property. We did send an NOV today. We have about two dozen notice of violations out just the past two weeks with property maintenance stuff, so we've been busy with that.

And Mike did mention, but we did send our property maintenance person out. He's going to go out once a week downtown. to address the garbage concerns that people have. Just, you know, walk around. If you see stumptious overflowing, report it or write summons or speak to the owners. So we're going to start that process off.

Thank you. We did write three summons this week to the garbage, yes. So I won't say who, but, you know, he's walking up and down and taking a look. Hey, any questions?

Yeah, one other question. You said three. You had talked about the attorney had a report on Schuyler Avenue, but wait until he comes in. Yes, yes.

We do have an update on that.

Okay.

Yes.

And he'll give that report?

Yeah, I'll put it on the agenda. Thank you. Yeah, thank you.

I'm just going to... No more questions. Okay. No more? No. Oh, they said one... Oh, no.

Unfortunately, I have to run, but I have another appointment. But just to remind the public, July and August, we have one meeting a month for town hall. So check your calendars when the calendars come out, which will be out by June 30th. So I know we've been getting a lot of calls in Borough Hall and to myself about when's the calendar coming out, when's the calendar coming out. It will be in your mailbox on June 30th or maybe the first or latest. So just everybody relax. You'll get your calendar. Chief, your report.

So I'll start off with the Council President's questions in regard to the littering. So I prepared a little brief. So my brief is going to be intended to provide the Borough Council with the current littering ordinances, available enforcement mechanisms, our department responsibilities, and recommendations regarding ongoing litter sanitation concerns in the downtown district. So, as part of your question, the borough currently maintains several ordinances addressing littering, refuse disposal, and related quality of life concerns. The following payable penalties are established through the borough's local supplemental violations bureau schedule. So, first one being sweeping litter onto sidewalks or public places. The fine for that is a $50 fine. So throwing or depositing litter from a vehicle, it's a $100 fine. Responsibility of property owner or occupant to maintain premises free of litter, $100 fine. General littering violations, including handbills and signs, $75. Littering within borough parks, $50. And sidewalk and street maintenance violations, $50. um if uh if a police officer uh issues one of these summonses uh may require mandatory court appearance uh when the circumstances one so enforcement authority so the following borough departments possess enforcement authority uh relating to litter refuse dumping sanitation related violations as you know the police department proper maintenance office uh department of public works um and other authorized borough officials as provided by the ordinance. So that's really what I found, like an issue of summonses. As we get into the current corrective actions, I just highlighted, what I'm gonna speak about is highlighting what the borough administrator and the mayor had already talked about. So as you all know, the borough is currently addressing these concerns through several initiatives, additional garbage, three to four times a week. Property maintenance inspections, which we now have had. We can also, property maintenance can start investigations of illegal dumping complaints, or the police department can also assist with that. Outreach and education efforts directed toward our businesses and property owners. And as we've already heard, they're evaluating larger enclosed garbage receptacles, the signs used to flow at the dump it. So, you're meeting, I think I think you were asking to like, what the police department can do. So, as the chief, my recommendation. Is, you know, while the police department. does have enforcement authority under the borough's littering ordinances. I believe what is the most effective and fiscally responsible approach is for the property maintenance office to serve as the lead agency for recurring litter, dumping, diffuse, or sanitation related complaints with support of the police department and the DPW when appropriate. The reasoning for this, You start off with the nature of the complaints. Most of the complaints that we receive, they involve overflow garbage receptacles, improper disposal, we need to dump it, property owner, maintenance issues, commercial, garbage management, and general sanitation concerns. In my view, these issues are primarily code enforcement and property maintenance matters rather than traditional public safety issues. So our property maintenance personnel are specifically tasked with conducting property inspections, compliance investigations, follow-up inspections and enforcement actions, and ongoing monitoring and or problem locations. Um, I would say these functions are a part of their regular operational responsibilities. If you go through, um, so physical considerations, you know, the property maintenance personnel perform these duties like we spoke about during their normal salary work hours. Uh, by comparison, if the police department agency and started issuing summonses, um, frequently require court appearances. If you're not aware, our officers receive a minimum of four hours overtime compensation for court appearances occurring outside of their scheduled shifts. So whether they're there for one second or an hour, they get paid four hours. And increased police-led enforcement efforts will also likely result in additional overtime increased costs to the borrower. Then I have a resource consideration. Police officers are currently responsible for patrol operations, emergency responses, criminal investigations, traffic enforcement, school safety functions, community policing initiatives, and calls for service and their mandatory experiences. I think signing an officer to routinely monitor sanitation related issues would necessarily reduce our available resources for our core public safety responsibility. So I anticipated some questions that you guys might all have, right? So can police officers issue a litter in summons? Absolutely. Our officers have the full authority to enforce the bar of littering ordinances and issue summonses when the violations are observed or when sufficient evidence exists to identify the responsible party. So if you're asking yourself why aren't more summonses being issued, so the primary challenge For us, it would be to identify the responsible part. I would say in many cases, when the litter is discovered, it's discovered after the fact, and there's oftentimes insufficient evidence If you ask if the police department refusing to enforce letter, absolutely not. So the police department will continue to enforce lettering or lettering ordinances when violations are observed and will support enforcement efforts whenever necessary. If you're asked why is property maintenance should take the lead, in my view, property maintenance personnel are specifically assigned to investigate and enforce quality of life, sanitation, and property maintenance issues, and they are better positioned to conduct these inspections, monitor compliance, and address recurring violations on an ongoing basis. Would increased police enforcement increase costs? So I would say potentially, yes. Police enforcement action frequently results in court appearances. Court appearances occurring outside an officer's regularly scheduled shift will generate increased overtime costs under their collective bargaining agreement, whereas property maintenance personnel conduct enforcement activities during their regular salary period. So the borrower already has in their possession ordinances for enforcement authority and the operational framework necessary to address any and all littering concerns, in my view, what we have on the books. Which would be what would be most advantageous for the borough would be a coordinated effort. Utilizing property maintenance as the lead enforcement agency, along with the DPW for sanitation and collection services and the police department in supporting enforcement roles. So that it's done effectively, efficiently, and efficiently responsible. So I definitely think that we could tackle any task as a group effort. And I'm more than willing to support any and all initiative that the council has. I just think it would be in the best interest to hope i try to answer kind of every question that you had in that in that email that you sent yes but if anybody has any any questions in regards to that i'll be happy to give you my my best answer just just for the record uh mirror mike left the building and i will now i'll be presiding over the rest of the meeting thank you

