[0:13] Okay.
[0:13] Good evening everybody. I'm going to call the public session
[0:17] of the Meeting to order.
[0:18] Meeting was called to order at about six 50 in closed
[0:22] session to discuss litigation and affordable housing.
[0:25] I'll just restate the Open Public Meetings Act.
[0:29] Notice of this meeting was published in the official
[0:31] newspapers and prominently posted in Borough Hall
[0:33] and filed with the municipal clerk in
[0:35] accordance with the requirements.
[0:37] The Open Public Meetings Act.
[0:39] We'll do the Pledge of Allegiance. Council, president Kelly
[0:43] Pledge Allegiance To the flag
[0:45] of the United States of America,
[0:48] and to the Republic for which it stands,
[0:50] one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty
[0:54] and justice for all.
[0:59] Thank you. May we have a roll call, please.
[1:00] Laura Air Close. Here.
[1:02] Mr. Kelly? Here. Mr. Tassian? Here. Mr. Kern? Here. Mr.
[1:06] Olo? Here. Ms. Sarah? Here. Mr. Banfield here.
[1:10] Okay. Presentation.
[1:12] I'd like to invite up is Lillian sch Berg. Here. Mr.
[1:15] Come on up and talk to us about your gold project.
[1:25] Hello and good evening. My name's Lillian Sch Berg.
[1:28] I'm 16 and I'm going
[1:30] to be a junior at Riverdale High School.
[1:33] To give you a better idea of who I am, I'm the president
[1:37] of the Robotics Club.
[1:38] I do girls varsity.
[1:40] I'm on the girls varsity team for golf,
[1:44] and I've been a Girl scout for roughly eight years.
[1:47] I've been a member of Troop 9 69 50.
[1:50] Since moving to Orell almost five years ago,
[1:53] I'm working towards earning my gold award,
[1:56] which is the most prestigious honor one can
[1:58] achieve as a Girl scout.
[2:01] As some of you may know, the Girl Scout Award requires over
[2:04] 100 hours of time and dedication to a specific issue.
[2:07] I seen my community after much deliberation.
[2:10] I decided to focus on period poverty.
[2:12] Here in oral period, poverty is a term to describe
[2:17] the inability for one to afford menstruation products
[2:20] as access to hygiene facilities
[2:23] or receive an education on menstrual health.
[2:26] A couple weeks ago, I walked around town to
[2:29] investigate oral's, public restrooms, including Deepak
[2:32] Memorial Park and the Oral public library.
[2:35] I noticed that all the restrooms were clean and well kept,
[2:39] but they did not have pads or tampons.
[2:42] The question I would like to answer by the end
[2:43] of my project is if toilet paper is free in public
[2:47] restrooms, why aren't menstrual products?
[2:51] When our residents begin their periods in public spaces,
[2:54] some have no choice
[2:56] but to go home to get the products they need.
[2:59] Many of our re residents, including myself, want
[3:02] to use public spaces without having to cut our visit short.
[3:07] Half of our residents menstruate,
[3:09] but our public spaces do not recognize it.
[3:11] It comes down to whether we want to provide for everyone
[3:14] or be dis discriminatory.
[3:17] Our residents shouldn't be restricted from
[3:19] comfort and inclusivity.
[3:22] One of my goals for my project is
[3:24] to install free menstrual product dispensers in
[3:26] oral public restrooms.
[3:28] I understand that money is a question
[3:30] and that is why I would like to talk to my town council
[3:33] and approach in a solution.
[3:35] From there, we can decide if raising money would be best.
[3:39] I, I propose installing these dispensers
[3:42] with the help of Ant Flow.
[3:44] Ant Flow is a company dedicated to making
[3:47] period products freely accessible in all public restrooms.
[3:51] Ant flow has been, has already reached universities,
[3:56] airports, libraries, and government offices.
[4:00] I, I am eager to see ant flow reach ell soon.
[4:05] Now I'm only in the early stages of my project
[4:08] and the real work will not, will not begin until I receive
[4:11] approval from you and the Girl Scout Committee.
[4:15] Your approval would mean the world to me
[4:17] and so many others here in town.
[4:19] It would also allow me to proceed with my project.
[4:23] I would like to thank Ms. Leon for
[4:26] putting me on the agenda night.
[4:27] I would also like to thank my mayor
[4:29] and town council for your time
[4:31] and consideration. Thank you.
[4:33] Thank you very much. Lillian,
[4:34] does anybody have any questions?
[4:37] No, I just, I just wanted
[4:38] to say it's a very worthy project
[4:40] and I think particularly as girls are growing up, it's nice
[4:43] to know that there's someplace in a bathroom
[4:45] where they could get what they would need if they needed to.
[4:48] And so thank you for thinking of the project. Of course.
[4:53] Everybody's good. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Alright.
[4:55] Good luck with your project. Thank you. Good luck.
[4:57] Thank you so much. I look Forward to working with you.
[5:05] Okay,
[5:10] next, under discussion,
[5:12] who's handling the calendar discussion?
[5:15] I am decisive. I like it.
[5:19] Short and sweet. So as everyone is aware, we publish
[5:25] print a calendar every year, which we spend a lot
[5:28] of time putting together.
[5:31] And we know that there's a lot of value for the residents.
[5:35] And I think one of the things we'd like to offer,
[5:39] and I say this on the record,
[5:40] that the printed calendar is not going away,
[5:44] but we're trying to be smart about recycling
[5:47] and resources and whatnot.
[5:49] So in the age of digital, we would like
[5:52] to do an opt-in process this year rather than mailing 3000
[5:56] plus calendars, not knowing the usage of every household,
[6:01] but knowing that, let's just say 50% use it,
[6:05] but the calendar would be val available
[6:08] electronically on the website.
[6:09] Other mediums that people could access if they wanted
[6:12] it digitally.
[6:14] So one of the things I'm proposing to the council for us
[6:17] to consider is everyone by
[6:21] by de facto would get a calendar
[6:24] unless they reached out to us
[6:27] and said at care not to get one this year type thing.
[6:30] We'll still have 'em available in the senior center.
[6:32] They'll still be available in the borough offices, you know,
[6:36] DPW police, et cetera.
[6:38] So we're just trying
[6:40] to be a little bit more environmentally friendly
[6:42] and maybe save a few dollars,
[6:45] but also give the option for people
[6:46] because now everyone uses a tablet.
[6:48] But I still use the calendar. It sits on my refrigerator.
[6:51] I like having a physical calendar,
[6:53] but we know some people don't.
[6:55] So I just wanted to put it out there.
[6:57] It looks like I did kind of since 2023,
[7:00] the printing alone increases on average 8% a year.
[7:04] And that's not even including the postage,
[7:06] which is like about a thousand dollars to go to all three,
[7:09] you know, all $3,000.
[7:12] Did I cover all that correctly? Good.
[7:14] So just for consideration, I would like to get ahead
[7:18] of this sooner rather than later
[7:20] and if the council has any feedback, certainly if any of
[7:24] of you here tonight have feedback
[7:26] or anyone viewing from home, again,
[7:29] the calendar is not going away.
[7:31] The physical calendar, we will still be able to mail it
[7:34] to all the residences who are residents who would want it.
[7:38] But we're just trying to be a little bit more
[7:39] environmentally friendly.
[7:41] So just that's for consideration.
[7:43] We would probably have to start the opt in
[7:45] or opt out process, whatever we decide shortly
[7:48] after Labor Day, because we wanna obviously try
[7:50] to get the calendar out in January rather than later.
[7:54] How are you planning to outreach to the public?
[7:58] So we will, we're gonna work with the seniors
[8:01] senior committee Tom.
[8:03] We're gonna obviously do it social media,
[8:05] we're gonna post it on the website.
[8:06] We'll, you know, kind of do reminders at different meetings
[8:11] and kind of be a little bit more progressive and electronic.
[8:15] Send out email. Like we have obviously
[8:17] a list for the seniors.
[8:18] We have other lists just really communicated out to any
[8:21] of the distribution that we have.
[8:23] So the database will be kept on our records, correct?
[8:27] Correct. But the other thing Maggie, is, is people can go
[8:31] to the Borough website
[8:32] and there's a question there that they can, you know,
[8:35] opt in, opt out type thing. Okay.
[8:37] Alright. The other thing I wondered is last year
[8:39] unfortunately the OPTV was left off the calendar
[8:42] for the first time in my memory
[8:44] and I wanted to be sure that
[8:45] with all the awards they've been wi winning
[8:48] and with the incredible ability they have
[8:51] to give information to our public and keep us informed.
[8:54] I wanted to be sure that they were on the calendar this year
[8:57] and that that oversight was corrected.
[9:00] Yeah, I mean so that's an editorial and I agree with you
[9:03] and you and I spoke about that.
[9:04] This is just distribution.
[9:06] No, no, I understand. But since you brought up
[9:08] the calendar, no, understood.
[9:09] I just remembered last year being astonished that
[9:11] for the first time in decades they weren't a part of it.
[9:15] Yep. I have a question.
[9:18] Will this be integrated with the Borough calendar
[9:21] that's on the website?
[9:22] So it would be like the printed calendar, except
[9:26] that would be updated on the website so you could
[9:28] Yeah, that's a great question Dave.
[9:29] Because we're moving to that new platform for the website,
[9:33] there'd be some integration from an editorial
[9:35] Standpoint.
[9:36] Good. So you wouldn't have to look two places. Correct.
[9:37] Good. Well that, that's an improvement. Yep.
[9:40] And we, you haven't decided you're looking for input,
[9:43] whether it's an opt-in or opt out for the printed
[9:45] Version.
[9:46] Right. I mean, you know, negative consent is always easier
[9:48] because everyone will get the calendar
[9:50] unless you say I don't want it.
[9:52] Right. We just never wanna make the assumption
[9:54] that you don't want the calendar.
[9:57] Thank you. Yep. So just based on that last statement,
[10:01] I thought it was gonna be, and you can opt in.
[10:04] I think we need, we should just decide what's the easier,
[10:07] now that I say that I actually think opt out,
[10:10] Everybody's gonna get it, then you're not.
[10:13] So here's what I was, my suggestion was Sure.
[10:15] I like the negative option.
[10:16] If you'd like it correct, you let us know. Yep.
[10:19] If you want it. But I also think
[10:21] If we don't hear from you, It's
[10:23] gonna be online. Correct.
[10:24] Or you can, but here's The other option.
[10:26] I think there should be a third box.
[10:28] I will pick one up at the borough hall.
[10:30] That's fair. Okay. We could do that this way.
[10:32] It would save us mailing.
[10:34] But somebody could still pick up a hard copy. Correct.
[10:37] Roger, I'm sorry, you're talking away from your mic
[10:40] and I'm having a lot of trouble hearing you.
[10:41] No problem. So you Wanted to opt in or opt out?
[10:44] I want people to opt in. Okay.
[10:46] If they want it with the, another checkbox
[10:50] that says I'll pick one up at town hall, save us postage
[10:54] because we're not gonna print 3000 anymore.
[10:56] Correct. The goal would be maybe print a thousand. Okay.
[11:01] And so that this way there's, you know,
[11:03] a box in availability here.
[11:05] I mean that's a significant savings of tax dollars. So
[11:13] I agree with that.
[11:14] Yeah. If there, if there's a box
[11:15] here, if I do nothing, nothing.
[11:16] I don't get one. But I'm come down here and pick one up.
[11:19] Okay. I would agree. Yeah, I think that's prudent. Good.
[11:21] Alright. So Just a question I have about
[11:25] what we think people value most about the calendar.
[11:28] Do you think they value most reading about the different
[11:31] departments and other things we described?
[11:33] Or do you think they like to know
[11:35] when things are happening in
[11:37] town that they should know about?
[11:41] When things are happening? Yeah, when things happen.
[11:42] Oh yeah, I, I agree. Is it garbage
[11:45] Recycling or garbage? Garbage
[11:46] Shoveling The same copy is like year after year.
[11:49] Correct. Right. When we talk about the fire department,
[11:52] the police department, the this
[11:53] or that, I mean stuff probably hasn't been edited in years.
[11:56] It's just the same copy. I
[11:57] Think that same damn picture where
[11:58] where put the snow. So,
[12:00] So, so Jim, I think it's phone numbers,
[12:02] like easy access information when recycling, when garbage,
[12:07] you know when Borough Hall is closed like right.
[12:10] So I very supportive. I think it's all a great idea.
[12:13] I think there's some things we already have at our
[12:15] fingertips that we may just need
[12:17] to communicate better to people. Like the
[12:19] Recycled coat.
[12:20] I'm sorry Jim, you're doing the same thing.
[12:21] You're talking completely
[12:22] to the left and I'm not quite here.
[12:23] Well I'm trying to look at who I'm talking to. That's
[12:25] Okay.
[12:26] Can you put your mic in front of you somehow? Thank you.
[12:29] I apologize, I'm just not
[12:30] Hearing you.
[12:31] I think that we should better educate folks on some
[12:35] of the stuff we have that already does this for you.
[12:38] If you want to put Recycle Coach as an app on your phone,
[12:42] you can set it up where you're getting reminders
[12:44] that tomorrow is commingled.
[12:46] Next Wednesday is this No, no tomorrow. Trash pickup. Yeah.
[12:49] Don't say that Somebody's awake. Yeah.
[12:55] But that's as far as the sanitation and recycling goes.
[12:57] Right? Yeah. There are other things where,
[12:59] and I know we're looking at our website currently
[13:02] and the provider where you can also sign up for the app.
[13:05] Englewood has an app where I think Ridgewood has it too,
[13:08] where different community activities,
[13:10] you'll automatically get that, that badge
[13:12] or that that thing scrolling up on your phone saying Hey,
[13:16] tonight's concert at Memorial Field at 7:00 PM or whatever.
[13:19] And I think that may be most useful to people
[13:22] because they wanna know what's going on
[13:24] or when they can go see
[13:26] what it is they're looking forward to seeing.
[13:29] So I think as we think about how
[13:31] to perhaps reduce our paper footprint on the calendar,
[13:35] maybe we can move this discussion,
[13:39] move the chains even further, not so much for next season,
[13:42] but look at it in a way that it's forward thinking on
[13:46] how we can maybe do some things with some
[13:47] of the technology we currently have
[13:49] that better communicates.
[13:50] Just tells people when things are going on. Right.
[13:52] Instead of them having to go look for it. Agreed.
[13:56] In addition, one thing I like
[13:57] to look at the calendar for is the artwork.
[13:59] I think it's really charming to see the,
[14:02] the students work.
[14:06] So on that note, we, we took a leave of that last year
[14:11] 'cause the participation had kind
[14:13] of dwindled in the prior two years or so.
[14:16] It was hard to get as many drawings
[14:21] and it made it hard to even fill it.
[14:23] So I think we went back to the photography of
[14:26] around town this past calendar.
[14:29] So I would definitely need to know that direction like now
[14:33] because we usually send that memo out to the school
[14:36] and then we usually get the deadlines around Thanksgiving
[14:40] to get the artwork back.
[14:42] So I don't know if that's something you wanna revisit
[14:44] or you'd prefer the, the photographs that we've done.
[14:50] I, I obviously haven't been looking
[14:51] as carefully at the calendar as I thought I was. No, we
[14:54] Did, it Was just, it was just this past year
[14:56] we went back to photographs.
[14:57] We had been doing for many, many years the artwork,
[14:59] but it really had dwindled the participation
[15:03] to fill the 11 or 12. So
[15:06] Actually because you are the OPS liaison
[15:09] in school liaison, yes.
[15:11] Maybe we could coordinate and reach out to Dr.
[15:15] Borough and Dr. Bozos about doing something in short order.
[15:19] I'd be happy to do that obviously. Yeah.
[15:21] Time timeframe is short. We can, we can talk about that.
[15:24] Failing that Sam Trips has certainly has come up
[15:28] with some remarkable historic photographs
[15:30] and we consider using some of those and we've
[15:33] Done that in the past years
[15:34] before we migrated
[15:35] to the artwork we had done notable residence,
[15:38] we had done historical photos.
[15:41] We, so he's,
[15:42] the historical committee's been very helpful back in the past.
[15:46] I think I even have a list of about 10 years worth of themes
[15:49] that we had picked somewhere I could pull out,
[15:52] I'll reach out to the schools.
[15:56] When do you normally send that request to them
[15:58] or at the beginning of
[15:59] The year?
[16:00] I usually send them like right at the beginning of school.
[16:01] I send them a letter explaining the whole, usually
[16:04] with the theme, 'cause a theme has to be picked because
[16:08] otherwise you get a whole lot of different drawings
[16:12] and they wouldn't be cohesive in the calendar.
[16:14] Right. And then we usually check in throughout the fall
[16:18] to see how the submissions are coming.
[16:19] We'll do like a gentle reminder and then right
[16:23] before Thanksgiving is usually when they would be picked up
[16:26] or brought over from.
[16:29] And then at one point we had the council kind
[16:32] of judging them 'cause we were trying to get a full spectrum
[16:34] of submissions from each grade
[16:37] and that was what was becoming difficult as well
[16:40] of getting enough submissions from each
[16:42] grade to be represented.
