In compliance with the Open Public Meetings Act of New Jersey, adequate notice of this meeting was provided on December 5th, 2025 by sending written notice and electronic notice to the Courier News and the Breeze and posting on the website and the bulletin board in the municipal building and filing with
the township clerk. Councilman Bako >> here. >> Councilwoman Isla >> here. Councilman Kersh >> here. Councilman Ring. President Geer >> here. We'll now stand for the pledge of
allegiance. I pledge 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.
>> Next, we have the minutes for approval. Um, can I have a motion to approve the minutes of December 17th? Uh, actually I can't. >> You may need to wait on that because I think you need at least two of us. >> You're right. And Councilman Ring's not here. That's not I mean that's not true.
>> Well, you can vote for a minute even if you weren't meeting. >> Oh, I can. >> It's a common misnomer. A common mistake. Okay. >> I mean, often times people will recuse themselves if they weren't, but the rule of necessity would permit, >> but you can also wait for ring if you want. >> It doesn't matter to me. Whatever your
whatever whatever your preference. >> I bet Grace would like us to do it and get it done. >> All right, then I'll move them. >> Can I have a second? >> Second. >> Is there any discussion? All in favor? >> I >> I >> I so moved. Um the Can I have a motion
to approve the minutes of January 5th, 2026, the reorganization meeting? >> So moved. >> Second. I'll second it. Any discussion? All in favor? >> I I >> I. >> Any opposed?
And can I have a motion to approve the minutes of January 8th, 2026? moved. >> Second. All in fa uh any discussion? All in favor? >> I >> I opposed. >> No opposed. Now we'll go to the township
council reports. Ridana, I'm going to start with you. I'm going to start in the opposite direction this week. So go ahead. >> So I'll start with a quote by Muhammad Ali who said, "Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth." And we can see in this room today that the spirit is shining across
Bridgewater. We've been attending rescue squad events, our local food bank, and January is a powerful reminder for all of this that our community really shows up for one another. So, I'm very proud to share that Bridgewater Raritan High School once again earned a spot on the
College Board's AP 2025 school honor role, receiving the bronze recognition um uh award for the second year in a row. and it's really a testament to our students hard work as well as our educators uh dedication. And this month,
as you'll see later today, we're also celebrating schoolboard recognition month and Muslim heritage month. So education is really more than just the academics. It's our service, culture, and belonging. And I wanted to share a couple of events on how you can maybe learn a little bit more about some of
these events in town. So the Bridgewater Library currently actually has two beautiful displays created by local Muslim leaders. They're actually hosting an event there on Saturday if the snow and okay is okay. And then they'll continue to o host an interfaith which
openhouse which is open to all of us across New Jersey even. Um it'll be at the Alfala Center on Sunday at 2 p.m. And um Joan and I actually was able we were able to attend last year and it was so much fun for the kids too. They had crafts for them and then it ended up
being networking for me cuz half of the pharma world ended up being there. So if you're interested, you know, definitely drop by if again snow, you know, look at the weather because I have people coming from far away again that I'll meet there. And then I'm also very grateful to the Bridgewater Library again. They I
had this really special request. Um they quickly expanded their collection in their children's section with books from Little Fudger Press. It's actually a very small business uh New Jersey publisher founded right here by sisters and moms. And they want to, you know, I
just want to thank them because they are committed to having these picture books to ensure that every child can see themselves in the stories they read. So, thank you for, you know, Bridgewater Library to purchase those for Muslim Heritage Month. And I also want to end
with a quote um by Martin Luther King Jr. who reminded us that everybody can be great because everybody can serve. And I really love all the leadership that keeps growing here at home and throughout the year. I know we have a lot of more fun festivals and milestones to brighten our year together. So, thank
you. >> Thank you. Yes, I'm next. I want to start with a quote from Martin Luther King uh in honor of the fact that it was Martin Luther King Day on Monday. My favorite quote from him is, "Darkness cannot drive out darkness. Only light
can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate. Only love can do that." Um I'd also like to congratulate one of Bridgewwater's very own, Michael D. Lorettto. Um he is an attorney in Bridgewater and he has or
will be uh sworn in as a superior court judge um in Somerset County. Um and I do want to recognize that Somerset count uh Bridgewater typically at any given time has usually at least one superior court
judge on the bench in Somerset County. And in the past that's included Judge Arthur Meredith, Judge Thomas Ross, and Judge Paul Armstrong. And I don't know if anyone else up here remembers any others. I know there were others, but um before
before Arthur Meredith was before my time, so I don't know them. Um, I also want to acknowledge that another local connection with Bridgewater, Ed Potasnik, not sure I said his name right, but was recently appointed as the head of the New Jersey department of uh,
DP and he was a former chemistry teacher at Bridgewater Raritton High. And that's my report. >> You're next, Michael. >> Thank you. Uh, four brief items. uh on January 16th
uh we um licensed our our dog for the year uh and then uh brought it home, showed it to her, and she promptly took a nap for much of the afternoon. Um but a uh a licensed pet is a happy pet. So just want to remind everybody uh that
this is the time to license uh your your uh uh furry loved ones. Uh and um I guess uh Grace there's a date coming up when the staff will be on here on a Saturday. Is that correct? >> February 7th.
>> Okay. February 7th. So during our standard business hours plus an extra bite at the apple on Saturday, February 7th. >> 9 to 1. Okay. uh on the 17th, I think all of us on the day uh plus uh
Councilman uh Ring uh were uh at the Martinsville Rescue Squad uh annual dinner and uh officer installation. That's something I always look forward to. Uh enjoy um uh you know, seeing familiar faces, expressing our
appreciation uh and having uh a good evening uh together. Uh last night uh the 21st uh I was at the Somerset Patriots uh sponsor sponsor celebration. Also, sorry to steal your thunder, but uh we
the two of us plus Councilman Ring were there. Uh as everyone knows, Somerset Patriots are a very important part of our community. Um we do not have a traditional downtown. I would argue that on on game nights, um Somerset Patriots ballpark becomes that downtown. uh both
with Bridgewater residents and obviously those from the broader community. Uh and then just a personal note um I may need to leave this meeting early. Uh my wife is recovering from surgery. So uh if either I get a text that she needs something or a sufficient amount of time
seems to have passed, I I I will uh likely excuse myself. And that's my report. >> Andrew, >> uh thank you very much. Um uh my thunder was stolen slightly. Um
uh I did attend uh the uh Martinsville Rescue Squad uh officers induction uh ceremony. Um and also uh awards were handed out. A number of um um squad members uh received service awards for
their length of service. uh the number of calls that they um um reported to uh and uh a number of uh the members received awards for CPR saves.
Uh so so definitely um important uh members of our community that are are saving lives um on a on on a daily basis. Uh, no STO awards though. So, um, uh, I don't know if that's a good or bad thing, but, uh, um, there were none
this, uh, this year. Uh earlier this week uh as the uh liaison to the uh board of education, I met with my counterparts uh Steve Singer and James Maloney and we uh discussed a number of topics including the um uh the softball
fields uh which are across uh Commons Way from here or the fields that will become the softball fields. um some uh issues around uh special services uh areas for uh collaboration. Um and and
also just to re reiterate that uh want to make sure that uh we are uh good partners with the uh the school district. Um obviously we we serve the same community and want to make sure that we have a a good partnership there.
Um, also over the past week, um, we, uh, the the the council, uh, specifically, and I'm sure, um, the the administration has received a number of, of complaints by, uh, residents of the Bridgewater Square apartment complex, which is
located uh, on uh, US 2026. Um, regarding the uh what I I think is fair to uh categorize as inadequate snow removal. Um, I did uh
go over to the site uh earlier today uh around 1:45 and and despite it being uh well over freezing and a sunny day, um the the lots the lot there and the sidewalks uh still had a lot of uh
uncleared uh snow on it. Uh so that was uh definitely surprising and and I think an item that we'll we'll have further discussion uh later later this evening. Um thank you very much. >> Thank you Administrator Papis. Do you want to give the mayor's report?
