[5:39] Very good.

[10:52] All right. This meeting is called to

[10:54] order. This is the August 11th, 2026

[10:56] mayor council meeting. Uh will the clerk

[11:00] please read the statement of compliance?

[11:02] >> This meeting is being held in accordance

[11:04] with the open public meetings act NJSA

[11:06] 104-6X

[11:09] having been duly advertised and posted

[11:11] in the municipal building in compliance

[11:12] with NJSA 104-8.

[11:15] The meeting will adjourn no later than

[11:17] 10 p.m. unless a majority of the council

[11:19] members present vote to extend the time.

[11:22] >> All rise for the pledge of allegiance.

[11:26] » Would uh Victor German Jr. please lead

[11:28] us in the pledge of allegiance?

[11:30] >> I aliance to the flag of the United

[11:33] States of America and to the republic

[11:35] for it stands one nation under God

[11:39] indivisible with liberty and justice for

[11:41] all. Please remain standing for a moment

[11:43] of silence. Let's

[11:48] also remember Lieutenant James John Gaul

[11:50] Jr. He was a member of the Oakland

[11:51] Police Department. He passed away

[11:52] recently.

[11:55] He was retired.

[12:00] Thank you.

[12:04] » All right. Would the clerk call the

[12:05] role, please?

[12:06] >> Mayor Kamala,

[12:07] >> present.

[12:09] >> Council President Talini

[12:10] >> here.

[12:11] >> Councilman Dumpert

[12:12] >> here. Councilman Eert

[12:14] >> here.

[12:14] >> Councilman Pignatelli

[12:15] >> here.

[12:16] >> Councilwoman Rose

[12:17] >> here.

[12:18] >> Councilman Saliani

[12:19] >> here.

[12:20] >> All right. We have a special occasion

[12:21] today. We are swearing in a new

[12:23] firefighter.

[12:24] >> Uh if you recall last month we swore in

[12:26] Ed McDermott senior. Uh this time we're

[12:29] going to ask Ed to come forward with his

[12:31] son, Ed McDermott the fifth. Correct. Uh

[12:34] this is Ed the fifth. Uh Ed is uh going

[12:36] to be joining the volunteer fire

[12:38] department. Uh Ed also uh graduated high

[12:40] school, served four years in the army.

[12:42] He has since completed his army service

[12:45] and he's currently active in the

[12:46] National Guard. So let's give Ed a

[12:50] [applause]

[13:06] go, Dad. Which way?

[13:13] Are you ready?

[13:14] >> Okay.

[13:16] I, Ed McDermott the 5th,

[13:18] >> I, Ed McDermott the 5th,

[13:19] >> do solemnly swear

[13:21] >> that I will support the Constitution of

[13:23] the United States

[13:23] >> that I will support the Constitution of

[13:25] the United States

[13:26] >> and the Constitution of the State of New

[13:27] Jersey

[13:28] >> and the Constitution of the State of New

[13:29] Jersey

[13:29] >> that I will bear true faith and

[13:31] allegiance

[13:31] >> that I will bear true faith and

[13:32] allegiance

[13:33] >> to the same

[13:34] >> and the governments established in the

[13:36] United States

[13:37] >> and the governments established in the

[13:39] United States

[13:40] >> and in this state

[13:41] >> under the authority of the people

[13:44] >> and that I will faithfully and that I

[13:46] will faithfully

[13:47] >> impartially

[13:48] >> and justly

[13:50] >> perform all the duties

[13:53] >> of the office of firefighter

[13:56] >> according to the best of my ability.

[13:59] >> So help me God.

[14:00] >> Congratulations sir. [applause]

[14:22] Thank you.

[14:29] » Congratulations.

[14:36] >> Thank you for your service.

[14:39] All

[14:40] right, we can take a quick one minute

[14:42] recess. I know there's a lot of

[14:43] firefighters that unless you want to

[14:44] hang out for the meeting, you're welcome

[14:45] to. If not, uh, go

[14:49] [laughter]

[15:45] So, we're up to the mayor's report. Uh,

[15:47] a couple items. Uh, number one, paving.

[15:50] Um, as many people know on the dog on

[15:52] the Dogwood section, uh, they just Lar,

[15:55] the property owner with the condos back

[15:57] there, uh, just completed paving McCoy

[16:00] Road. Uh, that was at no cost to the

[16:02] taxpayer. That was paid for by the

[16:04] developer. and we were able to convince

[16:07] them to pave all the way up to the

[16:08] Franklin Lakes corporate line. So, if

[16:10] you go up there, you'll notice that all

[16:12] the paving is complete on the Oakland

[16:13] side, but when you get to Franklin

[16:14] Lakes, it's only half and there's

[16:15] patches in there. So, they did right by

[16:17] Oakland by uh well, we kind of worked

[16:19] with them to make sure they did that.

[16:21] All right. Oakland's 20 2026 road

[16:24] program. Uh the following roads are

[16:26] going to be paved. Currently, they're

[16:28] working on they started the concrete

[16:29] work. It's going to they're going to be

[16:31] working on it this week and next week.

[16:33] Uh the following areas are going to be

[16:34] paved. The walking path along the

[16:36] Dogwood school for the people with

[16:37] student with children. There's a walking

[16:39] path between Dogwood and Manito that's

[16:41] going to be repaved. That has not been

[16:42] done for 20 years. Harvard Way is going

[16:44] to be repaved. Roosevelt Boulevard from

[16:47] First Street to Truman Soccer Field

[16:48] parking lot's going to be paved. Uh the

[16:51] Veterans Park driveway. West Oakland A

[16:53] where we did all the water main work,

[16:55] that's going to be paved all the way to

[16:56] the Pompson Lakes line, uh where the

[16:59] water man work was done. Acorn is also

[17:02] going to be paved curb to curb. Stony

[17:04] point road, Cheyenne Court, Senica

[17:07] Avenue, Masasoy Trail, Kaunga Drive,

[17:09] Tuscarora Drive, Barber Lane, Winter

[17:12] Street, and Maple Drive. Uh we're also

[17:15] expecting the county to be paving West

[17:17] Oakland A from the McDonald's light all

[17:20] the way to Skyline Drive. That's

[17:22] probably be happening later either late

[17:25] summer, sometime in the spring, but

[17:26] that's going to be paid for by the

[17:27] county.

[17:29] I know there's a problem. Several

[17:31] residents have contacted about the Iraco

[17:33] and Andrew ponding situation. There's a

[17:35] collapsed storm drain in that area. DPW

[17:38] is out there in a regular basis uh

[17:40] pumping out the street. Uh we're

[17:42] currently working with our DPW and our

[17:44] engineer. Uh they have to replace a 20ft

[17:47] section of pipe. Okay. And I know that

[17:50] residents are concerned because we just

[17:51] did a lot of paving up there. The good

[17:53] news is we do not have to dig up the

[17:54] road. It's all going to be all the work

[17:56] is going to be done off the road on a

[17:58] person's property. So that that's work

[18:00] is pending. Should probably take three

[18:01] to four weeks. Also want to congratulate

[18:04] the students that took place in the

[18:06] junior police academy graduation. I'm

[18:07] sure Mr. Saliani is going to have

[18:09] something to say about that. Um

[18:13] streetscape as you know this governing

[18:15] body has been working on the streetscape

[18:17] uh for the downtown area. Uh from the

[18:20] railroad track all the way up to Oak

[18:23] Street. uh our engineers have been

[18:25] working on design criteria as we speak.

[18:27] We hope to have a presentation sometime

[18:29] in either September or October to the

[18:30] governing body uh for input from the

[18:33] residents of governing body as we move

[18:35] forward through this process. Uh the

[18:37] drugstore, I know I've talked a couple

[18:39] times about the drugstore. Um at this

[18:41] time the drugstore, they ran into an

[18:43] issue with the roof. They're working

[18:45] through engineering issues. Uh once

[18:47] that's done, plans should be should be

[18:49] submitted. I'm I said last month, but

[18:51] they're shooting for the end of this

[18:52] month. Let's see what happens once the

[18:54] plans get submitted. We'll start seeing

[18:55] that the Oakland drugs property get

[18:57] rehabilitated into the new Hackinack

[19:00] Health. As far as garbage, I know a lot

[19:03] of people have been stickered. There's a

[19:04] lot of uh uh pain here in town

[19:07] concerning the garbage can size. Uh but

[19:09] uh the DPW has gone around. They have

[19:12] stickered the cans and the last day to

[19:14] use cans over 45 will be August 14th. Uh

[19:18] then you have to have the smaller can.

[19:20] Uh, and the DPW is selling them at a

[19:22] discount rate of $20 per can if

[19:24] anybody's interested. And with that, concludes my report.

[19:33] At this time, I'd like I I invited the

[19:35] affordable housing attorney, Mr. Brian

[19:37] Giblin, at the end of the the Deis. As

[19:40] you know, Oakland is facing a lot of

[19:41] challenges with all this affordable

[19:43] housing with the McBride property uh

[19:45] behind the hardware store and also

[19:46] [snorts] behind the high school. I

[19:48] thought it was only appropriate to have

[19:50] uh Mr. Giblin come forward come here

[19:52] today so they can give us and the public

[19:54] an update on where we are with the

[19:55] affordable housing. I yield to you Mr.

[19:58] Giblin.

[19:58] >> Thank you mayor and I appreciate the

[20:00] opportunity to update the council and

[20:02] the public as to uh what the status is.

[20:05] Um as I'm I'm sure the council and most

[20:07] of the public are aware. Uh after we

[20:09] filed our declaratory judgment action

[20:12] seeking immunity uh from affordable

[20:14] housing litigation, there were four

[20:16] challenges uh three by developers and

[20:19] one by Fairshare Housing Center. Leaving

[20:22] aside fair share because they're not

[20:23] going to settle until all the other

[20:26] developers settle. Uh we have three. We

[20:28] have McBride, Leone, and Robber. Um

[20:32] going in the order uh McBride is uh a

[20:36] site that the uh mayor and council uh

[20:40] adopted zoning that they had requested.

[20:43] The only issue in that case and the only

[20:45] reason we haven't reached a settlement

[20:46] with them is because the mayor and

[20:48] council would not permit access from

[20:50] Paige Drive. Um they subsequently filed

[20:54] a motion. I went to court before Judge

[20:56] Caristen who is handling the case and

[20:58] Judge Carsten said that that decision

[21:01] has to be made by the planning board. So

[21:03] uh they can make an application uh to

[21:06] develop the site. They can have Page

[21:08] Road as a proposed um means of ingress

[21:12] and egress, but the planning board is

[21:14] going to have to approve that after the

[21:16] engineering testimony goes in. So uh

[21:18] we'll have to leave that to them. the

[21:20] Leone site. Um we met with their

[21:24] professionals on a couple of occasions.

[21:26] They u we were advised that the Leone

[21:30] site is essentially a mirror image of

[21:32] the LAR site which is just next door.

[21:35] However, they're requesting some zoning

[21:37] changes to make uh some minor

[21:40] modifications to the zoning at the LAR

[21:42] site. So we've been going through that

[21:44] with uh the burrows professionals to see

[21:46] why those changes are necessary and so

[21:49] far uh most of them have been necessary.

[21:51] Again they're minor in nature and it's

[21:53] because of the different topography on

[21:55] the site that uh requires it. Uh and

[21:59] last is the ropper or roer site. This

[22:02] was an approval from uh the third round

[22:05] was approved I believe in 2018

[22:08] uh in the last round. We're now in the

[22:09] fourth round. Um, and the only thing

[22:14] that's stopping them from developing the

[22:16] site right now is that they don't have

[22:18] sewage. Uh, it was supposed to have been

[22:21] taken care of by the North Northwest

[22:23] Sewer Authority. Uh, they have not put

[22:26] in the infrastructure uh to this point.

[22:29] Uh, we've had communications with them.

[22:32] We recently had a meeting with the um

[22:36] NJD

[22:37] to find out where we could get excess

[22:40] sewage capacity not only for that site

[22:42] but for some other existing sites in the

[22:44] downtown area and uh they were looking

[22:47] for some additional information. our

[22:49] engineers are providing that and we will

[22:51] get uh together with them again and try

[22:53] and work that out so that uh we can

[22:55] provide sewage again not just for the

[22:57] ropper site to be built but also for

[22:59] some existing properties that don't have

[23:01] sewage now and the next time we'll be in

[23:04] court is September 15th in front of

[23:06] Judge Carston.

[23:07] >> Thank you. Does anybody from the council

[23:09] have any questions for affordable

[23:10] housing attorney at this time? if you

[23:13] could just uh stay here till after open to the public in case the residents

[23:17] have any questions.

[23:19] >> At this time, do I have a motion to open

[23:20] the public?

[23:21] >> So moved.

[23:22] >> Do we have a second?

[23:22] >> Second.

[23:23] >> All in favor?

[23:24] >> Anyone from the public wish to address

[23:25] the governing body?

[23:30] » Hello.

[23:31] >> My name is Joan Czech. My address is 18

[23:34] Crosby Lane. Tonight I am um here on

[23:37] behalf of the open first aid squad. I

[23:40] have some things I'd like to bring to

[23:42] the attention of the council, of the

[23:44] town, a frustration that we've been

[23:46] having. Um, we typically in the past

[23:50] have adopted maybe burrow um vehicles,

[23:55] police cars that have been retired from

[23:56] service. Um, part of the problem with

[23:59] that has been that they were retired for

[24:02] a good reason. They the cost of

[24:04] maintenance is high. They are not

[24:06] reliable. things you don't want in an

[24:09] emergency vehicle. Um, so we decided to

[24:13] use squad funds given by our generous

[24:16] donors in town to purchase a new vehicle

[24:19] that had a warranty. And the way the

[24:23] best way for us to purchase it was

[24:24] through a municipal

[24:27] somebody's got to help me with the word

[24:28] here. Co-op.

