Board of Commissioners - 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 JEFFERSON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL 3400 Palisade Avenue 7 Union City, New Jersey 8 Tuesday, March 1, 2022 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 GREGORY T. FARMER, ESQ. 21 Attorney for the Union City Alcohol Beverage Control Commission 22 HILDA ROSARIO, Acting City Clerk 23 24 SUSAN BISCHOFF, CCR, RPR 449 Columbia Blvd., Wood-Ridge, NJ 07075 25 201-933-8220 SBischoffccr@yahoo.com  2 1 A P P E A R A N C E S: 2 ANNA NORIS, ESQ. Attorney for La Parilla Bar & Grill, LLC 3 t/a Maria Mentiras Bar & Grill 4 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 5 SALUTE TO FLAG 5 4 ROLL CALL 5 5 SPECIAL PRESENTATION 6 6 MINUTES 8 7 CONSENT AGENDA 9 8 CITIZENS ADDRESS THE BOARD 15 9 LIQUOR LICENSE PUBLIC HEARINGS 36 10 La Parilla Bar & Grill, LLC 36 11 ADJOURNMENT 61 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25  4 1 I N D E X 2 La Parilla Bar & Grill, LLC t/a Maria Mentiras Bar 3 & Grill 4 SWORN PAGE 5 Lieutenant Dunlay 45 6 Maria Gutierrez 48 7 Marta Velasquez 53 8 Fedal Castro 54 9 David Villantes 55 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25  5 1 MS. ROSARIO: This is a regular public 2 meeting of the Union City Board of Commissioners 3 being held on Tuesday, March 1, 2022, 7:00 p.m. at 4 the Jefferson Elementary School 3400 Palisade 5 Avenue, Union City. Please stand for the Pledge 6 of Allegiance. 7 8 (Whereupon, the Pledge of Allegiance was 9 recited.) 10 11 MS. ROSARIO: This meeting has been 12 called in accordance with the Open Public Meetings 13 Act, adequate notice of this meeting has been 14 provided to The Jersey Journal, The Record, and 15 The Hudson Reporter, has been posted on the 16 bulletin board in the City hall and has been made 17 available to the public in the Office of the 18 Municipal Clerk. 19 20 ROLL CALL: 21 22 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Fernandez. 23 COMMISSIONER FERNANDEZ: Here. 24 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Grullon. 25 COMMISSIONER GRULLON: Here.  6 1 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Valdivia. 2 COMMISSIONER VALDIVIA: Here. 3 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Martinetti. 4 COMMISSIONER MARTINETTI: Here. 5 MS. ROSARIO: Mayor Stack. 6 MAYOR STACK: Here. 7 8 SPECIAL PRESENTATION: 9 10 MS. ROSARIO: We have a special 11 presentation, Commissioner Fernandez. 12 COMMISSIONER FERNANDEZ: Thank you for 13 being here this evening. The Mayor and 14 Commissioners feel that it's a very sad situation, 15 a tragic situation what's happening in Ukraine at 16 this moment. And we want to read an official 17 proclamation stating how we feel about what's 18 happening. It reads: 19 20 CITY OF UNION CITY 21 COUNTY OF HUDSON, STATE OF NEW JERSEY 22 OFFICIAL PROCLAMATION OF THE CITY OF UNION CITY 23 CONDEMNING ACTS OF AGGRESSION AGAINST THE PEOPLE 24 OF UKRAINE 25 WHEREAS, the armed forces of the Russian  7 1 Federation have undertaken an illegal and 2 full-scale invasion of Ukraine in an attempt to 3 take over an independent country in clear 4 violations of the international norms and laws by 5 way of relentless deadly and criminal attacks; and 6 WHEREAS, the people of this nation, this 7 state and the City must stand in solidarity with 8 the citizens of Ukraine who have shown strength 9 and resolve in their pursuit of their freedom 10 sovereignty while enduring immense suffering as a 11 result of unprovoked military aggression; and 12 WHEREAS, a secure, safe and independent 13 Ukraine is the only acceptable outcome for the 14 preservation of international unity, peace and 15 progress; and 16 WHEREAS, the Mayor and Board of 17 Commissioners of the City of Union City desire to 18 declare their support for Ukraine and its people. 19 NOW THEREFORE BE IT PROCLAIMED by the 20 Mayor and Board of Commissioners of the City of 21 Union City, County of Hudson, State of New Jersey 22 as follows: 23 1. The City strongly and unequivocally 24 condemns and denounces the acts of aggression and 25 violations of international law committed against  8 1 Ukraine and its people. 2 2. The City recognizes Ukraine as a 3 sovereign state and urges the Russian Federation 4 to immediately cease all violence and withdraw all 5 its forces from Ukrainian territory and to instead 6 strive to build bridges of peace with the 7 Ukrainian people and the Ukrainian nation. 8 3. The City expresses its unequivocal 9 and unwavering support for and solidarity with the 10 Ukrainian people in their time of trial. 11 Thank you very much. 12 MAYOR STACK: Thank you, Commissioner. 13 14 15 (Whereupon, the Board discussed and took 16 action on the following item: 17 APPROVAL OF MEETING MINUTES - REGULAR MEETING - 18 FEBRUARY 1, 2022 AND FEBRUARY 15, 2022.) 19 20 MS. ROSARIO: Next meeting minutes. 21 Motion to approve meeting minutes for the February 22 1st and February 15th, 2022, Board of 23 Commissioners meetings. Motion to approve. 24 COMMISSIONER MARTINETTI: Motion. 25 COMMISSIONER FERNANDEZ: Second.  9 1 MS. ROSARIO: Motion made by 2 Commissioner Martinetti and seconded by 3 Commissioner Fernandez. Vote on the motion. 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 in total: 17 CONSENT AGENDA: 18 ( 1) Resolution Approving the Payment of Claims 19 ( 2) Resolution Approving the Payment of 20 Concurring Claims 21 ( 3) Resolution Approving the Escrow Refunds 22 ( 4) Resolution Approving the City Payroll 23 01/29/2022 - 02/11/2022 24 ( 5) Resolution Approving the Library Payroll 25 01/29/2022 - 02/11/2022  10 1 ( 6) Resolution Authorizing Refund of Redemption 2 Monies to Outside Lienholders 3 ( 7) Resolution Authorizing the Refund of Premium 4 Monies Collected at the Tax Sale 5 ( 8) Resolution Authorizing the Application to 6 the NJ Clean Energy Program Community Energy 7 Planning Grant Program 8 ( 9) Resolution Authorizing Contract for 2022 9 Landscape Maintenance Program - A Project 10 (10) Resolution Authorizing Contract for 2022 11 Landscape Maintenance Program - B Project 12 (11) Resolution Authorizing the Award of a 13 Contract for Peter Street Extension Project 14 (12) Resolution of the Board of Commissioners of 15 The City of Union City Approving the 2018-2019, 16 2019-2020, 2020-2021 and 2021-202 Renewal of 17 Liquor License No. 0910-33-021-008 Issued to 18 California Cafe Corp. (Pocket License) 19 (13) Amended Resolution of the Board of 20 Commissioner of the City of Union City approving 21 the 2018-2019 Renewal of Liquor License No. 22 0910-43-023-012 issued to Jose Miguel Sanchez t/a 23 International Mini Market 24 (14) Amended Resolution of the Board of 25 Commissioners of the City of Union City Approving  11 1 the 2021-2022 Renewal of Liquor License No. 2 0910-33-068-005 issued to Los Tejares, LLC (Pocket 3 License) 4 (15) Amended Resolution of the Board of 5 Commissioners of the City of Union City Approving 6 the 2019-2020 Renewal of Liquor License No. 7 0910-33-068-005 issued to The Cousins Restaurant, 8 Inc. (T/a La Gran Via Restaurant) 9 (16) Resolution of the Board of Commissioners of 10 the City of Union City Approving the 2021-2022 11 Renewal of Liquor License No. 0910-43-042-005 12 Issued to La Sorpresa Corp. (T/a La Sorpresa 13 Supermarket) 14 (17) Resolution of the Board of Commissioners of 15 the City of Union City Approving the 2016-2017 16 Renewal of Liquor License No. 0910-33-041-005 17 Issued to R.G. Miranda Corp. (T/a El Cuco) Nunc 18 pro Tunc to July 18, 2017.) 19 20 MS. ROSARIO: Consent agenda. 21 1. Resolution approving the payment of 22 claims. 