Village Council - Regular Meeting

Oops.

We know. Good evening. This is the Village Council Public Workshop. The date is May 27, 2026. The time is 7.30. Adequate notice of this meeting has been provided by a posting on the bulletin board in Village Hall, by mail to the Ridgewood News, the Record, and by submission to all persons entitled the same, as provided by law of a schedule including the date and time of this meeting. Roll call.

Council Member Mortimer.

Here.

Council Member Perrin. Here. Council Member Weitz. Here. Council Member Winograd. Here. And Mayor Vaggianos.

Here. Will you all please join us in a salute to our flag.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic

God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. And let's go right to public comment. Seeing no one, I'm going to close public comment, and we'll go right to our manager's report.

Thank you, Mayor, and good evening, everyone. First, I want to start off by thanking American Legion Post 53 here in Ridgewood for an outstanding Memorial Day service. Despite the drizzly weather on Monday morning, they were able to move the service into Mount Carmel Church. I want to thank the commander, Lou, and the mayor, and even our county executive there was with us this year. It was a tremendous celebration of life for all those that we lost in wartime. I also want to announce that the sunshades at Graydon Pool have been successfully installed. I know this was a passion project for Councilmember Weitz.

Thank you. My skin thanks you for that.

And all seven sunshades are now installed at the pool as we prepare for the opening day. Our parking survey that closed on Friday afternoon, believe it or not, we had over 1,600 responses to the survey that Walker Consulting is now sifting through and analyzing that data to come back with recommendations for the village. Just a few reminders tonight. First, our two day per week irrigation schedule is in effect. Odd numbered addresses for irrigation are Tuesday and Saturday and even numbered addresses for irrigation are Wednesday and Sunday. Ridgewood Senior Bus has new expanded days and hours from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday. If anyone has a medical appointment, needs to go grocery shopping, or wants to visit the mall, please call the village manager's office and speak to Beth to make a reservation. The bus is also now going to stop and shop in Wyckoff each Wednesday. The Ridgewood Guild sponsors Music in the Night for the 15th season and will provide music in various locations on Friday nights starting on May 29th through Labor Day. Grade and pool opening day is Saturday, May 30th from 11 to 7. These will be the hours through August 30th and then again on Labor Day weekend, which is September 5th, 6th, and 7th. We will be closed that week during the weekdays the week before Labor Day because school is going to start prior to Labor Day this calendar year. The primary election is scheduled for Tuesday, June 2nd. The polls are open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Early voting has already commenced and is open until this Sunday. The nearest locations are Bergen County Community College in Paramus and the Wyckoff Public Library. Come celebrate Ridgewood Pride Day on Van Ness Square on Saturday, June 6th from 11 to 4 with a flag-raising ceremony at 1 p.m. There will be speakers, performers, and vendors there throughout the day. Music in the Park will be taking place on Saturday evening, starting on June 6th from 7.30 to 9.30 in Venice Square. On June 6th, the Heartbreak Beat. On June 13th, we'll be Amped. June 20th, Thursday Evening Collective. And June 27th, Pete Diamond and Friends. Come downtown and enjoy some great entertainment this summer. The 68th annual Free Summer Concert Series at Cashaw Shell at Veterans Field starts on June 4th. Concerts are scheduled for every Tuesday and Thursday in the months of June, July, and August. Look out on our social media pages later this week for the full listing of performers. The Holy Festival will be held on Sunday, June 14th, at the parking lot by McMurphy. From 11.30 to 4.30, there will be live music, food, dancing, and colors. In our upcoming Village Council meetings, June 3rd is a work session, June 10th is a public meeting, June 24th is a work session, will all begin at 7.30 p.m. And that concludes my report, Mayor. Thanks, Keith.

