March 25th 2025 an executive session was held at 6:30 and we are now reconvening miss lenzo please call the role committee men bring absent committee woman hand here committee man Leon present Deputy Mayor Payne here mayor
chiarelli here administrator Ferrera here attorney Willard here okay please join me in a salute to the flag I pledge Al to flag the United States of America and to the
stands indivisible liy and justice for all all [Music] right we have no minutes to approve um before we get into to uh committee
reports I have a couple of uh few General announcements to make one the again the girls basketball team congratulations to the high school girls basketball team on an amazing season they are now the group four champ uh they're ranked fourth in the state and the highest ranking public
school in the state of New Jersey so fantastic the first robotics compet comption team uh the uh comp competed at senica high school and achieved uh great success they not only Advanced to the semi-finals showcasing their impressive robotic skills but they also earned the
first impact award so congratulations to the robotic [Applause] team the uh and also congratulations to the Hillsboro High School mixed coral and Legacy show choir they recently competed at the Titan Tournament of
choirs in Midlothian Virginia the Legacy debuted in a larger division placing fourth in the medium mixed and seventh overall the mixed Coral took home the best male soloist milap Gupta best repertoire best vocal quality and first place chamber Division and overall Grand
Champion so uh Hillar high schools all over the boards here so thanks then uh the is the Islam excuse me Islamic holiday of e Al fit will commemorate the end of Ramadan which started on February 28th uh Eid alfit
marks an end the end of Ramadan it's the holiest month in the Islam calendar and during the month Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset abstaining from food and drink while focusing on self-reflection and self improvement to all who celebrate after a month of reflection and devotion may your Eid be
a beautiful reward Eid mubark um all right so a sorry uh now we're going to go to reports from committee liaison receipt of those reports uh and Communications starting with committee woman hand right thank
you mayor it is so nice that all these high school kids had nothing better to do than come listen to all of our committee reports I really appreciate your interest in our local government so thank you so much this is so refreshing um just a shout out I know we're going
to do a proclamation but um only because my daughter was on the swim team this year and it was just so exciting to to watch this awesome group of men and women so congratulations to all of them and I look forward to the proclamation also um I did play high school basketball so I can't resist shouting
out to our Awesome Women's team um again my older daughter played on the team when she was in high school super exciting and I would ask everyone to try and watch a women's sporting event um it's awesome that we're supporting at a high school level but until we all start
watching at a you know college and at a national and at a professional level they're not going to get paid um the same as their male counterparts so please watch a women's sports game um also thanks to all of those that came out to the Somerville St Patty's Day
Parade it was an awesome event and the weather held out so that was wonderful um additionally we did get uh a couple comments here I've got two um committee reports one of them is around Donate Life month so this is is actually
instituted by Donate Life America and its partner organization in 20 I'm sorry in 2003 it's celebrated each April and for the entire month local Regional National activities to help Americans register as organ donors I'm a
registered organ donor I would ask you to talk to your family make that decision and consider um being an organ donor I tissue organ um it can help save lives I know we personally had an uncle that passed um we were not able to donate liver to him
and unfortunately he didn't get a um a donor in time so um going to a different topic on the credit card advisory committee so there is a credit card commission we had our this is a where a
credit card here in town um was used uh we were able to get money from that and the money was used towards grants uh that credit card offer through Affinity bank is no longer um so that credit card Advisory Group
will operate through probably this year maybe one more until the funds are exhausted and they will um they will be uh sunsetting that commission um last comment is really around pedestrian safety we've talked about this a couple times this year already um I know the
mayor and I and a chief had received an email from a resident um just right down the street here on beakman just around the you know cars speeding and just general pedestrian danger so keep in mind um if you have
concerns like that please reach out uh we do have a process for evaluating that and looking for Solutions and we thank you for your input back to you mayor thank you committee woman hand uh committee man leani thank you mayor and uh I also and
I've been as may I am a organ donor I did it on my the day I signed up for my driver's license at 17 I checked the box and I I urge everybody to to consider that as an as an option um so this is part of the fun stuff that you get to do
uh as we we talk about um being in the seat that we're at I had the pleasure talking to pack 1776 the other day over at triangle School the about Civic government both in AEL local level plus
also um as part of their questions what they could do to be part of uh their Community um the questions8 nine and 10 year old kids ask are anywhere from what's your favorite food to uh what's the hardest thing that you have to do in
the position um and then when they find out that I said this before that I went to school here they all kind of like fall on their chairs and go my goodness how old are you so um but they are a very energetic group and all of them to a te were engaged and I really
appreciate it um so it was a nice top off after reading to the kids and uh that we talked about last time but to continue to talk to our youth about uh Civic government and being part of your community and you can start as and I told them you can start as early as at
that age you know we do have our DPW has our our cleanup along the roads you can volunteer to clean up the trash around the town so you don't have to be older to be a participant and help uh our community so they I want to thank them for that invitation um so spring is here right
thank you you know sometimes it's here sometimes it isn't you know wait March is like wait 10 minutes it'll change but it's obviously a popular time to do outdoor projects like for deck and pool installations please make sure to obtain the proper required zoning uh and and um
approvals from zoning and Engineering before you submitting your application to the building department to avoid any delays make sure your application is complete before submitting there are handouts available uh for both pool and deck applications in the building department CRI with FAQs so you can
understand what your responsibilities are please make sure to read the handouts thoroughly when filing out your application all the required information is explained with these handouts and if you have any further questions you know please feel free to ask the building department for any Clarity you need but
obviously contractors are um it's a very short window so you don't want to be delayed and then miss an opportunity to enjoy your outdoor uh upgrade uh through the summer um our economic and Business Development uh Team attended the suers County Business Part International
women's day breakfast um on March 6th the economic business development team attended Su County International wom day's breakfast which was celebrated celebrated women's social economic and political achievements the event featur featured inspiring discussions networking opportunities and recognition of women's
contributions across Industries our team was proud to participate and remain committed supporting and advancing opportunities for women in business and economic development um picking back on that on this coming Thursday March 27th the HBA associations
holding our spring networking social uh focusing on artificial intelligence and its role in business operations Jeff Wilkey chairman and co-founder of of um rebuild manufacturing and former CEO of Amazon worldwide consumer will be a
distinguished guest via virtual appearance sharing insights on AI driven innov Innovation the event will also feature and we're proud to to have them help us the future Business Leaders of America the FBLA it's a Hillsboro High
School chapter highlighting their impact to student Career Development attendees will gain valuable knowledge to AI tools through chat gbt while networking with business professionals to register please visit the township website I'm not sure how many places are left so if
you're thinking about going I wouldn't wait uh visit the h page on our contact The Economic and Business Development Office at any time and it's um it's this Thursday at iron Peak um at uh I think it starts at six
o'clock um but um the kids from FBA we've had the opportunity to talk to them a couple times they're really from a high school standpoint they very smart uh individuals and are eager to help uh businesses any way they can so I would take advantage of that
