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e e e e e e e welcome to the March 6th bridgew water Township council meeting in compliance with the open public meetings Act of New
Jersey the 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 and the bulletin board in the municipal building and filing with the Township
Clerk may we have the roll call please councilman kers here councilman cill here councilman pedroso here councilman ring here president nalis here uh councilman Cilla would you please lead
us in the pledge if you're able please stand Al to of the United States of America to the for it stands indivisible withy jusice for all thank you uh minutes for approval the the
closed session minutes are circulating but we have the minute the regular minutes of February 20th 2025 has anyone had an opportunity to offer any comments if so if none could I have a motion on those minutes please I'll make the
motion to approve okay second please I'll second it thank you all those in favor I I those minutes are approved moving on to Township Council reports I'd like to start with councilman cordilla please okay
um this evening the first action activity I attended I attended a drone uh presentation this afternoon as a as a possibility for Bridgewater Township emergency services and I have to
say while it was uh extremely cool outside to say the least the presentation uh presented some some what I considered to be some benefits for Bridgewater Township and there seems there will be a lot more uh time and
effort going into qualify that activity along with that as many of you know I've I've been a member of the fer and fire department for many years and the uh this past week the other Tuesday night I believe the uh
Bridgewater Township had in my opinion of what could have been a tottal disaster when a uh car drove into the rear of a gas tanker on Route 22 by Thompson Avenue uh if you've ever been involved
in an accident in a scene like that uh I assure you it's not a uh it's not something that you look forward to but I would like to say that uh comment on the action of police officer
Noah a lot um his body cam images showed his response to the scene and his actions on the scene which I think will be images and um something
that he'll carry for the rest of his life my opinion officer allot is a true hero for uh his activity in going to the car that was basically embedded in the back of the tanker and pulling it on the
unconscious d driver added a car while the car was burning while the tanker was Burning uh got alight I give officer a lot a tremendous amount of uh credit for his show of extraordinary courage and action in Saving a
life and in my opinion the the use of body cams in this is in this instance uh if there's any question from the public whether they're valuable or not uh based on recent activity here with uh comments made by the public that
were proven to be not true and by the use of the body cams here showing the activity of our police officers uh I think we're blessed to have the police department and the officers that we do have in addition to
that the fire companies who responded Martinsville was primary coverage finer and green n responded also I assure you that each one of of them knowing what they were going to they did not hesitate for a moment to respond and do this
provide the service that they had to needed to provide to uh put the fire out they all should be commended and I think the residents of Bridgewater should really step back if you're not aware that all of the fire companies and
Bridgewater are volunteer I think that's something you should take into consideration and give give these guys the credit that they also deserve along with the EMT organizations I think Martinsville and green all responded to it uh you know
they're all volunteers and that's a been in Bridgewater Township for you know for almost for my whole term time in Bridgewater I guess for close to 70 75 years in general but the uh the technology that helped with this with
the video cams the action of police officer the action of the fire departments and the EMTs all contribute to what many of us here look at as far as activity and looking at this incident
the other part that I that that came to mind was the actions of our planning board and some of the thoughts we have in Bridgewater in having our uh you know trying to keep Route 22 and Road safe by having car dealerships
pull the car trailers off the road and load the vehicles on the properties themselves to me uh driving into the rear of a tractor trailer is you know it obviously something was wrong but when I
see a car trailer a guy loading cars in front of a car dealership I get a little nervous because you're a blink of an eye away from a similar type incident you know of somebody getting hurt hurt terribly so I tip my hat to Emergency
Services tip my hat to the U planning board and Bridgewater for some for the service that they provide and and the guidance on buildings and so forth and I'm just saying nothing but positive things
God bless them all thank you councilman kersch please um thanks very much um I have a just a brief report tonight but want to you know Echo the S sentiments that were were just uh were just noted um police
Fire EMS um Road workers you know really we we're blessed here in Bridgewater with many dedicated public servants uh protecting us in one way or another um and I think it's important that we stop and see that um whether we're on the de
here or uh residents out in the community uh the two items uh briefly I wanted to report the zoning board met on February 25th uh they approved an expansion of the mosum at the St Bernard's Church Cemetery I maybe I'll have to ask our
clerk how many um at some point how many um deceased residents we have here in bridgew probably being interesting they don't to vote though they don't they don't vote but it'd be interesting to know there are a few towns in New Jersey and elsewhere where there's more deceased people than live people I don't think we're quite there but it'd be an
interesting statistic and then on on the fourth uh the planning board uh meeting was cancelled due to lack of agenda and that's my report thank you councilman pedroo please uh thank you sir good evening
everybody thank you for joining us here at our council meeting tonight uh a couple things I guess I have to say I did attend the drone presentation today um over here at Town Hall uh these are U drones potentially
to be used by our Police Department for Public Safety uh certainly a interesting technology and I look forward to exploring that further um I attended the uh on the
24th um our legislative Representatives uh Senator Douglas steinhardt and assembly minority leader John Deo and uh Eric and then some of them Eric Peterson had a town hall in riton burrow uh
Slyman Deo couldn't attend because he was sick but so I did attend that event it lasted for a couple hours mostly it was focused ended up being focused on on the community's concern with the train uh the trains in
riton and um I listen to a lot of people talk about those issues uh apparently the trains um they're noisy they produce a lot of pollution a lot of residents are concerned about the the the the toxic
effects of the pollution they're being exposed to from the trains and a lot of vibrations and I guess it's gotten worse over the years and what I found also sort of interesting was that these trains idle for a large part of the night so they they they keep them
running um for most of the night and they keep you know emitting pollution all night long and they keep making these sounds and I I just uh couldn't help but think of um sort of like the hypocrisy that comes
down from our governor because he keeps telling us that we should be using electric vehicles they're trying to ban they're trying to ban our gasoline cars they're trying to ban people from using their gas stoves at
home but yet he says nothing about these trains that are producing much more pollution than most of us do and and they're producing these toxic effects in the community and they run non-stop but the governor does nothing to advocate for the people of veriton
and certainly Bridgewater that are affected by these trains and it's just crickets from Trenton for these issues so just couldn't help but think about the hypocrisy that comes down uh from our governor uh I also attended several
Lincoln Day dinners um Republican parties across our state have a tradition of Hosting Lincoln Day events uh so I attended uh several of them throughout our state uh I'm always uh glad to attend
events I recognize President Lincoln President Lincoln was the first Republican president um and I can't I can't help but think about all the accomplishments that really our party has had in the in the crusade of equal
rights uh for uh for Americans um Abraham Lincoln certainly plays a vital role in the Emancipation Proclamation and and the and the the finality of slavery uh the Republican party uh
really were The Advocates and fought for uh the right to vote for all all black citizens in America and certainly the Republican Party are the ones who um advocated and fought for the women's right to vote and even the Civil Rights Act of
1964 uh was was mostly supported uh uh by Republicans uh certainly President Kennedy um spoke favorably of the Civil Rights Act and certainly he he helped push it through but uh Republicans were
the primary party that supported the Civil Rights Act um 82% of uh 82% of Republican Senators voted in favor of the Civil Rights Act compared to 68% of Democrats and in the house of repres
Representatives 80% of Republicans voted in favor versus 61% of Democrats so I'm just really um I'm really proud of that fact that our party has really been the Bedrock of civil rights and equality in
America and um certainly I I get a chance to think more about that as I attend these Lincoln Day events throughout our state that's all I have thank you thank you councilman ring please all right thank you sir um councilman Cilla has mentioned um we do
truly have a hero in our Bridgewater Police Department um if I I commend the police department for releasing the video I'm very sad to see some social media groups out there are blocking the video and do not feel it's appropriate
to be shared um very disappointing if you have not had a chance to see the video I would absolutely encourage you to go to the bridgew Police Department's Facebook page you can hear the hear the audio uh of Officer a lot understanding
and confirming with an individual on the ground before he runs to a car that the engine compartment is fully engulfed in flames goes to the passenger side of the vehicle realizes there's a gentleman unconscious in the driver's seat goes around the vehicle and pulls him out and