[16:44] But that's roughly around the timeframe so
[16:46] that we had a full month to go through
[16:49] and select to get to the printer.
[16:51] Okay. Yeah. But all of that can be changed.
[16:54] Okay. Thank you. Anything further on the
[16:57] calendar? Ted? You got what you need?
[17:01] I did. Thank you. Okay.
[17:04] Next proposed honorary naming ordinance draft.
[17:10] Everybody have a chance to take a look at
[17:12] what the ordinance committee's been working on?
[17:14] Which they, they would eagerly like us to take
[17:16] to a vote next meeting since
[17:21] I'm the guy that's been holding this up.
[17:22] 'cause I didn't review it until recently.
[17:24] I guess I'll start with a few.
[17:27] I know what we're trying to do here.
[17:30] I'm very sensitive about putting us in a negative light
[17:33] where somebody says I wanna do something to honor somebody
[17:37] and recognize somebody.
[17:38] And we find that that's not appropriate.
[17:42] That's not good news to receive. Right?
[17:44] You think you got somebody in such a high esteem
[17:46] that you've gone around, you've collected a few things
[17:49] and we say, well we don't think that fits the criteria
[17:52] or it's not at the level of the criteria
[17:54] that we think it should be.
[17:57] It would concern me that we would be telling people no if
[18:00] that's what we felt as a group.
[18:02] Right. The second thing is this almost looks like a menu
[18:05] of something I can choose.
[18:06] The whole Cona thing is concerning to me
[18:10] because while I know this has been done at a few select
[18:13] places, I can think of maybe two three maximum.
[18:19] What's to stop this from popping up all over town?
[18:22] And then do people get confused?
[18:25] Because I know in New Milford they have something similar
[18:29] and they reference the street the way
[18:31] they want to reference it.
[18:33] Like K clover's corner, right?
[18:37] I'm on Clover's corner
[18:38] or whatever versus six 13 Orde Avenue.
[18:41] Right. So does the Cona create confusion?
[18:46] And again, I know you've put criteria in here that kind
[18:50] of outlays generally and you can't get too specific.
[18:53] You have to be general about what we think may qualify
[18:56] for somebody to be considered.
[18:59] We're asking for 30
[19:01] or 25 people to sign a petition
[19:04] to say we feel this is worthy of consideration.
[19:07] We have over 8,000 residents in town.
[19:10] I mean having a street named like look around, right?
[19:14] We got mayors, slain soldiers in battle astronauts,
[19:19] astronauts, there's, there's very significant things
[19:22] that decisions have been made throughout time
[19:25] to recognize people in a way.
[19:28] And, and I think we do need something
[19:30] to handle that process.
[19:31] 'cause it shouldn't be flying by the seat of our pants
[19:34] and whatever group of us is up here at
[19:36] that given time makes it decision one way versus another.
[19:41] But I'll relate this to something I dealt with
[19:46] at work, which is like the naming of benches and,
[19:49] and dedicating trees.
[19:52] So what happens when something breaks
[19:56] and the instance of a bench or a tree dies?
[19:59] Are we obligated to replace that?
[20:02] I know we talk about the fact
[20:03] that there's some language in here
[20:06] that says there's a limitation on it,
[20:08] but are we really gonna take an honorary naming off the
[20:12] street sign poll after 25 years?
[20:13] Who's tracking that?
[20:17] So I think there's difference between honorary naming
[20:20] and sponsorships
[20:21] or somebody says, Hey, I want to donate a bench
[20:23] or I wanna donate a tree.
[20:25] I think we can all talk about
[20:26] that in the same kind of a thing.
[20:29] And, and I'm not saying that this is bad work product
[20:33] that's, don't take this the wrong way, please.
[20:35] I'm looking at the ordinance committee.
[20:36] I know you guys have had this for quite some time.
[20:40] I think that we need to bake this thing a little bit more.
[20:44] And I think that the council should really, as a whole,
[20:48] should provide you comments back on.
[20:50] I'll certainly do it on, on my point.
[20:53] But you know, we say things like multiple code namings
[20:57] of the same street corner is discouraged.
[21:00] We just say it's not allowed. Right, right.
[21:02] Once a street corner has been done
[21:03] or a street's been named, we're not taking
[21:05] that person's name off the thing.
[21:08] I thought it was great to see that somebody needed
[21:10] to be deceased for this to happen so
[21:12] that we don't name something
[21:13] after somebody, then all
[21:14] of a sudden they do something stupid
[21:16] and we've got this thing named
[21:17] after them that we have to go take down.
[21:19] Right. That's happened before. Not nor to thankfully.
[21:24] But Yeah,
[21:28] those are just some of my initial takes on
[21:32] having some experience with this and,
[21:34] and reading what we put together there.
[21:37] The one thing I wanted to say was I didn't see anything in
[21:40] here and maybe I just, I didn't look at it.
[21:42] That allows the council to act as of right
[21:45] outside of this process.
[21:47] Like what if we decides or, or,
[21:49] or we discuss amongst ourselves something that we should do
[21:53] for somebody, but nobody's come forward
[21:56] with a signed petition with
[21:58] however many names and a proposal.
[22:00] Are we not allowed to do that?
[22:02] Or do we have to go through that process? I think
[22:04] Ourselves, I'm
[22:05] Thinking point E, unless I think you they are capturing
[22:09] that there, I have some of the same kind of comments,
[22:12] but the Borough council may also in its discretion grant,
[22:15] the naming where the proponent sets forth the rationale,
[22:17] which not exactly.
[22:19] Yeah. So it's not, that sounds like it's giving
[22:21] the council some
[22:22] Discretion. I'm sorry, Tom, where
[22:24] Could you point E It looks like point
[22:27] Yeah, page two.
[22:28] Yeah. To the mayor's point. But
[22:31] So mayor, I wanna address some of these concerns.
[22:33] So I think the ordinance,
[22:35] and we discussed this in the committee for a long time, is
[22:40] that it really gives one a driving mechanism for streets
[22:43] to be named in this honorary process
[22:45] that we didn't have before.
[22:47] That's the first thing. The second thing is, at the end
[22:50] of the day, it is, you know, boiled down to, to everything
[22:54] at the mayor and council's discretion.
[22:56] So we have until, if somebody comes up with a propo,
[22:59] a petition proposal
[23:02] Brings it forth.
[23:03] We have until I think the end of November,
[23:05] November 30th to vote on that.
[23:07] So at the end of the day, we could not vote on it.
[23:09] We could, you know, if it's in somebody who's in famous
[23:13] or somebody who we just, you know, don't want
[23:15] to put on a particular, you know,
[23:18] sign at this particular time.
[23:21] You know, we have the right as mayor
[23:23] and council to vote that down at the November 30th deadline.
[23:27] So there is a mechanism for that as well.
[23:29] But all in all, you know, it's just one driver
[23:33] that we didn't have before to, to place on our ordinance.
[23:40] Well there is one way to help alleviate some
[23:44] of the mayor's concerns would be if they came to the mayor
[23:48] and council first and took a temperature of the mayor
[23:52] and council before they went out to get a petition.
[23:56] So it's almost like, let's gauge it
[24:00] and then if there is an interest and the mayor
[24:03] and council think that there's opportunity,
[24:06] then you can go out and get the petition.
[24:08] Right, Of course. So,
[24:10] but it's kind of changing the process a little bit. Right?
[24:14] I don't know, Roger, that sort of makes the mayor
[24:16] and council very de they make all the decisions.
[24:21] I I like the idea of the petition
[24:23] because it comes from the public
[24:24] and this is, this was an ordinance
[24:26] that we talked about a lot.
[24:28] We talked about it several months ago
[24:30] and it was in response to the public requesting a method
[24:34] and a procedure and the mayor
[24:35] asking us to come up with that.
[24:37] And I'm very happy
[24:40] to have everybody on the council give
[24:42] us suggestions and ideas.
[24:44] Mayor, I thought you had a couple of really good ideas.
[24:47] We talked about what happens at 25 years, you know,
[24:50] who's going to be the designated you go rip that one down
[24:53] and it is, it is a problem.
[24:55] But there is a li lifespan and I guess we picked 25 years
[25:00] because that's kind of, you know, the time, the time
[25:04] of knowledge of people beyond 25 years there begins
[25:09] of forgetting or, or maybe the people don't live there
[25:11] anymore or whatever.
[25:14] But it was an arbitrary number.
[25:16] And we are John and, and and Dave
[25:20] and I are completely welcoming of comments and suggestions
[25:24] and we'll, happy to go back and rework it.
[25:27] I just, Roger I understand why you're saying that,
[25:29] but I feel that really makes the mayor
[25:31] and council, you know, kind of an iron thumb here
[25:34] and I'd rather have it, the idea was
[25:36] to let this come from the public if you
[25:38] had somebody that you wanted.
[25:39] And it does, as Tom said, it does allow for the mayor
[25:42] and council to make their own designation if they
[25:46] see something that seems to qualify for that.
[25:48] But I think having some kind of procedure
[25:50] that we can do this is a really good idea.
[25:53] So a hundred percent on the procedure,
[25:56] I I'm just concerned about becoming the council of no.
[26:00] Right. Where we're an arbiter in something
[26:03] that may be arbitrary.
[26:05] Right. And you know, we may have very good reason for saying
[26:10] what we say at the time, but like when you name something
[26:13] after somebody, this is something very significant like
[26:17] street, I know we've talked about Cona, we haven't have,
[26:20] we talked about like if we're naming a new street,
[26:22] if we had a new street somewhere in town.
[26:24] 'cause that certainly shouldn't have a life expectancy
[26:26] of 25 years if you're gonna name a street.
[26:28] No, this is, this is the cona of a street.
[26:31] It's a different kind of designation.
[26:33] And I think that's the other thing that,
[26:35] that's a point if the town, if the mayor and council
[26:38] and citizens in the town want to name a street,
[26:42] rename a street to honor someone
[26:43] that's something distinctly different.
[26:45] This is a cona and it comes from the public.
[26:49] And I do think there are, are demonstrated qualities
[26:54] in c it says honoree should have demonstrated an
[26:57] extraordinary and consistent voluntary commitment
[26:59] and dedication to the community
[27:02] or have contributed significantly to the borough of Orell
[27:05] or national, national life and have lived or
[27:08] otherwise are identified
[27:09] with this community in a substantial way.
[27:11] It's kind of the way historic houses are nominated.
[27:14] You know, you, you do a test of, you know,
[27:16] what's the history here, how long was this person here,
[27:19] what have they contributed, you know,
[27:21] what have they contributed nationally
[27:23] and for what is the reason that we want to honor them.
[27:26] It seems to me that just as that it allows us
[27:28] to nominate those designations,
[27:31] allow historic structures to be nominated.
[27:34] It's definable in that sense.
[27:35] And it can be discussed in that sense.
[27:37] And if we become, become a mayor
[27:39] and council of no, I'll be the first in to say,
[27:42] let's have a discussion about what we're doing
[27:45] Here.
[27:46] So I I think to the mayor's point 25, to me that jumped out
[27:50] to me as a low bar.
[27:51] Okay. To the ma 9,000 residents we have,
[27:55] especially for parks.
[27:56] And not that streets are anything minor,
[27:59] but if we have, I don't know, five or six or seven
[28:02] or eight parks to the question of the, the where the body
[28:06] of no that's a, a low bar
[28:10] to name a park is a, is a massive
[28:14] monumental honor, et cetera.
[28:16] And I would think that we're gonna have different opinions
[28:19] as to who qualifies for that.
[28:21] And yeah, it's not something that we're gonna take lightly
[28:24] nor look to change in the future, whether it's 10 years
[28:28] or 25 years or 50 years.
[28:29] So that's the first thing that hit me.
[28:33] If it's a 300
[28:35] or a thousand sign, now we have a public,
[28:39] almost a public referendum on whether
[28:42] or not, you know, there there's
[28:46] a groundswell to have that.
[28:47] The other question is, was this from,
[28:50] I'm assuming other boroughs have something potentially on,
[28:54] was this a template from another borough?
[28:57] Yeah, this, yeah, it was
[28:58] that some other borough has something like this with similar
[29:03] wording and yes, the naming
[29:05] or Cona, if the title of this ordinance is naming,
[29:08] but in general it's talking about coing.
[29:12] So I don't know if that's just kind of wording
[29:15] and then all also references making a donation
[29:18] and now you're going down the slope
[29:20] of someone's I'm gonna buy the street corner.
[29:22] Yeah, gonna donate a thousand.
[29:23] But if someone's gonna willing to donate 25,000, you know,
[29:27] that that is a kind of a, a slippery slope.
[29:31] And again, I, I don't know the answers to that but,
[29:35] and there is wording
[29:37] to the borough council having discretion, so
[29:41] the overall discretion and yeah, if we all change here
[29:43] and somebody names something after somebody
[29:47] and another governing body comes in
[29:49] and wasn't that friendly with the other,
[29:51] or didn't have the same opinion
[29:53] and they look to take it back,
[29:55] it looks like they have the power to do that also.
[29:57] So I, I don't know the answer to that,
[30:00] but it is just, I just think it's a really, really big thing
[30:03] that we maybe we need to work on more.
[30:05] Yeah. And, and just just to clarify, you know,
[30:07] with the deadline, the reason why we moved the deadline back
[30:10] to November 30th is that, you know, the council
[30:13] that particular year will make that decision
[30:15] rather than having that, you know, go over
[30:19] to an overlap until another particular council
[30:24] in in the next year.
[30:26] The second thing about the requirements is that, just
[30:28] to be clear, it's actually 30 signatures in a
[30:32] three block radius.
[30:34] So maybe a low bar still,
[30:36] but within that three block radius it's a higher bond.
[30:39] I guess what really hit me was the park, right? Yeah.
[30:41] I mean that, that's the big thing. So,
[30:43] Well how, like what is the cona more envisioned
[30:46] to be applied on a street?
[30:49] How do you codename a park? Yeah,
[30:51] That's what I thought. Also
[30:52] The Maggie har memorial softball.
[30:55] I like the sound of that, but I don't think so.
[30:57] No, I mean that the problem is,
[31:00] and maybe we needed to do a, a little distinction
[31:02] because we mostly were discussing cona, right?
[31:05] Like streets or you know, thing or trees or whatever.
[31:09] And we weren't considering that, you know, that the
[31:13] Jim co park would ever be renamed after somebody else.
[31:16] Thank you. One of the advantages
[31:21] of bringing an ordinance forward for discussion Yeah.
[31:24] To the council is exactly this because it's not set in stone
[31:27] and we can discuss it's, you know,
[31:30] we can tweak it if we need to.
[31:32] And, and, and one of the things that
[31:37] I wouldn't say it concerns me,
[31:38] but I note is that the petition has signed by a minimum
[31:42] of 30 people, a majority of whom reside
[31:44] or have businesses within a three block
[31:47] radius that's 16 people.
[31:49] So you need 16 people and another
[31:51] and another 14 from outside the three block radius.
[31:56] I don't know if that's too low a bar. It may, it may be.
[31:58] Yeah.
[32:00] But is is it, I don't even know if it's a, the,
[32:04] so a let me say this, thank you
[32:05] for getting this to this point, right?
[32:07] I don't want you to think like we're
[32:09] sitting up here picking it apart.
[32:11] I think we're having productive discussion
[32:13] to get this advance, which I know is the goal
[32:16] of the committee, but the significance
[32:21] of the proximity to the street sign corner
[32:23] or whatever versus just the generality of the town, right?
[32:27] This is something everybody might have an
[32:29] opinion on in town.
[32:32] We are a pretty engaged community,
[32:34] but is it a petition with residents?
[32:38] Can anybody sign it?
[32:39] Who's validating? No Residents
[32:40] who's validating these things?
[32:42] You know, do they get turned into the clerk
[32:44] and she, like she does voting petitions, has to go
[32:47] and verify residency on the thing.
[32:49] And I think there's just a, a lot of things that
[32:53] we need to think through.
[32:54] I'm very, I'll be very happy to share my comment.
[32:56] When's in the, when does the committee meet?
[32:58] Do you guys have like a regular monthly meeting
[33:00] or not a regular meeting, so,
[33:01] Okay.
[33:02] It's as needed. We'd be happy to meet again.
[33:03] I mean we, we'd really appreciate comments
[33:05] from you and from anyone.
[33:07] So, so maybe if, if over the next two weeks, you know,
[33:10] people if they have comments can get comments to John
[33:13] who chairs the committee
[33:15] and he can have that discussion with Maggie
[33:17] and Dave, then maybe we can get a second iteration of this
[33:21] that encompasses some of those thoughts and,
[33:24] and gets this a little bit closer to where we can be able
[33:27] to act on it and it's representative
[33:29] of our collective input.
[33:31] But look, this is a difficult task, right?
[33:33] You, you, you wanna do something that honors someone
[33:36] but I think we gotta do something that's also mindful of,
[33:40] you know, this isn't a process that's for sale
[33:43] or a vanity thing.