opportunity um from engineering flood plane Map update so FEMA periodically uh updates flood planes and so we revised the fum flood map for panel 137 this panel covers parts of River Road by the stutter for bridge has a
minor revised flood area due to Tropical store and Ida any would like any comments from Hillsboro residence by April 7th you may review the preliminary map on the engineering office or the FEMA website look at the link tomorrow in the township we website or the
mayor's enus uh Hillsboro will still hiring we have some more positions for a variety of open ones including a police officer uh look for details for all available opportunities in tomorrow's E news and from our Planning and Zoning of business
owners before investing in because again this time of year everybody likes to have open houses and and yard sales and everything else before investing in any temporary signage for your business please familiarize yourself with the township sorence for clarification of what is permitted versus the type of
signs and that might need permits H wants to make sure the signs are appropriately placed and that the roads and sidewalks are clear from any obstacles see the Township Code chapter 18883 section H or contact Planning and
Zoning with any questions or concerns um obviously with spring as you said spring cleaning the public works department experienced a significant uptick in litter cleanup requests the excessive windy weather has blown over recycling containers garbage cans for
the past 2 months each property owner whether residential or commercial is responsible policing their property for litter it's just a smart thing to do I would think it just prot makes your place look nicer and also keeps the the litter out of the storm drains we've had some people talk about the storm drains
here at meetings and what the catastroph can be can happen because of all the litter or whatever is in the drains um it's important to keep in mind that property lines run the edge of the road in the vast majority majority of cases public works also makes an effort
to put clean Community program groups on Township owned property such as Parklands and roadways only residents are urged to call Public Works Department if your group is interested in taking part in a litter cleanup we will work with you to make your volunteering experience a successful and
rewarding one please visit Township website for more information just like I mentioned to the Little Cub Scouts uh and lastly from the tax tax accessor there is a new combined application for seniors and those receiving Social Security disability in
New Jersey to apply for the property tax relief benefits from the state the new the new application form pas-1 combines the property tax reimbursement senior freeze the anchor program and the new stay New Jersey program allinone booklet the New Jersey
Division of Taxation will be mailing these application booklets form PSA 1 beginning in mid-march but i p P pdf version excuse me are of the application is also available on the website as well as the ability to apply
online that's all mayor that's it all right thank you committe Deputy Mayor Payne hi everybody sorry for the uh extra long notes for short a guy so we're all filling in um I just wanted to say uh week and a half ago we um um
committee minani and I had the pleasure of attending the SAS Festival that was held at the high school it was an amazing dance and music show that was put on by the South Asian um community and uh run by Miss A at the high school
it was so amazing really really well done um I'm not an organ donor I'm a full body donor um and you should know what brain dead means so get a living wheel and donate yourself uh in health otherwise we have uh March is colon
cancer prevention month on Thursday March March 27th from 2: to 3: there will be a presentation about the prevention of colon cancer with proper nutrition by the Ruckers Cancer Institute uh please go to the Somerset County Library website and click on the events calendar for March 27th to
register for police it's with great pleasure that Chief uh Michael McMahon and Mayor John chiarelli announced the following officers have been chosen for the 2024 Top Cop recipients um a squad officer Justin Torio and B Squad
officer Val nazer congratulations to these two veteran officers on their exemplary service to the township earning them this distinct honor see tomorrow's press release for more information uh last week I also attended coloring with the
cops uh a really fun um thing that we do every year with our little kids and the cops and um there was definitely some kids that colored better than some cops I'm just going to leave that there but you know we work on other skills with
our PD uh we yeah we work on other skills with our PD for recreation uh explore and Thrive a transitional resource fair for um for success and information resource fair for students with special needs will take place on Sunday April 27th from 10: to 2 the
resource fair is free however we are asking guests to register in advance uh see the registration Link in tomorrow's ews and on the recreation department's website there's also summer camp registration is now open keep your child active this summer by sending them to
the recreation department summer camp um my kids did that for years registration is open to secure your spot today Social Services um commune man laani touched on this also so the New Jersey tax rebate presentation was held by Social Services for the Hillsboro seniors attendees had
the opportunity to learn about the senior freeze anchor and stay New Jersey program for more details about the presentation please visit the social services website in sustainability Hillsboro Express Yourself uh will be holding a walk of
art on May 17th at anvan to celebrate our Township's creative groups and organizations with performances and crafts they're looking for participants age 11 to 18 to do performance art music or other creative activity no longer
than 15 minutes organizations can be affiliated with the Hillsboro school system or a separate entity like a dance studio so for more information also see sustainable Hillsboro website um two last things so for last
week I was very busy was also our first veteran information session uh those are quarterly events that are free for veterans and their families and or caregivers of veterans um this uh session we had the vso come over the
veteran services officer come over from um Somerville they support the county there's uh two in our County that serve about 10,000 veterans uh just over 10,000 and um this week I was also
petitioning hunon County to enlist the services of another vso hunon county is faced with 7,400 um veterans and one vso to serve them all lastly for the innerfaith um quarterly community meeting was held on
March 12th among the topics discussed were the National Day of Prayer on May 2nd updates from Interfaith community members including upcoming events the creation of an Interfaith directory and suicide prevention training and the next meeting will be held on June 5th that is
all mayor thank you Deputy Mayor um so I've got some final comments here uh so last Sunday March 16th I attended the special installation service for a new pastor at the Hillsboro Reformed Church at Millstone uh Reverend Jeff null was
installed as a new pastor to the congregation and joins a list of pastors and uh at the Reformed Church dating back the 1777 so it's there's a lot of history there uh the pastor has already attended one of the Township's Interfaith Community Network meetings and uh so
welcome to the pastor his wife and and two daughters they'll be moving to it's Millstone but I guess they'll be going to Hillsboro schools um second I want to talk about road paving and preservation uh first part is a is an update on 206 you may
have may have viewed my last ask the mayor in which I updated uh what I what I updated what I could about Route 206 widening since that ask the mayor was air aired the dot responded as uh as part of a patch article uh but more
directly the regional a new regional coordinator of community relations has taken over and I spoke with her today uh and had some other email correspondents today um the dot spokesman stated that we should see completion of the bridge Valley Road uh as well as temporary
traffic signals and Paving of certain sections this coming spring we also received a new link to to the dot website for construction updates and we'll provide that on our Township website make sure it's link it it the link works and it's up to dat uh Aon
Road uh between triangle Road and the railroad tracks was delayed uh due to cold weather last year and Topline Construction our the contractor who started uh who was working on that is starting to this week on the um concrete handicap ramp reconstruction that has to
preced the re milling and Paving the plan is to do milling and Paving the week of April 14th when the school uh schools are closed for Easter break so there's less traffic problems and hopefully they don't have to go to plan B and can get it done um but Aon Road
has been one that's been on the uh radar big time lately so it's going to get it's going to get paved um there's also the engine engineering department uh reports that road paving will resume in the next few weeks on
Township Line Road uh the uh uh and then in general we also had um roads from repaving in 2024 that could not be completed were delayed due to cold weather on Camden Starview Murray Dogwood and uh ski Drive where's it Sky
uh in addition um the the we just talked about Township Line Road and as a resolution tonight we're splitting the costs there with Montgomery and we'll um uh be they're doing that uh as we speak they're prepping and in general the uh the the