Thank you, Anthony. You did exactly what I asked you to do because we've had so many complaints about the garbage and the litter and who's enforcing and whose job is it? Is it property maintenance? Is it police? You gave a very good explanation of why the... How it could be a coordinated effort, but maybe more on the property maintenance Basically because of cost. Yes, and I just want it does any I think the council knew that I was going to send that out But does anybody have any questions for for a chief?

I just want to make a statement. I agree with you 110% chief For police, if you see an act of littering, somebody throwing something out of a car or something like that, or knocking over garbage cans or knocking over something, an officer can stop that person. But I mean, if there's just litter on the streets, that's not a police matter, that's a property maintenance matter. So I talked with Michael before, and we're gonna have to sit down with, Sal Palo and the property maintenance and iron some of these things out.

Absolutely. And listen, by no means is this meant to discourage our residents or and reporting if you see these things. We want you to call us and let us know, especially illegal dumping, things of that nature. They should definitely be calling the police department right away, and then we can then facilitate and forward some of these complaints when they're close to the appropriate departments. But at least we can take a record of it, report of it, and then we can give... property and maintenance, a heads up. We have body cameras. Like I said, it's a coordinated effort, but definitely if people see stuff, they should definitely still call us and report it.

One question I did have, I had a resident call me. Do you guys observe down at Hirshfield Park people letting dogs run on the leashes? I mean, from what I understand, that's against the ordinance.

Yes, it definitely is. I know.

I mean, you just have to be passing by and having to see it.

