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 THE HOUSING AUTHORITY PAVILION 3911 Kennedy Boulevard 7 Union City, New Jersey 8 Wednesday, June 8, 2022 9 Commencing at 7:06 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: JORGE de ARMAS, ESQ. Corporation Counsel 20 GREGORY T. FARMER, ESQ. 21 Attorney for the Union City Alcohol Beverage Control Commission 22 HILDA ROSARIO, City Clerk 23 24 SUSAN BISCHOFF, CCR, RPR 25 449 Columbia Blvd., Wood-Ridge, NJ 07075 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 Manhattan Bar & Grill 3 4 THOMAS PANEQUE, ESQUIRE Attorney for Don Ramon Restaurant 5 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 4 SALUTE TO FLAG 4 4 ROLL CALL 4 5 SPECIAL PRESENTATION 5 6 APPROVAL OF MINUTES 6 7 ORDINANCE(S) FOR INTRODUCTION 7/9 8 CONSENT AGENDA 10 9 REGULAR AGENDA 17 10 CITIZENS ADDRESS THE BOARD 18 11 LIQUOR LICENSE PUBLIC HEARINGS 20 12 Manhattan Bar & Grill Restaurant 21 Sol Chicken, Inc. 25 13 Tropical Bar & Restaurant 30 The Hub Again 33 14 Il Paradiso 36 Don Ramon Restaurant 39 15 ADJOURNMENT 43 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25  4 1 MS. ROSARIO: This is a regular public 2 meeting of the Union City Board of Commissioners 3 being held on Wednesday, June 8, 2022 at 7:00 p.m. 4 at The Housing Authority Pavilion, 3911 Kennedy 5 Boulevard, Union City, New Jersey. Please stand 6 for the Pledge of Allegiance. 7 8 (Whereupon, the Pledge of Allegiance was 9 recited.) 10 11 MS. ROSARIO: This meeting has been 12 called in accordance to the Open Public Meeting 13 Act, adequate notice of this meeting has been 14 provided as follows: 15 Was forwarded to The Jersey Journal, The 16 Record, and The Hudson Reporter, has been posted 17 on the bulletin board in the City Hall and has 18 been made available to the public in the office of 19 Municipal Clerk. 20 21 ROLL CALL: 22 23 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Fernandez. 24 COMMISSIONER FERNANDEZ: Here. 25 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Grullon.  5 1 COMMISSIONER GRULLON: Here. 2 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Valdivia. 3 COMMISSIONER VALDIVIA: Here. 4 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Martinetti. 5 COMMISSIONER MARTINETTI: Here. 6 MS. ROSARIO: Mayor Stack. 7 MAYOR STACK: Here. 8 9 SPECIAL PRESENTATION: 10 11 MS. ROSARIO: There is a special 12 presentation to the Rimolo family. 13 14 (Whereupon there was a presentation to 15 the Rimolo family: Chastidy, Yaridis, and Oscar, 16 Junior and Senior.) 17 (Commissioner Fernandez read the 18 proclamation for Chastidy Rimolo. 19 (Commissioner Fernandez read the 20 proclamation for Yaridis Rimolo.) 21 (Commissioner Fernandez read the 22 proclamation for Oscar Rimolo, Senior.) 23 24 (Whereupon, the Board discussed and took 25 action on the following item:  6 1 APPROVAL OF MEETING MINUTES - REGULAR MEETING - 2 MAY 17, 2022.) 3 4 MS. ROSARIO: Next item on the agenda is 5 the approval of minutes. Motion to approve 6 meeting minutes for the May 17, 2022, Board of 7 Commissioners meeting. 8 COMMISSIONER MARTINETTI: Motion. 9 MS. ROSARIO: Motion by Commissioner 10 Martinetti. Second? 11 COMMISSIONER VALDIVIA: Second. 12 MS. ROSARIO: Second by Commissioner 13 Valdivia. Commissioner Fernandez. 14 COMMISSIONER FERNANDEZ: Yes. 15 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Grullon. 16 COMMISSIONER GRULLON: Yes. 17 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Valdivia. 18 COMMISSIONER VALDIVIA: Yes. 19 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Martinetti. 20 COMMISSIONER MARTINETTI: Yes. 21 MS. ROSARIO: Mayor Stack. 22 MAYOR STACK: Yes. 23 24 (Whereupon, the Board discussed and took 25 action on the following items:  7 1 ORDINANCE(S) FOR INTRODUCTION: 2 1. AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF UNION 3 CITY, COUNTY OF HUDSON, NEW JERSEY, APPROPRIATING 4 THE SU OF $1,000,000 IN FUNDING FROM THE CAPITAL 5 IMPROVEMENT FUND FOR THE COMPLETION OF CERTAIN 6 CENTRAL AVENUE CORRIDOR IMPROVEMENTS 7 The ordinance will be further considered 8 at a meeting of the Board of Commissioners to be 9 held on Tuesday, June 21st, at 522 22nd Street in 10 Union City.) 11 12 MS. ROSARIO: The next item is two 13 ordinances for introduction. Number one is an 14 ordinance of the City of Union City, County of 15 Hudson, appropriating the sum of $1,000,000 in 16 funding from the capital improvement fund for the 17 completion of certain Central Avenue corridor 18 improvements. 