Ready. Call to order the April 24th, 2025 meeting of the Bridgewater Town Council in compliance with the Open Public Meetings Act of New Jersey. Adequate notice of this meeting was provided on December 10th, 2024 by sending written
notice and electronic notice to the Courier News and the Breeze, posting on the website in the bulletin board in the municipal buildings, and filing with the township clerk. Madam Clerk, could we have the roll call, please? Councilman Kersh, Councilman Codella here,
Councilman Pedroso here, Councilman Ring here, Nogalis here. Uh, please note that Councilman Ring is uh I'm sorry, Councilman Kersh is right now stranded in Atlanta. He's not going to be home in time to make the meeting. So, he
apologizes for that schedule change. It was beyond his ability to to get here in time. Uh, Councilman Ring, would you lead us in the pledge? For those who, if you can stand, please join us in the pledge of allegiance.
Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. We have minutes for approval
of April 3rd regular session as anyone have as everyone had an opportunity to look at it and offer any comments as required. I will be recusing because I was not in attendance. Could I have a motion on the
minutes to accept them? Second. Okay. All those in favor? I I recuse. I thank you. Okay. Township council reports. May we start with Councilman Pedroso, please?
Uh, thank you, sir. Good evening. Good evening to everybody here this evening. Happy you're here. Welcome to our council meeting. Um, first of all, I guess my question for Mr. Papus, is there an update on the
budget? Yes, we will have. Okay, fantastic. So, I'll leave it at that. Um, a couple things I want to report. Spring season has started in Bridgewater for a lot of different recreational programs. Uh, I attended
the Bridgewater baseball uh, opening day uh, with Councilman Ring. Uh, it's actually the the weather held out just in time. Started to rain the very conclusion of the ceremony. So, God blessed us. Um, soccer has also started.
I'm coaching um my uh first graders this year again. So, I look forward to doing that. Uh attended the summer county governing officials um meeting and also I was elected um executive director. So,
I am currently the executive director and also the president of the San County governing officials. I you're all welcome to attend our next meeting and I hope you do. that the governing officials is the uh only organization in San County that I'm aware that's
actually bipartisan. Uh members from uh all political parties are welcome to attend and do so. It's a great social gathering for people across the aisle to talk and and discuss issues. Um I hope everyone had a very happy and healthy Passover for those that celebrate and
also obviously Easter. Um, and I just want to make uh acknowledge the fact and share my condolences to the Catholic community for the passing of Po uh Pope Francis. Although I am Christian, I'm not Catholic, but I I always I did find Pope
Francis to be a man of great humility and compassion. And I was always um impressed just by his willingness to accept everybody and uh and not judge which I which I think is the message of Jesus. I want to also mention
that if you how many of you know but Officer Noah Alllet who was our hometown police hero uh who courageously went into a burning uh car fire uh on March 5th, 2025 was recognized by the National Law
Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund as their officer uh of of the month for March. So congratulations, Officer Alllet, and congrat and thank you for your service to our township. Uh just I guess a quote from William Alexander,
CEO of the National Law Enforcement Officer Memorial. He said, "Officer Alllet's actions reflect the dedication and service that law enforcement officers demonstrate across the country. His willingness to act without hesitation under dangerous conditions represents the highest standard of
public service that law enforcement show daily. End quote. Uh I did meet two weeks ago. I had a meeting uh with Mr. Papus and our planner regarding affordable housing. So I have a do have a brief statement on
affordable housing. that New Jersey's affordable housing mandates handed down by an overreaching state supreme court and codified in state law are too often treated like one-sizefits-all solutions. But they ignore the crucial truth that every town is the same. Here in
Bridgewater, one of our greatest assets is our character, our peaceful neighborhoods, our careful balance between open space and residential areas, and the strong sense of community we've all worked so hard to build and preserve. The state the state's mandates, however, push for highdensity
housing in areas never never designed to handle that level of growth. This isn't just about new buildings. It's about altering the very identity of our town. The charm, the tranquility, the reason so many of us choose to live here. All of that is at risk. And with higher
density comes real consequences. More people means more traffic. What was once a quick drive across town could soon become a gridlock. Commutes will get longer, streets more crowded, and frustration will mount. But it doesn't stop at traffic. Uh with rapid
population growth, our public services, police, fire, rescue will face more calls, lower response times, and greater stress. Our infrastructure, roads, sewers, utilities simply wasn't built for this kind of pressure. upgrades
would cost millions and take years. And who would pay for that? Well, we would likely through higher municipal, county, and school taxes. Here's the bottom line. The state inc the state increases our housing obligations, but provides no
additional funding. We're left to pick up the pieces financially, logistically, and culturally. That's why local control is crucial. Municipalities like Bridgewater must have the authority to determine how best to meet housing needs without
sacrificing everything we've built. Affordable housing should be thoughtfully integrated, not recklessly imposed. Unfortunately, the Democratic majority in Trenton, including Governor Murphy, has pushed these mandates forward. While leaders like Senator Duck
Steinhart and Assemblyman Deo and Peterson have fought back, the reality is until we have a Republican majority and governor, towns like ours remain at risk. But we can't just wait and hope for a future legislature to save us. We
need solutions now. Over the past several months, I've spent a great deal of time considering how Bridgewater can best protect itself. I believe the smartest most sustainable path forward is for Bridgewater to take this issue into its own hands. Instead of instead
of depending on developers who often insist on building 10 or more market rate units for every affordable one or two, we can take a different approach. Let's build the minimum number of affordable housing units required by
law ourselves. Now, I'm not saying this is easy. It will take hiring expert consultants, dedicating township resources, and bonding millions of dollars to fund the construction. But here's the key difference. When we
build, we own. These units will have real market value. They can be rented or eventually sold. And the return on that investment goes right back to the taxpayers. But just as important as the financial return is the control it gives
us. We decide the number and the type of affordable units. And in doing so, we can dramatically reduce the impact on Bridgewater by avoiding hundreds or even thousands of highdensity apartments pushed by outside developers. Two weeks ago, I had a
meeting with our township administrator, Mr. Papus, and our planner to review multiple proposals. Many of them involve contributing millions of taxpayer dollars towards private development. Yet, we would own nothing. No equity, no
financial return, just a completed project that may or may not reflect a town's vision. If taxpayers are going to spend millions on affordable housing, then they deserve to see a return on that investment. And the best way to ensure
that is for Bridgewater to own what it builds. This way, Bridgewater maintains both control and has assurances of a financial return. This isn't about growing government for the sake of it. I'm not in favor of
that. But this is about protecting our town's future. If we allow these mandates to shape Bridgewater unchecked, we risk permanent damage to the community we love. Let me be clear. I don't I don't yet know if this is the
cheapest solution. Common sense tells us it probably is, especially compared to throwing millions at developers with no return. But what I do know is this. We need a we need a full financial analysis. We need to understand the
costs, the risks, and the potential revenue. That's why I asked the administration to explore this option seriously. I trust her doing so, and I look forward to seeing a detailed plan we can take action on. Executing this plan will take vision. It will take bold
leadership from our mayor and a commitment from all of us to see it through. But if we do it right, this could be a defining moment for Bridgewwater. A moment when we choose to protect our quality of life, preserve our identity, and invest in a future
that works for us, not for Trenton. Let's consider building Bridgewwater's own future smartly, responsibly, and on our own terms. Thank you, Council President. Thank you, Councilman Ring, please. Thank you, sir.
Um, Councilman Padroso mentioned uh joined him in attending the recent opening day festivities for the Bridgewater softball organization. Um, as he mentioned, the weather did hold out just in time. Um, it's always an enjoyable event to see the kids on
opening day. Um as a followup to topic broached last year uh regarding better coordination between the town, the county and the state as it relates to different construction projects. I understand the administration recently
had a meeting with the state DOT to talk about some of those challenges. Um you know it's kind of agreed, hey there's there's projects that are planned in advance and we need to communicate and work around. There's also sometimes, you know, they get a report of a pothole on the highway today and they got to go out
and shut a lane down for an hour to fix it. And, you know, some of those last minute things are a little bit more challenging. But it is my understanding the overall takeaway from that meeting was that there is a better uh there is a need uh and desire to keep each other
better informed and hopefully at some point the county will get on board with that as well. Lastly, um minutes before the start of the meeting tonight, uh I was handed a um what I guess is best described as a draft of the budget. Um
so what does that mean? Uh the finance committee, which is myself and Councilman Kersh, uh will look over the budget. We will ask questions of the administration. We will have individual conversations with our fellow council members. We try to come to resolution on
any issues uh and then ultimately have a final draft to present at a council meeting uh and introduce it. Timing wise um I'm not going to say no to our next council meeting, but probably more real realistic will be the second meeting in
May for a budget to be uh publicly introduced. So we do have a budget now. As of a little while ago, I haven't even looked at it to so I can't even comment anything further other than acknowledge receipt of it, but I would anticipate by the second meeting in May, it will be
introduced. So, that is my report. Thank you, sir. Councilman Cordiller, please. I'd like to report that I'm currently reviewing uh community block grant applications. I have to have a uh report in uh by
tomorrow to the county. Uh after we submit the reports, there will be another meeting uh where we'll have discussion on the uh review and what amount of funds will be added to uh
service organizations. Uh in the past two weeks I also attended presentations on multiple uh redevelopment projects uh being proposed in Bridgewater. Uh my I can only tell you that there's a
lot on the table, a lot of discussion and the u you know as we've heard multiple comments related to the future of Bridgewater Township. Uh I do agree that there's a lot to be uh discussed,
reviewed and with the impact that these uh projects have on affordable housing. Um yesterday I attended uh two presentations related to uh f emergency
services. The first was a um user meeting for the uh QED dispatch system that is used by the county for dispatch and emergency services in Bridgewater. Uh there are some changes being proposed
for that system that I think uh it's wise on our part to be uh up to date with them. Um also part of the present on the second part of the presentation was in the evening with a product called
first do software. It's a software for first responders uh that provides information triggered by the dispatch system giving first responders first responders information
uh as soon as as very quickly as to what the situation is they're going to uh including information to um mutual aid companies out of town whether our guys are the recipient or whether we are
going to assist. So, there's a lot of work going on in that arena and the um I assure you that the township of first responder community is up to their eyeballs with this. That's all I
have right now. Thank you, sir. Uh my report is as follows. Road work planning continues with tonight having numerous resolutions on the agenda in support of the fifth year of our road improvement campaign. The
residents are reminded that all new road projects are subject to budget restraints and as as of today we don't have a 2025 adopted budget but we will. So there's more to follow in conjunction with what Councilman Ring has said. PSEG
continues to uh add gas mains and uh chew up streets in a lot of in a lot of places. Uh I am assured however that when it is all done uh that there will be a resurfacing of those impacted roads. The last few weeks have been uh
intense with a great deal of religious news. Uh the death of Pope Francis has affected millions of Roman Catholics. His 12-year spiritual reign has seen many changes, and the world awaits who will replace him. The Jewish
community sees Holocaust Remembrance Day as a key benchmark to remember the tragedies of World War II. The Muslim community celebrated the end of Ramadan with the breaking of their month-long daytime fast. The entire Christian
community celebrated Easter as a re ref re reaffirmation of their belief in Jesus Christ as savior. Earth Day was celebrated April 22nd as the 55th anniversary of the movement to recognize this fragile place
called Earth that we inhabit. All residents are especially reminded that the uh health, especially if they're health challenged, uh that the massive uh fires in South Jersey are causing air pollution. So if you're so
affected and you go out in public, wear a mask if necessary. Uh it was take your kids to work and I'm sure many kids many kids got the benefit from seeing what their parents did. Um, as has been previously mentioned, redevelopment plans in Bridgewater
continue and will impact numerous locations in our town. For those of us who remember chalkboards in the schools as opposed to dry erase boards, there is a special happening on Tuesday, May 6th, starting
at 3:30 in the afternoon. That is the day that shades of gratitude will take place. Mayor Mench would like to invite Bridgewater Raritan uh and students, parents, and teachers to participate in
a courtyard transformation by our students. That's the courtyard right outside uh to in honor of their teachers. Lots of colored chalk will be available for our students to use the courtyard pavement as their canvas. So
mark your calendar. May 6th from 3:30 uh to 5:00. That is my report. Mayor's report, please. Sir, thank you very much. Um as Councilman Ring pointed out, a draft budget has been presented to him and the other member of the finance
committee. As uh you may recall, Mayor Mench when he was here a few meetings ago made the commitment to present a budget in April and that has been done. Um, I think I briefly reported at another meeting that at uh the urging of
Councilwoman Cordilla, we are pursuing a federal grant for uh radios for our emergency responding community. That would be for our police, fire, and rescue. Uh uh our deputy administrator Scott Stevens was participant in the in
a virtual meeting with uh staff from a congressional delegation from New Jersey who are advocating for this uh grant for Bridgewater and we hope that uh we will be successful. Um the council received a memo uh from
Mr. Stevens earlier in the week uh regarding a a uh concept uh that the state of New Jersey is pursuing called film ready New Jersey. And uh that is an effort that the state government has undertaken to assist uh local
governments to uh go through a process to make them um perhaps uh more uh attractive to uh the uh industry film making industry whether it's for uh television television movies or
documentaries or commercials. So we are beginning that process. Uh at some point we will come to the council for a pre presentation perhaps either a resolution or an ordinance but uh appreciate if anyone has any questions to pass those
on to Scott or myself. Um this Sunday there is the annual Earth Day and Arbor Day observance here in Bridgewater Township. It will take place at uh I think it's Crim Park, correct? And uh I think it's 2 p.m.
