e e e e e e picture to come out of the executive session uh we did end we ended it there so we're we're okay so we're okay with that
so so an executive session was held at 6:30 uh we are now reconvening miss break please call the role committee bring here committee woman hand here committee leani present deputy mayor pay here mayor chiarelli
here administrator Ferrera here attorney Willard here so my first business is the salute to the flag and I'd like the Girl Scouts to come up and help really are come on ready to leave she's hiding
ready to the flag of the United States of America and to the for it stands one nation under God indivisible with liy and justice for all well done you'll be
back no one here first order is approval of minutes may I have a motion to approve the regular meeting minutes of February 11th 2025 so moved a second second roll call
please committee bring abstain committee woman hand yes committee leani yes Deputy Mayor Payne yes mayor chy yes thank you may I have a motion to approve the regular meeting minutes of February 25th so moved second uh roll
call committee man breing yes committee woman hand yes committee men the P yes Stephie May Payne yes mayor tarelli yes okay so before we get into our committee reports I have a few General
announcements to make um women's this uh March is women's History Month um American women of every race class and ethnic background have made historic contributions to the growth and strength of our nation in countless recorded and unrecorded ways they have
played and continue to play critical economic cultural and social roles in every sphere of our country constituting a significant portion of the labor force working inside and outside the home and providing the majority of the nation's volunteer labor force March's women's
history month commemorating and encouraging the study observance and celebration of of the vital role women in American history uh play Saturday March 8th was International women's day which was themed for all women
girls rights equality and empowerment so um I know we had a we had a group of uh the staff here and Leadership at the uh Township committee uh we have had a photo so it was a it was uh you know honoring them and the work that they do
and somebody said behind the scenes but it's really out in front um leading the way for for the township so uh we thank them all um also uh second uh Ramadan Mubarak to all who celebrate we honor and support our Muslim Community and wish
you a Ramadan filled with inner peace spiritual enlightenment Enlightenment and deep sense of purpose as you embark on this journey of self-discovery and growth and the last General announcement is to congratulate the Hillsboro High School girls basketball team on their
Central Jersey group four championship this is two years in a row that they're Champions uh committee bring committe man bring and I attended the game and it was and witnessed the big win this past Saturday uh it it really was never a game it was only a game in name um so with that
let's hear from reports starting with uh kitan Brit thank you sir so yeah the uh the girls basketball team they were uh they absolutely destroyed their competition it wasn't even a game we were you know sorry to say the other town but our girls were just way better it was really fun to watch and their Champions year after year and I think
they're going to have a really good run at it um I was there with my two boys Robbie and Christian and mayor was with us as well too and at one point I had to of course get up and get the obligatory snacks they're all nine like many of you are I needed the snacks in the Gatorade and the mayor was nice enough to hold one of their jackets as I kept falling
down so they got the special treatment the mayor holding the jacket so um just congratulations to them and please go to the games if you can all right so from the health department uh the bird flu uh is spreading in wild birds across the state it is highly contagious and deadly with other birds but the risk to humans is low uh the New Jersey Department
Environmental Protection and the Department of Agriculture are conducting surveillance of sick and dead birds avoid touching dead birds to limit the spread of the virus report wild birds to the njd and domestic Birds such as chickens to the New Jersey Department of Agriculture we're making this announcement really just to just to make sure people are aware keep them informed
this something that's been in the news want to make sure that we are in a good a good standing with our health department uh Human Resources so the township it's a great place to work Mr Ferrera has some amazing um leadership training programs here and recognized for it we won some awards for it last year as well too um there are uh we are
currently recruiting for various positions see the Hillsboro Township website and the mayor's E news for information about available opportunities and applications um if you would like to work close to home please come work for Hillsboro Township we would love residents to work here Recreation big news in Recreation tonight too we wait for a little bit
Miss Anette we'll talk a little bit congrats on that explore and Thrive a transition and resource fair for success and information resource fair for students with special needs will take place on Sunday April 27th so about a month and a half from now from 10:00 a.m. to 2: p.m. the resource fair is free however we are asking guests to
register in advance see the registration Link in tomorrow's e newss and the recreation department website now furthermore in Recreation so let's get healthy there's the fun statement of the day uh join Hillsboro Parks and Recreation and Girl Scout Gold Award candidate Laura W all right another one
of you guys you guys are everywhere uh for a fun Hands-On program teaching fourth through sixth graders how to make simple healthy snacks the cost is only $10 for all three sessions register via the community pass today and I think the last oh a few more here uh summer camp registration is open we have some of the
best camps around they really do a fantastic job um Griffin and nck can do a great job this year uh keep your child active this summer by sending them to the recreation department summer camp Recreation is open so secure your spot today they are the Dig Savvy group so you can go on there and sign up online
which is great um spring programming has sprung uh so right now currently we have a variety of spring programs for all ages that goes from tennis and golf lessons to stem and fitness so you can see Recreation is not only physical but it's also mental Recreation as well too because stem is incred incredibly
important that's science and math for the younger younger generation in the room to engineerings uh doctors all that type of stuff to learn how to think a certain way as you get older you can also um you check out our spring activities the guide which is online and you can register today so social services and I'll sah I'm going a little
back and 4 on sorry about that so Social Services now this is for the can donation this is the uh the the the area where we help those in need in Social Services The Goddard School of Hillsboro kindergarten class donated over 100 cans of assorted soups to the community Assistance Network which is also known
