Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to our April 6th council meeting. Our first order of business is a call to order and rise for the pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the
republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Item number two on the agenda is the reading of the sunshine statement and role call by uh Lawrence, Mrs. Lawrence
Stats, our municipal clerk. This meeting of the Denellan Burough Council is called person to the provisions of the open public meetings law. This meeting of April 6, 2026 was included in a list of meetings that was advertised in the courier on January 8th, 2026 and as a
teleconference was noticed on the official Denellan website on April 2nd, 2026 and on the public bulletin board on North Avenue on April 2nd, 2026 and has remained continuously posted as per the required notice.
Mayor Sento >> present. >> Council President Lance >> here. Mrs. Albertson here. >> Albertson, you're on. >> Yes. Here. >> Better. >> Mrs. Rios
>> here. >> Mr. Scott >> here. >> Mr. Sigman >> here. >> And Mrs. Vandermark >> here. >> Okay. Item number three on the agenda is a presentation. This evening we have a
presentation on our budget fiscal year 2026 uh by our chief financial officer Scott Olsen and our business administrator Alex Miller. Um so the floor is yours
gentlemen. I will stand out over here. Okay. Anybody? Okay. So, Um, all right. So, this evening we are introducing the 2026 budget. Um,
it's going to go through a a process where we'll have a public hearing uh later on in May. All the u the time schedule on this on the through the slides, but really um the the the gist
of this we're not going to get to till slide 14. Okay. Okay. So, you got to bear with me till we get to slide 14 because that's that's the money shot right there. Right. Y >> So, all right. So, >> uh first we have here, let's see. >> Nothing.
>> Am I What am I doing? Right. >> Oh, it's that one. >> Rookie mistake. >> All right. >> Oh, wrong way. Okay. So, we're we're listing the uh burough officials and those finance professionals that that worked on this. I I want to bring
attention to the the auditors, bond counsel, and financial advisor. They're key players in all this and but they're doing work behind the scenes. So, kudos to to uh those three groups because they're they're professionals that we
depend on that we ask them questions and they're it's a constant back and forth and they help to make uh to make the town run as well as it does. Um, a shout out to Dawn Hutcherson, too, as
the uh she's taken on an expanded role, not just as the tax collector, but she's been participating in all of the meetings that we've had, and um and that was to help uh smooth out the the whole process here. So, with that,
as we said, tonight, April 6th, is the budget introduction. there'll be an online advertisement that we're required to do. You may remember in the past we had to publish uh the information but now we can do an uh just use an online
advertisement. So that's going to go in online as of uh tomorrow and then as I said a public hearing and adoption May 4th. The difference this is kind of like an ordinance where you have an introduction and then you have a public hearing. The difference is there's a month between those two
meetings. Usually it's it's a introduc you know the the first meeting and then the very next meeting is when you have the public hearing. But this is different. Why is it different? Well, we're we're constrained to have the hearing 28 days between when it was first introduced and when you have the
public hearing. So that's what we're doing by by having it on May 4th. Um it's it's uh within the statutory requirement. And also I should mention that um statutoily we're required to introduce this budget by I think it was
uh March 30th this year or the first meeting after. So this is the first meeting after March 30th. So we're following all the statutory requirements. All right. So the budget is how we fund the projects
that we want to do operate the departments. uh it includes what we call discretionary spending and non-discretionary spending. So the the non-discretionary spending is spending that we don't have too much control over. It's things like health insurance,
uh pension payments, some salaries, the the contribution for social security and Medicare. Um and the the salaries that I'm talking about are the ones that are contractual. All right? Those are already negotiated. So we so and in some
cases it's a couple years ago and they're they're going through their cycle. So we don't have a lot of control over that and that's why we say arguably 10% of this entire budget is discretionary meaning we can make
decisions about. So it's not a whole lot of room to work with. Right. >> Not much way to room. >> Not much way to room. And if you got it wrong that's not good either. No. All right. So, so when we talk about the uh key
budget drivers, um as as Scott was just saying, that 90% is uh expenditures that are either contract or uh statutory obligations. Health insurance, as we all know, has been just going through the roof. um the burrow we were lucky enough
to get out of the state health insurance uh benefit plan because if we stayed in we were we would have had a 36 and a half% increase from last year. We were able to get into a health insurance fund
and by doing that we were able to save the municipality 30 $340,000 by getting out of the state plan. not not many municipalities were able to do it, but we were actually lucky enough to do it and and uh it was thankfully with that
our claims were low enough that we're able to pull it off. Two years ago, we could not do that. So that we're we're stuck in there and unfortunately whoever's stuck in the state, they're going to see another 39% next year and I think the following year I think it's going to be 50% 2028 going to be 50% and
the same after that. So we Denellan in the last four years have had an 84% increase with the health insurance. Uh and it's it's it's a lot to swallow. Um Mr. Correction, it's not that we're
saving $340,000 in our budget in the sense we didn't cut it because we're saving $340,000 otherwise hadn't stayed in. So we're having a 14% increase versus the 36% increase which between the 14 and 36 is
the we saved having to increase by >> you're 100% correct. >> Yep. Thanks. Some of our other drivers is our our capital investment um who are our uh street project uh streetscape. Uh
a lot of those a lot of those funds are going to be through grants but but in the beginning we have to front the money for it. Then eventually we will get those funds back and you'll see uh down the road we start talking about our capital improvement. you'll see how much
uh how much money difference between our cap what we're budgeting for our capital and how much money we're going to be getting through grants which is a large large amount that we we're going to get through grants which we've done over the last five years. Uh
the other thing is our debt service incre you know has increased due to the obviously the fire that we had at the firehouse. we had to purchase new fire trucks uh and and rebuild the firehouse. So, you know, that that it's another driver that that we're dealing with, you
know, in our our budget up on this one. >> So, so um this chart is a graphic representation of
out of every $100 of your taxes, where does it go? Clearly, the majority of it is going to the to the school. Um the municipality, the the burough side is about 27% and then there the county is less than half of that and there's two
small portions to the to the library and to the county open space tax. On the lower right hand side, you can see what we are projecting the total tax bill, the total tax levy for the year 2026.
Um, some of these are estimates. We don't know what the county is is going to introduce or what the open space portion is going to be, but we do know now what the what the schools are. That's uh the burrows the the taxpayer
share of the school uh uh nut is 14.7 million. Our our municipal portion is 6.8 8 million almost 6.9 and the the library portion is based on a formula uh that we
don't have any control over but it's not you you'll see that it's that the the library portion is not included in our in our calculations of the tax levy all the time because the library levy is separate. You'll see that on your tax
bill when it comes. So here and for tonight's purposes, we're we're focusing on the municipal side of things. So the levy is the amount of money that we need to make up the difference between the regular revenues that we
have and our expenses. It it fills the gap. Uh it's based on property valuation. So every October 1st, the the assessor adds up all the all the values of the different properties in in town
and that number will become the denominator that we're going to use in a calculation of the tax rate. All right, there are two caps currently. There's a a cap on how much the the tax levy can
go up and there's a tax on how much spending can go up. They were done under under different years. Originally, they started around 4%, but now they they've come in at at 2%. So, we're supposed to not increase our our levy above 2%, not
supposed to increase our appropriations above 2% unless there are mitigating circumstances and conditions. And that includes things like it's spelled out there on the bottom. uh for example, debt service and capital expenditure
increases, pension, defer charges from emergencies, uh health benefit contributions, and the next slide is going to show us in very tiny detail um a calculation what what's called a um
the calculation of the levy cap. So this is of the two caps. This is one side of it. Let's see. to show you it. Okay. All right. So we start out,
you can see that now we start out with last year's amount to be raised by taxation or the tax levy and we have to subtract out uh items that that are in the um orange color, the 20 and the 15,000 and we get
6,355 and that's what we're supposed to take the 2% and I'm sure there's a red red dot. No. Okay, that 127,000 is 2%.
So that that doesn't give us very much room. So all right. So then we go down and we add some more some of these exclusions in here. And this is what we were talking about. The pension increases, the capital increases, any any uh deferred charges or emergencies
or health insurance increases, those kinds of things. Um in the end then we're we're down we went from we're up here uh 6,482. We have some exclusions. We're coming down here to 6
million6. Then we can add in some other items like the value of new construction. So this is uh additions and new new construction that goes up. were allowed to add that
as an adjustment to our levy. And in this case, it adds $12,000 to it. Uh the last two items are cap banks. Oh, what's a cap bank? Well, they're going to vote tonight hopefully to approve
uh establishing a CAT bank for 2026 and also allow the appropriation side to go up to a 3 and a half% versus 2%. We'll we'll get to that. In the end, we're at
the maximum allowable is 6.8 million and that's that's the number that we hit 6.8 million. Okay. What would we do without Ryan? You know, it's why he's here. Come on. >> Too good. Such a good guy. All right.
