Please call the role. Committee Bringing Committee present. Deputy Mayor Payne here. Mayor Cherelli here. Administrator Ferrer here. Attorney Willard here. All right. Please join me in salute to
the flag to the flag. United States of America to the stands nation. Please be advised that in accordance with section five of the Open Public Meetings Act, chap 2 231 of the public
laws of 1975, notice of this meeting was made by the posting on the bulletin board at the Hillsboro Township Municipal Complex and notifying the officially designated newspapers that this meeting would take place at the Hillsboro Township Municipal Complex at 7:30 p.m. on August
12th, 2025. Executive session, if deemed necessary, to begin at 6:30. We did not have an executive session this meeting. So let's move on to approval of the minutes. May I have a motion and a second to approve the regular meeting minutes of June 24th, 2025?
So moved. Second. Roll call. Committee hand. Yes. Committee. Yes. Deputy Mayor Payne. Abstain. Mayor Trelli. Yes. May I have a motion and a second to approve the regular meeting minutes of
July 8th, 2025? So moved. Second. Second. Oh, you got me. Roll call. Committee woman hand. Yes. Committee. Yes. Deputy Mayor Payne. Yes. Mayor Turley. Yes. Um so before we get into the
committee reports tonight, I have some general announcements to make. Um, first before we came here tonight, uh, myself, Committee Hand, and Committeeman Leani were here from cutting the ribbon for the 2025 Rotary
Fair. So, we're missing that to be here tonight. Uh, the annual fair is one of Hillsboro's favorite annual traditions, and the fair will be going on through Saturday the 16th with fireworks on Friday night. So, please stop by and, uh, enjoy the the event. Um, Route 206.
I have an update on Route 206. Uh, I spoke with the DOT today, uh, this morning and got an update where they are focusing on work in the Valley Road area. They've installed some sidewalks. They've removed barriers to facilitate excavate
excavation for for the bridges at that Valley Road new jug handle in that area. Uh they did some housekeeping to cut weeds as well during the past couple of weeks. And right now they are planning to work in the area at the intersection that intersection which is uh Falcon and
Triangle Roads at 206 by the prominade after Labor Day. So it should be an eventful weekend when they do shut that intersection down. Um they'll work with the traffic department and the police department that will require detours. Uh and that work again will be be it'll be
done over the weekend. So, the one thing I did warn them about was to stay away from the uh restaurant week and the weekend of the 5K. So, um there's some progress, there's some planning and uh you know, slowly but surely.
Um ice cream. We had the ice cream connection with the Hillsboro Police on July 9th. Uh Committeeman Britting and I had the pleasure of attending what is now a Hillsboro tradition, the third annual ice cream connection with the Hillsboro Police at the Ice House. Uh community policing policing events such
as this enable our residents uh especially the kids to form positive relationships with our local law enforcement personnel and the police had a great turnout and we look forward to continuing to spend time with uh they look forward to continuing to spend time with the community at more of these events. So, we appreciate that from the
from the police department. Uh lot lot went on in July I guess. Uh July 12th I stopped at Abma Farms for uh their annual cornfest and so so really just to support our local farmers and our agricultural industry. I I think
this week or last week was farmers market week. Um bought some produce, ate some grilled corn on the cob. So you know keep an eye out for these uh markets and events that that the farms throughout the town put on. Uh, al also on the 12th I attended a softball
tournament for Jack's Kids. Jack's Kids is a an organization that run that's run through the Elks Lodge and it helps ease financial burden on families that are dealing with serious childhood illnesses andor serious disabilities. So, it's not specific to one, it's just any family in need. And that allows the families to
focus on uh, you know, on on wrapping their families in love and and the attention that they really need. Uh, thank to David Fritzinger for managing connection the connections during the day. He's one of our uh one of the workers from our building department. Um pizza pizza with the mayor on the
21st. Uh I enjoyed a slice of pizza with some special people. Naryaki Nishiyama won a pizza with the mayor at a Sunnyme Elementary School auction. So uh he brought his friend River and his mother
to the uh Tomokco with him and they enjoyed pizza toward the mayor's office. uh rest of the municipal building and I think the highlight was the police station. So um you know they were a little nervous about going in but then River said you know I actually want to be a cop when I get grow older. So that
was a good good result. Uh had a good conversation in in the conference room. They grilled me with some questions about you know why I wanted to be mayor and what my favorite color was. So um important questions. Yeah. Oh yeah. Heck. Uh so that was that was fun. Um, keeping with this the the
school visits, uh, on the same day I earlier that day I had a a uh visit to the recreation camp at uh, Autton Road. Uh, the theme for the recreation summer camp was dress like the mayor and I couldn't pass up that opportunity to
visit my lookalikes. Um, the campers uh, also submitted questions. So, those were were read off to me and we had a great time talking about what it's like to be the mayor, favorite pets, favorite food, what I like to do at night, that type of stuff. Uh, the counselors got in on it,
too. They started asking some more sophisticated questions, so I we kept it we kept it at my favorite color. Um, ribbon cutings. So, I attended some ribbon cutings. Uh, one was a press conference on July 13th for Danm Consulting. uh it was a launch of an AI
artificial intelligence powered software development for a digital enterprise platform. Something new that they're going to be developing in Hillsboro and working with Chennai, India. So it was kind of a virtual ribbon cutting but um well attended nonetheless. Uh we also uh
celebrated the grand opening of the bottle and barrel liquor store in the Mountain View Plaza on uh July 25th. that was uh a liquor license that was purchased last year and they finally uh found us found a store and a piece of property to open up. So, if you're a
Hillsboro business, be sure to register your business as an HBA member uh to take advantage of the many business resources available, including ribbon cutings and advertising and marketing and networking. So, please join uh our HBA Hillsboro business association.
Uh wow, this keeps going. Um, movie night, An Van Middlesworth Park. So, on August 1st, we had an enjoyable evening at An Van Middlesworth Park for movie night. Uh, I met some families, took some pictures with the kids that were in attendance and introduced that evening's feature, which was Snow White.
And, uh, last movie night is coming in September, so keep an eye out for that if you want to attend. Um, I think that's the, uh, what's the one? The blocks movie. Oh, it's Minecraft. Thank you. Minecraft. So, a Minecraft movie
here for all the valuable numbers. Yes, I it was on the tip of my tongue. It was It was on the other night. So, um so that was fun. Um August 5th, uh that was National Night Out. Another another story about our our outreach from our
police department. Perfect night for the police to host their third annual National Night Out event. The entire township committee was on hand to enjoy the the different events. Uh, not only did the weather come through, but so did the people of Hillsboro. Residents observed or participated in a variety of
activities and demonstrations. They dunked police officers in the dunk tank, played kickball and basketball with police officers and watched various demonstrations. Um, they also received information from township employees and local businesses who had displays throughout the uh throughout the park.
The police department and all of us look forward to another great event next year. It was, I think, the biggest crowd they ever had. and uh um just you know really a great night and a great event. Um on August 5th I visited Rockbrook
Schools outing to the impact gym uh with Anthony Ferrer and uh our EBD director Susanna Carris. The Rockbrook School is a school that works with special needs students of high school age. Rockbrook and Impact Gym have built a fitness program for the students to participate
in. It was an in it was inspiring to see the activities that these students partake in and we observe the work performed by the staff of the school as well as impact gym. I did feel questions from them as well and and you know they had the same questions. What's your favorite color? What do you like to do
at the gym? Um but I found out what their favorite activities were too. I think it was lava. So, it it was a a nice morning and um you know, the kid the the the the staff did a great job and the kids were great. Um
lastly, a uh there was a purple Purple Heart ceremony on August 7th. I was joined by Committee Hand and Committeeman Leani as we commemorated National Purple Heart Day with a ceremony at the Garden of Honor. The guest of honor was Jim Copley uh chapter
27 commander and current chaplain of the military order of the purple heart. So we recognized uh uh our armed forces who were injured in battle uh injured or killed in battle. So it's a very moving day and uh moving event. So
uh I think that's all I have for my remarks. Um so let's go on to reports from the committee liaison and committeeman breeding's not here. I think the liaison the secondary liaison are going to cover his reports and I'll
toss it to committeeman leani. Thank you mayor. Um just a few from uh from this side. uh the township committee calendar submissions. If you haven't seen it, those residents who submitted their artwork consideration for the annual
township calendar this year, the staff in the clerk clerk's office was not only blown away by the number of submissions, but also the number of talented arts and artists in the community, which I will attend to by looking at all the pictures. Hillsboro employees are currently voting on which pictures will
be in the calendar, which is a difficult decision. Uh because the clerk's office received so many beautiful works of art, they will also be putting together a presentation that includes all the submissions. The presentation will be featured in the mayor's e-news and on television over the library entrance in the missile building. So, thank you to
all those who submitted their art. The EDVDC, the HBO Awards just says the voting is now open for the 2025 HBO Awards. Cash your vote for the top nominees across nine exciting categories. Voting closes August 21st, so you got another week or so. Winners
will be celebrated at the HBA Awards dinner on October 30th from 6:00 to 8 at Roycebrook Golf Club. See registration for the awards dinner on the economic and business development web page or in tomorrow's e-news. And lastly from human resources, Hillsboro is hiring for a v
variety of positions. Please see tomorrow's e-news and Hillsboro Township website for more details. I will tag to committee woman for the balance of of the balance. Is that what we're doing?
Sorry about that. Hope everyone has a comfy spot. Um, okay. Health Department is planning its 2025 flu and COVID vaccination clinic. First one will be the end of September and several others through October. Please check the health department web page at the end of the month for more
information. Join Hillsboro Recreation at the An Van Middlesworth Dog Park for their second doggy summer splashdown of the season. It will be a tail wagging good time filled with music, dog pools, vendors, and more fiery fun than you can shake a stick at. Saturday, August 30th,
9:00 am to noon. This is a free event. The fall recreation um activity guide is live for fall 2025. It's full of amazing ideas for the whole family, basketball, STEM, cooking, Pilates, comics, and much more. So, please please register today.
Fishing derby um will be September 5th um at An Van Middlesworth Pond from 5 to 6:30. Bring your fishing poles and we'll supply the bait. Prizes will be awarded. Please join us for our final 2025 movie under the stars which includes kickball
with the cops followed by a movie screening of Minecraft. I knew that fun fact. Uh on Friday, September 12th, pre-registration is required and kickball registrations begin at 5:00 pm. The ice cream truck will be there at 7 and the movie starts
at 7:30. So, the social services department extends its sincere thanks to the students participating in Hillsboro's summer enrichment program for their generous donation of school supplies in support of our upcoming back to school don uh
back to school distribution. They are currently accepting all types of school supply donations to help ensure local students are well prepared for a successful academic year. Social services also invites Hillsboro residents to learn how to identify scams and what steps to take after receiving a
suspected scam call, email, or text during a presentation on September 18th. The time of the event is still to be determined, so please look for it in our e newswsletter. Finally, the New Jersey Senior Olympic Games will be held on September 5th,
6th, and 7th. Um, this is the 19th consecutive year Woodbridge Township has held this. Last year's games were tremendously successful with more than 1500 participating seniors athletes, sorry, senior athletes from across New Jersey. Interested seniors can find
registration information on the Hillsboro Township website. Registration closes on August 22nd. Closing for Mr. Britting. All right. Uh, thank you. Uh, committee woman h. All right. Thank you very much, Mayor.
