Very good.
All right. This meeting is called to
order. This is the August 11th, 2026
mayor council meeting. Uh will the clerk
please read the statement of compliance?
>> This meeting is being held in accordance
with the open public meetings act NJSA
104-6X
having been duly advertised and posted
in the municipal building in compliance
with NJSA 104-8.
The meeting will adjourn no later than
10 p.m. unless a majority of the council
members present vote to extend the time.
>> All rise for the pledge of allegiance.
» Would uh Victor German Jr. please lead
us in the pledge of allegiance?
>> I aliance to the flag of the United
States of America and to the republic
for it stands one nation under God
indivisible with liberty and justice for
all. Please remain standing for a moment
of silence. Let's
also remember Lieutenant James John Gaul
Jr. He was a member of the Oakland
Police Department. He passed away
recently.
He was retired.
Thank you.
» All right. Would the clerk call the
role, please?
>> Mayor Kamala,
>> present.
>> Council President Talini
>> here.
>> Councilman Dumpert
>> here. Councilman Eert
>> here.
>> Councilman Pignatelli
>> here.
>> Councilwoman Rose
>> here.
>> Councilman Saliani
>> here.
>> All right. We have a special occasion
today. We are swearing in a new
firefighter.
>> Uh if you recall last month we swore in
Ed McDermott senior. Uh this time we're
going to ask Ed to come forward with his
son, Ed McDermott the fifth. Correct. Uh
this is Ed the fifth. Uh Ed is uh going
to be joining the volunteer fire
department. Uh Ed also uh graduated high
school, served four years in the army.
He has since completed his army service
and he's currently active in the
National Guard. So let's give Ed a
[applause]
go, Dad. Which way?
Are you ready?
>> Okay.
I, Ed McDermott the 5th,
>> I, Ed McDermott the 5th,
>> do solemnly swear
>> that I will support the Constitution of
the United States
>> that I will support the Constitution of
the United States
>> and the Constitution of the State of New
Jersey
>> and the Constitution of the State of New
Jersey
>> that I will bear true faith and
allegiance
>> that I will bear true faith and
allegiance
>> to the same
>> and the governments established in the
United States
>> and the governments established in the
United States
>> and in this state
>> under the authority of the people
>> and that I will faithfully and that I
will faithfully
>> impartially
>> and justly
>> perform all the duties
>> of the office of firefighter
>> according to the best of my ability.
>> So help me God.
>> Congratulations sir. [applause]
Thank you.
» Congratulations.
>> Thank you for your service.
All
right, we can take a quick one minute
recess. I know there's a lot of
firefighters that unless you want to
hang out for the meeting, you're welcome
to. If not, uh, go
[laughter]
So, we're up to the mayor's report. Uh,
a couple items. Uh, number one, paving.
Um, as many people know on the dog on
the Dogwood section, uh, they just Lar,
the property owner with the condos back
there, uh, just completed paving McCoy
Road. Uh, that was at no cost to the
taxpayer. That was paid for by the
developer. and we were able to convince
them to pave all the way up to the
Franklin Lakes corporate line. So, if
you go up there, you'll notice that all
the paving is complete on the Oakland
side, but when you get to Franklin
Lakes, it's only half and there's
patches in there. So, they did right by
Oakland by uh well, we kind of worked
with them to make sure they did that.
All right. Oakland's 20 2026 road
program. Uh the following roads are
going to be paved. Currently, they're
working on they started the concrete
work. It's going to they're going to be
working on it this week and next week.
Uh the following areas are going to be
paved. The walking path along the
Dogwood school for the people with
student with children. There's a walking
path between Dogwood and Manito that's
going to be repaved. That has not been
done for 20 years. Harvard Way is going
to be repaved. Roosevelt Boulevard from
First Street to Truman Soccer Field
parking lot's going to be paved. Uh the
Veterans Park driveway. West Oakland A
where we did all the water main work,
that's going to be paved all the way to
the Pompson Lakes line, uh where the
water man work was done. Acorn is also
going to be paved curb to curb. Stony
point road, Cheyenne Court, Senica
Avenue, Masasoy Trail, Kaunga Drive,
Tuscarora Drive, Barber Lane, Winter
Street, and Maple Drive. Uh we're also
expecting the county to be paving West
Oakland A from the McDonald's light all
the way to Skyline Drive. That's
probably be happening later either late
summer, sometime in the spring, but
that's going to be paid for by the
county.
I know there's a problem. Several
residents have contacted about the Iraco
and Andrew ponding situation. There's a
collapsed storm drain in that area. DPW
is out there in a regular basis uh
pumping out the street. Uh we're
currently working with our DPW and our
engineer. Uh they have to replace a 20ft
section of pipe. Okay. And I know that
residents are concerned because we just
did a lot of paving up there. The good
news is we do not have to dig up the
road. It's all going to be all the work
is going to be done off the road on a
person's property. So that that's work
is pending. Should probably take three
to four weeks. Also want to congratulate
the students that took place in the
junior police academy graduation. I'm
sure Mr. Saliani is going to have
something to say about that. Um
streetscape as you know this governing
body has been working on the streetscape
uh for the downtown area. Uh from the
railroad track all the way up to Oak
Street. uh our engineers have been
working on design criteria as we speak.
We hope to have a presentation sometime
in either September or October to the
governing body uh for input from the
residents of governing body as we move
forward through this process. Uh the
drugstore, I know I've talked a couple
times about the drugstore. Um at this
time the drugstore, they ran into an
issue with the roof. They're working
through engineering issues. Uh once
that's done, plans should be should be
submitted. I'm I said last month, but
they're shooting for the end of this
month. Let's see what happens once the
plans get submitted. We'll start seeing
that the Oakland drugs property get
rehabilitated into the new Hackinack
Health. As far as garbage, I know a lot
of people have been stickered. There's a
lot of uh uh pain here in town
concerning the garbage can size. Uh but
uh the DPW has gone around. They have
stickered the cans and the last day to
use cans over 45 will be August 14th. Uh
then you have to have the smaller can.
Uh, and the DPW is selling them at a
discount rate of $20 per can if
anybody's interested. And with that, concludes my report.
At this time, I'd like I I invited the
affordable housing attorney, Mr. Brian
Giblin, at the end of the the Deis. As
you know, Oakland is facing a lot of
challenges with all this affordable
housing with the McBride property uh
behind the hardware store and also
[snorts] behind the high school. I
thought it was only appropriate to have
uh Mr. Giblin come forward come here
today so they can give us and the public
an update on where we are with the
affordable housing. I yield to you Mr.
Giblin.
>> Thank you mayor and I appreciate the
opportunity to update the council and
the public as to uh what the status is.
Um as I'm I'm sure the council and most
of the public are aware. Uh after we
filed our declaratory judgment action
seeking immunity uh from affordable
housing litigation, there were four
challenges uh three by developers and
one by Fairshare Housing Center. Leaving
aside fair share because they're not
going to settle until all the other
developers settle. Uh we have three. We
have McBride, Leone, and Robber. Um
going in the order uh McBride is uh a
site that the uh mayor and council uh
adopted zoning that they had requested.
The only issue in that case and the only
reason we haven't reached a settlement
with them is because the mayor and
council would not permit access from
Paige Drive. Um they subsequently filed
a motion. I went to court before Judge
Caristen who is handling the case and
Judge Carsten said that that decision
has to be made by the planning board. So
uh they can make an application uh to
develop the site. They can have Page
Road as a proposed um means of ingress
and egress, but the planning board is
going to have to approve that after the
engineering testimony goes in. So uh
we'll have to leave that to them. the
Leone site. Um we met with their
professionals on a couple of occasions.
They u we were advised that the Leone
site is essentially a mirror image of
the LAR site which is just next door.
However, they're requesting some zoning
changes to make uh some minor
modifications to the zoning at the LAR
site. So we've been going through that
with uh the burrows professionals to see
why those changes are necessary and so
far uh most of them have been necessary.
Again they're minor in nature and it's
because of the different topography on
the site that uh requires it. Uh and
last is the ropper or roer site. This
was an approval from uh the third round
was approved I believe in 2018
uh in the last round. We're now in the
fourth round. Um, and the only thing
that's stopping them from developing the
site right now is that they don't have
sewage. Uh, it was supposed to have been
taken care of by the North Northwest
Sewer Authority. Uh, they have not put
in the infrastructure uh to this point.
Uh, we've had communications with them.
We recently had a meeting with the um
NJD
to find out where we could get excess
sewage capacity not only for that site
but for some other existing sites in the
downtown area and uh they were looking
for some additional information. our
engineers are providing that and we will
get uh together with them again and try
and work that out so that uh we can
provide sewage again not just for the
ropper site to be built but also for
some existing properties that don't have
sewage now and the next time we'll be in
court is September 15th in front of
Judge Carston.
>> Thank you. Does anybody from the council
have any questions for affordable
housing attorney at this time? if you
could just uh stay here till after open to the public in case the residents
have any questions.
>> At this time, do I have a motion to open
the public?
>> So moved.
>> Do we have a second?
>> Second.
>> All in favor?
>> Anyone from the public wish to address
the governing body?
» Hello.