Chimney Rock, I'm sorry. Thank you. And I think it's at begins at 2 PM. It's been a very successful event uh for the last several years and encourage members of the public to participate. Uh lastly, uh affordable housing was mentioned. The
very complicated process that the uh state government has, uh forced it upon municipalities is one that we have been in the midst of. Several of you have reported about that tonight. U back at the end of January, this governing body
approved a resolution which was required by the state legislative initiative for uh us as a township to determine how many affordable units we think uh is uh appropriate based upon the formula
contained in the legislation. You recall the Department of Community Affairs originally issued a a guidance document that identified I think it was 474 units that they determined was the number for Bridgewater. We um as a township engaged
a consultant. They reviewed the report that DCA presented and determined that it was flawed as they determined that there were sites such as the grass median on Route 22, the reservoir, Camp Cromwell and other sites were
developable. So uh the number of acres that we identified through this uh report was 126 acres less than the DCA report and that is how through the
analysis that they conducted 417 units was the number that we believed uh was the correct number and that was what uh figure was included in the resolution. Since then, a very complicated process
has ensued. Uh there's a retired judge Tom Miller uh serves as the chair of the program that is called that it's called and uh recommended uh with a consultant that he had a planner professional planner that
421 was the appropriate number and uh that was affirmed by judge Menon who is this this uh affordable housing judge that was approved I think just a day or two ago. which we received confirmation of. Uh so
that is the next step in the process uh from the state's perspective. Uh we have a number of steps to take. The council will be discussing some of this in close session tonight, but uh just wanted to ensure that the public understood that
uh the uh the process has begun and these are the figures that we're we're working from. Just to clarify, the Homebuilders Association challenged our number and wanted us to build all 474. Correct. That's correct. Yes. Yes. Well, I think
they actually said they would provide a 5% discount if we agreed to their number. Oh, it was a bargain. You know, which we did not. They wanted to go 20 less. And they went to every single township that contested and offered the same thing. they contested it and if you
only build 5% less the the fact that our number came in within four of Judge Miller's speaks volumes about the amount of work that was done in a short period of time to um address so who knows we by
June now we actually have to have a plan now plan yeah it's not it's not a wish it's a plan identifying properties and numbers of of homes so It's so if I could just make one other comment. I'm sorry to go on so long here, but I I do want to acknowledge Mr. Corsini and his
associates, Mr. Savo and Mr. Fiser for their exemplary advice and our planner Darlene Green with the assistance of Katherine Sarmmed. They have really been an invaluable team of people that have guided us through this. I I' I'd like to point out also that in Judge Miller's opinion, it's a 25-page document, but
the last several pages, there's specific commentary about how he viewed Bridgewater Township's uh responsible approach. And uh I think that is certainly one of the reasons why the number close to what the council had designated was ultimately approved by
him and Judge Menon versus what the New Jersey Builders Association had advocated for. So, thank you. Thank you, sir. Okay, we're moving to item number seven. There are no proclamations. Item number eight, there were no presentations. Number nine, meeting
members of the public wishing to address the council on any matter will be allowed three minutes to speak unless there were unusual circumstances. May I have a motion, please, to open to the public? So moved. And a second, please. Second. I'll second it. Okay. All those in favor? I. I. Okay, folks. We're open
to the public. If you'd like, please come forward. Uh, sign in. uh and speak close to the microphone so that we can all hear you. Mr. Krauss, good evening. Good evening. Um, I just returned to Oh, you will need
to give your name and address. I'm sorry. You will need to state your name and address for the record. Um, Curtis Kraut, um, resident along Adamsville Road, 199 Adamsville Road in the township.
Um I just want to start with just a clarification of the agenda just so that we're um understanding I item nine versus item 10. Um I I I understand this portion of the meeting is open to the
public but item 10 is a public hearing as it's defined. Yes, there will be a public hearing as part of part of that. That's always consistent. ex for ordinance adoption. Part of that is a public meeting. So there if you have
something for item 10, you can speak about it now or wait for item 10 for open to public, but it's there. So um item 10 though I I presume the um redevelopment planner will make a presentation. Is that will we have an
opportunity to cross-examine his his presentation? I'll I'll leave that to Well, he's here. He made a presentation at the last meeting. He might make a brief presentation, but then is available. The questions would be posed through the chair. Okay. Okay. So, if
there were questions about the redevelopment plan that is going to be presented and voted on presumably this evening by the council, um when's the appropriate time to ask the questions? uh you can when we get to 10A you can ask that those questions and you will
direct those you will direct those questions to to me a as the as the moderator. Okay, we if we have a presentation from the from the our expert, he will testify. Uh but he is he
is not here uh to be interrogated uh by the public. But you can ask me the question and in so far as we can uh respond to it, we will. Okay. Um, thank you.
Um, one of the uh the issues that came up when this was presented uh by the planning board and referred uh to the council for the next phase which is this redevelopment plan. Uh, one of the issues that came up repeatedly was the
uh, building height of the uh, proposed uh, uh, uses in the redevelopment area on the Greyark site. And this uh, illustration I just handed out to you just for reference. This this
is from n from 2020 I'm sorry from 2006. Um, and it is a an illustration just to show that that the application that was being reviewed on this same site was for a fourstory uh hotel and
there were two applications number of years apart but both of them required um four stories and um uh roughly 50 52 feet in height. Those two applications to install hotels
were rejected by the planning board, I'm sorry, the zoning board during uh those two uh projects. Um the last approved plan for this site was back in uh 2000 uh which was to uh expand Greymark 1 to
Greymark 2 and three to install additional office buildings there. Greymark one is the existing building that's still uh on site. That's I believe three stories 42 feet in height. The R10 zone to the to the west and the
R20 zones to the south and east along Adamsville Road and towards the Eagles property. Um, basically the maximum building height for the residential uh zones surrounding this property are 35
35 ft and I believe 2 and 1/2 stories. the actual uh M1B zone, which is the zone that that uh this redevelopment plan is proposed to uh encompass um is the
um excuse me uh the redevelopment plan is supposed to encompass uh is I believe it's limited to two stories 35 ft. The existing office building like I already mentioned is three stories 42 feet. What's proposed in the redevelopment
plan is to allow a 50- foot building height and uh extra for rooftop impertinances and other things on the on the roof. Um and then they get we get down to semantic details about how is
building height measured and things along that line. So part of the redevelopment plan includes placement of three additional residential buildings along um Woodside Lane. Those buildings now are going to be butdding up against
the balance of the property which can be data centers um um I guess senior housing other residential type. I I don't remember I don't have too much of an issue personally with this with the uses that are being proposed as opposed
to the current application which is still pending to install a warehouse there which is has a many many other issues which are problematic. However, um one issue that this project has uh that that we're
that the redevelopment plan uh supports is uh allowing I believe four stories 50 50 foot building height. And the illustration that I've I've handed out here is a realistic portrayal. This is
just happens to be from the 2006 application for hotels, but there's the residential units. Um there's in this case Cuckled Brook which is traverses on the uh east side of the
property and there's a whole section of this property which is um essentially um um not riperian zone but it it's [Music] uh wetlands that that are delineated and their buffer requirements there. So,
what I've just attempted to illustrate is that the east side of the property can be uh most of the applications including the office buildings that were proposed in 2000 as well as the um Briad
and TMI um hotel applications talked about building up the grade on the south end of the property because all the whole property basically drains into a swale. Please return to the microphone sir. So
that sorry the the whole property the intention of the layout at least the way it's been and I believe they they still intend to use that for any further development on the property is to do whatever um storm water management and such that may be additionally required
compared to what existed years ago but also to drain the property uh towards the south border where there's a swale that was installed back in 2000. So, uh, bottom line is that in order for that to happen, the grade needs to be brought
up. That's this. Well, it's green on mine. I only had one color copied, but um, so this is the wetland area in in here. And the proposal was to build a retaining wall and then u put fill material to level the whole property out
so that water doesn't drain through the uh um through through the uh the wetland area but rather goes back in a more controlled way through the water quality swale that exists along the uh southern
border. So when we're talking about a 50- foot high building, okay, where currently the height restriction is 35 ft, two stories, okay, even even the prior
approvals don't come to this this height. And now we're talking about 50 ft plus additional I I believe it was eight or I don't remember the exact number that's in the redevelopment plan, but um right now you have those three
building three residential structures that are proposed along Woodside Lane. Those people aren't going to see the light of day until midafter afternoon. Okay? If if this this this type building is allowed to be put in here. And on my
side, uh, this could be Adamsville Road and we're talking about raising the grade, say between 6 and 10 ft typically for these these types of projects because of the drainage requirements. So to us along Adamsville Road, we're you
know, we're 35 ft maximum height. We're going to be looking at a structure that could be as high as 60 or more feet um with the additional grade buildup. So, I asked the the consideration of the redevelopment planner as well as the
planning board and and you guys because you're approving this um is to maybe look a little closer at the implications of just allowing uh a 50-ft building height without um concern for how it
impacts the surrounding residences along Woodside Lane, even the Eagle's property, and certainly ly along Adamsville Road where we're it's going to be well over the tops of all the trees there and it will be highly visible. So that's one principal issue
that I wanted to bring up. Uh the next is um in looking through the redevelopment plan um there's a section in the back that deals with development plan review and approval. And if I read it and
understand it correctly, once this plan is approved by the council, um a development a developer um who could own the property now or or somebody in the future will bring a a a complete project
plan um and supporting materials. But unlike with a planning board or zoning board application, um it doesn't sound to me like there is going to be a public review of those applications. Is that a
true statement? In other words, right now uh on the left is Mike Sullivan, who's our planner for this particular effort, and he was nodding no that there will be an opportunity for public input. It will
go to the planning board. Yeah, I'm sorry. It will be there. It will go to the planning board and they will do a a review just like they would of any other development. Right. But so the answer to your question is yes, there will be public review. It will be at the planning board and it can be as
extensive as the public wishes to participate. It' be like any other application before the planning board. Okay. But one of the the basic restrictions in this case is that the redevelopment plan is supposed to take precedence over the existing township
ordinances related to different issue. It will be before the planning board for review as a redevelopment plan. It is true that it will take precedence over the exist we the the zoning will be modified as necessary but in answer to
your question there will be a public meeting. You've asked that question several times and the answer is yes, there will be a public meeting and it will be at the planning board. Okay. But if exceptions are required in in this case for a redevelopment plan,
it has to come back to the council to vote on those exceptions which would normally be considered variances. I'm sorry. No, it would not. Just like any other planning board activity, the planning board the planning board is a
judicial body uh that uh does its thing and and supports the township. So it's it will not come back to us. That's not my understanding based on No, don't I don't want to oversimplify, but in essence, what you have is the
redevelopment after it's voted on tonight, assuming it's approved, it defines the zoning. It's no different than the township changing the ordinance for zoning anywhere else in the township. Now, if someone wants to build, they still have to go before the
planning board and submit a site plan within those parameters. Now, if they decide, hey, we want to adjust something further from what was approved in the redevelopment, then that could require a variance and come potentially depending upon what they're looking to do coming
back. But in essence, if they're operating within the zoning defined it, you know, it still goes before the planning board. They vote on it. Okay. I I guess I I hear you. I understand exactly what you're saying, but it what
I've read and what I've seen. basically if there's a deviation from what is proposed in this redevelopment plan that it's I thought it has to go back that it was out of the hands of of the planning board at that point and they couldn't
allow a variance of any kind unless perhaps perhaps Mr. draft was redone perhaps Mr. Sullivan when he presents briefly he can address that Mr. Sullivan until we get to 10A. I'd like to finish with regular open to the public. If you
have no more questions, then I'd like to get to the next person and at 10, we'll come back to it. Mr. Sullivan will will offer comments specifically uh to your points at that point and I'll be able to ask him a question. Yes, you will. Okay. Thank you.
