Recording in progress. All right, welcome back everyone. Um, we've completed our executive session and I would like to invite everyone to please rise for the flag salute to the flag of the United States of
America to the standy for all. Okay. So, I guess it's not the mayor's message tonight, it's the deputy mayor's message tonight. Um, thank you everyone for joining. Um,
the first thing I would like to say, uh, and just remind everyone that there is a heat advisory. It is extremely hot. It's dangerous. Um, so just a reminder that seniors are able to go to Colony Pool for free. Um, and if anyone has any
issues, um, please don't hesitate to contact to contact us or anyone member of the committee if there are issues with your air conditioning, heat, you know, trying to stay cool and if you need anything. Um, I want to talk about June. What an
incredible month we had. Uh, there were so much activity, so many wonderful celebrations. um 35 years of the senior center. Um the Jamie Panair 5K um Girl Scout Gold and Silver Awards, uh the
Fishawak Festival, unfortunately rainy day, but there were still a bunch of hardcore people that came out. We're grateful. um the JC's event where um all of our amazing local community uh groups
were honored and um given some funds to continue all the good work that they do and the three um recipients of the scholarships that they they awarded. um and also honoring um Evan Skinner of the Emergency Squad and all of her years of
uh service to Cadam as well as Chadam High School graduating an incredible class of students, class of 2025 and then also all the other students that are moving up um and moving around as there are some changes into our in our
school district with different grades going to different buildings. um and welcoming our new superintendent, Dr. Emily Sortino. So, um I'm sure I missed probably a couple of other things. We had a Junth celebration last week. Um
there was uh a dedication in the burrow at the Shepherd Collic Park um which was was really interesting and I was grateful um for the process because it was interesting. Shepherd Collock.
There's such a deep history here, but he actually um owned slaves. And this dedication on Junth was a plaque for one of the slaves that he owned, a young boy named Jack. So, they're dedicating um a plaque and the playground in his honor.
And it's really interesting because I've had some time to wander around in some cities in the south. Um I spent some time in Columbia, South Carolina. and I had some some time um to wander around and I went to some historical homes and some plantations and there's a lot of
history there, but they're also very open on their plaques what they're describing that they h are missing and have erased a big part of the history um that's disappeared. So, I think this was a really neat way to honor um history on
both sides and and keep it going forward. So that was um looking forward to the dedication of that at that playground. So, um it was a really busy month, wonderful things, um happening around the community, and it was really
wonderful just to hear from all the different groups that contribute to to Chattam Township and Chattam Burough and and our schools and our students and and all the opportunities that our students have to to learn and grow and, you know,
do projects uh that benefit our community and and really just bring us all together. So, that's my message. If anyone has any questions, please feel free to reach out. Uh, and now we'll move into the township
committee reports. Um, Committeemanits. Thank you, Deputy Mayor. Um, just a couple of quick updates. Uh in addition uh earlier this month uh the fire department uh did a series of trainings uh around water drills which was really
quite spectacular about trying to maximize the usage of uh water coming out of a single fire hydrant and actually uh taking it all the way down to farther reaching areas. Um the public was not invited to see it but I kind of
crashed anyway and watched it. It was quite a spectacle to see and it was pretty amazing what they do. Um they uh are also celebrating 100 years in service uh which is an amazing achievement uh being an all volunteer organization which is scheduled for
October 11th. So put that on your calendar. Uh earlier this month also there was a ribbon cutting ceremony at the emergency squad where they opened their doors. Uh it was a really great time. Uh public was invited in uh and really state-of-the-art uh facility as
we've talked about before too. and they showed off our brand new ambulance as well too, which was, you know, a banner day for CES. Uh, and you can see them all on display at the Fourth of July parade, including the fire departments and everyone. So, that's coming up. Um, and the only other thing I was going to
mention, which you talked about, was the JC's organization, which, um, just to add to that is, uh, I've lived here for 25 years. I've heard of the JC's. I've participated at Fishawak. I've bought a Christmas tree. I really haven't known what the JC's have done all this time
and to be present and see what they do in funding all these organizations within Chattam community was truly astonishing and incredible. Um so if you're having trouble figuring out who to donate money to, um donating to the JC's will actually donate to everybody
in Chadam. uh all the chatams from churches to organizations to boy scouts to the first responders, the beekeepers, suicide prevention and the list goes on and on and on and it's really quite incredible to see. So, I just wanted to mention that to anyone that's listening.