>> My name is Joan Czech. My address is 18
Crosby Lane. Tonight I am um here on
behalf of the open first aid squad. I
have some things I'd like to bring to
the attention of the council, of the
town, a frustration that we've been
having. Um, we typically in the past
have adopted maybe burrow um vehicles,
police cars that have been retired from
service. Um, part of the problem with
that has been that they were retired for
a good reason. They the cost of
maintenance is high. They are not
reliable. things you don't want in an
emergency vehicle. Um, so we decided to
use squad funds given by our generous
donors in town to purchase a new vehicle
that had a warranty. And the way the
best way for us to purchase it was
through a municipal
somebody's got to help me with the word
here. Co-op.
>> And part of the rules of those co-ops is
that it has to be registered to the
town. I believe it's for a year. I
didn't participate in this purchase, but
it's usually for a year. The town has to
have it licensed to them for a year. Um,
we bought that vehicle in I think the
beginning of 2024 was when it was
finally paid for. Um, and then it was um
I probably due to our fault as much as
anybody else's last year, we never
bothered getting the that transferred.
I'm kind of a p detailed person
accountant type. Um, so I decided when I
became chief, which is the beginning of
this year, I would see to it that that
title would be transferred because it's
a little bit problematic. I mean,
theoretically, the town could sell it or
repaint it as a police car if they so
desired at this point, which is really
not what we're in the business to do.
We're 501c3 with our mission. Our
mission is to provide first aid care,
not to buy vehicles for Oakland. So, you
know, we we have a great deal of trust
in the town, but on the other hand, like
I said, I'm a detailed person. I want to
see stuff buttoned up. I'm sure you can
appreciate that as an attorney. Um, it
you you don't just leave it even if you
trust the individuals. And so, this
year, around February or March, I began
speaking to people. People in Burough
Hall have been very responsive, very on
top of things. Um, it seems to be
stalling with the attorney. At first, I
was told that the that they needed to go
to the attorney to find out how to
transfer it. And then I kept calling and
asking. And then I heard that we were
waiting to have the um the motion
>> resolution [laughter] I I may be a
detailed person. I'm not a word person.
Um have that written for the council um
to vote on. And that was sort of the end
of June. I was very disappointed to see
it not show up on the July agenda. And
then I heard I happened to run into
Wendy and she was on top of it. She said
to me, "It should be on this agenda.
We're still waiting for the wording."
And then the agenda came out and it
wasn't there. And I have questions at
this point about why that's so
complicated and and why is this taking
so long? Because we've done this
numerous times in the past. granted with
old junky cars, but you know, we have
done this. It nobody's had an issue
doing it. And in any case, um I was
hoping possibly tonight if it's a simple
thing that maybe Mr. Gilson would be
able to come up with something that
could be voted on. And you know, if not,
or if there if it's not just going to be
a straightforward transfer of title for
the vehicle that we paid for and there's
something else that's try they're trying
to get written in there, I would like
the opportunity to speak to them and I
will provide you with my contact
information after this. Um, and that's
pretty much all I have to say. You know,
um, we need to get this moving. We need
to get this done because if the year
ends without me getting it done, I'm
going to be very sad.
>> Thank you. Thank you.
>> Thank you.
Danny Dia, 7 form Road.
Uh, a couple [clears throat] things
tonight. First, a very important thing.
Uh, we must never forget this September
11th [clears throat] will be 25 years
since the Twin Towers, the Pentagon, and
a fourth plane headed to Washington DC,
where courageous patriots took control
of the plane and crashed it in field in
Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
On Friday, September 11th at 6 PM, the
community of Oakland will hold a
remembrance ceremony for the 25th
anniversary of 911 in Veterans Park.
While the residents and businesses are
invited to attend, afterwards, there
will be refreshments available at Pond's
Church. Let's never forget that day that
changed America. One month from tonight,
February, Friday, September 11th, at 6
p.m. in Veterans Park. All are invited
and welcome to please attend this
important moving ceremony. Let's make it
it's something that never should be
forgotten and it's getting forgotten by
a lot of people. So just remember
Friday, September 11th, 6:00 Veterans
Park. It's going to be a real nice
ceremony. We're still working on it.
We've had two meetings. We got another
two meetings coming up and it's going to
be good. All right, a couple other
things.
sidewalk along 202 South between the
cleaners
and the Exxon station. All right.
There's two white lines that used to be
painted there. They're faded. All right.
They used to be painted every year.
There's a restaurant in that parking lot
has valet parking.
the valet parking on Friday, Saturday
nights, sometimes Sunday nights,
sometimes Thursday nights, they park
them right out to 202,
right out to the edge of 202. People
walking either they got to weave through
the cars or they walk in 202.
Uh it's amazing nobody got hit yet.
>> All right, so I think we should go back
to painting those lines and maybe
enforcing no parking on the sidewalk.
>> All right, at that place. And even if
you had to get an emergency vehicle in
there, you're parked on 202. You're
blocking 202 with emergency vehicles.
All right. Uh what two other things I
see under the paving list is Senica A.
Why are we paying for Senica AB when
public service ripped it up?
>> Mr. Cos,
>> did we do some trading? I think that was
one of the ways that we swapped off with
another road or you know full um curb to
curb on another road if memory.
>> Yeah. So it just it seemed weird that
public service came in and paved all the
roads they dug up.
>> Right. So what we do is we do horse
trading on the back end so we can get
more bang for the buck.
>> Fine.
>> All right. And then the last thing I got
All right. Uh last meeting there was
resolution number 233 on the agenda. It
was introduced by you Mr. mayor and it
was not brought the motion was made and
it wasn't brought forward. All right.
Now,
>> I can't bring a resolution forward.
>> Right. The council didn't bring it
forward.
>> All right. Now, looking at the gender,
it's for $83,500.
Looking at the agenda for this meeting,
it's back on as resolution 248.
It's the same resolution as 233 with
some word changes.
Is this a new way that we do stuff here
to spend $83,500
that if it don't work it don't pass the
first time, we keep try try again after
every meeting for the next couple of
meetings. Totally. See if it passes. I
don't think that's a good way to spend
taxpayer money. All right. Thanks.
» Next person.
You go. Okay. [clears throat]
Everybody, Will Lensetti, 23 Chickasaw.
I want to talk a little bit about value,
what we get from savings. When I was,
you know, I sometimes have a little bit
of a long commute and I think too much,
but some of this sort of bothered me.
$250 a year savings per household.
That's for over the life of the
contract. That's 6250 a year. That comes
out to like we're saving a$120 with this
new garbage contract.
So that also got me thinking, you know,
when my kids were little, they learned a
lesson about value. You know, when
they're no gave them some money, you
know, we took them to the dollar store.
I would always say thinking like, no, we
shouldn't do this. But then I'm thinking
like, no, let them learn because some
things you can't teach. They need to
learn. So when they bought these toys
for a dollar and they broke and they
cried, it didn't take them long to
realize that some things are worth value
and that there is a value to the dollar.
So for a $120 thinking maybe maybe the
mayor and council in the DBW instead of
driving around looking at people's trash
bins to see if they were oversized maybe
they should have gone to the dollar
store first. I mean looking saying, "Oh,
this one's too big. This one's just
right." Like some sort of garbage can
Goldilocks looking around here. I I mean
really. So
what is value? Like are we getting a
value from this for the service? Also
knowing that a third of the town now
needs to buy new cans. You know, that's
what that's what you all said. 30% of
the town needs to buy new cans. So, are
we getting the value for that? I'm not
sure. I'm not sure we are or not. But
when I also looked at it, and I'm
thinking about this from the value
perspective, like people have cans of
different sizes. Everyone's got a
different size can. You know, some are
oversized. Lay down the street from me.
She's got huge cans. didn't seem to
bother the other guards, man.
Sorry, I'm just making some fun on this
for what it is. But, you know, we can
take it a little further. Let's let's educate our kids. Let's start a
web page about value and then we can get
all the cost savings, the old contract,
the new contract, the interimm contract,
what the actual costs are. Let's put
them on the page and let's outweigh them
with what people spent on garbage cans
initially, the ones that they're
throwing out, what they're spending on
new garbage cans, and what the savings
are. You know, maybe we call it, you
know, kids corner with kumala and coons
and cans. You know, we could have you
guys in like [applause] Compton
regulation cans, but you can't be green.
I think there's some copyright
infringements there. But we could talk
about that. We can give the lessons on
values. And then speaking of green,
let's talk about what are we doing with
all these old cans. I mean, you all told
them to throw them out. I mean, Christ
sakes, plastic is the OG forever
chemical. You know, that's they're now
in garbage bins. They're they're they're
in waste. They're in landfills.
>> You know, why? Why?
>> You know, it just doesn't make sense to
me. You know, at the end of the day, I
think what really bothers me about this
more is more and more between the police
not having a contract for over a year,
it's like 14 months or something like
that with this garbage deal with Pmpton,
you know, with the fact that it seems
like we can't manage development in our
town that all we do is we bring people
in to tell us what we can't do. Like,
why don't we bring people in to tell us
what we can? I mean, that's what we
really need.
You know, end of the day, that sign's
going to once say, you know, once there
was trees all over this place
after, you know, the thing by by hills.
