Village Council - Regular Meeting

Good evening.

This is the Village Council regular public meeting. The date is June 10th, 2026. The time is 7.30 p.m. 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, by submission to all persons entitled the same as provided by law of the schedule including the date and time of this meeting. Notice of this meeting was also posted on the Village of Ridgewood's legal notices page. Roll call.

Councilmember Mortimer.

Here.

Deputy Mayor Perrin. Here. Councilmember Weitz.

Here.

Councilmember Winograd. Here. 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 for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with

I move the bills, claims, and vouchers and statement of funds on hand as of May 31st, 2026 be accepted as submitted. Second.

Mortimer.

Yes.

Perrin. Yes. White. Yes. Winograd. Yes. Vagianos.

Yes. I move that the village council minutes of March 4th, March 11th, March 25th March 10th and April 8th, 2026, having been reviewed by the village council and now available in the village clerk's office, be approved as submitted. Second.

I just want to make one correction, Mayor. You said March 10th, it's March 30th. Oh, it's March 30th.

I thought that that was out of order. Thank you.

Okay. So it was moved by Council Member Mortimer. Mortimer?

Yes.

Perrin? Yes. Weitz? Yes. Winograd? Yes. And Vaggianos? Yes.

Yes, we're going to go to resolution that is listed as B and do that first, recognizing Juneteenth. Pam, would you do the honors?

Sure. Whereas the Emancipation Proclamation was formally issued on January 1863, declaring that enslaved Africans in the Confederate States of America were to be freed, And whereas, over two and a half years later, the Union Army General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas, and read order number three on June 19th, 1865, informing the enslaved residents of the state of their freedom. And whereas, June 19th, Juneteenth, a linguistic blend of the words June and 19th, was adopted to commemorate this historical and pivotal date in American history. And whereas, beginning on January 1st, 1980, several states and municipal governments in the United States have declared June 19th Juneteenth, a legal holiday. And whereas June 19th, Juneteenth, is celebrated nationally and internationally to recognize the end of the enslavement of Africans in the United States and to celebrate the culture and achievements of African Americans. And whereas today, millions of Americans of all races, creeds, religious, and ethnic backgrounds celebrate Juneteenth, which not only celebrates freedom, but also acknowledges the achievements of African Americans, as well as celebrations continue to spread, we can all be reminded of the oft-repeated maxim, until all are free, none are free. that highlights the manner of the end of slavery in the United States. Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Village of Ridgewood, excuse me, the Village Council of the Village of Ridgewood does hereby proclaim that the 19th day of June shall be annually known as Juneteenth 2026 in the Village of Ridgewood and urges all residents to join in this joyous celebration of freedom, and learn more about its origins, reflecting on how they can promote equity and honoring the resiliency, achievements, and legacy of our black community.

Thank you, Pam. And now we have a proclamation recognizing National Pollinator Week. Evan, you want to take? Oh, excuse me, I'm so sorry.

Frank, why don't you do this one? Oh, thank you so much. Whereas pollinator species, such as thousands of species of bees, are essential partners in producing much of our food supply, and whereas pollinator species provide significant environmental benefits that are necessary for maintaining healthy, diverse urban and suburban ecosystems, and whereas pollination plays a vital role for the trees and plants of our community, enhancing our quality of life, in creating recreational and economic development opportunities, and whereas life on the leaf, celebrating caterpillars and host plants, emphasizing the critical role of caterpillars, butterflies, and the plants they depend on for breeding, feeding, and overwintering, and whereas for decades the village of Ridgewood has managed urban landscapes and public lands that include many municipal parks and greenways, as well as wildlife habitats, and whereas the Village of Ridgewood provides recommendations to developers and residents regarding landscaping to promote wise conservation stewardship, including the protection of pollinators and maintenance of their habitats in urban and suburban environments, now therefore be it resolved that the Village Council of the Village of Ridgewood does hereby proclaim June 22nd through the 28th, 2026, as the Village of Ridgewood's observance National Pollinator Week and the village of Ridgewood as an affiliate the first in New Jersey as Bee City USA and urges all residents to observe and recognize this observance thank you Frank and thank you for spearheading the effort to make Ridgewood a Bee City my pleasure I know it was Evan

Whereas parks, recreation, and leisure services are an integral part of communities throughout this country, including the village of Ridgewood. And whereas parks and recreation promote health and wellness, improving the physical and mental health of people who live near parks, schools, grounds, and open space areas. And whereas parks and recreation promotes time spent in nature, which proactively impacts mental health by increasing cognitive performance and well-being and alleviating illnesses such as depression, attention deficit disorder, and Alzheimer's. And whereas parks and recreation increases a community's economic prosperity through increased property values, expansion of the local tax base, increased tourism, the attraction and retention of business, and crime reduction. And whereas parks and recreation is essential and adaptable infrastructure that makes our communities resilient in the face of natural disasters and climate change. And whereas parks and recreation encourages physical activities by fitness, by providing space for popular sports, hiking trails, bike paths, The Graden Pool and other recreational amenities for both passive and active programming designed to promote a healthy and active lifestyle. And whereas Ridgewood Parks and Recreation is a leading provider of healthy meals, nutrition services, and education through its relationship with Health Barn USA. And whereas Ridgewood Parks and Recreation programming and education activities such as after school time STEM programming, youth sports, and environmental education are critical to childhood development. And whereas Ridgewood Parks and Recreation is fundamental to the environment, well being of our community through its relationship with Green Ridgewood, and hosting the Earth Day Daffodil Festival. Whereas our parks and natural recreation areas ensure the ecological beauty of our community and provide a place for all children and adults to connect with nature, embrace and explore the children's sensory butterfly garden, and recreate outdoors in the village's 13 municipal park properties. Whereas the U.S. House of Representatives has designed July as Parks and Recreation Month. Whereas the Village of Ridgewood recognizes the benefits derived from parks and recreation resources. Whereas Ridgewood Parks and Recreation's department is currently embracing the National Parks and Recreation Association's 2026 theme of the power of parks and recreation by focusing on the power of connection, the power of play, the power of community, the power of nature, the power of belonging, and the power of well-being. Now, therefore, it be resolved in the Village Council that the Village of Ridgewood does hereby proclaim July 2026 as Parks and Recreation Month. And the Village of Ridgewood encourages our residents to use the many recreational facilities and attend the many recreational programs for all ages offered by the Ridgewood Parks and Recreation Department. Thank you, Evan.

But he took a lesson from you, Frank. And I will read that final proclamation that's listed. Whereas the Village of Ridgewood Council recognizes that the parks and recreation field is a diverse and comprehensive system that improves personal, social, environmental, and economic health. And whereas the Village of Ridgewood Council recognizes the importance and benefits of park and recreation services that enrich the lives of its citizens and help make this community a desirable place to live, work, and visit. And whereas the Village of Bridgewood supports the skilled work of park and recreation professionals to strengthen community, cohesion, and resiliency, connect people with nature and each other, and provide and promote opportunities for healthful living, social equity, and environmental sustainability. And whereas the Village of Ridgewood Council values the essential services that park and recreation professionals and volunteers perform to provide recreational and developmental enrichment for our children, youth, adults, and older adults, and to ensure our parks and recreational spaces are clean, safe, inclusive, welcoming, and ready to use. Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Village Council of the Village of Ridgewood does hereby proclaim July 17th, 2026 as Park and Recreation Professionals Day in the village of Ridgewood and honors the tireless effort and commitment they bring to everything they do. And I have to say, not just our parks and recreation professionals, but especially them, but I have met with people who do this from around the state. For them, it's not a job, it's a mission. and they want to leave these parks, they want to create them, they want to build them, it is their legacy, and so it's very important to them, so I take my hat off to each and every one of them. And now, we have the initial proclamation, which is for National Intern Day, and we are gonna go into the well, and be led by council member Siobhan, and we're gonna call everybody up, so we'll get there and we'll bring you in.