[24:30] >> And part of the rules of those co-ops is

[24:32] that it has to be registered to the

[24:34] town. I believe it's for a year. I

[24:37] didn't participate in this purchase, but

[24:40] it's usually for a year. The town has to

[24:42] have it licensed to them for a year. Um,

[24:45] we bought that vehicle in I think the

[24:48] beginning of 2024 was when it was

[24:50] finally paid for. Um, and then it was um

[24:55] I probably due to our fault as much as

[24:58] anybody else's last year, we never

[25:00] bothered getting the that transferred.

[25:02] I'm kind of a p detailed person

[25:05] accountant type. Um, so I decided when I

[25:08] became chief, which is the beginning of

[25:10] this year, I would see to it that that

[25:12] title would be transferred because it's

[25:15] a little bit problematic. I mean,

[25:17] theoretically, the town could sell it or

[25:19] repaint it as a police car if they so

[25:21] desired at this point, which is really

[25:23] not what we're in the business to do.

[25:25] We're 501c3 with our mission. Our

[25:29] mission is to provide first aid care,

[25:30] not to buy vehicles for Oakland. So, you

[25:33] know, we we have a great deal of trust

[25:35] in the town, but on the other hand, like

[25:37] I said, I'm a detailed person. I want to

[25:39] see stuff buttoned up. I'm sure you can

[25:41] appreciate that as an attorney. Um, it

[25:44] you you don't just leave it even if you

[25:46] trust the individuals. And so, this

[25:49] year, around February or March, I began

[25:51] speaking to people. People in Burough

[25:53] Hall have been very responsive, very on

[25:56] top of things. Um, it seems to be

[25:58] stalling with the attorney. At first, I

[26:01] was told that the that they needed to go

[26:03] to the attorney to find out how to

[26:05] transfer it. And then I kept calling and

[26:09] asking. And then I heard that we were

[26:11] waiting to have the um the motion

[26:15] >> resolution [laughter] I I may be a

[26:18] detailed person. I'm not a word person.

[26:20] Um have that written for the council um

[26:23] to vote on. And that was sort of the end

[26:26] of June. I was very disappointed to see

[26:28] it not show up on the July agenda. And

[26:32] then I heard I happened to run into

[26:34] Wendy and she was on top of it. She said

[26:36] to me, "It should be on this agenda.

[26:38] We're still waiting for the wording."

[26:40] And then the agenda came out and it

[26:41] wasn't there. And I have questions at

[26:45] this point about why that's so

[26:47] complicated and and why is this taking

[26:50] so long? Because we've done this

[26:51] numerous times in the past. granted with

[26:54] old junky cars, but you know, we have

[26:56] done this. It nobody's had an issue

[26:58] doing it. And in any case, um I was

[27:02] hoping possibly tonight if it's a simple

[27:04] thing that maybe Mr. Gilson would be

[27:07] able to come up with something that

[27:09] could be voted on. And you know, if not,

[27:12] or if there if it's not just going to be

[27:14] a straightforward transfer of title for

[27:16] the vehicle that we paid for and there's

[27:19] something else that's try they're trying

[27:20] to get written in there, I would like

[27:22] the opportunity to speak to them and I

[27:24] will provide you with my contact

[27:26] information after this. Um, and that's

[27:29] pretty much all I have to say. You know,

[27:32] um, we need to get this moving. We need

[27:34] to get this done because if the year

[27:35] ends without me getting it done, I'm

[27:36] going to be very sad.

[27:38] >> Thank you. Thank you.

[27:39] >> Thank you.

[27:44] Danny Dia, 7 form Road.

[27:47] Uh, a couple [clears throat] things

[27:48] tonight. First, a very important thing.

[27:52] Uh, we must never forget this September

[27:54] 11th [clears throat] will be 25 years

[27:56] since the Twin Towers, the Pentagon, and

[27:58] a fourth plane headed to Washington DC,

[28:01] where courageous patriots took control

[28:03] of the plane and crashed it in field in

[28:06] Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

[28:08] On Friday, September 11th at 6 PM, the

[28:11] community of Oakland will hold a

[28:13] remembrance ceremony for the 25th

[28:14] anniversary of 911 in Veterans Park.

[28:17] While the residents and businesses are

[28:20] invited to attend, afterwards, there

[28:22] will be refreshments available at Pond's

[28:24] Church. Let's never forget that day that

[28:27] changed America. One month from tonight,

[28:30] February, Friday, September 11th, at 6

[28:33] p.m. in Veterans Park. All are invited

[28:36] and welcome to please attend this

[28:37] important moving ceremony. Let's make it

[28:41] it's something that never should be

[28:42] forgotten and it's getting forgotten by

[28:45] a lot of people. So just remember

[28:47] Friday, September 11th, 6:00 Veterans

[28:50] Park. It's going to be a real nice

[28:51] ceremony. We're still working on it.

[28:54] We've had two meetings. We got another

[28:55] two meetings coming up and it's going to

[28:59] be good. All right, a couple other

[29:01] things.

[29:03] sidewalk along 202 South between the

[29:06] cleaners

[29:08] and the Exxon station. All right.

[29:10] There's two white lines that used to be

[29:12] painted there. They're faded. All right.

[29:14] They used to be painted every year.

[29:17] There's a restaurant in that parking lot

[29:20] has valet parking.

[29:23] the valet parking on Friday, Saturday

[29:25] nights, sometimes Sunday nights,

[29:27] sometimes Thursday nights, they park

[29:28] them right out to 202,

[29:31] right out to the edge of 202. People

[29:33] walking either they got to weave through

[29:35] the cars or they walk in 202.

[29:39] Uh it's amazing nobody got hit yet.

[29:42] >> All right, so I think we should go back

[29:43] to painting those lines and maybe

[29:47] enforcing no parking on the sidewalk.

[29:50] >> All right, at that place. And even if

[29:52] you had to get an emergency vehicle in

[29:54] there, you're parked on 202. You're

[29:56] blocking 202 with emergency vehicles.

[30:00] All right. Uh what two other things I

[30:03] see under the paving list is Senica A.

[30:07] Why are we paying for Senica AB when

[30:09] public service ripped it up?

[30:12] >> Mr. Cos,

[30:13] >> did we do some trading? I think that was

[30:15] one of the ways that we swapped off with

[30:17] another road or you know full um curb to

[30:21] curb on another road if memory.

[30:23] >> Yeah. So it just it seemed weird that

[30:26] public service came in and paved all the

[30:27] roads they dug up.

[30:28] >> Right. So what we do is we do horse

[30:30] trading on the back end so we can get

[30:32] more bang for the buck.

[30:33] >> Fine.

[30:33] >> All right. And then the last thing I got

[30:37] All right. Uh last meeting there was

[30:39] resolution number 233 on the agenda. It

[30:42] was introduced by you Mr. mayor and it

[30:45] was not brought the motion was made and

[30:47] it wasn't brought forward. All right.

[30:50] Now,

[30:51] >> I can't bring a resolution forward.

[30:53] >> Right. The council didn't bring it

[30:54] forward.

[30:55] >> All right. Now, looking at the gender,

[30:57] it's for $83,500.

[30:59] Looking at the agenda for this meeting,

[31:02] it's back on as resolution 248.

[31:05] It's the same resolution as 233 with

[31:08] some word changes.

[31:10] Is this a new way that we do stuff here

[31:13] to spend $83,500

[31:15] that if it don't work it don't pass the

[31:18] first time, we keep try try again after

[31:21] every meeting for the next couple of

[31:23] meetings. Totally. See if it passes. I

[31:25] don't think that's a good way to spend

[31:27] taxpayer money. All right. Thanks.

[31:33] » Next person.

[31:35] You go. Okay. [clears throat]

[31:40] Everybody, Will Lensetti, 23 Chickasaw.

[31:43] I want to talk a little bit about value,

[31:45] what we get from savings. When I was,

[31:47] you know, I sometimes have a little bit

[31:49] of a long commute and I think too much,

[31:51] but some of this sort of bothered me.

[31:52] $250 a year savings per household.

[31:56] That's for over the life of the

[31:58] contract. That's 6250 a year. That comes

[32:02] out to like we're saving a$120 with this

[32:05] new garbage contract.

[32:08] So that also got me thinking, you know,

[32:09] when my kids were little, they learned a

[32:11] lesson about value. You know, when

[32:13] they're no gave them some money, you

[32:16] know, we took them to the dollar store.

[32:17] I would always say thinking like, no, we

[32:19] shouldn't do this. But then I'm thinking

[32:20] like, no, let them learn because some

[32:21] things you can't teach. They need to

[32:23] learn. So when they bought these toys

[32:25] for a dollar and they broke and they

[32:27] cried, it didn't take them long to

[32:29] realize that some things are worth value

[32:31] and that there is a value to the dollar.

[32:33] So for a $120 thinking maybe maybe the

[32:36] mayor and council in the DBW instead of

[32:39] driving around looking at people's trash

[32:41] bins to see if they were oversized maybe

[32:43] they should have gone to the dollar

[32:44] store first. I mean looking saying, "Oh,

[32:46] this one's too big. This one's just

[32:48] right." Like some sort of garbage can

[32:50] Goldilocks looking around here. I I mean

[32:52] really. So

[32:55] what is value? Like are we getting a

[32:57] value from this for the service? Also

[33:00] knowing that a third of the town now

[33:02] needs to buy new cans. You know, that's

[33:05] what that's what you all said. 30% of

[33:07] the town needs to buy new cans. So, are

[33:10] we getting the value for that? I'm not

[33:13] sure. I'm not sure we are or not. But

[33:16] when I also looked at it, and I'm

[33:17] thinking about this from the value

[33:18] perspective, like people have cans of

[33:21] different sizes. Everyone's got a

[33:22] different size can. You know, some are

[33:24] oversized. Lay down the street from me.

[33:26] She's got huge cans. didn't seem to

[33:28] bother the other guards, man.

[33:31] Sorry, I'm just making some fun on this

[33:33] for what it is. But, you know, we can

[33:35] take it a little further. Let's let's educate our kids. Let's start a

[33:39] web page about value and then we can get

[33:42] all the cost savings, the old contract,

[33:45] the new contract, the interimm contract,

[33:47] what the actual costs are. Let's put

[33:50] them on the page and let's outweigh them

[33:52] with what people spent on garbage cans

[33:55] initially, the ones that they're

[33:56] throwing out, what they're spending on

[33:58] new garbage cans, and what the savings

[34:00] are. You know, maybe we call it, you

[34:02] know, kids corner with kumala and coons

[34:05] and cans. You know, we could have you

[34:07] guys in like [applause] Compton

[34:09] regulation cans, but you can't be green.

[34:11] I think there's some copyright

[34:12] infringements there. But we could talk

[34:14] about that. We can give the lessons on

[34:16] values. And then speaking of green,

[34:18] let's talk about what are we doing with

[34:20] all these old cans. I mean, you all told

[34:22] them to throw them out. I mean, Christ

[34:24] sakes, plastic is the OG forever

[34:26] chemical. You know, that's they're now

[34:29] in garbage bins. They're they're they're

[34:31] in waste. They're in landfills.

[34:34] >> You know, why? Why?

[34:36] >> You know, it just doesn't make sense to

[34:38] me. You know, at the end of the day, I

[34:41] think what really bothers me about this

[34:42] more is more and more between the police

[34:46] not having a contract for over a year,

[34:49] it's like 14 months or something like

[34:50] that with this garbage deal with Pmpton,

[34:54] you know, with the fact that it seems

[34:56] like we can't manage development in our

[34:58] town that all we do is we bring people

[35:01] in to tell us what we can't do. Like,

[35:04] why don't we bring people in to tell us

[35:05] what we can? I mean, that's what we

[35:08] really need.

[35:09] You know, end of the day, that sign's

[35:11] going to once say, you know, once there

[35:13] was trees all over this place

[35:16] after, you know, the thing by by hills.

[35:18] I mean, that that's a debacle. It's a

[35:20] monstrosity. It's it's an abomination

[35:22] what they did to these that piece of

[35:24] land. I'll be honest with you, that 30-

[35:26] foot high retaining wall. How many trees

[35:28] did they cut down? You know, I cut a

[35:30] tree down in my yard and I have Ranger

[35:32] Rick from the the shade tree on my ass

[35:35] to pay $250 to plant a new tree.

[35:38] you know, where were all the trees from

[35:40] there? I mean, they should be replaced,

[35:42] right? Unless you're considering the

[35:43] lumber they used to build. Well, that

[35:45] was a tree

[35:47] >> really. I mean, you know, at the end of

[35:48] the day, too, you know, I want to talk

[35:50] what really bothers me about this. Look,

[35:53] I'm all for savings and all that, but to

[35:55] be honest, taxes. Like, my taxes are

[35:58] estimated to go up 13 and a half%. The

[36:01] majority of was from what this council

[36:03] passed. That budget increase was from

[36:06] what that my tax has gone up. I'm going

[36:08] to save $62.50 a year. You know what? Am

[36:11] I going to get a Mickey D gift card?

[36:14] How am I going to get that money back? I

[36:16] tell you, 13.5% of my taxes a hell of a

[36:19] lot more than 6250 a year. So, I really lack confidence in this

[36:23] council, in this administration. I think

[36:26] people need to be held accountable. You

[36:28] know, you all be thinking people saying

[36:29] out there, people at home saying, "Who's

[36:31] this guy talking trash?" You know, well,

[36:33] I'm not. I think a lot of people at home

[36:36] believe in what I say. They're they're

[36:37] nodding their heads. They're agreeing

[36:39] with me. They're saying that this town

[36:41] is going in the wrong direction. So, I

[36:44] think people need to be held

[36:44] accountable. So, I think to start Mr.