drags him to safety um if it was not for officer a lot I think that would have been a very different outcome and uh kudos to him thank you to him I understand uh he's uh born and raised locally in Somerville is
that correct chief chief shaking his head in the back of the room um you know local individual and a true hero so thank you uh to him for his efforts um I also participated in uh
some have mentioned the police departments in very early stages at looking at how um unmanned aircraft systems can be used not only for law enforcement but for Fire EMS missing people um multiple uses out there uh and
looked at a demonstration this afternoon uh it was quite impressive and I'm sure there'll be more to come on that uh over the next several months uh the only other item I have um the budget committee continues to be in contact with the administration as it relates to
getting a a a timeline or um a budget for the budget committee to take action on uh we are still waiting for that um that's my report thank you thank you sir my report uh Bridgewater police offic
Noah at all made the news in a dramatic Rescue of a driver whose car was on fire due to an accident with a tanker on route22 by Chimney Rock at our May at I'm sorry at our March 20th the next coun meeting we will honor officer uh at
all with a formal Proclamation good work officer and great work Chief uh March 1st was an important day for our Muslim friends it was the start of Ramadan which is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar it is observed by Muslims worldwide as a month of fasting prayer
reflection and Community it is also the month in which the Quran is believed to have been revealed to the Islamic Prophet Muhammad the Ann ual observance of Ramadan is regarded as one of the five pillars of Islam and lasts 29 to 30 days from one sighting of the crescent
moon to the next Ash Wednesday occurring on March 5th marks the beginning of Lent a significant period of reflection and repentance in the Christian faith this day is traditionally observed with the imposition of of Ashes symbolizing
mortality and the call to repentance as well as the start of a 40-day journey Journey leading to Easter many Christians participate in fasting and abstaining from certain foods during Lent which emphasizes spiritual growth and
renewal I attended the monthly meeting of the municipal Alliance uh police chief mitac also attended as well as Board of Education president Steven Singer the alliance continues to support our high school students through multiple programs including drug
awareness and a more recent effort uh to support Mental Health New Jersey American Water continues to flush hydrants in various parts of our town as part of their annual maintenance program uh this process removes sediment that may have
settled in their water Ms there is a possibility that some residents may see a minor discoloration for a short period of time if that happens just run the water for a few minutes psng sent notices to Residents entitled upcoming
gas meter inspection their letter States we remind you to always ask for identification when a utility worker comes to your door our employees carry a psng photo identification badge wear psng logo
apparel and drive psng cars and trucks if a resident especially a senior citizen does not feel comfortable admitting the worker deny them access and call the psse customer service number
8004367734 to verify the visit that is my report thank you mayor's report please thank you council president um I have a few items to touch on tonight um the first one as we're we're talking
about the actions of our police officers um I joined of course in all the sentiments that have been said about the incident um with officer a lot and his heroism and uh on the way over I don't know depending on how you came in the building the um Police Academy is taking
place uh the civilian police academy is taking place down uh down the hallway and um you know that uh that program has been a uh very well received we continues to be done I thank chief for you and all your uh the officers
commitment to doing that it's uh it's been a phenomenal opportunity to continue to build relationships between the police department and our public and um try to educate both the public and our officers about what's going on uh in our in our um town the um a couple other
quick items um I attended it's been a busy couple weeks um I was honored to be one of the hosts for the New Jersey Conference of mayor's winter Summit which is up in Floren Park uh was a a bunch of programs um about municipal government local government we had a
representation from the state the Attorney General was there as well as the um superintendent of the state police uh I was at the walk to Washington neighbor of Commerce event with the Congressional Delegation um at a couple weeks ago which was a very informative U
meeting with folks from around the state uh with regard to again mpal government state government and federal government uh issues and how they impact us here in Bridgewater um the Robert Wood Johnson had their annual fashion show at the mall to celebrate heart health and
promote heart health um that is one of my fa events of the year um mostly because I get to watch my uh girls walk in the fashion show uh although it's starting to turn this year my oldest said she would not wave to me because
that was not cool so unfortunately for her I get a microphone so I made sure to call her out on the microphone and make sure I was going that I was going to wave to her because she was my daughter and I was her father and I was going to make sure everyone knew it uh in fifth grade that she still was able to laugh
that off I don't know if I'm going to get get away with that for too much longer before she really gets angry about it um but uh the hospital's been a great partner for us in terms of all the things that they do uh the Fashion Show is certainly a a fun enjoyable way of promoting hard health month but they
sponsor a lot of events in Bridgewater through directly or through their Foundation such as the Spring Carnival at The JCC uh we had opportunity to um meet with their leadership this earlier this week to talk about more ways of closing the health
gaps within Somerset County uh and we've have some ideas in terms of programs they have a lot of interesting statistics that they've done as part of their community health study that talks about access to health care and Health Care outcomes differing between age populations ethnic
populations and some strategies for at a county level as well as some of the data is down to the township level so we can figure out how to bridge that Gap whether it's language uh issues whether it's um you know as an example you have lower income folks uh if you work an hourly job you don't you can't
necessarily take off 4 hours to sit in a doctor's waiting room because you have an appointment at 9:00 and you don't get seen until 11:30 and you miss your whole work day so how do we get medical care provided after hours on a more routine basis so folks like that can have access
to healthare it's not necessar an insurance issue sometimes it's just a literally they don't have they can't take time off of work put food on the table and also go get medical treatment so there's a lot of cool um cool there's a lot of very uh informative St statistics about that within our community and we have some ideas on how
to piggyback on what they're doing as well as to expand it into our community specifically to make sure our residents have uh access to healthc care uh roads we're coming up on the fifth year of the road program we will talk about this at nauseum so in case you have not heard
about it uh well of course Council you have um we'll be promoting it over and over and over and over again um but we are almost finalizing the list of roads for this year uh for the public we break up the town to six regions so that every region has road work done it's not necessarily the
same mileage or the same dollar values it depends on the projects each year but that way we know for sure every area gets roads done so it's there's no there's nobody the there's always a perception that they people think one area gets more than the other um and uh
we are are finalizing that we'll start um looking to go out as soon as possible to get approval for uh moving those projects forward because the quicker we go out the better pricing we get we had a bid come up um just this week for Pine which is in uh in Martinsville that was
a project that was one area left over from last year that had not um got done before the winter season came you can't pave roads when it's snowing and freezing out um so we're happy to report that that bid came in and it came in $100,000 under what we were estimating it at so um we're hoping to continue to
take advantage of good pricing because the more we save money then we can turn it around and we can do more road work some of the projects we put out have um uh you know alternate bids that we can do if the pricing is good enough but not if the pricing goes high so we will have
information um on those roads that's not 100% finalized yet but we're we're going to hope to continue moving through some of our areas um and keep keep moving on that progress the our BW roads website um is I think it is updated or if not
it's about to be make sure we're updated with the most current information so res if you go on that road you can see how your road is rated in terms of how bad is it um I know every Road's bad but some roads uh um we take a look at an entire road but we also recognize there are sections of road that it might be
okay here here and here and then you get in front of your house and there's a giant pothole uh we recognize that so um we will try to get on to that and um I think that uh
concludes uh Washington um oh and uh at this um uh next Wednesday um I am honored I'm going to be able to attend uh a St Patty's Day event at the White House um with other Mayors from around the country so I've never been to the
White House so I am I'm very very excited to go so I will uh take pictures and uh report back so that is my uh report oh I'm sorry I I forgot about the the budget um to comment on that so we are are close to finalizing a budget um
we are trying to move as swiftly as possible but at the same time uh I'm not going to present a budget to the council that I'm not comfortable with we have uh we got items uh recently got the state aid numbers we also got uh information from the tax office with regard to
assessments so we know what the tax base is and uh we are still in the process of finalizing our spending priorities and our um uh budget presentation I hope that we will have it
uh probably by the early April um for pres for Public Presentation but um I know uh the budget committee has been asking for a timeline uh and I don't want to that's our hope but I don't want to um that is not a a 100% commitment uh