2025 road paving program list is being finalized and will be released to the public shortly uh but I want to emphasize that the road preservation program uh consists of several related efforts it's not just milling and Paving which is really the focus of engineering but there's o uh routine uh I'm sorry
Road preservation surface treatments which are are a little more economical then that's really run by the DPW uh in coordination with the engineering department and then the routine potholes and crack ceiling that the DPW does on an ongoing basis so combination of all those activities helps us uh uh
throughout all of Hillsboro's Road Network which is two 260 miles 22 212 so uh we're trying to we're keeping on top of that and trying to get get get in a good spot with the roads um local government week is uh Hillsboro is
joining mun municipalities throughout the state celebrating New Jersey local government week April 6th to the 12th um because local governments are the closest government to most citizens H and the one that most directly impacts uh daily impacts on residents should take time to understand how the
government operates the services we provide and it provides and the importance of their active involvement so we're going to have a a mayor's meet and greet with local students although there's a lot of students here tonight but uh you know come back again uh and there's going to be a fun trivia contest
so see tomorrow's E e- news for that um to help save the monarch butterfly Hillsboro is partnering with James buang a a resident and president of the nanic Garden Club to raise awareness of of the plight of the monarch butterfly by planting ecology Gardens and encouraging
residents to do the same uh there'll be more details during the proclamations and in tomorrow's press release um building amnesty this is a this is a good one the building department is pleased to announce a 30-day amnesty program which will run from until April
25th this program will excuse homeowners from getting penalized for having open permits having interior non-structural work done without permits failing to obtain a certificate of occupancy and or having an expired temporary certificate of occupancy on their home permanent
fees will still be applicable uh and inspections required but there'll be no penalty for non-compliance so please see the Hillsboro Township website or the mayor's E news for more information on that uh the Rotary Club is here uh the Rotary Club of Hillsboro is funding uh
uh playground sensory boards in the in the Universal playground at anvan Middlesworth Park the sensory boards enhance engagement and communication opportunities of children with special needs uh the panels are a multi-year investment and the roadway Club will continue to replace panels as
Replacements are needed learn more about the panels during the proclamations tonight and in tomorrow's e newss uh two more items the Wildland water challenge for its 15th year the Wildland Foundation is holding its annual mayor's challenge for water conservation and Hillsboro is again taking part in this
import impactful program starting on April 1st the residents can take a pledge to conserve water in their daily lives it takes only a minute and your pledge can help make a difference to our community the challenge runs through April and all pledge pledge takers are entered to win a variety of prizes each
week for more information please seat tomorrow's press release and it's pretty simple anybody could sign up I think we had 1400 last year so let's see if we can get more or the last time it was run and let's let's see if we can get more this year uh and lastly uh QPR QPR
training QPR is an acronym for question persuade and refer qpr's mission is to reduce suicidal behaviors and save lives by providing Innovative practical and proven suicide prevention training in three steps anyone can learn to help prevent suicide with this in mind
there'll be a QPR training event on Thursday March 27th that's this Thursday from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. this training is free to anyone 18 years and older uh and who's interested in learning Suicide Prevention techniques look for the registration Link in tomorrow's ews and
the Hillsboro Township website I think we're I don't know if we've hit a number yet to make sure it happens but I know my daughter was going to sign up for it and um so any interest in please sign up uh to ensure that this comes goes off without a hitch and so that that ends my
remarks um other than to stay connected so as always you can stay connected with all events via the Wednesday mayor's e newss and Thursday's experience Hillsboro bulletin uh be sure to follow and like the official Hillsboro Township Facebook page X formerly known as
Twitter and Instagram tune in to the Hillsboro YouTube channel and sign up for Hillsboro alerts for traffic and emergency notifications so now the we have some proclamations um and the first one tonight is going to be the Rotary Club
so come on up all [Music] right president gets [Music] this right so I'm I'm also a member of rotary so I know a lot of see a lot of familiar faces up here uh the Rotary
Club of Hillsborough provided funds for the construction of a sensory board in anv Van Middlesworth Park to enhance communication opportunities for individuals with special needs the club also provided funds for a multi multiple year investment to provide Replacements
this is the first inclusive playground in Somerset County a project spearheaded by the current Township administrator Anthony F era in 2010 to construct a universal playground for children with and without special needs all from donations grants and past developer
contributions as a service organization the Rotary Club also provides 10 $2500 postsecondary scholarships annually to Hillsboro residents and provides various financial and volunteer support to Veterans and active military now therefore be it proclaimed that we the
mayor and Hillsboro Township committee do hereby commend the Rotary Club of Hillsboro for its charitable contribution of providing the sensory boards to an van Middlesworth park now and for years to come thank
[Applause] you we want to introduce all do you want to introduce you guys first you want I was just going to say a couple words I appreciate the the mayor and the committee giv me an opportunity uh back in 2009 for those who remember it was a
really bad time when a recession 2008 2009 uh our goal and it wasn't just me uh my my uh good friend and partner Beth Baldwin uh came up with the idea of building the first inclusive recreation park here in Hillsboro uh with the help of Rich Reser John crosson and Glen
d'angeles so we had to raise $100,000 um nobody thought we could do it and we actually raised $100,000 that year um in 2010 we came up with 100 volunteers and built the park in one day uh which folks have gone to AVM that's where the park is today so very proud of that I've been working with special needs children
adults for a long long time uh but one thing that's been constant through my time is not only the mayor on the committee and as the administrator is the Rotary Club of Hillsboro um not only have they they we constantly helped in everything when I want to talk about everything uh from movie night to um
respit for uh lunches and dinners uh we used to have um for f folks I'm sh my age bowcraft back in the day and went out of business well Rotary Club stepped up in two seconds and offered um the uh the family fund day at The Rotary Fair
where the kids don't pay anything for the rides and games and it's just an amazing day and that that has grown immensely and no matter what we need here in town for our special needs Community uh hillsbor rotary has always been there from the beginning of time and they continue it's not just a one-time effort so I really appreciate
uh them extending the inclusive Park and keeping it going and adding some more things so I just want to say thank you uh from the bottom of my heart and all the families here in Hillsboro uh always saying yes um and and lending this organization's uh just amazing I I stood on a lot and I always say even though I
S on a lot of organizations these guys are the best and I've been saying it forever they're just amazing people so please support them in their events because they give everything back to the community there's an amazing group of U of U men and lady on on on the Hillsboro rotary so thank you thank you administrator Ferrera for
your dedication and support your efforts have D have and truly inspired us uh to do more in that Spirit the Rotary Club at Hillsboro is proud to continue the tradition and coll of collaboration with Hillsboro Township by donating two activity panels to the an van
Middlesworth Park inclusive playground this contribution is part of our ongoing multi-year commitment to enhancing the playground and reflects our broader dedication to supporting individuals with Developmental and learning disabilities in our community I would like to thank Bob Wagner
John crosson and Ashley Rose who were all instrumental in identifying and procuring the activity panels we believe that in the transform transformative power of service to strengthen communities promote well-being and create safe inclusive Pro spaces where
children can learn grow and Thrive we look forward to continuing this tradition in the years ahead and we are grateful for the opportunity to serve our community thank you mayor post for aure [Applause] exactly right
