e e e e e e e okay all right calling the work session of Monday April 8th to order at 601 please stand for the pledge of alision iedge Al to the flag of the United States of America and to the for stands Nation indivisible Madam clerk roll call please council member Brasher here council member Coyle council member Harris here council member Patel here council member ptil here council member pointer present and council member shuel here okay Madam clerk please read the adequate notice adequate notice of this meeting as required by the open public meeting Act of 1975 has been provided by the annual notice sent to home News Tribune Star lend Desi talk and news India times on December 12th 2023 and post the main lobby Municipal complex on that same date all right going to oral petitions and remarks I'll just wait for the list thank you Crystal thank you for recognizing me you recognized did you recognize me yes thank you well of course you did you stated my name um okay one moment I am writing an Edison Town Council to express my deep concern regarding reports of censorship and restriction of public comments during board meetings as a support of free speech I believe it is imperative that all citizens are afforded the opportunity to express their views without fear of censorship the first amendment protects our fundamental right to free speech especially the right to criticize elected officials in public forms however the actions described in recent Edison Township meetings including cutting off speakers and SE selectively enforcing vague deorum rules infringe upon these rights the board can and should prohibit disruptive conduct and threats of violence but it must not impose vague and easily abused restrictions on vulgar inflammatory abusive or disparaging language in the name of the Corum I urge the board to take immediate action to rectify the situation and uphold the fundamental rights of all citizens restrictions on Free Speech should be Viewpoint neutral reasonable and clearly defined to prevent arbitrary enforcement and censorship public participation in these meetings is critical for fostering transparency accountability and Community engagement in our Township and education system thank you for your attention to this matter I look forward to seeing positive changes that protect and promote First Amendment rights at Future Council meetings and the reason I say this through the charity councilman Brasher I believe there was some kind of a conspiracy that what they were go going to do here is they weren't going to arrest me but if I curse they were going to removed me thinking that they weren't going to be held liable for whatever genius reason I'd still file a tour claim on the cops um It's Still conspiracy to deprive someone of their constitutionally protection Ed activity and deprivation of rights under color of law so we're talking about you know did you guys conspire in in the back room to throw members of the public out uh for speaking without criminally charging them was that a discussion among any of you why did I have other residents knowing about this that walked up to me they knew about it very well how much time do I have left Miss uh three minutes 3 minutes are you hearing what I'm saying deputy chief D Das I through the chair of course the deputy chief D Das I can't believe the these people they never learn if what I'm saying is true they all conspired to commit a felony did you plan on throwing out a res for cursing uh without criminally charging them can anybody answer that I know I know about it I know it was going to happen how how you doing Joe you doing thanks for being late did you hear what I say do you know about the conspiracy talking just please through through the chair to Joe do you know about the conspiracy to throw out uh residence uh without criminally charging them why would you want to thank these officers why why is the executive branch okay why are you guys always getting involved with the police department why is the mayor always getting involved with the police department how much time do I have left how is it that Resident Joel bof knew about this how is it that I know about this why are you guys pretending like you not know about it is it because the M the moment you admit to it um federal charges might might arise against all of you are you aware that I can stand up here and curse and there's nothing you can do about it do you admit that coun council president Nish Patel do you admit it's do the chair deputy chief D Dash It's a simple question what's wrong with their egos speaker has one minute do you admit that a speaker can come up here and curse without fear of being removed even if they get criminally charged or not you know what through the chair deputy chief D Dash I don't even want to test it out even though I should test it out but he's a government official he he should be mature enough to answer the question and his silence speaks volumes his silence definitely speaks volumes I'm not going to stand here and curse again even though it's my right to do so Rosenfeld vers New Jersey allows me to do so how much time do I have left uh God Bless America Jesus Christ is the truth you have zero integrity and the fact that you plan to uh if you think you your time is up if you think you can throw people out if you think you can throw people out please sit down thank you sh any anybody else would like to speak have a nice day have a hi good good evening everyone my name is Sarah Nasser Pleasant Avenue in Edison you're recognized excuse me you're recognized thank you uh I had the privilege of attending the library Retreat this weekend um with the library trustees and councilwoman Harris um and I wanted to highlight three very positive things unlike the last conversation um so this week is the 95th Anniversary of the Edison public library and each of our three branches Maine north and Clara Barton are hosting events open to everyone hopefully we'll see some of the council there second last year um through the leadership of the library trustee Pat Massie Library director Alan kimman and Su Malon Barber we restarted the nonprofit organization called the friends of the Edison Public Library we are currently 60 members strong across all of Edison and I'm requesting that if you haven't already joined please go ahead and do so and you can sign up on the Edison Public Library website lastly we will be hosting the book sale and the bake sale at clar Barton Library this uh Friday and Saturday between 10:00 a.m. and 6 p.m and this is again hoping to raise funds for children's programs and different associations um for the P the friends of the Edison Public Library so I know this was a lot of things going on um in the last you know few weeks um and few months but these are really positive things that are happening within Edison and we'd really like to have some attention and awareness from the council to highlight these to our residents so that more people can come out and attend these programs all right thank you for the time thank you Sarah yep Octor Nasser Pleasant Avenue you recognized thank you it's been a crazy few days in Edon we've had an earthquake or solar eclipse and I'm hoping that we get sidewalks next sorry I had to do that one of my colleagues at work kind of was teasing me about that I want to thank a couple people I want to thank the clar baron residents for coming up showing up last Thursday's meeting um we appreciate the active council members and the mayor and any non-car Barn members did not show up as we just wanted this to be a think tank session for the residents of Barn councilman pointer thank you for helping me address the illegal parking on Pleasant Avenue and anoy Avenue and of course the police department for making sure that they're ticketing and warning anyone that is parking on the sidewalks and also at the stop signs so I thank you for restoring the public safety of that area I also want to thank councilman pointer for sending the street signage for the library to the administration I'm hopeful that you can give us an update on where it stands right now and when we can get um street signs hosted around town and finally I'm excited this that this week again is the 95th Anniversary of the library as a member of the friends of the library it's been a pleasure working with the library trustee Pat Macy she's been a given a prestigious honor and I'm hopeful that this will be spoken about in the points of light today thank you thank you heor hello Su Malone Barber Pleasant Avenue you recognize to thanks um I would just like to Echo what OCTA and Sarah said there's there are great things happening at the library and the friends really ramped up quickly and I think our Board of TR trustees especially Pat is really really doing so much for our libraries live right across the street from the clar Barton library and um considering where we were and where we are now that lot is almost always full and it's great to see and um I think they're doing a great job and I think we should take this 95th Anniversary to celebrate them celebrate Pat's accomplishments which I think we'll be spoken about later and in general um applaud what they've done there's there's so much to do there's so so many great ideas we're going to get there um and I think we have a very committed friends group um which is nice to see thank you thank you so anybody else uh Anthony Damron uh 25 Wy um you recogniz Anthony thank you sir first uh any news uh any updates on the Cannabis oversight committee um that was going to be put together um has been put together or decided any uh any members have been established yet or as of right now we have no plans to move forward with cannabis so we oh okay I thought you were doing a oversight no so we decided to put hold on that's that's s that I I speaking of which I I I do have a question though um is there any law that prohibits I'm just curious that from a municipality entering into the distribution or growing of cannabist themselves whether a Township can sell it and grow it I would assume we would have to apply to State and get license no it's not permitted by the state law oh it's not okay never mind we're not permitted okay um that's that's it for now thank you thank you anybody else all right seeing none can I get a motion to close the public portion motion to close may I have a second second so motion by Council vice president second by councilman pointer all in favor hi okay moving on to the review of minutes uh regular of November 29 2023 any comments all right seeing none moving on to reports from all Council committees starting on my right councilman brusher uh none at this time sir all right uh councilman Coyle thank you council president the finance committee had a brief summary meeting uh the other day we will look forward to having another