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 VETERANS' MEMORIAL SCHOOL 1401 Central Avenue 7 Union City, New Jersey 8 Tuesday, December 19, 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 RAMON GONZALEZ, 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 MELISSA LOPEZ, ESQ. Attorney for Breezi's Bar & Chill 3 4 EIKE PANEQUE, ESQ. Attorney for El Tequilazo 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 CONSENT AGENDA 5 7 REGULAR AGENDA 13/14 8 ORDINANCE(S) FOR HEARING AND ADOPTION 15/17/19/21/23 9 CITIZENS ADDRESS THE BOARD 25 10 LIQUOR LICENSE PUBLIC HEARINGS 37 11 Breezi's Bar & Chill 38 El Tequilazo Bar Corp. 43 12 13 ADJOURNMENT 48 14 15 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 Tuesday, December 19, 2023, at 4 7:00 p.m. at the Veterans' Memorial Elementary 5 School, 1401 Central Avenue, in Union City. 6 This meeting has been called in 7 accordance with the Open Public Meeting Act. 8 Adequate notice of this meeting has been provided 9 as follows: Was forwarded to The Jersey Journal 10 and The Record, has been posted on the bulletin 11 board in City Hall and has been made available to 12 the public in the office of the Municipal Clerk. 13 14 ROLL CALL: 15 16 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Fernandez. 17 COMMISSIONER FERNANDEZ: Here. 18 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Grullon. 19 COMMISSIONER GRULLON: Here. 20 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Valdivia. 21 COMMISSIONER VALDIVIA: Here. 22 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Martinetti. 23 COMMISSIONER MARTINETTI: Here. 24 MS. ROSARIO: Mayor Stack. 25 MAYOR STACK: Here.  5 1 SPECIAL PRESENTATION: 2 3 MS. ROSARIO: The first item on the 4 agenda is the presentation of the Union City 5 Soccer Club Champions of the Northern Counties 6 Soccer Association of New Jersey. 7 Commissioner Fernandez. 8 9 (Presentation to the soccer clubs.) 10 11 MAYOR STACK: If I could have everyone's 12 attention, please? 13 14 (Whereupon, the Board discussed and took 15 action on the following items in total: 16 CONSENT AGENDA: 17 ( 1) Resolution Approving the Payment of Claims. 18 ( 2) Resolution Approving the Payments of 19 Concurring Claims. 20 ( 3) Resolution Approving the Escrow Refunds. 21 ( 4) Resolution Approving the City Payroll From 22 November 18, 2023, Through December 1, 2023. 23 ( 5) Resolution Approving the Library Payroll 24 From November 18, 2023, Through December 1, 2023. 25 ( 6) Resolution Authorizing the Refund of Premium  6 1 Monies Collected At the Tax Sale. 2 ( 7) Resolution Authorizing Refund of Redemption 3 Monies to Outside Lienholders. 4 ( 8) Resolution Cancelling First and Second 5 Quarter Taxes. 6 ( 9) Resolution Approving Special Emergency 7 Appropriation Pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40A:4-53. 8 (10) Resolution Approving to Submit a Grant 9 Application and Execute a Grant Contract With the 10 NJDOT For the 30th, 31st, and 32nd Street 11 Local Freight Road Improvements Projects. 12 (11) Resolution Authorizing the Placement of a 13 Lien on the Property Known As 2200 Bergenline 14 Avenue, Union City, New Jersey, 07087 Block 124, 15 Lot 1 in the City of Union City For the Amount of 16 $25,750.00 For Emergency Repair Costs. 17 (12) Resolution Authorizing the Placement of a 18 Lien on the Property Known As 1917 Bergenline 19 Avenue, Union City, New Jersey, 07087 Block 103, 20 Lot 7 in the City of Union City For Emergency 21 Repair Costs in the Amount of $425.00. 22 (13) Resolution Authorizing the Placement of a 23 Lien on the Property Known As 2200 Bergenline 24 Avenue, Union City, New Jersey, 07087, Block 124, 25 Lot 1 in the City of Union City For Emergency  7 1 Repair Costs For $3,012.50. 2 (14) Resolution Authorizing the Placement of a 3 Lien on the Property Known As 2200 Bergenline 4 Avenue, Union City, New Jersey 07087, Block 124, 5 Lot 1 in the City of Union City For Emergency 6 Repair Costs For the Amount of $1,497.02. 7 (15) Resolution Awarding Contract For Federal and 8 State Contract Grant Consultant For the City For 9 2024. 10 (16) Resolution Awarding Contract For Personnel 11 Consultant Services For the City of Union City For 12 2024. 13 (17) Resolution Awarding Contract For Feral Cat 14 Trapping, Spaying, and Neutering Services For the 15 City of Union City For 2024. 16 (18) Resolution Authorizing Award of Contract For 17 Animal Control Officer and Shelter Services For 18 the City of Union City For 2024. 19 (19) Resolution Amending the 2023-2024 Schedule 20 of Board of Commissioners Meetings.) 21 22 MS. ROSARIO: Back on the record. There 23 are 19 items on the consent agenda. 24 One, resolution approving the payment of 25 claims.  8 1 Two, resolution approving the payments 2 of concurring claims. 3 Three, resolution approving the escrow 4 refunds. 5 Four, resolution approving the city 6 payroll from November 18, 2023, through December 7 1, 2023. 8 Five, resolution approving the library 9 payroll from November 18, 2023, through 10 December 1, 2023. 11 Six, resolution authorizing the refund 12 of premium monies collected at the tax sale. 13 Seven, resolution authorizing refund of 14 redemption monies to outside lienholders. 