as soon as I have a budget that I am comfortable presenting to the council and to the public uh we will have it and um that's the my report I think uh mionis has two items he want report as well thank you U as the council knows the council has had U requests from the
administration and has acted on a number of properties that have been designated areas of re need areas in need of Redevelopment excuse me one of those is the um uh site on uh Route 22 and on um
Monday March the 10th the draft plan that Mr Michael Sullivan has put together will be uh released and available to the public and to the planning board who will hear officially a presentation by Mr Sullivan at the next planning board meeting on March the
18th uh two days later the township Council will be meeting and the administration would like to request the council's consideration and allowing Mr Sullivan to make that presentation at the council meeting and perhaps to at least to have a draft ordinance that
then the council could have on the agenda and then perhaps consider uh introducing that ordinance on March the 20th uh so that is one item that I wanted to report uh the other item briefly is uh the late last meeting a
member of the public had spoken about uh information from the user friendly budget and I I did review the document or the page that the gentleman was referencing and compared it I think he was trying to compare it between 2024
and 2023 and the specific comment was about number of Supervisors versus number of employees that were non-supervisory U and the the number of Supervisors again listed on that page of the userfriendly budget for the uh 2024
budget was um um uh 21 uh the number of uh Union employees was 55 and the number of non-union employees was 27
and the the comparisons that were being made with the previous year were that the number of uh Union and non-union employees had been um uh different different and uh higher uh one year
versus the other and and so uh I'm going to actually correspond with the gentleman and U provide him the the information that I was able to have and hopefully uh clarify and uh certainly then be able to respond to any question questions that he has that's all that I
have thank you thank you Mr papis moving on to item number seven proclamations we have none we are now moving to item number eight which is the meeting open to the public members of the public wishing to address the Council on any matter will be allowed three minutes to speak unless there are unusual
circumstances may I have a motion open to the public please make that motion I'll second second all those in favor I I we are now open to public if you wish to address the council please come forward sign your name and and please uh make sure the green light is on and
speak into the microphone Pap ma'am um thank you for discussing the budget tonight after my after my inquiry last at the last meeting I looked up the state statute that I believe relates to this and I may not be interpreting it correctly but I
wanted to just confirm it says that for municipalities like ours that follow our budget year to the calendar year we are required to submit to the county An approved budget as the first step by February 10th if I'm understanding the
comments made thus far we have not done that is that true yeah that's accurate the the February 10th deadline gets extended every year by there's a either an executive order or a local Finance board Note but um your point is the deadline this year so the deadline is
like today or or this time so we are not going to meet the deadline your point is still valid I'm just saying that it's like the March deadline because the State numbers don't come out until February so um no town can meet the statutory de so the state has some parameters that it gives you I believe
typically in mid January yeah usually comes out February yes and the statute says February 10th you're telling me now that this that the we are required to submit a budget sometime in March earlier comments seemed to indicate that you were ready to present probably maybe
in April That's My Hope yeah early April so so we are going to be out of compliance with the state statute yes is there a justification for that yes I'm not ready with the budget yet I'm sorry I'm not ready with a budget yet is has
that got anything to do with the fact that the budget was approved last year only in July leaving the Administration less time to prepare for this year's budget it would certainly seem so no that they're independent both budgets
I'm sorry the budgets are independent in terms of the time we prepare for each Year's budget in advance but until we get the final numbers for state aid which came in two days ago we get our uh rating from the tax assessor on our total tax regardless we're going to we're going to not be able to meet the
state statute deadline regardless of whether it's February or March correct okay that's not exactly in terms of the financial rigor and transparency that that you also tell my larger question is this though so on tonight's on tonight's
agenda there are emergency authoriz temporary emergency authorizations which basically cumulatively fund over approximately half of last year's budget which puts us well past March
April even May potentially MH the use of that temporary emergency authorization from what I could understand in the statute the underlying sentiment there is that we are proceeding on time with budget approval adoption public hearing Etc the
use or overuse of these temporary authorizations seems to be a convenient way for business to proceed at the township but without any public input let me give you an example um tonight also on the agenda is
the authorization of an additional $11,000 to RJM landscape for 2024 2025 snow removal the initial contract 75k was done last September in advance on presuming of the season um last month
it was increased by 100% to 150k tonight another 100K totaling a little over a quarter of a million dollars the initial paperwork indicated that there was a$ 22950 an hour rate
if you do the math that's over ,000 a th000 hours worth of snow removal time ma'am let let me qualify snow removal for you yeah it it the snow removal that we're talking about tonight goes into a block fund which is snow it
authorizes the use to a vendor if we need to right now so far that's the 2024 2025 right and if we don't have any snow for the rest of the of the Season all all the well uh but we're we are
anticipating that if we do need to to get our crews out there that we will be able to fund them the money we are finish please let me finish yeah we are down to $35,000 right now in our snow fund because every time there's a bit of snow
we have to go out and salt we have to we have to our people have to be out there it's an expensive proposition I think we do an excellent job of getting getting out there I'm not disputing that I'm disputing the the vendor contract the vendor contract that was initially for
75k then it was doubled to 150k and then tonight March 6 another 100 CR K bringing the total to$ 250,000 this is the authorization to spend that money if we need to if it doesn't snow we will not need to use that vendor and none of
those dollars will go out the door I'm using that thank you I'm using using that as an example to demonstrate how the lack of a budget being approved and beginning the adoption process as a business we have to pay our bills right
and whether we have the budget in place on a formal basis we will continue to do that I can certainly understand as most home operating expenses to get paid I think you're saying Hey I want the budget to be done within the Browns of
of specific date I think you've heard the mayor saying he's working on it and when he's done with it he will give it to the council and then we will look at it what I'm questioning is why we why 50% has to be appropriated if we if we anticipate that it'll be ready well there are timing issues throughout the
calendar it isn't take your annual thing and divide it by 12 but without any public input or ability to question what's being budgeted and what's being spent you must understand that every year that there's further delay on the adoption of the budget
increases the audit findings of some careless bookkeeping and then reduces the amount of time I understand that each budget is a separate fiscal year but they're recurring expenses and I presume with some predictability it's not a huge budget that you can start budget Bill we understand later in the
process that Waits okay it difficult I don't understand why we can't adhere to the deadline okay you've made your point I understand your question thank you excuse me anyone else wishing to address the council yes did the lady give us her
name and address she I wrote it on yeah we'll uh we'll make sure we get it come on up ma'am there's no pen Jan Gand off to that there you go
I I I'll use this one so Jane gandal Washington 2000 Washington Valley Road um on behalf of the friends of Bridgewater history I want to thank Bridgewater for joining our newly formed Bridgewater history Alliance we appreciate the support ma'am
would you speak closer to the microphone please thank you uh we appreciate all of your support and we look forward to having many wonderful events to celebrate our country's 250th anniversary also do you have historic preservation money in the
budget we don't know yet we haven't finished the budget you we don't know yet we haven't finished the budget would you please consider putting historic preservation money in the budget either through open space
or however yeah and and uh Miss Gandalf and on top of just generally historic preservation money um we are in the process of doing our open space uh master plan as part which is a separate document than the master plan master plan but some of that will also include
looking at um items such as you know preservation of of prop properties whether it be um you know unstructured properties structured properties and I think with the America 250 there's going to be opportunities both for Grants um and funding there
some of that's going to potentially require matching funds or partial um contribution so uh it's something that we are uh we are definitely looking at both from a budget funding standpoint open space funding standpoint and from a grant funding standpoint terrific thank
you so much thank you am good evening everybody my name is Dan masterani it's nice to see the mayor I've been did you raise the microphone up Sir yeah trying to meet with the mayor for quite a while now I'd just
like to know in the budget met Michael several times uh think you've seen my name on several emails is Spring Run the water situation drainage Road seriously being considered in this next budget yes