19 Motion to introduce? 20 MAYOR STACK: I'll make the motion to 21 introduce. Just for the public's knowledge, this 22 is something we're doing on 21st to 35th on 23 Central Avenue, this is extensive work. We're 24 replacing the lead lines in the neighborhood, new 25 sidewalks, tree planting, decorative lighting, and  8 1 a newly paved road. We're really trying to 2 enhance this neighborhood. We also installed in 3 the last few years, a very good camera system in 4 that area. It's one of the areas that needed an 5 uplift and we're proud this has taken place. The 6 contractor is up to 26th Street already, so we're 7 moving along pretty rapidly. Motion. 8 MS. ROSARIO: Motion by Mayor Stack. 9 Second by? 10 COMMISSIONER MARTINETTI: Second. 11 MS. ROSARIO: Second by Commissioner 12 Martinetti. Commissioner Fernandez. 13 COMMISSIONER FERNANDEZ: Before that, I 14 want to say with Peter Street, the Mayor has been 15 extending Peter Street between Hudson Avenue and 16 Palisade Avenue, it's going to be a wonderful, 17 wonderful street, great addition to our city. And 18 I want to commend the Mayor for the great job he's 19 doing on this. 20 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Grullon. 21 COMMISSIONER GRULLON: Yes. 22 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Valdivia. 23 COMMISSIONER VALDIVIA: Yes. 24 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Martinetti. 25 COMMISSIONER MARTINETTI: Yes.  9 1 MS. ROSARIO: Mayor Stack. 2 MAYOR STACK: Yes. 3 4 (Whereupon, the Board discussed and took 5 action on the following items: 6 ORDINANCE(S) FOR INTRODUCTION: 7 2. ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING A SPECIAL 8 EMERGENCY APPROPRIATION PURSUANT TO N.J.S.A. 9 40A:4-52(h) FOR THE PAYMENT OF CONTRACTUALLY 10 REQUIRED SEVERANCE LIABILITIES IN AND FOR THE CITY 11 OF UNION CITY, COUNTY OF HUDSON, NEW JERSEY 12 The ordinance will be further considered 13 at a meeting of the Board of Commissioners to be 14 held on Tuesday, June 21st, at 522 22nd Street in 15 Union City.) 16 17 MS. ROSARIO: The second ordinance is 18 ordinance authorizing a special emergency 19 appropriation pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40A:4-53(h) for 20 the payment of contractually required severance 21 liabilities in and for the City of Union City, 22 County of Hudson, New Jersey. 23 Motion to introduce? 24 COMMISSIONER MARTINETTI: Motion. 25 MS. ROSARIO: Motion by Commissioner  10 1 Martinetti. Second? 2 MAYOR STACK: Second. 3 MS. ROSARIO: Second by Mayor Stack. 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 (Whereupon, the Board discussed and took 16 action on the following items: 17 CONSENT AGENDA: 18 ( 1) Resolution Approving Payment of Claims 19 ( 2) Resolution Approving the Payment of 20 Concurring Claims 21 ( 3) Resolution Approving the City Payroll 22 4/23/2022-5/6/2022 23 ( 4) Resolution Approving the Library Payroll 24 4/23/2022-5/6/2022 25 ( 5) Resolution Approving the Escrow Refunds  11 1 ( 6) Resolution Authorizing the Refund of a Lien 2 Payment 3 ( 7) Resolution Authorizing the Refund of Premium 4 Monies Collected At the Tax Sale 5 ( 8) Resolution Authorizing the Refund of 6 Overpayments 7 ( 9) Resolution Authorizing Refund of Redemption 8 Monies to Outside Lienholders 9 (10) Resolution Authorizing the Refund of 10 Duplicate Payment 11 (11) Resolution Authorizing Chapter 159 - Alcohol 12 Education/Rehab Enforcement 13 (12) Resolution Authorizing Chapter 159 - 2022 14 Clean Communities Other Expenses 15 (13) Resolution Urging Swift Passage of S-330 16 Which Restores Energy Tax Receipts 17 (14) Resolution of the Board of Commissioners of 18 the City of Union City Approving the 2021-2022 19 Renewal of Liquor License No. 0910-33-149-006 20 Issued to A&C 2004 Corp. (Pocket License) 21 (15) Resolution of the Board of Commissioner of 22 the City of Union City Approving the 2020-2021 23 Renewal of Liquor License No. 0910-33-136-020 24 Issued to Plaza Espana, Inc. (Inactive License) 