[0:29] Thank you for coming. This is our regular meeting from September 14th, 2026. I'm going to read the sunshine statement. This is a statement of compliance with the sunshine law, NJSA-104-10. This meeting is being held in accordance with the open public meeting exact and adequate notice this meeting has been provided as required by law. Specifically, the annual notice was emailed to the west as a tribune and the star ledger on January 5th, 2026.

[0:55] The agenda and resolutions for this meeting are available on LivingstonNJ.org, certain portions

[1:01] of this meeting may be closed to the public for the purposes of personnel and or other matters

[1:05] as outlined in the Sunshine Law.

[1:07] Decisions made and are discussed in closed session will be made known to the public at a later

[1:11] time.

[1:12] Notice to members of the governing body and township staff, any use of electronic devices during

[1:16] this meeting shall be used solely for the purposes of township business, and any communications

[1:20] are subject to the Open Public Records Act.

[1:22] To the extent possible, this evening's Township of Livingston Council meeting will be live streamed via Facebook at HTTPS

[1:29] www.fasepark.com slash Livingston Township N.J.

[1:32] Questions or comments will also be accepted by emailing

[1:36] LiveComments, LIV, COMMN, EMTS,

[1:39] Add Livingston N.J..org by 4pm on the day of the meeting

[1:42] and share with the Township Council before the meeting.

[1:45] Each speaker should follow the rules of order in Livingston Code

[1:48] to Dash 15.3.

[1:50] Madam Clerk, Council Member Mindhart, Anthony, Pierre, President, Deputy Mayor of

[1:56] Victoria, Mayor Klein, Pierre, everyone can please rise and join me for

[2:01] moment of silence,

[2:20] please join in the pleasure of allegiance.

[2:27] This

[2:37] brings us to D on our agendas. I don't know if anyone's here from the county to

[2:45] of an update, so we'll move forward.

[2:59] That brings us to tonight's proclamations

[3:02] and presentations.

[3:03] There are three of them.

[3:04] The first one is National Voter Registration Day,

[3:08] and we thank our very civic-minded,

[3:13] let me send residents who have brought this to our attention, of course.

[3:16] I'm going to read the proclamation, it's not long.

[3:20] National Voter Registration Day,

[3:22] whereas the right to vote serves as the foundation

[3:23] of our nation and the right to vote freely, fairly, and have one's vote counted as sacred

[3:27] to being an American.

[3:28] And whereas national voter registration day, first observed in 2012, was established as

[3:32] a non-partisan initiative to promote voter registration across the country, and is one

[3:36] of the most effective ways to register hundreds of thousands of voters, especially as New

[3:40] Jersey prepares for the 2026 election cycle.

[3:43] Whereas the right to vote is being suppressed and subverted in this country through attempts

[3:47] to restrict the American's access to the ballot, thereby ruling back decades of progress

[3:50] in voting rights, and whereas the need for reliable and trusted public information and education

[3:54] regarding voter registration is critical to ensuring active civic participation and maintaining

[3:59] the integrity of electrical processes.

[4:02] And whereas each year in the United States, millions of eligible voters are unable to

[4:05] cast a ballot due to missing registration deadlines, or because the registration was not updated

[4:10] after a name change or change of address, or due to the confusion around the registration

[4:13] process, and whereas the township of Livingston County of Essex State of New Jersey recognizes

[4:18] as the need for diverse partners, such as non-profits, libraries, businesses, colleges,

[4:23] universities and more, to work together to help register citizens to vote in the community

[4:26] of the serve.

[4:27] Whereas on November 3rd, 2026, Senate congressional and numerous county and municipal seats

[4:32] will be on the ballot, and therefore be it resolved that I, Mayor Sean Klein, Mayor of

[4:37] Lemieston, County of Essex, State of New Jersey, do hereby proclaim September 14th, 2026,

[4:41] as national voter registration day and affirm the township's commitment to upholding free and

[4:45] Fair elections and urging all eligible citizens to register the vote and participate in our democracy.

[4:51] Certainly, I think of Carolyn Mizuko, our clerk who worked so hard to make sure that we have free and fair elections every year.

[4:58] And to summon it, we can come down and take a picture of everyone just to promote the plaque.

[5:04] And just have some of the people here to speak on this for a minute or two, please.

[5:09] Want to go down?

[5:14] Okay.

[5:34] Is this on end?

[5:35] Okay.

[5:35] And I think we have a couple of different organizations that are here today.

[5:38] Go to us, League of Women's Voters, Tauva, who else, what other representations are here?

[5:45] Just League of Women Voters. Okay, good.

[5:49] I was always an important voice here.

[5:51] Thank you. I even birthed some awards.

[5:55] I'm saying, and I'll put my glasses on too, so I can read them.

[6:03] I'm Robin Weiss.

[6:05] And I'm co-president of the League of Women Voters of Livingston.

[6:08] And I want to thank the Township Council for its resolution in support of national voter registration day.

[6:16] Although the league is the woman voters is nonpartisan.

[6:19] We do take a stand on political issues and we're especially concerned with the current attempted erosion of voting rights.

[6:27] Therefore, we feel it's important this year to make an extra effort to register and encourage voters to vote by all the available methods.

[6:39] Thank you.

[6:41] Thank you.

[6:41] Hi, everyone.

[6:41] My name is Lori Khan.

[6:43] First, I want to thank the Town Council every year.

[6:46] I appreciate your support with all of our different populations, whether it's voting or

[6:50] gun violence prevention.

[6:51] So, thank you so much for working with us and for supporting us.

[6:55] I represent.

[6:56] I'm happy to be up here with my friends from the League of Women Voters.

[6:59] I am here representing Tova, formerly NCJW, National Council of Jewish Women, Essex County.

[7:05] We are the same organization, just with a different name.

[7:08] Tova works to make a positive impact on our partners and the communities that we serve through advocacy and volunteering.

[7:16] Tomorrow is National Voter Registration Day. It's a national event.

[7:21] And we at Tova, for the past seven, eight years, have held a power up the vote event.

[7:27] Tomorrow, it's at the Community Center.

[7:30] I think in conjunction with National Voter Registration Day, and we are going to learn about rank choice voting. As we know, there are many, many candidates that have been stepping up to run in different elections, which is a really wonderful thing. It's democracy in action. But how do we deal with that? Ranked choice voting is one way of learning how to deal with the number of candidates that run each year. We'll also be writing letters to newly registered voters. So I have a flyer if anybody's interested. It's a 12.30 tomorrow at the Community Center. It's always a great way to

[7:59] It's a very empowering, it's very educational, and I'm hope to see some of you there, so thank you.

[8:06] Thank you.

[8:07] I mean, this is especially pertinent, given that the Supreme Court right now is reviewing a case regarding whether or not the federal government is going to be able to restrict the rights of states to control voting.

[8:21] So this is really important subject to this point, and thank you so much for coming here and talking.

[8:26] So speaking about controlling voting there's a lot of quite there are a lot of questions surrounding vote by mail in New Jersey

[8:33] It's business is usual we will follow the letter of the law

[8:36] If you vote by mail, I vote by mail if you vote by mail

[8:40] I encourage you when you get your ballot to fill it out. Don't let it sit on the kitchen counter for weeks fill it out right away

[8:45] And no return it don't put it in the mail with the stamp put it right here and find it in the back of town town hall in the drop box

[8:52] It's the safest, it's really the safest, and most secure way to vote, and you can always

[8:57] follow up with the town clerk and ask if they've received your ballot.

