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Video-Count: 2
Video-1: youtube.com/watch?v=VEj_UYu5kTI
Video-2: youtube.com/watch?v=jj-MhggeIfQ

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--------- Township Committee meeting of June 9th, 2026. Executive session was held at 6:35 and we are now reconvening. Ms. Brick, please call the roll. >> Committee man Braden. >> Here. >> Committee woman Gomez. >> Here. >> Committee woman Hand. >> Here. >> Deputy Mayor Lepani.

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>> Present. >> Mayor Payne. >> Here. >> Administrator Ferrara. >> Here. >> Attorney Tantum. >> Here. >> Please join me in a salute to the flag. >> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands,

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one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> [clears throat] >> May I have a motion and a second to approve the executive session minutes of April 28th, 2026. >> So moved. >> Second.

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>> Roll call, please. >> Committee man Braden. >> Yes. >> Committee woman Gomez. >> Yes. >> Committee woman Hand. >> Yes. >> Deputy Mayor Lepani. >> Yes. >> Mayor Payne. >> Yes. >> May I have a motion and a second to approve the regular meeting minutes from May 12th, 2026. >> So moved. >> Second.

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>> Thank you. Roll call. >> Committee man Braden. >> Abstain. >> Committee woman Gomez. >> Yes. >> Committee woman Hand. >> Yes. >> Deputy Mayor Lepani. >> Yes. >> Mayor Payne. >> Yes. >> May I have a motion and a second to approve the executive session minutes from May 12th, 2026. >> So moved.

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>> Second. >> Thank you. Uh roll call, please. >> Committeewoman Breeding? >> Yes. >> Committeewoman Gomez? >> Yes. >> Committeewoman Hand? >> Yes. >> Deputy Mayor Lipani? >> Yes. >> Mayor Pena? But I'm sorry. Excuse me. >> Wait. Oh, excuse me. What the regular meeting? No. You know, what?

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I'm going to abstain from number three. I I was I was looking at number two. I abstain. I mixed them up. So, I'm abstaining from number three cuz I was not there for that one. >> No, you're abstaining from both. >> Two and three. >> Yes. >> Yes. That's I did for two already. >> Thank you. Got it. >> Thank you. >> Mayor Pena? >> Yes.

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>> May I have a motion and a second to approve the executive session minutes from May 26th, 2026. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Thank you. Roll call. Committeewoman Breeding? >> Yes. >> Committeewoman Gomez? >> Yes.

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>> Committeewoman Hand? >> Yes. >> Deputy Mayor Lipani? >> Yes. >> Mayor Pena? >> Yes. >> So, for mayor remarks, I'm going to start off with smacking Committeewoman Breeding >> [laughter] >> on the dais. Okay. So, Yeah, exactly.

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Uh so, we have as part of the Township Mayor Wellness Campaign, we invite everyone to take part in the blood drive hosted by the Robert Wood Johnson Barnabas Health, Somerset on Tuesday, June 16th from 10:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Please see the Hillsborough Township website calendar

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for or tomorrow's e-news for mayor's e-news for registration information. A couple [clears throat] of brief announcements announcements regarding the 20 Oops. 250th anniversary activities. Due to a fantastic response, registration

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for the fire hydrant painting initiative is officially closed. If you still want to participate on your own, look for paint purchasing details on our Facebook page and in tomorrow's e-news. Family Fun Day and fireworks is going to be patriotic. Starting at 5:00 p.m.,

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enjoy a reenactment of our Boy Scout Troop 177 put on by our Boy Scout Troop 1776, plus performances by the West Jersey Artillery Brigade Fife and Drum, Jersey Harmony Chorus, and Somerville's School of Rock.

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Top it all off with a commemorative photo booth, special souvenirs, delicious food, bouncy fun, games, and our grand finale fireworks. Hillsborough Township is giving its senior programming a major boost by

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organizing its social services, transit, and recreation into a single coordinated system. As the first town in Somerset County to join [clears throat] the AARP Network of Age-Friendly Communities, the Township is weaving these principles right into our master plan to ensure its

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mature residents can safely age in place with great local support. Hillsborough is expanding its support for our older local adults, building on its established network of independent living and health programs for residents aged 60 and over. With a

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senior population of 10,048, the Township is updating its current services to focus directly on healthy aging, everyday mobility, and community connection. The updated network builds on popular favorites like the YMCA fitness classes,

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senior transit bus, and the bustling senior activities room, while launching new initiatives like a revamped transit schedule and activities at the newly funded Mary E. Dilts Park once it's complete. By leaning on community volunteers, school groups, and local business

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sponsorships, the Township is introducing this expanded slate of activities, tech workshops, and wellness classes with a $0 increase to the municipal tax burden. Hillsborough [clears throat] seniors may be missing out on valuable state and federal relief programs designed to help

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manage home and utility costs. Income-qualified homeowners aged 62 and older can access up to $10,000 in federal USDA housing grants to fix safety hazards, including total roof replacements. On top of that, New Jersey offers

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several ways to lower your monthly bills, including the Lifeline Utility Credit for seniors, winter heating relief through LIHEAP, LIHEAP, I believe it's LIHEAP, LIHEAP, and the Comfort [clears throat] Partners

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program, which covers the full cost of energy efficiency upgrades like solar preparation, insulation, and cooling repairs. You can quickly see which miscellaneous funding programs you qualify for by using the state's online

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DCAID screening tool or by contacting the Somerset County Office on Aging. A representative from Thomas, uh, sorry, Congressman Tom Kean's office will be at the municipal building to explain these available programs. Stay tuned to our

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e-news and social media for details. Uh, [clears throat] the Rotary Club of Hillsborough is bringing back Flags for Heroes at the municipal compacts from June 27th to July 11th, perfectly timed for America's 250th anniversary. Anyone can sponsor a flag for $50 uh, donation

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to honor a veteran or active-duty service member with a personalized message on the flagpole. The local businesses can also pitch in and make it sure that no veteran is left out. This display raises funds directly for our local veterans and community projects,

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and you can find all the details to participate at hillsboroughnjrotary.com. There [clears throat] were recently two off-site proclamations. Uh, I would like to thank, um, Chief Chris Weniger for his 36 years of service, and welcome Ryan Giordano as our new fire chief of

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Hillsborough. So congratulations to both of them. Committee Woman Hand represented um Hillsborough at his farewell lunch and presented him with a proclamation in honor of his service. So thank you for that. Congratulations also to all of our local Girl Scouts. I was so grateful to be

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invited back to their annual uh awards ceremony this week. We had an incredible scouting community in town here with 44 troops, nearly 500 members, and over 350 adult volunteers supporting them. At this year's ceremony alone, 324 girls

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and 77 adults were recognized for their incredible dedication. Between the bronze, silver, and gold awards, these scouts put in over 3,000 hours of community service through service unit 72. They tackled everything from helping our local senior homes and animal shelters

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to creating an autism communication board and supporting the high school band. It's truly amazing to see the impact that they're making. I also went to um to wanted to send rather a huge congratulations to all of our Hillsborough graduates who received scholarships this week and to everyone

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getting ready to cross the stage in just a few short weeks. You all have worked so hard and I want to wish you the absolute best of luck in your next steps. >> [clears throat] >> We um so I have the proclamation

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for Miss Morgan. Um okay, so I'll come down to the is the booth. Okay. So we're going to meet up here at the mic. >> Hi Miss Morgan. Yeah. >> Yeah, good. It doesn't matter to Yes, you're going to say that.