I mean, that that's a debacle. It's a
monstrosity. It's it's an abomination
what they did to these that piece of
land. I'll be honest with you, that 30-
foot high retaining wall. How many trees
did they cut down? You know, I cut a
tree down in my yard and I have Ranger
Rick from the the shade tree on my ass
to pay $250 to plant a new tree.
you know, where were all the trees from
there? I mean, they should be replaced,
right? Unless you're considering the
lumber they used to build. Well, that
was a tree
>> really. I mean, you know, at the end of
the day, too, you know, I want to talk
what really bothers me about this. Look,
I'm all for savings and all that, but to
be honest, taxes. Like, my taxes are
estimated to go up 13 and a half%. The
majority of was from what this council
passed. That budget increase was from
what that my tax has gone up. I'm going
to save $62.50 a year. You know what? Am
I going to get a Mickey D gift card?
How am I going to get that money back? I
tell you, 13.5% of my taxes a hell of a
lot more than 6250 a year. So, I really lack confidence in this
council, in this administration. I think
people need to be held accountable. You
know, you all be thinking people saying
out there, people at home saying, "Who's
this guy talking trash?" You know, well,
I'm not. I think a lot of people at home
believe in what I say. They're they're
nodding their heads. They're agreeing
with me. They're saying that this town
is going in the wrong direction. So, I
think people need to be held
accountable. So, I think to start Mr.
Couns being the mastermind of that uh
that deal, you know, I think you should
be canned. Yeah.
>> And then, you know, come November, let's
see what the voters figure out what to
do with garbage.
>> Thank you.
[applause]
Uh Steve Penosian,
Oakland, about to say my address. I
can't remember.
>> Glen Greg. Got it.
>> Okay. Glen Gray. Um before I start my
dissertation, I uh have a document that
I'd like to give to Wendy.
>> Mr. Mayor, it's okay. I'd like this to
be entered into the minutes. And then uh
there's a lot of questions here and I'd
like to have a followup
>> from the town on who I can sit with to
go through everything.
» I do have a couple of comments and a
couple of questions. So I hope I can do
it under three minutes.
Um I wasn't here for about a month. Um
and I apologize if I'm bringing
something up that may or may not be
popular, but uh I've done the last
um public statement. I I think it's
appropriate. While I was gone, I had to
make arrangements with family and
neighbors to take my garbage out. And um
I do have a monitor cam that I can see
things going on. And uh all I can say is
my garbage and recycle pickup experience
um whether it was remotely or last week
and this week has been positive. I
haven't had a problem, but I must say
that we're among the people, and I've
lived here for 40 years, that we didn't
have a problem with the container size.
We complied. We just simply complied.
Um, we followed that directive or that
guideline for the 40 years that we've
lived here.
>> Last week, I I placed furniture in a
mattress and it followed the guideline
and it was picked up. So, you know, I
got to thank whoever um nothing changed
in our in our experience and um uh the
only opinion that I have is um my
observation uh the pickup people were young. They appeared energetic and
um I went out to say hello and they're a
very respectful team.
Regarding the third of the town that was
frustrated with the service transition,
clearly uh I understand from listening
to Mr. Coons. Um I think it was the last
meeting. You explained what the
objective was and I think it went over
everybody's head or maybe everybody
understood it but didn't want to accept
it including one of the council people.
A third of the town was frustrated with
the service transition. Clearly the
primary objective was to save money. But
I think what everybody has overlooked is
that
twothirds of the town over the last 10
years, the $30,000 average increased
based on 300% increase over the last 10
years. We've been subsidizing and paying
for the liberties or whatever you want
to call it, the out of compliance people
or residents in our town with cans that
were oversized.
It's it's a perspective, but that's the
way I look at it. I had to pay for it
and that the other twothirds of the town
had to pay for that and I got a
different perspective on it that'll come
up easily.
The unsustainable 30% average cost to
year the past contractor I my opinion
working in a world where
negotiation even after a contract
agreement continued. this $60 per
household. I believe that was debate
that was an offer to get us to go in and
now argue about was it worth saving $60
a year. It isn't $60 a year. That was
debate. My opinion the switch would have
been after if we would accepted that. We
would have slowly seen over the next
couple two, three, four, five years, it
would have crept up to double digit
increases, no different than it had for
the last 10 years. I don't care what
anybody says. Excuse me. Supposed to be
directing it at you. So that that is uh
a a fact that I look at and the other
simple one, one bidder. I don't know if
that's a problem with with everybody,
but that's that that's the telltale uh
of this whole issue. So here's my
questions and and this is the
conclusion. I would like to know what
the cost and ranking of the removal
service line as an expense to the town
and if it can be translated to an
average household cost per property
taxpayer of of that what is the removal
budget
per household as a percentage of of the
total. So, example, if I pay $1,000 a
year in taxes, um, and the, um,
it's 50 bucks or 60 bucks, that that's
5%. I I'd like to understand as a line
item for the total town budget, if it's
23 million, I don't know what it is. I
think I know what it is, but I want it
here uh, officially on record what it is
and what percentage is is the disposal
service uh, uh, as a percentage. The
second cost and ranking is of our town's
budget. What is the total to lease total
police line item as a ranking and a
percentage of the town's annual budget?
And that could be with or without uh
healthcare. And I understand we treat
healthcare a little differently, but I
want to know if that's number one. I
think it's the first highest one. and if the average
forget about what I think it is. I want
to hear what the answer is and if it's
the number one top expense
and then where does that go? I got two
uh additional comments
in the spirit of um
transparency.
If it's assumed that the number one line
item cost is the police expense
and it's a good chunk of change. So, if
I pay $10,000 in taxes and 30% goes to
town and that's 3,000 bucks and if
$1,100 of that is it goes to the police
uh department budgeting.
Um spending whatever it is $85,000 a
year, $83,000 a year by the total number
of households. It's a couple of bucks to
make sure that we have a third-party uh
review of the way our police department
operates and and I'm I 100% support our
police department. I would just like to
know that everything that we have in
place today organizationally, process,
procedures,
uh before we hire anybody or install a
new police chief, I think we ought to
align on uh what's expected today and
looking down the road two, three, four,
five years so we make the right hires
and and put the right job descriptions
or objectives uh that we would want to
support uh our new police chief. And it
kind of echoes what you have said, Mr.
Mayor. Um, and out of the corporate
world, I've worked for two Asian
companies, one Sony, 15 years, and
Samsung, 24 years. I'm sure everybody
knows they're worldclass corporations.
They were way ahead of the curve on many
things.
And I got to tell you, um, we always,
and I I always worked at senior
management to help reorganization,
re-engineering, and process improvement.
And we always laid these things out and
did reviews before we made a change so
that we would then backfill uh all these
new uh job wrecks and then also all the
new processes to improve everything
about the organization to meet our
overall objectives and that was to uh
build the business and and do it
profitably. And then the last comment
that I would make in the spirit of
transparency, which is a word that I
can't stand because it's so misused, but
it also works both ways. Transparency
and our expectation of a governing body,
and I've said this to the board of ed as
well, uh to Ramipo. Um but there needs
to be transparency on the public side
too. What is your motivation? What's
really behind what you're doing? Are you
here to ruffle feathers and and stir the
pot the wrong way and create issues? I
think we've got a great town. There's no
nothing negative about it and a past
council person said it best. I think in
an interview that's online
um that we do great when we all work
together. So, in the spirit of this
transparency and supporting our police
department, I hate like hell to put one
of the councilman on on the spot here,
but I got a ton of other questions, but
I just simply want to know
If you're 100% and you ran on supporting
the police and there's signs all around
in the town supporting our police
department to support our police, why
would you vote no on the contract?
And I'd like to hear the reason why.
And that vote note occurred at the last
mayor and council meeting back in July.
Thank you, Mr. Mayor.
>> Thank you.
No traffic, right?
>> Good evening. My name is Phil Murphy.
I'm 40-year resident. I live in 28
Saratoga Drive. Um, former head coach at
Indian Hills [clears throat] for 15
years. Been involved in a lot of things
in town. In fact, I ran for council in
1992. I lost. Thank God. Um,
>> it gets tough at times.
>> And I and I appreciate what you guys do.
I really do. Um, I love this town. I
don't plan on going anywhere. Um, so I'm
very happy here. You guys got a tough
challenge. I think you guys made a big
mistake. Okay, you heard two people
already mention one gentleman went
online. I'm not going to talk too much
about it, but I'm so angry about this
issue with the garbage that you just
have no idea. Um, it has changed my life
dramatically, even though it's a simple
thing. I work all week. I come home. I
take care of my own lawn. I throw a lot
of pride in my house. How it looks. It's
got a flag. It's beautiful. This is what
happens when you have new garbage
people. They leave your cans so they
burn your lawn.
>> Nice.
>> Okay. That never happened in all the
time we had roselli. They were amazing.
Okay. They change the time they pick up
the grass. The grass gets picked up on
Thursday. How many of you own a pool?
Two of you, right?
>> Yeah.
>> When do you get it cleaned?
>> On Monday. Tuesday.
>> Friday.
[clears throat]
My grass sits in my cans and I want to
know which one of you guys is going to
come over to my house after they've
emptied it and clean them out. It is a
pain in the ass. So, my wife with a
great idea. She said, "Well, why don't
you buy the PL? Now I got to buy paper
bags to put my garbage in, my grass
clippings in, so I can throw them out
and not have to clean my garbage cans
for 10 minutes on a Thursday night in
the dark. The timing of their pickup is
terrible. We used to have our garbage
picked up by the time I left for work at
7 a.m. I go to work every day at 7 a.m.
