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 ROBERT WATERS SCHOOL 2800 Summit Avenue 7 Union City, New Jersey 8 Tuesday, August 8, 2023 9 Commencing at 7:00 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 21 HILDA ROSARIO, City Clerk 22 23 SUSAN BISCHOFF, CCR, RPR 449 Columbia Blvd., Wood-Ridge, NJ 07075 24 201-933-8220 SBischoffccr@yahoo.com 25  2 1 I N D E X 2 PAGE 3 CALL TO ORDER 3 SALUTE TO FLAG 3 4 ROLL CALL 3 5 PROCLAMATION 4 6 MINUTES 4 7 CONSENT AGENDA 5 8 REGULAR AGENDA 15 9 ORDINANCE(S) FOR HEARING AND ADOPTION 16 10 CITIZENS ADDRESS THE BOARD 20 11 LIQUOR LICENSE PUBLIC HEARINGS n/a 12 ADJOURNMENT 21 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25  3 1 MS. ROSARIO: Please rise. 2 (Whereupon, the Pledge of Allegiance was 3 recited.) 4 MS. ROSARIO: This is a regular public 5 meeting of the Union City Board of Commissioners 6 being held on Tuesday, August 8, 2023 at 7:00 p.m. 7 at the Robert Waters School, 2800 Summit Avenue in 8 Union City. 9 The meeting has been called in 10 accordance with the Open Public Meetings Act. 11 Adequate notice was forwarded to The Jersey 12 Journal and The Record, has been posted on the 13 bulletin board in City Hall and has been made 14 available to the public in the office of the 15 Municipal Clerk. 16 17 ROLL CALL: 18 19 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Fernandez. 20 COMMISSIONER FERNANDEZ: Here. 21 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Grullon. 22 COMMISSIONER GRULLON: Here. 23 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Valdivia. 24 COMMISSIONER VALDIVIA: Here. 25 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Martinetti.  4 1 COMMISSIONER MARTINETTI: Here. 2 MS. ROSARIO: Mayor Stack. 3 MAYOR STACK: Here. 4 5 PROCLAMATION: 6 7 MS. ROSARIO: The first item on the 8 agenda is the proclamation designating August 18, 9 2023, as Never Give Up Day. We have a 10 proclamation. 11 Commissioner Fernandez. 12 COMMISSIONER FERNANDEZ: This is going 13 to be mailed out to the persons that requested it. 14 15 (Proclamation read by Commissioner 16 Fernandez. ) 17 18 MS. ROSARIO: Thank you. 19 MAYOR STACK: Thank you, Commissioner. 20 21 APPROVAL OF MINUTES: 22 23 MS. ROSARIO: The next item is a motion 24 to approve meeting minutes for the July 25, 2023. 25 MAYOR STACK: Motion.  5 1 MS. ROSARIO: Motion made by Mayor 2 Stack. 3 COMMISSIONER VALDIVIA: Second. 4 MS. ROSARIO: Second by Commissioner 5 Valdivia. 6 Commissioner Fernandez. 7 COMMISSIONER FERNANDEZ: Abstain. 8 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Grullon. 9 COMMISSIONER GRULLON: Yes. 10 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Valdivia. 11 COMMISSIONER VALDIVIA: Yes. 12 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Martinetti. 13 COMMISSIONER MARTINETTI: Yes. 14 MS. ROSARIO: Mayor Stack. 15 MAYOR STACK: Yes. 16 MS. ROSARIO: Thank you. 17 18 (Whereupon, the Board discussed and took 19 action on the following items: 20 CONSENT AGENDA: 21 ( 1) Resolution Approving the Payment of Claims. 22 ( 2) Resolution Approving the Payment of 23 Concurring Claims. 24 ( 3) Resolution Approving the Escrow Refunds. 25 ( 4) Resolution Approving the City Payroll From  6 1 July 1, 2023, Through July 14, 2023. 2 ( 5) Resolution Approving the Library Payroll 3 From July 1, 2023, Through July 14, 2023. 4 ( 6) Resolution Approving the Refund of Duplicate 5 Payment. 6 ( 7) Resolution Authorizing the Refund of Premium 7 Monies Collected At the Tax Sale. 8 ( 8) Resolution Authorizing Refund of Redemption 9 Monies to the Outside Lienholders. 