[9:00] So vote by mail is perfectly fine, it's perfectly safe in New Jersey.

[9:06] And especially if you vote by mail by using the drop boxes, and there's cameras on the drop

[9:10] boxes to make sure that no one tamper's with them and they're picked up on a very regular

[9:14] basis and brought right to the county offices for voting.

[9:18] So very safe way to vote.

[9:20] If you vote by mail, please use the drop boxes.

[9:22] And the closest one is right behind this building.

[9:30] Are you guys going to arm wrestle over who gets the plaque?

[9:32] Or would it have a murder?

[9:32] I don't know.

[9:34] I don't know.

[9:35] Because we have enough visibility.

[9:37] All right.

[9:38] Thank you.

[9:39] All right.

[9:40] All right.

[9:41] I'll be taking you to the picture.

[9:44] All right.

[9:44] Hold on.

[9:45] Hold on.

[9:46] Here.

[9:48] What is this?

[9:50] Thank you.

[9:51] All right.

[9:52] Hold on.

[10:33] Our next presentation is to recognize the immediate anniversary of India's independence.

[10:44] And so we've had a couple of events as of late, which have pointed on this and this is

[10:50] a proclamation and that same endeavor and I'm just going to read a couple of lines from here

[10:53] whereas the tangible limits have recognized

[10:55] as a rich cultural diversity and contributions

[10:57] and members in South Asian American communities,

[11:00] and the month of August, March, March,

[11:02] the momentous historic milestone

[11:03] of the formal end of British colonial rule

[11:05] on the South Asian continent in August 1947.

[11:09] And whereas the Republic of India celebrates

[11:10] this idea of independence day on August 15th,

[11:13] now therefore it'd be a proclaim

[11:15] that I Sean Klein, Mayor Livingston,

[11:17] and the entire Township Council, the Township of Livingston,

[11:20] encourage all residents to join and celebrate

[11:22] the shared heritage piece and enduring contributions of our Indian American residents and

[11:27] recognized all of this 15th as India Independence Day, which, of course, we did with a flag

[11:32] raising and lots of celebration here in town.

[11:37] Anyone here, do you have somebody here to visit my nontany antennas here, I think, and if anybody

[11:43] else is here, I think there's another gentleman walking in for, for coming up and yeah, we can

[11:49] Yes, I think I'll come down and take a picture of her.

[13:13] Okay, now our last presentation is for

[13:18] Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month, which a lot of people, if I had a till-tied home, I would

[13:24] have put one out and I did look.

[13:27] This is great to have someone to come here and help the township pilot with a proclamation.

[13:36] As we understand Ovarian Cancer is the fifth leading cause of cancer death among women in the

[13:41] States. The American Cancer Society estimates that in 2026, 21,000 and 10 women will be

[13:48] diagnosed with a variant cancer and 12,450 will die from the disease nationwide, including

[13:54] an estimated 650 new cases and 340 deaths in New Jersey. So obviously it's a very serious

[14:01] cancer and it's one that is very commonplace and I would imagine that a lot of people here

[14:06] someone who's had over there in cancer. I certainly know more than one person

[14:11] unfortunately. So we wanted to make sure that we recognize over here in

[14:16] Karen's cancer awareness month. You want to come up and speak about you know

[14:22] why we're doing this today. We can go down one more time. Everybody.

[14:46] So if you can just introduce yourself please and explain why you're here today.

[14:49] Yeah, this is September's Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month, and Teele is the color for Ovarian Cancer, it's...

[15:00] There is not any special tests or anything that you would know if you have it. There's vague ones like bloating or just not feeling quite right. Unfortunately, it's not diagnosed to usually it's in stage 4. There's no pre, it's not like breast cancer. You can get mammals. There's no specific tests for ovarian cancer.

[15:24] And it can come back.

[15:28] There's chemicals and stuff, but there's nothing, no prevention.

[15:32] They have the government does a lot of money for it, because they're on the NOCC.

[15:39] It's a group that is for education and stuff, and they go there and it's cancer awareness.

[15:47] And the reason why I'm actually involved is my daughter's an ovarian cancer survivor.

[15:56] And you could either go down or go up.

[15:59] She turned her lemon until lemonade and it's gotten very involved.

[16:04] And I think the council here for declaring this there are a lot of other councils and

[16:09] New Jersey have done it also.

[16:11] She was in Arizona so they have it there and my brother on the lower down and Florida

[16:17] is a mayor, so it's there.

[16:19] But we want people to know

[16:20] and these declarations do get sent out.

[16:23] And I appreciate your effort.

[16:25] And I hope you'll do it every year.

[16:27] Because every year, it's September, we're a deal.

[16:32] That's what, for the whole month of September,

[16:36] October's breast cancer.

[16:37] But this is our month.

[16:39] Great story.

[16:40] Thank you.

[16:42] And I'll just say thank you so much for doing this.

[16:44] And I will say this is, I think, if not every year, certainly most years, we do have people

[16:51] that come and present on Overeign Cancer Month, and Lemie Singh has recognized this month

[16:55] before.

[16:56] And we thank everyone that comes and speaks about it and raises awareness for, thank you so

[17:01] much for doing that.

[17:01] Thank you for letting us do this.

[17:05] Thank you.

[17:07] Oh, blow a sack at them, my friends, they sent it to me and my daughter, Rachel, a sack

[17:16] apartment is the person who got involved with this 2020 during the pandemic, and she was

[17:24] out in Arizona where the husband is not allowed to go out there, so I do have to put a plug

[17:31] been for her husband he became very nervous.

[17:34] Thank you.

[17:35] Thank you very much.

[17:37] Thank you very much.

[17:37] You're going to join in our best.

[17:39] How are you?

[17:39] I'm

[17:48] very sorry.

[17:49] Thank you.

[17:51] Thank you very much.

[17:53] Thank you for coming.

[17:55] Thank you for having.

[17:56] Thank you.

[17:58] Thank you.

[18:25] Thank you.

[18:31] Alright.

[18:48] Okay, we're now going to move along to the approval of meeting minutes, pending any corrections.

[18:54] This is for regular conference meeting minutes August 11th, 2026.

[18:58] Motion to accept.

[19:00] All in favor?

[19:01] Aye.

[19:01] Opposed?

[19:03] Okay, now we're going to move along to public comment on agenda items only.

[19:07] Can I have a motion to open the meeting public comments on agenda items?

[19:11] Second, all in favor?

[19:13] I post.

[19:14] Okay, at this time, the meeting is not open for comments on agenda items only.

[19:18] There's a four minutes timely per person.

[19:21] Residents may come to the microphone for the four minutes.

[19:23] When you come up, please state your name and whether you live in town for the record.

[19:30] Motion to close public comment on agenda items?

[19:33] Second.

[19:34] All in favor?

[19:34] All right.

[19:35] opposed. Okay. We are at the passage of ordinances. There are two ordinances tonight for

[19:42] second reading. Madam Clerk, can you please read the ordinance 29-2026 by title? Yes, Mayor

[19:49] ordinance 29-2026 to 0.4 million bond ordinance sewer utility system. Thank you, Carolyn. Can I have

[19:56] motion open the public hearing motion. Second. Okay, all in favor. Opposed. All right, the public hearing on ordinance number 29 dash 2026 is now opened. There's a forum in a time limit. Sorry. There is.

