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[Music] my [Music] [Music] i call the annual reorganization meeting to order may i have a reading the open public meetings act statement good afternoon in compliance with the open public meetings act adequate notice of this meeting the council was provided by transmitting a copy of the meeting notice to the madison eagle and the morris county daily record posting a copy on the bulletin board at the main entrance of borough hall and on the borough's website roadsnet.org and filing a copy in the office of the clerk all on december the 24th 2020 copies of said notice were made available to members of the general public and roll call mrs vitale me unmute miss bailey here miss byrne here mr hoover can i see mr hoover who's cohen here you're muted miss early here i'm here okay and then we've lost visual on carmella and um okay i'm going to start it all over again all right see what happens all right there we go so since this is our last chance to say here and we didn't hear it before carmelo vitale are you here i am yes all right absolutely mayor is here also i'd like to invite reverend monsignor george hunt of saint vincent martyr church to present our invocation got it okay hello everyone happy new oops hello everyone happy new year happy new year happy new year asking me this prayer today so good and gracious god we come before you at this start of a new year first with our gratitude thank you lord for the light of love with which you let us through this past year thank you lord for the goodness that you called forth in so many men and women who served their brothers and sisters in time of pandemic with courage with dedication and with steadfast care and compassion thank you for the inspiration they have given us with their lives challenging us to be bigger and better in our own loving and now lord as we step into this new year grant that we may carry with us that which we have learned in this time of challenge that every person deserves to be seen and heard that we were created for community to be with and for one another that the greater good comes from working together and focusing on what unites us more than what divides us that differences are an invitation into greater understanding and more meaningful dialogue that we are all neighbors responsible for and accountable to one another that we are all your children bless our good town o god and each person that dwells in it bless carmela as she concludes her time on the council and we thank you lord for her dedicated service bless our mayor and all who serve our community along with the council in leadership roles may they use their gifts and talents to advance the well-being of the people of madison and of our town itself as well as other people and other places that need our assistance and collaboration reorganize us lord according to your plan into the best version of ourselves as the rose city madison new jersey oh great love thank you for living and loving in us and through us may all that we do flow from our deep connection with you and all beings help us become a community that spirits each other's burdens and the weight of glory listen to our hearts longings for the healing of our world knowing you are hearing us better than we are speaking we offer these prayers in all the holy names of god amen god bless you all god bless you thank you thank you so much father george and i also want to thank you for your support from the community during this difficult year um your words have set the tone for a new year uh but during this tough time you're working your st vincent congregation your work with tri-town cares which i'll be talking about a little bit later and the donation over the waverly christmas tree we've enjoyed it so many so thank you so much for being at madison side in 2020 and as always you're very welcome it's good to be a part of this family jose i want to take a moment um of silence for uh some madison residents that we lost over the last few weeks anna mantone mclaughlin was born in morristown march 8th 1939 to late samuel c and amelia amelia mantone she she was raised in madison with her three brothers joseph louis and sam and her two sisters nancy and ray she graduated madison high school after graduation anna began her first career as a defunct operator she ended her career as secretary to statham township department of public works uh and which she did many years prior to her retirement she was married to her beloved husband the late peter mclaughlin on june 10th 1961 the couple moved to madison where they raised her children anna was a lifelong prisoner saint vincent martyr and a member of the rosary society she was active and dedicated member of the madison community believed in giving back her hometown which he loved dearly he was a long-time member of the madison ambulance corps auxiliary helping raise funds helping to raise funds for the ambulance corps and longtime member of the red hat society in addition to her parents who his pre-deceased by her beloved husband peter her three brothers joe louie and councilman sam jigsman's home her brother-in-law brownie esposito her sister-in-law rita she's survived by her son peter peter junior her daughter amelia and two sisters nancy and ray and survived by two sister-in-laws fran manfone and joyce mancone also five grandchildren and many nieces and nephews and great nieces and great nephews and many dear friends and joe stockard long long time president madison died from kovid19 related illness on thursday december 17th at the age of 89. he survived by his beloved wife of 64 years martha all we all know her as marty stockard four devoted sons craig ball thomas and steven three sisters mary rita and lydia six grandchildren born in dayton ohio in 1931 he was raised in a family of eight children after graduating from university dayton he in electrical engineering he was employed by 18 tbo laboratories and before being commissioned and serving our country as a second lieutenant united states army and serving in the signal corps in the post-world war ii europe he returned from his service in the army he went back to bell labs married his beloved wife marty on april 7th 1956 the day before i was born and they settled in madison in 1958 in retirement joe pursued a number of jobs that kept him active including starter and ranger at the morris county is a pinchbook golf course and always smile there and a true engineer he loved math and science and worked as a substitute teacher for madison high school had been math professor and math tutor at fairly dickinson joe was also active in the medicine community he was a charter trustee and instrumental in the madison community pools organization construction and operation he was a member of the madison planning board for five years and acted with the madison democratic party running for borough council several times over the years and then daryl love who lost his battle with cloven 19 and died on december 22nd born in 1960 to the late leroy hayes and dolores love daryl was raised in madison and was a lifelong member of the first baptist church of medicine joined he joined the army after high school finished his basic training and four ticks and it completed two unless enlistments he worked for signature flight support located in marstown airport and everyone who knew him will always remember daryl smile always greeting with smile and a laugh he leaves behind a daughter and one son two grandsons six sisters and brother on that december 16th we said goodbye to brooke plumstead the daughter of madison police sergeant sean plumstead who died at the age of 10. brooke was born with canavan disease and demonstrated tremendous strength in bravery through every moment of her journey she was an undeniably sweet special innocent perfect in every way brooke had a special relationship with