Village Council - Regular Meeting

Good evening. This is the village council. Oops. Long agenda. Sorry about that. I'll take yours. Thank you. Let's try that again. Good evening. This is the village council, uh, public workshop. The date is September 2nd, 2026. The time is seven 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, and was also posted on the Village of Ridgewood's legal notices page at RidgewoodNJ.net. 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 liberty and justice for all.

And let's go right to public comment.

All comments are limited to three minutes.

Wait, you need to turn the mic on. There'll be a green light.

Can you hear me now?

Much better, thank you. Okay.

My name is Hyunjoo Kwak. I'm a resident of Ridgewood. Thank you for the opportunity to speak today. And I see on the agenda that there is bonding for the Warner Theatre for $375,000 as an option, non-refundable. This is on top of another previous six-figure amount. And I would urge the council to have more public disclosure in advance of something like this. We are an engaged community. The opportunity to weigh in on whether it could be a community space, there's so many options. maybe performing arts center, community, multiple flex options rather than the whatever is currently in plan. And the details of that, I'm not aware of. So to the extent that there could be additional forums, more information, what the composition of the 90 million, it'll be really helpful. Thanks.

Thank you, Anju. Thank you.

Good evening, Mayor and Council. Michael Ngo, Ridgewood resident. I had asked at the last meeting about the Ridgewood Movie Theater, and I believe my question was the additional bond ordinance of 375. I know the Mayor was going to look into to see if that amount was going to be covered by the Performing Arts Council in case the grant is not approved. I'm just wondering if there was any answer to that question. Thank you.

Thank you, Michael.

Ann Loving, Ridgewood resident. I've said this before, but I want to say it again, that some of you, I know Heather and Matt, remember Roger Weigand, whose name is forever in brass on this podium. He used to do this single-handedly. He would go around and do it himself, and I definitely encourage anybody to help out with this on the 19th of September. Thank you.

That's the firebox painting that you're holding up right now, right? Just for the record. Oh, yes, sorry.

That's Sprucing Up Downtown. Volunteers are needed to help paint Ridgewood's historic Gainwell fireboxes. I did not initiate this, but I just want to mention always Roger's name because he did this forever. Thank you.

Thank you, Ann.

Good evening. Kathy Noe, resident. It's also about the bond ordinance. That's a lot of money. And you're gambling with our money. And that's, Mr. Weitz, you said that to me at the last meeting. You're willing to make that gamble. And I think it's really unfair not to have the people in Ridgewood vote on something like that. That's a lot of money. A referendum or something. Now, if my neighbors, and I'll call neighbors everyone in town, if a majority of people want it, that's great. But there's not enough clear information for the public to know what's going on. And it changes. I attend the meetings. And I just don't, I'm not for the theater. But that's my opinion. But if somebody, if a great majority, like I said, wants it, that's one thing. And that's all I have to say. But I don't like the fact that you're gambling with so much money.

Thank you, Kathy. Anybody else from the audience? Seeing no one, we're going to go to our hybrid access. Rurik, you're up.

Do you hear me?

Yes, we can.

Rurik, howdy. village resident. Cornell is a member of the Ivy League and as such is one of the top universities in the United States and arguably globally. Cornell's medical school is ranked among the top 10 in the United States and its environmental engineering department is also ranked very highly. Cornell is finishing a 91,000 square foot facility, sports facility, $50 million worth, the mining field house, which will be covered with artificial turf. Many of the Cornell playing fields are also covered in artificial turf. By covering its field in artificial turf, I assume Cornell knows its way around health and the environment and is not cynically ignoring the environment or its players' health. So, If artificial turf is good enough for Cornell, it is good enough for Ridgewood. One more thought. The five of you on the dais, along with the village manager, are truly Ridgewood's environmental guardian angels. Look at Shedler. You are basically cleaning an environmental mess, a toxic dump that you have inherited and it is not your doing. The Shedler neighborhood, Ridgewood and Ridgewood will forever be in your debt. Thank you.

Thank you, Rurik. Denise, you're up.