meeting in the next 30 days thank you council president thank you Council McCoy Council vice president yes uh the Edison human relations commission met on April 2nd we introduced and welcomed the new members Rasheed Khan and Rupal Patel um we are still in the midst of creating and reviewing our logo to be used on social media stationary and a banner it's in process of being reviewed for approval we are looking to to cap the membership at 11 members of this commission I believe we have I think we might have 10 right now I'm not positive the meeting schedule for 2024 was created and uh the next meeting is on May 7th it's it's not going to be on consistent days of the week because of various conflicts so um I'll advise you each time I'm not going to give you the whole list right now at me and I don't know if that's anywhere on the website but the next meeting is going to be on uh May 7th at 7:15 p.m. uh bank account is a trust is going to be held by the town it's going to be all all um all checks would be payable to the township of Edison we need to elect a Treasurer Maria Orchid will be coordinating a bike safety program with open space and Edison schools and there is a diversity equity and inclusion showcase on April 16th from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. at Edison High School um there was some questions about the human relations commission would like to be involved with juneth and has the juneth celebration has that been established yet through the through president to Sonia um it's usually through the recreation program but I'll follow up and let you know all right right um oh and the uh commission also wanted to know now that they're a commission if they can get Township emails just as the the cultural arts commission has gotten email addresses so can that be addressed to somebody okay all right so that's human relations commission um there was no animal shelter meeting but as I had mentioned previously we're we don't meet again until June 4th but we did get a report for the month the dog adoptions we've had 12 it's really exceptional cat adoptions 15 total animals in the shelter we have 13 dogs 15 cats three are nursing moms there are four pregnant cats and 18 kittens the best friends is a rescue that we work with that will be taking in 10 to 30 of our cats and kittens to go to their adoption center uh we are currently perfectly staffed DPW and it has all the cameras hung and the upcoming events have to do the kitten shower the kitten shower is April 21st from 12: to 4:00 p.m. at 1:25 Municipal Boulevard um and Barks at Brownstone is on April Saturday April 27th um and that's the doors open at 5:00 pm for that and then there's going to be I guess project pets is every Thursday at 1 p.m. I'm actually not familiar with that so once again through council president to our business administrator what is Project pets uh I'm not sure but I'll follow up okay all right so those are that and as um Sarah octar and Sue remarked you you've um taken a lot of the words out of my mouth and I'm happy about that um we did meet for our Retreat on Saturday people were asking me uh when I was telling I'm going to a retreat they were asking me where are we going to where's the retreat going to be and I you know because I think they're expecting it was going to be at some wonderful hotel or something so I would tell them that we're meeting at the Edison Library Resort and uh and Conference Center um um so uh we so as they mentioned so big day tomorrow is the 95th Anniversary celebration and that will be over at the main Li that's going to be at the main library it's starts at 5:30 there's going to be entertainment and some refreshments um and um the book and bake sale as was mentioned is going to be on the 12th and 13th over at clar Barton um North Library once it gets under constu under construction for the expansion the north library is going to close it's going to be closed for m nine months to a year um we had at the uh retreat we had uh Pat ulti who is Library Crossroads Consulting and Eileen Palmer LCC along with Keith McCoy former acting director of the current uh former acting director of our library and current director of the LI Library foundation so it was a very a very productive meeting and a lot and a lot was spoken about in terms of getting more of the word out which um you find people did do and are doing and that that in its own way despite what happened with whole clar Barton debacle last year actually the Silver Lining has been that there has been more attendance at that library and um the people seem to really understand and value the the library so we are happy that that's what the outcome has been um but we want to get the word out we want to encourage people to join the the friends of the of the library and uh there are spots open for the foundation um that Keith McCoy is the current director of and if you have an interest in getting more involved we certainly encourage that um also mentioned and this is uh this is something that is really a wonderful wonderful thing Pat Massie has been uh given the honor of being elected president of the New Jersey library trustee Association and I can't think of anybody more deserving of that honor she's really she is terrific and she um she's been a great great leader and so this is a wonderful and welld deserved honor just also want to remind people that um there are one of the things that is not so well known about the library are the Museum passes that include um and some some of these are for free entry some of them are for a deep discount and they're very limited in terms of their availability but they include the Thomas Edison Center over at Meno Park Museum of Natural History the Guggenheim the Intrepid the battleship New Jersey the Monclair Art Museum Newark Museum of Art Moma The Academy of Natural Sciences of drexle University in Philadelphia EAS here's the one that kind of eye popped everybody Eastern State Penitentiary in uh in Pennsylvania apparently this is a big this is actually a big attraction uh Brooklyn Botanical Gardens the Jewish Museum the frick Madison Collection and imagine that so that's a lot of I think it's 14 different Museum passes and uh uh I and I believe um and Sarah you can let me know are these available at the main library these passes all three all three libraries okay very good um so that's the report on Library week and I believe that concludes my reports thank thank you Council vice president councilman pel none at this time all right thank you councilman pointer none at this time coun mmel no sir all right uh as for me I attended open space on Thursday uh one of the main things that they wanted me to convey was there is a street project the fight to make our street safer a film being screened at matachin High School auditorium on May 10th uh 7: to 8:30 p.m. uh there is also the bicycle tour uh between Edison and matachin that will take place on May 19th Sunday uh we also discussed uh Transit Village uh near the Edison training station and how we would like it to be uh more pedestrian friendly and last but not least there was a project for bike sharing uh that was presented where uh a resident could pay $15 to the town and they will be provided with a bike that they can rent uh but we are still uh looking into it uh that's it for me on open space uh point of Lights any council members Council Council vice president yes uh first of all from Lieutenant Doug Turner the fundraiser last last Wednesday over at The Brownstone for the unity Tour was a huge success they hit the fundraising goals and um are so appreciative to all those who attended and who have cont contributed they now have enough to fund all 17 writers from Edison and the two support staff on the national stage and once again the kickoff for the um for the actual bike the bike trip is going to be May 10th that's um we say I think that's a Thursday Thursday May 10th at 7:30 a.m. at the Franklin Police Station so if you can if you can come and see them off they would really really appreciate the support also they had a an Edison ride scheduled for this coming Thursday from 9:00 to 11: to honor and remember the fallen officers at the Edison police department with a brief ceremony to follow at the police memorial but unfortunately the weather forecast is not looking favorable and they're probably going to have to reschedule they're look to next week if possible and so um I I guess if you if you are interested in that what it apparently goes to all the elementary schools and it gives the kids a chance to say hello and uh and greet uh and and greet the uh the officers and then comes back here for a press conference so um the it's to be determined when that date is for rescheduling um I also wanted to mention um that North cison softball that opening is on this coming Saturday the 13th at 10: and the Midtown softball is opening on Sunday the 14th at 10 a.m. and lastly I want to wish all of our Muslim friends a very blessed Eid thank you thank you Council vice president any other council members council president councilman press yes um quick question to my Council vice president did you give the dates for the uh Library the dates and times uh for the 95th Anniversary so so the the the big celebration is tomorrow that's tomorrow 5:30 over at the main library um followed by at 7 o'clock the regular board meeting um but it's Library week I should mention that too it's Library week starting yesterday until Saturday it's it's Library week and then there are events at the various library locations as I said B the book and bake sale um I I think there's some as I think um Sarah said there are events going on at all uh at all the libraries I don't know what other ones yeah I okay I'm just going to add to the the two the Clara Barton Library Wednesday April 10th which would be the following day at 6 PM the North Edison Branch they have on uh Thursday April 11th at 12: okay p.m um you know depends on where you live I guess but I try and make the first one okay um then there were a couple other things April 13th is Earth Day at papani April April 14th MLA at yolenis um I'm I'm reading this that somebody texted me for Points of Light Clara Barton neighborhood cleanup and Y sale is April 20th and Thomas Edison Memorial Tower cleanup is April 20th and April 18th is the Environmental committee commission meeting that would be it thank you thank you councilman pressure uh anybody else council president I just want to wish uh Happy Birthday Dr Nasser he's been volunteering a lot on his day on his days when he should be home with his family and I think they also had an anniversary he's out volunteering to help CLA Barton so thank you happy birthday out there okay uh as for me the Earth as councilman BR pointed out is Saturday April 13th at Lake papani 9-2 if rain it will be moved