25 (16) Resolution Designating 44th Street From  12 1 Palisade Avenue to New York Avenue As Eddy R. 2 Tuero Way 3 (17) Resolution Authorizing a Shared Service 4 Agreement Between the City of Union City and the 5 Board of Education For the City of Union City For 6 the Provision of Crossing Guard Services For the 7 2021-2022 School Year 8 (18) Resolution Authorizing a Shared Service 9 Agreement Between the City of Union City and the 10 Board of Education For the City of Union City For 11 the Provision of Solid Waste Collection and 12 Disposal Services For 2021-2024 13 (19) Resolution Authorizing the City of Union City 14 to Release Lien on the Property Located At 1616 15 Kennedy Boulevard Also Known As Block 82, Lot 12 16 Unit C1 Created By Prior Resolution #05/03/10 17 18 MS. ROSARIO: There are 19 items on the 19 consent agenda today. 20 1. Resolution Approving Payment of 21 Claims. 22 2. Resolution Approving the Payment of 23 Concurring Claims. 24 3. Resolution Approving the City 25 Payroll 4/23/2022-5/6/2022.  13 1 4. Resolution Approving the Library 2 Payroll 4/23/2022-5/6/2022. 3 5. Resolution Approving the Escrow 4 Refunds. 5 6. Resolution Authorizing the Refund 6 of a Lien Payment. 7 7. Resolution Authorizing the Refund 8 of Premium Monies Collected At the Tax Sale. 9 8. Resolution Authorizing the Refund 10 of Overpayments. 11 9. Resolution Authorizing Refund of 12 Redemption Monies to Outside Lienholders. 13 10. Resolution Authorizing the Refund 14 of Duplicate Payment. 15 11. Resolution Authorizing Chapter 16 159 - Alcohol Education/Rehab Enforcement. 17 12. Resolution Authorizing Chapter 18 159 - 2022 Clean Communities Other Expenses. 19 13. Resolution Urging Swift Passage of 20 S-330 Which Restores Energy Tax Receipts. 21 14. Resolution of the Board of 22 Commissioners of the City of Union City Approving 23 the 2021-2022 Renewal of Liquor License No. 24 0910-33-149-006 Issued to A&C 2004 Corp. (Pocket 25 License).  14 1 15. Resolution of the Board of 2 Commissioners of the City of Union City Approving 3 the 2020-2021 Renewal of Liquor License No. 4 0910-33-136-020 Issued to Plaza Espana, Inc. 5 (Inactive License). 6 16. Resolution Designating 44th Street 7 From Palisade Avenue to New York Avenue As Eddy R. 8 Tuero Way. 9 17. Resolution Authorizing a Shared 10 Services Agreement Between the City of Union City 11 and the Board of Education For the City of Union 12 City For the Provision of Crossing Guard Services 13 For the 2021-2022 School Year. 14 18. Resolution Authorizing a Shared 15 Services Agreement Between the City of Union City 16 and the Board of Education For the City of Union 17 City For the Provision of Solid Waste Collection 18 and Disposal Services For 2021-2024. 19 19. Resolution Authorizing the City of 20 Union City to Release Lien on the Property Located 21 At 1616 Kennedy Boulevard Also Known As Block 82, 22 Lot 12 Unit C1 Created By Prior Resolution 23 #05/03/10. 24 MR. De ARMAS: The last resolution 25 should be 1616 Summit Avenue.  15 1 MAYOR STACK: Summit or Kennedy? 2 MR. De ARMAS: Summit Avenue, it's unit 3 C-1, lease for the commercial unit. 4 MS. ROSARIO: Summit Avenue? 5 MAYOR STACK: I think that person came 6 in, I think that person came in. I wrote Angelo a 7 letter -- 8 MR. De ARMAS: Peneda? 9 MAYOR STACK: Is it a commercial 10 business? 11 MR. De ARMAS: Yes. 12 MAYOR STACK: Can we hold that for 13 tonight, just to double check? 14 MS. ROSARIO: Number 19? 15 MAYOR STACK: Let's table it to the next 16 meeting, the guy had some issues with it. 17 MS. ROSARIO: Okay. 18 MAYOR STACK: So give him a chance to be 19 heard. 20 MS. ROSARIO: Okay. 21 MAYOR STACK: Jorge, follow up for me. 22 MR. De ARMAS: Sure. 23 MS. ROSARIO: The Mayor is abstaining on 24 payment to Chasan Lamporello. Commissioner 25 Martinetti is recusing on payment to Adolfo Lopez.  16 1 Mayor, at this time would you like to 2 take public comment on the consent agenda? 3 MAYOR STACK: Anyone wishing to comment 4 on the consent agenda, please step forward, state 5 your name and address for the record. Seeing 6 none. 7 COMMISSIONER VALDIVIA: Motion. 8 MS. ROSARIO: Second? 9 COMMISSIONER MARTINETTI: Second. 10 MS. ROSARIO: Motion by Commissioner 11 Valdivia and second by Commissioner Martinetti. 