Hi. Good afternoon, evening, Denise Lima, Ridgewood resident. I'll first talk about the bond ordinance. As I read the bond ordinance, and I know we all keep saying we're not going to be purchasing it from a village perspective, and that Paul, I think, used the word assignment last meeting, that this is an assignment. Should not the bond ordinance reference the assignment or link the foundation? In the ordinance, because right now it's not linking anybody. It just makes it look like we are the ones applying for the grant with the option for the improvement, with the option to acquire it. And if there's another agreement or something behind the scenes, shouldn't at least that name of that agreement or that document be in this ordinance to connect all the dots? Because when I just read the ordinance, I'm not able to do that. And so from an auditing perspective, I guess that's my question. Second is I attended the superintendent's town council town coffee talk last night. And I asked the question what the difference was between the maple field, which gets flooded. And Keith, I think you said it's past the litmus test for safety. What's different about the makeup of that field versus the high school fields? And what can we glean from that that maybe the school could look into as a best practice? So one, he wasn't aware. I'm not sure why. And then two, maybe somebody has an answer. Is the stormwater... Is mitigation different? Is, you know, the rocks and the drainage different underneath? Yeah, so just, again, of where are we connecting the dots with the school in that aspect? I didn't hear anybody from the village council on last night, so I'm not sure, but I think there was a great showing of something like 400 people. So those are my only two questions. Thank you.

Thank you, Denise. Anybody else? Seeing no one, we're going to close public comment. And who would like to respond to any of these questions? I won't.

Go ahead. So a couple of them. So first of all, I want to congratulate you, Hangzhu, and Denise on getting qualified to run. I look forward to a spirited Democratic season, and may the best candidate win. With that said, in terms of your question, Hangzhu, and Denise, I think, on some of these bond ordinances. So first and foremost, Hangzhu, I think you said it was non-refundable. That's not true. The way this is structured is that we will only pay for as long as we need to keep the option to purchase bonds. the property for the 501c3 open. So hopefully we don't use all of the money. Hopefully we use only a fraction of it. But if we close earlier than the time period allotted, we will not spend additional funds. I'd also like to just bring up one of my earlier points, that while we are spending money to keep the option to purchase the property open for that 501c3, at the same time we're continuing to collect about $150,000 of tax revenue off the property to help offset

what we're spending on the property.

Kathy, I think you brought up gambling on this. I'll be candid with you. I want to save the Warner Theater. I think this is worth it. I think this is a worthwhile expenditure of our funds. To me, to spend money now, to make sure that, number one, we're not taking possession of the property. I do not want to get into the theater business. I don't want to take on the liability of the physical plant. But what I do want to do is preserve the ability to purchase a theater as a theater for the Ridgewood Arts Foundation if they indeed get the funding from the state of New Jersey. That, to me, is a worthwhile gamble. To me, that's a good use of our funding. And moreover, as I've said before, we will not own the property, we're not taking it off the tax rolls until and if the tax money or the grant money comes into the Ridgewood Arts Foundation, and this really preserves the ability to prevent the theater from becoming housing, which is likely what it would become, probably a pretty massive housing complex, which I don't think we need in the middle of town, and moreover would save one of the jewels of Ridgewood, and it's worth saving in my opinion. Denise, to your point earlier, I actually did attend the meeting last night with Dr. Schwarz in my personal capacity. I have two kids who play in that field, one who will be a cheerleader and will now be spending her senior year not cheering on the Ridgewood field, and a son who will not be playing freshman soccer on that field. So to me, losing those fields is not an academic conversation, it's a very real one. With that said, That, as you know, is school property. We do not have jurisdiction to go tell Mark Shores what he can or cannot do, because that is up to the school board. I trust they're doing the right thing. Certainly, I'm continuing to keep abreast. I know, Keith, you'll probably talk about this. I know our direction to you as a council was we will do everything in our power to assist the school and make sure that our kids can play here in Ridgewood as best they can, given the unprecedented flooding that we've seen on those fields going forward. Denise, in terms of Maple versus the high school field, certainly, Keith, I'm not sure if we're in a position to answer this, but having spent a significant amount of time on both fields, I can tell you that there's a lot more exposure to the Brook at the high school than there is Maple, where it runs a little further away from the field and the flooding is never never as bad at Maple as it is at that high school field. With that, I don't know, Siobhan, if you wanted to speak to any of those points, too, because I know you feel strongly.