15 Eight, resolution cancelling first and 16 second quarter taxes. 17 Nine, resolution approving special 18 emergency appropriation pursuant to N.J.S.A. 19 40A:4-53. 20 Ten, resolution approving to submit a 21 grant application and execute a grant contract 22 with the NJDOT for the 30th, 31st, and 32nd Street 23 local freight road improvements projects. 24 Eleven, resolution authorizing the 25 placement of a lien on the property known as 2200  9 1 Bergenline Avenue, Union City, New Jersey, 07087 2 Block 124, Lot 1 in the City of Union City for the 3 amount of $25,750.00 for emergency repair costs. 4 Twelve, resolution authorizing the 5 placement of a lien on the property known as 1917 6 Bergenline Avenue, Union City, New Jersey, 07087 7 Block 103, Lot 7 in the City of Union City for 8 emergency repair costs in the amount of $425.00. 9 Thirteen, resolution authorizing the 10 placement of a lien on the property known as 2200 11 Bergenline Avenue, Union City, New Jersey, 07087, 12 Block 124, Lot 1 in the City of Union City for 13 emergency repair costs for $3,012.50. 14 Fourteen, resolution authorizing the 15 placement of a lien on the property known as 2200 16 Bergenline Avenue, Union City, New Jersey 07087, 17 Block 124, Lot 1 in the City of Union City for 18 emergency repair costs for the amount of 19 $1,497.02. 20 Fifteen, resolution awarding contract 21 for federal and state contract grant consultant 22 for the city for 2024. 23 Sixteen, resolution awarding contract 24 for personnel consultant services for the City of 25 Union City for 2024.  10 1 Seventeen, resolution awarding contract 2 for feral cat trapping, spaying, and neutering 3 services for the City of Union City for 2024. 4 Eighteen, resolution authorizing award 5 of contract for animal control officer and shelter 6 services for the City of Union City for 2024. 7 Nineteen, resolution amending the 8 2023-2024 schedule of Board of Commissioners 9 meetings. 10 Commissioner Martinetti will recuse on 11 payment to Adolfo Lopez. 12 Mayor, at this time, would you like to 13 take public comment on the consent agenda? 14 MAYOR STACK: Any payments to 15 Lamparello? 16 MS. ROSARIO: No. 17 MAYOR STACK: Just number ten on the 18 agenda is a grant that we're submitting for 30th, 19 31st, and 32nd Street. It's not guaranteed we're 20 going to receive it, but it's a grant to redo the 21 roads. We did them about 15 years ago from 22 Pleasant Avenue to Kennedy Boulevard, we're 23 looking to tie that in. The Commissioners and 24 myself, specifically Commissioner Fernandez and I, 25 have been working closely on the islands outside  11 1 the post office. We're going to be meeting with a 2 new engineer in the next two weeks and we'll tie 3 that project in, hopefully, to this project. 4 Since there's a lot of larger trucks 5 that run through the area that go to New York or 6 go to Route 3 and out to the Turnpike, we might be 7 able to qualify for a grant to enhance that area. 8 That would be sidewalks, street lighting, road 9 paving, and we also have the funding already set 10 aside for the islands. So we'll try to tie that 11 all in together. 12 Having said that, anyone wishing to 13 comment on the consent agenda, please step 14 forward, state your name and address for the 15 record. That's the agenda that the clerk just 16 read into the record. Anyone wishing to comment 17 on the consent agenda, please step forward, state 18 your name and address for the record. 19 Seeing none, I'll make a motion to close 20 the public hearing on the consent agenda. 21 MS. ROSARIO: Motion made by Mayor 22 Stack. 23 COMMISSIONER FERNANDEZ: Second. 24 MS. ROSARIO: Second by Commissioner 25 Fernandez.  12 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 approve all items on the consent agenda? 13 COMMISSIONER VALDIVIA: Motion. 14 MS. ROSARIO: Motion made by 15 Commissioner Valdivia. Second? 16 COMMISSIONER GRULLON: Second. 17 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Grullon. 18 Commissioner Fernandez. 19 COMMISSIONER FERNANDEZ: Yes. 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: With the  13 1 exception of the Adolfo Lopez, aye on the rest. 2 MS. ROSARIO: Mayor Stack. 3 MAYOR STACK: Yes. 4 5 (Whereupon, the Board discussed and took 6 action on the following item: 7 REGULAR AGENDA: 8 1. Resolution approving payment to the HCIA.) 9 10 MS. ROSARIO: There are two items on the 11 regular agenda. One, resolution approving the 12 payment to the Hudson County Improvement 13 Authority. 14 Commissioner Martinetti will recuse on 15 this item. May I have a motion to approve? 16 MAYOR STACK: Motion. 17 MS. ROSARIO: Motion made by Mayor 18 Stack. 19 COMMISSIONER FERNANDEZ: Second. 20 MS. ROSARIO: Second by Commissioner 21 Fernandez. 22 Commissioner Fernandez. 23 COMMISSIONER FERNANDEZ: Yes. 24 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Grullon. 25 COMMISSIONER GRULLON: Yes.  14 1 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Valdivia. 2 COMMISSIONER VALDIVIA: Yes. 3 MS. ROSARIO: Mayor Stack. 4 MAYOR STACK: Yes. 5 6 (Whereupon, the Board discussed and took 7 action on the following item: 8 REGULAR AGENDA: 9 2. Resolution approving payment of claim to the 10 Union City Board of Education.) 