12 Commissioner Fernandez. 13 COMMISSIONER FERNANDEZ: Yes, except 14 abstaining on number 17, as it pertains to Board 15 of Education and we're not voting on 19? 16 MS. ROSARIO: You're recusing on 17? 17 MR. De ARMAS: And 18. 18 COMMISSIONER FERNANDEZ: And 19, we're 19 holding. 20 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Grullon. 21 COMMISSIONER GRULLON: Yes. 22 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Valdivia. 23 COMMISSIONER VALDIVIA: Yes. 24 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Martinetti. 25 COMMISSIONER MARTINETTI: Yes, with the  17 1 exception of payments for Adolfo Lopez and number 2 17 and 18, which pertains to the City of Union 3 City Board of Education. 4 MR. De ARMAS: Could we invoke doctrine 5 of necessity on 17 and 18 then. 6 COMMISSIONER MARTINETTI: So 7 Commissioner Grullon and Valdivia will vote on 8 that. 9 MR. De ARMAS: Ordinarily Commissioners 10 Valdivia and Grullon would not vote on the Board 11 of Education, tonight the board is adopting based 12 on the doctrine of necessity. 13 COMMISSIONER MARTINETTI: That's 14 correct. 15 16 (Whereupon, the Board discussed and took 17 action on the following items: 18 REGULAR AGENDA: 19 1. Resolution authorizing payment of 20 claims - Union City Board of Education.) 21 22 MS. ROSARIO: Next on the agenda, we 23 have the regular agenda payment of claims to the 24 Union City Board of Education. 25 MR. De ARMAS: The same thing,  18 1 ordinarily, Commissioners Valdivia and Grullon 2 would not vote on Board of Education matters, 3 tonight, the board is the adopting the doctrine of 4 necessity. 5 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Grullon. 6 COMMISSIONER GRULLON: Yes. 7 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Valdivia. 8 COMMISSIONER VALDIVIA: Yes. 9 MS. ROSARIO: Mayor Stack. 10 MAYOR STACK: Yes. 11 12 OPPORTUNITY FOR CITIZENS TO ADDRESS THE BOARD: 13 14 MS. ROSARIO: Motion to close the public 15 comments portion of this meeting, Mayor? 16 MAYOR STACK: Anyone wishing to comment 17 on any matters concerning government in the 18 municipal -- anything concerning municipal 19 government in the City of Union City, please step 20 forward, state your name and address for the 21 record? Seeing none. 22 COMMISSIONER MARTINETTI: Motion. 23 MS. ROSARIO: Motion by Commissioner 24 Martinetti. 25 COMMISSIONER VALDIVIA: Second.  19 1 MS. ROSARIO: Second by Commissioner 2 Valdivia. Commissioner Fernandez. 3 COMMISSIONER FERNANDEZ: Yes. 4 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Grullon. 5 COMMISSIONER GRULLON: Yes. 6 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Valdivia. 7 COMMISSIONER VALDIVIA: Yes. 8 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Martinetti. 9 COMMISSIONER MARTINETTI: Yes. 10 MS. ROSARIO: Mayor Stack. 11 MAYOR STACK: Yes. 12 13 * * * * 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25  20 1 LIQUOR LICENSE HEARINGS: 2 1. Manhattan Bar & Grill Restaurant, Inc. 3 T/a Manhattan Bar & Grill 4 1711 Manhattan Avenue 5 0910-33-188-005 6 7 2. Sol Chicken, Inc. 8 T/a Sol Chicken 9 2903 Bergenline Avenue 10 0910-33-126-007 11 12 3. Wendy C. Diaz 13 T/a Tropical Bar & Restaurant 14 4100C Bergenline Avenue 15 0910-33-060-005 16 17 4. Dirve Corporation 18 T/a The Hub Again 19 807 7th Street 20 0910-33-049-002 21 22 5. Il Paradiso Corp. 23 T/a Il Paradiso 24 1108 Summit Avenue 25 0910-33-103-002  21 1 2 6. Don Ramon Restaurant, Inc. 3 T/a Don Ramon 4 4538 Bergenline Avenue 5 0910-33-047-004 6 7 MS. ROSARIO: Now we're proceeding to 8 the liquor license hearings. 9 10 1. Manhattan Bar & Grill Restaurant, Inc. 11 T/a Manhattan Bar & Grill 12 1711 Manhattan Avenue 13 0910-33-188-005 14 (Anna Noris, Esquire) 15 16 MR. De ARMAS: Commissioner Martinetti 17 will be recusing on item number one. 18 MR. FARMER: Good evening, Mayor and 19 members of the board, we have on the calendar five 20 or six cases, all of which we have disposed of 21 with the assistance and help of Lieutenant Dunlay. 22 First one on the calendar is Manhattan 23 Bar and Grill, the licensee is here represented by 24 Counsel, Ms. Noris, she can put her appearance on 25 the record.  22 1 MS. NORIS: Anna Noris, 6120 Bergenline 2 Avenue, on behalf of the license holder. 