So I'm just going to, I have a proclamation to read, but I'm going to do a slight storytelling. When Evan and I took our seats, we had a list of agendas that was in 2023 of, you know, things that we wanted to accomplish for this village that we love so much and very quickly we both realized we're gonna need some help. So we went out and we hired some interns and with great pleasure my first intern, Grace Kim, was here and is a future cadet. She's been accepted to the University of West Point and she will go. Well, we're first, and she did a great job with Shade Tree. And that's not to say that Grace has done a better job, but, you know, when your first intern goes to college, it's a moment, and she's a symbol of the program. And we now have Village Hall literally crawling with interns in the best way. So this is a proclamation for all of you. I'm sure Paul will say something, but we are so incredibly proud of the work that you do. And you're young. You love this town. You make things happen. The way that you view the internet and social media is so different than, I don't know, Mayor Paul. So we're very grateful for all of you. And now comes the official part. Whereas the Village of Ridgewood recognizes the positive impact that experiential learning has on preparing students for success in life and that all students should have access to experiential learning and opportunities. Whereas experiential learning opportunities such as work-based learning are important to the economic vitality of both businesses and communities. Whereas work-based learning services to connect students' skills and competencies gained from education with those used in the workplace and Whereas, on the last Thursday in July, National Intern Day is celebrated across the country by millions of students, higher education institutions, employers, and other organizations. And whereas, in recognition of National Intern Day, Ridgewood is committed to elevating awareness, advancing meaningful and diverse work-based learning opportunities, and acknowledging these students involved locally in internships, as well as the education institutions and employers who work with them and support them. whereas we recognize the following for their contribution. Ava Delmonico, Emma Dauman, Grace Kim, Yuna Kim, and Keelan Sullivan for their exceptional work at the Shade Tree Commission. Catherine Kauff for her work with the Access Committee. Alex Misovaki for his work with the Ridgewood Beautification Team. Anika Mukatira for her work with Green Ridgewood. Julia Grant for her work with the Green Ridgewood. Jake Verona for his work with engineering as an intern, Fatima Chica-Guevara, Varen Chobe, Angela Monica, and... James Ruan right here. ...for their work with the Ridgewood Water as GIS interns, Chase Willey for his work with the finance department, Brianna VanWiekel for her work with the village manager's office, Brendan Lechner for his work with the recreational department, and Phoebe Brown for her work with the Municipal Court Office. Whereas, Ridgewood recognizes the importance of the internship and the student involvement as we strive to be the best place to live, work, and raise a family. Now, therefore, it be resolved that the Village Council of the Village of Ridgewood does hereby proclaim July 30th, 2026 as National Intern Day in the Village of Ridgewood and urges all residents to join in creating meaningful and diverse work-based learning opportunities recognize that the interns of today are truly our leaders of tomorrow. Hope you join me in giving them all applause. I'm gonna pass this down because public speaking is a skill that you'll use at work, and I just want you each to say something if you can. So James, we'll begin with you.

Thank you for attending, everyone. All my efforts in and Ridgewood Water Company, I've been doing my best to put a lot of effort into it. And because of the internship I have, I'm doing my best to move forward in the future. Thank you.

Okay. My name is Angela Monaco. I'm an intern from the Applied Technology High School Work-Based Learning Association Program. And I had the pleasure of spending this year as an intern under Christina and Neil in the GIS department. I would like to thank them for all the help they've given us this year and all the insight into the fields that we've learned about and for the awareness that I gained.

Hi, everyone. My name is Fatima Chika. I'm also an intern at the Ridgewood Water Department with Angela. I also attend Applied Technology High School. I am very grateful for my mentors, Neil and Christina, as well as Cheyenne and Alec in the Water Department. They have been a great support and have taught me quite a lot. I never really knew that GIS really existed, but I will be using it in the near future in the Marine Corps, so I'm very excited and very grateful to have learned such a great opportunity. I'm very grateful for this internship, and I wouldn't have asked for any other.

Hi, I'm Keelan Sullivan, and I go to Ridgewood High School. I'm an intern for the Shea Tree Commission, and I've had a lot of, a really great time working with them. I really appreciate their efforts, and it's been great being dedicated to making our community more sustainable and planting more trees, so I hope I can continue that in the future.

Hi, my name is Yuna Kim. I'm a student at Ridgewood High School, and I'm also a part of Shaytree like Keelan, and I've had a wonderful experience. Shaytree is like truly a family, and I've met wonderful people, and I really feel like I've been making a difference in the community, and it's been an honor so far. Thank you so much.

Hi, my name is Emma Doman. I'm also a student at RHS and an intern for Bridgewood Shade Tree. I've been in the Green Club since my freshman year, but it was so cool to see it on the municipal level. And I can tell that everyone in it cares so much about each other and what they do. And I definitely wanted to go into something similar career-wise. So there are definitely people who I look up to and want to be like in the future.

Hi, my name is Grace Kim and I'm a senior at RHS. The last three years have been incredibly rewarding being able to serve my community. And like Siobhan said, I'm so grateful for the chance that she took on me. She answered an email from me as a freshman when I was totally unqualified and had zero experience. But it's really this opportunity that laid the foundation in everything I did in the following years. So I'm so grateful and thank you.

Hi, everyone. I'm Brandon Lechner. I work as an intern. I just started at the recreation department. I'm a student at James Madison University. I study sports management with a minor in business. And I'm very grateful for the opportunity to be here and be an intern in Redwood. Thank you.

You can take one and then pass the rest down.

He looks like more of a man in a white shirt. And we're going to move over here right now. Feel free to come here.

All right. All right.

Thank you all. Great way to start a meeting.

Yeah, that's a nice way to start the meeting. Thank you all. Bye-bye.

See ya.

And now without further ado, let's go to public comment.

Thank you. Thank you.

Okay. Good evening, Mayor and Council. Michael Ngo, Ridgewood resident. As you may know, on Saturday evening, there was a major windstorm, and we had a lot of trees down in Ridgewood, and my house was one of the casualties. We had a branch come down that was maybe 40 feet long, 20 feet wide, and fortunately, it didn't hit anything or anyone, so we were kinda lucky. did call the non-emergency police department number, and the lady there was very efficient, asked if anyone was hurt, if any wires were down or anything landed on anybody's houses, and we said no. And they said they would send a policeman by in a little bit, but they had a lot of other ones that had property damage or wires down and so forth, so we said fine. So the policeman came by about 15 minutes later, and he said the same thing, nobody hurt, usual stuff. And then about an hour later, somebody came by from the tree department and said, okay, you know, we'll put you on the list. And I put some lights on it because half the tree was sort of in the street, so no one would run into it. And then the next day, two nice gentlemen from the tree department came by and cleaned it up probably in about maybe 15 minutes or so. So they did a good job was my point. So maybe you can relay this to Mr. Kazimark. I see he's not here tonight. Thank you.

Thank you, Michael, and thank you for the positive feedback. Glad no one was hurt.

On a Sunday they came out, too. It's great. It really speaks well of our people.

Good evening, Mayor and Council. Ann Loving. I have a question about Resolution 26-180. It's at the very end of the agenda. I'm wondering whether this very valuable resolution is, if the contract is going to include the flower pots in town, as long as they're watering all the trees, which is super important. It would be nice if the beautifully planted flower pots could get watered, because I have noticed that sometimes they're super dry. Just asking about that. The other thing I'm asking about is something that I know you know I'm asking about, and that's about my suggestion that there could have been a proclamation, two years in a row I've asked about this, for loving day, and on Monday I said, jeez, you didn't put it on, and since Monday into Tuesday you added two more proclamations, but not that one, and I really think I deserve an answer as to why you specifically are not honoring a nationally recognized, very important day in the history of this country. Thank you.