Okay. Anyone else wishing to come forward, please? Come on. Move out of my Sorry. Hang on a second. I want to talk. I'll wait until you can get to the microphone. Wait. Yeah. Wait. Get to the microphone. My name's Arresty
Balma. You want me to spell it? O R E S T E. I want to talk about quality of life that uh Phipe uh brought up. Uh Bridgewater. When I moved out here 40 years ago, the quality of life was excellent. Now the quality of life
is down the tubes and that's we can talk about traffic flow because I live on Adamsville Road with all the signs weight limit and everything. Nothing's done. It's a joke. Okay. I've talked to the police department and they don't
want to do anything and they still won't do anything. They'll sit on the road and they don't do much. The other item in the township is flooding. It's a big issue in this township and nothing is being done. And I like to see something being done about flooding. Um, everybody
says, you know, I have to call the D when I see something funny. It shouldn't be my job, but it is my job to make sure that something's done and it's done right because the township won't do anything. It's not their I guess they don't own a stream. The stream belongs
to the state. So, it's the state problem. At least they handle the problem. Uh, it was above 22. There was a pipe under the stream that was broke and it was always flooding the stream. The stream normally dries. It never had d it didn't drive for like four or five
years. I I see these problems. My mayor not doing his job, not project managing the the the township in terms of getting work done. And that's where my problem is. And I will get a chance to talk to him one day too to find out what his
goal in life is because I don't see it. I spend money, my taxes have gone up, my sewer bills have gone up, and nothing's being done. I don't see any, you know, should taxes go up? No. We've lost businesses, and I understand why when we
lose a business, there's no tax dollars, you know, but and I, you know, I'm hoping to see some changes in this township when it comes to flooding and traffic. And that's what I got to say. Thank you. Thank you for your input. Adamsville Road by the way Mr. Cadilla
that's one of his favorite mi Mr. Credilla one Adamsville Road by the way is a road that he has spoken of many times and he has been the lead person in has been done but well wait a minute Adamsville road down the center part of it is only half the street is
Bridgewater no the whole street is Bridgewater both sides of Bridgewater because you got Chelsea on one side that's Bridgewater and the other side is Adamsville Road is uh what is it 205 199 whatever numbers They are that's bridge water. When you
cross 28, it becomes split Somerville. All right. I water. That That is correct. And I assure you that there have been multiple attempts to resolve the problems on Adamsville Road. Multiple attempts at doing what? Okay.
Okay. We understand your issue. Thank you, sir. I I don't see no attempts. I I live there. I scream at the the truck drivers asking them if they know how to read because if there says weight limit four tons and you see a tractor trailer coming down the block. Guess what? I saw
a cop one day watched the tractor trailer go by. I said, "You're going to stop him and give him a ticket." No. And yet that happened in Somerville one time. The cop stopped him. He told the guy, "Ed back out or I'll give you a $500 fine." The guy backed up and he apologized to me because I was screaming
at him, too. Thank you. Anyone else wishing to address the council? My name is Christina Lenick. I live on Foothill Road. Um, okay. So, I might not be in the right spot. So, can I ask a question before I
Um, okay. So, the travel basketball through the recreation, do you have any control over if they have that program or not that program? The travel basketball, the recreation department is involved. What's your specific question, ma'am? Oh, so we So, okay. So I I wrote it. I typed it. So
that's why I could do it. So we were told that there might not be a travel recreation basketball program next year that they're thinking of cutting that program. I I'm not I don't have any specific information about that. I don't know. I Okay. So, how do I get that to
not occur? Like how like who can I write or what who can I You know, like I don't know where to go with that information. The Rex said we might cancel the program. I I can give you my card and I can learn a little bit more about your specific concerns and then I can try to do some research for you. Sure. I mean
I'm happy. I don't know if this is the right forum. Does that make sense? Like I thought the mayor was here. I thought he had a part of it. I don't really have any. So I like Well, he would delegate it to me to look into. So here's my card. I come over there to get the card. Sometimes I'm not allowed. If you want.
We don't bite. Whatever you'd like. I'll email you my thought. We were told that, but I didn't know what to do with that. I'll be happy to look into it for you. Like, oh, it's gone.
I want my son to come and defend it. Okay. Yeah, I I can look into it and speak to you about it. Thank you. Okay. Any to a council meeting in my old town. I got yelled at when Thank you. Next, please. We're We're a
friendly town. Yes. I have some questions regarding the Speak into the microphone. Yes. Um my name is Dr. David Mitchell. Live in 778 Tobaya Road in Bridgewater. I have some questions pertinent to the redevelopment on 1200
Route 22. Would it be more appropriate for me to defer until until 10? Thank you. Anyone else? [Music] Good evening. Good evening, Mrs. Franco.
Um, okay. A few issues. Uh, one is Oh, please state your name and Oh, I'm sorry. Kathy Franco, uh, we road Martinsville. Um, I'm disappointed that even though the budget has been presented to the finance committee of
this council, it's not yet available to us as residents. Um, Raridan, I believe, has already voted and approved theirs and I think Warren has introduced theirs within the past week. Um, the grant for Camp
Cromwell, my question is within what time frame must we claim those grant monies? Um, I understand I believe Mr. Papis said when I asked previously that we have to spend the money to get it repaid to us. So, I guess my question is
when will we spend the money and why haven't we and will the grant expire and not be available to us at some point? Is there any outline and those grant dollars? The uh process is rather
bureaucratic is a federal grant. uh it's going through the department of housing and urban development. We have had numerous virtual meetings with the local point of contact that is managing it. There are uh there is an environmental analysis that we recently
became aware of that has to be undertaken to address any concern for any contamination on the property. And that is a requirement that we've just learned recently that uh we have to undertake. And then um uh we would then
uh uh have to expend funds in order to get reimbursed. This is something that was uh approved by Congress signed by former president. It is it does not expire. Okay. So even though there's been cuts and pullbacks and everything
else, that money is in a bank account and if I don't know where it is, but so it's been reserved. It's been reserved and if we spend the money we should be able to get the money. Correct. Okay. Just wanted to know that. Um master
plan. Do we have any update on when we might see a updated master plan? I met with our planner just this past week and she indicated that the time frame that has been reported uh probably for June uh remains in effect. Don't
have a date yet, but month of June is the target for the current target. The current goal. Okay. Um the road work site. Um I just wanted to ask it if is it being updated because it does not
appear to be. Um my road that I live on was repaired like two years ago and it's smooth and the kids can ride their bikes and do whatever they want. To me it's a green but it's still showing as a yellow. Yeah, there are
aspects of that have not been updated. Uh there's some parts of it have all of it has not been updated yet. Okay, just to clarify the the rankings though. Yes, unless we go out and hire them to do another ranking. Those rankings are what they were the last time the rankings
were the colors. Okay. But but but then the other sections where it says like what's under review or what's like that that we should be updating. Okay. that that that there's only like one item listed. Um so you know the the uh council has on its agenda tonight. Yeah,
I know a number of issues. So a um the engineering design or the first phase of engineering design for the 25 road program. Uh and that um so at some point if these are approved then we will begin to make further edits to that list on
that website. Okay, great. Um the heart program I just have a quick question. I I've seen it advertised that people can submit their artistic designs to decorate these hearts. Um, but there's really not a lot of things about like
how big are these hearts and what are they made out of and there like you know I mean are they about that big? I don't have the dimensions. I mean I I I you know so I don't recall if there's a specific material. I don't because there's nothing on the application that
really gets into that detail and I thought that it would be helpful. We could we could provide that. We do we do have dimensions and we do have there's a certain name of the material. You know, it's just a suggestion for people who might be interested, you know, on how
big they can go or how little they need to keep. They're one size, but I don't recall what that is. Thank you. Thank you. Um the quality of recordings. A couple of weeks ago, there was an issue with um public comment um getting deleted from the YouTube video. Um as
far as I could tell, it's never been restored. I do thank Grace for sending me the audio um so that you know it is available and you know I could listen to it. um you know, how is the council or this
body or the administration assuring in the future that those types of situations don't play take place or they're resolved quickly? We uh cannot avoid some technical difficulties at times. Uh there was a a couple of professionals from the the vendor were
he was here in this building yesterday uh and today to uh address some issues that had been identified. Uh we are trying our best to make sure it functions for every public meeting in this room. Okay, great. Thank you. Um
and finally, agenda item number 12 A. Um I see that Mr. Papus is going to be the municipal housing liaison. So I guess my question is who was previously the municipal housing liaison? I have been
serving in that capacity since Mayor Mench took office. Uh originally uh when I was appointed when I became administrator uh there was a form that he had to sign which was submitted to the state and that sufficed but under the fourth round of um this affordable
housing uh they are requiring a resolution from each municipality as to who that person is. So previous to me uh Mr. Padavani prior to my starting employment here was the municipal housing liaison.
Okay. So, so this has no effect on the amount of dollars that were authorized on January 2nd and it doesn't reduce any of those as far as Rehabco or the housing planner or Chris Cassini or Okay. And there's no offense, no
additional dollars to you in your salary. Not unless you advocate for that. No, just kidding. No, not at all. Not at all. Thank you very much. I appreciate it. Thank you. Anyone else wishing to address the council? John Aroli, 1110 Washington Valley Road.
Uh, tonight's show and tell. I got a hand out for the uh, council members. Oh, am I supposed to distribute these? That's correct. Yes. Um, I haven't been in front of you guys in a while, but um, I'm here tonight uh
to talk about u uh towns borrowing and interest rates. I'd like to go over the method that you go out and bond, the amount of uh quantity of bonds that you sell, and your priorities when you select projects. I'd like to tackle them in that order because it's sort of a
trying to tie together make sense out of it. uh hand the handles I gave you are the bond rate averages for the last uh you know nine years. Um, if you look at the bond rates, uh, for the last 1 2 3 4 5 years,
they've been rising significantly. When you guys sell one-year notes and then go back to bond and long-term rates, slope of the Okay, let me I'm sorry to interrupt you, but in numerous cases, you've come before this council to talk about bond rates,
and you have consistently said, "Gee, you missed an opportunity." Let me finish. No, let me, please. Uh, and so we're not we're not going to sit as the financial body. We're not going to sit as the CFO. You are welcome to tell us whatever you want to tell us, but we are
not going to respond to any of your issues tonight. I want to make that very clear. I I'm I I understand that fully, but I just want to just give this lay out in a succinct coherent, you know, argument here. Um, the rates have been rising the last five years. When you
sell one your notes and the next year interest rates go higher and you go out to long-term bonds, you lost. You bet that you adjustable rate mortgage bet that you made, you lost and you lost taxpayers money. You lost it in 22, 23, 24. And right now you're going to lose it for the last two years. You've been
doing one-year notes. You've been selling one-year notes, Mr. Papis. Correct. You're losing. You could have done it two years ago. You could have done it, you know, one year ago. Every year that you go your one-year rate of bonds, you're losing like an adjustable rate mortgage. You've lost the
taxpayers's money, hundreds of thousands of dollars just just in the last one or two years. You know, one year you lost $2.5 million in extra interest payments for this town. That's a that's the method of what you should borrow. You shouldn't be betting on what interest
rates will do. Should go out and bond for those things that you need. Now we're going to the second part is the amount of barn you have. Currently you sold um I'm sorry if I'm off by a million or two, but hey, what can you say? I the number last year was 237. I mean, you
may correct me. I don't know what the exact numbers are, but that's what you sold in one year notes that you have to refinance this year. If you go out and sell $8 million of road bonds, you're up to 32. If you're going to do any sewer work, you're beyond 32. If you were
going to fix Camp Cromwell and borrow the money in in uh as revenue anticipation bonds to do the actual work at uh Camp Cromwell, you'd be well over $35 million. So, the priorities in this town are all screwed up. Eight years,
eight that million dollars a year in road reconstruction bonds is twice the amount that Franklin spends. You can't keep blaming it on past administrations that there wasn't enough road reconstruction. That that ship has sailed. You have to go out there and
decide that you've declared victory on the road repairs. You know, tone it down to a level that's appropriate to the amount of roads that still need to repair in this town. You're repairing roads and one or two years later they're they're falling apart because of, you know, the
road the work hasn't been done right. PS in ripping them up. That's where I stand out right now. I tried to make an argument. You guys are never going to do Camp Cromwell because you can't afford to borrow the money. Every year you do $8 million worth of road repairs. You
pay $400,000 down. You have spent $320,000 if it's 4% interest rates to borrow the remaining $7.6 million. That's that is three and a half% tax increase every year. You've got to stop the $8 million a year road
reconstruction at some point. Otherwise, you're gonna see double digit, you know, tax increases, and you just can't afford anything else. Simple as that. Without everybody getting double digit tax increase bills. That that's all I have to
say, Mr. President. I I do feel compelled to make some comments if you don't mind. Yes, sir. So, uh, Mr. uh I think you know your characterization of the Bridgewater Township's uh financial position in bonding is is somewhat um I think you're
misunderstanding certain things. the the chart that you've presented are uh bond 20 the bond index correct uh you're not referencing the interest rates that Bridgewwater Township receives and that's the chart the chart
let me finish the chart that Bridgewater Township is significantly different than this so I'm going to make sure that the next council in 20 in 2021 you paid4% for one-year notes Mr. Roio, please let me finish. And so I'm going to present at the next council meeting uh
comparison for the council's edification. Uh your comments about PSENG. Yes, they are replacing gas manes uh from a safety perspective that they have and they are repaving curb to curb
roads that they have uh damaged and that is occurring and it will be concurring probably there'll be a number of roads that they're going to be paving probably in May and June of this year and then the last comment I would make uh is uh regarding you making mention of roads
being repaired or reconstructed and then uh needing to uh be repaired. Uh you know, if you have specific roads that you have in mind, I you know, you've never presented those to me and I would like to know that because if there's a if there's a road that we've spent money
on to repair and that there's a damage, we need to address that. Uh the the one right off Country Club Road, it's sort of a I just the name the name just uh I can I come, you know, it's Can I show you then? I guess I have pictures and uh Sure. I'll I'll do that. I mean, there's the people in the neighborhood are
complaining of cracking sidewalks, large cracks in the roads, you know, cat catface, you know, the the pavement dissolving with that's all like there's a road there's a road where we repaved uh replace some of the sidewalks and we're actually going to be addressing that and the contractor the contractor
the contractor has uh been uh met with and he will be making those repairs primarily at his expense. Also, Mr. Mr. Papis, I think it's also important to mention that prior to this township commencing on the road 5-year road project, uh, which this year would be
the last year of, um, we actually changed township ordinance and whether it's PSENG, New Jersey American Water, or any other company, utility company or resident that digs up a road after within seven years of us repaving it,
they're required by township ordinance to repave that entire length of that rope. curb to curb. Um, anytime they, you know, someone digs up a a 4 foot square hole in the middle of the road, they're repaving that whole road if they do it within seven years of us repaving
it per township ordinance. And I know we've already held PSEG to that on Brian Drive. Correct. So, well, the interest rates uh that township has paid uh you got away cheap in 20 20 and 21. 20 the
borrowings you did you've got 4% uh on the the borrowings uh in 2021 you took uh one-year notes uh the number strikes to be very significant uh it was 08 you paid
$16,000 to borrow $20 million you paid $16,000 to borrow 20 million sounds great for the taxpayers in year 2021 in terms of the taxes they'll Well, when you had to go out and refinance those those bonds the following year, the accumulated interest on those $20
million of bonds was now $3.2 million. Thank you, Mr. Okay. Fine. Town lost about a bet about two almost $2.5 million on that decision to do one-year notes in 21 and 20. Sorry that sorry that I have to say it that way. Thank
you much. Anyone else wishing to address the council? Seeing no one come forward. Could I have a motion to close public input? Please. All moved. Second. Second. All those in favor sign I. I. I.