3 MR. FARMER: This is a situation, it's a 4 camera violation. They had cameras, however, the 5 piece of property is a corner piece of property 6 and the camera did not go down 18th Street, 7 although it went down Manhattan Avenue. This is a 8 camera violation, first offense. We have a 9 tradition or -- yeah, I guess you could call it a 10 tradition of ten days suspension, seven held in 11 abeyance and three suspended, which would be 12 June 27th, 28th and 29th. 13 MS. NORIS: That is correct. 14 MR. FARMER: David? 15 MAYOR STACK: Lieutenant, do you have 16 anything you want to add? 17 LIEUTENANT DUNLAY: I believe we spoke 18 with counsel and she wanted to address the board. 19 MS. NORIS: She does. My client would 20 like to address the board. 21 LICENSE HOLDER: I'm so sorry about the 22 last time, I couldn't make it because my health 23 isn't good. And, you know, I just didn't know 24 like -- I didn't say anything, like, told the 25 person to come here just to listen and whatever  23 1 the -- 2 MAYOR STACK: Are you managing -- are 3 you running the establishment? 4 LICENSE HOLDER: Yes, I do. But that 5 day, I was -- I couldn't make it. 6 MAYOR STACK: You're going to be there 7 now? 8 LICENSE HOLDER: Yes. 9 MAYOR STACK: You'll be handling the 10 day-to-day? 11 LICENSE HOLDER: Yes, thank you so much 12 and I'm so sorry. 13 MS. NORIS: She's closing a bunch of 14 days so she can make sure she's present. Her 15 health is failing, so she apologizes. 16 MAYOR STACK: Thank you. I make a 17 motion to approve. 18 MS. NORIS: Thank you. 19 MS. ROSARIO: Motion made by Mayor 20 Stack. Second? 21 COMMISSIONER VALDIVIA: Second. 22 MS. ROSARIO: Second by Commissioner 23 Valdivia. Commissioner Fernandez. 24 COMMISSIONER FERNANDEZ: Yes. 25 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Grullon.  24 1 COMMISSIONER GRULLON: Yes. 2 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Valdivia. 3 COMMISSIONER VALDIVIA: Yes. 4 MS. ROSARIO: Mayor Stack. 5 MAYOR STACK: Yes. 6 7 * * * * 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25  25 1 2. Sol Chicken, Inc. 2 T/a Sol Chicken 3 2903 Bergenline Avenue 4 0910-33-126-007 5 6 MR. FARMER: The next one on the agenda 7 is Sol Chicken, that's at 29th Street and 8 Bergenline Avenue. This, too, is a camera 9 violation, first offense. Quite frankly, we've 10 never really had any kind of disturbance or 11 difficulty with respect to this licensed premises. 12 It was a paper -- not a paper, it was a camera 13 violation. Lieutenant Dunlay and myself met with 14 the licensee who's here tonight and we agree to 15 ten day suspension, seven days in abeyance and 16 three days served, June 27th, 28th and 29th. As I 17 indicated the licensee is here and I advised them 18 of the fact that you could get an attorney, he 19 could come here with an attorney or he could 20 fight, whatever he wanted do, about the charges. 21 He indicated to me they don't want an attorney and 22 he was comfortable with the suspension of 27th, 23 28th, and 29th with seven days in abeyance. 24 LICENSE HOLDER: Yes, correct, we take 25 the three days.  26 1 MAYOR STACK: Is this their only 2 violation, Mr. Farmer? 3 LIEUTENANT DUNLAY: Yes. 4 MAYOR STACK: They're only one? 5 LIEUTENANT DUNLAY: There was a few 6 other violations, but -- 7 MAYOR STACK: What was the exact 8 violation? 9 LIEUTENANT DUNLAY: There were -- copy 10 of 12 page application wasn't present, the E141 11 wasn't present, and the books of accounts. So 12 since then, he had remedied everything. 13 MAYOR STACK: And nothing was ever 14 before that? 15 LIEUTENANT DUNLAY: No, no issue 16 whatsoever. 17 MAYOR STACK: How long have you been in 18 business? 19 LICENSE HOLDER: 25 years. 20 MAYOR STACK: How many? 21 LICENSE HOLDER: 25 years. 22 MAYOR STACK: You run a pretty good 23 business. I pass by a lot. What's the 24 recommended suspension? 25 LIEUTENANT DUNLAY: It's serving  27 1 three days, serving three days. So the whole 2 agreement is he's a primary restaurant business, 3 so his primary source of income is the food, so he 4 would remain open, he would just not sell alcohol 5 on those three days. 6 MAYOR STACK: Here's what we'll do. If 7 he doesn't have a violation in six months, if he 8 has a violation, he'll serve his time, being that 9 he's never had a violation before. 