started. Okay, we're good. All right. Good evening, everybody. It's May 14th. It's our regular It's the regular meeting. It's 7:01 p.m. Could you please 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. Madame clerk, can we have the roll call,
please? Council member Brer here. Council member Coyle. Council President Harris here. Council member Patel. Council member Patiel here. Council member Pointer present. Council member Shuel here.
Thank you, Madam Clerk. Adequate notice. Adequate notice of this meeting as required by the Open Public Meeting Act of 1975 has been provided by an annual notice sent to the Home News Tribune, the Star Ledger, Desi Talk, and News Indian Time on November 18th, 2024 and
posted in the main lobby of the municipal complex on that same date. Okay. Move to the approval of the minutes. This is for the work session of April 28th and the regular meeting of April 30th. Um, can I get a motion to approve? Motion to approve. Could I get
a second? Seconded. Um, all right. I do believe that for the meeting of April 30th, Councilman Patil and Councilman Brusher, you were absent. So, that would be an abstain. Correct? Yep. Okay. Um,
all in favor? I I Okay. All right. Um I have no council president remarks tonight, so we're going to move on to the resolution of recognition. U Madame Clerk, could you read please? Whereas emergency medicine services is a
vital public service. And whereas the members of emergency medical services teams are ready to provide life-saving care to those in need 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. And whereas access to quality emergency care dramatically improves the survival and recovery rate
of those who experience sudden illness and injury. And whereas emergency medical services fills health care gaps by providing important out of health care including preventative medicine, follow-up care and access to telea
medicine. And whereas the emergency medical services systems consist of first responders, emergency medical technicians, paramedics, emergency medical dispatchers, firefighters, police officers, educators, administrators, prehosp nurses,
emergency nurses, emergency physicians, trained members of the public, and others out of hospital medical care providers. And whereas members of emergency medical services team whether career or volunteer engage in thousands of hours of specialized trainings and
continued educations to enhance their lifesaving skills. And whereas it is appropriate to recognize and value the accomplishments of emergency medical service providers by designating the emergency medical service week. Now the
54th anniversary of EMS week theme is EMS week. We care for everyone. Now therefore, be it resolved by the Municipal Council of the Township of Edison, New Jersey, as followed. The Municipal Council does hereby proclaim the week of May 18th through May 24th as
emergency medical service week. Thank you, Madame Clerk. Uh, open to the public for any comments. Yes, Joyce. the mic. Hold on one second, Joyce. I'm going to check the mic. Joyce Freeman, Addison, New Jersey.
I'd like to give a big thank you to the people who work in the medical field, the emergency uh services people, whether they're volunteer or whether they um get paid because most of the time it's a matter of life and death.
And those few seconds or few minutes mean a big thing to a lot of people at all. I I've experienced with people who fall out and if they're not there to revive them in that certain small limited amount of time sometime we lose
that person. So I just like to give them a big kudos. I like to give them a big thank you and I want them to know how much we appreciate them. Thank you. Thank you. Anyone else? Okay. Uh motion to close the public portion.
Motion to close the public portion. Second. Second. Thank you. Um and a motion to adopt. Motion to adopt. Can I get a second? Second. All right. Uh council comments. Anyone? Oh, okay.
Thank you. Um listen, I I I think they should be recognized and it's one of those things where you should be recognized every day. Um, I've come to appreciate, you know, or I'm going to call them first responders. It's the EMS, police, fire. Um, many people know
like my house caught on fire. Fire department went there, got it put out. Um, was a good thing. What EMS doesn't know is that I have three friends in the town um that have had strokes and um
they were able to pick him up and get him to JFK and they made full recoveries. So, you know, being that um they're there in such a timely manner and they can get him to a hospital in such a timely manner is um it's a credit
to our township to be quite honest with you. It's it's nice that we have a hospital here too. Um, I remember when my son had an issue in uh Mount Pocono and we had to go to Straburg that 25minut ride seemed like 40
hours. So, you know, it it does mean something. But I I'd like to personally thank um it's really all of you. Uh you know, the ones that helped my friends and the ones that helped my house, but it it's everybody because it could have been anybody that day. So, it's good to recognize you and thank you for your
service. Thank you, Councilman Brer. Anyone else? Council. Yes, Councilman Patiel. EMS, Emergency Management Services. You are an integral part of the mainstream society. Your time, energy, contribution cannot be forgotten. The recognition is a small
token, but what you do for everyone, all the taxpayers of medicine is a commendable job. Again, thank you for your contribution and keep up the good job. Thank you, Councilman Patiel. Anyone else? Council President. Yes, council president. I'll be brief. I'll be brief
in my remark, but I share the sentiments of my colleagues. I just want to express my appreciation to everyone in EMS for all of your dedication in terms of helping our community. Thank you, Council President. Thank you, Councilman Patel. I also wanted to just
say thank you. I appreciate you guys. uh it's not easy taking the time away from your family to help out every night and there are nights that you guys will be extremely busy and still have to do your dayto-day stuff and put in the hours in the day job. So thank you very much uh
whether you're studying whether you're just volunteering or working I thank you very much for all your time and effort. Thank you. Thank you. Sure. I I'd like to congratulate you on on this honor. It really is an honor to be recognized uh for a week uh for a job
that like uh uh Joyce said before is a life or death within seconds. So, thank you for all that you do. Um and we will celebrate you now annually on uh during this week. Thank you. Thank you. All
right. Can we get a roll call, please? Council member Brasser. Yes. Council member Council Member Patel. Yes. Council member Patiel. Yes. Council member Pointer. Yes. Council member. Yes. Council President Harris. Yes.
Okay. Uh let us proceed with the ceremony. We have all our EMS people come on up, please. Did you all want to Did you all want to join too? Did you come and join? Okay.
Thank you. Thank you for what you do. Good to see the students. Thank you. There's not much more I can add to what my council colleague said. I think our EMS services are second to none in the state, possibly in the nation. And I
know how dedicated they are. I think about uh you um Steven Zetterbomb who uh has come here and has uh has come to uh to point out the needs that the EMS has and you're you've been tireless in your
dedication to EMS. So to all of you, thank you. Thank you for everything that you do, for all the hours and the time that you put in, for the care that you put in for our residents. And I am pleased to present this to I'm going to
I guess who's the to all of all of you. Okay. Um any anything any anyone want to add anything? Anyone want to say anything? Anyone? Thank you. Yeah. Thank you very much. Thank you. Okay. All right. Thank you for again for all you do. All right.
Thank you. Bye. All right, we're on to the 2025 calendar year municipal budget and solid waste budget. Um, and we start with opening for public comment on R198-052025, the amendment to the
budget. Um, is that something you need to read? No. Okay. Um, any public comments on the amendment to the budget? Yes, Joel. Joel Bassoff, Beach Lane Edison. Uh, so if I understand the gist of this amendment, we're going to be drawing
even more from reserves to balance the the budget. My understanding is that the original budget relied on taking $14 million from reserves, uh, counting that as revenue. And now,
if I understand it correctly, now we're going to be taking $15.3 million from reserves. Uh so my questions are number one is is that correct? Is that what this amendment does? And number two, how prudent is it to draw down that much in
reserves to fund our our ongoing day-to-day expenses? Anything else? Any other question about that? No. Okay. Um Sonia, uh Council President, it that's not correct in terms of his um analysis for what is
being used. Nothing different is being used. It's just the reporting mechanism of the two accounts between the storm recovery and the sal reserve for salary adjustments. Rather than it being reported as revenue, they would like us to put it in the operating account which then will get transferred over back into
surplus. So it is just a mechanism in which how we report those two accounts. There's nothing extra being used. Right. But we're still using surplus to balance our operating budget. Is that correct? Just from a technical standpoint, but
then this goes back. These two go into operating right now. The that's what the state required us to do once they reviewed it. Um, and now we'll be able to once once it gets adopted and we reconcile our accounts at the end of the year, we'll be able to put that back into surplus.