so without um overc committing until we have the final Road plan done Spring Run is absolutely uh that is the intention is to start doing Spring Run I don't know uh we won't be able to do the whole spring one in one shot so um what we would expect to do is start um with some
of the lower um lower I'm looking at the think of my map as I was looking at it lower right corner of the roads that's where I live okay well good then that's the other side maybe another year um but when we do it we're not just going to do the paving we're going to look at drainage um because otherwi if you just PVE the roads not fixing the drainage
it's not going to you're going to tear up the roads with the the water and maybe increase the flooding issues so without it's not presented yet so I don't want to give you a 100% absolutely but that is on the uh the tentative list
like last night are very unnerving yeah know when it starts raining that hard if it's going to keep raining yeah so I that is the expectation that's an area that we've been trying to get to and uh we're finishing up um Sunset Lake and the intention is to move into Spring Run
This Year great so thank both of you and everybody have a good night thank you anyone else wishing to address the council come forward please hi Andrew buo Barry Wood Lane and uh here in Bridgewater
um uh first I'd uh actually like to uh thank uh Mr papis for the comments that he will get back to me as the member of the public who had brought these up in the uh previous meetings about the uh uh Personnel um counts in the uh the budget
files uh just like to um reiterate that the uh as he did note the other Union number uh of uh employees went from 70 to 55 from 2023 to
2024 a 15 uh reduction of head count of 15 full-time uh also two part-time uh not really counting those uh and other non-union went from 49 to 27 a a 22 uh
reduction of headcount of 22 uh full-time and and also seven seven part-time so there uh appears to have been a uh reduction of of headcount of 37 full-time employees the uh the mayor is shaking his head but the budget documents yeah the budget documents
might show that but that's not accurate so we'll figure out why if the numbers were Miss yes and and as I I I think I had stated in the previous meeting uh if the budget documents do not accurately reflect you know reality I think that's
a significant problem to be addressed um moving on to the the current uh Year's uh budget um I can understand that there's a need to wait until state aid uh figures are uh received um but but I
guess why would uh my question would be why why does tax assessments play a role in deciding what the town is going to spend money on so if the tax assessment goes up by 2%
of the uh uh value it doesn't cost 2% more to run the town does it if it went up by 5% would it cost 5% more so I I'm I'm not understanding why it it requires the uh uh tax assessment uh numbers to
uh uh play a role in in uh determining that uh and and finally um I'd also just like to to comment on the um uh the resolution regarding uh various professional uh Services uh that uh is being authorized
um is there a upper limit to the spend that is being authorized by the resolution it does not appear to have one I would like to know if there is a um if there's a cap on how much the township is going to spend on on these Professional Services or is it
just however much money is uh is is sitting in a burning hole in the pocket is going to get spent thank you very much are you talking about H you talking about uh uh resolution H with the engineers I believe so yes yeah so that all we do there is we pre-qualify so
we're not awarding any specific uh contract to vendors we're simply saying that they meet the professional qualifications so as if a project came in say Spring Run not you know we need somebody to engineer the Spring Run project we can go to that pool of
Engineers we can then award them a specific scope of work or project that would have a specific dollar amount on it in terms of hey you're going to do Spring Run it's a $50,000 project or a $200,000 project I yeah I um um I
understand uh what saying there um I guess my my uh follow-up question to that is um the the resolution uh I believe refers to proposals that were received by them um what I would like to know what the details of those are yeah
it's qualifications proposal so we don't go out and ask for we say what's your qualifications they might have rates on it they might have a an hourly rate that that is included as their General billing um that kind of thing um but all we do is look at them uh we qualify them
if they're either folks that we want to work with or they meet the qualifications uh some of them get work some of them don't get work some get more work than others it depends on their skill sets the projects the needs um but we will also then go out um so like take Spring Run as the example
we'll go to multiple group on this list and we'll ask them to put together a a proposal for that project uh and then we will choose between those okay um thank you uh thank you very much anyone
else seeing no one motion to close public oh we have uh okay I'll withdraw my motion [Music] please good evening um couple things um
to go off the first speakers name and address oh I'm sorry I wrote it down but it's Kathy Franco you all kind of know me um I live in Martinsville um in 12a we talk about doing an
emergency funding um to allow additional payments to be made which increases the funding up to 60% of last year's budget and when I went through it I guess my question is it talks about increase
amount and is that increase over last year's budget is an increase over the quarter of last year um I I I I I think for clarification it would be helpful because you know I'm just trying to figure out from a percentage standpoint
you know if we're increasing liability by $345,000 um is that an increase for the year is that an increase for the quar you know what we spent for the quarter or what we anticipated for the quarter um I'm just trying to project what the
potential budget would be for 2025 it just works it just works off of last year's budget it's set by Statute we don't get to pick the numbers so it just says it says if you are passing a temporary budget you work off of a percentage of last year's budget for that particular uh
quarter but but you've passed group health insurance twice now um on or or you will probably tonight in 12a and then again um group health insurance was
passed on February 6th for $813,000 and now tonight you're asking for $888,000 so I'm just a little confused because last year I think the total cost was about6 million and six um 6.6 million depends yeah it depends on when
the payments come do it's what we expect to have to pay but the the temporary Appropriations it goes for the items based off of the percentage in the statute for quarter and um right but but I mean the percentage for the quarter would be 25% for the quarter if you add
the 2% that would be 27 we're up to 60% and we're not even at the end of the first quarter so that's my concern as a consumer uh as a taxpayer you know and I understand not every is you know that's the issue yeah
it doesn't get spread out so well but but health insurance is paid monthly you know I mean you know snow plowing is not snow plowing is October as claims come in uh and our experience has shown that towards the end of the year and and in the winter well because you're
self-insured we have more more people being sick you're self-insured is that what you're saying I'm sorry are you a self-insured plan we we pay the claims as they come in we we are in effect self-insured we
have we have an umbrella because Chris cartin was shaking his head no we have a policy that we pay Mike P can talk about it you know I understand if it's self-insured then yeah you're paying additional money based upon the claims that are paid but if it's not
self-insured it's a standard across so maybe Mr papis can you answer is it a self-insured plan again that we're paying on the um the I think the number that you're speaking of is for the medical
insurance correct I I think so it says he insurance I think as someone said that the I don't know I don't have a schedule of when payments are due we also uh have a payment that we have to pay to the Joint Insurance Fund that is
covering uh Property and Casualty losses and uh the other that's liability that's 345,000 which is listed SE and then another thing that hadn't been mentioned but a significant amount that is the CFO has proposed as part of
accumulation of the various uh temporary budget resolutions is Debt Service uh the other you'll see one of the resolutions has the PRS the pension payment uh and and that is something that again as has been said is not
necessarily 12 equal payments they're due at various times throughout the year and he is just wanting to ensure that there's sufficient funds in these accounts so we don't um uh so we're able to pay our bills so there's not a again
each of these are not necessarily due the 15th of every month no no and and I understand that but you know when it says increase amount you know and and you see something like Social Security um the wording might might be a little misleading that it might be an
increase from the previous temporary budget resolution but but if social NE is 338,000 and last year it was 12 um you know 1.2 million you know 338 is
about a quarter so how is 3 you know 330 388 is about a quarter so is that an increase above what you normally would have expected is is my question so your question is about the medical Insurance speciic well that was
my medical but now I'm giving you a different example under Social Security which you know the 388 it's on page two and that number will will will be different depending upon the employees the number of employees where where we constantly have a a moving number that
change well hopefully you don't have too big of a h a moving number you know where you're increasing by 25% the cost of employment because Social Security is based upon you know 7.5% of and you know your salaries that
you're paying out so between how many people you have C emplo slightly fluctuate well it fluctuates but hopefully not 25% so so you know I mean the way you're presenting it as in increased amount is just very
unsettling um because you don't have a budget for this year you know it we're nine weeks into the budget these these numbers are just based off of last year's budget applying the formula there's no there's nothing specifically unique about these numbers that are an
indication of that we know some number for this year and we're somehow putting into the temporary budget but you're saying you need this money to spend yeah you got to pay the bills pay bills so you're saying it's an increased amount so it is is it an increased amount or is it representative of the first