Yeah, so I would say a lot of times if our officers get a call down there, we will go down there and report down there if the dog's off leash. Nine times out of ten, what all officers will do is most likely, you know, tell the resident, hey, listen, we have this ordinance in place. residents in the park they feel uncomfortable or the officer if they witness it and they're down there um they should be telling the resident to you know place the dog yeah you don't necessarily have to give them a summons right off the bat correct i would say typically discretion of the officer anyway correct and i would say typically nine times out of ten unless this unless this individual has been a constant constant uh problem which we don't have that down there i can tell you then most likely we're just telling them hey listen you gotta you gotta put your dog on a on Got a couple other things to just go over. So as of this morning, the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission released a press release bike licensing and the registration program. So I just want to go over a few things so that any of our residents that are watching are being informed. So overview, right? So the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission announced that beginning June 26th of 2026, residents may begin scheduling appointments to obtain licenses and registrations that are now required under the New Jersey e-bike law. Riders have until July 19th to comply with this new requirement. So why this matters to Pompton Lakes? So the borough has seen a significant increase, I would say, in e-bike usage, particularly among juveniles and young adults. Complaints continue regarding excessive speed on sidewalks and roadways, unsafe operation in parks and public spaces, riders operating without helmets, near misses involving pedestrians and motor vehicles. The state now has created A system to identify riders and hold operators accountable for violations and reckless behavior. So the key requirements under the law, licensing, riders must be at least 15 years old. Individuals with the age, individuals age 17 and older may operate an e-bike, but they must have a valid New Jersey driver's license. Individuals between the ages of 15 and 16 without a New Jersey driver's license must obtain an e-bike motorized bicycle license through the Department of Motor Vehicles. Registration. So there's now a registration requirement. All qualifying e-bikes must be registered through the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission. Owners must provide proof of ownership and identification. Registration appointments will begin on June 26th. Again, registration appointments will begin on June 26th and all e-bikes are required to be registered. Insurance. So certain higher speed and throttle operated e-bikes will require liability insurance. If it's a standard low-speed pedal assist bicycle, they generally do not require insurance, but still, again, they will still be required to be registered. Deadlines for this for existing riders have until July 19th to become compliant with everything that I just spoke about. So the impact on our local enforcement. So once registration and licensing requirements are fully implemented, officers will have additional enforcement tools available to them. Registered e-bikes will provide accountability similar to motor vehicles. The law will assist police departments statewide in addressing reckless operation, repeat offenders, hit and run incidents involving e-bikes, and then dangerous operation by juveniles and adults. So my recommendation to our residents, so for any resident who owns an e-bike, number one, determine whether the bicycle falls under the new wall. Two, schedule your motor vehicle appointments as soon as possible. So I'm sure it's gonna be a little hectic down there. Gather your proofs of ownership and identification. Ensure any young riders in your household are aware of the licensing requirements that are now associated with these motor vehicles. And review helmet and safety requirements before the July compliance deadline. And just in closing, in regards to this, this is a new state program, and it's intended to improve safety, accountability, and responsible operation of e-bikes throughout our state. As e-bike usage continues to increase in Compton Lakes, we encourage our residents to become familiar with the new requirements and begin the licensing and registration process as soon as possible. the police department will continue to focus on education first. I will repeat that the Palmton Lakes Police Department will continue to focus on education first while working with the residents to ensure compliance with the rules. So again, we take safety of our residents and even our motorists very seriously. So anybody that owns these, please do what you need to do.

This is all on our website and it is all on our social media, that report.

Yeah, the press release that just came out. Yes, it's on our social media, part two, put it out there. It went out through the whole state.

Great, okay.

We haven't put it up on the sign, have we? I haven't noticed it on the sign. On the marquee? Yes.

By the library.

No, go to the website and read the new laws.

I'm curious. They have to have liability insurance.

Yeah, so if they're one of the high-speed e-bikes, they will have to be required to get liability insurance.

That's going to be very interesting because they're going to be able to monopolize that. I mean, you know how a 17-year-old gets licensed, your insurance already goes out by an enormous amount of money. You're talking about liability insurance that they're going to need to carry. If anything, that would be more of a deterrent for me. instead of assuming and absorbing all that cost now for just driving, you know, you could walk. You can walk. You can walk where you need to go. Dad, come on, Dad. I have no sympathy for my kids. I disconnect the battery, and they'll be going to the garbage real quick.

I think when moped heads were popular, you had to have insurance. You did.

You still do. Yeah, they effectively made the high speed. It's like a moped. Yeah, everything is like a moped. What this also does is, when these bikes started becoming popular, you had a lot of individuals that either lost their licenses, would be utilizing these vehicles to get to and from work so um you know it's definitely going to be a big impact for them now because now not only are they requiring uh young people to to have a valid e-bike license but anybody um anybody that falls between the ages of 17 and older which is along with our regular licensing in order to drive these vehicles you have to have a valid license So all those people that were using that to circumvent losing their license are no longer going to be able to operate these vehicles. You have to have a valid New Jersey driver's license in order to operate this. Just out of curiosity, this is going to go into effect.

After that deadline, I would imagine there's going to be many, many drivers that are not going to have licenses or insurances. So how is the police department going to handle, obviously, are you going to be pulling them over regardless if they're riding on the sidewalk or an offensive occurred?