to mini real Community uh happy eeve that will also take place on Saturday April 20th at Lake papani from 3 to 8 p.m. and with the rain Dale Saturday April 27th uh now moving on to each department and any questions or comments so number eight from the Department of Finance a through D any questions or comments all right seeing none moving on to number nine from the Department of Health a any questions or comments all right uh as for me I just want to point this out uh this one's actually for the Stelton Community Center I know it states that's for the library uh so just so everyone uh reading this this is for the Stelton Community Center $3 million uh number 10 from the Department of Law 8 through C any questions council president yes counc on a you know again thank you for putting this on the agenda however as we all know the agenda was distributed on Friday evening uh it's going to take some time for us to review uh but again it will be for introduction uh this Wednesday uh I think you know request is for all the council please thoroughly review this ordinance it's very important that we give the same tax breaks to the residents it's not selective the way I read the subject uh but you know hopefully we do our due diligence and make sure that everyone gets a fair treatment thank you council president thank you councilman um council president I just one note um the explanate what's carried on the agenda and the explanation for B uh indicates that it's a resolution uh amending the Redevelopment plan it's actually not it's a it's a resolution referring to the planning board for review a proposed amendment to the Redevelopment plan and then don't want um ultimately when Council has to adopt a Redevelopment plan that would be done by ordinance okay thank you thank you counc counc president was he speaking of the a will be sent to the so 10B resolution amending yeah it should be a resolution referring a proposed amendment to the Redevelopment plan four and council president yes Council if I could uh for a uh the resolution for the tree fund we're looking to lower the applicants for residential yes what is it now is it $25 I think it's $500 and we're going to $300 actually it's right now for single family homes I believe Council what the councilman is referring to is there is a $25 application fee and they're not not is there currently is not a charge if on a single family lot if you remove a tree I believe so just someone should walk me through what we're amending I mean just can I can I shim in on that uh sure uh let I got a question on the floor can I just get it answered I was going to answer it oh you going to answer it yeah okay if the council president want to answer it I'm fine with them answering it but I I you're okay with the council I mean whatever works to get the answer what I think this ordinance came from and I'm not you know um I'm here to support my Council colleagues but we had a onshot situation that happened and we want to pass it to the residents and I think there's value there I'm just wondering how much lower can you lower it because we have people uh no different than you know Builders taking down some large trees if it's $25 I mean we can't lower it to 15 so it's it's $25 so I'm just trying to figure out what what gain we'll have to the residents you know it's it's not like they pull down you know 500 trees a year so just trying to find some balance to it council president okay councilman brusher yes I'm um and I'm G to have I think John help me with this one because because we've went through this um my property I have 45 trees right I don't live on an exceptionally large lot it's not Acres but I have 45 trees if at some time I want it to be like all of my neighbors and have Seven Trees right that would mean what would that be 38 trees I'm going to take down would I have to pay the $500 for the 38 trees I'm taking down or am I only paying $25 for the tree theer Mr Big or or I I don't know if that question was to me but I would defer to Mr Bell I don't know who Mr pointer is going to defer to well answer okay councilman poter if you want answer in the current ordinance any replacement tree would be subject to the $500 amount any of the replacement trees which be would be applicable if you were taking more than 25% of your total lotteries down right so so it's the there to reduce the cost um to the residents to something that's that's reasonable so it's not a $25 tree it's only a $25 tree if you're doing like one or two trees um but yes that so the premise of it was just to make it fair and equal to the residents themselves thank you Council Brer but I did uh Lou I'm not sure if you're familiar Mike did mention that there were only like two out of 1,400 cases that would really that that's my understanding and that's why I was going to defer to Mr Bell if you have more uh information on this it' be helpful good evening ladies and gentlemen the um the $25 just the application fee if they take down a healthy tree it's done by the size so any any tree that's 14 I believe to 16 inches it's a percentage of trees replaced anything after 16 inches it's a number of trees so you take a tree that's say 18 18 in uh calber I think the replacement is uh three trees then it goes to 21 it's four trees and then the amount for each tree is is $500 per tree if you put it into the tree fund if you plant it back on your site the extra trees there's no fee involved at all what Mr Brer I think is was asking was is the price or the price is going to get lowered for a resident instead of having them putting money into the tree fund at $500 a tree it would be done at $300 a tree right I don't know the math I was just looking for the math to be equal to what we what we just approved yeah and that that works whatever it is I believe it was a little excessive um to begin with and and being that I have these 40 something trees and some of them are yeah a diameter of if you took down 38 trees you'd probably paying thousands and thousands of dollars well my point maybe sorry it's a lawyer in me um there's an exemption for the from the tree replacement requirement for single family homes so if you're if you have a single family lot and you're clearing it for a new construction you have to go through and pay pay the fees if you have a single family lot unless you are going to reduce more than 25% of the existing tree cover then you're exempt completely so so if you if and I don't know how many trees you have on your lot but if you have four times 38 trees then you wouldn't be reducing it by more than 25% and you would pay nothing you'd pay $25 so the reason why there are so few of them is because it is so unusual to find somebody who is going to have an existing single family home and take down more than 25% of the tree cover on their property right most of the time the developer is already taken down all the trees so the time the correct home owner get there but but the purpose of this is not so it's the distinguish from new construction as opposed to Rich presser has a house that's been there forever and you just decide that you wanted to clear out your backyard to build a pool for instance so as long as you're you're not removing 25 more than 25% of the all of the trees on your property you don't pay a fee at all and we get very few of those so and we only have we only had two of them so and if they're dead you take you removed your 38 trees and you violated the ordinance thank you for reporting it and I'll have I investigate getting close to uh you know cleaning up all the little itchy balls and leaves are becoming an issue um but but that was all that it was was yeah that's that's cuz I knew there was I knew there was an exemption for single family homes I but that's where it kicks in and we did an analysis for you too recently I don't have the numbers on the top of my head but the numbers were Stark because it if it was commercial there's a lot of money if it was residential was very little so we've done that already for you thank you council president counc just to the administrator can we have a some data on how many trees have been removed on Residential Properties and what kind of Revenue we've received over the last five years because I I I'm just question whether based on it being 25% I don't know whether this is is going to really move the needle I think they did have a report right we we did we previously provided the numbers but follow back okay and what was the result the two at a residential so okay two people over three years out of 1400 okay okay uh moving on council president Council Point um just a couple questions if I can um for item C any inspections um what would the notice requirement be and I guess that's to our legal if possible on the ordinance it says just says adequate notice I'm not sure what the timeline is we there I pull nothing that needs to be answered immediately just something that uh if I can get clarification not I'd appreciate it and then in regards to item a on the second section with the tree fund expenditures would we be allowed to and maybe it's in regards to the erosion note that's in there but could we add in storm order Management on that I think that would be permissible I I actually don't think it would be because I once again the the the legal basis for having a tree conservation ordinance is that you are going to replace trees I don't know that storm water management would necessarily storm water management could be laying pipes for instance um I I that that really is not the that really doesn't do anything to increase or protect the let's call it the canopy which is what the Jackson Township case refers to in terms of the whole Township so um okay that that having been said if we have to fix drainage in order to preserve trees in a park that would be logical but I don't think I would add in storm water management because not this that example is kind of what I'm going going for in regard yeah but I think that that's probably adequately covered already okay thank you anything else okay that's thank you counc poter all right seeing n moving on to number 11 from the Department of planning and Engineering a through e any questions or comments council president uh just as a or I guess a clarifying question we had the tree um refund uh resolution at the last meeting that was tabled and I thought it was supposed to be put up or it was tabled to this meeting am I misunderstood on I think the engineering asked to delay it it was delayed okay I just wanted to uh make sure thank you that was it thank you sir All Right Moving On Any anybody else um I I just like to tell you that I I'm happy that I'm seeing D okay um move forward I believe this is age restricted and and I think it's nice to see um some place for people once you hit 55 that you know you don't have to live in the really big