Board of Commissioners

1 1 CITY OF UNION CITY HUDSON COUNTY, NEW JERSEY 2 BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS 3 : REGULAR MEETING : TRANSCRIPT OF 4 : --------------------: PROCEEDINGS 5 6 HARBOR VIEW CONDOMINIUM 3315 Pleasant Avenue 7 Union City, New Jersey 8 Tuesday, April 19, 2022 9 Commencing at 7:02 p.m. 10 11 M E M B E R S P R E S E N T: 12 LUCIO P. FERNANDEZ, COMMISSIONER WENDY A. GRULLON, COMMISSIONER 13 MARYURY A. MARTINETTI, COMMISSIONER CELIN J. VALDIVIA, COMMISSIONER 14 BRIAN P. STACK, MAYOR 15 M E M B E R S A B S E N T: 16 17 A L S O P R E S E N T: 18 SCARINCI HOLLENBECK 19 BY: ANGELO AUTERI, ESQ. Corporation Counsel 20 GREGORY T. FARMER, ESQ. 21 Attorney for the Union City Alcohol Beverage Control Commission 22 23 24 SUSAN BISCHOFF, CCR, RPR 449 Columbia Blvd., Wood-Ridge, NJ 07075 25 201-933-8220 SBischoffccr@yahoo.com  2 1 A P P E A R A N C E S: 2 ANNA NORIS, ESQUIRE Attorney for Marvina, Inc., t/a El Cobre 3 4 TOMAS R. PANEQUE, ESQUIRE Attorney for Don Ramon, Inc., t/a Don 5 Ramon Restaurant 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25  3 1 I N D E X 2 PAGE 3 CALL TO ORDER 6 SALUTE TO FLAG 6 4 ROLL CALL 6 5 SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS 7 6 MEETING MINUTES 9 7 CONSENT AGENDA 10 8 REGULAR AGENDA 16 9 ORDINANCES FOR HEARING AND ADOPTION CONSIDERATION 17 10 CITIZENS ADDRESS THE BOARD 20 11 LIQUOR LICENSE PUBLIC HEARINGS 23 12 Marvina, Inc. t/a El Cobre 24 13 Don Ramon, Inc., t/a Don Ramon Restaurant 28 14 Crave 43, LLC t/a Crave 43 33 Ganesh Swami, Inc. t/a 15 Union Discount Liquors 36 16 ADJOURNMENT 39 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25  4 1 I N D E X 2 CRAVE 43, LLC T/A CRAVE 43 3 4 SWORN PAGE 5 Daribell Luna 34 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25  5 1 I N D E X 2 GANESH SWAMI, INC. T/A UNION DISCOUNT LIQUORS 3 4 SWORN PAGE 5 Vino Patel 37 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25  6 1 MR. AUTERI: We're going to start the 2 meeting now. 3 MAYOR STACK: If we could please have 4 everybody's attention? 5 MS. ROSARIO: This is a regular public 6 meeting of the Union City Board of Commissioners 7 being held on Tuesday April 19, 7 p.m., at 3315 8 Pleasant Avenue. Please rise so we can pledge 9 allegiance. 10 11 (Whereupon, the Pledge of Allegiance is 12 recited.) 13 14 MS. ROSARIO: This meeting has been 15 called in accordance with the Open Public Meeting 16 Act, adequate notice of the meeting has been 17 provided to The Jersey Journal, The Record, The 18 Hudson Reporter, has been posted on the bulletin 19 board in the City Hall and has been made available 20 to the public in the Office of Municipal Clerk. 21 22 ROLL CALL: 23 24 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Fernandez. 25 COMMISSIONER FERNANDEZ: Present.  7 1 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Grullon. 2 COMMISSIONER GRULLON: Here. 3 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Valdivia. 4 COMMISSIONER VALDIVIA: Here. 5 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Martinetti. 6 COMMISSIONER MARTINETTI: Here. 7 MS. ROSARIO: Mayor Stack. 8 MAYOR STACK: Here. 9 10 SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS: 11 1. Presentation of Certificate of Appreciation to 12 Santos Martinez. 13 2. Proclamation to Recognize Isiah Angel Cruz. 14 15 MS. ROSARIO: We have two items, two 16 special presentations. The first presentation is 17 a certificate of appreciation to Santos Martinez. 18 Mr. Martinez, can you please stand up. 19 MAYOR STACK: Maybe, Lucio, you could 20 read it. 21 COMMISSIONER FERNANDEZ: We have a 22 special certification, a City proclamation on 23 behalf of the mayor, the Board of Commissioner to 24 Mr. Martinez. I'm going to read the proclamation. 25  8 1 (Whereupon, the proclamation was read 2 by Commissioner Fernandez and pictures were 3 taken.) 4 5 MAYOR STACK: Congratulations. 6 MR. MARTINEZ: I don't speak good 7 English, but I might be able to say something. I 8 feel so happy, I never expect in my life to have 9 something that you make for me. And thanks a lot, 10 all of you, who are here now and coming to see. 11 So, so far, that's the only thing I can say. 12 MAYOR STACK: Thank you very much. 13 COMMISSIONER FERNANDEZ: Ladies and 14 gentlemen, we'll be serving cake and coffee, so 15 don't leave. 