This meeting is called to order in accordance with the open public meeting act. Notice of this meeting was provided to the home use tribune the star ledger the Highland Park Planet on January 7th 2026 and was posted on borrow website at
www.hpbara.com at hpbar.com and was posted on the bulletin hall of Bor Hall 221 South 6th Avenue South 5th Avenue Hammond Park New Jersey and has remained continuously posted as required by law for exitor to my right and left
of council chambers chief to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
>> Roll call. >> Mayor Foster, >> yes. >> Council member Forge >> here. >> Council member Hail >> here. >> Council member Hurst >> here. >> Council President Ken Johan >> here. >> Council member Piston >> here. >> Council member Vargas >> here. B attorney Renault >> here. >> Administrator Hoover
>> here. >> Okay. Approval of minutes. May I have a motion to approve minutes for March 10th, 2026 regular meeting as as described? >> So move. >> Second.
>> Council member George. >> Yes. >> Council member H. >> Yes. >> Council member Hirsh. >> Yes. >> Council President Kim Johan. >> Yes. >> Council member. >> Yes. >> Council member Hort. >> Yes. >> Okay. Now it's time for council report. Starting off with council member George.
>> Uh thank you mayor. just have a very brief report. The chief Shami and Chief Abrams and I uh discussed u our reports we're going to hold off until the first meeting in April. We have our first quarterly report with regard to stats and events. Uh but in with regard to the
library had a very interesting meeting, excuse me, at the trustees last night. As you know, the library board of trustees invite uh different groups from uh town organized boards and commissions in to let the library know uh what they do and what the library does and how to
coordinate. U the partner lately has been the human relations commission. So co-chairs Moshi Malik and Pauline Devonish um spent an hour with us discussing uh mutual programs as well. Uh and they're actually already planning
for the third townwide u one book one town reading. Uh which brings us to the more events on the uh Jewish refugee in in New York parts of the uh uh two world series that's ongoing. Uh tonight is at
7 o'clock to 8 o'clock adults and teens and then Thursday 10:30 to 11:30 as group discussion and reading. Uh books are available. You can go on the library website and res reserve them. Um spoiler alert though, we're at the discussion
points where there might be giveaways of some of the plots. So if you're if you're going to go, you got to get there pretty quick. Um and that's my report for tonight. Thank you, Mayor. >> Thank you, Council Member Post. Uh thank you, mayor. Uh good evening everyone. My name is Jason Selic. I chair of the
health and human services committee. Um I also have a very brief report for tonight. Just uh sticking with the theme of the human relations commission. Important update there was that the uh DEI cookie event that they were co-sponsoring that was supposed to happen this past Sunday had to be cancelled um because of the unexpected
unavailability of the uh host of the event um due to circumstances definitely beyond his control. Uh but that will be rescheduled for May. Uh so I will keep you all posted on the new date for that. Um the only other thing I wanted to report on was that the human relations
I'm sorry human relations commission the uh commission for universal access will be meeting tomorrow at 5:30m at Burough Hall uh in the Fishbowl conference room as well as over Zoom. The link can be found on the HP Burough website. And then also there's a vacancy or maybe two
on that commission. So if anyone is interested in working on accessibility issues in town, uh please submit a volunteer application and on the HP BO website. Uh that was my entire >> council member Vargas. >> Thank you, mayor. Hi everybody. My name
is Vargas and I chair the um arts and recreation um department committees. Um okay, registration for the 5K is going strong and there's already over 250 people signed up. So that's very exciting. Um, if you're interested in partaking in the 5K, you don't have to
run. I walk with my family. Um, please go to um, https um, runsignup.com or simply just go under social media and look it up. Um, the race is going to be on May 3rd and if you see the spring fair, so it's
going to be a great deal around. Um, also if you're interested in volunteering to assist in making the 5K successful and fun event, please contact the team at the recreation center at 7328190052. Um, on that note, the recreation department is hiring for its summer camp
and there are positions available as activity leaders, head counselors, sports and day camp counselors. So if you're interested interested or you know someone who might be um please call them at 7328190052 and ask for an um exciting Atlantic trip
is coming up on April 14th. Um the cost is $45 per person and includes a $20 player credit and a the roundtrip uh buzz ticket. Um and also you get to travel with a great group of people and the community center staff. I myself have gone a few times and it's a lot of
fun. It is open to the whole community. So, um if you're interested in joining that trip, please call 7328190052 to sign up. With April coming up, which is poetry month, the arts commission is doing a
poetry zen by and for the community. The theme will be on the river, and they're asking residents to submit one piece of original poetry. Submissions will be accepted between April 1st and April 30th with the Zene being published in late May. So check out the Boro and Arts
Commission social media pages for more information on how you can participate in that. This coming Sunday the 28th at 2:30, the Arts Commission will host another one of their very successful learn and create series which is intro to Argentine Tango for beginners. Um this will be taking
place at the community center and is open for ages 15 plus. Registration is required. So please register. Go to their website at wwhpartscomission.com. Also stay tuned for events planned around the free little art gallery which
is an initiative supported by the B park grant. Um there are locations uh the um galleries have already been installed by Irving School Main Street in front of Main Street Hannah Park and of course the flagship exhibition location is on
River Road by Raises. Please stay tuned. We're going to do some little mini art openings. Um also the Highland Park historical commission commission has been super busy planning for their events. Um there these events are supported by several county grants and