All right. Hello. Hello. So, um I will kick off before I um get to this one. I don't know if anyone listens to podcasts. There was one on New Jersey Spotlight News. It's a little nerdy. It's all about um New Jersey and it's a
it's a daily podcast, but I was really excited as I was sitting getting getting my nails done listening to the podcast. they started talking about Duke's Farm and they had highlighted so I think it was this past Friday they had highlighted Duke's farm and the article or the the podcast was around
accessibility for those you know whether um in wheelchairs or other mobility issues and it was just so exciting and it was such a delightful surprise to hear you know Duke's farm get highlighted like that and it was just a proud moment I think all of us in Hillsboro could feel good about um you
know making making it easier for those with mobility issues to be able to access, you know, uh outside and nature and it was just it was a very um very nice uh podcast if anybody is interested. Um but over to sorry, over to the the picture. So for wildlife, the
wildlife committee met last week. Um it was a really interesting safety review with the um gentleman from the state. It is our program is now in its 21st year. And I think what was the most exciting part of the meeting is to find out that we have a stellar 100% safety record. So
for all of the people who are hunting as well as um those of us that live in the community, um a stellar safety record with zero accidents, which is fabulous. Um this program is aimed at reducing the deer uh vehicular collisions um as we uh
see those quite often in our area. Um the program is sold out and um just a friendly reminder that if you do see a deer um on the side of the road or in the roadway, please call the police non-emergency line um to to we have a
program where um that will get removed. Um all right, moving on to the library. So um Hillsboro Library, several things. First of all, um they were averaging 800 visits a day over the summer. So, that is impressive. And I think the Boy
Scouts, the Girl Scouts involved, I know you guys are there reading every day during the summer. I just want to say thank you for, you know, your academic um endeavors. We appreciate it. But there were um about 20,000 people a month visiting our library, which is awesome. And it just shows the strong
consistent engagement of the community. Um there have been several retirements recently. They are actively will um trying to fill the positions. They're onboarding some new folks. If you know anyone interested, please reach out to Katherine Deberry um who runs the
library. There's also a new low sensory room. Um this is a new room. It should be completed by September. And this is a space designed for um to support individuals with sensory sensitivities to provide a um calm, quiet environment
for those who need it. So again, fabulous idea. Um there was also uh a couple months ago I talked to you about a seed like you know fruits, vegetables, um flowers, a seed library. There had been a tremendous amount of seeds that were donated. Over a thousand packs,
they're gone. Everyone took took the packs. So that's awesome. Um they're looking for more donations. So if you're willing to donate seeds, plants, fruits, vegetables, um please feel free to contribute to the library. Last but not least, there in addition to our social services which has um uh has things for
personal care, the library also has a personal care pantry. Um it does see regular use by residents and it provides free hygiene products to those in need. Um so again they are accepting donations for personal care product and again
social services is another um another resource. So thank you so much. Back to you mayor. Thank you, Committee Woman. Next is Committee Leani. I'm back. Um, my stuff now. The building department has offers an online payment
option. If you're unable to make it to office during working hours, uh, you may request a payment link and pay online at your convenience. From the engineering department, just some talking about fencing and the requirements. The energy department would like to inform you residential
properties allow owners that excuse me allow a standard six foot high fence does not require permits from the township. Uh fences do fences must not be installed within the road rightway. Utility easements, conservation
easements, or site visibility easements at an intersection. If you're not sure if you're violating any of those, you can call the engineering department or planning office to get figure that out. Uh commercial businesses properties do require permit um for installing events.
So if you're not sure, just contact the planning uh zoning or um department. Road paving updates. I'm sure you see there's some bunch of work being done because of the weather is good. Uh all concrete HC, which are handicap ramps, have been completed on the 2025
development roads. And the contractor that was um our low bidder with Stylo mil and paid Falcon Road last week. if you haven't been on that. So now that's a complete road. There's still some concrete ramp work to be done on small portions of Bloomingdale Drive, but that
should be completed by the end of the week and paving will follow. And that is the uh one section of Bloomingdown down near Auton Road. Later this week, Stella will start all the development roads with milling and paving uh including repaving portions of Camden Road that
Bright Speed damaged in their work. Rights is paying to repave the full width of the intersection from Kilmer Drive to the Seaman and Camden. So this is not so it's not a patch but a full repair on their dime. Uh while the weather looks good, this should all happen in Tommy Manor. Also speaking of
Dukes, um this past year we we were able to uh secure a grant for improvement of the road of Dukes Parkway West. So that part will be going out to bid and we plan to award that project in September. so we can have the work completed in
October before the winter cold arrives. So that will allow a much easier egress in uh to Dukes. The public works is also preparing the 2025 rose preservation project which will be scheduled to begin in the upcoming weeks. This year's
preservation efforts will include a combination of chip seal, cape seal, and micro seal treatments all aimed at extending the life of our roadways and improving surface conditions across the township. These cost effective methods are start a long-term repayment management strategy to main maintain
road quality and reduce the need for more expensive repairs in the future. Planning and coordination are underway. The residents will be notified in advance of any disruptions. The department will continue to provide updates as the progress project progresses.
And lastly, for residents over 65 uh and those collecting social security disability benefits, please remember to complete the PAS1 form on either online or by paper by October 31st. The PSA 1 is a new single combined application for the senior freeze anchor and n and new
jersey state programs. If uh you can visit division of taxation website for property relief programs at property taxreief.nj.gov or call them, I'll say that one more time. property tax relief all one word.nj.gov. And lastly, I'd just like to shout out
um if you don't if you watch any of the women's amateur open that was out in the west coast in Oregon, a young lady from Hillsboro, not Hillsboro, New Jersey, a mega ganale won the US championship. Uh she's a will
be a senior at Stanford, but her ties to Hillsboro too. She competed at Roycebrook in the New Jersey competitions years ago when she was a high school student. And also, I had the pleasure of her beating the crap out of me in golf. My brothers and I happened
to be uh at Pinehurst in 2020. And this 15-year-old happened to be hooked up with us. And as we go out there, I just politely said, "I'm sorry I'm going to stink in front of you, but if we hold you up, please feel free to move on." And she was amazing how well she played.
and she was the nicest young lady, stayed with us the entire time and was very polite even though we were not playing well. But congratulations to her and to her family because that's a that's a big deal. So that's all I got to say. Thank you, mayor. Thank you, Commman. Um the uh I think
related to paving, we're also on the verge of having Brown A. Um so that relates to Duke as well, or at least what's going on over there. So Brown A is on the verge of being finally Yeah. open uh testing accepted by the state. So, that's another project that we've uh
put in the books. Uh Deputy Mayor Payne, I'll do it really quick again, I promise. So, Hillsboro Fire District has been working diligently on ways to better serve our community. Introducing now Community Connect, a program that can help fire district uh know you and
your family better in the event of an emergency. Through the community connect website, residents can provide property information on the people who live at the residence, especially those with disabilities, um information regarding your pets, where
your shut off valves are located for your gas and water, things like that. To help save your family if an emergency occurs, look for the QR code and link in tomorrow's e-news on the uh Hillsboro Township website. This will automatically be loaded into their
vehicles when they're coming. So if they have your call is one main street, it immediately tells them there's two dogs, there's an elderly person who has, you know, accessibility issues, whatever, and they know exactly what they're looking for when they get into your home. So if you have a cat that hides,
it's good to know. And really literally took about a minute and a half to upload all my information to the website. Um, you can give it as much or as little as you want. For the police, they are hiring um and accepting applications for NJPTC certification certified officers.
The although applications are open until September 19th, there's a cap at 200 and we are just under that cap right now. Details are on the police website um and will also be in tomorrow's uh e-news, but please don't wait. School bus safety
schools in session in just a couple weeks. With that in mind, the Hillsboro PD would like to remind Hillsboro residents of the following bus safety tips. Never pass a stopped school bus when lights are flashing. Be aware of increased pedestrian traffic in and
around schools and bus stops. If um if on the opposite side of a median from a stopped bus, reduce your speed. You don't have to stop. Remember to allow for extra travel time and anticipate increased volume around schools. On July 8th, Chief McMahon met with a
representative from JA Montgomery Consulting, an organization that specializes in designing and implementing complete risk control and safety programs. The chief welcomed the cons the consulting agency's recommendations for resources and services that might be of value to the
PD. The chief was also encouraged to take advantage of an upcoming training opportunities. Lastly, sustainability. Hillsboro uh steering committee and Hillsboro Health Department will be hosting a free compost bin giveaway with an education
class that's all funded through a grant. This class will take place uh here at the municipal building September 13th 10:30 in the morning until noon. Only the first uh 50 registrants will receive a compost bin and there are only eight
spots left. Visit the Sustainable Hillsboro website to register. That's all. Mayor for real. Thank you, Deputy Mayor. Yeah, it's uh um you know, having one meeting a month for the last couple months, you you uh the audience here kind of gets a double
whammy. You get like a double a double meeting at one shot. Um yeah. U so a couple more things to report. Um, Hillsboro, Best US Moving, has uh, which
is a national moving services website, has named Hillsboro one of the top 10 family-friendly towns in New Jersey, calling it a fast growing family focused community. Um, Hillsboro was recognized for its parks, schools, and active community, as well as family focused activities such as family funday and
Memorial Day uh, parade. So, um, another, uh, award for our town, uh, top 10 family-friendly town. Uh, restaurant week. We're pleased to announce that Hillsboro's 8th annual restaurant week will take place beginning September
23rd. Uh, this annual tradition has been growing in popularity over the years and is now one of Hillsboro's high most highly anticipated and well-received community events. See the see the press release tomorrow uh, ENS for more information. So the weigh-in for me is September 22nd. We'll see what I weigh
before and we'll see what I weigh at the end of the week. So you It's not a competition. It's not a competition. Um our scarecrow festival, Hillsboro Township is thrilled to announce that
our the fifth anniversary scarecrow festival is coming up. It the festival will o be open to visitors and voting on September 28th. The public is invited to the special anniversary award ceremony taking place at in the central display
area on October 29th. Registration is free. Uh it's a it's a uh free fun community event. It the registration is open now to all Til Township residents, businesses, organizations, classrooms, and sports teams. See the press release
in tomorrow's e-news for more information about the uh scarecrow festival. Um, the Hillsboro Township Social Services Department is also pleased to announce the upcoming Older Adult Resource Fair, which will be will be
held on Thursday, September 25th from 2 to 6:00 p.m. right here at the municipal complex. And um, you we're looking forward to what that what that fair will offer. The event will provide seniors and their families with access to a wide
range of val valuable resources. and we'll have a press release tomorrow about this as well. Uh the Hillsboro Township Credit Card Advisory Committee will be accepting grant applications beginning August 18th for the fall this fall round of 2025
grants. Applications are available on the township website, hillsborj.gov, of or can be picked up in the administration office for any township based nonprofit senior or youth organizations to apply for grants up to $2,000
which will be funded through the Hillsboro rewards program. Again, there'll be e-news and more details there. Um, two more things. Hillsboro night at the Somerset Patriots. Uh, last Saturday was Hillsboro night at the Somerset Patriots game sponsored by the
Parks and Recreation Department. It was a the minor league subway series against the uh I think Bingmpington Mets. So that's your team. I'm the Yankee guy. Um I had the honor of throwing out the first one of the first pitches, the
first pitch and uh our Hillsbor resident Emily Henderson saying God bless America and residents had a foot fun time cheering on the Patriots who won in extra innings. Uh and lastly, the mayor's wellness hydration challenge. Uh this is August
is National Wellness Month and a time to focus on and promote overall well-being. Throughout the month, we'll be sharing wellness tips in the mayor's wellness section of the newsletter to help inspire small changes that can make a big difference in our lives. So, we're encouraging our employees to participate in a two-eek hydration challenge taking
place from August 18th through August 31st, 2025. This is a fun way to promote healthy habits and we look forward to seeing everyone join in and support another uh support each other in their hy hydration goals. I don't know if they're going to have that plant game or what what the goal is, but here's my
bottle. Um so we're looking forward to that. Um so stay connected as always. You can stay connected with the events via the Wednesday mayor's e-news and Thursday's experience Hillsboro bulletin. Be sure to follow and like the official Hillsboro Township Facebook
page. X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram. Tune in to the Hillsboro YouTube channel and sign up for Hillsboro alerts for traffic and emergency notifications. So, on to the proclamations. That's why you're all here, right? Um, we've got six. What's
that? So, we have Emma Lman, a junior in Hillsboro High School and a member of Girl Scout Troop 65 052. She's earned her gold award. So, congratulations. Emma's gold award award project entitled
project revamp was designed to create a positive and welcoming space for displaced youth living in group home visions and pathways. Emma refurbished the communal living space with new furniture and decor and set up annual lessons on the importance
of mental health and design. She spent 107 hours on the project with the help of staff at Visions and Pathways and Girl Scout Adviserss. Emma is a Hillsboro High School varsity cheerleader, a junior coach for Pop Warner Cheer, an honor level student,
and a board member of the Peer Assisted Living Skills Pals Club. She volunteers during the summer at the extended school year. Uh now therefore be it proclaimed that we the mayor and Hillsboro Township Committee do hereby recognize and extend our sincere congratulations to Emma Lman
for having earned her Girl Scout Gold Award and honor her for both her uh for those for those who have guided her an honor for both her and those who have guided her. We wish Emma all the best in her future endeavors. So congrats.