16 MAYOR STACK: Now, we're going to resume 17 an official meeting of the Board of Commissioners. 18 If we could just have everyone's attention while 19 Lily's serving the cake. 20 MS. ROSARIO: The second presentation is 21 a proclamation to recognize Isiah Angel Cruz. Mr. 22 Cruz, come on forward. 23 COMMISSIONER FERNANDEZ: On behalf of 24 the Mayor and the Board of Commissioners, I'd like 25 to present this City proclamation to Isiah Angel  9 1 Cruz. 2 3 (Whereupon, the proclamation was read 4 by Commissioner Fernandez and pictures were 5 taken.) 6 7 (Whereupon, the Board discussed and took 8 action on the following item: 9 APPROVAL OF PREVIOUS MEETING MINUTES - REGULAR 10 MEETING - APRIL 5, 2022.) 11 12 MS. ROSARIO: Next item, meeting 13 minutes. Motion to approve the minutes for the 14 April 5th Board of Commissioners meeting? 15 COMMISSIONER MARTINETTI: Motion. 16 MS. ROSARIO: Motion by Commissioner 17 Martinetti. Second? 18 COMMISSIONER VALDIVIA: Second. 19 MS. ROSARIO: Second by Commissioner 20 Valdivia. Commissioner Fernandez. 21 COMMISSIONER FERNANDEZ: Yes. 22 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Grullon. 23 COMMISSIONER GRULLON: Yes. 24 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Valdivia. 25 COMMISSIONER VALDIVIA: Yes.  10 1 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Martinetti. 2 COMMISSIONER MARTINETTI: Yes. 3 MS. ROSARIO: Mayor Stack. 4 MAYOR STACK: Yes. 5 COMMISSIONER FERNANDEZ: Excuse me, 6 ladies and gentlemen, we're continuing the 7 meeting. If can you please keep it down. 8 9 (Whereupon, the Board discussed and took 10 action on the following items in total: 11 CONSENT AGENDA: 12 ( 1) Resolution Approving the Payment of Claims 13 ( 2) Resolution Approving the Payment of 14 Concurring Claims 15 ( 3) Resolution Approving the Escrow Refunds 16 ( 4) Resolution Approving the City Payroll - 17 03/12/2022-03/25/2022 18 ( 5) Resolution Approving the Library Payroll - 19 03/12/2022-03/25/2022 20 ( 6) Resolution Cancelling Tax Sale Certificates 21 ( 7) Resolution Cancelling Second Quarter Taxes 22 ( 8) Resolution Authorizing the Adjustment of 23 Taxes For the Second Quarter 24 ( 9) Resolution Cancelling Taxes 25 (10) Resolution Authorizing the Refund of Premium  11 1 Monies Collected At the Tax Sale 2 (11) Resolution Authorizing the Submission of the 3 2021-2022 Municipal Recycling Tonnage Grant 4 Application 5 (12) Resolution Authorizing the Submission of an 6 Application For DMHAS Youth Leadership Grant 7 Funding For the Union City Municipal Alliance For 8 the Year One Grant Term (7/1/022-3/14/2023) 9 (13) Resolution Authorizing the Awarding of a 10 Raffle License (to St. Augustine Church) 11 (14) Resolution Ch. 159-2022 (Distracted Driving 12 Crackdown, U Drive, U Text, U Pay) 13 (15) Resolution Authorizing Contingent Award of 14 Contract For Central Avenue Corridor Improvements 15 to A&J Contractors Group, Inc. 16 (16) Resolution Authorizing Award of Contract For 17 Summit Avenue and 19th Street Resurfacing Project 18 (17) Resolution Designating 23rd Street From 19 Bergenline Avenue to West Street As "Hines 20 Pharmacy Way" 21 (18) Resolution Designating 39th Street From 22 Palisade Avenue to New York Avenue As "Siomara 23 Sanchez Way" 24 (19) Resolution Designating 39th Street From 25 Bergenline Avenue to New York Avenue As "Miledi  12 1 Puello Way" 2 MS. ROSARIO: We have 19 -- 3 MAYOR STACK: Everyone, if I could just 4 have everybody's attention for a minute, please. 5 Everyone, I just need -- we're continuing an 6 official meeting of the Board of Commissioners. 7 We just need to make sure it gets recorded on the 8 record, so if we can just keep it down just for a 9 little bit. Thanks, everyone. 10 MS. ROSARIO: Next item is the consent 11 agenda. 