Thank you, Anne. Anybody else from the audience? Seeing no one, we'll go to our public access. I see someone has their hand raised with the initials DPL. You're up.

Denise Lima.

We can just about hear you. We need you to speak a little more loudly.

OK. Great. Denise Lima, Ridgewood resident. Any better?

Hi, Denise. Much better.

Yeah, super. OK. Intern program, love it. Great to hear that tonight. I attended the VC meeting on Monday about CID. Learned a lot in the last few days. I think it's gonna be a great initiative, great to consolidate and coordinate across the town. Hoping we get other best practices from other towns on what they've been doing. It's really all about in the details. We need to know a little bit more about what we're gonna implement in the town to make it more revitalized. And I think when it comes down to that, but looking forward to hearing more and hopefully Pam will be bridging those conversations into the village council meetings. We also attended last week, the village council meeting about the new rendering on the some brisky Shedler. I'm just going to say, you know, lipstick on a pig, whatever you want to call it. This is not a park. The percentage of acreage is dedicated to the turf fields far outweighs the park and the passive items. And to put a turf field next to a New Jersey historic house next to a highway, next to homes just is really irresponsible when I think if we just put in a grass field, we can probably accomplish 80% of what the sports teams kind of need. Hybrid access, so loving it, but I would really like to know what the statistics are of how many people dial in, because I still feel that there's limitations. Today was great logging on, but as you know, we always have sound issues. We don't have the sunshine binder. It's hard to participate because we don't have the details. and we can't provide responsible comments. So I'd like to know more about the church, what the ideas are about how to reuse some of the church, why we have a $1.5 million request now for the reassessments. We'd like to know more about the adopt a tree program and the increase in fees. if we think that's going to make people not adopt trees because of the increase. So hard to kind of read into all of these when I don't have the binder and the resolution. So I'd like to know what our next steps are in making hybrid access, you know, really, really great, really what it could be, because I think we're only like in phase one of this. So my feedback for the night. Thanks, everybody.

Thank you, Denise. Anybody else? Seeing no one, we're going to close public comment. Open it up to the council for anybody who might like to respond. Okay, let's go to our manager's report.

Thank you, Mayor. Mr. Kazmark was not with us this evening as of his daughter's senior awards ceremony at her high school, and he asked me to share this report tonight. The remediation work at the Zabriskie Shuttle property continues. North Star Environmental continues to move at a steady pace, removing material on the balance of the property. We still anticipate North Star completing the work before the end of June. Graydon Pool is now fully enclosed by perimeter fencing, enhancing safety and security for all who enjoy the facility. This improvement was funded by the Village Council as part of our 2025 capital budget. The final section of fencing is along the north side of the property and encloses the entire facility. The fencing will help prevent unauthorized access, improve site security, and ensure patron accountability. Bergen County plans to mill and pave Maple Avenue from the Hohokas border to the Glenrock border this summer. The project was held over from last year due to the installation of new stormwater lines on Maple Avenue. Based on tentative dates shared by the county this week, the milling should begin in mid-July. We will publicize the dates in the weekly e-news update and on social media once it's been confirmed by the county. Earlier today, we accepted the rebids for the tree watering services. The award of contract is on tonight's agenda, and we are working with the contractor to schedule an immediate start. They're actually gonna start next week. Approximately 320 trees in residential neighborhoods that have been recently planted will be watered weekly, and eight trees in the Central Business District will be watered twice a week through the end of November. I have a few additional announcements. The 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 hours, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., Tuesday through Thursday. If you have a medical appointment, need to go to the grocery store, or want to stroll around the mall, please call Beth Spinato, 201-670-5500, extension 2203, to make a reservation. The bus will be going to the ShopRite in Wyckoff on Wednesdays. The Ridgewood Guild sponsors music in the night for the 15th season, and will provide music in various locations in the Central Business District on Friday nights through Labor Day. Graydon Pool is now open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. These will be the hours through August 30th and September 5th, 6th, and 7th. The 68th annual Free Summer Concert Series as a cash or memorial shell on Veterans Field has started. Please bring a chair or blanket. Concerts are scheduled for every Tuesday and Thursday in the months of June, July, and August. The performance on Thursday, July 11th is Mush Mouth. Tuesday, June 16th, Opera, Theater, and Jazz, Oh My. Thursday, June 18th, Bud Malton Metropolitan Music. Tuesday, June 23rd, North Jersey Concert Band. And Thursday, June 25th, Radio Stranger. Music in the Park is taking place on Saturday evenings from 7.30 p.m. to 9.30 p.m. in Memorial Park at Bannett Square. On June 13th, AMPT is performing, June 20th, Thursday Evening Collective, and June 27th, Pete Diamond and Friends. Come shop, dine, and enjoy the entertainment this summer. World Cup comes to Ridgewood. There will be two great events supporting our team and community. The watch party for teens and adults will take place on Friday, June 12th at Memorial Park at Van Ness Square from 8 p.m. to 11.30 p.m. The kickoff at 9 p.m., USA versus Paraguay. The second event, Fan Fest for the Entire Family, will take place on Friday, June 19th at Veterans Field, 1.30 p.m. to 5.30 p.m. Kickoff at 3 p.m., USA vs. Australia. There will be food trucks and activities for the kids and large screens to watch both games. The Domica Committee invites you to a Holi Festival on Sunday, June 14th as a parking lot by McMurphy's from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. There will be live music, food, dancing, and colors. The Village of Ridgewood and all Village offices will be closed on Friday, June 19th for Juneteenth, and the Recycling Center will also be closed. There will be no curbside bulk pickup refuse that week. Village Council upcoming meetings are June 24th, a Village Council work session, July 8th, Village Council work session, and July 15th is a Village Council public meeting. They're all held here in the Village Hall courtroom. They're a student of the village website and channel 34 on bios. They're also available on zoom or by phone or YouTube. That's all I have.

Thanks Heather. Let's go to council reports.

Frank. Thanks mayor. Um, open space met last week and they're working on a way to evaluate future open space properties and to, um, see how they can then be more of a service to the council. And so stay tuned, because once they get that finalized, there will be a presentation in our future. I also wanted to mention that the Pride Day celebration this past weekend was phenomenal. I want to thank our Parks and Rec Department for how they helped set up and make sure people that were participating had tents, tables, and chairs. I'd also like to thank the Ridgewood Guild for getting the vendor fair there, as well as some of the entertainment. And it was just, for those that didn't attend, There were some amazing singers. We had a great speech by the mayor and the police chief, and it just really makes me proud to be part of Ridgewood, and it does such a phenomenal job celebrating love. Thank you. Thank you, Frank. Siobhan.

Sure. So I had an access meeting last week. We will suspend for the month of July, but just a couple reminders that this Saturday is the Sensory Friendly Touch-A-Truck, Registration is required. It will be at the Firehouse, and that is on Saturday from 12 to 2. Social media flyers all out. If anybody has any questions, please let us know. We also, for the first time in a while, are planning several summer events. So if anybody would like to be more in touch with ACCESS, we have Thankfully, a little bit of grant money. We're thinking about some bowling and some other things. Please let us know and follow us online. I want to thank Access, even though we operate on a calendar year, they operate in an academic year. It's been a wildly successful one with many events, including promoting downtown, the sensory friendlies, and we will come back in September with an ultimate lineup of Access Week. So again, should anyone have any ideas for that, please let us know. On Friday, I had the honor of attending the dedication of the road. Hermann's Place is now Basil Pizzuto Way. I want to thank everybody who made this happen, and sort of tell a lovely story that when we were asked to make the sign, because the village has sign making capabilities, they of course said yes, and an older student of Basil's happened to work for the village and he made that sign with love and intention and care and wrote us a note that was just beautiful. So if you haven't seen it, it's worth a walk by. The high school did have a resident artist and painted a mural and just too many people to thank and I know he would have loved it. Basil, in addition to being a vice principal at the high school, was an orchard dad. I met him when my oldest went to kindergarten and I know how much he will be missed. To echo some of it, this Friday night, the USA kicks off the World Cup and Ridgewood kicks off its watch parties. The first watch party will be in Venice Square. It will be Friday. It is USA versus Paraguay. There'll be skills, drills, bands, music, lots of fun. No food at Van Ness because we're hoping everybody supports the downtown and then comes to the event. And then the following Friday, June 19th, the Maroons will be hosting this to kick off their Father's Day tournament. And lastly, we do not have a meeting next week, but I just want to take a minute and wish all the fathers in Ridgewood and all the fathers everywhere a happy Father's Day to the ones that I work with. Thank you. to your families for sharing you, and I hope everyone has a lovely Father's Day.