Um, thank you. I just want to say thank you to the mayor and the whole township committee for um, recognizing me for my gold award. And I just want to say thank you to Mrs. Greco, Mrs. O'Brien who have been very helpful in helping me through this process. And thank you to all my
family who supported me, my grandparents, and my parents and my brothers who are all here tonight. So, thank you and have a good night. family. Nha Potti, uh, a Hillsboro High School graduate, an upcoming freshman at the New York University Stern School of
Business, and a member of the Girl Scout Troop 60527 has earned her gold award. has gold award gold award project entitled she did that expanded empowering female literature in the community by publishing her own
children's book entitled sparkles and strength Aditi's fight for the forest and hosting community readalouds she collaborated with literacy teachers professors illustrators and editors the book took 85 hours to complete niha is a member of
the Italian honor society future business leaders of America Club, New Look Consulting, Hillsboro Business Club, and co- captain of the Hillsboro High School volleyball team. That's great. Now, therefore, be it proclaimed that we, the mayor and the Hillsboro Township Committee, do hereby recognize
and extend our sincere congratulations to Niha Topati Tolati for having earned her Girl Scout Gold Award, an honor for her both her and for her for those who have guided her. I'll get through that one time. We wish Niha all the best in
her future endeavors. So, congratulations. So, I just want to say thank you to the mayor and the committee here for honoring me with this award. Um, not many Girl Scouts do pursue and achieve their gold award. So, I think with events like these, we can inspire more girls to take on the project and make
the community a better place. I also want to thank my troop leaders, Miss Jen and Miss Rosa, for encouraging me to get here and also my mom who kept um inspiring me to finally achieve my award and my dad for being here. support me. So, thank you Another
reason to visit the library. I'll All right. Thanks for the assist. Want to make sure I get it right. Vishnu Bra Berwage, a Hillsboro High School graduate, Rutgers University sophomore and member of Boy Scout troop 89, has achieved the rank of Eagle
Scout. Vishnu's Eagle Scout project consisted of a landscaping and beautifification project for Chimaya Ramdu, an Indian cultural and spiritual organization. Vishnu constructed a garden watered by a Bluetooth controlled drip irrigation
system, leveled the area, and laid stone pavers around the perimeter, laid weed fabric, installed a drip irrigation system, and planted a variety of shrubs and flowers and mulch. The project took 347 hours, labor hours, with the assistance of 12 scouts and seven adult
volunteers. Vishnu served as the assistant senior patrol leader, patrol leader, troop guide, troop instructor, web master, and scribe. Vishnu was on the executive board of the Ruters University Association's allocations board. In high school, Vishnu was president of the neurobiology
club, president of the linguistics club, and a member of the German honor society. Vishnu was also a US presidential scholar candidate, a US biology olympiad semi- finalist, an NSF national brainb 7th place finalist, and
a national merit uh commended scholar. Now therefore, be it proclaimed that we, the mayor and Hillsboro Township Committee, do hereby recognize and extend our sincere congratulations to Vishnu for having achieved the rank of Eagle Scout, an honor for both himself
and for those who guided him with best wishes for a bright future. Congratulations. First of all, I would just like to say that um scouting has made an immense impact on my life. It's made me the person that I am today. And I wouldn't be I wouldn't have been able to get to
this point if not for the support of friends, family, fellow scouts, and scouting leaders. Um just wanted to thank everyone for their support along this journey. I started scouting uh when I was in fifth grade, so it's been a really long journey. Also, I'd like to thank the mayor and the township
committee for this proclamation. Uh really appreciate just commemorating my journey to this point. Thank you so much. Andrew. Okay. Andrew Thompson, Eagle Scout. Uh, Andrew Thompson, a Newark High School
graduate, Rutgers University sophomore and member of Boy Scout Troop 89, has achieved the rank of Eagle Scout. Andrew's Eagle Scout project consisted of completing a school garden restoration project at Triangle Elementary School. Andrew raised funds
for weed, fabric, mulch, landscaping tiles, and plants. An automatic irrigation system was installed as well. The project took 169 hours to complete with the assistance of 26 people. Andrew served as patrol leader and assistant patrol leader. He also organized a
camping trip to J. Edward Max Scout Reservation. He received the Maryanne Waldron Community Service Award, volunt uh volunteered in road cleanups, car washes, and memorial flag placement in ceremonies. Now therefore, be it proclaimed that we, the mayor and Hillsboro Township Committee, do hereby
recognize and extend our sincerest congratulations to Andrew for having achieved the rank of Eagle Scout, an honor for both himself and for those who guided him with best wishes for a bright future. Congratulations. Scouting was has been a great part of my
life. I started back in 2018 and it's great to be an Eagle Scout. No. I would like to thank the mayor and the committee, my troop for this honor and I would also like to thank my grandfather for coming out to this special occasion. Troop 89.
We'll get Linda for a picture sooner or later. Boy Scout Troop 89. Troop 89 was founded in 1958 and is Hillsboro's oldest and first scout troop. Over 135 Eagle Scouts have led
projects benefiting Hillsboro's parks, schools, library, places of worship, and public spaces, creating trails, gardens, recycling facilities, trophy cases, and more. Troop 89 has earned the Gold Level Journey to Excellence Award for its outstanding performance in service,
advancement, and outdoor activities. Although Troop 89's membership suffered during the pandemic, the troop has regained its momentum over the last two years and is thriving once again. Troop 89 has been a cornerstone of community service, leadership, and environmental stewardship for over 67 years in
Hillsboro. Now therefore, be it proclaimed that we, the mayor and Hillsboro Township Committee, do hereby recognize and honor Boy Scout Troop 89 for its ongoing impact and inspiration to all who call Hillsboro home. Congratulations and thank you.
Thank you so much uh mayor and township committee for recognizing tour 9 which has been a Hillsboro institution um integral part of Hillsboro in fact since 1958. We had the first Eagle Scout for Hillsboro in 1962 and we have almost 140
plus Eagle Scouts right now and counting. And uh we are very proud that we are able to turn uh young minds of Hillsboro into model citizens and uh integral part of a society that can uh be truly helpful and be u role models
for everybody in the future. And as uh uh mayor mentioned, we also adopt the we are adopted the uh south branch road here and we do the road cleanup four times a year and we are we have a receptacle for the flag bins outside and we have been on we are honored to retire
them great uh gracefully. So we have uh u wonderful activities with troop 89 and very happy for the mayor and the township committee for their extended support and we can continue making impact in society. Thank you. Yeah, let's do Overdose Awareness Month.
Overdose affects everyone from grieving families to first responders. There were nearly nearly 80,400 reported drug overdose deaths in 2024 and approximately half involved synthetic opioids. Overdose awareness month aims
to increase awareness of evidence-based strategies and tools that can help prevent overdose. Uh Narcan distribution nlloxxone narcan distribution programs can save lives by reversing the effects of an opioid opioid overdose. The
Hillsboro MUN Milstone Municipal Alliance is working to prevent overdose deaths utilizing a strategy of educating the community about Narcan and getting Narcan into everyone's medicine cabinet. The Municipal Alliance has made Narcan available to all Hillsboro residents by
installing and maintaining a Narcan distribution box in in the municipal building. The Narcan is free of charge to anyone in need and has been provided by the municipal alliance utilizing opioid settlement money. The mission of the Municipal Alliance, also known as
Burrow Aaware, is to change and save lives by empowering the community to help manage and deter substance abuse and related issues through education, awareness, resource deployment, and advocacy. Now therefore, be it proclaimed that we, the mayor and Hillsboro Township
Committee, hereby recognize August as Overdose Awareness Month and August 31st, 2025 as Overdose Awareness Day and vow to continue to support the programs committed to preventing overdose deaths. So, thank you for what you do.