12 We have the Resolution Approving the 13 Payment of Claims; Resolution Approving the 14 Payment of Concurring Claims; Resolution Approving 15 the Escrow Refunds; Resolution Approving the City 16 Payroll from 03/12/2022-03/25/2022; Resolution 17 Approving the Library Payroll from 18 03/12/2022-03/25/2022; Resolution Cancelling Tax 19 Sale Certificates; Resolution Cancelling the 20 Second Quarter Taxes; Resolution Authorizing the 21 Adjustment of Taxes For the Second Quarter; 22 Resolution Cancelling Taxes; Resolution 23 Authorizing the Refund of Premium Monies Collected 24 at the Tax Sale; Resolution Authorizing the 25 Submission of the 2021-2022 Municipal Recycling  13 1 Tonnage Grant Application; Resolution Authorizing 2 the Submission of Application For DMHAS Youth 3 Leadership Grant Funding for the Union City 4 Municipal Alliance for the Year One Grant Term 5 (7/1/022-3/14/2023); Resolution Authorizing the 6 Awarding of a Raffle License (to St. Augustine 7 Church); Resolution Ch. 159-2022 (Distracted 8 Driving Crackdown, U Drive, U Text, U Pay); 9 Resolution Authorizing Contingent Award of 10 Contract for Central Avenue Corridor Improvements 11 to A&J Contractors Group, Inc.; Resolution 12 Authorizing Award of Contract for Summit Avenue 13 and 19th Street Resurfacing Project; Resolution 14 Designating 23rd Street from Bergenline Avenue to 15 West Street as "Hines Pharmacy Way"; Resolution 16 Designating 39th Street from Palisade Avenue to 17 New York Avenue as "Siomara Sanchez Way"; 18 Resolution Designating 39th Street from Bergenline 19 Avenue to New York Avenue as "Miledi Puello Way". 20 MAYOR STACK: So the matters that we 21 just discussed were on the consent agenda. I just 22 wanted to point out there's 19 items on the 23 consent agenda and tonight, one of the top items, 24 that we're awarding a contract for Central Avenue 25 corridor improvements, that's Central Avenue  14 1 between 21 and 35, we're doing brand new 2 sidewalks, brand new streets. Lighting traffic, 3 improvements to the signals, we're also planting 4 trees, along with about 2,500 other trees we're 5 planting this summer. 6 In addition to that, there's a contract 7 to redo Summit Avenue from 5 to 18 on Summit 8 Avenue and other streets will be paved throughout 9 the community, along with the work that we're 10 doing on Peter Street, right around the corner 11 here. And also designating several streets after 12 residents or business, Hines Pharmacy on 23rd and 13 Bergenline, that are always out there helping the 14 neighborhoods, specifically during the COVID 15 pandemic. Also Siomara Sanchez Way, somebody 16 whose been a very strong advocate for the 17 immigrants in our community; along with Miledi 18 Puello Way. So it's always important to recognize 19 those residents, just as we did tonight with the 20 residents that we recognized here, one being a 21 resident of your building, of people that have 22 made substantial contributions to our community. 23 Having said that, is there anyone who 24 would like to comment on the consent agenda? 25 Seeing none, motion.  15 1 MS. ROSARIO: Motion by Mayor Stack. 2 COMMISSIONER VALDIVIA: Second. 3 MS. ROSARIO: Second by Commissioner 4 Valdivia. Commissioner Fernandez. 5 COMMISSIONER FERNANDEZ: Yes. 6 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Grullon. 7 COMMISSIONER GRULLON: Yes. 8 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Valdivia. 9 COMMISSIONER VALDIVIA: Yes. 10 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Martinetti. 11 COMMISSIONER MARTINETTI: Yes. 12 MS. ROSARIO: Mayor Stack. 13 MAYOR STACK: Yes. 14 MS. ROSARIO: Motion to approve all 15 items on the consent agenda? 16 COMMISSIONER VALDIVIA: Motion. 17 MS. ROSARIO: Motion by Commissioner 18 Valdivia. Second? 19 COMMISSIONER FERNANDEZ: Second. 20 MS. ROSARIO: Second by Commissioner 21 Fernandez. Commissioner Fernandez. 22 COMMISSIONER FERNANDEZ: Yes. 23 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Grullon. 24 COMMISSIONER GRULLON: Yes. 25 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Valdivia.  16 1 COMMISSIONER VALDIVIA: Yes. 2 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Martinetti. 3 COMMISSIONER MARTINETTI: Yes. 4 MS. ROSARIO: Mayor Stack. 5 MAYOR STACK: Yes. 6 7 (Whereupon, the Board discussed and took 8 action on the following: 9 REGULAR AGENDA: 10 1. Resolution approving payment of claims to the 11 Union City Board of Education.) 