That's all I got. Thank you. Uh Committ McHugh, thank you to Deputy Mayor. We got a couple uh couple quick ones here. Um regarding the uh the uh environmental commission and the open space committee
per the mayor's uh directive. Active discussions are underway on stewardship specifically for the Fensky property and we remind the public to get involved and uh you know contact either uh your friends and neighbors um to help uh
development and uh completion of that uh of that stewardship plan and that document. Um reminded that uh and I don't have to remind you it's awfully hot today both there and here in Houston, Texas. Uh the library um
um appreciates everybody's patience as occasionally it gets a little bit warm in there um even though you can use it as a cooling center um as a place uh of refuge uh should that happen. Uh this this or be necessary. Uh this uh July
1st, the library is hosting a blood drive from 10:00 a.m. to 3. Uh we ask for those to stick out the arm and participate. uh if available, that would be terrific. Uh and finally, uh the summer reading program is underway.
However, uh it's not too late to get involved. Uh so you can call or visit the library and uh get yourself involved in the summer reading program and get in contests, etc. Um and see what we can read and and accomplish. Thank you,
Deputy Mayor. Thank you, Committee Wald. Thank you. Um, our senior center uh fundraising event was very successful. Thank you to everyone who attended and who donated. Uh, and congratulations and a special thank you to Jim Jim Connelly for his contribution uh over the years.
He was honored as part of that event um for his contributions to the senior center and to so many other organizations in town. Um, the Colony Pool Advisory Committee has a great lineup of events this year. Uh so keep an eye on the schedule. It is never too late to join. And there are um open
house days if you're interested in just uh getting to know a little bit more about the pool. Uh the planning board did meet and adopted the housing element and fair share plan of the master plan uh which outlines our fourth round um
affordable housing uh plan. Uh and that is that plan is on the resolution I mean on the agenda today. a resolution uh to endorse for this committee to endorse the plan. Um and that is everything that I have. Okay, thank you. Um last thing,
I hope to see everyone out on Fourth of July. Um looking forward to that next celebration in a couple of weeks. And with that, uh we'll move on to the first hearing of citizens. Mr. Lacante, will you please read the guidance? Members of the public are now welcome to come up to
the microphone to address the township committee. This is an opportunity for any member of the public to be heard about issues which are not topics scheduled for public hearings tonight. Those present may step up to the microphone to be heard. If you're watching via Zoom, you may speak during any of the public comment sessions by
following the Zoom instructions to raise your hand. Whether in person or online, when you are recognized to speak, please mind the following procedures. Please say your name, spell your last name, and give the name of your street. You do not need to give your street number. All
public comments will be limited to three minutes. Rather than use any of your time answering questions, the township committee will wait until you finish before speak uh but you finish speaking before responding. There are two public comment sessions on
tonight's agenda. Each member of the public will be limited to one comment of up to three minutes during each public comment period. Written comments submitted to the township committee before 3 p.m. today will be read during the public comment sessions. Written comments are subject
to the same guidelines as oral comments. Duplicative written comments may be summarized rather than read in full according to guidelines issued by the New Jersey Division of Local Government Services. Uh we did not receive any written comments for tonight's meeting. And I should since we have some
ordinances on the agenda, I'll note that these procedures um come into play for the public hearings on the ordinances as well. Okay. Are there any questions online or any hands raised online? I do not see any hands raised online at this time. Okay.
And I'd like to welcome any members of the public to come to the microphone if anyone has anything to say in the room. Okay. Okay, if there are no questions or comments, then we can close the first hearing of citizens
and then next we will move on to the public hearing and the adoption of ordinances. First one being ordinance 2025-12 and that's amending the LEMC which is the local emergency management council. Uh does anyone have any questions or comments?
No hands raised. Okay. Okay. Do you want me to start with a motion to adopt? Do we Yes. Okay. I will make a motion to adopt uh 2025-12. Uh I'll second. Second. Okay. Great.
