Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to our August 4th council meeting. Our first order of business on the agenda is uh pledge of allegiance. So, please rise. I pledge algiance to the republic
for it stands indivisibley for all. Second item on our agenda is the reading of the sunshine statement and roll call by our municipal clerk, Mrs. Lauren Stats. This meeting of the Dellenboroough Council is called pursuant to the
provisions of the open public meetings law. This meeting of August 4th, 2025 was included in a list of meetings that was advertised in the courier on January 9th, 2025 and as a teleconference was noticed on the official Denellan website on August 1st, 2025 and on the public
bulletin board on North Avenue on August 1st, 2025 and has remained continuously posted as the required notice. Mayor Sento, present. Council President Sigman here. Mrs. Albertson here, Mrs. Lance
here, Mrs. Rios here, Mr. Scott here, and Mr. Vandermark here. Okay. Item number three on our agenda. We have two presentations this evening. First is a presentation on the lead service line replacement program by New
Jersey American Water. So, we have members up front. The floor is yours. Do we have it on the TV? Perfect. You want to I'll just hold it. I want to have my back.
That's all right. All right. I don't know where to stand. All right. Um, good evening everyone. Uh, my name is Chelsea Culp. I'm the director of communications and external affairs for New Jersey American Water. Thank you for having us here today to talk about our lead service line
replacement program that's going to be coming or is kind of already here in some way shape or form. But today we're just going to give a little bit of overview why we're doing it, the importance of it and some specifics around our outreach in Denellan specifically and then here to answer any specific questions. Montana Construction
is with us today um in case there's any questions specific to the construction component um after myself and Christine um give the presentation on the beginning parts but I'm going to pass to Christine to introduce herself. Hi everybody. I'm Christine Ballard. I'm
with CDM Smith. I'm the engineer working on the lead service line program with New Jersey American Water. Um, we'll go ahead down. Thank you. Okay. Okay. So, some of you may or may not
know that in 2021, governor passed a law requiring replacement of all lead and galvanized service lines. Um, part of the uh in this image you can see there's two parts to the service line. There's a portion that is the water utilities
ownership from the water man to the curb and then there's a portion that's the customer's ownership from the curb into the home. Under the replacement law, the entire portion of the lead service line, whether it's the company side or the customer side, must be replaced if it's
found to be lead and galvanized. Um, that sounds great except we don't know where a lot of them are. um because the utility never had to keep track of the customer side of the service line. So that kind of segus into a little bit
about what we're trying to do here in an effort to find and replace all lead and galvanized service lines by the requirement of 2031. I'm just going to I'm going to stand up here. So my apologies if my back is towards someone at some point. But one
thing I will mention if you know we've been communicating about this program for a few years now since it launched in 2022. So your residents that might be online you might have seen social content around it. You might have received letters in the past of specifically last year around the November time frame. We were required to
and you can kind of see it up on the slide. We were required to send a letter out to any resident that had a portion of their service line unknown. Uh since 2022 we've been sending it out if you have a letter galvanized line. you've been receiving a letter from us annually. Um, so I'm just the reason I'm
saying that is because this month you'll probably be receiving that letter. Um, if you're on one of those two lists. So really, if you get an unknown letter, definitely take advantage of this program that we're going to be talking about because the more efficient we are at identifying the lines, the better and more efficient
we can be when we come to replace them. The more we know, the the better um organization we can have. So this is just some background around um kind of where why we're here today and um some history behind the program. So as Christine mentioned in 2022 of
July we were working with the D to try to figure out a way we can prioritize how we were going to manage our entire service area across the state. Um we have now 33 PWS IDs. Um, and it was determined back in 2022 that rather than being able to do it statewide and
identify lead and go prioritization based on equity and different parameters, we had to look at it per PWS ID. And you can see on the screen, again, this is just really background information. And so we took a lot of data with the help of CDM Smith based on census data to really prioritize all the
communities that we serve throughout the state of New Jersey to kind of come up with that prioritization model per PWSID to adhere to the requirement of the law which was you had to uh replace 10% per PWS ID per year. Very complicated with
the goal of getting everything out by 2031. And I'm going to pass it over to Christine who's going to talk specifically around the plan in Maplewood or Danellin. Scratch that. Sorry about that. I laugh.
Sorry. Okay. So, our we have a methodology that we've been doing to try and get the information that we need to identify service lines. And we have a huge uh communication cascade which includes everything from postcards you
may have already received, letters from the utility, but also now layered on with door-to-door canvasing um and eventually test pits for people who are non-responsive or if there's a company side that we need to know. Um and then
we also have replacement agreements. If we find Letter Galvanized, we can sign people up right away and get you on the list to be replaced. Um, and then all of that material is translated in Spanish. So, what that means for folks in
Dunellen, if you we will have systematically people going doortodoor in the neighborhoods. Um, we would like to work, you know, handinhand with the burough officials so they know where we are. Every week we give an update to burrow officials um which routes, roads
we're going to be on in a particular week and then we'll go doortodoor in that area. We leave a door hanger behind so that customers say, "Hey, we hey, we missed you." In that door hanger, you have the option you can call us and schedule an appointment for a time that
works for you. Or you can actually do this yourself. There is a self-report option in all of the communication materials that you've received. All we need is a photo. You need to go down to the where your water comes in through to the home, take a picture. Um we there is
a prompt to try to self-identify what the material is. Is it copper? Is it plastic? Is it lead or galvanized? And there's some information on how you can do that. But if you're nervous about it, you don't want to certainly call us. Um, but don't worry if you submit a photo,
you think you have copper and it's something different, we review all 100% of those photos um to make sure. And if we need a a follow-up picture, we reach out to people typically be via email or phone um to try and get another photo or
or come and help folks. So, that's really the main part of what we're trying to do today. Um, we have found it most beneficial on a town by town approach because neighbors tell neighbors about the program. Um, and then we come in, we try and go door to
door, let everybody know about it. Um, of course there's always some stragglers. Anyone that's identified for lead or galvanized gets put on a list. Um, and then our friends at Montana Construction come back through and they do the replacement. The benefit of being
in a community that is owned by uh where the water systems owned by New Jersey American Water is the there's no out-ofpocket cost to customers to do this. There are other utilities that have to, you know, customers have to pay for their service line replacement. This
is all built into their rates that you're paying already. Um and the replacement is done um by one of American Water's qualified contractors. Yeah. So, currently today, there are 1,600 customers in Dunellan where we
have no service line material. Um, and we do know of 30 that are lead and galvanized. Um, and we would love to get agreements to replace those. And I'll hand it off to Chelsea. Sure. So, what you can see on the screen is just some samples of different
materials that you may see. Um, as well as, so as Christine mentioned, we have postcards that will be going out. Uh, we have mailers. We'll see a large mailer there. You'll get have a follow-up postcard. If you're signed up to get emails from us, you'll get an email. Again, all trying to just kind of engage
with our customer base in the form in which that they might prefer. So, they might want a mailer, they might like email, or they might just like scrolling Facebook and say, "Oh, like you're in my community. I'm going to click this link and I'm going to sign up." Um, you can see on the screen around the week of July 7th, uh, customers did receive
information about this program just saying that it's launching and that additional communications were going to be coming out uh, the week of Oh, these are out of order. the week of June 30th. So, backtrack. Um there was the first call postcard that went out uh just a
call to action of either self ID or to schedule an inspection appointment, a reminder postcard that went out and again uh beginning of this month. They haven't gone out yet, but we will be sending out emails again to customers that have opted in to receive emails from us. Uh just again saying if you're
on our unknown list, you'll get the email saying, "Hey, we don't know what your service line is. Please sign up to either self ID or to get an an appointment." and customers would lead and galvanize. The call to action there would be that we believe that it's leader galvanized. If you don't think it is, let us know and we'll come and
inspect it or sign the agreement. So when we are when Montana and crew come through, uh you're on the list, right? You're ready to go. You've done everything that you needed to do. The additional items that you see on there, we have um yard signs and different things as we're
kind of going through the programming. things are starting to get replaced that are accessible for customers if they want to take advantage of it. Uh and then Jul August 11th, we'll be doing a just a follow-up postcard out to customers that we have the information for. And these are just some other materials
that you'll see. You know, it's it's sometimes good to kind of visualize even if it's small, uh what you might get after. So again, um the CDM crews that are out with us, they're in co-branded uh material. They'll have safety vests on that are co-branded with CDM and New
Jersey American Water. They'll have this information. So, we have our lead fact sheet that gives general information about lead and drinking water. The agreement if your line is lead or galvanized as well as a very it's kind of like the 11 by7 document folded into a nice book that has information of just
the entire process. What can you expect? A lot of the general FAQs on there. We have them available in English and Spanish. That's all preconstruction. And then when we have post construction, you'll have you'll probably get flushing instructions. The crews will work and I'll I won't speak to the if you guys
have any specific questions, we have Montana in the room, but you'll have flushing instructions and then after your line is replaced, you will receive a pitcher filter from us. Um it's required uh for us to give that out as per the EPA. And so it doesn't
necessarily mean that your water is unsafe. It's just that we have to do it. And there's some language around there. Um, and then if you go to the next slide, about three to six months after your replacement is done, you'll get a postcard in the mail from American Water
from our central lab, which you can kind of see on the side here. It's in English and in Spanish. And it's really just um an post project sampling. So, we'll come we'll offer do some sampling at your home. If you fill that information out, you'll get a box in the mail that has
the bottles, instructions, you'll fill it out, you mail it back to us. It's all prepaid and then once we get your results in, you'll get that official letter from us with those sample results. Again, all requirements, but something that we we really want to make it easy and it's an optin for customers.