12 13 MS. ROSARIO: There are two items on the 14 regular agenda, resolution approving payment of 15 claims for the Union City Board of Education. 16 MR. AUTERI: Ordinarily, Commissioner 17 Valdivia and Commissioner Grullon would not vote 18 on Board of Ed matters. However tonight, the 19 Board is invoking the doctrine of necessity. 20 MS. ROSARIO: Motion to approve item one 21 on the regular agenda. 22 COMMISSIONER GRULLON: Motion. 23 MS. ROSARIO: Motion by Commissioner 24 Grullon. Second? 25 COMMISSIONER VALDIVIA: Second.  17 1 MS. ROSARIO: Second by Commissioner 2 Valdivia. 3 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Fernandez. 4 Commissioner Grullon. 5 COMMISSIONER GRULLON: Yes. 6 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Valdivia. 7 COMMISSIONER VALDIVIA: Yes. 8 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Martinetti 9 is recusing. Mayor Stack. 10 MAYOR STACK: Yes. 11 12 (Whereupon, the Board discussed and took 13 action on the following: 14 ORDINANCES FOR HEARING AND ADOPTION CONSIDERATION: 15 1. An Ordinance of the City of Union City, County 16 of Hudson, New Jersey, appropriating the sum of 17 $1,160,500 in funding from the capital improvement 18 fund for the completion of roadway reconstruction, 19 repaving, and repair and improvements and repairs 20 to the 38th Street garage.) 21 22 MS. ROSARIO: The next item on the 23 agenda is the ordinance for hearing and adoption 24 of consideration. 25 An ordinance of the City of Union City,  18 1 County of Hudson, New Jersey, appropriating the 2 assume of $1,160,500 in funding from the capital 3 improvement funds for the completion of roadway 4 reconstruction, repaving, and repair and 5 improvements and repairs to the 38th Street 6 garage. 7 MAYOR STACK: All right. So this is a 8 bond issue that we're doing additional 9 improvements in the community of Union City, 10 including road paving, improvements that are 11 passed to a specific building on 38th Street, the 12 parking garage, which was built about 29 years 13 ago, 30 years ago, and needs some structural 14 improvements to maintain the integrity of the 15 building and something that's so important to the 16 community, providing over 400 parking spaces. 17 Again, this is something that was built 18 about 30 years ago and it's gotten some wear and 19 tear in the building. So we're just maintaining 20 what we have. 21 Anyone wishing to go comment on this 22 ordinance at this time, please step forward, state 23 your name and address for the record? Seeing 24 none. Motion. 25 MS. ROSARIO: Motion by Mayor Stack.  19 1 Second by? 2 COMMISSIONER FERNANDEZ: Second. 3 MS. ROSARIO: Second by Commissioner 4 Fernandez. Commissioner Fernandez. 5 COMMISSIONER FERNANDEZ: Yes. 6 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Grullon. 7 COMMISSIONER GRULLON: Yes. 8 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Valdivia. 9 COMMISSIONER VALDIVIA: Yes. 10 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Martinetti. 11 COMMISSIONER MARTINETTI: Yes. 12 MS. ROSARIO: Mayor Stack. 13 MAYOR STACK: Yes. 14 MS. ROSARIO: Motion to adopt? 15 COMMISSIONER VALDIVIA: Motion. 16 MS. ROSARIO: Motion by Commissioner 17 Valdivia. Second? 18 COMMISSIONER MARTINETTI: Second. 19 MS. ROSARIO: Second by Commissioner 20 Martinetti. Commissioner Fernandez. 21 COMMISSIONER FERNANDEZ: Yes. 22 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Grullon. 23 COMMISSIONER GRULLON: Yes. 24 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Valdivia. 25 COMMISSIONER VALDIVIA: Yes.  20 1 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Martinetti. 2 COMMISSIONER MARTINETTI: Yes. 3 MS. ROSARIO: Mayor Stack. 4 MAYOR STACK: Yes. 5 6 OPPORTUNITY FOR CITIZENS TO ADDRESS THE BOARD: 7 8 MS. ROSARIO: Mayor, at this time, would 9 you like to take public comment? 