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I love that. Yeah. So, this is Morgan Hodorowski. Did I say it right? Yes. I did. So look at me. A recent Hamilton College graduate and a and 2022 Hillsborough High School graduate, she's been awarded the prestigious Fulbright

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Scholarship Award. Um so, Fulbright Fulbright English Teaching Assistant Scholarship. Morgan graduated Summa Laude from Hamilton College, where she earned a Bachelor in Arts degree in English literature with minors in Chinese and philosophy. That's nice. I want you to give the

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whole speech in Mandarin, actually. >> [laughter] >> Morgan spent 6 months studying abroad during her junior year at Oxford University and then elected at was elected at the Hamilton chapter of Phi Beta Kappa in 2026. Morgan interned at the Library of Congress in in January of 2026 and

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previously was in charge of the Reading Buddy Program as a volunteer at a local library during high school. Morgan will be traveling to Taiwan to teach English for the upcoming 2026-2027 academic year. Now, therefore, be it proclaimed that we, the mayor and the Hillsborough Township Committee, do

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hereby recognize and extend our sincere congratulations to Morgan Hodorowski for being awarded a Fulbright Scholarship, an honor for both her and for those who have guided her. We wish Morgan all the best in her future endeavors. >> [applause]

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>> Well, thank you everyone who has helped me on this journey to getting this Fulbright, my parents, my teachers, even back to Hillsborough High School. I'm really excited to start this new journey. >> It's really fun. I'm super excited for you. That's awesome. >> Thank you. >> [applause]

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>> Are you sure? He's like, I know her. We take pictures all the time. It's fine. They can take two pics. >> [applause] >> And we also have a presentation from wildlife. Who's doing that? Come on up.

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You have the mic? I'll go over to my seat and you got it. >> Well, I have to admit that's a hard act to follow. Congratulations, really. So, uh good evening everyone. My name is Tom Ross. I'm the chair of the Wildlife Management Commission. Uh I'd just like to take a little bit of

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your time to summarize the activities of our hunters from last year. Please let me go ahead. >> There you go. >> All right, we can go to the next one. So, we always say safety is our number one priority and we can go. There we go.

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Um we've been going at this since 2004 and so far we've had a 100% safety record, so we're very proud of that. So, next slide. So, the information I'm going to present to you now is from our surveys. We have the hunters give us surveys back at the end of the

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at the end of the hunting season just to let us know how they did, give us some information. So, 65 surveys were returned, 93% which is about average for for our hunters. So, you can see some totals here. We had 149 deer taken.

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There were 1,171 hunting days. The number of deer were down a little bit since last year. We had a banner year last year. I think it was about 170 and I'm attributing a little bit lower to to some of the the bad weather we had. I think the the deer tend to move

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less and the hunters tend to move even less when the when it's snowing, so. But I still I still that's that's a pretty high number for us, so. As we can see here, we've been keeping track of the the deer and the vehicle collisions over a period since 2004.

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We're up to almost 5,000. So, we had 116 last year, so you can see kind of the you know, the tally here. They've been pretty consistent for the last few years. And I think with that number, the 5,000 number, you're you're seeing about 50% of the numbers that actually get

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reported. So, there's a lot more that got struck and never really reported, so. Unfortunately, a lot of activity out there regards to our deer and our vehicles. Good for the insurance companies, not so good for people in their vehicles. We're also very proud to be involved

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with Hunters Helping the Hungry, the venison food bank. We had 23 deer donated last year. It was about 900 lb of venison, approximately. So, the way it works is that we have 70 hunters. The permit fee is $100, so it's $7,000.

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That's the money that goes to processing the deer. So, that was 1,955 was paid to V. Roche and I Whitehouse. So, that leaves about $5,000 in in profit for the town. So, it's you know, a little bit extra so we can give back

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some venison to Hunters Helping the Hungry and a little bit of money back to the town as well. And basically, you're looking at about 400 charities throughout the state that benefit from this, so. We we're really glad we can be involved with that. Not too many proposals for for next

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year. It's pretty much our standard. We're going to continue with the Hunters Helping the Hungry venison program. Uh we're going to continue to invite an individual from Fish and Wildlife to come and talk with our hunters. We have a an orientation session in August where they pick up their permits. So, this individual um

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I think it was about a half an hour presentation. It always goes over really well. It talks about safety, new regulations, things of that nature to keep the hunters up to date. And uh so, we'll be doing that. So, I believe that maybe it. So, >> Awesome. >> entertain any questions if >> Tom, thank you so much. Yeah, so this is

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for the public awareness. Um Uh each year before we approve the program, the Wildlife Management Commission represent uh presents to the Township Committee the survey results and statistics from the prior year. So, I will um it's not on the agenda, but I will open it up to comments and or questions if anybody in the audience has

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or from the dais has any questions on the Wildlife program. No? >> I just had a quick statement to make in regards that the uh so, maybe a question. I saw the numbers were very high previous to COVID. COVID hit, they dropped. Looked pretty low during the COVID time frame. Kind of went up a tiny bit, but it stayed consistent. And I

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think that it's a good thing relative not not going so high. It's staying at a much lower level than it was pre-COVID. Could we assume that people were driving less during the COVID time frame and that's why the number dropped that low? >> Sorry, yeah. That's definitely one of the one of the components. Um you know,

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there's um you know, traffic patterns, weather, construction patterns. Um that's definitely that's definitely one. I think people were driving less, less cars on the road. So, I think that there's less opportunities for deer and >> Right. >> vehicles to meet together. >> Yeah, so this tells me that the program

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is working number one. Number two, our police officers are probably doing a very nice job of keeping people going the speed limit as well, too. So, the put all that stuff together, it's a much safer road environment for all these new drivers that we have out there, these young kids. So, it's good. >> You're still running the gauntlet, as I say, in in some areas, but it's it's it's a lot better than it used to be,

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for sure. >> Good. >> Tom, thank you so much. We appreciate you. >> All right. Thank Thank all for your time. >> Thank you. Oh, wait. One question. Come on, Susan. Yes. I I wait. I know. >> [laughter]

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>> Susan Gallop around Club Road. We have a history. I yeah. Uh I just have one question. Is there a map available to the public showing the areas that are hunted? >> It is on our website. >> online that they can look at? >> There's a There's a page for the

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Wildlife Management Commission and the maps are Yeah, there's a map on there. >> Yeah, it's just for safety reasons, too. Okay, thank you. Thanks, folks. >> Thank you very much. >> Appreciate it. >> Okay.

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Moving on, we do have some uh personnel resolution and appointments. We have uh number one through six. We're going to hear all the comments um After that, if the any community member would like to take a personnel item separately for voting purposes, I will

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give you the opportunity to do so. There's no need to take item separately for comments or questioning. So, we'll start with comments from the dais on personnel items only. >> I have one, if that's okay. Um I'd like to just stick with number one first. Um Ms. Brake, I've had the opportunity to work

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with you for almost four plus years now. Almost five years. And um you've been absolutely fantastic. We would be crazy not to bring you back out here. Uh I really mean that. Um uh Ms. Brake and Sarah, as we know her, is is one of those people in the organization here that really keep

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people coming back to like coming to work. She's a great person, great family person, and and motivates her peers, too. And does a really good job at the function that she has to perform, which is very important for the town as being the clerk and all the other roles that she has. So, you're fantastic and I'm just glad to be voting yes for you when

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that time comes. >> Thank you. >> You got it. >> So, just to uh follow up on that if you don't mind, Mayor. Uh I've been working with Sarah from the beginning of time. And she is invaluable and just amazing. Not just as a Township Clerk, but as the Public Information Officer.