23 2. Resolution approving the payment of 24 concurring claims. 25 3. Resolution approving the escrow  12 1 refunds. 2 4. Resolution approving the City 3 payroll of 01/29/2022 through 2/11/2022. 4 Resolution approving the library payroll 5 of 1/29/2022 through 2/11/2022. 6 6. Resolution authorizing refunds of 7 redemption monies to outside lienholders. 8 7. Resolution authorizing the refund of 9 premium monies collected at the tax sale. 10 8. Resolution authorizing the 11 application to New Jersey clean energy program 12 community energy planning grant program. 13 9. Resolution authorizing contract for 14 2022 landscape maintenance program - A project. 15 10. Resolution authorizing contract for 16 2022 landscape maintenance program - B project. 17 11. Resolution authorizing the award of 18 a contract for Peter Street extension project. 19 12. Resolution of the Board of 20 Commissioners of the City of Union City approving 21 the 2018-2019, 2019-2020, 2020-2021, and 2021-2022 22 renewal of liquor license number 0910-33-021-008 23 issued to California Cafe Corp., pocket license. 24 13. Amended resolution of the Board of 25 Commissioners of the City of Union City approving  13 1 the 2018-2019 renewal of liquor license number 2 0910-43-023-012 issued to Jose Miguel Sanchez t/a 3 International Mini Market. 4 14. Amended resolution of the Board of 5 Commissioners of the City of Union City approving 6 the 2021-2022 renewal of liquor license number 7 0910-33-038-005 issued to Los Tejares, LLC, 8 (pocket license) 9 15. Amended resolution of the City of 10 Union City approving the 2019-2020 renewal of 11 liquor license number 0910-33-068-005 issued to 12 The Cousins Restaurant, Inc. (T/A La Gran Via 13 Restaurant). 14 16. Resolution of the Board of 15 Commissioners of the City of Union City approving 16 the 2021-2022 renewal of liquor license number 17 0910-43-042-005 issued to La Sorpresa Corp. (T/A 18 La Sorpresa Supermarket) 19 17. Resolution of the Board of 20 Commissioners of the City of Union City approving 21 the 2016-2017 renewal of liquor license number 22 0910-33-041-005 issued to R.G. Miranda Corp. (T/A 23 El Cuco) nunc pro tunc to July 18, 2017. 24 MAYOR STACK: At this time, is there 25 anyone who wishes to comment on the consent  14 1 agenda, please step forward, state your name and 2 address for the record. This is just on the 3 consent agenda that the clerk just read into the 4 record? Seeing none, I'd make a motion to close 5 the public hearing on this and move the consent 6 agenda. 7 COMMISSIONER GRULLON: Second. 8 MS. ROSARIO: Motion by Mayor Stack, 9 second by Commissioner Grullon. 10 Commissioner Fernandez. 11 COMMISSIONER FERNANDEZ: Yes. 12 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Valdivia. 13 COMMISSIONER VALDIVIA: Yes. 14 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Martinetti. 15 COMMISSIONER MARTINETTI: Yes. 16 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Grullon. 17 COMMISSIONER GRULLON: Yes. 18 MS. ROSARIO: Mayor Stack. 19 MAYOR STACK: Yes. 20 MS. ROSARIO: Motion to approve all 21 items on the consent agenda. 22 COMMISSIONER VALDIVIA: Motion. 23 COMMISSIONER MARTINETTI: Second. 24 MS. ROSARIO: Motion by Commissioner 25 Valdivia, second by Commissioner Martinetti. Roll  15 1 call. 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 MAYOR STACK: At this time, this is the 15 portion of the meeting, anyone wishing to address 16 the Board of Commissioners on any matter 17 concerning public interest and public items in the 18 City of Union City. Before we do, I would just 19 like to thank the Commissioners for moving 100 20 percent of our meetings throughout the community, 21 always in the evening hours. We try to notify the 22 residents when we're moving a meeting around the 23 City so we have the best public participation. 24 I'd like to thank those members of the public that 25 are here this evening.  16 1 Having said that, anyone wishing to 2 comment at this time on any matter concerning 3 municipal government in the City of Union City, 4 you may step forward. 5 COMMISSIONER FERNANDEZ: Mayor, I speak 6 on behalf of the Commissioners and myself when we 7 thank you for your leadership and your commitment 8 to diversity in our community by erecting a 9 beautiful monument in honor of Martin Luther King, 10 Junior. Thank you very much, Mayor, for such 11 dedication and leadership. 12 MAYOR STACK: Thank you, Commissioners. 13 Seeing none, I'll make a motion. 14 MS. ROSARIO: Motion to close the -- 15 MR. AUTERI: Please step forward and 16 state your name and address for the record. 17 MR. GRAHAM: My name is Matthew Graham, 18 my address is 1205 Morris Street. I brought some 19 pictures here -- 20 MAYOR STACK: I saw these the other day, 21 we spoke on this -- 22 MR. GRAHAM: These are different 23 pictures. Thank you taking my call -- thanks for 24 calling me back. So I'm not here to talk about 25 that same topic here. I'm here as a driver  17 1 tonight, cyclist, and pedestrian. And on the way 2 over here, I saw a lot of bikes, saw a lot of 3 cars, parked cars, not so many driving cars. But 4 more than any of that was pedestrians on the way 5 over here. 6 So anything -- I just want to point out 7 that anything we do for pedestrians is going to be 8 benefitting everyone because everyone walks, even 9 if you're just walking to your car. So I brought 10 these pictures, you could see the -- you'll notice 11 there's a sign that says no bicycles on the 12 sidewalk, (speaking Spanish). If you look in the 13 background there though, there's a car parked in 14 the crosswalk, we talked about that. The other 15 picture is a car parked on the sidewalk, 16 completely blocking the sidewalk, we talked about 17 this, I know this. 18 I just want to point out the 19 inconsistencies about the bikes, we say, okay, 20 stay off the sidewalk. But with the cars, there's 21 not as much -- you know, it's kind of like, well, 22 the cars are going to do what they're going to do. 23 And if you turn the page over, you can see on the 24 other side some other examples here, pictures of 25 two cars -- a crosswalk blocked on both ends of  18 1 the crosswalk, I don't know how we're supposed to 2 cross that, they're pushing a stroller or laundry 3 in a cart, I don't know how we navigate that. The 4 bike lane, blocked by cars. I know we talked 5 about we're having bike lanes, more bike lanes -- 6 MAYOR STACK: We have bike lanes. 7 MR. GRAHAM: We have -- 8 MAYOR STACK: These are the improvements 9 on Palisade Avenue, it looks good, right? 10 MR. GRAHAM: It looks good, but there's 11 a lot of this -- you can't -- you go in the back, 12 if you've been on Palisade -- 13 MAYOR STACK: We address the board here. 14 MR. GRAHAM: My mistake, I'm sorry, 15 thank you for correcting me. So the cars, there's 16 a lot of cars parked in the bike lane. 17 MAYOR STACK: You sent me a letter a 18 couple days ago, I called you probably within two 19 days of you sending me the letter. I told you to 20 give us a chance, we're going to address it. If I 21 didn't answer your letter, then I would understand 22 you coming here, but I answered the letter. I 23 immediately spoke to the Chief, we do have a 24 process going on right now. 25 We do live in the most densely populated  19 1 in the city in America. That's the reason we do 2 have part of the parking problem we have today. 