[0:00] We gotta get our routine going. Right. Mr. Christopher, how are yourself?
[0:04] what's good? I mean, there's,
[0:12] right, right, right, right, right, right.
[0:17] no, I see.
[0:22] and then,
[0:37] yeah, renee's work. Yeah. I don't think she, I don't think she did yet.
[0:49] there, there's some other stuff too. I know, I saw that. I, I thought she, I thought she did something else.
[0:59] there was something else. I, yeah, I remember they was working on the, the new, the new,
[1:08] uh, for, I'm sorry, sir. You and siebel?
[1:16] no, I, I think it was doco plus. There was a,
[1:21] yeah, there was, there was another,
[1:26] there's another sheet. Maybe, maybe there wasn't a ta
[1:30] was we send it because there was two, there was two pieces. Uh, commissioner
[1:35] one was just that project and then there was others. I think it was like,
[1:40] it was two sheets. You might, maybe it didn't come through. Been so why
[1:47] I thought that was, it was from 2025.
[1:52] so, so that's what I was saying. I dunno. Oh, I heard.
[1:57] what was the well, we'll talk
[2:09] is here.
[2:18] I don't think he got all, I don't think he got everything.
[2:28] yeah,
[3:17] the honorable. What's that?
[3:45] okay. We have quorum now.
[4:35] good evening. This meeting of the essex county board of county commissioners is hereby
[4:39] called into order. This meeting, uh, meeting is being live streamed in addition
[4:43] to taking place in person. Madam deputy court, please call the rule commissioner
[4:48] gi here. Commissioner luciano. Here.
[4:52] commissioner mercado. Absent. Commissioner murray thomas.
[4:56] absent. Commissioner richardson. Here. Commissioner siebold.
[5:01] absent. Commissioner sermons absent. Commissioner, vice president cooper.
[5:05] here. Commissioner, president palms here. Please stand for ms. Luc
[5:09] to flag. I'm gonna ask vice president cooper to lead us in the solution. I pledge
[5:13] allegiance to the flag of the united states of america
[5:18] to the republic of what stands one nation under, under god,
[5:22] indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. I'm just gonna ask
[5:27] for a moment of silence and honor of those that we've lost since the last time that we came together.
[5:36] thank you.
[5:43] I have before me certification for the deputy clerk that this meeting is in compliance with the open
[5:47] public meeting, zach. So we're gonna move on to the approval of transcripts. Madam
[5:52] deputy clerk, are there any transcripts to be approved? No. Mr. President. Okay.
[5:56] do we have any topics for discussion? No. Mr. President. Okay. So let's
[6:00] move on to public comment. Tonight's meeting is a combined conference board meeting.
[6:04] we will board on every item on the agenda. So if there's any member of the public who would like to comment
[6:08] on agenda items only, please come to the microphone and state your name and affiliation for
[6:12] the record. You will have three minutes of speak. There will be time later in the
[6:16] evening for public comment on any other item. So I ask you, please
[6:20] limit your comment at this time to agenda item only.
[6:28] lemme recognize that commissioner mary thomas has joined the meeting for the record.
[6:32] good evening commissioners. Uh, my name is danielle toro. I currently serve
[6:37] as a vice president of the board of trustees for winona's house here
[6:41] in newark. Um, winona's house, as many of you know, because
[6:45] you have been, um, amazing supporters of our organization for a number of years,
[6:49] is a designated child advocacy center, um, here in
[6:53] essex county. Um, again, I wanna thank you for the support that you've given us over the
[6:58] year in supporting our organization. We are, um, a very unique organization
[7:02] that serves victims, child victims of abuse. We
[7:06] serve almo close to a thousand children a year in our
[7:11] facility. We happen to be celebrating our 25th year anniversary this year
[7:15] of providing support to children and families. In our 25
[7:19] year history, we have served close to 13,000 children and their families,
[7:24] as many of you know, we are facing, um, a dire situation
[7:28] of nearly $575,000 in funding being cut from
[7:32] the state budget. My team, um, along with, uh,
[7:37] robert crocker, who is our ceo, um, and supporters are here tonight.
[7:46] um, we understand that there are resolutions, thankfully, in both the senate and the
[8:20] commissioners. My name is christian baltista and I am the director of prevention
[8:24] services at wyn house child advocacy center. And I've
[8:28] had other, I've fulfilled other roles, including the role of family advocate.
[8:33] um, we serve families, um, who've experienced, um,
[8:38] child abuse and neglect, the non-offending family. And
[8:42] we are in the front lines providing different kinds of services for them.
[8:46] um, and I'll give you, uh, an example of the kind of of
[8:50] families that we serve. Um, recently a family, uh,
[8:55] of five children and their mom walked into wynonna's house.
[8:59] uh, the two younger girls who were ages three and four, uh,
[9:03] suffered child sexual abuse from the hands of their father.
[9:07] and, um, they also had a prolonged history of domestic violence.
[9:12] um, so this problem was compounded by intersections
[9:16] of different kinds of abuse. And they were also homeless at this point,
[9:21] living off of their cars. So, um, when they walked in,
[9:25] we provided different services such as
[9:42] can be built up and can finally be broken.
[9:46] this family today is living in their own apartment. Mom is conne
[9:50] has been connected with job resources. She's working, the family is
[9:54] sustaining themselves. Um, the oldest child is now been
[9:58] accepted to njit university here in newark, new jersey. And this is
[10:02] the kind of work that we do in our communities. Thank you. Thank you.
[10:08] recognizing commissioner seabold, joining the meeting.
[10:16] good evening county commissioners. My name is brian hackett. Uh, I'm the
[10:20] director of government and community relations for associated humane societies here in
[10:24] newark. Um, speaking in reference to item 31, commissioner
[10:28] cooper's resolution on june, adopt a cap month. Just want
[10:32] to very briefly, uh, thank commissioner cooper for her continued time and attention
[10:36] to this. And thank the county commissioners for your support,
[10:41] uh, on the community cat issue and spay neuter and vaccination
[10:45] of outdoor cats throughout essex county. Uh, we
[10:49] continue to have great success and great support with that program. Thanks to your
[10:54] support and thanks to that support, we're able to
[10:58] actually get more of these adoptable cats into loving homes
[11:02] of many, uh, essex county residents and, uh, residents of, of the
[11:06] state beyond essex county. Many folks don't realize that 95%
[11:11] of the animals euthanized in our state, uh, are cats.
[11:15] so this type of effort, this type of work, is really near and dear to
[11:19] the hearts of many of your constituents that we serve every day. So I
[11:23] just wanted to recognize that. And thank you all for your great support and great
[11:28] work. Thank you. Thank you.
[11:39] is there anyone else wishing to speak at this time for public comment on agenda items?
[11:48] okay. Seeing none, uh, madam deputy kirk left the record reflect despite
[11:53] the nice sized audience that we have here, we have no more public comment for agenda items.
[11:57] uh, so we're going, uh, to where do they want to turn for a second here?
[12:02] I know we're, we're a little bit different today. I'm going to call on commissioner
[12:06] gil to speak on number 69, which is the resolution related
[12:11] to . Uh, uh, thank you, mr. Chairman. Um,
[12:15] uh, excuse me, mr. President . Yeah. One works. Either one works . It's
[12:19] a, it is a different meeting. Uh, very quickly. First of all, I want to, uh,
[12:23] thank commissioner, um, seabold, um, for agreeing to be a
[12:27] co-sponsor on this, um, resolution. Uh, but most likely, I think we
[12:31] will, uh, probably end up doing this by, um, acclimation. Uh,
[12:35] but this is a, uh, as we heard, uh, earlier, uh, today from, um,
[12:40] two of our speakers. And I know there are some other people in the audience who are here to support. This is a
[12:44] resolution, uh, supporting, uh, the restoration of funding to
[12:49] winona's house, uh, in the fy 26 new jersey state budget.
[12:53] um, as we've just, uh, heard, um, uh, about, uh,
[12:57] I think all of us here on the board are familiar with juan winona's house,
[13:01] um, and, uh, named of course after the late great senator win
[13:05] lipman, but it's our child advocacy center here in, uh, essex county.
[13:10] it serves, uh, over 950 cases annually providing,
[13:14] uh, wraparound services, uh, to child victims of abuse across the
[13:19] 22 municipalities of essex county, and offers prevention services
[13:23] reaching over 3000 community members, um, each year. Uh, this
[13:27] year, unfortunately, I know that we have a, a, a particularly challenged, um,
[13:32] challenges with our, our state budget. Uh, but there was a cut of 575,
[13:38] uh, hundred thousand dollars of a grant in aid and appropriation, uh, in the state
[13:42] budget. And, um, I know that at least, um, and I'm hoping,
[13:46] uh, that we're all in agreement that we would very much like to see that restored before
[13:50] the state budget is passed. Uh, hopefully, uh, in the next few weeks.
[13:54] so this will be a resolution to send a message both to, uh, uh, members of our state
[13:58] legislative delegation, uh, the governor, um, and anyone
[14:03] else who's paying attention that, um, you know, that they're gonna have to find somewhere else
[14:07] to cut , because this program is too, too, just too critical, um,
[14:11] for, uh, for our own community here in the county. So, um, with that,
[14:15] um, mr. President, um, I'm happy. Would you like to move? Move, sir. I'm happy to move it. Thank
[14:19] you. Thank you. Commissioner. Steven, would you like to second? Very much so our commissioner.
[14:23] are we, uh, all good with by acclimation? Yes. Yes. Okay.
[14:28] uh, commissioner gill and siebel, are you okay with that? Yes. Yes. Thank you.
[14:32] uh, so we have moved by commissioner gill. Second by siebel. We'll call madam deputy clerk
[14:36] for number 69. Commissioner gill. Yes. Commissioner
[14:40] luciano. Yes. Commissioner mercado. Absent. Commissioner murray thomas.