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And also behind the scenes with also a lot of the IT stuff. So, and the communications and the marketing and everything else. So, I'm super happy to have her here. And this community has brought in such a just amazing employee. And we'd be dead

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without you. So, um if I could vote, I'd vote yes. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> I just want to clarify and and correct Administrator Farrah because Sarah, I'm sorry to share your age, but she's only 32. So, to say that it's been since the beginning of time is

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[laughter] a little bit egregious. >> We didn't mean dinosaurs. >> Okay, right. >> Thank you. >> Any other comments from the dais? >> I had two questions. Um it was not about your age, Sarah, just to be clear. Um two questions. One, are these always

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together? I don't think so. Like Clerk and Public Information Officer. So, I just wanted to ask that. And then I was going to ask are are are Attorney Matt around? Is there any implications or anything that the Township Committee should be

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aware of as we reappoint? I think there was something around tenure. Um and I just was hoping you could speak to that. >> Yes, so Yes, so to my understanding, Ms. Blake will be receiving tenure

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starting now after her reappointment because she served her initial three-year term. Um that's my understanding. If the Township Committee would like me to look into further, I absolutely can, but that is my understanding at this time. >> That's correct. >> Yep. >> Yep.

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>> Helpful. And again, I wanted to clarify cuz it didn't it doesn't say it in here, but I thought that that was the rule. so just wanting to understand um that they're not always together, right? >> I'm >> So that would be administrative for her to comment on the the PIO and um clerk

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usually being together. >> the So by the way, this is for the clerk and the PIO is just something completely separate that um Sarah has volunteered to do as a public information officer, which has nothing to do with tenure. It's just that as

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part of taking the job, when she was clerk, I said, "Would love you to take the public information officer job, as well." And she said, "Sure." So it has nothing to do with the clerk. Almost towns, when they have the clerk, they're not the public information officer. Most of our managers have three, four,

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five different jobs, and this is just another job, which has nothing to do with the tenure tonight. >> Thank you for clarifying. Any other questions from the dais?

Part: 2

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impartially that I will impartially >> and justly >> and justly >> perform all the duties >> perform all the duties >> of the office >> of the office >> of township clerk >> of township clerk >> according to the best of my ability >> according to the best of my ability. >> So help me God. >> So help me God.

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Too many computers. Okay, we're getting our steps in tonight. I promise we'll stay seated. All right, consent agenda 1 through 11. We're going to hear all the comments first. After that, if any committee member would like to take any item from the consent agenda separately for

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voting, excuse me, I will give you the opportunity to do so. There's no need to take items separately for commenting and questioning comments from the deis on the consent agenda. >> On consent agenda, item number one. Sorry, I don't know if you were going there. Couldn't tell you. Um, I just I

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just wanted to just bring to the public's attention to this is a way that we are able to handle the massive amount of roads that we have in this town. And since 2024, I think we've done what almost to 100 roads. If my numbers are wrong, I'm sorry, but it's been a lot. Not just fully doing them and and milling and paving, but also coding them

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with with new types of technology to keep them moving as long as possible. This one road is um one that is kind of in the center of town in a uh an area that has a lot of condos and town homes and and also apartments and uh Bloomingdale's had a really rough rough go of it for a long long time. So um

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it's nice to see that we're submitting a grant to see if we can cover that because the road is actually and committee man can or deputy mayor Leani can attest to this better than anybody because he's been around for the longest on it, but the road is much wider than most others and the cost has been pretty significant to do roads nowadays. It's dramatically more than it was five or

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six years ago. So, um I'm very happy that we're going to be we're trying to find other funding to uh try to help supplement and help the town. >> Any other comments from >> Yeah, I was just going to reiterate uh Command Brit's saying we started doing

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these uh grants for the large roads that are much more expensive than your standard development roads. I'll put it that way. Because of the width, they're one and a halfx or twox the cost of a normal repave. Um, Amsterdam Drive was one of the ones that we did three years.

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We got grants three years in a row to do that whole road. Uh, we just got a grant that will start to do Farm Road from 206 up to Triangle, which is another wide road that is significantly uh large expense to do. So, this is our grant team and engineering constantly looking

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at ways to uh save the taxpayers money and and uh get roads done that uh we normally would have to spend a lot of money to do. So, um, stay tuned for that because we do it every year. Um, and then, um, the only thing else that I

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that I would say that, um, the roads that we are doing, uh, that we've have done in the past, you know, is all to keep the the town safe. So, we're constantly looking to to do that. Uh, and really the grants are the most

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effective way to do that. Otherwise, um, without bonding, it's about $500 to $700,000 a mile, just as a number to put in your mind what a road cost to pave nowadays. >> Any other comments from the day?

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>> I wanted to talk about number three with the tax collection just there was we don't have any backup on this. So, just >> Okay, that would be great. Can you >> I can give me one second to >> specific. I'm sure you can anticipate my question, but it was around um this is

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around the tax sale of or the sale of unpaid taxes. So, it's a matter of like what is that amount and can you speak to the process? >> Do you want can I read what Dana gave me or do you want? Okay. Um Okay. So, this is from our uh finance team. When

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calculating the estimate the estimated rate for third quarter billing, state guidelines require us to estimate using between 95% and 105% of the previous tax levy year. This formula is amount to be

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raised which is the estimated overall budget total assessed value ratables times 100 equals the estimated tax rate. I wish I had a whiteboard. uh with the estimated budget amount, including some

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that have already been certified, such as the fire district, the tax levy will exceed 105% of last year's tax levy. If your tax rate is over or under that range, you need permission from the state before proceeding with your tax

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rate. Christian, >> it's 1.05%, not 105%. >> Oh, okay. So, it says 105. I'm sorry. >> No problem. >> Thank you. 1.05%. >> Okay. Questions?

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>> Well, my question was on number three. You answered number 10. That being said, um that >> that's okay. But Christian just um pointed out that it was >> 100.5 >> 1.05.

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But I'm just saying um clerk in the resolution it does say 105 but I'm hearing 100.5 which is different than 105. >> Well it's not because >> it's just a it's just a it's a 5%

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standard deviation as on on last year's tax levy. >> Correct. >> With all the budgets that are out there which the rates aren't certified yet. So there's a 5% on the downside on the lower limit and there's a 5% on the upside. the estimated budget should fall

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or I should say must fall within that >> safety window >> with the state calls. It's like a little buffer zone. >> If it doesn't, then that's what requires the resolution, which is what we're doing. >> Yep. Yep. That makes sense. Okay. So, I'm sorry, just to clarify, because that

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wasn't my original question, 105% on this is correct. >> No, it's 1.05, right? It's 5% up, 5% down. What does it say in the resolution, Christian? Is it >> I don't have the resolution in front of me.