3 Because many of the buildings and manically of the 4 structures in the City were put up without any 5 parking. So we do try to work with residents, but 6 we would never tolerate -- especially sidewalks 7 that were just installed -- for people to block an 8 entire sidewalk and stop anybody. Part of the 9 reason we put all the new sidewalks in -- it is 10 the responsibility of the homeowner, but we do it, 11 trying to make it safer for people who do walk 12 with baby strollers or somebody with a baby, 13 children are walking. So we're definitely 14 addressing that. 15 MR. GRAHAM: My mistake, I think I spent 16 too much time -- I'm here to ask about design for 17 the changes that are going to be happening on 18 here. And you see the picture on the other side 19 on the bottom, there's two orange posts around the 20 crosswalk, those are terrific, cars don't park in 21 the crosswalk. I'm here to ask for -- can we have 22 more of those around? 23 MAYOR STACK: Absolutely, we will. The 24 delineators, we definitely will. 25 MR. GRAHAM: That's super. And then the  20 1 bike lane, if we're doing anymore, I would ask 2 that we put the bike lane just on the other side 3 of the parked cars, so that when you're riding in 4 the bike lane, the cars won't be in the way, 5 double parked. I'm just here to ask about design. 6 I'm sorry for going on too much -- 7 MAYOR STACK: No, no problem at all. We 8 will definitely work with putting more of these in 9 the crosswalks. So thank you so much. 10 COMMISSIONER FERNANDEZ: Have you seen 11 the last week or so that the police department 12 sent a robocall, so we're being proactive for 13 people parking in the crosswalks and a flyer was 14 sent out. So we're trying to be very proactive, 15 like the Mayor said, I'm reiterating what he said 16 you have to give him time to address things. He's 17 very proactive, he sent the flyer, did a robocall, 18 you can -- 19 MR. GRAHAM: And I appreciate that, so 20 that's why I'm here tonight to talk about design, 21 because enforcement is only going to take is so 22 far. Enforcement is not fun, because you get a 23 ticket in the mail or on the car, and you got to 24 pay, that's no fun. So if we can have the design 25 to keep it from happening in the first place,  21 1 that's what I'm asking for. 2 MAYOR STACK: We'll work together on it 3 all summer. Reach out to me any time. 4 MR. GRAHAM: G-R-A-H-A-M. 5 MR. MERCADO: Justin Mercado, 1003 6 Bergenline Avenue, Justin. 7 I just want to say, Mayor, that I 8 commend the Commissioner and you, Mayor, for all 9 the work you're doing. And I understand the 10 gentleman has the right to say anything, he's got 11 a point in his complaints. But I want to say 12 thanks God for the leadership you're doing because 13 in fact the crime that's going on around the state 14 and across the river is incredible. There's 15 shooting every day that -- like 34 blocks away 16 from here down south, going south, it's 17 unbelievable the way it is. And you could see it 18 in the news all the time how the crime and how the 19 society is going forward. We don't have that kind 20 of problem, so I'm pleased and happy the way 21 you're doing the leadership. 22 I just want to say you're doing a good 23 job and just let everybody know here that how hard 24 you guys work, especially working with the parking 25 situation that we have in Union City. You said  22 1 before how difficult it is to park, sometimes we 2 going around looking for parking for hours at 3 nighttime and we don't find it and you have made 4 it a little bit easier for people during the 5 nighttime. I just want to commend you for trying 6 to do the work you do. 7 MAYOR STACK: Thank you. Anyone else 8 wishing to comment at this time? Please step 9 forward. 10 MR. MERCADO: Thank you, Mayor. Thank 11 you, everyone. 12 MR. AUTERI: Please state your name and 13 address. 14 MR. SANCHEZ: Pedro Sanchez, 125 35th 15 Street, Union City, New Jersey. I'll make my 16 comments very brief, just a regular time. So 17 first of all, I want to thank everyone here, the 18 Mayor, I live on 35th Street and Hudson Park 19 Avenue, the block has improved tremendously in 20 every way, shape, and form. I can say that 21 firsthand since I've been there all my life, 22 53 years, so it's in confidence I can say that. 23 The only one thing that, in my personal 24 opinion, might be somewhat lagging is the property 25 maintenance issue. A lot of the apartment  23 1 buildings, some of the homes may be not maintained 2 as maybe they should. And I completely get it, 3 it's a blue collar town, a lot of landlords don't 4 live in the area, they're absentee. And, you 5 know, economically, it's not feasible. 6 I just want to mention some of them 7 might be also education related. Just like you 8 put some great flyers on the rock salt, not to use 9 that and the dog curbing and the waste, maybe a 10 flyer reminding that Union City does have a law of 11 property maintenance and landlords are required to 12 maintain the property for the appearance, quality 13 of life and for the safety of the tenants. 14 And I'll end with a very quick example, 15 an educational one. When I was a kid, I'll admit 16 I was guilty of this, my house did not look good 17 sometimes, it wasn't maintained. Then an 18 inspector knocked on the door, he was from 19 property maintenance, and said that column, that 20 brick column, told my mom, you got to fix it. She 21 said is the house going to fall, no, it just looks 22 bad. So we fixed it. Then she took the 23 opportunity to say, well, what else is part of the 24 maintenance. He said cutting the grass, keeping 25 the front yard nice, when the garbage comes, you  24 1 can't leave it on the street all day and all 2 night, you got to bring it in within a certain 3 time after, tuck it into your property. It's just 4 common sense stuff that she didn't know until she 5 was informed. Ever since then, no problem. Maybe 6 I maintain my house too much. 7 But my point is if there was some maybe 8 Union City could start some type of flyer. Let me 9 end by saying this, you know, the Mayor is going 10 above and beyond in beautifying our City, okay. 11 If you look at the sidewalks, the streets, if you 12 look, there's a new street sign on every corner. 13 Palisade Ave. looks like I'm in Paris, my opinion, 14 it's crazy. But I think we have to do our part as 15 landlords and as renters to -- out of respect for 16 ourselves and for the Mayor and our neighborhood, 17 do our part to improve. We can't just rely on the 18 Mayor to beautify the City, we got to do our part. 19 And that's beginning I think with the landlords, 20 like myself, that's all. 21 MAYOR STACK: Thank you. I know you and 22 I have gone back and forth, if you could design 23 something for me that you think would work try to 24 get it to me, I'll use it. 25 MR. SANCHEZ: Thank you.  25 1 MAYOR STACK: Get it to me, I'll get it 2 out within two, three weeks. And I'll do the 3 calls, try to get it to me as soon as you can. 4 MR. SANCHEZ: Will do. 5 MAYOR STACK: Anyone else wishing to 6 comment at this time, please step forward. 7 MS. TROJAN: Mr. Mayor, I'm not sure if 8 I'm appropriate to mention -- 9 MR. AUTERI: Please state your name for 10 the record. 11 MS. TROJAN: Carolyn Trojan. 12 MR. AUTERI: And address. 13 MS. TROJAN: 3312 Hudson Ave. The feral 14 colony, is it appropriate -- because we called 15 your office to ask, is it appropriate to discuss 16 that here and they didn't know anything about it. 17 MAYOR STACK: If you could call me -- if 18 you leave me a message either tonight or tomorrow, 19 I'll set up a meeting in my office. 20 MS. TROJAN: Got it, thank you. 21 MAYOR STACK: Just left leave me a 22 message about that, myself. 