Our thanks to the mayor and the township committee for recognizing this special month. It is an opportunity to honor lives lost, to fight stigma, and to spread hope for recovery. And so there's much work to do, and we will continue to
do it together. Thank you. And now uh don't go anywhere, Minda. You have a presentation to give, right? Yes. We're gonna have a presentation from uh from Burrow where it's up to you. So, all right. And Sarah, you
do the slides. Okay. So, um thank you for the for the proclamation and thank you for the time tonight to go through this. This is our annual uh opioid settlement update. Um we did this last And this is our chance again to kind of
regroup and talk about um the settlement money that we as a township have received. Um I'll kind of go through the first two slides quickly, but uh because we talked about this last year, but basically the opioid crisis has hit us hard, you know, here in Hillsboro and also in the state. Um thanks to Anthony,
we applied for um opioid settlements and seven settlements so far have started to come into the township. two more. We just applied for two more in July of this year. So, that's going to continue to have a stream of money coming into the township. Um, this money could be
coming through until 2038. So, it's it's an ongoing stream of money. Sarah, you can flip. Um, task force was created in 2023. These are some members of the task force. There's a few others that are away on vacation. Our mission is to really reduce stigma, as Tim said, reduce stigma, raise awareness about
opioid abuse and misuse and also the coexistence of mental health disorders that often go hand inand with that. Um, we want to provide resources, programs for our community. Um, we're very connected to the county. Uh, we participate in county networking sessions so that we're staying on par
with what they're doing and also adhere to our, uh, annual reporting requirements that we're required to do. Um the next couple of slides are some trending slides just to give everybody an update. So this is in the United States since 2003. The middle line is is
the total number of opioid deaths that we've had we've experienced in our country since 2003. You can see the huge spike there post pandemic. Um we are seeing a little bit of leveling off and maybe even a little bit of a decline which is hopeful news for us. Sarah, the
next slide is is uh opioid deaths in New Jersey since 2012. You can see there uh we kind of peaked out in 2022. That's three thou over 3,000 people um that we lost that year in our state. And we have
seen a decline um here in New Jersey to under 3,000. So again, that's that's the first time we've seen a decline in over a decade. Um Sarah, the next slide is opioid deaths in New Jersey by age. This is something that we really wanted to like dig into a little bit. We often
think about opioid addiction as being a problem with our young people and our youth. But in fact, this slide shows us that we need to also be aware that the green line is people who are 55 and older. And that line has spiked. It's doubled in the last few years. So that
tells us that opioid addiction not only affects our young people, it affects all age groups. It has it knows no barriers to socioeconomic, race, income, uh, age, and so we need to, you know, keep that in mind as we think about how we're spending this money. Sarah, the next
slide. Um, so we wanted to just also highlight that we as a township are getting opioid settlement money, but also the county and the state is getting money. So they're doing sort of high level things at the state. They're focusing on those four buckets on the bottom uh housing harm reduction
services, treatment services, and also wraparound services, things like legal and um transportation that maybe people need. Um Sarah, the next slide. Um so what are we doing in Hillsboro? What have we done to date in Hillsboro so far
with this settlement money that we received? Um we've we focused a lot of it on prevention education um in our school district, in our community. Um raising awareness um with our with our students, with our parents, with our community members. Character education
programs are so important. Um so paying stipens to some adviserss in mostly within the school district, helping our students to be connected in their in in our community and have positive adult role models in their lives. And um We
also um you know we've supported Project Graduation which is you know a really good beneficial program for our graduating seniors. Um we also support the Hillsboro Police Department with some of their community policing initiatives as well as things like purchasing supplies for the DARE program
which is a a good prevention education program. Um also want to raise awareness and reduce stigma in our community as we talked about in the proclamation. Getting Narcan out. Narcan saves lives. So getting Narcan out to people in our community, educating people on how to
use Narcan, you can't hurt anybody by using it. It's it's important for us to get that message out. Uh Sarah, the next slide. So that's just a picture. We have the Narcan box right here in our building. Um we have Narcan available to us through the health department, through the police department. Um Sarah,
the next slide. So a couple of new ideas that we've been talking about. One, the first one is a community recovery champion. That's um sort of a new position that we've talked about. Hiring somebody, a local person who has lived experience and professional
qualifications in treatment. Um this person could support members of our community, helping people navigate, helping people, individuals, but also families navigate um treatment, navigating recovery, maybe housing needs, uh sober living, um employment
resources, and so forth. Um so, you know, utilizing some of this opioid money to pay somebody a stipen to to help our community um would be a really great resource for us to have. U supporting the arrive program um Sarah yeah supporting the arrive program with
the Hillsboro Police Department. Um the arrive program is a national program and a county level program and we've been instituting it here in Hillsboro. So it it basically marries um you know our police force with mental health professionals because oftent times if somebody is in distress with addiction
issues it also go often times goes handinhand with meal health issues. So it marries those two things together. So it would be really um really helpful to us as a community to have that. So we've written a proposal uh with the help of Carly and our police department that is
going to be forwarded on for for your review um to kind of further that program specifically here in Hillsboro. Uh opioid awareness training for our police department and our um our fire department personnel would be helpful to them. Um, and the last bullet point
there is really sort of getting the messaging out at a meeting like this. We are open to ideas from anybody in the community. If you have ideas about how this money should be spent, we welcome those ideas. I'll talk about that on the last slide. Um, on the next slide, um, a
couple of upcoming events, as we talked about, overdose awareness day, August 31st. Um, and then Save a Life Day is a countywide initiative, really a nationwide initiative on September 25th, uh, raising awareness, reducing stigma, and getting Narcan out into people's
hands. There'll be multiple locations throughout the county. Uh, there will be a location, there will be, um, an event here at the municipal building where you can get free Narcan and information about it. And then Narcan trainings like we will do a Narcan training anytime anybody needs that. If you're connected
to a community organization uh you know maybe a house of worship or something where you feel like that could benefit any group that you're involved with reach out to us. We're happy to to help navigate that and and get that training to anybody who needs it. Um next slide.
Um couple so again call to action. If you have any thoughts about this, if you have any ideas, if you have um you know things you want to share, there are two open public meetings that you are always welcome to attend. The municipal alliance meeting and the youth services com youth services committee meeting.
Municipal Alliance meets in the mornings on Fridays, the second Friday of the month. And the youth services commission, if evening time works better for you, they meet in the evening on the third Monday of the month. Um they are open public meetings. We welcome any any
comments from our township, any thoughts that you might have. Um you know, as I said earlier, this money will be sort of coming through the township. Some of these settlements will be coming through until 2038. So um this is an ongoing
thing and we we welcome any input or any thoughts that you may have. Um thank you to the township committee. Thank you to the mayor as always for your support of of the programs that we do and the initiatives that we do. We, you know, we we want to make Hillsboro be the best
community that it can be and we want our residents to know that there's resources available. We're reducing stigma and um you know, we're here to help if anybody needs help. So, thank you so much for your time. Mayor, if I could just for a second, uh
it just amazes me um other township, other administrators that are not putting in for this grant uh from the beginning of time. Um Hillsboro, not shocking, a leader. Once again, this is a small but mighty team that I know comes out here a couple times a year, but doesn't get the recognition they
deserve as well for the caring and compassion they have for the the town and and for this initiative. So, I really want to thank them because it's a small team and they do an amazing job. So, I thank you for thanking me for putting the grant, but that was the easy part. You guys do all the work. Uh, I'll
continue to search and put those grants in. Like we said, we have two more, but just an amazing opportunity uh for the amount of time we have this money and all the ideas and and the progressive ideas that you have as being a leader here in New Jersey. So, thank you.
Uh we're going to take a short break. Uh let allow anybody who wants to to leave and uh then we'll get on with the business side of the meeting. back on the clock. Um, so reminder here, we're going to hear all the comments from the deis on items
on the consent agenda. Um and then from the so we'll hear all from the comments from the deis and then from the floor first. After that if any committee member wants to take any item from the consent agenda separately for voting purposes we'll give you opportunity to do that at the time. So
there's no need to take line items separately for the purpose of the commenting or questioning. We'll just get them all out at the time. So um with that we have the consent agenda items 1 through 25 and I want to have comments from the deis and I'll start with uh
Anthony. Thank you mayor. Thank you for delaying the meeting 30 seconds so I can make that quick call. Uh want to look at items number 9 10 23 24 and 25
uh which would be new employees. So, um, consent agenda number nine, um, and 10, we'll start there with the hiring of clean communities. We have a beautiful community. We need to keep it clean. So, um, these folks are extremely important to us through our clean communities
program, which not none of the money comes out of any of the township budget is all part of a grant and a program. So, I want to welcome uh, Carter Harrasco and Landon Harasco. And also with consent item number uh 24 uh
Christopher Galissi as well for a clean communities position. Want to look at next consent item number 23. Uh Paula Morano for the position of part-time social services. So, we are super happy to have her as well as uh
our HR director, Harriet Fenc, for being here this evening and our assistant director social services Kathy Fairbird for being here. Um, super excited, great background, great customer service. Um, really looking forward uh joining the team tomorrow, so that's even better.
So, uh, welcome aboard. Uh consent agenda number 25 uh for resolution hiring Jennifer um Jennifer Valley Glmbbachi to the position of bookkeeper for finance comes again with extreme um experience in that
position that'll help us uh in finance. So uh very fortunate to have her as well. So looking forward I think Wednesday as well. So is it Wednesday? Not Wednesday. Tomorrow's Wednesday. Tomorrow's Wednesday. Thursday. Okay. So we're starting they are starting very quick. We're giving her one day off
right then. So, uh I'm really excited especially with the background and uh especially important to me customer service. Uh so I'm very happy to welcome aboard uh both ladies and the gentleman for uh clean communities as well. So thank you.
Welcome all on board. Welcome aboard. So looking forward to seeing you around the municipal complex. Um other comments from the deis. Let's start with committee woman hand. You have any comments? Does anyone else have questions or
comments? I I'm putting some order to this so we ask you first. Otherwise, it would have been Britting, but he's not here. All right. So, um I did have a question. This one should be easy. Number six, MS4. And I had to look up what MS4 means. It
stands for municipal um separate storm sewer system. There were a tremendous amount of um undisclosed or what was the phrase? I'm sorry. It was talking about um manholes and the the
infrastructure mapping and it just showed unidentified manholes. So, there were like 3,000 unidentified manholes in Hillsboro. Is that just I'm just trying to understand what what this is about. understand the mapping and the need to
do it. Why would they be unidentified? Is this just building over time that that these weren't mapped or what's up? I think that's probably a question. Well, let's go to the engineering le. I I'll be the old man first. So, these
are all required uh by the NJ D. This is part of our man our storm water management requirements. So essentially these are all things that we will have to go out and identify over the next year. Um so they identified the holes
but then they have to now quote unquote identify them. So um the uh the in the map so uh is due by January 1, 2026. So that's what we're in the process of of doing all this. This is basically putting into play the the work that
needs to be done to uh satisfy the D requirement as as well as number five. Yeah. Under understood just didn't know why they weren't identified in the past. Just this wasn't a requirement in the
past. It's a new requirement. Hence we're doing it. Correct. Did anyone else have questions on that one? I I was just going to say that that that five and six were basically requirements from the New Jersey D and these are the
things that we have to do to meet that requirement that you're asking. So, does anyone else have questions? Um or I was making a comment on it looked like which ones do you have comments on? All right, we are changing it up. So, I
would make a comment that um 14 15 14 15 161 17 um we are accepting over a half million from the state. So, I think this was a great example of we cannot do it alone. We are a community. Um we need
you know the municipal level, the county and the state to be able to work together. So, um, this was exciting to be able to have this revenue coming into the town and, um, excited to see it. Happy about that. So, um, thank you to,
uh, to the state, um, for for the funding looking at Did anyone have a question on 18? Do you? I do, but I think it would be helpful if other folks have questions, we should, you know, have a discussion. I as I as I
stated, we're going we would like I I addressed uh administrator Ferrara. He gave his comments. I asked you for your comments. I'll ask Committeeman Leani for his and then I'll ask Committee H uh Deputy Mayor Payne.