Yeah, I have a couple things. Thank you, Evan. Thank you, everybody, for your comments. With respect to the theater, I want to go back in time that in 2024, there was a very large, loud... clamoring for the need and the desire from many organizations and many members of the community, including our students. So it closed. I know this because it was my birthday week, and it was not a good birthday when that theater closed the last week of January in 2024. We heard nothing but public expression about how we had to intervene and save. We met with student groups. We met with many communities, community members from Jamboree. So I really do feel that we've heard an enormous amount of community input into the desire to take the chance to make it a performing arts center. With respect to the gambling option, we've safeguarded the option. This next option, should we acquire it, the payments stop. As Evan said, with the payments, we've done a very good deal here, in my opinion, to take a chance. I want to be clear, and it's not fear-mongering, when large parcels of land go up, there's always the distinct possibility that someone could acquire it and ask for an alternate use, housing being one of them. We've heard repeatedly that people do not wish to have that happen. and be overdeveloped in that capacity on Main Street. So a couple things. This is a good deal. For two years, we've been hearing public input. We don't have many of the proponents come, but they have been here. I would say nothing short of 30 times we've heard from proponents of it. And I think it's a wonderful opportunity for the community. If anybody has an alternate idea where we're not in the theater business, where we're not holding it, we'd welcome that. We can't buy this and operate it. I don't think anybody up here would be good at running a theater. So that's one. Two, with respect to the questions of Maple, plenty of people who represent the village in their personal capacity and their official capacity were on the call. The Board of Ed and the village are separate entities, but we have a great working relationship. I am the field's representative, and once a month at 8 a.m., Tuesday mornings, we have a meeting. where we share best practices, we share maintenance, and we share our best field and our worst field all the time. And we talk about it with the sports groups who are the heaviest users. With respect to Maple, we do have separate vendors. The turf manufacturer is separate. It's a separate, as Evan referenced, it's a separate geographical location where the river bend is different. And our village maintenance, as opposed to our Board of Ed maintenance, is different. They're not on the same timetable. So they're not at the same point in their life cycle. And I too just want to end this with respect to the fields. Beginning Friday, as the fields wrapped, there was an ongoing conversation to help place these kids. Our Shaytree intern is the captain of the cheer squad. It's been hard to see the kids displaced. It's been hard to see the marching band displace. I know Evan, who's on the Cashel shell, I'm on field. We are here to offer and help in any way that we can, whether, you know, if we have extra space, like the band could potentially perform at the Cashel shell because they don't travel to away games. We've offered and we're in ongoing discussions and we're only here to be helpful to the Board of Ed, but ultimately we don't get a say in how it's set up. I just want to wish all those kids the best of luck. I hope that they're all placed well, and if anybody has any ideas how to make it a little more fun for them, we would welcome that. And the fields meeting will be interesting on Tuesday. It starts at 8 a.m. next Tuesday, and we run hybrid access. For those people who wish to attend, you can dial in or you can come in person, and it's a pretty long agenda. It starts at 8 a.m., so sweatpants are allowed, and that's it.

Anybody else so far? No? Well, then I will jump in. Michael, you had actually a question from a couple of weeks ago, and I told you I was going to check on it and get back to you. And your question was that we will get, if we get our award from the EDA, we get 80% of the total cost.

So we're... You're getting a sound check from that. Oh, okay.

Okay. we would get 80%. So it's a $75 million grant application. We have to raise about another $15 million. And you had asked, what happens if we don't raise $15 million? A very valid question. And I thought this was the answer, but I wanted to be certain. We would have to reduce the size of the theater or the cost of the theater in some way so that we...

quarterly charge for each of the three properties. I'm sorry?