house and it can just make your life and you can still be part of the same community that you've lived in so I'm I'm very happy to see that we have that on there thank you thank you how Brer all right seeing none moving on to number 12 from the the Department of Public Works a through e any questions or comments right seeing none moving to number 13 from the Department of Water and Sewer a through b any questions or comments council president councilman pel uh this is for a this water meter replacement it says multiphase project this council did approve I believe $1.2 billion to replace the water meter and I understand this is an application for the loan are we anticipating more than what we budgeted I don't think this is anything to change with the budget right this is just the application itself understood but we already approved funds for this project so how that's going to work Council pres council president if I may ask the engineering professionals to come up and clarify the funding aspect in any additional funding sure sure yeah appliation good evening uh Dave cinc with tnm Associates um I actually I don't know why it says multiphase it's not a multiphase project the waterm replacement is a single project um no there's been no changes in the funding that was appre um approved previously this is strictly to go out for the loan for the ibank funding okay so what H okay what happens if this loan is approved what happens to the fund that is already approved um I don't know exactly how the um the finances work with the town um I know the you passed an ordinance I guess for to set the funding aside you need to do that in order to go for the ibank funding if I could just clarify the financing mechanism it is just a mechanism to reimburse us as we go through the application we're borrowing it from the I Bank not necessarily ourselves understood okay that poses another question how soon we are planning to KCK this project or is this already started because we already funded this particular project the question is how quickly do we plan to bid the project yes um so the funding application will take a couple months um once the funding appliation comes through we are ready to bid the project okay my subsequent question will be to Administration now what was the reason this Council had to approve the funds rather than we could have followed the loan application first if that would have rejected then we could have probably used the council approval to fund that particular project again I'm trying to understand the sequence here I'd have to see what the bond ordinance whether it was a bond ordinance or a capital ordinance but typically you have to you have to approve the appropriation and then you make the application to the ibank and I think that that's probably why because I think the councilman I don't want to put words in this mouth but I think your question is well when we approved borrowing the money why didn't we just approve borrowing the money from the I bank right there you go so I I think that what the the answer is is I'd have to look at the bond ordinance but it probably gave you the ability to do both uh do either um the ibank is such a much more favorable interest rate and I'm assuming what it is and I don't know whether or not that Bond ordinance wasn't exactly wasn't maybe a capital ordinance that just approved the capital expenditure subject to I apologize that's correct so the capital Bond ordinance as we usually do would just approve the Appropriations part of the funding that doesn't necessarily mean that we spend against it we want to go through the ibank get that approved and we wouldn't have to worry about that uh appropriation for the capital Bond ordinance so understood so this will be offset if this gets approved it will be offset to what we funded yes it's not an addition to it that's understood correct but how we are going to link it you know given the way again we are operating if this res this resolution goes there the loan gets approved will this Council will get an opportunity to accept the loan that is approved by the correct yeah anything that goes obviously through the bidding process which this will certainly well because of the um threshold it'll all come to the council oh the the ibank the ibank loan comes to absolutely correct this is just an application one in fact we get approved from the ibank you'll have to pass it and it might even be an ordinance but I'll have to check I believe believe it is an ordinance authorizing the ibank loan okay perfect thank you you you'll get to see it and then you'll get to see it when we been out there thank you I appreciate right anybody have a question yes so I I was under the impression and now I'm hearing that I guess my impression what was wrong when we approved that funding the first time I thought we needed to have to do the application to the ibank but I thought we were moving forward um with the project like if the ibank if the let's just say the ibank does not approve this is this something that the administration or or the water department feels is necessary and we have to do anyway um yeah the water department feels it's necessary I I I they're not the water department themselves are not here but from speaking with Bob it is a project that they feel is necessary okay so if we is and procedurally um since we approved it could we do the work while we're in the application process to the ibank and you know if they approve us that that's a great thing right and if they forgive it in the future that's even a greater thing but in the meantime if they don't do it we're still going to pay for it and we we approve the funding for it so I'm just wondering why we would wait a couple months to hear from the ibank Bank to start this work because if you want the ibank funding you have to go to the ibank and get approval to go out to bid so the ibank has to look at our design plans they have to look at our specifications there's certain language that has to be in the specifications in order for the ibank to approve us to go out to bid so if you want the funding we have to put in the application prior to going out to bid on the project could could you send me a copy of that um of the language yes sure all right thank you very much so Dave just for clarification what you're saying is we already after we got the approval you started working on it and this is part of The Next Step that we're applying to the ibank and right we we've done the design work we've done the mapping this is the next step the application in order to get the funding so we can go out to bid for a Construction contract okay uh any president just to clarify uh the ibank will not reimburse us for any funds until this loan is approved moved in in place okay so that's why councilman Brer we couldn't start the project now well that that's why I just asked for the language um I just like to read it that's all any more questions for Dave all right thank you Dave thank you okay moving on to number 14 from the township cleric A and B any questions or comments and S I also wanted to add twoo reappointments to the housing and one new member and I believe the new member should be Billy Thomas The Madam clerk will be sending out the application uh everybody uh and then we'll see that discuss that on Wednesday number 15th from the council member of the planning board councilman pointer thank you council president the uh next meeting is next Monday April 15th 7 p.m. here at Council of Chambers thank you council president all right moving on to discussion Adams Coy I had Communications already that been answered um through the ba and the administration uh we had our finance meeting uh which I was happy that we discussed uh several opportunities for future tax tax revenues and one shot tax revenues we've had in the past and I think we overall we had a great meeting so I have nothing to discuss on there I did want to ask the administration to that we can set up our next meeting some time before May 10th um I discuss future tax revenues on there economic develop are just curious where we are with that I know this council's in full support of that U so the interviews will be held shortly okay great and affordable housing I guess is there an opportunity where we can meet with the affordable housing to see what levels of housing they um can help with not just affordable housing but student housing I would refer to Legal regarding the uh question is related to student housing and affordable housing with the Housing Authority is your I think no I don't believe so the the um Housing Authority is governed by Hud guidelines and I don't think that that is uh student housing spec I think it's specifically not student housing okay what about for veteran housing we have a discussion on veteran housing once again we're talking about the Housing Authority yeah there there are HUD guidelines I don't I honestly do not know maybe it's a question for the um housing authorities attorney as to whether or not they are allowed to give uh Veterans Preference I know state law for our affordable housing that is built under our let's call it our coer obligation uh we can give a um Veterans Preference for up to 50% of the housing uh council president to the administration is it possible I could have a meeting sometime or a phone call we do now and May 10th for for affordable housing with the administration then in public safety I believe we've you know put our best step forward when it comes to the crimes that are happening in Edison I'm truly proud of this Administration stepping forward and making the statements they've had um I'm not happy to hear what has happened in our Township uh but I am truly proud of what steps we're taking uh each week um when it comes to Public Safety and public works I I had spoken to Ray from DPW and have my questions answered thank you thank you Council mcoy uh councilman vice president yes um I had asked about the um when we can expect the township seal to be back on the back wall and happily the answer is that apparently it's going to be finished on Friday and should be hung sometime next week excellent um what about uh video the video monitors are there uh supposed to be video monitors back there too um I believe so I just have to follow up on that just followed up on the seal okay all right thank you I had asked about the status of Silver Lake which is apparently just kind of dormant right now and um it was purchased in order to prevent warehousing um is there a plan to revisit to revisit that at all in terms of development for the township or is this just going to be open for a while I believe this will just be open for a while I know we're doing some um some look at the remediation and there's some surveying happening so um there's just some things we're doing on the back end that's pretty