Appropriations. Okay. All right. Um here it's what we talked about. We're limited to 2%. Now, this is the other side. This is the appropriation side. We just talked about the levy side. How much can we raise a tax? This is the appropriation side. How
much can we spend? All right. So, we're allowed 2%. Uh, and when you add the 2% in, you get to 8.46 million. But, but, uh, by doing the COLA ordinance, the cost of living and the
and the cap calculation that we're going to look at later in this meeting, uh, we can increase it from two up to three and a half%. So, that's 124,000. Then again add in the new construction and we uh
are are going to tap into our bank by 125,000 and then we have a a waiver because of the pilot the increase in pilot monies that we're expecting. So uh the maximum appropriation there is 88 8927 and our appropriation is 8927. The
difference is the library. Okay. So this slide includes includes the the librarian. All right. So what are the differences where you know how did how are the budgets changing from from 2026 to how do they
they change from 25 to 26? Well in general government they went down about 38,000. That was due to we had a we had finance study last year. We had an emergency appropriation for mold of of
15,000 and there was um uh something else that escapes me that that but it basically adds up to to a savings if you will of of 38,000. That's including uh salary increases for all of the all of
the u departments that are listed under under uh general government. So, it's your administrator, clerk, mayor, council of finance, collector, assessor, uh, planning, buildings, grounds, pretty much everybody in this building, I would
say. Uh, public safety, which includes the the police and fire, crossing guards, rescue squad, emergency vehicles, that's 100 that's upund 106,000. Streets and roads is is uh up
100,000. Um, sanitation, too. the, you know, we with with all of the the uh pickup of the nail and and uh in that area, that's added to our recycling costs and it's something that we pay the county for. So, that's that's up. Uh
board of health is is up. Uh animal control, that's our we contract with the county for that. Um that's that's up also. Uh we've had some interesting cases lately with abandoned
uh animals uh which apparently we have to we have to um pay for their for their care until the owner can can claim them. So um so that's on our tab. Um the court
I I skipped I skipped debt service. Um by the way we had a we had a note sale um that closed today. We borrowed $15 million and we got a a net interest rate of about 3%. We had three biders alto
together and uh the lowest net interest cost was about three 3.09%. Which in this environment I think was was really very good. So um uh that is going to help pay for
expenditures that we've already made in the past. We're basically paying us back. Um, but it's it's cash that came in. We have to pay off about $12 million worth of notes tomorrow. So, we'll have a net $3 million uh that'll help pay for
our truck when it comes in, which I'm expecting will be in >> any moment. >> Next month. >> Next month. Next month. Okay. All right. Great. So, hopefully we'll have the cash to pay for it. So, yes. All right. utilities are up and
the and we've already covered some of the statutory expenditures, uh, social security, retirement systems, that kind of thing. Here's a a picture, a pie chart of our appropriations. Um, you'll see that that
the salaries portion is the largest portion. It's about um 30 39% shows up there. Uh the statutory expenditures are in the orange. We have debt service in blue. Um
other expenses in the I guess it's green. I don't know what that about 14%. So the things that we can control are very much in that other expense area that 14% portion of
the pie. Some of those are fixed. So that's where we came up with the 10% you know of of discretionary spending. This is the the diagram that shows that and you can see what you know it how it's how it's broken up on the on the left hand side in actual dollar amounts.
On the revenue side a budget has to equal. So revenues has to equal expenditures. It's like a scale. It's got to be balanced. So clearly the majority of where the money is coming from is that big royal blue color. And what is that? That's taxes. Okay. But
the light blue part that's about 20 almost a quarter of it, almost 25%. That's the part that we're trying to grow and increase. That's the the pilots. That's some of our local revenues. Um increasing uh fees from the
construction office, increasing fees where we can. as we grow that portion, then the the royal blue color hopefully gets, you know, shrinks a little bit. That's that's what we're trying to do. That's that's been the whole goal here.
All right, Alex, you want to take this one? >> No. So So this this slide here, this is our our energy tax calculator. Okay. Um in 20 I think it was 2001
2002 the state was working with all the municipalities given a certain percentage of energy uh tax and if you notice the orange line has stayed flat. Okay. So basically the
green line that shown on the graph is where we should where we're we're supposed to be getting from the state, but the state just has kept us and all other municipalities at a flat rate somewhere around $600,000.
Uh we technically according to the the plan that the state actually put in play years ago, we should be getting close to $1.1 million from the state, but instead we're going to get 600. So we're
somewhere almost close to $500,000 less than we should from the state. Mary, you want to chime in on this one? >> Yeah. So better understanding of energy tax receipts is the energy tax receipt trust fund which um historically in the
90s was consolidated into the energy tax receipt trust fund. Um the state decided to uniform it because before that municipalities used to charge their own rates. Utility companies basically set up shop use our polls in our towns. And
so the state did this in as they always do in their old good fashion as we're going to uniform it. We're going to collect the revenue and then we're going to get it back to you in the form of energy tax receipts municipal aid. So, as you can see here in Denell, as uh Mr. Miller noted, we've basically remained
flat over the last I can't see that from here. 20 20 years >> 20 plus years. Meanwhile, we're supposed to have well over $1 million. I think we're short $6 million from the state over the last 20 years. So when you hear those down in Trenton, Governor, Cheryl Murphy, Christy himself, and all the
legislators say, "We're going to go for state New Jersey and Homestead or Anchor and provide direct property tax relief." That's them playing political bargaining chips with the budget process when direct uh property relief would just be them statutoily
doing what they're statutoily obligated to do, which is provide the municipalities that direct money, which you can see on the screen what we're short of. Um $1.2 million can go a long way in our municipal budget here in Denal Allen on offsetting property taxes
or paying debt service payments on principal which means you're paying less interest therefore therefore paying less taxes over time. Um so this is the state's failure and broken promise. I can tell you through the conference of mayors uh we've been advocating for
funding and restoration of it. There are some bills on the table, but the formulas and what they're saying just is not fully transparent yet. Um, so as you can see, they're shorting us change while the state healthcare benefit
plans, which we thankfully got out of, is what they're calling in a death spiral and um artificially themselves fixing and not willing to actually fix the death spiral. Um, so I think it's this is a very important slide for those
of us as an elected official, but for the public more importantly to note that um what they're selling even trend is false goods on property tax relief. Basically, give it back to the town so we can actually provide you direct property tax relief. And if we don't,
you as constituents going to hold us directly accountable because we're the ones you see in aisle 9 of the supermarket, not your legislators. >> Very true. >> We got an >> Yeah. From the state. >> Yep.
This next slide here uh that we were talking about before with the uh health uh our health insurance um the red line would show would would be where if we stayed in the state that that would be the increase that we'd be
seeing uh seeing this year. So, by getting out and getting into the health insurance fund, the HIF, uh, as we mentioned before, it's it's $340,000 difference. And and I know when we uh
last year in June, uh, I requested the claims from the state, send it into our broker. Broker said, "It looks pretty good. We probably can get you into HIF." and went in try went into a couple different hiffs trying to see what we
can get and we were one of 10 municipalities out of 125 that applied. So we were we were lucky enough to get out of the health uh the state benefits and hopefully we're in a more stable situation in the Hif.
All right. And we talked about um amount to be raised by taxes, the tax levy. >> Just for the record, >> when Governor Cheryl says that a $60 billion budget, which is $3 billion over
what Murphy included on, is fiscally responsible, but then does not provide municipalities the rightful municipality, which we're owed. I think something's a shaft down there. So, I just want the public to be aware of that. >> Okay. All right. Um,
so we have the we have the tax rate and here we're going to do a little math math math thing, I guess. Um, break out your pencils, please. Uh, so the tax rate is it's a multiplier uh, and it's
expressed in terms of uh, a dollar per every $100 of assessed value. Okay, so we know how much we need to raise. and we know how much the value of the property is. So we take the amount that we need to raise and divide it by the
total amount of property of all the properties. Okay? And that that way we come up with a rate like a like a percentage almost and then uh that rate is applied against everybody's assess individually assessed
value. All right. So when we do that for 2026, we come up with a rate of 649. That's per for every $100 of uh value,
we want 649 of it. It's a decrease actually from 2025 because 2025 last year the tax rate was 650. Okay. So
even though it's a little decrease, it doesn't necessarily mean that you're going to see a decrease on your taxes. That you you may see an increase. And it's like, wait a minute. How how can that be? We're we're we're
basically flat. Well, this is the slide 14 that I was alluding to from the beginning. This is where it's all going to come together and you're going to completely understand why. So, you'll see on the And I know there's a area.
Just need to get it on the screen, right? Where are you trying to do the red? >> Oh, there you go. >> Oh, it doesn't show. Oh, I got Oh, it's not going to show. >> Oh my god. You think this was the first time I'm doing this?
So, so our expenditures in total are listed on the top line of 426 to 25. And if you look at the difference, it's 631,000. Uh we know that that was a a 5.9% increase. Our revenues, the next line
down, it's 4.4 million 26. Uh 4, they look switched though actually. Um the difference is 144,000 that's 3%. The difference between those two is the amount to be raised by taxation. So it's
up you can see uh 7.62%. But all right. So that that's the numerator. That's the number that we're going to divide by. But our denominator net valuation has changed from 983 million to a billion59.
Okay, it's a $75 million increase in in value. Okay, that is huge, right? And that mitigates the effect of what we need to raise by taxes in terms of the rate. So, we're showing a rate increase
of or decrease of 006%. That's outrageous. That's outrageous. That's wonderful. So, if your house last year was assessed at 462,000, that was the average last year. If your house is still this year assessed at 462,000,
you will see basically a flat flat tax this year. Municipal municipal um you'll have to consult that little postcard that you get in February from the assessor. You know, the one that everybody takes to their accountant when it's time to do
IRS taxes, right? Everybody uses that. This is, hey, this is what I paid in taxes. The point of that postcard is to show you what your assessed value was last year and what it is this year. So, if that number hasn't changed, you're
not going to change. But the average assessed house in Denellan went up from 462,000 last year to 498,000. That's a good thing. That's We're telling you your house if you sold
it today is worth 498,000 on average. So your house your house is worth more. So in that case your if if you go from the assessed value last year to the assessed value this year, if that's how much your
house changed, that's more like a $230 increase. So basically, um, for the average homeowner, that's what it's going to be. All right, we've thrown this slide in uh to show you the effect of inflation. Now, actually, I'm
going to take this. >> Sure. So, so as everybody knows, you all notice the difference now with your different increases, whether it's going to the grocery store, dining out, uh the average uh electric, electrical
increases 6.3%, natural gas is 9.8%. housing, everything everything has gone up whether it's anywhere from 3% to 9%. Were we able to try to keep the municipal tax rate pretty much as Mr.