Thanks, Siobhan. Evan. Thanks so much. I do want to echo Siobhan's comments on Basil Pizzuto Way. I, too, was there, and it was especially moving. I did not have the pleasure of meeting the man, but it was very clear from the comments being shared and the mural that his impact is felt by the students there today. Really meaningful, and I encourage everyone to go down, look at the mural, look at the signage, but really, really special occasion I, too, also attended the Pride event. Really well done. Could have done without maybe the mayor's dancing, but other than that, I thought it was really, really great. And then finally, on Monday, this past Monday, I was triple booked. We had our special session here. The mayor was kind enough to cover for me at HPC. I relieved him afterwards and spent about an hour or two after that finishing up at HPC. which, by the way, it's open to the public, and I would encourage anyone to show up. The amount of free advice given by literally decades of experience and advanced degrees sitting around the table is really, really meaningful. It's one of the ways that we really preserve our characters to the village, but I really want to thank the volunteers and the HPC for the service that they provide to the applicants as well as to all of us in the village. They get to enjoy the wonderful character of Ridgewood. And then 4th of July met. Unfortunately, none of us were able to attend to that. given the special session, but again, the amount of volunteering hours that goes into that is truly impressive. We'll probably have a lot more to say as we get closer to the July 4th parade, but as always, I want to really thank everybody who volunteers their time on the 4th of July parade. No tax dollars used, completely planned by volunteers, and really one of the gems of Ridgewood.

Thanks, Ev, for most of that. Pam. Pam.

I had the pleasure of attending the annual celebration of the English as a Second Language program at the library. And this is how Ridgewood welcomes people from around the world. It is the heart of our community. And it was so nice that each of these people had displays from their home countries, from Mexico, Japan, Latvia. And then the food was amazing, from China and all over the world. And you really see that this is how our community becomes closer together. It's just a wonderful program and I thank the library for it. Green Ridgewood also met on Thursday and we talked about, among many other things, but what I want to tell you about is the two new food composting bins. The recycling division runs this food composting program and you can join in, they give you a $5 bucket, and you can collect your food waste from the sink, from your kitchen, and then you bring it to the recycling center, and they will collect it, and it really saves money in our garbage program. Like in my house, it's a third of the poundage of garbage that we save by doing food composting. The problem is on Wednesdays and Sundays, you can't get into the recycling center. So they already bought one 60 gallon bucket for people to use on those days, or any day really, that's at the train station. But what Green Ridge was glad to hear is that the recycling division bought two new bins that will be at Habernickle and at the stable. So it makes it that much easier to be part of this program. And the best part of it for Green Ridgewood is they got to donate $4,000 towards one of those. And right now those bins are being wrapped with the instructions, et cetera, and then they will be set up. So they were very proud and happy to hear that that's happening. The Ridgewood Business Alliance, the new executive director met with the board of directors on Tuesday morning. We covered a lot of ground and he is now going door to door meeting business merchants and Lots of people. Mostly he's going to the outer tier of businesses first. And he's learning our town. We did have the meeting on Monday night. to hear objectors to the special assessment. And I think that went pretty well. I was glad to meet some of our property owners who I had never met before. We will be issuing decision letters to each of those property owners. around July 7th, 30 days after that meeting. I noticed that some people thought they hadn't received proper notice of the meeting, but when we went back to check, there was, in addition to notice letters that went out on April 13th and April 30th, to each and every property owner that is listed in the Special Improvement District. In addition, the clerk sent notice of the June 8th meeting to newspapers on April 27th. and posted it on the Village website on May 11th, and with the stated purpose of conducting a hearing on objections to the Ridgewood Business Alliance's special assessment. And some people may have been dismayed that it was not streamed live. I would say that was at my request. I feel that the minutes of the meeting are sufficient. The meeting was open to the public. Several members of the public did come. And I did not want the extra cost of broadcasting to be put on the RBA. So that was just my decision. I also went to the Chamber of Commerce this morning, and that was a lively meeting as well. We talked about, of course, parking, and they were very eager to hear about Walker Associates' survey and analysis, which I believe is coming in the next few weeks. We talked about the possibility of bathrooms being put in at the bus station. Aren't they, are they doing the underground stuff to receive bathrooms at a later date? Is that how it's going?

But we have checked for sewage and with streets and where the lines are, so that was part of the engineering assessment. But no, we're not doing any of the site prep until next year. You guys all agree to put at least two public bathrooms in the budget.

Okay. I look forward to that discussion. What came up is that the owner of Toastique on the west side said, She has people coming into her shop all the time just to use the bathrooms. Because, for instance, on a Sunday, people are streaming to the train station to take trains to the city or down to the meadowlands. And it's really burdensome for her business. We should think about, when we think about this in the future, think about bathrooms. Where could we put public bathrooms on the west side?

Oh. I do want to just belabor that there is a bathroom in the early morning commuting hours near Boxcar.

Right. But what about Saturday? What about Sunday?

I don't know what the hours of operation are, but I would also like to discuss, because Heather and I've had that modernizing them, you know, meaning we could remote control them and open them up, but there's existing plumbing at the historic train station and that would be nice. But you know, there are, there are,

pitfalls with bathrooms without these modern-day amenities of making sure they're safe and Chamber of Commerce is going to be celebrating their 99th year this is one of the longest-running Chamber of Commerce's in the nation so they have a lot to be proud of they just just do such great work don't forget the car show in September and let's see, the 70th year of the sidewalk sale days is coming up. That will be in August. That should be a lot of fun. They're gonna have a face painter, and besides some things, it's just fun. They also mentioned to me, and I wanted to bring this to your attention, the Chamber of Commerce sets up their dates a year in advance. For instance, if they have sidewalk sale days and then a movie company comes, it looks like perhaps the village needs to coordinate these things so they're not coming together at the same time. So they did ask if we could pay a little more attention to that, take into account their schedule. And that's about all. Thank you.

Great. Thanks, Pam. And I just want to say that Tom Hillman, who was like a four-time president of the chamber, and Joan Bloom, who's the executive director, were the ones who started the Chamber of Commerce 99 years ago. They were there.

That's not true.

And I have to echo Frank's comments about Pizzuto Way and Pride Day. They were both wonderful events. Basil Pizzuto is a man who was taken to us from us far too soon, and I lament those students who could use his guidance today, and he is not there. Because he helped so many kids figure their way through the treacherous times of being in high school. So he was, he will always be missed. And Pride Day, as Frank said, I am so proud to be a member of a community that celebrates our diversity like that. It's just wonderful. We have a couple of upcoming events. Tomorrow is the sneak peek at the Future Senior Center, which we will be breaking ground on, we anticipate, next month. It is downstairs on the first floor of Village Hall. It begins at 5 o'clock tomorrow, January 11th. I'll be there. I know many of my colleagues will be there. It's going to be a really, really great day. It's something we're incredibly proud of. This is where we... begin to address the the needs of our seniors um which is so important um and another wonderful event i've mentioned a couple times this sunday is holy spelled h-o-l-i it is a hindu festival that celebrates essentially the rites of spring. It is so much fun. People throw all different colored powder on you. And despite what they may tell you, it doesn't wash out well. I'm just saying. But it is a lot of fun. I'm going to be there. I know, again, some of my colleagues will be there. So I hope everyone else can attend. And that's the end of council reports. And we will get to our regular agenda. Heather, take it away.