[33:44] Oh, I'm gonna go name the street corner for Dave.
[33:47] He was, he, he did such a great job fixing the,
[33:50] the bricks up at this corner.
[33:51] He is very worthy of it and I get everybody to sign it. Well
[33:54] He'd have to be dead of course.
[33:56] Wow. That's a high bar.
[33:59] Sorry. Still acknowledge him, right?
[34:02] We just got new sidewalks at Memorial.
[34:04] So Mayor, just for some context as far
[34:08] as the council deciding to name something on their own
[34:12] and the, as long as I've been here,
[34:15] there's only two things I believe that have been named
[34:18] by the council solely derived from the council.
[34:21] One was done and it actually was recorded
[34:23] with the post office was Lamonica Way.
[34:26] 'cause I believe that's actually a recognized street,
[34:28] believe it or not now even though there's no properties on
[34:31] it, 'cause I had to send some stuff down to the post office
[34:34] and then the DPW facility was named for an employee.
[34:38] That was, we lost on the job
[34:41] and the council decided it was presented to them
[34:44] to name that facility.
[34:46] And assignment went out in front.
[34:47] It was a dedication, I believe the family attended.
[34:51] But the, that was just done internally. It was discussed.
[34:55] I don't think, I think the street had to be done
[34:58] by resolution 'cause I had to send it to the post office.
[35:01] But that just gives you some context
[35:03] to what's happened in the past to internal naming.
[35:09] It's probably good that we come up
[35:10] with some conclusions since
[35:13] it's not unlikely there'll be some new streets in town.
[35:17] Yeah, the line and I don't know who gets to name them
[35:21] but we should think about it. Yeah,
[35:23] Well the first two are Mayor Coth and Maggie and
[35:26] after that it's open.
[35:28] Am I going somewhere I'm not aware of yet.
[35:31] You got me in your sights. Maggie.
[35:33] Don't mean to be facetious. Well I am too Jo.
[35:36] Jim, I'm with you I guess.
[35:39] Alright, if nobody has anything further
[35:41] to offer at this time, I would just ask if by
[35:46] two weeks from now we can get John comments
[35:48] that he can share with the committee
[35:50] and they can take another look at this.
[35:51] Hopefully we can advance this forward
[35:54] and be able to move something with it.
[35:57] So thank you guys for getting it to this point.
[35:59] Thank you Mayor. We have any old
[36:01] business to come before the council?
[36:08] New business, Councilman Gullo? Sure.
[36:13] So on behalf of the Public Safety Committee,
[36:18] we would like to host a public safety town hall
[36:22] on Thursday, September 24th at seven o'clock
[36:27] here in Council Chambers.
[36:30] A lot of it is to have an open dialogue
[36:35] with the community about
[36:38] pedestrian and traffic safety.
[36:40] We know it's obviously a very important issue
[36:44] and it's one that continues to grow shift
[36:49] and a lot of people have various solutions and opinions
[36:53] and so we thought it would be a good
[36:54] idea to gather everyone.
[36:56] Special session. It will be advertised via the clerk.
[37:02] What we'd like to do is, in order to formulate the agenda,
[37:05] we'd like to reach out to residents.
[37:08] So whether it be a survey online, social media,
[37:11] there was an email box to
[37:14] executive assistant Sam Shin in the Borough Administrator's
[37:18] office starting September one.
[37:20] And we'll keep it open for about two weeks or so.
[37:23] Our intent is to gather as much information
[37:26] as possible about topics, ideas, questions.
[37:31] The borough engineer is going to be in attendance,
[37:35] a representative from Safe Streets, the police chief.
[37:39] We're trying to get someone from Bergen County
[37:42] to really make it really educational.
[37:44] An opportunity to really, as a public forum
[37:47] for our residents to come
[37:50] and ask questions, offer their opinions.
[37:55] I think there's been a lot of great work
[37:57] and there's a lot of good effort on behalf of the community
[38:00] and this is probably a good way to do it.
[38:04] While we didn't have huge attendance
[38:06] at the tax assessors meeting earlier this year, we're kind
[38:10] of modeling it after what Mr.
[38:11] An Zino did on a Saturday here in Council Chambers.
[38:15] So it's really an opportunity for the community
[38:18] to come special session.
[38:21] And we're gonna try to get the right experts here in the
[38:24] room so that people can ask questions and get information
[38:28] At 7 30, 7 O'clock,
[38:29] Seven o'clock.
[38:31] Do you guys need a AV for that meeting?
[38:33] Yes, we did get confirmation that OPTV is going to
[38:38] record it and we'll have it broadcast on YouTube TV as well.
[38:43] Yeah, and I think you may need a larger room, but that's,
[38:46] That's why I Was, I mean we could,
[38:48] Yeah, and if you
[38:49] Wanna broadcast it, you could go upstairs.
[38:51] They can, I think they can broadcast from upstairs. Yes.
[38:53] If you publicize it, you're gonna have,
[38:56] I assume upstairs is more capacity, right?
[38:58] Yeah, it is. I think so. Yeah. Or
[39:01] At the, so barring that O ps Yeah.
[39:04] Capacity wise. Anyone have any thoughts
[39:07] or comments from the council?
[39:08] I think it's a great idea. A hundred percent. Okay.
[39:13] So just next steps I'll work with Sam
[39:18] to get the survey out.
[39:19] We'll obviously send it out to some
[39:22] of our distribution lists as well
[39:24] as get it out on social media.
[39:26] And then we will have that web
[39:29] or the email address available for people
[39:31] to send in comments as well as questions.
[39:34] So you could also call Borough Hall as well
[39:38] and speak to someone if you can't get through to those,
[39:42] I guess digital mediums.
[39:46] Okay. Location, TBD.
[39:48] Okay, great. Thanks Ted. Thank you. Yep.
[39:51] Anyone have anything else for new business?
[39:54] I have a question about when one can't attend a meeting,
[39:58] can, can we zoom in on the planning board?
[40:01] We were able to do that years ago
[40:03] and if you're kind of in Zoom attendance, does that count?
[40:08] Or how, how does one,
[40:11] I'll let Laura elaborate on that
[40:13] 'cause I think she arranged most of it during COVID.
[40:16] Yes. But I would, and I know we discontinued it.
[40:19] We did at a point in time, right?
[40:20] So that was a subscription fee that we were paying
[40:23] and then if you're gonna do that,
[40:27] it's more complicated than the way we do things right now.
[40:30] Okay. But I'll let Laura talk about her experience
[40:32] With it.
[40:33] Oh yeah. Just historically, once COVID hit
[40:35] and we knew we had to go remote, we had to,
[40:38] and it was quite difficult
[40:39] because Zoom didn't integrate well
[40:42] with purchase orders in government and whatnot.
[40:45] But we did Zoom meetings for quite a while then
[40:50] I believe we went back in person
[40:52] and then when the next winter hit, we decided to go back
[40:55] to Zoom during COVID and whatnot.
[40:59] Yeah. And then we came back full in person.
[41:03] I think we had already paid that year
[41:05] for the Zoom subscription.
[41:06] So we like had it as a backup if we needed it,
[41:09] but we have not, it's not been active for many years now.
[41:15] It just added a different layer of,
[41:20] and I think a local finance notice came out about it in the
[41:23] meantime of how it's governed
[41:24] and when it could be used and whatnot.
[41:26] So I'd have to re, re re research that if
[41:31] you wanted to ever implement that again.
[41:34] I do know it was limited to,
[41:39] 'cause I had to run it while running the meetings.
[41:41] So the council would get a separate invitation
[41:44] to be a panelist so that you can fully participate
[41:47] and then the public would just be able to listen.
[41:50] There wasn't a portion of like public comment
[41:53] where people could zoom in their public comment.
[41:56] 'cause obviously there's no delay button
[41:58] if something was said inappropriately or, or whatnot.
[42:01] Like a, anyway, so
[42:05] it really would be a policy decision
[42:07] amongst the council whether you wanted to reintegrate that.
[42:12] But as far as missing a meeting, there's vacancy law
[42:16] that governs, I think a,
[42:17] a council person can miss I believe three
[42:20] in a row without a vacancy occurring
[42:23] or a certain amount of months, however times we meet.
[42:30] But if you miss a meeting
[42:34] and like watch the meeting, it, you wouldn't be counted
[42:37] as I, Hey, I watched the meeting so it,
[42:40] it, I'm still present.
[42:41] You still would be counted
[42:42] as absent at that meeting as of right now.
[42:45] So I don't know if you wanna put
[42:47] that on a meeting in the future as far as reexamining zoom
[42:50] and I can pull the local finance
[42:52] notice in the meantime.
[42:57] I don't know many municipalities that still do it.
[42:59] I know a couple do it that have a full IT department
[43:06] with the same features.
[43:07] Not like a call in feature,
[43:09] it's just a participation feature.
[43:11] I don't know if they allow their governing body members
[43:13] to participate that way,
[43:14] but some do it for the public to be able to see it.
[43:19] I also was wondering about the public safety meeting if we
[43:21] wanted to zoom that
[43:23] or if people could somehow call in
[43:26] for questions or something.
[43:27] I just, I was trying to figure out the most approachable way
[43:32] that we could get it out to as many people as possible.
[43:34] It's kind of a second question,
[43:35] but, so that's why I asked it,
[43:37] It mentioned it having a questionnaire
[43:39] pre previous, right?
[43:40] Yeah. The people will be able
[43:41] to send in questions for that meeting, right? Yeah. Oh
[43:44] Yeah, Absolutely.
[43:45] I mean it raises a technical complication for the broadcast
[43:51] not in substantial challenge to, you know,
[43:54] get the audio right and it's doable,
[43:59] but it's, it's another level
[44:01] Difficult. Okay.
[44:03] Yeah. And look, I think if we have a, a successful meeting
[44:07] and we feel we need to do another one
[44:09] because there are people that we didn't, weren't able
[44:12] to accommodate or didn't attract,
[44:14] then you schedule another one.
[44:16] I think town halls are, are great to talk about topics
[44:19] of public concern and we want to hear from everybody.
[44:22] So nothing says it's a one and done.
[44:24] We can always, you know, adapt on the fly.
[44:27] I, I personally feel it's better if we're present.
[44:31] If you can't be here for a meeting en enjoy your night off.
[44:35] Right? I mean, you know, we put in a lot of time up here.
[44:39] I don't think anybody expects us to be here
[44:41] for every single meeting.
[44:42] But to Dave's point,
[44:44] I think the Zoom thing does it is doable,
[44:46] but it does add a level of com complexity.
[44:49] We can't even get the monitor in the next room
[44:51] to work properly half the time.
[44:54] I would hate to have to have people say, Hey,
[44:56] I can't participate because I'm raising my hand
[44:58] or I'm trying to whatever, and you're not answering me.
[45:00] And it just makes people frustrated.
[45:02] Yeah. Okay. Thank you so,
[45:04] Well I just like the public to note, you know,
[45:05] we really want get information out to you
[45:08] and it means a lot to us when you come in person
[45:11] and talk to us and this,
[45:13] especially this public safety meeting is really important.
[45:16] It's been a hot topic in Orell for years,
[45:19] so we would appreciate any
[45:21] and all of you who could make attend that.
[45:23] And Ted, thank you for making that happen.
[45:25] Thank the committee. Okay,
[45:29] Jim, I have one thing.
[45:30] Yes. Dave, the Municipal Drug Alliance last,
[45:34] the last council decided not to renew the,
[45:39] I guess you call it a subscription to the program
[45:42] for the coming year.
[45:46] Was that, was there a discussion about that at all?
[45:50] I don't recall hearing anything,
[45:52] but we didn't, we didn't pay into it
[45:54] for the, for the coming year.
[45:58] Did is it just one of those things fell
[45:59] through the cracks or something?
[46:01] That's a great question.
[46:02] I don't recall us having any, any discussion of the sort.
[46:06] I never that we were not gonna
[46:07] Participate.
[46:08] There's never been a payment that I've known of
[46:10] that the boroughs,
[46:12] it's been run through the police department. So
[46:14] Yes, normally we get the grant,
[46:16] Right?
[46:17] It's a grant that's filled out.
[46:17] You guys pass resolutions in order
[46:19] to apply for the grants, right?
[46:21] Those are generated usually by an officer
[46:24] bringing the resolution to me to put it on.
[46:26] But I was never given anything for this coming year.
[46:31] So I don't know if that was an internal decision on that end
[46:34] to maybe they don't have someone, you know, staffing it.
[46:37] I don't, I don't know, but okay,
[46:39] Well maybe we can look, look into that
[46:42] and dig deeper and find out what's going
[46:43] On.
[46:45] Yeah, I think that the Municipal Drug Alliance funds a lot
[46:49] of good stuff, so gotta make sure that that's set
[46:54] if there's nothing further for new business.
[46:56] Laura, can you read the correspondence into
[46:59] The right please?
[47:00] Yes. One item, an email received from Eileen Jones.
[47:02] You're concerning a no right. Turn on onto First Street.
[47:05] Okay, next on the agenda is adoption of minutes.
[47:11] I guess we can handle 'em separately.
[47:12] We have four meetings on here.
[47:13] May 26th, June 9th, June 23rd and July 14th.
[47:18] There was only one absence, Mr.
[47:20] Kern was absent from the June 23rd meeting.
[47:23] Everybody else was present for all meetings.
[47:27] Okay, anybody care to make a motion to approve the minutes
[47:31] of the meeting of May 26th?
[47:32] 2026. So moved.
[47:34] Second Roll call please.
[47:37] Mr. Kelly? Yes. Mr. Ian? Yes. Mr. Kern?
[47:42] Yes, except I'll abstain from June 23rd.
[47:45] We're only doing May 26th right now.
[47:47] I thought we were doing it. No, I didn't do all four.
[47:50] Just May 26th.
[47:52] Okay. Mr. Mr. So Mr.
[47:55] Kern, are you a, you're a yes for that? Yes. Okay. Mr.
[47:57] Gullo? Yes. Ms. Tara?
[48:00] Yes. Mr. Banfield? Yes.
[48:03] Okay. Would anybody care to make a motion
[48:05] to approve the minutes for the meeting of June 9th, 2026?
[48:08] Yes. Can I amend that motion to approve the June 9th,
[48:11] June 23rd and July 14th?
[48:13] Unless anybody has any comments?
[48:17] Second, are you wanna run the meeting? No, I'm
[48:21] Just trying to simple things a little bit.
[48:22] Oh, Okay. Because I think we have a lot
[48:24] of people to speak today.
[48:26] Do we? I thought we just had an audience tonight.
[48:30] We have a second. Can we have a roll call please?
[48:33] Sure. Mr. Kelly? Yes. Mr. Ian? Yes. Mr. Kern. All
[48:37] Right.
[48:38] Yes. Except staying from
[48:39] June 23rd. Noted.
[48:41] Mr. Gullo? Yes. Ms. Her? Yes. Mr. Banfield? Yes.
[48:45] Okay. Public comment.
[48:47] So we're gonna have a public comment now.
[48:49] I'll entertain a motion to open the floor
[48:51] for public comment on non agenda items only.
[48:54] So moved. Second. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Great.
[48:58] Please come up to the podium, identify yourself
[49:02] and remain courteous and not exceed five minutes.
[49:04] I just wanna make a comment as far as our capability here
[49:07] to interface with Zoom.
[49:09] When I had the monitors put in,
[49:11] we have an interface built in
[49:14] that the switch feed goes out on the computer
[49:17] and all your audio goes back to the system
[49:20] without any feedback
[49:22] besides which Zoom can handle phone calls coming in
[49:26] and actually gets put into the Zoom rotation.
[49:31] So you can pick and choose for people.
[49:33] Do who wanna call in can and the system can do this.
[49:39] I just wanted to clarify that in case you do want
[49:42] to use it in both here
[49:44] and upstairs, have the same capability. Thanks. Okay,
[49:47] Thank you.
[49:48] Thank you.
[49:54] Nobody's here to say anything. Eileen?
[50:05] Eileen Jones. Orell resident non agenda items.
[50:10] That would be the first street.
[50:12] Okay. Thank you. Not on the consent agenda, so as long
[50:15] as it's not one of the items on the consent agenda,
[50:17] you're free to talk about it.
[50:19] Okay.
[50:25] Good evening Mayor and Council.
[50:27] I come before you this evening
[50:28] to again discuss the preferential treatment being given
[50:31] to First Street and hence trickling over to second
[50:34] and third Street by a traffic sign.
[50:36] No right turn onto First Street, six days a week.
[50:39] 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM with no restriction on Sunday.
[50:42] It's located at the Northeast end of Grant Ave.
[50:45] Grant Ave and the eastern portion of Orell Ave
[50:48] are municipal streets, just like these three streets
[50:52] that I just named above.
[50:53] First Street also has a double yellow line
[50:56] and is co comparable in width size
[50:59] and has speed bumps along with Second Street.