They don't have to take advantage of it, but we highly encourage it. And that is our last slide. So, there's any questions. Well, I I'm going to give it to council first real quick. Um, any questions from mayor and councel, business
administrator? Since American Water has been working in town for last four or five years, which has been great, all the new services that been installed, is safe to say they're all safe, right?
Yes. I kind of glanced over that. So, a big other part of this for a number of years when we've been doing service line or excuse me main replacement lines um we have been checking those services along those routes and working with homeowners on those routes if they were lead and galvanized. These are really
for streets and areas where we haven't done much work. The other caveat there is that if there's any roads that were recently done prior to the legislation that maybe there was galvanized, we might not have replaced that prior. So, we would want to work with you all. I don't know if that's the case. I mean, I
don't want to speak. Rich Conklin is our PM for American Water for this project. So, we would definitely want to look, but that's the one caveat I would say that we would work with you. Um, especially if it's a recent on the customer side. Thank you. Sorry. On on
our side, everything's been replaced. Okay, good. That was going to be my next question. We wanted to just make sure that you weren't tearing up any of the new roads that were just recently put down. Well, yeah, we would work with you in terms of moratoriums or different things like that. And that is definitely something we would keep an eye on. But yeah, on the on our side, it would be um
taken care of. Okay. And all the material we'll have our hands on as well, so our communications coordinator can put it out from our side as well. Absolutely. Yeah, we would actually love that. Um we have a canvasing link on our our URL on our website which we would
happily after the meeting we can definitely circle back with um your team to get to. Perfect. Just send it right to Mr. Mo. Any other questions from council? Sorry. In the pest pits, they're all mostly outside inside inside the curb area in
somebody's front yard. So the the doortodoor is to try and capture the customer side material where it's coming into the home. um if people someone is non-responsive or um you know for some reason we couldn't because it's
it's blocked in or um you inaccessible the test pit is generally in the area between the curb um and the home so we can see both sides just to verify um but yes yes
I might have missed if you said it earlier but what does PWS ID stand for it's public water system ID Yep. Thank you. Any other members from council before I open the floor to public? Okay. Public, we just ask that you state
your name and address and you can ask American Water your question. Home Mosley 113 Pearl Place in Denellan. Are you uh looking at the the the pipes that go from the meter outward into Okay. So it's not nothing in terms of
the internal uh that right. Okay. Any other questions from the public either in chambers or online for American water? I would just say spread the word. Um we'll work with the communications department to get a link up and there's
an easy way. We have calendarly where you can go in, you can just see the availability, schedule your own appointment online. Um, or if you would prefer to call, you can call us. Our folks in the office will schedule you for an appointment.
Okay. If I could just add one more thing, there is a general email. I know for some online if they didn't feel comfortable asking a question tonight and or they think about it later, it's leadfree njamwater.com. Um, it's maintained by our local team in
New Jersey, our water quality staff, and we have close connections. So, if there's any uh questions or they want to make an appointment, we would be able to help them uh through that means until we get all the things up online with the town. Thank you. Of course,
without any other questions from council and public, we'll close that portion. Thank you for the presentation. and we're appreciating uh the investments American Water has been making in Denell and will clearly continue to make in Denell. So, thank you. Um, next on the
agenda, it says long-term tax exemption for 441 North Avenue by Daniel Banker. Uh, but Mr. Banker, I'm thinking maybe we bring you in during the actual order before this. Okay, it's okay. So, we're going to come back to that and we're
going to go to item number uh four on the agenda. the appointments to boards, committees, and commissions. Uh this evening we have the appointment of Charles Lopez as deputy C coordinator. So Mr. Lopez, why don't you join us? Uh, no.
Oh, yeah. I, Charles Lopez, I, Charles Lopez, do solemnly swear do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States that I will support the Constitution of the United States the Constitution of the State of New Jersey of the Constitution of the State of New Jersey
that I'll bear true faith that I'll bear true faith and allegiance and allegiance to the same to the same the government established and to the governments established in the United States in the United states and in this state and in this state under the authority of the people under the authority of the people
and that I will faithfully and that I will faithfully partially and partially and justly perform injustly perform all the duties of deputy search coordinator all the duties as deputy search coordinator accordance best of my ability according to the best of my ability
so help me God thank God Sure. You want to join? That's right. overs. Okay. I just wanted to say a few words about Chuck. Chuck Lopez has been an
active member of the Denelling Office of Emergency Management for the past two years. He also serves as a member of the Middle Sex County Office of Emergency Management Auxiliary Communication Bureau and has been a licensed amateur radio operator since 2017.
uh with over 31 years of service as an emergency medical technician and many years of experience as a dispatcher for the Woodbridge Fire Department Station 7, Chuck brings extensive hands-on experience in emergency
response and communications. In addition to his emergency service background, Chuck has been a public school teacher for 23 years and currently serves as the middle school band director at the Thomas Jefferson Middle School in Edison.
Uh Chuck lives in Matuchen. Uh Lauren right there and two champions strong or resilient Denellan. That's Chuck Lopez. Congratulations and uh thank you for the
work you have done and you will continue to do in your new position. So, God bless you. Um, item number five on the agenda is the approval of our meeting minutes. Can I have a motion and second our regular meeting of July 7th? Move it. Second, Rios.
Any comments, additions, or edits to the meeting minutes as they currently stand? Okay. Roll call, please. Mrs. Albertson, yes. Mrs. Lance, yes. Mrs. Rios, yes. Mr. Scott, yes. Mr. Sigman, yes.
And Mr. Vandermark. Yes. Item number six on the agenda is the introduction of ordinances. This evening we have two. We have 2025-17 and 2025-18.
Um, as noted, introduc introduced ordinances aren't fully discussed. They may be summarized, but they will be discussed and can be commented on at the next council meeting. So can I have a motion and second on 2025-17 an ordinance to amend chapter 269
traffic to add a new section 9.1 designated parking stalls of the bureau of code of the burough of Denellan move it segment second Albertson just a summarization of this this is adding 14 stalls between uh North Avenue so route 28 and Front Street on Jackson
Avenue as we're repaving it um we've recognized that there's a need for stalls there because it's almost a child wild arrest with parking over there. So, um we are putting this in our ordinance and uh police have been consulted and parking authority and so this will be
publicly heard and possibly adopted at the next council meeting. So, without further ado, can we have a roll call, please? Mrs. Albertson, yes. Mrs. Lans, yes. Mrs. Rios, yes. Mr. Scott, yes. Mr. Sigman, yes. And Mr. Vandermark,
yes. Can I have a motion and second on 2025-18 an ordinance to amend chapter 269 traffic section 26A bus stop of the burough code of the burough of Denellan move it segment second Rios
as we've been working with New Jersey Transit over the past couple years this is part of that process to formally recognize Mr. Miller you can correct me if I'm wrong um some designated uh bus stops and where their new locations will be. Yes that's correct. Okay. Can uh we have
a roll call, please. Mrs. Albertson, yes. Mrs. Lance, yes. Mrs. Rios, yes. Mr. Scott, yes. Mr. Sigman, yes. And Mr. Vandermark, yes. Those ordinances will be on file the clerk's office and online for your
review, and they will be publicly heard, discussed, and possibly adopted on September 2nd at this council meeting at 7 p.m. uh for the public who wish to attend and make comment on them. which is a Tuesday, which is a Tuesday, the day after Labor
Day. Um, item number seven on the agenda is the adoption of ordinances. This evening we have two. We have 2025-15 and 2025-16. Um, can I have a motion and second on 2025-15?
An ordinance approving a 5-year uh tax exemption for a new multi-dwelling rental project to be constructed by Chelsea Builders LLC at 440 North Avenue pursuant to the 5-year exemption and abatement law in chapter 115B of the Denellan Municipal Code. Move it segment.