By the way, I buy and sell businesses
for a living. I'm an M&A specialist.
It's what I do for a living. And to save
a million4 over five years is peanuts.
I pay $27 a month for Netflix and it's
$6 a month for the savings that we have
for a major quality of life issue. I
don't know who thought about this,
really thought about this issue, but I
have to tell you it was really not well
thought out because I'm more than happy
to pay $6 to have my trash picked up.
I've already now had to go on a s on a
Saturday to drop off my grass clippings.
Last Saturday, I kind of snuck in
because I didn't have my my decal. I'm
not even sure how to get it yet.
Probably get it right there. But this is
a real quality of life issue for a very
small savings that does not any way
compensate us. I actually spend more. I
spend $8 a month for my bags and I save
six. Where's the math in that? It's just
a It's just a bad move. And somebody
please, you have to either go back to
these people with this contract and say
we have to be fair about what our at
least our delivery of the service is
when we get pickups if it can move
around. It sounds to me and I haven't
looked at this too deeply, but it sounds
to me like Pomp and Lakes got the better
end of this that they get their pickup
when they want theirs. We got the scraps
or at least if we can modify this so we
all share in the bad days and we have
some good days. If I have to do this
through through Thursday stuff much
longer. I'm pretty upset about it. I
haven't been to a council meeting. I
can't remember.
But I got off my run to come here
tonight just to tell you that. And I
appreciate the comments that you
gentlemen made. There's a couple of you
that made comments about this. And based
on based on the social media on this
issue, I waited six weeks to see what
would happen. This was the last draw.
So, I hope you guys will take my
comments and do something with them
because this has to change. It's just
not a good deal for anyone. And as far
as I'm concerned, the quality of life
issue for Oakland, we all lost. It's too
bad. You guys do a great job. This one
was a loser. Thank you very much.
[applause]
Eric Hotch, 26 Rugies Drive.
I'm here today to tell you that I don't
think there's any savings that uh the
old company that they picked up the
[clears throat] day after a holiday.
They're not picking up now the new
company after a holiday. Also, there are
more additional holidays that they are
taking. So there's probably at least
another 15 days in a year that we're not
getting pickup. There's your savings if
not no savings at all. So we're missing
out. Number two, when they pick up
garbage, I have one of those flip top
lids. All they need to do, the other
company always close the lid. They leave
them open or they leave it not laying
down on the floor. If it's raining that
day, I got to tip over that pail and
empty out the water.
That never happened before. Mhm.
>> Also, the fact with these smaller cans,
if you use them, the lids are not
attached. On a windy day, you got to go
chase your uh lid four or five houses
down. The smaller pales are also round.
They roll all the way down the block.
That's why I bought the bigger cans. Two
years ago, I bought two big cans. Now,
they're almost like $90 to $100 a can.
I'm out that money. Now, you're telling
me I got to spend more. That's not
right. It's also cleaner because they
don't blow down even during the wind.
So, you're not going to have your
garbage floating down the street and the
animals to eat them. Now, these animals,
they could just even the birds, they fly
right in because you don't have the lid
because I don't want to chase my uh
garbage all the way down the block and
they're picking the garbage out and the
squirrels and the raccoons.
>> I haven't had bears, but I'm sure
they're there, too.
That's it. Thank you, Mr. [applause]
» Kathy Graph. Um, we're talking about
savings.
>> I'm sorry. What is your name, ma'am?
>> Kathy Graph.
>> Um, we're talking about savings and I'm
wondering, um, who's paying for our DPWs
overtime that they're putting in so much
overtime doing
>> the other work. So, where is that
savings coming from? And someone said to
me when I said I was coming tonight,
they said they saw um a garbage truck
that wasn't the ones that we bought.
They're going through Oakland. How did
they get there? And what are they doing?
>> You mean they were
>> They said they said it wasn't the usual
garbage trucks that the men are using.
>> So they said, you know, how did that
come [clears throat] into effect? I I I
didn't see it myself. This is someone
else.
>> I'm just trying to understand the
question.
>> Yeah. No, I didn't see it. My main my
main question is who's paying the money
for the DPW when they go out and they're
doing the jobs that isn't being
performed by the original contract, you
know, the the garbage people. Who's
paying for that? And where's the savings
in that? Especially in overtime,
» Elizabeth Buchcci,
I have a couple things to say. I always
have a couple things to say.
>> What street do you live on?
>> I live on Valley View Avenue. Thank you.
>> Okay. Um,
my first thing is nothing to do with
anything that's been talked about here.
I was wondering how we are proceeding.
You know, is anything proceeding with
the Tangle property? Are we still
interested? Did they sell it to somebody
else or is that still moving forward?
>> Yeah.
>> Perfect. Okay.
Um, at the last meeting, Mr. Coons said
that he was going to be talking to
Compton about moving that rubbish day.
>> How far have we gotten on that?
>> So, we're going to take let everybody
speak and then he's going to be able to
address the questions.
>> Um,
my biggest complaint is the optics.
As council people, I know it's not an
easy job and it's not one that I would
want to do, but sometimes you seem to
miss the whole boat on listening to
people.
For every person that's going to
complain about the garbage, you're going
to have somebody who has a good
experience. My area of town, we have no
problem. So, I don't know if it's maybe
a Heights area or Manito area, but I,
you know, I I live off of West Oakland.
We've had no issues. And as far as the
lids and not lids, I half the time
they're in the street, half the time
they're on my lawn. The lids, I can't
tell you how many times the garbage have
taken them. One time they even took my
whole garbage can. I had to replace it.
And you know, it happens. It's
everybody's either going to have a good
bad experience.
But at the last meeting,
Matt said he was going to look into
having the town use your power to see
about buying garbage cans that we can
purchase.
That's great, except that you didn't
listen to what was being asked. We're
not asking for those dumb ass um cans.
We're asking to replace something that
will function. We want a 45gallon. We
want it with wheels. We want it that the
lids go up and down. Not that can. That
is a horrible thing. And I was really
pissed off
at being getting the snotty emails that
have gone come out with it. And I'm
sorry the tone on those emails. I don't
know who's proofing those emails, but
you really should have somebody looking
at them. They're a little snotty. It's
not a reminder if you've never told us.
Nobody knew that the DPW was selling
garbage cans. We knew about the recycle
cans, but not garbage cans. I went down,
I took a picture, I told them. I put it
online.
I shouldn't have to do that. And to then
for the next day, the town would come
out and say, "It's a reminder." It's not
a reminder. You never told us.
Okay? I said, "Spoon feed us. Give us
optics. Give us graphics.
I think we'll be happy if you just
listen to what we're asking.
Our website is a disaster. Half the
links on that don't work. I know they
said we're going to be doing something,
but I I was looking at a business plan
that is on there from Mayor Zbo. Why?
Though, I have to say I did like his
vision. It looked really nice. But why
is it still on the website? How many
mayors ago was he? You know,
um
>> three more things. Three quick things.
Uh, this hasn't brought up here, but it
was brought up at the last meeting. And
again, I'm saying optics.
There's been more and more of people
asking for that. So, second public
session, speaking session. I don't see
why it was removed. I don't see what
skin off the council's nose for letting
the people that come here have a second
time to speak up if they have a
question. Now, I do realize that at
times we've had people who have
questioned, you've opened it up, they've
asked their question, and we've closed
it again. But from many times that I've
come when that second session's around,
more often than not, nobody's nobody's
getting up to talk. So, why remove it?
Let us be happy. Give us that second
session so that we feel like you're
listening to us. Okay? And that goes
into my third thing that I'm talking
about. The last meeting, that anilotti
contract went nowhere. Why is it back on
the docket? It should not be there. I
know we're getting a new police chief. I
don't know if he's been appointed, not
appointed. The town never tells us
anything. I didn't even know we lost the
old chief. Um,
but why not let him come in and see
what's going on before we second guess
and undermine what he's doing? That
contract. Honestly,
you talk to people, and I know I
probably shouldn't say this, but you're
hearing that there's a taint with
McCann. People don't like it. They don't
like him. I think they spoke very well
when voting him out. There was a lot of
objection to him, and it smacks that
he's behind that contract. It's a lot of
money for the town to pay out for an
assessment that may not be needed. Let's
let the new chief come in, see what's
going on, and a year from now, you'll
look at it and see what's going on.
And my last point, see I made notes
today. Um, I'm with the Oakland
Historical Society and we are doing lots
of programs. We have a new board.
There's a lot of uh programs,
presentations,
things going on. Uh, Saturday we will be
having our membership meeting at the
library downstairs. We would like to
have the public come join us, see what
we're doing, see how you can help. Um,
the town will be celebrating 125 years
next year. We really would like to have
a nice celebration. The society is also
celebrating its 60th year and we're
doing a retrospective to see how the
society has served the town in those 60
years. So that's my plate. Thank you.
>> Thank you, Mr. Duch.
Anybody else?
>> I thought I was done. Okay.
>> Have you say my name again?
>> Yep.
>> Kirk Cotch, 26 Rockies Drive.
Also, the fact I looked up garbage size
cans on uh Google and it says that a
35gallon can is good for a small it's is
considered small and it's good for one
to two people in a household.