[20:13] Yeah, formerly the time per person. If you come to the microphone, again, please state your name and whether you live on town for the record.

[20:19] Motion to close public comment. Second. Okay. All in favor. All right. Opposed. All right. Can I have a motion to adopt?

[20:26] Second, do any council members have comments on ordinance 29-2026?

[20:35] Okay.

[20:35] Madam Clerk please call the roll.

[20:37] Council member Mindhart.

[20:40] The era.

[20:41] Deputy Mayor of Botany.

[20:42] Yes.

[20:43] And Mayor Klein.

[20:44] Yes.

[20:45] That brings us to ordinance number 30-2026.

[20:49] Caroline, if you could please read.

[20:50] or an ins 30-2026 adopting an amended Livingston Mall redevelopment plan

[20:55] blocks 6-002, lots one, and 1.01.

[20:59] I'll make a motion to open the public hearing.

[21:03] OK, all in favor?

[21:04] Aye.

[21:05] Opposed?

[21:06] OK, public hearing on 30-2026 is now open.

[21:10] There's a four minute time limit per person.

[21:12] Again, if you're kind of the microphone, please say your name

[21:14] and whether you live in town for the record.

[21:17] I'll make a motion to close the public hearing.

[21:19] OK.

[21:19] All in favor?

[21:21] Aye.

[21:21] Opposed?

[21:22] Can I have a motion to adopt?

[21:23] Motion to adopt?

[21:25] Second.

[21:25] Okay.

[21:26] Do any council members have comments on 30-2020s?

[21:28] I would just like to request a town manager to give a quick summary of Duxmore's all

[21:34] ways and topic of interest.

[21:36] If you can provide more transparency on this rather than just a title on what we are

[21:40] changing.

[21:44] The only real change of the redevelopment plan was when we originally did the study and designated

[21:50] the malls and area need to redevelopment without the right of eminent domain or condemnation,

[21:56] subsequently adopted the redevelopment plan, which included the housing units on the

[22:01] north end for our settlement agreement on affordable housing and no housing on the balance

[22:06] of the mall.

[22:08] Subsequently, we declared a did a study and declared an area need with the right of eminent

[22:14] domain, and so we have to amend the plan to reflect that, and that's the only real.

[22:18] So essentially, this is not adding any more, sort of, no displeased.

[22:25] It doesn't really resolve the open question that we're still looking at, but...

[22:30] It was necessary in the event we want to use that tool of eminent.

[22:34] So in exactly, just to just to reuse that, those words that essentially giving additional control to this council and this governing body, including the township, to move this process further faster.

[22:48] If necessary, correct? That's necessary. Thank you.

[22:53] Okay. There are two ordinance for introduction this evening.

[22:57] We have a call the roll, we have a call the question.

[23:00] Yes, we need to go.

[23:01] Council members.

[23:02] Yes.

[23:03] Anthony.

[23:04] Yes.

[23:05] Deputy Mayor Bogtani.

[23:06] Yes.

[23:06] Mayor Klein.

[23:07] Yes.

[23:08] Now, there are two ordinance for introduction this evening.

[23:11] 9.

[23:12] Court.

[23:13] Court.

[23:14] Court.

[23:15] 21-2026 stormwater control ordinance 2026.

[23:20] Oh, make a motion to approve the ordinance for introduction.

[23:23] Second.

[23:24] Is there any discussion?

[23:26] Okay, please call the roll.

[23:28] Council member Minhaer.

[23:29] Yes.

[23:29] Anthony.

[23:30] Yes.

[23:31] Deputy Mayor Buktoni.

[23:34] And Mayor the public hearing for this ordinance will be Monday, September 28th.

[23:39] Thank you.

[23:41] Let's move to 32-2026, please.

[23:43] Ordinance 32-2026 to establish the section 170-00.1 R-4A single family zone district.

[23:54] Okay, can I have a motion?

[23:56] I'm moving on to the introduction.

[23:57] Second, any discussion from the council?

[24:01] Okay.

[24:01] Madam Quirk?

[24:02] Council Member Miner.

[24:03] Yes.

[24:04] Anthony.

[24:05] Deputy Mayor Bhaktani.

[24:07] Yes.

[24:07] Mayor Klein.

[24:09] This ordinance will also have its public hearing on Monday, September 20th.

[24:13] Thank you.

[24:13] It's an effort to plan on board as well.

[24:16] Yeah.

[24:16] They're both going to the planning board.

[24:17] Actually, both of these are the meeting tomorrow night.

[24:20] Thank you.

[24:21] Okay.

[24:21] That brings us to our consent agenda.

[24:23] All matters listed with an asterisk are considered to be routine and non-controversial

[24:27] by the council and will be approved by one motion that will be no separate discussion

[24:30] in these items.

[24:31] Unless the member of the governing body so requests in which case the item will be removed from

[24:35] Senate agenda and consider it in its normal sequence of on the agenda as part of the general orders.

[24:41] I'm going to request I need to be accused from 26-257, so that will be voted on and discussed separately.

[24:50] Are there any other members of the Council that wish any other items removed from the consent agenda?

[24:57] Madam Court, please read the remaining resolutions on the agenda.

[25:01] Resolution 26-26-256, recreational opportunities for individuals with disabilities grant

[25:09] 2026-2027, Resolution 26-258, authorizing execution of a settlement agreement mark

[25:17] assessment, Resolution 26-259, authorizing the execution of a settlement agreement with

[25:22] the SIG, Avenue Partners LLC, Resolution 26-266, authorizing the award of a contract to

[25:29] Sure, recycling corp.

[25:32] Resolution 26-261 authorizing the award of a contract

[25:35] to core and main LP.

[25:38] Resolution 26-262 authorizing a six-month extension

[25:42] of existing contract with YVACs contracting corp.

[25:46] Resolution 26-263 authorizing approval of change order number two

[25:51] with Mot McDonald's LLC.

[25:53] Resolution 26-264 authorizing purchases

[25:57] under Bergen County Cooperative Pricing System, Resolution 26-265, authorizing purchases under

[26:05] the North Jersey wastewater cooperative pricing system, Resolution 26-266, authorizing the

[26:12] award of a contract to A.J. or LLC, also known as Safe Watch Technologies, Resolution 26-267,

[26:21] Authorizing adoption and implementation of updated employee handbook.

[26:28] Thank you, Carolyn.

[26:28] Now, I'll make a motion to come in first.

[26:31] I'm sorry.

[26:33] Coming to comment before we vote.

[26:35] I just want to just to give a shout out for resolution 26267 to our HR chairperson of department head, Cathy Buffett, for working very hard in reading and doing this.

[26:47] She was here earlier, but she deserves a big thank you for all the employees and for all of us for putting all this work on

[26:53] So thank you. Thanks for saying that I

[26:57] Yeah, I'll make a most actual proof of the resolution. Okay, so I could all right any other comments from others aren't on any other agenda items

[27:05] Okay, can I motion to

[27:08] To

[27:08] Go call call call call. Thank you

[27:10] Council members might heart. Yes, Anthony. Yes. Yeah, yes, Deputy Mayor Bootani. Yes, and Mayor Klein. Yes

[27:17] We will now move to Resolution 26-257.