as the can that's why ladies it has the uh the little can out there that's the the new logo that we had about a year and a half ago that's the food pantry program Social Services is asking residents who want to donate to the can to shop for the following items now it's important because I know people like to to to sometimes just donate but it's
important they're very specific items they look for at different times of the year knowing that their quote unquote customer that comes on in that gets these things for free needs this so what they're looking for deodorant shampoo conditioner laundry and dish detergent and we just want to thank everybody for their generosity people do such a nice
job at uh at at at donating and helping those in need last one here is from the tax assessor's office from the business standpoint on the town annual assessment postcards were mailed on FR Friday February 26th about a few weeks back calculations of property assess assessments um are done each year based on Market Trend and reflect what you can
sell your home for it is important to note that the assess value can increase decrease or remain the same based on the yearly Market values the assessed value multiplied by the tax rate produces your taxes for the year so remember your assessed value is different than the final number in the end so just so that's very important to know please do
not use the 2024 tax rate to calculate your taxes for 25 a new 25 tax rate will come out in July 2025 and before I uh before I end I think it's important as it relates to taxes just to reiterate what we all pay in Hillsboro so for when you pay your taxes about 66% of it goes
to the schools about 14% of it goes to the county and approximately 14% of it comes to the township the rest goes to open space in the fire so the fire department has their own the fire the fire uh Commissioners they have their own own budget that they manage and um the county as well and then open space fund to make sure we protect land it's
very important to note that when in the Hillsboro Township when you're coming to the township committee the taxes that we collect are only 14% come here to deal with the police the roads the sidewalks the infrastructure Ru that's important to note when you're thinking about this and it's good to hear a number of you also went to the uh Board of Education
meeting last night it was a uh they had a community event and another message for the group too is the township and the the school system are two separate entities so they operate separately so people come here asking about us about the school they go there asking about us so make sure you do you attend those meetings if you'd like to get more
informed on where 66% of your taxes are being spent so it's a really important message for everybody thank you everybody and thank you for the cookies very very much I got my favor favorite French toast they're awesome with milk okay really good all right
thanks mayor thank you thank you committeeman um next is committee woman hand thank you very much mayor good evening again wanting to Echo the sentiments around women's History Month very exciting and exciting to have so
many females here tonight who will be honored also a shout out to our women's high school swim team so so just a quick um note that the girls made it to the state playoffs um or Swim offs I feel like they should be called um Emily
sudall was the state champion in the 200 individual medley which is absolutely incredible and two of the girls relays were in the top eight for the state also a shout out to Tommy Marquetta who um from the Special Olympics swimming got
four gold medals so that was a multicounty event and exciting to have him there as well um a shout out to our High School Hillsboro ice hockey so we've got two players Nate and Jeremy got a career 200 goals which is um
incredible and then uh we were really happy to do reading Across America this week I know I was able to go to Amsterdam and sunny me it is definitely um an exciting part of this role is to get to go and read to the kids my kids
are a little old for that they're in college and high school I think it would be an issue if they asked me to come and read to their class that may be embarrassing but the little kids were very happy to have us um all right and then Wildlife Management Wildlife
surveys are due March 14th members who participated in Wildlife Management program last year are required to return those surveys in order to be eligible for the program next year applications for next year will be out later this
year P around June all right mayor that is it thank you thank you committee woman uh next is reports from committeeman leani thank you mayor good evening everybody and ladies thank you again for cookies you always remember what my
favorite is um so I happen to also do read Across America at uh my alma moer Believe It or Not Sunny me school yes I am old um but made me really feel old is that actually
miss mullen's class was my daughter's teacher also so not only did I attend school there but my daughter went to school there so when the kids heard that they're like no way like how old are you um so need say but it's still fun uh the
kids are great um mine were a little older than the deputy mayor so she has a special story when she'll tell you about she what she had to deal with but the kids were very energetic and engaging and it's um if you have an opportunity to do it uh and go back and do it it's um I enjoy it it's really really fun um
so the uh first topic that we'd like to talk about is uh from the billing department has lost as as before we've mentioned La launched online permit submissions via the sdl portal eight different permit templates are currently being accepted and more scopes of work
will be added later uh at this time only homeowners performing their work are eligible so it's it's not for the contractor it's more for the homeowner doing a small project so allows you to use the technology and submit them via uh the sdl
portal um the njeda office hours with Kathy gunsman if you don't know where she's from she's from the Jersey Economic Development Association of the state um she is offering uh businesses a grant opportunity through a one-on-one session with Kathy uh on March 19th of
2025 from 12:30 to 3:30 I think I've talked about this before these are non-competitive grants so if you qualify you get the money so it's not like you have to submit it and it's got to go into a uh a review process and you're up against
other people so uh I really suggest if you're a small business owner and you're looking for an opportunity to get some grant for uh a bunch of different things or just more want to know what is available I would take advantage of meeting with Kathy she's very helpful the event was hosted um by the Hillsboro
Business Association uh HBA uh and will'll provide insights into the njeda grant programs eligibility application procedures please scan the QR code and register to secure one of these available spots it really doesn't take long all you would have to do is sit maybe for 20 minutes and and have a very
good idea what is available for you um Network event this is going to be cool um The Hills Business Association is hosting a networking event on March 27th from 6:00 to 8:00 pm at the iron Peak Sports event the event will focus
on AI and how to utilize tools like chat gbt to assist small business owners with day-to-day operations along with an opportunity to learn about resources and available help your business succeed in 2025 uh obviously chat gbt and AI is the