Second, Scott. Before we open up the floor to the public, I'll ask that Mr. Galacio andor Mr. Baker Banker just say a few words regarding this one. to our mic. All right. Good evening, mayor and council members. Uh mine's name is
Slacio from Windendells Marks Lane and Mindor for the Burough's Redevelopment Council. Uh so the ordinance before you is for 440 North Avenue. This is for an 8-unit um residential project, one affordable uh housing unit, 18 ADA unit, and some
commercial space in the ground floor. Uh so it's new construction. Uh the developer requested the exemption because it would help with the construction financing for the project. Otherwise it would be difficult or not possible for them to do that. Burrow has
a 5-year uh tax exemption ordinance on on the books. Uh and the application was submitted pursuant to that. Uh the uh exemption will be for five years commencing on when the project uh is completed and it's in the tax phase in
uh option which means that uh it starts at 0% uh taxes the first year and then gradually increases to 100% by the end of it at the after excuse me after five years. Uh so unless there's any questions on it. Uh
well, we'll open the floor to the public uh solely for 2025-15 if you have any questions for mayor and council or Mr. Glacio himself. Without hearing any, we'll close that portion. We'll open the floor to mayor and council. Any questions pertaining to 2025-15 or any comments? Um I'll just
note the word exemption sounds like they're not paying anything. they are paying to the town uh revenue and they have to still pass what's called a but for test but for the this incentive would they be able to build the project and so our independent our our
professionals do a review on it to verify whether the developer can or cannot and so our team has indicated that they need the incentive in order to build this project so that's I'll say that's part of the mayor and council portion so any other comments or questions and there's also
uh a community benefit you said going towards public uh pedestrian safety and streetscape improvements. Correct. Yes, mayor. Uh you also have on your agenda a resolution tonight to approve a first amendment to the redevelopment agreement for this project. Uh that amendment provides for a $20,000
community benefit payment for pedestrian and and traffic safety associated with the project. Okay. Thank you, Mr. Glacio. If there's no further comments pertaining to 2025-15, I'll ask that we do a roll call, please. Mrs. Albertson,
yes. Mrs. Lance, yes. Mrs. Rios, yes. Mr. Scott, yes. Mr. Sigman, yes. And Mr. Vandermark, yes. Okay. Can I have a motion and second on item 2025-16? An ordinance to approve a long-term tax
exemption and financial agreement between the Burough of Denell and 441 North Urban Renewal LLC. Move it. Segment second. Albertton. Okay. Before we open the floor to the public, Mr. Banker is here from our financial advisors uh NW Financial to
make a presentation specifically on this item. Good evening, mayor, uh, council of Burough residents. My name is Daniel Banker and I work with NW Financial Group as financial consultants for the bureau. I'm here tonight to present the proposed redevelopment project to be
located at 441 North Avenue. Um, and I'll go through our analysis, uh, what we look at when it comes to a developer pilot application and how we get to the negotiated pilot terms. Oh, here we go. So, a general
description of the project. The project is going to be three stories with a total of 62 residential units of which 53 will be market rate while the other nine which is approximately 15% of the total will be affordable. Uh this will
also include two retail units totaling 3,844 square ft. Um, and there will be 68 structured parking spaces on the ground floor. Uh, this project is estimated to cost approximately $18.75 million.
Uh, the proposed project will be located on block 66, lots 16, 17, and 17.01, which is approximately uh 0.9 acres. And those three lots currently consist of one and twotory commercial structures.
Uh as I mentioned the estimated project cost is 18.75 million. You'll see that uh on the top you have the split between debt and equity. So redevelopment projects are typically funded by a portion of equity directly from the developer and then a construction loan
uh from a lender which turns into a permanent loan. So you'll see that approximately 60% of the total project cost will come from debt and the other 40% will be provided by the developer in equity. Uh you'll also notice in the project cost that there is a community
benefit similar to the uh prior project. Uh the developer has agreed to make a community benefit payment of $74,200 which comes out to about 1,400 per marketer rate unit. Um I will also state that uh when developers submit their
financials uh which includes uh expected rents, operating expenses, costs, interest rates, cap rates, etc., we don't just take their word for it. Uh we look at redevelopment projects all across the state. Uh so we have, you know, tons of data and databases to show
what appropriate rents are, expenses, costs, um in today's market. So, if adjustments need to be made, we make those adjustments. Uh, in this case, their estimated project cost, which comes out to about $33,000 per unit and
just under $200 per square foot, that is in line with or below other recently reviewed projects. So, we did not have to make any adjustments to their costs. Uh, on this slide, you'll see the developers rent projections. So, the
project will consist of a mix of one, two, and threebedroom units. The majority of which are onebedrooms. 47 of those 53 market units will be onebedrooms. Um, and then you'll see the mix for the affordable uh one one-bedroom, five twobedrooms, and three
threebedrooms. The only adjustment that we felt was necessary to make on the rents were the one-bedroom units. We took a look at current availabilities in the surrounding area, including the Nell and 745 Bound Brook. Um the developer
assumed $2,50 for the onebedrooms, we bumped that up to 2150 to get to about $3 per square foot. Um because the Nell, although the Nell is a much larger, much more amenitized building, uh we believe
that the rents uh can be achieved at $3 a foot, which is similar to the Nell, slightly lower, but similar. So this is the structure of the pilot. So this is a back and forth with developers. you know, typically they'll come in with a request for 30 years at
10% of gross revenue, which is the minimum under the statute. And based on the developer's returns uh under their assumptions, uh we get to a balance between uh returns that are appropriate for the project but also benefiting the bureau. So, under the proposed pilot,
it'll be based on a percentage of gross revenue, which includes revenue from uh rental units, amenity fees, parking fees, etc. Um the structure is the first 10 years will be at 10%. The next 10 years will be at 11%. And the final 10
years will be at 12%. Um also as part of the statute there's a mandatory phase in of conventional taxes. So there are minimum and maximum lengths of each stage and those stages are 0% 20% 40% 60% and 80%.
So you'll see that I wish I could zoom but um in any given year the pilot is based on the greater of a percentage of revenue or a percentage of otherwise applicable taxes and that just means what the project would pay under conventional taxes because this property
will still have an assessment on the books. Um and you'll notice that toward the back end in years 25 26 and 27 that is 60% of conventional and years 28 29 and 30 that's 80%. As per the statute uh
the best case scenario for the developer is one year at 80 and two years at 60. So we've negotiated a few additional years at that higher percentage of conventional taxes. Um, currently the three lots combined
generate approximately $46,000 of which the burough share is about $12,400. Um, you know, the general tax rate for 2024. The split is 59% goes to the board of ed, 27% goes to the bureau, and 14%
goes to the county. under the proposed pilot and based on the revenue projections being used in the analysis uh the gross pilot at stabilization I want to make that clear the pilot is based on a percentage of revenue so it'll take some time for this building
to lease up because the pilot is based on actual revenue received year one occupancy will be lower than year two etc so we are assuming it's going to take about a year to lease up so in year two we're assuming that 95% of the
building will be occupied. So that year 2 gross pilot is estimated to be about $175,000 of which the bureau will be receive 158,000. Uh and that's including a 2% admin fee which is also a requirement. So on top
of the pilot they'll be required to pay a 2% admin fee which 100% goes to the bureau. Um looking at it over the 30-year term the bureau will receive an estimated $7.28 million. Um, and if you
compare that to leaving the site undeveloped as is, um, and assuming a 2% annual tax rate increase, uh, the site would currently generate $52,000 over that same 30-year period. So, this
pilot would generate approximately 6 and 3/4 million in additional revenue to the burough over that 30-year period. So this slide is showing some of the metrics we look at when it comes to developer returns. Um so on the left
before we consider a pilot of any kind we first look at the project economics under a conventional tax scenario as the mayor mentioned the but for test. If not for the pilot um the project would not be built. So to determine that we got
some input from the assessor, took a look at how other properties. So that's that $341,000 number on the top left highlighted in green. So one of the metrics we look at is what is the project worth at stabilization.
You'll see that it's basically a break even under conventional taxes. project is going to cost 18.75 million. The project at stabilization under conventional taxes would be about 19 million. So that's one metric we look at. Um typically a developer is looking
for some sort of growth in value um versus what it costs to build. Then we look at irr and yield on cost. So internal rate of return takes into account the amount of equity that the developer puts in. And as I mentioned on an earlier slide, 40% is going to come
from equity. And it assumes the project is sold in the 10th year. And it looks at what is that average rate of return during that 10-year period. The typical market return in IRRa in today's market is somewhere between 10 to 15%. So
you'll see under conventional taxes that IRRa is about 5%. Well below the standard market return. So that uh informs us that it's you know it's a red flag about can this project succeed under conventional taxes. The next is
yield on cost. That is just taking that NOI the net operating income of 1 million and change and dividing by the total project cost. Uh again the typical market return for yield on cost is somewhere between 5 and a half to 7%.