Yeah. So, so anyway, um on 18, this is with Penoni. So, a question about the the roadways. So, it looks like this was done in 2021. This is the five-year look. I guess my question is um with the with the AI system that they're using
now, what should the township expect as far as it looks like it's an improved system, right? Um that we are using AI for the roadway systems and and to you know look at and evaluate them. How often you know will this be
every five years? And you know any comments on um technology? Sean as engineering liaison. You want to address that back again? Um so the original when I was mayor back in 2020 we started this program to identify all our roads and and do hard
data. So we used AI back then. Uh the company that we used at the time drove all 212 plus miles of road. downloaded into a database, rated them on a one to five scale and with a color scale of green to red, red being bad, green being
good. Um, we use that to start our road preservation plan, which we have continued to do both via bonding and uh other work. Um, we are now at a point that we are have done a lot of roads. So, we would have we would want to
reassess where we are and update the map. Unfortunately, the company that we originally used is no longer in business. So, which happens I guess with a lot of AI tech companies. They come and go. Uh the work was fine. It's just that company doesn't exist anymore. So,
we have a new company now that uh Penoni has identified that we're going to utilize not only them to update the road mapping to what we are now based on all our improvements, but also help with the MS4 mapping of the uh unknown manholes
that youident once is a cost savings because we're actually getting two for one on the survey. Um, so then that will allow us to update the maps and also finish the MS4. So we were able to save some money uh doing that all at once. But uh this
will be an ongoing thing to answer your question as we um do roads being updating these maps so that we have a clear understanding for our road preservation plan where we are and more importantly where the residents can look at the maps and see where they are and
how they rate with their neighbors and streets around the road because everybody knows the condition of their road. that may not understand the conditions of the road on the other side of town. So we have taken the dartboard or stencil colored maps and now as
Anthony say we like data. We like to have proof of what our decisions are and this this system has proven to be very helpful in uh determining which roads need to be done fairly um based on condition versus opinion.
I think the township would love to hear about the money we saved since taxes are a big topic right now. Do you know because those were obviously two separate contracts both with Penoni. They're outsourcing to the AI company. Do you know what we saved? Off the top of my head, I don't. But I'm
going to say probably around 20 to $30,000 because I think to do it by itself was close to that. Okay. It would be the first time the first time we did I believe it was about $40,000 to do the initial study. Um it was Yeah. I looked it up. It was,
I believe, 55. Yeah, it was 55 the first time. And I think this one was what, 38? Yeah. So, the mind doesn't die yet. So, still going there. Not bad for six years ago. I had another question on um 22. This
was a this was and this may be um mayor this may be a question for attorney Willard. So just looking at the at the contract for the solar and again this looks like a very long-standing project. There were dates of 2018 2023 um and this was a
solar project um with um Belme Depot and I believe this is for the the GSA property. You know it's a great idea to have solar out there. Very excited about it. just wanting to understand the benefit to the town. It looked like um there was a 60,000 payment 60,000 times
whatever megawatts. There's another 14,000 times the megawatts um in an escrow. There's also um so just from from that perspective, do we know what the township would realize? You know, is this going to help folks's energy bills?
Like what's what's the benefit of of leasing this land for the solar farm? uh either Anthony or Bill you can talk about the legal but before I talk before he talks about as you guys know um this was Mr. Bernstein's project because he was involved as council for the purchase of
that property um as you can see the documents were prepared by Mr. Bernstein. I am aware of it. Uh when the township purchased the property, one of the things they wanted to do to fund that purchase was in fact put a solar field on the property, earn some income from that that that uh stuff that energy
that's created will go into the grid. It's renewable. Um it's renewable energy. It's considered a clean energy source. So that was that was the plan to purchase the property and to use this solar project. Unfortunately, it's been delayed for quite some time because it took a long time to get approval process. U my understanding was part of
it is the grid being able to handle um the influx of drier solar projects and creating energy to put into the grid. Um they needed uh additional lease of land because they had a new routing plan and PSENG that they designed with PSENG. So
they're asking for an easement to get to that particular location and they're going to put some improvements in there to hook the project into the grid. So that's what I know about. So, so back to your initial question, but but Bill is correct. It's been taking a while uh
because of the power grid and we had to work through that and there was some issues there as well as it's a state program and they had to go through a lot of hurdles to get that. But the benefit uh I believe and don't hold me to it. Um I don't have it in front of me, but 50% of the power will go to uh low-income
families. 50% of it would have to do it so it would benefit um folks here in Hillsboro. And I believe the rest of the 50% also can be utilized uh by by residents here as well. So um I believe at least 50% has to go to low-income families as part of the clean as part of
the uh community solar program. It it is in the presentation that they made to the planning board. I I watched it online. So there is more information specific information about about that plan from uh from the solar company.
Yeah. From the solar company. So you know, that that has very But I know Yeah, but I know at least 50% has to be for lowincome uh families, which is part of the the community solar program out by the state. And do we believe um just with the
current administration, do we believe any of the government funding around solar for this project will be impacted? Government funding? Well, I don't know, sir. But this is a private company doing it, but um there's no real government
funding for this project. This is their own this you know they apply for a permit through the uh with um the BP BP I always BPU and PSEG has to be you know and Anthony said did the
first solar that we had approved back right during COVID was significantly larger and public service did not allow it to happen because they weren't it was too much power back into the grid. So, we've been dealing with solar companies.
This is probably the third one for this site that we've dealt with that have come and go because they couldn't get through all the red tape of the government, so to speak. So um not just um and it's still we have some hurdles we have to cross uh with the property
and with some people uh but uh this uh has been approved and essentially by the BPU by PSAG by by the by the uh the state. So it is just now waiting for some final things to be done to be put into action and the the people would
apply for the solar. So there's actually an application process to apply to get the credits for the for the solar once it's done. That's how it works. Yeah, it's extremely competitive. And as far as the funding, typically New Jersey and California are the are the number like one and two uh states that are
actually funded. So New Jersey and California are the two states that lead in solar. So usually that those those type of funding programs continue. So, can we say can we sit up here and say it's going to be funded always, but typically New Jersey and California are
the most funded and have the most solar programs in uh in the United States? Those two. Thank you. That's all. Are those all comments? There's my questions. Comments. Uh Committeeman Lani, do you have
comments? Uh well, some of it was in conversation with uh command, but I was just going to say obviously um five and six are resolutions that uh we need to do to meet our our standards. They're
unfunded from the state. They are just mandates that need to happen. So yes, we'd love to get money from the state and grants that we've that we had to apply for for the ones that Miss Hand suggested, but they weren't necessar
to meet all these uh mapping and watershed and repair things under a very short timeline that quite honestly most townships are struggling with. So, this is part of what we have to do to meet the first section of
repairs and and MSP4. Um, we're not saying that it's a bad thing, but we're saying that um the timeline that was given was is very difficult being that it's all out of pocket by the taxpayers. Um, the continued mapping of the roads
that we were able to um route 18 on on 18 that we can marry the two together to do some cost savings as was hand uh said, you know, the first one was $50,000. I recalled in the 40s, but 50 is even worse. Um but it was a very
useful tool. So, we're happy to continue that program and I think most of the residents are very happy with the paving program as we've talked around town with what we've done over the past six, seven years since I've at least I've been in office. Um
uh I would also like to um welcome all the new employees as uh Anthony had stated. Um but uh more importantly the last thing that I'll say and then I'll leave it um with all these
is that there's no town that applies for more grants than this town that I know of. Um, if you don't know Hillsboro, we actually hire a grant writer, a professional grant writer to look at all these grants and apply for these grants
that we can get monies back from. A lot of towns don't. They write their own grants or attempt to write their own grants and some of these are very complex and take time. Um, our engineering department writes grants all the time in conjunction with our our grant company to get the money we get
for the roads and the grants that we get for the roads to save the taxpayers money. So, um, yes, it's nice to get the money that we have here, but the state's not just showing up saying, "Here, you need to apply for it." Uh, so I'd like to thank the township employees, Anthony, and and the staff for
continuing to do that for the township. Um, so, uh, with that, um, good things get done and it relieves the tax burden for the township. Thank you. Deputy Mayor, anything? Yeah, so a couple things. I um firstly
want to thank uh I love the new format of the agenda, how it's coming out with all of the comments from each of the department heads. It's a huge help to have all the information at first glance and then it gives us the opportunity to ask the right questions directly to them before all this. So, it's huge with all
the other information that we get on the agenda. Um it really stinks to have one meeting a summer and then get 18,000 items on one agenda, but it's good to have all the information. Um, the other thing I want to mention is, you know, it's so nice that half of the agenda
items are welcoming the new people. So, you guys, I'm I'm, you know, so excited to have you here. Thank you for coming and bearing with us tonight. It was a very long meeting already. Uh, um, and, uh, I think that's everything.
All right. Thank you. I have a couple of closing things to I guess recognize. One is the uh, the the the flu vaccine clinics that we're going to be putting on in October uh and no and and one in November. So, you know, it's not just all about paving. We we do things uh
other other things as well. So, we've executed an agreement with Greenbrook Family Medicine to administer that program for us. So, that's that's good. Um I do want to welcome the uh employees again and um you know, look forward to to working with you and the solar farm.
Actually, I wish I had the presentation up because it's going to put um it's actually going to put Hillsboro on the map in New Jersey when it comes to uh solar clean energy and power as one of the one of the largest municipalities in the state. Um with
this solar farm, uh the the benefits to the to the to the residents will be, you know, have to be worked through on the paperwork, but this is going to this this this will put us on the map. So, we're pretty excited. I know it's been a struggle getting it through but uh when it does come online it's going to be uh
it's going to be a great thing. Um so if there are no more from the deis so I do I do have more and um I would we can either discuss it now or we can take um 20 and 21 separately. How would you
like to do it, mayor? I'd like to discuss them now. Yeah. All right. So we can take 21st. Um so 20 actually we'll take 21 first. So 20 is the audit that we just got from
2024. Um the audit we were just provided on August 7th which was last week. Um, but I noticed on 21 on the corrective action plan, many of the items had
actually six of the eight have already um started to be implemented, which is great. We want we want findings to be implemented. But of the of the findings, yeah, there's eight of them. They have again six have already started
implementation. And as a township committee, I believe we were just made aware of that on August 7th. So I guess my question, my first question is um when did we receive the audit findings and who on the committee receive them?
Did we receive a draft audit? Didn't we receive a draft audit? Whenever the draft audit was sent, that would have been sent from the C that would have been sent to the C from the CFO to the finance committee with a copy to the mayor for review for the draft.