Let's go to council reports. Frank. Thanks, Mayor. First, I'd like to thank the Trevelle third grade class who came and visited Village Hall last week. They asked a lot of great questions. And I did have a favorite, my daughter Ella. My council report is we had CSAC meeting last Thursday. The cool thing is, is the site, Obstructions, we're now at 146 in compliance. And again, when we hit 175, we're going to have some sort of safety party. The incident accident report, which compares month to month over 25 to 26, that in 25 there were 64 accidents, and this year we only had 51. And out of those, the most notable, they rank them depending on the severity. The most severe were people did require... emergency help. In 25 there was 11 accidents and this year only four. So that's always good. I think that we're getting better. One of the things, two intersections that we talked about, the light at Dormus and Ackerman was extended 10 seconds during school pick up and drop off so that Orchard could get out and we're seeing success with that. And additionally the the light that's going to, the intersection of Oak and Glen was discussed, and we went through how a traffic study is being conducted, and we've signed a contract with a traffic engineer, and then based upon his results, we'll be getting light there. And that concludes my council report, Mayor. Thank you, Frank. Yvonne.

Sure. So I want to begin by thanking, sorry, I have a little bit of laryngitis too, thanking the Bridgewood beautification team and Deputy Mayor Pam for the annual plant. As you'll notice, all the planters are full, and the theme this year for 250 is red, white, and blue, and the blue is secretly purple. But thank you most especially to the Parks Department, Pam, who spearheaded it, Leslie, Cynthia, and everybody who made it happen. I also want to let the public know that we are going to be moving to Christmas in July and refurbishing some of the holiday decorations over the summer. So if anybody's interested in being a part of that, We would welcome it. It's kind of fun, and we do play Christmas music in July. We had a meeting with the World Cup. We went through the walkthrough with the guy who provides the screens. All systems are go with the World Cup being launched for our watch party June 12th and June 19th in two separate locations of Van Ness in June 12th and June 19th to kick off the Maroon Soccer Father's Day tournament out here. The games are based on Team USA, which is playing on both those USA. Go USA. Today we had a meeting with the Residential Flood Advisory Committee. We introduced our new engineer, even though he's not that new to us, to the committee. And we talked through a bunch of concepts and ideas and some of the work that the new interns of NJIT are doing. And I want to say thank you to him for his time and Keith for making all of that happen. And then I just wanted to give A small shout out to locally grown lacrosse player John Dunphy, who participated in the NCAA Division I Tournament 1, had an assist and a score. And this is a kid who grew up here, played here, went to Princeton in its senior year. So congratulations to him and congratulations to Richard Lacrosse. That's it.

Thanks, Siobhan. Evan. So with the Memorial Day holiday, most of my committees have not met recently. The only exception being library. Library met last week. Pleased to discuss that. well, pleased to tell everyone that we were discussing renovations to the auditorium. Even more pleased to tell you it would be done completely with private money. Other than that, the library continues to do a fantastic job at all the things that it does.

Great. Thanks, Ed.

Pam.

As I think I mentioned at the last meeting, the New York-New Jersey Trail Conference is going to help our Parks Department blaze the trails. And I left the flyer over there on the table. You do have to sign up on the QR code or the link. It's free, but they need to know how many people are coming, and therefore a sign-up is required. And... The next one is going to be July 12th in Grove Park. You can park on Berkshire and walk over to the trailhead on Grove Street. We will be blazing the trails. That is marking the trees so that when you walk down the trails, You can tell whether you're on the trail or you're lost, one or the other. And it's fun. It's easy. It's flat. It's a good excuse to be outside. But you do have to wear sturdy shoes, bring your lunch, because we start at 10 AM, take a break for lunch, and then go until 2. And you have to wear long pants, long shirt, and work gloves. So that's a fun day and hopefully it won't rain because it is a rain or shine event and we are looking for volunteers. That's all I have.

Thanks Pam. And I just have a couple things. First I want to comment on Holi. It is a Hindu festival. that takes place every year in the parking lot adjacent to McMurphy's. It is so much fun. This is that festival where people throw different colored powder on you. And it is just, it's a hoot. And the food is amazing. And I recommend this to everybody. It is just way too much fun. I hope to see you there. I will definitely be there.

So when is it?

It is Sunday, June 14th.