>> Yes. Thank you very much. Um regarding the snow event, as we all know, we had significant snowfall this past weekend. The uh snow, as we all know, began on Saturday around noon and continued on
and off through uh Sunday evening. Uh the official amount of snow that fell, according to our public works, is 3 in on Saturday and 3.7 ines on Sunday. Uh public works employees were there uh throughout most of that time, as well as
a number of contractors that we've utilized. Um in anticipation of the storm that we here we will be receiving in a few days. Earlier today we had a meeting our public works uh police uh health and other uh offices were
represented to try to ensure that we were as prepared as possible. U we think that we are we'll probably be meeting again tomorrow at some point as the weather forecast may be a bit more accurate. Uh we certainly will do our best and we appreciate uh everyone's
patience. Um we did receive a few uh questions or concerns about some of the u roads in town being um in the view of the resident not properly plowed. Um each one of those
complaints uh have been addressed and or will be addressed by uh tomorrow. Uh the vast majority of them have been addressed and uh we appreciate people's patience. Um the Councilman Bucko mentioned the Bridgewater Square. Uh he
and others forwarded complaints to the administration that we received as well directly. And uh I called the management office today, this afternoon, and I indicated that I needed to speak to someone u and uh within a short time I
sent a member of the staff and went and uh the concerns about the parking lot and sidewalk seem to have been addressed. So, uh, we're I'm I'm scheduled to have a call with the manager tomorrow at some point and hoping that they will, uh, anticipate
the snow that we're expecting in a few days. That's all I have. >> Good job on that. >> And, Madam President, may I ask just a follow-up question on on this? So, Mr. Papus, um, this this has been a site that's been a challenge o over many years, correct?
>> Yes. >> And it should also be noted this is private property. This is not a Bridgewater road. We do not have responsibility. We certainly have a desire to see compliance as we do on everybody's sidewalk uh and and um
pathways throughout town. So, it's certainly in our best interest to see compliance. Um but it is it is private property. We do not have the right to enter it uh and uh do not ultimately have responsibility. >> We're not responsible. And obviously
there are many uh private sites such as that all over town and uh this is the only one that we seem to have gotten complaints about. >> Do you know if the mayor is on his way? >> Okay. Okay. So, it is now time for the
proclamation and we're going to do it a little bit differently than it's been done in the past. Um because I think we all support the school system. We are going to all participate in reading the proclamation. So I'm going to start with Andrew. Andrew, if you would read the
first part of the proclamation and this is the school board recognition month in New Jersey. And I just want to note there are several of our board of education um members here. There's a few teachers here. There's uh some
representatives of NJA here. So we have a lot of good people here for this. Andrew, go ahead. >> Yes, my pleasure. Whereas New Jerseyy's public schools serve approximately 1.4 million children
and the Bridgewater Raridan Regional School District stands as a vital part of this system, serving nearly 8,000 students across 11 schools. And whereas our our district is supported by a dedicated professional staff of
approximately 1,200 employees, including teachers, administrators, and support staff who work tirelessly to foster an environment of excellence. And >> whereas the direction of public education in our community is chartered locally by the Bridgewater Raritan Board
of Education whose members serve as advocates for public education as they work with administrators, teachers, parents, and local residents. And whereas boards of education provide accountability to the public, communicate the needs of the school
district to the community, and convey to school administrators the public's expectations for the school district. And >> whereas the members of the Bridgewater Raridan Board of Education receive no renumeration for their dedicated
service, giving generosity, giving generously of their time and personal resources for the benefit of our children. And whereas the township of Bridgewater is justly proud of the academic, athletic, and social achievements of the students in our
community. And >> whereas the township of bridge uh whereas the New Jersey school board's association has declared January 2026 to be school board recognition month. Now therefore be it resolved that the
township of Bridgewater does hereby commend the service of the Bridgewater Ritan Board of Education and its members to our community and its children. And >> be it further resolved that the Bridgewater Township Council proclaims
January 2026 as school board recognition month in Bridgewater and invites our residents to join us in recognizing the dedication of local school board members past and present as we work together to advance educational opportunities for
our children. And I I want to acknowledge two things. I want to acknowledge Councilman Kersh for um editing this and making it much better than the original draft that I proposed. Um and I do want to really uh add that one of the things he emphasized
was how our board of education members um do this with no renumeration. It's it's all gratus and it's a lot of work. Any of us that have ever watched any of the BOE meetings know that. Um, so we have a a u a proclamate we have a
proclamation here for you. We have a copy of it for you. That has to be signed by Councilman Ring first, right? Okay. But we I'm told there's a picture. So any of the board of education members, teachers, anybody connected with this, former teachers that wants to
stand up for a picture, let's do it. Amen. >> You Perfect. And I just wanted to thank everyone who came here from the other event. So, thank you for making it here. There are no presentations. So, uh the
meeting will now be open to the public. Members of the public wishing to address the council on any matter will have three minutes to speak which may be extended in the discretion of the council president. An additional minute will be allotted for responses to comments from the deis. Yes, you know
the drill. Write down your name and your address. Hi everyone. Um, for those of you who don't know me, Stacy Freedellander from 10 Overlook Drive, Bridgewater. Um, I'm here tonight to thank you for your proclamation um, on behalf of the
uh, state of New Jersey recognizing school boards. Um, the only reason why I ever got involved was because our district, our school district is the jewel of our community. And in 2013 when I started going to board meetings, I
really felt that I was seeing amazing people, volunteers, thankless jobs doing really great things, important things for our school district. And it humbled me being a board member. I never knew that the town council never had a
proclamation before um for school board month. Um so this really truly means a lot. Um, I know that there are some past other past board members who could not be here tonight who do say thank you as well. I'm sure that they will send you an email or if they see you in person,
they may say thank you um as well. Um, on a on another note um, regarding snow removal, I just wanted to thank you guys so much for working hard on correcting some of the delays that maybe we had that first snow. Um the second snow last
week, I think I had already shared with a couple of you. Huge difference. Um uh my street in particular, sometimes we're the forgotten side street. We're a culde-sac off of Foothill Road and we're usually last. Um I think usually we will
see a plow at like 5:30 in the afternoon and we're like it's too late to go anywhere. But um last week we had a plow come twice. Um, and I was truly appreciative because I was alone. So, I had just finished doing a snowblow drop um like snowb blowing the driveway
myself and the plow guy tried to avoid creating more of a mess for me at the end of the driveway. So, I just wanted to say thank you for uh working hard on that and I hope we don't hit a dude where's my car level snow um this this
weekend, but I know that you guys are on it and hopefully good luck. Um, if you didn't go food shopping, I hope you're doing that right after the meeting. Thank you so much. >> Thank you, Stacy. >> Just a brief comment if if I may, and
this will not be controversial. Um, it'll just, you know, state the fact that every storm is not created equal. Um, you know, ice is a challenge. The other is, and Mr. Papis, you can correct me if I'm wrong. Um, it's very difficult
to plow under 2 in. Uh, and I think the reason is just simply the curvature of the plow blade and the and the and the crown of the street. They just don't it just doesn't work. So depending upon what comes and when it comes and did is it sunny afterwards, is it cloudy afterwards? You know, every storm is
different and um you know we do have an outstanding staff that plans, executes and and follows up. But um you know this one over the weekend I think was was was particularly uh finicky in uh in in in in its uh cleanup.
>> The other thing to keep in mind is salt will not work below 20°. >> Oh, I didn't know that. >> Many people don't realize that. And if even if a salt is applied and there's it's not sunny, it um it makes even more difficult for the ice to uh to melt. So
there are a lot of factors that many people don't know. >> Yeah, I learned something. Thank you. >> Um, yeah, it it's kind of like an anniversary, right? If anyone remembers January 1996, 2026. Now
>> that took that one took like two weeks for the New York area to >> We were skiing in New York City and Brooklyn Heights. >> Yeah. >> Did you write your name down? >> I did. >> Okay. All right. Uh, and before I get to my comments, I do remember 96 I was at Ruckers and uh, we still had pizza
delivered and my kid 30 years later is at Ruckers and uh, looking forward to having delivery there, too. Um, council president, uh, council members uh, and administrators, thank you all for your uh, efforts and your time tonight. Um, Mr. Pepe could not be here tonight uh,
but I just wanted to say a few brief words. Uh the board truly appreciates uh the the effort that you made to recognize us uh today. Um it is it is uh it is heartfelt uh and and and we we we
appreciate the the uh camaraderie that we have as uh both elected officials and representatives of the township of Bridgewater as well as Riden. um you know board members uh as you said
don't get uh any sort of pay but uh we don't do it for that we we nor do you I know because the pay that you get is not sufficient for this either uh but we do it for what is what to do what is best for the children uh for the students of our township and uh and mostly you know
and main who are also our students uh we do what we can to make sure that the expectations that have and uh put on the Bridgewater Raritan School District are maintained at a high level. Uh and a lot of that credit goes to our students who are phenomenal. Uh our staff who who
is beyond uh has no parallel anywhere else. Uh as well as our administration who has done amazing things with this district in the past 5 years. Um, for example, if you go to any of our schools right now, the schools are a buzz with construction uh based on the referendum that our community uh supported as well.
Uh, next year we're going to have full day kindergarten for the first time after talking about it for for decades and sixth grade will be moved back to the to the middle school. This is a very exciting time to be in the Bridgewater Ryarden school district. Uh and we
really appreciate our our staff, our parents who are supportive of us, our administrators and the council for uh supporting our school district, supporting public education and supporting our board of education. Thank you very much.