[36:47] Couns being the mastermind of that uh

[36:49] that deal, you know, I think you should

[36:51] be canned. Yeah.

[36:54] >> And then, you know, come November, let's

[36:55] see what the voters figure out what to

[36:57] do with garbage.

[36:58] >> Thank you.

[37:00] [applause]

[37:07] Uh Steve Penosian,

[37:09] Oakland, about to say my address. I

[37:11] can't remember.

[37:13] >> Glen Greg. Got it.

[37:14] >> Okay. Glen Gray. Um before I start my

[37:17] dissertation, I uh have a document that

[37:20] I'd like to give to Wendy.

[37:22] >> Mr. Mayor, it's okay. I'd like this to

[37:25] be entered into the minutes. And then uh

[37:27] there's a lot of questions here and I'd

[37:29] like to have a followup

[37:31] >> from the town on who I can sit with to

[37:33] go through everything.

[37:39] » I do have a couple of comments and a

[37:41] couple of questions. So I hope I can do

[37:43] it under three minutes.

[37:45] Um I wasn't here for about a month. Um

[37:49] and I apologize if I'm bringing

[37:51] something up that may or may not be

[37:52] popular, but uh I've done the last

[37:56] um public statement. I I think it's

[37:59] appropriate. While I was gone, I had to

[38:02] make arrangements with family and

[38:04] neighbors to take my garbage out. And um

[38:07] I do have a monitor cam that I can see

[38:09] things going on. And uh all I can say is

[38:13] my garbage and recycle pickup experience

[38:15] um whether it was remotely or last week

[38:18] and this week has been positive. I

[38:21] haven't had a problem, but I must say

[38:25] that we're among the people, and I've

[38:27] lived here for 40 years, that we didn't

[38:29] have a problem with the container size.

[38:31] We complied. We just simply complied.

[38:34] Um, we followed that directive or that

[38:37] guideline for the 40 years that we've

[38:39] lived here.

[38:40] >> Last week, I I placed furniture in a

[38:43] mattress and it followed the guideline

[38:45] and it was picked up. So, you know, I

[38:48] got to thank whoever um nothing changed

[38:52] in our in our experience and um uh the

[38:56] only opinion that I have is um my

[38:58] observation uh the pickup people were young. They appeared energetic and

[39:03] um I went out to say hello and they're a

[39:06] very respectful team.

[39:09] Regarding the third of the town that was

[39:11] frustrated with the service transition,

[39:13] clearly uh I understand from listening

[39:16] to Mr. Coons. Um I think it was the last

[39:18] meeting. You explained what the

[39:20] objective was and I think it went over

[39:22] everybody's head or maybe everybody

[39:24] understood it but didn't want to accept

[39:25] it including one of the council people.

[39:29] A third of the town was frustrated with

[39:30] the service transition. Clearly the

[39:33] primary objective was to save money. But

[39:35] I think what everybody has overlooked is

[39:38] that

[39:40] twothirds of the town over the last 10

[39:42] years, the $30,000 average increased

[39:47] based on 300% increase over the last 10

[39:49] years. We've been subsidizing and paying

[39:51] for the liberties or whatever you want

[39:54] to call it, the out of compliance people

[39:56] or residents in our town with cans that

[39:59] were oversized.

[40:01] It's it's a perspective, but that's the

[40:03] way I look at it. I had to pay for it

[40:05] and that the other twothirds of the town

[40:07] had to pay for that and I got a

[40:09] different perspective on it that'll come

[40:11] up easily.

[40:13] The unsustainable 30% average cost to

[40:15] year the past contractor I my opinion

[40:19] working in a world where

[40:22] negotiation even after a contract

[40:25] agreement continued. this $60 per

[40:28] household. I believe that was debate

[40:31] that was an offer to get us to go in and

[40:35] now argue about was it worth saving $60

[40:38] a year. It isn't $60 a year. That was

[40:40] debate. My opinion the switch would have

[40:43] been after if we would accepted that. We

[40:46] would have slowly seen over the next

[40:47] couple two, three, four, five years, it

[40:50] would have crept up to double digit

[40:52] increases, no different than it had for

[40:54] the last 10 years. I don't care what

[40:56] anybody says. Excuse me. Supposed to be

[40:58] directing it at you. So that that is uh

[41:02] a a fact that I look at and the other

[41:04] simple one, one bidder. I don't know if

[41:08] that's a problem with with everybody,

[41:10] but that's that that's the telltale uh

[41:13] of this whole issue. So here's my

[41:15] questions and and this is the

[41:17] conclusion. I would like to know what

[41:20] the cost and ranking of the removal

[41:21] service line as an expense to the town

[41:24] and if it can be translated to an

[41:26] average household cost per property

[41:30] taxpayer of of that what is the removal

[41:35] budget

[41:38] per household as a percentage of of the

[41:40] total. So, example, if I pay $1,000 a

[41:44] year in taxes, um, and the, um,

[41:50] it's 50 bucks or 60 bucks, that that's

[41:52] 5%. I I'd like to understand as a line

[41:54] item for the total town budget, if it's

[41:56] 23 million, I don't know what it is. I

[41:58] think I know what it is, but I want it

[42:00] here uh, officially on record what it is

[42:03] and what percentage is is the disposal

[42:06] service uh, uh, as a percentage. The

[42:09] second cost and ranking is of our town's

[42:13] budget. What is the total to lease total

[42:18] police line item as a ranking and a

[42:21] percentage of the town's annual budget?

[42:24] And that could be with or without uh

[42:26] healthcare. And I understand we treat

[42:28] healthcare a little differently, but I

[42:31] want to know if that's number one. I

[42:32] think it's the first highest one. and if the average

[42:37] forget about what I think it is. I want

[42:38] to hear what the answer is and if it's

[42:40] the number one top expense

[42:42] and then where does that go? I got two

[42:44] uh additional comments

[42:49] in the spirit of um

[42:52] transparency.

[42:54] If it's assumed that the number one line

[42:56] item cost is the police expense

[43:01] and it's a good chunk of change. So, if

[43:04] I pay $10,000 in taxes and 30% goes to

[43:07] town and that's 3,000 bucks and if

[43:11] $1,100 of that is it goes to the police

[43:14] uh department budgeting.

[43:16] Um spending whatever it is $85,000 a

[43:21] year, $83,000 a year by the total number

[43:23] of households. It's a couple of bucks to

[43:26] make sure that we have a third-party uh

[43:29] review of the way our police department

[43:33] operates and and I'm I 100% support our

[43:38] police department. I would just like to

[43:40] know that everything that we have in

[43:42] place today organizationally, process,

[43:45] procedures,

[43:47] uh before we hire anybody or install a

[43:50] new police chief, I think we ought to

[43:52] align on uh what's expected today and

[43:55] looking down the road two, three, four,

[43:57] five years so we make the right hires

[44:00] and and put the right job descriptions

[44:03] or objectives uh that we would want to

[44:05] support uh our new police chief. And it

[44:08] kind of echoes what you have said, Mr.

[44:10] Mayor. Um, and out of the corporate

[44:13] world, I've worked for two Asian

[44:14] companies, one Sony, 15 years, and

[44:17] Samsung, 24 years. I'm sure everybody

[44:19] knows they're worldclass corporations.

[44:21] They were way ahead of the curve on many

[44:24] things.

[44:26] And I got to tell you, um, we always,

[44:29] and I I always worked at senior

[44:30] management to help reorganization,

[44:32] re-engineering, and process improvement.

[44:35] And we always laid these things out and

[44:38] did reviews before we made a change so

[44:41] that we would then backfill uh all these

[44:45] new uh job wrecks and then also all the

[44:48] new processes to improve everything

[44:50] about the organization to meet our

[44:52] overall objectives and that was to uh

[44:55] build the business and and do it

[44:56] profitably. And then the last comment

[44:59] that I would make in the spirit of

[45:01] transparency, which is a word that I

[45:03] can't stand because it's so misused, but

[45:06] it also works both ways. Transparency

[45:08] and our expectation of a governing body,

[45:10] and I've said this to the board of ed as

[45:12] well, uh to Ramipo. Um but there needs

[45:16] to be transparency on the public side

[45:19] too. What is your motivation? What's

[45:22] really behind what you're doing? Are you

[45:24] here to ruffle feathers and and stir the

[45:27] pot the wrong way and create issues? I

[45:29] think we've got a great town. There's no

[45:31] nothing negative about it and a past

[45:34] council person said it best. I think in

[45:36] an interview that's online

[45:38] um that we do great when we all work

[45:41] together. So, in the spirit of this

[45:43] transparency and supporting our police

[45:45] department, I hate like hell to put one

[45:47] of the councilman on on the spot here,

[45:49] but I got a ton of other questions, but

[45:51] I just simply want to know

[45:53] If you're 100% and you ran on supporting

[45:56] the police and there's signs all around

[45:58] in the town supporting our police

[46:00] department to support our police, why

[46:03] would you vote no on the contract?

[46:08] And I'd like to hear the reason why.

[46:14] And that vote note occurred at the last

[46:17] mayor and council meeting back in July.

[46:19] Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

[46:20] >> Thank you.

[46:22] No traffic, right?

[46:25] >> Good evening. My name is Phil Murphy.

[46:28] I'm 40-year resident. I live in 28

[46:30] Saratoga Drive. Um, former head coach at

[46:33] Indian Hills [clears throat] for 15

[46:34] years. Been involved in a lot of things

[46:37] in town. In fact, I ran for council in

[46:39] 1992. I lost. Thank God. Um,

[46:43] >> it gets tough at times.

[46:44] >> And I and I appreciate what you guys do.

[46:47] I really do. Um, I love this town. I

[46:49] don't plan on going anywhere. Um, so I'm

[46:51] very happy here. You guys got a tough

[46:53] challenge. I think you guys made a big

[46:55] mistake. Okay, you heard two people

[46:58] already mention one gentleman went

[47:00] online. I'm not going to talk too much

[47:01] about it, but I'm so angry about this

[47:04] issue with the garbage that you just

[47:06] have no idea. Um, it has changed my life

[47:10] dramatically, even though it's a simple

[47:11] thing. I work all week. I come home. I

[47:14] take care of my own lawn. I throw a lot

[47:16] of pride in my house. How it looks. It's

[47:17] got a flag. It's beautiful. This is what

[47:21] happens when you have new garbage

[47:22] people. They leave your cans so they

[47:25] burn your lawn.

[47:26] >> Nice.

[47:27] >> Okay. That never happened in all the

[47:30] time we had roselli. They were amazing.

[47:34] Okay. They change the time they pick up

[47:36] the grass. The grass gets picked up on

[47:39] Thursday. How many of you own a pool?

[47:43] Two of you, right?

[47:44] >> Yeah.

[47:44] >> When do you get it cleaned?

[47:47] >> On Monday. Tuesday.

[47:50] >> Friday.

[47:52] [clears throat]

[47:53] My grass sits in my cans and I want to

[47:55] know which one of you guys is going to

[47:57] come over to my house after they've

[47:59] emptied it and clean them out. It is a

[48:03] pain in the ass. So, my wife with a

[48:06] great idea. She said, "Well, why don't

[48:07] you buy the PL? Now I got to buy paper

[48:09] bags to put my garbage in, my grass

[48:13] clippings in, so I can throw them out

[48:15] and not have to clean my garbage cans

[48:17] for 10 minutes on a Thursday night in

[48:18] the dark. The timing of their pickup is

[48:21] terrible. We used to have our garbage

[48:23] picked up by the time I left for work at

[48:25] 7 a.m. I go to work every day at 7 a.m.

[48:27] By the way, I buy and sell businesses

[48:29] for a living. I'm an M&A specialist.

[48:31] It's what I do for a living. And to save

[48:33] a million4 over five years is peanuts.

[48:38] I pay $27 a month for Netflix and it's

[48:41] $6 a month for the savings that we have

[48:44] for a major quality of life issue. I

[48:46] don't know who thought about this,

[48:48] really thought about this issue, but I

[48:51] have to tell you it was really not well

[48:53] thought out because I'm more than happy

[48:55] to pay $6 to have my trash picked up.

[48:58] I've already now had to go on a s on a

[49:00] Saturday to drop off my grass clippings.

[49:03] Last Saturday, I kind of snuck in

[49:05] because I didn't have my my decal. I'm

[49:07] not even sure how to get it yet.

[49:09] Probably get it right there. But this is

[49:11] a real quality of life issue for a very

[49:13] small savings that does not any way

[49:16] compensate us. I actually spend more. I

[49:19] spend $8 a month for my bags and I save

[49:23] six. Where's the math in that? It's just

[49:25] a It's just a bad move. And somebody

[49:28] please, you have to either go back to

[49:30] these people with this contract and say

[49:33] we have to be fair about what our at

[49:35] least our delivery of the service is

[49:37] when we get pickups if it can move

[49:40] around. It sounds to me and I haven't

[49:41] looked at this too deeply, but it sounds

[49:43] to me like Pomp and Lakes got the better

[49:45] end of this that they get their pickup

[49:48] when they want theirs. We got the scraps

[49:51] or at least if we can modify this so we

[49:54] all share in the bad days and we have

[49:56] some good days. If I have to do this

[49:58] through through Thursday stuff much

[50:00] longer. I'm pretty upset about it. I

[50:02] haven't been to a council meeting. I

[50:04] can't remember.

[50:05] But I got off my run to come here

[50:07] tonight just to tell you that. And I

[50:10] appreciate the comments that you

[50:11] gentlemen made. There's a couple of you

[50:13] that made comments about this. And based

[50:15] on based on the social media on this

[50:17] issue, I waited six weeks to see what

[50:19] would happen. This was the last draw.