Yeah, we have to look that up. So, I'm sorry. So, the finance committee and the mayor had the audit findings when because we the rest of the committee just got them on August 7th. Well, if we had the draft one, that
would be the first time we saw it. the final, you know, just came out. Yeah, we would Yeah, we would have received the the a we would have received the final audit which is done every year and when we get the audit, it is looked at at the
CFO and we do a corrective action plan like we do every year and that's sent to the finance committee for review and copy to the mayor and then it's submitted to the rest of the township committee for a meeting. Well, some of these dates are in May. So, you must
have had it at least in May, if not if not earlier. And again, it's August. So, um we're just It's possible that the audit could have been done before the budget. I don't have anything in front of me, right? Thank you. I thought it was
in August 7th. We got it from the with the findings from Christian. So, I guess so. The next question being um looking at looking at the findings especially like starting with number two. Yeah. I just want to make sure that I just I think we're just going right over
it. So it was sent to everybody on July 18th from the from the from the township clerk. I did not have from I'm I'm looking at it right now. I do apologize. So August 18th. So again no July. I'm sorry. July. July. July.
So it did go it did go to the clerk as it should. So I had it from Christian last week. You're right. We had it from Sarah in July. But again, these dates started back in May. So there were several months where a portion of the committee had had that information.
This was the first time it was sent was if I may, if I may, the remediation started in May. How is that possible? If if I may, um I I can suspect, but you should you should ask that question to Christian if you do have a question. Um, but during the audit process, your
auditor sits down with who? Your CFO. And your auditor at that point in time has conversations with who? Your CFO. And during those conversations, certain things were probably pointed out. And then Christian took care of him at that time. The order report's not done yet. It's not issued yet, but during that
process, I would imagine that's what Christian's I'm just speculating as he should, but but I I imagine that's probably what happened. And you can ask Christian personally, but I imagine that's probably what happened. The CFO sits down with the auditor. They go through the books. They go through everything. The auditor might have pointed out stuff right at that point in time, and
Christian might have taken corrective action right at that point in time. I get it. Let me take care of it and put it in place. And but you can ask him and that's good. We should we should absolutely be fixing. I'm I'm very happy that um Sep Clooney looked with a fine tooth comb. Um it's good to have
findings to make sure that we shore up um any of these gaps. That being said, looking at some of the gaps, number two, um, expenditures charged in excess of amounts appropriated in the budget. Why would that ever happen?
And where's the oversight? So, mayor, wasn't that in the uh in his corrective action report? The cause of it, every single thing is in the corrective action report, but this went out. Did the public have access to this on August 7th? And there was there's no
I asked the CFO and the clerk there was no questions prior to the meeting but the every single item I checked with the CFO to make sure that the corrective action plan was put in place for every single audit item. So either has been corrected or in the process of being corrected as is done since I've been
here for 20 years. So the report went to everybody in July. The CFO put together his corrective action plan like he always does and it went out with plenty of time last whatever August 7th was. I don't Wednesday. Wednesday.
So administrator yes the question would be why these things happen in the first place. So yes we have um findings and a corrective action plan. Good. Why did some of these things happen? some of these where this was
like rudimentary things that um weren't being done. So my question is where is the oversight for the CFO? Is that you? Is it that the finance committee? Like why weren't these things done? Did you have to say this actually goes back to 2008 which was way before I was
here and anyone else here on the on the committee. Um they were uh essentially projects that were completed in 2008 and 2009 that were paid with uh monies that were available on a unused balance sheet
as as I understand. So they just kind of took we had budgeted X number here, we only used Y, we had money left, so they moved it over here. And what they should have done at back in 2008 was close it out, put it back into the general funds and move it over. didn't happen. Why it
didn't get caught from 2008 to now, don't know. We've had several CFOs in the last year and a half. Um but uh in essence, that's what happened. Um it was before our we were here and there are um things that they found that are
corrected and correction action plan adjusts it. Um so and the state has been here looking at these books. Every year we have to submit our budget and our plan to them. So it it fell through the cracks, got missed. It's $645,000. It
sounds like a lot of money, but in in a $35 million budget, it's not a lot, but um that is one of the only ones that they found. So we have now set up a corrective action plan uh with the CFO to go through all these old things and
make sure they're if they're still open to be closed and turned over. Um and that's where we are. So that was just one item that was just finding four was from 20 2008 and 2009 again finding two
um I have asked in other meetings when we've been um paying money I've asked on resolutions what account it is coming from. anytime we are up here essentially writing a check with with with your money um we it should be noted where
that money is coming from and making sure that we actually have the money in in an account um accounting for something because then we wouldn't have expenditures in excess of um what is appropriated you address number four thank you committeeman Le Panny for five
six and seven these are recent um number five bank recon reconiliations weren't being done, which means the checkbook was not being balanced. Why? Um, number six, the uniform construction code enforcement fee was not filed. Yet,
there's something on, you know, we have a resolution to raise the fees, but yet we didn't file or post it. And number seven, updating the fixed asset inventory wasn't done. Um, this is anything over, you know, purchases over $500. Now, we have to we're hiring a
vendor to do this. So, in addition to the CFO, in addition to paying Mr. Monzo, we're now paying a vendor to track purchases over $5,000. This also wasn't done. Again, my question is, good that we found it. good that you know um
Christian our CFO who I wish you know all the luck in in getting this organized who will check and monitor to make sure these things are done so that we are not here next year having the same conversation did you ask
that that would be the auditor that's the whole process is you have an outside the audit is reactive I am asking so guys this is like you asked a question you asked a question clarify my question. The the order is the answer. Administrator, I will clarify. The order is the answer
for a remediation program. This is remediation. We are fixing something that has gone wrong. There should be some sort of monitoring. There should be something checking. The audit won't happen until next year and we won't hear
about it until next summer. What will happen to make sure things are filed? Because by the way the user friendly budget I don't think is even up still and we approved the budget you know the budget was approved how how long ago so
I think Mr. Lonni answered some of the question. We have unfortunately gone through three CFOs in the past year and a half, which is an excuse. It's just reality. Um, so each one of them have found different things. Um, I've called the auditors and I want them in here
more than once a year. I want them in here and they've been in here since January more than they've ever been here ever because I'm not happy either. Neither is the finance committee. So, we've asked the auditors to come here a lot more and they've been sitting down and we've had more meetings this year
than ever. So, it's nice to see a corrective action plan. That's great. Um, but my goal is to see no actions. Very difficult with an order because they're always going to find something just like a home inspector. Um, so yeah, they're they've been here a lot more now
that we have another CFO and trying to go through every single thing and every line item that the past CFO, the past two or three CFOs said that were fine and fixed. So I know both the deputy mayor and committeeman Leani have been on the orders as well, multiple calls as
the mayor has has been on calls on myself to make sure that we don't go through this again and minimize the amount of corrective action plan. So, but to some of your specific questions prior to the meeting, we really should be checking with the CFO prior because I
don't have all the answers here either. Well, so my question is did you call Christian to ask these questions? So, so you, so that that's my question because that's the whole point of it putting it out Thursday so that if you had questions, you could ask the people
that in our staff who work for us and prepare all these things to give them the opportunity to say why and what has happened instead of sitting up here and asking all of us in front of a of a crowd to try and get an answer that they can provide a much more detailed answer
to you than we can. So, I I still think that coming up here and asking these questions and you don't consult with the our staff first to get the answers or accusing them that they didn't or they didn't do something right, I think is completely disingenuous. Uh,
and um quite honestly, I don't think the staff is really excited about it either from what I hear. But listen, point of order there's no committing a good Thank you for the emotional. We We appreciate your feedback. We we are
talking about the budget. We are talking about your money. Help me understand. Help me understand if you have a question and it belongs to our professional staff why you don't ask them first. I want to know. So why don't answer my question. Why don't you put me on the finance
committee so that these questions get asked proactively? Why don't you? came out last week and you didn't ask me the finance committee, the finance committee and the CFO almost every week to understand my job better and understand the budget because I didn't know it.
Absolutely. So, did you do that is the question? I called Christian. I Okay, we just talked about Alicia. So this first of all this just came out and what I am asking is from the finance
committee what oversight what I would suggest administrator and I appreciate your comments a couple minutes ago we should be getting an update on this we should be getting an update if the implementations are supposed to be um completed at least the implementation
started I should say by October 1st then we should get an update at the committee meeting on these audit findings to make sure that the mitigations are taking place. There has to be some further oversight. This is about super This is
about supervision. We We've had disagreeing with you rotating door of CFOs. Someone's hiring them. Someone's responsible for it. Someone's on the finance committee. You guys have access to information earlier than the rest of us.
I got the same time you did. July 18th was when we all got we all got the same time. Okay. So there was no there's nothing new. Then shame on you guys as the finance committee that you weren't talking to them earlier because if Christian as a new CFO was meeting with the auditor,
you would think you would be looped into those calls. So we were uh but still the correct and action plan was taken, right? So you had information ahead is what I'm tell Oh my goodness. Okay. What else? I think it's perfectly reasonable to ask for updates on these
things. Yeah. And that's part of the plan. Are we back to any other comments? Hearing none. Let's go to comments from the floor on the consent agenda. Consent only, not
general comments on consent agenda. Going to be here for a while. Okay. Any no comments on the consent agenda from the floor? Please come up. Good evening. Maria, January 6, 720 East Avenue, Manville, New Jersey. I'm also a
Hillsboro Township property owner. Block 86. 32155 campaign road consent number one resolution authorizing increase in the current township bid and quotation thresholds. Um
whereas NJSA48 colon 11-3 authorizes qualified purchasing agents of local contracting units to award contracts up to the applicable bid threshold established by the governor in consultation with the department of treasury. Can you
elaborate a little bit on that? What what is what is what is being done here as far as uh the thresholds? What's what's involved here? Periodically, the governor in consultation with the treasurer increases the amount uh of the amount
the minimum threshold that municipalities have to go out to bid for contracts. So now it used to be 44,000. Now um any contract under 53,000 does not have to go out through um a public bidding process. It doesn't have to what? Doesn't have to go out to a public bidding process. Any contract
now they changed it from 44. The governor in consultation with the treasurer decided that the threshold amount should be 53,000 and we have to acknowledge it. So what you're saying so we have we have to formally acknowledge that changing the threshold. So that's what this resolution is for.