You're talking about the assessment?

Yeah, the assessment. If you could reveal the three properties that are going to be discussed and also what the quarterly assessments are prior to passage of that.

The properties are listed in the resolution, but the assessments aren't.

Well, the public does not have the resolution.

Okay.

So if you could reveal those publicly, I would appreciate it. Also, with respect to 26263, I know you just discussed that, but I'm just curious to know, 7 a.m. when school is in session, who do we expect to be using the fields at 7 a.m. when schools are in session? I just have never seen any school groups out at 7 a.m. practicing, but maybe I've missed something. Thank you very much.

Thank you, Boyd.

If you... I'll respond with regard to the... Let's wait till the end.

You want to wait till the end? Sure. We'll get back to everybody. Whatever you want. Welcome.

Hyun-Joo Kwok, long-time resident. I have two quick questions. The first in addition in terms of the resolution on the valley... 26-258 on the Valley Health System estimated taxes. Will you be reserving for that? And then the second question is on the congratulations on the announcement of the $541,000 grant. That would be for the walkway underneath the train station. And I just want to understand this correctly, that an equal amount has been submitted as a grant for the state to match a 541. Would the amount be used for what purpose? Does it have to be aesthetic or cosmetic or can it be used for flood mitigation? Because that area underneath, it does get, you know, quite deep in terms of puddling and there it becomes inaccessible unless you wear very high rain boots. So if it can be used, if there's restrictions on what it can be used for in terms of that grant, that would be helpful. If it can be used for some of the flooding, potential flooding, that would be really practical. Thank you. Congratulations.

Anybody else? Seeing no one, I'm going to close public comment, and we will go to our public hearings.

Mayor, do you want me to respond? So I'll defer to Matt on both of the questions related to the assessment. But to Mr. Loving, the intent of 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., the 7 a.m. time frame is more for the weekends in case there are practices that can be accommodated at an earlier time. And then the 10 p.m., and a great example of why we're extending this to 10 p.m. is, for example, on the senior days, the high school has the field until 6 p.m. But on those days, because of the celebratory aspect of it, we expect those events to go longer. So on those days, we're going to try to work with some of the youth organizations to move that time back to, let's say, 7 p.m., hypothetically. But then that youth organization can stay longer on the field so that they can get in their full practice. So we're really trying to maximize the amount of flexibility that we can have here. I will tell you that my son's a swimmer, not that it's the same as being out on a field, but he practices at 6 a.m. So it's not unheard of for hockey and swimmers to be out there that early. If it ever becomes necessary, we'll have that flexibility, but that start time is really devoted for the weekends should any of the teams need it. And to Ms. Kwok, with regard to the pedestrian tunnel, so this project really started in 2024. We retained a new historic architect. His name is Barton Ross. He actually rewrote our entire spec and our plan for fixing structural deficiencies that exist in the pedestrian tunnel, the drainage concerns that exist there. So this is going to be an extensive overhaul. Again, we were allotted over half a million dollars from the county, assuming that they approve that, by the way. We were recommended. We haven't received the approval yet. If we match that money with a state grant from the State Historic Trust, we also have money in capital, so we think we'll have enough to do the entire project from stem to stern. But the structural issues, the drainage issues, and some of the aesthetic issues will all be addressed through that project, hopefully to break ground in 2027.

And I just wanted to add, just because there's members of the public who are, because these are bonds and ordinance and big times, the train station is on the National Historic Registry. And while it's there to support commuters, it's highly specialized. Barton Ross is a historical architect. It's a lot of money to do all these improvements. And in addition to the commuters and the drainage and the public safety, it is a safe walkway to school. My neighborhood, I am districted for the west side, but I live on the east side of the track, so many of the kids commute through there. So this is just a wonderful thing when you talk about the heart of our downtown, nationally recognized. It's a big-time grant, and I hope the whole community joins us in being so excited that we got it. And I just wanted to mention those two things, because as people are watching this, I think people forget how architecturally significant that train station is for our town, and how premium it is, and It's something that people identify Ridgewood with. So congratulations, Keith. And I hope that just adds background as to the enormous price tag.