23 MS. TROJAN: You got it. 24 MAYOR STACK: Anyone else wishing to 25 comment? Sir.  26 1 MR. BLOISE: Jeff Bloise, 926 19th 2 Street, just a question regarding that topic, the 3 feral cat colony. I put in volunteer, whatever 4 relief need money and the first thing that pops up 5 is the Feral Committee for Union City, if that's 6 representing the City, I have a lot of questions. 7 Basically, like on their website, is everything 8 available to the public, all the receipts are 9 outdated and the ones that are up-to-date, don't 10 have the income and expense -- 11 MAYOR STACK: This is on Fernando 12 Cortez's? 13 MR. BLOISE: I think so, yes. 14 MAYOR STACK: That' not the City, that's 15 a private organization. The City doesn't run 16 that -- 17 MR. BLOISE: It representative of the 18 City -- 19 MAYOR STACK: He may, but he's got 20 lawsuits. 21 MR. BLOISE: He's supposed to have a 22 trailer right here on -- 23 MAYOR STACK: He has a trailer that we 24 donated to them, but they're not a city 25 organization, they're a private --  27 1 MR. BLOISE: Other organizations have 2 trailers as well? 3 MAYOR STACK: They do. The City has a 4 trailer, too. 5 MR. BLOISE: Okay. 6 MAYOR STACK: Whenever you'd like to 7 speak to me, call me on my cell. 8 MR. BLOISE: Thank you. 9 MR. AUTERI: Please step forward. 10 MAYOR STACK: Let me just say something. 11 There's been no stronger commitment to the feral 12 cats in the community than Union City has made, we 13 dedicate about 150 to $200,000 a year on T&R in 14 the City and we've gone out of our way to do that. 15 But there's many different organizations out there 16 and it's great that people are passionate about 17 the T&R program in the City. But some of the 18 groups, we're just not responsible for. We run 19 our own, we have a company that's running it for 20 us right now, a gentleman by the name of Ryan runs 21 it. But Fernando's program doesn't represent the 22 City, he's doing his own thing out there, and I 23 give him credit because he's passionate and he 24 loves animals. Anyone who loves animals has to be 25 a good person. But he doesn't represent.  28 1 MR. BLOISE: If you don't mind, what's 2 the organization? 3 MR. AUTERI: Can you please stand up? 4 MR. BLOISE: I'm sorry. Do you mind, 5 what's the organization that Union City does 6 represent? 7 MAYOR STACK: It's the Union City, UCAT, 8 Union City cat program. 9 MR. BLOISE: I appreciate that. 10 MAYOR STACK: Reach out to me at any 11 time. If you want to meet -- 12 MR. CORTEZ: I am Fernando Cortez, from 13 Towers, 21 years resident of Union City. I happen 14 to be the founding member of the Union City Feral 15 Cat Committee. Please, allow me just one minute. 16 I send in the mail to the Honorable Mayor Stack 17 and to the Honorable Members of the Board, I 18 mailed out 65 Union City residents and it may be a 19 little more, it's stating again that more than 50 20 complaints from the homes that Mr. Ryan Baker -- 21 namely that the contract doesn't have teeth, 22 does -- he did not have as he did in the first two 23 month and he's now violated the contract. 24 The contract tell him you have to do X 25 number of those cat. He could not place any cat  29 1 in any home. And he's now violating the contract. 2 The contract was very -- you have to do X number 3 of cat in home. He could not provide the cell 4 phone to anyone to provide any customer service 5 and he's violating the contract. 6 MAYOR STACK: Fernando, we have a system 7 set up, you call Bellen and Bellen will set up 8 we'll do so many cats per week. We'll do all 9 that. We've tried very hard to work together on 10 this. I know you're passionate about your views 11 on the T&R program and there's other groups that 12 are out there. But the thing we're doing is we're 13 spending the money out there to T&R cats. There's 14 almost a thousand cats we T&Red in the City. 15 But while I respect the issue and I love 16 animals myself, I have animals myself, you just 17 got to realize T&R is not the only issue that the 18 Mayor and Commissioners are dealing with, it's a 19 big city, it's a very densely populated. I know 20 everyone is passionate, I give you credit, you 21 heard me say it. I give you a lot of credit for 22 what you do out there. 23 Everybody has to try to work together. 24 I think what has to happen -- I've never said this 25 publicly before, all the egos of the different  30 1 people that do T&R have to calm down and come 2 together benefit of the cats and animals that are 3 out there. That's what's got to happen. It's not 4 about who's running it, who's responsible, who's 5 getting the credit. The point is taking care of 6 the animals, that's what's got to happen. 7 And I'm going to be honest with you, I'm 8 a very patient guy, but I've had enough of all the 9 emails back and forth, the people criticizing each 10 other, it's about the animals. If we ran the City 11 that way, where would Union City be right now? We 12 got to come together -- whether we like each other 13 or not, we all have to come together for the 14 betterment of the cats that are out there. 15 That's all. We're all trying to do the 16 right thing. Anybody who helps an animal is a 17 great person. Anyone who hurt an animal, you hurt 18 a child. That's my philosophy. But we got to 19 come together, work together for the benefit of 20 the animals. 21 MR. CORTEZ: Allow me 15 seconds? 22 MAYOR STACK: Sure. 23 MR. CORTEZ: The issue -- I don't want 24 to put everyone to sleep here, we took the time to 25 organize our thought, we tried to be constructive  31 1 as you like. You say this is the problem, we 2 presented our humble solution. We just humble 3 resident that says our solution is far more better 4 with the same resources that are given to Mr. 5 Baker, our solution is far more better than 6 anything that is presented. We just ask you 7 Honorable Mayor -- 8 MAYOR STACK: I know, but I can't give 9 your group $150,000, too. You asked me for a 10 trailer, now you got a trailer. I did whatever I 11 could. Whatever you do volunteer wise to help 12 those animals is great. We gave a trailer, we'll 13 help any way we can. But I can't give each group 14 that pops up $150,000, it just can't be done. 15 MR. CORTEZ: No, but we should just see 16 Mr. Baker had his time, we gave him the grace 17 period -- he had took over the one who did 18 initially, we gave him his grace period and we try 19 to work with him. It's not me, it's not me, I 20 just humble Union City resident. We presented the 21 complaints of more than 65 Union City residents, 22 we can say -- we got to bring problems to people, 23 people to have continue to go and I'm just a guy 24 here for Union City. We just humbly ask this 25 Honorable Member of the Union City Commission to  32 1 respond to our proposal because it's a business -- 2 MAYOR STACK: But I have somebody 3 running the program, right. When that contract 4 expires, put a proposal in, we'll be more than 5 happy to entertain that. But I'm not going to 6 break the proposal we have with this person until 7 it expires. When it expires, we'll put out an RFP 8 and RFQ and you're more than welcome to apply for 9 it. Am I correct, Angelo? 10 MR. AUTERI: Yes. And I think we saw 11 the services through competitive contracting, but 12 you're absolutely right, Mayor, we're under 13 contract with this organization. 14 MR. CORTEZ: We did our homework, we 15 have copy of the contract for your information 16 alone, probably you are the lawyer, you have very 17 clearly put a break clause in the contract that 18 the City can break. 