her siblings who loved her with all their heart and she loved him with all her heart she loved playing with her brothers and sisters and she loved all things disney she loved swimming and being outside the sun she was divided by her mother liz sisciano and father sean plumsted two brothers and two sisters and richard hanlon of 84 years old died peacefully at madison medical center on december 19th he was beloved husband of anne hanlon 53 years born in 1936 raised in orange he served as a volunteer medicine auxiliary police officer from 69 to 73. he married his wife and statements of mr martin church and they lived in madison throughout their 53 years of marriage he's the father of ruth richard and tara and survived by six grandchildren let us take a moment to remember anna mclaughlin daryl love joe stockard brook plumstead richard hanlon and all those who we lost in the past year let us pass our thoughts to the families we have left behind thank you let us now please rise for the pledge of allegiance i pledge allegiance to the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands one nation under god indivisible with liberty and justice for all we'll now have the pledge of allegiance i mean i'm sorry the national national anthem that's played by jessica [Music] vogel [Music] [Music] ah [Music] um [Applause] [Music] hey [Music] [Music] that was beautiful um jessica is the um daughter of our borough engineer bob vogel who i know is proudly listening on that so um bob if jessica's not listening please thank her that that was just very touching very well done and now we come to the point where we want to recognize some of our longtime volunteers as uh this is not only a time to reorganize but it's time to look back to the uh our past and um and thank those who have served for a long time first and i know she is in attendance we have uh tony derosa who has served 12 years on the always busy zoning board of adjustment and tony anyone that knows tony knows her love and dedication to medicine and i know for every every minute of those long meetings in your 12 years you are guided by that love for medicine so tony thank you very much for your your dedication and service to your community and i know we had dropped off the medallion at your house i don't have a virtual one to show you but uh thank you again for your uh service i don't know if bill hutchison is on uh board here just take a quick look yes he is bill good to have you uh tuned in here bill uh is stepping down after six years on our utility committee this has been a very important and busy time for a utility committee as we've shifted to the smart meters looking to the future look towards solar so bill your insight has been greatly appreciated and uh thank you again for serving for six years on the utility advisory committee and also on the utility advisory committee and stepping down this year is kevin williams who uh served i don't see him on board here well actually there's kw it's all assumed that that is uh kevin williams so kevin hopefully uh you are listening and appreciate your service for five years on the utility advisory committee and um also it should be noted that the reason he is stepping down is not only is he a madison resident a dedicated volunteer in the advisory committee but he's a medicine firefighter who will be retiring in the coming year so we wish you best of luck in your future endeavors and lastly we have uh brad kramer who has i don't see brad here um served 14 years on the downtown development commission and most of those years were as the treasurer uh downtown development commission um so a moat later has been tremendously active in keeping our downtown vibrant to the point that as we entered 2020 it was probably the most vibrant that we had seen in uh decades so brad we uh thank you for your dedication to ddc especially keeping track of all that money and we appreciate your uh always being on the side of uh being conservative on how to spend it in the most possible uh the best possible way for the borough of madison okay i want to uh we're going to have share some special messages from a few guests but i want to recognize um a few guests that are in right now uh and if i miss anyone i apologize as we're sorting through all the people logged in but i know we have sheriff gannon on board so sheriff thank you for joining us we um i'm probably not the first but maybe among the first to be able to call typhoon to lean a county commissioner as as of uh yesterday the title freeholder has been retired so uh typhoon good friend uh and uh resident of chatham township so we're looking forward to you being sworn in as a county commissioner for your first full term and uh serving southeast morris county so well as you as you have and then we have um morris township uh outgoing mayor kathy wilson she will be uh commit continuing on the committee as he'll be sworn into a uh another term uh in their reorganization meeting so kathy thank you for joining us and kathy has been part of a group of mayors that i pulled together early on in the pandemic for weekly calls to make sure we coordinated our efforts and that was along with uh mayor thad kobolarz of chatterborough and mayor mike tully of chatham township so kathy thank you so much for your work as we did so much together and now we will bring up a few and and we also have our new um judge for our joint court john judge jonathan rosenbluth as um barry proximal retired after many years jonathan will be judge the honorable john is me the honorable john rosenbluth will be joining our joint court in the new year and we're looking forward to the continued success of the best joint court in the state now i'll bring in some special messages to special guests hello madison governor phil murphy here i am honored to be a part of your reorganization program albeit virtually and i thank you all for your leadership in taking these necessary steps to stay healthy so the campaigns are over the election was free and fair and every vote was counted and so today the hard work of governing is renewed i know that madison will continue to be in good hands with your mayor bob connolly with councilman john hoover and councilman bob landrigan i also want to congratulate council president carmella vitale on her retirement and express our gratitude for her many years of public service across new jersey our foremost goal is to pull together to move our communities out of harm's way from this pandemic and on to a stronger fairer and healthier future we're all in this as one and i am committed to being your partner in your continued success so may god bless each and every one of you i hope you all stay safe and healthy and if we all keep working i know we'll be able to be together again very soon again thank you all and happy new year hi everyone thanks so much for having me here to say a few words i'd like to congratulate mayor conley for all his hard work throughout the entire year and it's been a really tough year as well as the borough council the constant dedication to the residents of madison make it no wonder that madison was voted new jersey town of the year he worked to assist businesses and residents with electric rebates to get them through this tough time you've expanded outdoor dining held outdoor concerts and events some of which i was lucky enough to attend you've established the small business recovery grant program through the main street foundation we face so many challenges right now so seeing how you've come together and worked hard to support everyone is has really been a bright spot i also want to say congratulations to councilman john hoover on your re-election and robert landrigan on your election i'm looking forward to working with you as we continue to work hard to support madison finally i want to say thank you to camarella who and bittersweet is retiring after more