10 MAYOR STACK: Sure. Thank you very 11 much, Clerk, I appreciate it. 12 So the meeting that we're holding 13 tonight, we moved the meeting to your building 14 specifically because we wanted to honor Mr. 15 Martinez and he lives in the building, we wanted 16 to move the meeting here. Normally, we hold these 17 meetings in schools or public buildings throughout 18 the community. Every two weeks, we hold an 19 official meeting such as, to vote on the items on 20 this agenda, which is the Board of Commissioners 21 meeting agenda. We move them around the City 22 every two weeks, they're always held in the 23 evening hours at 7:00 p.m. 24 We move them to a school or a facility 25 and every neighborhood in the City, we try to  21 1 cover. And we do it on a constant basis. We move 2 100 percent of our commission meetings around the 3 City. There was a time in Union City where these 4 meetings would be held at 10:00 in the morning. 5 Those days are long gone, since this 6 administration took over, to give more 7 transparency and more access to the residents in 8 the community. 9 So like I said, the meeting that we're 10 holding tonight, I thank the Commissioners because 11 they shared in the vision of moving these meetings 12 throughout the community, each of the 13 Commissioners do, and I thank them for that and 14 the time it takes to move it around. So I do 15 appreciate that. 16 Having said that, does any resident have 17 any matter that they'd like to comment on 18 concerning any matter of municipal government in 19 the City of Union City? Okay. Seeing none, I 20 appreciate everybody being here tonight. We'll 21 close the public portion of the meeting, then 22 we'll be doing liquor hearings also this evening. 23 MS. ROSARIO: Motion to close the public 24 comment. 25 COMMISSIONER MARTINETTI: Motion.  22 1 COMMISSIONER VALDIVIA: Second. 2 MS. ROSARIO: Motion by Commissioner 3 Martinetti, second by Commissioner Valdivia. 4 Commissioner Fernandez. 5 COMMISSIONER FERNANDEZ: Yes. 6 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Grullon. 7 COMMISSIONER GRULLON: Yes. 8 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Valdivia. 9 COMMISSIONER VALDIVIA: Yes. 10 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Martinetti. 11 COMMISSIONER MARTINETTI: Yes. 12 MS. ROSARIO: Mayor Stack. 13 MAYOR STACK: Yes. 14 15 * * * * 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25  23 1 LIQUOR LICENSE PUBLIC HEARINGS 2 1. Marvina, Inc. 3 T/a El Cobre 4 4413-15 Bergenline Avenue 5 0910-33-208-010 6 (Anna Noris, Esq.) 7 8 2. Don Ramon, Inc. 9 T/a Don Ramon Restaurant 10 4538 Bergenline Avenue 11 0910-33-047-004 12 13 3. Crave 43, LLC 14 T/a Crave 43 15 120 43rd Street 16 0910-33-029-009 17 18 4. Ganesh Swami, Inc. 19 T/a Union Discount Liquors 20 710 Summit Avenue 21 0910-44-132-009 22 23 24 25  24 1 1. Marvina, Inc. 2 T/a El Cobre 3 4413-15 Bergenline Avenue 4 0910-33-208-010 5 6 MAYOR STACK: This portion of the 7 meeting is liquor hearings. Mr. Farmer is the 8 ABC, Alcoholic Beverage Control, attorney 9 prosecutor. And then there will be attorneys that 10 will be representing some of the applicant's that 11 have liquor establishments in the City. And 12 Lieutenant Dunlay is from the Union City Police 13 Department, the detective commander. 14 MR. FARMER: Gregory Farmer on behalf of 15 the Union City Alcoholic Beverage Control 16 Commission. 17 MS. NORIS: Anna Noris from the law 18 office of Lopez Noris, West New York, on behalf of 19 the licensee. 20 MR. FARMER: Good evening, Mayor and 21 Board. On the agenda is about four items, the 22 first of which is El Cobre. This is a violation 23 of the ordinance that we passed having cameras in 24 the front of the -- in the entrance and in the 25 exit, okay. Took a long time to get that going,  25 1 up and running. And the police have taken an 2 absolutely zero tolerance on it. That and the 3 ordinance dealing with beer bottles off tables at 4 9:30. 5 We've spoken about it, Lieutenant Dunlay 6 and myself and Ms. Noris. And what we've done 7 is -- and this is consistent with what we've done 8 in the past -- this theoretically could be three 9 strikes, you're out. The first strike, we 10 interpret as, eh, it might have been a mistake. 11 For example, you could easily say, oh, the 12 ordinance says 60 days, you have to transcribe it, 13 we had 32, what's the big deal. Police department 14 says, you miss by a minute, you miss by a mile, 15 all right. 