Okay. Richard Water does not have any ordinances for introduction or public hearing. So we're on to resolutions. The following resolutions, number 26-157 through 26-163, will be adopted by a consent agenda. They will be read by title only and have one vote by the village council. Award contract under state contract 2026-4-X350. Award contract under source while cooperative purchasing contract 2027-Dump Truck. Award professional services contract water rate study. Award emergency contract replacement of 20-inch valve at Northern Parkway. Cancel water capital ordinance balances. Authorize refund of overpayment of water billing and declare rigid water property surplus. I have a motion.

So moved.

Second.

Mortimer.

Yes.

Perrin. Yes. Weitz.

Yes.

Winograd. Yes. Vaggianos.

Yes. And now we'll move on to ordinances and we'll begin. I move the first reading of ordinance 4099. I second.

Mortimer.

Yes.

Perrin. Yes. Weitz.

Yes.

Winograd. Yes. And Vaggianos.

Yes. So ordered. Will the clerk please read ordinance 4099 by title.

An ordinance to amend section, chapter 190, land use development of the court of the village of Ridward at section 190-123B to modify the conditional use standards for institutional uses.

I move that ordinance 4099 be adopted on the first reading and that July 15th, 2026 be fixed as the date for the hearing thereon.

Second the motion.

Mortimer. Yes. Perrin. I say yes, I am happy to support the churches and other houses of worship, to get towards more financial stability. Whites?

Echo what my friend Pam says, yes.

Winograd? Yes. And Vaggianos?

Yes, and again, what Pam said. And let's move on. I move the first reading of Ordinance 4100. I second it.

Mortimer?

Yes.

Perrin? Yes. Weitz? Yes. Winograd? Yes. Baggianos?

Yes. So ordered. Will the clerk please read ordinance 4100 by title.

An ordinance to amend chapter 256 of the code of the village of Ridgewood taxicabs and limousines at article 2 limousines section 256-19 license card and section 256-22 insurance requirements.

I move that ordinance 4100 be adopted on the first reading of the July 15th, 2026 be fixed as the date for the hearing thereon.

I second the motion.

Mortimer?

Yes.

Perrin? Yes, I think raising the insurance requirements is appropriate. Weitz?

Yes.

Winograd? Yes. Vaggianos?

Yes. I move the first reading of ordinance 4101. I second that.

Mortimer?

Yes.

Perrin? Yes. Weitz? Yes. Wundergrad? Yes. Vaggianos?

Yes. So ordered. Will the clerk please read ordinance 4101 by title.

An ordinance requiring the standardization of elevator fire service keys within the village of Ridgewood and mandating the use of the Yale 3502 key.

I move that ordinance 4101 be adopted on the first reading and that July 15, 2026 be fixed as the date for the hearing thereon.

I second the motion.

Mortimer?

I think this is a great thing. I'm actually shocked that there's different keys, because time is everything when the fire department is called. So I think this is a great thing, and I absolutely say yes.

Aaron? I echo what Frank just said, yes. White?

I was glad to learn about all of your keys. I vote yes.

Winograd? Yes, of course. And Vaggianos?

What Frank said, yes. And let's move on. I move the first reading of Ordinance 4102. Second.

Mortimer.

Yes.

Perrin. Yes. Weitz.

Yes.

Winograd. Yes. Vaggianos.

Yes. So ordered. Will the clerk please read Ordinance 4102 by title.

An ordinance to amend Chapter 145, Fees of the Code of the Village of Ridgewood at Section 145-6, enumeration of fees relating to code chapters.

I move that ordinance 4102 be adopted on the first reading at the July 15th, 2026 be fixed as the date for the hearing thereon.

I second the motion.

Mortimer.

Yes.

Perrin. Yes. Weitz. Yes. Winograd. Yes. Vaggianos.

Yes. I move the first reading of 4103. Second. Mortimer. Yes.

Perrin. Yes. Weitz.

Yes.

Windergrad. Yes. Vagianos.

Yes. So ordered. Will the clerk please read ordinance 4103 by title.

An ordinance to amend chapter 145 fees of the code of the village of Ridgewood at section 145-4 departmental fees and at section 145-6 enumeration of fees relating to code chapters. amending fees for the Department of Recreation, Parks, and Shade Tree Division for adopted tree and donations of memorial trees and benches.

I move that Ordinance 4103 be adopted on the first reading and that July 15, 2026 be fixed as the date for the hearing thereon.

I second the motion.

Mortimer.

So having been on Parks and Rec before even being the liaison, and having worked on these new fees, these fees, we were woefully out of date in what we were charging, and this fees will allow us to just make sure that we're even, and also that the benches will be suitable for downtown, so I am very thrilled to say yes.

Perrin? Definitely yes.

Weitz?

Yes.

Winograd?

I would also just like to give our interns a little nod here, Frank, for noticing the undervalued, and thank you to Parks and Recs for working with them, so yes.

Vaggianos?

Yes. I move the first reading of Ordinance 4104. I second.

Mortimer.

Yes.

Perrin. Yes. Weitz.

Yes.

Winograd. Yes. Vaggianus.

Yes. So ordered. Will the clerk please read Ordinance 4104 by title.

An ordinance authorizing a special emergency appropriation pursuant to NJSA 48 colon 4 dash 53 for the preparation and execution of a complete program of reassessment of real property in the village of Ridgewood.

I move that ordinance 4104 be adopted on the first reading at the July 15th, 2026 be fixed as the date for the hearing thereon.

I second this motion.

Mortimer.

Yes.

Perrin. Yes. Weitz. Yes. Winograd. Yes. And Vaggianos.

Yes. And let's move on. I move the clerk read ordinance 4097 by title on second reading and that the public hearing thereon be opened. I second that motion.

Mortimer?

Yes.

Perrin? Yes. Weitz? Yes. Winograd? Yes. Vagianos?

Yes. Will the clerk please read the title of Ordinance 4097?

An ordinance to amend Chapter 145-4 of the Code of the Village of Ridgewood entitled Departmental Fees to amend the fees charged by the Police Department.

The public hearing is now opened. Seeing no one, I move the public hearing be closed. Second.

Mortimer.

Yes.

Perrin. Yes. Whites.

Yes.

Winograd.

Yes.

Vaggianos. Yes.

I move that ordinance 4097 be adopted on the second reading and final publication as required by law.

Second the motion. Mortimer. Yes. Perrin. Yes. Whites. Yes. Winograd. Yes. Vaggianos.

Yes. I move the clerk read ordinance 4098 by title on second reading and that the public hearing thereon be open. I second.

Mortimer?

Yes.

Perrin? Yes. Whites?

Yes.

Winograd? Yes. Vaggianos?

Yes. Will the clerk please read the title of Ordinance 4098?

An ordinance to match chapter 145, fees of the Code of the Village of Ridgewood at section 145-10, fees for use of fields by sports camps.

The public hearing is now open.

Good evening, Mayor and Council. Boyd A. Loving, Ridgewood resident. With respect to the 145-10 fees, the group classifications, I've got a question about classifications C, D, and E, because they have percentages of village residents associated with them, and I'd like to know who is going to verify that the percentages for those groups that are affected is accurate, and what process is going to be used to do that?

I have the answer. Here, let's wait until we close the hearing, and then we'll respond. Any other questions?

Mr. Mayor, with respect to that, that doesn't give the person who's answering the question an opportunity to say that their question wasn't answered if I'm forced to sit down and can't come back up. So I respectfully request that if somebody has the answer to this, it be answered now.

This is not a dialogue, Boyd. We answer questions.

But the question can't be answered now. If the question is not answered tonight, will someone get back to me?