[51:03] I'm requesting that that sign be removed
[51:06] and it's totally removed with no, no
[51:12] disa allowances of traffic, making a right hand turn there
[51:20] On March 1st, 1999.
[51:24] I wasn't a resident. I was not a resident here at that time.
[51:27] In an administrative agenda work session, it said
[51:30] that residents of First Street were invited at 7:00 PM
[51:33] to the Mayor and Council meeting.
[51:36] Tomorrow we will be discussing the Boswell Cleve
[51:40] Engineering Traffic Study and recommendations.
[51:44] Mr. Winters is not prepared to make a final decision
[51:47] and he has asked if the residents were given a copy
[51:49] of the traffic study and was told a copy was given to Mr.
[51:53] Bob Schwartz, a first Street resident.
[51:57] We will have comments from the,
[51:59] and discuss the traffic study.
[52:05] And then on
[52:09] March 15th,
[52:11] there's a note here in the administrative agenda work
[52:14] session, that first street,
[52:16] a letter from Mr. Schwartz requesting a decision on traffic
[52:19] congestion on First Street.
[52:20] There will be a meeting with the First Street residents on
[52:23] April 20th and a decision will have to be reached.
[52:27] Suggestions to correct this problem from Hallworth to Orell.
[52:30] No right hand turns at all times or a speed bump.
[52:34] Reassess this in six months now a letter was sent on,
[52:43] Why can't I find the date of it?
[52:44] Oh, there it is. February 22nd, 1999 To a
[52:49] gentleman that resided on First Street
[52:52] and it was, you were invited to attend the Mayor
[52:56] and Council meeting on Tuesday,
[52:57] March 2nd, 1999 at 7:00 PM There will be a discussion
[53:01] regarding the traffic study of First Street.
[53:03] The meeting will be held at the Orell Town Hall
[53:06] and the Mayor and Council Chamber's first floor, room 1 0 3.
[53:09] If you would like to be part of this discussion,
[53:11] please mark the date and time on the calendar.
[53:14] And it's listed on the bottom to CC
[53:17] that the letter was being CC'd
[53:19] to the residence of First Street.
[53:21] My question is, I'm wondering why there's no letter
[53:25] that was sent to the residents of Orell Ave
[53:29] or Grant Ave.
[53:32] This would be a huge problem for them.
[53:34] With all that traffic then being able, being forced
[53:38] to come down to Grant on Grant Ave.
[53:41] No choice as to whether to make that first right hand turn
[53:44] or not, but forced to come to an intersection
[53:46] that's already had a lot of traffic on it even in 1999.
[53:53] I'm going on, I
[54:08] I might be repeating a little, I'm sorry.
[54:10] What I am questioning is why did First Street residents
[54:13] receive a personal letter to them
[54:15] to review the traffic study of First Street
[54:18] and grant an orell?
[54:20] It was done by Boswell Engineering.
[54:24] I haven't been able to receive a copy of
[54:26] that engineering report.
[54:28] It should be somewhere in the files. It was 1999.
[54:34] This study would severely impact Grant have and
[54:37] or have safety
[54:38] and quality of life in a very negative manner.
[54:41] Where's a corresponding study that would reflect
[54:43] how it would impact the Grant Ave and Odell Ave?
[54:59] The change in traffic flow would certainly affect Grant Ave
[55:02] and Odell Ave.
[55:06] The ordinance that was approved in 1999,
[55:10] forced traffic to come to that area.
[55:13] And I think that this wasn't done properly.
[55:18] I think Grant Ave should have been included.
[55:20] Yes, they could have seen the, the
[55:23] notice on the mayor and council meeting that was coming up.
[55:27] Why they did not, I don't know. Like I said, I wasn't here.
[55:32] I have more, but I heard the, the beep.
[55:36] So is that the end of my talk? Okay.
[55:39] Thank you for listening. Thank you. I'll be back.
[55:46] Oh
[55:58] Hi.
[55:59] Paul Morris, my wife Marsha. 4 4 9 second Street.
[56:04] Our house is on the corner of first
[56:06] and second, so our driveway and garage are on First Street.
[56:11] We've been there since 1981.
[56:15] Research that I did showed
[56:17] that the sign was put in place in 1990.
[56:20] I don't have the rationale for why the sign was placed.
[56:23] It's presumably for safety.
[56:26] First street of all you probably know,
[56:28] is a somewhat narrow curved street or at El Avenue and Grant
[56:32] or wider and straight streets.
[56:35] Traffic coming from Hallworth in that environment
[56:37] and heading west now has to go south on Grant
[56:41] and take a right turn onto Orell Avenue.
[56:44] There's no oncoming traffic.
[56:45] So that's a very safe maneuver to make that turn.
[56:48] However, if you were to take the sign away, large numbers
[56:52] of cars would be coming down first and maybe even second
[56:54] and third streets and having to turn right onto Orell
[56:57] Avenue, avoiding oncoming traffic coming in a westerly
[57:01] direction on Orell Avenue.
[57:03] That's more dangerous than the situation that exists now.
[57:07] So I would say maintain the sign.
[57:10] It's, it keeps the area safe there.
[57:13] There are many children who live there, there are pets.
[57:15] It's Aker Street. It does not warrant that kind of traffic.
[57:20] And, and it would be, I think, unwise to remove that sign.
[57:30] May I speak? Sure.
[57:31] Just come up to the podium. Mr. Conway.
[57:34] I, Good evening Mayor. Members of the council.
[57:39] My name is Donald Conway. I live at 4 2 5 second Street.
[57:44] I'm more than familiar with this entire situation
[57:46] because for approximately 60 years I walk
[57:51] conditions allowing from my house
[57:54] and Second Street to the reservoir.
[57:56] And I see the traffic flow over those years.
[58:01] It's gone from a minor problem
[58:06] to what it is today.
[58:07] We all recognize there a situation, it's a problem.
[58:10] However, that area
[58:13] almost every day is a dog walking company here in town.
[58:18] People are walking their dogs.
[58:20] So people like myself, I have to walk in the street.
[58:24] I also know there's lots of,
[58:26] I'm not the only person who walks in the street.
[58:29] I see them every morning. Lots of people.
[58:31] I see kids from high school, Bergen Catholic
[58:34] or Riverdale, they jo,
[58:36] they jog in the street.
[58:40] You can't walk on the sidewalk where the dogs are walking.
[58:45] And it just so happens that area.
[58:48] Just the other day, there's a lady here
[58:50] who saw me the last couple years.
[58:52] I had to cut the, what do we call those?
[58:55] The trees there because the branches are out into the road.
[58:58] Every time I get to the corner, I have to stop and wait
[59:02] and see because believe me,
[59:04] although that sign says no right turn
[59:07] every day from eight o'clock when I start to plenty
[59:12] of cars, I'm making right turns
[59:14] and I'm concerned for my safety.
[59:17] Everybody else's safety.
[59:19] And as I say, God forbid, someday somebody,
[59:23] if you allow this to happen, a car
[59:26] or a truck is gonna run over a bike,
[59:29] a cyclist or a pedestrian.
[59:31] 'cause they don't slow down. They make that turn.
[59:35] And it's a dangerous situation if you allow it.
[59:39] I realize, you know, maybe it's an inconvenience
[59:42] for some people that I think go all the way to Orell Avenue.
[59:45] But who are we inconveniencing people from Northfield,
[59:49] Norwood or wherever they come from.
[59:51] So maybe they get up five minutes early
[59:53] in case there's a little backup.
[59:56] But the rest of us are entitled as safety, not the people
[1:00:01] who live in those various other communities.
[1:00:03] Thank you for your attention.
[1:00:05] Thank you.
[1:00:18] Good evening, Mr. Mayor and city council.
[1:00:22] My name is Christine Orlando
[1:00:25] and I live on Grant Avenue around the corner
[1:00:28] from Oradell Avenue for the last 48 years.
[1:00:33] I would like to focus tonight on the traffic sign, located
[1:00:38] where First Street and Grant Avenue meet.
[1:00:42] It prohibits traffic from entering first street
[1:00:46] for about 12 hours a day, six days a week,
[1:00:49] making a right turn from Harvard, forcing traffic
[1:00:53] to be diverted.
[1:00:55] And as a result, all the traffic coming from Howorth
[1:01:00] and its neighboring towns are funneled into Grant
[1:01:04] and Orell Avenues intersection,
[1:01:07] which is already getting traffic from the new Milford area.
[1:01:13] And why? Because one area
[1:01:16] of town said traffic
[1:01:20] not down our street
[1:01:22] Goes up the other way.
[1:01:25] All. And I emphasize all areas
[1:01:28] of our town should share the burden
[1:01:33] of traffic flow.
[1:01:36] It has been an extra burden for those of us taxpayers,
[1:01:41] residents who live south and east of this sign.
[1:01:44] We have had our quality of life diminished
[1:01:48] and the safety of our children
[1:01:52] and grandchildren compromised.
[1:01:55] Don't we count to?
[1:01:58] No area of town should be treated with favoritism
[1:02:03] and special privilege.
[1:02:05] This should not be a case
[1:02:07] where some Orell residents are considered more
[1:02:11] equal than others.
[1:02:14] It is wrong and the situation has to be rectified.
[1:02:19] So to summarize, I ask you, Mr.
[1:02:23] Mayor and council members to consider removing this elite
[1:02:28] restrictive traffic sign on First Street
[1:02:31] and Grant Avenue so that all the residents in this area
[1:02:37] share the burden of traffic movement
[1:02:40] and not just a few of us who have had to endure
[1:02:44] this burden alone for far too long.
[1:02:49] I ask that we be treated equally and fairly
[1:02:53] and that our quality of life as well as the safety
[1:02:57] and welfare of our children
[1:03:00] and grandchildren who live south
[1:03:03] and east of this sign, be taken into account.
[1:03:07] We count to why else should this elitist
[1:03:11] restrictive sign be removed?
[1:03:15] Well, because in my opinion, it's the right thing
[1:03:19] to do. Thank you.
[1:03:21] Thank you.
[1:03:37] Good evening. My name is Barbara Parks.
[1:03:39] I live at 4 4 6 first Street.
[1:03:42] I've been living there since June of 1994.
[1:03:45] I've attended many of these meetings over the past 30 years.
[1:03:49] Not in a long time, but in the nineties there were plenty
[1:03:52] of meetings about how to alleve the traffic.
[1:03:58] Not only traffic, the safety people,
[1:04:03] Mr. Schwartz, that was referred to earlier, used
[1:04:06] to say all the time that people that would cut down
[1:04:10] First Street, their mindset was to beat the guy
[1:04:13] that went the the proper way, the way that traffic was meant
[1:04:17] to go down cran toward D Avenue.
[1:04:20] First Street has two big curves in it.
[1:04:23] When I pull out of my driveway,
[1:04:25] I can't see past my neighbor's house.
[1:04:28] And if he's parked at the edge of his driveway,
[1:04:31] no offense Dave, I can't see anybody
[1:04:35] unless they're within 10 feet of my driveway.
[1:04:38] I walk my dogs every morning. I see Mr. Conway.
[1:04:41] There is one man, he's going so fast every morning.
[1:04:45] He's on the wrong side of the road every day.
[1:04:51] There's track teams that drive down,
[1:04:53] that go down that street.
[1:04:54] People walk down there to go to the reservoir.
[1:04:56] People are walking their dogs.
[1:04:58] Nobody's safety is more important than anybody else's,
[1:05:01] but it's not the same road.
[1:05:02] It's a curvy road. Grant is a, is a street street.
[1:05:08] We only recently just got two stop signs at the
[1:05:11] intersections of first and second and first and third, where
[1:05:15] before they were yield signs.
[1:05:17] So I appreciate the fact that that was done.
[1:05:20] But to say
[1:05:21] that we get preferential treatment is not correct at
[1:05:24] all. Thank you.
[1:05:26] Thank you.
[1:05:36] Hi, my name is Marsha Morris.
[1:05:38] I live 4 49 second Street, which as my husband told you,
[1:05:42] is on the corner of first and second.
[1:05:45] My feeling on this is that it's not just a matter of
[1:05:49] the curvy first street.
[1:05:52] People go down there and they speed down Second Street.
[1:05:56] And I know they also speed down Third Street.
[1:05:58] Those are narrower streets than the other.
[1:06:01] Streets are people you're compromising if you take the sign
[1:06:05] away, I really feel like you're compromising the safety
[1:06:08] of the children who play in those two streets.
[1:06:12] People who walk their dogs, people who run.
[1:06:15] There are so many people walking around that neighborhood.
[1:06:19] Grant Street and Orell Avenue are not streets
[1:06:21] that you would ever consider having your children play
[1:06:25] in the street on.
[1:06:26] But first, second Street and third Street.
[1:06:29] Our streets like that. They're more
[1:06:30] of a neighborhood kind of a street.
[1:06:33] And I also think you're compromising the safety of the cars
[1:06:36] that are sitting there on the streets.
[1:06:38] It's not, they're not as wide as streets.
[1:06:40] And if people are going down the street really fast,
[1:06:43] they're gonna knock into your doors.
[1:06:44] There just isn't enough room.
[1:06:47] And I live there before the sign went up initially.
[1:06:52] And I can tell you that there really was a,
[1:06:56] a vast improvement in the safety.
[1:06:58] And I know, I remember
[1:07:00] that the reason they did it in the first
[1:07:02] place was a safety issue.
[1:07:03] So I'm begging you to not take the sign away. Thank you.
[1:07:08] Thank you.
[1:07:14] Hello Mayor and counsel.
[1:07:15] Terry Ver Hague 5 0 7 first Street.
[1:07:18] I also lived there before the sign was up.
[1:07:21] We moved there in 92. So the sign was not up in 90.
[1:07:24] I'm not sure where that came from.
[1:07:26] It was, I feel like it wasn't 99, but it wasn't 90.
[1:07:30] Anyway, to your point about the traffic,
[1:07:33] right now the traffic is insane going one way.
[1:07:35] It's not like we don't have traffic, right?
[1:07:38] We get half of it, right. It's insane all day long.
[1:07:41] But it wasn't about traffic, it was about safety.
[1:07:44] Again, because it's a curvy
[1:07:45] street, everyone would make that right?
[1:07:48] Either fly down first Street or fly down third Street.
[1:07:52] Third street straight. I've seen people, they have
[1:07:54] to be going 70 miles per hour.
[1:07:55] It's insane. So picture,
[1:07:57] you have people flying in both directions.
[1:07:59] It, it was just a disaster waiting to happen.
[1:08:02] I would be pulling into making a left into my driveway,
[1:08:05] people would be passing me on the left.
[1:08:06] Not kidding. Like it's, it was insane.
[1:08:10] So again, it was put in because of safety
[1:08:12] and it still is about safety.
[1:08:15] Grant and Dale Avenue are main drags. Sorry. They just are.
[1:08:18] And so at that point where people would not have their kids
[1:08:21] play outside an or well in their front yard,
[1:08:23] but not in the street, their main main thoroughfares,
[1:08:27] they go through several towns.
[1:08:28] Buses go on them, their main drags.
[1:08:30] And if you shift it, this isn't gonna solve the problem.
[1:08:34] There's too much traffic in town everywhere.
[1:08:36] Not just at that, at our corner there,
[1:08:39] there's too many cars.
[1:08:41] This isn't what would maybe help is more
[1:08:43] police pulling people over.
[1:08:45] Yep. Then they'll slow down.
[1:08:46] If the word gets out that you, if you speed an orde,
[1:08:49] you'll get a ticket that will help.
[1:08:52] 'cause that's how it is in Hallworth.
[1:08:53] You get pulled over once in Hallworth,
[1:08:55] you learn your lesson, you don't speed there anymore.
[1:08:57] So that's gonna have more impact shifting.
[1:08:59] This is just gonna put more traffic onto our streets,
[1:09:02] which are not meant to be main drags
[1:09:05] and are just, by the nature of the curves gonna be far,
[1:09:09] far more dangerous.
[1:09:11] So please for the, again, it's not that you're any less
[1:09:15] special, but it's just those are main drags
[1:09:18] and that's how the traffic was supposed to go.
[1:09:21] And our more neighborhood type streets should not be
[1:09:24] sacrificed just to make you happy.
[1:09:27] Okay, thank you.
[1:09:36] Kathy Morris, country Club Drive,
[1:09:39] no one's talked about Country Club Drive.
[1:09:41] I live off of Orell Ave and Country Club.
[1:09:44] Drive off a grant, try in the morning
[1:09:49] to make a left hand turn to get onto
[1:09:51] or de a not gonna happen for at least 10 minutes
[1:09:55] because nobody coming from Hallworth is
[1:10:00] gonna stop and let you in.
[1:10:02] Nobody from New Milford who's coming
[1:10:05] straight can let you in.
[1:10:08] So what do you do? Nothing.
[1:10:10] You can't go on the other side of country club
[1:10:12] because that borders on first.
[1:10:15] So you can't even make that left hand turn then a quick,
[1:10:18] right, because, no, then you get
[1:10:20] behind all the traffic from Hallworth.