19 MAYOR STACK: We can break any 20 professional service contract, but we're not ready 21 to break that right now. Let's give them a chance 22 to see what they can do between now and maybe -- 23 let's revisit this July 1st and if it's not 24 working out, then I'll be more than happy to sit 25 down with all the T&R people.  33 1 You remember when I put the meeting 2 together before the pandemic, I sat down with like 3 90 people, 90 people sat down with me about how 4 passionate they were about cats. Then when it 5 came time, over a period of time when it came time 6 to help out with the T&R program, I was down to 7 like five people. It was me and five people. 8 Yeah. 9 We had meeting after meeting after 10 meeting I was doing with people. And then after 11 awhile, people are passionate the first couple 12 times, and then everybody gets busy with their 13 life, but I can't be holding the bag, running the 14 T&R program myself. 15 MR. CORTEZ: Sorry. So I don't want to 16 occupy these other members, you say July 1st, 17 let's see how -- 18 MAYOR STACK: Let's see how he does 19 until July 1st and if it's not working out, you 20 call me. I will have the meeting with everybody 21 involved and put a proposal in. If you're going 22 to do a better job, I'd give to you in a 23 heartbeat, you're a Union City resident. 24 MR. CORTEZ: Not me -- 25 MAYOR STACK: I don't mean you, I mean  34 1 your organization, whatever group you put 2 together, nonprofit, whatever it may be. 3 MR. CORTEZ: There are more than 250 4 members of our humble group who can do it, bu can 5 you consider instead of July 1st, we say June 1st? 6 MAYOR STACK: June 1st. 7 MR. CORTEZ: He's doing good -- 8 MAYOR STACK: June 1st, you contact me. 9 Angelo and I will set up a meeting with everybody, 10 all right. You have my commitment on that. Let's 11 agree to work together on this. 12 MR. CORTEZ: Thank you. 13 MAYOR STACK: Thank you very much. 14 Anyone else wishing to comment at this time, 15 please step forward, state your name and address 16 for the record? Seeing no others. 17 MS. ROSARIO: Motion to close the public 18 comment portion of the meeting. 19 COMMISSIONER GRULLON: Motion. 20 COMMISSIONER FERNANDEZ: Second. 21 MS. ROSARIO: Motion by Commissioner 22 Grullon, second by Commissioner Fernandez. Roll 23 call. Commissioner Fernandez. 24 COMMISSIONER FERNANDEZ: Yes. 25 MS. ROSARIO: Commissioner Grullon.  35 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 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25  36 1 LIQUOR LICENSE HEARINGS: 2 3 1. La Parilla Bar & Grill, LLC 4 T/a Maria Mentiras Bar & Grill 5 328 32nd Street 6 0910-33-030-015 7 8 MS. ROSARIO: Now, we have liquor 9 license hearings. 10 MAYOR STACK: At this time, we have 11 liquor license hearings. Mr. Farmer, please step 12 forward. Lieutenant Dunlay, can you step forward? 13 14 La Parilla Bar & Grill, LLC 15 T/a Maria Mentiras Bar & Grill 16 328 32nd Street 17 0910-33-030-015 18 (Anna Noris, Esquire) 19 20 MR. FARMER: You have one matter on your 21 calendar this evening, it's Maria Mentiras, La 22 Parilla Bar, and it's located at 32832nd Street. 23 We have charges -- perhaps before I get 24 started, I can put my appearance on the record. 25 Gregory Farmer on behalf of the Union City ABC  37 1 board. And the licensee, Ms. Mentiras is here and 2 her attorney, Ms. Noris is here. So she can put 3 her appearance? 4 MS. NORIS: Yes, Anna Noris from the law 5 firm of Lopez and Noris on behalf of the licensee. 6 MR. FARMER: This -- we have had 7 conferences back and forth probably for the last 8 month. What this is all about is this: About the 9 middle of December, the police received some calls 10 about noise. They went out there and they 11 heard -- and Lieutenant Dunlay will testify, being 12 the supervising officer on duty, that the whole 13 plan -- not plan, the whole shape, whole 14 development of that night starts with complaints 15 of noise from the licensed premise. You go and 16 there's nothing there -- and then at 4 in the 17 morning, 4 in the morning, they get a complaint. 18 They go over there and they do hear noise, what do 19 you do? Knock on the door, knock on the door 20 somebody opened it. They were surprised because 21 now it's 4:00 in the morning, two hours after 22 closing. And there are about a half dozen people 23 there, okay. 24 Finally close them up. After they close 25 them up, the police ask for some paperwork, like  38 1 names and addresses. And the response was from 2 the licensee's employee or manager that the door 3 is a self-locking door. And because we went out, 4 it locked, and we can't get back in. So you'll 5 have to wait, okay. 6 The police go back a day or so later to 7 see the video that bars are required to have in 8 front of the establishment. They turn that on, 9 what they see is basically people coming and going 10 for at least two hours after closing on that day. 11 And that's the case. And what we've come to 12 resolution, it would be -- 13 MAYOR STACK: These are customers coming 14 and going or were they employees? 15 MR. FARMER: They were people, I can't 16 say -- they were people, but they were people who 17 were leaving at -- coming in together and leaving 18 together, couples I would say. And as far as 19 this, specific to that, I'm sure Lieutenant Dunlay 20 can fill us in on that. 21 But what we've come up with is this, we 22 had conferences, Lieutenant Dunlay, the licensee, 23 myself, and Ms. Noris's firm, and we came to a 24 resolution of a 45-day suspension, okay. That was 25 tough for the licensee to swallow, okay.  39 1 However, what we agreed to do is this: 2 That it's going to be 45 days, if she would have 3 the opportunity and the right to address this 4 board to see if the board would mitigate any part 5 or make -- a 45-day suspension. And that's where 6 we're at. 7 MAYOR STACK: All that's worked out, it 8 was a 45 day suspension? 9 MR. FARMER: Pardon? 10 MAYOR STACK: What was worked out was a 11 45-day suspension? 12 MR. FARMER: Yes. 13 MAYOR STACK: The charge was for having 14 customers after hours? 15 MR. FARMER: Yeah, having the place open 16 at 4:00 in the morning, people inside, video 17 showing people coming and going, couples with -- 18 MAYOR STACK: What's the background of 19 the establishment? What's the background? 20 MR. FARMER: I can show you the history, 21 I have it right here. 22 MAYOR STACK: How many years has your 23 client owned it? 24 MS. NORIS: Ten. 25 MAYOR STACK: All right. Did you want  40 1 to address the board? 2 MS. NORIS: I would, if I could. With 3 regard to the particular incident in December, on 4 that particular incident, my client had taken her 5 employees to New York, they had had a Christmas 6 party. They came back to the establishment. 7 MAYOR STACK: What was -- I'm sorry to 8 interrupt you, what was the date of the offense? 9 MR. FARMER: December 15th. 10 MS. NORIS: So she had taken them out, 11 obviously, they came back. They were going to 12 have a drink, et cetera, et cetera. She left 13 after awhile, said, okay, close up, you guys have 14 to go. The only people who were in the 15 establishment were people who were employed by 16 her. She's very unhappy that it transpired, but 17 it was not the public coming in and out, that's 18 not what was happening. It was her employees 19 involved and a lot of them are here to testify 20 today to the fact it was them. 21 MAYOR STACK: Everybody in the 22 establishment at that time when the police came, 23 they were employees? 24 MS. NORIS: Yes. 25 MAYOR STACK: Okay.  41 1 MS. NORIS: That's the first issue. 