Okay. Thank you. Yes, Joyce. Just a curious question. Will all this be on the movie that we're supposed to be seeing about the budget? All this is going to be on the movie and this is our this is our public hearing right here. This is as close as we going to get to
asking questions about it. That's correct. Okay. All right. That's just so strange that we would have to have a movie. If you're not hiding anything, why would you have to have a movie? And I, you know, I'm sorry. I don't get it. Excuse me. Did you have a question? Did
you have a question about the amendment? My question is, yeah, if you're not hiding anything, why would you have to have a movie? Why wouldn't you just do a explanation, explain it, go through back and forth, let us know? I mean, I got to know if my tax is going up. Joyce, do
you have a question about this amendment? So I'm just I just want to know why are we having a movie instead of us being able to talk about this uh to the people who have constructed the budget. Thank you. Okay. Anyone else
questions on this amendment only? Yes sir. Thank you. Am I recognized? You are recognized. So, it doesn't only have to be questions. People can also make statements. It's there. But yet, you
were bullying Joyce, forcing her to ask questions rather than make the statements that she was prepared to make. Thank you for acknowledging you were wrong. Um, what what's the what number? This is the the
amendment. This is the amendment on the uh this is R1 198-052025. It's an amendment to the budget. It's in the res. It's in the resolutions. There's there's no public hearing. We'll just do it. There's no public hearing.
There's no public hearing. No, the public hearing is on the budget. This is not this is a resolution to amend. Right. Right. But this but but I have on here I've gone on here for public comment. Well, since my time started and I'm already recognized, I got the three minutes. I'm against it. I'm against
this amendment. Um historically, Councilman, when Mayor Sam Jooshi was councilman, uh he too, if if anyone running for office would not come here and make their presentation, he would be all over it. Um, the fact
I'm against the amendment because Sam Johoshi doesn't come here and have his public meeting. Why doesn't he have his public meeting? Is it because it's election season? I think it, you know, and this is a spit in the face to the residents.
It's a spit in uh in the face to everyone, even you people that he has do his dirty work for him. Um, I'm against the amendments. I'm I'm against everything in the budget because number one, why do we need to provide more
money in the accounts? Is it because we're wasting time spending two cops there, a third there, fourth, fifth cop there? Do we have a sixth cop in the back? Officer nappy hiding point. This has nothing to do with the resolution
itself. Certainly it does. Council vice president is correct. Council President, uh, Council President, I'm going to ask Excuse me, sir. I'm going to ask you to stick to this amendment. Council President, I am I'm saying I'm against the I'm I'm against the amendment to the budget for that reason. Sam Joi is not
showing up to present the budget. Sam Joshi continues to waste money for these cops on gaslighting complaints. Um and you're just wasting the taxpayer money all the time. There's no threat here. There's no
threat anywhere. But what do members of this administration do? Do we have I'm against the budget because we have members of this administration and employees faking sexual assaults. Council President Speaker is out of
order. Yes, you are out of order. I I You're out of order, sir. You got to stick to the You got to stick to the amendment. I understand. You believe I'm out of order because he told you so. But what I'm saying is Oh, I believe you're out of order. Got to stick to the amendment. You know how this works, sir.
I know how it works better than you. So when I say I'm against the amendment and state my reasons why I'm allowed to continue talking, he continues to interrupt me. You continue to interrupt me the whole four minutes I'm up here, but I'm just going to continue saying,
"Hey, I'm I'm I'm against the amendment to the budget because we don't have Sam Jooshi here to answer questions from the budget." Who's going to answer those questions? Who's here to answer anybody's question? Um, but to have these cops here for
absolutely no reason, wasting taxpayers time. Sir, you're out of order. You are out of order. We're talking about this amendment and this amendment only. And and I am and I'm explaining why I'm against the amendment to the budget and the and the budget in its entirety. So,
stop interrupting me and wasting my time. Okay. Anyone else on this amendment only? Okay. Motion to close. Public portion. Motion to close. Second. Okay. All uh
all in favor? I. Okay. Um can I get a motion to adopt? Motion to adopt. Second. Okay. Uh council comments. Council president. Yes. just as um uh I
guess a point of order or point of procedure um terminology is shaping me. Would we have to have the budget approved first before amending it? I just want to make sure from a procedural standpoint this is
correct. We have to first um do this amendment before we adopt the budget. Okay. Just wanted to make sure. Thank you, Council President. Okay. Anyone else? Okay. Seeing none, can we uh move to roll call?
Council member Brasher. Yes. Council member Coyle. Yes. Council member Patel. Yes. Council member Patil. Yes. Council member Pointer. Yes. Council member Shimmoel. Yes. Council President Harris. Yes. All right. We move
to res. We move to where are we? Open that. So this is the municipal budget. Um 1 198 is this 1 198052025. That's the amendment. That was the amendment. Um so we're now on
which one are we? The public hearing and final adoption of the municipal budget. Um we're going to open that to the public and this is the municipal budget only. Yes, Joel. Joel Bassoff, Beach Lane Edison. Uh,
I've got some concerns about the budget. Uh, well, first of all, I am disappointed that our full-time mayor wasn't able to be here to present the budget and respond to questions from the public. So, I wonder what we're paying
him for. Um, so I wanted to I noticed that the mayor posted uh an item on his Facebook page saying this marks two out of four annual budgets my administration put forth with the net property tax decrease. And that's an outright
falsehood because the mayor's increased the municipal tax rate every year that he's been in office. Uh in fact from 2021 which was Mayor Lankey's final year uh to this budget Mayor Johi has increased the municipal tax rate by 7.4%
uh from 1.388 to this year's 1.491. So so that's an an item of concern with this budget that that we're looking at a tax increase that cumulatively over the past four years is now substantial. Uh there's also a
concern uh about the debt. Uh so under the current administration, the debt has skyrocketed by 54.5% from 116.5 million to 179.9 million. And that creates a worry that
that all that debt could be used to bury current expenses. So we're we're just deferring uh our operating expenses uh and putting it on the backs of of future taxpayers. So that's a concern that that we had to increase our debt by such a
substantial amount. Uh and then at the same time, we've barely increased our ratables with with all of the the capital spending and with all of the subdivisions uh subdivisions that result
in undersized properties granting of variances that result in oversized houses plus all of the commercial and industrial development. Usually the justification for that is that well we need to increase the ratables to relieve the burden on the taxpayers but that
hasn't happened. Um in in the past four years uh our assessed value has gone from 7.3 billion to 7.5 billion which is really only an annual increase of
0.7% a year. So that that's not a lot to show for all of the the construction and traffic and pollution that that we've had to put up with as a result of the development. Uh one question I have is that I know at a lot of previous
meetings we've seen the council have to appropriate money for tax refunds because there have been successful tax appeals or settlements. Uh do we know over the the past uh year and over the past four years uh how much we've had to
reduce the value of our ratables because of all the tax appeals? In other words, I is uh our tax base actually decreasing to a certain extent. So I'd like to know if we have that number and there's also a concern that
that we're dipping into reserves to balance an operating budget. In the original budget, it was $14 million that we were taking from reserves. Now, um it's up to 15.3 billion. And I heard the explanation that somehow the money is
going to be going back and forth. Nevertheless, we're approving a budget that is relying on billions on millions of dollars to balance an operating budget. So these are things that um I have questions whether I should be
concerned about that and uh if the questions about the numbers could be addressed appreciate it. Thank you. Thanks. Uh the question about ratables being related to tax appeals. The tax appears that we have been having in the last four years is have been
normal for the commercial properties that we have but in the last two years we increase uh for a few properties the assessed value through tax appear. So we have been um for coming on the appeals to the properties to increase the value
instead of waiting for day to to to apply for the reduction and we apply back. No no if you have a if you want a value of how much is exactly I will have to get back to you on that.