[1:10:24] I understand it's a safety issue,
[1:10:26] but I almost got hit as the last time I was here
[1:10:30] in the Crosswork on Orell F.
[1:10:34] It's a safety issue all around.
[1:10:37] Everybody has this safety issue.
[1:10:39] I walk my dog six miles a day in Orell
[1:10:42] and I gotta tell you, I go down first.
[1:10:45] I see what happens in first on first.
[1:10:48] I see what happens on Hasbrook.
[1:10:51] Everybody is trying to beat everybody.
[1:10:54] And I appreciated that law enforcement was out last week
[1:10:59] and I, at least six
[1:11:01] or seven people pulled over from New Milford
[1:11:04] because they didn't stop at the crosswalk
[1:11:08] with the lights blinking
[1:11:11] because they could, they race you to the crosswalk,
[1:11:16] like, you know,
[1:11:17] and I'm walking the dog, they don't care either way.
[1:11:23] A safety issue on Grant, the traffic is out of control
[1:11:29] when there's a train, it's all backed up
[1:11:33] to the other side of country club by first
[1:11:37] because nobody can make a right hand turn.
[1:11:42] I, I don't know what the actual solution is,
[1:11:45] but restricting a right hand turn
[1:11:47] because a lot of the people who are coming down
[1:11:51] from Hallworth, sometimes they put their signal on,
[1:11:55] sometimes they don't.
[1:11:57] So you don't know coming off
[1:11:59] of Orell Ave whether you can make that left or not safely
[1:12:02] because they may be making the right, they may not be.
[1:12:06] And I just saw this past week, another fender bender
[1:12:10] right on that corner.
[1:12:13] A lot of fender bender, a lot of almost accidents.
[1:12:17] Maybe easing some of the right hand turns off of Grant.
[1:12:24] I walk up first, I know what the situation is,
[1:12:27] but it, there's gotta be some kind of resolution
[1:12:32] to this where maybe everybody shares everything.
[1:12:37] We share the traffic we have to it. It's not our traffic.
[1:12:41] We are not causing it, you know,
[1:12:45] and that's all I have to say.
[1:12:47] Thank you. Thank you.
[1:12:54] Hi, John Seit. I live on four 21st Street.
[1:12:58] I just want to address that First Street does indeed take
[1:13:03] a big chunk of the overflow of traffic.
[1:13:06] It's not like we're completely closed off to taking some of
[1:13:09] that commuter traffic off or l ave People off
[1:13:14] or l Ave are able to turn left on First Street.
[1:13:19] I think every resident in town and,
[1:13:21] and I know we all have friends, I'm like close in Hallworth
[1:13:23] and other towns when you tell them, oh,
[1:13:25] I live on First Street in Orell,
[1:13:27] what they all say, oh, the cut through street.
[1:13:29] Everyone knows fir First Street has historically been known
[1:13:32] as the cut through street to get from here to White Beaches,
[1:13:35] the Hallworth into that area.
[1:13:37] So we do take a big brunt of the traffic
[1:13:40] off Orell Ave pe like e Everyone's saying it, everyone says
[1:13:44] that they see what's going on in, on First Street.
[1:13:46] So it's not like we're not taking any of the brunt or,
[1:13:50] or the share of the traffic.
[1:13:52] Again, we're known as a a, a cut through street.
[1:13:55] Oral Ave is a county thoroughfare.
[1:13:57] County thoroughfares are designed
[1:14:00] and made the handle high volume traffic, commuter traffic.
[1:14:05] And again, we're just a small residential street
[1:14:08] that spans three blocks meant for local traffic,
[1:14:11] narrow winding.
[1:14:15] And we still take our, a very good share
[1:14:19] of the traffic away from the high volume peak hours.
[1:14:22] So I just wanted to, I I I respect that you,
[1:14:26] that you're trying to advocate
[1:14:28] for your problems and your issues.
[1:14:30] But I like everyone else is saying, I think
[1:14:34] town wide solutions like better law, like be better
[1:14:38] visibility of law enforcement
[1:14:39] and enforcement of traffic infractions would be much,
[1:14:44] would be a better, like a, a a better solution to this as
[1:14:48] as opposed to say, you know,
[1:14:49] the we're we're complaining about these speeders
[1:14:52] who inherently are speeding.
[1:14:53] If they're trying to cut through the street,
[1:14:54] they inherently want to get there
[1:14:56] before those other guys hence them
[1:14:57] driving crazy through our street.
[1:14:59] These guys who aren't signaling,
[1:15:00] not allowing residents from country club to turn
[1:15:03] diverting them to
[1:15:05] to our streets not gonna solve the problem.
[1:15:07] I think it, it comes down to traffic enforcement.
[1:15:10] And I, again, I just wanted to reiterate
[1:15:12] that First Street does take a big brunt
[1:15:14] of the traffic. Thank you.
[1:15:16] Thank you.
[1:15:22] James Hayden, country Club Drive, Marin Council.
[1:15:26] I'd like to inquire
[1:15:29] what has been the history over the last two years
[1:15:32] of accidents
[1:15:33] and near accidents at the corner of Grant Ave and
[1:15:38] or Odell Ave as compared to other corners through the town.
[1:15:44] It's my only question. Thank you
[1:15:54] Steve Shimel.
[1:15:55] I live at five 21st Street,
[1:15:56] which is right on the corner at first and Grant,
[1:15:58] and I feel compelled to just answer
[1:15:59] just based on that last question.
[1:16:01] I've been in town for about eight years now,
[1:16:03] but in my first five years there were five car accidents
[1:16:06] that ended up on my lawn.
[1:16:09] The town has made some changes, mainly painting the
[1:16:13] shoulder on Grant to slow people down
[1:16:15] and make them realize that
[1:16:16] they're, they're approaching a curve.
[1:16:17] But, so there's obviously a safety issue,
[1:16:20] but one thing I wanna point out is that taking down
[1:16:23] that no right turn is not gonna make the issue
[1:16:25] better every day.
[1:16:26] I see people make that right turn illegally anyway.
[1:16:29] And one thing that I see is that
[1:16:31] because of that no right turn sign, they, they slow down
[1:16:35] to see if they're cops there.
[1:16:36] And, and at least if, if nothing else, they're slowing down.
[1:16:39] And when I, 'cause when I'm backing outta my driveway,
[1:16:41] they can't see me.
[1:16:43] I can't see them. And if they make that quick, right,
[1:16:45] there's been like five or six times
[1:16:47] that I've almost backed right into people making
[1:16:49] that turn again because it's a blind spot.
[1:16:51] So I hope you don't take the sign down.
[1:16:54] Thank
[1:17:02] Linda Bassing Country Club Drive.
[1:17:06] A couple years before I retired,
[1:17:08] I started working from home.
[1:17:10] And the biggest reason why I was happy about
[1:17:14] that was I didn't have to drive out
[1:17:15] of country club in the morning, try
[1:17:17] and make, get out of Country club
[1:17:20] and get onto Orangedale Avenue.
[1:17:22] It's impossible sometimes,
[1:17:25] but I think this is a bigger problem than just one street.
[1:17:30] I don't know any other streets in town.
[1:17:32] I might certainly could be wrong,
[1:17:34] but I don't know any other streets in town
[1:17:37] that have speed humps except for First Street.
[1:17:40] And to me that's, if that's not preferential, I don't know
[1:17:44] what it's, but I think it's a bigger problem than just one
[1:17:48] street problems, not dogs.
[1:17:51] It's a big traffic issue trying to get out
[1:17:54] of Orangedale Avenue in the morning, round eight o'clock.
[1:17:56] Say it's backed up into Hallworth.
[1:17:59] It's backed up to New Milford on the other side.
[1:18:02] It's a big problem. And I think Eileen started something
[1:18:05] really nice to, to talk about.
[1:18:09] I think it's, I think you should do some kind of a traffic,
[1:18:12] traffic study maybe.
[1:18:14] I don't know. It's a, whether the police have some,
[1:18:17] maybe it's a policing thing.
[1:18:20] Maybe we need some more enforcement. I don't know.
[1:18:23] But it's a big, it's a bigger problem
[1:18:24] than what, what people think.
[1:18:36] Yeah. Okay,
[1:18:38] Tom weer four 50 Orell.
[1:18:41] I'm not good at this, so I'm going
[1:18:43] to just jump right into it.
[1:18:46] Being a person who, who lives on Orell Avenue
[1:18:49] for almost 30 years, I'm sensitive to my friends
[1:18:53] who live on grant and and country club.
[1:18:56] I'm sensitive to my neighbors who live on Orell Avenue.
[1:19:00] We all face a very similar problem.
[1:19:03] And that's getting out of our homes.
[1:19:05] We have problems in the morning on First Street.
[1:19:08] I have a problem on Odell Avenue all the time. I have noise.
[1:19:12] Things that people have never talked about.
[1:19:14] I have people, I don't know why other people in other towns
[1:19:17] on, pardon the pun, are the horniest people in the
[1:19:19] world since the pandemic.
[1:19:21] But they're blasting their horns now at five 30 in the
[1:19:24] morning to come through Elm Street
[1:19:26] because there's too much traffic coming that way.
[1:19:28] So we contend with all of the different variances,
[1:19:32] all the different variety of problems in front
[1:19:35] of our homes all day long.
[1:19:37] And there are a handful of home homes
[1:19:38] that are on Third Street, second Street and First Street
[1:19:42] and Orell Avenue that we have
[1:19:43] to contend with those problems.
[1:19:45] But since the signs have been put up, we, we, we were there
[1:19:49] before they were, we were able to get out of our properties
[1:19:53] on Orell Avenue in the morning.
[1:19:55] 'cause we weren't able to. We had same problems our friends
[1:19:58] on Grant have now.
[1:19:59] So it is a big problem and it's a huge problem.
[1:20:02] And I, and I, I thoroughly respect their concerns.
[1:20:06] It was done in our opinion for safety.
[1:20:08] There were cars again.
[1:20:10] Someone mentioned someone came
[1:20:11] around them when they were cutting into the driveway.
[1:20:14] I think it was Terry, it's happened to me multiple times.
[1:20:17] I've nearly crashed my own car because someone cut me off
[1:20:22] and almost went up my driveway at about 60 miles an hour.
[1:20:25] I live 150 feet to the end of the corner.
[1:20:28] So we have people doing crazy things all the time.
[1:20:31] Our police are good, but they're not there all the time.
[1:20:34] I'd like to point out, you know, this is a value.
[1:20:37] We've made these decisions already
[1:20:38] and we've been living with this for almost 30 years now.
[1:20:41] Making the change to go backward is going
[1:20:44] to make some people's lives a little better,
[1:20:46] but make a whole lot of people's lives a lot worse.
[1:20:49] And I think that's an important difference right now.
[1:20:52] I don't want to make their lives worse.
[1:20:54] I, I would like their lives to get better,
[1:20:56] but I don't want my life to get really the quality
[1:20:58] of my life to get that much worse.
[1:20:59] And I live only on first street at the corner.
[1:21:02] The folks that on the other who really deal
[1:21:04] with this illegal turning illegal, a lot of illegal speeding
[1:21:09] speed humps, which have turned into little challenges
[1:21:12] for four wheel drive, Jeeps
[1:21:14] and trucks to see how much air they can get going over and,
[1:21:17] and hearing that in the middle of the night, putting up
[1:21:20] with people who live on, in Howorth wanting
[1:21:24] to beep every time they go over the speed bunk.
[1:21:25] 'cause they don't like the speed bunks.
[1:21:27] We have the same problems
[1:21:28] and maybe seemingly to a small scale,
[1:21:30] but it really was about not convenience,
[1:21:33] but it was really about safety.
[1:21:34] I don't want your safety to be jeopardized.
[1:21:36] I don't want my safety to be jeopardized.
[1:21:38] I don't want your convenience to be jeopardized.
[1:21:40] I don't want mine to be either.
[1:21:42] But right now where we are, if you take that away, it will,
[1:21:45] the bigger answer right now is
[1:21:47] what are we gonna do about the train?
[1:21:48] The train is a major problem right now
[1:21:52] for the backup traffic into Ardell Avenue.
[1:21:55] And by the way, when it backs up all the way into Grant,
[1:21:59] those people cut down first street.
[1:22:01] They just do it automatically.
[1:22:02] They just take the liberty to do it.
[1:22:04] So if we can fix the train situation in the morning,
[1:22:07] it'll alleviate the problem in the morning.
[1:22:09] Some of the problem in the morning, it'll, we have
[1:22:11] to get better at making people able be able
[1:22:13] to make left hand turns onto Elm Street.
[1:22:16] That's a problem. Those lights don't work.
[1:22:18] They, they blow through those blinking lights for the kids.
[1:22:21] Kids are allow, you know, I think they drive by
[1:22:22] and get points for how many people they can scare in the
[1:22:25] morning, how close they can come to you
[1:22:26] and how fast they can come to you.
[1:22:28] It's crazy sometimes just like mayhem can't tell you
[1:22:31] how many times I've almost been hit.
[1:22:32] It's ridiculous.
[1:22:34] If I called every time that I had an issue,
[1:22:38] our police department wouldn't be doing anything else.
[1:22:41] And that's not fair to our police.
[1:22:42] Our police have been great. I have
[1:22:44] no problem with our police.
[1:22:45] But the really take care of the traffic where the roots are.
[1:22:49] Kinder CIMA Avenue
[1:22:50] and Oral Avenue is biggest center problem
[1:22:55] for our traffic flow in the morning.
[1:22:57] You gotta make lights longer,
[1:22:59] you gotta make the traffic move better through Kinder Kmac
[1:23:02] get the traffic away from Grant and Oral Avenue.
[1:23:05] It backs up. If that traffic backed up on Kinder Kmac in
[1:23:09] either direction, the way it backs up into Hallworth,
[1:23:13] people everywhere would be crazy and nuts about it.
[1:23:16] It's really a problem fix.
[1:23:17] If we start to fix those problems, it'll improve the quality
[1:23:21] of life of the people who live on Grant.
[1:23:23] Not greatly, not perfectly, but it will help.
[1:23:26] They do need big time help crossing the streets over there.
[1:23:30] Super dangerous. The intersection at Oral Avenue and Kinder
[1:23:34] and Grant is horrific.
[1:23:38] Wouldn't I crossed my dog there?
[1:23:39] I I I fear for my life. Thank you. Thank
[1:23:42] You.
[1:23:55] Can I come back? I just have one thing about the train
[1:23:58] You one crack at the apple.
[1:24:00] Okay, well it's about the train.
[1:24:02] I think we can acknowledge the train's an issue
[1:24:04] we we share in that sentiment.
[1:24:05] But I was gonna say if the train would just move further
[1:24:07] down so that it wouldn't stop it
[1:24:09] and that that's what they do in River Edge,
[1:24:11] they can either put more asphalt so
[1:24:14] that they extend the platform
[1:24:15] or in river edge you just can't get off
[1:24:18] or on in the first car. So
[1:24:20] The problems also when the train's going north,
[1:24:21] because it is bi-directional service,
[1:24:23] it still blocks the road
[1:24:24] because there's no platform on the north side of the street.
[1:24:27] Right. But at least it would help
[1:24:28] In one direct.
[1:24:29] So we, we we understand the train. We agree.
[1:24:35] Hi, can you hear me? Thanks for having me.
[1:24:39] My name is Kelly Avalara.
[1:24:41] I live on First Street in a house
[1:24:43] with two young kids and two dogs.
[1:24:45] We moved from Harlem to oral in 2021 with hopes
[1:24:49] to raise our children in a safe neighborhood.
[1:24:51] And I wanted to start by saying
[1:24:53] that I completely understand the frustration
[1:24:55] with the congestion at Oral Avenue and Grant Street.
[1:24:58] And I agree that it's a problem that deserves a solution.
[1:25:02] My concern is that opening First Street as a
[1:25:04] through road may solve traffic flow problems at one
[1:25:08] intersection while creating a much more serious safety
[1:25:10] problem on a narrow residential street.
[1:25:13] First Street is cur is a curving residential street
[1:25:17] with limited visibility, residential driveways, pedestrians,
[1:25:21] children and people walking dogs.
[1:25:24] I firsthand have experienced walking across First Street
[1:25:27] onto third Street at a toddler's walking pace
[1:25:30] and having been met with a fast car coming around the bend
[1:25:34] and thankfully stopping in their tracks.
[1:25:36] It happens all the time if it's opened specifically
[1:25:40] to relieve congestion.
[1:25:42] I think we must anticipate that drivers will use it
[1:25:45] as a shortcut, which they already do.
[1:25:46] And that the volume of speed traffic could
[1:25:48] change significantly.
[1:25:50] Traffic safety guidance recognizes that congestion,
[1:25:53] major roads can cause drivers to divert
[1:25:55] through residential neighborhoods
[1:25:57] and it can increase speeding and pedestrian conflicts.
[1:26:01] There are communities where residential cut
[1:26:03] through traffics have resulted in pedestrian collisions
[1:26:06] and where significant measures ultimately had to be taken
[1:26:09] to slow and discourage that traffic.