[14:45] yes. Commissioner richardson. Yes. Commissioner seabold? Yes.
[14:49] commissioner sermons. Absent. Commissioner, vice president cooper? Yes. Commissioner,
[14:53] president pois. Yes. So moved. We're, uh, gonna just modify things a
[14:57] little bit. We're moving into our summer schedule, so we're trying to, you know, we only have one meeting a
[15:01] month, so we're gonna modify things just a little bit. Commissioner gu, would you like to call your representatives up into
[15:05] the well, we're photo opportunity? Sure.
[15:13] this, this may come as a shock to anyone in the audience, but we also have vacation plans at times
[15:17] too, and we change the schedule. So, mr. President,
[15:21] is there time for comment on the information? No. Now what we're gonna do right now, we're gonna hold our comments in the
[15:25] interest of time, but we're gonna do is we're gonna get up for a group picture. We're gonna save our
[15:30] comments for the comment session a little bit later on in the interest of time. But
[15:34] I know everyone is eager to, you know, uh, show support for this.
[15:40] mm-hmm. Come up here in front, in front of me and face that way. We'll get a couple picture. Commissioners,
[15:45] would you like to join the well, please.
[16:04] we're not to make like a semicircle here. Make like a c everyone. So the
[16:08] big cameras, take picture.
[16:17] this is our camera. Yes, we're good.
[16:28] do you wanna join? Trust me this, I had like 40 kids.
[16:32] this is your, this is your opportunity. Get in now. Hold, join,
[16:36] please. Come, tommy. We got a meeting. Get in. There you go.
[16:41] I'm doing six jobs for you. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.
[16:54] I lost the smile.
[17:57] ms. Pamela gaston. There she is. Right. And, and
[18:01] I'm gonna read a little bit of this and then maybe you can come up and take a quick picture
[18:06] with us. But you, you gotta hear this. For 51
[18:10] years of service to the blind and visually impaired community with
[18:14] new jersey commission for the blind and visually impaired, and
[18:19] she's retired. Mm. Uh, you, you are definitely going to
[18:23] be missed. So, ms. Gaston is a writer, events coordinator,
[18:27] worker advocate for the individuals with disabilities. She's a founding
[18:31] member and past president of new jersey network of organizations for
[18:35] the blind and visually impaired. She's a volunteer advisor and mentor
[18:39] for justice involved individuals. She is also a longtime member
[18:43] of new jersey cultural access network and her 50 plus year
[18:48] career as an employee of the new jersey commission for the blind and
[18:52] visually impaired is highlighted by several awards for her efforts
[18:56] in to improve the quality of life for all people with disabilities.
[19:00] thank you. And thank you so much. Please come up and take a quick picture
[19:24] there. Make it
[19:34] richard,
[19:39] I I want to thank brother whi, richard whi, uh, for bringing this to my
[19:43] attention. That's right. To the board's attention, uh, about your service.
[19:48] I
[20:31] welcome, welcome, welcome back. Really?
[20:45] okay. Yeah.
[21:21] richard, you wanna get in one? You wanna get in one? I can take it if you wanna get it one. Okay.
[22:28] you trademark that. Same, by the way.
[22:34] congratulations.
[22:39] okay. Adam, can you facilitate the exit?
[22:45] this way may be better if you're leaving this way. May be easier for you.
[22:50] this way may be easier. Yeah, that's true. Can I mess
[22:54] with that? Hopefully
[22:58] that's his focus. He's not even thank you everyone.
[23:08] it would just make it easier,
[23:12] right? Correct.
[23:21] all right everyone, let's move along. Yep. We're gonna move on. Uh,
[23:26] last one on the cycle here. Uh, number 31, commissioner cooper.
[23:31] thank you, mr. President. June is adopt a cat month. And
[23:36] we wanna take a moment to recognize
[23:40] some community groups and residents that for their extraordinary work. First, let me
[23:44] thank the board, my colleagues for supporting the t and r activities,
[23:49] mr. Jackson and the county executive entire administration for funding the
[23:53] initiative. We've, um, had a tremendous impact with our community
[23:57] cat population. I also wanna take this moment to, um, acknowledge
[24:02] and, um, highlight some folks in this community that work really,
[24:06] really hard. Pam pariso of the associated humane society.
[24:11] um, her certificate is gonna be accepted by brian. Thank you brian
[24:15] too. 'cause you equally do, uh, a big amount of work in this arena.
[24:19] amanda, on for, please forgive me if I mispronounce
[24:24] your name. Marcia sanford fishkin. Liz
[24:29] faras. If she's here. Julie.
[24:33] julie is julie here. I'm sorry. And, um, amanda and
[24:37] marcia melendez. I'm gonna please ask you all to come to the front and
[24:41] we have a certificate and we wanna acknowledge you and thank you for all of your incredible work
[24:45] that you've done around community cats. And naturally we have to ask mama
[24:49] meow, to please join us because without you, none of this would be
[24:53] possible. Your strong continuous advocacy. We, we thank you mama. Meow. So
[24:58] please come forward.
[25:05] ,
[25:12] why not,
[25:16] uh, 31. Face that way if it want. The guy with the big camera's.
[25:20] got it. Elizabeth commissioners,
[25:25] please come join us while me take this picture. I'm gonna be a right guy
[25:38] here, commissioner.
[25:44] the
[25:51] don't start big smiles.
[25:56] and we're grateful to all these wonderful commissioners.
[26:02] excellent.
[26:16] thank you very much. I'm gonna move.
[26:21] say it again.
[26:26] I can't, I gotta do, I gotta do something specific. You'll see them in
[26:31] as they make their way down. Uh, commissioner, vice president, would you like to make a motion
[26:36] to move number 31? Yes, please. Second. Thank you. Second by commissioner
[26:40] richardson. Let's vote on number 31. Roll call. Madam deputy clerk
[26:44] commissioner gill. Yes. Commissioner luciano.
[26:49] absent. Commissioner mercado. Absent. Commissioner murray thomas.
[26:54] yes. Commissioner richardson. Yes. Commissioner siebold? Yes.
[26:58] commissioner sermons. Absent. Commissioner, vice president cooper?
[27:02] yes. Commissioner, president pois. Yes. So moved. And thank you all
[27:06] for joining us today. Alright. Let's move on to ordinance and resolutions on introduction
[27:10] and first reading. Madam deputy clark, do we have any ordinance or resolutions for introduction and first
[27:14] readings? Yes, mr. President, we have two ordinances for introduction
[27:19] and first reading. Okay. Let's move on to ordinance number one for introduction and first reading.
[27:23] it will be read into the record at a later time. Mr. Jackson? Good evening. Good evening, mr.
[27:27] president, members of the board. Um, this ordinance will, um,
[27:32] uh, simply codify speed limits within our parks, uh, system, uh,
[27:36] which wasn't, uh, properly done, uh, here before. Um, and it
[27:40] will establish speed limits and will enable our sheriff's department, uh, to
[27:44] enforce speed limits, uh, in our park system.
[27:49] thank you. Mr. Parley, do you have any questions? No, I don't. Mr. Mcinerney? No questions. Commissioner.
[27:54] questions or comments? Commissioner, vice president. Thank you, mr. President.
[27:58] one quick comment. I'm happy to see that we're moving to do this, to post this
[28:02] in our parks. Mr. Jackson, I just have one additional request. Can we
[28:07] also please post the no smoking signs around
[28:11] the playground equipment at some of the parks? I in the park recently, and folks were
[28:15] smoke. They were watching their kids play, but they were smoking cigars and vape pens
[28:19] and things. So I was wondering if we could do that and then double check if the ordinance
[28:23] speaks to, you know, the vaping pens and the other new, um, items
[28:27] that people use to smoke. Thank you. Absolutely.
[28:34] wayne commissioner riches is vice president. Uh, uh, I, I just
[28:38] like to piggyback on that. I get a lot of complaints in weak way park
[28:42] around the track going around the, uh, the lake, uh, where people
[28:46] walking dogs, uh, and they're not supposed to be any dogs or lights
[28:51] on those tracks. So, can we put signs up?
[28:55] no dogs on the tracks and no bicycle riding? Yes, sir.
[29:00] thank you, sir. Any other questions or comments?
[29:07] do I still maneuver it? I'll move it. Move by sea both. Second by vice president cooper, roll
[29:11] call. Madam deputy clerk commissioner gill? Yes.
[29:16] commissioner luciano? Yes. Commissioner mercado.
[29:20] absent. Commissioner murray thomas? Yes. Commissioner richardson?
[29:24] yes. Commissioner bol? Yes. Commissioner sermons absent. Commissioner,
[29:29] vice president cooper? Yes. Commissioner president ez? Yes. So, move.
[29:33] okay. Let's move on to ordinance number two for introduction and first reading. You'll be read into the record
[29:37] at a later time. Mr. Jackson? Mr. Uh, director del.
[29:42] good evening. Mr. Delgaudio.
[29:47] good evening, board of commissioners, frank delgaudio, director of, uh, department of health
[29:51] and rehabilitation. Uh, this ordinance, uh, is requesting
[29:55] an amendment to the original ordinance that was passed back in 2021
[30:00] regarding the hospital fee program that
[30:04] provides increased payments of, uh, medicaid to, uh,
[30:08] nine of the county hospitals. So
[30:14] has, um, amended the legislation to bring this
[30:18] from a pilot program to roll it out to every county, to every hospital in
[30:22] the state is now eligible. So with that, they also included,
[30:27] um, the state to, to assess the maximum fee, which is 5%
[30:32] of all net hospital revenues, and at the
[30:36] same time, um, increase the funding to the program. So basically
[30:41] what this does with double the amount of money going to the esus county hospitals
[30:45] and the county basically as an administrative fee. Okay.