10 ( 9) Resolution Approving Grant Agreement Between 11 City of Union City and State of New Jersey By and 12 For the Department of Environmental Protection 13 Grant Identifier EVLVL-2022-City of Union 14 City-00800. 15 (10) Resolution Approving Grant Agreement Between 16 City of Union City and State of New Jersey By and 17 For the DEP Grant Identifier EVLVL-2022-City of 18 Union City-00801. 19 (11) Resolution Approving Grant Agreement Between 20 City of Union City and the State of New Jersey By 21 and For the Department of Environmental Protection 22 Grant Identifier EVLVL-2022-City of Union 23 City-00803. 24 (12) Resolution Authorizing the Retention of 25 Licensed Site Remediation Professional LSRP.  7 1 (13) Resolution of the City of Union City, County 2 of Hudson, New Jersey Authorizing the Execution of 3 a Redevelopment Agreement With 730 8th Street 4 Union City, LP 5 (14) Resolution Authorizing the Use of 6 Competitive Contracting For Personnel Consultant 7 Services. 8 (15) Resolution Authorizing Receipt of Bids For 9 Interpreter Services. 10 (16) Resolution Authorizing Contracts For 11 Additional Special Counsel Services For the City 12 of Union City For 2023. 13 (17) Resolution Authorizing the Award of a 14 Contract For Municipal Public Defender Services 15 For 2023. 16 (18) Resolution Authorizing Contracts For 17 Substitute Public Defender For 2023. 18 (19) Resolution Authorizing Contracts For 19 Substitute Municipal Court Prosecutor. 20 (20) Resolution Authorizing the Award of a 21 Contract For Chief Municipal Court Prosecutor to 22 the Legg Law Firm.) 23 24 MS. ROSARIO: There are 20 items on the 25 consent agenda.  8 1 One, resolution approving the payment of 2 claims. 3 Two, resolution approving the payment of 4 concurring claims. 5 Three, resolution approving the escrow 6 refunds. 7 Four, resolution approving the city 8 payroll from July 1, 2023, through July 14, 2023. 9 Five, resolution approving the library 10 payroll from July 1, 2023, through July 14, 2023. 11 Six, resolution approving the refund of 12 duplicate payment. 13 Seven, resolution authorizing the refund 14 of premium monies collected at the tax sale. 15 Eight, resolution authorizing refund of 16 redemption monies to the outside lienholders. 17 Nine, resolution approving grant 18 agreement between City of Union City and State of 19 New Jersey by and for the Department of 20 Environmental Protection grant identifier 21 EVLVL-2022-City of Union City-00800. 22 Ten, resolution approving grant 23 agreement between City of Union City and State of 24 New Jersey by and for the DEP grant identifier 25 EVLVL-2022-City of Union City-00801.  9 1 Eleven, resolution -- 2 MAYOR STACK: Those two -- I'm sorry, 3 just for the Commissioners, those two are EV 4 chargers and a grant that the City was seeking 5 that we're receiving on those two. And they'll be 6 installed first at the parking decks, then we'll 7 try to get them throughout the community. 8 Thank you, Hilda. 9 MS. ROSARIO: You're welcome, Mayor. 10 Eleven, resolution approving grant 11 agreement between City of Union City and the State 12 of New Jersey by and for the Department of 13 Environmental Protection grant identifier 14 EVLVL-2022-City of Union City-00803. 15 Twelve, resolution authorizing the 16 retention of licensed site remediation 17 professional LSRP. 18 Thirteen, resolution of the City of 19 Union City, County of Hudson, New Jersey 20 authorizing the execution of a redevelopment 21 agreement with 730 8th Street Union City, LP. 22 Fourteen, resolution -- 23 MAYOR STACK: This is something -- so on 24 that resolution, that's the building that we spoke 25 about three times, the Commissioners and I. And  10 1 the Commissioners have been working very 2 diligently. This will be a new senior citizen 3 building with 101 units on the municipal parking 4 lot, we'll the parking on the surface level. And 5 then we'll put another layer of parking above. 