[1:26:11] I'm not opposed to finding a solution
[1:26:13] to the congestion at Grant Street.
[1:26:15] I'm asking that we not simply move the problem from one
[1:26:18] location to another without first evaluating the safety
[1:26:21] consequences for the residents of First Street.
[1:26:24] A frustrating intersection at a tra
[1:26:26] and a traffic delay are inconveniences
[1:26:28] and a serious accident involving a child, a pedestrian
[1:26:31] or cyclist on a residential street is an entirely
[1:26:34] different consequence.
[1:26:36] I would respectfully ask that this be evaluated
[1:26:38] as a traffic engineering
[1:26:40] and public safety issue rather than a question
[1:26:43] of whether opening First Street would improve traffic flow
[1:26:46] or help with favoritism.
[1:26:48] I think the residents dealing
[1:26:49] with congestion deserve a solution,
[1:26:51] but the residents living on First Street
[1:26:53] deserve a safe solution.
[1:26:54] Thank you. You opened
[1:26:59] it up for, I didn't open it up.
[1:27:01] She spoke at the microphone. I said No, stop it.
[1:27:04] I want you get one shot. Those are the rules. Nice.
[1:27:07] Sorry Eileen, can I comment?
[1:27:12] Anybody else from the public would like
[1:27:13] to address the council on a non agenda item?
[1:27:19] Yeah.
[1:27:20] Good evening Counsel. Paul 50 Beverly Road.
[1:27:27] I see that we have a lot of problems with traffic
[1:27:29] and the speeding and the train station
[1:27:32] and those are the things that we have to work on.
[1:27:35] And that's my only comment on that
[1:27:36] because I didn't come here to talk about
[1:27:38] that particular thing.
[1:27:41] Now in action
[1:27:42] and delay, I wanna talk about that The planning board failed
[1:27:47] to meet again three times in four months.
[1:27:52] They had failed to, to
[1:27:58] bring forth the ordinance on Windows
[1:28:01] for storefronts to the council.
[1:28:07] On another topic, the sidewalk correction
[1:28:10] and repair on prospect is being addressed.
[1:28:15] Hurrah, that's good on safety concerns.
[1:28:21] The project to re replace light posts to provide
[1:28:24] for increased lighting is also being addressed
[1:28:28] from River Edge
[1:28:30] and Orell border on Kinder cmac to Ringwood,
[1:28:35] Ridgewood and kinder Kmac rah, that's great for safety.
[1:28:41] The speed indicator on the east side of Kinder Cmac
[1:28:47] north of New Milford Avenue has not been
[1:28:52] repaired or replaced.
[1:28:54] It was knocked down. Maybe we need more speed and indicators
[1:28:58] or big signs that say 25 miles per hour
[1:29:02] and then we have to back it up with
[1:29:07] our police force and ticket.
[1:29:11] The playgrounds of Prospect Avenue
[1:29:13] and Ridgewood Avenue Deepak
[1:29:18] are both in need of repair and maintenance.
[1:29:22] I dunno, it's from the storm or what.
[1:29:25] Both have a tripping hazard or ground coverings exposed
[1:29:30] and the need of wood chip coverings.
[1:29:34] The Prospect Playground has a yellow tape to surrounding
[1:29:39] a lower portion of the slide, not in use, you know,
[1:29:42] as I pass by today, they have those traffic horses there
[1:29:47] so that the kids can't use that.
[1:29:51] The sidewalk brick wall in front of our library is
[1:29:56] once again in need of repair
[1:29:59] and there's a hazard to tripping
[1:30:00] to people entering the library.
[1:30:05] So these are all safety issues that are happening
[1:30:08] and they're all maintenance issues in, in light of the
[1:30:14] DPW, having less people working there.
[1:30:17] We can't take care of all these things
[1:30:19] unless we get some more people to work
[1:30:22] and get these things fixed.
[1:30:25] Note on the water filters for pfas
[1:30:30] and microplastics
[1:30:32] and I spoke about this at the last meeting at $2.5 billion
[1:30:37] was distributed as a result of DuPont.
[1:30:42] And who was the other one? I forgot the other one.
[1:30:45] DuPont and another company that had to pay it.
[1:30:50] I I, I think that that
[1:30:54] money should be forwarded some of it to our
[1:31:00] Veolia to put in these filters now, now that we know how to
[1:31:06] clear microplastics out so we don't get it in our bodies.
[1:31:09] And I think that's the real number one health situation
[1:31:13] problem here and all over the country about
[1:31:16] microplastics and chemicals.
[1:31:20] Okay, no, I just wanna note another couple things here.
[1:31:27] 66 kids Kmac Road Lot and Side Street
[1:31:31] and Argyle is in need of weed repair
[1:31:33] and maintenance of weeds.
[1:31:35] Three feet high. And
[1:31:40] while I attended a concert of the Chiclets,
[1:31:45] it was, it was a real nice concert.
[1:31:46] We had, we had a nice concerts this this year.
[1:31:50] Summer concerts, a drone passed over our heads
[1:31:55] and that's the third one I've seen.
[1:31:57] And they're coming from the east and they're going west.
[1:32:01] And who allowed them to do that?
[1:32:04] How do they have permission to fly drones over us
[1:32:09] going from east to west?
[1:32:12] I think somebody should look into that. And that's it.
[1:32:17] And the third drone I've seen, that was the third drone
[1:32:21] that I saw this year.
[1:32:23] And I thank you for listening
[1:32:25] and I hope we can all get together
[1:32:29] and solve this problem that you guys have.
[1:32:35] Thank you Paul. Thanks.
[1:32:41] Hi, I'm Bill Kurtz. I'm at 4 21 first Street.
[1:32:45] I was here about a year and a half ago.
[1:32:46] We had a whole meeting about that corner
[1:32:49] and I spent two hours here with my neighbors trying, trying
[1:32:51] to figure out ways to make that specific corner better.
[1:32:55] And nothing happened. I mean,
[1:32:56] literally they put up some cones on the curve,
[1:32:58] but nothing happened at the corner.
[1:33:00] And we spent two hours
[1:33:01] and there was a, a, a company that did a study
[1:33:04] and a lot went into it.
[1:33:05] So I'm, I'm wondering, like I hear
[1:33:07] that there's gonna be a meeting on the 24th about public
[1:33:09] safety, but if we're having meetings
[1:33:11] but nothing's coming of it, what are we doing here?
[1:33:14] Because I, I'm seeing neighbors going at each other
[1:33:17] when we had a meeting two years ago
[1:33:20] about this specific corner and nothing was done.
[1:33:22] So I just encouraged the council to use maybe that data from
[1:33:26] that meeting to move forward
[1:33:28] with creating a solution at that specific corner.
[1:33:31] Thanks.
[1:33:40] Good evening. J Katzen Laurel Drive.
[1:33:45] I hear the, all the people. Thank you all for coming.
[1:33:47] It's good to see so many people, Paul,
[1:33:51] at least we're not alone here.
[1:33:56] I also live on the street on Laurel Drive, which
[1:33:59] some drivers are using as a cut through street
[1:34:05] from Spring Valley Road into Martin
[1:34:09] and also into, what is it?
[1:34:13] Ridgewood Avenue, east Ridgewood Avenue.
[1:34:17] But those are usually,
[1:34:19] or the residents that are just trying to cut through
[1:34:23] a little closer to their home.
[1:34:26] One guy that was talking about the cut through here
[1:34:30] touched a point that none of you have touched.
[1:34:34] Most of the drivers that are going
[1:34:36] through our town in the morning are not orell residents
[1:34:41] and therefore they allow themselves to speed.
[1:34:44] They allow themselves to do illegal turns to do all that.
[1:34:50] This is a problem. I mean there is a solution for that.
[1:34:55] You put a toll booth
[1:34:56] and you say, you say free, free for
[1:35:00] or the residents, you're gonna solve the problem.
[1:35:03] First of all, the traffic is gonna cut into half.
[1:35:05] Look at New York City with its congestion pricing.
[1:35:09] It's a pleasure to drive now in a city. Pleasure. Yes.
[1:35:14] The other solution,
[1:35:17] and it's been implemented, I drive a lot.
[1:35:20] I work in the New York City area. I drive a lot in Queens.
[1:35:24] If any of you has been in a past five years in Queens,
[1:35:28] every street block has this new AI cameras.
[1:35:32] There are not only red light cameras,
[1:35:35] they're also speeding cameras.
[1:35:38] And then the way they program them
[1:35:41] is you get the ticket at 29 miles per hour.
[1:35:45] 25, okay? 26, 27, 28 at 29 you get a ticket.
[1:35:51] And those I think are $125 tickets.
[1:35:54] So the same cameras, maybe we can install the same type
[1:35:59] of cameras as they have all over Queens.
[1:36:01] It's just like every block.
[1:36:03] It's not just like a few blocks without every block which
[1:36:07] has a red light
[1:36:09] or no red light has a speeding camera on it.
[1:36:13] So that will be something to consider.
[1:36:15] This way you're gonna free the patrolmen of
[1:36:18] or Dell to do their job
[1:36:20] and not to stand there and catch drivers.
[1:36:23] So that, that, as far as that,
[1:36:26] and hopefully with the implementing
[1:36:31] of more and more autonomous driving cars,
[1:36:35] those cars with AI
[1:36:38] and the GPS are going to basically direct drivers
[1:36:42] to the safest place
[1:36:43] and to the best route to get to their destination
[1:36:46] and not through Orde.
[1:36:48] So, but that is sometimes away.
[1:36:54] I want to touch on two things.
[1:36:59] The first one of them is, I believe this borrow approved
[1:37:04] a Electric Street cleaners,
[1:37:08] but for the past three months I have not seen
[1:37:12] any street cleaners in my street in Laurel Drive.
[1:37:16] I haven't seen one, so I don't know what happened to that,
[1:37:19] if it needs a repair or something.
[1:37:21] But the oral 5K is coming
[1:37:25] and Laurel Drive is one of the routes of the 5K.
[1:37:29] And it has maybe Dan is listening right now
[1:37:33] and is gonna do that.
[1:37:35] The street needs cleaning and it's not just Laurel Drive.
[1:37:38] There's a photo contest going on in Orell
[1:37:41] and I want people to take photos,
[1:37:44] but we don't want to take photos of streets
[1:37:46] that on the side have leaves
[1:37:49] and debris from the last storm.
[1:37:52] Still from the last storm.
[1:37:55] And the final things is council,
[1:38:01] I just wanna congratulate the ordinance committee
[1:38:04] for finally, finally coming up
[1:38:08] and talking about the ordinance, the upcoming ordinance
[1:38:13] of the honorary street names.
[1:38:15] Okay? And I listened to all the comments that you guys had
[1:38:19] and let's just remind us that this is not,
[1:38:23] we're not changing the street, it's an honorary street name,
[1:38:28] which is attached to the actual street.
[1:38:31] And I like the comments.
[1:38:32] I believe Roger, you said something about, you know,
[1:38:36] feeling the temperature of the people as far as naming,
[1:38:41] you need to feel the temperature of, bless you,
[1:38:44] of the people on the street.
[1:38:46] It'll be nice to, to do on the, for the people
[1:38:50] who are living in the street, in that street,
[1:38:54] what they think about it.
[1:38:55] And yes, neighboring.
[1:38:56] And as far as the time limits,
[1:38:58] we're gonna talk about next time.
[1:39:01] 'cause I don't wanna take too much time.
[1:39:03] Not because that beep, that beep. No one is scared of it.
[1:39:06] But the mayor two weeks ago threatened with a gavel
[1:39:10] and that is something to consider.
[1:39:21] That's a good point. Mr. Kason. Thank you. Thanks Mayor.
[1:39:24] Anyone else for public comment on non-consent agenda items?
[1:39:29] Seeing none, I'd ask for a motion to close
[1:39:31] to the public for non-ag agenda. So
[1:39:33] Moved. Second. Second.
[1:39:34] All in favor? Aye. Okay. Any opposed? Motion carries.
[1:39:38] Next I'll entertain a motion to open
[1:39:40] to the public for consent.
[1:39:42] Agenda item only. I make that motion. All in favor?
[1:39:47] Aye. Aye. Any opposed? Okay. Motion carries.
[1:39:50] Before the first speaker gets up,
[1:39:52] we have something on the agenda here, consent agenda.
[1:39:56] And I don't know if I'm missing it,
[1:39:57] but I don't see a resolution 180 6.
[1:40:02] A proposal is not provided to me in order to draft one,
[1:40:06] So we're gonna remove it.
[1:40:08] Okay. So
[1:40:09] before we get speaking,
[1:40:11] 180 6 is stricken from the consent agenda for this evening.
[1:40:14] Which one? I'm sorry. 26. 180 6.
[1:40:17] There's no backup in any of our paperwork for that.
[1:40:23] Okay. So we're open to the public
[1:40:26] for comments on any of the resolutions.
[1:40:29] 1 77 through 180 5.
[1:40:34] Wow. This soon takes a pass.
[1:40:37] Motion to close public comment for consent. Second.
[1:40:39] Second. All in favor? Aye. Aye. Any opposed?
[1:40:43] Okay, motion carries.
[1:40:45] So next we'll consider the consent agenda.
[1:40:49] Does any ca member of the council wish to pull an item
[1:40:53] for separate vote or discussion or have questions?
[1:40:57] I don't wanna pull it, but resolution 26 180 4
[1:41:00] and also resolution 26 180 5.
[1:41:03] I'm very familiar with the grant situation
[1:41:07] and neither one mentions A, the amount of grant
[1:41:10] that they're going for
[1:41:12] and B, the amount of money up front that orell may
[1:41:16] or may not have to pay
[1:41:17] and who's where these funds are coming from.
[1:41:19] So I just was curious about that.
[1:41:23] And particularly 26, 180 5,
[1:41:25] which sounds like a wonderful idea,
[1:41:28] but it doesn't say what, if any costs are included with that
[1:41:32] and how those costs would be defrayed,
[1:41:35] Council president, do you have to touch on
[1:41:37] That?
[1:41:38] Yeah, so that's, that's all good news.
[1:41:41] Again, it's for those not looking at it's submission
[1:41:44] for an application to Arts 14 C for
[1:41:48] the 2026 World Cup art installation.
[1:41:52] So the genesis is,
[1:41:56] I was down at the shore reading a shore paper
[1:41:58] and the front page of the paper was a big giant soccer ball.
[1:42:02] It was this picture of art and it was an Asbury park
[1:42:07] and the story had the
[1:42:12] art facility that sponsored that
[1:42:14] and they, the, there are 23 soccer balls right now
[1:42:18] because of the World Cup in this metropolitan area.
[1:42:22] And the story said at the end
[1:42:24] of the World Cup they would be donating them to local
[1:42:27] municipalities, parks, libraries, et cetera, et cetera.
[1:42:32] And I called, I looked it up
[1:42:35] and I called the place 14 c is the name of the art
[1:42:39] studio, I guess in Jersey City.
[1:42:42] And I had, was lucky to get the, the person
[1:42:45] that runs the place
[1:42:46] and I said, hey, we may have some interest for free
[1:42:52] to have that piece of art here for our borough.
[1:42:55] And so that's where it came from
[1:42:57] and we just put in that application to be in that lottery
[1:43:01] to get one of those 23.
[1:43:02] We're gonna find out I think by September 8th.
[1:43:05] So we had a little plan, so the no cost, no installation,
[1:43:09] and you can Google that,
[1:43:10] but I think, I don't know if it came in our packet,
[1:43:12] but it's probably a six by six soccer ball
[1:43:16] that there's 23 different ones from
[1:43:18] artists all over the world.
[1:43:21] So it's really a neat thing to to
[1:43:25] for our borough if we win this and it's various designs
[1:43:30] and just a really neat thing memorializing the World
[1:43:33] Cup. So that's it.
[1:43:35] And my second question was on the 26 180 4, is
[1:43:39] that the arts grant?
[1:43:41] Yeah, so that is an annual grant
[1:43:43] and the mayor could probably speak to that.
[1:43:44] That's from the county, from the County Arts Society
[1:43:49] or something that there's money each year.
[1:43:50] This will be the sixth or seventh year that we
[1:43:52] Have.
[1:43:53] I'm very familiar with that. But I, my question was,
[1:43:55] what does the borough have to put?
[1:43:57] Nothing fully funded.
[1:43:58] Last year, I think it was $6,000, five
[1:44:00] or 6,000 every year that covers the arts festival.
[1:44:03] So it's just an annual application.
[1:44:05] There could potentially be
[1:44:07] some additional funding, but that's all.
[1:44:10] And that pretty much covers all of the costs
[1:44:13] for the festival that we have.
[1:44:14] So it's really just a, an annual event hopefully, you
[1:44:18] Know.
[1:44:19] We'll, so there's no upfront money.
[1:44:20] That's correct. Yeah, no, it's just a check that we
[1:44:22] Got.
[1:44:23] That's interesting. Okay. Thank you. Thank you Tom.
[1:44:24] Really great. Thanks. You're welcome.