So you're very low you're at that low end uh for yield on cost. So again, another metric that suggests a subsidy of some kind is necessary. And then lastly, and probably most importantly, the debt service coverage ratio. That is a metric that lenders use to
determine if a project can pay back the loan that was issued to the development. Um, lenders in today's market are looking for no less than 1.2 coverage, in many cases 1.25 or higher. Um, and that means that if the annual debt
service is a million dollars, the project has to generate a $1.2 million to make sure that the the bank feels comfortable that the project can pay back the debt and, you know, in case there's additional expenses or revenues
go down. Um, that's a safeguard. So based on all of those metrics, we feel comfortable with the conclusion that this it's unlikely that this project could be financed under a conventional tax scenario. So then if we go to the right, the only difference in that table
is the tax line item. Um you'll see that under conventional taxes, they'd be paying 341,000. Under the proposed pilot, they'll be paying rough a little bit over half um at $175,000. you'll see that the net project value is
now positive 3.25 million. The IRRa is still on the low end of the target uh market return and the yield on cost is right right in the middle of where um we see a lot of other projects being built and approved and and of course you have the debt service coverage ratio that is
likely to receive the necessary funding for this project to be built. Uh there's a lot of numbers on this slide and I know it's kind of far away, but what this is showing is the 30-year projection of the pilot. Um on the far
left you have the 10%, 11%, 12%. Um you see the breakdown of the gross pilot. Now this project will still be obligated to pay land taxes. So land taxes will be paid will be split conventionally between the bureau uh the school and the
county and then that net pilot is the difference between the gross and the land tax credit. Uh 95% of that amount goes to the burrow and then there's an additional 2% uh and that 100% of that amount goes to the burrow. So again in
year two the burough share is expected to be $158,000. Um, and over the 30-year term, the burough share is expected to be about $7.3 million. Can I just note? Sure. And correct me if I'm wrong, you're able to exempt the land tax
credit, correct? You are able. We made a decision not to do that in this proposal. So, the school still gets some level of funding through this project. So, I want the public to understand that, too. Absolutely. Yes. Under residential projects, uh, a municipality does have
the ability to exempt the land. Um, and in this case, uh, it was decided that the land would continue to be taxed and the developer developer will receive a credit against the pilot. So, they're not paying additional amounts. It's just reducing the pilot amount, but the
school will still get their share uh, just like what they're getting right now from this property. Um, this is a comparison of the existing taxes compared to the projected and proposed pilot. Uh again, over that 30-year period, current taxes would be
about $1.9 million, assuming an annual 2% increase, of which the burough share would be about 500,000 as compared to the proposed pilot uh over the 30-year term, 7.9 million roughly, of which the burough share
would be about 7.3 million. So again, an increase of about 6.8 million to the burough. Uh the second part of the presentation is related to the fiscal impact of this redevelopment project. Obviously residential redevelopment projects will
generate uh new residents and will generate uh potentially public school children. So um our analysis includes multipliers that are provided in the Rucker study um who lives in New Jersey housing. It's pretty much the gold
standard in the industry for projecting new residents and public school children. Um, that study was updated in 2018. Uh, originally it was written in the late 2000s and it was updated in 2018 to account for new construction buildings. Uh, more
recent buildings are more efficient units, smaller units, um, not as many two and threebedroom units. Um, and that reduced the multipliers. They they reviewed uh tens of thousands of units across the state and pulled actual
resident and school children data from those buildings to project how many new residents and school children would come out of new redevelopment projects based on the size whether it's rental whether it's condo new old construction and how
many bedroom the different bedroom sizes. So based on those multipliers, it's projected that there will be 113 new residents and approximately five new public school children. Um you'll see as a comparison to the current population,
that's about uh a little under one and a half% increase to the population and uh about a third of a percent increase to the current enrollment. Once we've identified the total number of projected residents and school children, we established a methodology
to project the cost of those new residents and new school children. Uh the division of local government services has what's called the PAF model, the pilot financial agreement forecast model, which takes certain budgetary line items from the municipal
budget that they believe are impacted by the fluctuation of the population, an increase or decrease in population. Um, so you'll see those line items. It's not every line item from the budget. It's only specific line items. And they apply a percentage to those line items that
would fluctuate based on uh population changes. Uh we take that total resident portion of those budgetary line items and divide by the current population to get a per resident cost. So based on that analysis, the per resident cost is
$129. So the total resident cost of those 113 projected residents would be about $15,000 a year. We then go into the cost of the new public school children.
So for purposes of our analysis, we've used the total classroom instruction number of $11,25 from the 2526 proposed userfriendly budget for Dunell and Board of Education. Um that number is not the total
budgetary comparative per pupil which is that $21,000 number. That 21,000 includes a lot of fixed costs that don't necessarily increase or decrease based on new re new school children or
decrease in school children. So uh we're using that total classroom instruction number which uh consists of salaries and benefits of teachers, general supplies and textbooks and purchase services. We then take that $11,25
number and we apply the percentage of the school budget that comes from local sources. So the school budget $39.56 million. A portion of that comes from local sources. A portion of that comes from the state, federal, and other
sources. So of the $39.56 million budget, uh 34.5% comes from local sources. So the net cost per public school children comes out to about $4,000. So based on the five public school
children that are projected, you have a school children impact when it comes to cost of about $20,000. Uh this is just a summary of the new resident and public school children costs. And we like to show a net benefit
summary. Does this project based on the pilot terms and accounting for the costs associated with the new residents and the new school children uh generate a benefit to the bureau? So you'll see if you look at uh row two for year two, the
burough share of the pilot is estimated to be about $158,000. The total cost associated to the new residents and new school children is about $34,000. The school is also going to be getting their share of the land taxes, uh, which
is about $7,600. So, you end up with a burrow net benefit in year two of about $132,000. And that net benefit increases as the pilot percentage increases, as rents increase, as the phasing of conventional
taxes comes into play. Um, so this project under the proposed terms will generate a significant financial benefit to the burough of Denellan. and I am happy to answer any questions from uh the council and the public. Thank you. And I'll just note too um
for the public because I know the concern is school age children. Um we do share our projects, what they're projecting with the school district so they can prepare themselves. Um and then we check in probably twice a year to see
what those numbers actually equate to based upon the projections. And we've actually seen based upon the current projects that the it's about 25% less than what was projected of school kids coming into the system. I think there's about 50 between all the projects and
that's 25% less than what was initially projected. That's correct. So um just so the public is aware. Um so uh we will open the floor to the public to ask Mr. banker uh questions or make their comments known to mayor and
counsel before we open the floor fully to mayor and counsel. So floor is the public we ask that you please state your name and address whether you're here in chambers or online. Omar Mosley 113 Pearl plays in Denellan. Um, I guess one of my concerns or
rather not question I have is how does this um pilot uh benefit the the taxpayers in Dunellan? In other words, uh increases or decreases. Well, that becomes a budgetary question.
Um if you saw the budget presentation this year and the infographics that were recently sent out in July um we've been able to help uh the budget with some of the pilot revenue so there's not an increase on taxes. Um moving forward
it's based upon budget constraints and needs on capital and uh where the overall revenue generators come from for each budget that's determined between uh budgetary season which is January to about March April when we discuss the budget. So, um, currently there's about
1.4 million of pilot revenue in our budget being used to offset taxes. Moving forward, we just have to assess where we are in the near f in the well. Actually, no, it is in the near future. We're less than six months away from it. Can you believe that, Mr. Olsen? So, uh, yeah, that's that's the answer.
You I can't say whether it's an increase or a decrease. It all depends upon uh the budgets, but it's revenue that we would not had have had otherwise, as Mr. Banker said, "Had we stayed to the conventional taxes on the project, first the project would not have been built, but the burrow would have received just
over 500,000 over the 30-year period." Did I get that right? Correct. And now we're getting over 7 million, which is a 600 6 million and change increase over what the conventional tax would be. So that's what we're getting in revenue. So that does assist us with budgetary
needs and constraints as well as capital improvements throughout the town. Any other members of the public before I hand it over to mayor and council both in chambers and online? Without hearing any, we'll close that portion. The floor is to the mayor and
council for any questions. You just go back to the slide that shows um the rent for each unit. Yeah, this one. Uh, no. Is it okay?
Is there I thought there was another slide that showed that because I saw that seemed to be a big difference between the portable and um nonaffordable I guess conventional. All right. So, I was just wondering why
there were more one-bedroom units over two bedroomedroom and threebedroom units. I mean, in the research that you've done, um, does it seem to make more sense to have one bedroom unit over the other options?