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>> 100, >> but that would still be the 5% over 100. It's I mean, you can say it either way. It's still 5% over 100 because that's the the delta. >> Our resident budget is outside that

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safety window that the >> Exactly. for us. >> Okay. Okay. >> My questions. >> I'm sorry. My original question, my question was actually on number three and it was around the collection of unpaid taxes. >> Just do we know because there was no

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backup at all in here. Um is there do we know the amount of the unpaid taxes in our town and what that process is through the reelection.com? >> Deborah Bling question. I don't think >> Did you email the tax assessor

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committee woman hand? >> So, did you email the >> I spoke to her on other issues. >> Okay. >> But with this, >> do we know the amount? I just if we're all voting on it, I feel like we should know the amount. So, do we know the amount? >> I mean, we get like six pages of backup

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for, you know, other things, but there was there was no backup for this. I thought I looked at it over the weekend. I thought this is authorizing the collection. >> Yeah. I'm just asking do we know what that amount is >> like? What what is uncollected in our town? Do we know? >> I don't think we would assume that we're

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going to collect all of it either. >> So it wouldn't be tied to a de direct amount. >> Is that fair? >> This is 2025. This is 2025 unpaid taxes. So like >> Yeah, I understand. >> Yeah. >> But again, it's what we're hoping to collect, right? Like this is an

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introduction to collect. >> This is the resolution authorizing the tax collector to hold an electronic tax sale of unpaid 2025 taxes and other municipal charges through the New Jersey tax lean program. My question was what

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is that that we have what are we auctioning up >> tax sales work? Do you want to can you explain? just no I just >> just from seeing all the numbers and everything that we've been going through our tax collection rate is something like 99 >> we do have a high rate

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>> something so the tax leans are very low >> and there's a few just from people who have either passed away or just left the state for a small little piece but tax lans are very

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very small um so but it's tax rate we have 99 point something I think it would be >> it would be nominal >> um >> I just don't know the exact percentage but it's >> it's got to be super low right Christian >> and hopefully >> that would be an April question but it's

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just so low that >> I don't heard >> all right so if you couldn't hear Christian he said 99.3% is collected thank you Christian >> any other questions from the deas >> questions from the floor.

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Come on. >> First up, >> see where >> I got you. >> Um, I have a question on um number four. Mhm. >> The resolution authorizing award of

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contract to deer carcass removal service >> for removal of debris at utro road site. UT road site. We're referring to the dump, right? >> Correct. >> Okay. Um the files weren't up yet when I looked at this earlier today. So is it that this company picks up the carcasses

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from the road and delivers them there and then later they're removed from there? It's like a two-step process. >> I think you're confused by the name of the company. They're it's they're not talking about deer carcasses. >> They're talking about removing of of the debris.

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>> It just the name of the company is deer carcass removal service. >> Okay. I wonder about that because recently in New Jersey they had um a number of bald eagles that were ill and one died and they were starting to track it back to deer carcasses

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>> um being left. Yeah. Where they were >> the name >> disposed of. >> Yeah. So, I looked at that and I said, "Oh, no. This is >> We do have our bald eagles here." >> Yeah. >> Okay. Yes, you're correct. I was the name of the company that threw me. Thank you. >> That's it. >> Here to help.

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>> Yeah. >> Any other questions from the floor? >> Okay. Are we going to hear um does anyone on the D want to split any of these resolutions up for the consent agenda? Sorry, not resolutions. Okay. May I have

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a motion, a second to approve consent agenda items 1 through 11? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Thank you. Roll call. >> Committee Bing. >> Yes. >> Committeewoman Gomez. >> Yes. >> Committee woman hand. >> Yes. >> Stephanie Mayor Leani. >> Yes. >> Mayor Payne. >> Yes.

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>> Okay. Thank you. Um Okay. So we now have a resolution introducing an amendment to the approved 2026 budget. Further consideration and public hearing. Public comments will be on June 23rd, 2026. CFO

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Bushel will give a brief summary and then read the amendment, please. >> Uh yes, thank you, mayor. Um so, as we all know, uh on the May 26th was their date of our public hearing. Um we were unable to adopt uh two weeks ago because

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we got our notes from our budget office uh or from the state. Um and the notes required us to do an amendment to our introduced budget. Um, so once we finalized everything with the state, we actually sent our proposed amendment down to the state.

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Uh, they already approved it. Um, or they approved the draft. So, all we have to do right now is basically, um, introduce the amendment, which I have to read in full. Um, and then you guys vote on it. >> Perfect. >> Go forward. It is ideal for CFOs, I guess, if we have an amendment, one

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that's being small enough to actually amend and then vote on the budget as amended. However, the changes that are in the budget are quite large. So, that is why we have to actually introduce the budget tonight and then have a public hearing two weeks from now.

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>> Perfect. Thank you. May I have a motion and a second to introduce the budget amendment? >> So moved. Second. >> Thank you. Roll call. Committee Bing. >> Yes. >> Committee woman Gomez. >> Yes. >> Committee woman hand.

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>> And I'm sorry. We are still going to ask questions after. Correct. >> Yeah. >> Yes. >> That's it. Yeah. >> Deputy Mayor Lani. >> Yes. >> Mayor Pay. >> Yep. >> Thank you. >> You have to read. Do you have to read >> the full >> I think I'm reading everything in full.

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You have to. >> Okay. All right. All right. So whereas the local or the township of Hillsboro resolution to amend budget whereas the local municipal budget for the 2020 for the year 2026 was approved on the 28th day of April 26th. And whereas the

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public hearing on said budget has been held as advertised. And whereas it is desired to amend said approved budget. Now therefore, be it resolved by the township committee of the township of Hillsboro, County of Somerset, and the that the following amendment uh that the

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following amendments to the approved budget of 2026 be made. Um point number three, miscellaneous revenue section G, special items of revenue anticipated with prior written consent, director of local government services. Other special items. Uh this is regarding the

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contribution from Somerville Business Park from 600,000 to 640,000. Total section G special items of revenue anticipated with prior written consent. Director of local government services. Other special items goes from 1,57397

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to 1,61397. Summary of revenues. Miscellaneous revenues. Total section G. Special items of revenue anticipated with prior written consent of direct director of local government services. Other special items

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from 1,573 397 to 1,613397. Total miscellaneous revenues from 9,870,286.04 to 9,910,286.04. Subtotal general revenues 12 million pardon me from 12,270,286.04

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to 12,310,286.04. Amount to be raised by taxes for support of municipal budget. Local tax for municipal purposes including reserve for uncollected taxes. Total amount to be raised by taxes for support of municipal budget. 30,792,776.73 to 30,755,397.33.

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Total general revenues from 43,06362.77 to 43,6568337. Now to the general appropriation section. Operations within the caps uh fire hydrant services from 967,000 down to 952,500.

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Contribution to the fire district from 0 to 14,500. Solid waste recycling from 455,000 even to $440,89869. Contribution to senior citizen organization 0 to $1. Total operations

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items A a pardon me 8A a within the caps from 29,426,924.41 41 to 29,41282410. Total operations including contingent within the caps 29,426 92441

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to 29,41282410 total operations I read that one detail other expenses 12,622,83591 to 12,60873560 deferred charges and other statutory expenditures deferred charges prior year bills for the Hillsboro Fire District $0

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to 14,101.31. Total deferred charges and other statutory expenditures from 5,75,487 to 5,719,58831. H1 total general appropriations for municipal purposes within the caps from 30 35,132411.41

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to 35,132412.41. 41 section E deferred charges excluded from the caps deferred charges in to future taxation ordinance 2009-15 from zero to 200,000

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deficit and assessment budget from 197,115 to zero. Total deferred charges excluded from the caps from 328,671.72 to 33155672. Section H2 total general appropriation for municipal purposes excluded from the

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caps 6,462,023.64 to 6,464,90864. Section O total general appropriations excluded from the caps 6,462,023 spot 64 to 6,464 908.64 64.

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Section L, subtotal general appropriations, items H1 and O from 41,59443505 to 41,597 32105 total general appropriations.