[30:50] mr. Parva, any questions? No, no questions. Mr. Mcinerney? No questions. Commissioner.
[30:54] any questions? I'll move it. Move by luciano second. Second
[30:58] by vice president cooper. Roll call. Madam deputy clerk commissioner gill?
[31:03] yes. Commissioner luciano? Yes. Commissioner mercado. Absent.
[31:07] commissioner murray thomas? Yes. Commissioner richardson? Yes. Commissioner
[31:11] sibo? Yes. Commissioner sermons. Absent. Commissioner, vice president cooper?
[31:15] yes. Commissioner president pois? Yes. So moved. Okay. So I think at
[31:19] this time we're gonna move out of order to take resolution number 14, which is in the hospital center.
[31:23] and as, uh, an added starter number 58 through 62,
[31:27] which are all insurance policy contracts. They can be read into the record
[31:32] so we can take advantage of mr. Gaudio being here. Number 14,
[31:42] frank varrio, director of health and rehab. Uh,
[31:47] resolution 14 is a, uh, affiliation agreement with felicia college.
[31:52] it's a nursing affiliation agreement. So, uh, this, uh,
[31:57] agreement, we haven't had students in about two years going
[32:01] back to the covid pandemic and they, uh, wish to reintroduce and bring
[32:05] nursing students to the essex county hospital center for their psychiatric
[32:10] rotation. Okay, let's go and take 58 to the 62
[32:14] as well, and then we'll take questions over once if we have any.
[32:21] um, frank delgado, uh, risk manager for
[32:26] essex county. Uh, resolution number 58 is
[32:30] a, uh, request for renewal of the county's excess general
[32:34] liability, automobile liability on law enforcement
[32:38] liability for the county. Um, had
[32:42] a couple of tough years, but I think what, uh, we put
[32:47] together on this policy is a fair renewal. We're also able to
[32:51] increase, we had a total of 7 million in liability coverage
[32:55] in excess of our 1 million. So this presents an
[32:59] increase up to 10 million, so an additional 3 million of an
[33:03] increase there with, uh, only actually $12,000 200
[33:08] in order to get that increase with that additional $3 million. So
[33:12] this was, um, a very aggressive marketing by our broker,
[33:16] connor strong. And, um, this was the recommended way to go to
[33:20] increase our, our liability coverage. Okay, let's go on 59.
[33:25] item 59 is a renewal of our, um, excess workers' compensation
[33:29] program. Uh, this renewal renewal represents an
[33:33] increase of $31,318,
[33:37] um, due to the covid pandemic and still some open claims that we're
[33:41] seeing the counties facing over 300% loss
[33:45] experience on our workers' comp line. As all of these claims are starting
[33:50] to resolve themselves. You know, I I had put our program up there with one of the best
[33:54] public entity risk and workers' comp programs in the country. We
[33:58] really manage this tightly and, um, the program is working well
[34:02] and I think that's what the underwriters see because with that type of loss experience,
[34:07] all the public entities in the state are actually seeing that our
[34:11] increase has actually been less than the other counties have seen.
[34:15] okay. 60 item 60 is a renewal of the active assailant
[34:20] policy. Um, slight increase on that policy of, uh, $2,500.
[34:27] okay. Forward 61 61 is a renewal of the county's
[34:31] professional liability. That's the medical malpractice for the hospital center.
[34:36] uh, again, another tough line of business. Um, small increase
[34:40] on that, uh, policy by 5,000. Okay. And 62 62
[34:46] is the, uh, renewal of the county's commercial property insurance. This
[34:50] was the, uh, largest increase, although our rate was dropped
[34:55] considerably. Um, we added quite a bit of properties
[34:59] as of six one. We added the new winona lipman family courts building
[35:03] over $180 million in value. Some of the parks improvement buildings.
[35:08] so our values have gone up by over 200 million. So, um,
[35:12] having an increase of 93,000 to take on that 200 million is
[35:17] a reasonable number stands reasonable. Okay. Thank you. Uh, mr. Parva,
[35:21] any questions on 1458 through 62? Ju uh, mr. President,
[35:25] just regarding some of these renewals, frank, are there additional policies
[35:29] that are still outstanding or still, uh, need to come to
[35:34] the board for renewal? I, I think there's more than just this right through you mr.
[35:38] president. This is, uh, there's four additional policies that are through the massey agency,
[35:42] so we didn't have all of our numbers and premiums together in time to present.
[35:47] and I appreciate you, uh, having this as an added starter for this meeting so
[35:51] we could get the premiums paid quickly. Great. That, that was it. Thank you
[35:56] mr. Mckinna. Any questions on these items? No questions. No questions. Commissioner, any
[36:00] questions on 1458 through 62?
[36:05] motion, seeing none moved by vice president cooper? Do have a second? Second.
[36:09] second by commissioner richardson, rule call madam deputy clerk 1458 through
[36:13] 62. Commissioner gill? Yes. Commissioner
[36:18] luciano? Yes. Commissioner mercado. Absent. Commissioner murray thomas?
[36:23] yes. Commissioner richardson? Yes. Commissioner siebold? Yes. Commissioner
[36:27] sermons. Absent. Commissioner vice president cooper? Yes. Commissioner president
[36:31] pois? Yes. So moved. Okay. Thank you. Alright,
[36:35] let's go back in order. Uh, let's go to ordinance a second. Reading in public hearing for listing
[36:39] purposes only. Madam deputy court, do we have any? No, we don't. Do not, mr.
[36:43] president. Okay. Moving on. Do we have any ordinance resolution of second reading in public hearing?
[36:48] yes, mr. President, we have one ordinance number o 20 25 0 0 0 8.
[36:56] okay. So let's move to public hearing for ordinance o dash 2025 dash
[37:00] 0 0 8, which will be read to the record at a later time. I hereby
[37:04] declare the public hearing on ordinance number o dash 2025 dash 0 0 0 8
[37:09] is open. If there's any member of the public who would like to comment for against this ordinance, please go to the microphone.
[37:13] state your name and affiliation for the record. You will have three minutes to speak.
[37:22] let the record reflect there's no one from the public wish to speak at this time. So we're gonna move on
[37:26] to mr. Parla. Do you have any questions or comments? I don't. Mr. Mcinerney no
[37:31] commission. Is there any questions or comments? See none.
[37:35] do I have a motion and a second to close public hearing on ordinance number o 2025
[37:39] dash 0 0 8? I'll move it. Move by sebel. Second
[37:43] by richardson. Do I have the same mover and second to approve the ordinance? Yes. Thank
[37:48] you. Roll call madam deputy clerk commissioner gi
[37:52] absent. Commissioner luciano?
[37:56] yes. Commissioner mercado. Absent. Commissioner murray thomas.
[38:01] yes. Commissioner richardson? Yes. Commissioner siebel? Yes. Commissioner
[38:05] sermons absent. Commissioner, vice president cooper? Yes. Commissioner president
[38:10] pois? Yes. So moved. Okay. Let's go to resolutions one through
[38:14] four. Uh, these are advice and consent and reappointments
[38:19] to the l-g-b-t-q advisory board, mr. Jackson?
[38:23] um, yes, as you said, ms, these are just reappointments of, um, members to the board.
[38:28] thank you mr. Parla becker, do you have any questions? No, I don't. Mr. Mcinerney?
[38:32] no questions. Commissioners. Commissioner siebel. Thank you. I serve on this board
[38:37] as the, uh, commissioner representative and I'm very pleased that they're all willing
[38:41] to be reappointed. So thank you very much. Thank you. Any other questions or
[38:45] comments? And I'll move it. I was gonna come back to you. Don't worry. I didn't get you. Okay.
[38:50] I'm on the ball. Move by siebel. Do I have a second? Second. Mary thomas
[38:54] on second roll call madam deputy clerk for one two four. Commissioner
[38:58] gill. Absent. Commissioner luciano? Yes. Commissioner mercado. Absent.
[39:03] commissioner murray thomas. Yes. Commissioner richardson. Yes. Commissioner
[39:07] siebel? Yes. Commissioner sermons absent. Commissioner vice president cooper? Yes.
[39:11] commissioner president ez? Yes. So moved. Let's move on to resolutions
[39:15] five through 10 and added starter number 63, which are from the department of public works.
[39:19] and we'll be read into the record at a later time. The voice of essex county. Mr. Antonio
[39:23] is here. Good evening. David antonio, department of public works.
[39:28] item number five is an award of contract to, um, sum
[39:32] engineering to provide the construction, engineering and construction
[39:36] support services required to successfully construct a walnut
[39:41] street west brook gap roundabout in livingston
[39:45] in an amount that to exceed $254,991.
[39:51] amon engineering submitted the highest rated proposal of the six
[39:56] received by the county. This contract
[40:00] cost will be fully funded with a federal grant. And today we have both
[40:04] mr. Deon patel and brian smith of amon
[40:08] engineering group. Both very excited to introduce your company and
[40:12] answer any questions support may have. Great. Please
[40:17] just state your name and affiliation for the record. Tell us about your company and what your
[40:21] project, uh, over, you know, scope is all about. Uh, my name
[40:25] is dickon patel. Uh, I'm a project manager for m sum engineering.
[40:29] uh, we'll be overseeing, uh, brian will myself, uh, and brian will be
[40:33] overseeing this project. Uh, the project, uh, is a construction
[40:38] of a three-legged intersection to a roundabout. Uh, and we also
[40:42] have a contractor, uh, here present who will be carrying
[40:46] out this work as well. Great. Tell us about your company. Where are you based, your employees?
[40:51] we are out of, uh, uh, we are located in pisca, new jersey. Uh, we are approximately,
[40:55] uh, 60 employees. Uh, we are a minority company.
