Adequate notice of the August 14th, 2025 regular meeting of the township committee has been provided in accordance with the open public meetings act by posting written notice and agenda of the meeting on a bulletin board the municipal building 1000 route 10 township of Hannover by hand delivering
mailing faxing such notice to the following newspapers. Morris County Gilly Record Store Ledger Hunter Eagle and by following the scene with the township clerk. Roll call. Committeeman Cahill here. Committas here. Command Francioli here. Command Committee Man Mahalo here.
Mayor Gallagher here. Five members in attendance. If you would please join us for the pledge of allegiance and please remain standing for our prayer led by Deputy Mayor Mike Talco. I pledge algiance to the flag of the
United States of America and to the stands one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Almighty God, please watch over and guide this governing body with an abundance of
wisdom and understanding to help make the best decisions for our residents. Please bless our first responders and township volunteers who help keep us all safe. Also bless our township employees and residents. Lastly, please let us pray for the men and women of the US Armed Forces who stand vigil
over us always. Amen. Thank you, Mike. [Music] Good evening everyone. Uh tonight we have a presentation. It's going to be a 15minute presentation regarding the property known as 41 Richdale Avenue.
I'd like to note for the record that no action will be taken by the governing body. This is only a presentation this evening. Um if you want Okay. After the presentation, we're going to open up to the public,
but because we have so many people here and we want to hear from everybody from the public because we are in our stage of doing our due diligence and I have personally spoke uh have spoken to many of our residents in township and uh what we'd like to do is have each person take
one minute to ask a question or to voice a concern and from there We're going to have Christa, our clerk, write down the question or the concern, and that will go in our record and be part of our due
diligence to move forward to help create the best product that we actually can in that area of Hanover Township. I will go over a short um guideline before we go to the public, but if you would like to take the floor for 15 minutes, Mr. Ford, and make your presentation, that'd be
great. Thank you. Thank you. Good evening, mayor and members of the township committee. Thank you very much for affording us the opportunity to make a presentation tonight. I understand we have 15 minutes, so I'm just going to get through it. Billy Hamilton's going to bring you through the details of our
presentation. I'm just going to give you a general background. Um, the property, uh, as we all know, was approved for 160 unit assisted living project, which generated 19 affordable housing units. It was at a density of 36 units per uh,
acres. And due to market conditions and generally what's happening in the industry alone, especially with the assisted living, there is no more market for the assisted living. Um, as a matter of fact, our joint venture partner had filed bankruptcy on the property. So,
here we are. um our project that we're presenting with uh to you this evening generally the feedback that I've gotten for the last few months that I've been trying to get public hearing and some of the people I've spoken with in the town
is that height height uh mass of the building um traffic use number of units and um again massing of the building and and buffers. So, Bill Billy Hamilton will bring you through our presentation,
but what we're here tonight is to present the 125 unit plan to which 20 20% or 25 of the 125 units will uh fulfill go to uh your fourth round obligation in affordable housing. We are
proposing that the 25 units all be uh one-bedroom age restricted senior units. Um, the fourth round allows the municipality to construct 30% of their obligation for
senior affordable housing. That's changed under the third round. The third round was 20%. Joe, can I interred copies and uh if anybody would like to look at this while Joe is speaking and if you want to take a good look and pass them around, it might be helpful. Okay.
Sorry, Joe. Okay. Uh, so um, of the 125 units, 25 or 20% were age restricted senior affordable units, as I mentioned earlier, you're allowed to do increase it to 30% of your obligation up from 20% under the third round. Um the fourth
round requires 20% of the total number of units to be affordable. Um where uh the project stands today. Uh mayor um you and I spoke a number of times and uh we I I hope you you've driven by the site and you see that all the buildings
have been demolished. We pulled a demolition permit uh completed the demolition of the units. Now there's cleanup of the site. There's concrete that we're crushing. We don't want to crush the concrete uh in warm weather. We were going to wait till the weather changes so that we control the dust
better, that kind of thing. So that's why you'll see stock piles of concrete. Um so we've demolished the building. We've raised the building. We all know that there was a lot of issues there. Uh and so I think that we've addressed them by pulling a demolition permit. I I I thank the committee helping expedite
that uh permit. Um, with regards to our proposal, it obviously uh or not so obvious, we are requesting that the property be designated in an area in need of redevelopment. I'm happy to report that the well, you know better than I that the planning board has
affirmed the blight study. The township committee has adopted the blight study. So, the next step would be developing a plan. And that's what we're here to make a presentation, get feedback, and work with the committee. no different than we've had on our other projects in the
past in handover. It's actually to come up with a plan that hopefully satisfies the committee, the residents, and handover alike. So, uh, with that being said, just a couple things um that's important to note. We all know it's it's
a u it's an assemblage of of three lots. Uh, currently the property taxes that are being generated by the property are $54,000. Our proposal would generate $470,000 in taxes, up almost nine times more than
currently is uh generated. Um with the affordable units being senior um that does not require us to build one, two, and threebedroom units as you would for a family. So they would all be onebedroom and no children obviously
under the age of 18 can live there. And we are flexible with the age. If you don't like 55, we can start at 62. It makes no difference. Um I'm seeing in in other towns like I built in Mars Plains, the average age of the senior affordables are well above 62 years old.
Um as I said, Billy will get into it. We'll talk we'll talk about the mass, the height, and hopefully uh address the concerns of u the residents and and the board. With that being said, um I'll let Billy take it from there.