Yes.

Mr. Mayor, can you do something other than nod so it's on the record?

Yes.

Thank you. So again, my question is for classifications C, D, and E. There are percentages mentioned with respect to the percentage of Ridgewood residents that are in each of those classes. I've got a concern that whether this information is going to be accepted from the groups or somebody is actually going to do a check to determine whether the groups are in fact made up of the percentages that are in the ordinance. The other question I have, and perhaps this has to be answered by Mr. Rogers, perhaps when I sit down, perhaps at some other point in time. There are properties that are not owned by the Village of Ridgewood referenced in the athletic field rates. Many of these properties, in fact, I guess all of the properties that are not owned by the Village of Ridgewood are owned by the Ridgewood Board or operated by the Ridgewood Board of Education. I just have a question with respect to what authority does the village have to regulate those rates if the property is not owned by the village? What authority does the village ordinance come into play and has this been approved by the Ridgewood Board of Education or are they next since their properties are here? Have they approved this already? There was no introduction made by the mayor as to whether this has been gone over. by the Ridgewood Board of Education, whether they've approved it. Their properties are mentioned here. Rates are mentioned for their properties, but the public sitting in the room, the public listening tonight on TV, or however they're listening, has been provided with no information as to the status of the Board of Education with respect to either their agreement or disagreement with the rates here, and I have a question about How is that accomplished, and is that a formal process? Have they formally approved this, or is this yet to go to them to be approved? Thank you so much, and again, I would like to go on record saying that I find it offensive that I'm being forced to sit down and my questions aren't being answered. This is not the way it was in the past. Thank you.

Thank you, Boyd. Anybody else from the audience? No, let's go to our hybrid access. Denise, you are up.

Hi, Denise Lima, Ridgewood resident. I'd like to comment on the public hearing of these two ordinances, but without the sunshine binder and any information, how do you want the hybrid access residents to respond? This hearing is for one. One.

Sorry. It's only for one ordinance right now. We only have four on nine. Yes. Okay.

I don't care if it's one or 10 or 20, there's restrictions of being a hybrid access participant without having any sunshine binder and participating in any public hearings. So maybe the sunshine binder, I'm just thinking out of the box, maybe it's not everything that can be copied, but where there's maybe public hearings, where there's feedback required, that those actually get posted somewhere online. Because otherwise hybrid access is really, ineffective and not good for us trying to work from home. So I can't comment on public hearing. That's my comment.

Thank you, Denise. Anybody else? Seeing no one, I move the public hearing be closed. I second.

Mortimer? Yes. Perrin? Yes. White? Yes. Wondergrad? Yes. Vaggianos?

Yes.

So can I respond?

Would anyone like to comment on any of the questions?

So I'm gonna take a shot with everything. So one, there's only one ordinance being discussed right now and a huge part of this came out of the fields revision policy because both the Board of Ed as the fields rep and the village felt keeping the rates in the field's policy was a bad idea. So that was mutually agreed upon and we pulled them out. Mr. Loving, if I've got this wrong, I think on the third page where you're seeing Board of Ed properties, the top of the line is that's deleted from the ordinance. So on the second page, those should be all village properties. And if there's a mistake on them, so I think To underscore your very valid point, the references in the ordinance, we highlight to the public what we've removed and we did remove the rates of the Board of Ed because we felt that now that they were all together in this joint policy, we said the policy needs updating, rates are more fluid because the economy is more fluid. We're going to take our rates and you guys take yours. Page three lists the Board of Ed properties, if everybody can look at them. Those are no longer, they're deleted from the ordinance, so it says delete, so they're gone. Page two, if everybody could help me out here, I believe all those properties are village properties, so we're only amending anything that is ours because we felt that's our authority.

We is us.

Village.

Village. The village council. Was this discussed at the fields committee? Yes. Okay, that's what I'm asking.

This ordinance came, this is like a fourth step in updating of the field. So the old, old, old fields policy had rates embedded in it. And so when we went to redo the policy, which is already, we said, let's take these rates out because then future councils can be more nimble if a field has a different rate. The Board of Ed wanted theirs, so we took theirs out on page three, that's the deletion, and then we updated only on properties that we have according to their classification. Does anybody have any questions about that on this council? And only properties unless I'm, these are all ours, right? Yes. Okay, good. The second part is with respect to how we regulate these groups. There is a predetermined checklist to be a recognized group and they supply the checklist to the village and it includes indemnification and includes your membership. They have to submit a roster and all of that. And that is submitted to a direct parks and rec representative. And that's how they establish the 75% and the 60%. We do just, you know, we have out of, district people participating in things like pickleball and tennis, and that's how it's done. But we have a dedicated employee. All of them have to provide these checklist items, and that's how we determine it. So I hope that answered. If I didn't answer it, please let me know. Does anybody else have any questions up here?

No.

Okay.

And I just wanted to comment that our introduced ordinances are on our website, so you can look on the website. before every meeting and you'll see what ordinances are up for adoption. And so you can look and see what they say. So if you're attending by hybrid access, you do have access to the ordinances which are up for public hearing.

I'm just going to say, Heather, does the website contain the same information that the Sunshine Binder does? No. No. What's the difference?

here has all the backup for the entire meeting.

Is it? Including things outside of a resolution. So the ordinances are the ones that are pre-published. So if you have the number for the public hearing and you were at home now, you can click it in, you can find it and you have the same access. And then we have different sunshine binder approaches to work sessions and public meetings because our workshop packages don't all go out there because that content is deliberative.

I mean, listen, first of all, I would just remind members of the public that before this council took its seat, there was no virtual access. This was solely the province of this council to actually give the transparency and allow hybrid access, something I was very proud to vote on when I first got in my seat. I know, Siobhan, you were a champion, as well as the rest of us on it. So I don't want folks at home hearing this for the first time to not appreciate that this council has been dedicated to transparency. Denise, certainly if there's something particularly you want to see, by all means email us beforehand But I'm not prepared to ask Heather or others to devote what would likely be dozens of hours to scanning that material in and posting it. A lot of what we do, if not most of what we do, is fairly non-controversial. And to put that up just for the sake of putting it up and potentially burning dozens of man hours, to me, doesn't strike me as fiscally responsible. But certainly, if you can't make it here, give one of us an email the day or so before, and I'm sure Heather can get something specific up for you But I do want to, again, reiterate how proud I am that we instituted hybrid access to begin with. To my friend Boyd, Boyd, I think you've been coming to these meetings longer than I have. Understand this is not personal to you, so I hope you don't take personal offense. But this is always the way it's been done, certainly since I've gotten here. And when I was in those seats with you guys, it was always the way that we did not have a back and forth. You know, I've seen folks ask rhetorical questions when they end the conversations and arguments back and forth. They're generally not productive. And I can tell you, certainly in my three and a half years, I believe we've answered just about every question that we've been given. I can't promise you you'll like all the answers, or everyone has liked all the answers, but certainly we've been extremely responsive in giving those questions. But I do agree with the mayor that engaging back and forth from the dais, it's rarely going to be productive.

Yeah, and this is not an intent to do anything other than to limit the hearing, because I What's happened in the past is that somebody asks a question, somebody answers it, then there's another question, then there's another answer. It becomes a dialogue. If it was a simple thing that could be answered quickly, that would be great. But I really want to avoid that back and forth dialogue. We will make every effort to answer all of your questions. I hope that Siobhan answered your question on that one. And if not, please let us know. And we'll get back to you with a more specific and broad answer.

Paul, go ahead. I invite the public to make more use of the sunshine binders. You can fall asleep sitting in these chairs right here, but if you have a sunshine binder on your lap, you will understand what's going on much better because you can follow along with the paperwork. I remember how frustrating it is to sit there and think, what the heck are they talking about? Make use of those binders. I'm sorry we can't give them out beforehand because there's so much stuff that is deliberative until we bring it up here in open session. I wish we could, but it really doesn't work that way. But don't hesitate to take it to a chair with you, especially if there's one left there on the table for everybody else. make use of those sunshine binders. They're very illuminating.