perfect thank you [Applause] and if if anybody's interested there is an open house tomorrow night for the for the Rotary Club at peasants Landing
7 P.M so if anybody's now interested see the see the people in the blue shirts uh Red Cross are you taking this or who's taking she's got she's got the bigger cross all right well that's
why you doing so American Red Cross month is a special time to recognize our everyday Heroes and thank those who contribute to the mission of the Red Cross whether Through Time money or blood donation the American Red Cross provides 24-hour
support to members of the military veterans and their families training in CPR aquatic Safety First Aid to millions and collects about 40% of the nation's blood supply supporting over 2500 hospitals and transfusion centers
Nationwide in Hillsboro the Red Cross Works tirelessly through its employees and many volunteers to support the Township when disaster strikes when someone needs a life needs life-saving blood or to give comfort in the form of a helping hand now therefore be it proclaimed that we the mayor and Hills
Ro Township committee do hereby declare March as American Red Cross month and encourage all Americans to support this organization and its Noble humanitarian [Applause]
Mission all right well I'm short hello good evening um it is an absolute pleasure um to be here again this year and we thank you so much mayor and uh Town committee for recognizing Red Cross month I always talk about the Red Cross
and folks say well that's a really big National Organization and I say it is it's also a very local organization so it's a pleasure to be here with three volunteers today Carl who's a member of our board of directors as well as David and Charles among many other who serve
our Red Cross Mission um I'll just call out and recognize these two gentlemen that were able to come this evening David has supported a lot of our programs for preparedness installing free smoke alarms and helping folks be ready for disaster and Charles is often
a person driving an emergency response vehicle into very large scale disasters to help people and feed them while they're cleaning out their homes and taking care of their properties um so these gentlemen very much embod the spirit of the American Red cross and we're so thankful to recognize them in
the work that they do thanks so much for this we appreciate it [Applause] [Applause] [Music] number three is the monarch
butterfly there we go [Applause] [Music] oh glasses so Monarch the monarch butterfly uh with its bright orange wings and contrasting Black and White
markings is one of the most iconic and recognizable butterflies in North America in recent years migrating Monarch populations in New Jersey and across the United States have dwindled to alarming decline according to scientists the annual migration from Mexico and California is now classified
as a threatened phenomenon due to the widespread loss of the milkweed plant we are urging the public to plant milked and nectar plant to preserve and strengthen the monarch butterfly population now therefore be a Proclaim that we the mayor and Hillsboro Township committee do hereby declare may as milk
weed for Monarch's month a lot of M be it further to Proclaim that we the mayor and Hillsboro Township committee encourage residents to take steps to increase the planting of milked and nectar sources to provide the vital resources for Monarch butterflies I think there'll be something in the E
tomorrow but um do you want to speak so congratulations on well thank you so much mayor and thank you for the all the Hillsboro Township for taking this step to uh educate and Inspire the public actually the monarch
butterfly population has decreased by like 90% in just the last few decades and if you think about that the species has been going for hundreds of thousands of years with its amazing migration and to have lost 90% of your population in just a few decades is is really a
national tragedy and a lot of people have been trying to help for for decades but and their efforts of course greatly appreciated but more needs to be done because the situation is as bad as ever and what we need is really awesome All-American
towns like Hillsboro where people have you know hardworking and great compassion to help step up and help them and you know my job is to help make it easy for people to do so as an ecology uh Gardener and so I do um my son and I
created a specific project that you may um you the township will alert you more about but there's a few flyers in the back um but um I think the township we'll put out more they can't put out too much because you can't really buy the flowers yet that are needed the nurseries tend not to stock them till
about mid April so we don't want to get ahead of ourselves with that but there are some really awesome Gardens being planned here at uh the municipal building and also at anvan Park that people will be able to see and read about and and Inspire them and see how easy it is for them to help our beloved
monarch butterflies thank [Applause] you Griffin and Annette from our parks department are here parks and wreck so you want to say anything [Applause]
all right is Emily [Applause] here and if you would if uh the superintendent and coaches wouldn't mind coming up as well to uh you all right with that okay
good well done thank you this is for you hello again all right Emily sudall swimmer come on up front uh Hillsboro High School sophomore Emily sudall won the 200 individual medle in the 2025 meet of champion ions on behalf of the
hills Hillsboro High School girls swim team Emily also placed fourth in the 500 freestyle at the 2025 meet of Champions was a Somerset County champion in both the 200 individual medley and the 500 freestyle and was undefeated in the 200
individual medle in the 2024 to 2025 season across all duel and Championship meets she further competed as a member of the 2024 World life- saving championship in the u9 division and represented Team USA in has been Australia Emily was also just named
Skyland conference girl swimmer of the year so let's do it now now therefore be a Proclaim that we the mayor and Hillsboro Township committee do hereby commend Emily sudall for her successful season and commitment to the sport and wish her success in all
her future endeavors you got two more years at least right so congrats you want to say [Music] [Applause] anything I would like to thank the mayor and the township committee for recognizing um my State title this evening and i' also like to thank all my
coaches and teammates for not only supporting me this season but being here today um it's I'm very proud to represent such an amazing team so thank you right good [Applause]
abolutely come on up on [Applause] [Applause] yeah yeah don't go too far
too oh yeah yeah so now the uh High School boys swim team come on [Applause] up we're gonna we're gonna pass the mic so be
ready uh who wants is there a c [Music] are you setting up for the picture already you can kneel you can take [Music] a yeah what we'll get the picture done
soon all right guys the 2024 2025 Hillsboro High School boys swim team won the Central Jersey group four state sectional [Applause]
Championship that's what it says here this was the fifth consecutive Central Jersey group 4 State sectional championship title and a total of 12 such championship titles since 20124 the team finished the season with a dual meet record of 10 wins two losses and was ranked number five over overall
in the state of New Jersey the boys team consists of the following young athletes and coaches told you was coming I'm Jaden um I'm Arian Ali habashi
Mark Rohan Rohan Darren Leo Kevin and wishow Ryan Chen Nate
Tommy EJ Dylan Luke sudo Gavin grower John matte Paul Josh Thiago Luca
Trisha om Kyle Ethan ronic Kyle Christian Andy and
[Music] Max no I'm not gonna talk I'm just gonna say coach Adell coach Jordan coach Jordan Mr all right and the super well we'll get him we'll get him he passed on it
earlier kind of all right now therefore be a proclaimed that we the mayor and Hill Hillsboro Township committee do hereby commend the 2024 2025 Hillsboro High School boys swim team coaches and parents not only for their successful season but for their hard work
dedication and commitment to the sport and to those principles of good sportsmanship teamwork and academic achievement which the organization endorses so congratulations [Applause]
so I just wanted to quickly say thank you and on behalf of the swim team up here coach mcchesney coach Morgan myself coach sudall uh we're very grateful um to be acknowledged here here tonight um thank you for all those that are here to
support us from the boys team and the girls team and our our parents and Friends also want to thank our uh school superintendent Mr Mike for also being here he's been a great Support over all the years that we've been together here in Hillsboro and it's greatly
appreciated and I can uh also I'd like to thank the the mayor and the township committee also for this recognition it's very nice you guys take the time to do this for our our students at the high school our a our student athletes at the high school as well I think it's important um but I will say both our
teams the boys and the girls they take a lot of pride in representing not just Hillsboro High School here when they practice and compete but they take a lot of pride in just representing the township here of hillsbor it's a big deal to us when we travel out of the area and you know we always we're from
hillsbor we like to represent in that way and they have a lot of pride in that so um this is a great place great High School school system and a great community that we we have here especially with all the support so I just wanted to say thank you once again much