Thank you. Okay. We can move on to ordinance 2025-13. Do I need to What's next? Discussion. Oh, okay. So, we do discussion after. Okay. I know Mike Mike got tripped up on the same thing last
time. Um, yes. Is there any commentary or discussion? Um, I'll just comment again. And I know we've talked about this over and over again, but I I really appreciate the minor changes that were made to add a couple members uh and just get this all in order. Hopefully, we
don't need um emergency management services at a large scale, but uh I'm sure we'll be very well prepared if uh we do. So, uh that's all. Do we do a vote now? Yes. Okay. Mr.
Alperwoods. Uh yes, Mrs. Yes. Which we did. Where do we do them one at a time? We do one ordinance at a time. Yeah. We had a public and then I then we voted. So the
deputy mayor opened it up for questions, which we did. Oh, it wasn't that formal. It wasn't a full I didn't we didn't clo we didn't close it I guess. Yeah. Which that was done before the motion was made.
Yeah. We we do the public hearing first then there's a motion after the public hearing and that's how it happened. Okay. We did the public hearing and we talked about it. Yeah. No we Yeah. We do the public hearing and then the motion follows the public hearing.
So, um, Mr. McHugh, yes. And Deputy Mayor Roland, yes. Motion passes. Thank you. Okay. Now, we move on to ordinance 2025-13, uh, the multi-purpose bond ordinance.
Uh, I'll make a motion to introduce 2025. Do that first. Open. I'd like to open um ordinance 2025-13 uh to the public. I thought we Yeah, I thought we make and
then we talk. Okay. How do you want me to do it? Darn it. I'm still new here. Darn it. So, wait, how how do we what's the right procedure? So, what should I do first?
Introduce ordinance 2025. The first thing you need to do is introduce the topic. There should be a motion on it. Z, can you use your mic? Oh, sorry. There should be a motion on it, a second on it, then you open the public hearing, then you close the public hearing, and then you call for
the vote on the ordinance. Right. So, that's what Yeah, because historically, we've had the public hearing first, so that way they know if they want to amend the ordinance first. Yeah, but you can't amend unless you made a motion. You can't amend an ordinance until you made a motion to consider it first.
But the motion would be either to amend or adopt. No, I was making the motion just to open the discussion. Correct. Okay. Okay. So, we're introducing something new. Okay. So, I made a motion to introduce ordinance 2025-
Yeah. This is a motion for the Oh. Oh, sorry. This is a motion for the adoption. Well, yeah, for the adoption of the ordinance. Okay. So [Music] continue doing uh I was opening the discussion to 2025.
I'm not even sure what we're doing at this point. Um, we're going to vote on a discussion. I will second a protocol that I don't think makes any sense. All in favor? I I Yes. Motion to I move to adopt the ordinance.
Second. Now we'll have our discussion. Yes. Okay. Um Mr. Shotty, if you could just given it's the um multi-purpose bond ordinance. If you just kind of give a highlight of what what this is, what's in it? Uh so
the multi-purpose ordinance uh bond ordinance. This is a an ordinance to authorize the um improvements and purchase of a number of capital items that would come out of the general operating budget, meaning not out of the sewer utility. So that largely is public
safety items. Um and some administrative items such as built like red brick schoolhouse uh but largely it is for public safety items. Uh almost $3.2 million for fire apparatuses. uh some purchases for vehicles for the DPW and
for the police department. Uh and then the rest of it would be I call like minor items uh you know that fall into it. So this is uh a good amount of it is being funded through our capital budget whatever we can pay for out of the capital improvement fund so we don't have to borrow and then the balance of
it is going to be borrowed. Thank you. I appreciate that. It's been a while since we've discussed it. So for the sake of the public I wanted to make sure that that was they had the highlights there. Sure. I mean, if you want me to go more detail, I just don't know how much you want me to get into, but I'm good. That's good then. Thank you.
Okay. Is there a motion to adopt ordinance 2025? We already have that to adopt. Yes. And then we vote individually. We vote when you ask me to call the role. Okay. Can you call roll
to vote? Mr. Aleritz. Yes. Mrs. Eald. Yes. Mr. McHugh. Yes. And Deputy Mayor Roland. Yes. Motion passes. Okay. I'd like to open um the public hearing for ordinance 2025-14, the capital ordinance.