All right. Thank you. Okay. Yeah. Yes. Go ahead. Can we are we allowed to address some of the questions because I I would like to. Sure. Um in regards to the rate of increase for the municipal side this
year, it's uh figured at 0.95%. Uh to the gentleman's point about the 7.24 since 2022. That is accurate. But I might remind people that from 2014 to 2017 that increase was 15.03%.
03% 2018 to 2021 was 13.66%. So even by that scale uh we are not doing at the same rate as before and we're even less than what 2020 and 2021 was prior to us even being on council.
Um increase in ratables. It was made to seem like it was a insignificant amount. 7.4 billion with a B from 7.2. That's 200 million that has been increased from a ratable standpoint. So, I find that to
be an actual substantial amount of uh funds. In regards to tax appeals, uh I've spoken with Ken about what we have in our current reserves to make sure that it's enough to field any potential liability that the township has. Uh so
I'm personally comfortable with that. Dipping into reserves, I agree. In general, I think that the match that we should do is about 75%, which the 14 million is about. This amendment though brings up to about 82%. However, with it
being recirculated back from the two line items, um later on, I'm comfortable with that. Uh, additionally, based on how the surplus has replenished over the past couple years, my anticipation is
about a 13 million to 14 million replenishment, which would put us back about 16.5 million uh, currently. So, I think that we're doing good in terms of how we're utilizing the reserves. I don't think that we are um, mismanaging
it in that sense. And about the debt, um, yes, there there has been authorized debt. I would invite people to, uh, look at where the authorized debt currently has come from. Uh, I can tell you about
99 million of that has been authorized prior from ordinances prior to us being up here since 2022. U, I hope that addresses some of the questions. Thank you, Council President. Thank you council council vice president
I'm sorry yes I also want to add a couple points I completely agree with what council council vice president has said but also there was a point of the increase over the last four years but if you look at the cumulative inflation rates from the last four years 2021 was
4.7 2022 was 8% 2023 was 4.1% 2024 was 2.9 and if you add it all all together the total inflation increase in the last four was 23 3.13%. So if you compare to that to the macroeconomics macroeconomics, I think
we're doing pretty good especially majority of their cost is going to the health care for our first uh responders which I think unfortunately there are certain costs we cannot control. Um so I think for what we are given we are doing amazing and once again this is a
service-based sector. We are here to provide services and there are fixed costs that we cannot control and those are the reasons that you know certain taxes have to go up but I think we are doing amazing when you take a look at the outside picture that what's going on in our surroundings. Thank you council
Patel. Council president. Yes council. I just wanted to um speak on the resident's remarks on Mayor Johi as a council member. He voted no for the last budget. So, uh, his calculation wouldn't be the same because he voted no for the last increase. Thank
you. Under the Lanki administration. Thank you. Okay. Um, anyone else from the public? Yes, Joyce. Joyce Ship Freeman. He voted no for the last two budgets to be exact. And I just think that when you come up and this
this budget and the amount of tax increases just incredible because I remember uh the previous administration left this administration well off. So all the extra money they're spending they're spending on their own. I know everybody's gotten together and
said, "Oh, we going to live and die by this budget." Even if it's just a movie for the neighborhood, we're still all going to go with this. But I know for a fact when Lanky and and we were there, we were with Kinder Roberts, we went and we got all the stuff together and we got
it for 2.78. We cleaned up all the mess. Even Mayor Lanky said, "Joyce, don't worry about it. I have the money for your splash park. We got all the money from all these other entities during that time during the pandemic. And we got money from FEMA. We got So we we
they they started off in real good shape. So all this extra money, everybody's saying that it's such a great deal. No, it's not. But you can keep telling people that because you tell a story long enough, people start uh tend to believe it. Yes,
sir. Am I recognized? You're recognized. Okay. I'm against I'm against the budget in its entirety. I hope the council votes no to the budget and The reason why I hope the council votes no to the budget is because I want the police
department to get absolutely zero. Um I want you guys to vote no to the budget because I believe the police department are a bunch of rapists, murderers, thieves. Um it's not not my opinion. History will
let you know. So and um yeah, I'm noted the budget. We have six police officers here. How much do you guys waste on police officers? You know, I say say no to the budget because rather than have these officers
on the street, they get no-show jobs, such as coming to this council meeting, this is a no-show job. Then we we have some of these police officers volunteering for Sam Joh's
campaign. Um, do they get these cushy no-show jobs for volunteering for Sam Jooshi's campaign? And that's why I'm against the budget. I'm against the budget when I see every single cop that had to do some that faked charges in all my cases volunteering for
Mayor Sam Joshi. So I say vote no to the budget. Um no vote to the budget. So because internal affairs never do their job. They refuse to do their job. You can give the internal affairs 100 pieces of
evidence that these guys broke the law and instead internal affairs will cover it up and teach them how to cover it up. In fact, internal affairs will false charge you to make sure your IIA complaint never gets seen so they
can make it seem like you did something illegal, but they never did anything wrong. Um, are we are we going to investigate that? Are we going to investigate the cops that are volunteering for Mayor Sam Jooshi? Are we Are we going to I'm
against the budget because we had 3 million in overtime. 3 million in overtime for the police. I'm against the budget that we send police officers to Chicago with the mayor when the Secret Service has all the the whole Chicago closed down.
There's nothing a Edison police officer can do. So, are you telling me Mayor Sam Jooshi feels unsafe where in stadiums or the White House where we have a whole Secret Service staff? I'm against that's a mental
through the chair to Councilman Brusher. That's a mental health issue. You know, if you think you're unsafe everywhere you are, it's a mental health issue. Um, so yeah, I'm against I'm against the budget because chief of staff Bob Deal, the mayor, no one in that
administration wants to have meetings with members in the public. They meet with people that they want. They meet they meet with their friends, have dinner with their friends, and say, "Oh, I just met with members of the public, heard their concerns, they were airing their grievances out to us." Absolutely disgusting.
So, I hope we vote no to all the budgets until Sam Jooshi's gone. I hope we vote no to the budget because I don't understand how somebody can be accused of rape. Rape, a very serious thing. And it's election season and they still have
not made a statement that they did not rape that woman. Normally, when somebody's innocent, they they scream to high heaven and say, "I'm innocent. I'm being set up. I'm being framed." get from the mayor absolutely nothing. So I say vote no to the
budget. I understand why he says nothing. If he says I never met with the woman, the woman will come out with uh proof of the receipts. Thank you. Anyone else from the public? Okay. Motion to close public portion.