than 15 years of service to our community anyone who knows carmella knows how much he loves madison and the people of madison it's what's driven her commitment to public service and we are all the better for her years of dedication and deep understanding of municipal government women like carmel have inspired the next generation of women in politics to get involved so i want to really thank her for her service to madison thank you again for having me for your work for the residents and i wish you all a healthy and safe start to the new year well hello madison and by the way john congratulations god bless you bob hey you're back you just walked in and see that look upon my face but thank god you're back but a big loss carmelo one of the nicest friendliest and dedicated to madison she loves madison uh i'm gonna miss her not seeing that face smiling at me but um have a happy happy retirement carmelo we have a couple of more guests that are here virtually in person so i'd like to call up assemblyman john mckeon and the sami woman milo daisy i i have no idea if you guys can hear or see me can you yeah yes that's that's terrific that let's i i just uh you know tell you that in in all of this uh chaos uh you know how much that i personally you know miss madison you know whether it's not that bucolic ceremony arbor day or whether it's not you know here comes the fall at bottle hill day uh it's just been just such an important part of my life for the last 10 years and i want to thank you all for allowing me to be a part of it and for the great role each and every one of you play in making such a great town and of course to john and bob the hardest of congratulations and carmela you know just heard my colleague senator cody noted and he put it quite uh eloquently i really have a great love for you and i think you know that uh from the time that uh that we first met uh you took me like a sister by the hand and ran me around those events and we're just the uh we're just so warm uh and although we don't get to see each other that often just know that uh you're in my heart for those 10 years and we'll be from now and forever so god bless to you the entire council and the great uh township of madison thanks me woman jc welcome hello can you hear me good good afternoon everyone and happy new year when we were redistricted 10 years ago i received notice of an event at the hartley dodge memorial building i had to look up where it was and what it was and in fact i remember saying this is such a beautiful place we could have meetings here i never could have imagined how welcoming madison would be and the many friends that i've been so fortunate to make over the years you've made me feel right at home and i'm grateful to all of you mayor conley you run a wonderful town it's been named the best place in new jersey to live many times and that's a testament to your efforts and collective efforts of those with whom you serve and work congratulations to our newly re-elected council members hoover and landrigan bob it's like you've never been gone remember gentlemen with maureen astrid deb and rachel we not only still have an all democratic council but the majority are women yeah um leaving is what brings me here today my colleagues you've already heard from the gov and john gave me the honor of thanking you carmella the services that you've given to madison over the years on the council for 15 years as president and in all your other endeavors is incalculable you are truly a shiro to me and i know sal your children and grandchildren are all as proud of you as we are and i'm sure they're looking forward to having more time with you but knowing you as i do i have no doubt you'll manage to still keep very busy you may be leaving the council but we will continue to rely upon your institutional knowledge wisdom sense of humor and unfailing ability to put things into perspective ray you're not allowed to call carmela more than once maybe twice a day and carmela i treasure our friendship more than you will ever know and i do believe it will continue we're all better for having you in our lives and i thank you for all you've done for madison for me and for the 27th district i would like to read just a portion of the resolution that i have the honor to present relax everybody just apart that by senator cody assemblywoman jc and assemblyman mckeon this legislature hereby law loud's carmella councilwoman carmela vitale pays tribute to her meritorious history of fortitude leadership and dedication and extends sincere best wishes for her continued success and happiness and as many of you have heard me say before it's suitable for framing but given the financial status that we're in in this state you'll have to do that yourself i wish you guys again as you begin your next chapter carmela and i hope thank you that we can get in you know get together in person sometime soon over brunch absolutely thank you so much love you guys love you guys thank you for everything you do for us too appreciate it hopefully you can stay on for a few more minutes as we uh talk about our good friend carmela and thank you so much for taking time to join us joining us today um absolutely as um i'm getting emotional already but anyway as councilman or congresswoman councilwoman mikey cheryl said you know this is a bittersweet moment and let's be clear we are not saying goodbye to carmelo we're saying thank you but what i'd like to do before i step away from the day is to join carmella the council chambers i'd like to have some of our council members uh share their thoughts of um having had the pleasure to work with carmelo over these years austria oh thank you mayor carmela began her career her council career in 2003 then on january 1st 2009 carmella stepped down from the madison borough council having served five years she received a beautiful proclamation and a chair we wished her well well but i knew i would miss her terribly fortunately carmella missed us too and returned to the council in 2012 to again serve the town she loves now when i look at carmela's record of service here this is just the council service five small print five pages of it um i see a list of accomplishments she did for the residents of madison to make their lives easier and to make madison a better place she pushed for online banking with the borough she fought for an elevator for the senior center she was instrumental in putting code protocols in place at borough hall every year carmella volunteered to be the liaison to the patriotic celebrations committee she strongly supported our veterans and their service she helped to improve veterans park it could dorse away with pavers plantings and new seating but that's not all she's been a liaison to absolutely every committee in town and even outside of town so for me carmella has taught me a lot about our town and about life her insights have helped me to do my job and she's become a very dear friend and i will miss her greatly on the council but the good news is carmella and her husband sal will still be here living in madison and i know how to reach her best of luck to you and sal enjoy your family and friends you deserve it thank you carmella thank you thank you maureen she's a muted carmilla has been so much more than a colleague over the last four years or so she's been a true mentor she leads by example she will call and nude you if she thinks you need to be nudged um i just i'm in awe of what she's accomplished and i truly appreciate being able to work with her over the last few years i know she's not going anywhere she promised me that she would continue to take my phone calls so i look forward to um i look forward to working with her and wish her all the best in her retirement thank you maureen thanks thank you john hoover thank you mayor um i can't top anything that anybody has said about carmella but i will say this