much it but nothing else is happening on there okay um and lastly on the the good news and bad news about the council protocol um the good news was that I liked from the last meeting the combined meeting was that the Public's questions were answered in a timely fashion and I'm hoping that that can continue they were answered right at the time the questions were asked I hope that that's something that will continue because it's something that the public deserves um the part that concerned me about what happened at the last meeting was during Council discussion when councilman brusher was speaking his piece the at the attorney had interrupted in the midst of things to make a correction and it's all well and good that the attorney wants to make a correction how ever that correction in my view should wait until the councilman is finished speaking I think he deserves I think we all deserve that and I would ask that in the future if there are any corrections to be made that that wait until a council member has finished speaking thank you very much thank you Council vice president uh council member Patel thank you council president uh before I go to my discussion items here I have a simple question here who prints this list because what I sent Sherl to you versus what I see here is completely different in fact last time I requested very clearly please print this as ease do not modify because I have to go back to the email and just check you know what that means or what the question is bullet points are the subject of topic not necessarily the whole questions the questions were meant for were forwarded to okay so these are not the question I will read the first one and you can figure it that's all I'm listing is the bullet point not that many question very first one is the solar power flashing light request the the original request I made was for the Calvert and grow intersection all School intersections dangerous intersections around the high density or high traffic neighborhood there is no question here it's a plain bullet point so if I if you look at here is solar power flashlight what that means it's a complete disconnect what I meant versus what is being here the reason I'm bringing this one is so the resident who is probably may not be attending the council meeting just reading they should understand what that means you know what what the topic of discussion is the topic of discussion is not the solar power flashlight but also the location of those uh my question here is on that Sonia I know that you know we approved some funds and what I heard the comment brief comment by DPW director that was exclusively for the the school intersections initially initially correct so we just we are probably you know this Wednesday we will be approving $280,000 worth of snow plow and Spreader parts accessories winter is over so how we are prioritizing the quality of life things because this this is really important for residents uh I understand we are moving on the bigger projects but these are equally important so I don't why there is no priority on some of these line atems like why can't we purchase instead of 3050 uh just for clarification purposes I did get the detailed request in terms of the subject matter so regarding the Calver Grover intersection um the so previously the council proved about 300,000 for the fles so we need additional Capital funding which would be part of the 2024 um that said we don't you know once we get the budget adopted and then a capital Bond ordinance then we can certainly continue to address so that's it's not necessarily a matter of how we're prioritizing because we certainly are especially with the schools but we do need additional funding because we just allocated up a portion of that to address the immediate need of the schools understood again question is very simple right and that's where I'm going to come back on the glendel property will be paying close to half a million dollar interest on on that particular property for 2024 was that real priority for us to purchase without any plan that becomes questionable so it's I don't think it's a question of uh your funding we can easily Bond a million dollar for this flashlight if that that's really and because it's a critical and that's what I said that we need to put some of the projects in the high priority it's a quality of life issue if we keep waiting for a budget again I don't know I was told in February we are in ail when that budget will come when it will be approved when uh you know the order will be placed in when they will be you know we'll receive and when we're going to install those again this is 6 months old thing and I don't know why we were not able to prioritize in last 6 months hey you know because I think this Council has probably approved more than $40 million worth of bonds this could have been easily one line atem here I don't know why there is a lack of priority here but I will leave it to your good judgment there and I'll be very keen to understand where the schedule of those 30 flashlight and where they are going I'll be I'll be looking for that in next council meeting I believe that was provided to you a couple meetings ago but I'll recirculate it not the schedule like where they will be put in and 35 locations you mentioned correct correct location and the timing sure I'll recirculate it thank you uh gr Avenue 25 miles an hour I Know Chief dudash gave a month ago the status saying hey this is done and this exactly I told this Council if you have blocked that one section not letting it 25 M an hour we would be still talking here that's the reason you know we keep kicking can down the road I don't know where is the hold up I think it's with the engineering department that's why I heard last time it it went from traffic to engineering or where it went and I don't know why it would take one month to get get an approval on this Council P if I could just defer to uh deputy chief dud Dash and our engineer is here Mr picillo good evening everybody um so actually yes the the study was completed um I have a memorandum here from Lieutenant Turner uh it is um in concert with the engineering department as well and the findings were that the 25 um should remain in place along Long Grove Avenue would there's no ordinance yet what's that I'm sorry you're saying 25 should remain or 35 should remain 25 oh my my mistake I apologize the 35 should remain in place the 25 for that short distance that was already done 35 for the remainder of Grove Avenue will remain in effect according to what the study showed uh that was reviewed Again by the engineering department okay will you be able to share that study to this Council because that's exactly the reason you know we we we were saying it just hold up let's do the whole study would have been again back to square now right now let's look at the small on so at least we got small section of I I can certainly share this memorandum and there is statistical data that's attached to it that was created during the study absolutely thank you sir next one is glendel property Silver Lake you know my Council colleague Council vice president covered on that but my question is again goes back to the finance through council president close to half a million dollar will be paying the the interest rate on this particular property in 2024 what's the take on this you know how soon or how quick we can move forward I know we have money we we budgeted we funded but this is a throwaway money $25,000 $50,000 a month doing nothing that $50,000 I could have used for the solar light that I was just talking about so what's your plan house soon you think will'll have something to this Council in terms of the concept plan or any type of uh the administration's Vision on particular gr property sure so prior to prior to let's say a vision plan setting uh what we are looking at is the remediation portion of that property as well as uh provi having a survey completed which is in the works so that in itself does take quite a bit of time so you're telling me the survey was not done done when we purchase this property so we're doing a survey um with the totality of the area that's covered there's also a portion and I can certainly just um defer to Legal there's a portion of the property that is of question so we're completing the survey to include everything correct and and not you know not not to go into items that maybe are better for a closed session there is litigation with the adjoining property owner so that is that is part and parcel of this also that has to resolve itself uh for us to understand what the plan is going forward so that that that is a part of it I wouldn't want to leave this discussion without Council and and Council has some familiarity with that so um I I just wanted to make sure everybody understood thank you attorney in fact you know you pointing that out this Council was well aware a potential lawsuit and that's where my question came in why there was a rush to close the property and now we are again on a back foot and I will not talk about the lawsuit but we are on a back foot we are spending $50,000 a month in interest we have no control on the property I don't know how many how long it's going to take for the lawsuit how long it going to take for remediation how long it is going to take for the survey but this year the taxpayers are going to continue to take the burn of this $50,000 a month so and as a practical matter I agree with you I mean obviously it's um the the whatever interest we're paying on the money is important however in order for us to preserve the property from development we had to close when we closed because if we didn't then we would have been faced with the fact that there was a development application that was pending so if we could have asked and received the consent of the property owner to not move forward with his application while we worked out the litigation with the adjoining property owner we certainly made that request it was denied um they actually waited a pretty long time before we got to a point where we um you know got to a price and were able to close um so so I I do I do understand what the Shan councilman but but if in a perfect world we would have gotten them to to stand down and then we would have fought the litigation and then we would have come back and closed on the property and saved the interest but as you can imagine the property owner said well if you don't want me to develop this property you're going to need to take take it off our hands now and that's why we were kind of forced to do it um but but all of those things were all part of the consideration and I I I do understand your desire to get this process moving forward and certainly I think the administration shares that concern I I I I understand the complexity of the issue here but again I'm not