Thank you, Joe. Good evening, everyone. Um, I'd like to talk a little bit first about describing what we've proposed here and how it relates really to uh the approved Monarch plan for the site. you know, we because we've tried to keep uh many of the elements of the approved
plan, but at the same time, there's a couple improvements we think which we should um which we should point out uh both to the committee and to the public. Uh the first is what Joe mentioned with regard to the building massing. Um originally it was approved as a
threetory structure. Um and now we've come back with a three and onetory structure. So the exposure on Ridgedale Avenue in the two wings that are 60 foot wide uh so that's 120 foot total those
are the threetory wings on the project. This connection here is a one-story connection. So the actual mass of the building is is quite a bit less than what was originally approved uh for the Monarch product. And what what we what
I've developed here is a exhibit if you would excuse me where we superimposed the uh approved outline in blue on uh this uh concept plan. Uh and you as you can see the
existing building has a greater exposure number one on Rdale it has a greater exposure back to the um back to the back of the site although there are some differences in terms of uh the configuration of the
building. Um but again it's a you know it's the same type of building. It's a central courtyard. The courtyard's a little bigger on what we're proposing. Um, in terms of parking, we uh meet the RSI
standards uh for this type of use, which is 1.8 uh parking spaces per unit for one bedroom. Um 2.0 for a twobedroom and 2.3 for a 3bedroom. Um because these are age
restricted senior units, we have allocated one space uh per unit for the senior units and we believe that we meet the RSI stand. Stop you for a second, please. Can you back Yeah. Can you back that up so we can all see it? I'm sorry.
We're we're flying blind up here. Okay. Go ahead. Is that better? There you go, Mike. I blame you for that. Um, just to repeat a little bit, the blue that you see here is the approved
Monarch plan. How's that? Uh, the blue is the approved Monarch uh footprint. And as you can see, it's somewhat similar to what we're proposing this evening, although it's somewhat more enlarged with respect to the number
of stories and the exposure to Richdale Avenue. Um, we meet the standard with regard to parking, although I must say that RSIs from our experience is significantly more uh than these um
these projects uh uh these projects take. Uh, Mr. 4G owners built many of these um in many towns throughout New Jersey. Um and we're going to present data to your professionals at some point uh to you know substantiate exactly the
parking that we're proposing. Um and that's important because that limits the impervious coverage on the site and allows us to increase landscaping uh and buffering to the neighbors. Um the height of the building is roughly
60 ft. 60 ft is in your code. Um, and that's what was approved on the independent and assisted living project. We are going to be under that with this project. The, uh, approved project had a, uh, a mansered roof. Um, we're coming
in with a flat roof. We have a rendering that we're going to show you that is not, um, it's not specifically this this this layout, but it does give you a flavor um, for what the project might look like. Um,
and I will get that right now. Now, this is a I'm going to use actually this one. Um, this is a view of a threestory product um that we were I'm sorry I did that again. Uh, a
three-story product that we were uh investigating. The only difference between this and what we're proposing this evening is we have that one-story connection uh within the courtyard so that it it uh uh ex it defines the
courtyard and encompasses the the courtyard area. Um as you can see we still have the landscaping that's proposed along Richedale. We have a fencing and ornamental um trees and lighting. Um, as such, uh,
the layout is the same in that there's one entrance and exit to the property. Um, and you come in to a a drop off area and then you move either uh to the right or to the left. Um, we had originally a
storm water management system approved. We've we've kept that for the most part in that we have a basin over uh by Sterling Park uh in that corner of the site. Um, and we have a secondary basin
uh that's proposed in oops, excuse me, in the rear of the site. Um, and just one final thing about the layout, the original plan uh did not have access to the back of the site, so
you could not uh from a fire perspective get around the site. We've taken care of that with this uh this proposal and we have full access to the back of the site as well as to the side of the site and we're here tonight just to get your feedback uh your some of your ideas and
and obviously to hear from the public uh this evening. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. Here's the statement. We are going to open this portion of the meeting to the public. This will be a limited discussion. Please feel free to make a
comment or ask your question about this presentation and this property only, 41 Richdale Avenue. You you will have one minute to speak, ask your question, or make a comment. We will enforce this only because we want to make sure everyone can be heard. We want your
questions and comments to be very pointed and effective as this to this property only. Remember this is not a site plan application. There are no approvals or action that will be taken tonight by the governing body. This is for information only and this is part of
our due diligence to make it very clear once again that we want to do the absolute best work we can for the residents of Hatter Township. And I've said it plenty of times. We are Hatter Township residents. There is no bias between us and you. And we want to hear
we want to include this in our due diligence. again and we will and we are always available to speak to you at any time and this is just the beginning of our process. So I'd like a motion over to the public. Second. All in favor? So if anyone would like to be heard
please step up to the podium, state your name, address, and you have one minute. Hi, my name is Laura Cotch. Um I have a couple questions and comments. one. This property is currently classified as
public use according to Hanover Township's zoning map um current from February 2025. So that's my first question and concern. My second one is that the property abetss wetlands. I've been in touch with the New Jersey
Environmental um bureau or protection agency and I am wondering if uh the builders or the town have filed a letter of interpretation to delineate the extent of the wetlands and the protection of the wetlands as well
as the buffers is particularly concerning given the uh storm water basin and the fact that uh they said there's access to the back of the property which is certainly where wetlands are located. Um, I also have
concerns as a cedar as a Gristal Road resident about the height of the structures. Thank you. And a few of those questions will be answered at the end of the public comment because a few of those are easy to answer. I don't know what number that is.
Fern Walen, Grossman Road, Cedar Hills. Um, so I I will piggyback on Bora about the height. Um, just looking at that picture, we live across the street from
my bedroom window. I used to be able to see the um the lights from the restaurant, which, you know, weren't that bad. Um, now it it's going to be even higher. We um discussed this and we
do not want anything higher than two stories. If you want to put um parking underneath, that's fine. Uh that would be your three stories. Um so we don't want any tall buildings. We don't want any commerce
um in the buildings. Um, and we want the roof line, whatever it is, to not be higher than the homes on Grisill Road. Uh, because we are the ones who can see right over the trees and right into and it I'm good.