10 MR. FARMER: Well, excuse me. He had a 11 violation back in '19, August 2019 and that was a 12 three day suspension, which was suspended on the 13 condition that the licensee never suffers another 14 incident for the period of 2019 to '20. 15 MAYOR STACK: And when was that? 16 MR. FARMER: That was in -- 17 LIEUTENANT DUNLAY: Pre-COVID, 2019. 18 MAYOR STACK: Okay, all right. We'll 19 hold this -- what we'll do is we'll give the 20 suspension and then just hold it. If he has no 21 violations in six months, it will go away. 22 MR. FARMER: Okay. 23 MAYOR STACK: Because it's a good 24 business, there's never any problem there. I 25 never see groups outside, any type of trouble.  28 1 That's what we want to encourage in Union City. 2 LICENSE HOLDER: Thank you. 3 MAYOR STACK: You run a good business, 4 continue doing that. 5 LICENSE HOLDER: Thank you very much. 6 MAYOR STACK: Just don't have any other 7 issues. 8 LIEUTENANT DUNLAY: Give your appearance 9 for the record, please. 10 LICENSE HOLDER: Ivan Reckeo, 11 R-E-C-K-E-O. 12 MS. ROSARIO: Do we have a motion to 13 approve? 14 COMMISSIONER FERNANDEZ: Motion. 15 MAYOR STACK: Motion to suspend the 16 violation. 17 MS. ROSARIO: Motion by Mayor Stack. 18 COMMISSIONER FERNANDEZ: Second. 19 MS. ROSARIO: Second by Commissioner 20 Fernandez. Commissioner Fernandez. 21 COMMISSIONER FERNANDEZ: Yes. 22 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Grullon. 23 COMMISSIONER GRULLON: Yes. 24 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Valdivia. 25 COMMISSIONER VALDIVIA: Yes.  29 1 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Martinetti. 2 COMMISSIONER MARTINETTI: Yes. 3 MS. ROSARIO: Mayor Stack. 4 MAYOR STACK: Yes. 5 * * * * 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25  30 1 3. Wendy C. Diaz 2 T/a Tropical Bar & Restaurant 3 4100C Bergenline Avenue 4 0910-33-060-005 5 6 MR. FARMER: The next one on your 7 calendar is Tropical Bar and Restaurant on 4100 8 Bergenline Avenue. This was not only a camera 9 violation, but there was a fight. And again, I 10 met with the licensee last Thursday, along with 11 Lieutenant Dunlay, and we negotiated a plea of 12 20 days. 13 MAYOR STACK: Where is this 4100? 14 MR. FARMER: Yes, 4100 Bergenline Avenue 15 and it will be from August 1st to August 20th. 16 LIEUTENANT DUNLAY: July 1st to July 17 20th. 18 MAYOR STACK: The issue was a -- just 19 the acoustics in the room. 20 LIEUTENANT DUNLAY: It would be a 20 day 21 suspension, so it's August 1st to August 20th. We 22 pre-met maybe about a month ago, he missed the 23 last meeting because his mother is very ill, she's 24 in the hospital. She actually runs the 25 day-to-day -- Ms. Diaz runs the day-to-day  31 1 operations at the establishment. So that was the 2 issue. But they're willing to take the plea, the 3 agreement. So it would be August 1st to 4 August 20th. 5 MAYOR STACK: Can you enter your 6 appearance? 7 MR. DIAZ: Peter Diaz representing 8 Tropical Bar and Restaurant, 4100 Bergenline 9 Avenue in City of Union City. 10 LIEUTENANT DUNLAY: Peter is the son -- 11 the brother of the owner, Wendy Diaz. 12 MAYOR STACK: Who's running the 13 establishment? 14 MR. DIAZ: My mom was for the most part, 15 but she had an accident about a month ago. She's 16 in an induced coma in the hospital at the moment. 17 So basically -- 18 MAYOR STACK: I hope she feels better. 19 MR. DIAZ: Thank you. 20 MAYOR STACK: You understand what the 21 plea agreement is? 22 MR. DIAZ: Yes. 23 MAYOR STACK: I make a motion to approve 24 it. 25 MS. ROSARIO: Motion by Mayor Stack.  32 1 Second? 2 COMMISSIONER FERNANDEZ: Second. 3 MS. ROSARIO: Second, 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. Thank you very much. 14 * * * * 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25  33 1 4. Dirve Corporation 2 T/a The Hub Again 3 807 - 7th Street 4 0910-33-049-002 5 6 MR. FARMER: Next is Paradiso -- 7 LIEUTENANT DUNLAY: No. 8 MR. FARMER: I'm sorry, The Hub is 9 located 807 7th Street, we had a conference with 10 respect to the licensee, who's here today, along 11 with Lieutenant Dunlay. And this dealt with a 12 fight and also with respect to camera violation, 13 total of 17 days, seven held in abeyance and ten 14 served, which will be the June 22nd to July 1st. 15 That's right, he wanted June? 16 MAYOR STACK: What was the violation? 