Motion to close. Second. All right. Um All right. Can I get a get a motion to adopt? Motion to adopt. Second. All right. Thank you. Council comments. I listen I I I made my comments
um at our meeting on Monday. Um you know, disappointed. Um because there's certain questions. So, so Ken, well, oh, Ken's not here, but I was going to say Ken and Sonia um got back to me with with all of my questions related to let's say
numbers and things like that. But the other questions that the mayor would be would be more like towards what the vision is and what his plan is for certain things. So, it's disappointing that he wouldn't come um and meet with the public. I know that we could submit our questions to him, but you know, it's
for the public to come. So just disappointed that um he didn't show up uh to defend his public budget to the public. Um I will be voting on it. It's you know it's not extravagant. Um but it
would have been nice to have heard from him and to given his time to the public so they could have you know asked their questions then be a council president. Thank you. Anyone else? Councilman Patio. Thank you councel president again. Thank you Kane SA for getting
back to all my questions. No, I had all the questions answered. So I'm good with that. I don't have any specific questions and as my council colleague said it's not about the the budget per se. Everything looks good. I'm in fully support of what we have on as a part of
this 2025 budget. Lot many balancing has been done. So there is nothing wrong uh in the budget. But I'm surprised that mud mayor couldn't find a time to present the budget. I don't think he would have gotten any hit from the council because there was nothing extraordinary in this budget to ask
those questions. So it's just a matter of transparency, honesty and even the slides that are put in there, they are halfbaked. The township budget is 1% of what? How many people really understand that 1% of what? And that's that's where
it bothers also the last three years of tax you know we are stable it's going down but my council colleague did acknowledge it it did went up by 7 plus%. So let's be factual let's be transparent not this is not about this budget but it's about the presentation
that it's about the way the message has been carried I'm disappointed with that however you know looking at the budget I'll be fully in support of approving this budget. Thank you council president. Thank you. Thank you. Anyone else? Council President. Yes, Councilman. I'm very pleased with this budget. I
disagree if the mayor has to be here to present a budget. As I mentioned before, uh 30 years of mayors, never ever did they present a budget. This is our budget. It's a council's budget right now. Now is the time to make your comments. Now's the time to either vote for the budget or not vote for the budget. Um the fact that Lanky did it,
does Mayor Sam Joy have to do it? It's just a preference. Uh again, this is our budget. I'm proud of this budget. I think this is a predictable budget. Our revenues are predictable. Our expenses are predictable. Uh year-over-year uh we looked at our oneshot revenues and uh
you know we we looked at the year before prior to that. Um and this is stable. I mean I commend our tax assessor department Lena and uh the administration and the hard work they do to put this budget forward. Um and I'm proud to vote for it. Thank you. Thank
you. Anyone else? Council President. Council Vice President, I just want to express my appreciation to the administration for the the hard work that they've done over the the past four years. And this is not to take away from what the previous administration did either. Right? We've I've said it
publicly before that if it weren't for the refinancing in 2021 of the authorized debt then that we wouldn't be able to take advantage of some of the opportunities that we currently have. So, I am appreciative of that. Um, some of the stuff on the back end that may not get as much attention. Uh, when we
first came on, there was the issue with uh, back pay and sick pay that we had to uh, have an emergency bond authorization on. That's been squared away and is good for long-term projections uh, from emergency
appropriations. Um, in regards, if you look at total taxes from people that live in Edison, the overall taxes from county, open space,
school, municipal has been 1% total over the past four years. And those aren't my numbers. I actually got that from Ralph Buchcci, uh, his website. Um, so I think big picture we're in good position
moving forward. Um, in terms of like debt in 2020 and 2019, our average annual debt debt service payment was 12 million. We're down to 9 million. These are all items that I think are good that
put us in position to make the capital improvements that are beneficial to the community. I will be supporting the budget. I I agree. I wish the mayor did do a presentation because I think there's a lot of good stuff in there and it should it should be promoted, but I
will be supporting the budget. Thank you, Council President. Thank you, Councilman Patel. Uh I just want to say I appreciate the administration and especially the department heads that have stayed within the budget and have made budget very predictable. Uh and the
main thing with any budget is that it wants you want it to be stable so that it's not going up 5% and and zero the next person next year is is predictable. It's stable so people can plan for it. So I am glad the administration and Ken especially and the rest of the financial
staffs are doing a good job and I I fullheartedly support this budget. Thank you. Thank you. Um, as for myself, I agree and I made that very clear the other night that I think this reflected badly on the
mayor to not do a the uh public presentation. Uh, he had a lot to crow about with this and um I said Monday night that what he did do um was kind of lazy and so I um I was very very
disappointed and upset about it. So it reflected badly on him. But having said that, the budget itself, and I'm glad that my council member, my colleagues seem to agree with me, the budget itself reflects very well on the town and it's responsible. I think the department
heads did a wonderful job. I think everyone involved worked really seamlessly as a team to put this together. Um, I also want to add just in uh comment to the gentleman from the audience there. I believe, and correct me if I'm wrong, that the police
overtime was way down this past year. Is that correct? Yes. Okay. Yes. Um, so I'm not pleased with the process with the where the mayor was concerned, but I'm very very pleased and proud of this budget and I will be supporting it. Uh,
let's see, where are we here? Okay. Um, can we get a roll call? Motion to approve. Oh, we already did that already. Okay, we did. We already didn't we do the motion? Yeah. Okay. All right. Can we get the roll call then, please? Council member Brasher, yes. Council
member Coyle, yes. Council member Patel, yes. Council member Patiel, yes. Council member Pointer, yes. Council member Schmoel, yes. Council President Harris, yes. Thank you everybody. Um, now we move on to the public hearing and final adoption of the uh solid waste budget.
Uh, opening up to public. Anyone? Okay. Motion to close. Motion to close. Second. Okay. Uh motion to adopt. Motion to adopt. Second. Very good. Council comments.