Yeah. So it'll be just like any other stop. The officer has to have a reason to pull them over. That being said, if we, once they establish that, pull them over and it's really going to be a case by case basis. I sent out an email to the department today in regard to that, stressing that I want more of the education and that we can help. But obviously, by no means is this saying that we're not going to enforce the rules in this state. That being said, The kid is driving recklessly, and it's to such an extent that we need to take action. Our police department's going to take action. We've got to be consistent with the vehicle stop. The officer's going to go on body camera. Depending on the age of the individual, it's going to dictate a little bit how we're going to handle it. If we get a 9, 10, 11-year-old, my officer should be reaching out to a parent and saying, asking the parent to come to the scene. And then depending on what happened, it's either going to be a conversation with the parent to educate everybody, maybe they go on their way, or it could be maybe we're issuing, depending on the incident, we're issuing summonses to the parent and we're impounding that motor vehicle for not having the proper documents or a proper and stronger. So it just depends on the vehicle. I would really like to, once these things get more fleshed out, motor vehicle, a car, for instance, you know, you're required to have insurance. If you don't have insurance, there's certain stipulations where the driver has a certain timeframe to provide that insurance to you. So usually for a car, you're issued fair to produce your insurance. And then if you don't get those documents for a certain time, it's fair to have insurance. And there's significant penalties for that where you can lose your license if you're driving around with no insurance. That was going to be my next question. Yeah. So I don't know if the same penalties are going to apply. And how would that apply if the child is 12 years old driving without a license and without insurance? If he goes to court, is he now going to lose his license when he's an adult and extend it? I mean, I can tell you, we talked about MOPEDs. But I knew people that did, you know, did dumb things on mopeds when they were younger, but they were like 15, 16, so they didn't get their license when they were 17, and I went until they were 18. I just don't know how this is going to translate when you have a 10-year-old or a 9-year-old. You know, it's hard to say. Where is it going to affect the parent's license? Because ultimately the parents is letting them, you know, the 9-year-old, It's a nine-year-old. The parents are letting them drive.

Where does the accountability start?

Yes. The parent's the one that's letting them drive without insurance or without registration. So now does the parent lose their license? It's almost like if I – our current statute reads right now if I let a person operate my vehicle that's unregistered, I can issue the summons to the registered owner. You know, so we've got to see how this fleshed out, but it's a lot of things to look at, but ultimately, we just want to have our, at least, you know, we want to have our residents have all the facts so they can make the appropriate decisions, and then we can move forward business as usual, and there's hopefully not too much commotion with us, and then everybody's safe. Thanks, Chief.

Thank you, Chief. Any other questions for the Chief? Okay, I've seen them. Thank you very much for that detailed discussion. We'll go to our workshop now. Administrator Torelli, you're going to be doing something on the Connelly and Ickley Historical Architects for Architectural Design, Construction Management, and Inspection Services for Compton Lakes Library Exterior Upgrade Project.

Thank you, Council President. Yes, so included in tonight's packet is a proposal from Connolly and Hickey Historical Architects out of Cranford, New Jersey. So for those of you that may not know, we did receive a federal earmark for the Compton Lakes Library project from then late Congressman William Pestrel in the amount of $500,000. We do have $250,000 of Passaic County Historical Preservation Trust Fund monies for this project as well. So we have $750,000 in grant funding for this project. The project consists of redoing the parapets, window lintels, and brick facade on the Pompton Lakes Public Library. So part of this project requires a historical architect to facilitate the architectural plans for the project. I wouldn't recommend an architect off the street. I think we had some problems 15 or so years ago when we had done this project prior. We didn't have a proper architect that was known for historical standards. And the problem is that for these types of buildings, you have to comply with the Secretary of the Interior standards for historical building architecture projects. So we did approach Connolly and Hickey. I have worked with them before on other projects in other towns. We have a proposal tonight for architectural services, including bid specifications, final design, construction management and inspection services, and the pre-qualification of bidders, which means that we're looking to pre-qualify historical contractors for this project. You're not going to get bids from mom and pop construction company. It's going to be historical firms that are known and qualified to do this type of work. So the proposal is included in your packet, as I said before, for a total exterior restoration for the soft cost of $45,900. Those costs are payable out of the federal grant. The federal grant does allow for soft costs, whereas the county does not. If we were pooling this project together with county funds, we would have to fund the soft costs. But because it's a federal earmark, they are eligible for funding. So again, the proposal is $45,900. The project is over $1 million. We are looking at a bid alternate for the roof. So the parapet window lintels and brick facade was quoted just shy of $500,000, whereas the replacement of the slate roof, which was also identified in the site visit as deficient and in need of replacement, is just north of $500,000. So we are going to go in for an ad alternate for the roof and potentially phase in the roof project over a period of time. to be within the amount of available funding, at which point we can then apply for additional Passaic County grants for the rest of the roof. So if there's no questions or concerns, we'll have the proposal on for adoption at the July 22nd council meeting.