[41:00] um, anything else? Uh, we have a, we do employee,
[41:04] uh, we do have a, a resident here, uh, who's local to
[41:09] essex county. And we are always looking to hire more people, uh, as usual.
[41:13] good. And we'd like to see companies like yours hire more essex county residents,
[41:18] so we appreciate that. Any other questions, mr. Beckio? Any
[41:22] questions? I don't, no, I don't. Mr. Mcinerney? No question. Commissioners any questions
[41:26] for the vendor while he is there? Okay. Scene none. Thank
[41:30] you. You're off the hook. Thank you for the opportunity, sir. You're welcome.
[41:35] david, an antonio department of public works. Item number six is the award of the
[41:39] construction of the walnut street and west harbor gap road in
[41:43] livingston, roundabout to ja alexander in an
[41:47] amount not to exceed $1,147,967.
[41:54] ja alexander submitted the lowest of the two bits received by the county.
[41:59] this construction cost will also be fully funded with federal funds.
[42:04] uh, this construction contract will convert existing stop control three
[42:09] legged intersection of walnut street, west brook gap and
[42:13] pacific avenues in livingston into, into a modern roundabout. And mr. Frank
[42:18] ro of j alexander also here this evening to introduce
[42:22] this firm. And as always answer any questions to board may have. Thank
[42:26] you. Please just state your name and affiliation, tell us about your company and the scope of work.
[42:31] my name is frank sro from ja alexander. I'm a project manager.
[42:35] we're a minority company located in bloomfield, new jersey.
[42:39] uh, we're a heavy construction, a roadwork company, and,
[42:44] uh, we are, we also are a union company, 4 72 8 25.
[42:49] we, our, our employment is about 35%,
[42:53] uh, essex county residents. If
[42:57] I have any questions, uh, you said you're from bloomfield? Bloomfield. Oh god.
[43:02] the best town in essex county. I idea, but I wouldn't be biased when I say that.
[43:07] thank you mr. Parlove. Any questions for the gentlemen? No questions mr. Mcinerney? No
[43:11] questions. Commissioners. Commissioner siebold, I have a question. First of all,
[43:15] when will this work start? Uh, we just got notice of the
[43:19] award, so we're gonna have probably a pre-construction meeting with
[43:23] sanjeev. So I would assume probably another
[43:28] four weeks. And when do you expect it to be finished? We
[43:32] figure the duration of the job should be about six months. Six months?
[43:36] yeah. Because people in living center are watching to see when it will be done because
[43:41] that's a difficult intersection. Yes. It's in phase and they're all waiting for it
[43:45] to be done. Yeah. There's been a lot of problems in the past about people who wanted
[43:49] a traffic light there. They wanted one thing after another, so hopefully
[43:53] this will solve the problem that's been there for years.
[43:58] thank you. Like bloomfield's coming to the rescue, so
[44:02] absolutely. Like you're living. Some people know it's a difficult intersection. Thank
[44:06] you. Any other questions or comments? Thank you, sir. I thank you. I have another
[44:10] question. Wait a follow up. I'm, I'm sorry. We're gonna have to charge you extra. We taking land
[44:14] away from some of the, uh, facilities that are around that area.
[44:19] I know there's trees on the one side that are coming down. I know public service
[44:23] has to move some of their utilities. So there is a, a section
[44:27] of, uh, which was wooded, uh, and there's a church right there
[44:31] that won't be affected. No, no, we're not taking any property because they have a lot of
[44:35] property in the front, near the intersection and that won't affected just on the one side there.
[44:40] you know, the county has a right of way over there. Alright, thank you. Okay. You're welcome.
[44:44] okay. Thank you sir. Thank you. Alright, mr. Antonios mon number seven,
[44:49] david antonio, department of public works. Item number seven,
[44:53] awards, vip services, a two year contract
[44:58] in a amount not to exceed $388,600
[45:03] to perform the caulking of windows of various county facilities
[45:08] on an as needed basis. Vip services submitted the
[45:12] lowest of the five bids received by the county. Item
[45:16] number eight is the exercising of a two year extension
[45:21] to the existing contract with aurora environmental incorporated
[45:25] to provide the regulatory inspection, repair, and
[45:29] maintenance of the county's vehicle fueling locations on
[45:34] an as needed basis in an amount that you exceed $167,100.
[45:40] this contract extension does not increase the contract toward unit
[45:44] cost nor the contract amount. And item
[45:48] number nine, it's an award of contract to add
[45:52] northern llc to furnish a four by four heavy duty
[45:57] truck chassis to replace a mason dump body truck, which
[46:01] is currently used at the division of roads and bridges. This new truck
[46:05] will be used for leaf leaf pickup, catch basin, and
[46:09] cleaning power hole repair and other similar, similar activities.
[46:13] item number 10 authorizes the submittal of an application for funding
[46:17] to the nj tpas local capital project delivery program
[46:22] in an amount of $4,427,750
[46:29] for the replacement of the jackson street bridge over the passa river
[46:33] between the city of north and the township of harrison. This movable bridge
[46:38] was built in 1900 and was last rehabilitated in 1991
[46:43] and is jointly operated and owned with hudson county. The local
[46:47] capital project delivery program is the initial step in
[46:51] the federal project delivery pipeline and funds. The
[46:55] planning and preliminary engineering projects that successfully complete this
[47:00] step are then eligible for other phase like final engineering,
[47:04] rightway and eventually construction. And item number 63
[47:09] is the exercising of a two year extension to the existing
[47:13] contract with timothy bryan electric to provide for the repair and maintenance
[47:17] of the county's electric vehicle charging stations on
[47:21] an as needed basis in an amount that you exceed $79,250.
[47:28] this contract extension does not increase the contractual unit cost
[47:33] nor the total contract amount. Thank you, mr. President. Thank you mr. Antonio.
[47:37] mr. Beck, any questions on these items? We had five through 10, although we betted some.
[47:41] and number 63. Uh, just a question, mr. Antonio. Number eight,
[47:45] how many fueling stations does the county have to you, mr. President
[47:50] nore will be the conventional fueling stations. Those are eight, there's eight of them. And, uh,
[47:55] those are both are unleaded and diesel, uh, fuel.
[47:59] thank you mr. Mcinerney. Any questions? No questions. Commissioners. Any
[48:03] questions? Seeing none. Commissioner siebold, we will move
[48:07] five through 10 and 63. Do I have a second? Second. Second by vice president
[48:11] cooper. Roll call madam deputy clerk commissioner gill.
[48:16] absent. Commissioner luciano? Yes. Commissioner mercado. Absent.
[48:20] commissioner murray thomas? Yes. Commissioner richardson? Yes. Commissioner
[48:25] seabold? Yes. Commissioner sermons absent. Commissioner, vice president
[48:29] cooper? Yes. Commissioner president ez? Yes.
[48:33] so moved. Let's move to the resolution 11 and 12, which are from the division of youth services
[48:37] that will be read into the record at a later time. Mr. Jackson? Uh, thank you mr. President.
[48:41] item 11. Uh, we have, uh, nine contracts, uh, a contracts with
[48:46] nine, um, community partnership providers, uh, three year
[48:50] contracts. Thanks. This, uh, will, uh, these contract amendments will, uh, insert
[48:55] $932,543 for the
[48:59] 2025 funding year. Uh,
[49:03] item 12 is, uh, approval resolution required by the
[49:07] state, uh, as part of our, uh, alternative initiative innovation award program
[49:12] in the amount of $60,000, $57,000 for program
[49:16] services and $3,000 for administrative costs. And this program supports
[49:21] the youth on probation age, age nine, 16 through 19, uh,
[49:25] to help them to develop, uh, critical life and job skills. Thank you mr. Parlove.
[49:29] you have any questions? No questions. Mr. Mackin. Ernie, no questions. Commissioners questions on 11 to
[49:34] 12 comm mary thomas. Thank you. I was, um,
[49:38] really just happy to hear that we received that grant in resolution
[49:42] number 12. I was wondering if you had kind of insight on what those programs
[49:46] look like, just because I know it's such important work and it really helps reduce
[49:50] the rates of recidivism that we see in folks who are in the system. So if you
[49:54] had any insight, uh, on what those programs include, if not, um, I'm happy to
[49:59] get it a later date, but if you could yeah, I'll, um, commissioner, I will, uh, have, uh,
[50:04] director, uh, martinez put together a profile of what those programs are for you. Great.
[50:08] thank you. Thank you. Any other questions? Commissioner mary thomas, would you'd like to move it? Sure.
[50:12] thank you. Thank you. Second, second, second. Bye. Vice president cooper, we will call
[50:16] madam deputy clerk for 11 and 12. Commissioner gill. Absent. Commissioner
[50:21] luciano? Yes. Commissioner mercado. Absent. Commissioner murray thomas.
[50:25] yes. Commissioner richardson? Yes. Commissioner bol? Yes.
[50:29] commissioner sermons. Absent. Commissioner vice president cooper? Yes. Commissioner
[50:34] president ez? Yes. So moved. Let's move on to 13 and add started number 64,
[50:38] which from the department of parks, recreation and cultural affairs. They will be ready to the record
[50:42] at a later time. And I dare say I don't see mr. Zas. Mm-hmm
[50:47] . Well, mr. President, I'm substituting for mr. Zas
[50:51] . Good. Thank you. Mr.
[50:55] coran department parks, uh, recreation and cultural affair.
[50:59] contract change would, uh, do jet tree experts and
[51:04] the amount of $180,000, uh, total amount
[51:08] will now be $1,080,000. Uh,
[51:12] this is a 20% change order. Okay. And
[51:16] number 64 is contract cultural affairs award to acqua miss irrigation
[51:21] of new jersey, llc to provide irrigation system maintenance and
[51:25] repair services. Provera park facilities. This is a
[51:29] one month contract extension from june 10th, 2025
[51:33] to july 16th, 2020. Uh, five mountain out to
[51:37] exceed $138,803 and 83 cents.