There's any comments? Okay. Is there a motion? Was it discussion. So, do I open I open public hearing. Are there any comments for the from the public? Okay, I'm opening the I I I'll jump in
here. Sorry. Okay, so and I apologize if this isn't how we've been doing it because I swear this is what this this is what we would do. So, you would make a motion to adopt the ordinance. Someone makes a motion, someone seconds,
then you open the public hearing. So, anyone from the public, whether they're in person or on the phone or computer, can speak. Then you close the public port public hearing and then there is discussion just of the township
committee and then you close discussion of the township committee and then Greg would take a roll call vote with regard to the adoption of the ordinance. Yeah. Yeah, because normally we did the public hearing before the motion so that way they know what they're actually moving,
but if if you want to do it your way, that's fine. Yeah, I think it it needs to be there needs to be the motion to bring the matter before the committee. Okay. So, that's kind of how you open the matter. So, yeah. So, you would make the motion. I make, you know, I move to
adopt ordinance such and such such and such. I second. Okay. We're going to open the public hearing. Close the public hearing discussion of the committee. Close discussion of the committee. Then we have a roll call vote. Okay. So I move to open the uh Are
you moving to adopt the ordinance? Yes. For 2025-14. I will second that. Okay. If we can open the public hearing on ordinance 2025-14. Okay. See we have no one online and no
one coming to the mic. Okay. So, seeing no comments, we will close the public hearing and now we can open the discussion for the township committee. Is there a motion? We need a motion. I have motions already. We don't need it. Okay. So, we could just remind because I went through
everything a while ago. If you could just remind us what the difference is with the different ones. Yes. Uh I'll if I may, mayor, I'll speak to both or acting mayor, I'll speak to both 13 and 14 uh as they're both tied in. So, 13 and 14 are both for the sewer utility. Uh that's why they're separate
ordinances from the uh the multi-purpose bond ordinance me 14 I'm sorry yeah 14 and 15 uh separate from 13 they're 14 and 15 are for the sewer utility and 14 and 15 one of them is being funded entirely from the sewer utility from the
capital improvement fund of the sewer utility and does not require any borrowing and then the other portion of it does require borrowing so that's why we've done them separately uh one of them has to do with making improvements all purposes of uh the facility uh and
you know ensuring that uh it can continue operating with no interruptions. Uh the infrastructure that we're updating is is getting to be end of life. And then the other ordinance is to uh finance the engineering and uh administrative professional services costs to put forth
an application to the I bank, the state's infrastructure bank. So that way we can undertake a loan application from the state uh that will be to the tune of several million dollars as we've heard at previous meetings by our engineer uh to upgrade the plant headworks which is
the the the major component of the plant uh and that is getting to be end of life over the next couple years and we want to make sure that the plant is able to continue operating. So that is a matter of safety and health and environmental consideration because the the plant uh
processes everybody's sewage and uh make sure it's processed, treated and uh discharged in accordance with DP guidelines. Um I understand the importance for maintaining in this vote coming up but I guess my general question is um which I
haven't asked uh Mr. Rushy is um with the larger change the large the larger project that is before us um will these upgrades and these changes have any be affected in any way shape or form to our knowledge or they're completely separate
things the the ordinance for 202514 to make the upgrades and the changes no it won't yeah I didn't think so okay okay any further discussion or comments.
Okay, then we can close the discussion. Uh, Mr. Lanti, uh, can we take a roll call? Mr. El Perowitz, yes. Mrs. Ewald, yes. Mr. McHugh, yes. And Deputy Mayor Roland, yes. Motion passes.
Okay. Thank you. So, is there a motion to adopt ordinance 2024-15 for the sewer utility bond ordinance that move Mr. Shak Shahadi just described? and I'll second. Thank you. Okay. Uh, I'd like to open the public
hearing on ordinance 2024-15. Okay. If there are no comments, we can close the public hearing uh and then we can open it up for the township uh committee discussion on this. And I think we just Yeah, I'm not sure.