to say that carmela is an inspiration is an understatement a drastic understatement i will always remember and be grateful for the example you set the tireless work and effort you exhibited during your entire 15 years on the council your intelligent insights and for the astute questions you asked and for the care you showed to all our seniors thank you carmella i wish you the very best as you move forward thanks john thank you john thank you how do i thank you for all the invaluable advice you have given me the past two years whether it was the background of an ongoing issue who to contact with my questions or most importantly when to step back from an issue completely um your thoughts and opinions were and will continue to be invaluable because i too have your number and know where you live you have always and i have to drop cookies off for sal you have always looked out for what is the best for madison and your leadership on so many issues has been amazing you will still get those questions from me in addition to your council advice you have become a friend someone i can count on and confide in and i look forward to many more years of lunches hopefully not socially distanced outside and friendship thank you so much for everything you have done both for me and for madison and congratulations on your next steps thank you deb thank you and rachel ehrlich carmella as a first year council member i've been so lucky and grateful for your leadership your wisdom your advice and above all your signature blend of straight talk and diplomacy which you always deliver with such grace and good humor um that anything you have to say always seems um so balanced and so thoughtful and uh everyone receives your suggestions and your input with um you know luke grace so thank you carmella for modeling leadership and the way to think about issues the way to talk about issues and just for being a great example i've been lucky to serve with you for one year and i hope to continue to learn from you as we hopefully partner together to serve madison in the years to come thank you so much thank you rachel thank you thank you all for sharing those comments um what we have done today in this virtual meeting is we have our um council members that are taking the oath of office today spread out through the building and we have carmella down the hallway so we're going to take a moment to bring carmella into the council chambers because it's certainly uh the place to say farewell and thank you is the council of chambers where she has spent so many hours away from the deus enjoying okay very clear request and that was no proclamations um but carmelo knows that i have not always listened to you that's right and i've often gotten in trouble for not doing that but we go back so many years um and i wouldn't be here without you so we had to do it it is not the traditional proclamation um but i um another thing is this is i i wrote this version so it is it is it is a lot different than what we presented before because as last we pointed out if we did the traditional one which normally has all the committees and when you deserve that we would um be pushing the ceiling to floor with the whole thing and another reason i need to present with the proclamation is you've been my proclamation but all these years that's right as we whether it's 100th birthday and 90th birthday or any any other milestone carmella has joined me because her love of madison residents and being the guy i would forget to bring or not even think about together and we've had so many special ones probably the most special was ruth russell as he's uh he was second here in in our town and was a true joy to know so so here is the proclamation and i apologize i'm going to read the whole thing as i mentioned before i wrote it so i go so whereas carmelo vitelli expressly stated that she did not want a population but not to recognize or understand would be a travesty and whereas carmelo served on the council for five terms having been first elected in 2002 and whereas carmela vitali fought for all residents of madison but especially will be known for the support of seniors and those in need and whereas carmelo truly appreciated the hard work of the great employees of madison singing their praise at every possible time whereas carmelo vitali served in so many roles over 15 years that they can all cannot all be listed here but suffice to say she did it all and she gave each committee the attention they deserved and whereas carmella had a special connection to the patriotic celebrations committee partnering with the committee to make sure those who served our country and gave their lives will never be forgotten and whereas maybe her most important role which we've already met colonel mentioned earlier was to take new council members under her wing to ensure their success from day one and whereas she supported she provided great support to mayor bob conley including running with him when he was first elected council member and again one of the first elected mayor always providing advice counsel and most importantly and whereas after 15 years of service on the council carmela vitale leaves madison in a far better position and these council chambers will never be the same and we and whereas we appreciate the love of your life sal sharing carmela with the residents of madison now therefore i have robert h comey mayor of borough madison and with all the current members of the council on behalf of the residents of madison dupont do hereby explain sincere appreciation to carmelo for his service on the borough council and wish you a successful retirement thank you [Music] as is tradition we have computer box department dodge your home your second home my home place from home right thank you very much and i know another request you had was not to give you another chair but this is a little different this is a rocking chair so you can enjoy the retirement and we have a matching one coming for [Laughter] [Music] and i'd like to say i i made sure [Applause] uh if this was a usual year we would have the pac council chamber people overflowed in rotunda probably everyone out madison stanley i'm sure thank you i get to kiss you again um i wanted to say a few words i did ask um the mayor and the council not to do a proclamation because he goes on and on and on sometimes and just you know but in a few minutes i'm going to be able to say uh congratulations uh to john hoover has he been here yet no and bob landrigan um so usually at this time you know uh you know the mayor reads a proclamation with everything that about the boards and committees that a council member has achieved during their tenure i had asked not to do that but this is absolutely lovely because it's written by my friend bob family well for me it's been 15 years and i can't even venture to remember all those committees so i asked the mayor if i could just say a few words of thanks and whatever hoping i can get through this very emotional today looking back if you noticed on the zoom i was sitting in the committee room and i would very often sit there during our executive sessions and look up at the photos of the mayors and the councils who came before us the mayors and the councils who decided to elevate the railroad line those who worked with chatham borough in 1915 to create a joint meeting to build sewer lines those who fought to keep our electric and our water utilities internal benefiting the residents of madison to this day i finally remem i fondly remember betty bumgardner developing the ddc and working to make the historic downtown a beautiful place to stroll and shop we all owe a great deal of thanks to those people who came before us a great insight to make madison what it is today i want to remember the wonderful people in madison who have worked who now who worked and who now work for the borough here i always