they'll be organized around the United States 250th anniversary and they will be hosting a series of community history open events. We just had a meeting last Thursday. I'm very excited for what they have going on. Um they're also partnering with the county to provide
shuttle transportation between Highland Park and East Jersey Oldtown. So that Why is it East Jersey Oldtown? I don't know. It's central Jersey. I was like every time I read that it's like Easter going on. Okay. Anyway,
anyway, so for those residents who don't have transportation and would like to participate in the Fourth of July festivities at East Jersey Oldtown, um we will be having a shuttle between East Jerseytown and Highland Park. A location is to be determined. So, I really
appreciate um that the leadership of the historical commission um is working on that. For that day, there will be great family um friendly activities. They're going to have a 5K, music, reenactments, arts and crafts, and of course, a lot of food vendors. So, please stay tuned. Um
by the way, if you are creative and have a passion for the arts, the arts commission is looking for more members. And if you love history, preserving hand arts cast, the historical commission is also looking for members. So you must be a Highland Park resident to join the commissions, but we do welcome
partnerships with commissions from nearby towns to organize joint events. You may contact me at nvardis at hpro.com if you have any questions. Um that is my report of my commissions and I just would like to take a um a
quick moment to remind the community to please slow down when you're driving around town. Um, this past week I was coming into High Park and I was on Rabbit trying to make a right turn on
North Fourth to go home and a driver was making a left turn onto Rabbit again at the corner while the crossing guard was trying to cross students and um, she almost got clipped by a car that was making a left turn. So, I would like to remind residents to please pay
attention. Please slow down. I live on Wayne Street and it has become a super highway with massive speeding. The weather is getting nice outside. A lot of kids are out there. They're roller skating. They're on their bikes. They're on their
scooters. People are out walking their dogs. Please pay attention. Please do not look at your phones. Please slow down. If you're in back in back Wayne like on Wayne Street and you're already on the side street, it's not an emergency. you
can slow down and get home safely and for everybody to get safely. So, that's just that's just my reminder to the community that um there's no reason to run stop signs or be speeding on side streets. I would really appreciate um
also if um if we could have a conversation about how to mitigate this because it is a very serious um issue in our community. And that is my report for tonight. Thank you. Oh, a great report. Council member Bergus, isn't the um
windows of understanding Thursday. >> I just sent that. I just sent that invitation and I did not mention that. Thank you for reminding me. Yes, the windows of understanding closing closing ceremony will be taking place at the Highland Park Library this coming
Thursday. Well, this week at 5:00 pm and um they will be showing the um different works of art. I was one of the artist that was a part of that and it's it was a beautiful initiative because it centers around sustainability. Um so
please join us at the library at 5:00 on Thursday. >> Thank you, Mayor. >> Council member Hail. >> Thank you, Madam Mayor. My name is Nat Hail and I chair the economic development committee. Um before I get to that, I wanted to give a huge shout out to two of our uh Highland Park High
School athletes, Ava Kohler and Evangelos Kambitz, um have been selected have been stars on the Owls basketball team all year and both were recently selected to play in the GMC All-Star game. This is a game of the top seniors in the Greater Middle Sex Conference or
GMC. Um the event uh takes place Thursday, March 26 at Old Bridge High School. Um Ava and the girls uh uh all stars tip off at 5:30. So go to the windows of understanding and then rush over to bridge for for >> No, not rush. Remember slow down.
>> Oh, right. Sorry. >> I just >> I know trying to get it all in, you know, slow down and get over there. But definitely go and see all the other Allstars. Um they tip off at 5:30 and then Evangelos
and the boys go at 7:30. Um tickets uh are sold at the door. All proceeds go to charity and college scholarships to GMC players. My understanding is that the seniors um this is one of the last times to put on a show. So you can expect lots of dunking, long range three-point
shots. So um come on out and cheer for AA and Evangelos and thanks to both of them for making HP proud. Uh had the opportunity recently to visit a number of different uh Highland Park businesses. Um just wanted to mention those three little birds has been in
Highland Park for about two years now is located at 75 Ran Avenue uh above the dance studio. Um they provide a wide range of supports for adults and seniors with special needs ranging from part-time to full-time assistance. Um it's a great organization uh really nice
folks and it was really great to be able to stop by and celebrate them being in Highland Park for two years. Uh, I also wanted to acknowledge the opening of the one-stop wedding shop on the corner of Northern Court and Raritton. Um, and I just have to be very clear for the benefit of my smart alleg 13-year-old son and his friends. Um, that is only
for people who already have a bride or groom picked out. Um, so as long as you have one of those, um, they will take care of everything else you need for your special day. Uh, so welcome to Island Park. We're excited to have you. Uh and then uh circle care um which is uh across the street from the onetop
wedding shop at the uh old Wells Fargo Bay. This is a therapy center for uh children who are autistic around on the spectrum. They're part of a larger network of centers that serves over 250 people in Middle Sex County. Circle uh care in Highland Park has about 30 new
employees on site. Um and we wanted to welcome them and all the clients uh to Highland Park. Uh, also, uh, to piggyback on, uh, what Councilman Vargas said, um, just wanted to to give a call out for anyone still interested in sponsoring the upcoming 5K race this
year. Um, we've had, as as Councilwoman Vargas said, a huge number of registrations for runners. Um, and if you are a local business or interested in supporting, um, it's a great way to to reach them. The deadline for getting your logo is coming up fast, though. It's March 31st, which is next Tuesday.