new buzzword going around and it's a vastly growing median and um we are trying to show how this can help the small businesses even for example help you with your website you know how to had to start writing the information that you would put in your website for
those of us who are small business we're not always the best uh writers but we could use this possibly to help us get started so this is kind of the topic uh of the day so I en encourage you there's not a lot of spots left but it's March 27th from 6:00 to 8:00 pm at iron Peak
uh and I know there's going to be a special guest speaker which I won't say about now but it's definitely worth the trip um tree removal permit we passed a uh by the NJ DP we passed a tree ordinance
20246 a few months ago um please refer to this or make yourself familiar with it in with regards to removing of trees uh there is a difference between a dead dying tree versus a live tree and what the ramifications are if you remove that
tree based on its size so it it uh is before you start cutting down trees just refer to the ordinance and if you have some questions please reach out to the township and we can help you uh with that information with the warm weather as as
the the old mayor said that uh yard sales are starting to pop up right Bob I went from old mayor yeah you're former mayor what did I call you the other day today artist formerly known as mayor there you go so the planning zone office requires
all residents holding a yard sale to follow the township code regarding temp orary signs don't put your signs up out more than 48 hours before the sale or leave them up for no longer than 48 hours after please put your signs in public rways don't don't put your sign
I'm sorry in public rways or site triangles do not attach any signs to utility traffic or light poles thank you for your keeping Hillsboro green and again if you're not sure what you can do please contact the zon Department we' be happy to explain it to you and good luck
on your yard sales my wife just goes right to the dumpster forgets selling it she's like we're not we're not using it we're throwing it out um the public works department is now taking registrations for the annual senior curbside program the program begins the first week of April so please
sign up as soon as possible to to get on the routing schedule program details are available on the township website residents are also welcome to call Public Works Department during business hours the photo behind me depicts the proper and improper way to leave your items at the
curb so obviously incorrect is spatter all over Place nice and neat and segregated uh helps because we have to put them in different vehicles for different things so that's what makes important to uh separate it out um and to ensure safe and sanitary
disposal all mattresses set out for pickup must be enclosed in sealed plastic mattress bag the requirement helps prevent the spread of contaminants protect the waste collection workers mattresses without proper coverings will not be collected the DPW thank you for
your cooperation and maintaining a clean and Safe Community and again congratulations to the ladies basketball team as I always say I love winning um so keep it up girls and all the rest of the athletes congratulations that's all
mayor thank you um and Deputy Mayor Kane hi everybody good evening so yeah uh I also did R Across America to to four first grade classrooms at Sunny me
um the first one I was just bombarded and ended up on my knees on the carpet with the kids and so roughly figuring about 80 hugs later so that was so adorable uh the fever and illness that
ensued 24 hours after that not nearly as cute as the kids and the hugs so I'll just leave that there I wish their germs were still there but yeah so really honestly probably my most favorite part about being an elected official is
writing to the kids like they're just so cute um and one of the great things is I speak Spanish and one of my classes had three new ESL students um that are here so it was really fantastic to get to speak with them and you know they were
so interested to have somebody who could speak to them in their language so it was really neat for them to not have to like go through a teacher for everything that I was doing um so it was just really fun all the way around anyway in other news OEM uh so Somerset County is
uh continuing the process of updating their hazardous mitigation plan for the county and all of the municipalities within please consider attending a public draft uh plan review virtually on Wednesday March 12th at 6: p.m we're going to review the
structure of the draft of 2025 Hazard mitigation plan process of the plan adoption and address any questions and comments of the draft plan if you live in the township and you have these kinds of areas that are at risk by your neighborhood or by your home I would definitely encourage you to attend it's
a public review period will commence for 30 days the public and stakeholders are encouraged to participate in the public review period by submitting comments through a public survey uh all the information can be found on the township website and tomorrow's e newss it's also
also uh on the Somerset County website uh police barricades as Spring weather can lead to road closures the police and fire departments of Hillsboro remind residents not to drive around barricades uh on the roadways there
could be hid in dangerous conditions ahead if you encounter a barricaded roadway turn around and find an alternate route um and there might not be any indication or reason for why it's there it's still there coloring with the
cops is back and taking place on Wednesday March 19th coloring with the cops provides an opportunity for children to get to know members of the local PD while coloring and enjoying Pizza registration is required the event will be uh capped at 125 children sign
up link on social media um I'm sorry see the sign up link on social media and in tomorrow's e newss and lastly Hillsboro Express Yourself hey uh thanks to all to attended this short film event shorts in
Winter uh two Saturdays ago on March 1st the event celebrated Hillsboro filmmakers and the Creative Energy that thrives in our community thank you to all the directors who allowed their films to be shown and to everyone who came out to enjoy them hey hopes to build another um similar event for local
musicians in the summer the next event will be walk of art on May 15th so stay tuned for more information I did attend this actually um I was able to see two 25 minute films it was really great uh you know it's just nice to know
that we have some kind of little local celebrities and that our creative uh one of them was actually a student that went to high school with my daughter and you know like our creativity is so Limitless here in Hillsboro and when we can tap
into it with things like this and do these kinds of events for free it's really just a great give back to the community in general that's all mayor thank you Deputy Mayor um so my comments as as you heard from all my colleagues up here last week was one of
our favorite annual events read Across America um I read to several uh classes in at at Amsterdam and at um Sunny me School uh where committeeman leani read as well I also read for Miss mullen's
fourth grade class and Miss clinks fourth grade class both of my daughters had those teachers as well and they both Remembered in fact I sat on the same couch that my 25-year-old sat on 15 years ago so same light blue couch uh I