And either walk there or bring sheets for your car, because I still have the powder literally in the little nooks and crannies. Worth it, but just keep that in mind.

Bring a sheet, because when you get in the car, you're kind of multicolored dust covered, but it's so great. And speaking of great stuff, I was at the Ridgewood Run Monday morning at 7.45 for the 10K and at 10 a.m. for the 5K. There were 3,000 people there on Memorial Day at 7.45 in the morning. This was absolutely fabulous. I mean, look, this may not have been the New York Marathon, But for a little while there, it felt like it. It was a lot of fun. They had a lot of neat things going on. And it was great. And then right after that is something that I think it's everyone's responsibility to attend the American Legion's Memorial Day commemoration. It is so moving. It is so important. It reminds us all what everyone has sacrificed or what those people who have served have sacrificed and their families. The highlight for me was a young Ridgewood High School student named Grace Kim. She's 17 years old, and she wrote an essay on what Americanism means to her. And I'm just going to read two sentences from there, because this is somebody who gets it. And she wrote, right now it feels like our country is more divided than ever. But what we sometimes forget is that American democracy is strongest not when everyone agrees, but rather when people continue working together despite their differences. She's 17. We should send her to Washington to take care of many of the issues in America, or at least to teach what she knows and many don't understand. It was really wonderful. And that's the end of my report.

Paul, I do have to have a question. Grace is also our shade tree in turn.

Yes, I know.

And we are so proud of Grace with everything that she does. And she is just amazing. And she started when she was a freshman. She's orchard. came back to Ridgewood and she volunteers at every level.

She's amazing. I was listening to this and I was moved to tears. There were so many other highlights in her speech. I asked her to send it to me because it was really incredibly moving and insightful. We should all aspire to what Grace is trying to teach us. And with that, Let's get to our regular agenda.

Thank you, Mayor. I'd like to call Director Kalbi up. And as Rich approaches, I failed to add this to my report because it happened today, but I want to congratulate Ridgewood Fire Chief John Judge, who today received the Patriotic Employer Award for contributing to national security and protecting liberty and freedom by supporting employee participation in America's National Guard and Reserve Force. Firefighter Chris Eachen, an active member of the U.S. Coast Guard, nominated Chief Judge for this honor, and it was presented today by Alvin Starr, the New Jersey Chair of Employer Support and Guard Reserves. I just want to extend my congratulations to Chief Judge. Obviously, we have both police officers and firefighters who have served in our military. Some still serve in the reserve. We support them in that endeavor, and I think the honoring of Chief Judge today really puts that on full display. So with that, I'll turn it over to Director Calbee to take you through his agenda items. Good evening. Good evening, Rich.

I don't know how to follow both of those. Both great, great news items. But if you'll allow me to, I will add a third. Tomorrow, Ridgewater will be doing a soft start on the West Glen Pump Station. It is now complete and ready for operation. So tomorrow I'll be testing it out. making sure everything's in place so that it's ready to run this summer for high demand days. Great.

Just to add some history, when we had the boil water notice two Septembers ago, this was the issue. And while it took us some time to get there, and lucky enough we have not repeated that situation, Rich and his team, and especially Bill Beerwas, who really took this issue by the horns and ran with it. This is the first step in rectifying the water distribution up at the top of the hill. And we've also sent correspondence today to the officials in Midland Park because that is the community most affected by those types of situations. So they are aware of it, and they're going to be sharing it with members of their community as well.

There's a good information flyer posted on our website, and it'll be on social media tonight as well, that really summarizes the project, what customers could look for when we start it up, because this is something that's never been done before. There could be some slight changes in pressure, some minor discoloration when we initially start it up, so there's precautions on there customers could take if that happens.

And Rich, I know the entire council thanks you for this because I know that you've set up, while it may have taken a little while to get the permanent resolution, you had a temporary fix in there very, very fast. And I know that no one was more upset about it than you were.

Oh, definitely.

I remember. So thank you so much for taking care of that.

It's a big relief.

Yep.