16 And how we've structured this is we've 17 taken first offense and took a policy, and the 18 licensees agreed to plead guilty to that, 10 days 19 for an ordinance violation. The first seven days 20 suspended, you serve three days, that's not bad. 21 The second offense is 20 days, the third offense 22 is 30 days and possibly revocation. So it's a 23 policy, I think, is reasonable to get people to 24 comply. And if they don't comply the second time 25 around, they're going to be shut down for 20 days.  26 1 So I understand the licensee is pleading 2 guilty, 10 days, seven suspended and May 9th, 10th 3 and 11th, it will be served. 4 MAYOR STACK: First, you want to enter 5 your appearance for the record and just whether 6 you agree or don't? 7 MS. NORIS: Yes, absolutely. Anna Noris 8 from the law office of Lopez Noris, West New York, 9 on behalf of the license holder. Mr. Nelson is 10 here also. 11 MAYOR STACK: Do you agree with what Mr. 12 Farmer -- 13 MS. NORIS: Yes, I do. 14 MAYOR STACK: What would the terms be 15 again, Greg? 16 MR. FARMER: Ten days. 17 MS. NORIS: Seven suspended. 18 MR. FARMER: Ten days, seven suspended 19 on a condition that we don't get another violation 20 with a year. 21 MAYOR STACK: Okay. 22 MR. FARMER: And three served and that's 23 May 9, 10 and 11. 24 MR. AUTERI: So seven days in abeyance, 25 three served?  27 1 MR. FARMER: Correct. 2 MAYOR STACK: Okay. On Mr. Farmer's 3 representation, I make a motion to approve. 4 MS. ROSARIO: Motion by Mayor Stack. 5 Second? 6 COMMISSIONER VALDIVIA: Second. 7 MS. ROSARIO: Second by Commissioner 8 Valdivia. Commissioner Fernandez. 9 COMMISSIONER FERNANDEZ: Yes. 10 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Grullon. 11 COMMISSIONER GRULLON: Yes. 12 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Valdivia. 13 COMMISSIONER VALDIVIA: Yes. 14 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Martinetti. 15 COMMISSIONER MARTINETTI: Recusing. 16 MS. ROSARIO: Mayor Stack. 17 MAYOR STACK: Yes. 18 LIEUTENANT DUNLAY: Thank you. 19 MS. NORIS: Thank you. 20 21 * * * * 22 23 24 25  28 1 2. Don Ramon, Inc. 2 T/a Don Ramon Restaurant 3 4538 Bergenline Avenue 4 0910-33-047-004 5 6 MR. FARMER: This is Don Ramon, it's at 7 4538 Bergenline Avenue. The licensee is here with 8 his attorney, Mr. Espinosa -- Paneque, I'm sorry. 9 MR. PANEQUE: Second time he did that. 10 MAYOR STACK: You missing him, Greg? 11 MR. PANEQUE: I can act like him if you 12 want. 13 MR. FARMER: Well, as soon as Mr. 14 Paneque entered the picture, we were able to sit 15 down and talk about it with the licensee and with 16 Lieutenant Dunlay. We have reached a resolution. 17 Basically, this is a carry over from a prior 18 proceeding where we gave him 30 days and served 20 19 and 10 were held in abeyance. Well, now 10 in 20 abeyance is back again. We have a camera 21 violation, we have -- well, an incident which was 22 basically a struggle or whatever. And then they 23 were deficient with respect to their paperwork, so 24 let me recapitulate that. 25 First of all, they violated a City  29 1 ordinance with respect to serving alcohol after -- 2 LIEUTENANT DUNLAY: You want me to give 3 the -- 4 MAYOR STACK: Yeah, why don't you run 5 through it? 6 LIEUTENANT DUNLAY: This involved a 7 fight inside the establishment that escalated 8 outside, there was a little bit of property 9 damage. The police went to inspect, there was a 10 little hindering on the part of the employees, not 11 the licensee. One of the cooks was hiding in the 12 back and stuff like that, stuff that's against the 13 ABC. When the police are called to do an 14 inspection, it's a full regulatory inspection. 15 You know, everybody is supposed to come out and 16 everybody is supposed to give their information 17 and there was some paperwork violation. 18 There was a -- the suspensions had we 19 tried this case and gone to the maximum, you know, 20 ultimately they would have been facing a hefty 21 suspension time. But we've come to an agreement, 22 obviously with COVID and everything else, we're 23 not looking to put him out of business as well and 24 I believe the Board feels the same way. You know, 25 we're not here to the -- the goal is not to shut  30 1 you down completely, but there is some penance for 2 the since that occur. 