2 With regard to the second issue or the remaining 3 issues, rather, that we want to put before the 4 Board consists her attempt throughout all of this 5 to have a good relationship in the community with 6 the tenants above her, understanding it's a 7 problem, it's a restaurant and a bar underneath 8 apartment units. And she's tried very hard and a 9 few of the tenants are actually here to be able to 10 explain to the board just how they feel about the 11 establishment and what they think that she's 12 attempted to do. 13 Since she's opened the establishment, 14 she's reached out to see if she could get the 15 location soundproofed. They've come back to her 16 and basically said you would have to soundproof 17 the entire building. Because it's still going to 18 travel, it's a very old building. So it's not for 19 a lack of trying on her part. She's really done 20 the best that she can. And I think that's one of 21 the issues that we're most concerned about. 22 With regard to mitigation, what we're 23 actually requesting is not to diminish the days of 24 the suspension, that's not it. Obviously, her 25 business has gone through a lot as a result of the  42 1 pandemic, it's been a big problem for her. She's 2 managed to keep it there, she's managed to keep 3 her employees who have been with her for a large 4 amount of years, a lot of them since she began. 5 She doesn't want to lose all those people. Those 6 are people who live in town, those are, you know, 7 members of this community who need that job in 8 order to be able to feed their families and pay 9 their rents and things of that nature. 10 So what we're requesting in terms of 11 mitigation is more of we'll serve our 45 days, but 12 what we would be requesting -- and I know it's not 13 something that's commonly done -- would be that we 14 serve 15 and 15 and 15 in three consecutive 15 months. You would still have the 45-day 16 suspension, but it would allow her to be able to 17 keep her employees as much as she could. She 18 would be able to try to make some money, keep them 19 on some type of a small salary on the off weeks, 20 have them earn the salaries during the week that 21 they're working in order for her not to have to 22 lose them, for her not to have to retrain them. 23 She was explaining to me that it costs 24 her $20 an hour to have a dishwasher now. She 25 doesn't want to lose these people, it's very  43 1 difficult to find people to work in the restaurant 2 business right now. She doesn't want to lose her 3 business. Again, she wants to cooperate with the 4 City, we understand, clearly, why the statute 5 is -- why the ordinance is what it is. And we too 6 are concerned about what happens in the community 7 and making the tenants above satisfied and happy. 8 Like I said, there are some here who would 9 actually like to address the board and your Honor 10 in order to explain exactly what they believe they 11 have tried to do with the business there. 12 But again I think one of the crucial 13 points is what is she going to do with the 14 employees that are going to be left without an 15 ability to make a wage, without them leaving the 16 establishment, and her having to retrain people 17 all over again. And you just never know what 18 you're going to get as opposed to knowing what you 19 have. And her employees have been very loyal to 20 her, she would like to be able to keep them. But 21 she understands no one's going to wait for her for 22 45 days. 23 So if we could have those parties that 24 are prepared to testify, just to testify, and by 25 way of background and give some information.  44 1 Again, all we're requesting is to see if we can 2 just scale it out, same amount of time, no issue 3 at all. But just scale it out so she doesn't lose 4 her employees. 5 MAYOR STACK: What are you looking to 6 do? 7 MS. NORIS: 15 days -- 8 MAYOR STACK: Per month? 9 MS. NORIS: Right, in a consecutive -- 10 three consecutive months, she doesn't have an 11 issue, give her 15 days to try to make a living. 12 We had gone through a number of proposals, one 13 involved, you know, perhaps closing at 10:00, but 14 that's not a business that starts to move until 15 after 9, so it's like staying closed. That would 16 be for 40 days, so she would definitely be out. 17 We're just trying to find a way to satisfy what 18 the ordinance requires and at the same time allow 19 this business that wants to work, wants to stay 20 here in Union City, wants to serve its community, 21 wants to have its employees continue to be in her 22 employment, just be able to do so. So that's 23 really why we're here. 24 Ms. Mentiras, Ms. Gutierrez, the owner 25 would like to testify, would like to address you  45 1 as well. And like I said, some of the tenants who 2 are here as well as a couple of her employees 3 would like to testify. 4 MR. FARMER: Before we get started, 5 could I just have Lieutenant Dunlay explain what 6 the -- from the supervisor capacity, as well as 7 addressing the allegations that this is employees 8 coming and going. I haven't seen the video, see 9 the video, the employer approved, the video is 10 there. So I'd like -- just so you have a full 11 picture of all the facts. 12 MAYOR STACK: Absolutely. 13 LIEUTENANT DUNLAY: Lieutenant Dunlay, 14 Union City Police, I have the detectives and the 15 officers that responded to the scene present 16 today, they were ready to testify should this have 17 gone to trial. I believe we made a resolution, 18 but the obvious facts that we have that we're 19 concerned with was the ongoing noise complaints 20 that coming from Maria -- 21 MAYOR STACK: What was -- 22 LIEUTENANT DUNLAY: Noise complaints, 23 we're getting a lot of noise complaints from the 24 building, so much to the point that Ms. Gutierrez 25 actually reached out, I believe, to your office,  46 1 she reached out to me for wanting some guidance 2 regarding soundproofing, et cetera. 3 The problem escalated on December 15th 4 was the fact that, yes, you had -- you weren't 5 open to the public, but did you not -- you know, 6 you didn't follow through with being a good 7 neighbor in the sense that you kept your business 8 open, even though -- you know, you weren't open 9 for business, you added this as an extension, as 10 your living room, per se, which is against the 11 ordinance to begin with. You know, 2:00, any 12 liquor license establishment in Union City, as a 13 matter of fact, any entertainment venue in the 14 City must close at 2 a.m. The only reason it 15 could be open is for regular duties, such as 16 cleaning, et cetera. But no alcohol, no music, 17 nothing could be played after 2 a.m., that's what 18 the ordinance passed. 19 If we totalled up everything, we're 20 looking at over a hundred day suspension, had we 21 taken it to trial and they be found guilty of 22 every charge. And that's -- like I said, we 23 reached a compromise where we think 45 days is 24 something reasonable that the police department 25 feels comfortable with, you know. And we brought  47 1 it up to Ms. Gutierrez and Mentiras. And they 2 wanted something, we offered -- she made the 3 argument that she can't feed her employees, she's 4 going to lose her employees, that's something 5 that's a major concern to us as well. And, you 6 know, I thought outside the box and made the 7 recommendation perhaps staying -- you know, for 8 90 days, serving a sentence where you wouldn't be 9 closed, you would be open till 10 p.m., that's 10 something that they didn't want to really listen 11 to -- and I get it, it's a business that primarily 12 works in the evening. And most of the monies or 13 most of the profits are made after a certain time. 14 And I like I said, that's where we 15 stand. We've had ongoing noise complaints that if 16 we had to testify, I would have asked the 17 community police unit to come today because they 18 actually handled the noise complaints, et cetera 19 in a manner that -- like I said we've had numerous 20 complaints. The fact it was open after 2 in the 21 morning is something I didn't think was very 22 neighborly, per se. And that's the Police 23 Department's position. Obviously, it rests on you 24 guys, the Members of the Board to make a 25 determination.  