was just saying at a flat increase which is if you really think about it it's it's not that easy because our electric bill goes up our electric bill goes up and you'll we'll talk about later on you know we have six over 600 lights that we
turn on every night in the town besides the lights in these buildings or when there's a fire and those fire hydrants open up that water's coming out that's water you know through through the town so where we're able to keep that you know the the municipal tax rate pretty
much at a flat increase was was a pretty good challenge that we're able to do. Nice one. So in the the burrow about 27% of your tax bill goes to the municipal tax. The
other ones as we talked about before would be going to the school, the county, the library and such. And what would change your taxes as as Scott was just saying is if your your property assessment has gone up um and some
people will go up, some people might be around the same. Uh but the average house did go up $36,000 from uh last year. So again, as as we're talking about the average house in Denellan is being
assessed at $498,000. Property tax wise for municipal tax would be $3,233 for the year, which that will equate to $8.86
per day in your municipal tax on the average home. uh that was uh assessed. So this next slide, Scott, I think we're going to jump on. >> Yeah. Yes. So
the assessor, as we said, provides uh the state with an um accounting of all of the all of the properties and their values uh by October 1st of the prior year. So
there's a lot you can see there's a there's a lot of uh factors that influence the value of a of a home. And what we're trying to do with the annual reassessment is make it fair, make it
make it so that uh our our homeowners know what the value of their of their houses if they were to sell it and then we tax them on that. So that's why sometimes when when uh homeowners they don't do anything to their home, but yet
their value changes, it's because the homes around there have changed. And so all boats rise in the tide. And that's that's kind of what's happening with that. So the with the with this uh annual reassessment, those properties change
every year and it's based on market conditions. So if the market uh market plays doing doing great, the they're going to go up as as the market softens, we might see some change going down. But so far, every year it it's it's gone up
since we've been doing this, which was I guess 2019 was when we had the the reassessment. So, um we're going to go now flip over to uh some pictures of of the staff. So
this is some uh new information that we we we provided to uh mayor council and to the public is the number of employees that we have that are in the burrow. Obviously you can see mayor and council
u be considered employees but we're very grateful for all what you guys do be believe me it's amazing. Uh in administration we have two full-time, three part-time by herself solo uh
>> one and >> uh health and human services one finance we have uh one full one part-time tax collector's office we have two full-time
tax assessor part-time employee court two full-time, four part-time members. TBW showing eight really technically right now seven. Hopefully in the next uh two meetings we'll be able to bring on a
mechanic. Uh so it'll be eight full-time, one part-time buildings and grounds. That's uh Martha takes care of cleaning the buildings. um part-time employee instruction, one full-time, and
along the way, we have seven part-time. Public safety, you're looking at a police department, our crossing guards, uh land use, one full, one part, recreation, one full time.
I think the remarkable thing about this is how many part-time employees we have. I mean, yes, okay, public safety, there's there's we need we need a full staff of of sworn officers and but we
have the crossing guards that are part-time. All of those gray bodies up there are are part-time and we're we're do a lot a lot with the part time. Um, It's it's not a
it's not a roster that's that's particularly heavy on full-time. I mean, I think we can >> It's not a deep roster. >> Yeah. Yeah. Right. And and that was the point of this is is to show and you guys know this, but the public may not know this, but but this is this is the the
staffing that we have here. And and um um >> what they call we're not topheavy like some of our >> Yes, that's right. That's right. A lot of things get done for what we have here. And and a credit to the mayor and council, things have changed because
when I started working here 11 years ago, there was less blue, dark blue and more gray and which led to a lot of people saying, you know, go to the tax office, there's no one there, you know, because they're only there certain hours of the day. So, it has changed over
years and and it was well needed, you know, and and and just to show as the mayor said, we're not topheavy. Uh it's just to show how many employees that we have. Um >> which staff were supposed to be appropriate. >> Correct.
>> Versus under staff. >> Correct. >> All right. >> Yep. >> Now we get to some Yeah. Yeah. Then we get to some more of the uh stuff with our departments and and a while back as
um I reached out to the departments and asked hey it's that time of year got to start working on on our budget for our OE budget for 2026. One of the things also that I asked was provide details of what you guys do
because at the end of the day, most people don't realize, yes, they know what the fire department does, but that department is not just a bunch of volunteers. And thank God we have so many great volunteers to do it. But there's that truck that's sitting right
there is probably $1.5 million. And you there's maintenance that has to be done with these pieces of equipment. Uh and unfortunately this fire that took place in February
um that we had the proper equipment and also the support to help us. But it's not just to put the fire out. It's that house next door to protect that house from getting getting caught on fire. Because be to be honest with you, I was standing next to the mayor that night
and Mr. Mosley was running back and forth and um that house was very close to the house, the building that was on fire and because of having the proper equipment and the team that's working behind it, we're able to contain the fire to where it didn't spread to the
neighboring houses because God god forbid if that happened. So, if you look at the the uh police, obviously the police does a great job. Somebody said to me, "Well, oh great we have the police, but they really don't do much for me." and go, "No, no, they're doing something for you because if somebody's not
breaking into your house, they're doing their job. They're protecting our neighborhood." And if you look at the police, >> God call >> Exa. That's exactly what he said. It's like >> insurance. >> Exactly. You don't want to >> use it, but you need it. >> Exactly. And if you look at the police,
they had over 20,000 calls last year. >> Um fire department, they they had four over they had 480 incidents. And think about that. That's more than one a day. Even though it wasn't one a day because I think one day it was about 30 of them.
But if you think about it, it's a lot. It's a lot of calls that they got to do. Um, you know, and we're grateful for that. Uh, rescue squad 400 calls in 2025. And then we look at what the code
enforcement and uh building we had 767 uh uh inspections conducted. infrastructure obviously with all the road work that's going on. Um there's maintenance, you know, maintenance to take care of the
streets, fixing the potholes. Um the rapid uh flashing beacon lights that have been installed. Uh it's great for public safety. I was really glad to see those go on on North A because it definitely grabs people's attention because a lot of
times I'm riding down like surprised that something bad could have happened. But thankfully we have those 88 uh those flashing beacon lights. Uh last year on Jackson A uh we installed uh 22 new 88
uh ramps. You anytime you're doing a a road you must do it. But it it was well needed and you know what was there before wasn't proper. Uh LED lights in the in the downtown uh working with PSG and getting all the new
LED lights and besides the fact that they look so much better than what we had there before it actually will help us on our electric bill. And that's why we're working on the street lights throughout the town with PSEG trying to get them to switch them over which they have and work with us because at the end
of the day they're they're more efficient. So it'll help on the the cost of it because as we all know electric is going up. Short little slide here. This is more about uh like like last year we had the
issues with the windstorm tree removal uh branch clearing. There was a lot of lot of uh debris that was hauled away. Same with the right two weeks later we had the flood issues where we had flood mitigation going on.
Here you'll see DPW was working out picking up, you know, curbside, you know, branches that were picking up for for probably about six weeks last year. But part of their job is picking up uh branches and leaf bags, you know, during
a certain time of year. Uh maintaining the ball fields, sweeping uh street sweeping throughout the town. Um the regular streets actually started uh yesterday on the the sections of town. So that'll just continue on through
September. Um, obviously in the winter time they have to take care of the streets by plowing and and salting the streets. Uh, maintaining our cat's faces, 304 of them. We have to make sure we inspect them, clean them, and uh, repair
whatever is needed. Um, and as you know, they're on call 24/7 if we have any kind of storm related issues or or um, a sewer a sewer issue. uh recreation. This is a small slide
because if you look at the handout I gave everybody I think it was about three pages I think only Homer Mr. Mosley might have topped it off. And and it's really important. The reason why I did this is is because this way you could see, you know, like what goes on
and what what the departments do. And this and this and honestly this is a short version because there was some that I was like well this is too much but it's it's really good information because people don't realize that all right you might look at this but if you think about recreation there's just all
these different events that take place and it's great community events that brings everyone together whether it was last week with the Easter egg hunt to Halloween parade um Memorial Day parade it's always such a beautiful event in
town to uh you know support and honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice and support our veterans along the way. It is a beautiful community event administration and government. This is more of what your clerk your clerk's
office manage elections uh also in the uh financing there working with insurance utilities uh birth marriage certificates pet licensing and so on. Again the the the handout
that I have here uh it's it's a lot more detail because otherwise we'd be going on for hours on this just these slides. capital. Okay. Capital uh capital improvement uh projects. Um I'm going to go all the way to the
right and start the side. This year we have approximately two $2.5 million in capital improvement. And um out of that 1.5 are through grants, which is a really
good thing because at the end of the day, we'll be getting money from New Jersey DOT for these projects. These projects this year will will include um sidewalks, new sidewalks installed on
South Washington A from North Avenue to the Piscataway border, both sides of South Washington A. Sanford A. Sanford A will be um that that street will be uh uh will be
in the new street there. New ADA uh sidewalks being installed there. um and working on some of the drainage system, another RFB right next to the park at Warcraft Park. And then the other other part of the
other grant we'll be doing also is uh decorative lights and these decorative lights will be going from Jackson to Jefferson A. And that will that when we which all these projects I'm talking about we're gonna be bonded for them
this year by the end of the year they have to go out to bed and then it'll be a 2027 project and the lights will be the whole the whole section of from from Middle Sex border to uh Jefferson will
have all new decorative LED lights. Alex, before you go on, just a comment about about this. Um, and the line says it is only a recommended plan. This is a capital plan. It's it's included in the
budget. All right? Because because the the um the state form has a section for the capital for our our capital plan for everybody's capital plan. So, it doesn't mean that we are authorizing these things right now. It just means it's
part of the plan. It can change. It's subject to change. Um council will have several bites uh at the apple on this, right? So we will introduce a bond ordinance and you get two votes on that, right? Whether whether you think it's a
good idea and then at the at the to introduce and then at the public hearing. So um we have come up Alec and Mr. Miller has come up with uh and and everybody actually the the whole team. What am I saying? $2.5 million worth of
projects that we want to try and do this year. So, we're just we're telling you that that most of the money more than half of the money is coming from grants. So, that's not money that we're going to have to pay pay back. Um uh it requires
an an appropriation for a down payment. Okay. So, the rules are you can you have to put a 5% down payment on these bond ordinances generally. So, we're we're telling you that the that we have enough
uh appropriated to to allow us to do $2.5 million in debt. So, we have the 5% down payment. We can raise the rest in debt, but half more than half of it's got to be in grandma. So, um and like I said, it's it's a plan. It can be
revised, changed. In fact, Alex gave me a heart attack today. He calls me today and says, "I want to change the capital plan by $125,000." I thought he meant the budget, right? Oh my god, we can't. Where are we going to
come up with $125,000? What he meant was we we want to do a project in total that's going to cost 125,000. What's 5% of that going to be? like, you know, $7,000 maybe something like that. So, >> six. >> Yeah, but who's counting? So, um so that
was my that was my uh heart attack moment today. Um thank you. Thank you, Mr. Miller. Well, it's funny because Mr. Olsson goes, "No, like just like no." Like, wait, hold on a second. But what I clarified what I was getting
at, he totally understood and said, "Yeah, we definitely could work that in." Uh, and and and how the grants work is um we uh will apply usually to our engineer on certain
projects and then eventually what happens is about Novemberish we get a response from the state. Usually like around election time, we get a lot we get a response from the state saying, "Hey, congratulations. You got you're going to receive this grant." And usually what it
is is like two years down the road is when you got to get that thing really moving. Um and then what happens is like for instance these projects that that I just was speaking about, eventually what'll happen before we we start the project, we'll get about 75% of that
grant. All right? And then when we get that that money, Mr. Olsson, you want to clarify what happens when we get the we receive the money from the the DOT? >> Yeah. So, so once we were a contract um for the for
the company that's going to actually do the work, then we submit for uh 75% of that grant. And and we usually get that upfront. And then once the grant once the project is completed, then we apply for the balance. And um so it's it's it
works well for us. These DOT grants work well because we're we can anticipate receiving some shut up front, right? Before we have to start paying it out to the to the uh to the contractors. And then normally normally approximately a
year and a half almost two years after everything is completed uh DOT signs off you know we have to keep reminding hey we're done you want to take a look at this we're done you want to check it out and then finally they'll say yes it's all done you you met all the
requirements and then you know normally we'll get the other 25% of the grant >> that all goes and pay down the debt service that we collected Y >> All right. So, um we've come to the end of our session. >> Yeah, people left. I guess it was not
bad. Uh this >> So, we have a link to um the web page that has the entire budget on it. And there's also another link there for uh a way to calculate estimate what your
taxes are going to be. Um, it's the the tax calculator section of of the website. If you go there, it will download an Excel document. And from there, you can put in your your last year's value and your uh assessed
value and this year's value. Those are the only two cells that you can change. But by doing that, you can calculate what your uh taxes are going to be approximately for the year. And um so
the next step then is uh there's going to be an advertisement. Uh people can uh uh residents can review the budget. If they have questions, they can come back at the public hearing which is May 5th.