11 12 MS. ROSARIO: The second item is 13 resolution approving payment of claims to the 14 Union City Board of Education. Commissioner 15 Martinetti and Commissioner Fernandez will recuse. 16 MR. AUTERI: Pursuant to the doctrine of 17 necessity, Commissioner Valdivia and Commissioner 18 Grullon will vote on this item. 19 MS. ROSARIO: Thank you. May I have a 20 motion to approve? 21 MAYOR STACK: Motion. 22 MS. ROSARIO: Motion made by Mayor 23 Stack. 24 COMMISSIONER VALDIVIA: Second. 25 MS. ROSARIO: Second by Commissioner  15 1 Valdivia. 2 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 9 (Whereupon, the Board discussed and took 10 action on the following item: 11 ORDINANCE(S) FOR HEARING AND ADOPTION 12 CONSIDERATION: 13 1. ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING A SPECIAL EMERGENCY 14 APPROPRIATION PURSUANT TO N.J.S.A. 40A:4-53(h) FOR 15 THE PAYMENT OF CONTRACTUALLY REQUIRED SEVERANCE 16 LIABILITIES IN AND FOR THE CITY OF UNION CITY, 17 COUNTY OF HUDSON, NEW JERSEY.) 18 19 MS. ROSARIO: Thank you. There are five 20 ordinances to adopt. First ordinance is an 21 ordinance authorizing a special emergency 22 appropriation pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40A:4-53(h) for 23 the payment of contractually required severance 24 liabilities in and for the City of Union City. 25 MAYOR STACK: I'll move --  16 1 MS. ROSARIO: Motion made by -- Mayor, 2 would you like to take public comment on this 3 ordinance? 4 MAYOR STACK: I'm sorry. Anyone wishing 5 to comment on this ordinance, ordinance on the 6 agenda authorizing special emergency appropriation 7 that was just read into the record by the clerk? 8 It would be listed as ordinance number one on the 9 agenda. Anyone wishing to comment on this 10 ordinance at this time, please step forward, state 11 your name and address for the record. 12 Seeing none, I make a motion to close. 13 COMMISSIONER MARTINETTI: Second. 14 MS. ROSARIO: Motion made by Mayor 15 Stack, second by Commissioner Martinetti. 16 Commissioner Fernandez. 17 COMMISSIONER FERNANDEZ: Yes. 18 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Grullon. 19 COMMISSIONER GRULLON: Yes. 20 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Valdivia. 21 COMMISSIONER VALDIVIA: Yes. 22 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Martinetti. 23 COMMISSIONER MARTINETTI: Yes. 24 MS. ROSARIO: Mayor Stack. 25 MAYOR STACK: Yes.  17 1 MS. ROSARIO: May I have a motion to 2 adopt? 3 MAYOR STACK: Motion. 4 COMMISSIONER MARTINETTI: Second. 5 MS. ROSARIO: Motion by Mayor Stack, 6 second by Commissioner Martinetti. 7 Commissioner Fernandez. 8 COMMISSIONER FERNANDEZ: Yes. 9 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Grullon. 10 COMMISSIONER GRULLON: Yes. 11 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Valdivia. 12 COMMISSIONER VALDIVIA: Yes. 13 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Martinetti. 14 COMMISSIONER MARTINETTI: Yes. 15 MS. ROSARIO: Mayor Stack. 16 MAYOR STACK: Yes. 17 18 (Whereupon, the Board discussed and took 19 action on the following item: 20 ORDINANCE(S) FOR HEARING AND ADOPTION 21 CONSIDERATION: 22 2. ORDINANCE SUPPLEMENTING AND AMENDING THE 23 REVISED GENERAL ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF UNION 24 CITY, AMENDING THE RESTRICTED RESIDENTIAL PERMIT 25 PARKING PROGRAM.)  18 1 2 MS. ROSARIO: Second item is ordinance 3 supplementing and amending the revised general 4 ordinance of the City of Union City amending the 5 restricted residential permit parking program. 6 Mayor, would you like to take public 7 comment on this ordinance? 8 MAYOR STACK: Anyone wishing to comment 9 on this ordinance at this time on residential 10 parking, please step forward, state your name and 11 address for the record? Angelo, what exactly is 12 this? 13 MR. AUTERI: There's fees and some new 14 rules that were implemented, mostly an update. 15 It's a little bit clearer on some of the language, 16 it's a little bit tighter. 17 MAYOR STACK: Sorry, I'd like to hold 18 this until our next meeting, so two weeks. If you 19 could reach out to me either Friday or Monday or 20 over the weekend, so you and I could go over it. 21 MR. AUTERI: Absolutely, Mayor. 22 MAYOR STACK: I just want a chance to 23 discuss it a little further with the Commissioners 24 about concerns. 25 MS. ROSARIO: Okay.  19 1 MAYOR STACK: I'll make a motion to hold 2 it. 3 MS. ROSARIO: Motion made by Mayor Stack 4 to hold. 5 COMMISSIONER VALDIVIA: Second. 6 MS. ROSARIO: Second by Commissioner 7 Valdivia. 8 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: Yes. 16 MS. ROSARIO: Mayor Stack. 17 MAYOR STACK: Yes. 18 19 (Whereupon, the Board discussed and took 20 action on the following item: 21 ORDINANCE(S) FOR HEARING AND ADOPTION 22 CONSIDERATION: 23 3. ORDINANCE SUPPLEMENTING AND AMENDING THE 24 REVISED GENERAL ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF UNION 25 CITY, AMENDING THE PARKING METER ORDINANCE.)  20 1 2 MAYOR STACK: The same thing with 3 ordinance number three. I'm sorry? 4 MR. DARIUS: I'm sorry, Mr. Mayor, if 5 you said people can ask questions, I missed it. 6 MAYOR STACK: Sure, on -- 7 MR. DARIUS: On this matter. 