Any questions on this?

Just on the brickwork, is it all going to be chiseled down and re-mortared?

Yeah, it's a full re-pointing of the building.

Is there roofing in

The roof is safe. The library is facing water damage issues mainly from the window lintels. There's water leaking in just due to wear and tear and time. But the roof It's safe. It was identified as an ad alternate for a reason. If we have the money, great. If not, it could wait. So we're hoping for maybe a spring construction at this point.

So 2027?

Yeah. As you may know, we got this grant in 2023. We started the federal environmental review process in 2024, and it took about a little over two years to get the approval for the environmental review. We had to hire a United States HUD consultant that works with the federal government to do these types of reviews for us. So we're finally in a position that we can move forward with the project. So, you know, open for questions or concerns.

Okay. Thank you. Any other questions from Mike? No. Very fair. Thank you. Property tax payment method amendment?

Thank you. Yes. So we were talking with our new chief financial officer, Matthew Cavallo, who's just getting into his role. You know, it's been a few months here in Compton Lakes. We did want to talk to the governing body because ultimately this is a policy decision of the governing body. But we have been for many years running into issues with the acceptance of cash payments for tax bills. We're running into money counting issues, transferring the monies to the bank, cash management and handling problems, which we've worked out over the years and there's no concerns today about that. But the discussion came up on whether or not we want to accept cash for tax payments. Now, we will still accept cash for building permits, fire prevention, recreation, you name it. This would just only be for tax payments. And we wanted to know, the CFO and I wanted to know that most towns don't accept cash. We are one of the only towns that do accept cash. We just read an article today or the other day that the township of Mahwah moved to cashless. Whitecroft, Oakland, and so on and so forth. So the recommendation from the CFO is to move forward with this, but of course it's a policy decision of the governing body. And as a reminder, we do accept ACH online payments for tax bills, as well as bank checks, regular checks, and certified checks.

Do you take credit card?

No.

No credit card.

But we did want to point out in tonight's discussion, if the governing body would like to look at that, we're willing to do that. However, concerns come up, and it's really none of our business, but is it really a good idea to pay your tax bill on a credit card? But some people do look for the points in all seriousness. So, you know, we kind of worked out that problem with the CFO. But that is something that we would look at if you're interested in that.

What does ACH stand for?

That's an automatic draw from your bank account.

I want to make sure that there's not going to be a convenience service fee to using that because merchants are charging a lot of money. sign, you're going to use credit card, it's 3% more.

Yeah, so absolutely. And that merchant fee would have to be passed on to the resident. So that is a negative to the process.

I just don't think we allow credit cards.

I mean, if you can get a money order and all these other things, why even do it?

It sounds like you have multiple payment options for them, so I don't think credit cards are needed at this point.

So, you know, the recommendation is to go cashless, but ultimately it's, you know, it's what we feel is best here tonight. So, you know, if you want additional research or comparisons, we're willing to do that and come back, but I leave it open for discussion. I'm all right.

So just out of curiosity, let's say we vote. How long are we looking before we communicate that with the residents? Because we want to give them time. Yeah. Obviously, some may not feel so comfortable with the checks, whatever the reason.

That's a great question. I would probably look at quarter four or quarter one of next year, you know, just for timing, communications and whatnot. We're not looking to do this tomorrow, but great point.

When do you want an answer?

I think we could come back in July and talk about it again.

Can I tell you, I used to go to the tax office thing with my grandmother in Trenton when I was a kid, and she would bring the bags and quarters because she had a grocery store. So we've really come a long way.

We'll come back with a chart of surrounding towns, maybe.

I think I'm going to bring my bag and quarters from Eliasville. Just for fun. Thank you. Any other questions from our council?

No. Okay.

Thank you. All right. Michael, anything else? That's it. Okay. Thank you. Okay. We're going to open up the meeting for public comment again. Do I have a motion to open the public meeting for public comment?

Motion.

Second. Okay. Councilman Begg. Second by Councilman Cruz. All in favor? Aye. Okay. Anyone would like to come up and speak? I saw Al.

I just had one thing real quick. I forgot.

Oh, yeah. Can you just wait one second?

It'll be real quick. As for the, we spoke about raccoon incidents. Yes. I just want to let our residents know, if anybody has an animal incident, raccoon or otherwise rabbit animal, please do not wait to call us. Call the police department right away. We didn't call animal control to come out. A couple of incidences that we had, we did receive a call, but it was after the resident had already received treatment and the incident was already over. So I would say the best course of action is for our residents to call us immediately so we can try to identify where that animal is and help animal control get it.