Okay, Matt, if no one else, just with regard to the question from Mr. Loving, the three properties involved were 223 North Van Dien Avenue. The assessment, the annual assessment for 2026 is $106,411.50. 88 cents, I believe. The second one was 505 Goffel Road, lot 2.301, which has got an annual assessment of $380.09. And then there's 505 Goffel Road, lot 2.302, which has an assessment of $363.16. Thank you. You're welcome. Anybody else?

No? Let's continue. We'll go to our ordinances and forgive me for jumping ahead. I have a tendency to do that. I move the Clerk Read Ordinance 4111 by title on second reading and that the public hearing thereon be open. Second.

Mortimer?

Yes.

Perrin? Yes.

White? Yes.

Winograd? Yes. Vaggiano?

Yes. Will the clerk please read the title of Ordinance 4111?

An Ordinance to amend Chapter 190 of the Code of the Village of Bridgewood, Land Use and Development, to permit shared parking arrangements for institutional uses subject to certain requirements.

The public hearing is now open. Seeing no one, I move the public hearing be closed. I second.

Mortimer?

Yes.

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

I move that ordinance 4111 be adopted on the second reading and final publication as required by law.

I second the motion.

Mortimer.

Yes.

Perrin.

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

Yes. I move the clerk read ordinance 4-1-1-2 by title on second reading and that the public hearing thereon be open. Second that.

Mortimer.

Yes.

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

Yes. Will the clerk please read the title of ordinance 4-1-1-2.

An ordinance to amend chapter 265 of the code of the village of Ridgewood vehicles and traffic. At Section 265-22, no stopping or standing certain hours. And Section 265-68, Schedule 18, no stopping or standing certain hours.

The public hearing is now open.

Good evening again, Mayor and Council. Boyd A. Loving, Ridgewood resident. When does this take effect?

It will take effect on September. Today is the 2nd, so the 22nd.

I'm sorry, Heather, I couldn't hear you.

September 22nd.

Okay. I understand the need to get work done when other work is getting done, but I passed by there today, and the signs are up already. So my concern is that if a summons is issued, that summons is invalid until that date. So, you know, I understand there was a need to get the signs up because construction work was taking place, but I just don't want anybody to get a summons, and then that summons becomes invalid because the ordinance doesn't take effect until September 22nd. So I don't know how we police that, but just so you know that the signs are up and the ordinance is not in effect yet. Thank you. Thank you, Boyd.

Anybody else?

Captain Anderson.

Seeing no one, I move the public hearing be closed. Second. Mayor, if I may?

Yes.

I'd like to call Captain Ender up to address Mr. Loving's concern.

Yeah.

Let me just take the roll call to close the public hearing. Sorry, Heather. It's okay. I need to preempt it. Mortimer. Yes. Perrin. Yes. Waits. Yes. Winograd. Yes. And Vaggianos. Yes.

Yes.

So, Glenn, this recommendation came to the ordinance working group through the police department, and obviously we wanted to do it on an expedited basis, but do you want to just speak to how your department will handle it in the interim until it becomes law?

Yeah, good evening. Thanks for having me here. Basically, right now we're just educating the drivers that pull up. and we're not actually writing the summons for it until it gets approved. And as Mr. Loving said, the signs are up. We're doing work on the street. We wanted to get the signs up before school started just so we can educate the newer parents as well. And the school's been working with us, and the parents have been great about it so far.

And the officers know not to issue formal tickets until the day it goes into effect? Of course. We're just going to educate people. Very good. Thank you, Captain. No problem. Thanks, Lynn. Thank you, Captain.

Glenn, I just wanted to say thank you for everything this week, for all the schools. I know so many people were so happy to see the police as a part of Back to School, so thank you for everything.

Siobhan?

Oh, sure, sure, sure. Hold on. I move that ordinance 4112 be adopted on the second reading and final publication as required by law.