6 And then six stories of apartments. They'll have 7 96 one-bedroom units and five two-bedroom units, 8 two levels of parking, ground floor retail, which 9 should be -- hopefully the post office decides to 10 stay -- that would be the post office and that 11 would be possibly another business, maybe some 12 type of a convenience store. 13 MS. ROSARIO: Nice. 14 MAYOR STACK: Thank you, Hilda. 15 MS. ROSARIO: Fourteen, resolution 16 authorizing the use of competitive contracting for 17 personnel consultant services. 18 Fifteen, resolution authorizing receipt 19 of bids for interpreter services. 20 Sixteen, resolution authorizing 21 contracts for additional special counsel services 22 for the City of Union City for 2023. 23 Seventeen, resolution authorizing the 24 award of a contract for municipal public defender 25 services for 2023.  11 1 Eighteen, resolution authorizing 2 contracts for substitute public defender for 2023. 3 Nineteen, resolution authorizing 4 contracts for substitute municipal court 5 prosecutor. 6 Twenty, resolution authorizing the award 7 of a contract for chief municipal court prosecutor 8 to the Legg law firm. 9 Mayor, would you like to take public 10 comment on the consent agenda at this time? 11 MAYOR STACK: Sure. Anyone wishing to 12 comment on the consent agenda, please step 13 forward, state your name and address for the 14 record. 15 Once again, I would like to thank the 16 Commissioners for moving 100 percent of our 17 meetings through the community. For as long as I 18 can remember, the 20 plus, 21 years. Thank you 19 for moving our meetings around the City. 20 Again, anyone wishing to comment on the 21 consent agenda, please step forward, state your 22 name and address for the record. 23 COMMISSIONER MARTINETTI: Mayor, I just 24 want to commend you for making this project 25 possible on 8th Street. I live in the area and it  12 1 was very difficult to find parking. And now with 2 the addition you're going to make and the housing, 3 it's just going to make the place more beautiful 4 and the people more happy. It's going to be a 5 challenge trying to park these couple years until 6 the project is finalized, but, you know, we have 7 to see the light at the end of the tunnel. So 8 thank you so much. 9 MAYOR STACK: They say construction 10 should take about 18 months to two years for the 11 building. 12 COMMISSIONER VALDIVIA: I want to thank 13 the Mayor for that. It's nice when you run into a 14 senior citizen, they're always looking for an 15 apartment. I can tell them there's going to be 16 one built on 8th Street, you have to apply when 17 the applications are out. 18 COMMISSIONER FERNANDEZ: I have to echo 19 that. I can't commend the Mayor enough for this. 20 You know, as the community gets older, you know, a 21 lot of communities turn their backs on seniors. 22 And you know how hard it is to make ends meet for 23 the seniors. So to make another senior building 24 is such a plus. I can't think of anything more 25 worthy than that, not forgetting our seniors and  13 1 of course the veterans. But the seniors are so 2 important. So, Mayor, wholeheartedly, thank you 3 very much. 4 COMMISSIONER GRULLON: Thank you, Mayor. 