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Is this where I mentioned the correction? total general appropriations from 43,063 062.77 to a correction that we just noticed to 43 06594877.

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Be it further resolved that a certified copy of this resolution be filed forth with in the office of the director of local government services for a certification of the local municipal budget so amended. Be it further resolved that this complete amendment or summary has been published in accordance

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with the state of New Jersey uh 2025 C72 on the designated legal notice web page located on the Hillsboro Township website www.hillsboronj.gov of on the following date which is going to be tomorrow June 10th 2026 and that a public hearing on set amendment will be

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held at the municipal building on June 23rd 2026 at 7:30 p.m. at which time in place objections to this amendment resolution for the year 2026 may be presented by any interested party. Sorry that was a mouthful but just let everybody know there was not a whole lot

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of changes. However, when a change is made, it affects multiple lines and because those lines change, this is what comes out. >> That was rivet. Everyone in the audience is super excited. I know you can't see it on the back of YouTube, but >> blowing. >> We thank you for your patience and your

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uh good morning. Now you can all wake up again. So, uh, before we take comments from the day, as Committeeman Britting, lead social services leaison has come, uh, with some follow-up information to address concerns raised during the budget hearing at our last meeting.

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Committee Briting. >> Hello everybody. Good evening. This has to do with our senior population. So, I see a number of you have come tonight and I'm really happy that you're here. So, hope we can level set some numbers and start the conversation. So, part of also the amendment as well too for this evening was having two line items open. Thank you, mayor. Thank you, committee.

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and and CFO for having that line items for senior chapter A and chapter B which allows the township to then to then fund those as those monies come available. So that's that's that that is that step that has been taken since the last meeting that allows that process to occur that it needs when it needs to occur. So that's something to put out

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there first. So um all right so I typically you know shoot from the cuff but there's I'm going to speak a little bit more here just to um read off a couple of comments here because I want to make sure I get the reality out here to everybody the truth and all the details. So, um, first I want to be very clear. So, myself and our our, um,

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committee, we really do support our senior clubs and our senior populations in Hillsboro. Uh, we appreciate the volunteers who lead them and we recognize the important role they play in our community. So, I want to first start off with that. Thank you so much for all you do. I've had the privilege of engaging with you for the past four

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or five years. It is equally important that residents understand the difference between our senior clubs and the broader senior population in Hillsboro because there's two different it's two different things. even though they couldn't work together. According to census data, Hillsboro has approximately 10,048 residents aged 60 and older. So about

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10,000 people in Hillsboro over the age of 60. Two senior clubs currently have approximately 645 registered members combined. That rep that represents roughly 6% of our total senior population. Right? So that's that's just to to level set that. Um

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all right, let me see. Um, so providing context these numbers important as it reminds us that when we discuss senior services, we must think beyond just any single organization and consider all 10,000 plus seniors who call Hillsboro home. Much of the recent media attention has focused on these two two senior chapters, not on the collective 10,000

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plus people living in this town. I want to make sure we talk about that too because there's so much that we do in Hillsboro for our senior population. And the reality is Hillsborough already provides a significant number of services available to every resident aged 60 and older regardless of whe uh whether they belong to a club. From a

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numbers perspective, 2405, so just over over 2,000 seniors engage with our social services department every year. So it's about 20% of our senior population engages with our social services uh our organization, which is fantastic. That's a good number and we also should

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be proud of that number. And frankly, I think I'm not sure how long many of you have lived here, but Hillsboro Township has some of the best senior programs I believe in the center of the state of New Jersey. We should be proud of that and we should be we should be applauding that. Though many of those services include transportation assistance, the mayor mentioned that this evening,

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exercise programs, line dancing, knitting groups, maang book clubs, bingo programs, yoga, educational wellness programs, mental health initiatives, financial education, state agency presentations, and craft programs. Most importantly, these programs are open to all Hillsboro seniors and are provided at no cost to part no cost to

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participants. Now, at the same time, the township has provided substantial support to the two senior clubs. He talked about senior senior chapter A and chapter B uh over the years. Now, here's some of the the facts just to put it out there. Since 2002, approximately $268,000 has been provided to the two clubs, split evenly between the two

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organizations, allowing them to live their best best life in Hillsboro. based on the review of their finances, the club, which they brought to us. Um, the clubs also maintained financial services. At the end of 2025, combined balances between those clubs exceeded $78,000 and as recently as April 26,

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chapter 8 alone reported about $33,000 in revenues. Now, I've seen a number of emails come back this week from Mr. Ferrer talking about how where we are with um certain um balances from now until the end of the year and into the middle of next year. And I know Mr. fair is going to work very closely with the treasurers and the presidents of both of those clubs to see where we are to make

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sure that we're in a good standing. I know that's part of the conversation that we've had. So, um these are simply facts and they should be part of the public discussion. No criticisms whatsoever. I think we have a lot of great things that are happening. That's why it's critical that we take action this evening to ensure that line items, which we just did, um are open for these

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groups to see whether the budget allows for further investment by the end of the year as indicated by numerous committee members and the administration team. So we introduced it tonight. We vote on it next meeting and that will then automatically have those two line items set up for senior chapter A and chapter B. As a leazison of social services

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here, my focus not uh not not on dividing seniors into groups. My focus is on how we can better serve every senior resident Hillsboro. Now um the other day I had um submitted to the social services department um my my um social services liaison uh partner Miss

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Gomez and Mr. Fra. And I said to some of these committee members, I'll get out to everybody. Um it's something called the it's a 12-page proposal which is um which is which is designed to bring together um all the different services that we have in Hillsboro in a more

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holistic fashion at no increase taxpayer cost to see what we can do to truly offer the best services we can. I've also reached out to some larger organizations in the area. So that proposal is truly designed to start the conversation to say how can we even do better for our seniors without any

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additional cost to our taxpayers because there's a lot of things that we can do. So the po the proposal recognized that Hillsboro already has many variable assets, social services, transportation, Somerset County resources, our parks, recreation facilities, also recreation organizations are willing to work with

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us too. volunteers, local businesses, community organizations, and the future Burdener community uh community recreation center, which we just I think received was a million- dollar grant we received that we're we're working diligently over the next couple years to to to make that into something very real and very great for everybody. The

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opportunity is not necessarily spend more money, not at all. It is actually to um minimize spending money, but maximize what we already have in Hillsboro. the opportunity to coordinate these resources more effectively so that seniors can participate, more seniors can stay active, more seniors can stay connected and more seniors can access

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the services that already exist. My proposal is built around the sum very simple principle. How do we improve the quality of life for all 10,048 Hillsboro seniors while remaining fiscally responsible and avoiding additional taxpayer burden? That is the conversation I hope we uh continue to have as a community. And this is not the

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end of it. This is just the beginning. This is getting us launching. It's putting it out in the public. It's having the conversation. I want your feedback. I really want your feedback. And um what I think too, Miss Break, we didn't talk about this prior, but what I think uh it may be good to put the proposal out on the website and get get the approval of the group >> Hillsboro

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>> in Gage Hillsboro and put the proposal out there for people to see because again, this is just a draft proposal up front. >> All right. So, um just wanted to make sure we level set some of the numbers so people understood there was a difference between senior chapters A and B and also the overall senior population and all the great things that we offer here. So hopefully this was somewhat informative

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and just this kickstarts us into a a much more robust conversation as to how we can support our seniors. >> So thanks for your time. >> Thank you for that very long detailed also helpful. >> Y >> uh so it goes sometimes. Any other comments from the day? >> So I we need a count limit on him for

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sure. >> Yeah. So I I had a question. So um $1 added for the senior chapters. So a dollar is obviously dimminimous amount. So I know there were questions last time

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around it it had been broached and and I think proposed that the reason the funding had come out was that it was a legal issue. So there there had been conflicting information back and forth at that meeting. So, can someone, you

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know, um Matt, I don't know if that's in your realm, but um being able to speak to that because we had information that it that it was legal some, you know, there was talk that it wasn't. Can you just speak to that since we've added a dollar back in?