May 4th. May 4th. >> It's on the 5th. >> May the fourth be with you. Right. >> Uh okay. on on Luke Luke Skywalker. Um, you either do or do not. No, I'm not kidding. >> Okay, it's not comedy hour.
>> So, anyway, yes. Uh, so so visit the website for the tax calculator and uh and you can get an idea of what your taxes are going to be. Um, and we'll see you on May 4th. And and just to wrap up on this uh um uh what we're what we're
working on the the the budget, you know, we start at one point all our department our departments put in the requests. I sit down, myself and Don Hudson sit down with all the different departments and we go over their budget and they'll they'll they'll put the requests in. We
review what was spent last year, what they what their needs are right now, how important it is, and along the way things get trimmed down. Uh I can tell you that the beginning budget was probably around 2%, it was like 1.9ish
around that and we worked around and was down to like 1.6 and we end up getting to where it's pretty much a flat increase. And you know as we do this we take a lot of good things in consideration. You know we
don't want to cut services to our residents. We want to provide them with good quality services but also take in consideration that you know if our our increase was 2%. It wouldn't, you know, like that house
that was assessed for $36,000 more and that property their municipal tax increases $232. Well, we went up 2%. It'd be a lot more. And that's and that's what we try to take in consideration is is you know what what
we could do providing our residents the best we can. That's it. That's all I got to say. Thank you. So, Mr. Miller, sir Olsson, the finance committee underneath the leadership of chairwoman Councilwoman uh Mary Albertson, I do thank you for delivering
this budget uh the work that goes behind it and your teams that help deliver it. I just want to note too that something you with all due respect left from here is that as the departments issue their budgets their own e budgets and sit down and talk with
administration they now are required to also put out goals for the year. So um that's something that wasn't done in the past and employees are now set forth on evaluations merit evaluations that was not done in the past and uh they actually have goals for themselves now.
So that is something that uh uh we've tried developing the best we can not always an exact science but nothing really is a meritocracy here. So I just want to give you kudos to the administration on that implementation and uh the perfection of it moving
forward. So thank >> you trying to make it very simple. >> So thank you for your hard work. >> Thank you. >> Okay. Well, I will open the floor to mayor and councel for questions to Mr. Olsen and Mr. Miller if there are any at
this time before we continue on our agenda. Okay, Mr. Olsen, all that information is given to Mrs. stats and billy to be placed onto the website presentation and what else needs to go up the user friendly or >> the the document itself and the friendly
budget will be mailed off. >> Thank you so much. >> I actually do have one quick question. Yeah. Uh regarding the energy tax uh credit um being in that world as deeply as you are, do you see that as something that might happen anytime soon of us
actually being made whole? Um there is uh Senator Singleton is working on I believe believe it's Senator Singleton I believe it is um working on legislation uh to change the title of it to municipal aid something relief. I
apologize for it lapsing my mind. Um again we are working closely in in our in my role and other mayors of the conference of mayors um on on following that legislation and providing feedback. We just issued a letter to the governor's office and leadership on
restoration of the energy tax receipts until that full legis that new legislation is uh put forth. Um do I see it happening? Uh I don't know. Um they haven't followed through on the energy tax receipts and what their obligation is
there. And the current legislation, the formulas and all the information is not very transparent on how that's going to be implemented. And as we see how they do S2 school funding, um I don't know if that's going to be a it's going to be fair across the board. Um so uh
uh cautiously optimistic or pessimistically optimistic if that's a even a thing. I I I don't I shouldn't be laughing at it, but um I wish I had an answer. Thank you for
continuing to fight. Well, um I think there's going to be through the conference of mayors, there's a mayor's pledge and then the league of municipalities is going to be putting out a resolution which we will of course be bringing before the council to to approve if you so wish so that can show that the burough council is in support
of the full restoration as well. That should be coming in the next several weeks. So, um Okay. Thank you, Councilman. Any other questions for uh on the budget from the council? Okay. Thank you. Um, item number four on
the agenda is proclamation, excuse me, we have three this evening. We have National Volunteer Month, Autism Awareness Month, and Sexual Assault Awareness Month. Um, I will be reading uh National Volunteer Month. Councilman Sigman will be reading um Autism
Awareness Month, and Councilwoman Vandermark will be reading the Sexual Assault Awareness Month. So, proclamation celebrating National Volunteer Month. Just for the record, I did ask Mr. Sweeney, Mr. Volunteer himself, um, to read, but unfortunately there was a conflict. But he is going to
help us MC the volunteer picnic, right, Miss Cedar? That'll be that'll be great. And don't forget his singalongs tomorrow, Tuesday at the senior center. Or is it tonight? >> Tomorrow. Okay. Proclamation celebrating National Volunteer Month. Whereas
National Volunteer Month is celebrating throughout the United States of America each year in the month of April. And whereas it is time to celebrate and recognize the contributions of the volunteers and serves as an opportunity to join the impact of volunteerism, encourage more people to get involved in
their local communities. And whereas volunteering in Denellan benefits our community and provides our volunteers with unique opportunities to meet new people, learn new skills, and make a difference in the lives of others. And whereas the Burough of Denellan offers volunteer opportunities for individuals
of all interests through our various committees and commissions and boards and they're listed in the proclamation if you wish to read them and on our website. And whereas the Burough of Denellan is home to countless volunteers who meaningfully give back to our miracle mile and donate their time in effort to improve daily life for
residents and visitors alike. Now therefore be it resolved that I, Mayor Jason Sento and the Denell Burough Council recognize April 2026 as National Volunteer Month in the Burough of Denown and encourage residents to join us in celebrating the many ways our volunteers
contribute to and improve our burrow. And for anyone interested in volunteering, the volunteer link is on our website and you can pick up a volunteer application if you wish to do a hard copy at the municipal clerk's office. Okay. Uh, Councilman Sigman,
not Councilman. Is it Councilman? Say councilwoman. Oh, I apologize. Council, >> you did that before. >> Councilman Sigma, >> it's okay. >> Uh, proclamation recognizing autism awareness. >> Whereas autism spectrum disorder, ASD,
is a developmental disability that affects communication, behavior, and social interaction and impacts individuals and families. across our community and nation. And whereas ASD is recognized as a spectrum condition with individuals experiencing a wide range of
strengths and challenges that may require varying levels of support. And whereas autism encompasses conditions that were previously diagnosed separately, including autistic disorder, Asperger syndrome, and pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise
specified, PDD NOS, which are now collectively identified as autism spectrum disorder. And whereas increased awareness and understanding of autism spectrum disorder are essential to promoting early identification, encouraging timely access to service
services, and supporting individuals with ASD and their families. And whereas individuals with ASD may experience differences in communication, social interaction, and behavior and greater greater public awareness can help foster
understanding and reduce stigma. And whereas the month of April provides an opportunity to raise public awareness about autism spectrum disorder and to educate our community about the experiences and needs of individuals with ASD. Now therefore, be it
proclaimed that Mayor Jason F. Sento and the Denellan Burough Council recognize April 2026 as autism awareness month in the bureau of Denellan and urge our community to help others in creating awareness and acceptance for this disorder.
Okay. Thank you, Councilman. >> Councilwoman Vandermark. >> Proclamation recognizing sexual assault awareness month. Whereas sexual assault awareness month and the observance observance of denim day are intended to
draw attention to the pre prevalence of sexual violence and its lasting mental, physical and public health impacts on survivors and communities including those in Middle Sex County. And whereas sexual assault, sexual abuse, and sexual harassment continue to affect
individuals across our nation as statistics indicate that every 68 seconds someone in the United States is sexually assaulted and every nine minutes the victim is a child. And whereas raising awareness and promoting education are essential to preventing
sexual violence, supporting survivors, and fostering the community that does not tolerate abuse in any any form. And whereas staff and volunteers of antiv violence and prevention programs in Middle Sex County, including the Middle
Sex County Center for Empowerment and the Sexual Violence Prevention Coalition, work to challenge harmful social norms, encourage bystander interventions, and promote safe and respectful environment both in person
and online. And whereas the New Jersey Sex Crimes Officers Association and the Middle Sex County Sex Crimes Liasant officers in partnership with the Middle Sex County Prosecutor's Office remain dedicated to the effective investigation
and prosecution of sex crimes through collaboration, training, and victim center approaches. And whereas through continued leadership, education, and community engagement, there was strong evidence that sexual violence can be reduced by increasing awareness,
promoting healthy relationships, advancing gender gender equality, equity, encouraging bystander intervention, and holding officers accountable. And therefore be it proclaimed that I, Mayor Jason Epsilento and the Denellan
Burough Council recognize April 2026 as sexual assault awareness month and encourage all resident support awareness efforts stand with survivors and help foster a safer community for all and further encourage their observation of Denim Day of April 29, 2026.