5 MAYOR STACK: Thank you very much. 6 Hopefully, this will be part of a lot of other 7 things. We're looking at now the Teamster 8 building, we're in negotiations for that. That 9 would be affordable housing for families, about 30 10 families will be able to go in there. We can put 11 the police station on the first floor, a 12 substation in that area. We're working on that. 13 We're working on negotiating with a 14 property owner the possibility to build a parking 15 deck. And we're working on also looking at -- 16 we'll talk more about this in detail -- the Bruce 17 Walter rec center, about a major renovation or 18 rebuild of the Bruce Walter rec center, going up 19 with a lot more activity. We're meeting on that. 20 Seeing no residents for questions at 21 this time, again, last call. Any member of the 22 public have any questions? Sir, you have 23 anything? 24 COMMISSIONER MARTINETTI: Motion. 25 MS. ROSARIO: Motion by Commissioner  14 1 Martinetti. 2 COMMISSIONER VALDIVIA: Second. 3 MS. ROSARIO: Second by Commissioner 4 Valdivia. 5 Commissioner Fernandez. 6 COMMISSIONER FERNANDEZ: Yes. 7 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Grullon. 8 COMMISSIONER GRULLON: Yes. 9 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Valdivia. 10 COMMISSIONER VALDIVIA: Yes. 11 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Martinetti. 12 COMMISSIONER MARTINETTI: Yes. 13 MS. ROSARIO: Mayor Stack. 14 MAYOR STACK: Yes. 15 MS. ROSARIO: May I have a motion to 16 approve all items on the consent agenda? 17 COMMISSIONER VALDIVIA: Motion. 18 COMMISSIONER GRULLON: Second. 19 MS. ROSARIO: Motion by Commissioner 20 Valdivia. Second by Commissioner Grullon. 21 Commissioner Fernandez. 22 COMMISSIONER FERNANDEZ: Yes. 23 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Grullon. 24 COMMISSIONER GRULLON: Yes. 25 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Valdivia.  15 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 item: 9 REGULAR AGENDA: 10 1. Resolution approving payment of 11 claims to HCIA.) 12 13 MS. ROSARIO: There's one item on the 14 regular agenda, which is a resolution approving 15 payment of the claims to the HCIA. Commissioner 16 Martinetti will recuse. 17 May I have a motion to approve Item 1 on 18 the regular agenda? 19 COMMISSIONER GRULLON: Motion. 20 MS. ROSARIO: Motion made by 21 Commissioner Grullon. Second? 22 COMMISSIONER VALDIVIA: Second. 23 MS. ROSARIO: Second by Commissioner 24 Valdivia. 25 Commissioner Fernandez.  16 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: Mayor Stack. 7 MAYOR STACK: Yes. 8 MS. ROSARIO: Thank you. 9 10 (Whereupon, the Board discussed and took 11 action on the following item: 12 ORDINANCE(S) FOR HEARING AND ADOPTION 13 CONSIDERATION: 14 1. An ordinance amending Chapter 171, 15 "Fire Prevention" restricting open burning 16 throughout the City of Union City.) 17 18 MS. ROSARIO: There's one ordinance for 19 hearing and adoption consideration. 20 One, an ordinance amending Chapter 171 21 "Fire Prevention" restricting open burning 22 throughout the City of Union City. 23 Mayor, would you like to take public 24 comment on this ordinance? 25 MAYOR STACK: Yes. Anyone wishing to  17 1 comment on this ordinance at this time? This 2 would just restrict -- it's pretty 3 self-explanatory -- self burning, where you have 4 these open fire pits on roofs and stuff like that, 5 they're very dangerous, not only to the building 6 where they are, but to the buildings that are 7 adjacent and the homes that are adjacent to these 8 structures. 9 We haven't had many come forward with 10 these to build in the City, but we've had a few 11 come forward. Marty Martinetti has brought this 12 to my attention awhile ago and now also I know 13 fire prevention has also gotten involved in this. 14 This is something, I feel, that would make us 15 safer in the long run. 16 Anyone wishing to comment at this time, 17 please step forward, state your name and address 18 for the record. Seeing none. 19 MS. ROSARIO: May I have a motion to 20 close public comment? 