3 But we've agreed to -- and tell me if 4 I'm incorrect, a guilty plea on the ordinance 5 violation for there was alcohol being served after 6 1:30, which I know we have a 2:00 closing, but 7 anything after 1:30 is last call for alcohol is an 8 ordinance violation. 9 We have a guilty on hindering an 10 investigation for the persons that were hiding in 11 the back. Guilty plea for -- on the basis of a 12 brawl. And a guilty plea on the E-141 where four 13 employees weren't on the list. We will be 14 dismissing the camera violation because the matter 15 was -- Don Ramon has always had great cameras and 16 have always assisted in the past. This was an 17 oversight on their part, which they immediately 18 corrected. We're going to dismiss the nuisance, 19 and we're going to dismiss the books of 20 accounting, you know, charge that they had. Am I 21 corrected, Mr. Paneque? 22 MR. PANEQUE: Good evening, Mr. Mayor -- 23 MR. FARMER: Let me finish, I'm sorry. 24 All that's going to be wrapped up in a 30 day 25 suspension, all of the month of June.  31 1 MR. PANEQUE: Good evening, again, Mr. 2 Mayor, honorable council members, Tomas R. 3 Paneque, attorney for Don Ramon Restaurant. 4 As the Lieutenant and Mr. Farmer 5 indicated, we did have a sit down. And as a 6 result of that sit down, we did come to a 7 settlement agreement. The settlement agreement 8 involves the plea of guilty, voluntarily, to the 9 charges that the Lieutenant placed on the record, 10 with a recommended suspension of 30 days to begin 11 on June 1st, as agreed. So my client will be shut 12 down for the entire month of June. 13 MAYOR STACK: Okay, okay. I'll make a 14 motion to approve on the plea agreement. 15 MS. ROSARIO: Motion by Mayor Stack. 16 Second? 17 COMMISSIONER FERNANDEZ: Second. 18 MS. ROSARIO: Second by Commissioner 19 Fernandez. Commissioner Fernandez. 20 COMMISSIONER FERNANDEZ: Yes. 21 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Grullon. 22 COMMISSIONER GRULLON: Yes. 23 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Valdivia. 24 COMMISSIONER VALDIVIA: Yes. 25 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Martinetti.  32 1 COMMISSIONER MARTINETTI: Yes. 2 MS. ROSARIO: Mayor Stack. 3 MAYOR STACK: Yes. 4 MR. PANEQUE: Thank you very much. 5 MAYOR STACK: Thank you very much, 6 gentlemen, thank you. 7 8 * * * * 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25  33 1 3. Crave 43, LLC 2 T/a Crave 43 3 120 43rd Street 4 0910-33-029-009 5 6 LIEUTENANT DUNLAY: We'll hear Union 7 Liquors. 8 MAYOR STACK: Union Liquors or are we 9 going to number 3? 10 MR. FARMER: We can do number 3, let's 11 keep in order. 12 MAYOR STACK: Crave 43. 13 MR. FARMER: Okay. This is Crave 43, 14 put your appearance. 15 MS. LUNA: Daribell Luna, 16 D-A-R-I-B-E-L-L, Luna, L-U-N-A. 17 MR. FARMER: And the situation here is a 18 violation of the camera ordinance. This is the 19 first violation and it is customary it's going to 20 be a three day suspension, ten days total, seven 21 suspended, three days they'll serve, which are May 22 8, 9th, 10th -- 23 LIEUTENANT DUNLAY: 9, 10, 11. 24 MAYOR STACK: 9, 10, 11. Ma'am, if you 25 could just enter your appearance.  34 1 MS. LUNA: Daribell Luna, owner of Crave 2 43. 3 MAYOR STACK: You're the owner? 4 MS. LUNA: Yes. 5 MAYOR STACK: Do you wish to be 6 represented by an attorney this evening? 7 MS. LUNA: No, we came to an agreement 8 and I agree with it. 9 MAYOR STACK: You do, okay. I just 10 wanted to make sure. 11 12 D A R I B E L L L U N A, having been duly sworn 13 or affirmed, did testify previously and as 14 follows: 15 16 MAYOR STACK: Okay. And you said that 17 you're comfortable with proceeding without an 18 attorney? 19 MS. LUNA: Yeah. 20 MAYOR STACK: Very good. You understand 21 you'll be facing a three day suspension, May 9th, 22 10th, 11th? 23 MS. LUNA: Yes. 24 MAYOR STACK: Okay. I make a motion to 25 approve.  35 1 COMMISSIONER MARTINETTI: Second. 2 MS. ROSARIO: Motion by Mayor Stack, 3 second by Commissioner Martinetti. Commissioner 4 Fernandez. 5 COMMISSIONER FERNANDEZ: Yes. 6 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Grullon. 7 COMMISSIONER GRULLON: Yes. 8 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Valdivia. 9 COMMISSIONER VALDIVIA: Yes. 10 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Martinetti. 