8 MAYOR STACK: On this ordinance? 9 MR. DARIUS: That's not why I'm here, 10 but I want to ask a question about it. 11 MAYOR STACK: We held it until two weeks 12 from now. 13 MR. DARIUS: Okay. 14 MAYOR STACK: There won't be any action 15 taken on it. It will be taken at the next 16 meeting. If we do take action, it will be taken 17 at the next meeting, Tuesday, January 9th. 18 MR. DARIUS: Thank you. 19 MR. AUTERI: And if you'd like, there's 20 a public comment portion at the end of the 21 meeting, too. 22 MR. DARIUS: Okay. 23 MAYOR STACK: And the same thing on 24 ordinance number three, ordinance supplementing 25 and amending the revised general ordinance of the  21 1 amending the parking meter ordinance, if we could 2 hold that until the next meeting also. I had a 3 discussion with the parking authority on this just 4 yesterday. I'm sorry I didn't reach out to you, 5 Angelo, and tell you to hold it. 6 MS. ROSARIO: May I have a motion to 7 hold it? 8 COMMISSIONER MARTINETTI: Motion. 9 MS. ROSARIO: And a second? 10 COMMISSIONER FERNANDEZ: Second. 11 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Fernandez. 12 COMMISSIONER FERNANDEZ: Yes. 13 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Grullon. 14 COMMISSIONER GRULLON: Yes. 15 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Valdivia. 16 COMMISSIONER VALDIVIA: Yes. 17 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Martinetti. 18 COMMISSIONER MARTINETTI: Yes. 19 MS. ROSARIO: Mayor Stack. 20 MAYOR STACK: Yes. 21 22 (Whereupon, the Board discussed and took 23 action on the following item: 24 ORDINANCE(S) FOR HEARING AND ADOPTION 25 CONSIDERATION:  22 1 4. ORDINANCE AMENDING 155 OF THE CODE OF THE CITY 2 OF UNION CITY TO REVISE THE FEE SCHEDULE FOR 3 NON-LIFE HAZARD USES.) 4 5 MAYOR STACK: Same thing with ordinance 6 number four, which is amending 155 of the code of 7 the City of Union City to revise the fee schedule 8 for non-life hazard uses, same thing on that. 9 We're going to hold that until January 9th meeting 10 and the corporation counsel and the commissioners 11 and myself will confer further on that. 12 MS. ROSARIO: May I have a motion to 13 hold? 14 MAYOR STACK: Motion. 15 MS. ROSARIO: Motion made by Mayor 16 Stack. 17 COMMISSIONER VALDIVIA: Second. 18 MS. ROSARIO: Second by Commissioner 19 Valdivia. 20 Commissioner Fernandez. 21 COMMISSIONER FERNANDEZ: Yes. 22 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Grullon. 23 COMMISSIONER GRULLON: Yes. 24 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Valdivia. 25 COMMISSIONER VALDIVIA: Yes.  23 1 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Martinetti. 2 COMMISSIONER MARTINETTI: Yes. 3 MS. ROSARIO: Mayor Stack. 4 MAYOR STACK: Yes. 5 6 (Whereupon, the Board discussed and took 7 action on the following item: 8 ORDINANCE(S) FOR HEARING AND ADOPTION 9 CONSIDERATION: 10 5. ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 290 ENTITLED "PARKS 11 AND RECREATIONS" TO EXTEND THE HOURS OF OPERATION 12 FOR ELLSWORTH PARK.) 13 14 MS. ROSARIO: Number five is an 15 ordinance amending Chapter 290 entitled "parks and 16 recreation" to extend the hours of operation for 17 Ellsworth Park. 18 MAYOR STACK: Right. This would be 19 specifically during the holiday season with the 20 decorations that were put up, where families like 21 to go see Ellsworth Park and take pictures. 22 Normally the park would close during the winter 23 months from November up until I believe it's the 24 end of March, we close at 6:00 p.m., this will 25 extend it to 8:00 p.m. at Ellsworth Park.  24 1 MS. ROSARIO: May have I have a motion? 2 MAYOR STACK: Motion. 3 COMMISSIONER MARTINETTI: Second. 4 MAYOR STACK: Anyone wishing to comment 5 on this ordinance at this time, please step 6 forward, state your name and address for the 7 record? Seeing none. 8 MS. ROSARIO: Motion made by Mayor 9 Stack, second by Commissioner Martinetti. 10 Commissioner Fernandez. 11 COMMISSIONER FERNANDEZ: Yes. 12 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Grullon. 13 COMMISSIONER GRULLON: Yes. 14 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Valdivia. 15 COMMISSIONER VALDIVIA: Yes. 16 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Martinetti. 17 COMMISSIONER MARTINETTI: Yes. 18 MS. ROSARIO: Mayor Stack. 19 MAYOR STACK: Yes. 20 MS. ROSARIO: May I have a motion to 21 adopt? 22 COMMISSIONER MARTINETTI: Motion. 23 COMMISSIONER VALDIVIA: Second. 24 MS. ROSARIO: Motion by Commissioner 25 Martinetti, second by Commissioner Valdivia.  25 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 12 OPPORTUNITY FOR CITIZENS TO ADDRESS THE BOARD: 13 14 MS. ROSARIO: Mayor, would you like to 15 take public comment on any portion of this 16 meeting? 17 MAYOR STACK: Yes. We'll take public 18 comment first and then we'll go to the liquor 19 license hearing. If there's any member of the 20 public that would like to comment on any matter 21 concerning anything in the City of Union City, 22 concerning municipal government, please step 23 forward and state your name and address for the 24 record so we can answers any questions anyone may 25 have.  26 1 I just thank the Commissioners once 2 again for moving 100 percent of our meetings 3 throughout each neighborhood in the City, always 4 in the evening hours. Then we'll do the liquor 5 license after the public comment. 