Okay. We are closed for public input. Okay. We are now moving on to uh item 10 which is public hearing and final action ordinance. Uh an ordinance of the township of Bridgewater adopting redevelopment plan for block 221 lots
1.02 1.03 1.04 uh 2 and 2.01. also known as 1200 Route 22 and adding def definitions to section 126 uh-2. Um Mr. Papis, would you like to
offer some comments and then I'd like Mr. Sullivan to provide his input? Yes, thank you, sir. Um um I think we all know that this has been a u a a matter that the council and the planning board have been addressing for a number of months. We've had the
benefit of Mr. Sullivan's expertise in preparing uh initially an investigation uh in response to a planning board directive and then subsequently a draft plan which the planning board approved and recommended for this council to
consider. Uh at the um I think the last meeting uh Mr. Sullivan was here and made a very lengthy and detailed presentation. Uh, and he's here again tonight to perhaps do a very abbreviated version of that and perhaps address a couple of the issues that had been
raised then. Mr. President, yes. Can I make a suggestion? You certainly may. Would we be better off opening to public hearing first to hear residents questions and concerns so that we can follow up with Mr. Sullivan?
U Mr. Sullivan may resolve some of their questions. Okay, fair enough. In his presentation. I'm not sure. Okay, we'll see. By the way, we also have in the audience the the gentleman who is uh who who intends to build the data center
sitting back there. I I know I didn't get your name correctly, but maybe we'll hear from you in a few minutes. Anyway, come on up, Mr. Sullivan. Thank you. Good to be with you. For the record, I'm Michael Sullivan, principal with Clark Kaitton Hints in Trenton, New Jersey. Um, redevelopment planner for
the township. Uh, so thank you for the uh history and update. I appreciate that. Um, we're here to talk about the Greymark Office uh redevelopment plan uh for public hearing and adoption by the governing body tonight. Um, this plan uh
as Mr. Papa said it was designated as a redevelopment area in December of 2024, December 5th uh by the governing body. On March 18th, there was a planning board meeting at which time the planning board reviewed uh the draft plan u made
some comments and ultimately found that the plan was consistent with the master plan. Uh on March 20th, 2025, uh the township council uh held a uh meeting. It wasn't a public hearing, but there was extensive public commentary
and discussion. Uh, and at that time, uh, the redevelopment plan was introduced by ordinance. So, here we are at the public hearing. Um, I'm going to go through some of the highlights of the plan. I know, uh, we've spent two meetings extensively discussing what's in the plan. Um, and I'll be happy to
answer any questions if things are not clear or I leave anything out. Um so this plan is really intended to uh for the redevelopment of 1,200 uh route 22 which consists of blocks uh block 22
lots 1.01 1.03 1.02 2 and 2.01 and it's really intended to foster redevelopment of this site. Now you might drive by the site and say well there's a 100,000 square foot office building there. It's three stories. What needs to be redeveloped? Well, the rear
part of this building or or this site um was the subject of a uh failed uh development attempt uh years ago based on old approvals. Uh there were u partial pavements constructed and stormwater infrastructure was partially
constructed and on the site right now uh those are impervious elements uh with no management of storm water per se um that exist there and particularly not no storm water management consistent with uh what today's standards are whether
it's the D standards or your local standards which align with the D. So uh this plan is really to uh in foster and set the groundwork for the redevelopment of the rear portion of this site and it also allows for u uses and redevelopment
of the office uh building if that ever happens. Um so let's talk about the permitted uses. What the plan permits? It permits medical and general offices on the front portion of the site. Uh it permits the development of a data center on the rear portion of the lot.
Alternatively, not in addition to, it does permit for age restricted multif family housing with a 25% set aside for affordable housing units. Um, if that was an option that uh a developer, redeveloper would choose. And it also
allows for and requires three single family homes to be built along Woodside Lane. And it requires the addition of a culde-sac, which there's no culde-sac there now. a culde-sac sufficient to ensure that emergency vehicles uh and
other service vehicles uh can turn around uh in accordance with the residential site improvement standards for a culde-sac. Um and um in addition uh to the culdeac, there are other requirements. It requires conservation
easements along the Cuckles Brook stream corridor to encompass any freshwater wetlands or stream and flood hazard areas. uh it requires buffering uh in the rear uh of the property and along the sides to the residential districts and uses. It requires acoustic controls
be incorporated within the architecture of a data center. Um, and it also requires an impact study be uh undertaken and that post construction mitigation may be required if after construction there's determined to be any sort of negative impacts that can be
addressed through uh mitigation. In addition to the acoustic controls, there are also uh communications uh impact requirements whereby there need to be uh there needs to be a study of the existing uh wireless and cellular communications in
and around the site and that uh based on that there would be planning within the site plan and post construction if there were any issues then there would have to be post construction mitigation. Um, and the plan also recommends that any of
those uh studies be uh built into any redeveloper agreement with the township uh as part of the obligation of the redeveloper. Um uh additionally um there's no access permitted, no vehicular access permitted to Adamsville
Road um to en to try to to ensure that new vehicles aren't coming on site. we if it's a data center, we wouldn't anticipate that there are going to be lots of vehicles, but uh nonetheless, that is not permitted. Um it requires conformance with the new uh and most
recent uh NJ storm water management standards and flood control as well as the townships. Um and uh it should hopefully with redevelopment here to those new standards make any um negative uh conditions that are existing because
of the existing uncomp uncompleted stormwater management and the impervious coverages out there hopefully make those situations better. At least that's what uh the township engineer uh explained at uh previous meeting.
Um I believe that's pretty much the overview of it. Um there was a question tonight uh I think um that I would like to answer and then I the council can ask me anything you want to ask me about this. But the the issue of whether or
not this goes to the planning board or the council uh any redevelopment plan under this uh pursuant to this plan would first have to go to uh be determined by the governing body to be consistent with the master plan or consistent with the redevelopment plan.
uh a redeveloper could not just go to the planning board. They would have to come and get a certification through uh the township that it is consistent, substantial consistence. Once that's done, uh and there's a redeveloper agreement in place with this redeveloper, then they could proceed to
the planning board for approval. This redevelopment plan has mandatory requirements in it and it also has use requirements in it. if they were to deviate from the mandatory requirements such as um the buffering or the acoustic
uh things or the the culde-sac um then they would have to have a the only way they could have deviations from those would be um through an amendment to the plan which only can be done by the governing body. Uh if they wanted a a use that wasn't permitted they would have to come back and get a plan
amendment and the township council would have to decide that. Um any other deviations analogous to a C variance if you're familiar with the planning board pursuant to the planius law or design exceptions uh may be granted by the
planning board. All right, but there is a public hearing. It's a major site plan uh and most likely a subdivision with it because there are multiple lots here. Um and so that is the procedure that would happen with a redevelopment uh site plan
for this site. Uh if I may uh you've mentioned data center and we have discussed data center and mentioned it weeks by weeks. Would you cover briefly some of the advantages of having a data center as opposed to a
regular office building and sort of a two-part question. Uh you heard the issue in terms of the height of the building. uh specifically uh if if it is a data center why the building has to be
literally as high as it is. Okay. So your first question I'm sorry the what what's the benefits of benefit of data center was focusing on the height the benefit to a data center as opposed to a a use that is fully occupied an office
building of a similar size would have a lot more uh traffic presumably even with people working in hybrid situations you would still have traffic if you go by the existing 1 1200 building last time I was there there were you know the parking lot was probably half full to
3/4 full uh in the daytime. So you there's more traffic. Uh there's a general intensity of the use that would be greater with an office building with people, you know, maybe walking around or or activities or also lights. If people are working at night, there would be lights and windows and things like
that. With a data center, you don't have those types of things. It's it's it's a sealed box for the most part. Um so you have less traffic, less activity, less intensity. Um, and if uh everything else goes together, it would it would feel
like a less a less intense use. Okay. In terms of the height, um, you know, we've looked into this and and I feel like I I was at at a loss last time because Councilman Proso, vice council, vice presidento, uh, raised the question of why we needed that height, and I didn't
really have the answer at that time. So, I I dug into it. I talked to the owner, um, and I tried to get a sense of how these floortofloor heights work. And what I learned was that there's a lot of cooling um materials uh or equipment that goes into it. Um and
um sorry I'm shuffling my papers here. There's cooling that's required. There's a and it starts with uh the desire to have servers uh server racks that are in the range of 15 ft in height. Okay. And above and you need airspace above that.
And the higher you go, what I learned was the higher you go in terms of servers, the more heat builds up at the top. So you need air air around the top and there are um utilities in the in the base of the of the of the floors as well. And so,
um, it seems to me that after looking at that research and hearing from I I did speak with the, um, the owner of the property, potential, uh, redeveloper for the data center, that they do need 25 ft per floor as a as a bulk standard in
order to accommodate uh, the server racks and the cooling systems and the structure that goes with those floors. Can you can you offer any comments in terms of the previous comments which said if you have a building that tall, it's going to basically shade uh the
next door homes that would be built on Woodside Lane. Well, the setback is I believe 70 ft from the track boundary and there's a requirement for a buffer there. Um the the the rationale for and I'll talk this may feed into that. The rationale for uh requiring the new homes
to be built along Woodside Lane was because it's really one half a street in terms of homes and and they're not all homes on there, but the homes that are there are fairly modest. Um and the idea was that the new homes would actually help complete it as a neighborhood
street. Uh the culde-sac would be in. So now you'd have a safe uh access uh for a turnaround there for services and that those homes themselves would help actually be part of the buffer to the existing neighborhood that those homes
would block some of the views. Um those homes will be they would back up to the property in the rear and there's a buffer requirement uh that's in there. There's also a wall that's required. Um I have not done any shade studies. I would imagine in in the winter time it
might be there might be longer shadows. In the summertime there would be shorter shadows, but I have not done the analysis on that. Any questions? While we're talking about height, yes. Is there anything in the re and I'm I don't know if you've seen this. I don't know
if you care to see this. Um but you know I guess in prior approvals there was potentially approval to uh build up the great somewhere between 10 and 13 feet. Is there any such approvals that are in this redevelopment agreement or
redevelopment plan that would allow them to raise the the grade height grade there? They would have to comply with the um the manner in which the height is determined in the existing ordinance. Okay. One of the things I I meant to say and and this gets back to part of that
question is this plan uh supersedes where it talks about zoning, where it talks about regulations and where it talks about design standards and studies and things like that. It's a redevelopment plan. We can put a lot of special highly detailed stuff in there. But where it's silent, all your existing
regulations underly this. So in terms of storm water, in terms of building height calculations, that all is within that. So that this does not absolve them of doing what's required in the ordinance in terms of safe standards for storm
water, safe standards for pavement and all that other stuff. Thank you. Any other qu direct questions? Did you have one, believe? Go ahead. Good evening. Nice to see you again. Uh Mr. Sullivan, are you the planner for
the township or for the applicant? I'm the planner for the township. Yeah, he's he's our he's our consultant specifically for this for the redevelopment. I just want I I didn't know for sure. So, thank you for clarifying that for me.