I just want to echo several things because Evan said hybrid access was a serious discussion in 2022. In addition to running it here, I personally run it on fields, access, stigma-free, and residential flood. So we are forward-facing and integrating on not only here, but several of our subcommittees. With respect to the comments made tonight, I just want to read, the paper is great, but Heather now has the digital version. We saw this with the housing. Remember, people wanted the fonts. Heather uploads the ordinance so the discussion tonight would have been available if you cross-reference it. So if you get the agenda and you see the numbers, fun fact, the numbers are intelligently coded. All the resolutions say 26 because that's the year it was introduced. Now I've put you ahead. But Heather does load that. So if you're listening at home, to any of these public hearings on an ordinance, you don't even need the paper because it is online. And that's it.

The resolutions are also online after the meeting once we sign off on them. So the little box on the home page that says ordinances introduced, ordinances and resolutions, there's loads of information under that tab.

Everybody good? Yep. Let's move on. Wait. And Siobhan, it's you.

I move that ordinance 4098 be adopted on the second reading and final publication as required by law.

Second for motion.

Mortimer.

Yes. Perrin.

Yes. Weitz.

Yes.

Winograd. Yes. Vaggianos.

Yes.

The following resolutions, number 26-164 through 26-178, will be adopted by a consent agenda with one vote by the village council. They will be read by title only. Wait 4th of July vendor fees, grant permission to fireworks by Grouchy for fireworks display. Award contract, concession stand at train station. Award contract under state contract, 2026 Ford F550 and steel mason dump body parks department. Award contract under state contract, spatial data logic software. Accept donation, mid block crosswalk on East Ridgewood Avenue. Annual renewal of liquor licenses. Annual renewal liquor license for Maple Avenue Liquors. Support fair and equitable reforms to mitigate unsustainable health benefit premiums for public sector employees. Support restoration of energy tax receipts and increased municipal aid to provide property tax relief. appoint representatives to Open Space Trust Regional Committee, appoint members to Ridgewood Community Center Advisory Board, appoint representatives to Community Development Regional Committee, appoint members to Green Ridgewood, appoint members to Ridgewood Green Team Advisory Committee. May I have a motion?

So moved.

Second.

Mortimer? Yes. Perrin?

Yes. Weitz? Yes. Winograd? Yes. And Vaggianos?

Yes, and I'm going to recuse myself from the next two resolutions.

The following resolutions numbered 26179 through 26-180 will be considered separately and read in full. Be resolved by the Village Council of the Village of Ridgewood that the plans and specifications specifically entitled Department of Parks Proposal for Rebid Tree Irrigation Services throughout the Village of Ridgewood prepared by the Village of Ridgewood Department of Public Works Engineering Division for the Parks Department being as hereby approved by the Village Council of the Village of Ridgewood. This resolution is adopted pursuant to the authority of NJSA 59-4-6. So moved.

Second. Okay.

Mortimer? Yes. Perrin? Yes. Weitz? Yes. And Winograd?

Yes.

Whereas the Village of Ridgewood received one bid for rebid tree irrigation services throughout the Village of Ridgewood for 2026, and the Village of Ridgewood on Wednesday, June 10th, 2026 at 11 a.m. And whereas the estimated start date of this project is June 15th, 2026, it looks like it'll actually be sometime next week, but we're going to leave that in here. Now, therefore, be it further resolved that by the Council of the Village of Ridgewood, if the award of the work of Rebid Tree Irrigation Services throughout the Village of Ridgewood for 2026 inclusive, being as hereby awarded to the lowest responsible bidder Downstreet Service Company, Inc., 65 Royal Avenue, Hawthorne, New Jersey, in an amount not to exceed $101,936, and be further resolved that the chief financial officer has certified that funds are available in account numbers C-04-55-9DF-679, which is $80,848, and C-04-55-9D9, I'm sorry, 9DN-726, which is $21,088.

So moved.

Second.

Mortimer?

Yes.

Perrin? Yes.

Weitz?

Yes.

And Wendergrab? Before I vote yes, I just want to remind, the most important time to water a tree is two years after we've planted it. There's a significant amount of capital on our streets. For the two years. For the two years, yes. So we've engaged with the homeowners, and this is additive, but should you see a tree in distress, please notify us, please let us know, and every bit of water that it can get when it's in that infancy stage is important. So we still want the homeowners to help us as much as they can, and if you see a tree in distress, please report it, yes.

Great, and let's go back to public comment.

Good evening again, Mayor and Council, Boyd A. Welding, Ridgewood resident. With respect to Councilman Weitz's comments about this council initiated hybrid access, I believe hybrid access was initiated under Mayor Knudsen.

Second time in the past week or so that I think we have different definitions of the word transparency. And I think transparency isn't just we've been communicating for the last three or four years and you should be aware of it. I think there needs to be better centralization of information about a particular program, ordinance, resolution, summarizing where can a resident, a new business go online on our portal and find out what they need to know about, in this example, SID. right, not go back through minutes, do searches from 2022 and 23, and people need to parse conversations and things together. That's not honest and open transparency, and maybe neither one of us, residents of the Dias, should really be using that word. It's really about summarizing what we're doing as a town for residents and businesses. Hybrid access, yes, great that it's installed, but what is the value of it, right? Nobody's saying that we're not happy that we can dial in, but so what, dot, dot, dot, air quotes, right? Like we're just in listen mode if we don't have the sunshine binder. We're only in listen mode, right? Sometimes we can't even speak because the sound is not working. We're not being productive residents we are not getting value, neither is the dais getting value because we're not able to provide responsible feedback to you. So it's not, it's good up to a point, but we need to take this to another level. Otherwise, it's no different than dialing into YouTube or Zagats or, and we're just listening. It's not very productive. And Pam, I'm glad you said your comments were right on. If you don't know that sunshine binder on your lap, You are lost. Even being in the room, it's really hard to keep up with, let alone hybrid access. And I try to dial in as much as I can, and it still can be overwhelming. But without the information, what value is hybrid access? It's just a listen mode, honestly, at this point. It's very limited. So I think it's great, but we need to take it to the next level. Heather, I want to... Heather, I want to thank you for pointing out that the ordinances are online, and that's definitely something we can do ahead of schedule. Thank you.

Thanks, Denise. Cynthia, you're up.

Hi, can you hear me?

Yes.

Hello, can you hear me? Yes? Okay. Cynthia Ridgewood, resident. I just wanted to congratulate the interns. I think it's great when young minds engage in being civically responsible and there's so much for them to learn. One concern I have, and it kind of dovetails to what some of the other folks have said, and anybody who who observes these meetings can see that there are only a few people that actually get up to ask questions or make comments. And so maybe these young people are saying to themselves, gee, why is the mayor and the council not answering certain people? It's a way to unite the community and it's a way to share information. We're raising awareness. People come and talk about various topics. If someone's coming week after week, I'm at a loss to understand why you're not engaging. And I've personally been involved in a Q&A where people on the dais were asking me questions, and I was a commenter. So you can't say... It's never happened, because it's happened to me on more than one occasion. So I think it's a little skewed when you say, when you want to know something, you can ask somebody who's commenting or speaking. But the reverse is unacceptable. So I don't know how you're engaging with the community when there are the same people coming to the meetings over and over again, unless there's a hot topic. So I don't know if the interns are still there. You may want to explain to them why you're not answering the questions of residents that come. And I think Ms. Loving said she had asked for two years now on Loving Day and still no answer. Not even a comment like we took it under advisement. It's just not feasible. There wasn't enough, you know. calling board or something, just give the person an answer. It's just so infuriating and frustrating. And I don't know how it's beneficial to the community when you just ignore people. It's just not right. That's all I really wanted to say. I wish the interns the best and I hope they really see what's going on in our municipal government. Thank you.