[Music] appreciated all right May [Music] guys we a couple more perfect [Applause]
well just as you get seated uh this concludes our proclamations we're going to take a two-minute Break um a brief pause so if you need to leave or not so two-minute break and uh we'll be restarting shortly thank
you e e e e e e e e e
e e and uh any other students who come by too that's it's really amazing we're going to be doing that on April 7th for the winter season so you guys are a couple weeks ahead of us but thank thank you so much for doing so um I'm coming here tonight uh to speak to you about our budget process and what I had spoken
about at our last budget meeting at the board of education and to let you know too we have two other meetings coming up both on April 7th and April 28th so if there are any members of the public who are hearing this and want to uh learn more you can come to a Board of Education meeting or simply reach out to me as superintendent and what it
involves is uh can I get the slide back up there is that possible for my for my talking points thank you so much you don't have memorized I can I can so as the mayor had mentioned earlier about the pastor uh moving into Millstone uh and the the his family going to the
Hillsboro Township Public Schools some people don't know in Hillsboro that we actually do have students from both Millstone and Hillsboro that attend the Hillsboro Township Public Schools it's been that way for quite some time and what used to happen is we were in a send and receive relationship so there used
to be school districts in the state of New Jersey that had no students that used to be the case with Hillsboro and Millstone so what happened in Millstone was Millstone used to have their students register with the business administrator in Millstone of that board
of education and each year that business administrator would then send all of those students their records over to us for registration at some point people in the State uh I think in 2009 decided it's really weird to have school districts that have no kids whatsoever
um it didn't make a lot of sense so the send relationship relationship send reive relationships disappeared and then we simply had the millstone students as part of our schools and that's where things got a little bit strange that I had mentioned at the last Board of Education meeting when there was no
longer a business administrator School business administrator in Millstone to register Millstone students Millstone students and their families just walked into the Hillsboro Township Public Schools and registered in our schools starting in about 2009
and most of the addresses in Millstone have a Hillsboro address so secretaries who are registering people as they registered them saw Hillsboro address and you're in the Hillsboro Township Public Schools and they were coded in their system as Hillsboro if they had a millstone address they were coded as
Millstone but there's a lot of people who live in Millstone who uh actually have Hillsboro addresses and there in lies the problem of what I discovered as we're going through our redistricting process we are looking to redistrict our elementary schools for equalized
distribution by the fall of 2026 it involves a lot of work and a lot of data cleanup so what I asked my people was let's make sure every kid's living in the right address and everything is coded correctly and that's where we found a problem that dated back to several years that we're fixing moving
forward and we have to figure out how deep this does go but we know what how to fix it moving forward the problem we discovered is that we had 85 students in Millstone who uh attend attend the Hillsboro Township Public Schools but
only 17 were coded as living in Millstone so that causes a discrepancy in the way the two municipalities are taxed to help fund the schools as you can imagine the more students you have the higher the tax burden of the
individual town so when Millstone is going from 17 to 85 now that's a big tax impact for them um what I am happy about moving forward is we've identified this problem that started long before I was
there probably any of you were sitting here uh but we have fixed it moving forward and we have multiple internal controls so that this isn't going to be happening again the problem is that um there is going to be a bigger tax impact to Millstone and I'm meeting with mayor HEC of millstone on this Thursday uh we
have informed milstone of the situation the same time that we informed you so I'm coming here just to try to be transparent with the public transparent with you all as to what's going on and uh we're going to be moving forward with our budgetary process our finalized budget is on April 28th and if anybody
has any additional questions right now I'm happy to answer but if there's any members of the public who are hearing this I just want to make it very clear uh we're a separate entity from the township committee uh please don't go to your committee men to ask them questions about the school budget in particular I mean they can give you your opinions but if you want the facts uh please come to
the school board come to a school board meeting or I are my business administrator are happy to meet with any members of the public it's a complicated issue and it was mentioned for the first time at the Board of Education meeting although I've had some communication uh here with the members of the township committee the mayor um so I just wanted
to see if anybody had any additional questions there's anything that I can help clarify uh but we'll be getting more information out to the public at our next two meetings thank you superintendent um yeah this is uh something you know thank you for letting
us know I don't think right now we need to make any decisions but understand that that as this evolves we may we may have to I don't want to say step in but we may have to be consulted on on steps forward but for right now a lot of this
lies with this with the school board and what what they decide and you know as well as I do that somebody comes to me we're going to point them right to you yes absolutely and that's not a problem um but we appreciate you showing up here so does anybody from the de have any any comments or questions I have a question sure what is the process for registering
Millstone students to make sure that going forward they're separate sure so we've we've fixing it moving forward what's happened let me take you back just a year or two so in Hillsboro regardless if you're Millstone or or a Hillsboro student uh people just uh showed up at the individual buildings
and they would fill out their registration forms right there okay some of our secretaries had institutional knowledge and dotted every eye and crossed every tea if somebody was a brand new secretary hey maybe they missed a part and when I first got here as superintendent I identified that as a problem so one of the things we've done
right now is we now have centralized registration at the board offices right down the hall so we have one person who's in charge of registering for the entire District who knows the process inside and out dots every I and Crosses every T what we have done now is we've created a new field within our platform
I don't want to bore you with with the details where now we have to click when people are registering online are you a millstone resident or are you a Hillsboro resident that wasn't there before it was just put in your address box does everything yeah now now on top of that too it's still possible human
error right somebody could check the wrong box we now have we requested from Millstone we have a list of every address in Millstone every single address whether there's a kid there or not and every time we register someone not only are we going to check which box they they said we're going to run that
against the list of all addresses in Millstone so if somebody checked the wrong box we can follow up and say hey are you a millstone resident or a Hillsboro resident so we feel we have multiple levels there the fact that we have one person doing it the extra field and all the addresses for Millstone so I'd be you know there still can be a
certain amount of human error but this was caused by a process error and I feel like we've you know put some um a good process in place I'm a processed person that makes me very happy so you're good all right so one one additional question was and and I don't know if it was a slip of the tongue I just want to
clarify I thought you I thought you said something about the impact to Hillsboro yes so the impact to Hillsboro since there are more uh We've identified more Millstone students there's going to be less of a tax impact on Hillsboro uh than there
would have been if these numbers stayed the same there's going to be more of an impact on Millstone the the big discrepancy here is when there's an impact of a couple students either way uh in Hillsboro because specific to these students uh because of how big we
are it's a few cents maybe maybe a dollar when there's an impact towards Millstone it could be like about around $20 a student depending on how it works out so there is an impact for Hillsboro there it's a it's a net positive because I've identified this group of students
uh it's not going to be as big of a tax burden on Hillsboro so Mike um can you just tell for the record what time your meetings start and where oh oh I'm sorry yes my my board of education meetings yes Board of Education meetings are at 7:30 p.m.