Okay. So let me just so I understand. Sure. So anything that's under 50 any any position that's under 53,000 doesn't have to be put out for bid. Uh any contracts under $53,000 can be done by quotes. Uh they don't have to go out to
a formal preparing of specs and going out to bid. So what does that mean? Quotes. Um you can solicit quotes from a number of different vendors and just like you would submit quotes maybe like you wanted windows at your home, you would contact a number of uh different vendors
and you would solicit quotes for the project. Same thing the town would do. But if it's over 53,000 then they have to go out to a formal bidding process. Okay. All right. Thank you. As a habit, we usually look out for three quotes. What? As a habit, the township usually asks for three quotes when it's under the bid
threshold. Sometimes we don't get three. We ask for at least three. Thank you. Okay. Consent number four, resolution authorizing execution of stormwater facilities
maintenance agreement for the Hillsboro 206 holdings project at the property identified as 871 Route 206 North, lot 202, lot 4, Hillsboro, New Jersey. So, this was an application that had gotten approval from the planning board, but
then changes were made. Was there ever a uh storm water facilities maintenance agreement to begin with for this project? Uh I'm not sure if there was an existing one, but this one takes into account all the improvements uh because I think there's been updated improvements and
some storm water management management measures at that property. So this this particular agreement will take care of all the storm water management facilities on the property. It requires the the property owner to maintain those facilities, but it also gives the township the right to inspect the
property, make sure they are compliant, and if they don't comply, it also allows the township to go in and perform corrective measures and then put a lean on the property for the amounts and costs incurred by the township in doing so. Is there a
copy available of this uh storm water facilities maintenance agreement for this uh uh 206 holdings? Yes, ma'am. Okay, there some were already answered. Um, consent
number 17, resolution requesting approval of items of revenue and appropriation. And this particular one is for um Campla Road Truck Safety Grant in the amount of $375,000. What does this mean? This $375,000
was was um approved in the budget and then another 375,000 was given by the by the state. What is what is how does this work? The uh you want to talk about the grant? I mean, so we didn't spend anything yet,
right? Well, the grant itself, this I don't know what other projects you got planned for campaign road. This just just pertains to um detach applied for and received an NJ DOT grant for $375,000 pertaining to Camplain Road. So therefore, those grant funds would have
to be used for that road and any projects related to that road. So this money given by the state is specific for this that that's correct. is I can tell you specifically we're looking for to do a study for a traffic light at Camp
Champlain Road and Sunny Me. This 300 $375,000 is for a study. We have to part of it is to do we are we applied for the grant to put a traffic light there and part of it is we have to have Poni
do the study and then we also had so we got the grant so now we have to apply you put it into our books and and do our uh our co- whatever we call that matching funds but strictly the the what we're looking to do here is is because
it is a highly trafficated road to put a traffic light that we identify ified at Camplain Road and Sunny Meat is what the end game of the project is. Was there anything previously um submitted by the governing body in
regard to doing anything with Camplane Road? No, we applied for the grant first. I quite honestly weren't sure if we could even qualify for it. So, it came in uh pleasantly surprised. So, now we need to move forward with it. So, the idea is to put a traffic light
by by Sun in campaign. There have been several really bad accidents there in just recent months even. She should know she was. I know. Okay.
Consent number 22, resolution authorizing execution of first amendment to land subleasase agreement and easement agreement with Belme Depot Solar LLC. Um I'm not seeing a resolution number.
What's being shown is consent number 22 and then on everything on the on the left upper corner it shows a resolution number but this doesn't show a res resolution number. Is there a resolution number for this? I'm sorry. We'll make sure we'll make sure to add
it. Thank you. Okay. All right. because it's saying it's saying here by a resolution number uh 342-2023. So there had been a resolution in 23 but it's not showing a resolution. I'll take a look at that. Thank you.
Uh resolution uh 25 uh consent 25 resolution authorizing the hiring of Jennifer Valley Glmbak Glmbbaki to the position of bookkeeper in the finance department. Is this a new position or is this replacing someone? It's uh we're back filling. It's the
position's been open for a while. It's it's not a new position. It's a back fill. So, someone someone replacement someone resigned. Yes. Someone resigned. Okay. All right. and in uh consent 21 uh resolution accepting and approving the
corrective action plan for the 2024 township audit. Is there copy available of the corrective action plan? Should be sure after it's Yeah. And after adoption tonight, it'll be
publicly available. Sure. It wasn't available in the one that got published today. Sarah, excuse me, clerk. Um I take a look and if it's not we can make it public so it should be
thought was public okay so I'm sorry what is the answer to that yes it will be there will be that will be available to the public absolutely okay I think that's it thank you very much thank you any other comments from the floor on the
consent agenda items Seeing none, u would anyone like to take any of the consent agenda items separately? Anybody hearing? None. May I have a motion? Motion to approve. And a second consent agenda items 1
through 25. Second. All right. Uh roll call, please. Committeewoman Hand. Yes. Committ Lean. Yes. Mayor P. Yes. Gill. Yes. All right. On to public hearings. Um
public hearing 20250, ordinance authorizing a special emergency appropriation in the amount of $350,000 for the payment of contractually required severance liabilities resulting from the retirement or termination of employees in and by the township of
Hillsboro in the county of Somerset, New Jersey. Um, may I have a motion and a second to open the public hearing for ordinance 202509? So moved. Second. Uh, any comments from the deis on this
particular ordinance? I think we talked about this when we were doing budget talking, but I will re re uh revisit this for the edification of the people and the public. So when uh we have retirees, they have accumulated sick
time and vacation time that typically we have had or we have in the past just paid straight out in our budget uh year to year. Um it was brought to our attention um by then temporary CFO Joe
Monzo that there is a special ordinance appropriated or available for us to utilize that we can take that monies and break it over a couple years to ease the burden on the township uh and the taxpayers in particular um instead of
having to pay for it all at once. So uh we are utilizing that loophole if you want to call it uh this this year to take care of the recent retirees of uh the last year.
So that's all I have to say. So I would have a question. So I I appreciate I know um and this was introduced at last meeting. I'd asked you know how many employees? It's obviously a large amount of money. Um we did get the the names of the six
employees and congrats to all of them for retiring. It sounds fabulous. Um but just just wanting to understand the breakdown for these six because I was looking at the 1995 and
the 2012 um regulations that were limiting and capping the retirement benefits and sick and things like that. And I know there was also um some sort of a I don't think Hillsboro was included, but there was something at the
state level that was actually reprimmending several towns for exceeding um that retirement cap. So just wanting to understand because just you know quick math dividing by six it's like 58,000
um a little over 58,000 per person but it looked like it was capped at 15 plus vacation time and things like that and it was vacation only for the year. So, um, so mayor, I don't know if to direct that.
I'm sure deputy mayor can answer even more detailed on because she's has a member in the family, but depending on when they're hired is depending on what their caps are. Yeah. So, for example, officer Carolyn has been here for 30 plus years. So, he has
a certain cap that is different than an officer that was after 2005 somewhere. It was um it was actually 1995 and 2011. So he may be one of the only ones for the 95.
But but again just wanting to understand um the math. Yeah. So I I don't think it it's probably not fair to divide it by by six, but I know that the HR director and CFO and our labor attorney, we went over
this aund times to make sure. Good. and the chief. Yeah. To make sure that we following all the rules and made sure we paid out exactly what we're supposed to pay. U so we looked over uh a lot of times to make
sure that there was agreement from us the union, from the labor attorneys, from the CFO, from HR, from everybody to make sure that for us to feel comfortable voting on this. Can you certify that we are
abiding by and we are not exceeding those um retirement caps? Yes, that I mean I I don't think I can certify. I don't think I don't think maybe certifiable tonight. I'm not sleeping all day, but um but I don't
think I Bill I don't think I have the right to certify anything. You can you speak to it? I I I just did I So I did speak to it that I I I just want to hear you say it. So you want to hear me say it? Yes. So, so yes, I'll say it again. So, I met with the
HR, labor attorney, the chief, the unions, the employees, everybody to go over this math and the CFO to make sure that we made sure we followed every law. So, they assured me we did and we are not exceeding the caps.
Correct. Thank you. Yes, that's what I need. Those employees and those unions wouldn't accept that payout if it wasn't. Absolutely not. Any other comments from the deis? Just a shout out to uh Joe Monzo for
putting all of that in writing for us. So hugely helpful. And I believe that'll be over I know committee me a few years. I believe it's over five years. It says right here. Yeah. And we and we could there's no prepayment penalty. If we should decide after year two we want to pay it all
off, we can. Yeah. Well, this along with the 641, we're going to need to find about a million dollars. So, that'll be a a good exercise for um the budget next year. Yeah. Know, not to delay the meeting because I know we want to be here longer. As you guys know, I've had about
two hours sleep today. Um I I did have a conversation with um Committee Woman H. Sorry, I didn't have a conversation with the rest of you guys. Uh but I mentioning to her a lot of times it's very difficult for us to decide or or know when someone's going to retire in the state because what
we've been told if you were married or have a partner and you pass away without putting in your retirement, they don't get anything. So a lot of our employees retire every year, but they don't really retire because they want to make sure they're um taking care of their loved
ones if they do pass away. So it as we as I try to tell all my staff, give me at least two years of succession planning if you're going to retire, sometimes they don't tell us until that year. Um, so it's difficult. I wish the state would change that because it's ludicrous and I use that word a lot for
someone have to keep putting in retirement when they're not really retiring just to doesn't make any sense to me. So um, we'd love to know when someone's going to retire, but sometimes they don't want to tell us. And I would say the majority of employees do tell us because it's okay if you're retiring. We
have a plan. We have succession planning, but sometimes we just don't know and anticipate that. And um with some of the salaries, they're quite high. And this is why we need to do things like this. And now we have the opportunity over five years to uh to spread over those payments.
All right, I'm done. Thank you. Uh comments from the floor. on the public hearing ordinance 20 20250. So if you're here to make a general comment, you're the last thing of the meeting. Just so you know when to go.
Yeah, I know where you're Well, we'll say whether a general comment's not on the agenda. That's when you come up. I could answer his question now. Maria Janusk. Uh so this uh First of all, it says this is a a special emergency appropriation. So, where does
this emergency $350,000 come from in the budget? It's that's actually outside the budget, right? I I believe it's outside the budget. So, that's that was my comment is the 641 that we just talked about that was in
the audit finding plus this 350 is a million dollars outside the budget. Wow. So, not truly, but anyway. Yeah. So, this is outside the budget. It's still paid by taxes, but and this $350,000,
this is earmarked for six six people. Five, I'm sorry. Five years. Six people. Yes. There were six people. Yes. Is there going to be any information given as to how that was uh proportioned
to each person? No. So, so that's that's that's it's not being proportioned to each person. It's a it's a it's to cover them when and if they retire as we just stated, right? Like they may not be
So, this is So, they did retire and we know, right? But we're not going to release by person. Oh, no. Absolutely not. By it's HIPPA. That's not going to be released the amount. I I didn't hear that. The amount of each person get what their benefit is is not being released. That's
private. So So what types of things would this would this cover when you uh as far as their retirement, payment of contractual sick time, over time, those kinds of things?
It specifically pays their payout when they retired. But what types of things are sick time? over time, comp time, anything that there. Vacation time. Yeah. All right.