Thank you very much, Mark. [Music] Good evening. My name is Hedi. I'm the interim president for Beth Issrael Cemetery which is adjacent to this property and I am up here now just to
receive additional clarification at this preliminary state. Um can you clarify how it will run in terms of the numbers again for what is isolated for seniors and additional property? Also
clarification again on the wetlands where the storm water basin is and more details on the parking. I recognize this all can't be addressed tonight, but those are questions that we will have and most likely additional questions in
the future as we move forward with these discussions. Thank you. We appreciate that. Thank you. Hi, I'm Julie Stone and I am the secretary of the board at the Beth Israel Cemetery. And just some additional questions and clarifications
about the land use between the property and the cemetery and the land use in the back. And it's a place of quiet and things like that. Oh, okay. Thank you. And so really wanting to understand in
more detail what's being pro proposed and be part of a dialogue around the adjacent space so we don't lose the sanctity and what happens around the property and also it looked like on the map a lot of just open land in the back
and so is there you know is it gated what will be there from a security perspective and things like that. So to be part of the dialogue and understand more in addition to the questions that had raised. So thank you very much. Thank you. Anyone else?
Good afternoon. My name is Frank Bisco. I'm uh at Mountain Avenue Cedar Nolles. Can somebody please tell me why the original plan was not adopted? the one that was okay by the town. Frank, we'll get to that at at the end,
but Mr. Fion, that's a question I want answered at the end. Thank you. Thank you, sir. How 93 Griffith Drive, Whippony. Lived here now for 54 years.
And as far as I'm concerned, this is the best town in Morris County to be able to live in and to also be able to listen to our township committee on certain items
that need to get taken care of by the people in this town. I've been before I haven't been before the board because I've left it alone for a time being. I've been now for close to
a number of years where I have asked if there was any possibility of putting speed bumps on Griffith Drive.
I've had a police officer sit there one time and it absolutely did nothing. It is actually a cut through from the traffic light on Troy Hills Road coming up Griffith Drive.
Now I I'm retired if you didn't know that, but I sit um and I watch the cars go by. Some of them are going to speed limit
and some of them are doing 50 or 60. And I can tell because you you you do one of those head turns and I would just love to be able to um understand
and I know that we have a lot of streets 68 miles worth of uh block top in this town here now and it's increasing all the time and I would love to be able to
say to the school system also at the same time that we do have speed bumps and we are controlling more or less the speed. I'm not asking people to
drop down to 35 m an hour. I'm more concerned about the children that have been moved into our township. We have people now that have retired,
have moved to Florida, have moved any other place, but now we have young children. I have a child across the street. He gets on his scooter scooter right out into the street. And one of
these days we will have a a very very sad moment. Uh and I know I only have a minute. So we also let you know we love you like a brother.
Yes. And so far you're the only one that broke the rules tonight and we're going to let you get away with it. and you and when we have public comment on any item, I'm sorry, please. No, no, no, no. We we won't accept your apology. You can do anything you want in this house. You've been here
a very, very long time and we love you, but we hear you loud and clear. Hang out and then take the floor again when we open up to the public. Okay. Yeah. I just I I just want to say thank you and our safety factor is our children
because I got we got little kids on our streets. And I'd just like to thank the committee for coming out and uh hearing my woe. Thank you. Thank you, sir. That's a very hard act to follow, but if
anybody would like to walk up to the podium, state your name, your address, and you have one minute for any question or concern about this item. M. George 3 circle. My comment is I moved here from Connecticut. We have
something that's called Main Street up there. I'm from Lichfield County. What my comment is that does not fit in to a Main Street in Cedar Nolles. And I'm very concerned that there's no
continuity of the main street in Cedar Nolles. And if you start building like this, you will never have a hometown in this area. You need to I'd like to pack you all up, take you to Connecticut, and
take you into what hometown looks like and how you have continuity and how you have town squares where people get together and talk on street corners and have their cup of coffee because since I moved here, that is the biggest thing
that I have missed because I can't walk down the street and yes, I was on town council and we worked really hard to get a senior citizen in. And I'm going to take one last second. We built a beautiful senior housing and it didn't
have a flat roof and it wasn't a it fit the neighborhood. This does not fit our town. Go take a look at our beautiful Catholic church. This doesn't fit. Let's build a hometown. Everybody get together with
this. I just don't understand why you don't want one. So, that's all I have to say. Thank you very much. Thank you. Sario, two Lexington Court. We've been in New Jersey. Um
in the beginning of uh this presentation um it was stated that one of the partners in this project I guess bankrupt his half of the actual project in itself. Uh to me that looks like an indication
that it's not a flyer or at least to them. And my question is also, if you have 79 independent living communities in Morris County and 70 senior living communities in Morris County, what makes you think this is going to
fly? Thank you, sir. Dean Atinson, Mountain Avenue, Cedar Nles. Um my question is parking. He said there was one parking space per unit. Um
what about for visitors or the couple that does have two cars? Like there's no extra spaces at all. Um, and also looking at the um drawing, the driveway
comes in straight into a median by the circle. So if a moving truck was to come in there, like how easy would it be to get around? So like, was that thought of at all?
Um, I thought I had something else. No, you already answered the other one. So, pretty much that's it. And also with the lights that u Fran brought up just um if the lighting I don't know if
there's like a lights that are not so bright or can be aimed down just because there is resonance I know on two sides. Thank you. Thank you. Anyone else?
Terry Beard Whippy section of handover. Um, I do have a question in reference to when we have um development being projected like this in town and we have a lot of other developments that have
been projected in town that have not yet been built and been promised with also 60 affordable housing units. Um, will this be contingent upon the others being built prior to this one or,
you know, do we just let the other obligations go to the wayside? Thank you. Fred will be able to answer that tonight. Anyone else? old boy just 20 Grismo Road. There seems to be some concern over the
height and if it was limited to two stories, would that be a deal breaker for the builder? Thank you. I also want to make it very clear that residents in your neighborhood have
discussed the height with me and I've made the request and your recommendation very clear and that's going to be a very serious discussion. Yes, Ezra Sonar 19 Road. Um what was your first name? Ezra.