And Rich, not to prolong anything, but before you get to your agenda items, could you just brief the council on what's happening here in the village on Friday morning? Oh, yes.

So Friday morning we are hosting the two new BPU commissioners. They will be here. We'll be at the firehouse for a breakfast meeting. We currently have over 30 utility members that will be attending from all over the state. In addition to that, some other you know, water associations, non-profits, and the mayor will be leading us off, and then the two commissioners will be speaking about their roles at BPU, what their goals are, with particular focus on water conservation. We're looking for BPU to take the lead statewide in getting the message out about native plantings, watering your lawns smarter, similar to what they do with electricity every summer. You know, because we're finding that every summer, demand increases, the heat increases, the dry conditions increase, so it's time for the state and not just Ridgewood to lead the way in telling people how to conserve.

Yeah, that's going to be a great event, and I know you have several initiatives that you want to get across to the new BPU commissioners to help not just Ridgewood Water, but all the water utilities in the state, which is why everyone is attending. So thanks again for leading on this and so many other issues.

So I'll ask the stupid question. What's BPU?

Board of Public Utilities. Thank you. Thank you. And from what I understand, this may be one of the first events these two new commissioners are attending.

And just as a way of background, we've hosted two BPU commissioners on separate occasions at Ridgewood Water. We took them through our whole GIS mapping system. We took them through the three big initiatives, PFAS, lead service lines, and distribution. And I have to tell you, I think both of them walked away incredibly impressed, which is why I think the two new commissioners accepted the invitation to come here and join Ridgewood Water for this initiative on Friday. Definitely. Looking forward to it.

With that, continue? Let's go. All right. Thank you. So our first item tonight is a recommendation for purchase of a new 2026 Ford F350. This is a pickup truck to replace a Ford F250 from 2015. This is for the Ridgewater Distribution Division, and this is funded out of the Water Capital Budget on the amount of $71,192.60 from New Jersey State Co-op. Questions?

I wish it came in hybrid, but I know it doesn't.

At that size, no.

I was going to say a 350 is going to be the last vehicle that's going to come in hybrid.

And then the next one's even bigger. This is a dump truck. to replace a 2014 international dump truck. This will be a Kenworth single-axle vehicle 2027 model. This is also funded in the Water Capital in the amount of $149,795.40. Questions? Let's go. So this next item is an exciting one and something we've talked about for some time. Now that we've gotten close to the end of the PFAS build-out, we're now making a recommendation to proceed with a rate study looking to implement a tiered rate in the future whereby those that use more will pay more, those that use less will save. So this is a recommendation to hire the firm Raftelis that's reviewed the water budget for the last two years. They will evaluate a series of budget years, audits, and then look into the future based on our capital plans and come up with at least three to four alternatives in terms of a new rate structure, and then present it to the full council, and from there decide, based on those recommendations, where we go. And I think this would be something that gets implemented probably 27, maybe 28, more likely, based on whatever the recommendation is.

i think it's a good move to bring outside eyes in on this yes yeah everybody good yeah i'm really excited about the future like i think they said like a 30 year based on cost and stuff like that so and and since by the time this will be implemented the pfos will be up and running it'll be correct it'll be curious to see how that looks for us for the future and we'll know the true costs of all the loans because they should be closed again close to be closed at that point

Thanks, Richard. Thank you.

Yeah, you're always thinking ahead. That's great.

Thank you. Oh, don't ask him about what his capital project is the day that PFAS is done.

I think it's a vacation. I know. It doesn't stop with a 100-year-old system, unfortunately. So speaking of that, we had an emergency. This was originally on the last council agenda but had to be pulled because the contractor who was scheduled to do the emergency repair could not do it. So we pulled it at the last minute. Fortunately, we were able to find a replacement contractor, and the good news is they were able to do the repair for about half or less. Nice. So this is codifying that repair not to exceed of $109,000. The big price tag is because this was a 20-inch pipe, 20-inch valve. That would be repaired in the PSE&G right away. The work is now complete. The 20-inch line is back in operation, and this is funded out of the capital budget.