>> Thank you. I do want to note um I think everyone here on the deis except maybe Mr. Papis and you're too young to have little kids in the school system yet, but um I had two children that went through the school system. Andrew has a
child in the school system. U Mike, I think your children went through the school system >> portion of the school system. Yeah. >> Yeah. Grace, your your kids did not are not from Bridgewater, so they didn't go through the school system. And you don't have any >> That's very kind. I'm six months older than the mayor.
So you're very kind to me, but I could have teenagers if I had children. do not look like you're good. >> Pretty much. >> All right. >> I look better than the mayor. I'll tell you that. >> Yeah, you can say that because he's not here. >> And Renana has a a child in the school system. So, obviously, we believe in the
school system. >> Yeah. We went from Cold Snack to Bridgewwater, right? So, we have two two different very different experiences, but we're enjoying it. >> Rebecca, did you write down your name? >> I did. >> Okay. >> Hi, my name is Rebecca Hassuna, 557
Limerock Road. Um, as a board member, thank you again for this recognition and we are very excited for a great partnership this year as our board year runs January through December. We're just looking forward to it and there's a lot of, as Steve said, a lot of great things happening. Um, as a parent, I
would like to also say thank you because I am on the board of the Bridgewater Ronin Theater Arts Council, which is the parent the parents organization to our theater program at the high school. Um, and we just got our very first um, gambling license from the state of New
Jersey. So, I was up in the clerk's office and we filed for our first bingo and our first basket raffle. Cool. >> And we are super excited. So, I'd like to just let all of you know that we have Little Shop of Horrors coming um, April 16, 17, and 18 this year. And it's going
to be a spectacular show because we have amazing amazing students in our program. So, I'd invite you all to come. And um since we talked about 96, I also crashed into a snowbank on my way to work in Short Hills. >> Um got myself out by myself, got to work, slept there for three days because
I worked in a hotel and uh Yeah. So, >> thank you. Thank you, Rebecca. Anyone else? Jennifer, you know the drill. >> I do. Well, I am uh honored to to be here and
like say congratulations um about a month too late. I did uh I did get to watch you guys advocate here at the podium uh for well over a year probably at that point and uh and it's been
really uh great to get to to see what you were all about and now it's wonderful to welcome you to the deis and and I wish you the best of luck and thank you for your service. >> Thank you. Um I typically like uh at in
town council I rarely like talk about myself as a board member. So instead I'm going to share with you a story that my board has heard many times before. Uh I am a product of the Bridgewater writon school district. I was a part of the original Panthers. Uh we were the very
first class of the combined schools east and west. Okay. And we were located over at the middle school. So we were like really crammed together and it was this huge undertaking. Uh there was a lot of collaboration uh not just you know with the administrations that were coming
together, the teachers coming together but also the student leadership. We had two presidents our first year uh and we we were the first to chant we RBR. So, uh it's it's really an honor to to be here in my town and uh and thank you for
the acknowledgement and to raise my kids here and uh and I hope you have a good night. >> Thank you. >> Thank you very much. >> Anyone else? And you know what to do. Okay. Uh John Arolia, 1110 Washington Valley Road. Um I listened to Mr. Pap
talk about uh snow uh salt only working down to 25 degrees. calcium magnesium acetate would work down to minus 25 but it's probably much more expensive. So town was always worried about money and that's probably what's going to be the highlight of my discussion tonight. Um I
was uh given a difference by um m uh Mr. Petrosa now uh to come here and uh first before him and um one of the few um parts of the budget that is that's uh not mandated would be the road reconstruction. And I think you the
existing council members probably remember me talking about uh the uh road debt $8 million a year. I think um we need to revisit that one again this year. And uh uh money is not free. Uh 10-year interest rates have now gone up
to 4.3%. So the latter of mal bonds, tax M bonds you sell will still cost real money this year. So hope you consider that. And last but not least, um uh Mr. Papis, I hope you share the information from the bond council with members of the council so they can make rational
decisions. Uh, four years ago, I asked for the bond council's uh, information and you told me it was lawyer client lawyer privileged information. I actually happened to met Mr. Drinkowitz at a function recently and I explained
what you did and he says that's boulder, you know, it's effectively boulderdash. You can share that kind of information. and it's not privileged information. Those econ those financial decisions can be shared with under open records. That's about it. Thank you. >> Thank you, John.
>> Miss Council President, just want to correct Mr. Aolio. It's not 25 degrees, it's 20° that salt. >> Oh, minus 25 is a lot. >> And I don't recall the specific um interchange that you >> I did an open records request. It was denied under client attorney privilege.
So, >> and I'll I'll speak to Dracoitz as well. >> I will try to uh you know reissue that open records request, see how it goes this year. Thank you. >> I'll ask Mr. Corsini, too. He can look into that. >> Fair enough. >> And and um >> we can find out. >> Madam President, just one other item as
it relates to snow removal because it's come up a few times. It bears noting, and we're certainly going to see this over the weekend, that uh you know, our road network is a a somewhat complex combination of private roads, uh municipal roads, county roads, state
roads, and and by state roads, I don't mean 287. You know, we have 22, 202, 206, 28, you know, a variety of other, uh, state roads. So, uh, we also have streets that are border streets. So, you know, presumably part of the street might be our responsibility, part may be
another town, but we do work in in close coordination and certainly aim to get the streets as safe as possible as quickly as possible. >> Mr. Prosa, you know what to do. >> Good evening. Nice to see you all. >> My name is Phipe Pedroso. I live at 5,
Bridgewater resident since 1978. You all may know I'm a proud Republican. My party was founded in 1854 by anti-slavery activists and rose to national leadership with Abraham Lincoln. Republicans led the fight to end slavery, secured voting rights
regardless of race through the 15th amendment, championed women's suffrage through the 19th amendment, and strongly supported the Civil Rights Act of 1964. That is a record of equality, not symbolism, not slogans, but action. It
is a history that I am proud of. I lived by those by these principles in my own life. For example, Johanna Wiseman was my realtor and helped me buy a house right here in Bridgewater long before anyone made her sexual orientation a political issue. I hire, work with, and
befriend people from from every background based on merit and character, not labels. I put those principles into practice as council president. In 2016, I invited invited religious leaders from Bridgewwater's four major religious
groups to our to our reorg meeting. Three participated historic at the time. When I was council president again five years later, all four all four took part. Bridgewater is beautifully diverse and our government should be inclusive.
But inclusion must never come at the expense of equality. When government prioritizes people based on identity rather than qualifications, inclusion turns into prejudice and prejudice is the opposite of equality. That is why I
am concerned about what I am seeing from the new democratic majority. At the January 5th reorganization meeting, Councilwoman Isla described herself as the first Muslim elected to the council. Is that true? No one knows. And that's
the point. Throughout my years on the council, no one ever asked me my religion, and I never asked anyone else about theirs. It did not matter. It should not matter. Equality means judging people by character and
qualifications, not assumptions based on appearance. Just days later at the January 8th council meeting, Council President Guyer declared that Miss Weisman was likely the first member of the LGBTQ community to serve. Again, how
would anyone know? No one should be asked her sexual orientation for public service, and no appointment should ever be influenced by it. Favoring someone because of sexual orientation is no more acceptable than discriminating against
them for it. Government must be blind to these characteristics. Anything else is prejudice. Yet, it has become apparent that Council President Guyger, Councilwoman Isla, and Councilman Buco are making appointment decisions based
on identity considerations, sexual orientation, appearance, and special interest alignments rather than merit. That is discrimination, plain and simple. Discrimination, racism, and sexism have no place in America and they
have no place in Bridgewater. The Democratic majority removed two highly experienced members of the zoning board of adjustment, Jeff Fouse and Don Sweeney, not because of performance, but to prioritize identitydriven
appointments. Bridgewater lost two proven defenders of our neighborhoods, our character, and our quality of life. In their place, the Democrat majority advanced individual individuals aligned with overdevelopment interests, putting
ideology and symbolism ahead of substance. The zoning board has enor enormous influence over Bridgewater's future. Decisions driven by prejudice and special interests risk permanent harm to the township's character.
I am genu genuinely disappointed by what this governing body has become. In 14 years serving with Republican council members, I had various disagreements, but I never witnessed prejudice or discrimination as I do now from the
three new Democrat council members. In fact, Council Councilwoman Isler herself acknowledged that even before taking office, Bridgewwater had a welcoming nature. In her speech a few weeks ago, she said, "Bridgewater, quote, has never
felt distant to me, a community that has welcomed families from every background, including mine." End quote. Let's keep Bridgewater that way. I urged the three Democratic Council members to stop judging people by labels and start
governing by principles. Focus on qualifications. Focus on what is best for Bridgewater. That's how I served for 14 years and that is how this council this council should serve now. Thank you.