6 Sure, step forward if you could. 7 MR. DARIUS: Cesar Darius, 200 43rd 8 Street, Union City. I just want to briefly 9 preface my question here, you know, we are here in 10 the worst economy and inflation in 50 years, it's 11 shocking to even go to the supermarket, you know. 12 Yet, amidst all this, you know that our building, 13 before you became Mayor was a disaster, the way 14 that was constructed. You stepped forward and 15 helped us, something you had nothing do with those 16 problems. Almost 25 years after that, we're still 17 paying off loans to fix the problems in this 18 building, it sounds extraordinary. But almost -- 19 this is the consequences of bad construction, 20 which happens everywhere. 21 Amidst all this, these property 22 evaluations -- you know I'm seeing this and I 23 think my property taxes are going up almost 500 24 percent. 25 MAYOR STACK: Cesar, it's not. We sent  27 1 out -- 2 MR. DARIUS: That's just -- 3 MAYOR STACK: Let me interject because 4 I'm not going to allow -- we've always had a great 5 relationship. You can pick up your phone 6 seven days a week -- 7 MR. DARIUS: I'm asking a question, I'm 8 not making accusations -- 9 MAYOR STACK: No, no, you are. Because 10 you're saying your property taxes are going up 500 11 percent, that is not accurate. The letter itself 12 said don't multiple the current tax rate by your 13 reval numbers, wait until we come up with a tax 14 rate. The tax rate right now may be in the 70s, 15 it's going way down. You may -- 16 MR. DARIUS: Why don't -- 17 MAYOR STACK: -- a decrease. 18 MR. DARIUS: Why don't they tell us that 19 so people don't get terrified? 20 MAYOR STACK: They're not going to get 21 terrified. 22 MR. DARIUS: You weren't at our meeting 23 last night at our condo -- 24 MAYOR STACK: Multiple letters went out 25 from me. The tax assessor's number is in there,  28 1 you can call me. You call me about everything 2 under the sun. I always respond immediately to 3 you. Just, I'll have Jerry Ortega call you 4 tomorrow just to go over that. It's not the type 5 of thing where you come to a public meeting for 6 something like that -- you're welcome to at any 7 time, but when you have access to the mayors, to 8 the commissioners, to the tax assessor, we can 9 answer that question in a moment's notice with the 10 computer in front of us. 11 MR. DARIUS: But, sir, what's wrong with 12 asking here -- 13 MAYOR STACK: I just said you can -- 14 MR. DARIUS: -- didn't come and say 15 you're a monster. 16 MAYOR STACK: I said you can -- 17 MR. DARIUS: What's going on -- 18 MAYOR STACK: But I can't give you 19 answers here tonight, without having the screen in 20 front of us. It says in the letter, it says it 21 right in the letter where we're going with that. 22 MR. DARIUS: It says -- 23 MAYOR STACK: It's highlighted in 24 yellow. 25 MR. DARIUS: I know, but it doesn't say  29 1 what you just said. 2 MAYOR STACK: It does. Cesar, if you 3 read the letter, it says not to multiply the 4 current tax rate by the reval, it says right in 5 the yellow. I could read it to you. 6 MR. DARIUS: I understand, but the 7 evaluation is about five times what it is now. 8 MAYOR STACK: Of course it's going to be 9 because the last time it was was 30 years ago. If 10 you look at what units are selling for in your 11 building, they're probably even going for more 12 than that. 13 MR. DARIUS: Okay, then I withdraw my 14 comment. 15 MAYOR STACK: You don't need to withdraw 16 it -- 17 MR. DARIUS: Thank you -- 18 MAYOR STACK: All you need to do is, 19 offline, give me your number. I'll have Jerry 20 Ortega himself call you tomorrow and we could 21 easily answer this. If you called me on the phone 22 and said, Brian, come, even now at Christmas time, 23 to my association meeting at my building, I'd be 24 more than happy to be there. I'm there twice a 25 year, I haven't seen you in a long time, but I've  30 1 been there twice a year, any time. 2 MR. DARIUS: The second thing I wanted 3 to add before, I didn't get to actually ask my 4 question, you know, is that, you know, a lot of 5 demands are being made on our building, very 6 expensive demands, without explanation. You know, 7 it's like a little lock for the fire department is 8 $1,200 plus labor. They just made us replace 9 doors that cost us $22,000. I don't understand a 10 fire door, a door is supposed to open and close. 11 Why do we have to replace a door without so much 12 as an explanation? 13 MAYOR STACK: Cesar -- 14 MR. DARIUS: These are things that are 15 super frustrating when we're still paying off 16 loans and just -- other people from the building 17 wanted to come, but they're afraid to talk in 18 public. So I know you respond -- 19 MAYOR STACK: You have received multiple 20 letters from me on the reval specifically saying 21 if there's a question, call me. I put my face out 22 there with the reval. You will not find another 23 mayor the in State of New Jersey who puts his name 24 on reval letters. You know what they do? They 25 run in the other direction and say I have nothing  31 1 to do with that. I'm not like that. I put my 2 name on the letter. I put my name out there. We 3 did meetings all over the city, I did 25 meetings 4 with -- the commissioners were at many of the 5 meetings. We did 25 meeting throughout the 6 community telling people or explaining the reval 7 process. I understand it's high tension, I 8 understand. 