I I've lost recollection if the if Mr. Rushy was here during a public meeting to talk about the pit wall. Um but this is critical infrastructure that needs maintenance and replacement and management and this is kind of the first step in getting that funded
appropriately. So um to Mr. Shahad's point that's uh rather important. Yes. And he did do a lengthy presentation and workshop. I can't remember what date that was because things seem to last forever. But um yes, it's definitely there's if
anybody's interested in getting more details uh they could reach out and we'll send them which meeting you know they could watch June 3rd feels like it was a lot longer. I've lived many lives since June 3rd. Okay.
Okay. If no further comments we can close the discussion. Uh Mr. Lacante, would you please take a roll call? Mr. Earl Perowitz? Yes. Mrs. Ewald? Yes. Mr. McHugh. Yes. And Deputy Mayor Roland. Yes. Motion passes. Okay. Thank you. Thank you for your
patience figuring this out. Um so now we can move on to the consent agenda. And are there any items that any would like to pull out uh for separate discussion from the consent agenda?
Uh I'd like to pull out resolution 202519. 202519 which is the uh fourth affordable housing 129 125 129 2025 oh sorry 129
sorry 129 okay number six number okay number six anything else okay so do we Need a motion to pull out resolution 2025-129
for separate. Um, at this point it would be a motion to adopt the consent agenda as listed minus that one. Resolution minus that one. Okay. Do I have a motion to adopt the consent agenda with the removal of resolution 2025-129 regarding um
the housing element? And I'll second. Thank you. Mr. El Perwoods. Yes. Mrs. Ewald. Yes. Mr. McHugh, yes. And Deputy Mayor Roland, yes. Motion passes.
I'm not sure the procedure here. Do I Do I open this? Like, do I just say why I pull this out now? Is that what happens? Make a motion to Okay. Would be to adopt or Yeah. So, I make a motion to adopt resolution 2025129.
And I'll second that motion. No discussion. Okay. Um I just wanted to pause on this for a second, not to belabor um a meeting any longer. I know a great amount of work was put into this resolution with the council and our
attorneys. The planning board met uh earlier uh this week, I believe it was. I wasn't present, but I watched it online. And I guess I just wanted to encourage everybody in the community to at best of their abilities watch at least the beginning portion of it to
understand the process steps and what our obligations are from a Chattam Township committee. Um I think that it's in our best interest uh to adopt this resolution. I think our this committee has uh done a lot of work behind the
scenes as well uh in order to uh not necessarily um accept the first uh the the amount the of of affordable housing that was required upon us to start with. We pushed back with the
right kind of counsel and the right kind of data. Uh we won successfully. I think there was a lot of work that went into this. So, uh, I just didn't want to brush over this in a consent agreement. I just wanted to make it, uh, public that much work has gone into it. And I hope the members of the public
appreciate all the work not from this committee, but also the planning board committee and others as well too, uh, that that went up into all of this effort. Yeah. Yeah. So, adding to that, I do want to thank the uh affordable housing advisory committee because they were
behind the scenes uh since I think it was November. I mean, maybe even October trying to uh you know, evaluate information as we were receiving it because everything uh seemed very delayed, but the schedule was very
tight. uh and they were reviewing everything and and um I mean our affordable housing planner, affordable housing attorney was on that group, our engineer was on that group, uh Mr. Shahadi, our open space chair. So, uh there were a number of people there to
help provide information alternatives and it's all new legislation. So, we were all trying to piece it together and find out uh you know what what we were going to do with this thing. And and just so you know, residents who are not familiar, the outcome is that our um
realistic development potential uh RDP is four units. Uh but that means we'll have to build three and then there's a credit for the fourth uh which is a far cry from the 198 units to be exact that we had to build in the third round. Um
and then we have a um unmet need of 137 units. And the way that will be addressed is through an overlay zone in the commercial district over at um Hickory Square. So uh and that's the broader commercial district. So including the Ace Hardware side, including the Shopright side and some of
the other uh businesses around there. Now that doesn't mean that they have to convert to residential and and um multi-purpose. They can stay uh commercial properties. Um, but it allows the option. Um, and it was a very difficult process because you're trying
to balance providing that realistic development potential to developers who want to come in, but you want to keep make sure it's in keeping with the area. So the way it was uh uh planned is uh so that you really wouldn't need to go more than three stories to accomplish retail
plus two uh to accomplish what you need to meet that um that undevelop that unmet need through uh an outside developer coming in. So um yeah, I would add to just from my outside point of view honestly of of listening to the planning board meeting,
I think it was a proper calculation based on the acreage that they allotted. uh we have are allotting only a certain number of units per acreage uh to prevent high density housing that takes place in those areas and I think that's
uh really terrific and satisfying our need at the same time. So great okay oh so anyway I was going to say the planning board is responsible for adopting the housing element fair share plan which they did y um and then our role is to endorse that because of
course you know there are implications from a township perspective and obligations from a township perspective tied to that. So, and correct me, Mr. Shotty, if I'm wrong in that, but that's my understanding as to why we're endorsing, you know, this resolution endorses that um
adoption, if you will. Great. Okay. Thank you very much. All set. All set. Mr. El Perowitz. Yes. Mrs. U. Yes. Mr. McHugh. Yes. And Deputy Mayor Rowan. Yes. Motion passes. Thank
you. We will move on to our next uh second hearing of citizens. Same rules apply from the last time. Okay. Good evening.