17 MR. FARMER: June 19th to June 22nd. 18 LIEUTENANT DUNLAY: There was a fight, a 19 scuffle, from inside that escalated -- went to the 20 outside. And then when they reviewed the cameras, 21 there was an issue with the camera ordinance. 22 MAYOR STACK: I see it's his first 23 violation? 24 LIEUTENANT DUNLAY: It's the first 25 violation with the camera ordinance, so we're  34 1 doing the ten days, holding the seven. And then a 2 total suspension would be ten days with the brawl. 3 MAYOR STACK: Sir, if you could enter 4 your appearance, so we have it. 5 MR. KENNEDY: John Kennedy, owner. 6 MAYOR STACK: Mr. Kennedy, do you 7 understand what the Lieutenant said, what the 8 agreement is? 9 MR. KENNEDY: I do. 10 MAYOR STACK: You're not looking to have 11 an attorney or anything like that with you? 12 MR. KENNEDY: No. 13 MAYOR STACK: I make a motion to 14 approve. 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.  35 1 COMMISSIONER MARTINETTI: Yes. 2 MS. ROSARIO: Mayor Stack. 3 MAYOR STACK: Yes. Thank you very much, 4 have a good evening. 5 * * * * 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25  36 1 5. Il Paradiso Corp. 2 T/a Il Paradiso 3 1108 Summit Avenue 4 0910-33-103-002 5 6 MR. FARMER: The next one is Paradiso 7 and that's located at 1108 Summit Avenue. This 8 initially started off as a camera violation, the 9 police investigated through -- Lieutenant Dunlay 10 has been very active with respect to relationship 11 with the licensee. It seems everything is now all 12 cleared up and Lieutenant Dunlay can explain in 13 detail what has been cleared up and why we're 14 recommending that the charges be dismissed, given 15 the nature of the charge, coupled with the lack of 16 past history, for the most part. 17 LIEUTENANT DUNLAY: So this is an issue 18 of a camera violation. The police department, as 19 per the ordinance, is supposed to go and do the 20 inspections, et cetera. We set up an initial 21 meet, there was an initial meet, there was a 22 change in the detective that was assigned to do 23 all the camera inspections. Unfortunately, Mr. 24 Contreras's business fell through the cracks, it 25 was never fully inspected.  37 1 So then a couple months pass by, they 2 did an inspection and there was a violation. He 3 shouldn't be faulted for something that the police 4 failed to do. So we're recommending -- once it 5 was brought to his attention, he actually fixed it 6 within a week. Now, he's fully operational, 7 everything is up to date, he's in complete 8 compliance. So I don't think -- it's not fair to 9 him and I recommend that we dismiss the charges. 10 MAYOR STACK: Okay. I'll make a motion 11 to dismiss on Lieutenant Dunlay's recommendation. 12 MS. ROSARIO: Motion by Mayor Stack. 13 Second? 14 COMMISSIONER FERNANDEZ: Second. 15 MS. ROSARIO: Second by Commissioner 16 Fernandez. 17 MAYOR STACK: Did you have anything that 18 you wanted to add to this? 19 MR. FARMER: What I wanted, he did not 20 put his appearance on the record. 21 MR. CONTRERAS: Luis Contreras. 22 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Fernandez. 23 COMMISSIONER FERNANDEZ: Yes. 24 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Grullon. 25 COMMISSIONER GRULLON: Yes.  38 1 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Valdivia. 2 COMMISSIONER VALDIVIA: Yes. 3 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Martinetti. 4 COMMISSIONER MARTINETTI: Yes. 5 MS. ROSARIO: Mayor Stack. 6 MAYOR STACK: Yes. 7 MR. CONTRERAS: Thank you. 8 MAYOR STACK: Thank you. 9 * * * * 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25  39 1 6. Don Ramon Restaurant, Inc. 2 T/a Don Ramon 3 4538 Bergenline Avenue 4 0910-33-047-004 5 6 MR. FARMER: The last one is Don Ramon, 7 4538 Bergenline Avenue. Counsel? 8 MR. PANEQUE: Good evening, Mayor Stack, 9 Commissioners, Tomas R. Paneque, attorney for the 10 Respondent. 11 MR. FARMER: This is a somewhat involved 12 matter. This matter was before you just a little 13 while ago and basically we negotiated a plea and 14 then had 10 days in abeyance, if nothing happened 15 within a year, obviously something's happened. 