[50:22] So, I hope you guys will take my

[50:24] comments and do something with them

[50:26] because this has to change. It's just

[50:28] not a good deal for anyone. And as far

[50:31] as I'm concerned, the quality of life

[50:32] issue for Oakland, we all lost. It's too

[50:35] bad. You guys do a great job. This one

[50:37] was a loser. Thank you very much.

[50:40] [applause]

[50:46] Eric Hotch, 26 Rugies Drive.

[50:50] I'm here today to tell you that I don't

[50:53] think there's any savings that uh the

[50:56] old company that they picked up the

[50:58] [clears throat] day after a holiday.

[51:00] They're not picking up now the new

[51:02] company after a holiday. Also, there are

[51:05] more additional holidays that they are

[51:07] taking. So there's probably at least

[51:08] another 15 days in a year that we're not

[51:11] getting pickup. There's your savings if

[51:14] not no savings at all. So we're missing

[51:17] out. Number two, when they pick up

[51:19] garbage, I have one of those flip top

[51:21] lids. All they need to do, the other

[51:23] company always close the lid. They leave

[51:25] them open or they leave it not laying

[51:27] down on the floor. If it's raining that

[51:29] day, I got to tip over that pail and

[51:32] empty out the water.

[51:34] That never happened before. Mhm.

[51:36] >> Also, the fact with these smaller cans,

[51:39] if you use them, the lids are not

[51:40] attached. On a windy day, you got to go

[51:43] chase your uh lid four or five houses

[51:46] down. The smaller pales are also round.

[51:48] They roll all the way down the block.

[51:51] That's why I bought the bigger cans. Two

[51:54] years ago, I bought two big cans. Now,

[51:57] they're almost like $90 to $100 a can.

[52:00] I'm out that money. Now, you're telling

[52:01] me I got to spend more. That's not

[52:04] right. It's also cleaner because they

[52:07] don't blow down even during the wind.

[52:11] So, you're not going to have your

[52:12] garbage floating down the street and the

[52:14] animals to eat them. Now, these animals,

[52:17] they could just even the birds, they fly

[52:19] right in because you don't have the lid

[52:20] because I don't want to chase my uh

[52:22] garbage all the way down the block and

[52:24] they're picking the garbage out and the

[52:26] squirrels and the raccoons.

[52:28] >> I haven't had bears, but I'm sure

[52:30] they're there, too.

[52:32] That's it. Thank you, Mr. [applause]

[52:39] » Kathy Graph. Um, we're talking about

[52:40] savings.

[52:41] >> I'm sorry. What is your name, ma'am?

[52:42] >> Kathy Graph.

[52:44] >> Um, we're talking about savings and I'm

[52:46] wondering, um, who's paying for our DPWs

[52:50] overtime that they're putting in so much

[52:52] overtime doing

[52:53] >> the other work. So, where is that

[52:55] savings coming from? And someone said to

[52:57] me when I said I was coming tonight,

[52:59] they said they saw um a garbage truck

[53:02] that wasn't the ones that we bought.

[53:04] They're going through Oakland. How did

[53:06] they get there? And what are they doing?

[53:07] >> You mean they were

[53:08] >> They said they said it wasn't the usual

[53:10] garbage trucks that the men are using.

[53:12] >> So they said, you know, how did that

[53:13] come [clears throat] into effect? I I I

[53:15] didn't see it myself. This is someone

[53:16] else.

[53:17] >> I'm just trying to understand the

[53:17] question.

[53:18] >> Yeah. No, I didn't see it. My main my

[53:19] main question is who's paying the money

[53:22] for the DPW when they go out and they're

[53:24] doing the jobs that isn't being

[53:25] performed by the original contract, you

[53:27] know, the the garbage people. Who's

[53:29] paying for that? And where's the savings

[53:31] in that? Especially in overtime,

[53:39] » Elizabeth Buchcci,

[53:41] I have a couple things to say. I always

[53:43] have a couple things to say.

[53:44] >> What street do you live on?

[53:46] >> I live on Valley View Avenue. Thank you.

[53:48] >> Okay. Um,

[53:52] my first thing is nothing to do with

[53:54] anything that's been talked about here.

[53:55] I was wondering how we are proceeding.

[53:58] You know, is anything proceeding with

[53:59] the Tangle property? Are we still

[54:01] interested? Did they sell it to somebody

[54:03] else or is that still moving forward?

[54:06] >> Yeah.

[54:06] >> Perfect. Okay.

[54:09] Um, at the last meeting, Mr. Coons said

[54:13] that he was going to be talking to

[54:15] Compton about moving that rubbish day.

[54:18] >> How far have we gotten on that?

[54:19] >> So, we're going to take let everybody

[54:20] speak and then he's going to be able to

[54:21] address the questions.

[54:23] >> Um,

[54:26] my biggest complaint is the optics.

[54:33] As council people, I know it's not an

[54:35] easy job and it's not one that I would

[54:37] want to do, but sometimes you seem to

[54:40] miss the whole boat on listening to

[54:43] people.

[54:45] For every person that's going to

[54:47] complain about the garbage, you're going

[54:48] to have somebody who has a good

[54:49] experience. My area of town, we have no

[54:52] problem. So, I don't know if it's maybe

[54:53] a Heights area or Manito area, but I,

[54:56] you know, I I live off of West Oakland.

[54:58] We've had no issues. And as far as the

[55:01] lids and not lids, I half the time

[55:03] they're in the street, half the time

[55:04] they're on my lawn. The lids, I can't

[55:06] tell you how many times the garbage have

[55:08] taken them. One time they even took my

[55:10] whole garbage can. I had to replace it.

[55:11] And you know, it happens. It's

[55:14] everybody's either going to have a good

[55:15] bad experience.

[55:17] But at the last meeting,

[55:20] Matt said he was going to look into

[55:22] having the town use your power to see

[55:28] about buying garbage cans that we can

[55:30] purchase.

[55:31] That's great, except that you didn't

[55:34] listen to what was being asked. We're

[55:37] not asking for those dumb ass um cans.

[55:41] We're asking to replace something that

[55:43] will function. We want a 45gallon. We

[55:46] want it with wheels. We want it that the

[55:48] lids go up and down. Not that can. That

[55:51] is a horrible thing. And I was really

[55:54] pissed off

[55:57] at being getting the snotty emails that

[55:59] have gone come out with it. And I'm

[56:01] sorry the tone on those emails. I don't

[56:03] know who's proofing those emails, but

[56:05] you really should have somebody looking

[56:06] at them. They're a little snotty. It's

[56:09] not a reminder if you've never told us.

[56:14] Nobody knew that the DPW was selling

[56:17] garbage cans. We knew about the recycle

[56:19] cans, but not garbage cans. I went down,

[56:22] I took a picture, I told them. I put it

[56:24] online.

[56:26] I shouldn't have to do that. And to then

[56:28] for the next day, the town would come

[56:30] out and say, "It's a reminder." It's not

[56:32] a reminder. You never told us.

[56:35] Okay? I said, "Spoon feed us. Give us

[56:38] optics. Give us graphics.

[56:41] I think we'll be happy if you just

[56:44] listen to what we're asking.

[56:48] Our website is a disaster. Half the

[56:51] links on that don't work. I know they

[56:53] said we're going to be doing something,

[56:54] but I I was looking at a business plan

[56:56] that is on there from Mayor Zbo. Why?

[57:00] Though, I have to say I did like his

[57:02] vision. It looked really nice. But why

[57:05] is it still on the website? How many

[57:07] mayors ago was he? You know,

[57:10] um

[57:11] >> three more things. Three quick things.

[57:14] Uh, this hasn't brought up here, but it

[57:16] was brought up at the last meeting. And

[57:17] again, I'm saying optics.

[57:21] There's been more and more of people

[57:22] asking for that. So, second public

[57:25] session, speaking session. I don't see

[57:29] why it was removed. I don't see what

[57:31] skin off the council's nose for letting

[57:35] the people that come here have a second

[57:37] time to speak up if they have a

[57:39] question. Now, I do realize that at

[57:40] times we've had people who have

[57:41] questioned, you've opened it up, they've

[57:43] asked their question, and we've closed

[57:44] it again. But from many times that I've

[57:47] come when that second session's around,

[57:49] more often than not, nobody's nobody's

[57:51] getting up to talk. So, why remove it?

[57:53] Let us be happy. Give us that second

[57:55] session so that we feel like you're

[57:57] listening to us. Okay? And that goes

[58:00] into my third thing that I'm talking

[58:02] about. The last meeting, that anilotti

[58:05] contract went nowhere. Why is it back on

[58:08] the docket? It should not be there. I

[58:13] know we're getting a new police chief. I

[58:15] don't know if he's been appointed, not

[58:16] appointed. The town never tells us

[58:18] anything. I didn't even know we lost the

[58:19] old chief. Um,

[58:22] but why not let him come in and see

[58:25] what's going on before we second guess

[58:28] and undermine what he's doing? That

[58:30] contract. Honestly,

[58:33] you talk to people, and I know I

[58:35] probably shouldn't say this, but you're

[58:37] hearing that there's a taint with

[58:38] McCann. People don't like it. They don't

[58:41] like him. I think they spoke very well

[58:43] when voting him out. There was a lot of

[58:45] objection to him, and it smacks that

[58:48] he's behind that contract. It's a lot of

[58:51] money for the town to pay out for an

[58:53] assessment that may not be needed. Let's

[58:55] let the new chief come in, see what's

[58:58] going on, and a year from now, you'll

[58:59] look at it and see what's going on.

[59:02] And my last point, see I made notes

[59:04] today. Um, I'm with the Oakland

[59:06] Historical Society and we are doing lots

[59:10] of programs. We have a new board.

[59:12] There's a lot of uh programs,

[59:14] presentations,

[59:15] things going on. Uh, Saturday we will be

[59:18] having our membership meeting at the

[59:20] library downstairs. We would like to

[59:22] have the public come join us, see what

[59:25] we're doing, see how you can help. Um,

[59:27] the town will be celebrating 125 years

[59:30] next year. We really would like to have

[59:31] a nice celebration. The society is also

[59:33] celebrating its 60th year and we're

[59:36] doing a retrospective to see how the

[59:38] society has served the town in those 60

[59:40] years. So that's my plate. Thank you.

[59:42] >> Thank you, Mr. Duch.

[59:45] Anybody else?

[59:46] >> I thought I was done. Okay.

[59:49] >> Have you say my name again?

[59:50] >> Yep.

[59:51] >> Kirk Cotch, 26 Rockies Drive.

[59:54] Also, the fact I looked up garbage size

[59:57] cans on uh Google and it says that a

[1:00:01] 35gallon can is good for a small it's is

[1:00:05] considered small and it's good for one

[1:00:06] to two people in a household.

[1:00:10] Okay. Then it leaves out between 35 and

[1:00:13] 45. But med medium is 64 to 65 gallon.

[1:00:16] And that's considered mid-range or

[1:00:18] standard. And it's the option for the

[1:00:21] average family. I think we're all

[1:00:22] average families here.

[1:00:24] >> Not small, maybe large, but maybe not

[1:00:27] too large, but you could get another

[1:00:28] camp for them if you're large. And then

[1:00:30] the large is what you described at last

[1:00:33] council meeting where you said that was

[1:00:35] a municipal that has a lift and

[1:00:36] whatever. They're considering that 95 to

[1:00:39] 96 gallons. So that statement was to me

[1:00:42] wasn't correct

[1:00:44] according to this.

[1:00:47] Also, you said that you followed the

[1:00:49] garbage trucks after or during their uh

[1:00:54] pickup.

[1:00:55] You ever see their recycling where they

[1:00:57] pick up the bottles and the cans when

[1:00:59] they dump it and it's full and they're

[1:01:02] ready to get that crusher, the

[1:01:04] hydraulic, they take the pales that they

[1:01:06] just emptied, both of them, and they try

[1:01:08] to hold the stuff back into the truck

[1:01:11] because the compactor would push it out.

[1:01:14] and I actually saw garbage fallen to the

[1:01:16] ground. There's bottles in there.

[1:01:18] There's glass. And then they went and

[1:01:20] picked it up. So, they're talking about

[1:01:21] safety when they reach into a pale and

[1:01:23] they might get cut. I think there's a

[1:01:25] greater chance of them getting cut when

[1:01:26] they're picking up the glass from the

[1:01:28] street if they pick it all up.

[1:01:30] >> Thank you.

[1:01:35] » I'm going for

[1:01:39] rolling thunder now.

[1:01:40] >> You made the effort. Rolling Thunder.

[1:01:43] 780 Rama Pabelli Road. Andrea Lee, I got

[1:01:47] two things. Since we don't have the

[1:01:49] second time to come up here and share, I

[1:01:52] will share uh from the arts committee.

[1:01:54] Just something to get out there. We do

[1:01:55] have a concert this Saturday. Yay.

[1:01:58] Right. Thank you. Uh from 3 to 8:00 p.m.

[1:02:01] So, I I do hope that the community comes

[1:02:03] out and to support because really if we

[1:02:06] don't get the support from the

[1:02:07] community, it's gonna go away. We're not

[1:02:09] going to do it anymore. So tell your

[1:02:11] friends, tell everybody who's out there.

[1:02:13] Come out to Great Oak Park. It's a

[1:02:15] fantastic place. We do really nice stuff

[1:02:17] there. There's great concerts there. Um

[1:02:19] people picnic and have fun and it, you

[1:02:22] know, just a nice vibe overall. So I I

[1:02:24] encourage you to do that. I also

[1:02:26] encourage you to come out to the uh

[1:02:29] outdoor market that we hold. It's not

[1:02:30] this Saturday, but but we hold them

[1:02:33] about two to three times a month. And

[1:02:34] again, if we don't get the traffic

[1:02:36] coming in from town, we're we're not

[1:02:39] going to do it anymore. Um, so if you

[1:02:41] guys want it, there has to be support.