Okay. Then it leaves out between 35 and
45. But med medium is 64 to 65 gallon.
And that's considered mid-range or
standard. And it's the option for the
average family. I think we're all
average families here.
>> Not small, maybe large, but maybe not
too large, but you could get another
camp for them if you're large. And then
the large is what you described at last
council meeting where you said that was
a municipal that has a lift and
whatever. They're considering that 95 to
96 gallons. So that statement was to me
wasn't correct
according to this.
Also, you said that you followed the
garbage trucks after or during their uh
pickup.
You ever see their recycling where they
pick up the bottles and the cans when
they dump it and it's full and they're
ready to get that crusher, the
hydraulic, they take the pales that they
just emptied, both of them, and they try
to hold the stuff back into the truck
because the compactor would push it out.
and I actually saw garbage fallen to the
ground. There's bottles in there.
There's glass. And then they went and
picked it up. So, they're talking about
safety when they reach into a pale and
they might get cut. I think there's a
greater chance of them getting cut when
they're picking up the glass from the
street if they pick it all up.
>> Thank you.
» I'm going for
rolling thunder now.
>> You made the effort. Rolling Thunder.
780 Rama Pabelli Road. Andrea Lee, I got
two things. Since we don't have the
second time to come up here and share, I
will share uh from the arts committee.
Just something to get out there. We do
have a concert this Saturday. Yay.
Right. Thank you. Uh from 3 to 8:00 p.m.
So, I I do hope that the community comes
out and to support because really if we
don't get the support from the
community, it's gonna go away. We're not
going to do it anymore. So tell your
friends, tell everybody who's out there.
Come out to Great Oak Park. It's a
fantastic place. We do really nice stuff
there. There's great concerts there. Um
people picnic and have fun and it, you
know, just a nice vibe overall. So I I
encourage you to do that. I also
encourage you to come out to the uh
outdoor market that we hold. It's not
this Saturday, but but we hold them
about two to three times a month. And
again, if we don't get the traffic
coming in from town, we're we're not
going to do it anymore. Um, so if you
guys want it, there has to be support.
>> Can you just talk about what the music
what kind of music's going to be this
weekend?
>> This weekend is um I would call it uh
Grateful Dead, Fish, and Originals.
>> Okay.
>> Yeah. Just
>> fun for everybody. Yeah. I mean, it's we've had from this high to that
high and every age in between and
everybody's walked away having a nice
time. So, and it's really for everybody.
Come on down and check it out. All
right. And the market, come to the
market. All different vendors every
single time, different foods. Um I think
uh Councilwoman Rose was there this
week, although I wasn't. Um, I I just
want to encourage everybody.
>> Put my earrings on. [laughter]
>> Said they have jewelry, too. I mean,
there's really everything there. But, we do need the support of the town
because these people are coming from,
you know, local and abroad. And if
they're not getting the business there,
they're not going to come back. They're
just not going to come back. And so, it
gets more difficult for us to recruit
vendors to our market because we're not
getting foot traffic. The foot traffic
has been really light. And of course, I
mean, listen, the weather has been kind
of crappy. I mean, I I'll say that. Um,
but the reality is we're not getting the
foot traffic. And if we can't get that
to pick up, um, I don't know that we'll
be able to pull it off next year because
they won't come back. People won't come
back because of that. They love it here.
They love the people here. They think
we're friendly. [laughter]
Like, they haven't been in here clearly,
>> you know, and it's a really nice ad to
our town. Um, people from outside the
area come to visit Oakland. That's a
benefit for us. People that come to our
market go to the stores in town and and
they buy gas in town and food and
whatnot, not just at the market. And so,
we need things like this here. You know,
we need to attract people to Oakland.
It's a good thing for us. It's a
positive thing for us. So, I would like
to be able to continue this, but without
the public support, it won't be. I can I
can tell you that right out of the gate.
It it won't be. Um, so, so that's
my spiel. I apologize.
Shut that off. Um, on on that note, um,
we also are looking for volunteers for
the arts committee. Our next meeting is
next Monday, whatever date that is. It's
not my brain.
>> Thank you. um at 7 p.m. at the senior
center. And we are looking for people
who would like to support the market,
who would like to support the concerts
that we do. And if you have something
else to bring to the [clears throat]
table, we welcome that as well. So that
that's my spiel on the arts. I'm going
to talk garbage for a minute. We'll
trash talk for a minute. Um I agree with
everybody here. I think we made some
mistakes. I think we're probably all on
the same page with that. There were
definitely mistakes made. I know you
guys are trying to remedy it, but what I
would like to know is what are you going
to do
to get Pompton to do what they're
supposed to do? What actions are you
going to take to make sure that they're
taking all of the garbage out of the can
and not leaving the last whatever's left
at the bottom? That matters for
something. That absolutely matters.
They're doing a half ass job. Period.
Okay? And we should not accept that. We
need to put our fist down in front of
them and tell them that this is what we
signed up for. This is what we expect
and nothing less. Who is doing that?
That's what I would like to know. I know
you're not going to answer me, but I'm
just telling you right now. I want to
know. I want to hear. I want to see you
guys write an article about what's going
on with the garbage and everything
you're doing to fix it. Okay? It
shouldn't be us trying to fix it. We
need you guys to [clears throat] fix it.
Whatever it takes. Bless you. And I will
close on that. Thank you.
>> Thank you.
[applause]
Follow that purple.
Hi, Mari Soul Kazowski. I'm on Barnard
Drive. Um,
so first of all, I want to actually echo
something that both Elizabeth and Andrea
said. As somebody who's been addicted to
volunteering a lot in our town, all of
our organizations absolutely need
volunteers. Our council members are
layons to a lot of these groups. Um,
they can testify to the fantastic job
that most of these organizations and
groups are doing. I am wearing an
Oakland uh green team t-shirt this
evening. I am no longer a member of the
green team, but if any of you are saying
where did styrofoam go, where did our
volunteers go? because I was out there
alongside with the mayor on many a cold
morning stuffing styrofoam into a tank.
Um, and that's exactly what happens if
we don't have the volunteers step up and
if we don't have the community support,
these things do disappear. Um, I've also
been a member on the arts committee.
They're doing a fantastic job. One of
the things Andrea forgot to mention was
at the Oakland market this year. We'll
be for the first time doing an evening
market in October.
>> Second time.
Sorry. Second time. You
forgot it. I read it wrong. Second time.
Um, and you might see us there because
you're going to be signing up. So, um,
please come out and support it. Um, and
like everyone else who's come up here
speaking about trash and garbage, of
course, I've got to put in my two cents
as well. Um, in my opinion, what we've
been seeing since this new company took
over is a huge variation in consistency
and in good support. Prior to actually
signing this contract, I actually
mentioned that we were going from, as
someone else mentioned, we were went
from five days um of no service a year
to this contract having 17. That is a
what 300% increase for your numbers
people um in less time of service. Okay,
so things like that do matter. They do
matter to us. Most holidays come up
when? Oh, the holidays. Um when we have
a lot of trash and want to get rid of
it. That is important. I brought it up
then prior to the vote. I'm bringing it
up again. Um, what we've seen personally
on my neighborhood, our trash cans are
compliant. They have been compliant. We
didn't get stickered. Our actual
service,
one day the can is half empty, one day
the can is left, one day we have no
problem, one day there's garbage in the
street, one day there's glass in the
street. On two different occasions right
now, we have had broken glass um damage.
And I'm not talking about, oh, they
dropped the can in front of my driveway,
so it's my tires I have to worry about.
I'm talking the whole length of the
street, house after house glass where a
couple of the residents came out. We we
call them the boys and their toys, our
dads in our neighborhood. They came out
with their brooms and they clean up.
Okay. Um because and most of them you
don't see any of them here other than me
because they just do. They all have
little kids. We have a number of very small children, new families. We
adore them in our neighborhood. Um
couple of sets of twins. They're
beautiful kids. They should be able to
play in the street without having to
worry about glass. My kids didn't have
to worry about glass. They shouldn't
have to worry about glass. It's an
inconsistency.
I come right off onto Franklin Avenue
and there have been a couple of mornings
where I have seen more than a mile of
traffic in the other direction behind a
trash truck with these guys not doing a
good job. And then I've seen other ones
that are doing a great job and we do our
due diligence and when I see something
of grievance like the glass, we call the
DPW. We were told here to call the DPW.
I was sitting right here when you guys
said call the DPW. I was sitting right
here when you said they have a weight
issue. You don't want them reaching into
the cans. Most of the times they're
reaching into the cans. Just so you
know, on at least on my neighborhood on
my block, okay? Um I even said something
to one of the gentlemen in the morning.
You know, that's really dangerous,
honey. You should pick put it up from
your back because the kid looked he was
about 20. I'm going to call him honey.
I'm old. He then went said, "No, IT'S
OKAY. I GOT IT." And he just put it in
the in the you know in the truck and
then I looked down and there was still
another bag left. Like you forgot. Okay.
Um, this is what's happening on a
regular basis. We've gone now what, like
three or four weeks at least, maybe a
few more weeks. It's it's been
inconsistent. Okay. And it it does
actually worry me the inconsistency of
it. So, like Andrea, I would like to
know how you're handling it with
Pompton. Is anybody from Pompton talking
to these guys on the trucks? Because,
like I said, I've seen guys doing a
great job. I've seen, you know, as
you're driving around in the morning and
watching them, some of them are doing
fine and then others are not. Okay. Um,
and lastly, I just like to say thank you
because we know that you guys are
working hard. We know it's a hard job.