16 This is a situation where there was a 17 fight, the victim was highly intoxicated. It was 18 a pretty big disturbance, there were two security 19 guards that weren't on the E141, one of them 20 trying to either break up the fight or just trying 21 to be aggressive, hit the victim, six stitches in 22 the head, with a baton and then fled the area. 23 We had a long meeting with Detective 24 Dunlay -- Lieutenant Dunlay. And, basically, he 25 was closed for June and we negotiated a plea where  40 1 he would be closed for July and August. He's 2 going to be closed the whole summer. So he will 3 close June 30th and open up September 1st or 4 August 30th -- 5 MAYOR STACK: Say that again? 6 MR. FARMER: -- for 60 days. So this 7 establishment -- 62 days. This establishment, for 8 all intents and purposes, will be closed for the 9 entire summer. 10 MR. PANEQUE: We're currently under a 11 close order, Mayor, for June. So we had a 12 previous resolution where we were going to be 13 closed for June, then this incident happened. And 14 this incident occurred, it was a security company 15 that had been hired to provide security services. 16 It turns out that the gentlemen that they sent to 17 provide the security services, as Mr. Farmer 18 indicated, did not have the proper documentation. 19 And, in addition to that, they took it upon 20 themselves to basically cause an assault on the 21 patron that was involved in the fight, which 22 resulted in personal injury to that patron. As a 23 result of the grievousness of the situation, the 24 agreement is to continue with a suspension for the 25 months of July and August. So, technically, as  41 1 Mr. Farmer indicated, we would be effectively 2 closed the entire summer of 2022, with a projected 3 opening date of September 1st, 2022. 4 MAYOR STACK: Okay. And that's the 5 agreement that's been made? 6 MR. FARMER: Yes. 7 MAYOR STACK: Okay. 8 MR. PANEQUE: I just, again, stress to 9 the board, Mayor and Commissioners, that my client 10 was acting in the best capacity that he knew how. 11 He hired a professional company to provide 12 security, unbeknownst to him, they were not very 13 well trained, apparently because it led to the 14 incident that took place. And for that, he 15 extends his deepest apologies to the board and the 16 fact that we are, again, within a period of two 17 months back before you. 18 MAYOR STACK: Right. Anything to add, 19 Mr. Farmer? 20 MR. FARMER: No, I would recommend 21 approval of the settlement. 22 MAYOR STACK: I'll make a motion. 23 MS. ROSARIO: Motion by Mayor Stack. 24 Second? 25 COMMISSIONER GRULLON: Second.  42 1 MS. ROSARIO: Second by Commissioner 2 Grullon. Commissioner Fernandez. 3 COMMISSIONER FERNANDEZ: Yes. 4 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Grullon. 5 COMMISSIONER GRULLON: Yes. 6 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Valdivia. 7 COMMISSIONER VALDIVIA: Yes. 8 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Martinetti. 9 COMMISSIONER MARTINETTI: Yes. 10 MS. ROSARIO: Mayor Stack. 11 MAYOR STACK: Yes. 12 * * * * 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25  43 1 ADJOURNMENT: 2 3 MS. ROSARIO: Before we adjourn, Mayor, 4 I left out a little paragraph here regarding the 5 ordinance. The ordinance will be further 6 considered at a meeting of the Board of 7 Commissioners to be held on Tuesday, June 21st, at 8 522 22nd Street in Union City. 9 MAYOR STACK: Which ordinance? 10 MS. ROSARIO: This is the ordinance I 11 read regarding the Central Avenue corridor and the 12 other one, which was the emergency appropriation. 13 MAYOR STACK: I got it, okay. Thank 14 you. 15 MS. ROSARIO: Can I have a motion to 16 adjourn today's meeting? 17 COMMISSIONER MARTINETTI: Motion. 18 MAYOR STACK: Motion. 19 MS. ROSARIO: Motion by Commissioner 20 Martinetti, second by Mayor Stack. 21 (All Commissioners voted in the 22 affirmative.) 23 24 (Whereupon the meeting was adjourned at 25 7:40 p.m.)  44 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 Jorge de Armas, Esq., 11 Corporation Counsel 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25  45 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