Council president. Yes. Um yeah, I'm I'm happy with the budget. I understand that there's a slight increase with it, but it's general operating expenses that we haven't had any increases over the past couple years. So eventually we're going to have to be able to, you know, deal
with some of the increases whether it's material or labor. And I think it's 2.5%. I apologize. I my computer shut down. Thank you. Uh, council president. Thank you. Anyone else? Council President. Yes, Governor. Just I'm pleased with the sanitation department and uh they've certainly kept their
expenses in place and costs. They work hard and I want to thank the supervisor, administration, their hard work, overtime and all everything put together. We're very fortunate to have service twice a week in your neighborhood and recycling. So wonderful. Thank you. Thank you. Anyone
else? Okay. Can we get a roll call, please? Council member Brasher, yes. Council member Coyle, yes. Council member Patel, yes. Council member Patiel, yes. Council member Pointer, yes. Council member, yes. Council President Harris, yes. Okay, we move on to number eight,
unfinished business. Ordinances for further consideration, public hearing and final adoption. Uh, Madame Clerk, could you read the ordinance? An ordinance authorizing the township of Edison to acquire an irrevocable conservation easement over property located at 110 Clive Street, Block
557-8, Lock 30-B on the official Tax map of the Township of Edison. Thank you very much. Open to the public comments. I see some neighbors here. Um, anyone? Mr. Bassoff, Joel Bassoff, Beach Lane, Edison. Uh,
this conservation easement is a good thing for Edison and a good thing for the neighborhood. Uh, it should be clear to everyone that this doesn't involve uh an acquisition of property or an expenditure. This is just a mechanism for the township to ensure that there
won't be any development or neglect that encroaches on this ancient glacial pond that uh had been a focal point for the neighborhood. Uh hopefully this will result in it eventually being cleaned up and restored to its former pristine
beauty where it could uh once again be a haven for uh for wildlife for for herand for for egrets for for foxes. But uh the important thing is is is that uh this easement would uh sort
of create a buffer around that pond and prevent unwanted development. And if the owners of the property should neglect the the pond or do anything to impair the integrity of the wetland, my understanding is that the township would
be able to go in and rectify the problem. Thank you. Thank you. Anyone else from the public? Yes, Walter. Walt Stocial 2118 Oak Tree Road. The Edison Open Space Advisory Committee
supports the preservation of this site with a conservation easement as we have for the past 20 years. The committee would like to be provided with a copy of the conservation easement and the boundaries of the easement and that the we should note that the easement should also be placed on the township tax maps
for that area so everybody knows that there's an easement there. Thank you. Thank you. Can that be Can that be taken care of? Thank you. Okay. Um, anyone else from the public? Okay. Uh, motion to close public
portion. Motion to close the public portion. Motion to adopt. Second. Second. Oh, sorry. Uh, second, please. Sorry about that. Um, and uh, council comments. Motion to adopt. Oh, God. I'm all mixed up here. Motion to
adopt. Second. Okay, thank you. Uh, council comments, council president. Yes. Um, not to repeat what has previously been said, but I just want to express appreciation to the planning board for protecting the neighborhood's interests because this
was a condition of the approval of the subdivision. Thank you, Council President. Thank you. Anyone else? I can say for myself as being uh on the border of this this wonderful pond, um we've made quite a bit of headway. Um I
think uh my neighbors will agree. This started with the developer talking about something like six homes or eight homes and and filling in the pond to what's now going to be two homes. And now we have this easement. So, I'm so so pleased that this pond can be restored
back to its natural beauty and we can get the wildlife back there. I will look forward to seeing the blue herand come back in. So, I'm very pleased to support this. Uh, with that, can we get roll call, please? Council member Brasher, yes. Council member Coyle, yes. Council
member Patel, yes. Council member Patiel, yes. Council member Pointer, yes. Council member, yes. Council President Harris, yes. All right. Number nine, new business, proposed ordinances, public hearing set down for Wednesday, May 28th, 2025. Madame Clerk, could you
read the ordinance? An ordinance amending chapter 2 administration article 3 departments by amending portions of subsection 2-33.1, Division of Fire, Rescue, and Emergency Services through sub section
2-33.6, Firefighters Promotions and Procedures. Okay. Um, can we get a motion to introduce or reintroduce? I only said it here. A motion to reintroduce. Council person. Yes. I move this
ordinance be passed on first reading published according to law for further consideration and public hearing sitd down for Wednesday, May 28th, 2025. Thank you very much. Can I have a second? Second. Thank you. Uh, council comments. I would like to I just would
like to thank uh council vice president for having caught the um the the the error that was in there and uh that was a really good catch uh council vice president. So, thank you for uh thank you for observing that. Um any other
council comments? All right, moving on to roll call. Council member Brusher. Yes. Council member Coyle. Yes. Council member Patel. Yes. Council member Patil. Yes. Council member Pointer. Yes. Council member Schmoel. Yes. Council President Harris. Yes. All right. Um,
now we go to public comment on the resolutions. Resolutions only. Joyce Joy Ship Freeman. I just get tickled when I get to read the stuff here. I'm like I don't take the Evelyn Wood reading course so it's like a a whole bunch you got to read real quick
before you you know you can get up and even speak about something you know but I I read pretty good so and fast but um now with the u resolution 211 would that in any way affect the uh
job core that's located on the land back there I'm going to take your question if you have more questions specific no I'm I'm just curious about that one. That's that's it because the rest of the stuff I read it and it's just you know same old mundane stuff until after the
election. Okay. Um Job core any impact on the job core? No. Okay. So it has no So what So then basically what is it then? What how is the um agreement with the United States or the is the army or somebody going to use it again or is how
is it related to federal land? Okay. It's not. This is just a public right away with regards to the township and the US Army Corp uh needs to install three monitoring wells for soil monitoring. That's um simply what this
is about. Thank you. So, we have to give them permission in order for them to do the things that they want to do to that particular place. Even though it's their federal land and we're in we're Edison, we still have to give them permission to do stuff on our land.
This is in the townships right away. So, um they procedurally have asked to do this. Kilmer Road is not in Edison. Kilmer is not in Kilmer is in Edison. Yes. Okay. All right. That's Yeah. All
right. Thank you. Kind of answers you. Thank you. Anyone else? Uh yes, Joel. Joel Bassoff, I have a question about resolution 199. When we get a report of dispersements, is is that monthly or is that cumulative for the year? I just
need a tutorial on municipal finance. Is any other questions? That's it. Okay. Um we get the dispersements at each uh council me council meet for count each council meeting. So um every two weeks if you will uh generally speaking. Okay.
So so it's the amount from one council meeting to the next. Correct. It's for that time period. So the two weeks prior. Okay. Thanks. Sure. Okay. Anyone else from the public about resolutions? Yes. Walt Walt 2118 Oak Tree Road on 210. the
soccer fields at Kilmer. Uh the open space committee is very pleased that Edison has received the green acres grant for $1,ion50,000 for the new soccer fields on Kilmer Road. The new fields will enable our residents to play on natural glass and not have to compete with out
outside teams using the county's plastic fields at Edison Park. Greenacres grants are very competitive. Not every town that applies for these grants gets them. So Edison has done a great job in applying and getting this money for the
these fields. Now that we've got the fields and we are going to do something there, uh I have a suggestion uh for for the uh for the property. The area of this project should have the existing Camp Kilmer historic kiosk refurbished
and relocated. In June 1942, when Camp Kilmer was dedicated, a monument to Joyce Kilmer was built by a flag pole by the post headquarters. When the camp closed and was sold off, the Kilmer plaque disappeared. However, the stone that the plaque was on is still exists
behind a building on Rucker's Livingston campus. The township could recreate this monument and the flag pole on this project site. It would honor the Joyce Kilmer, the famous poet who was killed during World War I. A monument would
also honor the 4,220,848 men and women who passed through Camp Kilmer during World War II. For thousands of Americans, the day they shipped out of Camp Kilmer was their last morning in America. They never came back. The area camp kilmer has been
developed with schools, industry, and housing, but there is very little to commemorate the camp. And I've attached photos of the monument that was built in 1942, maps of where it was, and newspaper articles about the dedication of the monument 1942. I'll leave this
here. Yes. Thank you, Council President. Yes. Um, I'll bring this up to uh Sue and the Veterans Committee. because we were um we were talking about a tank that we have. So maybe that can
be incorporated into that kind of whole thing over there. All right. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Thank you, Walt. Uh anyone else on the resolutions only? Okay. I get a motion to close public portion. Council president. Oh, I'm so sorry. Good.