[1:02:43] >> Can you just talk about what the music

[1:02:45] what kind of music's going to be this

[1:02:46] weekend?

[1:02:47] >> This weekend is um I would call it uh

[1:02:50] Grateful Dead, Fish, and Originals.

[1:02:53] >> Okay.

[1:02:53] >> Yeah. Just

[1:02:54] >> fun for everybody. Yeah. I mean, it's we've had from this high to that

[1:03:00] high and every age in between and

[1:03:02] everybody's walked away having a nice

[1:03:04] time. So, and it's really for everybody.

[1:03:07] Come on down and check it out. All

[1:03:09] right. And the market, come to the

[1:03:11] market. All different vendors every

[1:03:13] single time, different foods. Um I think

[1:03:16] uh Councilwoman Rose was there this

[1:03:18] week, although I wasn't. Um, I I just

[1:03:21] want to encourage everybody.

[1:03:22] >> Put my earrings on. [laughter]

[1:03:25] >> Said they have jewelry, too. I mean,

[1:03:26] there's really everything there. But, we do need the support of the town

[1:03:30] because these people are coming from,

[1:03:32] you know, local and abroad. And if

[1:03:34] they're not getting the business there,

[1:03:36] they're not going to come back. They're

[1:03:38] just not going to come back. And so, it

[1:03:39] gets more difficult for us to recruit

[1:03:42] vendors to our market because we're not

[1:03:45] getting foot traffic. The foot traffic

[1:03:47] has been really light. And of course, I

[1:03:48] mean, listen, the weather has been kind

[1:03:50] of crappy. I mean, I I'll say that. Um,

[1:03:53] but the reality is we're not getting the

[1:03:56] foot traffic. And if we can't get that

[1:03:57] to pick up, um, I don't know that we'll

[1:04:00] be able to pull it off next year because

[1:04:02] they won't come back. People won't come

[1:04:04] back because of that. They love it here.

[1:04:06] They love the people here. They think

[1:04:07] we're friendly. [laughter]

[1:04:10] Like, they haven't been in here clearly,

[1:04:14] >> you know, and it's a really nice ad to

[1:04:16] our town. Um, people from outside the

[1:04:19] area come to visit Oakland. That's a

[1:04:22] benefit for us. People that come to our

[1:04:25] market go to the stores in town and and

[1:04:28] they buy gas in town and food and

[1:04:31] whatnot, not just at the market. And so,

[1:04:35] we need things like this here. You know,

[1:04:37] we need to attract people to Oakland.

[1:04:39] It's a good thing for us. It's a

[1:04:40] positive thing for us. So, I would like

[1:04:43] to be able to continue this, but without

[1:04:45] the public support, it won't be. I can I

[1:04:47] can tell you that right out of the gate.

[1:04:49] It it won't be. Um, so, so that's

[1:04:54] my spiel. I apologize.

[1:04:56] Shut that off. Um, on on that note, um,

[1:05:00] we also are looking for volunteers for

[1:05:02] the arts committee. Our next meeting is

[1:05:05] next Monday, whatever date that is. It's

[1:05:07] not my brain.

[1:05:09] >> Thank you. um at 7 p.m. at the senior

[1:05:13] center. And we are looking for people

[1:05:15] who would like to support the market,

[1:05:18] who would like to support the concerts

[1:05:20] that we do. And if you have something

[1:05:22] else to bring to the [clears throat]

[1:05:23] table, we welcome that as well. So that

[1:05:26] that's my spiel on the arts. I'm going

[1:05:28] to talk garbage for a minute. We'll

[1:05:30] trash talk for a minute. Um I agree with

[1:05:33] everybody here. I think we made some

[1:05:35] mistakes. I think we're probably all on

[1:05:37] the same page with that. There were

[1:05:39] definitely mistakes made. I know you

[1:05:40] guys are trying to remedy it, but what I

[1:05:42] would like to know is what are you going

[1:05:44] to do

[1:05:47] to get Pompton to do what they're

[1:05:49] supposed to do? What actions are you

[1:05:52] going to take to make sure that they're

[1:05:54] taking all of the garbage out of the can

[1:05:57] and not leaving the last whatever's left

[1:06:00] at the bottom? That matters for

[1:06:03] something. That absolutely matters.

[1:06:05] They're doing a half ass job. Period.

[1:06:10] Okay? And we should not accept that. We

[1:06:12] need to put our fist down in front of

[1:06:14] them and tell them that this is what we

[1:06:17] signed up for. This is what we expect

[1:06:20] and nothing less. Who is doing that?

[1:06:23] That's what I would like to know. I know

[1:06:25] you're not going to answer me, but I'm

[1:06:27] just telling you right now. I want to

[1:06:28] know. I want to hear. I want to see you

[1:06:30] guys write an article about what's going

[1:06:32] on with the garbage and everything

[1:06:34] you're doing to fix it. Okay? It

[1:06:37] shouldn't be us trying to fix it. We

[1:06:38] need you guys to [clears throat] fix it.

[1:06:40] Whatever it takes. Bless you. And I will

[1:06:42] close on that. Thank you.

[1:06:43] >> Thank you.

[1:06:49] [applause]

[1:06:52] Follow that purple.

[1:06:54] Hi, Mari Soul Kazowski. I'm on Barnard

[1:06:57] Drive. Um,

[1:06:59] so first of all, I want to actually echo

[1:07:01] something that both Elizabeth and Andrea

[1:07:03] said. As somebody who's been addicted to

[1:07:04] volunteering a lot in our town, all of

[1:07:06] our organizations absolutely need

[1:07:08] volunteers. Our council members are

[1:07:10] layons to a lot of these groups. Um,

[1:07:12] they can testify to the fantastic job

[1:07:14] that most of these organizations and

[1:07:16] groups are doing. I am wearing an

[1:07:17] Oakland uh green team t-shirt this

[1:07:20] evening. I am no longer a member of the

[1:07:22] green team, but if any of you are saying

[1:07:23] where did styrofoam go, where did our

[1:07:25] volunteers go? because I was out there

[1:07:27] alongside with the mayor on many a cold

[1:07:29] morning stuffing styrofoam into a tank.

[1:07:32] Um, and that's exactly what happens if

[1:07:34] we don't have the volunteers step up and

[1:07:35] if we don't have the community support,

[1:07:37] these things do disappear. Um, I've also

[1:07:39] been a member on the arts committee.

[1:07:40] They're doing a fantastic job. One of

[1:07:42] the things Andrea forgot to mention was

[1:07:44] at the Oakland market this year. We'll

[1:07:45] be for the first time doing an evening

[1:07:47] market in October.

[1:07:49] >> Second time.

[1:07:50] Sorry. Second time. You

[1:07:52] forgot it. I read it wrong. Second time.

[1:07:55] Um, and you might see us there because

[1:07:58] you're going to be signing up. So, um,

[1:08:00] please come out and support it. Um, and

[1:08:02] like everyone else who's come up here

[1:08:04] speaking about trash and garbage, of

[1:08:05] course, I've got to put in my two cents

[1:08:06] as well. Um, in my opinion, what we've

[1:08:09] been seeing since this new company took

[1:08:11] over is a huge variation in consistency

[1:08:16] and in good support. Prior to actually

[1:08:18] signing this contract, I actually

[1:08:20] mentioned that we were going from, as

[1:08:23] someone else mentioned, we were went

[1:08:24] from five days um of no service a year

[1:08:27] to this contract having 17. That is a

[1:08:30] what 300% increase for your numbers

[1:08:32] people um in less time of service. Okay,

[1:08:37] so things like that do matter. They do

[1:08:39] matter to us. Most holidays come up

[1:08:40] when? Oh, the holidays. Um when we have

[1:08:44] a lot of trash and want to get rid of

[1:08:45] it. That is important. I brought it up

[1:08:47] then prior to the vote. I'm bringing it

[1:08:50] up again. Um, what we've seen personally

[1:08:53] on my neighborhood, our trash cans are

[1:08:55] compliant. They have been compliant. We

[1:08:56] didn't get stickered. Our actual

[1:08:59] service,

[1:09:01] one day the can is half empty, one day

[1:09:04] the can is left, one day we have no

[1:09:06] problem, one day there's garbage in the

[1:09:09] street, one day there's glass in the

[1:09:11] street. On two different occasions right

[1:09:13] now, we have had broken glass um damage.

[1:09:16] And I'm not talking about, oh, they

[1:09:18] dropped the can in front of my driveway,

[1:09:20] so it's my tires I have to worry about.

[1:09:21] I'm talking the whole length of the

[1:09:24] street, house after house glass where a

[1:09:29] couple of the residents came out. We we

[1:09:31] call them the boys and their toys, our

[1:09:33] dads in our neighborhood. They came out

[1:09:35] with their brooms and they clean up.

[1:09:37] Okay. Um because and most of them you

[1:09:39] don't see any of them here other than me

[1:09:41] because they just do. They all have

[1:09:43] little kids. We have a number of very small children, new families. We

[1:09:46] adore them in our neighborhood. Um

[1:09:49] couple of sets of twins. They're

[1:09:50] beautiful kids. They should be able to

[1:09:52] play in the street without having to

[1:09:53] worry about glass. My kids didn't have

[1:09:54] to worry about glass. They shouldn't

[1:09:56] have to worry about glass. It's an

[1:09:58] inconsistency.

[1:10:00] I come right off onto Franklin Avenue

[1:10:02] and there have been a couple of mornings

[1:10:04] where I have seen more than a mile of

[1:10:06] traffic in the other direction behind a

[1:10:08] trash truck with these guys not doing a

[1:10:11] good job. And then I've seen other ones

[1:10:13] that are doing a great job and we do our

[1:10:16] due diligence and when I see something

[1:10:18] of grievance like the glass, we call the

[1:10:19] DPW. We were told here to call the DPW.

[1:10:22] I was sitting right here when you guys

[1:10:24] said call the DPW. I was sitting right

[1:10:26] here when you said they have a weight

[1:10:28] issue. You don't want them reaching into

[1:10:29] the cans. Most of the times they're

[1:10:32] reaching into the cans. Just so you

[1:10:33] know, on at least on my neighborhood on

[1:10:35] my block, okay? Um I even said something

[1:10:39] to one of the gentlemen in the morning.

[1:10:40] You know, that's really dangerous,

[1:10:40] honey. You should pick put it up from

[1:10:42] your back because the kid looked he was

[1:10:43] about 20. I'm going to call him honey.

[1:10:45] I'm old. He then went said, "No, IT'S

[1:10:48] OKAY. I GOT IT." And he just put it in

[1:10:50] the in the you know in the truck and

[1:10:51] then I looked down and there was still

[1:10:52] another bag left. Like you forgot. Okay.

[1:10:56] Um, this is what's happening on a

[1:10:58] regular basis. We've gone now what, like

[1:11:00] three or four weeks at least, maybe a

[1:11:02] few more weeks. It's it's been

[1:11:04] inconsistent. Okay. And it it does

[1:11:07] actually worry me the inconsistency of

[1:11:10] it. So, like Andrea, I would like to

[1:11:13] know how you're handling it with

[1:11:16] Pompton. Is anybody from Pompton talking

[1:11:19] to these guys on the trucks? Because,

[1:11:21] like I said, I've seen guys doing a

[1:11:24] great job. I've seen, you know, as

[1:11:25] you're driving around in the morning and

[1:11:27] watching them, some of them are doing

[1:11:28] fine and then others are not. Okay. Um,

[1:11:32] and lastly, I just like to say thank you

[1:11:35] because we know that you guys are

[1:11:36] working hard. We know it's a hard job.

[1:11:38] We know you're trying to do your best.

[1:11:39] Okay. But I really do think that

[1:11:42] prompting got the best of us. Okay. Have

[1:11:44] a great day.

[1:11:53] Frank Furbacher, 56 Walton Avenue.

[1:11:57] [clears throat]

[1:11:58] Uh, good evening and thank you all for

[1:12:00] your service to Oakland. I wanted to

[1:12:02] comment briefly on the proposed $83,500

[1:12:06] police department assessment.

[1:12:09] I believe the burrow should be working

[1:12:11] collaboratively with our police

[1:12:12] department and maintaining a strong,

[1:12:14] productive relationship with the

[1:12:15] officers who serve our community. I'm

[1:12:18] not opposed to an assessment simply

[1:12:20] because [clears throat] it's an

[1:12:21] assessment. If there are legitimate

[1:12:23] operational concerns that need to be

[1:12:25] addressed, then we should address them.

[1:12:29] But I think residents deserve to

[1:12:30] understand what problem we're trying to

[1:12:33] solve before we move forward.

[1:12:36] What specifically prompted this

[1:12:38] assessment?

[1:12:39] What has changed since this was brought

[1:12:41] before council last month and didn't

[1:12:43] receive a motion?

[1:12:45] What exactly will the consultant

[1:12:47] deliver? Will the findings and

[1:12:49] recommendations be made public?

[1:12:52] And how does this assessment differ from

[1:12:54] the accreditation and review processes

[1:12:56] the department already participates in?

[1:13:00] As a resident and as someone asking

[1:13:02] voters for the opportunity to serve on

[1:13:04] this council, I think that's the kind of

[1:13:06] information we should expect before

[1:13:08] making a decision of this magnitude. If

[1:13:11] there's a compelling case for this

[1:13:13] assessment, the ask is that you explain

[1:13:15] it publicly.

[1:13:17] We should be working constructively with

[1:13:19] our police department while making sure

[1:13:20] taxpayer dollars are spent with a clear

[1:13:23] purpose, defined outcomes, and

[1:13:25] accountability. Thank you. Thank you.