48 1 MAYOR STACK: Okay. 2 MS. GUTIERREZ: My name is Maria 3 Gutierrez, owner of Maria Mentiras. 4 5 M A R I A G U T I E R R E Z , after having been 6 duly sworn or affirmed, did testify as follows: 7 8 MS. GUTIERREZ: So, first of all, yes, 9 we do apologize for the things that we did wrong. 10 We're not denying that we stayed open after 2, not 11 to the public. It was a celebration and we didn't 12 think it was bothering anyone. So we obviously 13 understand we need to be punished for what we did 14 wrong, which is the 45 days. It's the first time 15 in ten years that something like this happens or 16 any allegation or problem with Maria Mentiras, as 17 many of you and residents, and people that 18 actually work for you guys visit us. We are one 19 of the few establishments that put, not only our 20 hearts, but our money, into the establishment. We 21 beautify it in every season. 22 We try to run a family business, family 23 oriented business. We never have fights in there. 24 I mean even though we do serve alcohol and it's 25 part of the business because it comes with it, to  49 1 have this litigation involved here. One of the 2 few that -- and I do joke to them about it, you're 3 here every weekend and we're always -- everything 4 at some point. We never have any other issues 5 other than the noise complaint because we're not 6 here to harm anyone. We are here to be partners 7 of the City and partners of the people around us. 8 So, yeah, we made a mistake. It is the 9 first time we do have a problem like this. We 10 understand we need to be closed, okay, we'll take 11 it. But I'm just pleading and begging for your 12 mercy. Because you know we were hit during COVID 13 pretty hard. I was lucky enough to survive, I was 14 lucky enough to keep my employees. I don't want 15 to lose them over a mistake. So I'll take the 16 heat of being closed the 45 days that I need to be 17 closed. But I don't want to lose my employees. 18 They're here, they're family people that they live 19 in Union City. I have the customers that go there 20 and they tell me we come here because of your 21 employees, it's not because of the food, it's not 22 because of the alcohol, it's because of the 23 ambiance that we provide there. 24 So closing 45 days will mean losing 25 them. Because not only losing the money that I  50 1 will lose as an owner, I will lose my employees. 2 They need to pay bills, they have families to 3 feed, so they're going to go look for a job. And 4 most likely, knowing their morals, they're not 5 going to leave that job to come back to me. So 6 that means having to retrain and hire new people. 7 So I am begging you like you all family 8 people, once you probably lived off a check and 9 you just think what you would do 45 days without 10 getting money. So that's what I'm begging you 11 right now. I'll take the 45 days, it was our 12 mistake. At the end of the day, I am responsible 13 for what they do. And it was irresponsible of me 14 leaving them there that night. They were 15 drinking, obviously they kept the party going. So 16 I'll take that hit, that responsibilities. But I 17 beg you to allow those 45 days to be broken down 18 into three segments so that I can keep them. 19 That is my plea. And as far as the 20 noise complaints, I've tried my best. We're 21 closing an hour earlier, we're not even staying 22 open until 2 any day of the week, we're closing at 23 1 a.m. We used to have the speakers up in the 24 ceiling, we took them out of the ceiling. We 25 reinvested in a new sound system that is not in  51 1 the ceiling. I hired a sound engineer who went to 2 the restaurant and he said I cannot guarantee that 3 if you soundproof the restaurant that the noise is 4 not going to travel because it's an old building. 5 It doesn't even have insulation. So if you were 6 to spend the $30,000 that it will cost to 7 soundproof just the restaurant, I can only 8 guarantee that it would reduce 25 percent of the 9 noise traveling. 10 So with that being said, I've been 11 talking to the neighbors. And I've told them I'm 12 not here to make anyone's life miserable, we're 13 just trying to survive, tell me how can we help 14 make it, you know, better for everyone, here's my 15 phone number, call me. If you think it's loud, 16 let the manager know, we'll lower it down. 17 Because we're not here to harm anyone. 18 I understand Union City doesn't have a 19 noise ordinance and I spoke to Mr. Dunlay and Mr. 20 Stack, you know. I like to follow rules, I'm told 21 do things a certain way and I do it that way. 22 That's why we have the police department there 23 quickly and we don't get fines because we have 24 everything on point. We like to follow rules. 25 There's not a noise ordinance, but I  52 1 have the tenants here that live right above the 2 restaurant and they don't have complaints about 3 us. So I don't know if there's a resolution that 4 we can come to as far as my noise complaints or 5 what's going on. You know, it could be a personal 6 grudge that someone has onto me, I have no idea 7 what it is. But I've done everything and I don't 8 want to keep affecting the business. And I think 9 we run a decent business for the City of Union 10 City. I hear the tenants speaking about 11 beautifying the town. We invest a lot of money in 12 beautifying the restaurant, not only on the inside 13 but on the outside. Training people, I have 14 events in my restaurant where people come and 15 paint. I've done things for kids and I'm willing 16 to do a lot more, I'm willing to participate a lot 17 more in things of the City. But obviously, I want 18 to be able to stay in business. And we are 19 working on a point where my employees, every 20 weekend, they're afraid. They're like, oh my God, 21 I don't know if we're going to do something 22 different because we don't know if we're going to 23 have the cops come in again. 24 So we are not really working the way we 25 can work respectfully because we're not here to  53 1 disrespect anyone. But if there's any way that 2 you guys can guide us or help us to fix that issue 3 of the noise problem that we have, it will be 4 great. Because again I'm told to follow a rule 5 and I tend to follow it. I'm human, we make 6 mistakes and there's proof of it. 7 But that's my plea. And I wouldn't -- 8 again, touch your hearts, once you live of a 9 salary, paycheck to paycheck, weekly, my employees 10 do so as well. That's my case. If you want to 11 speak to any of the employees, they're here. The 12 tenants are also here and they're willing to. 13 MAYOR STACK: Absolutely. Do any of 14 them want to testify? 15 MS. NORIS: Yes. I'm interested in the 16 tenants and one of the tenants, I believe. 17 18 L I E U T E N A N T D U N L A Y, after having 19 been duly sworn or affirmed, did interpret the 20 following testimony from English to Spanish and 21 Spanish to English: 22 23 M A R T A V E L A S Q U E Z, after having been 24 duly sworn or affirmed, did testify as follows 25 through the interpreter:  54 1 MS. VELASQUEZ: Marta Velasquez. 