Thank you. Um so I will um reiterate the comments about the height and the safety aspect of it. I mean I moved to Hanover Township and I think a lot of the reasons why we moved here will be negatively impacted um by having this extra infrastructure here. In the
presentation there was mention about the extra tax revenue which I could clearly see the benefit of that but has there been any due diligence in the property values that will drop as a result of having this big piece of building? Um, I wouldn't have bought my house if I had known this piece of building would be
right behind it. Thank you. And if you notice, Christ is writing very, very fast. So, this is all going into the record and it's being recorded. Hi, Debbie Ellerat Manganger Road in Ced. Um, I have some concerns about the
limit of one bedroom for the senior units because if you um are in a situation, which our family has been in recently, where you need to have a caregiver in the home, um, one bedroom is not going to cut it. So, two bedrooms really needs to be considered for the
senior portion of that. Uh, and also the parking is an issue as well with the seniors. One may not cut it, but you still have two people who are driving uh, in the home. Okay. and what are the what are the proposed um uh sale points
for the senior housing because we don't want to sell our full-time big houses for $6 or $700,000 and then have to buy something for $800,000. Um it's just not sustainable. Thank you.
Anyone else? Hi, Victoria Benson 125 Malipartis. Uh we are already flooded out of Malipartis because of all the uh construction that has gone on behind our homes. What is the proposed um plan
to flood stop flooding us out even more? Uh you're going to be putting in parking lots and large foundations. There is nowhere for the water to go. That means it's going to pour back into our neighborhood. And we've been discussing this for over two years in my neighborhood with you guys. And you've got no plan yet either. Collars has not
come up with anything. I'm already in a reservoir. We've been there since 1960. We did not have water coming through our property like this. You're going to inundate the entire neighborhood
with a structure this big and paving over the entire area. What's the plan? Well, right now we're we want your comments and questions, but the only thing I respond to immediately is Collier did put together a comprehensive very very detailed plan. And if you didn't see it, I'm surprised
because I thought our BA sent it out to your neighborhood. It was for the roadway. And it wasn't sent out really to the neighborhood. It was sent out um to my email. It was basically just discussing the roadway, not our properties that are being flooded out. We'll discuss that after this portion, but we've been to your
house and I'm available to speak to you about that, but we'll speak after this portion because this has to be specifically a one minute question or comment to Mr. Forion. And I realize flooding more than just about anybody is an issue and is going to be an issue and
we are going to talk about that at length. Thank you. Thank you. Paul says, "Coley, uh, my question is, um, well, you're a homeowner and you have a certain size footprint that you're allowed, you know, to build on your
property. Um, is there I don't know anything about this, so I'm asking, is there a footprint for the town? Like, how much can you grow?" You know, because you look at the big cities, they got the smog there, you know, uh, they have flooding, um, overcrowding, you know, traffic. I mean, at what point do
we say, you know what, maybe we should build in another area or part of the state where there's a lot more room. [Music] Thank you. Hello, my name is uh Margaret Carrison. I live at 89 Summit, but I live for 40
plus years on Gishmill Road. and my daughter Laura now owns the house. But I just want to say this is really an ugly design. And I just want to say I was
here when we fought to have Barts. It was Bart's Pizzeria. I don't remember all the details but we had hired a lawyer for that for what is now H2O for or now it's torn down but and we
were outraged at that time that a restaurant would come into uh be because before that it wasn't zone for even a restaurant. So now to see this and the beautiful houses
on Grismo Road and and even the the lovely apartments that are are in this picture to see that this is really a monstrosity and I feel I feel bad uh that people and and the lady that spoke
about from Connecticut I mean why do you want something like that in our Thank you. Was a great flower shop though, wasn't it? Anyone else? Hi, my name is Ble Miller. I live at 9
Juniper Drive, just behind these guys. Um, I wasn't planning on speaking tonight, but um, monstrosity is a perfect word for what's happening here. I'm concerned about the lighting. How far that lighting is going to protrude
into my gristill neighbor's yard. Water, water, water, water. I cannot say it enough. We have so much water in our backyard when it rains. My children can't play in my backyard for a week. Bayer, we moved our river. We were
supposed to have some fancy finally little downtown area. Nothing came of that. Um, Mr. Forion, yes, we're all talking, too. It'd be nice if your back weren't to us. I understand that. I'm taking notes,
too. I understand that you're here to make money, but you could make money in a completely different way. We could have a bagel shop, a restaurant, a brewery, an ice cream shop, a mom and
pop coffee shop. Give us a downtown. I get you're going to put something there regardless. Our hands are tied. We're hearing that a lot around here, but three stories absolutely unacceptable.
Anyone else? Motion to close. No motion. Can I one minute? Yes. Um, has there been any plans for the Speak, please?
The infrastructure in place for, you know, multi-dwellings. Do we have uh plumbing, electricity? My power is going out weekly. Is any of that in place? Because if you add that many bathrooms,
you need to have facilities to be able to handle all those bathrooms and all that water flow and all that sewage coming from there and all that energy draw. If you put in a small business, how many
bathrooms are you putting in? One, two. Thank you. Anyone else? Seeing none. Motion to close. Second. Mayor, how would you like me to Okay, we're going to take a couple
Joe to answer just a few questions, but I want to start with Fred with the 60 affordable units. That's a couple, but then Joe, I want you to explain the uh categor category of for that property
now. Okay. But Fred, if you could get those 60. But let's hold on to this microphone. I think it might be Okay, Fred, if you could just take two or three minutes and explain the 60 units. Right. I I'll just try to limit it,
mayor, as you said, to this property, but the question came up about the 60 units. This developer is not delinquent in their affordable housing obligation to the township. There is an obligation to
have 60 senior affordable units built and that is to be built in con in conjunction with the Park Avenue project which is now underway and that project requires 60 affordable senior units.