If you have any questions or want to sponsor, email Main Street Highland Park. At this point, it's main street Highland Parkgmail.com. As always, the race kicks off. The street fair, which again is going to be on May 3rd. Uh the farmers market is up and running and getting started. It's
really important to get out there and show the vendors that we support the market even when it's still a bit chilly out there every Friday from 11 to 4. Um so all of these main street events uh are funded through our special improvement district um that the landlords pay the town into. Um uh I mentioned that because tonight we're
introducing the main street budget um with only a small modest 2% increase. And this is keeping with our intent of trying as the prices of everything uh jumps dramatically, we want to try and make sure we're doing our best to keep prices down for businesses um and not
have to play catchup in in larger years. Um, and then I'll just end with uh uh wishing a very happy Easter and Passover to all those you celebrate. It's coming up. That's what I have there. >> Thank you, Council Member Hers. >> Thank you, Mayor. Um, you can register
for the 5K to race me. Um, I run a very impressive 10-minute mile. Uh, my name is Matthew Hirs. I'm the public works and public committees and public utilities chair. Uh, and thanks to all my colleagues for for reading out
uh some really informative stuff. Just a couple of things, Mayor. Um, we have uh just a couple meetings coming up tomorrow. We have Sustainable Highland Parks regular meeting, their monthly meeting, Wednesday, March 25th at 7:30 p.m. It's hybrid. Uh, so that's on Zoom and you can get the link on the website
www.hpbro.com or come join us in person in the Heshi Berman Fishbowl uh right across the hall over here. Uh, ask stack. So, you know, the there's a lot of work that goes into our um our our tree planting strategies
uh yeartoear and the hard work of the shade tree advisory committee is is is is crucial to uh a seamless planting um uh schedule including uh the admin team and uh Jake Callahan uh that you know
that that this goes down seamlessly. However, you might have some questions. Um, and so on Monday, April 6th, uh, hear about the spring the spring tree planting and ask questions about street trees. If you're interested in having a tree um, placed on the street uh, near near your residence or if you just have
any other questions regarding maintenance or how the bureau approaches its tree planting schedule, uh, please come and ask. It's really interesting and we have an obligation here in town to make sure that our tree canopy is as strong as possible. We have a lot of trees that are aging out at the same
time because surprise lots of Highland Park was built at the same time and those trees were planted at the same time. So, you know, when we come up on on about 100 years for a lot of these neighborhoods, uh it gets time to uh really think seriously and the burrow is
so we're really excited about that. join us. Uh and then following that, two days later, join us for the Shades Advisory Committee regular meeting uh Wednesday, April 8th, 7:30 p.m. And that is on Zoom at our teams on www.hb.com.
You can find the link there. Um the much uh heralded and awaited and postponed repair cafe is finally happening. uh Sunday, April 19th, 1:00 p.m. to 4 pm uh right downstairs at the Highland Park Community Center at 220 South 6th
Avenue. Uh this is a really cool event and the and Sustainable Highland Park has been planning for this for quite some time. Thanks to John Kudo um uh and the whole team at Sustainable Highland Park, Rosie Lorenzo, Irene Marks, everybody there. Uh and I know I'm not
naming everybody now, so I apologize for that. Uh but this is uh you know if you have a broken lamp and then you don't want to throw it out. You know we live in a disposable society and what we're trying to do in addition to removing cars from the street is removing trash from the landfills uh and making sure
that we can reuse as much material as possible. If you have jewelry that might that that might be missing a few links. Uh if your bike needs a tuneup or your guitar sounds has you know hits bum notes. Um uh or some of your clothes or
other or other fabrics need a little mending or just anything that uh needs fixing, bring it by the repair cafe. It reminds me of um well, you know, because I'm a PBS kid, so Sesame Street really really informed my my worldview growing
up and uh Louise used to have a have a cafe, Mr. Fix It. We could fix anything. So John Caputo is our local Mr. Fix It. Thanks to Sustainable Highland Park for doing this. Just a couple of other items here. We have um uh and thanks Terry for the reminders. A bulk trash collection.
And actually we were just talking about this this morning. Uh bulk bulk trash collection is picking up. The the time is here. Um and uh and it starts in the spring. So as you begin to clean, move, or update your home. Highland Parks full pickup program runs by appointment only
on Wednesdays starting in April and continuing in May, June, September, and October with each household allowed two pickups per year. To schedule a pickup, call public works at 732-2247-9379. Items like furniture, fixtures, small amounts of home improvements are free.
Things that you're not going to repair in the in the repair cafe except properly bundle and placed at the curb the day the day before pickup. Oh, we feel good. It's springtime. Uh materials set out without an appointment uh won't
be collected. A special townwide pickup follows the October garage sales with no appointment needed. Uh, and for more information, v visit the bulk waste collection page on the burough website, www.hbro.com. And just um uh uh and I did just want to
revisit the um the ask stack webinar. Uh I have uh you know, we're we are um uh this is going to be with the Burroughs contractor, Downs Tree Service, which we uh just hired a couple meetings ago, and they'll be planting a hundred trees throughout town. Uh and again that goes
to strengthen the uh the the tree canopy for years to come. And so you're going to learn more about regular watering throughout the year to ensure that they thrive. So um uh please uh it's worth saying twice. Please come to that webinar. Um just one other item I I am
fresh from. Thank you to Kinetics to to Mitra Lundy and and and and and Annayia and the team at Kinetics um and my and my coach and and trainer Mendy uh for making available uh uh uh for to to to members some some promotional classes
that they're holding. Uh I know Council President Kim Chan took took a class a couple weeks ago and I did boot camp today and >> my arms, my legs, everything is tired. So it they they they do argue and it's just amazing what uh what what Kinetics
has done uh you know with their cafe and really kind of reaching out deep into the community. They're doing an amazing job. So check it out. Uh I'm definitely going back uh and uh they they they just do an amazing amazing job there. So um I will sit here and recover and that's our
report. >> Thank you Council President Johan. And the uh repair cafe is limited to two items because we looked at the flyer. My son has a lot of broken items, but we
planned on we put aside there. >> Thank you for that. Thank you. >> Uh good evening everyone. My name is Stephanie Kim Choan and I uh chair finance. On tonight's agenda um there's two items that I wanted to highlight.