quarter's charges related to just taken from last year's budget last year's plus an increased just taken from last year's budget and increased by the numbers so it's it's a so it's a quarter of whatever last year is Plus for Social Security
$338,000 so the initial the initial temporary budget the municip municip the municipality can only approve a temporary but the first resolution I think is 26.2% of the previous year's budget right that was on January 2 yes and then
the governing body is able to consider other resolutions to increase the temporary budget so I think the word increase perhaps is a reflection of an increase from the temporary the first temporary budget resolution it's not
necessarily an increase from last year right correct this is what we're increasing the temporary budget that was passed in January from so so but but so now we're up to 60% right last year's budget correct and
we're in week seven no of the fiscal year that that is that is it's you're passing a budget for what you're going to spend potentially over the next six months or seven months no no because I I'm too tired your questions I'm tired tonight so maybe I did but maybe you
haven't answered them appropriately or maybe you're not predicting your cost appropriately or maybe you're not presenting a budget within a timely manner for the public to be able to provide comment and to be able to assess the cost we're still w I've alluded to
okay we can we can move on my next question has to do with the sewer okay so we had a sewer increase this year um and I know that last year an resolution
or ordinance was passed where $12 there would be $12 increase last year and a $12 increase this year fine no problem we covered that and in that ordinance it said that if the sumers set raran Valley Sewer Authority I'm trying
to get that srvs correct um added additional costs that those would be passed along to the residents so I went and looked at their budget and they budgeted a 10.3% increase for residential
use if I look at my sewer bill which was $484 last year and I look at last year's budgeted um sewer budget um 50% of it was approximately the part of the sum the
svsa which would be $242 which if I take 10% that's $24 but yet I'm being charged $34 more for the S rvsa um now mind you I see in tonight there's a resolution calling for
additional spending and that sort of tries to cover it and Mr I have I've been in touch with the council and asked for some information and I was told that I would be provided with um expense and
flows have been charted by the papist STA and he plans to give you a copy when he sees you at the next council meeting I went up to Mr papus this evening before the meeting and I asked him for those and he said he did not have those now this correspondence I received from
a council member over the weekend I related over the weekend that I expected to have those before this meeting and IID hoped to have them on Monday I am very disappointed that on Thursday evening I cannot have a hard
copy of that information in front of me that that's my fault I had told Mr papis to be working on a budget instead so he'll get to it as soon as we finish the budget you know what you were you know what sewer bill were able to be sent out to every resident of this Township okay
in time for us to all have to pay those sewer bills by March 1 and if we don't pay them by March 10 to pay a penalty so those numbers should be readily available and should be easily made available to any Resident that's my Mrs
Franco in my letter to you I attempted to expand on the issues that our source system right and and I believe you said it didn't answer your question no no I I understand that the sewer system is much more than just that let me let me finish
please as a as a utility the sewer is a utility component within the township we are obligated to maintain the financial stability of that by the our source of income is is the residents who use the
system in which case you should have passed another order ordinance to increase our rates not tried to slide it in somehow and that was not done and that's my point okay that is my point at this
point okay okay if there were additional costs that needed to be funded for capital or for you know drainage from you know waste from water off the streets or whatever to maintain the system that should have been passed as an ordinance and should not have been
tried to be slid through with some flyer in our sewer bill that's my issue and I appreciate your response to me it was long it was in depth and I did totally understand it I understood it even before you sent it to me
um next on Mr papis you spoke about an area in need of Redevelopment on 22 I would like to know which area in need of Redevelopment on 22 will be coming up because there's two areas 1200 Route 22 East
so that's the one that near Adamsville Road right that's the one that wanted the warehouses that's in litigation with us okay so nothing's happening with the previously known as ethon property that
we 100 route22 is what I reported on okay but you did not say that in your report um and then my last two things is is there any update on Camp Cromwell and when it might be made available to the public
no and when might the public see a master plan I don't know yet and okay I'm sorry but you know the public has been asking for a master plan you've done surveys you've done Town meetings
you've done things where we've all come and filled out Post-it notes and hung them all over the place what's your next qu what's your next question Miss no no let me just say this that's unacceptable that you don't have an answer as to when we can expect the master plan thank [Music]
you well Kathy got one of my questions answered so that's out of the way um I did I did want to acknowledge um name and address Jennifer lockran Bridgewater I also I wrote it down thank you sorry um I did want to not uh acknowledge officer a lot and Martinsville fire
greenel and finer um I saw some of the videos and pictures and I I also wanted to comment on what the mayor had said about um the citizens Police Academy you know we we did a
drill where they gave us these like these like really official looking uh weapons to to go clear a room and and try to maintain the space and and I almost shot our um chief of police but
uh he's laughing about it back there oh it's true and my partner tried to kick down a door um it it was even though it was done in a set we we really planned it out my partner and I took this very seriously um we we had a strategy we had no idea what we're doing um but even at
the end of it our hearts were like coming out of our chest like up into our throat so just that experience alone and identifying with you know what it takes to to approach a situation like that and try to pretend to be a police officer in front of police officers I can't imagine
um The Bravery that it takes to to walk into that kind of danger and uh and save somebody's life so I just wanted to acknowledge that and our um uh First Responders I I also had a question it
was about um sorry i t my paper apart it was about uh d a resolution of the township of Bridgewater Somerset County New Jersey to become an official Revolution New Jersey Community um and we're
approaching our the 250th anniversary how does does that help us what is that what is that what does it do for the township if you have next on the agenda yeah we're going to have presentation that that is
part yes all right well I just I that that's part of that it's help us to participate and uh make us eligible for Grand funding and uh tonight it is or is like on another date okay um well I I just wanted to support Jean in her um
comments not related to the you know things I don't want to talk about but more related to um like parks and space and and preserving our local history because we do have quite a bit of that goes beyond just where Washington has slept and even Beyond being the first
place that um a flag was flown you know um the Strategic um Battleground that we actually were uh that we aren't giving credit for should get some recognition so I I like seeing that move forward so I hope you guys have a good night thank
you anyone else wishing to address the council if not we'll resurrect I'll try again seeing no one okay uh second motion to close public I'll second it all those in favor I I we are now closed to the
public okay uh next we have uh item nine which is presentations of America 250 and who is going to be to lead that one sure I'm going to give a brief introduction and we have a a short video to play and then um I want to recognize some of the folks that are are here um
but we mentioned it we touched on it um uh before uh that this is next year will be the 250th anniversary of the founding of our country and um there's a lot of different events being planned throughout throughout the country and throughout the state and municipalities
like ours and um we have a whole host of of ideas and some really enthusiastic groups that uh are are have been talking about history uh long before everyone started to jump on and say it's 250th
anniversary year um and uh so I think think that the best thing for me to do is to play the video and uh and then we'll talk a little bit more about it [Music] so hello Bridgewater I'm mayor Matthew
MCH and I'm excited to share something truly special with you as we approach America's 250th birthday in 2026 Bridgewood Township will embark on a unique year-long journey of commemoration one that will leave a lasting mark on our community for
generations to come we're calling it Legacy 21 26 Legacy 2126 is a more than just a celebration it's a way for us to honor our past celebrate our present and speak to our future it looks like this this
year on July 4th we're going to embark on this journey together we're going to invite a large number of groups organizations and institutions in bridgew Township to make contributions to a hundred-year time capsule these groups will include cultural service
historical religious and education ation organizations critical to our identity as a community we will also have multiple avenues for individual Bridgewater residents to participate and contribute as well for the following year we will tour
Bridge together and each organization will have a chance to tell us what they're contributing why it's important to them and what it means to our common Bridgewater Heritage then on July 4th 2026 we will seal this time capsule in a public
ceremony at the mpal building where it will stay sealed for a century until our great grandchildren reopen it on July 4th 2126 Brier has always played a role in America's story dating back to the Middlebrook encampment during the
Revolutionary War now we continue this Legacy by ensuring that future Generations will understand who we were and What mattered to us in 2026 we want every corner of bridge order to be represented in this endeavor making sure that the people of 2126 get