[51:42] thank you mr. Parlow. Beck, you have any questions? It's just a question on 13. Uh, jay,
[51:47] the resolution says, do jets and then and downs tree service. Are they two
[51:51] separate companies or one combined company? One. They are two separate companies. Okay.
[51:55] so they each have different responsibilities under the contract. Yes. It's
[51:59] all for tree stump, grinding, taking down trees, et cetera.
[52:04] thank you, mr. Mcinerney. No questions. Commissioners. Any
[52:08] questions? I'll move it. Move by siebel 1364.
[52:13] do I have a second? Second. Second. By richardson, who's very disappointed. Mr.
[52:17] zas isn't here today. Yeah. Roll call madam. Deputy clerk commissioner
[52:21] gill. Absent. Commissioner luciano? Yes. Commissioner mercado. Absent.
[52:26] commissioner murray thomas. Yes. Commissioner richardson? Yes. Commissioner
[52:30] siebel? Yes. Commissioner sermons. Absent. Commissioner, vice president cooper?
[52:34] yes. Commissioner president ez? Yes. So moved. That's move on to
[52:38] resolution 15 as resolution 14 was already done earlier. 15
[52:43] is from the office of purchasing and could be read to the record at a later time. Mr. Coltrane,
[52:49] mr. President, uh, mr. St. John stole my mic.
[52:53] so, uh, uh, we're not there yet. Mr. St. John, we have to wait. You have
[52:57] to be patient, sir. Contract award to four loafs responsible bidders
[53:01] items of unit cost space to provide printing services. This
[53:06] is a countywide service for each department. We had a, uh,
[53:10] four vendors receiving the contract previously.
[53:14] we spent $182,000. This is not to exceed
[53:18] $225,000 for the year. July 12th, 2025
[53:24] to july 11th, 2027. Thank you mr. Parlove.
[53:28] no questions. Mr. Mcinerney? No questions. Commissioners. Seeing
[53:32] no questions. Someone to move. 15. Motion moved by vice president cooper. Do have a second?
[53:37] second. Second by richardson. Roll call madam deputy clerk on 15. Commissioner
[53:42] gill. Absent. Commissioner luciano? Yes. Commissioner mercado. Absent.
[53:46] commissioner murray thomas. Yes. Commissioner richardson. Yes. Commissioner
[53:50] siebold? Yes. Commissioner sermons. Absent. Commissioner, vice president cooper?
[53:54] yes. Commissioner president pois. Yes. So moved. So let's move on to number 1617
[53:59] and added start of 65, 66 and 68, which are in the office
[54:03] of county council. They'll be read into the record at a later time. Mr. St. John,
[54:08] now it's your turn. Thank you, mr. President jerome, st. John county council.
[54:12] uh, number 16 and number 17 are two more, uh, amicable
[54:17] settlements of contracts with, uh, two of our additional unit, uh,
[54:21] unions. Uh, they both follow the 2, 2, 3, 3, 3, 5 year,
[54:25] uh, uh, template that this board and the administration has set up.
[54:30] I want to thank mr. Jackson, ms. Hall, who, uh, as you know is our
[54:34] director of labor relations, as well as the union representatives who
[54:38] were tough partners, but, but are bargained in good faith and I appreciate
[54:43] that. Good. Uh, any questions? Any of the matter? We'll
[54:47] move on. We'll take the questions all at the end there. Thank you. Let's move on. Uh, and that was, we'll
[54:51] take 65. Next 65. Yes, sir. Uh,
[54:55] 65.
[55:04] thank you, judge. 65 is, um,
[55:09] 65. This is the professional service agreement, uh, to the,
[55:13] uh, ambrose group. Uh, with regard to third party
[55:17] subpoenas. Uh, this is an amendment to their contract in an amount
[55:22] not to exceed 20,000 bucks. Uh, next
[55:26] number, 66. 66. This is an
[55:30] amendment to, uh, the outside counsel, uh,
[55:35] contract with the county by the name of wars. Their name is wal ian o'reilly.
[55:39] uh, increasing the amount to an amount not to exceed $600,000.
[55:44] uh, because of the complexity of this litigation, which I've discussed
[55:48] with members of this board on, on several occasions. Uh, same thing,
[55:53] uh, with number 60, I think you want me to 68? Yes. Okay. Not I
[55:57] can do 67, but 68. Uh, this is a shared service agreement
[56:01] with the county of lauer for essex county juvenile detention
[56:05] facility to house, uh, ju juveniles from the county of
[56:10] gloucester. Okay. Mr. Becker, any question on 16, 17, 65, 66,
[56:16] and 68? Just with, excuse me, with respect to 68 with gloucester
[56:20] county? That's an existing relationship we have with gloucester.
[56:24] no? Yes. Uh, I, I shortened the term to only six
[56:28] months. 30 day. We can get out in 30 days because of the pricing
[56:33] situation. They understand, uh, we're doing this as a favor to gloucester county
[56:38] and also to the, uh, jjc. Uh, and I expressed that favor
[56:42] also to, uh, the jjc. So we're really just to
[56:46] help people out. Gotcha. Thank you, mr.
[56:51] mckenna. Any questions? Uh, number 66. What was, what was the original
[56:55] not to exceed prior to this? Maybe not the original, but what was,
[56:59] what was the not to exceed prior to this amendment?
[57:03] uh, uh, number 66. Uh, this is the,
[57:07] uh, this, this case. What was the original amount? Mr. Mc? Yeah. Recollection
[57:11] a hundred thousand. How how much? A hundred thousand. So this is amending
[57:15] it by half a million, amending it up? Yes, that's correct. From 100
[57:20] to five to 600, excuse me. 100 to 600? Correct.
[57:27] any other questions mr. Mckinrey? No. Okay. Commissioner
[57:31] stifel, how many negotiations are still outstanding?
[57:36] thank, thank you very much, commissioner. I was gonna mention that we have successfully completed
[57:41] 24 out of 26, so we now have two, two
[57:45] more to do. Uh, mr. Jackson and I spent today with, with,
[57:49] uh, a group, and hopefully that will resolve. Uh, and then we're hoping
[57:53] to get both done. But we we're, we're very, I'm very happy
[57:57] at the negotiating team that we've got 24 out of 26 completed.
[58:01] once we have all 26, how long will that last
[58:05] till we have to start all over again? We, well, we have one contract
[58:10] that expires at end of this year, of the, of the 24. So that will have to
[58:14] be negotiated. But the other, all the rest of them are five year contract, 2028.
[58:19] so we're in good shape. So 2028. Uh, I'll be the only one left
[58:23] here by then. , thank you for your great work. Wonderful. May very well
[58:27] be, sir. Wonderful. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you. Commissioner,
[58:31] vice president cooper, do you have a question? I do. Thank you. Um,
[58:36] I missed a conversation related to, um, item number 66. So, mr. Parillo,
[58:40] can you can offline just give me, why is it jumping so much from
[58:44] a hundred thousand to 600,000 offline?
[58:49] yes. Thank you, commissioners. Any
[58:53] other questions or comments? I'll move it. Moved by sebel. This is 16 17 65.
[58:59] 66 of 68. Yes. You have a second, second. Second
[59:03] by richardson. Roll call madam deputy clerk commissioner gill.
[59:07] absent. Commissioner luciano? Yes. Commissioner mercado. Absent. Commissioner
[59:12] murray thomas. Yes. Commissioner richardson. Yes. Commissioner
[59:16] bol? Yes. Commissioner sermons absent. Commissioner, vice president cooper?
[59:21] yes. Commissioner president pois? Yes. So move, let's move on to
[59:25] 18, which is from the department of corrections. We'll be right into the record at later time. Mr. Jackson?
[59:30] uh, mr. St. John. Mr. St. John number 18.
[59:34] thank. Thank you. Uh, this is a, uh, amended to the sheriff's service
[59:38] agreement with union county, again to h house union county
[59:42] inmates in the yeses county correction facility. Uh, it is, it has
[59:47] escalations in the, the per diem, and other than that, it's, it's pretty
[59:51] much the same agreement. Okay. Thank you mr. Par baker. Any questions? No questions. Mr. Mcinerney?
[59:55] no questions. Commissioners. See? None. Does someone move it?
[59:59] move it. Moved by vice president cooper. Second richardson. Roll call madam deputy clerk for
[1:00:03] number 18. Commissioner gill. Absent. Commissioner
[1:00:07] luciano? Yes. Commissioner mercado. Absent. Commissioner murray
[1:00:11] thomas. Yes. Commissioner richardson. Yes. Commissioner siebel?
[1:00:15] yes. Commissioner sermons absent. Commissioner, vice president cooper? Yes.
[1:00:20] commissioner president ez. Yes. So moved. Let's move on to 19 and
[1:00:24] 20 and add it charter section seven, which is on the office of the prosecutor, and that'll be
[1:00:28] right into the record at a later time. Mr. Colter, mr. President, uh,
[1:00:32] this is a contract award to three different vendors, uh,
[1:00:37] elli ford inc. Herridge fleet service
[1:00:41] for the purchase of eight vehicles, uh, ford explorers
[1:00:46] equipped with emergency lights and sirens. 4 20 25
[1:00:50] chevrolet malibu, full size vehicles and one ford
[1:00:54] utility police interceptor. Total cost for this is
[1:00:58] $503,435 and 44
[1:01:03] uh cents. Um, these are all purchased either under the
[1:01:07] state contract or co-ops, and it is funded through
[1:01:11] the trust fund for the prosecutor's office. Uh, number
[1:01:16] 20 is a resolution, approving participation with the state
[1:01:20] of new jersey grant program administered by the department of law and public safety,
[1:01:25] accepting a sub-grant, uh, award for appear march 1st, 2025
[1:01:30] to february 28th, 2027 under the 25 0 4
[1:01:36] help and hope, uh, grant program.