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>> Matt, before you speak to that, I'd like to speak to that. Actually, Matt's this is Matt's first day here in Hillsboro, so we welcome him. But, um yeah, >> so thank you. I'll save you there. Um, so and I unfortunately I was in in the country at the last meeting so I did

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watch it aar. So legal illegal and I met with both uh chapter A and chapter B. So we can throw that out the window. Um there's no more as of tonight. There's no more legal illegal. The reason they put a dollar in there and I've told the chapters and hopefully got the message

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out to both groups not to panic that oh my god they're giving us a dollar. Are you kidding me? nice for a tip, but not nice for funding. So, tonight and working with Christian and working with with both um Committeeman Burning and

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Committee Gomez, we're putting that dollar each in chapter A and B. So, at the end of the year when we look at the budget, there's a way to to to put that money back in there legally, if you will. Um, again, the chapters have been

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getting that money back in probably since like 2000. So, you got it. We just picked it up. It's okay. It's It's not a big deal. So, we're doing it the right way now. Simple as that. So, tonight having those two line items will allow

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us at the end of the year uh to potentially put some of that money back in. Uh that's all we're doing so we can get rid of the illegal stuff anymore. We're done. We're done with that. So, we're going to be working with both the chapters A and B and to not only work with the town on how we can potentially

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fund that back, but also some savings in both of the chapters. Um, and they were was a great meeting on how they can save some money and work together. And they realized that we've impacted families, we've impacted departments, had to lay people off. It was very difficult. So,

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the chapters are both willing to work with us and we're hoping that we can have some good news at the end of the year. So this allows us to do it the right way. So both Christian and the auditors can say, "Okay, great. This is a way to do it." So the dollar just simply sets it up the right way, period.

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So no more illegal talking because that's gone. So that's not an issue at this point anymore. >> Okay. So that that's helpful. So So the reason the seniors are not funded right now has nothing to do with legal issues. >> That is correct. There's there's they're

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they're not legal. There's no legal issues. But the reason that there's only a dollar in there is that this is a a budget decision. And so this was never a legal issue from day one. >> It's a budget decision. >> Um is why we are not funding the

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seniors. Is that what I'm hearing? >> Right. So So right now, was it illegal? Right. We want to say illegal. It was according to the CFO and the orders, but that's been going on for 25 years. So,

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no, don't worry seniors, no one's going to jail. I go there with you if I need to. So, it was just a accounting error and now we're fixing that moving forward. So, it's not a problem. But committeewoman hand is correct. It it is is a budget issue right now. So,

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everything is now where it needs to be. So Christian can send it through the DLGS who's approved it right now. So it's like anything else as we go through the rest of the year. We're hopeful in the fourth quarter, which we told both senior chapters that we're going to be looking at the October, November time

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frame to see where we are financially. If there's a way that we can put some of that money back in and and help you out, we're going to do that. And we're going to start planning in October, November, so you know what your budget is for 2027. So it's all about communication. That's what we're going to do. and we had a good first meeting and we're going to

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work together and hopefully to fund some of that. Did I say anything wrong, Christian? >> Uh, no. So, no. >> Okay. >> There's only one line item actually in the budget. It's for senior groups, but we split it for A and B. So,

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>> just to clarify. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> So, you each get 50 cents is what you're saying. >> I hope that helps. >> That's it. So, you each get 50 cents for now. No, ma'am. But it is it is a placeholder. It allows us correct >> transfer funds in if the funds are

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available at the end of the year. >> Correct. >> So I would like to say uh as a comment of my own that um I think that this uh discussion is really been super important for us to focus on the entirety of our Hillsboro community and

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the seniors within. So we are no longer focused solely on group A and B which I think is a really awesome turn of events for our town so that we can focus on all seniors. There's 10,048 of them and

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every one of them should be touched equally with our services with our bandwidth and the things that we can do especially when we can do those things at no expense to the taxpayer. That's the real end goal here. So I think um some of the work that social services is

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going to be doing some of the work that they have already been doing is as I've discussed with both the senior groups beyond even what some some of the services that you're getting from the county are doing and I think that that's

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a really uh like just a really great opportunity for Hillsboro as a whole to take care of our aging in place seniors and I'm proud of that. Any other comments from the day I >> um yeah so I do so um while I respect

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the work of my colleagues and our professionals I've concluded that I cannot support the introduction of the amended version of the 2026 municipal budget for the second time this year. My decision is based on the concerns about both the immediate impact to the

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taxpayers and the township's long-term financial stability. The budget increases the local tax levy by 8.3% this year. More concerning is the broader trend. The local tax levy has

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increased by more than 37% over the past three years, nearly 50% over the past four years. While rising health care costs are certainly a factor, they account for only a portion of this growth. The larger issue is a

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combination of increased spending, rising debt obligations, and the continued draw down of our surplus reserves. I believe both the governing body and the public deserve a clearer understanding of what these trends mean

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for Hillsborough's financial future. Before supporting a budget of this magnitude, I believe we should have a more comprehensive discussion about the challenges ahead and the options available to address them. I am also unable to support the elimination of the

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funding for our senior programs. The savings are relatively small, but the impact on the seniors who rely on these services is significant. I do not believe that this is the right choice for our community. There are many positive elements within

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this budget and I appreciate the effort that went into developing it. I understand that budgets are not simple and there are real costs embedded in this document that no governing body can entirely avoid. I believe the residents of Hillsboro deserve a budget process

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that is honest about what is driving the costs, transparent about the trade-offs, and willing to make difficult decisions rather than defer them. This budget does not meet that standard. Hillsboro is a community that takes care of its own.

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This budget, as written, does not fully reflect that value, and I will continue to vote accordingly. Thank you, mayor. >> Of course. So, uh, what do you propose instead? >> Um, I would love to have a public

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session, but I don't think this is or do we want to hash it out right now? >> These are comments from the DEAS. I've made my comments. Thank you, mayor. >> So, you have nothing to propose different. >> I don't think this is the forum. >> It It is actually.