really happy again the way I look at at the net bug to the taxpayers what it's going to hit versus what they are getting is not really worth but I'll I'll will end the converstion there uh reopen Street 2023 2024 I received a short memo on that yes you know we are aware I'll be looking for the list the reason I say that this Township has an ordinance that those roads must be restored once the work is done and I can guarantee you out of 30 odd roads that you are talking most of those Road the work is done so who is responsible to enforce the restoration of the road I know if you look at the embo Avenue 6 months look at the planfield Avenue maybe 8 months it's still there so how do we enforce again is there a way for us to penalize the utility company or what's the way out for us well if if somebody is recalcitrant and they really don't if we order them to to do the repair and they don't do it we I'm not sure about the utility companies Hank may know better than I do but people take out Road opening permits and bonds that we could we could actually go against but we could certainly notice people that we could forfeit their bonds if we were going to do it so uh engineering would probably know better about what the process is is that I don't know what it specifically is to take engine um I don't know you want to ask the engineer maybe he would know yep and in fact you know on this counil Das even I have said that if you have to raise the bond money for utility companies so it be so at least we can have them surrender and repay those road if they're not willing to do that uh which part would you like me to you can first what do you what do we do if and and see if I can take you through what do we do in if there are are people out there there's 25 or 30 roads that the work has been completed and they haven't and they haven't done the restoration how was that tracked how was that enforced the list is tracked through DPW who receives the permits uh the applicant typically informs DPW when they are complete with the work uh with utility work that typically involves uh the main installation uh the existing main being decommissioned and all the utility tie-ins to the residents that last part is the one that typically takes the longest uh with the main installation it's also typically a 90-day settlement period uh once an entire neighborhood is done that's typically when we set up a meeting we DPW engineering and the utility to meet and walk the roads but the utilities are responsible for informing us when they are completed with the projects so do we have any bonds uh against the utilities work the utilities are typically bonded with the BPU and not directly with with the township correct but but the and I and and I apologize I didn't get a chance to say that so so the utilities because they're they're regulated utilities they don't have to postp on individually but other people that are non-regulated utilities do so a developer who's just putting in sewer pipes for instance they would place a bond they would have to place a bond but what the recourse for the utility company to restore the roads they typically come back and restore the roads within the last I would say several years they have been more responsive to restoring the roads but like I had previously said they typically do entire neighborhoods at once not a road at a time I think if you look at the embo Avenue I don't think any active work there it is being done for a long time look at the planfield Avenue Council president maybe further down the road but half of I can when you have moment I can explain M boy Avenue plf Avenue pretty much done within the Edison town again I'm not talking about when it crosss to the other town I'm talking very specific to our ordinance within Edison Township that is a County Road sir and that is govern that has to be handled by the county not the township I completely agree at the same time those roads resides in Edison Township so these ordinance still applicable to those roads not no sir I def the attorney so if you're going to open a County Road you get a and you get a you get the a Road opening permit from the county we don't have jurisdiction over the county road so we the county is the one who permits and the county one is the one who follows up that having been said there's no reason in the world because we have a good working relationship with the County engineering department that we couldn't say we have 10 locations on Amboy you know what's the status of them I'm sure engineering can do that so so how how we can handle this if you're saying that this is County we don't get involved but the rad are not in good shape but that's our safety issue and that's my last point is quality of life see as a taxpayer they don't care it is a state road or County Road or Town Road they care about the town they care about their roads they care about their driving if the roads are not safe for them to drive as a taxpayer where they're going to reach out they're going to reach out to the council council is going to to reach out to Administration how we figure it out it's internal logistic for us whether we reach out to County reach reach out to state but we need to restore those roads regardless and we are responsible to at least answer our taxpayers I can't raise my hand saying hey this is County Road I'm not responsible I can't say that so what what's the mechanism if we have to put some ordinance here or some legislation here we'll be happy to do that but we need to find a solution out of it the the answer is is that under state law we don't have any ability to regulate anything that happens on a county road so it is the county um there's not a whole lot we can do about it other than the fact that because we're you know Sister governments let's call it that the county and and the town we can certainly reach out to them and push them and find out what the what the story is but you can't pass an ordinance that would require a Road opening permit for instance on a County Road the county would just ignore it no I'm not talking about the road opening permit I'm talking about the restoration of those roads right but it's part of but it's part of the county you know the count I mean as a practical matter the county could dig up a county road tomorrow and there's not a whole lot that we can do about it to make them restore it right it's a county road we it's it's the it's all part and pars of the of the Road opening process I I don't know how else to describe it they control the county roads they could close them if they wanted to not that they would but they could we can reach out to the county and ask from the status well that's that's a different story that's that's no we definitely have to reach out but I will agree to disagree with our that County can dig up a road and they can do now there are Roads connecting to the county roads the resident the safety you know that's why we have the police officers around those roads not on the county road like o Road we have the Edison police vehicle when the construction is going on they're monitoring there we are responsible for the safety of our residents so regardless you know whose work it is we probably get paid for it so it is our job to make sure that we coordinate with County or with the state and get that work done my again the whole idea is find a mechanism to reach out to get that thing done for the residents of course I think council president of ha so with regard to specifically uh plane field or any County Road they actually um keep Brian and I pretty much in the loop when they're getting ready to do certain County Roads I can certainly provide that information so that you're aware ahead of time which county roads are being dealt with um during the winter months when the gas company was finishing up that entire project we were told that once the plants were open and they were going back to address the their Road Improvement projects that this the planfield road would then be restored however being that it's pcng I'm sure they're going to have to do a little more work other than themselves doing their due diligence because it is pscg related work so Brian correct me if I'm wrong because it's pscg they have a certain time where they wait to do the restoration they typically want to wait minimum of a 90day settlement period um I am not 100% familiar with the plane field AV project in terms of if there's uh tie-ins to Residents off that line as well like I said previously that sometimes delays the restoration because if you have one resident that's a hold out you just delay the paving on the whole project correct so uh that said I will reach out to the County Administration um they get back to me pretty fairly quickly so I will let you all know exactly what the status is and if there's more specific areas please don't um hesitate to let me know that too thank you thank you son next one is you know tree ordinance we have it uh Woodside pool I was looking for the supporting application I know the resolution is resigned it's not on the agenda it's going to come back so before it come back you know Sonia if you can please give me the the supporting documents so we this council is ready the zoning application approval the number of trees they were cut the number of trees they are planted and the trees actually at site before the agenda uh the resolution comes to this Council then my next one is the tax discussion uh again we went back and forth with this particular line item we all know Edison Township is growing there are many people who are extending their houses uh ask was very simple that is there a formula that tax assessor is using to calculate the property tax uh I give the example uh and again there was a detailed email that was sent out reasoning behind the tax valuation for that particular property I can also come up with the comparable sell in that neighborhood that would reduce the tax substantially so we can't go with that particular mechanism of picking and choosing the comparable that will raise the property tax of a resident which is good for the town but the same time we need to come up with some sort of a standard within that a mile uh radius look at all the houses which are similar not the one that are sold but which exist there in a similar capacity or in a similar structure and their tax itate and then probably we can look at that and I can I want you to send the followup email but I stopped for this council meeting to understand if there is any way we can come up with some sort of a formula if it is a 500 ft completely brand new with the foundation apply X formula if some renovation apply y formula that would be much easy to help and explain the resident rather saying go and apply for go and go for the your tax appeal not not a nice answer on that but I'll send you the separate