at the auton road intermediates school cafeteria our next two meetings are on April 7th and April 28th and April 28th we will be presenting the finalized budget that's the point we're on a timeline as you guys probably are the next day we have to start pressing buttons and putting it in the state system so if anybody has any public
input you have two chances on April 7th and then also April 28th before it's finalized sure great anything else just uh one last thing um the superintendent I will will keep everybody on the committee up to date as soon as absolutely um the
superintendent going for I wanted to make sure that he was here tonight and and mayor and I met with Mike uh just yesterday and we sent everybody an email but um the superintendent I will make sure any changes that it comes to all the committee so you guys are aware going forward now okay thank you thank you m
thanks uh let's move to the consent agenda do we take the two first separately or do we uh talk about them i' appreciate it um if you don't 11 motion you guys have to do that for 11 and 14 I'm sorry are there any others that should be considered that want to
be considered separately by anybody 10 10 I'd like 10 separate okay okay so you so you want to do 1114 and then 10 on its own is that what you like
sure all right so I'll make a motion to uh make a motion with the exception of 10 11 and 14 11 and 14 would be on together and 10 would be by itself so moved is that
second you second Catherine oh I'm second sorry all right uh do we get a roll call on that committee woman hand yes committeeman leani yes Deputy Mayor Payne yes mayor chiarelli
yes um should we have had comments from the floor on any of those well we got you we do the make the 11 and 14 first and then we do the comments and Flor something like that so let's hear uh 11 and 14 a motion
to U approve 11 and 14 so second roll call comments no comment comments there we go sorry thank you mayor so just want to make comments on uh 11 and comments the days thank you uh both Uh current
employees uh first um like to congratulate um Kylie De La Cruz Who currently with in our PD and uh moving over to Recreation um excited about that through uh Career Development moving with uh the experience that she has uh we feel it's
um a better fit uh for recreation so we're excited for her um moving on as as a as a promotion as well in back filling for the recreation program coordinator so we're excited for her to start there um on resolution number 14 uh Jennifer
Roberts again going through Career Development excited for her as well and moving um from part-time in Social Services over to Recreation as well so um want to thank both um our Recreation director Griffin Dunn and are now our assistant director um Annette as well
both being here and um the good news is is now Recreation is fully staffed uh which is exciting um the chief might not like that because now he is not fully staffed in the back uh nor his social services but Recreation is is very happy
there full support here so uh it's very timely don't be selfish yeah right so um in all seriousness um the department heads are always very supportive and I'm exciting that but we can bring our employees and put them in the best place to succeed as well as go through the training program and Career Development
to make sure um each one of my my employees doesn't matter where they are they have just uh the skill set they have and outside of what they do um is super important so I'm excited for both thank you great congratulations yeah welcome we have
what 80% of the office here now so it's when I saw you this weekend I didn't even it didn't even occur to me that that this was going on like I we were we were at the vendor fair and uh not quite finalized but and we wanted to
move them up on the agenda because they have lots of work to do with the spring season coming so yeah we want to let them go early so thank Dive Right In so welcome congrats uh comments from the floor seeing none roll
call committee woman hand yes committee the py yes congratulations Deputy Mayor Payne yes best of luck you guys mayor chiarelli yes fun times ahead all right um
let's have a motion to approve consent agenda item 10 which is the resolution authoring authorizing the hiring of part-time interns some second
okay um comments from the days and thank you administrator Ferrar thank you I just wanted to um you know thank the mayor and committee for um being supportive of all the internships and what we do here in Hillsboro Township um
the New Jersey accelerator internship grant program uh we've been utilizing for many years uh it saves the township a lot of money and we get some great projects done and it allows the students who especially or in college that are always looking for um internships to
come actually back home and and receive uh $4,000 um on top of a great learning experience here in Hillsboro so we're very fortunate we have great department heads mentoring and coaching to bring in um the interns and again Hillsboro I think every year has won an award uh for
our internships through multiple programs throughout the state so um we're excited that uh this doesn't impact any of our budget and uh we'll be utilizing this program and another program um that the county has to offer uh coming up soon so we're one of the
top uh towns in the state that take care of interns and internship programs and utilize the funding whether it's through the state or uh through the county as well so thank you all right any other comments from the days um I'm sure anything can tell you
some of the projects that we've had the interns do but uh I know that uh one that we have coming in here which is a for with David KO is we have someone to help us with our master plan so again this is someone that uh is coming in that can help us fulfill this this uh
requirement um and also be able to give some some Val experience to a a college student uh and also I know that we've done a lot of things with uh within the administrative office over the years uh in recre and all I think we did some mapping and stuff so these are all jobs
that benefit the township without cost anything and and burying our employees but also give valuable experience back uh to uh to these students yeah and I would just I would just also say that if if if for a reason if any reason this one was a little more difficult um to qualify for the students but if there's
students out there that are still looking for a summer internship job we're going to be getting another Grant through uh the county which is a I don't want to say a little bit easier it is um so if if there's someone that didn't qualify or feels there's someone else out there let us know and uh we can we
can work with you as well thanks uh comments from the floor seeing none of a roll call uh committee woman hand yes committee the pony absolutely deputy
mayor pay abstain mayor Chelli yes all right so do we need comments from the floor on the balance or comments from the deas because I thought we voted on that already but no okay no so now we have consent agenda to approve
what's that we just introduced it thank you um so comments from the day on items 1 through 15 minus the three we just approved 10 11 and 101 and 14 no comments hearing none uh any
comments from the floor on those items seeing none have a roll call committee woman hand yes committee men the pony yes Deputy Mayor Payne yes mayor chiarelli yes thank you um all right we'll move on to public
hearings uh the first is 20254 ordinance to exceed the 2025 Municipal budget appropriation limits and to establish a cap Bank may I have a motion to open the public hearing for ordinance 20 2504 so
moved have a second second roll call committee woman hand yes committee man the pony yes Deputy Mayor ping yes mayor Chelli yes um all right any comments from the
deas okay no how about are there any comments from the floor on the cat [Music] Bank all right see none may I have a motion to close and adopt ordinance
20254 so moved second uh roll call please committee woman hand yes committee men Le Pon yes deputy mayor pay yes mayor Chelli yes
thank you uh the second is ordinance 20255 let's see ordinance amending chapter 92 Police Department Article 2 establishment and organ iation section 928 appointments and promotions of the
code of the township of Hillsboro Somerset County New Jersey may I have a motion to open the public hearing for ordinance 20255 so moved second roll call please pardon
me you comments this is out of order here we go okay comments from the days seeing none any any comments from the floor okay may I have a motion to close and adopt ordinance
20255 so moved seconded roll call please committee wom hand yes committee men the P yes Deputy Mayor Payne yes mayor Chelli
yes um all right may I have a motion to open the public hearing for municipal consent of the Comcast franchise renewal some
mo may I have a second second all in favor I I so we've invited Comcast representative Robert Clifton to respond to any
questions um so do we have any actually you're invited to sit up on the days please if you'd like to or or no or or at the microphone all right I have conflicting uh Direction's here but thank you for coming uh Mr Clifton thank you mayor um
any comments from the deis on the Comcast um I just have a quick opening statement yeah let um M Mr Clifton give his the open statement I appreciate yeah I was going to ask you to kind of summarize as well but no I will mayor um you know Comcast has various cable franchises