a true picture of our town today between now and this July 4th you'll be hearing a lot more about how you can be a part of Legacy 2126 every resident will have an opportunity to contribute and we'll be working hard to make sure this truly
reflects the heart of Bridgewood this is about coming together as a community uniting to preserve our story future Generations if you have questions want to get involved reach out to the office of constituent relations Bridgewater let's leave a
legacy together I think I should clap so so uh the um I I want to you may have seen in the video uh some of the people that we have in the audience today so the the
history historical Alliance that uh Jen gof had had spoken about earlier um you know they comprise some of these organizations that have been doing work preserving our history and promoting our local culture for some of them from
decades or centuries if you're the uh uh you know the Middlebrook encampment uh the Washington encampment uh organization so um what we had wanted to do was to uh work with uh with them uh you know do a
lot of things not just the um the Time Capsule but to try to bring us together to um promote other events we'll have parts of our of our um newsletter to talk about some of the different historical events uh that are occurring that the organizations themselves are running some are events that we will create ourselves but this will be the
culmination and it will be an opportunity families can contribute items um organizations will contribute we'll have a lot more uh information on it um as we move forward but uh when we were talking actually um I I crashed the
um historical Alliance meeting um a few weeks ago and we um we have you see it on your screens now we have the you know the bridgew celebrates America 250 uh logo variant logo from the one that uh the council approved that we'll be using
throughout the the year on anything that that comes up and um one of the things that struck me was we talk a lot about the Revolutionary War history um but that's not all that celebrating the 250 anniversary is about that's a large part
of it and a role that Bridgewater played uh the critical role that we played in Revolution but it's also celebrating all our story as a Township not just in 1776 or 1789 or that time period but everything that's
occurred from then until now and being able to to um promote all of that and I use as examples you know my kids are still in the elementary school period but people here might know the example I use was who is Crim do we know who Crim
was I'm sure some people in the room do I bet a lot of our well maybe the Crim students might um you know where does that history come from uh Hamilton school I thought it was named after Alexander Hamilton nope Hamilton family that lived on the corner they were farmers at least that's what I'm told um
so there's a lot of stories not just from the 1700s but you have people today and recent history that have done incredible things you have Eric Murdoch and you know professional NBA basketball players in the story of hobbstown and you have uh the story of some of
religious organizations and what they've done in brid so there's a lot that we get to talk about not just um it starts with the Revolutionary time period but it goes all the way forward and I think the cool thing about this is that we get to create our own history by sharing our stories um you know and well I'm
assuming none of well none of us will be here in 2126 um but uh unless history that's medicine really improves very quickly um but to think about being able to speak to the Future and what would we want to say to um somebody who's you know opening up this video in a hundred
years or letters that we write in 100 years and what would I want them to know about my family or or the township now or my story my family story in Bridgewater so it's a very powerful and um unique opportunity and we're really excited about it so I wanted to um uh uh
bring up just very briefly and and just make sure they introduce themselves and uh their organizations that they represent the members of the historical Alliance uh that are here um and uh I know I know one of the members had to leave I know she has uh family commitments but um you know if
we could if you could come up and just just give your name and just what organization you're you're uh here from and if you want to say a word or two um and uh we we'll take a picture and we'll get on to the business of the town come up come up
[Music] come thank you Mr Mayor we now moving to item names and pictures this is the actual okay
yeah you already know I'm Jane gandf and the alliance brought together friends of Bridgewater history the Somerset County Historical Society um Washington Campground Association the middle book Symposium group and the Heritage Trail
organization so Heritage Trail is housed at the Van Horn house which is where we met for the first meeting and um some say County Historical Society is house at the van beckton house both in vender beautiful old homes if you ever have a
chance go look at them uh friends of Bridgewater history doesn't currently have a home they meet at the Martinsville Community Center because I happen to represent that as well Washington crab Grant has been around forever um I have personal family
history my uncle used to read the Declaration every year for about 10 years so we're very happy to bring the groups together and work together to get information out about the history looking forward to working with the Parks and Recreation as well
thanks I'm Kevin storms I'm representing the Washington Campground associ Association I've been a member there uh a trustee for several years and um as the mayor had mentioned uh it's been formed since 1894 is when it actually first became an association so goes back
a long time uh very uh cherished grounds there we do de reading the Declaration of Independence like Jane mentioned and we're going to be presenting uh some ideas of what we're going to do for 2026 and then obviously for 207 2027 when we have uh the 250th of actual
Middlebrook so I'm looking forward to working with this Alliance and it's a great thing that we're doing here because Bridgewater as the mayor mentioned has a tremendous amount of History here going all the way up through and I'll quickly mention a guy named Frederick Pope who as you talking about attorney he was the co-counsel for
Bruno hman the Charles Lindberg he's a Bridgewater guy so there's a lot that goes on not just revolutionary but all throughout history here so thank you good evening my name is Bob bar and I represent the Middlebrook uh Symposium
which is coming up the 15 of March this a week and a half away we've decided to celebrate the Middlebrook Sy the Middlebrook encampment over four symposiums this is the third and what I'm going to do is ask you how many people have heard of the Marist toown
encampment a couple how many have heard of Valley Forge how many have heard of Middlebrook a few we'll come to the Symposium we'll learn more about it but the point is that we all know about Valley Forge we all know about marown
but one of the most important encampments was right here in Bridgewater at the Middlebrook encampment we had one in 77 1777 we had one in 7879 George Washington you may know lived at the wall house for that
period of time about 6 months we had a number of the generals you probably know their names that were here in the area this particular Symposium is about the forge Wars after the 10 crucial days after Washington attacked the Hans at
Trenton one at Princeton and went up to marown for the winter they came down here and at that period of time both the British and the Americans had to forge for their food for their hay for their horses for all those things they needed and they were fighting each other for
those six or seven months to get there first and to fight off the opponent the British Etc so I encourage Ur you to come to un fortunately we we're sold out for this Symposium but you can watch it uh on live on uh on the internet and the
next one of course we're promoting for March of next year March 21st I happen to be a member of all these organizations my wife and I Linda are involved in history we have been for a long time and we put together through the Heritage Trail Association which you
may have heard over at the H of Van hornh housee they run the five generals tour every February they just had one a couple of weeks ago and we got so involved with the history of the area and we wanted to start learning about it we said well let's join everything and keep learning and I encourage you all to
do that too thank you oh yeah you want for for those of you that have not had a picture here yet before my only words whatever say just do whatever Suzanne tells you e comth all right
cover in that volume hist you and I mayor I pick that upy very cool okay thank you folks uh moving to 10A public hearing and final action ordinance an ordinance authorizing the sale of property known
as lot 15 in block 477 on the Bridgewater Township tax map and located at 901 route 202 206 to Nel Main Street urban renewal LLC of 610 Anderson Avenue Cliffside Park New Jersey
07010 they are the buyer uh for a nominal consideration of $100 pursuant to njsa 4A colon 12-21 L to construct affordable housing if the developer is unable to meet construction cost through other sources the township May
contribute up to $150,000 from the affordable housing trust fund uh may I have a motion please on 10A motion to open public hearing and may I have a second please second okay all those in favor of opening to the public please I
I okay we are open to the public if anyone uh wishes to discuss this issue please come forward hello again um I just have one quick question you have to give your name again oh Kathy Franco um Martinsville New Jersey um
does anybody know how much money is in the affordable housing trust fund in Bridgewater at this time and can you tell us how much that is and and how would a member of the public get that information quickly
without having to go through an Oprah like who who do we call we can I'll get it to you from Mr pandos tomorrow I okay only because you know I I wonder how much this $150,000 potential outlay is as a
percentage considering we have over 400 units that we're going to have to meet under the new um quota so thank you thank you very much anyone else wish should to address the council if not uh could I say a motion no one I move to
close public hearing and move for final action okay second that okay roll call please councilman kers yes councilman cill yes cman pedo yes councilman ring yes presales yes uh under item 11
introduction of new ordinances we have none resolutions uh 12a a resolution providing emergency temporary Appropriations for the current fund 7,637 72 98 cents which brings the 2025