[1:01:41] let's take 67 57 60 67 67.
[1:01:52] uh, officer of the prosecutor, professional service agreement.
[1:01:57] continue legal service and public safety training administrator hillary
[1:02:01] m barnell, a 12 month agreement amount not to exceed
[1:02:05] 77,000. This is a publicly advertised fair and open rfp,
[1:02:10] and they were the only respondent. Thank you mr.
[1:02:14] parvino. Questions on 1920 and 67? No questions mr. Kiner.
[1:02:18] no questions. Commissioners, someone to move it move by vice
[1:02:22] president cooper. Second. Second. Second by richardson. Roll call mad deputy clerk
[1:02:27] nineteen twenty sixty seven. Commissioner gill. Absent. Commissioner luciano?
[1:02:31] yes. Commissioner mercado. Absent. Commissioner murray thomas. Yes. Commissioner
[1:02:36] richardson. Yes. Commissioner siebold. Yes. Commissioner sermons
[1:02:40] absent. Commissioner vice president cooper? Yes. Commissioner president ez.
[1:02:44] yes. So moved. Let's move on to fun time resolutions 21 to 29, which are 2025,
[1:02:49] budget insertions of items of revenue that could be read to the record later time. Mr. Jackson?
[1:02:54] uh, thank you, mr. President. Uh, 21 is from the new jersey department
[1:02:58] of law and public safety to our prosecutor's office in the amount of $225,000
[1:03:03] for the help and hope grant program. Uh, this was, this is, uh,
[1:03:07] an early intervention program that's done at the municipal court level. Uh, it was
[1:03:11] a pilot program that started in a star and it's actually expanding now to,
[1:03:16] uh, irvington and there's no match, uh, from the county
[1:03:20] item 22 department of new jersey department of children and families,
[1:03:24] again to our prosecutor's office for the child advocacy advocacy
[1:03:28] program. Uh, this is the amount of $358,182,
[1:03:34] uh, grant period from j uh, july of this year to,
[1:03:38] uh, uh, june of next year. Uh, and this enables our prosecutor's
[1:03:42] office to investigate, uh, crimes involving sexual abuse of children.
[1:03:46] uh, it provides a percentage of salary infringe for four staff members
[1:03:50] at the prosecutor's office. Uh,
[1:03:55] item 23 is from the department of law and public safety, uh, also
[1:03:59] to our prosecutor's office for the mental health diversion support grant
[1:04:03] and the amount of $1,812,416.
[1:04:08] and this helps with, um, um, individuals, uh,
[1:04:12] with our, uh, hospital center, with individuals who have, um,
[1:04:16] uh, uh, mental challenges, shall I say. Um,
[1:04:21] and it's broken up to, uh, dollars that go to our prosecutor's office or personnel
[1:04:25] and also to our hospital center, uh, for that purpose.
[1:04:30] item, uh, 24 is from the new jersey council on
[1:04:34] substance use disorders to our division of community health, um,
[1:04:38] services. And it's the amount of $343,414.
[1:04:43] uh, this is the, the municipal alliance grant that we've, we've heard a lot about over
[1:04:48] the years. Uh, we have 18 of our communities in the program.
[1:04:52] four are not, uh, participating. Um, and the, the orange
[1:04:56] , newark and montclair no longer, uh, participate. And, uh,
[1:05:00] there's no, uh, county match item 25 from
[1:05:04] the new j new jersey department of health to our division of community health,
[1:05:09] uh, in the amount of $2,891,800.
[1:05:14] this is our early intervention grant. This provides, um, uh,
[1:05:18] an ability to identify, evaluate, and treat children with special needs
[1:05:23] from, uh, birth to three years old. And the contract runs from july of this
[1:05:27] year to june of next year. Uh, it covers, uh, $2,747,681
[1:05:33] in salaries for 38 employees, um, and some additional
[1:05:38] monies for supplies and equipment, et cetera. And there is an in kind ma
[1:05:42] in kind match of $1,117,226
[1:05:47] that we, uh, uh, match by providing print benefits
[1:05:51] of other, um, facility, uh, expenses to,
[1:05:56] to provide for that match. Item
[1:06:00] 26 is from the new jersey elections to our, uh,
[1:06:04] superintendent of elections, uh, commissioner of registration, uh, $509,686
[1:06:10] to 84 cents. This is reimbursing, uh, for the 2024 early
[1:06:14] primary and special primary elections. Uh, item 27
[1:06:21] is, uh, similarly from the new jersey elections to,
[1:06:25] uh, our, the superintendent of elections, correct, uh, commission registration.
[1:06:30] and this is reimbursement for the 2023 early general election
[1:06:34] expenses. Item 28,
[1:06:40] uh, 28 is
[1:06:44] from new jersey elections to the board of elections in the amount of $20,429
[1:06:49] and 1 cents. This is for the 2024, uh, special
[1:06:54] primary election. Uh, there was $706,557
[1:06:59] and 5 cents inserted previously. And this is additional, uh, funding
[1:07:03] for that, uh, election. And, uh, item 29
[1:07:08] from the department of treasury to our department of public works. It's
[1:07:12] a clean communities grant in the amount of $95,311 and
[1:07:16] 52 cents. And this is funded that focus on, uh, picking up
[1:07:20] and disposal of litter, debris, and trash along our county roadways.
[1:07:25] thank you, mr. Parve. Any questions? No questions. Mr. Mcinerney?
[1:07:29] no questions. Commissioners. Any questions on 21 to 29? Commissioner mary thomas.
[1:07:33] thank you, mr. Jackson. Uh, first of all, we love money coming into the county
[1:07:37] budget, so it's always good to see these. Um, are any of these that's right.
[1:07:41] mr. President. Um, are any of these grants that we're receiving for the first time or are most
[1:07:46] of these, uh, recurring and just kind of a renewable? Uh, most, uh, they're,
[1:07:50] they're recurring. The only one that's a little bit different is when we are, uh, with the
[1:07:54] prosecutor's office, when we're expanding the program into, uh, irvington. Got it. Thank
[1:07:58] you. Any other questions? Commissioner,
[1:08:03] mayor thomas, would you like to move it? Certainly. Thank you. I have a second.
[1:08:07] second by vice president cooper. Roll call. Madam deputy clerk 21 to 29th.
[1:08:11] commissioner gill. Absent. Commissioner luciano? Yes. Commissioner
[1:08:16] mercado. Absent. Commissioner murray thomas. Yes. Commissioner richardson.
[1:08:20] yes. Commissioner bol? Yes. Commissioner sermons. Absent. Commissioner,
[1:08:25] vice president cooper? Yes. Commissioner president pois? Yes. So moved.
[1:08:29] let's move on to resolutions 31 through 57 with the exception
[1:08:33] of 31, which we already moved earlier this evening. These are I memos,
[1:08:37] ation proclamation resolutions. They can be read to the record at a later
[1:08:41] time. Commissioners, any questions?
[1:08:47] see none. Someone move it. Move by richard. Second by vice president cooper. Roll call. Mad
[1:08:51] deputy clerk. This is 30 through 57, the exception of 31, which was already
[1:08:55] moved. Commissioner gill, absent. Commissioner luciano? Yes.
[1:08:59] commissioner mercado. Absent. Commissioner murray thomas. Yes. Commissioner
[1:09:03] richardson? Yes. Commissioner siebold? Yes. Commissioner sermons absent.
[1:09:08] commissioner, vice president cooper? Yes. Commissioner, president.
[1:09:12] yes. Sole moved. Alright, madam deputy clerk, any you to start us or we covered them
[1:09:16] all? Uh, they've all been taken care of with the departments. Good news. All right, let's move
[1:09:20] on to report of board committees, commissioners, any report of board committees
[1:09:24] and ma we already heard from the cac committee quasi, you know, report there earlier today,
[1:09:29] so we were in good shape seeing none. Do you have any legislative
[1:09:33] reports? Right in communications,
[1:09:37] any unfinished business? New business?
[1:09:41] seeing none. Let's move on the public comment. Uh, if there's any member of
[1:09:45] the public would like to comment on any matter, please turn to the microphone. Yeah,
[1:09:49] mom calling me out. Don't need it. I'm loud enough. No, no. Wait, wait. Mom, I
[1:09:54] wait, I gotta finish making my statement. Charlotte me out. I want,
[1:09:58] hold on, hold on, hold on. For the record. I have to
[1:10:02] read the paragraph or the people who type this up get mad at me for not
[1:10:06] reading it and I'm not compliant. Okay. Understand. So if there's any member of the public who would like to comment
[1:10:11] on any matter, please come to the microphone and state your name and affiliation for the record.
[1:10:15] you will have four minutes to speak now, recognizing you, please state your name. We
[1:10:19] all know who you are, but please tell us who you are. Okay, maiya. I'm gonna make this very short and sweet.
[1:10:23] I wanna thank everybody in this room. That's the commissioner, especially commissioner
[1:10:27] cooper, who believed in making a difference and making a change.
[1:10:32] and tonight you make so many people those rescuers, they are so
[1:10:36] grateful and appreciative that you recognize them. And everybody needs
[1:10:40] a little kindness sometimes. And I wanna thank again, I'm not gonna elaborate.
[1:10:44] you know, my mission, my mission is to make a difference like each one
[1:10:48] of you did in this room by the residents, by the rescuers,
[1:10:53] by the feeders, and especially those community cats that are voiceless.
[1:10:57] so they just wanna say meow, meow in their own way.