>> Okay, thank you Councilwoman. Next up is item number five, the approval of our meeting minutes from March 16th. Can I have a motion and second, please? >> Move it. Second >> second. Bandmark. >> Any comments or questions or edits to the meeting minutes as they currently
stand? Without hearing any roll call, please. >> Mrs. Albertson, >> yes. >> Mrs. Lance, >> yes. >> Mrs. Rios, >> yes. >> Mr. Scott, >> yes. >> Mr. Mr. Segman. >> Yes. >> And Mrs. Vandermark.
>> Yes. >> Next up is item number six on our agenda, introduction of ordinances. We have 2026-07 through 2026-10. Um, can I have a motion and second on 2026-07
ordinance to add a new chapter 112 block parties to part two general legislation of the burough code of the burough of Denellan? >> Move it. Segment. >> Second, Scott. This, I believe, is just the cleaning up of our current block party. >> We didn't have one.
>> Creating one. I thought we did have one. I apologize. And create establishing a process. So, uh, that will be publicly heard at our next council meeting on April >> 20th. >> 20th. Thank you. So, uh, we have a motion, a second. Can we have a roll call, please?
>> Mrs. Albertson? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Lance? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Rios? >> Yes. Mr. Scott, >> yes. >> Mr. Segman, >> yes. >> And Mrs. Vandermark, >> yes. >> I know it's not adopted yet, but I do want to recognize Mrs. Stats and Mr.
Robertson on their hard work on it. It's something that for many, many years was said that we should be doing, and it was underneath your leadership that you finally accomplished. The good work to you guys. >> Thank you. >> Oh, sorry. Uh, can I have a motion and second on 2026-08
an ordinance to amend chapter 152 film industry a part two general legislation of the burough code of the burough venelon >> move it second >> second Vandermark >> and this is an amendment uh based upon recommendation Mr. Miller from the actual commission itself reviewing our
current ordinance >> okay so again on April 20th if this passes tonight you could be heard by public >> Mrs. Albertson. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Land. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Rios. >> Yes. >> Mr. Scott.
>> Yes. >> Mr. Sigman. >> Yes. >> And Mrs. Vandermark? >> Yes. >> Can I have a motion and second on 2026-09 an ordinance of the Burough of Denellan in the county of Middle Sex, New Jersey, adopting an amended and restated Denellan downtown redevelopment plan
phase one. >> Move it. Sigman. >> Second, Scott. These are proposed changes by our planner on uh moving the transition area couple parcels in on from our downtown core. Uh the transition area is you can either do
full residential. This is just a redevelopment plan full residential and or mixed use office etc. Our downtown core specifically has to be mixed use. Um, so the planner recommended moving in a few more parcels from the Sanford uh
Avenue Street to give more opportunity for more residential um and further support the downtown core which there recommendation is really more towards Madison down to Jack. So that's what their recommendation here at the moment.
>> Mrs. Albertson, >> yes. Mrs. Lance, >> yes. >> Mrs. Rios. >> Yes. >> Mr. Scott. >> Yes. >> Mr. Sigman. >> Yes. >> And Mrs. Vandermark. >> Yes. >> Motion and second on 2026-10 ordinance to exceed the municipal budget
appropriation limits and to establish a cap bank. >> Move it. Second. >> Second. >> Mr. Mill. Mr. Mill. Mr. Olsen. Anything to further to follow up on this? I know it's part of your presentation. I >> think further unless there's question.
>> Okay. Yeah. Okay. I'll take a role. Mrs. Albertson, >> yes. >> Mrs. Lamb, >> yes. >> Mrs. Rios, >> yes. >> Mr. Scott, >> abstain position of the fire department.
>> Mr. Sigman, >> yes. >> And Mrs. Vandermark, >> yes. >> I have a motion and second. Oh, well. Now on the agenda is item number seven adoption of ordinances 2026-06 an ordinance to amend chapter 150 fees article 2 construction fees of the
burrow. >> Move it. >> Second. >> Second. Scott. >> With that being said, we'll open the floor to the public for any comments or questions on 2026-06 alone on the uh updating of the fees in the construction office.
Without hearing any from the public, we'll open the floor to council. >> Okay. Roll call, please. >> Mrs. Albertson, >> yes. >> Mrs. Lance, >> yes. >> Mrs. Rios, >> yes. >> Mr. Scott, >> yes.
>> Mr. Sigman, >> yes. >> And Mrs. Vandermark, >> yes. >> Okay. Okay. Item number eight on the agenda is budget resolutions 119 through 121. Um if Mrs. Stats, you can read through them.
>> Resolution 119 is to authorize a self-examination of the budget. >> Move it. Sigman. >> Second. Vandermark. >> Mr. Olson. Anything on this resolution that council should be aware of? >> Yes. um every third year the state uh
requires that they review the budget. So in the intervening two years we're allowed to perform a self-re ourselves. So that's what this resolution is authorizing that that uh we're doing the the review ourselves and the state won't
doesn't have to do. And >> who conducts this review or auditors? Uh >> I've worked with the auditors on it. Yeah. Council follow Mr. Olson on this without hearing any roll call please.
>> Mrs. Albertson >> yes >> Mrs. Lance >> yes >> Mrs. Rios >> yes >> Mr. Scott >> abstained position of the fire department >> Mr. Sigman >> yes >> and Mrs. Vandermark. >> Yes.
Resolution number 120 is introducing the 2026 municipal budget. >> Move it. Second. >> Second. Vanwork. >> Mrs. Albertson. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Lance. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Rios.
>> Yes. >> Mr. Scott. >> Abstain position in the fire department. >> Mr. Sigman. >> Yes. >> And Mrs. Vandermark. >> Yes. And as noted that hearing to the public will be May 4th.
>> Resolution number 121 is to avail the burrow of known statutory due date extension. >> Move it. Segment >> second. Vandermark. >> Vandermark. Uh any clarification on this one for council? Just just uh clarifying
the the acceptance of the blue gates of the statuto due dates for introduction of the um of the budget and the the public hearing. Thank you. >> Council, any questions for Mosar? Any roll call?
>> Mrs. Albertson? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Lance? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Rios? >> Yes. >> Mr. Scott? >> Abstain position in the fire department? Mr. Sigman, >> yes. >> And Mrs. Vandermark, >> yes.
>> Okay. Item number nine on the agenda is resolutions. We have 122 through 137. Uh, Mrs. Stats, if you can read them out and then give us the opportunity to speak upon them. >> Resolution number 122 is to pay the bills.
>> Move it. Segment. Second. Scott. >> Mrs. Dbertson. >> Yes. >> Lance. >> Yes. >> Mr. Rios. >> Yes. >> Mr. Scott. >> Yes. >> Mr. Sigman, >> yes. >> And Mrs. Vandermark, >> yes. >> Resolution number 123 is to accept the
retirement of John McManis as electrical sub code official. >> Move it. Second. >> Second. Bandmark. >> Wishing uh John a happy retirement. Thank you for his service to Denown. I know he served other municipalities as well, but we know he did a good job by
us. So, God bless him and his family. Wish him well in retirement. And uh God's speed. >> Mrs. Albertson. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Lance, >> yes. >> Mrs. Rios, >> yes. >> Mr. Scott, >> yes. >> Mr. Sigman,
>> yes. >> And Mrs. Vandermark, >> yes. >> Resolution number 124 is to hire Mario Veron as electrical subcode official. >> Move it. Sigma. >> Second, Scott. >> Mr. Miller, you want to speak upon uh Mr. Sure.
May the dean presently senior electrical engineer at the University of Ruckers. Uh he's been working here since uh 1998. Uh they're at Roberts. He's design projects involved interior sight
lighting, power distribution, fire alarm systems, emergency generators. uh various uh projects. He's uh has made uh specifications for projects. Uh
Mr. Bron is also a uh electrical sub code official in Highland Pole. Um Scott Brusher, construction official, uh brought brought to my attention a little while ago uh knowing that that M Mr.
McManis was going to be retiring. Said that uh you know, he does a great job over there. He's been, I think, for about eight years with Mr. Brashworth and, you know, he's said a lot of good things about him. I I checked out one of my sources at Ruckers and um and uh
asked him how Mr. Veron is and and he said that uh you know, he worked well with him and you'd be a big asset to the Burough. Is that right, Mr. Okay. So, separate of that is qualifications match.
Any questions? >> I'll take a roll call. Mrs. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Rios. >> Yes. >> Mr. Scott, >> abstain my position at Ruffers. >> Mr. Sigment. >> Yes.
>> And Mrs. Vandermark. >> Yes. >> Resolution 125 is authorizing the execution of a grant agreement with the county of Middle Sex for improvements to Gavornne Park. >> Move it. Sigman. >> Second, Scott.