the CDBG uh allocation for the 2026 to 2027 uh year and the proposed uses total is $76,000 with senior services um at 33,000
youth development programs at 33,000 um and our Burough Hall ADA uh accessibility uh pathway 10,000 also um is the 2026 budget on uh first reading by title. So we will
um introduce the budget tonight and then schedule a public hearing for May 19th and also um introduce like Councilman Hel said the Main Street budget as well with the same hearing. Thank you to all
the staff and the um my council colleagues and mayor and all the administration that put their work and time um into it. We did have a work session last week. So, anyone that wants to hear more details and uh more line by
line, you can hear that. I don't know if uh Terry, are you going to do your chart? >> Yeah, I have a presentation. >> Okay. Okay. Um and also like uh Councilman Hurst had mentioned this past uh Thursday, I attended the Pilates
Community Fitness Fund class hosted by Kinetics. I know there's uh uh I know the mayor and uh councilwoman Vargas still they'll have their classes um coming up as well. Um it was great to um
work out with the residents and um get to many get to meet so many of you uh outside of Burough Hall. Looking forward to uh the next time. I'm normally not like a class person because you can see who's trailing behind which was me. I
usually like to do my own thing but >> it was great. Yes. No judgment. So yeah, but I um but it was great. It was great to um meet with everyone afterwards and also I attended the um the Highland
Parks PBA fundraiser. So, so nice to see our new officers um leading these uh efforts. And lastly, as we're in tax season, um I have mentioned it last time, I wanted to mention it again. Check whether you
qualify for the state's free online New Jersey income tax filing option. This is through the division of taxation. And if you're eligible, you can uh save on your preparation fees. And I know I said that
was the last last, but is it kind of high? No. Just a reminder that your first quarter water sewer tax bills are due next Tuesday. And that's my report may no.
Okay. Oh, burrow administrative report. >> I'm going to save it for my budget presentation. Thank you. >> Borrow attorney's report. >> Uh thank you, mayor. Um and I'll try to be as brief as I can. Uh for members of
the public, uh we we will be uh upon conclusion of the mayor's report, there'll be an opportunity for the public to speak as is our norm. The first public participation will be coming up at uh spot nine on the agenda. that is limited to three minutes and that is for items on the agenda only. That's your ordinances on first reading
as well as your resolutions. Uh we do have an ordinance on second reading tonight. The public will be given an opportunity to speak on that ordinance specifically uh on a second session and then at the conclusion of the agenda there is another option opportunity for the public to speak. That is an
additional three minutes on any item that they wish to bring forward that is not on the agenda already. Uh and as a reminder to the public, uh it is it is public uh participation. So uh you you'll have your three minutes. You'll be able to address the council. It does not mean the council will address you
back. At the conclusion, the council may respond to any comment they wish. Thank you. >> Thank you. And now it's time for my also very brief report and but it's exciting. Earlier this month, the Borough Highland Park, New Jersey was added to a select
group of municipalities. We are now recognized as flim ready communities. The designation come through completes completing the New Jersey Motion Picture and Television Commission Flim Ready New Jersey
program. This program prepares municipality to meet the needs of the film and television industry. I'm really not good. I always eat my F. And set standards for attracting film making to our community.
With the latest addition in March of 2024 and August of 2025, New Jersey now has 58 Flim ready communities. I am very very very proud to say
Highland Park is one of them. Yay. This was put into mo into a this puts us into a very very very strong position to host movies and television production. bring new energy and new economic
opportunities to our burrow. It also create visibility to our local businesses and showcase the small town charm and makes Highland Park that makes Highland Park such a special place to live and work. I want to extend my
sincere thanks to borrow administrator Terry Jeff Bartic, Harry Glazer, and our dedicated borrow staff for laying the groundwork to this wealth and to us to welcome this new and exciting industry. Thank you
staff for making this happen. I know it took a lot of work and I really appreciate it. I also um second thing I also want to remind everyone that the Burough of Highland Park 2026 Park Partners program
is now accepting applications. The program invite residents to submit ideas to enhance our community. After submission, projects are presented in a public exhibition followed by a community voting session. Then the
borrow will award up to $2,000 each for help to help bring five winning projects to life. Projects must be must fall under one of the five categories: environment, the arts, cultural
diversity, safety, universal access or health and wellness and Highland Park high school projects are accepted by from our students. You can find the application on the Borough Hall website
um on the public section. Voting will take place on May 1st, Sunday, May 1st from 1 to 3:30 at our community center. Please note, Borough residents are eligible are eligible to vote. Applications are due no later than
April 21st at 400 p.m. Again, it's worth repeating. April 21st, 4 p.m. Application final submission. For more information, email our public information officer, Harry Glazer, at hglazerhbarro.com.