[1:11:01] thank you. And god, thank you ms. Gallo. Now you've made our night complete. Thank you. We've
[1:11:06] been waiting for that. It's been a while since we got the actual meal.
[1:11:10] is there anyone else wishing to speak at this time?
[1:11:14] let's adjust the microphone there, adam. Thank you. Good evening.
[1:11:19] good evening everyone. My name is danna dennis. I am a resident of east orange, new jersey,
[1:11:23] formerly of, uh, newark, new jersey. And so I've been in essex county in a total of
[1:11:27] almost six years. I, um, I'm here on two issues tonight. Um,
[1:11:31] I'm also a parent. I'm a taxpayer. Um, I am professionally
[1:11:36] for almost a decade. Um, a little over a decade now, excuse me. Uh, transportation
[1:11:41] and environmental justice advocate. I mostly work on city, state and federal
[1:11:45] campaigns at the new york city level. But I live here and I care about my community and what's happening
[1:11:49] as six county. And I also also serve in essex as the east orange
[1:11:53] special education parent advisory council. Uh, policy director. I
[1:11:57] have two children. Um, they're both toddlers. One is neurodiverse
[1:12:02] and the other is, uh, also neurotypical. And I'm here mainly on the first
[1:12:06] issue around my neurodiverse child and all children I guess I am.
[1:12:11] um, I've been watching and emailing and calling around the renovations
[1:12:15] that are happening at monte irvin park. Um, which I live in east orange, but
[1:12:19] I'm one block away from the park. I'm in a really peculiar intersection on harrison, which
[1:12:23] puts me a few blocks from south. Um, orange puts me right there next
[1:12:28] to orange and puts me in east coast, right? And so, um, I have gone to council
[1:12:32] meetings in both municipalities. I have called the parks department
[1:12:36] several times. I have emails dating back to may of 2022,
[1:12:40] where almost every year around this time, as we know, kids are about to get out of school.
[1:12:44] they'll be entering the playground on heavy rotation, right? Mainly a
[1:12:48] daily basis. And we have a playground that is falling apart and
[1:12:52] it's really offensive to see all of the amazing upgrades. It's
[1:12:57] kind of like a bittersweet thing that's happening in monte park, right? We just got this really great,
[1:13:01] uh, baseball field. We have the community center being built,
[1:13:05] and I'm so excited for those things. But then to see the playground be ignored,
[1:13:10] um, on parts that, you know, I keep being told on the phone, hey, they're
[1:13:14] on back order. Hey, you need to email maintenance. I've emailed maintenance, I've cc'd other people.
[1:13:18] I'm not sure who's over that, but I just wanna put that issue out there. Um, and I will,
[1:13:23] you know, start to bring more parents if I need to or if we need to get a petition. But hopefully being
[1:13:27] heard tonight is enough, and whoever is, um, you know, responsible for oversight
[1:13:31] can look into that. And the issue, the main things that I will say is the
[1:13:35] swing. It's been broken since 2022. The marigo round has holes
[1:13:40] and dents also broken, and most of the structure is not inclusive to
[1:13:44] children of all needs. Second, I have a question. Um, I'm
[1:13:48] just wondering what's happening with the safe routes to school, um,
[1:13:52] and safety street safety plans? There's been no update in
[1:13:56] both in,
[1:14:00] um, and so I have a lot of concerns around that. I've been working with my city, both cities,
[1:14:05] the county as an advocate, trying to get some updates. It's really great to
[1:14:09] see the cash that has been infused into the freeway drive project, but we need
[1:14:13] to talk more about highway two 80 and also what is gonna happen on
[1:14:17] central avenue and main street, which are both county roads and how we're gonna make those safer
[1:14:21] for residents. Thank you. Thank you madam. And is our policy, we will respond in writing,
[1:14:26] but if you see adam here in a moment, uh, you'll,
[1:14:30] he can take your email, uh, you can synthesize your questions, we can
[1:14:34] send 'em over for parks, for example, we would send it to the administration, which
[1:14:38] are colleagues across from us, and they will forward it to the parks. And then when they get the
[1:14:42] response, we'll forward that to you. Okay, thank you. Of course. Good evening, sir.
[1:14:46] good evening. Uh, mr. President and everyone, uh,
[1:14:51] everyone here present? Um, my name is rayor steel dames. I decide on
[1:14:55] lake street in newark, new jersey, here in the county of essex. I'm
[1:14:59] an oath taker. I was in iraq when they first voted, uh, providing
[1:15:03] security with the united states army. Um, I'm a veteran of this country.
[1:15:07] I'm also a retired new york firefighter. And, um, I have concerns
[1:15:11] in my city that has not been addressed for over two and a half years. I assume
[1:15:15] everyone here drove, um, to come to this meeting. But, um,
[1:15:20] we are facing a safety issue on lake street, right in front
[1:15:24] of the park. Um, I am glad that you guys are enforcing the 25, lowering
[1:15:28] the speed inside the park, and I wish the same thing newark pd can
[1:15:32] do on lake street and enforce the speed limit there as well. Um,
[1:15:37] my, my wife, um, lost, uh, a vehicle in a total loss
[1:15:41] accident coming out of our homes. Um, the reason why is 'cause lake
[1:15:45] lake street, it's the longest road in, in the
[1:15:49] city of newark. I don't know if there's probably another county that has a longer road, but in newark is
[1:15:53] the longest stretch of road without a a, um, stop sign, stop
[1:15:58] sign, stop or traffic light. My house is on the 10th house from second to
[1:16:02] edmonton. For the past two and a half years, I've attended the new york city council meeting,
[1:16:06] and I've spoken with the norfolk councilman who works for this county, um,
[1:16:10] to help alleviate the issue. He lives on the street and
[1:16:15] he only comes whenever he wants to get votes. And, um, we
[1:16:19] are, the whole entire block is already up to here
[1:16:23] with the, the safety concerns that we
[1:16:27] have. So this body here at some point voted to remove
[1:16:31] the parking on, on branchwood park between second and a and bloomfield,
[1:16:36] which was a great thing as a newark fireman. I used to work over on
[1:16:40] summer avenue, and I used to drive the firetruck, and it was very difficult maneuvering through, through
[1:16:44] there. So when you guys remove that parking there, the people that live on the
[1:16:48] montley apartments, they started parking over on our side. Now we're
[1:16:52] having physical interactions with the people living there, meaning they're blocking our
[1:16:57] driveways, physically moving barriers, doing things just to, for
[1:17:01] us to have a physical altercation. And we do not want that. Um,
[1:17:05] like I said, our insurance went up, we lost the vehicle. My wife was
[1:17:09] badly hurt. I have three children. Um, I don't want anything to
[1:17:13] happen to my family or to anybody. My block. I have already attended many
[1:17:17] meetings that have the signatures. I have submitted it, it's been two and a half years, and
[1:17:21] I don't know what the process is for us to get the county to help
[1:17:25] citizens down at the local level. But, um, I'm here for anybody
[1:17:29] to help me out on the public safety side, perhaps, um, so that we could get some
[1:17:34] resolution down over on lake street. Thank you. Thank you. So what we could do, sir, is
[1:17:38] we, I don't know off the top of my head, is lake street a county road? It's not. It is a, it
[1:17:42] is a town, it is a city of newark road. So I
[1:17:46] think what we can, we can do, we, we can certainly send, uh, an
[1:17:50] overview of your concerns to the engineer on behalf of the city of
[1:17:54] newark. We don't do those roads and that county roads per
[1:17:59] se, but we don't live in vacuums and engineers from all of the
[1:18:03] towns in essex county do work with our engineering department. And maybe
[1:18:07] there are, you know, some of the concerns could be raised, could, uh, inquire
[1:18:11] if there are traffic calming measures for one, uh, and any other measures
[1:18:15] that are specific to lake. I, I, I think I heard commissioner richard said there's no,
[1:18:19] uh, stop signs or things of that nature. It, it pro it needs a lot more
[1:18:23] analysis than I can give you at this moment. Clearly understand. Uh, so what we could do is adam
[1:18:27] perhaps can take your information, he's in the back there, uh,
[1:18:32] and then we can just, uh, send a general inquiry to the engineering departments that we've
[1:18:36] had some concerns, uh, on the road. You know, are you, are
[1:18:40] there any mechanism or any plans for them to do anything on lake
[1:18:44] street with traffic, calming and parking or whatever the, whatever the issues may
[1:18:48] very specifically be. And we can certainly inquire that because
[1:18:52] I, I can guarantee that our engineering departments don't live in different worlds. You know, they, we,
[1:18:57] we have to work together. So thank you, sir. Okay. Thank you, sir.
[1:19:03] is there anyone else wishing to speak at this time for father dun? Good evening.
[1:19:07] good evening. Maggie freeman wway park sports authority. Um,
[1:19:11] I wanted to hand the commissioners, um, a copy of the,
[1:19:16] um, long jump request that we came at the last meeting, kind of discussing with the improvements that
[1:19:20] you're making with the track. We can add to adam in just a moment. So you, okay. So yeah, so that's what we are coming to
[1:19:24] advocate for because it's needed. We wanna just improve the quality of the track, um, uh,
[1:19:28] facilities that's at weak way park, and we wanted to make sure that it's not just up to date
[1:19:33] for the, this park, but that it kind of meets the, the, um, demands of the entire
[1:19:37] essex county system. So we just wanna make sure that the youth have the potential to expand.
[1:19:41] thank you so much. Thank you, your honor. Adam will have that, he'll distribute that to the
[1:19:45] commissioners and we'll send a
[1:19:49] copy to the administration as well, adam, so that they of course have
[1:19:54] a copy of it. Is there anyone else wishing to speak at this time?
[1:19:58] mr. Freeman? I say that because I see you just walked in how today?