Um so, the applicant is looking for um I guess to exceed the 50 foot by by 5t. What's the precise number? I believe it's up to seven feet for mechanicals and other things on top of
the roof. Is that what it is? Yeah, the mechanical seven seven feet for roof access and also for any rooftop mechanical equipment. So what would be the total height from ground to the top of the mechanicals? Uh 57.
Great. Um okay. So I got I received an email that was forwarded to me. This email is from Ruben Torski. Apologies, by the way. Oh, apologies if I mispronounced that last name. Uh, director of development for
Treetop Development and this email was forwarded to me today. So, thank you for providing that information. A couple questions. So looking at this and it says that uh race the the race floor system requires 2 feet of
space. The rack height is expected to be between 15 to 18. Then additional clearance of 3 to 4 feet and then uh there's a structural and floor system depth three
feet. Is that the ceiling? Is is that is this is this kind of going in order? Is it 2 feet for the for the flooring, 15 plus 18 for the racks, 3 to 4 feet of air clearance space, and then plus three
feet for the ceiling? I What's the last thing, the three feet? I I can't explain the architectural aspects of that. All right, fair enough. I mean, you didn't we didn't write this, so I thought maybe you you would know. Um all right so let me focus I guess on
planning questions looking at at the area um are there other structures like right around it that are that are 50 feet or more the existing office building is is I believe 46 47 feet somewhere in that
range but it's not 50 feet 42 feet which building is Which building is that? I'm asking Mr. Sullivan. The the Greyark office building is over 40 feet. It's 42 feet. And that what is that? Is that
1200? What? Yes. That that's on the in the redevelopment area. Correct. Right. So that's that's a bit away. Is there anything like next to it or across from it that's that goes anywhere near 50 ft? I haven't measured the existing buildings that are are nearby that are
not the non-residential buildings. What's the what's the highest height of a building next to the site or across from the site? What's the highest height of a roof? I I just said I I haven't measured them.
I don't know. I just heard that the the Greyark office building, the existing office is upwards of 40 ft. So I mean I mean in all fairness, you're here as a planner. So I I wouldn't part of your planning opinion rest upon considering
if this new structure fits into the character of the neighborhood and whether or not you don't have to look at that at all. Is that not part of your analysis? Well, it really depends. Um when the data center use was was um
considered um we looked at what the data center requirements were and it was never uh it was not something that was raised to you know we put in buffers that we thought were appropriate 70 foot buffers. Say we who's we me and my team.
You and your team but this was you know this is a collaboration you know we we we work to understand what the data center of of this scale might need. uh in terms of bulk, right? But no matter what you put there, whether it's a data center or whether it's a cow farm, what
whenever whatever you put there, I mean, it has to fit right into the character of the neighborhood. No, in my opinion, not part of what the planning aspect of of it is. Trying to make uses compatible is part of what we do. And the bulk requirements that we put in here, I
felt, are are moves to make it compatible. Okay. 70ft buffer 70 foot setback for a 50-ft building is less than one one okay that's generally means that if you have a sun angle that's you know creating a 45°ree shadow you don't
shadow anything beyond that 50 ft okay as I said before in when you have wintertime you have longer shadows in the summertime you have shorter shadows um we put buffering in here um particularly where the residents are we require 6T high masonry wall that's
acoustic dampen happening because trees and and other things won't do that. And then we add the buffering uh plant material that's required to go in there. So in my opinion, I feel that we did include bulk standards for the data center that would make it uh compatible
at the neighborhood but also be able to accommodate a data center. It's a and this is not an easy area. This is an area with we've got uh commercial corporate uses, office uses along the highway. We've got some that creep back
along Woodside Lane. There's, as I said before, there's some residential street uh parcels, but there's also non-residential intrusions in there. So, we've got multifamily uh residential zone on the on the on the east side, and we've got the large um uh club property
uh the Eagle property in the back, which doesn't really have anybody living there, right? So the idea that we thought about how this would be combatible is evident in my opinion in the bulk standards that we put for this and also the other controls in terms of sound and communications and things like
that. So, I've uh after having served 10 years on the zoning board, I listened to a lot of zoning applications and uh got to tell whenever I heard a planner use the word comp compatible, which wasn't very often, it typically was trying basically trying to make that
round peg that had to fit into a square hole be a little bit more square uh and try to try to kind of like, you know, make it more compatible. But uh and the reality is is that typically it meant that um whatever project there may be
um certainly had issues in fitting in the car within the character of that neighborhood. Um I I wish I I had um is Mr. Touki going to testify today? Is he going to provide any any type of
is he going to address us at all? Is there any any plan for that? Would you a land use application during? Yeah. No, I don't think that that was intended tonight. Okay, that's fine. Fair enough. I'm just asking because I have a lot of questions about this height because really end of the day that's that's the
main issue. Um and uh I got to tell you um the email raises a lot more questions and I I just don't have an opportunity to have those questions uh answered. Um, so
all right, any other any other questions panel? Uh, I'd like to open the the meeting. Go ahead, Alan. I'd just like to say that along the discussions that we've had about this, uh, project and this these properties, one of the things
that I've been concerned about is Kok's Brook and the it seems to me, as Mr. Sullivan mentioned the prior project that failed uh created some infrastructure there that is causing water problems and one of the
things that the proposal that we have today for redevelopment will mitigate those water issues. That's correct. You know, so I I look at that as a positive. uh you know we looking at the lands around you know we're we're next to an
interstate to uh state highway and I think the uh there's alternate uses for the property that could come in that would not include a data center. Am I correct Mr. President? Yes sir. uh that I think could be detrime more
detrimental to the neighborhood than what's being proposed at this time as a data center and some housing. Um, if I may, the original suggested plan was a
warehouse and and one uh that the township and especially this council did not look favorably upon when the issue of a data center uh arose as as an option. Uh, I don't know about anybody
else, but I consider a data center a much more valuable resource to the township than a warehouse in terms of ratable. A warehouse is space. It's four walls a floor. There's not a lot of
ratable there, but there sure is traffic. A data center offers a significant ratable with very little impact on movement within the neighborhood. It's not going to bring 300 people or 500 people or something
like that. Don't know how many. Maybe it's 20. I don't know. I don't have an issue with the I don't have an issue with a data center. Councilman President. Oh, you're not done. I'm sorry. I thought you were finished. done. So from a practical standpoint, we as a council and collectively I thought
we included you Philipe uh thought a data center was a good solution uh to this particular piece of property uh and and uh you know and it has been been under discussion for a number of months.
Again I don't I'm going to repeat what I said. I don't have an issue with a data center. I think a data center is a actually a good use for the site. However, I do think the applicant still has an obligation to mitigate uh the height of the building and to mitigate
the impact it has on the the community and the surroundings of it. I and I'm not sure I didn't inter I try not to interrupt you. I I I I'm I'm just not convinced uh by the information that I have that there is even the need to go to 57 ft
based on these numbers. believe we have Ruben here uh in the audience who who is actually the property owner or developer. Ruben, would you mind coming forward to to chat with us about the height of the building? Yeah, please. Because specifically the letter you
received today was from Ruben. Well, that's why that's why I asked you if he was going to come forward, but you said I thought the implication you were indicating he was not going to come forward. No, I I said at the right time. Oh, but yeah. All right. All right. Please name in and business please.
Attorney um I'm I'm here. So please step into the microphone please. Ruben Torski. And can you explain to us your function uh in this uh in the data center uh development plan? Sure. Um so I serve as director of development uh for treetop
companies where I oversee all the uh new construction activities across the board including data center warehouses multif family different asset classes. Uh so data centers is a a unique use um that is evolving um until this day with all
the AI technology and everything else. um with the data center um there's certain requirements be because of the use and the amount of equipment inside the building. Um so what that letter um an email tried to explain is so if if
you have your base right you have your you have your you have your slab and then you have 2 feet of raised floor right from your slab to where the equipment sits on and within that 2 feet you have cooling and other infrastructure improvements that are
running underneath those racks. Okay. So that's that's where you start. Then the racks will sit on that two feet elevated platform and those racks can anywhere go from 15 to 18 feet depending on the end user. Um then you have about 3 to 4 feet of
open space um that has other um existing infrastructure more cooling uh cabling uh your typical sprinklers electricity you name it HAC that you would see in a normal building running through. And then you have the depth of the actual construction, your steel and concrete,
which is that three feet typically. It can be two feet, right? Sometimes it can be three feet depending on the structural loads and and a structural engineer. With the 50 with the 25 ft gives us the greatest flexibility for an end user and for this building to be to be really relevant for the near for the
near future, right? We don't want to build something that is going to be obsolete in 10 years and we're back here. We want to make sure that we're future proof um and providing something uh that an end user can use. So we might have an end user who needs 15 feet
racks, right? And then we might be at 46 feet, but until we go to the site plan, we want we needed that greatest flexibility. And I think that's what the zoning requires of the floor floor to floor is 25 with an ultimate height of 50. The three feet um the structural floor
system depth that you put in this email. Three feet is that the space between the two floors. Um that is your steel um and your concrete between the two floors between the first and second floor. Correct. And what kind of roofing do you
put on the data center? Uh well so that's just your so your first floor your first floor to second floor your second floor slab will be steel plus a poured concrete slab typical construction. And then the roof of your second floor would be your typical TPO
uh you know waterproofing roof. So hold your questions till till we open to the public. Is there any possibility of of building? No. Well, just wait until until we open to the public. You will be able to ask
your questions. So, please be patient. Can you build lower into the ground? Can you can you put your slab lower? Can you like can you start the first floor lower? Um, unknown. I mean, we don't know the conditions of the groundwater and and
the flood plane and everything else. Um, you know, the building will be measured by average grade of of building height in the township. And I think that's taking all four corners six feet six feet in and measuring average grade. So, um, t I mean typically not from access
standpoint. Then you got dealing with ramps and stairs and ADA issues. Um, but looking at the math, I mean, you could you could make all this work with a 50 foot height requirement that you have now if
you kept your server racks at 15 ft. Again, I we just build the buildings for an end user. We don't know ultimately what the end user is going to want to put in and oh I mean they can just get more racks or go more go more go more horizontal instead of vertical. The size
is so limited based on the setbacks that the plan and the planning team has created to create that balance of height versus setbacks. Um so I think if you reduce the height you might need to spread out the footprint to accommodate the necessary square footage to make the
project successful. Well, when is it necessary square footage? I mean, do you have already a current um do you have current clients for that data center? Do you have not at this time, but we are we are talking to a couple of end users, but until the project's a reality, nobody's going to commit,
but there are there is deep interest, right? And whether it's, you know, a little bit smaller, a little bit bigger, you're going to you mean you're going to in a day you're going to find clients that are going to find a need for the data center. Do you guys do you guys um rent out service space by the server, by
the rack or by um by the floor? What's your typical business model? Uh the business model is renting usually the building or the floor to to an entire end user and then the end user can, you know, he might have multiple tenants in there, but um we're not in the data
business. We're in the real estate business, so we'll just lease the floor. I see. at least you at least the floor for data split like a company I think we're getting far a field as to where we need to be at this point well I think it's relevant Howard because whether they need 15 ft or 18 ft makes a big
difference on the height of this building what they're you will have the opportunity to appine on the building height I think we're at the point where there's there's been a plan and a building height has been established if if I'm trying to determine their needs Howard so I can make I can make the best
decision possible for the township And that's what I'm trying to get at. I think my questions are relevant. I'm not sure why I'm being cut off again, but um am I is this dragging? Do you have to
go? No, but I I'd like to stay on point. The gentleman is here. There is a specific size building that has been that has been approved by the planning board, and it sounds like you want to go back and redesign it from scratch. and and that's that's not going to happen
tonight. I'm not redesigning it from scratch, council president. I'm questioning the I'm trying to find out what the specific need is for the height so I can make again the appropriate decision that I have to make when I vote. Mr. President, do you have any other
questions for for Ruin? If not, I'd like to open it to the public. Quick question. Yes sir. Um, regarding the 7 ft for the equipment, uh, just as I understand it and would just can you clarify that is not 7 ft
across the entire roof. There's setbacks on the roof. It's confined to, for lack of a better term, the center of the roof. Mr. Sullivan's probably better. Okay. Thank you. Yeah, that's a that's a plan question, not a real estate question. Um, yeah, there there's
required setback 10% of the facade length. So on a 100 foot facade you would have to be set back 10 feet. On a 200 foot facade you would have to be set back 20 feet. And it's required that the uh equipment be located
as be located as close as possible to the physical center of the roof of the building. All that and so it's meant to be squeezed in. Yeah. Okay. Thank you. Okay. Any other questions? I'd like to open to the public. Can I have a motion to open to the public? I'll make that
motion. I will second it. All those in favor signify by saying I. I. I. Any opposed? Okay. We are now open to the public uh on 10A uh for questions. Mrs. Franco, come on up. Please announce your appearance, please. Bless your question.