throughout the state of New Jersey um and periodically those cable franchises need to be renewed uh they have filed a renewal application with the Board of Public Utilities the division of cable television and uh one of the steps in the process is this particular hearing and at this point in time I will turn it
over to Mr Clifton thank you very much I just have a brief opening statement then I'll take any questions from you or the public again my name is Rob Clifton I'm the senior director of government Affairs for Comcast Cable here in the central part of New Jersey uh we are nearing the end of a three-year
federally mandated process the process began on June 19th of 2022 when we provided what is called a 626 letter to the municipality uh this is from section 626 of the FCC guidelines for cable franchising and
basically this section all it does is indicate to the municipality of our desire uh to renew the franchise here in the uh Township we filed an application as the attorney said back in September of
2024 the current agreement that we have with the municipality or it's called a certificate of approval that will expire on June 19th of this year uh a certificate of approval or as we call it a COA is a document doent that a cable
company needs any cable company needs in order to operate a cable television system within the state of New Jersey it is granted by the Board of Public Utilities after Municipal consent is given um upon the close of the public
hearing Comcast will provide a draft ordinance to the municipality for review in which we lay out um what we propose to do it will be very similar to the existing agreement um the consent ordinance is simply a right away agreement all it
allows us to do is continue to use the municipal rights of way for our plant and our uh lines most importantly it is non-exclusive which means that any other cable provider could come before the board um and ask for the same rights to
operate that we are uh about 18 years ago the process was changed a little bit in order to try to spur on competition um when Verizon uh wanted to enter the marketplace and they created another um
procedure to get a franchise and this is called a systemwide franchise and a cable provider could go directly to the Board of Public Utilities and seek to operate in a municipality and this and and the systemwide um uh procedure eliminates
Municipal consent uh we have chosen in all but a few municipalities to continue to negotiate face Toof face because we've had quite honestly good uh good relationships with our municipalities and every municipality is a little bit different and may look for different
things or have different questions so we've we've continued to use the municipal uh renewal um the FCC has laid out four guidelines that a governing body must use when judging the application uh the first is has the cable operator substantially complied
with the material terms of the existing franchise and with applicable law has the quality of the service uh been reasonable uh in light of uh Community needs does the operator have the technical financial and legal ability to
provide the services that we propose to and is the uh renewal proposal reasonable to meet the future cable related needs of the municipality they do point out two areas in which uh the governing body cannot uh use to deny our
application one are rates rates are governed by state and federal statute and are outside of your purview and programming um our channel lineup is similar to that of newspaper uh content and is protected by the First Amendment
um that being said 99.9% of the questions we get are about rates and channels and I have no problem answering those questions as well and that's all I have mayor thank you Mr Clifton uh um are
there any comments or questions um I just I just had one comment um been working with Mr Clifton for many many years and he's been extremely helpful to the township the residents and the businesses any time we've had an issue I
mean the responsiveness has just been Second To None within seconds 24 hours helping residents and businesses and the township here as well so I just want to say thank you thank you I bet you if the public New Year here probably a lot more people in the seats because there'd be a lot of questions um I'm going to ask a couple
just uh generic questions I don't know if you can answer or not so moving forward are there any infrastructure repairs Replacements upgrades that you plan for the area no major upgrades we do routine maintenance constant routine maintenance um so we are constantly out
changing lines that have may have been taken down um if we have customer complaints about um in this particular area maybe they're internet service has been slow we will send teams out to what are called the nodes which are piece of equipment that serves about 500 homes
and we will replace that if necessary but the major construction uh was done several years ago so um the system is technically as good as it can be but there are always areas where there might
be an outage here uh wire gets taken down um the tap that goes into your house might get rusty which still degrade service and we'll come out and repair those so we are constantly maintaining the system do you have data
for the city uh as far as how many times you're out how often that occurs how slow your speeds are how you know reliable the system isn't yeah I can I can get that information for you customer complaints go directly to the Board of Public Utilities so we don't
have those right but as far as um uh where the system is operating yeah we can provide that that'd be great all right oh go ahead I was just joking about the the public mean it's been noticed before so I just that was
just an off the cuff uh but uh I'll I'll ask for the channel lineup obviously from from a sports F you obviously the uh fact that you guys have not come to an agreement with some of the local Sports Programming and and and that is there any light at the end the tunnel of
those there's ongoing negotiations right now so as a Yankee fan myself as a Yankee fan myself I'm hoping that it'll get resolved quickly uh so okay yes indeed and Ms and I will tell you this
um um my my first boss at Comcast 25 years ago said think of the cable channel lineup as a grocery store and every item on it is a different Channel and everyone's trying to find the best spot for it it um and
uh the Yankees you know we can only get the Yankee programming from one place so they're sort of at a we're sort of at a disadvantage as to what they want to charge us um but that is with all programmers so it's all about negotiations right so two questions the
first one um for the mayor the second for Mr Clifton um for the mayor as this is a public hearing were these were any documents available to the public yes yes the application okay I
believe please double check because they look locked so no no no in the office we had the printed version and I believe it was actually on the website also but it's defin this so wasn't in Civic clerk though with the package oh yeah your packet yes no no with ours yes I meant
for the public um I don't know if it was available to the public electronically and I don't know if they knew come pick up a pack in the office so we are having a public hearing and I don't know the information was available to the public so that was directed to the mayor I I
can tell I'm just indicating though that there was a public notice that was published and it indicated where they could get it yes correct I don't know why it wouldn't be available in Civic clerk where with everything else it was noticed twice in the paper and in that notice it noted to come and get the 600
page document was available in sorry is is there a reason we did not make that available electronically just taking a quick peek CU our sustainability folks would be very upset that we printed 600 Pages for and I and I will tell you I will tell you this since um as I talked
about the systemwide application process since we do have active competition now uh the application that we provide to the public is heavily redacted um as far as our technical specifications so that our competitors don't see that you obviously
have the ability to look at us as we are negotiating with you um and the rest of the packet is our tariff which is our prices our channel lineup our bonds Insurance our corporate officers and the interest we own in programmers so that's
really the the the most um information is in those appendix that are available that was thank you very much but things as far as mileage height of tower that equipment we use that's all been redacted for public view can excuse me
just to just it's another sort of little joke but because if Samantha ball's watching this at home and she's my sustainable manager and we're like champions of that we didn't print any of these Pages it would the 600 Pages were sent from Comcast they they sent them to
us so I just want to make sure that we we did not those in hillsbor and recently we have moved to electronic version so we will going forward everything will be sent electronically thank you very much cuz that that's upsetting so I'm sorry the second question was um that was helpful to