[27:20] I'm going to request myself, Deputy Mayor, if you could just talk a little bit about this.

[27:24] Carolyn, can you please read that by title?

[27:26] Resolution 26-257 authorizing the execution of the developer's agreement with 45 partners

[27:32] to Urban Renewal LLC relative to that certain property commonly known as 19 to 43 and 45 South

[27:41] Livingston Avenue.

[27:43] Thank you, Carolyn.

[27:43] Any discussion?

[27:47] I would just like to ask Erton Manager to briefly describe what this is.

[27:53] It definitely, I'm happy to, if you want.

[27:55] Thank you.

[27:56] This is the developer's agreement for the redevelopment of the property at 1943 and 45 South

[28:01] Livingston Avenue.

[28:03] We're just currently occupied by two largely baking commercial buildings.

[28:06] The planning board preuse it for redevelopment of the site with a mixed use project

[28:09] consisting of 226 residential units, including 17 affordable units and 14 units reserved for

[28:16] special needs occupants together to approximately 19,600 square feet of retail space.

[28:22] The purpose of agreement is to make sure the project is built exactly in accordance with

[28:25] the planning boards approvals. The approved plans, the redevelopment plan, and all applicable

[28:30] township requirements. The developer is responsible at its own cost for construction,

[28:34] the choir site in infrastructure improvements, compliant with drainage, grading, storm

[28:39] water, utility, traffic control, soil movement, safety and construction requirements,

[28:45] obtaining all necessary government permits and approvals and correcting any damage caused

[28:48] by the construction.

[28:50] The developer as part of the agreement must also post performance, maintenance, site safety,

[28:54] and stability guarantees, pay the township's inspection, engineering, and legal costs

[28:59] associated with the project, maintain the improvements after construction, keep the site

[29:03] and surround the roadways cleaned, cleared during construction,

[29:07] and maintain required insurance and identification

[29:09] and protections to the township.

[29:12] Importantly, the township pertains to right

[29:13] to inspect the work, require corrections,

[29:16] stop work where appropriate, and with whole premise

[29:18] or certificates of occupancy at the Delperous

[29:21] not complying with disagreement.

[29:23] The overall benefit to the township is that it allows

[29:26] significant redevelopment projects to move forward,

[29:29] including the new housing affordable, special needs housing,

[29:32] a new retail while placing the cost and responsibility of the improvements, inspections, maintenance

[29:36] and construction-related obligations on the developer and preserving strong protections

[29:41] and enforcement rights for the township based on the planning boards approval.

[29:45] So essentially this agreement protects the township.

[29:48] It doesn't grant any further obligations to the developer.

[29:55] Thank you for clarifying that, Mr. Kendra.

[29:57] I think it's important again, this is one of those.

[30:00] Projects, which has a lot of interest in town. So thank you for providing that background. If there are

[30:06] no other comments, can we have roll call? No, may make a motion to approve. Thank you for

[30:10] the motion.

[30:11] All right. Yes.

[30:17] Yes.

[30:18] Deputy Mayor Bogtani.

[30:21] Okay, that brings us to public portion on any public comment on any subject. Can I have a motion?

[30:28] Motion open up for you to talk to the portion of any subject.

[30:31] All in favor?

[30:32] I post.

[30:35] Meaning is now open on any subject with a three minute time limit.

[30:37] Please come to the phone and state your name for the record of whether you live in town.

[30:42] Good evening.

[30:42] I'm Megan Coin.

[30:43] I live on Bennington Road.

[30:45] I am here tonight about forge preps.

[30:47] Closure of the long standing pedestrian path connecting our neighborhood to the oval.

[30:52] In this town, you need to permit to put up a fence, build a deck, install a pool, or change the plumbing in your bathroom.

[30:57] So, I don't think it's unreasonable for residents to ask a simple question.

[31:01] Dig forage prep receive a permit from the township to close our path and destroy a pedestrian

[31:06] path we have relied on for decades.

[31:08] Because right now, we cannot get a clear answer.

[31:11] Forage prep has told us that they have the necessary permits from this township to permanently

[31:16] alter and close off this path.

[31:18] Members of this council have told me they have no idea what's going on and weren't aware

[31:22] of this issue.

[31:23] Meanwhile, the path has been fenced off and the residents have actually used it, we're not informed and have had no opportunity for input until this moment.

[31:31] So I want to be clear what we're talking about when we discuss this path.

[31:34] It's where parents push babies and strollers and kids learn to ride their bikes.

[31:38] It's how teenagers safely walk to and from our high school.

[31:41] Its families use it to walk to the church.

[31:44] The oval, the town pool, rec fields the library, the gazebo, the library, the 911 memorial.

[31:50] These are the places that make up a community, and that's path connects our neighborhood to them.

[31:55] I know because I'm one of them. I use this path to walk to and from Livingston High School every

[31:59] single day for four years. I use it to walk to my grandfather's home on Amherst Place to the

[32:04] Library to the pool to my brother's games with the ovals. I live on Benington Road today,

[32:08] and I use this path all the time. The alternatives are not equally safe. It's South Livingston

[32:13] Avenue, which is a major road, or Winchester Road, which anyone in our neighborhood could tell you,

[32:18] teenagers speed up and down that road every single day going to school.

[32:22] So, I am publicly asking for answers. Was a permit approved? Who approved it?

[32:28] Did anyone consider the decades of public use for this path? Did you consider pedestrian safety?

[32:33] Did you consider the children who use it to walk to the high school?

[32:36] Did anyone ask anyone who lives in our neighborhood?

[32:40] And if all of that was considered, I still want to understand

[32:43] why the wants of a brand new private school were prioritized over the safety of children walking to our public high school.

[32:51] These are basic questions, and we shouldn't have to chase people down to get answers.

[32:55] We keep getting conflicting accounts.

[32:57] A decision with this much impact on a neighborhood should not be made without transparency or input from the people who live here.

[33:04] I have voted for a single person on this council sitting in front of me, and I did so with the expectation that when decisions are made

[33:11] that affect my neighborhood, our safety and our community, we will be told the truth about how and why these decisions are made.

[33:18] It's the bare minimum for government to be transparent and accountable with the people they serve.

[33:23] So, I'm asking you to give us clear answers, take our concerns seriously, and do everything within your authority to protect this path before anything irreversible happens.

[33:32] We should not lose a path, we have relied on for generations, without answers, transparency, and a real opportunity to be heard.

[33:38] I'm asking you to make sure that does not happen, thank you.

[33:48] Well, thank you for coming in and explaining your questions.

[33:51] We really appreciate it.

[33:52] I can say, first of all, with 100% certainty,

[33:55] we have not put the interests of private school over the interests of the neighbors around Benington.

[33:59] We have not done that.

[34:01] When people are saying that I've been out there a couple of times since we first got the original contacts,

[34:05] and I went out there again today because I really want to see what was the state right now.

[34:09] The pathway is not closed.

[34:10] Now, if there was some fence that was actually obstructing the pathway at some point,

[34:13] I haven't seen it in the times that I've been there, but the pathway, I went today.

[34:19] I'm not doubting you, I'm just telling you what I've seen on the couple times that I've gone

[34:22] and I went today.

[34:23] The pathway from Bennington goes straight through through the fields on the back.