And a part of we my council member, council member Hails, talked about how much we are engaging our community with economic development. And we have been busy. We've been out there and we have been
making sure that we welcome new business, celebrating the old ones and um this was an effort that was done by myself, council member Hail, the e and economic development coordinator with two job project and public information
officer Harry Glazer. So, we're really out there, the team is really out there making it happen and and trying to highlight new business and old business alike and just welcoming everybody to Hammond Park and making sure that you know that we're here as a team to support you.
In recent weeks, we, as Council Member H said, we visited three locations. One more I have to add. I did visit on a Saturday Vision of Hope Recovery Center and they invited me to come and speak for their um women's history month. Um
they are recovery center right here in town and um we should probably go out there again and and meet with them and welcome them as a new business in town. And tomorrow uh we're going to be visiting the the cognitive behavioral
health therapy center. So, one more. One more and then I think that's going to wrap it up for this month. Um, I also want to say I want to thank the PD for inviting us to the event that they they had last week. It was fun and I think it
was a great way of us coming together and in a relaxed way without any work and just just enjoying the evening. It was great. Last night I um I was invited to Governor Cheryl's Women's History Month. um in Princeton at John's Rocket
and I was super excited to meet our first female state chief and that's a big thing because first time in the state of New Jersey we have we always talk about this the state police and now we have a female that's our first her
name her her name is Janine Ham Muik I hope I pronounce it right it's it's an odd German name but I had an opportunity to meet her I I I had to take a picture. So, I posted on the website so you can go on the website and see my picture because I'm very proud that I had an
opportunity to meet our first female chief of police. And I wish her much success. I wish our governor much success as we move on. And that's my report. Okay. And now it's time for public participation. 21 minutes total. Three
minutes to speaker limited to items on this agenda. Comments from members of the public in person will be heard first, followed by those on Zoom. If you're on Zoom, please press the raise hand button if you wish to comment. Anyone on Zoom? Carrie.
>> First time. There are no attendees on. >> Okay. Seeing none, may I have a motion to close public participation? >> So move. >> Second. >> Roll call. >> Council member George. >> Yes. >> Council member Hail. >> Council member Hail. >> Yes.
>> Council member Hurst. Yes. >> Council President Ken Johan. >> Yes. >> Council member Pristali. >> Yes. >> Council member Murray. >> Yes. >> Okay. Now, ordinance and requiring a second reading. Clerk report and ordinance number 26-21-20
26. An ordinance amending and supplementing chapter 278-17 parking on street accessible parking spaces within the burrow of island park has been duly advertised for consideration of passage on final reading by title and affidavit of publication are on file. The ordinance
has also been posted and made available for public. Now it's time for public hearing on this ordinance. If you would like to speak on this ordinance, please come to the Well, there's no one hearing person to come to the microphone. Anyone on Zoom? Still no attendees. And
>> seeing none, may I have a motion to close public participation? So >> moved. >> Second. >> Council member George. >> Yes. >> Council member Hail. >> Yes. >> Council member Hirs. >> Yes. >> Council President Kim Johan. >> Yes. >> Council member Piston. >> Yes. >> Council member Vort. >> Yes.
>> I have a motion to adopt ordinance number 262126. >> Uh Mayor, I move to adopt it. I just want the public to note it's not removing an a handicapped ADA space from the street. We're returning it to inventory.
It was assigned uh that person is no longer here in town. So, we're returning it to the inventory so that we can assign it to another space where it is needed. So, I vote yes. >> Okay. Great. Second. >> Okay. Roll call. >> Council member George.
>> Yes. >> Council member Hail. >> Yes. >> Council member Hirs. >> Yes. Council President Kendra. >> Yes. >> Council member Ponic. >> Yes. >> Council member Versus. >> Yes. >> Ordinance on first reading. >> I'm requesting the council take a motion
to table ordinance number 26-2127. At this time, updates and revisions are needed before the ordinance is ready for consideration. >> So move. >> Second. >> Roll call. >> Council member George. >> Yes. >> Council member Hail. >> Yes. >> Council member Hirs. >> Yes. >> Council President Kim Johan.
>> Yes. Council member Piston. >> Yes. >> Council member Ves. >> Yes. >> And now we move to the consent agenda. May I ask any council member if there's anything that they would like to pull from the count from the consent agenda for a separate vote?
>> Okay. May I have a motion to adopt the following consent agenda items A12 through 12K? >> So move second. >> Roll call. >> Council member George. >> Yes. Council member Hail, >> yes. >> Council member Hirs, >> yes.
>> Council President Kaban, >> yes. >> Council member Pani, >> just want to say I'm very excited to see the South Avenue uh resolution move forward. >> Yes. >> Council member Morgan. >> Yes. >> Um resolution requiring a separate
reading. May I have a motion to adopt resolution 3-26-101 authorizing amendments to the 2026 temporary budget? >> So move. >> Second call. >> Council member George. >> Yes.