>> Okay. So, I will speak on this one. Um, as you know, several years ago, we got an $80,000 grant from the state to start work on uh designing Gornic Park. Um, which will be great because the design
includes uh three two or three pickle ball court, two pickle ball courts, uh completely new playground set, uh the the shed there being revamped for appropriate storage, and some uh nice landscape. Um
although we got that money um unfortunately due to the DDP and how the time frame of things works with them um we ran out of the time because at this point it should have been built but the DP because it is uh more of a flood plane area um
I don't want to say took their time but they took their time. Um so our engineers uh we didn't we so we kind of had to put a pause to the project but um we did go to Middle Sex County Board of Commissioners uh and Director Ronald
Rios of the Middle Sex County Commissioners. We've always had a really good working relationship with Middle Sex County Commissioners. Um they're providing us just near $600,000 to continue the project and fund it. So
hopefully over the next two years now that we're moving forward with the European stuff, uh we can see Gabornic Park get the muchneeded upgrade that it has needed over these several years. We did we know there was a new playground set that was placed there. Um but now at
this point in time it has aged. Um and we need to you know every park in Denell has had a facelift and this is one of those parks that needs that facelift and if you think about it desperately because it is right next to our elementary school. Um, so thank you to all who have worked hard to make sure
that this gets done and thank you to the Middle Sex County Commissioners for approving this almost $600,000 to get the project moving. So um yeah, that's what this resolution is. It's to accept that and uh you know we send them our our mini
council questions before we vote. >> So sorry. So the plans um the design will stay to the original one that was proposed when >> Yeah. Yeah. >> Is there um an opportunity for it to be
uh revised in any way if our interest changed in what we would like to include in that plan? >> Um well you're probably >> Yeah. And this grant we have three years to >> with the >> with the county
>> the county today. >> And the good thing with the county um sorry the county go maybe some point this year they'll be sending us around $500,000 for the for the project. So
we'll actually have a good portion of the budget we'll get going. >> Yeah. the good I mean the bad thing with the delight it kind of drag things on and it did screw up the state's origin of the grant but I think it actually
helped out with your persistence and persistence with the county on helping them fund this where you know we're going to get 50% of the project which is I think you got to >> and everything right now is just a site plan no elevation so all that stuff the
you know pretty stuff as you would say um not you directed but as we would say um that's still to be built out. So um right now it's really a site plan and how they do all the the you know the technical terms but like the land land
adjustments of what it would impact. Um, so historically when we have a new park, what happens is it does we kick it over to recreation commission to kind of start working on the uh conceptual renderings with the engineer or whoever is designing it and then that's a presentation to mayor and council before
any final plans. So there will be opportunity for input on the the elevations and the the renderings of that. But um in terms of where things are going, I think we have to keep it because then we're going to have to go through D again. And just for council, for new council
members who were not here when this all started, maybe they can get it a copy of it so they're aware of it. >> Done. >> Good. Okay. >> Thank you. Good. >> Thank you. >> Okay. >> Take a roll call. >> Mrs. Albertton,
>> yes. >> Mrs. Lance, >> yes. >> Mrs. Rios, >> yes. >> Mr. Scott, >> yes. >> Mr. Sigman, >> yes. >> And Mrs. Vandermark, >> yes. Resolution number 126 is to appoint Patrick Meyers to the Denellan Fire
Department. Move in Vandermark. >> Second. Albertson. >> I do want to recognize Mr. Meyers joining the fire department again. I think that's a a great thing and a nice way in honor of his father, Greg Meyers, who unfortunately passed this year in a
way to continue his service and legacy. So, congratulations, Patrick, if should this go through. and we wish you um safe journeys as you become a firefighter. >> Mrs. Albertson, >> yes. >> Mrs. Lance,
>> yes. >> Mrs. Rios, >> stay my position on the fire department. >> Mr. Scott, >> stay in position of the fire department. >> Mr. Sigman, >> yes. >> And Mrs. Vandermark, >> yes. Resolution number 127 is approving the
first amendment to the redevelopment agreement by and between the Burough of Denellan and 405 to 415 North Avenue urban renewal LLC and authorizing the mayor to sign amended and reinstated declaration of codance and restriction. >> Move it.
>> Second, Scott. This is fairly common in part of a redevelopment agreement as projects move along and things get uh held up due to whatever jurisdictional agreements or any issues with the state along Route 28. Um, but Mr. Miller, can
you speak on this one for council? >> 127. I think this was the uh the amendment is to uh designate the developer for the maintenance of street state specifically
companion. And I think that the next one is the jurisdictional agreement that it would also be responsible for the maintenance of those street skate improvements some of which are within the state. We have to go through this pretty much every time. We're trying to get like a
general one for the downtown but the state is not efficiency. All right. We'll take a roll. Mrs. Yes, >> Mrs. Lance. >> Yes, >> Mrs. Rios. >> Yes, >> Mr. Scott.
>> Yes, >> Mr. Sigman. >> Yes. >> And Mrs. Vanderbar. >> Yes. >> Resolution number 128 is authorizing jurisdictional agreement by and between the burrow of Denellan and the New Jersey Department of Transportation. >> Move it. Take it.
>> Second, Scott. As Mr. Robertson alluded to before, this is jurisdictional agreement. So the developers responsible for the installation and maintenance. >> Mrs. Albertson, >> yes. >> Mrs. Lance, >> yes. >> Mrs. Rios,
>> yes. >> Mr. Scott, >> yes. >> Mr. Sigman, >> yes. >> And Mrs. Vandermark, >> yes. Resolution number 129 is to award a contract to Verizon for police vehicle laptop computers, which are their air cards.
>> Move it. Sigma. Second. Van Mrs. Albertson. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Lamb. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Brios. >> Yes. >> Mr. Scott. >> Yes. >> Mr. Sigman. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Vandermark. >> Yes.
>> Resolution number 130 is accepting and adopting the Central Jersey Joint Insurance Fund 2026 Safety Incentive Program. >> Move it. Second. >> Second. Scott. >> Mrs. Albertson. Yes, >> Mrs. Lance.
>> Yes, >> Mrs. Rios. >> Yes, >> Mr. Scott. >> Yes, >> Mr. Sigman. >> Yes, >> and Mrs. Vandermort. >> Yes. >> Resolution number 131 is to hire perdm coverage in the Denal Municipal Court for 2026.
>> Move it. Segment. Second, Scott. >> Mrs. Albertson. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Lance, >> yes. >> Mrs. Rios. >> Yes. >> Mr. Scott, >> yes. >> Mr. Sigman, >> yes. >> And Mrs. Vandermark, >> yes.
>> Resolution number 132 is recognizing New Jersey Local Government Week, April 12th through April 18th, 2026, and encouraging all citizens to support the celebration and corresponding activities. >> Move it. Segment. >> Second, Vanmark.
So, this is just uh something the New Jersey League of Municipalities puts out and asks the municipality to participate in recognizing and honoring our our local government, municipal staff. Uh so, Denellan, we usually and our volunteers as well. Uh usually put out a
social media campaign recognizing our employees and our volunteers. And then it also concludes with um a volunteer picnic which will be uh April 11th coinciding with the opening day parade. Correct. And then we usually do a volunteer uh town hall on how you can,
you know, find ways to get involved. So that's what this resolution is recognizing and celebrating our great municipal staff. >> Mrs. Albertson, >> yes. >> Mrs. Lance, >> yes. >> Mrs. Rios, >> yes.
>> Mr. Scott, >> yes. >> Mr. Segment, >> yes. >> And Mrs. Vandermark, >> yes. Resolution number 133 is authorizing and directing the Denellan Burough Planning Board to undertake a preliminary investigation to determine whether block 49 lot 36.01 qualifies for
designation as a non-contamination area in need of redevelopment pursuant to NJSA4A 12A-1. >> Move it segment. Second, Scott. So on this this is uh location block 49 lot
36.01 that is the industrial location off of North AB extension that buds up against our current existing redevelopment area. So the current industrial site um and this if approved would be being moving forward as a conjunction study with
Middle Sex Burough who has adjacent properties on the same parcel. Um so it's just an a preliminary investigation study. This gets kicked over to planning board who will initiate the study and then make their recommendations back to mayor and council.
>> Mrs. Albertson, >> yes. >> Mrs. Lance, >> yes. >> Mrs. Rios, >> yes. >> Mr. Scott, >> yes. >> Mr. Sigman, >> yes. >> And Mrs. Vanderbar, >> yes. Resolution number 134 is authorizing and directing
the Dylan Burough Planning Board to undertake a preliminary investigation to determine whether block 30, lots, 22, 23, 24, 25, and 26 qualify for a designation as a non-contamination area in need of redevelopment person to NJSA
4A 12A-1. >> Move it. >> Second, Scott. These are parcels that are along Front Street and North Washington Avenue again which but up against our current redevelopment area. Um and again it's a preliminary
investigation study in which the gets kicked over to the planning board and they'll make their recommendations on whether it's should could be designated an area need a redevelopment. Um I should note as part of our efforts this is looking at what the missing middle housing options could look like in areas
that do need some improvement. So that's what this uh resolution is. >> I'll take a roll. Mrs. Albertson, >> yes. >> Mrs. Lance, >> yes. >> Mrs. Rios, >> yes. >> Mr. Scott, >> yes. >> Mr. Sigman, >> yes.
>> And Mrs. Vandermark, >> yes. Resolution number 135 is approving CMA Associates to perform bid phase, construction phase, and NJ dot coordination services for the South Washington Avenue and New
Market Road pedestrian improvement project. >> Move it. Second, Scott. >> Mrs. Albertson, >> yes. >> Mrs. Lance, >> yes. >> Mrs. Rios, >> yes. >> Mr. Scott, >> yes. >> Mr. Sigman, >> yes.
>> And Mrs. Vandermark. >> Yes. >> Resolution number 136 is in support of allocating and securing funding for the Denellan train station modernization project. >> Move it. Segment. >> Second. Vanor. >> Okay. So,
>> um on this one um we have been working for many many years uh for improvements at the Dell train station. Um since 2020 becoming mayor um specifically I we've been doing what I call the annual uh
tour of the train station with New Jersey Trans and their capital and engineering division and much credit to Don Spango who was the regional uh government affairs liaison who has been with us even when we're no longer in her territory anymore. Um I will say without
giving too much away just because there's some still some things that are being done behind the scenes uh logistically I guess you can say um fast forward uh working with the governor Murphy's office and NJ Transit Chris
Callori um they did pro did provide a rendering of a new train station um which I then brought to a whole bunch bunch of stakeholders uh from US senators to our assembly
legislatures to county representatives to local mayors who are in our immediate area in which this train station impacts. The overall cost of the train station a couple years ago when this when this idea came to be well not idea came to be when we initially went for
some federal funding was about 50 some odd million. Now it's about $60 million. So, um, this supporting resolution, of course, should be supported by us locally, but it's also going before, uh, Piscataway. We
sent it over to Piscatoaway to see if they'd support Middle Sex, Greenbrook, uh, North Planefield, Wong, and Warren towns, like I said, that are impacted by our train station or feasibly could be if we modernize it, as well as Somerset County Commissioners and Middle Sex
County Commissioners, as well as some supporting letters we requesting from federal representatives and state. Um, long story short, this will all be wrapped up into a letter to Senator Bramnik requesting um that they put forth a funding resolution for the
initial $37 million. Um, and then hopefully New Jersey Transit picks up the rest of the tab. Um, but uh we are further along than we've ever been on having a new train station. We have elevations um that New Jersey Transit
has is keeping kind of close to chest and in the in the in due time will be presented to the public hopefully sooner rather than later being that we're pushing forward these resolutions because now the cat's out of the bag. Um but this is many many years of hard work
on getting to this point and um I just want to say thank you to everyone who's been a part of it. It's not finalized, of course. We have to get funding. Um, but this is a resolution supporting that. Um, so hopefully, uh, council, you'll support
the resolution. So then we can put along with a supporting letter to, uh, the governor's office and everybody in a kitchen sink that we're asking to give us money. >> I'll take a roll call. Mrs. Albertson, can we? >> Yes.