[34:27] There's nothing repeating it.

[34:28] I was literally there today.

[34:31] Excuse me.

[34:31] This is not a time for this.

[34:33] Okay, let me just finish my time.

[34:34] Let me just finish my time.

[34:35] I'm going to also have the town manager at chime in as well.

[34:38] There were permits, as I understand, and a Barry please correct me from wrong.

[34:43] granted to the forge school to connect their build to the buildings that are on the church property and there is a there is a fence that

[34:51] That separates a construction area because you have to put up a fence of due to a construction

[34:54] But that's not but that's not the same. Let me just finish please. That's not the same thing as closing down a pathway

[34:59] They have to put those fences up and they are going to be joining those two buildings together

[35:04] And so we are looking at alternatives for a path to make sure that there's access

[35:09] So when you come through that path in the woods

[35:11] You could turn kind of to the right and go through to where that construction fence is, but an equal distance

[35:16] Practically is turned to the left and just walking around on the other side

[35:19] So we want to make we want it well, that's so that gets to where we're getting to so we want to make sure that access is maintained

[35:26] All right, we certainly understand that that's a very important

[35:30] Walkway for people to get access from that neighborhood

[35:33] Through over to the oval and we hear you when we want to make sure it's maintained at no point

[35:38] did the township permit the closure of a path like the actual walkway path through the woods.

[35:45] They're just putting up a construction fence because that's what they have to put up

[35:48] from when they are doing construction. It's like a legal requirement.

[35:52] So, Barry, do you want to, can I just ask you to just chime in if there's anything I've said or

[35:55] I'm going to ask.

[35:56] So, I think what's important to understand is first from Bennington,

[36:00] that entrance, there's an actual parcel of land that's owned by the township that goes through

[36:04] was that is adjacent to an ANZAT that property owned by St. Phil's. There's a path there that clearly is

[36:12] town owned, town constructed, we built it, nobody closed that. From there there is an internal

[36:18] sidewalk that the church put in the town did not put in that that goes from that path and currently

[36:24] goes between two buildings in the school. As you're obviously aware the school used to be run by the

[36:31] They closed it. It was closed for a while. They've subsequently now leased it to four-jerkatomy.

[36:39] Four-jerkatomy was interested in connecting the two buildings so that students don't

[36:45] have to technically go outside in the elements from one end to the other and understandably,

[36:51] I think, concerned about people walking right through the middle of the school.

[36:57] We can't, you don't, please don't interrupt.

[37:00] So I think the first thing is, and we're looking at all this, and I've obviously become

[37:07] significantly more educated on the history of this path, is one, the area that we're talking

[37:13] about is private property, the town never owned it, the town doesn't have an easement on it,

[37:17] there's no formal or written agreement, a right of way or access or otherwise.

[37:22] There are certain legal doctrines where it wouldn't be adverse possession because nobody's claiming ownership, but there's called prescriptive

[37:30] These men's, there's implied public dedication. There's things we're looking at. But I do want to emphasize that the church and I've had dialogue with the church. The church is understanding of the public's long standing use, but at the same time must work with the school as do we. And we can certainly, I think sympathize. They're not pointing just people cutting through the school. So we're looking at options to improve a pathway from the end of our pathway that we own to go around.

[38:00] One of the other, one option is to run something down,

[38:03] then there's a sidewalk that runs all the way down,

[38:04] down all the way out, and possibly there's another sidewalk

[38:08] to the south, to still provide that neighborhood access,

[38:14] that you talked about, but without going through the school

[38:18] that they want to connect into two buildings.

[38:20] So nobody gave them permission to certainly not

[38:24] to close our path in the construction zone

[38:28] And where they were going to connect the building, that's the fence that you saw.

[38:32] I'm not sure who you spoke to.

[38:34] You mentioned somebody at Ford just told you that they're going to permanently, but if

[38:39] you have a contact person, I'm happy to reach out and try and work with them and understand

[38:42] what they think they're doing if it's different than what we think.

[38:47] But we're certainly aware of it.

[38:48] We certainly understand this long standing use and the church does as well.

[38:52] And we're just trying to find a solution that will continue to provide that access while

[38:57] same time recognizing what I think most people would understand of the school's concerns about

[39:01] not wanting people right cutting right through the middle of the school whether it's open or not

[39:06] open that students are still going back and forth and I don't think that's an unreasonable

[39:10] position for the school to take so we're trying to find a solution nobody's permanently closing

[39:15] it. It may be redirected path but access from Bennington to the oval without having to go all

[39:27] But it seems like there are reasonable choices to do that.

[39:31] So that's, you know, we hear your complaints

[39:32] and we understand your concerns and we want, we're listening

[39:35] and we want to alleviate this.

[39:38] So we're gonna, well, understanding that there is no school

[39:40] and no one wanna send their kids to a school

[39:42] where strangers, adults are walking through the middle

[39:45] of the school.

[39:45] I think we all understand that,

[39:46] but they're all alternative paths that they're possible here

[39:49] and we're gonna work and figure out what would work

[39:51] for you guys.

[39:51] That's what we're here for.

[39:55] If you wanna speak,

[39:56] you please have to come to microphone or state your name.

[39:57] Do you want to come to the microphone and just, if you want to, you can just, we just want to get a name and,

[40:05] uh,

[40:05] drive, but I'm just thinking if you put a path around that whole school,

[40:10] you're like walking past all the windows, you're seeing all the children.

[40:15] The path that we're talking about is all brick.

[40:19] There's one door.

[40:20] And it's a simple cut, it's a simple cut through that you don't even see the children.

[40:25] Unless, for Aquinas, they were maybe playing in the yard or playing in the,

[40:30] parking lot but if you build a path going around the entire building with all those windows

[40:35] wouldn't that be kind of like a distraction for the students like if we're going to put a

[40:40] path around those buildings. It's like you see more of the kids going.

[40:45] I'm interested to look at a map of you but the way I'm envisioning what you're saying is and I

[40:49] have tried to walk this it seems like you're still walking right through the center of the

[40:52] grounds at the school. I mean you know there's kids outside playing in that in the back field

[40:56] they're going to be right and you're going to be walking through them. I think the difference

[40:59] This is the down ship property versus the school property.

[41:02] I think that's the distinction you're trying to draw.

[41:04] Yeah, and when we're talking about a practical run

[41:07] school of our vision would be to, when you come out of the town property

[41:12] to go to either end to keep that closer to the,

[41:16] because the woods on the left, right, when you come out of the path,

[41:20] make a left go down, connect to there's already sidewalk at Madonna,

[41:24] that goes almost to the back.

[41:25] So, you know, I guess you could see in the windows,

[41:27] but you're the whole distance of the fields all the way away.

[41:30] It's not a path right next to the school building or all the windows.

[41:38] Yes, sir.

[41:39] I'm Lenny Moranis 31, Bennington Road.

[41:42] Hello, everybody.

[41:43] Hello, Dr. Klein.

[41:44] We've walked the path together, you know, when you first started wanting to be the mayor.

[41:53] I see the path more than anybody.

[41:55] I'm right there.

[41:56] I watch the path.

[41:57] I'm kind of the keeper of the path.

[42:00] I can't add anything to what she said, but what I have to do is I have to address Barry Lewis about the condition of the town's property.

[42:11] Have you walked that property lately?