>> Council member Hail. >> Yes. >> Council member Hurst. >> Yes. >> Council President Kincha. >> Yes. >> Council member Piston. >> Yes. >> Council member Vargas. >> Yes. >> Cler, please report on introduction of the 2026 municipal budget. Municipal budget of the burough of Highland Park County of Middle Sex for the fiscal year
2026. Be it resolved that the following statements of revenue appropriation shall concentrate the municipal budget for the year 2026. Be it further resolved that the said budget will be published in the home news tribune in the issue of March 29th, 2026. The
governing body of the bureau of Highland Park does hereby approve the following as the budget for the year. A hearing on the budget and tax resolution will be held at Bur Hall on May 19th, 2026 at 7:00 p.m. at which time objections to said
budget and tax resolution for the year 2026 may be presented by taxpayers or other interested parties. >> Thank you. And now it's time for a long- aaited budget budget presentation administrator. >> Thank you. I am going to share my screen
to show share my presentation slides. So just give me one moment. All right. Uh so thank you mayor. Uh thank you council members. Um this was a little easier this year for me because we had a work session last week. So everything's a little fresh in my mind.
Um, but you'll recognize some of the slides. I'm kind of using a similar format uh as I usually do. All these slides will be posted on our website as along with the budget documents. Uh, so anybody who's watching uh can download them and look at them more closely. And
if you have any questions, feel free to uh reach out to me. I encourage you. Um, so I'll just jump right in. Hold on. My screen is obscured in the slides. Um I'm starting at the very taking the big picture look and I'm going to drill down
starting with kind of the overall property tax snapshot. Um the total amount to be raised by property taxes is basically estimated to be and this is inclusive of all of our obligations
municipal public library county and schools. The estimated amount and I'm saying it's estimated because these budgets haven't been adopted yet um is 59,231,9630. Um, and that represents about an
$81600,000 increase over the prior year. And I'm going to get into the bigger picture, but I'm just putting it out there now because often people just want me to cut to the cheese. Um, there was a a decrease in our total assessed value.
And I only share that because that's how we establish our tax rate, which is the next line down. you divide the rate the uh total assessed value and the total amount into the total amounts to be raised and that is our rate. Um and so the rate is looking to go up about 042.
Um and so what does that mean for the average property tax bill which this year the calculation for the average assessment is $482,368. Um, and so the average assessed value, so if your bill, if your value is 482,368,
your bill would go up by $22,968. So that's essentially a 1.75% increase over um last year um or would look like about $20 a month just to kind of put it into perspective for all forms
of you know, all purposes. Okay. So, what where does our tax bill go? Um, and I apologize for those of you who watch this every year and it's very similar. Well, this pie chart doesn't change. I can tell you uh from year to year too too much. And, uh, it did not this year.
So, we're looking at, you know, the lion share of the tax bill goes to the schools at 60%. Uh, next up is the municipality and that covers basically all of our operations at 26%. And I'm going to talk a little bit more about
our budget next, so hang in there. Uh 12% goes to support, uh county activities, parks maintenance, roads, sheriff's office, you name it, everything the county has to do to fund
what it does. Uh 12% of our collected uh taxes go towards that. and 1% goes into the Middleos County Open Space Fund uh which is what we will be hopefully tapping into for that uh um uh grant
application that uh council member Pastel just mentioned. Uh so that's you know one of the reasons we pay in is so that we can hopefully see those funds spent in Highland Park eventually are built in top level that was another open space
uh 50% and then 1% of this pie is our statutory obligation to the library in the amount of 754927 as you'll see in subsequent slides we fund probably we go 65% over what is
required by state law uh to fund a library. I'll talk a little bit more about that. So, that's kind of the distribution. This has been the distribution more or less since I've been here. Uh so, uh but but that's it's it's good to remember
where our tax dollars go. Um but now let's talk about the Highland Park share of that pie chart, that 26%. Um, and the budget that is being introduced tonight uh represents I'm skipping around on my
slide, a 3% increase in uh total appropriations. I excute grants from that calculation only because it skews things. If I if I include grants, it's a zero% because we had some grants that haven't come through yet. So that it
skews the uplift. So I I like to take the grants out of the picture. Uh so the budget proposal before everybody is a 3% increase or if you want to look at the chart total appropriations less grants
in the italics is 20,000 934 9505 in that second column first box there first row uh which is an increase of about $615,000. Um, and that increase, um,
interestingly, uh, it seems like a lot. Um, but half of that can be attributed to two expenses. I'm just trying to give you the flavor of kind of the constraints we're under. Um, one is a obligation to fund police and firemen's retirement system. Those are for
retiring for our police officers. Uh, we have a payment due of $189,66. It's not discretionary. We have to support it. And that's we also have just just looking at the top two expenses this year over last 123 and change uh in
police salaries and wages which is really a 3% increase over prior years. So it's not like leaps and bounds but it's an expensive department and the obligations there and we have we need a police department and that that makes up $300,000 of this $615,000
uh increase. Uh so I just want to put that in perspective. We discussed a lot of this at the work session as well. So if anybody who's listening wants to hear a little bit more, you can feel free to go watch that tape or give me a call. But some other areas where we did decide to make uh a bit more investment was in
the fire department where we are asking for an increase in order to support an additional full-time firefighter as well as an additional part-time shift uh to really um increase our safety coverage and keep up with uh our demands on the
department. um as well as um uh an additional 53,000 over last year in public works uh primarily to really get our tree maintenance and planting operation where it needs to be. So I'm just giving you a flavor of where some
of those increases are. Every other number in this budget, the salaries and wages are the people who work here or positions that already exist. So just try to put that into perspective. Uh the the so back to the table. Uh what does that how does that translate in the
amount to be raised by taxes? Um I got to double check my plus right. Uh I always have one typo. So we'll see if I have one this year. Uh but the amount to be raised by taxes goes up from 14.8 million to about 15.4 million. And
essentially our nonp property tax revenues are essentially flat. Uh so a lot of that increase that I just presented has to be bought out by the tax in order to make it come to budget.