information on that and let's see if we can come up with something on that the next one is it is not HOA policy this is about the HOA and that's what you know council president I said you know probably we need to print what it is it says a tax treatment to HOA and service offer to HOAs uh Sonia if you remember I did ask the list of all HOAs the the fees that we reimburse year or year for each HOA and what services we offer and their tax treatment and I'll be very specific giving the examples once you give me the information I can compare the single family house tax treatment versus the condo or the townhouse tax treatment and you will see big difference the hoad I would say the town houses and the condos are much more their tax rate net net tax rate is much much higher compared to the single family houses uh compared to what the services we provide we don't don't provide Landscaping the snow removal the lights uh trash removal nothing like that however our tax rate is different I know can you might be thinking the tax impact on the budget but that's very important because we we we probably we have thousands and thousands of residents and this is not the sustainable model going forward so we need to come up with some sort of a I would say again the process to normalize that tax rate the way probably bab did with the uh the state did with the bard of in terms of the uh school funding but I will leave it there I will wait for the list of all H and then I'll give very specific example for one bedroom this is the tax here are the services offered for two bedroom here is the townhous here is the tax these are the services offered here is a three-bedroom here's a tax and then I will give the comparative single family houses within the same ZIP code or within the same uh neighborhood and then you will see what the impact is but once you give me the list I will be able to provide you uh that detailed information C council president I mean I don't know if you want me to answer now or wait you can wait but I need to get the list first okay all the all H just a point of clarification though the there there is a list of the associations that we maintain um for snow lights removal it's based on linear feet so there's a calculation um however I I'm trying to understand your analysis based on the single family homes and HOA which are comparably two different housing understood but they if the tax rate goes by the valuation the value of your property and that's where you know it will be more dialogue with Ken on the tax front the tax rates are applied based on the formula you have the county state tax rate you have the school T School tax rate you have the town ship within the township you have the split there including for the trash removal or the garbage removal and if you look at in totality the single family house what that person pays because the valuation of that property is based on the structure as well as the land whereas for HOA there is no land per se for that if you don't mind can legal answer some of those questions or no sure so we there's the way in which we assess properties and tax them the property tax is constitutional in New Jersey in fact the tax assessor is deemed as a matter of state law to be an agent of the state legislature for the purposes of applying the tax there is you know 75 years of case law in which it says that properties have to be assessed pursuant through uniform standards what you're suggesting here and I'm not I'm not trying to suggest what's reasonable or moral or fair or not fair frankly we don't have any ability first I couldn't tell the tax assessor to change the way she assess this property if I wanted to she answers to the county tax board the council doesn't have the ability to do that and I don't I I I mean we I I would like to hear I'd like to get you the information and hear what your comments are and I think we can discuss it further but I just want to understand the param you understand the parameters we can't just like for instance you said well don't compare the sales of property but compare what everybody else is paying in taxes and then and then see whether or not that's fair the answer is that's specifically what the tax assessor is not allowed to do she doesn't have the ability to do that that PE you know having handled thousands of tax appeals probably hundreds of them for this Township we have property owners that come in all the time and say well my neighbor is paying $1,000 in taxes and I'm paying $113,000 in taxes and therefore I want my tax appeal granted the answer is the County Tax Board always says the same thing how much you pay in taxes how much they pay in taxes doesn't mean anything we only deal with you know there's three basic ways for you to assess real property one of which is comparable sales one of which is the cost approach um the third one is the income approach which doesn't apply to single family homes those are only the only recognized ways that tax assessors are allowed to assess property so I would be interest this is a by the way fascinating discussion um one that I've been kind of in the midle middle of for maybe 45 years now since my time working in the legislature I'd like to get you that information I'd like to hear what you have to say um but I I just want you to know that you know you're this is going to be a very intellectual discussion as a practical matter I could we could pass every ordinance in the world or I could call it or you could call the tax assess and yell at her and tell her what to do and we don't have any ability to do that unless the county tax report tells her to do something so but we're on by the way we're happy to go on this journey with you though uh I always like to do that I appreciate but the idea is not to change the TRU uh tax structure by the way the discussion is will be derived in a different way the formula that is used in 1950 or 1960 to reimburse the HOA is still the same different story but that's where it will come back to once you look compare the tax treatment that's where I want to hit the that formula and that's where I wanted to have that conversation yeah thank you perfect and the second one is I'm not looking at the house next to it compare I'm looking at the tax uh sell up the property within Last 5 Years or 3 years to compare within that neighborhood so just to be the clear and that's the example I wanted to pass on okay next one is the public safety I know this could be a conf it's not really confidential report the crime rate report month or month 22 23 24 the reason as that I can go to the State website and I can pull that report but if there is any handy report that we can probably distribute to the council not going in a public but at least for our threee reports they were sent to the Public Safety Committee and I know that they're trying to coordinate a meeting I don't want to overstep and Report something that uh the chair may want to so those were provided to the Public Safety Committee okay so how this going to work if there's a question raised by the councilman it goes to the committee is the committee is going to distribute to the council we will once we're done with the thorough uh okay if you guys need I can pull the report from the state and I can distribute it too there is nothing secret about this if you have pulled in the same way so I I failed to understand why it cannot be socialized within the council member I'll look forward for that report the 2024 Paving list I believe it is still in process of getting finalized the 2024 list has not been finalized as there is no camp Bond ordinance yet to attribute to it okay so that's where my question comes in so in 2022 we paved the road using 2021 Bond that's correct I believe it was may have been a combination because we passed the budget all the way in September so probably technically we should have been using 2021 in 2022 2022 in 2023 23 ORD uh the cap Capital expense will be used in 2024 we did approve in 2023 for the road paving but councilman PTI we have a 2023 2023 list with the capital Bond and ordinance that relates to it and that is going to get done so 2024 is completely separate there's a separate Bond ordinance okay let me backtrack the fund that was approved in 2021 when lank was may we spend that money in 2022 for road paving is that true let me just check with the uh engineering that's my understanding we normally don't because we have passed the budget in right in November but Paving was done in September October or in June July so where is that tying together I want to really get to the bottom of this so just point of clarification as I mentioned so typically we pave after the funding's been approved so it happened after so 2021 happened in 2022 that was your question correct okay so did we use the funds Capital funds for road paving from 2021 into 2022 or we had a separate there they are separate Bond ordinances so every year we just just point of clarification 2021 Bond paid for 2021 list 2022 Bond paid for 2022 list correct okay so then 2023 Bond paid 2023 list we haven't past 2024 so we're going to be doing that I I'll be shocked if that's true here so what I will be looking is 2021 approved money and the list of the roads they were paved in 2021 using that money again he's shaking no he's saying no no the 2021 funds uh funded the work that was actually done in 2022 it may have been carried over some projects into 2023 that's un yeah but it follows a year at least subsequent so it goes in next year but the the list is still from the 2021 exactly correct yeah my answer to that exactly stays consistent so the list will come in whatever the list we call that let me just let me clarify this 2021 list and the bond are one but the work was completed in 2022 correct okay and that's the list I'm looking for 2021 fund that were approved in 2021 but was spent in 2022 and the list attached to that so we we are looking 21 22 23 and 23 funds we already approved but with the 2020 3 list that's going to be executed in 2024 so 2023 budget and the I mean the bond and the list is what we we're currently working on so what they're looking for is the 2023 list okay which was provided uh we provided a completed list of 2022 to the council as well as the 2023 list okay so there's no 2024 list as of yet so there's no 2024 list okay so 2023 list will be paved in 2024 correct yes correct where is that list that was provided to the council probably about a month ago I can certainly recirculate it again because there won't be 2024 list until next year oh we're hoping to have that with the budget adoption and a capital Bond ordinance at the second half of the Year okay again that's where the problem comes in 2023 money and 2023 list that has to be executed in 2024 so you already have the money in hand you already have the list those roads