[42:13] It's a mess.

[42:15] One match that whole thing would go up in a second.

[42:18] It leaves everywhere.

[42:19] all the debris from the $2.2 million houses that just closed all the contractors pushed all the debris onto your property.

[42:30] I've reached out several times to Brian. I've never received any return to any of my emails.

[42:38] Um, I didn't code enforcement.

[42:41] Beal, not beal, not beal.

[42:42] Right.

[42:43] Make shame, never return anything, never, nothing.

[42:48] Zero, okay.

[42:51] I've seen Cummings there too.

[42:53] He gave me, he told me, I'm not the right guy.

[42:56] I said, but you're blocking the path.

[42:57] Your truck is blocking the path.

[42:59] You're in front of a fire hydrant.

[43:02] He goes, I don't have to move.

[43:04] I said, okay, I go, you do, but have a good day.

[43:07] They don't treat us well. You need to clean the path. You need to build a path to the soccer field somehow

[43:16] This neighborhood has turned. I've been there 21 years. I'm a six-to-58 year livingston resident

[43:22] I voted for you guys every time

[43:25] We need help

[43:27] I'm watching the new neighbors that got to use the path for two months and then it got closed. Then I'm like, Lenny, what's going on here?

[43:35] This is bad

[43:37] a path that connects the soccer field would help.

[43:42] Your guys need to clean the path up.

[43:46] The tax money from those two new houses,

[43:49] from the eight houses that surround the path alone,

[43:51] is over $100,000.

[43:54] I don't know if that means anything.

[43:56] We pay a lot of money right above the path.

[44:04] Your guys don't clean when they come and move along.

[44:08] They don't.

[44:09] They cut the procedure and they throw it on the other side.

[44:13] I have videos.

[44:15] Let's clean up the path.

[44:17] Let's build a path so we can continue.

[44:20] I think the only remaining real neighborhood in living space.

[44:23] Every one of us, we know each other.

[44:25] We watch our children grow up.

[44:28] We taught each other how to write bicycles.

[44:30] We have a whole new mess of people that have just moved in.

[44:34] The beautiful people that don't have use of this.

[44:37] it's it's horrible okay thank you

[44:46] I am marney McNanny I live in

[44:48] on village drive in Livingston and I want to thank you and thank our neighbors who are here

[44:54] you can tell the passion is real the need is real and I would like to

[45:00] I can't really bring too much more, except I'd love to bring up a question, which is whether a walkability audit has been done for the town. In particular with our neighborhood, we're a neighborhood that has access to all the things that were mentioned, high school, oval, and everything. We're also a town that's accessible to shop right and to dunk in donuts and to haircuts and banks.

[45:27] I mean, it's incredibly walkable, but across South Livingston Avenue is incredibly dangerous.

[45:34] And yes, of course, we should be going to lights and going through crosswalks because that's appropriate and everything.

[45:39] But are you also asking the people working at shop right who take the bus, who take care of us every day there, to safely cross the South Livingston Avenue?

[45:47] It's really scary. And I also, I'm sincerely invested in our family being having access and my daughter having access,

[45:56] we're thrilled that the YMCA is now finally on our side of South Livingston so she can walk there

[46:03] and not have to cross out Livingston the way it is now. But I also we'd like her to be able to go

[46:09] and shop and walk. We want to go and walk and shop and it just makes it longer and harder and less access.

[46:16] So that brings me back to the walk ability audit and just what are we doing in town in particular with

[46:23] these apartments that are being built at either end of our of South Living

[46:28] Sin Avenue, the increased traffic, the danger that's going to happen, you know,

[46:33] this path is incredibly important, but we also, we can't right now walk safely

[46:38] on South Living Sin, especially with old for the forge force homestead.

[46:42] So, thank you, I bring that off as an additional concern and I'd love to get

[46:48] input and move forward with that. Thank you.

[46:51] I just want to make a couple of comments on your comments.

[46:54] First of all, I'm optimistic here.

[46:55] I think that the towns can be able to find something that may not be exactly what existed

[46:59] before, but it's something that will be a very suitable pathway to connect your neighborhood

[47:03] to all the places that you're talking about.

[47:04] I think we're going to be able to help everyone out.

[47:06] That's the first thing.

[47:07] The second thing is, on your point about these disparate units that I've been put into place,

[47:15] I just want to be clear about this, we're deeply against our will.

[47:17] This was a, these were units that were really thrown down our throwouts by affordable housing

[47:23] and forced upon us by developers raising their hand and saying we're going to sue the town

[47:27] if you don't let us build, and essentially we had to let them do it.

[47:30] And we were mending by court order to let them do it.

[47:33] So, those are, you know, walkability is really important.

[47:36] I talk about it all the time.

[47:39] And especially some of those developments, for example, this one-up mistake,

[47:43] which is just terrible.

[47:44] It's not near anything, and it's right in the middle where the traffic is awful.

[47:48] So it's been very upsetting for a lot of people on this council.

[47:52] We have always maintained that the best use of a township and a property is where people

[47:57] can live where they can walk to restaurants and to where they shop, and that's they in

[48:00] their coral at the time, and that also creates community.

[48:03] Right?

[48:03] These people outside walking together and seeing each other instead of just being in cars and zooming

[48:07] to one place and then to the next.

[48:09] So your comments are very well, wherever you'll take them.

[48:11] Thank you.

[48:12] And I'd like to introduce myself again to start the clock.

[48:15] But just real quick.

[48:16] I want to get one turn.

[48:17] You get one turn.

[48:19] I want to say.

[48:21] But please email us, please say touch with us.

[48:24] We want to hear what you have.

[48:25] Thank you.

[48:26] Thank you.

[48:28] Good evening.

[48:29] My name is Howard Aegris.

[48:30] I reside at 42 Shurbroke Parkway.

[48:34] I'd like to speak about a project, the bottle king project.

[48:38] That is a project that was not jammed down anyone's throats with the fear of being

[48:44] be side your typical construction woes as we all know the density on that property is unlike anything that's ever been projected for the town.

[48:56] I'd like to cite one example and actually ask for help and finding out who's overseeing this project.

[49:05] One reason being was at the beginning of May around May 10th, my wife and I heard a buzzing

[49:15] outside and we noticed this gigantic, have you ever seen those pull behind construction

[49:23] lights that would be used for an emergency highway construction or some type of fatal car crash

[49:32] on the highway, Madonna Field,

[49:37] it seemed that one of these units was set up at the corner

[49:40] of Duncan Donuts projecting toward all of the houses on Sherbrooke Parkway.

[49:47] This light went on just after sunset and stayed on probably an hour or two after sunrise.

[49:56] This illumination was if a helicopter was above our houses, shining lights.

[50:03] We had neighbors who switched rooms to sleep in because they couldn't sleep in the rooms

[50:07] that they were in and that constant diesel engine humming.

[50:12] There was no emergency there, there was no fatality, there was no car crash, I went and

[50:18] looked.

[50:19] It was just to light up the parking lot in the entire Sherbrook Parkway.

[50:25] Took about 10 days to get that taken care of.

[50:28] The police were there five times.

[50:31] The police shut them off twice.

[50:35] There should never be any construction equipment running overnight in town for a non-emergency

[50:41] purpose.

[50:42] I'm not a lawyer, but very easily looking online, I found that out.