So I think for developers they these days especially they on a on when it comes to returns they'll get a higher price per square foot amount for the smaller units. So as you get to two and threebedroom units you're not going
to be able to achieve the same per square foot rent. So if they feel that they can lease up studios and onebedrooms, typically they'll try to put as many studios in one bedrooms in a redevelopment project as possible. So it
is pretty standard today to see the majority of a unit mix be studios, ones, and some twos. It's pretty rare to see market rate threebedrooms in today's market as well. Um, and the smaller unit types generate less school children
typically and cars. And cars. Correct. And residents. So that this isn't that unusual uh of a unit mix for redevelopment projects that we've reviewed. And then comparatively speaking to the
Nell, do you see that more one-bedroom units are being rented out versus two and three? Or I don't know if there are three bedroomedroom units. Are there? There's a few in the affordable. So, I have and I believe the council received a memo that we prepared in mid
July. Um, and sorry I didn't include it in the presentation, but there was a on page three of the memo, we did uh list the current available units at some of the comps, including the Nell. Um, what's interesting, and I'm I don't
remember the exact unit mix of the Nell, so I don't know how many one-bedrooms there are versus two bedrooms, but currently, well, as of about two weeks ago, there were significantly more one-bedrooms available at the Nell than
two bedrooms. They had three available twobedrooms whereas they had looks like about seven or eight available onebs. I'm guessing they have significantly more onebs at the Nell than they do have two
bedrooms. It's very consistent with other redevelopment projects. And if it is consistent with other redevelopment projects and we're seeing that in this community there might not be the same interest for the onebedroom then would it be wise to still offer have that many
units um one bedroom? Well the merit of this is to talk about the financial agreement of the project because this project's already been approved. It's zoned. It's done. So um but for future projects that's something maybe to have a discussion of.
Any other questions? I do have a question. Um, do we know how many uh units there are currently in the space that this is going to take up? Um, so I know I think it's one-story
commercial building and two twostory commercial buildings. I don't know if there's residential units currently existing on the second floor of one of the commercial buildings. There may be, but I don't know the answer of exactly how many units there are.
That was it for me. Thank you. Thanks. Any other questions from council? Mr. Olsen, any questions from finance? Sure. Yeah. Um, so as I mentioned the pilot,
this pilot and the majority of other pilots are based on a percentage of gross revenue. So someone might ask, you know, what if you don't know exactly what the revenue is? So the the pilot bills that go out are based on an
estimate of what revenue will be. you don't know exactly what rents are going to be, you know, before they're achieved. So, every pilot bill every year is based on an estimate. Um, at the end of the year, within actually officially within the within 90 days of
the end of the calendar year, the developer is required to submit a independent certified audit by a certified public accountant um that verifies what the actual revenues were
for the prior year. So, for example, if the revenue that's estimated to be generated is a million dollars and the pilot's 10%. That pilot would be $100,000. When that audit is provided, if that audit says the revenue is $2
million, now that 10% pilot should have been $200,000, the bureau will prepare a true up bill for an additional $100,000 and the developer will be obligated to pay that amount. So that audit allows the
municipality to feel confident that all revenues generated by the project will used when calculating the pilot and um you know that's done in every municipality because again the pilot bill is an estimate of revenue and the the true up in the audit is um to
confirm what that actual pilot amount is. Thank you. Sure. Any other questions? Okay, without hearing any, we'll uh go for a roll call, please.
Thank you again. Mrs. Albertson, yes. Mrs. Lance, yes. Mrs. Rios, yes. Mr. Scott, yes. Mr. Sigman, yes. And Mr. Vandermark, Mr. Vandermark.
Yes. Okay. Item number eight on our agenda is resolutions. Uh we have resolutions 278 through 295. Mrs. Stats, if you could read through them, give council the opportunity to uh ask any questions or make comments on them.
Sure. Resolution 278 is to pay the bill. Move it. Segment. Second. Albertson. Mrs. Albertson. Yes. Mrs. Lance. Yes. Mrs. Rios. Yes. Mr. Scott, yes.
Mr. Sigman, yes. And Mr. Vandermark, yes. Resolution 279 is to accept the resignation of Maria J. Santos as assistant tax collector and administrative support specialist. Move it, Sigma.
Second, Rios. Uh, we thank Mrs. Santos for her work here in Denon and we wish her well on her next endeavor. Mrs. Albertson, yes. Mrs. Lance, yes. Mrs. Rios, yes. Mr. Scott, yes. Mr. Sigman,
yes. And Mr. Vandermark, sorry. Mr. Position has been Sorry, Mr. Miller. Uh, Mr. Vandermark voted yes. Right. M. Uh, Councilman Vandermark, you voted yes. Yes. Okay. Sorry, I I stepped over you on
that one. Uh, Mr. Miller, the job posting's up for this position. Yes, ma'am. Okay. Sorry. Resolution 280 is authorizing the credit of tax appeal judgments in the amount of $4,5453
pertaining to multiple properties in the burrow of Danellen. Move it. Segment. Second. Rios. Mrs. Albertson. Yes. Mrs. Lance. Yes. Mrs. Rios. Yes. Mr. Scott. Yes. Mr. Sigman. Yes.
And Mr. Vandermark. Mr. Vandermark. Resolution 281 is to approve the change of Kelly Cedar's job title from recreation program coordinator to recreation director. Move it. Albertson. Second. Sigman.
Mrs. Albertson. Yes. Mrs. Lance. Yes. Mrs. Rios. Yes, Mr. Scott. Yes, Mr. Sigman. Yes, Mr. Vandermark. Yes. Resolution 282 is to approve the change
of William George's job title from communications coordinator to public information officer. Move it. Albertson. Second. Segment. Mrs. Albertson. Yes. Mrs. Lance. Yes. Mrs. Rios. Yes. Yes. Mr. Scott, yes. Mr. Sigman,
yes. And Mr. Vandermark, yes. Resolution 283 is approving a second amendment to the redevelopment agreement by and between the Burough of Denellan and Chelsea Builders LLC. Move it. Segment.
Second. Rios. Mrs. Albertson. Yes. Mrs. Lance. Yes. Mrs. Rios. Yes. Mr. Scott. Yes. Mr. Sigman. Yes. And Mr. Vandermark. Yes.
Resolution 284 is to award to award an emergency contract to Stillow Paving and excavating for a sewer repair on Gross Street. Move it segment. Second, Scott. Mr. Miller, can you address this one? Thanks, Sandra.
About a month ago, we found out that there was a a a break in the sewer main over grocery market that sewer issue that we have place that session.
Okay, council. Okay. Mrs. Albertson, yes. Mrs. Lance, yes. Mrs. Rios, yes. Mr. Scott, yes. Mr. Sigman,
yes. And Mr. Vandermark, yes. Resolution 285 is approving a car show for the Nellan Downtown Management Organization on October 12th, 2025. Move it, Sigman.
Second, Scott. Mrs. Albertson. Yes. Mrs. Lance, yes. Mrs. Rios, yes. Mr. Scott, yes. Mr. Sigman, yes. And Mr. Vandermark, yes. Resolution 286 is to accept the
resignation of Sylvia Santa Maria as janitor/custodian. Move it. Segment. Second. Albertson. Just like to note uh we wish uh S Mrs. Santa Maria well on her next endeavors and we thank her for her service to the
burough of Denell and for the time she was here. Mrs. Albertson, yes. Mrs. Lance, yes. Mrs. Rios, yes. Mr. Scott, yes. Mr. Sigman, yes. And Mr. Vandermark, yes.
Resolution 287 is authorizing an award of contract for appraisal services. Move it. Sigman. Second. Albertson. Mrs. Albertson. Yes, Mrs. Lance. Yes, Mrs. Rios. Yes, Mr. Scott. Yes,
Mr. Sigman. Yes, and Mr. Vandermark. Yes. Resolution 288 is authorizing the award of professional service contract for feasibility studies at various burrow locations. Move it. Segment.
Second. Rios. Mrs. Albertson. Yes. Mrs. Lance. Yes. Mrs. Rios. Yes. Mr. Scott. Yes, Mr. Sigman. Yes. And Mr. Vandermark. Yes. Resolution 289 is authorizing the award
of professional services contract for sewer system evaluation services. Move it. Sigman. Second. Scott. Mrs. Albertson. Yes. Mrs. Lance. Yes. Mrs. Rios. Yes. Mr. Scott. Yes.
Mr. Sigman. Yes. And Mr. Vandermark. Yes. Resolution 290 is authorizing the award of a professional service contract for sewer system evaluation services. Move it. Segment. Second. Albertson.
Mrs. Albertson. Yes. Mrs. Lance. Yes. Mrs. Rios. Yes. Mr. Scott. Yes. Mr. Sigman. Yes. And Mr. Vandermark. Yes. Resolution 291 is authorizing the award
of a professional service contract for the preparation of sanitary sanitary sewer system capital improvements plan. Move it segment. Second Albertson. That is Mr. Scott. Scott. Mrs. Albertson. Yes.
Mrs. Lance. Yes. Mrs. Rios. Yes. Mr. Scott. Yes. Mr. Sigman. Yes. And Mr. Vandermark. Yes. Resolution 292 is authorizing a request to extend NJ dot fiscal year 2024 local
transportation project fund South Washington Avenue and New Market Road. Move it segment second Rios. So pertaining to this resolution, um this project was prepared to go out for this year, but we're
asking for the extension from the NJ DOT fiscal year 2024 um local transportation project fund. Um and this is the rapid beacon lights at Orange and New Market and also no Orange and South Washington and Grove and New Market. Um because we've been in
conversations with the county, they're going to do a whole uh traffic engineering and traffic light uh proposal and project along New Market. Um our conversation with them um was we should probably try and do all of that
in coordination at the same time. So that would require us to postpone that project um to fit in line with their their project. So it just it's a matter of making it all make sense together. So that's why we're asking for the extension. Clearly, if the state denies the extension, we're going to go ahead
with the project. But, um, I think we have a good argument on why we would coordinate our efforts with the county. So, okay, we'll take a role. Mrs. Albertson, yes. Mrs. Lance, yes. Mrs. Rios, yes.