year-to date temporary apportions apportionments to 30,848 074 and 96 want to do a b and c on consent sorry want to do a b and c on consent uh no
because I I'd rather do them separ I want there got a lot to say about this motion on a I'll make that motion we have a second I'll second it any discussion now on on that issue I have a perhaps a question for Mr Mr
papis um during the reor meeting we we passed a temporary Appropriations re uh resolution do you Rec call what that number was 26.25 per. well what was the what was the actual
number Dollar number I I I don't know off hand and this number here today um 30 30.8 million that's a year to date
from January to March or is that for the two that would likely uh carry us through June so okay I looked at the two 2024 budget and our total General Appropriations were
50.5 million so I didn't I didn't understand the math how do we get to 61.7 million if I take 30.8 * 2 how do we get to that number sorry repeat that question I looked at in the
2024 budget our total Appropriations were 50.5 million but this number today if I take the 30.8 million and I multiply it times two
presuming for full year I get to 61.7 million how do how do which is 22% over 50.5 million so how how do how do we get that number to 30.8 million well the the your your suggesting that the
2025 budget would be $60 million and that's that's not a that's that's an incorrect assumption right but the appropriation amount we don't know what the 2025 budget will be I right I think what council is asking is that when you look
at the title of the resolution it says appro providing a temporary Appropriations in in the amount of 7 million 7.6 million bringing the total amount to 30.8 million and in the text of the
resolution it says that that would be 60.5% of4 budget and I think he's asking if the math adds up correctly no I think what he's what I'm hearing is he thinks that because we're spending 30 billion over 6 months we're going to 30 over the
other half as we've discussed already tonight there are certain bills that are paid over the first six months that are a one-time payment for the year it's not not suggesting that we anticipate matching dollar for dollar it's not half the budget it's it's a budget based upon
when bills come in correct yes yes but I still don't see how how so 26 I'm trying to understand the math right so if our Appropriations last year was 50.5
million how is this number calculated I I'm not not really following we've discussed this every year that expenditures are not linear month to month some are front loaded toward the beginning of the year I no that's not my question my question is how does this
number satisfy to 26.25 per. the 26.25 per is the amount the maximum amount that a governing body can approve for the initial temporary budget the initial that the reorganization there's a temporary budget approved and there is a
statutory limitation on what percentage that can be for that first temporary budget okay so that 26.25 applies only for the initial temporary budget correct so then subsequent Appropriations can be higher than 26. yes sir oh I see yes sir okay
because all right in the body of the document that details the individual accounts I understand but our second wear us as a temporary budget in the amount of 26.25 per of the total Appropriations in the 2024 budget it's a
little so that's where okay I I thought that would apply for all Appropriations um all right well okay I think all consistent to my prior years I'm going to vote no because I don't I don't have
a budget and I'm not comfortable comfortable approving an appropriation amount that if I extrapolate to a full year would be would exceed $60 million any other discussion yeah Mr President I want to just read for the sake of anyone uh in the public or
watching the third whereas Clause States whereas if additional funds are not budgeted the public welfare will be adversely affected what that means is we'll not be able to pay our bills we will not be able to clear snow we will not be able to pay employees and
certainly that would be a highly unacceptable condition that's the reason why we have temporary budgets that's the reason why I will support this resolution there no other comments roll call please on 12a councilman kers yes
councilman cordill yes councilman pedroo no councilman ring yes resent o Galis yes all right moving to 12b resolution providing for an emergency temporary Appropriations in current fund $
4,549 7650 for fiscal year 2025 uh local employer billing for the public employees retirement system pers and the Police and Firemen's retirement system
pfrs which brings the 2025 year-to-date temporary apportionments the $22,900 7124 8 cents may I have a motion please on B I'll make a motion to approve 12b and a second please second any
discussion now on this item I just want to state that without a budget I won't be able to support the resolution toly noted a roll call please well I'd like to comment that our public employees deserve to have their Pion their pensions appropriately funded and that's why I'm going to vote Yes I don't
know what appropriately funded means without a budget based upon their what they earn is is determin to what the pension payment is I just I don't have a budget roll call councilman K yes councilman cill
yes councilman pedroso no councilman ring yes president nales yes uh 12C a resolution providing emergency temporary Appropriations for sore fund 2,1 15,57 26 Cents which brings the 2025
year-to date temporary apportionment to 5,4 96 771 and 72 c motion please on C I'll make the motion to approve 12 C second please I'll second it any discussion on 12C I think we need a
source system that operates for people to be able to dispose of waste so um it's very important people be able to flush their toilets uh could we have a roll call please there was another comment one second one second I just want to know for the record that uh uh
without a budget I will not be voting in favor of this resolution and Mr President I just want to point out that we owe $11.45 million to the somerset ritan sewage authority $310,000 to pers and $300,000 in salaries and wages and our
failure to approve these uh would be der elction of our duty to provide a working sewer system agreed roll call councilman kers yes councilman cordill yes councilman Pedro no councilman ring yes president Nogales
yes uh D is a resolution of the township of Bridgewater Somerset County New Jersey to become an official Revolution New Jersey Community um you've already heard the words before may I have a motion on D please I'll make that motion and a
second I'll second if there is no additional discussion roll call please on D councilman kers yes cman cordill yes cman pedroso yes councilman ring yes res nalis yes e is a resolution for the township of Bridgewater endorsing the
efforts of Noel and advancing Opportunities Incorporated to secure an application with Somerset County Home investment Partnerships for Bridgewater Supportive Housing project to construct an affordable housing project on block
477 lot 15 also known as 901e 202 206 we have a motion on this one please I'll make that motion second it second okay for for for public Insight this is the
documentation to support Noel who would be building the home uh as was mentioned in the in the ordinance uh they will need funds and this is our opportunity to provide for we're not providing any money we're simply saying it's okay to do that uh if there are no questions uh
roll call please on E this is the home that uh pertains to the ordinance 10A correct yes 10A okay they're they're seeking we're just supporting their applications that's all we're doing we supporting their application seeking funds through other avenues right they
have a deadline on March 20th so they need us to approve this tonight otherwise they're ineligible for those funds and the deal would not go through roll call councilman Kush yes coun cordill yesman pedo yes cman bring
yes presidentes yes f is authorizing the of $6,000 from the affordable housing trust fund for additional Renovations and repairs for one completed property at block 520 lot 14 also known as 509 merca street through the Bridgewater
housing rehabilitation program could I have a motion for f please I'll make that motion second I'll second any uh any comments from the administration on this one this is part of our our normal process of supporting uh did you have a comment sir yes I do
please okay more just you know I guess when work people do work on their homes like this you know we go out to bid we have certain thresholds and stuff are they able to use anybody do they are these vendors pre-qualified how does that work the uh administrative agent
rabco is the one that manages this program for us they actually have a a uh inspector that comes in and assesses the property and they go through the bidding process they have uh vendors that they pre-qualify and they are the ones that
supervise the the actual work perfect thank you okay you need a motion I'll move it or did we already I'm sorry we did we did okay c k coun m kers yes cman cordill yesman pedroso yes cman ring yes
president nalis yes U moving to G notification of applications for the 2025 Somerset County Community Development block grant by the following 501c3 nonprofit organizations with intended projects within Bridgewater uh
cassa Shore Casa by the way is courta appointed special Advocate uh Home Sharing Incorporated the Shimon and Sarah burn bomb Jewish Community Center uh visions and pathworks and youth Consultation Services may I have a
motion on G please I'll make that motion and a second second I'll okay a BRI brief commentary on that um this is particularly for Mr Corsini this is um awareness only so I don't believe it would cause me to recuse but I am a
member of the Board of Trustees of home sharing this this I mean I can if that would be if that could be better you know this is this is an awareness resolution a personal thing if you feel you're conflicted then you should recuse well since there's no money changing hands I don't feel I'm conflicted but I
do want it I do want it known to the public financial interest there is no financial interest Inda of a conflict of interest in New Jersey so you don't feel you have one and I know you don't you may vote thank you motion on G please we already did that does anybody know what
the does anybody know what the in intended projects are sorry does anybody know what the intended projects are I I do not I know that part of the um one of the requirements of being eligible to apply for Community Development block
grant is the municipality where the nonprofit um uh is headquartered has to adopt a resolution acknowledging their existence here and then that that's one of their qualifications that that the county uh