I did the call. I made the call for my neighbor because he just came home from the hospital. So, yes.

If you would have called us before, we might have been able to find it sooner. I just wanted to let everybody know that.

All right. That's good to know. Okay. Thank you, Chief. Thank you. Okay. Back to the open session. Good evening.

Good evening. Al Vangelis, the Emergency Management Coordinator. I came here tonight very excited about the prospect of getting a new vehicle for emergency management, and I came here to thank the mayor and council. So thank you for your support. I believe it passed. Did it pass? Yes. Thank you for your support. I've been doing this for 33 years. Started out with a used police car until the year 2011, the year before Hurricane Irene. and I got a new brand new car, which is now 15 years old. Voyable drive, Crown Victoria, police package vehicle. It was outfitted with lights, sirens, and the necessary equipment that it needed. I'm very upset with what the remarks that were made tonight, the questioning that was made about the vehicle. because this vehicle was proposed through the normal protocol. We submit a budget request, and then we submit capital outlay request, which I did. I met with your administrator that you pay to administrate the boat. That's his job. And I met with him, and I explained the vehicle fully to him. And he'll recall, I hope, that we discussed Tahoe versus Explorer. And I said, I do not want a Tahoe. Did I not say that, Mr. Administrator? Thank you. I don't need a Tahoe. I've always been a very practical person, my private life and my public life, when it comes to expenditures. I don't need it. 90% of the time I'm by myself in that vehicle. Okay, it is not a command vehicle. We have other command vehicles in the borough. We have a command truck that we can use. OK, but that is my office. It's called the Office of Emergency Management. The car is my office, just like they say a police officer's car is his office, a patrolman's car. I had no office. I had an office when I started here, but I got pushed out. So you can drop the office off, because there is no office for me. My car is my office. A lot of people see me in that car all times and hours of the day. They say, sorry, in your car, you were sitting in a parking lot over here. Because I do have a computer in the car, which I use to send out the emergency broadcast messages if necessary, to communicate with the borough website, to draw up the map if I'm out in the field doing a certain project. So it does have a computer mount. It does have the necessary equipment. It doesn't have all the bells and whistles. It doesn't have the side running lights that flash all different ways and all different patterns. It has what is necessary. And that's the cost of what that is today. What bothers me is that bringing it up in public forum like this, they're automatically cast out as to whether or not things of that nature are needed. That's why I sat with the administrator and explained to him. I believe, Councilman, you're the OEM liaison, are you not? You have called me a multitude of times in your position with Shade Tree as a councilman asking questions. You could have asked me about the car, and I would have given you the invoice. I would have given you the printout of what I was getting and what I wasn't getting. I'm not getting a shotgun rack. Although I'd like to. I'm not getting a setup in the back to run an incident command out of the back of my vehicle. That's not what it's about. I'm a coordinator. If it's a police matter, that gentleman right there is going to be running the show. If it's a fire operation, it's going to be that. So the car is set up for what my needs are. You saw, all of you witnessed, I was out through that. Oh, by the way, let me say this. Since I got the Crown Vic in 2000 is when I got the first one. And then it was replaced by Administrator Vito Galleta in 2011. And the money for that car came from a budget that was put together to buy two five-ton vehicles for dry water rescue. And I got two donated for free to this borough. And the money that we were going to spend on the truck is what put that car that is now 15 years old with 73,000 miles, so do the math, 4,000 miles a year. I go to meetings constantly for the county all over the state of New Jersey. I've gone to the Emergency Management Association. I went to the conference in Atlantic City this year. So you're talking 73,000 miles over 15 years, do the math. Every single storm event, I use my personal vehicle. I never submitted for mileage, which some people do. I took my personal vehicle out in that snowstorm that we had this past winter, the worst storm that we've had in 10 years by weather service description. And I didn't say a word. My personal car doesn't have a red light, siren, and radio. So my point is, it could have been handled better. I would have explained exactly what I'm getting. I could have documented why I'm getting it, why I need it. I don't buy bells and whistles just to say bells and whistles. I don't need to dial. The Explorer will do just fine. So if anybody has any questions of me in regards to my role as emergency management coordinator, and every day it gets busier and busier, and it gets more and more requirements. The latest requirement on a second alarm fire, they have to dispatch the emergency management coordinator to see. to take care of those requests, equipment requests, that may not be fire related. Could be Salvation Army, could be American Red Cross, could be heavy equipment, could be whatever. So what I'm trying to say is that you... We understand what you're saying.

Yes. Okay.

And I have five minutes or something, so I... Well, can you consider this a professional report? Because that's what I'm getting at.