>> Mr. Petroso, I do want to comment and you have the opportunity to respond back if you would like. You have a minute to do so. Um, first of all, we have a town of 46,000 people. And I wholeheartedly believe that of those 46,000 people,
there are plenty of women. There are plenty of people of color. There are plenty of people of varied religious backgrounds and pl plenty of people of both Democrat, Republican and unaffiliated political affiliations who
are qualified. And if you took a look at all of the quasi judicial boards that we have and the volunteer committees, alliances, etc. You will
find that there is an overwhelming number of men. Women are very well very much under represented. There is an overwhelming almost exclusive number of Republicans
not reflective of the town. And as much as you can tell based on names, it would appear that the 35% of the population of Bridgewater that are people of color are also under represented. And again, I repeat, I absolutely positively believe
that in our town of 46,000 people, we have plenty of qualified individuals of various genders, various races, and various political affiliations who are more than qualified to serve.
It is not just Republican and men who are qual and people of who people and people who are not people of color who are qualified to serve on these various boards and quasi judicial bodies. >> President Kyer, may I also briefly comment? Um first of all, I was candidly
very surprised uh at the January 8th meeting um by a number of things. Um there was commentary made about the all male zoning board. That's inaccurate. Um Pushba mean is female. The all-white
uh zoning board that's inaccurate. Pushba mean is of Indian descent. And in addition, the zoning board as it stands today, if we include all 11 members, uh the the main, you know, the permanent members, uh full members and the alternates, the board got whiter and the
board got older through the actions taken. Mr. CCAT uh who uh has has left has left the board. My understanding is he has Asian heritage. Uh I don't believe anybody that was nominated or I should say uh selected uh is of any
heritage beyond uh uh being being white. Uh and in addition, the board got older. Uh and that one really concerns me. Uh we pushed off uh Chris Gabbott um who's um I don't know exactly how old, probably in his 30s, young young very
young family. Uh we also pushed to a lower um uh spot in the in the uh alternate order uh than I believe was appropriate. Mr. Vesio uh who also has a young family. Um so I I believe if
anything if we're going to judge the success of zoning board appointments on uh on diversity, I think the board got less diverse. Um but those are conversations we can have at a different time.
Did you want to respond to me or to Mr. Kersh? >> And I have a comment too, but you can respond to them first if you want. >> What I can tell you in 14 years serving on this governing body, we've never judged people by their race or their
color or religion. It wasn't a topic that was even discussed. We judge people purely by their qualifications. And I believe that people should should be judged by their merit and character and qualifications. Their skin color, their
religion, their sexual orientation should not matter for those positions. And we should be blinded. >> It matters when they're not appointed >> well >> and they're qualified. >> We appointed people from all all all
types of backgrounds, you know. Um we have people on this on the governing body before who had different varying religions. We have people who've had varying uh different races from uh in this governing body over the years. We
had people from different backgrounds. I mean I myself born in Portugal um we just never judged people based on the things that I hear now that you're using as metrics to judge people. And that's discrimination. You are you
are discriminating by the very fact that you're trying not to discriminate. The irony is that you are discriminating. It is discriminatory. Once you start judging people based on their sexual orientation or their race or religion, that's discrimination.
>> Councilwoman Isa, you wanted to comment? >> Yes. I I wanted to comment back. Um we have fact checked everything I've said in my speech. So, if you would like the list, we have a list of all the elected council members here since 1948. And I
wanted to thank Grace for working with the Somerset County because not only do I look for facts and I requested this before I came here and made my speech to make sure I double triple check anything that I speak out to the public and if I do find something that is incorrect, we
will do an amendment to the meeting minutes and and make sure that's public. But we do have all the names of every single council person going back to 1948. And I'm I'm happy to share that with you as well. >> You have all their religions. >> Um you can look at the name and find out
if you want. I don't think that's possible. >> And it's also with Somerset County as well. It's been double checked in two two areas of records where it's available. >> I'm curious to see that list because frankly I don't think it's possible for you to know our religions because we never told anyone. It's not a matter of
record. No one's ever asked Councilman Kersh his religion or my religion. No one. >> I ask you to wrap it up. You have a minute. >> You asked me to engage in this dialogue. I'm I'm done. But okay. >> Thank you very much for your time and congratulations to all the school board
members and thank you for their service to our town. >> If if I could um could I just ask what makes any of the appointments that were made to the board of adjustment any of those individuals unqualified in your opinion? I see there's no answer to that question. Thank you.
>> I'm sorry. There there was a I don't know if if the audience member, Mr. Pedroso, realized that a specific question was being asked of him. >> Maybe you could repeat the question. >> Sure. Uh would you point out in the ways
that you believe the appointees to the board of adjustment are unqualified? Councilman Buuko, if you if you had listened to my speech, you would have realized that I didn't touch upon the individuals and their qualifications. All I said is that the comments that I
heard from the three of you up here were prejuditial and discriminatory by the way that you judge people to be appointed to these boards. I'm not passing judgment on the on on the for the five or six individuals that were appointed and frankly I don't even want
to get into that. I'm talking about your conduct as council members representing the people of Bridgewater Township. You should not be prejuditial and you should not discriminate among people. >> Thank you. Thank you Mr. Pedroso. I think there are maybe one other person
who might want to speak, maybe two. >> Jeremy Lee, Bridgewater, New Jersey. >> Hello, Mr. Le. >> This is my first time participating in public comment here at this town council, so you'll have to excuse me if I sound a little nervous.
>> Well, that's okay. We know you we know you comment a lot on the board of ed, so we know you're comfortable speaking. >> Always have something good to say. Well, >> I do want to say thank you to Mike Papus and to the administration for doing what
you can to keep our streets paved. I've noticed we've done an excellent job and this administration has done a great job making sure that this town is wellrun. So, I do want to make sure that, you know, I get that comment noted on the record. But I would also like to thank the council obviously as well as a
fellow board member for recognizing schoolboard member recognition month according to NJSBA. U obviously I'm someone who's gone through the public school districts here in Bridgewater. I've had an opportunity to work with some really amazing
teachers, some of whom many of whom are still teaching here in Bridgewater Riden, which is pretty crazy if you think about it because as a board member, the fact that there are still teachers teaching and I get to see them sometimes, for example, my orchestra
teacher, uh, is really, really incredible. So, I do want to say that's that's a really amazing experience. uh you know, our students and teachers um made me who I am today. Our district made me who I am today. And for them, I'm forever grateful.
I ran for board of ed, as many of you know, and I won in 2024. And I ran because I wanted to do something good for my community. I wanted to do something good for the public school district to made me who I am today to help teach me how to take the lead and
taught me the importance of giving back to my community. I ran as well because I recognized the important role that board of ed members play in making sure that our district is wellrun. That's one of the most important roles as any board member
knows of what a board member does. And that's something that I think is going to be very important. We know that there's a lot of challenges facing school districts all across New Jersey. So protecting our tradition of educational excellence is going to be incredibly important. And I'm really proud to be at the forefront of
providing these pragmatic solutions. Uh, finally, I would like to say that I'm incredibly proud once again to be part of this town, to be a part of this district. And I think that like some other people that have served before me as young students
that became future board members. I think and I truly believe that our district does live up to its mission to teach them one and all so that one day they can take the lead. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Anyone else? Ah, Miss Franco.
>> I got 100% compliance with people signing in. >> You all know me, Kathy Franco. We road. Um, I have a couple things. one is uh I see in the resolutions there's a number of resolutions regarding legal um
services and I was wondering what is the bid threshold um when do we have to go out to bid and maybe Mr. Papus is best equipped or Mr. Christini >> for a professional service. There are no bids. You never go out to bid. >> You So for professional services,
>> engineers, architects, lawyers, anyone who has a >> Well, well, we do go out for engineering when it comes to like road development. Correct. >> RFP. It's not a bid. It's not a bid. It's an RFP. >> Yeah. What does RFP stand for? >> For request for proposal. Professional services are exempt under the local public contracts law from bidding. This
is just black letter. >> Okay. um you go out for a RFP, a request for proposal for any professional service. And what a professional service is, it's an individual or entity that is licensed and regulated by the state. Right. >> Okay. And who decides like do we go with the lowest bid on RFPs, you know, and
yet qualified or how do we determine who gets that contract? >> That's the administration can discuss that. >> The mayor, there are a few appointments that are the councils. Most of them are the mayors. And I can tell you I the the
RFP stock was about this high. Um I looked at all of it. I know probably everybody else here looked at all of it. We go through it. Ultimately most of those appointments are the mayors. And you're going to see that there are a lot of appointments that were postponing today because we're still going through
it. And that's no one's fault here except probably mine um just because I'm so new at this. It's taking me and some Andrew and Ruana longer than it you know would have taken in the past. So, some of the ones that are on the agenda may not be passed tonight. >> They'll be postponed.