There will not be a certificate of occupancy issued for the Park Avenue project. This is by way of agreement until first the 60 affordable units are built on that site. When the 60 affordable units are built on that site,
the actual set aside, which is usually a requirement of 15%, it'll be 18%. It'll be satisfied. There's another 60 affordable units. That was for the last round and the third round plan. Now we're in the fourth round. And the fourth round is
from this July for the next 10 years. As part of the last round, the governing body insisted that there'd be another 60 affordable units without any market units promised and delivered over the fourth round and which is a 10-year
period. And the cost would be by the developer. It would be the up to $2 million could be spent on the property to be acquired. And so the first million would be by the developer. The township's affordable housing trust
fund, which is not taxpayer money. That was from developers contributions would be utilized if need be it to acquire the land. The construction and it would be about a $10 million project. And the management of those 60 additional units
would be the responsibility of the developer. And I'm not saying this on behalf of the developer. I'm saying it on behalf of the township. That in itself, our own financial analyst said was a tremendous deal for the township
because it does not come with any other strings attached or any other market units. It was 60 on top of it that the governing body insisted on a $12 million project. But it's not delinquent. It's timely. So long as it's built over the
next 10 years, it's in this fourth round affordable housing plan that the township put together. It has to be built. The governing body has been looking at locations uh to find the right place to build those 60 senior units. So I think the confusion might be
there's 60 affordable senior units that have to be built up at Park Avenue. They're being built. The other 60 is on its own. It's over the requirement. It was something that the governing body entered into an agreement through the
court that would be built in the fourth round separate and apart. And I hope that clarifies it. Mayor, thank you. Thank you. Okay. Out of respect for everybody that came out, I'm going to ask Mr. Forion to take a few minutes and hit a few of
those questions that you can. Uh, and then from there, I think we demonstrated. I've demonstrated I'm available to talk to anybody almost anytime. This is step one of a work in progress. But two things I'd like to address right away is I'd like to
understand public use the current zone cuz I've been asked and I don't have a solid answer and then I'd like you to begin with building height cuz I spoke to a lot of people and building height is going to be a deal breaker. So I'd like you to start with those two Mr.
You may want to speak into the microphone Mr. for J maybe you want to go to the podium to be heard if you want or Okay, can you hear me? Okay. Um so um the first question was um asked that the
public use the PU public use district allows for uh a number of uses including independent living which was approved. The PU zone was amended to allow for the assisted living project. So with that
comes a number of bulk standards uh that we uh complied with. Uh so that was number one. Um, so if you look in the PU zone, there's a number of uses that are allowed within that. Um, kind of sounds like public use, like it should be a park, but there's uses that are allowed
in it. The second question was wetlands. Under the original uh approval, we had a uh letter of uh wetlands um um we had a wetlands expert confirm that they're on where the wetlands
limits are. that is part of your checklist that's required to be deemed complete for a site plan. So that was already completed when the site plan was approved for assisted living. The third uh question I have to I have to correct Billy. The PU zone allows for a 60 ft
height building. The building which was approved was 40 ft. We're proposing a height beneath less than 40 ft. Less than 40. Yes. Less than 40. So the zone allows 60. What was approved for the assistant
living was 40. We're proposing under 40 feet in the threetory. Okay. The next thing was the lights generated from the parking. We uh blaze very difficult uh as you know there's a
town ordinance that allows uh for parking for lighting and it's um with back back plates that allows that the light shine down and so that avoid um overflow onto adjacent properties or even the roadway. Um
when you talk about the roof line that's uh someone mentioned the roof line should be similar to Chris Crystal Road. So, we're trying to uh to avoid a a taller building. Instead of a hip or a gable, we're putting a flat roof with a
um so we're proposing a a flat roof rather than a uh gable or um typical roof that you find on on a house. So, uh, I I think that if you go out to measure the
height of a the home that's on Chris Mill to the peak of the roof, I will suspect that you will have a more than 40ft height. Okay. Uh, the next thing was the cemetery. Um, we they've contacted me a number of times. Uh,
they've asked for uh me to keep them updated on what we're doing with our plans. Uh, their interest is in acquiring the property. uh I've discussed that with them that the property is not for sale. Uh and the breakdown a question was breakdown into senior affordables there would be all
onebedroom and it would be 20%. Um there also was a question of what is being proposed between the cemetery and uh our project. We're proposing a fence. Can you stop? Excuse me.