If somebody wants to give you another five minutes, I would be up to it. Yeah, I'll give it to them.

I appreciate it. So I don't need ten. I'll take the five.

Thank you.

So my point is, the requirements get more and more every day. And I have no problem with that. I enjoy that. I take it on as a challenge. I would tend to say we have one of the best OEM organizations, not just because of me, but because of all the participants and our partners.

We do.

In the county, without a doubt. The county will tell you that. Started the CERT team in 2006. Started the Teen CERT team. Started a ham radio group. Then with the Boy Scouts last week, we're trying to get them in. We have 13 certified ham radio operators. So we're growing. We're getting bigger. We're getting better. And that's what it's all about, to make sure that we have the equipment that we need to do the job. So I thank you again for that. Again, any time you have questions about anything, please call me. And I do have radio equipment in there. All right, just four different radios that have to be transferred. All of that is in this bill. By the way, let me just end with this. I ran into this vendor at the Emergency Preparedness Association Conference. They actually can cut costs because they do both. They sell the vehicle there, and they do the outfitting right there. There's no one vendor here, one vendor there. So they give us a great price. As a matter of fact, I got two other prices from Ford dealers, and they did not match the price that we got from this place. By the way, after a June cutoff, you cannot get the Ford Explorer anymore. They stopped producing them in June of each year. So this particular vendor had them in stock, on the lot, ready to go. That's one of the reasons we went in that direction. And then they come through with the upfitting price, which pretty much would have been the same, if not more, with any vendor up here. And I believe that, Chief, you had to wait how long to get your car after it went to the upfitter when your car came in.

Wait. Yeah, wait. It was over six months. Over six months.

So that car sat there depreciated for seven months, six months. while they were waiting to outfit that car. This car is going to be delivered, by the way. I was going to go down and pick it up, you guys, so we delivered it. So they're going to deliver it fully equipped, ready to go. So thank you very much. I appreciate it. Thank you.

Thank you. Would anybody else like to speak? Paul wanted to call.

Mm-hmm.

I'm going to be... Paul, Volby 120, Romain Ave. First... comment on the garbage cans. When I first heard this, it was futuristic to me that you have trash compactors on the street. The first thing I thought to myself was how do they get powered? I found out that they're solar powered, which is really incredible. I just thought it was a great idea. The real reason I'm up here is that as part of the historical commission here in town, I attended yesterday a forum of the Passaic County Tourism Board, which I didn't even know existed. I don't know if everyone knows we have the Passaic County Tourism Forum, but there's like a handful of full-time employees over there. And what they were pushing is more notice to the public of tourism opportunities here in Passaic County. This was held at, and I've been by this place a million times, and you probably have too and may not even know what it was. It's called the Pasilla County Arts Center, the John Ray House on Gothel Avenue, on Gothel Road in Hawthorne. No big sign or anything. But anyway, there was about half a dozen people there from different towns, from Patterson, from Hawthorne, from Clifton. But anyway, again, they were pushing tourism. And I kept thinking that, you know, here in Palmton Lakes we have a lot of events that are well attended and that we advertise them on TV. Probably Pompton, perfectly Pompton. But we can also contact the folks at the Passaic County Tourism Board and have our events put on their website, which will broadcast it to whoever happens to watch it. So things like the Pompton Day, the Holiday Stolen, and any of the other things that we have ought to be Someone ought to be able to tell the county forum about this so that we can get those things added to the to the county website to advertise. I mean, the stuff we have here is well attended, but if we get the word out, I think we can increase our. our attendance at these events, which will benefit us because we'll get more people spending more money, more vendors, more food vendors, et cetera. Again, I didn't even know that there was such a thing as the Passaic County Tourism Forum, and I found it pretty fascinating. It was poorly attended. I think there were only about seven or eight of us there, but for once I was able to go on behalf of Pompano Lakes as a member of the Historical Commission. So it was an interesting forum, and they're going to have them periodically throughout the year. throughout the year, and I will make it a point to go, and if I can't, somebody else from the board will go. But just to let everybody know, if you have or you're in charge of an event, if you can, get in touch with the Penn State County Tourism Forum. I don't know the names. I left the business cards at home, but if you look up the website, I'm sure the names will appear there. The one gentleman was named John Carlo. I can remember his last name.