read the night I followed the dog to them and uh um students then asked questions it was fun you know the questions ranged from why do you like to be mayor to you know what what what they liked about the book or you know how old are you so it was uh it it's always fun
um seeing the kids uh uh jump out so that was it was it was a good event um on Thursday February 27th at the uh the Hillsboro Business Association hosted the third annual job fair there were more than 20 businesses that came to share their positions and opportunities
and more than 150 job Seekers showed up the event was a huge Su success for both the businesses and attendees for businesses that are interested in participating in this event next year please be sure to visit the HBA page sign up for the HBA e
newsletter uh for for the next event uh kind kind of related the uh we went to the uh makers and creators event at the uh at the high school so that was on uh Friday February 28th administrator Ferrera and I uh and
staff from our ebdc the economic Business Development Department HBA attended the inaugural New Jersey makers and creators tour this ground breaking event was a first for the school district district and the only High School District in Somerset County that was selected for this program and it
connected students with industry leaders and showcased cting Edge Technologies and diverse career paths to ignite student interest in in modern Manu manufacturing careers there was a virtual welding machine which is the left picture uh that you basically put
an Oculus on and and and welded um injection molding firms robotics carpentry uh and and lots of other skills so it was it was very it was interesting uh um uh event to Peak interests in a lot of different um
Fields um let's see this month we this heads into some health issues this March is col rectal Awareness Month col rectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer related deaths yet it's also one of the most preventable with screening and awareness please prioritize getting
screened uh raising awareness and pushing for better resources research advocacy and support for those affected early detection is important and it could save a life um in May which is just over almost a year ago I lost a colleague a friend of mine somebody that
I had hired in the late 90s uh and worked with um so lost him to color rectal cancer after a multiple year fight so anybody who knew Gary was said to learn that he had passed and his daughter actually posted something on on LinkedIn which you know kind of further
spurred this so hopefully she gets this message and uh appreciates it so U colar rectal cancer awareness month um Michael's Miracles so we transition from that to diabetes on uh Saturday February 24th I attended the Michaels Miracles
annual believe in miracles Tricky Tray and basket auction which raises awareness and uh awareness of and supports type 1 diabetes and diabetic children and their families uh the funds raised uh 10 they raised 10 to I think maybe $40,000 at this event um pay to
send type 1 diabetic children to special summer camps that are dedicated type 1 diabetics run by type 1 diabetics it also pays for education programs for School nurses and other research and support I'm also a type 1 diabetic and I'll continue to advocate for these support groups and hopefully make some
people more aware of and comfortable with talking about and sharing their experiences with diabetes uh more information about both type 1 and type two diabetes can be found on the diabetes Resource Center on Hillsboro's Hillsboro's Health Department web
page um Pilates on March 3rd administrative forer and I participated in a parks and recck pilates class led by instructor a Ashley Prue supporting one of uh the many adult Recreation programs programs offered uh and striving towards health and wellness as
part of the mayor's wellness program um it's mayor's Wellness but I was very close to being in the hospital after this uh so remember staying active is key to a healthy lifestyle and that was reinforced that night uh for details on future sessions please contact the
Hillsboro parks and wreck office um I have one more thing about parks and wreck uh but before that I I I want to revert back to the engineering um we did get a report on from the engineering department today about the bridge that's
on 206 the pedestrian bridge and uh some of the actions that have been taken we we've had our structural engine investigated and they're coming up with a with a final fix on whether it can be repaired in place or if they have to order an entirely new bridge and in the meantime we're exploring options with
the do uh who owns 206 they're going to be doing some work in that area and we were hoping to maybe come up with a solution for a temporary uh transitional sidewalk around the bridge on to 206 there
there's some other things have to be done uh we we need to put up Jersey barriers to protect pedestrians walking from the over 55 community there but um so there has been some progress made on that bridge outage which we announced a couple meetings ago uh so there has been
some progress and I've promised to report back to the the HOA over there as well on this progress so um so that was kind of a back stepping on a on a on an engineering report um so uh parks and wreck there's a parks
and wreck award uh Hillsboro Township's Parks and Recreation Department was recognized at the 2025 annual New Jersey Recreation and Parks Association conference njrpa the njrpa awards were held on February 25th recognized dedicated parks and wreck leaders
employees and volunteers and to recognize the state's outstanding parks and wreck agencies for excellence in programming publicity and facility design honored under the brochure or newsletter category the rec team won the agency showcase award for their
Hillsboro park maps so congratulate uh Bob Wagner Griffin Dunn Annette Henderson who will'll hear for more from later tonight uh for being recognized by the njrpa for the third year in a row I think we had the Grinch one year and so
this is the little map you'll see these at every park I think I know they're in the front office but it gives a layout for every Park and the facilities that are there that are there so this is a an award-winning Park M so congratulations to the rec department a winning more
winning um ask the mayor the ask the mayor initiative began last year H to have an open dialogue with the Hillsboro Community and over the past year we've responded to dozens of questions from residents and look look forward to continuing this tradition not all of them are videos some of them are direct
emails to to Residents the more questions you ask the more information we can communicate to Residents uh look for the link to ask the mayor in tomorrow's e- news and you can see past ask of the mayor videos on the Hillsboro Township YouTube channel and so let's
see uh stay connected as always you can stay connected with all events via Wednesday's Wednesday mayor's e newss and Thursday's experienc Hillsboro bulletin be sure to follow and like the official Hillsboro Township Facebook page X formerly known as Twitter Twitter
I'll be saying that forever so uh and Instagram tune in to the Hillsboro YouTube channel and sign up for Hillsboro alerts for traffic and emergency notifications and I'll say happy St Pat day now I know there's a lot of green in the room but uh we'll say it now before uh the meeting close uh before we