[1:13:28] [applause]

[1:13:32] » I just have one quick thing. Sarah

[1:13:34] Jensen, Third Street, 73rd Street,

[1:13:37] Oakland, and he just stole my thunder. I

[1:13:40] don't [laughter] really need to say

[1:13:41] anything. [clears throat]

[1:13:42] We have an outstanding police department

[1:13:45] that we all really appreciate and if

[1:13:49] that money is burning a hole in our

[1:13:50] pocket, let's use it some way that is

[1:13:53] supportive of them.

[1:13:55] >> That's all I have to say. Thank you.

[1:13:57] [applause]

[1:13:59] » Anybody else?

[1:14:01] >> Marwell Klosski, Barnard Drive. Again,

[1:14:03] um I forgot to tell you about one

[1:14:04] situation that happened with the garbage

[1:14:06] that is different than everybody else.

[1:14:08] And that situation was we had a

[1:14:10] pres-scheduled donation prior to the

[1:14:11] garbage change for the veterans

[1:14:13] association

[1:14:15] >> and we put out some bright yellow bags

[1:14:18] for donation that were clearly labeled

[1:14:19] veterans association donation. Um and we

[1:14:23] put veterans association do not take not

[1:14:26] garbage on the bags. Garbage guys took

[1:14:28] them.

[1:14:30] >> Um we then called the DPW as per

[1:14:33] directions. The DPW then told us call

[1:14:35] the business administrator. At that

[1:14:38] point, it was my husband. Those of you

[1:14:39] who on the council who know my husband

[1:14:40] know he was not happy to get rerouted to

[1:14:42] another department.

[1:14:43] So, I do apologize if he was a little

[1:14:45] hot. Um, but you know, that's again

[1:14:50] reading is fundamental and they were

[1:14:52] bright yellow [clears throat] bags. They

[1:14:53] were not garbage bags. They were

[1:14:54] donation bags. So, again, this is

[1:14:56] something that we need to clear up with

[1:14:58] them and that's it. Thank you.

[1:14:59] >> Thank you.

[1:15:01] >> Anybody else?

[1:15:04] Not seeing anybody. Do I have a motion

[1:15:05] to close?

[1:15:06] >> Move. Do I have a second? Also,

[1:15:08] >> all in favor?

[1:15:09] >> Is that Bill?

[1:15:10] >> Steve.

[1:15:11] >> Oh, Steve.

[1:15:12] >> Yep.

[1:15:14] >> Okay. All in favor?

[1:15:15] >> I.

[1:15:16] >> Mr. Cers, you want to take some of those

[1:15:17] questions?

[1:15:19] >> Uh, well, I'll just give an update from

[1:15:21] uh,

[1:15:23] you know, from the last meeting. Uh, and one, I know that there's been a lot

[1:15:27] of comments here tonight about

[1:15:29] individual problems people have had. Um

[1:15:32] and and I want to thank you. We did say

[1:15:34] contact DPW. A lot of people have been

[1:15:36] contacting DPW and and and keep doing

[1:15:38] that because the more information that

[1:15:40] we have of those deficiencies of when

[1:15:42] they miss a bag or there's glass in the

[1:15:44] street or anything, uh it provides more

[1:15:47] information for us to go back to Pompton

[1:15:48] and bring those issues to their

[1:15:49] attention so that we can have them

[1:15:51] addressed.

[1:15:53] There was one commenter that made uh the point that it seems to be spotty. I

[1:15:57] think that's the sort of the assessment

[1:15:59] that I've seen as well based on a lot of

[1:16:01] the comments. Uh certain routes, certain

[1:16:03] days are completely fine, no issues.

[1:16:06] Other times, well, you missed this or

[1:16:09] there was this problem or they didn't

[1:16:10] put the lids on. So, it it seems to be,

[1:16:13] you know, rather specific to certain

[1:16:14] crews on certain days. Um, and I know

[1:16:17] Pon Lakes is trying to zero in on that,

[1:16:20] too, in terms of their efforts to uh

[1:16:23] call it direct and guide their workforce

[1:16:25] appropriately. So, um, you know, a a lot

[1:16:29] of this stuff clearly just from a

[1:16:31] service level perspective is is

[1:16:33] unacceptable, right? You have you all

[1:16:35] your garbage should be picked up, your

[1:16:37] lid should be put back on your can, your

[1:16:38] can shouldn't be left in the road, etc.

[1:16:41] It's sort of basic stuff. Uh, that's

[1:16:43] certainly our expectation. That's the

[1:16:45] level of service that they provide. So,

[1:16:47] um, if you continue to have those

[1:16:48] issues, continue to report them so we

[1:16:50] can continue to bring them to Pump and

[1:16:51] Lakes's attention, uh, and hold them

[1:16:53] accountable for what really the the the

[1:16:57] appropriate service level is for this.

[1:16:59] Okay. Um, as to the issue with, uh,

[1:17:03] collection on uh, Route 202,

[1:17:06] uh, they were changing their route. Um,

[1:17:09] I've heard on I'm not sure again how

[1:17:12] consistent that is, but I have been

[1:17:13] hearing that they've been on route 202

[1:17:15] earlier than they were a month ago. Uh,

[1:17:18] so I'm hopeful that that issue has been addressed. U, but if anybody is

[1:17:22] on 202 and they're not experiencing an

[1:17:25] early pickup, let us know about that as

[1:17:27] well. Uh the yard waste is also

[1:17:29] something I know that uh you know people

[1:17:31] of course would prefer to have that

[1:17:33] earlier in the week when they're you

[1:17:35] know there's stuff's there uh from from

[1:17:38] the weekend. Uh Pompton Lakes has not

[1:17:40] committed yet to making any changes but

[1:17:42] they have committed to reassessing it as

[1:17:44] we get a few more months into the

[1:17:46] contract to see if there's a way uh for

[1:17:49] them to adjust their schedule to

[1:17:51] accommodate that. Okay. So, um, that's

[1:17:54] not something that they've closed the

[1:17:55] door on, but I don't have, you know, any

[1:17:57] further commitment on that, uh, at this

[1:17:59] time. Uh, I'm not sure if there's

[1:18:01] anything else you want me to touch on.

[1:18:07] » Are we still Go ahead.

[1:18:09] >> Go ahead, Steve.

[1:18:10] >> Are we still continuing to meet with

[1:18:11] Pontton on a monthly basis, weekly

[1:18:13] basis, or how many times are we talking

[1:18:15] with Pontton about this?

[1:18:16] >> Um, I'm referring complaints. I know DPW

[1:18:18] is referring complaints. I have regular

[1:18:20] conversations with my counterpart over

[1:18:22] there. Um, and I think that, you know,

[1:18:24] after, uh, next week when I'm back from

[1:18:27] vacation, uh, we'll probably

[1:18:28] [clears throat] have another in person.

[1:18:30] >> Okay.

[1:18:31] >> And are there people from Pompton Lakes

[1:18:33] DPW following them around, making sure

[1:18:35] they're doing what they should be doing?

[1:18:38] >> Their supervisor is on the route

[1:18:39] regularly. Okay.

[1:18:40] >> With the guys. Yes.

[1:18:42] >> And I said, but it's still happening.

[1:18:44] That's that's the problem is, you know,

[1:18:45] we have people following them around,

[1:18:46] but we're still having these issues. So,

[1:18:49] you know, to me, what what's being

[1:18:50] resolved,

[1:18:51] >> right?

[1:18:51] >> You know, great you're following them

[1:18:52] around, but

[1:18:53] >> we're not getting anywhere.

[1:18:55] >> I do want to bring one thing out and um

[1:18:57] understanding there's been some services

[1:18:59] against the garbage people. They're not

[1:19:01] they could be doing a better job. We're

[1:19:02] all in agreement on that and we're

[1:19:03] working towards it. There have also been

[1:19:05] some cases where our residents have been

[1:19:06] a little abusive. So, just all any

[1:19:09] complaints, please bring them to us.

[1:19:11] Don't engage don't engage with the the

[1:19:12] employees directly. We've had some

[1:19:14] examples of where uh some of the workers

[1:19:17] were had we'll say heated conversations

[1:19:19] were approached heatedly right there

[1:19:21] their desk they move around they call a

[1:19:23] supervisor comes up just if you have any

[1:19:24] complaints call us so we can deal with

[1:19:26] the supervisors no one should have no

[1:19:27] one should be communicating with the

[1:19:29] garbage man directly just um you know

[1:19:31] we're we're better than that as Oakland

[1:19:32] residents

[1:19:35] thank you

[1:19:38] >> okay we are up to

[1:19:41] approval of minutes anybody else council

[1:19:43] That's the question. Okay. Approval of

[1:19:45] minutes. We got July 14th, 2026.

[1:19:49] >> Do I have a motion to approve?

[1:19:50] >> So moved.

[1:19:51] >> Second. Does anybody have any changes?

[1:19:55] >> Not seeing any roll call.

[1:19:57] >> Council President Talini?

[1:19:59] >> Yes.

[1:19:59] >> Councilman Dumpert?

[1:20:00] >> Yes.

[1:20:00] >> Councilman Eert?

[1:20:02] >> Yes.

[1:20:02] >> Councilman Pignatelli?

[1:20:04] >> Abstain.

[1:20:05] >> Councilwoman Rose.

[1:20:06] >> Yes.

[1:20:07] >> Councilman Zelian.

[1:20:08] >> Yes.

[1:20:09] >> We have July 14th, 2026 executive

[1:20:11] meeting. Approve approval of minutes. Do

[1:20:14] have a motion to approve.

[1:20:15] >> So moved.

[1:20:16] >> Mr. Rose, we have a second.

[1:20:17] >> Second.

[1:20:19] >> Who's got the second?

[1:20:20] >> Bill.

[1:20:21] >> Okay. Does anybody have any changes?

[1:20:24] >> No.

[1:20:24] >> Not seeing any. Roll call.

[1:20:26] >> Council President Talini.

[1:20:27] >> Yes.

[1:20:28] >> Councilman Dumpbert.

[1:20:29] >> Yes.

[1:20:29] >> Councilman Eert.

[1:20:30] >> Yes.

[1:20:31] >> Councilman Pignatelli.

[1:20:32] >> Abstain.

[1:20:33] >> Councilwoman Rose.

[1:20:34] >> Yes.

[1:20:34] >> Councilman Saliani.

[1:20:36] >> Yes.

[1:20:36] >> All right. We have the following special

[1:20:38] announcements. We have a authorized

[1:20:40] social affairs permit for the Elks lodge

[1:20:43] number 2167 for a poker night fundraiser

[1:20:46] supportive lif raft group on September

[1:20:48] 24th, 2026 from 6 p.m. to 11 to 12:00

[1:20:51] a.m. at at 33 Valley Road. We also have

[1:20:55] an authorized raffle license RL1613

[1:21:00] for the Indian Hills parent athletic

[1:21:03] committee for raffle on October 2nd

[1:21:05] 202026 and support of the Indian Hills

[1:21:08] dance team at Indian Hills High School

[1:21:10] located 97 Yo Avenue. And the last one

[1:21:13] we have is authorized raffle license

[1:21:15] RL1614

[1:21:16] for the Reed Foundation for Autism for

[1:21:19] Raffle being held on January 12th, 2027

[1:21:22] in

[1:21:24] January. Okay, I'm just checking the

[1:21:25] date. Supportive programs and services

[1:21:27] for individuals with autism at 25 Pash

[1:21:29] Road, Oakland. Do you have a motion to

[1:21:30] approve?

[1:21:31] >> So move second. [snorts]

[1:21:33] >> All in favor?

[1:21:34] >> I.

[1:21:34] >> Okay, we're up to the following

[1:21:36] resolutions. At this time, I'm going to

[1:21:37] pull out resolution 26248,

[1:21:40] which is the Aelotti group. Doesn't mean

[1:21:42] it's not going to come back again, but

[1:21:43] I'm going to pull it out for today.

[1:21:44] Okay. Uh if we're going to do this as a

[1:21:47] consent agenda, we have 26234 authorized

[1:21:50] recreation refunds. 26235 authorized

[1:21:53] recre recamp counselor hires. 26236

[1:21:57] authorized hire of crossing guards.

[1:21:59] 26237 authorized hire of SEO three

[1:22:03] police officers. 26238

[1:22:06] authorized acrru acred time payout for

[1:22:08] O'Keeffe. 26239

[1:22:11] chapter 159 opioid class settlement

[1:22:14] actions.

[1:22:16] 26240 certify receipt of the 2020 2025

[1:22:20] annual audit. 26241 resolution approving

[1:22:24] the 2025 annual audit corrective plan

[1:22:27] prepared by the CFO in response to the

[1:22:29] findings and recommendations in the 2025

[1:22:32] audit.

[1:22:33] 26242 authorized contract to Boswell

[1:22:36] Engineering for the drainage

[1:22:38] improvements at 39 and 41 Lakeshore

[1:22:40] Drive. 26243 safe routes to school

[1:22:44] engineering contract amendment. 26244

[1:22:47] authorized contract phase 1 and

[1:22:49] preliminary assessment for 279 Ramipo

[1:22:52] Valley Road. 26245

[1:22:55] right-of-way drainage improvements at

[1:22:57] 144 Manito Avenue. 26246 authorizing

[1:23:02] change to title text amount of

[1:23:04] appropriations pursuant to NJSA4A

[1:23:08] 4-85

[1:23:10] and 26247 authorize resolution

[1:23:12] authorizes return of funds for McManis.

[1:23:15] Do I have anybody wish to pull any out?

[1:23:17] >> Yeah. Pull out 240 please.

[1:23:18] >> 240.

[1:23:21] Anybody else?

[1:23:24] With the exception of 26 240. Do I have

[1:23:26] a motion to approve? So move.