I second the motion.

Mortimer.

Yes.

Herron. Yes. Weitz.

Yes.

Winograd. Yes. Vaggianos.

Yes. I move the clerk read ordinance 4113 by title on second reading and that the public hearing thereon be open. Second. Second.

Mortimer? Yes. Perrin? Yes. Weitz?

Yes.

Wernigrad? Yes. Vaggianus?

Yes. Will the clerk please read the title of Ordinance 4113?

An Ordinance to Mend Chapter 265 of the Code of the Village of Ridgewood, Vehicles and Traffic. as section 265-9 prohibited terms at inter... One four.

A supplemental bond ordinance providing for a purchase option for the... Artists in town and the performers and the restaurants and the main street are, you know, supported. And I firmly believe that this artery of our downtown... Someone's going to want to build apartments with.

So that's where we are on this.

The encumber funds as they become... Purchase orders become due, and we encourage our departments to do so so they can use their appropriations appropriately and show where they have the need for the funds. at the end of the year if there are still encumbrances open.

Across all departments and help ensure compliance because currently there are nine individual departments in the village that are applying for grants. And to me equally as important is the institutional continuity that Grants360 would provide by having everything in one platform, all in one place, the applications, the awards, etc. It would it would reside in that platform rather than residing with one individual employee, whether that's me or someone in the engineering department. I think that the way we're currently doing it is a bit of a liability because what if I get hit by a bus tomorrow or somebody's in the hospital? Or win the lottery. This way, everything is in the portal and it can be easily managed. Easily accessed. So as we continue to pursue more grant opportunities, I really think it's a much more efficient and sustainable way of moving forward.

$8,000, I think I saw. Yeah.

$8,000 is the prorated for the rest of this year.

It also allows us to do the onboarding in 2026, which is why we're bringing this to you tonight. This will get rolled into the Millennium contract, assuming you renew it, for 2027. But the upfront cost of the onboarding services so that they can be set up with all the different grant opportunities that we've already been able to secure, that will be able to happen in 2026, and we'll hit the ground running in January.

So it's $8,000 for this year, and I think I said $10,000 for next year? Yeah. For over $5 million in grant money? Exactly. All right, I'm good.

Wait, Evan, come on. For me and Fred.

The return on investment is pretty good.

Again, I'm good.

So, Carol, is this basically that in addition to them keeping all their forms, that then we can run reports to see the different stages that the grants are at?

Yeah. It's really an amazing platform. It just... very visual it goes through the entire life cycle it gives us reminders well we need the contract agreement your report for this grant is due on such and such a date they'll let us know 30 days in advance so that katie fry or engineering or whoever is doing the report can get that um can get that handled and this i'm for this no matter what but my one question is that um it

Is there ways that our departments can search for grants, or is it just seeing what stages it's at that Millennium's doing?

There is, yes, there is a place where we can search for grants. They send us grant opportunities, I believe, Keith, is it every two weeks, every month? They send us grant opportunities, but there's also an opportunity for us to go into their system and look for other grants.

That's really good. Excellent. Thank you.

I just want to say, because Carol's here, I mean, one of the things that's interesting about the grant is you receive the grant, and then there's due diligence, and I know the perfect example was the Shedler House. When I took my seat, while that house had been the beneficiary, those grants were a tiny bit of a mess, and we had the obligation to close them out, and I want to thank Carol for doing that. I think this is great. I also just want to let the public know that in my time here, not only have we been successful, but Carol does win the award, I think, in Bergen County for the fastest grant application, where she... applied on Friday, and it was awarded on Monday.

This is fun.

This is just excellent, and I want to thank Millennium if they're watching. It's been such an awesome alternate source of revenue for greater public good, so thank you.

If it makes Evan happy, you know it's a good thing.