Uh but how does that translate to the average assessed property in town when I mentioned and that's my typo. I think that 485 might be the wrong. It should be 482 368. All right, there it is everybody. Um,
>> Councilman H. >> I knew it. I knew it. >> You always have one. You always have one. >> It wouldn't be the budget presentation. >> All right, back to your eagle eye.
>> I knew it. So, basically, the change in the municipal portion of the tax bill comes to about $150 a year. uh which I I'm just doing the math. It's about $38 a quarter or $12 a month. Uh so that's
our share. Um the school budget process is underway. Um and you know, anybody who wants to learn more about that, I encourage you to um go on their website and attend their meetings to learn more about that. But um you know, I just just sharing that. Uh so that's kind of the
the like how does that play out? Well, this pie chart doesn't change a whole lot either from year to year, but I a couple numbers did. Uh, but public safety is our biggest uh unit at 26% that includes police, fire, dispatch,
which is now through records, but still we have to pay for that. Our municipal court um a lot of those those fees statutory and insurance is 22. So that's health insurance, you know, liability insurance, pension
payments, social social security. I've also added the reserve for collected tax to that language is why it jumped up because I couldn't figure out where it best fit. But that's something we have to we have an obligation to raise every year in order to um uh comply with state
laws. uh public works all their entire operations suit to debt that's 16% of our budget 14% covers all everything else not public works and not police in terms of staffing and operations our capital improvement debts are at 10%
so that's paying back what we borrowed as well as investing in our capital improvement fund annually this year the pie chart showing 6% uh is covered by grants but grants are an in and out uh so what's covered by a grant That number will likely grow before the end of the
year, but I'm including what we have commitments for as the state. Um, and last but not least, by any means is the library makes up 6% of this municipal pie chart. I'm including the statutory requirements that I mentioned before,
plus that $490,000 additional that we fund the library. That represents a 2% overall increase for the their budget in this calendar year. Uh so that's that's general picture of how we're allocated. Um and
so with that I'm going to skip over to the utility budget snapshot. Um where essentially it boils down to four main areas we've got that that we have and this is funded uh through the water and
uh sewer charges that the bills that we send out every quarter. This is separate from the tax bill. And this budget does not require a uh increase in the water and sewer rate in order to balance out.
I say that now, but we may be looking at an increase at the end of the year or for next year uh as we look at kind of where we are and we see how revenues do this year. Um but I just want to make that clear. Um we're holding purchase of
water flat. We had some uh unexpected increases increases not passed through that we had anticipated in prior years as but we are expecting about an 11% increase in um the purchase of water costs for Middle Sex water but they have
not had their rate approved by the BPU. So uh every month we don't have that is money we're saving putting in surplus and we'll we'll apply it towards other things. um operations and maintenance. That includes all of the things that we
need to do to run the system uh is about 25% of the budget. It's only up by about $87,000 and that's primarily to cover we're seeing a slight uptick in water main repairs. So that's where that money is mostly allocated to. Uh MCUA, which
is our sewer service sewage processing uh fees. you know, everything that goes through those drains has to go through the MCUA. Um, and also we also reimburse Edison for a certain number of homes that are on their sewer lines. Uh, that
line makes up about 28% of our budget and, uh, it actually went down in part because our estimates through MCU have looked good. uh which we attribute to decreases in inflow and infiltration in large part due to the work we've been
doing to line the sewer lines and address leaks in the water system. So that's hopefully we'll start to see some of these numbers both uh go down over time and or stabilize. So that we actually had a savings this year of about based on the estimates that they
gave us for this year's uh budget of 21,950. It's a little lower. Um and then capital uh and debt service uh those numbers are fixed at the and are up by about $26,000. So total appreciations up
92 to 635 uh for this year. And then last I just thought I'd give a flavor because I think people like the capital projects more than anything else even though it's just a capital plan. It's subject to authorization by the governing body. Uh, and some of these
projects are already partially funded through grants, but I thought I'd mention them because they're going to be part of our workload this year. Um, we have a grant uh from the state to help us with some capital improvements, among which are paving and ADA improvement
around our buildings and grounds. Um, and some HVAC and fire alarm upgrades in our buildings and grounds. So, I'm excited. Those we believe should be funded uh through those grants, but there may be some additional capital required, but I'll be reporting back to you once we have those estimates firmed
up. Molly Mount Graph Park unfortunately has been on this list for a couple of years, but we finally have assembled enough grant funding to to actually advance we believe this project this year at least a contract this year. um
public works. Uh we're the we already have allocated funds for uh a garbage truck and we're uh we're likely to come back for authorization for a recycling truck in part because we are hoping to be able to roll out with the addition of
recycling to one arm pickup throughout town where we currently have one arm truck pickup. So that's something you'll be hearing more about as we kind of assemble that plan. But I wanted it in the capital plan for those recycling towers in case we decide we can we can
move ahead of that. Um utility improvements on the plan. South Third Avenue water sewer main upgrades. We're trying to get those done before a plaza goes in. So you're probably seeing a bid go out sooner than later for those improvements. Uh and we also have to do
some upgrades to the interconnection with New Jersey American Water on River Road. Uh we have an interconnection there, but we need to do some improve. They've done their upgrades and now we're gonna have to do our upgrades. So, Middle Sex Waters is working on the specifications for that. Um roadway,
pedestrian, bicycle. Uh first one, Jason, again, your favorite topic. We're going to need to uh build a plaza and we're we're going to be hitting up grant funding wherever possible, but we're likely have to allocate our own capital to close the
gap in funding and to fund the project. um fully. Um the safer to school phase one project is going to happen by this year. I don't know. I just can't can't not. So, I just want to put it on there. We are going to hopefully be awarding
the construction management inspection services at our next council meeting if all goes well. Uh we'll have to get DOT to sign up on that. Um and then we can put that bid out and get get ready. the the construction time frame for that
project is not uh because it's they're pretty straightforward. And then we have already authorized but are are not yet to be awarded are improvements on Grand Street, South Beat, North Kenneth, and Bulk, which I know we've reported on previously, but they are things we're going to be doing
this year. And of course uh and this was always on my list as coming soon and now I can say underway is the Woodbridge Avenue water man replacement and the roadway improvements that will follow immediately concluding the water main work uh which is probably at least halfway through at this point the water
man work. So that's a snapshot of the capital projects we're going to be working on and the elements of our capital improvement plan. Again there's the way these are funded are varied uh but they're all part of our plan. uh for the coming year. The capital improvement
plan actually has a longer horizon than 2026. And if you look at the municipal budget, you can see the full picture uh there, but I didn't put it together here. Um so, mayor, >> thank you very much. >> That is my presentation. >> Very good. Thank you.