9 We're ordered by the courts to do the 10 reval. It's not like the commissioners and I woke 11 up one morning and said, you know what, let's do a 12 reval. We're ordered by the court. It's been 30 13 years, we need to do it. Going forward, we're 14 never going to have this again. Because what we 15 did is we signed a contract to do what's called a 16 roving one, which will be every single year, 17 they'll be monitoring. So nobody ever sees a 18 spike ever again. 19 I would say and you can't -- you can't 20 commit me to these numbers, I would say probably 21 80 percent of the City is either going down or 22 remaining the same, either going down in property 23 taxes or remaining about the same. There's going 24 to be an increase to some people because a reval, 25 as you know, you're a bright guy, is not the  32 1 raising of the budget -- 2 MR. DARIUS: Apparently not. 3 MAYOR STACK: No, you're a bright guy. 4 It's not the raising of the City budget, it's a 5 shifting of whose property was properly assessed, 6 whose wasn't, what the sale prices are that are 7 going for. We realize we're in a bad economy, 8 that's why we did the roving reval. Believe me, 9 if I didn't have to do a reval, I wouldn't do it. 10 But we were ordered by the courts. If not, the 11 commissioners and I would be sanctioned. 12 But I'm more than happy to -- we've 13 always worked together on issues, especially in 14 that building, you've helped us tremendously to 15 will resolve a lot of problems when you -- like 16 you said when you first went in, when I became the 17 mayor, your building and 318 38th Street, those 18 two buildings were poorly constructed. And we 19 recognized it right away and tried to do 20 everything to help -- 21 MR. DARIUS: No, I know you did. That's 22 why I prefaced this because without your help, we 23 would have been bankrupt. 24 MAYOR STACK: Absolutely. 25 MR. DARIUS: But anyway, thank you. I  33 1 told you before I used to cover many of these 2 meetings all over the state. And I mentioned to 3 you the only other mayor who was like you was 4 Mayor Delfino -- 5 MAYOR STACK: Thank you, I take that as 6 a compliment. He was a good mayor. 7 MR. DARIUS: -- respond to people and 8 you could actually ask questions without becoming 9 an enemy. 10 MAYOR STACK: Any time. Listen, you're 11 always welcome to come here, but if it's easier 12 for you to pick up the phone during the day, call 13 me any time. 14 MR. DARIUS: I would say one last thing. 15 If a city inspector is going to make us spend 16 money, at least send a letter explaining why. 17 MAYOR STACK: They should, absolutely. 18 You know what I would like to do, if you would 19 come around, I don't want to put your phone number 20 on the record. Could you come around and give -- 21 MR. DARIUS: I could wait until after 22 the meeting, you're in the middle of a meeting. 23 MAYOR STACK: Could you? We shouldn't 24 be that long, just wait for me. And I'll address 25 both the reval with you with Jerry tomorrow,  34 1 you'll get a call. I wrote down all your 2 information except your phone number and I'll 3 address it with the fire prevention bureau. 4 Absolutely. 5 MR. DARIUS: Thank you. 6 MAYOR STACK: Thank you for coming to 7 the meeting, any time. 8 MR. DARIUS: Next time, I'll come with a 9 compliment, too, say something nice, not to 10 complain. 11 MAYOR STACK: You didn't say anything 12 bad, you're addressing the reval. You have 13 concerns, believe me I understand. Let me tell 14 you this much, I probably lost hair on the reval 15 process, more than what I've lost already, believe 16 me. It's not an easy process, believe me, it's 17 not. And I understand why people are frustrated 18 and people are concerned. That's why I tried so 19 hard, you'll be receiving another letter from me 20 either Saturday or early next week, just once 21 again reminding people not to use the current tax 22 rate. Because the current tax rate is in the 70s, 23 that's coming way down because the numbers are 24 where they are now. It's just a shifting going 25 on.  35 1 Like I said, I can't guarantee your 2 taxes are going down or they're going up. But 3 I'll have Jerry go over that with you. 4 MR. DARIUS: Everybody in my building 5 will be relieved when I report back. Thank you. 6 MAYOR STACK: Absolutely, any time, you 7 know that, any time. 8 Anyone else wishing to comment on any 9 matter concerning municipal government in the City 10 of Union City? Seeing none -- Ray, you have any 11 comments? 12 MR. GONZALEZ: No. I lost my hair 13 already. 14 MAYOR STACK: Motion to close the public 15 portion and go to liquor hearings. 16 COMMISSIONER MARTINETTI: Second. 17 MS. ROSARIO: Motion made by Mayor 18 Stack. Second by Commissioner Martinetti. 