Listen, the residents of Ridgewood pay a lot of taxes to the municipal government, but they pay a lot more to state, to county, to federal authorities as well. The fact that we're now really marshalling tools like this to get the bite of the apple, to get back some of those funds that we're contributing to higher levels of government is fantastic. And I know, Keith, you want to rub it in, it's fine. Yes, I too, when we said this, said I want to make sure we made more than we put into it. We've made exponentially more, I'll say it for the up-to-date time, It's a fantastic investment of funds. This is what fiscal responsibility means. It means not just spending less money. It means spending money more thoughtfully. And this, to me, is an incredibly thoughtful way to increase what has already been a great program. So I'm a hard yes on this. You impressed Evan, by the way. $5 million will do that, yeah.

We also do apply for private grant money. So just to give you an example for access, we are thinking about approaching the Christopher Reeves Foundation for the Inclusive Playground. I know this year is going to be my year. I'm going to win the Porter Grant, which is a private grant. So in addition to the state, federal, all of that, we apply for private grants as well, which is great.

Carol, does this cover Ridgwood Water?

Yes, definitely. Good.

Everybody good? Carol, thank you so much for everything that you do for this town. It's my pleasure. We really appreciate it.

Okay, moving on to 13C2. This is an award contract under state contract for tri-band radios for police vehicles. There's a memorandum here from Lieutenant Chuck. With a quote from Goosetown Communications, this will purchase 28 tri-band Motorola portable radios for the use of police cars. Purchase will be made through a capital account that's already been pre-approved. Amount not to exceed $265,539.92. This is the second installment of this program that the police department's undertaken. Questions?

Yes. What is the life expectancy of these radios? That's my first question. Second, with these 28 in this proposal, will our fleet now be up to date fully?

Yes, this will complete the project. You know, the lifespan of radios really comes down to wear and tear. I will ask the chief tomorrow what the average lifespan has been in Ridgewood. I would assume we're probably pretty competitive in that space, but I will get that answer for you in the morning.

And the other part of that is the advancement of technology. Yes. Because it's, you know, before you know, there's a 6G, a 7G, an 8G.

It doesn't mean we need to move to it right away, though.

It is what it is. Okay.

Next item is expanding, once again, our shared service agreements for our styrofoam densifier down at the recycling yard. This will be with the borough of Allendale and the borough of Bridge.

It's awesome. It's amazing how the recycling center, whoever thought of getting that densifier. It was Sean. Just awesome. Major kudos to Sean for doing that. The next item. How many towns are we up to? Eleven. Wow. Fantastic.

Next item, item four, is the conference room table donation from the garden room down on the lower level of Village Hall. As you know, we're slated to begin construction for the community center later this month. In that process, we're going through our inventory of furniture and different appliances downstairs. There is a large oak table down in the garden room that's been used as a conference table, and in speaking with Steve Grillo, the executive director of the Ridgewood Business Alliance. The RBA has expressed some interest in obtaining this table for their offices. They'll be making a $500 donation to the Community Center of Ridgewood Foundation, and we're looking for the council to consent to donate the table.

Evan, you have a problem with that? Nope. Free money. I'm good. I don't think so.

Everybody good? Let's go. The next item is to amend Chapter 3 under the Administrative Government in the Village Code. This has to do with the Fire Department. There are two areas that Chief Judge is making a recommendation for updates. The first is due to the newly negotiated collective bargaining agreement and the change of shift schedule with the Fire Department. We are updating the language, as you see before you tonight, so that it is in agreement as of January 1st of 2027 with the new schedule that the fire department staff will be following. The second under Chapter 137 is the Emergency Medical Services Third-Party Billing Plan, and this update reflects the transition of administrative oversight for the third-party billing program so that it is current and up-to-date for the fire department as we administer ambulance services to the community. Questions? Questions?

Yeah, when it talks about the appointing authority in paragraph C3.

That's the village manager.

That's what I wanted to clarify that. Thank you.

Yep. Let's go. Okay. Next item three is to amend chapter 249 of the code, and this is the inclusion of recommendations also from chief judge regarding the removal of clearing fire hydrants during snow and ice storms. And this will reflect the verbiage from the uniform fire code that is effective throughout the state of New Jersey, which is three feet around hydrants for snow and ice removal.