Do you know who that is? Yes, John Carlo. He's in charge of the economics.

in the state county okay but he was one of the one of the he was the main speaker so i just thought i'd bring that up so we can get the word out better and increase our attendance and uh and some of our events thank you thank you mr any other any other speaker dave come up we're not extending your time just to let you know that

Two things about the garbage compact. Are they for whoever wants them in town? Or is it just for businesses only? Or how does that go? And also, I'm going to Along with that, Randy mentioned garbage collections maybe four times a week. Why four? Because everyone's used to, plus also one for when comes the leaf season, like around Halloween to first week of December. So she got one garbage collection a week so I could see that. And also, most of you and myself, we were all at the bridge opening and the bridge looks great and much needed. And Bobby, congratulations to Lila for her graduation.

Little one.

Huh?

Chloe's the little one.

Oh, Chloe. Chloe's the one, yeah. So Lila's senior next year?

Yes.

Oh, boy. Have fun next year. And also, let's see. The mayor forgot to mention that this Saturday is the Pride event at the library lawn. So luckily I caught that. Let's see what else. And Steven, I'm surprised you turned down the Grateful Dead tribute show at the Stone Pony 4th of July. And Scott, you could have injured your phone, because maybe your wife might have been asking, do you want to go to Met's fairy scheme this weekend?

You might not want to go to the Mets games after this weekend.

Oh, of course. Except birthday. You could have taken her. Me too. And, Chief, I'll keep my eyes open for any of the... for anyone throwing trash out the windows or something like that. You're welcome, Bandit.

Huh?

You're welcome, Bandit. Okay. And also you were mentioning mopeds, so that goes way before you and Dan's. So that goes back to my time being.

You know everything.

Dave, you have one minute, Dave. Address your comments here, okay?

And I think that's it for me. Thank you. Anyone else like to address the council?

Seeing no one. Do I have a motion to close the meeting? Second. OK. Councilman Hinton and second by Councilman Sanders. OK. I'll just answer very quickly. regarding Al Evangelista and the vehicle that we purchased for him. Mike, is there a difference in the two cars? I didn't know there was a difference. I don't think that was in any way a slight to Mr. Evangelista. I didn't think it was a slight when we talked about it. I just thought it was a simple question, but Al does an amazing job for us for the OEM. I'll just say that. I think I speak on everybody's to say that. on everybody's behalf. And I think the choice of car was something that we decided that this is what we wanted to buy because this is what was necessary and the money was allocated. So therefore, I don't think it was in any way slight in any way. Can I make a comment on that? You can do that under the privilege of the floor. And then Mr. Bowlby. Yes, when I think of these trash cans, I think of the Jetsons. We are definitely living the Jetsons' life right now. It's all amazing that these things are going to be operated solar. But I think many of the cities have these. They were highly recommended. So I think it would be interesting to see. I hope it works. It is a lot of money. And as far as the historical and the tourism board, that's been around a little while. I've seen that, but I think it's a very good idea that you that you suggested that we contact them when we have like our summer, our summer walks and ask them. Passaic County folks to support our initiatives as well. So I think that's a great idea. Maybe you can come back at the next meeting or so and just let us know how you make out. If you have a name for the, I guess as a director, let us know who that is. Yeah, it's all on their website, I'm sure. But thank you for bringing that up. And Dave, Mr. Ferenik, again, Thank you very much for all your comments, and if you do see somebody throwing some junk out the vehicle window, please kindly let our chief know. He said he would be able to do something about that. Okay, so with that said, we do have now privilege of the floor. Would anybody like to address privilege of the floor? Councilman Hinton?

Yes, I just want to say that You know, seeing our resolutions, I just had a question. I could have called Michael earlier and asked him about that, but I feel comfortable here to ask him those questions. OEM Director Al Evangelista does a hell of a job, and he's been doing a hell of a job for a lot of years. I trust him 110%. It was just a question for me on the upfit of the vehicles. I didn't realize how much those things cost. And that's all I was asking about. I know OEM Director Vangelista is as frugal as he can be. But if we could have gotten them a shotgun rack, Chief, maybe we could have added that. But no, I just wasn't out to cause any issues. It was just a question from finance.

I guess every question always has another answer. Well, yes, sometimes that happens.

We'll get past that.

Thank you. All right. Do I have a motion to adjourn to go into executive session?

Motion. Second.

Okay. Councilman Begg, seconded by Councilman Sanchez. All in favor?

Aye.

Okay. Thank you, everyone.

Problem this time.

Nothing.

Trying to keep OK list.

Yeah, alright. So we we spoke about negotiated contracts and pending anticipated litigation and anything else.

And the closed session.

And the closed session and the contract negotiation with the radio station. I believe that's what we discussed, correct? Correct. Okay, thank you, attorney. All right, I'd like to have a motion to adjourn.

Motion. Second.

Councilman Cruz, Councilman Hinton, all in favor? Aye. Okay, good night, everyone. Thank you.