We know you're trying to do your best.
Okay. But I really do think that
prompting got the best of us. Okay. Have
a great day.
Frank Furbacher, 56 Walton Avenue.
[clears throat]
Uh, good evening and thank you all for
your service to Oakland. I wanted to
comment briefly on the proposed $83,500
police department assessment.
I believe the burrow should be working
collaboratively with our police
department and maintaining a strong,
productive relationship with the
officers who serve our community. I'm
not opposed to an assessment simply
because [clears throat] it's an
assessment. If there are legitimate
operational concerns that need to be
addressed, then we should address them.
But I think residents deserve to
understand what problem we're trying to
solve before we move forward.
What specifically prompted this
assessment?
What has changed since this was brought
before council last month and didn't
receive a motion?
What exactly will the consultant
deliver? Will the findings and
recommendations be made public?
And how does this assessment differ from
the accreditation and review processes
the department already participates in?
As a resident and as someone asking
voters for the opportunity to serve on
this council, I think that's the kind of
information we should expect before
making a decision of this magnitude. If
there's a compelling case for this
assessment, the ask is that you explain
it publicly.
We should be working constructively with
our police department while making sure
taxpayer dollars are spent with a clear
purpose, defined outcomes, and
accountability. Thank you. Thank you.
[applause]
» I just have one quick thing. Sarah
Jensen, Third Street, 73rd Street,
Oakland, and he just stole my thunder. I
don't [laughter] really need to say
anything. [clears throat]
We have an outstanding police department
that we all really appreciate and if
that money is burning a hole in our
pocket, let's use it some way that is
supportive of them.
>> That's all I have to say. Thank you.
[applause]
» Anybody else?
>> Marwell Klosski, Barnard Drive. Again,
um I forgot to tell you about one
situation that happened with the garbage
that is different than everybody else.
And that situation was we had a
pres-scheduled donation prior to the
garbage change for the veterans
association
>> and we put out some bright yellow bags
for donation that were clearly labeled
veterans association donation. Um and we
put veterans association do not take not
garbage on the bags. Garbage guys took
them.
>> Um we then called the DPW as per
directions. The DPW then told us call
the business administrator. At that
point, it was my husband. Those of you
who on the council who know my husband
know he was not happy to get rerouted to
another department.
So, I do apologize if he was a little
hot. Um, but you know, that's again
reading is fundamental and they were
bright yellow [clears throat] bags. They
were not garbage bags. They were
donation bags. So, again, this is
something that we need to clear up with
them and that's it. Thank you.
>> Thank you.
>> Anybody else?
Not seeing anybody. Do I have a motion
to close?
>> Move. Do I have a second? Also,
>> all in favor?
>> Is that Bill?
>> Steve.
>> Oh, Steve.
>> Yep.
>> Okay. All in favor?
>> I.
>> Mr. Cers, you want to take some of those
questions?
>> Uh, well, I'll just give an update from
uh,
you know, from the last meeting. Uh, and one, I know that there's been a lot
of comments here tonight about
individual problems people have had. Um
and and I want to thank you. We did say
contact DPW. A lot of people have been
contacting DPW and and and keep doing
that because the more information that
we have of those deficiencies of when
they miss a bag or there's glass in the
street or anything, uh it provides more
information for us to go back to Pompton
and bring those issues to their
attention so that we can have them
addressed.
There was one commenter that made uh the point that it seems to be spotty. I
think that's the sort of the assessment
that I've seen as well based on a lot of
the comments. Uh certain routes, certain
days are completely fine, no issues.
Other times, well, you missed this or
there was this problem or they didn't
put the lids on. So, it it seems to be,
you know, rather specific to certain
crews on certain days. Um, and I know
Pon Lakes is trying to zero in on that,
too, in terms of their efforts to uh
call it direct and guide their workforce
appropriately. So, um, you know, a a lot
of this stuff clearly just from a
service level perspective is is
unacceptable, right? You have you all
your garbage should be picked up, your
lid should be put back on your can, your
can shouldn't be left in the road, etc.
It's sort of basic stuff. Uh, that's
certainly our expectation. That's the
level of service that they provide. So,
um, if you continue to have those
issues, continue to report them so we
can continue to bring them to Pump and
Lakes's attention, uh, and hold them
accountable for what really the the the
appropriate service level is for this.
Okay. Um, as to the issue with, uh,
collection on uh, Route 202,
uh, they were changing their route. Um,
I've heard on I'm not sure again how
consistent that is, but I have been
hearing that they've been on route 202
earlier than they were a month ago. Uh,
so I'm hopeful that that issue has been addressed. U, but if anybody is
on 202 and they're not experiencing an
early pickup, let us know about that as
well. Uh the yard waste is also
something I know that uh you know people
of course would prefer to have that
earlier in the week when they're you
know there's stuff's there uh from from
the weekend. Uh Pompton Lakes has not
committed yet to making any changes but
they have committed to reassessing it as
we get a few more months into the
contract to see if there's a way uh for
them to adjust their schedule to
accommodate that. Okay. So, um, that's
not something that they've closed the
door on, but I don't have, you know, any
further commitment on that, uh, at this
time. Uh, I'm not sure if there's
anything else you want me to touch on.
» Are we still Go ahead.
>> Go ahead, Steve.
>> Are we still continuing to meet with
Pontton on a monthly basis, weekly
basis, or how many times are we talking
with Pontton about this?
>> Um, I'm referring complaints. I know DPW
is referring complaints. I have regular
conversations with my counterpart over
there. Um, and I think that, you know,
after, uh, next week when I'm back from
vacation, uh, we'll probably
[clears throat] have another in person.
>> Okay.
>> And are there people from Pompton Lakes
DPW following them around, making sure
they're doing what they should be doing?
>> Their supervisor is on the route
regularly. Okay.
>> With the guys. Yes.
>> And I said, but it's still happening.
That's that's the problem is, you know,
we have people following them around,
but we're still having these issues. So,
you know, to me, what what's being
resolved,
>> right?
>> You know, great you're following them
around, but
>> we're not getting anywhere.
>> I do want to bring one thing out and um
understanding there's been some services
against the garbage people. They're not
they could be doing a better job. We're
all in agreement on that and we're
working towards it. There have also been
some cases where our residents have been
a little abusive. So, just all any
complaints, please bring them to us.
Don't engage don't engage with the the
employees directly. We've had some
examples of where uh some of the workers
were had we'll say heated conversations
were approached heatedly right there
their desk they move around they call a
supervisor comes up just if you have any
complaints call us so we can deal with
the supervisors no one should have no
one should be communicating with the
garbage man directly just um you know
we're we're better than that as Oakland
residents
thank you
>> okay we are up to
approval of minutes anybody else council
That's the question. Okay. Approval of
minutes. We got July 14th, 2026.
>> Do I have a motion to approve?
>> So moved.
>> Second. Does anybody have any changes?
>> Not seeing any roll call.
>> Council President Talini?
>> Yes.
>> Councilman Dumpert?
>> Yes.
>> Councilman Eert?
>> Yes.
>> Councilman Pignatelli?
>> Abstain.
>> Councilwoman Rose.
>> Yes.
>> Councilman Zelian.
>> Yes.
>> We have July 14th, 2026 executive
meeting. Approve approval of minutes. Do
have a motion to approve.
>> So moved.
>> Mr. Rose, we have a second.
>> Second.
>> Who's got the second?
>> Bill.
>> Okay. Does anybody have any changes?
>> No.
>> Not seeing any. Roll call.
>> Council President Talini.
>> Yes.
>> Councilman Dumpbert.
>> Yes.
>> Councilman Eert.
>> Yes.
>> Councilman Pignatelli.
>> Abstain.
>> Councilwoman Rose.
>> Yes.
>> Councilman Saliani.
>> Yes.
>> All right. We have the following special
announcements. We have a authorized
social affairs permit for the Elks lodge
number 2167 for a poker night fundraiser
supportive lif raft group on September
24th, 2026 from 6 p.m. to 11 to 12:00
a.m. at at 33 Valley Road. We also have
an authorized raffle license RL1613
for the Indian Hills parent athletic
committee for raffle on October 2nd
202026 and support of the Indian Hills
dance team at Indian Hills High School
located 97 Yo Avenue. And the last one
we have is authorized raffle license
RL1614
for the Reed Foundation for Autism for
Raffle being held on January 12th, 2027
in
January. Okay, I'm just checking the
date. Supportive programs and services
for individuals with autism at 25 Pash
Road, Oakland. Do you have a motion to
approve?
>> So move second. [snorts]
>> All in favor?
>> I.
>> Okay, we're up to the following
resolutions. At this time, I'm going to
pull out resolution 26248,
which is the Aelotti group. Doesn't mean
it's not going to come back again, but
I'm going to pull it out for today.
Okay. Uh if we're going to do this as a
consent agenda, we have 26234 authorized
recreation refunds. 26235 authorized
recre recamp counselor hires. 26236
authorized hire of crossing guards.
26237 authorized hire of SEO three
police officers. 26238
authorized acrru acred time payout for
O'Keeffe. 26239
chapter 159 opioid class settlement
actions.