requires so I don't know specifically what projects but the the Bridgewater does not have any direct involvement in uh approving or reviewing the grant that's all through the county cdb
program although we do sit on the Community Development I think Alan that's right we do have representative so it's a a melding process groups come before the board and they State their projects and then the few funds that are
available are partialed out it shouldn't shouldn't we know what the intended projects are and what we are indirectly supporting well the the pro when the projects are are developed they are presented through the Community Development block grant and that's the
organ that gets it uh we don't we don't know at this point because quite honestly uh unless they're accepted into the program they probably wouldn't even bother you know Dev trying to develop a program municipalities have represent representation councilman cordill is one
of our Representatives that sits on this countywide committee and that group uh hears and makes decisions on which organizations are funded or what projects are funded I mean keep in mind I mean these are great organizations right I mean that I see listed here these five groups are
great groups but we're being asked to indirectly support projects that we don't know what they are and what the underlying no we're we're support anything it's just a we're acknowledging notification that they intend to apply and that they are
in Bridgewater town it's a notification of applications we're not ackn we're not approving or acknowledging and we're not spending any money so okay this an annual thing if there are no other question to do we get you know I just don't have I'll just
abstain I don't have enough information to pass judgment on it okay a roll call please councilman kers yes councilman codell yes councilman pedroso obain councilman ring yes president oralis yes H is authorizing qualified vendors for various open-ended professional
engineering planning surveying and consulting services for the township Bridge voter for 2025 uh motion please on H so moved second I'll second it a discussion Mr Pap is there anything you'd like to
offer in terms of insight no I think mayor covered it okay uh if there are no questions just just a comment it's a pretty comprehensive list very lots of people on it the one thing if I could just say one thing that we did this year is uh change the
resolution each of these entities when they submitted they submitted for specific expertise yep and and so the resolution notes that versus just having the entire
list um grouped together it's really more great segmentation in terms of you know if you know what you need you know who to go to right okay roll call okay councilman kers yes councilman cill yes pedo yes ring
yesalis yes um I authorizing an additional $11,000 to RJM landscape and design LLC of 821 parsonage Hill Drive Branchburg New Jersey 08876 for snow removal
services in the amount not to exceed $251,000 for the 2024 2025 winter season to be funded from the snow removal account a motion please on I make that motion okay and a second please um
council president I'll second it but I also would like to uh note to the public that the documentation we have in front of us is a an accounting of the hours that have been spent uh with this vendor
for snow removal services so we're not just voting on approving additional funding there is a document with the hours and the logic for those numbers I just also will add to that I you know it there was a question before in the
number of hours and stuff and it varies by storm and when you look at this uh for what has been experienced this year it is anywhere from 85 a half hours for on the low end to uh I guess was back on New Year's Day was almost 400 hours um
so you know the um it varies by the storm and it's not just a random number and Mr President the other commentary here is that this is a portion uh of our comprehensive snow removal plan some is removed uh by our
Municipal Employees using our equipment some is done through this flexible Arrangement uh with a contractor I know there was shock and awe the idea that we'd spend a thousand hours on snow removal if you think about the dozens of trucks and the hundreds of miles of roads that we have um it it really isn't
surprising at all okay roll call on I please councilman Kush yes councilman cill yes councilman pedroo yes councilman ring yes presales yes uh Jay authorizing release of the safety and stabilization bond in the amount of
$5,000 acceptance of the site improvements and acceptance of the maintenance guarantee in the amount of $24,600 for psng Block 552 lot 3 at 961 uh Route
22 a motion please on J so make that motion second okay any discussion seeing none roll call please kers yes cman cordel yes coun pedroo yes cman ring yes president nalis yes uh K
authorizing change order number one final change order decreasing the contract price from $786,000 120 to 68275 94 a decrease of 13 18.16% or $
103,4 18326 authorizing acceptance of the project release of the performance bond acceptance of the maintenance Bond and final payment to Topline Construction Corporation 225th Street Somerville New Jersey 08876 for the 20
24-2 roadway Improvement project which includes the base bid for the entire lengths of Andover Avenue Berwick Drive Mars Street off North Avenue North Avenue and Ron Oak Road and Alternate bid for Aaron Court eel court and
Morehead Court funded through the 2024 Capital Road fund may I have a motion please we win some we lose some we won on this one I'll move it all right second please second if there are no additional comments roll call on k please councilman kers yes
cman cordill yes pedroso yes coun ring I know I'm sorry yes okay president nales yes Mr papis was asking authorizing change order number one final change order increasing the contract price from 76834
716 to 921,000 an increase of 19.97% or $153,400 of the maintenance Bond and final payment to Topline Construction Corporation 2 225th Street Somerville
New Jersey 08876 for the Branch Road and Edgewood Drive roadway Improvement project which includes the entire lengths of Branch Road and Edgewood Drive funded through the 19 the 2023 Capital Road fund could I have a motion
please on this one I'll make that motion you can't you can't have both ways well I I I'll I'll cover it I need a motion I'll second it okay we got a second and a first in a second okay now
uh I I rode the engineering department pretty tough on this one and and it there's an whereas because there were two big pieces that led to this overrun one was 500 ft of 12in reinforced pipe and the other was top soil and part of
the issue was and and here's the whereas that was added whereas the cost of increase attributed to asilt and of course for the public mean that means after the job is done you go back and you say what exactly happened uh the asilt uh project quantities and other
unforeseen work performed during the construction phase of the project including but not limited to storm water drainage significant additional storm water drainage and other improvements not identified during the detailed design phase was installed after deemed
essential through onsite field observations during construction multiple residences uh raised concerns regarding pre-existing issues and it was necessary to prede with the additional work to address these concerns particularly those that
resulted in safety improvements uh this was an area where uh it did not have curbed it at ditches and and uh pipes under under the individual's driveways were badly eroded Mr papist did uh yes uh Mr Burr prepared this and I can make
pass this around you can see it or I can make copies what what he did is he detailed in every instance where there was additional piping or curbing or drainage inet installed so it can give you a sense of the the the breadth of
the um uh additions that attribute when you have a 19% increase you get my attention and and this is one where a after a lot of discussion uh especially appreciating some of the the issues
drainage issues which would have been a pro which would have come up as a problem after the road was done so uh I think we we did what needed to be done uh any other items questions on this could I a roll call please on L run asan
Kush yes coun cordel yes councilman pedroso yes councilman ring yes president Galis yes uh moving to M uh waiver of fire permit fee in the amount of $300 for St Bernard of clant uh Parish in connection with
house with hosting home homeless families at their locations 500 Route 22 Bridgewater New Jersey 08807 on the following dates January 19th through January 26th April 6 through April 13th
May 25th through June 1st September 21st through September 28th and October 26th through November 1st uh I could I have a motion please on this one I'll be more than happy to move this I think it's uh wonderful that they're able to provide
temporary housing to homeless um it is Capa it uh the Fire official has caped it no more than 14 people per occasion uh could I have a second please I'll second I'll second it okay uh if there are no other items uh roll
call please councilman kers yes councilman cill yes councilman pedroso yes councilman ring yesalis yes uh We've now reached the point in the agenda for item 13 which is a closed session for contract
negotiations for sewer utility the gilbride pump station and litigation involving Somerset Corporate Center and affordable housing I I will read the the pronouncement uh after I put my glasses on uh be it resolved by the bridgew Town
Council that uh this body will now hold a closed session meeting uh there herb con conven to discuss matters related to contract negotiations concerning the SE utility uh gilbride Pump Station as well
as ongoing litigation involving the Somerset Corporate Center and affordable housing when and if the matters discussed become public record they will be made known to the public at that time the public is excluded from said meeting and for further notice thereof is dispensed with all in accordance with
Section 8 and 4A of the open public meetings second I anticipate no additional action after after the closed session so we will simply adjourn could I have a motion second second all those in favor
I I okay we are e e e e e e e e
e e e e e e e e e e
e e e e e e e okay as soon as we get the door open uh we'll need to get back online Suzanne
back online already okay Ladi and gentlemen we have completed our closed session we are back online now as promised there is no additional business we're going to move to AJ German we have a motion to adjourn I'll make that motion second right all those in favor of adjourning I I we are adjourned thank
you very very much okay thank you for an exciting evening welcome back thank you