You're recognized. Thank you. Earlier you said the uh the budget wasn't on here. Um is it something that you added on here? Cuz I I don't see it. I'm sorry. What was the question? Uh you you guys said that the the budget the amendment to the budget
was was in the resolutions as as well as something with the budget and uh I'm not seeing it on here. Did you did you add that in at some point? It's already been voted on. So that's not appropriate for this comment period. I understand. When I came up here earlier, I I asked if it if it was in the uh resolutions, and
Marina said, "Yeah." So, I was, you know, trying to figure out where it is in the resolutions. So, but in any case, I'll move on. No problem. I'm against the entirety of the
uh every single resolution. I feel that members of the town council should should vote no to every single resolution until Mayor Sam Johoshi comes here and answers questions about the
budget. Um, I find it very inappropriate that you pass the budget without the mayor being here to ask questions. And that's exactly why I'm against the resolutions. Um, council president, uh,
point of order. I I'd like to know why why the lawyers over there sitting laughing up a storm, why he can't maintain composure, why he can't maintain the quorum through the council meeting. May I ask council president, what the hell is so funny? That of order. It's personally
derogatory. Yeah. Yeah, sir. Um, I I I'm answering your question. Um, I don't see him laughing. Uh, I I don't see that going on. So, um, can we can we move on with your comments and
questions? It's on tape. That's exactly why I'm against every resolution. We don't have a mature law firm. We have a a law firm that attacks residents. Um, we have a law firm.
We have a lawyer here that ba basically gives you guys advice to throw people out waving the American flag. So, I'm against each and every resolution because of that. Um, I'm against each resolution because this lawyer, specifically this lawyer,
has put this town under so much hot water. So much hot water that he made a national debacle of this old town. They know us in other countries. They know Edison, New Jersey is the town that uses Nazi police to
throw out members of the public for waving an American flag. So that's exactly why I'm against this resolution. Numbers R 199 to R225. Um, I'm against this resolution because right now the lawyer is trying to figure
out a way to stop me from talking by saying I'm not speaking about the resolutions, but I am I'm explaining why I don't support not one of them. There's a resolution on here with the fire department. I'm against that
resolution. I believe the fire department as long as as well as Edison Police Department should be receiving no funds because both try to frame residents for arson that never happened. I'll come back in my public comments and prove
that. Um but yeah, to approve a budget while we have a fire department and a police department that are actually framing their political opponents for arson that never happen. Normally we wait for an
incident to happen and then frame the person, but now we're framing people even before the incident ever occurs. Um so I'm against the whole resolutions. Thank you. Anyone else from the public? All right. Motion to close. Motion to close the public portion. Second.
Second. Okay. Um, so we go to anything to pull council members. Anything to pull for a separate vote? Council present. Yes. 208 and 210. 208 and
210. All right. So we are looking to approve 199 through 207 and two uh and then 209 and then 211 through 225. So um can I get a motion to
approve? Motion to approve. Second. Okay. All and is this roll call, please. Council member Brasher. Yes. Council member Coyle. Yes. Council member Patel. Yes. Council member Patiel. Yes. Council member Pointer. Yes. Council member
Shimoell. Yes. Council President Harris. Yes. Councilman Coyle. I can combine these comments together. Council President vote uh if you allowed them together as well. First, I just want to uh speak on 210. 210. I want to thank Walter Social for coming up and
recognizing how the council and the administration has worked well to receive grants like this. And I just want to say that it's an example of Mayor Sam Johi and the administration working together with, you know, county and state and federal um administrations
and legislative officials to get things done. And when you work together, this is the opportunities we have here. So, um I'm truly proud of that and how we work together. We recognize working together as a unit uh through the legislatures and through Congress and
I'm truly proud of that. And for 208, I just wanted to be thankful for this um you know, CDB CDBG uh grant money here. And uh can I have a report of what areas of sidewalks that we'll be doing? I'm
sorry I didn't ask that before, but if I can have that, too. I'm proud of this and the need for this and I'm thankful for the administration putting this together. No different than our housing authority. And uh you know, Billy Thomas is here today. he had a chance to speak
there. Uh these type of grants, these type of opportunities are improving the welfare of others, connecting sidewalks, improving areas, and if you were there to hear uh Billy Thomas, uh it was surprising how good of a speaker he was. And I was even I was getting emotional myself. He grew up there and he had some
great stories uh in the area there. Truly did. He uh uh grew up there his whole life and he knows what it's like to grow up in an area uh in need. So, I'm proud to see this resolution come together and I'm also proud of the good work you've done, Billy, and the housing authority. Really in great speech. Thank
you. Thank you, Councilman Coyle. All right. Uh, so for resolution 208, can I get a motion to approve? Council President. Yes. Is it possible to make a quick remark and make Is it possible to make a quick remark on the res? Sure. Of
course. Thank you. uh on 208. I I feel that this is great for um it's particularly in the area around Potters. Uh it's starting to improve replace uh curbs, sidewalks, and some street repairs. So, this will help uh not only
storm water management with improved curbs. Uh people incentivizing people to be outside more with a better walkability with improved sidewalks. on 210 with the grant for the Angels field.
Um, personally, it's sad to see baseball kind of not having the as much popularity as it once had. However, anyone that knows the uh the soccer leagues in Edison, they are exploding in
terms of popularity and usage. So these new fields uh which are going to be larger than the the existing as well as the the new um parking that is associated with this project are going to be extremely beneficial for anyone
that uses that field or those fields. So I'm happy to support. Thank you, Council President. Thank you, Council Vice President. Any other remarks? Okay. Um can I get a motion to approve 208? Motion to approve. We can do 28 and 210 together. Is that
possible? Okay, let's let's do it. Motion to approve 208 and 210. Second all. Uh, roll call, please. Council member Brasher, yes. Council member Coyle, yes. Council member Patel, yes. Council member Patiel, yes. Council
member Pointer, yes. Council member, yes. Council President Harris, yes. All right, we move on to oral petitions and remarks. Uh, Walt. Walt Stocial 2118 Oak Tree Road. Um, Sunday we have the bike tour of Edison.
Uh, the weather will be in the 60s and 70s with no rain predicted. So, it sounds like the weather's going to be good. Uh, the the route is a little different this year. We're not going to go down on the greenway because when you have 200 people, the people on the greenway, there's no room for them to
walk. So, we're going to go down Amboy Avenue this year. Um, I didn't get a chance to comment on the resolution 211 about the uh Kilmer Road, the monitoring wells. It's probably from the the Army's contamination of um Camp Kilmer there.
There's building 1072, which was the Nike missile maintenance building. And then next to the Angel's Field, there's a big parking lot. Like that was the motorpool for Camp Kilmer. So there may be some residual contamination underneath that
the Army is legally um obligated to monitor and clean up hopefully. But with all the changes that are going on in Washington with the budget, that's something that could be cut out. And Edison needs to be prepared for things like that. We need to be prepared for
the actions and the cuts that the federal government are pl planning in the years ahead and today. The federal budget for 2026 will shut down the job core. What will happen to that site on Planefield A? Will it be turned into a
detention center? The EPA lab complex on Woodbridge Avenue also may be closed down. What happens to all that land and the historic buildings of Routen Arsenal? The federal government is pu pushing to develop federal lands and they may do it by leasing it to
developers who because the land will still be owned by the federal government would not be required would not require local approval or comply with our zoning and other laws and would not pay us any taxes for it. How will these tariffs
that are out there affect our trade zone in Heler Park and our warehouses in Edison, which store goods from overseas? How will the tariffs affect the price of things the township buys? Cars, trucks, equipment, computers, all have imported
components that will go up in price. Federal aid to Edison under the community development block grant will also be cut. And how will cuts to Medicare uh health uh affect our health programs here in Edison? While we don't think about it every day, the federal
government has the federal government and its actions have a big uh impact on Edison Township and we need to prepare for the future when these cuts are made. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Anyone else? Yes, sir.