>> Okay. All right. Only because, you know, I I was just looking there was a lot and I see like even the Savo firm has at least three on this. Um, so I was just curious. Uh, the second is, you know, snow and I know everybody's talking about it and everybody's looking at it and we know we're expecting another
snowageddon. Um, and I guess my question is how are we charged for snow? I I mean, are we charged by the inch? Are we charged by the hours of service by the contractors that we use? I I mean I I don't know how the contract works
because I I did I you know I of course go to the internet and I look at how many inches of snow we've gotten since 2010 and how many days of snow we've had and then I wrote down at least since 2020 how much we spent on snow removal.
And it doesn't always make sense to me. So, I was just wondering how those contracts are written if it's based upon, you know, the number of inches of snow, the number of hours that these people are out on the roads, if we have a base fee that we pay them because, you know, I I've worked on campuses where
I've contracted and it was based upon like this is how many miles you're going to do and uh I want you to come when we have two inches or more and I expect, you know, so how how do we define that? Can you answer that? >> Be happy to share the document with you that would detail that if you'd like.
>> Okay. So, if I reach out to your office, you can send me >> I'll just send you something. I'll >> Okay, great. That would be very helpful. Um, and then, oh, I don't know if we're going to actually be doing anything on what is it
12K, I think it is, or 16K resolution, which is the fifth amendment to the consolidated phase one property development agreement. Now, mind you, this is like a three-page agreement or a three-page update. And and I'm just very confused
by it because I see all these dates. I see, you know, the date of April, 120, 2009, and then I see 2013, 2014, 2017, 2022 as far as when different agreements went into place. Um, you know, and I I
believe this is actually a pilot. Am I correct? >> The uh You're speaking about the mall. >> Yeah. Uhhuh. As I as I recall, I wasn't here then, but the original agreement was back in I think 1988, right? And subsequent to that, there have been a number of amendments that the governing
body have approved. Um, and I think those dates probably represent various uh iterations. Um, it is not a pilot as we uh think of pilots today. It is a revenue sharing that was instituted
because a portion of the land that the mall sits on was township owned and part of the arrangement was that in exchange for that uh the uh a portion of the uh revenue from the mall would be shared with the municipality. So it's not a
pilot as we think of pilots today. >> Okay. Thank you. Um, and then it talks about the lifestyle center. >> That's the villages. That was the original name of it. But it's the villages like where Majanos is. >> Okay. That's the >> So the properties that are being sold to
this other firm are the the Bridgewater Commons or you know the the I'm sorry, the villages and then it's the three restaurants. Um, season 52. >> No, no, it's just the villages. the Majanos where the oldraton barrel was
that little those where Shake Shack is um where um >> right now no I know that because it talks about you know on page two it talks about the Cheesecake Factory season 52 in redstone so I didn't know if those were part of the properties
>> I got confused with that too >> I was going to ask the same question >> villages the the area that Majos is those few buildings that >> okay so that would include what was the old Kraton barrel that's now going to be >> come into medical. >> And so that's that entire little campus.
Okay. >> So then I guess my next question is um you know we're we're talking about you know in the first year 2026 it's you know what they'll pay is $26,000. Um I I was wondering is that >> the mall will pay that the mall will pay
that the the the main mall not the villages. The villages will no longer have any financial obligation under the original developer redevelopment agreement that is being transferred to the mall. >> Oh, I thought I thought this was property that the mall owned that was
going to a So, this is being transferred to the mall. >> The No, the property that villages stands on is being sold to this other entity. >> Okay. One of the provisions of the redevelopment agreement required under
certain circumstances in a sense a revenue sharing with the township from the villages. That responsibility is being transferred from the villages to the main mall. >> Okay. So the >> villages will no longer the only financial obligation they would have to
the township is property taxes. >> Wow. You know, I I just wonder because, you know, I think >> and that was requested by the mall to effectuate this this sale. >> You know, I I just look at $26,000 and, you know, to be honest, like I I think
that's a pittance for the size of that property. I I mean, I have 1.3 acres and a house >> and I pay $17,000 a year. >> That's not that's not property taxes. The villages will continue to pay property taxes as well does >> and the structures.
>> Oh. Oh, okay. This is an additional payment that we've negotiated. >> Okay. So, >> to Bill Savo's credit team. >> So, they'll pay regular property taxes. So, their property taxes will go to the township, the school district. Yes. Okay. >> And this is why it's not a pilot because a pilot will take the place of that.
This is a financial agreement, right? So, Mr. Papas has done very well explained this, but Bill Savin spent a great deal of time negotiating more money for the township. >> Oh, okay. No, because I I when I was reading all this, I was thinking it was part of a pilot and this was all we were getting. And
>> Franco, if it was $26,000, you have correct you've accurately identified a a problem. >> Thank you. Okay. I'm not taking your signin sheet. Um I I think that's it. Um, you know, I I am not going to address the issue of
um the qualifications of the people who were appointed to the um zoning board um because I do know the qualifications of those individuals. >> I think you know one of those individuals. >> Yeah, I do know one of them specifically and um you know those individuals are
indeed I think qualified. I was disappointed that some members of this council chose to only question the validity of the appointments of those um appointees that were not Republican. And
that's all I'll say. Thank you very much. >> Okay. >> One one very brief brief comment um talking about the snow. I have no doubt that Mr. Papis's uh um uh explanation of how we uh come to the final numbers will be more than adequate. But I'll just
simply repeat what I stated earlier in this meeting which is all storms are not created equal. There can be ice, there can be sleet. Uh there can be you know we could have a situation where uh you know even half the storm that we got last weekend could be more pricey and more difficult to clean up than a six inch powdery snow.
>> No. No. And and I understand that's why I wondered how the contract was written. Is it based upon the number of hours or the amount of snow or is there a base rate, you know? So, um, and I look forward to getting the contract. Thank you, Mr. >> By vehicle. For the contractor, it's by vehicle.
>> Okay. Thank you. >> Okay, we're going to, uh, would anyone else like to address the council? Miss Lee, another board of education member. We got half at least half or more of the board of education here
tonight. Yeah. All right, >> Lucy. You got Yeah, you gotta write it down. >> I will. >> I got to have my 100% compliance. >> I will do that. And uh I had uh not planned to speak but after seeing my fellow board members to speak I feel to give my first speech at in front this
governing body on this day where the school board is being recognized in this proclamation is proper and in order. Thank you. I want to say a word of thank you for for this governing body for recognizing uh the school board and I
also wanted to thank you for your service. I want to thank the service from my fellow board members and the members who have served previously. Um it is an important role. There's one thing in common here despite the difference of opinion that we might have
at times that we all wanted the best for Bridgewater. And uh with that I also would like to thank the list of people who's on this agenda to be appointed to be appointed to serve. Thank you for your service and congratulations as well as the people who were appointed to
serve um by the by the council last time. Thank you for your service as well. That's my thank you note. >> Thank you much. >> Would anyone else like to address the council? Can I have a motion to close the public
portion of the meeting? >> Moved. >> Second. >> Second. All in favor? >> I I >> opposed. Hearing none. The public portion of the meeting is now closed. Um well, we're moving on to the mayor's appointments with advice and consent. Um
and I'm going to make a comment ahead of time. There are a number of these that we are uh I imagine uh I anticipate there will be motions to postpone and that is because there are still ongoing discussions with the mayor about some of these appointments and there is still
advice being can get given. Anybody who knows me knows I give advice very freely and very frequently. Um but I anticipate that many of these will ultimately be there will be consent to many if not most of these. So I don't want anybody
losing sleep. Um so with respect to 10A um authorizing the appointment of William H. Burr of Kier's Engineering and Design as Township Engineer for a one-year term commencing on January 1st, 2026 through December 31st, 2026 in an
amount not to exceed 140,000. Can I have a motion to accept? >> Uh so moved. >> Second. >> Second. All in favor? Well, I think we do a roll call on this. Yeah.