sense pride i was fortunate to work closely with most of these people during my tenure and to get to know them on a personal level their dedication and love and respect for this town is always evident ask anyone how they are treated when requesting assistance and you will hear glowing reports of how the employees of the bureau go above and beyond so i need to say thank you to all of our employees past and present thank you for loving this town and taking such good care of the residents i want to single out two people i can't forget ray cody and jim burnett standing here for their help over the past years they work tirelessly for madison and they are the best i have to say thank you for your guidance you've earned my respect and love and it's an honor to have worked with you both of you thank you so much my work over the years could not have been done and we would not have achieved the successes over the past 15 years without the outstanding residents who volunteer on various boards and committees i encourage anyone to consider participating in volunteering on boards and committees it's not always easy but rewards definitely outweigh any downside our municipal pool dog park walking trails or playgrounds and recreational fields parks are just few of the accomplishments of the volunteer committees thank you and my wish is that you continue to bring your energy and visions so madison remains a great town we're proud of our legacy of madison i've often heard of an undercurrent regarding those who were born and raised here and those who chose this town to live and raise their family being born and raised here doesn't not make you more in love with madison than those who chose to live here respect tradition and pride are critical as we look forward to the future and as i have referenced early about the people who came before us to make madison what it is today that is what makes everyone a true medicine in closing i want to acknowledge the mayors and the councils council members whom i served over the 15 years we agreed we disagreed we worked tirelessly and grew to respect one another and build friendships on both sides of the table these are my rewards for serving the people of madison and it's been a great honor it's always warmed my heart to know that i was helping the people at this town that i truly love i would definitely miss see that's in the sea but 15 years is a long time it's time for sal and me to move on to the next chapter of our lives it's time to fully enjoy our children our grandchildren and to enjoy our home in south carolina during your long cold winters here but it will always be madison first for me lastly thank you mayor conley for your friendship and being a great mayor of this council was an honor to work with you the next few years may bring some challenges but the people of madison can feel confident in knowing that this is a tough team they will do what is necessary to keep madison strong there's a saying that some people come into our lives and quickly go others leave footprints on our hearts and we are never ever the same for me it is madison and its people you have left an indelible footprint of my heart god bless you all have a wonderful and most importantly healthy new year and may god continue to bless america [Applause] official task what's the best way that he could be and uh after me i state your name i'm robert landrieu disallow me swear to someone we swear that will faithfully and i will faithfully and partially and impartially and justly perform and justly perform all the duties of all the duties of council member the borough madison council member of the borough of madison according to best liability according to the best of my ability i further solemnly swear i further strongly swear i'll support the constitution of the united states that i will support the constitution of the united states and the constitution of the state of new jersey and the constitution of the state of new jersey and i will bear true faith and i will bear true faith and allegiance and allegiance to the same to the same and to the governments and to the governments established in the united states established in the united states and in this state and in this state under the authority of people under the authority of the people so help you god so help me god welcome back and this color i will follow john hoover and john's family hi john f that i will faithfully impartially impartially and just perform and justly perform and justly perform all the duties of all the member of duties of of madison council member of the borough of madison according to best of my ability according to the best of my ability my further solomon swear i further solemnly swear i'll support the constitution of the united states that will support the constitution of the united states and the constitution of the state of new jersey in the constitution of the state of new jersey that will bear true faith and it will be a true faith and allegiance and allegiance to the same to the same and to the governments and to the government establish the united states established in the united states and in this state and in this state on the authority people under the authority of the people so help me god congratulations thank you so three thoughts come to mind today for me gratitude faith and hope i am so very grateful for the people who work so very hard to support our campaign for borough council dave luber maria slava alex jennings and christine preston and many many more their intelligence creativity articulation and relentless persistence for above and beyond i am thankful to have been able to work with my high quality independent thinking colleagues on the council to the borough staff particularly and to the tireless efforts of all the volunteers who make this town work and to be the number one place to live in new jersey this year was both a blur and clearly to find major events not the least of which were the pandemic the drastic economic impact on so many people and businesses the election and the challenges which followed and by the many instances of social injustice and bias but our community stepped up and helped i have faith in our scientists to eventually pull us through this crisis and to do the right things i have hoped that we will overcome prejudice that we will continue to improve our environment to sustainability and that our economic condition will excel thank you thank you i forgot to allow or returning bob lantern okay um first i want to say thank you for everybody being here you know i lived in madison for 35 years before having to leave for a year but when i was away i kept track of it on social media what i found it to be is a town full of wonderful supportive people and when i got back i felt right at home again so thank you to everybody here but i'd also like to take a moment to talk about carmella when i first ran for council she ran on one side i ran on the other and we were both elected and right from the beginning she took me under her wing she mentored me she worked with me if i ever stepped out of line she would give me a smack in the back of the head to get me going in the right direction you know a few words do come to mind when i think of carmela integrity honesty caring and a sense of history of this challenge nobody knows and nobody else will ever know and i relied on it and i hope to god that i'm able to fill her shoes as best as i can you know a local paper when we ran together a few years ago dubbed us the dream team well it was my been my dream and a welcome dream to be able to serve on council with carmella and to call our friend so thank you very much kamal for everything thank you we're gonna give bob a chance to get to his uh workstation and we will be yes okay i think we are all in our positions can i have um roll call by the clerk miss bailey here here hoover here cohen here