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.  36 1 COMMISSIONER MARTINETTI: Yes. 2 MS. ROSARIO: Mayor Stack. 3 MAYOR STACK: Yes. 4 * * * * 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25  37 1 LIQUOR LICENSE HEARINGS: 2 3 1. Person-to-person and place-to-place (reduction 4 of premises) 5 0910-33-106-005 6 Breezi's Bar & Chill, LLC 7 1709 Bergenline Avenue 8 (Attorney Melissa D. Lopez, Esq.) 9 10 2. Person-to-person 11 0910-33-031-012 12 El Tequilazo Bar Corp. 13 T/a El Tequilazo Bard 14 4417 Bergenline Avenue 15 (Attorney Eike Paneque, Esq.) 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25  38 1 1. Person-to-person and place-to-place (reduction 2 of premises) 3 0910-33-106-005 4 Breezi's Bar & Chill, LLC 5 1709 Bergenline Avenue 6 (Attorney Melissa D. Lopez, Esq.) 7 8 MS. ROSARIO: Liquor license hearings, 9 Mr. Gonzalez. 10 MR. GONZALEZ: Good evening, Mayor, 11 Commissioners, for the record, Ramon Gonzalez on 12 behalf of the ABC for Union City. 13 Tonight, we have two matters. One is 14 Breezi Bar & Chill, LLC, located at 1709 15 Bergenline Avenue. They're present here, they're 16 represented by their attorney, Melissa Lopez. I'm 17 going to ask them to come up. 18 This is an application for a sale of the 19 liquor license, along with the establishment. I 20 think this board is pretty familiar with the 21 address. What's happened here is the older 22 gentleman that was the owner is obviously in a 23 condition that he was having a hard time handling 24 it. It was put on the market and they entered 25 into a contract. Ms. Lopez represents Nancy  39 1 Betancourt and Christopher Fernandez, mother and 2 son, who will be operating it. 3 With help of Lieutenant Dunlay and 4 Sergeant Zeron, they've complied with all the 5 requirements. They've had the interview, I 6 believe the police department is satisfied and 7 would recommend a transfer, if this board grants 8 it. 9 There are conditions, and I know I've 10 explained that to Ms. Lopez. And those would be 11 on the resolution, the same conditions that this 12 board has put on, that would be closing at 10:00 13 Sunday through Thursday, closing at 12:00 on 14 Fridays and Saturdays, closing at 1:00 on New 15 Years Eve, closing at 12:00 a.m. for super bowl 16 Sunday. 17 Those conditions were a concern for the 18 location with the calls that we were receiving, 19 the police department. They have agreed to 20 continue those conditions and that would be one of 21 the conditions that the police department would 22 recommend for a transfer, if granted. 23 Ms. Lopez, if you could just put your 24 name on the record. 25 MS. LOPEZ: Sure. Melissa Lopez from  40 1 Connell Foley in Jersey City. And I have Nancy 2 Betancourt and Christopher Fernandez for Breezi's 3 Bar & Chill, LLC. 4 MR. GONZALEZ: I did go one step further 5 because I like to have everybody aware that they 6 have go take the courses, the importance of the 7 cameras, the communication with Lieutenant Dunlay 8 as to the placement of the cameras. They have 9 complied with that and will continue to comply. 10 I think based on our review, they're 11 properly before the board. And it's up to the 12 board to make the recommendation if the transfer 13 should be granted. 14 MAYOR STACK: Absolutely. I wish you 15 good luck with your new business. The only 16 concern I have is just making sure that we don't 17 allow any type of groups to hang outside the 18 establishment, so there's no issues. We don't 19 have fights and trouble. There's always some type 20 of security and the cameras are always maintained. 21 It's a big issue for us because there was a time 22 in Union City where we had a lot of bars and there 23 was a lot of problems, a lot of trouble, fights, 24 shootings, stabbings. Both the sergeant and the 25 lieutenant can tell you what we dealt with over  41 1 the years. And we want to make sure we don't go 2 back to that. That's why we're very strong on the 3 liquor establishments in the community, because 4 it's a privilege to own a license. We just want 5 to make sure it's well respected and that one of 6 who are the owners, always, we have somebody 7 there. Because nobody's going to take care of the 8 business like you do, since it's your business. 9 And that is all we ask. 10 MS. BETANCOURT: Totally agree. 11 MAYOR STACK: Anyone have questions on 12 this license at 1709 Bergenline Avenue? Any 13 Commissioners have questions or comments? 14 MS. LOPEZ: Do you need to make 15 reference to the reduction in the premises? 16 MR. GONZALEZ: No. 17 MS. LOPEZ: Okay. 18 MAYOR STACK: And the conditions will 19 remain, that you had mentioned? 20 MR. GONZALEZ: Absolutely. 21 MAYOR STACK: I'll make a motion to 22 approve. 23 MS. ROSARIO: Motion made by Mayor 24 Stack. 25 COMMISSIONER MARTINETTI: Second.  42 1 MS. ROSARIO: Second by Commissioner 2 Martinetti. 3 Commissioner Fernandez. 4 COMMISSIONER FERNANDEZ: Yes. 5 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Grullon. 6 COMMISSIONER GRULLON: Yes. 7 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Valdivia. 8 COMMISSIONER VALDIVIA: Yes. 9 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Martinetti. 