[1:20:05] okay. Um, mr. Freeman great park sports authority, um, nine
[1:20:09] two thomas carmichael drive. I'm here on behalf of the community for the long
[1:20:13] jump pitt. We do have a petition on maggie gave
[1:20:17] it name. What we found out is the youth
[1:20:22] are really starting to settle when it comes to recreational sports
[1:20:27] and athletics sports. What is happening now is because of the county parks,
[1:20:31] they're able to practice even on their own. Um, you have high school students
[1:20:36] who are coming to the tracks and they're teaching the younger children on their own.
[1:20:41] what they asking for is to be able to have a facility that has
[1:20:45] the long jump head so they can start practicing on that too. Um,
[1:20:49] some of them want to be able to look and see if they can go to the olympics
[1:20:53] or even with college, but if they don't have the, the actual
[1:20:57] equipment, how do they know that they're doing it right? If they don't
[1:21:01] have the equipment? Um, wellsburg do have one,
[1:21:05] and we have been going up there, and it's a great, um, complex
[1:21:10] for sports, uh, to see how it has transformed. Wellsburg
[1:21:14] park is amazing. We just asking that you consider adding the
[1:21:18] long jump pit into weak great park so that we can actually have the, the
[1:21:23] official, um, track field in that facility. Thank you.
[1:21:27] thank you, sir. Mr. Jackson?
[1:21:31] yeah, just, just a couple comments on, on on some of the items that have
[1:21:35] been raised. I know we don't normally do this with fresno, but I just quickly, um,
[1:21:39] monte irvin park, the, the playground. We looked at, uh, plans
[1:21:44] at our parks meeting, uh, tuesday, uh, to do a
[1:21:48] total rehab, not even rehab, a total redo of the playground.
[1:21:52] so that'll be a totally new expanded, um,
[1:21:56] playground with, uh, areas for older kids. Um,
[1:22:00] and, and for the young, real young guys too, with shade structure. It, it'll be, I think it'll
[1:22:04] be fantastic. And also addressing some of the needs for kids with,
[1:22:08] um, uh, disability. So I, I think it'll be a, a tremendous, uh, it's great to hear
[1:22:13] addition, um, and the, the accounting executive, uh, at the same meeting, instructed,
[1:22:18] uh, director sante and deputy director hartwick to figure out
[1:22:22] a way to do a, a long jump pit at, uh, week wake. Great.
[1:22:26] that was a great update. See, you folks came. We heard, we listened, and now they're working on it.
[1:22:30] so thank, we want to thank the administration and the county executive for looking into
[1:22:34] it. Now, folks, please, this won't happen tomorrow. I don't want to set, you know,
[1:22:38] this doesn't happen in a day, you know, this takes a little bit of time, but, but
[1:22:42] there is traction here, uh, for mr. Jackson. And, uh, if there's one thing
[1:22:46] essex county does, right, it sparks. So certainly we do that. Thank you mr. Jackson for sharing
[1:22:51] this stuff. Is there anyone else from the public who would have, uh, any public
[1:22:55] comments at this time? Okay, see none.
[1:23:00] we're gonna close public comment to, uh, commissioner, comment session. Commissioners, any
[1:23:04] comments? You don't get flowers today. Commissioner mary thomas last
[1:23:08] week. We did that once in a while. We don't do it every meeting. , I think
[1:23:12] comm commissioner mary thomas. Thank you. I did get flowers today in the form of
[1:23:17] being able to celebrate, uh, two groups of young people. Um, one the
[1:23:21] 13th avenue elementary boys team who are state
[1:23:25] champions, or rather, not state champions, but city champions. Um, and they're like sixth, seventh,
[1:23:29] and eighth grade. And just brilliant on and off the court. So that was my flowers,
[1:23:33] getting to celebrate them today and hear them speak so eloquently, not just about,
[1:23:37] uh, athletics, but also like about character and how they try to change their community and the things that they're
[1:23:41] doing, as well as celebrating the, um, sparkle motion, uh,
[1:23:45] women or women in non-binary, non-binary youth, uh, frisbee team
[1:23:49] of, of maplewood columbia high school and skin in the game, which is an interfaith
[1:23:54] organization between a jewish synagogue and, uh, bethany baptist church
[1:23:58] here in newark. And I think it's, uh, synagogue benet in montclair. Uh, so tho
[1:24:02] those are my flowers, mr. President. So all good. Um, beautiful celebrating them.
[1:24:06] but I did want to, uh, just briefly kind of share something that
[1:24:11] is a, a deep passion of this board of commissioners and certainly, uh, commissioner
[1:24:15] gill, which is the safe rose and transportation legislation and initiatives
[1:24:20] here at the county. And I'm just thinking about some of the comments that were lifted up by two of the, uh,
[1:24:24] community members and seeing how there could be some potential synergy and maybe even how the municipalities
[1:24:28] both in north where I'm from, and then even east orange, could look at some of the work that we've been doing here
[1:24:32] in the county to, uh, potentially kind of apply it to those contexts.
[1:24:36] uh, because that is, you know, community safety is
[1:24:41] real and roads are dangerous. And unfortunately essex
[1:24:45] county, um, and new jersey has had a lot of issues, right? Uh, when it comes
[1:24:49] to, to pedestrian safety and, uh, commuter safety. And there's
[1:24:53] some common sense legislation that we can do and be supportive. And, and this county
[1:24:57] has really also led the way in a number of ways there as a county government. And there's certainly
[1:25:01] ways that we could collaborate with other municipalities. So looking forward to seeing how we can explore
[1:25:05] that. Um, and I also wanted to lift up the, you know,
[1:25:09] con concern about the sandpit, uh, for the track and field
[1:25:14] at weak way. That seems like something that is doable. And I definitely will
[1:25:18] be following up with, uh, the office of parks and recreation just to see what's possible there,
[1:25:22] what a rough timeline could look like, and how we can work on, um, getting that done.
[1:25:26] so thank you again, uh, to doug and, and maggie for lifting that up. I did wanna
[1:25:30] just highlight a few, uh, really beautiful community, uh, events. I
[1:25:34] know this is our one meeting in the month, so I wanna celebrate as much as we can
[1:25:38] in this meeting that we have. Uh, just last week I was able to attend,
[1:25:43] uh, well, many of us, several of us attended the flag raising for the l-g-b-t-q
[1:25:47] community. Uh, so that was really beautiful. And then a few days after that, I was able to attend
[1:25:51] the lavender graduation and the queer prom at, uh, maplewood south
[1:25:55] orange columbia high school. And so it was so beautiful, and so shout out to those incredible young
[1:26:00] people, their teachers, the co-chairs of spectrum. And then shannon,
[1:26:04] who's actually on the lgbtq plus advisory board here at essex county,
[1:26:08] who organizes that every year with incredible hard work and hard work.
[1:26:12] also wanted to acknowledge the 59th annual, uh, celebration of
[1:26:16] guyanese independence day as proud guyanese and african-american women.
[1:26:21] it was really an honor to celebrate, uh, those incredible honorees and
[1:26:25] the annual flag raising that took place at the newark city hall. Shout
[1:26:29] out to alyssa for all her work for that incredible, um,
[1:26:33] really beautiful event that day. And one of my young people, ri was one of the honorees there, so
[1:26:37] I was really proud of her. She's doing amazing things. Um, and I just wanted
[1:26:41] to just acknowledge that it is caribbean heritage month. Um, and,
[1:26:45] you know, just want to shout out to everyone, particularly in a time in our country where
[1:26:49] there's so much emphasis on hate and division and ostracizing people
[1:26:54] based on who they are. It's so important that we celebrate who we are and we celebrate
[1:26:58] the differences that make up all of us. And so, whether you are an immigrant
[1:27:02] yourself or descendant of immigrants, or also like me, a a descendant
[1:27:07] of people who, uh, were forced to come here without choice, um, know that
[1:27:11] your difference is your superpower. And I think it's so important that this county
[1:27:15] always makes time and space to celebrate, uh, the different
[1:27:19] heritages and communities that make us be it through our juneteenth celebration coming up
[1:27:23] next week, or every single ethnicity and culture and
[1:27:28] religious minority, we find a way to celebrate them here. Um, so certainly wanna celebrate caribbean
[1:27:32] heritage month, which is near and dear to me. Uh, but all of the differences
[1:27:37] that make us as a county and to councilman president larry crump of
[1:27:41] newark for providing transportation today for the young people who we honored from
[1:27:45] 13th avenue boys basketball team. He was the reason why they were able to get here safely.
[1:27:49] and so we thank you president crump for that support of
[1:27:54] our young people everywhere. Thank you. Thank you, commissioner. Commissioner.
[1:27:58] any other questions or, uh, comments I should say? I'd just like to add,
[1:28:02] uh, uh, we unfortunately had to reschedule our jewish
[1:28:06] heritage celebration because a, a very close relative of one of the honorees passed
[1:28:11] away that day. And we thought it would be, uh, be very, the
[1:28:15] appropriate thing to mourn with them, uh, and, and not proceed. We
[1:28:19] have not yet, we scheduled that. Uh, but we, we will when the time is
[1:28:23] right. I think we need a little bit of time, uh, for that honoree to,
[1:28:27] you know, mourn and, and give a little bit of time. So I just want to make sure
[1:28:31] that everyone's aware, we, we certainly didn't forget where we're mourning with, uh,
[1:28:36] with that person. So I will ask you to please keep, uh,
[1:28:40] those folks, uh, in, in your thoughts and in your hearts, uh, as they go
[1:28:44] through a very difficult time, uh, which is something none of us would ever like to experience. So,
[1:28:49] I hate to close on a somber note, but we will, we will come back. And,
[1:28:53] uh, if there's nothing else, do I have a motion to adjourn? Move it
[1:28:59] a second by the president. Uh, all in favor? Aye. Aye.