ms ehrlich here mr landrigan here and the mayor's still here and the mayor's still here sorry that's our 20s okay this is um very tough act to follow i could just say you've heard it all and um carmelo could not have said it any better and i couldn't do saying any better than what carmella did but i um we'll try and uh so i want to thank all those who have joined us virtually and uh all the special guests that came in either uh is a message that was they sent ahead of time or joined us live and those that um any uh elected officials that may be listed uh listening right now uh i want to congratulate john hoover and bob landrigan for um your election and returning to the council and of course to carmella for having served an amazing five terms over 18 years for the bureau of madison so this thursday at midnight we said good riddance to 2020. the year that started with wildflower fires in australia and the news of a spreading pneumonia-type virus in wuhan china we were quickly into a worldwide pandemic changing the way we would live devastating our economy and with so many of us losing friends and family we were then faced with the killings of armad aubry george floyd and brianna taylor reminding us that is long overdue for our country to address social injustice added on top of this was a national election no matter what your affiliation caused added stress in a difficult time when the horn on this building sounded at the stroke of 12 on new year's eve we were so ready to say goodbye to 2020 and start a great new life that 2021 would bring and then we woke up yesterday morning and it hit us that's not how it works i'm sorry to say that the new year is nothing more than our arbitrary point in time in fact a new year was celebrated 24 times every hour on the hour so how special can it be now that i've probably ruined your day let me tell you what a new year is really about it is time to look back on the last 12 months to celebrate our successes and to learn from our shortcomings it is not the time to raise 366 days yep it was a leap year just to rub in a tough year in our faces it's a time to take our lessons and work towards a better 2021 and future years let us look back on the year that we want to forget and remember what we did well as we already heard from congresswoman cheryl madison rose to the challenge it's it is these difficult times that our residents step forward with innovation and generosity here are just a few examples flag the front line appreciation group working with chad and providing meals from for frontline workers but also supporting local restaurants an anonymous donor supporting the weekend meals for the hundred families in the school food program food drives and distributions conducted by the first baptist church and women in the spirit the madison eagle christmas fund with a record year of fundraising through generous donors the madison main street foundation small business grant program raising nearly two hundred thousand dollars in distribute distributing 54 grants fifty thousand came to the foundation for the work of the downtown development commission while there was no bottle hill day in 2020 previous years and other events supported this effort the front line sewing angels another multi-town effort received national attention as volunteers sewed masks to cover the shortfall of ppe the volunteers of the madison ambulance corps who in normal years put in so many hours as our first responders the risk pandemic did nothing but strengthen their dedication residents gathered peacefully to bring attention to racial industrial injustice the innovation of boxcar who created a weekly contact-free food sale provided the mechanism for distributing food to those in need and brought us to drive-in movies the madison housing authority celebrated its 50th anniversary a legacy of providing affordable quality housing in madison we also thanked lou riccio on retirement in his 45 years of leadership our police keeping us safe through all these difficult times working with the residents to build community and providing support for their valleys our firefighters who were recently praised by homeowners after a major house fire for their efforts on not only saving the structure but doing everything possible for the family during and after the disaster and then the fire and police department together for reaching out to santa and working with the toto family in creating operation santa saving a great christmas tradition and if you didn't see at the beginning it is a must see to see the video that was produced by madison president paul morgan on operation santa those are just a few examples of what we can do during difficult times but let us not forget what borough government was able to do in 2020 in reference to our electric department i have often said it is the work that is done quietly during the sunny days that prepares us for the storms that is true with working through a pandemic over the past years we created two positions in the borough one was the director of business development and the other was communications coordinator both were important positions at the time but were invaluable during 2020. director of business development lisa ellis managed a small business grant program provided vital information for businesses and not to be missed was able to fill storefronts during a pandemic communication coordinator michael palesier pushed out vital information where all residents produced my weekly messages and kept us on top of all that related to the pandemic all all this work was recognized statewide madison performed so well that i should mention each and every employee but that is not possible but i would remiss if i didn't mention two more people marlene dolan our public our public health nurse our own actress from the start of the pandemic and now she's been putting in endless hours leading to contract tracing providing vital information and staying on top of the latest trends and marlene was supported by our full-time volunteer board of health president eric range eric could be found every day at the health department doing whatever it was needed to support the cause excuse me 2020 also began with the annual budget process and the discussion about surplus levels it is this surplus from the sound fiscal management of this and previous councils with the guidance of cfo jim burnett has put madison in position to weather these storms the proposed tax increase at the time was cut in half and targeted rebates were provided to residents who had lost income through job reduction or job loss and businesses that were trying to survive the shutdowns and just as neighbors help neighbors in medicine we did the same recognizing recognizing the pandemic was not just a threat to our physical health shutdowns job loss and isolation in the first half of the year was creating mental health issues i pulled together a group of mental health professionals clergy and community leaders from madison and the chathams to address this growing issue the group evolved into tri-town terrors and continues to address mental health issues not only related to the clove at 19 but also racial injustice election-related stress and now now the holidays that we couldn't do with our family and friends we also helped our neighbors to recover from us as for the most part if you unless you lived on maple avenue the storm was a minor inconvenience in madison which was not the case for our neighboring towns our electric crews working with jcp l helped extort power to mars township florin park chatham township and chatham borough this effort not only helps speed the recovery but enhances our ability to partner with our neighbors in the future all right i wouldn't argue with you if you want to call 2020 a year from hell but hopefully we go into 2021 with the knowledge that madison is stronger than ever there was