>> I will stop my screen share. Give me one minute. May I have a motion to adopt resolution 326-102 authorizing introduction of 2026 minister for budget by title and schedule public hearing for May 19th
2026. >> So move second. >> Roll call. >> Council member George. >> I think it's a very well put together uh budget. I think it certainly tries to save us um as as much as we possibly can in in a very tough time. It is a tough
straits in a in a lot of ways. Uh but we've also managed to do some very clever engineering of the budget at the same time. Administration finance did a great job on it. Um vote yes. >> Council member Hail,
can I ask a question? >> Sure. um uh is that my understanding is the school budget has not been finally approved. So it's possible that it that before introduction that the school there may be some changes around the school budget and so our numbers would
change as well as >> well our numbers shouldn't change but but the overall tax would be different based on it but there they were projecting in the amount to be raised by taxes due to an increase in state aid would be le this year which is
good news for the tax bill. Yeah, it's it's I think it's good news and I just want to make sure that the those final numbers aren't put in >> and they're they're they're estimated in our budget on purpose because we know our our cycles don't dovetail perfectly with the county and with with the
>> school. I just wanted to make that clarification and I think it's a a solid budget. Thank you for all your work on that. >> Council member Hirs. >> I'm a yes and really good budget. It reminds me of actually kind of what we're looking at as a state kind of a tight year but still maintaining some
really important investments. So like is this is really well done. I'm super impressed and I walked away from the work session last week you know with very few questions and so I really appreciate the the the attention to detail and just being able to kind of anticipate also kind of you know all the
projects that we have you know coming coming on the play. I mean, the recycling towers, I should point out that that that was a, you know, that was a that was a campaign promise many years ago. So, this is just how long it takes. And so, thank you, Terry. This is great. Thank you. Yes,
>> Council President Kim Johan. >> Uh, yes. And I just want to again um thank my council colleagues who they have mentioned probably numerous times here on on the day is from the federal level and different grants how those
grants have shifted where they thought may be in their bucket that is no longer there. So I appreciate um them being uh flexible uh during this budget as well too. So, thank you. And yes, >> council member.
>> Yes. And thank you to Terry Andrea for uh crunching the numbers and arriving at a very reasonable budget. >> And council member Vargas. >> Yes. And thank you for all the work put into this. I'm so excited to see the recycling and also the anything South Street, South Third Street related. So,
thank you for um making allocations for that. >> Okay. Clerk, please report an introduction of the 2026 Main Street budget. >> By the burough council of the burough silent park, the following statements of revenue appropriation shall constitute
the main street park budget for the year 2026. Said budget shall be published in the home news tribune in the issue of March 29th, 2026. Governing body of the bureau of Highland Park does hereby approve the main street budget for the year 2026. A public hearing on Main
Street's budget and business improvement district will be held on Tuesday, May 19th, 2026 in Burough Hall, 221 South Fifth Avenue, at which time in place objections to said budget and resolutions for the year 2026 may be presented.
May I have a motion to adopt resolution 3-26-103 authorizing introduction of the 2026 Main Street Tri Park budget by title and set publication for May 19th, 2026.
>> So move second. Council member George, >> yes. >> Council member H. >> Yes. >> Council member H. >> Yes. >> Council President Kim Johan. >> Yes. Yes. Council member Pastelli. >> Yes. >> Council member Vargas. >> Yes. >> It's time for the second public
participation. We have no one in the audience. Uh Terry, do we have anyone on Zoom? >> I see two uh people on Zoom. Um now be a time to raise your hand if you want to say something. >> Yes. >> I don't see any hands. >> Seeing none, may I have a motion to
close public participation? >> Second. >> Welcome. >> Council member George. >> Yes. Council member Hail, >> yes. >> Council member Hersh, >> yes. >> Council President, >> yes. >> Council member Cast, >> yes. >> Council member Barnes, >> yes. >> May I have a motion to adjourn?
>> All in favor? >> Our next meeting is scheduled for April 14th at 700 p.m. Make sure you get your taxes done day before tax day. >> Good night and everyone. Be safe. Have a safe uh holiday season and safe spring