Mr. Scott, yes. Mr. Sigman, yes. And Mr. Vandermark, yes. Resolution 293 is authorizing the hire of Brenda Green as custodial staff for the Burrow of Denellan. Move it. Segment. Second. Albertson.
Mrs. Albertson. Yes. Mrs. Lance. Yes. Mrs. Rios. Yes. Mr. Scott. Yes. Mr. Sigman. Yes. And Mr. Vandermark. Yes. Resolution 294 is to approve a clothing bin permit for the American Recycling
Resources. Move it. Segment. Second. Scott. Mrs. Albertson. Yes. Mrs. Lance. Yes. Mrs. Rios. Abstain. Place of employment. Mr. Scott? Yes. Mr. Sigman?
Yes. And Mr. Vandermark? Yes. Resolution 295 is approving a car show for Carl's Custom Classics on September 14th, 2025. Move it. Segment. Second. Rios.
Mrs. Albertson. Yes. Mrs. Lance. Yes. Mrs. Rios. Yes. Mr. Scott. Yes. Mr. Sigman. Yes. And Mr. Vandermark. Yes. Item number nine on the agenda is our consent agenda. We have resolutions 296
through 301. Um before we move forward with a motion and second, are there any items on this uh consent agenda that council would like removed uh that we can discuss separately? Yes. Uh number 300, please follow.
Okay. Oh yeah. Okay. Without hearing any, we will vote on Can you have a motion? Second on the consent agenda for 296 through 299 inclusive of 301. Move it segment.
Second. Rios hearing. Mrs. Albertson. Yes. Mrs. Lance. Yes. Mrs. Rios. Yes, Mr. Scott. Yes, Mr. Sigman. Yes. And Mr. Vandermark? Yes. Okay. Can I have a motion and second on
resolution 300? Move it, Sigman. Second, Scott. And Mrs. Albertson, I assume your request was so for your I could. Okay. Thank you. We'll keep that in mind for future. Yes. Agendas. We'll put on regular business.
Okay. Uh any discussion on this item outside of that? Okay. Roll call. Mrs. Albertson, abstain. Mrs. Lance, yes. Mrs. Rios, yes. Mr. Scott, yes. Mr. Sigman, yes. And Mr. Vandermark,
yes. Item number 10 are council reports. Councilwoman Albertson, anything to report this evening? Yes, I have a long fire department. Okay. Fire department responded to 133
calls for service in July. Total calls for 2025 are now 322. All of 200 2024 was only 310. It's been a busy year. Um, good intent were 15
calls. False alarm was 19. Natural disasters were 80. EMS was one. fire was six service calls for hazmat eight for monthly total of seven of 133
on um the it's the 3 of July the crews staff the apparatus from 6:00 pm on the 3 through the weekend responding to emergencies related to the storm
uh from 6 pm 3 Route 75. The fire department responded to 61 emergency incidents ranging from uh trees into structures to wires down in the roadway. On September 14th, the storm response,
the crews staffed the apparatus from 6:00 p.m. on the 14th through the 17th responding to emergencies related to the storm. From 6:00 p p.m. 7:14 through 7:17, the fire department responded to
48 emergency incidents ranging from wires down to numerous water rescues. Water rescues were performed by our highwater vehicle, fire apparatus, and by boat. In addition to the water rescues, we were requested into
Planefield through a second alarm warehouse fire on North Avenue just into Planefield. We dispatched an engine and truck to assist the city. These two incidents resulted in a combined 109 emergency responses in a very short time
period. I would like to commend Chief Scott would like to commend every volunteer member of the fire department that responded during these incidents and for ensuring the safety of our residents. In addition to emergency responses, the fire department attended
several events and held several drills during June uh July. 710 they held a probationary member drill with forcible entry. 7:13 they did their monthly officers meeting. 7:16
they held a work drill which was storm cleanup. 723 and 727 were monthly instruction drills, SCBA radios. 7:24 they held a prover proionary
oh my god member drill SCBA confidence and 7:30 they held their monthly fire company meeting. They're happy to see a number of residents continue to join the department over the past few months and new members will be attending fire school in the upcoming months. Fire
department is still looking for new members to join. Membership is open to anyone 16 to 18 as a junior member and full member is open to anyone over 18. Visit their website www.danellanfd.com or email joinfdelan.com
for more information. Janelle and arts and inclusion in arts inclusion and culture committee uh remind you that music in the park is August 7th through the 21st at 7 p.m. That will be the end of their music in the park programs for the summer. Parol
Fest on August 24th at the Denellan American Legion. There will be a fundraising music festival from 1 to 9:00 p.m. for the Carol Fund. Established in 2002 in memory of Carol Bock, a special education aid at Denelon High School, the Carol Fund has been
helping students and community members in need. Whether it is a fire, flood, serious illness, help with getting food, or assisting with students needs, the Carol Fund will step up to help. And the municipal alliance is having their annual overdose awareness ceremony
Thursday August 28th at 6 PM at Washington Memorial Park. Please join us. That for me 2002 that's 2002. Yes. 23 years we've been doing this.
Wow. Well, thank you for continuing it and in Mrs. Bile's honor. Uh Councilman Rios. Yes. um buildings and grounds report. Following the July 3rd windstorm, public works and rich tree service successfully removed several fallen trees at McCoy
Park. In coordination with PSENG, a fallen tree was also removed from Gornic Park. Additionally, damaged trees throughout the park will continue to be addressed as needed. Parsa supervised stylo evacuation.
Yeah, I'm like what? stylo excavation during the sewer remain uh sewer main repair on Gro Street. They will continue to oversight uh oversight of the New Jersey American Water main
and service installation on Gro Street and South Avenue. Work is also beginning on Bach Place. Is that right? B on B Place and New Market Road. details of which will be shortly shared shortly
by Mayor Sento. Denalan Public Library in partnership with OEM. The Denalan Public Library will host a CPR certification course on Wednesday, August 6th from 5:30 to 8:30. The cost is $35. This course is open to
individuals aged 13 and older who are interested in becoming CPR certified. It is especially beneficial for those looking to gain hands-on skills and knowledge to respond effectively to cardiac arrest and choking emergencies. Participants will receive certification
within 48 hours of course completion. That's all. Thank you. Okay. Thank you. Speaking of OEM, we have to uh put together our mayoral town hall on emergency services and storm preparedness. So, um let's aim for September. Is that good?
Well, not too early. I go on vacation the beginning of September. So, thank you. Um, Councilman Vandermark. Yes, I got pull it up.
Are you I'm sorry, Councilman. Do you have a report this evening? Yeah, I do. Oh, okay. It's for uh the first aid squad. Uh they had over 1,600 volunteer manh hours. He responded to 40
calls including two motor vehicle accidents, two calls for allergic reactions and staffing the shelter until it was leave by cert. Our primary ambulances has been restored
to service after the damage is stand during the July storms. We look forward to seeing everyone tomorrow at National Night Out, which brings me to the police report. Police report join us tomorrow
night at Columbia Park for National Night Out sponsored by the Denoan. police department and other organizations will be there to join in.
Uh it's a nice night. Hopefully a nice night out tomorrow night and that would be more important. Hey Councilman, good to hear from you and looking forward to you being back in the chamber soon. Councilwoman Lance.
Yes. Um, the Denella Recreation Commission has two more weeks of summer camp. This year they had over 55 registered campers and they've had a great summer so far which is has included trips to Runaway Rapids,
Branchburg Sports, Sports Complex Day, scavenger hunts and more. Tomorrow, campers are going to Somers Somerset Patriots game for the double Ace Subway Series game followed by the water park on Wednesday. Registration is open for
fall soccer grades preK through 8th. The deadline to register is next Monday, August 11th. Do not miss out on this program. And as always, our volunteer coaches are essential in providing these great recreational opportunities.
Danella Recreation will be participating in Somerville's new fall ball league. Similar to our spring league, games will take place on Saturdays and practices will be held once a week at the discretion of the coach. We would like to have a team at the rookie level,
grades 1 through three, the minor league level, grades four to five, and the major league level grades 6 to 8. Volunteer coaches will also be needed for the softball teams. So, if you are interested in volunteering, please email rec program coordinator kelly cedar
kerdenellanboro.com. And finally, the recreation department looks forward to supporting um our police department on national night out tomorrow night, and we hope to see the community come out for this annual event at Columbia Park at 6 p.m. That's all.