so much last year that was out of our control but madison excelled in what was in our control we wear masks avoid gatherings keep our social distance and most of all we take care of each other the role of vaccines is a reminder that there is a light at the end of the tunnel but we're still many many months from moving towards normal and it's going to be a new normal at that to wrap up unless 2020 came in so so will my message just a few things as we look to the future we have managed fiscally for this rainy day the 2021 budget will be challenged with shortfalls from 2020 particularly from utility revenue we must understand the office world has changed people will return to business campuses such as a beautiful draw to farms but working remotely at least part time is here to stay forever changing the office climate small liberal arts colleges like drew university were under financial stress before the pandemic and 2020 just added to that stress we will need to work with drew so we can they can come out of it stronger and lastly prior to our pandemic our downtown was probably the strongest it had ever been since the pre-mall days of the 1960s many creative ideas came out of the virtual uh in a virtual innovation round table i hosted with lisa alice some of these ideas were implemented on a temporary basis and we will look at what we can implement permanently such as expanded outdoor dining supporting a unified platform to promote local businesses and the creation of a pedestrian mall now if it makes you feel better go ahead and pick 2020s but out of the door but remember it has made us stronger for whatever 2021 brings us thank you for joining us all online today and thank you all for the our of our virtual guests for sharing your messages and a special thank you to our elected officials and volunteers who have stepped forward to serve madison the best place to live in new jersey not this country to all a happy and healthy new year right let me just uh re what's here just a second sorry thank you there we go i don't have carmelo keep me organized here all right i have a motion for council president mayor i would like to nominate maureen byrne to the position of council president hi second all in favor hi unanimous congratulations maureen thank you and may i have a motion for the council bylaws for 2021 i moved the bylaws be adopted as the bylaws of the governing body of the borough of madison for the year 2021 got a second second all in favor aye aye aye you noted unanimous would like to make the following appointments for council standing committees for 2021 community affairs chair deb cohen back up rachel ehrlich finance borough clerk chair austria bailly backup maureen byrne health chair bob landrigan backup john hoover public safety chair maureen byrne backup landrigan public works and engineering chair john hoover owen utilities chair rachel ehrlich back up austria bailly mayor i move the confirmation of the fort going appointments second all in favor aye aye note unanimous and i would like to uh nominate and ask for council uh confirmation for the following official capacities um joint municipal court judge jonathan rosenbluth boro matthew j j kobe housing officer mike michael fitzpatrick zoning officer dennis harrington deputy zoning officer daniel buckaloon here i moved confirmation of the foregoing appointments second all in favor aye aye aye please note unanimous confirmation uh i'd like to make the following appointments that are not subject to uh council confirmation to the environmental commission three-year term through december 31st 2023 richard daly ann huber joan mccary brian monaghan stephen stocker claire whitcomb a two-year term through december 31st 2022 trina malik an expired term through december 31st 2021 kirsten wallenstein and a one-year term through uh as uh i'm sorry the yeah as chair uh through 2021 is claire whitcomb and huber will sense it will serve as planning board rep and john hoover as council liaison and to the historic preservation committee commission term through december 31st 2024 john forte class c chris kellogg class a carmen total class c two-year term through december 31st max hart alternate two and one year term is council liaison through the 2021 austrian belly and to the planning board as a three-year term through december 31st 2023 and huber s for environmental attention and one-year term through december 31st 2021 don forte class ii official uh other than governing by borough officials other than government body and i would ask for the council to make a appointment of for the um planning board council president so we appoint most the appointment of austria bailly council liaison class three to the planning board for a one year term through december 31st 2021 we'll have a second second [Laughter] thank you rachel [Laughter] all in favor aye aye all right it was unanimous all right and i will uh like make the following appointments to special positions requiring council confirmation these are all through one year term through december 31st 2021 late board of education liaison don hoover cambridge commerce deb cohen historic uh rural historian scott spelker housing authority liaison austria bailly joint meeting council representatives um is actually um we've got a misprint here maureen byrne as um personnel vice chair and austria bailly as finance personnel committee member joint municipal court missile maureen byrne as uh and austria bailly as members madison community pool deb coleman as liaison museum of early trades and crafts maureen burns as liaison madison area ymca liaison bob landrigan shared services committee the board of education mayor bob conley don hoover and pep collin i asked for a uh motion may or i move the approval of the foregoing appointments second all in favor aye aye was unanimous and i will now ask councilwoman belly to make the following uh mayor's appointments and i will get a sip of water okay uh to the board of health four year term through december 31st 2024 eric grange unexpired two-year term through december 31st 2021 benjamin lafieri alternate one one-year term through december 31st 2021 robert landergan council liaison community garden advisory committee three-year term through december 31st 2023 michael barrasso lynn mca gano margaret eckler mauscheck stephen stocker sondra clark maureen hufflin and kirk mole one year term through december 31st 2021 maureen byrne council liaison complete streets committee one year term through december 31st 2021 mayor ex-officio robert h conley public safety council liaison maureen byrne engineering council liaison john hoover borough engineer robert bogle director of public works ken o'brien madison police rep lieutenant joseph longo board of education representative john eshman public school representative um and director of business development lisa ellis resident mark tralanzio and resident kirk oakes mayor i move approval of the foregoing appointments second all in favor i'll try that i'm muted all right all right we'll uh count for president burn please make the following um announce the following mayor's appointments uh to the downtown development commission three-year terms through december 31st 2023 melanie tomaszewski owner merchant landlord peter fleming senior planning board representative thomas honahan resident representative deb starker mecca representative peter tashima at large representative for a one-year term through december 31st 2021 deborah cohen council liaison to the library trustee's five-year term through december 31st 2025 to thomas p bittenger trustee thomas heller and pudus trustee to the local emergency planning council for 2021 mayor robert h conley council liaison maureen byrne administrator raymond and cody assistant borough administrators and cfo james burnett borough engineer robert bogle construction official russ brown director of public