11 COMMISSIONER MARTINETTI: Yes. 12 MS. ROSARIO: Mayor Stack. 13 MAYOR STACK: Yes. 14 LIEUTENANT DUNLAY: Thank you. 15 MAYOR STACK: Thank you very much, 16 ma'am. 17 18 * * * * 19 20 21 22 23 24 25  36 1 4. Ganesh Swami, Inc. 2 T/a Union Discount Liquors 3 710 Summit Avenue 4 0910-44-132-009 5 6 MAYOR STACK: Next Ganesh, Union 7 Discount Liquors. Good evening, sir. 8 MR. FARMER: Okay. This is the same 9 thing, this is a first offense of the camera 10 ordinance, ten days, seven suspended, three served 11 and their May 9th, 10th, and 11th. 12 LIEUTENANT DUNLAY: There was also books 13 of account matter that they were charged with. 14 The licensee came to headquarters, provided all 15 the paperwork and, you know, everything was up to 16 date. He was actually away on some family 17 emergency and didn't get it in time. But 18 everything was brought up immediately upon his 19 return. So we would ask that that matter be 20 dismissed, that charge. 21 MAYOR STACK: Okay. And, sir, do you 22 wish to have an attorney? 23 MR. PATEL: No, we can recommend that. 24 MAYOR STACK: And what is your name? 25 MR. PATEL: Vino Patel.  37 1 MAYOR STACK: What is your role with the 2 establishment? 3 MR. PATEL: I'm a manager of it. 4 MAYOR STACK: Okay. If we can swear him 5 in, please. 6 7 V I N O P A T E L, after having been duly 8 sworn or affirmed, did testify as follows: 9 10 MR. PATEL: Vino Patel, V-I-N-O 11 P-A-T-E-L. 12 MAYOR STACK: Thank you, sir. And, sir, 13 you know it's a three day suspension, May 9th, 14 10th, and 11th? 15 MR. PATEL: Yes. 16 MAYOR STACK: Okay. You agree to that, 17 sir? 18 MR. PATEL: Yes. 19 MAYOR STACK: Okay. All right. I'll 20 make a motion to approve. 21 MS. ROSARIO: Motion by Mayor Stack. 22 Second? 23 COMMISSIONER VALDIVIA: Second. 24 MS. ROSARIO: Second by Commissioner 25 Valdivia. Commissioner Fernandez.  38 1 COMMISSIONER FERNANDEZ: Yes. 2 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Grullon. 3 COMMISSIONER GRULLON: Yes. 4 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Valdivia. 5 COMMISSIONER VALDIVIA: Yes. 6 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Martinetti. 7 COMMISSIONER MARTINETTI: Yes. 8 MS. ROSARIO: Mayor Stack. 9 MAYOR STACK: Yes. 10 Thank you very much, sir. Have a good 11 evening, thank you. 12 13 * * * * 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25  39 1 ADJOURNMENT: 2 3 MS. ROSARIO: Mayor, can I have a motion 4 to adjourn? 5 MAYOR STACK: Sure. I would just like 6 to thank the residents of 3315 Pleasant Avenue and 7 the management and everyone that allowed us to 8 hold the meeting here. It's unprecedented that we 9 hold a meeting in a building such as this, we've 10 really never done that before, but it's a good 11 feeling being here with everyone and coming to the 12 meeting in your building. Thanks again, once 13 again, for having us. 14 MS. ROSARIO: Motion? 15 COMMISSIONER MARTINETTI: Motion. 16 COMMISSIONER VALDIVIA: Second. 17 MS. ROSARIO: Motion by Commissioner 18 Martinetti, second by Commissioner Valdivia. 19 Commissioner Fernandez. 20 COMMISSIONER FERNANDEZ: Yes. 21 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Grullon. 22 COMMISSIONER GRULLON: Yes. 23 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Valdivia. 24 COMMISSIONER VALDIVIA: Yes. 25 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Martinetti.  40 1 COMMISSIONER MARTINETTI: Yes. 2 MS. ROSARIO: Mayor Stack. 3 MAYOR STACK: Yes. 4 5 (Whereupon the meeting was adjourned at 6 7:36 p.m.) 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25  41 1 Brian P. Stack 2 Lucio P. Fernandez 3 Maryury A. Martinetti 4 Celin J. Valdivia 5 Wendy A. Grullon 6 Board of Commissioners 7 8 9 Attest: 10 Angelo Auteri, Esq., 11 Corporation Counsel 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25  42 1 C E R T I F I C A T E 2 3 4 5 6 I HEREBY CERTIFY that the foregoing is a 7 true and accurate transcript of the testimony and 8 proceedings as taken stenographically by me at the 9 time, place, and on the date hereinbefore set 10 forth. 11 12 13 14 SUSAN BISCHOFF, CCR, RPR LICENSE NO. 30XI00233700 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25