It's Yeah. >> Yeah. >> Um I just wanted to know um I understand about the federal amount being 37 million. Um what is the expectation or the hope in um raising the 16 million um
for the local match? >> Local matches. Um NJ Transit would help us find funding through the trust fund. >> Okay. >> Yeah, we have um some verbals on that. best way to play. So,
>> okay. Mrs. Albertson, >> yes. >> Mrs. Lance, >> yes. >> Mrs. Rios, >> yes. >> Mr. Scott, >> yes. >> Mr. Sigman, >> yes. >> And Mrs. Vandermark, >> yes. Resolution number 137 is authorizing the
execution of a man memorandum of understanding between the Denellan Police Department, South Planefield Police Department, Middle Sex Police Department, and Ruckers University Behavioral Healthcare. >> Move it. Second, >> second. >> Mrs. Albertson,
>> yes. >> Mrs. Lance, >> yes. >> Mrs. Rios. >> Yes. >> Mr. Scott, >> yes. >> Mr. Sigman, >> yes. >> And Mrs. Vandermark, >> yes. >> Next on the agenda is item number 10,
the consent agenda. We have resolutions 138 through 144. So, if council could review, and if there's anything specific they want pulled out, we will vote on that separately and vote on everything else of the consent agenda. Okay. Without hearing any, I will assume that we're going to take a motion and
second on consent agenda resolutions 138 through 144. Do we have a motion in a second? >> Move it. Second, Scott. >> All in favor? >> I I n attention.
>> I suppose that's although I think that's the places for now. Sorry. I apologize. Um, okay. Item number 11, council reports. Councilwoman Vandermark. >> Yes. I have two reports. One for the rescue squad and one for the fire department. Okay. The fire department.
During March of 2026, the fire department responded to 25 emergency responses. 105 emergency responses to as of March 31st, 2025. During March, members responded to a third alarm structure fire previously reported
during the last council meeting last Thursday. Members along with our mutual aid partners responded to a second alarm structure fire on the 100 block of New Market Road. Upon dispatch at 10:31 a.m., it was reported that the rear of
the house was well involved in fire. Based on this information from county communications, the fire was immediately raised to a second alarm, bringing mutual aid from Greenbrook Fire, New Market Fire, Middle Sex Burough Fire, and South Planefield Fire to all to the
scene. Upon arrival of Denell and Engine 2 at 10:37 a.m. joined by Greenbrook ladder crew, an aggressive interior attack was initiated. Crews initially extinguished the fire on the first floor and began to advance to the second floor. However, the floor had collapsed
and all the crews were ordered to evacuate the building and a defensive quot exterior attack was initiated. Crews continued suppression efforts for approximately 2.5 hours and cleared the scene at approximately 2 o'clock p.m.
The cause is underxication for the Middle Sex County Fire Marshall's office. Denellan Rescue Squad, Hackinac, Meridan, EMS, JFK, and South Planefield provided EMS standby and firefighter rehab services. Denellan OEM and
American Redc Cross Red Cross New Jersey region provide assistance to the displaced residents. Denell and P DPW also assisted on the scene during the March. The events were on the 9th monthly officers meeting worked and work
drills. On the 13th, the Cubscow Firehouse visit and safety talk and demonstrations. The 22nd work drill to prepare equipment for new fire rescue. The 22nd was fire company movie fundraiser at the Denellan theater.
The 25th was a monthly fire company meeting. 29th was participated in annual Easter egg hunt. We are happy to see a number of residents continue to join the department over the past few months. The fire department still looking for new members to join our department.
Membership is open to anyone 16 to 18 as a junior member and full member is open to anyone over 18. Visit our website www.danellanfd.com or email join dfd at denellanfd.com for more information
and the rescue squad. In the month of March, the Denellan rescue squad responded to 47 calls for assistance. Calls included 10 calls for psychiatric problems or alcoholic in intoxication. March 6 responded to the structure fire
on Front Street along with the fire department and police department where we provided EMS and fire rehab services for the 11 responding fire departments. March 29th CPR call along with the police department
members volunteered a total of 1128 man hours and 1046 on duty hours. In addition to the 911 calls for service, members participated in the following. On the first hosted a CPR class open to squad members and the public. The 13th
members attended the monthly business meeting of the organization. The 20th officers attended the event planning meeting for the Easter egg hunt along with police recreation department and OEM. On the 23rd, officers attended the annual Middle Sex County OEM EMS meeting
where we got a briefing on the expected impact on the 2026 World Cup. On the 27th, members participated in a game night. Everyone had a great time. On the 28th, the department hosted a joint thrill with the Delm
teaching patient lifting and moving. The 29th, the department provided EMS coverage for the Easter egg hunt. The Dellon rescue squad is recruiting recruiting for active EMTs. We have one member currently in EMT class. If you are interested in volunteering, please
visit our website at dellingrescue.org. work. And that's all I have. >> Okay. Thank you, Councilwoman. And to follow up on your point on the emergency services and the response of the fire on New Market Road. Thank you for your service and the time and that took to
get that out and the hard work that you do every single day. So, thank you to you guys, the OEM, police, fire, mutual aid, fire department, and of course, the American Legion who opened their doors that day to uh the fire victims. So, uh, thank you to all who, uh, who put their
lives on the line to ensure that our to serve on the tech. So, thank you, uh, Councilwoman Rios. >> Yes. Um, super short, uh, police department CAD entries for the month of March, it's 1,602. Total arrest 16. Motor vehicle tickets
including parking is 307. DWI7, motor vehicle stops 277, and motor vehicle fastest 22. And that's all for me tonight. >> Okay, Councilwoman, thank you. Safe travels back.
>> Council Albertson, >> the friends of the Denown Public Library are having a craft exchange at the library this Saturday. Stop by between 10:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. Drop off craft materials you might not be using and
pick up some that you might enjoy using. The open air market, we'd like to put our sign back up at Washington Memorial Park. The first grand opening is on May 3rd with our annual collaboration with DDMO Spring into Wellness. The market
opens at 11:00 a.m. We have over 50 vendors. stop by and check out the merchandise, the great food, the entertainment, and play a little mini golf. And that's all I have. >> Okay. Thank you, Councilwoman. >> Welcome, >> Council President Lance.
So, for the recreation, um last Sunday, March 29th, the Danella Recreation Department hosted its annual Easter egg hunt, which was a great success, uh with an impressive turnout. All four hunts took place at on the football field where children from prek to third grade
eagerly raised to fill their baskets with Easter eggs. We extend our gratitude to the mayor and council for their continued support of our event. A special thank you goes to our fire department, rescue squad, police department, OEM, and for their um for
their assistance. We truly appreciate the fire department for providing a special escort for our guest of honor, the Easter Bunny, which created a wonderful experience for the children. Spring break camp was a great success in
its inaugural year with 28 campers participating throughout the week. Campers enjoyed a wide range of outdoor activities, arts and crafts, and classic themes while also learning about gardening by planting their own daffodils in the planters outside the
senior center. The week concluded with festive Easter activities, a visit from the Easter Bunny, and an enjoyable trip to the movies, followed by Italian night, making it a truly memorable experience for everyone.
And it's time to play ball. Join us for our opening day parade and ceremony this Saturday, April 11th at 10:00 a.m. The parade will start at Washington Park and proceed north along Washington A to McCoy Park where the opening day
ceremony will take place. Teens should gather at Washington Park by 9:30 a.m. After the ceremony, stay for our volunteer picnic. This year, our volunteer picnic day coincides with the opening day festivities. enjoy games, music, food, baseball,
and softball, and much more. This is a wonderful opportunity to connect with the volunteers in our community. Um, interested in becoming a volunteer, this is a perfect time to learn more. >> Okay. Thank you, Council President.