So, do would you give some kind of a general statement showing that what types of things would be covered by by something like this? We just did. Excuse me. We just did any Yeah. any kind any kind of extra time sick vacation
compensation t anything like that anything they get for severance pay right okay u you don't have anything in writing as far as they just saying that these are things that whatever so someone could be getting like $60,000 when they correct when they when they
some of it some of it is state it's state statute by law the sick time as committed mentioned prior and there's deadines in time and also through contracts. But for the most part, it's it's it's sick time which is capped and
it's also vacation time which is not. So vacation time is not capped. It's one for one. And sick time is what built to 15,000 I think now or something like that. That that's not our law. That's the state law. So this is mainly what you're seeing in there is is vacation
time or sick time. And so people would generally not taking vacation money every year. It would be it could be acrewing. Could be um it it depends. But since I came on board and I can I can tell you before I
came on board, people never took vacation time. There was people had hundreds and hundreds of vacation days. Yes, it's amazing to me too. People should go on vacation. Uh but I've now capped it for um all the management team uh for 30 days and depending on the
union uh most are are 10 days. So I put a kibash on hundreds and hundreds of vacation days. So the most anybody can carry over is 30 since I've been administrator and most of the unions it's 10 days. Okay. So that's vacation and then what
were the other things? It's mainly vacation sick days. I would leave it at that for the most time. There's, as the deputy mayor mentioned, there's some comp time, but the majority it it's really sick time and vacation. And so, like, how much sick time does an employee um employee entitled?
Well, they they can acrew as many days as they want, but there's a cap. So, it doesn't matter. You can have hundreds of sick time. There's a cap now, but it depends on what year it is, which is why it's a different breakdown. You just can't take that number and divide it into number of the employees. I I think her question was like how many
how many does the average how many vacation days they It really varies because some people are before the cap if you and I just looked on the on the publicly available site the contract is actually up. So if you wanted to look at it um it is up. I just tried to Google
it. And Maria, it really varies. Some of my employees use all their vacation by July, some don't. It just depends. There's not even an average. I'd love to tell you the average, but there's not really an average. It just depends on the person. Um, I encourage everyone to
take vacation. It's needed. Thank you. All right. Motion to close. We have a motion and a second to close and adopt ordinance 20250. You had a first and a second already. So, move
really. Roll call. Committee woman hand with the administrator's uh vote of confidence. Yes. Committee. Yes. Deputy Mayor Payne. Yes. Mayor Turley.
Yes. Okay. Uh, introduction of new ordinances 202510. We're introducing this ordinance authorizing acceptance of deed of dedication of 0.29 acres of land and 0.056
acres of land for Wsville Road right ofway for Hillsboro Township, Somerset County, New Jersey. Further consideration and public hearing on September 9th, 2025. We have a motion and a second to introduce the ordinance. Second.
Roll call. Committee woman hand. Yes. Committee. Yes. Dep. Yes. Uh let's see. Ordinance 2025-11. Ordinance amending chapter 145
construction codes uniform section 145-3 construction fee schedule of the code of the township of Hillsboro County of Somerset State of New Jersey. Further consideration and public hearing September 9, 2025. May I have a motion and a second to introduce ordinance 202511.
So moved. Second. Roll call. Committee woman hand. Yes. Committee. Yes. Deputy Mayor B. Yes, mayor. Yes. Let's see. Ordinance 202512, Ordinance
amending chapter 143, vehicles and traffic schedules uh let's see it's Roman numbers schedules 7 speed limits 143-46 further consideration and public hearing to be held on September 9th, 2025.
Motion in a second. Second. Roll call. Committee woman hand. Yes. Committee. Yep. Deputy Mayor Payne. Yes. Mayor Gurley. Yes. All right. Claims list. May I have a motion and a second to approve claims list 2025-13?
So moved. Second. Any comments from the deis on the claims list? Hearing none. Any comments from the floor on the claims list? Seeing none. Roll call, please. Command.
Yes. Command. Yes. Deputy Mayor Payne. Yes. Mayor Jar. Yes. No new business. Public comments for matters not on the agenda. Miss Brake, please read the statement regarding public comment. The township committee welcomes input
from the public. Please state your name and address and spell your name for the record. You will be given one threeminut aotment for your comments. Please understand that this public forum is not structured as a question and answer session. Comments are to be addressed to the mayor. Again, please keep your comments at three minutes. Thank you. You're
Good evening, Mayor. for the for the last seven seven months. Uh, sorry, your name and name and address. My name is John Lennox. I live in I live on um H Hillsboro Point and Render
Boulevard. Um for the for the for the last seven months, the bridge has been closed. I live in in the Hillsboro Point community. I'm a disabled person
who who needs a scooter for long trips. I don't drive. I know it I know it's the township's responsibility to fix the bridge. Currently I I have to
go on 206 to go to the shopping centers. The police the policeman told me that it was not safe to drive on 206 one. What is the status of the repairs?
Two, what accommodations are there to be done for people like me to access the shopping centers? three.
How much longer will I have to wait until the bridge is complete? Thank you. Thank you. Um if you want to sit down, I'll address that for you. Um so the
stat the status and how much longer um you know right now the uh bridge is being designed. our engineer Penoni uh was released to do the design. Um and so they've done that. We um
sorry I'm coming up with dates here. Here we go. Um what we have now is the uh design process is uh in progress. The bid should go it should go out to bid in
the third week in August. So the design will be done, the bid package will be done. It'll go out to bid to be fabricated third week in August and then it'll take a month or two to fabricate the bridge. So that'll be September, October, and then the construction will be in October and November. So I said,
you know, late it'll be the fall when this when it gets installed. Part of the construction will be removing the old bridge. Um, so that's, you know, I think all along we felt it was going to be in the fall. Things just it takes time. We had to get through the budget process, get it get the budget approved so that
we could rel well we released Panoni to do the design. You know, we had we had plans and studies done originally that that showed it was um deteriorated and needed to be fixed. So, we're still tracking to fall. Uh your second comment about accommodations, maybe
administrator can talk about that. Would love to. So, uh, when this bridge first went out, we, uh, had sent out multiple letters to all the residents, uh, that social services not only would help them then, uh, but consistently. So, whether it's getting to the grocery
stores, it's getting to doctor's appointments, it's getting to the mall, um, if you want, we can leave your name and and number, we'll make sure that happens. But we did send letters out to everybody in that community um to make sure that uh we were available to take you anywhere you need to um because we
have that service available to all our seniors here um in town. I don't want to assume you're a senior, but uh but we did say that anybody in in that area that needed um any type of transportation, we would take care of that. I'm not sure if you didn't get that letter.
services. Yeah, as as the town's ADA director as well, just leave me your name and number and I'll make sure that we take care of that. But I'm glad you reached out, but let me make sure that's gets taken care of. Yeah, I'll give you my information as well.
All right. Thank you. Uh any other com uh comments from the uh floor for matters not on the agenda? Maria Janisk. Um I haven't seen anything from the township in regard to the uh Hills Hillsboro governing body uh
selling block 86 lot 21.02 to Eminem realy. M&M Eminem realy is a subsidiary of Edgewood Properties and Hillsboro Township has a settlement agreement with Eminem realy in regard to affordable housing that involves block
86 lot 21102. Hillsboro Township is the owner of block 86 lot 21102 but uh Eminem realy had submitted an application involving block 86 lot 21102
to the um Hillsboro planning board and they had gotten approval even though they don't own that property. So, how was the this how was this developer able to submit an application to the Hillsboro Planning Board for land that they
do not own and that is owned by Hillsboro. This this property has no road frontage and has numerous freshwater wetlands. The settlement agreement involving block 86 lot 2102
allows this developer to build on the former Glengary quarry and involves affordable housing. Um when is the Hillsboro governing body going to sell block 86 lot 21.02 to Eminem realy.
We'll look into that. Is there something from the planning board uh leazison? Well, I know that you've been to all the planning board meetings and I know you've been here and it's the same process that happened, Miss Janisk, with all due respect to the first phase that we did at the Sherman track. The sale
doesn't get memorialized till right before they're probably going to start construction, right? So, uh they got approval from the planning board. They have to get the final stuff from D I'm assuming and all their outside agency approvals and once that is done then it'll be memorialized and then the
process will start with the transfer of the property is not any different than the first phase that you went through all the meetings and sat through that. So it hasn't changed the process is the same. It'll happen the same way and when it happens you'll see us approve the
sale for a dollar probably to them as a consent agenda. hasn't changed. Same plan. Well, so that's what's going to happen. It is It is different from phase one. Phase one, uh, the property was sold a
lot sooner, like you said, for $1. First, Hillsboro bought that property for over $2 million, subdivided it, and then sold the first half for $1 to the developer. There was no settlement agreement involved with that property. There was no uh um
Yes, there was. There was an agreement said there was an area need redevelopment and they were set up as the as the uh developer. Um the monies that you talk about that bought the property was used uh with the properties bought with money that we had collected in our trust fund affordable housing
trust fund. So that's what it was used for to purchase the property to have the 100% affordable built to meet our our number mandated by the state. So again, when the the contractor is ready, I'm sure he'll call us and look to move forward and and we will initiate the the
transfer of the of the property. So it's really their it's in their it's in their hands to do that. So to tell you when it's going to happen, I you got a magic eightball, shake it, see what it says. Okay. Phase two, this settle this this property is part of a settlement
agreement that involves another property. The developer was given was given given uh all kinds of concessions because because he's going supposedly going to develop uh this this this property um block 86
lot 21.02. Uh I don't know how any any of this is being done because there's no road frontage. Uh there's freshwater wetlands. There's a lot of issues there. So the the developer doesn't even own this property yet. Is he now allowed to start
the Glengarry project before this is taken care of because this was all part of that settlement agreement. We just just heard it the final piece. So yeah. So he hasn't started the Glengary project either yet. He just came in front of the planning board to get the final piece. I think you were there for
that meeting too. That was outside the sewer service area. So now the project is deemed complete. So when he I'm talking about the developer decides he wants to move forward you know the ball it's in his ball game he has other
properties that he was approved to build since 2019 he hasn't started i.e. the cost cutters property. He had that approval in 2019 still sitting there. You know, the developer drives the bus. That was that was the property. I I don't know if that was the property a
property that he owned. I know that he submitted an application, but he doesn't own this property. Hillsboro owns it. He owns He owns the Glengary land. He doesn't own the Sherman track. And the two are tied together. He finally got the final
approval for the units that are outside the sewer service area. He still has a second half to approve in front of the planning board for phase two, which he hasn't been in front of the township for, which is part of that plan. Uh so again, when he's ready to move forward, Mr. Willard, correct me if I'm wrong,
it's our property until he decides he wants it. And I think her specific question was how does the applicant who doesn't own the property uh submit an application to the planning board and get an approval with the consent of the property owner
which the township provided. That's the answer. Hillar Township owns the property and correct with the and and the township consented to the application. Correct. Happens all happens all the time. uh uh in particular with contract purchasers. Uh many times somebody goes under
contract uh they don't own the property with with the property owner's consent. They come in, they file an application. When the application's approved and all uh all conditions of the development approval have taken place, then then the title uh transfers. So no no different
here. How did it happen? with with the consent of the township. And so the sale of that property will take place when the developer decides they want to purchase it. When the developer, I I assume when he gets all his compliance items in place
and then he's ready to break ground, then title to the property will transfer. Thank you. Any other comments from the floor for items? Not any other comments for statements for items not on the agenda?
Seeing none, I have a uh motion to so moved. Second and a second to adjurnn. Second roll call. Committee woman. Yes. Committee. Yep.
Mayor P. Absolutely. Mayor Gley. Yep. Thank you. Thanks, Scott. 950. Have a good night.