Excuse me, miss. I don't think you're here. Excuse me. Can you just give him a minute? He's answering the questions. This is the one I can't hand everyone, but he's in the middle of answering the questions. Can you give him a moment, please? Thank you. Um, so uh uh the there will be a um a
fence. There's a fence there now. If uh I'm sure when we go through site plan, Bla1 is going to request more of a a different type of fence, more decorative fence. And we're proposed to have a buffer along the cemetery. There was a question about the original plan. Was it
adopted? The original plan was approved. All the conditions of the resolution were met. Site plans were signed by the planning board. So the word adopted, I don't know if it's adopted, but it was approved and all of the conditions of the resolutions were addressed and the
site plan was signed. Uh we addressed planning, engineering, um and so on and and all of the outside agency. Uh someone uh said partner has gone out of business. Yes, I I am not an assisted living developer. I am a multifamily uh
developer. I brought in a partner that was going to manage the assisted living. He had the ability to obtain financing. Uh it's a completely different component of the business and yes, he's no longer in business and the uh quite frankly the
assisted living business in general is um we don't see it coming back for a very very long time. Um what um so in speaking with the funds Black Rockck Credential um they are not taking
on the construction risk associated with assisted living projects. They're a lot more expensive than uh multif family rental project. Someone asked why is this going to work? Um, so, uh, we've been building multif
family for rent projects since I have since 1993. We own and manage north of 1,800 units with a number of unit projects under construction. We just completed 210 units in Berkeley Heights. Um, as part of the former King Shopping Plaza, um,
we we would not be putting out substantial financing if we didn't think it was it was going to work. Um it's it's interesting to say that I also was the developer and built and owned the Sterling Park project for a number of years uh which was ultimately sold to a
fund. Um someone mentioned parking one uh parking space per unit for affordable not is not enough. As part of the Sterling Park project, I built 50 age restricted thanks to the mayor Francioli and then
great mayor Ayanna Conn that asked us to build 50 affordable senior units. When you go and you look at the parking lot, it's always empty. We've comped that as part of 190 Park Avenue when we work with Blaze on the parking requirement
there. Um, so there's 23 parking spaces that are used out of 50 units at Sterling Park and three are for management and and leasing and and they have people coming in and out for yoga and the like. So the parking demand for
an age restricted senior affordable unit is much less than one, but we're proposing to have one on site. um traffic circulation. Um this type of drop off uh is used quite often in these types of buildings when you come into a
courtyard. We believe that we uh have the traffic circulation. As a matter of fact, the drop off that we're proposing is very similar than the one that was already approved and reviewed by your police and fire. um the mention of 60 senior units, uh
190s under construction. It's 60 uh one-bedroom affordable units. Um thank you, Fred, for for um for bringing us up to speed on that. I think it's important to say that under the third round plan to which 190 was developed on and that's
the third round plan for affordable housing, you're required to put 15% of your units to be affordable. Sterling 190 Park Avenue is 29%. So it's 14% more affordable than which
was required under the second third third round plan. I think that's important to know and that is part of the town uh pushing hard. Uh we'll talk the the other 60. Um a twotory it is a deal breaker. Uh next
door I built Sterling Park. The height of those buildings will be very sim similar to what we're proposing here. Someone mentioned a negative impact um but was kind enough to mention that this property would generate nine times more
taxes than was already um is already being generated and and you the question was how would it impact the adjacent parcels? Well, I I I built Sterling Park which 317 units. I don't think that impacted anyone's values in the area.
That has been an absolute d uh um an incredible rate for ratable for this m municipality that generates over a million2 a year in taxes. Um someone mentioned that the senior units will be not be affordable because they're not going to be able to be
purchased. The senior unit units are being proposed to be rented. There's a difference of the median income in in Mars County. Chuck, don't get mad at me if I'm wrong, but I think that they started $385 a month for low low to 680
for low up to $800 a month for moderate income housing. That is a brand new one-bedroom unit for a senior. So, there they they are extremely affordable. Um, someone mentioned uh drainage. So,
our property is lower than Richdale Avenue. We're taking on the drainage that's coming off of Richdale Avenue. Billy had mentioned that the project is maintaining the already approved drainage study that was reviewed by Jerry Misera and your consultant uh
collers. Um uh and so it was approved and it addresses all the drainage comments that you can have. the rear of the property uh about 30 ft off of our property is wetlands, but the two basins which were already approved with a
larger building, more F are being maintained. We're trying to maintain those buildings, those uh the exact location and design of those basins. Um someone mentioned that they live on on on Summit Drive and their backyard's wet. I started my life on North Bair and
my backyard was always wet because of the open space and we took all the drainage coming from Trailwood down to my backyard on North Bair uh North Bair. So I I understand that the backyards are are wet and and agree that because of
the woods we don't get any any sunlight and they they remain wet for a longer period of time. With regards to infrastructure, sewer water, electric and gas, um we already received a uh uh water extension, water extension
approval from Southeast Southeast Mars County MUA, which provides the water for a larger project. And we also received a treatment works approval approved by the handover surge authority and the NJD
which had far greater gallage requirement for assistant lending than what we are proposing. So re uh so I forgot who mentioned infrastructure and do we have the infrastructure to um support this project? What we're proposing has less water and sewer
usage. I think those are the only questions I wrote down. I tried to write down everyone that was asked, but um you know, Joe, I think I think this is a good time to say thank you very much for coming out. I think it's I'd like to
thank all our residents for being part of this exercise. There's a few things that um I'm going to get back to with the neighboring area. I I do have a list a punch list of about 11 items and I'm going to want to talk to you your team
in detail about the flooding because as you know Hannover Township is the chief agency in the seven municipality shared service whippy pate flood remediation task force we're looking at many many areas and maybe this could be an opportunity to make an existing problem
better and I'd like to explore that with Kolers because Kolers is at the top of the ticket with our flooding But um I'm going to say without any further comment from us uh that thank you for coming out. Thank you to all our residents for coming out. And let me make it clear uh when you leave today.
This isn't a one and done. We're here. We represent you. I want to talk to anybody that wants to talk to me. I have a list. I shared a lot of our conversations with the governing body. But I will take the list that Christa wrote today. We will narrow it down to
about 10 or 12. I'll compile that with the list that I have from your neighborhood and we will start to really dig into our due diligence. So, thank you everybody for coming out and hopefully we see you very soon and hopefully we can get to a very good place. Everybody can hang out for the rest of
the meeting if they want to. It's very exciting. Might not be as exciting. It's very exciting. If you like to stay, we're going to start our regular meeting. I'm just going to start sit down. Two minute recess. Okay, guys. Let's
take two minute recess. Okay. [Music] Yeah. Heat. Heat. Heat. Yeah. Heat. [Music]
Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Okay, you guys ready? Okay, you guys ready? Okay, we're going to begin our meeting.
Ron, Blaze. Okay, we will not start until Blaze is ready to go. Blaze, we're waiting on you. We're not starting until you're ready. We're going to go on strike, Blaze. Okay, Kristen, take it away. Good evening again, everyone. I have a
late item uh that is going to be placed on the agenda. Is a letter of communications from Peter Dengress resigning from the planning board and the township spec application committee effective immediately due to personnel
personal matters. May I have a motion to accept his resignation? So move. May I have a second? Second. All in favor? I. Next on the agenda, we have the approval of the meeting minutes of July 10th. May I please have a motion to approve the minutes? Second.