[1:44:25] Appreciate it. You're welcome.
[1:44:26] Oh, while we're talking about 180 5, the
[1:44:31] the s ball s sculpture, is that a commitment by us
[1:44:36] to install this if we, if we are granted the
[1:44:40] No, that's the good thing.
[1:44:41] Yeah. That everything fully,
[1:44:43] and you can Google this probably, or
[1:44:45] or we can send this out, but no, you know me,
[1:44:47] bring it here and install it.
[1:44:48] And we had to, and that's really it.
[1:44:52] It's really just a, we have a town here, as we all know,
[1:44:55] we're a pretty busy town.
[1:44:57] If it's at the corner, potentially we had
[1:45:00] to give 'em a where could it be?
[1:45:01] And it was kind of a rushed process
[1:45:03] that the World Cup just ended
[1:45:05] and this application pretty much had
[1:45:07] to be in the week later.
[1:45:09] So that's why, you know, we, we discuss in,
[1:45:12] in the borough here to get this thing in.
[1:45:14] We told them potentially for rah park right here,
[1:45:18] we're a major thoroughfare.
[1:45:19] You got the train, you got this kind kac Northdale Avenue.
[1:45:22] Potentially that's where it could be.
[1:45:24] Okay. But this is not committing us to
[1:45:26] that site for this sculpture. If
[1:45:29] This resolution, I mean,
[1:45:30] I think that they would work with us.
[1:45:31] I mean, they're looking at foster arts
[1:45:33] and if we had another idea, I'm gonna assume
[1:45:36] that they may say, sure, why don't you put it, yeah.
[1:45:39] They want a visible spot that, you know,
[1:45:42] to memorialize the World Cup.
[1:45:43] That, and then, I don't know when the last time was here,
[1:45:47] but that's really it, just to show that art off.
[1:45:49] Good. I'd like to look a little further into it myself.
[1:45:51] Got it. And, and I appreciate the effort.
[1:45:53] Yes, thank you. And your honor, talk offline. Lemme know.
[1:45:57] Thank you. And then finally 26 180 6.
[1:46:00] Are we voting on that tonight? I
[1:46:03] Pulled that, I, I pulled it.
[1:46:04] Oh, okay. We have no backup. Pardon?
[1:46:06] There's nothing to discuss. We have no backup.
[1:46:08] Yeah, that's why I was asking. Yeah. Okay. Thank you.
[1:46:11] Good not to vote on nothing.
[1:46:15] Any other questions on the consent agenda?
[1:46:18] If not, I'll entertain a motion to approve.
[1:46:20] So moved. Second Roll call please.
[1:46:23] Mr. Ian. I'm sorry, Mr. Hilly here?
[1:46:26] Yes. Mr. Ian? Yes. Mr. Her? Yes. Mr. Golum? Yes. Ms.
[1:46:30] Herre? Yes. Mr. Banfield?
[1:46:32] Yes. Okay.
[1:46:34] Next on the agenda, am going
[1:46:39] to yield my time to the residents of First Street tonight,
[1:46:41] so we can keep things moving.
[1:46:42] So Council President Kelly, your report.
[1:46:47] Yes, thanks Mayor Administration.
[1:46:50] We began working just recently on the upcoming
[1:46:55] UPS EEU contract, which expires at the end of this year.
[1:46:58] That's, I think a three year turn.
[1:47:00] So we, we look
[1:47:01] to really get into those discussions in the very near future
[1:47:04] with their representatives.
[1:47:08] And also the key focus I think here with everybody,
[1:47:11] whether it's the borough or personally, is trying
[1:47:14] to get ahead of how we plan for the health insurance
[1:47:17] and expected massive increases once
[1:47:20] again that we're gonna see this year.
[1:47:21] So last meeting we engaged with the insurance broker
[1:47:24] to hold our hands to give us some guidance
[1:47:27] to get us through that process.
[1:47:31] So more to come on that,
[1:47:33] but that's also by year end
[1:47:35] Summer Fridays I think gonna borrow website
[1:47:37] that's now coming to, to an end.
[1:47:39] I think that in general that that worked out okay.
[1:47:41] Again, we went from five days a week, eight to four to
[1:47:46] Monday to Thursday, eight to four 30
[1:47:49] and Friday, eight to 1:00 PM for the building.
[1:47:51] And I think in general I haven't, I think it's worked out
[1:47:54] for the residents and, and for the folks
[1:47:56] or for our employees.
[1:47:57] So that's a good thing. But that's last day is next Friday.
[1:48:01] Finance much to do.
[1:48:04] Heading into the last four months of the year,
[1:48:06] we're working on the capital budget.
[1:48:08] We have met with a number of the department heads.
[1:48:10] We're gonna wrap up those meetings
[1:48:12] and should have some additional feedback for the rest
[1:48:16] of the governing body here in the near future.
[1:48:18] We're interviewing a, the,
[1:48:21] or the CFO's entity, be a
[1:48:25] for the finance clerk position, which we need to fill fill.
[1:48:29] We've gotten great reception, I think 30 plus resumes.
[1:48:33] So that's going on right now
[1:48:34] and they're still accepting applications there.
[1:48:40] But along with healthcare, again, the, the challenge is
[1:48:43] that healthcare expenses, the overtime
[1:48:47] and the other related expenses that have come from
[1:48:51] primarily the July 4th storm.
[1:48:52] But the other storms that we had, obviously,
[1:48:57] you know, it's a challenge that we're gonna have to work out
[1:49:00] and, and have a plan for and,
[1:49:02] and to pay for all of those unexpected expenses.
[1:49:06] And on the other side of the positive side of the equation,
[1:49:09] we're kind of at the goal line.
[1:49:10] We did last meeting approve Provident
[1:49:14] as another bank that we could do business with.
[1:49:17] So it's really just to really negotiate and it's working out
[1:49:21] and we're at the goal line of maximizing on what
[1:49:25] we get paid on our cash.
[1:49:26] And those are real dollars here.
[1:49:28] That interest rates on this side of the equation for us are,
[1:49:32] as we know still on the higher side.
[1:49:34] So those multiples really matter when we have millions
[1:49:38] of dollars in these banks here
[1:49:40] and it's a very competitive business.
[1:49:41] So that's happening now as we speak.
[1:49:45] And again, that's good on the positive side to a,
[1:49:48] a large dollar amount, which is great.
[1:49:49] Hopefully offset some of those costs.
[1:49:51] Environmental beautification, we have
[1:49:54] a river cleanup at the Hackensack Riverkeeper on nine 12
[1:49:58] right here in Orell.
[1:49:59] That's really a neat day to get on the river.
[1:50:02] If anybody wants to help out
[1:50:03] and clean up, they provide the canoes
[1:50:06] and they provide the a lunch in the morning
[1:50:11] and you can get in the boat
[1:50:12] and clear out some of the stuff that's in that,
[1:50:14] that river that day.
[1:50:15] So there'll be more to come on that, but that's the 12th.
[1:50:20] We'll also gonna be shortly rolling out
[1:50:22] from a grants from Sustainable New Jersey, a series
[1:50:26] of videos on recycling
[1:50:28] and smart recycling practices that should go to OPDV
[1:50:32] and I believe also orell YouTube.
[1:50:35] And there's also been some renewed energy to
[1:50:41] restart, I guess a community garden in town.
[1:50:44] And it's, it's a difficult process
[1:50:46] but we have a, a number of folks that like to do that.
[1:50:50] We also have, again, friendship House who's helping
[1:50:52] us out with the plastic bags.
[1:50:53] They have some energy that they have committed to to help us
[1:50:57] and we're at the point of just looking to locate
[1:51:02] the right spot for that.
[1:51:03] So more to come on that when that happens.
[1:51:06] And obviously all, all help is, is welcome there.
[1:51:10] Seniors were scheduled to meet next Monday
[1:51:13] after kind of a summer break.
[1:51:14] Still a full robust calendar thanks to our, our staff here
[1:51:18] and including Archery, which was a couple of weeks ago,
[1:51:21] which I missed, but I heard that one pretty well.
[1:51:26] Bergen County Senior Festival 9 24 at advance on,
[1:51:31] and again to thank our seniors,
[1:51:33] I mentioned I know oftentimes the benches, plastic bags,
[1:51:36] they've really have been the ballast of that program
[1:51:40] that it's in the senior center
[1:51:42] and we have a couple of really dedicated seniors
[1:51:44] that keep that thing going.
[1:51:45] So it's a great community event of the seniors,
[1:51:48] the environmental community
[1:51:49] and friendship house that working together
[1:51:51] to clean up our area
[1:51:53] and to, you know, to get those benches
[1:51:56] that are are, that are in use here.
[1:51:57] And I think that's it.
[1:52:00] The arts, we're happy to get yeah, to apply for that grant.
[1:52:02] There's also talk of having a,
[1:52:03] a dance festival in the, in the near future.
[1:52:05] So more to come on that. And that's all I have there.
[1:52:08] Thank you. DPW and engineering Councilman Ashton.
[1:52:11] Sure. So I'm gonna start with engineering
[1:52:14] and unfortunately the room emptied,
[1:52:17] but I just wanna comment about this study in 1999.
[1:52:22] The actual recommendation of that study was to barricade
[1:52:27] first street at Grant Ave
[1:52:29] and not allow any cars to turn on Grant Ave.
[1:52:32] Just so you know that that was the history.
[1:52:34] And I heard the word compromise a lot tonight.
[1:52:38] The compromise was to put the sign for the no right turn.
[1:52:41] Okay. And I know that because my in-laws lived on the
[1:52:44] block during that time.
[1:52:46] So just speak now, but I know I can't.
[1:52:48] Alright, just to comment, so DPW met today,
[1:52:53] we talked a little bit about trees
[1:52:56] and hiring outside services.
[1:52:59] Just an announcement for residents that any debris
[1:53:04] that remains from the storm is now the
[1:53:06] responsibility of the residents.
[1:53:08] The town did their sweeps
[1:53:10] and if the branches weren't out at, you know,
[1:53:13] when they were doing the sweeps,
[1:53:14] it's now the responsibility of their residents.
[1:53:16] I will make one exception for that is the bottom
[1:53:20] of Soldier Hill Road was never cleaned up
[1:53:22] and it's gonna be closed on Thursday,
[1:53:25] so just plan your traffic accordingly.
[1:53:28] There was also discussion about the hiring of the laborers
[1:53:32] that were short there
[1:53:34] and starting the process of looking
[1:53:36] for an assistant supervisor. And that's all I have.
[1:53:41] Just one question on the debris, if it's cut up compliant
[1:53:46] with the vegetation pickup,
[1:53:47] It can go out with regular vegetation.
[1:53:48] Yeah, they'll pick it up on Sunday. That is correct.
[1:53:50] Okay. Thank you. Fire audit
[1:53:54] compliance ordinance. Councilman
[1:53:56] Kern?
[1:53:57] Yeah Mayor, I'll make this a quick.
[1:53:59] So fire department update
[1:54:01] or the Orell fire Department has responded to 287 calls
[1:54:05] so far in 2026.
[1:54:08] There has been an emergency communications issue
[1:54:11] that the fire chief raised.
[1:54:12] The fire chief has reported an ongoing issue
[1:54:15] with residents leaving voicemails on the department's office
[1:54:18] phone to report active emergencies such
[1:54:21] as fire alarm activations,
[1:54:25] carbon monoxide alarms, and natural gas odors.
[1:54:29] The department would like to mention
[1:54:31] that the office is not staffed 24 7 while the,
[1:54:36] the voicemail greeting has an updated
[1:54:39] has been updated explicitly to direct, direct callers
[1:54:42] to hang up and dial 9 1 1.
[1:54:45] Emergency voicemails are still being left.
[1:54:49] We ask that all residents
[1:54:53] that have an emergency must report directly to nine to 9 1 1
[1:54:57] to ensure a proper and immediate fire department response.
[1:55:02] As far as ordinance committee, we have an update
[1:55:06] with regards to the work zone ordinance in the works.
[1:55:10] The ordinance committee met
[1:55:12] with the police chief on Thursday the 20th to review
[1:55:15] a proposed amended amendment
[1:55:19] to chapter 200, 280 vehicles in traffic.
[1:55:24] The purpose of the ordinance draft creates Article nine
[1:55:29] to establish centralized municipal municipal authority
[1:55:34] over work zones, road openings, road closures,
[1:55:38] and ensuring uniform traffic control
[1:55:40] and protecting public safety.
[1:55:43] The ordinance ensures as drafted that,
[1:55:48] that all municipal traffic control operations strictly
[1:55:51] comply with Title 39 39,
[1:55:55] the New Jersey Department of Transportation
[1:55:58] and the Manual Uniform Traffic Control devices.
[1:56:04] Just to give you a little more background, no contractor
[1:56:07] or utility or entity will be permitted to obstruct
[1:56:10] municipal roadways and the establishment of a work zone
[1:56:14] or implementation without prior
[1:56:18] approval from the borough of police department.
[1:56:22] And the police chief will have authority to determine if a
[1:56:27] police, if a, if, if
[1:56:31] road detail is required and how many officers are needed.
[1:56:35] So this is something that's in the works
[1:56:37] and should be coming out
[1:56:39] hopefully within the next month. That's all I have.
[1:56:44] Thank you John. Public Safety
[1:56:47] technology wreck, special events. Councilman Gall.
[1:56:50] Yeah, just a couple key points
[1:56:51] to highlight on given the interest of time.
[1:56:54] So this past week the Borough Police Department
[1:56:58] traffic sergeant in detail conducted first
[1:57:02] of pedestrian safety walks in terms of simulations
[1:57:07] of people going through, I'm happy to report
[1:57:10] they wrote 60 summonses in three key areas of town.
[1:57:14] So we're not, I'm not gonna go into detail of when
[1:57:19] and when it's gonna happen again,
[1:57:20] but we just know that it's been very effective
[1:57:23] and I commend the chief and the traffic sergeant
[1:57:25] for putting the time in for that
[1:57:27] and just know that that will continue
[1:57:30] through over the next couple months.
[1:57:32] In terms of, lemme just see here,
[1:57:38] Just kind of switching over to special events.
[1:57:41] We just finished up the concert series.
[1:57:43] We have our nine 11 ceremony on Friday,
[1:57:46] September 11th at the firehouse 6:00 PM All are welcome
[1:57:50] for the 25th anniversary of
[1:57:54] the memorial.
[1:57:56] The memorial and the tragedy.
[1:57:59] In terms of playgrounds, we are fully aware
[1:58:02] and addressing the maintenance, specifically
[1:58:07] the mulch and I'm happy to report
[1:58:08] that there will be a phased effort
[1:58:11] to get the high priority areas of Memorial and Deepak.
[1:58:16] In terms of the slide, good news,
[1:58:18] bad news we are aware of it is the good news.
[1:58:20] We have it on order, it's going to take four to six weeks.
[1:58:24] So we'd just be advised that that's something
[1:58:26] that we will be trying to put a temporary prevention device,
[1:58:31] if you will, over the slide.
[1:58:33] But obviously people are anxious to
[1:58:36] to fiddle with those types of things.
[1:58:38] Lastly, I just wanted two other, mention two other dates
[1:58:42] or really one other date,
[1:58:43] which is Saturday October 10th in the morning.
[1:58:46] The Okay Kids Foundation will be hand handling
[1:58:49] or hosting their 5K race
[1:58:52] and fun run registrations open@orellkids.org
[1:58:56] and later on that afternoon we will be hosting
[1:59:00] the annual Fall Fest at Memorial Field.
[1:59:02] All are welcome. And that's my report.
[1:59:06] Thank you. Just one other thing you wanna make mention
[1:59:08] about the precautionary measures people should be taking
[1:59:12] with their cars and fobs and locking doors. Yes.
[1:59:15] So as many of you have probably received, if you register
[1:59:18] for Orell alerts over the past two weeks,
[1:59:23] there have been maybe more than on one hand incidences
[1:59:29] where either cars have re been, residents have been victims
[1:59:34] of theft with their cars and or cars have been stolen
[1:59:37] because they've left key fobs in the cars.
[1:59:39] So just a public service announcement to take your key fob
[1:59:44] inside and lock your car.
[1:59:47] Yes. Make their job a little harder. Yes. Thank you.
[1:59:50] Historical library economic development,
[1:59:52] Councilwoman Harris,
[1:59:53] Absolutely the historical committee was on hiatus
[1:59:57] in this last month.
[1:59:58] But Sam Tripps, Jill Bari,
[2:00:04] Lou Esler and Nick Bein and I
[2:00:07] and Pat Schubert all are continuing
[2:00:08] to work on the historical pictorial book of Orell
[2:00:11] and there will be more of that as we go forward.
[2:00:14] The library also took a hiatus,
[2:00:16] but they have a wonderful website
[2:00:18] and there's a lot of activities coming up.
[2:00:20] So I encourage you to look at their website
[2:00:22] and join in the activities
[2:00:24] for all ages of the public library.
[2:00:26] I'm working to set up an economic development conference in
[2:00:30] the fall and you'll hear from more information about that.