26240 certify receipt of the 2020 2025
annual audit. 26241 resolution approving
the 2025 annual audit corrective plan
prepared by the CFO in response to the
findings and recommendations in the 2025
audit.
26242 authorized contract to Boswell
Engineering for the drainage
improvements at 39 and 41 Lakeshore
Drive. 26243 safe routes to school
engineering contract amendment. 26244
authorized contract phase 1 and
preliminary assessment for 279 Ramipo
Valley Road. 26245
right-of-way drainage improvements at
144 Manito Avenue. 26246 authorizing
change to title text amount of
appropriations pursuant to NJSA4A
4-85
and 26247 authorize resolution
authorizes return of funds for McManis.
Do I have anybody wish to pull any out?
>> Yeah. Pull out 240 please.
>> 240.
Anybody else?
With the exception of 26 240. Do I have
a motion to approve? So move.
>> Mr. Councilman Tal uh Pnatelli, do you
have a second?
>> Second.
Mr. Eert. Roll call.
>> Council President Talamini.
>> Yes.
>> Councilman Dumpbert.
>> Yes.
>> Councilman Eert.
>> Yes.
>> Councilman Potatelli.
>> Yes.
>> Councilwoman Rose.
>> Yes.
>> Councilman Saliani.
>> Yes.
>> All right. We've got 26240 certified
receipt of 2025 analyt. Mr. Salani. I
just wanted to pull that out to uh call
out what a great job that um our CFO
David Young did along with Bur
Administrator Coons. Um we did review
that in the finance committee meeting.
Supposed to be a pseudo update on the
finance committee. Um audit results were
fantastic and I just wanted to call out
what a great job that uh both of them
did on our with our work last year with
their work last year. Just that simple.
>> Would you like to introduce
>> approve? Sure.
>> Motion.
>> Who's got the second?
>> Second.
>> Miss Rose. Roll call on 26240.
>> Council President Telini,
>> yes.
>> Councilman Dumpert,
>> yes.
>> Councilman Eert,
>> yes.
>> Councilman Pigotelli,
>> yes.
>> Councilwoman Rose,
>> yes.
>> Councilman Saliani,
>> yes.
>> Uh, we have no ordinance, but we do have
a work session, the 2027 calendar. I
know it's been provided to all the
members of the governing body. Uh, this
really needs to get done now because
they also have to print the calendars.
Uh, does anybody I know you've all had a
chance to look at it. Does anybody have
any comments on this at this time?
>> I appreciate it. not falling on my
birthday.
>> That's it. [laughter]
So, everybody's comfortable with this to
move forward. Okay. Very good. Uh, does
everybody have any new business?
>> New business, Mr.
>> Sure. I want to thank Mr. Coons. Uh, I
had contact with him late last week and
early this week about the the cyber
attacks that we've seen around this
country against critical infrastructure
and against the water systems. It is it
is no secret that the water system here
in Oakland is an absolute piece of
critical infrastructure and should it
come down uh would be catastrophic for
our town, our burough, our people and
our visitors. Um so I've asked Mr. Mr.
Coons and others to to kind of pull
together and assess where we are, what
we've done historically and are we
poised to uh defend against such cyber
attacks, including those that are
sponsored by nation states. Uh one of
the things we know about this space is
that uh attacks like this around the
country are often considered boundary
probing activities where tests will be
taken, intelligence will be gathered and
then the more refined plan will come out
of uh the the the boundary probe. So the
adversaries when they take down a water
system like they've done around the
country and they've attacked several in
New Jersey are learning lessons. They're
learning what our defensive posture
looks like. They're learning what our
cyber preparedness is. uh and at the the
local and municipal level. Uh there's a
lot of commentary nationwide that it's
one of the things that is often
overlooked. So I've asked Mr. Coons and
thank you sir for for pulling together
and uh we're going to look into this
deeply and I think it's a a good use of
time, a good use of money uh and we'll
ultimately safeguard the burrow. So I I
look forward to digging into that
further.
>> Anybody else?
>> Uh yeah, there's one thing I wanted to
bring up. Um
>> yes,
>> we have a you know a situation with uh
somebody with the shade tree committee.
Um you know he wants to appeal having to
pay the fine and everything. So I was
going to ask both sides to come to the
next meeting to discuss it.
>> Okay.
>> I just wanted to make sure everybody was
okay with that and
>> Okay.
>> Very good.
>> Anything else? All right. Does anybody
have any old business?
Not seeing any. Uh we're up to committee
liaison reports. Um Mr. We'll start with
you.
>> Oh, thanks, Mayor. Um actually, Andrea,
you basically did my whole report with
the uh [laughter] with the arts. They uh
they did have their their market this
past weekend. It was it was a little
slow, but it still had a good turnout.
Um the next one scheduled for the 22nd.
And then the uh like you said, the the
concert is is this coming weekend, and
it is Steve Leonard with the Funky
Warlocks, and they start at 3:00. Um and
that's that's about it. Like I said, the
only thing I really want to say is is I want to apologize for the garbage
fiasco that's going on. Um, you know, I was a part of that vote and I have to kind of own it. Um,
given the the information that that was
presented to me, I thought it was going
to be a good deal. Um, obviously not,
but I just want you know, we we are
working on it. We are trying to make it
better. And um I mean I take it
personally. So don't think that you that
all your concerns aren't being taken
seriously because they are.
>> Yeah, we all take it. Yeah, we're all
taking it. Like I said, I just want to
apologize to everybody that it it did
not go the way we planned, but we're
trying to make it better.
>> All right. So that's it, Mr. Mayor.
[applause]
» That's all I got.
>> Thank you, Councilwoman.
>> Okay. Thank you. Um
so for the 911 committee um we have a 25
memorial uh service. It's scheduled for
Friday, September 11th at Veterans Park
on refreshments to follow at Pawns
Church and all are welcome to attend and
it should be you know an event that's uh
that definitely people should remember.
Um it's affected all of us and we were
all a part of it um back then. uh shade
tree met. Um the forester had issued 22
permits. Um 57 trees were removed, seven
to be replaced. Hazardous trees. Um you
know, we do have a committee that looks
for hazardous trees in the area. If
anyone sees a tree within the burough
right of way that is deemed hazardous,
um please notify the committee so it can
be addressed. Um there's also a
discussion that was had about the tree
of heaven which is a very invasive tree
that actually attracts the spotted
lantern flies. Um so it is a tree that
people should look to see you know about
trying to contain it especially when
it's small tree not like mine that got
too big. Um anyway, um so anyone
interested in signing up for the adopted
tree program should also email the um
committee. Um this is a program that's
gotten very much uh recognition um and
has been very popular and I happen to
say I love my tree in front of my yard
now. So um and you know we're it's a
great committee. All of our committees
in Oakland are wonderful and we always
could use volunteers. And that's all I
have to say. Thank you, Councilman
Saliani. Oh,
>> real quick from the fire department. Um
the fire department for the month of
July had 29 calls with a total of 184
volunteer hours and um they also
partnered with the junior police for
safety that safety and academy drills
over at the firehouse and then provide
refreshments to the junior police
academy [snorts]
and um and mut mutual aid meeting of 365
hours and so so far for mutual aid of so
far for August they've had 16 calls
So again, that's another group. Um I
every time I talk to Chief Inavilia,
he's always asking, can we please just
looking for volunteers? I know we had in
the last two meetings, we had the Mcder
family join the volunteer fire
department. So anyone who's interested
in helping out, please um consider
joining the volunteer fire department.
They are uh Monday nights. They drill
every Monday night at 7:30 on Yapo
Drive. Please go in, introduce yourself
if you're interested. For recreation, um
there's there was not a recreation
meeting this month. Just want to say a
quick thank you. Uh our rec summer camp
has officially is officially done and uh
it was a very successful camp for the
summer. So it was a great job by
everybody. Uh we'd like to thank the
camp staff who helped out uh and make it
season possible for the local families.
Also want to recognize the camp director
Emily Swansonsky who will be stepping
down this year for her years of
leadership and dedication to Ryan Rec
camp. Truly appreciate what she's done
for campers and families and towns
people over the last couple years. That
was the direct quote from the uh rec
chair uh Megan Ratundo. And then for the
OC,
another group looking for volunteers. Uh
OC volunteers are needed for the tele
for the telecom, the television,
bulletin board, and welcome welcome
website social media committees. If
you're interested in volunteering,
please email occ.gov
and fill out a volunteer form. Um, as a
reminder, uh, the OC can be seen on
Oakland TV channel 77 and be watched
24/7 via the Oakland TV app in both
Android and Apple devices. Just go to
your local store to see that.
And then the Oakland and then the um,
Friends of the Oakland Communications
Commission is still looking for we'll be
having their first fundraising event in
Oakland. And if you have time and
interest, please email info at friendsof
at friendsofoc.org.
And please consider following social
media accounts and signing up for the
quarterly newsletter, Voices of Oakland
Communications with their quarterly
newsletter and to lean and to learn
what's going on. The next the next um
Friends of Oakland Committee meeting is
September 30th at 6 PM and the next OC
meeting will be September 14th right
here in council chambers. And just to
piggy back off what uh Councilman
Holland said, we everyone on this board
was trying to do the best thing
possible. We understand there's some
hiccups and there's going to be
continued conversations going. Is it
going to be the exact same service? I I
don't know, but we're going to do our
best to get to where it was. And please
hold us accountable and keep coming to
meetings and having these conversations.