10 COMMISSIONER MARTINETTI: Yes. 11 MS. ROSARIO: Mayor Stack. 12 MAYOR STACK: Yes. 13 MS. LOPEZ: Thank you. 14 MAYOR STACK: Thank you very much. Good 15 luck with your business. 16 * * * * 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25  43 1 2. Person-to-person 2 0910-33-031-012 3 El Tequilazo Bar Corp. 4 T/a El Tequilazo Bard 5 4417 Bergenline Avenue 6 (Attorney Eike Paneque, Esq.) 7 8 MR. GONZALEZ: The next matter also is 9 the sale, it's for El Tequilazo Bar at 4417 10 Bergenline Avenue, they're represented by Eike 11 Paneque. This matter was reviewed. Sonia Amaya 12 and Mitzi Rodriguez are the owners, they're 13 present here. We've done all our due diligence, 14 they've provided us everything forthwith, as to 15 where the funds came. We're pretty stringent on 16 what we require and they have provided everything 17 necessary. 18 I believe based on the recommendation of 19 the police department, they're properly before the 20 board. And I believe the police department has no 21 objection to this transfer. Am I correct? 22 LIEUTENANT DUNLAY: That's correct. Ms. 23 Amaya has been the manager of the establishment 24 for several years, operating it. So it's just a 25 change in ownership. There has been no problems.  44 1 And like I said with the other license transfer, 2 you know, there was that two year period where 3 there was Covid, so everything was reduced. But 4 since that time to today, there's been nothing 5 recorded. 6 MAYOR STACK: And, Lieutenant, this 7 establishment has another place right next door, 8 right? 9 LIEUTENANT DUNLAY: There's another 10 tavern, yes. 11 MAYOR STACK: Another liquor 12 establishment. 13 LIEUTENANT DUNLAY: El Cobre, LLC. 14 That's the one we did two weeks ago. 15 MAYOR STACK: And this operates as a 16 restaurant? 17 LIEUTENANT DUNLAY: It's a bar 18 restaurant. 19 MAYOR STACK: Bar restaurant. How many 20 stools are at the bar? 21 LIEUTENANT DUNLAY: It's a small bar. 22 Regarding stools, if I could guess, it's six, but 23 they would better answer. 24 MS. PANEQUE: Six. 25 MAYOR STACK: Okay. And who's going to  45 1 be running the establishment? 2 MS. PANEQUE: Sonia is. 3 MAYOR STACK: Similar to what I just 4 told the individual before, that we don't have 5 trouble here. Because this is the location that 6 when I first became the mayor years ago, we had a 7 lot of issues. We had a lot of fights, we had a 8 lot of issues. I just want to make sure we keep 9 the establishment quiet because the people that 10 live in the neighborhood on 44th, 45th, and 11 Bergenline, and it affects the whole uptown area. 12 We want to keep the progress that we're making in 13 Union City, that we don't have any issues here. 14 People are intoxicated, they don't get served, we 15 proof everyone. We make sure we close on time. 16 Are there any conditions on this license? 17 LIEUTENANT DUNLAY: No, sir. 18 MR. GONZALEZ: No, but obviously one of 19 conditions that is required is that they attend 20 the schooling that we provide and we provide that 21 to them for free. And the cameras are already in 22 place, they've been reviewed? 23 LIEUTENANT DUNLAY: That's correct. 24 MR. GONZALEZ: So -- 25 MAYOR STACK: The one thing we look for  46 1 is that by calling the police department -- if 2 there's trouble, don't wait for somebody else to 3 call. What matters to us is when we see the 4 manager, an employee, the owner of the 5 establishment that calls the police. We don't 6 want to get calls from other people. If you have 7 trouble with somebody in the establishment, we 8 look at the fact that you called the police, that 9 you're being proactive, that you call. We're not 10 going to penalize you for that. We'll give you 11 credit for that, but it's very important to us. 12 MR. GONZALEZ: Eike, if you can just 13 place your representation on the record, please? 14 MS. PANEQUE: Eike Paneque for Sonia 15 Amaya and Lati Rodriguez. 16 MAYOR STACK: How long have you been the 17 manager? 18 MS. AMAYA: Five years. Sonia Amaya, 19 A-M-A-Y-A. 20 MAYOR STACK: Thank you very much. 21 COMMISSIONER MARTINETTI: She's the 22 owner. 23 MAYOR STACK: I'll make a motion to 24 approve the transfer. 25 COMMISSIONER VALDIVIA: Second.  47 1 MS. ROSARIO: Motion made by Mayor 2 Stack, second by Commissioner Valdivia. 3 Commissioner Fernandez. 4 COMMISSIONER FERNANDEZ: Yes. 5 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Grullon. 6 COMMISSIONER GRULLON: Yes. 7 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Valdivia. 8 COMMISSIONER VALDIVIA: Yes. 9 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Martinetti. 10 COMMISSIONER MARTINETTI: Yes. 11 MS. ROSARIO: Mayor Stack. 12 MAYOR STACK: Yes. 13 * * * * 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25  48 1 ADJOURNMENT: 2 3 MS. ROSARIO: May I have a motion to 4 adjourn? 5 MAYOR STACK: Motion. 6 COMMISSIONER MARTINETTI: Motion. 7 MS. ROSARIO: All in favor? 8 9 (All Board Members indicate in the 10 affirmative.) 11 12 (Whereupon the meeting was adjourned at 13 7:54 p.m.) 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25  49 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  50 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