[50:46] 10 days this took to get that down, illuminating our backyard and disturbing our peace.

[50:55] Where was the construction officials who allowed such an item to be put up there and

[51:01] disturb us, so we couldn't sit outside?

[51:06] My son is going to get up and speak about another serious issue with that property.

[51:12] So if you have any answers and who could guide me to who I speak to about this.

[51:17] And once again, these are not opinions or speculation or just wondering if it's legal or not.

[51:23] It's illegal, it wasn't allowed.

[51:26] For some reason the chief of police didn't know, one of the lieutenant didn't know,

[51:30] but the patrolman said, it's not allowed.

[51:32] Thank you.

[51:49] I'd also like to discuss the abolishing project.

[51:52] So the Friday before Labor Day, these invasive weed plants,

[51:56] some of which were taller than 12 feet, they covered our whole neighborhood

[52:00] And these little seed hairs, they resembled denowines.

[52:04] They were about, like the size of quarter.

[52:07] They came in tens of thousands.

[52:10] And they were swarming all of our backyards.

[52:12] It was like a snowstorm.

[52:16] And when we have our Labor Day party with our friends and family,

[52:21] it was a nuisance.

[52:22] They were getting in our hair, in our food,

[52:25] in our drinks, in our hot tub, and in our mouths, sometimes.

[52:30] And every single puff has a little seed in it, so when they eventually reach the ground, be germinate, and another invasive plant is born.

[52:42] So we don't use chemicals in our backyard because we have pets, so it is next to impossible to remove them organically.

[52:53] So in fact, that Friday before the holiday weekend, my father went into the trailer and informed an individual about the situation.

[53:00] And it took 10 days for them to even make progress, removing said weeds.

[53:06] That is unacceptable, okay?

[53:09] That is unprofessional, and that is really unneverly, especially for projects of the scale.

[53:20] The same manager should have been a worthy issue and taken appropriate action to control

[53:24] it, because let's be honest, it's impossible to ignore it.

[53:29] They should have proactively dressed it rather than ignoring it and waiting for it to become

[53:33] disturbance. And additionally, as my father brought up, this project has been the most

[53:38] dense development in the history of his town. And on top of that, it's an extremely

[53:43] close proximity to a residential neighborhood. So considering this, we would hope more care

[53:49] in consideration would be extended to us. And we've seen quite the contrary. So going forward,

[53:55] we want to see consideration. And we want to be shown that even though this town passed an act

[54:00] I want to get 300 of us, particularly disappointed about that.

[54:04] They still just have that bit of decency to show to the residents.

[54:07] Thank you.

[54:16] Any other speakers?

[54:30] 55 year resident for a generation of town, and you know the rest of what I usually say.

[54:35] First thing I want to say is the path on of a abandoned town.

[54:40] I grew up in this town.

[54:42] I don't know how many times.

[54:43] I mean, I live on the other side of town, but coming over to this side of town, going to

[54:47] pull, then cutting through there, to go to friends house, girlfriends, and actually when I

[54:52] worked at the chop right, I used to cut through that way too. So that's definitely a path

[54:57] that the township really needs to work on. They help the residents that use it all the time.

[55:05] And kids like me when I was younger to be able to cut through instead of going on a living

[55:10] and Avenue War or Winchester.

[55:14] So that's definitely something the town needs to work on.

[55:17] All right, the other reason I wanted to come up here

[55:21] is I would like to thank the Livingston Chinese Association

[55:25] for inviting myself and my wife yesterday to the sound

[55:30] of Harvest Concert.

[55:32] It was at Montclair University.

[55:36] The music that was performed was basically

[55:39] the East meets West through music.

[55:43] It was amazing to hear the multiple types of music

[55:47] and the infusion of the different cultures.

[55:53] And I was captivated on seeing the different types of instruments

[55:57] and the passion of the artists yesterday.

[56:02] So again, I would like to thank the Chinese Association

[56:08] for inviting me.

[56:10] And I'm actually looking forward to going back there next year.

[56:14] So again, there was multiple Chinese associations

[56:17] by the Livingston was there also representing themselves

[56:21] and I'm thankful for the invite.

[56:24] So thank you.

[56:25] Thank you.

[56:26] Thanks, Sam.

[56:32] OK, I see you know the speaker.

[56:34] I have a motion to close public portion on any subject.

[56:37] Motion.

[56:38] Second.

[56:39] OK.

[56:40] On favor.

[56:41] All right.

[56:41] Opposed?

[56:43] OK.

[56:43] Well, now move, Mayor, can I make a couple of comments?

[56:46] Yes, I'd like to respond to, and thank you for the group to come in.

[56:52] They want who knows me, knows me that I'm passionate about making the town more walkable.

[56:56] I'm a biker myself.

[56:58] I see that, and I think I responded to some of you as well, that this is near and dear to my heart.

[57:04] If anything, we should be increasing more pathways, more walkways, making town more walkable.

[57:12] That's the way to go about it.

[57:13] that's an answer to traffic, that's the answer to pollution, that's the answer to better quality of life.

[57:21] But just to make sure it's very clear that this council, this governing body has not approved that closure,

[57:29] but the concern raised by cleaning of the path, an absolute correct one, so we should certainly look at it.

[57:37] And in fact, creating the conditions to make it more inviting is where my head is personally.

[57:46] Again, it's because of my personal drive for it.

[57:50] One of the things is somebody mentioned about connecting various roadways.

[57:57] So, Township Manager and I've just talked about how do we increase sort of do a not the

[58:03] walkability study, but essentially across the safe routes to school.

[58:08] That's one part of it, which we are as a team, a very passionate about.

[58:12] We have done a lot of vision zero as a structure of framework, approved to it.

[58:17] So there is a lot of drive from this governing body to create and make our township more

[58:22] walkable, more bikeable.

[58:24] So that's absolutely a certain day. I think you started by saying can we have a transparency and what's our stand?

[58:31] I'm categorically putting that stand up front to you that that's the stand that this governing body is for it.

[58:39] I myself is driven for it. I've stand in front of the heritage middle school a couple of times to see where the traffic is how the kids are crossing.

[58:49] You know, at the time when the school gets discharged, there's a lot of traffic there, how kids cross over goes into the woods and so on, right?

[58:58] So these are the studies that are practical studies. They don't need a specialist to come in. These are the residents like yourselves who come in and tell us.

[59:06] So I think that's where the two-way dialogue is. I would invite you to please continue raising and please connect keep connecting.

[59:13] very well you see an issue and absolutely will will take a personal interest in in looking at that.

[59:19] So thank you for for being that up. And regarding the couple of challenges that you mentioned,

[59:25] I think they are valid. The lights should not be there. I agree with you and I think we can take a look at it very.

[59:35] But 10 days probably that's something to to kind of take a look. And I think the other point was

[59:40] weeds, so we should look at that too.

[59:44] But again, these are the kind of things that's important to know

[59:47] because you are the ones in the forefront to face that.

[59:50] So thank you for bringing that up.

[59:54] I'm just, I'm just, I also respond about the lights.

[59:56] So you said that happened in May.

[59:57] You said that correct?

[59:58] It's the end of the world.

[1:00:00] That's just something like that. May? Yes. Yes. So yes.

[1:00:03] Snaps, we're in, now it's middle of September, we're just, probably the first time any of us up here are hearing about this.