I don't mean to put you on the spot, but do you know how old the failed valve was?

I don't know. I could get you that answer.

The reason I ask is because I know you've done a lot of work along the PSE and G right-of-way, and if it's a new valve, I would worry.

I don't believe so. No, this is in an area that we didn't touch yet.

Okay.

We had done all the work from there moving up towards Village Hall and beyond. We had lined the 20-inch. But I'll get you the information. Okay.

And that goes, that's a very good question, because that goes to, I was making a joke, but I'm also serious. The moment we're done with PFAS, Rich is going out on bonding projects for... more money than we spent on PFAS to upgrade our 100-year-old system because we have leaks and the regular maintenance was deferred for decades before anybody in this room was here. And so now we're going to have to address it. In fact, he had started this when he first got here. I remember. But then PFAS interrupted that. So he's going to pick up where he left off.

Pam Chavonne and I used to do Ridgewood 101 presentations 10 years ago.

That was good times back then.

Good times. So the next item is a recommendation to cancel some old water capital ordinances. We're trying to do this on an annual basis now. If you may recall, we did it last year as well. This one is probably the most significant of ones that we've done. It's closing accounts from as far back as 2016 through 2020. And this will recapture about $2.2 million in already funded capital. And then Mr. Rooney will decide whether or not that's best used to pay down debt or to put in capital reserves. So this is a good thing.

And I just want to point out on this, Council, last summer we did this on the general operating side with all the departments, Sands Ridgewood Water. They did a separate cancellation ordinance last year. This is authorized debt that was not expended on the projects that it was allotted for. So we often hear people during budget time and residents question, how much debt service are we carrying? How much debt services are we carrying? This is a prime example of monies that did not need to be spent on projects that were anticipated to be spent. And now we're canceling that authorized debt so that it's no longer on the books as authorized. So I just want to make sure that we're clear on that process. For a lot of years, this didn't happen here in the village, and now we're going to try to do this annually when it makes sense to do so. But this is taking authorized debt numbers where that money is no longer needed, and we're canceling those appropriations.

It's so good, combined with an estimate of half. I love it.

It's like when you find money in a coat pocket. So good. You keep a lot of money in your coat pocket, and you actually do.

Thank you.

All right, the final item is the request to refund an overpayment by a customer. This customer overpaid their account by $2,404.46.

So is this just a mistake or is it a move?

It's a move and a method of payment by the customer where they were paying automatically monthly instead of quarterly, and the bill got lowered so their balance was building.

Good.

Thank you. Thank you, Rich.

Thank you, Rich. Thanks, Richard. Mayor, we'll move to budget C1. This is a recommendation from Matt Andrula, our Parks and Shade Tree supervisor, for a vehicle purchase of a 2026 Ford F-550 SuperCab and steel mason dump. It will be purchased through a state contract through Route 23 Auto Mall in Butler. The purchase price of this vehicle is $93,042, and it was authorized by the council as part of the 2026 capital budget.

Everybody good?

Let's go. Item two is a special emergency appropriation. As you know, we are currently undergoing a reassessment of all real property here in the village. At budget time, we talked through the need to separate this out over five years of payment to appraisal systems. The reassessment is estimated to cost $1.2 million as per the authorization resolution to proceed with the reassessment. This will be a special emergency appropriation and shall provide paid out succeeding five years annual budgets with one-fifth being paid out a year, approximately $240,000, which is the amount that was authorized by this ordinance. Everybody good? Let's go. And by the way, there was an effort made during the budget season to put this entire work effort into the budget this year due to The tax levy cap and the appropriation cap, we were unable to do that, and that will move to the five-year special emergency. The next item is proposed changes to Chapter 145 fees. This is a recommendation from James McGrath, our public works director and village engineer. The engineering division has recently completed a comprehensive review of current permit fee structures related to our site grading and stormwater control plan. Our existing fees have not yet been adjusted, actually have not been adjusted in many years, and no longer reflect the actual cost of providing the services or market rates within Bergen County. The engineering division did a review of neighboring municipalities throughout Bergen County, which revealed that our current rates were lower than those of our peers, While we aim to remain competitive and affordable to our residents, our under-market fees have resulted in a gap between the revenue collected and the administrative resources required to process these applications. James is recommending that we revise our fee schedule to align with Burton County, the averages as outlined in the attached table. and the ordinance will take effect on September 1st, 2026. And if you look to the second page, you'll see the areas that are to be amended by adding them into the ordinance and the areas below which are recommended to be deleted. The deputy mayor's asked for the comparison, which James already responded to me. He will circulate to you in the morning.