[1:23:28] >> Mr. Councilman Tal uh Pnatelli, do you

[1:23:31] have a second?

[1:23:31] >> Second.

[1:23:32] Mr. Eert. Roll call.

[1:23:35] >> Council President Talamini.

[1:23:37] >> Yes.

[1:23:38] >> Councilman Dumpbert.

[1:23:39] >> Yes.

[1:23:40] >> Councilman Eert.

[1:23:41] >> Yes.

[1:23:41] >> Councilman Potatelli.

[1:23:43] >> Yes.

[1:23:43] >> Councilwoman Rose.

[1:23:45] >> Yes.

[1:23:45] >> Councilman Saliani.

[1:23:47] >> Yes.

[1:23:48] >> All right. We've got 26240 certified

[1:23:50] receipt of 2025 analyt. Mr. Salani. I

[1:23:52] just wanted to pull that out to uh call

[1:23:55] out what a great job that um our CFO

[1:23:57] David Young did along with Bur

[1:23:59] Administrator Coons. Um we did review

[1:24:02] that in the finance committee meeting.

[1:24:03] Supposed to be a pseudo update on the

[1:24:04] finance committee. Um audit results were

[1:24:07] fantastic and I just wanted to call out

[1:24:08] what a great job that uh both of them

[1:24:10] did on our with our work last year with

[1:24:12] their work last year. Just that simple.

[1:24:15] >> Would you like to introduce

[1:24:17] >> approve? Sure.

[1:24:18] >> Motion.

[1:24:19] >> Who's got the second?

[1:24:20] >> Second.

[1:24:20] >> Miss Rose. Roll call on 26240.

[1:24:23] >> Council President Telini,

[1:24:25] >> yes.

[1:24:25] >> Councilman Dumpert,

[1:24:26] >> yes.

[1:24:27] >> Councilman Eert,

[1:24:28] >> yes.

[1:24:28] >> Councilman Pigotelli,

[1:24:30] >> yes.

[1:24:30] >> Councilwoman Rose,

[1:24:31] >> yes.

[1:24:32] >> Councilman Saliani,

[1:24:33] >> yes.

[1:24:34] >> Uh, we have no ordinance, but we do have

[1:24:35] a work session, the 2027 calendar. I

[1:24:37] know it's been provided to all the

[1:24:38] members of the governing body. Uh, this

[1:24:41] really needs to get done now because

[1:24:42] they also have to print the calendars.

[1:24:44] Uh, does anybody I know you've all had a

[1:24:47] chance to look at it. Does anybody have

[1:24:48] any comments on this at this time?

[1:24:50] >> I appreciate it. not falling on my

[1:24:52] birthday.

[1:24:52] >> That's it. [laughter]

[1:24:55] So, everybody's comfortable with this to

[1:24:56] move forward. Okay. Very good. Uh, does

[1:24:59] everybody have any new business?

[1:25:02] >> New business, Mr.

[1:25:03] >> Sure. I want to thank Mr. Coons. Uh, I

[1:25:07] had contact with him late last week and

[1:25:10] early this week about the the cyber

[1:25:12] attacks that we've seen around this

[1:25:14] country against critical infrastructure

[1:25:15] and against the water systems. It is it

[1:25:18] is no secret that the water system here

[1:25:20] in Oakland is an absolute piece of

[1:25:22] critical infrastructure and should it

[1:25:24] come down uh would be catastrophic for

[1:25:26] our town, our burough, our people and

[1:25:27] our visitors. Um so I've asked Mr. Mr.

[1:25:29] Coons and others to to kind of pull

[1:25:31] together and assess where we are, what

[1:25:34] we've done historically and are we

[1:25:36] poised to uh defend against such cyber

[1:25:38] attacks, including those that are

[1:25:40] sponsored by nation states. Uh one of

[1:25:42] the things we know about this space is

[1:25:44] that uh attacks like this around the

[1:25:46] country are often considered boundary

[1:25:48] probing activities where tests will be

[1:25:51] taken, intelligence will be gathered and

[1:25:53] then the more refined plan will come out

[1:25:55] of uh the the the boundary probe. So the

[1:25:58] adversaries when they take down a water

[1:26:00] system like they've done around the

[1:26:01] country and they've attacked several in

[1:26:03] New Jersey are learning lessons. They're

[1:26:05] learning what our defensive posture

[1:26:06] looks like. They're learning what our

[1:26:08] cyber preparedness is. uh and at the the

[1:26:10] local and municipal level. Uh there's a

[1:26:12] lot of commentary nationwide that it's

[1:26:14] one of the things that is often

[1:26:15] overlooked. So I've asked Mr. Coons and

[1:26:17] thank you sir for for pulling together

[1:26:19] and uh we're going to look into this

[1:26:20] deeply and I think it's a a good use of

[1:26:22] time, a good use of money uh and we'll

[1:26:24] ultimately safeguard the burrow. So I I

[1:26:26] look forward to digging into that

[1:26:27] further.

[1:26:30] >> Anybody else?

[1:26:31] >> Uh yeah, there's one thing I wanted to

[1:26:33] bring up. Um

[1:26:34] >> yes,

[1:26:34] >> we have a you know a situation with uh

[1:26:37] somebody with the shade tree committee.

[1:26:40] Um you know he wants to appeal having to

[1:26:44] pay the fine and everything. So I was

[1:26:46] going to ask both sides to come to the

[1:26:48] next meeting to discuss it.

[1:26:50] >> Okay.

[1:26:50] >> I just wanted to make sure everybody was

[1:26:52] okay with that and

[1:26:55] >> Okay.

[1:26:55] >> Very good.

[1:26:57] >> Anything else? All right. Does anybody

[1:27:00] have any old business?

[1:27:02] Not seeing any. Uh we're up to committee

[1:27:04] liaison reports. Um Mr. We'll start with

[1:27:07] you.

[1:27:07] >> Oh, thanks, Mayor. Um actually, Andrea,

[1:27:10] you basically did my whole report with

[1:27:12] the uh [laughter] with the arts. They uh

[1:27:14] they did have their their market this

[1:27:16] past weekend. It was it was a little

[1:27:17] slow, but it still had a good turnout.

[1:27:19] Um the next one scheduled for the 22nd.

[1:27:22] And then the uh like you said, the the

[1:27:24] concert is is this coming weekend, and

[1:27:26] it is Steve Leonard with the Funky

[1:27:27] Warlocks, and they start at 3:00. Um and

[1:27:30] that's that's about it. Like I said, the

[1:27:32] only thing I really want to say is is I want to apologize for the garbage

[1:27:36] fiasco that's going on. Um, you know, I was a part of that vote and I have to kind of own it. Um,

[1:27:45] given the the information that that was

[1:27:47] presented to me, I thought it was going

[1:27:49] to be a good deal. Um, obviously not,

[1:27:52] but I just want you know, we we are

[1:27:54] working on it. We are trying to make it

[1:27:55] better. And um I mean I take it

[1:27:57] personally. So don't think that you that

[1:28:00] all your concerns aren't being taken

[1:28:02] seriously because they are.

[1:28:03] >> Yeah, we all take it. Yeah, we're all

[1:28:05] taking it. Like I said, I just want to

[1:28:07] apologize to everybody that it it did

[1:28:08] not go the way we planned, but we're

[1:28:10] trying to make it better.

[1:28:11] >> All right. So that's it, Mr. Mayor.

[1:28:15] [applause]

[1:28:17] » That's all I got.

[1:28:18] >> Thank you, Councilwoman.

[1:28:19] >> Okay. Thank you. Um

[1:28:22] so for the 911 committee um we have a 25

[1:28:25] memorial uh service. It's scheduled for

[1:28:28] Friday, September 11th at Veterans Park

[1:28:31] on refreshments to follow at Pawns

[1:28:33] Church and all are welcome to attend and

[1:28:35] it should be you know an event that's uh

[1:28:40] that definitely people should remember.

[1:28:42] Um it's affected all of us and we were

[1:28:44] all a part of it um back then. uh shade

[1:28:48] tree met. Um the forester had issued 22

[1:28:52] permits. Um 57 trees were removed, seven

[1:28:55] to be replaced. Hazardous trees. Um you

[1:28:58] know, we do have a committee that looks

[1:29:00] for hazardous trees in the area. If

[1:29:03] anyone sees a tree within the burough

[1:29:04] right of way that is deemed hazardous,

[1:29:06] um please notify the committee so it can

[1:29:08] be addressed. Um there's also a

[1:29:11] discussion that was had about the tree

[1:29:12] of heaven which is a very invasive tree

[1:29:16] that actually attracts the spotted

[1:29:18] lantern flies. Um so it is a tree that

[1:29:20] people should look to see you know about

[1:29:24] trying to contain it especially when

[1:29:26] it's small tree not like mine that got

[1:29:29] too big. Um anyway, um so anyone

[1:29:33] interested in signing up for the adopted

[1:29:35] tree program should also email the um

[1:29:37] committee. Um this is a program that's

[1:29:40] gotten very much uh recognition um and

[1:29:43] has been very popular and I happen to

[1:29:45] say I love my tree in front of my yard

[1:29:47] now. So um and you know we're it's a

[1:29:51] great committee. All of our committees

[1:29:53] in Oakland are wonderful and we always

[1:29:55] could use volunteers. And that's all I

[1:29:57] have to say. Thank you, Councilman

[1:29:59] Saliani. Oh,

[1:30:01] >> real quick from the fire department. Um

[1:30:04] the fire department for the month of

[1:30:05] July had 29 calls with a total of 184

[1:30:09] volunteer hours and um they also

[1:30:12] partnered with the junior police for

[1:30:15] safety that safety and academy drills

[1:30:17] over at the firehouse and then provide

[1:30:18] refreshments to the junior police

[1:30:20] academy [snorts]

[1:30:21] and um and mut mutual aid meeting of 365

[1:30:25] hours and so so far for mutual aid of so

[1:30:30] far for August they've had 16 calls

[1:30:33] So again, that's another group. Um I

[1:30:35] every time I talk to Chief Inavilia,

[1:30:37] he's always asking, can we please just

[1:30:39] looking for volunteers? I know we had in

[1:30:40] the last two meetings, we had the Mcder

[1:30:42] family join the volunteer fire

[1:30:43] department. So anyone who's interested

[1:30:45] in helping out, please um consider

[1:30:47] joining the volunteer fire department.

[1:30:50] They are uh Monday nights. They drill

[1:30:52] every Monday night at 7:30 on Yapo

[1:30:54] Drive. Please go in, introduce yourself

[1:30:56] if you're interested. For recreation, um

[1:30:59] there's there was not a recreation

[1:31:00] meeting this month. Just want to say a

[1:31:02] quick thank you. Uh our rec summer camp

[1:31:04] has officially is officially done and uh

[1:31:07] it was a very successful camp for the

[1:31:09] summer. So it was a great job by

[1:31:10] everybody. Uh we'd like to thank the

[1:31:12] camp staff who helped out uh and make it

[1:31:14] season possible for the local families.

[1:31:17] Also want to recognize the camp director

[1:31:19] Emily Swansonsky who will be stepping

[1:31:21] down this year for her years of

[1:31:22] leadership and dedication to Ryan Rec

[1:31:24] camp. Truly appreciate what she's done

[1:31:27] for campers and families and towns

[1:31:29] people over the last couple years. That

[1:31:30] was the direct quote from the uh rec

[1:31:33] chair uh Megan Ratundo. And then for the

[1:31:36] OC,

[1:31:40] another group looking for volunteers. Uh

[1:31:42] OC volunteers are needed for the tele

[1:31:44] for the telecom, the television,

[1:31:46] bulletin board, and welcome welcome

[1:31:49] website social media committees. If

[1:31:51] you're interested in volunteering,

[1:31:52] please email occ.gov

[1:31:56] and fill out a volunteer form. Um, as a

[1:31:59] reminder, uh, the OC can be seen on

[1:32:03] Oakland TV channel 77 and be watched

[1:32:06] 24/7 via the Oakland TV app in both

[1:32:08] Android and Apple devices. Just go to

[1:32:10] your local store to see that.

[1:32:13] And then the Oakland and then the um,

[1:32:16] Friends of the Oakland Communications

[1:32:18] Commission is still looking for we'll be

[1:32:20] having their first fundraising event in

[1:32:22] Oakland. And if you have time and

[1:32:25] interest, please email info at friendsof

[1:32:30] at friendsofoc.org.

[1:32:33] And please consider following social

[1:32:35] media accounts and signing up for the

[1:32:36] quarterly newsletter, Voices of Oakland

[1:32:39] Communications with their quarterly

[1:32:41] newsletter and to lean and to learn

[1:32:44] what's going on. The next the next um

[1:32:47] Friends of Oakland Committee meeting is

[1:32:49] September 30th at 6 PM and the next OC

[1:32:53] meeting will be September 14th right

[1:32:55] here in council chambers. And just to

[1:32:58] piggy back off what uh Councilman

[1:33:00] Holland said, we everyone on this board

[1:33:03] was trying to do the best thing

[1:33:04] possible. We understand there's some

[1:33:05] hiccups and there's going to be

[1:33:07] continued conversations going. Is it

[1:33:09] going to be the exact same service? I I

[1:33:12] don't know, but we're going to do our

[1:33:13] best to get to where it was. And please

[1:33:15] hold us accountable and keep coming to

[1:33:17] meetings and having these conversations.

[1:33:21] >> Thank you, Councilman Dumpert.

[1:33:23] >> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. U most meaningful

[1:33:26] updates from DPW. The fields in town,

[1:33:28] the recreck fields are being restriped

[1:33:30] to support the fall football. So, that

[1:33:32] is an indication that summer is coming

[1:33:33] to an end. I'm sorry to be the bear of

[1:33:35] bad news. Uh the road resurfacing, Mr.