[1:00:09] So I would just ask you, next time, but I would just ask,

[1:00:12] to sense an email about it so we at least we can get on a little quicker because I've received a

[1:00:16] email in advance. Sometimes not, but if you just, if you just sent us an email, so we can

[1:00:23] know about it because a lot of stuff we don't know about in this town, unless we hear, unless we,

[1:00:33] I'm asking if you would just send us an email next time, it'd be good.

[1:00:37] Thank you.

[1:00:38] You guys should drive by these projects, too.

[1:00:41] See what's going on there?

[1:00:42] I drive by the everyday.

[1:00:44] 14 feet high weeds.

[1:00:46] It's no big drill by there.

[1:00:47] Look at it.

[1:00:48] Couldn't have a service.

[1:00:53] I'm going to send some videos of the snow going through the neighborhood.

[1:00:59] So I just want to thank the residents of Bennington

[1:01:01] in the surrounding streets because, you know,

[1:01:04] although we received Megan's email a couple days ago

[1:01:08] or just the other day, I received an email

[1:01:10] from a gentleman also, and that's when we're the

[1:01:13] blog I started with Barry saying, what's going on?

[1:01:16] So, you know, thank you for letting us know

[1:01:18] because if we didn't know, we're sitting up here,

[1:01:20] and we didn't know that there was something going on over there.

[1:01:23] So that's why it's really important that if something goes on

[1:01:26] in the community, just like Councilman might

[1:01:28] just let us know and we'll try and take care of it as best we can and I do agree with the mayor.

[1:01:34] I think there will be a good outcome with that with that path over at Bennington.

[1:01:40] But I just want to thank the residents for coming out and telling us what was going on over there.

[1:01:45] Because we don't live over there or some of us don't live over there.

[1:01:47] So we just need to know about it.

[1:01:50] But thank you Megan for that very thoughtful email that you sent.

[1:01:59] Okay, we will now move on to reports of Township Officials.

[1:02:04] I'm going to go motion to close.

[1:02:05] Public comment.

[1:02:05] I'm much sorry.

[1:02:06] Thank you.

[1:02:08] Okay.

[1:02:08] Before we add comments.

[1:02:11] Town Manager Barry Lewis.

[1:02:14] Nothing to report other than I do want to give a shout out to the 9-11 committee and the entire community.

[1:02:19] It was a really nice solemn ceremony in a very proud that the community continues to recognize it every year.

[1:02:29] Yes, we're finalizing a reprogramming grant as he's kind of CBG to do some further ADA improvements

[1:02:37] the entranceways over the community center.

[1:02:39] The quick turnaround for money that has been spent by other towns, so we're going to try and get another chunk to enhance our closures.

[1:02:48] We're going to put on there too.

[1:02:50] Thank you, Ross.

[1:02:51] Adam.

[1:02:52] Just wanted to give a shout out to two people, Joe Gil and Andrew Munts to kind of get us through the summer arts series.

[1:03:02] We had our June arts, our July concerts series, as well as our August movie nights.

[1:03:07] Very well-intended residents seem to really enjoy and came out for it.

[1:03:13] And so it was just really good. And those two employees were amazing.

[1:03:16] Good to have. Thank you.

[1:03:18] Thank you.

[1:03:21] No, sir, for me. Thank you, Mayor.

[1:03:23] Okay, Jared.

[1:03:24] I know a fourth and eight, Mayor. Thank you.

[1:03:26] Okay. Carolyn.

[1:03:28] I just want to mention Tuesday, October 13th is the last day to register to vote for the November election.

[1:03:34] Thank you.

[1:03:37] And Michael Vierra will be giving the council report tonight.

[1:03:40] Thank you, Mayor.

[1:03:41] And I'm not going to talk about anything that we did in the past.

[1:03:43] We're just going to go what's coming up.

[1:03:46] Happy birthday to you.

[1:03:47] You have a birthday coming up this week.

[1:03:49] So happy birthday.

[1:03:51] We're not going to ask your age at all.

[1:03:52] That's kind of, but 40, really.

[1:03:56] Wow, that's that's that's being very generous.

[1:03:58] Public record now.

[1:04:00] So this coming Saturday, September 19th,

[1:04:04] this pet polluse is sponsored by the Mount Pleasant

[1:04:07] Animal Shelter.

[1:04:08] It's being held at our gazebo area

[1:04:10] between 12 p.m. and 6 p.m. this Saturday.

[1:04:14] Sunday, we have season here.

[1:04:16] We have the celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month at the Casibo from 1 o'clock to 5 o'clock on Sunday, September 20th.

[1:04:25] Young Kippur is in a few days and this council wishes for all those who observe an easy and meaningful fast.

[1:04:36] Tuesday, September 22nd, the SS County, the County of Essex is holding a wellness day at the South Mountain Arena.

[1:04:45] for senior citizens. So if you're interested, it opens at 10 o'clock on Tuesday, September 22nd.

[1:04:54] Saturday, September 26th, the Livingston community block party is at the gazebo and oval from 1 pm to 430 pm.

[1:05:04] It's also a youth appreciation week, that entire week, and we celebrate from September 20th to the 27th.

[1:05:11] October 27th is also bike livingston. I'm sure there's something on social media about that.

[1:05:19] Roadary that same day is having something called pedals for progress, where if you have a

[1:05:25] bicycle that you want to donate from 1132 to 230 you can come in back of town hall and donate your

[1:05:31] bicycle. It goes to a real good cause. And in prior to next town council meeting on September 28th,

[1:05:40] The Livingston Arts Council will be holding a arch show here in the hallways of Town Hall.

[1:05:46] So that's all I have in there.

[1:05:47] Thank you, Councilman Vera.

[1:05:49] I would just say, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, we got it.

[1:05:51] I just wanted to give a quick shout out to the Livingston Police Department and thank them.

[1:05:56] They were stationed at all of our local synagogues.

[1:05:59] This past, Russia, China, all five synagogues were fully covered for all the days and all

[1:06:04] the hours that we were in services and I just want to thank the Chief of Police, the

[1:06:10] who've spent their time keeping us protected,

[1:06:14] like they do every day for all the residents in this town.

[1:06:17] So thank you.

[1:06:17] Thank you.

[1:06:19] I just want to also say a lot of Barry's lines.

[1:06:23] That's the 10th or 11th remembrance this year.

[1:06:26] I think was really a wonderful, meaningful event

[1:06:30] for the people that were there.

[1:06:31] We had so many comments from so many people,

[1:06:33] I have to words on social media and people that came up

[1:06:36] and said to me, it's said to lots of the speakers

[1:06:39] that they just really felt like it was a special occasion and they were really glad that they

[1:06:42] went there. So I was really glad that I'm really glad that let me seem to still doing this

[1:06:47] over here and we're going to keep doing it. So that's that for there we're going to adjourn

[1:06:53] and we're going to go back into the finished our conference meeting which is in the room next

[1:06:58] door which is open to the public and if anyone wants to be a part of that meeting you're more

[1:07:03] welcome to walk over with us and here the rest of our discussions. Thanks everyone.

[1:07:10] Oh, yeah. Well, public is closed.

[1:07:19] You can come inside. Yeah, you can come inside.

[1:07:21] I can't really open it up again. Sorry.

Town Council Meeting Sept 14th 2026

Transcript