Questions? Comment that just because this is consistent with the state of New Jersey's code is why I am okay with this. Great. Let's go.

Okay, under operations, we have two resolutions to declare surplus property. The first is anti-vandal heavy-duty trash receptacles, which are going to be accepted by the county of Bergen. So they've outlived their useful life here in the village, but the county has certain uses for them. And the second is to declare surplus property for bulletproof vests that are no longer usable by the police department. Questions? Questions?

All good.

Mayor, that concludes my portion of the agenda.

Thank you. Let's go back to public comment.

Good evening again, Mayor and Council. Boyd A. Loving, Ridgewood resident. I'd like to address some of the comments that were made following the comments that I had previously. First of all, I'd like to make it clear that I did not come up here and say that I was in opposition to the Performing Arts Center. There were a lot of comments about people being in opposition. I am not in opposition to it. I said that I was disappointed about one thing, and that was the fact that if this thing falls through, there is no plan on the part of the village council to ensure that the taxpayers don't lose any money with it. To that, I will say this. There have been comments that, well, the tax revenue would be gone. Yes, the tax revenue would be gone if the village owned it, but you have to remember there are four tenants in the buildings. So you would collect rent money. And the rent money may be much, much more than what the tax revenue is. So let's remember that. There are tenants in the building, and the tenants pay rent. Also, I did not suggest that we hold on to this thing for years. How long could it possibly take to flip this? You're not going to be holding on to it for that long. And there were also comments made that we're not in the real estate business. We don't know how to do it. What do you do when you don't know how to do something? You hire somebody who knows how to do it. You walk across the street to Bill Gilson and say, Bill, can you take care of this for me? We're going to buy this thing. We need somebody to manage it for a while while we try to flip it. So, you know, there are solutions to this problem. It is not a problem that is insurmountable if for some reason you buy it. You figure it out. You're all smart people up there. You just don't say, hey, we're not going to do this because we don't know anything about it. You figure out what you're going to do to preserve the tax revenue for the people. A couple of days ago, I got a check in the mail from the state of New Jersey. That check represented my stay in New Jersey payment. It was cut in half. The Sherrill administration does not have a lot of money. Therefore, I have serious concerns about whether you're going to get $75 million. So that's why I'm talking about these things. What happens if it doesn't come through? I'm not all doom and gloom, but I'm a realist. When I get a check that's half of what I got in June, I realize, hey, there's some trouble going on in the state. So whether you get $75 million or not is a big question in my mind. So that's why I express my concerns. And like I said, you're a bunch of smart people up there. If push comes to shove, I'm sure you can figure out how to hold onto this thing for a little while until you can flip it, and when it's in your hands, you control who's gonna get it. Just remember that. The other thing I'd like to say regarding the SID is that clearly, in my opinion, since the Valley Hospital is now assessed at $184 million, according to last tax records I show, the Valley Hospital is probably the biggest contributor to the SID assessments. If something happens and that lawsuit doesn't go your way, you've got to worry about how to replace that money in the sit. Thank you. Thank you, Boyd.

Anybody else? Seeing no one, I'm going to close public comment. Council?

I just like that Boyd said we're all smart people up here. That might be like the nicest thing you've said, Boyd.

I appreciate it. And in response to that, I'm going to say that all your points are well taken. The Shell administration... is watching its nickels and dimes. So, as I've always said, if we get the grant. So, we'll see.

Also, the RBA is working on a budget that will be presented to the council at the end of October, and we are budgeting as if we won't get that special assessment from the hospital.

And just in adding to that, the special assessment for the Special Improvement District is not subject to the litigation. And the litigation is about the tax assessment, which is separate and apart from the SID assessment. So they're not related. But they were, depending upon which way the judge was going to go. But now that we know which way the judge went initially, they're not related.

Anybody else? And with that, I will entertain a motion to adjourn.

So moved.

Second. All in favor? Aye. Let's go. Battery.

I know. I didn't want to talk about that.