understand that the rates are non-negotiable that there's there's just set formulas so help me help me um just can you explain to the public why some towns would get you know half a million dollars and our Town's getting around like $660,000 you mean in franchise fees
that and what what is negotiable for the contract like what what would the cont so what we will do is we will make an offer and we have um what's called a peg capital Grant and that is a dollar amount that we will um offer to the town
to help with your pay programming now we know that once it goes into the general fund it can be used for numerous things but since we are a technology company we call it a peg Capital Grant um and this is based on the amount of subscribers
that a municipality has so what we do is I will look at the highest amount of subscribers that you've had over a year period it and construct a grant based on that now that's the grant so every town has a different population that's why
one town in the negotiated Grant may be more or less is based is based on its subscribers The in J on January 25th of every year we send to the municipality what is called a franchise fee so every
town gets one and this is 2% of the re I'm sorry 2% of the basic cable that everyone in town that's a c a customer of Comcast has to have his basic cable that's about $20 a month so
we get we collect 2% of that and we send that on January 25th to every municipality now that money is for um it can be used for also for Peg if you needed new cameras things of that nature
but is also used used for um Municipal fees so if we need a Road opening permit we fill out the permits but we don't pay for permits that's what the franchise fee dollars are were designed for when the Board of Public Utilities and the FCC came up with this now the reason why
towns have different franchise fees is based on um the amount of subscribers they have now there's also another little Wrinkle in this so whereas Hillsboro gets 2% % of basic cable rates for the year a municipality next door
may have active competition and what I mean by that is there's another cable provider like Verizon FiOS that is in their municipality currently operating and when the Board of Public Utilities has determined that they can provide service to
60% of the homes they don't have to provide to the homes but they are able to then the incumbent cable operator Comcast our franchise fees will go from 2% of basic to three and a
half% or really 4% of the total cable bill vi video bill so if you spend $100 $130 a month the township will get three and a half% 0.5% will go to the state so
that's why if you look in the municipal budgets of other towns you have to determine whether they're a 2% town or a 3% Town currently Hillsboro according to the Board of Public Utilities is still a 2% town if it changes we're notified and
we automatically start paying the the higher rate is that going to change now that we finally have bright speed if they well they're an internet provider this is traditional video cable so this so one of the things I should point out early this uh renewal is only
for traditional video cable service it's not internet service it's not our home security it's not our uhat anything anything else no phone no cell phone it's just traditional cable okay um so the franchise fee like I said
is every every January 25th you get a letter from me with a check and that check is based on 2% of how of the basic so I believe and Roy can correct me because I talked to him about this today was about $2 million
uh the residents paid about $2 million that was their basic rate and they got two and the the township got a check for 2% of that and when we send it to the town we also send a breakdown of how much was
generated 2% so we send a um our audit sheet basically showing uh what it was based on and Mr clion these uh these franchise fees are they also but they're eventually paid by the customer they are every UNT we have no um we have no other
income stream is except our customers so you may ask for a peg Grant in negotiation for $10 million we can do it but we've got to pass it through to your custom to your residents so um and we try to do the best we can with you know obviously balancing you know I I guess
that's my point the residents would end up paying for it absolutely so I'm not trying to be daed and I'm very sorry for the question but so in Hillsboro most the township is now only covered by Comcast we don't have aizon for cable we don't have any more
like Sentry Link or anything like that so if we said no to you they would have no service well we would appeal to the Board of Public Utilities and then they would bring us in for a mediation service if you denied me tonight or when the FR when the yeah ordinance you shut
we wouldn't rip up we would continue to serve the residents we're not going to shut anybody off the Board of Public don't take their the Board of Public Utilities would bring us in for a mediation session okay try to see where my offer is what the town's looking for see if they can get us
closer if that doesn't work then we would go before an administrative law judge and that judge would would mandate what the franchise would be and how soon can you provide us with data points um I will get in touch with my tech folks tomorrow and hopefully with by early
next week okay they just got to pull together I would like to see that just I know we so you're looking for Speed reliability that yeah we constantly get complaints about like Comcast being down constantly um and not just our mountainous areas here in the town but I
mean even in my neighborhood it's always down so if if you have a specific area that is constantly yeah if you can have the administrator send me that because there may be a specific issue locally in that area it's the road workor of 206 that is
taking down like your neighborhood yeah so if if you can send me a general area there may be a specific problem with a piece of equipment in that area 100% so then we can we can immediately go out there and take a look at that because that may be the may be the issue okay so
the data be systemwide I mean as I put right first we're going to get Township wide but then can can it be focused on various areas if you have if if you're getting complaints from a section of town you know 15 or 20 streets are complaining constantly about an issue
then there's a localized issue there okay nice all right thank you any comments from anyone else mayor I think we have to open it up to the public if anybody members from the public have any comments or
questions okay yep com see none uh May seeing none may I have a motion to approve and renew the Comcast franchise well well we're not we're not at that part this is just hearing this is that we're done we got we've got the
public hearing and we'll move on from here yeah all right let this is only step one all right May or so so so for the next step whatever we have let's let's look at the and make sure the the availability of the documents is
published the right way and and if there's any followup questions I'm more than available to answer that all right um and well like I said I will forward a draft ordinance for review right um we'll get that information as well um now that the public experience Clos I just want to mention one other thing and I mentioned the superintendent and it's
not a sales pitch this is something we've been doing for about 10 years um Comcast has a program called Internet Essentials it is a high-speed internet service low cost it's $14.95 a month it's for was originally designed for families with a child on
the free and reduced school lunch program but has been expanded for families uh veteran status uh disabled veteran status if they're on Snap if they're on tanif um so there are a lot of opportunities for a lowcost internet service for these folks that may not be
able to afford the the higher speeds and I'm just going to leave this can I have that because it's Social Services social Serv veterans so there's there's various places that yeah we we'll make sure that we put that on the E newss and all our
documents thank you veterans to thank you very much thank you very much thank you Mr Clifton all right let's move on to the claims list may have a motion to approve claims list
20256 so moved and second English Second sorry all right taking my picture for the first uh any comments from the Das on the claims list see none comments from the floor on
the claims list seeing none um can I have a roll call please committee woman hands yes committee man leani yes Deputy Mayor Payne yes mayor chiarelli yes uh we have no new business now we
have public comments or matters not on the agenda uh Miss lenzo please read the statement regarding the public comment the township committee welcomes input from the public please state your name and add address and please spell your name for the record you will be
given one three minute allotment for your comments please understand this is a public forum is not structured as a question and answer SE session comments are to be addressed to the mayor again please keep your comments to three minutes thank
you any P public comments matter is not on the agenda going once going twice all right going three times sold um may I have a motion to adjourn motion adjourn second roll call
please committee woman hand yes committee men the P yes Deputy Mayor Payne absolutely mayor chiarelli yes time is 9:14 thank you happy spring everybody
yeah spring is sprung