Uh Mike Kelly Mountain Avenue. Couldn't let all the all the public hearings go without somebody saying something. Thank you, Mike. U I I did speak briefly at the planning board meeting when they adopted the affordable housing plan the other night and I just wanted to uh congratulate all the people who did work
so hard on it. Um and thank you uh for the uh description tonight. Uh the only thing I would add is is that uh that the the anticipated costs for the project are expected to be covered by the developers fees the uh affordable
housing trust fund which means that uh it will not come out of the taxpayers's pockets either. So, um it's uh it sounds like a a very thoughtful and and successful uh plan. Um the only thing I would I guess I would I would say that's
not glowing praise is that u several times tonight that was mentioned about all the hard work that was done behind the scenes and I'm sure that that's very true. I think on sitting on this side of the uh of the auditorium there was not a heck of a lot of public conversation. Uh
there was no presentation tonight. There was very uh rudimentary presentation at the planning board meeting last week. U I think that there could have been more on the on the website, more uh aggressive effort uh to get out into the uh whether it's tap into or or the
Chattam Courier to try to get the word out. I think this is uh dramatic news for the township on on all fronts. And I u again without belittling the hard work that went into it, I think that uh I think it could have been done better. My
compliments to uh Mr. Aerowitz for taking it out of the consent agenda. I think the consent agenda should be limited to the routine bill paying and and rudimentary actions, repeat actions that the township community does. And when you come to something that's a once
in a a decade uh vote that this is something that should never be in the uh consent agenda to begin with. So, thank you very much for uh shining the spotlight on that separately. I think that was a a wise move. And other than that, again, I'll circle back around and say thanks again for all the hard hard
work that went into it. Thank you. Um I I will say there were uh a few presentations between the planning board and here at different phases in time. When I say the behind the scenes um work that was going on. A lot of that
was speculative the the whatifs because we didn't get uh first of all we got numbers in October but then you didn't get what was behind the numbers so you couldn't debate what was behind the numbers. So a lot of it was you know whatifs. How do we handle this? What is this? You know how do we address this?
Um and it wasn't something you can necessarily bring into public session at that point. I think probably some of one of our first kind of public presentations might have been April and that was the first time we had more concrete information. Uh but we did we did try and push out as much as we could
as soon as we had it and and certainly um you know I'm happy to share those meeting dates uh if you want to take a look at those. But no, I I appreciate the comment because I understand how important it is to make sure we push the information out. But um we definitely tried to do our best. As a matter of
fact, I was haunting Mr. Shahi on the regular. What can we say? What can we say? Um, yeah. Yeah. I I uh I just also agree. I um I keep claiming I'm new here because I still am. Uh have a have a tough time distinguishing what was behind the scenes and what wasn't behind
the scenes. Uh I recall some executive session discussion about litigation, uh which was the early part of it, but I think everything else was in front. But to your point, um I think there's always room for improvement in communication and I think we strive to do that even better. So, thank you for bringing that
to our attention completely. Thank you. Any other comments? Anything online? Okay. Uh then we can close the second hearing of citizens. And do we have a motion to adjurnn? So move.
There we are. Okay. Thank you. Yes. You need an all in favor? I