move on um so right now we have a few few proclamations to make and uh I'll come down to the floor hello Hi how are you I'm good how are you I have a I have a little certificate here for you that take
[Music] here welcome uh re R Kumar senior at Hillsboro High School and a member of Girl Scout Troop 60108 has earned her Gold Award [Applause] congratulations R's Gold Award project
focused on SE Turtle engagement and awareness by organizing three virtual workshops three in-person workshops and creating a Blog that linkeds to a volunteer sea turtle organization she spent 92 on the project with the help of five individuals and contacts in Costa
Rica that's great R is a member of the Chinese Honor Society and is president of the student diversity initiative Club she works at Readington animal hospital and has volunteered over 200 hours at the Bridgewater Hindu temple and over 60 hours at the International Volunteer
HQ sea turtle conservation program great now therefore be proclaimed that we the mayor and town Hillsboro Township committee do hereby recognize and extend our sincere congratulations to R Kumar for having earned the Girl Scout Gold Award an honor for both her and for
those who have guided her we wish wish Ria the best in her future endeavors would you like to say anything yeah please do um well I just wanted to say that obviously being a Girl Scout has been a very big part of my life since I was almost in kindergarten I think and
um it meant a lot to me that I was able to make my Gold Award about something that I'm so passionate about and that is very personal to me and I just wanted to thank my advisers and my troop and the mayor and the township um for recognizing that achievement great thank
you pies you have anybody she'll be back all right anybody here for Girl Scout [Music] week that means everybody else gets up back up everybody up Andie
Brown who is the top who wants the proclamation whoever stands in the front little Littles it's always they get them up front come on up we'll get you all the picture that's
not a problem it won't get lost don't worry we'll rearrange for the photo guys all right we'll re we we'll reorganize when we take a photo long as they can all say this so this is Girl Scout week March 9th to the 15th uh
March 12th 2025 marks the 113th anniversary of the Girl Scouts of the United States of America whose mission is to build girls of Courage confidence and character who make the world a better place the the Girl Scouts Heart of New Jersey delivers the optimal Girl Scout experience to over 13,000 young
women and adults in Essex Hudson hun middle sex Somerset Union and Warren counties through through scouting girls develop invaluable life skills and are encouraged to take the lead early and often on March 25th 2025 the Juliet
Gordon low commemorative quarter will be released into circulation celebrating the enduring Legacy of the Girl Scout founder and the Girl Scout movement now therefore be it proclaimed that we the mayor and H Hillsboro Township committee do hereby applaud the commitment girl
scouting has made to support the leadership development of America's girls and proud ly proclaimed the week of March 9th to the 15th 2025 as Girl Scout week congratulations thank you 113 years ago on March 12th 1912 our
founder Juliet Gordon low called her cousin and stated I've got something for the girls of Savannah and all of America and all the world and we're going to start it tonight and today Hillsboro Girl Scout still believes in Juliet's vision and we share at daily whether it be at a troop meeting a community
service event or a chance for girls to try something new we can be seen all over Hillsboro and for the next few weeks in front of and outside of every major store selling cookies and while we are known for that we do so much more when you buy or donate the box of cookies you're helping
a 5-year-old Daisy learn basic sales skills but you're also helping the 17-year-old yes 17-year-olds can be outside selling cookies save for their last troop trip together when you see us in bright orange vests cleaning up burrow roads or dropping off boxes of
school supplies to can you're witnessing a dedication to community service when you see a large group of girls taking off in the sour lands you're watching them gain outdoor skills and learn to care for nature I am Tara O'Brien and with my co-manager Shannon Warner and our planning team of over 25 volunteers
we are proud to serve hillsbor Township with over 450 Girl Scouts we are honored to accept this Proclamation celebrating our history our commitment to today's girls and all those we serve in the future the Girl Scout mission is girl scouting builds girls of Courage confidence and character who make the
world a better place Hillsboro is a special girl scout place with over 350 volunteers delivering that mission daily so thank you for your continued support of our organization all right get a right [Music]
[Music] turn congratulations again for the year [Applause] [Music] so that that concludes our Proclamation so thank you for joining us this evening
we're going to take a a quick break brief pause thank you e e e e e e e
getent agenda may I have a motion to approve consent agenda items 1 through 12 SE second okay any comments from the days you have questions
yep am I the only one I I guess so I was just going to say something about consideration number um where are we 11 11 that's all you can go first comme woman okay so I guess we'll go in order
so my first question was around Kon item number one the temporary budget so mayor hoping um you could help us understand so this is the third temporary emergency budget that
we've passed the first one was the 26.25 per that it was supposed to be we are now up to 44.7 five% of the $34 million budget so just wanting to understand um you know
where we're at where we're tracking and what this tells us uh does anybody from the finance department want to or finance committee want to speak to it this is a standard operating procedure that we've uh participated in through the
years um we did it last year too yep um so until you adopt a budget as things roll through quarter to quarter bills come in and you need to up individual line items to cover um what needs to be
paid plus the as we know the CFO is leaving so she is adding some buffer in there to help cover those departments until the new CFO uh who uh we are one of the line items where increases is for
the contract for the um temporary CFO who we uh had a contract with um to um cover that plus any bills that have come in post the last quarter because the bills come in quarter to quarter and we have to make amendments so if
there's any particular line that in this temporary budget that you'd like clarification on I'd be happy to try and answer that for you but that is simply what what the temporary budget does and it's not it's been done last year when you were here and the year prior before
you were here and authorized under ml it's yes njsa 48- 4-20 to be exact but is there any particular or line item you have a question on so I think it's more around you know were some of these items not
anticipated and further when uh commit in hand when when did you receive this uh document we received this um incorrectly we received it on Friday with multiple errors it was reposted this morning well I have so if there's