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>> Then, please. Well, you're the one with um issues, so I would like to see what you're proposing instead. >> I would love to see lots of changes to this budget. >> Committ Gomez. >> Thank you, Mayor Payne. Um, and I just

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want to say that I share Committee Woman's Hands concerns about our short and long-term financial stability and impact on our community. While I'm proud to serve on the finance committee and I know a tremendous amount of work went into creating this budget, um, I agree

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we need a clearer understanding of the financial challenges ahead and how this is going to impact our community overall. Um, we need a path forward that's sustainable, well-informed decisionmaking. A potential structural deficit in which

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our expenses outpace our revenues is a serious concern and not something I want to leave to taxpayers or those successors after me. I also need to address a mischaracterization that has been said on and off this day is at our

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last meeting. Mayor Payne insinuated that I had advocated for removing the senior funding from the budget. Even after being corrected by committee woman hand and our CFO, she continued to repeat that claim in other meetings. We are elected officials. We have a

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responsibility to always speak the truth. To be clear, I never asked for the funding to be removed. I simply followed up on a question about a legal legality question that was raised by our CFO. Questions and discussion should always

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be welcomed. Committeewoman Hand and I have been actively working to see other ways that we can provide funding for these chapter senior programs. We reached out to Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman's office and our local Rotary Club to see if there's any kind

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of federal or local support. I know others on this day have also been reaching out and I think the only path forward is to work together to continue to support these organizations. >> So as lead finance you don't want to you did not want to remove the budget

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>> the funding for the senior program. >> Right. >> Correct. when we were introduced the budget um we were informed that we couldn't do it from a legal standard and we were waiting to for clarification on that. >> Okay. So I I received an email saying

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exactly that in your notes with your signature. Was that hacked? >> I'm not sure what you're referring to. Could you forward that to me because >> I I'll resend it to you. Yeah, absolutely. >> Thank you. Yeah, that's obviously an IT

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issue if you think you were hacked. Okay. Um, any other comments from the day? >> Um, mayor, I obviously we're we're playing politics up here now. So, and I hate that this is local government. These are local taxpayers. These are people trying to pay the taxes and we're

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and we're playing the game here. Um, so let's go at it. So, people ran on affordability and how they're going to they're going to make it a more affordable place to live. Well, our lead liaison ran on that. Uh raised our taxes as been pointed out by committee hand.

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Um we have provided no ex no extra services to the township. In fact, we've removed services from the township. We've we've lost employees. We've cut social services. We've we've taken money away from the seniors. So, um for her to sit here and say that she has concerns,

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she was the one driving the bus. Most of the questions were I let her sit back as she was learning. I let her drive all most of the conversation and all the questions back and forth with our CFO and our other members. Uh this budget was completely u negotiated if

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you want to call and organized by our lead liaison, myself, the CFO, our Harriet who isn't here, our uh HR person and Anthony. Yes, tough decisions were made. Um, but there's no excess spending

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here. We're not out doing any roads other than what we're applying for grants. We're not buying any trucks. We're not buying any additional things in our where in fact there's no capital budget this year. So to sit there and be disingenuous about um what is actually

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in this budget is a complete farce and a political ploy. And I take exception to it because I sat in the room with you, Jill, the entire time. But I will also say they did not talk to Rotary about

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helping you seniors. I had talked to Abbid as a Rotarian three weeks ago and have a meeting with them coming up. So, thank you for trying to jump on that bandwagon, but you're three weeks late. Okay. I know you came to our Rotary meeting Tuesday to sit there and show

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your faces, but that that bus ran, so I take exception to that. I try to do it behind the scenes. I'm not trying to make it a political point here in front of all these goddamn people. Pardon my French. >> Yeah, you heard me. I'm not the one that brought it up and it's a blatant lie.

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I'm the one that has set up and talked to our my president about doing this behind the scenes because I don't think it should be in front of the Dis. But we have to make it a political point. It's embarrassing. >> So, deputy mayor. >> So, I'm not done yet. Point of order.

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>> You paused. >> Well, I'm dramatic. Pause. >> Please. >> Okay. So, here's the here's the the real skinny people. It's going to be tough. It's going to be tough the next couple years. The mayor said it last year when she was deputy mayor.

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there's the revenue coming in and the cost going up by forces outside our control is going to be there and it's not going any any any way anytime soon. So yeah, we can sit here and we can and

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of course quite honestly I never got a suggestion from his hand about anything in the budget directed to me. I don't know if she sent something to Jill, which is possible, but was never I was never sent a direct question or a

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thought or a positive comment, suggestion, whatever you want to call it, about the budget. So, you can vote no all you want,

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but let's just be real. Deputy Mayor Leani, please try to put your emotions aside. >> This is not >> I I also spoke to the president of the Rotary Club and I'm glad we're aligned with that.

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>> Yeah, you were you didn't have to bring it up like you're making a public >> mayor. >> I did it without bringing it to the public as a comment. You felt you needed to bring it to the public as a comment. That's what I'm that's what I have an issue with and it was already in process

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but thank you for also agreeing with me. >> I was simply trying to inform the public. >> So, mayor. >> Sure. >> Um this is a problem that has been years in the making. I think committeewoman Gomez

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and Deputy Mayor Leani with our CFO Christian worked very hard. But again, I said it last time, I'll say it this time. It's like makeup on a pig. We are going in a bad direction. And if we want to find out where we should take money from, we

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should look at consultants. We should look at our attorney fees. We have litigation out the technical term yin-yang. I mean, we have all these attorney fees. How about we cut some of that and take money from them instead of from our residents because 31,000 on our

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legal line item, no offense, Matthew, um is nothing with what we're paying them. So there are other things that can be done. So thank you very much. That I can actually agree with 100%. And

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I think by doing the RFP that we just did to find a lowerc cost initiative for one of our attorneys positions and we continue on that path. Absolutely agree with you. So thank you. Any other comments?

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Okay, roll call. We did the roll call. Sorry. Okay, so the >> Okay, perfect. It's just an introduction. >> Public hearings? None. Introduction of new ordinances. None. Claims list. May I have a motion and a second to approve claims list 2026-09.

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>> So moved. >> Second. >> Comments from the DAS quick. I will sorry to go back. It says resolution amending. I know there had been somebody that in the audience that had raised their hand. Are they able to ask

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>> questions? This is not a resolution to amend. This is a resolution to introduce and that's what we did. We will have public comment and she can speak that. I will absolutely call her up first >> and I hear you because it isn't titled intro. Yes, we're amending. So claims

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>> she can come back in two weeks. >> No, she'd come tonight. >> No, you can absolut excuse me >> later. >> Committee, >> please, mayor. >> Committeewoman Hannah is incorrect. You can absolutely ask your question during public comment. during public comment. Absolutely,

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ma'am. And I will call you first because I saw your hand earlier. Comments from the day is on claims list. Comments from the floor on claims list. Roll call, please. >> Yes.

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>> Committee woman Gomez. >> Yes. >> Committee woman hand. >> Yes. >> Deputy Mayor Leani. >> Yes. >> Mayor Payne, >> yes. New business, there's none. Public comments for monitors not on the agenda. I will now open the floor for comments. Please keep in mind this is for comments

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on matters not on the agenda. Miss Break, please read the statement regarding public comment. The township committee now opens the floor for public comment. To ensure a productive and civil environment for all, please approach the microphone to state your name and address and spell your name for the record. The township

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of Hillsboro maintains a strict standard of decorum. Please ensure your remarks remain respectful and focused on township business. Each speaker is limited to a single threeminute aotment. This is a form for public comment rather than a dialogue. Please address all remarks directly to the mayor. We thank you in advance for your cooperation and

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for treating your neighbors, township employees, and this committee with courtesy. >> Ma'am, please enter first. It's George Val. 208 South Branch Road, Hillsboro, New Jersey. Um, I think my question is more toward you when all your what you said about all these

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services that you're providing the seniors. I've been a senior now for nearly 20 years. I've never seen one notice about any of this stuff. If you want to get if you want to tell the seniors all this wonderful stuff you're going to do for us, then I think somehow

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you have to have a newsletter or something to get it out to the 10,000 seniors because we know nothing about any of this stuff that's going on which is why we belong to the clubs because in the clubs we get to do the things that we want to do. And you have to remember that there there's a out of those 10,000

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seniors at least half of us are still pretty active and pretty capable and still have all our senses. I hope and you know we want to be able to do be active in the community and not just be provided with the social services that

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you might get in assisted living. So you have to let us know like if you have line dancing or this or that. Nobody know we don't have a newsletter that informs us of any of that. >> So that's a suggestion that you need to somehow provide notice to us.