Hi, Kathy Franco. Um few quick questions. Uh, one is why is the data center being put in the central part of the property rather than closer to the highway? Since my understanding of data centers is they produce a lot of noise.
So, why not put them closer to the highway which is already producing a lot of noise rather than in the center of the property closer to the residential. The the location is where there is no development. There's is this I I I don't know that that's the light. Press the
button is light on. The lights on. Okay. Then then we should be um I sound different. Um the the idea is redevelopment. The front of the site is already redevelop or already developed with an existing office building. So gray mark one intends to stay there.
That building there there's no we've had no indication that it it is going away. Okay. within the redevelopment plan. It's a permitted use and we make sure that it's a permitted use within the redevelopment plan. And the idea is that the rear, which is dilapidated and um not there is where the redevelopment
Okay. No, that that's very helpful to me because I couldn't understand if that was part of it. Um and you can still hear the road noise back there. Uh no, I know, but I just thought why not push all the noise towards the front. Um, you talk about um a 6ft wall um to for
residential um to you know provide a buffer and I just don't know how a sixft wall is going to provide a buffer to a 50- foot tall building. Well, it's it's not obviously it won't. Okay. But the buffer is designed in a way that first of all there um there may be circulation
of vehicles around the building for service. um uh there's no loading or parking permitted between the residences that would be placed along Woodside Lane and the building, but you could have an access way. And so the idea was that you're going to use plant material and
maybe some mounding or something like that to help buffer within the buffer that's required. It's a 50-ft buffer requirement, but on the inside edge of that on the building side where you don't you wouldn't see it. Um the six-foot masonry wall is intended to provide screening for headlights and
screening for noise that would occur at the ground level. So that in addition to the visual screening and the trees as they get bigger will help that you'll it'll never fully block it. It's they're vegetation but that wall will throughout the seasons provide a a barrier to like
headlights and noise at that ground level. Okay, great. Thank you very much. And my only other comment was I was very disappointed that the link to the actual redevelopment plan was not not easy to find. Um when I went to
the minutes and it said, you know, that it would be based upon the redevelopment plan and fortunately I had another copy of that in a different file. So um I would just hope in the future when you look at redevelopment plans that that's linked a little bit easier. Thank you.
Anyone else wishing to address the council? Come on up, sir. Yes. David Mitchell, 778 Tobia Road, Bridgewater. Uh, I asked the gentleman about the total square footage of the data center and he did not have an
answer for me. Do you anyone know how big this thing is going to be? I think Mr. Mr. Turk I think he's I think he's looking how many square feet. Could Mr. Sullivan address what might be permitted? Mr. Sullivan, could you
refresh our memory about the plan what it would permit? Yeah, the the floor area ratio for the entire uh tract is is 40% uh recognizing that you know part of that's already taken. How many square feet for the building? I don't know the exact building square footage because we
don't have a build. Let me just keep going. It's 40 40% floor area ratio which means you can have 40% of floor building floors. Um if you say that well half of that's already taken up by grayark then it's 20% of
that and we're thinking the building may be in the range of um roughly 100 90 to 100 by 180 to 200 and two floors. So, it's probably upwards of it's around
400,000 square feet. 400,000 square feet in two floors. Okay. I I may be coming a little late to the dance here, but uh I've heard a lot of talk about the fact that this center is highly desirable because there's very
little traffic uh and there's not a parking problem. But I haven't heard any discussion about the fact that data centers generate a great deal of noise
24/7. They also require a great deal of water for cooling and a great deal of electricity. They also require backup generators. And a backup generator to handle a 400,000 square foot building is probably the
size of a tractor trailer. and that would need a a relevant supply of diesel fuel to keep it going long enough to keep those computers humming. Also, the gentleman mentioned that he wants to keep the building to be um appropriate
for 10 years. The average turnaround for technology, computer technology, which I have a background in, is about three years. So, you know, if you're talking about building a server, my the last time I saw a server racket was 7 feet high. I don't know how you get to the
top of a seven a 15 foot server rack unless you have some kind of jetpack or something, but I'll accept that if that's what he he says that's what's going on. Um, I have a little trouble with the arithmetic, but again, that's not what
I'm I'm talking about. Data centers generate large amounts of noise and also waste heat. You know, the sound from a typical data center is loud, continuous, and have the greatest impact on residents in the surrounding areas who have to contend
with that noise 24/7. You're talking about a 70ft setback. Will the residents have to keep their windows closed in the summer so they can sleep? Will their children who don't have to go leave to go to work during the day will be able to play in
their yards? Is there if there's a noise issue, has the applicant made a formal plan to deal with it or is that up to the township? Data centers use a large amount of water and electricity. As I mentioned before, I have had the opportunity to go to a data
center. New York Life has a large data center in Lebanon, and I've toured the facility from top to bottom. They recycle the heat from the computers to warm the building in the winter, but require extensive refrigeration units to cool both the building and computers
during the warmer months. They also required a dedicated high voltage power line from nearby tower that connected to a substation located on their campus. Where does the applicant expect to get that amount of power and water without
impacting the other buildings and residences that use the same water and power lines? Is public service going to dedicate a high power transmission line and build a dedicated substation on the property? And if so, where would it be
located? In terms of backup generators, again, when I toured the New York Life facility, their generator was powered by a jet turbine. and required aviation fuel. A backup generator capable of serving the needs of a data center of this size would be quite large,
typically use diesel engines, and would require on-site storage of large quantities of diesel fuel. Is the area zoned for large storage containers of diesel fuel? What contingency plans were in place for a
spill or a leak? Also, I find that seven feet for HVAC and noise abatement somewhat disingenuous. The high efficiency condenser units for each floor of my residence are 4 feet tall. Data centers
which are vastly larger require larger than normal HVAC units because they generate incredible amounts of heat, especially a 15t server rack. Uh, and the sound from that that
data center I I find kind of hard to believe that a 7 foot noise mitigation, I believe it was was the comment, um, would serve to mask the noise from equipment, HVAC equipment
sufficient to cool a structure of that size, even if it would not contain electronics. 400,000 square feet is a big building. Um, I heard what you said about that the size has been already decided and I'm
not going to I have no dog in this fight. But and no one I think will dispute that this area needs to be developed. But the council and planning board should require every data center developer to disclose noise and
environmental impacts before receiving approval to proceed. Additional tax revenues to the township and its cit citizens will be offset by the need for utility infrastructure which will eventually be borne by the residents paying increased utility bills. While
short some short-term jobs during construction will be created, these centers will operate with a skeleton staff and thus provide a very limited employment benefit to the township. My tour of the New York Life data center was conducted by the chief engineer and
took me from the basement to the roof. And there's no reason why this data center can't go down and have some of their backup to before the diesel generator can kick in.
They need a battery backup to that usually takes 10 to 15 seconds to transition from line power to emergency power. So you need a battery backup and that could be located in a basement or subbies don't care if they get
wet. Thank you for your time. Anyone else? Claudet VA 218 Woodside Lane. Um question that I have if I go through the chair or I don't know if I speak with the planner um directly. I assume there are other data centers in
Bridgewater Township. We have one. We have one two. Okay. PSG and the oldi building. Okay. those data centers those do those locations abut residential areas similar
to both of them do actually they're they're both on highway and the rear of them both of them abut into residential neighborhoods and are their heights exceeding what we've been talking about tonight I cannot tell you
the I I've only seen one of them I can't tell you the height um so Don't I I think we have an outstanding question about the relevance of this
building height for this neighborhood and why would we impose on our neighborhood something that we have not imposed on other neighborhoods. Yeah, I know. Wasn't an office book. Dave Classic, 215 Woodside
Okay. Within Mr. uh Sullivan, he stated that there would be no access to Adamsville Road. I have not heard a guarantee about any access not to Woodside Lane yet in any of this
discussion. Secondly is um you're talking about a 70oot buffer with these uh residential lots. Let me ask Mr. Sullivan since he is a planner. What's the setback required from Bridgewater from Route 22
for any construction? I couldn't. It depends on the zone and I couldn't Okay. Can anybody tell me here? I believe it's 150 ft setback, but it may be 200. But hang on. We're researching. No, I'm trying to look at
the height of one of the data centers. Okay. So, nobody can answer me that. Okay. I I thought I had read about the uh star Starbucks and they wanted like at
least 120 to 150 ft. So residential to somebody whizzing by at 55 miles an hour doesn't quite seem to cut it to me. Another point I want to make the residents on Woodside Lane. Woodside
Lane. All right. The culdesac will there will be no access from Woodside Lane to 22 and there will be no access from Woodside Lane to this project. Woodside Lane is coming in from whatever the
direction is. Uh and but it's the culdeac ends before it gets to 22. So there is no route 22 access. If your concern is the traffic on 22 is going to turn into Woodside Lane, that's not going to happen. I'm not so concerned
about that. But any type of driveway coming from the center or any of the office that's off 22. There was testimony earlier that there has to be a 6ft high wall with vegetation between the homes off of
Woodside and the data center. Okay. Oh, I think I brought up at the last meeting is uh much to our um whatever it was we can say but this
area was R20 up to about the year 2000 and then developers came in and had it changed to R20. Now all of a sudden you're adding three residential lots and this is zoned right
now MB1 zoning and I know in all of that and your master planning you're saying is uh I would consider this a spot zoning type of deal. So, um, I would
like to see the elimination of those three lots and an additional buffer from Woodside. Didn't you at the last meeting say instead of three, you would have preferred two homes? Two homes. Something that would do that or
the elimination. Oh, okay. I didn't hear the elimination. I heard you say you would have preferred two homes as opposed to three. two two homes because as far as I know R10 is basically 100 by 100 foot lot. Am I correct with saying
that? Yeah. 10,000 square feet. Okay. Um talking about the high water usages. Um are you aware there is no water city water at least on Woodside
Lane? It only goes from Union Avenue to about 400 ft down. The rest are all wells there. I personally have no knowledge of because I don't know where they will be getting all their water from.
I I I think it's important too though that I think we're we have a lot of concerns and I understand that. But as I understand this redevelopment process, this is to uh for us to determine and and approve
potential uses. We've heard from Mr. Sullivan that this needs to go to the planning board. And I think a lot of the questions we're hearing tonight are probably better suited at the planning board down the road. You know, we for there's a lot of
talk on a data center. We don't know if it's a data center. There's also possibilities of homes there. You know, we we don't know what the use is there. We don't have any design for the building. Um I feel like we're getting into a lot of land use board matters as
opposed to a redevelopment plan. Okay. Another question for you. I don't know whether it would be possible but um obviously land is very valuable in Bridgewater especially building lots
that whatever will eventually get built on the Greymark site that the residential lots be not sold separately but constructed at the same time because here the developer can make an easy uh
probably close to a million dollars on the sale of three lots. Am I right to assume that basically minimum price 250,000 as a building lot in I don't think we can assume anything at this
point. But isn't that a good guesstimate? Yes, I think it is. Again, that's not something we can decide tonight because we don't know if a data center is being built there. tonight is about voting for uses as defined in the
redevelopment plan. So, yes, we we've heard from the owner's representative that there's strong desire in a data center, but this plan's approved. There's also the possibility of of no data center, residential components. What we're doing tonight is setting the
zoning for what can be built there. and and and then once they make a decision as to how they want to move forward with that, then they go before the planning board for for approval. Okay. But wouldn't you consider then the three residential lots spot zoning because
this is not zoned MB1. You're talking residential lots. I I'll let Mr. It's a legal interpretation, a legal thing, but as planner, I'll say no, it's not spot zoning.