Councilman Sigman. >> Uh, yes. Uh, so we already heard from Mr. Miller and Mr. are also about everything that DPW crew did uh last year in 2025 and they remain committed this year. Uh so the crew members identified and repaired multiple damaged street sections and filled potholes
across the burrow and municipal parking lots. Uh they did a regular street sweeping and sanitation schedules were maintained to keep the downtown business district clean and welcoming for residents and visitors. uh and they performed routine maintenance and cleaning across all burough owned
properties and parks. And with the arrival of spring, the department has shifted its focus to outdoor athletic and environmental health. So, all ball fields have been professionally maintained and prepped for the start of spring sports season. Repairs were completed on damaged sections of the
park fencing. Uh crews inspected local brooks and removed debris from blockages to mitigate the flood during our spring rains. Uh and the department played a critical role during during the New Market fire on Thursday, April 2nd. Uh
so Mike Ayelloo and Chris Hes were the first on scene taking immediate and heroic action to evacuate the residents from the danger zone. Uh they also provided and deployed barricades to manage the street closures. And we would like to recognize Rich Herker, Brian
Cashin, and Chris Hess who responded to the fire in their dual capacities as Denellan firefighters, demonstrating an exemplary commitment to public safety. Uh it must be really nice having uh the DPW crew also be firefighters and close
by, ready to respond. >> Yes. Uh and for the board of education uh during the March 24th uh board of education meeting, the Denellan School District addressed its pressing financial situation. Uh according to the state formulas, the district requires a
15% levy increase to meet the fundamental adequacy standards. Uh however, recognizing the impact on the taxpayers, the district is proposing a 6% increase paired with targeted budget cuts. uh per administrative priorities,
these reductions will focus first on facility expenditures to minimize the direct impact on student programming. Uh simultaneously, the board initiated the search for both a permanent and interim superintendent, a process that will
require time and uh unbudgeted resources during this fiscal transition. >> And that is all connected. >> Okay. Thank you, Councilman Scott. Nice short report for buildings and grounds. the security camera installation project. There was a minor delay with
LTW due to a change request from the burrow. Administration is currently working and awaiting confirmation on the change order for from LTW. And then for the new generator at the firehouse, Alex Miller, administrator Miller is working with SBP Industries to
coordinate inspection and maintenance services for the generator. Uh SP currently services the burrow hall generator and the pump stations. That's my report. >> Okay. Thank you. Uh, National Volunteer Month. In honor of National Volunteer Month, I'd like to recognize and thank
the countless volunteers who have served our Miracle Mile, past and present. From organizing events and supporting local businesses to helping maintain a welcoming, vibrant streetscape. Our volunteers are the heart of the Miracle Miles continued growth. Uh, their contributions create a lasting impact
that benefits residents, visitors, and the broader Denella community each and every single day. Your efforts do not go unnoticed and they are deeply appreciated. For anyone considering getting involved, we have committees and commissions for people of all interests. I invite everyone to join us Saturday,
April 11th at 11:00 a.m. at uh McCoy Park for our volunteer picnic day where you can learn more about these committees and commissions and celebrate our volunteers. Uh local government week, I know we already went over it, but it's April 12th to the 18th. Celebrate our municipal employees. Uh so
if you're around Burough Hall that that week, well actually any day and every day, say thank you to our employees. Um so from public works and public safety to administration, recreation and beyond, their efforts touch every nearly every aspect of their daily life in Denellan. And I certainly appreciate
their professionalism, dedication, and commitment to our burough. So let's give them a round of applause. Second Street phase one from the Denellum border to Madison Avenue. Tree tree tree replacements and service walk replacements will take place this spring. Uh Second Street phase two from
Madison Avenue to North Washington Avenue. Um this past week, the contractor has been replacing severely damaged curbing on the 300 block of Second Street and will continue doing the same on the 400 block this week. Once the concrete phase is completed, the contractor will replace an old catch
basin and a faulty storm water pipe on the 400 block of Second Street. Uh, Mr. Miller, I became aware of the work over the weekend that it seized before the holiday weekend. Um, two things. One, a letter was issued home to the residents
by the burrow. Correct. >> Right. >> Okay. I just wanted to make sure that that >> Okay. Um, and in terms of the work seizing and blocking some driveway access, have you spoken to the contractor and the engineer that they
should not start work that they necessarily are not going to be completing, especially on a holiday weekend? >> Yeah, they got >> they got an Easter email from you. Okay, thank you. I mean, I do understand the resident's concern that should not have occurred.
like that in a pre-construction meeting we had with the cont exposed or unsafe for our residents over the weekend. If anything, we we requested that if they poured the concrete, Friday's perfect because that
would give two days of cure. You could walk in and out, but you couldn't drive it. But at least you weren't, you know, you weren't stepping over open. >> I did drive by one time they came over. It was open. >> Yeah, they got they got a couple pictures of me in a angry email on
>> Okay. Well, I just wanted to be abundantly clear and come up on another weekend of work is concrete should be poured so it's drying over the weekend. >> Correct. >> And if it's not, we should be notified so we can notify the residents appropriately. >> Emergency is of course
It's construction. People understand it happens, but we should be notified. Okay. >> Thank you for handling that. >> You're welcome. >> Bound Brook Road Streetscape. CME is who is our engineer reviewed utility locations and obstructions to determine where lights can be installed in areas
where PSEG has objected. Uh the locations of existing duck banks have been assessed for conflicts with lighting. Uh NJ dot has approved an extension of time. Alex Miller, Derrick White, and I met with CME on March 31st to discuss utility conflict issues. So, CMI is going to proceed with finalizing
the bid documents for submission to the DOT to obtain authorization to bid. We expect this project to take place in the summer or fall of this year. Uh, New Market, New Market Road and South Washington Avenue pedestrian improvements. Um, bids have been
received and the project has been awarded to Topline Construction. our engineers working to obtain NJDOT approval for the awards. So, that'll be good. And then there'll be another two intersections, Orange and South Washington and then New Market Grove um
and Orange that will have improvements for pedestrian safety, which continues to be our efforts here. off that mayor plan is to try to get that done as soon as possible contract.
So we know that new market will get part of commercial project and the traffic light signal at the intersection of New Market and South Washington. We approved for it to be an all red red last meeting. We approved
for the county move forward that when somebody presses it turns red for everybody to cross all simultaneously so nobody prog. Correct. >> Correct. Uh that's going to county engineer bringing the county u commissioner to approve that there'll be
no turn on red over there. So obviously we don't want that happening. Uh but yeah, so only when a pedestrian gets back on the next >> Okay. Um intersection of Walnut and New Market, the traffic light signal there
that we've been moving with the county on installation. >> Yeah. Yeah, I know. Um >> where are we at with that? >> That uh going back and forth with their engineers. also got to deal with some rightaways
over there. But um the last was that their engineer sent over to our engineer Cain who's also showed some of the plans over to par so kids in case there's some areas that they had to cut in if there's any concern with our sewer means over
there. So it's engineers going back and forth right now. So what is the timeline on that that could cut into possibly sewer mains and road improvements when they're going to when American water is coming in and paving the market road? >> Um is the county going to do full
restoration? >> The county will do full restoration being a road. Um but we're also if you recall we're also working on that road down the road being part of >> Yes. But that project's not for another eight years or so. So correct
>> in the time are we are is American Water coming in and paving New Market Road and then they're going to come in the county and come in separately after put a light traffic signal in which is desperately needed and then mess up the road. >> They'd have to they'd have to cut the
the whole intersection out of all four directions and and repave the >> Okay. Can you just get confirmation on that? >> Yep. >> Thank you. Ahead of the market paving. >> Yep. Hey, no council discussion on the agenda. So, we'll move on from that.
Department it may >> it okay legal? >> I'm building. >> Beautiful. Clerk registars's office. >> The deadline for political party changes for the 2026 primary election is April
8th, which is 55 days prior to the election. >> Yep. Okay. Thank you. Recreation. >> Good job. Recreat administration. DVW. >> Uh
that we mentioned before the fire department and all the agencies. Um OEM serve. Great job. Rest everybody's there doing their part. So it's great to see and this is a horrible situation. Thank God everybody was okay.
Amen to that. Yeah. PD, >> no report. >> Finance, no report. I think you had enough to say >> Office of Emergency Management. >> Okay, I'm not going to reiterate what's already said in terms of the fire. I just wanted to point out a few things.
Uh first of all, um we're graduating three new SER members tonight from Sarahville uh Police Department. So, we got three new members for the Nellen SER team. Um, also sir is going to be involved with a contest with
>> Sville Woodbridge Edison. >> Okay. Yeah, I'm going to get to that. >> Serville. >> Okay. Yes. Um, >> but actually what happens is where uh they >> for their help not >> right where they they they conduct the
uh classes where you get the most bang for your money in terms of geographically. But these are three of three members for Denellan that are graduating tonight >> from Denell. >> From Denellan. >> Okay. So um also assert is going to be
engaging in a um contest for the design of a Benellanert patch with the school and we're going to make it into a a contest. So uh look forward to that. Um and you mentioned the other search
teams. Uh as you know during the Easter egg hunt we uh enter into a mutual aid agreement having other members from the scatteraway um uh Carterette and so we want to we're going want to do more of that in terms
of being able to bring in those resources. Okay. I don't know if you're aware that the county actually has a search team too. And uh when if there was something that was overwhelming, we could go through emit and request the
county search team. Okay. Um also just to mention the fact that the uh the American Red Cross came through with us again. They're becoming great partners in terms of uh giving giving uh aid to the uh displaced individual. We had nine individuals that
were displaced. We thought it was four, five, it ended up to be nine. Okay. Um, and also again, you already mentioned the use of the American u Legion building as a a as a uh family resource
center and to do uh fire rehab. Um, coming up is disaster bill which is going to be held at the county. You're going to see the convergence of search teams throughout New Jersey um do a fullscale exercise at the fire
academy in um Sarville. Um tomorrow I'll be attending a uh the first kickoff meeting to plan the Middle Sex County all hazard mitigation plan. So that's happening tomorrow. And also
what we what we want to do is use the opportunities since we have had these displacements to emphasize with the public the the need for people to have apartment insurance is is relatively inexpensive. It may cost about $100. Uh
but it covers uh an individual in terms of like these individuals that lost everything and the uh it will give the ability to have down payments u for new apartment. So uh we want to emphasize that. So
that's it. That's my report. Yes. Thank you, Mr. >> Okay. Okay. Item um 14 on the agenda. Jeez, my eyes are gone. Uh public comment. We'll open the floor to uh the public either in person
or virtual to uh make any comments, ask any questions. Uh we just ask that you state your name and your residency. Just um just wondering does anybody have any uh knowledge regarding that pipe that's sticking out of the ground on um
climbing plates? >> It's going to talk to him. >> Okay. So >> yes, >> still there. >> It's still there. Yes. >> Right back in the middle. >> So yeah, we were just wondering I know that it was there used to vent uh possible gas underground, but it's been
there for about a couple weeks now. So >> that's all. >> Yeah. I was going to ask him. >> Okay. >> What's your address? >> What's your address? >> My address. Oh, please. >> Any other members of the public?
Making a point right there. Okay, without hearing any, we'll close that portion of the meeting. Um, and before we adjourn, our next council meeting is April 20th at 7 p.m. here in the chambers or you can join us virtually. Hope you do join us. Uh, can I have a
motion and second on resolution 145 and German? Move it. Second, Scott. >> All in favor? >> Any nays?