any particular line item that you have a question on of the 40 plus LS here I'd be trying I'd be happy to answer it for you so just as an example and and again I'm surprised I'm the only one with questions you know we get you know 10 pages of backup for you
know item six which is just you know refunding um escrow and inspection fees there was no backup for this so um I have requested a budget meeting not included in one so help me understand
why we would be approving this tonight I mean I think it's just good education for the township too so we'll educate everybody so this is when budgets get approved typically in the May June time frame they're incrementally increased so that we can run the township to run the
township obviously we have to pay our bills pay them on time and all that gets part and parceled in this way to committee man lean's uh statement regarding the the law I won't begin to
rename um that that's how that works so this is a legal way of managing your budget until the budget is fully adopted I do want to point out that it was incorrectly posted in the sense that it wasn't subtotal the line items are
back and haven't changed so on Friday when I received it I went through the line items and saw what they were so you know either you know either you you received it um reviewed with staff as necessary
uh or not I mean I don't know that asking these questions I don't understand the purpose of it is it to embarrass the CFO who who posted it on Friday but didn't subtotal didn't subtotal it you know I I sent her an email Friday and I I actually sent it to
the staff I sent it to uh uh clerk break to find out what the the answer was and she said she was going to be working on that and cleaning it up over the weekend which is what she did so the purpose of the resolution is to pass a temporary budget so the town can continue
functioning as a town and it's provided and we provided some input on our consent agenda item sheet for what's on there it some salt um until we introduce our budget this is nothing new we did this last
year and I think bringing it up is is I I don't really understand the purpose of bringing it up here when it should be resolved with the staff so this is another reason why I would like to request that we have a working session in view of the public regarding
the budget um I do not believe while I have spoken to the CFO um I don't believe that all budget conversation should take place behind closed doors and I do think that there is value in having these conversations in front of
the public that being said how would a working budget be discussed with the entirety of the township so it wouldn't be discussed with the township we would be able to have a working meeting with the public able to attend outside of the township committee
meetings I never do you know of any municipality County state that does that looking at me for what I would ask Council because this so this is not this is not to be resolved here this is a consent to Jud
and the item we've taken we we hear you have questions about some of the items on here I I do you have any other specific one one-offs otherwise it's on here it's on here for approval yeah I I can tell you that you know of the large ones there was
um uh that I talked to the CFO you got obviously 30,000 which was for new invoices from the Ed from Edmonds which is our accounting software which rolls into the second quarter plus the contract with Phoenix advisors you have a our second and third quarterly payments for our insurance which is uh
660,000 which we have to pay that's obviously the bills came in we can't pay a bill till it's there uh the next one we have our recycling which is our second quarter Bill we just received that so we add that uh the other ones are that are typically added are the
heating and bills for heating and fuel oil and then you have some balance increases just because they're OE uh balance has gone low and again because we were having a CFO transition she didn't want to get have anybody short of fund so she added a little money into
that just to cover until the budget is adopted so again nothing that hasn't been done here uh or any other Township around the country um until an adoption of a budget is formally done um so really the uh the onus of it is to keep
everybody that is uh in the building paid and anyone that is doing work for us paid so that's bottom line anything else is is a status quo all right so couple comments one um in comparing this to the one that we
approved on February 11th just to make a note that the copy in Civic clerk from February 11th um is the wrong wrong totals it doesn't match this one so if we can switch that out I think there had
been a last minute change we did approve the correct one but the wrong one is posted so we should correct that just I'll check with the CFO on it if yes just because we're talking about numbers they they should be accurate for sure um and the intent mayor I think you
addressed would never be to embarrass anyone so again we're we're talking numbers here um the other comment was around where we are tracking on the budget again I'd requested a meeting I'd
request Ed an update I was told that there would be I would be given an update when there was a substantial amount of information but yet this is the third emergency temporary budget put in front of me with no backup so I'm asking for some sort of where we at on
the budget and how are we tracking there's three pages of print outs yes that's back up this these are lines of numbers I'm looking for how are we how are we tracking on the budget
mayor4 finance committee listen we can we can play I I got your email I told you there was nothing substant because we actually haven't gotten all the data in yet we just met we just got the the certification of funds from from our tax assessor on Tuesday we have some other
things that we're still pending and waiting for so the budget is is still being built it's early in the budget process there's no definitive uh direction as to yet we just had a capital presentation meeting yesterday to add to that so until we have all that
in the hopper there's it's really inmaterial to where we are to track because we don't have all the numbers so and I told you that and I told you that when we have something that is substant enough tough that we can sit and give you a track more than happy to but it is
March 11th it is early we don't have all the even everything had we just got the AFS today so I know you're eager and that's okay but there's nothing nothing to meet with yet and I had told you at
the January 14th meeting that we are approving raises and we are approving salaries above the cap no without a budget we didn't prove any salaries above the cap in the meetings so so anything
else asked and answer so I there's nothing there's nothing new to report for the budget because we haven't compiled all the data the dep mayor and I have meetings we have more scheduled for next week hopefully by the end of the month we'll have something sensitive to give you until that point we're still we're still
collecting data all right I have a question on number five if anyone else has any questions on you can move on to five go ahead so number five um is
this the LEDs for the library is this a grant where's the fun coming from there was a budget number on the bottom it literally said LEDs for the library yes I'm sorry I cannot hear you it literally said LEDs for the library they're 16t high