Am I recognized? Yes, I am recognized. You are through the chair to Councilman Brcher. Councilman Brer, I'd like to know I'd like an explanation from you why there are more cops at this meeting than there are residents. Um, I find that a little bit
disturbing. Is that some kind of show of force? Um, as well uh council president, their job is to make sure that we're all safe. The whole time I'm here, both the cops, even right now, they're they're looking inside. Someone can come in here and
shoot us all up. So, what are these these cops actually doing? I I make a complaint to their captain. Good job. They're doing a good job. Absolutely disgusting. Absolutely disgusting that
this this is what we're wasting taxpayer resources on, taxpayers money on, because you guys want to fake that there's some kind of unsafe environment here in Edison. um through the chair to Councilman Brer. Councilman Brresser, I won another case
yesterday. I won a case where they originally charged me with a firstdegree crime. What's a first-degree crime? Murder, rape, arson. 20 years in prison. This administration wanted to keep uh falsify records to keep me in prison for
20 years. Um, I even have it on record that the chief of police, Detective Manad, Detective Palletella, all of them said there was never an arson investigation, which I find it very
strange because, you know, in my discovery are arson investigation reports. In my discovery are photos of an arson investigation. What the hell is it doing in in uh my criminal case? So, first-degree crime becomes a fourthderee
crime and then it becomes a disorderly person. That's a little strange to me. Um, absolutely disgusting of this scumbag police department. Absolutely disgusting the fact they try to frame a
resident for arson and then completely deny it. In fact, at my trial, even the young lady, the Instagram supermodel, she started crying and complaining about a fire. She was she was calling in she she
was complaining that people were calling her up making uh sexual remarks. What does any of that have to do with me? That's that's what this police department is. They're a bunch of gaslighters. They create all these hypotheticals that never even happen.
present them as if they happen and then claim there's some kind of public safety risk. Complete scumbag police department. That's that's one for the record. Um I want to I want Officer Clint fired. I I think Lieutenant Kenny
should be fired. At the time Lieutenant Kenny was a sergeant. He should have never got promoted as a sergeant. And um for him to show up at every single crime scene in Edison and the first words to come out of his mouth, which I
have proof, I have proof on body camera. I have no doubt in my mind these events were precipitated because of Crystal. So here we have a property that's been on fire 10 years prior to me ever doing any kind of recording. Now all of a sudden, this property is on
fire because I recorded it one day. biomass ignition. Uh, you're only supposed to have mulch piles 20 feet. They're higher than 20 feet. They're violating New Jersey state law. They're violating the EPA. They're vi violating Edison laws. You're not allowed to have a mulch
pile over 20 feet because they spontaneously combust. It's a fire hazard. And And Councilman Brush, are we is lightning going to strike somewhere? Am I going to be investigated for that? Thank you. Thank you. Please, please
answer the questions. Thank you. I I'll give him a quick Yes. If u I almost feel that if lightning does strike, we will blame you. Um but at the end of the day, right, the mulch piles, I don't know. I do know that that that's how my house caught on
fire was the mulch. Um, in fact, I think there's a new law now in New Jersey, or is it where where you have to have 18 inches of stone from like your house to where the mulch starts? They they don't even want you to put mulch against your house any longer. Um, glad to see you
won your case. So, thank you, Counc. Thank you. Okay. Anyone else? Joyce. Ship Freeman. You know, I get disappointed when I hear a lot of people talk. I remember when Mayor Sam Josie
was a councilman and he was like so so against plastic and everything and I am too, you know, because I think plastic is the worst thing that's happened to us. I think it, you know, it hurts the rivers. It hurts a whole lot of places. And I turn around and I look and down
the street from my house, we're getting a plastic factory. Like, how are you so against plastic? But I'm getting a plastic factory down the street from my house at all. And then some people say, "Oh, it's been 30 years or whatever. We we don't
do um um budget presentations and stuff." How could you have a part-time mayor that does a budget presentation, but you got a full-time mayor with like five people in their office and they can't get together to do a a budget
meeting, point blank. Then I hear all this other talk about Potter and Potter's Crossing. Potter's Crossing hasn't existed since the 60s. You have Roberty Holmes there. My mother is from Potter's Crossing. She was born in 1931.
Okay, that's how old the community is. If you need a map and you need some information to show you about it, I will show it to you. Okay, and then as that even with Robert E. Holmes, uh, I can't
say that bad stuff about it because you got the best school system going. I taught in urban areas. I know what a real urban area looks like. See, a lot of y'all don't because you haven't been in those spaces. But I've been there and I listen to people and I listen to
people say foolishness. And that's why I try to have you to have Black History Month rather than this great big old jubilee because if you had Black History Month, you would actually learn the history of all of Edison. Okay? Because there were just as many disadvantaged
people on the south side of Edison as they were on the north side. I know. I tutored and I worked for the parks and I did two tons of volunteer work. Most people run their mouth but they haven't did any volunteer work. I volunteered with the children here and I volunteered
with different things. The only thing that bothers me and my another friend was talking about it. We just like we go along with whoever we like whether they're truthful or not or whether they're good or not with the stuff that they do. Yeah. I see a lot of
ways. I I see how a office could go from a part-time mayor and a BA to like six people up in the office then and all this amount of money is being spent. But you know one thing, just like Walter was saying, y'all guys act like there ain't
going to be any cuts and there not anything going on. Are you paying attention to Washington DC or do we think we're just on an island? I'm still worried and I'm very very worried about the seniors and about their money and about not just seniors, there are other
people that's living on the edge and there's a lot of people that's losing jobs. Okay, but we find it fine and we happy we're giving other people a whole lot of extra money. The money not staying in town and then we talking about infrastructure. I had to ride a a
boat mostly all through Edison in order to get around today. The flooding was horrendous all over this town. You're talking about infrastructure. This was horrendous. And I just tell people all the time back and forth. Everybody's like, "Oh, we're doing this for the poor people. We're doing this. We're doing
that." You know, first learn your learn history. And you calling the place Potter's Cross and that hasn't been that name in God knows when. I'll give you the information cuz my brother and Roberty Holmes and them, they're all constructing a book about different
areas of Edison. So if you want to know the history and stuff, come to me because my mother's given us a whole lot of information on on the actual stuff. Thank you. Thank you, Joyce. Council President. Yes, Council Vice President. It appears I may have unintentionally
misspoke. I meant it just as a generalization of where the area is. So if my comments came out offensive, that was not my intent and I apologize. Thank you, Council President. Thank you. Uh, anyone else from public?
Yes, Carl. Everybody put the phones down, please. Car Edison. You know, somebody was saying, "How come there's nobody here no more?" Irene Wall, Lois, Roose, because
of one person, Joe Cole. Captain, I don't like to put you on the hook, but before I say this, I was at on Friday seeing the guys leave for the bike ride
immunity. I was there on Saturday morning in Franklin. Did a video. I didn't make one donation. I gave one two months ago. I gave no one on Saturday. How many people here can say they gave a
donation? One person. And you guys are making $20,000. And you're always asking for favors and favors and favors from the police. One person up there. Damn shame. Captain, let's hope we get a nice
turnout for this Memorial Day parade like we used to years ago. Please put a letter out for a captain years ago. put a letter out. It could have been your dad and we had a nice turnout that
year. They can give up a few hours of their own time with no problem. And another question I got, what is a word on the four officers who are still suspended and my
ex-in-law who's waiting to go to jail for seven years? Can you film me on anything on that when I'm done? The sit down lawnmower is so missing. I don't know where it is that was on Amway
Avenue. And three years ago before my wife passed, we seen somebody put at least 40 of these in the garbage can. 40. You know who it was? I didn't name nobody. Everybody know was Joe Coyle. 48
was put in the garbage and I called Dave Tingle. What was done about it? Nothing. Joe, what were you doing wrong that night when Addison Township Police Reserve caught you doing something and you beg him not to call the cops on
you? Is it a cover up? All the overgrown grass we got in this town is disgusting since I left. Especially in Clark in the worst. And Joe Cole on all your property you got high grass right now including the
chambers. So a lot of political signs are up. Illegal. Close the curbs which is illegal. Want to be 10 feet back. If somebody gets in an accident, the town is
liable. The town is liable. So remember that, folks. And another issue, when I was working for the town, I had to go to Walmart every morning to wake up the truckers. That was totally illegal.