All in favor? I. So approved. Next order of business is the public hearing and adoption of ordinances of the township committee. I'd like to state for the record that the township committee has decided to withdraw ordinance 2020 2025 from the record. May I please have a motion to
withdraw ordinance 202025? So moved. Second. On roll call. Committeeman Cahill. Hi. Committeeman Phamasa. Hi. Committee man Fencioli. Hi. Committeeman Mahalo. Yes. Mayor Gallagher. Hi. So withdrawn. Next is the public hearing of ordinance 21-2025
and 22-2025. Proof of publication that both ordinances and their notices of introduction appeared in full in the July 16th issue of the daily record in accordance with law. At this time, may I please have a motion to convene the
public hearing on ordinance 21-2025 and 22-2025. So move second. Second. All in favor? I. Is there anyone in chambers wishing to be heard concerning either ordinance 21 or 22? If so, please state your name and
address for the record and which ordinance you would like to speak about. Motion to close. Second. All in favor? I now an adoption. May I please have a motion to adopt ordinance number 21-2025
and 22-2025. So move second. Roll call. Committeeman Cahill. Hi. Committeeman Baramosa. Hi. Committeeman Francioli. Hi. Committeeman Mahalo. Yes. Mayor Gallagher. Hi.
So adopted. Next. I'd like to introduce an ordinance this evening and like to read the title into the record. It will be ordinance number 23-2025. an ordinance of the township of handover, Mars County, New Jersey, amending chapter 166 of the township
code entitled land use and development in order to create a new R-25N zone district and regulations and to change the classification for various properties with frontage on Mount Partardis Road, New Jersey Route 10 and
Ukraine Road from R25 zone district to a new R-25N zone district. I'd like to state for the record that this ordinance and its respective notice of introduction will be published in full in the daily record in accordance with law. The public hearing will be scheduled for September
11th, 2025 at 8:00 p.m. And if any member of the public would like to be heard regarding this ordinance, they will be given the opportunity to do so this evening. That evening, may I please have a motion to introduce ordinance 23-2025.
Second. All in favor? Hi. On roll call. Committeeman Cahill. Yes. Committeeman Faramosa. Committeeman Francioli. Hi. Committeeman Mahalo. Yes. Mayor Gallagher. So introduced. The next order of business is the approval of resolutions
as the consent agenda. Resolution numbers 166-2025 through 181-2025. Does any member of the governing body have any questions regarding any of these resolutions?
So move. May I have a motion? Oh, sorry, wrong. May I have a second? Second. Okay. Uh, like to approve the resolutions as a consent agenda. Thank you. Next on the agenda is our raffle
applications. We have RL 3484. That's Whippity Park High School 5050. RL 3485, Whippony Park High School on premise 50/50 and a 3486 OM church for 50/50 raffle application
as well for 50/50. May I have a motion to approve the raffle applications? Second. All in favor? I. And lastly, we have to pay our bills in the amount of $6,955,448.71 cents. May I have John a motion to pay our bills, please? Pay the bills, please.
Thank you. May I second? Thank you. I will let Silio know to pay the bills. All in favor? Mayor, that clears my portion of the agenda and I thank you very, very much. Thank you, Kristen. Great job and and great job in the first portion of the
meeting and thank you for your preparation with us. No worries. Good work. Okay. I'd like to motion to open to the public. Motion second. All in favor? I I'd like to just say real quick, I'm sorry for the open to the public. We're going to give each member four minutes
to speak and there will be no time yielding time to others. Just to make a note. If anyone would like to address the governing body, please step up to the podium, state your name, address, and you have four minutes. Is it? Maybe it is. Oh, there it is.
Okay, I got to speak closer. Um, okay. So, I'm just back to the Ridgedale Avenue thing. Um, I just want to read to you because uh, Mr. Forgion said that the um, previous building permits were
allowed under the public use district. And I'm just going to read to you what Hanover Township defines as the public use district. The zoning spec district specifically designates areas for various public or quasi public uses such
as county and township buildings, schools, parks and open space, major utility operations, quasi certain quasi public institutional and similar uses. That's it. So, I don't know how that got
approved under public use uh for the senior assisted living facility, but certainly housing doesn't qualify under this. So unless you're planning on changing the
public use district, I am asking how how one how that happened previously and how that can happen now. And the other question I have um which uh Mr. Fergome didn't address was whether these units
are rental units or for sale units. You're shaking your head. Sorry. Rental. Rental. Okay. Okay. So, um that's important in in my view because people generally who rent and I have nothing
against renters, my son is a renter, is that um they don't have as much buy in into the community. So, we have 125 units, one-bedroom. Are they all onebedroom units? No. Okay. just the senior living
which I agree with whoever said I don't know if it was you that people seniors often need assistance and they need a second bedroom. So um you know I don't see that as being a really good use of
space. Um and the other comment I just have which uh we can discuss further in the future is um why can't we have not that I'm looking for more units I'm looking for fewer
units but why can't more of them be affordable housing. Thank you. Thank you for anyone else want to address the governing body. Hi. Revisiting the uh development plans for what's name?