>> Councilman Bako. >> Yes. >> Council Councilwoman Isla. >> Yes. >> President Geger. >> Yes. B. Authorizing appointment of Katherine Sarmad. PP AICP. My God only knows what that all stands
for, but it sounds very impressive. of Sarmad Planning Group as Township Planner and award of professional service contract in an amount not to exceed $77,500 for a one-year term commencing on January 1st, 2026 through December 31st,
2026. Can I have a motion to accept? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Second. >> All in favor? Well, we have to do a roll call. >> Councilman Beco, >> yes. >> Councilwoman Isla, >> yes. >> President Geger, >> yes. C. Authorizing appointment of
Darlene Green, PP AICP, of Collier's Engineering and Design, as affordable housing planner and award of professional service contract in an amount not to exceed $40,000 for the period of January 1st, 2026 through
December 31st, 2026. Can I have a motion to accept? >> So moved. >> I'll second. Uh, is there any discussion? Hearing none, take a roll. Can we have a roll call? >> Councilman Bucko, >> yes. >> Councilwoman Isla, >> yes.
>> Geiger, >> yes. >> D. Authorizing appointment of Michael Sullivan of the firm of Clark Kenton Hilts, PC as redevelopment planner and award of professional service contract in an amount not to exceed exceed 20,000 for a
one-year term commencing on January 1st, 2026 through December 31st, 2026. Are there any motions with respect to this? >> I would like to make a motion to postpone this to the uh next meeting.
>> February 5th, I believe is the next meeting. Do I have a second? >> Second. >> Can I have a roll call on the motion to postpone? >> Mako. >> Yes. >> Woman Isla. >> Yes. >> Okay.
>> Okay. Great. Um yes. So we're going to do um well E. Okay. Authorizing award of contract professional services to John Dracoitz of the law firm of Given PC as bond council for the calendar year of 2026.
Do I have a motion to accept? >> So moved. Y >> well what? You'll be the second. >> Second. >> I heard Andrew first. Um can I have a uh any discussion? Roll call, please. >> Buckle. >> Yes. >> Councilwoman Isla.
>> Yes. >> Reser. >> Yes. With respect to FG and H, um I believe there's going to be a motion to postpone those three. So, we don't have to read them out because we'll be reading them um in on February 5th.
>> U motion to postpone items FG and H until the February 5th meeting. Second. Moved. >> Second. Council. >> Any discussion? >> I'm sorry. Go ahead. >> I'm sorry.
>> Go ahead. Do a roll call. >> Councilman Bakov. >> Yes. >> Councilwoman Isla. >> Yes. >> Ger. >> Yes. I'm going to do the same thing with I, J, K, and L. Um, again, we're still having ongoing discussions. Um, and actually, I need to talk to you about
that in a minute. Um, we're still having ongoing discussions about the court appointments. Um, and I want everybody to know these are it's we're the town is not without an attorney. Obviously, we have an attorney sitting right here. The town is not without um, you know,
prosecutors and and people in court. They're holdovers, but I believe um, we are requesting I believe there will be a motion to um, postpone all of these I, J, K, and L. Anyone is anyone making that motion?
I will I will make that motion to postpone items I, J, K, and L until February. >> I'll second it. Any discussion? >> You can take a roll call. >> Councilman Bako, >> yes. >> Councilwoman Isla, >> yes. >> President Ger,
>> yes. 11. Mayor's appointment with advice and consent boards and committee. So, A is appointments to the Bridgewater Raritan Youth Services Commission. Um, Arthur Akens. Arthur Akens is a police officer. He is the school resource officer um and definitely an appropriate
person for this appointment. That's my opinion. Um can I have a motion to accept this appointment or consent to this appointment? >> So moved. >> Second. >> All in fa uh I guess roll call. I don't think there's any discussion. >> Councilman Bako.
>> Yes. >> Councilwoman is >> yes. >> Miss B. Appointments to the emergency medical services advisory committee. Um and I do want to make some comments with respect to this one. Um I was very familiar with
uh the the persons, you know, number one, two, three, and four. Um and had no no questions about them. I did have questions about number five and six because I didn't know them. And um I think let's go. I just want to briefly
mention who they are. Tim Timothy Ring obviously is a councilman. He's an EMT. He served for a long time. Jamie Edwards is the captain of our police department. Um, and I believe he has to be on it, but even if he didn't have to be on it, he's someone we would want on it. Alan
Cordella is a former councilman and also uh has served as an emergency services person. Robert Albano is a former councilman um and serves on a lot of boards right now and has done a lot for the town and is pretty qualified to do
this. He's >> I'm sorry. >> Member of the uh Martinsville Rescue. >> Yeah, thank you. Yes, he is. Um Caitlyn Soden. I didn't know who she was, but I wanted to let people know. She is captain of the Find Rescue Squad. She's
an art teacher in Hillsboro, and I believe she just won uh an award for being like teacher of the year. So, that was kind of nice. and Christopher Ireland. Um he is the commissioner of the Bridgewater Fire Department District
2. He's chief of the Bradley Gardens Rescue Squad and he is also a former Bridgewater Raritton High School teacher. So I thought that was nice. And I did want to point out um although uh five of these people are Republicans,
one is unaffiliated um and there's only one woman. I did want to point out because I think this is really nice. Um, one of them is from Green Nolles, one is from Sunset Lake, which we don't speak of as being a separate area of town, but some people I
think the Sunset Lake people think of it as being a separate area. We have two from Find, we have one from Martinsville, and we have one from Bradley Gardens. So, it's really nice that every area of town is represented um with respect to these appointments. I
have no other comments about it. Um, can I have a motion to accept? >> Do we have to do these one at a time? >> I think we can do them all at once. Yeah. >> A whole list. If you want to do it with all the time discussion, >> let's let's do them all at once. >> Discussion. >> Let's do them all together. Right. >> For this one. Yeah.
>> Yeah. Whatever you want to do. Chair. >> Second. >> Second. >> Uh, any any further discussion now that I took up all the discussion time? >> Roll call, please. >> Councilman Bako. >> Yes. >> Councilwoman Isla. >> Yes. >> President Geer. Yes.
Um I think Well, all right. Appointments to the regional center partnership committee. Um Matthew Mench and Michael Papis. I think those are obvious appointments. Um can I have a motion to accept? >> So moved. >> Second.
Any discussion? Roll call. >> Councilman Beo. >> Uh yes. >> Councilwoman Isla. >> Yes. >> President Gger. >> Yes. Um, appointments to Middlebrook Regional Health Commission. Um, can I have a motion to accept? >> So moved.
>> Second. >> All right. I do have comments here. Um, this is an example. I want the town to know this is an example where council and the mayor worked together and came to a compromise. It was at Mr. Corazini's recommendation that we work
it out. Um, and what we were advice >> it was it was good advice. And what we worked out is um Christine Madrid, if you don't have the benefit of having the backup documents, but Christine Madrid is being viewed as the mayor's appointment, which is appropriate,
right? She is our our uh social services and health department director that I think I got it quite I didn't quite say it right. It's health and social services, health and human services. So that was the the right appointment. Um, Ridana Isla. Um, I I fought very hard
for that because I felt that having someone from the pharmaceutical industry might might add something unique and different to the commission. And Stan Stalakis, he's the alternate and he also is on a related commission. Um, Mr.
Papis, do you know exactly which commission that is? >> The chair of the health advisory board. >> So, that made sense to me. And he is a mayoral appointment. So you have here a combination of two people being appointed by the mayor and one being appointed by the council and that was
again we were trying to work together. So um can I I think we did the motion to accept. >> Yeah and I just wanted to add that I appreciate the collaboration. I might not have that local HHS experience but I do go to the capital and Washington DC a lot to work with the other HHS there. So
I've met with a lot of the top leaders there already. So you know I think the local is important too. So, I'm glad that I'll get a chance to focus on the local issues as well. >> Okay. And I want to thank the mayor for working with me on that as well. >> Um, so I guess roll call.
>> Councilman Burkelo. >> Yes. >> Woman Isa. >> Yes. >> Guyger. >> Yes. Mayor's appointments without advice and consent. We just read them, right? There's no vote. >> Read them. >> Okay. So, the appointments to the environmental commission will be Jeff Fouse for a three-year term ending
12312028 and Ronald Sarenzio to fill an onyx expired three-year term ending 12312026. And now Chris Corzini gets to >> after you don't they go to see the clerk. >> Okay. All right.