My people at that point knew it was illegal. We had to wake up the truckers every morning. There Walmart is a private parking lot. It's a safe heaven for
truckers, but we had to go there because of Joe Coyle. Every morning waking the guys up. They just went to sleep 5:00. How are you going to be sleeping out for two hours? Got woken up. Who Who gives us all the products? The
truckers. I'm sorry, Carl. Your your time is up. Thank you. Thank you. If you don't remember what I said, you can ask the people. I got it right here. I want answers tonight. Loud and clear. Thank you, Carl. Loud and clear. Thank you. Yes, sir.
Anonymous. You You threw flags away, Joe. Joe. You threw 40 of these away. Nish, please look at me. I'm speaking. Like Carl said, phone down, eyes on the speaker. Show some
respect. I don't care if the lawyer looks down. He's really not part of a meeting. even though he's constantly in the council president's ear trying to preside over the meeting. So, zero integrity, Joe Coyle. Zero
integrity. I wish you were up for reelection cuz I can't wait to see you go. And there's a lot of people that feel like that. So, it's going to be a good day when you go. Nish, I noticed you weren't on the Democratic ticket. Neither were you,
John. I wonder why. Why do you think that? Nish, take your jacket off. Remove your jacket. You didn't look at me like that. It doesn't feel good when a man tells another man to remove something he's wearing,
right? Take your jacket off. Government made people walk around and wear masks and then government tells him to take his mask off. Take your jacket off,
Nish. It doesn't feel good, does it? I'll tell you, I've been to council meetings all across the state. I've been going to council meetings regularly since 2017, and the inconsistency in Edison is unmatched. unmatched. You guys became known for the
epicenter of constitutional violations. I watched a video online the other day down in Florida somewhere and the gentleman who spoke, he said, "I've seen violations like you wouldn't believe. I've seen it in Dalton, Ohio. I've seen it in Clearwater, Florida. I've seen it in Texas and I've seen it in Edison, New
Jersey." And when he said that, I said, "Oh, darn. Look what you all have created." The inconsistency is wild. I used to like when there was the bowl of Jolly Ranchers downstairs because at least you guys would give me candy before you'd violate my rights at this security checkpoint. But now we took away the
candy. Last time I came here was the first time I brought a tripod camera. Then we were being told by council president no tripod cameras. Then somehow that just physically went phys just fizzled away. Every meeting I don't know what to expect. Last time there was this
incredible, ridiculous clock that showed up on the Edison TV. I don't get it. And then I come in here today and the the the officer over here says, "Council, people don't need to go to the metal
detector when that's always been what we've been doing." No. I mean, am I wrong? So now that's changed, you know? I I mean, I never know what to expect when I come to these meetings anymore. And that lack of
consistency is is is alarming. It's absolutely alarming. You know, I I'm not going to use the same remarks that Kristo stated, but if I've been through what he was been going through and still goes through, I'm I'm I'm sure I'd feel the
same way. But I do think we have way too many police officers here. And there must have been a few moments where we looked back. Both these police officers were inside the room, not even looking out out there. If they're manning the security checkpoint, that violates everybody's Fourth Amendment right so
they can come here and express their first amendment right. At least have the courtesy to pretend like it's about security. We all come from the same parking lot. We all leave from the same parking lot and we want to pretend like this is keeping people safe. Just like the mayor bringing four police officers
to where where Secret Service can protect I absolutely wild. Vote this mayor out. Everybody needs to vote this mayor out. Thank you sir. Okay. Yes Joel
Joel Bassoff Beach Lane Edison. So, I still have questions about how Edison is addressing its affordable housing obligation. Uh, the fourth round starts in about one and a half months and the public would like to know how
many units is Edison proposing by how much does Edison propose to reduce the obligation that Department of Community Affairs assigned Edison? Uh, what's our justification for uh getting those
numbers reduced? Uh, is it a function of uh, Department of Community Affairs saying that Edison has more buildable space than we really have? Uh, or is there a flaw in the formula that
they use? These are unanswered questions. Uh, have we identified errors that they've made or identified parcels of land that that they say we can have affordable housing built, but in fact we can't? And are are the is there a specific
statutory reference that we can get that justifies Edison following a different procedure than the 159 or so municipalities utilize to get their numbers reduced. So those are my questions on
affordable housing. I I'd really like to have the specifics including if if there's case law that we're relying on or specific statutory references that would be helpful. Um also uh are we prepared to determine
where the affordable housing would go? Presumably we're not going to reduce our obligation to zero. We're going to have a responsibility for making provisions for affordable housing units. Have we started the process on determining where those units would go? Have we addressed
our our zoning code yet? And on the subject of zoning, this is an issue that has come up at previous meetings. Are we ever going to have updated definitions for logistics facilities? Um, since it's no longer
just warehouses, it's also distribution centers and fulfillment centers and truck terminals and the like. Are we ever going to have updated definitions? Because of course each one generates a different amount of vehicular traffic
and we want to be able to control that and make sure that it doesn't encroach on residential areas much the way it's been happening now. And also at previous meetings, the the question has been asked, have we actually verified that
the mayor or his campaign funds have fully reimbursed the township for the cost of the four police officers that he brought to the Democratic National Convention uh as his personal entourage.
So those are my questions. All right. Um, just to let you know, I have asked repeatedly for that memo on affordable housing. I still have not received it. So, I'm going to ask you, councelor,
could I get that memo that was promised to me last sometime last month? C, council president, though, I I I certainly hope though that you wouldn't be sharing a confidential legal opinion with with any member of the public. Is that I would I would not be, but I asked for this for myself. Certainly. Thank you. All right. could um and my
questions shouldn't be confidential. These should be a matter of public council president. The questions of the speaker are completely they seek trial strategy and therefore would be confidential. These are questions that could be answered but and given to members of council but would not be given to members of the public because
to do so would compromise our position in the litigation. Thank you. All right. To the speaker's questions that he did ask that remaining questions about affordable housing. Anything more to add? No, nothing to add. No, we can't.
All right. Um, I don't think either. Uh, you asked about logistics, warehouses, distributions. Um, anything uh anything to report on that, Sonia, with regard to the definition, getting a definition down?
That is all part of the postmaster plan. So, our planner is working on that. Okay. Thank you. And my guess is and and you can back me up on this uh counselor. Um I don't think that uh uh that we are going to be sharing information with the
public about whether or not the mayor has reimbursed the public with the uh with the with the police in Chicago. I don't think that that's something that we're going to be I don't think we have any information to share on it. Yeah. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. All right.
Uh anyone else from the public? All right. Motion to close public portion. Motion to close the public portion. Second. Second. All right. Uh motion to adjurnn. Motion to adjurnn. Second. Second. All right. We are in
adjournment. 8:32 p.m. Thank you.