Laura Cotch First Mill Road. Revisiting the development plans or the uh proposal that we heard tonight for the Ridgedale A property. Um uh Mr. Forion said that he received the
letter of interpretation from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. However, I want to make the council and the public aware that um I spoke with Cynthia Rivera from the New
Jersey Department of Education of um environmental protection and she is the one who gives permits to this area to handover township and she said that uh no one from the site from the agency has
been to the site. So, as far as that letter of interpretation and the the town council knowing uh what the wetlands are, how they're delineated, the transition areas, etc. I think it's really important that the letter be
presented, shown to the public, shown to the council, and that we take this seriously. Um especially with all of the water concerns and environmental concerns that we all know about. Um secondly uh Mr. Forjun kept speaking
about the site plan approval site plan approval for the assisted living facility. However, the assisted living facility is not happening. So you know I don't think that there is currently any site plan approval because
this is all just a proposal that we're first hearing about. So, I don't think he can proceed as though he has approval for all of these things, the the water, the lighting, the parking. Um, and in
fact, Mr. Forjon, it has come to my attention recently that um with St. Christopher's um parish in a different area. He's pulled a bait and switch maneuver where he proposed one thing,
got the council behind him and you know was going to go in one direction and then cancelled that plan very similar to what's happening here and then launched a whole other plan that St. Christopher
is trying to take legal action on um because they're very upset with what's happening. So I want the town council I'm sure you're very astute and aware of such things. But I feel that it I just have to have
my voice heard that um I don't want anyone bamboozled with a bait and switch and somebody saying this is all um approved already. Thank you. Thank you very much.
Good evening, Terry Beard Whippy section of Hanover Township. Um, I have uh two questions. One is in reference to uh what resolution 181 is about with the $1.7
million bond note. And the other question is, can we have please have an update on um the air conditioning uh debacle with uh the police department, the recreation department,
um you know, the big units outside. how much is it costing us? And uh what plans to be done about the AC units? Cuz are they going to have heat? Uh if they don't have AC, then are they going to have heat in the winter time? So, I have those two questions.
Hold on, Joe. I want to give you a proper introduction. You've been very quiet all night and now it's your turn, Joe. So, take the floor. Joe set the timer on me. One of my first meetings, by the way, when I was talking.
Welld deserved. How are we calling? Would you join us? Bond ordinance for 1,738,000 is for the sale of bond anticipation notes for the splash pad and also for the renovation of the
towel house that will take place in midepptember. Okay. Okay. All right. If it had said splash pad, I wouldn't I wouldn't have asked then I would know. On the second item dealing with the um air conditioning system in the police
department, that system was installed when police headquarters was built in 2002. That unit runs 24/7. It's outlived its useful purpose. We
have taken steps to try to recondition the condenser and the compressors at tremendous cost of over $100,000 in order to get us through the summer. There's continuous failures because the
system is so old. What we are trying to do is to work with Jersey Central Power and Light to do what they call a direct install program where we will get a brand new unit not only for the police department but for
the whole municipal building and the community center and then with the approval of the BPU, we can pay off the cost over a period of time. But it it does take time. I'm very frustrated
about it because it's taken so long and we have continuous malfunctions even though we are continuing to make strides to repair it. And we have like um maintenance contracts, but they're not we're this is
all money over and above maintenance contracts. So, we're talking is just we're just $100,000 in the hole this summer or we more than that? No. Well, it's over 100,000 for sure. Uh, every year we go out to bid for maintenance and repair of all the air
conditioning systems in all the municipal buildings. We just awarded a new contract for a new company known as Power Safe. The company that's working on the police headquarters air conditioning system is a company that
we've worked with in the past that was under contract with the township probably 15 or 20 years who knows the systems throughout the municipal buildings and they are doing the best they can. But when you're working with an old system, it's very hard to repair
something that's really out lived its useful purpose. What what would be the projected um replacement timeline? Timeline we're trying to get on board right now with this direct install program so that by the time we come to
next year by summer we have a new system in the municipal building in the community center and police headquarters. And will that also include heat? I mean is that part of I mean because I know the heat has a is a problem too. So, we've just replaced four units, heating
units in the community center at a cost of $64,000. So, the community center is fine. So far, so great, as far as I know, with the heating for the municipal building and for police headquarters, but that's going to be a part of the
problem for this direct install as well. Okay. I just want to make one comment and Joey, you did a great job and you had all night to rest up for that. I want to say when I was on the board event with Brian Cahill, we had similar problems in the school system
and a few companies came in with these big ideas where if we replaced all the equipment, worked on the windows, worked on the lighting over a period of time, the the savings would pay for all the new equipment. And I remember saying to Brian, I don't believe this. Now,
granted, I'm from Hudson County. I don't believe very much until I see it. But guess what? It worked. Mhm. Programs like that started to go away because of some of the great initiatives, but also Collers is working with us to put us in the right direction of some of these programs and Joe has
been working very very hard. So, we are going to have to pull the trigger on something because some of this equipment is so old we can't even get the parts. So, Joe is spearheading this initiative and we all check with Joe all the time. They're all programs and we have an
incredible company working hand in hand with Joe to get one of these programs and take advantage of one of these programs. I was thinking that was similar to what you guys had done over at the school. So hopefully that'll come through that to be honest with you. So cuz it's a lot of money to just throw
away, you know, and it could be going towards the updating part of it. So thank you. Thank you. Anyone else? All right. See that? John, you look very serious. Are you good? I'm good. Seeing none, hearing
none. Motion to close. Second. All in favor. Guys, we still have a lot more work to do. I'll prepare to forego any closing comment for me. Mike, you have one comment. Thank
be there. Mike Mahco has a very big announcement. Everybody down here, I do I do want to mention there was a lady that stood up and asked us a question and it was why do we want this development to happen? For my
opinion, I do not want it to happen. And we've said time and time again that our hands are tied. Our hands are tied. We can say no to this, but we will get worse. Um, so that's why we're even entertaining it. I've said it before and I'll say it again. Please, November has
consequences. Who you vote for has consequences. These things come down from the state. This is one of the items. This is being forced on us by the state. Both parties have done it. Don't get me wrong. This is, you know, from the past. This has come from from from
both parties. Uh but you know, again, this is being forced on us. We do not want this. This is not what we expect. So, just my point. Ladies and gentlemen, Mike again. motion to return and we're going to continue our legal
session in that in [Music] [Applause]