hats and I was asking I'm sorry is that grant money or what funds are being used it was available in the 2025 budget says in the whereas I I couldn't I don't it says whereas funds are available in the 2025 budget through account number
requisition so it's money that was from applied La last year for the for the lights it's in the third whereas no I I I see that I wanted to know if that was coming from a grant so we're going to assume so it's from budget not it's not an assumption it's a fact it says
budgeted in 2025 I okay but you said assume because that budget line item or that that account didn't come up in 2025 that was an older that budget um account number was from past all
right what I don't know anyone else have a question on five uh um I think you're the one answering the questions or asking the questions I should say I had a question on 10 which was around the
CFO so in consent 10 it talked about um 50,000 for Hillsboro 25,000 for Alexandria are we assuming that the interim CFO is going to spend a 2 to1 ratio on Hillsboro to
Alexandria so we're very fortunate to have Phoenix advisers Mr monzo with 40 years experience as a CFO he actually was the one that actually cleaned up the Alexandria budget he's very familiar with both Hillsboro and Alexandria
systems I spoke to him feels very confident that he can handle both towns um that for six months that's actually less expensive than the cost of the current CFO providing the shared services so our hope and we already are
getting applications that uh we'll be able to backfill the CFO much sooner but we're extremely fortunate with our towns that have no CFO for two years now um they're paying way more than this to cover Two Towns so um we feel that that
75,000 whether it's 2 to1 or whatever the ratio is um he's very he knows exactly what the town has for shared service because he helped bring the shared service here to hillsb so we feel that's very fair that's what we're paying our current CFO to handle
Alexandria uh the 25,000 and the remaining to handle Hillsboro that's your question I'm not sure um so not to exceed 25,000 by the way yeah I think it was a matter of this was a six-month agreement the 25,000 for Alexandria was the whole year we've already um you know
our current CFO has had some of that funds already dispersed to her this beginning of the year this was a six month so I thought that the 25,000 for Alexandria should be prated from the 25,000 otherwise I think the message is a 2 to1 split with Hillsboro and
Alexandria which I don't believe is how we would want them to spend their time yeah I that was my question sure I and again we're paying on a monthly basis we can as Mr will Willard will um contest to that uh it's a monthly payment that
we can get out of any time so again everything is transparent so Phoenix adviser knows exactly what we're paying we're paying way more than 25,000 or Alexandri is paying us way more than 25,000 to take care of their shared service um had a conversation with the administrator there feels very
comfortable with u Mr mono who were hiring who was their CFO prior so we are we couldn't have a better situation so we're paying less money overall and we have this person coming in with 40 years experience that has experience with Hillsboro's budget and just did
Alexandria so the money is where it needs to be right now is is the split exactly perfect I'm not sure but we had to split it because there's two separate um line items with Hillsboro and with with Alexandria so that's what we decided and that was negotiated and and
again we are Beyond fortunate to have somebody step right in the day after our cfo's leaving most towns don't have that you can look at the league there are so many CFOs towns that don't have them right now I can't tell you how fortunate we really are I'm being serious
importantly is the fact that he's been transitioning with our team without cost to us to correct yeah he's been on calls and everything else we're not paying him a nickel yeah I don't I had no questions about the qualifications it it looks good my question was just around if they
use up the money for Alexandria with the 25,000 was what was dedicated to the CFO piece the others were allocated for other people so I think that was um and I think it's a as I think comme Leon mentioned or Deputy Mayor it's up to not
exceeding I feel very confident that they'll be fair on the distribution of where the time is spent I would hope okay okay any else any anything else I just want to make comment about you have any more about what uh number 11 I just want
to um before we vote I'm just very happy that anded Henderson will be taking on a leading role and a recreation department in Griffin thank you for taking on the leading role as well there too I think we're making some really strong strides this year to to make sure we solidify our leadership across uh the township as
well to in two major areas and the recreation for our children parks and wreck or excuse me Recreation for our children and then also with with um the social services department I want to thank uh um Mr Wagner Bob Wagner has been in involved for many years and he's
taking on a role at the social services department it's incredibly important two areas that are growing parts of our town that we need to make sure that we uh we have great leadership and I'm just incredibly happy to have an that joint tonight at that new level thank you and just to Echo that I'm extremely happy not only for um
Annette for this promotion she's been um the great leader here in the town ship she's gone through the Hillsboro leadership uh training program she's going to be one of seven um employees that are be going that are going to be graduating in April uh through that program and also um you guys had had
voted in uh Griffin uh last meeting as a director so it's a great team as the uh director and assistant director so we're super happy that we can keep our our team here and train them and and promote them and move them in and make the necessary changes that we can especially
with the market and as the administ will tell you around the state they love stealing our people so we hire great people we train them and we try to keep them we can't keep them all obviously um but with the succession planning and a training here we have great people great employees and uh we're happy to have
another one being promoted tonight so congratulations yes absolutely congratulations inette it's been a pleasure working with you um I think hauling that hot cocoa put you over the top um may I have a motion to approve the consent agenda items 1 through 12 so
moved second uh more comments I think we did I already do that comments floor comments from the floor any comments from the floor on uh the consent agenda items 1 through 12 I skipped over that part I'm sorry I
got you uh roll call then committee bring yes committee woman hand yes committee men leani congratulations Annette keep up the good work Griffin congratulations yes deie mayor pay yeah I'm looking forward to
the whole Star Team over here and mayor Chelli yes regrets all right public hearings we have 20 25-3 ordinance authorizing the execution of sanitary sewer easement with Dog Days
daycare center for installation of a low pressure sanitary sewer for main with the roycefield road right of way to connect their property to the public sanitary sewer system further consideration and a public hearing will be held on April 8th