works kenneth o'brien electric utility superintendent james mattina buyer chief louis de rosa health officer michael fitzpatrick medical representative marlene dolan board of education representative senior citizens advisory representative tom honahan auxiliary police samuel di marzo madison eagle gary herzog madison chatham joint meeting sewer superintendent chris manick drew university representative oem coordinator john rafter oem coordinator police chief darren dutcheson oem deputy coordinator public information officer lieutenant joseph longo oem assistant coordinator mike chagru pharmacist frank ayano rome public information michael pelissier school research officer vincent galgano and secretary christie keel mayor i move the approval firing of the foregoing appointments second all in favor all right please know who's unanimous will uh mr hoover please announce the following uh madison mayor's appointment yes mayor madison alliance addressing substance abuse three-year term through december 31st 2023 trisha armstrong tory j sabatini school rep pio vincent of galgano law enforcement liaison juvenile officer mpd one-year term through december 31st 2021 robert lansgen council liaison master plan committee austria valley council member rachel ehrlich council member john marsh ddc member dave luber hpc member kathleen kakavel nbc member melissa honahan os rhpa member anne huber planning board member tom lewis former planning board member joseph santoro zoning board member patrick rowe at large member municipal audit committee three-year term through december 31st 2023 thomas p pittenger regular one-year term through december 31st 2021 austria valley council liaison open space committee and historic preservation advisory committee three-year term through december 31st 2023 melissa honahan madison resident one-year term through december 31st 2021 debbie mantone parks advisory committee rep george limbach planning board rep ross schneider recreation committee rep brian monaghan stmb representative kirsten wallenstein environmental commission representative mayor robert h connolly ex-officio austria valley council liaison parks advisory committee one year term through december 31st 2021 thomas thomas a lackey kathy coulter's secretary paul alako rebecca bertrand debbie mantone david miller dan o'brien john taylor jeffrey thomas and john hoover as council liaison maureen you're muted yep remove approval of the foregoing appointments second all in favor the mayor's appointments for the following individuals thank you for patriotic celebrations committee one year term through december 31st 2021 ron dibiase helene corlett james amos peter fleming thomas j granado wayne henderson ann lawless thomas medius michael piano james savage victor schumacher joseph nester post commander american league post 43 robert landrigan council liaison property maintenance emergency committee one year term through december 31st 2021 construction code official health officer the board of health president board of health member john hoover council liaison and chair recreation advisory committee one year term through december 31st 2021 stephanie burke little league baseball dave carver softball nino caviello football zach ellis ex-officio recreation director megan garrity field hockey tony giro ice hockey christopher holland basketball bob mciniano soccer tom packy wrestling shannon salamon girls lacrosse chris lutz boys lacrosse suzanne whitehorn ada ppec rap ross lot ross snyder at large john hoover council liaison mayor i move the approval of the foregoing appointments all favor bye-bye please note unanimous consent i now ask ms erlick to announce the following appointments requiring council confirmation the safety committee the borough administrator the borough engineer the chief financial officer slash assistant borough administrator the electric utility superintendent the fire chief the health officer madison chatham joint meeting superintendent the police chief the personnel director the recreation director the director of public works and maureen byrne council liaison to the senior citizens advisory committee joan fennelly grace papa giannis marlene dolan thomas honahan bellwood kirkuslogger doris costello k shaler phyllis fleming christian isola and deborah cohen to the shade tree management board a five-year term through december 31st 2025 eugene krakovia and alan andreas and a one-year term through december 31st 2021 john weber to the affordable housing settlement task force mayor robert conley austria bailey rachel ehrlich patrick rowe mark mcbride and carmela vitelli thank you carmella for continuing in this role uh i move approval of the foregoing appointments second nothing i have um all in favor sorry hi hi please note unanimous consent i now request mr landrigan to announce a mayor's appointment for the following uh individuals requiring council confirmation a sustainable medicine advisory committee three-year term through december 31st 2023 peter freed judy honahan both regular members one year term through december 31st 2021 board of education representative joan mccarry environmental commission representative ken o'brien director of public works john hoover council liaison utilities advisory committee three-year term through december 31st 2023 makaranji regular one-year term through december 31st 2021 rachel ehrlich council liaison zoning board of adjustment four-year term through december 31 2024 mary sue salko regular unexpired four-year term through december 21st 2021 anthony delano regular unexpired two-year term through december 21st 2021 james foster alternate number one member two-year term through december 31st 2022 christine tierratelli alternate two member air i move approval of the foregoing appointments second all in favor all right please note unanimous consent uh is there any communications or petitions unreceived mayor thank you and now this is uh for all of us we've been so patient um time for public comment uh as always um we ask that you try to keep your comments to three minutes you will be given a one minute break period and uh stop at four minutes um the way you can speak is by if you're online just click the hand to raise your hand and if you're on the phone you would hit star nine once you are recognized and unmuted the first things out of your mouth should be your name and address uh failure to state that may result in you being muted or disconnected for security reasons and then you may start your comments and again under the guidelines of try to keep them to three minutes but four minutes for those so anyone wishing to be heard please raise your hand see none i closed this part of the meeting and now move on to the consent agenda resolutions will the clerk please read the statement consent agenda resolutions will be enacted with a single motion any resolution requiring expenditure is supported by the certification of availability of funds any resolution requiring discussion will be removed from the consent agenda all resolutions will be reflected in full in the minutes you're muted again sorry i uh move resolution 1-20-21 to brisbane 37-20-21 second any council discussion or any that need to be pulled mayor i'll be abstaining uh for resolution r32 2021. hey roll call vote please this bayley yes sperm yes your hoover yes miss cohen yes ms ehrlich yes mr landrigan yes with the exception of r32 r32-2021 all right before we uh move to a german again i want to wish everyone a happy new year um even with our mask environment and um maybe our goal will be that phrase you're muted will will become history by the end of the year so with that bob leaner would you like to make a motion to adorn at this time i'd like to make a motion to adjourn all in favor hi hi happy new year all take care happy new year [Music] do [Applause] [Music] [Music] m [Music] [Applause] me [Music] you