Okay, that's all then. Okay, thank you. Okay, moving right along. Uh my name is Sina Chunduri. U I'm from 356 Woodside Lane. Are you speaking to the microphone, sir? A little louder, please. Yeah. Can you hear me now? Yes. Okay. Uh I'm Sina
Chunduri. I'm from 356 Woodside Lane um as the plan says and we are right next to the proposed development plan because we are right next to it. So my main concern is with the height of the building because as uh Mr. Ring was
saying this plan they don't know whether they are building the data center but if you hear the plan they're going above the 50 ft of the building. So if we are uploading the plan that means like there we should be keeping the limits on the height of the buildings and also the
setback and there is as somebody pointed out a data center. It's not like um there is not going to be many people working there. It is a 24x7 operation because I work in the IT. So I know uh how the how how much traffic how much
people will be how many people will be coming in. And number two is as they were saying huge electricity wires they need to build and then there is a lot of water and there will be for getting the data either they need to build the satellite connections or they need to
build a lot of cables for the internet connectivity. So there will be lot of radiations and lot of noise lot of stuff and somebody pointed out we have two data centers. I would like to know what is the size of those data centers when
consider that compare that with this and we are right living next to the building which is going to be constructed if it goes through. So I want to get more details about the plan where we are limiting the height and also water
supply, electricity and all of those facilities. Don't forget the water supply is is supplied by American water company. Power is public service electric and gas. If if the builder uh it is the builder's responsibility to to
contract with the utility suppliers, those that is not Bridgewater Township's job and and if he can get the supply that he needs, then he can proceed. If he if he cannot if the utilities cannot provide it, uh that's that's an issue
for him. Okay? Because we we our water. We don't have the city water for us. So if there are if there is anything going on where it isn't going to impact the water bed we want to know that. All right. All right. Thank you. Thank you.
Okay. Curtis Kraut 199 Adamsville Road. Um, I'm a design engineer for 40 years and I'm also a code enforic in the state of New Jersey and I
I've dealt with rooftop units for you know various types of construction and buildings and there are just so many issues that have come up here just tonight just from a design perspective that I would have
hoped hope would have had uh the parameters and and ground rules defined even before this redevelopment plan went into place. But since I'm I'm we can't put the uh the horse back
in the barn here, at least that's the impression I'm getting. One question that came up earlier is the um application for development and what about the deviations and things like that and when Mr. Sullivan spoke, he
referred to the bulk requirements as being like a typical C variance, but virtually all the the applications for development on this property have been required to go before the zoning board because they require multiple
Dvariances. And the Dvariances include height which and use. And in this discussion about what would require revisiting before this body if there's a deviation with regard to use and
mandatory components. But height in this in this example is considered a bulk requirement. And that's not I mean I understand it's listed as a typical vault uh in in that table that that's in the redevelopment plan but it is
normally requires a much more extensive variance in order to get approval. And every every development on that property for the last 35 years has had this issue to contend with. Now, a data center. It's still not clear to me. Uh, this
sounds like it's going to be a very vertical building and it's going to have multiple floors. It did I hear two two floors? Two floors. Two floors. Okay. Two floors with plenums to for air circulation between the floors plus additional space
for ducting and such for cooling. And we're talking about putting um cooling towers. Is is that what's going to go on the roof? cooling towers and compressors. No, I'm sorry. We can't hear what's being
said. If you could I'm sorry. We can't hear. You had asked the question if the building was going to have cooling towers, right? I think Ruben said no, it is not going to have cooling towers as such.
Again, we're this is not we're not approving a design. We're not we're not designing the building the infrastructure. We're not designing the heat load. We're trying to construct a a fabric here of what need of what would
be permitted so that a site plan could be developed so the details that you're looking for can be can evolve before the planning board. I I think we're you're trying to design the entire building
here. Well, no. Uh th this this redevelopment plan includes specific design criteria that anybody who wants to develop on this property has to has to conform to. And yes, the use is one of them. And yes, maybe a general uh
acceptance of of a data plan in on a conceptual level is fine. But when it says here that deviations from bulk requirements uh uh basically uh can be decided by the planning board but anything require the mandatory components and use regulations have to
go basically back to this body for for approval and that's a lot different than it is during the normal no what what I think Mr. Sullivan said was basically it goes to the planning board and if the planning board oversight is within the
parameters of this plan then they can move forward. If they deviate from the plan then they have to come back to this board for approval. That's what I believe he said. Am I correct? Yeah to an extent. If there are if there are
deviations with the mandatory components or the use requirements they would not comply with this plan. they would require a plan amendment. And if that were the case, the the the point at which there's a determination of uh consistency with the plan prior to the planning board, if you can't pass that
first hurdle, you never get to the planning board. Okay. Um the backup generation, power generation issue, is the gentleman had suggested earlier, usually requires a backup diesel generator. Are those going
to be mounted rooftop? Are they going to be down down down at the ground level? Too early. Hasn't been designed. It hasn't. Too early to tell. It hasn't been designed yet. I would imagine that the the the height regulations would not allow it in a 50ft building to to happen
on the roof. You know, you have you've defined a perimeter wall to be placed around the property. Um it's like a six foot um masonry wall I believe you said has to go around the whole perimeter of the property between
the between the building and on Woodside Lane residents on Woodside Lane and and and the a good portion of the concerns that are going to come out of the data center especially with the rooftop mounted cooling systems is the noise
generator. And now I know your your plan calls for a study to be submitted as part of that design process, but it also there's no certainty. And then the question is if it's all rooftop mounted stuff, how do you mitigate the the
acoustic noise that comes out of it? Right. So this is a although this is enhanced, this is a zoning ordinance. Okay. We've put in here as much as many safeguards as we could. We understand that there is noise generation from a data center. We
understand that there are generators. We understand that there are backups. We understand that there are HVAC or air cooling. We understand all that. Um we have put in here requirements for acoustic screening. And wherever that goes, if it goes up high, if it goes up
down low, that acoustic screening has to happen. Okay? We can't design the building that we can't get into the head of the constructor of this building or the designer of the building. Right? Most of the consulting, most of the consulting that you've done so far has
not been with the public, but rather the the a potential applicant in the future property currently. Okay. And there's been very little interactive discussion in Mr. Sullivan is a professional planner engaged by
this township. He's been working on this project. It is a complex project as he has said. He has tried to include a number of safeguards as many as as but will will he be at the situation where every single issue that's going to be
raised is going to be incorporated into the plan. The answer is no. I mean we don't we don't have a cookbook here where every single issue is going to be addressed in this plan. It would be a telephone book size. We would never get
it done. So, it's it's a it's a skeletal infrastructure to say, "Hey, here's here's a conceptual view to utilize this property uh to the best of our ability."
I mean, in in the master plan development process, there's a lot of gathering of information from the public about what's suitable for might what might go on the property. in the redevelopment process. My experience so far with this particular process in particular is that um there is really no
opportunity to ear to air all of the issues from the standpoint of public concern around the Mr. Crowd. I believe you previously spoke to us and comment you were unaware that this was before the planning board. Did you not
previously come before us? Let's get if you want to get down to brass tax with that. Yes. Okay, I'm not trying to get to grass tax. There's a process and an opportunity for you to comment throughout this. Okay, this has been discussed previously. It has gone before
the planning board. They have held public sessions, taken comments on it. Um, this is not something that just popped up onto our agenda tonight. This when did this project start, Mr. Sullivan? Was there was a public hearing on the
designation in December. Thank you. And I believe you have had personal discussions with the mayor and the administrator at length on this mostly about these process development issues related to the development. But the fact
of the matter is you've had many many minutes of of dialogue between yourself personally and and township people. So it's not the case that this was done in a vacuum and all of a sudden this thing came out and you didn't know anything about it. Right. I mean that you you
have you have a really intense background and I understand that which provides you with an opportunity to introspect on a lot of different issues there but I my impression was that you if you didn't like the process that's
one of the things but the process led to a product and that's where we are right now. So the opportunity for feedback was a preemptive opportunity before uh the the
planner ever got a chance to present his plan. Um we never got a chance as the public to uh ask questions and and come up with and ask for uh explanation as to the rationale behind some of the
planning crit the design criteria that are included in the plan. duly not there's a restriction in the in the end uh about what the planning board is able to do or not do. Okay. It it just seems
um some of these issues are are are not going to be handled effectively and that that's my opinion, but it's not going to be handled effectively in order to ensure that the public that surrounds this property is going to is not going to be uh adversely
affected and and that's my major concern. Thank you. I'm sorry. Thank you. Okay. Anyone else wishing to address the council? Seeing no motion, a motion to close public input. Move for final action. I'll make that motion. I'm sorry,
Council President. I had a couple couple follow-up questions for the planner. Wait a minute. You can close public input. You can ask questions. I can. Okay. Thank you, sir. Motion to close public input. All those in favor of closing public info signify by saying I. I. Or do we need a formal roll call on?
No. Okay. I did I hear eyes? I Okay, we're close for public input. Go ahead. Uh Phipe, thank you, Mr. Sullivan. There's been a lot of comments about safeguards. Uh what are the safeguards
for to when it comes to sound? So the first the first um thanks the first the first thing that we require is external uh or it's acoustic screening of uh external operating equipment uh vibration isolation
acoustic panels within the building themsel itself uh HVAC equipment with uh acoustic uh pipe and duct wrap products to mitigate noise and interior noise dampening. So that's for the for the building and for the external equipment.
Um then there are maximum permitted sound pressure levels. Uh there's an acoustic impact study that's required. Um and that study uh has to show the predicted sound generated at all presential property
lines within 200 feet of the property of the um building. like a decibel number. Is that a decibel level? It's got to comply with your your existing section uh 142 noise. So, the applicant has to
comply with our with our sound our noise ordinance. Correct. And is there any safeguard when it comes to I'm sorry. You're not finished. I'm sorry. You're not finished. I I have a couple more just to just to say. So, so that's the the study that's required.
There's mitigation required based on the study and that's going to have to be reviewed by professionals. I'm not an acoustics person, but there's a one down the road. Um, and then post construction, if there are determined to be impacts, then there's post mitigation
construction required. Um, the maximum permitted daytime sound levels uh cannot be more than 50 dBA as measured at the nearest residential property line. um if it meets that standard, the compliance does not negate the ability
of the board to require mitigation if it is determined that the sound produced at the data center is resulting in a negative impact in nearby residences. So beyond the limits, if it's still a problem because you may meet that threshold, there's still an ability to require mitigation.
A lot of concerns about possible fuels on the site. Could the applicant have tankers of diesel fuel on the site? Would that be permissive? Fuel storage is not permitted. Not permitted at all. It's not It's not prohibited, but it's not specifically permitted. So, it would be prohibited. Prohibited. Okay.
Um I have I have three questions to Mr. Torski. Could you come up for a second? Did I say your name incorrectly? I'm sorry. Torski. Hi. Uh, are you familiar with server server heights in general?
In general, in specific, not in specific detail. Okay. Are you familiar with the the U standard in server heights? No. No. Um, typically in in the United States, the average server height is 7 feet. Does that make sense to you at
all? It could be. I'm only to I'm only advised by the end user that they're typically 15 or or higher. So I don't know if there there is no server sold in the United States that's 15 foot tall. Um I give you an example. I did a high server height
would be considered 70. So 42U would be a standard server height where every U is basically one server and that's uh thank you sir. Um so six uh the 42U is
the standard server rack. It's about it's a little over 6 feet. The highest server racks in use in the United States actually are 70U which are about 11 ft. Uh Microsoft for example uses 57U servers. HP uses 50U servers. Uh it's
very unusual for someone to use 70U servers for various reasons and that's a 10-ft server. I don't think your numbers are reflect accurate realities. I don't think that their server racks are 15 to 18 feet tall. They can be double stacked if if
that's the case. Sir, that's not that's not that's not common. That would be extremely unusual use of server racks. Why why would common if there's double stacked and there st their No, with all due respect, you you may
disagree with his numbers, but that's what he's testified to. Well, but he's not he's not a server expert. He's Yeah. Yeah. All right. Yeah. All right. Okay. There will be a chance in the board to discuss this. Okay. Uh I I
think we need to to move forward. We have I'm done. We have much more work to do tonight. Uh could I have a a motion on 10? I if I may, I just want to comment before we vote. Um, I I I think
it's important for everyone to understand that, you know, we we vote on this, if it's approved, it doesn't mean a data center is being built tomorrow. What we're voting on tonight is to approve potential uses which according
to the redevelopment plan include business offices, manufacturing, research laboratories, animal hospitals, medical office, dental offices, medical support centers, indoor commercial recreational facility, data center,
single single family detached residential dwellings or age restricted multifamily dwellings. And I know there's been a lot of discussion tonight about data centers. Um that's a decision that the the property owner has to make as to how they want to develop that.
They will have to develop plans for whatever option they choose and come before the planning board where public hearings are held and a lot of the questions that were presented tonight can be addressed. So I just wanted to share that before we vote. Okay. I make
a m I will make the motion. Sure. Can I have a second, please? I'll second it. A roll comment, please. I have a comment. We're We're We're going to No, I'm entitled to make a comment before you vote. We've discussed this before. I'm not making the comment during my vote. I'm making my comment before I vote as
you requested, council president. All right. I think the public's commentary here tonight uh is justified. I think the this governing body is in fact um modifying its zoning to permit the use of a data center.
questions regarding the use of a data center and the impact it's going to have on the community are certainly reasonable and justifiable. Thank you all for being here tonight and for addressing this body and and bring forward your questions. I certainly appreciated them.