[1:33:37] Mayor, as you indicated, is is well

[1:33:39] underway with uh with the

[1:33:42] worst condition streets being tackled

[1:33:45] first. That's one of the things before I

[1:33:47] assumed this uh position I wasn't aware

[1:33:49] of, but there's a rank order uh for the

[1:33:51] general public's edification. There's a rank order of streets in town

[1:33:56] and they're assessed throughout the year

[1:33:57] and those that are in the poorest

[1:33:58] condition are the ones that get

[1:34:00] resurfaced first. Are there streets that

[1:34:03] need resurfacing that don't get

[1:34:04] resurfaced? Yes, probably. Um, but the

[1:34:07] worst streets in Oakland get tackled

[1:34:09] first and so we exhaust the funds for

[1:34:11] the resurfacing program. So, that was

[1:34:13] helpful. Uh, and I wanted to pass that

[1:34:14] along. Uh, while they're doing this

[1:34:16] work, uh, while they're doing the

[1:34:18] concrete work around the storm drains,

[1:34:20] around the curbs, uh, they're also

[1:34:22] testing for leaks so that there's no

[1:34:24] hidden leaks, which would require them

[1:34:26] to open the streets up again uh, after

[1:34:29] it's paved. So, they are the DPW is

[1:34:31] doing uh, the proper steps. It may take

[1:34:34] a a second or two longer to pave the

[1:34:36] streets as a result of those types of

[1:34:37] studies, but it is an exercise of due

[1:34:39] diligence. The last thing we want to do

[1:34:41] is freshly repave and then have to

[1:34:42] reopen because there are unexpected or

[1:34:44] unidentified leaks. Um, and then the

[1:34:46] last thing is uh they're actively

[1:34:49] filling the potholes that were that that

[1:34:51] still uh ravage our town. There's an

[1:34:53] ongoing list of potholes that need to be

[1:34:55] addressed. If you see them, if you hit

[1:34:58] them,

[1:35:00] please notify DPW. We'll put it on the

[1:35:03] list. We'll get to it as soon as

[1:35:05] possible. The more eyes and ears we have

[1:35:06] out in the community reporting these

[1:35:08] things back to us, the better, the

[1:35:10] quicker, and the faster we can address

[1:35:11] them. Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

[1:35:13] >> Councilman Potatelli.

[1:35:16] >> Thank you, Mayor.

[1:35:19] I have to echo what Councilman Iser

[1:35:22] said. Initially looking at the garbage

[1:35:25] uh uh

[1:35:28] contract with Pumpton Lakes, we knew

[1:35:31] couple of things weren't going to be the

[1:35:33] same. Uh we thought in the long run that

[1:35:37] um the savings would be beneficial to

[1:35:40] the burrow. Uh would also allow us to

[1:35:44] comply with some of the 2% cap law that

[1:35:47] we have on on expenditures.

[1:35:50] I've been in town for 52 years. I've had

[1:35:54] with Roselli, my garbage can taken, my

[1:35:56] garbage can lid taken, garbage not taken

[1:35:59] completely, uh recycling not taken

[1:36:01] completely. I had a border fence that I

[1:36:05] take out when they cut the lawn. They took that. I've had to replace it.

[1:36:10] No, Roselli. Not the new people, the old

[1:36:13] people. Okay. So, they're not completely

[1:36:16] liy white and clean either. I can tell

[1:36:19] you that. I don't complain about every

[1:36:21] little thing, but there were complaints

[1:36:24] I had about them, too.

[1:36:26] The thing that really, really hurts me

[1:36:29] the most

[1:36:31] is that people have said they're going

[1:36:33] to do things to the garbage to hurt the

[1:36:36] [clears throat] garbage man.

[1:36:39] These are people out there making a

[1:36:41] living, okay?

[1:36:43] and you're going to do something to the

[1:36:45] garbage so that the garbage man gets

[1:36:47] hurt. That's atrocious.

[1:36:51] And let me tell you something, who's

[1:36:53] ever done that? You better be careful

[1:36:55] what you're doing. Some things like that

[1:36:57] break the law. But for for residents who

[1:37:01] do that,

[1:37:04] post slurs against people on the

[1:37:06] council, slurs against their spouse,

[1:37:10] that that because of garbage, you're

[1:37:12] going to do that, harm people, cast

[1:37:15] dispersions against our family members.

[1:37:19] We didn't do this to make your life

[1:37:22] miserable. We didn't. We thought we were

[1:37:25] doing the right thing.

[1:37:28] I believe we will address them. We might

[1:37:30] not correct every one of them, but I'm

[1:37:33] sure we will address it. We're just

[1:37:35] trying to

[1:37:38] make our finances a little bit easier to

[1:37:40] bear. Look, you go to the store, prices

[1:37:43] are up four, five, 6, 10%.

[1:37:47] Some of the garbage contracts were 39%

[1:37:50] higher

[1:37:52] than what we are paying now. So, please,

[1:37:57] you want to come and and holler at me

[1:37:59] for voting at it, please do. Don't do

[1:38:02] something to hurt these poor people

[1:38:04] trying to make a living. It's atrocious

[1:38:07] that they did that. That's not what

[1:38:10] Oakland residents represent. And please

[1:38:14] don't do that. That's just beyond

[1:38:18] acceptability to me. I'm sorry. I

[1:38:22] apologize for getting upset about that,

[1:38:25] but I just can't see people getting

[1:38:27] harmed for trying to do their job.

[1:38:32] From the uh senior center, um our new Tech Tuesday clinic saw such a

[1:38:39] positive response that we're now

[1:38:40] offering it every Tuesday from 1 to 3

[1:38:43] p.m. Meet with a volunteer to get help

[1:38:46] with your technology. I'd probably take

[1:38:48] every minute that guy's got to offer

[1:38:50] over there.

[1:38:52] such as phones, laptops, and tablets.

[1:38:55] Please make an appointment with the

[1:38:57] senior center by calling 2011 4057731.

[1:39:02] There's still opport still time

[1:39:04] [clears throat] to RSVP for our hot dog

[1:39:07] days of summer on Thursday, August 20th

[1:39:10] at 12 p.m. The cost is $5 and can be

[1:39:13] paid by cash or check. RSVP can be made

[1:39:17] at the senior center.

[1:39:20] We will be hosting a presentation on

[1:39:22] Betsy [clears throat] Ross as part of

[1:39:24] our America 250 programming on Thursday,

[1:39:28] September 3rd at 1 PM. There is no fee,

[1:39:32] but we do ask for your RSVP. Light

[1:39:35] refreshments will be served. If you have

[1:39:38] any questions, you can call the center.

[1:39:40] Thank you very much, Mayor. Thank you,

[1:39:41] >> Councilman Vicatelli. I just want to

[1:39:43] talk about this serious

[1:39:46] issue that you brought forward.

[1:39:49] Two weeks ago, I was contacted by the

[1:39:51] Ponttokes mayor

[1:39:53] about the fact that their employees are

[1:39:55] big threat. It rose to the point where

[1:39:57] we had to call in the Oakland police and

[1:39:59] have conversation with the B

[1:40:01] administrator, myself, members of

[1:40:03] governing body and the mayor of Pton

[1:40:06] Lakes and the UPW.

[1:40:08] Oakland's better than that. You can yell

[1:40:10] at us till you blew in the face. Do not

[1:40:13] make threats against any employee that's

[1:40:16] trying to do the best they can.

[1:40:19] I think you can bring us home.

[1:40:22] >> Yeah. Hi. Uh just the green team. They didn't meet this month, but uh

[1:40:27] really the green team. I was so happy

[1:40:29] when I saw your your shirt. The green

[1:40:31] team is an amazing group of people. They

[1:40:33] do so much. Please uh volunteer. We

[1:40:36] always need help. there. Uh um and in

[1:40:39] fact uh we decided that uh uh when the

[1:40:43] weather permitting, we're going to meet

[1:40:45] in the in the community garden from now

[1:40:48] on because uh we might as well get the

[1:40:50] use out of it. It's there. It's really nice. Um so weather

[1:40:53] permitting, we'll be meeting in the in the community garden. Um they just do so much. It's a it's a a

[1:41:02] great a great organization. um uh the garbage. Look um um

[1:41:10] we're like like everyone said, we're we're trying to to to do our best.

[1:41:15] Um $1.4 million. I don't know. That's a

[1:41:18] lot of money. I you could come up here,

[1:41:20] you could tell me it it's it's

[1:41:22] [clears throat] nothing. I If you got

[1:41:23] $1.4 million, I'll take it. Um if you sitting up here can can save the

[1:41:30] town $1.4 4 million and doesn't do it,

[1:41:33] they don't belong up here. $1.4 million.

[1:41:36] And that's just this contract. Going

[1:41:38] forward, we're going to it's going to

[1:41:40] we're going to save more because because

[1:41:43] the increase won't be on on on the on

[1:41:46] the higher contract. We'll save more

[1:41:48] money. Do are they doing the the best

[1:41:50] job in the world? No, they're not doing

[1:41:52] the best job in the world. They're going

[1:41:53] to do the job that they can do. Um can

[1:41:55] it be better? Sure, it can be better.

[1:41:57] Um, we'll make sure that that Compton

[1:42:00] stays on on on their tail. We'll be on

[1:42:02] their tail making sure that they do it.

[1:42:05] I don't know. My garbage cans when I

[1:42:07] come home I and I I don't even want When

[1:42:10] I come home, my garbage cans are like

[1:42:12] soldiers. I I can't believe how good my my garbage cans. I'm embarrassed by what by what everybody by by what

[1:42:19] everybody's saying. And I it's it's it's

[1:42:21] amazing how nice my garbage they've

[1:42:23] never been that that that good. Um, and

[1:42:26] these are all just anecdotal things. You

[1:42:29] know, everybody's got good ones, bad

[1:42:30] ones. Um,

[1:42:32] there's going to be a a transitional

[1:42:35] process. Um, to to me, it it it brings

[1:42:40] it's it's like diapers. When when I when

[1:42:43] I started wi with uh with with my

[1:42:46] family, uh, we we we had pampers. We had

[1:42:49] to have pampers for my first kid. God

[1:42:51] forbid you've had any other bit you you

[1:42:53] know I'd call you a bad person a bad

[1:42:55] parent that that you wanted something

[1:42:57] other than pampers. Um the second kid

[1:42:59] comes around. You know what? We got to

[1:43:02] save some money. Uh Pampers is a lot of

[1:43:04] money. Let's try the storeboard once. We

[1:43:05] tried the storeboard once. Were they as

[1:43:07] good as Pampers? Maybe not. You know,

[1:43:09] couple couple accidents here, a couple

[1:43:10] accidents there. I got a rug that's

[1:43:12] still complaining about the the accident

[1:43:14] that we had. But but okay, we got

[1:43:17] through it. But now we save we saved the

[1:43:19] money on the diapers. Now by the time we

[1:43:21] get to the third kid, all right, we're

[1:43:22] still diapers, diapers, diapers.

[1:43:24] Finally. Okay, we're out of diapers. Oh,

[1:43:26] look, I'm going to save so much money.

[1:43:28] I'm not paying for diapers. I wish I was

[1:43:31] paying for diapers. I'm I'm I'm now I'm

[1:43:33] paying for college. And because because

[1:43:36] I saved the money on the diapers back

[1:43:38] then, I could pay for the college. It it helps. And it's that's the whole

[1:43:42] thing. You can't and you can't come to

[1:43:44] the to to the meetings and and complain

[1:43:46] that that the taxes are high, but then

[1:43:49] when we save on on the other end, you

[1:43:52] can't have it both ways. We're we're trying. Um $1.4 million. I I don't I don't Anybody in here? One

[1:44:02] $1.4 million. If if you can get us $1.4

[1:44:05] million, we'll take it. We'll take it.

[1:44:07] $1.4 million just on this one contract.

[1:44:11] All right. It's It's a lot of money. You

[1:44:12] could you could you could poo poo it all

[1:44:14] you want. Uh but but it's a lot of

[1:44:17] money. And and to say that it's not is ridiculous. And and and like I said,

[1:44:24] if if you have a chance to save the town

[1:44:27] $1.4 million and you don't do it, you

[1:44:30] don't belong up here.

[1:44:32] >> Thank you. That's it.

[1:44:35] >> All right. We are up to bills to be

[1:44:38] paid. Councilwoman,

[1:44:39] >> yes. Bills to be paid is $829,541.77.

[1:44:46] So moved.

[1:44:47] >> Do I second Mr. Sy? Any discussion?

[1:44:51] >> Not seeing any. Roll call.

[1:44:52] >> Council President Talamini.

[1:44:54] >> Yes.

[1:44:55] >> Councilman Dunbert.

[1:44:56] >> Yes.

[1:44:56] >> Councilman Eert.

[1:44:57] >> Yes.

[1:44:58] >> Councilman Pignatelli.

[1:44:59] >> Yes.

[1:45:00] >> Councilwoman Rose.

[1:45:01] >> Yes.

[1:45:01] >> Councilman Saliani.

[1:45:03] >> Yes.

[1:45:04] >> Do we have a motion to adjurnn? [cough]

[1:45:06] >> So moved. Council

[1:45:07] >> Pnatelli. Do you have a second?

[1:45:08] >> Second. Councilman Rose.

[1:45:10] >> All in favor?

[1:45:11] >> I

[1:45:13] >> All right. The next pro council meeting

[1:45:14] will be held on Tuesday, September 8th

[1:45:16] at 7 p.m. here at the council chamber.

[1:45:18] Thank you everybody. Have a good night.

[1:45:19] Meeting a journ.

Borough Council Meeting - August 11, 2026

Agenda

Transcript