>> You could just go into resolutions. >> Okay. So the resolutions um >> I'm going to do some Okay. So this these can be done by consent. Um and I just want to for the people that are watching this that are not here physically. If
you're here physically you'd have a copy of it so you could actually read it. If you're not here physically you can access them online. But in the interest of time, um, I'm going to group some of them together, which is acceptable. >> Yes, you can also read them all and ask
program. That's what I'm suggesting. >> Okay. >> But whatever you want. I mean, it really is your discretion. >> Well, I So, let me just say this. My inclination is to uh do A, B, and C by consent. Is there any would anyone like them read individually? >> I think we should read them
individually. >> Okay. Um, then I could do that. I can read. Um so A is authorizing the continuation of public health services of the Middlebrook Regional Health Commission for the year 2026 at a total cost of 132,220,000
pursuant to the requirements of NJSA263-1 at SEAC. B is authorizing an additional $110,672.52 to Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey for providing health insurance to
the township of Bridgewater for a total annual premium of 6,323,28852 for the year of 2025. I think there might be a a question on that. and C authorizing an additional $3,85748 to Delta Dental of New Jersey, Inc. for
providing dental and vision insurance to the township of Bridgewater for a total annual premium of $362,62148 for the year of 2025. And I I just someone I think we might need just a little bit of an explanation on um B I
think >> Mr. Papis I think there's a question about if that from last year or this year. >> So that where is the money coming from? Is it it that it's not coming out of last year's budget? It has to come out of this year's budget because there was
we didn't have enough from last year. Yes. And Mr. Corsini just reminded me it's the temporary budget. Uh no this is funded this is funded out of the 2025 budget. >> Okay. >> And it is for 2025.
>> So okay so that it's already paid for. >> Oh nice. Okay. >> Yeah. This this has been this has been paid and it is authorizing the basically trueing up from 2025. That's what that's what this is.
>> Okay. I I just would like to um um point out for uh and and Mr. Papis, correct me if I'm wrong. Um I had asked you this uh earlier in the week. Um at the end of last year, there were uh funds
transferred into the um health insurance account. Um this is this is not in addition to them. This is basically authorizing some of those funds to be spent to um pay the the last year's bills from last
year's funds. >> Repeat that question. >> Sure. Um and in the uh December uh 17th uh meeting, I believe um there was >> budget transfer resolution, >> right? There was a transfer resolution
uh to move uh funds between accounts. Some of it was to the health uh insurance account. >> Um this is not additional money. This is just authorizing the spending of the money that was already moved to the account. >> Correct. >> Okay. >> Yes sir.
>> Thank you. And and um after after this is uh after after B is uh spent there there still remains uh money in that account. uh should any uh expenses from 2025
show up as insurance tends to do. >> Okay. >> I'm not sure uh I'm not sure I can I can get that in answer for you though. >> Okay. Thank you very much. You're welcome. Look forward to that. >> Any further discussion? Can uh I think it's just roll call,
right? >> Oh, I need a motion. I have a motion to accept >> on Yeah. On A, B, and C. So moved. >> Second. Roll call, please. >> Councilman Bako, >> yes. >> Councilwoman Isla, >> yes.
>> President Gger, >> yes. D. Authorizing the purchase of rolled salt for 2025 2026 winter season from the Somerset County Road and Bridge Division P. Box 3000, Somerville, New Jersey 08876 in the amount not to exceed
150,000. Uh, can I have a motion >> to accept? >> So moved. I'll second. Uh, is there any discussion? All in favor? Or I'm sorry, have to do a roll call. Sorry. Thank you. >> Councilman Bako, >> yes. >> Councilwoman Isla,
>> yes. >> Geer. >> Yes. E. Authorizing an additional 150,000 to RJM Landscape and Design LLC of 821 Parsonage Hill Drive, Branchburg 08876 for snow removal services for the
total contract amount not to exceed 210,000 total for the 2025 2026 winter season. Um, can I have a motion to accept? >> So moved. >> I'll second. Is there any discussion?
>> Just a comment. This was actually bid. This This is a service that is actually goes through a bidding process. >> C. Miss Franco, did you hear that? Yeah. Okay, good. Um, >> I guess roll call. >> Counciloman Becko. >> Yes. >> Councilwoman Eastler?
>> Yes. >> Guyer? >> Yes. Yeah. I have back question on that. Do we are we required to accept the bid or they just have to bid and then we have a choice? Sometimes >> you always there are five reasons in the statute that allow you to reject a bid and they are loose enough where you
could figure out way to do it if the contract is disadvantageous. >> Okay. >> The most common is if it was too expensive. >> Okay. >> More than the budget car appropriation. >> Okay. All right. Just curious. Um Okay. Now we are on F. authorizing the execution of an agreement with the
soccer centers located at 300 Memorial Drive, Somerset, New Jersey, and the Township Recreation Department for the spring and fall travel in town junior Panthers high school adult summer and field hockey programs. Who knew we had so many soccer centers will provide the
use of the fields, referees, and trainers at a cost not to exceed $154,250. The aforementioned expense will be paid through the registration fees in the soccer recreation trust fund resulting in no operating cost to Bridgewater
Township. We always like to hear that. Um can I have a motion? >> So moved. So I'll second. Um any discussion? >> I'm just a a question. Um, how many um
how many individuals uh within the the town uh participate in these these programs? Do we have a ballpark number? >> I don't know. It's a huge number of people, but I don't know off the top of my head. We'll we can get that for you, but it can fluctuate obviously year by
year. >> I'm just interested to know how many, you know, how many uh you know, how many participate in this and and are seeing the the benefit of of the recreation programs. Just out of curiosity, do we know of the 46,000 residents how many are under the
age of 18? >> I don't know myself. I think we generally go by census data and um >> and that would be old anyway by now. >> Yeah. Yeah. >> Yeah. Okay. >> Um did I ask for a motion? Do I have I do I
have a motion on that already? Did I ask for a motion? If I didn't, let's say can I have a motion to accept F? >> So moved. second. >> Uh I think we had the discussion. Is there um >> well the discussion I have a Google AI
answer 10,631 residents under 18 so 23.1% of the population and again the census is a little dated. >> Yeah. Okay. >> Okay.
>> I think we need a roll call. >> Councilman Bako. Yes. >> Councilwoman Isla. >> Yes. >> Guyer. >> Yes. We're on the last page, folks. >> Okay. Um G. Authorizing the release of the performance guarantee in the amount of
5,000 and landscaping bond in the amount of 14,400 and acceptance of the site improvements for Kenha LLC, Crossroads Plaza, block 315, lot 3 at 600 East Main Street. Can I have a motion? So moved.
>> Second. >> Is there any discussion? Can I have a roll call, please? Counciloman Beco. >> Yes. >> Councilwoman Isla. >> Yes. >> President Geger. >> Yes. H. Authorizing the waiver of fire permit fees in the amount of $300 for
St. Bernard of Clarvo Parish in connection with hosting homeless families at their location 500 Route 22 Bridgewater, New Jersey 08807 on the following dates January 18th
through to 25th, March 1st to 8th, April 26th, May to May 3rd, and June 7th to 14th, 2026. Can I have a motion? >> So moved. >> I'll second. Is there any discussion?
All in uh I guess you have to take a roll call. >> Councilman Bako. >> Yes. >> Councilwoman Isla. >> Yes. >> Geer. >> Yes. I authorizing the waiver of fire permit and special event fees in the total amount of $220 for the Somerville Elks Lodge 1068 in
support of the Jack's Kids Tailgate fundraiser located at 375 Union Avenue Bridgewater to be held on Saturday, January 24th, 2026. Well, well, yeah, I guess the Saturday it'll work. Um, can I
have a motion? >> So moved. I'll second. Is there any discussion? All in uh you have do roll call. Council >> BO. >> Yes. Council >> woman Isla. >> Yes. >> President Geger. >> Yes. J. Emergency Resolution NJS484-46.
Snow removal salary and wages. Um the amount here we have it in our packet, but just so the public is aware, it's $18,853.72. Can I have uh a motion? So moved. >> Second. I'll second. Um is there any
discussion? >> Uh this is this is from the previous year 2025. Correct. >> Correct. Yes. In December. >> Okay. >> Can I have a roll call? >> Councilman Bako. >> Yes. >> Councilwoman Isla. >> Yes. >> Geer.