Uh when it comes to this particular application, I'm going to vote no for two main reasons. Number one is I don't think I have I don't I'm not satisfied that this data center is 57 ft. I think the uh um there's no justification for
that height. I don't think it has to exceed 50 feet and I think I would be generally okay with a data center that's under that's 50 ft or under. On the other issue is that um when I was first asked to vote on redevelopment of this site, I agreed because we were
considering a data center which I thought would fit the site as long as it was within the size parameters to fit the area. However, since then, a housing component has been has been added to this issue that I was not really in favor from the beginning. And I said so
at the very first day we voted on this issue on this on this site needing redevelopment. I did say that if anything else was going to be added, I would not be supportive. I don't I don't support the use of mass dense housing on this property and and I will not support
the application. Roll call, please. Councilman Codeller. Okay, hearing everybody's comments, I respect every everything that has been said this evening. I also realize that none of us on this board are experts as
to the height of server racks. Um, that'll come later when the discussions are held with the uh planning board and so forth. as far as the utilities, the water utilities, the power utilities, you know, that's all going to come out
in the de in the discussion of the with the details of the project. Uh, as I stated earlier, my concern is the mitigation of Cuckled's Brook and, you know, the setbacks for the buildings and everything seems to be in conversation
and of concern. So, I'm satisfied with that. So, my vote is yes. Councilman um Councilman Pedroso, no. Councilman Ring, yes. President Ogalas, yes. Uh moving to 11A and introduction of
ordinance and and this is actually a reintroduction, an ordinance authorizing the sale of the property known as lot 511 in block three on the Bridgewater Township Tax Map and located at Whitney Court, Bridgewater, New Jersey. Uh
that's east of Shasta Drive to TripleC Housing Incorporated, 1520 Route 130 North uh sweet 2011 North Brunswick, New Jersey 08902 was the buyer for the nominal consideration of $100 pursuant to NJSA48
uh 12-210 I I'm sorry 11 uh to construct affordable housing in the development and developer is unable to meet the construction cost through other sources. The township may contribute up to $150,000 from the affordable housing
trust fund. Uh this was previously introduced and approved uh but it was repro approved as a group home and there has been a recognition that there's a change in news. A group home provides uh
resources to the tenants including food things of that nature. uh but this is actually uh being apped now as a a supportive housing uh so uh it is being reintroduced. Are there any questions about this as a is there is there any
difference from a co-o point of view group home versus supportive housing? According to Bill Savo, the answer is no. In fact, we get the same affordable housing. I'm good. Uh for this.
Okay. The reason for the change is that the actual type of housing is not technically a group home. There's different licenses and different requirements. I just But the benefit to the township is is the same. That's where I'm going. That's all I was. Yep.
Okay. Any other comments? Uh could I have a roll call, please? Oh, motion, please. I'll make a motion to introduce it. I'll second it. Okay. Roll call, please. Yeah. I just want to say that here's an example of u what I referred
to in my council in my council reports where we are paying potentially paying money for something that we got no equity back. Wouldn't it be nice if we actually had equity on it? I support this. Councilman Codella. Yes. Councilman
Pedroso. Yes. Councilman R. Yes. President of Gallas. Yes. Okay. We have public hearing. Yep. I'll set the public hearing. The final action for this Oh, yes. I'm sorry. Thank you. That's okay. The final ordinance for this um the final action for this ordinance is
scheduled for May 8th, 2025 at 7:30 p.m. here in the municipal courtroom. Public inspection of this ordinance is available on the township website, on the bulletin board, and through the clerk's office. Okay. Thank you. Uh I'm going to take consent for 12DC
and BC. Uh and yeah. Okay. Uh A including uh naming Michael Papus as township uh municipal housing liaison. B is appointing Blanca Lions as Bridgewater Township Tax Collector pursuant to NJSA
48 9-141X. By the way, this is effective as March 1st and this is a 4-year assignment. Um as as such uh C is appointing Anry Silva as township treasurer pursuant to sections
4-37 at sec of the municipal code of the township of Bridgewater. I'll move that on consent. Could I have a second please? I'll second it. Roll call, please. Codella. Yes. Pedroso. Yes. As ring. Yes. Yes.
Congratulations, Mr. Papis. Okay. Okay. Uh I'm going to move uh D, E, F, G, H, and I, which are all road projects. I'm going to read them as fast as I can. D is project resolution for
professional uh surveying and engineering services phase one for the 2025-1 roadway improvement project which includes the entire lengths of Columbia Drive, Dark Smith Avenue, Sanford Drive, Kelly Court, Pope Road, Kim's Court,
Hollander Street, and Harry Road and partial lengths of Monroe Street, Jackson Street, Charles Street, Harry Road to Pope Road, Thomas uh Street, East Main Street to Harry Road, Uh and Southside Avenue, Dutch Lane to Lozer uh
to Morgan Engineering LLC, 8 Central Avenue, Box 220, Island Heights, New Jersey 08732 in the amount of 156,740 funded through the 2017, 2022,
2022, and 2024 capital road improvement bonds. And that's a s the bonds is plural. Uh E is project resolution for the professional service surveying and engineering services phase one for the 2025-2 roadway improvement project which
includes Emmens Court, Richardson Lane, Katherine Lane, uh Karen Place, Danbury Lane, Villa Drive, Hinrich Way, Lewis Drive, El Maro Drive, Stapleton Court, Slack Court, Bradley Lane, and Stats Court to Kier's Engineering and Design
Incorporated. Uh, too many incorporators. Uh, Shelbourne at 153 Frontage Road, Sweet 110, Hampton, New Jersey 08827 in the amount of $171,720 funded through the 2024 capital
road improvement bond. Moving to F, project resolution for the professional serving and engineering services phase one for the 2025-3 roadway improvement project which includes the entire length of Cat Hill Road, Riverview Drive east
of Meadow Road, West Foothill Road, Short Hills Drive, Bike Place, Falmouth Place, McKinley Street, west of Country Club Road, and Eisenhower Avenue off McKinley Street bid to Remington and Vernick and Janeers 429 Route 79 Sweet
21 Morganville, New Jersey 07751 in the amount of $73,910 funded through the 2024 capital road improvement bond. G. Project resolution for the professional surveying and engineering services phase
one for the 2025-4 roadway improvement project which includes entire lengths of Sunset Drive, Miners Drive, Russet Lane, Peach Tree Road, Ricky Drive, Robin Way, Bluestone Lane, Carni Drive, Turnberry Court and partial lengths of Clare
Drive, Arthur Road to Robin Way, Glenwood Terrace, Foothill Road to Clare Drive and Pen Road West from Roger Lane uh to Remington and Vernick Engineers 429 Route 20 Route 79 Sweet 21 Morganville, New Jersey
07751 in the amount of $140,680 funded through the 2024 Capitol Road Improvement Bond H. Project resolution for the professional serving and engineering services phase one for the 2025-5 roadway improvement project which
includes entire lengths of Crestwood Drive, a Ridge Road, Middle Road, Bulmer, Farm Road, 6th Avenue and 7th Avenue to Kier's Engineering and Design Incorporated Shelbourne at 53 frontage
road sweet 110 Hampton, New Jersey 08827 in the amount of 139,000. 320 funded through the 2024 capital road improvement bond. I project resolution for professional surveying and engineering services phase one for the
2025-6 roadway improvement project which includes entire links of the Forest View Drive, Blazer Road, Wolf Hill Terrace, Owens Court and Brookside Drive to CP Engineers LLC, 11 Park Avenue, 11 Park
Lane, I'm sorry, 11 Park Lake Road, Sparta, New Jersey 07871-3241 in the amount of 36,560 funded through the 2019 and 2024
capital road improvement bonds. Don't ask me to repeat that. I was just going to say, can you I will refuse to repeat that. Um, has anybody have any questions on this? Otherwise, I would I I do. I just have a comment before we vote.
Earlier this evening, we heard comments about abandoning the road improvement program. The the fact in my opinion is that few years ago when we made the decision to move forward with this program and along the way painstaking
you know go through some painful moments in committing to keep it going. The logic of doing this work at this rate at this time is that yeah, we're spending $8 million a year today to get it done,
but once we finish with this work, that $8 million a year is going to drastically drop down. And in the long run, over the next decade, it's going to save Bridgewater residents millions of dollars because we've fixed the roads.
So pushing it down the street and saying we're not going to do it now. We'll do it later. It's going to be more expensive later on. And with that logic, Howard, I would make a motion to approve these second. Before I second it, I just um want to comment just for the public,
this is step one in a process of awarding contracts for engineering. Um at some point, this will come back to award contracts for the actual work. So, I don't want, you know, I know we have some residents very passionate about some of these roads. Does not mean the
roads getting repaved tomorrow. It's this is step one in a multi-step process. I'll second it. Thank you. On consent, please. I have a comment. Yes, sir. Thank you. I'm a little bit torn when it comes to
voting on this issue because I I support uh fixing these roads and I support repairing these roads. However, my concern, as often is the case, is how we got to pay for it. Uh, as we sit here today on April 24th, I still have not
seen a budget. I appreciate the fact that one was presented to at least Councilman Ring, but I have not seen the budget. I have no idea what the state of our township financial affairs is. I don't know which roads we can or cannot afford to do and I'm not going to keep
commanding our township to continue with debt and borrowing without knowing our financial status. So I cannot at the same time support it for that reason. So I will simply abstain. Mr. President, I just wanted to clarify that um all of these uh resolutions were
voting on tonight uh everyone has seen the budget. No, as you read each of these, it was duly noted that there is no 2025 expenses. These are all being funded at a surplus from prior years. So there's zero impact to this year's
budget on awarding of engineering, simply design work. If that's if that's the case, then actually you've made my decision a little bit easier considering that last year uh Bridgewater had a tax increase of 12%. I think that was excessive. So I would vote vote no.
Roll call, please. Councilman Codeller, yes. Pedroso, no. Councilman Rain, yes. President Ogalis, yes. Okay. I'd like to take uh J K and L and do by consent also. I'll
read the titles. Authorizing change order number one, final change order, decreasing the contract price from $959,35 37 to $881,93769, a decrease of 8.04% or 77,97.68. Authorizing acceptance of the
project release of the performance bond, acceptance of the maintenance bond, and final payment to the Santis Construction Incorporated PO Box 6030, Somerset, New Jersey 08875 for the 2023-5 roadway improvement project,
which includes the entire lengths of Heritage Court, Hillside Avenue, Marlin Street, Orchard Street, Prospect Avenue, two sections, uh, Rambler Drive, two sections, Stone Hedge Lane, and foreign Avenue funded through the 2023 capital road project. K is authorizing the
release of the performance guarantee in the amount of uh $5,477 and acceptance of the site improvements for RA 360 Miltown Road Investments LLC block 165 lot 2 at 360
Miltown Road. Uh L is authorizing an additional $43,960.80 80 to Somerset County Road and Bridge Division for Road Salt for a total contract amount not to exceed $193,960.80 for the
2024-2025 winter season to be funded from the snow removal account. Could I any questions on JKNL? If not, could I have I think you have some questions. Go ahead. I I'm looking I have no issue with JK. Uh I also do not have an issue
with L, but I do have a comment. Again, part of the responsibility that we have is to provide service and yeah, we had roughly $150,000 budgeted for salt and we spent $43,960.80 more.
Uh, I would hate to think that we would vote against something like this because we exceeded a budget amount while we provided service to our residents and eliminated the possibility of some lawsuits or injuries. So, with having
those comments, I I intend to support all three. Have that as a motion. I'll make that a motion. I'll second it. Roll call, please. Councilman Codilla, yes. Councilman Pedroso. Yes. Councilman Ring. Yes. President Ogalis. Yes. We'll
move up to item 13, which is close session for contract negotiations for the Center of Excellence, also known as Peters Brook, for litigation, contract negotiations of affordable housing, and tax appeal. Um, [Music]
do we anticipate? Uh, there will be no action to be taken after the close session. We will simply adjourn. Uh be it resolved by the Bridgewater Township Council that this body will now hold a closed session uh meeting to discuss the items. When and if the
matters discussed become public knowledge, this information will become known to the public. Public is excluded from said meeting and further notice thereof is dispensed with all in accordance with section 8 and 4A of the open public meetings act. Could I have a
motion to go to close session, please? Good night, Roman. I'll make that motion. Second. All those in favor? I I Okay, we are in close session right now. Uh Thank you. Okay, we have concluded our close
session and closed the close session and we are now back. Uh no action is to be taken at this time. We will now adjourn this body at uh so we have a motion. All those in favor of adjournment signify by
saying I. I. Okay. We are we are ajourned. Thank you very much ladies and gentlemen. Right. because of what I said.