Thank you, Cynthia. Anyone else? Seeing no one, I'm going to close public comment and entertain. Oh, excuse me. I did it. I caught myself. I caught myself. Anyone like to respond to any of the residents?

If I could just comment on the Uber question. So the village of Ridgewood licenses taxi cabs and limousines. We do not license Uber. So that section of the code is what's being updated. It's, being updated regarding the insurance that they have to carry and then also the license that they have to have within the limousine after they paid their fees and presented their insurance and gotten approval through the zoning department. So that's why Uber was not included.

Denise, I disagree with your definition of transparency. It is not the council's duty or job to summarize information so that residents can understand on a weekly basis what's happening. Transparency is more of an ethical obligation to make the information available. It's not to make sure that we are teachers and our students have understood what we have presented.

Along those lines, just so the public understands, To the example that Denise gave on the SID, we've had multiple hearings. We've been discussing it for two years. So the notion that we're not putting information out there is, again, it's not credible. And Pam's absolutely right. We do everything we can to get information out there, but I don't think it's our job to synthesize it in a way that makes it necessarily digestible to somebody who just has a moment online to look at it. This is fairly complicated stuff. But again, we've been talking about it in public literally for years. Similarly on these ordinances, keep in mind, before we introduce an ordinance, there's a work session where we discuss it. Again, public, it's on YouTube, it's on TV. There's a introduction where, again, it can be discussed and we actually introduce it. And then finally, as you saw tonight, we eventually vote on it. During all that time, information is available in public. Maybe not every single piece of paper, but there's lots of information in public. Denise, you're always free to email us and ask if there's something missing. I don't think I've seen you do that any time. So, again, I don't think it's really fair to somehow give the impression to folks that don't show up that this is not transparent. To Pam's point, quite the opposite. And then finally, on Monday's meeting, again, for folks who are maybe just tuning in for the first time, to be clear, That was a special session to hear specific tax appeals by individual businesses. So this wasn't a typical council meeting where we discussed matters of public interest or general public interest. That meeting was open. Anybody can show up the way a courtroom is open. But we generally, for instance, don't publicize or put on TV municipal court hearings. This, to me, was similar to that. And I agree very much, Pam, with your decision not to spend money to put that up online because I don't think there would have been that much interest in it. And at the end of the day, all of this stuff costs money. And again, Denise, coming back to your earlier points, know there's been recently several times you've called in i know around the budget and you at the last minute you said there was an issue with the budget but you didn't really propose to do anything other than to cut services but you didn't tell us what services to cut with shedler again at the last minute you came in and and criticized one of the plans but again didn't propose anything different or really come through even though again both those are things we've talked about at nauseam and finally similarly tonight we're voting on an ordinance over the first time you come up with with a viewpoint which we really want to hear, so please show up to meetings. Listen, I get it, I'm a commuter too, if you can't show up, take advantage of hybrid access, but please talk to us when we are in the planning stages, when we're at the work sessions, when we can actually do something, as opposed to coming in at the 19th hour with a suggestion or question that really can't be acted upon at that point.

Evan, I just wanted to point out that the special assessment for the Ridgewood Business Alliance is not a tax.

I'm sorry. I apologize. I'm being imperfect with my terminology. You're absolutely right. It's an assessment on certain property owners, but again, it's only on to those individual businesses, not something that is of general interest, the way voting on what we have, the things that we vote on tonight. But I appreciate that, Pam, and you're absolutely correct.

So I just want to say a couple things. I just want to clarify. The Board of Ed is very well aware that they're out of the ordinance. They have not seen this ordinance. If you want me to send them the actual ordinance, I can. But we've been working within fields. They're aware. They know. It's been noticed to the superintendent. That's one. OK. So when I took my seat, communications was a serious part of it. We've invested heavily in a new website. We are on social media. I mean, there was no Instagram. There was no Facebook. We have open hours. We have meetings here. We have subcommittee meetings here. And with respect to like being accessible, I spend an enormous amount of my time, which I'm more than willing to do, being accessible. I walk in the Central Business District pretty much every day. We attend many events. We're very proud, this full council, of our efforts to do outreach. Hybrid access for me was mostly due to the fact that I'm the daughter of a disabled person. And for the handicapped community, hybrid access and COVID was door opening where the rest of the world felt shut out because we were all on Zoom. If you were disabled, you were able to join a board remotely. And as the access rep, that was one of my main reasons. So I'm not looking to argue or substantiate or seem defensive, but I don't think we talk about that enough. A huge part of our job is to listen. So if you want to call in and we just listen, one of the main things, I'm a chatter, but I'm an excellent listener and I do an enormous amount of listening. and listening and listening. So to say this very good thing, it allows working members of our community, traveling members of our community, disabled members, is now no longer serving its purpose, I object to. We're here, we're listening, and we're trying to respond. Additionally, sometimes I don't answer the question because I just don't know. With respect to the trees, I've been so hyper-focused and worried about the survival of the trees because it's been hot. I have to check if the flower pots are included. I know the flower pots have been being watered, but I don't know. So now I say that and I'm being available and tomorrow that will go out on something and my beautification committee will call me and I'll have to field 15 phone calls. But I didn't answer because I don't know. We don't know everything. We don't have access. Sometimes we have to go back. And then when you make yourself vulnerable and you say things, I don't know, I leave here and by the time I get home, it's, I want to say, out there, and the most immediate thing is I have to deal with the committee. I have a full committee that's invested in those parts. And lastly, the good thing of the interns, which is such a good thing, and I don't think anybody needs to worry about them. My interns, and I think I have the most, have to audit a meeting. They have to come here. Several of them were at last week's meeting. I do not pick a dull meeting. I want them to see their community. I want them to see the debate. So I think our interns are smarter than us in a lot of ways, and I just want to assure the public that we're engaging them, and they are listening, and they are responding to us, maybe more privately, but we We do, and Frank has done this as well, they not only audit meetings here, but they come to our subcommittee meetings, so don't worry about our interns. They're good, they're great kids, and we are trying to, again, in limited time, show them the broad spectrum. And if I missed anything, I apologize. There's four million ways to get in touch with all of us tomorrow.

Mayor, if I may, and I hate to prolong it. No, go right ahead. No, I just want to address the issue, and I think the The comments raised a question as to whether or not Monday night's meeting on the special improvement district assessment objections was in compliance with the Open Public Meetings Act. And I want to state on the record that it was in compliance, held in compliance with the Open Public Meetings Act, and that the clerk's office does far more than what I would say most, if not all, other municipalities in the area in terms of giving out notice and placing it where people have access to it. not only here at the meeting, but also from the standpoint of the use of our website. And it's telling that from a democracy standpoint, the issue of engagement, when you want to engage your local government and do that, there are people that are here, that are engaging with regard to issues, read up on things and that type of thing. And that's the engagement that's expected. The council and the government and the clerk's office can't give summaries, can't do that because of a number of reasons, but time and money is really the most important ones out of those. But it does require that effort be made, you know, to be able to have a constructive discourse with regard to the issues that are before the council. So the opportunities are out there. I think that the, again, our clerk's office takes care of not only compliance, but then going the extra number of yards to make sure that access for information is provided to the extent that they can.

And I have one last thing, not to belabor the evening, but Boyd, if you will remember, the prior administration would not return to hybrid access. They may have initiated at one point, but they refused to put it back on. And it was the four members of this council, Frank wasn't on here yet, who, when Evan and Siobhan took their seats, it was the very first thing that this council did was get hybrid access on. So I just want to be clear on that.

And Lorraine. I think it was a unanimous vote. It was a Lorraine, it was unanimous.

So that was where we started. And with that, I will entertain a motion for adjournment.

So moved.

Second. All in favor? Aye.

Let's go. Thank you.