Okay. Thank you, Council President Sigman. Uh yes, I just want to uh thank and commend uh Homer Mosley and the CERT C members as well as the American Red Cross and and Alex and Jason for their efforts in that uh second of the storms
with all the flooding and setting up the shelter. Uh it was unfortunate, but it was great to see all of the hard work that you guys put in. So, thank you. And that's all I have. Okay. Thank you, Councilman Scott. For DPW, they routinely clean the downtown
area and all the parks and properties weekly lawn maintenance and landscape for the parks and properties. Uh the DPW crew was called out for the July 14th flood to help close roads and assist DMS teams. Interesting fact here, the DPW has picked up over 150,000 pounds or
approximately 80 tons of household flood debris over the last two weeks, which is approximately 90% of the debris, and they expect the last 10% to be picked up over the next week. Lot of uh lot of debris. Good job. Crew walked the brooks and streams, removed
any debris blocking the water flow, removed a few blockage at the head walls following the July 14th flood. And the ongoing curbside branch pickup from the July 3rd storm is continuing. So on top of the flood debris, they still picking up tree branches and they expect to complete the pickup within the next few
weeks. For the mechanic department, they've serviced the fleet and DPW vehicle fleet and DPW vehicles as they come due for maintenance or breakdowns. They've serviced all the lawn equipment for continued operation throughout the season, greased and top off the fluids on the packer unit rolloff and the
rented skid steer to aid in continued performance during the storm cleanup of the town. They diagnosed and repaired the overheating and air conditioning issues with the sweeper along with fixing hydraulically diagnosed and repaired the senior bus for a noar no code condition. And the mechanics uh
also assisted DBW laborers in their efforts to clean the debris of the rubbish and branches. Uh just a reminder, the annual free household rubbish disposal starts uh September 13th and will continue through October 18th. Please check the burough website
for more information, including what can and cannot be dumped and which Saturday is your assigned Saturday to drop off the DBW yard. And that's my report. Okay. Thank you, Councilman. Um, I'll reiterate, I hope to see everybody at the uh, National Night Out tomorrow
night at Columbia Park, 6:00 p. p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Um, as a reminder uh, for recycling uh, as of August 1st, the MCIA has officially switched to the automatic side load or ASL um, for Denell's recycling collection. Um, the collection
will begin on August 13th and residents are reminded to use the new 95gallon bins that were delivered to them in July. If you've not yet received your bin, please call Denelboroough Hall at 732-968-3033 so we can inform the MCIA and they can
have can ensure that you get it before the next collection. Um, please note that they bins are still being distributed by IWS on behalf of MCIA. Um, all the recycling must be placed inside the bin since the ASL truck uses a mechanical arm to pick up the bins.
Uh, the MCI will not be able to collect any items placed outside of your bin. So, um, just as a reminder, the storm cleanup, as Councilman Scott said, DPW continues their daily cleanup after the two storms and they'll continue to do
so. Um, and residents may place their flood damaged and tree debris, um, excluding stumps at the curb for pickup. Um, so just please note for the public that the collection is only for items damaged by the storm or flooding. We did
have Red Cross in and we've assessed the entire town. So, we do know what we'll label the red target areas of where there are actual uh damage and flooding. Um so, um we know where we're going to be picking up. So, let's not take
advantage of it because uh our regular rolloff dates are in September and uh based on your street and you can visit that on our website. So, um, let's all pull together as a community and just let those who were vulnerable and had damage during the storm take the benefit
of the the pick up at their curb because that's just the right thing to do. And if you didn't have damage, um, get the benefit of the free uh, roll off in September and October. uh Second Street um DOT project from
Schwarz Place to Madison Avenue after the project was delayed by both the July 3rd and 14th storms. The contractor Crossroad Paving reassumed uh work on Friday, August 1st, replacing sewer manhole castings and uh covers. Today the contractor
started the milling phase of the project and tomorrow will be the paving phase of the project. uh the second street mill and pave project from Schwarz Place to Denellan and Middle Sex border because remember we had to view them as separate projects because of the grant and bidding specs related to the grant. Uh
we are waiting on confirmation from the contractor but we do anticipate the project being done this week uh both milling and paving by Gar State. A New Jersey American water project update and uh water service installation will continue to take place on Walnut Street
between Prospect Avenue towards New Market Road. Then crew then the crew will uh focus on uh the water services on South Avenue and Grove Street towards New Market Road. Their goal is to complete the services on those streets before Favor School fully opens up for the new school year. Uh this week uh New
Jersey American Water will start uh water main installation on Bay replaced a new market road from Denell and Piscati border to South Washington Avenue. Uh the project will be replacing n uh water mains from 1940s with new 8 inch water uh main along all new
residential water services and four new fire hydrants. So to date that's over $20 million they've spent in Denell over the last four years, three or four years. Yeah, mayor it's pretty close to that number. Okay. Uh Middle Sex County Mill and Pave Shared Service Project Jackson Avenue
from North Avenue to dead end. Um that contractor, Garden State Paving, has confirmed that they will start this project on the week of August 25th. As part of phase one, Garden State Paving will be installing all new ADA compliant uh crosswalks at each inter each intersection on Jackson Avenue,
replacing severely damaged curbs. Phase two of the project will take place within weeks of phase one and includes milling and paving of the entirety of Jackson Avenue by the contractor. Chiffano construction. And after the street is paved, you'll have a contractor install enhanced striping.
So, another road uh will be down in the books. And I think we'll be over 80% of Denell paved at that point. It's got to be pretty close to that. Okay. I'm waiting to hear 100. Um okay. Uh I will note uh I saw some on
Facebook. Not that we always want to take everything on Facebook and make a full discussion of council meeting because individuals long coming to the council meeting and airing their concerns. Um but I think it's important to note uh center street it we we've
noticed that signs have come up that you can't park on the Piscataway side. Uh so Mr. Miller is reaching out to Piscataway to understand the reasoning behind that and um depending upon that reasoning uh what type of advocacy and action we need
to take on our side to make sure that all that parking that would be on Piscato doesn't filter over now to the Denellan side. So, um, more to report on that, but I just wanted the council and those who shared concerns publicly, um, that we are aware of it and we are
seeking to find answers and how we take action. So, okay. Um, I'll note the July 14th storm on top of the July 3rd. I just want to extend thanks to the many volunteers that came out that night to
uh to help those in need uh from OEM office and search team underneath the leadership of our coordinator Homer Mosley to the police department to the rescue squad to the fire department um and of course Red Cross who uh was a big
help that evening. Be safe guys. um big help that evening and the subsequent days. Um Mr. Miller who was out that evening, Council President Sigman who came out and helped at the shelter. Um it it's
it was a lot to see that night and the days afterwards, but um in true Denellan fashion, the community came together and you know, we saw neighbors helping neighbors and we saw our volunteers coming together and our paid emergency services as well. and of course the DPW who has been nonstop on cleaning up
trees and debris and rubbish at the curbside. Um we appreciate everyone's patience as we do that. Um but we do want to thank those and give a round of applause to those who have taken their time and energy to support the community
during those vulnerable hours during the storm, but also the days that followed it. Thank you to everyone involved and we give you a round of applause. Um, which does lead me to um discuss the Greenbrook Flood Control
Project. Um, you know, I just want to extend thanks to the Greenbrook Flood Control Commission underneath the chairmanship of Ray Murray. Um, they've they've had a lot of advocacy and success in securing funding over the years. There's I think now over just 700
million now for the project. Uh Mr. Miller and I attended the memorial service they had over the weekend in Middle Sex for those who have died in past storms and now in in memory of those who died during the current storms. Um and Edward Edward Mr. Miller
Edward um what was his name from Army Corps? Oransky. Oransky. Um he was there. He's our representative from the Army Corps for the project. Um there were many representatives from other towns that
were there questioning and um the news is this um they still have to finish parts of Middle Sex, a pump station then coming in around the high school area and then the I K and J which is Greenbrook, Denellan and parts of
Planefield and North Planefield I believe. um they're not anticipating that for another 10 years. Um so um we have to find a means on how we ramp up our advocacy and support for the Greenbrook Flood Control Control
Commission to find uh the necessary means possible to push that project further along faster um or alternate means in which they can assist us in short-term uh flood mitigation. Um, so
there's a lot of obstacles that come with that. You know, the DP doesn't want you dredging the rivers and the brooks because they're concerned about the soot and contamination that would then ultimately leave to the rare lead to the Raritan River. I would argue it's already contaminated enough. Um, but
that's a personal opinion. Um, so what's a few other contaminations when you have people being pushed out of their homes and lives at risk? um ocean filters itself. Um but uh so there's there's
issues there. We're looking at means of how do we work with our county forms of government on cleaning up around some of the coververts and the bridges that are around because they said we have we have more flexibility and jurisdiction to do
that than dredging other areas. Um so um we ask for patience as we try to go through this. I'm just delivering the news as it was delivered to us. Um, and how we can at the local level do what we have to do. Um, am I missing anything
else that was discussed? I mean, along the way, they're talking about that some changes of plans because they want to make sure that what they're going to be doing is going to be good enough. Uh, and the the Army Corps engineers did come by a couple days after the flooding
and I met with them and showed them the heights of the water that we had which was pretty similar to the height of Ida in McCoy Park. So, they just were gathering data from all the, you know, neighboring areas of of the flood damage
and making sure it all matches up. Yeah. The Armor Corps said the biggest holdup when they finally get past their engineering plans and approvals is uh properties uh individuals who don't want to sell part of their property or their
entire property if it needed um for the project to go through. Um, so if the Army Corps knocks on your door or sends you a letter to do an assessment of where the levies or the walls are going to go in Denellan, um, for the sake of
lives and flood mitigation, uh, I we kindly ask that you allow them to assess the property and where these the proposed project is going um, and take into serious consideration if you want a full or partial buyout of your parcel
um, in order for the project to go through um because there are some properties in which entire properties will have to be bought out for it to come through. Many of those we've been able to accomplish buyouts through Blue Acres funding and then there's some properties in which they're only going to need back sides of properties to buy
out um in which you know we have to assess whether Blue Acres is an appropriate program for those those means. Um but uh uh it's it's going to be a journey. Um but we are making sure our advocacy efforts stay on
top and um it's not a doom or gloom or this is the reality that we have to that this is just what it's going to be. Um we just have to continue making the argument that there's other ways in which we can help with flood mitigation. So um but the ultimate thing is the
thank you to those who step up every single time when we have one of these these issues um and tragedies at times. um we thank them for their service. So um I'll end on that. Thank you for your service to those who show up every time that the the alarm goes off. So thank
you. Um without further ado, I have nothing else on my report. Um department heads legal. Thank you. No report. It clerk registar administration. I just want to follow up
on the conversation that what what you just said, Mayor and um Councilman Sigman, uh the volunteers the last month with uh the July 3rd, the no-name storms, July 3rd and 14th have uh been
really trying and it's just, you know, as horrible as it was, it's it's good to see the teamwork of all the emergency services and all the hard work that they put into it and public works. Um, you know, my hats off. It just everybody stepped up and it was it was a
challenging time, but thank you very much. You guys did a great job. Yep. That's all I got to say. Thanks. Thank you, Mr. Olsen. Finance Department. Okay. Lieutenant, anything from PD? Yeah.