>> Thank you, Councilman Dumpert.
>> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. U most meaningful
updates from DPW. The fields in town,
the recreck fields are being restriped
to support the fall football. So, that
is an indication that summer is coming
to an end. I'm sorry to be the bear of
bad news. Uh the road resurfacing, Mr.
Mayor, as you indicated, is is well
underway with uh with the
worst condition streets being tackled
first. That's one of the things before I
assumed this uh position I wasn't aware
of, but there's a rank order uh for the
general public's edification. There's a rank order of streets in town
and they're assessed throughout the year
and those that are in the poorest
condition are the ones that get
resurfaced first. Are there streets that
need resurfacing that don't get
resurfaced? Yes, probably. Um, but the
worst streets in Oakland get tackled
first and so we exhaust the funds for
the resurfacing program. So, that was
helpful. Uh, and I wanted to pass that
along. Uh, while they're doing this
work, uh, while they're doing the
concrete work around the storm drains,
around the curbs, uh, they're also
testing for leaks so that there's no
hidden leaks, which would require them
to open the streets up again uh, after
it's paved. So, they are the DPW is
doing uh, the proper steps. It may take
a a second or two longer to pave the
streets as a result of those types of
studies, but it is an exercise of due
diligence. The last thing we want to do
is freshly repave and then have to
reopen because there are unexpected or
unidentified leaks. Um, and then the
last thing is uh they're actively
filling the potholes that were that that
still uh ravage our town. There's an
ongoing list of potholes that need to be
addressed. If you see them, if you hit
them,
please notify DPW. We'll put it on the
list. We'll get to it as soon as
possible. The more eyes and ears we have
out in the community reporting these
things back to us, the better, the
quicker, and the faster we can address
them. Thank you, Mr. Mayor.
>> Councilman Potatelli.
>> Thank you, Mayor.
I have to echo what Councilman Iser
said. Initially looking at the garbage
uh uh
contract with Pumpton Lakes, we knew
couple of things weren't going to be the
same. Uh we thought in the long run that
um the savings would be beneficial to
the burrow. Uh would also allow us to
comply with some of the 2% cap law that
we have on on expenditures.
I've been in town for 52 years. I've had
with Roselli, my garbage can taken, my
garbage can lid taken, garbage not taken
completely, uh recycling not taken
completely. I had a border fence that I
take out when they cut the lawn. They took that. I've had to replace it.
No, Roselli. Not the new people, the old
people. Okay. So, they're not completely
liy white and clean either. I can tell
you that. I don't complain about every
little thing, but there were complaints
I had about them, too.
The thing that really, really hurts me
the most
is that people have said they're going
to do things to the garbage to hurt the
[clears throat] garbage man.
These are people out there making a
living, okay?
and you're going to do something to the
garbage so that the garbage man gets
hurt. That's atrocious.
And let me tell you something, who's
ever done that? You better be careful
what you're doing. Some things like that
break the law. But for for residents who
do that,
post slurs against people on the
council, slurs against their spouse,
that that because of garbage, you're
going to do that, harm people, cast
dispersions against our family members.
We didn't do this to make your life
miserable. We didn't. We thought we were
doing the right thing.
I believe we will address them. We might
not correct every one of them, but I'm
sure we will address it. We're just
trying to
make our finances a little bit easier to
bear. Look, you go to the store, prices
are up four, five, 6, 10%.
Some of the garbage contracts were 39%
higher
than what we are paying now. So, please,
you want to come and and holler at me
for voting at it, please do. Don't do
something to hurt these poor people
trying to make a living. It's atrocious
that they did that. That's not what
Oakland residents represent. And please
don't do that. That's just beyond
acceptability to me. I'm sorry. I
apologize for getting upset about that,
but I just can't see people getting
harmed for trying to do their job.
From the uh senior center, um our new Tech Tuesday clinic saw such a
positive response that we're now
offering it every Tuesday from 1 to 3
p.m. Meet with a volunteer to get help
with your technology. I'd probably take
every minute that guy's got to offer
over there.
such as phones, laptops, and tablets.
Please make an appointment with the
senior center by calling 2011 4057731.
There's still opport still time
[clears throat] to RSVP for our hot dog
days of summer on Thursday, August 20th
at 12 p.m. The cost is $5 and can be
paid by cash or check. RSVP can be made
at the senior center.
We will be hosting a presentation on
Betsy [clears throat] Ross as part of
our America 250 programming on Thursday,
September 3rd at 1 PM. There is no fee,
but we do ask for your RSVP. Light
refreshments will be served. If you have
any questions, you can call the center.
Thank you very much, Mayor. Thank you,
>> Councilman Vicatelli. I just want to
talk about this serious
issue that you brought forward.
Two weeks ago, I was contacted by the
Ponttokes mayor
about the fact that their employees are
big threat. It rose to the point where
we had to call in the Oakland police and
have conversation with the B
administrator, myself, members of
governing body and the mayor of Pton
Lakes and the UPW.
Oakland's better than that. You can yell
at us till you blew in the face. Do not
make threats against any employee that's
trying to do the best they can.
I think you can bring us home.
>> Yeah. Hi. Uh just the green team. They didn't meet this month, but uh
really the green team. I was so happy
when I saw your your shirt. The green
team is an amazing group of people. They
do so much. Please uh volunteer. We
always need help. there. Uh um and in
fact uh we decided that uh uh when the
weather permitting, we're going to meet
in the in the community garden from now
on because uh we might as well get the
use out of it. It's there. It's really nice. Um so weather
permitting, we'll be meeting in the in the community garden. Um they just do so much. It's a it's a a
great a great organization. um uh the garbage. Look um um
we're like like everyone said, we're we're trying to to to do our best.
Um $1.4 million. I don't know. That's a
lot of money. I you could come up here,
you could tell me it it's it's
[clears throat] nothing. I If you got
$1.4 million, I'll take it. Um if you sitting up here can can save the
town $1.4 4 million and doesn't do it,
they don't belong up here. $1.4 million.
And that's just this contract. Going
forward, we're going to it's going to
we're going to save more because because
the increase won't be on on on the on
the higher contract. We'll save more
money. Do are they doing the the best
job in the world? No, they're not doing
the best job in the world. They're going
to do the job that they can do. Um can
it be better? Sure, it can be better.
Um, we'll make sure that that Compton
stays on on on their tail. We'll be on
their tail making sure that they do it.
I don't know. My garbage cans when I
come home I and I I don't even want When
I come home, my garbage cans are like
soldiers. I I can't believe how good my my garbage cans. I'm embarrassed by what by what everybody by by what
everybody's saying. And I it's it's it's
amazing how nice my garbage they've
never been that that that good. Um, and
these are all just anecdotal things. You
know, everybody's got good ones, bad
ones. Um,
there's going to be a a transitional
process. Um, to to me, it it it brings
it's it's like diapers. When when I when
I started wi with uh with with my
family, uh, we we we had pampers. We had
to have pampers for my first kid. God
forbid you've had any other bit you you
know I'd call you a bad person a bad
parent that that you wanted something
other than pampers. Um the second kid
comes around. You know what? We got to
save some money. Uh Pampers is a lot of
money. Let's try the storeboard once. We
tried the storeboard once. Were they as
good as Pampers? Maybe not. You know,
couple couple accidents here, a couple
accidents there. I got a rug that's
still complaining about the the accident
that we had. But but okay, we got
through it. But now we save we saved the
money on the diapers. Now by the time we
get to the third kid, all right, we're
still diapers, diapers, diapers.
Finally. Okay, we're out of diapers. Oh,
look, I'm going to save so much money.
I'm not paying for diapers. I wish I was
paying for diapers. I'm I'm I'm now I'm
paying for college. And because because
I saved the money on the diapers back
then, I could pay for the college. It it helps. And it's that's the whole
thing. You can't and you can't come to
the to to the meetings and and complain
that that the taxes are high, but then
when we save on on the other end, you
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
$1.4 million. If if you can get us $1.4
million, we'll take it. We'll take it.
$1.4 million just on this one contract.
All right. It's It's a lot of money. You
could you could you could poo poo it all
you want. Uh but but it's a lot of
money. And and to say that it's not is ridiculous. And and and like I said,
if if you have a chance to save the town
$1.4 million and you don't do it, you
don't belong up here.
>> Thank you. That's it.
>> All right. We are up to bills to be
paid. Councilwoman,
>> yes. Bills to be paid is $829,541.77.
So moved.
>> Do I second Mr. Sy? Any discussion?
>> Not seeing any. Roll call.
>> Council President Talamini.
>> Yes.
>> Councilman Dunbert.
>> Yes.
>> Councilman Eert.
>> Yes.
>> Councilman Pignatelli.
>> Yes.
>> Councilwoman Rose.
>> Yes.
>> Councilman Saliani.
>> Yes.
>> Do we have a motion to adjurnn? [cough]
>> So moved. Council
>> Pnatelli. Do you have a second?
>> Second. Councilman Rose.
>> All in favor?
>> I
>> All right. The next pro council meeting
will be held on Tuesday, September 8th
at 7 p.m. here at the council chamber.
Thank you everybody. Have a good night.
Meeting a journ.