21 MAYOR STACK: Motion. 22 MS. ROSARIO: Motion by Mayor Stack. 23 COMMISSIONER FERNANDEZ: Second. 24 MS. ROSARIO: Second by Commissioner 25 Fernandez.  18 1 Commissioner Fernandez. 2 COMMISSIONER FERNANDEZ: Yes. 3 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Grullon. 4 COMMISSIONER GRULLON: Yes. 5 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Valdivia. 6 COMMISSIONER VALDIVIA: Yes. 7 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Martinetti. 8 COMMISSIONER MARTINETTI: Yes. 9 MS. ROSARIO: Mayor Stack. 10 MAYOR STACK: Yes. 11 MS. ROSARIO: May I have a motion to 12 adopt? 13 MAYOR STACK: Motion. 14 MS. ROSARIO: Motion made by Mayor 15 Stack. 16 COMMISSIONER FERNANDEZ: Second. 17 MS. ROSARIO: Second by Commissioner 18 Fernandez. 19 Commissioner Fernandez. 20 COMMISSIONER FERNANDEZ: This is a great 21 ordinance because you see a lot of people, even 22 barbecues on their balconies and it's a dangerous 23 thing to have. The houses that are so old and it 24 just takes one flicker. This is such a great 25 ordinance. I mean even some tall buildings in the  19 1 City, I see barbecues. 2 MAYOR STACK: It gets me very nervous. 3 COMMISSIONER VALDIVIA: Very nervous. 4 COMMISSIONER FERNANDEZ: Yes, yes, 5 absolutely. 6 MAYOR STACK: And I think this is some 7 we're going to need to educate the public on, 8 maybe with a flyer with the volunteers and stuff, 9 getting it under every door in the City. Because 10 what Lucio just touched upon is super, super 11 important, on terraces and backyards and stuff 12 like that. 13 We've had a few fires in the City that 14 were caused -- not in the last few years, but 15 prior to that, we were at the fire and it was 16 caused by a barbecue grill against another 17 building, we lost three homes. 18 COMMISSIONER MARTINETTI: On 10th 19 Street. 20 COMMISSIONER FERNANDEZ: Something like 21 the Ice House -- 22 MAYOR STACK: 100 percent, with an open 23 flame. Absolutely, yes. 24 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Grullon. 25 COMMISSIONER GRULLON: Yes.  20 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 8 OPPORTUNITY FOR CITIZENS TO ADDRESS THE BOARD: 9 10 MS. ROSARIO: Mayor, would you like to 11 take public comment? 12 MAYOR STACK: Anyone wishing to comment 13 from the public at this time, please step forward, 14 state your name and address. 15 Again, thank you to the Commissioners 16 for moving 100 percent of the meetings around the 17 City, always in the evening hour and notifying the 18 public. Seeing none. 19 MS. ROSARIO: Motion to close? 20 MAYOR STACK: Motion. 21 MS. ROSARIO: Motion by Mayor Stack. 22 Second by Commissioner Martinetti. 23 Commissioner Fernandez. 24 COMMISSIONER FERNANDEZ: Yes. 25 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Grullon.  21 1 COMMISSIONER GRULLON: Yes. 2 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Valdivia. 3 COMMISSIONER VALDIVIA: Yes. 4 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Martinetti. 5 COMMISSIONER MARTINETTI: Yes. 6 MS. ROSARIO: Mayor Stack. 7 MAYOR STACK: Yes. 8 9 ADJOURNMENT: 10 11 MS. ROSARIO: May I have a motion to 12 adjourn? 13 MAYOR STACK: Motion. 14 COMMISSIONER VALDIVIA: Second. 15 MS. ROSARIO: All in favor? 16 17 (All Board Members indicate in the 18 affirmative.) 19 20 (Whereupon the meeting was adjourned at 21 7:13 p.m.) 22 23 24 25  22 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  23 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