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>> Thank you very much. We appreciate that. And and do you subscribe to our mayor's e- newswsletter? >> Do I what >> subscribe to our mayor's e newswsletter? We do post a lot of things in there, but but we we have a senior section and we can absolutely add more to it. Just if you don't subscribe. >> I don't have any e newsletter. No.

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>> Okay. Um check it out on our website and and subscribe. There's a lot of good information in there. >> All right. But remember, there's a lot of seniors who don't even have computers >> because I work with a senior community and probably at least 50% of them don't have computers. and the few that do don't even know how to use them. Some of

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them don't even have smartphones. >> So, there should be a way of getting it out to all those >> putting out a survey shortly to gather information and find the best way to reach. So, so thank you. >> Thank you. Please. >> Michael is 102 Royce Brook Road. I just

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wanted to correct uh something that uh committeeman Brightling said. There may be 10,000 plus senior citizens in Hillsboro. However, tomorrow morning, if 9,500 of those wanted to join Chapter A,

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they could. We don't prevent them. We don't exclude them. They just have to be a resident of Hillsboro and 60 years of age. That's it. >> Thank you. >> Any other comments from the floor? Filamina Salili.

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Obviously, I'm concerned. Um, what I heard here tonight was very disappointing. Um, I've been a resident here for 44 years. All right. I've been involved intimately and not intimately. I've served on the

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board of adjustment. I've served on several issues. I come here tonight without a prepared statement on what I feel should or should not be done. The township committee is a interactive group that should be working together.

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We should not be hearing some of these things that we're hearing tonight. What is the objective of that? Do you people communicate with each other? Do you not communicate with each other? You're just throwing out an awful lot to the residents. All right. And in 44 years,

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I've never seen that done. No matter who was in control, but now we're in a situation where that's happening. >> And I don't think it's giving a fair picture to where the township is, what their intentions are, what their goals are. It's just a matter of well, we're

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going to think this way and we're going to think that way. What What's the purpose? I don't get it. And if I had time and I may come back with a prepared statement to to address this issue,

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it's it's just not right. All right. The senior citizens have a lot of amenities. Their senior citizens have a lot of other issues that are available to We haven't talked about the commitment of our fire department to our senior citizens. We haven't talked about our

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police to their responsibilities and what they've done for our senior citizens. It's not just about when an emergency happens. It's about the unity within a community on how everybody interacts together. And that's what should be happening in a township. If

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you have a suggestion, take it to the group and discuss it. Don't bring it to us to discuss it. Come on. It's not our responsibility. You have elected positions. You have a responsibility in that elected position to do what needs

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to be done. That's why we vote and that's why we continue to hope that this will settle down. We have discussed this budget I don't even know how many times and never use the word that we are not transparency on this township committee.

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We are transparent. There is more out there than anybody, even you people don't realize that's available to this township and we don't exercise that. Why not? So to criticize and then say, well,

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well, well, no, it's not working. That's it. And I apologize for the kind of the emotional but yet very objective comments I'm making tonight. I've lived this for 44 years and this is absolutely

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ridiculous. >> Thank you for your comment. Any other comments from the floor? >> Maria January 6 720 East Frank Avenue, Manville, New Jersey. I'm also a Hillsboro Township property owner. Block 86 lot 325 Camplain Road. As I stated

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before, um my husband and I own a three family house in Hillsboro that we had bought in 1973, which is over 52 and a half years ago. Uh that property um

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that property was built in 19 uh 40. I I'm questioning the significance of the property records in Hillsboro because the property record card that I have that I obtained through the Open Public

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Records Act and Oprah shows that it was built in 1940 and it shows it being a multif family three three units. Um my husband and I recently put our house on the market. Um it was about the

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the beginning of April and then um April 20s something I got an email from Marcella Mclofflin. She's the um I think assistant um uh zoning zoning official and may may I may I give you a copy of

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what she had given me? >> We all have excuse me >> we have them. >> No no this is something different. >> Okay. Sure. edition. >> Thank you. My husband and I had bought this three family house, as I said, 53 and a half

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years ago. We've used it as a three family house all of this time. And when we put put the house on the market, uh I got this uh uh email from from um Marcela Mclofflin. Maria, based on New Jersey land use law, the property at

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2155 Camplain Road cannot be considered a lawful three family multifamily dwelling in the absence of documented municipal approvals, even if the structure predates the adoption of zoning in Hillsboro. A multif family use

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is only recognized as legally non-conforming if there is sufficient proof that the use existed lawfully prior to zoning and continued without interruption. Under New Jersey law, the zoning board of adjustment must grant the certificate of nonconformity. If

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that status cannot be confirmed or documented, the use is not recognized as lawful. If there is insufficient proof to warrant the issuance of a certificate of nonconformity from the board, the only mechanism to authorize a three family use is to obtain euse varants.

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>> Thank you for your lettership. >> Thank you for your letter. Thank you for your comment. I did personally try to call you four times and I know this isn't a question and answer, but I did call you four times. I left messages. Are you available tomorrow morning at 8 a.m.? >> At 8:00 a.m. tomorrow morning?

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>> Yes. >> Yes. >> I will call you tomorrow morning again at 8 a.m. >> Okay. >> Okay. >> Okay. Um I just want to state that based on this based on this email uh I I had had two >> Your time is up. We will talk in the morning. two full full uh uh January

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for my property and because of this I lost them. >> I know that. You're welcome. Any other comments from the floor? >> Good evening. Uh John Cherelli, 14 Southland Drive, former mayor of Hillsboro. Um

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couple of points. I uh one thing that's we seem to forget I guess we have short memories is in 2024 Hillsboro was the first municipality in Somerset County uh that was enrolled in the AARP network of age friendly states

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and communities uh through our efforts and it recognizes the township the efforts the township has been taking for the senior community and residents of all ages. But we also started the the committee for um to work with the master plan um make make the town age

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accessible. And by the way, I'm 60 now. So if anybody wants me to join a chapter, you know, I'm up for sale. Um the uh comments about um the budget, frankly, I and saying that they're not

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transparent and not passing the budget. I know the budget process starts in November and I think frankly saying that none of these budgets are good is an insult to the staff who puts them together. It goes all the way back to the department heads who who have

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proformas. They start that process in November. So that's the uh I think it's an insult to staff. Um segue roads. I'd like to know what the status is of the penoni report. I know they were doing an update for the roads.

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I know we're not doing many this year, but Penoni was doing an up a road update, road survey when they did the storm water. So, I'd like to be keenly interested in what that has to say. Um, also I'm urging the township committee,

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the administration to consider a resolution urging the state legislature and the governor to repeal the gas tax escalator and restore accountability to the fuel tax increase at the state. This is a bipartisan local government initiative

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uh and is is a common sense and affordability issue and it's the TC's job right to urge our elected officials who have influence in Trenton to advocate for this as another reform on behalf of the town. So I I think uh the

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mayor should look into that and uh look forward to what you do. Thank you for your time. >> Thank you for your comment. Any other comments from the floor? Okay, seeing none, motion to adjurnn. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Thank you. >> Roll call.

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>> Yes. >> Committee Gomez. >> Yes. >> Committee woman hand. >> Yes. >> Deputy Mayani. >> Yes. >> Mayor Payne. >> Yes. >> Good night everybody. Thank you.