[2:00:33] I would like all our businessmen, men and business owners
[2:00:36] and people who want to and businesswomen
[2:00:38] and people who wanna do business in oral to
[2:00:41] consider being a part of that.
[2:00:43] And I will give you more information when it's
[2:00:45] ready. That's all.
[2:00:48] Thank you. Councilwoman Hare, board of Health,
[2:00:50] municipal Drug Alliance
[2:00:52] and Boards of Education. Councilman Banfield.
[2:00:54] Thank you. First of all, I've asked for each member
[2:00:58] of the council to have a copy of the proposed
[2:01:01] Public Health Shared Services agreement between our borough
[2:01:05] and Bergen County.
[2:01:07] This, it's a longer document so I wanted you to have plenty
[2:01:11] of time to take a look at it.
[2:01:13] It's very similar to the one that the three year agreement,
[2:01:16] which expires in December of this year.
[2:01:19] So we'll need to make a decision about re-upping.
[2:01:25] Our current plan was roughly 17,000.
[2:01:29] This new one is coming in at 19,000.
[2:01:32] So there's a small increase, a remarkable array of services
[2:01:36] that are provided for that money
[2:01:38] and I, I think we'll want to go with it.
[2:01:40] There will be an alternative
[2:01:43] possibility presented.
[2:01:47] So we'll discuss that and we have a little time to do that.
[2:01:52] On August 19th, the Orell Public School Board met,
[2:01:57] I learned that, that we are the biggest
[2:01:59] elementary school in New Jersey.
[2:02:01] I hadn't known that they voted to
[2:02:05] approve an updated ed evacuation plan,
[2:02:10] educators professional development plan
[2:02:12] and a code of conduct,
[2:02:13] which will include no internet enabled devices
[2:02:17] from bell to bell.
[2:02:19] There's some minor details I think they still
[2:02:21] have to work out on that.
[2:02:22] They also congratulated
[2:02:25] and voted to hire Laura Calandra
[2:02:29] as assistant principal out of 120 initial candidates.
[2:02:35] The kindergarten playground has been refreshed,
[2:02:38] it's almost complete
[2:02:40] and a replacement of a rooftop HVAC unit as well.
[2:02:44] The fence damaged at the play field
[2:02:47] from July 4th storm will be repaired and a tree removed.
[2:02:53] And that's my report.
[2:02:54] Thank you Councilman
[2:02:56] Joanne, anything from the borough attorney?
[2:02:58] I have nothing to add. Okay, thank you Mr. Atkinson.
[2:03:03] Sure, Thank you.
[2:03:05] I'll try to keep it brief given the hour.
[2:03:07] So as you guys had indicated the repairs
[2:03:10] to the concrete sidewalker underway,
[2:03:13] I would anticipate Prospect AB being done
[2:03:15] either tomorrow or the next day.
[2:03:17] Once they're done with Prospect, they will be heading over
[2:03:20] to Grant Avenue to take care
[2:03:22] of the sidewalk in that location.
[2:03:24] Original timeframe was about a week
[2:03:25] and a half's worth of time
[2:03:27] to do the concrete work over there.
[2:03:29] So again, they're, they'll be there later this week
[2:03:34] to get things started on grant A as well to get
[2:03:36] that addressed.
[2:03:39] Additionally, last time we met,
[2:03:41] we discussed the bank stabilization over
[2:03:43] on East Orchard Street.
[2:03:45] We did provide you guys with four different options
[2:03:49] that we looked into based on the DEP regulations of
[2:03:52] what we feel would be allowed based on the regulations,
[2:03:57] spelled out different options and the costs related to them.
[2:04:00] Basically varying anywhere from about 150 up to 250,000,
[2:04:05] which includes all your permitting costs
[2:04:08] and soft costs related to the, to that particular work.
[2:04:12] Our office is in the process of establishing
[2:04:16] the boundary work over there
[2:04:17] 'cause the bureau owns the parcel
[2:04:19] where the Brook runs through there.
[2:04:22] We're in the process of getting all the deeds
[2:04:23] and title search and then our survey crews will be going out
[2:04:27] there within the next several days.
[2:04:30] We'll get information over to Ed's office so in case people
[2:04:34] call, 'cause there will be surveyor, guys marked
[2:04:37] with bright yellow vest that say Nely on the back, walking
[2:04:40] through the properties, picking up the bank information,
[2:04:43] meaning the stream bank as well as trees
[2:04:46] and that type of information which will be needed
[2:04:49] for the permit process with the DEP. So
[2:04:52] Dave, question regarding that.
[2:04:54] I saw the four proposals, would you be able
[2:04:57] to provide some verbiage behind each one?
[2:05:01] It was basically just proposal
[2:05:02] and there was no description of Yeah, so I have
[2:05:05] what each project was.
[2:05:06] What I can do is I have,
[2:05:08] and I can hand them out to you guys
[2:05:09] and I don't need the answers at current moment,
[2:05:11] but there's some pictures that go along with it,
[2:05:14] which I think the pictures
[2:05:15] and illustrations would help you out significantly.
[2:05:17] So basically the three op, the four options
[2:05:20] that we have there was the bioengineering,
[2:05:23] which basically involves plantings
[2:05:25] and different things of that nature.
[2:05:28] Again, I'll hand these out so you guys have them.
[2:05:31] That was the first option that it's kind
[2:05:34] of on par price wise with doing rip wrap,
[2:05:36] which is basically just putting stone in the area
[2:05:39] and establishing those banks back to it.
[2:05:41] And that'll help preserve things over time.
[2:05:44] But the bioengineering, the idea is that the plant life
[2:05:46] and the stuff that's put there will help, you know,
[2:05:49] contain all the vegetation and make it more green.
[2:05:53] Biggest issue with
[2:05:54] that is given the existing conditions over there
[2:05:56] and the steep slopes to your bank, which are almost
[2:05:59] vertical, the bioengineering process
[2:06:03] is a little more difficult.
[2:06:04] So that's why we have the, the rip wrap,
[2:06:07] which was option two.
[2:06:09] Option three was going with gian baskets.
[2:06:11] It's similar to the rip wrap minus, you can go
[2:06:14] with a little bit smaller of a stone.
[2:06:15] It goes into these wire baskets
[2:06:18] that basically get interconnected
[2:06:21] and that locks everything in place.
[2:06:23] It allows you to go a little more vertical, which kind
[2:06:26] of replicates what you have there today.
[2:06:29] And then the last option would be going more
[2:06:31] with your traditional like modular block wall.
[2:06:35] So a series of block walls that go, you know, similar
[2:06:38] that you would see in people's backyards.
[2:06:40] Each one has pros and cons.
[2:06:43] Ultimately the walls, the way the DEP regs are written,
[2:06:46] we have to bury everything three foot below
[2:06:49] current stream bank.
[2:06:52] So,
[2:06:53] So Dave, with that, it'd be interesting to see if you have
[2:06:59] what on that creek, throughout the borough,
[2:07:01] what the borough owns and is responsible for.
[2:07:04] So is this a bandaid on one little,
[2:07:07] it's a 20 feet section or something. Are we, well,
[2:07:10] It's a little bit longer Than 20 feet
[2:07:11] or whatever, whatever it is.
[2:07:11] But are we, do we have to worry about, even if
[2:07:14] behind memorial we own the creek, right?
[2:07:17] So is that nature that the, the whatever, it gets bigger
[2:07:20] and wider and some, some land falls off.
[2:07:23] And where, what are responsible is this,
[2:07:25] obviously it's really expensive
[2:07:28] and some parts of the creek homeowners own, right?
[2:07:31] It's their responsibility. Some is ours.
[2:07:33] So is there another section, you know,
[2:07:38] a quarter mile away that we're on the edge
[2:07:40] and what, is it just the un luckiness
[2:07:43] that this happened there?
[2:07:44] Or is there a way to get ahead of that, et cetera?
[2:07:47] Sure. I mean, I mean ultimately this section here
[2:07:52] from Essex Street down to the Paramus border
[2:07:56] for whatever reason being when the,
[2:07:58] when the parcels were created, it's a town owned parcel
[2:08:02] and it's strictly just for the brook.
[2:08:05] So is it, is it the waterway
[2:08:07] or is it three feet on each side or?
[2:08:10] It varies in width. It's anywhere from 40 to like,
[2:08:14] it's roughly about 40 feet in width
[2:08:16] and then that whole span,
[2:08:18] So to closes the water and,
[2:08:19] And there's land behind it too
[2:08:21] Inside.
[2:08:22] So, yeah. So along that creek path,
[2:08:23] some places we do own, some we don't. Some we And it's just
[2:08:27] Per Correct.
[2:08:28] Correct. I mean generally that stream
[2:08:30] through there is about, say about 10 feet in width roughly.
[2:08:34] And then it goes up and then you have the land behind it.
[2:08:37] So there is some, you know,
[2:08:40] a significant amount of land that is
[2:08:42] Behind it.
[2:08:43] And do we have to act, if in the woods that, you know,
[2:08:45] it's in the woods and a little piece caves in, do we have
[2:08:48] to go fix it or do we That's nature.
[2:08:51] No, I mean the way the DP kind of looks at the Brooks
[2:08:53] and the waterways is the brook and the waterway.
[2:08:56] It's naturally gonna go the direction that it wants to go
[2:09:00] when you start to get into matters where you know,
[2:09:03] there's, well
[2:09:04] We have to fix it where
[2:09:05] There's potential issues that could cause, you know, harm
[2:09:09] to people's property
[2:09:10] and those different, different types of things.
[2:09:11] They understand
[2:09:12] and they have the rules written so
[2:09:14] that we can go in and address it.
[2:09:16] I mean if you look north of there, there are people
[2:09:19] that have gone in, they've gotten their permits.
[2:09:21] I've seen 'em over the years of being the borough engineer
[2:09:23] where, you know, they've gone in on their dime to,
[2:09:26] to basically install the modular block walls
[2:09:30] on their property to ensure that the bank is stable
[2:09:33] and follows its course there
[2:09:35] and doesn't continue to erode things away.
[2:09:37] But this piece just happens to fall now
[2:09:39] that we own not the resident.
[2:09:41] So it'd be interesting if it's easy to get
[2:09:44] which ones we own and which ones the
[2:09:46] Residents.
[2:09:47] Yeah. So I mean ultimately as far as who owns what, I mean
[2:09:50] that's something we can,
[2:09:52] I don't just look at relatively easily,
[2:09:54] it's all on the tax maps and we can overlay that.
[2:09:57] I know there are some maps that we put together over the
[2:09:59] years that show the waterways and different things.
[2:10:01] So we can highlight the stuff.
[2:10:03] But primarily where we own the brook,
[2:10:06] it's from Essex Street going south to Paramus.
[2:10:10] Anything north of there is really on municipal property.
[2:10:14] So like Memorial Park, right?
[2:10:15] So we own that portion there as we go
[2:10:18] for further north we have Lotus Woods, which the area
[2:10:21] that's known as Lotus Woods, that's borough on property.
[2:10:24] Besides that, there might be a couple little anomalies I'm
[2:10:27] missing, but those are the, the three key areas
[2:10:30] that the borough owns and is responsible for that. Brook.
[2:10:34] So to your point about we need to act on this obviously is
[2:10:38] that there's homes there we're in Lotus Woods.
[2:10:40] Yeah. That there's some major massive places
[2:10:43] where it's caved in and that's nature. Right.
[2:10:46] But what we do want to do like in those particular areas
[2:10:48] is you want to make sure there's no obstructions
[2:10:51] or blockages or those types of things
[2:10:53] to make sure that the water can flow.
[2:10:54] Those are things from a maintenance
[2:10:57] perspective that can be done.
[2:10:59] Yeah. So just on a follow up on that, I know that we are
[2:11:03] working on upgrading the paths in Lotus Memorial
[2:11:07] and Dak is there a way,
[2:11:11] and I went in there the other day at Lotus the path,
[2:11:15] which is great to be in there to take a walk in nature
[2:11:19] and we don't, you know, we're fighting for nature
[2:11:21] to go on the other side, the west side of the creek
[2:11:25] where there, I don't know how much of property,
[2:11:28] but it looks pretty big.
[2:11:29] I haven't been over there and the creek is small.
[2:11:32] Is there a way, it'd be awesome to have a little way to get
[2:11:36] to the other side of the creek
[2:11:37] and then kind of winds your way
[2:11:38] and now I can have a quarter mile walking path
[2:11:43] if we have one shot of the bite of the apple here
[2:11:45] to, to do that.
[2:11:46] It, it's really looks really nice in there,
[2:11:49] but you have a little creek that I'd have to kind
[2:11:52] of step over a, a foot of water to, to get over to.
[2:11:55] Right. You follow what I'm saying there? Yeah.
[2:11:56] So you follow in that, in that section of Lotus Woods,
[2:12:00] could you put something on that side shore?
[2:12:02] I think you're gonna have to put more
[2:12:03] of a traditional bridge,
[2:12:06] like a pedestrian bridge going over top of it.
[2:12:08] It's not just a, you know, quick step over I,
[2:12:10] I don't know.
[2:12:11] I mean I'm not an engineer
[2:12:12] and we could have a scout project
[2:12:14] to have a nice little walking path through nature.
[2:12:16] Sure. I mean the, the path that's there, the one
[2:12:18] that we're proposing is really just to redo existing,
[2:12:22] existing one that's there to today to go
[2:12:25] and add additional ones.
[2:12:26] It does get to be a little more
[2:12:27] complicated 'cause it's not there today.
[2:12:29] Those areas are all within the wetland.
[2:12:31] So it does complicate it a little bit more.
[2:12:33] Not to say that it can't be done,
[2:12:34] but it does complicate it a little bit more.
[2:12:37] As far as the permitting side of things with it.
[2:12:40] There's process for the pedestrian
[2:12:42] bridge and that type of route
[2:12:44] For, I mean I, that would be the big thing to get.
[2:12:46] I mean and the key with the bridge
[2:12:48] and one of the requirements is to ensure
[2:12:50] that the bridge is installed above the flood hazard area.
[2:12:53] Elevation. I hear you.
[2:12:54] There's a whole, there's a lot of moving
[2:12:57] Pieces.
[2:12:58] Something to think about. I think if we're over there,
[2:13:00] 'cause that's a big, it looks like a pretty big piece
[2:13:02] of land that people can enjoy and walk and walk their dogs
[2:13:05] and go for a run that if that's possible.
[2:13:08] Earlier it tonight I went down to look at this property
[2:13:10] that had caved in and I watched a six point deer going down
[2:13:15] and I'm thinking, is that our responsibility
[2:13:17] and what are we doing with the deer?
[2:13:19] They're using it as a pathway to go up
[2:13:21] and down anyway, it was a beautiful animal. Yep,
[2:13:23] Yep.
[2:13:24] So as far as that immediate area, that's something we need
[2:13:26] to address 'cause the bank is not stable.
[2:13:30] Yeah. So that needs to get addressed. I get it. Yeah.
[2:13:32] Are there things along that corridor big picture
[2:13:35] that we'll need to address at some point?
[2:13:37] For sure. But right now I think the focus is
[2:13:40] to get the immediate Yeah.
[2:13:42] Condition addressed
[2:13:43] and then we can look at bigger picture, what needs
[2:13:45] to be done along that whole corridor
[2:13:47] and how to address things.
[2:13:50] There are limitations on what we can
[2:13:51] and can't do as far as different things.
[2:13:55] There's restrictions on so many feet of, you know,
[2:13:58] different types of stabilization.
[2:14:00] Really the DEP wants you to go
[2:14:02] with the more environmentally friendly plantings
[2:14:05] and that type of stuff when you get into the
[2:14:09] hardscaping and that type of stuff.
[2:14:11] Or hard armoring is the term they use. It is restricted,
[2:14:15] Well the bags included biology, right.
[2:14:18] So that things would grow in it and through it.
[2:14:21] I mean ultimately that's, that was one of things
[2:14:23] Like your rip wrap.
[2:14:26] Rip wrap or even the gian baskets,
[2:14:27] you can get the plant life will grow in them.
[2:14:30] It's not like it won't
[2:14:33] No, I thought I read that it was actually included
[2:14:35] that there are some in the bags so that it was planned
[2:14:38] that it was sort of seed itself.
[2:14:40] So what you can do is look with the, the baskets,
[2:14:43] what we've done elsewhere.
[2:14:44] They have what's called a live plant. Yeah.
[2:14:46] All plants are live, but for whatever reason,
[2:14:49] this is the special name it, when you see it,
[2:14:51] it looks like a dead twig but it has roots
[2:14:53] and it gets embedded into Okay.
[2:14:55] Into the baskets and then it starts to grow.
[2:14:57] Okay, thank you. So Thank you. Yeah sir.
[2:15:02] Hein, do you have anything you want to add? No sir. Okay.
[2:15:05] Entertain a motion to adjourn. So moved. Second.
[2:15:09] All in favor? Aye. Aye. Any opposed? I do. Thank you.