>> Yes. Okay. Authorizing execution of a fifth amendment to the consolidated phase one property development agreement with the Bridgewater Commons Mall consenting to the transfer of block 553 lot one dash or one period 03 the
lifestyle center also commonly referred to as the village at Bridgewater Commons to Urban Edge Properties authorizing the execution of a new redevelopment agreement with Urban Edge Properties. and the designating Urban Edge Properties as the redeveloper of the
lifestyle center. Um, can I have a motion, please? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Is there any discussion? I just want to comment. We did have a lot of discussion when Miss Franco was up here. And that's part of the reason why I let it go on uh was because I knew
if we didn't have it then when Miss Franco was here, we would have had a lot of that discussion now. And I think Andrew, you still have some comments. >> I I did. I just want to um first thank the um um the administration for uh uh
acting on on uh my uh comments. The the initial draft of this uh resolution um only described this property as the lifestyle center, which um I've never heard it referred to that before. And I
understand that's that's what the the contracts have have called the property and and and that's fine. Um but uh I I do feel that the the titles of of resolutions at least should um identify uh when when we're talking about
properties identify in in a in a more acceptable uh and understood way where um um the the properties uh exist in the town. Um, you
know, I I know the the the tax map is is a very precise location, but um I'm I'm probably pretty confident in saying that uh just about nobody has a copy of their of the tax map at home. Uh so having
either a street address or or in this case uh the uh name that the the property is more uh commonly known as uh is is is uh is is very much appreciated and uh I would expect that um going
forward as well. >> Yeah. Thank you because I don't know I don't I was confused too when I saw life this lifestyles but I understand it is that that is the legal name and that's just the way it is. Um, >> but I do have a uh beyond that that
comment, I do have a question. Um uh and this is this is uh just uh since the the the mall itself has changed owners um in the last couple of
years and and now the um lifestyle center also known as the village uh is uh transferring ownership. Uh did we uh were we required to have a new redevelopment agreement uh executed with
the new owners of these properties? Um both the mall originally uh when it was transferred to uh Pacific Retail and uh this uh portion of it uh to its who will be the new owner.
>> I'm fairly sure we just did an assignment looking back. Councilman, we just assigned >> what's that? >> Yeah, we 100% acted on it, but it would just be an assignment of interest. >> Okay. >> Because the ch the terms didn't change this changes the terms and well I have the mic give 100% of the uh legal
credit. Mr. Papis deserves some credit as well, but 100% of the legal credit to my uh colleague Bill Savo who has been striking deals for this township for 25 years and struck another good one here. >> I read the contract that was attached. He's he's 83 years old and he's still
hitting home runs. It's not a >> I am not going to pretend to have understood every word of it. >> The the uh payment scheme is almost entirely his construction which was uh going from zero to an escalating scale that will benefit the township into the 2030s. So >> I was really glad there was no law
school exam on it. Um >> complicated. >> Yes, it was. Um did I have a motion already on this? >> Okay, so I guess we just do roll call. >> Councilman Bakov, >> yes. woman Isla. >> Yes. >> Geer. >> Yes. Um now have a discussion period. Um
I just want to make a couple of small comments. Um two thing well one thing Councilman Kersh isn't here but I do want the public to know that um after the last session where Councilman Kersh expressed a lot of concern about qualifications and resumeums and
information about various appointments. Um I have reached out to um to him and we are going to be working together with the advice of council to amend our bylaws, the council bylaws to be more
specific so that we have protocol for who's going to have to submit what probably resumes and a letter of intent for any judicial or quasi judicial boards. um and maybe certain statutoily required appointments and something less
uh o ownorous for people that are just applying to be on various volunteer committees. Um so we're working on that and and we should hopefully have that done um in a couple weeks. I'm not promising that it'll be done by February
5th. And then um I just wanted to ask some questions about the the Bridgewater Square and that problem. Do we does the town have any authority or any is there any way that we can require the owner of
these properties? This seems to be the only one that has the big problem to to do the snow removal. I know like a regular homeowner has to clean their driveway and or I don't know not their driveway but their sidewalk. Is there anything we can do for the um >> We
can >> I have my thoughts, but I'll let you go. >> We there's an ordinance that enables the township to send public works employees there to carry out the task and to put a lean on the property. But I will tell you this, we do not have the resources
to divert from the roads to address this. If this is a qualified community administrator, we paid them to do it, do I don't know that it is. This is the first I'm hearing about it. I'm happy to look. >> This is an apartment complex. This is a building with apartments. So, I don't not if it's if it's a condo association.
We pay >> might not be. I I just I've never >> First I've heard of this. >> They're apartments. Maybe not, but we pay condo associations to do it on behalf of their residents. It's >> If I may, and and perhaps um uh we can get a um maybe an interpretation of this
uh here. Um, my reading of of chapter 182 of the um, municipal code only uh, seems, at least from my non- attorney reading of it, seems to only apply to
uh, sidewalks that are abudding uh, public streets and avenues and highways. From my reading, again, not as a lawyer, it doesn't seem to apply to um parking lots of multiple dwelling unit uh
properties. Um if that is is a incorrect interpretation, um you know, I' I'd like to be, you know, corrected on that. Um, in that case, there is a a fine that can
be assessed uh um if uh the uh property surfaces are not not cleared of snow. But um again, it would be a question of whether or not that would actually apply in in this particular case.
>> This from this day was is the first time hearing of this problem, which I'm happy to be told of. We can discuss this. I am certainly intellectually supportive of what you've said. So, I brought up the ordinance. There could be other um >> sure >> places where it's tucked away. As I say, I'm a cold I'm cold on this. No pun
intended. Um but I will be happy to work with >> Yeah. And I guess >> I live in an association, so I'm very supportive. I wanted to ask you further if if this was it 182 section 182 does
not cover it um would we have the authority to to come up with an ordinance that we where we could do something >> local I'd like to >> look at this I mean so sidewalks are easements but a private lot that isn't a
qualified community under the statute I'd like to look at that issue quite frankly >> a qualified community like, and that's a new term for you guys, but like an association like where I live. Right. Right. >> We pay them to do it. We out of they're entitled to the taxpayer funds that we
appropriate to our streets. It's like a like a mid good, right? >> For a straightup apartment building that's not condo. I'd have to look at that, honestly. >> Well, no. That's fair. Fair enough. Fair enough. >> The answer is yes. So, from where I live, I live in Glenn Brook, right? Um there's a Patterson Street that runs through it is our street up to the
Culdeac. We pay we plow that the off off streets we then pay them through a qualified community payment to um to pay to plow them on their own which they do and if they don't their residents are going to lynch them including this one and that plays out over all of our
associations right I am not familiar with this this this entity which I will look into >> yeah no fair enough and I this is just it it appar you know councilman Kersh pointed out it's an ongoing problem so if we if we can solve it. We will try. If we can't, we can.
>> The key legal question I'll be looking at is um it's not a qualified under the statute. >> Do we have any right to compel private owner private owner a private lot to file that? It's a great question and I intend to look at it tomorrow. So, >> okay. And this is something that just
kind of bubbled up um to to us in the last couple of days because uh a number of residents reached out to uh the the council via email >> square bellis court >> report the the issue as as ongoing and
um you know I I've heard from comments from the residents that this is a issue that has been a problem over the past several years. Of course, you know, last year we didn't get a lot of snow, so uh not so much, but in in previous years it
has been um so, you know, it's certainly, I think, an opportunity to find a solution that uh can can benefit uh not just these residents, but but anyone who who lives in a a similar um MDU property.
>> Yeah. Yeah. And I think that's why it's coming up uh this year because you know we haven't had snow for my husband kept saying oh we don't get snow anymore. Well >> yeah. >> Yeah. And like rather than the the fix today was really good because actually while we were talking one of the
residents just emailed with a picture thanking us that it's clear for the first time in three years. Yeah. She just sent it over. So we got like a dozen complaints. So, one of the residents just took the picture because we asked for pictures earlier today. So, that was Joan's idea. Give us the
pictures. Andrew drove by. But, you know, so Mr. Papus, you don't have to keep, you know, hounding down on all of these landlords, the the owners. You know, we might need a amendment or an ordinance to fix it more permanently. >> I think after Mr. Thank you. I think Mr. of course he reviews it depending upon
what any ordinance may empower us or what you would contemplate then the issue is the resources to enforce >> and so to establish a new ordinance that we don't have the resources to enforce is a consideration
>> I would say this in response to that um I think that I don't I I my own personal opinion it's just my opinion I mean I don't think we want to drag these people you drag the owner into court and issue a lot of summons and and all that kind of thing. But I think if we have an
ordinance sometimes a letter from, you know, an esteemed town administrator saying you're, you know, you're not complying. You can try, right? That's all we can do. >> I appreciate that. I understand the the the the motive, but then we have to then
differentiate between that and what if there are sidewalks in a residential area where people are supposed to shovel. Are they going to be each getting a letter? So, >> let's let's do some >> So, my point, excuse me, Chris, let me
finish. My point is we will look at the legal review but we have to consider the resources necessary to enforce such a sentiment and um what's practical >> the practical applications. Yep.
Understood. But we can try what I would say. Um and I do know somebody that did get a ticket for not shoveling her sidewalk. >> Yeah. Oh yeah. She was very unhappy, but I think I think she lived in Somerville at the
time. I don't think it was Bridgewater. I'm not sure. Um, is there any other discussion? Hearing none. Can I have a motion to adjurnn? >> Well, I'll make the motion to adjurnn. Can I have a second? >> Second. >> All in favor?
>> I >> I >> opposed. We are adjourned. >> So awful. So awful. >> I know. He's so >> I can't even I don't want to step on your toes.