Thank you.

You're welcome. Thank you, James. Okay, item four is a recommendation from Parks and Recreation Director Nancy Bigos and attached as a draft ordinance to update chapter 145-10, which is the village code fee schedule. This is relative to the adoption of a tree, commemorative memorial trees, and benches. For comparison, the Recreation Department looked at what other towns were charging in the area based on our updated fees, based their updated recommendation on that fee schedule. The updated fees were prepared by the professional staff and presented, reviewed, and approved at the April 28th PRC Board. I spoke to Councilman Weitz about this today. And these recommendations are coming from our actual costs in addition to making comparisons so we don't price ourselves out with neighboring municipalities.

Yeah, to be clear, I wanted to make sure we weren't making a profit. I don't think we should be, and I know, thank you Keith for getting me the estimates for what it costs us to put the trees in or put the benches in. And it seems that the fees that you're proposing are largely equal to what it costs us to do it. So essentially, we're not making money or charging money. We're basically just asking whoever's donating these things to cover the cost of what we're expending. So I'm supportive based upon that. But I did feel strongly that this shouldn't be viewed as an income generating scheme in any way. And you've assured me it's not.

And as the representative on the PRC board, and I was there when we went through these, so you can ask me next time, I can tell you that we went through all the other municipalities to look at this and we also I mean if you look at the prices it's like this is significantly out of data what it costs to get a tree and and also the labor to install it and then also to just that some of the like the bench that we're we were using a less expensive benches, which then deteriorated after a certain amount of time. So it was also thought out of what's gonna serve our village the best for the longest mile. We do everything top-notch in the PRC board, Evan, so I'm happy to show that to you.

It was a dollars and cents sort of question. I'll leave the bench design to you guys.

So I have two things. First, I think Frank and I both want to say thank you to Yuna and Keelan, our two shade tree interns, who have been trying to come up with the determinative cost. When we looked at the old code and 450, it was clearly too low because we know the cost of a planting. So two juniors at Ridgewood High noticed this first. So that's Yuna and Keelan. Thank you. Just a straight up tree is $1,000. I don't know, and I think we should have a little discussion about the plaque on the tree. if we want to add language that the plaque's not going to be mounted on the ground anymore, because I know we've had that discussion.

But in the memorial ordinance, it says that we control things like that, so I don't know what needs to be spelled out. I'm fine with that.

I think it's spelled out already, and in speaking to Nancy about this, depending on where it's being placed, whether it's outside here at Village Hall, whether it's in a park, like we did dedication a few weeks ago at Habernickle, Sometimes it's done differently but consistent in that particular location. So there is discretion built into the ordinance as the councilman suggested. That's fine.

I just want to make sure because we were moving away from the plaques in general. And I think it's great. And if anybody has never done this, you should do it. If you have a loved one, a good event, you know, a bad event that you want to make more beautiful by making it, you know, it's a wonderful thing to do. And I think it's going to be great. And I think it's long overdue. I mean, I was trying to think I've donated a tree several years. It hasn't been updated probably in 10 years. So thank you to Nancy and thank you to our interns.

I want to thank everybody also because the, I mean, this, this goes to what James McGrath did with our, engineering fees that were so out of date, we're losing money on all of these things. And again, as Evan said, we don't want to make money, but looking at the new charges, if those are great even numbers, we were losing quite a bit of money to this point. So this is where we tighten our budget up. So I want to thank everybody who was involved in this.