that. Okay. Thank you. And Mr. Miller addressed the concerns with it. There's policy some procedures and how items get on the agenda and um we just ask that they're followed. No, you don't have to go in the middle, but I think
wanted that on record. I think it's appropriate we put our comment on record, too. So, thank you, Mr. Mosley. fire department that we have surpass threshold to ask
the president for decoration of what that means is that we can give a lot of money based upon our activities so we can use equipment and the use of personnel. So it's essential that I mean
I've heard of all those fire department that up in terms of as well as represent working on that.
So again phase two we want to capture every dollar. Yes Mr. Mosley thank you for that reminder. It skipped my mind. Um, we have met that threshold. Um, I think we're now in excess of 23 million overall. So, that triggers the state to
be able to apply to the federal government and a letter is being prepared for our federal representatives as well as President Trump um to advocate for him to say yes to those fundings and Congress. So, just so you're aware, and we have to do our job to make sure
we're maintaining those those allocations of funds. figure it system and um okay so other
department and Another good news was the day before that they are going to have 202 25 came down like that. I'll be able to find
We just uh lay out the house with the family for the realization. again that's another Thank you, Councilwoman. And thanks to the park,
especially in a lot of time, the girl satisfied, but He also assisted as you know the mayor myself. He also helps to establish a parkour. You did mention the fact
on the other shelter recession centered shelter after page of the night class. And with that, I would like to thank
Sigman who actually was shelter manager at East July 14, July 3rd. from fire and Lopez
without any we see everybody that know Okay, Mr. Mosley, thank you. Thank you. And again, as you noted, thank you to St. John's Roman Catholic Church and then the the school district for allowing us to use their space as shelters during both storms. Um,
okay. Uh no other comments from council or department heads. Uh we do not have any council discussion on the agenda. So item number eight is public comments. Um we'll open the floor to the public for
any comments or questions either in chambers or online. We ask that you please state your name and address. One last call to the public. Any comments or questions either online or in chambers? Please state your name and address and ask your comment. Oh, Mr.
Mosley demolished by street. One of them took out a quart of the house. The other one took out went through a group in which they had child
and the child was unharmful. They had actually child res so that's unfortunate. Um, one of the things I have to concern about is u I know that this is a matter of
taking care of that house. So I ask him sir as well situation possible fire hazard and I'm just wondering is there any time
that does something to that property there something I'm sure there's the statute in terms I don't know if our vacated ordinance comes into place because this is a a different type of circumstance. It's not
by choice they abandon it or it's um Mr. Robertson would have to construction. Yeah. Once again, I understand. I just don't be looking at that from now.
Well, I think Mr. Miller can talk to our construction officials and they can check in with the property owners and maybe see where they're at in the insurance process so we can follow their appropriate procedure. Sounds good. Thank you, sir. Any other comments or questions from the public?
Joe? Okay. Okay. I don't know if everybody knows once upon a time Joe was sitting where you guys are sitting. Former council. What was that? Oh well
hopefully it's due to our efficiency anyway. Okay. Without any hearing, any of your comments or questions from the public, we'll close that portion of the meeting. Uh we do have a resolution uh 302 to enter an executive session. Um so can I
have a motion? I'm just going to read out a motion and second on resolution 302 uh to enter executive session be it resolved by the governing body of the bureau of Denella, New Jersey that whereas the open public meetings act NJSA 104-6 permits the closing of meetings to the
public under certain circumstances and whereas there exists such a circumstance and whereas authorizing the bureau council to go into executive session to discuss litigation after which action may be taken and whereas minutes of the executive session will be kept and will be released when Matters under
discussion during executive session are no longer confidential. Therefore, be it resolved that the burough council will enter into executive session once we have a motion and a second. Rios, it was councilwoman Rios. Do we have a second? Second, Sigman. Council President.
Okay. Uh, roll call. Mrs. Lance, yes. Mrs. Rios, yes. Mr. Scott, yes. Mr. Sigman, yes. And Mr. Vandermark, yes. Okay, before we fully go offline, this will probably take about 30 minutes if those who wish to join us back online
or in chambers. Um, okay. Thank you. For those who decide to go off, our next council meeting is September 2nd. Maybe I had to think about it, you know, because I know I've been a little like
picky and slow myself here and um but I definitely respect you that you actually approach me. Tim came and asked me out. I was pretty surprised, you know, just because he's such a reserved person and so am I. I honestly didn't really think he was
that interested in me, but I love quirky men and he kind of brings that vibe. I'm like, "Hey, let's let's give it a try." I actually like feel like you and I have been clicking and connecting after all this.
Asking May out is anxiety inducing because this is the first time I've asked her a lot in person in a decade. So when Nate finally said yes, I was just like, "Thank God I'm not going to be the laughing sock tomorrow when everybody hears about this." It's gonna be fun. See you later.
All right. Bye bye. You know, so far I've not had success at the retreat, but now I have a date and I'm making some progress and I'm excited. Hey, I was wondering if you were going to hug me or not. Of course, I'm going to hug you. I was wondering.
Yeah. So, about last night, I felt like it all happened like so fast. I feel like and uh youing did you me so good.
No, I know. It was amazing. I'm glad it happened. I just feel like we have such a deep connection. Like I wasn't like if it was any other guy here, I would never do that. But with you, I feel like it was just such a deep connection. Like why not?
Yeah. Yeah. But you know, you're in this position with Tiffany, right? And the last thing I want is to be a Cole Rob Jen mess. Yeah. You know, I feel bad. I feel
really bad about this. Like the thing like I I you know, I guess like where does that leave us? I mean, like, if you'd asked me this yesterday, like, I'm spending the rest
of my time here with Tiffany, but I just feel in my heart like I'm going to continue and be with one person that it's got to be you. Oh, yeah. So, do you want to be with me for the rest
of this? Yeah, 100%. Are you going to have a conversation with Tiffany? I have to. And it's like it breaks I feel like it's going to to break her
heart, but you know, I came here with the intention to be honest and communicate. Okay. So, you're going to go talk to Tiffany and then come back and then what? Yes, listen. Oh my god,
I'm super excited. Like, I feel like I can't be that excited till the conversation's done with Tiffany. I mean, I'm super scared and super excited, but I'm excited to do this with you. I feel like he's so nervous of letting her down and hurting her. Is he actually
going to say to her that one, we two, Good. Okay. Uh we are back in our regular session after voting on resolution 303 to come back in. Um there is no further action this evening based
upon resolution 302. So item number 14 16 yeah uh is resolution 304 German. Can I have a motion and second please move it segment? Second Scott. All in favor?
I. Any nays? Okay.