2025 may I have a motion to open the public hearing which is odd for ordinance 20 25-3 so moved second second roll call Comming yes Comm hand yes committe the P
yes yes Deputy Mayor Payne yes mayor Chelli yes any comments from the de 20253 seeing none any comments from the floor hearing none seeing none may I have a motion to close and adopt or ordinance 20253 so
moved second second roll call committee men bring yes committee woman hand yes committee leani yes depy mayor P yes mayor T yes all right introd introduction of new ordinances
20255 ordinance amending chapter 92 Police Department Article 2 establishment and organization section 928 appointments and promotions of the code of the township of Hillsboro Somerset County New Jersey further consideration and a public hearing will
be held on March 25th 2025 so the next meeting May I have a motion to introduce ordinance 20255 so move second have a second second uh roll call please committee reading yes commit woman hand Yes committ Man the pon yes def mayor Payne
definitely yes mayor chy yes okay next ordinance to introduce 20256 ordinance Amendment chapter 89 Personnel policies section 89- 9 holidays of the code of the township of Hillsboro Somerset County New Jersey
further consideration and a public hearing will be held on April 8 2025 may I have a motion to introduce ordinance 20256 so moved second second roll call committee man Bing yes committee woman hand yes committee leani yes Deputy
Mayor Payne yes mayor Chelli yes all right uh on to the claims list may I have a motion to approve claims list 20255 second get a second comments from the Des
any comments hearing none comments from the floor on claims list 20255 seeing none roll call committee bring yes committee woman hand yes commit Leon yep Stephanie mayor Payne
yes mayor tley yes we have no new business so we've gone to we get to public comments or matters not on the agenda Miss break please read the statement regarding public comment the township committee welcomes input from the public please state your name address and please spell your name
for the record you will be given one three minute allotment for your comments please understand that this public forum is not stru structured as a question and answer session comments are to be addressed to the mayor again please keep your comments to three minutes thank you no comments nobody coming
up don't don't make us wait you almost lo you almost missed it I'm here 36 years I'm not going to miss it it's all good Joseph P Maloney m a l o n e y 27 stonewick Drive Hillsboro New
Jersey this is just additions and corrections to two weeks ago um Mr May brought up an issue saying that um basically that the public works department when we have floods uh rents
could rent a a jeder vac um my case that did not happen I guess due to the holiday that was involved uh they did borrow a Jetter from the MUA which honestly was not necessary
because the water had dissipated due to a garbage truck that went flying through my neighborhood displaced the water and then the water pressure actually pushed all the leaves right through the sewer line the reason I know that is because I saw pictures of the sewer line it's
cleared my concern would be the pumping station at 27 Oxford but um they're aware of it so this is the addition we're a large Township we're in the top 10% in terms of agage area and
also population it's widely acknowledged that our public works department Witnesses snowstorms they're a very good Department let's give them the tools where not only will they be effective
but they'll be efficient so you'll hear the speech again when it comes Capital time for the capital budget I just want to uh again thank Department of uh Public Works and also the MUA and the
police off officer that showed up thank you thank you Jeff bulby 12 Alano Road Bowlby I've been a resident in the town for 41 years I think longer than just about everybody on this count except for yourself I
believe thanks um I just want to bring a a concern I'm having with the lack of responsiveness from both the Mayors and the township last year I reached out to the mayor about a concern of safety of our
children on bus stops and sidewalks no response this year I've sent our current mayor six emails in the past month not a single response I've gotten a response from the director of the DPW saying he doesn't see value in investing
time with a resident of the township who's been here for 41 years where his main job should be serving his customers the mayor was was copied on my response to him explaining that his job is customer service I can only assume that the mayor
agrees with his stance because he hasn't yet to respond or correct the situation so it's sad that your position is to represent the communities you go to these events you get your pictures taken you come around in the fall and tell us you're going to be here to represent you but when a resident needen
reached out six times I could see Miss in one email but six emails in the span of a month and not a single response it's unacceptable can you enlighten me on what the let him I'm sorry so I hope you know this could bring Focus to we might
need customer service training both for the township and the township committee I'm done thank you I'm sorry I thought you were going to step away can you enlighten me on the situation please I I can uh it's about a mailbox that got smashed during one of
the ice storms and do actions of the township and the township the town ship the plow yeah got hit you know it was when when the ice froze the T the plows you know came went through and and smashed the mailbox which we've had several um there's more to the story the
matter is really simplifying it the plow came through and I'm not sure if you're related to the same pains that lived on the corner of Val okay okay so I you know they GP down the street from there a little older than myself but okay um came down the street and in a span of 18
houses they hit 10 m boxes spoke to the parks director who said he was in charge of it who made a decision to not use their contract or send a larger plow truck than they normally do there and like I told him I could understand hitting one but once you hit the first one you should back off the curbal that
I plowed for a long time and understand that to hit that many in a row with no regard it's unacceptable and then I said all I want is a replacement the mailbox he said we'll give you this one that's not the same not as good but that's all you deser erve and I just asked for a
meeting and the director refuses to have a meeting so you read the emails but you've that's even I I delegated to the right to the DPW who handled the situation and obviously not to your satisfaction I so I still haven't had a
meeting with him he he still do you have a new mailbox no you don't I'll have to talk to him about that I I I I would like to have the meeting before they come out and remove property but it should be their first job to respond to the customers to meet
anybody in this Township if a resident needs to meet with them should be available that shouldn't be the first response I don't want me them that's investing my time in a resident that's your job okay thank you thank you any other
comments if not may I have a motion to adjourn so move second roll call committee bring yes committee woman hand yes committee leani yes deputy mayor pay yes mayor CH yes time is
8:47 thank you happy St Patty's Day [Music]