Mayor, the next item is under policy, and this is to amend Chapter 190, Land Use and Development, Accessory Uses for Houses of Worship. I know we had two members of the clergy at a previous council meeting who spoke to this. It's also been a consistent topic at the ordinance working group. But Matt has put a tremendous amount of effort in modifying this and working with the team to do so, so I'm going to turn it over to him for the official explanation.

Thanks, Keith. People know this, and... This is an effort by the council to do two things. Number one, continue on the conversation that it's had with the leaders of the various religious institutions in the village with regard to trying to deal with some of their needs, and also bring our ordinance more in line with the Religious Institution Land Use and Planning Act, a state statute that awards or provides authority for local zoning to deal with the needs of religious institutions and the operations and conduct that can happen on their sites. So what this does, it opens the doors different than what our existing ordinance does and allows them to take on uses, not only things that they sponsor but also may hire, that are customary in the practice and incidental and subordinate to the primary purpose of what their church or what their institution is about. And it's been a number of discussions. I think several members of the council can speak to this because they've all had conversations about it. But it's the effort to try and bring it up to date and provide religious institutions in this town with the ability to continue on with their practice, with their purpose, in a way that also assists them in generating funds to keep their operations up and running and being able to distribute their purpose to their congregations and other people.

So I'm very supportive of this. Before I was on the council, I spent seven years on the executive committee of my house of worship. Two of those years, I was the treasurer. And for houses of worship, they're facing the same affordability crisis that all of us homeowners are facing. Most of our houses of worship are underutilized during the day. They're utilized usually after hours and on weekends and obviously on holidays. This allows our houses of worship to potentially monetize some of that space, which is a lifeline for those houses of worship. I do like the way it was written. Obviously, the uses that will be allowed are customary in furtherance of the goal of the house of worship. So Keith, to your point, I thought this was very well. No church is going to open up a used car lot. That wouldn't be allowed. But obviously things like daycare, adult daycare, schools, things like that, which are in line with most of the priorities of the houses of worship will be allowed, which is a great use of space. It'll make it more affordable for those of us who pay dues to our House of Worship. It will increase the services to our citizens and keep some of those services in Ridgewood. And thank you, Matt, for describing. This will be in line with what we see elsewhere in New Jersey. So I'm very supportive. I'm appreciative to everyone that had a hand in this, and I'll be proud to vote on this when it comes up in the next work session or public session.

Anybody else? Well, good. I think this is a very good thing. We're going to help our Houses of Worship tremendously.

And lastly, under operations, we have a proposal to amend chapter 256, which is taxi cabs and limousines. This is a memorandum from Heather Maylander, our clerk. What this does is it replaces a license card with a license to operate and increases the insurance limits so that they comply with current New Jersey state law. relative to the insurance limit requirements. So this is really an updating to make current our taxi cabs and limousine licensing ordinance. Questions? Mayor, that's all I have.

Great. Let's go back to public comment.

Good evening, Mayor and Council. Boyd A. Loving, Bridgewood resident. With respect to the comments that the manager made regarding the two-day watering schedule, let me just say that there is no two-day watering schedule in my neighborhood. People who have automatic sprinkler systems water any day they want to except Monday, and there seems to be no enforcement whatsoever. I am told that if you have a smart water system, you are entitled to do that. You are entitled to water every day except Monday. However, there's no indication for members of the public as to who has the smart watering system and who doesn't. Several years ago, people had to place a placard up if they had such authorization. Now we seem to have done away with that. I have not seen any Ridgewood water vehicles riding up and down the street looking for offenders. Quite frankly, it is just frustrating for those of us who have manual systems and who obey the rules. So I know nothing can be done this year because it's too late in the season, but I would hope that at some time in the future we develop some sort of system so residents in the neighborhood know who is authorized to water on days other than the two-day schedule and who isn't. It's pitting neighbor against neighbor when we look out and we see people watering and we say, why are they watering on a day that they shouldn't be watering? And then you think, oh, that's because they have a smart water system, but we don't know if they have a smart water system because there's no placard. So if something can be done so that we don't get into this mess every year with people just watering willy-nilly, it would be much appreciated. The other thing I'd like to say is that At a recent meeting, and I can't remember exactly what meeting it was, a member of the public, a resident, stood up here and made some comments about Varian Fry. That member then sat down and the public comment session was over. However, that person was allowed to come back up to the podium and make more comments. Typically, that is not something that is allowed in this room. I have seen many people told that they can't do that, and I'm wondering why this individual was allowed to do that, and I think I know why, because he was a former member of the council and was treated as such. I don't think that there is anything in the rules and regulations that say former members of the council are exempt from the rules that everybody else follows, and I would ask you not to do that again. Thank you. Thank you, Boyd.