2 V-E-L-A-S-Q-U-E-Z. No complaint about Maria 3 Mentiras, nothing bothers me. If there's music 4 playing, I'm dancing upstairs. 5 MAYOR STACK: Thank you very much. 6 COMMISSIONER VALDIVIA: I just want to 7 make a comment, Marta is a very good person. I 8 know her over 30 years. 9 MS. NORIS: This is the other tenant. 10 11 F E D A L C A S T R O , after having been duly 12 sworn or affirmed, did testify as follows: 13 14 MR. CASTRO: My name is Fedal, 15 F-E-D-A-L, Castro, C-A-S-T-R-O. I live in the 16 apartment 4, but I can listen to the music, so I 17 don't have a complaint of that. So I don't know 18 who's calling for complaints. Because apartment 19 1, they don't have complaint and 2 no have 20 complaints, and 3 have no complaints, and 4 have 21 no complaints. So I don't know who keeps calling 22 police and have complaints, so that's weird. I 23 don't know who's calling the police. So I don't 24 have complaints. 25 MAYOR STACK: Thank you very much.  55 1 Anyone else that you have? 2 MS. NORIS: This is an employee. 3 4 D A V I D V I L L A N T E S , after having been 5 duly sworn or affirmed, did testify as follows 6 through Lieutenant Dunlay: 7 8 MR. VILLANTES: My name is David 9 Villantes, V-I-L-L-A-N-T-E-S. I don't know much 10 about laws, I want to tell you before you make a 11 verdict, please think of the people that work 12 there having a difficult time and the situation 13 with the pandemic. She opened the restaurant in 14 December, we have a lot of necessities, mom's 15 sick, we all work because we have necessities. 16 And I want to ask you, please, asking for mercy so 17 we keep our jobs. And to close for 45 days is a 18 lot, we don't know what to do. It's a lot of 19 necessities, bills to pay, children, sick family 20 members, that's all I ask. 21 So please have mercy, not only it's 22 going to hurt Ms. Maria, you're hurting everybody 23 else. I ask you please, please have mercy. 24 That's all I have to say. Thank you. 25 MAYOR STACK: Thank you.  56 1 MS. NORIS: That will be it. I believe 2 the other ones have gotten gun shy. But, again, 3 these are the remaining employees that she's got 4 who are here. Everyone has similar circumstances 5 and that's what they want the Board to understand. 6 They're not asking for -- you've heard her 7 candidly say, I accept our mistake. It was a 8 mistake and we are prepared to pay for it. She 9 doesn't want to pay at the cost of losing her 10 business, she doesn't want to pay at the cost of 11 losing her employees. 12 And again her neighbors are here saying 13 she's not upsetting us. So whether there's a 14 vendetta, someone is upset, I don't know the 15 answer to that question, I will never know the 16 answer to that question. I don't think the police 17 will know the answer. 18 COMMISSIONER FERNANDEZ: I have a 19 question. Is the noise complaint people being 20 inside or people leaving the establishment? 21 MS. NORIS: I think the noise is more of 22 the music being played. 23 LIEUTENANT DUNLAY: It's in the 24 building, the vibrations. 25 MS. NORIS: It is the building, but as  57 1 she said before, she's tried. So she removed the 2 speakers, so the noise is less. She's trying to 3 do whatever she can. 4 MAYOR STACK: That's what is most 5 important to me, just try to make sure that the 6 music is somewhat contained. I understand it's an 7 older building, but just make sure it's contained. 8 MS. NORIS: She definitely does that. 9 Again, she's come very candidly here, saying all 10 she wants is a little business of lenience. She's 11 prepared to pay. 12 MAYOR STACK: How is the establishment 13 in the past? 14 LIEUTENANT DUNLAY: It's very good, 15 never had any major issues. Like I said -- 16 MAYOR STACK: No violations, no issues? 17 LIEUTENANT DUNLAY: Like I said, some 18 noise complaints and we had the one violation over 19 after certain time during the COVID restrictions, 20 where the restaurant was open on the outside 21 dining after a certain time frame. 22 COMMISSIONER FERNANDEZ: It's noise 23 complaints or music? 24 LIEUTENANT DUNLAY: When I noise 25 complaint, we refer to music, loud music playing.  58 1 So what happens is it's an older building, so it 2 resonates through -- 3 COMMISSIONER FERNANDEZ: It's not 4 people -- 5 LIEUTENANT DUNLAY: No, sir, there's be 6 complaints in the past. 7 MAYOR STACK: Somebody's definitely 8 calling, somebody in the building is calling. 9 MS. NORIS: Well, there is a theory 10 attached to that. And actually I thought that Ms. 11 Velasquez would tell you, she does have a daughter 12 that comes to visit and she does believe that when 13 the daughter comes to visit, she says you're 14 older, you're sick -- and those things are true. 15 But she just told you that it doesn't upset her. 16 It does upset her daughter and she knows that her 17 daughter has called in the past. And she's 18 actually told her she shouldn't and she doesn't 19 want her to. So that's what we believe. But 20 again I'm just saying what the problem may be 21 because she doesn't live in the house, she doesn't 22 live there. So she just comes and -- 23 MAYOR STACK: I understand. 24 MS. NORIS: She gets upset. 25 MAYOR STACK: I recognize what Maria has  59 1 done with the corner and how nice she keeps the 2 property, it's always clean, it's always fixed up 3 nice. I never see any issues and I pass there 4 all time. I understand the situation with COVID 5 and everything else, the tough time we've had with 6 COVID and how tough it is on everyone, especially 7 business owners. 8 So what I'm willing to do -- and I 9 normally don't do this, I'll take it from a 45-day 10 suspension, I'll bring it down to 25 days. We'll 11 spread out, April 10 days, May 10 days, and June 5 12 days. 13 MS. GUTIERREZ: Thank you so much. 14 MAYOR STACK: I just ask that you make 15 sure we keep the music contained so nobody is 16 calling or anything like that. So, Mr. Farmer, 17 we'll do 10 in April -- work that out with Maria, 18 10 in May, work it out, and June, we'll do 5 days. 19 And that's basically it. 20 MS. NORIS: Thank you very much. 21 MAYOR STACK: Thank you. 22 COMMISSIONER VALDIVIA: We have to vote. 23 MS. NORIS: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. 24 MAYOR STACK: I make the motion. 25 MR. AUTERI: All right, motion by Mayor  60 1 Stack to accept the penalty as stated on the 2 record. 3 COMMISSIONER VALDIVIA: Second. 4 MR. AUTERI: Second by Commissioner 5 Valdivia. 25 day suspension -- 6 MAYOR STACK: 10 days in April, 10 days 7 in May, 5 days in June. 8 MR. AUTERI: 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 has recused. Mayor Stack. 16 MAYOR STACK: Yes. 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25  61 1 ADJOURNMENT: 2 3 MR. AUTERI: There are no further items 4 on the agenda. Before we have a motion to 5 adjourn, I'd like to state for the record that 6 Commissioner Martinetti is recusing on the consent 7 agenda to all payments to Adolfo Lopez and Mayor 8 Stack is recusing on the consent general to all 9 payments to the law firm of Chasan Lamporello. If 10 there's no further items, can I have a motion to 11 adjourn? 12 MAYOR STACK: Motion. 13 COMMISSIONER VALDIVIA: Second. 14 MR. AUTERI: Motion by Mayor Stack, 15 second by Commissioner Valdivia. All in favor? 16 17 (Whereupon, all Commissioners indicate 18 in the affirmative.) 19 20 MR. AUTERI: Thank you. The time is now 21 7:59. 22 23 (Whereupon the matter was adjourned at 24 7:59 p.m.) 25  62 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  63 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