needs to be paved in 2024 I don't know why we are waiting for the funds to get that work started I think it's the weather we're just calling it a 2023 list the question is why are we waiting is it because of the weather WEA the they just opened up the uh plants no I heard budget so that's where I was no I think there was a confusion it's a compounding question so if we could just kind of uh layer I think I think the confusion was the 24 list is what is listed here and what you're referring to is the 2023 list but the work is going to be hasn't started because of the weather correct but it should be started and we do have the list I can I'm sure she can circulate we're currently working on a 2024 list correct but it has nothing to do with this year's budget that's just want to make it clear correct okay thank you and rest of the quality of life issues I did Cover especially uh the roads where the top one the we need to start looking at all sidewalks around the schools around the uh the busy intersections uh I believe we have cdbg funds we might have to start looking at and spending that money if you know there is an opportunity for us to replace some of the sidewalks that are not safe uh let's use the money uh and put that in in the work uh please review all the parks the even the old Parks uh there is one I believe bit rce Park it's in very bad shape you know needs to be someone needs to go there and clean that again again quality of life weather is getting better people are going to go in Parks so not the one they were redone recently but the one they were redone in 2021 2020 those are not that bad but they needs to be cleaned up they need to be maintained and make sure that we revisit because weather is getting better and I do have few emails from various folks complaining about that yes please follow let me know about those thank you council president okay counc Brasher uh okay uh clarification on safety uh the station we have on Oak Tree Road I I know I talked about the one in rident Center that's not manned we have a station on Oak Tree Road and uh Somebody went up there and reported back to me that there's no one in the command station um again that's more of a safety issue um if it's if it's unmanned because you're going there a seek um help and you're actually putting yourself in danger so I'd recommend that we do put somebody there since since we still had um quite a bit of money left over from last year the other was the I spoke to the business administrator as to maybe what kind of ideas I did have um and one of the ideas um that came up and it's not my idea it's been done by many many communities um they call it like a broken window um effect and where I'm going with that is you know maybe if we took care of this broken window stuff that the things that make the town look deteriorated um it could be better like if we could have the administration wanting to remove graffiti let's say around town um within a 24-hour time period or a 48h hour time period um irreg regardless of and and the residents and the council uh we've all heard that certain things are by the state and certain things are by the county and certain things are by the township but when we go to this public safety and this broken window type thing you know to me the graffiti whether belongs to the the state maybe it's on a bridge that the state has um as the administration or as the mayor um irregardless of of who it belongs to I believe we should take care of this um so so that would be something I'd like to see moving forward um because I've heard some of this Graffiti's been up for over a year around town um if the administration needs me to tell them where it is you know I can put a thing on Facebook because that's where I seem to get my um quite a bit of news actually um I could do that but I prefer for them just to handle it and take care of it if that's possible um the public Advocate um just like to say you know I believe in it and um I I think it's something that we need um basically to make a a case Proclamation um I'd like to do this Proclamation and I I sent a bunch of information to my Council colleagues with some links and I I'd like to speak to them um this week I'll reach out to them to see what their their feelings are I mean I I think this is a a good thing for somebody that's actually been very good to our town Amazon we we did look at certain things um I I did look at the sound study and while it was going on the residents told me that um it was a little quieter down there um a lot of the sound study did come in you know under the deciel level I mean barely under the decel level but but it did and what that tells me is that Amazon has the ability to be a good neighbor and and I'm not talking about donating candy um for our trunker treats right I'm not talking about donating money for us to have parties or anything here but but them as a business have the ability to be good neighbors and I'm wondering if I could get a contact somebody from Amazon that the people on this committee could sit with and maybe find out that if they could do it on one day why they can't do it for the other 364 days so if the administration can get us a contact at Amazon um that we can meet with um I know you have a number because you obviously get donations right so you got to call somebody there to get somebody um so whoever got the donations actually has a number and I'm not calling for donations I'm asking them to be a good neighbor because if they can't be a good neighbor I'd like to ask my Council colleagues not to accept what what I'll call almost like blood donations you know where we're accepting donations from an organization that's upsetting some of our neighbors and and our residents um and and it's to make us feel good so I don't think as a community I don't think we should be accepting of that uh type of donation unless they can be that good neighbor and work with us on it so if the administration can get me a number from whoever got the donations I can certainly I believe there was the last contact with um the Amazon committee there was a change in management they and everyone was in there um is that person you're looking get to they they got someone new is from what I hear so if we can just get whoever that is or or whoever ever we got the uh you know trunk or tree candies from or whoever that contact was if we can just get that that that would help um tree ordinance um great like to see that oh an update um and and I'm not sure that that you looked at any of this but our youth sports money right we talked about that to make sure that it's uh fairly funded with all of our youth sports um cuz we had the one issue with the soccer that was kind of underfunded um if we went by the the formula that we had did the administration get to review that as of VI yet I believe this was in part of our recreation department so I will follow up with them to see what the calculation update has been all right thank you uh sprinkler systems um this goes back to Public Safety um I'm looking for the reports for the sprinklers for our Township buildings and the fire alarms for our Township buildings and um the reason why why I asked for this was we had the senior center that we we had issues and then once I asked for these reports and I got the reports I guess it was evident enough that that Public Safety deemed that we had to shut down the community center at that point um for public safety reasons so I'd like to get these reports for these buildings and I I believe I've received them I've received our fire inspection reports but I need these two to complete the the package campaign Finance reform um I I've just but in reading the news I seen that um our governor um basically raises a certain amount of money and then the state contributes to his campaign um which I believe is a good thing you know and and because the way we're structured now I don't know I mean I I have questions as to why we approve things like the containers or or the um website design there's certain things that are just grossly overstated and and I think if there was a way that the public could fund this um maybe like New York City but I think the council should look into some sort of campaign Finance form um you know just to kind of keep everything on the up and up um I do know that we're going down this where the line is remove thing and that's supposed to help people supposedly but Edison's so large you do need financing so that was something I I'd like to continue to look into and see if my colleagues would look into that also um and finally uh the lawyer um our lawyer isn't here today um that I'd like to speak to about the items that I have listed so I'll just hold them for our next meeting but I I will say this though um at our last meeting I did ask for a closed session for the Glendale property and we haven't had it so at the next meeting you know I mean I'm going to have to bring the documents I guess because I got my news from Facebook not from the administration right not from Council president not from our attorney but I found out through Facebook about a lawsuit it's sad when a councilman isn't given the information and then when he asked for a closed session so maybe we could have a discussion about this because I don't want to jeopardize it um by speaking out in public that should have happened so so I haven't received anything on the lawsuit except for whatever somebody posted on Facebook so I don't know if the lawsuit's real or not um I did hear that we had problems legally at the beginning so um again I I'm requesting the do doents number one and then number two a closed session to discuss like well how did we get here um which goes back to councilman ble where we were talking where he was talking earlier about it so you know either we're going to do this in closed session or it's going to be done by the public and I prefer really to do it in close session if possible um but that would that would be it for uh my discussion items today thank you are you open sure if the council doesn't mind we can do a close session now and take care of this issue um may I get a motion to do a close session I'll make motion by councilman brusher a second I'll second all right motion by councilman Brer second by councilman pointer uh the councils will go to close session uh at 7:40 so are when when you come back are you going to do any take e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e it's not real all right the meeting is back in session it's 8:08 p.m. can I get a motion to a motion to reconvene motion to reconvene second so I have a motion to reconvene by councilman pel second by Council vice president can I get a motion to adjourn motion to adjourn second a motion to adjourn by councilman Patel second by Council vice president all all in favor all right let's go home e