Anne Loving, Ridgewood resident. I have a different concern about the smart watering system. From what I understand, the thing that's smart about it is if the ground is wet, then it won't water. It doesn't call for water. But if the ground is dry, then it calls for water. But we share the water table, and when we're in a drought, which seems to be like all the time, the smart watering systems are going to call for water frequently. And that doesn't seem very smart, so to speak, because then, you know, water is being poured onto lawns when there isn't much in the water table. So I don't really get that. I get the positive side that they don't go off, they don't operate when it's raining or wet out. That makes sense. But it doesn't make sense that during a drought, which it seems, I mean, I know we just had a lot of rain, but frequently we're in a drought situation. I don't get why that's even allowed. It just doesn't make sense to me. Thank you.

Thank you, Ann. And we have someone on hybrid access. Rurik, you're up. You're still on mute, Rurik. Still on mute. Rurik, you're going to have to take it. Sorry.

I'm sorry. It's Cynthia Hallaby, Ridgewood resident.

Hi, Cynthia.

I'd like to go back to talk about June 16th, which was a wonderful day in town. It was mentioned before, the RBT planted out 50 containers or more along the town, the CBD. And I really think a shout out to Leslie Kulvec is deserved. The planting would not have happened without her. She really organized the entire project. At the same time, the Parks and Rec Department planted out 16 shrubs and one dogwood tree, which were gifts from the women gardeners of Ridgewood. And these shrubs are planted along Ridgewood Avenue in Van Nest itself. Also at the same time, the Conservancy for Ridgewood Public Lands was planting out the large containers by the war memorial along with the women gardeners of Ridgewood in time for the celebration, the Memorial Day celebration. And naturally everything was in red, white, and blue. Let's see what other, many things were happening that day and it was really great see all the volunteers working together. And I also wanted to say, last but not least, we do have the park walk, which is organized by the Parks and Rec Department, the Conservancy for Ridgewood Public Lands, and that is going to be, and also the Open Space Committee. And that will be held on Saturday, June 6th at 10 a.m. behind the stable at the Children's Butterfly and Sensory Garden. And this will be an opportunity for children to be introduced to the garden, to the various plants that grow there, to the birds that live there. Particularly for young children, it'll be a great introduction to the sensory garden. So I thank you very much for all of your support and most definitely to the Parks and Rec who are always there to help us. Thank you.

Thank you, Cynthia, and thank you for all the good volunteer work that you do. It's always appreciated. Anybody else? Seeing no one, I'm going to close public comment. Would anyone like to respond?

I just want to say sometimes when it comes to planting, I feel like it's the Oscars. Everyone is amazing. Leslie, it is. You hate to mention one, but if you've never been a part of this, it is a real big effort, and I am forever grateful to everybody who helped and did it. Again, I wasn't even there this year. I had a graduation to attend to, and Pam covered for me, and I had no doubt that I left you in the best possible hands with Cynthia and Leslie and Parks.

Anybody else? Seeing no one.

One more thing. Keith, I am unaware of retraction of the requirements that your smart controller permit is in the window or somewhere visible from the street. I thought that's still in effect.

I'm going to get an update from Rich tomorrow. I have some questions based on the public hearing.

Thank you.

Anybody else? No? Let's set a record and entertain a motion to adjourn. So moved. Second. All in favor? Aye. Done.